Publications by authors named "Townsend M"

Background: There are no contemporary reports that highlight the national outcomes for children with congenital heart disease (CHD) undergoing ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation.

Objectives: This study sought to evaluate differences in VAD outcomes for children with CHD to those with non-CHD as well as those with univentricular CHD to those with biventricular CHD.

Methods: Data for CHD and non-CHD patients from the multicenter ACTION (Advanced Cardiac Therapies Improving Outcomes Network) undergoing VAD implantation from April 2018 to February 2023 were included.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Several studies have suggested that depression may be associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer. Less is known about whether timing matters regarding when depression occurs. To provide evidence for an etiologically relevant exposure period, we examined depression occurring during the time in which precursor lesions develop and progress to invasive carcinoma with risk of developing ovarian cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Lower-than-expected recruitment continues to be one of the major causes of trial delays, and trials to improve mental health are no exception. Indeed, recruitment challenges in trials of vulnerable populations, such as those living with mental health illness, can even be exacerbated. To address this, researchers are turning to digital and online recruitment strategies, e.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Proliferative verrucous leukoplakia (PVL) is an aggressive and distinct type of oral precancerous lesion characterized by warty surfaced white plaque diffusely involving oral mucosa. Surgical excision is the treatment of choice. However, PVL has persistent and recurrent growth patterns, requiring multiple surgical procedures.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Volcanic activity has been shown to affect Earth's climate in a myriad of ways. One such example is that eruptions proximate to surface ice will promote ice melting. In turn, the crustal unloading associated with melting an ice sheet affects the internal dynamics of the underlying magma plumbing system.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a psychological disorder that is diagnosed predominantly in females yet is equally as prevalent in males. Many empirical research studies on the treatment of BPD have been conducted with only female participants. We aimed to investigate the impact of current treatments for BPD on men compared to women.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Diagnostic approaches that combine the high sensitivity and specificity of laboratory-based digital detection with the ease of use and affordability of point-of-care (POC) technologies could revolutionize disease diagnostics. This is especially true in infectious disease diagnostics, where rapid and accurate pathogen detection is critical to curbing the spread of disease. We have pioneered an innovative label-free digital detection platform that utilizes Interferometric Reflectance Imaging Sensor (IRIS) technology.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Borealpox virus (BRPV, formerly known as Alaskapox virus) is a zoonotic member of the Orthopoxvirus genus first identified in a person in 2015. In the six patients with infection previously observed BRPV involved mild, self-limiting illness. We report the first fatal BRPV infection in an immunosuppressed patient.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ectomycorrhizal fungi in the genus form hypogeous fruiting bodies called truffles. Many species are highly prized due to their edible and aromatic ascomata. Historically, there has been attention on cultivating and selling European truffle species, but there is growing interest in cultivating, wild-harvesting, and selling species of truffles endemic to North America.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a leading cause of dementia that is fatal, and most treatments targeting amyloid beta have only limited success in slowing progression.
  • Research into senescent cells (SC) and their harmful effects shows potential for new therapies, as treating aged monkeys with the senolytic drug navitoclax led to positive changes in biomarkers related to neuroinflammation and neuronal damage.
  • Navitoclax was found to be safe and well tolerated in the study, suggesting its promise as a new therapeutic approach for addressing AD in humans.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Ensuring diversity in clinical trials can be a challenge, which may be exacerbated when recruiting vulnerable populations, such as participants with mental health illness. As recruitment continues to be the major cause of trial delays, researchers are turning to online recruitment strategies, e.g.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: To collect evidence on the possibility that patients with depression experience self-stigmatization based on label information for medications.

Methods: We developed a discrete-choice experiment (DCE) survey instrument that asked respondents to make choices between hypothetical treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD). We also included treatment type (antidepressants versus antipsychotics) and approved indications for the medication.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Electrospun cellulose adsorbents are an emergent class of materials applied to a variety of bioprocess separations as an analogue to conventional packed bed chromatography. Electrospun adsorbents have proven to be effective as rapid cycling media, enabling high throughput separation of proteins and viral vectors without compromising selectivity and recovery. However, there is a current lack of knowledge in relation to the manipulation and control of electrospun adsorbent structure with function and performance to cater to the separation needs of emerging, diverse biological products.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in the neonate has a diverse genetic background, and non-sarcomeric variants may not be identified on commercial genetic testing panels. NDUFB11 is an X-linked mitochondrial Complex I protein and is known to cause histiocytoid cardiomyopathy but has not been described in female infants with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We present this first reported case of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a female neonate secondary to a pathogenic variant in NDUFB11.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The "International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Guidelines for the Evaluation and Care of Cardiac Transplant Candidates-2024" updates and replaces the "Listing Criteria for Heart Transplantation: International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation Guidelines for the Care of Cardiac Transplant Candidates-2006" and the "2016 International Society for Heart Lung Transplantation Listing Criteria for Heart Transplantation: A 10-year Update." The document aims to provide tools to help integrate the numerous variables involved in evaluating patients for transplantation, emphasizing updating the collaborative treatment while waiting for a transplant. There have been significant practice-changing developments in the care of heart transplant recipients since the publication of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation (ISHLT) guidelines in 2006 and the 10-year update in 2016.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Risk factors have a limited ability to predict individuals at high risk of developing ovarian cancer among average-risk women, highlighting the need for discovery of novel biomarkers. In the UK Biobank, we investigated serum biomarkers commonly measured in clinical laboratory tests and ovarian cancer risk.

Methods: We conducted a prospective analysis of 20 serum biomarkers and ovarian cancer risk in 232,037 female UK Biobank participants (including 1,122 incident ovarian cancer cases diagnosed from 2006 to 2020).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Diagnostic approaches that combine the high sensitivity and specificity of laboratory-based digital detection with the ease of use and affordability of point-of-care (POC) technologies could revolutionize disease diagnostics. This is especially true in infectious disease diagnostics, where rapid and accurate pathogen detection is critical to curbing the spread of disease. We have pioneered an innovative label-free digital detection platform that utilizes Interferometric Reflectance Imaging Sensor (IRIS) technology.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ovarian cancer incidence has declined in recent decades, due in part to oral contraceptive (OC) use and tubal ligation. However, intrauterine device (IUD) use has increasingly replaced OC use. As ovarian cancer is an inflammation-related disease, we examined the association of OC use, IUD use, and tubal ligation with plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6), and soluble tumor necrosis factor α receptor 2 (sTNFR2), in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and NHSII.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A healthcare provider unknowingly treated a patient with mpox and subsequently developed ocular mpox without rash. She breastfed during illness; her infant was not infected. This report addresses 3 challenges in mpox management and control: diagnosis in the absence of rash, exposures in healthcare settings, and management of lactating patients.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: People experiencing homelessness (PEH) are underrepresented in public health and clinical research. Study methods that can improve participation by this group are needed.

Methods: In late 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted an mpox serological survey using venipuncture among PEH in San Francisco, California.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aggregation of misfolded α-synuclein (α-syn) is a key characteristic feature of Parkinson's disease (PD) and related synucleinopathies. The nature of these aggregates and their contribution to cellular dysfunction is still not clearly elucidated. We employed mass spectrometry-based total and phospho-proteomics to characterize the underlying molecular and biological changes due to α-syn aggregation using the M83 mouse primary neuronal model of PD.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

We assessed early antibody responses after two doses of JYNNEOS (IMVANEX) mpox vaccine in the District of Columbia (D.C.) in persons at high risk for mpox without characteristic lesions or rash.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study conducted a serosurvey in NYC during the peak of the 2022 mpox outbreak to understand the undetected prevalence of infections among asymptomatic individuals without prior vaccination.
  • Out of 419 participants, around 6.4% showed seropositivity for mpox, with higher rates among men who have sex with men (MSM) compared to ciswomen.
  • The findings suggest that there were significant asymptomatic infections present, which could continue to influence the spread of mpox.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The biosynthetic Symatix membrane (SM) was developed to replace fresh human amniotic membrane (hAM) in ocular surgical applications. The purpose of this study was to test the biocompatibility of the SM with human limbus-derived epithelial cells with regard to their physical and biological properties.

Methods: Different physical properties of SM were tested ex vivo by simulation on human corneas.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF