A summary of the main themes and findings presented at the ASM Intermountain Branch meeting (2024).

The annual meeting for the Intermountain Branch was held in April 2024 on the campus of Brigham Young University. There were 127 branch members from Utah, Idaho, and Nevada who attended the meeting and were composed of undergraduate students, graduate or medical students, and faculty. This report highlights the diversity of, and the emerging trends in, the research conducted by American Society for Microbiology members in the Intermountain Branch.

Retrospective Analysis of Risk Factors in Geriatric Hip Fracture Patients Predictive of Surgical Intensive Care Unit Admission.

Introduction: Although numerous risk factors and prediction models affecting morbidity and mortality in geriatric hip fracture patients have been previously identified, there are scant published data on predictors for perioperative Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) admission in this patient population. Determining if a patient will need an SICU admission would not only allow for the appropriate allocation of resources and personnel but also permit targeted clinical management of these patients with the goal of improving morbidity and mortality outcomes. The purpose of this study was to identify specific risk factors predictive of SICU admission in a population of geriatric hip fracture patients.

Ecotoxic effect in Allium cepa due to sphalerite weathering arising in calcareous conditions.

The ecotoxic effect of Zn species arising from the weathering of the marmatite-like sphalerite ((Fe, Zn)S) in Allium cepa systems was herein evaluated in calcareous soils and connected with its sulfide oxidation mechanism to determine the chemical speciation responsible of this outcome. Mineralogical analyses (X-ray diffraction patterns, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy), chemical study of leachates (total Fe, Zn, Cd, oxidation-reduction potential, pH, sulfates and total alkalinity) and electrochemical assessments (chronoamperometry, chronopotentiometry, cyclic voltammetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) were carried out using (Fe, Zn)S samples to elucidate interfacial mechanisms simulating calcareous soil conditions. Results indicate the formation of polysulfides (S), elemental sulfur (S), siderite (FeCO)-like, hematite (FeO)-like with sorbed CO species, gunningite (ZnSO·HO)-like phase and smithsonite (ZnCO)-like compounds in altered surface under calcareous conditions.

A review of cardiac troponin I detection by surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy: Under the spotlight of point-of-care testing.

Cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is a biomarker widely related to acute myocardial infarction (AMI), one of the leading causes of death around the world. Point-of-care testing (POCT) of cTnI not only demands a short turnaround time for its detection but the highest accuracy levels to set expeditious and adequate clinical decisions. The analytical technique Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) possesses several properties that tailor to the POCT format, such as its flexibility to couple with rapid assay platforms like microfluidics and paper-based immunoassays.

Mental models about heredity among immigrant Latinx adults with limited education from Mexico and Central America.

An understanding of genetics is becoming increasingly relevant to receiving medical care. It is important for health care providers and educators, including genetic counselors, to understand patients' perceptions about trait transmission and their interpretation of terms used in biomedicine. Knowledge about the patient perspective about trait transmission is important when health care providers are not fluent in the patient's language.

Effect of transcranial magnetic stimulation as an enhancer of cognitive stimulation sessions on mild cognitive impairment: Preliminary results.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a state between normal cognition and dementia. Currently, there is little evidence of repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) as an enhancing tool for Cognitive Stimulation (CS) on MCI. The importance of this study consists in its assessment of the enhancing effect of rTMS on CS in 22 MCI patients randomized and divided into two group: active (AG) and sham (SG).

Building bridges between a community and an academic medical center via community tours.

Academic medical centers (AMCs) face challenges in conducting research among traditionally marginalized communities due to long-standing community mistrust. Evidence suggests that some AMC faculty and staff lack an understanding of the history of distrust and social determinants of health (SDH) affecting their communities. Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Institute Program in Community Engagement (PCE) aims to build bridges between communities and Wake Forest Baptist Health by equipping faculty, clinicians, administrators, and staff (FCAS) with a better understanding of SDH.

"It's Worse to Breathe It Than to Smoke It": Secondhand Smoke Beliefs in a Group of Mexican and Central American Immigrants in the United States.

This analysis describes beliefs about secondhand smoke and its health effects held by Mexican and Central American immigrants in North Carolina. Data from 60 semistructured, in-depth interviews were subjected to saliency analysis. Participant discussions of secondhand smoke centered on four domains: (1) familiarity and definition of secondhand smoke, (2) potency of secondhand smoke, (3) general health effects of secondhand smoke, and (4) child health effects of secondhand smoke.

Caustic ingestion: development and validation of a prognostic score.

Background: Caustic ingestion is a potentially severe condition and early identification of poor outcome is essential to improve management; however, prediction based on endoscopy alone can overestimate severity. This study aimed to develop and validate a prognostic score.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was designed to include all consecutive patients aged > 15 years who presented with caustic ingestion between 1995 and 2017.

Patient Views of Behavioral Health Providers in Primary Care: A Qualitative Study of 2 Southeastern Clinics.

Background: Limited research is available around patient experience of integrated behavioral health care in primary care settings.

Objective: We sought to identify the major themes through which patients described their integrated behavioral health care experiences as a means of informing and improving clinic processes of integrated health care delivery.

Methods: We captured viewpoints from 16 patients who experienced an integrated behavioral health care model from 2 primary care clinics and completed at least 3 visits with a behavioral health provider (BHP).

A Flow-Through Membraneless Microfluidic Zinc-Air Cell.

In this work, the proof of concept of a functional membraneless microfluidic Zn-air cell (μZAC) that operates with a flow-through arrangement is presented for the first time, where the activity and durability can be modulated by electrodepositing Zn on porous carbon electrodes. For this purpose, Zn electrodes were obtained using chronoamperometry and varying the electrodeposition times (20, 40, and 60 min), resulting in porous electrodes with Zn thicknesses of 3.3 ± 0.

Withdrawal of Azathioprine in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients Who Sustain Remission: New Risk Factors for Relapse.

Background: The benefits of immunosuppressants for sustaining remission and preventing flares of IBD are well known. However, optimal timing for withdrawal has not been determined.

Aims: The objective of this study was to calculate the risk of relapse and predictors after withdrawal of azathioprine (AZA) monotherapy in patients who sustain deep remission.

The effect of dental LED light-curing unit photoactivation mode on 3D surface morphology of dental nanocomposites evaluated by two-dimensional multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of two photoactivation modes of dental LED light-curing unit (LCUs) (conventional and "Soft Start" mode) on surface texture parameters of two dental resin-based nanocomposites. LED LCUs were considered as standard light-curing devices in contemporary dental practice. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was applied to investigate surface morphology on 90 × 90 μm scanning area through 2D multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis with computational algorithms basis.

Building Community Support Using a Modified World Café Method for Pregnant and Parenting Teenagers in Forsyth County, North Carolina.

Study Objective: To identify community priorities, foster awareness of existing supports, and recognize barriers and opportunities to enhance support services for pregnant and parenting teens (PPTs).

Design And Setting: A modified World Café event incorporated parallel, rotating focus groups with semistructured, case-based discussions of salient issues. The event was organized and took place in Forsyth County, North Carolina.

Endovascular interventions decrease length of hospitalization and are cost-effective in acute mesenteric ischemia.

Objective: Acute mesenteric ischemia (AMI) continues to be one of the most devastating diagnoses requiring emergent vascular intervention. There is a national trend toward increased use of endovascular procedures, with improved survival for the treatment of these patients. Our aim was to evaluate whether this trend has changed the treatment of AMI and the subsequent impact on length of hospitalization and hospitalization costs.

Endovascular thoracic aortic transection repair has equivalent survival to open repair after blunt thoracic aortic injury.

Background: Blunt thoracic aortic injury (BTAI) is highly lethal and its management has evolved with the advent of endovascular approaches. We hypothesized that endovascular repair (ER) would have equivalent/improved survival compared to open repair (OR). The aim of our study was to review our center's morbidity and mortality after BTAI.

Child Feeding Style and Dietary Outcomes in a Cohort of Latino Farmworker Families.

Background: The high level of obesity in Latino children, especially in farmworker families, may be partly attributed to feeding styles of parents. Feeding styles used in Latino farmworker families have not been well characterized.

Objective: This study sought to identify and describe feeding styles used by mothers in farmworker families with 2.

Anticipatory Guidance about Child Diet and Physical Activity for Latino Farmworker Mothers.

Background: This analysis describes farmworker child health care utilization, anticipatory guidance for child weight, and the association of anticipatory guidance with personal characteristics, practice characteristics, and child's health care utilization.

Methods: Data are from interviews conducted with 221 North Carolina Latino farmworker mothers with a child aged 4-5 years.

Results: Half of the children were healthy weight, 19.

Stability of Household and Housing Characteristics Among Farmworker Families in North Carolina: Implications for Health.

Household and housing stability are important for health and well-being of individuals, particularly children. This analysis examines stability in household and housing over 2 years for North Carolina farmworker families with children. Mothers with a child aged 2-4 years in farmworker families (n = 248) completed interviews over 2 years.

Physical Activity States of Preschool-Aged Latino Children in Farmworker Families: Predictive Factors and Relationship With BMI Percentile.

Background: Obesity disproportionately affects children of Latino farmworkers. Further research is needed to identify patterns of physical activity (PA) in this group and understand how PA affects Body Mass Index (BMI) percentile.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-four participants ages 2.

Latina Workers in North Carolina: Work Organization, Domestic Responsibilities, Health, and Family Life.

This analysis describes the work organization and domestic work experienced by migrant Latinas, and explores the linkage between work and health. Twenty Latina workers in North Carolina with at least one child under age 12 completed in-depth interviews focused on their work organization, domestic responsibilities, work-family conflict, health, and family health. Using a systematic qualitative analysis, these women described a demanding work organization that is contingent and exploitative, with little control or support.

Diet Quality among Preschool-Age Children of Latino Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers in the United States.

Dietary quality has been linked to obesity in children. Obesity among children of farmworker families exceeds that of other US Hispanic children. Knowledge of their dietary quality is needed to understand the origins and prevention of this obesity.

Micromorphological characterization of zinc/silver particle composite coatings.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the three-dimensional (3D) surface micromorphology of zinc/silver particles (Zn/AgPs) composite coatings with antibacterial activity prepared using an electrodeposition technique. These 3D nanostructures were investigated over square areas of 5 μm × 5 μm by atomic force microscopy (AFM), fractal, and wavelet analysis. The fractal analysis of 3D surface roughness revealed that (Zn/AgPs) composite coatings have fractal geometry.

Interpersonal and social correlates of depressive symptoms among Latinas in farmworker families living in North Carolina.

Little research is available about the mental health of Latina women in farmworker families living in the southern United States, where Latino immigrants are relatively recent arrivals. This study examined interpersonal correlates (family conflict, family's outward orientation, and perceived discrimination) and social correlates (residential mobility and economic insecurity) of depressive symptoms and of meeting a threshold of depressive symptoms that could be clinically significant (a cut-point of 10 or higher in a short Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale) among Latinas in farmworker families living in North Carolina. Data were collected from April 19, 2011 to April 20, 2012 as part of Niños Sanos, a prospective study of Latino women and children (N = 248).

Profiles of Food Security for US Farmworker Households and Factors Related to Dynamic of Change.

Objectives: We recruited 248 farmworker families with preschool-aged children in North Carolina and examined food security indicators over 24 months to identify food security patterns and examine the dynamic of change over time.

Methods: Participants in the Niños Sanos study, conducted 2011 to 2014, completed quarterly food security assessments. Based on responses to items in the US Household Food Security Survey Module, we identified different states of food security by using hidden Markov model analysis, and examined factors associated with different states.