University of Texas Medical Branch

About: University of Texas Medical Branch is a education organization based out in Galveston, Texas, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Virus. The organization has 22033 authors who have published 38268 publications receiving 1517502 citations. The organization is also known as: The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston & UTMB.

Team-based learning in an undergraduate nursing course.

Abstract: To increase student participation in the learning process, active learning methods, including small group learning, have become increasingly popular in modern curricula. One kind of small group learning, team-based learning, is a relatively new instructional strategy in health care education. Team-based learning uses theoretically based and empirically grounded strategies for ensuring the effectiveness of small groups working independently in classes with high student-to-faculty ratios (e.g., up to 200:1), without losing the benefits of faculty-led small groups with lower ratios (e.g., 7:1). To explore the effectiveness of this learning pedagogy, we evaluated students' level of engagement and attitudes toward the value of teams. Findings demonstrated that team-based learning is an effective teaching strategy for large groups of students.

How rapidly does the human mitochondrial genome evolve

Abstract: The results of an empirical nucleotide-sequencing approach indicate that the evolution of the human mitochondrial noncoding D-loop is both more rapid and more complex than is revealed by standard phylogenetic approaches. The nucleotide sequence of the D-loop region of the mitochondrial genome was determined for 45 members of a large matrilineal Leber hereditary optic neuropathy pedigree. Two germ-line mutations have arisen in members of one branch of the family, thereby leading to triplasmic descendants with three mitochondrial genotypes. Segregation toward the homoplasmic state can occur within a single generation in some of these descendants, a result that suggests rapid fixation of mitochondrial mutations as a result of developmental bottlenecking. However, slow segregation was observed in other offspring, and therefore no single or simple pattern of segregation can be generalized from the available data. Evidence for rare mtDNA recombination within the D-loop was obtained for one family member. In addition to these germ-line mutations, a somatic mutation was found in the D-loop of one family member. When this genealogical approach was applied to the nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial coding regions, the results again indicated a very rapid rate of evolution.

SGLT-2 Inhibition with Dapagliflozin Reduces the Activation of the Nlrp3/ASC Inflammasome and Attenuates the Development of Diabetic Cardiomyopathy in Mice with Type 2 Diabetes. Further Augmentation of the Effects with Saxagliptin, a DPP4 Inhibitor

Abstract: We assessed whether (1) dapagliflozin (Dapa, an SGLT2-inhibitor) attenuates the deterioration of heart function Nlrp3 and inflammasome activation in diabetic mice. (2) The effects can be augmented with saxagliptin (Saxa), a DDP4-inhibitor. (3) Dapa effect is possibly SGLT2-independent on cardiofibroblasts in vitro. Type 2 diabetic (BTBR ob/ob) and wild-type (WT) mice received vehicle, Dapa, or Dapa+Saxa for 8 weeks. Glucose tolerance test and echocardiogram were performed. Cardiofibroblasts from WT and BTBR hearts were incubated with Dapa and exposed to LPS. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was 81 ± 1% in the WT and 53 ± 1% in the T2D-cont mice. Dapa and Dapa+Saxa improved LVEF to 68 ± 1 and 74.6 ± 1% in the BTBR mice (p < 0.001). The mRNA levels of NALP3, ASC, IL-1β, IL-6, caspase-1, and TNFα were significantly higher in the BTBR compared to the WT hearts; and Dapa and Dapa+Saxa significantly attenuated these levels. Likewise, protein levels of NLRP3, TNFα, and caspase-1 were higher in the BTBR compared to the WT hearts and Dapa, and to a greater extent Dapa+Saxa, attenuated the increase in the BTBR mice. Collagen-1 and collagen-3 mRNA levels significantly increased in the BTBR mice and these increases were attenuated by Dapa and Dapa+Saxa. P-AMPK/total-AMPK ratio was significantly lower in the BTBR mice than in the WT mice. Dapa and Dapa+Saxa equally increased the ratio in the BTBR mice. This in vitro study showed that NALP3, ASC, IL-1β, and caspase-1 mRNA levels were higher in the BTBR cardiofibroblasts and attenuated with Dapa. The effect was AMPK-dependent and SGLT1-independent. Dapa attenuated the activation of the inflammasome, fibrosis, and deterioration of LVEF in BTBR mice. The anti-inflammatory, anti-fibrotic effects are likely SGLT2- and glucose-lowering-independent, as they were replicated in the in vitro model. The effects on remodeling were augmented when Saxa was added to Dapa. Yet, adding Saxa to Dapa did not result in a greater effect on myocardial fibrosis and collagen levels.

Growth in the care of older patients by hospitalists in the United States.

Abstract: BACKGROUND National and population-based information on the increase in patient care by hospitalists in the United States is lacking. METHODS Using a 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries in 1995, 1997, 1999, and the period from 2001 through 2006, we identified 120,226 physicians in general internal medicine who were providing care to older patients in 5800 U.S. hospitals. We defined hospitalists as general internists who derived 90% or more of their Medicare claims for evaluation-and-management services from the care of hospitalized patients. We then calculated the percentage of all inpatient Medicare services provided by hospitalists and identified patient and hospital characteristics associated with the receipt of hospitalist services. RESULTS The percentage of physicians in general internal medicine who were identified as hospitalists increased from 5.9% in 1995 to 19.0% in 2006, and the percentage of all claims for inpatient evaluation-and-management services by general internists that were attributed to hospitalists increased from 9.1% to 37.1% during this same period. Accompanying the increase in care by hospitalists was an increase in the percentage of all hospitalized Medicare patients who were treated by general internists (both hospitalists and traditional, non-hospital-based general internists), from 46.4% in 1995 to 61.0% in 2006. In a multilevel, multivariable analysis controlling for patient and hospital characteristics, the odds of receiving care from a hospitalist increased by 29.2% per year from 1997 through 2006. In 2006, there was marked geographic variation in the rates of care provided by hospitalists, with rates of more than 70% in some hospital-referral regions. CONCLUSIONS These analyses of data from Medicare claims showed a substantial increase in the care of hospitalized patients by hospitalist physicians from 1995 to 2006.

Aging differentially affects human skeletal muscle microRNA expression at rest and after an anabolic stimulus of resistance exercise and essential amino acids

Abstract: Sarcopenia, skeletal muscle loss during aging, is associated with increased falls, fractures, morbidity, and loss of independence. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are novel posttranscriptional regulators. The r...