Mathematics Commons^™

An Examination Of The Neural Unreliability Thesis Of Autism, John Butler, Sophie Molholm, Gizely Andrade, John J. Foxe

Articles

An emerging neuropathological theory of Autism, referred to here as “the neural unreliability thesis,” proposes greater variability in moment-to-moment cortical representation of environmental events, such that the system shows general instability in its impulse response function. Leading evidence for this thesis derives from functional neuroimaging, a methodology ill-suited for detailed assessment of sensory transmission dynamics occurring at the millisecond scale. Electrophysiological assessments of this thesis, however, are sparse and unconvincing. We conducted detailed examination of visual and somatosensory evoked activity using high-density electrical mapping in individuals with autism (N = 20) and precisely matched neurotypical controls (N = 20), recording …

Discovery Of An Enzyme And Substrate Selective Inhibitor Of Adam10 Using An Exosite-Binding Glycosylated Substrate, Franck Madoux, Daniela Dreymuller, Jean-Phillipe Pettiloud, Radleigh Santos, Christoph Becker-Pauly, Andreas Ludwig, Gregg B. Fields, Thomas Bannister, Timothy P. Spicer, Mare Cudic, Louis D. Scampavia, Dmitriy Minond

Mathematics Faculty Articles

ADAM10 and ADAM17 have been shown to contribute to the acquired drug resistance of HER2-positive breast cancer in response to trastuzumab. The majority of ADAM10 and ADAM17 inhibitor development has been focused on the discovery of compounds that bind the active site zinc, however, in recent years, there has been a shift from active site to secondary substrate binding site (exosite) inhibitor discovery in order to identify non-zinc-binding molecules. In the present work a glycosylated, exosite-binding substrate of ADAM10 and ADAM17 was utilized to screen 370,276 compounds from the MLPCN collection. As a result of this uHTS effort, a selective, …

Privacy Protection And Aggregate Health Data: A Review Of Tabular Cell Suppression Methods (Not) Employed In Public Health Data Systems, Gregory J. Matthews, Ofer Harel, Robert H. Aseltine Jr.

Mathematics and Statistics: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Public health research often relies on individuals’ confidential medical data. Therefore, data collecting entities, such as states, seek to disseminate this medical data as widely as possible while still maintaining the privacy of the individual for legal and ethical reasons. One common way in which this medical data is released is through the use of Web-based Data Query Systems (WDQS). In this article, we examined WDQS listed in the National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS) specifically reviewing them for how they prevent statistical disclosure in queries that produce a tabular response. One of the most common …

Simulating The Spread Of The Common Cold, R. Corban Harwood

Faculty Publications - Department of Mathematics

This modeling scenario guides students to simulate and investigate the spread of the common cold in a residence hall. An example floor plan is given, but the reader is encouraged to use a more relevant example. In groups, students run repeated simulations, collect data, derive a differential equation model, solve that equation, estimate parameter values by hand and through regression, visually evaluate the consistency of the model with their data, and present their results to the class.

Estimating Propensity Parameters Using Google Pagerank And Genetic Algorithms, David Murrugarra, Jacob Miller, Alex N. Mueller

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Stochastic Boolean networks, or more generally, stochastic discrete networks, are an important class of computational models for molecular interaction networks. The stochasticity stems from the updating schedule. Standard updating schedules include the synchronous update, where all the nodes are updated at the same time, and the asynchronous update where a random node is updated at each time step. The former produces a deterministic dynamics while the latter a stochastic dynamics. A more general stochastic setting considers propensity parameters for updating each node. Stochastic Discrete Dynamical Systems (SDDS) are a modeling framework that considers two propensity parameters for updating each node …

Csp And “Omics” Technology Applied On Versatile And Intelligent Portable Platform For Modeling Complex Bio-Medical Data, Florentin Smarandache, Luige Vladareanu, Mihaiela Iliescu, Hongbo Wang, Feng Yongfei, Victor Vladareanu

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

This paper presents relevant aspects of the idea of using the digital medicine in cancer, so that to shape a viable strategy for creating and implementing an interactive digital platform, NEO-VIP, that should be the basic support to design the strategy for integration of basic, clinical and environmental research on neoplasia progression to cancer. The two main components of the VIPRO Platform are represented by the workstation “Engineering Station” for CPS (Cyber Physical System) and “omics” technology and by the “Graphical Station” for the development of a virtual mechatronic system environment and virtual reality for system components' motion. The NEO-VIP …

Development Of Anatomical And Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Measures Of Alzheimer Disease, Samaneh Kazemifar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Alzheimer disease is considered to be a progressive neurodegenerative condition, clinically characterized by cognitive dysfunction and memory impairments. Incorporating imaging biomarkers in the early diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression is increasingly important in the evaluation of novel treatments. The purpose of the work in this thesis was to develop and evaluate novel structural and functional biomarkers of disease to improve Alzheimer disease diagnosis and treatment monitoring. Our overarching hypothesis is that magnetic resonance imaging methods that sensitively measure brain structure and functional impairment have the potential to identify people with Alzheimer’s disease prior to the onset of cognitive decline. …

Using Survival Analysis To Identify Risk Factors For Treatment Interruption Among New And Retreatment Tuberculosis Patients In Kenya, Enos O. Masini, Omar Mansour, Clare E. Speer, Vittorio Addona, Christy L. Hanson, Joseph K. Sitienei, Hillary K. Kipruto, Martin Muhingo Githiomi, Brenda Nyambura Mungai

Vittorio Addona

" Despite high tuberculosis (TB) treatment success rate, treatment adherence is one of the major obstacles to tuberculosis control in Kenya. Our objective was to identify patient-related factors that were associated with time to TB treatment interruption and the geographic distribution of the risk of treatment interruption by county. Data of new and retreatment patients registered in TIBU, a Kenyan national case-based electronic data recording system, between 2013 and 2014 was obtained. Kaplan-Meier curves and log rank tests were used to assess the adherence patterns. Mixed-effects Cox proportional hazards modeling was used for multivariate analysis. Records from 90,170 patients were …

Using Survival Analysis To Identify Risk Factors For Treatment Interruption Among New And Retreatment Tuberculosis Patients In Kenya, Enos O. Masini, Omar Mansour, Clare E. Speer, Vittorio Addona, Christy L. Hanson, Joseph K. Sitienei, Hillary K. Kipruto, Martin Muhingo Githiomi, Brenda Nyambura Mungai

Faculty Publications

"

Despite high tuberculosis (TB) treatment success rate, treatment adherence is one of the major obstacles to tuberculosis control in Kenya. Our objective was to identify patient-related factors that were associated with time to TB treatment interruption and the geographic distribution of the risk of treatment interruption by county. Data of new and retreatment patients registered in TIBU, a Kenyan national case-based electronic data recording system, between 2013 and 2014 was obtained. Kaplan-Meier curves and log rank tests were used to assess the adherence patterns. Mixed-effects Cox proportional hazards modeling was used for multivariate analysis. Records from 90,170 patients were …

Bayesian Peer Calibration With Application To Alcohol Use, Miles Q. Ott, Joseph W. Hogan, Krista J. Gile, Crystal Linkletter, Nancy P. Barnett

Statistical and Data Sciences: Faculty Publications

Peers are often able to provide important additional information to supplement self-reported behavioral measures. The study motivating this work collected data on alcohol in a social network formed by college students living in a freshman dormitory. By using two imperfect sources of information (self-reported and peer-reported alcohol consumption), rather than solely self-reports or peer-reports, we are able to gain insight into alcohol consumption on both the population and the individual level, as well as information on the discrepancy of individual peer-reports. We develop a novel Bayesian comparative calibration model for continuous, count and binary outcomes that uses covariate information to …

Accuracy And Precision Of Occlusal Contacts Of Stereolithographic Casts Mounted By Digital Interocclusal Registrations, Jason T. Krahenbuhl, Seok-Hwan Cho, Jon Patrick Irelan, Naveen K. Bansal

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Statement of problem

Little peer-reviewed information is available regarding the accuracy and precision of the occlusal contact reproduction of digitally mounted stereolithographic casts.

Purpose

The purpose of this in vitro study was to evaluate the accuracy and precision of occlusal contacts among stereolithographic casts mounted by digital occlusal registrations.

Material and methods

Four complete anatomic dentoforms were arbitrarily mounted on a semi-adjustable articulator in maximal intercuspal position and served as the 4 different simulated patients (SP). A total of 60 digital impressions and digital interocclusal registrations were made with a digital intraoral scanner to fabricate 15 sets of mounted stereolithographic …

The Precarious Health Of Young Mexican American Men In South Texas, Cameron County Hispanic Cohort, 2004–2015, Gordon P. Watt, Kristina Vatcheva, Derek M. Griffith, Belinda M. Reininger, Laura Beretta, Michael Fallon, Joseph B. Mccormick, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction

Hispanic men have higher rates of illness and death from various chronic conditions than do non-Hispanic men. We aimed to characterize the health of Mexican American men living on the US–Mexico border in South Texas and elucidate indications of chronic disease in young men.

Methods

We sampled all male participants from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort, an ongoing population-based cohort of Mexican Americans in Brownsville, Texas. We calculated descriptive statistics and stratified the sample into 3 age groups to estimate the prevalence of sociodemographic, behavioral, and clinical factors by age group and evaluated differences between age groups.

Results

Obesity …

Fuzzy Logic In Health Care Settings: Moral Math For Value-Laden Choices, Sarah Voss

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

This essay is intended as an example of “moral math”, i.e., ideas culled from mathematics which can positively impact social behavior. Specifically, it combines fuzzy logic with the ethical decisions which hospital staff and others are sometimes forced to make about health care (e.g., euthanasia issues following Hurricane Katrina). The assumption is that such decisions involve value-laden choices which lend themselves to “fuzzy” or “smart” protocols. The article discusses the history of fuzzy logic – what it is, how it is used, and how it might be even better-used as a support basis for making difficult choices …

Ciliate Codon Translator Program Manual, Quentin D. Altemose

Mathematics Summer Fellows

Understanding the evolutionary history of organisms allows us to better comprehend selective pressures and their effects on larger populations. In our study, we focused on analyzing the DNA of ciliate groups, which are single celled protozoans characterized by the presence of cilia on their outer membrane. We utilized the DNA of the organisms to analyze the changes in population genotype over time. We tested existing evolutionary models (designed to represent natural genetic variation over time in populations) against our data to identify the model with the best fit and likelihood. From the DNA and the evolutionary model with the highest …

Optimal Control Analysis Of Ebola Disease With Control Strategies Of Quarantine And Vaccination, Muhammad Dure Ahmad, Muhammad Usman, Adnan Khan, Mudassar Imran

Mathematics Faculty Publications

The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest in history, affecting multiple countries in West Africa. Some isolated cases were also observed in other regions of the world.

A Bi-Stable Switch In Virus Dynamics Can Explain The Differences In Disease Outcome Following Siv Infections In Rhesus Macaques, Stanca Ciupe, Christopher Miller, Jonathan Forde

Biology and Medicine Through Mathematics Conference

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Infection Prevention Strategies In Out-Patient Dialysis Units Using Agent-Based Modeling, Joanna R. Wares, Barry Lawson, Douglas Shemin, Erika M. C. D'Agata

Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications

Patients receiving chronic hemodialysis (CHD) are among the most vulnerable to infections caused by multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO), which are associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Current guidelines to reduce transmission of MDRO in the out-patient dialysis unit are targeted at patients considered to be high-risk for transmitting these organisms: those with infected skin wounds not contained by a dressing, or those with fecal incontinence or uncontrolled diarrhea. Here, we hypothesize that targeting patients receiving antimicrobial treatment would more effectively reduce transmission and acquisition of MDRO. We also hypothesize that environmental contamination plays a role in the dissemination of …

Identification Of Protein Palmitoylation Inhibitors From A Scaffold Ranking Library, Laura D. Hamel, Brian J. Lenhart, David A. Mitchell, Radleigh Santos, Marc A. Giulianotti, Robert J. Deschenes

Mathematics Faculty Articles

The addition of palmitoyl moieties to proteins regulates their membrane targeting, subcellular localization, and stability. Dysregulation of the enzymes which catalyzed the palmitoyl addition and/or the substrates of these enzymes have been linked to cancer, cardiovascular, and neurological disorders, implying these enzymes and substrates are valid targets for pharmaceutical intervention. However, current chemical modulators of zDHHC PAT enzymes lack specificity and affinity, underscoring the need for screening campaigns to identify new specific, high affinity modulators. This report describes a mixture based screening approach to identify inhibitors of Erf2 activity. Erf2 is the Saccharomyces cerevisiae PAT responsible for catalyzing the palmitoylation …

Using Predator Carrying Capacity For A Pathogenic Vector-Dynamic Differential Model, Rosahn Bhattarai

Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Mathematical Modeling In Designing And Evaluating Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs, Lester Caudill, Joanna R. Wares

Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications

Antimicrobial agent effectiveness continues to be threatened by the rise and spread of pathogen strains that exhibit drug resistance. This challenge is most acute in healthcare facilities where the well-established connection between resistance and suboptimal antimicrobial use has prompted the creation of antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs). Mathematical models offer tremendous potential for serving as an alternative to controlled human experimentation for assessing the effectiveness of ASPs. Models can simulate controlled randomized experiments between groups of virtual patients, some treated with the ASP measure under investigation, and some without. By removing the limitations inherent in human experimentation, including health risks, study …

The Effect Of Tommy John (Ucl) Reconstructive Surgery On A Pitcher’S Arm And Career Progression, Jack Grant

Honors Projects in Mathematics

Injuries have plagued professional athletes since their sports have been in existence. The examination of how teams can diminish the side effects of the injuries en route to a speedy recovery remains an evolving process and a topic of concern for all. Injury preventative tactics have been implemented by coaching staffs and various training personnel. Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers are noticing an increase in the number of surgeries performed each year. The tearing of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in the elbow has become a predominant injury among pitchers in the MLB. Reconstructive surgery, also known as Tommy John …

Multicollinearity In Regression Analyses Conducted In Epidemiologic Studies, Kristina Vatcheva, Minjae Lee, Joseph B. Mccormick, Mohammad H. Rahbar

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

The adverse impact of ignoring multicollinearity on findings and data interpretation in regression analysis is very well documented in the statistical literature. The failure to identify and report multicollinearity could result in misleading interpretations of the results. A review of epidemiological literature in PubMed from January 2004 to December 2013, illustrated the need for a greater attention to identifying and minimizing the effect of multicollinearity in analysis of data from epidemiologic studies. We used simulated datasets and real life data from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort to demonstrate the adverse effects of multicollinearity in the regression analysis and encourage researchers …

Volume 08, Meghan Enzinna, Casey Dawn Gailey, Raven Collins, Chiara Enriquez, Amelia Mcconnell, Alexander Morton, Emma Beckett, Leah G. Parr, Briana Adhikusuma, Taylor Embrey, Rowan Davis, Danielle Sisson, Bianca Cherry, Melissa Cacho, Chloe Woodward, Catherine Rollins, Carson Reeher, Landon Cooper, Haley Vasquez, Marlisha Stewart, Eric Whitehead, Sabrina Walker, James Bates

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Interim Dean Dr. Jennifer Apperson

Indigenous Peoples and the Modern Era by Meghan Enzinna

"Who Says": How Selena Gomez and the Scene Attempt to Subvert the Popular Standards of Beauty by Casey Dawn Gailey

Art by Raven Collins

Meltdown on Social Media: Amy's Baking Company Meets Kitchen Nightmares by Nathena Haddrill

Art by Chiara Enriquez

Design by Amelia Mcconnell

Worth More Than a Thousand Words: A Visual Rhetorical Discussion of Virtual Reality by Examining "Clouds Over Sidra" by Alexander Morton

Design by Emma Beckett

The Sonata: An Analysis of Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Minor, K. …

Cirrhosis And Advanced Fibrosis In Hispanics In Texas: The Dominant Contribution Of Central Obesity, Jingjing Jiao, Gordon P. Watt, Minjae Lee, Mohammad H. Rahbar, Kristina Vatcheva, Jen-Jung Pan, Joseph B. Mccormick, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, Michael Fallon, Laura Beretta

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Liver cirrhosis is a leading cause of death in Hispanics and Hispanics who live in South Texas have the highest incidence of liver cancer in the United States. We aimed at determining the prevalence and associated risk factors of cirrhosis in this population. Clinical and demographic variables were extracted for 2466 participants in the community-based Cameron County Hispanic Cohort in South Texas. Aspartate transaminase to Platelet Ratio Index (APRI) was used to predict cirrhosis in Cameron County Hispanic Cohort. The prevalence of cirrhosis using APRI≥2 was 0.94%, which is nearly 4-fold higher than the national prevalence. Using APRI≥1, the overall …

Liver And Other Gastrointestinal Cancers Are Frequent In Mexican Americans, Ariana L. Garza, Kristina Vatcheva, Jen-Jung Pan, Mohammad H. Rahbar, Michael Fallon, Joseph B. Mccormick, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background

Disease patterns in Mexican-American health-disparity populations differ from larger United States populations.

Aims

Determine frequency of gastrointestinal cancers in Mexican Americans.

Methods

We analyzed self-reported data from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort where we find high rates of risk factors for cancer: obesity (48.5%), diabetes (30.7%). Participants provided cancer histories about themselves and first and second degree relatives. Logistic regression models assessed risk factors. Frequencies of cancer sites were ranked and validated using concurrent age local cancer registry data.

Results

Among 9,249 individuals (participants and their relatives) there were 1,184 individuals with reports of cancer. Among cohort participants under …

Off The Lip Conference - Transdisciplinary Approaches To Cognitive Innovation. Conference Proceedings, Sue Denham, Michael Punt, Edith Doove, Martha Blassnigg, Raluca Briazu, Kathryn Francis, Agi Haynes, Guy Edmonds, Adam Benjamin, Matthew Emmett, Iris Garrelfs, Christopher B. Germann, Joanna Griffin, Diane Humphrey, Bryanna Lucyk, Christie Purchase, Rachel Sansone, Emily Baxter, Amy Ione, Frank Loesche, Abigail Jackson, Alexis Kirke, Eduardo Miranda, Luke Rendell, Simon Ingram, Yutaka Nakamura, Gi Taek Ryoo, Eugenia Stamboliev, Michael Straeubig, Chun-Wei Hsu, Pinar Oztop, Mihaela Taranu, Sundar Sarukkai, James Sweeting, Minami Hirayama

Off the Lip Conference - Transdisciplinary Approaches to Cognitive Innovation

The promise of cognitive innovation as a collaborative project in the sciences, arts and humanities is that we can approach creativity as a bootstrapping cognitive process in which the energies that shape the poem are necessarily indistinguishable from those that shape the poet. For the purposes of this conference the exploration of the idea of cognitive innovation concerns an understanding of creativity that is not exclusively concerned with conscious human thought and action but also as intrinsic to our cognitive development. As a consequence, we see the possibility for cognitive innovation to provide a theoretical and practical platform from which …

Depression In Mexican Americans With Diagnosed And Undiagnosed Diabetes, Rene L. Olvera, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch, Douglas E. Williamson, Kristina Vatcheva, Joseph B. Mccormick

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background: Depression and diabetes commonly co-occur; however, the strength of the physiological effects of diabetes as mediating factors towards depression is uncertain.

Method: We analyzed extensive clinical, epidemiological and laboratory data from n = 2081 Mexican Americans aged 35-64 years, recruited from the community as part of the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC) divided into three groups: Diagnosed (self-reported) diabetes (DD, n = 335), Undiagnosed diabetes (UD, n = 227) and No diabetes (ND, n = 1519). UD participants denied being diagnosed with diabetes, but on testing met the 2010 American Diabetes Association and World Health Organization definitions of diabetes. …

Bayesian Exponential Random Graph Modeling Of Whole-Brain Structural Networks Across Lifespan, Michel Sinke, Rick Dijkhuizen, Alberto Caimo, Cornelis Stam, Willem Otte

Articles

No abstract provided.

Hepatitis C Virus In Mexican Americans: A Population-Based Study Reveals Relatively High Prevalence And Negative Association With Diabetes, Gordon P. Watt, Kristina Vatcheva, Laura Beretta, Jen-Jung Pan, Michael Fallon, Joseph B. Mccormick, Susan P. Fisher-Hoch

School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence and risk factors for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in Mexican Americans living in South Texas. We tested plasma for the presence of HCV antibody from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC), a randomized, population-based cohort in an economically disadvantaged Mexican American community on the United States/Mexico border with high rates of chronic disease. A weighted prevalence of HCV antibody of 2·3% [n = 1131, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·2-3·4] was found. Participants with diabetes had low rates of HCV antibody (0·4%, 95% CI 0·0-0·9) and logistic regression revealed a statistically significant negative …

Voxel Based Morphometry In Optical Coherence Tomography: Validation & Core Findings, Bhavna J. Antony, Min Chen, Aaron Carass, Bruno M. Jedynak, Omar Al-Louzi, Sharon D. Solomon, Shiv Saidha, Peter Calabresi, Jerry L. Prince

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the human retina is now becoming established as an important modality for the detection and tracking of various ocular diseases. Voxel based morphometry (VBM) is a long standing neuroimaging analysis technique that allows for the exploration of the regional differences in the brain. There has been limited work done in developing registration based methods for OCT, which has hampered the advancement of VBM analyses in OCT based population studies. Following on from our recent development of an OCT registration method, we explore the potential benefits of VBM analysis in cohorts of healthy controls (HCs) and …