Digital Commons Network^™

A Survey Of Earable Technology: Trends, Tools, And The Road Ahead, Changshuo Hu, Qiang Yang, Yang Liu, Tobias Röddiger, Kayla-Jade Butkow, Mathias Ciliberto, Adam Luke Pullin, Jake Stuchbury-Wass, Mahbub Hassan, Cecilia Mascolo, Dong Ma

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Earable devices, wearables positioned in or around the ear, are undergoing a rapid transformation from audio-centric accessories into multifunctional systems for interaction, contextual awareness, and health monitoring. This evolution is driven by commercial trends emphasizing sensor integration and by a surge of academic interest exploring novel sensing capabilities. Building on the foundation established by earlier surveys, this work presents a timely and comprehensive review of earable research published since 2022. We attempt to answer three core questions: (1) how has earable research evolved in recent years, (2) what enabling resources are now available, and (3) what opportunities remain for future …

Dementia, Advance Directives, And Second-Order Volitions, Rand Hirmiz

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This paper contributes to the ongoing debate over the authority of advance directives in cases where patients with dementia express desires that conflict with their earlier wishes. Drawing on Harry Frankfurt’s concept of second-order volitions, I argue that the preferences of the pre-dementia self (the “then-self”) should, in most cases, take precedence over those of the post-dementia self (the “now-self”) –  particularly in instances where the now-self has lost the capacity to form second-order volitions and is no longer able to meaningfully repudiate prior values and commitments.

The Interplay Between Osteosarcopenia And Intrinsic Capacity: Insights And Associations With All-Cause Mortality In The Toledo Study For Healthy Aging, Ivan Baltasar-Fernandez, Pedro L. Valenzuela, Irene Rodríguez-Gómez, Fabio Quiñonez-Bareiro, Luis M. Alegre, Konstantinos Prokopidis, Leocadio Rodriguez-Mañas, Ignacio Ara, Oscar Rosas-Carrasco, Lana J. Williams, Robinson Ramirez-Vélez, Julie A. Pasco, Guy Hajj-Boutros, Raman Agnihotram, Marc Sim, Wayne Lok Ok Choo, Mahdi Imani, Ana M. Ayala-Copete, Julia Chabot, Miguel G. Borda, Nailton J. Neto, Claire Godard-Sebillotte, Howard Bergman, Anna Andrianova, Hidenori Arai, Pierrette Gaudreau

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Osteosarcopenia—the coexistence of osteopenia/osteoporosis and sarcopenia—is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, but its association with intrinsic capacity (IC) remains unknown. We aimed to explore the associations of osteosarcopenia with IC and all-cause mortality in older adults. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of IC and a prospective analysis of all-cause mortality in 1142 participants from the Toledo Study for Healthy Aging (75.1 ± 6.0 years, 53.1% women). Participants were classified as having no musculoskeletal disorders, osteopenia/osteoporosis, sarcopenia, or osteosarcopenia (DXA- and EWGSOP2-based criteria). IC was operationalized as a composite score integrating locomotion, cognition, psychological, vitality, and sensory domains. …

Author Correction: Biallelic Variants In The Noncoding Rna Gene Rnu4-2 Cause A Recessive Neurodevelopmental Syndrome With Distinct White Matter Changes, Rocio Rius, Alexander J M Blakes, Yuyang Chen, Joachim De Jonghe, François Lecoquierre, Ruebena Dawes, Benjamin Cogne, Hyung Chul Kim, Javeria R Alvi, Florence Amblard, Morad Ansari, Annabelle Arlt, Christina Austin-Tse, Sarah Baer, Meena Balasubramanian, Elsa V Balton, Giulia Barcia, Ana Beleza-Meireles, Jonathan A Bernstein, Jasmin Beygo, Pierre Blanc, Nuria C Bramswig, Frederik Braun, Daniel Buchzik, Daniel G Calame, Jamie Campbell, Charles Coutton, Chloe A Cunningham, Nitsuh Dargie, Christel Depienne, Katrina M Dipple, Anne Dieux, Abhijit Dixit, Lauren Dreyer, Haowei Du, Salima El Chehadeh, Michael Field, Lisa J Ewans, Vanessa Geiger, Richard A Gibbs, Ian Glass, Olivier Grunewald, Paul Gueguen, Tobias B Haack, Hamza Hadj Abdallah, Radu Harbuz, Ingo Helbig, Judit Horvath, Alexander Hustinx, Bertrand Isidor, Marie-Line Jacquemont, Fraser Jamie, Médéric Jeanne, Riley Kessler, Hannah Klinkhammer, G Christoph Korenke, Urania Kotzaeridou, Peter Krawitz, Steven Laurie, Richard J Leventer, Rebecca J Levy, James R Lupski, Pierre Marijon, Kaitlin E Mcginnis, Rodrigo Mendez, Olfa Messaoud, Caroline Nava, Mevyn Nizard, Anne O'Donnell-Luria, Melanie C O'Leary, Simone Olivieri, Amitav Parida, Davut Pehlivan, Anna Jenne Prentice, Jennifer E Posey, Chloe M Reuter, Véronique Satre, Caroline Schluth-Bolard, Thomas Smol, Tipu Sultan, John Taylor, Christel Thauvin-Robinet, Julien Thevenon, Eloise Uebergang, Sandra Ueberberg, Catherine Vincent-Delorme, Evangeline Wassmer, Emma Westwood, Matthew T Wheeler, Elif Yilmaz Gulec, Adeline Vanderver, Arastoo Vossough, Stephan J Sanders, Siddharth Banka, Gregory M Findlay, Daniel G Macarthur, Cas Simons, Nicola Whiffin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

Climate-Driven Stochastic Modelling Of Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Transmission In Uganda, P. G. Kpatchana, J. Aduda, K. M. Agboka

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a climate-sensitive tick-borne zoonosis that remains a significant public health concern in Uganda, where temperature and vapour pressure deficit influence tick ecology and consequently disease transmission. This study aimed to develop and analyse a climate-driven stochastic model for CCHF transmission among ticks, livestock, and humans under environmental variability in Uganda. A compartmental transmission model was formulated and extended into a stochastic differential equation framework by incorporating multiplicative environmental noise. Climate-dependent tick recruitment, development, and mortality were parameterized using district-level temperature and vapour pressure deficit data to capture spatial heterogeneity in transmission risk. Theoretical analyses based …

Family Planning Exemplar Country Selection Methodology: Time Lag And Trends Analysis, Zahid Memon, Abeer Mian, Ira Martopullo, Narjis Hussain, Zeba Sathar, Ali Mohammad Mir, Michael Mbizvo, Marleen Temmerman, Jen Drake, Zulfiqar Bhutta

Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health

Introduction While many countries achieved notable gains in contraceptive use levels after the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development which redefined family planning (FP) as a human right, there was a long period of 15 years when contraceptive use levels did not receive due attention. It was only later that its subsequent inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2012 London Summit on FP renewed global commitment and a focus towards FP. This paper aims to select countries that identify as ‘exemplar’ low-middle-income countries that have achieved exceptional progress in FP. Examining these outliers can uncover actionable drivers …

Implicit Attitudes Toward Hearing Aid Visibility: Conspicuous Versus Inconspicuous Hearing Aid Colors, Orly R. Ames

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Hearing aid stigma remains a significant barrier to treatment uptake, with device visibility frequently identified as a contributing factor. Although prior research has examined visibility in relation to hearing aid size and style, the role of color as a distinct aesthetic dimension has not been systematically investigated. The present study assessed whether hearing aid color affects implicit and explicit attitudes toward hearing aids and whether such evaluations differ across contexts. Twenty-six adults who were not current hearing aid users participated in an online quantitative multi-method study consisting of an Implicit Association Test (IAT) and self-report questionnaires. The IAT measured implicit …

Reflections And Revisionism: Rethinking The U.S. Response To Covid-19, Wendy E. Parmet

Michigan Law Review

A review of In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us. By Stephen Macedo and Frances Lee.

Treatment Of Hemifacial Spasm With Endovascular Stenting Of The Vertebral Artery, Maximillian Feygin, Marcus Shee-Tzer Wong, Andrew Zhang, Ashwin Viswanathan, Omar Tanweer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background and importance: Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is a movement disorder characterized by involuntary spasms of the facial muscles that can lead to debilitating symptoms and is typically caused by vascular compression. Classically, microvascular decompression of the offending vessel is the gold standard; however, in certain cases, microvascular decompression may have increased risk because of patient comorbidities and underlying anatomy. In this report, we describe a unique endovascular approach with flow diversion for the treatment of HFS.

Clinical presentation: A 70-year-old woman presented to the clinic with a 5-year history of HFS on the right side progressing from the eye to …

Investigating The Correlation Between Scleral Spur Angle And Intraocular Lens Tilt, Dylan Mcbee, Karim Kozhaya, Li Wang, Douglas D Koch, Allison J Chen, Mitchell P Weikert

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose: To evaluate the correlation between the preoperative vertex-scleral spur angle (Vtx-SSA) and postoperative horizontal intraocular lens (IOL) tilt after routine cataract surgery.

Setting: Cullen Eye Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.

Design: Prospective case series.

Methods: This study enrolled patients who underwent uneventful phacoemulsification cataract extraction with IOL implantation. The Anterion and Eyestar 900 swept-source optical coherence tomographers (SS-OCTs) were used to determine Vtx-SSA and lens tilt (crystalline and IOL) measurements, respectively. Tilt vectors were decomposed into orthogonal, vertical, and horizontal components to explore preoperative correlations independently. The Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis were used to …

Whole Genome Sequencing Analysis Of Over 3500 Individuals Dementia-Free Over 85 Years Old, Gina M Peloso, Dongyu Wang, Sabrina M Abbruzzese, Joshua C Bis, Seung Hoan Choi, Alexa Beiser, Jan Bressler, Josée Dupuis, Alison E Fohner, Mohsen Ghanbari, Richard A Gibbs, Nancy Heard-Costa, M Arfan Ikram, Paul Lacaze, Quentin Le Grand, Oscar L Lopez, Thomas H Mosley, Moeen Riaz, Aïcha Soumaré, Amber Yaqub, Eric Boerwinkle, Bruce M Psaty, Myriam Fornage, Sudha Seshadri, Anita L Destefano

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND:

Identifying genetic variants conferring resilience to Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) may hold promise for developing therapeutics.

OBJECTIVE:

To determine genetic associations with being dementia-free at age 85 (DF85).

METHODS:

We examined genetic associations, using whole genome sequencing data, with DF85 in three Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine cohorts and the Alzheimer’s Disease Sequencing Project Phenotype Harmonization Consortium. We tested common variants individually and aggregation of rare (MAF≤1%) coding and non-coding variants in DF85 participants (n=3,657) against individuals who were not DF85 (n=20,010). We verified associations using a stricter control set who developed dementia before age 85 (n=5,552).

RESULTS: …

Transient Yap Activation Uncovers The Neurogenic Potential Of Proliferative Mammalian Müller Glia, English J Laserna, Irina V Saltykova, Benjamin M Hall, Xuefei Tong, Justin S Dhindsa, Borna Sarker, Ayrea E Hurley, Paul G Swinton, William R Lagor, Nicholas M Tran, James F Martin, Ross A Poché

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The Hippo pathway effector YAP promotes spontaneous proliferation of Müller glia (MG), suggesting that bypassing Hippo signaling and activating YAP could enhance retinal regeneration. However, whether proliferative adult MGs retain meaningful neurogenic competence remains unclear. Here, using viral delivery of a Hippo-resistant YAP variant to wild-type adult MGs, we achieved transient YAP activation in adult MGs, inducing proliferation followed by cell-cycle withdrawal and differentiation. Intersectional genetic lineage tracing and EdU labeling, combined with transcriptomic analyses, revealed that YAP-activated MGs predominantly regenerate MGs, whereas only a subset gives rise to bipolar cell-like neurons. These results indicate that proliferative MGs acquire a …

Plasticity And Language In The Anaesthetized Human Hippocampus, Kalman A Katlowitz, Eric R Cole, Elizabeth A Mickiewicz, Shraddha Shah, Melissa Franch, Joshua A Adkinson, James L Belanger, Raissa K Mathura, Domokos Meszéna, Matthew Mcginley, William Muñoz, Garrett P Banks, Sydney S Cash, Chih-Wei Hsu, Angelique C Paulk, Nicole R Provenza, Andrew J Watrous, Ziv Williams, Alica M Goldman, Vaishnav Krishnan, Atul Maheshwari, Sarah R Heilbronner, Robert Kim, Nuttida Rungratsameetaweemana, Benjamin Y Hayden, Sameer A Sheth

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Consciousness is a fundamental component of cognition1, but the degree to which higher-order pattern recognition relies on it remains disputed2,3. Here we demonstrate the persistence of oddball discrimination, semantic processing and online prediction in individuals under general-anaesthesia-induced loss of consciousness4,5. Using high-density Neuropixels microelectrodes6 to record both single-unit and local-field-potential neural activity in the human hippocampus while playing a series of tones to anaesthetized patients, we found that hippocampal neurons and local oscillations retained some detection of oddball tones. This effect size grew over the course of the experiment …

Curriculum Innovation: Neurocritical Care Eeg Rounds: A Model To Improve Neurology Resident Eeg Interpretation., Ellen Sylvie Sanchez Mas, Mitchell Lloyd Powell, Marco Malaga, Corey Elam Goldsmith, Rahul Damani, Lu Lin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background and purpose: Rural-urban disparities in neurological care have been well documented, but limited data exist regarding Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). This study examines differences in patient demographics, hospital characteristics, and outcomes among GBS admissions to rural versus urban hospitals in the United States.

Methods: Using the 2021 National Inpatient Sample, we conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult hospitalizations with a principal diagnosis of GBS. Hospitals were classified as rural or urban based on U.S. census designations. Multivariate logistic and linear regression models were used to assess associations between hospital location and outcomes, adjusting for demographic, clinical, and hospital-level factors. …

How To … Coach Problem Representation To Strengthen Diagnostic Reasoning In Trainees, Cody Clary, Adam Cohen, Satid Thammasitboon

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Problem representation (PR) is a concise synthesis of clinical information that captures the core diagnostic problem in a single statement, often referred to as a 'one-liner'. Although central to diagnostic reasoning, this skill is frequently underdeveloped in medical training. Many trainees struggle to transform clinical data into meaningful representations, which can hinder communication, diagnostic reasoning and patient safety. The Assessment of Reasoning Tool-Reconstructed (ART-R) provides a structured framework that educators can adapt as a coaching rubric to strengthen PR during clinical teaching. Using the ART-R, faculty can guide trainees to refine their PR by focusing on three elements: (1) clarity …

Ai In Healthcare: Regulatory Guidelines And Judge-Made Negligence Principles For Ai Implementers, Gary K. Y. Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare may, notwithstanding its potential benefits, result in harm to patients from allegedly negligent acts or omissions by hospitals and medical doctors. In such circumstances, how should the principles in the tort of negligence (duty of care, breach, causation, remoteness of damage, and defences) respond to AI innovations in healthcare? In particular, how may the standard of care expected of hospitals and medical doctors be informed by regulatory guidelines? We refer to case law precedents and regulatory guidelines on the roles and responsibilities of doctors and hospitals as AI implementers. Importantly, they prompt …

Chronic Conditions And Mortality In Medicare Beneficiaries Before And After The Covid-19 Pandemic, R J Waken, Fengxian Wang, Jose F Figueroa, Rishi K Wadhera, Khavya Avula, E John Orav, Anne Mobley Butler, Karen E Joynt Maddox

2020-Current year OA Pubs

IMPORTANCE: There were well-documented changes in health care use during the COVID-19 pandemic. Little is known about whether there were any associated decreases in claims-based comorbidity ascertainment that might have relevance to health services and policy research.

OBJECTIVE: To quantify differences in claims-based comorbidity assessment in Medicare beneficiaries pre- vs post-COVID-19.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the 30 Chronic Conditions Warehouse 1- or 2-year lookback claims algorithms to ascertain each comorbidity with exact date ranges for all fee-for-service (FFS) and Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries. Data were analyzed from April 2025 to April 2026.

EXPOSURES: The …

Rethinking Ethics For An Era Of Trusted Computational Tools, Kristin M Kostick-Quenet, Meghan Hurley, John Herrington, Eric A Storch

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Computer perception (CP) technologies are poised to deliver near real-time behavioral insights with high precision. As technical barriers recede, our field's ethical focus must shift from "Can we trust the data?" to "Should we use it here, and how?" We propose a contextual ethics framework that: (1) defines the appropriate scope of CP integration; (2) advocates codesigned roadmaps to manage expectations and epistemic conflict; (3) expands evaluation beyond performance metrics to humanistic outcomes; and (4) anticipates future high performance systems to safeguard dignity, empathy, and shared decision-making in clinical care.

Age-Related Increase In Plasma P-Tau217 In Amyloid-Beta–Negative Cognitively Unimpaired Individuals Affects Diagnostic Interpretation, Anna E. Mammel, Fernando Gonzalez-Ortiz, Ali Mousavi, Kelsey Hallett, Mary Encarnacion, Don Biehl, Pradip Gill, Sazan Ismael, Christopher Fowler, James D. Doecke, Larry Ward, Hans Frykman

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction: The extent to which non-pathological aging influences plasma biomarkers remains unclear. Here, we investigate factors influencing plasma p-tau217 levels in cognitively unimpaired (CU), amyloid-beta–negative (Aβ-) individuals. Methods: Plasma p-tau217 was measured in CU Aβ- positron emission tomography–negative (PET-) participants using two immunoassays (ALZpath n = 360 and LUMIPULSE G1200 n = 73). Associations between p-tau217 and age groups (60–69, 70–79, and 80+ years), apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, and gender were evaluated. Results: ALZpath plasma p-tau217 showed a non-pathological age-related increase (p < 0.001), and increased percentage within the intermediate zone with age. Lumipulse p-tau217 showed an increase in the percentage of subjects with positive results with age, however, this trend was not significant (p > 0.05). Men had higher levels of p-tau217 only with the ALZpath assay (p = 0.02; Lumipulse: p = …

Deficient Executive Control In Transformer Attention, Suketu Chandrakant Patel, Hongbin Wang, Jin Fan

Publications and Research

Although transformers in large language models (LLMs) effectively implement a self-attention mechanism that has revolutionized natural language processing, they lack an explicit architecture for the executive control of attention found in humans, which is essential for resolving conflicts and selecting relevant information in the presence of competing computations and is critical for adaptive behavior. To investigate the impact of this limitation in LLMs, we employed the classic color Stroop task, widely regarded as the gold standard, to test the executive control of attention in these models. Our results revealed a typical conflict effect of underperformance in terms of accuracy in …

Peripheral Neuromuscular Fatigue Responses Of The Knee Extensors To Distinct Concurrent Training Protocols: A Preliminary Study, Tomás T. Freitas, Elena Marín-Cascales, Cristian Marín-Pagán, Linda H. Chung, Antonio Martínez-Serrano, Nicola A. Maffiuletti, Anthony J. Blazevich, Pedro E. Alcaraz

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: This study aimed to investigate the extent and time course of peripheral neuromuscular fatigue of the knee extensors following different concurrent training protocols in recreationally active men. Methods: In a randomized, counterbalanced, crossover design, ten participants completed one exercise session of three concurrent exercise protocols in consecutive weeks and in similar resting conditions: traditional concurrent training (TCT), sprint interval training (SIT), and high-intensity resistance circuit training (HRC). Maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) and electrically evoked tetanic force of the knee extensors were assessed before, immediately after, and at 24 and 48 h following each exercise session. Linear mixed models …

Systematic Identification Of Cell-Cell Interactions Associated With The Severity Of Patients With Alzheimer’S Disease, Zijian Zhang, Naail Chowdhury, Jing Dong, Lang Wu, Chao Cheng

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex, multifactorial neurodegenerative disorder involving dysfunction across multiple brain regions. While accumulating evidence has implicated the roles of diverse cell types, including neurons, glia, and vascular cells in AD pathogenesis, it is still poorly understood how cell type interactions drive or respond to the disease progression and severity.

Objective

This study aimed to systematically characterize cell-type–specific alterations and intercellular communication changes associated with AD progression.

Methods

We leveraged the transcriptome profiling and a previously established statistical framework to present a comprehensive mapping of the cellular interaction landscape in the human brain of AD.

Results …

A Trans-Omics Gene-Smoking Interaction Study Of Lung Cancer Based On Consortium Data, Ning Xie, Xiaowen Xu, Yanru Wang, Aoxuan Wang, Xiang Wang, Xuan Wang, Mengsheng Zhao, Jiacheng Zhou, Yongyue Wei, Manel Esteller, Zhibin Hu, Hongbing Shen, Rayjean J Hung, Christopher I Amos, Yi Li, David C Christiani, Feng Chen, Yang Zhao, Ruyang Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Rationale: Genetically predicted molecular traits provide a cost-effective approach for identifying biomarkers and uncovering underlying biological mechanisms. We extended this framework to investigate gene-smoking interactions in lung cancer susceptibility.

Objectives: To identify trans-omics gene-smoking interactions affecting lung cancer risk and to assess how biomarkers modify effect of smoking.

Methods: We conducted the first trans-omics gene-smoking interaction study of lung cancer by integrating consortium-scale individual genotype data (27 737 cases vs 449 910 noncases) from the International Lung Cancer OncoArray Consortium (ILCCO-OncoArray), Transdisciplinary Research Into Cancer of the Lung (TRICL), Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO), and the …

Functional Genomics Studies Of Psychiatric Disorders In Individuals Of Latin American Populations: A Scoping Review, Luz M Porras, Isabelle Rodríguez-Lausell, Gabriel Iglesias-Maldonado, Emily Val F Tuliao, Gabriela Martínez, Chelsey Leveque, Julian Tobon, Rachel Eloy, Sintia Belangero, Cynthia M Bulik, Camila M Loureiro, Carolina Muniz Carvalho, Vanessa Ota, Diego Luiz Rovaris, Eric A Storch, Eva Maria Trujillo-Chi Vacuan, Maria M Velasquez, Latin American Genomics Consortium, Marcos L Santoro, Humberto Nicolini, Elizabeth G Atkinson, Janitza L Montalvo-Ortiz, Paola Giusti-Rodríguez

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Over the past 15 years, genetic studies of psychiatric disorders have provided important insight into the contribution of both common variants of small effect, as well as rare exonic and copy number variants with large effect sizes. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) allow us to understand the intricate polygenicity characteristic of many psychiatric disorders. However, a considerable proportion of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) implicated in these disorders localize to the non-coding regions of the genome. Unraveling the molecular mechanisms that underlie the etiology of psychiatric illnesses requires integration using functional genomics approaches. Functional genomics methods are critical for developing a mechanistic …

Fetal Instability And Resuscitative Management During Fetal Intervention: A Retrospective, Descriptive Analysis Of 245 Fetal Cardiac And Spina Bifida Procedures, Claire A Naus, Betul Yilmaz Furtun, Jessian L Munoz, Rebecca M Johnson, Carolyn A Altman, Michael A Belfort, Luc Joyeux, Alice King, David G Mann, Shaine Morris, Athar M Qureshi, Magdalena Sanz Cortes, William E Whitehead, Caitlin D Sutton

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: The heterogeneity of fetal surgery has led to variability in the nature and frequency of fetal instability. Understanding these differences is critical for optimizing management.

Methods: We reviewed all fetal atrial septal interventions (FASI) and fetoscopic myelomeningocele (fMMC) repairs with fetal instability performed at our institution between March 2012 and April 2025. We described and compared the frequency, timing, etiology, and management of fetal instability.

Results: During the study period, 28 unique patients underwent 35 FASI procedures, and 210 patients underwent fMMC repair. Fetal instability occurred in 51 of 245 cases (20.8%), with rates varying significantly by procedure type …

Classification Of Gck-Mody In A Child With Mild Hyperglycemia And Islet Autoantibody Positivity: A Diagnostic Challenge, Aman N Yarlagadda, Maria J Redondo, Toni I Pollin, Mustafa Tosur, Colleen O Jodarski, Jennifer J Bell

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

We report a 9-year-old female who presented with mild, persistent hyperglycemia, with hemoglobin A1c and oral glucose tolerance test results in the prediabetes range, relatively preserved C-peptide, and mildly positive glutamate decarboxylase 65 autoantibody levels. A strong family history of lean, noninsulin-dependent diabetes suggested a possible monogenic cause. Genetic testing with a 28-gene maturity-onset diabetes of the young (MODY) panel identified a heterozygous variant of uncertain significance in GCK (NM_000162.5:c.179C>T [p.Thr60Ile]). Following review by the ClinGen Monogenic Diabetes Variant Curation Expert Panel, the GCK variant was reclassified as pathogenic, confirming a diagnosis of glucokinase (GCK)-MODY/GCK-hyperglycemia, a stable …

Barrett’S Esophagus-Associated Genetic Loci In African Americans: A Case-Control Study Using The All Of Us Research Program, Ashwin Rao, Jinyoung Byun, Aaron P Thrift, Hashem B El-Serag

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background and aims: Barrett's esophagus is the only known precursor lesion to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Barrett's esophagus and EAC are less common in African Americans than in non-Hispanic Whites. Studies in European populations have identified Barrett's esophagus-associated risk loci; however, none have examined loci in African Americans cohorts. We conducted a case-control targeted replication study to investigate previously identified Barrett's esophagus risk loci in an African Americans cohort in the All of Us (AoU) Research Program.

Methods: We abstracted phenomic and genomic data from 108 African Americans with Barrett's esophagus and 778 African Americans controls in the AoU database. We …

Matching-Adjusted Indirect Comparison Of Acoltremon Ophthalmic Solution 0.003% And Cyclosporine 0.05% Ophthalmic Emulsion For Increased Tear Production In Patients With Dry Eye Disease, Stephen Pflugfelder, Tony Okoro, Margaret Ainslie-Garcia, Anja Haltner, Emily K Prentiss, Elizabeth M Salvo-Halloran, Nikethana Srikanth, Michelle Senchyna, Esen K Akpek

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

A Predictive Coding Account Of Spatial Working Memory Following Prophylactic Levetiracetam Administration Prior To Traumatic Brain Injury, Omeima Mutwali

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) symptom prevention and remediation is an important area of research that would benefit vulnerable groups, including active-duty and veteran soldiers. These patients can sustain penetrative forces in fields of combat or in training, which result in focal lesions that trigger inflammatory and degenerative processes in the brain. Both primary and secondary injuries are associated with changes to cognition, behavior and affective state. This disease poses increased risk of epileptogenesis, as well. Given these outcomes, prior research has evaluated levetiracetam (LEV) as a prophylactic treatment for seizures, cognitive deficits and negative emotionality. LEV acts as a presynaptic …

Kanak-Ish Misfits: Queer Imaginaries, Racialized Borders, And The Politics Of Care In Berlin, Germany, Faruk Seref

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines queer Muslim experiences of border politics, racialization, and care in Berlin, Germany. By formulating bordering as a domineering and oppressive practice of boundary-making, I study how global bordering mechanisms shape and disrupt structures of care, caring, and being cared for. With an intersectional focus on race, gender, sexuality, and sex, I argue that borders are simultaneously materialized and challenged in varying localities, including the nightclub, the queer scene, the diasporic neighborhoods, and households. Ultimately, viewing collective care as fundamental to survival, healing, resistance, and building non-punitive lifeworlds, I theorize the counter-hegemonic practices of queers of color through …