Digital Commons Network^™

Para-Infectious Brain Injury In Covid-19 Persists At Follow-Up Despite Attenuated Cytokine And Autoantibody Responses, Benedict D Michael, Cordelia Dunai, Edward J Needham, Kukatharmini Tharmaratnam, Robyn Williams, Yun Huang, Sarah A Boardman, Jordan J Clark, Parul Sharma, Krishanthi Subramaniam, Greta K Wood, Ceryce Collie, Richard Digby, Alexander Ren, Emma Norton, Maya Leibowitz, Soraya Ebrahimi, Andrew Fower, Hannah Fox, Esteban Tato, Mark A Ellul, Geraint Sunderland, Marie Held, Claire Hetherington, Franklyn N Egbe, Alish Palmos, Kathy Stirrups, Alexander Grundmann, Anne-Cecile Chiollaz, Jean-Charles Sanchez, James P Stewart, Michael Griffiths, Tom Solomon, Gerome Breen, Alasdair J Coles, Nathalie Kingston, John R Bradley, Patrick F Chinnery, Jonathan Cavanagh, Sarosh R Irani, Angela Vincent, J Kenneth Baillie, Peter J Openshaw, Malcolm G Semple, Covid-Cns Consortium, Isaric4c Investigators, Leonie S Taams, David K Menon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To understand neurological complications of COVID-19 better both acutely and for recovery, we measured markers of brain injury, inflammatory mediators, and autoantibodies in 203 hospitalised participants; 111 with acute sera (1-11 days post-admission) and 92 convalescent sera (56 with COVID-19-associated neurological diagnoses). Here we show that compared to 60 uninfected controls, tTau, GFAP, NfL, and UCH-L1 are increased with COVID-19 infection at acute timepoints and NfL and GFAP are significantly higher in participants with neurological complications. Inflammatory mediators (IL-6, IL-12p40, HGF, M-CSF, CCL2, and IL-1RA) are associated with both altered consciousness and markers of brain injury. Autoantibodies are more common …

Pediatric Necrobiotic Xanthogranuloma As A Novel Phenotype Of Ikaros Gain Of Function, Rachel Guess, George Harocopos, Jeffrey J Bednarski, Lynn M Hassmann, Tarin M Bigley

2020-Current year OA Pubs

No abstract provided.

Effectiveness And Safety Of Different Estradiol Regimens In Transgender Women (Treat Study): Protocol For A Randomized Controlled Trial, Samuel Cortez, Dominic Moog, Christopher Lewis, Kelley Williams, Cynthia Herrick, Melanie Fields, Teddi Gray, Zhaohua Guo, Ginger Nicol, Thomas Baranski

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Current guidelines for gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) for transgender women are mostly based on clinical experience from experts in the field and treatments used on postmenopausal women. While care is currently provided with the best available evidence, there is a critical gap in knowledge about the safest and most effective estradiol routes of administration for GAHT in transgender women; this statement is supported by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health on their Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, version 8. Furthermore, the reported rates of cardiometabolic adverse events in transgender women highlight …

Cohesion: A Core Outcome Set For The Treatment Of Neonatal Encephalopathy, Fiona A. Quirke, Shabina Ariff, Malcolm R. Battin, Caitlin Bernard, Linda Biesty, Frank H. Bloomfield, Mandy Daly, Elaine Finucane, Maira Niaz, Farhana Tabassum

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Heterogeneity in outcomes reported in trials of interventions for the treatment of neonatal encephalopathy (NE) makes evaluating the effectiveness of treatments difficult. Developing a core outcome set for NE treatment would enable researchers to measure and report the same outcomes in future trials. This would minimise waste, ensure relevant outcomes are measured and enable evidence synthesis. Therefore, we aimed to develop a core outcome set for treating NE.
Methods: Outcomes identified from a systematic review of the literature and interviews with parents were prioritised by stakeholders (n = 99 parents/caregivers, n = 101 healthcare providers, and n = 22 …

Enhancing Diversity And Inclusion In Computer Science Undergraduate Programs: The Role Of Admissions, Ouldooz Baghban Karimi, Giulia Toti, Mirela Gutica, Rebecca Robinson, Lisa Zhang, James Paterson, Peggy Lindner, Michael O'Dea

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Despite continued efforts to further the participation of women in Computer Science (CS), progress has been limited during the past decades. Recent efforts have been focused on recruitment and retention, with a notable gap in exploring the impact of admissions processes on diversity and inclusion. Through an extensive literature review, contextual analysis of public admissions data from 40 universities across four regions around the world, and qualitative and quantitative analysis on surveys and interviews, we explored the role of admissions in enhancing diversity and inclusion in CS undergraduate programs. Our findings highlight the role of financials, the possible positive effects …

First Destination Survey 2023: For Degrees Awarded December 2022-August 2023, Hart Career Center, Illinois Wesleyan University

First Destination Survey

No abstract provided.

Matter Of 101 E. 16th St. Realty Llc V. New York State Div. Of Hous. & Community Renewal

All Decisions

For a Judgment Pursuant to CPLR article 78.

Where I Am From Matters: Factors Influencing Behavioral And Emotional Changes In Autistic Individuals During Covid-19 In Latin America, María Cecilia Montenegro, Ana C. Ramirez, Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez, Bianca T. Villalobos, Gabriela Garrido, Cecilia Amigo, Daniel Valdez, Natalia Barrios, Sebastián Cukier, Cecilia Montiel-Nava

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic brought an increased incidence of disease and mortality in the world at large, making it a particularly salient and stressful life event. For those individuals residing in Latin America, the pandemic was met with fragmented healthcare systems, economic downturn, and sociopolitical crisis which puts autistic individuals at risk for more detrimental outcomes. Behavioral and emotional challenges experienced by autistic individuals at the beginning of the pandemic could later develop into more severe symptomatology as the pandemic progresses. The present study aimed to explore changes in dysregulated (overt and internalizing) behaviors and preoccupation with getting sick during …

Data-Driven Approaches To System Analysis And Control Design, Minh Vu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, we study the integration of data and computational methods in nonlinear system analysis and control design. In the first part of this thesis, we develop a constructive framework for designing a set of candidate functions from data such that desired control-theoretic conditions are satisfied. This new design framework is aimed at offering a general data-driven approach to a number of problems in systems and control, including stability analysis, stabilization, and safety-critical control designs. The second half of the thesis focuses on the specific problem of designing a point-to-point steering, which is often considered in many practical control …

How To Peer Review A Neurology Education Manuscript, Daniel G Di Luca, Steven M Lazar, Preeta Gupta, Marie Charmaine S Lukban, Cole Crowson, Dara V F Albert, Jeremy J Moeller, Andres Fernandez, Andrew M Southerland, Zachary London

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Peer review is an essential process in scientific research, ensuring the comprehensiveness, accuracy, and suitability of manuscripts for publication. Neurology education research differs from biomedical clinical research in several ways. These differences encompass specific paradigms, the use of theoretical frameworks, and different methodological approaches. Despite the high number of studies and journal publications on neurology education, there is a dearth of resources and guidance on how to perform a formal review on this specific literature. This article aims to review the distinctive features of neurology education from clinical research while proposing an organizational framework and model for performing peer reviews …

Education Research: Virtual Patient Management Conference For Epilepsy Surgery In The Post-Covid-19 Era: An Educational Perspective, Thomas Pecha, Sharonya Shetty, Abhishek Kengen, Jay Gavvala, Atul Maheshwari

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this study was to assess the potential educational value of a virtual patient management conference (PMC) with the introduction of inclusive anonymous polling at a comprehensive epilepsy center. The secondary objective was to evaluate differences between faculty and trainee polling results.

METHODS: Two online surveys were sent 1 year apart seeking opinions about a transition to virtual PMC and completed by virtual PMC faculty participants (including representatives from neurology, neurosurgery, and neuropsychology). One online survey was sent to trainees (medical students, residents, and fellows) to assess the educational value of the conference. Anonymous …

Divergent Self-Assembly Of Block Heterochiral Stereoisomer Arrays, Conor Louis O'Neill

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The autonomous organization of parts into ordered architectures, or biomolecular self-assembly, is an elementary natural process that defines and guides the construction and function of living organisms. This phenomenon has emerged as a potent tool for the creation of novel biomaterials, with peptide-based instances benefitting from intrinsic modularity, ease of de novo design and synthesis, biocompatibility, and chemical versatility. These properties enable methodical modifications that generate suprastructures with a wide variety of morphologies and functionalities, supporting a broad range of biomedical applications. Further, the chiral nature of amino acids permits synthesis of either left- or right-handed peptides; in recent years, …

The Development And Validation Of Novel Imaging Biomarkers For Uterine Contraction, Cervix And Placenta In Pregnancy, Wenjie Wu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Annually, nearly half a million neonates in the United States and 15 million globally are born preterm, defined as prior to 37 completed weeks of gestation. These births present elevated risks of neonatal mortality and long-term neurological deficits. The predominant obstetric precursors of preterm birth (PTB) include spontaneous preterm labor (45%), medically-indicated deliveries (30%), and preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM, 25%). Each precursor is associated with distinct physiological or structural alterations such as uterine contractions, placental dysfunction, or cervical insufficiency. Current methodologies for monitoring uterine contractions, such as intrauterine pressure catheters and electrohysterography, possess limitations in spatial resolution, coverage, …

Mechanisms And Prevention Of Antibiotic Resistant Organism Spread In Hospitals, Erin P. Newcomer

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Our quest as a species to treat and prevent disease has led us to develop medical care that would have been inconceivable even one century ago. However, as we learn to overcome previous roadblocks, new hurdles that we hadn’t even considered continue to present themselves. Once we learned to understand the germ theory of disease, we sought treatments for infectious diseases, which led us to the development of antibiotics. Antibiotics are responsible for saving countless lives and have ushered in the advances in other fields of medicine like cancer treatment and surgery. Now, antibiotic resistance threatens our ability to treat …

Interpretable Deep Learning Via Sparse Representation For Protein-Dna Interactions, Shane Kuei-Hsien Chu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

A central theme in modeling in regulatory genomics is to consider what representation is suited for DNA sequences that give the most helpful information. Traditionally, there are k-mers, position-weight-matrices, parametric statistical models like Hidden Markov models, and, more recently, deep neural network. In this work, we introduce sparse representations as a principled framework for problems in regulatory genomics. We show that sparse representation is a framework that allows us to build techniques to answer challenging inferential questions in regulatory genomics. Leveraging sparse representations, we reveal that gapped and long motifs are prevalent in in-vivo datasets like ChIP-Seq, often corresponding to …

Improving And Integrating Quantitative Single Cell Spatial Biology For Theranostic Medicine, Peng Lu

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Disease states are the result of a complex interplay of many different cell types interacting in close proximity in the context of often heterogeneous tissues. Alpha particles are drawing intense research and clinical interest because of their potent cytotoxic effects and their short path lengths. Analyzing the dose distribution and tissue micro-environment for alpha therapy plays a key role in predicting the efficacy of this targeted radiotherapy. However, to date there have been no direct on-tissue analytical methods for alpha dose distributions and the corresponding tissue microenvironments. Therefore, we have developed a pipeline to overcome this limitation by utilizing quantitative …

The Mechanobiology Of Cell Plasticity, Yuan Hong

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The cell is a sophisticated machine, integrating chemical and physical inputs to decide upon the mechanobiological outputs that the body requires every second, in cardiomyocytes that make heartbeats, in fibroblasts that heal wounds, and in sarcomeres that contract muscles. Malfunction of mechanotransduction or mechanical inputs is implicated in diseases such as fibrosis, cancers, and cardiomyopathies, and a pressing quest is underway to unravel the intricacies of how mechanical force orchestrates the activation of cells. This dissertation explores these fundamental mechanisms of cell activation using integrated mathematical and engineered cell culture models. The work begins with the discovery that the directionality …

Deep Representation Learning For Clinical Predictive Models, Bing Xue

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

In the era of digital health, Electronic Health Records (EHR) integrate clinical data from various sources, presenting a wealth of information across multiple modalities. While this abundance allows for comprehensive patient characterization, the intricate nature and high dimensionality of EHR data pose challenges for clinicians, particularly in the dynamic landscape of clinical decision-making. This dissertation delves into the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to automate risk identification and provide decision support in clinical settings. The research unfolds in three key contributions. First, we investigate ML's potential in constructing a multi-modal framework for generating informative risk assessments. …

Decentralized Computing For Reliable Home Automation, Rahav Dor

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Smart homes are distributed systems that should provide reliable home automation services. Distributed controllers have been used to improve the reliability of smart homes. However, despite the redundancy in controllers, the reliability of smart homes is hindered by the unreliable network infrastructure comprising home Wi-Fi and low-power wireless networks. As a result, smart homes cannot be trusted with much more than casual automation to date. This dissertation identifies the limitations of traditional fault-tolerant approaches that require inter-controller coordination over an unreliable network infrastructure. A new class of decentralized control paradigm named Banyan, with fully autonomous controllers, is introduced by this …

Desmoglein-2 As A Cancer Modulator: Friend Or Foe?, Kay Myo Min, Charlie Ffrench, Barbara Mcclure, Michael Ortiz, Emma Dorward, Michael Samuel, Lisa Ebert, Mỹ Mahoney, Claudine Bonder

Department of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Desmoglein-2 (DSG2) is a calcium-binding single pass transmembrane glycoprotein and a member of the large cadherin family. Until recently, DSG2 was thought to only function as a cell adhesion protein embedded within desmosome junctions designed to enable cells to better tolerate mechanical stress. However, additional roles for DSG2 outside of desmosomes are continuing to emerge, particularly in cancer. Herein, we review the current literature on DSG2 in cancer and detail its impact on biological functions such as cell adhesion, proliferation, migration, invasion, intracellular signaling, extracellular vesicle release and vasculogenic mimicry. An increased understanding of the diverse repertoire of the biological …

Lead In Paint-Contaminated Residential Soils With Varying Physicochemical Properties From Three Large Us Cities: Assessment Of Geochemical Forms And Recommendations On Amendments For Immobilization, Hadeer Saleh, Dibyendu Sarkar, Washington Braida, Steve Larson, Rupali Datta

Michigan Tech Publications

Lead in yard soils has been recognized as the principal source of excess lead absorption among young children. The hazard imposed by soil lead is dependent on the geochemical forms of lead in soils. Soil properties such as pH, soil organic matter, clay, and carbonate content influence the geochemical forms of lead in soil. This study was conducted to investigate the correlation between soil properties and the geochemical speciation of lead in lead paint-contaminated residential soils from three major US cities. A comprehensive field survey was conducted, involving the collection of soils from ten houses in each of the cities: …

A New Hypothesis Describing The Pathogenesis Of Oral Mucosal Injury Associated With The Mammalian Target Of Rapamycin (Mtor) Inhibitors, Alessandro Villa

All Publications

It has been 24 years since rapamycin (sirolimus) was approved to mitigate solid organ transplant rejection and 16 years since mTOR (mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin) inhibitors reached patients as a cancer therapy. While the clinical benefits of mTOR inhibitors (mTORi) are robust, so too are their toxicities. Among the most common issues is the development of ulcers of the oral mucosa (mTOR-inhibitor associated stomatitis; mIAS). These lesions are distinct from those of other anti-cancer agents, occur with regularity, and impact patient outcomes. mIAS' pathogenesis has been the subject of speculation, and its similar presentation to recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) has …

Leveraging Mhealth To Mitigate The Impact Of Covid-19 In Black American Communities: Qualitative Analysis, Kelly M Harris, Tilicia Mayo Gamble, Madelyn G Yoo, Lindsay A Spell, Timira N Minor, Holly Jones, Donald Lynch

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 remains an ongoing public health crisis. Black Americans remain underrepresented among those vaccinated and overrepresented in both COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. Medical misinformation, specifically related to COVID-19, has exacerbated the impact of the disease in Black American communities. Communication tools and strategies to build relationships and disseminate credible and trustworthy diagnostic and preventative health information are necessary to improve outcomes and equity for historically oppressed populations.

OBJECTIVE: As the initial phase of a larger mixed methods project to develop, pilot, and evaluate a mobile health (mHealth) intervention among a population at high risk for COVID-19 and cardiovascular comorbidities, …

A New Methodology To Determine The Orifice For Root Canal Configurations In First Permanent Molar Root And Canal Morphologies Using Micro-Computed Tomography, Casper Hendrik Jonker, Guy Lambourn, Anna Catherina Oettlé, Federico Foschi, Charlotte Theye, Ericka Noelle L’Abbé

Peninsula Dental School

Background: The distinction between where the pulp chamber ends and the root canal system begins is poorly defined within the existing literature. Methods: This paper aimed to describe a range of accurate methods to define the transition from pulp chamber to root canal in different first molar root morphologies using micro-focus computed tomography (micro-CT). Methods: The sample consisted of 86 mandibular and 101 maxillary first molars from the skeletal collections housed in the Department of Anatomy and Histology of the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University and the Pretoria Bone Collection. A stepwise approach using the cemento–enamel junction (CEJ) and dedicated …

Techniques To Prevent Organizations And End Users From Receiving Marketing Emails, Suresh Gopathy, Gajendar Pandey

Defensive Publications Series

Marketing companies typically maintain databases of reachable and valid email addresses, which they use to send marketing emails. Typically, a Secure Mailbox (SM) or Secure Email Gateway (SEG) for an organization accepts unsolicited emails and then handles the emails by allowing or dropping such emails based on various handling policies configured for the organization. However, such email handling typically does not curb the sender's behavior from continuing to send such emails. Provided herein are techniques through which an SM/SEG can bounce unsolicited emails sent to an organization's domain back to the sender, thereby increasing the bounce rate (percentage) of such …

Technology And Mental Health Counseling, Hanna Cespedes, Elizabeth Robey, Tyler Wilkinson

Journal of Technology in Counselor Education and Supervision

The use of technology in the field of mental health has been an increasing interest of study and utilization in recent years, especially during and after the Covid 19 pandemic in which social distancing practices were encouraged to limit the spread of the virus. During this time, the use of technology for health-related appointments became vital as many offices shut down and/ or had limited in-person access. Furthermore, technology has already been integrated and researched significantly in other areas of the healthcare fields such as psychiatry and nursing. However, there is a lack of understanding of the role of technology …

Boeing Co: Ethical Failures And Business Scandals, Bahia Benabbad Touirs

Journal of Global Awareness

Recent advances in technology have completely changed people’s outlook on the world. Instant access to limitless information has revamped consumer behavior and expectations from the companies they interact with; therefore, social responsibility has become a crucial talking point in the business world as customers increasingly monitor their actions. A recent study showed that 70% of consumers want to know how brands are addressing social and environmental issues, and 46% of consumers believe it plays a decisive factor in their purchasing decision process (Duan, Hofer, & Aloysius, 2021). Even though this has its effects in every industry, this paper will focus …

Social Engineering Cyber Threats, Young B. Choi, Josh Rubin

Journal of Global Awareness

The article explores the pervasive threat of social engineering in cybersecurity, emphasizing its success in infiltrating information systems by manipulating individuals rather than employing traditional hacking methods. The author underscores the vulnerability arising from human trust, as individuals, especially those lacking technology education, tend to be targets. While cryptography offers partial security, social engineering complicates overall system security. Mitigation strategies include educating employees on threats, risks, and security policies, coupled with enforcing penalties for noncompliance. Additionally, employing two-factor authentication and physical token-based access adds layers of protection. The article delves into semantic attacks, classifying various exploitation methods and emphasizing the …

Apple: Global Ethics And Transformational Leadership, Bisma Ahmed

Journal of Global Awareness

Apple Inc. is an American technological company that designs, manufactures, and sells various products such as laptops, phones, accessories, streaming services, licensing services, and so much more. The paper explores the corporate responsibility and unethical business practices that arise from the global sourcing of Apple’s products. The company established many relationships with suppliers in East Asia to meet the rigorous demands of consumers, promising high-quality products at the expense of factory workers. However, global sourcing comes with unethical business practices. There have been various cases against Apple’s suppliers. This research highlights unfair working conditions, overworking employees, and environmental pollution that …

Impact Of Covid-19 Pandemic On Marketing Of Education, Shreekant Joag

Journal of Global Awareness

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many schools to partially or totally switch to remote communication methods for delivering education in the years 2020-2021. It is believed that forced compliance with unfamiliar and even unpreferred modes of behavior can have a profound and lasting impact on people’s attitudes and opinions toward the behavior itself because of first-hand exposure and experience. It is, therefore, possible that this experience with remote teaching and learning could have materially changed both instructors’ as well as students’ attitudes toward remote delivery of education. Such changed attitudes may predict their future choices and behavior.

This paper will present …