Digital Commons Network^™

Statins And The Risk Of Pancreatic Cancer: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of 2,797,186 Patients, Eryka Karbowska, Damian Swieczkowski, Aleksandra Gasecka, Michal Pruc, Kamil Safiejko, Jerzy R Ladny, Tomasz Kopiec, Milosz J Jaguszewski, Krzysztof J Filipiak, Zubaid Rafique, Lukasz Szarpak

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Statin use in many studies is related to the improvement of a patients' condition including reducing the risk of various malignancies. Herein, is a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the evidence on the association between statin therapy and the risk of the occurrence of pancreatic cancer, mainly in terms of decreased risk of developing pancreatic cancer among patients using statin therapy in the long-term perspective.

METHODS: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) were searched from database inception to December 1st, 2021. Random effect models were used to estimate summary odds ratios …

Lack Of Knowledge Of Antibiotic Risks Contributes To Primary Care Patients' Expectations Of Antibiotics For Common Symptoms, Lindsey A Laytner, Barbara W Trautner, Susan Nash, Roger Zoorob, Jennifer O Okoh, Eva Amenta, Kiara Olmeda, Juanita Salinas, Michael K Paasche-Orlow, Larissa Grigoryan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Patient expectations of receiving antibiotics for common symptoms can trigger unnecessary use. We conducted a survey (n = 564) between January 2020 to June 2021 in public and private primary care clinics in Texas to study the prevalence and predictors of patients' antibiotic expectations for common symptoms/illnesses. We surveyed Black patients (33%) and Hispanic/Latine patients (47%), and over 93% expected to receive an antibiotic for at least 1 of the 5 pre-defined symptoms/illnesses. Public clinic patients were nearly twice as likely to expect antibiotics for sore throat, diarrhea, and cold/flu than private clinic patients. Lack of knowledge of potential risks …

Characterization Of Mycelium Biocomposites Under Simulated Weathering Conditions, Nicholas Schultz, Ajimahl Fazli, Sharmaine Piros, Yuritzi Barranco-Origel, Patricia Dela Cruz, Dr Yanika Schneider

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Expanded polystyrene (EPS) remains a popular packaging material despite environmental concerns such as pollution, difficulty to recycle, and toxicity to wildlife. The goal of this study is to evaluate the potential of an ecofriendly alternative to traditional EPS composed of a mycelium biocomposite grown from agricultural waste. In this material, the mycelium spores are incorporated into cellulosic waste, resulting in a structurally sound biocomposite completely enveloped by mycelium fibers. One of the main criteria for shipping applications is the ability of a material to withstand extreme weather conditions. Accordingly, this study focused on evaluating a commercially available mycelium material before …

Chronic Pelvic Pain Among Transgender Men And Gender Diverse Adults Assigned Female At Birth, Diana M. Tordoff, Mitchell R. Lunn, Annesa Flentje, Diana Atashroo, Bertha Chen, Zubin Dastur, Micah E. Lubensky, Matthew Capriotti, Juno Obedin-Maliver

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background: There are limited data on pelvic pain among transgender men and gender diverse people, and the impact of testosterone on pelvic pain is poorly understood. Objective: Characterize the prevalence and correlates of chronic pelvic pain (CPP) among transgender men and gender diverse people and examine the association between testosterone use and CPP. Materials and methods: We used 2020–2022 data from The Population Research in Identity and Disparities for Equality (PRIDE) Study, an online prospective cohort study of sexual and gender minority adults in the United States, to conduct complementary cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Our primary outcome was self-reported CPP …

Electronic Vapor Products: Alarming Trends In United States Adolescents, Charles H Hennekens, Adedamola Adele, Maria C Mejia, Robert S Levine, Panagiota Kitsantas

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: The use of electronic vapor products (EVPs) increases the risks of nicotine addiction, drug-seeking behavior, mood disorders, and avoidable premature morbidities and mortality. We explored temporal trends in EVP use among US adolescents.

Methods: We used data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey for school grades 9 through 12 from 2015 (earliest available data) to 2021 (the most recently available data) from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (n=57,006).

Results: Daily use of EVPs increased from 2.0% in 2015 to 7.2% in 2019, a greater than 3.5-fold increase. Although the percentage decreased to 5.0% in 2021, it …

The 6 Degrees Of Curriculum Integration In Medical Education In The United States, Julie Youm, Jennifer Christner, Kevin Hittle, Paul Ko, Cinda Stone, Angela D Blood, Samara Ginzburg

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Despite explicit expectations and accreditation requirements for integrated curriculum, there needs to be more clarity around an accepted common definition, best practices for implementation, and criteria for successful curriculum integration. To address the lack of consensus surrounding integration, we reviewed the literature and herein propose a definition for curriculum integration for the medical education audience. We further believe that medical education is ready to move beyond “horizontal” (1-dimensional) and “vertical” (2-dimensional) integration and propose a model of “6 degrees of curriculum integration” to expand the 2-dimensional concept for future designs of medical education programs and best prepare learners to meet …

Perspectives From Cystinosis: Access To Healthcare May Be A Confounding Factor For Variant Classification, Chen-Han Wilfred Wu, Alicja Tomaszewski, Louisa Stark, Fernando Scaglia, Ewa Elenberg, Fredrick R Schumaker

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Genetic variability persists across diverse populations, and it may impact the characterization of heritable diseases in different ancestral groups. Cystinosis is a metabolic disease caused by pathogenic variants in the CTNS gene causing the cellular accumulation of cystine. We attempted to assess the currently poorly characterized prevalence of cystinosis by employing a population genetics methodology. However, we encountered a significant challenge due to genetic variations across different populations, and the consideration of potential disparities in access to healthcare made our results inconclusive. Pathogenic CTNS variants were identified in a representative global population cohort using The Human Gene Mutation Database (HGMD) …

A Mini Chalk Talk Workshop For Fourth-Year Medical Students: Facilitating The Transition From Student To Resident Educator, Trevor Jamison, Zaven Sargsyan, Uma Ayyala, Stephanie Sherman, Holland Kaplan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

INTRODUCTION: There is increasing recognition that incoming interns benefit from formal training in teaching skills during UME. Many medical schools have capstone courses well suited for teacher-training content. Mini chalk talks (MCTs) are a common clinical teaching modality requiring a variety of teaching skills. We developed a session for our institution's capstone course in which students prepared and delivered MCTs.

METHODS: The voluntary flipped classroom session was offered virtually in 2021 and in person in 2022. Before the session, students reviewed materials on creating effective MCTs and developed and practiced their own MCT. During the 90-minute session, students presented their …

Effect Of Fermentation, Malting And Ultrasonication On Sorghum, Mopane Worm And Moringa Oleifera: Improvement In Their Nutritional, Techno-Functional And Health Promoting Properties, Mpho Sebabiki Maleke, Oluwafemi Ayodeji Adebo, Jonathan Wilkin, Moira Ledbetter, Xi Feng, John Gieng, Tumisi Beiri Jeremiah Molelekoa

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background: Food processing offers various benefits that contribute to food nutrition, food security and convenience. This study investigated the effect of three different processes (fermentation, malting and ultrasonication) on the nutritional, techno-functional and health-promoting properties of sorghum, mopane worm and Moringa oleifera. Methods: The fermented and malted flours were prepared at 35°C for 48 h, and for ultrasonication, samples were subjected to 10 min at 4°C with amplitudes of 40–70 Hz. The biochemical, nutritional quality and techno-functional properties of the obtained flours were analysed using standard procedures. Results: Fermentation resulted in significantly lower pH and higher titratable acidity in sorghum …

Improving Field Education For Social Work In Vietnam: Intern Supervisors’ Perspectives Of The Current State And Potential Solutions, Megan Aikawa, Meekyung Han, Trang T. Nguyen, Linh Dinh, Minh Thanh Bui

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Research has identified challenges associated with the implementation of competency-based social work field education in Vietnam. However, there is limited information available from intern supervisors, who have unique perspectives at the crux of social work training and service delivery. An exploratory phenomenological qualitative approach was used to explore their experiences and perceptions through online interviews. Four categories were identified: diverse implementation of a common framework, rudimentary expectations and activities, challenges to implementation, and opportunities for improvement. These findings suggest that a multidimensional approach is needed, including improved collaborations between field agencies and universities to empower students, intern supervisors, and faculty.

Inactive Metallopeptidase Homologs: The Secret Lives Of Pseudopeptidases, Peter Lyons

Faculty Publications

Inactive enzyme homologs, or pseudoenzymes, are proteins, found within most enzyme families, that are incapable of performing catalysis. Rather than catalysis, they are involved in protein-protein interactions, sometimes regulating the activity of their active enzyme cousins, or scaffolding protein complexes. Pseudoenzymes found within metallopeptidase families likewise perform these functions. Pseudoenzymes within the M14 carboxypeptidase family interact with collagens within the extracellular space, while pseudopeptidase members of the M12 "a disintegrin and metalloprotease" (ADAM) family either discard their pseudopeptidase domains as unnecessary for their roles in sperm maturation or utilize surface loops to enable assembly of key complexes at neuronal synapses. …

Mitigating Risk: Predicting H5n1 Avian Influenza Spread With An Empirical Model Of Bird Movement, Fiona Mcduie, Cory T. Overton, Austen A. Lorenz, Elliott L. Matchett, Andrea L. Mott, Desmond A. Mackell, Joshua T. Ackerman, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Vijay P. Patil, Diann J. Prosser, John Y. Takekawa, Dennis L. Orthmeyer, Maurice E. Pitesky, Samuel L. Díaz-Muñoz, Brock M. Riggs, Joseph Gendreau, Eric T. Reed, Mark J. Petrie, Chris K. Williams

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Understanding timing and distribution of virus spread is critical to global commercial and wildlife biosecurity management. A highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIv) global panzootic, affecting 600 bird and mammal species globally and over 83 million birds across North America (December 2023), poses a serious global threat to animals and public health. We combined a large, long-term waterfowl GPS tracking dataset (16 species) with on-ground disease surveillance data (county-level HPAIv detections) to create a novel empirical model that evaluated spatiotemporal exposure and predicted future spread and potential arrival of HPAIv via GPS tracked migratory waterfowl through 2022. Our model was …

Navigating Enterprise Constraints: Building A Hybrid Multi-Modal Mobile Intelligent App, Ketan Malempati, Akshat Gupta, Kaikai Liu

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The promise of artificial intelligence (AI) has prompted various industries to explore how it can enhance their businesses and improve customer experiences. However, the practical deployment of AI services faces challenges due to internal infrastructure limitations, data policies, and network restrictions. In this paper, we present our current project - a solution designed to empower mental health centers with AI tools while adhering to stringent data and network constraints. Our approach involves deploying AI services and data within internal enterprise networks, while the customer-facing mobile app resides in the public cloud. We introduce a custom AI agent system that monitors …

Poor Nutrition Status Associated With Low Patient Satisfaction Six Months Into Treatment For Head And Neck/Esophageal Cancer Treatment: A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study, Adrianne M. Widaman, Andrew G. Day, Maggie A. Kuhn, Rupinder Dhaliwal, Vickie Baracos, Merran Findlay, Judith D. Bauer, Marian De Van Der Schueren, Alessandro Laviano, Lisa Martin, Leah Gramlich

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background: Patient-reported outcome measures have been associated with survival in oncology patients. Altered intake and malnutrition are common symptoms for patients treated for head and neck cancer and esophageal cancer (HNC/EC). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between patient-reported satisfaction with medical care and nutrition status. Methods: This prospective cohort study collected data from 11 international cancer care sites. Results: One hundred and sixtythree adult patients (n = 115 HNC; n = 48 EC) completed a patient satisfaction questionnaire (the Canadian Health Care Evaluation Project Lite) and were included. HNC/EC patient global satisfaction with medical care …

Public Libraries Encouraged To Meet The Health Information Needs Of Tribal Women In Bangladesh, Lili Luo

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Objective – To investigate public libraries’ existing community engagement practices, explore their willingness to provide health information services to tribal communities in Bangladesh, and examine tribal women’s health information-seeking behavior and interest in obtaining health information from public libraries. Design – A cross-sectional study using online interviews and structured questionnaires. Setting – Public libraries and tribal communities in tribal regions of Bangladesh. Subjects – Public librarians (n=11) and tribal women (n=276) from three tribal districts in Bangladesh (Bandarban, Khagrachari, and Mymensingh). Methods – Interviews were conducted with librarians via Zoom in January 2023. Survey questionnaires were distributed to a convenience …

Rescaling: Change Agency And The Emerging Geography Of Economic Relationships, Markus Grillitsch, Björn Asheim, Nichola Lowe, Sophie Kelmenson, Lea Fünfschilling, Karl Johan Lundquist, Yahia Mahmoud, Mikhail Martynovich, Pauline Mattsson, Magnus Nilsson, Johan Miörner, Torben Schubert

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In this paper, we propose a theoretical and conceptual framework for articulating and studying changes in the global economic landscape and illustrate this framework in the current context. The framework pivots around the notion of rescaling, which is interpreted from a human agency perspective. We disentangle three theoretically distinct dimensions of rescaling and show how they play together using concrete examples. The theoretical and conceptual framework links the intended and unintended consequences of globalisation to current rescaling efforts, and allows us to investigate when, why, and how changes to the geography of economic relationships occur.

Sample Sizes For 10 Types Of Qualitative Data Analysis: An Integrative Review, Empirical Guidance, And Next Steps, Amber Wutich, Melissa Beresford, H. Russell Bernard

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

There has been a recent explosion of articles on minimum sample sizes needed for analyzing qualitative data. The purpose of this integrated review is to examine this literature for 10 types of qualitative data analysis (5 types of saturation and 5 common methods). Building on established reviews and expanding to new methods, our findings extract the following sample size guidelines: theme saturation (9 interviews; 4 focus groups), meaning saturation (24 interviews; 8 focus groups), theoretical saturation (20–30+ interviews), metatheme saturation (20–40 interviews per site), and saturation in salience (10 exhaustive free lists); two methods where power analysis determines sample size: …

The Applicability Of Llms In Generating Textual Samples For Analysis Of Imbalanced Datasets, Saroj Gopali, Faranak Abri, Akbar Siami Namin, Keith S. Jones

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

In machine learning class imbalance is a pressing issue, where the model is biased towards the majority classes and underperforms in the minority classes. In textual data, the natural language processing (NLP) model bias significantly reduces overall accuracy, along with poor performance in minority classes. This paper investigates and compares the performance of transformer-based models, such as Multi-head Attention with the data levels and algorithmic levels approaches and BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) with LLM-based data augmentation. The research utilized the approaches, such as Random Over Sampler, Synthetic Minority Over-sampling Technique (SMOTE), SMOTEENN, data augmentation at word level, class …

The Role Of Intersectionality In Research On Teachers Of Color And Indigenous Teachers, Saili S. Kulkarni, Tanja Burkhard, David J. Johns

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This paper emphasizes the complexity and criticality of intersectionality in understanding the research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers (TOCIT). Cho and colleagues (2013) identified three dimensions of intersectional dialogues: how intersectionality has been used in research and teaching, how it has been used as a theory and methodology, and how it has been used in community organizations. As Cho and colleagues noted, what intersectionality does in theory is equally as important as what it does in practice. Therefore, we drew from the recently published Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers to highlight how intersectionality …

Youth Experiences In Gender–Sexuality Alliances Predict Academic Engagement But Not Disaffection Through Social–Emotional Wellbeing, V. Paul Poteat, Jerel P. Calzo, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Daniel Kellogg, Robert A. Marx, Abigail Richburg, Arthur Lipkin

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Experiences in gender–sexuality alliances (GSAs) could predict youth's academic engagement through improved social–emotional wellbeing (indicated by school belonging, hope, and positive and negative affect). This study utilized three waves of data, each spaced 2–3 months apart, among 627 youth (87% LGBQ+, 45% trans/nonbinary, 48% youth of color) ages 11–22 (Mage = 15.13) in 51 GSAs in the United States in 2021–2022. Greater peer responsiveness in the GSA predicted increased academic engagement through increased wellbeing overall and specifically through hope and decreased negative affect. Advisor responsiveness and GSA leadership correlated with wellbeing and academic engagement in bivariate analyses but were not …

Klebsiella Pneumoniae Carbapenemase Variant 44 Acquires Ceftazidime-Avibactam Resistance By Altering The Conformation Of Active-Site Loops, Zhizeng Sun, Hanfeng Lin, Liya Hu, Neetu Neetu, Banumathi Sankaran, Jin Wang, B V Venkataram Prasad, Timothy Palzkill

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase 2 (KPC-2) is an important source of drug resistance as it can hydrolyze and inactivate virtually all β-lactam antibiotics. KPC-2 is potently inhibited by avibactam via formation of a reversible carbamyl linkage of the inhibitor with the catalytic serine of the enzyme. However, the use of avibactam in combination with ceftazidime (CAZ-AVI) has led to the emergence of CAZ-AVI-resistant variants of KPC-2 in clinical settings. One such variant, KPC-44, bears a 15 amino acid duplication in one of the active-site loops (270-loop). Here, we show that the KPC-44 variant exhibits higher catalytic efficiency in hydrolyzing ceftazidime, lower …

Enhancing Diagnostic Accuracy: A Hybrid Approach To Mitigate Speckle And Rician Noise In Medical Images, Naveenkumar Jayakumar, Saurabh Saoji, Sagar V. Joshi, Hemlata Mane, Roshni Narkhede, Shrikant Jadhav

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

This research explores the detrimental effects of Rician and speckle noise in medical imaging, particularly within MRI and radiographic modalities. Such noise can significantly obscure critical details, potentially leading to misdiagnoses and inaccurate measurements. Rician noise candidly dangles on the signal strength. Removing this noise affects the origial information in image that makes this noise removal perplexing. On other hand speckle noise is visualised like granular clog in ultrasound imageries. It creates ambiguous details and edges in the images. To address this challenge, the study introduces a novel hybrid method implemented in Java. The method employs a frequency-based decomposition approach …

Characterization Of The Disease-Causing Mechanism Of Kif3b Mutations From Ciliopathy Patients, Jessica M. Adams, Caleb Sawe, Skye Rogers, Jordyn Reid, Ronith Dasari, Martin F. Engelke

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

The heterodimeric kinesin-2 motor (KIF3A/KIF3B with accessory protein KAP3) drives intraflagellar transport, essential for ciliogenesis and ciliary function. Three point mutations in the KIF3B subunit have recently been linked to disease in humans (E250Q and L523P) and Bengal cats (A334T) (Cogné et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet., 2020, 106, 893–904). Patients display retinal atrophy and, in some cases, other ciliopathy phenotypes. However, the molecular mechanism leading to disease is currently unknown. Here, we used Kif3a−/−;Kif3b−/− (knockout) 3T3 cells, which cannot make cilia, to characterize these mutations. While reexpression of KIF3B(E250Q) and KIF3B(L523P) did not rescue ciliogenesis, reexpression …

Drug Dealing And The Internal Morality Of Medicine, Matt Lamkin

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

Which practices qualify as “medical” in nature? This question has important legal implications. Every state has laws prohibiting the “unauthorized practice of medicine.” Health insurance policies generally limit coverage to procedures that are “medically necessary.” And physicians can be prosecuted as drug traffickers if they prescribe controlled substances without a “legitimate medical purpose.” Each of these questions—and many others—hinge on how medicine is defined.

As with many common terms, we all have a general understanding of what medicine is and this heuristic suffices to carry us through our daily lives without complication. Yet when called on to produce a precise …

Consumer Willingness-To-Pay For A Resilient Electrical Grid, Warigia M. Bowman, Dayton M. Lambert, Joseph T. Ripberger, Hank Jenkins-Smith, Carol L. Silva, Michael A. Long, Kuhika Gupta, Andrew Fox

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

The research objective is to estimate consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for electricity grid fortification. Data are from a representative survey of Oklahoma citizens. Extreme weather events, aging utility infrastructure, increased demand for affordable energy, and terrorism threaten the safety and security of the way most citizens access electricity. This study is a first look at public willingness to support energy grid security measures in the United States Southern Great Plains. Findings suggest that consumers would pay an additional $14.69 in monthly utility bills for a fortified grid. This WTP estimate is close to a recent energy bill hike of …

The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions: Deinstitutionalization And Mass Incarceration Nation, Corinna Barrett Lain

Law Faculty Publications

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and our failed implementation of deinstitutionalization inthe 1970s is a prime example of the point. In this symposium contribution-a response to Jeffrey Bellin's book MassIncarceration Nation-I offer a historical account of deinstitutionalization of state mental hospi­ tals, tracing how severelymentally ill patients were discharged from state hospitals and eventually made their way back to secure beds, but in our nation's jails and prisons instead. Mental health and mass incarceration are not separate crises, I argue, but rather inter­ connected problems with an interconnected past that require an interconnected …

Interest In Over-The-Counter Progestin-Only Pills Among Transgender, Nonbinary, And Gender-Expansive Individuals In The United States, Kate Grindlay, Juno Obedin-Maliver, Sachiko Ragosta, Jen Hastings, Mitchell R. Lunn, Annesa Flentje, Matthew R. Capriotti, Zubin Dastur, Micah E. Lubensky, Heidi Moseson

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background: In July 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first nonprescription oral contraceptive, a progestin-only pill, in the United States. Transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive people assigned female or intersex at birth face substantial contraceptive access barriers and may benefit from over-the-counter oral contraceptive access. However, no previous research has explored their perspectives on this topic. Objective: This study aimed to measure interest in over-the-counter progestin-only pill use among transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive individuals assigned female or intersex at birth. Study Design: We conducted an online, cross-sectional survey from May to September 2019 (before the US Food and …

Fuzzy Similarity Analysis Of Effective Training Samples To Improve Machine Learning Estimations Of Water Quality Parameters Using Sentinel-2 Remote Sensing Data, Alireza Taheri Dehkordi, Mohammad Javad Valadan Zoej, Ali Mehran, Mohsen Jafari, Amir Masoud Chegoonian

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Continuous monitoring of water quality parameters (WQPs) is crucial due to the global degradation of water quality, primarily caused by climate change and population growth. Typically, machine learning (ML) models are employed to retrieve WQPs, but they require a large amount of training samples to accurately capture the data relationships. Even with sufficient training data, discrepancies still exist between values of predicted and in-situ WQPs. This study proposes a fuzzy similarity analysis (FSA) technique to enhance ML estimates of WQPs by using the prediction errors in effective training samples. The method was successfully applied to retrieve turbidity (Turb) and specific …

Potential Use Of Poultry Farms By Wild Waterfowl In California's Central Valley Varies Across Space, Times Of Day, And Species: Implications For Influenza Transmission Risk, Claire S. Teitelbaum, Michael L. Casazza, Cory T. Overton, Jeffery D. Sullivan, Elliott L. Matchett, Fiona Mcduie, Austen A. Lorenz, Joshua T. Ackerman, Susan E.W. De La Cruz, Diann J. Prosser

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Interactions between wildlife and livestock can lead to cross-species disease transmission, which incurs economic costs and threatens wildlife conservation. Wild waterfowl are natural hosts of avian influenza viruses (AIVs), are often abundant near poultry farms, and have been linked to outbreaks of AIVs in poultry. Interspecific and seasonal variation in waterfowl movement and habitat use means that the risk of disease transmission between wild birds and poultry inevitably varies across species, space, and time. Here, we used GPS telemetry data from 10 waterfowl species in and near California's Central Valley, a region where both wild waterfowl and domestic poultry are …

Selective Partitioned Regression For Accurate Kidney Health Monitoring, Alex Whelan, Ragwa Elsayed, Alessandro Bellofiore, David C. Anastasiu

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The number of people diagnosed with advanced stages of kidney disease have been rising every year. Early detection and constant monitoring are the only minimally invasive means to prevent severe kidney damage or kidney failure. We propose a cost-effective machine learning-based testing system that can facilitate inexpensive yet accurate kidney health checks. Our proposed framework, which was developed into an iPhone application, uses a camera-based bio-sensor and state-of-the-art classical machine learning and deep learning techniques for predicting the concentration of creatinine in the sample, based on colorimetric change in the test strip. The predicted creatinine concentration is then used to …