Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Femalized Kinesthetic Learning Model On African American Middle School Girls’ Career Interest, Mercy F. Fash, Andrea Ofori-Boadu

Journal of Global Education and Research

Engaging African American middle school girls in out-of-school-time (OST) Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) programs can boost interest in male-dominated AEC careers. This study adopts Lent’s Social Cognitive Career Theory to evaluate the impact of an OST feminized AEC kinesthetic learning model (fAEC-KLM) on the career interests of this demographic. Through a qualitative research approach, fourteen (14) African American middle school girls from Guilford County, NC, completed pre- and post-interviews on how fAEC-KLM interactions influenced their AEC career interests. Inductive thematic analysis was carried out on transcribed interviews. Results show that effective components, such as lectures on AEC, bridge construction …

Development Of An Automated Platform For Cell Biology Experiments, Dipendra Nepal

Shelby Hall Graduate Research Forum Posters

Cell biology experiments involve repetitive tasks such as pipetting, sample preparation, and imaging, which are typically performed manually. These manual processes can introduce variability, reduce efficiency, and increase the cost of biomedical research. To address these challenges, our lab is developing a modular robotic platform, iEye™, to automate key steps in cell biology workflows [1]. The system is designed as self-contained modules, allowing flexible development and integration of different functionalities. In this work, we focus on a sample preparation module that integrates a 6-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, a motorized stage, and a pneumatic pipetter. This module is being developed to automate …

Deconstructing Digital Disinformation: Social Media Data Preparation And Analysis For Healthcare Research, Russell W. Cantrell, Matt Campbell

Shelby Hall Graduate Research Forum Posters

The spread of medical misinformation poses significant threats to public health, healthcare system stability, and the quality of patient care. Our research examines misinformation targeting the U.S. healthcare system. It uses a mixed-methods approach that includes social media data analysis, surveys of practicing nurses, and agent-based simulation. This poster focuses on the initial phase, which attempts to detect potential misinformation and disinformation by analyzing patterns in social media posts and user account behaviors. A detailed account of the data preparation process lays the groundwork for examining how disinformation operates online. This phase draws on the Pushshift repository, which offers historical …

Brain Computer Interfaces: Enhancing Low-Cost Eeg Performance Through Deep, Anwar Rassoul

Shelby Hall Graduate Research Forum Posters

The field of Brain Computer Interfacing (BCI) has traditionally been confined to clinical and research environments due to the high cost and complexity of medical-grade EEG systems. However, the emergence of low-cost hardware exemplified has catalyzed a shift toward accessible, portable BCI applications. While these devices lower the barrier to entry for developers and researchers, they often suffer from a lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This increased noise makes it difficult to extract the clean neural signatures required for high-accuracy control, particularly when operating in non-shielded, real-world environments.

This research focuses on Steady-State Visually Evoked Potentials (SSVEP), a robust BCI paradigm …

Peaks Island Star : March 2026, Vol. 46, Issue 3, Service Agencies Of The Island

Peaks Island Star, 2026

The Peaks Island Star is the newsletter of the island's service agencies and other community news.

Trophic Structure And Mercury Bioaccumulation In Walleye And Yellow Perch In The Upper And Lower Red Lake Basins, Marissa Pribyl

Biology Graduate Theses

Mercury is a persistent global contaminant that biomagnifies through aquatic food webs, with dietary and environmental factors serving as the primary drivers of accumulation in fishes. Trophic structure and methylmercury dynamics in Walleye (ogaa; Sander vitreus) and Yellow Perch (asaawens; Perca flavescens) were investigated in the Upper and Lower Red Lake basins in Red Lake, Minnesota, during 2024-2025. Diets of Walleye and Yellow Perch were assessed through stomach dissections, and tissue samples from both species were analyzed for total mercury concentrations. Additional analyses included shiners (gigoozens; Notropis spp., Hudsonius spp.) along with a variety of freshwater fish and …

Age-Specific Concentrations And Seroprevalence Of Antibodies Against Salmonella Enteritidis (O:9) And Salmonella Typhimurium (O:4,5) Across Three Sites In Kenya., Esther Muthumbi, Sean Elias, Alfred Mwanzu, Agnes Mutiso, Perpetual Wanjiku, Cecilia Mbae, Godfrey Bigogo, Jennifer Verani, Stefan Flasche, Samuel Kariuki

Population Health, East Africa

Background Seroprevalence studies can indicate the age distribution of first infection with nontyphoidal Salmonella and estimate the rate of infection by age.

Method We collected 1254 paired samples of serum and stool from healthy children and adults in Kilifi, Nairobi, and Siaya counties in Kenya, areas of low, medium, and high incidence of invasive nontyphoidal Salmonella disease, respectively. We quantified the age- and site-specific geometric mean concentrations (GMCs) of IgG and IgA antibodies against S Enteritidis O-antigen (O:9, serogroup D) and S Typhimurium O-antigen (O:4,5, serogroup B) using an in-house standardized enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serum concentrations were estimated against a …

Implementation And Acceptability Of A Community Based Intervention For Cervical Cancer Screening Amongst Women Of Reproductive Age In Kiambu County, Kenya, Redempta Mutisya, Eliphas Gitonga, Molly Maundu, Rosebella Iseme

Population Health, East Africa

Objective In Kenya, cervical cancer is the top cause of cancer deaths and second most prevalent cancer among women aged 15–44. Despite the existence of screening programs, only 13.8% of women participate, with nearly 50% diagnosed late. Lack of knowledge and embarrassment is linked to low uptake. Post-intervention, uptake of screening and acceptability of SMS prompts and self-sampling were evaluated.

Methods Women (18+ years), who had never screened, were randomly chosen from a pre-existing database. They received either usual care (notification of availability of screening services at public health facility), text education, or interactive in-person sessions with self-sample training.

Results …

Serotype-Specific Pneumococcal Invasiveness: A Global Meta-Analysis Of Paired Estimates Of Disease Incidence And Carriage Prevalence, Katherine Gallagher, Fredrick Odiwour, Christian Bottomley, John Ojal, Aisha Adamu, Esther Muthumbi, Eunice Kagucia, Laura Hammitt, Sergio Massora, Betuel Sigaúque

Population Health, East Africa

Background Serotype-specific estimates of pneumococcal invasiveness used in pneumococcal carriage transmission models to predict changes in disease incidence post-vaccination are largely derived from high-income settings. We conducted a systematic review of carriage prevalence and invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) incidence to calculate case–carrier ratios (CCRs) in different income settings.

Methods We conducted a systematic search of MEDLINE, Embase, and Global Health databases on March 14, 2022, to identify publications on pneumococcal carriage prevalence or IPD incidence; we requested individual-level data from authors of relevant texts. Serotype-specific CCRs, calculated as IPD incidence divided by carriage prevalence, were pooled across settings using random …

Awarded Research Grants As A Pathway To Sustainable Development Goals, Maha Inam, Salim S. Virani, Melaine D'Cruze, Veronica Robi, Peter Gatiti, Anil Khamis

Population Health, East Africa

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of global goals that provide an agenda for sustainable growth and development across all sectors and disciplines. However, the contribution of academic institutions from the developing world towards the SDGs has not received adequate attention from the scientific community. A review of all the awarded grants in 2022 and 2023 at an international academic institution was conducted. The objectives outlined in the grant proposals were used to map the SDGs accordingly. A quantitative frequency analysis was conducted to tabulate the results. A total of 293 grants obtained in 2022 and …

Pharmacokinetic Modeling Strategies For Dynamic Hyperpolarized Urea Imaging, Keith A Michel, Collin J Harlan, Christopher M Walker, Matthew E Merritt, Yunyun Chen, Stephen Y Lai, James A Bankson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: To evaluate pharmacokinetic modeling methods for quantification of tissue perfusion/permeability with hyperpolarized 13C urea.

Methods: Three models for quantitative analysis of dynamic HP urea imaging data were proposed and evaluated in numerical simulations and a thyroid cancer mouse model. A multicompartment model resembling the extended Tofts model for DCE-MRI (Model I) and two simplified models were used. The simplified models each eliminate a volume parameter representing vascular (Model II) or impermeable cellular space (Model III). Signal curves were generated from Model I, and models were fit to these synthetic data to quantify the effects of acquisition settings, bias in …

Real-World Effectiveness Of Second-Line Therapies In Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Insights From Propensity-Weighted Comparative Analyses Of Longitudinal Ehr Data, Gary C N Hettinger, Qi Long, Ravi B Parikh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: While substantial research has focused on first-line (1L) therapies for advanced-stage non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC), less is known about the effectiveness of second-line (2L) treatments following disease progression on 1L. The poor prognosis after 1L progression, limited guidance for 2L treatment, and constraints of clinical trials in addressing these questions underscore the need for real-world comparative effectiveness research.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis to compare real-world overall survival (rwOS) associated with 2L treatments among patients with disease progression during 1L. Eligible patients were selected from Flatiron Health's nationwide electronic health record (EHR)-derived de-identified database. 1L and 2L …

Information Extraction From Clinical Notes: Are We Ready To Switch To Large Language Models?, Yan Hu, Xu Zuo, Yujia Zhou, Xueqing Peng, Jimin Huang, Vipina K Keloth, Vincent J Zhang, Ruey-Ling Weng, Cathy Shyr, Qingyu Chen, Xiaoqian Jiang, Kirk E Roberts, Hua Xu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: To assess the performance, generalizability, and computational efficiency of instruction-tuned Large Language Model Meta AI (LLaMA)-2 and LLaMA-3 models compared to bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT) for clinical information extraction (IE) tasks, specifically named entity recognition (NER) and relation extraction (RE).

Materials and methods: We developed a comprehensive annotated corpus of 1588 clinical notes from 4 data sources-UT Physicians (UTP) (1342 notes), Transcribed Medical Transcription Sample Reports and Examples (MTSamples) (146), Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC)-III (50), and Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2) (50), capturing 4 clinical entities (problems, tests, medications, other treatments) …

Urinary Cotinine Cut-Offs For Tobacco Smoke Exposure In Pregnancy And Associations With Child Intelligence Quotient: A Multi-Cohort Analysis, Yu Ni, Logan C Dearborn, Adam A Szpiro, Christine T Loftus, Qi Zhao, Nicole R Bush, Kaja Z Lewinn, Marnie F Hazlehurst, Thomas F Northrup, Penelope J E Quintana, Eunha Hoh, Georg Matt, Catherine J Karr

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke may impair neurodevelopment in children. However, accurately characterizing this exposure remains challenging.

Methods: We pursued two objectives in this large population study. First, in 1708 pregnant women from the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort, we constructed Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves to determine urinary cotinine cut-offs to classify firsthand (FHS), environmental (ETS), and no exposure, and further distinguished secondhand (SHS) from thirdhand smoke (THS) exposure within ETS. Second, among 1593 participants in three pregnancy cohorts nested in ECHO, we fit multivariable linear regressions to examine the association between the newly defined …

A Patient-Derived Organ-On-Chip Platform For Modeling The Tumor Microenvironment And Drug Responses In Pancreatic Cancer, Darbaz Adnan, Natan Roberto De Barros, Luca S Santovito, Xuhong Cheng, Kristi M Lawrence, Mariah K Barnett, Martine D Boetto, Neal Mehta, Ajaypal Singh, Lin Cheng, Xiangsheng Huang, Faraz Bishehsari

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a fatal malignancy. Current conventional chemotherapeutics are inadequate in controlling the disease; hence, there is an urgent need for precision medicine. Ex vivo models that replicate the tumor and its microenvironment can advance precision medicine in PDAC. Patient‐derived organoids (PDOs) offer a promising solution by retaining the functional features of the tumor, allowing for individualized study of cancer biology and drug response. However, PDOs fall short in replicating the tumor microenvironment (TME), which includes various stromal and immune cells influencing tumor growth and chemoresistance. We hypothesize that combining PDO technology with organ‐on‐a‐chip (OoC) systems can …

Influence Of Pullback Pressure Gradient On Residual Angina At One Year, Takuya Mizukami, Kazumasa Ikeda, Daniel Munhoz, Koshiro Sakai, Jeroen Sonck, Hitoshi Matsuo, Toshiro Shinke, Hirohiko Ando, Brian Ko, Simone Biscaglia, Fernando Rivero, Thomas Engstrøm, Antonio Maria Leone, Lokien X Van Nunen, William F Fearon, Evald Høj Christiansen, Stephane Fournier, Liyew Desta, Andy Yong, Julien Adjedj, Javier Escaned, Masafumi Nakayama, Ashkan Eftekhari, Frederik M Zimmermann, Tatyana Storozhenko, Frédéric Bouisset, Domenico Galante, Bruno R Da Costa, Gianluca Campo, Colin Berry, Damien Collison, Tetsuya Amano, Divaka Perera, Allen Jeremias, Ziad A Ali, Ethan Korngold, Eric Wyffels, Adriaan Wilgenhof, Nico Pijls, Bernard De Bruyne, Nils P Johnson, Carlos Collet

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The pullback pressure gradient (PPG) is a novel physiological metric that quantifies coronary artery disease patterns as focal or diffuse on a scale from 0 to 1. This study assessed the relationship between PPG and residual angina at 1 year.

Methods: PPG Global is a prospective, investigator-initiated, single-arm, multicenter study that enrolled patients with at least 1 lesion with a fractional flow reserve ≤0.80 intended to be treated with percutaneous coronary intervention. After the PPG calculation, physicians could revise treatment assignment to medical therapy or coronary artery bypass graft surgery instead of percutaneous coronary intervention. Focal and diffuse disease …

An Artificial Intelligence Model For Electrocardiogram Detection Of Occlusion Myocardial Infarction: A Retrospective Study To Reduce False-Positive Cath Lab Activations, Benjamin L Cooper, Evan A Genova, Carrie A Bakunas, Catherine E Reynolds, Benjamin Karfunkle, Nils P Johnson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Aims: Existing ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) alert pathways that rely on traditional STEMI criteria perform suboptimally. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of an artificial intelligence (AI) model to detect acute occlusion myocardial infarction (OMI) from the routine 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) and, specifically, its potential to reduce false-positive activations.

Methods and results: Consecutive adults managed via the STEMI pathway were included from a tertiary academic medical centre between January 2022 and December 2023. Cases without an available ECG for review, death prior to catheterization, or alternative reasons for activation (i.e. electrical instability or urgent interventions) were excluded. Pre-coronary …

High Accuracy Stool Biomarkers Of Precancerous Colorectal Cancer Identified Using A 2000-Plex Immunoproteomic Screen, Kamala Vanarsa, Jessica Castillo, Hao Li, Kala T Pham, Maria Akter, Sravya Gude, Kyung Hyun Lee, Claudia Pedroza, Robert Bresalier, Nicholas Chia, Chandra Mohan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Given the morbidity and mortality associated with colorectal cancer (CRC), novel biomarkers are clearly warranted, especially for early detection. An antibody-based screen of 2000 proteins was utilized to identify stool proteins that were elevated in patients with CRC, compared with healthy controls (HCs). Thirty-seven lead candidates were selected for ELISA validation in three independent cohorts comprised of CRC patients, advanced adenoma patients, and HCs, drawn from two different ethnicities. Of the 2000 proteins interrogated, 116 were differentially expressed in CRC stool, with 45 being elevated at twofold or higher; 37 of these proteins were selected for ELISA validation in three …

[Factors Associated With Adhd Medication Adherence And Treatment Outcomes, Hali Temkin, Kerri L Daniel, Diana Martinez, Julia C Bennett, Paris A Nix, Linh Nguyen, Yen-Chi Le, Bruno Kluwe-Schiavon, Cesar A Soutullo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 5 to 8% of youth and 2.5 to 4% of adults. Pharmacological treatments are among the most effective when treating ADHD, yet adherence to medication is still sub-optimal. We reviewed the literature on clinical and socio demographic factors that may influence adherence and compared it to our clinical data.

Methods: We conducted a targeted literature review on factors associated with ADHD medication adherence. These factors were compared within our sample of patients aged 3-18 with ADHD at the Child and Adolescent Mood Disorders Program (ChAMP) at (UT Health) - Houston. …

Shiga Toxin Increases Intestinal Transit To Displace Resident Microbes And Facilitate Pathogen Colonization, Max A Odem, Sabona B Simbassa, Cecilia Fadhel Alvarez, Oliyad Jeilu, Shelby R Simar, Rachel Bosserman, Soumita Dutta, Walter Galdamez, Hossaena Ayele, Blake M Hanson, Diana M Proctor, Anne Marie Krachler

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a major cause of food-borne illnesses, and disease severity correlates with the production of Shiga toxins. While clinical symptoms such as bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome have been attributed to Stx, its contribution to bacterial fitness is not well understood. Here, we demonstrate that Stx2 enhances STEC colonization of the zebrafish gut by facilitating the partial displacement of gut resident microbes. Infection with Stx2-producing STEC strains or direct exposure of fish to purified Stx2 induces alterations in the zebrafish microbiome structure, impacting several bacterial phyla and genera, notably Pseudomonads. We show that …

Curriculum Innovation: Training The Front Line: A Neurologic Emergencies Curriculum Pilot For First Responders, Tamia V Garrett, Shivika Chandra, Sushanth Aroor, Cristy Autry, Varsha Muddasani, Mahan Shahrivari, Brandy Davis, Mark Martyn, Dana M Woodward, Amanda L Jagolino-Cole

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background and objectives: Emergency medical services (EMS) clinicians play a critical role in early identification and management of neurologic emergencies yet may encounter sparse neurology-specific education. With interprofessional collaboration, we developed a multimodal, active-learning, and experiential curriculum for teaching prehospital care in a neurologically underserved setting. We evaluated curriculum feasibility and impact on prehospital neurologic assessment. The objectives of this study were to (1) recognize signs and symptoms of neurologic emergencies, aiding in the formulation of a prehospital differential diagnosis; (2) appraise patient encounter data for incorporation into prehospital medical decision making and facilitation of interprofessional communication and continuity of …

Childhood Pulmonary Outcomes After Late Preterm Antenatal Corticosteroids, Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, Rebecca G Clifton, Robert A Wise, Alan T N Tita, Jessica A De Voest, Sharon A Mcgrath-Morrow, Elizabeth C Matsui, Sean C Blackwell, Monica Longo, Sabine Z Bousleiman, Felecia Ortiz, Sankaran Krishnan, Dwight J Rouse, Torri D Metz, George R Saade, Maged M Costantine, Kent D Heyborne, John M Thorp, Kelly S Gibson, Geeta K Swamy, William A Grobman, Yasser Y El-Sayed, George A Macones, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network And The National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: To evaluate whether antenatal betamethasone affects childhood respiratory impairment.

Methods: This was a prospective follow-up study of children aged 6 years and older from parents in the ALPS (Antenatal Late Preterm Steroids) trial randomized to betamethasone or placebo from 34 0/7 to 36 6/7 weeks of gestation. Primary outcome composite included the following: 1) abnormal spirometry, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV 1 ) below the lower limit of normal, FEV 1 /forced vital capacity (FVC) below the lower limit of normal, or FVC below the lower limit of normal, defined as below the 5th percentile by the …

Alpha 7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Contributes To Long-Term Cognitive Recovery Following Ischemic Stroke, Dustin T Nguyen, Kate Mendoza, Cassandra Hall, Chunfeng Tan, Anjali Chauhan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Stroke is associated with autonomic dysfunction and reduced acetylcholine (ACh), a neurotransmitter critical for cognition. ACh signals in part through the alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR), a ligand-gated ion channel involved in synaptic plasticity, learning, and memory. Impaired α7nAChR signaling has been linked to heightened neuroinflammation and poor acute stroke recovery. Here, we investigated whether α7nAChR contributes to post-stroke cognitive recovery in young male mice. Wild-type (WT) and α7nAChR knockout (α7n0KO) mice underwent 60-min middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). In a pharmacology cohort, the α7nAChR agonist GTS-21 was administered immediately after reperfusion and then daily for 20 days. Cognitive performance …

Analysis Of Patients With Monocytic And Monocytic-Like Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Including Aml-M4 And Aml-M5, Treated With Venetoclax Plus Azacitidine, Marina Konopleva, Courtney D Dinardo, Yan Sun, Paul Jung, Sanam Loghavi, Jalaja Potluri, Monique Dail, Brenda Chyla, Daniel A Pollyea

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Mutational Landscape And Burden On Rbc Transfusion Response In Patients With Lower-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndromes (Lr-Mds) In The Commands Study, Rami S Komrokji, Sheida Hayati, Manuel Ugidos, Guillermo Garcia-Manero, Matteo Giovanni Della Porta, Amer M Zeidan, Valeria Santini, Uwe Platzbecker, Anita K Gandhi, Rajasekhar N V S Suragani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The COMMANDS trial established luspatercept as a first‐line treatment for anemia in transfusion‐dependent lower‐risk (LR) myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Here we report red blood cell (RBC) transfusion response analysis based on somatic mutations profile and disease risk for patients treated with luspatercept or epoetin alfa in the COMMANDS trial. Of 350 evaluable patients, 238 (68.0%) had MDS with multiple lineage dysplasia and ring sideroblasts (RS) according to World Health Organization 2016 criteria, and 320 (91.4%) had somatic mutations in ≥ 1 gene (median, 2) with median variant allele frequencies (VAF) of 2%–59%. Mutation profiles were similar in the treatment groups. Luspatercept …

Perioperative And Follow-Up Tcar Outcomes Of A Single Institution, Shah-Jahan M Dodwad, Hanaa Dakour-Aridi, Gordon H Martin, Naveed U Saqib, Akiko Tanaka, Arash Keyhani, Kourosh Keyhani, S Keisin Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The ARIES-HM3 trial demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of aspirin elimination from the antithrombotic regimen after HeartMate 3 (HM3) left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. We explored the interaction of atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus, and obesity (AF/DM/Ob) with aspirin elimination on hemocompatibility-related adverse events at 1-year postimplant.

Methods: This prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial randomized patients with an HM3 LVAD implant to receive aspirin (100 mg/d) or placebo, in addition to a vitamin K antagonist. The primary endpoint was survival free of nonsurgical (>14 days postimplant) hemocompatibility-related adverse events, including stroke, pump thrombosis, bleeding, and arterial peripheral thromboembolism at …

Asymmetric Sacral Dysmorphism: Prevalence And Impact On Surgical Planning, Adeet Amin, Kathryn Barth, Colin Ward, Ryan Deangelis, Gregory Schimizzi, Connor Park, Milton L Routt, Stephen J Warner, Patrick Kellam, Mark R Adams, Jonathan G Eastman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objectives: To determine the prevalence and surgical relevance of asymmetry in patients with sacral dysmorphism.

Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: Level 1 academic trauma center.

Patient selection criteria: Included were patients between 16 and 85 years old with an operative pelvic ring injury (Orthopaedic Trauma Association/Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Osteosynthesefragen (OTA/AO) 61A-C) and a thin-cut pelvis computed tomography (≤2.0 mm) with 3D reformats. Sacral dysmorphism was defined by the inability to place a transiliac-transsacral screw in the upper sacral segment.

Outcome measures and comparisons: Asymmetry was assessed by evaluating side-to-side differences in neuroforaminal height, upper sacral segment pathway obliquity, and anterior-posterior pathway width. …

Reconstruction Of A Composite Heel Defect Using Achilles Tendon Allograft And Latissimus Dorsi Free Flap: Case Report And Literature Review, Georgios Karamitros, Carolyn Drogt, Stephen J Warner, Michael P Grant, Gregory A Lamaris

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Composite heel defects involving the Achilles tendon and overlying soft tissue are rare and technically demanding. Successful management requires restoration of tendon continuity and durable coverage. We reviewed the literature and presented a representative case to illustrate current strategies.

Methods: A literature review of 28 studies that reported outcomes of Achilles tendon reconstruction with concomitant soft tissue coverage was performed. Tendon restoration techniques(allografts, autografts, vascularized grafts) and flap types (muscle and fasciocutaneous) were analyzed for functional recovery, complication rates, and donor-site morbidity. Additionally, we report the case of a 14-year-old woman with a 7-cm Achilles tendon defect and full-thickness …

Evaluation Of Large Language Models As Decision Support Tools For Head And Neck Cancer Management: A Blinded Multidisciplinary Simulation Study, Sholem Hack, Ron J Karni, Antonino Maniaci, Christopher E Fundakowski, Luca Castellani, Fabiola Incandela, Remo Accorona, Miguel Mayo-Yanez, Martina Violati, Lorenzo Giannini, Niccolo' Mevio, Alberto Maria Saibene

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: The management of head and neck cancer relies on multidisciplinary expertise; however, access to tumor boards remains variable. Large language models (LLMs) may support guideline-based decision-making, although performance in complex oncologic scenarios is not well defined.

Methods: Fourteen synthetic cases based on real tumor board encounters were evaluated. Five blinded comparator arms produced recommendations: a human expert, Non-RAG-GPT-4, Non-RAG-GPT-5, RAG-GPT-4, and RAG-GPT-5. Eight head and neck oncologic surgeons scored each recommendation for appropriateness, clarity, specificity, and feasibility using 5-point Likert scales. Paired permutation testing and inter-rater reliability were assessed.

Results: LLM outputs showed close alignment with expert recommendations. RAG-based …

Disposition At Equipoise: A Qualitative Study Of Emergency Physicians' Decision-Making About Hospitalizing People With Dementia, Anita N Chary, Annika R Bhananker, Rebecca Franks, Jason Bowman, Adrian D Haimovich, Victoria Martell, Elizabeth M Schoenfeld, Cameron J Gettel, Shan W Liu, Kei Ouchi, Maura Kennedy, Aanand Naik, Manish N Shah

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: People with dementia are often hospitalized from the emergency department (ED) for conditions that could potentially be treated in the outpatient setting. In scenarios of clinical equipoise-where either admission or discharge may be appropriate-little is known about how emergency physicians make disposition decisions.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative study with attending emergency physicians at a single academic medical center. Interviews included open-ended questions about disposition decision-making in general as well as structured case scenarios using a think-aloud protocol. We used an inductive approach to code interview data and elucidate themes about the factors emergency physicians consider in disposition decisions …