Digital Commons Network^™

An Extensive Analysis Of Match-Tracking Methods For Artmap, Niklas M. Melton, Leonardo Enzo Brito Da Silva, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper identifies and studies five match-tracking (MT) methods in the adaptive resonance theory (ART) literature and conducts a detailed comparative analysis of these in ARTMAP applications. We focus on model performance for each MT method with respect to time and space efficiency as well as classification accuracy. Experimental results indicate that one MT variant, used in ARTMAP applications for the first time in this work, provides significant improvements in computational efficiency: depending on the ARTMAP variant, it was able to achieve up to one order of magnitude reduction in both time and space requirements, albeit with a compromise in …

Wasting Disease Of A Marine Foundation Species Links Community Interactions To Disease Dynamics, Lillian R. Aoki, Olivia J. Graham, Reyn M. Yoshioka, Rebecca Maher, Lindsay Alma, Eileen E. Hofmann, Colleen A. Burge, Drew Harvell, Maya L. Groner

CCPO Publications

Infectious disease plays a key role in shaping marine communities, including in seagrass meadows, which form biodiverse coastal habitats. Eelgrass (Zostera marina) is the most widespread seagrass species and is susceptible to seagrass wasting disease, caused by the protist Labyrinthula zosterae. As a foundation species, eelgrass strongly influences ecosystem structure, function and services; recent work has begun to explore the links between critical community interactions and seagrass wasting disease. Here, we highlight recent advances about how the eelgrass community regulates and responds to seagrass wasting disease, from the microbiome to herbivores and filter feeders. We further show …

Cause Of Death? -- It's Probably Not What's Reported On The Death Certificate, Lauren R. Roth

Lewis & Clark Law Review

In the age of big data, this country has a data problem—inaccurate and incomplete information in death certificates. The problem has long been hidden by the numbers reported—as have the people whose deaths go uncounted, but the COVID-19 pandemic unveiled the scope of the issue. Since the beginning of the pandemic, “excess deaths” (i.e., any deaths above the number predicted by existing mortality models) have increased significantly. Most of these excess deaths are likely attributable to COVID-19 because the decedent was never tested for COVID-19 or it was one of multiple factors contributing to their death. Other deaths are uncounted …

Healthcare Consolidation: Effects On Corporate And Private Healthcare Facilities, Kaydence N. Mcdonald

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this thesis paper the concept of healthcare consolidation is discussed. The distinctions between small and large healthcare organizations’ structures and functions are explained first. Knowing the distinction between how the different sized healthcare organization’s function will give a better understanding to how consolidation occurs in the facilities. The benefits and challenges that small and large healthcare organizations offer is discussed next. After setting an understanding of the differences in healthcare organizations based on size this paper gives a definition of consolidation, and the forms used in healthcare organizations. It discusses vertical, horizontal consolidation, mergers, and acquisitions. Then the paper …

Washington University Magazine, August 2025

Washington University Magazine

No abstract provided.

Becker Medical Library Annual Report 2025

Library Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Washington University Magazine, April 2025

Washington University Magazine

No abstract provided.

Uncommon Presentation Of Neurobrucellosis, Ibrahim I. Ibrahim, Mohammed O. Aqeeli, Mead R. Aljabri, Ameen K. Tajuddin

Neurosciences

ABSTRACT Brucellosis is a zoonotic infection that affects 500,000 individuals each year worldwide. Neurological complications occur in up to 5% of cases, and ocular involvement is rare. This report describes the case of a 26-year-old woman with progressive lower limb weakness and significant ambulatory impairment following two months of headache, nausea, vomiting, and visual disturbances. The patient had a history of urinary incontinence, lower back pain, and raw goat milk consumption. Clinical examination revealed bilateral papilledema and muscle weakness. Positive Brucella culture, abnormalities in the cerebrospinal fluid, and magnetic resonance imaging findings confirmed the presence of neurobrucellosis. Treatment with antibiotics …

Preliminary Evaluation Of Bahamian Botanicals For Tropical Applications, Michelle Antoinette Outten

Selected Full-Text Master Theses 2021-

This thesis explores the phytochemical composition and cosmetic potential of three Bahamian botanicals- Mosiera longipes (MLE), Tabebuia bahamensis (TBE), and Momordica charantia (MCE)---traditionally used in local bush medicine. Methanolic and aqueous extracts were prepared and incorporated into topical cream formulations. While HPLC-DAD analysis was performed, no compounds were definitively identified due to hardware limitations; chromatographic data remain preliminary, providing a foundation for future validation. Formulations were assessed for stability under centrifugation, thermal cycling, and long-term storage. All samples demonstrated acceptable initial pH values within the skin-compatible range (4.5-5.5): BWE (5.63 ± 0.04), TBE (5.47 ± 0.02), MLE (5.72 ± 0.04), …

Implementing Wastewater-Based Epidemiology For Long-Read Metagenomic Sequencing Of Antimicrobial Resistance In Kampala, Uganda, William Strike, Temitope O. C. Faleye, Brian Lubega, Alexus Lori Rockward, Soroosh Torabi

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an emerging global threat that is expanding in many areas of the world. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is uniquely suited for use in areas of the world where clinical surveillance is limited or logistically slow to identify emerging threats, such as in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Wastewater was analyzed from three urban areas of Kampala, including a local HIV research clinic and two informal settlements. Wastewater extraction was performed using a low-cost, magnetic bead-based protocol that minimizes consumable plastic consumption followed by sequencing on the Oxford Nanopore Technology MinION platform. The majority of the analysis was performed using …

Maximum Likelihood Estimation For Partially Observed Markov Model Using Different Tail Perturbations, Zamzam Qazi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work is about parameter estimation of POMP models using the two-time scale Iterated Filtering algorithms with p-generalized Gaussian perturbations. The algorithms are effective for estimating numerous types of infectious disease models such as COVID-19, influenza or various other diseases. First, we introduce the generalization of Stein’s identity for normal distribution to p-generalized Gaussian distribution, which enables more flexible perturbation with different tail behaviors. Then, we provide proofs and verify their authenticity by applying them in black box optimization as well as optimization of multivariate state space models. Also, we propose a novel weighted average algorithm for maximizing likelihood through …

Nucleotide-Derived Bacterial Alarmones Attenuate The Induction Of Type-I Interferon Responses In A Murine Macrophage Reporter Cell Line, Ryan P. Kilduff, Erin B. Purcell, Lisa M. Shollenberger

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The stringent response is a well-studied phenomenon in many bacterial systems and regulates resource-consuming activities such as transcription, translation, and replication. The stringent response is a well-conserved signaling framework, as are the nucleotide-derived signaling mediators, collectively referred to as (p)ppGpp or as alarmones. There is a wealth of research evaluating nucleotide-derived alarmone signaling in bacterial models, however, their potential to modulate innate immune signaling has not yet been evaluated. Several common pathogen-synthesized molecules, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and cyclic-di-AMP (c-di-AMP), act as pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), which are common patterns that alert the innate immune system of bacterial infection. The …

Lap-Hsp60 Complex Modulates Epithelial Tight Junction Barrier, Arun Bhunia, Manalee Manalee Samaddar, Chen Sun, Nicholas Gallina, Nicole Irizarry-Tardi, Donqi Liu, Shivendra Tenguria, Rishi Drolia, Anika Jain, Daisuke Kihara, Wen Jiang, Kee-Hong Kim, Abigail Cox, Kurt Ristroph, Gregory Knipp, Nicholas Noinaj

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

During infection, Listeria adhesion protein (LAP), a housekeeping enzyme, acts as a tight junction modulator (TJM) through interaction with Hsp60 to facilitate Listeria monocytogenes translocation across the intestinal epithelial barrier. Here, we used purified LAP as a potential TJM to overcome the limiting and variable effects observed by other agents in the class. We structurally determined the LAP interaction alone and in complex with Hsp60 utilizing cryo-EM and computational analysis. LAP structure resolved at 2.83 Å, forms multimeric interlocking dimers and tetramers, and the N-domain interacts with Hsp60, while the C-domain bridges the bacterial surface receptor InlB. The structural studies …

Location Intelligence Unveils Seasonal Spatiotemporal Pattern Shifts Of Habitat Use And Selection By Cattle Across A South Texas Coastal Landscape Infested With Rhipicephalus Microplus, Taylor G. Donaldson, Brian T. Rich, Miranda R. Peterson, Hsiao-Hsuan Wang, William E. Grant, Donald B. Thomas, Kimberly H. Lohmeyer, Adalberto Á. Pérez De León, Pete D. Teel

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Knowledge gaps on the dynamics of cattle fever tick-cattle-habitat-climate interactions in South Texas and their influence on the efficacy of treatments to eliminate infestations with the Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus prevent optimal interventions by the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program (CFTEP). The CFTEP has been operating in the USA since 1907. This study applied the concept of location intelligence to examine movement, habitat use and selection by cattle in a highly heterogeneous coastal landscape infested with R. microplus. Cattle interface with white-tailed deer and nilgai, which are alternate wildlife hosts of R. microplus, in this unique South …

Rwanda's Natural Remedies: A Fresh Look At The Fight Against Malaria, Leandre Nsabimana Ndisanze

Pomona Senior Theses

Malaria remains one of the most devastating parasitic diseases globally, disproportionately affecting sub-Saharan Africa, where Rwanda continues to face high transmission rates and rising resistance to conventional interventions. Despite decades of control efforts, the emergence of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum and insecticide-resistant Anopheles mosquitoes threatens to reverse recent gains. This research responds to the urgent need for sustainable and culturally relevant alternatives by exploring the therapeutic potential of Rwandan traditional medicinal plants. These indigenous remedies, long used by local healers, offer an underexplored reservoir of bioactive compounds that may provide the basis for novel antimalarial drugs.

The central hypothesis of this …

Automatic Summarization Of Doctor-Patient Encounter Dialogues Using Large Language Model Through Prompt Tuning, Mengxian Lyu, Cheng Peng, Xiaohan Li, Patrick Balian, Jiang Bian, Yonghui Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Automatic text summarization (ATS) is an emerging technology to assist clinicians in providing continuous and coordinated care. This study presents an approach to summarize doctor-patient dialogues using generative large language models (LLMs). We developed prompt-tuning algorithms to instruct generative LLMs to summarize clinical text. We examined the prompt-tuning strategies, the size of soft prompts, and the few-short learning ability of GatorTronGPT, a generative clinical LLM developed using 277 billion clinical and general English words with up to 20 billion parameters. We compared GatorTronGPT with a previous solution based on fine-tuning of a widely used T5 model, using a clinical benchmark …

Hslic Annual Report Fy2024-25, University Of New Mexico Health Sciences Library And Informatics Center

HSLIC Annual Reports

Annual report for FY 2024-2025.

Quantified Neutrosophic Set (Qtns)-Based Mcdm Algorithms For Sustainable Material Selection For Anti-Microbial Bio-Fabricated Textile Manufacturing, Muhammad Saeed, Neha Andaleeb Khalid, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

This paper proposes a modified structure for the neutrosophic set called the Quantified Neutrosophic Set (QtNS) with a parameterized setting. Unlike conventional approaches, the QtNS provides a quantified environment for the indeterminacy by its dependence on truthness and falsity components. This innovative approach quantifies the uncertainty and improves the assessment process via expert-guided opinions, customising it according to the specific situations in real-world decision-making scenarios. Some QtNS operations along with useful characteristics are addressed. Furthermore, two algorithms, QtNSUI and QtNSAO, are developed for the proposed operations of union, intersection, AND, and OR based on QtNS. In the world of sustainable …

Birthing While Black: The Color Of Care And Black Women’S Lived Experiences Giving Birth In The United States, Portia Cowlings

Theses and Dissertations

Black women in the United States face disproportionate maternal health outcomes during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Despite advancements in healthcare, the United States continues to report the highest maternal mortality rates among high-income developed nations, with Black women experiencing rates up to three times higher than their White counterparts. This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of Black women in the United States to understand how they navigate the continuum of maternal healthcare, from preconception through postpartum. Guided by the social determinants of health (SDOH) theoretical framework, childbirth was examined through four interconnected …

Impacts Of Tick Parasitism On The Rodent Gut Microbiome, Robert J. Brinkerhoff, Joshua Pandian, Meghan Leber, Isabella D. Hauser, Holly D. Gaff

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Host microbiota may impact disease vector behavior and pathogen transmission, but little is known about associations between ectoparasites and microbial communities in wildlife reservoir species. We used Illumina metagenomic sequencing to explore the impacts of tick parasitism on the rodent fecal microbiome in both a field and laboratory setting. We found that tick parasitism on wild hosts was associated with variation in the fecal microbiota of both the white-footed deermouse, Peromyscus leucopus, and the southern cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus. In a lab experiment, we detected significant changes to the fecal microbiome after experimental exposure to immature ticks in …

Health Disparities After Redlining: A Comparative Analysis Of Health Outcomes And Health Disparities In Richmond, Virginia And Portland, Oregon, Amal Ali

Araneum: Richmond Journal of American & Global Affairs

Redlining was a discriminatory housing practice introduced by the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation that denied loans and mortgages to Black residents and resulted in a heavily entrenched system of economic discrimination in the U.S. Existing literature points to a strong relationship between redlining and worsened health outcomes in communities of color. For example, redlining is associated with a higher risk of heart failure, a higher risk of death from breast cancer, and a higher risk of COVID-19 infection. While previous research has focused on the relationship between redlining and health outcomes and proposed several possible interventions, there is a lack …

The Effects Of Medical Misinformation About Vaccines On Parents Of Pediatric Patients, Mya Izabela B. Emelia

Nursing | Student Research Posters

No abstract provided.

The Impacts Of Dietary And Educational Intervention In Addressing Adult Obesity In The Mexican Population, Matthew C. Servin

CMC Senior Theses

Mexico’s obesity epidemic has been an ongoing issue for the past few decades, with multiple studies attributing this to the disparities in accessing healthy food and health education. Designing a solution to Mexico’s adult obesity crisis will focus on studying the effects of an intervention plan that addresses these obesogenic factors. This proposed study will assess how a token system and health education sessions may impact the risk of obesity in the adult Mexican population. This study also will consider any limitations that arise when only one of the two intervention methods are used. As these interventions are implemented over …

Open Repository @ Binghamton Monthly Additions And Top Downloads - December 2024, Caitlin Holton

Library Created Resources

Newly added work in the Open Repository @ Binghamton (ORB) from 12/1/2024-12/31/2024. Top downloads from same time frame.

A Commitment To Health For All: Reimagining Representation And Participation In The Who Beyond State-Centrism, Yen-Wen Liao

Public Health Theses

Despite its stated commitment to “health for all,” the World Health Organization (WHO) has long been subject to the influence of Member State politics. Specifically, the Organization’s state-based membership model and governance structure have continuously enabled powerful Member States to advance their political interests, leading to the exclusion and marginalization of populations based on the recognition or political status of their representatives. One such example is Taiwan, which has been repeatedly denied membership in the Organization despite the functional independence of its public health authority, leaving over 23 million people neglected amid two major health crises. These forms of exclusion …

No Evidence Of Immune Priming In Bumble Bee Hosts Against Novel Exposure To A Honey Bee Virus, Austin Calhoun, Ben M. Sadd

Faculty Publications – Biological Sciences

Ongoing global change presents novel challenges to species persistence, including heightened emerging infectious diseases (EID) exposure. While invertebrates lack vertebrate acquired immunity, many species exhibit “immune priming” with enhanced protection to repeated pathogen exposures. This phenomenon could be critical for species of conservation concern, such as for wild bumble bees, where EID risk is amplified through contact with managed bee pollinators. We investigate the potential for immune priming against the honey bee-derived Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV) in Bombus impatiens bumble bees. We test the hypothesis that prior pathogen-associated exposure affords greater resistance and tolerance upon secondary pathogen exposure, due …

Bat Genomes Illuminate Adaptations To Viral Tolerance And Disease Resistance, Ariadna E. Morales, Yue Dong, Thomas Brown, Kaushal Baid, Dimitrios Georgios Kontopoulos, Victoria Gonzalez, Zixia Huang, Alexis Walid Ahmed, Arkadeb Bhuinya, Leon Hilgers, Sylke Winkler, Graham Hughes, Xiaomeng Li, Ping Lu, Yixin Yang, Bogdan M. Kirilenko, Paolo Devanna, Tanya M. Lama, Yomiran Nissan, Martin Pippel, Liliana M. Dávalos, Sonja C. Vernes, Sebastien J. Puechmaille, Stephen J. Rossiter, Yossi Yovel, Joseph B. Prescott, Andreas Kurth, David A. Ray, Burton K. Lim, Eugene Myers, Emma C. Teeling, Arinjay Banerjee

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Zoonoses are infectious diseases transmitted from animals to humans. Bats have been suggested to harbour more zoonotic viruses than any other mammalian order1. Infections in bats are largely asymptomatic2,3, indicating limited tissue-damaging inflammation and immunopathology. To investigate the genomic basis of disease resistance, the Bat1K project generated reference-quality genomes of ten bat species, including potential viral reservoirs. Here we describe a systematic analysis covering 115 mammalian genomes that revealed that signatures of selection in immune genes are more prevalent in bats than in other mammalian orders. We found an excess of immune gene adaptations in the ancestral chiropteran branch and …

Inquiries Into The Mycobacterial Caseinolytic Protease System, Felipe Badke D'Andrea

Student Theses and Dissertations

Despite progress over the last century, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis (TB), remains the leading cause of death from an infectious disease worldwide. The high global burden of Mtb, alongside its protracted treatment regimen and insidious rise of multi-drug resistance, underscores the need for non-canonical drug targets and pathways to improve antitubercular chemotherapy. Mtb's success as a pathogen is linked to its ability to infect and evade clearance by the human immune system despite a wide range of noxious host stressors. Along with transcriptional responses, the maintenance of protein homeostasis is critical to this adaptability and pathogenicity. …

Larval Environments Affect The Implementation Of The Sterile Insect Technique On Aedes Mosquitoes, Katherine G. Evans

Theses and Dissertations

Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) is an effective method for controlling pests and has been increasing in popularity to control Aedes mosquitoes. SIT involves inundating an area with sterilized male mosquitoes to reduce egg hatch and ultimately the number of wild adults. Previous research indicates that enacting mortality early in the larval life of Aedes mosquitoes can result in counter-productive effects, due to reduced competition among developing larvae. I hypothesize that the effectiveness of SIT at reducing adult populations is modified by densitydependent mortality and density-dependent growth among larvae. I performed two field-to-lab studies and developed an individual-based model to test …

A Novel Silver-Ruthenium-Based Antimicrobial Kills Gram-Negative Bacteria Through Oxidative Stress-Induced Macromolecular Damage, Patrick O. Tawiah

Theses and Dissertations

The rise in drug-resistant bacteria, together with the decline in antibiotic development, requires new strategies for infectious disease control. Gram-negative pathogens are particularly challenging to combat due to their outer membrane. This study highlights the effectiveness of the silver-containing antimicrobial AGXX® against the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli. AGXX® is a promising silver coating that presumably kills bacteria through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, neither AGXX®’s mode of action is fully understood, nor have its effects on Gram-negative bacteria or bacterial response and defense mechanisms towards AGXX® been studied in detail. Here, I report that the bactericidal …