Digital Commons Network^™

Enriching The Pcos Lifestyle, Callie Coleman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disorder affecting approximately 4 – 20% of women worldwide. It is associated with insulin resistance, fertility problems, and an increased susceptibility to chronic conditions through multiple inflammatory pathways. Women with PCOS are also at increased risk for disordered eating. The Mediterranean diet is associated with decreased inflammation and risk of chronic conditions, and intuitive eating principles are associated with decreased disordered eating patterns. The purpose of this study was to determine if a six-week nutrition education workshop incorporating information and skills related to both the Mediterranean lifestyle and intuitive eating principles can improve …

Pilz Domain-Containing Proteins Regulate Motility In Acinetobacter Baumannii, Gabriel Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acinetobacter baumannii is an increasingly multidrug-resistant pathogen contributing to hospital-acquired infections, necessitating a greater understanding of how it interacts with its surroundings. Many bacteria utilize different methods of bacterial motility to move about and interact with these surroundings. A bacterial second messenger, cyclic diguanosine monophosphate (c-di-GMP), can regulate various motility factors that are potentially advantageous for survival in and adaptation to their environment. Concentrations of c-di-GMP are regulated by specific synthesizing and degrading enzymes. Controlled levels of c-di-GMP allow interaction between the c-di-GMP and its binding effectors that induce changes in bacterial phenotypes such as biofilm formation and motility. A …

Cortical And Subcortical Brain Alterations In Specific Phobia And Its Animal And Blood-Injection-Injury Subtypes: A Mega-Analysis From The Enigma-Anxiety Working Group, Kevin Hilbert, Ole Jonas Boeken, Till Langhammer, Nynke A. Groenewold, Janna Marie Bas-Hoogendam, Moji Aghajani, André Zugman, Fredrik Åhs, Volker Arolt, Anderson M. Winkler

School of Medicine Publications

Objective: Specific phobia is a common anxiety disorder, but the literature on associated brain structure alterations exhibits substantial gaps. The ENIGMA Anxiety Working Group examined brain structure differences between individuals with specific phobias and healthy control subjects as well as between the animal and blood-injection-injury (BII) subtypes of specific phobia. Additionally, the authors investigated associations of brain structure with symptom severity and age (youths vs. adults).

Methods: Data sets from 31 original studies were combined to create a final sample with 1,452 participants with phobia and 2,991 healthy participants (62.7% female; ages 5-90). Imaging processing and quality control were performed …

Limits To Asset Manager Adaptation, Madison Condon

Faculty Scholarship

In Our Lives in Their Portfolios, Brett Christophers provides an account of the rise of ‘asset manager society’ – a world in which the infrastructures of public life are converted from public to private ownership. Here I use Christophers’ analysis to comment on growing calls for asset manager investment in climate adaptation. The asset manager business model requires ever-escalating returns, a poor fit with the now unavoidable losses that climate change promises to bring.

Racial Discrimination Increases The Risk For Nonremitting Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms In Traumatically Injured Black Individuals Living In The United States, Lucas Torres, Timothy J. Geier, Carissa W. Tomas, Claire M. Bird, Sydney Clare Timmer-Murillo, Christine L. Larson, Terri A. Deroon-Cassini

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Traumatic, life-threatening events are experienced commonly among the general U.S. population, yet Black individuals in the United States (i.e., Black Americans) exhibit higher prevalence rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and more severe symptoms than other populations. Although empirical research has noted a range of symptom patterns that follow traumatic injury, minimal work has examined the role of racial discrimination in relation to PTSD symptom trajectories. The current study assessed racial discrimination and PTSD symptom trajectories at 6 months postinjury across two separate samples of traumatically injured Black Americans (i.e. emergency department (ED)–discharged and hospitalized). Identified PTSD symptom trajectories largely …

Labour And Democracy, Kate Andrias

Faculty Scholarship

Democracy has always been a central project of labour law, but it is all the more important today, with authoritarianism on the rise and democracy under threat across the globe. This chapter examines the relationship between labour law and democracy. It explores the central tension between democracy and labour under capitalism; traces how ideas and arguments about workplace democracy have evolved over time; and explores the relationship between workplace democracy and political democracy, including how and when unions serve as a bulwark against authoritarianism. Ultimately, it argues that a critical task for labour law scholarship is to rethink the body …

Complement C3ar Signaling: Immune And Metabolic Modulation And Its Impact On Alzheimer’S Disease, Manasee Gedam, Hui Zheng

Center on Aging Staff Publications

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and the most common cause of dementia among the elderly population. Despite its widespread prevalence, our comprehension of the intricate mechanisms governing the pathogenesis of the disease remains incomplete, posing a challenge for the development of efficient therapies. Pathologically characterized by the presence of amyloid β plaques and neurofibrillary tau tangles, AD is also accompanied by the hyperactivation of glial cells and the immune system. The complement cascade, the evolutionarily conserved innate immune pathway, has emerged as a significant contributor to AD. This review focuses on one of the complement components, the …

Modern Perspectives On Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy-No One Size Fits All, Brett Doliner, Hadeel Gaddar, Ramsey Kalil, Alexander Postalian

The Texas Heart Institute Journal

Despite substantial advances in the management of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, advanced heart failure remains a major cause of morbidity in this patient population. This narrative review presents the case of a patient with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy who underwent alcohol septal ablation to frame a discussion of modern therapies for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The current treatment landscape includes medications, both old and new, and surgical and procedural interventions to relieve mechanical obstruction. Several promising new modalities for relieving obstruction are in the nascent stages of development.

Governing With Public Engagement: An Anticipatory Approach To Human Genome Editing, Dorit Barlevy, Eric Juengst, Jeffrey Kahn, Jonathan Moreno, Lauren Lambert, Alta Charo, Hervé Chneiweiss, Mahmud Farooque, David H Guston, Insoo Hyun, Paul S Knoepfler, Cynthia Selin, Rebecca Wilbanks, Manar Zaghlula, Christopher Thomas Scott

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

In response to calls for public engagement on human genome editing (HGE), which intensified after the 2018 He Jiankui scandal that resulted in the implantation of genetically modified embryos, we detail an anticipatory approach to the governance of HGE. By soliciting multidisciplinary experts’ input on the drivers and uncertainties of HGE development, we developed a set of plausible future scenarios to ascertain publics values—specifically, their hopes and concerns regarding the novel technology and its applications. In turn, we gathered a subset of multidisciplinary experts to propose governance recommendations for HGE that incorporate identified publics’ values. These recommendations include: (1) continued …

Expanding A Behavioral View On Digital Health Access: Drivers And Strategies To Promote Equity, Maura M Kepper, Lauren A Fowler, Isabelle S Kusters, Jean W Davis, Manal Baqer, Sara Sagui-Henson, Yunyu Xiao, Adati Tarfa, Jean C Yi, Bryan Gibson, Kristin E Heron, Nicole M Alberts, Marissa Burgermaster, Veronica Ps Njie-Carr, Lisa M Klesges

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

The potential and threat of digital tools to achieve health equity has been highlighted for over a decade, but the success of achieving equitable access to health technologies remains challenging. Our paper addresses renewed concerns regarding equity in digital health access that were deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our viewpoint is that (1) digital health tools have the potential to improve health equity if equitable access is achieved, and (2) improving access and equity in digital health can be strengthened by considering behavioral science-based strategies embedded in all phases of tool development. Using behavioral, equity, and access frameworks allowed for …

Measuring Perceived Utility Of Genomic Sequencing: Development And Validation Of The Genetic Utility (Gene-U) Scale For Pediatric Diagnostic Testing, Hadley Stevens Smith, Caryn Kseniya Rubanovich, Jill Oliver Robinson, Ariel N Levchenko, Sarah A Classen, Janet Malek, Barbara Biesecker, Kyle B Brothers, Benjamin S Wilfond, Christine Rini, Sara J Knight, Amy L Mcguire, Cinnamon S Bloss

Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications

Purpose: Measuring the effects of genomic sequencing (GS) on patients and families is critical for translational research. We aimed to develop and validate an instrument to assess parents' perceived utility of pediatric diagnostic GS.

Methods: Informed by a 5-domain conceptual model, the study comprised 5 steps: (1) item writing, (2) cognitive testing, (3) pilot testing and item reduction, (4) psychometric testing, and (5) evaluation of construct validity. Parents of pediatric patients who had received results of clinically indicated GS participated in structured cognitive interviews and 2 rounds of surveys. After eliminating items based on theory and quantitative performance, we conducted …

Aging-Associated Metabolite Methylmalonic Acid Increases Susceptibility To Pulmonary Fibrosis, Yaxuan Wang, Shuaichen Ma, Hui Lian, Xiaoyue Pan, Ruyan Wan, Weiming Zhao, Juntang Yang, Ivan Rosas, Lan Wang, Guoying Yu

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive interstitial lung disease characterized by pulmonary fibroblast overactivation, resulting in the accumulation of abnormal extracellular matrix and lung parenchymal damage. Although the pathogenesis of IPF remains unclear, aging was proposed as the most prominent nongenetic risk factor. Propionate metabolism undergoes reprogramming in the aging population, leading to the accumulation of the by-product methylmalonic acid (MMA). This study aimed to explore alterations in propionate metabolism in IPF and the impact of the by-product MMA on pulmonary fibrosis. It revealed alterations in the expression of enzymes involved in propionate metabolism within IPF lung tissues, characterized …

From Forgiveness And Reconciliation To Social Capital And Psychosocial Well-Being: An Evaluation Of A Multisite Intervention In Colombia, Gabriel M. Velez, Fabio Idrobo

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

In 2016, the Colombian government signed a historic peace accord with the FARC-EP after 50 years of armed conflict. Still, widespread obstacles to forgiveness and reconciliation remained. The current study explores the potential of reconciliation centres (RC) in Medellin to help counteract a return to violence. These seven RCs included three branches of programming about forgiveness and reconciliation to support community well-being and social capital. A between-group analysis, as part of a quasi-experimental design, demonstrated no significant growth in participants’ understanding that restoration is different from reparation or awareness that reconciliation involves approaching the other to rebuild. There was enhanced …

Deep Survival Analysis For Interpretable Time-Varying Prediction Of Preeclampsia Risk, Vesela P Kovacheva

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: Survival analysis is widely utilized in healthcare to predict the timing of disease onset. Traditional methods of survival analysis are usually based on Cox Proportional Hazards model and assume proportional risk for all subjects. However, this assumption is rarely true for most diseases, as the underlying factors have complex, non-linear, and time-varying relationships. This concern is especially relevant for pregnancy, where the risk for pregnancy-related complications, such as preeclampsia, varies across gestation. Recently, deep learning survival models have shown promise in addressing the limitations of classical models, as the novel models allow for non-proportional risk handling, capturing nonlinear relationships, …

Frontiers In Congenital Disorders Of Glycosylation Consortium, A Cross-Sectional Study Report At Year 5 Of 280 Individuals In The Natural History Cohort, Austin Larson, Kyriakie Sarafoglou, Hans C Andersson, Evgenia Sklirou, Queenie K G Tan, Rodrigo T Starosta, Mustafa Sadek, Lynne Wolfe, Seishu Horikoshi, May Ali, Rita Barone, Teresa Campbell, Irene J Chang, Kiaira Coles, Edward Cook, Erik A Eklund, Nicole M Engelhardt, Mary Freeman, Jennifer Friedman, Debbie Y T Fu, Grace Botzo, Brandy Rawls, Christien Hernandez, Christin Johnsen, Kierstin Keller, Sara Kramer, Bryce Kuschel, Angela Leshinski, Ivan Martinez-Duncker, Gina L Mazza, Saadet Mercimek-Andrews, Bradley S Miller, Karthik Muthusamy, Juanita Neira, Marc C Patterson, Natalie Pogorelc, Lex N Powers, Elizabeth Ramey, Michaela Reinhart, Audrey Squire, Jenny Thies, Jerry Vockley, Hayden Vreugdenhil, Peter Witters, Mehdi Youbi, Aziza Zeighami, Roni Zemet, Andrew C Edmondson, Eva Morava

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Objective: Our report describes clinical, genetic, and biochemical features of participants with a molecularly confirmed congenital disorder of glycosylation (CDG) enrolled in the Frontiers in Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (FCDGC) Natural History cohort at year 5 of the study.

Methods: We enrolled individuals with a known or suspected CDG into the FCDGC Natural History Study, a multicenter prospective and retrospective natural history study of all genetic causes of CDG. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline study visit data from participants with confirmed CDG who were consented into the FCDGC Natural History Study (5U54NS115198) from October 2019 to November 2023. …

Infant Anaphylaxis And Epinephrine Use: Can We Improve Acute Management?, Jay A Lieberman, Marcus Shaker

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Anaphylaxis is a serious systemic hypersensitivity reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death.

Methods: The true prevalence of infant anaphylaxis is unknown, but such cases may be increasing in presentation of these patients to emergency departments, with studies that evaluate health-care utilization after implementation of early introduction guidelines that report an increase in the use of emergency department for food-related visits as well as an increase in epinephrine prescriptions for infants.

Results: Reasons for these increases may include early food introduction as well as therapeutic interventions such as early life or preschool oral immunotherapy.

Conclusion: Infant …

De Novo Variants In Immune Regulatory Genes In Down Syndrome Regression Disorder, Benjamin N Vogel, Natalie K Boyd, Lina Nguyen, Rebecca Partridge, Stephanie L Santoro, Grace Y Gombolay, Kristen S Fisher, Diego Real De Asua, Maria Carmen Del Ortega, Cathy Franklin, Michael S Rafii, Jonathan D Santoro

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Background: Down Syndrome Regression Disorder (DSRD) is a rare and poorly understood disorder of the central nervous system, characterized by acute or subacute neuropsychiatric symptoms in previously healthy individuals with Down syndrome (DS). Many patients exhibit immunotherapy-responsiveness, indicative of immune dysregulation as a potential underlying etiology. While hypotheses are emerging regarding the role of interferon signaling in DSRD and other autoimmune conditions associated with DS, it is unclear why a small subset of individuals with DS develop DSRD. The aim of this study was to investigate genes of immune regulation in persons with DSRD.

Methods: This study included individuals with …

In Utero Exposure To Antihistamines And Risk Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma In A Multigenerational Cohort, Nickilou Y Krigbaum

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Growing evidence suggests that liver disease originates in early life. Antihistamines cross the placenta and are frequently prescribed to pregnant women to treat nausea and vomiting, as well as allergy and asthma symptoms. Exposure to antihistamines in utero may impact the developing liver by reprogramming or inducing epigenetic changes in fetal hepatocytes.

METHODS: We examined in utero exposure to antihistamines and the risk of HCC in the Child Health and Development Studies, a multigenerational cohort that enrolled pregnant women in the East Bay, CA, between 1959 and 1966 (n=14,507 mothers and 18,751 liveborn offspring). We reviewed mothers' medical records …

Past-Year Hiv Testing, Current Antiretroviral Therapy Use, And Participation In Services For People Who Inject Drugs, Janet Burnett, Catherine Troisi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Evaluating routine HIV testing and treatment and use of services for people who inject drugs (PWID) is critical to curb the ongoing HIV epidemic. We analyzed data from the 2018 National HIV Behavioral Surveillance of PWID aged 18 years or older, recruited using respondent-driven sampling and offered anonymous HIV testing after survey. We performed bivariate and multivariable analyses with log-linked Poisson regression of the generalized linear models to examine the associations between demographics and PWID service use, past-year HIV testing, and current antiretroviral therapy (ART) use. Among 10,311 HIV-negative PWID, 56% reported past-year HIV testing, and of the 553 HIV-positive …

E-Cigarette Use Reasons And Associated E-Cigarette Use Dependence Among College Students: A Longitudinal Examination

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Previous studies have established an understanding of reasons for e-cigarette use and associated e-cigarette use patterns such as use frequency, yet the critical extension to associated e-cigarette dependence outcome remains under-researched. This study used longitudinal data to examine whether the reasons for e-cigarette use predict a higher/lower level of e-cigarette dependence.

Methods: This study recruited college students who were current e-cigarette users from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020 (four semesters) at three public universities in the Midwest and South of the U.S. Those who participated for at least two semesters were included (N = 366). Data were collected using …

Sexual Debut In Early Adolescence And Individual, School, And Neighborhood Social Capital, Susan Tortolero Emery, Tracy Richmond

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Sexual debut in early adolescence is associated with poor health outcomes in adulthood. We examined the associations of social capital within families, schools, and neighborhoods with early sexual debut.

Methods: Using data from the Healthy Passages cohort, a longitudinal multilevel study of adolescents, we performed a series of cross-classified multilevel logistic regression models to examine (1) the relative contribution of schools and neighborhoods to the variance and (2) the association of markers of social cohesion/social capital in families, schools, and neighborhoods with sexual debut by 10th grade.

Results: There were 4,001 youth participants nested in 115 schools and 751 …

Increasing Incidence Of Streptococcus Anginosus Group Intracranial Infections Associated With Sinusitis, Otitis Media, And Mastoiditis In Children, Amy Dimachkieh, Hossaena Ayele, Blake M Hanson, Sheldon L Kaplan, Jesus G Vallejo, J Chase Mcneil

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: The Streptococcus anginosus group (SAG) pathogens have the potential to cause head and neck space infections, including intracranial abscesses. Several centers noted an increase in intracranial abscesses in children during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, prompting a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention health alert in May 2022. We examined the epidemiology of pediatric intracranial abscesses at a tertiary care center with a focus on SAG pre- and post-pandemic.

METHODS: Cases of intracranial abscesses of any microbiologic etiology admitted from January 2011 to December 2022 were identified using International Classification of Diseases 10 codes. Subjects were cross-referenced with culture results from …

Trends In Central Nervous System-Active Polypharmacy Among People With Multiple Sclerosis, Leorah Freeman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: People with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) are at risk of concurrently using multiple central nervous system (CNS)-active drugs, yet the prevalence of CNS-active polypharmacy remains unmeasured in pwMS.

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to measure the prevalence of CNS-active polypharmacy in pwMS.

METHODS: This serial, cross-sectional study measured CNS-active polypharmacy in people with MS in the United States from 2008 to 2021 using insurance claims data. CNS-active polypharmacy was defined as the concurrent prescription of ⩾3 CNS-active drugs for >30 continuous days. CNS-active drugs included antidepressants, antiepileptics, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, nonbenzodiazepine benzodiazepine receptor agonist hypnotics, opioids, and skeletal muscle relaxants.

RESULTS: The …

Analyzing Heterogeneity In Biomarker Discriminative Performance Through Partial Time-Dependent Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve Modeling, Jing Ning

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This study investigates the heterogeneity of a biomarker's discriminative performance for predicting subsequent time-to-event outcomes across different patient subgroups. While the area under the curve (AUC) for the time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve is commonly used to assess biomarker performance, the partial time-dependent AUC (PAUC) provides insights that are often more pertinent for population screening and diagnostic testing. To achieve this objective, we propose a regression model tailored for PAUC and develop two distinct estimation procedures for discrete and continuous covariates, employing a pseudo-partial likelihood method. Simulation studies are conducted to assess the performance of these procedures across various scenarios. …

Mmwave Tx-Rx Self-Interference Suppression Through A High Impedance Surface Stacked Ebg, Adewale K. Oladeinde, Ehsan Aryafar, Branimir Pejcinovic

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper proposes a full-duplex (FD) antenna design with passive self-interference (SI) suppression for the 28 GHz mmWave band. The reduction in SI is achieved through the design of a novel configuration of stacked Electromagnetic Band Gap structures (EBGs), which create a high impedance path to travelling electromagnetic waves between the transmit and receive antenna elements. The EBG is composed of stacked patches on layers 1 and 2 of a four-layer stack-up configuration. We present the design, optimization, and prototyping of unit antenna elements, stacked EBGs, and integration of stacked EBGs with antenna elements. We also evaluate the design through …

Automatic Uncovering Of Patient Primary Concerns In Portal Messages Using A Fusion Framework Of Pretrained Language Modelsautomatic Uncovering Of Patient Primary Concerns In Portal Messages Using A Fusion Framework Of Pretrained Language Models, Sunyang Fu, Dezhi Wu, Hongfang Liu, Ming Huang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: The surge in patient portal messages (PPMs) with increasing needs and workloads for efficient PPM triage in healthcare settings has spurred the exploration of AI-driven solutions to streamline the healthcare workflow processes, ensuring timely responses to patients to satisfy their healthcare needs. However, there has been less focus on isolating and understanding patient primary concerns in PPMs-a practice which holds the potential to yield more nuanced insights and enhances the quality of healthcare delivery and patient-centered care.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: We propose a fusion framework to leverage pretrained language models (LMs) with different language advantages via a Convolution Neural …

Artificial Intelligence In Fusion Protein Three-Dimensional Structure Prediction: Review And Perspective

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have accelerated the prediction of unknown protein structures. However, accurately predicting the three-dimensional (3D) structures of fusion proteins remains a difficult task because the current AI-based protein structure predictions are focused on the WT proteins rather than on the newly fused proteins in nature. Following the central dogma of biology, fusion proteins are translated from fusion transcripts, which are made by transcribing the fusion genes between two different loci through the chromosomal rearrangements in cancer. Accurately predicting the 3D structures of fusion proteins is important for understanding the functional roles and mechanisms of action …

Patient-Centered Clinical Decision Support Challenges And Opportunities Identified From Workflow Execution Models, Nicole A Gauthreaux, James Swiger, Edwin A Lomotan, Prashila Dullabh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: To use workflow execution models to highlight new considerations for patient-centered clinical decision support policies (PC CDS), processes, procedures, technology, and expertise required to support new workflows.

METHODS: To generate and refine models, we used (1) targeted literature reviews; (2) key informant interviews with 6 external PC CDS experts; (3) model refinement based on authors' experience; and (4) validation of the models by a 26-member steering committee.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: We identified 7 major issues that provide significant challenges and opportunities for healthcare systems, researchers, administrators, and health IT and app developers. Overcoming these challenges presents opportunities for new …

Assessing The Reproducibility Of Research Based On The Food And Drug Administration Manufacturer And User Facility Device Experience Data

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: This article aims to assess the reproducibility of Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience (MAUDE) data-driven studies by analyzing the data queries used in their research processes.

Methods: Studies using MAUDE data were sourced from PubMed by searching for "MAUDE" or "Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience" in titles or abstracts. We manually chose articles with executable queries. The reproducibility of each query was assessed by replicating it in the MAUDE Application Programming Interface. The reproducibility of a query is determined by a reproducibility coefficient that ranges from 0.95 to 1.05. This coefficient is calculated by comparing the number …

Challenges In Lncrna Biology: Views And Opinions, Ekaterina G Derevyanchuk, Tatiana P Shkurat, Jeffrey A Loeb, Ivan Martinez, Leonard Lipovich

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This is a mini-review capturing the views and opinions of selected participants at the 2021 IEEE BIBM 3rd Annual LncRNA Workshop, held in Dubai, UAE. The views and opinions are expressed on five broad themes related to problems in lncRNA, namely, challenges in the computational analysis of lncRNAs, lncRNAs and cancer, lncRNAs in sports, lncRNAs and COVID-19, and lncRNAs in human brain activity.