Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluation Of Quantum Contouring Algorithms For Treatment Planning On Mr Abdominal Images, Rachel Glenn, Tucker Netherton, Adrian Celaya, Mohamed Eltaher, Beatrice Riviere, Eugene J Koay, David Fuentes

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Quantum computing is increasingly being investigated for integration into medical radiology and healthcare applications worldwide. Given its potential to enhance clinical care and medical research, there is growing interest in evaluating its practical applications in clinical workflows.

Methods: We developed an evaluation of quantum computing-based auto-contouring methods to introduce medical physicists to this emerging technology. We implemented existing quantum algorithms as prototypes tailored for specific quantum hardware, focusing on their application to auto-contouring in medical imaging. The evaluation was performed using a medical resonance imaging (MRI) abdominal dataset, comprising 102 patient scans.

Results: The quantum algorithms were applied to …

Novel Use And Value Of Contrast-Enhanced Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging Morphologic And Radiomic Features In Predicting Extremity Soft Tissue Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma Treatment Response, Raul F Valenzuela, Elvis De Jesus Duran Sierra, Mathew A Canjirathinkal, Behrang Amini, Ken-Pin Hwang, Jingfei Ma, Keila E Torres, R Jason Stafford, Wei-Lien Wang, Robert S Benjamin, Andrew J Bishop, John E Madewell, William A Murphy, Colleen M Costelloe

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcomas (UPSs) demonstrate therapy-induced hemosiderin deposition, granulation tissue formation, fibrosis, and calcification. We aimed to determine the treatment-assessment value of morphologic tumoral hemorrhage patterns and first- and high-order radiomic features extracted from contrast-enhanced susceptibility-weighted imaging (CE-SWI).

Materials and methods: This retrospective institutional review board-authorized study included 33 patients with extremity UPS with magnetic resonance imaging and resection performed from February 2021 to May 2023. Volumetric tumor segmentation was obtained at baseline, postsystemic chemotherapy (PC), and postradiation therapy (PRT). The pathology-assessed treatment effect (PATE) in surgical specimens separated patients into responders (R; ≥90%, n = 16), partial responders …

Quantile Regression Based Method For Characterizing Risk-Specific Behavioral Patterns In Relation To Longitudinal Left-Censored Biomarker Data Collected From Heterogeneous Populations, Minjae Lee, Belinda M Reininger, Kelley Pettee Gabriel, Nalini Ranjit, Larkin L Strong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

There are many studies aimed at promoting positive lifestyle behaviors to reduce lifetime risk of cancer and related diseases. However, assessing these modifiable behaviors through statistical modeling is challenging because of the multidimensionality of interrelated measurements that may dramatically differ between at-risk individuals. Taking into account this heterogeneity while considering the multidimensionality of behavior changes is fundamental to tailoring interventions to their needs. Biomarkers that identify high-risk individuals may help validate proximal measures, but the number of validated methods that link biomarkers to multiple behavioral measurements by determining their dynamic relations with disease risks is limited to just a few, …

Prrx1 Has Functional Roles In Pancreatic Acinar To Ductal Metaplasia And Carcinogenesis, Noriyuki Nishiwaki, Kensuke Sugiura, Kensuke Suzuki, Alina L Li, Constanza Tapia Contreras, Gizem Efe, Alice E Shin, Dorsay Sadeghian, Jun Zhao, Anirban Maitra, Jason R Pitarresi, Peter A Sims, Rohit Chandwani, Anil K Rustgi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Building Boundary-Crossers In Clinical-Translational Research: An Exploratory Study Of A Novel Communication Intervention, Carrie Cameron, Irene Rull-Garcia, Laura G Meyer, Jose-Armando Fernandez-Guerrero, Erin K Dahlstrom, Christine Bell, Christine Pribbenow

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Integrating scientific research across multiple disciplines to advance breakthroughs is at the heart of clinical-translational science (CTS); among competencies that have been identified as essential for progress, skillful communication is critical. Few tools are available to address the social dynamics of the multidimensional diversity characteristics of CTS. We created the "Building a Diverse Biomedical Workforce Through Communication Across Difference (CAD)" workshop intervention. Based on principles of intercultural communication, CAD taught novel situationally-based communication skills to dyads of near-peer mentors and their undergraduate mentees. This study reports on the effectiveness of the operative mechanisms employed in CAD workshops for helping …

Tissue And Imaging Biomarkers Of Response To Neoadjuvant Nivolumab Or Nivolumab Plus Ipilimumab In Patients With Resectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Michael Lapelusa, Shadi Chamseddine, Hop Sanderson Tran Cao, Lianchun Xiao, Elshad Hasanov, Priya Bhosale, Hesham M Amin, Yehia I Mohamed, Betul Gok Yavuz, Yara Sakr, Li Xu, Ian Hu, Sunyoung S Lee, Divya Sakamuri, Sonali Jindal, Van Nguyen, Michael A Curran, Ryan Sun, Asif Rashid, Dan Gabriel Duda, Padmanee Sharma, Aliya Qayyum, Ahmed Omar Kaseb

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Perioperative immunotherapy has shown promise in some patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study examined tissue and imaging biomarkers associated with pathologic response in a phase II clinical trial in patients with resectable HCC.

Methods: Analysis included 18 patients with biopsy-proven resectable HCC treated with neoadjuvant nivolumab plus ipilimumab or nivolumab alone in a phase II clinical trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center (NCT03222076). Liver MRE (to measure tissue fibrosis) and biopsies (to evaluate immune activation markers) were obtained serially pretreatment and after completing neoadjuvant immunotherapy. A major pathologic response (MPR) was defined as tumor necrosis …

Knowledge-Based Planning For Fully Automated Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning Of 10 Different Cancer Sites, Christine V Chung, Meena S Khan, Adenike Olanrewaju, Mary Pham, Quyen T Nguyen, Tina Patel, Prajnan Das, Michael S O'Reilly, Valerie K Reed, Anuja Jhingran, Hannah Simonds, Ethan B Ludmir, Karen E Hoffman, Komeela Naidoo, Jeannette Parkes, Ajay Aggarwal, Lauren L Mayo, Shalin J Shah, Chad Tang, Beth M Beadle, Julie Wetter, Gary Walker, Simon Hughes, Vinod Mullassery, Stephen Skett, Christopher Thomas, Lifei Zhang, Son Nguyen, Raymond P Mumme, Raphael J Douglas, Hana Baroudi, Laurence E Court

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose: Radiation treatment planning is highly complex and can have significant inter- and intra-planner inconsistency, as well as variability in planning time and plan quality. Knowledge-based planning (KBP) is a tool that can be used to efficiently produce high-quality, consistent, clinically acceptable plans, independent of planner skills and experience. In this study, we created and validated multiple clinically acceptable and fully automatable KBP models, with the goal of creating VMAT plans without user intervention.

Methods: Ten KBP models were configured using high quality clinical plans from a single institution. They were then honed to be part of a fully automatable …

Characterizing Spatial Immune Architecture In Metastatic Melanoma Using High-Dimensional Multiplex Imaging, Joel Eliason, Santhoshi Krishnan, Yasunari Fukuda, Matias A Bustos, Dan Winkowski, Sungnam Cho, Akshay Basi, Regan Baird, Elizabeth A Grimm, Michael A Davies, Dave S B Hoon, Arvind Rao, Jared K Burks, Suhendan Ekmekcioglu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have significantly improved survival for patients with metastatic melanoma, yet many experienceresistance due to immunosuppressive mechanisms within the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME). Understanding how the spatial architecture of immune and inflammatory components changes across disease stages may reveal novel prognostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Methods: We performed high-dimensional spatial profiling of two melanoma tissue microarrays (TMAs), representing Stage III (n = 157) and Stage IV (n = 248) metastatic tumors. Using imaging mass cytometry (IMC) and multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF), we characterized the phenotypic, functional, and spatial properties of the TIME. Cellular neighborhoods were …

Case Report: Durable Remission After Abscopal Effect Following Transcatheter Hepatic Arterial Embolization In A Patient With Mucosal Melanoma Refractory To Immunotherapy, Lynsey M Claus, Hannah E Kostan, Marshall E Hicks, Rony Avritscher, Michael A Davies

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Mucosal melanoma, a rare subtype of melanoma affecting mucosal surfaces, presents significant challenges in diagnosis and treatment, particularly due to its low programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and reduced response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). This case report describes a 58-year-old woman with metastatic nasal mucosal melanoma initially resistant to neoadjuvant ipilimumab and nivolumab. After undergoing hepatic transcatheter arterial embolization, she experienced an unexpected abscopal effect, where distant metastases showed near-complete resolution despite prior lack of response to immunotherapy. The patient's disease initially progressed despite two cycles of ICI treatment, and further immunotherapy with nivolumab and relatimab did not improve …

Editorial: Molecular Mechanisms And Targeted Therapies For Colorectal Cancer Vol Ii, Alessandro Passardi, David Gibbons, Antonio Mario Scanu, Shilpa S Dhar

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Cord Blood-Derived Ink T Cells As A Platform For Allogeneic Car T Cell Therapy, Maison Grefe, Abel Trujillo-Ocampo, Jelita Clinton, Hong He, Ling Yu, Dan Li, Qing Ma, Elizabeth J Shpall, Jeffrey J Molldrem, Jin S Im

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

CD1d-restricted invariant Natural Killer (iNK) T cells are a suitable candidate for allogeneic Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapy as they do not cause graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) due to the monomorphic nature of CD1d proteins. However, the phenotypic and functional heterogeneity of iNK T cells from adult donors (AD) may lead to the inconstant CAR-iNK T cell products. Cord blood-derived (CB) iNK T cells, in contrast, exhibit inter-donor homogeneity in phenotype including uniform CD4 expression and are enriched in memory iNK T cell populations. Thus, we evaluated the preclinical therapeutic potential of iNK T cells derived from cord blood …

Molecular Alterations In Idh-Mutant Astrocytoma: A Multi-Institutional Retrospective Study, Keng Lam, Hanim I Ozkizilkaya, Denái R Milton, Antonio Dono, Yajie Liu, Suprateek Kundu, Vinodh A Kumar, Jason M Johnson, Yoshua Esquenazi, Chirag B Patel, Leomar Y Ballester

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Several molecular alterations have been identified to provide prognosis for patients with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-mutant astrocytoma. However, contemporary baseline survival data with respect to their molecular alterations are lacking. The prognostic value of histologic grading remains controversial.

Methods: This was a retrospective multi-site study of adult IDH-mutant diffuse astrocytoma patients. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Associations between OS and measures of interest were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression models.

Results: We identified 241 eligible patients. The most frequent mutations were IDH1 (98%), TP53 (91%), ATRX (70%), ARID1A (8%), BRCA2 (6%), TSC2 (6%), CDKN2A (6%), …

The Impact Of Post-Remission Granulocyte Colony-Stimulating Factor Use In The Phase 3 Studies Of Venetoclax Combination Treatments In Patients With Newly Diagnosed Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Courtney D Dinardo, Keith W Pratz, Panayiotis Panayiotidis, Xudong Wei, Vladimir Vorobyev, Árpád Illés, Inho Kim, Vladimir Ivanov, Grace Ku, Catherine L Miller, Meng Zhang, Fernando Tatsch, Jalaja Potluri, Xenia Schmidt, Christian Récher

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Electrical Characterization Of The Alleged Bio-Memristor Physarum Polycephalum, Markus Schmidt, Günter Seyfried, Uliana Reutina, Zeki Seskir, Eduardo R. Miranda

School of Art, Design and Architecture

This study investigates the potential of the slime mold Physarum polycephalum to function as a bio-memristor. In contrast to earlier reports, our experimental results did not show a significant memristive behavior. Instead, all tested slime molds exhibited elliptical I-V characteristics, attributed to their inherent capacitance. To model this behavior, we developed replacement circuits consisting solely of resistors and capacitors, which accurately reproduced the observed results. While these circuits lack memristive properties, they demonstrate potential utility as sub-circuits in analog applications, such as filters, timing circuits, and phase shift networks. Despite it not being a memristor, P. polycephalum may hold promise …

Intertidal Encounters: Centre For Sustainable Practice In The Arts Quarterly, Sarah Blissett, James Jordan Johnson, Cherry Truluck, Anastasia (A) Alevtin, Monstera Deliciosa, Arbonauts, Sam Hodge, Olga (F) Koroleva

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Intertidal Encounters ask: what are the stories cast up by intertidal being/s and how do they come to matter?

Balancing Nature And Tradition: Ocean Governance In The Noosa World Surfing Reserve, Kizzy Beaumont, Kirra Molnar, Michael Court

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Executive summary This report captures insights from focus groups and interviews held in Noosa in September 2024 as part of ongoing research into Transformative Ocean Governance. Participants shared reflections on the successes and struggles of the Noosa World Surfing Reserve (WSR) and outlined visions for its future.The WSR was praised for its cultural importance, environmental values, and grassroots leadership, but concerns were raised about crowding, tourism pressure, outdated policies, and fragmented governance. Participants highlighted gaps in environmental and surf-amenity data, funding shortages, and limited capacity to engage diverse community voices. Governance overlaps between the WSR, Council, and Biosphere Reserve have …

Community, Culture, And Capacity: Transformative Governance In The Gold Coast World Surfing Reserve, Kizzy Beaumont, Andrew Mckinnon, Scott Gillies

School of Art, Design and Architecture

Executive summary This report presents findings from interviews and a focus group held in September 2024 with stakeholders involved in the Gold Coast World Surfing Reserve (WSR). Participants shared perspectives on the evolution of the WSR, its governance structures, and its role in balancing surf culture, community needs, and environmental sustainability on one of Australia’s most urbanised coastlines.Participants praised the WSR Stewardship Committee, Council leadership, and strong data partnerships with universities. However, concerns were raised about increasing surf congestion, tourism pressure, development impacts, and the lack of formal legal protections for surf zones. The region’s surf culture was described as …

Mental Silence For Emotional Intelligence Development, Mina N. Nandwani

Theses and Dissertations

While emotional intelligence is considered key for effective leadership, and perhaps the most vital competency for current and emerging leaders to cultivate, there appears to be uncertainty on how to develop it. This study examined how the practice of Sahaja Yoga Meditation (SYM) influences the development of emotional intelligence and contributes to the advancement of global leadership capacities, addressing a gap in the current literature. The conceptual frameworks of SYM, Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence Model, and the literature on global leadership, particularly Jeffrey Sachs’ Ages of Globalization, guided the research question. By implementing a qualitative phenomenological research approach, ten long-time …

Il-7: A Potential Next-Generation Adjuvant For Immune Cell Therapies, Richard S Hotchkiss, John F Dipersio, Cassian Yee, Russell K Pachynski, Marcel R M Van Den Brink

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Cell-based immune therapies ranging from CAR-T cells to tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and endogenous T-cell products, have produced unprecedented clinical responses in hematologic malignancies and are currently under active investigation for solid tumors. Nevertheless, several key challenges continue to limit the durability and breadth of clinical benefit. IL-7 is a pleiotropic cytokine that increases both the number and function of lymphocytes. Although not yet clinically approved, IL-7 has been used in over 620 adult and pediatric patients for a variety of reasons including, for example, to hasten bone marrow recovery after allogenic stem cell transplantation, to reverse lymphopenia due to …

Understanding The Evolution Of The Apical Organ In The Early Branching Metazoan, Nematostella Vectensis, Eleanor Gilbert

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

The apical organ is a key sensory structure in marine invertebrate larvae that is involved in sensory processing and neural coordination, thereby influencing larval locomotion, settlement, and metamorphosis. This thesis explores the evolution, development, and function of the apical organ and wider apical domain in cnidarian larvae, with a particular focus on Nematostella vectensis. As an early-branching metazoan, N. vectensis is a unique model for studying evolution of the apical organ, and subsequently the origins of the nervous system. Through generating tissue-specific transcriptomes and integrating this data with an existing single-cell RNA sequencing dataset, this research identified a distinct neuronal …

Benefits And Challenges With The Modular Model Of Teacher Certification In Australia: Listening To Teachers’ Voices, Bernard Brown, Rohan Nethsinghe

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper examines teachers’ views about the Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher (HALT) Certification 2.0 Modular Model (CMM 2.0). The research reveals teachers’ voices and agency in relation to HALT certification. Participants in this study included HALT certified teachers, current HALT participants, and prospective participants. The semi-structured interviews conducted provide insights into the benefits and challenges associated with the CMM 2.0. Thematic coding and systematic analysis were applied to the data to arrive at the key findings. The research revealed that teachers believed that the modular approach was advantageous as it was flexible and provided professional recognition and development. Issues …

Insights In, On And For Teacher Education: An International Teacher Educator Study, Simone White, Jean Murray, Lin Goodwin

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Whilst the importance of research in teacher education is widely emphasised, debates continue about issues of value, legitimacy and contributions to the knowledge base. This paper aims to contribute to these debates by looking at research in, on and for teacher education, by teacher educators. Drawing from 20 interviews of international experienced teacher educators, questions were posed into the types of research they have pursued, how their research contributed to the field, and how they conceptualised research in/on and for teacher education. Drawing from Bourdieu, findings give insights into what constitutes valued research capital within the divergent field or territory …

Challenging Assumptions: Ai And Teacher Assessment Identity Formation, Nadia Ollington

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article explores the ways in which teacher educators can strengthen the developing teacher assessment identity of preservice teachers who are at the precipice of Industry 4.0, where work with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and assessment will require flexible thinking. This reflective case study narrative outlines a teacher educator’s experiences in a novel assessment task using Generative AI for technology enhanced learning in an Australian postgraduate teaching program. In the task, those who held positive beliefs and emotions about AI were more likely to engage in flexible thinking skills than those who were more critical of the AI. To ensure that …

Changes In Mentor Teacher Participation In Postgraduate Secondary Initial Teacher Education: Climatic Conditions Preceding Workforce Reform., Alison L. Hilton, Chad Morrison, Felicity I. Mclure, Kathryn G. Dehle, Sandi Fielder

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Professional Experience placements provide invaluable opportunities for pre-service teachers to connect their expanding knowledge to teaching practice. When done well, these experiences are underpinned by purposeful and continuous guidance from experienced mentor teachers. Significantly, the participation and engagement of Australian mentor teachers in this process is voluntary in nature, meaning the system relies on teachers ‘opting-in’ to mentoring. This research examines mentor teacher participation within Secondary-level initial teacher education courses and highlights issues relating to overall mentor teacher (and host school) engagement. Analysis of placement data over a five-year period to 2021 illustrates a significant change in participation with a …

Unveiling Raciolinguistic Ideologies: Pre-Service Teachers’ Insights On Refugee Integration In Schools, Tuba Yilmaz, Rosanna Ellis

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigates pre-service teachers' ideologies about refugee students' belonging and integration in Türkiye and examines how these ideologies shape their anticipated pedagogical practices. Using the framework of raciolinguistic ideologies, the study highlights how linguistic and cultural hierarchies influence educational practices, often perpetuating systemic exclusion. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with 13 pre-service teachers from various educational programs, utilizing a qualitative, phenomenological design. The findings reveal a predominant reliance on deficit-based perspectives, with refugee students framed as linguistically deficient and culturally "othered." While participants expressed professional commitments to inclusivity, their approaches often emphasized assimilation into Turkish norms, reflecting cultural …

Teacher Training For Diversity: Analyzing Inclusive And Intercultural Education In Early Childhood Degrees Of Three Universities Located In Spain, France And Columbia, Odet Moliner, Aida Sanahuja, Daniel Niclot, Mariaangelica Yazzo

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study examines the integration of inclusive and intercultural education principles in the Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education at three Universities located in Spain, France and Colombia. An analysis of 116 course syllabi is conducted to identify the specific references to Universal Design for Learning, accessibility, inclusion, diversity and interculturality. A second content analysis was conducted to categorize the units of meaning into four categories and determine the predominant underlying approach to the use of the term 'inclusion' in each degree program. The results indicate that the concepts of accessibility and UDL are the least represented, followed by …

From Guesswork To Growth: Understanding How Preservice Teachers Interpret And Enact Appraisal Within A Teacher Performance Assessment, Allison Byth, Thembi Mason, Laurie Werrett

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In Australia, the Graduate Teacher Performance Assessment (GTPA) is a capstone summative assessment evaluating preservice teachers ‘classroom readiness’ across five practices: planning, teaching, assessing, reflecting and appraising. In our work with preservice teachers, appraising the impact of teaching emerged as the most conceptually and practically challenging practice. To understand how preservice teachers interpreted and enacted appraisal, this exploratory case study analysed 15 GTPA submissions that met standards in the first four practices but not in appraisal. The findings highlight common issues, including conflating appraisal with general reflection, difficulty interpreting and applying data meaningfully, and presenting narrative accounts rather than evaluative …

Anomaly Detection Of Seasonal Vessel Activity, Travis Rybicki

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Monitoring maritime traffic is essential for ensuring the safety of vessels, safeguarding transported goods or persons, and preventing illicit or hazardous activity at sea. Increasingly, researchers have explored data-driven approaches to model expected vessel behaviour and detect deviations or anomalies. These anomalies—such as course deviations, unauthorised area entries, or unexpected operational patterns—can indicate emergencies, regulatory breaches, or unlawful intent. Data broadcast by vessels provides a valuable resource for such analyses; however, the inherent complexity and context-dependency of maritime behaviour present persistent modelling challenges. One critical yet underutilised factor in this context is seasonality. For certain vessel types, for example, fishing …

Self-Regulated Strategy Development (Srsd) In Timed And Untimed Writing Tasks For Primary Learners, Candice Miller

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This PhD dissertation describes an action research study focused on implementing the Self Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model to teach writing to address the challenges faced by Year 5 students in persuasive writing, particularly under timed conditions, and decreasing motivation aligned with national trends and school performance data. The aim of the current study was to enhance students' persuasive writing skills, writing attitudes, and self-efficacy and to examine the social validity of SRSD in an Australian classroom. The study specifically focused on timed and untimed writing conditions to examine the efficacy of the implemented SRSD model. The research employed a …

Analysis Of Pre-Service Teachers’ Personal Metaphors About Foreign Language Teaching, Juan Luis De La Montaña Conchiña, Guadalupe De La Maya Retamar, Magdalena López-Pérez

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study analyses the characterisation and evolution of the personal metaphors of a sample of 34 trainee foreign language teachers, through a questionnaire of open-ended questions that included asking the participants to make drawings representing the roles of the teacher. Four categories of metaphors were considered for the analysis: behaviourist/transmissive, cognitivist/constructivist, situated, and self-referential. The results indicate that most participants were able to conceptualise their image of the teacher in the form of metaphors. The pre-service teachers’ metaphors represented are mainly cognitivist/constructivist and behaviourist/transmissive. When comparing them before and after the internship in the primary schools, most of them did …