Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Machine Learning As A Tool For Early Detection: A Focus On Late-Stage Colorectal Cancer Across Socioeconomic Spectrums, Hadiza Galadima, Rexford Anson-Dwamena, Ashley Johnson, Ghalib Bello, Georges Adunlin, James Blando

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of various machine learning (ML) algorithms in predicting late-stage colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnoses against the backdrop of socio-economic and regional healthcare disparities. Methods: An innovative theoretical framework was developed to integrate individual- and census tract-level social determinants of health (SDOH) with sociodemographic factors. A comparative analysis of the ML models was conducted using key performance metrics such as AUC-ROC to evaluate their predictive accuracy. Spatio-temporal analysis was used to identify disparities in late-stage CRC diagnosis probabilities. Results: Gradient boosting emerged as the superior model, with the top predictors for late-stage CRC diagnosis being anatomic site, …

Host-Defense Piscidin Peptides As Antibiotic Adjuvants Against Clostridioides Difficile, Adenrele Oludiran, Areej Malik, Andriana C. Zourou, Yonghan Wu, Steven P. Gross, Albert Siryapon, Asia Poudel, Kwincy Alleyne, Savion Adams, David S. Courson, Myriam L. Cotten, Erin B. Purcell

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The spore-forming intestinal pathogen Clostridioides difficile causes multidrug resistant infection with a high rate of recurrence after treatment. Piscidins 1 (p1) and 3 (p3), cationic host defense peptides with micromolar cytotoxicity against C. difficile, sensitize C. difficile to clinically relevant antibiotics tested at sublethal concentrations. Both peptides bind to Cu²⁺ using an amino terminal copper and nickel binding motif. Here, we investigate the two peptides in the apo and holo states as antibiotic adjuvants against an epidemic strain of C. difficile. We find that the presence of the peptides leads to lower doses of …

Diagnostic Certainty During In-Person And Telehealth Autism Evaluations, Natasha N. Ludwig, Calliope Holingue, Ji Su Hong, Luther G. Kalb, Danika Pfeiffer, Rachel Reetzke, Deepa Menon

Speech-Language Pathology Faculty Publications

Background

Many diagnostic evaluations abruptly shifted to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, little is known about the impact on diagnosis patterns for children evaluated for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this clinical research study was to examine (1) the frequency of diagnoses evaluated beyond ASD; (2) the frequency of diagnoses made, including ASD; and (3) clinician diagnostic certainty for all diagnoses evaluated for children who received an evaluation due to primary concerns about ASD via telehealth during the pandemic compared to those evaluated in person before the pandemic at an ASD specialty clinic.

Methods

The sample included …

Identification And Characterization Of Two Novel Kcnh2 Mutations Contributing To Long Qt Syndrome, Anthony Owusu-Mensah, Jacqueline Treat, Joyce Bernardi, Ryan Pfeiffer, Robert Goodrow, Bright Tsevi, Victoria Lam, Michel Audette, Jonathan M. Cordeiro, Makarand Deo

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We identified two different inherited mutations in KCNH2 gene, or human ether-a-go-go related gene (hERG), which are linked to Long QT Syndrome. The first mutation was in a 1-day-old infant, whereas the second was in a 14-year-old girl. The two KCNH2 mutations were transiently transfected into either human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells or human induced pluripotent stem-cell derived cardiomyocytes. We performed associated multiscale computer simulations to elucidate the arrhythmogenic potentials of the KCNH2 mutations. Genetic screening of the first and second index patients revealed a heterozygous missense mutation in KCNH2, resulting in an amino acid change (P632L) in the …

Identifying The Serious Clinical Outcomes Of Adverse Reactions To Drugs By A Multi-Task Deep Learning Framework, Haochen Zhao, Peng Ni, Qichang Zhao, Xiao Liang, Di Ai, Shannon Erhardt, Jun Wang, Yaohang Li, Jiianxin Wang

Computer Science Faculty Publications

Adverse Drug Reactions (ADRs) have a direct impact on human health. As continuous pharmacovigilance and drug monitoring prove to be costly and time-consuming, computational methods have emerged as promising alternatives. However, most existing computational methods primarily focus on predicting whether or not the drug is associated with an adverse reaction and do not consider the core issue of drug benefit-risk assessment-whether the treatment outcome is serious when adverse drug reactions occur. To this end, we categorize serious clinical outcomes caused by adverse reactions to drugs into seven distinct classes and present a deep learning framework, so-called GCAP, for predicting the …

Counselor Perceived Competence Diagnosing Disorders From Dsm-5 Diagnostic Categories Survey Results And The Development And Validation Of Scores On The Diagnostic Self-Efficacy Scale, Erin Elizabeth Woods

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation focused on the diagnostic self-efficacy of mental health counselors. The diagnosis of mental health disorders serves a wide array of functions in the counseling field including communication, treatment planning, and third-party reimbursement. Self-efficacy, or one’s belief in their own ability to accomplish a task, is considered a factor in successful task completion. The literature lacked information about which mental health disorders counselors are most confident diagnosing and an instrument which measured the self-efficacy of counselors specific to the diagnostic process. The MEASURE approach was employed to create the Diagnostic Self-Efficacy Scale and validate scores on this instrument with …

Use Of A Simulated-Virtual Training Module To Improve Dental Hygiene Students' Self-Reported Knowledge, Attitudes, And Confidence In Providing Care To Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Pilot Study, Kimberly F. Cenzon, Ann M. Bruhn, Denise M. Claiborne, Jonna L. Bobzien

Dental Hygiene Faculty Publications

Purpose: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder affecting an individual's ability to communicate, interact, behave, and learn. The purpose of this study was to determine knowledge, attitudes, and confidence of dental hygiene students in providing care to children with ASD as a mechanism for evaluating dental hygiene curricula for patients with special needs.

Methods: A simulated-virtual training (SVT) intervention was developed as an interactive approach for educating dental hygiene students on providing care to a child patient with ASD. The SVT intervention consisted of a scenario in which the clinician "interacted" with a child with ASD who was …

Neuromotor Changes In Participants With A Concussion History Can Be Detected With A Custom Smartphone App, Christopher K. Rhea, Masahiro Yamada, Nikita A. Kuznetsov, Jason T. Jakiela, Chanel T. Lojacono, Scott E. Ross, F. J. Haran, Jason M. Bailie, W. Geoffrey Wright

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Neuromotor dysfunction after a concussion is common, but balance tests used to assess neuromotor dysfunction are typically subjective. Current objective balance tests are either cost- or space-prohibitive, or utilize a static balance protocol, which may mask neuromotor dysfunction due to the simplicity of the task. To address this gap, our team developed an Android-based smartphone app (portable and cost-effective) that uses the sensors in the device (objective) to record movement profiles during a stepping-in-place task (dynamic movement). The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which our custom smartphone app and protocol could discriminate neuromotor behavior between …

Diagnosing Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Using Saliva Rna Compared To Cognitive And Balance Testing, Steven D. Hicks, Cayce Onks, Raymond Y. Kim, Kevin J. Zhen, Jayson Loeffert, Andrea C. Loeffert, Robert P. Olympia, Gregory Fedochak, Samantha Devita, Aakanksha Rangnekar, John Leddy, Mohammad N. Haider, Zofia Gagnon, Callan D. Mcloughlin, Matthew Badia, Jason Randall, Miguel Madeira, Aaron M. Yengo-Kahn, Justin Wenzel, Matthew Heller, Hallie Zwibel, Aaron Roberts, Samantha Johnson, Chuck Monteith, Michael N. Dretsch, Thomas R. Campbell, Rebekah Mannix, Christopher Neville, Frank Middleton

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Early, accurate diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) can improve clinical outcomes for patients, but mTBI remains difficult to diagnose because of reliance on subjective symptom reports. An objective biomarker could increase diagnostic accuracy and improve clinical outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of salivary noncoding RNA (ncRNA) to serve as a diagnostic adjunct to current clinical tools. We hypothesized that saliva ncRNA levels would demonstrate comparable accuracy for identifying mTBI as measures of symptom burden, neurocognition, and balance.

METHODS: This case‐control study involved 538 individuals. Participants included 251 individuals with mTBI, enrolled …

Serological Proteomic Screening And Evaluation Of A Recombinant Egg Antigen For The Diagnosis Of Low-Intensity Schistosoma Mansoni Infections In Endemic Area In Brazil, Vanessa Silva-Moraes, Lisa Marie Shollenberger, William Castro-Borges, Ana Lucia Teles Rabello, Donald A. Harn, Lia Carolina Soares Medeiros, Wander De Jesus Jeremias, Liliane Maria Vidal Siqueira, Caroline Stephane Salviano Pereira, Maria Luysa Camargos Pedrosa, Nathalie Bonatti Franco Almeida, Aureo Almeida, Jose Roberto Lambertucci, Nidia Francisca De Figueiredo Carneiro, Paulo Marcos Zech Coelho, Refaella Fortini Queiroz Grenfell

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Despite decades of use of control programs, schistosomiasis remains a global public health problem. To further reduce prevalence and intensity of infection, or to achieve the goal of elimination in low-endemic areas, there needs to be better diagnostic tools to detect low-intensity infections in low-endemic areas in Brazil. The rationale for development of new diagnostic tools is that the current standard test Kato-Katz (KK) is not sensitive enough to detect low-intensity infections in low-endemic areas. In order to develop new diagnostic tools, we employed a proteomics approach to identify biomarkers associated with schistosome-specific immune responses in hopes of developing …

Diagnosis Of Schistosoma Mansoni Infections: What Are The Choices In Brazilian Low-Endemic Areas?, Vanessa Silva-Moraes, Lisa M. Shollenberger, Liliane Maria Vidal Siqueira, William Castro-Borges, Donald A. Harn, Rafaella Fortini Queiroz E. Grenfell, Ana Lucia Teles Rabello, Paulo Marcos Zech Coelho

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The population of Brazil is currently characterised by many individuals harbouring low-intensity Schistosoma mansoni infections. The Kato-Katz technique is the diagnostic method recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to assess these infections, but this method is not sensitive enough in the context of low egg excretion. In this regard, potential alternatives are being employed to overcome the limits of the Kato-Katz technique. In the present review, we evaluated the performance of parasitological and immunological approaches adopted in Brazilian areas. Currently, the diagnostic choices involve a combination of strategies, including the utilisation of antibody methods to screen individuals and then …

Ebola Virus - Epidemiology, Diagnosis, And Control: Threat To Humans, Lessons Learnt, And Preparedness Plans - An Update On Its 40 Year's Journey, Raj Kumar Singh, Kuldeep Dhama, Yashpal Singh Malik, Muthannan Andavar Ramakrishnan, Kumaragurubaran Karthik, Rekha Khandia, Ruchi Tiwari, Ashok Munjal, Mani Saminathan, Perumal Arumugam, Sunil Kumar Joshi

Bioelectrics Publications

Ebola virus (EBOV) is an extremely contagious pathogen and causes lethal hemorrhagic fever disease in man and animals. The recently occurred Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks in the West African countries have categorized it as an international health concern. For the virus maintenance and transmission, the non-human primates and reservoir hosts like fruit bats have played a vital role. For curbing the disease timely, we need effective therapeutics/prophylactics, however, in the absence of any approved vaccine, timely diagnosis and monitoring of EBOV remains of utmost importance. The technologically advanced vaccines like a viral-vectored vaccine, DNA vaccine and virus-like particles are …

The Role Of Neighborhood Characteristics In Late Stage Melanoma Diagnosis Among Hispanic Men In California, Texas, And Florida, 1996-2012, Valerie M. Harvey, Clinton W. Enos, Jarvis T. Chen, Hadiza Galadima, Karl Eschbach

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Background. Hispanics diagnosed with cutaneous melanoma are more likely to present at advanced stages but the reasons for this are unknown. We identify census tracts at high risk for late stage melanoma diagnosis (LSMD) and examine the contextual predictors of LSMD in California, Texas, and Florida. Methods. We conducted a cross-sectional study using geocoded state cancer registry data. Using hierarchical multilevel logistic regression models we estimated ORs and 95% confidence intervals for the impact of socioeconomic, Hispanic ethnic concentration, index of dissimilarity, and health resource availability measures on LSMD. Results. We identified 12,493 cases. In California, late …

Philosophy, Medicine And Health Care - Where We Have Come From And Where We Are Going, Michael Loughlin, Robyn Bluhm, Jonathan Fuller, Stephen Burtow, Rose E. G. Upshur, Kirstin Borgerson, Maya J. Goldenberg, Elselijn Kingma

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The role of philosophy in discussions of clinical practice was once regarded by many as restricted to a very limited version of ‘medical ethics’, one that has been extensively criticized in the pages of this journal and elsewhere for being at once philosophically untenable and practically unhelpful [1–4]. While this uninspiring view of the nature and scope of applied philosophy has by no means been eradicated, over a number of years there has been a resurgence of interest in the philosophy of medicine and health care as an intellectually serious and practically significant enterprise. Controversies about evidence, value, clinical knowledge, …

Fluorescent Technology Versus Visual And Tactile Examination In The Detection Of Oral Lesion: A Pilot Study, Hadeel Mohammed Ayoub

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to compare the effectiveness of the VELscope® Vx, versus a visual and tactile intraoral examination in detecting oral lesions in an adult, high risk population. Methods: A convenience sample of 30 participants (17 cigarette smokers and 13 dual addiction smokers) was enrolled. For the purpose of this study, dual addition was defined as cigarettes plus hookah usage. Two trained and calibrated dental hygienists conducted all examinations. Visual and tactile intraoral examinations were conducted, followed by VELscope® Vx florescence examinations. All subjects received an inspection of the lips, labial mucosa, buccal mucosa, floor of …

Comparing Velscope Vx And Traditional Oral Exams In Shisha (Hookah) Smokers: A Pilot Study, Amanda E. Kimball

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare oral findings using two exam types, the VELscope Vx® screening device versus a modified oral examination in detecting oral potentially malignant lesions in shisha smokers.

Methods: Thirty-one participants who reported currently smoking shisha and tobacco were recruited. Participants were identified for smoking habits to include two groups, to include those who reported smoking shisha exclusively and those who reported smoking shisha and tobacco. Each group received both exam types; examiners used a standardized protocol. A health history questionnaire was also collected to assess participant's oral cancer risk factors such as age, race, …

Adjacent Slice Prostate Cancer Prediction To Inform Maldi Imaging Biomarker Analysis, Shao-Hui Chuang

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among men in the U.S. [1]. Traditionally, prostate cancer diagnosis is made by the analysis of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels and histopathological images of biopsy samples under microscopes. Proteomic biomarkers can improve upon these methods. MALDI molecular spectra imaging is used to visualize protein/peptide concentrations across biopsy samples to search for biomarker candidates. Unfortunately, traditional processing methods require histopathological examination on one slice of a biopsy sample while the adjacent slice is subjected to the tissue destroying desorption and ionization processes of MALDI. The highest confidence tumor regions gained from …

A Noninvasive Test For Vesico-Ureteric Reflux In Children, R. A. Mevorach, B. Cilento, S. Zahorian, C. Badgett, R. Walker, A. Atala, S. Iannello, M. Meyer

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Objective To report the development and testing of a device for the noninvasive diagnosis of vesico‐ureteric reflux (VUR) which avoids the need for urethral catheterization (currently required to reliably determine the presence of VUR), and which thus avoids the anxiety of parents and patients that causes many families to refuse such evaluation.

Patients and methods Fifty‐four children (49 girls and five boys, mean age 7.2 years, range 4–14) previously evaluated as having VUR volunteered to participate; no child was symptomatic at the time of the study. Refluxing units were known to be present by voiding cysto‐urethrography (within 1 year, mean …