Biomedical Informatics Commons^™

Brain Antigens Stimulate Proliferation Of T Lymphocytes With A Pathogenic Phenotype In Multiple Sclerosis Patients, Assaf Gottlieb, Hoai Phuong T Pham, John William Lindsey

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A method to stimulate T lymphocytes with a broad range of brain antigens would facilitate identification of the autoantigens for multiple sclerosis and enable definition of the pathogenic mechanisms important for multiple sclerosis. In a previous work, we found that the obvious approach of culturing leukocytes with homogenized brain tissue does not work because the brain homogenate suppresses antigen-specific lymphocyte proliferation. We now report a method that substantially reduces the suppressive activity. We used this non-suppressive brain homogenate to stimulate leukocytes from multiple sclerosis patients and controls. We also stimulated with common viruses for comparison. We measured proliferation, selected the …

Electron Transfer Dynamics And Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution Activities Of The Co3o4 Nanoparticles Attached To Indium Tin Oxide By Self-Assembled Monolayers, Xuan Liu, Qianhong Tian, Yvpei Li, Zixiang Zhou, Jinlian Wang, Shuling Liu, Chao Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The Co3O4 nanoparticle-modified indium tin oxide-coated glass slide (ITO) electrodes are successfully prepared using dicarboxylic acid as the self-assembled monolayer through a surface esterification reaction. The ITO-SAM-Co3O4 (SAM = dicarboxylic acid) are active to electrochemically catalyze oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acid. The most active assembly, with Co loading at 3.31 × 10-8 mol cm-2, exhibits 374 mV onset overpotential and 497 mV overpotential to reach 1 mA cm-2 OER current in 0.1 M HClO4. The electron transfer rate constant (k) is acquired using Laviron's approach, and the results show that k is not affected by the carbon …

Dat3m: A Data Tracker For Multi-Faceted Management Of Multi-Site Clinical Research Data Submission, Curation, Master Inventorying, And Sharing, Shiqiang Tao, Licong Cui, Wei-Chun Chou, Samden Lhatoo, Guo-Qiang Zhang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Managing research data is an important and challenging aspect of clinical studies, especially for multi-site collaboratives. To address this challenge, we designed, developed and deployed a multi-faceted, multi-level interactive data tracker (DaT3M) for multi-site clinical research data submission, curation, master inventorying, and sharing. Components of DaT3M include data overview, data portal, data status panel, data query engine, and data downloader. DaT3M managed clinical research data for the Center for SUDEP Research (CSR). The CSR instance of DaT3M includes 2,743 subjects from seven data contributing institutions, 7 data modalities and 10,678 data components: 3,398 Epilepsy Monitoring Unit reports, 3,440 electroencephalography recordings, …

Deep Graph Convolutional Network For Us Birth Data Harmonization, Lishan Yu, Hamisu M Salihu, Deepa Dongarwar, Luyao Chen, Xiaoqian Jiang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

In this paper, we developed a feasible and efficient deep-learning-based framework to combine the United States (US) natality data for the last five decades, with changing variables and factors, into a consistent database. We constructed a graph based on the property and elements of databases, including variables, and conducted a graph convolutional network (GCN) to learn the embeddings of variables on the constructed graph, where the learned embeddings implied the similarity of variables. Specifically, we devised a loss function with a slack margin and a banlist mechanism (for a random walk) to learn the desired structure (two nodes sharing more …

Apaview: A Web-Based Platform For Alternative Polyadenylation Analyses In Hematological Cancers, Xi Hu, Jialin Song, Jacqueline Chyr, Jinping Wan, Xiaoyan Wang, Jianqiang Du, Junbo Duan, Huqin Zhang, Xiaobo Zhou, Xiaoming Wu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Hematologic malignancies, such as acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), are cancers that start in blood-forming tissues and can affect the blood, bone marrow, and lymph nodes. They are often caused by genetic and molecular alterations such as mutations and gene expression changes. Alternative polyadenylation (APA) is a post-transcriptional process that regulates gene expression, and dysregulation of APA contributes to hematological malignancies. RNA-sequencing-based bioinformatic methods can identify APA sites and quantify APA usages as molecular indexes to study APA roles in disease development, diagnosis, and treatment. Unfortunately, APA data pre-processing, analysis, and visualization are time-consuming, inconsistent, …

Dose Accumulation For Mr-Guided Adaptive Radiotherapy: From Practical Considerations To State-Of-The-Art Clinical Implementation, Brigid A Mcdonald, Cornel Zachiu, John Christodouleas, Mohamed A Naser, Mark Ruschin, Jan-Jakob Sonke, Daniela Thorwarth, Daniel Létourneau, Neelam Tyagi, Tony Tadic, Jinzhong Yang, X Allen Li, Uffe Bernchou, Daniel E Hyer, Jeffrey E Snyder, Edyta Bubula-Rehm, Clifton D Fuller, Kristy K Brock

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

MRI-linear accelerator (MR-linac) devices have been introduced into clinical practice in recent years and have enabled MR-guided adaptive radiation therapy (MRgART). However, by accounting for anatomical changes throughout radiation therapy (RT) and delivering different treatment plans at each fraction, adaptive radiation therapy (ART) highlights several challenges in terms of calculating the total delivered dose. Dose accumulation strategies-which typically involve deformable image registration between planning images, deformable dose mapping, and voxel-wise dose summation-can be employed for ART to estimate the delivered dose. In MRgART, plan adaptation on MRI instead of CT necessitates additional considerations in the dose accumulation process because MRI …

Temporal Cohort Logic, Guo-Qiang Zhang, Xiaojin Li, Yan Huang, Licong Cui

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We introduce a new logic, called Temporal Cohort Logic (TCL), for cohort specification and discovery in clinical and population health research. TCL is created to fill a conceptual gap in formalizing temporal reasoning in biomedicine, in a similar role that temporal logics play for computer science and its applications. We provide formal syntax and semantics for TCL and illustrate the various logical constructs using examples related to human health. Relationships and distinctions with existing temporal logical frameworks are discussed. Applications in electronic health record (EHR) and in neurophysiological data resource are provided. Our approach differs from existing temporal logics, in …

Causal Inference Of Genetic Variants And Genes In Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Siyu Pan, Xinxuan Liu, Tianzi Liu, Zhongming Zhao, Yulin Dai, Yin-Ying Wang, Peilin Jia, Fan Liu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal progressive multisystem disorder with limited therapeutic options. Although genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have revealed multiple ALS susceptibility loci, the exact identities of causal variants, genes, cell types, tissues, and their functional roles in the development of ALS remain largely unknown. Here, we reported a comprehensive post-GWAS analysis of the recent large ALS GWAS (n = 80,610), including functional mapping and annotation (FUMA), transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS), colocalization (COLOC), and summary data-based Mendelian randomization analyses (SMR) in extensive multi-omics datasets. Gene property analysis highlighted inhibitory neuron 6, oligodendrocytes, and GABAergic neurons (Gad1/Gad2) as …

Complexities And Complications Of Extreme Obesity, Haval Ali, Udit Naik, Michelle Mcdonald, Mohammad Almosa, Karen Horn, Alexis Staines, Louis Maximilian Buja

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Obesity is a common chronic disorder and has detrimental long-term consequences if left untreated. Herein, we report a case of a young lady who suffered from morbid obesity and many of its consequences, and we present a literature review of these complications. While the cause of obesity is multifactorial, the genetic component is particularly important in the pathophysiology of marked obesity. Resistance to Leptin is considered one of the main causes of obesity. There is a unique relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome and obesity, as observed in our case. Obesity is associated with cardiovascular and lung diseases such as heart …

Cross-Talk Between Histone Methyltransferases And Demethylases Regulate Rest Transcription During Neurogenesis, Jyothishmathi Swaminathan, Shinji Maegawa, Shavali Shaik, Ajay Sharma, Javiera Bravo-Alegria, Lei Guo, Lin Xu, Arif Harmanci, Vidya Gopalakrishnan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The RE1 Silencing Transcription Factor (REST) is a major regulator of neurogenesis and brain development. Medulloblastoma (MB) is a pediatric brain cancer characterized by a blockade of neuronal specification. REST gene expression is aberrantly elevated in a subset of MBs that are driven by constitutive activation of sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling in cerebellar granular progenitor cells (CGNPs), the cells of origin of this subgroup of tumors. To understand its transcriptional deregulation in MBs, we first studied control of Rest gene expression during neuronal differentiation of normal mouse CGNPs. Higher Rest expression was observed in proliferating CGNPs compared to differentiating neurons. …

Racial And Socioeconomic Disparities In Patients With Meningioma: A Retrospective Cohort Study, Hudin N Jackson, Caroline C Hadley, A Basit Khan, Ron Gadot, James C Bayley, Arya Shetty, Jacob Mandel, Ali Jalali, K Kelly Gallagher, Alex D Sweeney, Arif O Harmanci, Akdes S Harmanci, Tiemo Klisch, Shankar P Gopinath, Ganesh Rao, Daniel Yoshor, Akash J Patel

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Meningiomas are the most common intracranial neoplasms. Although genomic analysis has helped elucidate differences in survival, there is evidence that racial disparities may influence outcomes. African Americans have a higher incidence of meningiomas and poorer survival outcomes. The etiology of these disparities remains unclear, but may include a combination of pathophysiology and other factors.

OBJECTIVE: To determine factors that contribute to different clinical outcomes in racial populations.

METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 305 patients who underwent resection for meningiomas at a single tertiary care facility. We used descriptive statistics and univariate, multivariable, and Kaplan-Meier analyses to study clinical, radiographical, and …

Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease Following Influenza Vaccination: A Claims-Based Cohort Study Using Propensity Score Matching, Avram S Bukhbinder, Yaobin Ling, Omar Hasan, Xiaoqian Jiang, Yejin Kim, Kamal N Phelps, Rosemarie E Schmandt, Albert Amran, Ryan Coburn, Srivathsan Ramesh, Qian Xiao, Paul E Schulz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Prior studies have found a reduced risk of dementia of any etiology following influenza vaccination in selected populations, including veterans and patients with serious chronic health conditions. However, the effect of influenza vaccination on Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in a general cohort of older US adults has not been characterized.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk of incident AD between patients with and without prior influenza vaccination in a large US claims database.

METHODS: Deidentified claims data spanning September 1, 2009 through August 31, 2019 were used. Eligible patients were free of dementia during the 6-year look-back period and≥65 years …

Fairly Predicting Graft Failure In Liver Transplant For Organ Assigning, Sirui Ding, Ruixiang Tang, Daochen Zha, Na Zou, Kai Zhang, Xiaoqian Jiang, Xia Hu

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Liver transplant is an essential therapy performed for severe liver diseases. The fact of scarce liver resources makes the organ assigning crucial. Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score is a widely adopted criterion when making organ distribution decisions. However, it ignores post-transplant outcomes and organ/donor features. These limitations motivate the emergence of machine learning (ML) models. Unfortunately, ML models could be unfair and trigger bias against certain groups of people. To tackle this problem, this work proposes a fair machine learning framework targeting graft failure prediction in liver transplant. Specifically, knowledge distillation is employed to handle dense and sparse …

Patients' Preferences For Androgen Deprivation Therapy In The Treatment Of Intermediate-Risk Prostate Cancer, Brian De, Lisa M Lowenstein, Kelsey L Corrigan, Lauren M Andring, Deborah A Kuban, Scott B Cantor, Robert J Volk, Karen E Hoffman

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background. For men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer (IRPC), adding short-term androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) has shown efficacy, but men are often reluctant to accept it because of its impact on quality of life. Methods. We conducted time tradeoffs (score of 1 = perfect health and 0 = death) and probability tradeoffs with patients aged 51 to 78 y who had received EBRT for IRPC within the past 2 y. Of 40 patients, 20 had received 6 mo of ADT and 20 had declined. Utility assessments explored 4 ADT-related side effects: hot flashes, fatigue, loss …

Facilitating Federated Genomic Data Analysis By Identifying Record Correlations While Ensuring Privacy, Leonard Dervishi, Xinyue Wang, Wentao Li, Anisa Halimi, Jaideep Vaidya, Xiaoqian Jiang, Erman Ayday

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

With the reduction of sequencing costs and the pervasiveness of computing devices, genomic data collection is continually growing. However, data collection is highly fragmented and the data is still siloed across different repositories. Analyzing all of this data would be transformative for genomics research. However, the data is sensitive, and therefore cannot be easily centralized. Furthermore, there may be correlations in the data, which if not detected, can impact the analysis. In this paper, we take the first step towards identifying correlated records across multiple data repositories in a privacy-preserving manner. The proposed framework, based on random shuffling, synthetic record …

Caries Risk Documentation And Prevention: Emeasures For Dental Electronic Health Records, Suhasini Bangar, Ana Neumann, Joel M White, Alfa Yansane, Todd R Johnson, Gregory W Olson, Shwetha V Kumar, Krishna K Kookal, Aram Kim, Enihomo Obadan-Udoh, Elizabeth Mertz, Kristen Simmons, Joanna Mullins, Ryan Brandon, Muhammad F Walji, Elsbeth Kalenderian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Longitudinal patient level data available in the electronic health record (EHR) allows for the development, implementation, and validations of dental quality measures (eMeasures).

OBJECTIVE: We report the feasibility and validity of implementing two eMeasures. The eMeasures determined the proportion of patients receiving a caries risk assessment (eCRA) and corresponding appropriate risk-based preventative treatments for patients at elevated risk of caries (appropriateness of care [eAoC]) in two academic institutions and one accountable care organization, in the 2019 reporting year.

METHODS: Both eMeasures define the numerator and denominator beginning at the patient level, populations' specifications, and validated the automated queries. For …

Predicting Clinical Response To Everolimus In Er+ Breast Cancers Using Machine-Learning, Aritro Nath, Patrick A Cosgrove, Jeffrey T Chang, Andrea H Bild

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Endocrine therapy remains the primary treatment choice for ER+ breast cancers. However, most advanced ER+ breast cancers ultimately develop resistance to endocrine. This acquired resistance to endocrine therapy is often driven by the activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Everolimus, a drug that targets and inhibits the mTOR complex has been shown to improve clinical outcomes in metastatic ER+ breast cancers. However, there are no biomarkers currently available to guide the use of everolimus in the clinic for progressive patients, where multiple therapeutic options are available. Here, we utilized gene expression signatures from 9 ER+ breast cancer cell lines and …

A Structural, Cognitive, And Behavioral Model For Error Analysis Of Group B Streptococcus Prophylaxis In Pregnancy, Robert E Murphy, Jane C Ibekwe, Stella I Ibekwe, Jerrie S Refuerzo

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The objective of this study was to develop a structural-cognitive-behavioral model for error analysis of group B streptococcus (GBS) prophylaxis failure, classify delivery cases into this model, and examine compliance with treatment guidelines. A retrospective, cohort study was conducted of women with liveborn pregnancies greater than 24 weeks in April 2018 at a single hospital. We created a structural-cognitive-behavioral model of five assessments for adherence to GBS prophylaxis guidelines and then classified these into four distinct error stages. A descriptive analysis was performed to determine if the pregnancy had a perfect process, a GBS prophylaxis failure, or a fortuitous outcome. …

P-Smoother: Efficient Pbwt Smoothing Of Large Haplotype Panels, William Yue, Ardalan Naseri, Victor Wang, Pramesh Shakya, Shaojie Zhang, Degui Zhi

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

MOTIVATION: As large haplotype panels become increasingly available, efficient string matching algorithms such as positional Burrows-Wheeler transformation (PBWT) are promising for identifying shared haplotypes. However, recent mutations and genotyping errors create occasional mismatches, presenting challenges for exact haplotype matching. Previous solutions are based on probabilistic models or seed-and-extension algorithms that passively tolerate mismatches.

RESULTS: Here, we propose a PBWT-based smoothing algorithm, P-smoother, to actively 'correct' these mismatches and thus 'smooth' the panel. P-smoother runs a bidirectional PBWT-based panel scanning that flips mismatching alleles based on the overall haplotype matching context, which we call the IBD (identical-by-descent) prior. In a simulated …

The Impact Of Merkel Cell Polyomavirus Positivity On Prognosis Of Merkel Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Aimin Yang, Wilson Adrian Wijaya, Lei Yang, Yinhai He, Ying Cen, Junjie Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: There are numerous findings over the past decade have indicated that Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) may have two pathways of pathogenesis: one related to ultraviolet irradiation and the other to the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV). However, the predictive and clinicopathological value of MCPyV positivity in MCC patients is still debatable. This article aims to examine the most recent data regarding this issue.

METHODS: The thorough literature searches were conducted in the Medline Ovid, PubMed, Web of Science, the Cochrane CENTRAL Databases, and Embase Databases until December 31, 2021. The associations between overall survival (OS), Merkel cell carcinoma-specific survival (MSS), …

Enhancing Diagnosis Through Technology: Decision Support, Artificial Intelligence, And Beyond, Robert El-Kareh, Dean F Sittig

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patient care in intensive care environments is complex, time-sensitive, and data-rich, factors that make these settings particularly well-suited to clinical decision support (CDS). A wide range of CDS interventions have been used in intensive care unit environments. The field needs well-designed studies to identify the most effective CDS approaches. Evolving artificial intelligence and machine learning models may reduce information-overload and enable teams to take better advantage of the large volume of patient data available to them. It is vital to effectively integrate new CDS into clinical workflows and to align closely with the cognitive processes of frontline clinicians.

Metabolic Imaging Using Hyperpolarization For Assessment Of Premalignancy, Shivanand Pudakalakatti, Priyank Raj, Travis C Salzillo, José S Enriquez, Dontrey Bourgeois, Prasanta Dutta, Mark Titus, Shayan Shams, Priya Bhosale, Michael Kim, Florencia Mcallister, Pratip K Bhattacharya

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

There is an unmet need for noninvasive surrogate markers that can help identify premalignant lesions across different tumor types. Here we describe the methodology and technical details of protocols employed for in vivo

Advances In Non-Invasive Biosensing Measures To Monitor Wound Healing Progression, Walker D Short, Oluyinka O Olutoye, Benjamin W Padon, Umang M Parikh, Daniel Colchado, Hima Vangapandu, Shayan Shams, Taiyun Chi, Jangwook P Jung, Swathi Balaji

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Impaired wound healing is a significant financial and medical burden. The synthesis and deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) in a new wound is a dynamic process that is constantly changing and adapting to the biochemical and biomechanical signaling from the extracellular microenvironments of the wound. This drives either a regenerative or fibrotic and scar-forming healing outcome. Disruptions in ECM deposition, structure, and composition lead to impaired healing in diseased states, such as in diabetes. Valid measures of the principal determinants of successful ECM deposition and wound healing include lack of bacterial contamination, good tissue perfusion, and reduced mechanical injury and …

Leveraging Deep Learning-Based Segmentation And Contours-Driven Deformable Registration For Dose Accumulation In Abdominal Structures, Molly M Mcculloch, Guillaume Cazoulat, Stina Svensson, Sergii Gryshkevych, Bastien Rigaud, Brian M Anderson, Ezgi Kirimli, Brian De, Ryan T Mathew, Mohamed Zaid, Dalia Elganainy, Christine B Peterson, Peter Balter, Eugene J Koay, Kristy K Brock

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: Discrepancies between planned and delivered dose to GI structures during radiation therapy (RT) of liver cancer may hamper the prediction of treatment outcomes. The purpose of this study is to develop a streamlined workflow for dose accumulation in a treatment planning system (TPS) during liver image-guided RT and to assess its accuracy when using different deformable image registration (DIR) algorithms.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-six patients with primary and metastatic liver cancer treated with external beam radiotherapy guided by daily CT-on-rails (CTOR) were retrospectively analyzed. The liver, stomach and duodenum contours were auto-segmented on all planning CTs and daily CTORs …

The Potential Of Biology-Guided Radiation Therapy In Thoracic Cancer: A Preliminary Treatment Planning Study, Steven N Seyedin, Rostem Bassalow, Osama R Mawlawi, Lehendrick M Turner, Roshal R Patel, Samuel R Mazin, Oluwaseyi M Oderinde, Yevgen Voronenko, Cody A Wages, Peter D Olcott, Joe Y Chang, Peter A Balter, James W Welsh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: We investigated the feasibility of biology-guided radiotherapy (BgRT), a technique that utilizes real-time positron emission imaging to minimize tumor motion uncertainties, to spare nearby organs at risk.

METHODS: Volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT), intensity-modulated proton (IMPT) therapy, and BgRT plans were created for a paratracheal node recurrence (case 1; 60 Gy in 10 fractions) and a primary peripheral left upper lobe adenocarcinoma (case 2; 50 Gy in four fractions).

RESULTS: For case 1, BgRT produced lower bronchus V40 values compared to VMAT and IMPT. For case 2, total lung V20 was lower in the BgRT case compared to VMAT …

A Transgenic Bacterial Artificial Chromosome Approach To Identify Regulatory Regions That Direct Amhr2 And Osterix Expression In Müllerian Duct Mesenchyme, Malcolm M Moses, Rachel D Mullen, Daniel I Idowu, Peter Maye, Soazik P Jamin, Richard R Behringer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A transgenic mouse approach using bacterial artificial chromosomes (BAC) was used to identify regulatory regions that direct Müllerian duct expression for Amhr2 and Osterix (Osx, also known as Sp7). Amhr2 encodes the receptor that mediates anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) signaling for Müllerian duct regression in male embryos. Amhr2 is expressed in the Müllerian duct mesenchyme of both male and female embryos. A ∼147-kb BAC clone containing the Amhr2 locus was used to generate transgenic mice. The transgene was able to rescue the block in Müllerian duct regression of Amhr2-null males, suggesting that the BAC clone contains regulatory …

Genetic Variants Associated With Circulating Liver Injury Markers In Mexican Americans, A Population At Risk For Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Caroline M Sabotta, Suet-Ying Kwan, Lauren E Petty, Jennifer E Below, Aron Joon, Peng Wei, Susan P Fisher-Hoch, Joseph B Mccormick, Laura Beretta

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Mexican Americans are disproportionally affected by non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Noninvasive means to identify those in this population at high risk for these diseases are urgently needed. Approach: The Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC) is a population-based cohort with high rates of obesity (51%), type 2 diabetes (28%) and NAFLD (49%). In a subgroup of 564 CCHC subjects, we evaluated 339 genetic variants previously reported to be associated with liver injury markers aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in United Kingdom and Japanese cohorts. Results: Association was confirmed for 86 variants. Among …

Automated Identification Of Missing Is-A Relations In The Human Phenotype Ontology, Maryamsadat Mohtashamian, Ran Hu, Rashmie Abeysinghe, Xubing Hao, Hua Xu, Licong Cui

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Auditing the Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO) is necessary to provide accurate terminology for its use in clinical research. We investigate an approach leveraging the lexical features of concepts in HPO to identify missing IS-A relations among HPO concepts. We first model the names of HPO concepts as sets of words in lower case. Then, we generate two types of concept-pairs which have at least a single common word: (1) Linked concept-pairs generated from concept-pairs having an IS-A relation; (2) Unlinked concept-pairs generated from concept-pairs without an IS- A relation. Concept-pairs generate Derived Term Pairs (DTPs) emphasizing unique lexical information of …

Cost Of Care For Asylum Seekers And Refugees Entering The United States: The Case Of Volunteer Medical Providers In El Paso, Texas, Rigoberto I Delgado, Manuel De La Rosa, Marlon A Picado, Lisa Ayoub-Rodriguez, Celia E Gonzalez, Leopold Gemoets

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Between October 2018, and February 2020, the United States saw an unprecedented increase in the number of asylum seekers and refugees arriving unexpectedly at international crossings along the US-Mexico Border. Many of these migrants needed proper medical attention, and consequently created significant pressure on local health systems. In El Paso, Texas, volunteer clinicians, collaborating closely with religious organizations and non-governmental organizations, provided outpatient medical care for the new arrivals; the county hospital provided in-patient care at local tax payers' expense. The objective of this study was to estimate costs of healthcare services offered by these volunteers in order to …

Magi1 Inhibits Interferon Signaling To Promote Influenza A Infection, Yin Wang, Jun-Ichi Abe, Khanh M Chau, Yongxing Wang, Hang Thi Vu, Loka Reddy Velatooru, Fahad Gulraiz, Masaki Imanishi, Venkata S K Samanthapudi, Minh T H Nguyen, Kyung Ae Ko, Ling-Ling Lee, Tamlyn N Thomas, Elizabeth A Olmsted-Davis, Sivareddy Kotla, Keigi Fujiwara, John P Cooke, Di Zhao, Scott E Evans, Nhat-Tu Le

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

We have shown that membrane-associated guanylate kinase with inverted domain structure-1 (MAGI1), a scaffold protein with six PSD95/DiscLarge/ZO-1 (PDZ) domains, is involved in the regulation of endothelial cell (EC) activation and atherogenesis in mice. In addition to causing acute respiratory disease, influenza A virus (IAV) infection plays an important role in atherogenesis and triggers acute coronary syndromes and fatal myocardial infarction. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the function and regulation of MAGI1 in IAV-induced EC activation. Whereas, EC infection by IAV increases MAGI1 expression, MAGI1 depletion suppresses IAV infection, suggesting that the induction of MAGI1 may …