Diseases Commons^™

Genetic Variation Between Small Bowel And Colon-Predominant Crohn's Disease, Halee Patel, R Alan Harris, Justin H Qian, Numan Oezguen, Ashleigh Watson, Reka G Szigeti, Stanley Cho, Wenly Ruan, Savini Britto, Antone Opekun, Geoffrey Preidis, Richard Kellermayer

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

No abstract provided.

A Transcriptomic Biomarker Predicting Linezolid-Associated Neuropathy During Treatment Of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis, Nika Zielinski, Dragos Baiceanu, Antonela Dragomir, Jan Heyckendorf, Elmira Ibraim, Niklas Köhler, Christoph Leschczyk, Cristina Popa, Andrea Rachow, Jens Sachsenweger, Patricia Sanchez Carballo, Dagmar Schaub, Hajo Zeeb, Begna Tulu, Andrew R Dinardo, Christoph Lange, Maja Reimann

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Neuropathic adverse events occur frequently in linezolid-containing regimens, some of which remain irreversible after drug discontinuation.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to identify and validate a host RNA-based biomarker that can predict linezolid-associated neuropathy before multidrug-resistant/rifampicin-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/RR-TB) treatment initiation and to identify genes and pathways that are associated with linezolid-associated neuropathy.

METHODS: Adult patients initiating MDR/RR-TB treatment including linezolid were prospectively enrolled in 3 independent cohorts in Germany. Clinical data and whole blood RNA for transcriptomic analysis were collected. The primary outcome was linezolid-associated optic and/or peripheral neuropathy. A random forest algorithm was used for biomarker identification. The biomarker was …

Optical Coherence Elastography Measures The Biomechanical Properties Of The Ex Vivo Porcine Cornea After Lasik, Achuth Nair, Fernando Zvietcovich, Manmohan Singh, Mitchell P Weikert, Salavat R Aglyamov, Kirill V Larin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

SIGNIFICANCE: The biomechanical impact of refractive surgery has long been an area of investigation. Changes to the cornea structure cause alterations to its mechanical integrity, but few studies have examined its specific mechanical impact.

AIM To quantify how the biomechanical properties of the cornea are altered by laser assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) using optical coherence elastography (OCE) in ex vivo porcine corneas.

APPROACH: Three OCE techniques, wave-based air-coupled ultrasound (ACUS) OCE, heartbeat (Hb) OCE, and compression OCE were used to measure the mechanical properties of paired porcine corneas, where one eye of the pair was left untreated, and the …

Suppression Of Il-1Β Promotes Beneficial Accumulation Of Fibroblast-Like Cells In Atherosclerotic Plaques In Clonal Hematopoiesis, Trevor P Fidler, Andrew Dunbar, Eunyoung Kim, Brian Hardaway, Jessica Pauli, Chenyi Xue, Sandra Abramowicz, Tong Xiao, Kavi O'Connor, Nadja Sachs, Nan Wang, Lars Maegdefessel, Ross Levine, Muredach Reilly, Alan R Tall

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Clonal hematopoiesis (CH) is an independent risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Murine models of CH suggest a central role of inflammasomes and IL-1β in accelerated atherosclerosis and plaque destabilization. Here we show using single-cell RNA sequencing in human carotid plaques that inflammasome components are enriched in macrophages, while the receptor for IL-1β is enriched in fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells (SMCs). To address the role of inflammatory crosstalk in features of plaque destabilization, we conducted SMC fate mapping in Ldlr-/- mice modeling Jak2VF or Tet2 CH treated with IL-1β antibodies. Unexpectedly, this treatment minimally affected SMC differentiation, …

Microbiota Restoration Therapies For Recurrent Clostridioides Difficile Infection Reach An Important New Milestone, Herbert L Dupont, Andrew W Dupont, Glenn S Tillotson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Microbiota restoration therapy has become a standard treatment for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI). In this article, we review the studies supporting the licensure of two live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) designed to prevent rCDI and to provide clinicians with a perspective on their differences. PubMed was reviewed on 1 October 2023, for all papers published concerning the current Food and Drug Administration allowance of the use of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and the studies that led to the licensure of RBX2660 (REBYOTA™), generic name, fecal microbiota, live-jslm, and SER-109 (VOWST™), generic name, fecal microbiota spores, live-brpk. OpenBiome continues to produce …

Promising Response Of Olaparib In Patient With Germline Atm-Mutated Metastatic Gastric Cancer, Kok Hoe Chan, Darius Rutazanaa, Curtis Wray, Nirav Thosani, Victor Yang, Putao Cen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Gastric cancer ranks as the fifth leading cause of global cancer incidences, exhibiting varied prevalence influenced by geographical, ethnic, and lifestyle factors, as well as Helicobacter pylori infection. The ATM gene on chromosome 11q22 is vital for genomic stability as an initiator of the DNA damage response, and mutations in this gene have been associated with various cancers. Poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors, such as olaparib, have shown efficacy in cancers with homologous recombination repair deficiencies, notably in those with ATM mutations. Here, we present a case of a 66-year-old patient with germline ATM-mutated metastatic gastric cancer with very high …

Rapid Response To Sirolimus In Patients With Pik3ca-Related Overgrowth Spectrum, Jessica R Nye, Jackson C Green, Michael Talanker, Jose Barrera, Kate Richardson, Neethu M Menon, Adelaide A Hebert, Matthew R Greives, Autumn A Atkinson

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PIK3CA-related overgrowth spectrum (PROS) is an umbrella term used to unify a heterogenous group of vascular overgrowth disorders by a shared genetic cause. Given that patients with PROS have a known, or likely, gene mutation in the PI3K/AKT/mTOR cascade, we hypothesize they experience a rapid response to inhibitors of this pathway, including sirolimus. In the following case series, we describe 3 patients with PROS and their response to sirolimus therapy. Despite their unique clinical presentations, insight into the genetic origin of their vascular overgrowth allowed for their successful treatment with the same medication.

Outcomes Of Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding In Hospitalized Covid-19 Patients In The United States: A Propensity-Score Matched Analysis Of A Large National Database, Moon Ryu, Mohammed Quazi, Niloy Ghosh, Karthik Gangu, Amir H Sohail, Asif Farooq, Babu S Maringanti, Aman Goyal, Anupa Patel, Muhammad S Khan, Abu B Sheikh

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with cirrhosis that are hospitalized with COVID-19 infection have been found to have worse outcomes. No comparative study has been conducted between gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding in patients with cirrhosis who are diagnosed with COVID-19. We utilized the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database to perform a retrospective analysis of 24, 050 patients diagnosed with cirrhosis and COVID-19. The identified patients were separated into variceal bleeding, nonvariceal bleeding, and no (or neither) GI bleeding groups. After performing propensity sample matching and multivariate analysis of mortality, we found no significant differences in mortality among the three groups. However, the variceal bleed group …

Innovations In Molecular Biomarkers And Biomaterial-Based Immunotherapies For Head & Neck Cancer, Sarah Anne Wong, Victoria A Manon, Simon Young, Chi T Viet

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose of review: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) survival rates have remained stagnant due to a lack of targeted therapies and diagnostic tools. Patient risk is currently determined solely through clinicopathologic features, primarily tumor staging, which lacks the necessary precision to stratify patients by risk and accurately dictate adjuvant treatment. Similarly, conventional OSCC therapies have well-established toxicities and limited efficacy.

Recent findings: Recent studies show that patient risk can now be assessed using non-invasive techniques, at earlier time points, and with greater accuracy using molecular biomarker panels. Additionally, novel immunotherapies not only utilize the host's immune response to combat disease …

Nontuberculosis Mycobacteria (Ntm) Infections In Patients With Leukemia: A Single Center Case Series, Jennifer Marvin-Peek, Koji Sasaki, Dimitrios P Kontoyiannis, Javier Adachi, Maro Ohanian, Koichi Takahashi, Ghayas C Issa, Steven Kornblau, Hussein A Abbas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with leukemia experience profound immunosuppression both from their underlying disease as well as chemotherapeutic treatment. Little is known about the prevalence and clinical presentation of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) in this patient population. We identified six cases of NTM infection from 29,743 leukemia patients who had acid-fast bacilli (AFB) cultures. Four cases had bloodstream infections and five had disseminated disease, including one who presented with an unusual case of diffuse cellulitis/myositis. All patients were lymphopenic at time of diagnosis, and two patients ultimately died from their NTM infection. NTM infections are a rare, but potentially life-threatening infection in patients with …

Emerging Therapeutic Options For Follicular-Derived Thyroid Cancer In The Era Of Immunotherapy, Naimah Turner, Sarah Hamidi, Rim Ouni, Rene Rico, Ying C Henderson, Maria Puche, Sayan Alekseev, Jocelynn G Colunga-Minutti, Mark E Zafereo, Stephen Y Lai, Sang T Kim, Maria E Cabanillas, Roza Nurieva

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Although most follicular-derived thyroid cancers are well differentiated and have an overall excellent prognosis following treatment with surgery and radioiodine, management of advanced thyroid cancers, including iodine refractory disease and poorly differentiated/undifferentiated subtypes, is more challenging. Over the past decade, better understanding of the genetic drivers and immune milieu of advanced thyroid cancers has led to significant progress in the management of these patients. Numerous targeted kinase inhibitors are now approved by the U.S Food and Drug administration (FDA) for the treatment of advanced, radioiodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancers (DTC) as well as anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). Immunotherapy has also …

Canadian French Translation And Validation Of The Neck Dissection Impairment Index: A Quality Of Life Measure For The Surgical Oncology Population, Michel Khoury, William Guertin, Cameo Hao, Mikhail Saltychev, Tareck Ayad, Eric Bissada, Apostolos Christopoulos, Sami Moubayed, Marie-Jo Olivier, Douglas Chepeha, Stephen Y Lai, Anastasios Maniakas

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Neck dissections (ND) are a routine procedure in head and neck oncology. Given the postoperative functional impact that some patients experience, it is imperative to identify and track quality of life (QoL) symptomatology to tailor each patient's therapeutic needs. To date, there is no validated French-Canadian questionnaire for this patient-population. We therefore sought to translate and validate the Neck Dissection Impairment Index (NDII) in Canadian French.

METHODS: A 3-phased approach was used. Phase 1: The NDII was translated from English to Canadian French using a "forward and backward" translational technique following international guidelines. Phase 2: A cognitive debriefing session …

A Frequent Diagnostic Pitfall: Dermatological Clinical Features And Pathological Results In Diagnosing Pagetoid Squamous Cell Carcinoma In Situ (Case Series), Sheng-Kai Wang, Jia-Wei Cai, Yu Zhang, Ya-Jing Lin, Yi-Hui Yang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) in situ can occur on any skin or mucus surface and is more commonly found in elderly patients on areas of skin that have been sunburnt. Most previous case reports are from dermatologists, with few published reports from pathologists. In this study, three patients underwent pathological routine and auxiliary immunohistochemical (IHC) examination and were ultimately diagnosed with pagetoid SCC in situ - a different diagnosis from the initial clinical assessment. All three patients received a complete resection of the skin mass. After follow-up, as of June 2023, the patients had no tumour recurrence or metastasis. Pagetoid …

Activation Of Piezo1 Increases The Sensitivity Of Breast Cancer To Hyperthermia Therapy, Shao-Kang Wang, Xiao-Ting Zhang, Xuan-Yao Jiang, Bi-Jiang Geng, Tao-Lin Qing, Lei Li, Yun Chen, Jin-Feng Li, Xiao-Fang Zhang, Shuo-Gui Xu, Jiang-Bo Zhu, Yu-Ping Zhu, Mei-Tang Wang, Ji-Kuai Chen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Photothermal therapy (PTT) of nanomaterials is an emerging novel therapeutic strategy for breast cancer. However, there exists an urgent need for appropriate strategies to enhance the antitumor efficacy of PTT and minimize damage to surrounding normal tissues. Piezo1 might be a promising novel photothermal therapeutic target for breast cancer. This study aims to explore the potential role of Piezo1 activation in the hyperthermia therapy of breast cancer cells and investigate the underlying mechanisms. Results showed that the specific agonist of Piezo1 ion channel (Yoda1) aggravated the cell death of breast cancer cells triggered by heat stress

Expert-Centered Evaluation Of Deep Learning Algorithms For Brain Tumor Segmentation, Katharina V Hoebel, Christopher P Bridge, Sara Ahmed, Oluwatosin Akintola, Caroline Chung, Raymond Y Huang, Jason M Johnson, Albert Kim, K Ina Ly, Ken Chang, Jay Patel, Marco Pinho, Tracy T Batchelor, Bruce R Rosen, Elizabeth R Gerstner, Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Purpose To present results from a literature survey on practices in deep learning segmentation algorithm evaluation and perform a study on expert quality perception of brain tumor segmentation. Materials and Methods A total of 180 articles reporting on brain tumor segmentation algorithms were surveyed for the reported quality evaluation. Additionally, ratings of segmentation quality on a four-point scale were collected from medical professionals for 60 brain tumor segmentation cases. Results Of the surveyed articles, Dice score, sensitivity, and Hausdorff distance were the most popular metrics to report segmentation performance. Notably, only 2.8% of the articles included clinical experts' evaluation of …

Promising Response Of Olaparib In Patient With Germline Atm-Mutated Metastatic Gastric Cancer, Kok Hoe Chan, Darius Rutazanaa, Curtis Wray, Nirav Thosani, Victor Yang, Putao Cen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Gastric cancer ranks as the fifth leading cause of global cancer incidences, exhibiting varied prevalence influenced by geographical, ethnic, and lifestyle factors, as well as

Survivorship, Outcomes, And Risk Factors For Conversion To Total Hip Arthroplasty After Revision Hip Arthroscopic Surgery In Obese Patients: Results At A Minimum 5-Year Follow-Up, Peng Li, Jie Luo, Zilong Zheng, Lu Meng, Anqi Zhang, Wei Cao, Xiaomei Gong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVE: A high number of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) patients with brain metastasis who have not had surgery often have a negative outlook. Radiotherapy remains a most common and effective method. Nomograms were developed to forecast the cancer-specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) in NSCLC individuals with nonoperative brain metastases who underwent radiotherapy.

METHODS: Information was gathered from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database about patients diagnosed with NSCLC who had brain metastases not suitable for surgery. Nomograms were created and tested using multivariate Cox regression models to forecast CSS and OS at intervals of 1, …

Peripheral Nerve Stimulation After Total Knee Arthroplasty And Non-Operable Patella Fracture, Peter D Vu, Farah Gul, Christopher L Robinson, Grant H Chen, Jamal Hasoon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Chronic knee pain, affecting over 25% of adults in the United States, has surged by 65% over the past two decades leading to rising functional deficits, mobility problems, and a diminished quality of life. While conservative management with pharmacologic and minimally invasive injections are pursued early in the disease process, total knee arthroplasty for refractory osteoarthritis of the knee is often considered. This procedure usually improves pain and functionality within the first three months. However, a significant portion of patients often suffer from postoperative pain that can become chronic and debilitating. We detail the case of a patient with a …

Best Practices For Point Of Care Ultrasound: An Interdisciplinary Expert Consensus, Brandon Oto, Robert Baeten, Leon Chen, Puja Dalal, Ria Dancel, Steven Fox, Carl William Lange Iv, Cameron Baston, Paul Bornemann, Siddharth Dugar, Andrew Goldsmith, Meghan Kelly Herbst, James N Kirkpatrick, Abhilash Koratala, Michael J Lanspa, Viveta Lobo, Jason T Nomura, Aliaksei Pustavoitau, Mourad H Senussi, Vincent L Sorrell, Frances Mae West, Aarti Sarwal

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Despite the growing use of point of care ultrasound (POCUS) in contemporary medical practice and the existence of clinical guidelines addressing its specific applications, there remains a lack of standardization and agreement on optimal practices for several areas of POCUS use. The Society of Point of Care Ultrasound (SPOCUS) formed a working group in 2022 to establish a set of recommended best practices for POCUS, applicable to clinicians regardless of their training, specialty, resource setting, or scope of practice. Using a three-round modified Delphi process, a multi-disciplinary panel of 22 POCUS experts based in the United States reached consensus on …

Protection Against Fibrosis By A Bacterial Consortium In Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis And The Role Of Amino Acid Metabolism, Suet-Ying Kwan, Kristyn A Gonzales, Mohamed A Jamal, Heather L Stevenson, Lin Tan, Philip L Lorenzi, P Andrew Futreal, Ernest T Hawk, Joseph B Mccormick, Susan P Fisher-Hoch, Robert R Jenq, Laura Beretta

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The gut microbiota drives progression to liver fibrosis, the main determinant of mortality in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). In this study, we aimed to identify bacterial species associated with protection against liver fibrosis in a high-risk population, and test their potential to protect against liver fibrosis in vivo. Based on stool shotgun metagenomic sequencing of 340 subjects from a population cohort disproportionally affected by MASH, we identified bacterial species from the Bacteroidales and Clostridiales orders associated with reduced risk of liver fibrosis. A bacterial consortium was subsequently tested in a mouse model of MASH, which demonstrated protective effects against …

Early And Rapid Development Of Bronchiolitis Obliterans Syndrome After Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation, Jacqueline S Dickey, Burton F Dickey, Amin M Alousi, Richard E Champlin, Ajay Sheshadri

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) is a form of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in the lung and manifests as moderate to severe airflow obstruction after hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT). New-onset airflow obstruction on spirometry is considered diagnostic of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS). BOS affects about 5% of all HCT recipients. In general, BO is thought of as a late complication of HCT, usually occurring after day 100 post-transplantation. However, the onset of airflow obstruction can be rapid and is most often irreversible even with treatment. We describe a patient who rapidly developed severe airflow obstruction less than one month after transplantation following …

Non-Homologous End-Joining Genotype, Mrna Expression, And Dna Repair Capacity In Childhood Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia, Chao-Chun Chen, Wen-Shin Chang, Jen-Sheng Pei, Chien-Chung Kuo, Chung-Hsing Wang, Yun-Chi Wang, Pei-Chen Hsu, Jie-Long He, Jian Gu, Da-Tian Bau, Chia-Wen Tsai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/aim: The capacity for non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) repair plays a pivotal role in maintaining genome stability and in carcinogenesis. However, there is little literature on the involvement of NHEJ-related genes in childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). Our study aimed to elucidate the impact of polymorphisms of X-ray repair cross-complementing group 4 (XRCC4) (rs6869366, rs2075685, rs2075686, rs28360071, rs3734091, rs28360317, rs1805377), XRCC5 (rs828907, rs11685387, rs9288518), XRCC6 (rs5751129, rs2267437, rs132770, rs132774), XRCC7 rs7003908, and DNA ligase IV (LIG4) rs1805388, on the odds of childhood ALL.

Materials and methods: Genotypes NHEJ-related genes of 266 cases and 266 controls were determined, and the genotype-phenotype correlation …

Metarnn: Differentiating Rare Pathogenic And Rare Benign Missense Snvs And Indels Using Deep Learning, Fang Li, Zenan Sun, Ahmed Abdelhameed, Tiehang Duan, Laila Rasmy, Xinyue Hu, Jianping He, Yifang Dang, Jingna Feng, Jianfu Li, Yichen Wang, Tianchen Lyu, Naomi Braun, Si Pham, Michael Gharacholou, Delisa Fairweather, Degui Zhi, Jiang Bian, Cui Tao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Effective management of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) following drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation is crucial for preventing adverse events. Traditional prognostic tools, such as rule-based methods or Cox regression, despite their widespread use and ease, tend to yield moderate predictive accuracy within predetermined timeframes. This study introduces a new contrastive learning-based approach to enhance prediction efficacy over multiple time intervals.

METHODS: We utilized retrospective, real-world data from the OneFlorida + Clinical Research Consortium. Our study focused on two primary endpoints: ischemic and bleeding events, with prediction windows of 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 months post-DES implantation. Our approach first …

Salmonella Detection In Food Using A Hek-Htlr5 Reported Cell-Based Sensor, Esma Eser, Victoria A. Felton, Rishi Drolia, Arun K. Bhunia

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The development of a rapid, sensitive, specific method for detecting foodborne pathogens is paramount for supplying safe food to enhance public health safety. Despite the significant improvement in pathogen detection methods, key issues are still associated with rapid methods, such as distinguishing living cells from dead, the pathogenic potential or health risk of the analyte at the time of consumption, the detection limit, and the sample-to-result. Mammalian cell-based assays analyze pathogens’ interaction with host cells and are responsive only to live pathogens or active toxins. In this study, a human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cell line expressing Toll-Like Receptor 5 (TLR-5) …

Hypoxia-Adenosine Axis As Therapeutic Targets For Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Katherine Figarella, Jieun Kim, Wei Ruan, Tingting Mills, Holger Klaus Eltzschig, Xiaoyi Yuan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The human respiratory and circulatory systems collaborate intricately to ensure oxygen delivery to all cells, which is vital for ATP production and maintaining physiological functions and structures. During limited oxygen availability, hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs) are stabilized and play a fundamental role in maintaining cellular processes for hypoxia adaptation. First discovered during investigations of erythropoietin production regulation, HIFs influence physiological and pathological processes, including development, inflammation, wound healing, and cancer. HIFs promote extracellular adenosine signaling by enhancing adenosine generation and receptor signaling, representing an endogenous feedback mechanism that curbs excessive inflammation, supports injury resolution, and enhances hypoxia tolerance. This is especially …

Development And Initial Validation Of A Hospital Stress Questionnaire, Daniel M Ford, Rebecca Lawton, Elizabeth Travis, Elizabeth A Teale, Daryl B O'Connor

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Hospitalisation can be a traumatic experience, where inpatients are exposed to an abundance of physical and psychological stressors. Evidence suggests that these hospital-related stressors negatively impact health: a phenomenon known as post-hospital syndrome. The current study aimed to identify hospital-related stressors, and to develop and provide initial validation for a new measure of in-hospital stress.

METHODS: Measure development occurred in three stages: (i) semi-structured interviews, (ii) item generation, and (iii) pilot testing. Twenty-one patients were interviewed regarding their recent hospital experiences, and a list of hospital-related stressors was produced. These stressors were compiled into a questionnaire and piloted on …

Carbimazole-Associated Pancreatitis: Report From Western India, Vyankatesh Shivane, Nihar Mehta, Ajay Jhaveri, Saba Samad Memon

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Pancreatitis is a very rare complication of methimazole and carbimazole therapy. We describe a case of possible carbimazole-associated pancreatitis. A 41-year-old Asian man (with no comorbidities) reported to the hospital with atrial fibrillation and a fast ventricular rate. He was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism due to Graves disease. His rhythm was reverted with amiodarone, and carbimazole was initiated at 15 mg daily for the medical management of Graves disease. Fifteen days later, he presented with acute severe abdominal pain and vomiting with elevated serum amylase 387 U/L (reference range, 28-100 U/L) and lipase levels 206 U/L (reference range, 13-60 U/L). Magnetic …

Dual Suppression Of Glossina Pallidipes Using Entomopathogenic Fungal-Based Biopesticides And Sterile Insect Technique, Fidelis L.O. Ombura, Adly M.M. Abd-Alla, Komivi S. Akutse, Steven Runo, Paul O. Mireji, Rosemary Bateta, Joseck E. Otiwi, Inusa J. Ajene, Fathiya M. Khamis

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Tsetse flies and trypanosomosis significantly impact bovine production and human health in sub-Saharan Africa, exacerbating underdevelopment, malnutrition, and poverty. Despite various control strategies, long-term success has been limited. This study evaluates the combined use of entomopathogenic fungi (EPF) and the sterile insect technique (SIT) to combat tsetse flies. Eleven EPF isolates were tested against teneral males of Glossina pallidipes, focusing on mortality rates, radial growth, and impacts on fly fitness. Temperature effects on conidial growth, sporulation, and spore yield of SIT-compatible/tolerant strains were also assessed. The fungal isolates significantly influenced mortality rates in both unirradiated and irradiated (SIT-treated) males (p <  0.0001). Metarhizium anisopliae strains ICIPE 20, ICIPE 32, ICIPE 41, ICIPE 62, ICIPE 78, and Beauveria bassiana ICIPE 603 showed higher SIT compatibility/tolerance with LT50 values of 11–30 days, compared to other more virulent isolates with LT50 values of 4–9 days. Temperature significantly affected the radial growth of SIT-compatible EPF strains (p <  0.0001), with M. anisopliae ICIPE 78 exhibiting the fastest conidia growth at 25°C. Spore yield varied significantly across temperatures (15–40°C), and the thermal range for conidia germination of SIT-compatible strains was 8.1–45.4°C, with an optimal range of 26.7–31.1°C. Moreover, infected unirradiated females and irradiated males (donors) successfully transmitted conidia to untreated flies (receivers) without significant differences in survival rates (p = 0.6438) and no observed sex dimorphism. Our findings highlight the potential of combining EPF and SIT as a novel dual approach that could effectively and synergistically suppress tsetse fly populations.

Tissue-Specific Localization Of Tick-Borne Pathogens In Ticks Collected From Camels In Kenya: Insights Into Vector Competence, Rua Khogali, Armanda Bastos, Joel L. Bargul, Dennis Getange, James Kabii, Daniel Masiga, Jandouwe Villinger

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Background: Tick-borne pathogen (TBP) surveillance studies often use whole-tick homogenates when inferring tick-pathogen associations. However, localized TBP infections within tick tissues (saliva, hemolymph, salivary glands, and midgut) can inform pathogen transmission mechanisms and are key to disentangling pathogen detection from vector competence. Methods: We screened 278 camel blood samples and 504 tick tissue samples derived from 126 camel ticks sampled in two Kenyan counties (Laikipia and Marsabit) for Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Coxiella, Rickettsia, Theileria, and Babesia by PCR-HRM analysis. Results: Candidatus Anaplasma camelii infections were common in camels (91%), but absent in all samples from Rhipicephalus pulchellus, Amblyomma gemma, Hyalomma dromedarii, …

Enhancing Heart Disease Prediction With Reinforcement Learning And Data Augmentation, Gayathri R., Sangeetha S. K. B., Sandeep Kumar Mathivanan, Hariharan Rajadurai, Benjula Anbu Malar Mb, Saurav Mallik, Hong Qin

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The study presents a novel method to improve the prediction accuracy of cardiac disease by combining data augmentation techniques with reinforcement learning. The complex nature of cardiac data frequently presents challenges for traditional machine learning models, which results in subpar performance. In response, our fusion methodology improves predictive capabilities by augmenting data and utilizing reinforcement learning's skill at sequential decision-making. Our method predicts cardiac disease with an astounding 94 % accuracy rate, which is an outstanding result. This significant improvement outperforms existing techniques and shows a deeper comprehension of intricate data relationships. The amalgamation of reinforcement learning and data augmentation …