Health Sciences – Page 2 – UROP Spring Symposium 2021

Health Sciences

Design of cancer-treating proteins

One of the most elusive diseases known to man in terms of treatments, cures, and diversity is cancer. Despite how far the medical field has come, there are still no cures for any type of cancer and treatment options vary drastically in terms of success depending on the type and stage the disease is caught at. When looking to find better treatments or even possible cures for cancer, the most important factor to consider is how proteins produced by cancer cells differ from normally produced proteins and how these proteins interact with one another. In addition knowing things like a cancer protein’s binding sites and what could interfere with and inhibit the function of cancer proteins is critical when coming up with possible treatments and cures. By analyzing these protein-protein interactions and performing a de novo protein design, it is possible and feasible to find proteins that can target cancer-related proteins and slow or stop the spread of the disease in the body.

Design of Novel Protein to Inhibit PD-1/PD-L1 Protein-Protein Interaction for Cancer Immunotherapy

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States and around the world. All cancer is a result of gene mutations, which can cause the formation of abnormally functioning proteins that change a cell’s behavior from normal to cancerous. Contrary to prior cancer treatments focusing on treatments not native to the human body, this research study aims to harness the natural immune response. This project involves the design of a novel protein sequence using a computational protein design program called UniDesign. This novel protein will be designed to inhibit the PD-1/PD-L1 protein-protein interaction, which is responsible for preventing T-cells from destroying other cells. In cancer patients, the new protein could be used to inhibit the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway, which would allow T-cells to destroy cancer cells. Thus, this treatment utilizes the native immune response as a source of cancer therapy. In order to determine the effectiveness of the novel protein at inhibition, the binding affinity of the new protein sequence will be compared to that of the original PD-1/PD-L1 PPI. As such, the protein developed in this project will have the potential to target the PD-1/PD-L1 PPI to ultimately treat cancer in patients.

Video Communication for Brain-Computer Interface Research

This project was to create an instructional video for the Direct Brain Interface Lab, which conducts Brain-Computer Interface research. This lab helps develop and test brain-computer interface devices that help the human brain communicate with software by translating brain activity into commands for electronic devices and computer systems. The video was created to improve communication between researchers in the lab and the lab participants using the brain-computer interface devices. The video format is especially helpful for participants with disabilities who are sometimes unable to understand conventional directions. The video explains how to use the device, and how the user needs to “think” the commands for the computer to respond with the appropriate output. This instructional video was created using videos from the lab’s database, including direct-feed videos of the brain-computer interface device’s output, and videos of people using the devices to create those outputs. These videos were chained together with Adobe Premiere Pro. The final video contained effects and a voiceover to help better communicate the instructions. This video will be used in the lab to help the participants better understand their brain-computer interface devices and how to use them correctly. The video will be updated periodically depending on how the participants respond and how the instructions change. The lab can now communicate their instructions in a video format, which will help better explain how to use the brain-computer interface.

Eye tracking to determine cognitive load during programming practice

Novice programmers need scaffolded instruction to maximize their ability to learn how to program. Parsons problems are an increasingly popular solution. These problems require learners to place mixed-up code blocks in the correct order to solve a problem. We are conducting think-aloud sessions and a within-subjects experiment to understand the efficiency and cognitive load of solving adaptive Parsons problems versus writing the equivalent (isomorphic) code. We are also investigating the impact of prior programming experience on students’ experiences and changes in students’ self-efficacy. This study will report on cognitive load and self-efficacy ratings before and after the task for the two problem times. We expect students to exhibit greater learning gains on fixing code with errors when solving Parsons problems with distractors than without. We also expect to find a correlation between self-efficacy and cognitive load ratings. The implications of this study are to improve programming learning tools for novice programmers.

Eye tracking to determine cognitive load during programming practice

Novice programmers need scaffolded instruction to maximize their ability to learn how to program. Parsons problems are an increasingly popular solution. These problems require learners to place mixed-up code blocks in the correct order to solve a problem. We are conducting think-aloud sessions and a within-subjects experiment to understand the efficiency and cognitive load of solving adaptive Parsons problems versus writing the equivalent (isomorphic) code. We are also investigating the impact of prior programming experience on students’ experiences and changes in students’ self-efficacy. This study will report on cognitive load and self-efficacy ratings before and after the task for the two problem times. We expect students to exhibit greater learning gains on fixing code with errors when solving Parsons problems with distractors than without. We also expect to find a correlation between self-efficacy and cognitive load ratings. The implications of this study are to improve programming learning tools for novice programmers.

State Trends in Medically Unnecessary Surgical Births

The United States currently faces the issue of high rates of Cesarean-sections performed in hospitals across the nation. Among all developed countries, the U.S. maintains one of the highest C-section rates at 31% of births completed by Cesarean. These C-sections have been linked to increased marital and neonatal complications, including increased morbidity, and they are also very costly toward patients. Studies suggest that many of these C-sections are classified under the category Nulliparous Term Singleton Vertex (NTSV), which are done on low-risk women and hence are likely avoidable procedures. This study aims to understand differences between NTSV C-section rates across the United States. The type of data reviewed includes each state’s C-section rate, NTSV C-section rate, number of deliveries/year, and whether the state has C-section reduction programs. It has been found that California, Michigan, New Jersey, and Florida, despite all being states with C-section reduction programs, are still experiencing high rates of NTSV C-sections. It has also been determined that the accessibility of information regarding C-sections varies greatly among different states. We plan to move forward in this study to find other nonclinical factors that may be confounding C-section rates in each state, in hopes of revealing improvements that could be made toward reducing the regularity of NTSV C-section rates in the United States.

Cesarean Deliveries in Mississippi: A Case Study on Reproductive Health Care

In the Zochowski lab, we are currently studying trends in medically unnecessary surgical (NTSV) births on a state by state basis (NTSV meaning nulliparous (first birth), term (head down), singleton (only one infant), vertex). By looking at a variety of non-clinical factors like hospital location, staffing, presence of doulas/midwives, patient race, ethnicity, insurance status, etc. we hope to be able to better understand how NTSV C-section rates are influenced across institutions. Through data collection, organization, and interpretation, I am helping to build a database of state level information in an attempt to answer why are more and more hospitals pushing for C-section deliveries? My role in this project is to complete a checklist of tasks in order to retrieve data needed for each of the states I have been assigned. This presentation is a further analysis of the data collected in the state of Mississippi.

State trends in medically unnecessary surgical births

Recent studies in the United States have shown that over one third of birthing women have primary cesarean (C-section) sections to deliver their children. C-section surgeries pose risks to the mother and her child, carrying a longer, more involved recovery than a traditional, noninvasive vaginal delivery. In many cases, a birth is considered ?NTSV (?Nulliparous, Term, Singleton, Vertex?), or low-risk, and a c-section is given despite a lack of medical indication. The United States has one of the highest incidences of NTSV c-sections in the western hemisphere. We are interested in examining the non-clinical and social factors that may influence c-section rates and interventions among women with low-risk pregnancies that end in cesarean section, NTSV c-sections. To do this, we collected data from all fifty states’ previous studies and statistics on births, c-sections, health collaboratives, and demographics, and compiled it into a database to find statistical significance with each factor. When comparing the states, we found that the access to information differed greatly depending on the state being studied. With these findings, we hope to then go further to identify specific nonclinical factors, socioeconomic status, race, insurance, and other demographics that may influence c-section rates within each state. These conclusions will inform improvements to the healthcare system that can aid the reduction of NTSV c-sections in the United States.

State trends in medically unnecessary surgical births

Recent studies in the United States have shown that over one third of birthing women have primary Cesarean sections to deliver their children. C-section poses risk to the mother and her child, and carries a much longer recovery time than a vaginal delivery. In many cases, a birth is considered NTSV (Nulliparous, Term, Singleton, Vertex), or low-risk, and a c-section is given despite a lack of medical indication. The United States has one of the highest incidences of NTSV c-sections in the western hemisphere. In this study, we are interested in examining the non-clinical and social factors that may influence c-section rates and interventions among the NTSV or low-risk population. To do this, we collected data from all fifty states on births, c-sections, health collaboratives, and demographics, and compiled it into a database to make statistical analysis on each factor. When comparing the states, we found that the access to information differed greatly depending on the state being studied. With these findings, we hope to then go further to identify specific nonclinical factors that influence c-section rates within each state. These conclusions will then inform improvements in obstetric healthcare practices that can aid the reduction of NTSV c-sections in the United States.

PowerED

Recently, opioids have been used more often to treat pain in the US, especially in the emergency department. With the increased use of prescribed opioids to manage pain, however, non-medical use of opioids (use of opioids that is not consistent with prescription) has also increased. This study was undertaken to test the effectiveness of remote intervention, such as reinforcement learning (RL) and motivational enhancement (ME), to adult patients who received opioids in the emergency department (ED), to patients who are prescribed opioids at ED discharge, or to patients with recent non-medical opioid use who do not receive opioids in the ED and are not prescribed opioids at ED discharge. 600 ED patients were recruited and randomized to the remote intervention. Participants completed follow-up surveys via email, text, or phone call at 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after their ED visit to find out the level of non-medical opioid use. Although results have not been fully found, patients who have finished their final 6 month follow up survey have found this study to be effective, which falls in line with the goal of this study. By the end of this study, the project is hoping to find this remote intervention to be successful in managing non-medical opioid use for patients who have visited the ED. If this study is successful, it has the potential to lead a new approach to opioid safety and remote intervention, which can be completed more conveniently than in-person intervention.

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