Biology subjects

Torner, J.

Publications and source records attributed to Torner, J..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2021

Inclusion of environmentally themed search terms improved Elastic Net regression nowcasts of regional Lyme disease rates

Lyme disease is the most widely reported vector-borne disease in the United States. 95% of human cases are reported in the Northeast and upper Midwest. Human cases typically occur in the spring and summer months when an infected nymph Ixodid tick takes a blood meal. Current federal surveillance strategies report data on an annual basis, leading to nearly a year lag in national data reporting. These lags in reporting make it difficult for public health agencies to assess and plan for the current burden of Lyme disease. Implementation of a nowcasting model, using historical data to predict current trends, provides a means for public health agencies to evaluate current Lyme disease burden and make timely priority-based budgeting decisions. The objective of this study was to develop and compare the performance of nowcasting models using free data from Google Trends and Centers of Disease Control and Prevention surveillance reports for Lyme Disease. We developed two sets of elastic net models for five regions of the United States first using monthly proportional hit data from 21 disease symptoms and tick related terms and second using monthly proportional hit data from all terms identified via Google correlate plus 21 disease symptom and vector terms. Elastic net models using the larger term list were highly accurate (Root Mean Square Error: 0.74, Mean Absolute Error: 0.52, R2: 0.97) for four of the five regions of the United States. Including these more environmental terms improved accuracy 1.33-fold while reducing error 0.5-fold compared to predictions from models using disease symptom and vector terms alone. Models using Google data similar to this could help local and state public health agencies accurately monitor Lyme disease burden during times of reporting lag from federal public health reporting agencies.

systems biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Distinct effects of amyloid and tau deposition on eigenvector centrality during hippocampal down-regulation: a real-time fMRI virtual reality closed-loop neurofeedback study with CSF biomarkers

Hippocampal down-regulation is associated with genetic predisposition to Alzheimers disease (AD), neurodevelopmental processes and disease symptoms. Resting state eigenvector centrality (EC) patterns resemble those of FDG-PET in AD, they can predict self-regulation performance and they are related to functional compensation across the pathophysiological continuum of AD. We acquired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers from a cognitively unimpaired sample at risk for AD (N=48), to investigate the effect of {beta}- amyloid peptide 42 (A{beta}42) and phosphorylated tau (p-Tau) levels on EC during the down-regulation of hippocampal subfield cornu ammonis 1, with real-time fMRI closed-loop neurofeedback. Controlling the effects of confounding variables (age, sex, number of APOE {varepsilon}4 alleles, cognitive reserve, brain reserve and hippocampal down-regulation performance), CSF A{beta}42 levels correlated positively with EC in the anterior cingulate cortex (BA24, BA32) and primary motor cortex (BA4). CSF p-Tau levels correlated with EC positively in the ACC (BA32, BA10) ventral striatum (caudate, nucleus accumbens, putamen) and left primary somatosensory cortex (BA2), as well as negatively in the posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, cuneus and left frontal pole (BA9). Controlling for CSF biomarkers and other prognosis variables, age correlated negatively with EC in the midcingulate cortex, insula, primary somatosensory cortex (BA2) and inferior parietal lobule (BA40), as well as positively with EC in the inferior temporal gyri. Taken together, we identified patterns of functional connectomics in individuals at risk of AD during hippocampal down-regulation, which resemble those found during resting state at advanced AD stages. Moreover, we provide a standard paradigm to replicate and extend this work on a global level. This opens new avenues for further research applications, which quantify and monitor disease progression, by identifying early alterations in the self-regulation of brain function, with potential for non-invasive prognostic screening.\n\nHighlightsO_LIACC centrality decreases with early A{beta}42\nC_LIO_LIACC centrality increases with p-Tau\nC_LIO_LIPCC centrality decreases with p-Tau\nC_LIO_LIMCC centrality decreases in healthy aging\nC_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

The effect of APOE genotype and streamline density volume, on hippocampal CA1 down-regulation: a real-time fMRI virtual reality neurofeedback study

Hippocampal hyperactivity is a precursor of Alzheimers disease and more prominent in APOE-{varepsilon}4 carriers. It is therefore important to investigate the processes of hippocampal self-regulation, to monitor therapeutic efficacy of preclinical interventions. We have developed a closed-loop, virtual reality neurofeedback paradigm for real-time fMRI, that provides a standardized method for quantifying processes of hippocampal self-regulation. We acquired multi-modal neuroimaging data from a sample of 53 cognitively unimpaired subjects at risk for AD and applied standard methods of structural and functional connectomics. The analyses reveal significant negative associations between hippocampal CA1 down-regulation performance and APOE-{varepsilon}4 alleles, as well as hippocampal streamline density volume. Better memory performance was associated with increased, bilateral hippocampal functional connectivity during the neurofeedback task. These are the first results to link neurofeedback performance to a genetic risk factor and structural connectivity. Further, these are the first evidence that functional cohesion between the hippocampi can reflect subtle differences in memory function, in cognitively unimpaired individuals at risk for AD. We provide a novel method to assess hippocampal function in preclinical AD, and propose it can be used to derive proxies for neural reserve.\n\nHighlightsO_LIAPOE-{varepsilon}4 alleles impact hippocampal down-regulation neurofeedback performance.\nC_LIO_LIHippocampal streamline density volume is associated with decreased hippocampal down-regulation performance.\nC_LIO_LIBilaterally cohesive hippocampal activity is associated with better memory performance.\nC_LIO_LIWe provide a novel paradigm to investigate self-regulation and brain function.\nC_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Multipurpose virtual reality environment for biomedical and health applications

Virtual reality is a trending, widely accessible, contemporary technology of increasing utility to biomedical and health applications. However, most implementations of VR environments are tailored to specific applications. We describe the complete development of a novel, open-source virtual reality environment that is suitable for multipurpose biomedical and healthcare applications. The developed environment simulates an immersive (first-person perspective) run in the countryside, in a virtual landscape with various salient features. The utility of the developed VR environment has been validated via two test usage cases: an application in the context of motor rehabilitation following injury of the lower limbs and an application in the context of real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging neurofeedback, to regulate brain function in specific regions of interest. The resulting test applications suggest that the implemented approach is robust, versatile and efficient. Both applications are publicly available via a GitHub repository, in support of the Open Science initiative. We anticipate our contribution to catalyze further progress and replicability with regards to the usage of virtual reality in biomedical and health applications.\n\nIndex Terms-- Motor rehabilitation, neurofeedback, virtual reality.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2017

The Nasal And Oropharyngeal Microbiomes Of Healthy Livestock Workers

Little information exists on the microbiomes of livestock workers. A cross-sectional, epidemiological study was conducted enrolling 59 participants (26 of which had livestock contact) in Iowa. Participants were enrolled in one of four ways: from an existing prospective cohort study (n=38), from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Animal Feeding Operations database (n=17), through Iowa county fairs (n=3), and through snowball sampling (n=1). We collected two sets of swabs from the nares and oropharynx of each participant. The first set of swabs was used to assess the microbiome via 16s rRNA sequencing and the second was used to culture S. aureus. We observed livestock workers to have greater diversity in their microbiomes compared to those with no livestock contact. In the nares, there were 26 operational taxonomic units found to be different between livestock workers and non-livestock workers with the greatest difference seen with Streptococcus and Proteobacteria. In the oropharynx, livestock workers with swine exposure were more likely to carry several pathogenic organisms. The results of this study are the first to characterize the livestock worker nasal and oropharyngeal microbiomes.

epidemiology↗

bioRxiv2017

A Cross-Sectional Study Of Staphylococcus aureus Colonization And The Nasal And Oropharyngeal Microbiomes

BackgroundStaphylococcus aureus is a frequent cause of both infections globally. Colonization with the organism is known to increase the risk of developing infections and occurs in roughly one third of the general population. While many factors influence colonization, it has been demonstrated other members of the microbiome influence colonization with S. aureus. Here, we assessed the nasal and oropharyngeal microbiomes of healthy participants in relation to S. aureus colonization in a cross-sectional study using 16s rRNA sequencing of the v1-v3 region. As livestock workers have also been shown to be at an increased risk of carriage, we have also assessed microbiota differences in colonization status in a population of livestock workers.\n\nResultsIn both the nares and oropharynx, there were no microbiota differentially abundant between colonized and non-colonized persons. However, there was a significant difference in the beta diversity (Bray-Curtis distances) between carriers and non-carriers (P=0.002). When considering carriage stratified by livestock exposure, there were a number of differences. Most notably, colonized livestock workers had significantly more Porphyomonas (2-fold change = -8.54, P = 0.03) than the non-colonized livestock workers.\n\nConclusionsS. aureus is a frequent colonizer of the human upper respiratory tract, including the nares and oropharynx and causes a wide range of infections. Livestock workers are at increased risk for carriage. Interventions such as improving oral hygiene may lead to decreased S. aureus carriage by reducing other bacterial species such as Porphyomonas. Larger, longitudinal studies are needed to better explore what microorganisms may be associated with S. aureus colonization.

epidemiology↗