Pap Smears in the Somali Immigrant Population

Lewiston, Maine is home to a population of Somali refugees. Women within this community have faced cultural and language barriers that have prevented them from obtaining Pap smears. We have collaborated with a local health clinic, where a cultural broker and member of the Somali community who is familiar with this population, to understand challenges Somali immigrant women face in cervical cancer screening. Together, we developed a pamphlet and health resource card, both in Somali, to lower barriers to care.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1618/thumbnail.jp

Extractive Text Summarization with Deep Learning

This project explores extractive text summarization using the capabilities of Deep Learning. The goal of this project is to create an application with a neural network to take in text as its input, and create a summary that is a shorter, condensed version of the input text. This has been implemented in Python by configuring and training a neural network that takes in a vector of features that are extracted from the text using various Natural Language Processing libraries. The implementation demonstrates that we can train simple deep neural networks to successfully summarize text

Relating the metatranscriptome and metagenome of the human gut

Although the composition of the human microbiome is now wellstudied, the microbiota’s \u3e8 million genes and their regulation remain largely uncharacterized. This knowledge gap is in part because of the difficulty of acquiring large numbers of samples amenable to functional studies of the microbiota. We conducted what is, to our knowledge, one of the first human microbiome studies in a well-phenotyped prospective cohort incorporating taxonomic, metagenomic, and metatranscriptomic profiling at multiple body sites using self-collected samples. Stool and saliva were provided by eight healthy subjects, with the former preserved by three different methods (freezing, ethanol, and RNAlater) to validate self-collection. Within-subject microbial species, gene, and transcript abundances were highly concordant across sampling methods, with only a small fraction of transcripts (\u3c5%) displaying between-method variation. Next, we investigated relationships between the oral and gut microbial communities, identifying a subset of abundant oral microbes that routinely survive transit to the gut, but with minimal transcriptional activity there. Finally, systematic comparison of the gut metagenome and metatranscriptome revealed that a substantial fraction (41%) of microbial transcripts were not differentially regulated relative to their genomic abundances. Of the remainder, consistently underexpressed pathways included sporulation and amino acid biosynthesis, whereas up-regulated pathways included ribosome biogenesis and methanogenesis. Across subjects, metatranscriptional profiles were significantly more individualized than DNA-level functional profiles, but less variable than microbial composition, indicative of subject-specific whole-community regulation. The results thus detail relationships between community genomic potential and gene expression in the gut, and establish the feasibility of metatranscriptomic investigations in subject-collected and shipped samples

Long-term use of antibiotics and risk of colorectal adenoma

Objective—Recent evidence suggests that antibiotic use, which alters the gut microbiome, is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer. However, the association between antibiotic use and risk of colorectal adenoma, the precursor for the majority of colorectal cancers, has not been investigated. Design—We prospectively evaluated the association between antibiotic use at age 20–39 and 40–59 (assessed in 2004) and recent antibiotic use (assessed in 2008) with risk of subsequent colorectal adenoma among 16,642 women aged ≥60 enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study who underwent at least one colonoscopy through 2010. We used multivariate logistic regression to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results—We documented 1,195 cases of adenoma. Increasing duration of antibiotic use at age 20–39 (Ptrend=0.002) and 40–59 (Ptrend=0.001) was significantly associated with an increased risk of colorectal adenoma. Compared to non-users, women who used antibiotics for ≥2 months between age 20–39 had a multivariable OR of 1.36 (95% CI: 1.03–1.79). Women who used ≥2 months of antibiotics between age 40–59 had a multivariable OR of 1.69 (95% CI: 1.24–2.31). The associations were similar for low-risk vs. high-risk adenomas (size ≥1 cm, or with tubulovillous/villous histology, or ≥3 detected lesions), but appeared modestly stronger for proximal compared with distal adenomas. In contrast, recent antibiotic use within the past 4 years was not associated with risk of adenoma (Ptrend=0.44). Conclusions—Long-term antibiotic use in early to middle adulthood was associated with increased risk of colorectal adenoma

Effects of Nostalgia Directed Music Therapy on Residents with Dementia in Nursing Home

Background • Studies support a beneficial relationship between music therapy and the management of dementia. • Music therapy intended to activate memory may improve apathy and decrease cognitive decline in patients with mild to moderate dementia. • Individuals are typically most influenced by music encountered during early adulthood. Objective To analyze the effect of nostalgia directed music therapy on the quality of life of nursing home residents with moderate to severe dementia.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1286/thumbnail.jp

Adjusting Behavioural Surveillance and Assessing Disparities in the Impact of COVID-19 on Gay and Bisexual Men’s HIV-Related Behaviour in Australia

COVID-19 has disrupted sexual behaviour and access to health systems. We adapted regular HIV behavioural surveillance of gay and bisexual men (GBM) in Australia in response to COVID-19, assessed the impact on the profile of the sample, the participants’ HIV-related behaviour, and whether COVID-19 may have accentuated existing disparities in the Australian HIV epidemic. Data collected from five states during July 2017–June 2021 were included (N = 31,460). The emphasis on online recruitment after COVID-19 led to smaller sample sizes, greater geographic reach, and a higher proportion of bisexual-identifying participants. Most participants (88.1%) reported physical distancing and 52.1% had fewer sex partners due to COVID-19. In the COVID-19-affected rounds (July 2020–June 2021), the number of male partners, recent HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use all fell, and HIV risk among the smaller group of participants who reported casual sex increased. COVID-related changes were generally more pronounced among GBM aged under 25 years, participants from suburbs with fewer gay residents, and bisexual men. These groups should be prioritised when encouraging GBM to reengage with HIV testing services and effective prevention methods, like condoms and PrEP

Young Adults View Smartphone Tracking Technologies for COVID-19 as Acceptable:The Case of Taiwan

Taiwan has been successful in controlling the spread of SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic; however, without a vaccine the threat of a second outbreak remains. Young adults who show few to no symptoms when infected have been identified in many countries as driving the virus' spread through unidentifiable community transmission. Mobile tracking technologies register nearby contacts of a user and notifies them if one later tests positive to the virus, potentially solving this issue; however, the effectiveness of these technologies depends on their acceptance by the public. The current study assessed attitudes towards three tracking technologies (telecommunication network tracking, a government app, and Apple and Google's Bluetooth exposure notification system) among four samples of young Taiwanese adults (aged 25 years or younger). Using Bayesian methods, we find high acceptance for all three tracking technologies (>75%), with acceptance for each technology surpassing 90% if additional privacy measures were included. We consider the policy implications of these results for Taiwan and similar cultures