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oncology Oncology

The future is now? Clinical and translational aspects of "Omics" technologies.

In Immunology and cell biology

Big data has become a central part of medical research, as well as modern life generally. "Omics" technologies include genomics, proteomics, microbiomics, and increasingly other omics. These have been driven by rapid advances in laboratory techniques and equipment. Crucially, improved information handling capabilities have allowed concepts such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to enter the research world. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown how quickly information can be generated and analysed using such approaches, but also showed its limitations. This review will look at how "omics" has begun to be translated into clinical practice. While there appears almost limitless potential in using big data for "precision" or "personalised" medicine, the reality is that this remains largely aspirational. Oncology is the only field of medicine that is widely adopting such technologies, and even in this field uptake is irregular. There are practical and ethical reasons for this lack of translation of increasingly affordable techniques into the clinic. Undoubtedly there will be increasing use of large datasets from traditional (e.g. tumour samples, patient genomics) and non-traditional (e.g. smartphone) sources. It is perhaps the greatest challenge of the healthcare sector over the coming decade to integrate these resources in an effective, practical and ethical way.

D’Adamo Gemma L, Widdop James T, Giles Edward M

2020-Sep-13

Genomics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, microbiome, translational immunology

Pathology Pathology

Identification of stem cells from large cell populations with topological scoring.

In Molecular omics

Machine learning and topological analysis methods are becoming increasingly used on various large-scale omics datasets. Modern high dimensional flow cytometry data sets share many features with other omics datasets like genomics and proteomics. For example, genomics or proteomics datasets can be sparse and have high dimensionality, and flow cytometry datasets can also share these features. This makes flow cytometry data potentially a suitable candidate for employing machine learning and topological scoring strategies, for example, to gain novel insights into patterns within the data. We have previously developed a Topological Score (TopS) and implemented it for the analysis of quantitative protein interaction network datasets. Here we show that TopS approach for large scale data analysis is applicable to the analysis of a previously described flow cytometry sorted human hematopoietic stem cell dataset. We demonstrate that TopS is capable of effectively sorting this dataset into cell populations and identify rare cell populations. We demonstrate the utility of TopS when coupled with multiple approaches including topological data analysis, X-shift clustering, and t-Distributed Stochastic Neighbor Embedding (t-SNE). Our results suggest that TopS could be effectively used to analyze large scale flow cytometry datasets to find rare cell populations.

Sardiu Mihaela E, Box Andrew C, Haug Jeffrey S, Washburn Michael P

2020-Sep-14

General General

The effects of personality and locus of control on trust in humans versus artificial intelligence.

In Heliyon

Introduction : We are increasingly exposed to applications that embed some sort of artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm, and there is a general belief that people trust any AI-based product or service without question. This study investigated the effect of personality characteristics (Big Five Inventory (BFI) traits and locus of control (LOC)) on trust behaviour, and the extent to which people trust the advice from an AI-based algorithm, more than humans, in a decision-making card game.

Method : One hundred and seventy-one adult volunteers decided whether the final covered card, in a five-card sequence over ten trials, had a higher/lower number than the second-to-last card. They either received no suggestion (control), recommendations from what they were told were previous participants (humans), or an AI-based algorithm (AI). Trust behaviour was measured as response time and concordance (number of participants' responses that were the same as the suggestion), and trust beliefs were measured as self-reported trust ratings.

Results : It was found that LOC influences trust concordance and trust ratings, which are correlated. In particular, LOC negatively predicted beyond the BFI dimensions trust concordance. As LOC levels increased, people were less likely to follow suggestions from both humans or AI. Neuroticism negatively predicted trust ratings. Openness predicted reaction time, but only for suggestions from previous participants. However, people chose the AI suggestions more than those from humans, and self-reported that they believed such recommendations more.

Conclusions : The results indicate that LOC accounts for a significant variance for trust concordance and trust ratings, predicting beyond BFI traits, and affects the way people select whom they trust whether humans or AI. These findings also support the AI-based algorithm appreciation.

Sharan Navya Nishith, Romano Daniela Maria

2020-Aug

Artificial intelligence, Big five personality traits, Individual traits, Locus of control, Psychology, Trust

General General

Modeling, design, and machine learning-based framework for optimal injectability of microparticle-based drug formulations.

In Science advances

Inefficient injection of microparticles through conventional hypodermic needles can impose serious challenges on clinical translation of biopharmaceutical drugs and microparticle-based drug formulations. This study aims to determine the important factors affecting microparticle injectability and establish a predictive framework using computational fluid dynamics, design of experiments, and machine learning. A numerical multiphysics model was developed to examine microparticle flow and needle blockage in a syringe-needle system. Using experimental data, a simple empirical mathematical model was introduced. Results from injection experiments were subsequently incorporated into an artificial neural network to establish a predictive framework for injectability. Last, simulations and experimental results contributed to the design of a syringe that maximizes injectability in vitro and in vivo. The custom injection system enabled a sixfold increase in injectability of large microparticles compared to a commercial syringe. This study highlights the importance of the proposed framework for optimal injection of microparticle-based drugs by parenteral routes.

Sarmadi Morteza, Behrens Adam M, McHugh Kevin J, Contreras Hannah T M, Tochka Zachary L, Lu Xueguang, Langer Robert, Jaklenec Ana

2020-Jul

General General

Data on rotary die filling performance of various pharmaceutical powders.

In Data in brief

As one of critical process steps during pharmaceutical tabletting, rotary die filling is still not well understood. To address this issue, a model rotary die filling system with a paddle feeder was developed to closely mimic the industrial process. Using this model system, the performance of various pharmaceutical powders at different turret and paddle speeds was evaluated, and the dependence of fill variation on process conditions and material properties was examined. A comprehensive dataset was created and reported here to show the effects of material and process parameters on the die filling performance and the filling consistency. It is believed that the data can also be used for data-driven process modelling and for developing robust machine learning models for pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Tang Xue, Zhang Ling, Wu Zhen-Feng, Sun Ping, Wu Chuan-Yu

2020-Oct

Die filling, Feed frame, Rotary press, Tabletting, Weight variation

Radiology Radiology

Radio-pathomic mapping model generated using annotations from five pathologists reliably distinguishes high-grade prostate cancer.

In Journal of medical imaging (Bellingham, Wash.)

Purpose: Our study predictively maps epithelium density in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) space while varying the ground truth labels provided by five pathologists to quantify the downstream effects of interobserver variability. Approach: Clinical imaging and postsurgical tissue from 48 recruited prospective patients were used in our study. Tissue was sliced to match the MRI orientation and whole-mount slides were stained and digitized. Data from 28 patients ( n = 33 slides) were sent to five pathologists to be annotated. Slides from the remaining 20 patients ( n = 123 slides) were annotated by one of the five pathologists. Interpathologist variability was measured using Krippendorff's alpha. Pathologist-specific radiopathomic mapping models were trained using a partial least-squares regression using MRI values to predict epithelium density, a known marker for disease severity. An analysis of variance characterized intermodel means difference in epithelium density. A consensus model was created and evaluated using a receiver operator characteristic classifying high grade versus low grade and benign, and was statistically compared to apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). Results: Interobserver variability ranged from low to acceptable agreement (0.31 to 0.69). There was a statistically significant difference in mean predicted epithelium density values ( p < 0.001 ) between the five models. The consensus model outperformed ADC (areas under the curve = 0.80 and 0.71, respectively, p < 0.05 ). Conclusion: We demonstrate that radiopathomic maps of epithelium density are sensitive to the pathologist annotating the dataset; however, it is unclear if these differences are clinically significant. The consensus model produced the best maps, matched the performance of the best individual model, and outperformed ADC.

McGarry Sean D, Bukowy John D, Iczkowski Kenneth A, Lowman Allison K, Brehler Michael, Bobholz Samuel, Nencka Andrew, Barrington Alex, Jacobsohn Kenneth, Unteriner Jackson, Duvnjak Petar, Griffin Michael, Hohenwalter Mark, Keuter Tucker, Huang Wei, Antic Tatjana, Paner Gladell, Palangmonthip Watchareepohn, Banerjee Anjishnu, LaViolette Peter S

2020-Sep

machine learning, magnetic resonance imaging, prostate cancer, rad-path