Cost-effectiveness Analysis of a Personalized, Teleretinal-Inclusive Screening Policy for Diabetic Retinopathy via Markov Modeling.

Purpose: Although teleretinal imaging has proved effective in increasing population-level screening for diabetic retinopathy (DR), there is a lack of quantitative understanding of how to incorporate teleretinal imaging into existing screening guidelines. We develop a mathematical model to determine personalized DR screening recommendations that utilize teleretinal imaging and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the personalized screening policy.

Design: A partially observable Markov decision process is employed to determine personalized screening recommendations based on patient compliance, willingness to pay, and A1C level.

State Variation in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Anus Incidence and Mortality, and Association With HIV/AIDS and Smoking in the United States.

Purpose: Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA) incidence and mortality rates are rising in the United States. Understanding state-level incidence and mortality patterns and associations with smoking and AIDS prevalence (key risk factors) could help unravel disparities and provide etiologic clues.

Methods: Using the US Cancer Statistics and the National Center for Health Statistics data sets, we estimated state-level SCCA incidence and mortality rates.

Prevalence of Human Papillomavirus Infection Among Women Born in the 1990s vs the 1980s and Association With HPV Vaccination in the US.

This cross-sectional study examines rates of human papillomavirus infections among a cohort of vaccinated and unvaccinated women born in the 1990s.

Kidney Level Lupus Nephritis Classification Using Uncertainty Guided Bayesian Convolutional Neural Networks.

The kidney biopsy based diagnosis of Lupus Nephritis (LN) is characterized by low inter-observer agreement, with misdiagnosis being associated with increased patient morbidity and mortality. Although various Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems have been developed for other nephrohistopathological applications, little has been done to accurately classify kidneys based on their kidney level Lupus Glomerulonephritis (LGN) scores. The successful implementation of CAD systems has also been hindered by the diagnosing physician's perceived classifier strengths and weaknesses, which has been shown to have a negative effect on patient outcomes.