Syed Hasib Akhter Faruqui

Syed Hasib Akhter Faruqui, Adel Alaeddini, Jing Wang et al.

Multiple chronic conditions (MCC) are one of the biggest challenges of modern times. The evolution of MCC follows a complex stochastic process that is influenced by a variety of risk factors, ranging from pre-existing conditions to modifiable lifestyle behavioral factors (e.g. diet, exercise habits, tobacco use, alcohol use, etc.) to non-modifiable socio-demographic factors (e.g., age, gender, education, marital status, etc.). People with MCC are at an increased risk of new chronic conditions and mortality. This paper proposes a model predictive control functional continuous time Bayesian network, an online recursive method to examine the impact of various lifestyle behavioral changes on the emergence trajectories of MCC and generate strategies to minimize the risk of progression of chronic conditions in individual patients. The proposed method is validated based on the Cameron county Hispanic cohort (CCHC) dataset, which has a total of 385 patients. The dataset examines the emergence of 5 chronic conditions (diabetes, obesity, cognitive impairment, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension) based on four modifiable risk factors representing lifestyle behaviors (diet, exercise habits, tobacco use, alcohol use) and four non-modifiable risk factors, including socio-demographic information (age, gender, education, marital status). The proposed method is tested under different scenarios (e.g., age group, the prior existence of MCC), demonstrating the effective intervention strategies for improving the lifestyle behavioral risk factors to offset MCC evolution.

Julian Carvajal Rico, Adel Alaeddini, Syed Hasib Akhter Faruqui et al.

Predicting the emergence of multiple chronic conditions (MCC) is crucial for early intervention and personalized healthcare, as MCC significantly impacts patient outcomes and healthcare costs. Graph neural networks (GNNs) are effective methods for modeling complex graph data, such as those found in MCC. However, a significant challenge with GNNs is their reliance on an existing graph structure, which is not readily available for MCC. To address this challenge, we propose a novel generative framework for GNNs that constructs a representative underlying graph structure by utilizing the distribution of the data to enhance predictive analytics for MCC. Our framework employs a graph variational autoencoder (GVAE) to capture the complex relationships in patient data. This allows for a comprehensive understanding of individual health trajectories and facilitates the creation of diverse patient stochastic similarity graphs while preserving the original feature set. These variations of patient stochastic similarity graphs, generated from the GVAE decoder, are then processed by a GNN using a novel Laplacian regularization technique to refine the graph structure over time and improves the prediction accuracy of MCC. A contextual Bandit is designed to evaluate the stochastically generated graphs and identify the best-performing graph for the GNN model iteratively until model convergence. We validate the performance of the proposed contextual Bandit algorithm against $\varepsilon$-Greedy and multi-armed Bandit algorithms on a large cohort (n = 1,592) of patients with MCC. These advancements highlight the potential of the proposed approach to transform predictive healthcare analytics, enabling a more personalized and proactive approach to MCC management.

Chaochao Zhou, Syed Hasib Akhter Faruqui, Abhinav Patel et al.

Many tasks performed in image-guided procedures can be cast as pose estimation problems, where specific projections are chosen to reach a target in 3D space. In this study, we first develop a differentiable projection (DiffProj) rendering framework for the efficient computation of Digitally Reconstructed Radiographs (DRRs) with automatic differentiability from either Cone-Beam Computerized Tomography (CBCT) or neural scene representations, including two newly proposed methods, Neural Tuned Tomography (NeTT) and masked Neural Radiance Fields (mNeRF). We then perform pose estimation by iterative gradient descent using various candidate loss functions, that quantify the image discrepancy of the synthesized DRR with respect to the ground-truth fluoroscopic X-ray image. Compared to alternative loss functions, the Mutual Information loss function can significantly improve pose estimation accuracy, as it can effectively prevent entrapment in local optima. Using the Mutual Information loss, a comprehensive evaluation of pose estimation performed on a tomographic X-ray dataset of 50 patients$'$ skulls shows that utilizing either discretized (CBCT) or neural (NeTT/mNeRF) scene representations in DiffProj leads to comparable performance in DRR appearance and pose estimation (3D angle errors: mean $\leq$ 3.2° and 90% quantile $\leq$ 3.4°), despite the latter often incurring considerable training expenses and time. These findings could be instrumental for selecting appropriate approaches to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of fluoroscopic X-ray pose estimation in widespread image-guided interventions.

Stanford Martinez, Carolina Ramirez-Tamayo, Syed Hasib Akhter Faruqui et al.

Perception-related errors comprise most diagnostic mistakes in radiology. To mitigate this problem, radiologists employ personalized and high-dimensional visual search strategies, otherwise known as search patterns. Qualitative descriptions of these search patterns, which involve the physician verbalizing or annotating the order he/she analyzes the image, can be unreliable due to discrepancies in what is reported versus the actual visual patterns. This discrepancy can interfere with quality improvement interventions and negatively impact patient care. This study presents a novel discretized feature encoding based on spatiotemporal binning of fixation data for efficient geometric alignment and temporal ordering of eye movement when reading chest X-rays. The encoded features of the eye-fixation data are employed by machine learning classifiers to discriminate between faculty and trainee radiologists. We include a clinical trial case study utilizing the Area Under the Curve (AUC), Accuracy, F1, Sensitivity, and Specificity metrics for class separability to evaluate the discriminability between the two subjects in regard to their level of experience. We then compare the classification performance to state-of-the-art methodologies. A repeatability experiment using a separate dataset, experimental protocol, and eye tracker was also performed using eight subjects to evaluate the robustness of the proposed approach. The numerical results from both experiments demonstrate that classifiers employing the proposed feature encoding methods outperform the current state-of-the-art in differentiating between radiologists in terms of experience level. This signifies the potential impact of the proposed method for identifying radiologists' level of expertise and those who would benefit from additional training.

Yagizhan Bilal Durak, Ahsan Ul Islam, Shahidul Islam et al.

Agricultural pest management increasingly relies on timely and accurate access to expert knowledge, yet high quality labeled data and continuous expert support remain limited, particularly for farmers operating in rural regions with unstable/no internet connectivity. At the same time, the rapid growth of AI and LLMs has created new opportunities to deliver practical decision support tools directly to end users in agriculture through compact and deployable systems. This work addresses (i) generating a structured insect information dataset, and (ii) adapting a lightweight LLM model ($\leq$ 7B) by fine tuning it for edge device uses in agricultural pest management. The textual data collection was done by reviewing and collecting information from available pest databases and published manuscripts on nine selected pest species. These structured reports were then reviewed and validated by a domain expert. From these reports, we constructed Q/A pairs to support model training and evaluation. A LoRA-based fine-tuning approach was applied to multiple lightweight LLMs and evaluated. Initial evaluation shows that Mistral 7B achieves an 88.9\% pass rate on the domain-specific Q/A task, substantially outperforming Qwen 2.5 7B (63.9\%), and LLaMA 3.1 8B (58.7\%). Notably, Mistral demonstrates higher semantic alignment (embedding similarity: 0.865) despite lower lexical overlap (BLEU: 0.097), indicating that semantic understanding and robust reasoning are more predictive of task success than surface-level conformity in specialized domains. By combining expert organized data, well-structured Q/A pairs, semantic quality control, and efficient model adaptation, this work contributes towards providing support for farmer facing agricultural decision support tools and demonstrates the feasibility of deploying compact, high-performing language models for practical field-level pest management guidance.

Syed Hasib Akhter Faruqui, Nazia Tasnim, Iftekhar Ibne Basith et al.

Learning never ends, and there is no age limit to grow yourself. However, the educational landscape may face challenges in effectively catering to students' inclusion and diverse learning needs. These students should have access to state-of-the-art methods for lecture delivery, online resources, and technology needs. However, with all the diverse learning sources, it becomes harder for students to comprehend a large amount of knowledge in a short period of time. Traditional assistive technologies and learning aids often lack the dynamic adaptability required for individualized education plans. Large Language Models (LLM) have been used in language translation, text summarization, and content generation applications. With rapid growth in AI over the past years, AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants have been developed. This research aims to bridge this gap by introducing an innovative study buddy we will be calling the 'SAMCares'. The system leverages a Large Language Model (LLM) (in our case, LLaMa-2 70B as the base model) and Retriever-Augmented Generation (RAG) to offer real-time, context-aware, and adaptive educational support. The context of the model will be limited to the knowledge base of Sam Houston State University (SHSU) course notes. The LLM component enables a chat-like environment to interact with it to meet the unique learning requirements of each student. For this, we will build a custom web-based GUI. At the same time, RAG enhances real-time information retrieval and text generation, in turn providing more accurate and context-specific assistance. An option to upload additional study materials in the web GUI is added in case additional knowledge support is required. The system's efficacy will be evaluated through controlled trials and iterative feedback mechanisms.

Syed Hasib Akhter Faruqui, Adel Alaeddini, Yan Du et al.

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a prevalent chronic disease with a significant risk of serious health complications and negative impacts on the quality of life. Given the impact of individual characteristics and lifestyle on the treatment plan and patient outcomes, it is crucial to develop precise and personalized management strategies. Artificial intelligence (AI) provides great promise in combining patterns from various data sources with nurses' expertise to achieve optimal care. Methods: This is a 6-month ancillary study among T2D patients (n = 20, age = 57 +- 10). Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention (AI, n=10) group to receive daily AI-generated individualized feedback or a control group without receiving the daily feedback (non-AI, n=10) in the last three months. The study developed an online nurse-in-the-loop predictive control (ONLC) model that utilizes a predictive digital twin (PDT). The PDT was developed using a transfer-learning-based Artificial Neural Network. The PDT was trained on participants self-monitoring data (weight, food logs, physical activity, glucose) from the first three months, and the online control algorithm applied particle swarm optimization to identify impactful behavioral changes for maintaining the patient's glucose and weight levels for the next three months. The ONLC provided the intervention group with individualized feedback and recommendations via text messages. The PDT was re-trained weekly to improve its performance. Findings: The trained ONLC model achieved >=80% prediction accuracy across all patients while the model was tuned online. Participants in the intervention group exhibited a trend of improved daily steps and stable or improved total caloric and total carb intake as recommended.

Syed Hasib Akhter Faruqui, Adel Alaeddini, Jing Wang et al.

The emergence and progression of multiple chronic conditions (MCC) over time often form a dynamic network that depends on patient's modifiable risk factors and their interaction with non-modifiable risk factors and existing conditions. Continuous time Bayesian networks (CTBNs) are effective methods for modeling the complex network of MCC relationships over time. However, CTBNs are not able to effectively formulate the dynamic impact of patient's modifiable risk factors on the emergence and progression of MCC. Considering a functional CTBN (FCTBN) to represent the underlying structure of the MCC relationships with respect to individuals' risk factors and existing conditions, we propose a nonlinear state-space model based on Extended Kalman filter (EKF) to capture the dynamics of the patients' modifiable risk factors and existing conditions on the MCC evolution over time. We also develop a tensor control chart to dynamically monitor the effect of changes in the modifiable risk factors of individual patients on the risk of new chronic conditions emergence. We validate the proposed approach based on a combination of simulation and real data from a dataset of 385 patients from Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (CCHC) over multiple years. The dataset examines the emergence of 5 chronic conditions (Diabetes, Obesity, Cognitive Impairment, Hyperlipidemia, and Hypertension) based on 4 modifiable risk factors representing lifestyle behaviors (Diet, Exercise, Smoking Habit, and Drinking Habit) and 3 non-modifiable risk factors, including demographic information (Age, Gender, Education). The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology for dynamic prediction and monitoring of the risk of MCC emergence in individual patients.

Syed Hasib Akhter Faruqui, Adel Alaeddini, Jing Wang et al.

Bayesian networks are powerful statistical models to study the probabilistic relationships among set random variables with major applications in disease modeling and prediction. Here, we propose a continuous time Bayesian network with conditional dependencies, represented as Poisson regression, to model the impact of exogenous variables on the conditional dependencies of the network. We also propose an adaptive regularization method with an intuitive early stopping feature based on density based clustering for efficient learning of the structure and parameters of the proposed network. Using a dataset of patients with multiple chronic conditions extracted from electronic health records of the Department of Veterans Affairs we compare the performance of the proposed approach with some of the existing methods in the literature for both short-term (one-year ahead) and long-term (multi-year ahead) predictions. The proposed approach provides a sparse intuitive representation of the complex functional relationships between multiple chronic conditions. It also provides the capability of analyzing multiple disease trajectories over time given any combination of prior conditions.