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1. Building a Knowledge Model of Cayo Santiago Rhesus Macaques: Engaging Undergraduate Students in Developing Graphical User Interfaces for NSF Funded Research Project

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35308-6_29  

   Zhao, Martin Q. ; Widener, Ethan R. ; Francis, George ; and Wang, Qian ( June 2023 , Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Innovations in Computing Research (ICR’23). Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 721. Springer, Cham.)

   Daimi, K. ; and Sadoon, A. Al (Ed.)

   In this paper, we introduce an NSF funded project that aims to develop a database that integrates genetic, environmental and age-related information to study their effects on health conditions of a rhesus monkey colony at Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico, which has been founded since 1938. In this project, we will combine the osteology data with the rich genealogy and demographic information into a searchable and computer-interoperable knowledge model accessible through user-friendly interfaces. Backed by the integrated database, this system will provide researchers and the public information from the Cayo Santiago rhesus colony and the derived skeletal collection, a powerful non-human model for datamining to study human disease. Undergraduate and graduate students from diverse communities have been incorporated into research and development activities. Related materials are used as case studies in relevant classes at Mercer University to help train these undergraduate students into problem solvers. 

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2. Conceptual Design and Prototyping for a Primate Health History Model

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71051-4_40  

   Zhao, Martin Q ; Maldonado, Elizabeth ; Kensler, Terry B ; Kohn, Luci AP ; Guatelli-Steinberg, Debbie ; Wang, Q. ( January 2021 , Transactions on computational science and computational intelligence)

   Arabnia, Hamid R. ; Deligiannidis, Leonidas ; Tinetti, Fernando G. ; Tran, Quoc-Nam (Ed.)

   Primate models are important for understanding human conditions, especially in studies of ageing, pathology, adaptation, and evolution. However, how to integrate data from multiple disciplines and render them compatible with each other for datamining and in-depth study is always challenging. In a long-term project, we have started a collaborative research endeavor to examine the health history of a free-ranging rhesus macaque colony at Cayo Santiago, and build a knowledge model for anthropological and biomedical/translational studies of the effects of environment and genetics on bone development, aging, and pathologies. This paper discusses the conceptual design as well as the prototyping of this model and related graphical user interfaces, and how these will help future scientific queries and studies. 

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3. Conceptual Design and Prototyping for a Primate Health History Model

   Zhao, Martin Q ; Maldonado, Elizabeth ; Kensler, Terry B ; Kohn, Luci AP ; Guatelli-Steinberg, Debbie ; Wang, Q. ( January 2021 , Transactions on computational science and computational intelligence)

   Arabnia, Hamid R. ; Deligiannidis, Leonidas ; Tinetti, Fernando G. ; Tran, Quoc-Nam (Ed.)

   Primate models are important for understanding human conditions, especially in studies of ageing, pathology, adaptation, and evolution. However, how to integrate data from multiple disciplines and render them compatible with each other for datamining and in-depth study is always challenging. In a long-term project, we have started a collaborative research endeavor to examine the health history of a free-ranging rhesus macaque colony at Cayo Santiago, and build a knowledge model for anthropological and biomedical/translational studies of the effects of environment and genetics on bone development, aging, and pathologies. This paper discusses the conceptual design as well as the prototyping of this model and related graphical user interfaces, and how these will help future scientific queries and studies. 

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4. Coming to the Caribbean: Eighty‐five years of rhesus macaques ( Macaca mulatta ) at Cayo Santiago—A rare nonhuman primate model for the studies of adaptation, diseases, genetics, natural disasters, and resilience

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23659  

   Wang, Qian ; Francis, George ( July 2024 , American Journal of Primatology)

   Bales, Karen (Ed.)

   The Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque colony represents one of the most important nonhuman primate resources since their introduction to the Caribbean area in 1938. The 85 years of continuing existence along with the comprehensive database of the rhesus colony and the derived skeletal collections have provided and will continue to provide a powerful tool to test hypotheses about adaptive and evolutionary mechanisms in both biology and medicine.

    

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5. Social Group Interactions and Mating Patterns of the Cayo Santiago Rhesus Macaque Colony: A Retrospective Approach

   Zhao, Martin Q ; Kaur, Mehakpreet ; Kundu, Soumik ; Gong, Rui ; Novak, Cooper ; Wang, Qian ( March 2024 , The 93rd Annual Conference of American Association of Biological Anthropology)

   The rich records of Rhesus macaques at Cayo Santiago (CS) with detailed information of individual and family relationships enables extended genetic analyses of the reproductive history of the colony. As a part of a collaborative effort to build a Knowledge Model of the history of health of the CS Rhesus colony, this study further delves into the intricate social group interactions and reproduction dynamics to provide an integrated perspective for a deeper understanding of familial connections and genetic aggregations. Leveraging matrilineal lineage developed from previous work and patrilineal tracing made available since mid-1970’s, as well as inter-group transfer data, this study attempted to provide retrospective views of group evolution history, with an emphasis on dyad interactions regarding their natal and transferred groups. Employing tools and techniques popular in social community analysis, including graph database and Gephi, this study conducted a comparative analysis focused on animals born between 2005 and 2014. Preliminary results indicated that communities identified by using Gephi matched well with census records, while deviations from historical sketches of group evolution summaries existed as well. Upcoming results from using Neo4j, a graph database system, will be compared with these findings, which can be integrated more smoothly with CSViewer for Analysts, the graphical user interfaces for the CS Knowledge Model to be introduced in a workshop at AABA 2024 annual meeting. Findings of this research can help add one more perspective to pathological studies seeking correlations with environmental factors such as food provision and natural disasters like hurricanes. 

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