Engineering Commons^™

Perivascular Waste Metabolites Clearance In Central Nervous System (Cns), Yiming Cheng

Dissertations

Efficient clearance of interstitial waste metabolites is essential for normal brain homeostasis. Such effective clearance is hampered by the lack of a lymphatic system in the brain, and the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is unable to clear large size waste metabolites in the brain. Here, a novel idea that brain arterial endothelium and smooth muscle cells reactivity regulates the clearance of these water-insoluble large size waste metabolites through the perivascular dynamic exchange, and that low dose ethanol promotes this perivascular clearance is proposed.

In Aim 1, the biodistribution of a large size waste metabolite (Amyloid-β protein mimic) in rat perivascular space …

Effect Of 3d Printed Tablet Shape On Drug Release Profile, Christina Gedeon

Theses

There is a growing interest in utilizing additive manufacturing (AM) as a manufacturing tool to develop oral tablets for personalized medicine. This ultimate goal in mind, this study explores the feasibility of extrusion-based fused deposition modeling (FDM) to 3D print oral tablets with tunable design to control drug release profile. Tablets are printed using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) loaded with model drugs: acetaminophen and caffeine. Hot melt extrusion (HME) is used to fabricate PVA filaments loaded with acetaminophen and caffeine. These filaments are used to fabricate a range of tablets with varying designs to prepare immediate and delayed release tablets. Thermal …

Objective Estimation Of Tracheoesophageal Speech Quality, Yousef S Ettomi Ali

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Speech quality estimation for pathological voices is becoming an increasingly important research topic. The assessment of the quality and the degree of severity of a disordered speech is important to the clinical treatment and rehabilitation of patients. In particular, patients who have undergone total laryngectomy (larynx removal) produce Tracheoesophageal (TE) speech. In this thesis, we study the problem of TE speech quality estimation using advanced signal processing approaches. Since it is not possible to have a reference (clean) signal corresponding to a given TE speech (disordered) signal, we investigate in particular the non-intrusive techniques (also called single-ended or blind approaches) …

Carbon Management And Volatile Fatty Acid Production In Primary Clarifiers At A Wastewater Treatment Plant, Brittany Nicole Radke

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

An increasing number of treatment plants are required to remove nutrients from domestic wastewater to lessen the impact of nutrient loading to water bodies. Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal (EBPR) is one of the processes commonly used to remove phosphorus from domestic wastewater. The presence of an adequate quantity of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the wastewater influent to EBPR is important for process efficiency and stability. The objective of this research was to investigate the production of VFAs through fermentation of sludge in primary clarifiers as it related to improving nutrient removal, primarily targeting phosphorus.

The research tested, in full-scale, …

Wheelchair Propulsion For Everyday Manual Wheelchair Users: Repetition Training And Machine Learning-Based Monitoring, Pin-Wei Chen

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Upper limb pain and injuries are prevalent among manual wheelchair users and can restrict their participation and daily activities. Due to the high repetition and force in wheelchair propulsion, chronic wheelchair propulsion has been linked to the risk of upper limb pain and injury. Prevention of upper limb pain and injury is a high priority in wheelchair-related research. Decades of research in wheelchair propulsion biomechanics have led to clinical practice guidelines (CPG). Unfortunately, a decade after the publication of the CPG, CPG-recommended propulsion is still uncommon. Hence, for the first aim, a randomized controlled trial pilot study with two groups …

Image Restoration Using Automatic Damaged Regions Detection And Machine Learning-Based Inpainting Technique, Chloe Martin-King

Computational and Data Sciences (PhD) Dissertations

In this dissertation we propose two novel image restoration schemes. The first pertains to automatic detection of damaged regions in old photographs and digital images of cracked paintings. In cases when inpainting mask generation cannot be completely automatic, our detection algorithm facilitates precise mask creation, particularly useful for images containing damage that is tedious to annotate or difficult to geometrically define. The main contribution of this dissertation is the development and utilization of a new inpainting technique, region hiding, to repair a single image by training a convolutional neural network on various transformations of that image. Region hiding is also …

Extracting Patterns In Medical Claims Data For Predicting Opioid Overdose, Ryan Sanders

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project is to develop an efficient methodology for extracting features from time-dependent variables in transaction data. Transaction data is collected at varying time intervals making feature extraction more difficult. Unsupervised representational learning techniques are investigated, and the results compared with those from other feature engineering techniques. A successful methodology provides features that improve the accuracy of any machine learning technique. This methodology is then applied to insurance claims data in order to find features to predict whether a patient is at risk of overdosing on opioids. This data covers prescription, inpatient, and outpatient transactions. Features created …

Influence Of Single And Multiple Histidine Residues And Their Ionization Properties On Transmembrane Helix Dynamics, Orientations And Fraying, Fahmida Afrose

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since aromatic and charged residues are often present in various locations of transmembrane helices of integral membrane proteins, their impacts on the molecular properties of transmembrane proteins and their interactions with lipids are of particular interest in many studies. In this work, I used solid-state deuterium NMR spectroscopy in designed model peptide GWALP23 [GGALW(LA)6LWLAGA] with selective deuterium labels to addresses the pH dependence and influence of single and multiple “guest” histidine residues in the orientation and dynamic behaviors of transmembrane proteins. The mutations include Gly to His (G2/22 to H2/22), Trp to His (W5/19 to H5/19) and Leu to His …

Functional Importance Of Lipin Phosphorylation, Stephanie Elizabeth Hood

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Highly conserved throughout evolution, lipins are dual functioning proteins found from yeast to humans. Functioning in the cytoplasm as phosphatidate phosphatase enzymes (PAP), lipins produce diacylglycerol that serves as a precursor for neutral fats and membrane phospholipids. Alternatively, nuclear lipins are responsible for the regulation of metabolic genes. Interestingly, both the mammalian lipin 1 paralog and the single Drosophila Lipin ortholog are highly phosphorylated proteins. Target of rapamycin (TOR) has previously been identified as one of the kinases that controls the subcellular localization of both lipin 1 and Drosophila Lipin. However, other serine and threonine kinases are predicted to be …

Quantitative Study Of The Antimicrobial Effects Of Silver On The Motility Of Escherichia Coli, Benjamin Russell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent decades, the number of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections has grown to become a serious global threat. This rise can be attributed to the widespread misuse of antibiotics and the lack of newly developed drugs to fight resistant organisms. Novel bactericidal substances have, therefore, garnered significant research interest. Silver, due to its powerful antimicrobial effects, is one such substance. Silver is typically most effective in cationic form; however, advancements in nanotechnology have paved the way for the controlled fabrication of nano-silver. Silver nanoparticles have been shown to have increased antibacterial potency for a variety of reasons, including the release of …

Production And Purification Of Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor Fused To Two Collagen Binding Domains Expressed In E. Coli Bl21 Using Flask And Fed-Batch, Hazim Aljewari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Delivering effective and non-toxic doses of bioactive materials that can aid in activating tissue regeneration to wounded tissue has proven to be an enormous challenge. This study was designed to produce a potential therapeutic recombinant protein by fusing two collagen binding domains to basic fibroblast growth factors (bFGF) through a collagenase cleavage site linker, so it can release the bFGF in a wound site by the action of this enzyme. The novel fusion protein was expressed in Escherichia coli BL-21 (E. coli) using traditional flask shaker and fed-batch cultivation. Cell lysate was purified by FPLC using Immobilized metal affinity chromatography …

Design And Development Of A Comprehensive And Interactive Diabetic Parameter Monitoring System - Betictrack, Nusrat Chowdhury

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A novel, interactive Android app has been developed that monitors the health of type 2 diabetic patients in real-time, providing patients and their physicians with real-time feedback on all relevant parameters of diabetes. The app includes modules for recording carbohydrate intake and blood glucose; for reminding patients about the need to take medications on schedule; and for tracking physical activity, using movement data via Bluetooth from a pair of wearable insole devices. Two machine learning models were developed to detect seven physical activities: sitting, standing, walking, running, stair ascent, stair descent and use of elliptical trainers. The SVM and decision …

Computational Model For Pedestrian Movement And Infectious Diseases Spread During Air Travel: A Molecular Dynamics-Like Numerical Approach, Pierrot Derjany

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

There is direct evidence of the transmission of fatal infectious pathogens in large human gatherings. Air transportation is no exception. The mixing of susceptible and infectious individuals in this high-density man-made environment involves pedestrian movement which is generally not taken into account in modeling studies of disease dynamics. This thesis addresses this problem through a multiscale model that combines pedestrian dynamics with stochastic infection spread models. This generic model is applicable to several directly transmitted diseases. Through this multiscale framework, the effectiveness of certain layout and strategies in suppressing the disease spread in highly crowded locations such as airplanes, airports …

Physicochemical Properties Of Blend Poly (Vinyl Alcohol) And Sodium Alginate Membranes For Potential Application In Wound Dressings, Martha Pieper

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and sodium alginate (SA) are water-soluble polymers with excellent biocompatibility suitable for biomedical applications in wound dressings. In this study, pure PVA, pure SA, and blends of PVA/SA membranes were solvent cast into films followed by crosslinking in CaCl₂, boric acid, and a mixture of CaCl₂/boric acid solutions for 5, 10, and 30 minutes. Initial feasibility studies showed a strong correlation of film thickness to the observed mechanical properties. Further studies in solvent casting of blend PVA/SA films, using various polymer concentrations, yielded better film appearance with minimal physical changes after crosslinking. …

Engineering Nanomaterials For Imaging And Therapy Of Bacteria And Biofilm-Associated Infections, Akash Gupta

Doctoral Dissertations

Infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria pose a serious global burden of mortality, causing thousands of deaths each year. The “superbug” risk is further exacerbated by chronic infections generated from antibiotic-resistant biofilms that are highly resistant to available treatments. Synthetic macromolecules such as polymers and nanoparticles have emerged as promising antimicrobials. Moreover, ability to modulate nanomaterial interaction with bacterial cellular systems plays a pivotal role in improving the efficacy of the strategy. In the initial studies on engineering nanoparticle surface chemistry, I investigated the role played by surface ligands in determining the antimicrobial activity of the nanoparticles. In further study, …

Three Essays On Data-Driven Optimization For Scheduling In Manufacturing And Healthcare, Ekin Koker

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays on data-driven optimization for scheduling in manufacturing and healthcare. In Chapter 1, we briefly introduce the optimization problems tackled in these essays. The first of these essays deals with machine scheduling problems. In Chapter 2, we compare the effectiveness of direct positional variables against relative positional variables computationally in a variety of machine scheduling problems and we present our results. The second essay deals with a scheduling problem in healthcare: the team primary care practice. In Chapter 3, we build upon the two-stage stochastic integer programming model introduced by Alvarez Oh (2015) to solve …

Combining Human Factors And Data Science Methods To Evaluate The Use Of Free Text Communication Orders In Electronic Health Records, Swaminathan Kandaswamy

Doctoral Dissertations

Medication errors are a leading cause of death in the United States. Electronic Health Records (EHR) along with Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) are considered promising ways to reduce these errors. However, EHR systems have not eliminated medication errors. Moreover, in some cases they have facilitated errors due to issues such as poor usability and negative effects on clinical workflows. The use of unexpected free text within a CPOE system can serve as a marker that the system does not adequately support clinical workflow. Prior studies have looked at the use of free text within medication orders, but the inclusion …

Markov Decision Process Approach To Strategize National Breast Cancer Screening Policy In Data-Limited Settings, Vijeta Deshpande

Masters Theses

Early diagnosis is a promising strategy to reduce premature mortalities and for optimal use of resources. But the absence of mathematical models specific to the data settings in LMIC’s impedes the construction of economic analysis necessary for decision-makers in the development of cancer control programs. This thesis presents a new methodology for parameterizing the natural history model of breast cancer based on data availabilities in low and middle income countries, and formulation of a control optimization problem to find the optimal screening schedule for mammography screening, solved using dynamic programming. As harms and benefits are known to increase with the …

Systems Approach To Evaluating Mih-Cp (Mobile Integrated Healthcare – Community Paramedicine): A Case Study Of East Baton Rouge Parish (Ebrp) Emergency Medical Services (Ems) Community Paramedicine Program Initiative, Oluwakemi Aiyedun

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study applied a holistic method of healthcare program assessment, known as systems approach, to evaluate the efficacy of the East Baton Rouge Parish (EBRP) EMS Community-integrated Health Program (CIHP). The author developed assessment metrics following the Quadruple Aim Framework: IHI (Institute for Healthcare Improvement) Triple Aim + Provider Experience.

Results showed that the CP program in this study delivers high ratings on patient experience and provided a 51% return on investment (ROI) through reduced emergency service utilization, ED visits and inpatient hospital admissions. However, findings did not demonstrate meaningful improvement in patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and self-efficacy …

Developmental And Sex Modulated Neurological Alterations In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Azeezat Azeez

Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was first described in 1943 by Dr. Leo Kranner in a case study published in The Nervous Child. It is a neurodevelopment disorder, with a range of clinical symptoms. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), used by clinicians to diagnose mental disorders, a child needs to have persistent social deficits, language impairments, and repetitive behaviors, that cannot be explained by neurological damage or intellectual disability. It is known that children diagnosed with ASD are often are developmentally delayed therefore alterations in the typical developmental trajectory should be a major factor in …

Modelling In Vitro Dissolution And Release Of Sumatriptan Succinate From Polyvinylpyrrolidone-Based Microneedles Aided By Iontophoresis, James Paul Ronnander

Dissertations

A novel dissolving microneedle array system is developed to investigate permeation of a sumatriptan succinate formulations through the skin aided by iontophoresis. Three formulations consisting of hydrophilic, positively charged drug molecules encapsulated in a water-soluble biologically suitable polymer, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), have been accepted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The microneedle systems are fabricated with 600 pyramid-shaped needles, each 500 µm tall, on a 0.785-cm² circular array. In vitro transdermal studies with minipig skin and vertical Franz diffusion cells show > 68% permeation of sumatriptan over a 24-hour period. A combination of microneedle and electrical current density ranging …

Roles Of Surfactant And Binary Polymers On Dissolution Enhancement Of Bcs Ii Drugs From Nanocomposites And Amorphous Solid Dispersions, Md Mahbubur Rahman

Dissertations

Drug nanocomposites and amorphous solid dispersions (ASDs) are two major formulation platforms used for the bioavailability enhancement of BCS Class II drugs. The major drawback of nanocomposites is their inability to attain high drug supersaturation during in vitro (<50% relative supersaturation) and in vivo dissolution. On the other hand, formulating an amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) with high drug loading (>20%) that releases drug rapidly, while generating and maintaining high supersaturation over at least three hours is challenging. The goal of this thesis is to develop a fundamental understanding of the impact of anionic surfactants–polymers on in vitro drug release from nanocomposites and ASDs, while addressing the above challenges. To achieve this goal, the following objectives are set: (1) compare griseofulvin …

Investigation Of Visual Perceptions In Parkinson's Disease And The Development Of Disease Monitoring Software, Matthew Bernardinis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Non-motor Parkinson’s Disease (PD) symptoms are substantial factors of PD arising throughout disease stages, yet their diagnosis and monitoring remain a challenge. Sensory abnormalities in PD occur across sensory systems and disease stages, contributing to disease-related impairments. However, the extent of symptoms is unknown, with inadequate monitoring and treatment options furthering disease management difficulties. The current work studies movement-independent visual perceptions of time, displacement and velocity in PD patients across disease stages using levodopa, deep brain stimulation (DBS), or no PD therapy. Perceptual tasks were conducted using a computer-generated graphical device designed with a focus on simplicity and flexibility. Perception …

Parkinsonian Speech And Voice Quality: Assessment And Improvement, Amr Gaballah

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. Statistics show that nearly 90% of people impaired with PD develop voice and speech disorders. Speech production impairments in PD subjects typically result in hypophonia and consequently, poor speech signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in noisy environments and inferior speech intelligibility and quality. Assessment, monitoring, and improvement of the perceived quality and intelligibility of Parkinsonian voice and speech are, therefore, paramount. In the first study of this thesis, the perceived quality of sustained vowels produced by PD patients was assessed through objective predictors. Subjective quality ratings of sustained vowels were collected from …

Quantifying The Outcomes Of A Virtual Reality (Vr)-Based Gamified Neck Rehabilitation, Shahan Salim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Neck pain is a major global public health concern and adds a significant financial burden to both the healthcare system as well as people suffering from it. Additionally, it presents measurement and evaluation challenges for clinicians as well as adherence challenges and treatment barriers for the patients. We have developed a virtual reality (VR)-based video game that can be used to capture outcomes that may aid in the assessment and treatment of neck pain. We investigated: (i) performance metrics of overall accuracy, accuracy based on movement difficulty, duration, and total envelope of movement; (ii) stability across sessions; (iii) accuracy across …

Assessment Of The Biocompatibilty, Stability, And Suitability Of Natural And Synthetic Polymers And Drugs In The Fda Approval Process, Phuong Anh Hoang Nguyen

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Regulation of the development, production, marketing, and sales of medical pharmaceuticals and devices in the United States fall under the regulatory functions of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The current FDA approval process takes an average of 10 years from start to completion, and costs over $100 million. As a result, companies use many different methods to find additional use of their drugs through marketing directly to the physician, or recycling of previously approved drug moieties. In this work, an evaluation of the in vitro and ex vivo biocompatibility of polymers and drugs in different phases of FDA approval …

Multi-Dimensional Extension Of The Alternating Minimization Algorithm In X-Ray Computed Tomography, Jingwei Lu

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

X-ray computed tomography (CT) is an important and effective tool in medical and industrial imaging applications. The state-of-the-art methods to reconstruct CT images have had great development but also face challenges. This dissertation derives novel algorithms to reduce bias and metal artifacts in a wide variety of imaging modalities and increase performance in low-dose scenarios. The most widely available CT systems still use the single-energy CT (SECT), which is good at showing the anatomic structure of the patient body. However, in SECT image reconstruction, energy-related information is lost. In applications like radiation treatment planning and dose prediction, accurate energy-related information …

Multi-Dimensional Extension Of The Alternating Minimization Algorithm In X-Ray Computed Tomography, Jingwei Lu

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

X-ray computed tomography (CT) is an important and effective tool in medical and industrial

imaging applications. The state-of-the-art methods to reconstruct CT images have had

great development but also face challenges. This dissertation derives novel algorithms to

reduce bias and metal artifacts in a wide variety of imaging modalities and increase performance

in low-dose scenarios.

The most widely available CT systems still use the single-energy CT (SECT), which is

good at showing the anatomic structure of the patient body. However, in SECT image

reconstruction, energy-related information is lost. In applications like radiation treatment

planning and dose prediction, accurate energy-related information …

On The Fabrication And Development Of Tissue On A Chip Devices With Included Perfused Vasculatures, Usama Ismail

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The advent of Tissue-on-a-Chip (TiOC) devices has provided a novel way for researchers to approach biological study and drug development. As a platform that enables human in vivo conditions to be accurately replicated ex vivo, TiOC can accelerate both fundamental biological research to answer basic questions regarding tissue behavior and function (e.g., cell-cell interactions in the tumor microenvironment (TME)) and translational research that includes testing of standard and novel therapeutics. The reported work focuses on development of processes and technologies common to two classes of TiOC. The first device is a single-layer, multi-compartment microfluidic device for investigation of pancreatic …

Quantitatively Studying Tissue Damage In Multiple Sclerosis Using Gradient Recalled Echo Mri Sequences, Biao Xiang

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain the body. MS is the most common progressive neurologic disease of young adults, affecting approximately 2.3 million people worldwide. It is estimated that more than 700,000 individuals are affected by MS in United States. While MS has been studied for decades, the cause of it is still not definite and a fully effective treatment for MS is not yet available. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used extensively in MS diagnosis and …