Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Passenger Traits That Predict The Bystander Intervention Model Steps During An Inflight Assault On A Flight Attendant, Michael Pettit

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Every major U.S. airline has experienced a violent inflight assault on one of their flight attendants. The problem is becoming more widespread, but industry leaders have few coping strategies. The first step toward addressing the issue is understanding the various aspects of the event, including the actions of other passengers (bystanders) who may witness the assault. There is ample literature on bystander reactions to similar events such as bullying, medical emergencies, injuries, and violent attacks, but none dedicated to a flight attendant assault or passenger reactions to it.

At the core of bystander action is the bystander effect, which postulates …

A Patient Risk Minimization Model For Post-Disaster Medical Delivery Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Mark J. Simpson

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to develop a novel routing model for delivery of medical supplies using unmanned aircraft systems, improving existing vehicle routing models by using patient risk as the primary minimization variable.

The vehicle routing problem is a subset of operational research that utilizes mathematical models to identify the most efficient route between sets of points. Routing studies using unmanned aircraft systems frequently minimize time, distance, or cost as the primary objective and are powerful decision-making tools for routine delivery operations. However, the fields of emergency triage and disaster response are focused on identifying patient injury severity …

Behavioral Intention Factors For Prescription Deliveries By Small Unmanned Aircraft In Rural Communities, Sarah M. Talley

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Nearly half of the U.S. population regularly use and depend on prescription medications; however, pharmacy availability and access to pharmacy services are often lacking, particularly in rural communities. In an effort to meet local healthcare needs, delivery by sUAS is proposed to ensure the nearly 60 million rural residents have access to their prescription medications.

As an emerging technology with little research into home delivery applications, the successful implementation of sUAS for prescription medication delivery requires public acceptance and positive behavioral intention toward its use. At the time of the current research, no prior studies have specifically focused on the …

A Meshless Approach To Computational Pharmacokinetics, Anthony Matthew Khoury

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The meshless method is an incredibly powerful technique for solving a variety of problems with unparalleled accuracy and efficiency. The pharmacokinetic problem of transdermal drug delivery (TDDD) is one such topic and is of significant complexity. The locally collocated meshless method (LCMM) is developed in solution to this topic. First, the meshless method is formulated to model this transport phenomenon and is then validated against an analytical solution of a pharmacokinetic problem set, to demonstrate this accuracy and efficiency. The analytical solution provides a locus by which convergence behavior are evaluated, demonstrating the super convergence of the locally collocated meshless …

In-Vitro And In-Silico Investigations Of Alternative Surgical Techniques For Single Ventricular Disease, Arka Das

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Single ventricle (SV) anomalies account for one-fourth of all cases of congenital Heart disease. The conventional second and third stage i.e. Comprehensive stage II and Fontan procedure of the existing three-staged surgical approach serving as a palliative treatment for this anomaly, entails multiple complications and achieves a survival rate of 50%. Hence, to reduce the morbidity and mortality rate associated with the second and third stages of the existing palliative procedure, the novel alternative techniques called “Hybrid Comprehensive Stage II” (HCSII), and a “Self-powered Fontan circulation” have been proposed. The goal of this research is to conduct in-vitro investigations to …

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 …

Multi-Scale Fluid Flow Analysis Of The Cardiovascular System, Zaid Mahmood

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is one of the rarest congenital heart diseases affecting infants. Out of 150 babies born, one baby suffers from congenital heart disease. Furthermore, nine percent out of those suffering from congenital heart disease specifically suffer from hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). To this end, the Fontan operation which is a procedure to generate a harmonic blood flow in single functioning ventricle patients has been executed to palliate HLHS patients. In this operation, the inferior vena cava (IVC) and the superior vena cava (SVC), carrying the low-oxygenated blood returning from the lower and upper body …

Evaluation Of A Scientifically Developed Anesthesiology Handoff Protocol, Kristen Lise Welsh Webster

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Communication failures have been cited as the leading cause of avoidable adverse events in healthcare. Specifically, within handoffs, these communication failures can cause error in the transfer of patient information. A multitude of factors can affect the transmission of patient information between providers including transactive memory, power distance, and conversational noise; however, literature suggests that the use of handoff protocols assist in improving communication and efficiency during handoffs. Studies regarding handoffs have typically centered on the content or delivery of the information during the handoff. To date, none have targeted the underlying mechanisms of the communication and their effects on …