Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Contrast Adaptation In The Lateral Eye Of Limulus Polyphemus, Tchoudomira Valtcheva

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Luminance and contrast adaptation are neuronal mechanisms that the retina applies for continuous adjustment to light sensitivity though a collection of cellular and synaptic mechanisms distributed across the retinal network, thus accommodating the wide input range of the visual system within the constricted output range of retinal ganglion cells. Luminance mean adaptation has been demonstrated in the output neurons of the invertebrate eye (eccentric cells), and the aim of the study was to investigate whether the homology in visual processing extends to luminance variance (contrast) adaptation as well. The spike trains of individual eccentric cells were recorded from live horseshoe …

Supply Chain Optimization Of Blood Products, Serkan Gunpinar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Major challenges in the management of blood supply chain are related to the shortage and wastage of the blood products. Given the perishability characteristics of blood which can be stored up to a limited number of days, if hospitals and blood centers keep an excessive number of blood units on inventory, wastages may occur. On the other hand, if sufficient number of blood units are not stored on inventory, shortages of this resource may cause the cancellations of important activities and increase the fatality rates at hospitals. Three mathematical models have been developed with the goal to improve the efficiency …

Design, Manufacturing, And Assembly Of A Flexible Thermoelectric Device, Christopher Anthony Martinez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents the design, manufacturing, and assembly of a flexible thermoelectric device. Such a device has immediate use in haptics, medical, and athletic applications. The governing theory behind the device is explained and a one dimensional heat transfer model is developed to estimate performance. This model and consideration for the manufacturing and assembly possibilities are the drivers behind the decisions made in design choices. Once the design was finalized, manufacturing methods for the various components were explored. The system was created by etching copper patterns on a copper/polyimide laminate and screen printing solder paste onto the circuits. Thermoelectric elements …

Classification Models In Clinical Decision Making, Eleazar Gil-Herrera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we present a collection of manuscripts describing the development of prognostic models designed to assist clinical decision making. This work is motivated by limitations of commonly used techniques to produce accessible prognostic models with easily interpretable and clinically credible results. Such limitations hinder prognostic model widespread utilization in medical practice.

Our methodology is based on Rough Set Theory (RST) as a mathematical tool for clinical data anal- ysis. We focus on developing rule-based prognostic models for end-of life care decision making in an effort to improve the hospice referral process. The development of the prognostic models is …

Quantifying The Ergonomic Impact On Healthcare Workers Using A Needle-Free Injector Device, Humberto Jose Olivero Lara

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Jet injectors are advantageous over needle injectors by eliminating sharps hazards. The Government Accountability Office estimates 29% preventable sharp injuries with an estimated direct cost of more than $500 million out of the CDC's reported incidence of 385,000 needle stick injuries per year among US hospital healthcare workers. Yet the forces required to set and trigger devices using spring mechanisms for medication delivery have not been explored. This laboratory experiment measured forces exerted by healthcare workers (HCWs) using a particular jet injector approved by FDA in 2011.

Objectives: In order to quantify the ergonomic impact on HCWs using a …

Community And Household Management Strategies For Water Supply And Treatment In Rural And Peri-Urban Areas In The Developing World, Ryan William Schweitzer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Eighty percent of the 780 million people worldwide that access water from an unimproved source live in rural areas. In rural areas, water systems are often managed by community based organizations and many of these systems do not provide service at the designed levels. The Sustainability Analysis Tool developed in Chapter 2 can inform decision making, characterize specific needs of rural communities in the management of their water systems, and identify weaknesses in training regimes or support mechanisms. The framework was tested on 61 statistically representative geographically stratified sample communities with rural water systems in the Dominican Republic. The results …

A Methodology For Scheduling Operating Rooms Under Uncertainty, Marbelly Paola Davila

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An operating room (OR) is considered to be one of the most costly functional areas within hospitals as well as its major profit center. It is known that managing an OR department is a challenging task, which requires the integration of many actors (e.g., patients, surgeons, nurses, technicians) who may have conflicting interests and priorities.

Considering these aspects, this dissertation focuses on developing a simulation based methodology for scheduling operating rooms under uncertainty, which reflects the complexity, uncertainty and variability associated with surgery.

We split the process of scheduling ORs under uncertainty into two main components. First, we designed a …