Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment Commons^™

A Computational, Topological Approach To Icu Mortality Rate Prediction With Data Relationship Realization, Adam Michael Aaron

Masters Theses

The objective of this work is to predict the mortality of intensive care unit patients based on their physiological data and understand the relationships between physiological data. Such a model may be used to prioritize care when resources are limited or identify patients that will need significant care in the immediate future. This effort will take a novel approach applying computational topological analysis to classify patients. The algorithm predicting the patient outcomes is trained using an evolutionary algorithm. The dataset used is from the 2012 PhysioNet Computing in Cardiology Challenge. A set containing 4000 records with outcomes was used to …

Joint Reaction Force And Contributions Of Surrounding Muscles To Knee Joint Load During Stair Ascent In Total Knee Replacement Patients And Healthy Individuals, Robert Jacob Rasnick

Masters Theses

Total knee replacement (TKR) is commonly used to correct end stage knee osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee joint. Unfortunately, difficulty with stair climbing has been seen to exist, prolonging the challenges of TKR patents. Complete understanding of loading at the knee is of great interest in order to aid patient populations, implant manufacturers, rehabilitation, and future research. The outcome of a TKR is intended to reestablish normal motion and loading of the knee. Musculoskeletal modeling provides a means to accurately approximate joint loading and the corresponding muscle contributions during a movement.

The purpose of the present study was to examine …

Control Of Inflammation In Pancreatic Β-Cells: Role Of Arylpyrazole Compounds, Whitney Lyn Powell

EURēCA: Exhibition of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement

No abstract provided.

Virtual Reality Aided Mobile C-Arm Positioning For Image-Guided Surgery, Zhenzhou Shao

Doctoral Dissertations

Image-guided surgery (IGS) is the minimally invasive procedure based on the pre-operative volume in conjunction with intra-operative X-ray images which are commonly captured by mobile C-arms for the confirmation of surgical outcomes. Although currently some commercial navigation systems are employed, one critical issue of such systems is the neglect regarding the radiation exposure to the patient and surgeons. In practice, when one surgical stage is finished, several X-ray images have to be acquired repeatedly by the mobile C-arm to obtain the desired image. Excessive radiation exposure may increase the risk of some complications. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a …

Automated Home Apnea System, Collin G. Howser, Trevor Grieco

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Autoimmune-Mediated Beta-Cell Death & Dysfunction: Potential Role Of Signaling Through The Fas Receptor, Carlie Joelle Frydman

Masters Theses

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is an endocrine disorder that continues to afflict a growing proportion of the U.S. population. Characterized by an autoimmune attack on the pancreatic [beta] cells that leads to their destruction, T1DM develops from absolute insulin deficiency resulting in chronic hyperglycemia. Although the disease requires lifelong insulin therapy and confers enhanced risk for long-term complications, the mechanism of [beta] cell death remains unclear. Fas receptor signaling is critical among cells of hematopoietic origin for its role in immune homeostasis and mediation of target cell death. Fas receptor-ligand interactions might also have a role in [beta] cell …

Immunologic Risk Prediction Model For Kidney Graft Function, Christina Diane Bishop

Doctoral Dissertations

Clinicians lack appropriate non-invasive methods to be able to predict, diagnose, and reduce the risk of rejection in the years following kidney transplantation. Protocol biopsies and monitoring of serum creatinine levels are the most common methods of monitoring graft function after transplant; however, they have several negative aspects. Use of traditional factors regarding donors and recipients such as Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) DNA typing, pre-transplant anti-HLA antibody levels, and basic demographics (age, ethnicity/race, gender), has proved inadequate for post-transplant graft monitoring past the first few years. We propose that by utilizing immunologic factors available to clinicians across the United States, …

Why Is There Still So Much Confusion About Vo2 Plateau? A Re-Examination Of The Work Of A.V. Hill, Richard Vincent Castle

Masters Theses

Maximal oxygen uptake (VO_2max) is regarded as the gold standard for assessing aerobic fitness. In 1923, Hill et al. proposed that VO_2max represents the maximal ability of the body to take in and consume O₂ during strenuous exercise. Recently, however, controversy has arisen over the issue of whether a leveling off, or "plateau" in VO₂ is necessary to verify attainment of VO_2max. Purpose: To compare two different VO_2max protocols and determine if both protocols show direct evidence of an upper limit on VO₂. Methods: Nine runners (18-35 years old) completed …

Development Of An Autonomous Mammalian Lux Reporter System, Daniel Michael Close

Doctoral Dissertations

Since its characterization, the definitive shortcoming of the bacterial luciferase (lux) bioluminescent reporter system has been its inability to express at a functional level in the eukaryotic cellular background. While recent developments have allowed for lux function in the lower eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae, they have not provided for autonomous function in higher eukaryotes capable of serving as human biomedical proxies. Here it is reported for the first time that, through a process of poly-bicistronic expression of human codon-optimized lux genes, it is possible to autonomously produce a bioluminescent signal directly from mammalian cells. The low background of …

Digging Deeper: Quality Of Patient-Provider Communication Across Hispanic Subgroups, Lorraine S. Wallace, Jennifer E. Devoe, Edwin S. Rogers, Joanne Protheroe, Gillian Rowlands, George E. Fryer

Faculty Publications and Other Works -- UT Graduate School of Medicine

Background

Recent research suggests that ethnic subgroup designation plays an important role in health-related disparities among Hispanics. Our objective was to examine the influence of Hispanics' self-reported ethnic subgroup designation on perceptions of their health care providers' communication behaviors.

Methods

Cross-sectional analysis of the 2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Participants included non-institutionalized Hispanics (n = 5197; US population estimate = 27,070,906), aged ≥18 years, reporting visiting a health care provider within the past 12 months. Six (n = 6) items were used to capture respondents' perceptions of their health care providers' communication behaviors.

Results

After controlling for socio-demographic covariates, …