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Simulation Modeling Of A Photovoltaic-Green Roof System For Energy Cost Reduction Of A Building: Texas Case Study, Sojung Kim, Burchan Aydin, Sumin Kim

Faculty Publications

This study aims at introducing a modeling and simulation approach for a green roof system which can reduce energy cost of a building exposed to high temperatures throughout the summer season. First, to understand thermal impact of a green roof system on a building surface, a field-based study has been conducted in Commerce, Texas, U.S., where the average maximum temperature in summer is 104 F (40 C). Two types of analyses were conducted: (1) comparison of temperature between different plant type via Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and (2) polynomial regression analysis to develop thermal impact estimation model based on air …

Stochastic Programming And Agent-Based Simulation Approaches For Epidemics Control And Logistics Planning, Xuecheng Yin

Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the resource allocation challenges of fighting against infectious disease outbreaks. The goal of this dissertation is to formulate multi-stage stochastic programming and agent-based models to address the limitations of former literature in optimizing resource allocation for preventing and controlling epidemics and pandemics. In the first study, a multi-stage stochastic programming compartmental model is presented to integrate the uncertain disease progression and the logistics of resource allocation to control a highly contagious infectious disease. The proposed multi-stage stochastic program, which involves various disease growth scenarios, optimizes the distribution of treatment centers and resources while minimizing the total expected …

Patient Transport In The Time Of Covid-19: Using Health Care Failure Mode And Effect Analysis With Simulation To Test And Modify A Protocol, John Kwock, Jeffrey Holmes, Shelly Chipman, Erin Siebers, Angela Berry, Sonja Orff, Victoria Boutin, Leah Mallory

Journal of Maine Medical Center

Introduction: In March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an interprofessional, interdisciplinary team at Maine Medical Center used Healthcare Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (HFMEA) and in situ simulation to rapidly identify and mitigate latent safety threats (LST) in patient transport protocols.

Methods: Following HFMEA steps, stakeholders representing a variety of disciplines assembled to address transport of patients with COVID-19. A process map was created to describe the process. With hazard analysis using table-top simulation followed by in situ simulation, we identified, categorized, and scored LSTs. Mitigation strategies were identified during structured debriefing.

Results: Fourteen LSTs were identified in …

Alcohol As A Catalyst For Hiv-Associated Neuroinflammation And Tbi-Induced Iron Toxicity, Agnieszka Agas

Dissertations

Alcohol has long been considered an exacerbator of diseases, disorders, and injuries as well as many of the accompanying symptoms. As an alternative approach, this dissertation explores alcohol as a catalyst for two different human disease conditions, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-associated neuroinflammation and traumatic brain injury (TBI)-induced iron toxicity. In HIV-1 infection, this dissertation presents a novel anti-viral drug, called Drug-S, for a possible inhibition and treatment of HIV-1 disease progression.

The first aim explores the influence of alcohol with HIV-associated neuroinflammation on macrophage migration across an in vitro model of the blood brain barrier. There is a gap in …

No Ordinary Proteins: Adsorption And Molecular Orientation Of Monoclonal Antibodies, Ankit D. Kanthe, Andrew Ilott, Mary Krause, Songyan Zheng, Jinjiang Li, Wei Bu, Mrinal K. Bera, Binhua Lin, Charles Maldarelli, Raymond S. Tu

Publications and Research

The interaction of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) with air/water interfaces plays a crucial role in their overall stability in solution. We aim to understand this behavior using pendant bubble measurements to track the dynamic tension reduction and x-ray reflectivity to obtain the electron density profiles (EDPs) at the surface. Native immunoglobulin G mAb is a rigid molecule with a flat, “Y” shape, and simulated EDPs are obtained by rotating a homology construct at the surface. Comparing simulations with experimental EDPs, we obtain surface orientation probability maps showing mAbs transition from flat-on Y-shape configurations to side-on or end-on configurations with increasing concentration. …

Great (Soft) Power Competition: Us And Chinese Efforts In Global Health Engagement, Michael W. Wissemann

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Global health engagement, an underutilized strategy rooted in the strengths of soft power persuasion, can lead to more military-to-military cooperation training, help establish relationships that can be relied on when crises develop, stabilize fragile states, and deny violent extremist organizations space for recruiting and operations. Examining Chinese efforts worldwide to curry favor and influence and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this article shows health as a medium is a very compelling and advantageous whole-of-government approach to national security policy concerns.

Electrochemical Micro-Aptasensors For Exosome Detection Based On Hybridization Chain Reaction Amplification, Wenfen Zhang, Zhenhua Tian, Shujie Yang, Joseph Rich, Shuaiguo Zhao, Mikael Klingeborn, Po-Hsun Huang, Zhishang Li, Alexander Stout, Quinn Murphy, Edward Patz, Shusheng Zhang, Guozhen Liu, Tony Jun Huang

Faculty Publications

Exosomes are cell-derived nanovesicles that have recently gained popularity as potential biomarkers in liquid biopsies due to the large amounts of molecular cargo they carry, such as nucleic acids and proteins. However, most existing exosome-based analytical sensing methods struggle to achieve high sensitivity and high selectivity simultaneously. In this work, we present an electrochemical micro-aptasensor for the highly sensitive detection of exosomes by integrating a micropatterned electrochemical aptasensor and a hybridization chain reaction (HCR) signal amplification method. Specifically, exosomes are enriched on CD63 aptamer-functionalized electrodes and then recognized by HCR products with avidin-horseradish peroxidase (HRP) attached using EpCAM aptamers as …

Small Hall Effect Thruster With 3d Printed Discharge Channel: Design And Thrust Measurements, Ethan P. Hopping, Wensheng Huang, Kunning G. Xu

PRC-Affiliated Research

Citation: Hopping, E.P.; Huang, W.; Xu, K.G. Small Hall Effect Thruster with 3D Printed Discharge Channel: Design and Thrust Measurements. Aerospace 2021, 8, 227. https:// Abstract: This paper presents the design and performance of the UAH-78AM, a low-power small Hall effect thruster. The goal of this work is to assess the feasibility of using low-cost 3D printing to create functioning Hall thrusters, and study how 3D printing can expand the design space. The thruster features a 3D printed discharge channel with embedded propellant distributor. Multiple materials were tested including ABS, ULTEM, and glazed ceramic. Thrust measurements were obtained at the …

Small Hall Effect Thruster With 3d Printed Discharge Channel: Design And Thrust Measurements, Ethan P. Hopping, Wensheng Huang, Kunning G. Xu

PRC-Affiliated Research

Citation: Hopping, E.P.; Huang, W.; Xu, K.G. Small Hall Effect Thruster with 3D Printed Discharge Channel: Design and Thrust Measurements. Aerospace 2021, 8, 227. https:// Abstract: This paper presents the design and performance of the UAH-78AM, a low-power small Hall effect thruster. The goal of this work is to assess the feasibility of using low-cost 3D printing to create functioning Hall thrusters, and study how 3D printing can expand the design space. The thruster features a 3D printed discharge channel with embedded propellant distributor. Multiple materials were tested including ABS, ULTEM, and glazed ceramic. Thrust measurements were obtained at the …

Designing Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Systems For Improved Biocatalysis And On-Demand, Cost-Effective Biosensors, Mehran Soltani Najafabadi

Theses and Dissertations

The open nature of Cell-Free Protein Synthesis (CFPS) systems has enabled flexible design, easy manipulation, and novel applications of protein engineering in therapeutic production, biocatalysis, and biosensors. This dissertation reports on three advances in the application of CFPS systems for 1) improving biocatalysis performance in industrial applications by site-specific covalent enzyme immobilization, 2) expressing and optimizing a difficult to express a mammalian protein in bacterial-based CFPS systems and its application for cost-effective, on-demand biosensors compatible with human body fluids, and 3) streamlining the procedure of an E. coli extract with built-in compatibility with human body fluid biosensors. Site-specific covalent immobilization …

Innovative Computational Methods For Pharmaceutical Problem Solving A Review Part Ii: Serious Gaming, Heather R. Campbell, Robert A. Lodder

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Serious gaming has begun to take a foothold in pharmaceutical problem-solving. Companies such as Akili's Interactive are seeing success in the form of positive clinical trial results and FDA approval of digital therapeutics. Academic researchers have begun exploring novel uses for serious gaming in the way of protein design and more with promising results. This paper provides a review of such topics in addition to topics of game repurposing- repurposing a game originally intended for entertainment into a serious game-such as Minecraft and America's Army. Reviewing these topics this paper shows the utility of serious gaming as a tool for …

Background Flow Influence On Impulsive Jet-Driven Micro Droplet Dispersal, Vaishak Thiruvenkitam

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Accurately predicting the airborne spread of infectious diseases is crucial in controlling the COVID­19 pandemic today. Studies have shown the spread of expiratory droplets depends on ambient thermodynamic conditions and flow properties of the jet emitted by the activity. However, the droplet spread in conditions of background flow is not yet comprehensively understood. This study uses the Eulerian­-Lagrangian model with k−ω turbulence modelling to simulate spread of particles and study the factors affecting it in a closed environment with a background flow. Respiratory activities are modeled as a non-­isothermal jet of air with droplets suspended in them in a predetermined …

Single-Particle Characterization Of Sars-Cov-2 Isoelectric Point And Comparison To Variants Of Interest, Oluwatoyin Areo, Pratik U. Joshi, Mark Obrenovich, Moncef Tayahi, Caryn L. Heldt

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, is a new, highly pathogenic coronavirus, which is the third coronavirus to emerge in the past 2 decades and the first to become a global pandemic. The virus has demonstrated itself to be extremely transmissible and deadly. Recent data suggest that a targeted approach is key to mitigating infectivity. Due to the proliferation of cataloged protein and nucleic acid sequences in databases, the function of the nucleic acid, and genetic encoded proteins, we make predictions by simply aligning sequences and exploring their homology. Thus, similar amino acid sequences in a protein usually confer similar biochemical …

Metabolic Modeling And Omics-Integrative Analysis Of Single And Multi-Organism Systems: Discovery And Redesign, Mohammad Mazharul Islam

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Computations and modeling have emerged as indispensable tools that drive the process of understanding, discovery, and redesign of biological systems. With the accelerating pace of genome sequencing and annotation information generation, the development of computational pipelines for the rapid reconstruction of high-quality genome-scale metabolic networks has received significant attention. These models provide a rich tapestry for computational tools to quantitatively assess the metabolic phenotypes for various systems-level studies and to develop engineering interventions at the DNA, RNA, or enzymatic level by careful tuning in the biophysical modeling frameworks. in silico genome-scale metabolic modeling algorithms based on the concept of optimization, …

Transmission Process Prediction Of Novel Coronavirus Based On System Dynamics, Xuepeng Lu, Shang Jiao, Junhui Zhao, Lulu Lü, Zhou Li

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The transmission characteristics of novel coronavirus is considered and a new SE4IR2 model based on the principle of system dynamics is proposed. The US epidemic data from June to November is used to set the isolation rate and other parameters, and the SE4IR2 model is used to fit, analyze and predict the development of the epidemic trend in the next stage. The empirical part uses the data from June to November in the United States to achieve the parameters of the SE4IR2 model, obtains the parameter values in December and January through the time series prediction model, and compares …

An Improved Earned Value Management Method Integrating Quality And Safety, Brian Briggs

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The construction industry invests significant time and money to improve quality and safety while reducing cost and schedule impacts. The industry has a sincere desire to improve construction project management methods to improve efficiency. Historically, quality and safety underperformances result from undermanaged quality control and safety activities. The cost and schedule impacts associated with poor quality work have always had an impact on construction operations. The unprecedented challenges and uncertainties of COVID-19 highlighted the need to improve the Earned Value Management (EVM) method within construction to reflect these quality and safety activities. The central goal of this dissertation is to …

Development Of Computational Antibiotic Screening Platform Across Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins, Yinghui Dai

Dissertations - ALL

Antibiotics are medicines used to treat bacterial infections by either killing bacteria or stopping them from reproducing. Throughout the use of antibiotics, bacteria has developed a variety of defense mechanisms against antibiotics and thus diminishing their effectiveness. Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat and becomes a global crisis as it is able to constantly evolve and rapidly spread. In the face of increasing bacterial resistance to all known antibiotics, there is an urgent need to accelerate the antibiotic discovery pipeline and discover new classes of antibiotics. A major bottleneck in the discovery of novel antibiotics is the limited permeability of …

Optimization Of Vaccine Supply Chains In Low- And Middle-Income Countries Utilizing Drones, Maximilian Kolter

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite tremendous efforts from governments and humanitarian organizations, millions of children in low- and low-middle-income countries (LICs and LMICs) are still excluded from the benefits of immunization. The vaccine distribution in LICs and LMICs is challenging for several reasons, such as limited cold chain capacities, vaccine wastage, uncertain demand, and lack of access to immunization services. A promising avenue to address these issues is the utilization of drones for vaccine delivery. Drones can fly at high speed on direct paths and could enable on-demand deliveries to mitigate limited storage capacities. Further, their independence of road networks could allow them reaching …

Regulation Of Inflammatory Processes By Tryptamine, Cannabidiol And 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin, Nicholas Dopkins

Theses and Dissertations

Host immunity is a complicated system of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory processes that respond to exogenous and endogenous threats to regulate host physiology, inhibit carcinogenesis, and protect from infections. Sustained deviance from normal immunological function occurs due to a variety of factors both endogenous and exogenous, with some factors that can dysregulate host immunity including: genetics, microbiota composition, toxin exposure, age, gender, and smoking. The etiology of inflammatory disorders is both convoluted and complex due to the sheer number of facets regulating host immunity. To better contribute to understanding how immunological dysregulation occurs we focused on how three anti-inflammatory compounds (tryptamine, …

A Portable Point-Of-Care Device Using Joule Heating And Latent Energy Storage For The Temperature Regulation Of Isothermal Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests, Aubrey Lynn Schultz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Accurate and early diagnosis of infectious diseases extremely important. Rapid diagnosis allows for effective treatment and increases the chance for recovery without complications. Additionally, the ability to test the populace frequently, swiftly, and affordably significantly aids in containing wide-scale outbreaks. In terms of specificity and sensitivity, nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) are one of the best options for diagnosing infectious diseases. Isothermal NAATS present a unique opportunity to create diagnostic tests deployed at a Point-of-Care (POC) level. Specifically, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) have the potential to deliver reliable POC diagnostics in low-resource settings. When designing …

The Impact Of Nanopulse Treatment On The Tumor Microenvironment In Breast Cancer: Overturning The Treg Immunosuppressive Dominance, Anthony Nanajian

Biomedical Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Nanopulse treatment (NPT) is a high-power electric engineering modality that has been shown to be an effective local tumor treatment approach in multiple cancer models. Our previous studies on the orthotopic 4T1-luc breast cancer model demonstrated that NPT ablated local tumors. The treatment consequently conferred protection against a second live tumor challenge and minimized spontaneous metastasis. This study aims to understand how NPT mounts a potent immune response in a predominantly immunosuppressive tumor.

NPT changed the local and systemic dynamics of immunosuppressive cells by significantly reducing the numbers of regulatory T cells (Tregs), myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), and tumor-associated macrophages …

Amazon Robotic Service (Ars), Patil Girija, John Mareena, Jin Fenny, Kandula Swapna, Ketsaraporn Kaewkhiaolueang

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Warehouse robots are the most effective replacement to minimize the pressure and availability of manual labor. The warehouse robots are mainly used for heavy lifting, picking up packages, transporting, and other tasks in the facility. The growing market of Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and machine learning in the warehouse industry is forecasted to grow in the robots market in the near future. In order to build the final product i.e technology roadmap our team did market research, analysed competitors for the company, identified target customers, analyzed market, product and pricing strategy and at the end came up with the …

Changes In Air-Quality In Milwaukee, Wi Due The Covid-19 Lockdown, Nathan Hay

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Shortly after COVID-19 started spreading across the country, Wisconsin instituted their shutdown on March 23rd, 2020. With large swaths of the population forced to stay at home, this presented a unique case study to evaluate the effects of reduced traffic volumes on vehicle related emissions. To do so, this study measured air quality on a 40-mile route within Milwaukee County on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 4 to 6 PM from the beginning of April until the end of August. Mobile sensors – a Sniffer 4D and micro aethalometer – were attached to a car and collected particulate matter (1.0-10 μm), …

Metal Oxide Sensor Array Test Bed Prototype For Diagnostic Breath Analysis, Tiffany C. Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Detection of specific target biomarkers is a critical step for electronic nose technologies in breath analysis. Electronic nose technologies have been successfully demonstrated in the air quality, meat processing, and the citrus industries, as well as cancer clinical trials. The novel design, assembly, and implementation of a test bed prototype of an electronic nose system is introduced in this Dissertation. To verify the feasibility of a test bed prototype design, a Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) breath simulation mixture of alcohol, acetone, and carbon monoxide was presented to the test bed prototype in the laboratory. The COVID-19 breath simulation mixture …

Flow Visualization And Aerosol Characterization Of Respiratory Jets Exhaled From A Mannequin Simulator, Sindhu Reddy Mutra

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is important to understand the airborne transmission of infectious diseases due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Physical experiments were conducted to understand the dispersion of aerosols emitted from a mannequin simulator replicating human tidal breathing through the nose and mouth with and without a protective face mask in an enclosed space. Flow patterns are observed via high-speed visualization, and the concentration and size distribution of the particles is measured as a function of distance from the mannequin using an optical particle sizer. Masks were shown to effectively reduce the horizontal dispersion of aerosol for both mouth and nose breathing. Further, …

Transparent Planar Micro-Electrode Array For In-Vitro Electric Field Mediated Gene Delivery, Raj Himatlal Shah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gene delivery is the process of delivering the modified gene into the human cell. There are two types of gene delivery depending on where the target cells are. The in-vivo gene delivery deals with delivering the altered genes into the cells while still in the host body. While another approach is to extract the cells from the host body, transfer the modified gene into cells and then put these cells back into the host body, this approach is called the ex-vivo method.

A vector is a carrier that carries the modified gene to the host cell or body. Hence, depending …

Solar Disinfection Of Turbid Hygiene Waters In Lexington, Ky, Usa, Atena Amirsoleimani, Gail M. Brion

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

Solar disinfection (SODIS) could be a key to providing a clean, hygiene water for birthing uses, but the recommended climate zone is limited, the microbial indicators are related to gastrointestinal illness and not wound infections. SODIS feasibility was investigated to remove Escherichia coli from turbid water at temperatures less than 50 °C in Lexington, KY. Increasing turbidity from 0 to 200 NTU decreased E. coli inactivation from 5 to 1 log. With the same experimental protocol, more than 4-log inactivation of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis (common human-skin microorganisms related to serious post-partum infections of both mother and child) was …

Personalized Digital Phenotype Score, Healthcare Management And Intervention Strategies Using Knowledge Enabled Digital Health Framework For Pediatric Asthma, Utkarshani Jaimini, Amit Sheth

Publications

Asthma is a personalized, and multi-trigger respiratory condition which requires continuous monitoring and management of symptoms and medication adherence. We developed kHealth: Knowledge-enabled Digital Healthcare Framework to monitor and manage the asthma symptoms, medication adherence, lung function, daily activity, sleep quality, indoor, and outdoor environmental triggers of pediatric asthma patients. The kHealth framework collects up to 1852 data points per patient per day. It is practically impossible for the clinicians, parents, and the patient to analyze this vast amount of multimodal data collected from the kHealth framework. In this chapter, we describe the personalized scores, clinically relevant asthma categorization using …

Health Risk Assessment Of Local Populations Ingesting Water With Naturally Occurring Arsenic And Fecal Related Contaminants In Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, Marisol Alvarez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala acts as a sink for wastewater discharge and as a source of drinking water. The populations living in the lake basin are primarily indigenous with a large percentage (70%) living in poverty. Wastewater effluent entering the lake poses an immediate health risk to those using it as a drinking-water source. Additionally, the lake is surrounded by three volcanoes and the water has concentrations of naturally occurring arsenic above the recommended reference level of 10 µg/L. Arsenic is acutely poisonous at high concentrations and has carcinogenic and neurological effects when chronically exposed at low concentrations.

The goal of …

Modeling The Effect Of Igg Subclasses And Specificity In The Translocation Of Monoclonal Antibodies Across The Placental Barrier, Sayuri Tais Miyamoto Magnabosco

ENGS 88 Honors Thesis (AB Students)

Infections are responsible for over half a million neonatal deaths every year (Lawn et al., 2014). Thus, there is huge interest in leveraging maternal immunization against infectious diseases to grant fetal protection during its development through the vertical transferring of IgG antibodies, the only Ig subclass that can significantly cross the placental barrier. Studies about vertical immunization rely on in-vitro models to extrapolate physiological conditions of the human placenta. The BeWo Transwell model (Bode et al., 2006) presents itself as a reliable model to mimic the transplacental transport mechanism of antibodies (Ellinger et al., 1999; Poulsen et al., 2009) …