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A Framework For Synthesizing Agent-Based Heterogeneous Population Model For Epidemic Simulation, Madih Sahar

Open Access Theses

Social interactions play an important role in spread of a disease. In this thesis we propose a probabilistic approach to synthesize an agent-based heterogeneous population interaction model to study the spatio-temporal dynamics of an air-born epidemic, such as influenza, in a metropolitan area. The proposed methodology is generic in nature and can generate a baseline population for the cities for which detailed population summary tables are not available. The joint probabilities of population demographics are estimated using the International Public Use Microsimulation Data (IPUMS) sample data set. Based on the population density and the socio-economic status, the population is divided …

Bio-Inspired Mechanism For Aircraft Assessment Under Upset Conditions, Israel A. Moguel

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Based on the artificial immune systems paradigm and a hierarchical multi-self strategy, a set of algorithms for aircraft sub-systems failure detection, identification, evaluation and flight envelope estimation has been developed and implemented. Data from a six degrees-of-freedom flight simulator were used to define a large set of 2-dimensional self/non-self projections as well as for the generation of antibodies and identifiers designated for health assessment of an aircraft under upset conditions. The methodology presented in this paper classifies and quantifies the type and severity of a broad number of aircraft actuators, sensors, engine and structural component failures. In addition, the impact …

Statistical And Prognostic Modeling Of Clinical Outcomes With Complex Physiologic Data, Monica A. Puertas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Laboratory tests are a primary resource for diagnosing patient diseases. However, physicians often make decisions based on a single laboratory result and have a limited perspective of the role of commonly-measured parameters in enhancing the diagnostic process. By providing a dynamic patient profile, the diagnosis could be more accurate and timely, allowing physicians to anticipate changes in the recovery trajectory and intervene more effectively.

The assessment and monitoring of the circulatory system is essential for patients in intensive care units (ICU). One component of this system is the platelet count, which is used in assessing blood clotting. However, platelet counts …

Lead (Pb) Contamination Of Water Drawn From Pitcher Pumps In Eastern Madagascar, David Bradlee Akers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Access to safe water supply--a major determinant of public health--is less than 50% in Madagascar, and access to piped, treated water remains out of reach financially for many in the urban and peri-urban areas where available. The Self-supply option of the Pitcher Pump has been meeting the need for household water in coastal areas of Madagascar since the early 1960s and has proven a sustainable option for many. These pumps make use of leaded components in the construction, however, which may pose a health risk for heavy metal intoxication and therefore cause the water to be unsafe for drinking and …

Antiviral Resistance And Dynamic Treatment And Chemoprophylaxis Of Pandemic Influenza, Sandro Paz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Public health data show the tremendous economic and societal impact of pandemic influenza in the past. Currently, the welfare of society is threatened by the lack of planning to ensure an adequate response to a pandemic. This preparation is difficult because the characteristics of the virus that would cause the pandemic are unknown, but primarily because the response requires tools to support decision-making based on scientific methods. The response to the next pandemic influenza will likely include extensive use of antiviral drugs, which will create an unprecedented selective pressure for the emergence of antiviral resistant strains. Nevertheless, the literature has …

Combined Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence-Surface Acoustic Wave (Mef-Saw) Biosensor, Samuel Morrill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Immunofluorescence assays are capable of both detecting the amount of a protein and the location of the protein within a cell or tissue section. Unfortunately, the traditional technique is not capable of detecting concentrations on the nanoscale. Also, the technique suffers from non-specific attachment, which can cause false-positives, as well as photobleaching when detecting lower concentrations is attempted. There is also a time constraint problem since the technique can take from many hours to a few days in some cases.

In this work, metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) is used to lower the detection limit and reduce photobleaching. Unfortunately, MEF also increases …

Performance Analysis And Scheduling Strategies For Ambulatory Surgical Facilities, Xuanqi Zhang

Dissertations

Ambulatory surgery is a procedure that does not require an overnight hospital stay and is cost effective and efficient. The goal of this research is to develop an ASF operational model which allows management to make key decisions. This research develops and utilizes the simulation software ARENA based model to accommodate: (a) Time related uncertainties – Three system uncertainties characterize the problem (ii) Surgery time variance (ii) Physician arrival delay and (iii) Patient arrival delay; (b) Resource Capture Complexities – Patient flows vary significantly and capture/utilize both staffing and/or physical resources at different points and varying levels; and (c) Processing …

A Progress Report On The Ultrasound Enhancement Of Antibiotic Action On Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Michael Le Bras, Dr. William G. Pitt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Previous studies show that using antibiotic treatment together with ultrasound enhances the bactericidal effect of antibiotics on many bacterial species (6). The purpose of this research project is to apply these techniques to Streptococcus pneumoniae and the antibiotics ampicillin and gentamicin sulfate. The effectiveness of ampicillin and gentamicin sulfate coupled with the application of ultrasound on S. pneumoniae is the focus of this study.

Development And Application Of Biomimetic Electrospun Nanofibers In Total Joint Replacement, Wei Song

Wayne State University Dissertations

Failure of osseointegration (direct anchorage of an implant by bone formation at the bone-implant surface) and implant infection (such as that caused by Staphylococcus aureus, S. aureus) are the two main causes of implant failure and loosening. There is a critical need for orthopedic implants that promote rapid osseointegration and prevent bacterial colonization, particularly when placed in bone compromised by disease or physiology of the patients. A better understanding of the key factors that influence cell fate decisions at the bone-implant interface is required. Our study is to develop a class of "bone-like" nanofibers (NFs) that promote osseointegration while preventing …

Fate Of Antimicrobials And Antimicrobial Resistance Genes In Simulated Swine Manure Storage, Stacey R. Joy, Xu Li, Daniel D. Snow, John Gilley, Bryan L. Woodbury, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The behavior of three antibiotics (bacitracin, chlortetracycline, and tylosin) and two classes of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), tet and erm, were monitored in swine manure slurry under anaerobic conditions. First-order decay rates were determined for each antibiotic with half-lives ranging from1 day (chlortetracycline) to 10 days (tylosin). ARGs were monitored in the swine manure slurry, and losses of approximately 1 to 3 orders of magnitude in relative abundance were observed during the 40 day storage period. First-order degradation profiles were observed for chlortetracycline and its corresponding resistance genes, tet(X) and tet(Q). Tylosin was degraded to approximately 10% …

Lean Fire Management: A Focused Analysis Of The Incident Command System Based On Toyota Production System Principles, Jeremiah S. Fugate

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

A primary role of the Incident Command System is to learn from past incidents, as illustrated by its origins in the wildland firefighting community. Successful emergency response operations under the Incident Command System has prompted its nationwide spread, this promulgation critically relies on the system’s capability to stabilize and continuously improve various aspects of emergency response through effective organizational learning. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential to apply fundamental principles of the Toyota Production System (Lean manufacturing) to improve learning effectiveness within the Incident Command System. An in-depth review of literature and training documents regarding both …

Virus Purification, Detection And Removal, Khrupa Saagar Vijayaragavan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The biopharmaceutical industry has a growing demand and an increasing need to improve the current virus purification technologies, especially as more and more vaccines are produced from cell-culture derived virus particles. Downstream purification strategies can be expensive and account for 70% of the overall manufacturing costs. The economic pressure and purification processes can be particularly challenging when the virus to be purified is small, as in our model virus, porcine parvovirus (PPV). Our efforts are focused on designing an easy, economical, scalable and efficient system for virus purification, and we focused on aqueous two-phase systems. Industry acceptable standards for virus …

Design And Synthesis Of Multifunctional Polymeric Micelles For Gene-Directed Enzyme Prodrug Therapy, Alicia J. Sawdon

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy is a form of cancer therapy in which delivery of a gene that encodes an enzyme is able to convert a prodrug, a pharmacologically inactive molecule, into a potent cytotoxin. Currently delivery of gene and prodrug is a two-step process. Here, we propose a one-step method using polymer nanocarriers to deliver prodrug, gene and cytotoxic drug simultaneously to malignant cells. Prodrugs acyclovir, ganciclovir and 5-doxifluridine were used to directly to initiate ring-opening polymerization of epsilon-caprolactone, forming a hydrophobic prodrug-tagged poly(epsilon-caprolactone) which was further grafted with hydrophilic polymers (methoxy poly(ethylene glycol), chitosan or polyethylenemine) to form amphiphilic …

Dual Delivery Systems Based On Polyamine Analog Benspm As Prodrug And Gene Delivery Vectors, Yu Zhu

Wayne State University Dissertations

Combination drug and gene therapy shows promise in cancer treatment. However, the success of such strategy requires careful selection of the therapeutic agents, as well as development of efficient delivery vectors. BENSpm (N1, N11-bisethylnorspermine), a polyamine analogue targeting the intracellular polyamine pathway, draws our special attention because of the following reasons: (1) polyamine pathway is frequently dysregulated in cancer; (2) BENSpm exhibits multiple functions to interfere with the polyamine pathway, such as to up-regulate polyamine metabolism enzymes and down-regulate polyamine biosynthesis enzymes. Therefore BENSpm depletes all natural polyamines and leads to apoptosis and cell growth inhibition in a wide range …

Purification And Effectiveness Of Vaccines And Antiviral Compounds, Maria F. Gencoglu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Viral infections account for over 13 million deaths per year. Antiviral drugs and vaccines are the most effective method to treat viral diseases. Antiviral compounds have revolutionized the treatment of AIDS, and reduced the mortality rate. However, this disease still causes a large number of deaths in developing countries that lack these types of drugs. Vaccination is the most effective method to treat viral disease; vaccines prevent around 2.5 million deaths per year. Vaccines are not able to offer full coverage due to high operational costs in the manufacturing processes. Although vaccines have saved millions of lives, conventional vaccines often …

2013-2014 Che Newsletter, Department Of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University

Department of Chemical Engineering Newsletters

Table of Contents

• Department
• Research
• Student News
• Faculty News
• Alumni & Friends

Numerical Prediction Of Collection Efficiency Of A Personal Sampler Based On Cyclone Principle, Antara Badhan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A personal bioaerosol sampler is a self-contained, operation flexible, high-efficient device for indoor air quality (IAQ) and health risk exposure monitoring and measurement. Bio-aerosols such germ-laden viruses, microbial species, airborne microorganisms and volatile organic compounds (VOC) are sucked into the sampler and are deposited on the inner wall surface based on cyclone principal. The major concern with bio-aerosol samplers is the collection efficiency. In this study, we used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools to evaluate key design parameters, specifically the inlet tube angle and collection tube inner wall roughness. 3D incompressible turbulent flow was simulated using commercial software ANSYS FLUENT. …

Scitech Book News Reviews, Susan Fingerman

Sci-Tech News

No abstract provided.

Functional 3-D Cellulose & Nitrocellulose Paper-Based, Multiplex Diagnostic Platforms Without Coupling Agents, Mackenzie Elizabeth Tageson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to demonstrate device functionality of 3-D paper-based, multiplex platforms, µPADs, without the use of coupling agents between layers. Previously, these platforms were fabricated with double-sided tape and cellulose powder to try to augment proper fluid routing, but difficulties with this method occurred. An acrylic housing unit with strategically placed pressure tabs was designed to aid horizontal and vertical fluid routing through the platform, thus eliminating the inconsistencies associated with coupling agents. Channel characterization studies, a COMSOL^TM simulation, and development time studies were performed to aid device design and demonstrate device functionality.

The implementation …

Development And Evaluation Of Chitosan Particle Based Antigen Delivery Systems For Enhanced Antigen Specific Immune Response, Bhanuprasanth Koppolu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Particle-based vaccine delivery systems are under exploration to enhance antigen-specific immunity against safe but poorly immunogenic polypeptide antigens. Chitosan is a promising biomaterial for antigen encapsulation and delivery due to its ability to form nano- and microparticles in mild aqueous conditions thus preserving the antigenicity of loaded polypeptides. The objective of this work is to develop a chitosan particle based antigen delivery system for enhanced vaccine response. Chitosan particle sizes, which ranged from 300 nm to 3 ìm, were influenced by chitosan concentration, chitosan molecular weight and addition rate of precipitant salt. The composition of precipitant salt played a significant …

Research: South Dakota State University, Winter 2013, Christie Delfanian, Matt Landwehr

State of Discovery South Dakota State University's Research Magazine

CONTENTS:

South Dakota expertise integral part of Landsat [Page] 1
West Nile: Researchers help public health officials combat West Nile virus [page] 2
Health care: arteries, corticosteroids, concussions, and preemies [Page] 4
Oilseeds [Page] 6
Undergraduate Research [Page] 8
Organ donation key to helping Native Americans on dialysis [Page] 10
Researchers meet challenge of increased competition: 2012 measurements [Page] 11

Social Media For Supply Chain Risk Management, Xiuju Fu, Rick S. M. Goh, J. C. Tong, Loganathan Ponnanbalam, Xiaofeng Yin, Zhaoxia Wang, H. Y. Xu, Sifei Lu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With the rapid increase of online social network users worldwide, social media feeds have become a rich and valuable information resource and attract great attention across diversified domains. In social media data, there are abundant contents of two-way and interactive communication about products, demand, customer services and supply. This makes social media a valuable channel for listening to the voices from the market and measuring supply chain risks and new market trends for companies. In this study, we surveyed the potential value of social media in supply chain risk management (SCRM) and examined how they can be applied to SCRM …

Impacts Of Climate Change On Water Resources And Corresponding Adaptation Strategies Of The Nam Ngum River Basin, Laos, Dumindu Lasitha Jayasekera

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Nam Ngum River Basin (NNRB) in Laos has received attention of foreign investors due to high hydropower development potential and low per capita electricity consumption. The NNRB is rapidly developing due to its hydropower generation potentials while water demands will increase for agricultural and domestic purposes due to population increase and land-use changes. Water availability conditions will be affected with the increasing water demand and climate change may worsen the water availability conditions. Climate is often defined as the weather averaged over time whereas weather describes atmospheric conditions at a particular place and time in terms of air temperature, …

Averting Hiv Infections In New York City: A Modeling Approach Estimating The Future Impact Of Additional Behavioral And Biomedical Hiv Prevention Strategies, Jason Kessler, Julie E. Myers, Kimberly A. Nucifora, Nana Mensah, Alexis Kowalski, Monica Sweeney, Christopher Toohey, Amin Khademi, Colin Shepard, Blayne Cutler, R. Scott Braithwaite

Publications

Background: New York City (NYC) remains an epicenter of the HIV epidemic in the United States. Given the variety of evidence-based HIV prevention strategies available and the significant resources required to implement each of them, comparative studies are needed to identify how to maximize the number of HIV cases prevented most economically.

Methods: A new model of HIV disease transmission was developed integrating information from a previously validated micro-simulation HIV disease progression model. Specification and parameterization of the model and its inputs, including the intervention portfolio, intervention effects and costs were conducted through a collaborative process between the academic modeling …

Semi-Automated Curation Of Metabolic Models Via Flux Balance Analysis: A Case Study With Mycoplasma Gallisepticum, Eddy J. Bautista, Joseph Zinski, Steven M. Szczepanek, Erik L. Johnson, Edan R. Tulman, Steven J. Geary, Ranjan Srivastava

Open Access Author Fund Awardees' Articles

Primarily used for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, genome-scale metabolic modeling shows tremendous potential as a tool for fundamental research and curation of metabolism. Through a novel integration of flux balance analysis and genetic algorithms, a strategy to curate metabolic networks and facilitate identification of metabolic pathways that may not be directly inferable solely from genome annotation was developed. Specifically, metabolites involved in unknown reactions can be determined, and potentially erroneous pathways can be identified. The procedure developed allows for new fundamental insight into metabolism, as well as acting as a semi-automated curation methodology for genome-scale metabolic modeling. To validate …

The Design And Fabrication Of An Electrostatically Actuated Diaphragm With A Silicon-On-Insulator Wafer, Elizabeth L. Brooks

Master's Theses

Electrostatically actuated silicon membranes were designed, modeled, fabricated, and characterized. The intended application was for use in a microspeaker. Fabrication issues necessitated the use of thick diaphragms with a large gap between the electrodes. The devices did not function as speakers but did show actuation with a high DC voltage. Device dimensions were chosen by examining membrane mechanics, testing the processing steps required for device fabrication, and modeling with COMSOL. Several adhesives were researched to fabricate the device sidewalls, including BCB, PMMA, and TRA-Bond F112. A method for patterning PMMA through photolithography was found using a scanning electron microscope. Masks …

Flight Physician - August, 2013, Civil Aviation Medical Association

Browse all Civil Aviation Medical Association Newsletters

A seventeen page newsletter of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. The newsletter provided news about civil aviation medicine and information related to the organization.

Controlling Bacterial Persister Cells And Biofilms By Synthetic Brominated Furanones, Jiachuan Pan

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering - Dissertations

Bacteria are well known to obtain tolerance to antibiotics by forming multicellular structures, known as biofilms, and by entering dormancy and forming persister cells. Both mechanisms allow bacteria to tolerate antibiotics at concentrations hundreds to thousands of times higher than the lethal dose for regular planktonic cells of the same genotype. Persister formation increases in biofilms; thus, effective control of persister cells, especially those in biofilms is critically important to infection control. Over the past decades, a bacterial signaling system based on cell density, named quorum sensing (QS), has been found to regulate biofilm formation and, in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Radio-Frequency Sensors For Liquid Material Detection, Yuxi He

All Theses

This thesis presents a series of studies on fabrication and characterization of radio-frequency (RF) sensors. In the light of Electromagnetics and Transmission Line Theory, we designed multiple RF sensors with different detection capability emphasis and used them to detect various materials, especially liquid samples and materials in solutions such as dielectric thin films, confined liquids, red blood cells, and malarial pigments (hemozoin). Most sensors were fabricated under clean room environment following the standard process protocols. Proper process developments were also made to achieve special structures and functionalities of our novel sensors. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) …

Hybrid Nanostructured Textile Bioelectrode For Unobtrusive Health Monitoring, Pratyush Rai

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coronary heart disease, cardiovascular diseases and strokes are the leading causes of mortality in United States of America. Timely point-of-care health diagnostics and therapeutics for person suffering from these diseases can save thousands of lives. However, lack of accessible minimally intrusive health monitoring systems makes timely diagnosis difficult and sometimes impossible. To remedy this problem, a textile based nano-bio-sensor was developed and evaluated in this research. The sensor was made of novel array of vertically standing nanostructures that are conductive nano-fibers projecting from a conductive fabric. These sensor electrodes were tested for the quality of electrical contact that they made …