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The Root Causes Of Errant Ordered Radiology Exams, Benjamin Duman

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine why there was a high number of errant radiology orders from requesting physicians at ATA Hospital. As the researcher, I wanted to clearly define errant orders, determine the root causes of errant orders, and further, make recommendations that would help diminish current as well as future order errors. This study answers three research questions: RQ1. Exactly what are the performance problems associated with errant orders within ATA Hospital’s radiology department that warrant further research? RQ2. What causes the increase in errant radiological orders at ATA Hospital? And, RQ3. What types of performance …

Compact Trench-Based Silicon-On-Insulator Rib Waveguide Ring Resonator With Large Free Spectral Range, Seunghyun Kim, Gregory P. Nordin, Weisheng Hu, Yusheng Qian, Jiguo Song, Gregory L. Wojcik

Faculty Publications

We demonstrate a compact trench-based silicon-on-insulator (SOI) rib waveguide ring resonator comprised of trench-based bends and splitters. It has a perimeter of 50 μm and occupies an area of only 25×25 μm. The measured free spectral range (FSR) is 13.2 nm, which the largest reported for an SOI rib waveguide ring resonator. The measured FSR, full width at half maximum, and quality factor match reasonably well with analytical calculations. Further calculation shows that a FSR of 50.8 nm is achievable for an SOI rib waveguide ring resonator with a perimeter of 15 μm.

Responses To “Comment On ‘Response To Plevin: Implications For Life Cycle Emissions Regulations’” And “Assessing Corn Ethanol: Relevance And Responsibility”, Adam Liska, Kenneth Cassman

Adam Liska Papers

This letter responds to two issues concerning the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity of corn-ethanol that were raised in discussions of our response (Liska and Cassman 2009) to Plevin’s article (2009), which critiques our original research (Liska et al. 2009) published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology. ... The suggestion by Anex and Lifset (2009) that corn-ethanol does not reduce GHG emissions by 47% compared to gasoline, but instead by “somewhere between” 35 to 40%, is unsubstantiated.

Neomycin Enhances Glutaraldehyde Crosslinking And Glycosaminoglycan Stability In Bioprosthetic Heart Valves, Vincent Friebe

All Theses

The native heart valve will open and close an astonishing 3 billion times in the average lifetime, implicating immense biomechanical ramifications that necessitate near-flawless structure and functional behavior. Deviations from this idyllic function as a result of heart valve disease (HVD) affect millions of individuals worldwide and result in over 275,000 heart valve replacements worldwide every year. Glutaraldehyde (GLUT) cross-linked porcine aortic heart valves, a common type of bioprosthetic heart valve (BHV), are used frequently in these valve replacement surgeries. The native valve leaflets entail a tri-composite design of type I collagen, elastin and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), each of which are …

Principal Component Thermography For Steady Thermal Perturbation Scenarios, Rohit Parvataneni

All Theses

The work focuses on the qualitative enhancement of Thermographic Inspection data using Principal Component Analysis technique. A new processing tool named Economical Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) is proposed for analyzing the infrared image sequences acquired from the test specimen.
Experiments are carried out on test sample using thermal excitation modalities such as flash, halogen and induction to create temperature variations. The infrared (IR) image sequence containing the information about the sample is captured using IR cameras. The acquired IR image sequences are processed using the proposed Economical SVD which projects the matrix of raw pixel values of image sequence into …

Monitoring Co Concentration In Fuel Cells Using Microcantilever Sensors, Tugba Demir

All Theses

Estimating the concentration of gases including carbon monoxide (CO) in the hydrogen fuel exiting the reformer and entering the fuel cell is imperative. A high concentration of CO can cause fuel-cell catalyst poisoning, which permanently destroys the cell. Current practices call for utilizing expensive and bulky spectral analyzers to achieve this task. In addition to their high cost, these methodologies, undoubtedly, hinder the portability and self-containment of the cell. To overcome these problems and achieve the desired objectives of a portable, self-contained, and real-time measurement module, this thesis presents and experimentally investigates a new enabling technology based on utilizing an …

Biological Treatment To Remove Color And Toxicity Of Effluent From The Manufacturing Of Navipol Yellow Gr, Larry French

All Theses

Navipol Yellow GR is an organic solvent azo dye manufactured by Sunbelt Corp. in Rock Hill, SC. The effluent generated from the manufacturing of this dye is highly colored, toxic, and contains trace solvents consisting of mixed xylene isomers and ethyl benzene. Traditional wastewater treatment systems are unable to remove the color and toxicity from the effluent. This study investigated using a sequential anaerobic / aerobic treatment system to decrease color and toxicity of the dye effluent. The anaerobic phase used bacteria cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacillus subtilis, Enterococcus faecalis, or Enterobacter aerogenes to decrease the color of the dye. …

Mechanical And Chemical Characterization Of Biological Composite Structures, Bonnie Zimmerman

All Theses

A better understanding of the bioresponse of naturally occurring systems will help
to optimize the engineering of synthetic biomaterials. The aim of this thesis was to
characterize the mechanical and chemical behavior of two distinct biological composite
systems, human teeth and wool fibers. These mechanical and chemical properties were
also studied as a function of natural structure and environmental conditions.
Human teeth are composite systems consisting primarily of hydroxylapatite and
protein. This project investigated how the use of clinical dental treatments and
procedures, such as whitening and etching, affects mechanical properties. Analysis of
nanoindentation with the Oliver-Pharr model provided elastic …

Probabilistic Remediation Evaluation Model For Chlorinated Solvents Considering Uncertainty, Hailian Liang

All Dissertations

The complex processes and expensive costs of source and plume remediation of dense, non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) complicate the decision-making process for site remediation. Selection of remediation alternatives has been a big challenge due to the lack of tools that simultaneously evaluate the effectiveness of source and plume remediation and access the uncertainties in all major parameters. In this research, a new probabilistic remediation model, Probabilistic Remediation Evaluation Model for Chlorinated solvents sites (PREMChlor), has been developed. This is achieved through linking the analytical model REMChlor to a Monte Carlo modeling simulation package GoldSim via a FORTRAN Dynamic Link Library …

Nucleation And Growth Behavior Of Tellurite-Based Glasses Suitable For Mid-Infrared Applications, Jonathan Massera

All Dissertations

Optical fibers transmitting in the 2-5 μm mid-infrared (MIR) spectral region are highly desirable for a variety of military and civilian applications including super-continuum generation, infrared countermeasures (IRCM), and MIR laser sources. These new applications in the mid-infrared require novel optical materials that transmit in this window and can be fabricated into fiber. As tellurite glasses are known to have good transparency in the (NIR) region, tellurite-based glasses are the material of choice for this study due to their high linear and nonlinear refractive index, their low glass transition temperature and the ability to form them into optical fiber.
This …

A Scanpath Comparison Of The Salient Features Of Weather Among General Aviation Pilots Based On Training And Experience, Michael Sawyer

All Dissertations

Over the last 20 years the number of annual accidents in general aviation has seen a steady decline. The annual number of fatal accidents, however, has remained relatively stable. Adverse weather is consistently cited as a leading cause of fatal accidents in general aviation; weather accidents have a fatality rate nearly four times that of other general aviation accidents. Reviews of accident data reveal that often these accidents occur when inexperienced pilots who are certified only for visual flight rules flight continue into adverse weather. The Situation Assessment Hypothesis suggests these accidents occur when pilots fail to accurately recognize weather …

Covalent Immobilization Of L1 Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule To Acrylated Tetronicâ® Hydrogels For Neural Regeneration, Rebecca Cribb

All Dissertations

Spinal cord injuries cost the United States $20 billion per year, with an existing patient population of 256,000 growing by an estimated 12,000 each year. Current clinical therapies for spinal cord injury are limited to spinal immobilization and realignment via traction, surgery, administration of methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) within eight hours post-injury, and rehabilitation exercises. While these therapies are important and may minimize damage and restore limited function, there is a dire clinical need for treatments to address the growing population of chronically-injured patients.
Varying degrees of axonal regeneration and functional recovery following spinal cord injury have been achieved in …

Laser Scanning Confocal Microscopy (Lscm): An Application For The Detection Of Morphological Alterations In Skin Structure, Shea C. Smith

Master's Theses

Laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) is an optical imaging technique that provides improved resolution and sensitivity over conventional methods of optical microscopy. However, the cost of most commercial LSCM systems exceeds the financial limitations of many smaller laboratories. The design of a custom LSCM created at a fraction of the cost of a commercial model is discussed in this paper.

The increase in the incidence rate of skin cancer in the world today is alarming, as such, it is essential to provide an early, rapid and effective method for in vivo diagnostics of human skin tissue. LSCM is capable of …

The Electrical Properties Of Human Tissue For The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Melanoma Skin Cancer, Glenn Cameron Stante

Master's Theses

This thesis discusses the research, experimental methods, and data gathered for the investigation of a novel method for the diagnosis of melanoma skin cancer. First, a background about human skin tissue is presented. Then, a detailed description of melanoma along with current diagnosis techniques and treatment options are presented. In the experimental methods, the electrical properties of several types of tissue were analyzed, the purpose of which was to discover if a tissue type can be distinguished by its electrical properties alone. This would allow for the diagnosis of melanoma to be done by examining the electrical properties of the …

A Computational Model Of Apoptotic Osteocyte Correlation To Cortical Bone Remodeling Parameters, Michael Stephen Alexander

Master's Theses

The onset of osteoporosis caused by aging, disease states, and post-menopausal conditions significantly impacts patient quality of life, required healthcare funding, personal autonomy losses from increased fracture risk and the subsequent corrective surgery. Research has indicated that osteocyte apoptosis may be a key parameter in bone remodeling, raising the possibility of remodeling rate modulation for the mitigation of bone mass resorption. By developing therapies that target osteocyte apoptosis, it may be possible to prevent undesired bone remodeling activity while maintaining a healthy balance between damage formation in the form of microcracks induced by the strain environment and the removal of …

An Assessment Of Indoor Infiltration Parameters For Black Carbon From Residential Wood Combustion And The Spectral Dependence Of Light Absorption For Organic Carbon, Christopher John Malejan

Master's Theses

Black carbon, a proxy for woodsmoke was measured indoors and outdoors for an occupied residence in Cambria, CA during the winter months of 2009. The purpose was to investigate the infiltration parameters: air exchange rate, deposition rate, and penetration factor. The second part of this study investigated the light absorption properties of organic carbon from residential wood combustion, the dominant fraction of woodsmoke.

To assess woodsmoke variation, a study conducted parallel to the one presented in this thesis (Ward, 2009), a grid array of personal emission monitors (PEMS) and aethalometers were placed in a small area, approximately one square kilometer, …

A Neural Network Approach To Border Gateway Protocol Peer Failure Detection And Prediction, Cory B. White

Master's Theses

The size and speed of computer networks continue to expand at a rapid pace, as do the corresponding errors, failures, and faults inherent within such extensive networks. This thesis introduces a novel approach to interface Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) computer networks with neural networks to learn the precursor connectivity patterns that emerge prior to a node failure. Details of the design and construction of a framework that utilizes neural networks to learn and monitor BGP connection states as a means of detecting and predicting BGP peer node failure are presented. Moreover, this framework is used to monitor a BGP network …

Creation Of Bioactive Surfaces To Modulate Cell Behavior Using Surface Initiated Photoiniferter-Mediated Graft Photopolymerization, Nihar Shah

All Dissertations

Biomaterials widely used in biomedical applications still face biocompatibility issues arising from non-specific protein adsorption on the foreign surface, and the consequent undesired cell response. Emerging evidence suggests that imparting specific bioactivity to the biomaterial's surface to elicit favorable response from cells, (like osseointegration of joint implants and endothelialization of stents) can yield much better biocompatibility results when combined with passive prevention of protein adsorption. In more complex diseases like spinal cord injury and cardiomyopathy, specific biomolecules are required to elicit desired cell responses for successful regeneration. However, for success of such biomolecule based strategies, the effects of various parameters …

The Development Of A Mesenchymal Stem Cell Based Bone Graft System, Sarina Sinclair

All Dissertations

Greater than 5.5 million fractures are sustained by Americans each year, accounting for more than 500,000 bone graft surgeries. Bone grafts are the second most transplanted material, surpassed only by blood. The current 'gold standard' for bone grafting involves harvesting bone material from the patient's iliac crest, due to its osteoinductive properties. Unfortunately, the surgery required to harvest material from the iliac crest causes additional pain for the patient, relies on a limited amount of available bone tissue, and results in, on average, a 30% rate of donor site morbidity. Both natural and synthetic substitutes have been developed to avoid …

Hydrogel Compositions For Nonviral Gene Delivery, Eunhee Cho

All Dissertations

The incorporation of nonviral vectors into biomaterial matrices has been employed to improve localization at the implant site and to protect from loss by clearance or extracellular barriers. However, several limitations such as detrimental crosslinking mechanisms, uncontrolled burst release require improved design of matrix-based gene delivery systems that provides sustained and controlled vector release as well as overcomes extracellular barriers to gene transfer in proximity to target cells. The long-term objective of this dissertation project is to provide the basis for the eventual creation of tissue engineering scaffolds that combine structural and biological activity through the creation of composite materials …

The Rheology, Degradation, Processing, And Characterization Of Renewable Resource Polymers, Jason Conrad

All Dissertations

Renewable resource polymers have become an increasingly popular alternative to conventional fossil fuel based polymers over the past couple decades. The push by the government as well as both industrial and consumer markets to go 'green' has provided the drive for companies to research and develop new materials that are more environmentally friendly and which are derived from renewable materials. Two polymers that are currently being produced commercially are poly-lactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) copolymers, both of which can be derived from renewable feedstocks and have shown to exhibit similar properties to conventional materials such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, …

Production And Characterization Of Novel Shaped Fibers For Fluid Sorption And Transport, Lisa Fuller

All Dissertations

This work investigated the production and characterization of novel shaped fibers for fluid adsorption and transport. Shaped fibers such as Y, H, and octolobal, as well as conventional round fibers, were extruded using a research melt extruder. The fibers were extruded from 18 melt flow index (MFI) polypropylene (PP) and blends of 18 MFI PP and 400 MFI PP. Hydrophilic spin finish Bozzetto Favorol SF2 was applied to the surface of extruded fibers and hydrophilic polyester additive LB-100 was included in the blend of some H fibers to increase the hydrophilicity of the fiber surface. The geometric shape retention of …

An Investigation On The Use And Flexibility Of Genetic Algorithms For Logistic Regression, Sara Yoder

All Dissertations

Social scientists and other users of large data sets often desire a model to predict the probability that some condition exists, such as the probability that a person has diabetes or that a credit card transaction will be fraudulent. In general, this can be done by data mining techniques, which allow multiple records of data composed of numerous independent variables and one dependent variable to be examined in a statistical fashion to make a predictive model. One particular technique used is logistic regression. Logistic regression forms a predictive model based on a set of independent variables by assigning coefficients to …

Simulation, Synthesis, And Characterization Of Hydrogels And Nanocomposite Gels., Kamleshkumar J. Suthar

Dissertations

Stimuli-responsive gels are three-dimensional, cross-linked polymeric materials that undergo large physical change in response to the environmental stimuli, like temperature, pH, electrical potential, and irradiation. Ferrogels are colloidaldispersion of magnetic nanoparticles in the hydrogel network. The magnetic nanoparticles are attached to the polymeric network by different adhesive forces; as a result, it becomes sensitive to the applied magnetic field.

The main objective of this research is the simulation, synthesis, and characterization of the hydrogel and ferrogel. Simulation of the hydrogel response was performed for various environmental stimuli using a multiphysics finite element analysis software, COMSOL. The pH and electrical response …

Synchronization And Media Exchange In Large-Scale Caenorhabditis Elegans Cultures, Jason D. Brown

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a model organism for understanding sensory molecules of multicellular organisms. Ovulating hermaphrodites produce putative pheromone(s) that cause male attraction. Because pheromones are produced in such small quantities, adult conditioned-media from large-scale synchronous culture is necessary to analyze these pheromones. Current protocols for culture synchronization have volume constraints that limit large-scale synchronous cultures and current methodology for adult conditioned-media production is impractical.

Modification of Tangential Flow Filtration (TFF) systems was investigated for use as a method to increase the volume limits of bleach egg harvest for C. elegans culture synchronization. Also, an adult retention device built …

Quantifying Surface Water And Groundwater Interactions In A High-Gradient Mountain Stream For Solute Transport, Noah M. Schmadel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A study reach in a mountain stream highly influenced by groundwater was selected to test common data collection strategies used to characterize and quantify groundwater exchange processes necessary to predict solute transport. The data types collected include: high frequency discharge estimates with the use of rating curves, dilution gauging techniques with instantaneous tracer experiments, groundwater table and stream water surface elevations, vertical head gradients, and hydraulic conductivity estimates. The first two data types were categorized as stream gauging and the remaining three data types as site characterization. The stream gauging data were used to quantify net changes in stream discharge …

Designing An Instrument Based On Native Fluorescence To Determine Soil Microbial Content At A Mars Analog Site, Heather D. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For this research project we designed an instrument to detect bacteria via biomolecular fluorescence. We introduce the current understanding of astrobiology, our knowledge of life beyond Earth, and the commonality of Earth life as it pertains to the search for life on Mars. We proposed a novel technique for searching for direct evidence of life on the surface of Mars using fluorescence. We use the arid region of the Mojave Desert as an analog of Mars. Results indicate the fluorescence of the biotic component of desert soils is approximately as strong as the fluorescence of the mineral component. Fluorescence laboratory …

Removal And Utilization Of Wastewater Nutrients For Algae Biomass And Biofuels, Erick W. Griffiths

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Logan City Environmental Department operates a facility that consists of 460 acres of fairly shallow lagoons (~ 5'deep) for biological wastewater treatment that meets targets for primary and secondary treatments (solids, biological oxygen demand (BOD), and pathogen removal). Significant natural algal growth occurs in these lagoons, which improves BOD removal through oxygenation and also facilitates N removal through volatilization as ammonia under high pH conditions created by algal growth. Phosphorus, however, is non-volatile and stays in the water and likely cycles in and out of algal cells as they grow and die in the lagoons. In the near future, …

Bio-Inspired Node Localization In Wireless Sensor Networks, Raghavendra V. Kulkarni, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy, Maggie X. Cheng

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Many applications of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) require location information of the randomly deployed nodes. a common solution to the localization problem is to deploy a few special beacon nodes having location awareness, which help the ordinary nodes to localize. in this approach, non-beacon nodes estimate their locations using noisy distance measurements from three or more non-collinear beacons they can receive signals from. in this paper, the ranging-Based localization task is formulated as a multidimensional optimization problem, and addressed using bio-inspired algorithms, exploiting their quick convergence to quality solutions. an investigation on distributed iterative localization is presented in this paper. …

Synthesis And Electrocatalytic Properties Of Ni-Pd/C Catalysts With Pd-Enriched Surface, Yu-Mei Chen, Zhi-Xiu Liang, Sheng-Li Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Ni-Pd alloy catalysts with Pd-enriched surface were synthesized through a modified polyol process.The synthesized materials were investigated by XRD and electrochemical methods,and tested as electrocatalysts for CH₃OH-tolerant oxygen reduction.The results indicated that the synthesized Ni-Pd nanoparticles possess multiple phases containing Pd-Ni alloy and pure Ni.Comparing with Pd/C,the prepared Ni-Pd/C nanoparticles exhibited better resolved voltammetric peaks between the hydrogen absorption and adsorption,and positively shifted current peaks for the reduction of Pd oxide.The prepared Ni-Pd alloys with Pd-enriched surface have significantly enhanced ORR activity and improved CH₃OH tolerance as comparing with Pd/C catalysts.