Digital Commons Network^™

Fabrication Of Polymeric Microparticles Loaded With Zoledronic Acid To Treat Osteoarthritis, Yohely Maria Espiritusanto

Theses - ALL

Osteoarthritis (OA), a disease caused by wearing and tearing of articular cartilage, affectsover 32.5 million Americans. Synovial inflammation is now recognized as a major contributor to OA progression and pain. Activated synovial macrophages in an OA joint are believed to play a major role in low grade inflammation found in OA. Bisphosphonates such as zoledronic acid (ZA) are known to induce apoptosis specifically in macrophages and several of them are being evaluated as a disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug in clinical trials. However, ZA is rapidly cleared from the joint after systemic or localized direct injection into the joint. In this study …

Electrochemically Induced Amorphous-To-Rock-Salt Phase Transformation In Niobium Oxide Electrode For Li-Ion Batteries, Pete Barnes, Yunxing Zuo, Kiev Dixon, Dewen Hou, Sungsik Lee, Zhiyuan Ma, Justin G. Connell, Hua Zhou, Changjian Deng, Kassiopeia Smith, Eric Gabriel, Yuzi Liu, Olivia O. Maryon, Paul H. Davis, Haoyu Zhu, Yingge Du, Ji Qi, Zhuoying Zhu, Chi Chen, Zihua Zhu, Yadong Zhou, Paul J. Simmonds, Ariel E. Briggs, Darin Schwartz, Shyue Ping Ong, Hui Xiong

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Intercalation-type metal oxides are promising negative electrode materials for safe rechargeable lithium-ion batteries due to the reduced risk of Li plating at low voltages. Nevertheless, their lower energy and power density along with cycling instability remain bottlenecks for their implementation, especially for fast-charging applications. Here, we report a nanostructured rock-salt Nb₂O₅ electrode formed through an amorphous-to-crystalline transformation during repeated electrochemical cycling with Li⁺. This electrode can reversibly cycle three lithiums per Nb₂O₅, corresponding to a capacity of 269 mAh g⁻¹ at 20 mA g⁻¹, and retains a capacity …

Determining Contributing Factors For Passenger Airline Pilot Perceived Fatigue, Heidi C. Kim

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Fatigue is a recurring concern for pilots and continues to be a common contributing cause of aircraft accidents. The purpose of the dissertation was to determine factors that influence fatigue in commercial airline pilots. The ability to accurately associate fatigue in pilots before a flight begins could have a profound and meaningful impact on aviation safety. Seven factors were identified in the literature review as having possible predictive capabilities of perceived fatigue in pilots working for passenger carriers, including time awake, perceived stress, sleep quality, hours of sleep, age, typically scheduled start time, and hours on duty.

An …

Degree-Based Random Walk Approach For Graph Embedding, Sarmad N. Mohammed, Semra Gündüç

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Graph embedding, representing local and global neighbourhood information by numerical vectors, is a crucial part of the mathematical modeling of a wide range of real-world systems. Among the embedding algorithms, random walk-based algorithms have proven to be very successful. These algorithms collect information by creating numerous random walks with a predefined number of steps. Creating random walks is the most demanding part of the embedding process. The computation demand increases with the size of the network. Moreover, for real-world networks, considering all nodes on the same footing, the abundance of low-degree nodes creates an imbalanced data problem. In this work, …

Prediction Of Broken Rotor Bar In Induction Motor Using Spectral Entropy Features And Tlbo Optimized Svm, Sudip Halder, Sunil Bhat, Bimal Dora

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The information of the fault frequency characteristics is of great importance for all associated fault diag nostics. This requires a high-resolution spectrum analysis to achieve efficient monitoring of machinery faults, especially while diagnosing rotor bar breakage under light load conditions, because the fault frequencies almost overlap with the fundamental. In this context, rather than looking for frequencies associated with rotor faults, several frequency bands are observed separately in terms of the entropy contained within these bands. First, the motor current signal has been divided into several frequency bands using the continuous wavelet transform (CWT), and the spectral entropy is calculated …

Reduced Chest Computed Tomography Scan Length For Patients Positive For Coronavirus Disease 2019: Dose Reduction And Impact On Diagnostic Utility, Sara Principi, Stacy D. O'Connor, Frank Luba, Taly Gilat Schmidt

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Objective

This work aimed to retrospectively evaluate the potential of dose reduction on chest computed tomography (CT) examinations by reducing the longitudinal scan length for patients positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods

This study used the Personalized Rapid Estimation of Dose in CT (PREDICT) tool to estimate patient-specific organ doses from CT image data. The PREDICT is a research tool that combines a linear Boltzmann transport equation solver for radiation dose map generation with deep learning algorithms for organ contouring. Computed tomography images from 74 subjects in the Medical Imaging Data Resource Center–RSNA International COVID-19 Open Radiology Database data …

Evaluation Of The Energetic Factors In Crystalline Pharmaceuticals Using Solid-State Density Functional Theory And Low-Frequency Vibrational Spectroscopy, Margaret P. Davis

Dissertations - ALL

Due to the importance of maintaining stable and effective pharmaceutical solid doses, it is critical to study the variety of solid forms that active pharmaceutical ingredients can adopt including polymorphs, hydrates, and cocrystals. In this work, low-frequency vibrational spectroscopies and rigorous quantum mechanical simulations are combined to provide a new technique for characterizing and investigating pharmaceutically relevant polymorphs, hydrates, and cocrystals as well as a series of model cocrystals. Low-frequency spectra in the sub-200 cm-1 range provide not only unique and characteristic spectra for all of the systems explored here but, along with X-ray structural parameters, they offer a way …

Long Non-Coding Rna Pvt1 – An Exploratory Study In Ovarian And Endometrial Cancer, Kevin Tabury

Theses and Dissertations

Gynecological cancers, ovarian and endometrial cancer, are still leading causes of cancer-related death in women worldwide. Early detection methods as well as treatment resistance remain a challenge. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as therapeutic targets with diagnostic and prognostic potential with lncRNA PVT1 being one of them.

Here I test and demonstrate the role of PVT1 in ovarian cancer growth and metastasis. PVT1 is amplified and overexpressed in ovarian cancer and has predictive value for survival and response to targeted therapeutics. We find that expression of PVT1 is regulated by tumor cells in response to cellular stress, particularly loss …

Oxidized Graphitic Nano-Amendment Of Cement Composites: Exploring Truly Low Concentrations And Novel Particle Morphologies, Shohana Iffat

Theses and Dissertations

Oxidized graphitic nanoparticles such as multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs), can produce enhancements in physicomechanical properties of cement composites that are relevant to structural and durability performance, provided that said nanoparticles are well dispersed in the composite. Lower-bound MWCNT concentrations are reported in the literature in the range 0.01-0.05% in weight of cement (wt%). Such concentrations may not be costeffective for practical applications and may also be excessive since they would result in a nanoparticle surface area at or above 105 m2 for 1 m3 of cement paste, or 104.5 m2 for 1 m 3 of concrete, …

The Effect Of Pulsed Field Dc Electrophoresis And Field Amplified Sample Stacking On The Microchip Electrophoretic Separation Of Organic Dyes, Travis Geoffrey Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

The utility of field amplified sample stacking and pulsed field electrophoresis toward improving electrophoretic outcomes was studied with regards to the electrophoretic separation of three organic dyes rhodamine B, 2’,7’-dichlorofluorescein, and fluorescein salt in microchip electrophoresis conditions. In this study, there were four experimental groups: nonstacking nonpulsed, nonstacking pulsed, sample stacking nonpulsed, and sample stacking pulsed.

Electrophoretic outcomes were evaluated by examining the electrophoretic separations under an epifluoresence detection method, plotting the signal intensities vs. time, and comparing separation resolutions and signal-to-noise ratios between experimental groups. From this it was shown that sample stacking nonpulsed conditions yielded the best outcome …

Role Of Epigenome In Regulation Of Inflammation By Ahr Ligands 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-P-Dioxin And 6-Formylindolo[3,2-B] Carbazole, Alkeiver Cannon

Theses and Dissertations

Autoimmune Hepatitis (AIH) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the liver mediated by immune cells and characterized by a variety of parameters including circulating autoantigens, elevated immunoglobulin G (IgG) and aminotransferases, and interface hepatitis. Unfortunately, despite treatment with broadly immunosuppressive drugs, the disease progresses to cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease in several cases. In order to develop a more specific treatment, the mechanisms governing the liver injury resulting from inflammation and autoimmunity need to be elucidated.

For decades, activation of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) was excluded from consideration as a therapeutic approach due to the potential toxic effects of AhR …

Hybrid Theory-Machine Learning Methods For The Prediction Of Afp Layup Quality, Christopher M. Sacco

Theses and Dissertations

The advanced manufacturing capabilities provided through the automated fiber placement (AFP) system has allowed for faster layup time and more consistent production across a number of different geometries. This contributes to the modern production of large composite structures and the widespread adaptation of composites in industry in general and aerospace in particular. However, the automation introduced in this process increases the difficulty of quality assurance efforts. Industry available tools for predicting layup quality are either limited in scope, or have extremely high computational overhead. With the advent of automated inspection systems, direct capture of semantic inspection data, and therefore complete …

A Protein-Based Therapeutic Combination For The Treatment Of Hard-To-Heal Wounds, Graham L. Strauss

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chronic wounds present many clinical challenges in relation to the successful treatment and closure of the damaged tissue. Most current treatment methods focused on one or two aspects to drive wound closure, while most chronic wounds are multifactorial environments with many of those dependencies relying on the termination of one another to effectively gain tissue construction, closure, and full skin thickness and composition. Natural wound healing processes allude to potential biologics that can impede the chronic breakdown of tissue, while restoring deposition of new tissue, and effectively leading to a healed wound. Proteases secreted by the body’s immune system lay …

Transitioning To Sustainable Healthy Diets: A Model-Based And Conceptual System Thinking Approach To Optimized Sustainable Diet Concepts In The United States, Prince Agyemang, Ebenezer M. Kwofie, Jamie Baum

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Food production and consumption are essential in human existence, yet they are implicated in the high occurrences of preventable chronic diseases and environmental degradation. Although healthy food may not necessarily be sustainable and vice versa, there is an opportunity to make our food both healthy and sustainable. Attempts have been made to conceptualize how sustainable healthy food may be produced and consumed; however, available data suggest a rise in the prevalence of health-related and negative environmental consequences of our food supply. Thus, the transition from conceptual frameworks to implementing these concepts has not always been effective. This paper explores the …

Wastewater-Derived Ammonia For A Green Transportation Fuel, Joseph Kalman, Maryam Haddad

Mineta Transportation Institute

The energy-water nexus (i.e., availability of potable water and clean energy) is among the most important problems currently facing society. Ammonia is a carbon-free fuel that has the potential to reduce the carbon footprint in combustion related vehicles. However, ammonia production processes typically have their own carbon footprint and do not necessarily come from sustainable sources. This research examines wastewater filtration processes to harvest ammonia for transportation processes. The research team studied mock wastewater solutions and was able to achieve ammonia concentrations above 80%(nanofiltration) and 90% (reverse osmosis). The research team also investigated the influence of transmembrane pressure and flow …

Electrospun Hydrophobic Interaction Chromatography (Hic) Membranes For Protein Purification, Shu-Ting Chen, Sumith Ranil Wickramasinghe, Xianghong Qian

Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Responsive membranes for hydrophobic interaction chromatography have been fabricated by functionalizing poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PVCL) ligands on the substrate of electrospun regenerated cellulose nanofibers. Both static and dynamic binding capacities and product recovery were investigated using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Immunoglobulin G (IgG) as model proteins. The effects of ligand chain length and chain density on static binding capacity were also studied. A static binding capacity of ~25 mg/mL of membrane volume (MV) can be achieved in optimal ligand grafting conditions. For dynamic binding studies, protein binding capacity increased with protein concentration from 0.1 to 1.0 g/L. Dynamic binding capacity increased …

Classifying Mixing Regimes In Ponds And Shallow Lakes, Meredith A. Holgerson, David C. Richardson, Joseph Roith, Lauren E. Bortolotti, Kerri Finlay, Daniel J. Hornbach, Kshitij Gurung, Andrew Ness, Mikkel R. Andersen, Sheel Bansal, Jacques C. Finlay, Jacob A. Cianci-Gaskill, Shannon Hahn, Benjamin D. Janke, Cory Mcdonald, Jorrit P. Mesman, Rebecca L. North, Cassandra O. Roberts, Jon N. Sweetman, Jackie R. Webb

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Lakes are classified by thermal mixing regimes, with shallow waterbodies historically categorized as continuously mixing systems. Yet, recent studies demonstrate extended summertime stratification in ponds, underscoring the need to reassess thermal classifications for shallow waterbodies. In this study, we examined the summertime thermal dynamics of 34 ponds and shallow lakes across temperate North America and Europe to categorize and identify the drivers of different mixing regimes. We identified three mixing regimes: rarely (n = 18), intermittently (n = 10), and often (n = 6) mixed, where waterbodies mixed an average of 2%, 26%, and 75% of the study period, respectively. …

Building Services Engineering July/August 2022

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Deep Learning-Based Prediction Of Ppb-Level Metal Ions In Drinking Water With Explainable Ai, Shaokun Yu

Master's Theses (2009 -)

In the research on detecting different ppb-level metal ions in drinking water in multiple areas. Through the block loop gap resonator (BLGR), this kind of metal ion sensor can continuously measure the concentrations of different metal ions in the water sample. The BLGR can classify different ions and measure the Cu and Pb ions in different ppb-level water in the city. According to the different magnitude and phases in continuous frequency in the testing. A better model can be trained by using deep learning, the convolution neural network. A neural network is often regarded as a black-box model because its …

Investigating The Proper Use Of Litani River Basin Based On Water Quality, Mohamad Diab, Mohamad Soliman

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Litani River Basin (LRB) with a 170km length and annual river flow of 750 MCM is considered the most important water resource in Lebanon. Unfortunately, the river is facing water contamination as a result of human practices. Water Quality assessments was performed in the Litani River Basin using a combination of Principal Component Analysis method (PCA) and Water Quality Index method (WQI). Results revealed the improvement of the water quality significantly after passing lake Qaraoun. Moreover, according to WQI, Lower LRB water is ranked ‘’Good’’ for irrigation and ‘’BAD’ for drinking purposes. Microbial contamination is found to be the key …

Sources Of Resonant Vortices In Aero-Acoustics Resonance From Tandem Flat Plates, Atef El Khatib, Ahmad Al Miaari, Ali Hammoud

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Aero-acoustic resonance in flows around flat plates is a major design concern in various practical applications, especially turbomachinery and heat exchangers, due to its significant effects on fatigue rates and radiated noises intensity. Although research has been intensive on the topic, there is still a lot to be understood for effective resonance prediction and control. Resonance in tandem plate systems is characterized by a double response. This study, investigates for the first time, the flow mechanisms responsible for the generation of low-velocity and high-velocity resonances of the double resonance response. Experimental testing and numerical simulation showed that low-velocity resonance vortices …

Modified Biosand Filtration Using Aluminum Hydroxide Filter Media To Enhance Fluoride Removal, Joshelyn Guimaray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are over 20 countries whose citizens consume groundwater containing high levels of fluoride, including Nigeria, Mexico, India, China, and Ghana, which all have major health crises when it comes to the safety of their drinking water. Minerals like fluorite contain fluoride which is often found in groundwater aquifers. The minerals release fluoride into the groundwater. Per the World Health Organization (WHO) standard, the maximum contaminant limit for fluoride consumption should be less than 1.5 mg/L. Chronic exposure of elevated levels of fluoride can cause people to suffer debilitating health effects, such as dental and skeletal fluorosis. Dental fluorosis causes …

Table Of Contents

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

An Integrated Approach For Dynamic Process Modeling And Optimization Of Wastewater Treatment Facilities, Komal Rathore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The subareas of process systems engineering including process modeling, simulation, and optimization are becoming progressively substantial for understanding processes, making decisions, improving efficiency, and complying with stricter environmental and safety legislation. Additionally, the availability of user-friendly flowsheet simulators and computational resources with the current trend of data collection and analysis has allowed for a more accurate representation of complex processes such as wastewater treatment systems. Despite all the progress in the areas of process modeling and simulation, the first-principle mechanistic models for wastewater treatment processes are at best employed during the design stage, and therefore, not used optimally for day-to-day …

Explainable And Cooperative Autonomy Across Networks Of Distributed Systems, Peter Joseph Jorgensen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Large networks of complex systems-of-systems are commonplace and evermore present in both mundane and extraordinary facets of human existence. From the exponential growth of connectivity via the internet and other information networks, to the miniaturization of computers and sensors, to cross-domain sensor and communication networks, these networks of distributed systems-of-systems (NDSS) present incredible benefits and challenges. Autonomy is perhaps the most important and most difficult to achieve enabling technology for efficient performance of the NDSS. Giving each individual agent in a network the ability to manage its internal state in dynamic operating environments and in pursuit of multiple complex and …

Modular Cable - Driven Surgical Robots, Carl A. Nelson, Nicholas Nelson

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A surgical robot can be configured for minimally invasive surgery ( MIS ) and other types of surgery with modular link geometry and disposable components. In some examples, the surgical robot includes a cable driver comprising at least one drive motor configured for tensioning a cable. The surgical robot includes an articulated surgical tool coupled to the drive motor by the cable. The articulated surgical tool comprises at least first and second articulated links and a joint coupling the first and second articulated links. The cable passes through the joint, and the joint comprises an elastic antagonist biased in opposition …

Polymers And Composite Materials, Joshua P. Steimel

Pacific Open Texts

This text serves to cover in more detail polymer physics concepts and specifically how polymers respond from the atomistic to meter length scale. This text spans topics from polymerization chemistry, chain models, Flory-Huggins theory, viscosity, characterization techniques, self assembly, polymer dynamics, viscoelasticity, and mechanics of polymer and composite materials.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Biomimetic Strategies To Control Therapeutic Release From Novel Dna Nanoparticles, Robert J. Mosley

Theses and Dissertations

The inherent chemical, mechanical, and structural properties of nucleic acids make them ideal candidates for the formulation of tunable, personalized drug nanocarriers. However, none so far have exploited these properties for the controlled release of therapeutic drugs. In this dissertation, a biomimetic approach to controlling drug release is exhibited by specifically manipulating the architecture of novel, DNA nanoparticles to take advantage of drug binding mechanisms of action. Rationally designed DNA strands were immobilized on gold surfaces via a terminal thiol modification. Immobilized monomers can be manipulated to form distinct monolayer architectures including flat, folded, coiled, or stretched structures. Increasing the …

Effectiveness Of Mesoporous Bioglass In Drug Delivery, Sheila Galbreath, Bailey Krueger, Taylor Frazier, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

Since the invention of bioactive glass 50 years ago, it has become a versatile material used in healthcare in a variety of applications and compositions. Bioactive glass has shown superior capabilities of drug delivery compared to traditional carriers. For example, time-released medications are less likely to reach toxic levels, while delivering a specific, therapeutic dose to a localized area. The objective of this paper is to investigate the properties and effectiveness of mesoporous bioglass (MBG) as a drug delivery carrier. A literature review of various polymer coated 45S5 Bioglass^® loaded with vancomycin was analyzed to determine their drug release …

Fragmentation Of Chemically Herded Oil Slicks By Obstacles: Visualizations, Flow Measurements, And Spatial Distributions, Ali Alshamrani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chemical herders are a promising technique for treatment of oil spills in icy waters at high latitudes. However, obstacles on the water surface such as floating ice affects or interferes with all spill response countermeasures including chemical herder operations by fracturing the contracting oil slick and trapping small oil patches. Chemical herders are likely to be especially useful in containing oil spills in remote, ice-infested Arctic waters, where using booms to contain an oil slick is difficult. Much of the previous research into chemical herder has focused on the effectiveness of different types of chemical herder agents to thicken oil …