Digital Commons Network^™

Indoor Air Quality Through The Lens Of Outdoor Atmospheric Chemistry, Jonathan P.D. Abbatt, Douglas B. Collins

Faculty Contributions to Books

Outdoor atmospheric chemistry and air quality have been the topic of research that intensified in earnest around the mid-20^th century, while indoor air quality research has only been a key focus of chemical researchers over the last 30 years. Examining practices and approaches employed in the outdoor atmospheric chemistry research enterprise provides an additional viewpoint from which we can chart new paths to increase scientific understanding of indoor chemistry. This chapter explores our understanding of primary chemical sources, homogeneous and multiphase reactivity, gas-surface partitioning, and the coupling between the chemistry and dynamics of indoor air through the lens of …

Cholera Transmission Dynamic Model With Environmental Impacts Of Plankton Reservoirs, Sweety Sarker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Cholera is an acute disease that is a global threat to the world and can kill people within a few hours if left untreated. In the last 200 years, seven pandemics occurred, and, in some countries, it remains endemic. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global initiative to prevent cholera by 2030. Cholera dynamics are contributed by several environmental factors such as salinity level of water, water temperature, presence of plankton especially zooplankton such as cladocerans, rotifers, copepods, etc. Vibrio cholerae (V. cholerae) bacterium is the main reason behind the cholera disease and the growth of V. cholerae depends …

Progress Towards Next Generation Modulators Of Ctbp's Oncogenic Effects, Jacqueline L. West

Theses and Dissertations

Human C-terminal binding proteins (CtBP1 and CtBP2) are transcriptional coregulators of multiple genes in the human genome, including tumor suppressor genes (e.g., Bik, PTEN, BRCA1, and E-cadherin) as well as oncogenes (e.g. MDR1 and Tiam1). Both homologues of CtBP are overexpressed in many types of cancer, including breast cancer (92%), ovarian cancer (83%), colorectal cancer (64%), hepatocellular carcinoma (60%), gastric cancer, prostate cancer, and pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Further, expression levels of CtBP correlate with worse prognostic outcomes and more aggressive tumor features because it promotes proliferation, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and cancer stem cell self-renewal activity.

Our laboratory has identified a lead inhibitor …

Negatives In The Positive Test Results: Anti-Black Healthcare Inequity And Emergent Hiv Therapies, René Garrett

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Identification And Dosimetry Of Irradiated Pistachio (Pistacia Vera L.) Using Epr, Elsayed Salama, Ahmed M. Maghrabya, Samy A. Anwar, M. El-Sayed

Basic Science Engineering

In the current study, the EPR signal of both gamma-irradiated shell and kernel of the pistachio is recorded and investigated. The spectrum properties, microwave power dependency of signal intensities, short- and long-term temporal dependencies, and other significant factors are studied. This investigation was done on how varying radiation doses (0–10 kGy) affected the reactions of pistachio shells and kernels. The time dependence of the radiation-induced signal intensity of pistachio showed that the maximum intensity reached about 98.75% and 67% of its original value for shells and kernels, respectively, after the first six hours. These results indicate that EPR is an …

An Odd-Protocol For Agent-Based Model For The Spread Of Covid-19 In Ireland, Elizabeth Hunter, John D. Kelleher

Reports

No abstract provided.

Synthesis Of Oligonucleotides Containing Unnatural Backbone And Regulation Of Crispr Activity Using Inverse Electron Demand Diels-Alder Chemistry, Alyssa Hoy

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This thesis describes the synthesis of an oligonucleotide containing an unnatural neutralbackbone. The backbone was constructed using bio-orthogonal inverse electron demand Diels- Alder chemistry between trans-cyclooctene (TCO) and tetrazine (Tz). A TCO phosphoramidite was synthesized and attached to solid support for strand propagation. Uridine monomers containing either bis-TCO or bis-Tz were also synthesized. The oligonucleotide strand was formed by sequential ligation of the bis-Tz and bis-TCO monomers. The oligonucleotide was analyzed using mass spectrometry. This thesis also describes the synthesis of sgRNAs containing non-canonical nucleobases, m1A, m6A, s2U and s4U using the ‘split-and-click’ methodology. The synthetic sgRNAs were assembled using …

Synthesis, Characterization, Computational Analyses, In Silico Admet Studies, And Inhibitory Action Against Sars-Cov-2 Main Protease (Mpro) Of A Schiff Base, Songül Şahi̇n, Necmi̇ Dege

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

COVID-19 disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has struck the whole world and raised severe health, economic, and social problems. Many scientists struggled to find a vaccine or an antiviral drug. Eventually, both vaccines and recommended drugs, repurposed drugs, or drug combinations were found, but new strains of SARS-CoV-2 continue to threaten human life and health. As part of the fight against COVID-19 disease, this study involves an in silico molecular docking analysis on the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2. To this aim, a Schiff base compound was synthesized and characterized using spectroscopic techniques, including X-ray, …

Stressed Or Just Running? Differentiation Of Mental Stress And Physical Activityby Using Machine Learning, Yekta Sai̇d Can

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Recently, modern people have excessive stress in their daily lives. With the advances in physiological sensors and wearable technology, people?s physiological status can be tracked, and stress levels can be recognized for providing beneficial services. Smartwatches and smartbands constitute the majority of wearable devices. Although they have an excellent potential for physiological stress recognition, some crucial issues need to be addressed, such as the resemblance of physiological reaction to stress and physical activity, artifacts caused by movements and low data quality. This paper focused on examining and differentiating physiological responses to both stressors and physical activity. Physiological data are collected …

On Bounded Solutions Of A Second-Order Iterative Boundary Value Problem, Safa Chouaf, Ahleme Bouakkaz, Rabah Khemis

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

In this article, we investigate a second-order iterative differential equation with boundary conditions. The use of the principle of contraction mappings and the Schauder's fixed point theorem allows us to prove some existence and uniqueness results. Finally, an example is given to check the validity of our findings, which are new, and complete some published manuscripts to some degree.

Solvability Of Gripenberg's Equations Of Fractional Order With Perturbation Term In Weighted $L_P$-Spaces On ${\Mathbb{R}}^+$, Mohamed M. A. Metwali

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

This article deals with the solvability of Gripenberg's equations of fractional order with a perturbation term in weighted Lebesgue spaces on ${\mathbb{R}}^+=[0,\infty)$ via the fixed point hypothesis and the measure of noncompactness. The uniqueness of the solutions for the studied problem is discussed. An example is included to validate our results. The results presented in the article extend and generalize some former results in the available literature.

Mathematical Analysis Of Local And Global Dynamics Of A New Epidemic Model, Sümeyye Çakan

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

In this paper, we construct a new $SEIR$ epidemic model reflecting the spread of infectious diseases. After calculating basic reproduction number $% \mathcal{R}_{0}$ by the next generation matrix method, we examine the stability of the model. The model exhibits threshold behavior according to whether the basic reproduction number $\mathcal{R}_{0}$ is greater than unity or not. By using well-known Routh-Hurwitz criteria, we deal with local asymptotic stability of equilibrium points of the model according to $% \mathcal{R}_{0}.$ Also, we present a mathematical analysis for the global dynamics in the equilibrium points of this model using LaSalle's Invariance Principle associated with Lyapunov …

A Sequential Fractional Differential Problem Of Pantograph Type:Existence Uniqueness And Illustrations, Soumia Belarbi, Zoubir Dahmani, Mehmet Zeki̇ Sarikaya

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

In this study, a new class of sequential fractional differential problems of pantograph type is introduced. New existence and uniqueness criteria for the existence and uniqueness of solutions are discussed. Some existence results using Darbo's fixed point and measure of noncompactness are also studied. At the end, two illustrative examples are discussed.

การสังเคราะห์เมโซพอรัสซิลิกาแบบกลวงโดยใช้แม่แบบสารลดแรงตึงผิวผสมสำหรับการดักจับคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์, พชรภา สิงลี

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การเพิ่มขึ้นของจำนวนประชากรอย่างต่อเนื่องเป็นอีกหนึ่งปัจจัยที่กระตุ้นให้เกิดปัญหาภาวะโลกร้อนซึ่งมีสาเหตุมาจากการปลดปล่อยแก๊สเรือนกระจกและแก๊สคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์จนอุณหภูมิโลกสูงมากขึ้นประมาณ 1- 2 องศาเซลเซียสในช่วงทศวรรษที่ผ่านมา เพื่อลดการปลดปล่อยแก๊สคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์ที่เกิดขึ้นในชั้นบรรยากาศ รวมถึงลดผลลัพธ์จากภาวะเรือนกระจก งานวิจัยนี้มุ่งเน้นสนใจศึกษาการดักจับแก๊สคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์ด้วยการดูดซับบนตัวดูดซับเมโซพอรัสซิลิกาแบบกลวงที่เตรียมด้วยวิธีแม่แบบชนิดอ่อน โดยใช้แม่แบบร่วมของสารลดแรงตึงผิวผสมชนิดประจุบวกหรือแคทไอออนิก คือ ซิทิลไตรเมทิลแอมโมเนียมโบรไมด์ (CTAB) กับสารลดแรงตึงผิวประจุลบ คือ โซเดียมโดเดคซิลซัลเฟต (SDS) และโซเดียมเฮกซะเคดซิลไดฟีนิลออกไซด์ไดซัลโฟเนต (DF) และ สารผสมระหว่างโซเดียมโดเดคซิลซัลเฟต (SDS) และโซเดียมเฮกซะเคดซิลไดฟีนิลออกไซด์ไดซัลโฟเนต (DF) ที่อัตราส่วนโดยมวลต่าง ๆ จากนั้นทำการเคลือบฝังด้วย TEPA พบว่า ตัวดูดซับ HMS-SDS (0.23 g) 50TEPA และ ตัวดูดซับ HMS-SDS-DF 0.95-0.05 (0.23 g) 50TEPA ให้ค่าความว่องไวในการดูดซับคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์มากที่สุดเท่ากับ 2.95 และ 2.84 มิลลิโมลต่อกรัมของตัวดูดซับ ณ อุณหภูมิ 75 องศาเซลเซียส ตามลำดับ เมื่อทำการโหลดต่างชนิดแอมีน APTES, TSPD และ TEPA โดยให้ปริมาณไนโตรเจนที่โหลดเท่ากัน พบว่า TEPA ให้ค่าความว่องไวในการดูดซับคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์มากที่สุด อีกทั้งการทดสอบวงรอบการดูดซับ พบว่า ตัวดูดซับ HMS-SDS (0.23 g) 50TEPA และ ตัวดูดซับ HMS-SDS-DF 0.95-0.05 (0.23 g) 50TEPA ยังคงว่องไวต่อการดูดซับถึง 5 และ 11 รอบ ตามลำดับ ณ อุณหภูมิ 75 องศาเซลเซียส เมื่อเปรียบเทียบกับงานวิจัยก่อนหน้า พบว่า ตัวดูดซับที่ใช้ในงานวิจัยนี้ใช้ปริมาณการโหลดเอมีนน้อยกว่าแต่ให้ค่าความว่องไวในการดูดซับคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์มากกว่า

Evaluating Energy-Based Trait Shifts And Population Level Impacts Of Big Brown Bats (Eptesicus Fuscus) With Long-Term Exposure To Pseudogymnoascus Destructans, Molly C. Simonis

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Disturbances in environment can lead to a wide range of host physiological responses. These responses can either allow hosts to adjust to new conditions in their environment or can reduce their survival, and can subsequently cause host traits to shift. Small mammals are particularly vulnerable to stochastic disturbances, like a pathogen introduction, because of their high energy demands. Studies examining host responses to pathogens often focus on species highly susceptible to infection that typically have high mortality rates, leading to a gap in understanding the responses of less susceptible species. My dissertation evaluates the energy balance of Eptesicus fuscus (big …

Addressing Ascertainment Bias In The Study Of Cardiovascular Disease Burden In Opioid Use Disorders - Application Of Natural Language Processing Of Electronic Health Records, Jade Huang Singleton

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

In the United States, the prevalence of long-term exposure to opioid drugs, for both medically and nonmedically indicated purposes, has increased considerably since the mid-1990’s. Concerns have emerged about the potential health effects of opioid use. There is also growing interest in other possible connections with opioid use including cardiovascular disease. Electronic health records (EHR) contain information about patient care in the form of structured codes and unstructured notes. Natural language processing (NLP) provides a tool for processing unstructured textual data in EHR clinical notes and extracts useful information for research with structured formats. The purpose of this dissertation was …

Opioid Use Disorder Treatment With Buprenorphine: Analysis Of Treatment Utilization And Associated Outcomes In Kentucky, Feitong Lei

Theses and Dissertations--Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is chronic opioid use that results in clinically significant suffering, impairment, or even death. The opioid epidemic in the United States has become a public health and economic crisis, affecting patients' well-being and the nation's overall health and welfare. Eastern Kentucky was among the first regions affected by the opioid crisis, and Kentucky has historically ranked among the top five states for age-adjusted drug overdose mortality rate.

There are three medications (buprenorphine, methadone, naltrexone) approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat OUD. As a partial opioid agonist, buprenorphine is a safe medication for …

Bat Activity On West Virginia Mined Lands Restored Via The Forestry Reclamation Approach, Briana C. Snyder

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) is a practical guide to reforesting surface mined lands. Bats, as a unique group of species with declining populations, could benefit from this reforestation. In order to determine if the FRA is providing suitable bat foraging habitat, I surveyed bat activity at created depressional wetlands on 1-year old and 8-year old FRA restored lands (FRA1; FRA8), as well as at naturally formed wetlands in regenerating forest on traditionally reclaimed mined land (~40 years old; REGEN) and wetlands in mature forest not previously mined (MAT). I passively recorded echolocation calls for 12 nights across sixteen sites …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Antimony Cyanoximates For Microbiological Studies, Seth Adu Amankrah

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Antibiotic-resistant pathogenic microorganisms (such as MRSA and alike) represent a real and significant threat to the health and wellbeing of the general population. The search for new compounds of non-antibiotic nature that act as antimicrobial agents is an important task with obvious practical applications in the biomedical field. Metal-based coordination and organometallic compounds that demonstrate antimicrobial activity was found to exhibit a completely different mode of action compared to antibiotics. That suggests the absence of the mechanism of developing tolerance to these types of compounds at least for 30 - 40 years. Thus, there are numerous organotin (IV), silver (I), …

Analyzing Behavioral Adaptation To Covid-19 And Return To Pre-Pandemic Baselines In A Cohort Of College Seniors, Vlado Vojdanovski

Computer Science Senior Theses

As the critical phase of the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be winding down, it is important to analyze the adjustment to COVID-19 and return to normalcy of various populations. In this study we focus on the behavioral adjustments exhibited by a cohort of N=114 college seniors. To infer COVID-19 adjustment we compare the 2021 year (second year of COVID-19) to the 2020 year (first year of COVID-19) and 2019 (prepandemic baseline year). We begin with a broad analysis between the second and first covid year, finding that the second year of COVID-19 shows significant returns to pre-pandemic baselines on multiple …

Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease Following Influenza Vaccination: A Claims-Based Cohort Study Using Propensity Score Matching, Avram S Bukhbinder, Yaobin Ling, Omar Hasan, Xiaoqian Jiang, Yejin Kim, Kamal N Phelps, Rosemarie E Schmandt, Albert Amran, Ryan Coburn, Srivathsan Ramesh, Qian Xiao, Paul E Schulz

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Prior studies have found a reduced risk of dementia of any etiology following influenza vaccination in selected populations, including veterans and patients with serious chronic health conditions. However, the effect of influenza vaccination on Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk in a general cohort of older US adults has not been characterized.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the risk of incident AD between patients with and without prior influenza vaccination in a large US claims database.

METHODS: Deidentified claims data spanning September 1, 2009 through August 31, 2019 were used. Eligible patients were free of dementia during the 6-year look-back period and≥65 years …

Enhancing Diagnosis Through Technology: Decision Support, Artificial Intelligence, And Beyond, Robert El-Kareh, Dean F Sittig

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patient care in intensive care environments is complex, time-sensitive, and data-rich, factors that make these settings particularly well-suited to clinical decision support (CDS). A wide range of CDS interventions have been used in intensive care unit environments. The field needs well-designed studies to identify the most effective CDS approaches. Evolving artificial intelligence and machine learning models may reduce information-overload and enable teams to take better advantage of the large volume of patient data available to them. It is vital to effectively integrate new CDS into clinical workflows and to align closely with the cognitive processes of frontline clinicians.

Colorimetric Detection Of Norfloxacin And Ceftazidime By Modified Materials, Lalitphan Hongtanee

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Novel approaches were developed for the colorimetric detection of norfloxacin and ceftazidime using chemically modified polymer resin and cotton sponge as sensing materials, respectively. For norfloxacin detection, the optimum condition was achieved by using a resin modified with 6.0 µM Congo red at pH 6 to extract norfloxacin in 10 mL of sample at pH 2. The reaction was completed within 15 minutes. Regarding ceftazidime detection, a cotton sponge functionalized with polyethyleneimine (PEI) was fabricated and characterized by FTIR, SEM, and ninhydrin test. To fabricate the PEI-sponge, 170 mM 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES) was used to modify 1.0 g cotton fibers …

Development Of Paper-Based Electrochemical Device For Detection Of Biomarker Of Infectious Diseases, Chawin Srisomwat

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This dissertation focused on the development of novel point-of-care (POC) testing devices with luminescent and electrochemical detection techniques for the detection of nucleic acid in infectious diseases. This content can be classified into two main parts: (1) the development of a POC sensing device with luminescent detection, and (2) the development of POC testing devices with electrochemical detection. In the first part, an alternating current electroluminescent device for the detection of HIV and HCV cDNA with a label-free platform was developed. The luminosity of the device increased in the presence of the target DNA. The negative charge on the backbone …

Experimental Elucidation Of The Life Cycle Of Drepanocephalus Spathans (Digenea: Echinostomatidae) With Notes On The Morphological Plasticity Of D. Spathans In The United States, Neely R. Alberson, Thomas G. Rosser, Tommy King, Ethan T. Woodyard, Lester Khoo, Wes A. Baumgartner, Daviod J. Wise, Linda M. Pote, Fred L. Cunningham, Matt J. Griffin

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The echinostomatid Drepanocephalus spathans (syn. Drepanocephalus auritus) parasitizes the doublecrested cormorant Phalacrocorax auritus. In North America, the marsh rams-horn snail Planorbella trivolvis and ghost rams-horn snail Biomphalaria havanensis serve as snail intermediate hosts, both of which inhabit catfish aquaculture ponds in the southeastern United States. Studies have demonstrated D. spathans exposure can be lethal to juvenile channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. Two studies were undertaken to elucidate the life cycle of D. spathans to establish a developmental time line. In both studies, D. spathans cercariae collected from naturally infected P. trivolvis individuals were used to infect channel catfish …

Scavenging Vs Hunting Affects Behavioral Traits Of An Opportunistic Carnivore, Mitchell A. Parsons, Andrew Garcia, Julie K. Young

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Background. Human-induced changes to ecosystems transform the availability of resources to predators, including altering prey populations and increasing access to anthropogenic foods. Opportunistic predators are likely to respond to altered food resources by changing the proportion of food they hunt versus scavenge. These shifts in foraging behavior will affect species interactions through multiple pathways, including by changing other aspects of predator behavior such as boldness, innovation, and social structure. Methods. To understand how foraging behavior impacts predator behavior, we conducted a controlled experiment to simulate hunting by introducing a prey model to captive coyotes (Canis latrans) and compared their behavior …

Influence Of Landscape Attributes On Virginia Opossum Density, David A. Bernasconi, Wesley C. Dixon, Matthew T. Hamilton, James L. Helton, Richard B. Chipman, Amy T. Gilbert, James C. Beasley, Olin E. Rhodes Jr., Guha Dharmarajan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

TheVirginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana), North America's only marsupial, has a range extending from southern Ontario, Canada, to the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, and from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific. Despite the Virginia opossum's taxonomic uniqueness in relation to other mammals in North America and rapidly expanding distribution, its ecology remains relatively understudied. Our poor understanding of the ecology of this important mesopredator is especially pronounced in the rural southeastern United States. Our goal was to estimate effects of habitat on opossum density within an extensive multiyear spatial capture‐recapture study. Additionally, we compared the results of this spatial capture‐recapture …

Multidisciplinary Engagement For Fencing Research Informs Efficacy And Rancher-To-Researcher Knowledge Exchange, Matthew Hyde, Stewart W. Breck, Alex Few, Jared Beaver, Joshua Schrecengost, Jim Stone, Cameron Krebs, Russell Talmo, Kari Eneas, Rae Nickerson, Kyran E. Kunkel, Julie K. Young

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Across much of the Western United States, recovery of large carnivore populations is creating new challenges for livestock producers. Reducing the risks of sharing the landscape with recovering wildlife populations is critical to private working lands, which play an vital role in securing future energy, water, food, and fiber for an ever-expanding human population. Fencing is an important mitigation practice that many ranchers, land managers, and conservationists implement to reduce carnivore-livestock conflict. While fencing strategies have been reviewed in the literature, research seldom incorporates knowledge from the people who utilize fencing the most (i.e., livestock producers). Incorporating producers and practitioners …

Longevity Of An Immunocontraceptive Vaccine Effect On Fecundity In Rats, Rebecca Pinkham, Douglas C. Eckery, Richard E. Mauldin, M. Gomm, F. Hill, F. Vial, G. Massei

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Increases in human-wildlife conflicts alongside cultural shifts against lethal control methods are driving the need for alternative wildlife management tools such as fertility control. Contraceptive formulations suitable for oral delivery would permit broader remote application in wildlife species.

This study evaluated the contraceptive effect and immune response to two novel injectable immunocontraceptive formulations targeting the Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH): MAF-IMX294 and MAF-IMX294P conjugates, both identified as having potential as oral contraceptives. The study also explored whether in multiparous species immunocontraceptives may either totally prevent reproduction or also affect litter size.

Female rats, chosen as a model species, were given three …

Rapid Changes In Public Perception Toward A Conservation Initiative, Rebecca Niemiec, Richard E.W. Berl, Mireille Gonzalez, Tara L. Teel, Jonathan Salerno, Stewart Breck, Cassiopeia Camara, Matthew Collins, Courtney Scholtz, Dana Hoag, Kevin R. Crooks

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Rapid, widespread changes in public perceptions and behaviors have the potential to influence conservation outcomes. However, few studies have documented whether and how such shifts occur throughout the span of a conservation initiative. We examined the 2020 ballot initiative to reintroduce wolves into Colorado, which passed with less support than prior surveys had estimated. We conducted a postelection survey of Colorado residents using the same methods as our preelection survey to compare responses between surveys and to official election results. Reported voting in favor of wolf reintroduction in the postelection survey decreased in comparison to voting intentions shared in the …