Digital Commons Network^™

Estimating The Incidence Of Japanese Encephalitis In Divisions Of Bangladesh, Craig Michael Rothenberg

Public Health Theses

Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is a mosquito-borne viral disease responsible for 30,000 to 50,000 reported cases and up to 15,000 reported deaths every year. The disease is a significant public health concern in Bangladesh, but there is no regular surveillance or immunization for JE in the country. The objective of this study is to determine whether a practical model to estimate the incidence of JE in Bangladesh can be developed using data on population, environmental characteristics, and/or vector distribution for JE-endemic countries in Asia and the Western Pacific. Information on JE incidence, area, land cover, climate, population characteristics, land elevation, and …

Modeling The Zoonotic Transmission Dynamics Of Nipah Virus: Implications For Outbreak Control And Model-Guided Fieldwork, Natasha Wenzel

Public Health Theses

Introduction: Nipah virus is considered a biosafety level-4 pathogen that is endemic to bats of the genus Pteropus. Infection in humans presents clinically as febrile encephalitis with an extremely high case-fatality rate (78.2%). Outbreaks of Nipah virus infection have occurred in Bangladesh and India almost annually since 2001, most recently in January 2013.

Methods: To elucidate Nipah virus persistence at the endemic host and human population level we developed a Susceptible-Exposed-Infectious-Recovered dynamic model and parameterized it from published epidemiological case data and serological bats surveys on the Nipah Virus-Bangladesh variant. We conducted a Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation to estimate …

Would Utility Models Improve American Innovation? Evidence From Brazil, Germany, And The United States, Tyler J. Boschert

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Dragnet Nation: A Quest For Privacy, Security, And Freedom In A World Of Relentless Surveillance Chapter 1: Hacked, Julia Angwin

Colorado Technology Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Muddied Waters: Exploring Iowa's Water Policy And Practices, Jorgen D. Rose

Honors Program Theses

Clean, usable fresh water is a precious and valuable resource, but it is one that we often mistreat and misuse. Surface water in particular is extremely vulnerable to human actions and influences; nowhere is this more apparent than in agricultural states like Iowa, where nonpoint-source pollution (runoff) has a dramatic effect on our rivers, lakes, and streams. However, despite this continuing decline in the quality of Iowa’s water, there exists very little public policy aimed at dealing with the problems of nutrient contamination and other forms of nonpoint-source pollution. Furthermore, what policy does exist is either ineffective or insufficient. The …

Sustainability Of Sustainability: Exploring Alternatives In Alternative Energy, Corey C. Cooling

Honors Program Theses

In light of a gap in the literature of what makes or breaks student biodiesel conversion programs, this thesis will give a review and analysis of select existing biodiesel conversion programs and suggest a model reflecting the characteristics of successful student programs.

The study’s research questions are:

1. What are the common themes or factors successful programs exhibit?

2. What institutional factors create a productive environment for biodiesel programs?

3. Can the tactics of successful programs be generalized?

Firstly, I define successful programs as programs that are financially feasible, develop student skills, lower the environmental impact of universities and foster …

Association Between Parenting Processes And Child Behavior Outcomes: The Moderating And Mediating Role Of Child Characteristics, Taylor Elizabeth Ann Goetzinger

Honors Program Theses

Past research demonstrates the importance parents have in determining the outcomes in their children’s lives. Of these outcomes, child academic achievement is extremely important. In investigating past research on parenting practices and styles, factors such as parental monitoring and involvement as well as styles of authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting were examined to determine an association with academic achievement in middle school children. Learning disabilities, mental disorders, child personality characteristics and child academic characteristics were other measures explored as buffers in the parenting to academic achievement relationship. Mediating effects were also examined. The current study sampled 179 middle school students …

Dengue Epidemiology In An Urban Slum Community In Salvador, Brazil, Kristine Gauthier

Public Health Theses

Brazil has experienced a major increase in the incidence of dengue fever and severe dengue since the mid-1990s. Due to incomplete vector-control and transmission prevention efforts, all four serotypes of the dengue virus now circulate in Brazil. Communities such as Pau da Lima, an urban slum in the city of Salvador, Brazil, face a high burden of disease. Beginning in 2009 enhanced surveillance for dengue fever and other acute febrile illnesses has been conducted at the São Marcos Emergency Center (CESM), the only public urgent care health center in Pau da Lima. This sentinel surveillance site serves as a model …

Cost Effectiveness Of Non-Laboratory Cvd Screening In Uzbekistan, Shefali Kumar

Public Health Theses

Background-- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk scores that require laboratory testing (e.g., cholesterol testing) are often used to identify high- and low-risk individuals for primary CVD prevention interventions, such as statin treatment. However, laboratory testing can be expensive and difficult to conduct in resource-limited settings. The aim of this study was to compare CVD risk characterization and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of non-laboratory based and laboratory-based CVD risk scores for adults in Tashkent City, Uzbekistan.

Methods--CVD risk for 853 adults (376 men, 477 women) from Tashkent City, Uzbekistan was assessed using laboratory-based and non-laboratory-based scores calculated from 2002 Uzbekistan Health Examination Survey …

Fluid Flow Shear Stress Over Podocytes Is Increased In The Solitary Kidney., Tarak Srivastava, Gianni E. Celsi, Mukut Sharma, Hongying Dai, Ellen T. Mccarthy, Melanie Ruiz, Patricia A. Cudmore, Uri S. Alon, Ram Sharma, Virginia A. Savin

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Glomerular hyperfiltration is emerging as the key risk factor for progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Podocytes are exposed to fluid flow shear stress (FFSS) caused by the flow of ultrafiltrate within Bowman's space. The mechanism of hyperfiltration-induced podocyte injury is not clear. We postulated that glomerular hyperfiltration in solitary kidney increases FFSS over podocytes.

METHODS: Infant Sprague-Dawley rats at 5 days of age and C57BL/6J 14-week-old adult mice underwent unilateral nephrectomy. Micropuncture and morphological studies were then performed on 20- and 60-day-old rats. FFSS over podocytes in uninephrectomized rats and mice was calculated using the recently published equation …

Landscape, Demographic And Climatic Associations With Human West Nile Virus Occurrence Regionally In 2012 In The United States Of America, John P. Degroote, Ramanathan Sugumaran, Mark Ecker

Faculty Work

After several years of low West Nile virus (WNV) occurrence in the United States of America (USA), 2012 witnessed large outbreaks in several parts of the country. In order to understand the outbreak dynamics, spatial clustering and landscape, demographic and climatic associations with WNV occurrence were investigated at a regional level in the USA. Previous research has demonstrated that there are a handful of prominent WNV mosquito vectors with varying ecological requirements responsible for WNV transmission in the USA. Published range maps of these important vectors were georeferenced and used to define eight functional ecological regions in the coterminous USA. …

Switched-Capacitor Voltage Doubler Design Using 0.5 Μm Technology, Hanfeng Wang

Theses

While integrated circuit (IC) power management has been an eternal topic for chip designers, inductor based DC-DC converters have been dominant in the field for years. However, because of the natures of inductors: large electro-magnetic interference, high coupling noise, and difficult silicon fabrication process, they are not favorable to on-chip solutions. Switched-capacitor (SC) DC-DC converters, which adopt capacitors for their energy storage components, have become increasingly popular among both the academia and the industry, because, apparently, they avoid the drawbacks of the inductor counterparts, and can be directly implemented on-chip without additional fabrication process.

In this paper, we will investigate …

A Collaborated Process With A Wireless Autonomous Vehicle At It's Center, Thomas B. Stout, Steve C. Hsiung

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Developing partnerships between high schools, community colleges and universities is critical for the successful transitions to a lifelong STEM careers. How do you develop these partnerships? The sharing of a technology platform such as autonomous vehicles can bridge the gap by using a common core group of materials. Collaborations between teachers and faculty indifferent schools that share common interests in teaching control systems and robotics technology can be an excellent start. The university as catalyst in the process by designing the curriculum, system hardware and software then through the common interest deploying them in the high schools and community college. …

Enabling Multidisciplinary Perspective In Student Design Project: Fast Fashion And Sustainable Manufacturing Systems, Vukica M. Jovanovic, Manveer Mann, Petros J. Katsioloudis, Daniel L. Dickerson

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Fast fashion retailers are growing faster than any other type of retailer due to their ability to offer trendy low-cost clothing mimicking latest runway trends with turnaround times as low as two weeks. Fueled by short production and distribution lead times, fast fashion retailers combine rapid prototyping, small batches of fashionable product designs, and efficient transportations and delivery. Among others, the methods applied in fast-fashion industry include mass customization and personalization, and lean manufacturing. Current trends in manufacturing lean towards the application of digital and rapid manufacturing methods and increased use of product lifecycle management, knowledge management systems and computer …

Dissemination Of Microprocessor Courses Through Classroom And Interactive Cyber-Enabled Technologies, Steve C. Hsiung, John M. Ritz, Ece Yaprak, Thomas B. Stout, Richard L. Jones

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The project is in the middle stages of the implementation. There seems to be a positive attitude of learning and using of the training system and curriculum package by all project staffs. Microchip, Inc. and microEngineering Labs, Inc. have donated supplies to support the hardware and software development for this project. The next objectives are team training, recruitment of interested trainees/teachers to participate in training for summers 2014, and assess the effectiveness of the implementations with teachers and students. Photo 2 is the project logo that describes all the concepts of this project.

Comparison Of Manufacturing Techniques For Composites Subjected To High Speed Impact, Kenneth Gollins

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Neuroevolution And An Application Of An Agent Based Model For Financial Market, Anil Yaman

Dissertations and Theses

Market prediction is one of the most difficult problems for the machine learning community. Even though, successful trading strategies can be found for the training data using various optimization methods, these strategies usually do not perform well on the test data as expected. Therefore, selection of the correct strategy becomes problematic. In this study, we propose an evolutionary algorithm that produces a variation of trader agents ensuring that the trading strategies they use are different. We discuss that because the selection of the correct strategy is difficult, a variety of agents can be used simultaneously in order to reduce risk. …

Tableaux Vivant For Suffrage; An Evening Of Art And Politics At The Maxine Elliot Theatre, Shannon Murphy

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Biobased Amphiphiles As Molecular Gelators, Nneoma C. Ezeude

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Tradition And Transformation In The Work Of Erica Hunt, Harryette Mullen, And Akilah Oliver, Janine D. Thornton

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Short Stories Of Jhumpa Lahiri, Stuart Waterman

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Yellow House, Chris Dielschnieder

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

The Study Of The Degradation Rates Of The Hexabromocyclododecane Isomers With Polysulfides At 25 Oc And Ph 9 In 80% Water / 20% Methanol, John H. Wilson

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Simultaneous Adsorption Of 11 Volatile Organic Compounds By An Activated Carbon Made From Polystyrene Sulfonic Acid-Based Organic Salt, Alejandro Smith

Dissertations and Theses

Activated carbon is used in water treatment worldwide due to its ability to adsorb many different contaminants from water. The high adsorption capacity of activated carbon is linked to its high internal surface area and micro/meso- porosity. In this work an activated carbon obtained from polystyrene sulfonic acid-based organic salt was examined to simultaneously adsorb eleven volatile organic compounds from aqueous solution. Adsorption data were modeled with different isotherms to determine the equilibrium adsorptive capacities for these compounds. The performance of the polymer-based activated carbon was then compared with that of a commercial wood-based activated carbon. The results indicate that …

Comparative Phylogeography Of Glassfrogs (Vitreorama) Endemic To The Brazilian Altantic Rainforest, Zoe Spanos

Dissertations and Theses

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest harbors one of the most diverse faunas of the world, including 2-3% of all known vertebrate species. Understanding the role of both climate and landscape in shaping current biodiversity patterns has been the focus of many recent phylogeographic studies. Here I explore multiple factors thought to have impacted the generation of local diversity in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (AF) using two montane, stream-associated species of glassfrogs – V. eurygnatha and V. uranoscopa. I integrate species distribution modeling, path analysis, and molecular data to test the role of climatic stability, rivers, mountain chains, and geographic distance in …

A Briny Crossroads Salt, Slavery, And Sectionalism In The Kanawha Salines, Cyrus Forman

Dissertations and Theses

The Kanawha Salines are a place whose history challenges conventional narratives and popular assumptions about slavery and freedom in the antebellum South. The paradoxical nature of slavery in this locale can be seen in the identity of the first documented people forced to labor in the salt works. A half century before enslaved Africans were imported to this region, European women and their families were kidnapped, enslaved, and marched to the salt mines by Native Americans: “In 1755, the Indians had carried Mary Ingles, her newborn baby, and others as captives....to this spot on the Kanawha to attain a salt …

Methodological Advancements For Improving Performance And Generating Ensemble Ecological Niche Models, Robert Boria

Dissertations and Theses

This study employs spatial filtering of occurrence data with the aim of reducing overfitting to sampling bias in ecological niche models (ENMs). Sampling bias in geographic space leads to localities that may also be biased in environmental space. If so, the model can overfit to those biases. As a preliminary test addressing this issue, we used Maxent, bioclimatic variables, and occurrence localities of a broadly distributed Malagasy tenrec, Microgale cowani (Family Tenrecidae: Subfamily Oryzorictinae). We modeled the abiotically suitable area of this species using three distinct datasets: unfiltered, spatially filtered, and rarefied unfiltered localities. To quantify overfitting and model performance, …

Elephant In The Dark, Eli Samuel

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

Assessing Satellite Image Data Fusion With Information Theory Metrics, James Cross

Dissertations and Theses

A common problem in remote sensing is estimating an image with high spatial and high spectral resolution given separate sources of measurements from satellite instruments, one having each of these desirable properties. This thesis presents a survey of seven families of algorithms which have been developed to provide this common pattern of satellite image data fusion. They are all tested on artificially degraded sets of satellite data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (“MODIS”) with known ideal results, and evaluated using the commonly accepted data fusion assessment metrics spectral angle mapper (“SAM”) and Erreur Relative Globale Adimensionelle de Synth`ese (“ERGAS”). …

Momentum 2014, Sam Chase

Momentum

A journal of undergraduate research