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Lessons Learned From A 10-Year Collaboration Between Biomedical Engineering And Industrial Design Students In Capstone Design Projects, Jay R. Goldberg, Pascal Malassigné

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Engineers and industrial designers have different approaches to problem solving. Both place heavy emphasis on identification of customer needs, manufacturing methods, and prototyping. Industrial designers focus on aesthetics, ergonomics, ease of use, manufacturing methods, and the user’s experience. They tend to be more visual and more concerned with the interaction between users and products. Engineers focus on functionality, performance requirements, analytical modeling, and design verification and validation. They tend to be more analytical and more concerned with the design of internal components and product performance. Engineers and industrial designers often work together on project teams in industry. Collaboration between the …

The Church Is Familial And Is Built On Spiritually Strong Families, Yat Lau

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Christ’s headship of the church has strong parallels to the husband’s headship of the family unit. As postmodernism, socio-economic factors, egalitarianism, globalization and shifts in the communicational processes drive inter-generational issues to greater heights, insidiously tear families apart—relationally, intellectually and spiritually. On the other hand, the church models the world through its discipleship programs, organization structures and has asserted itself as the spiritual head of the home. This paper will survey Christian young adults to identify key influences on their spiritual formation and family ministries the church provide to support families. The paper will provide a critique on family-equipping ministries …

Electron Impact Excitation-Ionization Of Molecules, Esam Abobakr A. Ali

Doctoral Dissertations

"In the last few decades, the study of atomic collisions by electron-impact has made significant advances. The most difficult case to study is electron impact ionization of molecules for which many approximations have to be made and the validity of these approximations can only be checked by comparing with experiment.

In this thesis, I have examined the Molecular three-body distorted wave (M3DW) or Molecular four-body distorted wave (M4DW) approximations for electron-impact ionization. These models use a fully quantum mechanical approach where all particles are treated quantum mechanically and the post collision interaction (PCI) is treated to all orders of perturbation. …

Gamma Spectroscopy By Artificial Neural Network Coupled With Mcnp, Huseyin Sahiner

Doctoral Dissertations

"While neutron activation analysis is widely used in many areas, sensitivity of the analysis depends on how the analysis is conducted. Even though the sensitivity of the techniques carries error, compared to chemical analysis, its range is in parts per million or sometimes billion. Due to this sensitivity, the use of neutron activation analysis becomes important when analyzing bio-samples. Artificial neural network is an attractive technique for complex systems. Although there are neural network applications on spectral analysis, training by simulated data to analyze experimental data has not been made. This study offers an improvement on spectral analysis and optimization …

Optimization Of Solvent Suppression Sequences For Nmr Analysis Of Aqueous Solutions, Annalise Rose Pfaff

Doctoral Dissertations

"When the use of deuterated solvents is precluded in the NMR analysis of biomolecules in their natural environment, pre-saturation solvent suppression pulse sequences are frequently employed to avoid interference from the overbearing solvent signal. However, these sequences generally require extensive re-adjustment of NMR parameters between samples. For this reason, the EXCEPT (EXponentially Converging Eradication Pulse Train) solvent suppression sequence was developed, which exhibits a tolerance of over an order of magnitude in sample T₁ variation. EXCEPT uses an innovative version of "inversion-recovery nulling" with frequency-selective, low-power adiabatic pulses and exponentially decreasing interpulse delays that effectively reduce solvent net magnetization by …

The Maculoprotective Effect Of A Thiol Antioxidant In Retinal Degeneration Models, Hsiu-Jen Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

"Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of irreversible blindness among adults, age 60 and older, in developed countries. While oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of AMD, clinical studies have shown that dietary antioxidants can delay progression of AMD. Currently, there is no FDA-approved treatment for AMD. Therefore, we hypothesized that N-acetylcysteine amide (NACA), a thiol antioxidant, would protect retinal pigment epithelium and impede the progression of retinal degeneration. The goal of this work was to evaluate the efficacy of NACA in preventing retinal pigment epithelial cell and photoreceptor death in AMD models. To achieve this, we …

Drinking Water Disinfection By-Products Detection, Formation And The Precursors Removal Study, Runmiao Xue

Doctoral Dissertations

"Haloacetic acids (HAAs) and trihalomethanes (THMs) are two groups of commonly found disinfection by-products (DBPs). Iodinated THMs and HAAs were observed after disinfection of water containing high level of iodide and are proved to be more toxic than their corresponding chlorinated and brominated species. In the presented dissertation, a novel rapid and sensitive high performance ion chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPIC-MS/MS) method has been developed for simultaneous analysis of all these HAAs, bromate, bromide, iodide, and iodate, seventeen compounds in total, without any tedious sample preparation. Besides an efficient analytical method for the detection of DBPs, seeking for a green disinfectant …

Discrete Ordinates Ct Organ Dose Simulator (Doctors), Edward T. Norris

Doctoral Dissertations

"Computed tomography (CT) has become pervasive in medical diagnostics as improved imaging techniques and processing algorithms provide higher quality information to doctors. However, the exponentially increasing usage of CT has raised concerns regarding long term low-dose radiological risks.

Currently, the dose to patients is computed using Monte Carlo methods and experimental tests. In other areas of radiation transport, deterministic codes have been shown to be much faster than Monte Carlo codes.

Currently, no deterministic methodology exists to automatically generate a spatially distributed dose profile from a CT voxel phantom. This work proposes a new code, Discrete Ordinate CT Organ Dose …

Advanced Analytical Strategies To Determine Biomedical Parameters For Medical Diagnostics, Drug Delivery, And Therapy, Sisi Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

"Biomedical parameters are critical for diseases prognosis, diagnosis and therapy. Many research groups have dedicated their studies to develop analytical instrumentation and apply analytical methods to determine biomedical parameters that have the potential to help with disease control and increase public health. This dissertation focuses on three major aspects of analytical strategies development and applications: 1) detection of pH changes caused by nanotoxicity (induced by TiO₂ nanoparticles) using newly developed micro-pH sensor, 2) quantification of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) biomarkers by high-performance liquid chromatography - tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), and 3) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of porous wall …

Mechanistic Studies Of Nucleic Acid Chaperone Activities Of Retroviral Nucleocapsid Protein, Lichao Sun

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I have used single molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (sm-FRET), as a nanoscale spectroscopic ruler to gain quantitative, molecular-level understanding about the kinetics and mechanism of NC-chaperoned TAR sequence rearrangements. Firstly, I have resolved the complex kinetics and underlying reaction pathways of TAR sequence annealing in the presence of HIV-1 NC over a broad NC concentration by performing the time-resolved sm-FRET measurements in a unique aggregation-free environment. I have further gained the insights that the NC-induced secondary structural changed of TAR hairpins modulate the annealing pathways and consequently affect the overall kinetics of the TAR sequence annealing. …

Buy For The Sake Of Your Baby: Guardian Consumerism In Twentieth Century America, Mark Vandriel

Theses and Dissertations

“Buy For the Sake of Your Baby” argues that consumerism for infants in twentieth century America was an exceptional type of consumer society. Because the parents who bought the consumer goods could not effectively communicate with their children who used these products, parents frequently purchased items for their babies as acts of good parenting. These parent consumers wanted to do what was right for their children, but because they could not effectively communicate with their children, they were particularly susceptible to influence from outside groups. Businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and the federal government recognized throughout the twentieth century how to effectively …

Synthesis, Characterization And Application Of Polymer-Grafted Nanoparticles, Yang Zheng

Theses and Dissertations

This work focused on the synthesis and characterization of polymer-grafted nanoparticles for various applications including drug-delivery, directed self-assembly and mechanical reinforcement applications. The surfaces of inorganic particles were modified with polymers of different composition, chain length, graft density and polymer architecture depending on the specific needs of each project. The surface modifications were mainly achieved by surface-initiated reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization, which is a very versatile technique to prepare nanocomposites with desired properties.

The first part of this work (Chapters 2 & 3) focused on novel self-assembly techniques. Chapter 2 described the design and characterization of a …

Queer Practices, Queer Rhetoric, Queer Technologies: Studies Of Digital Performativity In Gendered Network Culture, Gerald Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

The question of gender and gender representation has been an issue for STEM fields like computer science and software engineering for decades. This dissertation argues that the impact of labor practices in such fields promotes gender disparity by masking gender, and often sexuality, behind myths of mastery and correctness. In this dissertation, I approach technical objects like computer code and protocol specifications from the BitTorrent and Bitcoin software packages, and argue that gendered forms of labor that have existed since the inception of computer programming as a profession are evident in technical documents like code. Furthermore, I argue that this …

Understanding Math Anxiety In Children: Deciphering The Contribution Of Math Achievement, Working Memory, And General Anxiety, Emma Kate C. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Children with learning disabilities frequently have comorbid anxiety, with some experiencing Math Anxiety (MA). Presently, research on MA in children with a math learning disability (MLD) is limited, and there are no childhood electroencephalography (EEG) studies of MA exploring the neurobiological basis of MA. The current study sought (1) to examine the relationship between MA and math achievement, working memory (WM), and EEG variables; (2) to clarify the distinction between MA and MLD by controlling for GAD; and (3) to examine if WM mediates the relationship between MA and math achievement. The study included 30 children with MLD and 29 …

Development Of An Electrochemical Method To Study Real-Time In Vivo Neurotransmitter Modulation, Srimal Aminda Samaranayake

Theses and Dissertations

Histamine and serotonin are important biogenic amines that regulate vital brain functions. These two transmitters are thoughts to be involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s and affective disorders including depression. Histamine and serotonin are believed to regulate each other but their fundamental neuromodulation mechanisms are not well understood. This lack of understanding makes brain disorders implicating these two transmitters difficult to diagnose and treat. Our lab extensively investigates the serotonergic system to understand serotonin’s neurochemistry in the brain. However, histamine is relatively understudied with respect to other biogenic amines because of an absence of suitable analytical tools. …

Subsurface Transport In A North Inlet, South Carolina Salt Marsh: A Porewater Salinity Model, Carolyn Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

Subsurface transport in coastal salt marshes influences the nutrient budget of coastal environments, but is not fully understood. To expand our understanding of this transport, a simple numerical model was developed. The model simulated vertical transport of salt through the surficial muds at a North Inlet marsh on the coastal plain of South Carolina. To improve the model, a tracer study was utilized to calculate the average velocity of groundwater flow through the system. The model was compared with porewater salinity measured using tension samplers and passive diffusion samplers. Each method produced different, uncorrelated results. However, accounting for macro-pores in …

Investigating The Feedstock Properties And Process Conditions Influencing The Characteristics Of Products Generated From The Hydrothermal Carbonization Of Organic Feedstocks, Liang Li

Theses and Dissertations

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a novel environmentally beneficial thermal conversion process for the transformation of organic feedstocks to value-added products. However, little is known about the role of feedstock properties and/or process conditions during carbonization. This study was conducted to determine the parameters most influential during the HTC of organic feedstocks. Experiments and statistical analyses were conducted to: (1) determine the effect of specific feedstocks, feedstock interactions, and process conditions on carbonization product characteristics; (2) understand how initial liquid characteristics influence product characteristics and evaluate the significance of these initial liquid characteristics in predicting product characteristics; and (3) develop statistical …

Exploring The Role Of Culture In Online Searching Behavior From A Cognitive Perspective, Sara Chizari

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates differences in Web search behavior from a “cultural cognition” perspective, which was introduced by Nisbett and Norenzayan (2002). To explore the impact of culture and thinking styles on searching behavior is the objective. The overarching hypothesis is that there are cultural differences in cognitive styles and that these differences may lead into different searching behaviors. The findings help search engine designers provide an adaptive navigation support to users from different cultural backgrounds and cognitive styles. The fundamental research question underpinning this research becomes what are the relationships between users’ cognitive styles and cultural background, and their Web …

Garlic Inhibits Inflammation During Dengue Infection, Alex R. Hall

Theses and Dissertations

Dengue virus (DENV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes significant human disease and mortality in the tropics and subtropics. There has been a recent global trend of increased epidemic activity, and DENV infection is considered a serious emerging health problem worldwide. A relatively unexplored approach to develop new treatments for dengue virus infection and the prevention of severe disease development is through investigation of natural medicines. Inflammation plays both beneficial and harmful roles during the host response to dengue virus infection. Several studies have proposed that it is the oxidative stress response induced by dengue virus infection that is responsible …

Functional Role Of The Homeobox Transcription Factor Six1 In Neoplastic Transformation Of Human Keratinocytes, Maria Hosseinipour

Theses and Dissertations

The homeobox transcription factor SIX1 contributes to both tumor development and progression. Numerous studies have determined that the inappropriate expression of embryonic genes, in particular transcription factors, contributes to carcinogenesis. SIX1 is essential for the development of numerous organs including the auditory and olfactory system as well as the kidney, by promoting proliferation, survival and migration of progenitor cells during embryogenesis. SIX1 has also been shown to increase cancer cell proliferation, survival and invasion. The aberrant expression of SIX1 occurs in numerous adult and pediatric cancers. We have previously determined that our in-vitro model system for HPV16-mediated tumorigenesis shares many …

Individual Differences In Markers Of Cholinergic Signaling Correlating To Fear And Extinction Learning, Grace C. Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) results when individuals are exposed to a life threatening event, assault, serious injury, or other traumatic incident. Individuals with PTSD are impaired in their ability to extinguish fear memories, resulting in intrusive symptoms that impair their ability to live otherwise healthy lives. It remains unclear why some individuals exposed to traumatic events develop PTSD while others do not. Acetylcholine has been shown to play a critical role in fear learning, but its role in fear extinction is not well understood. This study utilized a rat model of fear learning and extinction to determine if individual differences …

The Regulation Of Glycoprotein130 Dependent Inflammatory Cytokines One Basal And Mechanical Stimuli Induced Protein Synthesis In Myotubes And Skeletal Muscles, Song Gao

Theses and Dissertations

Maintaining skeletal muscle mass has a well-documented role in health and quality of life. Two members of IL-6 family of cytokines, IL-6 and LIF, and have a paradoxical role in skeletal muscle mass regulation: short term elevation of IL-6 and LIF plays a key role in mechanical stimuli induced muscle growth and muscle hypertrophy, while the long term elevated IL-6 and LIF regulate muscle wasting during cancer cachexia by disrupting muscle protein turnover regulation. The regulation of muscle protein synthesis is an important determinant of mechanical stimuli induced muscle hypertrophy and muscle wasting during cancer cachexia. IL-6 family of cytokines …

Flipped Classroom Pedagogical Model And Middle-Level Mathematics Achievment: An Action Research Study, Cassondra Leo

Theses and Dissertations

Flipped Classroom Pedagogical Model and Middle-Level Mathematics Achievement: An Action Research Study describes an integers and rational numbers unit (TIRN) over a sixweek period in a seventh-grade flipped mathematics classroom. The identified problem of practice centers on these twenty-three student participants’ low achievement on math tests. The purpose of the study is to determine the relationship between a flipped classroom pedagogy and student achievement. The participant-researcher aimed to differentiate instruction for these seventh-grade student-participants using a flipped model that included videos. This flipped classroom pedagogical model allowed for additional time for the participant-researcher to assist struggling student-participants and to foster …

Embodied Madness: Contextualizing Biological Stress Among 19th And 20th-Century Institutionalized Euro-American Women, Madeline M. Atwell

Theses and Dissertations

The late 19th and early 20th-centuries in the United States were periods in which white women of middle and low socio-economic status were admitted into insane asylums at a higher rate than men for the first time in recorded history. An existent body of literature helps us to comprehend the social and cultural climate in which the institutionalization of women was both acceptable and commonplace; yet few studies have paired this research with the information that can be revealed on the bones of those institutionalized. A sample of 53 institutionalized women from the Robert J. Terry Anatomical Collection were analyzed …

Impact Of Prenatal Exposure To Antidepressants On Adverse Birth Outcomes, Sudeepti Pahuja

Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: There has been an increase in the diagnosis of depression and the use of antidepressants, especially in women of childbearing age, in the past decade. This has drawn attention to the potential impact of depression and antidepressants on pregnancy and fetal development.

OBJECTIVE: (i) To determine the impact of prenatal exposure to antidepressant on the risk of adverse birth outcomes. (ii) To assess the effect of type of antidepressants on the risk of adverse birth outcomes using selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors as the referent group. (iii) To assess the effect of duration and time of prenatal exposure …

Prenatal Methylmercury Exposure Through Rice Consumption In Rural China, Chuan Hong

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Methylmercury is one of the most toxic forms of mercury, which severely afflicts the developing fetus. Methylmercury exposure occurs not only through fish consumption but also through rice consumption. However, rice does not contain the same beneficial micronutrients that fish/shellfish has. Therefore, prenatal methylmercury exposure through maternal rice consumption may potentially increase adverse health effects on the developing fetus.

Objectives: The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the magnitude of prenatal methylmercury exposure through rice consumption and the relationship between maternal mercury biomarkers and birth outcomes.

Methods: A total of 398 pregnant women were recruited at parturition in …

Depressive Symptoms Association With Health Outcomes And Treatment In Older Americans With Diabetes, Lashonda Jovon Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Diabetes remains the 7th leading cause of death in the United States. Diabetes is a major public health concern of its own, but when you add the comorbidity of depression, diabetes outcomes are amplified. This dissertation examines how depressive symptomatology and treatment for depression are associated with selfreported health (SRH) and diabetes control.

Methods: Chi-square and logistic regression were used to analyze data from the Health and Retirement Study (2012). We assessed the associations between SRH and diabetes control with depressive symptomatology data.

Results: In our sample (n=4374), 19% of respondents reported high depressive symptomatology and …

Air- Sea Interactions And Ocean Dynamics In The Southwest Tropical Indian Ocean, Jessica Maureen Burns

Theses and Dissertations

The Southwest Tropical Indian Ocean (SWTIO) features a unique, seasonal upward lift of the thermocline, which is known as the Seychelles-Chagos Thermocline Ridge (SCTR; 55°E-65°E, 5°S-12°S). It is known that a high correlation exists between the depth of the thermocline and sea surface temperature (SST; a key ingredient for tropical cyclogenesis). With a particular focus on 2012/2013, this study reveals the dynamic properties of the SCTR that play an important role in the modulation of tropical cyclones in the SWTIO. Phenomena including Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are also well correlated to cyclogenesis through changes …

Causes Of Satisfaction And Disatisfaction For Diversity Resident Librarians – A Mixed Methods Study Using Herzberg’S Motivation-Hygiene Theory, Jason Kelly Alston

Theses and Dissertations

Diversity residency librarian programs are post-MLIS programs aimed at providing recently graduated professionals with real work experience, with the expressed goal of recruiting and retaining a more-diverse workforce in professional librarianship.

This mixed-method study is one of the first empirical studies examining diversity residencies, which – at the time of this writing – have existed for more than 30 years. The study identifies concerns raised in the mostly anecdotal literature about diversity residencies, and 102 individuals identified as current or former diversity resident librarians participated in the quantitative portion of the study. In the quantitative portion of this study, there …

Early Life Factors And Health Outcomes In Children And Mothers, Olubunmi Olufunke Orekoya

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focused on early life exposures and their impact on children and mothers’ health. It consists of three distinct studies with an overarching goal of understanding how early life factors influence health outcomes among children and mothers. The broad aims are: 1) to examine the association between maternal gestational weight gain and offspring weight at 1 year, while assessing the mediating role of birth weight; 2) to determine the association between breastfeeding practices and development of allergic conditions (eczema/skin allergy, hay fever/respiratory allergy, and asthma); and 3) to examine the association between breastfeeding and postpartum weight retention at 12 …