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Koh-Based Modified Solvay Process: Optimization And Kinetics Studies, Aya Abdel-Hamid Mourad

Dissertations

While desalination of seawater is important for meeting the water demand, the technology produces large volumes of reject brine and CO₂, causing environmental pollution. Solvay process (based on ammonia, NH₃) and modified Solvay process (based on calcium oxide, CaO) try to manage these wastes. However, more attention is needed to overcome different limitations of these processes such as, alkaline solubility, operating temperature, maintaining high pH value, and low sodium (Na⁺) removal efficiency, which does not exceed 35%. The aim of this work is to introduce an alternative alkaline, namely potassium hydroxide (KOH) and investigate …

Resource Allocation For Heterogeneous Wireless Networks Of Devices With Multi-Connectivity, Monika Prakash

Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to designing an effective resource allocation scheme for multi-connectivity (MC) networks. MC is a feature that allows devices to utilize the radio resources from more than one base station simultaneously. With MC anticipated to play a key role in satisfying the stringent QoS requirements of the next-generation networks (5G/6G), it is crucial to efficiently allocate the resources across multiple connections of one or more radio access technologies (RATs).
/="/">Currently, there is a huge demand on the availability of radio spectrum resources with a large volume of different types of data traffic (Internet-of-things, human-based, machine-machine) traversing the …

Evaluation Of The Proliferation Of Electromagnetic Radiation In Smart Indoor Environment And Subsequent Absorption On Human Head By Simulation And Factorial Analysis, Reshna Raveendran

Dissertations

Smart buildings using 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) acknowledge themselves as one of the undeniable byproducts occasioned from the fifth Industrial Revolution and are seen as the best solution adopted by the built environment. Smart buildings are publicized to carry a spectrum of benefits for building occupants ranging from actively saving electricity, ensuring operational efficiency to facilitating health support, wellness and productivity. Conversely, the negative aspects associated with smart buildings are often marginalized, and the limited research produced so far makes them seemingly non-existent. Literature review informs us that a smart building being subjected to external and artificial radiation …

Anti-Retinal Igg Antibodies In Patients With Early And Advanced Type 2 Macular Telangiectasia, Samuel Mclenachan, Chandrakumar Balaratnasingam, Rachael C. Heath Jeffery, Shang Chih Chen, Dan Zhang, Geoffrey Chan, Rosa Dolz-Marco, Tommaso Bacci, Johnny Lo, Steven Wiffen, Lawrence A. Yannuzzi, Fred K. Chen

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Type 2 idiopathic macular telangiectasia (MacTel-2) is a progressive adult-onset macular disease associated with bilateral perifoveal vascular changes, Muller cell degeneration and increased blood-retinal barrier permeability. The pathophysiological mechanisms of MacTel-2 remain unclear, however it was previously reported that anti-retinal antibodies in MacTel-2 patients are a significant feature of the disease. In this study, we aimed to compare the prevalence of anti-retinal antibodies in patients MacTel-2, healthy controls and patients with other retinal diseases. MacTel-2 patients diagnosed with multimodal imaging were enrolled and their disease severities were graded using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. For comparison, patients with age-related macular degeneration …

Predictors Of Medication Nonadherence Among Hypertensive Clients In A Ghanaian Population: Application Of The Hill-Bone And Perceived Barriers To Treatment Compliance Scale, Eric Woode, Eric Boakye-Gyasi, Yaa Obirikorang, Evans A. Adu, Christian Obirikorang, Emmanuel Acheampong, Enoch Odame-Anto

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background and Aim: Nonadherence to antihypertensive medication impairs optimal blood pressure and is influenced by multiple interrelating factors. Knowing the complexity of medication nonadherence and its associated factors is essential for intervention strategies. This study evaluated the predictors of medication nonadherence among hypertensive clients in a Ghanaian population. Methods: This was a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted at the Hypertensive Clinic of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana. A self-designed questionnaire, the Hill-Bone Compliance to High Blood Pressure Therapy and Perceived Barriers to Treatment Compliance Scales, were used for data collection from 246 hypertensives. Data …

Social (In) Justice, Climate Change And Climate Policy In Western Australia, Naomi Joy Godden, Doreen Wijekoon, Kylie Wrigley

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Climate change is a social justice issue, and people who experience disadvantage and marginalisation are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In 2019–2020, the government of the state of Western Australia (WA) held the world’s first inquiry into climate change and health. The Inquiry report, submissions, and hearing transcripts make an important contribution to a small but growing body of evidence that climate change exacerbates and reinforces existing social inequalities in WA in areas such as health, economics, gender relations, and access and inclusion. However, in late-2020, the WA government released its 38-page Climate Policy, with very limited …

Examining The Association Between Fictive Kin Care, Parental Attachment And Emotional Distress In College Students, Roxanne Watts

Master's Theses

Having a supportive and secure relationship with parents can predict less emotional distress in college students. In addition to parental support, many families leverage fictive kin caregivers to provide support. This is especially true in communities of racial and ethnic minorities. The present study investigated the association between fictive kin care, parental relationships, and emotional distress in college students. One hundred fourteen (N = 114) college students completed measures that assessed parental and fictive-kin relationships, social support, and emotional distress. A COVID-19 pandemic-related distress measure was also administered. Three hypotheses were tested. First, it was hypothesized that fictive kin …

An Opportunity For Primary Prevention Research In Psychotic Disorders, Elliot S. Gershon, S. Hong Lee, Xuan Zhou, John A. Sweeney, Carol Tamminga, Godfrey A. Pearlson, Brett A. Clementz, Matcheri S. Keshavan, Ney Alliey-Rodriguez, Matthew Hudgens-Haney

School of Medicine Publications

An opportunity has opened for research into primary prevention of psychotic disorders, based on progress in endophenotypes, genetics, and genomics. Primary prevention requires reliable prediction of susceptibility before any symptoms are present. We studied a battery of measures where published data supports abnormalities of these measurements prior to appearance of initial psychosis symptoms. These neurobiological and behavioral measurements included cognition, eye movement tracking, Event Related Potentials, and polygenic risk scores. They generated an acceptably precise separation of healthy controls from outpatients with a psychotic disorder.

Methods

The Bipolar and Schizophrenia Network on Intermediate Phenotypes (B-SNIP) measured this battery …

Developing Situation Awareness In Simulation Prebriefing, Amanda L. Potter, Kristina Dreifuerst, Aimee A. Woda

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

BACKGROUND:

Prebriefing before simulation is a recommended practice that increases learner satisfaction and improves performance. Promoting situation awareness through prebriefing facilitates optimal learning outcomes.

METHOD:

Endsley's Model of Situation Awareness is applied to the cognitive work of nursing practice that occurs during the prebriefing phase of simulation. Perceiving, comprehending, and projecting about elements of a situation lead to clinical judgement, reasoning, decision making, and ultimately nursing actions.

RESULTS:

Developing situation awareness in prebriefing is a supported process that connects learners' prior knowledge and experience with the needed knowledge, skills, and abilities in the simulation environment. These mental models become the …

Administering Change Orders In Highway Projects, Muaz O. Ahmed, Rayan H. Assaad, Islam H. El-Adaway, Emily Echele, Kyle Govro, John Watson

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Change orders continue to be one of the main challenges faced by the construction industry. Despite many previous research efforts related to managing change orders in the construction industry, there is still a lack of research that investigates the contractual aspects of change orders for transportation projects. This paper tackles this knowledge gap within the context of Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) highway projects. To this end, the authors used an integrated research method comprised of (1) selection and analysis of ODOT case studies; (2) identification of the main change orders aspects that lead to conflicts, claims, and/or disputes in …

Understanding The Role Of Nano-Tio2 On The Toxicity Of Pb On C. Dubia Through Modeling—Is It Additive Or Synergistic?, Xuesong Liu, Jianmin Wang, Yue-Wern Huang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Nano-TiO₂ can remarkably increase lead (Pb) toxicity in aquatic organisms. However, the mechanism of this toxicity, additive or synergistic, is not well understood. To explore this mechanism, we inspected the role of nano-TiO₂ in the toxicity of Pb on Ceriodaphnia dubia (C. dubia), a model water flea species typically used for ecotoxicity studies. The effect of algae, a diet for aquatic organisms, on the effect of this binary mixture was also investigated. A two-compartment toxicokinetic (TK)-toxicodynamic (TD) modeling approach was used to quantify the Pb toxicity under these complex conditions and to develop critical parameters for understanding the …

Review Of Biomechanical Studies And Finite Element Modeling Of Sternal Closure Using Bio-Active Adhesives, Amatulraheem Al-Abassi, Marcello Papini, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The most common complication of median sternotomy surgery is sternum re-separation after sternal fixation, which leads to high rates of morbidity and mortality. The adhered sternal fixation technique comprises the wiring fixation technique and the use of bio-adhesives. Adhered sternal fixation techniques have not been extensively studied using finite element analysis, so mechanical testing studies and finite element analysis of sternal fixation will be presented in this review to find the optimum techniques for simulating sternal fixation with adhesives. The optimal wiring technique should enhance bone stability and limit sternal displacement. Bio-adhesives have been proposed to support sternal fixation, as …

Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis Of A Fully Mobile Radiation Oncology System Using Monte Carlo Simulation, Alex T. Price, Casey I. Canfield, Geoffrey D. Hugo, James A. Kavanaugh, Lauren E. Henke, Eric Laugeman, Pamela Samson, Clair Reynolds-Kueny, Elizabeth A. Cudney

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

PURPOSE Disparities in radiation oncology (RO) can be attributed to geographic location, socioeconomic status, race, sex, and other societal factors. One potential solution is to implement a fully mobile (FM) RO system to bring radiotherapy to rural areas and reduce barriers to access. We use Monte Carlo simulation to quantify techno-economic feasibility with uncertainty, using two rural Missouri scenarios. METHODS Recently, a semimobile RO system has been developed by building an o-ring linear accelerator (linac) into a mobile coach that is used for temporary care, months at a time. Transitioning to a more FM-RO system, which changes location within a …

Establishing Pteridine Metabolism In A Progressive Isogenic Breast Cancer Cell Model – Part Ii, Lindsey Rasmussen, Zachary Foulks, Jiandong Wu, Casey Burton, Honglan Shi

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Introduction: Determining the biological significance of pteridines in cancer development and progression remains an important step in understanding the altered levels of urinary pteridines seen in certain cancers. Our companion study revealed that several folate-derived pteridines and lumazines correlated with tumorigenicity in an isogenic, progressive breast cancer cell model, providing direct evidence for the tumorigenic origin of pteridines. Objectives: This study sought to elucidate the pteridine biosynthetic pathway in a progressive breast cancer model via direct pteridine dosing to determine how pteridine metabolism changes with tumorigenicity. Methods: First, MCF10AT breast cancer cells were dosed individually with 15 pteridines to determine …

Postviral Gastroparesis Associated With Sars-Cov-2 Infection In A Pediatric Patient, Courtney M. Rusch, Jerome M. Molleston, Matthew F. Glasser, Steven Don, Sakil S. Kulkarni

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Postviral gastroparesis has been described in children, but it has not yet been attributed to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Our case report describes a teenager with abdominal pain, early satiety, and vomiting who likely had an asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection 2 months before presentation. Through investigation of epidemiologic links, antibody testing, and clinical course, it is hypothesized that her significant reduction in gastric emptying was due to postviral gastroparesis secondary to SARS-CoV-2. She was treated with supportive care and prokinetic agents. The patient demonstrated symptom resolution and near normalization of gastric emptying by the time of 1 month follow up.

Experimental Cyclic Heat Stress On Intestinal Permeability, Bone Mineralization, Leukocyte Proportions And Meat Quality In Broiler Chickens, Alessandro Rocchi, Jared Ruff, Clay J. Maynard, Aaron J. Forga, Roberto Señas-Cuesta, Elizabeth S. Greene, Juan D. Latorre, Christine N. Vuong, Brittany D. Graham, Xochitl Hernandez-Velasco, Guillermo Tellez Jr., Victor Petrone-Garcia, Lauren Laverty, Billy Hargis, Gisela Erf, Casey M. Owens, Guillermo Tellez-Isaias

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The goal of this research was to assess cyclic heat stress on gut permeability, bone mineralization, and meat quality in chickens. Two separate trials were directed. 320 day-of-hatch Cobb 500 male chicks were randomly assigned to four thermoneutral (TN) and four cyclic heat stress (HS) chambers with two pens each, providing eight replicates per treatment in each trial (n = 20 chicks/replicate). Environmental conditions in the TN group were established to simulate commercial production settings. Heat stress chickens were exposed to cyclic HS at 35 °C for 12 h/day from days 7–42. Performance parameters, intestinal permeability, bone parameters, meat quality, …

Behavior And Immune Response Of Conventional And Slow-Growing Broilers To Salmonella Typhimurium, Ashlyn M. Snyder, Sean P. Riley, Cara I. Robison, Darrin M. Karcher, Carmen L. Wickware, Timothy A. Johnson, Shawna L. Weimer

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fast growth rate in broiler chickens comes with welfare concerns and the contribution of growth rate to pathogen resistance and sickness behavior is relatively unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate physiological and behavioral responses of conventional (CONV) and slow-growing (SG) male broilers challenged with Salmonella Typhimurium. CONV (n = 156) and SG (n = 156) chicks were raised in a pen with wood litter shavings until day 7 of age, when birds were transferred to 24 isolators (n = 11 chicks/isolator). On day 14 of age, half of the birds (n = 12 …

Histomonosis In Poultry: A Comprehensive Review, Lesleigh C. Beer, Victor M. Petrone-Garcia, B. Danielle Graham, Billy M. Hargis, Guillermo Tellez-Isaias, Christine N. Vuong

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Histomonas meleagridis, the etiological agent of histomonosis, is a poultry parasite primarily detrimental to turkeys. Characteristic lesions occur in the liver and ceca, with mortalities in turkey flocks often reaching 80–100%. Chickens and other gallinaceous birds can be susceptible but the disease was primarily considered sub-clinical until recent years. Treating and preventing H. meleagridis infection have become more difficult since 2015, when nitarsone was voluntarily removed from the market, leaving the poultry industry with no approved prophylactics, therapeutics, or vaccines to combat histomonosis. Phytogenic compounds evaluated for chemoprophylaxis of histomonosis have varied results with in vitro and in vivo …

Effect Of Cyclic Heat Stress On Hypothalamic Oxygen Homeostasis And Inflammatory State In The Jungle Fowl And Three Broiler-Based Research Lines, Giorgio Brugaletta, Elizabeth Greene, Alison Ramser, Craig W. Maynard, Travis Tabler, Federico Sirri, Nicholas B. Anthony, Sara K. Orlowski, Sami Dridi

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Heat stress (HS) is devastating to poultry production sustainability due its detrimental effects on performance, welfare, meat quality, and profitability. One of the most known negative effects of HS is feed intake depression, which is more pronounced in modern high-performing broilers compared to their ancestor unselected birds, yet the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully defined. The present study aimed, therefore, to determine the hypothalamic expression of a newly involved pathway, hypoxia/oxygen homeostasis, in heat-stressed broiler-based research lines and jungle fowl. Three populations of broilers (slow growing ACRB developed in 1956, moderate growing 95RB from broilers available in 1995, and …

The Public/Private Distinction In Public Health: The Case Of Covid-19, Jason Jackson, Aziza Ahmed

Faculty Scholarship

In this Essay, we argue that the paradigm of the public/private distinction is implicitly operating as a primary frame in the public health response to the pandemic. The public/private distinction is particularly evident in the guidance around masking and other risk-mitigation policies and advice issued by public health agencies. This public health approach reifies the notion of the home as an exceptional private space that exists outside of the possibility of COVID-19 transmission, obscuring the reality of the high risk of transmission in some households. 8 We argue that the manifestation of the public/private distinction in the COVID-19 response is …

Toward Evidence-Based Antiracist Policymaking: Problems And Proposals For Better Racial Data Collection And Reporting, Neda Khoshkhoo, Aviva Geiger Schwarz, Luisa Godinez Puig, Caitlin Glass, Geoffrey S. Holtzman, Elaine O. Nsoesie, Jasmine Gonzales Rose

Faculty Scholarship

The study of data concerning racial and ethnic inequities and disparities allows us to better understand experiences of racism, and to see more clearly how and where racism manifests. Studying the effects of racism, in turn, allows us to more easily identify racist policies, so that we can craft antiracist interventions.

Existing race and ethnicity data collection efforts are riddled with gaps and errors, including missing and incomplete data, insufficiently disaggregated data, lack of meaningful longitudinal data, infrequently updated data, non-standardized methodologies, and other problems. These deficiencies significantly hinder evidence-based antiracist policymaking.

This policy report examines the state of racial …

Consumer Law As An Axis Of Economic Inequality, Daniel Markovits, Barak D. Richman, Rory Van Loo

Faculty Scholarship

In the standard paradigm of consumer law, a voluntary transaction is supposed to be welfare enhancing for each of the parties involved. We challenge this foundational presumption and ask to what extent many common consumer contracts are in fact extractive despite resulting from voluntary exchanges. With inequality growing throughout the world, to a degree that threatens the stability of both the economies and governments of even the wealthiest nations, we ask this fundamental question in an effort to identify root causes of inequality and to mark some guideposts for the articles that follow. Taken together, our speculations suggest that the …

Clostridium Perfringens-Induced Necrotic Diseases: An Overview, Ying Fu, Tahrir Jatli Alenezi, Xiaolun Sun

Poultry Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Clostridium perfringens, a prevalent Gram-positive bacterium, causes necrotic diseases associated with abundant life loss and economic burdens of billions of USD. The mechanism of C. perfringens-induced necrotic diseases remains largely unknown, in part, because of the lack of effective animal models and the presence of a large array of exotoxins and diverse disease manifestations from the skin and deep tissues to the gastrointestinal tract. In the light of the advancement of medical and veterinary research, a large body of knowledge is accumulating on the factors influencing C. perfringens-induced necrotic disease onset, development, and outcomes. Here, we present …

An Analysis Of Charging Practices And Their Impact On Battery Degradation In North American Electric Vehicles Built Between 2010-2020, Douglas William Edward Ferrier

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Electric vehicles (EVs) are emerging as a component of the global solution to combat climate change. However, in North America, particularly in the United States and Canada, the transition away from internal combustion engines (ICE) has been slow. North America faces unique challenges due to its geographical size and population in comparison to other continents. The good news is that EV adoption is increasing within North America. Along with increased EV adoption, governments and public companies are constructing charging infrastructure to support increased consumer EV purchases. Despite increased adoption, many future and current owners throughout North American society have concerns …

Preoperative Predictors For 30-Day Postoperative Emergency Department Visit After A Bariatric Surgery, Pawan Bhandari

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of US hospitals' widely used critical performance or quality outcome measures is the 30-day emergency department (ED) visit after a surgical procedure. Such ED visits add millions of dollars each year as a cost burden to US healthcare. This study aimed to identify key predictors known before the patient's surgery, contributing to undesirable ED visits within 30 days of a bariatric surgical procedure. The study was conducted in three phases. The first phase of the study engaged a panel of experts to narrow down important preoperative factors for patients undergoing bariatric surgery in the form of a Delphi study. …

The Necessity Of Trauma-Focused Curricula In Mental Health Graduate Programs: Advocating For Comprehensive Trauma Etiology And Treatment Education With Proposed Course Outline, Aaron S. Gillespie

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

During the past four decades, it has become increasingly clear how prevalent trauma, polytrauma and co-morbid trauma-related disorders are within our shared, global communities. A growing body of research continues to uncover the mind-boggling impact these overwhelming experiences have on individuals, their families, and the communities that support them, including mental health professionals. It behooves us as allied mental healthcare providers to learn what trauma is, how it may affect the individual across the lifespan, as well as how to effectively identify and treat the trauma-related symptoms our clients present with. However, despite a proliferation of research demonstrating the growing …

Healthcare Disparities In Radiology, Kevin Ball, Alvan Ni, Ezekiel Wei, William Macdonald

Aurora GME

No abstract provided.

Absence Of Neutralizing Antibody Formation During Incobotulinumtoxina Treatement Of Spasticity In Botulinum Toxin-Naive Children With Cerebral Palsy: Pooled Analysis Of Three Phase 3 Studies, Henry Chambers, Petr Kanovsky, A Sebastian Schroeder, Edward Dabrowski, Thorin Geister, Angelika Hanschmann, Irena Pulte, Michael Althaus, Marta Banach, Deborah Gaebler-Spira, Florian Heinen

Conference Presentation Abstracts

Introduction: The development of neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) has been linked to secondary non-response to botulinum neurotoxin type A (BoNT-A) injections. This may be of special concern when treating conditions like pediatric spasticity. We investigated NAb formation in three large Phase 3 studies with incobotulinumtoxinA, a BoNT-A lacking complexing proteins, in children/adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP).

Patients and methods: Patients with lower-limb (LL), upper-limb (UL), or combined LL/UL spasticity (2–17 years; uni- or bilateral CP; Ashworth Scale score ≥2 in clinical patterns for treatment) received total body weight incobotulinumtoxinA ≤16–20 U/kg (max. 400–500 U) depending on the study (TIM: NCT01893411; TIMO: …

Impact Of Concurrent Palliative Care In The Lung Cancer Patient, Kavita Sharma

Aurora GME

In 2010, Jennifer Temel et al. published a seminal paper in NEJM on early referral (within 8 wks. of diag) to subspecialty PC at MGH in patients newly diagnosed with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. This showed that early outpatient palliative care in addition to usual oncology care for metastatic non-small cell lung cancer improves physical symptoms, depression, sense of well-being, and not only doesn’t shorten life, but it may also prolong life. This has been a game changer for collaboration between oncology and palliative care. My talk highlights the importance of early involvement of palliative care in the lung cancer …

Fatigue, Schedules, Sleep, And Sleepiness In U.S. Commercial Pilots During Covid-19, Cassie J. Hilditch, Erin E. Flynn-Evans

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

cOViD-19 has had a significant impact on the aviation industry. While reduced flying capacity may intuitively translate to reduced fatigue risk by way of fewer flights and duty hours, the actual impact of the pandemic on pilot fatigue is unknown. methods: We surveyed U.S. commercial airline pilots in late 2020 (N = 669) and early 2021 (N = 156) to assess the impact of COViD-19 on schedules and fatigue during the pandemic. results: Overall, pilots reported reduced flight and duty hours compared to prepandemic. Average sleep on workdays was slightly shorter in late 2020 (6.87 ± 1.14 h) and recovered …