Engineering Commons^™

Bioactivity And Cell-Mediated Targeting Of Multistage Nanoporous Silicon Particles, Jonathan O. Martinez

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Progress in drug delivery approaches have not adequately translated into clinical advances in the diagnosis or treatment of inflammatory disorders (e.g., cancer). This disconnect is rooted in the inefficient delivery of imaging and therapeutic agents to the inflamed site upon systemic delivery. A multitude of biological barriers pose insurmountable obstacles limiting the ability of the agent to effectively reach and accumulate at the target site. Nanoparticles (NP) surfaced as potential vectors to encapsulate and deliver biological agents. However, even after surface decoration, NP have failed to evade biological barriers (i.e., MPS) and to accumulate at the tumor site at therapeutic …

Assessing The Impacts Of Unrestricted Pesticide Use In Small-Scale Agriculture On Water Quality And Associated Human Health And Ecological Implications In An Indigenous Village In Rural Panam[Aacute], Sarah Louise Watson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2014, the global pesticide industry's projected worth is $52 billion and by 2020, the developing world will make up one-third of the world's chemical production and consumption. Pesticides can have unintended negative consequences for human health and the environment, especially in the developing world where regulations are loose or nonexistent. One country with unrestricted use of pesticides is Panam[aacute], especially in Santa Rosa de Cucunatí. In this indigenous village, small-scale farmers and ranchers spray paraquat, glyphosate, picloram, and 2,4-D at higher elevations than the spring water source of a gravity-fed water system, the river, and the village. The objective …

Drinking Water In The Developing World: Sources Of Fecal Contamination In Pitcher Pump Systems And Measurement Alternatives, Meghan Wahlstrom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It has been reported that globally we have achieved Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Target 7C, to halve the proportion of the population without access to safe drinking water; however, there is a major flaw with this statement. While Target 7C calls for access to `safe' drinking water, what is actually being measured and reported is access to an `improved' water source. The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that they must use this proxy measure because the methods for water quality testing are too expensive and logistically complicated, but by doing so, they may be over reporting safe water coverage.

This …

The Santa Clara, 2014-04-24, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Extraction Methods To Recover Phenolic-Rich Antioxidants From Blue Green Algae (Spirulina) Using Response Surface Approaches, Ahmad Salamatullah

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Blue green algae (spirulina) is a dietary system that is widely consumed as a whole food or as a supplement in many Asian countries where populations are mostly unaffected by many of the diseases currently afflicting western societies, such as cancer, heart disease and arthiritis. Indeed, spirulina is a rich source of antioxidants with the phenolic compounds playing a significant role. As components of a complex dietary system, phenolic compounds can act alone or through synergistic mechanisms to impart a greater biologic effect than can be elicited by a sum of the individual parts. Therefore, an understanding of the antioxidative …

The Santa Clara, 2014-04-17, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

2014 - The Nineteenth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Nineteenth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on April 17, 2014. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Wright State University's Celebration Of Research, Scholarship, And Creative Activities Book Of Abstracts From Friday, April 11, 2014, Wright State University Office Of Undergraduate Research And Stemm Activities

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

The student abstract booklet is a compilation of abstracts from students' oral and poster presentations at Wright State University's second annual Celebration of Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities on April 11, 2014.

Student Growth Measures For Teacher And Principal Evaluations, Suzanne Franco, Allison Mueller

Celebration of Undergraduate & Graduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities Materials

There were three Ohio research efforts about Student Growth Measures (SGM) for Teacher and Principal Evaluations: 1) extended testing for previously non-­‐tested subjects and grades, 2) relationship between the teacher and principal evaluation systems’ implementation plans, and 3) an empirical study of Local Education Agencies’ (LEA) year-­‐end evaluation data from 2013. In 2011-­‐2012 Ohio offered a 2 year mini-­‐grant to LEAs agreeing to administer extended testing for Value-­‐Added measures (VAM) in grades and content areas not represented in the Ohio Achievement Assessment (OAA). The mini-­‐grant allowed the state to create testing pools sufficient to produce teacher-­‐level VAMs. American College Testing …

The Santa Clara, 2014-04-10, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Spinal Cord Nerve Roots And Denticulate Ligaments On Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics In The Cervical Spine, Soroush Heidari Paylavian, Theresia Yiallourou, R. Shane Tubbs, Alexander C. Bunck, Francis Loth, Bryn A. Martin, Mark Goodin, Mehrdad Raisee

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics in the spinal subarachnoid space (SSS) have been thought to play an important pathophysiological role in syringomyelia, Chiari I malformation (CM), and a role in intrathecal drug delivery. Yet, the impact that fine anatomical structures, including nerve roots and denticulate ligaments (NRDL), have on SSS CSF dynamics is not clear. In the present study we assessed the impact of NRDL on CSF dynamics in the cervical SSS. The 3D geometry of the cervical SSS was reconstructed based on manual segmentation of MRI images of a healthy volunteer and a patient with CM. Idealized NRDL were designed …

The Santa Clara, 2014-04-03, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

Processing And Characterization Of Innovative Magnesium Alloys For Biodegradable Orthopaedic Implants, Christopher E. Smith

Dissertations

There is a need for innovation in medical implant devices through novel biomaterials that will improve the quality of life. The first step in the creation of a foundation of knowledge and technology to improve these implant devices is through the creation of new alloys with the capabilities of biodegradation and bioabsorption without a toxic effect that will pass through FDA regulatory procedures. In this study, unique heat treatment processing techniques coupled with innovation in elemental alloying produced distinctive magnesium (Mg) based alloy systems. The MgZnCa system was used as the underpinning system where four groups of novel alloys were …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 55 Number 3, Spring 2014, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

18 - RADIANT HOUSE by Steven Boyd Saum and Heidi Williams ’06. Building a house for the 2013 Solar Decathlon. That, and changing the world.

22 - AMÉRICAS CUISINE by Holly Beretto. Telling a delicious tale of food and family with chef David Cordúa ’04. 26 - Lessons from the field by Reinhard Cate ’07. Taut and tranquil moments in Afghanistan—an essay inwords and images.

30 - INSIDE UKRAINE’S REVOLUTION by Steven Boyd Saum. Along the road to crisis: hope, despair, and a Q&A with writer Andrey Kurkov.

34 - DECIDE WHO WE ARE by Steven Boyd Saum and John …

Controlling Protein Release Using Biodegradable Microparticles, Benjamin Patrick Kline

Open Access Theses

Research in the field of protein therapeutics has exploded over the past decade and continues to grow in both academia and in industry. Protein drugs have advantages of being highly specific and highly active making them coveted targets for high profile disease states like cancer and multiple sclerosis. Unfortunately, their many advantages are complemented by their obstacles. Because proteins are highly active and highly specific, the window between efficacy and toxicity is very narrow and drug development can be long and arduous. In addition, protein activity is dependent on its specific folding conformation that is easily disrupted by a variety …

Modeling And Optimization Of Care Transitions, Yuming Mo

Open Access Theses

More than 145 million people live with at least one chronic condition, and almost half of them have multiple conditions. As a result, many managed care and integrated delivery systems have taken a great interest in alleviating the many deficiencies in managing the current care system that spans across various care delivery settings. In addition, many Americans have to rely on some social health insurance plan to cover her care expenses. As a result, these patients often may not been sufficiently cured but have to be transitioned to less expensive but less medically intensive facilities, due to the increasing pressure …

Feasibility Of Pulsed Proton Induced Acoustics For 3d Dosimetry, Fahed M. Alsanea

Open Access Theses

Proton therapy has the potential to deposit its energy in tissue with high conformity to the tumor and significantly reduced integral dose to normal tissue compared to conventional radiation, such as x-rays. As a result, local control can be enhanced while reducing side-effects and secondary cancers. This is due to the way charged Particles deposit their energy or dose, where protons form a Bragg peak and establish a well-defined distal edge as a function of depth (range). To date, the dose delivered to a patient from proton therapy remains uncertain, in particular the positioning of the distal edge of the …

Predictive Analytics For Outpatient Appointments, Nang Laik Ma, Khataniar Seemanta, Dan Wu, Serene Seng Ying Ng

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Healthcare is a very important industry where analytics has been applied successfully to generate insights about patients, identify bottleneck and to improve the business efficiency. In this paper, we aim to look at the patient appointment process as the hospital is experiencing high volume of ?no shows. ?No shows have a high impact on longer appointment lead time for patients, poor patient satisfaction and loss of revenue for hospital. We use data analytics to identify pattern of ?no shows, develop a statistical model to predict the probability of ?no shows and finally operationalizing the model to embed the analytics solution …

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2014, 134th Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Twenty-Fourth Annual Meeting, April 11, 2014

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Collegiate Academy: Biology

Chemistry and Physics

Collegiate Academy: Chemistry and Physics

Applied Science and Technology

Biological and Medical Sciences

Aeronautics and Space Science, Poster Session

Anthropology

Maiben Memorial Lecture: "Education, Careers and Opportunities in Engineering and Metallurgy in Nebraska," Terry Rasmussen, Nucor Steel, Norfolk, Nebraska

Teaching of Science and Mathematics

Anthropology

Earth Science

Assessing The Impact Of Electronic Health Record Systems Implementation On Hospital Patient Perceptions Of Care, Katherine Sofia Palacio Salgar

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The delivery of health care services has been impacted by advances in Knowledge Management Information Systems (KMIS) and Information Technology (IT). The literature reveals that Electronic Health Records Systems (EHRs) are a comprehensive KMIS. There is a wide recognition in the body of knowledge that demonstrates the potential of EHRs to transform all aspects of health care services and, in consequence, the performance of Health Care Delivery Organizations (HCDO). Authors of published research also agree that there is a need for more empirical contributions that demonstrate the impact of EHRs upon HCDO. It is argued that in most cases, studies …

Differential Effects Of Refractive Blur On Day And Nighttime Driving Performance, Joanne M. Wood, Michael J. Collins, Alex Chaparro, Ralph Marszalek, Trent Carberry, Philippe Lacherez, Byoung Sun Chu

Publications

PURPOSE. To investigate the effect of different levels of refractive blur on real-world driving performance measured under day and nighttime conditions.

METHODS. Participants included 12 visually normal, young adults (mean age = 25.+- 5.2 years) who drove an instrumented research vehicle around a 4 km closed road circuit with three different levels of binocular spherical refractive blur (+0.50 diopter sphere [DS], +1.00 DS, +2.00 DS) compared with a baseline condition. The subjects wore optimal spherocylinder correction and the additional blur lenses were mounted in modified fullfield goggles; the order of testing of the blur conditions was randomized. Driving …

Numerical And Experimental Investigation Of Orthopaedic Fracture Fixation, Bipinchandra Patel

Dissertations

Poor bone fracture fixation leads to malunion, delayed union, non-union, or infection. These malunited fractures affect a bone’s ability to carry loads. Patient outcomes regarding fixation quality can be affected by the healing environment and human factors such as bone quality and surgeons’ perception. Furthermore, the stiffness and strength of the screw-plate construct affect the healing environment. Therefore, this dissertation investigates the stiffness and strength of the non-locking (conventional) and locking (fixed angle) type screw-plate constructs and the factors that contribute to them, such as screw-plate interface, screw design, bone density, cortical bone thickness and load orientation. Additionally, the surgeon’s …

Statistical And Prognostic Modeling Of Clinical Outcomes With Complex Physiologic Data, Monica A. Puertas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Laboratory tests are a primary resource for diagnosing patient diseases. However, physicians often make decisions based on a single laboratory result and have a limited perspective of the role of commonly-measured parameters in enhancing the diagnostic process. By providing a dynamic patient profile, the diagnosis could be more accurate and timely, allowing physicians to anticipate changes in the recovery trajectory and intervene more effectively.

The assessment and monitoring of the circulatory system is essential for patients in intensive care units (ICU). One component of this system is the platelet count, which is used in assessing blood clotting. However, platelet counts …

Co2 Recycling Using Microalgae For The Production Of Fuels, Michael H. Wilson, John Groppo, Andrew Placido, S. Graham, S. A. Morton Iii, Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez, Aubrey Shea, Mark Crocker, Czarena Crofcheck, Rodney Andrews

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty and Staff Publications

CO₂ capture and recycle using microalgae was demonstrated at a coal-fired power plant (Duke Energy’s East Bend Station, Kentucky). Using an in-house designed closed loop, vertical tube photobioreactor, Scenedesmus acutus was cultured using flue gas as the CO₂ source. Algae productivity of 39 g/(m² day) in June–July was achieved at significant scale (18,000 L), while average daily productivity slightly in excess of 10 g/(m² day) was demonstrated in the month of December. A protocol for low-cost algae harvesting and dewatering was developed, and the conversion of algal lipids—extracted from the harvested biomass—to diesel-range hydrocarbons via catalytic …

Antiviral Resistance And Dynamic Treatment And Chemoprophylaxis Of Pandemic Influenza, Sandro Paz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Public health data show the tremendous economic and societal impact of pandemic influenza in the past. Currently, the welfare of society is threatened by the lack of planning to ensure an adequate response to a pandemic. This preparation is difficult because the characteristics of the virus that would cause the pandemic are unknown, but primarily because the response requires tools to support decision-making based on scientific methods. The response to the next pandemic influenza will likely include extensive use of antiviral drugs, which will create an unprecedented selective pressure for the emergence of antiviral resistant strains. Nevertheless, the literature has …

Evaluation Of Hand Augered Well Technologies' Capacity To Improve Access To Water In Coastal Ng[Oumlaut]Be Communities In Panama, Sarah Hayman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Amid the global efforts surrounding United Nations' Millennium Development Goal Target 7c to improve access to safe and sustainable drinking water among populations who lack this resource, it has become essential to monitor and evaluate progress. Development initiatives working to achieve improved drinking water access often introduce appropriate technologies designed to be sustainably owned and operated by populations in rural areas suffering from water related hardships. It is valuable to thoroughly examine the degree to which these technologies satisfy intended objectives and affect user experienced water access. The accurate reflection of impact and progress can be complex, as the evaluation …

Agenda: Fracking, Water Quality And Public Health: Examining Current Laws And Regulations, Network For Public Health Law, American Society Of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Public Health Law Research Program

Fracking, Water Quality and Public Health: Examining Current Laws and Regulations (March 20)

Improved technology developments in directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing, more commonly known as "fracking," have resulted in an oil and gas production boom nationwide. Fracking involves pumping pressurized water, sand, and chemicals down wells to crack bedrock, freeing petroleum and natural gas. Wastewater discharges, hydraulic fracturing fluid releases, and other accidental spills pose potential water quality risks, sparking concern for public health.

This webinar will examine the laws and regulations governing water quality issues related to fracking, recent state court decisions affecting regulations, and implications for public health.

Slides: Best Management Practices For Oil And Gas Development And Comparative Water Quality Database Of Regulations Relating To Shale Oil And Gas, Matt Samelson, University Of Colorado Boulder. Getches-Wilkinson Center For Natural Resources, Energy, And The Environment. Intermountain Oil And Gas Bmp Project

Fracking, Water Quality and Public Health: Examining Current Laws and Regulations (March 20)

Presenter: Matt Samelson, J.D., Attorney, Consultant for Intermountain Oil and Gas Best Management Practices (BMP) Project, Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment, University of Colorado Law School

34 slides

Security Of Graph Data: Hashing Schemes And Definitions, Muhammad U. Arshad, Ashish Kundu, Elisa Bertino, Krishna Madhavan, Arif Ghafoor

Cyber Center Publications

Use of graph-structured data models is on the rise - in graph databases, in representing biological and healthcare data as well as geographical data. In order to secure graph-structured data, and develop cryptographically secure schemes for graph databases, it is essential to formally define and develop suitable collision resistant one-way hashing schemes and show them they are efficient. The widely used Merkle hash technique is not suitable as it is, because graphs may be directed acyclic ones or cyclic ones. In this paper, we are addressing this problem. Our contributions are: (1) define the practical and formal security model of …

Assessing The Impact Of Water Filters And Improved Cook Stoves On Drinking Water Quality And Household Air Pollution: A Randomised Controlled Trial In Rwanda, Ghislaine Rosa, Fiona Majorin, Sophie Boisson, Christina Barstow, Michael Johnson, Miles Kirby, Fidele Ngabo, Evan A. Thomas, Thomas Clasen

Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Diarrhea and respiratory infections remain the biggest killers of children under 5 years in developing countries. We conducted a 5-month household randomised controlled trial among 566 households in rural Rwanda to assess uptake, compliance and impact on environmental exposures of a combined intervention delivering high-performance water filters and improved stoves for free. Compliance was measured monthly by self-report and spot-check observations. Semicontinuous 24-h PM2.5 monitoring of the cooking area was conducted in a random subsample of 121 households to assess household air pollution, while samples of drinking water from all households were collected monthly to assess the levels of thermotolerant …