Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Challenges Of Constructing Entrainment Map For Arbitrary Circadian Models, Yuxuan (Nelson) Wu

Honors Theses

The entrainment map, developed by Dr.Diekman and Dr.Bose, is claimed to be a 1-dimensional map that produces a better prediction for phase-locking than methods than the phase response curve for circadian models. In his paper, he constructs the entrainment map for the two-dimensional circadian model, the Novak-Tyson model, and the other two higher-dimensional circadian models. For this thesis, we concentrate on exploring if it is viable to construct the entrainment map for other circadian models that are not included in his paper: the Becker-Weimann model and the Relogio model. In addition, we discuss the challenges of constructing the entrainment map …

การสร้างภาพสามมิติของกระดูกต้นขาที่แตกหักจากภาพถ่ายรังสีสองมุมมองด้วยวิธีการเรียนรู้เชิงลึก, ดนุพงษ์ บุตรทองคำ

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

ภาวะกระดูกต้นขาส่วนปลายหักนั้นเป็นภาวะบาดเจ็บที่ค่อนข้างรุนแรง มีสาเหตุจากการบาดเจ็บทั้งภาวะบาดเจ็บจากอุบัติเหตุและการหักผ่านรอยโรค การวินิจฉัยและการวางแผนการผ่าตัดเป็นขบวนการที่สำคัญในการรักษา ซึ่งต้องพึ่งพาการถ่ายภาพรังสีเอกซเรย์และเอกซเรย์คอมพิวเตอร์ อย่างไรก็ตามการถ่ายภาพรังสีเอกซเรย์คอมพิวเตอร์นั้นมีค่าใช้จ่ายมาก ปริมาณรังสีสูง และใช้ระยะเวลาในการถ่ายภาพยาวนานกว่าการถ่ายภาพเอกซเรย์ ดังนั้นการสร้างภาพสามมิติของกระดูกต้นขาที่แตกหักจากถ่ายภาพรังสีเอกซเรย์จึงเป็นที่ต้องการและเป็นโจทย์ปัญหาที่ยังไม่ได้รับการแก้ไข อีกทั้งยังขาดแคลนข้อมูลในการวิจัย งานวิจัยนี้จึงนำเสนอโมเดลสร้างภาพสามมิติของกระดูกต้นขาส่วนปลายที่แตกหักจากภาพถ่ายรังสีสองมุมมอง เพื่อเพิ่มมโนภาพการมองเห็นแบบสามมิติใช้สำหรับการวินิจฉัยและการวางแผนการผ่าตัด โมเดลการสร้างภาพสามมิติได้ประยุกต์ใช้การเรียนรู้เชิงลึกซึ่งเป็นโครงข่ายประสาทเทียมคอนโวลูชันแบบพีระมิด คลาสช่วยฝึกสอนเป็นตัวแทนของบริเวณกระดูกที่แตกหักช่วยสนับสนุนการเรียนรู้รายละเอียดการรอยแตกหักของโมเดล เนื่องจากตัวอย่างภาพสำหรับฝึกสอนมีไม่เพียงพอ เทคนิคตัวอย่างฝึกสอนที่แตกหักจึงถูกพัฒนาขึ้นเพื่อขยายขนาดตัวอย่างสำหรับฝึกสอนและเพื่อเพิ่มความแม่นยำของผลลัพธ์ นอกจากนี้โมดูลสำหรับผสมคุณสมบัติตามแนวแกนจึงถูกพัฒนาขึ้นภายในโมเดลเพื่อเอาชนะปัญหาความคลาดเคลื่อนเชิงมุมระหว่างภาพถ่ายรังสี โมเดลที่นำเสนอสามารถทำงานกับชุดข้อมูลที่มีคลาดเคลื่อนเชิงมุมระหว่างภาพถ่ายรังสีได้ถึง 10 องศา โดยมีค่า mIoU ที่ 0.827±0.083SD. และ mASSD มีค่า 1.043±0.481SD. โมเดลที่นำเสนอให้รูปทรงกระดูกต้นขาและรายละเอียดของรอยแตกหักที่แม่นยำใกล้เคียงกับความเป็นจริง

Universal Design In Bci: Deep Learning Approaches For Adaptive Speech Brain-Computer Interfaces, Srdjan Lesaja

Theses and Dissertations

In the last two decades, there have been many breakthrough advancements in non-invasive and invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) systems. However, the majority of BCI model designs still follow a paradigm whereby neural signals are preprocessed and task-related features extracted using static, and generally customized, data-independent designs. Such BCI designs commonly optimize narrow task performance over generalizability, adaptability, and robustness, which is not well suited to meeting individual user needs. If one day BCIs are to be capable of decoding our higher-order cognitive commands and conceptual maps, their designs will need to be adaptive architectures that will evolve and grow in …

Biomarkers Of Inflammation And Oxidative Stress In The Prediction And Management Of Acute Coronary Syndrome, Udaya Ralapanawa, Sivakanesan R

Health Sciences

The assessment of patients presenting with chest pain or symptoms indicative of cardiac ischemia remains a diagnostic challenge. Many types of research have focused on the search for ideal biological markers for the rapid detection of cardiac cell injuries. Markers of inflammation and oxidative stress are the way forward. At present, the biomarker most widely used for diagnosing acute coronary syndrome is cardiac troponin though it has some limitations. Apart from cardiac troponin, several other biomarkers, especially inflammation and oxidative stress markers in acute coronary syndrome, have been investigated. However, most of them still require validation in further studies. As …

Electroporation And Cell Killing By Milli- To Nanosecond Pulses And Avoiding Neuromuscular Stimulation In Cancer Ablation, Emily Gudvangen, Vitalii Kim, Vitalij Novickij, Federico Battista, Andrei G. Pakhomov

Bioelectrics Publications

Ablation therapies aim at eradication of tumors with minimal impact on surrounding healthy tissues. Conventional pulsed electric field (PEF) treatments cause pain and muscle contractions far beyond the ablation area. The ongoing quest is to identify PEF parameters efficient at ablation but not at stimulation. We measured electroporation and cell killing thresholds for 150 ns–1 ms PEF, uni- and bipolar, delivered in 10- to 300-pulse trains at up to 1 MHz rates. Monolayers of murine colon carcinoma cells exposed to PEF were stained with YO-PRO-1 dye to detect electroporation. In 2–4 h, dead cells were labeled with propidium. Electroporation and …

Photoacoustic Imaging For Image-Guided Interventions, Samuel John

Wayne State University Dissertations

Image-guided surgeries and therapeutic procedures utilize imaging modalities to enhance the surgeon’s capability of visualizing and guiding the medical instruments within the body. One such application is the endovenous laser ablation (EVLA), which utilizes an ultrasound (US)-guided catheter carrying high power continuous wave (CW) energy for treating varicose veins. Varicose veins, a condition defined by venous insufficiency, affects nearly 40 million people in the United States annually. In EVLA procedures, US limitations including angular dependency, poor contrast-to-noise ratio, poor signal-to-noise ratio, and artifacts limit the ability of the surgeon to detect the catheter tip within the vein. Furthermore, the absence …

Visual Oscillation Effects On Dynamic Balance Control In People With Multiple Sclerosis, Lara I. Riem, Scott A. Beardsley, Ahmed Z. Obeidat, Brian D. Schmit

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background: People with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) have balance deficits while ambulating through environments that contain moving objects or visual manipulations to perceived self-motion. However, their ability to parse object from self-movement has not been explored. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of medial-lateral oscillations of the visual field and of objects within the scene on gait in PwMS and healthy age-matched controls using virtual reality (VR).

Methods: Fourteen PwMS (mean age 49 ± 11 years) and eleven healthy controls (mean age: 53 ± 12 years) participated in this study. Dynamic balance control was assessed while participants …

การประยุกต์ใช้คิวซีเอ็มเซนเซอร์ในการวิเคราะห์อันตรกิริยาเพื่อการตรวจวัด Aggregatibacter Actinomycetemcomitans, สาธิต รอดภักดีกุล

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาการประยุกต์ใช้ไบโอเซนเซอร์ชนิดควอตซ์คริสตัลไมโครบาลานซ์ (quartz crystal microbalance, QCM) ในการวิเคราะห์อันตรกิริยาระหว่างแบคทีเรียก่อโรคปริทันต์ชนิด Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans กับโมโนโคลนอลแอนติบอดีที่จำเพาะเพื่อการตรวจวัดแบคทีเรียก่อโรคปริทันต์ ไบโอเซนเซอร์สำหรับการตรวจวัดถูกสร้างขึ้นโดยใช้คิวซีเอ็มเซนเซอร์ ชนิด 30 เมกะเฮิรตซ์ ที่ผ่านการปรับสภาพพื้นผิวอิเล็กโทรดทองด้วย 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (11-MUA) และได้ประเมินความหนาแน่นการเรียงตัวของชั้น 11-MUA ด้วยเทคนิคไซคลิกโวลแทมเมตรี จากนั้นทำการตรึงโมโนโคลนอลแอนติบอดีชนิด Anti-A. actinomycetemcomitans กับ 11-MUA โดยใช้ 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide (EDC/NHS) เพื่อใช้แอนติบอดีทำหน้าที่เป็นสารรู้จำทางชีวภาพ (biorecognition element) สำหรับการตรวจวัด A. actinomycetemcomitans การวิเคราะห์อันตรกิริยาระหว่างแบคทีเรียกับแอนติบอดีชนิด anti-A. actinomycetemcomitans ทำด้วยกัน 4 รูปแบบ ได้แก่ รูปแบบที่ 1 ใช้ข้อมูลการเปลี่ยนแปลงความถี่ (∆F) ซึ่งผลการศึกษาบ่งชี้ว่าสามารถใช้ข้อมูล ∆F ในการจำแนกความสามารถในการจับกันระหว่างแอนติบอดีและเซลล์แบคทีเรียชนิดต่าง ๆ ได้ โดยคู่แอนติบอดีและเซลล์แบคทีเรียที่มีความจำเพาะต่อกันมีรูปแบบ ∆F ที่แสดงให้เห็นแนวโน้มการเปลี่ยนแปลงของ ∆F ที่ขึ้นกับความเข้มข้น รูปแบบที่ 2 ใช้ค่าอนุพันธ์อันดับหนึ่งของการเปลี่ยนแปลงความถี่ (dF/dT) ซึ่งผลการศึกษาบ่งชี้ว่าสามารถใช้วิธีนี้จำแนกความจำเพาะของแอนติบอดีชนิด Anti-A. actinomycetemcomitans กับแบคทีเรียต่างชนิดได้ โดยเมื่อเกิดการจับกันระหว่างแอนติบอดีและเซลล์ที่มีความจำเพาะกัน ค่า dF/dT จะเปลี่ยนแปลงเป็นลบ และค่า dF/dT แสดงให้เห็นแนวโน้มการเปลี่ยนแปลงเป็นรูปแบบที่ขึ้นกับความเข้มข้นเช่นเดียวกับข้อมูล ∆F รูปแบบที่ 3 ใช้ข้อมูลเวลาการตอบสนอง (τ) ซึ่งผลการศึกษาบ่งชี้ว่าการจับกันระหว่างแอนติบอดีกับเซลล์ A. actinomycetemcomitans ที่ความเข้มข้นสูงสุด (1.16 × 108 เซลล์/มิลลิลิตร) ให้ค่า τ เฉลี่ยเพียง 143 วินาที ทำให้ทราบผลลัพธ์ของการจับกันระหว่างแอนติบอดีกับเซลล์ A. actinomycetemcomitans รวดเร็วกว่าการติดตามจากข้อมูล ∆F ถึง 3 เท่า รูปแบบที่ 4 ใช้ข้อมูลความชันของการตอบสนอง …

Type-B Energetic Processes And Their Associated Scientific Implications, James Weifu Lee

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Recently, our work has identified two thermodynamically distinct types (A and B) of energetic processes naturally occurring on Earth. Type-A energy processes such as the classical heat engines, ATP hydrolysis, and many of the known chemical, electrical, and mechanical processes apparently follow well the second law of thermodynamics; Type-B energy processes, for example, the newly discovered thermotropic function that isothermally utilizes environmental heat energy to do useful work in driving ATP synthesis, follow the first law of thermodynamics (conservation of mass and energy) but do not have to be constrained by the second law, owing to its special asymmetric functions. …

The Hitran2020 Molecular Spectroscopic Database, I. E. Gordon, L. S. Rothman, R. J. Hargreaves, R. Hashemi, E. V. Karlovets, F. M. Skinner, E. K. Conway, C. Hill, R. V. Kochanov, Y. Tan, P. Wcisło, A.A. Finenko, K. Nelson, P. F. Bernath, M. Birk, V. Boudon, A. Campargue, K. V. Chance, A. Coustenis, B. J. Drouin, J.-M. Flaud, R. R. Gamache, J. T. Hodges, D. Jacquemart, E. J. Mlawer, A. V. Nikitin, V.I. Perevalov, M. Rotger, J. Tennyson, G. C. Toon, H. Tran, V. G. Tyuterev, E. M. Adkins, A. Baker, A. Barbe, E. Canè, A. G. Császár, A. Dudaryonok, O. Egorov, A. J. Fleisher, H. Fleurbaey, A. Foltynowicz, T. Furtenbacher, J. J. Harrison, J.M. Hartmann, V.- M. Horneman, X. Huang, T. Karman, J. Karns, S. Kassi, I. Kleiner, V. Kofman, F. Kwabia-Tchana, N.N. Lavrentieva, T. J. Lee, D. A. Long, A. A. Lukashevskaya, O. M. Lyulin, V. Yu Makhnev, W. Matt, S. T. Massie, M. Melosso, S. N. Mikhailenko, D. Mondelain, H.S.P. Müller, O. V. Naumenko, A. Perrin, O. L. Polyansky, E. Raddaoui, P. L. Raston, Z. D. Reed, M. Rey, C. Richard, R. Tóbiás, I. Sadiek, D. W. Schwenke, E. Starikova, K. Sung, F. Tamassia, S. A. Tashkun, J. Vander Auwera, I.A. Vasilenko, A.A. Vigasin, G.L. Villanueva, B. Vispoel, G. Wagner, A. Yachmenev, S. N. Yurchenko

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The HITRAN database is a compilation of molecular spectroscopic parameters. It was established in the early 1970s and is used by various computer codes to predict and simulate the transmission and emission of light in gaseous media (with an emphasis on terrestrial and planetary atmospheres). The HITRAN compilation is composed of five major components: the line-by-line spectroscopic parameters required for high-resolution radiative-transfer codes, experimental infrared absorption cross-sections (for molecules where it is not yet feasible for representation in a line-by-line form), collision-induced absorption data, aerosol indices of refraction, and general tables (including partition sums) that apply globally to the data. …

Reporter Chondrocyte Optimization Of Bioinks For Zonal 3d Bioprinting Of Cartilage, Kari Martyniak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis, often thought of as a disease of the elderly, but post traumatic OA predominantly impacts younger individuals. Articular cartilage is the tissue that coats the end of your bones in synovial joints. Since cartilage has limited healing capacity, defects, or injuries to it progressively erodes down to the subchondral bone. Unfortunately, current treatment options all have limitations, particularly for younger patients. Cartilage has a specific zonal architecture that is distinguished by the different cell morphologies and arrangements, biochemical composition, and mechanical properties. 3D bioprinting is a tissue engineering technique that involves …

An Electrochemical, Fluidic, Chip-Based Biosensor For Biomarker Detection, Lauren Bell

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Biosensors and their use in both the research and clinical field for the detection and monitoring of critical biomarkers are prevalent and constantly improving. However, continued research needs to be done to address shortcomings, such as low sensitivity, poor specificity, and poor readiness for integration into research use and patient care. The objective of this research was to create a combined fluidic, chip-based biosensor that could detect different biomarkers with high sensitivity and ease of use. For assessing the developed sensor, three separate biomarkers were tested: glucose, cholesterol, and oxygen. Both the glucose biosensor and cholesterol biosensor were combined with …

Characterizing The Internal Porous Structure Of Equine Proximal Sesamoid Bones Subjected To Race Training Using Fast Fourier Transforms, Joseph Erik Davis

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

The equine racing industry is one of the main proponents in Kentucky’s economic infrastructure. In this industry there has come a need to investigate the nature of the proximal sesamoid bone (PSB). Breakdowns involving the PSBs are the leading cause in racehorse deaths in the industry, with still little known about what causes this bone to fracture. This study seeks to shed insight by investigating the internal structure of the PSB. Using microCT scanning, the internal porous structure was captured. From there, noticeable differences in the pores were noticed and quantified using fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis.

The dominant peak …

Use Of Image Processing Techniques And Machine Learning For Better Understanding Of T Gondii Biology, Amer Asiri

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

Almost one in every three people worldwide is infected with Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii). The biology and growth of the parasite’s bradyzoite form in host tissue cysts are not well understood. T. gondii’s metabolic state influences the morphology of its single mitochondrion, which can be visualized using fluorescence microscopy with specific dyes. Hence, fluorescence microscopy images of cysts purified from infected mouse brains carry biological information about bradyzoites, the poorly understood form of the parasite within them. With the help of fluorescence microscopy techniques, previous studies extracted images of the mitochondrion, nucleus, and the inner membrane complex (IMC) …

Numerical And Scaling Study On Application Of Inkjet Technology To Automotive Coating, Masoud Arabghahestani Dr.

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

A thorough literature review identified lack of precision control over quality of droplets generated by the currently available industrial sprayers and a growing need for higher quality droplets in the coating industry. Particularly, lack of knowledge and understanding in continuous inkjets (CIJ) and drop-on-demand (DOD) technologies is identified as significant. Motivated by these needs, this dissertation is dedicated to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and scaling studies to improve existing inkjet technologies and develop new designs of efficient coating with single and/or multiple piezoelectric sensors to produce on-demand droplets. This dissertation study aims at developing a new DOD type coating technology, …

Atmospheric Air Plasma Streamers Deliver Nanosecond Pulses For Focused Electroporation, Shu Xiao, Carol Zhou, Eric Appia, Shirshak Dhali

Bioelectrics Publications

Background: For electrotherapies that involve electrodes and high-intensity electric fields, such as in tissue ablation, we report a method of pulse delivery that can focus the electric field away from the electrodes, as demonstrated in vitro.

Materials and Methods: To electroporate cells in a monolayer seeded in a 35 mm culture dish, two atmospheric-pressure plasma channels generated by two thin, copper foil electrodes above the surface of the solution provided the current and established the electric field.

Results: Depending on the pulse duration, the plasma channels were observed as corona (100 ns), streamer (300 ns), and mixture of streamer …

Optimization Of Electrically Driven Fluid Flow Through Tissue Hydrogels, Joseph C. Walker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Alkaline Plasma-Activated Water (Paw) As An Innovative Therapeutic Avenue For Cancer Treatment, Bolun Pang, Zhijie Liu, Sitao Wang, Yuting Gao, Miao Qi, Dehui Xu, Renwu Zhou, Dingxin Liu, Michael G. Kong

Bioelectrics Publications

Plasma-activated water (PAW) is considered to be an effective anticancer agent due to the diverse aqueous reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS: ROS and RNS), but the drawback of low dose and short duration of RONS in acidified PAW limits their clinical application. Herein, this Letter presents an innovative therapeutic avenue for cancer treatment with highly-effective alkaline PAW prepared by air surface plasma. This anticancer alkaline formulation is comprised of a rich mixture of highly chemical RONS and exhibited a prolonged half-life compared to acidified PAW. The H₂O₂, NO₂-, and ONOO^-/O_{2 …}

Framework For The Evaluation Of Perturbations In The Systems Biology Landscape And Inter-Sample Similarity From Transcriptomic Datasets — A Digital Twin Perspective, Mariah Marie Hoffman

Dissertations and Theses

One approach to interrogating the complexities of human systems in their well-regulated and dysregulated states is through the use of digital twins. Digital twins are virtual representations of physical systems that are descriptive of an individual's state of health, an object fundamentally related to precision medicine. A key element for building a functional digital twin type for a disease or predicting the therapeutic efficacy of a potential treatment is harmonized, machine-parsable domain knowledge. Hypothesis-driven investigations are the gold standard for representing subsystems, but their results encompass a limited knowledge of the full biosystem. Multi-omics data is one rich source of …

Analysis Of The Epidemiology Of Playground-Related Injuries In Relation To Existing Playground Safety Standards: How Should We Address Safe Play?, Drew Filchner

Honors Theses

Play is widely acknowledged to provide children with various physical, emotional, social, and intellectual benefits. However, playgrounds are reported to be the leading location of unintentional recreation injuries to children aged 1-10. Over 185,000 children annually are being treated in emergency departments for playground injuries. These play-related injuries have remained stagnant according to epidemiology studies of the past three decades. Past epidemiological studies for playground injuries have been based on emergency department data, resulting in an underrepresentation of the magnitude of injuries occurring. This study utilizes the unique setting of an entire school district, providing a more comprehensive understanding of …

Gan-Based Super-Resolution And Segmentation Of Retinal Layers In Optical Coherence Tomography Scans, Paria Jeihouni

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) has been identified as a noninvasive and cost-effective imaging modality for identifying potential biomarkers for Alzheimer's diagnosis and progress detection. Current hypotheses indicate that retinal layer thickness, which can be assessed via OCT scans, is an efficient biomarker for identifying Alzheimer's disease. Due to factors such as speckle noise, a small target region, and unfavorable imaging conditions manual segmentation of retina layers is a challenging task. Therefore, as a reasonable first step, this study focuses on automatically segmenting retinal layers to separate them for subsequent investigations. Another important challenge commonly faced is the lack of clarity …

Nano-, Encapsulated Manganese Oxide (Nemo) Particles For Mri Enhancement In Microfluidic Tumor Models, Kasey Alexis Freshwater

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Breast cancer is among the deadliest cancers in women, with approximately 2.3 million new cases and 685,000 deaths reported globally in 2020 alone. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is commonly used to diagnose, stage, and develop treatment plans for patients predisposed to breast cancer. However, current MRI-based screening of breast cancer has high false-positive rates up to 25%, leading to unnecessary invasive follow-up screening and testing. The gold-standard intravenous gadolinium (Gd)-based contrast agents (GBCAs) account for false-positive rates because they are always “ON”, providing a constant MRI signal that highlights both benign and malignant tumors. The work detailed in this thesis …

Tumor-Targeted Ph-Sensitive Manganese Oxide Nanoparticle For Enhanced Detection Of Breast Cancer Using Mri, Celia Martinez De La Torre

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the United States, approximately 287,850 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed, and over 43,000 women will die because of it in 2022. Currently, mammography is the gold standard for breast cancer surveillance. Although this detection technique is relatively cheap and fast, it misses about 1 in 5 breast cancers in younger women with dense breast tissue, causing a delay in treatment. Compared to mammography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has superior soft-tissue contrast that elucidates structural differences within soft tissue to detect more breast cancers. However, MRI still misses

NEMO particles were produced by synthesizing manganese oxide …

Radial Artery Model For Catheterization Procedures, Kyla Beville, Mitchell Gagnon, Benjamin Stalls, Maya Ariza

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project was to create a radial artery model that is usable under ultrasound that would reduce complications during catheterization procedures. Each year, over one million of these procedures are done and complications can affect the outcomes of the patient. Using ultrasound during these procedures is an upcoming way to reduce these complications and improve the outcome that a patient will have.

Hands Free Fitted Shoe, Maddison Schutt, Nicole Rizkala, Elizabeth Scheatzle, Alexander Hershey, Austin Fowkes

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The ability to don and doff fitted shoes can be a challenge for many people including those diagnosed with diabetes, obesity, limb loss, pregnancy, Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, surgical complications, and aging. Though these actions may seem trivial, the ability to independently put on shoes is necessary because it can significantly impact one’s capacity to complete everyday tasks, hold relationships, and maintain mental health. Current competitors in the market are excessively expensive, not completely hands-free, or not fully enclosed shoes, so a new design for an accessible and affordable hands-free fitted shoe could be of great benefit to the general population. …

Erk3 And Dgkζ Interact To Modulate Cell Motility In Lung Cancer Cells, Amanda Myers

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Extracellular-regulated kinase 3 (ERK3) is overexpressed in a variety of cancers, including lung cancer. This atypical mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) has a unique structure which includes a C34 domain and C-terminus and about which relatively little is known. ERK3 has been demonstrated to promote cell migration and metastasis in multiple cancer types. A yeast two-hybrid assay using ERK3 as bait indicated Diacylglycerol kinase ζ (DGKζ) is a binding partner. DGKζ is an isoform in the DGK family, all the members of which phosphorylate the lipid diacylglycerol (DAG) to generate phosphatidic acid (PA). DGKζ was shown to promote migration in mouse …

Extraction Of Melanin From Black Knot Fungus: Optimization And Applications, Amara Davis

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The goal of this research project was to optimize the extraction of melanin from black knot fungus and to analyze possible applications of the extracted melanin. An extraction method that was previously created was examined for possible improvements. Improvements that were studied include the elimination of steps in the extraction process while obtaining the same quality of product, examining options for machinery that could be used to increase production rate when moved to a production plant setting, and optimize the concentrations of the raw materials that are used in the extraction for possible reduction of cost without compromising yield or …

Uv-Incorporated Sanitation Lining For Disinfection Of Carpentry Tools In Grade Schools, Nicole Dembiczak, Alex Paxitzis, Quinn Piorkowski, Ivana Shah

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will focus on the issues caused by a pandemic, particularly, sanitation issues and difficulties in a public area. After a considerable amount of research, it became evident that current sanitation methods are time inefficient, not always effective and wasteful. There are numerous misconceptions on how these methods work and skepticism of the products themselves. The pandemic caused by COVID-19 is an extremely relevant issue that has affected schools, hospitals and other high traffic areas. This project will focus on K-12 grade schools that struggle with quick, easy and effective cleaning methods in between and after class. We aim …

Cochlear Implant Training Model, Devin Baughn, Sidney Mingle, Aaron Bowman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Currently available training methods for cochlear implant surgeries such as cadavers and imaging systems are expensive and available for a limited number of training sessions. With the goal of decreasing risk factors associated with cochlear implant surgery, our team developed a cochlear implant training model prototype that is designed to provide a trial-and-error, tactile training method for developing force perception levels required to avoid causing damage to the cochlea. This model is designed to utilize a disposable material that ruptures when exposed to critical force levels. A material testing device was developed and utilized to test an assortment of easily …

Design And Synthesis Of Α-Anomeric Diacetylene-Containing Glycosides As Photopolymerizable Molecular Gelators, Guijun Wang, Dan Wang, Anji Chen, Ifeanyi S. Okafor, Lalith Palitha Samankumara

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Glycolipids with diacetylene functional groups are fascinating compounds with many practical uses. Among these, diacetylene-containing gelators are especially important because they can form photopolymerizable gels, which are useful stimuli-responsive materials. Inspired by the unique properties of diacetylene-containing gelators and to understand the structural influences especially the location of the diacetylene functional groups on the self-assembling properties, a series of 15 novel N-acetyl-d-glucosamine derivatives with the diacetylene functional group introduced at the anomeric position were designed and synthesized. The diacetylene function is attached to the sugar through α-glycosylation with the distance from the anomeric oxygen being varied from one, two, …