Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Exploring The Cause Of Injury Or Death In Grain Entrapment, Engulfment And Extrication, Salah F. Issa

Open Access Dissertations

Grain entrapments and engulfments are one of most common hazards associated with grain storage facilities. Since the 1970’s over 1,880 incidents have been documented in agricultural confined spaces of which 65% of all recorded incidents were grain entrapments and engulfments. There have been several studies conducted on the contributing factors behind these incidents; however, there have been very few attempts to understand the environmental, physiological or psychological factors the victims experience while entrapped, engulfed, or extricated. This includes understanding how secondary injuries are caused by grain or during extrication by first responders. The research effort was divided into three segments. …

Detangling The Interrelationships Between Self-Regulation And Ill-Structured Problem Solving In Problem-Based Learning, Xun Ge, Victor Law, Kun Huang

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

One of the goals for problem-based learning (PBL) is to promote self-regulation. Although self-regulation has been studied extensively, its interrelationships with ill-structured problem solving have been unclear. In order to clarify the interrelationships, this article proposes a conceptual framework illustrating the iterative processes among problem-solving stages (i.e., problem representation and solution generation) and self-regulation phases (i.e., planning, execution, and reflection). The dynamics of the interrelationships are further illustrated with three ill-structured problem-solving examples in different domains (i.e., information problem solving, historical inquiry, and science inquiry). The proposed framework contributes to research and practice by providing a new lens to examine …

Cartilage Engineering: Optimization Of Media For Chondrogenic Differentiation In Vitro, Evan Surma, Sherry L. Harbin, Hongji Zhang, Stacy Halum

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Lower back pain from intervertebral disc injury affects around 84% of the population at some point in their life, which at its worst may cause total immobilization. This pain can only be temporarily relieved by spinal fusion or intervertebral disc replacement; however, both of these cause loss of natural motion in patients by removing damaged fibrocartilage discs. While these techniques help mitigate pain briefly, no permanent solution exists currently to both relieve pain and preserve natural motion. My work may be a solution by eventually providing patient-specific implants that resemble native tissue in the regeneration process that could be absorbed …

Development Of Standard Criteria To Evaluate The Effectiveness Of Helmets At Decreasing The Risk Of Concussions, Daniel Y. Shyu, Goutham N. Sankaran, Kevin G. Mciver, Nicolas Leiva, Eric A. Nauman

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

In many sports, such as American football, accumulations of mild traumatic brain injuries have been suggested as a possible link to neurodegeneration and future mental disorders. With head impacts occurring at all levels of competition and in different sports, it is critical to develop an accurate method for quantifying the effects of head impacts and determining the efficacy of helmets. This study examines the derivation of different dimensionless numbers and ascertains the critical factors needed to predict the effects of head impacts, specifically the resulting accelerations from an impact. Given a known force of impact, parameters such as peak translation …

Ball Pressure Correlations With Peak Impact Force And The Potential For Cumulative Mtbi When Heading A Soccer Ball, Nicolas Leiva, Daniel Y. Shyu, Josh Auger, Eric Nauman

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Soccer is a unique sport in which athletes use their heads as tools for gameplay, which may ultimately cause cumulative traumatic brain injuries. Due to rising popularity of soccer in the United States alongside the increased occurrence of CTE and mTBI in other contact sports, there is a growing concern over how to keep the repetitive forces caused by heading, as low as possible. Different variables that can affect the peak force felt when heading a soccer ball can be simulated and compared with in-game data, however, this has never been properly tested before. In the present study two size …

Nanobubbles Provide Theranostic Relief To Cancer Hypoxia, Christopher M. Long, Pushpak N. Bhandari, Joseph Irudayaraj

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Hypoxia is a common motif among tumors, contributing to metastasis, angiogenesis, cellular epigenetic abnormality, and resistance to cancer therapy. Hypoxia also plays a pivotal role in oncological studies, where it can be used as a principal target for new anti-cancer therapeutic methods. Oxygen nanobubbles were designed in an effort to target the hypoxic tumor regions, thus interrupting the hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) regulatory pathway and inhibiting tumor progression. At less than 100nm, oxygen nanobubbles act as a vehicle for site-specific oxygen delivery, while also serving as an ultrasound contrast agent for advanced imaging purposes. Through in vitro and in vivo studies, …

Leveraging Smart Infusion Pump Data For Workflow, Patient Care And Usability Improvement In Human Factors, Yan Ni Ding, Denny Yu, Poching Delaurentis, Kang-Yu Hsu, Joon Hong Kim

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Infusion pumps are medical devices that deliver fluids like medication, and nutrients in a precise, timely, and controlled manner that is critical to patient care. It is widely used in clinical settings especially in hospitals, nursing homes and sometimes at home. Smart infusion pumps technology are supposed to be reduce nurses’ workload, but due to the recurring number of alarms which disrupt the workflow of the infusion process, most nurses prefer to use the traditional infusion pumps or work-around the safety features of the smart pumps. Thus, the aim of this research is to leverage Smart Infusion Pump data to …

Assembly Of Nucleic Acid-Based Nanoparticles By Gas-Liquid Segmented Flow Microfluidics, Matthew L. Capek, Ross Verheul, David H. Thompson

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The development of novel and efficient mixing methods is important for optimizing the efficiency of many biological and chemical processes. Tuning the physical and performance properties of nucleic acid-based nanoparticles is one such example known to be strongly affected by mixing efficiency. The characteristics of DNA nanoparticles (such as size, polydispersity, ζ-potential, and gel shift) are important to ensure their therapeutic potency, and new methods to optimize these characteristics are of significant importance to achieve the highest efficacy. In the present study, a simple segmented flow microfluidics system has been developed to augment mixing of pDNA/bPEI nanoparticles. This DNA and …

Pathway By Which Vagus Nerve Stimulation Of B Fibers Affects Heart Rate, Kelsey Wasilczuk, Matthew Ward, Pedro Irazoqui

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Heart failure (HF) affects over 5 million adults in the United States. Many HF patients have a high resting heart rate, which is correlated with a high mortality rate. In recent years, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) has become an increasingly researched therapy to reduce the resting heart rate of HF patients. However, current dosage given during VNS is increased incrementally at the doctor’s office until side effects present themselves in a patient. In addition, the means by which the therapy works is not completely understood. To better understand the therapy’s mechanisms, the right cervical vagus nerve of several Long Evans …

Characterization Of Left-Ventricular Thrombus Formation Using High Frequency Ultrasound, Kelsey A. Bullens, Arvin H. Soepriatna, Pavlos P. Vlachos, Craig J. Goergen

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Heart failure is a leading cause of death in the United States, and cardiac thrombus, a common morbidity associated with heart failure, significantly increases a patient’s risk of embolic events. The objective of this project is to characterize left-ventricular (LV) thrombus development using high frequency ultrasound imaging in a murine model. C57BL/6J wild-type mice (n=6) were injected intraperitoneally with iron dextran five times a week for six weeks to increase oxidative stress in the heart. Granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) was subcutaneously injected daily during the second week to initiate stem cell migration and stimulate endothelial cell activation, thus increasing the …

Mechanical Reliability Of Implantable Polyimide-Based Magnetic Microactuators For Biofouling Removal, Christian G. Figueroa-Espada, Qi Yang, Hyowon Lee

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Hydrocephalus is a neurological disorder that typically requires a long-term implantation of a shunt system to manage its symptoms. These shunt systems are notorious for their extremely high failure rate. More than 40% of all implanted shunt systems fail within the first year of implantation. On average, 85% of all hydrocephalus patients with shunt systems undergo at least two shunt-revision surgeries within 10 years of implantation. A large portion of this high failure rate can be attributed to biofouling-related obstructions and infections. Previously, we developed flexible polyimide-based magnetic microactuators to remove obstructions formed on hydrocephalus shunts. To test the long-term …

Optical Dosimetry Tools And Monte Carlo Based Methods For Applications In Image Guided Optical Therapy In The Brain, Akshay N Prabhu Verleker

Open Access Dissertations

Purpose: The long-term goal of this research is to determine the feasibility of using near infra-red light to stimulate drug release in metastatic lesions within the brain. In this work, we focused on developing the tools needed to quantify and verify photon fluence distribution in biological tissue. To accomplish this task, an optical dosimetry probe and Monte Carlo based simulation code were fabricated, calibrated and developed to predict light transport in heterogeneous tissue phantoms of the skull and brain. Empirical model (EM) of photon transport using CT images as input were devised to provide real-time calculations capable of being translated …

A Study Of Applications Of 3d Animation For Emergency Medicine Pedagogy, Huilong Zheng

Open Access Theses

There is ample precedent for the use of 3D animation in education, though little research on specific applications in the field of medicine. An experiment was carried out to assess the suitability of 3D animation for educational purposes in emergency medicine courses. Two groups of experimental participants were assessed on their ability to respond to three emergency medical situations in simulated test scenarios. Both groups received equivalent information on how to treat the three different medical emergencies. The control group received the information in traditional lecture format. The experimental group instead received the information from a set of 3D animations. …

Modeling Picking On Pharmaceutical Tablets, Shrikant Swaminathan

Open Access Dissertations

Tablets are the most popular solid dosage form in the pharmaceutical industry because they are cheap to manufacture, chemically and mechanically stable and easy to transport and fairly easy to control dosage. Pharmaceutical tableting operations have been around for decades however the process is still not well understood. One of the common problems faced during the production of pharmaceutical tablets by powder compaction is sticking of powder to the punch face, This is known as 'sticking'. A more specialized case of sticking is picking when the powder is pulled away form the compact in the vicinity of debossed features. In …

Influence Of The 3d Microenvironment On Glioblastoma Migration And Drug Response, Ruth Marisol Herrera Perez

Open Access Dissertations

Glioblastoma (GBM) is a highly invasive brain cancer characterized by poor prognosis. Despite significant efforts by the basic and clinical research community our understanding of GBM progression and recurrence has been incremental. Improvements in therapeutic response have been dismal, and GBM continues to be the deadliest tumor of the central nervous system, with patient average survival rate of 12 months. Synergistic relationships that the tumor cells establish with the brain microenvironment have been proven fundamental for successful tumor progression and maintenance. Yet, many in vitro GBM studies are performed in formats that fail to recapitulate the most essential component of …

Densified Collagen-Fibril Biomaterials For Bone Tissue Engineering, Lauren E. Watkins

Open Access Theses

Millions of craniofacial bone defects occur annually as a result of trauma, congenital defects, disease, or tooth extraction. When present in the oral cavity, these defects are associated with adverse impacts on speech, mastication, and aesthetics. Thus, there is a clinical need for interventional strategies to restore and preserve alveolar bone mass to improve the success of future treatment options intended to reestablish functionality and aesthetics. Guided bone regeneration using bone grafts and a membrane represent the current standard of care for repairing alveolar bone defects, but face a number of limitations related to resorption time and structural integrity. Improvements …

Community-Scale Water Treatment Systems In The Dominican Republic, Water Supply In The Dr

Engagement & Service-Learning Summit

No abstract provided.

Managing Your Professional Identity: Leveraging Social Media And Emerging Metrics To Demonstrate Professional Impact, Megan R. Sapp Nelson

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This session will assist graduate students to deliberately develop an online professional identity that will uniquely identify them as an academic as well as positively highlight their personal strengths.

Students will walk away with a plan to create a unique professional identifier and an understanding of how to measure the impact of online scholarly communication.

Topics included are:

ORCID ID

social media, such as LinkedIn & ResearchGate

Alternative Metrics (Altmetrics), such has Kudos, ImpactStory, & AltMetric

Data repositories, such as GitHub & FigShare

A Study Of Alterations In Dna Epigenetic Modifications (5mc And 5hmc) And Gene Expression Influenced By Simulated Microgravity In Human Lymphoblastoid Cells, Basudev Chowdhury, Arun Seetharam, Zhiping Wang, Yunlong Liu, Amy C. Lossie, Jyothi Thimmapuram

Cyber Center Publications

Cells alter their gene expression in response to exposure to various environmental changes. Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation are believed to regulate the alterations in gene expression patterns. In vitro and in vivo studies have documented changes in cellular proliferation, cytoskeletal remodeling, signal transduction, bone mineralization and immune deficiency under the influence of microgravity conditions experienced in space. However microgravity induced changes in the epigenome have not been well characterized. In this study we have used Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) to profile ground-based “simulated” microgravity induced changes on DNA methylation (5-methylcytosine or 5mC), hydroxymethylation (5-hydroxymethylcytosine or 5hmC), and simultaneous gene …