Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Medicine and Health Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2020

Engineering

Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 1 - 30 of 271

Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences

Comparison Of Popular Three-Dimensional Printing Materials For Oral And Maxillofacial Surgical Guidance Model, Mohammad Adhitya, Sunarso Sunarso, Abdul Muis Dec 2020

Comparison Of Popular Three-Dimensional Printing Materials For Oral And Maxillofacial Surgical Guidance Model, Mohammad Adhitya, Sunarso Sunarso, Abdul Muis

Journal of Dentistry Indonesia

The application of three-dimensional (3D) models in the medical field has become popular. However, the accuracy of 3D models for surgical guidance varies among different materials and 3D printing technologies, such as printing machine usage. Objectives: This study aims to obtain more information about the effect of three different materials printed using a fused deposition material printer from the same digital data source. This study also aims to compare, analyze, and test the materials’ ability. Methods: Each of the filament materials (acetylbutane stearate [ABS], polylactic acid [PLA], and high-impact polystyrene [HIPS]) are printed at two infill densities, their weight, volume, …


Stress Relaxation In Orthodontic Aligner Plastics; An In Vitro Comparison Study, Kristopher J. Keller Dec 2020

Stress Relaxation In Orthodontic Aligner Plastics; An In Vitro Comparison Study, Kristopher J. Keller

Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to ascertain if repeated stresses from extension cycling would result in accumulated damage in aligner materials and affect force delivery. A secondary goal was to identify potential differences in mechanical behavior present among orthodontic aligner polymers. Four thermoplastic polymers (Essix ACE, Taglus, Zendura, and Zendura FLX) were thermoformed, cut into strips, and extension cycled to 0.4 millimeters in a 37C water bath. Force decay, maximum and minimum force, and elastic modulus were measured during cycling. Additional samples were subjected to controlled tension until failure, allowing the measurement of yield strength, ultimate strength, and elastic …


Feasibility Of Continuous Fever Monitoring Using Wearable Devices, Benjamin L. Smarr, Kirstin Aschbacher, Sarah M. Fisher, Anoushka Chowdhary, Stephan Dilchert, Karena Puldon, Adam Rao, Frederick M. Hecht, Ashley E. Mason Dec 2020

Feasibility Of Continuous Fever Monitoring Using Wearable Devices, Benjamin L. Smarr, Kirstin Aschbacher, Sarah M. Fisher, Anoushka Chowdhary, Stephan Dilchert, Karena Puldon, Adam Rao, Frederick M. Hecht, Ashley E. Mason

Publications and Research

Elevated core temperature constitutes an important biomarker for COVID-19 infection; however, no standards currently exist to monitor fever using wearable peripheral temperature sensors. Evidence that sensors could be used to develop fever monitoring capabilities would enable large-scale health-monitoring research and provide high-temporal resolution data on fever responses across heterogeneous populations. We launched the TemPredict study in March of 2020 to capture continuous physiological data, including peripheral temperature, from a commercially available wearable device during the novel coronavirus pandemic. We coupled these data with symptom reports and COVID-19 diagnosis data. Here we report findings from the first 50 subjects who reported …


Bibliometric Survey On Effect Of Climate Factors On Spread Of Coronavirus (Covid-19), Seema Patil, Jay Makwana, Manish Attri Dec 2020

Bibliometric Survey On Effect Of Climate Factors On Spread Of Coronavirus (Covid-19), Seema Patil, Jay Makwana, Manish Attri

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The new SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 has spread quickly around the globe since it was first reported in Wuhan city of China, in December 2019 subsequent to being contracted from a zoonotic source. The main focus of this bibliometric survey is to recognize the few studies which have upheld the epidemiological hypothesis that the effect of climatic factors is playing a crucial role in the spreading of COVID-19. The analysis is done on the basis of 412 documents such as journals, articles, editorials, short surveys and some review papers. The United States contributes to the maximum number of publications followed by the …


Bibliometric Survey On Effects Of Climate Change On Incidences Of Infectious Diseases, Seema Harshad Patil, Yatharth Jain, Vedant Marathe Dec 2020

Bibliometric Survey On Effects Of Climate Change On Incidences Of Infectious Diseases, Seema Harshad Patil, Yatharth Jain, Vedant Marathe

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

For understanding the influx of Infectious Diseases, research of climate change and its effects pertaining to the diseases is important. The motive of this bibliometric survey is to understand the research which has been carried out regarding the aforementioned topics. This paper summarizes the research in the 21st Century from 2001 to present. We conducted this analysis using tools such as Gephi, Researchgate, Scopus, ScienceScape, Google Scholar and Mapchart. This Bibliometric Survey on “Effects of Climate Change on Infectious Diseases” showed that maximum publications are articles. These publications are from conferences and journals related to Environmental Science. The United States …


An Investigation Into The Response Of The Us And Eu5 To The Covid-19 Disease (Convergence Of Two Pandemics: Covid-19 And Ncds), Omar Hassan Dec 2020

An Investigation Into The Response Of The Us And Eu5 To The Covid-19 Disease (Convergence Of Two Pandemics: Covid-19 And Ncds), Omar Hassan

Publications and Research

In late December 2019, a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan China. COVID-19 was a result of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARA-CoV-2), which has resulted in a worldwide sudden and substantial increase in hospitalizations for pneumonia with multiorgan disease. As of October 6, 2020, SARS-CoV-2 has affected more than 200 countries, resulting in more than 35 million identified cases with more than 1 million confirmed deaths.

This is a cross-sectional, non-interventional, observational study in patients infected with the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) or Covid-19, using John Hopkins University database JHU Coronavirus map. The data collected from …


Understanding Of Aerosol Transmission Of Covid 19 In Indoor Environments, Adama Barro, Cathal O'Toole, Jacob S. Lopez, Matthew Quinones, Sherene Moore Dec 2020

Understanding Of Aerosol Transmission Of Covid 19 In Indoor Environments, Adama Barro, Cathal O'Toole, Jacob S. Lopez, Matthew Quinones, Sherene Moore

Publications and Research

Our reason for discussing severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or 2019 novel corona virus (Covid-19), is to understand its aerosol transmission characteristics in indoor spaces and to mitigate further spread of this disease by designing a new HVAC system. The problem that we are tackling is the spread of covid-19 droplets through aerosol transmission by looking at potential engineering solutions to the existing HVAC systems. The purpose is to eradicate the spread of the COVID-19 by testing indoor spaces in an effort to understand the effectiveness of ventilation controls. We believe that scientists and engineers have not …


2020 - The First Annual Fall Symposium Of Student Scholars Dec 2020

2020 - The First Annual Fall Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Fall 2020 Symposium of Student Scholars, held on December 3, 2020. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.


South Dakota State University : Research 2020, Division Of Research And Economic Development Dec 2020

South Dakota State University : Research 2020, Division Of Research And Economic Development

Research: South Dakota State University

[Page] 2 New respirator design to capture, kill coronavirus
[Page] 3 SDSU scientists to examine how coronavirus infects cells
[Page] 4 State diagnostic lab fulfills need for human COVID-19 testing
[Page] 5 Isaacson to help develop tribal palliative care programs
[Page] 6 Sun Grant funding fuels bioprocessing research
[Page] 8 Prairie AquaTech exporting high-protein feed ingredient
[Page] 11 New connection makes building repair fast, cost-effective
[Page] 12 Record-setting wildfire season drastically increases emissions
[Page] 14 Engineering study examines sunflower stem growth
[Page] 15 State Poet Laureate unveils ‘South Dakota in Poems'
[Page] 16 Reineke receives NIH grant to help eradicate …


Network-Level Mechanisms Underlying Effects Of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (Tdcs) On Visuomotor Learning, Pejman Sehatpour, Clément Dondé, Matthew J. Hoptman, Johanna Kreither, Devin Adair, Elisa Dias, Blair Vail, Stephanie Rohrig, Gail Silipo, Javier Lopez-Calderon, Antigona Martinez, Daniel C. Javitt Dec 2020

Network-Level Mechanisms Underlying Effects Of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (Tdcs) On Visuomotor Learning, Pejman Sehatpour, Clément Dondé, Matthew J. Hoptman, Johanna Kreither, Devin Adair, Elisa Dias, Blair Vail, Stephanie Rohrig, Gail Silipo, Javier Lopez-Calderon, Antigona Martinez, Daniel C. Javitt

Publications and Research

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation approach in which low level currents are administered over the scalp to influence underlying brain function. Prevailing theories of tDCS focus on modulation of excitation-inhibition balance at the local stimulation location. However, network level effects are reported as well, and appear to depend upon differential underlying mechanisms. Here, we evaluated potential network-level effects of tDCS during the Serial Reaction Time Task (SRTT) using convergent EEG- and fMRI-based connectivity approaches. Motor learning manifested as a significant (p <.0001) shift from slow to fast responses and corresponded to a significant increase in beta-coherence (p <.0001) and fMRI connectivity (p <.01) particularly within the visual-motor pathway. Differential patterns of tDCS effect were observed within different parametric task versions, consistent with network models. Overall, these findings demonstrate objective physiological effects of tDCS at the network level that result in effective behavioral modulation when tDCS parameters are matched to network-level requirements of the underlying task.


Atherosclerosis: Pathology, Role Of Sd-Ldl, Particle Size Characterization Of Sd-Ldl With Multiangle Light Scattering, Akshay Sudhakar Ukey Dec 2020

Atherosclerosis: Pathology, Role Of Sd-Ldl, Particle Size Characterization Of Sd-Ldl With Multiangle Light Scattering, Akshay Sudhakar Ukey

Masters Theses

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease due to the accumulation of lipids in the inner wall of arteries. As per the report of Center of Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in every 4 deaths is due to heart diseases each year. Atherosclerosis occurs when artery walls harden by the buildup of cholesterol, forming multiple atherosclerotic plaques within the aorta (4). Out of the modern medicines available to control cholesterol, statin is amongst the foremost widely used because it is both safe and effective in lowering high risk patients (9). However, usage of high statins dosage typically leads to some mild …


Leading Change During The Convergence Of An Epidemic And A Pandemic, Sarah Oerther, Daniel B. Oerther Dec 2020

Leading Change During The Convergence Of An Epidemic And A Pandemic, Sarah Oerther, Daniel B. Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

As the first wave of COVID-19 cases spread around the globe in early 2020, the healthcare community adopted a medical model that emphasized the use of resources to mitigate viral spread (Oerther & Watson, 2020). Schools, churches, and businesses shutdown, and healthcare facilities – from outpatient clinics to inpatient elective surgeries – were closed or cancelled. Even long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes, limited access of visitors to patients in an attempt at mitigation. And for six months, the healthcare community focused almost exclusively on a medical response to COVID-19, securing stockpiles of ventilators and fast-tracking vaccine development.


Development Of A Pediatric Cardiac Assist Maglev Pump For Use With A Universal Driver System., Landon Heath Tompkins Dec 2020

Development Of A Pediatric Cardiac Assist Maglev Pump For Use With A Universal Driver System., Landon Heath Tompkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Heart failure (HF) remains the leading cause of death, affecting 26 million adults worldwide and 6.5 million adults in the United States. Pediatric HF patients have been a historically underserved population with few options for mechanical circulatory support (MCS) therapy, a leading treatment as an alternative to heart transplantation. To address this clinical need, the Inspired Universal MagLev System is being developed; a low cost, universal magnetically levitated extracorporeal MCS system with interchangeable single-use pumps that will ultimately provide adult and pediatric patients ventricular and respiratory assist therapies. The Inspired Pediatric VAD is the first single-use pump application for this …


Understanding Radiation Resistance In Head And Neck Tumor Xenografts Using Diffuse Reflectance And Raman Spectroscopy, Sina Dadgar Dec 2020

Understanding Radiation Resistance In Head And Neck Tumor Xenografts Using Diffuse Reflectance And Raman Spectroscopy, Sina Dadgar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Each year, 800,000 new patients are diagnosed with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), a majority of whom are treated with a combination of daily fractions of radiation and weekly chemotherapy sessions for up to seven weeks. Current methods to evaluate treatment response of individual patients are limited to anatomical measurements of tumor burden using CT scan or MRI 4-8 weeks after completion of treatment. However, earlier knowledge of radiation-response prior to or at early days after commencement of therapy can aid oncologist with escalating and de-escalating treatment plans for exceptionally non-responding and responding patients. Such a knowledge can …


Docs_On_Blocks – A Defense In Depth Strategy For E-Healthcare, Saad Mohammed Dec 2020

Docs_On_Blocks – A Defense In Depth Strategy For E-Healthcare, Saad Mohammed

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

With the increase in the data breaches and cyber hacks, organizations have come to realize that cyber security alone would not help as the attacks are becoming more sophisticated and complex than ever. E-Healthcare industry has shown a promising improvement in terms of security over the past, but the threat remains. Thus, the E-Healthcare industries are aiming towards a Defense in Depth Strategy approach.

The project here describes how a Defense in Depth Strategy for E-Healthcare system can provide an environment for better security of the data and peer-to-peer interaction with stakeholders. The legacy systems have at some point failed …


Technology Aiding In Neonatal Lung Developmental Care, Megan Kirk Dec 2020

Technology Aiding In Neonatal Lung Developmental Care, Megan Kirk

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this paper, old as well as new technological findings to decrease premature infant mortality are reviewed. This paper discusses fetal development throughout pregnancy from conception to full-term status as well as fetal lung development specifically from conception until full-term status. Several ideas to rapidly develop and mature fetal lungs are discussed such as mothers ingesting artificial surfactant supplements, either independently or coupled with antenatal corticosteroids, as well as intra-amniotic instillation prior to 28 weeks gestational. Drawbacks regarding these two are mentioned as well such as the fetus’s lungs not being mature enough to use the artificial surfactant leading into …


Assessment Of The Use Of Low Molecular Weight Diblock Copolymers For The Formation Of Stable, Tunable Droplet Interface Bilayers, Joseph Tawfik Dec 2020

Assessment Of The Use Of Low Molecular Weight Diblock Copolymers For The Formation Of Stable, Tunable Droplet Interface Bilayers, Joseph Tawfik

Masters Theses

This thesis presents the use of diblock copolymers, poly(butadiene)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PBm PEOn) and poly(isoprene)-b-poly(ethylene oxide) (PImPEOn), as amphiphilic molecular building blocks for the formation of synthetic polymer bilayer membranes using the droplet interface bilayer (DIB) technique. The DIB technique makes use of the self-assembly of amphiphilic macromolecules along oil-water droplet interfaces that can then be physically connected for the construction of liquid supported macromolecular bilayers at the droplet interface. These bilayer membranes are capable of hosting both naturally occurring and synthetic protein channels. This technique has been used to form synthetic bilayer membranes …


Validation Of Novel Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treatment With Silicone Gel Experimental Models, Dustin Walter Burd Dec 2020

Validation Of Novel Obstructive Sleep Apnea Treatment With Silicone Gel Experimental Models, Dustin Walter Burd

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Predictive modeling to increase treatment success rates for surgical procedures is becoming more common in the scientific community. For obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), modeling has been predominately performed using computers as opposed to experimental models. Computer simulation saves time by eliminating the need to fabricate complex experimental models but comes at the expense of insight gained through physical observations made in real time. Experimental models for studying OSA are needed to validate computational work, provide perspective on anatomical scale and demonstrate complex deformations in real time. This work addresses prior hurdles in experimental model fabrication with a novel process using …


An Investigation On The Influences Of Radial Head Hemiarthroplasty Stem Fixation Techniques On Articular Mechanics, Jakub Szmit Nov 2020

An Investigation On The Influences Of Radial Head Hemiarthroplasty Stem Fixation Techniques On Articular Mechanics, Jakub Szmit

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Radial head hemiarthroplasty design has been extensively studied with a focus on utilizing the geometrical characteristics of the native radial dish as a guide of implant placement and design. Although implant design has been studied, optimal radial head implant fixation technique remains unknown. This thesis focused on the effect of stem fit on radiocapitellar contact mechanics, using both finite element and experimental bench-top approaches. Additionally, investigation into the impact of varus/valgus malalignment of the radial head in both the native state and following hemiarthroplasty was conducted. It was found that loose fitting a smooth stem axisymmetric radial head implant through …


Stem Education In College: An Analysis Of Stakeholders’ Recent Challenges And Potential Solutions, Santanu De, Georgina Arguello Nov 2020

Stem Education In College: An Analysis Of Stakeholders’ Recent Challenges And Potential Solutions, Santanu De, Georgina Arguello

FDLA Journal

A vast majority of academic disciplines and curricula in the college center around Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), which are critical to developing the skills necessary for a global workforce. Rapid changes in pedagogical setups, educational modes, and advances in instructional technology entail diverse challenges for key stakeholders (i.e. students, faculty, and the organizations). This paper highlights the most relevant challenges and potential solutions in STEM higher education at the college level, reported in the last decade. The holistic analysis combining the three stakeholders’ perspectives would help elucidate significant contemporary aspects impacting the fields. The goal is to further …


Dynamic Body-Weight Support To Boost Rehabilitation Outcomes In Patients With Non-Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: An Observational Study, Justin P. Huber, Lumy Sawaki Nov 2020

Dynamic Body-Weight Support To Boost Rehabilitation Outcomes In Patients With Non-Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: An Observational Study, Justin P. Huber, Lumy Sawaki

Neurology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Dynamic body-weight support (DBWS) may play an important role in rehabilitation outcomes, but the potential benefit among disease-specific populations is unclear. In this study, we hypothesize that overground therapy with DBWS during inpatient rehabilitation yields greater functional improvement than standard-of-care in adults with non-traumatic spinal cord injury (NT-SCI).

METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included individuals diagnosed with NT-SCI and undergoing inpatient rehabilitation. All participants were recruited at a freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospital. Individuals who trained with DBWS for at least three sessions were allocated to the experimental group. Participants in the historical control group received standard-of-care (i.e., no DBWS). …


A Note From The Editor, Daphne Fauber Nov 2020

A Note From The Editor, Daphne Fauber

Ideas: Exhibit Catalog for the Honors College Visiting Scholars Series

This piece is a letter from Daphne Fauber, the editor of this issue of Ideas. In the letter, the editor introduces the work of Dr. Paschalis Gkoupidenis as well as the moment in time in which his Visiting Scholars talk occurs.


Multimodal Computational Modeling Of Visual Object Recognition Deficits But Intact Repetition Priming In Schizophrenia, Pejman Sehatpour, Anahita Bassir Nia, Devin Adair, Zhishun Wang, Heloise M. Debaun, Gail Silipo, Antigona Martinez, Daniel C. Javitt Nov 2020

Multimodal Computational Modeling Of Visual Object Recognition Deficits But Intact Repetition Priming In Schizophrenia, Pejman Sehatpour, Anahita Bassir Nia, Devin Adair, Zhishun Wang, Heloise M. Debaun, Gail Silipo, Antigona Martinez, Daniel C. Javitt

Publications and Research

The term perceptual closure refers to the neural processes responsible for “filling-in” missing information in the visual image under highly adverse viewing conditions such as fog or camouflage. Here we used a closure task that required the participants to identify barely recognizable fragmented line-drawings of common objects. Patients with schizophrenia have been shown to perform poorly on this task. Following priming, controls and importantly patients can complete the line-drawings at greater levels of fragmentation behaviorally, suggesting an improvement in their ability to performthe task. Closure phenomena have been shown to involve a distributed network of cortical regions, notably the lateral …


Engineering Electromagnetic Systems For Next-Generation Brain-Machine Interface, Brayan Ricardo Navarrete Nov 2020

Engineering Electromagnetic Systems For Next-Generation Brain-Machine Interface, Brayan Ricardo Navarrete

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

MagnetoElectric Nanoparticles (MENPs) are known to be a powerful tool for a broad range of applications spanning from medicine to energy-efficient electronics. MENPs allow to couple intrinsic electric fields in the nervous system with externally controlled magnetic fields. This thesis exploited MENPs to achieve contactless brain-machine interface (BMIs). Special electromagnetic devices were engineered for controlling the MENPs’ magnetoelectric effect to enable stimulation and recording. The most important engineering breakthroughs of the study are summarized below.

(I) Metastable Physics to Localize Nanoparticles: One of the main challenges is to localize the nanoparticles at any selected site(s) in the brain. The fundamental …


Covid-19_Umaine News_Umaine Students Get Immersive Experience In Engineering Education, University Of Maine Division Of Marketing And Communications Nov 2020

Covid-19_Umaine News_Umaine Students Get Immersive Experience In Engineering Education, University Of Maine Division Of Marketing And Communications

Division of Marketing & Communications

Screenshot of UMaine News press release regarding Asli Sezen-Barrie, associate professor of curriculum, assessment and instruction in the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development redesigning her class on Teaching Science in the Secondary School to provide more opportunities for preservice teachers at UMaine to learn about engineering concepts and meet with engineers.


Bioscaffold Valve With And Without Mechanically Conditioned Stem Cells For The Treatment Of Critical Mitral Valve Diseases In The Young, Brittany A. Gonzalez Nov 2020

Bioscaffold Valve With And Without Mechanically Conditioned Stem Cells For The Treatment Of Critical Mitral Valve Diseases In The Young, Brittany A. Gonzalez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Congenital heart disease, which includes heart valve defects, are the most common type of birth abnormality in the US. Infants with critical congenital valve disease have no established treatment-measure other than compassionate care options, owing to an absence of prosthetic valves in small sizes and their inability to support somatic growth. A regenerable valve would be appealing since these barriers could be overcome; it can potentially provide for growth, self-repair, infection resistance and be a permanent approach for replacing defective heart valves.

Porcine small intestinal submucosa (PSIS) bioscaffold was used to create valvular constructs with the possibility to grow overtime. …


Update On The Use Of Transcranial Electrical Brain Stimulation To Manage Acute And Chronic Covid-19 Symptoms, Giuseppina Pilloni, Marom Bikson, Bashar W. Badran, Mark S. George, Steven A. Kautz, Alexandre Hideki Okano, Abrahão Fontes Baptista, Leigh E. Charvet Nov 2020

Update On The Use Of Transcranial Electrical Brain Stimulation To Manage Acute And Chronic Covid-19 Symptoms, Giuseppina Pilloni, Marom Bikson, Bashar W. Badran, Mark S. George, Steven A. Kautz, Alexandre Hideki Okano, Abrahão Fontes Baptista, Leigh E. Charvet

Publications and Research

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in the urgent need to develop and deploy treatment approaches that can minimize mortality and morbidity. As infection, resulting illness, and the often prolonged recovery period continue to be characterized, therapeutic roles for transcranial electrical stimulation (tES) have emerged as promising non-pharmacological interventions. tES techniques have established therapeutic potential for managing a range of conditions relevant to COVID-19 illness and recovery, and may further be relevant for the general management of increased mental health problems during this time. Furthermore, these tES techniques can be inexpensive, portable, and allow for trained self-administration. Here, …


Incorporation Of Lignin In Natural And Synthetic Biomaterials To Alter Mechanical And Biochemical Properties For Enhanced Wound Healing, Jorge Alfonso Belgodere Nov 2020

Incorporation Of Lignin In Natural And Synthetic Biomaterials To Alter Mechanical And Biochemical Properties For Enhanced Wound Healing, Jorge Alfonso Belgodere

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

It is estimated that chronic, non-healing wounds affect more than 6.5 million Americans annually, with an estimated healthcare cost beyond $14 billion. Here, we attempted to create composites of natural (collagen type I or gelatin-methacrylate) or synthetic (poly(ethylene glycol) polymers incorporating a natural plant component, lignin, to combat the costs and limitations current wound healing methods face. Three-dimensional matrices of collagen type I (Col I) are widely used in tissue engineering applications for its abundance in many tissues, bioactivity with many cell types, and excellent biocompatibility. Inspired by the structural role of lignin in plant tissue, we found that sodium …


Development Of Water-Soluble Polyesters For Tissue Engineering Applications, Trent Gordon Nov 2020

Development Of Water-Soluble Polyesters For Tissue Engineering Applications, Trent Gordon

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The development of tunable polymers has become increasingly important for both tissue engineering and drug delivery. This thesis investigates the development of water-soluble polyesters that contain both natural and synthetic components. These polymers offer tunable chemical structures, as well as functional groups for the conjugation of crosslinking moieties or cell signaling molecules. The first series of polymers was synthesized from poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and aspartic acid (Asp) via a titanium catalyzed transesterification method to provide polymers with molar masses of 12 kg/mol. After deprotection, the pendent functional groups of Asp were reacted with methacrylic, maleic, and itaconic anhydride to introduce …


A Markov Chain Approach For Forecasting Progression Of Opioid Addiction, Abhijit Gosavi, Susan L. Murray, N. Karagiannis Nov 2020

A Markov Chain Approach For Forecasting Progression Of Opioid Addiction, Abhijit Gosavi, Susan L. Murray, N. Karagiannis

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The U.S. is currently facing an opioid crisis. Naltrexone is a common treatment for drug addiction; it reduces the desire to take opiates. However, addicts often stop treatment or continue to use opioids while in treatment. This results in increased fatalities and associated costs. A Markov-chain model is presented to analyze the progression of opioid addiction to assist the medical community in developing appropriate treatments. The model includes patients who continue opiate use while on naltrexone (blocked patients) and those who use opiates after missing naltrexone doses (unblocked patients). The other types of patients are abstinent (the best-case scenario) and …