Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Research Agenda In Developing Core Reference Ontology For Human Intelligence/Machine-Intelligence Electronic Medical Records System, Ziniya Zahedi, Teddy Steven Cotter

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Beginning around 1990, efforts were initiated in the medical profession by the U.S. government to transition from paper based medical records to electronic medical records (EMR). By the late 1990s, EMR implementation had already encountered multiple barriers and failures. Then President Bush set forth the goal of implementing electronic health records (EHRs), nationwide within ten years. Again, progress toward EMR implementation was not realized. President Obama put new emphasis on promoting EMR and health care technology. The renewed emphasis did not overcome many of the original problems and induced new failures. Retrospective analyses suggest that failures were induced because programmers …

A Bi-Level Heuristic Solution For The Nurse Scheduling Problem Based On Shift-Swapping, Ahmed Youssef, Samah Senbel

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents a new heuristic solution to the well-known Nurse Scheduling Problem (NSP). The NSP has a lot of constraints to satisfy. Some are mandatory and specified by the hospital administration, these are known as hard constraints. Some constraints are put by the nurses themselves to produce a comfortable schedule for themselves, and these are known as soft constraints. Our solution is based on the practice of shift swapping done by nurses after they receive an unsatisfactory schedule. The constraints are arranged in order of importance. Our technique works on two levels, first we generate a schedule that satisfies …

Technology Acceptance And Compliance In Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients, Asif Kidwai

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The focus of this study is the problem of declining trend in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patient compliance. Studies reported improved compliance in patients with chronic diseases due to technology-based interventions. However, researchers have not investigated the advantages of technology to improve the compliance of OSA patients in detail. The specific problem was the lack of engagement between patients and healthcare managers, resulting in low compliance within OSA patients. The purpose of this qualitative study was to evaluate how technology-based interventions can improve OSA patient engagement with the healthcare managers resulting in improved compliance with treatment procedures. In this study, …

The Impact Of Genetic Changes During Crop Domestication, Petr Smýkal, Matthew N. Nelson, Jens D. Berger, Eric J.B. Von Wettberg

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Humans have domesticated hundreds of plant and animal species as sources of food, fiber, forage, and tools over the past 12,000 years, with manifold effects on both human society and the genetic structure of the domesticated species. The outcomes of crop domestication were shaped by selection driven by human preferences, cultivation practices, and agricultural environments, as well as other population genetic processes flowing from the ensuing reduction in effective population size. It is obvious that any selection imposes a reduction of diversity, favoring preferred genotypes, such as nonshattering seeds or increased palatability. Furthermore, agricultural practices greatly reduced effective population sizes …

Protection Of Triplet Excited State Materials From Oxygen Quenching And Photooxidation In Optical Sensing Applications, Mikhail Filatov

Books/Book chapters

No abstract provided.

Investigation Of Wavenumber Calibration For Raman Spectroscopy Using A Polymer Reference, Dongyue Liu, Hugh Byrne, Luke O'Neill, Bryan M. Hennelly

Conference papers

Raman spectroscopy is an optical technique that can be used to evaluate the biomolecular composition of tissue and cell samples in a real-time and non-invasive manner. Subtle differences between datasets of spectra obtained from related cell groups can be identified using multivariate statistical algorithms. Such techniques are highly sensitive to small errors, however, and, therefore, the classification sensitivity of Raman spectroscopy can be significantly impacted by miscalibration of the optical system due to small misalignments of the optical elements and/or variation in ambient temperature. Wavenumber calibration is often achieved by recording the spectrum from a wavenumber reference standard, such as …

Extreme Smoke Events: Climate Change And Human Health In Western Montana, Sarah Luth

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Abstract not available.

Geometroneurodynamics And Neuroscience, Keun-Hang Susan Yang, Menas Kafatos

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

The Orthodox Interpretation of quantum mechanics, as developed by many physicists, particularly John von Neumann, addresses the role of measurement, available choices and response of the quantum system to questions posed by an observer in specific quantum laboratory experiments. As such, it is, more consistent and clearer than other interpretations of quantum mechanics and it provides an account of the interactions of observers with the external world. However, in order to explore whether quantum mechanics plays a role in the brain, which is the primary issue, one has to examine the applicability of Hilbert space structure as a valid geometric …

Academy Presidents And Institutional Members, Academy Editors

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Securing The Internet Of Healthcare, Michael Mattioli, Scott J. Shackelford, Steve Myers, Austin Brady, Yvette Wang, Stephanie Wong

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Cybersecurity, including the security of information technology (IT), is a critical requirement in ensuring society trusts, and therefore can benefit from, modern technology. Problematically, though, rarely a day goes by without a news story related to how critical data has been exposed, exfiltrated, or otherwise inappropriately used or accessed as a result of supply chain vulnerabilities. From the Russian government's campaign to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election to the September 2017 Equifax breach of more than 140-million Americans' credit reports, mitigating cyber risk has become a topic of conversation in boardrooms and the White House, on Wall Street and …

Socioeconomic Characteristics Of Farmers And Agrochemical Use In Grenada, Lindonne Marcia Glasgow

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The World Health Organization classified carbaryl, glyphosate, and paraquat as hazardous to human health. In the Agriculture Health Study in the United States, health problems were associated with the use of these 3 agrochemicals 12 or more times per year. These 3 agrochemicals were commonly used in Grenada. The purpose of this quantitative cross-sectional study was to investigate the relationship between the social and economic characteristics of the farmers who participated in the 2012 agriculture survey and the use of agrochemicals at frequencies that could pose health risks. Five constructs of the social cognitive theory were used as the premise …

Relationship Between Exposure To Phthalate And Obesity In The United States, Gladys Chidiebere Ezem

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity is a public health problem. The global obesity problem has been attributed to unhealthy diet, inactivity, and hereditary factors. However, phthalates may also contribute to the obesity epidemic. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to examine whether there was a relationship between exposure to phthalates and obesity among adults 18 years and older in the United States. The theoretical framework was based on the socioecological model. The quantitative, cross-sectional design, and data analysis were based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011-2012 database. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the association between …

Poverty Rate And Occurrence Of Foodborne Illness Risk Factors In Retail Facilities, Margolite Joseph Cesar

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the efforts of food safety regulations and rules, food contamination remains a public health concern and prevalent vehicle of pathogens. This study identifies the predictors of food risk in different types of food establishments in Miami Dade County, Florida during the period November 2014 - November 2016. Guided by the epidemiologic triangle model, this correlational study analyzed the log number of risk factor violations and failure rates controlling for US Census sociodemographic data (2010 to 2014) for the food establishment neighborhoods by using linear and logistic regression. Results indicated that most of food entity types are significant predictors of …

Geographic Variations In Antenatal Care Services In Sierra Leone, Eunice Nyambura Chege

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite antenatal care presenting opportunities to identify and monitor women at risk, use of recommended antenatal care services remains. Barriers preventing use of antenatal services vary between countries, and limited knowledge exists about the link between geographical settings and antenatal service use. The objective of this cross-sectional quantitative study was to explore geographical variations and investigate how social demographic characteristics affect use of antenatal care for women in Sierra Leone using the Andersen behavioral model. The data used were from the 2016 maternal death surveillance report of the whole counrty (N =706). Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the …

Strategies For Healthcare Payer Information Technology Integration After Mergers And Acquisitions, Kishore Maranganti

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite the high rate of failure in merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions, many organizations continue to rely on M&As as their primary growth strategy and to address market competition. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore strategies managers from a large healthcare payer in the midwestern United States used to achieve operational and strategic synergies during the postacquisition information technology (IT) integration phase. Haspeslagh and Jemison's acquisition integration approaches model was the conceptual framework for the study. Methodological triangulation was established by analyzing the data from the semistructured interviews of 6 senior executives and 6 IT …

Building Connected Communities: Peel, Caledon – 2016 Census Older Immigrants, Sheridan Centre For Elder Research

Data Sheets

This data sheet provides a picture of the available relevant characteristics of the community at the time of the census (2016). We have included data both from those individuals over the age of 65 at the time of the census, as well as those who are in the age cohort just below (50 – 64), so those engaged in planning for future community needs can anticipate where growth or reduction in needs may be.

These numbers may be used to provide an overall picture of the municipality or region as a whole, and may be used to help guide municipality/region-wide …

Spatio-Temporal Frequency Separation With Application Of Kolmogorov-Zurbenko Filters To The Multivariate Analysis Of Melanoma Prevalence, Edward Valachovic

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Time Series Analysis is the observation of variables recorded across time. Observations are visualized and analysis often performed in the native time domain. It is common for a time series to be the dependent variable of more than one factor. Several factors can have concurrent and combined effects. The time domain presents an obstacle due to constructive and destructive interference of factors at each time point. Unless effects are clearly pronounced and separable, the entanglement of factors along with the presence and intensity of random variation can obscure true relationships.

Hybrid Privacy-Preserving Clinical Decision Support System In Fog-Cloud Computing, Ximeng Liu, Robert H. Deng, Yang Yang, Ngoc Hieu Tran, Shangping Zhong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we propose a framework for hybrid privacy-preserving clinical decision support system in fog cloud computing, called HPCS. In HPCS, a fog server uses a lightweight data mining method to securely monitor patients' health condition in real-time. The newly detected abnormal symptoms can be further sent to the cloud server for high-accuracy prediction in a privacy-preserving way. Specifically, for the fog servers, we design a new secure outsourced inner-product protocol for achieving secure lightweight single-layer neural network. Also, a privacy-preserving piecewise polynomial calculation protocol allows cloud server to securely perform any activation functions in multiple-layer neural network. Moreover, …

Multifunctional Nanocomposites In Coating Technology: Synthesis, Characterization, Formulation, Evaluation And Application, Sudeshna Chakraborty

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Application of Nanomaterials using nanotechnology has gained significant

attention in the coating industry in recent years. Their application has had a great

impact, particularly in the 3C industries (computer, communication, and construction).

Incorporation of nanomaterials into polymer carriers through a systematic approach to

coating processes can enhance various physical properties, such as mechanical,

optical, electrical and thermal properties. The current dissertation focused on the

synthesis and characterization of new nanomaterials like mesoporous silica or

nanocomposites like copper-doped zinc oxide that can be used in the coating to study

thermal cooling performance and enhancement of thermal conductivity. New thermal

devices will …

Developing A Minimally Structured Mathematical Mode Of Cancer Treatment With Oncolytic Viruses And Dendritic Cell Injections, Jane L. Gevertz, Joanna R. Wares

Department of Math & Statistics Faculty Publications

Mathematical models of biological systems must strike a balance between being sufficiently complex to capture important biological features, while being simple enough that they remain tractable through analysis or simulation. In this work, we rigorously explore how to balance these competing interests when modeling murine melanoma treatment with oncolytic viruses and dendritic cell injections. Previously, we developed a system of six ordinary differential equations containing fourteen parameters that well describes experimental data on the efficacy of these treatments. Here, we explore whether this previously developed model is the minimal model needed to accurately describe the data. Using a variety of …

Highly Sensitive Strain Sensor Based On Composite Interference Established Within S-Tapered Multimode Fiber Structure, Ke Tian, Ment Zhang, Gerald Farrell, Ruoning Wang, Elfed Lewis, Pengfei Wang

Articles

In this paper, a novel strain sensor based on composite interference established within an S-tapered multimode (STM) fiber structure is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The STM fibre structure is simply realized by non-axially tapering a traditional single-mode-multimode-single-mode (SMS) fiber into S-shape using a fusion splicer. This fabricated S-tapered structure provides an extra Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) that is introduced within the multimode fibre (MMF) section; therefore, composite interference based on the inherent multimode interference (MMI) of an SMS and the introduced MZI is successfully established. This resultant composite interference greatly enhances the performance of traditional SMS fibre structures for strain sensing, …

Environmental And Genetic Factors Affecting Antibiotic Resistance Of Extended Spectrum Î?-Lactamase Bacteria From The Rio Grande River In El Paso, Tx And Cd. Juarez, Mexico, Maria D. Fuentes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: The Rio Grande River provides a major source of potable and agricultural water for the population of the Texas/Mexico border region. Cattle farming and ranching are the most prevalent activities, which may contribute to the microbial burden of pharmaceuticals into our state's water resources. Antibiotics, presumably released into the environment by discharges originating from waste-water treatment plants, septic disposal systems, animal feeding operations and urban runoff have a definite impact on the ecosystem and may contribute to an increase in antibiotic resistance. We hypothesized that waters of the Rio Grande River contained Multi Drug Resistant Organisms (MDRO) and mobile …

Towards A Physio-Cognitive Model Of Slow-Breathing, Chris Dancy

Faculty Conference Papers and Presentations

How may controlled breathing be beneficial, or detrimental to behavior? Computational process models are useful to specify the potential mechanisms that lead to behavioral adaptation during different breathing exercises. We present a physio-cognitive model of slow breathing implemented within a hybrid cognitive architecture, ACT-R/Φ. Comparisons to data from an experiment indicate that the physiological mechanisms are operating in a manner that is consistent with actual human function. The presented computational model provides predictions of ways that controlled breathing interacts with mechanisms of arousal to mediate cognitive behavior. The increasing use of breathing techniques to counteract effects of stressors makes it …

Towards Using A Physio-Cognitive Model In Tutoring For Psychomotor Tasks., Jong W. Kim, Chris Dancy, Robert A. Sottilare

Faculty Conference Papers and Presentations

We report our exploratory research of psychomotor task training in intelligent tutoring systems (ITSs) that are generally limited to tutoring in the desktop learning environment where the learner acquires cognitively oriented knowledge and skills. It is necessary to support computer-guided training in a psychomotor task domain that is beyond the desktop environment. In this study, we seek to extend the current capability of GIFT (Generalized Intelligent Frame-work for Tutoring) to address these psychomotor task training needs. Our ap-proach is to utilize heterogeneous sensor data to identify physical motions through acceleration data from a smartphone and to monitor respiratory activity through …

Temporal Trends In Human Vulnerability To Excessive Heat, Scott C. Sheridan, Michael J. Allen

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Over recent decades, studies have examined various morbidity and mortality outcomes associated with heat exposure. This review explores the collective knowledge of the temporal trends of heat on human health, with regard to the hypothesis that humans are less vulnerable to heat events presently than in the past. Using Web of Science and Scopus, the authors identified all peer-reviewed articles that contained keywords on human impact (e.g. mortality, morbidity) and meteorological component (e.g. heat, heatwave). After sorting, a total of 71 articles, both case studies and epidemiological studies, contained explicit assessments of temporal trends in human vulnerability, and thus were …

Anticoagulant Rodenticide Residues In Game Animals In California, Stella C. Mcmillin, Robert H. Poppenga, Shannon C. Chandler, Deana L. Clifford

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Anticoagulant rodenticides (ARs) are used to control rodents around homes, buildings, and in agriculture. They have been found widely in predatory and scavenging wildlife as a result of secondary exposure and less commonly in herbivores and omnivores from primary exposure. While predators and scavengers have been monitored for AR exposure, very little information is available about AR residues in edible muscle tissue of game animals. Game animals may be exposed to ARs through direct consumption of bait, ingestion of contaminated food or vegetation, or consumption of contaminated prey items. Carcasses of three species of game animals (black bear, wild pigs, …

The National Wildlife Strike Database: A Scientific Foundation To Enhance Aviation Safety, Richard A. Dolbeer, Michael J. Begier, John R. Weller

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) National Wildlife Strike Database (NWSD) documents reports of civil aircraft collisions with wildlife in USA. The NWSD has been managed by the Wildlife Services Program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture through an interagency agreement since its inception. Although the NWSD includes about 170,000 reports of civil aircraft collisions with wildlife (97% birds) from 1990-2015 (14,000 in 2015), the overriding focus has been the quality control of data entered for over 90 variables ranging from species and numbers of wildlife struck, location and time of day, phase and height of flight, aircraft type, components …

To Live And Fly In La: Using Bird Strike And Management Program Information To Improve Safety At Airports In The Los Angeles Basin, Todd J. Pitlik, Elizabeth Hermann, Eric Peralta, Brian E. Washburn

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Wildlife-aircraft collisions (wildlife strikes) pose a serious safety risk to aircraft. Wildlife strikes can be evaluated at different levels, include efforts to examine these problems at the national, regional, or state level, or for an individual airport. Similarly, wildlife strikes involving individual wildlife species or guilds can be examined at varying scales. Although wildlife strike analyses at the national, regional, or species/guild level are valuable, airport-specific analyses are essential for the effective implementation and evaluation of integrated wildlife damage management programs as these actions are conducted at the airport level. The species that present hazards to safe aircraft operations varies …

Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project: 2017 Update, Margaret Pepper, Kevin Sullivan, Robert Colona, Jonathan Mcknight

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Nutria, a semi-aquatic, South American rodent, was introduced to Maryland during the early 1940s. Originally brought to the area for fur farms, the market never established and animals were released or escaped. Nutria thrived, destroying coastal wetlands which resulted in negative environmental and economic impacts to the Chesapeake Bay region. To preserve and protect valuable wetland resources, the Chesapeake Bay Nutria Eradication Project (CBNEP) was established in 2002 through a partnership between the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and many state agencies and non-governmental organizations. Since …

Functionalizing Titanium Implants With Bioactive Peptides To Increase Osseointegration, Neil Bernard

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Orthopedic surgeries have continued to increase, but the material of choice remains constant: titanium. Titanium has become the benchmark implant material due to its durability and non-immunogenic properties. However, while high rates of success are correlated with joint replacement surgery, certain patients with predisposed diseases such as diabetes or arthritis may have increased complications.¹ This can be due to lack of osseointegration due to decreased bone formation and mineralization,² which will lead to increased rates of infection or aseptic loosening of the implant from the bone. ³ Current methods to alleviate these complications include invasive revisional surgeries, which …