University of Illinois at Chicago
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Shear Wave Propagation in a Fiber-Laden Viscoelastic Muscle Phantom: Challenges in Inverse Modeling
No full textThe functional role of skeletal muscle and the hierarchal microstructure and arrangement of fibers within it results in anisotropy and inhomogeneity in both material properties and imposed stresses. Dynamic elastography reconstruction methods for estimating muscle tissue viscoelastic properties that are based on assumptions of homogeneity, isotropy and only bulk wave motion may produce inaccurate estimates. Biases may be introduced in reconstruction by homogenizing muscle with axially aligned fibers and approximating it as transversely isotropic. The significance of these biases, and their interplay with imposed stresses and confounding waveguide effects due to small cross-sectional dimensions, is quantified with a series of numerical finite element and experimental elastography studies on fiber-laden phantoms, with varying fiber dimensions. This study reveals how accurate homogenization is informed not only by cross-sectional area or volumetric information but depends on more detailed multiscale understanding of the heterogeneous material structure
Corrosion Risk Analysis of CoCrMo Alloy as a Function of Microstructure: Biomedical Applications
No full textCoCrMo alloys, widely used in orthopedic implants and various biomedical applications, exhibit excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical properties. However, specific microstructures, such as banded structures, or conditions like exposure to infectious environments can lead to localized corrosion and metal ion release. This localized corrosion raises concerns about potential adverse effects, despite the alloy’s overall corrosion resistance. While the electrochemical nature of this alloy is well studied, the microstructure’s effect needs further research. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate CoCrMo alloys’ corrosion behavior in two microstructures: homogeneous (transverse) and banded (longitudinal) under simulated normal, infectious, and inflammatory conditions.
CoCrMo disks were prepared and polished following the standard metallographic protocol for a surface finish of <50 nm. The homogeneous CoCrMo rod was cut perpendicular to the axis, while the banded CoCrMo rod was cut parallel to the axis. Bovine calf serum (30 g/L) with a pH of 7.6 was used as the electrolyte to simulate normal physiological conditions present at the joint. To simulate infectious conditions, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (15 µg/L) was added to BCS, while 0.5 mM hydrogen peroxide was added to BCS to simulate inflammation. The electrochemical test followed the ASTM G61 standard using a three-electrode system and a standard electrochemical protocol. Using Tafel’s estimation, the corrosion potential and corrosion current were determined. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) data was utilized to generate Bode and Nyquist plots and construct an equivalent electric circuit to determine polarization resistance (Rp) and double-layer capacitance (Cdl). The corroded surfaces were characterized by white light profilometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS).
Our study showed that the CoCrMo specimens with homogeneous microstructures exhibited increased corrosion resistance compared to banded microstructures in all three conditions. The EIS data supported this observation, revealing higher Rp and lower capacitance for the homogeneous structure. SEM observations revealed larger pitting in the banded microstructure compared to homogeneous.
The banded microstructure, with increased grain boundary exposure, heightens the risk of intergranular and galvanic corrosion. Further exploration is needed to understand microstructural mechanisms and develop strategies to inhibit increased corrosion risk. Our investigation emphasizes the vital role of material composition and configuration in microstructural and corrosion behavior
Finally Seen: Algorithmic Solutions to Access & Injustice through Proper Visibility
No full textWhen individuals are unseen, the critical elements necessary for fair and accurate (i.e., just) decision-making are missing, leading to a distorted version of their identity that reinforces systemic inequities and exacerbates the marginalization of vulnerable groups. This misrepresentation perpetuates systemic injustices, creating barriers that deny opportunities and deepen inequality. Increasingly, decisions in life-critical contexts—such as healthcare and resource allocation—are being delegated to algorithmic decision-makers (such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)). These algorithms and the data that inform them are often, however, influenced by biases embedded in historical data, further entrenching these inequities. In turn, these biases limit decision spaces, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities and perpetuating cycles of harm and exclusion.
Specifically, I quantitatively uncover previously hidden disparities in medical settings and identify patterns of unjust silencing in emergency care, emphasizing the need for justice-oriented decision-making frameworks that incorporate an intersectional perspective. I demonstrate the benefits of this approach and use causal discovery to construct, to my knowledge, the first causal graphs (SCMs) in this domain. Through rule-based and context-based methods, I modify clinical notes according to insights from the causal analysis of these SCMs to reduce these disparities empirically evaluating how refining textual inputs—through empathy injection, word removal, and rephrasing—can improve patient visibility in medical settings, enhancing recognition by both large language models (LLMs) and physicians. I then developed a human-in-the-loop approach that helps editors of text to directly make such modifications rather than relying solely on algorithmic approaches, ensuring accountability, explainability, and long-term changes in word choice. Additionally, I analyze disparities in access to life-critical goods between disadvantaged and advantaged populations, applying optimization techniques to design targeted interventions that reduce inequities and advance justice-oriented algorithmic solutions from grassroots to global levels. These analyses examine how such interventions shape decision-making, refine predictive accuracy, and mitigate biases in real-world applications. By addressing these computational challenges, this research promotes the proper visibility of marginalized communities within decision-making systems through algorithmic justice
Youths’ Evaluations of Teachers’ Punitive and Restorative Responses to Racialized Defiance and Disrespect
No full textRestorative justice, which promotes individual and collective accountability through inclusive dialogue, has been identified as a promising, developmentally supportive alternative to the harmful and inequitably applied punishments of office referrals and suspensions commonly used in U.S. schools. Grounded in social cognitive domain theory, this mixed-methods study investigated racially and ethnically diverse middle and high school students’ (n = 71) judgments and reasoning about restorative and exclusionary responses to minor, subjective student behaviors commonly linked to racial discipline disparities.
In interviews, adolescents evaluated student behaviors, teachers’ restorative and exclusionary responses, and the sources of teachers’ authority in hypothetical scenarios where student behaviors may be perceived as defiant or disrespectful. Adolescents consistently judged restorative approaches positively, even when they viewed the behavior as acceptable. In contrast, they judged the exclusionary approach as neutral to negative, granting it more legitimacy when they saw the student’s behavior as less acceptable. Age and vulnerability to racial discipline disproportionality were not significantly associated with adolescents’ judgments.
When reasoning about restorative approaches, adolescents were more likely to consider potential outcomes or qualities of the process and were more likely to attribute teachers’ authority to their intentions or personal characteristics. When reasoning about exclusionary approaches, they focused more on whether the punishment was warranted given the student’s behavior and most often attributed teachers’ authority to their positional power. These findings suggest that racialized adolescents may view restorative justice as a legitimate approach to addressing perceived defiance or disrespect and may foster reasoning through a relational framework of accountability. Conversely, exclusionary approaches may be seen as less legitimate and may reinforce retributive frameworks of reasoning about accountability
Diabetes Management in Racial/Ethnic Minority Populations: Evaluating Economic and Humanistic Outcomes
No full textType 2 diabetes disproportionately affects historically underserved populations, leading to higher incidence rates, complication burden, suboptimal outcomes, and financial strain. This dissertation explores the economic and humanistic outcomes in individuals with suboptimally controlled type 2 diabetes belonging to racial and ethnic minority communities receiving care at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System. In Chapter 1, an overview of diabetes etiology, treatment guidelines, and disease burden are provided, emphasizing the need for targeted efforts to enhance disease management and health equity. It introduces a clinical pharmacist and community health worker team-based mobile health intervention for type 2 diabetes adherence support (mDAS) and the rationale for its implementation, setting the stage for the subsequent research. In Chapter 2, the costs of implementing the mDAS intervention are examined from a health system perspective. A comparison of medical visits and associated costs between intervention and usual care groups showed no significant differences, suggesting that team-based care models can be integrated into practice without additional financial burden. In Chapter 3, the psychometric properties of the EQ-5D-3L, a generic preference-based measure of health-related quality of life (HRQL), are examined in the mDAS study population. This study contributes to the understanding of HRQL measures in diverse populations and informs the selection of appropriate patient-reported outcomes for future studies. Chapter 4 evaluates the long-term cost-effectiveness of the mDAS intervention using a cost-effectiveness Markov model. Study findings suggest that the intervention can result in reduced healthcare costs and increased quality-adjusted life years over 5-year, 10-year, and lifetime horizons, with the benefits becoming more pronounced over time. Chapter 5 discusses key findings, implications, and future research opportunities. The dissertation highlights the potential of interdisciplinary, technology-driven interventions to improve both clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness, especially in historically underserved populations
Differential Security Analysis of Cross-Platform Electron Applications
No full textThis thesis presents an in-depth analysis of security mechanisms in Electron-based cross-platform applications, specifically examining how it manages HTTP headers and security mechanisms compared to Google Chrome.
The research evaluates Electron's handling of critical headers through both manual testing and the use of the Web Platform Tests (WPT) cross-browser test suite. Special attention is given to vulnerabilities introduced by Electron’s unique architecture, including its use of webviews and local HTML files, which may enable bypasses of standard security protocols. We then explore the implications of local file handling in regards to the fundamental web security notion of an origin, and find that it substantially differs from that of modern browsers.
In summary, this study identifies significant security gaps, particularly in how Electron handles CORS, permissions, and origins in local file contexts. These discrepancies can expose Electron applications to cross-origin resource-sharing issues, inconsistencies in cookie handling, and unintended permission granting. This enables a series of significant threats, including allowing third-party web resources to freely navigate through the file system and access sensitive information.
In light of these findings, we advocate for implementing stricter default security settings in Electron to better protect applications and their users
Trusted Messengers and Vaccine Hesitancy: A Qualitative Focus Group Analysis
No full textThis brief examines how trusted messengers dealt with vaccine hesitancy to rebuild trust with the community and deliver clear and consistent messages about the vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic. It finds that trusted messengers experienced conflict between their role as public health messengers and as community members. Trusted messengers had to navigate lingering hesitancy, even after community members received an initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Findings of this study offer practical recommendations for policymakers and practitioners to develop more effective outreach strategies for diverse communities.</p
Creating an Infrastructure to Measure Longer-term, Cumulative Neighborhood Exposures and Their Impacts on Cancer
No full textThis project aims to create an infrastructure that will enable University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) researchers to study longer-term, cumulative neighborhood exposures and how they might impact cancer risk, the continuum of care, and survival. We are using this approach to define cumulative, long-term measures of residential proximity to higher and lower quality food sources ("food access"); to our knowledge, this approach to studying long-term food access with cancer and survival has not previously been done.</p
Hemolytic Transfusion Reaction Due to Anti‐A1 Antibody During Pregnancy: Case Report
No full textThe ABO blood group is the most clinically relevant system in transfusion medicine. Approximately 20% of individuals with blood group A of European descent belong to a weak A subgroup, most commonly A2, which may produce anti-A1 antibodies. These antibodies are usually cold-reactive IgM and rarely cause hemolysis, but can occasionally be clinically significant when reactive at 37°C. We describe a pregnant woman with sickle cell disease (HbS/β⁰ thalassemia) and prior hyperhemolysis syndrome who developed a severe delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction (DHTR) after transfusion of A1 red blood cells. Anti-A1 was identified post-transfusion, confirming her as a non-A1 subtype. Notably, she also experienced hemolysis following group O red cell transfusion, consistent with hyperhemolysis. This case highlights the rare but serious potential of anti-A1 to cause DHTR, particularly in high-risk populations, and underscores the importance of increased vigilance when managing transfusion in sickle cell disease.</p
Use of Defensive and Receptive Reasoning Strategies and Receptiveness to Opposing Political Views
No full textWith unprecedented access to diverse political perspectives, individuals struggle to fairly engage with political content that disconfirms their previously held beliefs. By relying on defensive reasoning strategies such as counterarguing, derogating, and bolstering, participants have demonstrated motivated reasoning to defend their previously held views while engaging with opposing political views. Although researchers have examined specific defensive reasoning strategies, few studies of how individuals engage with opposing views have included both defensive and receptive reasoning strategies, and none have examined associations between strategies used and receptiveness to opposing views. Participants were adult subscribers to The Flip Side (n = 370), an online news program that sends subscribers a daily email featuring multiple perspectives on timely political issues. Although subscribers had access to information that confirmed and disconfirmed their previously held political beliefs, research participants reported on their use of defensive and receptive reasoning strategies while reading opposing political views. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) found that of the 94.9% of participants who were high users of defensive reasoning strategies, high receptive reasoning strategy users were significantly more receptive than those who were low receptive strategy users (p = .002). Hierarchical regression modelling was then used to examine the associations between gender, political orientation, and use of defensive and receptive reasoning strategies with receptiveness to opposing views. The final regression model described significant variance in receptiveness, F(9, 359) = 13.25, p < .001. Having more liberal attitudes, attitude polarization (extreme attitudes), and partisan polarization (extreme republican-democrat identification) were associated with less receptiveness. Gender and republican-democrat identification were not related to receptiveness. Defensive reasoning strategies did not describe significant variance in participants’ receptiveness (F-change = 1.4, p = .231). While counterarguing and derogating were used more than any other strategies, neither were related to receptiveness. Greater bolstering, on the other hand, was associated with less receptiveness after accounting for other variables in the model. The addition of the receptive reasoning strategies to the final model described significantly more variance in receptiveness (F-change = 10.91, p < .001). Challenging and reflecting were not individually associated with receptiveness, but more questioning was associated with more receptiveness. Collectively, these findings confirm the human tendency to utilize defensive reasoning with opposing political views, even among individuals who actively seek alternative perspectives. While defensive reasoning strategy use did not relate to receptiveness, results also support the conclusion that receptive reasoning strategies relate to receptiveness to opposing views. In addition, this study supports the value of including receptive and defensive reasoning strategies in future studies of individuals’ receptiveness to opposing viewpoints, regardless of their political orientation
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