TTU Published Journals @ Volpe Library
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Bayesian Belief Network for Heart Disease Prediction
No full textWith millions of people dying of Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) annually, the application of Artificial Intelligence in the prediction and diagnosis of these diseases has become essential. Researchers have used various Machine Learning techniques to predict heart diseases in patients. Bayesian Belief Networks (BBN) are often used as a popular technique for disease prediction and diagnosis because of their interpretability and flexibility. However, not much work has been done on heart disease prediction using BBN. In this paper, we use Bayesian Belief Networks to predict the likelihood of cardiovascular diseases in patients. The proposed model takes patient information on different risk factors associated with cardiovascular diseases and builds a Bayesian Belief Network that predicts the likelihood of heart diseases in people
*WINNER* Diagnostic Prediction using Clinical text analysis
No full textInterpreting symptoms plays an important role in determining whether your medical diagnosis is accurate. Learning and assessing the skill of writing patient notes requires feedback from other doctors, a time-intensive process that could be improved with the addition of machine learning. Clinical Skills exam is an important part of United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). In this the test takers are required to interact with standardized patients and write a patient note. Trained physicians scores them based on a rubric that are outlined for each case's important concepts. Approaches using natural language processing have been created to address this problem, but patient notes can still be challenging to interpret computationally because features may be expressed in many ways. In this project we will develop an automated method to map clinical concepts like "diminished appetite" to various ways in which these concepts are expressed in clinical patient notes written ("eating less", "clothes fit looser"). we aim at predicting the diagnostics, which helps doctors in diagnosing a patient's ailment using the anamnesis provided. We will use NLP methods to classify and label the data based on the clinical concepts
Constructing a Single Tryptophan Arrestin-3 Variant A3V9W by site-direct mutagenesis
No full textTo study the potential binding-induced conformational changes on arrestin-3, a multifunctional adaptor protein, we intend to incorporate a fluorinated tryptophan residue as reporter in this protein, then obtain the fluorine NMR spectroscopy of this protein. A3V9W variant was designed to place a single tryptophan residue at the N-terminal of arrestin-3, which was reported as a primary binding site for some arrestin-3 binding partners such as JNK3 and ERK1/2. Here, we report our efforts to construct this arrestin-3 variant expression plasmid (pTrc HisB) by site-direct mutagenesis
Development of a Law Enforcement Field Test for Identification of Opioid Surrogates Utilizing Thin Layer Chromatography
No full textUsage of heroin and cocaine is increasing as a surrogate to opioids. This increase has resulted in the increased use of presumptive drug test kits in the field by law enforcement; tests that simply rely on color change. This has led to an increase in the number of false positives, which has a negative effect to the public. Examples include the Scott's test for cocaine and the Marquis color test for heroin. Diluents, cutting agents and over-the-counter medications have shown to also give positive results for cocaine and heroin. This project's approach looks at stain reagents for cocaine and heroin as a presumptive use, but with a technique more common to definitive analysis, thin layer chromatography (TLC). A TLC kit would be run by law enforcement in the field. Preliminary studies have focused on silica TLC plates with cobalt (II) thiocyanate (cocaine and heroin), KMnO4 (heroin), and iodine (heroin) utilization for staining
Detection of cadmium and lead via modified glassy carbon electrode: A study in reproducibility
No full textTrace amounts of heavy metals in local water supplies is a well-known threat to not only aquatic life, but humans as well. This ever-increasing problem makes monitoring trace heavy metals of extreme importance. Previously practiced and highly accurate monitoring utilizing mercury film electrodes and hanging mercury drop electrodes are now discouraged due to the toxic nature of mercury. A new, valid method of trace heavy metal detection has now been proposed using an internal standards method paired with a bismuth modified electrode via square wave voltammetry. This research aims for process optimization through the changing of the deposition time, use of convection, and establishing a new cadmium internal standard to make an extremely reproducible procedure. This research aims to show the elimination of acetonitrile, removal of dissolved oxygen, and an overall greener, highly reproducible alternative for trace heavy metal detection of cadmium and lead with the hopes of future use for other heavy metals
*WINNER* Water Remediation Utilizing ISA, TSC, and SC
No full textWater contaminants have steadily increased as a health and environmental hazard. In 2021, the EPA has regulated over 90 water pollutants under the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR). For the purposes of this project, heavy metal ions will be studied. According to the EPA, some of these ions have contributed to increased risk of cancer, liver and kidney damage, allergic dermatitis, and more. This project focuses on the removal of heavy metal ions from aqueous sources using Isatin sulfonic acid (ISA) thiosemicarbazones (TSC) and semicarbazone (SC) chelating resins that are immobilized onto resin beads via anion exchange. These chelating resins are stirred in solutions at environmentally relevant pH values containing selected metal ions. The metal concentrations prior to contact with the resin and after contact are used to calculate a dry weight distribution value (Dw) to determine the effectiveness of removal by the resin of choice. It is anticipated that these resins will be successful at removing the metal ions of interest and hold the potential to become a contributing step to healing the environmental world
Clothing Durability: Shein vs. Sustainability
No full textHow often do you have to repurchase online clothing due to lack of durability? With the fashion industry always changing and weighing in on what the "next big thing" is in design and aesthetics, the question of quality in production has raised major concerns for consumers. Retrospectively, consumers want their money to go toward items that are durable and will last them a long time. However, the rise in media and consumerism has exposed the public to faster-moving trend cycles, which means a faster moving production cycle. Therefore, the production cycle has to sacrifice things such as sustainability and ethical issues. One way to see the change in durability would be to compare fabric compositions from today's trends to the trends of the 1970s. This research aims to determine if clothing today is as durable as clothing produced fifty years ago
*WINNER* Ways Teachers Accommodate Children with Sensory Processing Disorder Needs in the Classroom
No full textThe topic of this project is to find in what ways teachers accommodate children with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). The problem identified is that children with SPD need accommodations within the classroom in order to improve their behaviors and everyone (teacher and other children) else's daily lives. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to investigate the ways in which teachers do and can accommodate the classroom for children with SPD. The key words used to identify the literature reviewed include the following: sensory processing disorder, children with sensory processing disorder, sensory processing disorder needs, accommodations, teachers. The participants in the literature reviewed included teachers, children with sensory processing disorder, and professional counselors. These studies were chosen for this literature review project due to their definition of sensory processing disorder in children, how the disorder affects children in the classroom setting, and recommendations for ways teachers accommodate children in the classroom setting. These findings tell us that the information is widely available to teachers and parents of children with sensory processing disorder. It also reinforces the importance of the problem: that children with sensory processing disorder do face issues in the classroom setting, so teachers should accommodate for these needs in order to improve the child's and others' daily lives
Safe Sex?: The German Sex Industry and the Pandemic
No full textSex work is a legitimate profession in Germany, requiring work permits and identification from anyone hoping to pursue the profession. When searching for employment in the sex work industry, workers are just as, if not more, heavily regulated than other industries. Registered sex workers are required to carry valid government-issued registration, must use condoms and contraceptives when any sexual act is performed, and must submit to regular health checks. This structure and regulation should, in theory, protect sex workers and validate their profession; however, German sex work is still considered taboo, many suffering from social stigma. Sex workers are suffering more than usual due to restrictions from Covid-19. Sex work is solely dependent upon human interaction. Given that Covid-19 is an airborne virus that is easily transmissible through droplets and close contact, the on-going pandemic has impacted the structure of the sex work industry significantly. This project will focus on the adverse effects Covid has had on the physical safety, mental health, and economic standing of sex workers in Germany
Electrical Storage and Power Generation for Commercial Electric Aircraft
No full textA hybrid Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) gas turbine cycle is being suggested to provide sufficient power generation on an electric aircraft. A Boeing 737 style commercial aircraft is estimated to require ~28 MW of electrical power for stable flight and operation. Electric ducted fans will serve as the propulsion for the aircraft with bio-liquefied natural gas (BIO LNG) serving as the fuel and coolant for the thermal management system. A Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Combustor (SOFCC) will take the place of the combustor in a traditional power generating Brayton Cycle. The tubular SOFC stack will operate in a counter-flow configuration allowing the anode off gas to combust with the compressed air and preheat the cathode air in the SOFC stack. The power density and efficiency are tracked when the cycle is modified to include post combustion of SOFCC exhaust gas before the turbine inlet. A Turbo-generator - Lithium-Ion Battery Pack hybrid was also examined. This concept is more feasible for smaller, regional electric aircraft with a flight distance of around 300 miles. In this analysis, this concept was scaled up to compare with the performance of the SOFCC-GT concept