LOUIS University of Alabama in Huntsville
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Comparison of Wet Downburst Wind Event and Non-Severe Thunderstorm Characterisics using MRMS Radar Products
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Increasing pneumonia vaccine uptake at a family medical practice in Saint Petersburg, Florida
No full textPneumonia is the leading cause of infectious mortality in the United States. Each year over 100,000 people die from this disease nationally, with over 6,000,000 deaths worldwide. Both young and old are at risk of infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides guidance on vaccine administration and candidacy. This clinical practice change project sought to increase pneumococcal vaccination rates at an urban family health practice. Nola Pender\u27s Health Promotion Model was used as the guiding nursing theory for this DNP project This was accomplished by assessing patients’ level of vaccine hesitancy and provider-led conversations to overcome vaccine hesitancy. Medical providers were educated on the CDC guidelines for pneumococcal vaccination, risks and benefits of the 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV20), and methods to overcome vaccine hesitancy in two 1-hour training sessions. Providers took a pre-and-post-test survey before and following education sessions. Scheduled appointments were screened for qualifying patients to receive the PCV20 vaccine who were approached at the time of registration for the office visit. Eligible patients completed the validated generalized vaccine hesitancy survey instrument (GVHSI), a validated instrument, that categorized them into three groups: vaccine-hesitant, vaccine-neutral, and vaccine-motivated. The medical providers were then notified of the vaccine hesitancy status of the patient before the office encounter. Data were collected and analyzed. Vaccine hesitancy scores, provider pre-and-post-test scores, and vaccination uptake rates were analyzed in this project. These data were utilized to assess the impact of provider training, the impact of the provider-led conversation office visit, and the rate of PCV20 in qualified patients. This evidence-based project aimed to increase provider knowledge on vaccine hesitancy, promote the provider-led strong recommendation, and increase the PCV20 vaccination rates. During the implementation phase of this DNP project, 14 providers participated in delivering vaccine recommendations to 138 patients. There were 380 patients seen at the clinic during the intervention phase that qualified for the vaccine with 135 patients participating in this DNP project. A total of 17 patients from this DNP project received the vaccine
A large-sample X-ray absorption line analysis in search of the missing baryons in the hot WHIM
Get PDFA well known problem in astrophysics that has seen a significant amount of investigation in recent years is the ”missing baryons problem”, in which up to 40% of baryons have been reported missing at low redshifts [62]. Predictions show that these remaining baryons are likely residing within the Warm-Hot Intergalactic Medium (WHIM). The process of finding these baryons involves searching for absorption line systems in the WHIM, and using column densities of those absorbing ions to calculate the cosmological density of the medium. Several wide scale FUV studies (e.g. [21]) have been completed to work towards solving this problem, but there has yet to be a study of such scope in the X-ray band of wavelengths. Using a sample of 51 X-ray sources from FUSE and HST, this project seeks to be the conclusive work on the presence of WHIM absorption in X-ray quasars. Using the spectral analysis software SPEX, the sample of 51 X-ray sources was searched for O VII and O VIII absorption lines at redshifts from prior O VI and H I detections, as well as at z = 0 in search for galactic oxygen. In total, we report 8 possible absorption line systems of O VII and O VIII. Upper limits of the resultant column densities found from both the entire sample’s absorption line search and the possible detections reported were used to put ii constraints on the cosmological density of baryons in the universe due to the WHIM, ΩWHIM . These results were then compared to the baryonic density expected to be contributed by the WHIM. Being the first and only large scale X-ray search for WHIM absorption of its kind, this work gives the most comprehensive and definitive look at WHIM oxygen absorption in X-ray quasars, and an answer to the missing baryons problem
Mitigation of inflammation in early post-traumatic osteoarthritis through low-intensity ultrasound
Get PDFPost-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA), a subset of OA caused by direct injury or repetitive microtrauma, results in a robust release of inflammatory mediators. If inadequately controlled, this pro-inflammatory phase leads to early tissue damage. The biomedical burden of PTOA is significant and inadequately addressed due to difficulties in identifying the disease onset, slow progression, and incomplete understanding of its etiology and pathogenesis. However, PTOA\u27s distinct initiating events allow for early intervention. This thesis investigates whether fibronectin fragments (FnFs) can induce an early inflammatory response in a triple cellular in vitro model of early PTOA and whether continuous low-intensity ultrasound (cLIUS) can provide anti-inflammatory effects in this model. The study found that FnFs levels are higher in synovial fluids of OA patients and in media containing blunt-impacted cartilage explants. FnFs, as danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), activate macrophages similarly to post-trauma. Exogenously administered FnFs were used to examine early inflammatory processes in chondrocytes, synovial fibroblasts, and macrophages. The hypothesis was that cLIUS would have anti-inflammatory effects and mitigate early inflammatory cascades. cLIUS was applied for 12 days to the in vitro PTOA model, with IL4 used as a treatment control. Results showed that cLIUS downregulated key chemokines and cytokines and catabolic genes. It also upregulated the M2 macrophage marker CD163, indicating macrophage polarization. In conclusion, cLIUS demonstrated therapeutic potential in reducing early inflammatory biomarkers in an FnF-induced early PTOA model, showing promise for improving early inflammatory processes in both PTOA and OA. This thesis comprises three chapters that collectively advance the understanding and potential treatment of early PTOA. Chapter 1 introduces PTOA, detailing the cell types, models, and biomarkers involved, and sets the thesis\u27s objectives and hypothesis. Chapter 2 develops an in-vitro model of early PTOA using Fnfs, establishing a triple cell-culture system that mimics the disease\u27s inflammatory response. Chapter 3 explores the therapeutic potential of cLIUS, demonstrating its ability to mitigate catabolic effects and promote anti-inflammatory macrophage polarization in the in-vitro PTOA model. Chapter 4 uses a transcriptomic approach to elucidate the molecular mechanisms behind cLIUS-induced inflammation rescue, providing insights into cLIUS as a potential disease-modifying therapy for PTOA
Printed Circuit Board Design and Integration in Z-pinch Pulsed Fusion Propulsion
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Using Bayesian Networks to Predict Disease Comorbities
Get PDFhttps://louis.uah.edu/rceu-hcr/1480/thumbnail.jp
