197 research outputs found
Strategies to prevent {Healthcare-Associated} Infections: A narrative overview
No full textHealthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are a major source of
morbidity and mortality and are the second most prevalent cause
of death. Furthermore, it has been reported that for every
one-hundred patients admitted to hospital, seven patients in
high-income economies and ten in emerging and low-income
economies acquire at least one type of HCAI. Currently, almost
all pathogenic microorganisms have developed antimicrobial
resistance, and few new antimicrobials are being developed and
brought to market. The literature search for this narrative
review was performed by searching bibliographic databases
(including Google Scholar and PubMed) using the search terms:
``Strategies,'' ``Prevention,'' and ``Healthcare-Associated
Infections,'' followed by snowballing references cited by
critical articles. We found that although hand hygiene is a
centuries-old concept, it is still the primary strategy used
around the world to prevent HCAIs. It forms one of a bundle of
approaches used to clean and maintain a safe hospital
environment and to stop the transmission of contagious and
infectious microorganisms, including multidrug-resistant
microbes. Finally, antibiotic stewardship also has a crucial
role in reducing the impact of HCAIs through conserving
currently available antimicrobials
Self-assembled strained nanostructures for light emission grown using molecular beam epitaxy
No full textIII-V nanostructures are widely researched for applications in dislocation-resistant light emitters for photonic integrated circuits, quantum computing and single photon emitters. The 0D nanostructures include quantum dots (QDs), dot in a well (DWELLs), sub-monolayer QDs and droplet epitaxy QDs, while 1D elongated structures include quantum dashes and nanowires (NWs). The optical properties of nanostructures can be controlled through size, composition, strain and band-offsets during epitaxial growth and can be tailored precisely to emit light with photon energies suited to the application, spanning 0.2-2.0 eV. This thesis explores two novel QD based light emitters in the visible and near-infrared wavelength regime. In the first part of the thesis, we demonstrate the growth and characterization of tensile strained Ge QDs and Ge NWs phase segregated in the III-V matrix via Volmer-Weber growth mode emitting at 1200 nm. The second part of the thesis demonstrates the dislocation tolerance of compressively strained InP QDs grown on lattice-matched GaAs and lattice-mismatched Si substrate via Stranski-Krastanov growth mode emitting at 713 nm.
The first part of the thesis explores the growth of tensile strained Ge QDs and NWs phase segregated in the III-V matrix. Epitaxial growth of phase segregated Ge nanostructures embedded within III-V compound semiconductors is a promising way to achieve a high biaxial tensile strain along with precise control of nanostructure density, size and morphology. Here we demonstrate growth of phase-segregated Ge quantum dots (QDs) and compare them to our previously reported Ge nanowires (NWs); both are strained to an In0.52Al0.48As matrix with a high biaxial tensile strain of 3.6%. Despite the similar growth conditions, there exist pronounced differences in the lateral size and planar density of Ge QDs and Ge NWs, with Ge QDs showing significantly larger size, lower density and structural anisotropy along the in-plane [1-10] direction. In addition to the difference in morphology, Ge QDs are shown to be more prone to plastic relaxation by formation of dislocations and stacking faults, which we attribute to their larger in-plane size. Finally, tensile Ge QDs are shown to exhibit strong room-temperature photoluminescence at 1176 nm, which is blueshifted from the case of Ge NWs.
In the second part of the thesis, we demonstrate epitaxial InP QDs on GaAs on Si virtual substrates with room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) intensity nearly identical to those grown on GaAs substrates. The similarity in PL characteristics is remarkable considering that the active region on the GaAs/Si virtual substrate has a threading dislocation density (TDD) of ~3×10^7 cm-2, as compared to the bulk GaAs substrate with TDD 50× improvement in the luminescence intensity of InP QDs annealed at ~700⁰C for 100 minutes without observable structural degradation or blue-shift in the PL spectrum.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2021-05-01The student, Pankul Dhingra, accepted the attached license on 2019-04-25 at 12:06.The student, Pankul Dhingra, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2019-04-25 at 12:16.This Thesis was approved for publication on 2019-04-25 at 14:10.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #13914 on 2019-08-22 at 16:23:56Made available in DSpace on 2019-08-23T20:48:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2
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Previous issue date: 2019-04-25Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 112387
Lift date: 2021-08-23T20:48:32Z
Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD systemLimited Restriction Lifted for Item 112387 on 2021-08-24T09:15:38Z
Expanding horizons in the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma: Ibrutinib a novel BTK-targeting inhibitor
No full textMantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a non-Hodgkin lymphoma characterized by involvement of the lymph nodes, spleen, blood, and bone marrow with short remission duration to standard therapies and a median overall survival of 4–5 years. Small molecule inhibitors targeting dysregulated pathways (MAPK/ERK, PI3K/PKB/mTOR, JAK/STAT) have significantly improved clinical outcomes in cancer patients. Recently Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), a crucial terminal kinase enzyme in the B-cell antigen receptor (BCR) signaling pathway, has emerged as an attractive target for therapeutic intervention in human malignancies and autoimmune disorders. Ibrutinib, a novel first-in-human BTK-inhibitor, has demonstrated clinical effectiveness and tolerability in clinical trials, recently been approved by FDA in the treatment of MCL.
Accelerating (Compressed) SENSE Scans in MRI
No full textMagnetic Resonance Imaging is a painless procedure to produce high-resolution diagnostic images. Today, it is one of the essential clinical imaging modalities. One of the major challenges involved with this imaging modality is its long scanning time. Parallel imaging in combination with compressed sensing has overcome this challenge to a great extent. As a quid pro quo for this reduced scan time is the increase in image reconstruction time. An extensive research is focused to develop algorithms to make the image reconstruction faster. Fast Iterative Shrinkage Threshold algorithm is one of these algorithms (which is clinically viable) that speeds up the image reconstruction process. The present project focuses to speed up the particular algorithm, fast iterative shrinkage threshold algorithm, by preconditioning the convex optimization problem. This work proposes two new preconditioners, specifically in the context of the given algorithm, but otherwise can be used with different frameworks solving similar problems. The first preconditioner is a degree one polynomial of the system matrix and the second preconditioner is a block diagonal matrix where each block is a circulant matrix. The preconditioners are evaluated using two stopping criteria: residual error and relative error. The computation complexity of both the preconditioners are evaluated by measuring the floating point operations and total time consumption. Additionally, the simulations are performed by undersampling the data at two factors r=2 and r=4. The results indicate that the polynomial preconditioner reduces the overall time by a factor of 0.25 however is computationally expensive to construct. On the other side, block diagonal circulant preconditioner is extremely cheap to construct and evaluate on a vector but does not provide the desired results within the current framework. The study concludes that a suitable preconditioner for FISTA is the one that without affecting the largest eigenvalue of the system matrix improves the condition number and simultaneously is cheap to construct and evaluate.Electrical Engineerin
Understanding Non-Photochemical Laser Induced Nucleation
No full textNucleation is the initial step for the creation of new crystalline phase. A precise control over nucleation and its kinetics is important for both research and industries. Thus, alternative methods are sought after to extend the toolbox for controlling nucleation. In the 1990's, Non-Photochemical Laser Induced Nucleation (NPLIN) was suggested as a promising method to alter the nucleation kinetics. Since then, several reports have demonstrated that NPLIN dramatically reduces the nucleation induction time and controls polymorphism of various fine chemicals relevant for industrial practice. Although different hypotheses have been proposed in literature to explain the experimental observations, the mechanism behind NPLIN is still unknown.The objective of this work is to extend the mechanistic understanding of NPLIN. This has been approached by qualitatively studying the effect of different factors on the nucleation efficiency of the non-photochemical process using unfocused pulsed laser in aqueous supersaturated solution of KCl. The factors investigated include wavelength, peak intensity, supersaturation, mixing, and impurity level of the solution. Each of these parameters are studied using high number of samples (80-100) to generate a robust set of results and to avoid the stochastic nature of nucleation.In a separate series of experiments, an acoustic wave was detected in the solution due to the non-linear interaction of the unfocused laser with the system by measuring the pressure signal with a piezo-electric transducer placed just below the air-liquid interface. Further experiments were executed to understand the nature of the acoustic wave and its influence on NPLIN. The results show that laser could induce nucleation at significantly low peak intensities, much below the previously reported intensity threshold in literature. It is also observed that NPLIN shows a strong dependence on peak intensity, supersaturation, impurity level, and mixing of the solution while the dependence on wavelength was found to be weak. Furthermore, the acoustic wave experiments show that the laser induced pressure fluctuations do not affect the nucleation efficiency of the process. Overall, the results suggest that several mechanisms play a role during laser induced nucleation. To summarize, the research provides a robust analysis of different factors that can influence NPLIN. The results can be further utilized to enhance the understanding and applicability of the process
UTILITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF CURRENT ANIMAL MODELS OF DEPRESSION
No full text Depression is one of the most debilitating medical conditions in the world today, yet its etiologies remain imprecise, and current treatments are not wholly helpful. Depression is more than just a feeling of sadness. Depression can affect the daily routine of an individual disrupting work, play, and overall ability to concentrate. People with depression usually experience a lack of interest and enjoyment in daily activities, notable weight loss or gain, sleeplessness or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or shame, and recurrent thoughts of suicide (diagnostic and statistical manual-V). It is projected to be the second leading cause of disability worldwide by 2020. It is estimated that depression currently affects 350 million people from around the world. There are a number of drugs of different pharmacological classes being used in the treatment of clinical depression. Animal models are indispensable tools in the search to identify new antidepressant drugs and to provide insights into the neuropathology that underlies the idiopathic disease state of depression. Animal models of depression can be used for a variety of purposes, including use as a tool for investigating aspects of the neurobiology and pathophysiology of depression, as an experimental model for studying the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs and for screening antidepressant activity. None of existing animal models currently fulfil the existing criteria for an ideal animal model, and therefore, demands an insight view of the existing models of depression. This article attempts to review the most widely used animal models and highlights their important features with respect to different pharmacological classes of antidepressant drugs.</jats:p
Influence of protein's molecular weight and polymer's PEG content on protein release from polymeric implants
No full textDe begeleider en/of auteur heeft geen toestemming gegeven tot het openbaar maken van de scriptie.
The supervisor and/or the author did not authorize public publication of the thesis.
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