Mean-Field-Type Games in Engineering

A mean-field-type game is a game in which the instantaneous payoffs and/or the state dynamics functions involve not only the state and the action profile but also the joint distributions of state-action pairs. This article presents some engineering applications of mean-field-type games including road traffic networks, multi-level building evacuation, millimeter wave wireless communications, distributed power networks, virus spread over networks, virtual machine resource management in cloud networks, synchronization of oscillators, energy-efficient buildings, online meeting and mobile crowdsensing.Comment: 84 pages, 24 figures, 183 references. to appear in AIMS 201

2020 Conference Abstracts: Annual Undergraduate Research Conference at the Interface of Biology and Mathematics

Schedule and abstract book for the Twelfth Annual Undergraduate Research Conference at the Interface of Biology and Mathematics Date: October 31 - November 1, 2020Location: The 2020 conference was conducted remotely due to COVID-19 concerns, utilizing the sococo platform that allows personal avatars to move between rooms and sessions, interact in small groups and also participate in zoom sessions.Keynote Speaker: Gerardo Chowell, Population Health Sciences, Georgia State Univ. School of Public Health, AtlantaFeatured Speaker: Olivia Prosper, Mathematics, Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxvill

Modeling Control of HIV Infection Through Structured Treatment Interruptions with Recommendations for Experimental Protocol

Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) of HIV infection has significantly reduced morbidity and mortality in developed countries. However, since these treatments can cause side effects and require strict adherence to treatment protocol, questions about whether or not treatment can be interrupted or discontinued with control of infection maintained by the host immune system remain to be answered. We present sensitivity analysis of a compartmental model for HIV infection that allows for treatment interruptions, including the sensitivity of the compartments themselves to our parameters as well as the sensitivity of the cost function used in parameter estimation. Recommendations are made about collecting data in order to best estimate the most sensitive parameters in the model. Furthermore, we present parameter estimates using simulated data

Dissolving microneedles for cutaneous drug and vaccine delivery

Currently, biopharmaceuticals including vaccines, proteins, and DNA are delivered almost exclusively through the parenteral route using hypodermic needles. However, injection by hypodermic needles generates pain and causes bleeding. Disposal of these needles also produces biohazardous sharp waste. An alternative delivery tool called microneedles may solve these issues. Microneedles are micron-size needles that deliver drugs or biopharmaceuticals into skin by creating tiny channels in the skin. This thesis focuses on dissolving microneedles in which the needle tips dissolve and release the encapsulated drug or vaccine upon insertion. The project aimed to (i) design and optimize dissolving microneedles for efficient drug and vaccine delivery to the skin, (ii) maintain vaccine stability over long-term storage, and (iii) immunize animals using vaccine encapsulated microneedles. The results showed that influenza vaccine encapsulated in microneedles was more thermally stable than unprocessed vaccine solution over prolonged periods of storage time. In addition, mice immunized with microneedles containing influenza vaccine offered full protection against lethal influenza virus infection. As a result, we envision the newly developed dissolving microneedle system can be a safe, patient compliant, easy to-use and self-administered method for rapid drug and vaccine delivery to the skin.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Prausnitz, Mark; Committee Member: Compans, Richard; Committee Member: Milam, Valeria; Committee Member: Murthy, Niren; Committee Member: Weniger, Bruc