45 research outputs found
Developing a Recommendation-Based Application to Help Endocrinologists Treat Type II Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes Mellitus type II is a disease characterized by abnormally high levels of glucose in the bloodstream (hyperglycemia) due to decreased insulin secretion, insulin resistance, or both. It affects approximately 425 million adults worldwide and is the 7th most common chronic condition according to the CDC (Figure 1).[1] Patients with this disease typically have increased urination, increased thirst, and fatigue and can even be vulnerable to many types of infections. Patients with type II diabetes see diabetes specialists and endocrinologists to effectively treat their disease. Currently, however, there is a massive shortage of endocrinologists in the United States due to a growing demand of chronic diseases such as diabetes and osteoporosis.[2] In one study, the majority of endocrinologists surveyed believed the process of treating diabetes is difficult for these four reasons: the shortage of physicians, constantly evolving diabetes research, rapidly changing medication guidelines, and the rate at which medications are being added to the market.[3] Another major problem in the diabetes community is the risk of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs), which are defined as prescribing medications that have a greater risk of potentially severe adverse effects. 74% of elderly patients with type II diabetes are prescribed at least one PIM when hospitalized.[4]
The studies conducted by Healy et al. and Sharma et al. reveal that the process of treating type II diabetes is difficult because of 3 main reasons: The shortage of endocrinologists, rapidly evolving medication recommendations by diabetes associations, and the health risk to elderly diabetic patients due to PIMs. There is a growing need for technology that assists endocrinologists in prescribing medication based on factors that adjust to the evolving recommendations by the American Diabetes Association and uses patient biomarkers along with other factors to recommend appropriate medications for patients.Undergraduat
Weak turbulence theory of the non-linear evolution of the ion ring distribution
The nonlinear evolution of an ion ring instability in a low-beta
magnetospheric plasma is considered. The evolution of the two-dimensional ring
distribution is essentially quasilinear. Ignoring nonlinear processes the
time-scale for the quasilinear evolution is the same as for the linear
instability 1/t_ql gamma_l. However, when nonlinear processes become important,
a new time scale becomes relevant to the wave saturation mechanism. Induced
nonlinear scattering of the lower-hybrid waves by plasma electrons is the
dominant nonlinearity relevant for plasmas in the inner magnetosphere and
typically occurs on the timescale 1/t_ql w(M/m)W/nT, where W is the wave energy
density, nT is the thermal energy density of the background plasma, and M/m is
the ion to electron mass ratio, which has the consequence that the wave
amplitude saturates at a low level, and the timescale for quasilinear
relaxation is extended by orders of magnitude
Co-existence of Whistler Waves with Kinetic Alfven Wave Turbulence for the High-beta Solar Wind Plasma
It is shown that the dispersion relation for whistler waves is identical for
a high or low beta plasma. Furthermore in the high-beta solar wind plasma
whistler waves meet the Landau resonance with electrons for velocities less
than the thermal speed, and consequently the electric force is small compared
to the mirror force. As whistlers propagate through the inhomogeneous solar
wind, the perpendicular wave number increases through refraction, increasing
the Landau damping rate. However, the whistlers can survive because the
background kinetic Alfven wave turbulence creates a plateau by quasilinear
diffusion in the solar wind electron distribution at small velocities. It is
found that for whistler energy density of only ~10^-3 that of the kinetic
Alfven waves, the quasilinear diffusion rate due to whistlers is comparable to
KAW. Thus very small amplitude whistler turbulence can have a significant
consequence on the evolution of the solar wind electron distribution function
Quasilinear Evolution of Kinetic Alfven Wave Turbulence and Perpendicular Ion Heating in the Solar Wind
The measured spectrum of kinetic Alfven wave fluctuations in the turbulent
solar wind plasma is used to calculate the electron and ion distribution
functions resulting from quasi-linear diffusion. The modified ion distribution
function is found to be unstable to long wavelength electromagnetic ion
cyclotron waves. These waves pitch angle scatter the parallel ion velocity into
perpendicular velocity which effectively increases the perpendicular ion
temperature.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figure