Modeling of COVID-19 Utilizing Various Compartmental Models to Predict Infection Rates Throughout Michigan

Compartmental modeling is a method of employing math to create visual representations of a disease interacting with a select population, typically used in epidemiology analyses. This project applies and adapts compartmental modeling equations to data collected on the deaths, infection, and testing of COVID-19 in Michigan. Comparing current data to past predictive models, as well as the visual representations that were developed through the various compartmental modeling methods, allows assessment of the effects of the preventative measures taken by the state, the various rates at which the infection is able to spread, as well as the potential path and spread of the virus in the future

Virtual microscopy, data management and image analysis in Aperio ScanScope system.

The histology and the pathology clinical practice undergo a digital revolution. Essential change in laboratory practice - from classical light microscopes, thousands of glass specimens waiting on plates to a virtual microscope and onscreen diagnosis is right now. Currently there are more than 30 different systems for the Virtual Microscopy available on the market. However none of them is so oriented for the practical matters as Aperio ScanScope system

Parity Games of Bounded Tree-Depth

The exact complexity of solving parity games is a major open problem. Several authors have searched for efficient algorithms over specific classes of graphs. In particular, Obdr\v{z}\'{a}lek showed that for graphs of bounded tree-width or clique-width, the problem is in $\mathrm{P}$, which was later improved by Ganardi, who showed that it is even in $\mathrm{LOGCFL}$ (with an additional assumption for clique-width case). Here we extend this line of research by showing that for graphs of bounded tree-depth the problem of solving parity games is in logspace uniform $\text{AC}^0$. We achieve this by first considering a parameter that we obtain from a modification of clique-width, which we call shallow clique-width. We subsequently provide a suitable reduction.Comment: This is the full version of the paper that has been accepted at CSL 2023 and is going to be published in Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs

“You Know Me Best”: Perspectives of Adult Siblings with Typical Abilities and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities

This thesis explores the lives of adult typical (ADTYP) siblings, their siblings with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD), their unique relationship, and their need for support. Over seventy percent of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in the United States currently live at home with their families. In most cases, the parents of an individual with disabilities are assigned the role of primary caregivers. With this role comes great responsibility and, in households with multiple children, the ADTYP sibling gradually assumes the burden of that responsibility and all the joy and heartache that come with it. By reviewing narratives and conducting oral histories of both ADTYP siblings and siblings with I/DD, I reveal that ADTYP siblings often can provide more insight than parents into the interests of their siblings with I/DD and will often make more appropriate decisions about day-to-day care than those of which their parents are capable. Siblings with I/DD can attest to this better than anyone, and it is therefore equally important to closely examine the ways in which sibling relationships are meaningful to individuals with disabilities. The first chapter of this thesis explores the creation of sibling support programs and organizations historically, and illustrates how typical siblings benefit from these systems as adults. The second chapter then, discusses literature of the sibling movement and the importance of local support groups for ADTYP siblings. The third chapter brings us to the heart of this work as it introduces the voices of siblings with I/DD, who must constitute an essential component of sibling research. When siblings with disabilities are provided the opportunity to have their voices heard, they become the spokespersons for their own lives. Some individuals with I/DD can experience significant challenges in communicating, but when both the ADTYP sibling and the sibling with disabilities are part of the same conversation, clarity and understanding of what is most important to those with I/DD can be shared. Through the interviews in this thesis, what becomes evident is that ADTYP siblings provide more than logistical support and caregiving; they give their siblings with I/DD access to independence and create opportunities for them to exceed their disabilities and limitations

The First Public Release of South Pole Telescope Data: Maps of a 95 deg^2 Field from 2008 Observations

The South Pole Telescope (SPT) has nearly completed a 2500 deg^2 survey of the southern sky in three frequency bands. Here, we present the first public release of SPT maps and associated data products. We present arcminute-resolution maps at 150 GHz and 220 GHz of an approximately 95 deg^2 field centered at R.A. 82°.7, decl. –55°. The field was observed to a depth of approximately 17 μK arcmin at 150 GHz and 41 μK arcmin at 220 GHz during the 2008 austral winter season. Two variations on map filtering and map projection are presented, one tailored for producing catalogs of galaxy clusters detected through their Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect signature and one tailored for producing catalogs of emissive sources. We describe the data processing pipeline, and we present instrument response functions, filter transfer functions, and map noise properties. All data products described in this paper are available for download at http://pole.uchicago.edu/public/data/maps/ra5h30dec-55 and from the NASA Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis server. This is the first step in the eventual release of data from the full 2500 deg^2 SPT survey

Surface Fluorescence Studies of Tissue Mitochondrial Redox State in Isolated Perfused Rat Lungs

We designed a fiber-optic-based optoelectronic fluorometer to measure emitted fluorescence from the auto-fluorescent electron carriers NADH and FAD of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC). The ratio of NADH to FAD is called the redox ratio (RR = NADH/FAD) and is an indicator of the oxidoreductive state of tissue. We evaluated the fluorometer by measuring the fluorescence intensities of NADH and FAD at the surface of isolated, perfused rat lungs. Alterations of lung mitochondrial metabolic state were achieved by the addition of rotenone (complex I inhibitor), potassium cyanide (KCN, complex IV inhibitor) and/or pentachlorophenol (PCP, uncoupler) into the perfusate recirculating through the lung. Rotenone- or KCN-containing perfusate increased RR by 21 and 30%, respectively. In contrast, PCP-containing perfusate decreased RR by 27%. These changes are consistent with the established effects of rotenone, KCN, and PCP on the redox status of the ETC. Addition of blood to perfusate quenched NADH and FAD signal, but had no effect on RR. This study demonstrates the capacity of fluorometry to detect a change in mitochondrial redox state in isolated perfused lungs, and suggests the potential of fluorometry for use in in vivo experiments to extract a sensitive measure of lung tissue health in real-time

On Possible Limit Functions on a Fatou Component in non-Autonomous Iteration (Research on the Theory of Random Dynamical Systems and Fractal Geometry)

The possibilities for limit functions on a Fatou component for the iteration of a single polynomial or rational function are well understood and quite restricted. In non-autonomous iteration, where one considers compositions of arbitrary polynomials with suitably bounded degrees and coefficients, one ought to observe a far greater range of behaviour. We show this is indeed the case and we exhibit a sequence of quadratic polynomials which has a bounded Fatou component on which one obtains as limit functions every member of the classical Schlicht family of suitably normalized univalent functions on the unit disc. The main idea behind this is to make use of dynamics on Siegel discs where high iterates of a single polynomial with a Siegel disc approximate the identity arbitrarily closely on compact subsets of the Siegel disc