State Estimation of Glucose and Insulin Dynamics

Process simulation and state estimation have very important applications in chemical engineering as well as the biomedical field. Diabetes is a rapidly growing disease in the United States with 29 million people already diagnosed. The estimation of glucose and insulin concentration in patients is necessary in order to effectively treat diabetes. The Bergman Minimal Model is a popular process model that is used to simulate glucose and insulin dynamics. A simulation of this model was created based on estimated parameters for the model from historical data. This thesis investigated the estimation of glucose concentration, insulin concentration, and effect of active insulin using the extended Kalman filter, unscented Kalman filter, ensemble Kalman filter, and sequential Monte Carlo Particle filter. The performance of the filters was compared using root mean squared error. The filters were studied for the cases of good filter initialization, poor filter initialization, plant-model mismatch, increased measurement noise, and multiple glucose ingestions

State Estimation of Glucose and Insulin Dynamics

Process simulation and state estimation have very important applications in chemical engineering as well as the biomedical field. Diabetes is a rapidly growing disease in the United States with 29 million people already diagnosed. The estimation of glucose and insulin concentration in patients is necessary in order to effectively treat diabetes. The Bergman Minimal Model is a popular process model that is used to simulate glucose and insulin dynamics. A simulation of this model was created based on estimated parameters for the model from historical data. This thesis investigated the estimation of glucose concentration, insulin concentration, and effect of active insulin using the extended Kalman filter, unscented Kalman filter, ensemble Kalman filter, and sequential Monte Carlo Particle filter. The performance of the filters was compared using root mean squared error. The filters were studied for the cases of good filter initialization, poor filter initialization, plant-model mismatch, increased measurement noise, and multiple glucose ingestions

State Estimation of Glucose and Insulin Dynamics

Process simulation and state estimation have very important applications in chemical engineering as well as the biomedical field. Diabetes is a rapidly growing disease in the United States with 29 million people already diagnosed. The estimation of glucose and insulin concentration in patients is necessary in order to effectively treat diabetes. The Bergman Minimal Model is a popular process model that is used to simulate glucose and insulin dynamics. A simulation of this model was created based on estimated parameters for the model from historical data. This thesis investigated the estimation of glucose concentration, insulin concentration, and effect of active insulin using the extended Kalman filter, unscented Kalman filter, ensemble Kalman filter, and sequential Monte Carlo Particle filter. The performance of the filters was compared using root mean squared error. The filters were studied for the cases of good filter initialization, poor filter initialization, plant-model mismatch, increased measurement noise, and multiple glucose ingestions

The Western Pacific barred knifejaw, Oplegnathus fasciatus (Temminck & Schlegel, 1844) (Pisces: Oplegnathidae), arriving with tsunami debris on the Pacific coast of North America

The Western Pacific Ocean barred knifejaw Oplegnathus fasciatus was found from 2013 to 2015 along the Pacific Coast of North America from Washington to California. The knifejaw was found in derelict vessels that had arrived on the Pacific Coast and that had been lost during the March 2011 Great Japan Earthquake and Tsunami. Knifejaw were also found free living in the wild in regions known to have received Japanese tsunami marine debris. No previous records of O. fasciatus are known east of the Hawaiian Archipelago. Key words: Oplegnathus fasciatus, ocean rafting, marine debris, invasive species, tsunamiCo-Editors’ Note: This is one of the papers from the special issue of Aquatic Invasions on “Transoceanic Dispersal of Marine Life from Japan to North America and the Hawaiian Islands as a Result of the Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami of 2011." The special issue was supported by funding provided by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) of the Government of Japan through the North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES)

New directions in cellular therapy of cancer: a summary of the summit on cellular therapy for cancer

A summit on cellular therapy for cancer discussed and presented advances related to the use of adoptive cellular therapy for melanoma and other cancers. The summit revealed that this field is advancing rapidly. Conventional cellular therapies, such as tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL), are becoming more effective and more available. Gene therapy is becoming an important tool in adoptive cell therapy. Lymphocytes are being engineered to express high affinity T cell receptors (TCRs), chimeric antibody-T cell receptors (CARs) and cytokines. T cell subsets with more naïve and stem cell-like characteristics have been shown in pre-clinical models to be more effective than unselected populations and it is now possible to reprogram T cells and to produce T cells with stem cell characteristics. In the future, combinations of adoptive transfer of T cells and specific vaccination against the cognate antigen can be envisaged to further enhance the effectiveness of these therapies

AIDS-defining illnesses among patients with HIV in Singapore, 1985 to 2001: results from the Singapore HIV Observational Cohort Study (SHOCS)

BACKGROUND: The objective was to describe the causes of initial and overall AIDS-defining disease episodes among HIV patients in Singapore. METHODS: A retrospective observational cohort study was performed of all adult patients seen at the national HIV referral center between 1985 and 2001. Data were extracted from the patients' records by ten trained healthcare workers. AIDS-defining conditions were established using predefined criteria. RESULTS: Among 1504 patients, 834 had experienced one or more AIDS-defining diseases. The most frequent causes of the initial AIDS-defining episode were Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (35.7%), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (22.7%) and herpes simplex (7.4%). In total 1742 AIDS-defining episodes occurred. The most frequent causes were Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (25.1%), Mycobacterium tuberculosis (16.2%) and cytomegalovirus retinitis (9.5%). CONCLUSIONS: The most frequent causes of AIDS-defining illnesses in Singapore are similar to those reported in the West, prior to the introduction of anti-retroviral therapy. Opportunistic infections remain the most frequent AIDS-defining illnesses

Interdisciplinary Design Studio: Programming Document Visioning for a Robotic Demonstration, Research, and Engagement Dairy

The 2022 COLLABORATE Design Studio brought together students from various disciplines to address a complex, real-world project which required collaborative input from different perspectives. The studio worked to advance the co-creation of knowledge between external stakeholders, students, and instructors. The course was co-taught by faculty from different disciplines, and areas of expertise. During the semester, Nate Bicak and Steven Hardy worked with students from Architecture and Interior Design in collaboration with students in Dr. Tami Brown-Brandl’s students in Biological Systems Engineering and Animal Science to explore the values, spatial qualities, and area requirements of a Robotic Demonstration, Research, and Engagement Dairy. Students organized a series of meetings and participatory activities to gather information from a range of project stakeholders including: Heather Akin (Agricultural Leadership, Education & Communication), Kris Bousquet (NE Dairy Association), Paul Kononoff (Animal Science), Eric Markvicka (Mechanical and Material Engineering), Julia McQuillan (Sociology), Santosh Pitla (BioSystems and Agricultural Engineering), Ling Ling Sun (NE Public Media), and Rosanna Villa Rojas (Food Science & Technology). The information gathered helped to frame the overall problem - both quantitative and qualitative - to be addressed during the design visioning stage (not included in this document). Student contributors included: Sarah Alduaylij, Noor Al-Maamari, Devyn Beekman, Kelsey Belgum, Lauren Chubb, Nicholas Forte, Mitchell Hill, Joshua Holstein, Dylan Lambe, Phuong Le, Mia LeRiger, Elizabeth Loftus, Josh Lorenzen , Megan Lovci, Alex Martino, Zade Miller, Hannah Morgan , Annabelle Nichols , Collin Shearman, Rebecca Sowl, Nalin Theplikhith, Angela Vu, Shaylee Wagner, Ethan Watermeier, Trever Zelenk

PTF10iya: A short-lived, luminous flare from the nuclear region of a star-forming galaxy

We present the discovery and characterisation of PTF10iya, a short-lived (dt ~ 10 d, with an optical decay rate of ~ 0.3 mag per d), luminous (M_g ~ -21 mag) transient source found by the Palomar Transient Factory. The ultraviolet/optical spectral energy distribution is reasonably well fit by a blackbody with T ~ 1-2 x 10^4 K and peak bolometric luminosity L_BB ~ 1-5 x 10^44 erg per s (depending on the details of the extinction correction). A comparable amount of energy is radiated in the X-ray band that appears to result from a distinct physical process. The location of PTF10iya is consistent with the nucleus of a star-forming galaxy (z = 0.22405 +/- 0.00006) to within 350 mas (99.7 per cent confidence radius), or a projected distance of less than 1.2 kpc. At first glance, these properties appear reminiscent of the characteristic "big blue bump" seen in the near-ultraviolet spectra of many active galactic nuclei (AGNs). However, emission-line diagnostics of the host galaxy, along with a historical light curve extending back to 2007, show no evidence for AGN-like activity. We therefore consider whether the tidal disruption of a star by an otherwise quiescent supermassive black hole may account for our observations. Though with limited temporal information, PTF10iya appears broadly consistent with the predictions for the early "super-Eddington" phase of a solar-type star disrupted by a ~ 10^7 M_sun black hole. Regardless of the precise physical origin of the accreting material, the large luminosity and short duration suggest that otherwise quiescent galaxies can transition extremely rapidly to radiate near the Eddington limit; many such outbursts may have been missed by previous surveys lacking sufficient cadence.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures; revised following referee's comment

Alligators as West Nile Virus Amplifiers

Juvenile alligators may help transmit West Nile virus in some areas

The organisation and delivery of health improvement in general practice and primary care: a scoping study

Background This project examines the organisation and delivery of health improvement activities by and within general practice and the primary health-care team. The project was designed to examine who delivers these interventions, where they are located, what approaches are developed in practices, how individual practices and the primary health-care team organise such public health activities, and how these contribute to health improvement. Our focus was on health promotion and ill-health prevention activities. Aims The aim of this scoping exercise was to identify the current extent of knowledge about the health improvement activities in general practice and the wider primary health-care team. The key objectives were to provide an overview of the range and type of health improvement activities, identify gaps in knowledge and areas for further empirical research. Our specific research objectives were to map the range and type of health improvement activity undertaken by general practice staff and the primary health-care team based within general practice; to scope the literature on health improvement in general practice or undertaken by health-care staff based in general practice and identify gaps in the evidence base; to synthesise the literature and identify effective approaches to the delivery and organisation of health improvement interventions in a general practice setting; and to identify the priority areas for research as defined by those working in general practice. Methods We undertook a comprehensive search of the literature. We followed a staged selection process involving reviews of titles and abstracts. This resulted in the identification of 1140 papers for data extraction, with 658 of these papers selected for inclusion in the review, of which 347 were included in the evidence synthesis. We also undertook 45 individual and two group interviews with primary health-care staff. Findings Many of the research studies reviewed had some details about the type, process or location, or who provided the intervention. Generally, however, little attention is paid in the literature to examining the impact of the organisational context on the way services are delivered or how this affects the effectiveness of health improvement interventions in general practice. We found that the focus of attention is mainly on individual prevention approaches, with practices engaging in both primary and secondary prevention. The range of activities suggests that general practitioners do not take a population approach but focus on individual patients. However, it is clear that many general practitioners see health promotion as an integral part of practice, whether as individual approaches to primary or secondary health improvement or as a practice-based approach to improving the health of their patients. Our key conclusion is that there is currently insufficient good evidence to support many of the health improvement interventions undertaken in general practice and primary care more widely. Future Research Future research on health improvement in general practice and by the primary health-care team needs to move beyond clinical research to include delivery systems and be conducted in a primary care setting. More research needs to examine areas where there are chronic disease burdens – cancer, dementia and other disabilities of old age. Reviews should be commissioned that examine the whole prevention pathway for health problems that are managed within primary care drawing together research from general practice, pharmacy, community engagement, etc