2018 WSU Annual CGRS Abstracts
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Item Safeguarding patients data for reasonable health care cost(Wichita State University, 2018-02-20) Gampa, Srikanth; Bagai, RajivHealth care providers including hospitals are required by law to publicly release their patient data, removing explicitly identifiable attributes, such as name, social security number, and address. The release of this data helps research laboratories, and federal and state governments (the state of Kansas in this case) in tasks, such as analyzing geographical movement of diseases, disease eradication, and drug discovery. For a long time, organizations believed the data to be adequately protecting patient privacy as long as all explicitly identifying attributes were removed from it. Motivated insurance companies could perform analyses to decipher people's medical history and raise premiums of those with sensitive medical history, thereby raising the overall health care cost of the society. Several sophisticated data anonymization concepts have since been proposed by the research community, of which t-closeness is a leading one. The currently available t-closeness algorithm is capable of handling only one sensitive attribute, such as a patient's diagnosed disease. We extend the state-of-the-art by building an algorithm that is capable of achieving t-closeness in the presence of multiple sensitive attributes. Our algorithm achieves significant user anonymity and, if adopted to anonymize the data before releasing, will contribute towards lowering the overall health care cost of the society.Item Comparison of tongue muscle performance in singers and non-singers(Wichita State University, 2018-02-20) Cossell, Alexus J.; Caldwell, Brianna; Amick, Ryan Zackary; VanRavenhorst-Bell, Heidi A.Healthy tongue muscle performance is necessary for performing daily tasks such as speaking, swallowing, and maintaining upper airway patency. With age, tongue muscle performance begins to decline and leads to an increased risk of tongue muscle disorders such as dysphagia and sleep apnea. Approximately 68% of adults in care facilities have dysphagia and current rehabilitative techniques provide limited restoration. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether individuals who are trained singers display a healthy measure of tongue muscle performance, thereby offering a favorable complimentary rehabilitation method. Methods: Thirty (N=30) adult participants were grouped as trained singers (n=15) and non-singers (n=15) and further age-grouped into young adult (18-39 years) and older adult (40-70 years). Participants' tongue strength (TS) and endurance (TE) (anterior and posterior) were measured using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument. Results: A significant difference in anterior TE (p = .05) was found with older adult trained singers producing a greater anterior TE than all other groups, regardless of age. Conclusion: Findings suggest that singing may beneficially impact tongue muscle performance measures. Singing, thereby, may serve as a complimentary therapy to current rehabilitative methods and further provide a low-cost alternative to health care.Item Proposed method for clean water by addressing nitrogen contribution to surface water contamination(Wichita State University, 2018-02-20) Jurak, Emil; Jurak, Sarah; Asmatulu, RamazanKansas has serious issues as the result of bio-waste generated by livestock feedlots. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has documented the situation as early as 2004. Action on these issues has languished due to a lack of potential economical solutions. The EPA reports that antibiotics used as growth stimulants and for improved health have the potential of creating superbugs. Large numbers of livestock amassed in a single location produce an enormous amount of waste daily. The stockpiles of manure harbor nitrogen in the form of ammonia that can pollute surface and ground waters before the dried manure is spread on crop lands. The liquid waste ammonia can potentially enter the water shed and stimulate algae growth in surface water. Ammonia that seeps into ground water causes issues with nitrogen pollution of the ground water supply. The proposed solution is economical and will eliminate multiple EPA concerns of surface water and ground water pollution. Eliminating the ammonia migration would improve Kansas State Water quality (both surface and ground). This proposed solution would be to treat the waste via a two-step process. First the ammonia is isolated and then the remainder of the biosolid would be converted into crude oil via hydrothermal liquification (HTL). The HTL process would sterilize all biological components in the waste. The ammonia would provide power for the HTL process with possible excess power that would be considered carbon free electricity. The bio crude would also be considered Zero Carbon fuel since it is produced from recycled carbon.Item Retrofit winglets for wind turbines(Wichita State University, 2018-02-20) Matheswaran, Vijay; Miller, L. ScottWind power is becoming increasingly important as a source of renewable energy. This is even more so in Kansas, which has the second-largest wind resources in the country. In 2016, 29.6% of the state's energy came from wind. Much research has been devoted to technologies that improve wind turbine efficiency, winglets being among them. Blade tip vortices increase induced drag and affect wind turbine lift generated. This affects power generated and efficiency of turbines. In aircraft, winglets have proven to reduce induced drag. However, winglets tend to increase root bending moments, requiring structural reinforcement and making winglets an expensive proposition. In this study, a retrofit winglet for a baseline wind turbine is designed, and its economic feasibility determined. Traditional methods to determine power output of a wind turbine, such as the Blade Element Momentum theory, are insufficient to model a wind turbine with winglets. A Vortex Lattice Method for rotor applications was developed. Economic feasibility is a key issue in the wind industry today. Accordingly, a cost function that compares design, manufacture and labor costs against increment in power was implemented. These tools, along with researched winglet design philosophy, was used to determine a beneficial winglet configuration for a reference turbine. Using lightweight material and careful configuration designed to minimize root bending moments, a retrofit winglet has been designed that mitigates the need for structural reinforcement of the blade. The resulting winglet configuration, increase in annual energy produced and the resulting profits are presented.Item Physician assistant students supporting the integration of oral health now (passion)(Wichita State University, 2018-02-20) Gliem, Brett; Bigler, ElyseOral health is a vital component of preventive medicine. Routine oral health care is associated with decreases in both systemic infection and heart disease. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends children, beginning at six months of age, receive an oral health risk assessment. In Kansas, 91 of 105 counties have dental professional shortages making routine oral health screenings and prevention inaccessible. These "dental deserts" are most prevalent in western Kansas. Our research focused on educating primary care providers about the importance of dental care, since oral health exams are underutilized across the nation in primary care facilities including those in the state of Kansas. Our research focuses on teaching primary care providers (PCPs) in a rural clinic the importance of oral health screenings and techniques to provide a preventive service of fluoride varnishes to pediatric patients. Wichita State University (WSU) PA students received interprofessional education from the WSU dental hygiene program on fluoride application technique. A rural pilot site in western Kansas was selected. PA students from WSU taught and orientated the PCPs at the site on incorporating fluoride varnish and oral health screenings into routine well-child exams. Data was tracked through coding and billing for services provided. Before the intervention, zero pediatric oral health screenings were completed and documented at the pilot site. Post intervention, an increase is expected in the number of fluoride varnish applications and overall oral health prevention at the pilot site. The study aims to establish precedence for routine preventative oral health care in rural primary care settings.