Interdisciplinary – Page 39 – UROP Spring Symposium 2021

Interdisciplinary

Active for Life: The effect of a low-intensity functional circuit training program on endurance among COPD patients

Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) often lead inactive lifestyles due to breathing difficulties, and sedentary behavior may worsen both symptoms and mortality. The moderate-to-vigorous-intensity exercises emphasized by most fitness programs are not feasible for patients with COPD, but increasing time of light-intensity exercise may be an effective alternative. In this study, a randomized-controlled trial is used to determine whether a light-intensity fitness program called Active for Life (designed by Principal Investigator [PI] Janet Larson) is effective in improving aerobic endurance among COPD patients in the long term (after 52 weeks). Qualified participants are randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: the Active for Life intervention and the control group. Both groups are guided through physical and behavioral activities with the goal of educating participants about health, but the Active for Life group is focused on functional circuit training (FCT), while the control group involves chair-based movement. All participants undergo ten weeks of lab-based activities according to treatment group, followed by one year of follow-up appointments and self-paced at-home videos. Aerobic endurance is measured by distance walked during the six-minute walk test at baseline, ten weeks, three months, six months, and one year into the program. We hypothesize that engaging participants in the Active for Life program will increase distance walked during the six-minute walk test.

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The Effects of Out-of-Pocket Payments on Emergency and Trauma Surgery Patients’ Livelihoods

Every year, 3 million US residents suffer from injuries leading to needing medical care. The trauma care system has greatly improved saving lives from the time of injury, but many patients are left with out-of-pocket (OOP) payments whether or not they had insurance coverage. We do not know what the burden of these OOP payments are, including the long term financial, mental, and physical impact. The specific aims of this study are to 1) measure the OOP payments for patients who had an emergency surgical procedure, 2) quantify whether these OOP payments change on average by the type of insurance a patient has (private, Medicaid, Medicare, uninsured), and 3) understand the hardship caused by OOP payments for these emergency surgical procedures on the patient and their family. This study reports the findings from in-depth qualitative interviews of 30 patients =18 years of age sustaining a traumatic injury requiring treatment at the University of Michigan Hospital trauma center. We expect our mixed-methods analysis to elucidate the downstream effects of large OOP payments not otherwise able to be captured in available databases. Our findings will be one of the first to describe the long-term burden of trauma care and estimate the out-of-pocket payments trauma patients face from patient-level data.

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The Effects of Out-of-Pocket Payments on Emergency and Trauma Surgery Patients’ Livelihoods

Every year, 3 million US residents suffer from injuries leading to needing medical care. The trauma care system has greatly improved saving lives from the time of injury, but many patients are left with out-of-pocket (OOP) payments whether or not they had insurance coverage. We do not know what the burden of these OOP payments are, including the long term financial, mental, and physical impact. The specific aims of this study are to 1) measure the OOP payments for patients who had an emergency surgical procedure, 2) quantify whether these OOP payments change on average by the type of insurance a patient has (private, Medicaid, Medicare, uninsured), and 3) understand the hardship caused by OOP payments for these emergency surgical procedures on the patient and their family. This study reports the findings from in-depth qualitative interviews of 30 patients =18 years of age sustaining a traumatic injury requiring treatment at the University of Michigan Hospital trauma center. We expect our mixed-methods analysis to elucidate the downstream effects of large OOP payments not otherwise able to be captured in available databases. Our findings will be one of the first to describe the long-term burden of trauma care and estimate the out-of-pocket payments trauma patients face from patient-level data.

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The Relationship between COVID-19 Racial Discrimination and Mental Health among Asian Americans

Racism and discrimination is a persisting dilemma that has affected people of color in the United States on many levels, including employment, housing, and health. Specifically, there is multiple evidence that indicates cultural racism (including stereotyping) connected to an increased prevalence of mental health concerns and poor overall wellness. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an influx of anti-Asian racism and violence towards Asian American populations. In addition to the implicit and explicit bias that Asian populations have been facing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this current anti-Asian sentiment has the potential to have a toll on their mental and physical health. This research project explores the relationships between encountered racism during the COVID-19 pandemic and mental state among Asian American populations. The method used in this study is a quantitative survey; data collected were based on online survey questions that include demographics, experiences related to racism and/or discrimination after the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, mental state, and actions taken as results of racism experiences. The results and conclusion of the survey are yet to be reviewed and determined. I expect to identify an association between negative COVID-19 racism encounters/heightened fear for one’s safety and worsened mental health. With these results, we can address the need for prevention and intervention strategies to eliminate acts of racism/discrimination and to provide safe and comfortable environments for Asian Americans.

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Percolation modeling

Under Professor Ziff, our research group devised various methods of modeling types of percolation. These models were initially based in C and were unoptimized for large-scale run times. We rewrote these programs in C++ and implemented various algorithms and memory structures which helped reduce the runtime of the simulation algorithms. These small improvements yielded a boost in productivity as percolation models have to be run for hours on end to yield large enough outputs to provide viable research data. These small improvements are very important, as improvements in program runtime compounded over hours can have a huge impact and allow researchers to get more done in less time.

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Wicked Solutions Domain – Poverty

Across the world there are certain “wicked” problems that face us including poverty. The goal this term was to compile existing design interventions that address this wicked problem among others towards providing access to them by professional designers and lay communities. After we find the solutions that already exist for these problems the plan is to create a central location that will serve as a resource for communities wishing to tackle these issues themselves. This term, we conducted secondary research by scouring scholarly articles and books for design interventions that could populate our database, as well as other articles that can serve as background information for the problem as a whole. After we compile the list of solutions to the wicked problems we will visualize them in a format similar to that of the Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus pandemic map. The format will be based on Professor Bennett’s “wicked solutions” diagram and will be called Wicked Solutions Domain (WISDOM). The aim with the WISDOM platform is to make a long lasting and meaningful impact on the aforementioned wicked problem that is impacting communities globally, and aid designers around the globe in combating it.

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Improvements to the design of a low cost, smart, and easy to build Geiger-Müller radiation detection system for use in the classroom

This project was created to develop a simple, smart, and low cost alternative to the commercially available Geiger-Müller (GM) radiation detection systems for use in the classroom. Unfortunately, the complexity of circuitry and software of professional grade equipment is too large for most students. A kit was developed that consists of GM tubes recovered from fallout shelters, a Raspberry Pi computer, assorted basic electronics components (resistors, capacitors, inductor, transistors), and a printed circuit board (PCB). All components have through hole technology (THT) mounting to facilitate students learning soldering. The limited number of components allows for an affordable design that someone with basic electronics knowledge can build and understand. The system features a command line interface and smartphone application, enhancing opportunities for students learning not present with commercial systems. The original design for the project had a flaw where the circuit would attempt to put 5V on a 3.3V GPIO pin on the Raspberry Pi which would damage it. This work reports on a new design that has a reworked circuit that uses an operational amplifier to protect the general purpose input output (GPIO) of the Raspberry Pi and add stability to the circuit to ensure the components operate in their intended voltage regions. In addition, there were test points that were added to help debug the circuit and the PCB was redesigned to make it easier to solder. The smartphone application was also improved for publication on both Android and iOS platforms.

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Realistic implementation of radiation physics for a virtual reality game

Currently, providing hands-on, educational radiation health physics experience to those unfamiliar with the field is difficult due to financial and safety constraints. To create an engaging and more accessible way to teach radiation and health physics principles, we designed and developed a virtual reality video game that realistically implemented radiation sources, shields, and detectors. How the radiation physics was implemented into the virtual reality game while balancing the accuracy of the physics and the game’s performance is discussed. In particular, the approach to the problem, the associated scripts developed to simulate the physics, and how this code was implemented into the virtual reality game in the Unity game development platform are emphasized. We aim to educate people by accurately portraying the physics in an accessible, captivating, and memorable way. With the VR game, we are able to provide interactive demonstrations of radiation principles such as geometric attenuation, shielding, and dose. Further, we provide exposure to using detectors and dosimeters for health physics applications.

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CAD modeling of course to test exoskeletons

Exoskeletons are being considered for a wide set of applications in several fields, including medical, military, and industrial. The rise of exoskeleton usage requires an assessment of the exoskeleton’s performance, usability, and safety. This research of exoskeleton assessment methods is conducted to develop test methods for exoskeleton testing and assessment in the form of an obstacle course. Literature reviews in relevant topics are conducted to determine the appropriate test methods. Methods of testing consist of stairs, ramps, slopes, and transitions between each test method. Information and data on lower body ergonomics, object sizing standards, and usability are gathered to implement course measures and transitions, as well as layouts within the obstacle course. Currently, the design of the obstacle course is under development. The obstacle course will be designed by utilizing the computer-aided design. The final results of this exoskeleton assessment course have not been found. It is expected that a standard of exoskeleton assessments is formed by the final design of the obstacle course. This standard of exoskeleton assessments is expected to guide future exoskeleton development.

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Identification of Cell Types in scRNA-seq Data Using Machine Learning Algorithm

Adam Tisch Research Mentor(s): Fadhl Alakwaa, Research investigator Research Mentor School/College/Department: Neurology Department, Michigan Medicine Presentation Date: Thursday, April 22, 2021 Session: Session 2 (11am – 11:50am) Breakout Room: Room 17 Presenter: 4 Event Link Abstract For privacy concerns this abstract cannot be published at this time. Authors: Adam Tisch, Fadhl Alakwaa, Stephen Blough Research

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