Soil liquefaction continues to be one of the leading causes of ground failure during earthquakes, resulting in significant damage to infrastructure around the world. The study presented herein aims to develop improved methodologies for predicting liquefaction triggering and the consequent damage potential such that the impacts of liquefaction on natural and built environment can be minimized. Towards this end, several research tasks are undertaken, with the primary focus being the development of a framework that consistently and sufficiently accounts for the mechanics of liquefaction triggering and surface manifestation. The four main contributions of this study include: (1) development of a framework for selecting an optimal factor of safety (FS) threshold for decision making based on project-specific costs of mispredicting liquefaction triggering, wherein the existing stress-based "simplified" model is used to predict liquefaction triggering; (2) rigorous investigation of manifestation severity index (MSI) thresholds for distinguishing cases with and without manifestation as a function of the average inferred soil-type within a soil profile, which may be employed to more accurately estimate liquefaction damage potential at sites having high fines-content, high plasticity soils; (3) development of a new manifestation model, termed Ishihara-inspired Liquefaction Severity Number (LSNish), that more fully accounts for the effects of non-liquefiable crust thickness and the effects of contractive/dilative tendencies of soil on the occurrence and severity of manifestation; and (4) development of a framework for deriving a "true" liquefaction triggering curve that is consistent with a defined manifestation model such that factors influential to triggering and manifestation are handled more rationally and consistently. While this study represents significant conceptual advance in how risk due to liquefaction is evaluated, additional work will be needed to further improve and validate the methodologies presented herein. / Doctor of Philosophy / Soil liquefaction continues to be one of the leading causes of ground failure during earthquakes, resulting in significant damage to infrastructure around the world (e.g., the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence in New Zealand, 2010 Maule earthquake in Chile, and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake in Japan). Soil liquefaction refers to a condition wherein saturated sandy soil loses strength as a result of earthquake shaking. Surface manifestations of liquefaction include features that are visible at the ground surface such as sand boils, ejecta, cracks, and settlement. The severity of manifestation is often used as a proxy for damage potential of liquefaction. The overarching objective of this dissertation is to develop improved models for predicting triggering (i.e., occurrence) and surface manifestation of liquefaction such that the impacts of liquefaction on the natural and built environment can be minimized. Towards this end, this dissertation makes the following main contributions: (1) development of an approach for selecting an appropriate factor of safety (FS) against liquefaction for decision making based on project-specific consequences, or costs of mispredicting liquefaction; (2) development of an approach that allows better interpretations of predictions of manifestation severity made by the existing models in profiles having high fines-content, high plasticity soil strata (e.g., clayey and silty soils), given that the models perform poorly in such conditions; (3) development of a new model for predicting the severity of manifestation that more fully accounts for factors controlling manifestation; and (4) development of a framework for predicting liquefaction triggering and surface manifestation such that the distinct factors influential to each phenomenon are handled more rationally and consistently.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Sunanda Dissanayake / In order to improve safety of the overall surface transportation system, each of the critical areas needs to be addressed separately with more focused attention. Statistics clearly show that large-truck crashes contribute significantly to an increased percentage of high-severity crashes. It is therefore important for the highway safety community to identify characteristics and contributory causes related to large-truck crashes. During the first phase of this study, fatal crash data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database were studied to achieve that objective. In this second phase, truck-crashes of all severity levels were analyzed with the intention of understanding characteristics and contributory causes, and identifying factors contributing to increased severity of truck-crashes, which could not be achieved by analyzing fatal crashes alone. Various statistical methodologies such as cross-classification analysis and severity models were developed using Kansas crash data. Various driver-, road-, environment- and vehicle- related characteristics were identified and contributory causes were analyzed. From the cross-classification analysis, severity of truck-crashes was found to be related with variables such as road surface (type, character and condition), accident class, collision type, driver- and environment-related contributory causes, traffic-control type, truck-maneuver, crash location, speed limit, light and weather conditions, time of day, functional class, lane class, and Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT). Other variables such as age of truck driver, day of the week, gender of truck-driver, pedestrian- and truck-related contributory causes were found to have no relationship with crash severity of large trucks. Furthermore, driver-related contributory causes were found to be more common than any other type of contributory cause for the occurrence of truck-crashes. Failing to give time and attention, being too fast for existing conditions, and failing to yield right of way were the most dominant truck-driver-related contributory causes, among many others. Through the severity modeling, factors such as truck-driver-related contributory cause, accident class, manner of collision, truck-driver under the influence of alcohol, truck maneuver, traffic control device, surface condition, truck-driver being too fast for existing conditions, truck-driver being trapped, damage to the truck, light conditions, etc. were found to be significantly related with increased severity of truck-crashes. Truck-driver being trapped had the highest odds of contributing to a more severe crash with a value of 82.81 followed by the collision resulting in damage to the truck, which had 3.05 times higher odds of increasing the severity of truck-crashes. Truck-driver under the influence of alcohol had 2.66 times higher odds of contributing to a more severe crash. Besides traditional practices like providing adequate traffic signs, ensuring proper lane markings, provision of rumble strips and elevated medians, use of technology to develop and implement intelligent countermeasures were recommended. These include Automated Truck Rollover Warning System to mitigate truck-crashes involving rollovers, Lane Drift Warning Systems (LDWS) to prevent run-off-road collisions, Speed Limiters (SLs) to control the speed of the truck, connecting vehicle technologies like Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) integration system to prevent head-on collisions etc., among many others. Proper development and implementation of these countermeasures in a cost effective manner will help mitigate the number and severity of truck-crashes, thereby improving the overall safety of the transportation system.

The Utah Department of Transportation developed life-cycle benefit-cost analysis spreadsheets that allow engineers and analysts to evaluate multiple safety countermeasures. The spreadsheets have included the functionality to evaluate a roadway based on the 11 facility types from the Highway Safety Manual (HSM) with the use of crash severity distributions. The HSM suggests that local agencies develop crash severity distributions based on their local crash data. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Brigham Young University worked with the Statistics Department to develop crash severity distributions for the facility types from the HSM.The primary objective of this research was to utilize available roadway characteristic and crash data to develop crash severity distributions for the 11 facility types in the HSM. These objectives were accomplished by segmenting the roadway data based on homogeneity and developing statistical models to determine the distributions. Due to insufficient data, the facility types of freeway speed change lanes and freeway ramps were excluded from the scope of this research. In order to accommodate more roadways within the research, the facility type definitions were expanded to include more through lanes.The statistical models that were developed for this research include multivariate regression, frequentist binomial regression, frequentist multinomial, and Bayesian multinomial regression models. A cross-validation study was conducted to determine the models that best described the data. Bayesian Information Criterion, Deviance Information Criterion, and Root-Mean-Square Error values were compared to conduct the comparison. Based on the cross-validation study, it was determined that the Bayesian multinomial regression model is the most effective model to describe the crash severity distributions for the nine facility types evaluated.

Asthma, a chronic respiratory disease affecting millions of people worldwide, can vary in severity depending on individual triggers such as Carbon Dioxide, Particulate Matter, dust mites, tobacco smoke, and indoor household activities such as cooking, cleaning, use of heating, and window opening, which can have a negative impact on indoor air quality (IAQ) and exacerbate asthma symptoms. Investigating the relationship between IAQ and asthma severity, a case study was conducted on five asthmatic participants from Bradford, UK. IAQ was measured using IoT indoor air quality monitoring devices. Indoor activities were recorded using a daily household activities questionnaire, and asthma severity was assessed using the Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ). Machine learning prediction models were used to analyse various IAQ parameters, such as particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and humidity levels, to identify the most significant predictors of asthma severity with IAQ. The study aimed to develop targeted interventions to improve IAQ and reduce the burden of asthma. Results showed that higher asthma severity scores were associated with increased indoor activity and higher levels of indoor air pollution. Some interventions were implemented to improve ventilation hours, significantly improving IAQ and reducing asthma symptoms, particularly those with more severe asthma. The findings indicate that interventions targeting IAQ, and indoor activities can effectively reduce asthma severity, with up to a 60% reduction in symptoms for asthma patients.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Sunanda Dissanayake / The older population (>65 years) numbered 36.8 million in the United States in 2005. By 2030, the number is estimated to be 71.5 million, almost twice as many. An increase in the older population means an increase in older drivers as well. As a result of the natural aging process, the possibility of older drivers being involved in crashes and sustaining severe injuries increases, according to past findings. The objective of this study was to identify characteristics of older drivers involved in crashes in Kansas as well as associated safety issues, which can be used to suggest potential countermeasures for improving safety. A detailed characteristic analysis was carried out for older, middle-aged, and younger drivers involved in crashes, using crash data obtained from the Kansas Department of Transportation, and comparisons were made among the groups. However, the characteristic analysis had no basis with regard to injury severity and hence, univariate statistical analysis was carried out to highlight these severities. In addition, a survey was conducted focusing on identifying older-driver behaviors, potential problems, and level of exposure to various conditions. From the severity analysis, it was found that injury severity of older drivers in crashes occurring on rural roads was significantly higher compared to those on urban roads. Therefore, a detailed analysis was carried out using the decomposition method and ordered probit modeling to identify contributing factors leading to the situation. According to the findings, the number of older male drivers involved in crashes was higher compared to older female drivers, even though older driver licensees’ data indicate the opposite. Most of the older-driver-involved crashes occurred under good environmental conditions and at intersections. A majority of older drivers had difficulties associated with left- turn maneuvering and preferred to avoid high-traffic roads and other demanding conditions. Exposure to inclement weather conditions and difficulties associated with merging, diverging, and identifying speeds and distance of oncoming traffic have lead to higher crash propensity. In rural areas, driving in the wrong direction, failing to comply with traffic signs and signals, and speeding were identified as frequent contributing factors in high severe crashes.

Studier har visat att mäns våld mot kvinnor upplevs som mer allvarligt och bedöms hårdare i jämförelse med kvinnligt våld. Denna studie syftade till att undersöka om gärningsmannens kön och bakgrund påverkade empatin för gärningsmannen och våldshandlingens allvarlighetsgrad. Undersökningen utfördes på en högskola i Mellansverige samt inom hemvården i samma kommun. Fyra fiktiva vinjetter användes där gärningsmannens kön och bakgrund (tidigare dom/ingen tidigare dom) skiljde dem åt. Antal respondenter var totalt 186 varav 49 män. Resultaten av enkäterna analyserades med hjälp av ANOVOR och t-test och visade att manliga gärningsmäns våldshandlingar bedömdes allvarligare samt att det upplevdes mindre empati för dem jämfört med kvinnliga gärningsmän. Gärningsmannens bakgrund hade inte någon effekt på vare sig empati eller allvarlighetsbedömning Studiens resultat överensstämmer med tidigare forskning och slutsatsen blev att manligt våld anses vara mer allvarligt än kvinnligt.

Injury is a global health problem and in the United States is the leading cause of death for persons aged 1 – 44 years. The primary causes of trauma related death are head injury and hemorrhage; hemorrhagic shock is difficult to recognize in the first hours after trauma. Identification of specific and optimal criteria upon which to base effective triage decisions for trauma patients has been an elusive goal for decades. The purpose of this dissertation was to identify measures available in the prehospital phase of care and in the Emergency Department that should be included for a more comprehensive definition of the trauma patient who will require trauma center care to better allocate trauma care and resources available. The first paper is a critical review of early physiologic markers of occult tissue hypoperfuson in which we examine markers of cardiovascular function and markers of tissue perfusion. In this review, we found surrogate measures of tissue perfusion include shock index as a measure of hemodynamic stability and acid-base indicators as measures of tissue oxygenation. This review guides the variable selection for the research study. The second paper is a report of a study conducted to examine shock index calculated from the first available prehospital vital signs and first available emergency department vital signs as a predictor of mortality within 48-hours in trauma compared to the Injury Severity Score. Shock index can be calculated in real-time during the course of treatment and provides continuous input into the ever changing condition of the patient. Injury severity score is calculated once, at the time of hospital discharge and is used primarily as a marker for comparison of injury severity in research and quality measures of trauma care. The study consisted of 516,156 trauma patient data reported to the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) in 2009. The results revealed SI as calculated in both the pre-hospital phase of care by Emergency Medical Services and in the Emergency Department to be significant independent predictors of mortality within forty-eight hours from trauma injuries. The third paper is a report of a study conducted to examine potential markers of occult tissue hypoperfusion within forty-eight hours of injury. The variables included four major variable categories, physiologic measures, anatomic measures, injury severity and presence of reported comorbid illness. The variable most predictive of death from trauma related injuries within forty-eight hours was the need for intubation. The findings from this dissertation provide further evidence of the value of multiple physiologic markers in early recognition of occult tissue hypoperfusion. Data from neither the review of the literature nor the two data-based studies are sufficient to identify a brief, accurate, easily used clinical instrument. Further work is needed to develop a clinically useful instrument to identify the occult tissue hypoperfusion in the trauma patient.

Rationale: Laryngopharygeal reflux (LPR) is a controversial area of diagnosis and consequently management. Many patients suffering from voice and swallowing disorders may be suffering from LPR but decreased specificity of diagnosis makes management ineffective and impacts on quality of life as well as leading to overdiagnosis of LPR. Aims: (1) To establish the relationship between the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) and the Reflux Finding Score (RFS) in participants who have attended the Wits University Donald Gordon Voice and Swallowing clinic. (2) To establish if there is a correlation between the total RFS and RSI scores. (3) To ascertain which test items of the RSI and the RFS are elevated in the participants. (4) To describe trends in RFS and RSI sub scores and (5) to determine if extraneous factors such as age, gender, professional voice use and smoking impact on the subscores of the RFS and RSI and to describe the trends based on these variables Method: A quantitative retrospective chart review of 105 patients who attended the Voice and Swallowing clinic was conducted. Each participant completed a self-rating scale for reflux severity (the RSI) as well as undergoing stroboscopic examination. Stroboscopic results were rated by a multidisciplinary team (2 otolaryngologists, a speech therapist and a voice coach) to ascertain the patient’s Reflux Finding Score (RFS). Inferential and descriptive statistics were employed to achieve the aims. Results: A weak negative significant correlation on totals of the RFS and RSI (r=0,20; p= 0,0395) was established. There were a number of intra-item correlations on the RSI and the RFS. Descriptive statistics revealed that hoarseness, excess mucus and throat clearing were the most frequently rated symptoms on the RSI and erythemia, posterior commisure hyperatrophy and diffuse laryngeal oedema most frequently rated signs on the RFS. Gender was the only variable found to have a significant effect on the total RFS and RSI ratings. Conclusion: There is specificity in the RSI and RFS as diagnostic materials for LPR. However, there may be an incidence of over diagnosis. Factors such as age, smoking, professional voice use and gender must be considered in diagnosis.

Foi demonstrado que a L-prolina é fundamental para o metabolismo das formas intracelulares de T.cruzi e está envolvida em processos de resistência a diferentes condições de estresse. O ácido L-tiazolidina-4-carboxílico (T4C) age como inibidor competitivo do transporte de prolina para o interior do parasita, desta forma, pode-se assumir que, quando aplicado como agente terapêutico simula uma situação de hipoprolinemia no hospedeiro mamífero. Sobre esta base, propomos que a prolinemia poderia estar relacionada com a severidade da infecção pelo T. cruzi, portanto, decidimos inverter o racional e obter nesse trabalho um modelo de hiperprolinemia. Inicialmente foi estabelecido um modelo murino de hiperprolinemia transiente. Camundongos da linhagem BALB/c que foram tratados com prolina, por via intraperitonial (i.p), em 30 minutos já apresentaram concentrações plasmáticas de 1,359 ± 0,121 mM, porém, após 3 horas seus níveis plasmáticos retornaram ao normal, 0,4361 ± 0,03496. Utilizando este modelo, foi avaliado o efeito da hiperprolinemia transiente em camundongos infectados pelo T.cruzi. Em três ensaios de um total de seis foi observado um aumento significativo da parasitemia em camundongos tratados, sem nenhuma diferença na mortalidade e na carga parasitária de diversos tecidos. Essa inconsistência observada no perfil da parasitemia redirecionou os experimentos para um modelo de hiperprolinemia hereditário previamente estabelecido. Interessantemente, foram observados diminuições na parasitemia, porém, a mortalidade foi aumentada. Foi hipotetizado que, diferentemente do que acontece com a hiperprolinemia transiente, com os níveis plasmáticos aumentados de maneira estável, as formas intracelulares de T.cruzi teriam acesso ao aminoácido em quantidades e tempo maiores. No entanto, não se pode descartar como hipótese complementar, que a hiperprolinemia possa afetar a resposta imune e por sua vez, imunossuprimir ou imunoestimular o hospedeiro mamífero. Por esse motivo, avaliaram-se alguns parâmetros da resposta imune ex vivo. Ensaios ex vivo mostraram que tratamento com prolina diminui a produção de NO sob ativação por LPS, no entanto quando células peritoneais não ativadas por LPS são infectadas por T. cruzi, o tratamento com prolina não altera o perfil de NO. A expressão gênica da óxido nítrico sintase induzível (iNOS) das células peritoneais diminui quando elas são cultivadas na presença de prolina, confirmando esses resultados. Mostrou-se dessa maneira que a hiperprolinemia pode interferir com a resposta imune do hospedeiro, o que levaria a uma eventual imunossupressão. Observou-se que, tanto células peritoneais infectadas como não infectados tratadas com prolina apresentam redução de seu volume celular o que poderia ser indício de sinal apoptótico. Ensaios de infecção (ex vivo) em células peritoneais de camundongos BALB/c com tripomastigotas da cepa MJL superexpressando o transportador de prolina apresentaram aumento da taxa de infecção enquanto que as infectadas por tripomastigotas da cepa Y superexpressando o mesmo transportador de prolina apresentaram diminuição da taxa de infeçção, quando comparadas aos controles, mostrando que a reposta de redução ou aumento da taxa de infecção ao tratamento com prolina é determinada também pela cepa de T. cruzi. Análises da prolinemia em soro de pacientes com sintomas de cardiopatia chagásica severa mostraram menores níveis de prolina sérica quando comparados aos controles (pacientes não infectados). Juntos, todos esses resultados colocam a prolina como um fator de severidade na infecção pelo T. cruzi. / It was shown that L-proline is essential for the metabolism of the intracellular forms of T. cruzi and is involved in resistance to different stress conditions. L-thiazolidine-4-carboxylic acid (T4C) acts as a competitive inhibitor of the proline transport to the inside of parasite, thus it can be assumed that when T4C is applied as a therapeutic agent simulates a hipoprolinemia situation in the mammalian host. On this basis, we propose that prolinemia could be related to the severity of T. cruzi infection, then, in this work we decided to reverse the rational and obtain a hyperprolinemia model. As a starting point, it was established a mouse transient hyperprolinemia model. BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally injected with proline showed an increased proline levels in sera after 30 min (1,359 ± 0,121 mM). However, these increased levels were diminished to normal levels after 3 h (0,4361 ± 0,03496 mM). Once established this model, was initially used to evaluate the effect of transient hyperprolinemia in mice infected by T.cruzi. In three out of six experiments an increase in parasitemia but not in mortality or in tissue parasite loads was observed. In the remaining three experiments no differences were detected. These inconsistencies directed the work to the search to a previously established hereditary model of mouse hyperprolinemia model. Interestingly, in this new model, a diminished parasitemia was recorded, however, mortality was higher. From this information it was hypothesized that, differently to what happens in the transient hyperprolinemia, a permanent hyperprolinemia exposes the T. cruzi infected cells (and so, the intracellular parasites) to higher concentrations of proline as well as for longer times. In addition, it cannot be disregarded the complementary hypothesis that hyperprolinemia could be affecting the immune response and, at the same time of its action on the parasite, it could be immunosupresing or immunostimulating the mammalian host. This possibility led us to evaluate some parameters of the immune response both, in vivo and ex vivo. Ex vivo assays showed that proline-treated LPS-activated peritoneal cells had a diminished production of NO while proline-treatment of T. cruzi infected, non-LPS-activated peritoneal cells did not affect their NO production. This data showed that hyperprolinemia could interfer the immune response leading the host to an eventual immunosupresion. In addition, both, infected and non-infected macrophages had their cellular volume diminished when treated with proline, which could be attributed to the iniciation of an apoptotic process. Infection assays (ex vivo) of perioneal cells from BALB/c mice with MJL strain trypomastigotes overexpressing a proline transporter had an increased infection rate, while the same type of cells infected with Y strain trypomastigotes overexpressing the same proline transporter showed a diminution in the infection rate. These results show that changes in the infection rate as a function of intracellular proline availability depends on T. cruzi strain. The analysis of prolinemia in patients serum with symptoms of Severe Chronic Chagasic Cardiopathy showed tat proline levels were diminished in comparison to control (non-infected patients). Taken together, these results prompt proline as a factor modulating the severity of T. cruzi infection.

This content analysis study of music videos answered questions concerning the amount and severity of violence content during different time periods of the day. A system of classifying violence content as nonviolent, mostly light, neither light nor serious, mostly serious, and extremely serious was used to evaluate music videos from MTV. One hour from each day was randomly selected for evaluation for a period of thirty days. During this time, there were 313 occurrences of music videos which were aired and subsequently evaluated. The results indicated the majority of these music videos contained mostly light or no violence content. This study also revealed that the most likely time of day a viewer would see videos with violence would be from midnight until eight in the morning.