OBJECTIVE: Gunshot wounds to the head (GSWH) are devastating injuries with a grim prognosis. Several prognostic scores have been created to estimate mortality and functional outcome, including the so-called Baylor score, an uncomplicated scoring method based on bullet trajectory, patient age, and neurological status on admission. This study aimed to validate the Baylor score within a temporally, institutionally, and geographically distinct patient population. METHODS: Data were obtained from the trauma registry at a level I trauma center in the southeastern US. Patients with a GSWH in which dural penetration occurred were identified from data collected between January 1, 2009, and June 30, 2019. Patient demographics, medical history, bullet trajectory, intent of GSWH (e.g., suicide), admission vital signs, Glasgow Coma Scale score, pupillary response, laboratory studies, and imaging reports were collected. The Baylor score was calculated directly by using its clinical components. The ability of the Baylor score to predict mortality and good functional outcome (Glasgow Outcome Scale score 4 or 5) was assessed using the receiver operating characteristic curve and the area under the curve (AUC) as a measure of performance. RESULTS: A total of 297 patients met inclusion criteria (mean age 38.0 [SD 15.7] years, 73.4% White, 85.2% male). A total of 205 (69.0%) patients died, whereas 69 (23.2%) patients had good functional outcome. Overall, the Baylor score showed excellent discrimination of mortality (AUC = 0.88) and good functional outcome (AUC = 0.90). Baylor scores of 3-5 underestimated mortality. Baylor scores of 0, 1, and 2 underestimated good functional outcome. CONCLUSIONS: The Baylor score is an accurate and easy-to-use prognostic scoring tool that demonstrated relatively stable performance in a distinct cohort between 2009 and 2019. In the current era of trauma management, providers may continue to use the score at the point of admission to guide family counseling and to direct investment of healthcare resources.

At the turn of the century, the City of Orlando initiated the "Neighborhood Horizon Program." This program involved local citizens to help improve their community resources by engaging in a process of planning where the problems associated with the communities were identified. Many residents favored to bring back the brick roads that were overlaid with asphalt concrete to provided better transportation in the mid 1900s. With majority of the neighborhood streets already bricked, removing asphalt ensured safety, served as a technique for slowing traffic, and added to the historical integrity. Since there were no official documentations available that stated the definite existence of bricks beneath the asphalt surface course, it would have been rather impossible to core hundreds of locations to ensure the whereabouts of these anomalies. Thus, without time delays and excessive coring costs, a nondestructive instrumentation of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was employed in the detection of bricks. This geophysical survey system distinguishes materials based on their different electrical properties that depend upon temperature, density, moisture content and impurities by providing a continuous profile of the subsurface conditions. The Ground Penetrating Radar operates on the principle of the electromagnetic wave (EMW) theory. The main objectives of this study was to investigate the existing pavement by using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) in detecting the brick base and to analyze the performance of pavement system for fatigue and rutting. The results of this study will assist the City of Orlando in removing asphalt layer, rebuilding of brick roads, and facilitate in better zoning and planning of the city. The construction of controlled test area provided with a good sense of brick detection, which helped in precise locations bricks for sections of Summerlin Avenue, Church Street and Cherokee Drive. The project demonstrated a good sense of detecting the subsurface anomalies, such as bricks. The validation of the profile readings was near to a 100%.

Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) can be a useful geophysical instrument in the search and detection of clandestine graves in a forensic context. Controlled research in the field of forensic archaeology has demonstrated the applicability of this technology and is vital for improving GPR search methods. The objectives of this research was to evaluate the applicability of GPR, using 250 MHz and 500 MHz antennae, to locate shallow graves containing small pig cadavers in various burial scenarios over a 12 month period. Data was collected on a controlled grid containing six graves at 0.5 m in depth: five graves containing pig carcasses and one control grave. The five graves containing the pig carcasses were devised to test a number of common forensic burial scenarios. The reflection profile data was processed using the computer program REFLEXW. The results demonstrate that the additional grave items did not always increase the detection of the grave for this monitoring period. Further, the low demarcation of the grave containing disturbed backfill illustrated that the hyperbolic reflection features were the result of the pig carcasses and not the disturbed soil. In terms of antenna performance, the 250 MHz data initially provided a higher resolution within the first few months. However, over time the higher detail provided by the 500 MHz data consistently resulted in easily discernable reflections.

Searching for buried metallic evidence at crime scenes or at potential disposal sites can be a daunting task for forensic personnel. In particular, it is common to search for a small firearm that was discarded or buried by the perpetrator. When performing forensic searches, it is recommended to first use non-invasive methods such as geophysical instruments to minimize damage to evidence and to the crime scene. Geophysical tools are used to pinpoint small areas of interest across a scene that will be invasively tested later. Prior to this project, there was no published research that tested the utility of the conductivity meter to search for metallic weapons such as firearms and blunt or sharp edged weapons. A sample comprised of 32 metallic weapons was buried in a controlled setting to test the applicability of a conductivity meter for forensic searches. Weapons were tested at multiple depths; once data collection was performed for one depth, the weapons were reburied 5cm deeper until they were no longer detected. Results obtained with conductivity meter were compared to results obtained by the ground-penetrating radar using different depths and transect intervals. The effects of several variables on detection such as weapon size, metallic composition, burial depth, and transect interval were analyzed in order to explore the limitations of each instrument. Results obtained from this controlled research can provide guidelines to help law enforcement in real-world searches.

Yes / An ultra-wideband microstrip antenna design is considered with respect to applications in breast cancer detection. The underlying design concept is based on ground penetrating radar (GPR). Simulated and measured prototype performance show excellent performance in the input impedance and radiation pattern over the target range from 4 GHz to 8 GHz. The 4 GHz to 8GHz frequency band for microwave imaging perform better in comparison with other microwave frequencies. The antenna also shows a reasonable uniform radiation performance in the broadside direction which contributes to the reduction of clutter levels, thus aiding the reconstruction quality of the final image.

A commercial-off-the-shelf Ku-band Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system is coupled with a custom built two-dimensional scanning system. This system is installed in an alpine environment and pointed at a snow-unstable mountain slope for the duration of a Utah winter. The radar scanning system, designed to be capable of mapping a snowpack and its layers, is employed to create a series of three-dimensional images from a remote location. Individual images demonstrate the ability to directly detect snow layers, Furthermore, successive images are compared to track volume magnitude and phase values over the course of winter, including many snow deposition and melt events. The digital signal processing techniques used to create a high-resolution voxel (a three-dimensional pixel) map describing these snow layers is discussed. Results are discussed and further work is suggested for improving upon the results of this work.

Nanotechnology applications have emerged enormously in recent times. Of particular interest is that area that overlaps the areas of nanotechnology, biology and medicine: nanomedicine. One advantage of nanomedicines is it that it can be used as an enabling technology by pharmaceutical researchers and industry to overcome issues associated with the low bioavailability of hydrophobic drugs. In the first part of the current study, nanosuspensions of two of hydrophobic steroid drugs: hydrocortisone and prednisolone were produced. Nanosuspensions were prepared using a bottom-up approach: the anti-solvent precipitation method using microfluidic reactors. Surface modification was carried out on these nanosuspensions using cationic surfactants to obtain nanoparticles with different levels of surface positive charge as indicated by ¿-potential values. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) techniques were used to characterize the prepared nanoparticles. Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were also used to characterize hydrocortisone nanoparticles. In the second part, cellular uptake of both coated and uncoated nanoparticles by HaCaT keratinocytes cell line was examined and indicated by quantifying the anti- inflammatory effect of nanoparticles on the LPS-induced inflammation. Also, TEM was employed to evaluate the cellular uptake of hydrocortisone nanoparticles. Results showed higher ant-inflammatory effect of coated nanoparticles over uncoated nanoparticles. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory effect of coated nanoparticles was correlated to the degree of positive surface charge. / Libyan government

ESR, OSL and TT-OSL dating methods were applied to samples collected from six of the Ancient Coastal Deposits (ACDs) along the southern Georgia Coastline. Samples were collected from the Princess Anne (the youngest and most seaward ACD), Pamlico, Talbot, Penholoway, Wicomico, and Okefenokee ACDs with the goal of determining the age of formation of these features. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was used to determine the subsurface morphology and target lithologies for age determination. OSL and TT-OSL dating was attempted on samples collected from the youngest two ACDs, the Pamlico and Princess Anne, at McMaster Universities AGE Lab. ESR samples collected from all of the ACDs studied were measured at Florida State University as well as Osaka University. ESR analysis measured the Al signal, the Ti-Li signal, measured using two different methods, as well as the Ti-H signal. A number of low additive dose points were added to the ESR dose plan to attempt to create a better dose response curve for the low saturating Ti-H signal in attempt to better utilize the signal. While the geochronological methodology did not prove useful for determining the age of all of the ACDs it did result in depositional age estimates for the Cypresshead Formation at 433-2978 ka and Satilla Formations at 243-417 ka using the Ti-Li ESR signal as a maximum age estimate. The GPR, ESR, and core data all point to the conclusion that the ACDs of the Georgia Coast are geomorphic modifications and not the result of a unique depositional process. Based on the discrepancy between the depositional age of the Cypresshead and Satilla Formations as determined by ESR in this study and the ages of the ACDs published by others from Georgia (Markewich et.al., 2013) or other areas of the Atlantic Coast (Wehmiller, 2004; Willis, 2006) it can be concluded that paleo sea-levels modified the Cypresshead and Satilla Formations in to the morphology seen today at some point after their initial deposition. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / ESR, OSL and TT-OSL dating methods were applied to samples collected from six of the Ancient Coastal Deposits (ACDs) along the southern Georgia Coastline with the goal of determining the age of formation of these features. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was used to determine the subsurface morphology and target lithologies for age determination. A number of low additive dose points were added to the ESR dose plan to attempt to create a better dose response curve for the low-dose saturation of the Ti-H signal in attempt to better utilize the signal. While the geochronological methodology did not prove useful for determining the age of all of the ACDs, it did result in depositional age estimates for the Cypresshead Formation at 433-2978 ka and Satilla Formations at 243-417 ka. The GPR, ESR, and core data all point to the conclusion that the ACDs of the Georgia Coast are geomorphic features without unique depositional events.

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