Purpose: Stereotactic radiation therapy and stereotactic radiosurgery deliver radiation precisely to tumors, using special equipment to position and demobilize patients. The VisionRT system, with its component AlignRT, is a non-invasive stereotactic positioning and tracking system that uses cameras to capture infra-red images of patients, and process these images, to obtain...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are among the most widely known and studied environmental contaminants, originating from a range of natural and anthropogenic sources. PAHs are known to occur in the environment as complex mixtures, containing both unsubstituted PAHs, as well as a range of PAH derivatives. Among the less-studied of...
The Ariel Measuring System (AMS) is a national asset in responding to radiological or nuclear events. The AMS operates out of several aerial platforms, such as the BK-117 helicopter and the P3 Long Range Tracker, under many equipment configurations. Measurements can be telemetered real time to reach back for evaluation...
The low risk and sustainable implementation of nanotechnology requires understanding how nanomaterial physicochemical properties influence their toxicity. Major drivers of toxicity need to be avoided while maximizing product efficacy so nanomaterials can be produced to best serve their applications and be of low risk when intentionally or unintentionally released into...
Since Ranked Set Sampling (RSS) was proposed in 1952 by G.A. McIntyre, it has been the subject of many statistical investigations and a large number of field studies. Throughout these studies RSS has been proven to provide a better estimate of population the mean and variance than Simple Random Sampling...
The conservation of declining desert fish species requires the identification of relations between fish population dynamics and their environments. Dynamic occupancy modeling, an approach that requires less information than traditional mark-recapture studies, may help identify important factors affecting population processes and aid desert fish conservation and restoration efforts. I used...
This thesis focuses on shared use lane facilities and road user understanding. Shared use lanes (sharrows) are a common solution for road facilities that are too narrow to accommodate a full bicycle lane and where the local jurisdiction wants to reduce dooring crashes. In recent years, engineers have focused on...
Coal-fired power plants constitute a significant source of energy production for the United States, and are projected to do so for decades to come. Most of the scrutiny coal-fired power plants receive is in the form of environmental concerns regarding green house gas emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and...
BACKGROUND: The frequency of C-arm fluoroscopy procedures is increasing and it has become prudent to increase the awareness of patient radiation exposure to minimize patient risk. There is a strong potential for variability in patient exposure levels and a need for minimizing unnecessary exposure. The variability in C-arm fluoroscopy can...
The photoneutron production from three Varian linear accelerators ranging in energies from 6 MV to 23 MV has been investigated. Photoneutrons are produced during (γ, n) interactions with materials located within the treatment head. These unwanted neutrons not only increase patient dose, but may also lead to the requirement of...
The use of medical diagnostic imaging involving ionizing radiation has drastically increased in recent years causing concern about possible long term consequences such as the induction of cancer. Recognizing this recent trend, the
Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the Nebraska Medical Center commissioned this study in order to determine effective...
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) sets regulations for specific depths in the human skin for exposure to highly localized radioactive particles known as hot particles. This research determines the dose rate to a 10 cm² area with a density thickness of 1 mg/cm² at depths representing shallow dose, lens of...
Fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGMs) are commonly used as indicators of an animal’s stress response in behavioral and eco-physiological studies. Stress in wild animals represents an immediate measure of the physiological response to changes in the environment, and, potentially, a prospective assessment of the animal’s health and well-being. In wild mammals,...
Childhood cancers are rare diseases that affect 188 children in Texas for every million born. Leukemia is the most common childhood cancer and accounts for roughly one third of childhood cancer cases. However, it is estimated that only 10% of childhood cancer cases can be explained by known risk factors....
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans all nuclear explosion tests for military or civilian purposes. The International Monitoring System (IMS) was established to verify compliance with the treaty. It consists of several monitoring stations that detect: seismic activities, hydrocoustic activities, infrasound waves, and radionuclide particles and noble gases. Radioxenon detection...
Several solar energy models exist, but all models must balance: computational runtime, light complexity, and model output volume. These models span the spectrum of simplistic global solar energy equation sets to complex light ray-tracing models. Spatiotemporally inaccurate representations of solar energy may cause compounding simulation effects and introduce unknown modeling...
Apart from the traditional role of preventing progression from HIV to AIDS, antiretroviral drug therapy (ART) has an additional benefit of substantially reducing infectiousness, making them potentially an important strategy in the fight against HIV. Recent advances in drug therapy have also seen the use of antiretroviral drugs as a...
The specific geography of individual wine growing regions has long been understood to be a significant factor in predicting both a region’s success in producing high quality grapes, and the resulting demand for wines produced from that region's fruit. In the American wine industry, American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) are increasingly...
In the last decade regulatory bodies have begun to implement standards to protect populations of non-human biota (NHB) from the consequences of radiation exposure. This is a departure from previous regulatory frameworks which were concerned only with protecting man. The implementation of these new standards has started an ongoing discussion...
Environmental toxicologists and public health officials are responsible for assisting in the identification, management, and mitigation of public health hazards. As a result, there is a continued need for robust analytical tools that can aid in the rapid quantification and characterization of chemical exposure. In the first research phase, we...