Florida Polytechnic University

About: Florida Polytechnic University is a education organization based out in Lakeland, Florida, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Computer science & Catalysis. The organization has 302 authors who have published 538 publications receiving 6549 citations. The organization is also known as: Florida Poly.

Environmental impact reduction as a new dimension for quality measurement of healthcare services: The case of magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed accounting of energy and materials consumed during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Design/methodology/approach The first and second stages of ISO standard (ISO 14040:2006 and ISO 14044:2006) were followed to develop life cycle inventory (LCI). The LCI data collection took the form of observations, time studies, real-time metered power consumption, review of imaging department scheduling records and review of technical manuals and literature. Findings The carbon footprint of the entire MRI service on a per-patient basis was measured at 22.4 kg CO2eq. The in-hospital energy use (process energy) for performing MRI is 29 kWh per patient for the MRI machine, ancillary devices and light fixtures, while the out-of-hospital energy consumption is approximately 260 percent greater than the process energy, measured at 75 kWh per patient related to fuel for generation and transmission of electricity for the hospital, plus energy to manufacture disposable, consumable and reusable products. The actual MRI and standby energy that produces the MRI images is only about 38 percent of the total life cycle energy. Research limitations/implications The focus on methods and proof-of-concept meant that only one facility and one type of imaging device technology were used to reach the conclusions. Based on the similar studies related to other imaging devices, the provided transparent data can be generalized to other healthcare facilities with few adjustments to utilization ratios, the share of the exam types, and the standby power of the facilities’ imaging devices. Practical implications The transparent detailed life cycle approach allows the data from this study to be used by healthcare administrators to explore the hidden public health impact of the radiology department and to set goals for carbon footprint reductions of healthcare organizations by focusing on alternative imaging modalities. Moreover, the presented approach in quantifying healthcare services’ environmental impact can be replicated to provide measurable data on departmental quality improvement initiatives and to be used in hospitals’ quality management systems. Originality/value No other research has been published on the life cycle assessment of MRI. The share of outside hospital indirect environmental impact of MRI services is a previously undocumented impact of the physician’s order for an internal image.

Identifying Mobile Inter-App Communication Risks

Abstract: Malware collusion is a technique utilized by attackers to evade standard detection. It is a new threat where two or more applications, appearing benign, communicate to perform a malicious task. Most proposed approaches aim at detecting stand-alone malicious applications. We point out the need for analyzing data flows across multiple Android apps, a problem referred to as end-to-end flow analysis . In this work, we present a flow analysis for app pairs that computes the risk level associated with their potential communications. Our approach statically analyzes the sensitivity and context of each inter-app flow based on inter-component communication (ICC) between communicating apps, and defines fine-grained security policies for inter-app ICC risk classification. We perform an empirical study on 7,251 apps from the Google Play store to identify the apps that communicate with each other via ICC channels. Our results report four times fewer warnings on our dataset of 197 real app pairs communicating via explicit external ICCs than the state-of-the-art permission-based collusion detection.

Development of Multifunctional Biopolymeric Auto-Fluorescent Micro- and Nanogels as a Platform for Biomedical Applications.

Abstract: The emerging field of theranostics for advanced healthcare has raised the demand for effective and safe delivery systems consisting of therapeutics and diagnostics agents in a single monarchy. This requires the development of multi-functional bio-polymeric systems for efficient image-guided therapeutics. This study reports the development of size-controlled (micro-to-nano) auto-fluorescent biopolymeric hydrogel particles of chitosan and hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC) synthesized using water-in-oil emulsion polymerization technique. Sustainable resource linseed oil-based polyol is introduced as an element of hydrophobicity with an aim to facilitate their ability to traverse the blood-brain barrier (BBB). These nanogels are demonstrated to have salient features such as biocompatibility, stability, high cellular uptake by a variety of host cells, and ability to transmigrate across an in vitro BBB model. Interestingly, these unique nanogel particles exhibited auto-fluorescence at a wide range of wavelengths 450-780 nm on excitation at 405 nm whereas excitation at 710 nm gives emission at 810 nm. In conclusion, this study proposes the developed bio-polymeric fluorescent micro- and nano- gels as a potential theranostic tool for central nervous system (CNS) drug delivery and image-guided therapy.