UT Austin Research Articles

Cardiac autonomic function in young healthy Hispanic/Latino adults

The Hispanic/Latino (H/La) population in the US experiences a notably high incidence of hypertension. Recent epidemiological findings reveal that more than 50% of H/La men over the age of 20 years suffer from high blood pressure. Even among adolescents aged 8 to 17 years, H/La youth exhibit the highest prevalence of hypertension compared to other racial groups. This significantly elevates the risk of cardiovascular diseases across the lifespan of this population. H/La is the largest ethnic minority in the US, constituting 19.1% of the current population, and is projected to make up 1/3rd of the US population by 2050. As such, it is crucial to study the potential mechanism responsible for the health disparities in this population. In this study, we investigated the cardiac autonomic function by assessing the baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) and heart rate variability (HRV) in young, healthy H/La and non-Hispanic white (NHW) individuals. We hypothesized that the cardiac autonomic function (BRS and HRV) will be impaired in young healthy H/La as compared to the healthy NHW adults. Ten minutes of resting beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP; finger plethysmography) and heart rate (ECG) were measured in 14 young healthy H/La adults (11 men, 3 women) and 14 age-, sex- and weight-matched NHW adults [age (H/La: 20 ± 2yr; NHW: 22 ± 4yr; mean ± SD, p=0.32); BMI (H/La: 24 ± 2 kg/m2; NHW: 24 ± 2 kg/m2; p = 0.92); positive family history of hypertension (H/La: 21.4%; NHW: 21.4%). The resting heart rate (H/La = 59 ± 5 bpm; NHW = 55 ± 6 bpm; p = 0.12), systolic BP (H/La = 107 ± 6 mmHg; NHW = 111 ± 6 mmHg; p = 0.14) and diastolic BP (H/La = 61 ± 5 mmHg; NHW = 63 ± 6 mmHg; p = 0.46) were similar in both the groups. The respiratory rate (H/La = 14 ± 3 bpm; NHW = 14 ± 3 bpm; p = 0.41) and the sample data used (H/La = 591 ± 59 beats; NHW = 554 ± 63 beats; p = 0.12) for both the populations were similar. We found that BRS (overall gain; H/La = 24 ± 6 ms/mmHg; NHW = 27 ± 10 ms/mmHg; p = 0.39) and heart rate variability (root mean square of successive differences between normal heart beats; RMSSD, H/La = 82 ± 29 ms; NHW = 102 ± 48 ms; p = 0.101) were not significantly different between the two groups. These data suggest that baroreflex sensitivity and heart rate variability are not different between young, healthy H/La and NHW adults. Supported by Kinesiology and Health Education UT Austin Start-up Account 19-2635-91. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Sex differences in forearm blood flow and vascular conductance responses to rhythmic handgrip exercise in young, healthy Hispanic/Latino adults

Hispanic individuals represent the largest ethnic minority in the United States and are projected to make up one-third of the U.S. population by 2060. Compared to non-Hispanic White (NHW) individuals, Hispanic adults exhibit a significantly higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes (17.9% in Hispanic men vs. 11.5% in NHW men and 14.6% in Hispanic women compared to 7.7% in NHW women). Consequently, Hispanic adults also experience a higher prevalence of other microvascular complications such as neuropathy, retinopathy, and nephropathy leading to end stage renal disease. The underlying mechanisms for this disproportionately high incidence of cardiovascular complications in Hispanic population remains largely unexamined. Previous studies indicate that vascular alterations may manifest early on in life in populations with high cardiovascular disease risk. To date, no study has investigated the differences in vascular function between healthy Hispanic men and women during exercise. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that Hispanic women (HW) would exhibit greater relative increases in forearm blood flow (FBF) and vascular conductance (FVC) during rhythmic handgrip exercise compared to age-matched Hispanic men (HM). FBF (duplex Doppler ultrasound) and mean arterial pressure (MAP; finger photoplethysmography) were measured in 20 young, healthy Hispanic individuals (9 men, 11 women) during rhythmic handgrip exercise performed at three workloads (15%, 30%, and 45% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)). FVC was calculated as FBF/MAP. Baseline MAP (HM: 84 ± 5, HW: 85 ± 6 mmHg; p = 0.68) were similar between groups while baseline FBF (HM: 79.23 ± 21.43 and HW: 50.17 ± 28.33 ml/min; mean ± SD, p =0.02); FVC (HM: 0.95 ± 0.27 and HW: 0.60 ± 0.36 ml/min/mmHg; p =0.03); and MVCs (HM: 73.63 ± 18.14 and HW: 52.20 ± 10.73 kg; p < 0.001) were different between Hispanic men and women. Both groups exhibited intensity-dependent increases in FBF and FVC, [(mixed-model two-way ANOVA; %Δ FBF: sex effect p = 0.094, intensity effect p < 0.001, interaction p = 0.247) and (%Δ FVC: sex effect p = 0.032, intensity effect p < 0.001, interaction p = 0.14)]. For example, in response to 45% rhythmic hand grip intensity, there were no differences between Hispanic men and women, %Δ FBF (HM: 465.57 ± 98, HW: 527.27 ± 153.20; p = 0.32) and %Δ FVC (HM: 385.22 ± 65.32, HW: 455.90 ± 132.98; p = 0.17). Change in MAP from baseline to 45% rhythmic handgrip was similar between both groups ( p = 0.67). These preliminary data suggest that Hispanic men and women have similar hyperemic responses to rhythmic handgrip exercise at increasing intensities. Supported by Kinesiology and Health Education UT Austin Start-up Account 19-2635-91. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Sex difference in cardiac autonomic function in African American adults

African American (AA) individuals in the United States have the highest prevalence of hypertension, with an age-adjusted prevalence of 55.8% in AA men and 56.9% in women. Compared to other racial groups, the AA population also has a two- to three-fold higher mortality rate resulting from hypertension-related causes. Furthermore, AA men exhibit a higher mortality rate than AA women. Previous studies have demonstrated sex differences in some biological mechanisms linked to the increased cardiovascular disease risk in the AA population —such as impaired vascular function and elevated oxidative stress. However, it is unknown whether sex differences are present in baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) and heart rate variability (HRV), which are key mechanisms that may contribute to the pathogenesis and clinical outcomes of hypertension. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that young AA men exhibit impaired cardiac autonomic function (spontaneous BRS and HRV) compared to AA women. We studied 26 young normotensive AA adults (13 women) [Age (men: 22 ± 3; and women: 19 ± 1yr; mean ± SD, p = 0.03); BMI (men: 24 ± 3; and women: 24 ± 2 kg/m2; p = 0.92)]. Heart rate (HR; ECG) and beat-to-beat blood pressure (BP; finger plethysmography) were continuously recorded during 10 min of rest to assess HRV and cardiac BRS. Resting HR (men, 61 ± 8; and women: 65 ± 9 bpm; p = 0.18), diastolic BP (men, 66 ± 6; and women: 65 ± 5 mmHg; p = 0.48) and respiratory rate (men, 17 ± 3; and women, 17 ± 3 bpm; p = 0.97) were similar between the groups. Mean BP and systolic BP were higher in AA men, though within the normotensive range for both groups [mean BP (men: 84 ± 5; and women: 76 ± 5 mmHg; p = 0.001); SBP (men: 119 ± 4; and women: 103 ± 7 mmHg; p < 0.001)]. HRV [root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats (RMSSD); men, 113 ± 78; and women, 79 ± 43 ms; p = 0.18] and cardiac BRS (overall gain; men, 25 ± 13; and women, 28 ± 12 ms/mmHg; p = 0.66) were not different between groups. These results indicate that BRS and HRV, which are markers of cardiac autonomic regulation, do not differ based on sex among young normotensive African American individuals. Supported by: Kinesiology and Health Education UT Austin Start-up Account 19-2635-91; and TACSM 2023 Student Research Development Award. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Cell scientist to watch – Dan Dickinson

ABSTRACT Dan Dickinson is an Assistant Professor in Molecular Biosciences at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), USA. He completed his doctoral studies at Stanford University in California, co-mentored by Prof. Bill Weis and Prof. James Nelson, where he became fascinated with cell polarity in the amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum. He next moved to Prof. Bob Goldstein's lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for his postdoctoral research, where he developed a single-cell method to probe protein interactions in Caenorhabditis elegans zygotes. In 2017, he started his own lab at UT Austin. Intrigued by capacity of proteins to generate complex patterns across scales, his group aims to close the gap between biochemistry and cell biology using single-cell methods to investigate cell polarity in diverse contexts. For our Special Issue on Cell and Tissue Polarity, we spoke with Dan over Zoom about his goals as a researcher and educator and his dedication to teaching students the joy of scientific inquiry.

Designing museum exhibits to support the development of scientific thinking in informal learning environments: A university-museum-community partnership.

Our objective is to scaffold the natural behaviors that support scientific thinking and STEM learning in children through museum exhibit design and development. Here, we describe a collaborative research-to-practice initiative called "Designing Museum Exhibits to Support the Development Scientific Thinking in Informal Learning Environments: A University-Museum-Community Partnership," in which we document natural behavior in the context of children's informal learning environments and detail our plans to translate our findings into exhibit development. This initiative is part of a long-standing university (UT Austin, Center for Applied Cognitive Science), museum (Thinkery-Austin Children's Museum), and community (Austin's Early Learner Community) partnership called Thinkery Connect. Our first aim here is to review best practices in STEM exhibit design that fosters scientific thinking. We will then describe the design of a study on exhibit signage to promote scientific thinking development. We will also discuss our plans to develop and evaluate exhibit signage in context. Our long-term objective is to deepen engagement in activities that build scientific thinking for visitors at children's museums like Thinkery, at home, and in the community.

Analysis of Depths Derived by Airborne Lidar and Satellite Imaging to Support Bathymetric Mapping Efforts with Varying Environmental Conditions: Lower Laguna Madre, Gulf of Mexico

In 2017, Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG) researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) conducted an airborne lidar survey campaign, collecting topographic and bathymetric data over Lower Laguna Madre, which is a shallow hypersaline lagoon in south Texas. Researchers acquired 60 hours of lidar data, covering an area of 1600 km2 with varying environmental conditions influencing water quality and surface heights. In the southernmost parts of the lagoon, in-situ measurements were collected from a boat to quantify turbidity, water transparency, and depths. Data analysis included processing of Sentinel-2 L1C satellite imagery pixel reflectance to classify locations with intermittent turbidity. Lidar measurements were compared to sonar recordings, and results revealed height differences of 5–25 cm where the lagoon was shallower than 3.35 m. Further, researchers analyzed satellite bathymetry at relatively transparent lagoon locations, and the results produced height agreement within 13 cm. The study concluded that bathymetric efforts with airborne lidar and optical satellite imaging have practical limitations and comparable results in large and dynamic shallow coastal estuaries, where in-situ measurements and tide adjustments are essential for height comparisons.

Cluster Preface: Functional Dyes

Youjun Yang (left) received his BS (2002) from the University of Science and Technology of China, and his PhD (2007) with Prof. Robert M. Strongin at Louisiana State University. Then, he joined the Anslyn group at UT Austin as a postdoc. In 2010, he joined the faculty of the school of pharmacy, East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST). His research interests include NIR fluorescent dyes, photo-responsive dyes, and fluorescent molecular probes. Jiangli Fan (right) obtained her PhD at Dalian University of Technology (2005). Now she is a Professor at the School of Chemical Engineering at Dalian University of Technology, and she received the Distinguished Young Scholars of NSFC (2019). Her research interests mainly focus on the development of functional dyes for biomedical analysis and disease treatment.

Responsible Robotics: A Socio-Ethical Addition to Robotics Courses

We are witnessing a rapid increase in real-world autonomous robotic deployments in environments ranging from indoor homes and commercial establishments to large-scale urban areas, with applications ranging from domestic assistance to urban last-mile delivery. The developers of these robots inevitably have to make impactful design decisions to ensure commercially viability, but such decisions have serious real-world consequences. Unfortunately it is not uncommon for such projects to face intense bouts of social backlash, which can be attributed to a wide variety of causes, ranging from inappropriate technical design choices to transgressions of social norms and lack of community engagement. To better prepare students for the rigors of developing and deploying real-world robotics systems, we developed a Responsible Robotics teaching module, intended to be included in upper-division and graduate level robotics courses. Our module is structured as a role playing exercise which aims to equip students with a framework for navigating the conflicting goals of human actors which govern robots in the field. We report on instructor reflections and anonymous survey responses from offering our responsible robotics module in both a graduate-level, and an upper-division undergraduate robotics course at UT Austin. The responses indicate that students gained a deeper understanding of the socio-technical factors of real-world robotics deployments than they might have using self-study methods, and the students proactively suggested that such modules should be more broadly included in CS courses.

Portable Bulk-Water Disinfection by Live Capture of Bacteria with Divergently Branched Porous Graphite in Electric Fields.

Easy access to clean water is essential to functioning and development of modern society. However, it remains arduous to develop energy-efficient, facile, and portable water treatment systems for point-of-use (POU) applications, which is particularly imperative for the safety and resilience of society during extreme weather and critical situations. Here, we propose and validate a meritorious working scheme for water disinfection via directly capturing and removing pathogen cells from bulk water using strategically designed three-dimensional (3D) porous dendritic graphite foams (PDGFs) in a high-frequency AC field. The prototype, integrated in a 3D-printed portable water-purification module, can reproducibly remove 99.997% E. coli bacteria in bulk water at a few voltages with among the lowest energy consumption at 435.5 J·L-1. The PDGFs, costing $1.47 per piece, can robustly operate at least 20 times for more than 8 h in total without functional degradation. Furthermore, we successfully unravel the involved disinfection mechanism with one-dimensional Brownian dynamics simulation. The system is practically applied that brings natural water in Waller Creek at UT Austin to the safe drinking level. This research, including the working mechanism based on dendritically porous graphite and the design scheme, could inspire a future device paradigm for POU water treatment.

Forearm vascular conductance responses to rhythmic handgrip in young African American compared with Caucasian American women

Non-Hispanic African American (AA) individuals have a disproportionately high prevalence, and mortality rate of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to other populations. Previous studies have demonstrated that even young, healthy AA individuals have blunted flow-mediated dilation, attenuated vasodilatory responses to pharmacological infusions and rhythmic handgrip exercise (RHG), as well as higher arterial stiffness and exaggerated peripheral vasoconstriction to isometric handgrip exercise and other non-exercise-stimuli compared to Caucasian-American (CA) individuals. These studies indicate that vascular alterations occur early on in life of AA individuals, potentially contributing to elevated risk of CVD in this racial group. However, these racial disparities in vascular function have almost exclusively been studied in men. Herein, we tested the hypothesis that, similar to young AA men, young AA women will exhibit an attenuated increase in forearm blood flow (FBF) and forearm vascular conductance (FVC) during rhythmic handgrip exercise (RHG) compared to age-matched CA women. Forearm blood flow (FBF; duplex Doppler ultrasound) and mean arterial pressure (MAP; finger photoplethysmography) were measured in young CA (n = 5) and AA (n = 5) women during rhythmic handgrip exercise performed at three workloads (15%, 30%, and 45% of maximal voluntary contraction (MVC)). FVC was calculated as FBF/MAP. Baseline FBF (CA: 66.0 ± 12.8 and AA: 61.6 ± 12.2 ml/min; mean ± SD, p = 0.30); FVC (CA: 0.8 ± 0.2 and AA: 0.7 ± 0.2 ml/min/mmHg; p = 0.16), MAP (CA: 82 ± 11 and AA: 88 ± 4 mmHg; p = 0.28), and MVCs (CA: 50 ± 4 and AA: 52 ± 5 kg; p = 0.35) were similar between the groups. Both groups exhibited intensity-dependent increases in FBF and FVC; however, contrary to our hypothesis, there were no race difference (mixed-model two-way ANOVA; FVC: race effect p = 0.18, intensity effect p < 0.0001, interaction p = 0.48). For instance, in response to RHG at 45%, CA had 384 ± 112% increase in FBF from baseline and AA had 499 ± 153% increase. Increase in FVC from baseline was 198 ± 76% for CA women and 314 ± 151% for AA women. MAP did not differ between the groups (e.g., ΔMAP at 45%; CA: 13 ± 11 vs AA: 9 ± 5, p = 0.41). These preliminary data suggest that the hyperemic response to rhythmic handgrip exercise in young African American women are similar to age-matched Caucasian-American women. Supported byKinesiology and Health Education UT Austin Start-up Account 19-2635-91. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Rapid onset vasodilation in response to forearm muscle contraction in Hispanic American and Caucasian American Adults

Hispanic Americans (HA) are the fastest growing ethnic populations in the U.S., estimated to double in the next four decades. According to NHANES 2013-2016 data, prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2D) is 15.1% in HA men and 14.1% in HA women, compared to 9.4 and 7.3% in non-Hispanic Caucasian American (CA) men and women, respectively. Even HA children have a 5-fold higher rate of T2D compared to their age-matched CA counterparts. Impaired vascular function is a hallmark of T2D however, limited number of studies have investigated the effect of ethnicity on vascular function at rest and during exercise. To our knowledge, only one study has reported a higher flow-mediated dilation at rest in healthy HA compared to CA adults. Hence, the purpose of this study was to investigate the rapid onset vasodilation in response to a single muscle contraction of the forearm at progressively increasing intensity (20, 40, and 60% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC)) in young, healthy HA compared to age- and weight-matched CA individuals. A single muscle contraction model was chosen to isolate the robust local vasodilatory responsiveness of the vasculature without increases in sympathetic nerve activity or large hemodynamic changes. We hypothesized that HA would demonstrate an attenuated forearm vascular conductance (FVC) and forearm blood flow (FBF) in response to skeletal muscle contractions, compared to CA group. Young, healthy HA (n=4) and CA (n=4) adults performed skeletal muscle contractions at 20%, 40 % and 60% of their maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). To isolate the effect of mechanical compression during muscle contractions, FBF and FVC responses to a brachial cuff inflation were also measured. Heart rate (ECG), mean arterial pressure (MAP; finger photoplethysmography) and forearm blood flow (FBF; duplex Doppler ultrasound) were measured. FVC was calculated as FBF/MAP. Baseline FBF (CA: 115.21 ± 48.9 and HA: 68.89 ± 21.9 ml/min; p=0.27), MAP (CA: 82 ± 7.48 and HA: 81 ± 2.87 mmHg; p=0.77), FVC (p=0.15), and MVCs (CA: 67 ± 26.8 and HA: 70 ± 7.4 kg; p=0.82) were similar between the groups. Following single muscle contractions, both groups exhibited an intensity dependent increase in FVC and FBF, however, there was no difference between HA and CA groups. For instance, following muscle contraction at 40% MVC, peak FVC (%Δ) was 251% ± 46.35 in HA and 189% ± 34.98 in CA (race effect p = 0.23, time effect = 0.01, interaction p = 0.029). Similarly, peak %Δ FBF or %Δ FVC following 60% contractions were similar between the groups (FVC: 327% ± 84.36 in HA vs. 286% ± 74.45 in CA (race effect p=0.62, time effect p<0.01, interaction effect p=0.01)). Both groups exhibited a similar response to brachial cuff inflation for peak FVC (p=0.21) and peak FBF (p=0.30). Our preliminary findings indicate that HA have a preserved rapid onset vasodilation in response to a single forearm contraction when compared to CA adults. Supported by Kinesiology and Health Education UT Austin Start-up Account 19-2635-91 This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Value Implications of Sourcing Electronic Health Records: The Role of Physician Practice Integration

Should hospitals source electronic health records (EHR) systems from a single vendor or multiple vendors to deliver high-value care? We study hospitals’ EHR sourcing strategies based on their degree of integration with physician practices and its impact on the value of healthcare delivered. We propose a novel framework to define healthcare value as the extent to which a hospital effectively expends clinical resources to deliver services that improve patient outcomes. Drawing on modular systems and transaction cost economics theories, we propose a moderated-mediation model that explores the pathways through which EHR sourcing strategies can create value in healthcare. We test our research hypotheses on a large, longitudinal sample of U.S. hospitals and observe that hospitals with EHR configurations closer to single sourcing strategies exhibit greater health information sharing compared with hospitals with multisourced EHR systems. Furthermore, we find that hospital-physician practice integration moderates the impact of single sourcing on health information sharing, which in turn, improves value. Specifically, tighter integration between hospitals and physician practices can create greater value if it is aligned with hospitals’ EHR sourcing strategies. As the healthcare industry moves toward value-based payment reform, our findings provide a useful roadmap to practitioners and policy makers to improve the performance of hospitals and healthcare providers.History: Rajiv Kohli, Senior Editor; Sunil Wattal, Associate Editor.Funding: I.R. Bardhan thanks the Foster Parker Centennial Professorship and the Dean’s Research Excellence Grant at the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin for generous financial support. C. Bao thanks the Spears Fellowship at Oklahoma State University for financial support.Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.1183 .

From Couch…to Coach…to Ninja Warrior

Dixie Stanforth, Ph.D., FACSM,is a recently retired professor of instruction in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin. She developed and directed the Health Fitness Instructor, Community Health & Wellness, and Medical Fitness/Rehabilitation Specializations for undergraduates. She serves as a provost's teaching fellow emerita, is an associate editor for ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal®, and is a frequent presenter at ACSM's International Health & Fitness Summit and other national conferences. Erin Crownover, M.S.,is a former collegiate basketball player who recently completed her Master's degree in Exercise Physiology in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, The University of Texas at Austin. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at UT Austin in the Physical Culture and Sport Studies program. Erin is passionate about exercise and sport, especially the intersection of exercise science with physical culture, sport history, sport economics, and sport/international relations. Disclosure:The authors declare no conflict of interest and do not have any financial disclosures.

Graduate acoustics education in the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin

While graduate study in acoustics takes place in several colleges and schools at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), including Communication, Fine Arts, Geosciences, and Natural Sciences, this poster focuses on the acoustics program in Engineering. The core of this program resides in the Departments of Mechanical Engineering (ME) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Acoustics faculty in each department supervise graduate students in both departments. One undergraduate and nine graduate acoustics courses are taught in ME and ECE. Instructors for these courses include staff at Applied Research Laboratories at UT Austin, where many of the graduate students have research assistantships. The undergraduate course, taught every fall, begins with basic physical acoustics and proceeds to draw examples from different areas of engineering acoustics. Three of the graduate courses are taught every year: a two course sequence on physical acoustics, and a transducers course. The remaining six graduate acoustics courses, taught in alternate years, are on nonlinear acoustics, underwater acoustics, ultrasonics, architectural acoustics, wave phenomena, and acoustic metamaterials. An acoustics seminar is held most Fridays during the long semesters, averaging over ten per semester since 1984. The ME and ECE departments both offer Ph.D. qualifying exams in acoustics.

Infrasonic horn and ribbon microphone

Infrasound measurements normally utilize seismic sensors (geophones and accelerometers) with deployment on the ground surface, the seafloor, ice packs, etc. Here, the infrasound propagating in an overlying fluid medium such as air or water, interacts with the solid medium, thereby imparting its signature. These sensors primarily detect ground motion in terms of the particle velocity or acceleration (force) of the ground in contact with the sensor. Pressure microphone sensing of infrasound in the atmosphere has also been explored. We examine here the atmospheric sensing of infrasound, using the well-established technique of the ribbon microphone, which employs a thin metallic ribbon, suspended between two magnets to detect the particle velocity of the sound propagating in a fluid medium. Movement of the ribbon in the sound field generates a voltage according to Faraday’s Law. Although ribbon microphones are fixtures in audio band acoustics, their application to infrasound is not, and is explored here. Ribbon microphones made from suspension of conductive mylar tape between two neodymium magnets have been fabricated and tested in an infrasound band around a few Hertz. The results show a viable approach to vector sensing in this band. Work supported by ARL:UT Austin.

Longitudinal COVID-19 immune trajectories in patients with neurological autoimmunity on anti-CD20 therapy

Background and objectivesDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, B cell depleting therapies pose a clinical concern for patients with neuroimmune conditions, as patients may not mount a sufficient immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccinations. Studies to-date have reported conflicting results on the degree of antibody production post-SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccinations in B cell depleted patients, focusing primarily on short-term immune profiling. Our objective was to follow longitudinal immune responses in COVID-19 B cell depleted patients with neuroimmune disorders post-COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2-vaccination. MethodsCD20 B cell depleted autoimmune patients and age/sex-matched controls positive for SARS-CoV-2 were recruited at Dell Medical School, UT Austin between 2020 and 2021, followed prospectively for 12 months and evaluated at multiple time points for spike S1 receptor binding domain (RBD) antibody titers, B and T cell composition, and frequency of T cells specific for SARS-CoV-2 antigens. ResultsImmune responses post-SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination were evaluated in a cohort of COVID-19 B cell depleted neuroimmune patients (n = 5), COVID-19 non-B cell depleted autoimmune patients (n = 15), COVID-19 immunocompetent patients (n = 117), and healthy controls (n = 6) for a total of 259 samples in 137 participants. 4/5 B cell-depleted patients developed detectable anti-spike RBD antibodies, which were boosted by vaccination in 2 patients. While spike RBD antibodies were associated with presence of CD20+ B cells, very few B cells were required. In contrast, patients whose B cell compartment primarily consisted of CD19+CD20– Bcells during acute COVID-19 disease or vaccination did not seroconvert. Interestingly, circulating Bcells in B cell depleted patients were significantly CD38high with co-expression of CD24 and CD27, indicating that B cell depletion may impact B cell activation patterns. Additionally, all B cell depleted patients mounted a sustained T cell response to SARS-CoV-2 antigens, regardless of seroconversion. Specifically, all patients developed naïve, central memory, effector memory, and effector memory RA+ T cells, suggesting intact T cell memory conversion in B cell depleted patients compared to controls. DiscussionWe present the longest COVID-19 immune profiling analysis to date in B cell depleted patients, demonstrating that both humoral and cellular immune responses can be generated and sustained up to 12 months post SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination. Notably, failure to establish humoral immunity did not result in severe disease. We also highlight specific T and B cell signatures that could be used as clinical biomarkers to advise patients on timing of SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations.

Alto Oleaje

This is short creative work I wrote in Spanish for a creative writing workshop at UT Austin. Written in small fragments that intermingle scenes from childhood with present-day reflections about life and literature, this piece details my experience with anxiety and trauma as a young girl; it addresses the difficulties that children often face when articulating emotional distress, particularly in relation to anxiety disorders. This piece also explores the power of literature as an affective space that can articulate our own emotional pain in a way that can provide solace; I speak of my experience reading Swann's Way for the first time, describing how, in the first few chapters of this novel, Proust gave words to my emotional trauma and vulnerability; reading about Marcel's struggles to fall asleep without his mother's kiss allowed me to better face and understand my own past.

Global trajectory optimization, pathfinding, and scheduling for a multi-flyby, multi-spacecraft mission

The UT Austin team presents their methodology and result for GTOC11, constructing a hypothetical Dyson ring using asteroids encountered by 10 motherships departing from Earth. A pathfinding algorithm for the mothership is designed using a fast lookup table and a robust Lambert solver. Sequencing of unique mothership itineraries is performed by approximating the mass delivered to the ring via a linear data-based estimator trained on simulated asteroid-to-ring trajectories. A detailed derivation for the necessary boundary conditions of the constant-thrust-acceleration indirect optimization problem is presented, with key insights about the magnitudes of the co-states. An indirect boundary value solver finds feasible asteroid-to-ring trajectories for each of the 12 phasing locations in a high-performance parallel computing environment. A genetic algorithm informs the sequencing for the ring station arrival order that gives the highest performance index value. UT Austin’s final submitted solution placed 4th in the competition, with a performance index value of 5885.5, 235 asteroids collected, and a minimum build-station mass of 1.1328×1015 kg.

Smart Contract Solutions for Transactional Inefficiency in Medical Device Procurement

The annual ConV2X is a leading international health tech symposium driving real world evidence, strategy, research, operations and trends to create a blueprint for a new digital health era. The 2021 symposium  fetured a scientific program of academic/research presentations in addition to business and industry talks. The research track  focused on exploring and sharing developments in blockchain and emerging technologies in health and clinical medicine. Submissions were based on original research, conceptual frameworks, proposed applications, position papers, case studies, and real-world implementation. Selection was based on a peer-review process. Faculty, students, and industry researchers were encouraged to submit abstracts to present  ideas before an informed and knowledgeable audience of industry leaders, policy makers, funders, and researchers. This presentation was selected by the scientific reveiw committee. Submission Review Committee Dave Kochalko, CEO of ARTiFACTS Anjum Khurshid, UT Austin Carlos Caldas, UT Engineering Gil Alterovitz, Harvard Medical School Kayo Fujimoto, UT Health Houston Lei Zhang, University of Glasglow Sean Manion, CSciO of ConsenSys Health Vijayakuman Varadarajan, University of South Wales Vikram Dhillon, Wayne State University Yuichi Ikeda, Kyoto University

Applicability of Blockchain-based Implementation for Risk Management in Healthcare Projects

  The annual ConV2X is a leading international health tech symposium driving real world evidence, strategy, research, operations and trends to create a blueprint for a new digital health era. The 2021 symposium featured a scientific program of academic/research presentations in addition to business and industry talks. The research track focused on exploring and sharing developments in blockchain and emerging technologies in health and clinical medicine. Submissions were based on original research, conceptual frameworks, proposed applications, position papers, case studies, and real-world implementation. Selection was based on a peer-review process. Faculty, students, and industry researchers were encouraged to submit abstracts to present ideas before an informed and knowledgeable audience of industry leaders, policy makers, funders, and researchers. This presentation was selected by the scientific review committee. Submission Review Committee Dave Kochalko, CEO of ARTiFACTS Anjum Khurshid, UT Austin Carlos Caldas, UT Engineering Gil Alterovitz, Harvard Medical School Kayo Fujimoto, UT Health Houston Lei Zhang, University of Glasglow Sean Manion, CSciO of ConsenSys Health Vijayakuman Varadarajan, University of South Wales Vikram Dhillon, Wayne State University Yuichi Ikeda, Kyoto University