Engineering Commons^™

New Evidence For Homocysteine Lowering For Management Of Treatment-Resistant Hypertension, Merrill F. Elias, Craig J. Brown

Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Papers

Treatment-resistant hypertension is a topic of great importance and the subject of editorial comments in the American Journal of Hypertension. Homocysteine is an intermediate compound in the vitamin regulated One Carbon Methylation pathway which affects glutathione, methionine, and nitric oxide metabolism. Elevated homocysteine, triggered by genetic mutations or insufficient body stores of active vitamins B6, B12, folate, riboflavin, indicates oxidative stress and is associated with impaired nitric oxide synthesis causing small vessel vasoconstriction in the central nervous system. High homocysteine (defined later) is also a risk factor for hypertension.

Higher Yogurt Intake Is Associated With Lower Blood Pressure In Hypertensive Individuals: Cross-Sectional Findings From The Maine–Syracuse Longitudinal Study, Alexandra T. Wade, Benjamin A. Guenther, Fayeza S. Ahmed, Merrill F. Elias

Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Papers

Associations between fermented dairy products and blood pressure are unclear. The current study therefore examined the association between yogurt and blood pressure in hypertensive and non-hypertensive individuals. Cross-sectional analyses were undertaken on 915 community-dwelling adults from the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study. Habitual yogurt consumption was measured using a food frequency questionnaire. The primary outcomes were systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and pulse pressure. Secondary outcomes included BMI (kg m^-2), total cholesterol (mg dL^-1), glucose (mg dL^-1), HDL (mg dL^-1), LDL (mg dL^-1), triglycerides (mg …

Growth Ring Orientation Effects In Transverse Softwood Fracture, Parinaz Belalpour Dastjerdi, Eric N. Landis

Civil Engineering Faculty Scholarship

In this study, the fracture mechanics of eastern spruce were characterized in relation to end-grain orientation. Compact tension-type specimens with small pre-formed cracks were prepared such that grain angle varied relative to the load axis. Specimens were loaded under crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) control as to maintain stable crack growth. Specimen fracture was characterized using both R-curve and bulk fracture energy approaches. The results showed that under a RT grain orientation, as well as grain deviations up to about 40^∘, cracks will follow a path of least resistance in an earlywood region. As the grain angle exceeds …

Lateral Spreading And Stability Of Embankments Supported On Fractured Unreinforced High-Modulus Columns, Aaron P. Gallant, Danilo Botero Lopez

Non-Thesis Student Work

Construction of column-supported embankments (CSEs) with unreinforced high-modulus elements is now common practice to accelerate fill placement. These brittle columns are susceptible to column fracturing and CSE designs often limit the degree of lateral spreading such that tensile rupture will not occur, which stems from salient concerns that fracturing may trigger uncontrolled lateral spreading and/or the cessation of intended vertical load transfer. However, tensile rupture is unlikely to coincide with full mobilization of available passive resistance at the toe. Thus, it is disputed in industry whether some degree of column fracturing is tolerable. The objective of this study is to …

Repeatable Use Assessment Of Silicon Carbide As Permanent Susceptor Bed In Ex Situ Microwave Remediation Of Petroleum-Impacted Soils, Ritchie Lafaille, Yigit C. Bozkurt, Emmy Pruitt, Janelle Lewis, Rene Bernier, Deyuan Kong, Paul Westerhoff, Paul Dahlen, Onur G. Apul

Civil Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Efficiency of microwave-enabled ex situ soil remediation can be improved by dielectric susceptors. Cost, and environmental burden of these susceptors can be minimized if they are used repeatedly in a permanent bed set-up. In this study, carbon nanofibers, activated carbon, magnetite, and silicon carbide were tested at the lab scale for repeated use in permanent microwave-induced thermal soil remediation. Despite their superior ability to convert microwaves into heat, carbon nanofibers experienced electrokinesis and activated carbon partially combusted in the microwave cavity, which complicates their pragmatic use in remediation applications. Magnetite was also able to convert microwaves into heat effectively and …

Afloat 2021: American Floating Offshore Wind Technical Summit, Advanced Structures And Composites Center

General University of Maine Publications

Email invitation to the "AFloat 2021: American Floating Offshore Wind Technical Summit" scheduled for September 8 and 9, 2021. Due to the emergence of COVID variants and the health risks they pose, a decision was made to hold the event virtually to ensure everyone's safety.

Reclaiming The Importance Of Homocysteine As A Marker Of Cardiovascular And Neurologic Disease, Merrill F. Elias

Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Papers

The Smith and Refsum review of ‘Homocysteine’ – from biomarker to disease prevention in this issue of the Journal of Internal Medicine [1 – is much more than an updated review of the literature. It provides a history of the progression of studies on homocysteine in relation to cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders from its earliest days to the present time. It is a scholarly examination of the mounting evidence of the importance of homocysteine as a biomarker for cardiovascular and neurologic disease and the utility of B vitamins and folate as a treatment.

Floating Offshore Wind Project Webinar, University Of Maine Alumni Association, John Diamond, Habib Dagher

General University of Maine Publications

Watch Dr. Habib Dagher, executive director of UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center, for a May 2021 update on UMaine’s offshore wind program. UMaine is collaborating with New England Aqua Ventus LLC, a joint venture between Diamond Offshore Wind, a subsidiary of the Mitsubishi Corporation, and RWE Renewables, the second-largest company in offshore wind globally, to develop an 11-megawatt floating offshore demonstration project off the coast of Maine.

The New England Aqua Ventus offshore wind project is a critical milestone in the commercial realization of UMaine’s internationally recognized offshore wind technology that was developed at the Advanced Structures and Composites …

The Hate Within, Kora Kukk

Honors College

A novel in its beginning stages, The Hate Within (May 2021) is the product of discovering a way to be able to eloquently combine biomedical engineering with creative writing which will intrigue young adult readers. This thesis contains the first few chapters of the story along with an additional journal entry, the story’s outline with a list of plot events, and a disquisition exploring the motivation and methodology behind creating this thesis.The novel is about a junior in high school named Alaita. She is a super sweet, kind, and popular girl in school until one day she is diagnosed with …

Scientific Knowledge Shaping Perceptions Of Bioengineered Food Among Undergraduate Students, Kathleen Tims

Honors College

While commonplace in our grocery stores, GMO-foods have persevered through years of controversy. As the availability of bioengineered(BE) commodities grows and biotechnical industries make strides, studies have shown that the average consumers’ knowledge concerning biotechnology has not. In addition to widely held misconceptions and the general lack of knowledge regarding bioengineered commodities reported by young adults, especially students, the recent United States Department of Agriculture mandate for BE product labeling prompts further research into the consumer perspective on bioengineered products. This research looked to expand upon prior work regarding students’ individual perspective towards topics such as GMOs, knowledge of BE …

Effects Of Process Parameters And Meso-Structures On Dissipative Properties Of Additively Manufactured Structures, Peter Berube

Honors College

With approximately 5.9 million vehicular collisions in the United States per year, the ability of a vehicle to absorb energy during a collision is critical to reducing the likelihood and severity of injuries. A primary means to absorb energy during a collision is a crush tube, which is a predominantly-prismatic-shaped, metallic structure located at the front or rear of a vehicle intended to absorb energy by progressively buckling in addition to dissipating energy, crush tubes must be light weight to reduce vehicular green-house gas emissions, resilient to fatigue, resilient to environmental exposure, and economically feasible to manufacture. Historically, these competing …

A Method For Orientation Of Cellulose Nano Fibers For Addition Of Biological Nanoparticles And Tissue Integration, Joshua Hamilton

Honors College

The University of Maine is one of the world’s leading producers of cellulose nanofibers (CNF). This material has the power to revitalize the Maine paper industry. This has led to an abundance of labs on campus researching applications for the material. Active research activities at the University of Maine include industrial applications such as filtration, biodegradable packaging, building materials and niche health care applications. Niche health care applications include wicking pads for point of care diagnostics and tunable biomaterials ranging from dressings to implantable bone-like materials. Medical applications require an analysis of the biocompatibility of CNF.CNF is biocompatible in general: …

Conductive Agnw/Tempo Cnf Thin Film, David Flewelling

Honors College

Cellulose is a strong, readily available biologically sourced polymer with a wide potential for applications in many fields. Its high degree of biodegradability makes it an excellent candidate for environmentally friendly sensors, but it is necessary to devise a method by which to render it conductive. Silver nanowires are highly conductive nanoparticles with many potential applications in sensing, as well as being on a similar order-of-magnitude in size as cellulose derivatives, which makes them a prime candidate for use in this application. Methods of casting cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), and TEMPO-Oxidized CNF (TEMPO CNF) films were explored, and …

Efficiency Of The United States Navy's Mid-Air Refueling System: Do The Best Pilots In The World Use The Best Equipment?, Austin Westfield

Honors College

The United States Navy has used the Drogue refueling system since the 1950’s. This system, while incredibly effective, has design elements that, if improved upon, could save the Navy millions of dollars per year. For my thesis project within the University of Maine Honors College, I studied the drag characteristics of two models of a refueling apparatus. One model mirrored the current Navy design and the other was based on my sensor array design implemented within my Mechanical Engineering Capstone team project, which was to design, build, and fly a remote-controlled (RC) aircraft that deployed and retracted a towed array …

Computational Analysis And Classification Of Shg Images Of Cancerous Pancreatic Tissue Based On Collagen Fiber Alignment, Gerren Welch

Honors College

Pancreatic cancer is a deadly disease, with a low five-year survival rate partly due to the difficulty in diagnosing the cancer early in its development, as it shares symptoms with more common and less lethal conditions. Using Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) microscopy and computer analysis, our knowledge of the biophysics of the pancreatic tumor microenvironment increases which may lead to the development of more effective therapies. In collaboration with Maine Medical Center Research Institute (MMCRI), we have identified 20 pancreatic cancer patients. In these 20 pancreatic cancer patients, Dr. Jones, a pathologist at MMCRI has identified normal adjacent pancreas, fibrotic …

Coastal Windstorms Create Unsteady, Unpredictable Storm Surges In A Fluvial Maine Estuary, Preston Spicer, Pascal Matte, Kimberly Huguenard, Laura N. Rickard

Civil Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Storm surges create coastal flooding that can be damaging to life and property. In estuaries with significant river influence (fluvial), it is possible for tides, storm surge, and river discharge to interact and enhance surges relative to the immediate coast. These tide-surge-river interactions were previously identified in a fluvial Maine estuary as higher frequency (>four cycles per day) oscillations to storm surge which were proposed to be incited by enhanced friction and resonance during certain windstorm events (Spicer et al. 2019). The relative contributions to tide-surge-river interaction from atmospheric forcing variables (wind, barometric pressure, and externally generated surge) remains …

Black Bear To Merin Skincare: Alumni Founders Adding Value To Maine's Lobster Industry, Ashley Forbes

General University of Maine Publications

It started in 2013 when co-founders Amber Boutiette and Patrick Breeding met on the first day of their first year as biomedical engineering undergraduate students at the University of Maine. Nearly eight years later the pair relocated to Portland, launched Marin Skincare--a specialty skincare product made with lobster glycoprotein--and are now teaming with an established Maine brand, Luke's Lobster, to scale their supply chain and meet strong demand for their first product.

Edalatpour Receives Nsf Career Award To Study Thermal Radiation In Quantum Materials And Quantum-Sized Distances, Marcus Wolf

General University of Maine Publications

Components the size of a few atoms, known as quantum materials, can enhance how technology functions and manages its heat. However, little is known about how heat is emitted and exchanged in quantum materials in contrast with their more common counterparts, three-dimensional bulk materials. Sheila Edalatpour, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maine, is studying how the emission of heat changes when the materials involved are quantum-sized, or when they are separated by a gap of the same size as one or multiple atoms.

Nsf Career Award Supports Schwartz's Research On The Chemical Process For Making Rubber Component, Marcus Wolf

General University of Maine Publications

advance his ongoing dissection of the Lebedev process. The well-known, multi-step chemical reaction is used to make butadiene from biomass-derived ethanol. However, little research has been conducted on the Lebedev process at the molecular level. Understanding the intricacies of this process will help researchers create new catalysts necessary for the chemical reactions to make goods from both petroleum and biomass, that would increase butadiene yield.

Ferland Engineering Education And Design Center (Eedc) Virtual Beam Topping Ceremony, Jeff Mills, Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Dana Humphrey, Consigli Construction Co., Inc., Wbrc Architects And Engineers, Ellenzweig

General University of Maine Publications

Construction of the $78 million Engineering Education and Design Center (EEDC) on the University of Maine campus began in May 2020, with workers following state-mandated health and safety guidelines. Work on the 105,000-square-foot facility is expected to be completed in spring 2022.

Design and construction of EEDC involved 78 graduates of the University of Maine, many from the College of Engineering. Over 500 alumni, friends, corporations, and foundations contributed to the fund-raising effort. Retired power industry executive and Skowhegan, Maine native, Jim Ferland and his wife Eileen provided a $10-million naming gift for the new Center. Jim Ferland earned a …