Engineering Commons^™

Effectiveness Of Cannabidiol And Resveratrol Against Diesel Exhaust Particle-Induced Lung Cell Cytotoxicity, Emily Brothersen

Fall Student Research Symposium 2021

Environmental air pollution poses a significant health risk to individuals across the world. Diesel exhaust particles (DEPs), a major component of air pollution, have been shown to cause lung damage leading to cancer, respiratory infections, and premature death. Antioxidants, such as resveratrol, have previously demonstrated protective properties against DEP-induced cytotoxicity and reactive oxygen species. Cannabinoids extracted from hemp species have also been found to have powerful antioxidant properties, though these properties have not been thoroughly explored. In this study, A549 human lung carcinoma cells were used as a cellular model to determine the effectiveness of cannabinoids’ antioxidant properties against DEP-induced …

A Survey Of Stainless Steel In Medical And Surgical Application, Noah Slack, Clint Balch

ME 4133/6133 Mechanical Metallurgy

Stainless steels can be separated into four families based on the microstructure of the material: Austenitic, Ferritic, Martensitic, and Duplex. Each family provides a specific set of advantages and disadvantages, and material selection should be based on the specific application the material will be used for. For this study, the processing, microstructure, and performance of the four families of stainless steels will be compared in the context of medical device applications. The most important factors in medical device materials are biocompatibility, surface properties, mechanical properties and life span/corrosion resistance. This study will focus on medical devices that will be permanently …

Functional Complementation Of The Ppgcn4 And Ppnhx2 Genes In Arabidopsis Thaliana To Study Salt Tolerance, Amanda Moravek

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

Climate change induces unexpected weather and causes abiotic and biotic stresses in plants. These stresses negatively affect crop growth and production. Additionally, a steady increase in the world population has been leading to higher food demand. Therefore, the development of more stress-resilient crops is essential to combat these problems. One such stress is a salinity that affects crop production. Almond is a salt-sensitive crop, so there is a need to identify salt-tolerant almond rootstocks. AtGCN4 is a novel gene that was identified in Arabidopsis thaliana to play a significant role in host-pathogen interaction and drought tolerance when overexpressed. The preliminary …

Dogs In Ancient Egypt, Ella Olson

Fall Student Research Symposium 2020

The Ancient Egyptians are infamous for their love of cats, but what about dogs? It turns out that dogs were equally loved and praised in Egyptian culture. A large part of this comes from the religious significance of dogs- they are connected to the afterlife through Anubis, the god of the dead, and were thought to act as companions and guides to humans in the afterlife. Anubis is an interesting god to look at because he's one of the oldest and most respected gods. In today's terms, we refer to him as having a jackal head, but the Egyptians considered …

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Engineering And Computer Science, Fall 2017, Buenaventura "Ven" Basco

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Angela Akude's Thesis Defense | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The Biological Engineering Department is pleased to annouce that Angela Akude will be presenting her thesis defense on Thursday, October 6, 2016 at 9 am in the BENG Conference Room (ENGR 402C).

Usu Biological Engineer Patents Method To Make Natural Blue Dye | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Feb. 22, 2016 – A Utah State University researcher has taken a big step toward making a safer, more natural dye that can be used in the food, textile, cosmetic and other industries.

Dr. Jixun Zhan, an associate professor of biological engineering at USU, has secured a patent for an innovative method to produce the deep blue dye known as indigoidine. The tint was originally synthesized from a bacterial strain found inRhode Island and offered a promising alternative to the synthetic dyes used to color jeans, leather, food and paper.

Methods For Enhancing Expression Of Secondary Cell Wall Cellulose Synthases In Plants, Chandrashekhar P. Joshi

Michigan Tech Patents

Described are methods for making transgenic plants capable of expressing secondary cell wall cellulose synthases and methods of enhancing expression of secondary cell wall cellulose synthases in plants. Also described are plants produced by the methods. Plants comprising at least three exogenous polynucleotides encoding secondary cell wall cellulose synthases are also provided.

Methods Of Using Black Bear Parathyroid Hormone, Seth W. Donahue

Michigan Tech Patents

Black bear parathyroid hormone (PTH) and functional fragments thereof are provided. Also provided are methods of using black bear PTH and functional fragments for increasing cAMP in a bone-forming cell; reducing apoptosis in a boneforming cell; decreasing the ratio of expression levels of Bax protein to Bcl-2 protein in a bone-forming cell; increasing the expression level of one or more of a bone matrix protein, a transcriptional activator, or a transcriptional regulator in a bone-forming cell; enhancing bone mineral density, increasing bone mass, decreasing bone loss, or reducing the incidence of bone fractures, or any combination thereof, in a subject; …

Cell Culture Method And Apparatus For Mechanically Stimulating Cells, Seth W. Donahue

Michigan Tech Patents

A cell culture assembly and a method for culturing cells that provide mechanical stimulation to cells. The cell culture assembly can include a flow chamber positioned in a fluid path and a support comprising cells positioned within the flow chamber to expose the cells to the fluid path. The cell culture assembly can further include a means for producing a steady flow of fluid in the fluid path, and a means for producing an oscillatory flow of fluid in the fluid path simultaneously with producing the steady flow of fluid in the fluid path to mechanically stimulate the cells. The …

Isolated Cellulose Synthase Promoter Regions, Chandrashekhar P. Joshi

Michigan Tech Patents

The invention relates to methods of inducing expression of coding sequences including cellulose synthase coding sequences in transgenic plants using promoters of cellulose synthase genes from Populus plant species and transgenic plants produced by the methods.

Beyond Biobricks: Synthesizing Synergistic Biochemical Systems From The Bottom-Up, Mark A. Bedau

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Engineers who attempt to discover and optimize the behavior of complex biochemical systems face a dauntingly difficult task. This is especially true if the systems are governed by multiple qualitative and quantitative variables that have non-linear response functions and that interact synergistically. The synthetic biology community has responded to this difficulty by promoting the use of "standard biological parts" called "BioBricks", which are supposed to make biology into traditional engineering and enable engineers to "program living organisms in the same way a computer scientists can program a computer". But the BioBricks research program faces daunting hurdles, because the nonlinearity and …

Genetic Engineering Of Syringyl-Enriched Lignin In Plants, Vincent Lee C. Chiang, Laigeng Li

Michigan Tech Patents

The present invention relates to a novel DNA sequence, which encodes a previously unidentified lignin biosynthetic pathway enzyme, sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase (SAD) that regulates the biosynthesis of syringyl lignin in plants. Also provided are methods for incorporating this novel SAD gene sequence or substantially similar sequences into a plant genome for genetic engineering of syringyl-enriched lignin in plants.

Method And Apparatus For Blood Flow Measurement Using Millimeter Wave Band, David Nelson

Michigan Tech Patents

A system and method that determines a blood flow rate in an area of a subject. The system includes a transmitter operable to transmit an electrical signal in the range of about 20 GHz to about 300 GHz to the area, a temperature sensor positioned adjacent the area, and a processor operable to determine the blood flow rate in the area based on the rate of change of temperature in the area as a result of the application of the electrical signal on the area and a power density value.

Application Of Aspen Mads-Box Genes To Alter Reproduction And Development In Trees, Gopi Krishna Podila, Leland James Cseke, Banalata Sen, David F. Karnosky

Michigan Tech Patents

The present invention provides compositions and methods for producing a transgenic plant that exhibits altered characteristics resulting from over expression or under expression of a novel polypeptide PtM3 or its homolog PtM4. The altered characteristics resulting from over-expression include at least one of the ability to convert axillary mer- istem to floral meristem; to accelerate flowering i.e., early flowering; to increase fruit production; to increase nut production; to increase seed output; to increase branching; to increase flower production; to increase fruit yield; to increase flower yield and a combination thereof. The altered characteristics resulting from suppressed expression include at least …

Genetic Engineering Of Plants Through Manipulation Of Lignin Biosynthesis, Vincent Lee C. Chiang, Chung-Jui Tsai, Wen-Jing Hu

Michigan Tech Patents

The invention pertains to the genetically down regulating a lignin pathway p-coumarate Co-enzyme A ligase (CCL) in trees.

Plants Having Modified Reproductive Capacity, Gopi Krishna Podila, Jun-Jun Liu, David F. Karnosky

Michigan Tech Patents

This invention relates to plants having modified reproductive capacity. In particular, it relates to a plant reproductive tissue specific promoter, the PrAGl promoter isolated from Pinus radiata, and its use in promoting transcription/ expression of associated sequences in plant reproductive tissue, including for the purpose of producing plants which have diminished reproductive capacity or which are sterile.

Methods For Simultaneous Control Of Lignin Content And Composition, And Cellulose Content In Plants, Vincent Lee C. Chiang, Laigeng Li

Michigan Tech Patents

The present invention relates to a method of concurrently introducing multiple genes into plants and trees is provided. The method includes simultaneous transformation of plants with multiple genes from the phenylpropanoid pathways including 4CL, CAld5H, AldOMT, SAD and CAD genes and combinations thereof to produce various lines of transgenic plants displaying altered agronomic traits. The agronomic traits of the plants are regulated by the orientation of the specific genes and the selected gene combinations, which are incorporated into the plant genome.

Genetic Engineering Of Syringyl-Enriched Lignin In Plants, Vincent Lee C. Chiang, Laigeng Li

Michigan Tech Patents

The present invention relates to a novel DNA sequence, which encodes a previously unidentified lignin biosynthetic pathway enzyme, sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase (SAD) that regulates the biosynthesis of syringyl lignin in plants. Also provided are methods for incorporating this novel SAD gene sequence or substantially similar sequences into a plant genome for genetic engineering of syringyl-enriched lignin in plants.

Genetic Transformation And Regeneration Of Plants, Vincent Lee C. Chiang, Chung-Jui Tsai, Gopi K. Podila

Michigan Tech Patents

An Agrobacterium-mediated transformation and regeneration method for plants including a transformation method to produce transgenic plants with an altered lignin composition.

Genetic Engineering Of Wood Color In Plants, Vincent Lee C. Chiang, Chung-Jui Tsai, Gopi K. Podila

Michigan Tech Patents

The invention relates to genetically engineering the wood color of woody plants by incorporation of the lignin pathway gene O-methyltransferase into the genome of the plants.