Engineering Commons^™

Engineering Periodontal Tissue Regeneration With The Use Of A Novel Periostin Electrospun Scaffold, Kendal I. Creber

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Clinical therapies for the treatment of periodontitis are unable to reproducibly stimulate regeneration of the periodontium. We assessed the use of a novel electrospun type I collagen scaffold containing recombinant periostin to stimulate regeneration of the periodontal ligament (PDL) and bone. Human PDL cells demonstrated the ability to form a mineralized matrix in vitro and reduced osteogenic potential with increased donor age. In vitro analysis indicated scaffolds were biocompatible, however, periostin did not significantly influence adhesion or growth. In the healing of fenestration defects in rats, type I collagen scaffolds (with and without periostin) initially delayed cell infiltration and increased …

The Study Of Mixing And Initial Granule Formation During High Shear Granulation Of Pharmaceutical Powders, Aveen Alkhatib

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Wet granulation is the agglomeration of particles using a liquid binder to form granules. The process is extensively used in the pharmaceutical industry to manufacture tablets, as granulation minimizes segregation, dust, and improves flowability. Granule uniformity is important in pharmaceutical manufacturing, as the tablet must contain a uniform distribution of excipients in the product in order to comply with United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations. The research presented in this thesis focuses on the influence of formulation and process parameters on granule formation. Sugar spheres were initially used to study segregation during the dry mixing phase of high …

Characterization Of High-Pressure-Die-Cast Magnesium Alloy Am60, Hooman Baghaei Anaraki

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The primary goal of this study is the characterization of high pressure die cast magnesium alloys AM60 so that the failure model which is proposed by J.Weiler can be validated for two new castings. The input variables of failure model can be determined by characterization of different regions within the castings. Based on the location of gate system, the desired regions are identified across both castings and tensile specimens are extracted from various regions. Therefore the local mechanical properties are determined, and fracture strain of samples ranges from 1.2 to 9.5%. The area fraction of porosities and skin fraction of …

Rotor Position Identification For Brushless Dc Motor, Muhammad Ikhlas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Permanent magnet BLDC motors are characterized by a central magnetic core, called the rotor, and fixed electric coils (usually six) equally spaced in a ring around the core, called the stator. Motor movement is controlled by alternately energizing and de-energizing the stator coils to create a rotating magnetic field that propels the rotor. In order for this process to work correctly, BLDC motors required a technology called electronic commutation, in which the coil currents must be very carefully synchronized to rotor position to ensure that the rotating field is correctly aligned with the permanent magnetic field in the rotor. Usually …

Thermal Convection In Non-Fourier Fluids And Application To Liquid Helium Ii, Mohammad Niknami Esfahani

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines different conditions for which non-Fourier effects can be significant in the flow of fluids. Non-Fourier fluids of dual-phase-lagging type (DPL) possess a relaxation time and a retardation time, reflecting the delay in the response of the heat flux and the temperature gradient with respect to one another. For non-Fourier fluids of single-phase-lagging type (SPL) the retardation time is zero. Non-Fourier fluids span a wide range of applications, including liquid helium, nanofluids and rarefied gases. The parallels between non-Fourier fluids and polymeric solutions are established.

The instability of steady natural convection of a thin layer of non-Fourier fluid …

Development And Study Of Measurement Methods For Jets And Bogging In A Fluidized Bed, Majid Hamidi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In the Fluid Coking process, if the local concentration of liquid is very high, particles may stick together which can eventually result in process upset because of poor fluidization or even defluidization, a condition commonly known in industry as "bogging".

Using a capacitance sensor, the void distribution in a bed of coke particles can be visualized. The voidage fluctuations caused by gas bubbles have been shown to change dramatically as the bed becomes bogged. Therefore, capacitance sensors should be able to predict the bogging condition in fluid cokers.

The first part of the thesis focused on designing noiseless capacitance sensors …

Cluster Fluid Dynamics In Down Flow Reactors: Experimental And Modeling Study, Angel Virgilio Lanza Soto

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Gas–solid concurrent downers possess unique features when compared to other gas–solid systems. Establishing their fluid dynamic properties requires both experimental measurements of gas-solid flow properties and computational modeling.

Measuring gas-solid flow properties such as cluster solid concentrations, individual cluster slip velocities, and cluster sizes, involves the use of specialized optical equipment, as well as a rigorous data analysis methodology. In addition, the modeling of the fluid dynamics of gas-solid flows in downer units offers special challenges such as establishing a proper drag model, cluster configuration and sizes, sphericity, boundary conditions, among other issues.

In this PhD dissertation, the fluid dynamics …

Thermal Conversion Of Triglycerides Of Vegetable Oil For Production Of Renewable Lamp Fuel, Jamie A. Gregory

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The thermal treatment of crop oils was investigated with the aim to produce a renewable, liquid fuel suitable for use in wick-based lighting systems. Specific objectives include reducing fuel viscosity and improving wickability in traditional flat cotton wicks. Pyrolysis and visbreaking processes were the two methods of thermal treatment that were studied. Visbreaking was a semi-batch process carried out in a stirred tank reactor at temperatures ranging from 300 to 500 °C. Pyrolysis utilized a continuous system with a mechanically fluidized bed reactor at temperatures ranging from 400- 650 °C. Initial testing with soybean oil feedstock demonstrated that pyrolysis was …

A Self-Potential For Monitoring Self-Sustaining Treatment For Active Remediation (Star), Mehrnoosh Ebrahimzadeh

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Self-sustaining Treatment for Active Remediation (STAR) is a novel soil remediation approach for Non-Aqueous Phase liquids (NAPLs) embedded in a porous medium. STAR is based on liquid smoldering combustion which destroys NAPLs while simultaneously generating heat due to the exothermic oxidation reaction. The technique is currently in use in several field pilot tests and a full-scale site remediation. Propagation of the smoldering front is monitored in the field by temperature data obtained from a thermocouple network, with limited resolution. Geophysical techniques, such as Self-Potential (SP), have potential as a non-destructive means for monitoring remediation processes. The SP method measures natural …

Resting-State Functional Network Disruptions In A Rodent Model Of Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (Tle), Ravnoor Singh Gill

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common form of drug-refractory epilepsy. The clinical application of non-invasively mapped networks using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) in humans has been rather limited due to heterogeneous (varying etiology, drugs, onset, latent period, etc.) patient groups. We employed a pharmacological (kainic acid) rodent model of TLE to measure the extent of functional network disruptions using rsfMRI, and study selected behaviors and olfactory to hippocampus transmission. Graph theoretical network modelling and analysis revealed significant increase in functional connectivity connectivity to the temporal lobe (hippocampus) in epileptic-rats compared to controls in the limbic …