Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

The Utility Of Shewanella Japonica For Microbial Fuel Cells, Justin C. Biffinger, Lisa A. Fitzgerald, Ricky Ray, Brenda J. Little, Stephen E. Lizewski, Emily R. Petersen, Bradley R. Ringeisen, Wesley C. Sanders, Paul E. Sheehan, Jeremy J. Pietron, Jeffrey W. Baldwin, Lloyd J. Nadeau, Glenn R. Johnson, Meghann Ribbens, Steven E. Finkel, Kenneth H. Nealson

U.S. Navy Research

Shewanella-containing microbial fuel cells (MFCs) typically use the fresh water wild-type strain Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 due to its metabolic diversity and facultative oxidant tolerance. However, S. oneidensis MR-1 is not capable of metabolizing polysaccharides for extracellular electron transfer. The applicability of Shewanella japonica (an agar-lytic Shewanella strain) for power applications was analyzed using a diverse array of carbon sources for current generation from MFCs, cellular physiological responses at an electrode surface, biofilm formation, and the presence of soluble extracellular mediators for electron transfer to carbon electrodes. Critically, air-exposed S. japonica utilizes biosynthesized extracellular mediators for electron transfer to carbon …

Derivation Radical Subspace Arrangements, Will Taves, Max Wakefield

U.S. Navy Research

In this note we study modules of derivations on collections of linear subspaces in a finite dimensional vector space. The central aim is to generalize the notion of freeness from hyperplane arrangements to subspace arrangements. We call this generalization ‘derivation radical’. We classify all coordinate subspace arrangements that are derivation radical and show that certain subspace arrangements of the Braid arrangement are derivation radical. We conclude by proving that under an algebraic condition the subspace arrangement consisting of all codimension c intersections, where c is fixed, of a free hyperplane arrangement are derivation radical.

Ambient- And High-Temperature Mechanical Properties Of Isochronally Aged Al–0.06sc, Al–0.06zr And Al–0.06sc–0.06zr (At.%) Alloys, Keith E. Knipling, David N. Seidman, David C. Dunand

U.S. Navy Research

Ambient- and high-temperature precipitation strengthening are investigated in Al–0.06Sc, Al–0.06Zr and Al–0.06Sc–0.06Zr (at.%) alloys. Following solidification, Sc is concentrated at the dendrite peripheries while Zr is segregated at the dendrite cores. During isochronal aging, precipitation of Al3Sc (L1₂) commences between 250 and 300 °C for Al–0.06Sc, and reaches a 429 MPa peak microhardness at 325 °C. For Al–0.06Zr, precipitation of Al3Zr (L1₂) first occurs between 400 and 425 °C and reaches a 295 MPa peak microhardness at 475 °C. A pronounced synergistic effect is observed when both Sc and Zr are present. Above 325 °C, Zr …

Bedside Method To Estimate Actual Body Weight In The Emergency Department, Robert G. Buckley, Christine R. Stehman, Frank L. Dos Santos, Robert H. Riggenburgh, Aaron Swenson, Nathan Mjos, Matt Brewer, Sheila Mulligan

U.S. Navy Research

Background:

Actual body weight (ABW) is important for accurate drug dosing in emergency settings. Oftentimes, patients are unable to stand to be weighed accurately or clearly state their most recent weight.

Objective:

Develop a bedside method to estimate ABW using simple anthropometric measurements.

Methods:

Prospective, blinded, cross-sectional convenience sampling of adult Emergency Department (ED) patients. A multiple linear regression equation from Derivation Phase (n = 208: 121 males, 87 females) found abdominal and thigh circumferences (AC and TC) had the best fit and an inter-rater correlation of 0.99 and 0.96, respectively: Male ABW (kg) = -47.8 + 0.78 * (AC) …

Investigation Of Electrical Transport In Hydrogenated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes, Adam L. Friedman, Hyunkyung Chun, Don Heiman, Yung Joon Jung, Latika Menon

U.S. Navy Research

Highly disordered multiwalled carbon nanotubes of large outer diameter (~60 nm) fabricated by means of chemical vapor deposition process inside porous alumina templates exhibit ferromagnetism when annealed in a H₂/Ar atmosphere. In the presence of an applied magnetic field, there is a transition from positive to negative magnetoresistance. The transition may be explained in terms of the Bright model for ordered and disordered carbon structures. Additionally, temperature dependent electrical transport experiments exhibit a zero-bias anomaly at low temperature.

The Role Of Shewanella Oneidensis Mr-1 Outer Surface Structures In Extracellular Electron Transfer, Rachida A. Bouhenni, Gary J. Vora, Justin C. Biffinger, Sheetal Shirodkar, Ken Brockman, Ricky Ray, Peter Wu, Brandy J. Johnson, Eulandria M. Biddle, Matthew J. Marshall, Lisa A. Fitzgerald, Brenda J. Little, Jim K. Fredrickson, Alexander S. Beliaev, Bradley R. Ringeisen, Daad A. Saffarini

U.S. Navy Research

The ability of the metal reducer Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 to generate electricity in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) depends on the activity of a predicted type IV prepilin peptidase; PilD. Analysis of an S. oneidensis MR-1 pilD mutant indicated that it was deficient in pili production (Msh and type IV) and type II secretion (T2S). The requirement for T2S in metal reduction has been previously identified, but the role of pili remains largely unexplored. To define the role of type IV or Msh pili in electron transfer, mutants that lack one or both pilus biogenesis systems were generated and analyzed; …

Probing Electron Transfer Mechanisms In Shewanella Oneidensis Mr-1 Using A Nanoelectrode Platform And Single-Cell Imaging, Ziaocheng Jiang, Jinsong Hu, Lisa A. Fitzgerald, Justin C. Biffinger, Ping Xie, Bradley R. Ringeisen, Charles M. Lieber

U.S. Navy Research

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) represent a promising approach for sustainable energy production as they generate electricity directly from metabolism of organic substrates without the need for catalysts. However, the mechanisms of electron transfer between microbes and electrodes, which could ultimately limit power extraction, remain controversial. Here we demonstrate optically transparent nanoelectrodes as a platform to investigate extracellular electron transfer in Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, where an array of nanoholes precludes or single window allows for direct microbeelectrode contacts. Following addition of cells, short-circuit current measurements showed similar amplitude and temporal response for both electrode configurations, while in situ optical imaging demonstrates …

Microbial Treatment Of Swine Fecal Waste To Generate Long-Chain Linear Alkanes After Fast Pyrolysis, Lisa A. Fitzgerald, C. Ziemer, S. E. Lizewski, Bradley R. Ringeisen, K. Henry, Justin C. Biffinger

U.S. Navy Research

Research into the generation of energy from human and animal waste has been primarily focused on gas production (especially methane and hydrogen). While there is some work concentrated on ethanol and biodiesel creation from wastes (fuels used for ground transportation primarily), increasing research interest has been recently directed toward long chain hydrocarbon production for aviation fuels. Kerosene components from swine fecal waste have been generated from four natural sources: undigested dietary lipids, host lipids excreted in feces, bacterial cell walls and products of bacterial fermentation.

Air-Exposed Microbial Fuel Cells And Screening Techniques, Justin C. Biffinger, Bradley R. Ringeisen

U.S. Navy Research

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) harvest energy from a wide variety of natural carbon sources to produce electricity at neutral pH and ambient temperatures. To date, standard H₂/O₂ PEMFC technology has yet to generate significant power under those conditions. Because most environments on earth are exposed to significant levels of oxygen, we believe the transition from sediment based MFCs to oxygen-tolerant MFCs is necessary. This transition would require both a way to simultaneously sequester the metal-reducing microbes and reduce the overall concentration of oxygen in the anode chamber. Recent work suggests that power can be generated with significant …

Energy-Efficient, Flow-Specific Medium Access Using Preamble Sampling, T. Owens Walker Iii, Murali Tummala, John Mceachen

U.S. Navy Research

Current wireless sensor network applications face challenging power constraints that demand low duty cycles. In this paper, we propose an energy-efficient, flow-specific medium access scheme that is capable of achieving low duty cycles while taking advantage of the performance improvements available through a flow-specific medium access approach. The scheme is based on an adaptive sleep and wake cycle that responds to changes in both contention and non-contention traffic loads through the use of preamble sampling. A preamble sampling probability parameter is introduced to manage the trade-off between energy efficiency and network throughput and delay performance. A performance analysis is conducted …

Model For Virtual Physical Layer Communication Over Deployed Wireless Sensor Networks, Thomas Childers, Yow Thiam Poh, John Mceachen, Murali Tummala

U.S. Navy Research

A method for file transfer utilizing forward error correction (FEC) to pass traffic over deployed wireless sensor networks is studied. The entire wireless sensor network is modeled as an error-prone virtual physical link. Previous work in the area of terminal communication across the sensor network is expanded upon to include file transfer in order to provide a more capable channel and a basis for testing the performance obtained through erasure coding. The results of the FEC implementation are examined using multiple sensor network configurations. While the error correction method proved effective, larger topologies presented congestion issues due to the sensors’ …

Characterization Of Electrochemically Active Bacteria Utilizing A High-Throughput Voltage-Based Screening Assay, Justin C. Biffinger, Meghann Ribbens, Bradley Ringeisen, Jeremy Pietron, Steven Finkel, Kenneth Nealson

U.S. Navy Research

Metal reduction assays are traditionally used to select and characterize electrochemically active bacteria (EAB) for use in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). However, correlating the ability of a microbe to generate current from an MFC to the reduction of metal oxides has not been definitively established in the literature. As these metal reduction assays may not be generally reliable, here we describe a four- to nine-well prototype high throughput voltage-based screening assay (VBSA) designed using MFC engineering principles and a universal cathode. Bacterial growth curves for Shewanella oneidensis strains DSP10 and MR-1 were generated directly from changes in open circuit voltage …

Simultaneous Analysis Of Physiological And Electrical Output Changes In An Operating Microbial Fuel Cell With Shewanella Oneidensis, Justin C. Biffinger, Ricky Ray, Brenda J. Little, Lisa A. Fitzgerald, Meghann Ribbens, Steven E. Finkel, Bradley R. Ringeisen

U.S. Navy Research

Changes in metabolism and cellular physiology of facultative anaerobes during oxygen exposure can be substantial, but little is known about how these changes connect with electrical current output from an operating microbial fuel cell (MFC). A high-throughput voltage based screening assay (VBSA) was used to correlate current output from a MFC containing Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 to carbon source (glucose or lactate) utilization, culture conditions, and biofilm coverage over 250 h. Lactate induced an immediate current response from S. oneidensis MR-1, with both air-exposed and anaerobic anodes throughout the duration of the experiments. Glucose was initially utilized for current output by …

Engineering Microbial Fuels Cells: Recent Patents And New Directions, Justin C. Biffinger, Bradley R. Ringeisen

U.S. Navy Research

Fundamental research into how microbes generate electricity within microbial fuel cells (MFCs) has far outweighed the practical application and large scale development of microbial energy harvesting devices. MFCs are considered alternatives to standard commercial polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology because the fuel supply does not need to be purified, ambient operating temperatures are maintained with biologically compatible materials, and the biological catalyst is self-regenerating. The generation of electricity during wastewater treatment using MFCs may profoundly affect the approach to anaerobic treatment technologies used in wastewater treatment as a result of developing this energy harvesting technology. However, the materials …

The Influence Of Acidity On Microbial Fuel Cells Containing Shewanella Oneidensis, Justin C. Biffinger, Jeremy Pietron, Orianna Bretschger, Lloyd J. Nadeau, Glenn R. Johnson, Cynthia C. Williams, Kenneth H. Nealson, Bradley R. Ringeisen

U.S. Navy Research

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) traditionally operate at pH values between 6 and 8. However, the effect of pH on the growth and electron transfer abilities of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 (wild-type) and DSP10 (spontaneous mutant), bacteria commonly used in MFCs, to electrodes has not been examined. Miniature MFCs using bare graphite felt electrodes and nanoporous polycarbonate membranes with MR-1 or DSP10 cultures generated >8W/m³ and ∼400μA between pH 6–7. The DSP10 strain significantly outperformed MR-1 at neutral pH but underperformed at pH 5. Higher concentrations of DSP10 were sustained at pH 7 relative to that of MR-1, whereas at pH …

Response Of Phlebotomine Sand Flies To Light-Emitting Diode-Modified Light Traps In Southern Egypt, D. F. Hoel, Emad Y. Fawaz, J.E Butler, N. Watany, S. S. El-Hossary, J. Villinski

U.S. Navy Research

Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) light traps were modified for use with light-emitting diodes (LED) and compared against a control trap (incandescent light) to determine the effectiveness of blue, green, and red lights against standard incandescent light routinely used for sand fly surveillance. Light traps were baited with dry ice and rotated through a 4 x 4 Latin square design during May, June, and July, 2006. Trapping over 12 trap nights yielded a total of 2,298 sand flies in the village of Bahrif, 6 km north of Aswan on the east bank of the Nile River in southern …

A Biofilm Enhanced Miniature Microbial Fuel Cell Using Shewanella Oneidensis Dsp10 And Oxygen Reduction Cathodes, Justin C. Biffinger, Jeremy Pietron, Ricky Ray, Brenda J. Little, Bradley R. Ringeisen

U.S. Navy Research

Aminiature-microbial fuel cell (mini-MFC, chamber volume: 1.2 mL)was used to monitor biofilm development from a pure culture of Shewanella oneidensis DSP10 on graphite felt (GF) under minimal nutrient conditions. ESEM evidence of biofilm formation on GF is supported by substantial power density (per device cross-section) from the mini-MFC when using an acellular minimal media anolyte (1500mW/m²). These experiments demonstrate that power density per volume for a biofilm flow reactor MFC should be calculated using the anode chamber volume alone (250 W/m³), rather than with the full anolyte volume. Two oxygen reduction cathodes (uncoated GF or a …

Diversifying Biological Fuel Cell Designs By Use Of Nanoporous Filters, Justin C. Biffinger, Ricky Ray, Brenda Little, Bradley R. Ringeisen

U.S. Navy Research

The use of proton exchange membranes (PEMs) in biological fuel cells limits the diversity of novel designs for increasing output power or enabling autonomous function in unique environments. Here we show that selected nanoporous polymer filters (nylon, cellulose, or polycarbonate) can be used effectively in place of PEMs in a miniature microbial fuel cell (mini-MFC, device cross-section 2 cm²), generating a power density of 16 W/m³ with an uncoated graphite felt oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) cathode. The incorporation of polycarbonate or nylon membranes into biological fuel cell designs produced comparable power and durability to Nafion-117 membranes. Also, …

A Comparison Of Optimized Link State Routing With Traditional Ad-Hoc Routing Protocols, Pore Ghee Lye, John C. Mceachen

U.S. Navy Research

The performance of mobile ad-hoc networks (MANET) is related to the efficiency of the routing protocols in adapting to frequently changing network topology and link status. This paper addresses the issue by comparing the relative performance of three key ad-hoc routing protocols: Destination-sequenced Distance Vector (DSDV), Ad-hoc Ondemand Distance Vector (AODV) and Optimized Link State Routing (OLSR). The protocols are tested based on two scenarios, namely, tactical networks for ships and sensor-based network nodes. Four performance metrics were measured by varying the maximum speed of mobile hosts, network size and traffic load, to assess the routing capability and protocol efficiency. …

Design And Implementation Of A Modular Wireless Sensor Network Sniffer, John C. Mceachen, Teo Hong Siang, Georgios Kirykos

U.S. Navy Research

We present the design and implementation of a wireless packet sniffing application focused on the communications of TinyOS-based sensor networks. This modular, multi-threaded application allows robust analysis of transmitted frames in an easily understood format similar to tcpdump. The underlying software framework is presented and details of the implementation are discussed. Finally, verification of the application is performed using a basic TinyOS application.

Oxygen Exposure Promotes Fuel Diversity For Shewanella Oneidensis Microbial Fuel Cells, Justin C. Biffinger, Jacqueline N. Byrd, Breanna L. Dudley, Bradley R. Ringeisen

U.S. Navy Research

Miniature microbial fuel cells (mini-MFCs) were used to monitor the current generated by Shewanella oneidensis DSP10 under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions when exposed to glucose as a potential electron donor. In addition to glucose, other carbon fuels including fructose, sucrose, acetate, and ascorbic acid were also tested. When the anolyte containing S. oneidensis was grown in the presence of oxygen, power densities of 270±10, 350±20, and 120±10 W/m³ were recorded from the mini-MFC for glucose, fructose, and ascorbic acid electron donors, respectively, while sucrose and acetate produced no response. The power produced from glucose decreased considerably (≤100 W/m …

Reducing Long-Term Remedial Costs By Transport Modeling Optimization, David Becker, Barbara Minsker, Robert Greenwald, Yan Zhang, Karla Harre, Kathleen Yager, Chunmiao Zheng, Richard Peralta

U.S. Navy Research

The Department of Defense (DoD) Environmental Security Technology Certification Program and the Environmental Protection Agency sponsored a project to evaluate the benefits and utility of contaminant transport simulation-optimization algorithms against traditional (trial and error) modeling approaches. Three pump-and-treat facilities operated by the DoD were selected for inclusion in the project. Three optimization formulations were developed for each facility and solved independently by three modeling teams (two using simulation-optimization algorithms and one applying trial-and-error methods). The results clearly indicate that simulation-optimization methods are able to search a wider range of well locations and flow rates and identify better solutions than current …

High Power Density From A Miniature Microbial Fuel Cell Using Shewanella Oneidensis Dsp10, Bradley R. Ringeisen, Emily Henderson, Peter K. Wu, Jeremy Pietron, Ricky Ray, Brenda J. Little, Justin C. Biffinger, Joanne M. Jones-Meehan

U.S. Navy Research

A miniature microbial fuel cell (mini-MFC) is described that demonstrates high output power per device crosssection (2.0 cm²) and volume (1.2 cm³). Shewanella oneidensis DSP10 in growth medium with lactate and buffered ferricyanide solutions were used as the anolyte and catholyte, respectively. Maximum power densities of 24 and 10 mW/m² were measured using the true surface areas of reticulated vitreous carbon (RVC) and graphite felt (GF) electrodes without the addition of exogenous mediators in the anolyte. Current densities at maximum power were measured as 44 and 20 mA/m² for RVC and GF, while short …

Perchlorate: Sources, Uses, And Occurrences In The Environment, Clayton W. Trumpolt, Michael Crain, Geoffrey D. Cullison, Susan J. P. Flanagan, Lenny Siegel, Stephen Lathrop

U.S. Navy Research

Perchlorate contamination of groundwater and soil continues to be a hot topic in many sectors, including industry, the federal Departments of Defense and Energy, regulators, and the general public. This article presents information on what is currently known regarding perchlorate uses, known and suspected naturally occurring versus anthropogenic perchlorate sources, and past and present manufacturing locations. It provides the reader with a baseline as well as background information to facilitate an understanding of perchlorate in the environment for the ultimate purpose of remediation. The article is based on research conducted by the Interstate Technology Regulatory Council for a forthcoming, more …

Conversation Exchange Dynamics: A New Signal Primitive For Computer Network Intrusion Detection, John C. Mceachen, John M. Zachary, Junling Wang, Kah Wai Cheng

U.S. Navy Research

As distributed network intrusion detection systems expand to integrate hundreds and possibly thousands of sensors, managing and presenting the associated sensor data becomes an increasingly complex task. Methods of intelligent data reduction are needed to make sense of the wide dimensional variations. We present a new signal primitive we call conversation exchange dynamics (CED) that accentuates anomalies in traffic flow. This signal provides an aggregated primitive that may be used by intrusion detection systems to base detection strategies upon. Indications of the signal in a variety of simulated and actual anomalous network traffic from distributed sensor collections are presented. Specifically, …

Ultraviolet Photodissociation Dynamics Of H2s And D2s, Brad R. Weiner, Harold B. Levene, James J. Valentini, A. P. Baronavski

U.S. Navy Research

Nascent SH(X² Π_i, v" = 0,1) and SD(X² Π_i, v" = 0,1) rotational state population distributions, spin-orbit state population ratios, and A-doublet state population ratios have been measured following the UV excimer laser photodissociation of H₂S (λ = 193, 222, and 248 nm) and D₂S (λ = 193 and 222 nm), respectively. Nascent SH(X² Π_i, v" = 0) rotational state distributions following 193 nm photodissociation of cold H2 S in a free jet expansion vs 300 K H2 S in …