Life Sciences Commons^™

Harnessing Wastewater For Renewable Energy (2013-2), Aaron Adalja, Chalida U-Tapao

Aaron Adalja

This case study explores the options for using wastewater to produce renewable energy in the context of a public wastewater treatment plant. It provides an opportunity for students to synthesize knowledge from resource economics, engineering, environmental science, agriculture, and public policy to develop a transdisciplinary approach to a socio-environmental issue. The case is designed for upper division undergraduate courses in resource economics or environmental engineering, but several modifications are provided graduate course applications. Students assume the role of a newly hired analyst at a consulting firm in Washington, DC, that specializes in renewable energy solutions. They are charged with proposing …

300-X-250-7.Jpg, Susunqq Online

susunqq

Analysis Of Asynchronous Supplemental Course Modules In Statistical Process Control, Matthew E. Harvey, John R. Haughery, Sai K. Ramaswamy

Sai Ramaswamy

Many engineering and technology departments at the collegiate level have developed extensive online and hybrid (face-to-face and online) course offerings (Bourne, Harris, & Mayadas, 2005). These courses may meet several goals such as increasing access, reducing university costs, providing schedule flexibility, and increasing curriculum offerings. An additional opportunity for computer-based learning is to increase student success by offering asynchronous learning modules to extend content beyond traditional lectures.

Grnsight: A Web Application And Service For Visualizing Models Of Small- To Medium-Scale Gene Regulatory Networks, Kam D. Dahlquist, John David N. Dionisio, Ben G. Fitzpatrick, Nicole A. Anguiano, Anindita Varshneya, Britain J. Southwick, Mihir Samdarshi

Ben G. Fitzpatrick

GRNsight is a web application and service for visualizing models of gene regulatory networks (GRNs). A gene regulatory network (GRN) consists of genes, transcription factors, and the regulatory connections between them which govern the level of expression of mRNA and protein from genes. The original motivation came from our efforts to perform parameter estimation and forward simulation of the dynamics of a differential equations model of a small GRN with 21 nodes and 31 edges. We wanted a quick and easy way to visualize the weight parameters from the model which represent the direction and magnitude of the influence of …

Use Of Imaging Biomarkers To Assess Perfusion And Glucose Metabolism In The Skeletal Muscle Of Dystrophic Mice, Nabeel Ahmad, Ian Welch, Robert Grange, Jennifer Hadway, Savita Dhanvantari, David Hill, Ting-Yim Lee, Lisa M Hoffman

Lisa Hoffman

BACKGROUND: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a severe neuromuscular disease that affects 1 in 3500 boys. The disease is characterized by progressive muscle degeneration that results from mutations in or loss of the cytoskeletal protein, dystrophin, from the glycoprotein membrane complex, thus increasing the susceptibility of contractile muscle to injury. To date, disease progression is typically assessed using invasive techniques such as muscle biopsies, and while there are recent reports of the use of magnetic resonance, ultrasound and optical imaging technologies to address the issue of disease progression and monitoring therapeutic intervention in dystrophic mice, our study aims to validate …

Jessicahlawrencemastersportfolio.Pdf, Jessicah Lawrence

Jessicah Lawrence

No abstract provided.

A Brief Review On Leading Big Data Models, Sugam Sharma, Udoyara S. Tim, Johnny S. Wong, Shashi Gadia, Subhash Sharma

Sugam Sharma

Today, science is passing through an era of transformation, where the inundation of data, dubbed data deluge is influencing the decision making process. The science is driven by the data and is being termed as data science. In this internet age, the volume of the data has grown up to petabytes, and this large, complex, structured or unstructured, and heterogeneous data in the form of “Big Data” has gained significant attention. The rapid pace of data growth through various disparate sources, especially social media such as Facebook, has seriously challenged the data analytic capabilities of traditional relational databases. The velocity …

Contextual Motivation In Physical Activity By Means Of Association Rule Mining, Sugam Sharma, Udoyara Sunday Tim, Marinelle Payton, Hari Cohly, Shashi Gadia, Johnny Wong, Sudharshanam Karakala

Sugam Sharma

The primary thrust of this work is to demonstrate the applicability of association rule mining in public health domain, focusing on physical activity and exercising. In this paper, the concept of association rule mining is shown assisting to promote the physical exercise as regular human activity. Specifically, similar to the prototypical example of association rule mining, market basket analysis, our proposed novel approach considers two events – exercise (sporadic) and sleep (regular) as the two items of the frequent set; and associating the former, exercise event, with latter, the daily occurring activity sleep at night, helps strengthening the frequency of …

A Brief Review On Leading Big Data Models, Sugam Sharma, Udoyara S. Tim, Johnny S. Wong, Shashi Gadia, Subhash Sharma

Johnny Wong

Today, science is passing through an era of transformation, where the inundation of data, dubbed data deluge is influencing the decision making process. The science is driven by the data and is being termed as data science. In this internet age, the volume of the data has grown up to petabytes, and this large, complex, structured or unstructured, and heterogeneous data in the form of “Big Data” has gained significant attention. The rapid pace of data growth through various disparate sources, especially social media such as Facebook, has seriously challenged the data analytic capabilities of traditional relational databases. The velocity …

Contextual Motivation In Physical Activity By Means Of Association Rule Mining, Sugam Sharma, Udoyara Sunday Tim, Marinelle Payton, Hari Cohly, Shashi Gadia, Johnny Wong, Sudharshanam Karakala

Johnny Wong

The primary thrust of this work is to demonstrate the applicability of association rule mining in public health domain, focusing on physical activity and exercising. In this paper, the concept of association rule mining is shown assisting to promote the physical exercise as regular human activity. Specifically, similar to the prototypical example of association rule mining, market basket analysis, our proposed novel approach considers two events – exercise (sporadic) and sleep (regular) as the two items of the frequent set; and associating the former, exercise event, with latter, the daily occurring activity sleep at night, helps strengthening the frequency of …

N-Management And Crop Rotation Effects On Yield And Residual Soil Nitrate Levels, A. Bakhsh, R. S. Kanwar, D. L. Karlen, C. A. Cambardella, T. B. Bailey, T. B. Moorman, T. S. Colvin

Douglas L Karlen

Swine production facilities are becoming more concentrated in Iowa, and public is concerned about the impact of using swine manure for crop production on soil and water quality. This field study was conducted from 1996 to 1998 to compare the effects of liquid swine manure and urea ammonium nitrate (UAN) application on crop yield and residual soil nitrate for continuous corn (Zea mays L.) and corn-soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) rotation systems. Six N management treatments were replicated three times in a randomized complete block design at Iowa State University's northeastern research center in Nashua, Iowa. Injected UAN provided 135 …

Epitaxially Grown Collagen Fibrils Reveal Diversity In Contact Guidance Behavior Among Cancer Cells, Juan Wang, Joseph W. Petefish, Andrew C. Hillier, Ian C. Schneider

Andrew C. Hillier

Invasion of cancer cells into the surrounding tissue is an important step during cancer progression and is driven by cell migration. Cell migration can be random, but often it is directed by various cues such as aligned fibers composed of extracellular matrix (ECM), a process called contact guidance. During contact guidance, aligned fibers bias migration along the long axis of the fibers. These aligned fibers of ECM are commonly composed of type I collagen, an abundant structural protein around tumors. In this paper, we epitaxially grew several different patterns of organized type I collagen on mica and compared the morphology …

Recombinant Aav Serotype And Capsid Mutant Comparison For Pulmonary Gene Transfer Of Alpha-1-Antitrypsin Using Invasive And Noninvasive Delivery, Rejean Liqun Wang, Thomas J. Mclaughlin, Travis Cossette, Qiushi Tang, Kevin Foust, Martha Campbell-Thompson, Ashley Martino, Pedro Cruz, Scott Loiler, Christian Mueller, Terence R. Flotte

Christian Mueller

Recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors have been widely used in pulmonary gene therapy research. In this study, we evaluated the transduction and expression efficiencies of several AAV serotypes and AAV2 capsid mutants with specific pulmonary targeting ligands in the mouse lung. The noninvasive intranasal delivery was compared with the traditional intratracheal lung delivery. The rAAV8 was the most efficient serotype at expressing alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) in the lung among all the tested serotypes and mutants. A dose of 1 x 1010 vg of rAAV8-CB-AAT transduced a high percentage of cells in the lung when delivered intratrachealy. The serum and the broncho-alveolar …

Use Of Nanoparticle Binders For Paper Coatings: A Review, Bilge N. Altay

Bilge Nazli Altay

Assessing Public Health Burden Associated With Exposure To Ambient Black Carbon In The United States, Ying Li, Daven K. Henze, Darby Jack, Barron H. Henderson, Patrick L. Kinney

Ying Li

Black carbon (BC) is a significant component of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution, which has been linked to a series of adverse health effects, in particular premature mortality. Recent scientific research indicates that BC also plays an important role in climate change. Therefore, controlling black carbon emissions provides an opportunity for a double dividend. This study quantifies the national burden of mortality and morbidity attributable to exposure to ambient BC in the United States (US). We use GEOS–Chem, a global 3-D model of atmospheric composition to estimate the 2010 annual average BC levels at 0.5 x 0.667° resolution, and …

An Investigation Of Quality Climate And Its Association With Implementation Of Quality Management System, Sai K. Ramaswamy, Gretchen A. Mosher

Sai Ramaswamy

Quality management and continuous improvement are paramount for businesses to survive and thrive in today’s competitive landscape (Goetsch & Davis, 2003; Abdullah et al., 2009). One effective approach to operationalize quality processes and continuous improvement goals is a formalized quality management system (Khanna et al., 2010; Mosher et al., 2013). Quality management systems are embodiments of the organization’s policies, procedures, plans, resources, processes and delegation of responsibility and authority designed to achieve customer satisfaction within the boundaries of organizational objectives (Goetsch & Davis, 2003). While these systems are being used extensively across many industries, the ideas are relatively new to …

Approaching Safety Through Quality: Factors Influencing College Student Perceptions, Sai K. Ramaswamy, Gretchen A. Mosher

Sai Ramaswamy

Quality management practices have been identified by previous literature as a factor that could potentially reduce the level of safety incidents and hazards in agricultural work environments. The present study used multivariate analysis to examine the effect of independent variables such as quality and safety awareness, work experience, safety and quality management experience, and the perceived importance of safety and quality on the role of quality management practices as a mitigating factor for safety hazards and incidents in agriculture. Variables were measured on a five-point scale using a survey questionnaire. Data were collected from approximately 900 undergraduates enrolled in the …

Perceptions Of Agricultural College Students On The Relationship Between Quality And Safety In Agricultural Work Environments, Sai K. Ramaswamy, Gretchen A. Mosher

Sai Ramaswamy

Agriculture is a high-hazard industry that employs a large number of young workers below the age of 25. Recent studies have documented a strong positive correlation between quality management in agriculture and occupational safety as perceived by agricultural workers. Younger workers have been found to be at higher risk for occupational injuries and fatalities in agriculture. Furthermore, college students in agriculture have minimal exposure to safety and quality management principles in their coursework and thus may not be aware that the two concepts are associated. Little research has studied how young workers perceive the relationship between safety and quality and …

Maximum Soil Organic Carbon Storage In Midwest U.S. Cropping Systems When Crops Are Optimally Nitrogen-Fertilized, Hanna J. Poffenbarger, Daniel W. Barker, Matthew J. Helmers, Fernando E. Miguez, Daniel C. Olk, John E. Sawyer, Johan Six, Michael J. Castellano

John E. Sawyer

Nitrogen fertilization is critical to optimize short-term crop yield, but its long-term effect on soil organic C (SOC) is uncertain. Here, we clarify the impact of N fertilization on SOC in typical maize-based (Zea mays L.) Midwest U.S. cropping systems by accounting for site-to-site variability in maize yield response to N fertilization. Within continuous maize and maize-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] systems at four Iowa locations, we evaluated changes in surface SOC over 14 to 16 years across a range of N fertilizer rates empirically determined to be insufficient, optimum, or excessive for maximum maize yield. Soil organic C balances …

Constraints On Acoustic Signaling Among Birds Breeding In Secondary Cavities: The Effects Of Weather, Cavity Material, And Noise On Sound Propagation, John P. Swaddle, Caitlin R. Kight, Saji Perera, Eduardo Davila-Reyes, Shena Sikora

John Swaddle

Increasing evidence suggests that anthropogenic noise from urbanization affects animal acoustic communication. We investigated whether the begging calls of nestling Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis) varied along a disturbance gradient of ambient noise. Contrary to our prediction and the results of a previous study of nestling Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), we found that nestling Eastern Bluebirds did not increase the amplitude or structural characteristics—including frequency, rate, and duration—of their vocalizations in response to ambient noise. However, we found that prevalent temperature and humidity conditions attenuated begging calls. Specifically, in warmer, more humid weather, vocalizations of nestling Eastern …

Work Integrated Learning In Stem In Australian Universities: Final Report: Submitted To The Office Of The Chief Scientist, Daniel Edwards, Kate Perkins, Jacob Pearce, Jennifer Hong

Kate Perkins

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) undertook this study for the Office of the Chief Scientist (OCS). It explores the practice and application of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in STEM, with a particular focus on natural and physical sciences, information technology, and agriculture departments in Australian universities. The project involved a detailed ‘stocktake’ of WIL in practice in these disciplines, with collection of information by interview, survey instruments, consultation with stakeholders and literature reviews. Every university in Australia was visited as part of this project, with interviews and consultation sessions gathering insight from more than 120 academics and support …

Comparing Caenorhabditis Elegans Gentle And Harsh Touch Response Behavior Using A Multiplexed Hydraulic Microfluidic Device, Patrick D. Mcclanahan, Joyce Xu, Christopher Fang-Yen

Christopher Fang-Yen

Improving The Player's Recruiting Process By Using Scenario Based Analysis Methodology, Dotan I. Shvorin, Kevin M. Taaffe

Dr. Dotan Shvorin