Investigation Of Phanerochaete Chrysosporium And Clostridium Thermocellum For Improved Saccharification Of Lignocellulose Under Nonsterile Conditions,
2015
University of Kentucky
Investigation Of Phanerochaete Chrysosporium And Clostridium Thermocellum For Improved Saccharification Of Lignocellulose Under Nonsterile Conditions, William E. Simon
Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
Current research efforts are directed at developing competitive processes that can utilize lignocellulose as a feedstock for biorefineries. The purpose of this study was to investigate methods of processing lignocellulosic material so that its monosacharides can be more easily accessed for fermentation, the lack of which is hindering the economics and widescale adoption of lignocellulosic biorefining. The monosaccharides are of interest because they can be used by Clostridium beijerinckii downstream of P. chrysosporium and C. thermocellum in a sequential bioprocess to produce butanol. Butanol is an attractive biofuel because it can be utilized without modifying current transportation infrastructure. Butanol is …
Up Regulation Of Heat Shock Protein 70b (Hsp70b) And Ssa1 In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii Via Hsp70a-Rbcs2 And Psad Promoter,
2015
University of Kentucky
Up Regulation Of Heat Shock Protein 70b (Hsp70b) And Ssa1 In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii Via Hsp70a-Rbcs2 And Psad Promoter, B. Kirtley Amos
Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
Fabrication of effective algae cultivation systems adjacent to coal-fired power plants to fixate waste CO2 would represent a sizable step towards achieving a carbon neutral energy cycle. However, emission gas would elevate the algal cultivation system temperature and decreases its pH without expensive preprocessing. Increased temperature and acidity constitutes a profound stress on the algae. Although stressed algae produce heat shock proteins (HSPs) that promote protein folding and protect against stress, the ordinary biological response is insufficient to protect against coal flue gas. Experimental upregulation of HSPs could make algae respond to the stress caused by high temperatures and …
Target-Directed Biosynthetic Evolution: Redirecting Plant Evolution To Genomically Optimize A Plant’S Pharmacological Profile,
2015
University of Kentucky
Target-Directed Biosynthetic Evolution: Redirecting Plant Evolution To Genomically Optimize A Plant’S Pharmacological Profile, Dustin Paul Brown
Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience
The dissertation describes a novel method for plant drug discovery based on mutation and selection of plant cells. Despite the industry focus on chemical synthesis, plants remain a source of potent and complex bioactive metabolites. Many of these have evolved as defensive compounds targeted on key proteins in the CNS of herbivorous insects, for example the insect dopamine transporter (DAT). Because of homology with the human DAT protein some of these metabolites have high abuse potential, but others may be valuable in treating drug dependence. This dissertation redirects the evolution of a native Lobelia species toward metabolites with greater activity …
Computational Modeling Of Cardiac Biomechanics,
2015
University of Kentucky
Computational Modeling Of Cardiac Biomechanics, Amir Nikou
Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
The goal of this dissertation was to develop a realistic and patient-specific computational model of the heart that ultimately would help medical scientists to better diagnose and treat heart diseases. In order to achieve this goal, a three dimensional finite element model of the heart was created using magnetic resonance images of the beating pig heart. This model was loaded by the pressure of blood inside the left ventricle which was measured by synchronous catheterization. A recently developed structurally based constitutive model of the myocardium was incorporated in the finite element solver to model passive left ventricular myocardium. Additionally, an …
Morphology Of Brain Sulci Trabeculae And Its Effect On Brain During Impacts,
2015
CUNY City College
Morphology Of Brain Sulci Trabeculae And Its Effect On Brain During Impacts, Sharlin Anwar
Dissertations and Theses
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an intracranial injury caused by direct contact or non-contact head impacts to the brain. TBI is a major problem that accounts for high incidents of hospitalizations each year. Thus, it is important to understand and predict the occurrence of TBI in an impact. It has been shown that the subarachnoid space (SAS) trabeculae play an important role in damping the effect of an impact, thus reducing the injuries. However, the influence of sulci parameters and the sulci trabeculae in TBI due to impact is unexplored. Studies have shown that inclusion of sulci in brain models …
Transcranial Near Infrared Spectroscopy And Stimulation Of Prefrontal Cognitive Functions In Young Adults,
2015
University of Texas at Arlington
Transcranial Near Infrared Spectroscopy And Stimulation Of Prefrontal Cognitive Functions In Young Adults, Snehal Niwrutti Hase
Bioengineering Theses - Archive
Transcranial near infrared stimulation or Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) is an innovative technique shown to control neuronal function in cell cultures, animal models and clinical conditions. The aim of this study was to use near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to evaluate the physiological and functional effects of LLLT on prefrontal cognitive functions in young healthy adults. This study was divided into two parts: the first part investigated the physiological effects of LLLT and the second investigated the functional effects.The aim of the first part of this study was to explore how a single session of LLLT altered the hemodynamic status …
Measurement Of Cerebral Blood Flow Using Arterial Spin Labeling Method Across Lifespan,
2015
University of Texas at Arlington
Measurement Of Cerebral Blood Flow Using Arterial Spin Labeling Method Across Lifespan, Ciwen Wang
Bioengineering Theses - Archive
Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) is one family of perfusion-weighted contrast imaging techniques of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that measures cerebral blood flow by labeling spins in arterial blood with inversion and then waiting for a certain period of time for the labeled arterial blood to enter the imaging plane, and then acquiring MR image at the image plane. In compare with PET, ASL is a noninvasive new technology. But as a new technology, it is not very commonly used because of the relatively low signal to noise ratio, less robust mechanism, and more important, there is no standard for clinical …
Fluorescent Biosensors To Measure Endothelial Cell Responses To Fluid Shear Stress,
2015
Virginia Commonwealth University
Fluorescent Biosensors To Measure Endothelial Cell Responses To Fluid Shear Stress, Natalie Noll
Undergraduate Research Posters
The response of endothelial cells, innermost layer of blood vessels, to blood flow is thought to be critical in the initiation and progression of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis in the human body is non-random and is highly correlated to vessel sites which experience oscillatory and reversing blood flow. Endothelial cells (ECs), the inner most cell layer of blood vessels are highly responsive to the drag force from blood flow, known as shear stress. To study endothelial cell responses to shear stress we used a parallel plate flow chamber in which we exposed endothelial cells to defined fluid shear stress. Using fluorescence resonance …
A Novel Fmri Paradigm Suggests That Pedaling-Related Brain Activation Is Altered After Stroke,
2015
Marquette University
A Novel Fmri Paradigm Suggests That Pedaling-Related Brain Activation Is Altered After Stroke, Nutta-On Promjunyakul, Brian D. Schmit, Sheila M. Schindler-Ivens
Physical Therapy Faculty Research and Publications
The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure pedaling-related brain activation in individuals with stroke and age-matched controls. We also sought to identify stroke-related changes in brain activation associated with pedaling. Fourteen stroke and 12 control subjects were asked to pedal a custom, MRI-compatible device during fMRI. Subjects also performed lower limb tapping to localize brain regions involved in lower limb movement. All stroke and control subjects were able to pedal while positioned for fMRI. Two control subjects were withdrawn due to claustrophobia, and one control data set was …
Computer Aided Detection Of Oral Lesions On Ct Images,
2015
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Computer Aided Detection Of Oral Lesions On Ct Images, Shaikat Mahmood Galib
Masters Theses
"Oral lesions are important findings on computed tomography images. They are difficult to detect on CT images because of low contrast, arbitrary orientation of objects, complicated topology and lack of clear lines indicating lesions. In this thesis, a fully automatic method to detect oral lesions from dental CT images is proposed to identify (1) Closed boundary lesions and (2) Bone deformation lesions. Two algorithms were developed to recognize these two types of lesions, which cover most of the lesion types that can be found on CT images. The results were validated using a dataset of 52 patients. Using non training …
Healing Of Bone Defects In A Rodent Calvarial Defect Model Using Strong Porous Bioactive Glass (13-93) Scaffolds,
2015
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Healing Of Bone Defects In A Rodent Calvarial Defect Model Using Strong Porous Bioactive Glass (13-93) Scaffolds, Yinan Lin
Masters Theses
"The main objective of this project was to evaluate the capacity of strong porous silicate (13-93) bioactive glass scaffolds prepared by a robocasting technique to regenerate bone and stimulate angiogenesis in a rat calvarial defect model. The scaffolds were created with the same grid-like microstructure but in a variety of formulations: (i) as-fabricated, (ii) pretreated in an aqueous phosphate solution to convert the glass surface to hydroxyapatite, (iii) loaded with bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP2) (1 µg per scaffold), and (iv) doped with copper (0.4-2.0 wt. % CuO). When compared to the as-fabricated scaffolds, the pretreated scaffolds enhanced bone regeneration at …
In Vitro Study Of Wound-Healing Capabilities Of Bioactive Glass Fibers Under Various Culture Conditions,
2015
Missouri University of Science and Technology
In Vitro Study Of Wound-Healing Capabilities Of Bioactive Glass Fibers Under Various Culture Conditions, Sisi Chen
Masters Theses
"Bioactive borate glass has been recognized to have both hard and soft tissue repair and regeneration capabilities through stimulating both osteogenesis and angiogenesis. However, the underlying physiological and cellular mechanism behind this function remains unclear. In this study, in vitro dynamic flow modules were designed to mimic the micro-environment near the vascular depletion and hyperplasia area in wound-healing regions, and were used to investigate the biocompatibility and functionality of borate glass nano-/micro-fibers. Glass-cell interactions were investigated either by dosing fibers to the upstream of or co-cultured with cells, and two types of borate glasses (with or without CuO/ZnO doped were …
Mechanical Impedance Of Ankle As A Function Of Electromyography Signals Of Lower Leg Muscles Using Artificial Neural Network,
2015
Michigan Technological University
Mechanical Impedance Of Ankle As A Function Of Electromyography Signals Of Lower Leg Muscles Using Artificial Neural Network, Chen Jia
Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open
This paper reports on the feasibility of developing a model to describe the nonlinear relationship between the mechanical impedance of the human ankle within a specified range of frequency and the root mean square (RMS) value of the Electromyography (EMG) signals of the muscles of human ankle using Artificial Neural Network (ANN). A lower extremity rehabilitation robot — Anklebot was used to apply pseudo-random mechanical perturbations to the ankle and measure the angular displacement of the ankle to estimate the data of ankle mechanical impedance. Meanwhile, the surface EMG signals from the selected muscles were monitored and recorded using a …
The Influence Of Passive Ankle Joint Power On Balance Recovery,
2015
Michigan Technological University
The Influence Of Passive Ankle Joint Power On Balance Recovery, Stephanie E. Hamilton
Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open
Over one–third of Americans over the age of 65 fall each year, costing more than $19 billion in health care costs in 2000. Many adults 65+ who have not experienced a fall still fear falling, and fear can decrease quality of life and increase the likelihood of falls. Several factors such as muscle strength, power, stiffness and tendon properties change in the human body with age affecting balance, which has been tagged as a fall risk predictor. Additionally, balance recovery strategies also differ between young and older adults, with young adults primarily utilizing their ankle joint and older adults utilizing …
Multi-Scale Visualization Of Molecular Architecture Using Real-Time Ambient Occlusion In Sculptor,
2015
Old Dominion University
Multi-Scale Visualization Of Molecular Architecture Using Real-Time Ambient Occlusion In Sculptor, Manuel Wahle, Willy Wriggers
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications
The modeling of large biomolecular assemblies relies on an efficient rendering of their hierarchical architecture across a wide range of spatial level of detail. We describe a paradigm shift currently under way in computer graphics towards the use of more realistic global illumination models, and we apply the so-called ambient occlusion approach to our opensource multi-scale modeling program, Sculptor. While there are many other higher quality global illumination approaches going all the way up to full GPU-accelerated ray tracing, they do not provide size-specificity of the features they shade. Ambient occlusion is an aspect of global lighting that offers great …
Continuous Monitoring Of Movement In Patients With Parkinson's Disease Using Inertial Sensors,
2015
APDM, Inc.
Continuous Monitoring Of Movement In Patients With Parkinson's Disease Using Inertial Sensors, Mahmoud Ahmed El-Gohary, Sean Pearson, James Mcnames, Martina Mancini, Fay Horak
Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Gait impairment is a hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD). The assessment of gait and balance in the clinic may not adequately reflect mobility in daily life. It is often reported that patients with PD walk better when they are examined in an outpatient clinic or in a research laboratory than at home. Continuous monitoring of mobility during spontaneous daily activities may provide clinicians and patients with objective measures of the quality of their mobility. We show that continuous monitoring of spontaneous gait with wearable inertial sensors during daily activities is feasible for patients with PD. We tested 13 patients with …
Vitamin D Receptor And 1Α, 25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Mediated Regulation Of Δnp63Α,
2015
Wright State University
Vitamin D Receptor And 1Α, 25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 Mediated Regulation Of Δnp63Α, Hill Tremayne Natasha
Browse all Theses and Dissertations
1alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (VD3), the ligand for the Vitamin D Receptor (VDR), functions to both inhibit cell growth and promote cell survival. High-dose VD3 is being utilized as a cancer preventive therapy for melanoma, breast and colorectal cancers, without a complete understanding of VD3/VDR signaling. DeltaNp63alpha, considered to be a proto-oncogene, is overexpressed in non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs), induces VDR gene expression and promotes keratinocyte proliferation, and may serve to exacerbate non-melanoma skin cancer. The objective of this dissertation was to determine whether VDR/VD3 signaling promotes keratinocyte proliferation by up-regulating DeltaNp63alpha. I showed that VDR increases DeltaNp63alpha expression at both …
Left Ventricle Volume Reconstruction To Minimize Scanning Time: Slice-Fitting Method,
2015
Wright State University
Left Ventricle Volume Reconstruction To Minimize Scanning Time: Slice-Fitting Method, Prateek Kalra
Browse all Theses and Dissertations
Assessment of left ventricle volume is usually done for diagnosis and prognosis of heart diseases. Slice-summation method is a standard method used to compute left ventricle volume where region of interest from several short axis (SA) slices are added. There are some limitations to this method, however. It requires short-axis slices to be taken parallel to the mitral valve plane from the base to apex. Moreover, scanning several short-axis slices is a tedious and time consuming process especially for studies that require several hundreds datasets. There are some existing methods to reconstruct left ventricle volume but most of them depend …
Proton-Electrostatic Localization: Explaining The Bioenergetic Conundrum In Alkalophilic Bacteria,
2015
Old Dominion University
Proton-Electrostatic Localization: Explaining The Bioenergetic Conundrum In Alkalophilic Bacteria, James Weifu Lee
Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications
The decades-longstanding energetic conundrum of alkalophilic bacteria as to how they are able to synthesize ATP has now, for the first time, been clearly solved using the proton-electrostatics localization hypothesis. This is a major breakthrough advance in understanding proton-coupling bioenergetics over the Nobel-prize work of Peter Mitchell’s chemiosmotic theory. The widespread textbook Mitchellian proton motive force (pmf) equation has now been significantly revised. Use of the newly derived equation results in an overall pmf value (215~233 mV) that is more than 4 times larger than that (44.3 mV) calculated from the Mitchellian equation for the alkalophilic bacteria growing at pH …
Formulation Of Benzoxaborole Drugs In Plla: From Materials Preparation To In Vitro Release Kinetics And Cellular Assays,
2015
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Formulation Of Benzoxaborole Drugs In Plla: From Materials Preparation To In Vitro Release Kinetics And Cellular Assays, Saad Sene, Joshua Mclane, Nicholas Schaub, Sylvie Bégu, P. Hubert Mutin, Lee Ligon, Ryan J. Gilbert, Danielle Laurencin
Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works
Benzoxaboroles are a family of organoboron molecules, which have been finding over the past few years an increasing number of biological applications, notably for the design of new drugs. Given that these molecules are still relatively new in the biomedical context, very few investigations regarding their formulation have been reported to date. Here, a complete study on the formulation of benzoxaboroles in a biopolymer, poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA), is reported. The incorporation of two small benzoxaboroles, namely the simplest benzoxaborole molecule (BBzx) and the antifungal drug tavaborole (AN2690), inside PLLA films was investigated. Different variations in the film composition and texture …
