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12th Annual Undergraduate Student Symposium, Farquhar Honors College

Undergraduate Student Symposium

The Undergraduate Student Symposium, sponsored by the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences, presents student projects through presentations, papers, and poster displays. The event serves as a “showcase” demonstrating the outstanding scholarship of undergraduate students at NSU. The Symposium is open to undergraduate students from all disciplines. Projects cover areas of student scholarship ranging from the experimental and the applied to the computational, theoretical, artistic, and literary. They are taken from class assignments as well as from independent projects. The projects do not have to be complete; presentations can represent any stage in the concept’s evolution, from proposal and literature …

White Light-Informed Optical Properties Improve Ultrasound-Guided Fluorescence Tomography Of Photoactive Protoporphyrin Ix, Brendan P. Flynn, Alisha V. Dsouza, Stephen C. Kanick, Scott C. Davis, Brian W. Pogue

Dartmouth Scholarship

Subsurface fluorescence imaging is desirable for medical applications, including protoporphyrin-IX (PpIX)-based skin tumor diagnosis, surgical guidance, and dosimetry in photodynamic therapy. While tissue optical properties and heterogeneities make true subsurface fluorescence mapping an ill-posed problem, ultrasound-guided fluorescence-tomography (USFT) provides regional fluorescence mapping. Here USFT is implemented with spectroscopic decoupling of fluorescence signals (auto-fluorescence, PpIX, photoproducts), and white light spectroscopy-determined bulk optical properties. Segmented US images provide a priori spatial information for fluorescence reconstruction using region-based, diffuse FT. The method was tested in simulations, tissue homogeneous and inclusion phantoms, and an injected-inclusion animal model. Reconstructed fluorescence yield was linear with PpIX …

Chemoprevention Of Lung Carcinogenesis: Aerosol Administration And Deposition In The Mouse Lung, Jingjie Zhang

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

INTRODUCTION Chemoprevention is the use of natural or synthetic agents to inhibit either the initial development or the further progression of early lesions. Chemoprevention of lung cancer aims to decrease lung cancer morbidity and mortality, especially for former smokers. Many synthetic and natural compounds have been investigated for their potential chemopreventive efficacy. Conventional administration of these compounds: especially oral administration) is convenient, but may potentially result in adverse side effects. Aerosol delivery, on the other hand, offers many advantages over conventional routes of administration for diseases of the respiratory tract and the lungs. These advantages include the extensive pulmonary surface …

Hybrid Rapid Prototyping Approach For Rapid Casting Applications, Hemant Bohra

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

No abstract provided.

Jettability Of Phthalocyanine Dye Ink Formulations, Yumeizhi Jia

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

No abstract provided.

Anionically Surface-Treated Inkjets Inks And Their Deinkability, Veronika Husovska, Zheng Wei

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

No abstract provided.

Engineering Agatoxin, A Cystine-Knot Peptide From Spider Venom, As A Molecular Probe For In Vivo Tumor Imaging, Sarah J. Moore, Cheuk Lun Leung, Heidi K. Norton, Jennifer R. Cochran

Engineering: Faculty Publications

Background: Cystine-knot miniproteins, also known as knottins, have shown great potential as molecular scaffolds for the development of targeted therapeutics and diagnostic agents. For this purpose, previous protein engineering efforts have focused on knottins based on the Ecballium elaterium trypsin inhibitor (EETI) from squash seeds, the Agouti-related protein (AgRP) neuropeptide from mammals, or the Kalata B1 uterotonic peptide from plants. Here, we demonstrate that Agatoxin (AgTx), an ion channel inhibitor found in spider venom, can be used as a molecular scaffold to engineer knottins that bind with high-affinity to a tumor-associated integrin receptor. Methodology/Principal Findings: We used a rational loop-grafting …

Data Mining The Harness Track And Predicting Outcomes, Robert P. Schumaker

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This paper presented the S&C Racing system that uses Support Vector Regression (SVR) to predict harness race finishes and analyzed it on fifteen months of data from Northfield Park. We found that our system outperforms the most common betting strategies of wagering on the favorites and the mathematical arbitrage Dr. Z system in five of the seven wager types tested. This work would suggest that an informational inequality exists within the harness racing market that is not apparent to domain experts.

The Effect Of Network Transitions On Spontaneous Activity And Sycnhrony In Devloping Neural Networks, Jude P. J. Savarraj

Doctoral Dissertations

Connectivity patterns of developing neural circuits and the effects of its dynamics on network behavior, particularly the emergence of spontaneous activity and synchrony, are not clear. We attempt to quantify anatomical connectivity patterns of rat cortical cultures during different stages of development. By culturing the networks on dishes embedded with micro electrode arrays, we simultaneously record electrical activity from multiple regions of the developing network and monitor its electrical behavior, particularly its tendency to fire spontaneously and to synchronize under certain conditions. We investigate possible correlations between changes in the network connectivity patterns and spontaneous electrical activity and synchrony. Cocultures …

Impulse, Christie Delfanian, Dave Graves, Kyle Johnson, Karissa Kuhle, Eric Landwehr

Impulse (Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering Publication)

College:
[Page] 2 Brookings Habitat – House No. 50: A dozen students from a construction class built history this fall.
[Page] 4 Engineers Without Borders: Chapter’s first international service project clears the water.
[Page] 6 REA Mural: Mural depicting advent of electricity in SD still stirs interest.
[Page] 9 Student Internships: From Daktronics to Disney World, students find internships as diverse as their interests.
[Page] 12 BEST Robotics: When it comes to outreach activities, Jackrabbit BEST Robotics is best.
Alumni:
[Page] 15 Alums bring businesses home: SDSU looks to attract businesses to Brookings so more grads stay here.
[Page] 17 …

Assessment Of Surface Energy Balance In Southern Idaho, Beda Luitel

McNair Scholars Research Journal

Proper management of water resources is always a matter of concern in arid regions like southern Idaho such as the Snake River basin where rainfall is limited and the moisture level of atmospheric air is below threshold level most of the time throughout a year. For the proper assessment of water resources it is necessary to quantify the Evapotranspiration (ET) loss in this region and use the available water resources efficiently. A vast quantity of water is moving in the atmosphere under the direct influence of solar energy. So, in order to characterize the behavior of the water cycle, it …

Design And Implementation Of A Primitive Neural Stimulator With Simulated Excitatory Post-Synaptic Potentials, José Aquiles Parodi Amaya

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of The Feasibility Of Utilizing Wakeup Radios To Optimize Energy And Latency Performance Of Wireless Sensor Networks, Benjamin D. Parks

Department of Computer Electronics and Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have the potential to radically improve our lives by pervasive environmental monitoring in many applications. However, there are many applications that would be ideal for WSNs, but where reportable events occur with long (days, weeks) or unpredictable durations between occurrences. These uses are hampered by the high energy and latency costs of always-on and periodic wakeup networks, which waste energy on node synchronization and idle monitoring of the RF channel, and exhibit unacceptably high latency for urgent events, e.g., alarms. This thesis proposes, designs, assembles and tests, in a multi-hop WSN test bed, a wakeup receiver …

Application Of Archimedes In Three Dimensions And To Solid Mechanics, Jonathan Aziz

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

ARCHIMEDES is a computerized learning system that has helped Syracuse University students overcome the challenges of Engineering Statics since 2009. Its success has motivated application of ARCHIMEDES to three dimensional problems and to problems in Solid Mechanics. Other learning software was investigated before seven Solid Mechanics problems were written for ARCHIMEDES. A 3D graphical interface was developed and evaluated by a field test of student volunteers. Student preferences for various features in 3D learning software were obtained. It is clear from student responses that having a 3D scene to manipulate improves visualization of the problem, mitigating the ambiguity of a …

Surface Fluorescence Studies Of Tissue Mitochondrial Redox State In Isolated Perfused Rat Lungs, Kevin Staniszewski, Said H. Audi, Reyhaneh Sepehr, Elizabeth R. Jacobs, Mahsa Ranji

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

We designed a fiber-optic-based optoelectronic fluorometer to measure emitted fluorescence from the auto-fluorescent electron carriers NADH and FAD of the mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC). The ratio of NADH to FAD is called the redox ratio (RR = NADH/FAD) and is an indicator of the oxidoreductive state of tissue. We evaluated the fluorometer by measuring the fluorescence intensities of NADH and FAD at the surface of isolated, perfused rat lungs. Alterations of lung mitochondrial metabolic state were achieved by the addition of rotenone (complex I inhibitor), potassium cyanide (KCN, complex IV inhibitor) and/or pentachlorophenol (PCP, uncoupler) into the perfusate recirculating …

Reasoning With Inconsistencies In Hybrid Mknf Knowledge Bases, Shasha Huang, Qingguo Li, Pascal Hitzler

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

This article is concerned with the handling of inconsistencies occurring in the combination of description logics and rules, especially in hybrid MKNF knowledge bases. More precisely, we present a paraconsistent semantics for hybrid MKNF knowledge bases (called para-MKNF knowledge bases) based on four-valued logic as proposed by Belnap. We also reduce this paraconsistent semantics to the stable model semantics via a linear transformation operator, which shows the relationship between the two semantics and indicates that the data complexity in our paradigm is not higher than that of classical reasoning. Moreover, we provide fixpoint operators to compute paraconsistent MKNF models, each …

Investigation Of The Closing Forces Involved In Re-Approximation Of The Renal Remnant Following Partial Nephrectomy, Donald M. Endres Ii

Masters Theses

Partial nephrectomy has become the preferred method of treatment in certain renal diseases, including small, peripheral tumors. However, re-establishment of hemostasis in the remaining tissue remains a challenging procedure. To better understand the forces involved in re-approximation of the renal remnant, this study measures the suture tensions reached in sliding clip renorrhaphy, as well as the ability of the tissue to support those tensions, and reviews how long suture material might be expected to survive those forces.

Three separate groups of experiments were conducted on fresh, porcine kidney tissue. Treatment groups were compared using commercially available software to compute appropriate …

Beyond Lean: Simulation In Practice, Second Edition, Charles R. Standridge Ph.D.

Open Textbooks

Lean thinking, as well as associated processes and tools, have involved into a ubiquitous perspective for improving systems particularly in the manufacturing arena. With application experience has come an understanding of the boundaries of lean capabilities and the benefits of getting beyond these boundaries to further improve performance. Discrete event simulation is recognized as one beyond-the-boundaries of lean technique. Thus, the fundamental goal of this text is to show how discrete event simulation can be used in addition to lean thinking to achieve greater benefits in system improvement than with lean alone. Realizing this goal requires learning the problems that …

Computer Guided Instruction For Creation Of Root Locus Plots, Erik Allen Cheever , '82, A. Moser

Engineering Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Microbubble Cavitation Imaging, F. Vignon, W. T. Shi, J. E. Powers, E. Carr Everbach, J. J. Liu, S. J. Gao, F. Xie, T. R. Porter

Engineering Faculty Works

Ultrasound cavitation of microbubble contrast agents has a potential for therapeutic applications such as sonothrombolysis (STL) in acute ischemic stroke. For safety, efficacy, and reproducibility of treatment, it is critical to evaluate the cavitation state (moderate oscillations, stable cavitation, and inertial cavitation) and activity level in and around a treatment area. Acoustic passive cavitation detectors (PCDs) have been used to this end but do not provide spatial information. This paper presents a prototype of a 2-D cavitation imager capable of producing images of the dominant cavitation state and activity level in a region of interest. Similar to PCDs, the cavitation …

Broncoblade: An Open Source Wind Turbine Blade Analysis Tool, Alex R. Quinlan

Masters Theses

This thesis reports the development and validation of BroncoBlade, a horizontal axis wind turbine analysis tool. BroncoBlade prepares finite element models and integrates them with an aeroelastic simulator. Analysis results for the SNL100-00 baseline blade are evaluated against reference results published by Sandia National Laboratories. Variations on the SNL100-00 blade incorporating carbon fiber are compared to the baseline blade.

Engineering At San Jose State University, Spring 2013, San Jose State University, Charles W. Davidson College Of Engineering

Engineering at San Jose State University

No abstract provided.

Estimating Cell Capacity For Multi-Cell Electrical Energy System, Iman Ahari Hashemi

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

A Multi-Cell Electrical Energy System is a set of batteries that are connected in series. The series batteries provide the required voltage necessary for the contraption. After using the energy that is provided by the batteries, some cells within the system tend to have a lower voltage than the other cells. Also, other factors, such as the number of times a battery has been charged or discharged, how long it has been within the system and many other factors, result in some cells having a lesser capacity compared to the other cells within the system. The outcome is that it …

Hazard Mitigation Through A Systemic Model Of Accident To A Socio-Technical System: A Case Study, Karim Hardy, Franck Guarnieri

Publications

This paper presents the STAMP (systems-theoretic accident modeling and processes) accident model, based on systems theory, and describes its application in the context of risk prevention related to the remediation of contaminated sediments. The implementation of the model is described, and results are presented both in methodological and technical terms. The goal of this article is to emphasize the need of new approaches to take into account hazards and accidents within socio-technical systems.

Circular Reranking For Visual Search, Ting Yao, Chong-Wah Ngo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Search reranking is regarded as a common way to boost retrieval precision. The problem nevertheless is not trivial especially when there are multiple features or modalities to be considered for search, which often happens in image and video retrieval. This paper proposes a new reranking algorithm, named circular reranking, that reinforces the mutual exchange of information across multiple modalities for improving search performance, following the philosophy that strong performing modality could learn from weaker ones, while weak modality does benefit from interacting with stronger ones. Technically, circular reranking conducts multiple runs of random walks through exchanging the ranking scores among …

A Preliminary Study Of Acoustic Prediction Technology Based On Detached Eddy Simulations For Supersonic Jets Impinging On Flat Plates, Yuvraj Dewan

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

An application of an existing industry tool to study supersonic jets impinging on at plates is shown. This industry tool is the commercially available CFD package ANSYS FLUENT. The supersonic jet studied is perfectly expanded with a Mach number of 1.5, and it impinges on a flat surface 4 nozzle throat diameters from the jet exit. All turbulence modeling is done using a hybrid RANS/LES technique known as Delayed Detached Eddy Simulation (DDES). A transient solution is calculated using the pressure-based coupled solver formulation with the second-order bounded central-upwind spatial discretization and second-order implicit time marching scheme. Flow features like …

Development Of Cfd Models For The Purposes Of Exploring Free Surface Wave Phenomena, Leonard P. Stoehr

Masters Theses

With the push for finding alternative, green energy sources, the harnessing of energy from ocean and lake waves is becoming a more researched field. To fully understand the behavior of wave interactions and optimize designs to extract this energy, it is necessary to develop computer models that can accurately replicate this behavior. A case is presented in which previous work done using the wave tank found in the Western Michigan University fluids lab is examined. The case involves harnessing the energy generated by ocean waves through the usage of plates of different shapes resting horizontally on the water’s surface. The …

Searching Visual Instances With Topology Checking And Context Modeling, Wei Zhang, Chong-Wah Ngo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Instance Search (INS) is a realistic problem initiated by TRECVID, which is to retrieve all occurrences of the querying object, location, or person from a large video collection. It is a fundamental problem with many applications, and also a challenging problem different from the traditional concept or near-duplicate (ND) search, since the relevancy is defined at instance level. True responses could exhibit various visual variations, such as being small on the image with different background, or showing a non-homography spatial configuration. Based on the Bag-of-Words model, we propose two techniques tailored for Instance Search. Specifically, we explore the use of …

Evaluating Alternatives For Augmented Water Quality Improvement Utilizing Oyster Restoration As Best Management Practice (Bmp), Stephanie Roberts Long

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Due to several anthropogenic influences, the Chesapeake Bay has experienced a marked decrease in water quality since the colonists arrived at the Jamestown settlement in Virginia during the 1600s. Higher concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus have enriched the estuaries and coastal waters via point sources (sewage treatment plants and industrial wastes), nonpoint sources (agricultural run-off and septic tank discharges) and the atmosphere (Newell et al., 2005). Restoring oyster beds is considered a Best Management Practice (BMP) to improve water quality as well as provide physical habitat for aquatic species and a healthier estuarine system (USACE Native Oyster Restoration Master …

Octanol/Water Partitioning Coefficients Of Pcb Mixtures For Environmental Fate And Transport, Phylicia Cicilio

Honors Theses and Capstones

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a human and environmental toxin introduced to the environment from the 1920’s to the 1970’s from manufacturing items such as transformers and capacitors. PCBs remain in the environment today due to their low water solubility and resistance to chemical reaction. Due to their properties PCBs bioaccumulate in the environment and pose health risks to animals and humans, as they are deemed a probable carcinogen by the EPA. Octanol-water partitioning coefficients are a means of measuring how PCBs will travel in the environment, either partitioning to water or into organic carbon. Octanol-water partitioning coefficients will be determined …