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Hybrid Sensing And Adaptive Control For Direct Brain Actuation Of Artificial Limbs, Christopher Aasted Jan 2011

Hybrid Sensing And Adaptive Control For Direct Brain Actuation Of Artificial Limbs, Christopher Aasted

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Developing a non-invasive direct brain control of artificial limbs is both challenging and desirable. Such a sensory and control system, if successful, will have a profound impact on the disabled. In this dissertation, we present the design and development of a non-invasive, hybrid sensory system, which uses near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG) to measure brain activity with simultaneous electromyography (EMG) to provide feedback data in a healthy limb. Through the combination of these sensory techniques, we have successfully trained a control system capable of mapping brain activity onto muscle actuation. The design of a control algorithm capable of automatic …

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Cottonwood Management Plan/Programmatic Environmental Assessment Proposed Implementation Of A Cottonwood Management Plan Along Six Priority Segments Of The Missouri River Jan 2011

Cottonwood Management Plan/Programmatic Environmental Assessment Proposed Implementation Of A Cottonwood Management Plan Along Six Priority Segments Of The Missouri River

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) proposes to preserve existing stands and reestablish new stands of plains cottonwood (Populus deltoides) at selected public/government lands along the Missouri River in accordance with the Cottonwood Management Plan (CMP). The Proposed Action is the implementation of the CMP. The goal of the plan is to be a living document that preserves, creates, or restores cottonwood habitats along the Missouri River and meets the requirements of the USFWS 2003 Amended Biological Opinion (BiOp) concerning the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). The principal immediate focus of the CMP includes measures in …

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Algea Suspension Dewatering With An Inclined Gravity Settler, Jing Hou Jan 2011

Algea Suspension Dewatering With An Inclined Gravity Settler, Jing Hou

ETD Archive

Biofuel has been studied for several decades as a feasible substitute for petroleum, which may solve the energy crisis. Having a high oil content and growth rate, algae biofuels have received lots of attention recently, and have been considered as one of the most promising technologies to reduce the dependence of fossil fuels. In the process of producing algae biofuel, the dewatering process constitutes a significant part of the cost of the algae biofuel, impeding progress towards large-scale commercial use. An inclined settler utilizes gravity to separate algae cells from the fluid, with little energy consumption. The separation ability of …

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Dietary Supplement Wastewater Treatment By Biological Methods, Xiangting Hou Jan 2011

Dietary Supplement Wastewater Treatment By Biological Methods, Xiangting Hou

ETD Archive

Dietary supplements, pre-mixed meal like Slim Fast, are part of most people's lives. Since dietary supplements have a high order of complex sugars, low-fat milk, and all kinds of nutrients, they bring hazards to the environment if discharged to water bodies without any proper treatment. Therefore, wastewater from dietary supplement gains much more attention at the present time. Dietary supplement wastewater contains amounts of organic compounds which may be bio- friendly and non-toxic. Biological treatment shows its strong advantages in dealing with this kind of wastewater.In this research, four kinds of Live Liquid Micro-organisms (LLMO) were used as the sources …

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Investigations Of Anatomical Connectivity In The Internal Capsule Of Macaques With Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Kyle Andrew Ignatius Taljan Jan 2011

Investigations Of Anatomical Connectivity In The Internal Capsule Of Macaques With Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Kyle Andrew Ignatius Taljan

ETD Archive

Understanding anatomical connectivity is crucial for improving outcomes of deep brain stimulation surgery. Tractography is a promising method for noninvasively investigating anatomical connectivity, but connections between subcortical regions have not been closely examined by this method. As many connections to subcortical regions converge at the internal capsule (IC), we investigate the connectivity through the IC to three subcortical nuclei (caudate, lentiform nucleus, and thalamus) in 6 macaques. We show that a statistical correction for a known distance-related artifact in tractography results in large changes in connectivity patterns. Our results suggest that care should be taken in using tractography to assess …

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Efficient Time Of Arrival Calculation For Acoustic Source Localization Using Wireless Sensor Networks, Prashanth G. Reddy Jan 2011

Efficient Time Of Arrival Calculation For Acoustic Source Localization Using Wireless Sensor Networks, Prashanth G. Reddy

ETD Archive

Acoustic source localization is a very useful tool in surveillance and tracking applications. Potential exists for ubiquitous presence of acoustic source localization systems. However, due to several significant challenges they are currently limited in their applications. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) offer a feasible solution that can allow for large, ever present acoustic localization systems. Some fundamental challenges remain. This thesis presents some ideas for helping solve the challenging problems faced by networked acoustic localization systems. We make use of a low-power WSN designed specifically for distributed acoustic source localization. Our ideas are based on three important observations. First, sounds emanating …

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Measuring The Environmental Impact Of Embedded/Bankfull Culverts, Joseph A. Pavlick Jan 2011

Measuring The Environmental Impact Of Embedded/Bankfull Culverts, Joseph A. Pavlick

ETD Archive

Streams are dynamic systems constantly changing over time. The health of a stream system is tied to the amount of sedimentation occurring in a stream. The addition of roadway culverts into a stream has been shown to cause erosion and sedimentation problems if the culvert does not meet stream characteristics of slope, bankfull/width, and channel orientation. This has led to the design of embedded/bankfull culverts. In the State of Ohio, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Army Corps of Engineers now require the Ohio Transportation to install embedded/bankfull culverts at all stream locations during new roadway construction. …

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Restoration Of Emergent Sandbar Habitat Complexes In The Missouri River, North Dakota Jan 2011

Restoration Of Emergent Sandbar Habitat Complexes In The Missouri River, North Dakota

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

In 2003, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued an Amendment to the 2000 Biological Opinion (BiOp) with recommendations for the US Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) operations on the Missouri River Mainstem System (MRMS). The BiOp Amendment was the result of continuing consultation between the Corps and the USFWS under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and supplemented the recommendations given in the previous BiOp (USFWS, 2000). The 2000 BiOp and amendments made in 2003 will be collectively referred to as “BiOp” hereafter. The document found that Corps operations on the Missouri River were not likely to jeopardize …

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Protective Immunity To Pre-Erythrocytic Stage Malaria, Robert J. Schwenk, Thomas L. Richie Jan 2011

Protective Immunity To Pre-Erythrocytic Stage Malaria, Robert J. Schwenk, Thomas L. Richie

United States Army: Publications

The development of a vaccine against malaria is a major research priority given the burden of disease, death and economic loss inflicted upon the tropical world by this parasite. Despite decades of effort, however, a vaccine remains elusive. The best candidate is a subunit vaccine termed RTS,S but this provides only partial protection against clinical disease. This review examines what is known about protective immunity against pre-erythrocytic stage malaria by considering the humoral and T cell-mediated immune responses that are induced by attenuated sporozoites and by the RTS,S vaccine. On the basis of these observations a set of research priorities …

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Determination Of Threshold Adverse Effect Doses Of Percutaneous Vx Exposure In African Green Monkeys, Raymond F. Genovese, Bernard J. Benton, John L. Oubre, Christopher E. Byers, E. Michael Jakubowski, Robert J. Mioduszewski, Timothy J. Settle, Thomas J. Steinbach Jan 2011

Determination Of Threshold Adverse Effect Doses Of Percutaneous Vx Exposure In African Green Monkeys, Raymond F. Genovese, Bernard J. Benton, John L. Oubre, Christopher E. Byers, E. Michael Jakubowski, Robert J. Mioduszewski, Timothy J. Settle, Thomas J. Steinbach

United States Army: Publications

Percutaneous exposure to the chemical warfare nerve agent VX was evaluated in African green monkeys (n = 9). Doses of VX (7.5–100 μg/kg) were applied to the skin for 60 min and residual agent was quantified (before decontamination) to estimate the absorbed dose. Monkeys were evaluated for the presence or absence of clinical signs of toxicity and blood was sampled periodically (30 min–12 weeks) following exposure to measure the degree of circulating acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition. Monkeys were also evaluated for behavioral changes fromVXexposure using a serial probe recognition (SPR) task. The lowest observable adverse effect level (LOAEL) for the production …

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Mechanical Response Of Pig Skin Under Dynamic Tensile Loading, Jaeyoung Lim, Jihye Hong, Weinong W. Chen, Tusit Weerasooriya Jan 2011

Mechanical Response Of Pig Skin Under Dynamic Tensile Loading, Jaeyoung Lim, Jihye Hong, Weinong W. Chen, Tusit Weerasooriya

United States Army: Publications

Uniaxial tensile experiments were performed on pig skin to investigate the tensile stressestrain response at both quasi-static and dynamic rates of deformation. A Kolsky tension bar, also called a split Hopkinson tension bar (SHTB), was modified to conduct the dynamic experiments. Semiconductor strain gages were used to measure the low levels of the transmitted signal from pig skin. A pulse shaper technique was used for generating a suitable incident pulse to ensure stress equilibrium and approximate constant strain rate in the specimen of a thin skin sheet wrapped around the ends of the bars for minimizing radial inertia. In order …

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Detection Of Six Serotypes Of Botulinum Neurotoxin Using Fluorogenic Reporters, Daniel R. Ruge, F. Mark Dunning, Timothy M. Piazza, Brian E. Molles, Michael Adler, Füsûn N. Zeytin, Ward C. Tucker Jan 2011

Detection Of Six Serotypes Of Botulinum Neurotoxin Using Fluorogenic Reporters, Daniel R. Ruge, F. Mark Dunning, Timothy M. Piazza, Brian E. Molles, Michael Adler, Füsûn N. Zeytin, Ward C. Tucker

United States Army: Publications

Methods that do not require animal sacrifice to detect botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) are critical for BoNT antagonist discovery and the advancement of quantitative assays for biodefense and pharmaceutical applications. Here we describe the development and optimization of fluorogenic reporters that detect the proteolytic activity of BoNT/A, B, D, E, F, and G serotypes in real time with femtomolar to picomolar sensitivity. Notably, the reporters can detect femtomolar concentrations of BoNT/A in 4 h and BoNT/E in 20 h, sensitivity that equals that of animal-based methods. The reporters can be used to determine the specific activity of BoNT preparations with intra- …

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Prophylaxis With Human Serum Butyrylcholinesterase Protects Guinea Pigs Exposed To Multiple Lethal Doses Of Soman Or Vx, Ashima Saxena, Wei Sun, James M. Fedorko, Irwin Koplovitz, Bhupendra P. Doctor Jan 2011

Prophylaxis With Human Serum Butyrylcholinesterase Protects Guinea Pigs Exposed To Multiple Lethal Doses Of Soman Or Vx, Ashima Saxena, Wei Sun, James M. Fedorko, Irwin Koplovitz, Bhupendra P. Doctor

United States Army: Publications

Human serum butyrylcholinesterase (Hu BChE) is currently under advanced development as a bioscavenger for the prophylaxis of organophosphorus (OP) nerve agent toxicity in humans. It is estimated that a dose of 200 mg will be required to protect a human against 2 × LD50 of soman. To provide data for initiating an investigational new drug application for the use of this enzyme as a bioscavenger in humans, we purified enzyme from Cohn fraction IV-4 paste and initiated safety and efficacy evaluations in mice, guinea pigs, and non-human primates. In mice, we demonstrated that a single dose of enzyme that …

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Reinforced Chitosan-Based Heart Valve Scaffold And Utility Of Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells For Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering, Mohammad Z. Albanna Jan 2011

Reinforced Chitosan-Based Heart Valve Scaffold And Utility Of Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells For Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering, Mohammad Z. Albanna

Wayne State University Dissertations

Recent research has demonstrated a strong correlation between the differentiation profile of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and scaffold stiffness. Chitosan is being widely studied for tissue engineering applications due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, its use in load-bearing applications is limited due to moderate to low mechanical properties. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of a fiber reinforcement method for enhancing the mechanical properties of chitosan scaffolds. Chitosan fibers were fabricated using a solution extrusion and neutralization method and incorporated into porous chitosan scaffolds. The effects of different fiber/scaffold mass ratios, fiber mechanical properties and fiber lengths on …

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An Investigation Of The Biomechanical Response From Shock Wave Loading To The Head, Alessandra Dal Cengio Leonardi Jan 2011

An Investigation Of The Biomechanical Response From Shock Wave Loading To The Head, Alessandra Dal Cengio Leonardi

Wayne State University Dissertations

There is a pressing need for a comprehensive explanation of the mechanism of brain injury after exposure to blast and several hypotheses have been suggested. The focus of this research was to investigate one of the hypotheses for primary brain injury due to blast: multimodal skull flexure. The significance of this research is twofold. First, resolution of the mode of energy transfer and of the induced stresses within the skull-brain system will allow for creations of mitigation/protective techniques/equipment, as well as design of experiments investigating live-cell response using more reliable physical models. Second, the data obtained experimentally will be available …

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The Rock 2011, School Of Engineering And Computer Science Jan 2011

The Rock 2011, School Of Engineering And Computer Science

The Rock

No abstract provided.

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Automated Analysis Of Mouse Serum Peptidome Using Restricted Access Media And Nanoliquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Geun-Cheol Gil, Jim Brennan, Dan Throckmorton, Steven Branda, Gabriela Chirica Jan 2011

Automated Analysis Of Mouse Serum Peptidome Using Restricted Access Media And Nanoliquid Chromatography–Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Geun-Cheol Gil, Jim Brennan, Dan Throckmorton, Steven Branda, Gabriela Chirica

United States Department of Energy: Publications

We demonstrate use of restricted access media with reversed phase functionality (RAM-RP) for analysis of low molecular weight proteins and peptides in mouse serum (75ml) using a custom designed modular automated processing system (MAPS). RAM-RP fractionation with simultaneous removal of high molecular weight and high abundance proteins is integrated with a follow-on buffer exchange module (BE) to ensure compatibility with subsequent processing steps (trypsin digestion and intact peptide separation prior to mass spectrometric analysis). The high sample capacity afforded by chromatographic methods generates enough sample to achieve comprehensive serum peptidome identification (357 proteins) through tandem mass spectrometric analysis of both …

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Modification Of Native Grasses For Biofuel Production May Increase Virus Susceptibility, Abbie C. Schrotenboer, Michael S. Allen, Carolyn M. Malmstrom Jan 2011

Modification Of Native Grasses For Biofuel Production May Increase Virus Susceptibility, Abbie C. Schrotenboer, Michael S. Allen, Carolyn M. Malmstrom

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Bioenergy production is driving modifications to native plant species for use as novel biofuel crops. Key aims are to increase crop growth rates and to enhance conversion efficiency by reducing biomass recalcitrance to digestion. However, selection for these biofuel-valuable traits has potential to compromise plant defenses and alter interactions with pests and pathogens. Insect-vectored plant viruses are of particular concern because perennial crops have potential to serve as virus reservoirs that influence regional disease dynamics. In this study, we examined relationships between growth rates and biomass recalcitrance in five switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) populations, ranging from near wild type …

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Ecosystem Services Altered By Human Changes In The Nitrogen Cycle: A New Perspective For Us Decision Making, Jana E. Compton, John A. Harrison, Robin L. Dennis, Tara L. Greaver, Brian H. Hill, Stephen J. Jordan, Henry Walker, Holly V. Campbell Jan 2011

Ecosystem Services Altered By Human Changes In The Nitrogen Cycle: A New Perspective For Us Decision Making, Jana E. Compton, John A. Harrison, Robin L. Dennis, Tara L. Greaver, Brian H. Hill, Stephen J. Jordan, Henry Walker, Holly V. Campbell

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Human alteration of the nitrogen (N) cycle has produced benefits for health and well-being, but excess N has altered many ecosystems and degraded air and water quality. US regulations mandate protection of the environment in terms that directly connect to ecosystem services. Here, we review the science quantifying effects of N on key ecosystem services, and compare the costs of N-related impacts or mitigation using the metric of cost per unit of N. Damage costs to the provision of clean air, reflected by impaired human respiratory health, are well characterized and fairly high (e.g. costs of ozone and particulate damages …

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Toxicity And Recovery In The Pregnant Mouse After Gestational Exposure To The Cyanobacterial Toxin, Cylindrospermopsin, N. Chernoff, E. H. Rogers, R. D. Zehr, M. I. Gage, D. E. Malarkey, C. A. Bradfield, Y. Liu, J. E. Schmid, R. H. Jaskot, J. H. Richards, C. R. Wood, M. B. Rosen Jan 2011

Toxicity And Recovery In The Pregnant Mouse After Gestational Exposure To The Cyanobacterial Toxin, Cylindrospermopsin, N. Chernoff, E. H. Rogers, R. D. Zehr, M. I. Gage, D. E. Malarkey, C. A. Bradfield, Y. Liu, J. E. Schmid, R. H. Jaskot, J. H. Richards, C. R. Wood, M. B. Rosen

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) is a tricyclic alkaloid toxin produced by fresh water cyanobacterial species worldwide. CYN has been responsible for both livestock and human poisoning after oral exposure. This study investigated the toxicity of CYN to pregnant mice exposed during different segments of gestation. The course of recovery and individual responses to the toxin were evaluated. Adverse effects of CYN were monitored up to 7 weeks post-dosing by clinical examination, histopathology, biochemistry and gene expression. Exposure on gestational days (GD) 8–12 induced significantly more lethality than GD13–17 exposure. Periorbital, gastrointestinal and distal tail hemorrhages were seen in both groups. Serum markers …

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Maternal Influences On Epigenetic Programming Of The Developing Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis, Curtis E. Grace, Sung-Je Kim, John M. Rogers Jan 2011

Maternal Influences On Epigenetic Programming Of The Developing Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis, Curtis E. Grace, Sung-Je Kim, John M. Rogers

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Parental and environmental factors during the prenatal and postnatal periods permanently affect the physiology and metabolism of offspring, potentially increasing disease risk later in life. Underlying mechanisms are being elucidated, and effects on a number of organs and metabolic pathways are likely involved. In this review, we consider effects on the developing hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which may represent a common pathway for developmental programming. The focus is on prenatal and early postnatal development, during which the HPA axis may be programmed in a manner that affects health for a lifetime. Programming of the HPA axis involves, at least in part, …

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Current And Future Needs For Developmental Toxicity Testing, Susan L. Makris, James H. Kim, Amy Ellis, Willem Faber, Wafa Harrouk, Joseph M. Lewis, Merle G. Paule, Jennifer Seed, Melissa Tassinari, Rochelle Tyl Jan 2011

Current And Future Needs For Developmental Toxicity Testing, Susan L. Makris, James H. Kim, Amy Ellis, Willem Faber, Wafa Harrouk, Joseph M. Lewis, Merle G. Paule, Jennifer Seed, Melissa Tassinari, Rochelle Tyl

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

A review is presented of the use of developmental toxicity testing in the United States and international regulatory assessment of human health risks associated with exposures to pharmaceuticals (human and veterinary), chemicals (agricultural, industrial, and environmental), food additives, cosmetics, and consumer products. Developmental toxicology data are used for prioritization and screening of pharmaceuticals and chemicals, for evaluating and labeling of pharmaceuticals, and for characterizing hazards and risk of exposures to industrial and environmental chemicals. The in vivo study designs utilized in hazard characterization and dose-response assessment for developmental outcomes have not changed substantially over the past 30 years and have …

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Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation During Pregnancy, And In Adult Nulliparous Mice, Delays The Subsequent Development Of Dmba-Induced Mammary Tumors, Tao Wang, Heather M. Gavin, Volker M. Arlt, B. Paige Lawrence, Suzanne E. Fenton, Daniel Medina, Beth A. Vorderstrasse Jan 2011

Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation During Pregnancy, And In Adult Nulliparous Mice, Delays The Subsequent Development Of Dmba-Induced Mammary Tumors, Tao Wang, Heather M. Gavin, Volker M. Arlt, B. Paige Lawrence, Suzanne E. Fenton, Daniel Medina, Beth A. Vorderstrasse

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the prototypic ligand for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), promotes tumor formation in some model systems. However, with regard to breast cancer, epidemiological and animal studies are inconclusive as to whether exposure increases tumor incidence or may instead be protective. We have previously reported that mice exposed to TCDD during pregnancy have impaired differentiation of mammary tissue, including decreased branching and poor development of lobuloalveolar structures. Because normal pregnancy-induced mammary differentiation may protect against subsequent neoplastic transformation, we hypothesized that TCDD-treated mice would be more susceptible to chemical carcinogenesis after parturition. To test this, mice were …

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Evolution Of Natural History Information In The 21st Century – Developing An Integrated Framework For Biological And Geographical Data, Deborah A. Reusser, Henry Lee Ii Jan 2011

Evolution Of Natural History Information In The 21st Century – Developing An Integrated Framework For Biological And Geographical Data, Deborah A. Reusser, Henry Lee Ii

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Threats to marine and estuarine species operate over many spatial scales, from nutrient enrichment at the watershed/estuarine scale to invasive species and climate change at regional and global scales. To help address research questions across these scales, we provide here a standardized framework for a biogeographical information system containing queriable biological data that allows extraction of information on multiple species, across a variety of spatial scales based on species distributions, natural history attributes and habitat requirements. As scientists shift from research on localized impacts on individual species to regional and global scale threats, macroecological approaches of studying multiple species over …

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Effects Of Biologically-Active Chemical Mixtures On Fish In A Wastewater-Impacted Urban Stream, Larry B. Barber, Gregory K. Brown, Todd G. Nettesheim, Elizabeth W. Murphy, Stephen E. Bartell, Heiko L. Schoenfuss Jan 2011

Effects Of Biologically-Active Chemical Mixtures On Fish In A Wastewater-Impacted Urban Stream, Larry B. Barber, Gregory K. Brown, Todd G. Nettesheim, Elizabeth W. Murphy, Stephen E. Bartell, Heiko L. Schoenfuss

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Stream flow in urban aquatic ecosystems often is maintained by water-reclamation plant (WRP) effluents that contain mixtures of natural and anthropogenic chemicals that persist through the treatment processes. In effluent-impacted streams, aquatic organisms such as fish are continuously exposed to biologically-active chemicals throughout their life cycles. The North Shore Channel of the Chicago River (Chicago, Illinois) is part of an urban ecosystem in which >80% of the annual flow consists of effluent from the North Side WRP. In this study, multiple samplings of the effluent and stream water were conducted and fish (largemouth bass and carp) were collected on 2 …

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Investigating Rfid For Linear Asset Management, Judy A. Perkins Ph.D., P.E., Erick C. Jones Ph.D., P.E., Cssbb, Judith L. Mwakalonge Ph.D., E.I.T Jan 2011

Investigating Rfid For Linear Asset Management, Judy A. Perkins Ph.D., P.E., Erick C. Jones Ph.D., P.E., Cssbb, Judith L. Mwakalonge Ph.D., E.I.T

Mid-America Transportation Center: Final Reports and Technical Briefs

A linear asset is defined as an asset whose length plays a critical role in its maintenance. Examples of such assets include roads, pipelines, and railroad tracks. Major features of a roadway asset include traffic lights, number of lanes, speed limits, guardrails, and highway billboards. Linear assets, along with their features, are hard to physically access; therefore, previously captured inventory information files may be inaccurate. To address this problem, some of the transportation agencies are investigating technologies that will assist in solving this asset inventory problem. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a technology that uses communication via radio waves to …

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2011 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link Jan 2011

2011 Nebraska Water Monitoring Programs Report, Marty Link

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality: Reports

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is charged with monitoring, assessing, and to the extent possible, managing the state’s water resources. The purpose of this work is to protect and maintain good quality water and encourage or execute activities to improve poor water quality. Monitoring is done on the over 18,000 miles of flowing rivers and streams, our greater than 280,000 acres of surface water in lakes and reservoirs, and the vast storage of groundwater in Nebraska’s aquifers.

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A Midsummer Night’S Dream (With Flying Robots), Robin Murphy, Dylan Shell, Amy Guerin, Brittany Duncan, Benjamin Fine, Kevin Pratt, Takis Zourntos Jan 2011

A Midsummer Night’S Dream (With Flying Robots), Robin Murphy, Dylan Shell, Amy Guerin, Brittany Duncan, Benjamin Fine, Kevin Pratt, Takis Zourntos

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Seven flying robot “fairies” joined human actors in the Texas A&M production of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The production was a collaboration between the departments of Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Theater Arts. The collaboration was motivated by two assertions. First, that the performing arts have principles for creating believable agents that will transfer to robots. Second, the theater is a natural testbed for evaluating the response of untrained human groups (both actors and the audience) to robots interacting with humans in shared spaces, i.e., were believable agents created? The production used two types …

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Small Molecule Inhibitors Of Staphylococcus Aureus Rnpa Alter Cellular Mrna Turnover, Exhibit Antimicrobial Activity, And Attenuate Pathogenesis, Patrick D. Olson, Lisa J. Kuechenmeister, Kelsi L. Anderson, Sonja Daily, Karen E. Beenken, Christelle M. Roux, Michelle L. Reniere, Tami L. Lewis, William J, Weiss, Mark Pulse, Phung Nguyen, Jerry W. Simecka, John M. Morrison, Khalid Sayood, Oluwatoyin A. Asojo, Mark S. Smeltzer, Eric P. Skaar, Paul M. Dunman Jan 2011

Small Molecule Inhibitors Of Staphylococcus Aureus Rnpa Alter Cellular Mrna Turnover, Exhibit Antimicrobial Activity, And Attenuate Pathogenesis, Patrick D. Olson, Lisa J. Kuechenmeister, Kelsi L. Anderson, Sonja Daily, Karen E. Beenken, Christelle M. Roux, Michelle L. Reniere, Tami L. Lewis, William J, Weiss, Mark Pulse, Phung Nguyen, Jerry W. Simecka, John M. Morrison, Khalid Sayood, Oluwatoyin A. Asojo, Mark S. Smeltzer, Eric P. Skaar, Paul M. Dunman

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is estimated to cause more U.S. deaths annually than HIV/AIDS. The emergence of hypervirulent and multidrug-resistant strains has further amplified public health concern and accentuated the need for new classes of antibiotics. RNA degradation is a required cellular process that could be exploited for novel antimicrobial drug development. However, such discovery efforts have been hindered because components of the Gram-positive RNA turnover machinery are incompletely defined. In the current study we found that the essential S. aureus protein, RnpA, catalyzes rRNA and mRNA digestion in vitro. Exploiting this activity, high through-put and secondary screening assays identified …

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Purification Of A Recombinant Heavy Chain Fragment C Vaccine Candidate Against Botulinum Serotype C Neurotoxin [Rbontc(HC)] Expressed In Pichia Pastoris, Michael P. Dux, Jicai Huang, Rick Barent, Mehmet Inan, S. Todd Swanson, Jayanta Sinha, John T. Ross, Leonard A. Smith, Theresa J. Smith, Ian Henderson, Michael M. Meagher Jan 2011

Purification Of A Recombinant Heavy Chain Fragment C Vaccine Candidate Against Botulinum Serotype C Neurotoxin [Rbontc(HC)] Expressed In Pichia Pastoris, Michael P. Dux, Jicai Huang, Rick Barent, Mehmet Inan, S. Todd Swanson, Jayanta Sinha, John T. Ross, Leonard A. Smith, Theresa J. Smith, Ian Henderson, Michael M. Meagher

United States Army: Publications

A purification process for the manufacture of a recombinant C-terminus heavy chain fragment from botulinum neurotoxin serotype C [rBoNTC(Hc)], a potential vaccine candidate, has been defined and successfully scaled-up. The rBoNTC(Hc) was produced intracellularly in Pichia pastoris X-33 using a three step fermentation process, i.e., glycerol batch phase, a glycerol fed-batch phase to achieve high cell densities, followed by a methanol induction phase. The rBoNTC(Hc) was captured from the soluble protein fraction of cell lysate using hydrophobic charge induction chromatography (HCIC; MEP HyperCel™), and then further purified using a CM 650M ion exchange chromatography …

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