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Recovery Of Biodiesel Precursors From Heterotrophic Microalga Chlorella Protothecoides, Peter B. Merkle Jan 2009

Recovery Of Biodiesel Precursors From Heterotrophic Microalga Chlorella Protothecoides, Peter B. Merkle

United States Department of Energy: Publications

This working paper describes an experimental program to assess the suitability of largescale separation processing of algal biomass in aqueous culture. It assumes the possibility of successful large-scale growth of heterotrophic Chlorella protothecoides to produce algal lipid/free fatty acid (FFA) biodiesel precursors.

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A Computer Science Approach To Identify And Classify Hyperactivated Spermatozoa, Norbert Kaula Jan 2009

A Computer Science Approach To Identify And Classify Hyperactivated Spermatozoa, Norbert Kaula

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Effective Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) relies in part upon accurate but easily conducted measurements of sperm motion parameters. Several established methods are widely used to assess possible reasons for male infertility, in human and veterinary Andrology clinics. Computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) devices quantitatively assess sperm motion parameters, which have been defined by the World Health Organization, and include the percentage of motile cells in a sample and the motion characteristics of individual cells, such as curvilinear velocity (VCL), average path velocity (VAP) and straight line velocity (VSL). However, CASA analyses fail to define hyperactive sperm motility or determine the prevalence …

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One Stop Information Site, Poongkuzhali Dhanasekaran Jan 2009

One Stop Information Site, Poongkuzhali Dhanasekaran

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to construct a website to provide users with interactive, daily information such as weather, traffic alerts, news, restaurant, etc. in one easy accessible site. Contains source code.

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Three Examples Where The Specific Surface Area Of Snow Increased Over Time, F. Domine, A. S. Taillandier, A. Cabanes, T. A. Douglas, M. Sturm Jan 2009

Three Examples Where The Specific Surface Area Of Snow Increased Over Time, F. Domine, A. S. Taillandier, A. Cabanes, T. A. Douglas, M. Sturm

United States Army: Publications

Snow on the ground impacts climate through its high albedo and affects atmospheric composition through its ability to adsorb chemical compounds. The quantification of these effects requires the knowledge of the specific surface area (SSA) of snow and its rate of change. All relevant studies indicate that snow SSA decreases over time. Here, we report for the first time three cases where the SSA of snow increased over time. These are (1) the transformation of a melt-freeze crust into depth hoar, producing an increase in SSA from 3.4 to 8.8m2 kg−1. (2) The mobilization of surface snow …

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Three Examples Where The Specific Surface Area Of Snow Increased Over Time, F. Domine, A.-S. Taillandier, A. Cabanes, T. A. Douglas, M. Sturm Jan 2009

Three Examples Where The Specific Surface Area Of Snow Increased Over Time, F. Domine, A.-S. Taillandier, A. Cabanes, T. A. Douglas, M. Sturm

United States Army: Publications

Snow on the ground impacts climate through its high albedo and affects atmospheric composition through its ability to adsorb chemical compounds. The quantification of these effects requires the knowledge of the specific surface area (SSA) of snow and its rate of change. All relevant studies indicate that snow SSA decreases over time. Here, we report for the first time three cases where the SSA of snow increased over time. These are (1) the transformation of a melt-freeze crust into depth hoar, producing an increase in SSA from 3.4 to 8.8m2 kg−1. (2) The mobilization of surface snow …

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Cuda Implementation Of A Navier-Stokes Solver On Multi-Gpu Desktop Platforms For Incompressible Flows, Julien C. Thibault, Inanc Senocak Jan 2009

Cuda Implementation Of A Navier-Stokes Solver On Multi-Gpu Desktop Platforms For Incompressible Flows, Julien C. Thibault, Inanc Senocak

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Graphics processor units (GPU) that are traditionally designed for graphics rendering have emerged as massively-parallel "co-processors" to the central processing unit (CPU). Small-footprint desktop supercomputers with hundreds of cores that can deliver teraflops peak performance at the price of conventional workstations have been realized. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation capability with rapid computational turnaround time has the potential to transform engineering analysis and design optimization procedures. We describe the implementation of a Navier-Stokes solver for incompressible fluid flow using desktop platforms equipped with multi-GPUs. Specifically, NVIDIA’s Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) programming model is used to implement the discretized …

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Systems Chemistry And Parrondo’S Paradox: Computational Models Of Thermal Cycling, Daniel C. Osipovitch, Carl Barratt, Pauline M. Schwartz Jan 2009

Systems Chemistry And Parrondo’S Paradox: Computational Models Of Thermal Cycling, Daniel C. Osipovitch, Carl Barratt, Pauline M. Schwartz

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications

A mathematical concept known as Parrondo’s paradox motivated the development of several novel computational models of chemical systems in which thermal cycling was explored. In these kinetics systems we compared the rates of formation of product under cycling temperature and steady-sate conditions. We found that a greater concentration of product was predicted under oscillating temperature conditions. Our computational models of thermal cycling suggest new applications in chemical and chemical engineering systems.

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Resources - Thinking Small: Nano Small, David Stricker Jan 2009

Resources - Thinking Small: Nano Small, David Stricker

Publications

The article provides information on the "Nanooze" magazine publication. It notes the significance of nanotechnology to the development of latest innovations that come from materials at smallest dimensions or at the nanoscale levels. It presents resources published within the publication that explore the emerging issues in nanotechnology.

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Biomedical Informatics Research Network (Birn) Data Repository, Laurence Jonathan Bouts Bohannan Jan 2009

Biomedical Informatics Research Network (Birn) Data Repository, Laurence Jonathan Bouts Bohannan

Theses Digitization Project

The primary goal of this project was to streamline the submission process for researchers to categorize, approve, curate, and publish these data sets. By supporting the sharing and exchange of these data types in fulfillment of the National Institute of Health guidelines the BIRN Data Repository will have the ability to grow as the need develops for these researchers to easily share information.

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Heterogeneous Drive Mechanisms For Novel Locomotion In Rough Terrain, Roy Godzdanker Jan 2009

Heterogeneous Drive Mechanisms For Novel Locomotion In Rough Terrain, Roy Godzdanker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The smaller the robot the easier it is for it to access voids in a collapsed structure, however small size brings a host of other problems related to constrained resources. One of the primary constraints on small robots is limited motive power to surmount obstacles and navigate rough terrain. This thesis examines the addition of bulk motive force actuators to existing locomotion platforms and the impact of these heterogeneous actuators on conventional steering methods. The steering methods examined are those associated with skid steered vehicles and differential drive vehicles. In developing the Crabinator, a robot composed of a limbed crawler …

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Nitrogen Removal And Sustainability Of Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands For Small Scale Wastewater Treatment, Valerie J. Fuchs Jan 2009

Nitrogen Removal And Sustainability Of Vertical Flow Constructed Wetlands For Small Scale Wastewater Treatment, Valerie J. Fuchs

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The challenge for wastewater professionals is to design and operate treatment processes that support human well being and are environmentally sensitive throughout the life-cycle. This research focuses on one technology for small-scale wastewater treatment: the vertical flow constructed wetland (VFCW), which is herein investigated for the capacity to remove ammonium and nitrate nitrogen from wastewater. Hydraulic regime and presence/absence of vegetation are the basis for a three-phase bench scale experiment to determine oxygen transfer and nitrogen fate in VFCWs. Results show that 90% NH4+-N removal is achieved in aerobic downflow columns, 60% NO3--N removal occurs in anaerobic upflow columns, and …

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Development Of A Focused Broadband Ultrasonic Transducer For High Resolution Fundamental And Harmonic Intravascular Imaging, Chaitanya K. Chandrana Jan 2009

Development Of A Focused Broadband Ultrasonic Transducer For High Resolution Fundamental And Harmonic Intravascular Imaging, Chaitanya K. Chandrana

ETD Archive

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is increasingly employed for detection and evaluation of coronary artery diseases. Tissue Harmonic Imaging provides different tissue information that could additionally be used to improve diagnostic accuracy. However, current IVUS systems, with their unfocussed transducers, may not be capable of operating in harmonic imaging mode. Thus, there is a need to develop suitable transducers and appropriate techniques to allow imaging in multi modes for complementary diagnostic information. Focused PVDF TrFE transducers were developed using MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) compatible protocols. The transducers were characterized using pulse-echo techniques and exhibited broad bandwidth (110 at -6dB) with axial resolutions of Such …

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Imaging Of Tyramine-Substituted Hydrogels For Tissue Replacement, Ediuska V. Laurens Jan 2009

Imaging Of Tyramine-Substituted Hydrogels For Tissue Replacement, Ediuska V. Laurens

ETD Archive

Novel tyramine-based hyaluronan (HA) and collagen hydrogels have been developed in which cross-linking is accomplished via peroxidase-mediated dityramine linkages allowing direct cross-linking in vivo. These TB hydrogels possess advantageous physical properties, which include excellent biocompatibility and the ability to mimic the biological, structural and mechanical properties of normal, healthy tissues, including cartilage, and thus provide for synthetic, implantable biomaterials suitable for a wide range of tissue types. The efficacy of these TB-hydrogels has been previously tested in a number of clinically relevant animal models, which have evaluated their applicability for the repair/replacement of various tissues, including cartilage. Nevertheless, there exists …

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Two Approaches For Cell Retention In Perfusion Culture Systems, Zhaowei Wang Jan 2009

Two Approaches For Cell Retention In Perfusion Culture Systems, Zhaowei Wang

ETD Archive

A lack of efficient, economical, and reliable cell retention devices has limited the application of perfusion culture systems in the biopharmaceutical industry. Two types of cell retention devices were developed in this work for long-term perfusion culture systems: a modification of an inclined gravity settler and a variation of an ultrasonic filter. Both bench-top and large-scale tests showed that the gravity settler can effectively retain viable cells and preferentially remove nonviable cells in perfusion culture systems. The viable cell retention rate can be maintained well above 90 during long-term perfusion culture period while the nonviable cell retention rate is 20-30 …

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Biological Treatment Of Dietary Supplement Wastewater, Erick Benjamin Butler Jan 2009

Biological Treatment Of Dietary Supplement Wastewater, Erick Benjamin Butler

ETD Archive

Dietary supplement wastewater contains higher order polysaccharides such as the complex sugars maltodextrin and low fat milk. These complex sugars contain a significant amount of organic carbon therefore, presence of these sugars can pose threats to the environment if discharged without treatment. While many food processing plants are required to send their waste through wastewater treatment, legislation may require preliminary treatment of these wastes in order to satisfy the effluent discharge requirements. Because of the high organic carbon presence, it would be preferable to use biological treatment methods to reduce the organics present within the system. Microorganisms are capable of …

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Biogeography-Based Optimization: Synergies With Evolutionary Strategies, Immigration Refusal, And Kalman Filters, Dawei Du Jan 2009

Biogeography-Based Optimization: Synergies With Evolutionary Strategies, Immigration Refusal, And Kalman Filters, Dawei Du

ETD Archive

Biogeography-based optimization (BBO) is a recently developed heuristic algorithm which has shown impressive performance on many well known benchmarks. The aim of this thesis is to modify BBO in different ways. First, in order to improve BBO, this thesis incorporates distinctive techniques from other successful heuristic algorithms into BBO. The techniques from evolutionary strategy (ES) are used for BBO modification. Second, the traveling salesman problem (TSP) is a widely used benchmark in heuristic algorithms, and it is considered as a standard benchmark in heuristic computations. Therefore the main task in this part of the thesis is to modify BBO to …

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Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus (Tbsv), A Versatile Platform For Polyvalent Display Of Antigenic Epitopes And Vaccine Design, Shantanu Kumar, Wendy Ochoa, Pratik Singh, Catherine Hsu, Anette Schneemann, Marianne Manchester, Mark Olson, Vijay Reddy Jan 2009

Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus (Tbsv), A Versatile Platform For Polyvalent Display Of Antigenic Epitopes And Vaccine Design, Shantanu Kumar, Wendy Ochoa, Pratik Singh, Catherine Hsu, Anette Schneemann, Marianne Manchester, Mark Olson, Vijay Reddy

United States Army: Publications

Viruses-like particles (VLPs) are frequently being used as platforms for polyvalent display of foreign epitopes of interest on their capsid surface to improve their presentation enhancing the antigenicity and host immune response. In the present study, we used the VLPs of Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV), an icosahedral plant virus, as a platform to display 180 copies of 16 amino acid epitopes of ricin toxin fused to the C-terminal end of a modified TBSV capsid protein (NΔ52). Expression of the chimeric recombinant protein in insect cells resulted in spontaneous assembly of VLPs displaying the ricin epitope. Cryo-electron microscopy and image …

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Selecting And Conserving Lands For Biodiversity: The Role Of Remote Sensing, John Wiens, Robert Sutter, Mark Anderson, Jon Blanchard, Analie Barnett, Naikoa Aguilar-Amuchastegui, Chadwick Avery, Stephen Laine Jan 2009

Selecting And Conserving Lands For Biodiversity: The Role Of Remote Sensing, John Wiens, Robert Sutter, Mark Anderson, Jon Blanchard, Analie Barnett, Naikoa Aguilar-Amuchastegui, Chadwick Avery, Stephen Laine

United States Air Force: Publications

A major focus of conservation is on protecting areas to ensure the persistence of biological diversity. Because such areas may be large, not easily accessible, subject to change, and sensitive to the surrounding landscape, remote sensing can be a valuable tool in establishing and managing protected areas. We describe three case studies to illustrate how remote sensing can contribute to setting priorities for conservation actions, monitoring the status of conservation targets, and evaluating the effectiveness of conservation strategies. In the Connecticut River watershed, remote sensing has been used to assess flood regimes and identify key areas of floodplain forests and …

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Biofuels, Land, And Water: A Systems Approach To Sustainability, Gayathri Gopalakrishnan, M. Cristina Negri, Michael Wang, May Wu, Seth W. Snyder, Lorraine Lafreniere Jan 2009

Biofuels, Land, And Water: A Systems Approach To Sustainability, Gayathri Gopalakrishnan, M. Cristina Negri, Michael Wang, May Wu, Seth W. Snyder, Lorraine Lafreniere

United States Department of Energy: Publications

There is a strong societal need to evaluate and understand the sustainability of biofuels, especially because of the significant increases in production mandated by many countries, including the United States. Sustainability will be a strong factor in the regulatory environment and investments in biofuels. Biomass feedstock production is an important contributor to environmental, social, and economic impacts from biofuels. This study presents a systems approach where the agricultural, energy, and environmental sectors are considered as components of a single system, and environmental liabilities are used as recoverable resources for biomass feedstock production. We focus on efficient use of land and …

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Artificial Insemination In South American Camelids And Wild Equids, G. P. Adams, M. H. Ratto, C. W. Collins, D. R. Bergfelt Jan 2009

Artificial Insemination In South American Camelids And Wild Equids, G. P. Adams, M. H. Ratto, C. W. Collins, D. R. Bergfelt

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

An overview of the present status of the use of artificial insemination (AI) in South American camelids and wild equids is offered. Technical aspects of semen collection, dilution and cryopreservation have limited the development and use of AI in camelid and equid species. To-date, efficiency is low but progress has been made and viable offspring have been produced through the use of AI in domestic South American camelids using both fresh and frozen semen. The origin, composition, and function of the viscous component of camelid seminal plasma remain a mystery and an obvious area for future research. A better understanding …

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Foodweb Modeling For Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) In The Twelvemile Creek Arm Of Lake Hartwell, South Carolina, Usa, Brenda Rashleigh, M. Craig Barber, David M. Walters Jan 2009

Foodweb Modeling For Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) In The Twelvemile Creek Arm Of Lake Hartwell, South Carolina, Usa, Brenda Rashleigh, M. Craig Barber, David M. Walters

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

PCBs from the Sangamo-Weston Superfund Site near Clemson, South Carolina, USA, were released into the Twelvemile Creek Arm of Lake Hartwell until the early 1990s. Monitoring data have shown that while PCB concentration in sediments declined since 1995, PCB concentrations in fish have remained elevated, e.g., largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) concentrations have ranged from 5 to 10 ppm. The EPA aquatic ecosystem model AQUATOX was applied to this system to better characterize foodweb dynamics that lead to biomagnification of PCBs. The model was calibrated with observed fish biomass data. Simulated PCB loading over a 12-year period provided a …

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Comparing The Mutagenicity Of Toxaphene After Aging In Anoxic Soils And Accumulating In Fish, James C. Young, Anne D. Freeman, Robert M. Bruce, Douglas Williams, Keith Maruya Jan 2009

Comparing The Mutagenicity Of Toxaphene After Aging In Anoxic Soils And Accumulating In Fish, James C. Young, Anne D. Freeman, Robert M. Bruce, Douglas Williams, Keith Maruya

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

A test program was conducted to evaluate the mutagenicity of toxaphene residuals extracted from aged soils and from fish collected in creeks near a toxaphene-contaminated site. The ultimate objective was to determine if the residual toxaphene congeners were more or less mutagenic than those in technical- grade toxaphene.The study showed that the mutagenicity of the bioaccumulated toxaphenecongeners in fish, expressed as colony revertants per mg of residual toxaphene, was no greater than that of technical-grade toxaphene.Themutagenicimpactofthetoxapheneresidualsinagedsoilstatistically was less than that for technical-grade toxaphene. Two specific congeners, a hexachlorobornane(labeled Hx-Sd) and a heptachlorobornane (labeled Hp-Sd), were found to accumulate over time …

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Chipless Rfid Sensor Tag System With Microstrip Transmissionline Based Id Generation Schemes, Sudhir Shrestha Jan 2009

Chipless Rfid Sensor Tag System With Microstrip Transmissionline Based Id Generation Schemes, Sudhir Shrestha

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a chipless radio frequency identification (RFID) sensor tag system consisting of passive chipless RFID sensor tags and specialized reader. The chipless sensor tags are fabricated on a flexible substrate and contain an ID generation circuit, a sensor, and a microstrip antenna. The ID generation circuit consists of meandered microstrip transmission lines and uses a novel reflection and delay based ID generation scheme. The scheme, using an input RF pulse, constructs an on-off keying (OOK) or pulse position modulated (PPM) signal pattern representing a unique ID code. Two transmission lines and OOK representation are used and the generation …

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The Ethical Phenomenon Of Gm-Corn: Anger, Anxiety, And Arrogance In Crossing American Borders, Jules Simon Jan 2009

The Ethical Phenomenon Of Gm-Corn: Anger, Anxiety, And Arrogance In Crossing American Borders, Jules Simon

Departmental Papers (Philosophy)

In terms of phenomenology, I often wonder about the relevance of what I do as a philosopher for the life of those with whom I come into contact. This ‘coming into contact’ happens for me on several levels: as one human among many, as a husband and father and son and brother, as a teacher, as a neighbor, and as country or city dweller. I remember with fondness those times in the late sultry summer months when, as a youth, I would drive with my father to this or that local farm-stand on some remote back road in the hills …

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Infrared Light Activated Floating Micro Stimulators For Neuro-Prosthetic Applications, Kimberlyn M. Gray Jan 2009

Infrared Light Activated Floating Micro Stimulators For Neuro-Prosthetic Applications, Kimberlyn M. Gray

Doctoral Dissertations

The most common failures in neural stimulation implants are due to interconnect complications such as tissue response, lead migration, and lead breakages. The challenge in eliminating interconnects lies in minimizing device size to maintain spatial selectivity required in the CNS. One approach to this problem is a current generating device that can be stimulated by an external signal, such as light or sound. Here, we report the design, construction and testing of rnicrophotodiode devices that can be stimulated remotely with near-infrared (NIR) light to generate current that can be injected locally into the peripheral nervous system. The use of near-infrared …

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Doe Climate Change Research Program: Strategic Plan Jan 2009

Doe Climate Change Research Program: Strategic Plan

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Advance the forefront of climate change research to provide the nation with the scientific knowledge it needs about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on Earth's climate and biosphere to support effective energy and environmental decision making.

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Towards Neural-Based Understanding Of The Cauchy Deviate Method For Processing Interval And Fuzzy Uncertainty, Vladik Kreinovich, Hung T. Nguyen Jan 2009

Towards Neural-Based Understanding Of The Cauchy Deviate Method For Processing Interval And Fuzzy Uncertainty, Vladik Kreinovich, Hung T. Nguyen

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

One of the most efficient techniques for processing interval and fuzzy data is a Monte-Carlo type technique of Cauchy deviates that uses Cauchy distributions. This technique is mathematically valid, but somewhat counterintuitive. In this paper, following the ideas of Paul Werbos, we provide a natural neural network explanation for this technique.

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An Analogy Based Costing System For Injection Molds Based Upon Geometry Similarity With Wavelets, Cyrus Clinton Hillsman Jan 2009

An Analogy Based Costing System For Injection Molds Based Upon Geometry Similarity With Wavelets, Cyrus Clinton Hillsman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The injection molding industry is large and diversified. However there is no universally accepted way to bid molds, despite the fact that the mold and related design comprise 50% of the total cost of an injection-molded part over its lifetime. This is due to both the structure of the industry and technical difficulties in developing an automated and practical cost estimation system. The technical challenges include lack of a common data format for both parts and molds; the comprehensive consideration of the data about a wide variety of mold types, designs, complexities, number of cavities and other factors that directly …

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A Novel Device For The Establishment Of An Animal Model Mimicking Spinal Deformity Surgery For Neurological Deficit Risk Mitigation, Bradley Elmer Jan 2009

A Novel Device For The Establishment Of An Animal Model Mimicking Spinal Deformity Surgery For Neurological Deficit Risk Mitigation, Bradley Elmer

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Correction forces during spine deformity surgery impart significant multidirectional stress forces to the spinal cord, which in some cases result in severe damage to the spinal cord and permanent paralysis, the most feared complication. Animal models are critical for the development of neuroprotective strategies. However, those currently available are limited to contusion, transection, or unidirectional distraction injuries, which fail to replicate the multidirectional forces that occur during spine corrective surgery. In order to develop an improved model of distraction spinal cord injury we designed a device based on intervertebral grip fixation and linear actuators, capable of inducing controllable bidirectional distraction …

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Development Of An Optical Spectroscopic Method To Detect Neurohemodynamic Changes Induced By Pain In Rats, Sweta Narvenkar Jan 2009

Development Of An Optical Spectroscopic Method To Detect Neurohemodynamic Changes Induced By Pain In Rats, Sweta Narvenkar

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

In my optical spectroscopy study, multi-channel, thin optical probes with short source-detector separation have been implemented, calibrated, and used along with a multi-channel spectrometer as a quantitative technique to observe changes in vascular hemoglobin concentration and hemoglobin oxygen saturation as well as light scattering of tissues. Each of the four needle probes used in my study consists of two bifurcated fibers; one fiber is connected to a halogen light source and the other fiber to a CCD-array spectrometer having a spectral window from 450 nm to 900 nm. Each fiber is 100 micron in diameter. As we utilized the four …

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