Digital Commons Network^™

Focus On Aggregation: Causes, Impact & Characterization, John Philo

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Emerging Diseases, Zoonoses And Vaccines To Control Them, Paul-Pierre Pastoret

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Vaccine Technology Ii: Abstracts Of Oral Presentations, The Editors

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Challenges And Solutions For The Next Generation Of Vaccines: Development Of Cell Culture-Based Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine, Jonathan Liu, Luis Maranga, Sachin Mani, Richard Schwartz

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Rsv Vaccine Using Recombinant F Protein?, Sophie Nallet

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

Vaccine Technology Ii: Abstracts Of Poster Presentations, The Editors

Vaccine Technology II

No abstract provided.

A Cartilage Growth Mixture Model With Collagen Remodeling: Validation Protocols, Stephen M. Klisch, Anna Asanbaeva, Sevan R. Oungoulian, Koichi Masuda, Eugene J.-Ma. Thonar, Andrew Davol, Robert L. Sah

Mechanical Engineering

A cartilage growth mixture (CGM) model is proposed to address limitations of a model used in a previous study. New stress constitutive equations for the solid matrix are derived and collagen (COL) remodeling is incorporated into the CGM model by allowing the intrinsic COL material constants to evolve during growth. An analytical validation protocol based on experimental data from a recent in vitro growth study is developed. Available data included measurements of tissue volume, biochemical composition, and tensile modulus for bovine calf articular cartilage (AC) explants harvested at three depths and incubated for 13 days in 20% fetal borine serum …

Techniques For Developing Large Scale Fuzzy Logic Systems, Jon C. Ervin, Sema E. Alptekin

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

In this paper, we describe various techniques used to make Intuitionistic Fuzzy Logic Systems amenable to operating on applications with large numbers of inputs. A rule reduction technique known as Combs method is combined with an automated tuning process based on Particle Swarm Optimization. A second stage of tuning on rule weights results in improved performance and further reduction in the size of the rule-base. The entire process has been developed to operate within the Matlab software environment. The technique is tested against the Wisconsin Breast Cancer Database. The use of these tools shows great promise in significantly expanding the …

Two-Dimensional Computer-Generated Ornamentation Using A User-Driven Global Planning Strategy, Dustin Robert Anderson

Master's Theses

Hand drawn ornamentation, such as floral or geometric patterns, is a tedious and time consuming task that requires much skill and training in ornamental design principles and aesthetics. Ornamental drawings both historically and presently play critical roles in all things from art to architecture; however, little work has been done in exploring their algorithmic and interactive generation. The field of computer graphics offers many algorithmic possibilities for assisting an artist in creating two-dimensional ornamental art. When computers handle the repetition and overall structure of ornament, considerable savings in time and money can result. Today, the few existing computer algorithms used …

Mechanisms Of T Helper Cell Modulation In A Simulated Space Radiation Environment, Asma Rizvi

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Exposure to solar particle events (SPEs) poses the most serious threat to astronaut health. Due to this radiation environment, exploration of the solar system beyond Earth’s orbit entails many risks for the crew on these deep space missions. Depression or dysfunction of the immune system is a major concern due to its high radio-sensitivity; potential consequences include overwhelming infection, development of cancer, fibrosis, and poor wound healing. Astronauts are also exposed to low dose/low dose rate (LDR) radiation. A three month stay at the international space station exposes them to ~ 0.05 Gy of radiation.

C57BL/6 mice received LDR gamma-radiation …

A Case-Study Based Course On "Device Evaluation And Fda Approval", Kristen O'Halloran Cardinal

Biomedical Engineering

Preclinical evaluation of new devices and therapies is an integral part of research and development in the medical device industry, and the regulatory process for FDA approval is a major driving force behind much that goes on in a company setting. A large number of graduating biomedical engineers enter this medical device industry or a related environment upon graduation from our institution. Although these engineers are equipped to address many of the technical challenges that will arise, there is currently limited formal training in or exposure to the regulatory process that is required to bring new devices to market. Knowledge …

Articular Cartilage Tensile Integrity: Modulation By Matrix Depletion Is Maturation-Dependent, Anna Asanbaeva, Johnny Tam, Barbara L. Schumacher, Stephen M. Klisch, Koichi Masuda, Robert L. Sah

Mechanical Engineering

Articular cartilage function depends on the molecular composition and structure of its extracellular matrix (ECM). The collagen network (CN) provides cartilage with tensile integrity, but must also remodel during growth. Such remodeling may depend on matrix molecules interacting with the CN to modulate the tensile behavior of cartilage. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of increasingly selective matrix depletion on tensile properties of immature and mature articular cartilage, and thereby establish a framework for identifying molecules involved in CN remodeling. Depletion of immature cartilage with guanidine, chondroitinase ABC, chondroitinase AC, and Streptomyces hyaluronidase markedly increased tensile …

Measurement And Analysis Of Truck Transport Environment In Brazil, Giovani Otavio Rissi, Sher Paul Singh, Gary J. Burgess, Jay A. Singh

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Increasing trade in today’s global economy requires packaging to be designed to contain, protect and deliver products without damage during transportation and handling. Vibration forces that occur during transportation are one of the most significant causes of damage during shipping. The objective of this study was to quantify and analyse the vibration that occurs during truck transport in Brazil. The study was done using two types of trucks: small local trucks for local metropolitan distribution areas and larger tractor-trailers for cross-country transportation. Ten metropolitan areas in different regions of Brazil were selected for 1-day trips representing normal delivery. These trips …

Performance Analysis Of Effective Range And Orientation Of Uhf Passive Rfid, Paul N. Roque

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to characterize the performance of UHF passive RFID tags. Factors of importance are the impact of tag orientation and distance from the RFID reader. Within this study, a comprehensive literature review of RFID technology is presented as well as the methodology used for the research. Furthermore, an analysis of RFID tag experiments is discussed and the results reviewed. To accomplish this task, two main objectives have been established as goals for the study. The first objective is to determine an optimum tag orientation within the RFID reader’s normal read range. Once the optimum tag …

Development Of A Cell Depositing System Using Inkjet Technology, Jason Robert Ozaeta

Master's Theses

In the past decade, advances in tissue engineering have allowed researchers to fabricate simple tissues. However, the process of creating these native tissues is a time consuming and inefficient process. A scaffold must first be fabricated then exposed to a sea of cells in the hopes of seeding. Furthermore, even though cells may have attached, more time must be spent in order to allow the cells to migrate to their ideal locations. To deal with this problem, researchers have investigated whether rapid prototyping principals could be adapted to facilitate the cell seeding process by placing cells in their respective locations …

Bronchial Circulation Angiogenesis In The Rat Quantified With Spect And Micro-Ct, Christian Wieholt, David L. Roerig, John B. Gordon, Steven Thomas Haworth, Robert C. Molthen, Anne V. Clough

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction

As pulmonary artery obstruction results in proliferation of the bronchial circulation in a variety of species, we investigated this angiogenic response using single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and micro-CT.

Materials and methods

After surgical ligation of the left pulmonary artery of rats, they were imaged at 10, 20, or 40 days post-ligation. Before imaging, technetium-labeled macroaggregated albumin (^99mTc MAA) was injected into the aortic arch (IA) labeling the systemic circulation. SPECT/micro-CT imaging was performed, the image volumes were registered, and activity in the left lung via the bronchial circulation was used as a marker of bronchial …

Biomechanical And Radiographic Evaluation Of An Ovine Model For The Human Lumbar Spine, Nina E. Easley, M. Wang, Linda M. Mcgrady, Jeffrey M. Toth

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

While various species of animal models have been used in preclinical investigations of spinal implant devices to assess their biological adaptation and biomechanical performance, few studies have made comprehensive comparisons to validate their suitability of modelling the human spine. The purpose of this study was to assess essential biomechanical behaviours and disc morphology of the ovine lumbar model. Flexibility testing was conducted on the spines (L3—L4 and L4—L5) of nine skeletally matured sheep. Segmental rotation and intradiscal pressure were measured and load sharing between the intervertebral disc and posterior elements were calculated on the basis of a simplified parallel spring …

Agarose And Methylcellulose Hydrogel Blends For Nerve Regeneration Applications, Benton C. Martin, Eric J. Minner, Sherri L. Wiseman, Rebecca L. Klank, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Trauma sustained to the central nervous system is a debilitating problem for thousands of people worldwide. Neuronal regeneration within the central nervous system is hindered by several factors, making a multi-faceted approach necessary. Two factors contributing to injury are the irregular geometry of injured sites and the absence of tissue to hold potential nerve guides and drug therapies. Biocompatible hydrogels, injectable at room temperature, that rapidly solidify at physiological temperatures (37°C) are beneficial materials that could hold nerve guidance channels in place and be loaded with therapeutic agents to aid wound healing. Our studies have shown that thermo reversible methylcellulose …

Thermal And Morphological Analysis Of Collagen-Plla Electrospun Blends, Angana Banerjee

Theses

Electrospinning of bovine Type I collagen and Poly (L-lactic acid) produces blended nanofiber scaffolds that may have application in tissue engineering, wound dressing and drug delivery.

The goal of this research work was to produce and characterize blended nanofibers of a protein, collagen, and a synthetic polymer, poly (L-lactic acid). This study focuses on the in-depth analysis of the appearance of the structural relaxation occurring at the glass transition temperature of PLLA in the collagen-PLLA blended electrospun mats. It is speculated that occurrence of this thermal event is more prominent in PLLA with high molecular weight due to the presence …

Surface Recordings Of Evoked Field Potentials From The Cerebellum With A Flexmea Microelectrode Array, Jonathan David Groth

Theses

The cerebellum is an integral part of multijoint control. There are two input pathways to the cerebellar cortex, the mossy fiber and the climbing fiber pathways. The mossy fiber pathway forms a disynaptic input to Purkinje cells through the granular cells. This disynaptic input produces a multicomponent field potential composed of the P1, N 1, N2, N3, N4, and P3 waves. The climbing fiber input forms a monosynaptic input to the Purkinje cells and thus creates a much simpler field potential.

The mossy and climbing fiber field potentials were recorded with a FlexMEA microelectrode array from the pial surface of …

The Synergistic Effect Of Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields And Demineralized Bone Matrix On The Osteogenic Differentiation Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells, John Manocchio

Theses

Orthopaedic bone grafting continues to be a mainstay in the treatment of non unions and other difficult to heal bone defects. Tissue engineering strategies have focused on providing bone graft materials that are osteoconductive, osteoinductive and osteogenic in order to achieve optimal bone healing. Furthermore, electrical stimulation technologies such as pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) have been used to enhance the effectiveness of bone graft materials. PEMP has been shown to have a synergistic effect with BMP-2 and it was hypothesized that PEMF would have the same effect with demineralized bone matrix (DBM). In the present study human mesenchymal stem cells …

A Comparative Study Of Common Crosslinking Agents For Electrospun Collagen Scaffolds, Pallavi Masih

Theses

Cartilage injury is one of the leading causes of knee pain in the world. Over two million Americans suffer from cartilage injury every year, resulting in swelling, pain or joint impairment, causing it difficult to maintain an active life style. Synthetic grafts are used extensively to restore tissue functions. The major drawback limiting successful incorporation of synthetic grafts in body is their lower ability to integrate to natural tissue, poor biocompatibility which often results in triggering immunogenic responses, causing graft rejection. Collagen is thus studied and used excessively as a successful implantable material. The reason being that it is natural …

A Virtual Training Environment For Wheelchair Mounted Robot, Elizabeth Leichtnam

Theses

A model of a robotic manipulator designed to respond to different inputs from users with different skills or conditions is presented. This model can be adapted to different input variables and converted into joint angles which relate to movement in space of the manipulator's links. The algorithm allows for real time response and the features of the virtual environments (i.e., 3D design, stereoscopic vision) gives the designers the opportunity to use this model for training and usability evaluation according to the skills and different conditions that users could present.

Two types of virtual environments were created aiming to be used …

Synthesis Of Corn-Derived Carbohydrate Derivatives As Effective Multifunctional Sunscreen, Xianhong Feng

Theses

The eighty-years-old sunscreen industry is sustained by the growing incidence of skin cancer and the continual exploration of skin aging. From the UVB-induced erythema to the UVA-induced persistent pigment darkening, scientists have used versatile methods to reveal that not only does UVB damage skin but also that longer wavelengths such as UVAIL (290nm ~ 340nm) and UVAL rays (340nm ~ 400nm) trigger skin cancer, premature skin aging and immunosuppression.

To meet a significant demand for improved photoprotection, a broad-spectrum sunscreen with a high extinction coefficient has been desired. As part of our ongoing studies on isosorbide-cinnamate derivatives, this work have …

Radiation-Induced Osteoporosis: Bone Quantity, Architecture, And Increased Resorption Following Exposure To Ionizing Radiation, Jeffrey Willey

All Dissertations

Skeletal complications from radiation therapy have been described for breast, brain, pelvic, and blood cancers. These problems include atrophy, fractures, and osteoradionecrosis. Improved survivorship rates of cancer patients receiving radiotherapy increases the importance of understanding the causal mechanisms and long-term effects of radiation-induced bone loss. One such long-term effect is bone fractures following radiation therapy for cancer treatment. The incidence of hip fractures is significantly increased following targeted radiotherapy for cancer. This decline in bone health can have a severe impact on the patient's functional capabilities. This damage to bone following irradiation is thought to involve damage to both osteoblasts …

Emotional Speech Corpus Construction, Annotation And Distribution, Brian Vaughan, Charlie Cullen, Spyros Kousidis, John Mcauley

Conference papers

This paper details a process of creating an emotional speech corpus by collecting natural emotional speech assets, analysisng and tagging them (for certain acoustic and linguistic features) and annotating them within an on-line database. The definition of specific metadata for use with an emotional speech corpus is crucial, in that poorly (or inaccurately) annotated assets are of little use in analysis. This problem is compounded by the lack of standardisation for speech corpora, particularly in relation to emotion content. The ISLE Metadata Initiative (IMDI) is the only cohesive attempt at corpus metadata standardisation performed thus far. Although not a comprehensive …

Chemisorption Of Oxygen Onto Activated Carbon Can Enhance The Stability Of Biological Perchlorate Reduction In Fixed Bed Biofilm Reactors, Young Chul Choi, Xu Li, Lutgarde Raskin, Eberhard Morgenroth

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Fixed bed biofilm reactors with granular activated carbon (GAC) or glass beads as support media were used to evaluate the influence of short-term (12 h) and long-term (23 days) increases of influent dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations on biological perchlorate removal. The goal was to evaluate the extent by which chemisorption of oxygen to GAC can enhance the stability of biological perchlorate reduction. Baseline influent concentrations were 50 μg/L of perchlorate, 2 mg/L of acetate as C, and 1 mg/L of DO. Perchlorate removal in the glass bead reactor seized immediately after increasing influent DO concentrations from 1 to 4 mg/L …

Sticky Gecko Feet: The Role Of Temperature And Humidity, Peter H. Niewiarowski, Stephanie Lopez, Liehui Ge, Emily Hagan, Ali Dhinojwala

College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering

Gecko adhesion is expected to be temperature insensitive over the range of temperatures typically experienced by geckos. Previous work is limited and equivocal on whether this expectation holds. We tested the temperature dependence of adhesion in Tokay and Day geckos and found that clinging ability at 12 degrees C was nearly double the clinging ability at 32 degrees C. However, rather than confirming a simple temperature effect, our data reveal a complex interaction between temperature and humidity that can drive differences in adhesion by as much as two-fold. Our findings have important implications for inferences about the mechanisms underlying the …

Catalytic Wet Oxidation Of Lactose, Joseph Holles

Michigan Tech Patents

A process for converting lactose into carbon dioxide and/or carbon monoxide using catalytic wet oxidation. Oxygen gas and an aqueous solution of lactose are fed to a reactor comprising a Pt/Al203 catalyst, a Mn/Ce catalyst or a Pt/Mn—Ce catalyst, and the lactose is oxidized in the reactor at elevated temperature and pressure to produce at least one of small organic acids, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, water and combinations thereof. The small organic acids may be further degraded by feeding the small organic acids and oxygen gas into a reactor containing a Mn/Ce catalyst and oxidizing the small organic acids to …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Spring 2008, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge.

The senior design competition helps to focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects …