Digital Commons Network^™

Quantification Of Doxorubicin Concentration In Rat Tissues Using Polymeric Micelles In Ultrasonic-Drug Delivery, William G. Pitt, Beverly Roeder, Bryant J. Staples

Faculty Publications

The triblock copolymer, Pluronic P105, has been found to be an ideal ultrasonically activated drug delivery vehicle because it forms micelles with hydrophobic polypropylene oxide cores that sequester hydrophobic drugs (Fig. 1). These micelles release their contents upon the application of low frequency ultrasound [1]such that drugs can be released specifically at the ultrasonicated region (Fig. 2). Such ultrasonically controlled release has been effective against cancer cells in vitro [2] and in vivo [3]. The purpose of this research is to assess the use of these novel polymeric micelles in ultrasonically-activated Doxorubicin® (DOX) delivery to tumors. This cancer therapy involves …

Osteonal Effects On Elastic Modulus And Fatigue Life In Equine Bone, V. A. Gibson, S. M. Stover, J. C. Gibeling, S. J. Hazelwood, R. B. Martin

Biomedical Engineering

We hypothesized that recently formed, incompletely mineralized, and thus, relatively deformable osteons in the equine third metacarpus enhance in vitro load-controlled fatigue life in two ways. Macroscopically, there is a compliance effect, because reduced tissue elastic modulus diminishes the stress required to reach a given strain. Microscopically, there is a cement line effect, in which new osteons and their cement lines more effectively serve as barriers to crack propagation. We studied 18 4×10×100 mm beams from the medial, lateral, and dorsal cortices of metacarpal bones from 6 thoroughbred racehorses. Following load-controlled fatigue testing to fracture in 4 point bending, a …

Air Exchange Rate In A Horse Trailer During Road Transport, Joseph L. Purswell, Richard S. Gates, Laurie M. Lawrence, Jamey D. Jacob, Timothy S. Stombaugh, Robert J. Coleman

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Horses traveling by road commonly experience heat stress conditions and poor air quality, which may be caused by insufficient ventilation; however, there are few estimates of air exchange in a horse trailer during transport. Air exchange rate was measured at ten locations within a four-horse trailer (internal volume 18.5 m³) using tracer gas decay measurement to assess the adequacy of ventilation. Three vehicle speeds (13, 48, and 97 km h^-1) and three window configurations (all windows and roof vents closed, all windows open, all windows open and roof vents open forward) were tested with and without …

Identification Of System Design Features That Affect Sickness In Virtual Environments, Julie Drexler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The terms "simulator" and "VR" are typically used to refer to specific types of virtual environments (VEs) which differ in the technology used to display the simulated environment. While simulators and VR devices may offer advantages such as low cost training, numerous studies on the effects to humans of exposure to different VEs indicate that motion sickness-like symptoms are often produced during or after exposure to the simulated environment. These deleterious side effects have the potential to limit the utilization of VE systems if they jeopardize the health and/or safety of the user and create liability issues for the manufacturer. …

A Fluid Structure Interaction Model Of Intracoronary Atherosclerotic Plaque Rupture, Eric Teuma-Melago

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Plaque rupture with superimposed thrombosis is the primary cause of acute coronary syndromes of unstable angina, myocardial infarction and sudden death. Although intensive studies in the past decade have shed light on the mechanism that causes unstable atheroma, none has directly addressed the clinical observation that most myocardial infarction (MI) patients have moderate stenoses (less than 50%). Considering the important role the arterial wall compliance and pulsitile blood flow play in atheroma rupture, fluid-structure interaction (FSI) phenomenon has been of interest in recent studies. In this thesis, the impact is investigated numerically of coupled blood flow and structural dynamics on …

Image-Based Material Editing, Erum Khan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Photo editing software allows digital images to be blurred, warped or re-colored at the touch of a button. However, it is not currently possible to change the material appearance of an object except by painstakingly painting over the appropriate pixels. Here we present a set of methods for automatically replacing one material with another, completely different material, starting with only a single high dynamic range image, and an alpha matte specifying the object. Our approach exploits the fact that human vision is surprisingly tolerant of certain (sometimes enormous) physical inaccuracies. Thus, it may be possible to produce a visually compelling …

Effectiveness And Kinetics Of Ferrate As A Disinfectant For Ballast Water, Andrea L. Jessen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The introduction of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) and bacterial pathogens from discharge of ballast water by sea-faring vessels is an ongoing problem that threatens ecosystems and human health. This study investigates the disinfecting capability of ferrate in a marine environment on several organisms listed in international standards for ballast water management. Organisms were grown in a saline solution and were treated with dosages of ferrate ranging from 0.25-5.0 mg/l. A ferrate dose of 5 mg/l resulted in almost complete kill for all organisms tested. Smaller dosages have also been very effective, particularly if all organic material from the nutrient broth …

Developing Emergency Preparedness Plans For Orlando International Airport (Mco) Using Microscopic Simulator Watsim, Daniel Dawson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emergency preparedness typically involves the preparation of detailed plans that can be implemented in response to a variety of possible emergencies or disruptions to the transportation system. One shortcoming of past response plans was that they were based on only rudimentary traffic analysis or in many cases none at all. With the advances in traffic simulation during the last decade, it is now possible to model many traffic problems, such as emergency management, signal control and testing of Intelligent Transportation System technologies. These problems are difficult to solve using the traditional tools, which are based on analytical methods. Therefore, emergency …

Multiple View Geometry For Video Analysis And Post-Production, Xiaochun Cao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multiple view geometry is the foundation of an important class of computer vision techniques for simultaneous recovery of camera motion and scene structure from a set of images. There are numerous important applications in this area. Examples include video post-production, scene reconstruction, registration, surveillance, tracking, and segmentation. In video post-production, which is the topic being addressed in this dissertation, computer analysis of the motion of the camera can replace the currently used manual methods for correctly aligning an artificially inserted object in a scene. However, existing single view methods typically require multiple vanishing points, and therefore would fail when only …

Modeling The Influences Of Personality Preferences On The Selection Of Instructional Strategies Inintelligent Tutoring Systems, Robert Sottilare

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis hypothesizes that a method for selecting instructional strategies (specifically media) based in part on a relationship between learning style preference and personality preference provides more relevant and understandable feedback to students and thereby higher learning effectiveness. This research investigates whether personality preferences are valid predictors of learning style preferences. Since learning style preferences are a key consideration in instructional strategies and instructional strategies are a key consideration in learning effectiveness, this thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the relationship between personality preferences and effective learning in intelligent tutoring systems (ITS). This research attempts to contribute to the …

Intrusion Detection In Wireless Sensor Networks, Hong Nhung Nguyen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are several applications that use sensor motes and researchers continue to explore additional applications. For this particular application of detecting the movement of humans through the sensor field, a set of Berkley mica2 motes on TinyOS operating system is used. Different sensors such as pressure, light, and so on can be used to identify the presence of an intruder in the field. In our case, the light sensor is chosen for the detection. When an intruder crosses the monitored environment, the system detects the changes of the light values, and any significant change meaning that a change greater than …

Modeling, Simulation, And Visualization Of 3d Lung Dynamics, Anand Santhanam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Medical simulation has facilitated the understanding of complex biological phenomenon through its inherent explanatory power. It is a critical component for planning clinical interventions and analyzing its effect on a human subject. The success of medical simulation is evidenced by the fact that over one third of all medical schools in the United States augment their teaching curricula using patient simulators. Medical simulators present combat medics and emergency providers with video-based descriptions of patient symptoms along with step-by-step instructions on clinical procedures that alleviate the patient's condition. Recent advances in clinical imaging technology have led to an effective medical visualization …

Sub-Pixel Registration In Computational Imaging And Applications To Enhancement Of Maxillofacial Ct Data, Murat Balci

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In computational imaging, data acquired by sampling the same scene or object at different times or from different orientations result in images in different coordinate systems. Registration is a crucial step in order to be able to compare, integrate and fuse the data obtained from different measurements. Tomography is the method of imaging a single plane or slice of an object. A Computed Tomography (CT) scan, also known as a CAT scan (Computed Axial Tomography scan), is a Helical Tomography, which traditionally produces a 2D image of the structures in a thin section of the body. It uses X-ray, which …

Wavelets In Real-Time Rendering, Weifeng Sun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Interactively simulating visual appearance of natural objects under natural illumination is a fundamental problem in computer graphics. 3D computer games, geometry modeling, training and simulation, electronic commerce, visualization, lighting design, digital libraries, geographical information systems, economic and medical image processing are typical candidate applications. Recent advances in graphics hardware have enabled real-time rasterization of complex scenes under artificial lighting environment. Meanwhile, pre-computation based soft shadow algorithms are proven effective under low-frequency lighting environment. Under the most practical yet popular all-frequency natural lighting environment, however, real-time rendering of dynamic scenes still remains a challenging problem. In this dissertation, we propose a …

Developing Microscopic Toll Plaza Model Using Paramics, Nezamuddin Nezamuddin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Simulation modeling is the most cost-effective way of studying real life transportation problems, either existing or anticipated, without disturbing the balance of the transportation system. There is a vast suite of simulation models available in market, ready to choose from macroscopic, mesoscopic, or microscopic in nature, to study different transportation system elements like freeways, highways, signalized and un-signalized intersections. However, most of these network simulation models, like PARAMICS, VISSIM, CORSIM … etc, do not come readily available with built in toll plaza models. On the other hand, many researchers have independently developed toll plaza models, which can only model an isolated …

Influence Map Methodology For Evaluating Systemic Safety Issues, Timothy Barth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Raising the bar in safety performance is a critical challenge for many organizations. Contributing factor taxonomies organize information on why accidents occur. Therefore, they are essential elements of accident investigations and safety reporting systems. Organizations must balance efforts to identify causes of specific accidents with efforts to evaluate systemic safety issues in order to become more proactive about improving safety. This research successfully addressed two problems: (1) limited methods and metrics exist to support the design of effective taxonomies, and (2) influence relationships between contributing factors are not explicitly modeled within a taxonomy. The primary result of the taxonomic relationship …

The Effectiveness Of A Specifically Designed Green Roof Stormwater Treatment System Irrigated With Recycled Stormwater Runoff To Achieve Pollutant Removal And Stormwater Volume Reduction, Michael Hardin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

One of our greatest threats to surface-water quality is polluted stormwater runoff. In this research, investigated is the use of a green roof irrigated with recycled stormwater runoff to remove pollutants from stormwater runoff and reduce the volume of stormwater runoff leaving developed areas. The green roof properties of interest are the filtration and biological processes as well as the roof's ability to hold water and increase evapotranspiration, reducing the volume of stormwater runoff from the source. Because of the above mentioned reasons the experiment consists of a water quality analysis and a water budget done on several experimental chambers …

Iterchanging Discrete Event Simulationprocess Interaction Modelsusing The Web Ontology Language - Owl, Lee Lacy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Discrete event simulation development requires significant investments in time and resources. Descriptions of discrete event simulation models are associated with world views, including the process interaction orientation. Historically, these models have been encoded using high-level programming languages or special purpose, typically vendor-specific, simulation languages. These approaches complicate simulation model reuse and interchange. The current document-centric World Wide Web is evolving into a Semantic Web that communicates information using ontologies. The Web Ontology Language – OWL, was used to encode a Process Interaction Modeling Ontology for Discrete Event Simulations (PIMODES). The PIMODES ontology was developed using ontology engineering processes. Software was …

Computational Sciences: At The Intersection Of Science And Engineering - Case Study For Academic And Research Programs, Menas Kafatos, P. A. Becker, Z. Boybeyi

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

No abstract provided.

Recent Trends In Robot-Assisted Therapy Environments To Improve Real-Life Functional Performance After Stroke, Michelle J. Johnson

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Upper and lower limb robotic tools for neuro-rehabilitation are effective in reducing motor impairment but they are limited in their ability to improve real world function. There is a need to improve functional outcomes after robot-assisted therapy. Improvements in the effectiveness of these environments may be achieved by incorporating into their design and control strategies important elements key to inducing motor learning and cerebral plasticity such as mass-practice, feedback, task-engagement, and complex problem solving.

This special issue presents nine articles. Novel strategies covered in this issue encourage more natural movements through the use of virtual reality and real objects and …

Rice Processing: Milling And Value-Added Effects, Rebecca C. Schramm

LSU Master's Theses

The ultimate goal of this research is to characterize data from the laboratory, pilot, and industrial scale rice mills. Pilot and laboratory scale data are presented in this research. Two long grain rice cultivars were milled with two different scale mills. Cheniere and Cypress were milled with a McGill No. 2 mill and a pilot scale mill (Satake). Both material streams, rice kernels and bran, were collected and weighed. Measurements of Degree of milling, transparency, and whiteness were made with a milling meter (Satake). Yield and bran fraction were calculated. Samples of the bran were heat stabilized and prepared for …

Space-Time Block Coding For Multiple Transmit Antennas Over Time-Selective Fading Channels, Ioannis Erotokritou

LSU Master's Theses

The last decade we have witnessed an extraordinary growing interest in the field of wireless communications. Wireless industry has recently turned into a technology known as Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) to minimize errors and optimize data speed. This is done by using multiple transmit and receive antennas, as well as appropriate space-time block code techniques. Due the fact that time-selective fading channels exist, the assumption that the channel is being static over the length of the codeword does not apply in this thesis. The channel state varies over the number of signal intervals, and in such case the orthogonality of the …

Development Of An Inexpensive Guidance System For Agricultural Purposes, Goutam Jagannadha Nistala

LSU Master's Theses

Robotics is a rapidly growing technology and robots have pervaded into most of the industries. Robotics and automation are designed to remove the human factor from the labor intensive and monotonous work and thereby decrease the associated costs. The application of robotics to agriculture is fairly recent. Robotic applications in agriculture vary from autonomous row-guidance tractors to fruit picking robots. Similarly, soil testing and soil sampling is one area in agriculture where automation of tasks and the employment of an autonomous robot would be of great use to consultants and farmers employing site specific farming techniques. Soil testing is an …

Erosion Control Products From Sugarcane Bagasse, Irina Dinu

LSU Master's Theses

The erosion control industry uses different types of geosynthetics in order to mitigate the negative impact that erosion has on the environment. One of the most rapidly growing segments within this industry is the natural mats and blankets market. With new environmental regulations and enforcement, the demand for these natural products has considerably increased because of their biodegradability, good moisture retention, low cost and environmentally friendly image. The goal of this present work was to develop a continuous manufacturing process for sugarcane bagasse mats, which could be implemented in the local sugar mills and could provide an economic benefit to …

Instantaneously Trained Neural Networks With Complex And Quaternion Inputs, Adityan V. Rishiyur

LSU Master's Theses

Neural network architectures such as backpropagation networks, perceptrons or generalized Hopfield networks can handle complex inputs but they require a large amount of time and resources for the training process. This thesis investigates instantaneously trained feedforward neural networks that can handle complex and quaternion inputs. The performance of the basic algorithm has been analyzed and shown how it provides a plausible model of human perception and understanding of images. The motivation for studying quaternion inputs is their use in representing spatial rotations that find applications in computer graphics, robotics, global navigation, computer vision and the spatial orientation of instruments. The …

Enhanced Degradation Of Phenanthrene And Benzo(A)Pyrene In A Field-Contaminated Sediment Inhabited By Ilyodrilus Templetoni: A Microcosm Study, Marilou Montevirgen Nabatilan

LSU Master's Theses

The influence of the oligochaete Ilyodrilus templetoni on the degradation of phenanthrene and benzo(a)pyrene present in a field-contaminated sediment was studied in microcosm experiments. Results indicate an enhanced degradation of phenanthrene and benzo(a)pyrene in microcosms inhabited by I. templetoni. Total phenanthrene reduction was observed at an average of 9.78 % in worm microcosms, while no reduction was observed in the control microcosms. Benzo(a)pyrene reduction, on the other hand, was determined at 78.60 % and 30.04 % in worm and control microcosms, respectively. The lowest concentrations of these PAHs at the end of 97-day study were observed well below the surface …

Modeling Fabrication And Characterization Of A Bio-Micro Thermoelectric Device For Highly Localized Temperature Control, Aparna Prabhakar

LSU Master's Theses

There is an ever expanding interaction between the fields of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and biology to develop devices to monitor, control and act on living systems. Particularly in the field of cryobiology, there is a need to monitor and control temperature at the cellular level. An important step towards achieving this aim is to fabricate an array of microscale thermoelectric actuators. As a first step for towards achieving such localized control of temperatures in cells and tissues, an array of individually addressable micro-thermoelectric coolers (µTECs) were modeled, characterized, and fabricated. Prefabrication experimentation and modeling were carried out to understand the …

A Comparative Analysis Of Hurricane Evacuation Traffic Conditions Using Static And Dynamic Traffic Assignments, Santosh Kumar Andem

LSU Master's Theses

This study compares link flows of evacuation traffic using Static Traffic Assignment (STA) with those obtained from Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) and observed traffic counts. The analysis is conducted on a sample of households from South Carolina who evacuated in the face of hurricane Floyd in 1999. The results indicate that traditional static models have the potential to significantly underestimate congestion levels in the network, and DTA models account for nonuniform demand and traffic dynamics in hurricane evacuation much more realistically. From observed traffic counts, traffic volumes vary considerably during an evacuation and the DTA flow estimates generally reproduced these …

The Bioturbation Transport Of Chemicals In Surface Soils, Maria D. Rodriguez

LSU Master's Theses

Large quantities of chemicals, such as pesticides, fertilizers, and industrial wastes, have been found throughout the environment raising concerns due to their ecological impacts and implications to human health. Soil is the most important repository of many organic chemicals in the environment. The objective of the present study was to determine the importance of the soil solid phase in the transport of chemicals in soils, and yield quantitative information to better describe bioturbation and its role in the movement of soil particles. Vertical movement of chemicals in the soil solid phase occurs by mixing mechanisms, such as bioturbation, cryoturbation, and …

The Design Of An Undergraduate Degree Program In Computer & Digital Forensics, Gary C. Kessler, Michael E. Schirling

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Champlain College formally started an undergraduate degree program in Computer & Digital Forensics in 2003. The underlying goals were that the program be multidisciplinary, bringing together the law, computer technology, and the basics of digital investigations; would be available as on online and oncampus offering; and would have a process-oriented focus. Success of this program has largely been due to working closely with practitioners, maintaining activity in events related to both industry and academia, and flexibility to respond to ever-changing needs. This paper provides an overview of how this program was conceived, developed, and implemented; its evolution over time; and …