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Suppressing Reactive Oxygen Species Via Application Of Antioxidant Supramolecular Polymers, Zacchaeus Wallace

Honors Theses

Cardiovascular diseases along with various other disease conditions are characterized by an upregulation in reactive oxygen species (ROS), which can overwhelm homeostatic processes in the body, resulting in cellular apoptosis and severe oxidative damage. The lack of clinically approved treatments to regulate or alleviate this elevated ROS presence underscores the need for novel therapeutic strategies. While antioxidants promote cell rescue through ROS scavenging, their clinical translation is impeded by insufficient bioavailable concentrations at the source of injury. The opportunity to apply antioxidant supramolecular polymers of peptide amphiphiles (PAs) is an exciting prospect of research to combat corresponding issues. For this …

Analysis Of Drying Behavior Of Robocasted Barium Titanate, Abigail Ortega

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Finding an adequate ceramic formulation for material extrusion is a time-consuming process. The necessary equipment may be unavailable to perform the desired test. This study demonstrated an alternative to observe a material after extrusion to understand its drying process. This study focused on 55 solid loading volume percent and a 39 solid loading volume percent, each with two different binder treatments focusing on fresh same day made binder, a 30 day old, aged binder and lastly an artificial binder obtained by a fuming process. Firstly, a formulation was created and loaded onto a pressure-based syringe to be extruded with a …

Bcl2 Mediated Targeted Drug Delivery For The Treatment Of Kidney Fibrosis And Stomach Cancer, Humayra Afrin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Apoptosis, the programmed death of cells, is primarily regulated by a delicate balance between pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic signals. The Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma 2) family of proteins acts as anti-apoptotic agents, promoting cell survival. Dysregulation of these proteins is a common occurrence in conditions such as cancer and fibrosis, where overexpression of anti-apoptotic members can foster tumor cell survival and fibroblast activation. In this study, our aim was to explore the therapeutic potential of Bcl-2 inhibitors, both as a small molecule (specifically Navitoclax (Navi)), inhibitor and as Bcl-2 siRNA, for targeted treatment. Intravenous administration of Navi often leads to thrombocytopenia, necessitating …

Reducing Carbon Emissions With Returned Concrete, John M. Maxwell Jr.

Construction Management

The concrete industry is one of the most energy-intensive sectors of construction. Specifically, the cement production aspect is the most energy intensive, and produces the most carbon emissions. Concrete, a material ubiquitous with nearly every facet of construction; certain types of structures are composed of nearly all concrete. Production of cement is one of the biggest contributors to emissions within the industry. There have been initiatives to reduce or offset emissions from this process, through things like carbon capture, and the purchase of carbon or emissions credits. The objective of this paper was to investigate a new method of carbon …

A Photocrosslinkable And Hemostatic Bilayer Wound Dressing Based On Gelatin Methacrylate Hydrogel And Polyvinyl Alcohol Foam For Skin Regeneration, Asghar Eskandarinia, Mohammad H. Morowvat, Seyyed V. Niknezhad, Moloud Amini Baghbadorani, Martin Michálek, Si Chen, Mohammad M. Nemati, Manica Negahdaripour, Reza Heidari, Amir Azadi, Younes Ghasemi

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

The enormous potential of multifunctional bilayer wound dressings in various medical interventions for wound healing has led to decades of exploration into this field of medicine. However, it is usually difficult to synthesize a single hydrogel with all the required capabilities simultaneously. This paper proposes a bilayer model with an outer layer intended for hydrogel wound treatment. By adding gelatin methacrylate (GelMA) and tannic acid (TA) to the hydrogel composition and using polyvinyl alcohol-carboxymethyl chitosan (PVA-CMCs) foam layer as supports, a photocrosslinkable hydrogel with an optimal formulation was created. The hydrogels were then examined using a range of analytical procedures, …

L-Ergothioneine Slows The Progression Of Age-Related Hearing Loss In Cba/Caj Mice, Mark A. Bauer, Parveen Bazard, Alejandro A. Acosta, Nidhi Bangalore, Lina Elessaway, Mark Thivierge, Moksheta Chellani, Xiaoxia Zhu, Bo Ding, Joseph P. Walton, Robert D. Frisina

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The naturally occurring amino acid, l-ergothioneine (EGT), has immense potential as a therapeutic, having shown promise in the treatment of other disease models, including neurological disorders. EGT is naturally uptake into cells via its specific receptor, OCTN1, to be utilized by cells as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. In our current study, EGT was administered over a period of 6 months to 25–26-month-old CBA/CaJ mice as a possible treatment for age-related hearing loss (ARHL), since presbycusis has been linked to higher levels of cochlear oxidative stress, apoptosis, and chronic inflammation. Results from the current study indicate that EGT can prevent aging …

Emulsion Stability, Rheological Properties, And Combustion Characteristics Of Water-Jojoba Biofuel Emulsion, Ihab Mohamed Helal

Theses

This thesis comprehensively investigates the stability, rheological properties, and engine performance implications of Water in Jojoba Biodiesel (WJBD) emulsion. The research delves into multiple aspects, including the influence of diverse surfactants and water concentrations on emulsion stability. It also yields valuable insights into the development of stable water in jojoba biodiesel emulsions, specifically tailored for diesel engines. These insights contribute significantly to the body of knowledge of positioning emulsion fuels as viable alternative to traditional diesel fuels. The anticipated benefits include notable reductions in emissions, improvement in combustion efficiency, and lower production cost. Importantly, this study underscores the critical importance …

Semi-Annual Progress Report #14, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

Semi-Annual Progress Reports

No abstract provided.

Characterizing Brain And Skull Mechanics In The Minipig Using Magnetic Resonance Elastography, Shuaihu Wang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Computational models and simulation are important tools to investigate the mechanisms underlying traumatic brain injury (TBI); their accuracy depends strongly on accurate model parameters, including the mechanical properties of the brain and its interactions with the skull. However, most existing TBI modeling studies are performed using material properties derived from animal tissue obtained after death. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) provides a non-invasive method for estimating the mechanical properties of soft tissue. The overall objective of this thesis is to characterize the biomechanical properties of brain tissue and brain-skull interface in the minipig by using MRE. This was achieved through pursuit …

Production Of Biofertilizer From Fruit And Garden Waste, Neema Msuya

Tanzania Journal of Engineering and Technology (TJET)

The project focused on the production of bio-fertilizer from fruit and garden waste, with a specific emphasis on utilizing pineapple tops in the composting process. The objective was to produce and assess the properties of the bio fertilizer obtained from this process and evaluate its potential application in agriculture. In this study, the composting process was done in a 0.7 m long, 0.85 wide and 1.1 m high vessel, and 0.238 m3 pineapple top wastes, resulting in 0.35 m3 of biofertilizer. The bio fertilizer produced exhibited favorable characteristics, including a moisture content of 36%, pH of 7.1, and a total …

Designed For Life: Unearthing Just And Sustainable Urban Design Through The Daylighting Of Phalen Creek, Corgan R. Archuleta

Geography Honors Projects

This thesis conceptualizes a relational approach to urban design. Often separated from justice, I argue urban design can shape spaces to enable respectful and reciprocal human and more-than- human relationships. Focusing on Phalen Creek in Saint Paul, Minnesota, I illuminate just and sustainable possibilities between ecologically sustainable and socially inclusive design. Phalen Creek was a natural waterway buried in a pipe during 20th century urbanization to be partially reconstructed through daylighting. The Indigenous and Immigrant stories driving restoration expand urban design’s liberatory potential. Combining just sustainabilities with infrastructure theory and Indigenous Knowledges, I contend urban design offers a relational approach …

Kinetics-Based Inference Of Environment-Dependent Microbial Interactions And Their Dynamic Variation, Hyun-Seob Song, Na-Rae Lee, Aimee K. Kessell, Hugh C. Mccullough, Seo-Young Park, Kang Zhou, Dong-Yup Lee

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Microbial communities in nature are dynamically evolving as member species change their interactions subject to environmental variations. Accounting for such context-dependent dynamic variations in interspecies interactions is critical for predictive ecological modeling. In the absence of generalizable theoretical foundations, we lack a fundamental understanding of how microbial interactions are driven by environmental factors, significantly limiting our capability to predict and engineer community dynamics and function. To address this issue, we propose a novel theoretical framework that allows us to represent interspecies interactions as an explicit function of environmental variables (such as substrate concentrations) by combining growth kinetics and a generalized …

Farm Electricity System Simulator (Fess): A Platform For Simulating Electricity Utilisation On Dairy Farms, F. Buckley, J. Upton, R. Prendergast, L. Shalloo, Michael D. Murphy

Publications

The objective of this paper was to define, validate and demonstrate a model capable of accurately simulating dairy farm electricity consumption across varying herd and parlour sizes, to facilitate research investigating renewable energy systems (RES) and demand side management (DSM). The Farm Electricity System Simulator (FESS) was developed using grey-box modelling techniques utilizing empirical data for parameter tuning. Empirical data were gathered from nine spring calving, pasture based dairy farms located in the Republic of Ireland. A k-means clustering analysis was conducted, separating the farms into three, near homogenous groups, from which representative farms were selected. FESS was trained using …

Winter Precipitation Analysis: Comparing Integrated Multi-Satellite Retrievals For Global Precipitation Measurement (Imerg) From Satellites With Ground Instrumentation Observation, Zoe Alber

Honors Scholar Theses

The main goal of the following thesis is to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of satellite-based precipitation measurements during a winter storm event by comparing them with ground-based observations. This study is divided into several key sections, each addressing a specific aspect of the analysis. The introduction provides background information and establishes the scope of the study, highlighting the importance of accurately measuring winter precipitation for forecasting and climate studies. The subsequent literature review explores the historical context, modern uses, and future trends in winter storm detection and precipitation modeling. Then, this study explores conceptual framework utilized throughout the research …

A 2-D Numerical Model For Evaluating Daylight Penetration In Short Tunnels For Enhanced Driver Safety, Joachim James

Master's Theses

It is commonly assumed that daylight will adequately penetrate short tunnels, leading to the misconception that artificial lighting is unnecessary during the daytime. Past studies revealed higher frequency of crashes in short tunnels and despite that there is lack of national guidelines warranting artificial lighting for short tunnels. Inadequately lit tunnels pose safety risks, while excessive lighting can be costly. Hence, it becomes crucial to investigate the extent of daylight penetration in short tunnels and identify disappearance zones within these tunnels. This research can help determine the necessity of artificial lighting, and which specific areas of the tunnel require lighting. …

Comparison Of Four In Vitro Test Methods To Assess Nucleus Pulposus Replacement Device Expulsion Risk, Tahmanna Rahman, Matthew J. Kibble, Gianluca Harbert, Nigel Smith, Erik Brewer, Thomas P. Schaer, Nicolas Newell

Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences Departmental Research

Background

Nucleus replacement devices (NRDs) are not routinely used in clinic, predominantly due to the risk of device expulsion. Rigorous in vitro testing may enable failure mechanisms to be identified prior to clinical trials; however, current testing standards do not specify a particular expulsion test. Multiple methods have therefore been developed, complicating comparisons between NRD designs. Thus, this study assessed the effectiveness of four previously reported expulsion testing protocols; hula-hoop (Protocol 1), adapted hula-hoop (Protocol 2), eccentric cycling (Protocol 3), and ramp to failure (Protocol 4), applied to two NRDs, one preformed and one in situ curing.

Methods

Nucleus material …

Comparison Of Four In Vitro Test Methods To Assess Nucleus Pulposus Replacement Device Expulsion Risk, Tamanna Rahman, Matthew J. Kibble, Gianluca Harbert, Nigel Smith, Erik Brewer, Nicholas Newell

Rowan-Virtua School of Translational Biomedical Engineering & Sciences Departmental Research

Background: Nucleus replacement devices (NRDs) are not routinely used in clinic, predominantly due to the risk of device expulsion. Rigorous in vitro testing may enable failure mechanisms to be identified prior to clinical trials; however, current testing standards do not specify a particular expulsion test. Multiple methods have therefore been developed, complicating comparisons between NRD designs. Thus, this study assessed the effectiveness of four previously reported expulsion testing protocols; hula-hoop (Protocol 1), adapted hula-hoop (Protocol 2), eccentric cycling (Protocol 3), and ramp to failure (Protocol 4), applied to two NRDs, one preformed and one in situ curing. Methods: Nucleus material …

Aerodynamic Design And Analysis Of A Modified 2006 Mazda Miata, William N. Recher

Honors College Theses

Aerodynamic forces developed by automobiles have destabilizing effects at high speed. These forces tend to skew toward a vehicle’s rear which can present safety concerns, especially for rear-wheel-drive automobiles like the Mazda Miata. To address oversteer and high-speed instability, a vehicle’s design can be tailored to bring about aerodynamic balance and improve traction. LiDAR was used to bring the physical automobile into the digital space. Then, a splitter and diffuser were added to reduce the magnitude of the destabilizing forces. Next, the size and shape of the rear-wing required to balance the vehicle was calculated using a combination of parameters …

Phosphorus Soprtion Experiments: Impacts On Water Column Phosphate Concentrations In Utah Lake, Rebecca Layne Butters

Theses and Dissertations

Utah Lake, located in north-central Utah, USA, is a freshwater lake with a large surface area, shallow depth, and phosphorus-rich sediment with significant water-sediment interaction. These factors cause unique phosphorus behavior relative to other lake ecosystems, governed by sediment-water interactions. We hypothesize that benthic sediments and suspended solids act, by sorption processes, to maintain water column P concentrations that are largely insensitive to P inflows. We conducted a Phosphorus Addition Experiment to characterize sorbed P fluxes in the lake. Our experimental procedure included bench-scale laboratory experiments testing Utah Lake water and sediment with dilute and augmented P levels, as well …

Emerging Technologies For Automation In Environmental Sensing: Review, Shekhar Suman Borah, Aaditya Khanal, Prabha Sundaravadivel

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article explores the impact of automation on environmental sensing, focusing on advanced technologies that revolutionize data collection analysis and monitoring. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) defines automation as integrating hardware and software components into modern analytical systems. Advancements in electronics, computer science, and robotics drive the evolution of automated sensing systems, overcoming traditional limitations in manual data collection. Environmental sensor networks (ESNs) address challenges in weather constraints and cost considerations, providing high-quality time-series data, although issues in interoperability, calibration, communication, and longevity persist. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs), particularly unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), play an important …

Injectable And Rapidly Expandable Thrombin-Decorated Cryogels Achieve Rapid Hemostasis And High Survival Rates In A Swine Model Of Lethal Junctional Hemorrhage, Syed Muntazir Andrabi, S.M. Shatil Shahriar, Al-Murtadha Al-Gahmi, Benjamin L. Wilczewski, Mark A. Carlson, Jingwei Xie

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Effective therapies are urgently needed to stabilize patients with marginally compressible junctional hemorrhage long enough to get them to the hospital alive. Herein, we report injectable and rapidly expandable cryogels consisting of polyacrylamide and thrombin (AT cryogels) created by cryo-polymerization for the efficient management of lethal junctional hemorrhage in swine. The produced cryogels have small pore sizes and highly interconnected porous architecture with robust mechanical strength. The cryogels exhibit rapid shape memory properties and prove to be resilient against fatigue. These cryogels also show high water/blood absorption capacity, fast blood clotting effect, and enhanced adhesion of red blood cells and …

The Impact Of Using Standard Quality Measures Such As Iso 9001:2015 On Emerging Software Companies Created With Agile Methodologies., Elisa Orillac

Harrisburg University Dissertations and Theses

This qualitative research aimed to analyze the impact of applying quality measure standards, specifically ISO 9001:2015, in emerging software companies that have decided to manage their projects through Agile methodologies. While Agile methodologies are well known for their continuous delivery of software, the quality that results from these projects is not always guaranteed. This research aimed to evaluate what benefits in terms of cost, timely delivery of working software, and production have companies who already applied QMS had. Or, if applying the QMS had a negative result, why was this the case? The hypothesis for the research was that those …

Garbage Float, Gabor Papp, Max Woolverton, Scott Ulatowski, Daniel Ross, Nicholas Gayle, Bryan Merchan-Aragon, Noah Yco, Nicholas Fawcett, Jared Wright, Abdulaziz Salman G Alshahrani, Andrew Mcquire

Mechanical and Civil Engineering Student Publications

Trash pileup in our waters is an increasing problem. Removing floating plastics and debris from our ecosystem would reduce mortality rate of marine animals. Solutions for this already exist but most of them are proprietary and expensive. Therefore, an autonomous, publicly available and cheap alternative was developed to skim and clean the water surface from garbage.

Pyroscan: Wildfire Behavior Prediction System, Derek H. Thompson, Parker A. Padgett, Timothy C. Johnson

ATU Scholars Symposium

During a wildfire, it is of the utmost importance to be updated about all information of the wildfire. Wind speed, wind direction and dry grass often works as fuel for the fire allowing it to spread in multiple directions. These different factors are often issues for any firefighting organization that is trying to help fight the fire. An uncontrolled wildfire is often a threat to wildlife, property, and worse, human and animal lives. In our paper, we propose an artificial intelligence (AI) powered fire tracking and prediction application utilizing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to inform fire fighters regarding the probability …

Environmental Health Impacts Of Small-Scale Gold Mining In East Indonesia: Mercury Pollution And Nature Conservation, Tri Edhi Budhi Soesilo, Nada Ismita Hawa, Nuraeni Nuraeni

Journal of Sustainable Mining

The expansion of small-scale gold mining impacts environmental health and socioeconomic. Research in Bombana District, one of the gold mining centers in eastern Indonesia, was conducted to explore perceptions of the impact of small-scale gold mining on human health and attitudes towards environmental conservation activities related to small-scale gold mining activities. This research uses a quantitative approach with univariate tests to identify respondent characteristics, bivariate tests (Chi-square) to test relationships and frequency differences, and multivariate analysis (regression) to test the direction and magnitude of the relationship. The perception of the impact of small-scale gold mining on human health was not …

Enhancing Disease Detection In South Asian Freshwater Fish Aquaculture Through Convolutional Neural Networks, Hayin Tamut, Musfikur Rahaman, Dr. Robin Ghosh

ATU Scholars Symposium

Aquaculture expansion necessitates innovative disease detection methods for sustainable production. This study investigates the efficacy of Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) in classifying diseases affecting South Asian freshwater fish species. The dataset comprises 1747 images representing 7 class, healthy specimens and various diseases: bacterial, fungal, parasitic, and viral. The CNN architecture includes convolutional layers for feature extraction, max-pooling layers for down sampling, dense layers for classification, and dropout layers for regularization. Training employs categorical cross-entropy loss and the Adam optimizer over 30 epochs, monitoring both training and validation performance. Results indicate promising accuracy levels, with the model achieving 92.14% and test …

Mechanical Characterization Of Hemp, Jute, And Flax Based Natural Fibre Composites For Non-Structural Applications In Aircraft And Automobiles, Ravi Kumar B

Theses and Dissertations

Demand for reducing energy consumption and detrimental environmental impacts after the effective lifetime of an engineering material are the major driving factors for the development of natural fibre reinforced composites (NFRCs) in various sectors. Compared to synthetic fibre like carbon-fibres or Kevlar, natural fibres provide several benefits including light weight, inexpensive, recyclability, superior specific strength, biodegradable, non-toxic during handling, and less energy intensive during manufacturing. This doctoral work presents observations from mechanical tests and interpretations on the suitability of natural fibre reinforced composites for less heavily loaded engineering applications areas.

In the first stage, jute, flax, and hemp fibres were …

A Data-Driven Framework To Inform Sustainable Management Of Animal Manure In Rural Agricultural Regions Using Emerging Resource Recovery Technologies, Mohammed T. Zaki, Lewis Stetson Rowles, Jeff Hallowell, Kevin D. Orner

Civil Engineering & Construction: Faculty Publications

Thermochemical conversion technologies are emerging as preferred resource recovery practices for managing animal manure in agricultural regions. Although the implementation of such technologies has been previously studied, difficulties exist in maintaining balance between high rate of resource recovery and low environmental, economic, and social impacts, particularly in rural regions with limited resources. We developed a data-driven framework by integrating machine learning with life cycle thinking that can be used as an open-source tool to help overcome these barriers. The framework was applied to compare two emerging technologies: pyrolysis versus hydrothermal carbonization for managing the excess poultry litter in a rural …

Acoustothermal Transfection For Cell Therapy, Xiufang Liu, Ning Rong, Zhenhua Tian, Joseph Rich, Lili Niu, Pengqi Li, Laixin Huang, Yandai Dong, Wei Zhou, Pengfei Zhang, Yizhao Chen, Congzhi Wang, Long Meng, Tony Jun Huang, Hairong Zheng

Faculty Publications

Transfected stem cells and T cells are promising in personalized cell therapy and immunotherapy against various diseases. However, existing transfection techniques face a fundamental trade-off between transfection efficiency and cell viability; achieving both simultaneously remains a substantial challenge. This study presents an acoustothermal transfection method that leverages acoustic and thermal effects on cells to enhance the permeability of both the cell membrane and nuclear envelope to achieve safe, efficient, and high-throughput transfection of primary T cells and stem cells. With this method, two types of plasmids were simultaneously delivered into the nuclei of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with efficiencies of …

Development Of Deep Neural Architecture For Continuous Sign Language Video Generation, Natarajan B

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a deep neural network based sign language video generation framework for translating the multilingual sentences into sign videos. This thesis addresses the challenges persist with the sign language video generation such as (i) Handling longer sequences of input sentences and new words (ii) Pose estimation with higher accuracy (iii) High quality photo realistic sign gesture video generation (iv) Improving realism in sign video generation. Hence, the thesis focuses four contributions to address the above issues.

The first contribution of this thesis automates the translation of multilingual sentences into sign glosses without manual intervention by incorporating Hybrid Neural …