Digital Commons Network^™

Optofluidic Glucose Sensor Utilizing An Epoxy-Based, Transparent Dry Film Resist, Zhan Gao, Sijia Gong, Chang Soo Kim, David B. Henthorn

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

An enzymatic, fluorescent glucose sensor was constructed with a novel epoxy-Based, optically transparent dry film resist (PerMX 3000 series, DuPont). This material was utilized as the main active material for fluidic structure and optical interrogation. This sensor was based on the enzymatic reaction of glucose oxidase (GOD) and utilized a ruthenium complex fluorophore as the reporting agent. Both the oxygen-sensitive ruthenium complex and GOD were incorporated into poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG)-Based hydrogel materials, which were lithographically patterned and embedded inside the PerMX fluidic channel after wafer-bonding process. the optofluidic sensing platform with this embedded sensing elements exhibited a wide dynamic …

Fiscal Year 2011 Fhwa-536 Report For The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Steven Douglas Kreis, Candice Y. Wallace, Bryan Gibson, Sarah M. Mccormack

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) requires state transportation agencies to submit a biennial report on local highway finances. The purpose of these reports is to provide FHWA with the data it needs to capture the financing of highway activities at the local level. Based on this information, it can identify trends in revenue, expenditures, investments, and program development, and in turn make decisions about future investments. The report, FHWA-536, asks agencies to report on four areas of local highway finance: 1) disposition of highway-user revenues; 2) revenues used for roads and streets identified by source and funding type; 3) road …

Mahalanobis-Taguchi System As A Multi-Sensor Based Decision Making Prognostics Tool For Centrifugal Pump Failures, Ahmet Soylemezoglu, Sarangapani Jagannathan, Can Saygin

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel Mahalanobis Taguchi System (MTS) based fault detection, isolation, and prognostics scheme is presented. the proposed scheme fuses data from multiple sensors into a single system level performance metric using Mahalanobis Distance (MD) and generates fault clusters based on MD values. MD thresholds derived from the clustering analysis are used for fault detection and isolation. When a fault is detected, the prognostics scheme, which monitors the progression of the MD values over time, is initiated. Then, using a linear approximation, time to failure is estimated. the performance of the scheme has been validated via experiments performed on a mono-block …

Design And Fabrication Of Nanofluidic Systems For Biomolecule Characterizations, Orain Ansel Hibbert

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nanofluidic channel systems were designed and fabricated by combining MEMS microfabrication with AFM nanolithography. In the fabrication process flow, photolithography was first utilized to pattern microfluidic channels and reservoirs on a 4" Pyrex substrate. Subsequently, atomic force microscopy (AFM) based nanolithography was used to mechanically fabricate nanochannels to connect the microreservoirs which formed the inlet and outlet of the nanofluidic system. A Tap190 Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) AFM tip with a force constant of 48 N/m and a radius of less than 15 nm was used as the nanolithography tool. The resultant nanochannel ranges from 20 to 80 µm in length …

Synthesis Of Zinc Oxide Nanorods And Use In Biosensor Applications, Anishkumar Manoharan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main aim of this research was to develop a nanorod based biosensor for biomedical applications. In this project I use zinc oxide nanorods as the bio-material for biosensor. I fabricated these nanorods using a solution-based technique. Initially I coated a zinc oxide seed layer as the base. This seed layer was then annealed at 350 degrees for almost 1 hour. As a next step, interdigitated electrodes were fabricated on the top of the seed layer using a lift off process. The zinc oxide nanorods were then grown at 90 degrees for almost 4 hours along the electrodes. In this …

Application Of The Empirical Mode Decomposition On The Characterization And Forecasting Of The Arrival Data Of An Enterprise Cluster, Linh Bao Ngo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Characterization and forecasting are two important processes in capacity planning. While they are closely related, their approaches have been different. In this research, a decomposition method called Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) has been applied as a preprocessing tool in order to bridge the input of both characterization and forecasting processes of the job arrivals of an enterprise cluster. Based on the facts that an enterprise cluster follows a standard preset working schedule and that EMD has the capability to extract hidden patterns within a data stream, we have developed a set of procedures that can preprocess the data for characterization …

Location-Aware Traffic Management On Mobile Phones, Sarath Krishna Mandava

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The growing number of mobile phone users is a primary cause of congestion in cellular networks. Therefore, cellular network providers have turned to expensive and differentiated data plans. Unfortunately, as the number of smartphone users keeps increasing, changing data plans only provides a temporary solution. A more permanent solution is offloading 3G traffic to networks in orthogonal frequency bands. One such plausible network is open Wi-Fi, which is free by definition. As Wi-Fi networks become ubiquitous, there are several areas where there is simultaneous Wi-Fi and 3G coverage. In this thesis, we study the feasibility of offloading 3G traffic to …

Detection-Assisted Object Tracking By Mobile Cameras, Li He

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Tracking-by-detection is a class of new tracking approaches that utilizes recent development of object detection algorithms. This type of approach performs object detection for each frame and uses data association algorithms to associate new observations to existing targets. Inspired by the core idea of the tracking-by-detection framework, we propose a new framework called detection-assisted tracking where object detection algorithm provides help to the tracking algorithm when such help is necessary; thus object detection, a very time consuming task, is performed only when needed. The proposed framework is also able to handle complicated scenarios where cameras are allowed to move, and …

Fault-Tree Model For Bridge Collapse Risk Analysis, Caitlyn Davis-Mcdaniel

All Theses

Bridges are vital components of the United States surface transportation infrastructure and, moreover, support the growth of our nation's economy. However, over the past few decades the design capacity and service condition of many bridges in the U.S. has been challenged. Numerous incidents of bridge collapse call for an urgent need to develop a systematic method of assessing the failure risks and identifying the initiating events that can lead to a bridge collapse. This thesis presents a process of bridge failure risk analysis through fault-tree modeling and identification of specific countermeasures, to minimize failure risk, related to structural health monitoring …

Interfacial Force Field Parameterization Using The Dual Force Field Charmm Program For The Accurate Simulation Of Peptide-Surface Interaction, Nadeem Vellore

All Dissertations

Protein adsorption to solid material surfaces is a complex phenomenon and various factors play a role in controlling these processes. Inherent limitations to understand these biological interactions using experimental approaches alone have led to the possibility of exploring these systems using computational molecular simulation methodologies. Before confidence can be placed on these computational protocols, however, rigorous validation of the applicability of these methods to accurately represent protein adsorption processes is needed. In this research, we evaluated the use of all-atom empirical force field (FF) based simulations using the CHARMM simulation program and FF for the study of peptide adsorption processes …

Effect Of Relative Humidity And Temperature Control On In-Cabin Thermal Comfort State, Ali Alahmer

All Dissertations

This dissertation discusses the effect of manipulating the relative humidity RH levels inside vehicular cabins on the thermal comfort and human occupants' thermal sensation. Three different techniques are used to investigate this effect. Firstly, thermodynamic and psychometric analyses are used to incorporate the effect of changing RH along with the dry bulb temperature on the human comfort window. Specifically, the study computes the effect of changing the relative humidity on the amount of heat rejected from the passenger compartment and the effect on occupants comfort zone. A practical system implementation is also discussed in terms of an evaporative cooler design. …

Highly Conductive Carbon Nanotube Fibers For Biomedical Applications, Vijoya Sa

All Dissertations

We developed a wet spinning process for the formation of polymeric fibers with high loading of single walled carbon nanotubes. The dissertation consists of five chapters. In the first chapter, the research goals were formulated and the art and technologies of fiber spinning from carbon nanotubes were critically analyzed. The next three chapters report the original results. Last chapter summarizes all the findings.
In the second chapter, we describe a surfactant based method of stabilization of carbon nanotube dispersions. The conditions of stability of nanotube dispersions in aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate were analyzed. Using surface tension isotherms, the …

Electrical Coupling Between Micropatterned Cardiomyocytes And Stem Cells, Zhen Ma

All Dissertations

To understand how stem cells functionally couple with native cardiomyocytes is crucial for cell-based therapies to restore the loss of cardiomyocytes that occurs during heart infarction and other cardiac diseases. Due to the complexity of the in vivo environment, our knowledge of cell coupling is heavily dependent on cell-culture models. However, conventional in vitro studies involve undefined cell shapes and random length of cell-cell contacts in addition to the presence of multiple homotypic and heterotypic contacts between interacting cells. Thus, it has not been feasible to study electrical coupling corresponding to isolated specific types of cell contact modes.
To address …

Environmental Sensor Anomaly Detection Using Learning Machines, Erick F. Conde

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The search for improvements in the quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) of real-time environmental measurements has been a field well exploited in recent years. These measurements describe actual environmental conditions and processes that provide relevant information upon which water quality management decisions are based. In situ sensors (located at the site of interest) are commonly used for such real-time measurement purposes. However, the performance of these types of sensors can be affected by such things as human factors, lack of necessary maintenance, flaws on the transmission line or any part of the sensor, and unexpected changes in the sensors surrounding conditions. …

Different Motion Cues Are Used To Estimate Time-To-Arrival For Frontoparallel And Loming Trajectories, Finnegan J. Calabro, Scott A. Beardsley, Lucia M. Vaina

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Estimation of time-to-arrival for moving objects is critical to obstacle interception and avoidance, as well as to timing actions such as reaching and grasping moving objects. The source of motion information that conveys arrival time varies with the trajectory of the object raising the question of whether multiple context-dependent mechanisms are involved in this computation. To address this question we conducted a series of psychophysical studies to measure observers’ performance on time-to-arrival estimation when object trajectory was specified by angular motion (“gap closure” trajectories in the frontoparallel plane), looming (colliding trajectories, TTC) or both (passage courses, TTP). We measured performance …

Efficient Traffic Crash And Snow Complaint Gis System, Anthony B. Ngo

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

We describe the design and implementation of a traffic crash and snow complaint GIS system developed for the Lincoln Public Works department. We also describe a novel geocoding algorithm that was used to move data from the older Criminal Justice Information System, which is a relational database, to the new GIS system. In addition, we describe the implementation of several indexing algorithms that enable the system to efficiently answer rectangular range queries and queries about the relative locations of moving objects. Finally, in many applications (on-line analysis or mobile GIS), we need to execute spatial query efficiently (fast and small), …

Electronic Monitoring Of Hand Hygiene Compliance In An Inpatient Hospital Setting, Christopher M. Masek

Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Proper hand hygiene is known to reduce hospital acquired infections. Currently the most widely accepted method used to measure hand hygiene compliance is through direct observation. This method often provides data that may not accurately represent true hand hygiene compliance due to such factors such as the Hawthorne Effect. Perhaps a better approach is to use counting devices to capture hand hygiene opportunities and activities. This thesis focuses on the measurement of hand hygiene activities of all individuals that either work or visit an inpatient medical ward including healthcare workers, patients and visitors at the patient’s bedside for non-isolation patients. …

Surface Modification Of Liposomes Containing Nanoemulsions, Jonathan Michael Hartley

Theses and Dissertations

Many attempts have been made to make cancer therapy more selective and less detrimental to the health of the patients. Nanoparticles have emerged as a way to solve some of the problems of traditional chemotherapy. Nanoparticles can provide protection for the therapeutic from degradation or clearance, as well as protection to healthy tissue from the damaging effects of chemotherapy drugs. Researchers are pursuing different strategies but all have the same goals of improving the outcomes of cancer patients. The field of controlled release of drugs has increased significantly in hopes of better treating diseases like cancer. Improved control of drug …

Investigations On The Corrosion Resistance Of Metallic Bipolar Plates (Bpp) In Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (Pemfc) - Understanding Of The Effects Of Material, Coating And Manufacturing, Ender Dur

Theses and Dissertations

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) systems are promising technology for contributing to meet the deficiency of world`s clean and sustainable energy requirements in the near future. Metallic bipolar plate (BPP) as one of the most significant components of PEMFC device accounts for the largest part of the fuel cell`s stack. Corrosion for metallic bipolar plates is a critical issue, which influences the performance and durability of PEMFC. Corrosion causes adverse impacts on the PEMFC`s performance jeopardizing commercialization. This research is aimed at determining the corrosion resistance of metallic BPPs, particularly stainless steels, used in PEMFC from different aspects. Material …

Differential Gene Expression To Investigate The Effects Of Low-Level Electrochemical Currents On Bacillus Subtilis., Robert Szkotak, Tagbo H R Niepa, Nikhil Jawrani, Jeremy L. Gilbert, Marcus B. Jones, Dacheng Ren

Biomedical and Chemical Engineering - All Scholarship

With the emergence and spread of multidrug resistant bacteria, effective methods to eliminate both planktonic bacteria and those embedded in surface-attached biofilms are needed. Electric currents at uA-mA/cm2 range are known to reduce the viability of bacteria. However, the mechanism of such effects is still not well understood. In this study, Bacillus subtilis was used as the model Gram-positive species to systematically investigate the effects of electrochemical currents on bacteria including the morphology, viability, and gene expression of planktonic cells, and viability of biofilm cells. The data suggest that weak electrochemical currents can effectively eliminate B. subtilis both as planktonic …

Comparative Life Cycle Assessments Of Lignocellulosic And Algae Biomass Conversion To Various Energy Products Through Different Pathways, Maria Juliana Pinilla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bioenergy has the potential to reduce the world's dependence on fossil fuels, and to decrease the CO2 emissions due to fossil combustion. Lignocellulosic and algae biomass have been presented as promising feedstocks for bioenergy production.

In this study, a comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has been developed to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with different energy products via different routes across the whole life of algal and lignocellulosic bioenergy. Results were compared per energy basis, the production of 1 million BTU of energy products.

For the development of the comparative algae biomass conversion LCA, algal biomass was converted to liquid …

The Effectiveness Of Anaerobic Baffled Reactor And Rotating Biological Contactor In Batik Wastewater Treatment, Augustinus Ignatius Kristijanto, Widhi Handayani, Purwanti Asih Anna Levi

Makara Journal of Technology

Batik is one of popular arts of Indonesia. The batik industries in Sragen, Central Java, are prepared to compete in global market. In order to realize that objective, batik products should fulfill some qualifications, one of which is “environmental friendliness”. As batik production is usually generating wastewater which pollutes the environment, the technology of wastewater treatment should be developed to solve the problem. This preliminary study has been done to assess the effectiveness of anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) and rotating biological contactor (RBC) in batik wastewater treatment. In 40 days of treatment period, the ABR performance in reducing pollutants showed …

Physical Characterization And Desulfurization Of Biobriquette Using Calcium-Based Adsorbent, Mahidin Mahidin, Asri Gani, Khairil Khairil

Makara Journal of Technology

Combustion of coal and co-combustion of their co-fuel contribute to gas emissions. Among the gas emissions are SOx, NOx, CO and CO2. Introduction of calcium based adsorbent is addressed to absorb SO2 that release to the atmosphere during the combustion process. Objective of the research is at first to observe the physical characteristics of biobriquettes as a function of briquette compositions (coal to palm kernel shell ratios) and Ca/S ratios (Ca in adsorbent and S in briquette) using a natural adsorbent (shellfish waste). The second objective is to investigate desulfurization characteristics as a function of Ca/S ratios and desulfurization temperatures …

Migration And Invasion Of Brain Tumors, Richard A. Able, Jr., Veronica Dudu, Maribel Vazquez

Publications and Research

Recent advances in molecular biology have led to new insights in the development, growth and infiltrative behaviors of primary brain tumors (Demuth and Berens, 2004; Huse and Holland, 2010; Johnson et al., 2009; Kanu et al., 2009). These tumors are derived from various brain cell lineages and have been historically classified on the basis of morphological and, more recently, immunohistochemical features with less emphasis on their underlying molecular pathogenesis (Huse and Holland, 2010). The detailed molecular characterization of brain tumors has laid the groundwork for augmentation of standard treatment with patient-specific designed targeted therapies (Johnson et al., 2009; Kanu et …

Flexible Connection Elastomeric Rubber As A Pounding Resisting Element Between Two Adjacent Buildings, Yuskar Lase, James Jatmiko Oetomo

Makara Journal of Technology

Flexible Connection Elastomeric Rubber as a Pounding Resisting Element between Two Adjacent Buildings To solve pounding problem of two adjacent buildings, structural designer usually employs a dilatation between the structures or make the two structures as a monolith structure. Other alternative is by using an elastomeric rubber as a pounding resisting element between the two structures. Effectiveness in applying elastomeric rubber component as flexible connection of two adjacent structures is the main focus of this paper. Various simulations such as structure models, earthquake excitations and openings in gap element are studied. Observation of maximum structural responses will be performed for …

Estimating Correlation Under Interval Uncertainty, Ali Jalal-Kamali, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many engineering situations, we are interested in finding the correlation ρ between different quantities x and y based on the values x_i and y_i of these quantities measured in different situations i. Measurements are never absolutely accurate; it is therefore necessary to take this inaccuracy into account when estimating the correlation ρ. Sometimes, we know the probabilities of different values of measurement errors, but in many cases, we only know the upper bounds Δ_xi and Δ_yi on the corresponding measurement errors. In such situations, after we get the measurement results X_i and Y_{i …}

Electric Vehicle Safety, Art Maccarley

Electrical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Constraint Problems: Computability Is Equivalent To Continuity, Martine Ceberio, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In many practical situations, we would like to compute the set of all possible values that satisfy given constraints. It is known that even for computable (constructive) constraints, computing such set is not always algorithmically possible. One reason for this algorithmic impossibility is that sometimes, the dependence of the desired set on the parameters of the problem is not continuous, while all computable functions of real variables are continuous. In this paper, we show that this discontinuity is the only case when the desired set cannot be computed. Specifically, we provide an algorithm that computes such a set for all …

Effects Of Column Stiffness On Seismic Behavior Of Steel Plate Shear Walls, Xuhua Guo

Master's Theses

Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are a lateral force resisting system consisting of thin infill steel plates surrounded by boundary frame members. The infill steel plates are allowed to buckle in shear and subsequently form diagonal tension field actions during earthquake events. Hysteretic energy dissipation of this system is primarily achieved through yielding of the infill plates. Conceptually, in a SPSW system with ideally rigid columns pinned to ground, the infill plates at different stories will yield simultaneously as a result of the lateral loads. However, when the columns become flexible, infill plate yielding may initially occur at one story …

Analysis Of 26" And 29" Wheel Mountain Bikes, Jacob Publicover, David Wang, Alex Warring

Mechanical Engineering

There are two major mountain bike diameter wheel sizes on the market today, but with two different options, one would naturally wonder, “Which one is best?” During the course of this project, 26 and 29 inch wheel mountain bikes were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, using a variety of test methods, from heart rate monitoring to serial data acquisition to computer simulated analyses; static, dynamic, theoretical, and subjective tests were administered.