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Department Of Biological Systems Engineering Newsletter, Volume 3, Issue 1, June 2007

BSE Department Magazine

Contents:
Award Winning Academic Advisor
Hall of Fame 2007 Leslie W. Jochens, P.E. Leader in the Irrigation Industry
From the Department Head
John Deere Dealership Management Banquet
Alumni Profiles: Mike Henry
The Incredible, Edible Vehicle Competition
Graduation
December 2006 Graduates
May 2007 Graduates
Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experiences—UCARE
Honors Convocation
In Memoriam
Alumni News
Faculty News
Comings and Goings

Flight Physician - June, 2007, Civil Aviation Medical Association

Browse all Civil Aviation Medical Association Newsletters

A twenty page newsletter of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. The newsletter provided news about civil aviation medicine and information related to the organization.

Any (True) Statement Can Be Generalized So That It Becomes Trivial: A Simple Formalization Of D. K. Faddeev's Belief, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In his unpublished lectures on general algebra, a well-known algebraist D. K. Faddeev expressed a belief that every true mathematical statement can be generalized in such a way that it becomes trivial. To the best of our knowledge, this belief has never been formalized before. In this short paper, we provide a simple formalization (and proof) of this belief.

Evaluation Of Hf Rfid For Implanted Medical Applications, Eric Freudenthal, David Herrera, Frederick Kautz, Carlos Natividad, Alexandria Ogrey, Justin Sipla, Abimael Sosa, Carlos Betancourt, Leonardo Estevez

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Low cost HF RFID scanner subsystems that both deliver power and provide high bandwidth bidirectional communication channels have recently become available. These devices are anticipated to become ubiquitous in next-generation cell phones and enable a wide range of emerging e-commerce applications.

This paper considers the use of HF RFID to power and communicate with implantable medical devices. We successfully communicated with ten transponders that were implanted at three locations within a human cadaver. In this paper, we present measurements collected from four of these transponders that represent a wide range of transponder sizes. We also describe how RFID for medical …

Acuta Enews June 2007, Vol. 36, No. 6

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This lssue

From the President Carmine Piscopo, RCDD, ACUTA President

Board Report .............. Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State Univ., ACUTA Sec./Treasurer

Tech Talk: Waiting for TechTalk 2.0, the New, lmproved Version................. Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

DC Update ... Jeanne Jansenius, Sewanee, The University of the South

Another Hit to the Cabling Budget: Electrician Shortage = Higher Cabling Costs............. Gary Audin

FYI: Useful lnformation from the Campus.................. Student Monitor

Web Tip: What's New at acuta.org?............. Aaron Fuehrer, ACUTA lnformation Technology Manager

Sign Up Today for Preconference Seminars

lnfo Links....................... Randy Hayes, Univ. of Northern lowa

ACUTA Web Seminar: lP Video …

Prevention Of Voc Releases From Bridge Painting Operations, Theodore Hopwood Ii, Rick Younce, Sudhir Palle

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Bridge maintenance painting employs solvent-based coatings that generate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that contribute to air-quality problems. Methods for capturing VOCs during normal Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) maintenance painting operations were investigated. One method, activated carbon adsorption, is adaptable to KYTC operations. Related factors including area of bridge, coating systems, containment volumes and VOC out gassing rates were reviewed. A commercial source of activated carbon adsorption equipment was identified and issues related to employing that technology for bridge painting were identified.

Improve Safety Of Workers During Highway Construction And Maintenance, Donn E. Hancher, Kenneth Bussey, Robin Meagher, Jonathan Ross, Kristin Smith

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

There is an inherent risk of injury or fatality in all occupations. Even secretarial occupations face jobsite hazards such as carpal tunnel and back injury. The nature of the construction industry combined with the required physical demand and rigorous work processes, make it an industry with higher risk of injury or fatality. In an effort to decrease that inbuilt jobsite risk that construction workers face, this study will analyze the current best safety practices, examine new safety technologies, and collaborate with construction workers themselves to gain a better perspective of what jobsite hazards they face.

Specifically, this study will focus …

Use Of Reflective Armbands To Improve Adolescent Pedestrian And Pedalcyclist Safety, Nancy Dunaway, Eric R. Green, Jerry G. Pigman, Monica L. Barrett

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The objective of this effort was to determine if elementary and middle school students could be educated to use reflective armbands to increase their visibility to motorists while walking or bicycling to school. The number of armbands and surveys distributed totaled slightly over 7,000. Responses were received from approximately 12 percent (873) of the pre-surveys and slightly over 3 percent (119) of the post-surveys. Respondents to the survey indicated nearly 15 percent of schoolchildren receiving reflective armbands were wearing the armband “every day” or “most days”. Of the parents responding, 21 percent indicated their children would continue to wear the …

Simulated Effects Of Marathon Training On Bone Density, Remodeling, And Microdamage Accumulation Of The Femur, Scott J. Hazelwood, Alesha B. Castillo

Biomedical Engineering

Stress fractures are mechanically induced injuries resulting from fatigue damage to bone due to repetitive loading and are common injuries occurring in runners. In this study, we used computer simulations of marathon training programs to examine the effects of endurance running on femoral density, remodeling, and microdamage accumulation. Simulated remodeling activity increased in the femoral neck and proximal cortex and predicted microdamage increased in all regions examined after 16 weeks for each program. Daily running for three years produced more microdamage than the advanced training schedule over the same time period. Areas of high remodeling and damage corresponded to clinically …

Real-Time On-Line Space Research Laboratory Environment Monitoring With Off-Line Trend And Prediction Analysis, Kenol Jules, Paul P. Lin

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

With the International Space Station currently operational, a significant amount of acceleration data is being down-linked, processed and analyzed daily on the ground on a continuous basis for the space station reduced gravity environment characterization, the vehicle design requirements verification and science data collection. To help understand the impact of the unique spacecraft environment on the science data, an artificial intelligence monitoring system was developed, which detects in near real time any change in the reduced gravity environment susceptible to affect the on-going experiments. Using a dynamic graphical display, the monitoring system allows science teams, at any time and any …

2007 Model County Highway Ordinances, Indiana Ltap, Indiana Association Of County Engineers And Supervisors

Indiana Local Technical Assistance Program (LTAP) Publications

This report is intended to provide model ordinances for common situations for county highway departments and local street departments in Indiana where no current sample or model ordinance is readily available. Information to prepare model ordinances was collected from other Indiana counties and municipalities. Some of the model ordinances were created at the request of local highway and street departments.

The purpose of this report was not to duplicate regulations already in place such as where state governments cover issues such as road signage, or traffic control, but to provide references for situations that have no other regulation or where …

Recycling Practices For Environmental Materials, Sudhir Palle, Steve Higgins, Theodore Hopwood Ii

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Two environmental materials, tree and brush debris and large animal roadkill carcasses were investigated. The disposal methods for these materials were reviewed as opportunities/methods for possible recycling. KYTC established several pilot composting operations in 2006. These were monitored during their preliminary stages of operation.

Utilization Of Thermopolastic Rejects With Different Reinforcing Elements In The Production Of Manhole Covers, Lama Mosad El Hatow

Archived Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to investigate the potential usage of rejected non-recyclable contaminated plastic rejects with different reinforcing elements to produce a viable product such as a manhole cover. Contaminated plastic rejects are generally deemed unrecyclable due to the cost and effort, including money, water, energy associated with cleaning the product in order to recycle it. By recycling these contaminated plastic rejects as is and reinforcing it with different reinforcing elements, we can enhance the mechanical properties of the material to enable it to be used as a viable, durable product such as a manhole cover. Problems associated with manhole covers …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Rationales For Collaboration; Implications For The Irish Road Freight Industry, Eoin Plant, Jim Mcgovern

Conference Papers

The European Union has made a commitment to promoting sustainable mobility through advanced transport logistics. One of the principal areas yet to be addressed is that of the potential barriers to advanced transport logistics and the attitudes of industry to this advancement. This paper addresses some of these concerns and argues that competition for high-value contracts can be very tough, especially where the contracts are from large organisations that often prefer to develop a relationship with only one transport service provider. The paper attempts to put the research into a theoretical framework of Resource-Advantage Theory. Empirical evidence is presented from …

Preliminary Work On The Development Of A Novel Detection Method For Osteoporosis, P. Moran, Mark R. Towler, S. Chowdhury, J. Saunders, M. J. German, N. S. Lawson, H. M. Pollock, I. Pillay, D. Lyons

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Osteoporosis affects both the organic and mineral phases of bone resulting in a decrease in resistance to fracture. Dual x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans are used for diagnosing osteoporosis, which is conventionally characterized by a decrease in mineral density. Unfortunately, some patients who suffer osteoporotic fractures have normal bone density, because both the organic and the mineral phase are affected. However, there are currently no methods of evaluating the health of the organic phase. Patients undergoing treatment for osteoporosis have reported hardening of their fingernails. As the properties of nail and bone may be linked in a comparable, measurable way, this …

Evaluating And Adaptive Signal Control System In Gresham, James M. Peters, Jay Mccoy, Robert L. Bertini

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cities and Counties are faced with increasing traffic congestion due to rapidly increasing population. Like many agencies, the City of Gresham has struggled with how to manage the increasing congestion with limited funds for major roadway widening projects. Gresham has recognized the need to optimize existing system capacity to get the most out of their current transportation system infrastructure investment.

In 2005, the City of Gresham, in cooperation with numerous agencies in the Portland metropolitan area, evaluated a variety of signal control systems including traditional time-of-day coordination, traffic responsive, and adaptive signal control systems. Based on that evaluation, the steering …

Air Mobility Command's En Route Support Infrastructure: A Construct Of Aircraft Type And Geographic Location Utilized To Assess En Route Aircraft Logistics Support, Robert D. Polomsky

Theses and Dissertations

The ability of the United States Armed Forces to maintain a global presence and rapidly project military power anywhere in the world are key factors in preserving our freedom. To accomplish the demanding task of global reach support, Air Mobility Command employs an en route support infrastructure. These en route locations provide varying levels of command, control, and communications (C3), logistics support, and aerial port functions. The goal of the en route is to minimize delays for AMC mission aircraft. However, these en route locations comprise a small percentage of the locations that AMC aircraft visit. Given the critical demand …

Central And Peripheral Autonomic Influences : Analysis Of Cardio-Pulmonary Dynamics Using Novel Wavelet Statistical Methods, Anne Marie Petrock

Dissertations

The development and implementation of novel signal processing techniques, particularly with regard to applications in the clinical environment, is critical to bringing computer-aided diagnoses of disease to reality. One of the most confounding factors in the field of cardiac autonomic response (CAR) research is the influence of the coupling of respiratory oscillations with cardiac oscillations.

This research had three objectives. The first was the assessment of central autonomic influence over heart rate oscillations when the pulmonary system is damaged. The second was to assess the link between peripheral and central autonomic control schema by evaluating the heart rate variability (HRV) …

In Vitro Feasibility Testing Of Floating Light-Activated Minroelectrical Stimulators, Ammar Riad Abdo

Theses

One of the major challenges of neural stimulation is the mechanical stress and resulting trauma induced on the implanted electrodes by the constant movement of the interconnects. A potential way of eliminating interconnects is to use floating micro-stimulators that can be activated through optical means. As a method of energy transfer to the micro-stimulator, we propose to use a laser beam at near infrared (NIR) wavelengths.

There are two main objectives in this project to test the feasibility of the main approach; investigate the charge injection capacity of titanium nitride (TiN) and iridium oxide (IrOx) as potential contact materials, and …

Mechanisms Causing Ferric Staining In The Secondary Water System Of Brigham City, Utah, Robert Derring Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

Water from Mantua reservoir has, during some years, exhibited reddish-brown staining when used by Brigham City for irrigation. I propose that seasonal fluctuations in the reservoir chemistry create an environment conducive to dissolving iron from the iron-rich sediments, which subsequently precipitate during irrigation, resulting in a staining event. These conditions are produced by chemical and biological decomposition of organic matter, coupled with isolation of the hypolimnetic waters, which results in seasonal low concentrations of dissolved oxygen in these waters. Under these specific circumstances, anaerobic conditions develop creating a geochemical environment that causes iron and manganese reduction from Fe(III) to Fe(II) …

Multiobjective Optimization For Optimal Design Of Urban Drainage Systems, Misgana K. Muleta, Paul F. Boulos

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Control of sewer overflows, the leading cause of water pollution in the nation’s water bodies, is vital to reducing risks to public health and protecting the environment. The most common solutions for mitigating sewer overflows include adding storage volume, increasing conduit capacity, expanding pumping capacity, and implementation of real time operational controls to more effectively utilize existing system storage. Obviously, comprehensive modeling and analysis of these sewer systems becomes necessary for developing sound cost-effective and reliable solutions for enhancing system integrity and performance to convey sewer flows without causing overflows. However, identification of the optimal remedial solution that effectively circumvents …

Pharmacokinetics Of Ultrasonically-Released, Micelle-Encapsulated Doxorubicin In The Rat Model And Its Effect On Tumor Growth, Bryant J. Staples

Theses and Dissertations

Chemotherapy is one of the most successful cancer treatments used today. Unfortunately, the amount of chemotherapy a patient can receive is limited by the associated negative side effects, such as cardiotoxicity, immune system suppression, and nephrotoxicity. Encapsulation of these drugs, Doxorubicin (DOX) in particular, in stabilized Pluronic micelles (Plurogel TM) shows success in limiting these harmful side effects. In previous studies, low-frequency ultrasound (US) has been shown, in vitro, to locally release DOX from these micelles. In this study, a novel drug delivery system involving the encapsulation of DOX in Plurogel and the release of the drug at the tumor …

Modeling Mercury Capture By Powdered Activated Carbon In A Fluidized Bed Reactor, Fabrizio Scala, Riccardo Chirone, Amedeo Lancia

The 12th International Conference on Fluidization - New Horizons in Fluidization Engineering

A steady state model of mercury capture on activated carbon in a bubbling fluidized bed of inert material is presented. The model takes into account the fluidized bed fluid-dynamics, the presence of both free and adhered carbon in the reactor as well as mass transfer limitations and mercury adsorption equilibrium. The activated carbon adsorption parameters and the relative amount of free versus adhered carbon in the reactor have been estimated with purposely designed experiments. Model results are compared with results from mercury capture experiments conducted with commercial powdered activated carbon at 100°C in a lab-scale pyrex fluidized bed of inert …

Photocatalytic Degradation Of Toluene By Nano-Tio2 In A Fluidized Bed, Xiaoping Zhang, Cong Liao

The 12th International Conference on Fluidization - New Horizons in Fluidization Engineering

The mixed gas of toluene and air was used as treated gas, self-made fluidized bed and ultraviolet lamp and TiO2/silica gel prepared in laboratory used as photo reactor and light source and photo-catalyst respectively to degrade toluene in the treated gas. The effects of operating parameters including initial concentration, operating gas velocity, ultraviolet light intensity and bed layer height on degradation rate of toluene have been probed into in this research. The results showed that degradation rate of toluene was independent of initial concentration (20～55mg/m3) but decreased with higher initial concentration; the degradation rate of toluene increased with gas velocity …

The Differential Effects Of Two Critical Osteoclastogenesis Stimulating Factors On Bone Biomechanics, Yuyu Yuan

All Dissertations

Many skeletal diseases, such as osteoporosis and malignant bone metastases, are generally osteolytic and associated with increased bone resorption and decreased bone strength. Within a complex cytokine environment, the proteins RANKL and M-CSF are critical for osteoclast differentiation and activation, and thus fundamental effectors of osteolytic disorders. Previous studies showed that M-CSF stimulates the proliferation and early differentiation of osteoclast progenitors to osteoclast lineage, while RANKL targets the later stages of fusion and activation, and stimulates the formation of functional active osteoclasts. However, impacts of artificially elevated levels of these proteins on the skeleton system have not been fully characterized. …

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Comparison Of Steel Products With Other Materials, Christopher P. Buterbaugh, Meghan C. Mcgrath, Justin K. Novotny, Zane T. Voss, Joseph M. Brunner, Kent D. Peaslee

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper outlines the background of Life-Cycle Inventory/ Life-Cycle Assessment (LCI/LCA) and reviews an undergraduate design project in progress at the University of Missouri - Rolla (UMR) comparing LCI/LCA of steel products with similar products produced from competing materials. GaBi 4 LCI/LCA software is being used to model LCI/LCA with a demonstration of the use of the software for a typical steelmaking operation.1 Future research utilizing the LCI/LCA methodology is being applied to compare the environmental impact of steel products to other alternative engineering materials. This work involves 13 undergraduate students working in four design teams under a FeMET design …

Spatial Sensors For Quantitative Assessment Of Retrieved Arthroplasty Bearings, Melinda Harman

All Dissertations

Evaluation of retrieved joint arthroplasty bearings provides unique evidence related to the physiological environment in which bearing materials are expected to perform. This dissertation describes the development of novel spatial sensors and measurement strategies for standardized, quantitative assessments of arthroplasty bearings, including total knee replacements, unicompartmental knee replacements, and total hip replacements. The approach is to assess bearings that endured a finite duration of function in patients, with particular emphasis on expanding our understanding of the biomechanical conditions specific to bearing function and wear in the physiological environment. Several quantifiable parameters are identified that prove comparable to pre-clinical in vitro …

Development Of Prediction Models To Measure Vendor Performance In Surveillance And Auditing Of Aircraft Maintenance, Nikhil Iyengar

All Dissertations

Elimination of aviation accidents is one of the primary goals of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the airline industry. A leading cause of aviation accidents is lack of oversight of various organizational issues, in particular, the organization's maintenance operation performance. The technologies used in the industry generate multiple risks, mostly from three domains: systems, hardware and people. Maintenance performance analyses identify the inherent risk in distributed, large-scale systems. Analysis of existing aviation maintenance data is a crucial step in meeting the aviation industry's need to improve aviation safety. Presently, we lack suitable tools to analyze large bodies of maintenance …

Optimal Placement Of Metal Foils In Ultrasonic Consolidation Process, Raji Rexavier

All Theses

Ultrasonic Consolidation is a combination of additive and subtractive
manufacturing processes resulting in considerable material waste. This waste is a
function of the geometry of the part being manufactured and of the relative
placement of the layer with respect to the metal bands. Thus the waste may be
minimized by careful choice of the layer angle and offset from the original
position.
Previous work done in this field had developed an automated algorithm which
optimally places and orients the individual slices of the STL file of the artifact
being manufactured. However, the problem was solved on a 2-D scale and …