Digital Commons Network^™

Role Of Nitric Oxide As A Modulator Of Platelet Dense Granule Release, Clifton Ford Frilot Ii

Doctoral Dissertations

Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to suppress platelet activation, induce vasodilation, inhibit smooth muscle cell proliferation, and act against infection. Activated platelets generally have opposite effects from these. They secrete platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), which stimulates smooth muscle growth, serotonin, which is a platelet agonist, and a number of agents that promote further platelet aggregation. However, activated platelets also produce NO through the enzymatic functions of the constitutive form of nitric oxide synthase (NOS). The primary functions of this capability are not yet completely understood. Due to its low molecular weight and high diffusivity, NO is quickly transported from …

The Effects Of Sound Cue Characteristics On Overcoming Front/Back Localization Errors In A 3-D Auditory Display, Robert J. Ehmann

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance effects of adding an additional sound cue characteristic to a 3-D auditory display sound stimulus to increase localization accuracy. Previous literature has provided evidence that localization accuracy for direct front and direct back regions is significantly worse than that of locations in the periphery for virtual 3-D auditory stimuli. In the study conducted, a highpass filter addition or a lowpass filter addition was compared to a "normal" condition for both the front and back locations. Results of the study showed that the best localization performance for the front location occurred …

Influence Of Inoculum Size On Phytase Production And Growth In Solid-State Fermentation By Aspergillus Niger, Chundakkadu Krishna, Sue E. Nokes

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Solid–state fermentation is experiencing renewed interest for industrial enzyme production. Previous studies on the effects of fungal inoculum size on product yield have focused on spore inoculum. However, some organisms require vegetative inocula. This study investigated the effects of initial inoculum colony age, vegetative inoculum size, and duration of fermentation on the production of fungal biomass and phytase in solid–state fermentation using Aspergillus niger grown on wheat bran and soy meal. Initial inocula from 7– and 14–day–old potato dextrose agar (PDA) plates were used to study the effect of inoculum colony age in liquid culture and its further influence on …

Public Involvement In Highway Improvement: A Comparison Of Three Different Visualization Modes For A Case Study In Central Kentucky, Joel Brumm, Keiron Bailey, Ted H. Grossardt

Kentucky Transportation Center Faculty and Researcher Publications

Public involvement in highway improvement presents a set of complex problems involving many stakeholders.Since visualizations are increasingly regarded as essential tools in this process, a clearer understanding of the specific merits of advanced visualization techniques and their potential contributions must be developed.As a step towards integrating visualizations into an improved public planning paradigm termed Structured Public Involvement (SPI), this paper investigates the utility and performance of three visualization modes, termed 2D, 3D and VR (Virtual Reality), for a case study highway in Central Kentucky.

Visualization scenarios were designed and engineered according to the principle of elemental decomposition.Using a combination …

In-Situ Colloidal Mno2 Deposition And Ozonation Of 2,4-Dinitrotoluene, Kevin C. Bower, Kevin H. Gardner, Christopher M. Miller, Lingjun Kong

Civil & Environmental Engineering

Laboratory experiments are presented that demonstrate a novel in situ semipassive reactive barrier for the degradation of 2,4 dinitrotoluene created by coating aquifer surfaces by deposition of colloidal MnO2, which catalyzes ozone degradation and enhances contaminant oxidation. Ozone is added to the reactive barrier and is transported through the zone with the contaminants by existing hydraulic gradients. The communication presents the preliminary laboratory investigation demonstrating the viability of this method. Studies were conducted by coating Ottawa sand with colloidal MnO2. Results show that concentrations of MnO2 in the range of 0.2 mg/g can be deposited with no measurable change in …

Benzene Toxicity And Removal In Laboratory Phytoremediation Studies, Joel Gerard Burken, Carla Ross, Lisa M. Harrison, Adrian Marsh, Lars Zetterstrom, Juel S. Gibbons

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Hybrid Poplar Cuttings Were Shown to Impact the Fate and Transport of Subsurface Benzene, While Toxicity to the Poplars Was Not Observed. Laboratory Experiments Investigated the Toxicity Response of Poplar Cuttings to Benzene Exposure, Contaminant Distribution in Plant Tissues, Contaminant Degradation in the Soil Profile, and Contaminant Volatilization from the Soil and Plant Tissues. Two Separate Studies Were Conducted to Evaluate These Parameters. the First Study Examined the Toxicity of Benzene to Hybrid Poplar Cuttings in Batch Reactors. Poplar Cuttings Were Exposed to Various Concentrations of Benzene Contaminated Water in Two Different Types of Soil. Transpiration Rates Were Measured as …

The Effect Of Multiple Pulses On Bacteria, Ramy El-Sayed Aly

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Pulsed electric fields are widely used for bacterial decontamination of water and liquid food [I]. Depending on pulse amplitude and duration, a certain percentage of the bacteria suffer irreversible damage and, consequently, cell death. We have explored the effect of microsecond pulses of 13 kV/cm and 15 kV/cm electric field amplitude on the viability of Escherlchia coli. The pulse duration was varied from 4 μs to 32 μs, and the pulse number of 4 μs pulses from one to eight, Finally, the effect of separation between pulses was studied. The pulses were generated by means of a generator where …

Resilient Modulus Of Kentucky Soils, Tommy C. Hopkins, Tony L. Beckham, Charlie Sun, Bixian Ni

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In recent years, the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has recommended the use of resilient modulus for characterizing highway materials for pavement design. This recommendation evolved as of a result of a trend in pavement design of using mechanistic models, which are based on the theory of elasticity (layered elastic analysis) or linear and non-linear, finite elements (and finite difference methods), or a combination of both of those theoretical approaches. Although much progress has been made in recent years in developing mathematical, mechanistic pavement design models, results obtained from those models are only as good as the …

The Foundation Series On Corrosion: Integrating Science, Math, Engineering & Technology In A Lab Setting, Linda Vanasupa, Heather Smith, Blair London, Katherine C. Chen, David Niebuhr, Lanny Griffin, Jeff Jones

Materials Engineering

We have developed a laboratory module focusing on the subject of corrosion. The module itself is designed to be completed in one three-hour session. It consists of three parts: I. The Impact of Corrosion Media, II. The Impact of Corroding Materials, III. The Impact of Anode/Cathode Sizes. Our objectives in developing this module were to address the need for clear bridges between math, science and technology in the engineering curriculum and to provide a means of faculty development primarily at community colleges. As a result, it was designed to allow the engineering student to experience the synergy of science, math …

Developing An Implementation Plan For The Alaskan Msri Coalition Workshop Summary - Final Report, Florida Solar Energy Center, Gerard Ventre

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Workshop conducted to develop and implementation plan for the Alaskan Million Solar Roofs Initiative.

Plasma Deposition Of Spin Chucks To Reduce Contamination Of Silicon Wafers, Richard N. Savage, Emir Gurer, Ed C. Lee

Materials Engineering

An apparatus for delivering a fluidic media to a wafer includes a housing defining a process chamber. A fluidic media delivery member is coupled to the process chamber. A rotatable chuck is positioned in the process chamber. The rotatable chuck has a wafer support surface coated with a coating material. A vacuum supply line is coupled to the rotatable chuck.

Use Of Short-Pulse Laser For Optical Tomography Of Tissues, Kunal Mitra, Tuan Vo-Dinh

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications

This paper analyzes the short pulse laser propagation through tissues for development of a time-resolved optical tomography system for detection of tumors and inhomogeneities in tissues. Traditional method for analyzing optical transport in tissues is the parabolic or diffusion approximation in which the energy flux is assumed proportional to the fluence (intensity averaged over all solid angles) gradients. The inherent drawback in this model is that it predicts infinite speed of propagation of the optical signal. In this paper accurate hyperbolic or wave nature of transient radiative transfer formulation is used to overcome such drawbacks. The transmitted and reflected intensity …

Infopipes—An Abstraction For Information Flow, Jie Huang, Andrew P. Black, Jonathan Walpole, Calton Pu

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Building Object-Oriented Distributed Systems has been facilitated by Remote Message Sending (RMS) systems like Java RMI and implementations of CORBA. However, RMS systems are designed to support request/response interactions. Streaming applications, in contrast, are characterized by high-bandwidth, long-duration communication with stringent performance requirements. Examples of streaming applications include video-on-demand, teleconferencing, on-line education, and environmental observation. These applications transfer huge amounts of data and focus on distributed information flow rather than request/response.

To simplify the task of building distributed streaming applications, we propose a new abstraction for information flow—Infopipes. Using Infopipes, information flow becomes the heart of the system, not an …

A Preliminary Comparison Of The Mechanical Properties Of Chemically Cured And Ultrasonically Cured Glass Ionomer Cements, Using Nano-Indentation Techniques, Mark R. Towler, A. J. Bushby, R. W. Billington, R. G. Hill

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

There is a requirement for a dental cement with properties comparable or superior to conventional glass ionomer cements (GICs) but with the command set properties of the resin modified GICs. The objective of this work was to show that the application of ultrasound to conventional Fuji IX commercial glass ionomer cement imparts a command set, whilst improving the short-term surface mechanical properties. Nano-indentation techniques were employed to highlight the improvements in hardness and creep resistance imparted to the cement through the application of ultrasound. The instant set imparted by the application of ultrasound provides improved surface hardness and creep, particularly …

Evaluation Of Some Organic Inhibitors For Stainless Steel Corrosion Using Different Electrochemical And Surface Techniques, Maryam Hassan Saeed Al-Hassan

Theses

Stainless steels have been extensively used in automotive, industrial, electronics, etc., applications. Iron (Fe) and chromium (Cr) are the main elements with weight percentage contribution of 60-75% and 10-25% respectively. Other elements, such as Ni, Co, Mo, Mn, C etc. are also present with variable concentrations. The purpose of this work is to use different electrochemical and surface techniques to study the corrosion behavior of stainless steel type 316 (percent composition of different chemical elements are listed in table 1) in acid media in presence and absence of different thiophene derivatives (list of inhibitors in figure 1). Moreover, other important …

Impedance And Photo-Electrochemical Properties Of Oxide Films On Stainless Steel Formed By Different Polarization Techniques, Mona Salim Saleh Ai Kaabi

Theses

Stainless steel alloys have a very active and important role in industry. Because many of

These industries have to work in aggressive media; stainless steels are threatened by corrosion

Which may affect their performance and cost the manufacturers millions of dollars yearly.

Several treatments have been taken part to solve this problem; one is by forming a protective

Oxide layer on the stainless steel (SS) surface to prevent it from corrosion. In this thesis; this way of protecting SS Surface is applied to two different types of Stainless Steel, those are AISI 316 and AISI 31 0; respectively. The oxide …

The Impact Of A New Bypass Route On The Local Economy And Quality Of Life, Eric C. Thompson, Joseph Miller, Jonathon Roenker

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Highway improvements such as bypass construction typically are motivated by a desire to improve the flow and safety of travel. But, given the importance of travel, transportation improvement projects often can affect the local economy and quality of life. This study assesses these potential impacts. The study was conducted by the University of Kentucky Center for Business and Economic Research, as part of a subcontract with the Kentucky Transportation Center. The study is one component of a larger Kentucky Transportation Center study entitled Planning Decisions Related to Bypass Construction, Life-Cycle Costs of Access Control, and Safety Impacts of Rural Road …

Evaluation Of Tennessee Reference Markers, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Reference markers were installed on sections of interstates and freeways in Tennessee in 1999 and 2000. An evaluation was conducted to determine if the use of reference markers at spacings of 0.2-mile intervals could improve the effectiveness of emergency response and incident management processes. The evaluation included an.general observational survey, meetings with emergency response personnel, and an opinion survey of the application, placement, color, and overall benefits of the reference markers. The condition of the markers was found to be very good and there appeared to be only minor problems within the relatively short period of time since installation.

Interview …

Fractionation & Segregation Of Suspended Particles Using Acoustic And Flow Fields, Nazhat Aboobaker

Dissertations

The fractionation of particles by size or by density has many applications in a variety of technologies. Decontamination and separation of fine sediments is useful in treating sediments. The application of acoustic standing wave fields for the fractionation and segregation of suspended particles was studied.

The above technology was implemented at the bench scale by building a Plexiglas chamber. Two ultrasound transducers were fixed to opposite sides of the chamber to generate the acoustic standing wave field. The technology was evaluated using silica dioxide (Si02) (1-5 ~tm) and silicon carbide (SiQ (5-20 ~tm) particle suspensions in deionized water. Due to …

An Experimental Study Of Dry Particle Coating : Devices, Operating Parameters And Applications, Michelle Ramlakhan Mohan

Dissertations

Dry particle coating, which mechanically coats fine guest particles onto the surfaces of larger host particles, without binders or solvents, is investigated. Several systems of host and guest particles are coated in different devices to study various aspects of dry particle coating. The devices used are Magnetically Assisted Impaction Coating (MAIC) device, Mechanofusion, and the Hybridizer.

MAIC is used to coat fine SiO₂ guest particles onto the surface of larger cornstarch and cellulose host particles. This is done to simultaneously improve the flowability of the host particles, as well as reduce their hydrophilicity. Dry particle coating is used to …

Joint Source Channel Coding For Progressive Image Transmission, Minyi Zhao

Dissertations

Recent wavelet-based image compression algorithms achieve best ever performances with fully embedded bit streams. However, those embedded bit streams are very sensitive to channel noise and protections from channel coding are necessary. Typical error correcting capability of channel codes varies according to different channel conditions. Thus, separate design leads to performance degradation relative to what could be achieved through joint design. In joint source-channel coding schemes, the choice of source coding parameters may vary over time and channel conditions. In this research, we proposed a general approach for the evaluation of such joint source-channel coding scheme. Instead of using the …

Performance Analysis And Resource Allocation In Cdma Wireless Networks For Multimedia Services, Sebnem Zorlu

Dissertations

The proliferation of Internet and demand for wireless services necessitate large increases in capacity and data rates in order to support different multimedia services. Wireless systems will be required to support sources with a variety of traffic characteristics and quality of service requirements. This requires algorithms for admission control and resource allocation at the session, burst and packet levels. The purpose of this research is to develop and analyze optimal resource allocation strategies to maximize throughput of wireless systems with integrated services. Given the multimedia user requirements, the problem addressed can be formulated as a constrained optimization problem. The objective …

A Cad-Mlca Interface For Next-Generation Dfe Tools, Jun He

Theses

Environmental concerns and rising product disposal costs have pressed manufactures to make more environmentally friendly products and customers to use and dispose of them in an environmental responsive way. Thus the practice of Design for Environment (DFE) is becoming essential in today's industrial environment. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) provides different ways for the environmental assessment of products. One critical step in performing lifecycle assessment of any product design is to collect design-related data. The common way based on manual input for traditional DFE tools is not only cumbersome and time-consuming but also error-prone.

This thesis presents the characteristics of a …

A Laboratory And Field Study Of The Attenuation Of Sound Intensity Using A Whistle As The Sonic Generator, Navneet Kumar

Theses

This study investigated the attenuation of sound intensity using a whistle as the sonic generator along with the detailed analysis of all the previous studies. Attenuation of sound in air studies were performed in Otto H. York Center for Environmental Engineering and Science at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Sound attenuation through air was measured by doubling the distance for each of five whistles. It was concluded that Whistle No.5 gives the highest sound intensity of 140.54 dB at a distance of 0.75 ft , the closest distance used for measurement, at a air flow rate of 7.5 SCFM. These …

Silicon Based Ir Filters, Prakash Mokashi

Theses

The design and fabrication of silicon based IR (Infrared) filters for high-speed optical communication systems are the topic of this thesis. Its novelty is in two aspects: 1) Use of silicon wafers as an optical guiding medium; 2) Use of wafer bonding technique to attach two optical elements together.

The structure consists of two optical waveguides, the bus waveguide and the drop channel waveguide. A ring on top of these waveguides couples them in such a way that only one narrow spectral line is removed from the bus waveguides which propagates in the dropchannel waveguide. The assembly is fabricated using …

Optical Properties Of Photonic Crystals, Anand G. Shenoy

Theses

The ability to confine light in three dimensions has important implications for quantum optics and quantum-optical devices. Photonic crystals, the optical analog of electronic crystals, provide us a means of achieving this goal. This analogy has motivated a whole new series of experimental and theoretical searches for elusive photonic band-gap structures. Combinations of metallic and dielectric materials can be used to obtain the required three-dimensional (3D) periodic variation in the dielectric constant. This could pave the way for photonic crystal structures that have widespread applications.

The working of 3D photonic crystals into the wavelength regimes where most optoelectronic devices operate, …

Propagation And Scattering Of Collimated Beam Wave In Vegetation Using Scalar Transport Theory, Michael Yu-Chi Wu

Theses

The scalar time-dependent equation of radiative transfer is used to develop a theory of pulse beamwave propagation and scattering in a medium character ized by many random discrete scatterers which scatter energy strongly in the forward scattering direction. Applications include the scattering of highly collimated millimeter waves in vegetation and optical beams in the atmosphere. The specific problem analyzed is that of a periodic sequence of Gaussian shaped pulses normally incident from free space onto the planar boundary surface of a random medium half-space, such as a forest, that possesses a power scatter (phase) function consisting of a strong, narrow …

Ultrasonic Assessment Of Stabilized Soils, Nazli Yesiller, James L. Hanson, Mumtaz A. Usmen

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The feasibility of using ultrasonic testing, in particular P-wave velocities, to evaluate stabilized soils was investigated. A high-plasticity clay soil that was stabilized with lime, cement, and lime - fly ash mixtures was used in the study. The testing program consisted of determination of P-wave velocities and compression characteristics of the stabilized soils immediately after compaction and subsequent to 7 days and 28 days of curing. Variation of velocity with stabilizing agent, curing time, and also with the compression characteristics of the soils was investigated. It was observed that P-wave velocities were higher for samples stabilized with cement compared with …

Electrochemistry Characteristic Of Carbon Steel Under Biofilm And Sulfide Film, Ze-Hua Dong, Xing-Peng Guo, Jia-Shen Zheng, Li-Ming Xu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Wire Beam Electrode (WBE) made of Q235 carbon steel was applied to study theheterogeneous corrosion beneath biofilm formed by Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) in cultureand sulfide film in solution with 1% NaCl and 300 mg/L⋅S^2-. The potential, galvanic density mapping, as well as polarization curve and Electrochemical Impedance Spectrum (EIS) were measured to predict the localized corrosion under biofilm and sulfide film. As a result, the mappingshowed the potential fluctuation on the WBE suface decreased over time due to the conductivityof the biofilm and sulfide film. Therefore, the potential mapping could not be a criterion of localized corrosion …

Emerging And Advanced Technologies: Small Satellites, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs titled "Emerging and Advanced Technologies: Small Satellites" presented at the Aerospace Industries Association Space Council on May 15, 2001.