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Development Of Magnetic Nanocomposite Materials As Reusable Adsorbents For Chlorinated Organics In Contaminated Water, Angela Gutierrez

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

The constant growth in population worldwide over the past decades continues to put forward the need to provide access to safe, clean water to meet human needs. There is a need for cost-effective technologies for water and wastewater treatment that can meet the global demands and the rigorous water quality standards and at the same maximizing pollutant efficiency removal. Current remediation technologies have failed in keeping up with these factors without becoming cost-prohibitive. Nanotechnology has recently been sought as a promising option to achieve these goals. The use of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles as nanoadsorbents has led to a new …

Expression, Purification, And Characterization Of Recombinant Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor In Pichia Pastoris, Henry Hieu Minh Le

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Wounds in the mouth, occurring after oral surgery, take time to heal. No ointment can be added to help with the healing process because mouth saliva will constantly wash it away. In order to combat this problem, we propose engineering a normal flora microbe to grow at the site of injury and secrete a recombinant growth factor to promote healing of the damaged tissue. Our goal is to have the yeast Pichia pastoris produce human basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), which aids in cellular proliferation. P. pastoris is a good choice for this application because not only is it considered …

The Drones' Impact On Precision Agriculture, Ibrahim Naji

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A study to assess the overall impact of drones in the agricultural sector. The specific goal of this research was to provide a drone system to ward off pestering birds from crops to allow for better growth and an increased yield. Along with providing a user-friendly coded drone system for farmers that is cost effective, this project has inspired other areas of use for the drone.

Magnetic Nanoparticles For Hyperthermia For Cancer Treatment, Bianca Paola Meneses Brassea

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Fe3O4 and NixCu4-x magnetic nanoparticles were synthesized using supercritical conditions of liquids and wet chemistry, respectively. Characterization methods (VSM, SEM, TEM, and magnetic hyperthermia) yielded results that prove feasibility for magnetic hyperthermia for cancer treatment.

Potential Of Nanoscale Elements To Control Fusarium Wilt Disease In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum), Enhance Macronutrient Use Efficiency, And Increase Its Yield, Ishaq Olarewaju Adisa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Nanotechnology has a great potential in ensuring food production, security and safety globally. Over the past decade, research on the use of nanomaterials to supply nutrient elements and protect plants from pest and diseases has significantly increased. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is one of the most consumed vegetables in the world and United State is one of its largest producers globally generating billions of dollars annually in revenue.. Tomato plants are affected worldwide by Fusarium wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. Lycopersici. There is growing concern about excessive use of conventional pesticides in controlling Fusarium and other diseases in tomato …

Development And Characterization Of Natural Rubber-Cellulose Sponge, Nuttapon Suppanucroa

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Natural rubber (NR) sponges are a renewable biopolymer material derived from milky sap (latex) from rubber trees. In this study, composite sponges of natural rubber and cellulose (NR-C) with various compositions were synthesized. The Dunlop process was employed to prepare the NR-C sponges in various contents of cellulose fibers as reinforcing agent. The cellulose fibers were extracted from the pulp of eucalyptus trees and sodium alginate (SA) was used as dispersing agent. The aim of this work was to develop a green composite sponge with highly porous, flexible, and hydrophilic properties. The effects of cellulose loading on mechanical performance of …

การสกัดคอลลาเจนจากเศษของครีบปลาหมึกกล้วย (Loligo Duvauceli) ซึ่งเป็นของเสียในอุตสาหกรรมอาหารทะเล, ศิริพงศ์ โสมสิริวัลย์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

หมึกกล้วย (Indian squid) สายพันธุ์ Loligo duvauceli เป็นสัตว์ทะเลทางเศรษฐกิจที่สำคัญของประเทศไทย พบว่าครีบหมึกจัดว่าเป็นของเสียในกระบวนการผลิตจากหมึกกล้วยคิดเป็น 12% และมีราคาถูก โดยครีบหมึกกล้วยแห้งประกอบด้วยความชื้น 4.62% โปรตีน 77.08% ไขมัน 15.60% และ เถ้า 3.03% ในงานวิจัยนี้ได้สกัดคอลลาเจนจากครีบหมึกกล้วยบดโดยใช้สารละลายโซเดียมไฮดรอกไซด์ความเข้มข้น 0.5 โมลต่อลิตรเพื่อกำจัดไขมันและโปรตีนอื่นๆ จากนั้นนำไปสกัดต่อด้วยกรดแอซิติกความเข้มข้น 0.5 โมลต่อลิตรที่อุณหภูมิ 4 องศาเซลเซียส แยกส่วนของแข็งและสารละลายออกจากกันด้วยการกรอง และนำสารละลายกรดที่ได้ไปทำแห้งด้วยวิธีแช่เยือกแข็ง โดยของแข็งที่ได้จะเรียกว่า คอลลาเจนที่ละลายในกรด (ASC) ส่วน คอลลาเจนที่ละลายในเอนไซม์เปปซิน (APSC) สกัดได้โดยใช้สารละลายเปปซินปริมาณ 1% โดยน้ำหนักต่อปริมาตรในกรดแอซิติก 0.5 โมลต่อลิตร ในขั้นตอนการสกัดพบว่าผลได้ของคอลลาเจน ASC เท่ากับ 0.69 ± 0.25% และสามารถสกัดคอลลาเจน APSC ได้ 3.02 ± 00.16% เมื่อสกัดที่ 48 ชั่วโมงและ 1.42 ± 0.41% เมื่อสกัดที่ 24 ชั่วโมง ตรวจสอบน้ำหนักโมเลกุลของคอลลาเจนด้วยเทคนิค SDS-Page เทียบกับคอลลาเจนชนิดที่ 1 จากหนังหมูพบว่าคอลลาเจนที่สกัดได้จากครีบหมึกเป็นคอลลาเจนชนิด SQ ([α1]2[α2]1) ซึ่งมีลักษณะคล้ายกับคอลลาเจนชนิดที่ 1 โดย ASC ประกอบด้วยสาย α1 (202.39 kDa), α2 (159.90 kDa) และ β (281.50 kDa) และ APSC ประกอบด้วยสาย α1 (184.19 kDa), α2 (145.52 kDa) และ β (281.50 kDa) แสดงถึงส่วนเทโลเปปไทด์ถูกเอนไซม์เปปซินย่อยส่วนเทโลเปปไทด์ ฟูเรียร์ทรานส์ฟอร์มอินฟราเรดสเปกตรัมของ ASC และ …

Lignocellulosic Biomass Derived Activated Carbon For Energy Storage And Adsorption, Changle Jiang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Lignocellulosic biomass has been converted to hierarchical porous carbon materials which possess macro-, meso- and micro-pores. The natural structure of porous lignocellulosic structure was preserved during activation with further developed porosity by the activation. The activated carbon can be well applied to electrochemical double layer capacitor for transportation storage of ions as well as adsorbent materials for metal ion removal from wastewater.

The first chapter of this dissertation presents an introduction of biomass derived carbon and its applications. In the second chapter, both direct and indirect activation methods using carbon dioxide were adopted in this study. The results show that …

Kidney Ailment Prediction Under Data Imbalance, Ranaa Mahveen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is the leading cause for kidney failure. It is a global health problem affecting approximately 10% of the world population and about 15% of US adults. Chronic Kidney Diseases do not generally show any disease specific symptoms in early stages thus it is hard to detect and prevent such diseases. Early detection and classification are the key factors in managing Chronic Kidney Diseases.

In this thesis, we propose a new machine learning technique for Kidney Ailment Prediction. We focus on two key issues in machine learning, especially in its application to disease prediction. One is related …

Nanostructured Materials For Food Applications: Spectroscopy, Microscopy And Physical Properties, Shubham Sharma, Swana Jaiswal, Brendan Duffy, Amit Jaiswal

Articles

Nanotechnology deals with the matter of atomic or molecular scale. Other factors that define the character of a nanoparticle are its physical and chemical properties, such as surface area, surface charge, hydrophobicity of the surface, the thermal stability of the nanoparticle, and its antimicrobial activity. A nanoparticle is usually characterized by using microscopic and spectroscopic techniques. Microscopic techniques are used to characterize the size, shape, and location of the nanoparticle by producing an image of the individual nanoparticle. Several techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy/high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM/HRTEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning …

Otomasi Sistem Hidroponik Dft (Deep Flow Technique) Berbasis Arduino Android Dengan Memanfaatkan Panel Surya Sebagai Energi Alternatif, Eko Agus Suprayitno Mt, Rohman Dijaya M. Kom, M. Atho㢂¬„¢Illah St

Elinvo (Electronics, Informatics, and Vocational Education)

The application of hydroponic farming methods has been widely applied by the community, the system used is still manual so that it lacks quality, both in terms of humidity and growth. For that we need a system that is able to regulate the time of watering and the provision of nutritional solutions automatically without disturbing the activity. In the design of an automatic DFT hydroponic system using an Android Arduino based solar panel. Where the solar panel system functions as a renewable energy substitute for PLN which will fill the accumulator. The accumulator filling process is equipped with a solar …

Spatial Exploration Of Trace Metals In Near-Surface Water And Soil In The Bolivian Altiplano, Lizzie Wilson

Civil and Environmental Engineering Theses and Dissertations

We analyzed soil and groundwater samples from the Bolivian Altiplano for trace metal concentrations, correlations and partitioning trends. Total digestion, sequential extraction and loss on ignition experiments were performed on soil samples. We ran aqueous samples on an ICP-MS. Results were analyzed to identify trace metal concentrations and find any significant correlations. We generated interpolated maps in ArcGIS to spatially analyze results. Results for elevated concentrations of interest were divided into sub-groups of organophilic metals, oxoanions and divalent metals and include vanadium, arsenic, selenium, zinc, nickel, lead, cobalt, uranium, copper and manganese. These elements are likely naturally sourced. We found …

Investigating Cyanobacteria Metabolism And Channeling-Based Regulations Via Isotopic Nonstationary Labeling And Metabolomic Analyses, Mary Helen Abernathy

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Cyanobacteria have the potential to be low-cost and sustainable cell factories for bio-products; however, many challenges face cyanobacteria as biorefineries. This dissertation seeks to advance non-model photosynthetic organisms for biotechnology applications by characterizing central carbon metabolism and its regulations. Cyanobacteria phenotypes for bio-production are examined and their intracellular metabolism is quantified. Using isotopic labeling experiments, phenotypic relationships between biomass composition, central carbon fluxes, and metabolite pool sizes are investigated. Metabolic analyses of cyanobacteria led to new investigations of flux regulation mechanisms via protein spatial organizations or metabolite channeling. Metabolite channeling is further explored as a hypothesis to explain enigmatic labeling …

Applications Of Passive Solar Energy And Reclaimed Heat From Livestock Manure Decomposition, Naomi Elizabeth Schalle

Honors Theses

One energy intensive part of raising livestock in colder climates is keeping water warm and easily accessible to the animals in the winter. The objective of this project is to increase the sustainability of livestock farms by developing and implementing an energy conservation measure to decrease electric energy usage on the heating of water for livestock in the winter. One thing farmers have in excess is manure, an abundant and renewable resource for the farmers. This project will capitalize on that excess to encourage a creative use of resources often seen as waste, through implementing aspects of sustainability and conservation …

Methane Oxidation Potential Of Uncomposted Yard Waste As A Landfill Biocover, Gomathy Radhakrishna Iyer

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Biocovers are widely used in landfills to oxidize emissions of the greenhouse gas methane. Biocovers used till date are fully or partially made of composts. Compost takes time and effort to create, and costs about $10 per cubic yard on an average. Even more importantly, however, production of compost, although theoretically an aerobic process, actually generates methane, from 3.2 to 362 kg CO2-equivalents per ton of wet waste composted, depending on the type of waste, whether open or enclosed composting technology is used, and other factors. To reduce the net greenhouse gas emissions from biocovers, this research explores the potential …

Classifying Interdependencies In The Food And Agriculture Critical Infrastructure Sector, John Doerpinghaus

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work classifies examples of infrastructure interdependencies found in the food and agriculture critical infrastructure sector. Interdependencies are identified through an examination of rice and poultry agriculture throughout the state of Arkansas. The subtleties of interdependence examples in the food and agriculture sector are inadequately captured by the well-studied interdependence classification taxonomies. Through 39 interviews, we develop an understanding of the subtle temporal, geographic, and productivity scales of interdependence in over 100 examples and present five new, distinct classifications of interdependence: (1) dynamic physical, (2) dynamic geographic, (3) deadline, (4) delay, and (5) human, economic, and natural resource interdependencies. An …

A Systematic Approach To High Blood Pressure Risk Analysis And Healthcare Cost Reduction In Young Adults [Metodología Sistemática Para El Análisis De Riesgo Y Reducción De Costos De Servicios Médicos De Hipertensión En Adultos Jóvenes], Francisco Rafael Torres Diaz

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to utilize publicly available data to estimate the current rate of occurrence of undiagnosed High Blood Pressure (HBP) in young adults (18 to 24 years old) and the out-of-pocket healthcare expenses associated with complications of HBP, to provide feasible alternatives to mitigate the effects on a region's economy. This has been done by building a Risk Factor Simulation Model that utilizes known HBP risk factors’ correlation to HBP, insurance coverage data, and rate of diagnosis to formulate the average Risk Factor Value for a region, which through an Annual Expected Cost Function estimates the …

Soil Health Effects And Stakeholder Perceptions Of Manure And Woody Biomass Application To Cropland In Nebraska, Linda R. Schott

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Organic products that have historically been viewed as waste products may improve soil health by adding carbon (C) and nutrients to soil. Two such products are woodchips, generated from forest or rangeland management activities, and livestock manure. In Nebraska, eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana L.) is a native but invasive tree species inhibiting rangeland productivity. Livestock manure that is underutilized while inorganic fertilizers are imported for crop production presents a water quality risk by contributing to local- and regional-scale nutrient imbalances. Increasing the responsible use of livestock manure in crop fertility programs to improve sustainability of both livestock and crop farms …

Vision-Based Framework For Monitoring Of Eating Behavior Of Persons With Alzheimer’S Disease, Haitham Al-Anssari

Dissertations

Dementia is a syndrome used to describe an array of significant declines in cognitive abilities due to progressive and irreversible loss of neurons and brain functioning. This neurodegeneration seriously affects daily life activities like driving, shopping, working and speaking. Among these, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, with individuals experiencing loss of memory and thinking and reasoning skills. Due to cognitive decline, individuals with Alzheimer’s often suffer from malnutrition, since they do not eat, even when food is presented, and must be fed with assistance. This assistance presents a significant burden of time to caregivers, and consequently …

Lipid Extraction From Spirulina Sp. And Schizochytrium Sp. Using Supercritical Co2 With Methanol, Shihong Liu, Husam A. Abu Hajar, Guy Riefler, Ben J. Stuart

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Microalgae are one of the most promising feedstocks for biodiesel production due to their high lipid content and easy farming. However, the extraction of lipids from microalgae is energy intensive and costly and involves the use of toxic organic solvents. Compared with organic solvent extraction, supercritical CO₂ (SCCO₂) has demonstrated advantages through lower toxicity and no solvent-liquid separation. Due to the nonpolar nature of SCCO_2, polar organic solvents such as methanol may need to be added as a modifier in order to increase the extraction ability of SCCO₂. In this paper, pilot scale lipid …

Genetic Engineering In Agriculture Curricula For Grades 9-12, Tyson Sorensen, Olivia Horning, Kelsey Hall, David Francis, Joshua Dallin

Browse all Datasets

This is a curriculum package that was developed for teachers to be able to integrate genetic engineering and biotechnology concepts, skills, and career applications into their classrooms. This package was developed as part of the LEARN workshop entitled "Genetic Engineering: Workshop for Teachers." This curriculum package includes five full units of instructions with lesson plans, presentation resources, and other resources for teachers. This package is intended for students in grades 9-12.

Each unit is complete with the corresponding slides found in the main Genetic Engineering PowerPoint. Teachers have the liberty to cover the material on an as-needed bases based on …

Bs News November/December

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of Bacterial And Viral Reduction Across Different Wastewater Treatment Processes, Aayushi R. Vagadia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Today billions of people live without access to basic sanitation facilities, and thousands die every week due to diseases caused by fecal contamination associated with improper sanitation. It has thus become crucial for decision makers to have access to relevant and sufficient data to implement appropriate solutions to these problems. The Global Water Pathogen Project http://www.waterpathogens.org/ is dedicated to providing an up-to-date source of data on pathogen reduction associated with different sanitation technologies that are important if the world is to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to health and sanitation provision. In this research, a subset of the …

Application Of A Floating Membrane Algal Photobioreactor For Freshwater Aquaculture, Hsiang-Yang Shyu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the global population grows, water and food demand also increase. The intensive aquaculture industry has helped to mitigate these problems. In order to make aquaculture sustainable, it is necessary to remove the abundant nutrients produced by fish in the water. In this study, the role of the microalga of Chlorella vulgaris in the Isolated Cultivation of Algal Resources Utilizing Selectivity (ICARUS) membrane photobioreactor was evaluated for nutrient control in the aquaculture system. The production of algal biomass, the removal rate of nutrients, and the impact of microalgae on cultured organisms were monitored during the operation of aquaculture systems. At …

Fungi: A Neglected Candidate For The Application Of Self-Healing Concrete, Congrui Jin, Rui Yu, Zhonghe Shui

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Self-healing mechanism in concrete has been so far achieved mainly by three approaches: autogenous healing, encapsulation of polymeric material, and biologically induced mineralization of calcium carbonate. The microbial approach prevails over the other two approaches due to the high compatibility between the filler material and the concrete compositions. Although the term “microbe” refers to many different types of organisms, research work on self-healing concrete has been so far restricted to bacteria. In this perspective article, we review the current status of bacteria-mediated self-healing concrete and summarize the prospects for future advances. In particular, we point out that fungi may have …

A Review On Bioconversion Of Agro-Industrial Wastes To Industrially Important Enzymes, Rajeev Ravindran, Shady S. Hassan, Gwilym A. Williams, Amit K, Jaiswal

Articles

Agro-industrial waste is highly nutritious in nature and facilitates microbial growth. Most agricultural wastes are lignocellulosic in nature; a large fraction of it is composed of carbohydrates. Agricultural residues can thus be used for the production of various value-added products, such as industrially important enzymes. Agro-industrial wastes, such as sugar cane bagasse, corn cob and rice bran, have been widely investigated via different fermentation strategies for the production of enzymes. Solid-state fermentation holds much potential compared with submerged fermentation methods for the utilization of agro-based wastes for enzyme production. This is because the physical–chemical nature of many lignocellulosic substrates naturally …

Micronutrient Availability In Alternative Foods During Agricultural Catastrophes, David C. Denkenberger, Joshua M. Pearce

Department of Materials Science and Engineering Publications

Several catastrophes could block the sun, including asteroid/comet impact, super volcanic eruption, and nuclear war with the burning of cities (nuclear winter). Previous work has analyzed alternate food supplies (e.g., mushrooms growing on dead trees, bacteria growing on natural gas). This was shown to be technically capable of feeding everyone with macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and lipids) and minerals, although economics and politics remain uncertain. The present work analyzes vitamin availability in such alternative food scenarios. The vitamin content of various alternate foods is compared to the US recommended daily allowance (RDA) as well as the average requirement defined by the …

Effect Of Heating On Heat Capacity Of Vegetable Oils Used For Biofuel Production, Sailee Nitin Nagpurkar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biodiesel has become a major renewable fuel for diesel engines particularly from various waste sources. New biodiesel production technologies are emerging with data demands for efficient process design. This project highlights the data requirements, gaps in the thermo-physical property data, and consolidation of experimental and estimation methods for effective process development. Knowing the thermodynamic properties of a substance is important in order to know what process or procedures it has to go under. The aim of this project is to assess the potential of vegetable oils to serve as feedstock for biofuel production by determining their heat capacity (Cp). Such …

Girls Who Code 3rd-5th, Khristina Polivanov

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

The goal of the club is to encourage girls to be confident in themselves and their abilities while teaching them basic concepts used in computer science.

The Future Is Now Science Club, Shane Stan

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

The Future is Now! What will our planet look like in 10, 20, 50, or even 100 years? Where will we live, what will we eat, how will we travel? Believe it or not, in the coming decades, many ideas that were once science fiction will come through to realization. With this, many of the discoveries and technologies making all of this happen are being developed right now as we go about our daily lives.

In this club, appropriately titled, The Future Is Now Science Club, students will be inspired to think larger about the present world they live in. …