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Mechanical Properties Of Bone Due To Sost Expression: A 3-Point Bending Assessment Of Murine Femurs, Kainoa John Peterson

Master's Theses

Sclerostin, a protein coded for by the SOST gene, is an osteocyte-expressed negative regulator of bone formation. The absence of SOST in the genome may have an effect on bone formation both during skeletal maturation and full maturity. This study attempts to determine significant differences in the mechanical properties of bone that expresses SOST compared to bone that does not. One hundred femur samples from 6, 8, and 12 month old mice were obtained from Lawrence Livermore National Labs and loaded until failure using three-point bending. Results showed significant differences in treatment group effects for cross sectional area, yield force, …

Surface Damage In Retrieved Total Knee Replacement Femoral Components, Estefania Alvarez

All Dissertations

The metallic femoral components of total knee replacements are subject to in vivo surface damage and roughening that can severely limit the service lifetime of the bearing system. To date, there are no national standards by which to characterize the severity and damage modes of these critical bearing surfaces, and therefore it remains difficult to accurately assess how femoral damage influences total joint replacement bearing longevity. In vitro and in vivo studies have shown that severe surface damage of the femoral component can occur, however, there is still no defined test methodology that can identify or replicate the types of …

Cross Flow Filtration For Mixed-Culture Algae Harvesting For Municipal Wastewater Lagoons, Misheka Wilson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The City of Logan Environmental Department has a goal to remove chemicals from the municipal wastewater that can cause algae growth in Cutler Reservoir that will impair use for recreation. The proposed plan to accomplish the goal is to grow algae within the 460-acre Logan Lagoon wastewater system, and then remove the algae from the treated wastewater that enters Cutler Reservoir. The collected algae may be used to produce biodiesel to fuel the City solid waste vehicles. The City will coordinate the development and implementation of this project with the assistance of the Utah State University Biological Engineering Department. The …

Modeling Spatial Surface Energy Fluxes Of Agricultural And Riparian Vegetation Using Remote Sensing, Hatim M.E. Geli

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Evapotranspiration (ET) represents the amount of water consumed by vegetation through transpiration plus the direct evaporation from the soil surface. Understanding the amount of ET is important as it represents a portion of fresh water that is consumed and not available for further use. ET is used as indication of how much water needed for agricultural activities. This research is aimed towards providing improved estimates of ET.

The technological advances in remote sensing provide us with images of the Earth’s surface from space, using satellites, and sometimes with more detail from aircraft. We used these data in …

Planning And Management Modeling For Treated Wastewater Usage, Leila Ahmadi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Population growth, urbanization and water scarcity in many parts of the world has resulted in transfer of agricultural water to municipal and industrial users on one hand and excessive production of wastewater on the other hand. Due to importance of agriculture in food production and in the economy of many regions around the world,
water resources management and considering new water resources (such as treated wastewater) is critical.This study focused on analyzing the effects of population and
urban growth on water demand for various users and municipal wastewater quantity changes; as well as investigating the feasibility of wastewater reuse projects. …

Duckweed Uptake Of Phosphorus And Five Pharmaceuticals: Microcosm And Wastewater Lagoon Studies, Jonathan Bay Farrell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utah State University students under the direction of Dr. R. Ryan Dupont, Environmental Engineering, have been enthusiastically involved in researching ways to improve wastewater treatment at the nearby Wellsville Municipal Sewage Lagoons. Wellsville City, along with several other Cache Valley communities, has experienced some problems with their current wastewater facility, particularly with phosphorus removal, which will become more difficult to address as the population increases in the future. Excessive phosphorus causes unappealing algae blooms in ponds and reservoirs while also posing a threat to local fish. Brittany Wilkes, Brett Housley, and Naho Orita first looked into reducing phosphorus discharge by …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Three Utah Wastewater Treatment Facilities In Removing Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products, Oksana Roth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The occurrence of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in surface waters has become a growing concern within the last decade although the first mention of human PPCPs in the environment goes back to late 1970s. Pharmaceuticals include prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and veterinary drugs. Personal care products include products such as lotions, fragrances, and soaps. In addition to traditional personal care products, the term PPCPs has been adopted to represent a wide variety of chemicals used in consumer products including plasticizers and fire retardants. Wastewater effluents are thought to be the main source of PPCPs in surface waters since …

Raman Microspectroscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, And Electric Cell-Substrate Impedance Sensing For Characterization Of Bio-Interfaces: Molecular, Bacteria, And Mammalian Cells, Gerald Dustin Mcewen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Understanding bio-interfaces will help improve the design and application of biomaterials that can interact with biological objects like nucleic acids, molecules, bacteria, and mammalian cells. Currently, there exist instruments to investigate material properties for the electrical, chemical, physical, and mechanical nature of biomaterials or biological samples. Our goal is to use advanced spectroscopic methods and data analysis to find specific properties of biological objects and see how these properties show the biological object’s response to their environment.

My studies of interfacial electron transfer (ET) of DNA coated gold electrodes aided to understand that the density of DNA on the surface …

Using Relevance Vector Machines Approach For Prediction Of Total Suspended Solids And Turbidity To Sustain Water Quality And Wildlife In Mud Lake, Hussein Aly Batt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The main objective of the research is the development of Multivariate Relevant Vector Machine (MVRVM) to predict suspended fine sediment, water quality constituents, and provide an understanding for the practical problem of determining the amount of data required for the MVRVM. MVRVM is a statistical learning algorithm that is based on Bayes theory. It has been widely used to predict patterns in hydrological systems and other fields. This research represents the first known attempt to use a MVRVM approach to predict transport of very fine sediment and water quality constituents in a complex natural system.

The results demonstrate the ability …

An Investigation Into Delta Wing Vortex Generators As A Means Of Increasing Algae Biofuel Raceway Vertical Mixing Including An Analysis Of The Resulting Turbulence Characteristics, Aaron H. Godfrey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Current standards of living and future prosperity are closely tied to the availability of sufficient and inexpensive energy resources. Currently society is fueled primarily by some form of fossil fuel. By their very nature these fuel sources are non-renewable, thus our current energy habits are unsustainable. Among the various renewable energy technologies is the capability to produce diesel fuel by colonies of algae. While this technology has many positive features it remains too expensive to be a realistic fuel source. The current work performed analysis using computer simulation of an aquatic environment commonly used to grow algae for the purposes …

Using Stereo Particle Image Velocimetry To Quantify And Optimize Mixing In An Algae Raceway Using Delta Wings, Blake W. Lance

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Biofuel research has been continually growing over the past six decades. Of the potential sources for biofuels, microalgae is the most promising, and circulating (raceway) ponds are the most cost-effective method for growing microalgae in abundance. Nevertheless, biofuel production from algae must be more efficient to be competitive with traditional fuels. Previous studies using several airfoils, triangles, and squares at high angles to the flow direction (angle of attack) show an increase in mixing in raceways and can improve productivity by up to a factor of 2.2. Researchers show that increasing growth by increasing mixing is a repeatable effect that …

Multi-Circle Detections For An Automatic Medical Diagnosis System, Dingran Lu

Master's Theses

Real-time multi-circle detection has been a challenging problem in the field of biomedical image processing, due to the variable sizes and non-ideal shapes of cells in microscopic images. In this study, two new multi-circle detection algorithms are developed to facilitate an automatic bladder cancer diagnosis system: one is a modified circular Hough Transform algorithm integrated with edge gradient information; and the other one is a stochastic search approach based on real valued artificial immune systems. Computer simulation results show both algorithms outperform traditional methods such as the Hough Transform and the geometric feature based method, in terms of both precision …

Real-Time Characterization Of Ultra-Thin Organic Layers Via Simultaneous Spectroscopic Ellipsometry And Piezoelectric Nanogravimetry, Keith B. Rodenhausen Jr.

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Analysis techniques are needed to determine the quantity and structure of materials composing an organic layer that is below an optical ultra-thin film limit and in a liquid environment. Neither optical nor acoustical techniques can independently distinguish between thickness and porosity of ultra-thin films due to parameter correlation. A combined optical and acoustical approach yields sufficient information to determine both thickness and porosity. The author describes application of the combinatorial approach to measure single or multiple organic layers when the total layer thickness is small compared to the wavelength of the probing light. The instrumental setup allows for simultaneous in-situ …

A Conductivity Testing System Coupled With A Tensile Testing Machine To Measure The Surface Properties Of Polymer Specimens, Nguyen T. Nguyen

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Polymers play an essential role in our everyday life due to their employment in a widespread range of applications. Polymers are used in industries such as space, biomedical, electronics, etc. in which their electrical and mechanical properties are major aspects which need to be investigated prior to implementation. When subjected to mechanical stimulations, polymers may exhibit changes in electrical conductivity which can vary locally within the specimens, especially in those of conducting polymers. In mechanical investigations a tensile testing machine is used to understand polymers’ strength, elasticity or other mechanical properties. In electrical analysis, using a four-point probe to examine …

Assessing Ongoing Sources And Fate Of Dissolved Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) In A Stream, Viet Dang

All Dissertations

Polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) contamination remains a concern due to their persistence and the risk to human health associated with them. Once released into the environment, these substances are mainly associated with sediment particles and sediment organic carbon matter. They bioaccumulate in organisms via contaminated food and only a small faction is desorbed from sediment into the water column. Given the discontinuity of active discharge, pcbs are currently entering the water via groundwater inputs, soil erosion, and/or ongoing leakage from the point source. It is the dissolved form that 1) can be either absorbed by biofilm attached to stream leaves, which …

Quantitative, Spatial Imaging Based Measurements To Assess Cellular Health And Oxygenation In A Tissue Engineered Test System, Erik Bland

All Dissertations

Three-dimensional in vitro tissue test systems are employed to examine cell behavior, test responses to drugs and vaccines, and answer basic biological questions. These systems are more physiologically relevant than two-dimensional cell cultures, and are more relevant, easier and less expensive to maintain than animal models. However, methods used to measure cell behavior and viability have been developed specifically for two-dimensional cell cultures or animal models, and are often not optimally translated to three-dimensional in vitro test systems. The purpose of this work was to aid in the development of three-dimensional, spatially controlled in vitro test systems, and to develop …

Assembly And Disassembly Of Myofibrils In Dissociated Cardiomyocytes, Honghai Liu

All Dissertations

Significance
1) We have developed a hybrid TPEF-SHG imaging system with an onstage incubator for long-term living-cell imaging. Using the imaging system, the assembly of myosin filaments onto the myofibrils can be investigated without fluorescently labeling the specific proteins, which enabled us to study the dynamic process of the assembly and dedifferentiation of myofibrils in living cardiomyocytes without labeling any sarcomeric proteins for long time.
2) We observed the addition of new sarcomeres during myofibrillogenesis while neonatal cardiomyocytes were spreading on the substrate for up to 10 hours under the customized TPEF-SHG imaging system. New-sarcomere addition at both the ends …

Nanopillar Based Electrochemical Biosensor For Monitoring Microfluidic Based Cell Culture, Rajan Gangadharan

All Dissertations

In-vitro assays using cultured cells have been widely performed for studying many aspects of cell biology and cell physiology. These assays also form the basis of cell based sensing. Presently, analysis procedures on cell cultures are done using techniques that are not integrated with the cell culture system. This approach makes continuous and real-time in-vitro measurements difficult. It is well known that the availability of continuous online measurements for extended periods of time will help provide a better understanding and will give better insight into cell physiological events.
With this motivation we developed a highly sensitive, selective and stable microfluidic …

Mathematical Modeling Of Fluid Spills In Hydraulically Fractured Well Sites, Oluwafemi Michael Taiwo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Improved drilling technology and favorable energy prices have contributed to the rapid pace at which the exploitation of unconventional natural gas is taking place across the United States. As a natural gas well is being drilled, reserve pits are constructed to hold the drilling fluids and other materials returned from the drilling process. These reserve pits can fail, and when they do, plant and animal life of the surrounding area may be adversely affected. This project develops a screening tool for a suitable location for a reserve pit. This work will be a critical piece of the Infrastructure Placement Analysis …

Silver Coated Bioactive Glass Particles For Wound Healing Applications, A. W. Wren, A. Coughlan, P. Hassanzadeh, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bioactive glass particles (0.42SiO₂-0.15CaO-0.23Na ₂O-0.20ZnO) of varying size (<90 >μm and 425-850 μm) were synthesized and coated with silver (Ag) to produce Ag coated particles (PAg). These were compared against the uncoated analogous particles (Pcon.). Surface area analysis determined that Ag coating of the glass particles resulted in increased the surface area from 2.90 to 9.12 m²/g (90 μm) and 1.09-7.71 m²/g (425-850 μm). Scanning electron microscopy determined that the Ag coating remained at the surface and there was little diffusion through the bulk. Antibacterial (Escherichia coli - 13 mm and Staphylococcus epidermidis …

Repeatability Of In Vivo Parafoveal Cone Density And Spacing Measurements, Robert Garrioch, Christopher S. Langlo, Adam M. Dubis, Robert F. Cooper, Alfredo Dubra, Joseph Carroll

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose. To assess the repeatability and measurement error associated with cone density and nearest neighbor distance (NND) estimates in images of the parafoveal cone mosaic obtained with an adaptive optics scanning light ophthalmoscope (AOSLO).

Methods. Twenty-one participants with no known ocular pathology were recruited. Four retinal locations, approximately 0.65[degrees] eccentricity from the center of fixation, were imaged 10 times in randomized order with an AOSLO. Cone coordinates in each image were identified using an automated algorithm (with or without manual correction) from which cone density and NND were calculated. Owing to naturally occurring fixational instability, the 10 images recorded from …

Streambed Thermal Property Instrument (Spi), James Alwel Dayie

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this research, the Streambed thermal Property Instrument (SPI) is to determine the applicability of this instrument for in situ thermal (conductivity and diffusivity) and porous flow (magnitude and direction) measurements. Currently, no such thermal instrument exists for such in situ measurements and the reason for developing this unique instrument, the SPI to fill the technology gap in sediment thermal property measurement devices. Prior to testing the instrument under controlled laboratory conditions to determine its functionality through a series of static and flow tests, the instrument was designed and built. A lab-sized version of an actual river called …

Even Moderate Visual Impairments Degrade Drivers' Ability To See Pedestrians At Night, Joanne M. Wood, Richard A. Tyrell, Alex Chaparro, Ralph P. Marszalek, Trent P. Carberry, Byoung Sun Chu

Publications

PURPOSE. To determine the effect of moderate levels of refractive blur and simulated cataracts on nighttime pedestrian conspicuity in the presence and absence of headlamp glare.

METHODS. The ability to recognize pedestrians at night was measured in 28 young adults (M ¼ 27.6 years) under three visual conditions: normal vision, refractive blur, and simulated cataracts; mean acuity was 20/40 or better in all conditions. Pedestrian recognition distances were recorded while participants drove an instrumented vehicle along a closed road course at night. Pedestrians wore one of three clothing conditions and oncoming headlamps were present for 16 participants and absent for …

A Comparative Analysis Of Feature Extraction Techniques For Eeg Signals From Alzheimer Patients, Ramya Priya Mudhiganti

Electrical Engineering Theses

This research deals with the study of Alzheimer Disease (AD). Electroencephalogram (EEG) signal is a clinical tool for the diagnosis and detection of AD. EEG signals are analyzed for the diagnosis of AD applying several linear and non-linear methods of signal processing. This work studies and implements several measures of EEG signal complexity and then compares the complexity features measured or extracted from EEG signals. Time domain analysis of EEG signals is performed using several signal processing techniques such as higher order moments, entropies and fractal dimension calculation using fractal analysis. Frequency domain analysis of EEG signals is performed using …

Predictive Simulation Of Gait At Low Gravity Reveals Skipping As The Preferred Locomotion Strategy, Marko Ackermann, Antonie J. Van Den Bogert

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The investigation of gait strategies at low gravity environments gained momentum recently as manned missions to the Moon and to Mars are reconsidered. Although reports by astronauts of the Apollo missions indicate alternative gait strategies might be favored on the Moon, computational simulations and experimental investigations have been almost exclusively limited to the study of either walking or running, the locomotion modes preferred under Earth's gravity. In order to investigate the gait strategies likely to be favored at low gravity a series of predictive, computational simulations of gait are performed using a physiological model of the musculoskeletal system, without assuming …

Engineering Of Polyamidoamine (Pamam) Dendrimers For Gene And Drug Delivery, Quan Yuan

Theses and Dissertations

Dendrimers are a class of polymers with a highly branched, three-dimensional architecture composed of an initiator core, several interior layers of repeating units and multiple surface groups. They have been recognized as the most versatile compositionally and structurally controlled nanoscale building blocks throughout the fields of engineering, materials science, chemistry, and biology, and they have been widely investigated for drug and gene delivery. Polyamidoamine (PAMAM) dendrimers have inherent properties for gene delivery because of their high buffering capacity, polycationic surface and numerous surface groups for biofunctionlization. This dissertation is organized into four independent sections. The first section investigates a series …

Numerical Modeling Of High Temperature Bayonet Heat Exchanger And Decomposer For Decomposition Of Sulfur Trioxide, Vijaisri Nagarajan, Yitung Chen, Tzu-Chen Hung, Qiuwang Wang, Valery Ponyavin

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

Motivation

• Hydrogen is an attractive energy carrier in the future energy technology.

• Hydrogen is produced from splitting of water through various process namely electrolysis, photo-electrolysis, photo-biological production and thermochemical water-splitting.

• The aim of this study is to numerically investigate fluid flow, heat transfer and chemical reaction in bayonet high temperature heat exchanger and decomposer.

• Parametric studies are performed to achieve maximum decomposition with less pressure drop.

Real-Time Face Detection And Recognition, Parker Hill, Brendan Morris

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

The face has become a popular biometric for identification due to the wide range of features and difficulty in manipulation of the metric. In order to work towards a robust facial recognition system, this work contains a foundation for using the face as a recognition metric. First, faces are detected from still images using a Viola-Jones object detection algorithm. Then, Eigenfaces is applied to the detected faces. The system was tested on face databases as well as real-time feed from a web camera.

Impact Of Sludge Treatment Processes On Estrogen Concentration In Wastewater Sludge, Erica Marti

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

Endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), such as estrogen, are known to be present in the aquatic environment at concentrations that affect fish and other wildlife. For example, juvenile male fish exposed to estrogen will synthesize vitellogenin, which is a female-specific protein. Estrogen exposure is also linked to sex reversal, intersexuality, and inhibition of gonadal growth (Jobling et al., 1996).

Wastewater treatment plants are major contributors of EDCs into the environment. EDCs end up in wastewater as a result of natural excretion from the body or being washed off the skin. WWTPs are not designed to remove these substances. As a result, EDCs …

Characterization And Manipulation Of Nanorods Via An Applied Magnetic Field, Summer Wu '13

Student Publications & Research

A remote system capable of controlling the motion of magnetic nanorods was created. Two different systems, electromagnets and magnetic stirrers, were used to create continuously changing magnetic fields thus applying a constant torque to make nanorods rotate as “nano stirbars”. The system was tested on three different types of synthesized nanorods: multi-segmented Ni/Au, pure Ni, and pure Au nanorods. Ni and Au were chosen due to the combination of the magnetic properties of Ni and the biocompatible properties of Au. Variables such as length, shape, and geometries of the nanorods were characterized by a scanning electron microscope and an atomic …