Digital Commons Network^™

Computing Multiscale Entropy With Orthogonal Range Search, Yu-Hsiang Pan, Wei-Yen Lin, Yung-Hung Wang, Kuo-Tien Lee

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Multi-scale entropy (MSE) is a measurement of a system's complexity. It has received a great deal of attention in recent years, and its effectiveness has been verified, and applied in a number of different fields. However, the algorithms proposed in past studies required O(N2 ), which represented a degree of execution time insufficient for on-line applications, or for applications with long-term correlations. In this study, we showed that the probability function in the entropy term could be transformed into an orthogonal range search in the field of computational geometry. We then developed an efficient new algorithm for computing multi-scale entropy. …

Aerosol Synthesis And Electrochemical Analysis Of Niobium Mixed-Metal Oxides For The Ethanol Oxidation Reaction In Acid And Alkaline Electrolyte, Daniel Konopka

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Direct ethanol fuel cells are especially important among emerging electrochemical power systems with the potential to offset a great deal of the energy demand currently met through the use of fossil fuels. Ethanol can be refined from petroleum sources or attained from renewable biomass, and is more easily and safely stored and transported than hydrogen, methanol or gasoline. The full energy potential of ethanol in fuel cells can only be realized if the reaction follows a total oxidation pathway to produce CO2. This must be achieved by the development of advanced catalysts that are electrically conductive, stable in corrosive environments, …

Biofuel Cell Anode For Nad-Dependent Enzymes, Ovalles Rosalba Rincón

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Enzymatic biofuel cells are a very attractive young technology based on utilization of natural, renewable and plentiful resources that offer an alternative energy source. Most fuel cells run on hydrogen; but it is extremely expensive and difficult to obtain, which is why research has moved to target fuels that are already available in nature, avoiding high costs of production, both economically and environmentally. Several biofuels with very high energy densities are available to us in abundance, but the challenges to make use of them are plenty. These biofuels contain several carbon-to-carbon bonds which make their oxidation processes significantly more complex …

Printable Lithium Batteries, Kyle Fenton

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Printable lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) cathodes and porous aerogel / polymer separators have been designed, constructed, and tested. The cathodes consist of LiFePO4, PVDF binder, and conductive carbon which was developed for robocast deposition (printing) onto carbon coated aluminum substrates to form 60 \uf06dm thick cathodes. Electrochemical and physical evaluation of these printed cathodes was performed to determine capacity, rate capability, and lifetime performance of the printed cathodes. Cells were constructed using a standard 2032 coin cell to ensure uniform electrode size and pressure on the layers of the battery. Cathodes printed exhibited up to 115 mAh/g capacity with a …

Design And Analysis Of Blast Induced Traumatic Brain Injury Mechanism Using A Surrogate Headform: Instrumentation And Outcomes, Eyitejumade A. Sogbesan

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

Brain injury cases in military personnel exposed to improvised explosive devices (IED) in combat have been on the rise. In Iraq and Afghanistan improved helmets and body armor are not enough protection against blast wave threats. The United States military are sponsoring researchers and scientists around the globe to find the associations between pressure waves and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Lack of accurate data and blast wave exposure information in returning soldiers has slowed the innovation needed to effectively diagnose TBI and other related brain injury as a result of pressure waves. More detailed data will be required to gain …

Mechanical Behavior Of Bio-Inspired Laminated Composites, Liang Cheng, Adam Thomas, James L. Glancey, Anette M. Karlsson

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

To investigate if the relative high strength and stiffness of biological composites can be translated into man-made materials, innovative bio-inspired laminated composites with commercial materials (glass epoxy prepreg) were designed and manufactured by incorporating the distinctive helicoidal morphology observed in the exoskeletons of crustaceans. The helicoidal structure is characterized by a stacking sequence consisting of a gradual rotation of each lamina in the multi-layered laminated composites. Variations of the helicoidal structure were designed and produced to address some important issues encountered in the practical composites manufacturing process, including mid-plane symmetry. In addition, composite structures with a general quasi-isotropic configuration were …

P300-Based Brain-Computer Interface Paradigm Design, Reza Fazel-Rezai, Waqas Ahmad

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Structural Role Of Titanium In Ca-Sr-Zn-Si/Ti Glasses For Medical Applications, A. W. Wren, F. R. Laffir, A. Kidari, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Glasses for medical applications are used in particulate form or as a cement component. This work was undertaken to determine structural changes in 0.48SiO₂-0.36ZnO-0.12CaO-0.04SrO glass when the SiO₂ is substituted with 5 mol% increments of TiO2. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) was used to determine the presence of crystallinity. This occurred after additions of 20 mol% TiO₂. Differential Thermal Analysis (DTA) and Network connectivity (NC) calculations determined that by increasing the TiO₂ content, the T_g and NC reduced (T_g 670 °C to 632 °C, NC 1.83 to -1.14) suggesting that TiO₂ acts as …

Nanostructured Substrate With Nanoparticles Fabricated By Femtosecond Laser For Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering, Yukun Han, Zhi Liang, Huilai Sun, Hai Xiao, Hai-Lung Tsai

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A Simple and Fast Method to Fabricate Nanostructured Substrates with Silver Nanoparticles over a Large Area for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) is Reported. the Method Involves Two Steps: (1) Dip the Substrate into a Silver Nitrate Solution for a Few Minutes, Remove the Substrate from the Solution, and Then Air Dry and (2) Process the Silver Nitrate Coated Substrate by Femtosecond (Fs) Laser Pulses in Air. the Second Step Can Create Silver Nanoparticles Distributed on the Nanostructured Surface of the Substrate by the Photoreduction of Fs Multiphoton Effects. This Study Demonstrates that an Enhancement Factor (EF) Greater Than 5x105, Measured …

Electroporation-Induced Electrosensitization, Olga N. Pakhomova, Betsy W. Gregory, Vera A. Khorokhorina, Anglela M. Bowman, Shu Xiao, Andrei G. Pakhomov

Bioelectrics Publications

BACKGROUND: Electroporation is a method of disrupting the integrity of cell membrane by electric pulses (EPs). Electrical modeling is widely employed to explain and study electroporation, but even most advanced models show limited predictive power. No studies have accounted for the biological consequences of electroporation as a factor that alters the cell's susceptibility to forthcoming EPs.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We focused first on the role of EP rate for membrane permeabilization and lethal effects in mammalian cells. The rate was varied from 0.001 to 2,000 Hz while keeping other parameters constant (2 to 3,750 pulses of 60-ns to 9-micros duration, 1.8 …

Effects Of Attenuation And Thrombus Age On The Success Of Ultrasound And Microbubble-Mediated Thrombus Dissolution, F. Xie, E. Carr Everbach, S. J. Gao, L. K. Drvol, W. T. Shi, F. Vignon, J. E. Powers, J. Lof, T. R. Porter

Engineering Faculty Works

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of applied mechanical index, incident angle, attenuation and thrombus age on the ability of 2-D vs. 3-D diagnostic ultrasound and microbubbles to dissolve thrombi. A total of 180 occlusive porcine arterial thrombi of varying age (3 or 6 h) were examined in a flow system. A tissue-mimicking phantom of varying thickness (5 to 10 cm) was placed over the thrombosed vessel and the 2-D or 3-D diagnostic transducer aligned with the thrombosed vessel using a positioning system. Diluted lipid-encapsulated microbubbles were infused during ultrasound application. Percent thrombus dissolution (%TD) was …

Bacterial Killing By Dry Metallic Copper Surfaces, Christophe Espírito Santo, Ee Wen Lam, Christian Elowsky, Davide Quaranta, Dylan W. Domaille, Christopher J. Chang, Gregor Grass

Nebraska Center for Biotechnology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Metallic copper surfaces rapidly and efficiently kill bacteria. Cells exposed to copper surfaces accumulated large amounts of copper ions, and this copper uptake was faster from dry copper than from moist copper. Cells suffered extensive membrane damage within minutes of exposure to dry copper. Further, cells removed from copper showed loss of cell integrity. Acute contact with metallic copper surfaces did not result in increased mutation rates or DNA lesions. These findings are important first steps for revealing the molecular sensitive targets in cells lethally challenged by exposure to copper surfaces and provide a scientific explanation for the use of …

Markov Models For Biogeography-Based Optimization, Daniel J. Simon, Mehmet Ergezer, Dawei Du, Rick Rarick

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Biogeography-based optimization (BBO) is a population-based evolutionary algorithm that is based on the mathematics of biogeography. Biogeography is the science and study of the geographical distribution of biological organisms. In BBO, problem solutions are analogous to islands, and the sharing of features between solutions is analogous to the migration of species. This paper derives Markov models for BBO with selection, migration, and mutation operators. Our models give the theoretically exact limiting probabilities for each possible population distribution for a given problem. We provide simulation results to confirm the Markov models.

Laser Etched Pmma Microfluidic Chip Design And Manufacture With Applications In Capillary Zone Electrophoresis, Evan Allen Barbre

Master's Theses

This thesis encompasses a feasibility study of using low-cost materials to manufacture microfluidic chips that can perform the same functions as chips manufactured using traditional methods within an acceptable range of efficiency of chips created with more exotic methods and materials. The major parts of the project are the selection and characterization of the fabrication methods for creating the channels for fluid flow, the methods for sealing the channels to create a usable chip and the electrophoretic separations of carboxylated microspheres of different potentials. In this work we seek to answer the question if laser-etched PMMA microfluidic chips are comparable …

A Microsimulation Of Traffic, Parking, And Emissions At California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo, Steven Michael Kilbert

Master's Theses

Traffic and parking congestion are significant issues at many universities nationwide. The delays experienced result in wasted time, money, and fuel for students, faculty and staff, not to mention the negative contributions to the environment. This paper quantifies the amount of vehicle emissions generated during an average morning peak hour in the university environment. Using VISSIM and CMEM microsimulation packages, a model is created for California Polytechnic State University- San Luis Obispo to aggregate the collective transportation behaviors and practices of the campus and recognize the implications these behaviors pose on the transportation network as a whole. Reasonable estimates are …

Sar Map Of Gel Phantom In A 64mhz Mri Birdcage By Fiber-Optic Thermometry And Fdtd Simulation, Chirag Mukesh Patel

Master's Theses

As implantable medical devices are being used more often to treat medical problems for which pharmaceuticals don’t suffice, it is important to understand their interactions with commonly used medical modalities. The interactions between medical implants and Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines have proven to be a risk for patients with implants.

Implanted medical devices with elongated metallic components can create harmful levels of local heating in a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) environment [1]. The heating of a biological medium under MRI is monitored via the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). SAR, defined as power absorbed per unit mass (W/kg), can be calculated …

Race- And Sex-Related Differences In Retinal Thickness And Foveal Pit Morphology, Melissa Wagner-Schuman, Adam M. Dubis, Rick Nordgren, Yuming Lei, Daniel Odell, Hellen Chiao, Eric Weh, William Fischer, Yusufu N. Sulai, Alfredo Dubra, Joseph Carroll

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose.

To examine sex- and race-associated differences in macular thickness and foveal pit morphology by using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

Methods.

One hundred eighty eyes of 90 healthy patients (43 women, 47 men) underwent retinal imaging with spectral-domain OCT. The lateral scale of each macular volume scan was corrected for individual differences in axial length by ocular biometry. From these corrected volumes, Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grids of retinal thickness were generated and compared between the groups. Foveal morphology was measured with previously described algorithms.

Results.

Compared with the Caucasians, the Africans and African Americans had reduced …

Climate-Related Challenges In Long-Term Management Of Säkylän Pyhäjärvi (Sw Finland), Anne Mari Ventelä, Teija Kirkkala, Amaury Lendasse, Marjo Tarvainen, Harri Helminen, Jouko Sarvala

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Säkylän Pyhäjärvi (Sw Finland) is an Example of a Large and Shallow Lake Suffering from Eutrophication. during the Last 20 Years, the Quality and General Usability of Water in Pyhäjärvi Have Shown Considerable Variation Driven by Both a Variety of Human Activities and Climate-Related Factors Such as Wet and Dry Years. the Lake Has Been Thoroughly Studied for Decades and Has Been the Object of Comprehensive Restoration Activities Both in the Catchment and in the Lake Since the 1990s. Large Variety of Water Protection Measures Like Wetlands, Sedimentation Ponds and Filtering Systems Have Been Implemented in the Catchment Area to …

Flow Regime Identification In A Bubble Column Via Nuclear Gauge Densitometry And Chaos Analysis, S. Nedeltchev, A. Shaikh, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Bubble Column Performance Can Change Significantly as a Result of Flow Regime Change. Since Reactor Volume Productivity, Mass and Heat Transfer as Well as Mixing Are Affected by the Prevailing Flow Regime, It is Very Important to Know How to Identify It. in This Work, Flow Regime Identification Was Performed on the Basis of the Kolmogorov Entropy (KE) Algorithm Applied to Nuclear Gauge Densitometry Data. in Addition, the Average Cycle Time Was Used for Validation of the Results. Three Transition Velocities Were Identified that Delineated the Boundaries of the Three Main Hydrodynamic Regimes. the First Two Transition Points Were …

Modeling Of Equilibrium Point Trajectory Control In Human Arm Movements, Kai Chen

Dissertations

The underlying concept of the Equilibrium Point Hypothesis (EPH) is that the CNS provides a virtual trajectory of joint motion, representing spacing and timing, with actual movement dynamics being produced by interactions of limb inertia, muscle viscosity and speed/position feedback from muscle spindles. To counter criticisms of the EPH, investigators have proposed the use of complex virtual trajectories, non-linear damping, stiffness and time varying stiffness to the EPH model. While these features allow the EPH to adequately produce human joint velocities, they conflict with the EPH’s premise of simple pre-planned monotonic control of movement trajectory. As a result, this study …

Study Of Mechanisms Of Phytotoxicity Of Alumina Nanoparticles, Anthony Elijius

Dissertations

Plant growth inhibitory effect of alumina nanoparticles has recently been reported (Ling Y, Watts D, 2004) but the mechanisms of such an effect are yet to be established. The phytotoxicity of aluminum and some of its compounds is well known, but the rapid expansion of nanotechnology resulting in the introduction of new sets of materials in the nanometer range has led to the development of new approaches, experimental methods and modes of investigation.

In this study, the observed phytotoxic effects of alumina nanoparticles suspension on five plant species (Zea mays, Cucumis sativus, Daucus carota, Brassica oleracea, Lactuca sativa) …

Distributed Synchronization Algorithms For Wireless Sensor Networks, Nicola Varanese

Dissertations

The ability to distribute time and frequency among a large population of interacting agents is of interest for diverse disciplines, inasmuch as it enables to carry out complex cooperative tasks. In a wireless sensor network (WSN), time/frequency synchronization allows the implementation of distributed signal processing and coding techniques, and the realization of coordinated access to the shared wireless medium. Large multi-hop WSN's constitute a new regime for network synchronization, as they call for the development of scalable, fully distributed synchronization algorithms. While most of previous research focused on synchronization at the application layer, this thesis considers synchronization at the lowest …

Model Reference Control For Ultra-High Precision Positioning Systems, Lan Yu

Dissertations

Due to the increasing demands of high-density semiconductors, molecular biology, optoelectronics, and MEMS/NEMS in the past decades, control of ultra-high precision positioning using piezoelectricity has become an important area because of its high displacement resolution, wide bandwidth, low power consumption, and potential low cost. However, the relatively small displacement range limits its application. This work proposed a practical ultra-high precision piezoelectric positioning system with a complementary high displacement range actuation technology. Solenoids are low cost, high speed electromagnetic actuators which are commonly used in on-off mode only because of the inherent high nonlinear force-stroke characteristics and unipolar forces (push/pull) generated …

Study Of Controlled Release Of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients From Functionalized Nanoclays And Polymer Matrices, Jin Uk Ha

Dissertations

This dissertation contains the results of three related novel investigations in the field of structure-property-processing relationships of pharmaceutical polymer-based products. They are: a) modification of a pharmaceutical anionic nanoclay with two different Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) to produce nanohybrid API carriers intended to be used alone or in acrylic polymer matrices, b) comparison of binary systems containing the above APIs in the selected acrylic polymers in terms of their miscibilities with the polymer, but in the absence of nanoclay, and c) comparison of the polymer/API binary systems with ternary polymer/API/Clay systems.

For the first study, the calcination method which can …

Dielectrophoresis Aligned Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes As Ph Sensors, P. Li, C. M. Martin, K. K. Yeung, Wei Xue

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Here we report the fabrication and characterization of pH sensors using aligned single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). The SWNTs are dispersed in deionized (DI) water after chemical functionalization and filtration. They are deposited and organized on silicon substrates with the dielectrophoresis process. Electrodes with “teeth”-like patterns—fabricated with photolithography and wet etching—are used to generate concentrated electric fields and strong dielectrophoretic forces for the SWNTs to deposit and align in desired locations. The device fabrication is inexpensive, solution-based, and conducted at room temperature. The devices are used as pH sensors with the electrodes as the testing pads and the dielectrophoretically captured SWNTs …

Development Of A Centrifugal Microfluidic Device For Separation And Sorting In Biological Fluids, Gaurav Sunil Bagwe

Theses

A wide interest in employing micron-scale, integrated biochemical analysis systems for economical and rapid diagnosis has been the principal motivation behind this project. Low operating costs, portability and fast diagnosis times make centrifugal microfluidic devices an attractive option in patient-side diagnostics. Some essential tasks to be performed in microfluidic devices are sample-reagent transport, mixing, separation and detection. All these tasks require precise control of the RPM and spinning time. Centrifugal micro-fluidic platforms have been successfully implemented for detection of hepatitis A, tetanus, as well as for measurement of haemoglobin and hematocrit, for DNA analysis, and for assessment of cardiac disease …

Effects Of Hypertension And Aging On Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Contribution To Reconstituted Aortic Tissue Stiffness, Nancy Lisa Sehgel

Theses

Aortic stiffness increases with hypertension and aging, and much of this increase has been thought to occur due to changes in the extracellular matrix. However, an increase in cell stiffness could also be important. To study the cellular contribution to aortic stiffness, a reconstituted aortic tissue model (composed of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) in a collagen matrix) was developed. VSMCs isolated from thoracic aortic samples of 5-week and 18-week old male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats were passaged four times and then separately incubated in collagen for two days on a cylindrical mandrel. The resulting …

Study Of Controlled Release Of Dapsone From Modified Montmorillonite And Polymer Matrices, Jia Fan

Theses

This thesis focuses on the controlled release system of Dapsone (DAP) as the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) intercalated into sodium montmorillonite (MMT-Na+) and their combination with an anionic copolymer (Eudragit® S100). The effects of the excipients on the API dissolution rate were studied from their release profile in simulated intestinal fluid (pH=7.4) at 37±0.5°C. In the first part of the research, ionizable Dapsone was intercalated in the interlayers of MMT-Na+ to produce a nanohybrid. In the second part of the research, the nanohybrid was melt dispersed in the polymer to produce ternary (API/ Clay/ Polymer) composites. For comparison, API-polymer solid …

Operation Of A Dna-Based Autocatalytic Network In Serum, Elton Graugnard, Amber Cox, Jeunghoon Lee, Cheryl Jorcyk, Bernard Yurke, William L. Hughes

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The potential for inferring the presence of cancer by the detection of miRNA in human blood has motivated research into the design and operation of DNA-based chemical amplifiers that can operate in bodily fluids. As a first step toward this goal, we have tested the operation of a DNA-based autocatalytic network in human serum and mouse serum. With the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate to prevent degradation by nuclease activity, the network was found to operate successfully with both DNA and RNA catalysts.

The Nucleus 2010-2011, Rosalie A. Richards

Science Education Center

No abstract provided.