Digital Commons Network^™

Fractionation Of Oxygen Isotopes In Phosphate During Its Interactions With Iron Oxides, Deb P. Jaisi, Ruth E. Blake, Ravi K. Kukkadapu

United States Department of Energy: Publications

Iron (III) oxides are ubiquitous in near-surface soils and sediments and interact strongly with dissolved phosphates via sorption, co-precipitation, mineral transformation and redox-cycling reactions. Iron oxide phases are thus, an important reservoir for dissolved phosphate, and phosphate bound to iron oxides may reflect dissolved phosphate sources as well as carry a history of the biogeochemical cycling of phosphorus (P). It has recently been demonstrated that dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) in rivers, lakes, estuaries and the open ocean can be used to distinguish different P sources and biological reaction pathways in the ratio of ¹⁸O/¹⁶O (δ¹⁸O …

Role Of Outer-Membrane Cytochromes Mtrc And Omca In The Biomineralization Of Ferrihydrite By Shewanella Oneidensis Mr-1, C. L. Reardon, Alice Dohnalkova, P. Nachimuthu, David Kennedy, D. A. Saffarini, B. W. Arey, L. Shi, Zheming Wang, D. Moore, J. S. Mclean, D. Moyles, M. J. Marshall, John M. Zachara, James K. Fredrickson, A. S. Beliaev

United States Department of Energy: Publications

In an effort to improve the understanding of electron transfer mechanisms at the microbe–mineral interface, Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 mutants with in-frame deletions of outer-membrane cytochromes (OMCs), MtrC and OmcA, were characterized for the ability to reduce ferrihydrite (FH) using a suite of microscopic, spectroscopic, and biochemical techniques. Analysis of purified recombinant proteins demonstrated that both cytochromes undergo rapid electron exchange with FH in vitro with MtrC displaying faster transfer rates than OmcA. Immunomicroscopy with cytochrome-specific antibodies revealed that MtrC co-localizes with iron solids on the cell surface while OmcA exhibits a more diffuse distribution over the cell surface. After 3-day …

Microbial Treatment Of Swine Fecal Waste To Generate Long-Chain Linear Alkanes After Fast Pyrolysis, Lisa A. Fitzgerald, C. Ziemer, S. E. Lizewski, Bradley R. Ringeisen, K. Henry, Justin C. Biffinger

United States Navy: Publications

Research into the generation of energy from human and animal waste has been primarily focused on gas production (especially methane and hydrogen). While there is some work concentrated on ethanol and biodiesel creation from wastes (fuels used for ground transportation primarily), increasing research interest has been recently directed toward long chain hydrocarbon production for aviation fuels. Kerosene components from swine fecal waste have been generated from four natural sources: undigested dietary lipids, host lipids excreted in feces, bacterial cell walls and products of bacterial fermentation.

Socio-Demographic And Drug Use Factors Associated With Hiv-1 Recombinants And Dual Infections In Northern Thai Drug Users: Associations Of Risk With Genetic Complexity, G. H. Kijak, C. Beyrer, S. Tovanabutra, T. Sripaipan, V. Suriyanon, N. Moqueet, E. Sanders-Buell, P. Saokhieo, U. Timpan, J. Jittiwutikarn, M. L. Robb, D. L. Birx, D. D. Celentano, F. E. Mccutchan

United States Army: Publications

Background:

Dual infection with diverse HIV strains can foster the emergence of recombinants. The resulting  increase in viral genetic diversity is a major challenge for vaccine development HIV treatment. In this study we aim to investigate the socio demographic factors associated with an increasing level of genetic diversity among HIV strains in a population of drug-users in Northern Thailand.

Methods:

From 1999 through 2000, 2231 volunteers were enrolled in the Opiate- Users Research in Chiang Mai, Thailand. HIV subtype analysis was conducted among those HIV-1 seropositive (n = 347) using a multi-region hybridization assay. Social and demographic variables were assessed …

Toxicity And Bioaccumulation Of Tnt In Marine Fish In Sediment Exposures, Guilherme R. Lotufo, William Blackburn, Sydney J. Marlborough, John W. Fleeger

United States Army: Publications

The bioaccumulation potential and toxicity of 2, 4, 6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) spiked to sediment was evaluated in juvenile sheeps head minnows (JSHM, Cyprinodon variegatus) and adult freckled blennies (FB, Hypsoblennius ionthas). The JSHM were exposed for 4 days in the presence or absence of a mesh separating fish from sediment. FB were exposed to sediment for 7 days. During the 24-day storage period(4 °C), extensive transformation of spiked TNT occurred and concentrations are expressed as the sum of TNT, aminodinitrotoluenes and diaminonitrotoluenes (Sum TNT), on a dry weight basis. Sum TNT in the overlying water, not exchanged during exposure, …

Experimental Study On Thermal Treatment Of Used Printed Wiring Boards (Pwbs), Xiangjun Zuo

Masters Theses

The availability of cheaper and better electronic products as a result of the rapid innovation in technology in past decades has driven the production of e-waste forward. Printed wiring board (PWB) is a component made of one or more layers of insulating material with electrical conductors. The existing processes of recycling PWBs use pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical methods, which generate atmospheric pollution. Green recycling has obvious benefits to decrease the amount of PWBs. Green recycling includes two features, 1) little or zero pollution of toxic gases and heavy metals, and 2) efficient (quick and economical) recycling.

The aim of this work …

Split And Merge Functions For Supporting Multiple Processing Pipelines In Mercury Blastn, Jwalant Ahir, Jeremy Buhler, Roger D. Chamberlain

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Biosequence similarity search is an important application in computational biology. Mercury BLASTN, an FPGA-based implementation of BLAST for DNA, is one of the alternatives for fast DNA sequence comparison. The re-design of BLAST into a streaming application combined with a high-throughput hardware pipeline have enabled Mercury BLAST to emerge as one of the fastest implementations of bio-sequence similarity search. This performance can be further enhanced by exploiting the data-level parallelism present within the application. Here we present a multiple FPGA-based Mercury BLASTN design in order to double the speed and throughput of DNA sequence computation. This paper describes a dual …

Global Constructive Optimization Of Vascular Systems, Manfred Georg, Tobias Preusser, Horst K. Hahn

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

We present a framework for the construction of vascular systems based on optimality principles of theoretical physiology. Given the position and flow distribution of end points of a vascular system, we construct the topology and positions of internal nodes to complete the vascular system in a realistic manner. Optimization is driven by intravascular volume minimization with constraints derived from physiological principles. Direct optimization of a vascular system, including topological changes, is used instead of simulating vessel growth. A good initial topology is found by extracting key information from a previously optimized model with less detail. This technique is used iteratively …

High Temperature Tolerant Optical Fiber Inline Microsensors By Laser Fabrication, Tao Wei

Doctoral Dissertations

"Fiber sensors are particularly attractive for harsh environment defined by high temperature, high pressure, corrosive/erosive, and strong electromagnetic interference, where conventional electronic sensors do not have a chance to survive. However, the key issue has been the robustness of the sensor probe (not the fiber itself) mostly due to the problems stemmed from the traditional assembly based approaches used to construct fiber optic sensors. For example, at high temperatures (e.g., above 500°C), the thermal expansion coefficient mismatch between different composited parts has a high chance to lead to sensors' malfunction by breaking the sensor as a result of the excessive …

Optimal Excitation Controllers, And Location And Sizing Of Energy Storage For All-Electric Ship Power System, Chuan Yan

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Navy's future all-electric ship power system is based on the integrated power system (IPS) architecture consisting of power generation, propulsion systems, hydrodynamics, and DC zonal electric distribution system (DC-ZEDS). To improve the power quality, optimal excitation systems, and optimal location and sizing of energy storage modules (ESMs) are studied. In this dissertation, clonal selection algorithm (CSA) based controller design is firstly introduced. CSA based controller design shows better exploitation ability with relatively long search time when compared to a particle swarm optimization (PSO) based design. Furthermore, 'optimal' small population PSO (SPPSO) based excitation controller is introduced. Parameter sensitivity analysis …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Microspheres For Controlled Release, Gurpartap Singh Sandhu

Masters Theses

"Synthetic hydroxyapatite (HAp, (Ca₁₀(PO₄)₆(OH)₂) has always been of interest in medical applications because of its similarities to inorganic bone matrix. It has been used in biomedical applications for bone repair and substitution due to its biocompatibility. However, there are some differences in the stoichiometry, composition, and mechanical properties of human bone as compared to pure HAP. HAp particles have been successfully used as drug delivery carriers which deliver the drug to the affected part of the body and the remaining apatite gets degraded by the physiological processes in the body. In the present work, emphasis was on developing mechanically stronger …

Igf-I Releasing Plga Scaffolds For Growth Plate Regeneration, Sharath Kumar Chinnakavanam Sundararaj

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Growth plate is a highly organized cartilaginous tissue found at the end of long bones and is responsible for longitudinal growth of the bones. Growth plate fracture leads to retarded growth and unequal limb length, which might have a lifelong effect on a person’s physical stature. This research is a tissue engineering approach for the treatment of growth plate injury. Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), which can stimulate cartilage formation, was encapsulated within PLGA microspheres that were then used to form porous scaffolds. The release profile of the IGF-I from the PLGA scaffold showed a biphasic release pattern. In vitro …

Strategic Process Integration Of Energy And Environmental Systems In Wastewater Treatment Plants, Bharath Kumar Gangichetty

Masters Theses

"Green environmental practices are increasingly important in combating serious global energy and environmental issues. Most wastewater treatment facilities were built when energy costs were not a concern; however, an increasing demand for energy, changing climatic conditions, and constrained energy supplies have resulted in the need to apply more energy-conscious choices in the maintenance or upgrade of existing wastewater treatment facilities. A detailed analysis of the majority of water and wastewater treatment services shows that most facilities operate far below the efficiency levels needed for effective energy use. Failure to comply with regulated environmental standards is also a problem. Although standards …

The Effects Of Personal Protective Equipment Level A Suits On Human Task Performance, Yvette L. Simon

Masters Theses

"First response teams dealing with hazardous substances often require the highest level of protection provided by Level A suits. These suits are fully encapsulating, bulky, and heat retentive. The effect of these suits on the wearer's ability to perform various tasks is of interest when it comes to human performance analysis. This research effort examined the effect of the Level A suit on fine motor and gross motor dexterity. Seven members of the National Guard's Civil Support Team (CST) performed a battery of six tasks designed to test these abilities. Tasks comprised the Minnesota Dexterity test and the Mirror Tracer …

The Placement Of Remediation Amendments Into Contaminated Sediments Via Waterjet Technologies, Gavin Hunter Ray Risley

Masters Theses

"The use of amendments to perform in situ remediation of contaminated sediments is a technique that is relatively mature. The need exists to develop a method of amendment delivery that will efficiently place the amendments into the contaminated zone at depth with minimal impacts to the benthic communities and contaminant resuspension. Waterjets have been used for hundreds of years as an excavation, cutting, and cleaning tool, but they can also be used to inject remediation amendments into contaminated sediments if setup properly. In order to test this concept, a waterjet amendment injection system and nozzle have been developed and tested. …

Detection Of Explosive Threats By Using Embedded Wireless Sensor Based Networks, Jake Daniel Hertenstein

Masters Theses

"This thesis focuses on the development of novel schemes for the detection of unintended electromagnetic emissions (UEE) from passive radio frequency (RF) receivers and chemical and biological (CB) agents for the purpose of locating explosive threats (ET) to improve survivability for equipment and personnel in the surrounding environment. The methods and architectures used in this work were developed for use with wireless sensor networks (WSNs). While previous work has shown that highly sensitive equipment is capable of long-range detection of UEE the intention of this work is to develop a network of small, low cost smart sensor nodes (SSNs) capable …

Microalgal Bioremediation Of Nutrients In Wastewater And Carbon Dioxide In Flue Gas, Anand Murali Narasimhan

Masters Theses

"Microalgae are potential biofuel feedstocks that can provide solutions to the twin challenges of energy security and environmental pollution. They have great potential for the removal of excess nitrogen and phosphorus from wastewater including the farm runoff. They can capture carbon dioxide in the flue gas from coal fired power plants thereby reducing greenhouse gas and also producing algal biomass, which can be converted into biofuel. In this study, the nutrient consumption of Scenedesmus algae was investigated in a batch culture and the biomass yield was determined. Algae were able to utilize carbon in the form of soluble carbonates which …

Improving Resiliency Using Graph Based Evolutionary Algorithms, Jayakanth Jayachandran

Masters Theses

"Resiliency is an important characteristic of any system. It signifies the ability of a system to survive and recover from unprecedented disruptions. Various characteristics exist that indicate the level of resiliency in a system. One of these attributes is the adaptability of the system. This adaptability can be enhanced by redundancy present within the system. In the context of system design, redundancy can be achieved by having a diverse set of good designs for that particular system. Evolutionary algorithms are widely used in creating designs for engineering systems, as they perform well on discontinuous and/or high dimensional problems. One method …

Implementation Of Risk Management In The Medical Device Industry, Rachelo Dumbrique

Master's Theses

This study looks at the implementation and effectiveness of risk management (RM) activities in the medical device industry. An online survey was distributed to medical device professionals who were asked to identify RM-related activities performed during the device life cycle. RM activities and techniques included Establishing Risk Acceptance Criteria, Hazard Identification, Human Factors/Usability, Fault Tree Analysis (FTA), Design Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (DFMEA), Process Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (PFMEA), Hazard and Operability Study (HAZOP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP), Risk Benefit Analysis, and Risk Assessment of Customer Complaint. Devices were identified by type (therapeutic, surgical/clinical tools, …

Characterizing The Controlled Release Of Glial Cell-Line Derived (Gdnf) Neurotrophic Factor From Encapsulated Schwann Cells, Kristy Broadrick

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

CHARACTERIZING THE CONTROLLED RELEASE OF GDNF IN SCHWANN CELLS

by

KRISTY BROADRICK

May 2010

Advisor: Dr. Pamela VandeVord

Major: Biomedical Engineering

Degree: Masters of Science

Controlled expression of glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) can be integrated in the development of a system for repair of injured peripheral nerves. This delivery strategy was demonstrated via inducible GDNF from microencapsulated cells in barium alginate. The Schwann cell line RT4-D6P2T was initially modified utilizing an ecdysone-based stable transfection system to produce RT4-GDNF cells. During construct preparation, it was found that C6 cells (where GDNF cDNA was isolated) make three GDNF …

Molecular Modeling Of Energetic Materials And Chemical Warfare Agents, Nandhini Sokkalingam

Wayne State University Dissertations

Contamination of military sites by energetic materials and chemical warfare agents is a growing problem. To avoid health hazards associated with these compounds, it is necessary to decontaminate or remediate the contaminated sites. Effective decontamination requires knowledge of environmental fate of contaminants and the appropriate remediation methodologies. While the fate of chemical warfare agents are well studied, the impact of certain energetic materials in the environment is relatively unknown. So the current focus is determining environmental fate of Insensitive Munitions (IM) which are energetic materials that have low shock sensitivity and high thermal stability and developing detection schemes for identifying …

A Biomechanical Comparison Of Locking Compression Plate Constructs With Plugs/Screws In Osteoporotic Bone Model, Krishna P. Desai

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Locking compression plates are proven to be safe for use in open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) especially in osteoporotic bones. Because of various combinations of holes, the system provides more options for clinicians to use either locking screws or non-locking screws. This clinical research introduces screw like plugs which can be used along with the screws in case of locking compression plates. Experimental work was performed to determine the effectiveness of the plugs. The results showed that there is not a significant difference between the groups which used plugs and did not use the plugs, both in case of …

Nebraska Summary: S777 Massey Ferguson 7480, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Nebraska Summary: S775 Massey Ferguson 7465, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Nebraska Summary: S773 Massey Ferguson 6475, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Nebraska Summary: S772 Massey Ferguson 6465, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Test 1978: Massey Ferguson 2680hd, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Test 1979: Kubota M100x, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Test 1976: Massey Ferguson 2660hd, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …

Test 1977: Massey Ferguson 2670hd, Nebraska Tractor Test Lab

Nebraska Tractor Tests

ABOUT THE TEST REPORT AND USE OF THE DATA The test data contained in this report are a tabulation of the results of a series of tests. Due to the restricted format of these pages, only a limited amount of data and not all of the tractor specifications are included. The full OECD report contains usually about 30 pages of data and specifications. The test data were obtained for each tractor under similar conditions and therefore, provide a means of comparison of performance based on a limited set of reported data. EXPLANATION OF THE TEST PROCEDURES Purpose The purpose of …