Digital Commons Network^™

Bioelectric Applications For Treatment Of Melanoma, Stephen J. Beebe, Karl H. Schoenbach, Richard Heller

Bioelectrics Publications

Two new cancer therapies apply bioelectric principles. These methods target tumor structures locally and function by applying millisecond electric fields to deliver plasmid DNA encoding cytokines using electrogene transfer (EGT) or by applying rapid rise-time nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs). EGT has been used to locally deliver cytokines such as IL-12 to activate an immune response, resulting in bystander effects. NsPEFs locally induce apoptosis-like effects and affect vascular networks, both promoting tumor demise and restoration of normal vascular homeostasis. EGT with IL-12 is in melanoma clinical trials and nsPEFs are used in models with B16F10 melanoma in vitro and in …

Frustrated Drift Of An Anchored Scroll-Wave Filament And The Geodesic Principle, Marcel Wellner, Christian W. Zemlin, Arkady M. Pertsov

Bioelectrics Publications

We investigate anchored scroll-wave filaments in an excitable medium whose diffusivity matrix, including its determinant, is spatially nonuniform. The study is motivated by cardiological applications where scroll-wave behavior in the presence of diffusivity gradients is believed to play an important role in the development of severe arrhythmias. A diffusivity gradient is expected to make the filament drift, unless drift is prevented ("frustrated") by anchoring to localized defects in the propagation medium. The resulting stationary filament is a geodesic curve, as demonstrated here in the case of a nonzero but constant gradient. That is, the diffusivity matrix has a determinant that …

Test 1970: John Deere 8295rt, 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 …

Parameterization Of Microwave Assisted Oil Extraction And Its Transesterification To Biodiesel, Akanksha V. Kanitkar

LSU Master's Theses

Currently, a majority of the world’s energy needs are met through use of fossil fuels, petroleum, coal and natural gas. The depletion of petroleum reserves, rising and extremely volatile crude oil prices, and environmental concerns have led to search for renewable and environmentally friendly fuels. The ultimate goal of this research was to develop, test and optimize a batch microwave system using traditional and alternate non-food feedstocks. Microwave assisted extraction (MAE) of oil from conventional feedstocks (soybeans and rice bran) and an alternative feedstock (Chinese tallow tree (CTT) seeds) was carried out. The study concluded that MAE of oil is …

Quantification Of Energy Intake Using Food Image Analysis, Sertan Kaya

LSU Master's Theses

Obtaining real-time and accurate estimates of energy intake while people reside in their natural environment is technically and methodologically challenging. The goal of this project is to estimate energy intake accurately in real-time and free-living conditions. In this study, we propose a computer vision based system to estimate energy intake based on food pictures taken and emailed by subjects participating in the experiment. The system introduces a reference card inclusion procedure, which is used for geometric and photometric corrections. Image classification and segmentation methods are also incorporated into the system to have fully-automated decision making.

Investigating The Use Of Bioengineered Oyster Reefs As A Method Of Shoreline Protection And Carbon Storage, Daniel D. Dehon

LSU Master's Theses

The Louisiana Gulf Coast is losing land at an alarming rate for a combination of reasons. At the same time carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere and the oceans by the increased burning of fossil fuels. Therefore, bioengineered oyster dominated artificial reefs have been developed in an effort to mitigate erosion while storing carbon in the oyster shells. These reefs support the growth of a native oyster species, Crassostrea virginica, which are considered ecological engineers and serve to improve water quality, protect coastal wetlands, capture and store carbon, and enhance the economy. Evaluation of test pieces showed the addition …

Itraconazole Loaded Poly (Lactic-Co-Glycolic) Acid Nanoparticles For Improved Antifungal Activity, Nipur Rajan Patel

LSU Master's Theses

PLGA (polylactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles containing the hydrophobic antifungal Itraconazole (ITZ) were developed to address the need for more efficient means of treating fungal infections. PLGA-ITZ nanoparticles were synthesized using an oil-in-water emulsion evaporation method. The nanoparticles morphology (TEM), size and size distribution, zeta potential (DLS), encapsulation efficiency (UV-VIS), release profile, and antifungal activity were characterized. The blank NPs and loaded PLGA-ITZ NPs were spherical with diameters of 201±5 nm, 232±1 nm and 223±36 nm at 0%, 12.5% and 25% loadings, respectively. All synthesized particles measured a negative zeta potential ranging from -28 to -33 mV. The maximum encapsulation efficiency of …

Characterization Of Composite Piezoelectric Materials For Smart Joint Applications, Hari Prasad Konka

LSU Master's Theses

Piezoelectric materials have the ability to provide desired transformation from mechanical to electrical energy and vice versa. When a mechanical force is applied to the piezoelectric material an electrical voltage is generated and when an electrical voltage is applied to the piezoelectric material it gets strained or deformed. Owing to these characteristics piezoelectric materials can be used as a sensor, an actuator, as well as a power generation unit. The high brittleness property of the original piezoelectric material is one of the major constraints in using them in the engineering applications. In order to overcome this disadvantage the composite piezoelectric …

Assessing The Suitability Of Coagulation Pretreatment On Poultry Processing Wastewater For Optimized Dissolved Air Flotation, Adam James Dassey

LSU Master's Theses

Eleven metal coagulants and one polyelectrolyte were assessed on their suitability for assisting a dissolved air flotation (DAF) system in treating poultry processing wastewater. The DAF unit was designed to maximize the microbubble production by varying the pressure, temperature, hydraulic retention time, and air flow parameters. The maximum microbubble flow from the designed system produced 30 mL of air per L of water. This value was considered low compared to other systems, but attempts to increase the microbubble volume in the current system beyond this value resulted in the coalescing of microbubbles due to turbulent conditions. Jar tests were used …

Exomedicine Synthesis Paper, Rita Briggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A report by Rita Briggs titled "Exomedicine Synthesis Paper" from 2010.

Using Jackknife To Assess The Quality Of Gene Order Phylogenies, Jian Shi, Yiwei Zhang, Haiwei Luo, Jijun Tang

Faculty Publications

Background
In recent years, gene order data has attracted increasing attention from both biologists and computer scientists as a new type of data for phylogenetic analysis. If gene orders are viewed as one character with a large number of states, traditional bootstrap procedures cannot be applied. Researchers began to use a jackknife resampling method to assess the quality of gene order phylogenies.

Results
In this paper, we design and conduct a set of experiments to validate the performance of this jackknife procedure and provide discussions on how to conduct it properly. Our results show that jackknife is very useful to …

Experimental And Numerical Analysis Of Fuel Cells, Abul Bashar Mahmud Hasan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Fuel Cells are attractive power source for use in electronic applications. Physical phenomena (water generation, saturation effect in fuel cell, poisoning, and thermal stress) are studied that governs the operation of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) and Solid Oxide Fuel cell (SOFC). Additionally, experimental studies and numerical simulations on PEMFC gas flow channel, the determination of the impact of the single channel fuel cell are presented. Furthermore, preliminary study is done for the application of APS (Air Plasma Spray) to SOFC and adhesion of anode and cathode with electrolytes for the determination of parameters involved in manufacturing the …

Antioxidant Nanoparticles As Delivery Systems, Carlos Ernesto Astete R.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of the study was to develop antioxidant polymeric nanoparticles as a new delivery system for food and pharmaceutical applications. Natural antioxidants like alpha-tocopherol, vitamin C, and carnosine, are responsible to protect biological systems against free radicals attack. The conjugation of vitamin C-vitamin E (EC) and alpha-tocopherol-carnosine (VECAR) were performed to obtain antioxidant surfactants which were used for polymeric nanoparticle synthesis. The surfactant made of á-tocopherol (vitamin E) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) of antioxidant properties dubbed as EC was used to make poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) nanoparticles. Self-assembled EC nanostructures and PLGA-EC nanoparticles were made by nanoprecipitation, and the …

Point-Of-Care Immunoassay System Using Carbon Nanotube Labels, Adeyabeba Abera

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this research was to develop enhanced signal detection mechanisms for immunosensing using carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The utilization of CNT labels for direct electrical measurement was implemented on lateral flow system and microfluidic integrated interdigitated array microelectrodes. These sensing mechanisms in simple and miniaturized system provided higher sensitivity and autonomous flow control for rapid detection aimed at point-of-care diagnostics. Specific functionalization protocols were carried out to chemically modify the surface of the CNTs for uniform dispersion and antibody conjugation in aqueous solution. Surfactant assisted dispersion of the CNTs was studied using PVP and PEG. Covalent conjugation of antibodies …

An Experimental Study Of Surfactant Enhanced Waterflooding, Paulina Metili Mwangi

LSU Master's Theses

Surfactants have a variety of applications in the petroleum industry due to their remarkable ability to lower the oil-water interfacial tension and alter wettability. However, surfactant adsorption on rock surfaces has severely crippled this means of improving oil recovery due to the high cost associated with the large quantities of surfactant needed. A previous experimental study by Ayirala (2002) reported the development of mixed wettability using a nonionic surfactant. At this mixed-wet state he was able to recover about 94% of the original oil in place. The underlying motivation of this study was to achieve such high recoveries without using …

Fabrication, Characterization, Modeling And Testing Of A Nanostructured Bulk Thermoelectric Cooler, Dinesh Pinisetty

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

New generation micro/nano devices are emerging to monitor, control and act on living systems. Particularly, in the field of cryobiology, there is a need to monitor and control temperature at the cellular level. An important step towards achieving this aim is to fabricate a novel bulk nanostructured thermoelectric cooler (TEC). As a first step towards achieving efficient localized control of temperature in biological systems, Bismuth-telluride (Bi2Te3) and Antimony-Telluride (Sb2Te3) arrays of nanowires and nanotubes were fabricated, characterized and modeled. A thermal conductivity model originally developed by Dames and Chen for superlattice nanowires was extended to nanotubes. Based on this model …

Designing A Whey Protein Based Material As A Scaffold For Bone Regeneration, Mia Dvora

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A novel gel material was designed and optimized for use as a bone tissue regeneration scaffold. Whey protein isolate (WPI), the primary component of the material, underwent considerable testing for conformity to a set of known material characteristics required for application in bone regeneration. WPI gels of different compositions were fabricated by thermally inducing gelation of high-concentration protein suspensions, and characterized for compressive strength and modulus, hydration swelling and drying properties, mechanical behavior change due to polysaccharide additives, and intrinsic pore network structure. The gels were also tested for their compatibility with MC3T3-E1 cells, and interactions such as cell adhesion, …

Antisense Silver Nanoparticles For Photo-Activated Gene Silencing, Paige Kathleen Brown

LSU Master's Theses

The unique properties of noble metal nanoparticles, which include tunable electronic and photonic characteristics, contribute to their potential as novel delivery vectors with enhanced drug stability, cell uptake, and photo-activated functionalities. Silver, as one of best surface-enhancing substrates available for bulk nanostructure synthesis, is a prime choice for investigations of metal nanohybrids as antisense therapy vehicles with special surface plasmon resonance (SPR) enabled functional attributes. The singular photonic properties of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) may contribute to ease of delivery confirmation and in situ photo-activation of protected cargo packed on particle surfaces. Here we show the synthesis and characterization of 40-80nm …

Dynamic Model Of Ecological Factors Impacting The Gulf Of Mexico Dead Zone, Jimmie Arnold Brumfield Ii

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The industrial agriculture complex of the Mississippi River Drainage Basin has the positive effect of feeding more individuals with less land via the use of chemical nutrients, pesticides and drainage. The negative effects of the agricultural nutrient load are carried by the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. After the flood of 1927 the Flood Control Act of 1928 began changing the Mississippi River into a navigation and flood control project. While successful, the river was turned into a channel where nutrient input was discharged into the Gulf of Mexico. Nitrogen compounds discharged from the Mississippi are claimed to …

The Effect Of Anisotropic Surface Energy On The Stability Of Micro And Nano Wires, Ping Du

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A liquid thread of radius R will break up into drops if the axial wavelength of the surface perturbation L > 2πR. If L < 2πR, the thread is stable and will remain intact. This is Rayleigh’s stability criterion based on a continuum model. We use molecular dynamics to simulate the evolution of Lennard-Jones liquid threads with equilibrium radius R = 2.3-6.6, where R has been non-dimensionalized by the distance at which the Lennard-Jones potential equals zero. We find that if R is fixed, the wavelength L is bounded by L_min and L_max. For L > L_max the thread always breaks up and stays as drops, and for L < L_min the thread remains intact. However, for L_min < L < L_max, the thread oscillates continuously among several shapes. The appearance of various shapes can be explained by the energy fluctuation of the system.

We also simulate the evolution of Lennard-Jones nanowires with equilibrium radius R = 1.57, 2.58, 3.59, and 4.60 by molecular dynamics. The wires …

Modeling And Simulation For Shape Memory Polymer Based Self-Healing Syntactic Foam, Wei Xu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Syntactic foams, renowned for their low density and high mechanical properties, are enjoying continuing growth in various civilian and military sectors. However, like laminated composites, foam cored structures are vulnerable to impact damages and suffering from inabilities in repairing macro-scale cracks. A self-healing mechanism for structural damage is genuinely desired. A recent development in self-healing structural damage is a two-step close then heal (CTH) scheme proposed by Li and Nettles [1] and elucidated by Li and Uppu [2], by mimicking the self-healing process of human skin. This concept has been further demonstrated in Nji and Li’s work [3] that a …

Modeling And Multiresolution Characterization Of Micro/Nano Surface For Novel Tailored Nanostructures, Rajib Mukherjee

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nanofabrication is state of the art technology. Various chemical, mechanical, biochemical and semiconductor products have characteristics controlled by the nanostructures of the surface and interphase. Surface microscopic imaging is generally used to capture different surface features. By properly analyzing the surface image, valuable information regarding manufacturing process and product performance can be extracted. While microscopy measurements can offer very accurate qualitative information about surface features, for many applications, it is critical to obtain a quantitative description of the surface morphology. Various statistical features can be used to characterize the surface in quantitative way. Such an analysis can be done by …

Arsenite Oxidation By Pure Cultures Of Thiomonas Arsenivorans Strain B6 In Bioreactor Systems, Aniruddha Dastidar

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The removal of arsenic toxicity from water is accomplished by a preliminary preoxidative step transforming the most toxic form, arsenite (As (III)), to the least toxic form, arsenate (As (V)). The potential of As (III) oxidation to As (V) was initially investigated in batch reactors using the chemoautotrophic Thiomonas arsenivorans strain b6 under varying initial As (III) and cell concentrations and at optimal pH and temperature conditions (pH 6.0 and temperature 30°C). The strain b6 completely oxidized As (III) to As (V) during exponential growth phase for lower levels of As (III) concentrations (≤ 100 mg/L) but continued into stationary …

Localized Mechanical Deformation And Dissolution Of 45s5 Bioglass, Ding Li

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Bioactive glasses react with the human physiological solution in control of their biofunctionality. The stress state in bioactive glasses determines the chemomechanical reaction and their biofunctionality. Using the microindentation technique, the effect of the indentation deformation on the surface damage and material dissolution of 45S5 bioglass was investigated.

The indentation-induced residual stresses were calculated. Complete anelastic recoveries of the indentation depths and the impression marks were observed for the first time, which was likely driven by the stored strain energy over the anelastic deformation zone. The indentation-induced local surface damages were revealed before and after the immersion tests in phosphate …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Magnetic Hydrogel Nanocomposites For Cancer Therapy Applications, Samantha Ann Meenach

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Currently, cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Conventional cancer treatment includes chemotherapy, radiation, and surgical resection, but unfortunately, all of these methods have significant drawbacks. Hyperthermia, the heating of cancerous tissues to between 41 and 45°C, has been shown to improve the efficacy of cancer therapy when used in conjunction with irradiation and/or chemotherapy. In this work, a novel method for remotely administering heat is presented. This method involves heating of tumor tissue using hydrogel nanocomposites containing magnetic nanoparticles which can be remotely heated upon exposure to an external alternating magnetic field (AMF). The …

Solid-Liquid Separation Technologies In The Conversion Of Bagasse To Liquid Fuel, Keith Miller

LSU Master's Theses

Development of liquid biofuels has entered a new phase of large scale pilot demonstrations. A number of plants in operation or under construction face the engineering challenges of creating a viable plant design, scaling up, and optimizing various unit operations. It is well-known that separation technologies account for 50-70% of both capital and operating costs. Processes vary in terms of selection of unit operations; however, solid-liquid separations are likely to be a major contributor to the overall project costs. A typical process for ethanol production from biomass includes several solid-liquid separation steps. The nature of biomass derived materials makes it …

Hydrogen Production From Molasses Using Chlorinated Alkane-Contaminated Groundwater As An Inoculum, Hector Narez

LSU Master's Theses

The Scenic Highway area of the PetroProcessors of Louisiana, Inc. (PPI) Superfund site located near Baton Rouge, LA, has groundwater contaminated with a variety of chlorinated alkanes (e.g., 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloropropane) and alkenes (e.g., trichloroethene and vinyl chloride). In March 2009, a field-scale pilot test was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of injecting diluted agricultural feed grade molasses into the groundwater in an effort to stimulate in-situ reductive dechlorination of these chlorinated contaminants. Because H2 plays an important role as an electron donor in the metabolism of reductively dechlorinating bacteria, in support of the pilot-scale effort, experiments described in this thesis …

Caged Morpholino Oligonucleotide For Control Of Gene Expression In Zebrafish, Chad Michael Jarreau

LSU Master's Theses

To control gene expression in vivo with spatial and temporal precision remains a significant hurdle in laboratory studies of development as well as clinical genetic therapies. Here we demonstrate such control over gene expression by use of photochemistry to reversibly inactivate the hybridization of a nucleic acid analog used for specific protein knockdown. A morpholino oligonucleotide, commonly used for knockdown of protein expression in developmental studies, was “caged” using carbodiimide conjugate chemistry which yielded photocleavable adducts that can be removed with light exposure. Photochemical inactivation approaches to produce caged molecules have been used to control the spatiotemporal activity of biomolecules …

Value-Added Processing Of Rice And Rice By-Products, Rebecca C. Schramm

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

World competition has encouraged United States rice farmers and rice mills to be efficient in farming and production practices. Efforts to augment economic competitiveness include development of new varieties, improvements in milling practices, and identification of uses for rice products and by-products. The research detailed in this dissertation adds to the body of knowledge in milling practices and identification of uses for rice bran. To improve the prediction of milled rice quality at industrial scale, correlations for milling quality among laboratory, pilot, and industrial scale mills were identified for Clearfield 161. Final industrial product whiteness was ten points higher than …

Destruction Of Α -Synuclein Based Amyloid Fibrils By A Low Temperature Plasma Jet, Erdinc Karakas, Agatha Munyanyi, Lesley Greene, Mounir Laroussi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Amyloid fibrils are ordered beta-sheet aggregates that are associated with a number of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer and Parkinson. At present, there is no cure for these progressive and debilitating diseases. Here we report initial studies that indicate that low temperature atmospheric pressure plasma can break amyloid fibrils into smaller units in vitro. The plasma was generated by the plasma pencil, a device capable of emitting a long, low temperature plasma plume/jet. This avenue of research may facilitate the development of a plasma-based medical treatment.