Digital Commons Network^™

Laying The Foundation For Nanoscience And Nanotechnology With An Introductory Module For High School Students, Maynard Valerie, Hsu Mathew, Katherine C. Chen, R. H. Chang

Materials Engineering

In response to the need to create a skilled workforce in nanotechnology and to excite young students with the wonders and potentials of science, the National Center for Learning and Teaching in Nanoscale Science and Engineering, is developing educational materials for grades 7 – 16. Learning theory and cutting-edge research are used in the development of modules on nanoscience and nanotechnology. This paper describes the rationale for such materials and describes an introductory module in which students are lead through a series of inquiry-based and hands-on activities, which lead to a design project. Its goal is to teach an underlying …

The 1999 Colorado Springs, Colorado Landslides – Federal, State And Local Government Response; Public Involvement; And Future Long-Term Risks And Challenges, Mark W. Squire

Geohazards

In the spring of 1999, heavy rain precipitated landslides in over 12 developed areas in Colorado Springs. The landslide damage and destruction exceeded $80 million dollars. A combined federal, state and local response included active participation by property owners in an open and transparent public process. The resulting federally funded mitigation project was a success, but this can only be considered an interim objective for an inherent serious local problem. Colorado Springs is normally an arid environment but high moisture years, like 1999, can result in activation of new landslides and reactivation of existing landslides. Residential neighborhoods continue to expand …

Cosmm: An Undergraduate Laboratory For Engineering And Manufacturing Complex, Organic Shapes Using Nature As A Template, Daniel Walsh, Lanny Griffin, Robert Crockett

Biomedical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Research In The Undergraduate Environment, Charles Birdsong, Peter Schuster

Mechanical Engineering

The benefits of research experiences for undergraduates are significant. For many faculty, these were the experiences that convinced us to pursue further education and a career in academia. However, performing research at an undergraduate institution carries with it certain challenges. In traditional research institutions, doctoral students perform most of the research activities, led by the faculty. These students have completed at least their undergraduate courses and can be expected to remain on the research team for four to six years. In contrast, at an undergraduate institution students may start in the group with only one or two engineering courses completed, …

Alterations In Regional Vascular Geometry Produced By Theoretical Stent Implantation Influence Distributions Of Wall Shear Stress: Analysis Of A Curved Coronary Artery Using 3d Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling, John F. Ladisa, Lars E. Olson, Douglas Anthony Hettrick, David C. Warltier, Judy R. Kersten, Paul S. Pagel

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background

The success of stent implantation in the restoration of blood flow through areas of vascular narrowing is limited by restenosis. Several recent studies have suggested that the local geometric environment created by a deployed stent may influence regional blood flow characteristics and alter distributions of wall shear stress (WSS) after implantation, thereby rendering specific areas of the vessel wall more susceptible to neointimal hyperplasia and restenosis. Stents are most frequently implanted in curved vessels such as the coronary arteries, but most computational studies examining blood flow patterns through stented vessels conducted to date use linear, cylindrical geometric models. It …

The Effect Of Physiological Cyclic Stretch On The Cell Morphology, Cell Orientation And Protein Expression Of Endothelial Cells, V. Barron, Claire Brougham, K. Coghlan, C. Stenson-Cox, D. O'Mahoney, P.E. Mchugh

Articles

In vivo, endothelial cells are constantly exposed to pulsatile shear and tensile stresses. The main aim of this study was to design and build a physiological simulator, which reproduced homogenous strain profiles of the tensile strain experienced in vivo, and to investigate the effect of this cyclic tensile strain on the cell morphology, cell orientation and protein expression of endothelial cells. The biological response of human umbilical vein endothelial cells to a uniaxial cyclic stretch, in this newly developed simulator, was examined experimentally using immunohistostaining and confocal imaging and it was

found that the cells elongated and oriented at 58.9± …

Application Of Aspen Mads-Box Genes To Alter Reproduction And Development In Trees, Gopi Krishna Podila, Leland James Cseke, Banalata Sen, David F. Karnosky

Michigan Tech Patents

The present invention provides compositions and methods for producing a transgenic plant that exhibits altered characteristics resulting from over expression or under expression of a novel polypeptide PtM3 or its homolog PtM4. The altered characteristics resulting from over-expression include at least one of the ability to convert axillary mer- istem to floral meristem; to accelerate flowering i.e., early flowering; to increase fruit production; to increase nut production; to increase seed output; to increase branching; to increase flower production; to increase fruit yield; to increase flower yield and a combination thereof. The altered characteristics resulting from suppressed expression include at least …

Imaging Breast Adipose And Fibroglandular Tissue Molecular Signatures By Using Hybrid Mri-Guided Near-Infrared Spectral Tomography, Ben Brooksby, Brian W. Pogue, Shudong Jiang, Hamid Dehghani, Subhadra Srinivasan, Christine Kogel, Tor D. Tosteson, John Weaver, Steven P. Poplack, Keith D. Paulsen

Dartmouth Scholarship

Magnetic resonance (MR)-guided near-infrared spectral tomography was developed and used to image adipose and fibroglandular breast tissue of 11 normal female subjects, recruited under an institutional review board-approved protocol. Images of hemoglobin, oxygen saturation, water fraction, and subcellular scattering were reconstructed and show that fibroglandular fractions of both blood and water are higher than in adipose tissue. Variation in adipose and fibroglandular tissue composition between individuals was not significantly different across the scattered and dense breast categories. Combined MR and near-infrared tomography provides fundamental molecular information about these tissue types with resolution governed by MR T1 images.

Competitive Metagenomic Dna Hybridization Identifies Host-Specific Microbial Genetic Markers In Cow Fecal Samples, Orin C. Shanks, Jorge W. Santo Domingo, Regina Lamendella, Catherine A. Kelty, James E. Graham

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Several PCR methods have recently been developed to identify fecal contamination in surface waters. In all cases, researchers have relied on one gene or one microorganism for selection of host-specific markers. Here we describe the application of a genome fragment enrichment (GFE) method to identify host-specific genetic markers from fecal microbial community DNA. As a proof of concept, bovine fecal DNA was challenged against a porcine fecal DNA background to select for bovine-specific DNA sequences. Bioinformatic analyses of 380 bovine enriched metagenomic sequences indicated a preponderance of Bacteroidales-like regions predicted to encode membrane-associated and secreted proteins. Oligonucleotide primers capable …

Filtering Of Acoustic Emission Data Through Principal Frequency Component Extraction, Justin O. Karl

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Rapid editing of acoustic emission (AE) data is required in order to make real-time acoustic emission flaw growth systems a viable testing method for materials and setups that contain noisy signals. It was hypothesized that extracting major frequency components from the acoustic emission signal would therefore provide a representative acoustic signature of the major waveforms occurring due to defect growth This research has verified that the aforementioned filtering technique does, in fact, extract a representative signal from the composite and metal specimens utilized herein These findings were verified both through visual analysis of the data as well as the low …

Disseminating Molecular Biology For Environmental Engineers With Nsf Ccli Support, Daniel B. Oerther, Catherine V. Maltbie, Baikun Li, Jin Li, Amy Pruden, Peter George Stroot

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

For the past five years, more than fifty undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Cincinnati have participated in a term-length course, CEE69 Molecular Biology for Environmental Systems. Using a self-paced approach, teams of students complete laboratory exercises to answer open ended questions about the composition of the microbiological community in an environmental sample. With the financial support of a Adaptation and Implementation (A&I) track grant from the NSF Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement program the course from Cincinnati is being taught at four partner institutions. This paper highlights the unique challenges of adapting the existing course to other …

A Time-To-First Spike Cmos Image Sensor With Coarse Temporal Sampling, Qiang Luo, John G. Harris, Zhiliang J. Chen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Conventional voltage-based CMOS image sensors inherently have a dynamic range of about 60 dB. To extend the dynamic range, a two-degree of freedom time-based CMOS image sensor is proposed. Instead of reading analog voltages off chip, a time representation is used to record when the photodetector voltage passes a timing-varying threshold. The time measurements are combined with the reference voltage waveform to reconstruct the image. Experimental results on a prototype 32 x 32-pixel array CMOS image sensor verify that the two-degree of freedom sampling technique is feasible for ultra-wide dynamic range imaging. A measured 115 dB dynamic range at 30 …

Methane Production In A 100-L Upflow Bioreactor By Anaerobic Digestion Of Farm Waste, Abhijeet P. Borole, K. Thomas Klasson, Whitney Ridenour, Justin Holland, Khursheed Karim, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Manure Waste from Dairy Farms Has Been Used for Methane Production for Decades, However, Problems Such as Digester Failure Are Routine. the Problem Has Been Investigated in Small Scale (1-2 L) Digesters in the Laboratory; However, Very Little Scale-Up to Intermediate Scales Are Available. We Report Production of Methane in a 100-L Digester and the Results of an Investigation into the Effect of Partial Mixing Induced by Gas Upflow/recirculation in the Digester. the Digester Was Operated for a Period of About 70 D (With 16-D Hydraulic Retention Time) with and Without the Mixing Induced by Gas Recirculation through an Internal …

Explant Analysis Of Total Disc Replacement, Paul A. Anderson, Steven M. Kurtz, Jeffrey M. Toth

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Explant analysis of human disc prostheses allow early evaluation of the host response to the prosthesis and the response of the prosthesis from the host. Furthermore, early predictions of failure and wear can be obtained. Thus far, about 2-3% of disc prostheses have been removed. Observed wear patterns are similar to that of appendicular prostheses including abrasions/scratching, burnishing, surface deformation, fatigue, and embedded debris. Chemically the polymeric components have shown little degradation in short-term implantation. In metal on metal prostheses the histologic responses consist of large numbers of metallic particles with occasional macrophages and giant cells. Only rare cases of …

Evaluation Of Microbial Diversity In Wetland Through Polymerase Chain Reaction (Pcr) And Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (Rflp), Gregory K. Joseph

Theses and Dissertations

The diversity of microbial communities in wetlands has not been fully measured. These communities may offer tools to naturally remediate sites polluted with chlorinated compounds. Polmerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) are genomic techniques that are capable of rapidly characterizing bacteria communities and can provide valuable information about the diversity of microbial communities.

Technology Transfer: A Qualitative Analysis Of Air Force Office Of Research And Technology Applications, David C. Trexler

Theses and Dissertations

Everyday within United States Air Forces’ research laboratories there are hundreds of scientists and engineers whose research and development activities contribute to the advancement of science and technology for mankind. The opportunities for successful technology transfer within these research activities are unbounded. This thesis examines the Air Force Office of Research and Technology Applications (ORTA’s) involvement with technology transfer, the complexities they face, the importance of their position, and what best practices ORTAs use to facilitate technology transfer. Air Force concerns and initiatives are detailed to provide perspective on balancing technology transfer with mission requirements and adherence to United States …

Development And Validation Of Reentry Simulation Using Matlab, Robert E. Jameson Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This research effort develops a program using MATLAB to solve the equations of motion for atmospheric reentry and analyzes the validity of the program for use as a tool to expeditiously predict reentry profiles. The reentry vehicle is modeled as a point mass with constant aerodynamic properties as defined by the user. The equations of motion for reentry are based on the two-body problem. The atmosphere is modeled as a single layer exponentially decreasing in density. The MATLAB program has the ability to derive the initial trajectory conditions from the position and velocity relative to the rotating surface of the …

Molecular Characterization Of Wetland Soil Bacterial Community In Constructed Mesocosms, Ethan C. Bishop

Theses and Dissertations

The use of wetlands to effectively remediate aquifers contaminated with chlorinated solvents is an emerging technique, which shows high promise. In order to better understand this process and test its legitimacy, a treatment wetland was constructed at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio and, in a joint effort with Wright State University (WSU), has previously shown the effective removal of PCE. The purpose of this research was to characterize the soil bacterial community, pre-PCE injection, among three wetland plant species from the sedge family (Cyperaceae) within constructed wetland mesocosms and to identify any bacterial dominance. Carex comosa, Scirpus atrovirens, and Eleocharis erythropoda …

A Bimodular Theory For Finite Deformations: Comparison Of Orthotropic Second-Order And Exponential Stress Constitutive Equations For Articular Cartilage, Stephen M. Klisch

Mechanical Engineering

Cartilaginous tissues, such as articular cartilage and the annulus fibrosus, exhibit orthotropic behavior with highly asymmetric tensile–compressive responses. Due to this complex behavior, it is difficult to develop accurate stress constitutive equations that are valid for finite deformations. Therefore, we have developed a bimodular theory for finite deformations of elastic materials that allows the mechanical properties of the tissue to differ in tension and compression. In this paper, we derive an orthotropic stress constitutive equation that is second-order in terms of the Biot strain tensor as an alternative to traditional exponential type equations. Several reduced forms of the bimodular second-order …

Statistical Models Of Reconstructed Phase Spaces For Signal Classification, Richard J. Povinelli, Michael T. Johnson, Andrew C. Lindgren, Felice M. Roberts, Jinjin Ye

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper introduces a novel approach to the analysis and classification of time series signals using statistical models of reconstructed phase spaces. With sufficient dimension, such reconstructed phase spaces are, with probability one, guaranteed to be topologically equivalent to the state dynamics of the generating system, and, therefore, may contain information that is absent in analysis and classification methods rooted in linear assumptions. Parametric and nonparametric distributions are introduced as statistical representations over the multidimensional reconstructed phase space, with classification accomplished through methods such as Bayes maximum likelihood and artificial neural networks (ANNs). The technique is demonstrated on heart arrhythmia …

Osteogenic Differentiation Of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells On Thin Film Tyrosine Derived Polycarbonates, Tamunotoyne Briggs

Theses

Mesenchymal stem cells, harvested from adult bone marrow, are promising in the field of regenerative medicine because of the vast differentiation potential into various cell lines such as: osteoblasts, chondrocytes, adipocytes, and neurons. Osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) could be an important tool in the treatment of orthopedic deficiencies such as bone defects. The extent of in vitro human mesenchymal stem cell growth, adhesion, motility and differentiation into osteoblasts is a function of the material surface chemistry which is mediated by protein adsorption onto the surface. A library of tyrosine derived polycarbonates allows the tailoring of material …

Development Of A System To Measure Cardiac Function In The Drosophila Melanogaster Animal Model, Heather Anne Reinhardt

Theses

Previous studies have shown that several genes are evolutionarily conserved from lower organisms to man, where a number of genes have been directly linked to cardiac function and disease. The Drosophila melanogaster (Fruit Fly) has a genome similar to humans and therefore has proven to be an important animal model to study the role of genetics in cardiac function and disease development. Fruit flies are an important basic science model because of the ease with which genes can be manipulated and quickly expressed due to the short lifespan of the fly. Although standard techniques exist to affect the genome of …

Desulfovibrio Desulfuricans G20 Tetraheme Cytochrome Structure At 1.5 A˚ And Cytochrome Interaction With Metal Complexes, Mrunalini Pattarkine, J J. Tanner, C A. Bottoms, Y H. Lee, Judy D. Wall

Faculty Works

The structure of the type I tetraheme cytochrome c3 from Desulfovibrio desulfuricans G20 was determined to 1.5 A˚ by X-ray crystallography. In addition to the oxidized form, the structure of the molybdate-bound form of the protein was determined from oxidized crystals soaked in sodium molybdate. Only small structural shifts were obtained with metal binding, consistent with the remarkable structural stability of this protein. In vitro experiments with pure cytochrome showed that molybdate could oxidize the reduced cytochrome, although not as rapidly as U(VI) present as uranyl acetate. Alterations in the overall conformation and thermostability of the metal-oxidized protein were investigated …

System For And Method Of Performing Evaluation Techniques On A Log Or Round Timber, Xiping Wang, Robert J. Ross, James A. Mattson, John Erickson, John W. Forsman, Earl A. Geske, Michael A. Wehr

Michigan Tech Patents

A system for and method of evaluating a log. The system includes an analysis module having at least one input terminal connectable to the at least one input device. The at least one input terminal is operable to receive at least one signal representing at least one measured property of the log and at least one determined parameter of the log determined in response to an energy being applied to the log. The analysis module further includes a processor coupled to the at least one input terminal. The processor determines a predictive modulus of elasticity (MOE) of the log based …

Technology For Exploration, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A published article that included Professor Bob Twiggs titled "Technology for Exploration" from May 12, 2006.

Thermal Analysis Of Adsorbed Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) On Silica, Frank D. Blum, Erin N. Young, Gregory Smith, Oliver C. Sitton

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Modulated differential scanning calorimetry has been used to quantify the glass transitions of small, adsorbed amounts of poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) on silica. While a relatively narrow, single glass transition was found for bulk PMMA, broader two-component transitions were found for the adsorbed polymer. a two-state model based on loosely bound polymer (glass transition similar to bulk) and more tightly bound polymer (glass transition centered around 156°C) was used to interpret the thermograms. on the basis of this model, the amount of tightly bound polymer was found to be approximately 1.3 mg/m 2, corresponding to a 1.1 nm thick layer. …

Microrobot For Surgical Applications: United States Patent No. Us 7,042,184 B2, Dmitry Oleynikov, Shane Farritor, Adnan Hadzialic, Stephen R. Platt

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The present invention provides a micro-robot for use inside the body during minimally-invasive surgery. The microrobot may include various sensors, imaging devices or manipulators.

First Impressions : A Study Of The Relationship Between Presenting Problems And Clinical Perception, Holly Elizabeth Fussell

Dissertations and Theses

Processes involved in clinical perception typically result in tangible outcomes of interest to clients and practitioners (e.g., diagnoses). In developing an overall impression of clients, practitioners integrate information related to target problems clients present. Substance abuse counselors, in particular, are increasingly being asked to assess clients for co-occurring problems. Domestic violence has been identified as a particularly salient co-occurring problem associated with substance abuse.

This dissertation draws on theory by Solomon Asch (1946, 1952) to examine how presenting problems such as domestic violence shape clinical outcomes and processes in substance abuse assessment interviews. Most clinical interactions occur, however, under confidential …

Growth Rates Under Interval Uncertainty, Janos Hajagos, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

For many real-life systems ranging from financial to population-related to medical, dynamics is described by a system of linear equations. For such systems, the growth rate lambda can be determined as the largest eigenvalue of the corresponding matrix A. In many practical situations, we only know the components of the matrix A with interval (or fuzzy) uncertainty. In such situations, it is desirable to find the range of possible values of lambda. In this paper, we propose an efficient algorithm for computing lambda for a practically important case when all the components of the matrix A are non-negative.

Biotreatment Of Synthetic Drill-Cutting Waste In Soil, Laleh Rastegarzadeh, Yarrow Nelson, Todd G. Ririe

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Oil and gas drilling operations create drill cutting wastes around the world. Drill cutting waste includes synthetic drilling fluids typically consisting of petroleum-based compounds mixed with clay-type materials and water. Biological treatment is an effective means of disposing of drill cutting wastes, but proper biodegradation conditions are critical. In this study biological treatment of drill cutting wastes containing Saraline® (synthetic paraffin mineral oil) was examined using a variety of amendments to study the effect of different conditions on the biodegradability of synthetic drill cutting wastes. Soil was collected from a drilling site in Southeast Asia and soil microcosms were incubated …