Digital Commons Network^™

Multimedia Modeling Of Organic Contaminants In The Passaic River Watershed, Lansana Coulibaly

Dissertations

A dynamic fate and transport multimedia environmental model was developed and applied to assess the release of five priority contaminants in the Passaic River Watershed, including: napthalene, toluene, trichloroethylene, 1-1-1 trichloroethane and xylene. The model uses the current releases of contaminants as well as cross-boundary advection to determine the fate and environmental distribution of these chemicals in the watershed. The model was developed using a dynamic fugacity approach in order to allow for scenario analysis such as source reductions and no-action alternatives. This modeling effort is expected to achieve a comprehensive assessment of contaminants not only in the proximity of …

Endotoxin Removal From Protein Solutions By Immobilized Metal Ion Affinity Chromatography, Yun Kang

Dissertations

In the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry, the removal of endotoxins from final protein product has always been a challenge. A novel method for endotoxin removal from protein solutions, immobilized metal (ion) affinity chromatography (IMAC) has been developed in this study. Fe³⁺ was charged to a chelating gel that contains iminodiacetic acid (IDA). The IDA- Fe³⁺ IMAC column was exploited to remove endotoxin from protein solutions. This method involves the adsorption of the endotoxin on IMAC column. More than 99% endotoxin is removed and protein yield is higher than 90%. IDA-Fe³⁺ IMAC has proved to be an economical and efficient …

Fluidization And Soot Filtration In A Rotating Fluidized Bed, Gui-Hua Qian

Dissertations

A horizontal rotating fluidized bed (RFB) has been investigated for the removal of soot from diesel engine exhaust. This requires necessitating an understanding of the nature of fluidization, particle mixing and filtration in the RFB.

In an RFB, particles are subject to a centrifugal force which can be much larger than the force of gravity. Therefore the Geldart classification for conventional fluidized beds must be modified for rotating fluidized beds. A theoretical analysis shows that group A particles (minimum bubbling velocity U_mb > minimum fluidization velocity U_mf can shift to group B U_mb = U_mf and group …

Laminar Viscous Resuspension In Two-Dimensional Channels, Wenyue Yin

Dissertations

The laminar viscous resuspension of sphere particles in two-dimensional channel with gravity and electrostatic effects is studied numerically. The constitutive equation for particles include the shear-induced diffusion flux, gravitational sedimentation flux and electro-static diffusion flux. In addition the continuity equation and the momentum equations for incompressible flow are solved for developing flow using finite element method.

The parameters in this study are ratio of particle diameter to channel height d/h, Reynolds number Re, Froude number Fr, uniform inlet particle volume fraction Φ₀, and electrostatic parameter Q. The numerical simulation included d/h from 0.03 to 0.12, Re from 5 …

An Integrated Membrane-Based Chromatographic Process For Biomolecule Isolation And Purification, Xiaoping Dai

Dissertations

Biomolecules obtained from fermentation and cell-culture processes are present in low concentrations in a complex medium/broth. For intracellular products, cells are first harvested. Subsequently, cell lysis and homogenization are undertaken to produce a homogenate. The biomolecules are next separated from the cell debris by lysate clarification. For extracellular products, the biomolecules are separated from the whole cells by clarification. The overall yield is reduced with each additional step. As the cost of bioseparation process accounts for 50-80% of the final product cost, innovations in and improvement of bio-downstream processing are greatly needed.

In this research, a cyclic process integrating a …

Gait Development For Use In Dynamic Gait Optimization Of Qudrupedrobot Walking, Mark Will

Theses

The ability of walking robots to operate in areas that are inaccessible to wheeled robots has lead to significant research in the field of gait development and optimization for these robots. In this particular study, a catalog of gaits for use in a dynamic gait optimization system to optimize the walking speed of the quadruped Arturo robot on flat terrain is developed. This catalog of robot gaits was developed using a genetic algorithm formulation; various combinations of the selection, mutation, and crossover operators were analyzed.

The Arturo robot was modified so that physical verification of the developed gaits could be …

Powder Microelectrode Modified With Nafion-Os(Bpy)3Â 2+ And Pvp Composite And Its Catalysis For No2- Reduction, Pei-Fang Liu, Jia-Wei Yan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The modified powder microelectrode was prepared by etching a Pt (0.1 mm diameter) disk microelectrode and filling in thus formed cavity with Nation-Os(bpy)₃²⁺/PVP composite modified carbon powder. The composite modified powder microelectrode showed cyclic voltammetric behaviors changing with the mole ratio (denoted X) of SO₃^- to Os(bpy)₃²⁺ in Nafion. When X=3, a single pair of current peaks appeared near 0.6V (vs. SCE) due to Os(bpy)₃^2+/3+ redox couple. In contrast, for X=20, a pair of additional current peaks occurred near 0.4V. Both X=3 and X=20 modified powder microelectrodes strongly catalyzed the first …

The Import Of Importing And Unnatural Acts: The Political Psychology Of Bioengineered Plants, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes political psychological aspects of opposition to the importing of bioengineered plants.

Stress And Thermal Analysis Of The Lotec Carrier, Scott Thomas

Honors Capstone Projects and Theses

No abstract provided.

Granularity As An Optimal Approach To Uncertainty - A General Mathematical Idea With Applications To Sleep, Consumption, Traffic Control, Learning, Etc., Vladik Kreinovich, Hung T. Nguyen

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Traditional statistical and fuzzy approaches to describing uncertainty are continuous in the sense that we use a (potentially infinite) set of values from the interval [0,1] to characterize possible degrees of uncertainty. In reality, experts describe their degree of belief by using one of the finitely many words from natural language; in this sense, the actual description of expert uncertainty is granular.

In this paper, we show that in some reasonable sense, granularity is the optimal way of describing uncertainty. A similar mathematical idea explains similar "granularity" in such diverse areas as sleep, consumption, traffic control, and learning.

Human Health Risk Assessment: Recreational Use Of A Brownfield Site Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant Chemical Farmers Industries, Inc., Lease Area Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sandra Gail Skipper Koss

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis investigates the suitability of a lead-contaminated Brownfield, the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant (VAAP) site in Chattanooga, for recreational use such as children's softball. The assessment includes a review of soil sample data obtained at the VAAP by IT Corporation from 1994 to 1999, particulate monitoring of softball activities at Warner Park by the author in 1999-2000, and determination of the fate and transport of lead contamination in the soil. The fate and transport were evaluated using EPA's Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK) model for children under 7 years of age. The adult effects were calculated using an EPA …

Monitoring Precursor 16s Rrnas Of Acinetobacter Spp. In Activated Sludge Wastewater Treatment Systems, Daniel B. Oerther, Jakob Pernthaler, Andreas Schramm, Rudolf Amann, Lutgarde M. Raskin

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recently, Cangelosi and Brabant used oligonucleotide probes targeting the precursor 16S rRNA of Escherichia coli to demonstrate that the levels of precursor rRNA were more sensitive to changes in growth phase than the levels of total rRNA (G. A. Cangelosi and W. H. Brabant, J. Bacteriol. 179:4457- 4463, 1997). In order to measure changes in the levels of precursor rRNA in activated sludge systems, we designed oligonucleotide probes targeting the 3' region of the precursor 16S rRNA of Acinetobacter spp. We used these probes to monitor changes in the level of precursor 16S rRNA during batch growth of Acinetobacter spp. …

Simulated Performance Of Conventional High-Temperature Drying, Dryeration, And Combination Drying Of Shelled Corn With Automatic Conditioning, Michael D. Montross, Dirk E. Maier

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Combination drying, based on computer simulation, was evaluated as an alternative drying technique to traditional high-temperature drying and dryeration. Simulation models of high-temperature crossflow drying and in-bin drying and conditioning were used to evaluate the performance of conventional crossflow drying and full-heat crossflow drying followed by dryeration or natural-air drying for Indianapolis, Indiana, and Des Moines, Iowa. Energy costs from propane, electricity, moisture shrink below the market moisture content, and dry matter loss were estimated to find the total average drying cost over 29 years. Dryeration and combination drying reduced the total drying cost by approximately 10% compared to conventional …

Development And Testing Of A Rapid Assessment Methodology For Instream Habitat, Nathan R. Kennard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Several methods were undertaken to develop a rapid assessment methodology for predicting the relative magnitude of available habitat as measured by normalized weighted useable area, NWUA, based on limited watershed characteristics and/or limited field data observations. Data from 170 river sites primarily in Idaho, comprising 645 cross sections, were used. The three methodologies considered were generalized linear models (GLM), generalized additive models (GAM), and a newly developed comparative cross-section method (CCM). The GLM and GAM methods relied on a combination of field data and information readily obtained or derivable using geographic information systems (GIS). They also require the delineation of …

Infrared Diode Laser Absorption Spectroscopy Measurement Of Gas Phase Radicals In C₄F Discharges For Plasma Model Validation, Karla Waters

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

The etching characteristics of oxide and photoresist thin films in C₄F₈ discharges in an inductively coupled GEC Reference cell have been determined. Infrared diode laser absorption spectroscopy (IR-DLAS) measured absolute concentrations of CF_x radicals in C₄F₈ discharges and correlated their behavior to the oxide etch process. Additionally, Langmuir probe and OES data were collected to aid in characterizing the plasma and the oxide/photoresist etch processes.

A central composite design of experiment was employed. The factors were source power, chuck bias power, and total pressure. The source power varied from 200 to 500 W, …

Apr 2000

Lester F. Larsen Tractor Museum: Planning and Development Documents

State Museum Report Raffle Committee Book Sales Plans

Immunoaffinity Chomatography, Anuradha Subramanian

Papers in Biotechnology

Recent devclopments in recombinant DNA technology have enabled the synthesis of valuable therapeutic proteins in bacterial cells as well as in novel eucaryotic expression systems. However, the purification of proteins of interest from either the conventional sources, cell culture, or novel routes in a highly purified form necessitates the development of separation tcchniques capable of recovering proteins from these feed streams in a highly purified form (1,2). Purification of therapeutic proteins from biological sources is usually complicated by the presence of endogenous proteins (2). Purification methodologies based on ion exchange or adsorption serve as excellent prepurification steps, but they fail …

Design Of A Fluoride Removal Water Treatment System For A Guatemalan Community: An Exercise In Global Engineering, Jason R. El Koubi

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Special Theory Of Biphasic Mixtures And Experimental Results For Human Annulus Fibrosus Tested In Confined Compression, Stephen M. Klisch, Jeffrey C. Lotz

Mechanical Engineering

A finite deformation mixture theory is used to quantify the mechanical properties of the annulus fibrosus using experimental data obtained from a confined compression protocol. Certain constitutive assumptions are introduced to derive a special mixture of an elastic solid and an inviscid fluid, and the constraint of intrinsic incompressibility is introduced in a manner that is consistent with results obtained for the special theory. Thirty-two annulus fibrosus specimens oriented in axial (n = 16) and radial (n = 16) directions were obtained from the middle-lateral portion of intact intervertebral discs from human lumbar spines and tested in a stress-relaxation protocol. …

Pulsed Optoacoustics In Solids, Zibiao Wei

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Optoacoustic techniques are widely used to probe and characterize target materials including solids, liquids and gases. Included in such applications are diagnoses of thin films and semiconductor materials. The need to obtain greater spatial resolution requires the generation of shorter optoacoustic pulses. For such pulses, non-thermal effects may be quite important. On the other hand, even when an optoacoustic pulse is generated by an initially non-thermal technique, the thermal aspects become important in its evolution and propagation. The research undertaken in this Ph.D. dissertation included the generation and detection of optoacoustic signals through the thermal elastic mechanism. Several applications in …

Diffusion Problems In Wound Healing And A Scattering Approach To Immune System Interactions, Julia Suzanne Arnold

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

A theoretical model for the existence of a Critical Size Defect (CSD) in certain animals is the focus of the majority of this dissertation. Adam [1] recently developed a one-dimensional model of this phenomenon, and chapters I–V address the exist the CSD in a two-dimensional model and a three-dimensional model. The two dimensional (or 1-d circular) model is the more appropriate for a study of CSD's. In that model we assume a circular wound of uniform depth and develop a time-independent form of the diffusion equation relevant to the study of the CSD phenomenon. It transpires that the range of …

Process Flow Optimization Studies Through Discrete Event Simulation, Milind Chokshi

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Computer-aided simulation has begun to emerge as a powerful tool for numerical analysis of the behavior and anticipated performance of industrial systems and their optimization. Applications include materials handling, storage and controls systems, prediction of manufacturing efficiencies, and production optimization. Simulations are used to test baseline models and subsequently analyze new production concepts, operating strategies, and planned procedures prior to costly implementation.

The study of process flows in a manufacturing environment is difficult due to its inherent stochastic nature. Breakdown of the sub-systems and failures of machines is a random process and needs to be solved based on concepts of …

Dynamic Fluvial Systems And Gravel Progradation In The Himalayan Foreland, Nicholas Brozovic, Douglas W. Burbank

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Although the large-scale stratigraphy of many terrestrial foreland basins is punctuated by major episodes of gravel progradation, the relationships of such facies to hinterland tectonism and climate change are often unclear. Structural reentrants provide windows into older and more proximal parts of the foreland than are usually exposed, and thus provide key insights to earlier phases of foreland evolution. Our magnetostratigraphic studies show that, although the major lithofacies preserved within the Himachal Pradesh structural reentrant in northwestern India resemble Neogene facies in Pakistan, they have a much greater temporal and spatial variability. From 11.5 to 7 Ma, major facies boundaries …

Robust Multi-Scenario Optimization Of An Air Expeditionary Force Force Structure Applying Genetic Algorithms To The Combat Forces Assessment Model, Barry D. Bennett Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force is increasingly facing more diverse threat situations while existing force structure levels are being reduced and proposed compositions are being severely scrutinized for relevance, affordability, and effectiveness. Military planners are struggling with the question of how to generate a single force structure that can adequately respond to a multitude of threat scenarios in an uncertain future while at the same time being tasked to prove just how effective their choice will be. In the past, modeling has been effective in showing how a force can respond to a single threat scenario but a new modeling …

Realtime Color Stereovision Processing, Byron P. Formwalt

Theses and Dissertations

Recent developments in aviation have made micro air vehicles (MAVs) a reality. These featherweight palm-sized radio-controlled flying saucers embody the future of air-to-ground combat. No one has ever successfully implemented an autonomous control system for MAVs. Because MAVs are physically small with limited energy supplies, video signals offer superiority over radar for navigational applications. This research takes a step forward in real time machine vision processing. It investigates techniques for implementing a real time stereovision processing system using two miniature color cameras. The effects of poor-quality optics are overcome by a robust algorithm, which operates in real time and achieves …

Feature Selection For Predicting Pilot Mental Workload, Julia A. East

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in technology have the cockpits of the aircraft in the Air Force inventory increasingly complex. Consequently, mental demands on the pilot have risen. In some cases, mental demands were so overwhelming that pilots have forgotten basic flying techniques, such as G-straining maneuvers. The results have been fatal. Recent research in this area has involved collecting psychophysiological features, such as electroencephalography (EEG), heart, eye and respiration measures, in an attempt to identify pilot mental workload. This thesis focuses on feature selection and reduction of the psycophysiological features and subsequent classification of pilot mental workload on multiple subjects over multiple days. …

In Situ Treatment Of Chlorinated Ethene-Contaminated Groundwater Using Horizontal Flow Treatment Wells, Derek R. Ferland

Theses and Dissertations

The limitations of conventional containment technologies for groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents have motivated development of innovative technologies to achieve national groundwater remediation objectives. One inn9vative technology that is currently under development involves metal reductants or catalysts to chemically destroy the dissolved chlorinated solvent. Models are important tools that can be used to help transition this technology to the field. Model studies can be used to gain understanding about the technology, help determine when the prospective technology might work for a given site, and design full-scale field applications.

Toxicity Of Tolyltriazole To Gram-Positive Coccus Microorganisms, Heather L. Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

Maintaining safe flight operations, military and civilian, in cold weather requires the use of de-icing fluids. Glycols, the primary component of de-icers, have been extensively studied. Water and additives such as corrosion inhibitors and other performance enhancing chemicals make up the remaining portion of de-icing fluids. Little research has been conducted on the additives, but several are suspected toxins to microorganisms, therefore the EPA regulates the disposal of spent de-icing fluids. Tolyltriazole, a corrosion inhibitor found in de-icing fluids, is a suspected human carcinogen. It is also known to be moderately toxic to microorganisms based on Microtox results. The purpose …

Wright State University College Of Engineering And Computer Science Bits And Pcs Newsletter, Volume 16, Number 3, March 2000, College Of Engineering And Computer Science, Wright State University

BITs and PCs Newsletter

A ten page newsletter created by the Wright State University College of Engineering and Computer Science that addresses the current affairs of the college.

The Technical And Economic Feasibility Of Constructing An Artificial Wetland For Burra-Burra Creek In Ducktown Tennessee, Ileana M. Speer

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The Copper Hill Basin area in Polk County, Tennessee has been severely impacted by more than a century of mining. The water found in the streams in this area is polluted with dissolved metals and sulfates. Burra-Burra Creek is one of the various waterways impacted and is located within the 130 km2 area of deserted mines in the Copper Basin. This stream is fed from runoff and mine seepage; the stream is acidic and the metal concentration is high in comparison to the concentrations in other streams in the immediate area. The use of constructed wetlands to treat acidic mine …