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Effects Of Acid Deposition And Changing Climate On The Hydrochemistry And Critical Loads Of Watersheds In The Adirondack Region Of New York, Shuai Shao

Dissertations - ALL

Despite decreases in acidic deposition since the 1970s, the recovery of surface waters from acidification has been limited primarily due to the depletion of exchangeable base cations, net mineralization of organic sulfur and nitrogen and release of previously retained SO42- and NO3-, and increases in concentrations of naturally occurring organic acids from soil. The future recovery of stream chemistry from acidic deposition may be altered by projected increases in temperature and precipitation associated with a changing climate. The goals of this study were to conduct a modeling analysis of the response of soils and streams in the Adirondack Park, New …

Development Of Computational Antibiotic Screening Platform Across Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins, Yinghui Dai

Dissertations - ALL

Antibiotics are medicines used to treat bacterial infections by either killing bacteria or stopping them from reproducing. Throughout the use of antibiotics, bacteria has developed a variety of defense mechanisms against antibiotics and thus diminishing their effectiveness. Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat and becomes a global crisis as it is able to constantly evolve and rapidly spread. In the face of increasing bacterial resistance to all known antibiotics, there is an urgent need to accelerate the antibiotic discovery pipeline and discover new classes of antibiotics. A major bottleneck in the discovery of novel antibiotics is the limited permeability of …

Thermal And Mechanical Analysis Of Bombyx Mori Silk Nanofibers, Justin Busnot

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

This thesis presents a study on the thermomechanical properties of Bombyx Mori silk nanofibers. These nanofibers were obtained from silkworm cocoons which were degummed to separate the fibroin and the sericin, the two proteins that make up silk. The fibroin was then centrifuged to remove insoluble particles and stored and 4°C before the electrospinning process. A parametric study of the electrospinning process was carried out in order to identify the factors allowing to obtain optimal mechanical properties. The current as well as the flow rate applied, the diameter of the syringe, the distance separating the syringe from collector or even …

Adaptive Mobile Eeg Noise Cancellation Using 2d Convolutional Autoencoders For Bci Authentication, Tyree Lewis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electroencephalography (EEG) signals can be used for many purposes and has the potential to be adapted to various systems. When EEG is recorded from users, these studies are performed primarily in an indoor environment, while the user is stationary. This is due to the levels of noise that are experienced when recording EEG data, to minimize errors in the data. This thesis aims to adapt tasks that are performed indoors to an external environment by removing both noise and artefacts in EEG, using a 2D Convolutional Autoencoder (CAE). The data is recorded from subjects is passed into the 2D CAE …

Monitoring Damage Occurrence, Post-Peak Crack Propagation And Air Permeability In Concrete Using The Brazilian Indirect Tension Test, Angel M. Padilla

Civil Engineering ETDs

This research aims to investigate the relationship between stress, damage, crack propagation, and permeability evolution in concrete. A novel experimental test method is presented that enables monitoring post-peak cracking behavior of concrete using the Brazilian tension test by slowing crack propagation while concurrently measuring permeability and monitoring damage propagation using acoustic emission techniques. The modified Brazilian test method utilizes spring supports in parallel to the test specimen to off-load the test specimen incrementally to slow down the post-peak crack propagation. A vacuum flow system is attached to the rear side of the concrete during loading to measure apparent air permeability …

The Development Of An Instrument To Measure Transdermal Hydrogen Sulfide As A Way To Evaluate Microvascular Health In Humans, Benjamin Thomas Matheson

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a gasotransmitter critical in maintaining microcirculation homeostasis. Impaired microcirculation occurs in multiple disease states such as peripheral vascular disease, diabetes mellitus (DM), and hypertension. Early detection and identification of patients with DM who are at risk for heart attack, stroke and amputation due to microvascular disease is crucial. Human skin is an accessible vascular bed that provides an opportunity to non-invasively measure H₂S, which could be used as a biomarker to evaluate microvascular health.

In this work, a novel H₂S gas sensor, called the transdermal arterial gasotransmitter sensor (TAGS^{TM …}

Pathcnn: Interpretable Convolutional Neural Networks For Survival Prediction And Pathway Analysis Applied To Glioblastoma, Jung Hun Oh, Wookjin Choi, Euiseong Ko, Mingon Kang, Allen Tannenbaum, Joseph O. Deasy

Computer Science Faculty Research

Motivation: Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have achieved great success in the areas of image processing and computer vision, handling grid-structured inputs and efficiently capturing local dependencies through multiple levels of abstraction. However, a lack of interpretability remains a key barrier to the adoption of deep neural networks, particularly in predictive modeling of disease outcomes. Moreover, because biological array data are generally represented in a non-grid structured format, CNNs cannot be applied directly. Results: To address these issues, we propose a novel method, called PathCNN, that constructs an interpretable CNN model on integrated multi-omics data using a newly defined pathway image. …

Correlating Diffusional Dynamics And Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Function Using Single Quantum Dot Tracking, Irais Ortiz Caraveo

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signal transduction is initiated via ligand (EGF) binding, followed by dimerization, autophosphorylation of the C-terminal tails, and recruitment of proteins that form a larger signaling complex to propagate the signal. We explored the relationship between receptor mobility and signaling using single-particle tracking (SPT) by examining the diffusional dynamics of EGFR and two truncation mutants to understand whether mobility changes are correlated with signaling. Results revealed that phosphorylation of the C-terminal tail of EGFR is required for maximal reduction in mobility that occurs with EGF stimulation, indicating that receptor mobility is a read-out for receptor signaling. …

Liner Sailing Speed Optimization Considering Wind And Waves, Zhaokun Wei, Xinlian Xie, Tiantian Bao

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This paper proposes a new sailing speed optimization problem considering sea conditions such as wind and waves for a container shipping company. Since wind and waves, as exterior factors, can reduce speed, more power is employed as compensation to maintain regular service frequency and avoid delay, resulting in additional bunker consumption and higher cost. Hence, it is necessary to optimize the sailing speed according to the wind and waves. A power model was built to determine the reduced speed caused by the wind and waves for quantifying the speed reduction. On the basis of the proposed model, we developed a …

A Bilevel Mathematical Approach For The Empty Container Repositioning Proble With A Sharing And Exchanging Strategy In Liner Shipping, Dung-Ying Lin, Chieh-Ju Juan

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In the maritime industry, the management of empty containers is a significant issue whose costs account for a large proportion of the total world fleet running costs. To reduce repositioning activities and increase cost effectiveness, this paper proposes a solution framework considering empty container sharing and exchanging strategies to coordinate the shipping lines in a maritime transportation network. The proposed solution framework considers an empty container matching platform company and a group of shipping lines in a given shipping network. Because of the interactive relationship between the two parties, the proposed problem is formulated as a bilevel programming problem, and …

Investigating Model Solution Correctness For Parameter Uncertainty In Both Objective Function And Constraints, Shangyao Yan, Sin-Siang Wang, Chun-Yi Wang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

To resolve engineering management problems encountered in the real world, optimization models are usually formulated with some parameter assumptions. Parameter uncertainty, which may arise due to changes in the environment or human error, may thus be incorporated into the objective function and the constraints. However, to simplify the modeling, the values of these parameters are usually set or projected as deterministic values. It is no wonder that the modelling results based on these inaccurate parameters are neither correct nor reliable. Thus, it is important to examine the correctness of the model results in relation to parameter uncertainty. This study aims …

Modular Design And Implementation Of An Automatic Power Factor Regulator For Energy Savings On Fishing Vessels, Chien-Hsing Lee, Shih-Hsien Hsu, Joe-Air Jiang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study describes the experiences of modular design and implementation of an automatic power factor regulator for improving energy efficiency on Taiwanese longline fishing vessels. The load capacities of such vessels are typically divided into three categories, depending on the gross tonnage or fish carrying capacity: less than 100 kW, from 100 kW to less than 250 kW, and larger than 250 kW. For attaining proper power factor improvement, a compensation unit with a total of 30 kVar, 60 kVar and 90 kVar was sized and assembled with capacitors of 10, 15 and 20 kVar to enable control within 12 …

Key Risk Factors Influencing Harbor Tugboat Operations For Kaohsiung Port, Wen-Jui Tseng, Ji-Feng Ding, Chia-Ming Liu, Liou-Yuan Li

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The harbor tugboat operation is a very important business and process of Kaohsiung port. To ensure the safety of harbor tugboat operations and to reduce the occurrence of accidents, it is an important issue to conduct a risk assessment of tugboat operations for Kaohsiung port. Hence, the main purpose of this paper is employ the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method to evaluate key risk factors influencing the harbor tugboat operations for Kaohsiung port. At first, a total of three evalu-ation dimensions with 14 preliminary risk factors are gener-ated from literature and interviews of tugboat captains. We then applied the steps …

Free Vibration Analysis Of A Free-Free Single-Tapered Beam Carrying Arbitrary Concentrated Elements Using Modified Mode-Superposition Method (Mmsm), Chia-Chin Wu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The literature contains scant information on the free vibration analyses of the loaded single-tapered beams (STBs) (i.e., STBs carrying concentrated elements (CEs)) Furthermore, even when such studies have been performed, they generally only consider the case of constrained (e.g., free-clamped (F-C)) beams. In other words, the problem of unconstrained (e.g., free-free (F-F)) loaded STBs has not yet to be addressed. Thus, the present study employs the modified mode-superposition method (MMSM) to investigate the free vibration characteristics of the F-F loaded STB carrying arbitrary various CEs. The investigation focuses particularly on the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the rigid-body motions …

Optimum Design Of The Underwater Discharge System Based On Surrogate Modeling, Jisang Ha, Myung-Il Roh, Seung-Ho Ham, Sung-Jun Lee

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Underwater vehicles are equipped with a device for discharging projectiles, called the underwater discharge system. Because these vehicles have limited space, many studies have attempted to reduce the volume of the underwater discharge system while improving its performance. However, owing to the characteristics of the system, the occupied volume and performance conflict with each other. Therefore, minimizing the occupied volume while satisfying the required performance criteria is the most significant requirement in the design stage. To address this, an optimization problem for the underwater discharge system was mathematically formulated and solved using multi-objective genetic algorithms. Additionally, we proposed a method …

An Analysis Of Key Influencing Factors On Island Tourism Revisit Intentions – Evidence From The Matsu Islands, Chun-Chieh Wang, Hsiao-Chuan Liu, Hsuan-Shih Lee, Cheng-Chi Chung

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Sightseeing and tourism not only brings economic benefits to the local community but also drive the development of related industries. In 1992, when the Matsu’s battlefield mission was dissolved, tourism became one of the key development strategies to boom the region. Although the number of visitors to Matsu Islands has risen significantly in recent years, how to increase the island’s willingness to revisit the island has been an important issue. Since local tourism has its own characteristics, island tourism marketing strategies should be different. Many previous studies have quantified the relationship between tourism area satisfaction and willingness to revisit, but …

3d Numerical Simulation Of Kuroshio-Induced Wake Near Green Island, Taiwan, Tien-Hung Hou, Jen-Yi Chang, Chia-Cheng Tsai, Tai-Wen Hsu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this research, Kuroshio-induced vortex shedding in the lee of Green Island was numerically studied using the three-dimensional Princeton Ocean Model. The temporal and spatial characteristics of the vortex street were analyzed at different tidal levels, wind fields and water depths. The nu-merical results were validated by comparing with in-situ measurements from the Green Island tidal station, shipboard acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP), conductivi-ty-temperature-depth (CTD) profiler, and moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite image datasets. Also, the three-dimensional results of velocity, temperature, and salinity fields were compared well with observational data. Furthermore, the influence depths of the wind effect and …

Intelligent Fuzzy Control With State-Derivative Feedback For Takagi-Sugeno Fuzzy Stochastic Singular Systems, Wen-Jer Chang, Kuang-Yow Lian, Cheung-Chieh Ku, Che-Lun Su

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This document deals with the problem of passive fuzzy controller design with the state-derivative feedback approach for the nonlinear stochastic singular systems. Recently, the singular systems have a greater focus on literature because they can keep more physical system characteristics than conventional systems. At first, the Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy stochastic singular models are used to represent the nonlinear stochastic singular systems. Then, the state-derivative feedback approach and parallel distributed compensation method are employed to design the passive fuzzy controllers. In the design process, the Lyapunov stability conditions are developed subject to multiple performance constraints, including the passivity constraint and decay rate …

Sea Ice Warning Visualization And Path Planning For Ice Navigation Based On Radar Image Recognition, Tsung-Hsuan Hsieh, Shengzheng Wang, Huijia Gong, Wei Liu, Ning Xu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Ice navigation is currently one of the important issues in path planning studies. Most studies are using sea ice models or ice charts for large-scale path planning, but the weather and ice conditions in the polar waters usually change quickly and are not easy to predict. Under these conditions, small-scale path planning that can be adjusted in time for sea ice collision avoidance is needed. This study uses marine radar imaging to reconstruct the ice navigation scene, and establishes a visual-ization function of sea ice warning on the radar image. We combine the bidirectional rapidly-exploring random tree (B-RRT) algorithm and …

Enhancing Marine Administrative Management Based On Human Factor Through Safety Criteria, Wen-Cheng Lin, Hsin-Hung Cheng

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study aims to improve maritime safety by enhancing administrative management based on human factors. This study used Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to analyze the risks and threats regarding safety maritime criteria. Establishing administrative reform is given the highest priority. First, the current model for crew training system is explored. Second, the marine surveyor is examined to determine if it is professional enough for inspection work. Third, the investigation system used by maritime safety investigators should be inspected. The suggestions mentioned expect to establish a maritime administrative reform that could pave the way for the application of maritime safety around …

Experimental Study On Treatment Of Ballast Water By Inert Flue Gas Deoxidation, Guozhi Bao, Peng Yang, Rui Da, Junxia Li, Guanghui Zhao, Ning Chen

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this paper, the antimicrobial effect of inert flue gas on indicator microorganisms in ballast water was investigated based on a 265h test. The inert flue gas consists of nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) the microorganisms include Chlorella and Escherichia coli. Within the scope of the test, the killing effect of the microbes treated by combining N2 and CO2 was higher than that of using only either N2 or CO2. When the dissolved oxygen concentration in the ballast water was 0.5 mg/L and the pH value was 6, the killing effect was the highest. At this time, the mortality …

Mutational Analysis Of Latency Associated Peptide For Therapeutic Application, Johnny Will Stephens

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

TGF-β is an important protein for regulation of the immune system, and has been linked to promotion of tumor progression and cancer growth. Inhibiting TGF-β has been shown to be an effective therapeutic technique for fighting multiple cancer types. Engineering TGF-β’s natural inhibitor, Latency Associated Peptide (LAP), to improve its biophysical properties has potential to increase therapeutic efficacy.

Rosetta and FoldX can be used in concert to engineer stabilizing mutations of proteins. In accordance with this, PyRosetta and FoldX were used to predict stabilizing mutations of LAP. The most stabilizing mutations from each program were combined with mutually predicted mutations. …

Computational Fluid Dynamics (Cfd) Analysis Of The Hydraulic Performance And Bio-Kinetics In A Full-Scale Oxidation Ditch, Kiesha C. Pierre

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An oxidation ditch is a biological wastewater treatment unit process where microorganisms are utilized to transform organic matter, and nitrogen from wastewater to meet the desirable effluent concentrations. Mechanical aerators are part of these biological reactors facilitating oxygen transfer for the aerobic microorganisms, while agitating and circulating the phase constituents within the ditch. Modeling the performance of an oxidation ditch involves combining hydrodynamics, oxygen mass transfer, and bio-kinetics and is one of the grand challenges that is of paramount importance in optimization of design and operations of these facilities in an energy efficient way while meeting the targeted effluent concentrations. …

Robotic Surgical Devices , Systems , And Related Methods, Shane Farritor, Erik Mumm, Philip Chu, Nishant Kumar, Jason Dumpert, Yutaka Tsutano

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The embodiments disclosed herein relate to various medical device components, including components that can be incorporated into robotic and / or in vivo medical devices. Certain embodiments include various modular medical devices for in vivo medical procedures.

A Kinetic Model For Blood Biomarker Levels After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Sima Azizi, Daniel B. Hier, Blaine Allen, Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi, Gayla R. Olbricht, Matthew S. Thimgan, Donald C. Wunsch

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Research & Creative Works

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) imposes a significant economic and social burden. The diagnosis and prognosis of mild TBI, also called concussion, is challenging. Concussions are common among contact sport athletes. After a blow to the head, it is often difficult to determine who has had a concussion, who should be withheld from play, if a concussed athlete is ready to return to the field, and which concussed athlete will develop a post-concussion syndrome. Biomarkers can be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood after traumatic brain injury and their levels may have prognostic value. Despite significant investigation, questions remain as …

Streamflow Duration Curves: Focus On Low Flows, E. Carcano, M. Betasolo

International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures

Flow duration curves (FDCs) express the link between a selected streamflow and the percentage in time such value is exceeded. The curves provide a graphical insight into hydrological regimes, though, the absence of time-series data is a significant shortcoming. Conversely to what happens with hygrograms, flows in FDCs are represented without regard of sequence of occurrence. This paper explores FDCs of 19 catchments for which, at least, 10 years of daily discharges are available. FDCs can be built for any temporal scale (i.e. daily, weekly, monthly). In this study daily discharges have been adopted because daily scale better represents the …

In Vivo Printing Of Growth Factor-Eluting Adhesive Scaffolds Improves Wound Healing, Kristo Nuutila, Mohamadmahdi Samandari, Yori Endo, Yuteng Zhang, Jacob Quint, Tannin A. Schmidt, Ali Tamayol, Indranil Sinha

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Acute and chronic wounds affect millions of people around the world, imposing a growing financial burden on patients and hospitals. Despite the application of current wound management strategies, the physiological healing process is disrupted in many cases, resulting in impaired wound healing. Therefore, more efficient and easy-to-use treatment modalities are needed. In this study, we demonstrate the benefit of in vivo printed, growth factor-eluting adhesive scaffolds for the treatment of full-thickness wounds in a porcine model. A custom-made handheld printer is implemented to finely print gelatin-methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogel containing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) into the wounds. In vitro and …

Numerical Simulation Of Fish Passage Over A Weir, Linus Kaminski, C. Thorenz, R. Weichert

International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures

Downstream migration over weir structures has been a mostly neglected element of ecological continuity in the last decades. The guidelines currently applied in Germany to prevent damage to fish do not sufficiently consider the conditions present at weirs. To improve knowledge of the risks of fish passage over a weir due to physical strike, pressure changes and shear stress, a numerical method using the three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics package OpenFOAM® was developed to simulate fish passage over a weir by tracking passively transported particles. In this study, the method is tested on an overshot and an undershot weir and the …

Probability Of Woody Debris Passage At Rock Weirs, Kathryn A. Margetts, B. M. Crookston

International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures

Often, large woody debris (LWD) at hydraulic structures is considered hazardous from a performance and public safety perspective. However, the sustainable management of rivers requires the consideration of ecological impacts of LWD such as cover for aquatics and the natural movement of LWD through a catchment. Therefore, this study explores the interaction of natural (nonuniform) LWD with rock weirs through field observations in the Blacksmith Fork River in Utah, USA and laboratory testing at the Utah Water Research Laboratory. The passage probability of individual LWD at rock weirs is observed and tested in an effort to describe the balance between …

Nanoparticles For Targeted Drug Delivery To Cancer Stem Cells: A Review Of Recent Advances, Yavuz Nuri Ertas, Keyvan Abedi Dorcheh, Ali Akbari, Esmaiel Jabbari

Faculty Publications

Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subpopulation of cells that can initiate, self-renew, and sustain tumor growth. CSCs are responsible for tumor metastasis, recurrence, and drug resistance in cancer therapy. CSCs reside within a niche maintained by multiple unique factors in the microenvironment. These factors include hypoxia, excessive levels of angiogenesis, a change of mitochondrial activity from aerobic aspiration to aerobic glycolysis, an upregulated expression of CSC biomarkers and stem cell signaling, and an elevated synthesis of the cytochromes P450 family of enzymes responsible for drug clearance. Antibodies and ligands targeting the unique factors that maintain the niche are utilized …