Digital Commons Network^™

Study On The Amplification Of Spatial Modes In A Crystal Rod Amplifier, Yuan Li

All Dissertations

In this work, the amplification of higher order modes, mainly focused on optical vortices that carry orbital angular momentum (OAM), were demonstrated and discussed in a Ho:YAG rod amplifier and Ho:YAG single crystal fiber (SCF) amplifier at 2 μm. Both experiments and simulations were carried out to understand the propagation, amplification and phase preservation of optical vortices in solid state amplifiers. A 3-D propagation model combining semi-vectorial BPM and steady state rate equations was used to verify the experimental results and to simulate the high power amplification. The amplification of optical vortices was experimentally demonstrated in a Ho:YAG rod amplifier …

Functionalized Cellulose Nanofiber Membranes For Heavy Metals Removal From Impaired Waters, Nithinart Chitpong

All Dissertations

This dissertation describes the development and performance of high-productivity nanofiber membranes for removal of heavy metal ions from impaired waters. Heavy metal pollutants such as cadmium and nickel are present in wastewaters discharged from facilities in various industries. Water purification systems such as ion-exchange processes have been used widely to remove and recover specific metal ion impurities from wastewaters for ensuring that the maximum discharge limits of heavy metals are not exceeded. However, the productivity of an ion exchange resin process is limited by the high pressure drop across the resin bed, which may increase over time due to media …

Evaluation Of 1,4-Dioxane Biodegradation Under Aerobic And Anaerobic Conditions, Francisco J. Barajas Rodriguez

All Dissertations

Used mainly as a solvent stabilizer, 1,4-dioxane is present at many sites contaminated along with chlorinated solvents and other chemical compounds. Considered a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this contaminant has raised considerable concerns because of its potential adverse effects on health. Therefore, remediation of 1,4-dioxane has gained importance, and although there are several approaches for its treatment, such as ex situ physicochemical processes, bioremediation is a key alternative because it is a low energy demanding process. Anaerobic conditions are present at most contaminated sites, however, there is insufficient scientific evidence for anaerobic biodegradation of 1,4-dioxane. …

Enabling Marker Assisted Breeding (Mab) For Phytochemical Compounds In Peach [Prunus Persica (L.) Batsch], Asma Abdelghafar

All Dissertations

Genetic control and location of QTLs associated with phytochemical compounds in peach were evaluated using bi-parental mapping and genome wide association (GWAS). The bi-parental mapping was conducted in an F2 population (ZC2) derived from cross between ‘Zin Dai’ x ‘Crimson Lady’. GWAS was performed on an association panel representing modern peach cultivars available and/or produced for the U.S. market. Antioxidant capacity and phenolic compound accumulation (total phenolics, flavonoids and anthocyanins) were evaluated for two years on all materials. The ZC2 progeny were genotyped using IPSC 9K peach SNP array v1., and the association panel was genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing. The genetic …

Compositing And Rotopainting In A Short Film, Jaime Mundo

All Theses

The purpose of the present project was to use visual effects to enhance a film and save production finances and resources. Using visual effects, digital compositing, and rotopainting impacts the real-world challenges in the filmmaking process as it saves the company money by not having to purchase props, costumes, and hire extras on set. Also, they can film in minimum locations by employing the use of green screens. Traveling fees would be lower, and in a low budget film like this project is presenting, saving money is the most important aspect in finishing and releasing it. FisherFilms directed two films: …

Cell Source Optimization For Cardiac Tissue Engineering, Joshua Biggs

All Theses

Myocardial infarction (MI) is one of the leading causes of death associated with cardiovascular disease affecting approximately 735,000 Americans each year. The resulting damage caused by MI initiates a pathological progression towards congestive heart failure. Donor shortages rule out transplantation as a viable treatment option and coronary revascularization does not solve the issue of regenerating the infarct scar. Stem cell therapies, however, show great potential, but have been largely unsuccessful at regenerating diseased myocardium. This study aims to differentiate human adipose derived stem cells (hADSCs) by methods of co-culture and chemical induction to produce functional cardiomyocytes, as well as by …

Immunomodulatory Effects Of Human Adipose Derived Stem Cells On Human Macrophages In Diabetic Environment, Maria Margarita Portilla

All Theses

Background: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is the number 1 leading cause of death in the nation, even globally [1]. By 2030, the American Heart Association projects that 43.9% of the US population will have some form of CVD [2], with more than one-half of mortality seen in the diabetic community [3]. Diabetic patients face increased inflammation, leading to vascular complications; consequently, these patients may need small-caliber grafts. Although the gold standard is represented by autologous blood vessels, these might be affected by diabetes as well. Vascular tissue engineered grafts with the addition of autologous adipose tissue-derived stem cells may be a …

A Semi-Analytical Unit Cell Synthesis Method For Design Of Meta-Materials With Targeted Nonlinear Deformation Response, Shanyun Gao

All Theses

A Unit Cell Synthesis Method was developed recently for designing meta-materials from unit cell level to achieve prescribed nonlinear deformation response. The method starts with a process of selecting and combining a set of elemental functional geometries (EFG) and elemental structural geometries (ESG) to form the unit cell structure. A subsequent size optimization is performed to obtain an optimal design which provides the targeted nonlinear deformation behavior. While the method is proven effective in producing feasible meta-material designs, the design and optimization of the unit cells relies heavily on nonlinear finite element analysis, which makes the overall process computationally intensive …

Consistent Asymptotic Homogenization Method For Lattice Structures Based On The Virtual Power Principle, David Bracho

All Theses

The properties of mechanical meta-materials in the form of a periodic lattice have drawnthe attention of researchers in the area of material design. Computational methods for solvingelasticity problems that involve a large number of repeating structures, such as the ones presentin lattice materials, is often impractical since it needs a considerable amount of computationalresources. Homogenization methods aim to facilitate the modeling of lattice materials by definingequivalent effective properties. Various approaches can be found in the literature, but few followa consistent methodology applicable to any lattice geometry. In the present work, the asymptotichomogenization method developed by Caillerie and lated by Dos …

Development Of Stable Extractive Scintillating Materials For Quantification Of Radiostrontium In Aqueous Solutions, Ayman F. Seliman

All Theses

Strontium-90 is a fission product, and it is produced with a yield of about 6%. Strontium-90 is a major radionuclide in spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive wastes resulting from the processing of spent nuclear fuel, and radioactive wastes associated with the operation of reactors and fuel reprocessing plants. In addition to the four stable isotopes naturally present in soil, 90Sr is present in surface soil around the world as a result of fallout from past atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. Strontium-90 is relatively mobile and can move down with percolating water to underlying layers of soil and into groundwater. The maximum …

The Cellular And Molecular Characterization Of Essential Hypertension Using Innovative Pathology Models, Joshua T. Rodriguez

All Theses

Essential hypertension, characterized by elevated blood pressure levels, is a primary risk factor for other cardiovascular diseases. There has been a drastic rise in the amount of people who have essential hypertension; trends predict that 1.56 billion people worldwide will be living with essential hypertension by 2025. Anti-hypertensive drugs lower elevated blood pressure levels, but do not eliminate the disease itself or reverse the structural damage to arteries. This study aims to elucidate hypertension-induced endothelial cell (EC) dysfunction using a blood vessel tissue engineering approach as a pathology model. In order to characterize EC dysfunction, the FlexCell® system was used …

Tannic Acid Crosslinked Collagen Type I For Prevention Of Local Her2-Positive Breast Cancer Recurrence, Lauren Gayle Jordan

All Theses

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in the United States, affecting about 12 percent of women nationally (Ma and Jemal, 2013). The American Cancer Society estimates that 246,600 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women in 2016 (American Cancer Society, 2016 b). Breast cancer accounts for almost 30% of new cancer diagnoses and is one of the leading causes of cancer related deaths among women in developed countries. In addition, breast cancer is becoming a worldwide problem with incidence and mortality rates increasing steadily over the past 20 years in developing countries …

Morrison Green, Dennis Jordan, Lance Maxwell, Josh Mitchell

Master of Real Estate Development

No abstract provided.

Opportunities For Innovation: Game-Based Learning In An Engineering Senior Design Course, Erica B. Walker

All Dissertations

Game-based learning is a novel approach for teaching a studio design course, especially in engineering. As a field, engineering is innovative by nature but has a strong emphasis on thinking in a logical, analytical, organized, and structured way. This way of thinking serves graduates well, but professional engineers also need to be able to think creatively, problem solve, and work well with a team (ABET, 2014; Felder, 1996; Herrmann, 1995; Lumsdaine & Lumsdaine, 1995; Shuman, Besterfield-Sacre, & McGourty, 2005; Walesh, 2012).

This study compared two sections of a Bioengineering Senior Design course. The control section was taught primarily with seventy-five …

Comparing Multiple Methods Of Eye Tracking For Packaging, David Bradford Cottrell

All Theses

The technology to understand consumer behavior through eye tracking is becoming more affordable and accessible. When eye tracking is applied within a retail environment, packaging can be evaluated based on the amount of attention obtained. For companies developing products or designing packages, the results of eye tracking could help estimate the likelihood a package will be selected over competitors, what design attributes attract the most attention or how shelf placement impacts sales. Using a physical retail environment with tangible stimuli allows participants to be fully immersed and follow normal shopping behaviors. However, many eye tracking studies are conducted in a …

Radiative Transfer Using Path Integrals For Multiple Scattering In Participating Media, Paul Michael Kilgo

All Dissertations

The theory of light transport forms the basis by which many computer graphic renderers are implemented. The more general theory of radiative transfer has applications in the wider scientific community, including ocean and atmospheric science, medicine, and even geophysics. Accurately capturing multiple scattering physics of light transport is an issue of great concern. Multiple scattering is responsible for indirect lighting, which is desired for images where high realism is the goal. Additionally, multiple scattering is quite important for scientific applications as it is a routine phenomenon. Computationally, it is a difficult process to model. Many have developed solutions for hard …

Tunable Copper Microstructures In Blanket Films And Trenches Using Pulsed Electrodeposition, James Marro

All Dissertations

Copper interconnects in microelectronics have long been plagued with thermo-mechanical reliability issues. Control over the copper deposition process and resulting microstructure can dictate its material properties and reduce stresses as well as defects that form in the copper. In this thesis, pulse electrodeposition processing parameters were evaluated for their impact on the copper microstructure (grain size, texture, and twin density and stress state) through electron backscattering diffraction and wafer curvature measurements. Varying levels of constraint were also investigated for their effect on the copper microstructure to better understand the microstructures of more complex three-dimensional interconnects. Highly texture blanket copper films …

Fluorescent Methods For Investigating Metabolic Processes In Trypanosoma Brucei, Sheng Lin

All Dissertations

Trypanosoma brucei is a unicellular kinetoplastid protozoan that is the causative agent of Human African Trypanosomiasis, or Sleeping Sickness. Combating these protozoan pathogens presents an ongoing challenge due to their efficient immune evasion strategies, lack of effective vaccines, poor drugs and emerging drug resistance, and the general lack of knowledge of their unique biological processes. Among one of the most important biological pathways for kinetoplastid protozoans is the synthesis of ATP from glucose within glycosome organelles. Glycosomes are related to mammalian peroxisomes, but differ in having a fully compartmentalized glycolysis pathway in addition to basic peroxisomal functions. While equivalent processes …

Me Of The Lowercase Variety: Reflections On The American Dream, Power, Privilege, And Self, Jared M. Halter

All Dissertations

This critical qualitative, autoethnographic research project explored how i came to understand the American dream through stories shared with me during semi-structured interviews, scholarly literature, and my own lived experience. i utilized critical reflexivity to examine the ways in which race, gender, and class appear in a person's understanding of their life and the American dream. Critical whiteness theory, critical race theory and critical race feminism, and structuralist constructivism guided my understanding of the American dream and how it influences the ways in which individuals and i understand our lives. Through what i learned, i discuss how the American dream …

Understanding The Transcriptional Landscape Of Chinese Hamster Ovary (Cho) Cell Lines Using Next-Generation Sequencing Technology, Rna-Seq, Under Industrially Relevant Conditions, Yogender Kumar Gowtham

All Dissertations

Recombinant therapeutic proteins are widely used to treat life-threatening diseases including cancer. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells have been used for over 25 years in the biopharmaceutical industry to produce recombinant therapeutics, where CHO cells produce almost one in three of the manufactured recombinant therapeutics. CHO cell lines are the preferred host for protein expression due to their ability to produce human-compatible protein glycosylation, mediate protein folding, ease of culturing in large-scale bioreactors and protein expression stability. However, several limitations exist in CHO cell bioprocessing, including low protein yields, resulting in high market prices of the biopharmaceuticals. Understanding of CHO …

Ceramic Thin Films With Embedded Magnetic Nanofibers Or Nanorods Of Controlled Orientations, Zhaoxi Chen

All Dissertations

Ceramic thin films embedded with oriented magnetic nanofibers or nanorods are highly demanded for the applications in remote sensing, electromagnetic shielding, and thermal management at high temperatures. The general strategy for developing ceramic composite thin films with aligned magnetic nanorods or nanofibers has not been developed yet. This dissertation is centered on fundamentally understanding a sol-gel and polymer-based route towards creation of ceramic thin films with aligned magnetic nanostructures. The topics cover fabrication and properties of ceramic and ceramic-based nanofibers, precipitating magnetic nanoparticles within ceramic fibers, aligning and embedding nanofibers or nanorods within ceramic films, and preventing cracking during the …

Glycosome Heterogeneity, Dynamics, And Er Association In Trypanosoma Brucei, Sarah Twitty Bauer

All Dissertations

Trypanosomatid parasites, including Trypanosoma and Leishmania, are the causative agents of lethal diseases threatening millions of people around the world. These organisms compartmentalize glycolysis in essential, specialized peroxisomes called glycosomes. Peroxisome proliferation can occur through growth and division of existing organelles and de novo biogenesis from the endoplasmic reticulum. The level that each pathway contributes is debated. Current evidence supports the concerted contribution of both mechanisms in an equilibrium that can vary depending on environmental conditions and metabolic requirements of the cell. Homologs of a number of peroxins, the proteins involved in peroxisome biogenesis and matrix protein import, have …

Niso-Nasig Webinar: How Librarians Use, Implement And Can Support Researcher Identifiers, Sofia A. Slutskaya

NASIG Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Call For Volunteers, Steve Oberg

NASIG Newsletter

No abstract provided.

The Tiger Vol. 110 Issue 39 2016-11-26, Clemson University

Tiger Newspapers 2016

No abstract provided.

The Tiger Vol. 110 Issue 38 2016-11-21, Clemson University

Tiger Newspapers 2016

No abstract provided.

The Tiger Vol. 110 Issue 37 2016-11-14, Clemson University

Tiger Newspapers 2016

No abstract provided.

A Digital Celebration Of The National Park Service Centennial, Joshua Morgan, Rachel Wittmann

Presentations

After six years of digitization, metadata, and web-development, the Open Parks Network repository is online to celebrate the National Park Service Centennial. We have campfire stories to share on lessons learned from a rocky trail, which will help other institutions steer clear of hidden obstacles and persevere through tough projects.

Dynamic Dialogue In Interpreter Education Via Voicethread, Stacey Webb, Suzanne Ehrlich

International Journal of Interpreter Education

This paper provides a glimpse into the use of interactive dialogue to increase and improve interactivity among interpreter education students via Voicethread. The focus of the paper is primarily drawn from experiences in the education of signed language interpreting students, however, it is also relevant to spoken language interpreting students. While this article aims to explore the use of Voicethread (also known as MyThread) as a dynamic digital tool to enhance dialogue, the concepts highlighted go beyond tools to demonstrate how improved connectivity and dialogue can serve as a strong foundation for community building in eLearning environments. Both theory and …

Full Issue

International Journal of Interpreter Education

No abstract provided.