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Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

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Elucidating And Pharmacologically Targeting Secondary Injury Cascades Following Neural Injury, Brandon P. Lucke-Wold Jan 2016

Elucidating And Pharmacologically Targeting Secondary Injury Cascades Following Neural Injury, Brandon P. Lucke-Wold

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

3.4 million concussions occur each year in the United States. Recent evidence suggests that some of these individuals are susceptible to neurodegenerative disease development following traumatic brain injury. The unknown factor is how acute injury contributes to this degenerative process. A prominent neurotrauma related neurodegenerative disease is chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). CTE is defined by neurofibrillary tau tangles with a perivascular distribution and mood disturbances. In order to elucidate the pathologic changes associated with CTE, it is imperative to utilize adequate preclinical models. We have strategically developed and tested a clinically relevant rodent blast model. The model reliably produces a …

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Multiphysics Modelling Of Sodium Sulfur Battery, Jerry Hunter Mason Jan 2016

Multiphysics Modelling Of Sodium Sulfur Battery, Jerry Hunter Mason

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Due to global climate change and the desire to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, large scale energy storage has become a critical issue. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar will not be a viable energy source unless the storage problem is solved. One of the practical and cost effective solutions for this problem is sodium sulfur batteries. These batteries are comprised of liquid electrode materials suspended in porous media and operate at relatively high temperatures (>300°C). The sodium anode and the sulfur/sodium-polysulfide cathode are separated by a solid electrolyte made of beta-alumina or NASICON material. Due to the …

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An Experimental Comparison Of The Performance Of Two Impulse Micro-Hydro Turbine Impellers, Joshua A. Matheny Jan 2016

An Experimental Comparison Of The Performance Of Two Impulse Micro-Hydro Turbine Impellers, Joshua A. Matheny

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The goal of this project was to measure the performance of two micro-hydro Turgo Impulse Turbine Impellers. In 2014, Hydropower accounted for 6% of total electric power produced and 48% of electricity produced by renewable sources in the United States. Micro-hydro power is an established, robust, and versatile technology that can help society produce electric power without the emission of greenhouse gases and with minimal environmental impact. Competition from other renewable energy sources is causing the operational efficiency and power production of micro-hydro turbines to become increasingly important. This competition puts pressure on manufacturers to improve the quality of their …

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Educational Opportunities For Dressage Participants As Perceived By Members Of The United States Dressage Federation, Dawn E. Mackenzie Jan 2016

Educational Opportunities For Dressage Participants As Perceived By Members Of The United States Dressage Federation, Dawn E. Mackenzie

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) has sought to develop educational support for the American dressage enthusiast since its inception in the 1970s. American riders face unique challenges in comparison to European riders, such as the larger geographic mass of the United States and the logistics of both horse and rider confronting drastically increased travel demands. Additionally, differing educational and financial support infrastructures by country create further obstacles for those industry members who wish to aggressively pursue dressage as either an amateur or professional. While much conjecture and anecdotal evidence to these obstacles are documented by industry professionals, most of …

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Advanced Reservoir Modeling And Fluid Flow Studies Of Natural Gas Production From The Hydrate Reservoirs Of The Alaska North Slope, Taiwo Ajayi Jan 2016

Advanced Reservoir Modeling And Fluid Flow Studies Of Natural Gas Production From The Hydrate Reservoirs Of The Alaska North Slope, Taiwo Ajayi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The emerging possibility of the production of gas hydrates as an unconventional source of energy have spurred many objectives for research studies going on in this area. One of these is the U.S national hydrate research program with a primary goal of determining the tools and technologies for environmentally safe gas production from hydrate reservoirs. The work presented in this thesis is motivated by the need to provide reliable reservoir model-based predictions to support proposed long-term hydrate field production tests on the Alaska North Slope permafrost. While first order predictions have been made from reservoir models based on assumptions of …

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Protecting The Shield: How The Nfl Frames An Organizational Crisis, Mel Anton Jan 2016

Protecting The Shield: How The Nfl Frames An Organizational Crisis, Mel Anton

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The National Football League (NFL) is a multi-billion-dollar organization that is constantly utilizing impression management techniques to craft its public image. Currently, the NFL is embroiled in what many refer to as the "concussion crisis." When the NFL discusses this issue, one of the most common impression management techniques used is framing and accounts. This research brings together these two concepts to study this issue. I have analyzed a sample of press releases from the NFL using qualitative content analysis. From this, I have found and defined some common frames used, when they are used, and then used accounts research …

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Shale Lithofacies Modeling Of The Bakken Formation In The Williston Basin, North Dakota, Shuvajit Bhattacharya Jan 2016

Shale Lithofacies Modeling Of The Bakken Formation In The Williston Basin, North Dakota, Shuvajit Bhattacharya

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Bakken petroleum system (Devonian-Mississippian) in the Williston basin of North Dakota and Montana in the United States, and Saskatchewan and Manitoba in Canada is one of the largest unconventional oil plays in North America. The Bakken Formation consists of three members: upper, middle, and lower. Both upper and lower members are shale (source rocks), whereas the middle member (reservoir rock) is composed of mixed lithologies, including sandstone, dolostone, and limestone. Underlying the lower Bakken shale member, the Three Forks Formation is another target for hydrocarbon exploration.;Although the middle Bakken member along with the Three Forks Formation have been the …

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Design Of Composite Sandwich Panels For Lightweigh Applications In Air Cargo Containers, Mariana M. William Jan 2016

Design Of Composite Sandwich Panels For Lightweigh Applications In Air Cargo Containers, Mariana M. William

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Air cargo containers are used to load freight on various types of aircrafts to expedite their handling. The current containers are closed containers made of aluminum or combination of aluminum (frame) and Lexan (walls). The objective of this study is to develop innovative, lightweight design and joining concepts for air cargo containers that would allow for weight reduction in the air cargo transportation industry. For this purpose, lightweight carbon fiber woven composite design configuration of a typical air cargo container was developed and manufactured. The new design was devised to meet the FAA-approved certification requirements of the Technical Standard Order …

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Cross-Spectral Full And Partial Face Recognition: Preprocessing, Feature Extraction And Matching, Zhicheng Cao Jan 2016

Cross-Spectral Full And Partial Face Recognition: Preprocessing, Feature Extraction And Matching, Zhicheng Cao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cross-spectral face recognition remains a challenge in the area of biometrics. The problem arises from some real-world application scenarios such as surveillance at night time or in harsh environments, where traditional face recognition techniques are not suitable or limited due to usage of imagery obtained in the visible light spectrum. This motivates the study conducted in the dissertation which focuses on matching infrared facial images against visible light images. The study outspreads from aspects of face recognition such as preprocessing to feature extraction and to matching.;We address the problem of cross-spectral face recognition by proposing several new operators and algorithms …

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Platform Gratifications: Tinder Vs. Match.Com, Cassandra Lang Jan 2016

Platform Gratifications: Tinder Vs. Match.Com, Cassandra Lang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis examined user's experiences using dating applications by applying a uses and gratifications lens to investigate the gratifications of two different dating platforms. Specifically, this study drew upon past computer-mediated research to compare the gratifications obtained from a Tinder-like platform and a Match.com-like platform. The experiment found no significant differences between the gratifications levels of the two platforms types. However, female participants reported significantly lower levels of the "relaxation" gratification levels then males. The study also found identical ordinal gratification levels for the two platforms explored. The findings expand the study of mobile dating applications.

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Performance Enhancement Of Organic Light-Emitting Diodes With An Inorganically Doped Hole Transport Layer, Xiaomeng Li Jan 2016

Performance Enhancement Of Organic Light-Emitting Diodes With An Inorganically Doped Hole Transport Layer, Xiaomeng Li

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are generally considered as the next generation display and lighting sources owing to their many attractive properties, including low power consumption, wide viewing angle, vibrant color, high contrast ratios and compatibility with flexible substrates. The research and development of OLEDs has attracted considerable interest and has led to significant progress during the last two decades. The use of OLEDs in small-area displays such as cell phone screens, digital cameras, and wearable devices has become a reality. However, the OLED technology is still far from mature, posing a challenge for their widespread acceptance for applications in large-area …

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Multi-Scale Simulation Of Carbon Capture Processes Based On Mesoporous Silica-Supported, Polyethyleneimine-Impregnated Sorbents, Kuijun Li Jan 2016

Multi-Scale Simulation Of Carbon Capture Processes Based On Mesoporous Silica-Supported, Polyethyleneimine-Impregnated Sorbents, Kuijun Li

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The mechanism of CO2 uptake in silica-supported, polyethylenimine (PEI)-impregnated sorbents under dry and humid conditions has been investigated in a new chemical model based on quantum chemical calculations and a comparison of reaction-diffusion models with experimental data. First-principles quantum chemical calculations showed that the zwitterion, which is not stable in the gas phase even when considering a polar environment similar to water, can be stabilized by nearby water and amine molecules. Stabilized zwitterions serve as diffusive intermediates to transport adsorbed CO2 into the PEI bulk. Compared to amine-stabilized zwitterions, water-stabilized zwitterions are more numerous and have a lower activation energy …

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Flooding And Reequilibration Of A Series Of Pittsburgh Bed Underground Coal Mines, 1980 To 2015, David D. M. Light Jan 2016

Flooding And Reequilibration Of A Series Of Pittsburgh Bed Underground Coal Mines, 1980 To 2015, David D. M. Light

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examines the water-level elevation history of selected flooding and flooded underground mines in the Pittsburgh coal basin of SW Pennsylvania from the time of closure until post-flooding pool-level reequilibration. Mines within this mining district developed pools with nearly steady-state groundwater flow within 10 to 50 years after closure. Equilibrated pool levels within each of the mines were controlled by various combinations of spillage to the surface or other mines, pumpage, and barrier leakage. In a study of flooding in the Clarksville, PA area, field water-level observations, mine geometry, barrier hydraulic conductivity, recharge rates, and late-stage storage gains were …

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Impact Of Serving As An Extension Camping Instructor On Life Skills Development., Jeffery A. Davis Jr. Jan 2016

Impact Of Serving As An Extension Camping Instructor On Life Skills Development., Jeffery A. Davis Jr.

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to determine if West Virginia University Extension Camping Instructors were influencing the life skill development of 4-H youth while also developing life skills of their own. This study utilized the unique perceptions of Extension Camping Instructors who were employed from the summer of 2007 to October of 2015 by examining their current level of life skills, how they felt being employed as an Extension Camping Instructor influenced the development of each skill, and how they felt their role impacted the life skill development of 4-H youth with whom they had worked. A descriptive survey …

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Perceptions Of The Curriculum For Agricultural Science Education (Case) As Perceived By Agricultural Educators., Lauren Irene Devine Jan 2016

Perceptions Of The Curriculum For Agricultural Science Education (Case) As Perceived By Agricultural Educators., Lauren Irene Devine

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of educators using the CASE curriculum related to the lesson plans, materials and overall courses in the curriculum. The research was also aimed to determine the perceptions of educators on the CASE curriculum as it relates to the total agricultural education model and the attitudes of students' views of the CASE curriculum as perceived by their teachers. The population for this study was 1,021 agricultural educators across the United States who have been trained in CASE and are currently teaching in a high school classroom. The researcher conducted a descriptive …

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Syntheses And Structures Of Functionalized Cycloparaphenylenes And Fused Cycloparaphenylene Precursors., Changfeng Huang Jan 2016

Syntheses And Structures Of Functionalized Cycloparaphenylenes And Fused Cycloparaphenylene Precursors., Changfeng Huang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A synthetic pathw ay o f preparing functionalized [9]cycloparaphenylene ([9]CPP) bearing three evenly spaced 5,8-dim ethyoxynaphth-l,4-diyl units and tw o m acrocyclic [6]CPP precursors has been developed. The key steps included the D iels-A ld er reaction betw een (E,E)-1,4-bis(4-brom ophenyl)- 1,3-butadiene and 1,4-benzoquinone followed by m ethylation to produce an L-shaped building block w ith tw o 4-brom ophenyl groups cis to each other exclusively, the nickel-m ediated hom ocoupling reactions to construct the m acrocyclic dim ers and trim ers, and m ild, efficient oxidative arom atization by 2,3- dichloro-5,6-dicyano- 1,4-benzoquinone (D D Q ) to furnish the …

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Microbial Dynamics Within Shed Mucosal Secretions Of Hirudo Verbana, The European Medicinal Leech, Brittany Maree Ott Jan 2016

Microbial Dynamics Within Shed Mucosal Secretions Of Hirudo Verbana, The European Medicinal Leech, Brittany Maree Ott

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Microbes are widespread throughout our planet, residing in soils, oceans, and even beneath the arctic glaciers. Most interact with each other and other life forms, and there is no known complex organism that lacks an associated microbiome. These microbial symbionts are critical to the survival and proliferation of their host by assisting in nutrient provisioning, physiological development, immunological priming, providing protection from pathogens, contributing to predator evasion, etc. As such, the transmission of these symbionts is a crucial aspect of host biology. Despite a growing appreciation for the prevalence of mixed transmission (incorporating vertical, or from a parental route, and …

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The Relationship Between Neighborhood Disadvantage Trajectories And Health Outcomes In A Large Urban Us City, Sherry Owens Jan 2016

The Relationship Between Neighborhood Disadvantage Trajectories And Health Outcomes In A Large Urban Us City, Sherry Owens

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Neighborhood Disadvantage is the sum of a series of socioeconomic indicators that triangulate disadvantaged living conditions in a neighborhood (i.e., poverty, unemployment, home vacancies, female headed households, educational attainment, and segregation). Associations between Neighborhood Disadvantage (ND) and health outcomes have been widely explored. However, findings on mental and behavioral health outcomes remain inconclusive, and individual-level covariates often attenuate relationships between ND and health outcomes. This inconclusive evidence has denied researchers the opportunity to focus on neighborhoods as points of intervention. A potential reason for inconclusive findings is that neighborhoods and individuals are both subject to macro-level socioeconomic events, such as …

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A Qualitative Investigation Of Completed And Averted School Shootings: Deciphering The Characteristics That Prevent School Shootings, Jonathan Page Jan 2016

A Qualitative Investigation Of Completed And Averted School Shootings: Deciphering The Characteristics That Prevent School Shootings, Jonathan Page

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to explore the differences between completed school shootings and averted school shootings in order to gain a better understanding of ways to prevent school shootings. The following research question guided this study: What are the similarities and differences between schools in which a shooting occurred and schools in which a shooting was averted? To answer this question, this study compared school shootings and averted school shootings in K-12 schools between January 2007 and December 2013, searching for general themes to analyze in order to add to the literature on averted school shootings. This study …

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Hollow Men: Colonial Forms, Irish Subjects, And The Great Famine In Modernist Literature, 1890-1930, Aaron Matthew Percich Jan 2016

Hollow Men: Colonial Forms, Irish Subjects, And The Great Famine In Modernist Literature, 1890-1930, Aaron Matthew Percich

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation traces the impact and influence of Ireland's Great Famine (145-1852) on the formal developments of Irish and British modernism. The Famine is arguably the founding event for colonial Ireland's entry into modernity. This forceful event and forced legacy allows us to rethink modernism's developmental trajectory; rather than a movement deriving out of metropolitan experimentation, I argue for modernism's colonial roots. Colonial events like the Famine or what I term colonial atrocities are marked by mass death and cultural degradation, and further facilitated by the technological, ideological, and exploitative practices deriving from modernity. Representative practices that arise in response …

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First Row Transition Metal Mediated Redox Reactions Of Hydrazines And Isonitriles, John Riedesel Jan 2016

First Row Transition Metal Mediated Redox Reactions Of Hydrazines And Isonitriles, John Riedesel

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Over the past 50 years, there has been an explosion in the progress of transition-metal mediated reaction design, allowing chemists to perform a vast array of organic and inorganic transformations. While first-row transition-metals play a role in many reactions that have been known for some time, second- and third-row transition-metals have been key for the discovery and success of many of the most well-known and utilized reactions in homogeneous catalysis existing today. However, developing reactions utilizing first-row transition-metals has re-gained in popularity over recent years, in part due to the general expense of heavier metals. Also, the ability of first-row …

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Immunological Response To Haemonchus Contortus Antigen In Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Of Parasite Resistant And Susceptible Sheep, Jesica Rae Jacobs Jan 2016

Immunological Response To Haemonchus Contortus Antigen In Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Of Parasite Resistant And Susceptible Sheep, Jesica Rae Jacobs

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Parasitism by Haemonchus contortus is the greatest concern of sheep producers and results in billions of dollars in economic loss each year. St. Croix hair sheep are naturally resistant to H. contortus infection, but have body characteristics which are unfavorable for production. Resistance to H. contortus is immune mediated; characterized by a T helper type 2 (Th2) response, however the mechanism of the development of immune response is not known. In these studies, immunological responses of parasite resistant St. Croix sheep and Suffolk sheep peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) are evaluated in response to H. contortus antigens. Three uninfected H. …

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Design And Development Of A Twisted String Exoskeleton Robot For The Upper Limb, Lei Jiang Jan 2016

Design And Development Of A Twisted String Exoskeleton Robot For The Upper Limb, Lei Jiang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

High-intensity and task-specific upper-limb treatment of active, highly repetitive movements are the effective approaches for patients with motor disorders. However, with the severe shortage of medical service in the United States and the fact that post-stroke survivors can continue to incur significant financial costs, patients often choose not to return to the hospital or clinic for complete recovery. Therefore, robot-assisted therapy can be considered as an alternative rehabilitation approach because the similar or better results as the patients who receive intensive conventional therapy offered by professional physicians.;The primary objective of this study was to design and fabricate an effective mobile …

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Fusion Techniques For Activity Recognition Using Multi-Camera Networks, Rahul Ratnakar Kavi Jan 2016

Fusion Techniques For Activity Recognition Using Multi-Camera Networks, Rahul Ratnakar Kavi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Real-time automatic activity recognition is an important area of research in the field of Computer Vision with plenty of applications in surveillance, gaming, entertainment and automobile safety. Because of advances in wireless networks and camera technologies, distributed camera networks are becoming more prominent. Distributed camera networks offer complimentary views of scenes and hence are better suited for real-time surveillance applications. They are robust to camera failures and in-complete field of views.;In a camera network, fusing information from multiple cameras is an important problem, especially when one doesn't have knowledge of subjects orientation with respect to the camera and when arrangement …

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Reservoir Characterization And Flow Simulation For Co 2-Eor In The Tensleep Formation Using Discrete Fracture Networks, Teapot Dome, Wyoming, Payam Kavousi Ghahfarokhi Jan 2016

Reservoir Characterization And Flow Simulation For Co 2-Eor In The Tensleep Formation Using Discrete Fracture Networks, Teapot Dome, Wyoming, Payam Kavousi Ghahfarokhi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Tensleep oil reservoir at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, USA, is a naturally fractured tight sandstone reservoir that has been considered for carbon-dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO2-EOR) and sequestration. CO2-EOR analysis requires a thorough understanding of the Tensleep fracture network. Wireline image logs from the field suggest that the reservoir fracture network is dominated by early formed structural hinge oblique fractures with interconnectivity enhanced by hinge parallel and hinge perpendicular fracture sets. Available post stack 3D seismic data are used to generate a seismic fracture intensity attribute for the reservoir fracture network. The resulting seismic fracture intensity is qualitatively correlated to …

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Potential Biomarkers To Predict Fertility In Dairy Cattle, Melissa Jill Wise Jan 2016

Potential Biomarkers To Predict Fertility In Dairy Cattle, Melissa Jill Wise

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The aim of this study was to use leukocyte counts and haptoglobin concentrations in blood, milk, and uterine luminal secretion as biomarkers of health status and to associate those biomarkers and milk yield with reproductive success in dairy cattle. The study used a commercial dairy milking three times daily. One hundred and twenty six (25 primiparous and 101 multiparous) Holstein dairy cows were used. Reproductive success was evaluated with variables measured at three time points: [20-26 (prebreeding), 54-60 (breeding), and 90-96 (pregnancy diagnosis) days in milk (DIM)]. Variables included concentrations of leukocytes from blood, milk [measured by QScout Farm Lab …

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An Integrated Lateral Flow Device For Flow Control And Blood Separation, Veronica Betancur Calle Jan 2016

An Integrated Lateral Flow Device For Flow Control And Blood Separation, Veronica Betancur Calle

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Lateral flow devices (LFD) have been used and are promising in many applications, including point-of-care diagnosis in medical, clinical, food and environmental control and monitoring. In particular, disposable paper-based lateral flow strips utilize low-cost materials and do not require expensive fabrication instruments. Many examples of diagnostic tests have been developed using microfluidics paper analytical devices (muPADs), including tests for the detection of total glucose and protein in urine (colorimetric), detection of beta-galactosidase (fluorescence), and liver enzyme tests for monitoring the health of patients been treated with multiple medications for HIV and/or tuberculosis that can cause hepatotoxicity. However, there are constraints …

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Comparisons Of Host Susceptibility To Isogenic Virulent And Hypovirulent [Chv1-Infected] Strains Of Cryphonectria Parasitica Among Castanea Hosts And Plant Tissue Types, Cameron M. Stauder Jan 2016

Comparisons Of Host Susceptibility To Isogenic Virulent And Hypovirulent [Chv1-Infected] Strains Of Cryphonectria Parasitica Among Castanea Hosts And Plant Tissue Types, Cameron M. Stauder

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Chestnut blight is a devastating canker disease of numerous Castanea spp. resulting from the infection of wounds by Cryphonectria parasitica. The restoration of American chestnut has been pursued through the generation of blight resistant American x Chinese hybrids and employment of virulence attenuating hypoviruses of C. parasitica. The goals of this study were: 1) to conduct comparisons of host resistance among American (C. dentata), European (C. sativa), Chinese (C. mollisima), and three American x Chinese hybrid generations (B2F2, B2F3, B3F2) produced by The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) to isogenic virulent and hypovirulent (CHV1) strains of C. parasitica; 2) to validate …

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A Kriging Method For Modeling Cycle Time-Throughput Profiles In Manufacturing, Amirmahdi Tafreshian Jan 2016

A Kriging Method For Modeling Cycle Time-Throughput Profiles In Manufacturing, Amirmahdi Tafreshian

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In semiconductor manufacturing, the steady-state behavior of a wafer fab system can be characterized by its cycle time-throughput profiles. These profiles quantify the relationship between the cycle time of a product and the system throughput and product mix. The objective of this work is to efficiently generate such cycle time-throughput profiles in manufacturing which can further assist decision makings in production planning.;In this research, a metamodeling approach based on Stochastic Kriging model with Qualitative factors (SKQ) has been adopted to quantify the target relationship of interest. Furthermore, a sequential experimental design procedure is developed to improve the efficiency of simulation …

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Extensional Flow Blending Of Immiscible Polymers With Nanoparticle Stabilization, Matthew S. Thompson Jan 2016

Extensional Flow Blending Of Immiscible Polymers With Nanoparticle Stabilization, Matthew S. Thompson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Polymer blending facilitates the combination of the attractive attributes of two or more polymers while compensating for the unfavorable ones. Most polymers are thermodynamically incompatible with one another, and their blending yields a two-phase microstructure. This morphology generally determines the mechanical and rheological properties of the blend system which then determine its applications. Morphology development typically involves deformation of the dispersed phase followed by drop breakup. However, drop coalescence competes with this process, and ultimately a balance must be reached between these two competing processes. Extensional flow fields are known to promote drop breakup and are especially important for blends …

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