Digital Commons Network^™

Design And Control Of A Multi-Axis Micro-Electro-Mechanical System Array For Coordinated Micro-Manipulation, Patrick Jesse White

Masters Theses

"Micro-electro-mechanical system design and implementation is a field that has received much attention over the past few decades. These robotic systems with features on the micro-scale have an unparalleled opportunity to change the way scientists interact with and understand micro and nano-scale phenomenon. Their capabilities allow experimentation that cannot be achieved with standard macro-scale equipment. Potential applications range from observing biological processes in living cells, to smart materials that automatically detect microcracks. So far, however, only a few truly successful applications have been realized. One of the most elusive goals in MEMS design is creating a system capable of coordinated …

The Sorption Of Chemical And Nuclear Contaminants From Soil And Water Using Nanosize Particles Of Hydroxyapatite, Chyrene Joseph

Masters Theses

"High surface area (>200 m²/g) crystals composed of nanosize (30-50nm) hydroxyapatite; (Ca₅(PO₄)₃OH) particles are being investigated as an alternative in cleaing [sic] contaminated groundwater and soil by removing toxic wastes and radionuclides. Static batch tests were carried out at 2, 4, 8, 24 and 120 hour time periods by reacting hydroxyapatite with individual solutions prepared with specific elements to evaluate the applicability of hydroxyapatite in removing potential contaminants. Chemical analyses on leachant solutions, leachate solutions, and post-reaction digested solids were conducted by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy to determine the extent of ion removal. Removal of these ions is expected …

The Feasibility Of Using Bifidobacteria Bifidum (Atcc 700541) For The Production Of Prebiotic Oligosaccharides, Candice Marie Luehrs

Masters Theses

"Galactooligosaccharides (GOS) are prebiotics that are being used to influence intestinal microbiota towards health promoting, beneficial bacteria like bifidobacteria. Natural sources of GOS are not found in suitable levels to achieve the desired health effects so economically viable commercial production methods are important. Enzymatic conversion of lactose to GOS through transgalactosylation is a preferred method since the starting material is inexpensive and readily available. Enzymes used in batch production are purified from fungal or bacterial sources or remain in whole cells cultured for GOS production. Purified or unbound enzymes are single use whereas enzymes retained within whole cells can potentially …

Waterjet Injection Of Powdered Activated Carbon For Sediment Remediation, Chris J. Redell

Masters Theses

"In situ sediment remediation through waterjet-activated carbon amendment delivery is an innovative means to mitigate the dangers posed by hydrophobic organic compounds. Ease of use and applicability to inundated environments makes this technique valuable. This work made feasible low-pressure injections of a 15% (by dry weight) carbon/water slurry through a pulsating piston pump waterjet. The project fabricated nozzle tips and a unique injection apparatus comprising a quantitative system for the evaluation of bench scale models. Based on a series of iterative processes, injections of carbon were analyzed for depth and concentration. Injections varied in duration and they were made into …

Isolation And Characterization Of Bacterial Symbionts From Crotalaria Spectabilis Grown On Trichloroethene Contaminated Soil, April Lyn Rocha

Masters Theses

"The discovery of several members of the Leguminosae family growing on a TCE contaminated site demonstrated that they have the capabilities to tolerate the TCE contamination. This led to an investigation of the plants' ability to metabolize TCE. Research by Dr. Lee Newman showed that nodules from Crotalaria spectabilis grown on the site had TCE metabolites present while nodules from other legumes at the site did not. The presence of TCE metabolites within the C. spectabilis nodules suggests that the bacterial symbiont may be responsible for TCE metabolism. This led us to investigate the symbiont of C. spectabilis and its …

Ozone Uptake Rates And Secondary Product Emissions Of Green Building Materials, Seth Paul Lamble

Masters Theses

"Building materials considered "green" were tested for their ability to remove ozone and their potential to generate undesirable byproducts such as aldehydes. Three types of ceiling tile were tested, along with seven flooring materials and eight wall materials. These materials were selected based on "green" criteria. For several this means they were recycled or produced from renewable resources. Others were designed to be low emitting, or due to their composition were likely to be low emitting. Ozone deposition velocities ranged from 0.25 m h-1 for a type of resilient linoleum type flooring to 8.23 m h-1 for a clay based …

Applying Text Timing In Corporate Spin-Off Disclosure Statement Analysis: Understanding The Main Concerns And Recommendation Of Appropriate Term Weights, Aravindh Sekar

Masters Theses

"Text mining helps in extracting knowledge and useful information from unstructured data. It detects and extracts information from mountains of documents and allowing in selecting data related to a particular data.

In this study, text mining is applied to the 10-12b filings done by the companies during Corporate Spin-off. The main purposes are (1) To investigate potential and/or major concerns found from these financial statements filed for corporate spin-off and (2) To identify appropriate methods in text mining which can be used to reveal these major concerns.

10-12b filings from thirty-four companies were taken and only the "Risk Factors" category …

Thermomechanics Of Curves In Space, Pavan Krishna Kanchi

Masters Theses

"Several biological molecules are known to form helices and coiled structures, such as DNA, collagen, bacterial flagella, and proteins. The backbones of such molecules may be modeled as a curve in three dimensions. A variational problem for the functional of the total free energy required to perturb moving curves in space is considered. The total energy of a curve in three dimensions is minimized y with a general intensive energy, which is a function of position, and the invariants, curvature and torsion. Three types of moduli are identified: stretching, bending and torsional moduli. As a result, three independent force balances …

Phytoforensic Tools: Directional Uptake Of Chlorinated Solvents, Matthew Alan Limmer

Masters Theses

"Trees have been used to locate contaminated soil and groundwater, augmenting traditional methods, such as well drilling, that are time-consuming and expensive. In the past decade, plant sampling has gained acceptance as a reliable method for site screening. In this new field of phytoforensics, research efforts focus on developing quicker, more accurate and more informative sampling and analysis methods for measuring contaminant concentrations in trees. These phytoforensic tools are a novel approach to site assessments, potentially reducing cost while more effectively locating contaminated groundwater. This thesis evolved from field data suggesting azimuthal concentrations in tree trunks may reflect the corresponding …

Novel Transparent Conductive Materials: Understanding And Prediction, Yaou Song

Masters Theses

"Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) such as doped In₂O₃, ZnO, SnO₂ or CdO are highly attractive due to their special properties, which are electrical conductivity and optical transparency. The lack of complete understanding of the fundamentals behind this unique phenomena and rapidly increasing commercial demand draw a lot of interest in investigating this kind of materials. More efficient, environmentally friendly and less expensive transparent conductive materials are needed for a variety of applications, and a general understanding of the origins of the unusual behavior would help further search for potential transparent conductive (TC) candidates. Understanding the basic properties of conventional TCOs …

Effects Of A Nickel Reactor Liner And Other Reaction Variables During Supercritical Water Reformation Of Glycerin, Michael S. Stever

Masters Theses

"The non-catalytic reformation of glycerin using supercritical water was conducted in a 400-mL tubular reactor constructed of Haynesʼ Alloy 230. The evaluated parameters for this thesis include water-to-glycerin molar ratios ranging from 3 to 24 and reactor temperatures ranging from 500⁰C to 700⁰C. In addition, experiments were performed using the Haynes' Alloy 230 reactor both without a liner and with a Nickel 201 liner. Space time was maintained at approximately 100 seconds and the reactor pressure was kept constant at 24.1 MPa. The resultant effect on product gas composition and carbon gasification was determined. The product gases consisted of a …

Managing A Solar Sensor Array Project: Analyzing Insolation & Motivation, Beth A. Yount

Masters Theses

"The renewable power industry is rapidly growing today and is in need of much data to augment the advancement of the field. Photovoltaic technology, while making substantial improvement over the last 60 years, still has some significant hurdles to overcome. When shading, dust, or damaged cells reduce the power output of one panel, the traditional series-parallel configurations make it so every panel in series with that lower current panel, will also have its current lowered; this lowers the overall power output of the array significantly. Advancements in configurations and converters could change this phenomenon and dramatically increase a solar array's …

Adaptive Rule-Based Malware Detection Employing Learning Classifier Systems, Jonathan Joseph Blount

Masters Theses

"Efficient and accurate malware detection is increasingly becoming a necessity for society to operate. Existing malware detection systems have excellent performance in identifying known malware for which signatures are available, but poor performance in anomaly detection for zero day exploits for which signatures have not yet been made available or targeted attacks against a specific entity. The primary goal of this thesis is to provide evidence for the potential of learning classier systems to improve the accuracy of malware detection.

A customized system based on a state-of-the-art learning classier system is presented for adaptive rule-based malware detection, which combines a …

Simultaneous Measurement Of Temperature And Strain By Three-Section Phase-Shift Long Period Fiber Grating, Hongbiao Duan

Masters Theses

"Long period fiber gratings (LPFGs) have found many applications as sensors to measure strain, temperature, refractive index and other physical parameters. In various sensing applications, the cross-sensitivity between two parameters, especially the temperature cross-sensitivity, has been a major difficulty to achieve high accuracy measurement. One of the solutions is to develop LPFG sensors for simultaneous, multi-parameter measurements.

In this thesis, three-section phase-shift (PS) LPFGs were fabricated and investigated for simultaneous measurement of temperature and strain. Compared with a two-section PS-LPFG, a three-section PS-LPFG has two deeper resonance sub bands and a larger separation between the two bands. The strain, temperature …

Mutation Of The Hof1 Pest Domain Affects Cytokinesis In Budding Yeast, Katherine E. Stockstill

Masters Theses

"Cytokinesis is the division of a cell into two daughter cells. Cytokinesis failure results in polyploidy, which may contribute to tumorigenesis or cause cell death. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein Hof1, which is required for efficient cytokinesis, is phosphorylated during mitosis. The hypothesis that MEN (mitotic exit network) dependent phosphorylation regulates Hof1 degradation, triggering completion of cytokinesis was tested. Hof1 contains a PEST sequence, which is rich in proline, glutamic acid, serine, and threonine, and is believed to be involved in protein degradation. To test the hypothesis, we created two non-phosphorylatable mutants of the Hof1 PEST domain tagged with GFP. The …

Production And Characterization Of Supported Palladium Nanoparticles On Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes By Gamma Irradiation, Jessika Viviana Rojas Marin

Masters Theses

"Carbon nanotubes are being studied for a variety of applications due to their outstanding mechanical, chemical, electrical, and optical properties that make them interesting in different areas. Nowadays, different methods to modify the structure of the nanotubes are being developed in order to expand the application fields of such materials. In this work, palladium nanoparticles were directly produced and supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) by gamma irradiation. A solution with a 2:1 water-isopropanol ratio was prepared and mixed with palladium chloride as precursor of palladium ions. Radiolysis of water produces certain species that reduce the ions down to a …

Quantifying The Carbon Footprint Of Lean Waste, Kristen Donovan Balinski

Masters Theses

"The objective of this paper is to provide a method of quantifying lean wastes in terms of carbon dioxide emissions by using value stream mapping. Lean manufacturing, a process based on waste identification and reduction, is a growing trend in industry and a proven method of lowering costs. The environmental impact of these wastes can be quantified by identifying the metrics associated with them, and using existing reports to convert those metrics into measurements of carbon dioxide. Growing environmental concerns are prompting federal government regulation of greenhouse gas or carbon dioxide emissions, as seen in the American Clean Energy and …

Integration Of Model-Based Systems Engineering And Virtual Engineering Tools For Detailed Design, Akshay Kande

Masters Theses

"Design and development of a system can be viewed as a process of transferring and transforming data using a set of tools that form the system's development environment. Conversion of the systems engineering data into useful information is one of the prime objectives of the tools used in the process. With complex systems, the objective is further augmented with a need to represent the information in an accessible and comprehensible manner. The importance of representation is easily understood in light of the fact that the stakeholder's ability to make prompt and appropriate decisions is directly related to his understanding of …

Continuous Monitoring Of Bioactive Glass Conversion Using Optical Biosensors, Prajakta Bhagwat

Masters Theses

"The engineered regeneration of bone is a significant challenge being undertaken to treat conditions such as traumatic casualties, bone cancer, osteoporosis, etc. Advances in hard tissue regrowth may potentially lead to significantly improved lives for millions of people. Bioactive glasses as potential materials in the fabrication of scaffolds for hard tissue regeneration have been studied recently. Bone regrowth requires maintenance of optimal levels of oxygen, glucose, phosphate, calcium, and pH. Current work at Missouri S & T's Center for Bone and Tissue Repair and Restoration focuses on developing optical biosensors to monitor: conversion of bioactive glass to hydroxyapatite, ease of …

Assess Commercialization Feasibility Of Algae-Based Bio-Fuel With Dashboard And Scorecard Technologies, Madhur Chopra

Masters Theses

"The growing energy depleting energy supplies and increasing environmental pollution has motivated researchers across the globe to look for alternative energy sources. Various energy sources have been identified but none of them have the capability of realistically replacing the fossil fuels and meeting the current demand. Algae based bio-fuels give some hope but producing them at large scale is a challenge which needs to be overcome.

The underlying objective of this research project is two folds. Firstly, the project aims to assist with the commercialization of algae based bio-fuels by developing Dashboard based and Balanced Scorecard based monitoring prototypes. The …

Selective Laser Sintering Of 13-93 Bioactive Glass, Krishna C. R. Kolan

Masters Theses

"Bioactive glasses are promising materials for bone scaffolds due to their ability to assist in tissue regeneration. When implanted in vivo, bioactive glasses can convert to hydroxyapatite, the main mineral constituent of human bone and form a strong bond with the surrounding tissues, thus providing an advantage over polymer scaffold materials. Bone scaffold fabrication using additive manufacturing techniques like selective laser sintering (SLS) provide control over pore interconnectivity during the fabrication of scaffold, which helps in mimicking human trabecular bone. 13-93 glass, a third-generation bioactive material designed to accelerate the body's natural ability to heal itself, was used in …

Improving Student Learning Outcomes Through Personal Response Systems (Clickers), Ran Cai

Masters Theses

"The main purpose of this research was to examine the impact of Personal Response Systems (PRS) or clickers, (as they are commonly called), on student learning outcome. Student learning outcomes as measured by course grades were compared between traditional lecture format and clicker use lecture format. Student perceptions on clicker use were observed in the mean time. Statistical analysis indicated that although student conveyed positive attitude on clicker adoption, there were no significant differences in course scores between students who used clickers and students who did not.

This study also considered the influence of other factors, such as gender, student …

Quantitative Oxygen Imaging With A Display Screen And A Color Camera, Sanghan Park

Masters Theses

"Optical oxygen sensing uses luminophores such as metal complex dyes that respond to oxygen when illuminated by their specific excitation wavelengths. Traditional optical instruments are mostly spectrometric instruments based on the measurements of emission, absorption or reflection. There is, however, a great need to develop simple, economical, photometric detection components toward quantitative and two-dimensional imaging instruments.

In this work, familiar optoelectronic devices were utilized to demonstrate a simple determination method of gaseous oxygen both quantitatively and qualitatively. A liquid crystal display (LCD) screen and a color charge-coupled device (CCD) camera were employed as a light source for fluorescence excitation and …

Design, Analysis, And Optimization Of Composite Structures For Aerospace Applications, Tyler Jason Keil

Masters Theses

"This thesis contains three papers that focus on composites that pertain to a variety of structures commonly found in the aerospace industry. The first paper presents an investigation of the stowage and deployment strength of a thin carbon fiber-reinforced polymer shell capable of being rolled and stowed in a tight rolled configuration. The intent of this structure is for use as a segment of a larger deployable reflective aperture. This study involved finite element analysis of several laminates, coupon-level and full-scale prototype testing, which provided a much needed insight and benchmark of composite shells used in this manner.

The second …

John Savage, John Klyczek

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Extinction Of Fibroblast-Specific Gene Expression In Somatic Hepatic Hybrids Using Cdna Microarray Technology, Sushma K. Shrestha

Masters Theses

Extinction of tissue-specific genes in mammalian somatic cell hybrids is a well known epigenetic phenomenon and knowledge of this process is useful in understanding molecular mechanisms underlying tissue specific gene expression. Signaling proteins critical for the activation of transcription including transcription factors, co-activators, and repressors, play a role in the establishment and maintenance of tissue-specific phenotypes. Tissue-specific transcription factors are the key driving force of tissuespecific gene expression. However, mechanisms responsible for gene silencing are largely unknown.

Extinction of liver specific traits in somatic hybrids generated by the fusion of hepatoma and fibroblast cells has been well documented and is …

Interactions Of Diet And Behavior In A Death-Feigning Snake (Heterodon Nasicus), Andrew Michael Durso

Masters Theses

Studies of animal behavior in captivity are limited in their ability to explain the influence of a natural environment on behavioral ecology. Defensive behaviors vary among individual animals, between sexes and with age, as well as with other less well-known factors. The toxin-rich diet of many toad-eating snakes might enable or cause their passive terminal defensive behavior of death-feigning. I videotaped death-feigning behavior in wild Plains Hog-Nosed Snakes (Heterodon nasicus) subjected to standardized harassment. Using stable isotopes, I also described the diet of the same individuals subjected to behavioral analysis (n = 40). Heterodon had broader diets than other snakes …

Increasing Male Volunteering One Motivation At A Time, Matthew C. Nance

Masters Theses

Much research had shown that men volunteer at a lesser rate than women do. Additionally, research had shown that the motivations to volunteer differ for each gender. Two samples of college students who participated in single day service projects were surveyed using the Volunteer Functions Inventory-an instrument that assesses the importance of six possible motivations that range from a focus on others to a focus on gains for one's self-by the Student Community Service office. The data from the VFI was divided along gender lines to see to which motivations millennial males adhered. In an effort to further understand the …

School-Based Support As A Mediator Between Homophobic Bullying And Depression In Sexual Minority Youth, Jamie Henkelman

Masters Theses

School-based support as a mediator between the relationship of homophobic bullying during high school and depression later on was examined retrospectively using a sample of 195 participants who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning. Participants were recruited from a Midwestern state via email and social networking sites through their college campus' Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender campus groups. The survey was conducted online and used the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale to measure depression symptoms. The modified version of the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network's Community Climate survey was used to measure schoolbased support and homophobic bullying. Results …

A Study Of Psychological Sense Of Community Within Living-Learning Environments, Jacob R. Hanley

Masters Theses

The present study measured the level for Psychological Sense of Community (PSOC) using the Sense of Community Index 2 (SCI-2) inside various living-learning communities at a medium sized, mid-western public university. It compared the PSOC scores with various demographic characteristics that were measured with the PSOC instrument. Based on responses of 455 participants, there were significant differences between size of living-learning communities and the PSOC levels they demonstrated. There were no significant differences between sex of participants and demonstrated PSOC levels. There were also minor differences between race, age, year, time lived on campus, and time in current residence hall …