Digital Commons Network^™

Computer Controlled Oxygen Bioreactor, Dinesh Sachdeva

Theses

A computer controlled oxygen bioreactor has been designed to obtain more accurate values for oxygen bioreactor requirements and to optimize oxygen productivity with respect to oxygen concentration. This study solves a specific problem relating to oxygen concentration measurement and bioreactor control. The proposed reactor system is computer controlled to insure a desired oxygen concentration supply to an oxygen consuming reaction or organism. This thesis also explains and illustrates the bioreactor and its computer control system.

The computer controller incorporates oxygen sensing, oxygen measurement and temperature measurement, Electrical circuits have been designed and built for proper signal conditioning, data acquisition, data …

Microbial Competition In The Biodegradation Of Phenol, Mary Ellen Frank

Theses

Three phenol degraders were isolated from the mixed liquor of the Livingston, NJ municipal treatment plant. Shaker flask experiments using one of the degraders (a Pseudomonas sp.) resulted in the determination of its kinetic rate constants. The second phenol degrader (a Xanthamonas) lost its phenol degrading ability while being stored, and its kinetic rate constants could not be determined. The third phenol degrader (a Pseudomonas cepacia) formed flocs which interfered with the spectrophotometric determination of biomass and therefore its kinetic rate constants also could not be determined.

Mixed culture experiments were carried out using a the Pseudomonas sp. and a …

Application Of Microwave Energy To Remediation Of Soils Contaminated With Chromium, Chih-Ju Jou

Theses

A process based upon microwave treatment has been developed to render soil non-hazardous after that soil had been classified as hazardous due to heavy metal contamination. It has been applied to chromium-contaminated soil. The object of the present regulations is to prevent damage to water supplies as a result of the leaching of heavy metal ions from the soils. This object is expressed in the standard test for leaching, namely, the EPA EP Leachate test. This process can be used to immobilize metal ions sufficiently to meet the aforementioned standard. The present standard is based upon acid leaching, and not …

A Computer Program On The Economics Of Collection And Sortation Of Recyclable Materials In Municipal Solid Wastes, Ara Nigogos Kahyaoglu

Theses

The first version of the economic of recyclable materials in municipal solid waste analysis program was developed in interpretive BASIC by Rutgers the State University of New Jersey. Since BASIC is a line interpretative language several restrictions were encountered, the major one being the language size restriction.

The first objective was to obtain a truly portable program that would not be dependent on specific compilers and operating systems. The second objective was to generate a program that had the capability for expansion.

The C language was used over other high level languages such as PASCAL and FORTRAN because it had …

Study Of An Analytical Method For Benzo(A)Pyrene Metabolites In Human Urine, Zheng Ouyang

Theses

A method developed by Becher and Bjorseth for analysis of PAH metabolites in urine was employed to investigate human exposure to benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) - an ubiquitous environmental carcinogen. Preliminary results are presented showing the relationship between exposure to BaP and urinary elimination. Although the correlation between the two variables is not statistically significant, there appears to be a positive association with selected exposure varibles such as smoking. The identification of an association may establish urinary BaP as a marker of exposure.

However, detailed study of the analytical procedure indicated that recoveries with this method were as low as 3-8% for …

A Study Of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions In The Ambient Air Of A Sanitary Landfill In Richard W. Dekorte State Park, New Jersey, Minsen Gao

Theses

A study was made of 15 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the ambient air emissions of a sanitary landfill located at Richard W. DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst, New Jersey. The samples were collected from July 1986 to September 1987 at 10 designated landfill sites over the selected time period from 4 to 24 hours by drawing the air to be analyzed through a Tenax trap. An average 10 to 15 liters of air sample was collected each time. Sample analysis is done on a Varian Gas Chromatograph (GC) combined with a Tekmar Thermal Desorber. A standard gas mixture of the 15 …

Reactor Design For Hazardous Waste Treatment Using Immobilized Phanerochaete Chrysosporium, Ikram Ul Haq

Theses

The degradation of 2-Chlorophenol by Phanerochaete chrysosporium, a white rot fungus, was studied in three different reactor configurations, namely a batch reactor, a chemostatic reactor with the fungus immobilized on a silica based porous biocatalyst, and a packed bed reactor utilizing balsa wood chips as packing.

Preliminary experiments indicated that the use of porous solid support improved the degradation rate in batch reactor and chemostatic reactor. However, the packed bed configuration was found to be superior, and was studied in greater detail. The apparent Michaelis-Menten kinetic constants were obtained for the packed bed reactor.

Determination Of Benzo(A)Pyrene Metabolites In The Bile Of Winter Flounder From The New York Bight, Xingmin Liu

Theses

A method for detecting the concentration of BaP Metabolites in fish tissues has been developed. The analytical procedure includes extraction of PAH and BaP Metabolites from fish bile, liver extract and muscle extract; reduction of metabolites to BaP using hydriodic acid; and subsequent analysis of the BaP by thin layer chromatography with fluorescence detection. The method is applied to tissues from fish collected from polluted as well as clean reference waters and experimental tanks with dilutions of treated industrial wastewater. Experimental results on one kind of bottom-dwelling fish, winter flounder, which comes from the Hudson-Raritan Estuary, NY, where the water …

Scanning Electron Microscopy And X-Ray Energy Dispersive Spectroscopic Analysis Of Selected Sorbent Materials, Elhamy Amin Sedhom

Theses

A previous study⁽¹⁾ showed that a combination of acidic and basic sorbents in a layered system is required to reduce to safe levels the contaminants present in the leachates emanating from industrial landfills. The sorbents used were fly ash, vermiculite, kaolinite, illite, zeolite, apautagite, bentonite, activated carbon and bauxite.

The purpose of this investigation is to study the physical properties, elemental composition and the distribution of the aforementioned solid sorbents. Properties of interest are particle size, shape and distribution and also the chemical composition and the distribution of the elements within the sample particles.

Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and …

In Vitro Biocompatibility Study To Determine The Synergistic Effect Of Components For An Artificial Bone Graft Material, Levelle Elise Burr Alexander

Theses

A composite bone graft material which can induce or promote new bone growth has potential orthopaedic applications in the repair of bone defects or the stabilization of surgically implanted devices. This material should be biocompatible, have good handling properties, promote osteoinduction and/or osteoconduction and have a good shelf life. Demineralized bone matrix and bone morphogenetic protein have been demonstrated to promote osteoinduction in vitro and in vivo.

This in vitro study examined the inductive ability of an osteoinductive protein, bone morphogenetic protein, when absorbed on non-active devitalized bone matrix. In culture, fetal rat muscle was grown on powdered rabbit demineralized …

An Intelligent Electrocardiogram Tutoring Package Ekgchallenger, Santosh K. Ananthraman

Theses

This thesis presents the development and implementation of an intelligent electrocardiogram tutoring package, namely, EKGCHALLENGER which is meant for use in medical schools to teach medical students a method of diagnosing electro cardiograms.

EKGCHALLENGER is an IBM - PC based, user friendly package. It works in two basic modes. The first is a tutorial mode wherein the user is taught the step-by-step diagnosis of electrocardiograms ( EKGs ) which are presented in order of increasing difficulty. The second is the challenger mode wherein the user is asked to diagnose EKGs which are randomly chosen from an EKG database. The diagnosis …

Thermal Desorption Of Hazardous And Toxic Organic Compounds From Soil Matrices, Sarah Calandra

Theses

The purpose of this research project was to determine feasiblity to remove organic contaminants from various soil matrices by thermal desorption and gas purge. The volatization and gas purge of organic contaminants from the soil increases under the influence of heat and inert gas.

The work was done in two parts. First, under isothermal conditions, organic compounds were injected as a plug unto columns that contained real or simulated soil matrices. These columns were continuously purged with a carrier gas (nitrogen) and a gas chromatogragh equipped with Flame Ionization Detector but no added column other than the soil was used …

Non Invasive Monitoring Of Cardiovascular Dynamics Through A Microwave Interferometer, Suresh Chakravarthi

Theses

The microwave interferometer is utilized to pick up vibrations of the anterior (front) chest wall, produced by cardiac activity. This instrument is capable of remotely measuring the vibrations at distances up to four feet through clothing, by using low level microwave energy at 9.3 Ghz. The vibrations picked up from subjects are filtered, and processed through a PC to correlate with EKG signals, and thereby evaluate the instrument as a non-invasive, non-contacting cardiac monitor.

The subjects lie on their back with the microwave energy illuminating their chest, and their cardiovascular dynamics are recorded simultaneously with EKG signals. The EKG is …

Investigation Of Benzo(A)Pyrene In Outdoor Air, Indoor Air And Personal Inhalation Air, Hsiu-Wen Chen

Theses

The assessment of human exposure to an environmental contaminant requires the measurement of the concentrations levels present in each pathway of possible contact.

This was an investigation of human exposure to an environmental pollutant, benzo(a)pyrene, in outdoor air, indoor air and personal inhalation air samples. The analytical procedure involved extraction by ultrasonic and separation by thin layer chromatography, and detection by fluorescence. The resulting data was used to develop a profile of indoor and outdoor human exposure to B(a)P during the year.

Anaerobic Biodegradation Of Trichloroethylene By Activated Carbon Fluidized-Bed, Yeam-How Chin

Theses

Abstract - The biodegradation of Trichloroethylene by using anaerobic activated carbon fluidized bed has been investigated in the present study. High quality effluent was obtainable when the TCE influent concentration was up to 2.4 ppm in the first stage. Glucose was introduced as a cosubstrate to determine the effects of glucose/TCE ratio on the COD, Glucose and TCE removal. The experimental data indicates that the overall TCE removal efficiency was only slightly affected by TCE loading, but the first stage performance was significantly influenced by TCE loadings. It was also found that the microbial activities were affected by TCE loadings …

Obstacles To Women Seeking Management Careers : What They Are, And How American Companies And Women Confront Them, Lih-Fang Chiou

Theses

The thesis focuses on the obstacles faced by women who enter management. It is understood from the literature that the obstacles facing women can be attributed to societal issues or external factors, and to internal obstacles which arise from the perception women have of themselves and their position in the labor force.

The purpose of this research is not to identify all of the obstacles. The focus, instead, is on how women and management respond to the obstacles and how they have created access to senior management positions.

In choosing a managerial career, the critical mission for women executives is …

Determination Of Trace Amounts Of Lead, Cadium And Zinc In Vegetables Using Differential Pulse Polarography, Elizabeth Franca-Romitti

Theses

Toxic metals are present in foods to greater or lesser extention as contaminants, as a result of increasing industrialization, and associated pollution of the biosphere. Lead and cadmium are well known toxic metals which accumulate into the body causing harmful effects at low concentration levels especially in children. Zinc, on the other hand, is an essential micronutrient, but larger levels in foods can be considered toxic.

Twenty eight brands of vegetables including canned, glass packed, frozen and fresh vegetables were analyzed for Pb, Cd, and Zn, in tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms and asparagus. The technique used was Differential Pulse Polarography (DPP) …

Thermal Decomposition Of Dichloromethane In Hydrogen/Oxygen/Argon Mixtures And In Pure Oxygen, Wen-Pin Ho

Theses

The thermal decomposition of Dichloromethane in hydrogen/oxygen mixtures and argon bath gas was carried out at 1 atmosphere total presure in tubular flow reactors of varied surface to volume (S/V) ratio. The thermal degradation of dichloromethane was analyzed systematically over temperature ranges from 610 to 820°C, with average residence times in range of 0.1 to 2.0 seconds. Five reaction sets in three different size flow reactors were studied.

It was found that the complete decay ( 99% ) of the dichloromethane at 1 second residence time occurs at about 810°C for all the reactants ratio sets. The major products for …

Modelling And Parameter Estimation In Clinical Electrooculography, Shengche Hsu

Theses

The Corneoretinal potential (CRP) was discovered in 1848. Its response to changes in light intensity can provide information relevant in the diagnosis of some retinal degenerative disorders. The indirectly measured CRP is referred to as electro-oculography (EOG). A system for automatic data acquisition and modelling, providing graphic presentation, data processing and file management, has been developed. A linear feedback model is proposed to represent the dynamics of the EOG signal. Model parameters are estimated by the nonlinear least-square method. The effect of measurement time on the reliability of parameter estimation is discussed.

Variations Of Alkalinity, Ph, Oxidation Reduction Potential, And Conductivity In Single And Multi-Stage Sludge Digestion Systems, Nasser M. Kamazani

Theses

Anaerobic digestion is used at many municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants. Recent increase in the cost of energy and search for an alternative source of energy for the future have prompted renewed interest in anaerobic digestion for energy recovery by production of methane from waste materials, including wastewater sludges and agricultural and municipal solid wastes. Accordingly, a large literature exist on the subject, most of it dealing with more physical aspects of different process design. Little or not enough attention has been paid to its highly complex biochemical characteristics.

The purpose of this study is a preliminary investigation regarding …

The Kinetics Of Degradation Of 1,2-Dichloroethane, 1,1,1-Trichloroethane And 1,1,2,2-Tetrachloroethane In A Photoreactor Using Ozone, Hydrogen-Peroxide And Ultraviolet Radiation, Yuan-Shen Li

Theses

The experiments to oxidize the refractory chemicals, 1,2- Dichloroethane, 1,1,1-Trichlotoethane and 1,1,2,2- Tetrachloroethane using Ozone, Hydrogen Peroxide and Ultraviolet Radiation have been conducted in a ss-304 photoreactor. The reaction kinetic models have been proposed and through the experiments we demonstrate that these models for these compounds perfectly. Analysis is done by gas chromatograph for the substrate concentration and the gas/liquid mass transfer coefficients are calculated. The reaction late constants are determined by use of the Rosenbrock Hillclimb Optimization Algorithm in conjunction with the Fourth-Order Runge- Kutta method on a digital computer. By comparing the effects of O₃,O_{3 …}

Visual System Modeling And System Response Analysis, Zhongquan Li

Theses

Based on the anatomical structure, a structural model of the visual system was established. System responses of different stimulations were analyzed based on the model. More extensive study was made on the system impulse response. A mathematical model with parameters representing prominent process components was developed to represent the system response in a compact form and the parameters were statistically studied to correlate to the real physiological characteristics of the visual system. The parameters of the model were used to fit the system intensity response function. The result shows that it is a more quantitative way to construct the system …

The Effects Of Degraded Indoor Air Quality On Employees Working In High Rise Office Buildings, Richard Patrick Luongo

Theses

An examination of the effects of poor indoor air quality on workers in high rise office buildings was conducted. These effects are manifested physiologically, psychologically and economically and originate from sources inside and outside the building, as well as from the building's ventilation system. These sources include combustion products, microorganisms, volatile organic chemicals, cigarette smoke and miscellaneous chemicals. Lower productivity and higher absenteeism are the initial results of these effects. If the situation becomes chronic, an erosion of trust between employer and employee can occur which may eventually serve as the basis for litigation, such as worker's compensation claims and …

Removal Of Contaminants From Clay Soils By Thermal Desorption, Wen-Ming Mao

Theses

The objective of this study was to investigate the removal of contaminants from clay soils by thermal treatment. There were two phases involved in this project. The first was a study of equilibrium adsorption of clay - organics study, and the second was the determination of the thermal desorption characteristics.

Three organics, phenol, chlorophenol, and chlorobenzene and one clay soil, bentonite, were selected for these studies. The first phase, involved the simulation of the isothermal adsorption simulated the process of contaminants being sorbed onto bentonite. Three different isotherm models,viz, Linear isotherm, Freundlich isotherm, and Langmuir isotherm were evaluated with experimental …

Survival Rate Study Of Intrashock Versus Postshock Microwave Rewarming In Rats Subjected To Hemorrhagic Shock, Hani M. Patel

Theses

In search for a more effective treatment for rewarming of profound accidental hypothermia, a comparative survival rate study was conducted of intrashock versus postshock microwave rewarming in rats subjected to hemorrhagic shock. In an anechoic chamber, rats were illuminated with 50 Watts of continuous microwave power supplied by a 915 MHz microwave generator. This frequency corresponds to a free-space wavelength of about 33 cm. The incident-power density was calculated to be about 8.5 mW/cm2, and the whole-body specific absorption rate (SAR) was calculated to be 14.5 W/kg.

The microwave postshock group showed a significantly higher post shock survival rate than …

Spectrum Analysis Of Heart Rate Variability, Xuming Wang

Theses

This research investigated the respiratory influence on heart rate variability. The heart rate spectrum was obtained from the heart rate variability signal which was extracted from the electrocardiogram We then studied the magnitude of the respiration peak in the heart rate spectrum and examined the dependence of the magnitude of this peak on breathing frequency, subject and day.

An experiment designed to simultaneously acquire the electrocardiogram and the respiration signal was conducted on ten people ranging from 22 to 55 years of age (3 females, 7 males). Three tests were performed on each subject. In each test, 2 different postures …

Thermal Desorption Of Hazardous And Toxic Organic Compounds, Manuel S. Nolau

Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to study the thermal desorption behavior of toxic organic compounds, specifically o-xylene, p-xylene, ethyl benzene, p-chlorotoluene, and anthracene, from soil with respect to temperature and time, and to develop a mathematical model that will describe this desorption behavior. The model will allow prediction of the concentration of an organic contaminant in commercial soil desorption system over time given a known set of parameters of the specific chemical as well as flow rate and temperature. For this purpose, two sets of experiments were done: These are identified as 1. Thermal desorption and 2. plug flow …

Recirculation Flow Bioreactor For The Synthesis Of Nitroxide And N-Oxide Pharmaceuticals, Douglas Lischick

Theses

An investigation of the properties of calcium alginate immobilized hog liver microsomes, rich in FAD-containing mixed function oxidase, was performed. Studies involving catalyst storage, immobilization of cofactors within the matrix, and alginate gel concentration were performed using a 1.8 ml mixed flow micro assay reactor. A recirculation flow reactor was designed and used for the biochemical production of 2,2,4,4-tetramethyl-1,3-oxazolidine-l-oxyl, a potentially useful MRI contrast agent.

The activity of the immobilized microsomes was found to increase over time when stored in CaCl₂ or in buffer at 4-8°C. The increase in activity is a result of the removal of inherent inhibitors …

Laboratory Model Studies Of Pneumatic Fracturing Of Soils To Remove Volatile Organic Compounds, Panayiotis Papanicolaou

Theses

Bench-scale laboratory studies were conducted from January 1988 to October 1988 to demonstrate the feasibility of using Pneumatic Fracturing* to enhance the removal of Volatile Organic Compounds from the vadose soil zone. Experiments were conducted to investigate: 1) The effect of pneumatic fracturing on the rate of contaminant removal; and 2) the injection pressures required to initiate soil fracturing.

Contaminated soil was placed and compacted in three identical 15 inch square by 30 inch high plexiglass tanks. The first tank was equipped with a vapor extraction system consisting of vacuum and/or positive air injection. The second tank was equipped with …

A Graphic Identity Program For The Thousand Acre Swamp Sanctuary, Cynthia B. Hummel

Theses

People have often failed to appreciate the significance of wetlands. Lack of awareness has caused wetlands to be drained, filled, and polluted, to meet shortterm human needs. One half of the original 215 million acres of wetlands in the United States no longer exist. Best estimates indicate that we are continuing to loose 458,000 acres of our remaining wetlands each year. Wetlands have an enormous ability to produce and support plant and animal life. They rank among the most productive ecosystems in the world, and produce as much plant growth as tropical jungles, and 20 times as much plant material …