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Understanding And Quantifying Bioaerosol Fate Within The Aerobiological Pathway: Physical Transport, Environmental Decay, And Mitigation, Sean Kinahan

Theses & Dissertations

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for better tools to understand and characterize phases of the aerobiological pathway, a model for understanding how infectious bioaerosols are sourced, generated, transported, deposit, and affect human health. This dissertation presents validation of methodologies for studying transport of airborne biological agents and variations on their consequences, especially focusing on their physical and chemical fate. Chapter 1 focuses on a parallel comparison of two methods of aging bioaerosols in real-world outdoor environments with complex sunlight, atmospheric chemistry, and pollutants. Both capture on microfibers and the use of Goldberg rotating drums to keep a …

Coral Castles: Protecting Polyps From Parrotfish Predation, Kyle Anthony-Kicking Bear Pisano

All HCAS Student Capstones, Theses, and Dissertations

Florida's coral reefs are in a state of near-constant degradation concomitant with ever-increasing coastal development and associated anthropogenic impacts. Government agencies, non-profits, and concerned citizens have spent significant time and resources combating these negative impacts. One primary method of mitigating damage to coral reefs is to transplant corals onto degraded reefs using corals that have been grown in nurseries. While many challenges of reef restoration have been overcome, parrotfish predation on freshly transplanted corals persists as a significant issue. Parrotfish are recognized as an essential species on healthy reefs but can also hinder reef restoration efforts by biting young, newly …

An Implementation Of Combined Fecal/Gastric Occult Blood Testing In The Emergency Department, Desiree Long

Master's Projects and Capstones

Problem: The gastrointestinal occult blood test is a point-of-care (POC) test used to detect the presence of occult (hidden) gastrointestinal bleeding via stool or gastric contents. Existing fecal and gastric occult blood point-of-care (POC) testing requires separate and unique sampling cards and developer, respectively. Separate fecal/gastric tests are less definitive and take longer than a combined test. Fecal/gastric testing can be improved and more effective using a combined testing mechanism.

Context: This project includes the microsystem of the emergency department, which involves groups of medical professionals, such as groups of clinicians and staff working together with a shared clinical goal …

Predicting The Best Birds And Bees: Parental-Efficacy As A Mediator Between Parental Factors And Parent-Child Sex Communication, Meg O. Jankovich

Theses and Dissertations

Recent literature on parent-child sex communication (PCSC) has identified optimal sex communication as being not only frequent, but also open in quality, and proactive in timing. However, no studies have sought to understand what motivates parents to participate in this type of optimal parent-child sex communication, nor assessed these relationships longitudinally. Using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to inform the analysis, this study investigated parent characteristics (parent's sexual self-concept and parenting dimensions) that may longitudinally predict optimal PCSC. This study further examined whether parental sex communication efficacy mediated these relationships. The sample included 607 mother-child dyads, and the father-figure when available (mother-father-child …

Truck Platooning Effects On Girder Bridges: Phase Ii-Service, Joshua Steelman, Jay Puckett, Daniel Linzell, Bowen Yang

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Truck platooning—wirelessly linking two or more trucks to travel in a closely spaced convoy—is federally promoted to save fuel, improve the environment, and improve traffic operations. Platooning places trucks much closer than current design codes anticipate. While this strategy can provide higher fuel efficiency, it also can potentially overload structures. Previous reliabilitybased studies (Steelman et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2021) have focused on the Strength I limit state and have shown that trucks can operate at weights exceeding standard legal load limits even with short headways at operating-level reliability. However, service limit states in the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design …

Ud In The News Aug. 5-11, University Of Dayton

News Releases

Publications covering legal education featured a book written by UD law students. CIO magazine announced the appointment of Gurvinder Rekhi. Electro Optics magazine and Spectrum News 1 Ohio were among the news outlets highlighting UD research.

270 Nm Ultra-Thin Self-Adhesive Conformable And Long-Term Air-Stable Complimentary Organic Transistors And Amplifiers, Mohammad Javad Mirshojaeian Hosseini, Yi Yang, Walter Kruger, Tomoyuki Yokota, Sunghoon Lee, Takao Someyra, Robert Nawrocki

Purdue University Libraries Open Access Publishing Fund

Lightweight, flexible, and conformal bioelectronics are essential for wearable technologies. This paper introduces 270 nm thin organic electronics amplifying circuits that are self-adhesive, skin conformal, and long-term air-stable. This report studies the effect of total device thickness, namely 3 μm and 270 nm devices, on the characterization of organic devices before and after buckling, the longevity of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) over 5 years, and the lamination of OFETs on the human skin. A single-stage organic complementary inverter and a pseudo-complementary amplifier are fabricated to compare their electrical characteristics, with amplification gains of 10 and 64, respectively. Finally, the study …

Investigating Bismuth As A Surrogate For Plutonium Electrorefining, Greg Chipman

Theses and Dissertations

Conducting research experiments on plutonium electrorefining is difficult due to the significant hazards and regulations associated with nuclear materials. Finding a surrogate for plutonium electrorefining studies would enable more fundamental research to be conducted. Potential surrogates were identified by determining the physical properties required to conduct electrorefining using a molten metal and molten salt in CaCl2 at 1123 K. More potential surrogates were identified by changing the matrix salt to be a LiCl-KCl-CaCl2 eutectic salt with electrorefining conducted at 673-773 K. Ce-CeCl3, In-InCl3, Zn-ZnCl2, Sn-SnCl2, and Bi-BiCl¬3 were investigated as potential plutonium electrorefining surrogates. Ce electrorefining in molten CaCl2 resulted …

Parents' Perceptions Of The Importance Of Teaching Mathematics: A Q-Study, Ashlynn M. Holley

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematics education has gone through multiple reform efforts over the last century and continues to be the target of improvement efforts. Past changes in curriculum and goals have sometimes led to heated debates between various stakeholders. Knowing the views of different stakeholders can help determine what common ground there is between these different groups and where areas of disagreement might arise. Parents are especially important to understand because they have been influential in past reform efforts. Despite the importance of parents' opinions, little research has been conducted concerning their perspectives on the importance of mathematics teaching. Using Q-methodology, I was …

New Technology To Study Causes Of Dry Eye Disease Developed By Uab, Satina Richardson

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Reflecting On The Devastating Loss Of A Loved One: A Bereaved Daughter And Husband Tell Their Stories, Wendy Clark, Roger Clark

Sociology Between the Gaps: Forgotten and Neglected Topics

No abstract provided.

Bidirectional Interference Between Speech And Mathematical, Language, Or Visuospatial Tasks In Younger And Older Adults, Chanelle Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined interference between three non-speech tasks and concurrent speech performance. The non-speech activity consisted of computer-based mathematical, language, and visuospatial tasks. The speech tasks included a procedural discourse monologue and a conversation. Participants included 60 adults in two age groups with 30 participants each. The younger adults were aged from 18 to 30 years and older adults from 55 to 82 years. Each participant completed the non-speech tasks in isolation, the speech tasks in isolation, and then each of the speech tasks concurrently with each of the three non-speech tasks. Speech acoustic measures included the mean and standard …

Add-On Soft Electronic Interfaces For Continuous Cuffless Blood Pressure Monitoring, Justin Mcmurray, Chin-To Hsiao, Josh Kuriakose, Joanna Hernandez, Arda A Arikan, Luis E Garza-Rivera, Gerard L Coté, Limei Tian

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Continuous monitoring of arterial blood pressure is clinically important for the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases. Soft electronic devices with skin-like properties show promise in a wide range of applications, including the human-machine interface, the Internet of things, and health monitoring. Here, we report the use of add-on soft electronic interfaces to address the connection challenges between soft electrodes and rigid data acquisition circuitry for bioimpedance monitoring of cardiac signals, including heart rate and cuffless blood pressure. Nanocomposite films in add-on electrodes provide robust electrical and mechanical contact with the skin and the rigid circuitry. We demonstrate bioimpedance sensors …

College Of Engineering News, Georgia Southern University

College of Engineering & Computing: News & Publications (2010-2023)

• NSF Awards ERI Grant for Evaluating Bio-3D-printed Constructs

Review Article: Effect Of Co-Expression Chaperones On The Expression Of Intracellular Recombinant Proteins In Escherichia Coli, Diandra Firdiani Utami, Mamlikatu Ilmi Azizah, Sriwidodo Sriwidodo, Ryan Adibagus Haryanto, Riyona Desvy Pratiwi, Iman Permana Maksum

Chimica et Natura Acta

Escherichia coli is widely used as a host for expressing recombinant proteins due to its well-studied genetics, fast growth, relatively low production costs, and high rate of protein expression. However, despite the high rate of protein expression, the availability of chaperone proteins was often insufficient, resulting in the formation of inclusion bodies due to errors in protein folding. These inclusion bodies can cause the protein to become inactive, and proper protein folding is crucial for maintaining the structure and function of proteins in living organisms. To overcome this limitation, chaperones have been developed as a strategy to help prevent protein …

Securing Autonomous Driving: Addressing Adversarial Attacks And Defenses, Jinghan Yang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Autonomous driving systems have gained significant attention in recent years, revolutionizing the transportation industry. However, the increasing complexity and connectivity of these systems introduce new challenges and vulnerabilities. This thesis addresses these challenges by investigating adversarial attacks and defenses in the field of autonomous driving. The thesis commences with a comprehensive literature review, providing insights into the vulnerabilities unique to image recognition and autonomous driving. It examines the cur- rent research lines for defense strategies and explores the ongoing efforts to mitigate these vulnerabilities. In the subsequent sections, the thesis presents four core contributions in adversarial attacks and defenses. Section …

Cornerstone: 2023-2024 [2nd Edition], Nikki Harken, Deb Young, Sadé Barfield, Scott Bredman

Faculty Book Gallery

The Cornerstone textbook is a free, custom textbook for you, published by Rod Library. It is a compilation of materials from more than six free, openly-licensed textbooks. Your Cornerstone instructors carefully selected the best of the best for your course! -- Provided by the publisher

In Situ Characterization Of 17-4ph Stainless Steel By Small-Angle Neutron Scattering, Xiaoming Du, Rongdeng Liu, Bing Bai, Xinfu He, Kaitai Liu, Shuanzhu Wang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

17-4PH martensitic steel is usually used as valve stems in nuclear power plants and it suffers from thermal aging embrittlement due to long-time service in a high-temperature and high-pressure environment. Here, we characterized the evolution of microstructures at the nano-scale in 17-4PH steel by in situ small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) with a thermo-mechanically coupled loading device. The device could set different temperatures and tensile so that an in situ SANS experiment could dynamically characterize the process of nanoscale structural changes. The results showed that with increasing thermal aging time, the ε-Cu phase precipitates and grows as the temperature is 475 …

Analysis Of The Aerosol Composition, Its Deposition And Uptake In Electronic Cigarette Users, Chamodhi Ravihansi Polgampola Ralalage

Theses

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) generate aerosol (particles in a gas matrix) by vaporizing the e-liquid, consisting of propylene glycol (PG), glycerol (GL), nicotine, and other additives. Aerosol enters the respiratory tract (RT) of the user, where part of it is deposited, while the rest is exhaled. Compounds in the gas and particle phase have different deposition mechanisms in the RT, thus determining the location of deposition. The location of deposition and amount of a compound will influence the biological response in the body. Identifying the composition of each constituent in the gas phase and particle phase would enhance the understanding of …

Design, Synthesis, And Characterization Of Peptide Amphiphile Biomaterials, Huihua Xing

Theses & Dissertations

Self-assembled peptide amphiphiles (PAs) have gained significant attention in recent years due to their ability to form various supramolecular nanostructures with unique physical and chemical properties. These amphiphilic molecules consist of a hydrophobic tail and a peptide domain, allowing for the formation of nanoscale assemblies in aqueous environments. The PA supramolecular structures have a wide range of potential applications, including drug delivery, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine.

By manipulating the driving forces (e.g., hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonds, and electrostatic interactions) involved in the self-assembly, researchers can tune the self- assembly properties (size, shape, stability, and surface character) and, consequently, the …

Understanding The Compositional And Contextual Factors Influencing Maternal Health Experiences And Outcomes, Tambudzai P. Ndashe

Theses & Dissertations

Despite being preventable, adverse maternal health outcomes continue to be a problem in the United States, which fares worse at preventing these issues than other industrialized nations. Although our understanding of the factors that play a role in the etiology of adverse maternal health outcomes has improved over time, there is still a lot left to understand regarding the role of contextual factors, the upward trajectory of outcomes such as severe maternal morbidity (SMM), and the disproportionate impact of adverse maternal health outcomes on non-Hispanic Black women. This thesis attempted to evaluate the factors that influence procedure-related severe maternal morbidity …

Review, Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden And The American Surveillance State, By Barton Gellman, Patrice Mcdermott

Secrecy and Society

No abstract provided.

Review, Democracy And Fake News: Information Manipulation And Post-Truth Politics, Peter Krapp

Secrecy and Society

No abstract provided.

Daunting Encounters: La Hague’S Infrastructures Of Secrecy, Agnes Villette

Secrecy and Society

The article explores secrecy, more particularly, nuclear secrecy in relation to two nuclear facilities situated at the tip of the Norman peninsula of La Hague, in France. Both sites - the CSM nuclear waste repository and the close-by refueling plant - were developed at the end of the 1960s in connection with France’s extensive civil and military nuclear program. While institutional archives and access to the sites remain tedious, the article contends that the nuclear secrecy shielding the facilities can be approached by unpacking the numerous accidents that took place at the site. Silenced and subjected to amnesia, spills and …

Environmental Scan Of Web-Based Consumer Information On The Risk Of Hpv-Related Diseases In Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Contessa T. Radabaugh, Juan I. Ruiz Md, Mph, Maria E. Suarez-Almazor Md, Phd

Summer Experience 2023

No abstract provided.

Kulr One Space, Chase Rodriguez

Small Satellite Conference

Small spacecraft battery packs are both mass and cost prohibitive if they are to meet the thermal runaway requirements for manned missions. Exploratory Mission 1 (EM-1), also known as Artemis 1 had 13 secondary, intended small spacecraft payloads. Many of these payloads would have exceeded the 80WHr energy threshold, and these would have been required to adhere to thermal runaway standard JSC 20793. All 13 payloads were covered under the EM-1 thermal runaway waiver for secondary payloads; however, EM-2 is not expected to grant such waivers. Further, the EM-2 secondary small spacecraft payloads are growing in size and the battery …

Adaptive On-Board Signal Compression For Sar Using Machine Learning Methods, Craig Hay, Lucy Donnell, Charlotte Crawshaw, Murray Ireland, Mehrdad Yaghoobi

Small Satellite Conference

Satellites with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) payloads are growing in popularity, with a number of new institutional missions and commercial constellations launched or in planning. As an active instrument operating in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum, SAR provides a number of unique advantages over passive optical instruments, in that it can image in all weather conditions and at night. This allows dense time-series to be built up over areas of interest, that are useful in a variety of Earth observation applications. The polarisation and phase information that can be captured also allows for unique applications not possible in …

Extension Of Cloud Computing To Small Satellites, Kathryn O'Donnell, Meghan Weber, Joy Fasnacht, Jeff Maynard, Margaret Cote, Shayn Hawthorne

Small Satellite Conference

Time-to-insight is a critical measure in a number of satellite mission applications: detection and warning of fast-moving events like fires and floods, or identification and tracking of satellites or missiles, for example. Current data flows delay the time-to-insight on the order of minutes or hours, as all collected data must be downlinked in one or more contact windows, then transited over terrestrial networks to the location of the analytic software. Additionally, mission applications on spacecraft are often static: built prior to launch, they cannot rapidly adapt to changing needs based on these insights.

To reduce time-to-insight and provide a dynamic …

Nasa Space Launch System Cubesats: First Flight And Future Opportunities, Russell Lane, Courtney Ryals, Carole Mclemore, David Hitt

Small Satellite Conference

On Artemis I, within the integrated SLS upper stage under the Orion spacecraft, there were 10 6U CubeSats. The spacecraft all had different mission objectives, ranging from studying the lunar surface for water and minerals, landing on the Moon, studying deep space radiation, studying the Sun, studying Earth-Moon LaGrange Point 2, and characterizing a near-Earth asteroid, to name a few. This paper discusses the conditions of the CubeSats’ flight on the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and their deployments. Statistics concerning the 10 CubeSats will be provided relating to radio contact and mission performance. For those still in operation at …

Attitude Determination And Control System With Variable-Speed Single-Gimbal Control Moment Gyroscopes For Nanosatellites, Jordan H. Hsieh, Thomas Yen, Sam Lee, Austin Chang, Luke Hou

Small Satellite Conference

This paper presents a novel Attitude Determination and Control System (ADCS) utilizing Variable-Speed Control Moment Gyroscopes (VSCMG) tailored explicitly for nanosatellites. The VSCMG was realized by spherical motor technology, in which a patented magnetic field design controls the inner rotor and gimbal. Because of the characteristics of the control moment gyroscope, the proposed ADCS offers improved attitude maneuverability and reduced power consumption, addressing the limitations of traditional ADCS solutions for nanosatellites. Furthermore, the adoption of spherical motor technology shrinks the VSCMG into a smaller form factor, which allows the VSCMG to be fitted into a nanosatellite. This research paper introduces …