Evaluation For Using Expended Bioelectrochemical Systems As Soil Amendments For Improved Corn Plant Growth And A Drought Resistant Soil., Jackson Lee Sauers

Theses and Dissertations

A long-held practice is to mix agricultural soil with a soil amendment to improve growing conditions in crops. A common soil amendment is biosolids produced from both municipal and dairy wastewater due to the macro- and micronutrients within it. Both the agricultural and wastewater industries are participating in the Circular Economy concept (CEC). Two experiments explored using expended bioelectrochemical systems (BES) that treated either synthetic dairy wastewater (DWW) or synthetic municipal wastewater (SWW) as soil amendments to improve corn plant growth when treated with three different nutrient treatments: 100%- 50%- and 0% Hoagland Nutrient Solutions. Biochar and used terracotta clay …

Towards Structured Planning And Learning At The State Fisheries Agency Scale, Caleb A. Aldridge

Theses and Dissertations

Inland recreational fisheries has grown philosophically and scientifically to consider economic and sociopolitical aspects (non-biological) in addition to the biological. However, integrating biological and non-biological aspects of inland fisheries has been challenging. Thus, an opportunity exists to develop approaches and tools which operationalize planning and decision-making processes which include biological and non-biological aspects of a fishery. This dissertation expands the idea that a core set of goals and objectives is shared among and within inland fisheries agencies; that many routine operations of inland fisheries managers can be regimented or standardized; and the novel concept that current information and operations can …

Microbial Ecology Of Urban Sewers, Emily Lou Lamartina

Theses and Dissertations

Municipal sewage provides a glimpse into the health and activities of a human society. For more than a century, sewage exploration has helped expose the sources of disease outbreaks and track disease progression over time. Recent advancements in wastewater surveillance born from the COVID-19 pandemic have potential to enhance mitigation efforts against the decades-long global health crisis of microbial antibiotic resistance. However, critical knowledge gaps exist in wastewater surveillance, stemming from a lack of understanding in sewer microbial ecology. Ecology reveals trends in how communities respond and adapt to change, which has far-reaching implications for identifying effective strategies for disease …

Deciphering The Firing Patterns Of Hippocampal Neurons During Sharp-Wave Ripples, Kourosh Maboudi Ashmankamachali

Theses and Dissertations

The hippocampus is essential for learning and memory. Neurons in the rat hippocampus selectively fire when the animal is at specific locations - place fields - within an environment. Place fields corresponding to such place cells tile the entire environment, forming a stable spatial map supporting navigation and planning. Remarkably, the same place cells reactivate together outside of their place fields and in coincidence with sharp-wave ripples (SWRs) - dominant electrical field oscillations (150-250 Hz) in the hippocampus. These offline SWR events frequently occur during quiet wake periods in the middle of exploration and the follow-up slow-wave sleep and are …

Behavioral And Histological Inflammatory Analysis Of A Single, Mild Traumatic Brain Injury And Repeated Subconcussive Brain Injury Using A Rodent Model., Anna Marie Clay

Theses and Dissertations

Subconcussive (SC) impacts have become a growing concern within the neuroscience community regarding the immediate and long-lasting effects of sports-related injuries. While a single low-level impact, i.e., a subconcussion, may not cause cerebral perturbations, it has been increasingly recognized that repeated SC exposure can induce deleterious effects. Therefore, determining the lower limits of systematic perturbation resulting from multiple SC impacts is of critical importance in expanding our understanding of cerebral vulnerability and recovery. Currently, there is a lack of correlation between a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and repeated SC impacts with respect to injury biomechanics. Moreover, the cumulative threshold …

A Biomechanical Approach To Prevent Falls In Ergonomic Settings, Sachini Kodithuwakku Arachchige

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Fall-related injuries are exceptionally prevalent in occupational settings. While endangering the workers’ health, falls cause poor productivity and increased economic burden in the workplace. Hence, identifying these threats and training workers to achieve proper postural control is crucial. Purpose: Study 1: To investigate the ankle joint kinematics in unexpected and expected trip responses during single-tasking (ST), dual-tasking (DT), and triple-tasking (TT), before and after a physically fatiguing exercise. Study 2: To investigate the impact of virtual heights, DT, and training on static postural stability and cognitive processing. Methods: Study 1: Twenty collegiate volunteers (10 males and females, one left …

Evaluation Of Flood Damage On Cross Laminated Timber Wall Configurations, Mustafa Nezih Kaya

Theses and Dissertations

Greenhouse gas emissions are one of the critical factors that affect climate change, increasing flooding risk and threatening human life. The use of traditional construction materials is responsible for a higher percentage of global greenhouse gas emissions when compared to the use of sustainable materials in the construction industry. The substitution of current building materials with sustainable materials is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and positively influence climate change when the current construction demand in the world is considered. Wood is one of the primary environmentally friendly construction materials in regard to high carbon storage and low carbon emissions. …

Tree Ring Reconstructions Of Streamflow For The Lower Rio Grande Valley Of Texas, Adedolapo Mutiyat Adeyanju

Theses and Dissertations

The Rio Grande River is a major water source for people living within the USA-Mexico border. The Rio Grande River has its headwaters in the San Juan Mountains in Colorado and the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico before flowing into Texas through El-Paso. The water supply issues facing the Lower Rio Grande Basin (LRGB) are extremely complex from international restrictions to severe climate change. The river shares its flow between the U.S.A and Mexico based on the provisions of the 1944 treaty between the U.S.A and Mexico. The LRGB flow is regulated by releases from Falcon and Amistad Reservoirs managed …

Biomimetic Strategies To Control Therapeutic Release From Novel Dna Nanoparticles, Robert J. Mosley

Theses and Dissertations

The inherent chemical, mechanical, and structural properties of nucleic acids make them ideal candidates for the formulation of tunable, personalized drug nanocarriers. However, none so far have exploited these properties for the controlled release of therapeutic drugs. In this dissertation, a biomimetic approach to controlling drug release is exhibited by specifically manipulating the architecture of novel, DNA nanoparticles to take advantage of drug binding mechanisms of action. Rationally designed DNA strands were immobilized on gold surfaces via a terminal thiol modification. Immobilized monomers can be manipulated to form distinct monolayer architectures including flat, folded, coiled, or stretched structures. Increasing the …

Enhancing The Performance Of Dowel Type Fasteners And A Case Study Of Timber Truss Failure, Lon A. Yeary

Theses and Dissertations

This document will outline the findings of three separate and independent studies: Study 1: In or around 1972, an experimental building was constructed. One of the intents of the construction project was to demonstrate advancements in wood building construction design. It was value-engineered throughout. That is, its materials and systems were intended to function at or near design capacity. In 2019, part of the roof of the structure collapsed. This case study investigates two potential factors that led to the failure: stress concentration in excess of the 12 allowable stress for 2 × 4 web members and insufficient plywood sheathing …

Electromechanical Fatigue Properties Of Dielectric Elastomer Stretch Sensors Under Orthopaedic Loading Conditions, Andrea Karen Persons

Theses and Dissertations

Fatigue testing of stretch sensors often focuses on high amplitude, low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior; however, when used for orthopaedic, athletic, or ergonomic assessments, stretch sensors are subjected to low amplitude, high-cycle fatigue (HCF) conditions. As an added layer of complexity, the fatigue testing of stretch sensors is not only focused on the life of the material comprising the sensor, but also on the reliability of the signal produced during the extension and relaxation of the sensor. Research into the development of a smart sock that can be used to measure the range of motion (ROM) of the ankle joint during …

Towards Environmental Sustainability Of Nanotechnology Through Improved Evaluations Of Impact And Risk To Aquatic Species: Cross-Species Comparisons From The Laboratory And Environmentally Realistic Exposure Scenarios In The Field, Becky J. Curtis

Theses and Dissertations

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are utilized in a wide variety of applications and products, including everything from toothpaste and personal care products to industries such as aerospace, defense, medicine, electronics, and agriculture. Depending on the application, release of ENMs to the environment may occur through both unintentional and deliberate routes. High surface-area-to-volume ratios make ENMs more volatile than bulk counterparts, and their small size allows translocation within biological systems that would not be possible with larger materials. These and other characteristics make ENM-biological system interactions unpredictable, creating uncertainty about their potential risks to environmental health. The purpose of this research is …

Full-Body Biomechanical Characterization Of Children With Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome During Gait And Activities Of Daily Living, Anahita Alahmoradiqashqai

Theses and Dissertations

Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) is an inherited connective tissue disorder, often under-diagnosed, and presenting with frequent chronic pain and severe musculoskeletal symptoms that can drastically reduce the quality of life during one’s life span. While there are limited quantitative approaches in the literature on adult movements, the biomechanics of movements during activities of daily living (ADLs) in children have not been investigated comprehensively. Therefore, the primary purpose of this dissertation was to characterize the biomechanics of the musculoskeletal system and investigate the biomechanics of hEDS by quantifying joint dynamics and muscle activations during ADLs and gait in the pediatric population. …

Therapeutic Injectable Iron-Chelating Hydrogels, Debbie Campbell-Rance

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Therapeutic Injectable Iron-Chelating Hydrogels for Improved Central Nervous System Regeneration

By

Debbie S. Campbell-Rance

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University 2021.

Director: Xuejun Wen, M.D., Ph.D., AIMBE Fellow, Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Endowed Chair Professor in Regenerative Medicine, Institute for Engineering and Medicine, Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering

Severe traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries are major global public health and socioeconomic problems in terms of mortality and morbidity. Currently there are two main lines of treatment under development for …

Theta Burst Brain Stimulation In Painful Diabetic Neuropathy Patients: Investigating Neural Mechanisms, Bhushan Thakkar

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic pain (CP) is a significant contributor to disability and disease burden globally. In 2019, approximately 50.2 million adults (20.4% of the US population) experienced chronic pain, contributing to $560-635 billion in direct medical costs. In addition, the worldwide prevalence of diabetes mellitus has reached epidemic proportions and is set to increase to 629 million by 2045. Almost 50% of patients with diabetes present with diabetic neuropathy (DN), and one in five patients with diabetes presents with painful DN (pDN) which is the most common cause of neuropathic pain (NP) in the US. Symptomatic treatment is the mainstay of management …