Engineering Commons^™

Characteristics Of Activated Carbons Produced From Herbaceous Biomass Feedstock, Oluwatosin Jerry Oginni

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Energy security and environmental protection are at the forefront of research due to the forecasted depletion of fossil fuel reserves and the growing concern of its adverse environmental impacts. The use of renewable sources for energy applications has centered on the use of biomass feedstocks and this include from herbaceous, woody, agricultural waste, forest residues and municipal wastes. The thermochemical conversion (pyrolysis) of these biomass feedstocks has potential to produce liquid fuel, a solid residue (biochar) and non-condensable gas. The biochar is primarily composed of renewable porous carbon and other inorganic compounds. The biochar is used for soil amendment, adsorption …

Apple Pomace Consumption Favorably Alters Hepatic Lipid Metabolism In Young Female Sprague-Dawley Rats Fed A Western Diet, Roy Chris Skinner, Derek C. Warren, Soofie N. Lateef, Vagner A. Benedito, Janet C. Tou

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Apple pomace, which is a waste byproduct of processing, is rich in several nutrients, particularly dietary fiber, indicating potential benefits for diseases that are attributed to poor diets, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD affects over 25% of United States population and is increasing in children. Increasing fruit consumption can influence NAFLD. The study objective was to replace calories in standard or Western diets with apple pomace to determine the effects on genes regulating hepatic lipid metabolism and on risk of NAFLD. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned (n = 8 rats/group) to isocaloric diets of AIN-93G and …

Enhanced Hot Electron Lifetimes In Quantum Wells With Inhibited Phonon Coupling, Hamidreza Esmaielpour, Vincent R. Whiteside, Herath P. Piyathilaka, Sangeetha Vijeyaragunathan, Bin Wang, Echo Adcock-Smith, Kenneth P. Roberts, Tetsuya D. Mishima, Michael B. Santos, Alan D. Bristow, Ian R. Sellers

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Hot electrons established by the absorption of high-energy photons typically thermalize on a picosecond time scale in a semiconductor, dissipating energy via various phonon-mediated relaxation pathways. Here it is shown that a strong hot carrier distribution can be produced using a type-II quantum well structure. In such systems it is shown that the dominant hot carrier thermalization process is limited by the radiative recombination lifetime of electrons with reduced wavefunction overlap with holes. It is proposed that the subsequent reabsorption of acoustic and optical phonons is facilitated by a mismatch in phonon dispersions at the InAs-AlAsSb interface and serves to …

Targeting Ovarian Cancer And Endothelium With An Allosteric Ptp4a3 Phosphatase Inhibitor, Kelley E. Mcqueeney, Joseph M. Salamoun, James C. Burnett, Nektarios Barabutis, Paula Pekic, Sophie L. Lewandowski, Danielle C. Llaneza, Robert Cornelison, Yunpeng Bai, Zhong-Yin Zhang, John D. Catravas

Bioelectrics Publications

Overexpression of protein tyrosine phosphatase PTP4A oncoproteins is common in many human cancers and is associated with poor patient prognosis and survival. We observed elevated levels of PTP4A3 phosphatase in 79% of human ovarian tumor samples, with significant overexpression in tumor endothelium and pericytes. Furthermore, PTP4A phosphatases appear to regulate several key malignant processes, such as invasion, migration, and angiogenesis, suggesting a pivotal regulatory role in cancer and endothelial signaling pathways. While phosphatases are attractive therapeutic targets, they have been poorly investigated because of a lack of potent and selective chemical probes. In this study, we disclose that a potent, …

Transport Of Charged Small Molecules After Electropermeabilization - Drift And Diffusion, Esin B. Sözer, C. Florencia Pocetti, P. Thomas Vernier

Bioelectrics Publications

Background: Applications of electric-field-induced permeabilization of cells range from cancer therapy to wastewater treatment. A unified understanding of the underlying mechanisms of membrane electropermeabilization, however, has not been achieved. Protocols are empirical, and models are descriptive rather than predictive, which hampers the optimization and expansion of electroporation-based technologies. A common feature of existing models is the assumption that the permeabilized membrane is passive, and that transport through it is entirely diffusive. To demonstrate the necessity to go beyond that assumption, we present here a quantitative analysis of the post-permeabilization transport of three small molecules commonly used in electroporation research-YO-PRO-1, propidium, …

The Effect Of Tackling Training On Head Accelerations In Youth American Football, Eric Schussler, Richard J. Jagacinski, Susan E. White, Ajit M. Chaudhari, John A. Buford, James A. Onate

Rehabilitation Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Many organizations have introduced frameworks to reduce the incidence of football related concussions through proper equipment fitting, coach education, and alteration of tackling technique.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of training in a vertical, head up tackling style on the number of head accelerations experienced while tackling in a controlled laboratory situation. The authors hypothesized that training in a head up tackling technique would reduce the severity of head acceleration experienced by participants.

Design: Controlled Laboratory Study.

Methods: Twenty-four participants (11.5 ± 0.6 years old, 60.5 ± 2.2 in, 110 ± 18.4 lbs.) …

A New Approach To Multiplanar, Real-Time Simulation Of Physiological Knee Loads And Synthetic Knee Components Augmented By Local Composition Control In Fused Filament Fabrication, Joshua Taylor Green

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Despite numerous advances in biomedical engineering, few developments in surgical simulation have been made outside of computational models. Cadavers remain the primary media on which surgical research and simulation is conducted. Most attempts to quantify the effects of orthopedic surgical methods fail to achieve statistical significance due to limited quantities of cadaver specimen, large variations among the cadaver population, and a lack of repeatability among measurement techniques. The general purpose of the research covered in this dissertation is to develop repeatable simulation of physiological loads and develop techniques to fabricate a synthetic-based replacement of cadaver specimens. Future work applying this …

Evaluation Of Recycled Gypsum Application Dosages To Enhance The Water Infiltration Rate At Water Retention Ponds, Jorge Luis Navarrete

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The retention ponds play central role for efficient collection, removal, and drainage of rainfall runoff from surrounding streets to minimize flooding and damage. However, low percolating retention ponds may result in an extended ponding of water, abundance bacteria accumulations, mosquito breeding, environmental hazards, among others. The presence of clayey soils and soil sodicity reduces infiltration rates of retention ponds. To enhance the infiltration rate of ponds, it is proposed to use recycled gypsum (RG), as a soil amendment in retention ponds consisting of clayey soils to enhance low infiltration rates.

To evaluate the influence of RG in clayey soils as …

Carbazole Based Multifunctional Dopamine Agonists And Related Molecules As Potential Symptomatic And Disease Modifying Therapeutic Agents For Parkinson’S Disease, Asma S.Mohamed Elmabruk

Wayne State University Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that develops from gradual depletion of dopamine (DA) and dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) with the accumulation of intraneuronal proteinaceous matter named as Lewy bodies. The four cardinal symptoms associated with PD are tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural instability. Although the exact mechanism and etiology of PD are not fully understood, several factors have been implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of PD including protein aggregation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, environmental, and genetic factors.

The current therapy of Parkinson’s disease is categorized into four classes: levodopa, DA agonists, …

Environmental Risk, Resource And Production, Nancye Gannaway

Farm Systems and Economics published reports

Plan Prepare Prosper - workshop

Aims

• To identify and plan for projected changes in weather patterns and in the physical resources that underpin the productivity of the farm enterprise.
• To develop initiatives to manage observed and likely threats from the environment to farm enterprises.
• To support the achievement of long-term economic viability of land under production

Today's content will help develop risk management strategies for agricultural production systems.

Nanoparticle Orientation To Control Rna Loading And Ligand Display On Extracellular Vesicles For Cancer Regression, Fengmei Pi, Daniel W. Binzel, Tae Jin Lee, Zhefeng Li, Meiyan Sun, Piotr G. Rychahou, Hui Li, Farzin Haque, Shaoying Wang, Carlo M. Croce, Bin Guo, B. Mark Evers, Peixuan Guo

Markey Cancer Center Faculty Publications

Nanotechnology offers many benefits, and here we report an advantage of applying RNA nanotechnology for directional control. The orientation of arrow-shaped RNA was altered to control ligand display on extracellular vesicle membranes for specific cell targeting, or to regulate intracellular trafficking of small interfering RNA (siRNA) or microRNA (miRNA). Placing membrane-anchoring cholesterol at the tail of the arrow results in display of RNA aptamer or folate on the outer surface of the extracellular vesicle. In contrast, placing the cholesterol at the arrowhead results in partial loading of RNA nanoparticles into the extracellular vesicles. Taking advantage of the RNA ligand for …

The Rhetoric Of Science Education And Technology, Iwasan D. Kejawa

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Nearly thousands of science experiments are performed both on humans and animals every year in the United States (Gregory, 1999). Does Science enormously play a role in the well-beings of individual in the society? Research has found that science education is through motivation and satisfying the needs of humans. The scientific world is part of an elongated human development. This can be substantiated with the use and evolution of TECHNOLOGY and SCIENCE (Minton, 2004). Education of the entities that comprise the need to achieve the goal of TECHNOLOGY and SCIENCE which are important issues of today. Research has shown that …

Crop Height Estimation With Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Carrick Detweiler, David Anthony, Sebastian Elbaum

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can be configured for crop height estimation. In some examples, the UAV includes an aerial propulsion system, a laser scanner configured to face downwards while the UAV is in flight, and a control system. The laser scanner is configured to scan through a two-dimensional scan angle and is characterized by a maxi mum range. The control system causes the UAV to fly over an agricultural field and maintain, using the aerial propulsion system and the laser scanner, a distance between the UAV and a top of crops in the agricultural field to within a programmed …

Multiple Factors Drive Variation Of Forest Root Biomass In Southwestern China, Hao Zhang, Kelin Wang, Zhaoxia Zeng, Zhigang Zou, Yanfang Xu, Fuping Zeng

Nebraska Center for Biotechnology: Faculty and Staff Publications

The roots linking the above-ground organs and soil are key components for estimating net primary productivity and carbon sequestration of forests. The patterns and drivers of root biomass in forest have not been examined well at the regional scale, especially for the widely distributed forest ecosystems in southwestern China. We attempted to determine the spatial patterns of root biomass (RB, Mg/ha), annual increment root biomass (AIRB, Mg/ha/year), ratio of root and above-ground (RRA), and the relative contributions of abiotic and biotic factors that drive the variation of root biomass. Forest biomass and multiple factors (climate, soil, forest types, and stand …

Diversity And Functional Evolution Of Terpene Synthases In Dictyostelid Social Amoebae, Xinlu Chen, Tobias G. Kollner, Gad Shaulsky, Qidong Jia, Jeroen S. Dickschat, Jonathan Gershenzon, Feng Chen

Nebraska Center for Biotechnology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Dictyostelids, or social amoebae, have a unique life style in forming multicellular fruiting bodies from unicellular amoeboids upon starvation. Recently, dictyostelids were found to contain terpene synthase (TPS) genes, a gene type of secondary metabolism previously known to occur only in plants, fungi and bacteria. Here we report an evolutionary functional study of dictyostelid TPS genes. The number of TPS genes in six species of dictyostelids examined ranges from 1 to 19; and the model species Dictyostelium purpureum contains 12 genes. Using in vitro enzyme assays, the 12 TPS genes from D. purpureum were shown to encode functional enzymes with …

Non-Targeted Colonization By The Endomycorrhizal Fungus, Serendipita Vermifera, In Three Weeds Typically Co-Occurring With Switchgrass, Prasun Ray, Yingqing Guo, Jaydeep Kolape

Nebraska Center for Biotechnology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Serendipita vermifera (=Sebacina vermifera; isolate MAFF305830) is a mycorrhizal fungus originally isolated from the roots of an Australian orchid that we have previously shown to be beneficial in enhancing biomass yield and drought tolerance in switchgrass, an important bioenergy crop for cellulosic ethanol production in the United States. However, almost nothing is known about how this root-associated fungus proliferates and grows through the soil matrix. Such information is critical to evaluate the possibility of non-target effects, such as unintended spread to weedy plants growing near a colonized switchgrass plant in a field environment. A microcosm experiment was conducted …

Engineering Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles To Be Used As Nanofertilizers, Zeinah Elhaj Baddar

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Zinc deficient soils, or soils with low Zn bioavailability, are widespread, which exacerbates Zn deficiency in human as crops grown on these soils have low Zn content. Often crop yields are also compromised. Fertilizers based on soluble Zn salts often have limited efficacy in such soils. In this research, we evaluate the performance of polymer coated and bare ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) in an attempt to overcome limitations of soluble Zn salts in alkaline soils. We first synthesized 20-30 nm bare ZnO NPs with different surface chemistries to impart colloidal stability to the particles. Bare ZnO were treated in phosphate solution …

Collective Chemotaxis Of Retinal Neural Cells From Drosophila Melanogaster In Controlled Microenvironments, Stephanie Zhang

Dissertations and Theses

More than 172 million people are influenced by a retinal disorder that stems from either age-related or developmental causes. Of those, 1.5 million people endure a developmental retinal disorder. In the developing retina, neural cells undergo a series of highly complicated differentiation and migration process. A main cause of these diseases is abnormal collective migration of neural progenitors hindering the retinogenesis process. However, our grasp of collective migration and signaling molecules, critical to the developing retina, is incompletely understood. Understanding the molecular mechanisms, such as the fibroblast growth factor pathway, that regulate glial and neuronal migration provides decisive insights in …

Measuring The Influence Of Bedding On Soil Nitrogen Losses And Corn Crop Nitrogen Characteristics For Fall Applied Solid Beef Cattle Manure In Eastern South Dakota, Mukesh Mehata

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen (N) is a major component of chlorophyll which plays a key role in the photosynthesis process in crops. The N is one of the highest demanded nutrients by all plants for their growth and reproduction. Manure or inorganic fertilizer is often applied to fulfill the crops’ N demand. However, the applied N sources have the potential of N losses in different forms from the soil volume in many ways such as ammonia (NH₃) volatilization, aerial nitrous oxide (N₂O) loss, nitrate (NO₃ --N) leaching, and runoff and/or erosion. Soil fertility, crop yield, water quality, and …

Insulting Words: "They Are Animals!", Carolyn A. Ristau

Animal Sentience

As Chapman & Huffman state, creating divisive human categories has rationalized atrocities committed against the “other.” Labeling neighboring warring villagers as “animals” is considered a despicable insult. Yet contemporary scientific views of many animals grant them thinking and conscious faculties, and the capacity for impressive achievements, many unattainable by humans. Robots, too, can accomplish many similar feats. But the essential reason we must protect animals is not because of their admirable abilities, but their capacity for consciousness, for suffering. Robots are not conscious. Participants in the human-animal debate should not complain about changing criteria for determining human uniqueness. New and …

Understanding Carbohydrate Recognition Mechanisms In Non-Catalytic Proteins Through Molecular Simulations, Abhishek A. Kognole

Theses and Dissertations--Chemical and Materials Engineering

Non-catalytic protein-carbohydrate interactions are an essential element of various biological events. This dissertation presents the work on understanding carbohydrate recognition mechanisms and their physical significance in two groups of non-catalytic proteins, also called lectins, which play key roles in major applications such as cellulosic biofuel production and drug delivery pathways. A computational approach using molecular modeling, molecular dynamic simulations and free energy calculations was used to study molecular-level protein-carbohydrate and protein-protein interactions. Various microorganisms like bacteria and fungi secret multi-modular enzymes to deconstruct cellulosic biomass into fermentable sugars. The carbohydrate binding modules (CBM) are non-catalytic domains of such enzymes that …

Research Of Sustainable Jet Fuel Production Using Microbes, Rajee Olaganathan

Publications

Global climate change, coupled with rapidly increasing oil prices and energy demand around the world, has paved a way for intense research in the biofuel sector. Stakeholders in the aviation industry have started to focus on bio-jet fuel. Bio-jet fuel is regarded as a sustainable solution to greenhouse gas emissions and energy demand. This paper provides a brief review of the biofuel production technologies, the role of bacteria in producing hydrocarbons and the recent advancements in microbial engineering to enhance the biofuel production. Finally, this paper concludes by highlighting the challenges and future research implications in bio-jet fuel production.

Investigating Smoke Exposure And Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Copd) With A Calibrated Agent Based Model (Abm) Of In Vitro Fibroblast Wound Healing., James A. Ratti

Theses and Dissertations

COPD is characterized by tissue inflammation and impaired remodeling that suggests fibroblast maintenance of structural homeostasis is dysregulated. Thus, we performed in vitro wound healing experiments on normal and diseased human lung fibroblasts and developed an ABM of fibroblasts closing a scratched monolayer using NetLogo to evaluate differences due to COPD or cigarette smoke condensate exposure. This ABM consists of a rule-set governing the healing response, accounting for cell migration, proliferation, death, activation and senescence rates; along with the effects of heterogeneous activation, phenotypic changes, serum deprivation and exposure to cigarette smoke condensate or bFGF. Simulations were performed to calibrate …

Engineering Surface Properties To Modulate Inflammation And Stem Cell Recruitment Through Macrophage Activation, Kelly M. Hotchkiss

Theses and Dissertations

Biomaterials are becoming the most commonly used therapeutic method for treatment of lost or damaged tissue in the body. Metallic materials are chosen for high strength orthopaedic and dental applications. Titanium (Ti) implants are highly successful in young, healthy patients with the ability to fully integrate to surrounding tissue. However the main population requiring these corrective treatments will not be healthy or young, therefore further research into material modifications have been started to improve outcomes in compromised patients. The body’s immune system will generate a response to any implanted material, and control the final outcome. Among the first and most …

Predictive Modeling Of Hip Dislocation: Assessment Of Surgical And Patient Factors To Reduce The Occurrence Of Hip Instability And Adverse Clinical Outcomes, Daniel N. Huff

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Instability and dislocation remain leading indications for revision of primary Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA). Many studies have addressed the links between implant design and propensity for dislocation, however a comprehensive review of the ability of modern THA constructs to protect against joint instability is needed.

Accordingly, the objective of this study is to provide objective data about THA risks to be considered in the treatment algorithm to protect against adverse joint loading conditions and joint instability. Adverse loading conditions were assessed in a population of activities of daily living using data from telemetric hip implant representation in an FE simulation …

Mitochondrial Dynamics And Respiration Within Cells With Increased Open Pore Cytoskeletal Meshes, David H. Jang, Sarah C. Seeger, Martha E. Grady, Frances S. Shofer, David M. Eckmann

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

The cytoskeletal architecture directly affects the morphology, motility, and tensional homeostasis of the cell. In addition, the cytoskeleton is important for mitosis, intracellular traffic, organelle motility, and even cellular respiration. The organelle responsible for a majority of the energy conversion for the cell, the mitochondrion, has a dependence on the cytoskeleton for mobility and function. In previous studies, we established that cytoskeletal inhibitors altered the movement of the mitochondria, their morphology, and their respiration in human dermal fibroblasts. Here, we use this protocol to investigate applicability of power law diffusion to describe mitochondrial locomotion, assessment of rates of fission and …

Characterization Of Structural Dynamics Of The Human Head Using Magnetic Resonance Elastography, Andrew Arun Badachhape

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

In traumatic brain injury (TBI), the skull-brain interface, composed of three meningeal layers: the dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater, along with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) between the layers, plays a vital role in transmitting motion from the skull to brain tissue. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is a noninvasive imaging modality capable of providing in vivo estimates of tissue motion and material properties. The objective of this work is to augment human and phantom MRE studies to better characterize the mechanical contributions of the skull-brain interface to improve the parameterization and validation of computational models of TBI. Three specific aims …

The Vibe, Sarah P. Douglass

Capstones

The Vibe is a long-form narrative about where tech is taking the female orgasm. The piece concludes that physiological research is a required next step when creating the climax of the future.

http://sarahpdouglass.com

Identification Of Prognostic Cancer Biomarkers Through The Application Of Rna-Seq Technologies And Bioinformatics, Nathan Wong

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short single-stranded RNAs that function as the guide sequence of the post-transcriptional regulatory process known as the RNA-induced silencing complex (RISC), which targets mRNA sequences for degradation through complementary binding to the guide miRNA. Changes in miRNA expression have been reported as correlated with numerous biological processes, including embryonic development, cellular differentiation, and disease manifestation. In the latter case, dysregulation has been observed in response to infection by human papillomavirus (HPV), which has also been established as both oncogenic in cervical cancers and oropharyngeal cancers and favorable for overall patient survival after tumor formation. The identification of …

Binding Affinity And Specificity Of Sh2 Domain Interactions In Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Signaling Networks, Tom Ronan

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) signaling mechanisms play a central role in intracellular signaling and control development of multicellular organisms, cell growth, cell migration, and programmed cell death. Dysregulation of these signaling mechanisms results in defects of development and diseases such as cancer. Control of this network relies on the specificity and selectivity of Src Homology 2 (SH2) domain interactions with phosphorylated target peptides. In this work, we review and identify the limitations of current quantitative understanding of SH2 domain interactions, and identify severe limitations in accuracy and availability of SH2 domain interaction data. We propose a framework to address some …