Engineering Commons^™

2001 - The Sixth Annual Symposium Of Student Scholars

Symposium of Student Scholars Program Books

The full program book from the Sixth Annual Symposium of Student Scholars, held on March 30, 2001. Includes abstracts from the presentations and posters.

Pilot Mental Workload Calibration, Jeremy B. Noel

Theses and Dissertations

Predicting high pilot mental workload is important to the U.S. Air Force because lives and aircraft can be lost when errors are made during periods of mental overload and task saturation. Current research efforts use psychophysiological measures such as electroencephalography, cardiac, ocular, and respiration measures in an attempt to identify and predict mental workload levels. The primary focus of this effort is the development of a calibration scheme that allows a small subset of salient psychophysiological features developed using actual flight data for one pilot on a given day to accurately classify pilot mental workload for a separate pilot on …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 43 Number 3, Winter 2001, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

4 - UNIVERSITY RESPONDS TO TRAGEDY By SCM Staff. The September terrorist attacks had many repercussions at SCU, including the loss of at least two members of the University family.

12 - BEERS AND DOGS By Adam Breen. English Professor Terry Beers and his wife, Melissa '88, MBA '95, spend many early mornings sledding with their eight huskies.

14 - CALIFORNIA DREAMERS By Susan Vogel. Three current SCU students were dreaming of college long before many people do, thanks to dedicated mentors from the I Have A Dream Foundation .

Construction Of A Derivative Of Agrobacterium Tumefaciens C58 That Does Not Mutate To Tetracycline Resistance, Zhao-Qing Luo, Thomas E. Clemente, Stephen K. Farrand

Nebraska Center for Biotechnology: Faculty and Staff Publications

Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58 mutates to tetracycline resistance at high frequency, complicating the use of many broad-host-range cloning and binary vectors that code for resistance to this antibiotic as the selection marker. Such mutations are associated with a resistant gene unit, tet_C58, that is present in the genome of this strain. By deleting the tet_C58 locus, we constructed NTL4, a derivative of C58 that no longer mutates to tetracycline resistance. The deletion had no detectable effect on genetic or physiological traits of NTL4 or on the ability of this strain to transform plants.

Cationic Surfactant Mediated Hybridization And Hydrophobization Of Dna Molecules At The Liquid/Liquid Interface And Their Phase Transfer, Murali Sastry, Ashavani Kumar, Mrunalini Pattarkine, Vidya Ramakrishnan, Krishna N. Ganesh

Faculty Works

Hybridization of complementary oligonucleotides mediated by a cationic surfactant at the water/hexane interface leads to hydrophobic, double-helical DNA which may be readily phase transferred to the organic phase and cast into thin films on solid substrates.

Submerged And Solid-State Phytase Fermentation By Aspergillus Niger: Effects Of Agitation And Medium Viscosity On Phytase Production, Fungal Morphology And Inoculum Performance, Maria Papagianni, Sue E. Nokes, Keith Filer

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Qualitative relationships between agitation levels and medium viscosity, Aspergillus niger morphology and phytase production were investigated in submerged and solid-state fermentations. Overall phytase production increased with increasing shaker speeds from 150 to 300 rpm, although specific growth rates and phytase production rates were higher at 150 rpm for 72 h from inoculation. Fungal morphology was greatly influenced by agitation with the morphological forms of small pellets and entangled mycelia predominating at 150 rpm, while the free filamentous form was obtained at 300 rpm. Upon inoculation of SSF, increased productivities were obtained from inocula grown at 150 rpm. A shift towards …

Improving Irrigation For Ord Sugar Cane, Jim Engelke, Joe Sherrard, Gae Plunkett, Tim Triglone

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Major changes are underway in irrigation practices for the Ord sugar industry as it moves to implement recent findings on improving irrigation efficiency and managing rising groundwater. Significant improvement in efficiency is expected by more accurately matching water application with crop water requirements and by minimising drainage losses through improved water application techniques.

Based on findings from this work, drying off may not be an appropriate strategy for the ORIA as a means of improving crop sucrose content, but could allow for some reduction in water use towards the end of the crop cycle without adversely impacting on sucrose yield. …

Immobolisation And Biochemical Characterisation Of A Selected Commercially Available Laccase, Chandra Sundaralingam

Student Works (2000-2009)

ln this study, laccase from Novo Nordisk was chosen for biochemical characterization and immobilization investigation. The specific aims of this work was to develop optimum conditions for immobilization of laccase by entrapment method using copper alginate and characterize the laccase biochemically. The pH optimum of the crude enzyme extract was 5.5 and was found to be stable over a wide range of pH values. The apparent molecular weight of this enzyme was around 79,000 Daltons. Three peaks of activity (isoenzymes) were obtained from isoelectric focusing of pH values 4.7, 5.2 and 6.0. The optimum pH of the immobilized laccase by …

Volume Management In San Environment, Chang-Soo Kim, Gyoung-Bae Kim, Bum-Joo Shin

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Logical volume managers have long been key components of a storage system. Their key features are creation of logical or virtual views of physical storage devices and support for various software RAID levels. These make it possible to overcome the limits to capacity, availability and performance of a physical storage device. Most logical volume managers are operated in a single system environment. They are not adequate for SAN (storage area network) environments where several hosts share and access a logical volume at the same time. Some recent logical volume managers are run in a multi-host environment. However, they cannot support …

Self-Consistent Simulations Of Electroporation Dynamics In Biological Cells Subjected To Ultrashort Electrical Pulses, R. P. Joshi, Q. Hu, R. Aly, K. H. Schoenbach, H. P. Hjalmarson

Bioelectrics Publications

The temporal dynamics of electroporation of cells subjected to ultrashort voltage pulses are studied based on a coupled scheme involving the Laplace, Nernst-Plank, and Smoluchowski equations. A pore radius dependent energy barrier for ionic transport, accounts for cellular variations. It is shown that a finite time delay exists in pore formation, and leads to a transient overshoot of the transmembrane potential V_mem beyond 1.0 V. Pore resealing is shown to consist of an initial fast process, a 10⁻⁴s delay, followed by a much slower closing at a time constant of about 10 ⁻¹s. This establishes a …

Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute Annual Technical Report Fy 2000, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

KWRRI Annual Technical Reports (USGS’s 104b Grant Program)

The FY 2000 Annual Technical Report for Kentucky consolidates the reporting requirements of the Section 104(b) base grant and previous regional competitive grant awards in a single technical report that includes: 1) a synopsis of each ongoing research project and each project completed during the period, 2) a list of related reports published, 3) a description of information transfer activities, 4) a summary of student support during the reporting period, and 5) notable achievements and awards during the year.

Entropy Generation Method To Quantify Thermal Comfort, S. C. Boregowda, S. N. Tiwari, S. K. Chaturvedi

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The present paper presents a thermodynamic approach to assess the quality of human-thermal environment interaction and quantify thermal comfort. The approach involves development of entropy generation term by applying second law of thermodynamics to the combined human-environment system. The entropy generation term combines both human thermal physiological responses and thermal environmental variables to provide an objective measure of thermal comfort. The original concepts and definitions form the basis for establishing the mathematical relationship between thermal comfort and entropy generation term. As a result of logic and deterministic approach, an Objective Thermal Comfort Index (OTCI) is defined and established as a …

Non–Water–Stressed Baseline As A Tool For Dynamic Control Of A Misting System For Propagation Of Poinsettias, Sérgio Zolnier, Richard S. Gates, Robert G. Anderson, Sue E. Nokes, George A. Duncan

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

A technique is presented for dynamically adjusting misting intervals during propagation of vegetative cuttings. A crop setpoint temperature for activation of misting was defined by a "non-water-stressed baseline" concept, using infrared thermometry to acquire canopy temperature for plant feedback. The critical crop setpoint temperature was calculated from instantaneous values of air temperature, incident radiation, and air vapor pressure deficit (VPD_air). Misting was activated when the actual crop temperature exceeded the critical crop setpoint temperature. The dynamic control was shown to have the potential to reduce the amount of applied water from 9 to 12 times during low levels …

Isolation, Screening And Characterisation Of Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated From Local Food Sources, Ahmad Faris Mohd. Adnan

Student Works (2000-2009)

126 bacterial isolates were isolated from several local food sources. Out of these, 55 isolates were subsequently identified as lactic acid bacteria i.e. they were gram-positive and catalase negative. These 55 isolates were put through gel plug test to distinguish between homofermentative and heterofermentative isolates. 16 of the 55 lactic acid bacteria isolates were found to be homofermentative. From the 16 homofermentative isolates, seven were chosen on the basis of origin and sugars used in the enrichment process for preliminary physiological characterisation. Several conditions were chosen such as variable temperature, lactic acid tolerance, NaCl concentration and initial pH These serve …

Fixed Bed Biosorption Of Cu(Ii) By Immobilized Biomass Of Sargassum Baccularia, Kong Fei Tan

Student Works (2000-2009)

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using the immobilized biomass of Sargassum buccularia. a brown marine macro algae. to remove and recover copper ions in a fixed bed reactor by passive adsorption. This is commonly referred to as biosorpliun. Inactivated biomass of S. baccularia were chemically modified b) immobilizing it onto polyvinyl alcohol (PVA} as a support matrix. Spherical gel beads that were produced in this manner were subjected to mass transfer and equilibrium studies. The biosorption of copper is a bi-phasic process. with an initial fast phase for the first 2 hours followed …

Auditing And Biological Treatment Of Oleochemical Industry Waste, Fauziah Shahul Hamid

Student Works (2000-2009)

The utilization of renewable resources particularly from plant-based industries, such as, in the oleochemical sector makes it possible for further expansion of down-stream process products. However, to remain competitive the pollution generated from this industry should not be taken lightly. Implementation of cleaner technology into the oleochemical process will increase the efficiency of resource utilization of the industry, concurrently reducing quantity of waste generated. Waste audit conducted at Cognis Oleochemical (M) (COM) Sdn. Bhd. indicated that the major process-wastes generated by the facility were glycerol residue (GR) from Cognis Rika (M) Sdn. Bhd. (CRM) and wastewater sludge (WWS) from COM …

Municipal Wastewater Treatment Using Sequencing Batch Reactor (Sbr) Under Tropical Conditions, Maria Violetta Thomas

Student Works (2000-2009)

In this research project a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) plant was tested for performance in terms of Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and Suspended Solids (SS), under different temporal conditions. In addition, the removal of biological nutrients, namely ammoniacal nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen and phosphorous in the form of phosphate, from the sewage, with anaerobic and aerobic operations using SBR was studied. The performance of the SBR plant was observed under two operating conditions whereby the variable studied was the total cycle time of the SBR process; i.e. 8-hour cycle mode and 6-hour cycle mode. The effluent quality …

Characterization Of The Biological Activities Of Recombinant Fusion Protein Green Fluorescent Protein/Human Zona Pellucida Protein 3 (Gfp/Hzp3), Zhiyong Lin

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Despite numerous reports indicating the successful production of bioactive recombinant ZP3, no report has shown the rhZP3 having direct binding activity with human sperm. Recombinant ZP3 generated from our previous study displayed binding activity with human sperm through indirect evidence from hemizona assay (HZA).

This present study focused on the production of recombinant ZP3 with direct binding activity with human sperm. Through the application of a pEGFP expression vector, fusion protein GFP/ZP3 was successfully generated and expressed. The expression of GFP/ZP3 was evidenced by RT-PCR and western blot. The fusion protein was partially purified by Ni-NTA affinity column from cell …

Development Of A Physico-Chemical Wastewater Treatment Strategy For A Chemical Plant, T. Alagarajah K. Thavarajah

Student Works (2000-2009)

A study was carried out to determine the physico-chemical treatment of the wastewater collected from a soap and detergent factory in Selangor, Malaysia. The study was initiated by determining the characteristics of the wastewater. Treatability studies involving coagulation and flocculation were determined by the jar test method. The parameters of interest were coagulant dosage, pH, mixing intensity, mixing time and settling time. The coagulants were restricted to alum and ferric sulfate and coagulant aids utilized were polyvinyl alcohol, sodium alginate and polycthylcninimine. An extended evaluation to determine the effect of double chemical treatment was also carried out with the most …

Modeling Of A Meat Cooking Process For On-Line Monitoring And Control, Oralia Garcia

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A heat transfer model is developed to predict cooking time of meat patties given the initial temperature of meat, oven temperature, and meat properties to monitor and control a cooking process on-line. Experiments were performed to find the cause of variability in cooked weight and raw temperature effects in forming and final cooked temperature. Advanced charting techniques concluded that only common causes of variability were present in the process. Thermal conductivity experiments were performed to determine the thermal conductivity of meat (k), which was compared with the properties of meat published in literature to validate the experiment. Oven design analysis …

Hybridization Of Dna By Sequential Immobilization Of Oligonucleotides At The Air-Water Interface, Murali Sastry, Vidya Ramakrishnan, Mrunalini Pattarkine, Anand Gole, K. N. Ganesh

Faculty Works

The hybridization of DNA by sequential electrostatic and hydrogen-bonding immobilization of single-stranded complementary oligonucleotides at the air-water interface with cationic Langmuir monolayers is demonstrated. The complexation of the single-stranded DNA molecules with octadecylamine (ODA) Langmuir monolayers was followed in time by monitoring the pressure-area isotherms. A large (and slow) expansion of the ODA monolayer was observed during each stage of complexation in the following sequence: primary single-stranded DNA followed by complementary single-stranded DNA followed by the intercalator, ethidium bromide. Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films of the ODA-DNA complex were formed on different substrates and characterized using quartz-crystal microgravimetry (QCM), Fourier transform infrared …

Proposed Design Modifications To Reduce Risk Of Operating Rotary Field Mowers, Katie L. White, Larry G. Wells, Scott A. Shearer, Larry R. Piercy

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

The primary objective of this project was to reduce risk of injury associated with operating a rotary mower driven by a tractor power take-off (PTO) by developing and evaluating design improvements and determining their economic feasibility. Researchers have concluded that alteration of machinery design has a greater impact on the reduction of accidents than safety training. Implementation of an Operator Presence Sensing System (OPSS) and removal of the PTO are the two injury-reducing, engineering modifications evaluated by this research. Hydraulic power allows this to occur by providing dynamic braking, few moving parts (removal of the PTO), and controllable power. A …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 42 Number 2, Fall 2000, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

10 - I WANT MY IPO! By Susan Vogel. With so much venture capital available out there, why do women have to sprint to catch up with men in the race for funding?

14 - ON THE THRESHOLD OF A NEW ERA By George F. Giacomini, Jr. A long-time SCU professor offers his opinion of the most pivotal moments in the University's 150-year history, from wars to the admission of women.

18 - OF HEADHUNTERS AND SOLDIERS By Renato Rosaldo. Living with a headhunting Filipino tribe taught this author to be open to the possibility that other cultures have valid, …

Reconditioning Corn And Soybeans To Optimal Processing Moisture Contents, Michael D. Montross, Dirk E. Maier

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Experimental trials were carried out to evaluate the technical feasibility of reconditioning overly dry corn and soybeans to optimal market and processing moisture contents. Data obtained from experimental trials were used to validate an aeration simulation model. This model was used to evaluate the feasibility of reconditioning soybeans and corn. Reconditioning of grain was feasible at low airflow rates (0.11 m³ min^–1 t^–1) over a six-month period when an automatic aeration controller was used. Using downflow aeration and monthly unloading of the bin allowed for the greatest net economic gain. Predicted reconditioning in Des Moines, Iowa, …

High Efficiency Separation Of Microbial Aggregates Using Capillary Electrophoresis, J. M. Schneiderheinze, Daniel W. Armstrong, G. Schulte, David J. Westenberg

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Recent advances in the technique of capillary electrophoresis have demonstrated fast, highly efficient separation of mixtures of intact microbes. This paper describes the application of this technique for the separation of microbial aggregates of Micrococcus luteus, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or Alcaligenes faecalis. The aggregates of these microbes were resolved into several highly efficient peaks with analysis times under 10 min and efficiencies approaching 1 000 000 plates m-1 in some cases. A reproducible relationship was found between the electrophoretic mobility and the aggregation number or size of the cluster under a given set of experimental conditions. Often, cellular aggregation was reversible …

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 42 Number 1, Summer 2000, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

8 - ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES? By Miriam Schulman. Beyond the hype of the headlines, there are no simple answers to the ethical questions raised by genetically modified food.

14 - BRAVE NEW WORLD By Tamara Straus. Now the lawyers want inside your head as they struggle to answer, "Who owns an idea?" Just the mere question is changing the face of legal education.

18 - THE GREAT GRADE GIVEAWAY By Jeff Zorn. Today's grades don't mean jack. So says one Santa Clara professor in this memoir and commentary on the evils of modern day grade inflation.

22 - …

Validation Of Passive Air Sampling Monitors Onboard United States Navy Submarines, Larry A. Mcfarland

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

An operating submarine creates a unique air quality mixture of compounds that result from a combination of human metabolism, construction materials, materials brought onboard and compounds created through the interaction of ship systems. A comprehensive study of submarine atmospheres is ongoing during deployments of U.S. Navy nuclear submarines. As part of the overall effort, a paired air sampling comparison field validation was conducted to compare the air sampling effectiveness of passive diffusive monitors compared to more traditional active air sampling methods when sampling for acrolein, formaldehyde and ozone in the enclosed submarine atmosphere. Acrolein monitors containing 2-hydroxymethylpiperidine (HMP) impregnated glass …

Environmental Guidelines For New And Existing Piggeries, A Latto, John Noonan, R. J. Taylor

Bulletins 4000 -

These guidelines apply to the management of Western Australia piggeries in Western Australia, including intensive Growing pigs under intensive conditions where the and extensive operations, straw-based housing and animals spend their entire life cycle indoors, is an combinations of these (otherwise referred to as semi- important part of the Western Australian and intensive housing).

The Import Of Importing And Unnatural Acts: The Political Psychology Of Bioengineered Plants, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes political psychological aspects of opposition to the importing of bioengineered plants.

Simulated Performance Of Conventional High-Temperature Drying, Dryeration, And Combination Drying Of Shelled Corn With Automatic Conditioning, Michael D. Montross, Dirk E. Maier

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Combination drying, based on computer simulation, was evaluated as an alternative drying technique to traditional high-temperature drying and dryeration. Simulation models of high-temperature crossflow drying and in-bin drying and conditioning were used to evaluate the performance of conventional crossflow drying and full-heat crossflow drying followed by dryeration or natural-air drying for Indianapolis, Indiana, and Des Moines, Iowa. Energy costs from propane, electricity, moisture shrink below the market moisture content, and dry matter loss were estimated to find the total average drying cost over 29 years. Dryeration and combination drying reduced the total drying cost by approximately 10% compared to conventional …