Engineering Commons^™

Economics Of Manure Phosphorus Distribution From Beef Feeding Operations, William F. Kissinger, Raymond E. Massey, Richard K. Koelsch, Galen E. Erickson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

An economic model was developed to evaluate cost and value of manure distribution. Feedlots ranging in size from 2,500 head to 25,000 head one-time capacities were used as case studies to calculate excretion amounts from cattle fed diets with a range of phosphorus. Diet P and subsequent costs of distributing the manure were used to analyze the corresponding costs of manure distribution, in addition to determining the required available land needed to be in compliance with a nutrient management plan based on utilization of manure P by the crops grown.

The model illustrated when animals are fed diets of increasing …

National Livestock And Poultry Environmental Learning Center, Richard K. Koelsch, Mark Risse, Joe Harrison, Jill Heemstra, Frank Humenik

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

This paper describes a new national initiative to improve the delivery of science-based information to non-research customers. The vision of the Livestock and Poultry Environmental Learning Center is to provide individuals involved in public policy issues, animal production, and delivery of technical services for confined animal systems with on-demand access to the nation’s best science-based resources that is responsive to priority and emerging environmental issues associated with animal agriculture. This paper describes the implementation plans for this project.

Droplet On A Fiber: Geometrical Shape And Contact Angle, Xiangfa Wu, Yuris A. Dzenis

Department of Engineering Mechanics: Faculty Publications

This paper is concerned with the geometrical shape, wetting length, and contact angle of a microdroplet on a fiber by using the method free energy variation. The governing equation and relevant boundary conditions of the microdroplet were re-derived based on the free energy variation of the droplet/ fiber system. The geometrical shape of the droplet was determined as the combination of Legendre’s elliptical functions of the first and second kinds, corresponding to the previous results in literature [6]. For contact angle h >15 degree, a novel efficient semi-analytic approach was proposed to extract the contact angle from experimental data. The …

Acuta Enews July 2006, Vol. 35, No. 7

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

Board of Directors for 2006-2007

From ACUTA Headquarters: Member Service Awards............ Jeri A. Semer, CAE, ACUTA Executive Director

ACUTA One-Day Workshop: Making Convergence Work

Tech Talk: Technology Makes PBXs "Open" for Business................... Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

lnfo Links Randy Hayes, Univ' of Northern lowa

Board Report............... Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State Univ., ACUTA Sec./Treasurer

DC Update.............. Jeanne Jansenius, University of the south

Web Tip: Telecom and VolP Listserv FAQ.................. Aaron Fuehrer, ACUTA lnformation Tech. Mgr.

Welcome New Members

ACUTA Online Press Room

Steady-Periodic Green’S Functions And Thermal- Measurement Applications In Rectangular Coordinates, Kevin . D. Cole

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Methods of thermal property measurements based on steady-periodic heating are indirect techniques, in which the thermal properties are deduced from a systematic comparison between experimental data and heat-transfer theory. In this paper heat-transfer theory is presented for a variety of two-dimensional geometries applicable to steady-periodic thermal-property techniques. The method of Green’s functions is used to systematically treat rectangles, slabs (two dimensional), and semi-infinite bodies. Several boundary conditions are treated, including convection and boundaries containing a thin, highconductivity film. The family of solutions presented here provides an opportunity for verification of numerical results by the use of distinct, but similar, geometries. …

Development Of An Electro-Mechanical System To Identify & Map Adverse Soil Compaction Using Gis&Gps, Santosh Pitla, L. G. Wells

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

A stand-alone electro-mechanical system with a 32-inch disc coulter was developed and tested to identify soil compaction in a 1-acre field located at the University of Kentucky Animal Research Center (UKARC). The system was evaluated by making four passes in the square grid cell. With the aid of hydraulic actuation, the coulter oscillated between depths of 100mm (4-in) and 330mm (13-in) as it moved forward and recorded the vertical impedance force given by the soil continuously. Forty standard soil cone penetrometer measurements along the diagonals to a depth of 400mm (16-in) were taken and the average cone indices (MPa) at …

Refractive Indices And Band-Gap Properties Of Rocksalt Mg XZn Sub>1-XO (0.68 ≤X≤1), RüDiger Schmidt-Grund, Anke Carstens, Bernd Rheinländer, Daniel Spemann, Holger Hochmut, Gregor Zimmermann, Michael Lorenz, Marius Grundmann, Craig M. Herzinger, Mathias Schubert

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

The room-temperature optical pseudo-dielectric-functions of single-phase, single-crystalline rocksalt-structure Mg_xZn_1-xO with Mg-content x between 0.68 and 1 were determined in the photon energy range from 0.75 to 9.10 eV using spectroscopic ellipsometry. The refractive index determined in the spectral region below the fundamental absorption edge decreases with increasing Mg content. The pseudo-dielectric-functions reveal structures caused in critical points due to electronic band-to-band transitions and free exciton formation at the fundamental band-gap transition. Standard model dielectric function approaches were applied for line shape analysis. Upon increase of the bond ionicity with increasing Mg content the energies of …

Solution Chemistry Control To Make Well Defined Submicron Continuous Fibres By Electrospinning: The (Ch3ch2ch2o)4ti/Acoh/Poly(N-Vinylpyrrolidone) System, Gustavo F. Larsen, Maciej Skotak

Papers in Materials Science

The (CH3CH2CH2O)4Ti/AcOH/poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) system has been shown to yield suitable formulations for electrohydrodynamic (EHD) processing into continuous fibres and particles. The EHD processability of this, and generally most sol–gel-based formulations, into well defined fibres and particles with narrow submicron-range diameter distributions depends not only on the EHD process variables (electric field and flow rates), but also on the stability of key physical properties (e.g., conductivity, viscosity, surface tension, density and dielectric constant) of the sol over time. Sols that were almost certainly still undergoing hydrolysis and condensation reactions have been processed via EHD by many research groups to make materials with …

High-Resolution Thin-Film Device To Sense Texture By Touch, Ravi F. Saraf, Vivek Maheshwari

Papers in Nanotechnology

Touch (or tactile) sensors are gaining renewed interest as the level of sophistication in the application of minimum invasive surgery and humanoid robots increases. The spatial resolution of current large-area (greater than 1 cm²) tactile sensor lags by more than an order of magnitude compared with the human finger. By using metal and semi conducting nanoparticles, a 100-nm-thick, large-area thin-film device is self-assembled such that the change in current density through the film and the electroluminescent light intensity are linearly proportional to the local stress. A stress image is obtained by pressing a copper grid and a United …

High-Resolution Thin-Film Device To Sense Texture By Touch, Vivek C. Maheshwari, Ravi F. Saraf

Ravi Saraf Publications

Touch (or tactile) sensors are gaining renewed interest as the level of sophistication in the application of minimum invasive surgery and humanoid robots increases. The spatial resolution of current large-area (greater than 1 cm²) tactile sensor lags by more than an order of magnitude compared with the human finger. By using metal and semiconducting nanoparticles, a ~100-nm-thick, large-area thin-film device is self-assembled such that the change in current density through the film and the electroluminescent light intensity are linearly proportional to the local stress. A stress image is obtained by pressing a copper grid and a United States …

Self-Similarity Of Mean Flow In Pipe Turbulence, Junke Guo

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Based on our previous modified log-wake law in turbulent pipe ‡flows, we invent two compound similarity numbers (Y;U), where Y is a combination of the inner variable y+ and outer variable , and U is the pure exect of the wall. The two similarity numbers can well collapse mean velocity profile data with different moderate and large Reynolds numbers into a single universal profile. We then propose an arctangent law for the buffer layer and a general log law for the outer region in terms of (Y;U). From Milikan’s maximum velocity law and the Princeton superpipe data, we derive the …

Competitive Metagenomic Dna Hybridization Identifies Host-Specific Microbial Genetic Markers In Cow Fecal Samples, Orin C. Shanks, Jorge W. Santo Domingo, Regina Lamendella, Catherine A. Kelty, James E. Graham

United States Environmental Protection Agency: Publications

Several PCR methods have recently been developed to identify fecal contamination in surface waters. In all cases, researchers have relied on one gene or one microorganism for selection of host-specific markers. Here we describe the application of a genome fragment enrichment (GFE) method to identify host-specific genetic markers from fecal microbial community DNA. As a proof of concept, bovine fecal DNA was challenged against a porcine fecal DNA background to select for bovine-specific DNA sequences. Bioinformatic analyses of 380 bovine enriched metagenomic sequences indicated a preponderance of Bacteroidales-like regions predicted to encode membrane-associated and secreted proteins. Oligonucleotide primers capable …

Acuta Enews June 2006, Vol. 35, No. 6

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This lssue

Planning for VolP...................... Mike Grunder, Vantage Technology Consulting Group

From the President................... Patricia Todus, Northwestern Univ., ACUTA President

Board Report................ Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State Univ., ACUTA Sec./Treasurer

Three Preconference Seminars Offered

Tech Talk: VolP Implementation: The Survey Says...................... Kevin Tanzillo, Dux PR

lnfo Links......................... Randy Hayes, Univ. of Northern lowa

Web Tip: Members Post Job Openings Free............... Aaron Fuehrer, ACUTA lnformation Tech. Mgr.

Dues Notices Mailed

DC Update.............. Jeanne Jansenius, University of the South

Welcome New Members

ACUTA Online Press Room

Behavior And Design Of Buried Concrete Pipes, Ece Erdogmus, Maher K. Tadros

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

No abstract provided.

Adaptive Interpolation Algorithms For Temporal-Oriented Datasets, Jun Gao

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Spatiotemporal datasets can be classified into two categories: temporal-oriented and spatial-oriented datasets depending on whether missing spatiotemporal values are closer to the values of its temporal or spatial neighbors. We present an adaptive spatiotemporal interpolation model that can estimate the missing values in both categories of spatiotemporal datasets. The key parameters of the adaptive spatiotemporal interpolation model can be adjusted based on experience.

Infrared Optical Properties Of MgX-1Zn1-XO Thin Films (0≤X≤1): Long-Wavelength Optical Phonons And Dielectric Constants, C. Bundemann, A. Rahm, M. Lorenz, M. Grundmann, Mathias Schubert

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry in the spectral range from ω =360 cm^-1 to ω =1500 cm^-1 and Raman scattering spectroscopy are applied to study the long-wavelength optical phonon modes and dielectric constants of Mg_xZn_1-xO thin films in the composition range 0≤x≤1. The samples were grown by pulsed laser deposition on sapphire substrates. X-ray diffraction measurements of the thin film samples reveal the hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure for x≤0.53 and the cubic rocksalt crystal structure for x≥0.67. A systematic variation of the phonon mode frequencies with Mg-mole fraction x is found …

On The Spatial Nature Of The Groundwater Pumping Externality, Nicholas Brozovic, David L. Sunding, David Zilberman

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Most existing economic analyses of optimal groundwater management use single-cell aquifer models, which assume that an aquifer responds uniformly and instantly to ground- water pumping. This paper demonstrates how spatially explicit aquifer response equations from the water resources engineering literature may be embedded in a general economic framework. Calibration of our theoretical model to published economic studies of spe- cific aquifers demonstrates that, by averaging basin drawdown across the entire resource, existing studies generally understate the magnitude of the groundwater pumping external- ity relative to spatially explicit models. For the aquifers studied, the drawdown predicted by single- cell models may …

Efficient, Thermally Stable, Second Order Nonlinear Optical Response In Organic Hybrid Covalent/Ionic Self-Assembled Films, Kevin E. Van Cott

Papers in Biomolecular Engineering

A covalent/electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly method was used to achieve polar ordering of a water soluble, reactive dye in the fabrication of nonlinear optical (NLO) films. We observed a quadratic relationship between the second harmonic intensity I2 and bilayer number for all films made with Procion Brown MX-GRN, demonstrating that the polar ordering of the chromophores is consistent in each successive bilayer. As the ionic strength of the dye deposition solution was increased to 0.5 M NaCl, the of the films increased by approximately 250% to 50 × 10-9 esu, with a corresponding average chromophore tilt angle of 38. This was …

United States Patent: Nano-Crystalline, Homo-Metallic, Protective Coatings, Fereydoon Namavar

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

The present invention provides orthopedic prosthesis having at least one metallic component that includes a metallic substrate on which an integrally formed nano-crystalline coating is formed. The coating and the substrate have at least one metallic constituent in common having an average atomic concentration in the coating that differs from an average atomic concentration in the substrate by less than about 10 percent. Further, the nano-crystalline coatings includes crystalline grains with an average size in a range of about 1 to 999 nanometers, and more preferably in a range of about 10 to 200 nanometers. A transition region that exhibits …

Microrobot For Surgical Applications: United States Patent No. Us 7,042,184 B2, Dmitry Oleynikov, Shane Farritor, Adnan Hadzialic, Stephen R. Platt

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The present invention provides a micro-robot for use inside the body during minimally-invasive surgery. The microrobot may include various sensors, imaging devices or manipulators.

United States Patent: Sound Generating Apparatus For Use With Gloves And Similar Articles, Jan A. Frohman, James L. Jorgensen

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

The present invention is directed to a sound generating apparatus, including an article adapted to be worn on a user's hand, and an electronic assembly attached to the article. It further includes structure for generating a sound within the electronic assembly. Still further, it includes an actuator for energizing the electronic assembly to emit the sound.

Acuta Enews May 2006, Vol. 35, No. 5

ACUTA Newsletters

In This Issue

Nominees for ACUTA Board of Directors 2006-2007

From ACUTA Headquarters................. Jeri A. Semer, CAE, ACUTA Executive Director

Info Links................. Randy Hayes, Univ. of Northern Iowa

Tech Talk: R U Protected from the Dangers of IM?.................. Kevin Tanzillo, DUX PR

Audio Seminar: Wireless Network Security

Be a Monitor or Moderator at the Annual Conference

Web Tip: Conference 2006: Register & Details Online....... Aaron Fuehrer, ACUTA Information Tech. Mgr.

Dues Notices to Mail May 1

Board Report................. Riny Ledgerwood, San Diego State Univ., ACUTA Sec./Treasurer

DC Update..................... Whitney Johnson, Retired, NO. Michigan Univ.

Welcome New Members

ACUTA Online Press …

Modeling And Representation Of Geometric Tolerances Information In Integrated Measurement Processes, Xiaoping Zhao, T. M. Kethara Pasupathy, Robert G. Wilhelm

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Modeling and representation of geometric tolerances information across an enterprise is viable due to the advances in Internet technologies and increasing integration requirements from industry. In Integrated Measurement Processes (IMP), geometric tolerances data model must support different models from several well-defined standards: including ASME Y14.5M-1994, STEP, DMIS, and others. In this paper, we propose a layered conformance level geometric tolerances representation model. This model uses the widely applied ASME Y14.5M-1994 as its foundation layer by abstracting most information from this standard. The additional geometric tolerances information defined by DMIS and STEP is incorporated into this model to form corresponding conformance …

Multiobjective Plan Selection Optimization For Traffic Responsive Control, Montasir M. Abbas, Anuj Sharma

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Optimal coordination of traffic signals requires proper activation of timing plans to match current traffic conditions. One of the greatest challenges in configuring a traffic responsive plan selection control mode is how to select only n number of timing plans (restricted by traffic controller memory limitations) to address possibly all traffic conditions/states that can be encountered in the field, for a specific site, but most importantly, how to associate each of these traffic conditions to one of the n timing plans stored in the traffic controller. This paper uses a multiobjective non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm to (1) select the best …

Non-Isothermal Reaction-Diffusion Systems With Thermodynamically Coupled Heat And Mass Transfer, Yaşar Demirel

Papers in Analytical Chemistry

Non-isothermal reaction-diffusion (RD) systems control the behavior of many transport and rate processes in physical, chemical, and biological systems. A considerable work has been published on mathematically coupled nonlinear differential equations of RD systems by neglecting the possible thermodynamic couplings among heat and mass fluxes, and reaction velocities. Here, the thermodynamic coupling refers that a flux occurs without its primary thermodynamic driving force, which may be gradient of temperature, or chemical potential, or reaction affinity. This study presents the modeling equations of non-isothermal RD systems with coupled heat and mass fluxes excluding the coupling of chemical reactions using the linear …

Transfected Cell Arrays For Assessment Of Estrogen Receptor Activation In Breast Cancer Cells, Angela K. Pannier, Zain Bengali, Eric A. Ariazi, V. Craig Jordan, Lonnie D Shea

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

Transfected cell arrays represent a high-throughput approach to correlate gene expression with functional cell responses, based on gene delivery from a substrate that supports cell adhesion. These arrays provide the ability to express, in parallel, thousands of exogenous genes in live cells, giving real-time information on cellular physiology and gene function. While there have been advances in transfected cell arrays, improvements are needed to this technology, including increasing the cells types that can be efficiently transfected and developing better quantification and normalization methods. We have created an array using soft lithography techniques to pattern DNA-lipid complex deposition. Specifically, a mold …

Magnetic Anisotropy And Anisotropic Ballistic Conductance Of Thin Magnetic Wires, Ildar F. Sabiryanov

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

The magnetocrystalline anisotropy of thin magnetic wires of iron and cobalt is quite different from the bulk phases. The spin moment of monatomic Fe wire may be as high as 3.4 μ_B, while the orbital moment as high as 0.5 μ_B. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) was calculated for wires up to 0.6 nm in diameter starting from monatomic wire and adding consecutive shells for thicker wires. I observe that Fe wires exhibit the change sign with the stress applied along the wire. It means that easy axis may change from the direction along the wire …

Effect Of Oxygen Vacancies On Interlayer Exchange Coupling In Fe/Mgo/Fe Tunnel Junctions, Mikhail Ye Zhuravlev, Julian P. Velev, A. V. Vedyayev, Evgeny Y. Tsymbal

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

We have investigated the interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) in Fe/MgO/Fe(0 0 1) tunnel junctions with and without oxygen vacancies in MgO, using model and density functional calculations. The model predicts that IEC changes sign from ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic if a defect level matches the Fermi energy. Ab initio calculations show that for perfect junctions, IEC is ferromagnetic and decreases exponentially with MgO thickness. Oxygen vacancies placed in the middle of MgO make IEC antiferromagnetic for three monolayers (MLs) of MgO, but do not change the sign of IEC for five MLs. The latter fact is explained within the model, which …

Means Of Seeding And Metallizing Polyimide, Ravi F. Saraf

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Patents

A method to selectively metallize polyimide with an all electroless process.

Highly Coercive Rapidly Solidified Sm–Co Alloys, Shampa Aich, V.K. Ravindran, Jeffrey E. Shield

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Highly coercive (H_c up to 37 kOe at 300 K), high remanent permanent magnets have been achieved by rapid solidification of binary Sm–Co alloys and Sm–Co alloys modified with Nb and C. Rapidly solidified SmCo_x alloys with x ranging from 5 to 11.5 formed predominantly a solid solution TbCu7-type SmCo7 phase, although hcp Co was observed for x>7.3. A coercivity value of 10 kOe was observed for xx, as primary dendrites. Additions of 3 at. % Nb or 3 and 5 at. % C profoundly affected the coercivity values. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigations revealed …