Engineering Commons^™

Biological Opinion On The Operation Of The Missouri River Main Stem System, Missouri River Bank Stabilization And Navigation Project, And Operation Of The Kansas River Reservoir System

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) prepares an annual report for interested parties in accordance with reporting requirements of the "Biological Opinion (BiOp) on the Operation of the Missouri River Main Stem System, Operation and Maintenance of the Missouri River Bank Stabilization and Navigation Project (BSNP), and Operation of the Kansas River Reservoir System" prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) dated November 30,2000 and the Amendment, thereto, dated December 16,2003.

This annual report documents the Corps threatened and endangered species conservation activities to comply with the provisions of the 2000 BiOp and the 2003 Amendment to …

U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Omaha District Monthly Drought Report, August 2005

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Missouri River Basin Drought Overview

Pre-Settlement Drought

Drought Since 1895

Current Conditions

Drought Outlook 1

Ft. Peck, Montana

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Garrison, North Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Boat Ramp Information

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Other Areas of Interest/Concern

Oahe, South Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Mainstem Reservoir Information, Weekly Elevation Comparison 27 JUN 2005 through 1 AUG 2005

Mainstem Reservoir Storage Comparison Water Year 2004 vs. Water Year 2005

Ft. Peck, MT …

U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Omaha District Monthly Drought Report, July 2005

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Drought Monitor Overview

Latest Seasonal Assessment

U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook

U.S. Drought Monitor

National Drought Summary July 12, 2005

Current Drought Impacts in the United States

Drought Severity Index by Division

Mainstem Reservoir Information

Reservoir Control Center Predictions

Basic Simulation

Lower Basic Simulation

Upper Basic Simulation

Ft. Peck, Montana

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

FY 05 Action Items

Garrison, North Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Boat Ramp Information

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Other Areas of Interest/Concern

Oahe Assessment

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access …

U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Omaha District Monthly Drought Report, November 2005

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Current Conditions

Drought Outlook

Ft. Peck, Montana

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Garrison, North Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Boat Ramp Information

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Other Areas of Interest/Concern

Oahe, South Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Mainstem Reservoir Information, Weekly Elevation Comparison 3 OCT 2005 through 31 OCT 2005

Mainstem Reservoir Storage Comparison Water Year 2004 vs. Water Year 2005

Ft.Peck, MT

Garrison, ND

Oahe, SD

U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers Omaha District Monthly Drought Report, September 2005

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Missouri River Basin Drought Overview

Pre-Settlement Drought

Drought Since 1895

Current Conditions

Drought Outlook

Ft. Peck, Montana

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Garrison, North Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Boat Ramp Information

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Other Areas of Interest/Concern

Oahe, South Dakota

Reservoir Elevation Overview

Water Intake Overview

Access Overview

Noxious Weeds Overview

Cultural Resources Overview

Mainstem Reservoir Information, Weekly Elevation Comparison 27 JUN 2005 through 31 AUG 2005

Mainstem Reservoir Storage Comparison Water Year 2004 vs. Water Year  2005

Ft. Peck, MT

Garrison, …

Self-Assembly Of Nanoparticles On Live Bacterium: An Avenue To Fabricate Electronic Devices, Ravi F. Saraf, Vikas Berry

Papers in Nanotechnology

Recently, hybrid structures of microorganisms with inorganic nanoscale moieties have received great interest owing to their potential in fabricating electronic systems. The electronic properties of metal nanoparticles, as a result of the singleelectron transport of current,[1] make them ideal materials for nanodevices. Concomitantly, the nanostructure of microorganisms such as bacteria,[2] viruses,[3, 4] and yeast[5] are attractive scaffolds for the templating of metal nanoparticles through the interactions of the former with surface charges and the affinity of certain metals for specific biological molecules.[2–7] However, the key challenges in building hybrid devices are 1) to pattern nanostructures without destroying the biological construct …

Evaluating Livestock System Environmental Performance With Whole-Farm Nutrient Balance, Richard K. Koelsch

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

As a part of the USEPA’s concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) final rule, all CAFOs are required to develop and implement a nutrient management plan (NMP). The USEPA’s emphasis on better management of nutrients appropriately targets a critical environmental issue associated with animal production. The concentration of animals in livestock feeding operations, often separate from feed grain production, requires importing of substantial quantities of feed nutrients. Due to the inefficiencies of nutrient utilization in livestock production, quantities of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in manure greater than can be utilized in local crop production often result. With the focus of …

Improvement Of Tractor Performance, K. U. Kim, Leonard L. Bashford, Brent T. Sampson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Improvement of agricultural tractor performance was analyzed using the data from 926 diesel tractors tested at the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory from 1959 through 2002. The performance analysis included the specific volumetric fuel consumption, power per unit weight, traction coefficient, maximum torque rise, and sound level. They were evaluated based on the PTO power level and chassis type of tractor. Some of the results are: (1) The average specific volumetric fuel consumptions for the maximum PTO and drawbar powers increased by 20.5% and 23.4% to 3.47 kW•h/L and 3.01 kW•h/L, respectively, from 1959 through 2002. (2) The average maximum PTO …

Takagi–Sugeno Fuzzy Modeling Of Skin Permeability, Deepak R. Keshwani, David D. Jones, Rhonda M. Brand

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The skin is a major exposure route for many potentially toxic chemicals. It is, therefore, important to be able to predict the permeability of compounds through skin under a variety of conditions. Available skin permeability databases are often limited in scope and not conducive to developing effective models. This sparseness and ambiguity of available data prompted the use of fuzzy set theory to model and predict skin permeability. Using a previously published database containing 140 compounds, a rule-based Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy model is shown to predict skin permeability of compounds using octanol-water partition coefficient, molecular weight, and temperature as inputs. Model …

Extraction Of Lipids From Grain Sorghum Ddg, L. Wang, Curtis L. Weller, K. T. Hwang

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Soxhlet and recirculated solvent extraction methods were used to extract lipid materials from grain sorghum DDG. The lipid content in DDG with a moisture content of 6.7% (dry basis) was as high as 9.32% of the dried DDG as determined by Soxhlet extraction with n-hexane. There was a slight increase in the lipid yield from 9.21% to 9.68% when the moisture contents increased from 2.1% to 17.4% (d.b.). Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) analysis showed that the sorghum lipids were composed of triacylglycerols, fatty acids, fatty alcohols, fatty aldehydes, free sterols, wax esters, and steryl esters. A bench-scale recirculated extraction system was …

Finite Element Modeling And Experimental Validation Of Cooling Rates Of Large Ready-To-Eat Meat Products In Small Meat-Processing Facilities, A. Amézquita, L. Wang, Curtis L. Weller

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

A two−dimensional axisymmetric transient heat conduction model was developed to simulate air chilling of large ready−to−eat meat products of ellipsoidal shape. A finite element scheme, using 1,600 linear triangular elements with 861 nodes, was implemented in Matlab 6.5 to solve the model. The model considered a variable initial temperature distribution and combined convective, radiative, and evaporative boundary conditions. Predicted values agreed well with experimental data collected in actual processing conditions. Validation of model performance resulted in maximum deviations of 2.54°C and 0.29% for temperature and weight loss histories, respectively. The maximum temperature deviation (2.54°C) occurred at the surface; however, for …

Policosanol Contents And Compositions In Wax-Like Materials Extracted From Selected Cereals Of Korean Origin, Keum Taek Hwang, Ji Eun Kim, Curtis L. Weller

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Policosanols. long-chained alcohols. have been reported to have beneficial physiological activities. Content and composition of policosanols in wax-like materials extracted from selected cereals of Korean origin were determined. Wax-like materials were extracted using hot hexane. Yields of wax-like materials from unpolished grain sorghum, polished grain sorghum. brown rice. purple rice, wheat, and maize were 223, 37, 33, 61, 10, and 10 mg/100 g of dry kernels, respectively. Policosanol contents, as determined using HPLC, in the wax-like materials from the cereals were 33, 29, 6.0, and 2% (w/w, db), respectively. Major alcohols in the policosanols from grain sorghum were octacosanol and …

Modeling Of Bubble Growth Dynamics And Nonisothermal Expansion In Starch-Based Foams During Extrusion, Lijun Wang, Girish M. Ganjyal, David D. Jones, Curtis L. Weller, Milford Hanna

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

A mathematical model was developed to describe expansion phenomena in starch-based foams during extrusion. The model was divided into three parts to describe the microbubble growth dynamics, to couple bubble growth with extrudate expansion, and to describe the macrotransport phenomena in the extrudate, respectively. The differential equations involved in the model were solved by finite element schemes. For validating the model, the predicted radius, density, and residual moisture of final extrudate were compared with experimental data. Standard deviations between the predicted and experimental radius, density, and residual moisture of final extrudates were 16.7%, 11.2%, and 39.3%, respectively. The model was …

Root Zone Temperatures Of Viburnum Odoratissimum Grown In The Multipot Box System And Conventional Systems: Measurement And Analyses Of Temperature Profiles And Predicting Root Zone Temperatures, Suat Irmak, D. Z. Haman, Ayse Kilic, J. W. Jones, B. Tonkinson, D. Burch, T. H. Yeager, C. Larsen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

This research study evaluates the effectiveness of a recently introduced irrigation- plant production system, multipot box system (MPBS), for moderating root zone temperature (RZT) compared with the conventional nursery containers. The study also deals with the development, calibration, and validation of a series of models that can be used to predict maximum (max) and minimum (min) RZTs using commonly available input variables. The Viburnum odoratissimum (Ker.-gawl.) was used as the test plant. Models were calibrated in the fall growing season and validated during the summer. The RZT was used as the dependent variable while the max and min air temperatures …

Evaluation Of Toxic Agent Effects On Lung Cells By Fiber Evanescent Wave Spectroscopy, Pierre Lucas, David Lee Coq, Christophe Juncker, Jayne Collier, Dianne E. Boesewetter, Catherine Boussard-Pledel, Bruno Bureau, Mark R. Riley

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Biochemical changes in living cells are detected using a fiber probe system composed of a single chalcogenide fiber acting as both the sensor and transmission line for infrared optical signals. The signal is collected via evanescent wave absorption along the tapered sensing zone of the fiber. We spectroscopically monitored the effects of the surfactant Triton X-lOO, which serves as a toxic agent simulant on a transformed human lung carcinoma type II epithelial cell line (A549). We observe spectral changes between 2800-3000 cm-1 in four absorptions bands, which are assigned to hydrocarbon vibrations of methylene and methyl groups in membrane lipids. …

Evaluation Of Methods For Estimating Daily Reference Crop Evapotranspiration At A Site In The Humid Southeast United States, R. E. Yoder, Lameck O. Odhiambo, Wesley C. Wright

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Estimated daily reference crop evapotranspiration (ET_o) is normally used to determine the water requirement of crops using the crop factor method. Many ET_o estimation methods have been developed for different types of climatic data, and the accuracy of these methods varies with climatic conditions. In this study, pair−wise comparisons were made between daily ET_o estimated from eight different ET_o equations and ET_o measured by lysimeter to provide information helpful in selecting an appropriate ET_o equation for the Cumberland Plateau located in the humid Southeast United States. Based on the standard error of the …

Remote Estimation Of Canopy Chlorophyll Content In Crops, Anatoly A. Gitelson, Andrés Viña, Veronica Ciganda, Donald Rundquist, Timothy J. Arkebauer

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Accurate estimation of spatially distributed chlorophyll content (Chl) in crops is of great importance for regional and global studies of carbon balance and responses to fertilizer (e.g., nitrogen) application. In this paper a recently developed conceptual model was applied for remotely estimating Chl in maize and soybean canopies. We tuned the spectral regions to be included in the model, according to the optical characteristics of the crops studied, and showed that the developed technique allowed accurate estimation of total Chl in both crops, explaining more than 92% of Chl variation. This new technique shows great potential for remotely tracking the …

Modeling Sediment Trapping In A Vegetative Filter Accounting For Converging Overland Flow, M. J. Helmers, D. E. Eisenhauer, Thomas G. Franti, Michael G. Dosskey

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Vegetative filters (VF) are used to remove sediment and other pollutants from overland flow. When modeling the hydrology of VF, it is often assumed that overland flow is planar, but our research indicates that it can be two-dimensional with converging and diverging pathways. Our hypothesis is that flow convergence will negatively influence the sediment trapping capability of VF. The objectives were to develop a two-dimensional modeling approach for estimating sediment trapping in VF and to investigate the impact of converging overland flow on sediment trapping by VF. In this study, the performance of a VF that has field-scale flow path …

Investigation Of Ferroelectricity In Newly Synthesized Nitrile Polymer Systems, Matt Poulsen, Stephen Ducharme, Alexander V. Sorokin, Sahadeva Reddy, James M. Takacs, Y. Wen, Jihee Kim, Shireen Adenwalla

Stephen Ducharme Publications

The ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of newly synthesized polymer systems have been studied. To date PVDF and its copolymers P(VDF-TrFE) have provided the bulk of the knowledge pertaining to ferroelectricity in polymers. Recently, ultrathin ferroelectric films of P(VDF-TrFE) 70:30 have been fabricated using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique [4]. In this study, various new polymers have been synthesized by chemically altering the PVDF structure. This alteration was performed in order to enhance the amphiphilic nature of the polymer and thus improve the LB film quality and control. Various chemical groups have been used to replace the electropositive hydrogen and electronegative fluorine found …

Boron-Rich Semiconducting Boron Carbide Neutron Detector, Andrew D. Harken, Ellen E. Day, Brian W. Robertson, Shireen Adenwalla

Shireen Adenwalla Papers

Data on the neutron detection capabilities of a variety of boron carbide/Si heterojunction diodes is presented. The pulse height spectra are compared with previously measured conversion layer devices and the variations in shape and position of the peaks are discussed.

Optimization Of Time Of Day Plan Scheduling Using A Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm, Montasir M. Abbas, Anuj Sharma

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Coordinating traffic signals can provide great savings to motorists in terms of reduced delays and number of vehicular stops. In order to maximize benefits, engineers need to use a mechanism by which the most optimal timing plans are activated when the traffic patterns change. Common ways of accomplishing this need is by using Time of Day (TOD) plan scheduling, or Traffic Responsive Plan Selection (TRPS). Out of the two modes, the TOD mode is by far the most common. Engineers, however, typically use their judgment to determine the TOD plan scheduling. Unless traffic patterns change at certain times of the …

Dec 2004, Tractor Museum

Lester F. Larsen Tractor Museum: Planning and Development Documents

Introductions Treasurer's Report Curator's Report

Imaging Using Lateral Bending Modes Of Atomic Force Microscope Cantilevers, A. Caron, U. Rabe, M. Reinstadtler, Joseph A. Turner, W. Arnold

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Using scanning probe techniques, surface properties such as shear stiffness and friction can be measured with a resolution in the nanometer range. The torsional deflection or buckling of atomic force microscope cantilevers has previously been used in order to measure the lateral forces acting on the tip. This letter shows that the flexural vibration modes of cantilevers oscillating in their width direction parallel to the sample surface can also be used for imaging. These lateral cantilever modes exhibit vertical deflection amplitudes if the cantilever is asymmetric in thickness direction, e.g., by a trapezoidal cross section.

Conversation Exchange Dynamics: A New Signal Primitive For Computer Network Intrusion Detection, John C. Mceachen, John M. Zachary, Junling Wang, Kah Wai Cheng

United States Navy: Publications

As distributed network intrusion detection systems expand to integrate hundreds and possibly thousands of sensors, managing and presenting the associated sensor data becomes an increasingly complex task. Methods of intelligent data reduction are needed to make sense of the wide dimensional variations. We present a new signal primitive we call conversation exchange dynamics (CED) that accentuates anomalies in traffic flow. This signal provides an aggregated primitive that may be used by intrusion detection systems to base detection strategies upon. Indications of the signal in a variety of simulated and actual anomalous network traffic from distributed sensor collections are presented. Specifically, …

Oscillatory Interlayer Exchange Coupling In [Pt/Co]N/Nio/[Co/Pt]N Multilayers With Perpendicular Anisotropy: Dependence On Nio And Pt Layer Thicknesses, Z. Y. Liu, Lanping Yue, D. J. Keavney, Shireen Adenwalla

Materials Research Science and Engineering Center: Faculty Publications

Interlayer exchange coupling has been studied in a series of [Pt( t_Pt Å)/Co(4 Å)]n/NiO( t_NiO)/[Co(4 Å)/Pt( t_Pt Å)]_n multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy. The coupling oscillates between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic as a function of t_NiO with a period of ~5 Å, and the oscillatory behavior is related to the antiferromagnetic ordering of the NiO layer. This interlayer coupling between two Co/Pt multilayers is shown to occur domain by domain by magnetic force microscopy imaging. For the strongest antiferromagnetic coupling at t_NiO = 11 Å, an oscillation with a period of ~6 Å is superposed …

Ranque–Hilsch Vortex Tube Thermocycler For Fast Dna Amplification And Real-Time Optical Detection, Ryan J. Ebmeier, Scott E. Whitney, Amitabha Sarkar, Michael Nelson, Nisha Padhye, George Gogos, Hendrik J. Viljoen

Papers in Biochemical Engineering

An innovative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) thermocycler capable of performing real-time optical detection is described below. This device utilizes the Ranque–Hilsch vortex tube in a system to efficiently and rapidly cycle three 20 mL samples between the denaturation, annealing, and elon-gation temperatures. The reaction progress is displayed real-time by measuring the size of a fluo-rescent signal emitted by SYBR green/double-stranded DNA complexes. This device can produce significant reaction yields with very small amounts of initial DNA, for example, it can amplify 0.25 fg (,5 copies) of a 96 bp bacteriophage l-DNA fragment 2.731011-fold by performing 45 cycles in less than …

Quantum Entanglement Of Anisotropic Magnetic Nanodots, Ralph Skomski, Andrei Y. Istomin, Anthony F. Starace, David J. Sellmyer

Materials Research Science and Engineering Center: Faculty Publications

Anisotropic magnetic nanodots are promising physical realizations of qubits for quantum computing at finite temperature owing to their well-separated low-lying energy levels and scalability. The entanglement of two interacting magnetic nanodots is investigated and shown both analytically and numerically to be resonantly dependent on their interaction strength and on differences in their properties. These results provide criteria for fabricating and coupling magnetic nanodots so that their low-lying eigenstates can be significantly entangled.

Extending Asterism Decoding To Qam And Its Complexity In Rician Fading Mimo Systems, Phillip Conder, Tadeusz A. Wysocki

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications (to 2015)

The area of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) communications systems has received enormous attention recently as they can provide a roughly linear increase in data rate by using Multiple Transmit and Receive antennas. The optimal detection strategy for a MIMO receiver is to perform a Maximum-Likelihood (ML) search over all possible transmitted symbol combinations has an exponential complexity when the constellation size of number of transmit antennas increase. A number of sub-optimal decoders, such as VBLAST, provide linear decoding only where the number of receive antennas is at least equal to the number of transmit antennas.

Certain Asterism decoding described …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Starch Acetates With High Substitution, Yixiang Xu, Vesselin Miladinov, Milford A. Hanna

Industrial Agricultural Products Center: Publications and Information

Acetylation of high-amylose (70%) maize starch to high degree of substitution (DS) was studied by reacting starch with acetic anhydride using 50% aqueous NaOH as the catalyst. DS increased with increasing reaction times and increasing ratios of acetic anhydride to starch. Reaction efficiency (RE) increased with longer reaction times and decreased with increases in the ratios of acetic anhydride to starch for extended reaction times. Increasing the amount of NaOH increased both DS and RE. A series of starch acetates with DS values of 0.57-2.23 were prepared and their crystalline structures, chemical structures, thermal stability, and morphological properties were investigated. …

Acuta Enews December 2004, Vol. 33, No. 12

ACUTA Newsletters

ln This lssue

From the President............................. Tamara J . Closs, ACUTA President, Georgetown University

Tech Talk: Pseudowire............................ Kevin Tanzillo, Dux Public Relations

Cell-Phone Directory to Be Published?

Web Tip: lnfo about and from ACUTA Events........................ Aaron Fuehrer, ACUTA Computer Svcs. Mgr.

Member Sites to See 5 Board Report.................. Cormine Piscopo, Providence College

DC Update................ Whitney Johnson, Retired, Northern Michigan Univ.

Welcome New Members