Engineering Commons^™

Identification Of New Glutamate Decarboxylases From Streptomyces For Efficient Production Of Γ-Aminobutyric Acid In Engineered Escherichia Coli, Haina Yuan, Hongbo Wang, Ozkan Fidan, Yong Qin, Gongnian Xiao, Jixun Zhan

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Background

Gamma (γ)-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) as a bioactive compound is used extensively in functional foods, pharmaceuticals and agro-industry. It can be biosynthesized via decarboxylation of monosodium glutamate (MSG) or L-glutamic acid (L-Glu) by glutamate decarboxylase (GAD; EC4.1.1.15). GADs have been identified from a variety of microbial sources, such as Escherichia coli and lactic acid bacteria. However, no GADs from Streptomyces have been characterized. The present study is aimed to identify new GADs from Streptomyces strains and establish an efficient bioproduction platform for GABA in E. coli using these enzymes.

Results

By sequencing and analyzing the genomes of three Streptomycesstrains, …

Evaluation And Modeling Of The Effect Of Tool Edge Radius On Machined Surface Roughness In Turning Uns A92024-T351 Aluminum Alloy, Ning Fang, P. Srinivasa Pai

Engineering Education Faculty Publications

Tool edge radius plays a significant role in affecting the surface integrity of machined products. The vast majority of existing research, however, takes no account of the effect of tool edge radius in the evaluation and modeling of machined surface roughness, an essential indicator of surface integrity. The present study fills this important research gap and has performed a total of 45 turning experiments on Unified Numbering System (UNS) A92024-T351 aluminum alloy with carefully selected cutting tools with three levels of tool edge radii. This article describes the experimental setup and measurements of tool edge radius and machined surface roughness. …

Stochastic Methods To Find Maximum Likelihood For Spam E-Mail Classification, Seyed M. -H. Mansourbeigi

Computer Science Student Research

The increasing volume of unsolicited bulk e-mails leads to the need for reliable stochastic spam detection methods for the classification of the received sequence of e-mails. When a sequence of emails is received by a recipient during a time period, the spam filters have already classified them as spam or not spam. Due to the dynamic nature of the spam, there might be emails marked as not spam but are actually real spams and vice versa. For the sake of security, it is important to be able to detect real spam emails. This paper utilizes stochastic methods to refine the …

Details On Csa-Sbl: An Algorithm For Sparse Bayesian Learning Boosted By Partial Erroneous Support Knowledge, Mohammad Shekaramiz, Todd K. Moon, Jacob H. Gunther

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This report provides details on CSA-SBL(VB) algorithm for the recovery of sparse signals with unknown clustering pattern. More specifically, we deal with the recovery of sparse signals with unknown clustering pattern in the case of having partial erroneous prior knowledge on the supports of the signal. In [1], we provided a modified sparse Bayesian learning model to incorporate prior knowledge and simultaneously learn the unknown clustering pattern. For this purpose, we added one more layer to support-aided sparse Bayesian learning algorithm (SA-SBL) that was proposed in [2]. This layer adds a prior on the shape parameters of Gamma distributions, those …

Usu Researchers Model Effects Of Microgravity On Muscles During Spaceflight | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

Researchers at Utah State University are improving the ways we model muscle loss during spaceflight. Using a rotating cell culture device that simulates microgravity, a team of biological engineers tested various materials and methods to develop a protocol that mimics the physical changes seen in atrophying muscle.

Bayesian Compressive Sensing Of Sparse Signals With Unknown Clustering Patterns, Mohammad Shekaramiz, Todd K. Moon, Jacob H. Gunther

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We consider the sparse recovery problem of signals with an unknown clustering pattern in the context of multiple measurement vectors (MMVs) using the compressive sensing (CS) technique. For many MMVs in practice, the solution matrix exhibits some sort of clustered sparsity pattern, or clumpy behavior, along each column, as well as joint sparsity across the columns. In this paper, we propose a new sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) method that incorporates a total variation-like prior as a measure of the overall clustering pattern in the solution. We further incorporate a parameter in this prior to account for the emphasis on the …

Improving Wastewater Treatment Using Algal Biofilms And Bioenergy, Nathan Guymon

Research on Capitol Hill

This project represents a collaboration between Utah State University, Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility (CVWRF), and WesTech Engineering, Inc. The goal of the project is to help water treatment plants meet state nutrient standards and reduce operating costs. This is being accomplished in three major sections:

1. Wastewater treatment – microalgae is grown to remove nitrogen and phosphorus from water.

2. Biogas generation – the microalgae is harvested and processed to produce methane gas used to generate power.

3. Fertilizer production – nutrients are also collected from the wastewater and turned into high-value fertilizer.

By creating systems that remove nutrients …

Developing Silent Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Glen Wright

Research on Capitol Hill

The optimization of a drone propeller’s acoustic signature can play an important role in the Department of Defense, observation of nature, commercial operations, and marine propulsion.

The aim of this research is to optimize the acoustic signature of propellers by isolating and modifying specific propeller characteristics. Propeller variations being researched in this project include:

• Leading-edge serrations: break up incoming fluid and evenly disperse it along airfoil
• Trailing-edge serrations: minimize vortex occurrences along the trailing edge of airfoil
• Airfoil ribs: force fluid through tangential channels along airfoil
• Winglets: disrupt turbulence and vortices at the tips of the propeller

Successful drone propeller …

Exploring Boarding Strategies For High-Speed Railway, Tie-Qiao Tang, Yi-Xiao Shao, Liang Chen, Hai-Jun Huang, Ziqi Song

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

In light of the increasing demand for passenger transportation on high-speed railway (HSR), the pedestrian flow at HSR stations has become quite crowded in many countries, which has attracted researchers to study the HSR boarding behavior. In this paper, we propose three boarding strategies based on the features of the boarding behavior at an origin HSR station; we then use a cellular automaton (CA) model to study the impacts of boarding strategies on each passenger’s motion during the boarding process at HSR station. The simulation results indicate that some of the three strategies can optimize some passengers’ boarding time and …

Martin Delivers First Research Landscapes Event |College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

Community, business and legislative leaders got a first-hand review of Utah's air quality challenges from one of the state's foremost experts on air quality research. On Feb. 26, Randy Martin, associate research professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and researcher at the Utah Water Research Laboratory, presented the first Research Landscapes lecture in Salt Lake City. The event took place at the O.C. Tanner Headquarters in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

Aiming For Gold: Improving Reproducibility In Hydrology Studies | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

In six well-regarded hydrology and water resources journals published in 2017, the estimated percentage of studies whose results could be fully reproduced was only between 0.06 and 6.8 percent. This low level of reproducibility is not uncommon in hydrology studies — a fact many scientists readily acknowledge. However, a team of researchers at Utah State University may have found a solution to make these studies more reproducible.

Assessing Data Availability And Research Reproducibility In Hydrology And Water Resources, James H. Stagge, David E. Rosenberg, Adel M. Abdallah, Hadia Akbar, Nour A. Atallah, Ryan James

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

There is broad interest to improve the reproducibility of published research. We developed a survey tool to assess the availability of digital research artifacts published alongside peer-reviewed journal articles (e.g. data, models, code, directions for use) and reproducibility of article results. We used the tool to assess 360 of the 1,989 articles published by six hydrology and water resources journals in 2017. Like studies from other fields, we reproduced results for only a small fraction of articles (1.6% of tested articles) using their available artifacts. We estimated, with 95% confidence, that results might be reproduced for only 0.6% to 6.8% …

15 Outstanding Students Recognized At Awards Banquet | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

The College of Engineering extends its heartfelt congratulations to the 15 undergraduate students recognized at Friday’s Engineers Week Awards Banquet.

Faculty Award Winners Recognized At Awards Banquet |College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

The College of Engineering extends its congratulations to the two faculty award winners recognized at Friday’s Engineers Week Awards Banquet.

Extensive Review On Laminated Bus Bar For Low And High Power Applications, Prashant B. T. Singh, Phaneendra Babu Bobba, K. Suresh, Benny J. Varghese

Electrical and Computer Engineering Student Research

This paper explains about wide range of applications for Laminated Bus Bar used for high and low power applications. Authors also explains ways to effective utilize laminated bus bar when compared to conventional bus bar. Laminated bus bars are designed with low stray inductance and high capacitance with a uniform current distribution in conducting plate. Parameters like Length, Width, material thickness and other miscellaneous parameters effect Laminated bus bar performance. With a proper design of Laminated bus bar it can best utilized, laminated bus bar are suitable for many low and high power applications which are discussed in this paper. …

Aerospace Student Receives Summer Fellowship | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

Utah State University’s Grace Graham is one of 38 women worldwide to receive the prestigious Brooke Owens Fellowship.

Professor Randy Martin First To Speak At Usu Research Landscapes Event | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

Cllege of Engineering professor and air quality expert Randy Martin will be the first to present at Utah State University’s upcoming Research Landscapes speaker series on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The series highlights findings from statewide research on air, water and land.

Usu Aggieair Program Selected For Critical National Airspace Operation | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

Utah State University’s premier unmanned aerial systems organization will take part in a highly anticipated NASA-led operation.

Muscle Atrophy Marker Expression Differs Between Rotary Cell Culture System And Animal Studies, Charles P. Harding, Elizabeth Vargis

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Muscular atrophy, defined as the loss of muscle tissue, is a serious issue for immobilized patients on Earth and for humans during spaceflight, where microgravity prevents normal muscle loading. In vitro modeling is an important step in understanding atrophy mechanisms and testing countermeasures before animal trials. The most ideal environment for modeling must be empirically determined to best mimic known responses in vivo. To simulate microgravity conditions, murine C2C12 myoblasts were cultured in a rotary cell culture system (RCCS). Alginate encapsulation was compared against polystyrene microcarrier beads as a substrate for culturing these adherent muscle cells. Changes after culture …

The ‘Laminar Express’: Usu Engineers Dissect The Two-Seam Fastball | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

The worlds of engineering and baseball have collided. Researchers at Utah State University are breaking down the physics of a new baseball pitch that’s been getting a lot of attention.

Idea Factory Expands After Just One Year | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

The College of Engineering expanded its Idea Factory to make more space for the growing number of student users.

Usu Celebrates National Engineers Week | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

Utah State University’s College of Engineering is joining universities and engineering firms around the country in celebrating the 2019 National Engineers Week.

Addressing Challenges For Mapping Irrigated Fields In Subhumid Temperate Regions By Integrating Remote Sensing And Hydroclimatic Data, Tianfang Xu, Jillian M. Deines, Anthony D. Kendall, Bruno Basso, David W. Hyndman

Publications

High-resolution mapping of irrigated fields is needed to better estimate water and nutrient fluxes in the landscape, food production, and local to regional climate. However, this remains a challenge in humid to subhumid regions, where irrigation has been expanding into what was largely rainfed agriculture due to trends in climate, crop prices, technologies and practices. One such region is southwestern Michigan, USA, where groundwater is the main source of irrigation water for row crops (primarily corn and soybeans). Remote sensing of irrigated areas can be difficult in these regions as rainfed areas have similar characteristics. We present methods to address …

Details On O-Sbl(Mcmc): A Compressive Sensing Algorithm For Sparse Signal Recovery For The Smv/Mmv Problem Using Sparse Bayesian Learning And Markov Chain Monte Carlo Inference, Mohammad Shekaramiz, Todd K. Moon, Jacob H. Gunther

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This report provides details on O-SBL(MCMC) algorithm for the recovery of jointly-sparse signals for the multiple measurement vector (MMV) problem. For the MMVs with this structure, the solution matrix, which is a collection of sparse vectors, is expected to exhibit joint sparsity across the columns. The notion of joint sparsity here means that the columns of the solution matrix share common supports. This algorithm employs a sparse Bayesian learning (SBL) model to encourage the joint sparsity structure across the columns of the solution. While the proposed algorithm is constructed for the MMV problems, it can also be applied to the …

A Continental Water Model For All | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

Understanding the movement and availability of water locally and across the country is of paramount importance to both economic productivity and the human health of the nation.

A Data Model To Manage Data For Water Resources Systems Modeling, Adel M. Abdallah, David E. Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Current practices to identify, organize, analyze, and serve data to water resources systems models are typically model and dataset-specific. Data are stored in different formats, described with different vocabularies, and require manual, model-specific, and time-intensive manipulations to find, organize, compare, and then serve to models. This paper presents the Water Management Data Model (WaMDaM) implemented in a relational database. WaMDaM uses contextual metadata, controlled vocabularies, and supporting software tools to organize and store water management data from multiple sources and models and allow users to more easily interact with its database. Five use cases use thirteen datasets and models focused …

New Biological Engineering Department Head Named At Usu | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

Utah State University’s Department of Biological Engineering is under new leadership. Industry veteran and professor D. Keith Roper took the helm at the department at the beginning of the spring semester. Roper brings a wealth of experience and leadership to the position and says he’s eager to usher in exciting changes.

College Of Engineering Welcomes New Director Of Industry Relations | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

USU’s College of Engineering welcomes Dixon Nielson as the new director of industry relations. Nielson joined the college on February 1. His primary responsibility is to develop and strengthen college and department ties with companies that value our students and wish to invest in their future.

Usu Engineering Graduate Student Secures Prestigious Navy Internship | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

Utah State University graduate student Lori Caldwell will take part in the prestigious Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program, or NREIP. Caldwell, a former student president of the USU chapter of the Society of Women Engineers and founder of two successful science and engineering camps for local high school students, was one of approximately 75 graduate students nationwide to receive a 2019 NREIP award. Caldwell is concurrently pursuing a master’s degree in biological engineering, advised by Dr. Elizabeth Vargis, and a PhD in engineering education, advised by Dr. Angela Minichiello.

College Of Engineering Welcomes New Hr And Scholarship Personnel Specialist | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

USU’s College of Engineering welcomes Makenzye Bennett as the new human resources and scholarship personnel specialist. Bennett joined the college on Dec. 10, 2018.