Engineering Commons^™

A 13c Nmr Study Of Decomposing Logging Residues In An Australian Hoop Pine Plantation, Chris E. Johnson, Timothy J. Blumfield, Sue Boyd, Zhihong Xu

Civil and Environmental Engineering - All Scholarship

Purpose Residue retention is important for nutrient and water economy in sub-tropical plantation forests. We examined decomposing hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii Ait. Ex D. Don) residues – foliage, branches and stem wood – to determine the changes in structural chemistry that occur during decomposition.

Materials and methods Residues were incubated in situ using 0.05-m² microplots. We used solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to determine the structural composition of harvest residues in the first 24 months of decomposition.

Results and discussion The spectral data for branch and stem residues were generally similar to one another and …

Research And Publication Opportunities In Structure Of Materials, Dr. David Fullwood, Dr. Brent Adams, Dr. Chris Mattson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The MEG award has been used by our research group as a springboard to launch undergraduates to levels of excellence in academia and the engineering community, and as seed money for research initiatives that will benefit these and future undergraduates. It has been used to leverage significant other funding sources and multiply its effects. Here are some highlights:

Protein-Surface Interactions With Coarse-Grain Simulation Methods, Shuai Wei

Theses and Dissertations

The interaction of proteins with surfaces is a major process involved in protein microarrays. Understanding protein-surface interactions is key to improving the performance of protein microarrays, but current understanding of the behavior of proteins on surfaces is lacking. Prevailing theories on the subject, which suggest that proteins should be stabilized when tethered to surfaces, do not explain the experimentally observed fact that proteins are often denatured on surfaces. This document outlines several studies done to develop a model which is capable of predicting the stabilization and destabilization of proteins tethered to surfaces. As the start point of the research, part …

Poster Session, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• The New Kentucky Nitrogen and Phosphorus Risk Assessment Tool to Protect Water Quality, Tibor Horvath and others, USDA-NRCS, Lexington, KY
• Groundwater Phosphorus in Kentucky Relative to Karst, Groundwater Sensitivity, and Groundwater Physiographic Region, Caroline Chan, Kentucky Division of Water, Frankfort, KY
• Comparison of Irrigation Scheduling Based on Daily Water Use or Plant Water Demand of Container Grown Nursery Plants, Susmitha Nambuthiri and others, Dept of Horticulture, UK
• Arsenic Species in Broiler (Gallus gallus domesticus) Litter, Soils, Maize (Zea mays L.), and Groundwater from Litter-Amended Fields, Georgia Zeigler and others, Dept Plant and Soil Science, UK
• Cyberinfrastructure …

Session 2d, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• A Stability Index for Northern Kentucky Streams, Bob Hawley and others, Sustainable Streams, LLC, Louisville, KY
• The Gunpowder and Woolper Creek Watershed Initiatives, Local Cases of a National Problem, Mark Jacobs and others, Boone County Conservation District, Burlington, KY
• Watershed-Scale Model of Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles in Streams, William Ford and Jimmy Fox, Dept of Civil Engineering, UK
• Sensor Network for Suspended Sediment Monitoring, Robert Stewart and others, Dept of Civil Engineering, UK

Session 2c, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Mercury Bioaccumulation and the Impact of Stream Basin Characteristics on Susceptible Populations: Policy Implications for Kentucky, Caroline Chan, Kentucky Division of Water, Frankfort, KY
• Asian Carp in Kentucky Waters: An Ecological Disaster? Ron Brooks, Kentucky Dept of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, KY
• Effects of Streambed Sediments on the Fate of Selenium in Eastern Kentucky Watersheds Contaminated with Surface Coal Mining Operations, Edward Fisher and Yi-Tin Wang, Dept of Civil Engineering, UK
• Thermal Dependence of Solvation Geometries in Aqueous Nitrate Ion Solutions, Matthew Nee, Dept of Chemistry, WKU, Bowling Green, KY
• The Combined Effects of Atrazine and …

Session 2b, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Developing a Vegetation-Based Index of Biotic Integrity for Assessing the Ecological Condition of Wetlands in Kentucky, Tanner Morris and others, Dept of Biological Sciences, EKU, Richmond, KY
• Using Vegetation and Landscape Analysis to Validate a Wetland Rapid Assessment Method for Kentucky's Forested Riparian Wetlands, JohnRyan Polascik and others, Dept of Biological Sciences, EKU, Richmond, KY
• Improving Overall Stream Function Beyond the Channel (Opportunity Meets Necessity), Oakes Routt and Wanda Lawson, Stantec Consulting Services Inc., Louisville, KY
• The Effects of Prescribed Fire Restoration on Amphibian and Reptile Diversity, Robert Knopp and others, Murray State University, Murray, KY …

Session 2a: Developing Post-Incident Risk Communication Guidelines For Intentional Water Contamination Events, Pamela Cupp, Shari R. Veil, Timothy L. Sellnow, H. Dan O'Hair, Nicole Staricek, Katy Anthony, Laura Young, Chike Anyaegbunam, Charles B. Madinger, Anna Goodman Hoover

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

This panel will discuss a US EPA-funded research project intended to improve risk communication for post-incident decontamination and clearance activities associated with intentional contamination of a water system. The study incorporates two complementary methods conducted in successive phases. The recently-completed first phase included robust case study analyses of risk communication related to recent and significant contamination incidents. The second phase, which is currently underway, will identify ways in which disparate stakeholder groups in a metropolitan area differentially perceive risk and subsequent risk communication efforts.

Session 1d, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Subwatershed Clustering Based on Geomorphic and Human Induced Landscape Modifications: The Commonwealth of Kentucky, Brian Lee and others, Dept of Landscape Architecture, UK
• Imperviousness and Greenness: Extracting Watershed Metrics from Bi-Temporal, Multispectral Aerial Imagery and LiDAR, Demetrio Zourarakis, Commonwealth Office of Technology, Frankfort, KY
• Landscape Scale Assessment of Soil Moisture Variability using Auxiliary Sensing Technologies and Multivariate Geostatistics, Carla Landrum and others, Dept of Plant and Soil Sciences, UK
• Field -Scale Bromide Leaching as Affected by Land Use and Rainfall Characteristics, Yang Yang, Dept of Plant and Soil Science, UK

Session 1c, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Engaging Partners in the Cane Rune Watershed, Carol Hanley and others, College of Agriculture, UK
• Water Quality Monitoring Results from the McConnell Springs Stormwater Quality Wetland Pond and Gainseway Pond Retrofit Project, David Price and Susan Plueger, Lexington-Fayette County Government, Lexington, KY
• Hydrologic Characterization of a Tree- and Shrub-Vegetated Rain Garden in Central Kentucky, John McMaine and Carmen Agouridis, Dept Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, UK
• Watershed Based Planning in the Urban Wolf Run Watershed, Steven Evans, Third Rock Consultants, LLC, Lexington, KY
• Estimating Load Reduction Costs for Assessing Stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) Feasibility: A Case …

Session 1b, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Flowing Onward: Mapping New Program Directions for the Kentucky Geological Survey's Water Resources Section, Charles Taylor, KGS, UK
• The Presence of 17-β Estradiol and Fluoroquinolones in Kentucky's Surface Waters, E. Glynn Beck and others, KGS, Henderson, KY
• Mapping Karst Sinkholes Using LiDAR - A Pilot Study in Floyds Fork Watershed, Central Kentucky, Patrick Taylor and others, KGS, UK
• Changes in the Kentucky Groundwater Data Repository Search Engines, Bart Davidson, KGS, UK
• Groundwater Discharge at the Kentucky Horse Park KWIS Station, James Currens and Mike Farwell, KGS, UK

Session 1a, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

• Development and Testing of a New Phosphorus Index for Kentucky, Carl Bolster and others, USDA-ARS, Bowling Green, KY
• The New Kentucky Nitrogen and Phosphorus Risk Assessment Tool to Protect Water Quality, Tibor Horvath and others, USDA-NRCS, Lexington, KY
• Herbicide Transport Within Shallow Karst Groundwater on Kentucky's Pennyroyal Plateau Beneath Row Crop Agriculture, Chris Groves and others, Hoffman Environmental Research Institute, WKU, Bowling Green, KY
• Groundwater Tracing in the West Pennyrile Karst Region, Robert Blair and Jessica Moore, Kentucky Division of Water, Frankfort, KY

Proceedings Of 2013 Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium, Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute, University Of Kentucky

Kentucky Water Resources Annual Symposium

This symposium was planned and conducted as a part of the state water resources research institute annual program that is supported by Grant/Cooperative Agreement Number G11AP20081 from the United States Geological Survey. The contents of this proceedings document and the views and conclusions presented at the symposium are solely the responsibility of the individual authors and presenters and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USGS or of the symposium organizers and sponsors. This publication is produced with the understanding that the United States Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for government purposes.

Full Band Calculations Of The Intrinsic Lower Limit Of Contact Resistivity, Jesse Maassen, C. Jeong, A. Baraskar, M. Rodwell, Mark S. Lundstrom

Birck and NCN Publications

The intrinsic lower limit of contact resistivity (rho(LL)(c)) for InAs, In0.53Ga0.47As, GaSb, and Si is calculated using a full band ballistic quantum transport approach. Surprisingly, our results show that rho(LL)(c) is almost independent of the semiconductor. An analytical model, derived for 1D, 2D, and 3D, correctly reproduces the numerical results and explains why rho(LL)(c) is very similar in all cases. Our analysis sets a minimal carrier density required to meet the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors call for rho(c) x 10(-9) Omega-cm(2) by 2023. Comparison with experiments shows there is room for improvement, which will come from optimizing interfacial properties. …

Coupled Vibrational Modes In Multiple-Filled Skutterudites And The Effects On Lattice Thermal Conductivity Reduction, Liang Guo, Xianfan Xu, J. R. Salvador, G. P. Meisner

Birck and NCN Publications

The influence of guest atoms on thermal conduction in filled skutterudites was studied using ultrafast reflectance spectroscopy. Different filling species cause coupled vibrational modes between the guest atoms and the host lattice at different frequencies, which scatter phonons in different spectral spans. Using a Debye model for the measured lattice thermal conductivity together with the measured vibration frequencies and scattering rates, it is shown that scattering due to the coupled vibrational modes has a considerable contribution to the suppression of lattice thermal conduction. This demonstrates that filling with multiple species can efficiently reduce the lattice thermal conductivity in skutterudites. (C) …

Effect Of Cd44 Binding Peptide Conjugated To An Engineered Inert Matrix On Maintenance Of Breast Cancer Stem Cells And Tumorsphere Formation, Xiaoming Yang, Samaneh Kamali Sarvestani, Seyedsina Moeinzadeh, Xuezhong He, Esmaiel Jabbari

Faculty Publications

Introduction: As cancer cells are affected by many factors in their microenvironment, a major challenge is to isolate the effect of a specific factor on cancer stem cells (CSCs) while keeping other factors unchanged. We have developed a synthetic inert 3D polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) gel culture system as a unique tool to study the effect of microenvironmental factors on CSCs response. We have reported that CSCs formed in the inert PEGDA gel by encapsulation of breast cancer cells maintain their stemness within a certain range of gel stiffness. The objective was to investigate the effect of CD44 binding peptide …

Passive Force On Skewed Abutments With Mechanically Stabilized Earth (Mse) Wingwalls Based On Large-Scale Tests, Bryan William Franke

Theses and Dissertations

Passive force-deflection behavior for densely compacted backfills must be considered in bridge design to ensure adequate resistance to both seismic and thermally induced forces. Current codes and practices do not distinguish between skewed and non-skewed bridge abutment geometries; however, in recent years, numerical models and small-scale, plane-strain laboratory tests have suggested a significant reduction in passive force for skewed bridge abutments. Also, various case studies have suggested higher soil stresses might be experienced on the acute side of the skew angle. For these reasons, three large-scale tests were performed with abutment skew angles of 0, 15 and 30 degrees using …

Lateral Resistance Of Piles Near Vertical Mse Abutment Walls At Provo Center Street, Kent R. Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Full scale lateral load tests were performed on four piles located at various distances behind MSE walls. Three of the four test piles were production piles used to support bridges, and the other pile a production pile used as part of the bridge abutment. The objective of the testing was to determine the effect of spacing from the wall on the lateral resistance of the piles and on the force resisted by the MSE reinforcement. Lateral load-displacement curves were developed for pile at various spacing and with various reinforcement ratio (reinforcement length, L divided by wall height, H). The force …

Evaluation Of Passive Force On Skewed Bridge Abutments With Large-Scale Tests, Aaron Kirt Marsh

Theses and Dissertations

Accounting for seismic forces and thermal expansion in bridge design requires an accurate passive force versus backwall deflection relationship. Current design codes make no allowances for skew effects on the development of the passive force. However, small-scale experimental results and available numerical models indicate that there is a significant reduction in peak passive force as skew angle increases for plane-strain cases. To further explore this issue large-scale field tests were conducted at skew angles of 0°, 15°, and 30° with unconfined backfill geometry. The abutment backwall was 11 feet (3.35-m) wide by 5.5 feet (1.68-m) high, and backfill material consisted …

Starch Resin Moisture Level Effect On Injection Molding Processability And Molded Part Mechanical Properties With Pure Starch Resin And Polymer Blends, Jordan M. Ellingson

Theses and Dissertations

The current and forecasted global consumption of plastic packaging and products through the 21st century combined with the already reported and growing negative impact of plastics on the environment due to plastics being synthesized from nonrenewable resources that do not biodegrade is of serious concern. However, recent advances in starch technology including the development of thermoplastic starch (TPS) materials —polymers that are both renewable and biodegradable—have brought hope to reducing this impact. The mechanical properties of thermoplastic starch have often been improved by blending with synthetic polymers. One issue that arises with blending is volatilization of the melt from moisture …

Depth-Based Signal Separation With Vertical Line Arrays In The Deep Ocean, Reid Mccargar, Lisa M. Zurk

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Deep vertical line arrays can exploit the reliable acoustic path (RAP), which provides low transmission loss (TL) for targets at moderate ranges, and increased TL for distant interferers. However, nearby surface interference also has favorable RAP propagation and cannot be separated from a submerged target without horizontal aperture. In this work, a physics-based Fourier transform variant is introduced, which achieves depth-based signal separation by exploiting the spatial structure resulting from the coherent addition of the direct and surface-reflected propagation paths present for submerged sources. Simulation results demonstrate depth-based signal separation without requiring knowledge of the ocean environment.

Exploring Lean Implementation Success Factors In Job Shop, Batch Shop, And Assembly Line Manufacturing Settings, Daniela Todorova

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study was motivated by the differences in manufacturing settings, which provide challenges for those organizations undertaking a lean implementation. The levels of applicability of sixteen lean tools were examined in three different manufacturing settings: a job shop, a batch shop, and an assembly line. Specifically, this study explored the perceptions of managers familiar with lean regarding which lean tools were associated with better operational performance. The level of satisfaction with the lean programs in each of the three manufacturing settings was explored as well. The data were collected through a survey that was emailed to one thousand managers working …

Thermoreflectance Imaging Of Sub 100 Ns Pulsed Cooling In High-Speed Thermoelectric Microcoolers, Bjorn Vermeersch, Je-Hyeong Bahk, James Christofferson, Ali Shakouri

Birck and NCN Publications

Miniaturized thin film thermoelectric coolers have received considerable attention as potential means to locally address hot spots in microprocessors. Given the highly dynamic workload in complex integrated circuits, the need arises for a thorough understanding of the high-speed thermal behavior of microcoolers. Although some prior work on transient Peltier cooling in pulsed operation is available, these studies mostly focus on theoretical modeling and typically deal with relatively large modules with time constants well into the millisecond range. In this paper, we present an extensive experimental characterization of 30 x 30 mu m(2) high-speed coplanar SiGe superlattice microcoolers subjected to 300 …

Shape Memory Metamaterials With Tunable Thermo-Mechanical Response Via Hetero-Epitaxial Integration: A Molecular Dynamics Study, Karthik Guda Vishnu, Alejandro Strachan

Birck and NCN Publications

We show that nanoscale epitaxial superlattices (SLs) can be used to engineer the energy landscape that governs the martensitic transformation in shape memory alloys and tune their thermo-mechanical response. We demonstrate the approach using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of a SL material consisting of alternate layers of a shape memory Ni-rich NiAl alloy and NiAl B2 alloy. The non-martensitic NiAl alloy was chosen to reduce the energy barrier that separates the martensite and austenite phases of the SL and its incorporation leads to a reduction in the thermal hysteresis of the transition. This is a desirable feature in applications involving …

Integrating Emotional Attachment And Sustainability In Electronic Product Design, Alex Lobos, Callie W. Babbitt

Articles

Current models for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products encourage frequent product replacement with newer versions that offer only minor incremental improvements. This pattern, named planned obsolescence, diminishes user experience and shortens product lifespan. This paper presents the conceptual basis for a two-part integrated approach to combating planned obsolescence in ICT devices. First, design for emotional attachment, which creates products that users enjoy, value, and use for longer. Second, technological adaptability, which anticipates product upgrades and repairs as new technologies emerge. A model interdisciplinary design course in industrial design and sustainability, also described herein, trains students to apply this approach …

A Survey Of Systems For Predicting Stock Market Movements, Combining Market Indicators And Machine Learning Classifiers, Jeffrey Allan Caley

Dissertations and Theses

In this work, we propose and investigate a series of methods to predict stock market movements. These methods use stock market technical and macroeconomic indicators as inputs into different machine learning classifiers. The objective is to survey existing domain knowledge, and combine multiple techniques into one method to predict daily market movements for stocks. Approaches using nearest neighbor classification, support vector machine classification, K-means classification, principal component analysis and genetic algorithms for feature reduction and redefining the classification rule were explored. Ten stocks, 9 companies and 1 index, were used to evaluate each iteration of the trading method. The classification …

Comm-Using Decibels, Robert J. Twiggs

Robert "Bob" Twiggs STEM Education Collection

A PowerPoint Presentation created by Professor Bob Twiggs on "Comm-Using Decibels" from March 14, 2014.

90° To 360°, Holly Paronelli

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

When I hear STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and Art I think of Math and value. Even though there is value in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) the value as a whole cannot be fully calculated. Art is too indefinite, to vast, too infinite to be calculated, but aspects of STEM can be. Yet even then what we think we know comes down to interpretation, fact is fact for only a while.

Quantum Man, Julian Voss-Andreae

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

According to quantum physics, the world is fundamentally quite different than it seems. Drawing inspiration from the underlying nature of reality, former quantum physicist Julian Voss-Andreae created an image of a walking human as a quantum object. Made up of parallel sheets of steel, the sculpture is a metaphor for the counter-intuitive world of quantum physics. Symbolizing the dual nature of matter with the appearance of classical reality on the surface and cloudy quantum behavior underneath, the sculpture seems to consist of solid steel when seen from the front, but dissolves into almost nothing when seen from the side.

The Wiseman, James William Sobieski

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

I created this artwork for a gallery show of masks. I have always been an auto-didact. I turned my love of books and learning into a sculpture that is a self-portrait. It is an icon of the power knowledge brings. A mask is a protective barrier between the wearer and the world. The paper word-filled book pages create a fierce and intimidating grill. I love working with a variety of materials and constructing objects that demand the viewer to think.