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The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Nanoscience, Fall 2016, Sandy Avila

Libraries' Newsletters

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Activity Preservation Of Plasmonic Biosensors With A Metal-Organic Framework, Lu Wang

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Antibody-antigen recognition enables antibody-conjugated nanostructures to serve as plasmonic biosensors with tunable specificity. However due to the instability of antibodies, these biosensors are susceptible to changes in the environment such as heat and aridity, leading to constraints on the transportation and handling of these sensors. Here we establish a method using a metal-organic framework crystal to preserve biosensor activity under severe environmental conditions, including exposure to high temperatures, an organic solvent and a proteolytic agent. After zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) crystals formed for 12 hours on a biosensor of gold nanorods conjugated with a model antibody, rabbit IgG, 80% of …

Nonlinear Characterization Of Gesbs Chalcogenide Glass Waveguides, Ju Won Choi, Zhaohong Han, Byoung Uk Sohn, George F.R. Chen, Charmayne Smith (Lonergan), Lionel C. Kimerling, Kathleen A. Richardson, Anuradha M. Agarwal, Dawn T.H. Tan

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

GeSbS ridge waveguides have recently been demonstrated as a promising mid - infrared platform for integrated waveguide - based chemical sensing and photodetection. To date, their nonlinear optical properties remain relatively unexplored. In this paper, we characterize the nonlinear optical properties of GeSbS glasses, and show negligible nonlinear losses at 1.55 μm. Using self - phase modulation experiments, we characterize a waveguide nonlinear parameter of 7 W-1/m and nonlinear refractive index of 3.71 x 10-18 m2/W. GeSbS waveguides are used to generate supercontinuum from 1280 nm to 2120 nm at the -30 dB level. The spectrum expands along the red …

Differential Protein Adsorption And Cellular Uptake Of Silica Nanoparticles Based On Size And Porosity, Jiban Saikia, Mostafa Yazdimamaghani, Seyyed Pouya Hadipour Moghaddam, Hamidreza Ghandehari

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Slight alterations in nanoparticles' surface properties can significantly influence the corona composition which may alter their interaction with the biological milieu. Size and porosity of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) are known to be predominant factors influencing their dose-dependent toxicity. Little is known however about the extent and type of protein adsorption on SNPs as a function of physicochemical properties and the role this might play on mechanisms of cellular uptake and toxicity. In this work we investigated the influence of size and porosity of SNPs on protein adsorption, cellular uptake, and toxicity in RAW 264.7 macrophages. Toxicity of the SNPs was …

Wave Motion Induced By Turbulent Shear Flows Over Growing Stokes Waves, Shahrdad Sajjadi, Serena Robertson, Rebecca Harvey, Mary Brown

Publications

The recent analytical of multi-layer analyses proposed by Sajjadi et al. (J Eng Math 84:73, 2014) (SHD14 therein) is solved numerically for atmospheric turbulent shear flows blowing over growing (or unsteady) Stokes (bimodal) water waves, of low-to-moderate steepness. For unsteady surface waves, the amplitude a(t)∝ekcita(t)∝ekcit, where kcikci is the wave growth factor, k is the wavenumber, and cici is the complex part of the wave phase speed, and thus, the waves begin to grow as more energy is transferred to them by the wind. This will then display the critical height to a point, where the thickness of the inner …

A Locomotion Control Algorithm For Robotic Linkage Systems, Jeffrey L. Dohner Dr.

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

This dissertation describes the development of a control algorithm that transitions a robotic linkage system between stabilized states producing responsive locomotion. The developed algorithm is demonstrated using a simple robotic construction consisting of a few links with actuation and sensing at each joint. Numerical and experimental validation is presented. In this algorithm, transitioning excitations, called rhythms, are formulated using terminal state control solutions. Rhythms are constrained to be low order parameterized functions allowing for the optimal control problem to be replaced by a parametric optimization problem with a limited set of easily solved unknowns. This algorithm is developed and demonstrated …

Leveraging Lexical Link Analysis (Lla) To Discover New Knowledge, Ying Zhao, Douglas J. Mackinnon, Shelley P. Gallup, Joseph L. Billingsley

Military Cyber Affairs

Lexical Link Analysis (LLA) is a form of text mining in which word meanings represented in lexical terms (e.g., word pairs) are treated as if they are in a community of a word network. LLA can provide automated awareness for analyzing text data and reveal previously unknown, data-driven themed connections. We applied LLA to develop authentic archetypes and conversely determine potential imposters of that same archetype. We use publically available social media data to develop a cyber professional as an example. This paper reports the development of the algorithm, the collection and labeling of data, as well as the results …

The Quantum Biology Of Reactive Oxygen Species Partitioning Impacts Cellular Bioenergetics, Robert J. Usselman, Cristina Chavarriaga, Pablo R. Castello, Maria Procopio, Thorsten Ritz, Edward A. Dratz, David John Singel, Carlos F. Martino

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications

Quantum biology is the study of quantum effects on biochemical mechanisms and biological function. We show that the biological production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in live cells can be influenced by coherent electron spin dynamics, providing a new example of quantum biology in cellular regulation. ROS partitioning appears to be mediated during the activation of molecular oxygen (O2) by reduced flavoenzymes, forming spin-correlated radical pairs (RPs). We find that oscillating magnetic fields at Zeeman resonance alter relative yields of cellular superoxide (O2•−) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) ROS products, indicating coherent singlet-triplet mixing at the point of ROS formation. Furthermore, …

Dependence Of Photoelectrochemical Properties On Geometry Factors Of Interconnected “Caterpillar-Like” Zno Networks, Qiang Li, Xing Sun, Karen Lozano, Yuanbing Mao

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Highlights

• Hierarchical “caterpillar-like” ZnO nanostructures have been prepared through a hybrid route.

• The ease and high throughput of the method favors a feasible PEC applications.

• The tunability of the geometric factors could optimize the light-material interaction.

• Ultralong and ultrathin branches shorten minority carrier diffusion lengths to further improve PEC performance.

Abstract

To elevate the spatial occupancy of one-dimensional ZnO nanostructures and overcome the limitations of multistep seeding methods currently widely used, a rational, facile and high-yielding procedure has been reported by our group previously for the fabrication of the interconnected three-dimensional “caterpillar-like” ZnO nanostructured networks (CZNs) for photoelectrochemical applications. In …

Mass Reduction Patterning Of Silicon-On-Oxide-Based Micromirrors, Harris J. Hall, Andrew Green, Sarah Dooley, Jason D. Schmidt, Laverne A. Starman, Derrick Langley, Ronald A. Coutu Jr.

Faculty Publications

It has long been recognized in the design of micromirror-based optical systems that balancing static flatness of the mirror surface through structural design with the system’s mechanical dynamic response is challenging. Although a variety of mass reduction approaches have been presented in the literature to address this performance trade, there has been little quantifiable comparison reported. In this work, different mass reduction approaches, some unique to the work, are quantifiably compared with solid plate thinning in both curvature and mass using commercial finite element simulation of a specific square silicon-on-insulator–based micromirror geometry. Other important considerations for micromirror surfaces, including surface …

Mass Reduction Patterning Of Silicon-On-Oxide–Based Micromirrors, Harris J. Hall, Andrew Green, Sarah Dooley, Jason D. Schmidt, Lavern A. Starman, Derrick Langley, Ronald A. Coutu Jr.

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

It has long been recognized in the design of micromirror-based optical systems that balancing static flatness of the mirror surface through structural design with the system’s mechanical dynamic response is challenging. Although a variety of mass reduction approaches have been presented in the literature to address this performance trade, there has been little quantifiable comparison reported. In this work, different mass reduction approaches, some unique to the work, are quantifiably compared with solid plate thinning in both curvature and mass using commercial finite element simulation of a specific square silicon-on-insulator–based micromirror geometry. Other important considerations for micromirror surfaces, including surface …

Art-Integration Through Making Dioramas Of Women Mathematicians’ Lives Enhances Creativity And Motivation, Audrey C. Rule, Dana L. Atwood-Blaine, Clayton M. Edwards, Mindy M. Gordon

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

Creativity is essential for solving problems in the workplace, natural environment, and everyday life, necessitating that creativity be nurtured in schools. Identification of factors that intrinsically motivate students to learn difficult or initially unappealing content is also important. This project, in which 24 racially diverse fifth grade girls created dioramas of the lives of diverse successful women mathematicians, explored the girls’ reactions to art integration into mathematics through a phenomenological qualitative analysis of their products, essays, and responses to questionnaires. The project supported the Next Generation Science Standard for engineering design, Standard 3-5-ETS1-1 and two National Core Arts Standards for …

Three- And Four-Year Olds Learn About Gears Through Arts Incorporation, Dessy Stoycheva, Leann M. Perkins

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This research paper explores art integration into a science lesson unit that follows the Next Generation Science Standards (K-PS2-1) and focuses on the effects on memory retention of key concepts along with levels of enjoyment. An experiment was conducted with children ages 3 and 4 teaching scientific concepts about gears while incorporating student-made art products. The children were assigned to alternating experimental (art-integrated) or control (no art) conditions during the four stages of the lesson. The results did not show statistically significant differences at the alpha = 0.05 level between conditions in the amount of information retained based on the …

Fourth Graders Make Inventions Using Scamper And Animal Adaptation Ideas, Mahjabeen Hussain, Anastasia Carignan

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This study explores to what extent the SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Rearrange) technique combined with animal adaptation ideas learned through form and function analogy activities can help fourth graders generate creative ideas while augmenting their inventiveness. The sample consisted of 24 fourth grade students (14 female, 10 male) ages 9-10 at a suburban Midwestern elementary school. A repeated-measures design involving all participants alternately in the two conditions measured students under each treatment condition. In the experimental condition, students used SCAMPER charts with animal adaptation ideas to generate ideas to improve a product using …

Second-Graders Beautify For Butterflies, Andrea E. Anderson, Jessica A. Meier

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

This practical article presents activities that support previous research suggesting the integration of art with science is beneficial to the learning and cooperative processes of children. The project showcased here highlights the ability of elementary school children to collaborate with their peers for problem solving and critical thinking through the artistic use of observation and sketching. This article discusses effective lesson activities in which students combined art and science by creating and cultivating a butterfly garden on the school’s property.

Who Moved Those Rain Clouds To Town? Making Windbirds To Learn About The Power Of Wind, Deepanee Samarakoon, Latisha L. Smith

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

In this practical article, a kindergarten teacher shares a lesson designed to teach students about the power of wind. To address the Next Generation Science Standards engineering standards, students discussed the negative and positive aspects of wind and made daily weather observations (K-ESS2-1). Students constructed bird-shaped windsocks, called windbirds, to explore how the shape of the object allowed it to move in the wind (K-2-ETS1-2). To address the National Core Arts Standards, creative arts were integrated as students designed cylindrical windbirds of colorful materials. The windbirds were used to observe the effects of wind in the students’ outdoor environment at …

Water Play, Jane E. Cline, Brandy A. Smith

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

The inclusion of activities to develop sensory awareness, spatial thinking, and physical dexterity, operationalized through hands-on science lessons such as water play, have long been part of early childhood education. This practical article addresses Next Generation Science Standards K-2 ETS1-3 and K-2 ETS1-2 by having four-year-old prekindergarten students direct the path of water on a vertical pegboard water table with strategically-placed, attached plastic cups with holes drilled into them that leak streams of water into each other. Students enhanced their retelling of the story of the Billy Goats Gruff by placing student-made watercolor artwork along the path of the water, …

Using Creativity From Art And Engineering To Engage Students In Science, Mason Albert Kuhn, Scott Greenhalgh, Mark Mcdermott

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

STEAM education, referring to integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics, is a contemporary buzzword that is popular in many schools. In particular, many elementary school teachers who have been tasked to incorporate STEM teaching, because of the requirements of the Next Generation Science Standards, attempt to apply the arts in their science curriculum because they feel more comfortable using instructional approaches that incorporate creative activities such as crafts, drawing, and model construction than the core practices of STEM disciplines. Teachers can use the creative arts activities in two ways to enhance the STEM learning environment: 1) Using creative processes …

Spatial Thinking Skills And Stem Connections: How Does This Issue Address Them?, Audrey C. Rule

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

In this editorial, the Editor considered the importance of spatial thinking skills to STEM careers, provided examples of ways scientists use spatial thinking, noted sex and socioeconomic differences in spatial skill proficiency, and reviewed ways that activities included in articles in this issue involved spatial thinking. Brief summaries and preview images were provided for the articles in the issue. The four-component spatial thinking classification scheme with categories of intrinsic-static, intrinsic-dynamic, extrinsic-static and extrinsic dynamic was applied to the activities from this issue of the Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions. All categories of this classification scheme were addressed, providing …

The Effect Of A Powered Ankle Foot Orthosis On Walking In A Stroke Subject: A Case Study, Ali Pourghasem, Ismail Ebrahimi Takamjani, Mohammad Taghi Karimi, Mohammad Kamali, Mohammad Jannesari, Iman Salafian

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

[Purpose] Standing and walking are impaired in stroke patients. Therefore, assisted devices are required to restore their walking abilities. The ankle foot orthosis with an external powered source is a new type of orthosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of a powered ankle foot orthosis compared with unpowered orthoses in a stroke patient.

[Subjects and Methods] A single stroke subject participated in this study. The subject was fitted with three types of ankle foot orthosis (powered, posterior leg spring, and carbon ankle foot orthoses). He was asked to walk with and without the three types …

Finite Element Simulation And Additive Manufacturing Of Stiffness-Matched Niti Fixation Hardware For Mandibular Reconstruction Surgery, Ahmadreza Jahadakbar, Narges Shayesteh Moghaddam, Amirhesam Amerinatanzi, David Dean, Haluk E. Karaca, Mohammad Elahinia

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Process parameters and post-processing heat treatment techniques have been developed to produce both shape memory and superelastic NiTi using Additive Manufacturing. By introducing engineered porosity, the stiffness of NiTi can be tuned to the level closely matching cortical bone. Using additively manufactured porous superelastic NiTi, we have proposed the use of patient-specific, stiffness-matched fixation hardware, for mandible skeletal reconstructive surgery. Currently, Ti-6Al-4V is the most commonly used material for skeletal fixation devices. Although this material offers more than sufficient strength for immobilization during the bone healing process, the high stiffness of Ti-6Al-4V implants can cause stress shielding. In this paper, …

Computer Network Design For Universities In Developing Countries, Rafid Salih Sarhan Alsarhan

Information Technology Capstone Research Project Reports

The purpose of this project is to design a suitable network system for universities in developing countries. The aim was to design a network with high-quality security and low cost, in such a way that network devices of universities in developing countries, will meet standards associated with the universities in developed countries. This project will help to enhance education in developing countries. There are many devices that were used in designing the network, such as routers, switches, backup, firewall, and servers. All devices were connected to each other to make integration network system and configured by putting IP addresses to …

Phased Helical Antenna Array For Cubesat Application, Kameron Lacalli

Undergraduate Honors Theses

CubeSats communication links are typically slow due to their power and size restrictions. However, a low power, high speed down link connection can allow for greater data collection and relaying, pushing the capability of 1U CubeSats beyond what is traditionally thought possible. Investigated here is the feasibility of a 11 Mb/s down link connection on a 1U CubeSat, accomplished via 2x2 helical antenna phased array operating on the 802.11 standard. Using a phased array also allows for beam steering to secure connection with the ground station when the on board ADCS may not provide precise pointing capability of the CubeSat, …

Design And Realization Of A Nonlinear Vibration Energy Harvester For Cost Effective Additive Manufacturing, Rodrigo Barriuso De Juan

Masters Theses

Environmental energy harvesting has always been an attractive solution to the search for sustainable energy sources. Combined with the miniaturization and power consumption reduction of sensors and portable electronic devices, the possibility of powering using environmental energy, like vibration energy, instead of conventional batteries increases exponentially. Vibrational energy harvesting can be achieved using devices based on different physical phenomena. Electromagnetic based devices seem to be among the most effective when considering the power output levels within low frequency applications. However, these devices have always had inherent challenges including size and manufacturing cost reduction as well as limitations on the range …

Process Development For High Powered Amplifier Au/Sn Eutectic Die Attach Via Vacuum Furnace, Zachary F. Blanden

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

This research was conducted to develop and qualify a vacuum GaAs semiconductor monolithic microwave integrated circuit die attach process. Research was done to understand the causes and effects of voiding levels on device performance and reliability. Simultaneous investigation was done to qualify vacuum-attach as a successful methodology by which minimal voiding levels were achieved. After an initial vacuum-attach trial was completed to verify the methodology, internal accept/reject criteria were developed to qualify die attach interfaces. A dual phase attachment methodology was created to minimize tolerance stacking resulting in more consistent component placement. MATLAB image processing code was developed to quantify …

On Frequency Variation Of Dynamic Resting-State Functional Brain Network Activation And Connectivity With Applications To Both Healthy And Clinical Populations, Maziar Yaesoubi

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

One of the earliest and fundamental observation in scientific study of the brain was discovering the relation between activities in different local regions of brain and some core functions of the brain. This was later followed by observing that not only local activities of regions but also synchronous activities between distributed brain regions play a key role in high-level brain functions. Synchronous activity related to the functions of the brain is commonly referred to as functional connectivity (FC) and is studied in the form of connectivity states of the brain which measure degree of interactions between distributed parts of the …

Curricular Analytics In Higher Education, Ahmad Slim 3589498

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The dissertation addresses different aspects of student success in higher education. Numerous factors may impact a student's ability to succeed and ultimately graduate, including pre-university preparation, as well as the student support services provided by a university. However, even the best efforts to improve in these areas may fail if other institutional factors overwhelm their ability to facilitate student progress. This dissertation addresses this issue from the perspective of curriculum structure. The structural properties of individual curricula are studied, and the extent to which this structure impacts student progress is explored. The structure of curricula are studied using actual university …

A Visual Velocity Impedance Controller, Victor Nevarez

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Successful object insertion systems allow the object to translate and rotate to accommodate contact forces. Compliant controllers are used in robotics to provide this accommodation. The impedance compliant controller is one of the more researched and well known compliant controllers used for assembly. The velocity filtered visual impedance controller is introduced as a compliant controller to improve upon the impedance controller. The velocity filtered impedance controller introduces a filter of the velocity impedance and a gain from the stiffness. The velocity impedance controller was found to be more stable over larger ranges of stiffness values than the position based impedance …

Drag And Shape Analysis Of Fiberglass Particles, Cody Williams

Mechanical Engineering ETDs

Settling tests were performed on particles of NUKON fiberglass to relate the drag coefficient of the particles to the Reynolds number of the particles. A new method was developed to measure fiberglass particles. The projected area, projected perimeter, and average height of the particles are measured using this method. The measurements are used to calculate the measured drag coefficient and measured Reynolds number for the particles. Data collected was compared to previous studies that focused on the settling of sand grains. A predictive correlation that was developed for sand grains was applied towards the particles of fiberglass. Tests were run …

An Ionization Chamber For High Resolution Fission Product Spectroscopy, James Cole

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

The fission process has played a vital role in the world’s search for effective sources of alternative energy. With almost 80 years of work with fissionable material there is still much that is unknown about the process. Fission fragment mass and atomic number distributions are still lacking in completeness and critical detail. Knowledge of this information is highly sought after in the effort to improve various fields of nuclear physics and engineering such as reactor design, predictive models, waste disposal methods, and an overall understanding of the fission process. In an effort to better understand this process, we have developed …