Engineering a Nanofluidic Pressure-to-Potential Conversion System

Engineering: 3rd Place (The Ohio State University Denman Undergraduate Research Forum)In 2013, the United States generated 4 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity, of which 67% was from fossil fuels. Nanofluidic pressure-to-potential, nanoP2P, converters are a possible clean source of energy that could reduce the United States’ consumption of fossil fuels by harvesting waste pressure to generate usable electrical potential. Traffic lights, street lights, and highway lights consume approximately 32 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, a significant cost that could be reduced by an clean, alternative source of energy. As envisioned, nanoP2P converters would collect waste pressure from movement, such as traffic or individual walking motion, and apply it over a bank of nanochannels filled with ionic solution. The pressure-driven flow of ions through the nanochannels generates a streaming potential that can be harnessed as electrical power. Prior research on nanoP2P converters with induced fluidic slip determined a theoretical maximum power conversion efficiency of 70%, however, the greatest reported efficiencies are only around 1%. The objective of this project is to design and implement a testing system that will apply 85 psi from a compressed air valve to simulate the waste pressure streams that would be found in the projected end-use. To ensure a reliable system, tubing attaches the compressed air source to a T-connector, which interfaces with the device fabricated in the Microsystems and Nanosystems Laboratory. The T-shaped connector is bonded to the device with epoxy to form a leak-free seal with the input reservoir. This is ongoing research with details on system performance to be discussed during the poster presentation at the Denman Undergraduate Research Forum. By implementing a reliable testing system, nanoP2P converters are accurately evaluated for efficiency of power conversion.Academic Major: Mechanical Engineerin

Making Math hAPPen: Exploring Math iPad Games with Sixth Grade Students

Technology is a great resource for teachers. It can enhance lessons, activities, assessment and general functions of the classroom. The use of technology in education can be beneficial, but may present challenges for pre service and in service teachers. Integrating technology in the classroom is the foundation of teaching. However, research on iPad use in the classroom is quite limited. This qualitative research study took place at a K-8 school in Southeastern, Massachusetts. A study group of five sixth grade students was chosen by the classroom teacher. The teacher selected the students by looking at their standardized test scores, class performance, motivation for learning and attitude towards math. Three iPad game apps, “Coop Fractions”, “Battle Station” and “Zap Zap Fractions” were selected by the researcher from a variety of math game apps that were previously rated by pre service, classroom, and technology teachers, as well as university math educators. Each of the apps focuses on comparing fractions and ordering fractions and decimals on a number line. Each student interacted with the apps in twenty minute time spans. The researcher and the classroom teacher observed the students interacting with the apps. The sessions were audio and video recorded. Data was collected using observation, anecdotal records and video. Time sampling was used to collect, code, and analyze student behaviors. The results of this study may help teachers develop strategies to effectively incorporate iPad game apps in their math instruction as a means to improve standardized test scores, class performance, motivation for learning and students’ attitude towards math. It may also help teachers in their role as learners, constantly working to improve their craft

Characterizing the Range Shifts of Two Peromyscus Species in Maine

In a changing climate, two species of mice in Maine (Peromyscus maniculatus and Peromyscus leucopus) are currently undergoing range shifts. The objective of my thesis is to determine the historical and current range of each species within the state of Maine. I used two approaches. I assembled ear biopsies collected this summer in Acadia National Park and throughout the state by the Gardner and Levesque labs to genotype the mice as either P. maniculatus or P. leucopus. Additionally, I summarized research that denotes where the two species were historically present around the state. These species are functionally impossible to tell apart in the field, and projects that use small mammal trapping often simply choose one of the two species to identify all uncertain mice. A lack of genotyping and data from a current time frame hindered our understanding of the ranges of the species. However, knowledge of the ranges of the deer mouse and the white-footed mouse could yield information as to how the two species might differ as reservoirs for tick-borne disease, catalysts for forest community development, and models for mammalian range shifts

Forever Home: Funeral, Burial and the Life After This Life in Hue, Vietnam

Hue, Vietnam is home to some of the most elaborate funeral and burial practices in the country. These practices ground and reinforce a plethora of beliefs and customs surrounding ancestor veneration and the communion of spirits. This paper will explore the effects of modernization, increased household incomes, and lack of burial space due to urban growth on the process and corresponding spirituality of the funeral and burial. A series of structured and semi-structured personal interviews with interested citizens and religious leaders alike comprise the majority of the data. Ultimately, this paper will show that while traditional funerals and burials are still considered by most to be a deeply important spiritual rite that ties families and communities together, the loss of burial space will require need for continued adaptation and change in the future

God of the Cheese Wheel

The cheese shop on Shattuck is famous. It boasts the largest selection of cheeses foreign and domestic in Northern California, and is known to give an almost unlimited number of free samples. Most of the employees—called cheese consultants—are retired chefs now spending their golden years guiding the faithful to the best pairings for a plum tart or a dry champagne. On the afternoon I finally enter the shop, after years upon lustful years of walking past, I have three dollars in my wallet. My student loan payment is overdue again, and I’m praying HR won’t audit my time card. But as I stand in the doorway, the glass counter seems to gleam with particular insistence. Underneath, bright stacks of wheels and rounds—Bries and Montasios and Jarlsburgs, Munsters upon Asiagos upon Camemberts—form an altar of aromatic temptation. Surely I can go in, sample one cheese, and leave. Surely this is possible. I cross the threshold

"Besides life here" by Molly Graham, "Chuck Lakin, woodworker" by Molly Jean Bennett, "Tongues twisting" by Judith Sloan, and "Food for thought" by Mark Munger

PodcastMolly Graham, Molly Jean Bennett, Judith Sloan and Mark Munger are The Missouri Review's 2011 runners-up in the self-recorded documentary category. This podcast features readings by all four authors

Designing a Test System to Evaluate the Power Conversion Efficiency of Nanofluidic Pressure-to-Potential (nanoP2P) Converters

Third Place in Engineering at 2015 Denman Undergraduate Research ForumNanofluidic pressure-to-potential converters, nanoP2P converters, are a possible clean source of energy that could reduce the United States’ consumption of fossil fuels by harvesting waste pressure to generate usable electrical potential. As envisioned, nanoP2P converters would collect waste pressure from movement, such as traffic or an individual’s walking motion, and apply it over a bank of nanochannels filled with ionic solution. The pressure-driven flow of ions through the nanochannels generates a streaming potential that can be harnessed as electrical power. Prior research on nanoP2P converters with induced fluidic slip determined a theoretical maximum power conversion efficiency of 70%, however, the greatest reported efficiencies of devices without slip are only around 1%. The objectives of this project are to conduct case studies to assess the theoretical feasibility of nanoP2P converters in real-world applications and to design and implement a testing system that will apply 85 psi from a compressed air valve to simulate the waste pressure streams that would be found in the projected end-use. This research demonstrates that nanoP2P converters can feasibly supplement up to about 50% of the electricity consumption of streetlights in optimal conditions. However, this technology does not seem appropriate for supplementing the power of traffic lights at large intersections. In the case of using nanoP2P converters to power personal devices from human movement, theoretical percentages of smart phone consumption were much less than one percent, meaning this application is not feasible either. In the assembled test setup, tubing runs from a compressed air source to a T-connector sealed to a device fabricated in the Microsystems and Nanosystems Laboratory. Epoxy was used to seal the T-connector to the device, however this method seems to yield varying results. Streaming potential data has not been collected due to leaky connections at the T-connector base.The Undergraduate Honors Committee in the College of EngineeringA three-year embargo was granted for this item.Academic Major: Mechanical Engineerin

Motivation of Electroceutical Bandages for Treatment of Chronically Infected Wounds

Poster Division: Engineering, Math, and Physical Sciences: 2nd Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)In the United States, 6.5 million patients are affected by chronic wounds, sometimes complicated by infection. If the bacteria form a biofilm at the wound site, treatment of the infection becomes significantly more difficult. Biofilm bacteria are 500 to 5,000 times more resistant to antibiotic medications than the non-biofilm bacteria. Previous studies have shown that electric current enhances the activity of various antibiotics against biofilm-forming bacterial strains such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus epidermidis. This behavior has been referred to as the electro-bactericidal effect. A large parametric investigation with various substrates, conductive patterns, and designs has led to a novel electroceutical bandage comprised of a silver-based ink on silk fabric, connected to a 6 V DC battery source and switch circuit for easy operation. Currently, characterizing the electroceutical bandage includes in vitro tests using the bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa to test the efficacy of biofilm inhibition. The results have shown that our dressing successfully and repeatedly prevents the bacteria from forming a biofilm, as well as excludes bacteria from the anode of the bandage. It is noteworthy that use of an isolated electrode system i.e., electric field applied to the bacteria without direct flow of current through the bacterial layers, did not yield inhibition of the biofilm formation. Therefore, mechanistically, one may expect oxidation reactions at the anode to be important. This hypothesis is the subject of further on-going experiments. Further in vitro tests studying the effects of the bandage on already established biofilms have been initiated as well. It is important to study both scenarios because this electroceutical bandage should prevent infection from developing at the wound site, as well as help treat existing infections. Severe biofilm infection can lead to amputation to prevent spread of infection. If more reliable and successful means of treating biofilm infections can be implemented, complications of chronic wounds will be reduced. We have shown that engineered bandages with direct electric current flow between the wound-bandage interface inhibit bacterial growth at and around the anode. Due to this result, the conductive pattern design has been optimized to maximize this effect by increasing the surface area of the anode with respect to the available space on an average dressing of 5 cm x 5 cm. Currently, our measurements show a power density of 0.75 mW/cm2, well below the FDA limit of 0.25 W/cm2 for thermal burns therefore implying likely safe use of the dressing. We hypothesize that the direct electric current is disrupting quorum sensing, or communication between the bacteria, effectively isolating them from each other due to oxidative stress at the anode. We believe this isolation prevents bacteria from forming a biofilm. The future experiments will focus on developing a more comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms behind biofilm inhibition in presence of low-magnitude direct currents.A five-year embargo was granted for this item

Residential Mobility During Adolescence: Even Upward Moves Predict High School Dropout

Racial and economic segregation have long endured as systemic challenges in U.S. metropolitan areas. To combat the inequalities of segregation, two broad policy approaches have emerged: (1) preservation stresses investment in low-income neighborhoods, and (2) mobility stresses moving households in low-income areas to more affluent areas. Our recent study reveals some possible unintended consequences of the latter approach, particularly for adolescents. We find that moving during adolescence is associated with decreased odds of graduating from high school, even when moving to significantly higher income neighborhoods

Talk, tools, and tensions: observing biological talk over time

The goal of this study is to explore new tools for analyzing scientific sense making in out-of-school settings. Although such measures are now common in science classroom research, dialogically-based methodological approaches are relatively new to informal learning research. Such out-of-classroom settings have more recently become a breeding ground for new design approaches for tracking scientific talk and ideas within complex data sets. The research reported here seeks to understand the language people do use to make sense of the life sciences over time. Another goal of this study is to track biological themes over time, using a new analytical scheme, Tool for Observing Biological Talk Over Time (TOBTOT). Our analyses are linked to and informed by tensions between particularistic and holistic data collection and analysis, qualitative and quantitative representations, and everyday and formal science discourse. These tensions and our analyses are linked to larger theoretical frameworks and to the recursive interplay between theory and practice