NUE: NanoTechnology Education and Experiences in Maine (Nano-TEEM)

This Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) in Engineering program entitled NUE: NanoTechnology Education and Experiences in Maine (Nano-TEEM), at the University of Maine, under the direction of Dr. Rosemary Smith, will result in a new, three-credit, undergraduate course, that introduces first-year engineering students at the University of Maine to the interdisciplinary concepts, applications, and implications of nanoscale science and engineering. The broader impacts of this project include improved student recruitment, retention, and future workforce preparation achieved through the intentional integration of research and education at the undergraduate level, interactions with Maine\u27s (in-service and pre-service) middle and high school teachers and students, the facilitation of new reearch and education collaborations among UMaine faculty with interests in nanoscale science and engineering, and the sharing of state-of-the-art instructional tools such as animations and hands-on, laboratory experience modules.The proposal for this award was received in response to the Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) in Engineering Program Solicitation (NSF 07-554), and is being co-funded by the Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR), Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) and the Directorate for Engineering, Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber System (ECCS)

The accelerating influence of humans on mammalian macroecological patterns over the late Quaternary

The transition of hominins to a largely meat-based diet ~1.8 million years ago led to the exploitation of other mammals for food and resources. As hominins, particularly archaic and modern humans, became increasingly abundant and dispersed across the globe, a temporally and spatially transgressive extinction of large-bodied mammals followed; the degree of selectivity was unprecedented in the Cenozoic fossil record. Today, most remaining large-bodied mammal species are confined to Africa, where they coevolved with hominins. Here, using a comprehensive global dataset of mammal distribution, life history and ecology, we examine the consequences of “body size downgrading” of mammals over the late Quaternary on fundamental macroecological patterns. Specifically, we examine changes in species diversity, global and continental body size distributions, allometric scaling of geographic range size with body mass, and the scaling of maximum body size with area. Moreover, we project these patterns toward a potential future scenario in which all mammals currently listed as vulnerable on the IUCN\u27s Red List are extirpated. Our analysis demonstrates that anthropogenic impact on earth systems predates the terminal Pleistocene and has grown as populations increased and humans have become more widespread. Moreover, owing to the disproportionate influence on ecosystem structure and function of megafauna, past and present body size downgrading has reshaped Earth\u27s biosphere. Thus, macroecological studies based only on modern species yield distorted results, which are not representative of the patterns present for most of mammal evolution. Our review supports the concept of benchmarking the “Anthropocene” with the earliest activities of Homo sapiens

Biophotonics: Electrochemiluminescence at Microelectrodes During PCR Amplification of DNA

This project investigates a new technique for in situ quantification of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) amplification products using electrochemiluminescence (ECL). The technique implements the highly sensitive, ECL detection and quantification of tris(2,2\u27bipyridyl) ruthenium (II) labeled DNA. This method is expected to yield significant improvement in speed, cost and performance over existing quantitative PCR methods, by reducing the number and quantity of reagents, reducing the number of sample preparation steps, increasing sensitivity, and shortening analysis time

Single crystal silicon filaments fabricated in SOI: A potential IR source for a microfabricated photometric CO2 sensor

The objective of this project was to design, fabricate, and test single crystal silicon filaments as potential black body IR sources for a spectrophotometric CO2 sensing microsystem. The design and fabrication of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) filaments are summarized and figures showing the composite layout of the filament die (which contains four filaments of different lengths -- 500 microns, 1 mm, 1.5 mm and 2 mm -- and equal widths of 15 microns) are presented. The composite includes four mask layers: (1) silicon - defines the filament dimensions and contact pads; (2) release pit - defines the oxide removed from under the filament and hence, the length of the released filament; (3) Pyrex pit - defines the pit etched in the Pyrex cap (not used); and (4) metal - defines a metal pattern on the contact pads or used as a contact hole etch. I/V characteristics testing of the fabricated SOI filaments is described along with the nitride-coating procedures carried out to prevent oxidation and resistance instability

US Ireland Partnership Program: BEACONS: Biosafety for Environmental Contaminants Using Novel Sensors

BEACONS is a unique collaboration between the United States, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, that aims to develop a novel sample preparation device coupled to a portable sensor which will be capable of rapidly analyzing for the presence of major aquatic toxins and associated organisms in water samples. It harnesses the substantial complementary expertise of the international partners and their institutions to address a problem that has world-wide implications for human health and aquatic related industries. The results will be used for the generation of a commercially applicable prototype device that could have the potential to be applied to a wide range of different analytical problems. The program will involve significant exchange of personnel and expertise and will generate novel scientific data and approaches linked with the solution of a key problem for all the partners\u27 jurisdictions. This project will develop a set of easily portable instruments that can be utilized for biotoxin and toxic organism detection, and be adapted subsequently for monitoring of other potentially harmful organisms and their toxins. A key element for any field deployable sensing instrument is the acquisition and preparation of samples. Thus, the proposed research includes development of a sample preparation platform and associated protocols for concentration and delivery of targeted toxin and nucleic acid sequences to a hand-held detection device. The expected outcome is the development of a sample preparation module and assay methods for an optical detection device, based on planar waveguide technology, capable of measuring in real time the presence of both toxin producing organisms and the toxins themselves in coastal and fresh water samples. The sample preparation module will involve the integration of novel microfluidics with peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) and engineered broad affinity, highly stable capture antibodies. Resultant extracts will be introduced into the detection system, which will employ an array-based, planar waveguide technology previously incorporated into a hand-held device by a commercial partner and made available to project collaborators for development of assays for toxins and organisms. They will utilize highly specific, engineered antibodies for capturing toxin molecules and PNAs as capture probes to detect the corresponding toxigenic organisms. This technology is expected to provide new and improved means of assessing the potential risks associated with contamination of coastal and fresh water fishery resources by algal biotoxins. The US-Ireland Partnership Program has been endorsed at the highest political levels by the three jurisdictions (U.S., Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland). The added value for the U.S. from the BEACONS proposal includes a combination of significant intellectual and financial contributions from Ireland. Moreover, the project will involve a well coordinated exchange of researchers between the participating organizations. In particular, the opportunities of exchange visits for young scientists employed on the project will be important from both scientific and cultural perspectives. A critical element of detecting any analyte is sample processing. Therefore, in addition to stronger international collaborations and training of young scientists, this project aims to provide a new portable and flexible platform that can be adapted for the sensor-based detection of other biotoxins and/or microbes

NUE: Nano Science And Laboratory Experience (ScALE) at UMaine

This Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) in Engineering program entitled, NUE: Nano Science And Laboratory Experience (ScALE) at UMaine , at the University of Maine, under the direction of Dr. Rosemary L. Smith, aims to introduce the basic concepts, applications, and implications of nanoscale science and engineering to all first-year engineering students at the University of Maine (UMaine). The proposed approach is to add nanoscience and nanoscale engineering content to the required \u27introduction to\u27 engineering courses offered by each engineering department. This content will be designed, developed and delivered as a \u27drop-in\u27 module, in collaboration with the instructors for each department\u27s course. This project further aims to enhance undergraduate education and training in nanoscale science and engineering by establishing a college-wide minor in Nanotechnology, developing an upper level course in nanoscience, and to broaden participation of 1st and 2nd year students from underrepresented groups in nanoscale research. The broader impacts of this project include improved student recruitment, retention, and future workforce preparation achieved through the intentional integration of research and education at the undergraduate level, professional development of Maine\u27s middle-school science teachers, the facilitation of new research and education collaborations among UMaine faculty with interests in nanoscale science and engineering, and the sharing of state-of-the-art instructional tools such as laboratory facilities and materials. Outreach activities will focus on increasing the interest of female students in engineering careers by developing mini-projects for high school students targeting nanotechnology applications to biomedicine and energy

Body size downgrading of mammals over the late Quaternary

Since the late Pleistocene, large-bodied mammals have been extirpated from much of Earth. Although all habitable continents once harbored giant mammals, the few remaining species are largely confined to Africa. This decline is coincident with the global expansion of hominins over the late Quaternary. Here, we quantify mammalian extinction selectivity, continental body size distributions, and taxonomic diversity over five time periods spanning the past 125,000 years and stretching approximately 200 years into the future. We demonstrate that size-selective extinction was already under way in the oldest interval and occurred on all continents, within all trophic modes, and across all time intervals. Moreover, the degree of selectivity was unprecedented in 65 million years of mammalian evolution. The distinctive selectivity signature implicates hominin activity as a primary driver of taxonomic losses and ecosystem homogenization. Because megafauna have a disproportionate influence on ecosystem structure and function, past and present body size downgrading is reshaping Earth’s biosphere. Includes Supplementary materials

Biomolecule Detection \u3cem\u3evia\u3c/em\u3e Target Mediated Nanoparticle Aggregation and Dielectrophoretic Impedance Measurement

A new biosensing system is described that is based on the aggregation of nanoparticles by a target biological molecule and dielectrophoretic impedance measurement of these aggregates. The aggregation process was verified within a microchannel via fluorescence microscopy, demonstrating that this process can be used in a real time sensor application. Positive dielectrophoresis is employed to capture the nanoparticle aggregates at the edge of thin film electrodes, where their presence is detected either by optical imaging via fluorescence microscopy or by measuring the change in electrical impedance between adjacent electrodes. The electrical detection mechanism demonstrates the potential for this method as a micro total analysis system (mTAS)

IllustrisTNG and S2COSMOS: possible conflicts in the evolution of neutral gas and dust

We investigate the evolution in galactic dust mass over cosmic time through (i) empirically derived dust masses using stacked submillimetre fluxes at 850 μm in the COSMOS field and (ii) dust masses derived using a robust post-processing method on the results from the cosmological hydrodynamical simulation IllustrisTNG. We effectively perform a ‘self-calibration’ of the dust mass absorption coefficient by forcing the model and observations to agree at low redshift and then compare the evolution shown by the observations with that predicted by the model. We create dust mass functions (DMFs) based on the IllustrisTNG simulations from 0 < z < 0.5 and compare these with previously observed DMFs. We find a lack of evolution in the DMFs derived from the simulations, in conflict with the rapid evolution seen in empirically derived estimates of the low-redshift DMF. Furthermore, we observe a strong evolution in the observed mean ratio of dust mass to stellar mass of galaxies over the redshift range 0 < z < 5, whereas the corresponding dust masses from IllustrisTNG show relatively little evolution, even after splitting the sample into satellites and centrals. The large discrepancy between the strong observed evolution and the weak evolution predicted by IllustrisTNG plus post-processing may be explained by either strong cosmic evolution in the properties of the dust grains or limitations in the model. In the latter case, the limitation may be connected to previous claims that the neutral gas content of galaxies does not evolve fast enough in IllustrisTNG

IGERT: Sensor Science, Engineering, and Informatics

This Sensor Science, Engineering and Informatics (SSEI) IGERT program will provide multidisciplinary doctoral training in the area of sensor systems ranging from the science and engineering of new materials and sensing mechanisms to the interpretation of sensor data. The design and management of effective sensor systems requires a holistic understanding of how information is collected, stored, integrated, evaluated, and communicated within sensing systems and to decision makers in diverse application contexts. The SSEI IGERT weaves together three research focus areas: (1) Sensor Materials and Devices, (2) Sensor Systems and Networks, and (3) Sensor Informatics. The intellectual merit of the project includes education and research activities that are designed to ensure a feedback loop so that SSEI IGERT trainees are able to transform new knowledge from sensor-generated data to further development of sensor systems and networks and advances in sensor materials and devices, and vice versa. Innovative components of the program include (1) development and use of a testbed prototype that will require interdisciplinary interaction across the three research areas; (2) a tight integration of the social, legal, ethical, and economic dimensions of sensing environments in both research and training, (3) expanded relationships with companies and federal laboratories engaged in sensor research, (4) international collaborations, and (5) synergistic integration with sensor science and engineering education at the middle, high school, and undergraduate level. The broader impacts of the SSEI IGERT program are a new breed of scientists and engineers who will be versatile in dealing with the diverse technical components that contribute to sensing systems, knowledgeable in the legal, social, and ethical contexts of heavily sensed environments, and aware of the human values that must be preserved, protected and promoted within such systems. IGERT is an NSF-wide program intended to meet the challenges of educating U.S. Ph.D. scientists and engineers with the interdisciplinary background, deep knowledge in a chosen discipline, and the technical, professional, and personal skills needed for the career demands of the future. The program is intended to catalyze a cultural change in graduate education by establishing innovative new models for graduate education and training in a fertile environment for collaborative research that transcends traditional disciplinary boundaries