A Bluetooth Low-Energy Wireless Sensor Platform for Continuous Monitoring of a Bioreactor Environment during Cell Manufacturing

A wireless sensor platform based on Bluetooth Low-Energy (BLE) technology was designed and prototyped for continuous monitoring of physical conditions and chemical analytes, which could be applied to bioreactors during the cell manufacturing process. Controlling environmental conditions such as pH, oxygen, glucose, temperature, and pressure is vital to ensure the consistency of the manufactured cells and maintain the potency of the product. Current methods to control bioreactor conditions focus only on monitoring the cell culture environment during cell growth, but there is a lack of direct quantification of cell properties to provide an integrated feedback system that can also maintain cell quality. Furthermore, current methods are typically expensive and inflexible for new bioreactor designs. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a low-cost wireless sensor platform that can incorporate different types of sensors for monitoring both growth conditions and cell quality in various types of bioreactors. This thesis represents the first phase of the project with the development of the sensor platform and prototyping a pH and temperature sensor module along with the platform. Bench tests demonstrated the efficacy of these sensors in continuous monitoring of pH and temperature over several days. With the sensor functionality proven, the next step is to examine the biocompatibility of the sensor, as well as expand the parameters to include oxygen, glucose, and pressure. New sensors, such as those based on the impedimetric technique, will also be developed to direct cell quality evaluation

A Smart Implantable Bone Fixation Plate Providing Actuation and Load Monitoring for Orthopedic Fracture Healing

Fracture non-union occurs in roughly 5-10% of all fracture cases, and current interventions are both time-consuming and costly. There is therefore significant incentive to develop new tools to improve fracture healing outcomes. Several studies have shown that low-magnitude, high-frequency (LMHF) mechanical loading can promote faster healing and reduce the risk of refracture in critical-size long bone fractures. This is typically done using whole-body vibration, which may result in undesirable systemic effects on the rest of the body. This work discusses an implantable piezoelectric fixation plate that can both apply LMHF loading directly to the fracture site using flexible scheduling and indirectly monitor the progress of healing by using the increasing stiffness of the fracture callus. The design and performance of the piezoelectric bone plate show that the device can apply the target treatment and has the sensitivity to be used to observe the progress of healing. An accompanying telemetry system using BLE communication is also introduced which has a footprint of suitable size to be used in rodent studies and can provide the power necessary for piezoelectric actuation. These results pave the way for future studies regarding the efficacy and optimization of LMHF treatments in fracture healing models

Analysis of Shale Production Performance Using Decline Curve Methods

With the recent development of shale gas reservoirs such as the Marcellus using horizontal drilling and fracturing, it has become necessary to evaluate the amount of gas recoverable for both economic and operational purposes. As a result of limited production history, the production behavior of horizontal well producing from Marcellus shale has not been well established. A technique in accomplishing the estimation of future production history would be most useful to the industry.;Decline curve analysis (DCA) methods have been utilized successfully in various hydrocarbon plays throughout the world in approximating future production. Several DCA models have been proposed specifically for unconventional gas reservoirs. However, their applicability to production data from Marcellus shale wells has not been attempted. Four sets of simulated Marcellus shale production profiles were generated in this study. They included production from a 3000 feet-long horizontal well containing seven hydraulic fracture stages (a hydraulic fracture spacing of 500 feet) and thirteen fractures (a hydraulic fracture spacing of 250 feet). Two sets were simulated using a dual porosity model with adsorbed gas and two sets were simulated using a dual porosity model without adsorbed gas. The most appropriate DCA models for each set were selected based on the entire production profile (30 years). Subsequently, a technique was developed to predict the long term DCA model parameters based on the limited production history via dimensionless log-log plots. Finally, the developed methodology was applied to the limited field production data from a horizontal well containing eight hydraulic fracture stages (a hydraulic fracture spacing of 429 feet). The comparison of the predicted future production rates with those rates predicted by history matching with a commercial reservoir simulator confirmed the reliability of methodology developed in this study

More than meets the eye

Journal ArticleIf you depend only upon your eyes, you won't see what's really going on in a research lab-even in the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, where the focus is on understanding vision. "You don't really see with the eye," said Jennifer S. Lund, Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology at the University's John A. Moran Eye Center. "What we see is actually due to the activity of cells in the cerebral cortex, which are stacked like a three-dimensional mosaic with interplay via the feedforward and feedback relays between many cortical areas

In the shadows of the national recovery: an overview of New England's economic performance in 2005

Annual review of the economic performance of the New England states.Economic conditions - New England

Math Magician: A Study on Distraction and Testing Ability

The problem with distraction in schools today could be affecting student’s learning. Our hypothesis is that students who are confronted with a distraction do not do as well as students who are not confronted with distractions while doing homework. There was a total of thirty five participants. The procedure was for participants in the experimental group would begin doing a math worksheet and a distraction (cell phone ring tone) would be introduced. For participants in the control group they would do the math worksheet in silence with out distraction. The results showed that the distraction did not affect the participant’s scores on the math worksheet in comparison to the control group

The economic performance of the New England states in 2004: an overview

The year 2004 marked the beginning of New England’s economic turnaround. After three consecutive years of job losses — not to mention 86 years of World Series famine — the region emerged victorious. All six New England states added jobs over the course of the year and experienced reductions in unemployment. Job growth in the region, however, was sluggish compared with the nation overall. Recovery was also reflected in strong exports growth, increases in the economic activity index, and improved consumer confidence. Although consumer price inflation in New England was milder than in recent years, home prices continued to escalate at above-average rates.Economic conditions - New England

Banner News

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Textural variations in Neogene pelagic carbonate ooze at DSDP Site 593, southern Tasman Sea, and their paleoceanographic implications

Changes in Neogene sediment texture in pelagic carbonate-rich oozes on the Challenger Plateau, southern Tasman Sea, are used to infer changes in depositional paleocurrent velocities. The most obvious record of textural change is in the mud:sand ratio. Increases in the sand content are inferred to indicate a general up-core trend towards increasing winnowing of sediments resulting from increasing flow velocity of Southern Component Intermediate Water (SCIW), the forerunner of Antarctic Intermediate Water. In particular, the intervals c. 19-14.5 Ma, c. 9.5-8 Ma, and after 5 Ma are suggested to be times of increased SCIW velocity and strong sediment winnowing. Within the mud fraction, the fine silt to coarse clay sizes from 15.6 to 2 µm make the greatest contribution to the sediments and are composed of nannofossil plates. During extreme winnowing events it is the fine silt to very coarse clay material (13-3 µm) within this range that is preferentially removed, suggesting the 10 µm cohesive silt boundary reported for siliciclastic sediments does not apply to calcitic skeletal grains. The winnowed sediment comprises coccolithophore placoliths and spheres, represented by a mode at 4-7 µm. Further support for seafloor winnowing is gained from the presence in Hole 593 of a condensed sedimentary section from c. 18 to 14 Ma where the sand content increases to c. 20% of the bulk sample. Associated with the condensed section is a 6 m thick orange unit representing sediments subjected to particularly oxygen-rich, late early to early middle Miocene SCIW. Together these are inferred to indicate increased SCIW velocity resulting in winnowed sediment associated with faster arrival of oxygen-rich surface water subducted to form SCIW. Glacial development of Antarctica has been recorded from many deep-sea sites, with extreme glacials providing the mechanism to increase watermass flow. Miocene glacial zones Mi1b-Mi6 are identified in an associated oxygen isotope record from Hole 593, and correspond with times of particularly invigorated paleocirculation, bottom winnowing, and sediment textural changes

On the Behavioral Foundations of the Law of Supply and Demand: Human Convergence and Robot Randomness

This research builds on the work of D.K. Gode and Shyam Sunder who demonstrated the existence of a strong relationship between market institutions and the ability of markets to seek equilibrium - even when the agents themselves have limited intelligence and behave with substantial randomness. The question posed is whether or not market institutions account for the operation of the law of supply and demand in markets population by humans and no role required of human rationality. Are institutions responsible for the operations of the law of supply and demand or are behavioral principles also at work? Experiments with humans and simulations with robots both conducted in conditions in which major institutional and structural aids to convergence were removed, produced clear answers. Human markets converge, while robot markets do not. The structural and institutional features certainly facilitated convergence under conditions of substantial irrationality, but they are not necessary for convergence in markets in which agents have the rationality of humans