Hemolysis (red cells lysis) caused by fluid stresses in flows within hypodermic needles, blood pumps, artificial hearts and other cardiovascular devices, is one of the major concerns during the design and use of cardiovascular or blood-processing...
Over the last 15 years, researchers have explored the use of piezoresistive microcantilevers/resonators as gas sensors because of their relative ease in fabrication, low production cost, and their ability to detect changes in mass or surface stress...
Previous experimental studies on static, bio-inspired corrugated wings have shown that they produce favorable aerodynamic properties such as delayed stall compared to streamlined wings and flat plates at high Reynolds numbers (Re ≥ 4x104). The...
High solids processing of biomass slurries provides the following benefits: maximized product concentration in the fermentable sugar stream, reduced water usage, and reduced reactor size. However, high solids processing poses mixing and heat...
This thesis looks at the optimization of fluid flow and mass transfer using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in a micro fluidic coulter counter. CFD will be used to solve equations of fluid flow and mass transfer to see how molecules within the...
This work presents a novel comprehensive effort to understand the fluid dynamics within orbiting dishes and the effects of the resulting oscillating fluid flow on shear and endothelial cellular responses within the dishes. It is well documented...
In July 1995, National Science Foundation Award # 9551869 funded the development of a new inter-disciplinary microfabrication course under the primary leadership of Dr. Kevin Walsh at the University of Louisville. Along with this award, the...
Athletic shoes; Foot--Wounds and injuries--Prevention
The purpose of this investigation was to determine if cycling shoes made with stiff material cause an increase in peak plantar stress over shoes with less stiff material. Shoe stiffness measurements were collected under controlled conditions and in...
Symmetric piezoresistive microcantilever beams have been demonstrated in previous research to be capable of sensing the presence of surrounding gas. This occurs as the damping effect of the gas changes the beam resonance behavior. Device...
The thesis focuses on improving the flowrate of the Knudsen gas pump. The Knudsen pump uses thermal transpiration as the driving mechanism to pump gas. It is a motionless gas pump as the pump does not require any moving actuators for pumping. The...
Orbital shakers are commonly used in the cell culture industry due to their ease of use, but the fluid dynamics of this system have not been extensively modeled as the system is difficult to quantify analytically. It is desirable to understand how...
Enzymatic hydrolysis is an important, but time limiting step in the process of converting biomass into ethanol. High solids concentrations are desired in order to minimize reactor size and achieve a higher concentration of glucose in the end...
Hyaluronan (HA) is a major structural component of the ocular vitreous humor
(VH) and lipids are essential building blocks of cell membranes. However, little is known
about their possible interactions. The VH is known to undergo liquefaction...
Assessing the functionality of the endothelium can provide insight into the initiation and formation of arterial diseases. One of the most important functions of the endothelial layer is its permeability. The integrity of the cell monolayer and its...
The airline regulatory communities are interested in methods that can access degradation in the polymer insulation of aging aircraft wiring. This study investigates the response of bulk polymer films and aircraft wiring under indentation; changes...
Linseed oil is the oil from the plant linum usitatissiumum. It is not a new oil, for we read that the Greeks and Romans used it, not as it is used today, but as a food, and it is still used for that purpose in some countries, especially in Russia,...
The performance of pediatric circulatory support devices depends on the properties of pediatric blood. This study reports the measurement of the viscoelastic properties of pediatric blood at 37°C [body temperature]. The results were compared with...
Nosocomial infections; Catheterization--Complications; Drug resistance in microorganisms
Catheters represent an essential part of the management of critically and chronically ill patients. However, their use is often plagued by catheter related blood stream infections (CRBSIs), which are associated with increased morbidity, hospital...
The objective of this thesis is to develop computer programs for the dynamic analysis of structures. For a shear building two computer programs were developed: (1) Dynamic Analysis of a Shear Building within the Elastic Range and (2) the Dynamic...
Micro air vehicles (MAVs) are type of unmanned aircraft with a maximum length of 150 mm (6 in.) and flight speed of less than 10 m/s. Because their flight speed is comparable to the environmental wind speed coupled with their small size and low...
