As the power system grows larger and more complex, real-time monitoring and control become very significant in order to achieve reliable operation of the power system. Before any security assessment can be made or control actions are taken, the reliable estimate of the existing state of the system must be...
Human cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (CAMP/LL-37) is a cationic antimicrobial peptide that is widely expressed by myeloid and epithelial cells at the human-environment interface. It possesses broad spectrum antimicrobial capacity against bacteria, fungi and viruses. In addition to its direct antimicrobial activity, CAMP/LL-37 also attracts and recruits monocytes, neutrophils and other...
The thermal degradation of structural materials is considered to be a key factor for evaluating the lifetime of current nuclear power plants. Ni-based and Fe-based alloys, such as 690, 625, 304, and 316, are widely used in nuclear industry as structural components due to the extraordinary corrosion resistance and mechanical...
Hibiscus and lilacs (Syringa spp.) are economically important nursery crops in the US that accounted for 4.5 million units ($30 million) and 2 million units ($20 million), respectively (USDA, 2016). To maintain and expand the market share of ornamental plants such as lilacs and Hibiscus, novel performance, floral ornamental value,...
As one of the most popular data types, the point cloud is widely used in various appli- cations, including computer vision, computer graphics and robotics. The capability to directly measure 3D point clouds is invaluable in those applications as depth information could remove a lot of the segmentation ambiguities in...
Silicon carbide (SiC) and aluminum nitride (AlN) exhibit a combination of thermal and mechanical properties that are relevant to applications in electronics, aerospace, defense and automotive industries. However, the successful translation of these properties into final applications lies in the net-shaping of these ceramics into fully dense microstructures. Increasing the...
CuInGaSe₂ (CIGS), a promising thin film solar cell material, has gained lots of
attention in decades due to its high energy conversion efficiency and potential lower
manufacture cost over conventional Si solar cells. As a cheaper processing method
compared to vacuum-based techniques, solution-based deposition has been
successfully applied to fabricate...
Nitrification is a critical step in the global nitrogen cycle involving the biological oxidation of ammonia (NH₃) to nitrite (NO₂⁻ ) and then to nitrate (NO₃⁻). The first step in nitrification is carried out by NH₃-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA), and the second by NO₂⁻-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). In addition...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a group of environmental contaminants consisting of fused benzene rings. Parent-PAHs, methylated-PAHs (MPAHs), and PAHs with molecular weight of 302 a.m.u (MW302-PAHs) are considered as unsubstituted-PAHs. These unsubstituted-PAHs undergo transformation reactions resulting in the formation of PAH-transformation products (PAH-TPs), or substituted-PAHs, including nitrated-, oxygenated-, and...
The trans-Pacific atmospheric transport of particulate matter (PM)-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to remote sites in western North America has been well documented and has triggered research questions regarding to atmospheric transformation of PM-bound PAHs and the potential impacts on human health from their inhalation exposure. In this dissertation, field...