Bioprocessing design includes optimizing unit operations in a process in order to attain a desired amount of product. Process economics, safety, environmental impact, and product quality are considered. This study investigated which skills and conceptual knowledge related to bioprocessing design were most important for entry-level engineers in the bioprocessing industry....
Lack of access to safe water is the leading cause of mortality in the world; approximately 3.4 million people die every year from waterborne pathogens. Inadequate access to safe drinking water and sanitation has contributed to an annual average of 1,980,000 deaths of children under five from diarrheal disease. Three...
Finding new examples of compact simply connected spaces admitting a Riemannian metric of positive sectional curvature is a fundamental problem in differential geometry. Likewise, studying topological properties of families of manifolds is very interesting to
topologists. The Eschenburg spaces combine both of those interests: they are positively curved Riemannian manifolds...
Functional polymers and proteins at interfaces and surfaces are of fundamental importance for biomaterials, biocatalysis and microreactor applications. Candida antarctica lipase B immobilized on poly-DL-tryptophan tethers showed 30x higher
specific activity in aqueous and non-aqueous media than the same enzyme adsorbed or covalently bound directly to the surface. An excess...
There is considerable interest in developing environmentally friendly processes for the economical conversion of biomass plant material to biofuels, bioproducts and biomaterials. One approach to such a conversion process is to make use of enzymes for the conversion of plant polysaccharides to simple sugars; the simple sugars could then be...
Low bone mineral density (BMD) and poor stability both contribute to
increased risk of fractures associated with a fall. The aim of this dissertation was
two-fold. The first study, a cross-sectional analysis, sought to determine the
anthropometric and/or performance variables that best predicted BMD and postural
stability in mature, premenopausal...
In the United States, falls are the leading cause of unintentional death with one of every three people 65 years and older falling each year. Falls account for approximately 95% of hip fractures among older adults and falls to the side predominate hip fracture related falls in this population. However,...
Sex differences in bone mass and size are thought to contribute to the greater incidence of vertebral fractures in women. While these sex differences are widely recognized, the relative contributions of bone mass, bone density, and bone size to the differences in vertebral strength and fracture risk between men and...
Currently, the technologies used to separate lignocellulosic biomass into its component parts (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin) and enzymatically hydrolyze the cellulose to glucose for conversion to ethanol could be improved economically and in terms of efficiency. A major impediment to utilizing the biomass is the presence of residual lignin. The...