Amygel® is an injectable biodegradable controlled release drug delivery system with adjustable release kinetics determined by varying the concentrations of the polymeric components of the material. Amygel® is a starch based biodegradable hydrogel consisting of an interpenetrating network of physically entangled amylose and amylopectin polymer chains crosslinked with d-glucaric acid. Amylose and amylopectin are the two components of naturally occurring starch. The immiscibility of the amylose and amylopectin due to differences in solubility parameter and chain size induces phase separation within the network but because the chains entangled during hydrolysis an interpenetrating network is formed. The chemically reactive carboxyl groups of the dglucaric acid react with the –OH groups of the amylose and amylopectin chains via condensation creating an ester linkage. This ester linkage degrades according to the same hydrolytic mechanism of the main chain backbone resulting in the release of di-acid while the hydrolysis of the acetal bonds of the amylose and the amylopectin results in the generation of glucose monomers, maltose dimers, and maltotriose trimers which can all be safely consumed by the surrounding cells in the tissue. Raman Spectroscopy confirms the formation of ester linkages with the addition of d-glucaric acid to starch gels. With the addition of the chemical crosslinker, the elastic modulus of the starch hydrogel increases. Also, with increased crosslink concentration, the degradation time of the system is extended. D-glucaric acid is a proven anti-carcinogenic agent, and there is evidence that Amygel® inhibits the cell proliferation of osteosarcomas by up to 70%.

In conjunction with the rapid growth of mobile devices, web developers are faced with optimization obstacles in providing their products and services to mobile consumers through rich Internet applications. Programmers utilize available research and tools to effectively guarantee optimal performance of their web applications on wide sets of devices. Due the lack of adequate information on rendering performance of mobile browsers, developers either use a pre-existing framework which constrains their application design or expend many hours in code refactoring in attempts to ensure optimal performance of their web applications. To this end, a framework is developed for identifying factors which might lead to significant lag or bottlenecks in web applications. A small web application is used to showcase the feasibility of integrating this framework on pre-existing web applications in order to assess performance of user devices in real-time.

Amygel® is an injectable biodegradable controlled release drug delivery system with adjustable release kinetics determined by varying the concentrations of the polymeric components of the material. Amygel® is a starch based biodegradable hydrogel consisting of an interpenetrating network of physically entangled amylose and amylopectin polymer chains crosslinked with d-glucaric acid. Amylose and amylopectin are the two components of naturally occurring starch. The immiscibility of the amylose and amylopectin due to differences in solubility parameter and chain size induces phase separation within the network but because the chains entangled during hydrolysis an interpenetrating network is formed. The chemically reactive carboxyl groups of the dglucaric acid react with the –OH groups of the amylose and amylopectin chains via condensation creating an ester linkage. This ester linkage degrades according to the same hydrolytic mechanism of the main chain backbone resulting in the release of di-acid while the hydrolysis of the acetal bonds of the amylose and the amylopectin results in the generation of glucose monomers, maltose dimers, and maltotriose trimers which can all be safely consumed by the surrounding cells in the tissue. Raman Spectroscopy confirms the formation of ester linkages with the addition of d-glucaric acid to starch gels. With the addition of the chemical crosslinker, the elastic modulus of the starch hydrogel increases. Also, with increased crosslink concentration, the degradation time of the system is extended. D-glucaric acid is a proven anti-carcinogenic agent, and there is evidence that Amygel® inhibits the cell proliferation of osteosarcomas by up to 70%.

The primary purpose of this thesis was to design and create an Interactive Audit to conduct Environmental Site Assessments according to American Society of Testing Material's (ASTM) Phase I Standards at the Wagner Creek study area. ArcPad and ArcIMS are the major software that were used to create the model and ArcGIS Desktop was used for data analysis and to export shapefile symbology to ArcPad. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is an effective tool to deploy these purposes. This technology was utilized to carry out data collection, data analysis and to display data interactively on the Internet. Electronic forms, customized for mobile devices were used to survey sites. This is an easy and fast way to collect and modify field data. New data such as land use, recognized environmental conditions, and underground storage tanks can be added into existing datasets. An updated map is then generated and uploaded to the Internet using ArcIMS technology. The field investigator has the option to generate and view the Inspection Form at the end of his survey on site, or print a hardcopy at base. The mobile device also automatically generates preliminary editable Executive Reports for any inspected site.

This research effort examined the read rate differences in a passive ultra high frequency (UHF) Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) doorway portal as a function of antenna placement, doorway size and composition, reader manufacturer, tag type, and tag orientation. In this analysis of a RFID system, the response observations were modeled under an ordinal logistic regression model. The selection of a categorical analysis method was due to the flaws associated with the initial design of the experiment, which resulted in high valued observations which would have skewed the results of a quantitative model. The ordinal regression analysis of the data indicates that out of the parameters studied, system performance is increased when a Sirit reader system, setup in a double doorway, with an antenna at the top of the door frame as well as the sides are used in conjunction with Sirit NXP tags.

The primary objective of this thesis is to make an accurate stream flow forecast for the Bear River at Harer, Idaho in order to provide helpful information for the operation of the largest reservoir in the Bear River System and in guiding cropping programs in the watershed.

Master of Applied Science (MASc)

<p>Part A:</p> <p>The purpose of this report is to study the validity of the Rutherford Scattering Law. Both the angular and energy dependence of the . scattering cross-section are checked, also comparison between the absolute cross-section determined experimentally and the theoretical cross-section is made.</p> <p>Here we study the scattering of helium and oxygen ions with energies varying from 0.5 to 2.0 MeV from thin bismuth targets made by implanting 40 keV bismuth ions in low Z(silicon) substrate to doses of 10¹⁶ ions/cm². The implantation process was made on the Isotope Separator and the scattering experiments were made on the Van-de-Graff accelerator of the SSS branch of the AECL. The scattering angles considered here range from 90˚ to 160˚ and a special geometrical arrangement was used to enable us to measure the scattering angle accurately. Also the report contains a brief description of the different sources of errors during target preparation (implantations) and the scattering experiments.</p> <p>Part B:</p> <p>As an introduction to a larger study of ion bombardment phenomena on metal surfaces, we apply the Monte-carlo technique to calculate the range distribution and back-scattering of keV ions from metal surfaces. Lindhard theory is used to calculate both the ion-metal atom scattering and the electron stopping power. The program can be used over a wide range of reduced energies (.1 < ɛ < 30) limited only by the validity of the Lindhard theory. A sample calculation of hydrogen scattering from aluminum is presented.</p> / Master of Engineering (ME)

<p>The state of polarization of photoluminescence that is emitted along (001) and (110) crystallographic orientations has been studied to obtain quantitative information on the interfacial strain, thickness and biaxial strain in InP/InGaAs(P)/InP quantum wells. It is demonstrated that the edge emission from quantum wells is a sensitive function of the strain and thickness of the quantum well. The anisotropic polarization of photoluminescence that is emitted normal to the plane of the quantum well provides information regarding the interfacial features. This anisotropy has been correlated to the anisotropic strain field that is associated with the strained bonds at the interfaces of the quantum wells.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p>Quantum wire (QWR) lasers are of interest because of predicted improvement of performance compared to quantum well lasers. For fiber optical communication, lasers are required that operate at wavelengths of 1.3 μm or 1.55 μm. This requires lasers grown in the InP-based materials. In the GaAs-based system, it has been shown that good QWR lasers can be achieved through epitaxial growth onto GaAs substrates having etched V-grooves. However, to date, no InP-based QWRs have been successfully grown in V-grooves. This arises from two problems: (i) the tendency for InP to planarize during growth, in contrast to the resharpening effect of AlGaAs; (ii) the potential for lattice-mismatch between InGaAs(P) and InP, which could result in strain relaxation and defect formation. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to establish the conditions whereby InGaAs/InGaAsP QWRs can be achieved and to confirm and characterize the one-dimensional behaviour. V-grooves with both(111)A and(111)B sidewalls are used in this study. They are obtained using chemical etching. The etching process is explained and conditions necessary to achieve each type of V-groove are established. Gas source molecular beam epitaxy has been used to grow various epitaxial structures. For InP layers grown under different growth conditions, it is found that the V/III flux ratio significantly affects the shape of a V-groove bottom and the roughness of both the V-bottom and the sidewalls. With the growth conditions optimized, InP layers can be grown which retain the sharpness and the smoothness of the V-groove. The sharpness of the bottom of the groove is related to growth conditions that decrease the growth rate at the bottom by limiting the supply of the group V component. InGaAs/InP quantum well structures have been grown using the optimized conditions. For (111)A V-grooves, transmission electron microscopy shows that all epilayers are defect-free and that InGaAs/InP quantum wires are successfully obtained with well thickness variation as high as a factor of 6. Lateral subband separations are estimated by a simple one-dimensional parabolic potential model with the thickness determined by TEM. Photoluminescence emission from the InGaAs quantum wires is spatially resolved with a spatially selective etch technique. For (111)B V-grooves, defects such as dislocations are observed in the bottom. However, the growth of bulk InGaAsP and InGaAs/InGaAsP yields different results. No extended defects have been observed in the InGaAsP layer grown in either (111)A or (111)B V-grooves. This is because, at the groove bottom the layer is both P and In rich, as analyzed by using energy dispersive X-rays. This tends to reduce the strain compared to InGaAs deposition, where the absence of P leads to In-rich, strained material. The growth of an InGaAsP layer in a (111)A V-groove results in a flat and wide bottom, which excludes the possibility of forming InGaAs/InGaAsP quantum wires. However, the growth of an InGaAsP layer in (111)B V-grooves results in a sharper bottom, such that crescent-shaped InGaAs/InGaAsP structures are formed when the InGaAs layer is very thin. Quantum-wire behaviour has been confirmed through the observation of lateral subbands in the photoluminescence (PL) spectra. This is further supported by polarization measurements. Also, the subband separation observed in PL spectra is consistent with a calculated value using the one-dimensional parabolic potential model. The InGaAs/InGaAsP QWRs should be able to be incorporated into laser structures.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)