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Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bioengineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Stephen P. DeWeerth; Committee Member: Bruce Wheeler; Committee Member: Michelle LaPlaca; Committee Member: Robert Lee; Committee Member: Steve Potter

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2004. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 82 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-82). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Chemistry, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Aug. 17, 2009). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006. / Michaels, Thomas E., Committee Member ; LaPlaca, Michelle, Committee Member ; Frazier, A. Bruno, Committee Member ; DeWeerth, Stephen P., Committee Member ; Allen, Mark G., Committee Chair.

Hepatocyte transmembrane potential (V(m)) during osmotic stress responds as an osmometer, in part because of changes in membrane K+ conductance. This may contribute to the electromotive force that drives transmembrane Cl- fluxes. To test this, double-barreled ion-sensitive microelectrodes were used to measure changes in steady-state intracellular Cl- activity (a(Cl)/(i)) during osmotic stress applied to mouse liver slices. Hyperosmotic and hyposmotic conditions were created by rapidly switching to a solution in which sucrose concentrations were increased or reduced, respectively. Hyperosmotic stress [1.4 x control osmolality (280 mosmol/kgH2O)] decreased hepatocyte V(m) 46% from -39 ± 1 to -21 ± 1 mV (SE; n = 16 animals). Corresponding a(Cl)/(i) increased twofold from 19 ± 2 to 38 ± 3 mM. This shifted the Cl- equilibrium potential (E(Cl)) 19 mV, from -38 ± 0.3 to -19 ± 2 mV. Hyposmotic stress [0.71 x control osmolality (290 mosmol/kgH2O)] increased hepatocyte V(m) 64% from -28 ± 1 to -46 ± 1 mV (SE; n = 13 animals). Corresponding a(Cl)/(i) decreased 0.53-fold from 17 ± 1 to 8 ± 1 mM. This shifted the E(Cl) 20 mV from -26 ± 2 to -46 ± 3 mV. Thus hepatocyte a(Cl)/(i) is in electrochemical equilibrium with V(m). The paired measurements above were repeated after addition of K+-channel blockers quinine or Ba2+. Ba2+ (2 mM) had no effect on either V(m) or a(Cl)/(i) during hyperosmotic stress; however, Ba2+ significantly inhibited changes in V(m) and a(Cl)/(i) during hyposmotic stress. Effects of quinine (0.5 mM) on V(m) and a(Cl)/(i) during both hyperosmotic stress and hyposmotic stress were similar to those of Ba2+. A previous report shows that inhibition of hyposmotic stress-induced V(m) changes results in loss of hepatocyte volume regulation and greater swelling. Thus osmotic stress-induced changes in a(Cl)/(i) are nowhere near those predicted by cell water volume changes based on transmembrane osmotic pressure differences. We conclude that these larger changes in a(Cl)/(i) resulted from voltage-driven transmembrane Cl- fluxes.

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No description available.

Liveness detection in automatic fingerprint identification systems (AFIS) is an issue which still prevents its use in many unsupervised security applications. In the last decade, various hardware and software solutions for the detection of liveness from fingerprints have been proposed by academic research groups. However, the proposed methods have not yet been practically implemented with existing AFIS. A large amount of research is needed before commercial AFIS can be implemented. In this research, novel active pore based liveness detection methods were proposed for AFIS. These novel methods are based on the detection of active pores on fingertip ridges, and the measurement of ionic activity in the sweat fluid that appears at the openings of active pores. The literature is critically reviewed in terms of liveness detection issues. Existing fingerprint technology, and hardware and software solutions proposed for liveness detection are also examined. A comparative study has been completed on the commercially and specifically collected fingerprint databases, and it was concluded that images in these datasets do not contained any visible evidence of liveness. They were used to test various algorithms developed for liveness detection; however, to implement proper liveness detection in fingerprint systems a new database with fine details of fingertips is needed. Therefore a new high resolution Brunel Fingerprint Biometric Database (B-FBDB) was captured and collected for this novel liveness detection research. The first proposed novel liveness detection method is a High Pass Correlation Filtering Algorithm (HCFA). This image processing algorithm has been developed in Matlab and tested on B-FBDB dataset images. The results of the HCFA algorithm have proved the idea behind the research, as they successfully demonstrated the clear possibility of liveness detection by active pore detection from high resolution images. The second novel liveness detection method is based on the experimental evidence. This method explains liveness detection by measuring the ionic activities above the sample of ionic sweat fluid. A Micro Needle Electrode (MNE) based setup was used in this experiment to measure the ionic activities. In results, 5.9 pC to 6.5 pC charges were detected with ten NME positions (50μm to 360 μm) above the surface of ionic sweat fluid. These measurements are also a proof of liveness from active fingertip pores, and this technique can be used in the future to implement liveness detection solutions. The interaction of NME and ionic fluid was modelled in COMSOL multiphysics, and the effect of electric field variations on NME was recorded at 5μm -360μm positions above the ionic fluid.

Bottom water hypoxia and its influence on the environment have been topics of increasing concern for many coastal regions. This research addresses both spatial and temporal variability in sediment biogeochemistry at the southeastern region of Corpus Christi Bay, TX, where seasonal (summer) hypoxia occurs. Traditional techniques for determination of a variety of dissolved and solid components, benthic oxygen demand, and sulfate reduction rates were augmented by measurements using solid state microelectrodes to simultaneously determine concentrations of dissolved O2, Mn2+, Fe2+, and [sigma]H2S in multiple small - interval (1 mm) depth profiles of sediment microcosms. Oxygen concentrations in the overlying water were manipulated in the sediment microcosms and electrode depth profile measurements were made over ~ 500 hours of experimentation. Laboratory and field microelectrode results were in good agreement for both norm - oxic and anoxic time periods. Results indicated that iron (Fe2+) and sulfide ([sigma]H2S) were the redox reactive species in these sediments. During hypoxic conditions an upward migration of dissolved Fe2+and [sigma]H2S through the sediment column and, at times, into the overlying water was observed as the dissolved oxygen concentrations decreased. A corresponding decline in the vertical extent of these redox species occurred when the overlying water was re-oxidized. When both dissolved iron and sulfide coexisted, FeS minerals were formed in the sediment, preventing sulfide diffusion into the overlying water. However, after a long duration of hypoxia (> 200 hours) this buffering capacity was exceeded and both iron and sulfide penetrated into the overlying waters. Results indicated that iron may have a greater influence on hypoxia than sulfide because its concentration in the overlying waters during induced hypoxia was an order of magnitude greater than those of sulfide. Moreover, in the southeastern region of the Bay, where mixing was minimal and the water column was shallow, the sediments alone may have caused the onset of the hypoxic event in a relatively short time period (< 5.5 days). These results demonstrated that in shallow marine environments where seasonal hypoxia occurs, such as Corpus Christi Bay, the associated major changes that take place in the sediment biogeochemistry must be included in benthic - pelagic models for overlying water hypoxia.