Poster #1: Ultrasensitive Molecular Sensor Using N-Doped Graphene Through Enhanced Raman Scattering

S. Feng, M. C. dos Santos, B. R. Carvalho, R. Lv, Q. Li, K. Fujisawa, A. L. Elias, Y. Lei, N. Perea-Lopez, M. Endo, M. Pan, M. A. Pimenta, M. Terrones

As a novel and efficient surface analysis technique, graphene-enhanced Raman scattering (GERS) has attracted increasing research attention in recent years. In particular, chemically doped graphene exhibits improved GERS effects when compared with pristine graphene for certain dyes, and it can be used to efficiently detect trace amounts of molecules. However, the GERS mechanism remains an open question. We present a comprehensive study on the GERS effect of pristine graphene and nitrogen-doped graphene. By controlling nitrogen doping, the Fermi level (EF) of graphene shifts, and if this shift aligns with the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of a molecule, charge transfer is enhanced, thus significantly amplifying the molecule's vibrational Raman modes. We confirmed these findings using different organic fluorescent molecules: rhodamine B, crystal violet, and methylene blue. The Raman signal from these dye molecules can be detected even for concentrations as low as 10-11 M, thus providing outstanding molecular sensing capabilities. To explain our results, these nitrogen-doped graphene-molecule systems were modeled using dispersion-corrected density functional theory. Furthermore, we demonstrated that it is possible to determine the gaps between the highest occupied and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (HOMO-LUMO) of different molecules when different laser excitations are used. The simulated Raman spectra of the molecules also suggest that the measured Raman shifts come from the dyes that have an extra electron. This work demonstrates that nitrogen-doped graphene has enormous potential as a substrate when detecting low concentrations of molecules and could also allow for an effective experimental identification of their HOMO-LUMO gaps.

Poster #2: Additive Manufacturing and Materials at Penn State

T. A. Palmer, R. Martukanitz, T. Simpson, G. L. Messing

Additive manufacturing has the potential to revolutionize manufacturing by providing on-demand production, decreasing material and manufacturing costs, allowing highly flexible designs for production, and producing features and material combinations that are not currently feasible. Additive manufacturing builds upon the U.S. strength in materials, design, simulation, and cyber technology, and offers extreme levels of product flexibility that enables new paradigms in design, materials, and manufacturing. However, the effective transition and utilization of AM within the industrial base requires an approach that engages a wide array of technologies and perspectives. To address the multidisciplinary needs for advancing this technology, the Center for Innovative Materials Processing through Direct Digital Deposition (CIMP-3D) acts as a catalyst for engaging broad faculty collaboration that enables pooling of resources to create an exceptional research capability. To achieve the broad perspective necessary for advancing AM technology, the Center also includes government, industry and academic partners having the common goal of advancing and implementing this important technology within the industrial base. Appropriate to AM technology, the Center functions through a cyber-enabled environment drawing upon the collective capabilities of members, while also supporting a central facility for the advancement and demonstration of various AM technologies for innovative design and manufacturing of metallic components and structures.

Poster #3: Neurovirology and the Genomic Analysis of Viral Variation

C. Bowen, C. Mangold, U. Pandey, D. Renner, M. Shipley, M. Szpara

A variety of viruses infect the human nervous system, often with severe consequences. Multiple viruses such as Zika virus, West Nile virus, and herpes simplex virus (HSV) cause neurological infections that require clinical intervention. While Zika and West Nile virus often cause transient infections, HSV creates a lifelong infection that is harbored in the nervous system of the human host. More than 70% of adults in the United States carry HSV-1 or HSV-2, which cause recurrent lesions due to viral reactivation from the latent reservoir in neurons. The Szpara lab examines the genetic variability of viruses such as human HSV. The large DNA genome of this viral pathogen presents new challenges for the analysis of genetic variation, as does its lifelong pattern of infection in humans. We are developing new next-generation sequencing approaches and bioinformatics analyses to examine patterns of viral variation. We examine these changes on a genome-wide scale over the course of an infection, from the initial point of infection and over time. Both human and agricultural models of infection are currently under study in the lab. We anticipate that these genomic approaches will be applicable for RNA viruses as well, including emerging pathogens such as Zika virus. Our lab has also developed a robust and reproducible human neuronal cell model for high-throughput screening of viral interactions with neurons. This specialized cell type plays a key role in the infectious process for neurotropic pathogens like HSV, Zika virus, and others. Starting from a mixed population of renewable precursor cells, we use an extensive process of differentiation and negative selection to generate a nearly-pure human neuronal cell population. We are currently using this model for the study of HSV-1 interactions with neurons, and will extend this work to neurotropic RNA virus infections in the future.

Poster #4: The Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation, an Energy Frontier Research Center

D. J. Cosgrove, L. Ullrich, C. T. Anderson, Y. Gu, C. Haigler, M. Hong, S. H. Kim, J. D. Kubicki, M. Kumar, K. T. Mueller, B. T. Nixon, H. O'Neill, A. W. Roberts, M. Tien, Y. G. Yingling, J. Zimmer

The Center for Lignocellulose Structure and Formation (CLSF)'s Mission is to develop a nano-scale understanding of the structure and formation of lignocellulose, the main structural material in plants, forming a foundation for significant advances in sustainable energy and materials. Every living organism on Earth uses glucose as an energy source. Plants not only make glucose from sunlight, water and CO2, but they convert much of it into an energy-rich material -- the lignocellulosic cell wall -- that is both a versatile material and a recalcitrant feedstock for liquid biofuel production, both properties stemming from its hierarchical structure at the nano- to mesoscales. CLSF researchers investigate: (Theme 1) how plants transform glucose into the crystalline nano-fibril (cellulose) with very different physical properties from the starting material and (Theme 2) how cellulose is combined with other polymers to make cell walls with diverse physical properties. Our research addresses key questions in plant biology: by understanding the fundamental science of how plants manufacture lignocellulose, we may devise new ways to control it (through genetic engineering) and transform it (through chemical engineering) for improved technologies to supply our energy and material needs for a sustainable future.

Poster #5: Computer-Based Tutors for Moving from Declarative to Procedural Knowledge

F. E. Ritter, K.-C. Yeh, D. Guzek, P. Weyhrauch

We describe a project working to (a) Understand more about procedural learning and retention with respect to how learning arises from declarative representations, both empirically and through modeling. (b) Realize how to apply and test learning theories through developing lightweight tutors designed to move declarative knowledge into procedural knowledge. This is the Declarative to Procedural (D2P) tutoring system. We also are exploring how usability affects the use of tutors. (c) Develop tutoring materials related to the domain maintenance, broadly defined, to include debugging and maintenance of processes. (d) And to develop tutors to serve as examples, to help test and debug the D2P system, to test the learning theory, and to provide tutorial materials for the Navy. We have created tutors for declarative knowledge, such as Navy Medals, for procedural knowledge, such as discrete math and shooting moving targets, and for mixed knowledge such as battlefield trauma care and nursing. This is a general approach, and should support other training tasks.

Poster #6: Ion-Containing Polymers for Energy Applications

C. Iacob, D. Miranda, V. Lumsargis, H-J. Yu, P. Kuray, Y. Huang, R. Maruszewski, J. Runt

In general, our research focuses on the relationship between polymer dynamics and nanoscale phase separation, and how these influence macroscopic properties and performance of multiphase polymer systems. Many important devices in the expanding energy sector require materials that conduct ions through a medium, including actuators and batteries. For many next generation devices, single-ion polymer conductors (ionomers) are preferred for the creation of solid ion transport membranes. We use broadband dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) to develop molecular level understanding of ion transport and associated polymer dynamics in ionomers with various chemical structures. In related research, we also use BDS to interrogate ion and polymer dynamics in a remarkable new class of highly regular acid-functionalized (and cation-neutralized) ethylene copolymers. Both acid and/or ionic functionalities segregate from the polyethylene matrix and lead to unique morphologies. We are also investigating the role of nanoscale confinement on ion transport of conductive ionomers. The mobility of ionic species in nanoconfined geometries is both an important topic in polymer physics and has future practical relevance in design and processing of ion-containing polymer nanostructured devices. Finally, we are also investigating the fundamental connection between semi-crystalline polymer composition, molecular orientation, the resulting morphology, and their dielectric properties (from the point of view of film capacitor applications). The latter include, among others, dielectric constant and loss as well as breakdown strength.

Poster #7: Lateral Versus Vertical Growth of Two-Dimensional Layered Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides: Thermodynamic Insight into Mos2

S. L. Shang, G. Lindwall, Y. Wang, J. M. Redwing, Z. K. Liu

Unprecedented interest has been spurred recently in two-dimensional (2D) layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) that possess tunable electronic and optical properties. However, growth of wafer-scale TMD thin films with controlled thicknesses and homogeneity remains highly challenging. This is due in part to the unknown thermodynamic limits and knowledge of diffusion mechanisms and rates, which can be used to identify suitable deposition methods and understand process conditions. Here, an integrated density functional theory (DFT) and subsequent application of CALculation of PHAse Diagram (CALPHAD) procedures are employed to provide thermodynamic insight into lateral versus vertical growth of the prototypical 2D material MoS2. Various DFT energies are predicted from the layer-dependent MoS2, 2D flake-size related mono- and bilayer MoS2, to Mo and S migration with and without graphene and sapphire substrates, thus shedding light on the factors that control lateral versus vertical growth of 2D islands. For example, the monolayer MoS2 flake in a small 2D lateral size is thermodynamically favorable with respect to the bilayer counterpart, indicating the monolayer preference during the initial stage of nucleation. In the case of the bilayer MoS2 flake, however, it becomes stable with increasing 2D lateral size. The critical 2D flake-size of phase stability between mono- and bilayer MoS2 is adjustable via the choice of substrate. In terms of calculated DFT energies and CALPHAD modeling, the size dependent pressure-temperature-composition (P-T-x) growth windows are predicted for MoS2, indicating that the formation of MoS2 flakes with reduced size appears in the middle but close to the lower T and higher P "Gas + MoS2" two-phase region. The calculations further suggests that Mo diffusion is rate controlling for MoS2 growth owing to its extremely low diffusivity compared to that of sulfur. The coupled DFT results and equilibrium predictions are validated by comparison to experimental data reported in the literature. For example, Calculated MoS2 energies, Mo and S diffusivities, and size-dependent P-T-x growth windows are in good accord with available experiments.

Poster #8: Small Molecules Efficiently Reprogram Human Astroglial Cells into Functional Neurons

L. Zhang, J. Yin, H. Yeh, N. Ma, G. Lee, X. A. Chen, Y. Wang, L. Lin, L. Chen, P. Jin, G. Wu, G. Chen

Mammalian central nervous system (CNS) possesses very limited self-repair capability as very few newborn neurons are constantly generated during the adulthood. Regeneration of functional neurons under the CNS injured or diseased condition remains a major challenge for functional recovery. To generate neurons locally, one big reservoir can be glial cells. In response to CNS injury, glial cells including astrocytes are activated to proliferate and become hypertrophic to occupy the injured CNS area form the scar-like structure in the chronic stage after injury. Previous work including our own, have demonstrated the reactive astrocytes can be reprogrammed into functional neurons in mouse brain and can potentially be utilized for brain repair. However, these glia-to-neuron conversions largely depend on the virus-based gene delivery and require complex brain surgery. To make the glia-to-neuron reprogramming technique applicable in clinic, here we report a chemical-based method. The sequential exposure to a cocktail of small molecules, the master conversion molecules (MCM), can successfully reprogram human astroglial cells into neuron-like cells in 8 days with conversion efficiency around 67%. These human astrocyte-converted neurons can survive for more than 4 months in culture and form functional synaptic networks, demonstrated by robust synchronous burst activities. Both transcriptional and epigenetic regulations play critical roles in astrocyte-to-neuron reprogramming. After injected into the lateral ventricle of mouse brain, the small molecule-reprogrammed human neurons survive for up to one month and migrate out of the ventricles to integrate into the local neural circuits. Our study opens a new avenue using small molecules to reprogram reactive glial cells into functional neurons for brain repair.

Poster #9: Penn State Micro and Nano Integrated Biosystem (MINIBio) Laboratory

M. Akbar, Y. Chen, G. Cheng, L. Ha, H. He, S. Hao, P. Kerativitayanan, W. Li, M. Maurer, M. Nisic, L. Sun, Y. Wan, Z. Wang, Y. Xia, W. Zhang, X. Zhou, C. Zhu, S.-Y. Zheng

The Penn State MINIBio lab aims at developing innovative micro and nano technologies, applying these technologies to study complicated biological systems, and providing engineering solutions to current and future healthcare. The lab conduct research at the interface of materials, life sciences, medicine, and engineering. Current and recent efforts include: (1) Developing technologies for fluid biopsy methods for cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment monitoring; (2) Developing nanomaterial-integrated microfluidic devices for infectious pathogen isolation and detection; (3) Synthesizing nanomaterials and integrating them of into devices for drug deliver, disease diagnosis and proteomics; (4) Micro/nano fabrication of novel devices.

Poster #10: Penn State Survey Research Center

Survey Research Center Staff

The Survey Research Center (SRC) at The Pennsylvania State University offers a complete range of data collection services for social, behavioral, and institutional research and evaluation projects. to university faculty and graduate students, as well as investigators outside the university. The SRC focuses on providing quality, cost-effective data collection, and project management services in the following areas: 1. Providing survey and project management services: Survey design, sample acquisition, and subject recruitment, incentive management, data collection staff hiring, training and supervision, mailings for pre-notification, consent, and recruitment, 2. Providing consultation for faculty and student investigators and preparing effective proposals for external funding, 3. Educating members of the Penn State Community on best practices and emerging developments in the survey research field, 4. Promoting and contributing to the science of survey research. Completing up to 50 projects a year, our staff provides expert knowledge and experience addressing challenges of collecting full-service surveys using the following modes of data collection, conventional representative and targeted telephone interviews, web-based and mobile enabled web surveys, scannable pencil and paper forms to be distributed by mail or in person, face to face surveys in households, schools, and other institutions, in-depth interviewing, focus groups, and other qualitative data collection.

Poster #11: Using Quality Talk to Enhance High-Level Comprehension in Language Arts and Science

P. K. Murphy, J. A. Greene, C. M. Firetto, A. M. Butler

During the past several years we have developed, refined, and implemented an intervention called Quality Talk for use in both science and language arts classrooms. Quality Talk incorporates the best features of previously existing discussion approaches into one unified, innovative, teacher-facilitated discussion approach aimed at promoting students' high-level comprehension of text, where high-level comprehension refers to critical-reflective thinking and epistemic cognition about, around and with text. The approach is premised on the belief that talk is a tool for thinking, and that certain kinds of talk can contribute to high-level comprehension. As part of two federally funded grants, through the National Science Foundation and Institute of Education Sciences, we have iteratively refined and developed the model in both science and language arts. Specifically, Quality Talk Science (QTS) has been incorporated into both high school physics and chemistry classrooms with discussions focused on a variety of topics (e.g., nuclear fission, or airbags). It aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards through facilitation of students' understanding and use of models, analysis and interpretation of data, and the ability to engage in argumentation using reasoning and evidence necessary for a 21st century STEM education. Likewise, Quality Talk Language Arts (QTLA) has been incorporated into elementary language arts classrooms with discussions focused on texts read as part of the teachers' existing language arts curriculum (i.e., the adopted reading curriculum). It aligns with the Common Core State Standards through its emphasis on teaching students how to express their own ideas orally and in writing, using reasons and evidence to support their claims, and engage in collaborative discussions, building on their peers' ideas. In our poster we will report the substantive evidence we have gathered over the past three years that support the effectiveness of Quality Talk across both content areas. In QTS we used a quasi-experimental design (four treatment three control teachers and their students) to investigate the effects on students written scientific argumentation performance. Analyses revealed a statistically and practically significant interaction of time and condition showing the QTS students outperformed the control group students from pretest to posttest, accounting for both domain (i.e., physics and chemistry) and science content. In QTLA multilevel modeling revealed that statistically and practically significant increases were evidenced on measures of students' text comprehension and transfer assessments of written argumentation, indicating that QT enhances high-level comprehension as intended; results were replicated in our second year, where, on average, students displayed positive gains in both basic and high-level comprehension. We will also report findings still being analyzed across both of our projects.

Poster #12: The Magneto-Active Composites and Structures (MACS) Lab at Penn State

M. Aurelio, C. Breznak, B. Cowen, A. Erol, T. Haussner, K. Leshkow, K. Lli, A. Haelsig, L. Yost, P. von Lockette

The Magneto-Active Structures and Composites Lab (MACS) fabricates and models magnetically active materials for origami, locomotive and sensory applications. The Lab consists of an experimental side, which fabricates and characterizes magnetic material, as well as a modeling side which aims to produce models to predict the response of magneto-active structures. Current projects within the lab include the fabrication and magneto-elastic characterization of magnetic materials, the development of a 4-dimensional printer capable of printing non/magnetic material with local alignment, and the prediction of deformed shapes of multi-field structures. For origami applications, magneto-active elastomers (MAE) are fabricated by embedding hard magnetic particles within an elastomer matrix. As an MAE cures, an external magnetic field can be applied to align the particles in a specified orientation, such as an in-plane alignment or an out of plane alignment. MAEs can then be strategically placed on flexible material, to replicate known origami structures. This is accomplished because MAEs have a preferred magnetic direction. When this preferred magnetization is not parallel to an applied external field, torque will be generated, and the MAE will rotate to align with the external field. To calculate the torque generated by an MAE, the remanent magnetization of the MAE must be determined. To find the remanent magnetization, a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) is used. The VSM applies an external magnetic field on the MAE, and measure the magnetic moment produced. Using the resulting hysteresis loop, the magnetic properties of the MAE can be determined. Currently, magneto-active structures are fabricated manually. In an effort to make more uniform material with arbitrary magnetizations, a 4-dimensional printer is being developed. Commonly used photo-curable additive manufacturing materials are mixed with magnetic particles to make printable magnetic material. Complementary to the experimental side of the MACS Lab, is the modeling side. Using Comsol Multiphysics and in house code, magnetically active material and electrically active material are modeled while results are compared to experimental data. A 1-dimensional analytical model has been developed from the equilibrium equations of a differential element at each point of a beam composed of two layers consisting of active materials. The equations are written in terms of the curvatures at each point using a finite difference method. Additionally, a nonlinear model is used for the electrostriction of electro-active polymer. The model is based on the microstructure of the P(VDF) based terpolymer, which undergoes conformational changes when polarized due to the dipoles reorienting under an electric field. A network model composed of dipoles connected via chains is developed, with its free energy modeled by the composition of dipole-dipole interactions and a hyperelastic m

Poster #13: Insights into Axonal Injury Using Embedded Head Model

H. T. Garimella, R. H. Kraft

Traumatic brain injury is a debilitating injury and a significant health problem in the United States, which is estimated to occur in 1.6-1.8 million people annually. Axonal injury, a common type of traumatic brain injury, is primarily characterized by damage to the axons. Enhanced knowledge of the axonal deformation during a head impact may facilitate a better understanding of the primary injury mechanism and secondary effects that may lead to functional deficits and long-term neurodegeneration. Advancements in non-invasive imaging techniques, such as diffusion tensor imaging, coupled with novel computational methods may facilitate an improved understanding of brain injury. The poster focuses on our efforts to employ the embedded finite element method to model axonal fiber tracts, which represent bundles of neuronal cells that can be visualized using diffusion tensor imaging. In the approach, each fiber tract is modeled as a collection of connected truss elements embedded in a matrix (representing brain tissue). Embedded element constraint is used to transfer the strains from the matrix to the axonal fiber tracts. Various approaches to validate the method will be presented and its advantages will be discussed. One of the most exciting features of the approach is that each fiber tract is explicitly represented in the model, as opposed to creating an averaged fiber direction vector to be used in a constitutive model.

Poster #14: Controlling Chemistry and Microstructure for Functional Soft Materials

Y. Lee, E. Gomez

The research focus of the Gomez group is on understanding how structure at various length scales affects macroscopic properties of soft condensed matter. Though diverse, complex organic molecules share free energy landscapes dominated by non-equilibrium states and a theme of disorder. Understanding the fundamental processes that lead to, for example, charge transport and separation requires characterization of equilibrium, near equilibrium and far from equilibrium structures. Current efforts are directed at understanding the structural parameters that affect the performance of organic electronics, including solar cells and transistors, through a combination of electron and light microscopy, X-ray and light scattering, electron diffraction, and device testing. Through model systems, we study the physics of charge injection and charge transfer at semiconductor-metal interfaces as well as organic heterojunctions. Furthermore, we examine the microstructure of polymeric membranes used in water filtration to uncover how membrane performance depends on structural properties. We are also extending our structural characterization tools for the study of biological systems, including proteins, viruses, and plant cell walls.

Poster #15: The Methodology Center: Advancing Methods, Improving Health

A. T. Wagner

The Methodology Center is an interdisciplinary research center within the College of Health and Human Development. We develop and disseminate new methods for social, behavioral, and health sciences research focusing on vital public health issues. This poster will provide a brief introduction to our research on time-varying effect modeling, latent class modeling, optimizing interventions, variable selection, and adaptive interventions. As a designated National Institute on Drug Abuse Center of Excellence, we serve as a national resource in the development and dissemination of innovative research methods. We draw upon and integrate methodological perspectives from a variety of disciplines, including statistics, engineering, psychology, and human development, to enable new categories of scientific research questions to be addressed. Although our work is broadly applicable, we specialize in methods for research on behavioral approaches to the prevention and treatment of health problems, with emphasis on alcohol abuse, tobacco use, other drug abuse, and HIV. New technologies and approaches have enabled the collection of vast amounts of data that have great potential for improving public health. For example, smartphones and sensors are being used to obtain frequent (e.g., several times/day) real-time measures of an individual's behavior, cognitions, mood, physiological state, and environment. Smartphones, then, can be used to both measure important constructs and to deliver mHealth interventions--but this requires new statistical methods for analyzing complex data sets. These data, alongside other emergent data types like fMRI and genetics data, can be used to inform a new generation of interventions to help people manage their behavior and improve their health. However, statistical analysis methods, the keys investigators use to open the door to the scientific knowledge contained in behavioral data, have not kept up with the complexity of modern data sets and the sophistication of the questions posed by today's behavioral researchers. Methodology Center researchers are developing and disseminating innovative statistical methods designed to unlock the knowledge contained in complex behavioral data and put this knowledge to use to improve public health.

Poster #16: Study on the Interaction Between Bioenergy Crops Shrub Willow and Switchgrass and Environmental Factors

W. Wang, J. Carlson

Shrub willow and switchgrass have superior properties for use as bioenergy feedstocks on marginal agricultural and abandoned mine lands in Northeast US. However, in plantations, willow and switchgrass face various environmental stresses, which can have significant impacts on their growth and yield. We are studying interactions between environmental factors and shrub willow and switchgrass at the transcriptome and soil microbiome levels, to help optimized growth conditions and development of cultivars best adapted to particular environments.

Poster #17: Thermal Stabilization of Vaccines Using Structural Proteins for the Developing World

R. Nissly, A. Pena-Francesch, S. Kuchipudi, M. C. Demirel

We developed a novel methodology to thermally stabilize biologically active agents used in vaccines. The technology is based on squid ring teeth (SRT) and silk proteins which represents a unique class of structural proteins for their chemistry and molecular architecture. Structural proteins has been a key technology for stabilizing and preserving biologically active agents (e.g. enzymes) at elevated temperatures. We developed heat-stable vaccines for the developing worlds by focusing on a heat-stable influenza vaccine.

Poster #18: Powered Motion at the Nanoscale

J. Albert, A. Altemose, A. Borhan, P. J. Butler, M. Collins, P. Cremer, V. H. Crespi, K. Dey, A. Garg, R. Golestanian, P. Huang, T. Huang, P. Illien, E. Jewell, P. Lammert, T. E. Mallouk, A. Nourhani, I. Ortiz, L. Ren, M. A. Sanchez Farran, A. Sen, A. Sendecki, B. Tansi, S. Trolier-McKinstry, L. Valdez, D. Velegol, X. Zhao

Interdisciplinary Research Group 2 of the Center for Nanoscale Science makes, models, and studies autonomous motors and pumps that use local chemical, optical, thermal, and acoustic fields to power motion on molecular to microscopic length scales. In addition to providing information about the mechanisms of motility, the study of synthetic motors addresses fundamental questions about emergent collective behavior of micro- and nanoparticles that comprise active matter. It builds towards the long-term goal of creating smart materials whose parts autonomously and collectively interact with one another and their surroundings. Specific Goals: 1. Study nano/micromotor propulsion and model their collective behavior from the bottom up. 2. Determine mechanisms of chemotaxis that drive emergent phenomena such as predator-prey behavior, oscillation, and self-organization. 3. Construct non-equilibrium stability diagrams of collective behavior to predict nonlinearities for purposes such as chemical sensing. 4. Design engineered systems to exploit chemical and acoustic propulsion in microfluidic pumping, separations, and logic.

Poster #19: Materials Development for Hydrofracturing in Oil and Natural Gas Bearing Shales

J. R. Hellmann, B. E. Scheetz

The goal in hydraulic stimulation of gas and oil-containing shales is maintaining high permeability paths for resource recovery over the life of the well. This is commonly achieved by propping open the hydraulically-induced fractures with ceramic aggregates, known in the industry as proppants. Conventional proppants include silica sands, sintered aluminosilicate aggregates, and in some instances polymer-based composites. However, the mechanical properties and morphologies of these materials are insufficient to achieve long-term durability under the pressures and flow conditions present in deep gas deposits, particularly in plays containing condensed phases. Our work has focused on developing new synthetic proppants which exhibit spherical morphology (beneficial for enhanced permeability), high strength and engineered fracture toughness (for long term durability and prolonged permeabilities), and tailored crystalline phase assemblages and compositions (to resist degradation of performance via diagenetic processes.) Proppants rivaling the performance of the best commercially available synthetic proppants have been developed from a host of inexpensive raw materials such as mine tailings, gas/oil well drill cuttings, flyash, domestic glass recycling streams and low grade bauxitic ores, thereby reducing the dependence on rapidly depleting high alumina ores for synthetic proppant manufacturing, and hence offering significant manufacturing cost advantages. Scale up from laboratory synthesis through pilot plant manufacturing (tons per hour) has been demonstrated, and the technology is ready for deployment. Parallel efforts focus on proppants with engineered properties which will enable new hydraulic stimulation technologies. For example. technology for manufacturing high strength proppants with core-shell microstructures and tailored specific gravity (neutrally buoyant in fracturing fluids), have been developed which offer promise for water-less stimulation of wells combined with CO2 sequestration. Smart proppants are being developed which possess engineered electromagnetic signatures to allow magnetophoretic placement, magnetic/electrical/acoustic detection, and ability to mechanically restimulate aging wells.

Poster #20: The Marcellus Shale Impacts Study: Chronicling Social and Economic Change in Pennsylvania

K. J. Brasier, R. Chandler, L. L. Glenna, A. Hess, T. W. Kelsey, S. Monnat, K. Schafft, M. Suchyta, G. Wildermuth

Communities in the Marcellus Shale region are experiencing significant economic, social, and demographic change. These changes may include significant (but often temporary) economic and population growth. This may be welcomed in places that have experienced long-term economic stagnation and out-migration. However, rapid growth can also introduce potential disruption to the community and exacerbate or shift inequalities. Adapting to change can be difficult for people and communities, as well as affect levels of satisfaction and well-being. The Marcellus Shale Impacts Study focuses on four case study counties: two counties in the Northern Tier (Bradford and Lycoming) and two counties in Southwest Pennsylvania (Washington and Greene) to identify and describe changes in population, economic conditions, housing, public services, and government and infrastructure by level and stage of development. The project examines the effects of development on specific populations, including youth, new residents, and low-income families. This poster describes the multiple waves of research conducted, findings from this work, and identifies future research needs.

Poster #21: Enhancing the Temporal Resolution of Satellite-Based Flood Extent Generation Using Crowdsourced Data for Disaster Monitoring

G. Panteras, G. Cervone

Satellite-based disaster monitoring has been extensively and successfully used for numerous disaster crisis response and disaster impact delineation tasks until nowadays. Remote sensing satellite are routinely used data during disasters for damage assessment and to coordinate relief operations. Although there is a plethora of satellite sensors able to provide actionable data about an event, their temporal resolution is limited by the satellite revisit time and the presence of clouds. These limitations do not allow for an uninterrupted and timely sensitive monitoring, which is crucial during disasters and emergencies. This research presents an approach that leverages the increased temporal resolution of crowdsourced data to partially overcame the limitations of satellite data. The proposed approach focuses on the geostatistical analysis of Tweeter data to help delineate the flood extent on a daily basis. The crowdsourced data are used to augumentaugment satellite imagery from EO-1 ALI, Landsat 8, WorldView-2 and WorldView-3 by fusing them together to complement the satellite observations.. The proposed methodology was applied to estimate the daily flood extents in Charleston, SC, caused by hurricane Joaquin on October 2015. The results of the proposed methodology indicate that the user-generated data can be utilized adequately to both bridge the temporal gaps in the satellite-based observations and also to increase the spatial resolution of the flood extents.

Poster #22: Artificial Water Channels: Bioinspired, Energy Efficient Water Purification

Y. X. Shen, M. Kumar

Water purification is emerging as an important challenge in the 21st century, globally, and even in our own backyard with surprising instances of unsafe and scarce potable water in Milwaukee, Flint and California in recent years. Membrane-based technologies that have been extensively used to produce fresh water from seawater and to purify microbiologically and chemically contaminated water are energy intensive. Nature provides excellent examples for energy-efficient desalination and water filtration. Mangrove trees purify saline water through its root systems with minimal energy input. In cell membranes, including those in the mangrove roots, biological water channel proteins aquaporins (AQPs) conduct single channel water transport while excluding all other molecules. This mechanism has inspired me to work on the design of artificial structures that mimic AQPs and led to the exciting development of biomimetic membranes for energy-efficient desalination around these structures. Artificial water channels combine the advantages of AQPs and their analogues, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and improve upon them through their relatively simple synthesis and chemical stability. Combining the high water conductance and the high pore density of artificial water channel-based membranes, these materials are promising energy-efficient separation materials for the future.

Poster #23: The Penn State Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Radiocarbon Facility: Interdisciplinary Applications in Chronology and Materials Research

B. J. Culleton, K. Freeman, D. J. Kennett

The newly established PSU AMS Radiocarbon (14C) Facility provides high-precision measurements of 14C content in a wide range of carbon-bearing materials, with potential applications reaching beyond archaeological and paleontological dating into fields such as astrophysics, oceanic and atmospheric circulation, hydrology, forensics, art history, aerosol and hydrocarbon research, biofuels, soils science, drug enforcement, and wildlife conservation. The facility operates a NEC 1.5 SDH 500kV Tandem Pelletron accelerator optimized for relatively small samples, requiring only 700 µg of graphitized carbon, with a potential lower limit of 15 µg C, with routine precision of 20-25 14C years for samples less than 10,000 years old. Current research explores the connections between climate change and ancient Maya Collapse, the extinction of megafauna from Alaska to Madagascar, and the peopling of the Americas, and much more.

Poster #24: Computational Materials Science -- Multiscale/Mesoscale Microstructure Simulation

Dr. Chen's group

Dr. Long-qing Chen's group focuses on modeling the thermodynamics and kinetics of phase transformations and multiscale/mesoscale microstructure evolution in bulk and thin films using multi-scale computer simulations combining the first-principles calculations and phase-field method. One can use the phase-field method to help interpreting as well as providing guidance to experiments. Our group collaborates extensively with experimentalists around the world, industries, and national labs.

Poster #25: Advanced Composites and Engineered Materials Group

J. Dai, M. P. Spencer, J. Haibat, S. Ceneviva, D. Gao, N. Yamamoto

This poster introduces the progress of research activities in the Advanced Composites and Engineered Materials Group led by Professor Namiko Yamamoto in the department of Aerospace Engineering. Our research focuses on designing and manufacturing of nano/microengineered materials for aerospace and other applications as well as understanding their fundamental behaviors. Scalable manufacturing of polymer nanocomposites using magnetic assembly: Nanofiller implementation into a polymer matrix can provide improved mechanical, electrical, thermal, and other multi-functional properties. By structuring the nanofiller, enhanced, tailored or even novel properties can be realized. Currently structuring cannot be achieved in large size and often results in non-homogenous distributions and thus poor enhancement or even degradation. An active nanofiller assembly using oscillating magnetic fields, studied in this work, can be a solution to manufacture polymer nanocomposites with ordered nanofillers in a scalable manner. Magnetic assembly and patterning behaviors of nanofillers are studied by varying parameters of nanofillers (size, shape, and concentration), magnetic fields (flux density, frequency and waveform), and matrix viscosity. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanospheres in deionized water are initially studied as a simplified case, while nickel-coated carbon nanotubes in polymer matrix are also studied for applications. The preliminary studies indicated that the low frequency range (< 1 Hz) is the key to tune inter-particle distances through the balancing between thermal diffusion and magnetic particle interactions. Study of the fracture behavior of nanoporous ceramics under contact load: With high strength, low density, corrosion resistance and thermal stability, ceramics are essential for aerospace applications involving extreme environment. However, applications of ceramics are currently limited due to their low fracture toughness. In this study, the effects of nanostructures and material morphology are evaluated on mechanical fracture of nanoporous ceramics under contact load. With introduced nanoporosity, new failure modes, namely localized pore collapse and wall breakage, have been observed with ceramics. The goal of this study is to understand why these failure modes occur and to evaluate whether they can be controlled to delay catastrophic failure through modifying parameters such as pore size, spacing and material morphology. Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes with highly periodic nano-porous structures are being tested using nanoindentation; the effect of pore geometry, material morphology and loading condition are being studied by comparing the resulting force-displacement curves and visual inspection of post-indentation surface and cross-sections.

Poster #26: PEALD ZnO TFTs for Integrated Electronics Applications

T. N. Jackson, Y. Gong, A. Gupta, S. Lee, T. Liu, A. Tellado, M. Tendulkar

Many applications from industrial electronics to medical devices benefit from the close integration of electronics. In most cases today the electronics is in the form of printed circuit boards populated with integrated circuits (ICs). But moving the electronic function from the boards and ICs and more directly into the application can bring advantages. Thin film electronics, extensively developed for flat panel displays, provides a path to directly integrate transistors and electronic circuits with sensors, actuators, microelectromechanical devices and more. We are developing zinc oxide (ZnO) thin film devices and circuits for such applications. Oxide semiconductor thin film transistors (TFTs) offer significant performance improvement compared to hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) devices, including >10? higher field effect mobility. We have used low-temperature plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) to fabricate ZnO TFTs on few micron thick solution-cast polyimide substrates. The devices use a bottom gate structure with Al2O3 gate dielectric and thin (~10 nm thick) ZnO channels, both deposited by PEALD at 200 °C. Solution cast polyimide substrates provide smooth films (few nm rms roughness) and excellent in-plane dimensional stability (ppm range) during processing on carrier substrates. PEALD ZnO TFTs fabricated on thin polyimide substrates have characteristics very similar to devices fabricated on glass, with linear region field effect mobility >10 cm2/V?s at a gate electric field of 2 MV/cm, and ion/ioff >108. Al2O3 passivated devices have excellent stability, and double-gate and tri-layer TFTs provide additional design flexibility. PEALD ZnO TFTs fabricated on thin polyimide survive tens of thousands of cycles of flexing or movement over few mm diameter rollers. PEALD ZnO TFTs are interesting core devices for flexible electronics, integration with electroceramic devices, biosensors, and more.

Poster #27: Multi-Field Responsive Origami Structures: Advancing the Emerging Frontier of Active Compliant Mechanisms

A. Erol, M. Frecker, Z. Ounaies, P. von Lockette, T. Simpson, R. Strzelec, J. Lien

The Japanese art of Origami has inspired engineering structures in recent years due to its ability to manipulate geometries via complex folding patterns. Coupled with the substantial development of smart materials in the last several decades, the self-actuation of Origami-inspired mechanisms has become a reality. The Penn State Origami EFRI team utilizes a multi-scale approach to fabricate, model, and characterize multi-field responsive Origami structures such as the waterbomb, Muira fold, frog's tongue and many others. On the microscale, smart materials are characterized and fabricated for optimal actuation via external fields such as electric and magnetic fields. The materials chosen for actuation in this project are the electro-active polymer P(VDF-TrFE-CTFE), a P(VDF)-based terpolymer, and magneto-active elastomers (MAEs), elastomers embedded with barium hexaferrite particles. Additionally, information obtained from characterization is used for microstructure-based models that couple the mechanics of each material with their corresponding actuation fields to determine constitutive functions which could be used in a macroscale deformation analysis. On higher scales, experiments are conducted to observe and measure the folding and bending of unimorphs and bimorphs in a single dimension. Unimorphs are composed of either MAEs or the terpolymer (with a constraining layer), with specific geometric features such as notches used to form better folds. The bimorphs are composed of a combination of MAEs and terpolymer layers to obtain more complex folding about a single axis. Analytical and finite element models accompany these experiments to examine varying geometries and material configurations. At the largest scale, the goal of this research aims to integrate the fabrication methods and models from the microscale, and the folding analysis in the mesoscale to construct larger, 3-dimensional origami inspired devices. At this scale, artistic inspiration guides the choice of target shapes while origami mathematics generates viable folding paths to achieve desired structures. Also at this level, dynamic models are used to simulate the kinematics of the 3D structures when actuated. Finally, across all length scales, models of microstructure dependent properties lead to predictions of deformed shapes that are integrated into a design framework optimizing performance characteristics such as material usage, target shape approximation, and actuation efficiency.

Poster #28: Whole-Organism Pan-Cellular Tissue Tomography: MicroCT as a Model for Quantitative Phenomics

S. R. Katz, Y. Ding, A. Y. Lin, X. Xin, P. La Riviere, K. C. Cheng

Phenomics uses high-throughput and in-depth phenotyping across biological systems to illuminate relationships between genes, environment, and phenotype. Our goal is to add the power of cellular pathology to phenomic studies of model organisms. Cellular pathology, the concept that characteristic changes in cell and tissue histology are correlated with disease, is used extensively in medical diagnosis and prognosis. When applied to model organism research, histologic principles such as pan-cellular imaging at high resolution can identify important phenotypes that are missed by traditional screens. However, histology is ill-suited for the high-throughput, quantitative needs of phenomics, and cannot provide full-volume data. X-ray microtomography (MicroCT) can produce high-resolution 3D images of small samples. Using zebrafish as a vertebrate model, we show that MicroCT imaging with voxel (3D pixel) resolutions < 1 um^3 make it possible to computationally generate histologic slices in any orientation as well as visualize complex structures in 3D and identify structures not seen by histology. We are developing MicroCT for high-throughput, whole-organism pan-cellular tissue tomography (PANCETTO), and designing computational tools to enable automation of phenotyping for applications in functional genomics, drug development, toxicology, and medicine.

Poster #29: Noncentrosymmetry Induced by Oxygen Octahedral Rotations Competing with Octahedral Sliding in Ruddlesden-Popper Phases, HRTiO4 (R = Rare Earths)

A. Sen Gupta, H. Akamatsu, F. G. Brown, M. A. T. Nguyen, M. E. Strayer, T. E. Mallouk, V. Gopalan

We report the detection of non-centrommetry in the family of HRTiO4 (R = rare earths) layered perovskites having a Ruddlesden-Popper structure, one formerly understood to possess center of symmetry. Symmetry breaking arises from the type of oxygen octahedral rotations, a mechanism that is not active in simple ABO3 perovskites. In addition, we discovered a competition between oxygen octahedral rotations and sliding of the octahedral perovskite blocks at the OH layers. For the smaller rare earth ions, R = Eu, Gd, Dy, which favor octahedral rotations, noncentrosymmetry is present but the sliding at the OH layer is absent. For the larger rare earth ions, R = Nd and Sm, the octahedral rotations are absent, but in order to optimize the hydrogen bonding, sliding of the octahedral blocks at the OH layers occurs. This study reveals a new improper mechanism for inducing noncentrosymmetry in layered oxides, and chemical-structural effects related to rare earth ion size and hydrogen bonding that can turn this mechanism on and off. We are also able to construct a complete phase diagram of temperature versus rare earth ionic radius for the HRTiO4 family.

Poster #30: Surface Polarity Engineering of Crystalline Nanocellulose using a Food-grade Surfactant for Improved Sustainable Biocomposites

K. Chi, J. M. Catchmark

Derived from the most abundant and renewable biopolymer, nanocelluloses have become fascinating building blocks for the design of advanced functional materials and drawn a tremendous level of attention. Many current and potential applications of nanocelluloses depend critically on the character of their surfaces. Yet, due to their hydrophilic nature, their utilization is limited to applications involving hydrophilic or polar media. Many surface modifications have been explored, but most employ chemistries which would not be acceptable from a health and safety or an environmental lifecycle standpoint. In the present study, we demonstrate a green, facile surface functionalization of crystalline nanocellulose (CNC) with food-grade cationic surfactant via ionic binding of its positively charged amine groups onto the negatively charge surface of CNC. The amount of surfactant required to coat CNC is optimized, aiming at preventing excessive addition of the surfactant and undermining the properties of the resulting composites. The presence of absorbed surfactant on the modified CNC is confirmed using FTIR spectroscopy and its effects on morphology, polarity and thermal stability of the ensuing CNC are examined. Further, the functionalized CNC is incorporated into a hydrophobic poly(lactic acid) matrix and shows better dispersion than pristine CNC. The crystallinity, mechanical and thermal properties of the composite are greatly improved with the incorporation of the modified CNC. This high performance and ecofriendly nanocomposite will expand the utilization of CNC from renewable bioresources and the practical application of bioplastics in many industries including packaging, automotive, construction and others.

Poster #31: Research at the Social, Life, and Engineering Sciences and Imaging Center

K. A. Litcofsky, X. Bai, T. Neuberger, D. Weston, M. T. Diaz

The Social, Life, and Engineering Sciences and Imaging Center (SLEIC) is dedicated to fostering cutting edge research in the social, behavioral, biological, engineering, and materials sciences where imaging methodologies play a central role. The SLEIC provides the Penn State research community with instrumentation, technological and substantive expertise, educational opportunities, and financial support for conducting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electrophysiology (EEG, ERP) experiments. Here we showcase some of the many methodologies and research areas incorporated within our community: fMRI, structural imaging, arterial spin labeling, and source modeling of fMRI and EEG data.

Poster #32: Using Volunteered Geographic Information to Estimate People's Accumulated Radiation Exposure

Y. Xin, G. Cervone

In nuclear emergencies, it is imperative to quickly identify individual life-threatening exposure to radio-nuclear particles for the purposes of warning, rescue and medical intervention. However, people's movement data in emergency situations are hard to gather. Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) produced by geo-tagged social media services, like Twitter, can provide real-time spatio-temporal data on people's movements. VGI projects such as Safecast can provide timely measurements of radiological contamination. Combining these two sources of VGI gives a better chance to assist people in need but inferring movement trajectories through discrete social media location data is a challenge. This research proposes a method to map individual mobility patterns through a Dynamic Bayesian Model based on geo-tagged tweets. The mobility patterns are combined with Safecast measurements of background radiation to estimate accumulated exposure levels for individuals. The method can potentially be used to estimate exposure to other diffusive toxic particles.

Poster #33: Accurate Prediction of Cellular Co-Translational Folding Indicates Proteins Can Switch from Post- to Co-Translational Folding

D. A. Nissley, A. K. Sharma, N. Ahmed, U. A. Friedrich, G. Kramer, B. Bukau, E. P. O'Brien

The rates at which domains fold and codons are translated are important factors in determining whether a nascent protein will co-translationally fold and function or misfold and malfunction. Here, we develop a chemical kinetic model that calculates a protein domain's co-translational folding curve during synthesis using only the domain's bulk folding and unfolding rates and codon translation rates. We show that this model accurately predicts the course of co-translational folding measured in vivo for four different protein molecules. We then make predictions for a number of different proteins in yeast and find that synonymous codon substitutions, which change translation-elongation rates, can switch some protein domains from folding post-translationally to folding co-translationally - a result consistent with previous experimental studies. Our approach explains essential features of co-translational folding curves and predicts how varying the translation rate at different codon positions along a transcript's coding sequence affects this self-assembly process.

Poster #34: Satellite Geodesy Unravels Volcanic, Magmatic and Seismic Processes

K. Wnuk, S. Moore, K. Stephens, C. Wauthier

Knowledge of the location and volume of intruded magma is key for both eruption forecasting and the interpretation of volcano structure and dynamics. Volume change and source location of magma reservoirs and pathways may be assessed through modeling of geodetically-imaged deformation sources. Modeling tools and techniques are evolving rapidly to provide much greater spatio-temporal resolution of surface deformation, as well as better insights into sub-surface processes through more mechanically robust numerical models. Volcano geodetic data are particularly valuable when combined with other independent geophysical and geochemical datasets. Here, we show example of synergistic volcano geodetic studies at Kilauea Volcano, HI, as well as at Central America Volcanoes including Pacaya Volcano, Guatemala and Masaya Volcano, Nicaragua.

Poster #35: Functional Polypropylene Dielectrics High Thermal Stability

G. Zhang, C. W. Nam, H. X. Li, T. C. Chung

Current state-of-the-art polymer film capacitors are based on biaxial oriented polypropylene (BOPP) thin films that commonly contain less than 1 wt % of the IRGANOX1010 stabilizer. BOPP capacitors are usually operated at the field <400 MV/m. Combined with a low dielectric constant (? = 2.2), BOPP based thin film capacitors can only provide consistent energy density in the range of 1-2 J/cm3. It is scientifically interesting to explore how it is possible to increase its dielectric activities (? value), long-term (oxidative and thermal) stability, and breakdown strength (E) in order to achieve higher energy density in PP-based capacitors. Also, polypropylene BOPP capacitors, with a 160oC glass transition temperature, can be only operated below 70 o. The limitation of thermal stability in BOPP dielectric stacks causes the concerns in maintaining low operational temperature under high field and high frequency conditions. We developed a new class of polypropylene copolymer (PP-HP) containing a PP backbone and various concentrations of hindered phenol (antioxidant) moieties which located in the pendant side chains. An effective synthesis route has been developed to prepare these semicrystalline PP-HP copolymers with well-controlled microstructures, including tapered and random copolymers. Evidently, these PP-HP polymeric stabilizers show the cocrystallization phenomenon with the PP homopolymer, which provides an ideal mechanism for introducing a high concentration of HP antioxidants that are homogeneously distributed and immobilized in the PP amorphous matrix. PP-HP copolymers show significantly higher thermal-oxidative stability than the pristine PP polymer and the commercial PP products that contain a small amount of organic hindered phenol stabilizers. The combination provides PP-HP copolymers and their PP-HP/PP blends with exceptionally high thermal-oxidative stability that is tunable by the incorporated HP content. This new antioxidant mechanism is particularly beneficial in the long-term protection of PP products under severe application conditions. In addition to the known advantages of polymer-bonded stabilizers, with low mobility and volatility to prevent loss through diffusion and/or extraction (particularly acute in films and coatings), the PP-HP thin dielectric films with uniform morphology show a higher dielectric constant and maintain low dielectric loss, particularly for the tapered PP-HP copolymers with high crystallinity.

Poster #36: Plasma Metamaterials

M. T. Lanagan, C. A. Randall, W. Luo, Z. Cohick, S. Antonsson, S. Perini, A. Baker

The goal of this MURI project to is develop reconfigurable high frequency metamaterial structures and photonic crystals with potential applications in imaging and remote sensing. In collaboration with Stanford University, the University of Texas, Austin, Tufts University, UCLA, and the University of Washington, Penn State researchers focus on the fundamental science necessary to develop plasma photonic crystals and plasma-embedded metamaterials that operate in the gigahertz to terahertz range. This region of the electromagnetic spectrum has potential for high speed data transmission, medical imaging and is already being used in airport surveillance and astronomy. Plasmas have been generated in dielectric and ring-resonator metamaterial arrays using radio frequency excitation with the entire device encapsulated in an inert gas. Very dense, highly ionized plasma arrays have also been generated by focused lasers using micro-lens arrays. Unlike the metal structures of typical metamaterials, a plasma's dielectric properties can be controlled by varying the plasma density; therefore, plasmas afford the possibility of controlling metamaterials at high bandwidth. This will enable such applications as antennas with beam steering, filter devices, multiplexers, phase shifters and electro-optical modulators. Researchers at Penn State are the primary team charged to develop a new class of low-loss dielectric resonators and multilayer low temperature co-fired ceramics to replace the usual metallic split-ring resonators found in traditional metamaterial structures. Metamaterials are artificial structures with sub-wavelength features that can interact with electromagnetic waves in a manner unlike that of natural materials. Long-term goals of metamaterials research include invisibility cloaking devices and perfect lenses to capture short-range light waves for sub wavelength imaging.

Poster #37: Elucidating the Effects of Lipid Structure on Metal:Ion Complexes

A. J. Baxter, A. N. Santiago Ruiz, J. S. Paschal, T. S. Yang

The effect of lipid structure on the formation of metal ion complexes with lipids has not been fully explored. By utilization of supported lipid bilayers (SLBs), the Cremer Group has been able to probe the interactions of Cu2+ with lipids while varying head group structure. SLBs are two-dimensional systems containing lipids of interest as well as fluorescently labeled 1,2-dihexadecanoyl-sn-glycer-3-phosphoethanolamine (Texas-Red DHPE). This novel assay uses fluorescence microscopy to visualize the bilayer while the binding of Cu2+ causes quenching of the fluorescence via resonant energy transfer. This assay has been demonstrated with 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phospho-L-serine (POPS):Cu2+ interactions in a previously reported irreversible, pH dependent manner; a new study shows binding in a density dependent manner. Conversely, it has been found that the substitution of other amine containing lipids for POPS does not lead to the same type of binding. This is curious as the arrangement of the phosphate, ester, and amine groups within the membrane appear to be important for binding. Therefore, by understanding if Cu2+ can complex with a lipid, and what factors influence the ability to bind, a lipids role in biological systems may be determined. Moreover, the use of attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) provides additional insight into the binding process.

Poster #38: Anisotropic Magnetoresistance of Electron Gases at Surfaces of SrTiO3

L. Miao, R. Du, Y. Yin, N. Huber, J. Wang, B. Bedford, Q. Li

Transition metal oxides (TMOs), showing rich physical properties including ferromagnetism, ferroelectricity, colossal magnetoresistance and superconductivity, have become a fertile playground for both fundamental physics and functional devices. Due to the complex interplay between the spin, charge, lattice and orbital degrees of freedom, their properties are sensitive to external perturbations such as magnetic and electric fields. Our group focuses on two areas of TMOs: multiferroic tunnel junctions and two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) at TMO surfaces. The latter one is presented here. 2DEGs have attracted intensive attention due to their fascinating exotic properties such as gate-controlled ground states and coexistence of superconductivity and ferromagnetism that traditional silicon based devices lack. Electron gases at the surfaces of insulating (111)- and (110)-oriented SrTiO3 (STO) single crystals have been created using Ar+-irradiation and their magneto-transport properties are characterized for the first time. Fully metallic behaviors with sheet carrier density of ~ 1014 cm-2 and low-temperature-mobilities as large as 8600 cm2V-1s-1 are obtained. Intrinsic in-plane anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR) has been obtained by applying current along different crystal axes to subtract the Lorentz force effect. The results yield nearly 6-fold and 2-fold components for the (111)-and (110)-surfaces. A novel symmetry breaking in AMR for the (111)-surfaces with ordering temperature TO ~ 30 K is also observed. In contrast, the out-of-plane AMR does not show anisotropy associated with crystal axes, suggesting a two-dimensional nature of the effect. In addition, we demonstrate that the gate controlled transport properties of these electron gases also reflect the reconstructed Ti t2g orbital structures. As indicated by non-linear Hall effects, these surfaces involve multiple t2g orbitals, a consequence of degeneracy lifting. By applying voltage bias across the surface and a back gate electrode, selective orbital occupancy is realized. AMR for STO surfaces with various orientations convey the structures of selected orbitals. These results reveal the origin of anisotropic magnetotransport in electron gases at STO surfaces and demonstrate that electron gases at (111)- and (110)-oriented STO surfaces are a good playground for both fundamental research and all-oxide device applications.

Poster #39: Using Mechanical Properties as Biomarkers for Musculosketal Tissues Injuries and Diseases

D. Akbarian, S. Rothenberger, D. Cortes

The research conducted at the Biomechanics and Imaging Lab is focused on developing and applying clinical tools to evaluate the health of orthopaedic tissues, elucidate mechanisms of disease progression, and quantify the effectiveness of treatments for different pathologies. To develop these tools, We are combining tissue biomechanics and medical imaging. Our research program is aimed to bridge the gap between experimental and clinical biomechanics. Orthopedic tissues transmit loads and allow relative motion between different parts of the body. To accomplish these tasks, they have distinctive compositions, structures and mechanical properties. However, during disease or injury, these compositions and structures are disrupted. Restoring the integrity of the affected tissues is the aim of clinical treatments, but the original tissue function is not usually recovered. The mechanical properties of injured or diseased orthopedic tissues are weaker and typically lead to disability and pain. Currently, clinicians evaluate the recovery progress of these tissues by using patient feedback and ultrasound or magnetic resonance images that show only the overall geometry of the tissue. Clinical tools that evaluate the mechanical integrity of these tissues are not yet available. Although researchers have spent decades studying the structure-function relationship of orthopedic tissues, mainly through in-vitro experiments or animal models, only a fraction of this knowledge has been applied to clinical practice. A possible reason for this disconnect lies in the lack of non-invasive methods to measure the mechanical properties of soft orthopedic tissues in-vivo. To develop these clinical tools, We are combining two areas: tissue biomechanics and medical imaging. In the area of tissue biomechanics, We are using in-vitro dynamic and wave propagation tests to elucidate the relationships between structure and function of orthopaedic tissues. In the area of medical imaging, We are developing techniques to measure mechanical and structural properties of orthopedic tissues in-vivo. These two areas are complementary. Knowledge of the structure-function relationships is necessary for understanding and interpreting the non-invasive measurements of mechanical properties. Correspondingly, non-invasive measurements of mechanical properties during disease progression or during healing will reveal the mechanisms that cause changes in tissue composition and structure. This approach will provide powerful tools to elucidate the etiology of degenerative disorders, to diagnose and localize damaged or injured tissues, and to evaluate the effectiveness of clinical treatments. We are applying this approach to three clinical problems: intervertebral disc degeneration, tendon healing and remodeling, and osteoarthritis.

Poster #40: Well to Wheels Liquefied Natural Gas Supply Chain Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis

R. Brunner, M. Frank, G. Keel, S. Ling, S. Mathur

A comparative analysis of the supply chains for liquefied natural gas and diesel locomotives fuels relative to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The research evaluates the level of GHG emissions associated with each fuel's consumption that would result in the two fuels being emissions neutral.

Poster #41: Novel Metasurface Devices

X. Ni

Metamaterials, or artificially engineered, subwavelength-scale structures, allow us to control the behavior of electromagnetic, acoustic, or thermal fields with flexibility and performance that are unattainable with naturally available materials. Their two-dimensional counterparts - metasurfaces extend these capabilities even further. Optical metasurfaces offer fascinating possibilities of controlling light with surface-confined flat components which can manipulate the phase and amplitude of light directly. Many new physics and unparalleled applications have been demonstrated using metasurfaces such as steering the light to an arbitrary direction, generating optical vortex beams, and enhancing the optical spin-orbit interaction. This talk will highlight some recent developments on the metasurface which lead to several novel photonic devices such as ultrathin planar micro-lenses, high-resolution holograms, photon-spin detectors, and invisibility skin cloaks.

Poster #42: Tailoring Carbons from Biomass Precursors for Capacitive Deionization of Brackish Water

A. Sengupta, R. Rajagopalan, K. Mehta, K. Adu, R. L. Vander Wal

Irrigation water for agriculture is one of the major water demands in many African countries, made acute by water scarcity. An emerging solution are tailored, affordable greenhouses. Their implementation has significantly reduced water use per crop cycle in Kenya, Cameroon, Mozambique and Sierra Leone. Yet even a few gallons per day per greenhouse is challenging because many local groundwater sources are brackish. Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a sustainable, energy efficient, and cost effective technology for treating brackish water. It is energy efficiency and cost effective for low to moderate salinity water. Compared to technologies that remove the water such as distillation, CDI remove the salt from the water. The porous carbon electrodes can be easily produced from local plant-based agricultural waste materials. Such performance and feedstock advantage have prompted their study for CDI. Yet no relationship has emerged for the carbon between its CDI performance and its biomass precursor properties and formation conditions. Therein the goal of this study is to identify process conditions for locally sourced biomass to enable the best performance as electrode material in CDI. A laboratory scale prototype of a CDI cell has been manufactured for testing the biomass derived carbon materials. To-date carbons have been produced from locally sourced switchgrass using different processing conditions of pretreatment of the biomass and concurrent or sequential carbonization/activation steps in a furnace with requisite gas environment. These carbons are compared against standard carbons (commercial or laboratory) for their CDI performance (charge efficiency, salt adsorption capacity, regeneration efficiency) as well as the surface characteristics to determine the relationship between the processing conditions and CDI performance.

Poster #43: Molecular Binding-Induced Chemotaxis

S. Deng, A. Sendecki, T. Yang, P. Cremer

Chemotaxis is the movement of an organism in response to a chemical stimulus. Somatic cells, bacteria, and other single- or multi-cellular organisms direct their movements according to certain chemicals in their environment. This is important for bacteria to find food (e.g., glucose) by swimming toward the highest concentration of food molecules, or to flee from poisons (e.g., phenol). The chemotactic behaviors of cells and bacteria are essentially a result of an ensemble of signal transductions via molecular binding and catalysis. If such phenomenon would be found to occur at molecular level, one may comprehend the above at a much more basic and general perspective; on the other hand, catch biomimetic insight of common chemical reactions. Although chemotactic behaviors of enzymes and their nanoassemblies have been reported, which were claimed to be attributed to "continuously enhanced diffusion in local environment"; however, the conformational change of biomolecules and the so-called "momentum" or "impulse" effect during catalytic reactions complicated the controversial issue, which might be clarified by figuring out a much more simplified system at sub-nanoscale. Herein, we fabricated a simplified system in which zinc porphyrin acted as the receptor while imidazole as the ligand. The binding interaction between the two mimics the axial ligation inside natural enzymes just like histidine-terminated proximal peptide towards the cofactor heme of hemoglobin. Their diffusing tendency was realized in a 3-way microfluidic channel, in which one would observe that the migration enhanced as the increase of imidazole concentration, and accessed to a plateau where the turning point denoted KD. Overall, the apparent enhanced diffusion of this system should actually be ascribed to the binding between ZnTSPP and N-ligand, which demonstrated that mere binding could induce the chemotaxis. This work indeed testified that whether the chemotaxis of small molecules would be one of those incentives and migrational manners in chemical reaction kinetics.

Poster #44: Effect of Secondary Phases and Morphology on Cold Spray Particle Impact

J. Schreiber, I. Smid, T. J. Eden

Finite element modeling of high-strain-rate effects using material models such as the simple curve-fit Johnson-Cook constitutive material model or the thermodynamically based Preston-Tonks-Wallace model have become an important area of materials research. Some of these material models are now built-in to commercial finite element software packages. The cold spray process is an area where high-strain-rate modeling has been useful in understanding the particle impact event. During aluminum cold spray deposition, the effect of particle heat treatment has an effect on deposition efficiency and mechanical properties due to precipitation of secondary phases. The presence and structure of secondary phases that precipitate during powder processing may control this behavior. Modeling of a single particle cold spray impact is being conducted to see the effect of secondary phases on the deformation and stress distributions throughout the particle. Effects of phase size and morphology are investigated using a finite element model.

Poster #45: Probing the Orientation of Polymer Thin Films Using Spectroscopic Techniques

T. J. Zimudzi

The orientation of Nafion thin films on electrodes can affect the activity of fuel cell catalyst layers and hence overall fuel cell performance. In this study the ordering of Nafion films of various thicknesses was investigated on gold and silicon substrates. The influence of Nafion film thickness on the infrared spectrum of the polymer was investigated in substrate overlayer attenuated total reflection (SO-ATR) geometry at incident angles between 60° and 65°. In SOATR geometry, the thickness of the film significantly affected the position and absorbance of characteristic peaks in Nafion infrared spectrum. As the thickness of the film decreased from 250 nm to 5 nm, the convoluted vas(CF2) and vas (SO3-) peak at 1220 cm-1 systematically blueshifted to 1256 cm-1. The same phenomenon was observed with the predominantly vas(CF2) peak at 1150 cm-1 which shifted to 1170 cm-1. Changes in the Nafion thin film FTIR spectrum can be ascribed to ordering of Nafion at the interface during spin coating (film formation) and the increase in the p-polarization character of the infrared evanescent wave as the polymer film became thinner between the ATR element and the film substrate overlayer. An increase in p-polarization due to the overlayer enhancement of the electric field in the Nafion film resulted in the increase in characteristic peak absorbance of dipoles aligned normal to the substrate. These results demonstrate that the specific thin film sampling geometry, especially in reflection experiments, must be considered to rationally quantify changes in polymer thin film structure. We evaluated the optical anisotropy of Nafion polymer thin films on gold, platinum, SiO2. The thickness- and substrate-dependent birefringence was measured on Nafion films with thicknesses between 12 nm and 270 nm. Nafion-coated metal substrates exhibited a parallel orientation with increasing anisotropy as the thickness was decreased from 240 nm to 35 nm followed by a rapid transition to an optically isotropic film for samples with thickness below 35 nm. Nafion-coated SiO2 substrates exhibited a partially parallel orientation throughout the measured thickness range. The molecular orientations were related to nanostructural anisotropy analysis using X-ray scattering patterns of Nafion films prepared on gold and silicon substrates

Poster #46: Deletion of CTNNB1 in Inhibitory Circuitry Contributes to Autism-Associated Behavioral Defects

F. Dong, J. Jiang, C. McSweeny, D. Zou, L. Liu, Y. Mao

Mutations in ß-catenin (CTNNB1) have been implicated in cancer and mental disorders. Recently, loss-of-function mutations of CTNNB1 were linked to intellectual disability (ID), and rare mutations were identified in patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As a key regulator of the canonical Wnt pathway, CTNNB1 has an essential role in neurodevelopment. However, the function of CTNNB1 in specific neuronal subtypes is unclear. To understand how CTNNB1 deficiency contributes to ASD, we generated CTNNB1 conditional knockout (cKO) mice in parvalbumin interneurons. The cKO mice had increased anxiety, but had no overall change in motor function. Interestingly, CTNNB1 cKO in PV-interneurons significantly impaired object recognition and social interactions and elevated repetitive behaviors, which mimic the core symptoms of patients with ASD. Surprisingly, deleting CTNNB1 in parvalbumin-interneurons enhanced spatial memory. To determine the effect of CTNNB1 KO in overall neuronal activity, we found that c-Fos was significantly reduced in the cortex, but not in the dentate gyrus and the amygdala. Our findings revealed a cell type-specific role of CTNNB1 gene in regulation of cognitive and autistic-like behaviors. Thus, this study has important implications for development of therapies for ASDs carrying the CTNNB1 mutation or other ASDs that are associated with mutations in the Wnt pathway. In addition, our study contributes to a broader understanding of the regulation of the inhibitory circuitry.

Poster #47: A 64-Channel Wireless Implantable System-on-Chip for Gastric Electrical-Wave Recording

A. Ibrahim, M. Kiani

This poster presents the design and post-layout simulation results of a 64-channel wireless and implantable system-on-chip (SoC) for studying gastric electrophysiology. The SoC includes 64 time-multiplexed low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) followed by a 10-bit low-power successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and a power management unit for recharging the SoC battery inductively and communicating with an external reader via load-shift keying (LSK) modulation of the receiver coil. The SoC has been designed in a 0.35 µm standard CMOS process, occupying 25 mm2. In post-layout simulations, each LNA achieved an adjustable gain of 40-52 dB, and an input-referred noise of 6 µVrms within the bandwidth of 10 mHz - 2 Hz while consuming 40 nA from a single 2.5 V supply. Each channel was sampled at 244 Hz with 10 bits of resolution, leading to the net data rate of 156 kbps for recording 64 channels. The power management, operating at 13.56 MHz, recharged a 3.7 V battery with the adjustable current range of 0-15 mA while maintaining the rectifier voltage constant at 4.4 V.

Poster #48: Addressing Issues Associated with Evaluating Prediction Models for Survival Endpoints Based on the Concordance Statistic

M. Wang, Q. Long

Prediction models for disease risk and prognosis play an important role in biomedical research, and evaluating their predictive accuracy in the presence of censored data is of substantial interest. The standard concordance (c) statistic has been extended to provide a summary measure of predictive accuracy for survival models. Motivated by a prostate cancer study, we address several issues associated with evaluating survival prediction models based on c-statistic with a focus on estimators using the technique of inverse probability of censoring weighting (IPCW). Compared to the existing work, we provide complete results on the asymptotic properties of the IPCW estimators under the assumption of coarsening at random (CAR), and propose a sensitivity analysis under the mechanism of noncoarsening at random (NCAR). In addition, we extend the IPCW approach as well as the sensitivity analysis to high-dimensional settings. The predictive accuracy of prediction models for cancer recurrence after prostatectomy are assessed by applying the proposed approaches. We find that the estimated predictive accuracy for the models in consideration is sensitive to NCAR assumption, and thus identify the best predictive model. Finally, we further evaluate the performance of the proposed methods in both settings of low-dimensional and high-dimensional data under CAR and NCAR through simulations.

Poster #49: Artificial Intelligence and Forcasting for Higher Education

D. C. Wham

Elements of applied statistics and computer science are quickly integrating and being applied to a diverse set of problems in academia and industry. Here I explore the potential value of this multi-disciplinary approach to applications in higher education. Utilizing hundreds of data sources on individual students, ranging from past performance to current course engagement, I demonstrate the potential accuracy of forecasting techniques at identifying high risk students early in the course term. I then explore the potential utility of these predictions which range from better utilization of intervention strategies that are already in place, to better course sequencing recommendations from advisors.

Poster #50: Cheap = $mart (Not Disposable): Three Decades in Low-cost Bioreactor Design

E. R. Lennox, K. Sreenivas, M. E. Shires, T. S. Lai, W. R. Curtis

Over the past three decades, CurtisLab (Dept. of Chemical Engineering) has developed low-cost bioreactors and optimized scale-up across an array of disciplines with organisms ranging from classics like E. coli, yeast, CHO, and HeLa to the atypical: phototrophs, anaerobes, syngas-fermentors, methanogens, etc. Often working in plant biotechnology applications in which profits are marginal, the evolution of CurtisLab bioreactor designs converged upon cheap (rather than merely disposable) and continuous bioprocessing. CurtisLab's latest installment, a manual Hydrostatically-driven Temporary Immersion Bioreactor (Hy-TIB), showcases low-cost design for propagation of orphan crops (e.g. yam, cassava, banana) towards greater food and income security in Africa.

Poster #51: Improving Bulk Ceramic Properties Through Sintering and Microstructure Tailoring

G. L. Messing, E. R. Kupp, Y. Chang, N. Pulati, T. Frueh, B. Watson, M. Brova, R. Walton, K.-H. Lee

The properties of ceramic materials are determined by their microstructure, e.g. grain size, grain shape, crystallographic orientation of the grains, and interfaces between the grains. The Messing group studies the relationship between processing and microstructural development in bulk ceramics to create materials with improved properties. We investigate the sintering process to develop a fundamental understanding of interface processes and responsible mechanisms for densification and microstructure evolution. This knowledge is then applied in a variety of ceramic systems to tailor the sintering process to obtain microstructures with improved, unique properties unavailable in traditionally processed ceramics and single crystals. Templated grain growth is a process that was developed by the group to produce textured ceramics with enhanced properties by controlling grain growth and crystallographic orientation of the single grains in the bulk ceramic. This technology is now applied to develop highly textured piezoelectrics with significantly improved properties compared to conventional ceramics. Advanced forming techniques such as co-casting are applied to produce microstructural composites, i.e. bulk ceramics with different microstructures in different regions of the material, which feature superior mechanical properties for structural applications. Cold Sintering is a new, revolutionary method that enables the densification of ceramics at temperatures hundreds, or even thousands, of degrees below the temperatures conventionally required for densification. The group investigates the parameters and properties of different ceramic systems controlling this cold sintering process to gain insight into the densification mechanisms and to develop a fundamental understanding of the cold sintering process, which is necessary to make it viable for different ceramic systems.

Poster #52: Porous Carbon Materials for Electrochemical Capacitors

A. R. Aref, A. Sengupta, S.-W. Chen, M. R. Hashim, M. T. Lanagan, C. A. Randall, R. Rajagopalan

Hierarchical porous carbon with controlled micro- and mesoporosity were derived from pyrolysis and activation of polymer precursors. The use of these carbons has allowed to significantly improve the energy and power density of electrochemical capacitors made using organic electrolytes, ionic liquid as well as lithium ion capacitors. The poster will provide an overview of our efforts in controlling the textural properties of carbon as well as their impact in the design of high energy density electrochemical capacitors

Poster #53: Synthesis of Large Single Crystal CGS Zeolite Using a Silica Glass Reactant

D. E. W. Vaughan, H. P. Yannawar

The CGS zeolite is primarily a potassium gallo-silicate structure built from chains of linked broken hexagonal prisms to form a structure having interconnected 10-rings and 8-rings. Previous structure studies used powder material (thin laths about 10-µm long) or large single crystals of (Co, Zn)-gallium phosphate analogues. We modified a method used to make large single crystal FAU and used silica glass tubes as a slow release silica source to synthesize gallosilicate CGS crystals up to 800 µm long. Wet chemical analysis gave a composition: K2O; Ga2O3; 2.207 SiO2, and is typical for previous CGS analyses. Chemical analyses and NMR experiments indicated no occlusion of C or N indicative of trapped templates. Single crystal structure analysis was refined in Pnma with cell constants ; a = 8.6487(9)Å, b = 14.0629(14)Å, c = 16.3492(16)Å, α = ß = Γ = 90°; volume = 1988.5(3)Å3, and R1=9.5.

Poster #54: Functional Materials from Layered Inorganic Solids

M. E. Strayer, N. I. Kovtyukhova, M. A. T. Nguyen, A. Sen Gupta, X. Fan, P. Xu, Y. Wang, H. Akamatsu, R. Uppuluri, A. Rosas, T. Senftle, J. Binz, V. Gopalan, M. Terrones, V. H. Crespi, R. M. Rioux, M. Janik, J. Zhu, T. E. Mallouk

Layered solids -- which have strong bonds in two dimensions and weaker links in the third -- are interesting building blocks for materials and devices because they potentially offer control over structure at the molecular level. Our research in this area began with the question of whether such compounds could be built up one layer at a time in controlled sequences on surfaces. This was possible by using either molecular precursors, in the case of metal phosphonates, or exfoliated sheets derived from lamellar microcrystals. Many layered oxides consist of negatively charged sheets interleaved by exchangeable cations. These oxides are particularly amenable to exfoliation (and to other topochemical reactions) by simple ion-exchange and acid-base reactions. Recently we have found that van der Waals solids such as graphite, hexagonal BN, and MoS2 can also be intercalated and exfoliated without incurring damage to the sheets by means of acid-base and redox reactions. An interesting consequence of the layer-by-layer assembly processes is the overcompensation of the surface charge of nanosheets. This effect can be exploited to invert the layer charge of nanosheets (which is typically negative for sheets derived from early transition metal oxides) and enable the intercalation of negatively charged molecules and nanoparticles. While studying these reactions, we observed surprisingly strong bonding between late transition metal oxide nanoparticles and early transition metal oxide nanosheets. Calorimetric measurements and electronic structure calculations suggest that d-acid/base interactions -- originally proposed by Leo Brewer to explain the anomalous stability of early-late transition metal alloys -- contribute to the strength of nanoparticle/nanosheet covalent bonding. This finding helps us understand the strong metal support interaction (SMSI) in catalysis and provides a prescription for stabilizing catalytically active late transition metal nanoparticles.

Poster #55: Managing Emotional Responses to the Perceived Threat of Zika

J. P. Dillard, C. Yang, R. Li

Health experts have noted that "widespread fear [of contagious disease] can lead to social and economic consequences as severe as the disease itself" (Lancet, 2005, p. 1751). Understanding how individuals manage their emotional responses may enable the development of strategies for containing the secondary effects of epidemics and natural disasters. Accordingly, this study focused on fear reactions to the perceived threat of the Zika virus among 561 women of child-bearing age living in the southern portion of the United States. A survey was administered in February of 2016 and again in March to address three related research questions. The first focused on assessments of threat and fear. On average, members of the sample estimated the likelihood of a Zika epidemic in the next year at 36%. The vast majority (88%) reported experiencing some degree of fear. The second research question emphasized methods of managing their fear. Avoidance (e.g., "I actively avoided news about Zika") was practiced by 15% of the sample whereas 39% reported using reappraisal (e.g., "I reminded myself to accept that which I cannot change"), 22% used suppression (e.g., "I tried to tamp down my thoughts about Zika"), and 32% depended on contesting (e.g., "I reminded myself that people are making too big a deal out of Zika"). The third research question asked about the effectiveness of these management strategies. Regression analysis using wave 1 strategies to predict wave 2 fear responses showed that neither avoidance nor reappraisal were associated with fear (ßs = .01 and -.02, ns, respectively). Suppression had a counter-productive effect such that persons who used this strategy experienced higher levels of fear (ß = .25, p < .05). Only contesting functioned to effectively down-regulate fear (ß = -.13, p < .05). Overall the findings indicate that women in the sample do feel threatened by Zika, that they are making efforts to manage their fear, but that most strategies for doing so are ineffective. Although contesting is effective, it involves active denial of the threat, which other research shows will decrease the likelihood of taking action to counter the threat when such actions are available. Implications for management of "widespread fear" are not favorable.

Poster #56: The Clinical Research Center at Penn State University

D. Bagshaw, T. Allen, S. McHale

The Clinical Research Center (CRC) at Penn State, funded by the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) and the Colleges of Health & Human Development and Medicine has locations at both the University Park and Hershey campuses where trained medical staff are available to support and assist investigators involved in human clinical research. The CRC medical staff includes, MDs, nurse clinicians, RNs, and bionutritionist/RDs who assist with planning and implementation of study protocols and have extensive experience in a variety of clinical research areas. Along with inpatient and outpatient rooms, exam rooms, consultation space, a metabolic kitchen and dining area, the CRC also offers specialized equipment and testing, including, for example, access to DEXAs, treadmill and ultrasound testing, vascular assessments, IV and BP monitoring and drug infusion setups. Recent study protocols have included intense, inpatient sleep studies with full 24/7 monitoring, studies including adipose tissue and tongue biopsies, specialized diet controlled feeding studies, vascular flow-mediated dilation assessments, fetal growth ultrasound monitoring, DEXA testing for various bone parameters, IV infusions of study drugs, as well as study population recruitment and screening. On the University Park campus, the CRC works closely with the Social, Life and Engineering Imaging Center (SLEIC) when protocols call for MRI/f-MRI, EEG or ERP imaging. The nursing staff also works with investigators in their labs when participants need to remain in specialized environments such as the Smoking Behavior Research Facility. The CRC operates on a fee-for service model. Budgets can be developed to aid in grants submission process. The poster for Penn State Research Day will include an overview of the facilities, complete list of equipment, and examples of research that are conducted at the CRC.

Poster #57: IRG4: Multicomponent Assemblies for Collective Function

C. Keating, T. Mayer, L.-Q. Chen, D. Christodoulides, K. Fichthorn, Z. Liu, M. Rechtsman, R. E. Schaak, D. Werner, S. Boehm, N. Burrows, P. Donahue, N. Famularo, L. Kang, X. Kong, L. Lin, N. Nye, X. Li, Y. Shi, T. Yue, C. Zhang

IRG4 seeks to understand and control the organization of particle mixtures to generate photonic and electronic architectures in which non-additive functions are imparted by the collective properties of the array. Co-assemblies incorporate multiple, distinct particle populations that vary in composition and consequently in their response to various directed self-assembly approaches. Learning how to achieve desired assembly outcomes despite these differences, and to find ways to take advantage of them for increased control, will set the stage for a new era of nanomaterial-enabled device applications. We are investigating three general classes of multicomponent assemblies that incorporate new types of functional particles and span a wide range of organizational ordering schemes: (1) well-ordered arrays with single-particle positioning relative to underlying electrical contacts for fundamental studies of bioinspired synchronization in electronic oscillator networks; (2) arrays with intermediate order that will collectively define the spatial refractive index profile to manipulate light in new ways; (3) disordered assemblies of scattering particles to advance understanding of "random" photonics, with a focus on lasing and nonlinear wave mixing.

Poster #58: Human Factors in a Rapidly Changing World

A. Freivalds, S. Miller, L. Rothrock, C. Tucker

The Human Factors Group at Penn State University is well-equipped to compete in a rapidly changing world. The group is focused on humans in terms of cognitive and physical ergonomics and how they interact within complex systems. Currently, the group is engaged in transformative research in healthcare, food and the environment, and energy. It consists of Drs. Andy Freivalds (Prof of Industrial Engineering), Scarlett Miller (Asst Prof of SEDTAPP and Industrial Engineering), Ling Rothrock (Prof of Industrial Engineering) and Conrad Tucker (Asst Prof of SEDTAPP, Industrial Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering). Dr. Freivalds is conducting research in food harvesting and the office worker health through workplace exercises. Dr. Miller is focusing on the design of tools to enhance creativity as well as designing innovative medical devices to assist physicians. Dr. Rothrock is seeking to understand operator awareness in highly automated plants in which humans serve as supervisory controllers. Dr. Tucker's research focuses on the design and optimization of complex systems and intelligent assistive technologies through the acquisition, integration and mining of large-scale data. Select research profiles of the HF Group are shown below. Workplace Exercise Devices (Freivalds) The prevalence of obesity in the US has more than doubled, from 15% to 36%, since the 1970s. Part of the problem has been the progressive decline in work-related energy expenditure, with increased computer automation. Small, inexpensive, under-the-desk pedaling devices are currently available and is suitable in an office setting. Initial findings suggest that pedaling did not have significant effect on reading comprehension, but had significant effect on typing performance. Bridging Research in Innovation, Technology and Engineering Laboratory -- britelab (Miller) The britelab is a research group devoted to bridging research in innovation, technology and engineering. They view design as both a process and a product. As such, the britelab explores ways to support the design process, particularly the early phases of design, with new technologies and also explores how to develop innovative consumer products using user-centered design techniques. Their projects have spanned several exciting research areas including creativity support tools, design cognition and fixation, and medical product design. Design Analysis Technology Advancement Laboratory -- D.A.T.A (Tucker) Three characteristics of engineered systems and intelligent assistive technologies that Dr. Tucker's research group explores are: i) the ability to sense an environment, ii) the ability to characterize relevant system attributes, and iii) the ability to learn and predict future states that aid decision makers. Dr. Tucker's research group has utilized social media platforms to capture user-generated content that subsequently serves as input to the design of next generation products and systems.

Poster #59: CsrA Represses Translation of pmp (PNPase) at 37°C but Activates Its Expression Under Cold Shock Conditions

H. Park, H. Yakhnin, M. Connolly, T. Romeo, P. Babitzke

Csr is a conserved global regulatory system that represses or activates gene expression post-transcriptionally. CsrA of Escherichia coli is a small homodimeric RNA binding protein that regulates transcription elongation, translation initiation and mRNA stability by binding to multiple sites within the 5' untranslated leader region and/or initial coding sequence of target mRNAs. pnp mRNA, encoding the 3' to 5' exoribonuclease polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase), was previously identified as a CsrA target by RNA-seq. Previous studies also demonstrated that ribonuclease III (RNase III) and PNPase participate in a pnp autoregulatory mechanism in which RNase III cleavage of the untranslated leader, followed by PNPase degradation of the resulting 5' fragment, leads to pnp repression by an undefined mechanism. We determined that CsrA binds to two sites in pnp leader RNA, but only after the transcript is fully processed by RNase III and PNPase. In the absence of processing both of the binding sites are sequestered in RNA secondary structure, which prevents CsrA binding. The CsrA dimer bridges the upstream high-affinity site to the downstream site that overlaps the pnp Shine-Dalgarno sequence such that bound CsrA causes strong repression of pnp translation at 37 °C. Interestingly, we observed an opposite effect of CsrA under cold shock conditions. At 16 °C CsrA activates pnp expression without appreciably changing the stability of the mRNA. CsrA-mediated activation requires fully processed leader mRNA, but surprisingly only requires the downstream binding site that overlaps the Shine-Dalgarno sequence. Although CsrA has been shown to regulate expression of numerous genes in a variety of organisms, this is the first identified example in which CsrA is capable of activating or repressing expression of the same gene in response to an environmental signal.

Poster #60: Microwave Materials Processing for Energy and Environmental Savings

T. M. Slawecki, J. Cheng, D. K. Agrawal

Microwaves can be used in the industrial sector to significantly reduce the time and energy required to process many different kinds of materials. Often there is correspondingly less material waste and fewer pollutants leading to reduced impact on the environment. Superior properties resulting from microwave processing translate into greater product life expectancy. Examples will be presented pertinent to the manufacturing and recycling sectors.

Poster #61: Low-Temperature Plasma for Biomedical Applications: The Exciting Potential of 'Plasma Medicine'

S. D. Knecht, S. G. Bilen, M. M. Micci

The Penn State Low-Temperature Plasma Research Group is presently investigating several of the many applications of atmospheric pressure plasma discharges including biomedical interactions, aerospace applications and materials science. Low-temperature plasma (LTP) science and engineering is an expanding and dynamic field of investigation that utilizes ionized fluid (plasma) at high ambient pressures (approx 1 bar) to generate complex plasma-induced chemistry at near ambient temperature. One of the most exciting areas is in the medical field, a research area referred to as 'plasma medicine', that has demonstrated potential in a wide range of external and in-vitro experiments. Our group is actively pursuing multiple projects in this field including cancer treatment and eradication of infectious bacteria on medical instruments and devices, with future plans to begin investigating the possibility for plasma treatment of internal health conditions in the digestive and respiratory tracts. LTP can be generated in a variety of different geometries, including cylindrical plasma jets and planar surface dielectric barrier discharges, and in different mediums, including ambient air, liquids such as water, or with noble gas initiators such as helium or argon. In all cases, two conducting electrodes separated by some distance are used, one is biased to zero volts (ground) and the other is biased to a high voltage potential (multiple kV). The voltage potential produces an electric field that accelerates free electrons up to high kinetic energy. Electron collisions with neutral atoms and molecules (molecular oxygen and nitrogen in an air environment) produce additional electrons through ionization and radical atomic and molecular species through dissociation collisions. Placing a dielectric material on one or both of the electrodes precludes the development of an arc discharge plasma that would drive significant current and increase the gas temperature. The driven currents are thus very small (mA's) with temperatures near the ambient temperature of the environment. The exciting potential of LTP, particularly in the medical field, comes from a combination of unique attributes: 1) Generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) for biocidal effects; 2) ""Dry"" chemistry without the use of liquid solvents or disinfectants; 3) Low gas temperature which prevents thermal damage to surfaces both inorganic and living. Our research group has been demonstrating the potential uses of LTP in areas such as the destruction of metastatic breast cancer cells and bacteria such as E. coli with plans to extend this work to antibiotic-resistant bacteria and beyond. Our collaborators include faculty from the Hershey Medical Center, the Huck Institute for Life Sciences and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. We look forward to the potential for more collaborations, particularly with industry.

Poster #62: Better Membranes Inspired by Biology

Y. X. Shen, T. W. Ren, H. M. Feroz, P. O. Saboe, R. Guha, A. B. Schantz, B. Y. Xiong, J. Habel, M. Farell, T. Culp, M. Kumar

Membranes are rapidly becoming a widely used platform for industrial separations and are being considered for applications involving catalysis and sensing. Biological membranes are an ideal model for synthetic membranes as they possess unique properties such as high transport and high selectivity at levels far beyond what is achievable in current membrane based systems. In this talk we will discuss the Kumar lab's approach and results from their Study, Play, and Build approach to innovating in the area of biomimetic and bioinspired membranes. It will present discoveries we have made while studying proteins that sit in the cell membrane (membrane proteins), our findings while playing with mixing and matching membrane proteins with matrix materials such as lipids and block copolymers, and finally building and modifying close-to- practical membranes using ideas inspired by cell membranes and informed by the Study and the Play phases.

Poster #63: A Deployable Energy and Environmental Sustainably Laboratory

D. M. Eissenstat, T. S. Adams, S. B. Brantley

A new deployable facility has been established that includes multiple instruments that can be used in a field capacity. The equipment purchased in the past year support disciplines in hydrogeology, meteorology and ecology. We will describe the various instruments, including the kinds of science that are possible using the different instruments.

Poster #64: The Dream Program at the Survey Research Center

E. L. Locke

The DREAM program (Dynamic Real-time Ecological Ambulatory Methodologies) at the Survey Research Center provides support for innovative survey, opinion, and related data collection methods to assess ongoing behavior, experiences, physiology, and environmental factors in people's natural settings. DREAM supports intensive in-vivo data collection that allows for repeated assessment of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a natural environment (e.g., at home, at work). We develop customized native survey applications designed for Android phones and tablets and support other emerging mobile technologies used in real-time data capture. DREAM provides an effective way to gather many types of data such as: Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), Experience Sampling, or Daily Diaries ; Ecological Momentary Intervention (EMI) ; Ambulatory physiological monitoring (e.g., heart rate, respiration, etc.) ; Physical activity monitoring using integrated or external GPS. The survey research field is ever evolving and mobile technologies such as smartphones, wearable sensors, and ambulatory physiological monitoring devices have greatly improved the scope and ease of data collection. Mobile data collection methodologies are especially useful to gain detailed information from and/or on individuals, particularly where it is useful to collect such information over time (e.g., to track changes, responses to policies, events, etc.). DREAM surveys can be designed to collect custom content data at nearly any desired time scale to help you meet specific goals and use cases.

Poster #65: Glass Surface Science and Tribology

N. S. Sheth, J. Luo, X. He, J. Banerjee, C. Pantano, S. H. Kim

The ubiquity of silicate glass in forms ranging from commodities to nuclear waste storage media can be attributed to its desirable mechanical properties, chemical durability, low cost, and recyclability. Although glass is theoretically strong, surface defects significantly reduce its practical strength. Furthermore, environmental factors such as humidity affect the fracture strength. The degradation of mechanical strength causes lower production yields coupled with durability and safety concerns. To increase the practical strength of glass, it is crucial to understand factors affecting surface defect formation and fracture behavior. Modern theory views defect formation as a series of chemical bond dissociation events creating thermodynamically unstable sites on the glass surface. These unstable sites are detrimental to the mechanical and chemical durability of glass. Thus it is imperative to understand the nature of these chemically reactive surface sites, which depend on the glass composition, in order to control the formation of atomic-scale coordination defects, strained bonds and their effects on mechanical properties. By understanding the chemical nature of the glass surface, the intrinsic mechanical responses can be improved and in cases where coatings are needed, a more stable interface can be engineered. Understanding surface reactivity, improving the practical strength and increasing the durability of glass can result in the minimization of glass safety hazards and glass waste while promoting greater sustainability and material functionality. Another research area of our lab is tribology and mechanochemistry. No matter how small devices are, all moving parts need to be lubricated. Otherwise, the nano- and micro-scale devices eventually fail due to adhesion and friction. We are currently exploring the use of gas adsorption isotherms for continuous formation and replenishment of nanofilms of lubricating molecules on the surface of metals and semiconductors. During vapor phase lubrication (VPL), molecules adsorbed at the sliding solid-solid interface might undergo mechanochemical reactions under high contact pressure and frictional shear force. In mechanochemical reactions, the main drive for chemical reaction is mechanical energy, rather than thermal or photochemical origins. Under mechanical compression or shear, the potential energy surface of molecules may be distorted and the energy barrier lowered along a reaction coordinate, expediting or allowing chemical reactions that would not occur under thermal or photochemical conditions. The dependence of tribo-polymerization yield on applied load and adsorbate molecular structure was studied to obtain mechanistic insights into mechanochemical reactions at the tribological interface. The tribo-polymer film synthesized in situ at the sliding interface exhibited an excellent boundary lubrication effect in the absence of any external supply of lubricant molecules.

Poster #66: Symmetry reCAPTCHA

C. Funk, Y. Liu

This paper is a reaction to the poor performance of symmetry detection algorithms on real-world images, bench-marked since CVPR 2011. Our systematic study reveals significant difference between human labeled (reflection and rotation) symmetries on photos and the output of computer vision algorithms on the same photo set. We exploit this human-machine symmetry perception gap by proposing a novel symmetry-based Turing test. By leveraging a comprehensive user interface, we collected more than 78,000 symmetry labels from 400 Amazon Mechanical Turk raters on 1,200 photos from the Microsoft COCO dataset. Using a set of ground-truth symmetries automatically generated from noisy human labels, the effectiveness of our work is evidenced by a separate test where over 96% success rate is achieved. We demonstrate statistically significant outcomes for using symmetry perception as a powerful, alternative, image-based reCAPTCHA.

Poster #67: 3D Printed Water Treatment Membranes

M. A. Hickner

Micro-patterned anion exchange membranes (AEM) have been 3D printed via a photoinitiated free radical polymerization and quaternization process. The photocurable formulation, consisting of diurethane dimethacrylate (DUDA), poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), dipentaerythritol penta-/hexa- acrylate, and 4-vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC), was directly cured into patterned films using a custom 3D photolithographic printing process similar to stereolithography. Measurements of water uptake, permselectivity, and ionic resistance were conducted on the quaternized poly(DUDA-co-PEGDA-co-VBC) sample series to determine their suitability as ion exchange membranes. The water uptake of the polymers increased as the ion exchange capacity (IEC) increased due to greater quaternized VBC content. Samples with IEC values between 0.98 to 1.63 meq/g were synthesized by varying the VBC content from 15 to 25 wt%. The water uptake was sensitive to the PEGDA content in the polymer resulting in water uptake values ranging from 85 to 410 wt% by varying PEGDA fractions from 0 to 60 wt%. The permselectivity of the AEM samples decreased from 0.91 (168 wt%, 1.63 meq/g) to 0.85 (410 wt%, 1.63 meq/g) with increasing water uptake and to 0.88 (162 wt%, 0.98 meq/g) with decreasing IEC. Permselectivity results were relatively consistent with the general understanding of the permselectivity correlation with the water uptake and ion content of the membrane. Lastly, it was revealed that the ionic resistance of patterned membranes was lower than that of flat membranes with the same material volume. A parallel resistance model was used to explain the patterning influence on the overall measured ionic resistance. This model may provide a way to maximize the ion exchange membrane performance by optimizing surface patterns without chemical modification to the membrane.

Poster #68: A Super High Conducting Solid State Electrolyte for Sodium-Ion Batteries

Z. X. Yu, J. H. Seo, S. L. Shang, D. W. Wang, Z. K. Liu, D. H. Wang

All-solid-state battery with inorganic electrolyte is believed to be the safest battery, since it does not suffer from volatile and flammable issues that coming with batteries using organic liquid electrolyte. All-solid-state sodium-ion batteries would further boost large-scale application all over the world due to the abundance, even global distribution and low price of sodium sources. However, current solid sodium-ion conductors cannot meet the requirements caused by their low ionic conductivity (< 1 mS cm-1) or moisture instability at room temperature. Here we report a new sodium-ion conductor, Na3P0.65As0.35S4, with an extremely high conductivity of 1.46 mS cm-1 and greatly enhanced moisture stability at ambient temperature. First-principle analysis is involved to study crystal structure evolution upon As-substitution in Na3P1-xAsxS4 (0 <= x <= 1) and uncover the mechanism behind the dramatic conductivity improvement. All-solid-state battery using Na3P0.65As0.35S4 as the solid state electrolyte shows excellent electrochemical performance.

Poster #69: Boltzmann Mixing Among Multiple Parabolas: A Solution to the Temperature Evolution of Multi-Well Free-Energy Landscape

Y. Wang, S. L. Shang, L.-Q. Chen, Z. K. Liu

Temperature evolution of the multi-well free-energy landscape is the intrinsic nature of many phase transitions and their associated critical phenomena. Hereby we provide an alternative formulation to that of Landau expansion for the problem by introducing a priori concept of Boltzmann thermal mixing among multiple parabolic potentials (MPP). Correspondingly, the statistical thermodynamics of the macroscopic system is formulated by an ensemble of multi harmonic oscillators that vibrate with respect to different reference positions. The theory is able to account for phonon contributions, gives rises to a long-range field and a quadratic term for lattice anisotropy, and naturally describes the free-energy evolution from a multi-well to a single-well with increasing temperature. The exponential behaviors of thermodynamic properties in the MPP approach represent the quantum mechanical predictions that are much better than the polynomial behaviors in the Landau expansion, demonstrated using the tetragonal-cubic transition in PbTiO3.

Poster #70: The All-Seeing Eye: Estimating Direct Normal Irradiance from a New Multipyranometer Array

V. Srikrishnan, G. S. Young, J. R. S. Brownson

Accurate Direct Normal Irradiance measurements are important for systems that track the sun and for calculating global radiation incident on a tilted surface. One technique for measuring Direct Normal Irradiance is to use a multipyranometer array, which uses multiple low-cost sensors rather than a single higher-cost system. However, the methods typically used to estimate Direct Normal Irradiance from multipyranometer arrays can be computationally intensive and rely on models developed for clear-sky conditions, rendering them less useful for real sky conditions. A new design for a multipyranometer array, called the All-Seeing Eye, is presented which uses an Artificial Neural Network to estimate Direct Normal Irradiance from the pyranometer measurements. It is observed that a relatively simple network suffices for the single-site data used in this study, and the resulting estimator is found to be competitive overall with other methods of estimating Direct Normal Irradiance from pyranometer measurements. A prototype of the system has been installed at the SURFRAD network site in Rock Springs, PA.

Poster #71: Creep of Alkali-Activated Concrete Made without Portland Cement

M. Hojati, F. Rajabipour, A. Radlinska

Concrete, whether produced with ordinary Portland cement (OPC) or any other alternatives, stiffens, shrinks, and exhibits creep over time. Shrinkage and creep can result in cracking, deflection and pre-stress loss in concrete structures which can influence their durability and serviceability. A widespread research has been conducted on the prediction of shrinkage, creep, and durability of OPC binder that can be traced back to almost half century ago. Over the past few decades, cement-free concrete has been proposed in response to the environmental concerns about OPC production [1-3]; and alkali-activated cement (AAC) has been gathering more attention compared to other alternatives to OPC Despite the recognition of AAC, there has been limited research reported on studying the creep, which may occur in these cement free binders. Knowledge about durability features of AAC is essential to facilitate their application in the concrete industry and help to develop and design more sustainably durable material. In this paper, attempts have been made to investigate the creep response of these novel green binders.The creep of four different AACs was studied in this paper. The specimens include an activated class F fly ash, an activated slag, and two activated fly ash-slag mortars. All AAC mortars were cured at 23 oC but alkali activated fly ash which was steam-cured for 1 day at 60oC. Creep characteristics of four AAC mortars was measured under compressive stress within 8 months. It was noticed that the time-dependent response of AACs containing slag is higher than steam-cured fly ash mortar. As such, the binder containing slag is likely to shrink more under continually internal stress caused by drying and exhibit greater time-dependent shrinkage. The creep characteristics of AACs were larger than predicted creep values of OPC as well.

Poster #72: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) in the US Air Force

L. Michalopoulou, K. R. Hawkey, L. D. White, J. Welsh, D. P. Perkins

The US Air Force Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment (ADAPT) program began collaborating with the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness (Clearinghouse) at Penn State in 2012. ADAPT aims to implement prevention and intervention programs at the installation-level targeting alcohol and substance abuse. The Clearinghouse, in collaboration with Air Force partners, has a number of projects. Alcohol Brief Counseling 2.0 (ABC 2.0) evaluated alcohol-related counseling practices and generated new materials and training modules for an updated version of what was being implemented Air Force wide. Eleven ABC 2.0 training modules were generated to educate mental health providers on how to implement the updated materials and introduced them to counseling techniques. Level I followed ABC 2.0 and aimed to evaluate current practices of providers working with Airmen diagnosed with alcohol abuse or dependence. After the evaluation, the Clearinghouse reviewed the evidence of approximately 50 alcohol treatments and, in collaboration with AF partners, adapted three treatment programs and made them alcohol and Air Force specific. Mental health providers across installations received a brief training on the new programs. Overall, the Clearinghouse received positive feedback from practitioners across AF installations. Currently, the Clearinghouse aims to evaluate the Level 1 program in terms of implementation and effectiveness in a number of AF bases. Social norms - Phase II documented actual and misperceived norms regarding alcohol use and misuse via an anonymous survey among young Airmen age 18-24 at 14 participating Air Force Bases. Data was used to create targeted media that intensively exposed young Airmen to actual and corrective, normative messages around alcohol use with a goal of reducing harmful and risky behavior caused by alcohol misuse. In early 2016, an additional seven bases were selected for participation in a third treatment option that offers exposures to messages containing aggregate data from all Phase II surveyed bases with no base specific data collection. In 2015, the Clearinghouse was tasked to develop five online CBT modules for ADAPT mental health technicians that would prepare them for the Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADC) exam. The project overviews the material that will likely be on the standardized examination, including information on the ASAM treatment levels, DSM-5 diagnostic criteria, counseling patients, patient screening and assessment, the therapeutic relationship, and legal and ethical considerations for treatment. Finally, AF partners want to stay updated on current research and, thus, often request systematic reviews. The Clearinghouse team has thoroughly examined the literature pertinent to a number of topics, including alcohol outcome measures, gambling and gaming addiction, protocols for the prevention of opioid misuse.

Poster #73: Molybdenum Disulfide and Graphene Heterolayers Synthesized by Layer-By-Layer Electrodeposition for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution

Y. Lei, K. Fujisawa, Z. Lin, N. P. Lopez, P. Xu, T. E. Mallouk, M. Terrones

Two dimensional atomic catalyst, MoS2, has been of considerable interest due to its hydrogen binding energy comparable to Pt. Recently, MoS2, especially heterostructure reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/MoS2 has been showing promising hydrogen evolution catalytic performance. However, a scalable and facile approach remains challenge to synthesize MoS2 catalytic coating. Herein, we present an electrodepostion approach to synthesize conformal MoS2 coatings on conducting substrates. In addition, layer-by layer electrodepostion makes it possible to synthesize heterlayer rGO/MoS2. After 400 °C annealing, polycrystalline MoS2 and rGO/MoS2 heterolayer with structure disorder and strain form, so that superior and stable hydrogen evolution coatings can be obtained.

Poster #74: The All-Seeing Eye: Estimating Direct Normal Irradiance from a New Multipyranometer Array

G. Cheng, S. J. Hao, S.-Y. Zheng

Rapid and efficient protein digestion by sequence-specific proteases is a prerequisite and critical step in proteomics. A novel photo-assisted nanoreactor was designed and constructed for rapid protein digestion. Porous graphene-silica composite material was prepared, and trypsin molecules were further immobilized in the nanopores to construct the functional nanoreactor for protein digestion. By taking advantage of the unique response of graphene to the near infrared light, this nanoreactor can realized rapid protein digestion under near infrared laser radiation, which is much faster than the widely applied overnight in-solution digestion using free trypsin molecules. It's expected that this work would contribute to the rapid and high throughput protein digestion in proteomics.

Poster #75: Designing for Additive Manufacturing: Lightweighting a 3D Printed Metal Part

T. Simpson, S. Joshi, A. Lehtihet, S. N. Reddy, B.-M. Roh

Additive manufacturing provides unprecedented design and material freedom, enabling engineers to design light weight structures, consolidate parts, and fabricate functionally-graded and multi-material structures in a single build. This work investigates Design for Additive Manufacturing to lightweight a metallic component for oil and gas applications. Specifically, lattice structures are used to reduce the weight of a part by 40% using a combination of solid modeling, optimization, analysis, and process simulation tools. Challenges with the design workflow are discussed, and 3D printed parts -- polymer prototypes as well as the final metallic part -- will be on display. Participants are also encouraged to stop by the poster to learn more about the additive manufacturing work in Penn State's Center for Innovative Materials Processing through Direct Digital Deposition (CIMP-3D), one of the leading additive manufacturing and 3D printing facilities in the country.

Poster #76: The Relationship Between Intestinal Dysbiosis and Mortality in Critically Ill Patients

C. Molnar, L. A. Schultz, Z. Ma, V. M. Chinchilli, J. R. Broach, J. A. Howrylak

Rationale: Despite decades of research, there are currently no reliable non-invasive methods that may be used to predict outcomes among critically ill patients. Our objective was to explore whether microbial abundance profiles obtained via culture-free methods from stool samples of critically ill patients could be used to predict clinical outcomes, including mortality rate. Methods: We obtained consent from subjects within 48 hours of admission to the ICU, and obtained stool specimens on a daily basis from subjects during the first seven days of their stay in the ICU, or for as long as they resided in the ICU. We performed 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of fecal specimens from 53 critically ill patients, and explored associations between clinical outcomes and microbial abundance levels using hierarchical clustering and decision tree classification analysis. Results: Microbial abundance profiles obtained from 53 critically ill study subjects demonstrated distinct differences in abundance levels of multiple bacterial phyla in comparison to healthy controls. Subjects in our ICU population had a predominance of Firmicutes (65.5%), followed by Proteobacteria (15.8%) and Actinobacteria (10.9%). Over a 5-day time period, we identified a core ICU microbiome in our population that was composed of Firmicutes (32.9%), Bacteroidetes (32.1%), Proteobacteria (27.8%), and Actinobacteria (4.3%). Hierarchical clustering of microbial abundance patterns demonstrated that subjects could be grouped into two Enterotypes. Subjects grouped in Enterotype 1 had lower levels of Actinobacteria present (p < 0.001) and also had an increased 28-day mortality compared to subjects in Enterotype 2 (p = 0.047). Predictive modeling using a decision tree allowed us to predict mortality using two genera within the Actinobacteria phylum with an overall accuracy of 77.4% (sensitivity = 30.4%, specificity = 96.7%, PPV = 87.5%, NPV = 64.4%). Conclusions: Results of our analysis demonstrate associations between intestinal dysbiosis and the development of critical illness, and suggest the potential for the development of predictive models based upon lower intestinal microbial abundance levels. Further studies will be necessary to confirm these findings and demonstrate their widespread generalizability.

Poster #77: Cold Sintering: A New Sintering Technique for Ceramics and Ceramic Based Composites

J. Guo, H. Guo, S. S. Berbano, A. Baker, S. Funahashi, M. T. Lanagan, C. A. Randall

The sintering process is the most basic part of processing materials, which involves the compaction and forming of a solid material through the application of thermal energy and/or pressure. Owing to the high melting points, most of the ceramics are sintered at high temperatures, using the conventional thermal sintering process. Recently, we developed a new sintering approach, namely Cold Sintering Process (CSP). CSP is an extremely low temperature sintering process (room temperature to ~200 oC), that uses a transient aqueous environment to effect densification by a mediated dissolution-precipitation process. The low temperature of CSP also makes it possible to co-sinter thermoplastic polymers and ceramic materials in a one-step sintering process. Various ceramics and ceramic-polymer composites are selected to show the feasibility of CSP. Cold sintering is more general and a diverse range of inorganic materials and composites can be sintered at much lower temperatures than previously thought possible. The CSP concept opens up a new material design scheme impacting a wide variety of applications.

Poster #78: A Two-Step CO2 Laser-Sustained Plasma Nitriding Process for Deep-Case Hardening of Commercially Pure Titanium

A. M. Kamat, S. M. Copley, J. A. Todd

Titanium and its alloys possess several attractive properties that include a high strength-to-weight ratio, biocompatibility, and good corrosion resistance. However, due to their poor wear resistance, titanium components need to undergo surface hardening treatments before being used in applications involving high contact stresses. Laser nitriding is a thermochemical method of enhancing the surface hardness and wear resistance of titanium. This technique entails scanning the titanium substrate under a laser beam near its focal plane in the presence of nitrogen gas flow. At processing conditions characterized by low scan speeds, high laser powers, and small off-focal distances, plasma strikes near the surface of the titanium substrate. This plasma can be sustained by the power of the laser beam away from any potentially interacting surfaces via a cascade ionization process. This research explored the unique effects of nitriding titanium in the presence of such a laser-sustained plasma (LSP). A two-step nirtiding-remelting method was proposed to form deep, hard cases on commercially pure titanum. Wide-area, crack-free, nitride cases, up to 800 µm deep and having average Vickers hardness values up to 650 HV0.3, were deposited. The proposed treatment enhanced the wear resistance of the base material by up to 80%.

Poster #79: Physical Origin a Framework for Controlling Nascent-Protein Folding

A. K. Sharma, E. P. O'Brien

An emerging paradigm in the field of in vivo protein biophysics is that nascent-protein behavior is a type of nonequilibrium phenomenon, where translation-elongation kinetics can be more important in determining nascent-protein behavior than the thermodynamic properties of the protein. Synonymous codon substitutions, which change the translation rate at select codon positions along a transcript, have been shown to alter cotranslational protein folding, suggesting that evolution may have shaped synonymous codon usage in the genomes of organisms in part to increase the amount of folded and functional nascent protein. Here, we develop a Monte Carlo-master-equation method that allows for the control of nascent-chain folding during translation through the rational design of mRNA sequences to guide the cotranslational folding process. We test this framework using coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations and find it provides optimal mRNA sequences to control the simulated, cotranslational folding of a protein in a user-prescribed manner. With this approach we discover that some codon positions in a transcript can have a much greater impact on nascent-protein folding than others because they tend to be positions where the nascent chain populates states that are far from equilibrium.

Poster #80: EME 597C: Creating University/Industry Collaboration

M. Alger, C. Marone, B. Schwartz

WHAT WE DID: We applied market discovery techniques used to qualify emerging products and services in startup companies to emerging research topics that could be pursued by INGaR. The goal was to see if our initial research topics had interest among industry groups or if they were looking for something else. HOW WE DID IT: We started with an initial research program concept that constituted several smaller research projects for individual faculty to do. We then approached companies and told them about the overall research program concept and the individual research projects it entailed and we asked them if they thought it was interesting enough to fund. WHAT WE FOUND: In every case the consensus of the industry representatives was that the program concept was either entirely or partially different from their market needs. They offered alternative research projects that were more likely to receive their funding.

Poster #81: Bilingualism Matters

F. Blanchette

The Penn State Center for Language Science (CLS; http://cls.psu.edu/) hosts the first US Chapter of Bilingualism Matters (http://cls.psu.edu/bilingualism-matters), an international organization dedicated to translating the insights gained from bilingualism research to audiences beyond academia. The CLS is home to a rich cross-disciplinary research program on the science of bilingualism throughout the lifespan, from its earliest moments through to mature linguistic development. In today's increasingly multilingual society, individuals, families, businesses, and other organizations are challenged to adapt to a world in which speaking multiple languages is the norm rather than the exception. In our work with Bilingualism Matters, we aim to build bridges between language science research and researchers and the community, with a focus on families, educational settings, industry, and policy makers, to foster contexts outside the laboratory and university settings where learning about bilingualism and language science can take place. We wish to build long term, mutually beneficial relationships with community members and groups. Mutual benefits include the translation of research into practice in ways that help our local and national communities, both immediately and in the longer term, as well as access to feedback and input from community members that will help guide our research and ultimately enhance its broader impacts. This past year, our Bilingualism Matters chapter engaged in a number of different outreach activities within the Penn State community. We created a newsletter with research summaries, language tips, and other useful information (https://sites.psu.edu/bilingualismmatters/), held outreach events, and formed partnerships with numerous local groups and organizations. With our participation in Research Penn State 2016, we aim to forge new connections with industry and explore new ways to partner with individuals and organizations outside academia.

Poster #83: EME 597C: Creating University/Industry Collaboration

M. Alger, C. Marone, B. Schwartz

WHAT WE DID: We applied market discovery techniques used to qualify emerging products and services in startup companies to emerging research topics that could be pursued by INGaR. The goal was to see if our initial research topics had interest among industry groups or if they were looking for something else. HOW WE DID IT: We started with an initial research program concept that constituted several smaller research projects for individual faculty to do. We then approached companies and told them about the overall research program concept and the individual research projects it entailed and we asked them if they thought it was interesting enough to fund. WHAT WE FOUND: In every case the consensus of the industry representatives was that the program concept was either entirely or partially different from their market needs. They offered alternative research projects that were more likely to receive their funding.

Poster #84: EME 597C: Creating University/Industry Collaboration

M. Alger, C. Marone, B. Schwartz

WHAT WE DID: We applied market discovery techniques used to qualify emerging products and services in startup companies to emerging research topics that could be pursued by INGaR. The goal was to see if our initial research topics had interest among industry groups or if they were looking for something else. HOW WE DID IT: We started with an initial research program concept that constituted several smaller research projects for individual faculty to do. We then approached companies and told them about the overall research program concept and the individual research projects it entailed and we asked them if they thought it was interesting enough to fund. WHAT WE FOUND: In every case the consensus of the industry representatives was that the program concept was either entirely or partially different from their market needs. They offered alternative research projects that were more likely to receive their funding.

Poster #85: Artificial Cells Based on Phase Separation of Aqueous Polymer Solutions

A. M. Marianelli, A. T. Rowland, F. P. Cakmak, G. M. Mountain, C. D. Crowe, E. A. Frankel, C. D. Keating

The cellular matrix is both an extremely complex and incredibly well organized environment, utilizing both membranous and non-membranous compartments to localize biological activity. Recently, some non-membranous compartments have been shown to exhibit liquid-like behavior, suggesting a role for liquid-liquid phase separation in intracellular organization. The biological intricacy of the cell makes it difficult to study any specific variable in isolation, so the generation of model systems that remove some of the biological complexity while displaying similar physicochemical characteristics is important for understanding the physical chemistry of the cellular environment. This research focuses on mimicking microcompartmentalization within the cell, using liquid-liquid phase separation to generate aqueous multi-phase systems that are composed of similar classes of macromolecules (e.g., poly-electrolytes) to those found in the cell.

Poster #86: Sintering Recycled PET

K. Kirsch

Research was performed to find a process that would allow sintering of recycled post consumer PET to be used as roofing panels in Guatemala. Material weight, particle size, pressure, and time were the parameters that were changes throughout the experiment. An OFAT was done to isolate the variables and find their effect on the panels. The panels were judged on the amount of sintering that occurred. One of the biggest problems that occurred was cracking. The panels are sintering, but they have a differential heat transfer due to the design of the mold. Further research is being performed using a newly designed mold that will allow more even heating and cooling of the panel.

Poster #87: Mapping (is) the Future of Large-Scale Automation

S. Brennan

The challenges of modern automation are exemplified in the highly visible progress being made today in the automotive community. The public is witnessing great strides toward automated vehicles and highways, where near-flawless, better-than-human operation is required in challenging, life-and-death situations. The automotive sector is not alone in facing these challenges, as the same requirements are growing in military robotics, heath-care robotics, brain-machine interfaces, modern aerospace programs, and even in advanced trash collection and sorting systems. To meet this common challenge of large-scale, information-diverse automation, the Intelligent Vehicles and Systems Group is investigating the use of automation algorithms tied to dynamic, shared databases of information to provide "maps" to robotic systems. But maps require many steps not typical of robotics or control, including context-aware data compression, data gathering from trusted entities, careful yet routine updates from user data feedback, and user verification of map information. In the context of automation, map-based algorithms are particularly challenged in the presence of dynamic information sharing. It is not sufficient, for example, to verify that an automated vehicle can safely operate in all situations by exposing that vehicle merely to one DMV driving test. Classical control and automation techniques admit mathematically verifiable performance and as well predict the worst-case performing situations. But in contrast, map-based data sharing has aspects of adaptive behavior interacting with learning algorithms; yet, these approaches are strongly avoided in safety-critical situations. To mitigate these issues, the Intelligent Vehicles and Systems group utilizes strong user-verified algorithmic and automation methods, wherein maps are only trusted insofar as they agree with immediate sensor inputs. This process is demonstrated in this poster by providing overviews of a wide range of projects in the group: Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control Systems, road-friction learning, advanced driver warning systems, automated wheelchair systems, and robotic trash collection systems.

Poster #88: Carbon Dioxide Source Selection and Cost Analysis for Fracking Operations in Shale Gas Wells

X. Li, J. A. Ventura, L. F. Ayala H., U. V. Shanbhag

Fracturing using CO2 instead of water in natural gas withdrawal has been shown to be a promising alternative, which not only enhances the production of natural gas, but also prevents large amounts of water to be consumed and eliminates the potential pollution of aquifer and soil. The purpose of this research is to identify and analyze possible sources of CO2 in any geographical location in the U.S. that can be used to capture and transport CO2 for fracturing operations in well pads. Different approaches to capture CO2 from power plants and industrial sources, as well as their corresponding technological maturity, are introduced. Two websites are provided that can be used to search and locate stationary CO2 sources. CO2 capture in power plants and industrial sources are discussed. Particularly, detailed models to calculate costs incurred by CO2 capture in two types of prime candidates, coal-fired power plants (CPP) and high-purity CO2 sources (HPS), are presented. Based on these models, a case study for possible CO2 sources in North Dakota (ND) is provided. For CPPs, two different scenarios are analyzed. The first scenario considers the case where CPPs make up the loss of power output caused by CO2 capture by outsourcing power; while in the second scenario, CPPs generate extra power up to an upper bound to cover the loss and then purchase power from other sources if necessary. The results show that the second scenario, if implementable, yields lower cost of CO2 captured (CCC) and higher amount of CO2 captured (ACC). In terms of HPSs, even though capturing CO2 from HPSs does not require gas separation, the relatively small volume of high-purity CO2 stream available in ND's HPSs leads to high capital cost per unit CO2 captured. As a result, most CPPs in ND lead to higher cost-effectiveness than the HPSs.

Poster #89: Nanostructure Exploration of Carbon Material by Curvature and Stacking Analysis

W. Zhu, R. L. Vander Wal, J. P. Mathews

In carbonaceous materials the nanostructure impacts properties and behavior. For complex examples, such as soot, there is considerable variability depending on the fuel and combustion conditions. The nanostructure can be observed by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. However, quantifying curvature and stacking extents are poorly established due to the lack of sophisticated image analysis tools and the rationalization of the nanostructure-curvature causes. Here new image analysis tools and ad initio atomistic modeling was utilized to explore soot nanostructure. Curvature was dissected into multiple segments with identification of angle change, segment length, segment frequency, and cumulative angle change. This exploration is considerably more detailed than the traditionally used tortuosity parameter. Angle changes between segments were related to possible geometric influences by exploring the incorporation of pentagons in polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Example PAH structures were geometry optimized by Density Functional Theory using Materials Studio interface and compared with the curvature for PAH molecules observed from lattice fringe HRTEM. By means of pentagon placement manipulation, we are able to obtain similar curvature transitions. The stacking analysis facilitates a visualization of the stacking distribution -- a measure of the soot particle degree of order. Much of the stacking had similar sized lattice fringes (PAH molecules of similar size). These examples demonstrate the utility of in-house software and their application to complex system evaluations. These data and relationships are likely to result in an improved characterization of soot with the potential to inform full-scale atomistic structural models for exploration of reactivity and emission reduction strategies.

Poster #90: Research at the Penn State Center for Language Science

Research at the Penn State Center for Language Science

Research focusing on bilingual speakers has grown steadily in the last decade. During this time the US language landscape has become increasingly linguistically diverse, and it is now estimated that around 21% of the US population speaks a language other than English at home. Despite the salience of bilingualism nation- and worldwide, it has long been treated as a special topic, somewhat peripheral to the study of human language overall, and research has focused primarily on a limited set of contexts (e.g. L2 college students in classroom settings, typically developing children), with fewer studies engaging more diverse populations. To meet the needs of an ever increasingly diverse multilingual population, it is essential to consider language learning in a diverse set of contexts: learners in language majority/minority contexts, bilingual children with language disorders, bilingual speakers in isolated regions (e.g. San Basilio de Palenque, Columbia), and aging bilinguals in language contact settings due to immigration. The Center for Language Science (CLS) at Penn State University has been at the cutting edge of bilingual research over the last 10 years - carrying out research in diverse settings, embracing new methodologies and interdisciplinary investigations, and triangulating across methodologies, languages, and social contexts. The CLS is composed of 20 faculty, 8 postdoctoral students, more than 30 graduate students, and dozens of undergraduate students - affiliated with four different PSU departments and two colleges. The diverse interests of the CLS researchers are unified by a shared interest in language science and bilingualism. Researchers use a variety of behavioral and neuroscience methods in the field and in the laboratory, including eye tracking, event related potentials, fMRI, and acoustic analysis. The CLS is also home to the first US chapter of Bilingualism Matters, an international organization founded in Edinburgh, Scotland, dedicated to communicating basic findings in the language science of bilingualism to families, educational institutions, and policy makers to enable informed decisions based on scientific evidence. The CLS Bilingualism Matters branch regularly engages in outreach work with the local community to share and promote the findings of bilingualism and language science research. The CLS has been awarded two multi-million dollar grants from the National Science Foundation's Partnerships in International Research and Education (PIRE) program to facilitate the development of an international research network, in Europe, Asia, and South America, with the aim of investigating the consequences of bilingual and multilingual experiences for learning and the brain. Each year two cohorts of CLS undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows travel to partner sites to conduct research on bilingualism.

Poster #91: Integration of Contributed Data with HEC-RAS Hydrodynamic Model for Flood Inundation and Damage Assessment: 2015 Dallas Texas Case Study

E. Sava, J. Thornton, A. Kalyanapu, G. Cervone

Transportation infrastructure networks in urban areas are highly sensitive to natural disasters, yet are a very critical source for the success of rescue, recovery, and renovation operations. Therefore, prompt restoration of such networks is of high importance for disaster relief services. Satellite and aerial images provide data with high spatial and temporal resolution and are a powerful tool for monitoring the environment and mapping the spatio-temporal variability of the Earth's surface. They provide a synoptic overview and give useful environmental information for a wide range of scales, from entire continents to urban areas, with spatial pixel resolutions ranging from kilometers to centimeters. However, sensor limitations are often a serious drawback since no single sensor offers the optimal spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution at the same time. Specific data may not be collected in the time and space most urgently required and/or may it contain gaps as a result of the satellite revisit time, atmospheric opacity, or other obstructions. In this study, the feasibility of integrating multiple sources of contributed data including remotely sensed datasets and open-source geospatial datasets, into hydrodynamic models for flood inundation simulations is assessed. The 2015 Dallas floods that caused up to $61 million dollars in damage was selected for this study. A Hydraulic Engineering Center - River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) model was developed for the study area, using reservoir surcharge releases and geometry provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth District. The simulated flood inundation is compared with the "contributed data" for the location (such as Civilian Air Patrol data and WorldView 3 dataset) which indicated the model's lack of representing lateral inflows near the upstream section. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model is developed that used local precipitation and discharge values in the vicinity to estimate the lateral flows. This addition of estimated lateral inflows is expected to improve the model performance to match with the observed flows. Future work will focus on extending this preliminary work to assess the model performance after integrating these additional data sources.

Poster #92: Meeting the Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Challenges in a Rapidly Changing World

H. Zhao, L. Xu, V. Mani, S. Kumara

The pharmaceutical (pharma) industry, as an essential part of the healthcare sector, faces dramatic challenges in this changing world. Two of such challenges we address in various projects are the rise of specialty drugs and the explosion of online pharmacy. Specialty drugs are one of the most important trends in the pharmaceutical (pharma) industry and the fastest growing segment of the healthcare industry as a whole (Conti and Berndt 2014, GAO 2013). In 2012, the number of specialty drugs approved by FDA exceeded the number of traditional drugs (AHIP 2015). While accounted for only about 1% of total prescriptions (IMS Health 2012), specialty drugs account for 30% of all pharmacy spending in 2012 ($92 billion) and will account for more than half by 2018, reaching $235 billion (CVS 2014). However, there has been little research regarding the challenges faced by the manufacturers in their distribution strategies to protect the drug integrity and security throughout the supply chain. We collaborated with a sponsor of CSCR to investigate the important factors manufacturers consider when choosing their distribution strategies for specialty drugs. Another important trend of the pharma industry is the explosion of online pharmacies. There is an estimate of 30,000 to 35,000 online pharmacies globally, with a stunning 92% being illicit and 85% of them ship drugs to the US. We use web analytics to build a model to classify and predict illegal online pharmacies. With data from NABP, our model has an accuracy of more than 90%. Such a model would greatly help patient education and protection. Further collaboration with search engine companies is being pursued which would further protect patients.

Poster #93: How Chromosomal Rearrangements Maintain Associations of Genes Adapted for Sensing and Detoxifying a Heterogeneous Environment in Drosophila pseudoobscura

Z. L. Fuller, G. D. Haynes, S. Richards, S. W. Schaeffer

Variation in the rates of recombination that shuffles genetic diversity within genomes can alter the speed that organisms can adapt to a heterogeneous environment. Recombination rates can be modulated during sexual reproduction either by altering the number of chromosomes in the genome or the rates of crossing over within chromosomes. Complex traits under the control of multiple genes will be especially susceptible to variation in recombination rates because shuffling genes generates many gene combinations for natural selection to act upon. Complex traits are predicted to respond to environmental challenges faster when genes are distributed among more rather than fewer chromosomes. Recombination is also a problem because shuffling genetic diversity underlying complex can breakup adaptive genetic combinations. In this study, we examine hypotheses for the establishment of chromosomal inversions, which are genome rearrangements that reduce levels of recombination in the genome. We use Drosophila pseudoobscura as a model system to test hypotheses about how inversions are established in populations. D. pseudoobscura has over 30 inversions segregating on its third chromosome in natural populations. The inversions form clines or gradients in frequency among different environmental niches in the southwestern United States. We generated 54 genomes from strains with one of six different inversion types to test whether different chromosomal arrangements show evidence of adaptation of protein coding genes. We generated transcriptomes for 18 strains drawn from larvae, adult males and females to test for differences in expression level among inversions. Molecular population genetic analyses of genomes showed multiple genes with inverted regions that show evidence of adaptive evolution. Analysis of the transcriptomes show that the different chromosomal inversions have captured genes that are differentially expressed. These data support the hypothesis that chromosomal inversions capture and hold together allelic variation for adaptation to a heterogeneous environment. The number of adaptive genes is positively related to the size of the inverted region suggesting that inversion size is a selected character. Functional analysis of the selected genes shows an enrichment for genes involved in sensory perception and detoxification of environmental chemicals. Genes from the limonene and pinine degradation pathway are an intriguing over-represented class of genes on this chromosome. Pinene is a monoterpene component of ponderosa pine xylem, which varies among trees across the distribution of D. pseudoobscura. These data suggest that sensory genes aid the adult flies in finding suitable habitats and detoxification genes aid the fly and larvae deal with environmental challenges in the habitats that they live.

Poster #94: The Use of High Performance Computing to Study Predictor Weighting and Scalability of the Analog Ensemble Method

L. Clemente-Harding, G. Cervone, L. Delle Monache

Renewable energy is fundamental for sustaining and developing society. Solar and wind energy are promising sources because of their decreased environmental impact relative to conventional energy sources, improved efficiency, and increased use. A key challenge with renewable energy production is the generation of accurate renewable energy forecasts at varying spatial and temporal scales to assist utility companies in effective energy management. Specifically, this research applies the Analog Ensemble (AnEn) method to short-term (0-48 hour) wind speed forecasting for power generation and short-term (0-72) hour solar power measured (PM) output predictions. AnEn uses a set of past observations corresponding to the best analogs of a deterministic numerical weather prediction model to generate a probability distribution of future atmospheric states: an ensemble of analogs. Using supercomputing capabilities, two particular focus areas are investigated using these datasets: 1) optimal predictor weighting for the AnEn is studied and 2) scalability of the AnEn method is tested. Results show that optimal weighting of the predictors used in the AnEn method provides significant improvement in prediction accuracy of the particular variable of interest. Improvement is also shown to be spatially variable. Computational scalability results of AnEn testing on the entirety of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) supercomputer Yellowstone show that the AnEn scales extremely well, confirming a theoretical analysis of the computational scalability. The AnEn method improves short-term prediction accuracy, decreases computational costs and provides uncertainty quantification allowing utility companies to manage over- or under power generation for renewable energy sources.

Poster #95: In Situ Delivery of Cell-Laden Collagen Modified Alginate Encapsulated in Thiol-Acrylate Based Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering

A. Forghani, L. Garber, C. Chen, A. Chagneux, J. Pojman, D. Hayes

Injectable in situ polymerizing biomaterials provide a convenient method to conformally fill irregularly shaped bone defects and integrate with the surrounding tissue. To this end, several strategies including hydrogels, non-solvated polymer composites, and cements have been explored as injectable bone augments and grafts . While injectable polymer composites and cements are capable of providing biomimetic mechanical properties, degradation profiles and microstructure, the co-incorporation of cells and growth factors into these injectable formulations remains challenging largely due to the lack of aqueous solvation and the required curing conditions. Hydrogels, on the other hand, are attractive for cell, drug and bioactive molecule delivery due to their hydrated porous polymer network and cytocompatibility that allow for efficient mass transfer and exchange.Thiol-acrylate chemistry, a subset of thiol-ene chemistry fabricate polymers that have the advantage of rapid conversions from liquid monomers to a crosslinked polymer under physiological conditions which makes this polymers suitable for in situ polymerization in the presence of cells and tissue . In this study, a cell product compatible in-situ polymerization method was explored, based on a bi-phasic scaffolds system, combining synthetic thiol-acrylate polymer non-aqueous phase and human adipose derived stromal/stem cells (hASCs) encapsulated in a hydrogel. The hydrogel phase is composed of alginate based hydrogel modified with collagen to aid in the support of cell adhesion. Cell viability and proliferation were analyzed using LIVE/DEAD staining and PicoGreen DNA quantification assay. hASCs in both alginate (ALG) and alginate-collagen (ALG-COL) beads sustained high viability and metabolic activity for up to 21 days. However, hASCs in ALG-COL beads exhibited an elongated spindle shape and higher proliferation rate compared to ALG. hASCs laden ALG-COL beads were entrapped in trimethylolpropane ethoxylate triacrylate ( TMPeTA) co Trimethylolpropane tris(3-mercaptopropianate) (TMPTM)P scaffolds and remained viable for 3 days. Mechanical tests showed TMPeTA scaffolds having a compressive strength of approximately 0.2 MPa. Collectively, these results highlight the potential of the polymerization process of TMPeTA-TMPTMP to be a cell friendly process with adequate mechanical support for cell delivery in bone tissue engineering applications.

Poster #96: Optimal Resonance Configuration for Ultrasonic Wireless Power Transmission to Millimeter-Sized Biomedical Implants

M. Meng, M. Kiani

Ultrasound has been recently proposed as an alternative modality for efficient wireless power transmission (WPT) to biomedical implants with millimeter (mm) dimensions. It has been shown that to achieve high power transfer efficiency (PTE), the dimensions of the transmitter (Tx) and mm-sized receiver (Rx) should be chosen so that the resonant frequencies of Tx and Rx are matched and tuned to be the same as the operation frequency (fp), while two fundamental resonant frequencies, series resonance and parallel resonance, are involved for each transducer. This poster presents the considerations in choosing resonant frequencies by comparing four different combinations of Tx and Rx resonances, which are series-series, series-parallel, parallel-series and parallel-parallel. We have shown by finite-element method (FEM) simulations that 1) for disk-shaped Tx operating at parallel resonance can achieve higher PTE at a separation distance (d) of 3 cm with all other factors constant, and 2) for mm-sized disk-shaped Rx with aspect ratio greater than 1, operation at parallel resonance can achieve better PTE with assumed matched load condition, however, the load resistance (RL) depending on the application is a more important determining factor in choosing Rx resonance.

Poster #97: Competing Against Antibiotic Resistance with Communication Science

E. L. MacGeorge, E. P. Caldes, K. Foley, N. M. Hackman, A. F. Read, R. A. Smith

Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacterial infections no longer respond to formerly effective treatment with antibiotic drugs. At present, antibiotic resistant infections kill 50,000 people annually across the US and Europe, and this number continues to rise. Human behavior plays a significant role in the rise in the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistant infections. The behaviors include injudicious use for common acute illnesses (e.g., cold and flu) as well as problematic hygiene, sanitation, and vaccination. If we promote judicious use and prevention behaviors (referred to as antibiotic stewardship), the evolution of resistance will be slowed, and the efficacy of existing antibiotics extended. Penn State communication scientists are competing against antibiotic resistance with research to identify communication strategies that improve antibiotic stewardship in the general public and in clinical settings. One domain of research is profiling target audiences to design effective antibiotic stewardship campaigns for the public. Campaigns are more likely to produce change when they are targeted at homogeneous subgroups who share psychosocial drivers of behavior and reactions to campaigns. Accordingly, our research examines patterns of antibiotic-related knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors to identify different audience profiles to inform campaign design (Smith et al., 2015, 2016). A second domain of research examines physician-patient interaction about antibiotics in primary care settings, where injudicious prescribing is notably high. Physicians need better strategies for interacting with patients and caregivers who inappropriately expect antibiotics. Our studies address physician communication behaviors and patient perceptions that affect key outcomes, such as willingness to delay or avoid antibiotic use and trust in the physician (MacGeorge et al., 2016a, 2016b). A third domain of research assesses message strategies that can be used in multiple contexts to enhance stewardship behavior, including not only judicious use of antibiotics, but also illness prevention through hygiene and vaccination. Theories of persuasion identify multiple avenues for crafting messages to change attitudes and behaviors. Our research tests alternative approaches to describing the threat of bacterial and antibiotic resistance, along with strategies for encouraging protective behaviors. In the next few years, we intend to pursue this research in more complex ways, including capturing message reactions through physiological responses, identifying how human behavior is associated with the presence of genetic markers of antibiotic resistance, and tracking changes in behavior, bacteria, and disease over time as a result of intervention.

Poster #98: Electricity Production from CO2 and Air in an Entropic Energy Flow Cell

T. Kim, B. E. Logan, C. A. Gorski

Generating electricity using fossil fuels inevitably produces carbon dioxide (CO2), which is contributing to global warming. Since the increase in global temperature can detrimentally affect the environment and humans, efforts are being explored to capture or reduce CO2 emissions. Here we explored a new approach to reduce overall CO2 emissions by using waste CO2 to generate electricity. This can be done by (1) sparging two solutions with either CO2 or air, generating differences in the solution pH and bicarbonate concentrations and (2) using electrochemical techniques to convert these concentration differences into electricity. Only a few studies have been conducted to achieve this goal, and they produced a low power densities (0.0045 W m^2). To increase the power density, we have developed a flow cell that contains battery electrode that develops pH-dependent potentials. Using these battery electrodes allowed us to achieve a power density that is nearly 200 times higher than the previous study. This flow cell therefore is a promising new method for efficiently converting waste CO2 emissions into electrical power.

Poster #99: Phenomenological Model of Damage and Recovery in the Inervertebral Disc of the Cervical Spine Due to Cyclic Loading

S. Motiwale, A. V. Subramani, X. Zhou, R. H. Kraft

Recently, an increased incidence of neck pain has been observed in military soldiers that have experienced long excursions on land in rough terrain. These soldiers are typically equipped with the Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH). It is hypothesized that this pain is linked to accelerated intervertebral disc degeneration caused by wearing heavier head supported components for extended periods of time. In order to study the progression of intervertebral disc degeneration in military personnel, we develop a nonlinear damage evolution model to predict the evolution of damage in cervical spine discs due to long-term cyclic loading. Our work is novel because previous efforts have focused on acute injury mechanics for the lumbar and cervical spine, but very few discuss damage due to fatigue. Our methodology begins with kinematic simulations of full-body musculoskeletal models, from which forces are extracted at the vertebral level for a single representative gait cycle, which are then used as inputs to our nonlinear model of intervertebral disc degeneration. To model the natural healing experienced in discs, we have also introduced a new recovery parameter to our model. We believe that inclusion of recovery is novel and is important to accurately predict the time-course of disc degeneration over decades. We validated our results using aging data from the literature for the intervertebral discs over individuals' lifetimes. We concluded that inclusion of recovery was necessary because without recovery the damage was highly over-estimated and excessively accelerated in the later half of the life. We also observed that the wearing of an advanced combat helmet caused more than 50% reduction in the lifetime of the disc. Currently, we are seeking additional military data to validate this finding. The three important advancements that this model brings to the area of modeling intervertebral disc degeneration are: 1) inclusion of recovery into the damage model that makes the model resemble the biological phenomenon more accurately than any other pre-existing models, 2) consideration of non-linearity of damage evolution, and 3) efficient approximation strategy that makes the model computationally inexpensive and fast while retaining the physics of the process. The damage framework has been developed and validated for a single element with the material properties of the cervical disc. In the future, we plan to implement the approach into a three-dimensional finite element model of the cervical spine.

Poster #101: Mechanical Characterization of Biomaterials Using Magnetic Resonance Elastography

K. Wang, C. Drapaca, T. Neuberger

Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) is a noninvasive imaging modality that combines MR and acoustic techniques to estimate stiffness of biomaterials based on their response to oscillatory shear stress. Since the stiffness of a biological tissue changes with pathology, MRE could play an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of tumors. The aim of this research project is to construct a MRE system to image the propagation of shear waves through polymeric gels. Mechanical waves are generated using a piezoelectric needle driver that stabilizes its function with enough amplitude of oscillation motion. The shear waves generated by the actuator change the phase of the MR signals which can be imaged using a modified cine Flash sequence on the Bruker Paravision 6.0.1 software. Lastly, the MR images of propagating waves are used in a biomechanical model to estimate stiffness values which can be represented as stiffness maps (elastograms).

Poster #102: Novel Analytical Methods for Groundwater Quality Analysis Near Shale Energy Sites

D. A. Yoxtheimer

Directional drilling combined with high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) are disruptive technologies allowing unprecedented volumes of oil and gas to be produced from shale formations to meet society's energy demands, especially in North America. Concerns and highly-publicized allegations of groundwater contamination have persisted for multiple years in many shale basins including the Appalachian basin. Known mechanisms for groundwater impacts include methane migration from inadequate well construction and releases of drilling, fracturing and/or production fluids at or near the land surface. A major challenge to environmental investigations associated with shale energy development is that the many compounds used during drilling and fracturing operations are not currently regulated and therefore accepted analytical methodologies for these compounds do not exist. To meet this challenge we are utilizing two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-TOFMS) for analysis of groundwater samples where issues are suspected or known. A major advantage of using this method over conventional analytical techniques is a wide array of compounds can be detected in samples from investigations of alleged releases of fluids whose chemical makeup may be unknown or not fully disclosed. Use of GCxGC-TOFMS can lead to more comprehensive environmental characterization of alleged releases, and determine if they are related to a certain phase of shale development or are unrelated. Ultimately this methodology can be used to characterize and minimize environmental risks and exposures associated with oil and gas development and many other industries and activities.

Poster #103: Feasibility Study for Liquefied Natural Gas Utilization for Commercial Vehicles on the PA Turnpike

S. J. Kweon, S. W. Hwang, J. A. Ventura

Due to global concerns regarding environmental and economic sustainability in ground logistics, recent research has paid considerable attention to the commercialization of alternative fuel vehicles that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As one of the alternative fuels, liquefied natural gas (LNG) is considered an attractive option for commercial long-haul trucks due to its low CO2 emissions as well as its low price. Nevertheless, logistics companies are reluctant to replace their long-distance trucks with LNG trucks because their supply chain routes have an insufficient level of LNG infrastructure coverage. Employing LNG vehicles in the transportation sector requires an initial LNG infrastructure, which would involve constructing refueling stations in the best possible locations to cover the maximum traffic flow on a given road network. To achieve the goal, we propose a 0-1 linear programming model that locates LNG refueling stations on a directed transportation network that has two types of candidate sites for LNG refueling stations: (1) single-access sites which are accessible to vehicles in only one driving direction, and (2) dual-access sites which are accessible to vehicles in both driving directions. The existing literature on path-based demand models to locate LNG refueling stations does not consider these directional candidate sites on transportation networks. In this respect, we suggest a novel mathematical model and solution algorithms to locate LNG refueling stations on a directed transportation network, such as a highway, toll road, or expressway, with the objective of maximizing the coverage of traffic flow. Using the 2011 truck traffic data, we then apply the proposed model to the two mainlines of the Pennsylvania Turnpike; the East-West mainline between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia (I-70, I-76, and I-276) and the Northeast extension between Philadelphia and Scranton (I-476).

Poster #104: When Mechanics Meets Electrochemistry: From Tiny Batteries to Electrochemically Driven Energy Harvesters

P. Zhao, H. Yang, W. Liang, T. Chen, S. Zhang

The supply of sustainable energy is arguably the most important scientific and technological challenge in the 21st century. To meet this challenge, enormous efforts have been undertaken to develop new energy storage platforms such as rechargeable batteries that are not only of high-energy and high-power, but also electro-chemo-mechanically durable. While Lithium ion battery (LIB) has remained the best performing electrochemical energy storage technique, high-energy-density LIBs still suffer from rapid, irreversible capacity decay and poor cyclability due to the electro-chemo-mechanically driven degradation and failure. Here we will present a set of interesting chemo-mechanical degradation phenomena of high-capacity anode materials, enabled by the real-time, atomic resolution imaging via advanced in-situ transmission electron microscopy, corroborated by multiscale, multiphysical modeling. From these phenomena, We will highlight how electrochemistry and mechanics are intimately coupled in defining the degradation. We will further show how nanostructuring, porosity, and surface coating can partially mitigate the degradation. In the end, we will demonstrate how the strong coupling effect can be exploited for electrochemically driven mechanical energy harvesting.

Poster #105: Judgment Hurts: The Psychological Consequences of Experiencing Stigma in Multiple Sclerosis

M. H. Cadden, P. A. Arnett, J. E. Cook

Objective: Many individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) report feeling stigmatized (Cook, Germano, & Stadler, in press), but little research has examined the psychological impact of this. Given the high prevalence of depression in MS, the aim of the current study was to assess, cross-sectionally and prospectively, the relationship between stigma and depression in people living with MS. Method: Data were collected from 5,104 people living with MS as part of the semi-annual survey conducted by the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis (NARCOMS). Participants' perceptions of stigma and their ratings of depression were collected in spring 2013; one year later ratings of depression were collected again. Two subscales assessed stigma: Target-Stigma (e.g., ""Because of my MS, I worry about people discriminating against me"") and Isolation-Stigma (e.g., ""Because of my MS, I feel left out of things""). Hierarchical linear regressions tested stigma's contribution to depression both concurrently and prospectively, while controlling for demographic and health behavior covariates. Results: Controlling for covariates, Target-Stigma and Isolation-Stigma both positively predicted concurrent depression, t(5094) = 2.6, p < .01, η2p = .001; t(5094) = 27.9, p < .01, η2p = .133). Controlling for covariates, as well as baseline depression, Isolation-Stigma also predicted higher levels of depression one year later, t(5093) = 8.4, p < .01, η2p = .014. Results will also include tests of moderators of the stigma-depression relationship. Conclusion: Individuals with MS who report feeling stigmatized are more likely to be depressed and are at a greater risk of increased depression one-year later.

Poster #106: X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy- a Tool for Probing Surface and Interface Chemistry of Materials

J. R. Shallenberger, V. J. Bojan

The surface and interface chemistry of materials impacts many important properties including corrosion, biocompatibility, adhesion, catalysis and various electrical phenomena. There are a variety of analytical tools used to probe surface and interface chemistry. One of the most useful is x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. MCL has a state-of-the-art tool available for either hands on use by any user within Penn State. Alternatively, many users choose to have the professional staff at MCL perform their analyses and interpretation. The background of the technique and examples from a cross section of Penn State research groups will be included in this poser.

Poster #107: Synthesis and Characterization of Sn(Sex,S1-x)2 Ternary Alloy Thin Films for Photovoltaic Applications

J. J. Fox

Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells comprise over 90% of the commercial solar cell market, but their conversion efficiencies are limited to a theoretical maximum of ~29%. One pathway to increase efficiency is to form tandem devices that are comprised of a top wider bandgap absorber material and a bottom c-Si photovoltaic device. A theoretical efficiency approaching 44% can be achieved by using a top cell with a bandgap energy of ~1.7 eV. Candidate materials for the 1.7 eV top absorber include dilute nitride III-Vs, CZTS and ZnSiP2, but none of these have yet emerged as the material of choice. Our research is focused on investigating Sn(Se,S<1-x>)2 ternary alloys, a layered material system with bandgap energies that span the range from 1.1 eV for SnSe2 to 2.2 eV for SnS2, as a potential top absorber material. In addition to having a bandgap energy in the correct range for tandem devices, Sn(Se,S<1-x>)2 crystallizes in 2-D layered sheets of atoms that are bound to one another via van der Waals forces. This is favorable for tandem solar cell applications due to the lack of required covalent bonding between the stacked top and bottom absorbing layers which typically limits the choice of material for multi-junction devices. In addition, Sn and S are earth-abundant elements which is important for the development of a sustainable photovoltaic technology. The research to date has focused on the synthesis of SnSe2 and SnS2 thin films as binary components of the Sn-Se-S system via a powder vapor transport process. The film characteristics have been evaluated as a function of furnace temperature, growth duration, and carrier gas flow rate. Most significantly, the orientation of SnSe2 and SnS2 platelets is shown to vary depending on the substrate type and position of the substrate within the tube furnace. Crystals grown on sapphire and oxidized Si substrates reveal out-of-plane nucleation while growth on CVD graphene facilitates nucleation and lateral growth along the substrate surface. Characterization of these materials by Raman spectroscopy, photoluminescence measurements, scanning electron microscopy and other methods, confirm the structural and electrical properties of the SnSe2 and SnS2 films. Once the growth conditions for the binary alloys have been thoroughly studied, the research will focus on the synthesis of the Sn(Se,S<1-x>)2 ternary alloys.

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