Wireless nanosensors and systems (WiNS)

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GO88036 project was conducted at three universities: Arkansas State University, University of Arkansas and University of Georgia from 2009 to 2012, and University of Arkansas from 2012 to 2014. The funds were used at all three universities to build capacity: 1) infrastructure, such as purchase of laboratory equipment and laboratory set-up; and, 2) agronomic capabilities, including the establishment of field trials and acquisition of harvesting equipment. This infrastructure was critical to ramping bioenergy activities at all three universities. Thermochemical and biochemical conversion were investigated; algal, woody, annual and perennial herbaceous energy crops were established and monitored; educational and outreach events were organized; co-product production and extraction were investigated; and, the nutritional qualities of biorefinery coproducts were evaluated. Funding from this project enabled 15 graduate students to submit PhD or MSc level theses; publication of one book and six book chapters; generation of 19 published abstracts; production of three lay press articles; and, dissemination of 31 peer-reviewed articles in good quality scientific journals.

Isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) is a mitochondrial specific enzyme that catalyses the oxidative decarboxylation of isocitrate into α‐ketoglutarate with concurrent reduction of NADP+ to NADPH. We previous reported that IDH2 knock‐out (KO) increased obesity resistance via UCP1‐mediated enhanced energy expenditure in adipose and liver tissues. Since skeletal muscle is the most mitochondria abundant tissue and is a major site for energy expenditure, we here examined the effects of IDH2 KO on skeletal muscle energy homeostasis and its growth. Calf skeletal muscle samples (i.e., mixed part of soleus, gastrocnemius, and plantaris muscles) were harvested from 11‐week‐old male IDH2 KO (n=4) and wild type (WT; C57BL/6; n=4) mice, and a ratio of skeletal muscle weight to body weight was measured. Subsequently, marker of mitochondrial DNA to nucleic DNA ratio was measured by PCR analysis. In addition, mRNA expression levels involved in fatty acid β‐oxidation (CPT1 and FAT), adipogenesis (PPARγ, C/EBPα, C/EBPβ, aP2, and ZFP423), thermogenesis (UCP1, BMP7, and PRDM16), myogenesis (MRF4 and MyoD), and mitochondria biogenesis (PGC‐1α, TFAM, ERRα, and MFN2) were compared. Interestingly, a ratio of skeletal muscle weight to body weight was significantly lower in IDH2 KO mice compared to that of WT mice (P=0.0004). Further, mitochondrial content was relatively lower in skeletal muscle of IDH2 KO mice than the WT mice albeit it was not statistically significant (P=0.09). In consistent with the muscle mass, there were trends of decrease in the expressions of myogenesis (MyoD, P=0.07) as well as mitochondrial biogenesis genes in IDH2 KO mice (PGC‐1α, P<0.05; TFAM, P=0.07). Last, the expression level of UCP1, a hallmark of thermogenesis, was remarkably increased in skeletal muscle whereas adipogenesis pathway (PPARγ, P<0.005; C/EBPβ, P=0.06; ZFP423, P<0.05) was down‐regulated in skeletal muscle of IDH2 KO mice. However, UCP1 seems not directly regulated by the expression of BMP7 or PRDM16 as the expression of BMP7 and PRDM16 was also down‐regulated in IDH2 KO mice. Taken together, our study suggests that IDH2 deficiency may upregulate UCP1‐mediated thermogenesis possibly to adopt limited NADPH supply. In turn, the thermogenesis‐induced energy imbalance may cause suppression of myogenesis, mitochondria biogenesis, adipogenic signaling pathway, and skeletal muscle growth. Our study will provide scientific background to further studies on the mechanistic functions of IDH2 in skeletal muscle development.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by the University of Arkansas, VPRED Start‐up fund (KJK, and PJH). Support has been provided in part by the Arkansas Biosciences Institute, a partnership of scientists from Arkansas Children's Hospital, Arkansas State University, the University of Arkansas‐Division of Agriculture, the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The Arkansas Biosciences Institute is the major research component of the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act of 2000 (JKK, JHP, KEB, and BCK).This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

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An innovative wireless passive system for impact detection on large-scale composite airframe structures is presented. The wireless system is designed to operate with a sensor network for onboard of aircraft for structural health monitoring, of composite airframe. The wireless systems efficient design allows for low power consumption, wireless communication capability, system robustness and large sensing area. The system is evaluated on a large-scale stiffened composite fuselage under different operational conditions. It is demonstrated that it is possible to detect impact events with different impact energy levels and impact locations over a large monitoring area. This work provides a potential solution for aircraft on-board structural health monitoring with no human intervention. This sensing system can be also adapted to other Internet of Things and structural health monitoring applications.

Information exchange among project stakeholders as part of structural life-cycle management has been gaining increasing interest in civil engineering. An integral part of structural life-cycle management is the operation and maintenance phase of structures, which is frequently associated with structural health monitoring (SHM). SHM has emerged as a novel methodology enabling the assessment of structural conditions by extracting information from structural response data and environmental data collected by sensors attached to structures. Representing a paradigm for exchanging information among stakeholders for structural life-cycle management, conventional building information, such as geometry, material and cost, is structured in so-called “building information models”. These models are defined within building information modeling (BIM) standards, such as the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC). Furthermore, in recent research efforts, IFC-compliant descriptions of “monitoring-related information”, i.e. information on SHM systems, have been reported. However, semantic descriptions of algorithms employed for SHM (“SHM-related algorithms”) have not yet received adequate research attention. This paper introduces a semantic description approach for modeling and integrating SHM-related algorithms into IFC-based building information models. Specifically, this study focuses on algorithms embedded into wireless sensor nodes for automatically processing SHM data on board. The semantic description approach is validated by describing a wireless SHM system installed on a laboratory test structure designed and implemented with an embedded algorithm (fast Fourier transform). The expected outcome of this study is essentially an extension to the current IFC schema enabling the description of SHM-related algorithms in conjunction with SHM systems and structures to be monitored.

Significant progress has been made in recent years on the design and fabrication of optical fibre-based sensor systems for applications in structural health monitoring. Two sensor designs have tended to dominate namely, fibre Bragg gratings and extrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot sensors. However, the cost and time associated with these sensors is relatively high and as a consequence, the current paper describes a simple procedure to fabricate intrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot interferometric strain sensors. The technique involves the use of hydrofluoric acid to etch a cavity in a cleaved optical fibre. Two such etched cavities were fusion spliced to create an intrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot cavity. The feasibility of using this device for strain monitoring was demonstrated. Excellent correlation was obtained between the optical and surface-mounted electrical resistance strain gauge.

Mobile, heterogeneous, and smart sensor networks produce pervasive structural health monitoring (SHM) information. With various embedded sensors, smartphones have emerged to innovate SHM by empowering citizens to serve as sensors. By default, smartphones meet the fundamental smart sensor criteria, thanks to the built-in processor, memory, wireless communication units and mobile operating system. SHM using smartphones, however, faces technical challenges due to citizen-induced uncertainties, undesired sensor-structure integration, and lack of control over the sensing platform. Previously, the authors presented successful applications of smartphone accelerometers for structural vibration measurement and proposed a monitoring framework under citizen-induced spatiotemporal uncertainties. This study aims at extending the capabilities of smartphone-based SHM with a special focus on the lack of control over the sensor (i.e., the phone) positioning by citizens resulting in unknown sensor orientations. Using smartphone gyroscope, accelerometer, and magnetometer; instantaneous sensor orientation can be obtained with respect to gravitational and magnetic north directions. Using these sensor data, mobile operating system frameworks return processed features such as attitude and heading that can be used to correct misaligned sensor signals. For this purpose, a coordinate transformation procedure is proposed and illustrated on a two-story laboratory structural model and real-scale bridges with various sensor positioning examples. The proposed method corrects the sensor signals by tracking their orientations and improves measurement accuracy. Moreover, knowing structure’s coordinate system a priori, even the data from arbitrarily positioned sensors can automatically be transformed to the structural coordinates. In addition, this paper also touches some secondary mobile and heterogeneous data issues including imperfect sampling and geolocation services. The coordinate system transformation methods proposed in this study can be implemented in other non-smartphone-based SHM systems as long as similar instrumentation is available.

Application of FBG sensors for geotechnical health monitoring, a review of sensor design, implementation methods and packaging techniques

Structure health monitoring (SHM) is a driving force for extending capability of wireless sensor networks system. At the same time, structure monitoring brings new challenges to wireless sensor network. Localized edge detection is one of them. This paper presented an approach using image processing theory for edge detection in SHM.

The effectiveness and the sensitivity of a Wireless impedance/Admittance Monitoring System (WiAMS) for the prompt damage diagnosis of two single-storey single-span Reinforced Concrete (RC) frames under cyclic loading is experimentally investigated. The geometrical and the reinforcement characteristics of the RC structural members of the frames represent typical old RC frame structure without consideration of seismic design criteria. The columns of the frames are vulnerable to shear failure under lateral load due to their low height-to-depth ratio and insufficient transverse reinforcement. The proposed Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) system comprises of specially manufactured autonomous portable devices that acquire the in-situ voltage frequency responses of a network of twenty piezoelectric transducers mounted to the RC frames. Measurements of external and internal small-sized piezoelectric patches are utilized for damage localization and assessment at various and increased damage levels as the magnitude of the imposed lateral cycle deformations increases. A bare RC frame and a strengthened one using a pair of steel crossed tension-ties (X-bracing) have been tested in order to check the sensitivity of the developed WiAMS in different structural conditions since crack propagation, damage locations and failure mode of the examined frames vary. Indeed, the imposed loading caused brittle shear failure to the column of the bare frame and the formation of plastic hinges at the beam ends of the X-braced frame. Test results highlighted the ability of the proposed SHM to identify incipient damages due to concrete cracking and steel yielding since promising early indication of the forthcoming critical failures before any visible sign has been obtained.

The primary focus of the current study was to examine the current stale of school psychology in the state of Kansas, Demographic characteristics of school psychologists in the slate of Kansas on such variables as age, gender, salary, degree level, and ethnicity were explored. Also, Kansas school psychologists were compared to national samples and a study from the state of Arkansas on job roles, such as number of evaluations completed and primary professional activities (e.g. assessment, consultation, counseling). A survey obtained from Arkansas State University (Hall, Claxton, Jones, Clayton, Warnick, & Daniels, 2007) was used as a basis for the survey mailed for data collection. Several new items were added concerning the subject of response-to-intervention. An introductory letter, the survey and a self-addressed stamped envelope were mailed to 499 school psychologists in the state of Kansas. Surveys were re turned by 275 participants, for a response rate of 55.1%. Student-practitioner ratios varied between Kansas and Arkansas as well as education and credentials of the respondents. Working conditions were relatively similar. However, time spent in psycho-educational activities, such as psycho-educational assessment and direct intervention services, differed between the studies. School psychologists from both Kansas and Arkansas reflected similar interests in preferred roles as well as assessment and intervention resources.

Eimeria cyclopion n. sp. is described from the intestinal contents and feces of 10/15 (67%) green water snakes, Nerodia cyclopion cyclopion, in northeastern Arkansas. Oocysts of the new species are ellipsoidal, 18.7 x 13.1 (14-22 x 12-15) Am, with a smooth, thin, single-layered wall; shape index 1.4 (1.1-1.6). A polar granule and oocyst residuum are present, but a micropyle is absent. Sporocysts are elongate, 13.9 x 4.5 (12-15 x 4-5) Am, each with two filaments that appear to arise from a thin membrane covering the sporocyst; shape index 3.1 (2.8-3.6). A Stieda body and sporocyst residuum are present, but a substieda body is absent. The sporozoites are elongate, 10.6 x 2.9 (10-12 x 2.6-3.2) ,um in situ, each containing spherical anterior and ellipsoidal posterior refractile bodies. A nucleus is located between the refractile bodies. The new form also was found in three sympatric congeners from the study site. In addition, two previously described eimerians were harbored by these hosts. The green water snake, Nerodia cyclopion (Dumeril, Bibron & Dumeril) is a large, heavy-bodied aquatic colubrid that ranges from coastal South Carolina through Florida, west to Louisiana and southeastern Texas, and north through eastern Arkansas to extreme southern Illinois (Behler & King, 1979). The species prefers aqueous areas with sluggish flow and dense aquatic vegetation, including cypress swamps, oxbow lakes, rice fields, river sloughs and bayous, and occasionally estuaries. A variety of prey items are included in the diet of N. cyclopion, although minnows and other small fishes apparently are the most important component (Kofron, 1978). There is a plethora of information available on helminths of N. cyclopion (see Ash & Beaver, 1963; Brooks, 1978, 1979; Little, 1966; Sprent, 1979). However, nothing is known about its coccidian parasites. Recently, we had an opportunity to examine specimens of N. c. cyclopion and other sympatric water snakes from northeastern Arkansas for coccidia. During that period, we found a previously undescribed species of Eimeria and other eimerians in these hosts. A description of the new species is provided 1 We thank B. Beville, B. P. Butterfield, and W. E. Meshaka for assistance in collecting snakes, two anonymous reviewers for critically reviewing the manuscript, and the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission for Scientific Collecting Permit No. 775. Publication costs, in part, are being met by a grant from the Spencer-Tolles Fund of the American Microscopical Society. 2 Division of Biology, Ackert Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, U.S.A. 3 Department of Biological Sciences, Arkansas State University, State University, Arkansas 72467, U.S.A. TRANS. AM. MICROSC. SOC., 109(1): 69-73. 1990. ? Copyright, 1990, by the American Microscopical Society, Inc. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.106 on Mon, 10 Jul 2017 17:40:25 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms TRANS. AM. MICROSC. SOC.

The structural health monitoring has been gaining more importance in civil engineering areas such as earthquake and wind engineering. The use of health monitoring system can also provide tools for the validation of structural analytical model. However, only few structures such as historical buildings and some important long bridges have been instrumented with structural monitoring system due to high cost of installation, long and complicated installation of system wires. In this paper, the structural monitoring system based on cheap and wireless monitoring system is investigated. The use of advanced technology of micro-electro-mechanical system(MEMS) and wireless communication can reduce system cost and simplify the installation. Further the application of wireless MEMS system can provide enhanced system functionality and due to low noise densities. Identification results are compared to ones using data measured from traditional accelerometers and results indicate that the system identification using wireless MEMS system estimates system parameters accurately.

Structural health monitoring using corrosion sensors (or probes) is a practical approach to enhancing the safety and economic operation of industrial and civil infrastructures such as oil and gas pipelines, chemical and petrochemical plants, bridges and aircrafts. If used properly, corrosion sensors can provide in-situ and site-specific corrosion information for the early warning of structural failure and for infrastructural life prediction. Over the past decades variously designed corrosion sensors have been developed; however principles and issues associated with the practical application of corrosion sensors have not yet been carefully examined. Corrosion sensors are often treated as a normal measurement device like a thermometer; consequently successful application of corrosion monitoring in complex systems such as buried oil and gas pipelines has been limited. This paper presents some considerations on principles and issues affecting the reliability and trustworthiness of corrosion sensors. Fundamental aspects in the design and application of corrosion sensors, as well as challenges that may lead to the reporting of inaccurate or misleading corrosion data, has been discussed and illustrated by the case of under-deposit corrosion monitoring using a multi-electrode array.