*2014 KIEC program book by Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation

Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education Steven L. Beshear Governor

1024 Capital Center Drive, Suite 320 Frankfort, Kentucky 40601 Phone: 502-573-1555 Fax: 502-573-1535 http://www.cpe.ky.gov

Robert L. King President

August 18, 2014 Dear KIEC Participants: It is my pleasure to welcome you, our distinguished speakers, tech-based economic development practitioners, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, students and postdoctoral fellows. We are commemorating twelve years of awards made under the Kentucky Innovation Act (KIA) and hosting this, the 10th KIEC Conference. Due in part to rising entrepreneurial interests and activity, the foundations developed by Kentucky Science and Technology, and the work of each of you, Kentucky’s entrepreneurial index continues to grow. It is important to not lose sight of the importance of the work you contribute to support state and local research, and business initiatives. Your efforts have become even more urgent during recent financial times. Nationwide, new job creation is largely attributed to small start-up companies. Each of you makes these contributions through Kentucky’s small technology businesses. The Council on Postsecondary Education celebrates with you the achievements of scientific and technological development, training the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs, and the creation of start-up companies. Taking what is learned from our classrooms and laboratories to those with entrepreneurial talents, and from there to the people of the world is central to Kentucky’s Strategic Plan for student success, research and economic growth, and innovation. We have and will continue to grow Stronger by Research, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. Congratulations. Kentucky’s KIA initiatives are not only benefitting Kentuckians, but residents across the globe. The Council joins me in wishing you continued success. Sincerely,

Robert L. King President

KentuckyUnbridledSpirit.com

An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D

September 5, 2014 Where there is science and research, there is invention. Combining and applying them is what leads to innovation: the application of new technologies in an economically productive way. Innovation is vital to Kentucky as well as the national economy. All long‐term economic growth processes depend upon innovation. On the other hand, entrepreneurship is the force translating innovations into marketable products, and the promotion of an entrepreneurial ecosystem is essential to the growth and sustainability of local and regional economies. For the third consecutive year, Kentucky has received outstanding marks in entrepreneurship and new business creation indicators. In a recent report by the University of Lincoln‐Nebraska, Kentucky’s 2013 State Entrepreneurship Index is the “biggest jumper”, rising to #4 in the National Ranking. This is the result of more than 12 years of programs aimed at encouraging a culture of start‐up creation, and providing funding for innovations and enterprise development. The Kentucky Innovation Act’s goal, to build Kentucky’s economy, could be in striking distance if the momentum of growth can be sustained. KSTC is determined to serve as a catalyst to help both innovators and entrepreneurs in the Common‐ wealth to further improve its economy. KSTC partners with the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education that provides funding for R&D and commercialization at universities and early seed funds for companies through the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation, Kentucky Commercialization Fund, and Kentucky Enterprise Fund. Further, The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development‐Office of Entrepreneurship funds the Kentucky SBIR/STTR Matching Funds Program, and the Kentucky Innovation Network supports a network of business leaders and mentors to provide business assistance and growth strategies to both new and existing companies. The latest additions are the Governor’s School for Entrepreneurs and Idea State U, which encourage high school and college students to pursue their innovation and entrepreneurship ideas. KIEC annually provides a platform to bring everyone together to share results, discuss new ideas, and develop mutually beneficial partnerships. This year, Thomas Guevara (EDA) and Bob King (CPE) will emphasize proactive initiatives launched to boost local and regional economic development. Fellow researchers will share news on what’s happening at the bench and start‐ups. Program representatives from NIA‐NIH, DARPA, DOE‐Office of Science, and DoD‐Air Force will present goals and opportunities offered by their programs, Jenny Servo will address what it takes to commercialize your technology. Eugenia Wang will reveal what it takes to get a proposal funded, and Linda Hosler will coach on how to communicate science. We welcome you to KIEC 2014 and wish you a successful conference. Sincerely, Kris Kimel Mahendra K. Jain President, KSTC Executive Director, KSEF / Senior VP, KSTC

TABLE OF CONTENTS & COMPANY DISPLAYS

Kentucky CPE President Robert King Welcome Letter

KSTC/KSEF Welcome and Overview

Table of Contents and Company Displays . ........................................ 1 KSEF‐Managed Programs Impact ..................................................... 2 Conference Schedule ..................................................................... 3 Session Summaries ........................................................................ 4 KSEF Advisory Board ...................................................................... 8 Kentucky Science and Engineering Team . ......................................... 9 Speaker Bios ............................................................................... 11 Kentucky Science and Technology Teams ....................................... 17 Poster Presenters (alphabetical) ................................................... 19 Poster Abstracts (by focus area) ................................................... 23 Kentucky Innovation Network . ...................................................... 65

COMPANY DISPLAYS AT KIEC 2014

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

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Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

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KY SBIR Matching

Phase Zero Double Zero

ROI 16:1

Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation, an initiative of

KCF

KSEF RDE

Young Investigator Awards Received by KSEF Awardees, 16 NSF Career Awards, and one DOD.

ROI 5:1

ROI 18:1

ROI 7:4

KSEF‐Managed Programs Impact

Young Scientists and Engineers Trained by Awardees.

Last updated 08/22/2014

Peer Reviewed Manuscripts and Book Chapters Published.

KSEF/KCF Awardees Formed New businesses. Formed New businesses

KSEF/KCF Awardees Patented Technological Innovations Innovations.

KY SBIR/STTR Matching

SBIR/STTR Phase Zero/Double Zero

KCF – Commercialization

KSEF R&D Excellence Awards

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

KIEC 2014 General Sessions  7AM‐2:00PM

KIEC 2014 Concurrent Sessions  2PM‐4:45PM

7:00‐8:15 AM

2:00‐2:45 PM

Pre‐Assembly Area

Registration and Light Continental Breakfast

Dogwood Room

“Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences, and Engineering Overview: New Research Trends and Funding Opportunities at the DOE’s Office of Science” – Linda Horton and Tim Fitzsimmons, DOE “Not the Same ‘Old’ Talk – Funding Opportunities at the National Institute on Aging (NIA)” – Mahadev Murthy, NIA‐NIH “Communicating Science: Tools for Scientists and Engineers” – Linda Hosler, AAAS (Professional Development Track)

7:00‐8:15 AM Exhibit Area

Poster/Composition Board Setup

8:30‐9:15 AM Cochran Room

Conference Welcome Remarks – Kris Kimel, KSTC – Bob King, CPE – Mahendra Jain, KSEF

9:15‐10:00 AM Cochran Room

“Regional Strategies: Redefining Economic Development and Public Investment in Innovation Ecosystems” – Thomas Guevara, EDA

10:00‐10:45 AM Exhibit Area

Poster Session: ODD Numbers

11:00‐11:15 AM Cochran Room

Willow Room

2:45 – 3:30 PM Cochran Room Holly Room

“Doing Business with DARPA” – Susan Nichols, DARPA “How Do SBIR/STTR Proposals Get Reviewed by the Study Session Panels at NIH?” – Eugenia Wang, University of Louisville / Advanced Genomic Technology LLC “Communicating Science: Tools for Scientists and Engineers” – Linda Hosler, AAAS (Professional Development Track)

“Glycerolipids Mediate Multiple Defense Signaling Pathways in Diverse Plants” – Aardra Kachroo, University of Kentucky

11:15‐11:30 AM Cochran Room

Holly Room

“An Update on Three KSTC‐Funded Biomedical‐Based Start‐Ups” – John Naber, University of Louisville

Willow Room

11:30‐11:45 AM

Cochran Room

3:30‐3:45 PM

“On The Road to Understanding Cancer” – Ray Takigiku, Bexion Pharmaceuticals

Exhibit Area

BEST POSTER PRESENTATION AWARDS … and dessert break: Grad Student / PostDoc Competition

11:45‐12:00 AM Cochran Room

“Recent Research at the Knowledge Discovery and Web Mining Lab: Chasing and Taming Big Data Streams, from Mining and Tracking to Story Telling and Explaining” – Olfa Nasraoui, University of Louisville

Noon‐1:00 PM Cochran Room

Lunch and More

1:00‐1:45 PM Exhibit Area

Poster Session: EVEN Numbers

3:45‐4:45 PM Holly Room

“What Does It Take To Commercialize Your Technology?” – Jenny Servo, Dawnbreaker Inc. “Communicating Science: Tools for Scientists and Engineers” – Linda Hosler, AAAS (Professional Development Track)

Willow Room

4:45‐5:00 PM Exhibit Area

Poster Removal

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SESSION SUMMARIES

General Sessions Regional Strategies: Redefining Economic Development and Public Investment in Innovation Ecosystems – Thomas Guevara Tom Guevara will discuss EDA’s leading edge approach to economic development, which invests in public-private partnerships to endow communities with new or enhanced capabilities and greater regional innovation capacity. EDA recently updated its website to include a new definition of economic development based on an extensive body of research, resulting in a stronger portfolio of programs to support entrepreneurs, innovators, and accelerating firms. Examples of EDA investments in innovation and entrepreneurship around the country will be included in this discussion.

Glycerolipids Mediate Multiple Defense Signaling Pathways in Diverse Plants – Aardra Kachroo Plans have evolved to elicit both local and systemic defense responses against microbial pathogens. We find that glycerol3-phosphate (G3P), the obligatory precursor of all glycerolipid biosynthesis, is a crucial regulator of these various modes of defense. G3P not only includes resistance at the site of pathogen infection but also constitutes a crucial component of

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

the mobile signal(s) that travels to and induces long lasting resistance in systemic tissues. This type of resistance is termed systemic acquired resistance (SAR). Our analysis of SAR signaling shows that pathogen infection results in the accumulation of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS), which release and hydrolyze free fatty acids from membrane lipids to generate the dicarboxylic acid, azeliac acid (AzA). AzA in turn induces the synthesis of G3P, which together with two lipid transfer proteins induces SAR. This NO/ROS→AzA→G3P induced pathway functions in parallel with signaling derived from the phytohormone salicylic acid during SAR. Importantly, both the local and systemic defense signaling roles of G3P are conserved, providing protection against diverse pathogens in diverse plants. This is highlighted by our recent findings that G3P can induce resistance to Phytophthora spp. in both soybean and tobacco.

An Update on Three KSTCFunded Biomedical-based Start-Ups – John Naber Dr. Naber will discuss the history and status of three bio-medical based start-ups for which he has been co-founder. All three have received various levels of funding support from the State of Kentucky, including: KSEF’s Kentucky Commercialization Fund Program, the Kentucky Matching Funds Program, and the Commonwealth Seed Fund. These three start-ups are: Assenti LLC (implantable eye sensor), IntelliRod Inc (formerly OrthoData, implantable spinal fusion sensor), and Simon Sounds (wireless infant fever monitor). The

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SESSION SUMMARIES

statistics for these three start-ups track national trends with one dead, one on life support, and one making forward progress, having received multiple rounds of VC funding.

On The Road to Understanding Cancer – Ray Takigiku There is no question that cancer is a complicated disease. Indeed, good arguments exist that it is an inevitable outcome of our evolution. The numbers alone would seem to reinforce its inevitability. Just in the USA, over 14 million people have been diagnosed with cancer, with 1.7 million in 2013. Some estimate that we’ve spent over $100 billion to fight cancer, and over two million papers have been published on it, and yet there’s barely been a dent in mortality. In an effort to unravel its mysteries, much effort has been focused on deciphering the genes associated with cancer but, with that work, we now know that cancer is far more complex than initially imagined. Other views have also emerged, including a seminal description by Hanahan and Weinberg on the Hallmarks of Cancer. These insights are not at odds with each other. A holistic view necessitates integration, and an embrace of the complexities inherent in understanding biology and the biology of cancer. Recently, success has been found in harnessing our immune system and many researchers are concentrating on other vulnerabilities, including the unique metabolism of tumor cells and the roles of the abundant non-tumor cells associated with cancer. This presentation will give a brief overview of BX!-350, a nanovesicle comprised of a lysosomal protein and lipid that, in preclinical studies, have been

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

shown to both target and induce cell-death of tumor cells. Exploiting a potentially ubiquitous marker and advantageously catalyzing sphingolipid metabolism, BXQ350 may point to a new direction in treating cancer.

Recent Research at the Knowledge Discovery and Web Mining Lab: Chasing and Taming Big Data Streams, from Mining to Tracking to Story Telling and Explaining – Olfa Nasraoui Olfa Nasraoui will give an overview of some recent work resulting from funded research at the Knowledge Discovery and Web Mining Lab in the Department of Computer Engineering and Comput er Science at the University of Louisville. The research has naturally evolved from efforts in mining massive, noisy high-dimensional data sets such as Web clickstreams, user profile and ratings data, and text data to mining noisy heterogeneous data such as Web 2.0 data (Flick’rs tagged multimedia) and social media microblog data (Twitter). The work progressed from knowledge discovery using stream data clustering algorithms to taming the massive outputs of unsupervised stream data mining via tracking and validating discovered patterns on the fly. This work has been applied to mining Twitter posts with the goal of automatically extracting dynamic story lines from massive online tweets. Other research has been tracking the challenges inherent in mining multimodal and multisource or mixed data for information retrieval, annotation, and recommendation. Finally, some of the most recent research focuses on automatically generating

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SESSION SUMMARIES

Human-understandable explanations from opaquie rating predictors.

Concurrent Sessions Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences, and Engineering Overview: New Research Trends and Funding Opportunities at the DOE’s Office of Science – Linda Horton and Tim Fitzsimmons This presentation will provide an overview of the fundamental metals research activities, including national user facilities for materials sciences research, that are supported by the DOE’s Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Research Opportunities identified by recent workshops, including computational materials sciences and mesoscale science, will be discussed. Information on the EPSCoR and Early Career Research Program will be included. The application process and opportunities for white papers will be overviewed, as well as the on-line resources for principal investigators.

Not the Same ‘Old’ Talk – Funding Opportunities at the National Institute on AgingNational Institutes of Health – Mahadev Murthy The National Institute on Aging (NIA) supports and conducts genetic, biological,

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

clinical, behavioral, social, and economic research on aging. It also helps foster the development of research and clinician scientists in aging. NIA offers a variety of research resources and disseminates information about aging and advances in research to the public, health care professionals, and the scientific community, among a variety of audiences. NIA sponsors research on aging through extramural and intramural programs. This presentation will provide an overview of the various funding strategies that NIA uses to support extramural research and industry funding as grants focused on aging (basic science, clinical and social science of aging). A discussion will also include a variety of training programs that NIA offers in order to build a robust pipeline of future researchers in the aging field. NIA is a lead institute for supporting research in Alzheimer’s disease, which is on the rise given the increase in the older population in the United States.

Communicating Science: Tools for Scientists and Engineers – Linda Hosler Being able to effectively communicate science to different audiences is a relevant skill for all scientific careers. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is facilitating a threehour communication-skills training program specifically designed for researchers. The workshop will include content such as message development, identifying and translating jargon, handling interactions with different audiences, identifying communication opportunities, and honing public presentation skills including oncamera practice. The worship format allows for collaborative learning through smallgroup discussion, resource sharing, and

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SESSION SUMMARIES

participation in critique of other participants’ presentations. (Part one of three)

Doing Business with DARPA

(Part two of three)

What Does It Take To Commercialize Your Technology?

– Susan Nichols

– Jenny Servo

This session will present how to connect with Program Managers, how the DARPA SBIR/STTR program works, and how to find non-SBIR/STTR funding opportunities.

Success with commercializing your technology not only requires planning, but also requires the evolution of an infrastructure within your firm to move the technology forward. This session will cover multiple topics: (a) what is a commercialization strategy; (b) what are the differences in the types of information needed to develop a commercialization plan for Defense or civilian applications; and (c) the evolution of commercialization infrastructures within small businesses over time to successfully bring the SBIRfunded technology to market.

How Do SBIR/STTR Proposals Get Reviewed by the Study Session Panels at NIH? – Eugenia Wang This session will discuss (a) the ‘Holy Grail’ of the NIH grant scoring system and how numerical scores are reached in six different categories: significance, investigators, innovation, approach, environment and, last nut not least, overall impact; (b) differential expectations on the part of the reviewers in knowledge-based R01-type versus product-driven SBIR/STTR applications; (c) distinctions between SBIR and STTR applications; (d) high score requirements for Phase I SBIR applications; and (e) required quantitative matrices for graduation from Phase I to Phase II and beyond funding. Significant time will be allotted to questions and answers. Please give your written questions to the Session Coordinator for everything you want to know but are afraid to ask.

Communicating Science: Tools for Scientists and Engineers – Linda Hosler (Part three of three)

Communicating Science: Tools for Scientists and Engineers – Linda Hosler

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

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KSEF ADVISORY BOARD

The KSEF Advisory Board is appointed by the Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation Board of Directors, and is composed of scientists, engineers, and administrators from academia and corporate sectors in Kentucky and other states.

Dr. Dorothy H. Air Associate Senior Vice President for Entrepreneurial Affairs, University of Cincinnati

Dr. William M. Pierce Executive Vice President for Research, University of Louisville

Dr. Blaine Ferrell Vice President for Research, Western Kentucky University

Mr. Mark Roe Program Manager Phalanx, Raytheon Company

Mr. Paul Korkemaz Senior Advisor, National Capital Region Office, Sabre Systems Inc.

Dr. Chuck Staben President, University of Idaho

Dr. Charles Kupchella President Emeritus, University of North Dakota

Mr. Ben M. Streepey Vice President / General Manager of Business Development, Lexmark International

Dr. Jonathan R. Milenz President, White Cliff Biosystems

Dr. Joel Thierstein Out-of-state Expert

Dr. James Miller Professor, Computer Sciences and Mathematics, Transylvania University

(TBA) Vice President for Research University of Kentucky

Ex-Officio: Dr. Mahendra K. Jain, KSTC Senior Vice President / KSEF Executive Director

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

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KENTUCKY SCIENCE & ENGINEERING TEAM

Mahendra K. Jain, Ph.D. K S TC S en io r V i c e P r e s id e n t a n d K S EF Execut iv e Director

mjain@kstc.com Upon joining KSTC in February 2001, Mahendra brought 30 years of teaching, research, and management experience to the creation and management of KSEF and making R&D investments in novel ideas for innovation and commercialization. He is helping to forge partnerships between academic, industrial, and state institutions in building and expanding Kentucky's scientific and engineering capacity to attract external research funds from all sources. In addition, Mahendra has proactively pursued the growth of the Federal SBIR and STTR Programs in the state through outreach and state-funded assistance programs. He currently provides direction to the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation, Kentucky Commercialization Fund, and the Kentucky SBIR/STTR Matching Funds Program. Before joining KSTC, Mahendra worked at several universities in the USA, Europe, and India as well as at MBI International, a biotechnology R&D organization in Lansing, Michigan. He has been a consultant to the United Nations Development Program, Food and Agriculture Organization, and the Organization of American States. For his outstanding contributions in microbiology, Mahendra received the 1997 G.B. Manjrekar Award from the Association of Microbiologists of India (AMI) and an American Society for Microbiology International Professor Award in 2006. He

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

also received a National Tibbetts Award in 2006 for exemplifying the Federal SBIR/STTR Programs at both the state and national levels. Mahendra is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM Fellow), a fellow of AMI (FAMI), and a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry (MRSC). Mahendra received and managed research grants and contracts in several million dollars from federal, state, and industrial sources. He received his PhD in Microbiology in 1972 from IARI, New Delhi, and is the author of ten USA patents, one Canadian patent, and over 120 research papers, articles, and book chapters.

Maria Labreveux, Ph.D. P ro gr am D ir e ct o r R & D an d Commercializ at ion , KSEF

mlabreveux@kstc.com Maria Labreveux joined KSTC in February 2007 and is the Program Director for the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation (KSEF). Maria manages the KSEF Research and Development (RDE) and the Kentucky Commercialization Fund (KCF) programs, for which KSTC receives funding from the Commonwealth of Kentucky through a contract with the Council on Post-Secondary Education (CPE). Maria brings research and grants management experiences from the Delaware State University (DSU) where she worked as an Assistant Professor before moving to Kentucky. Maria secured over $2 million in a 2.5-year period at DSU for her research and teaching from federal and state agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Resources Conservation Services

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KENTUCKY SCIENCE & ENGINEERING TEAM

(USDA-NRCS), the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Services (CSREES), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the University of Delaware. Maria is an active member of the Early Career Professional Division of the Agronomy and Crop Science Societies of America, and a contributor to the society's monthly newsletter. Maria received her PhD in Agronomy-Plant Science from The Pennsylvania State University, and her MS and Ag Engineering degrees in Argentina.

Debbie Rempfer S en io r Ex e c u t i v e A s s is t a n t , K S EF

drempfer@kstc.com Debbie Rempfer joined KSTC in August 2006 and is the Senior Executive Assistant for the Kentucky Science and Engineering Foundation (KSEF). She supports the KSEF Executive Director and provides administrative assistance for KSEF, the Research and Development Excellence Program (RDE), the Kentucky Commercialization Fund (KCF), the Kentucky SBIR/STTR Phase Zero and Phase Double Zero Program (PZ/DZ), and the Kentucky SBIR/STTR Proposal Preparation Workshops and Conferences organized by KSEF and KSTC. Debbie's business experience includes executive support, publications and print media, business and medical office management, personnel, benefits, and finance and policy administration. Her professional background includes working at Artemetrx, CHA Health, and the Center for Psychological Health before joining KSTC. In addition, she is a published author (David C. Cook Publishing Company), and

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

worked as an editor and writer for Bristol Books. Debbie received her Bachelor's degree from Asbury University.

Ken Ronald P ro gr am M an a g er , K Y S B I R / S T TR M at ch ing Fun ds P ro g ra m

kronald@kstc.com Ken Ronald joined KSTC in February 2007 and is the Program Manager for the Kentucky SBIR/STTR Matching Funds Program. Ken brings experience from the Virginia/ Washington DC area where he was a support contractor for the Marine Corps. Ken worked as a captain for six years flying for Colgan Air Inc, a US Air Express carrier. His previous work included 15 years with the Air Force at WPAFB in the Manufacturing Technology Directorate, Nonmetals Branch, supporting composite structures processing and design programs. He supported C-17, Global Hawk, F-22, and JSF manufacturing issues. While working for the Air Force, Ken managed many Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Historically Black College and University (HBCU) contracts. Ken received his Bachelor's degree from the University of Florida.

http://ksef.kstc.com @KSEF_Team

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SPEAKER BIOS

Tim Fitzsimmons

Thomas Guevara

P ro gr am Man a g er DOE EPS CoR , D e pa rtm en t o f En er gy, M at er i a ls S c ienc e and En g in e er in g D iv is ion, O f f ice o f Ba s ic En er gy Sc ien ces

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Affairs, Economic Development A dm in i str at ion ( EDA )

Dr. Tim Fitzsimmons joined the Materials Science and Engineering Division, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, U.S. Department of Energy in 1995. His responsibilities have included the EPSCoR program, a part-time rotational assignment with the Solar Energy Technology Program in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Synthesis and Processing Science Core Research Activity, and the former Engineering Physics Core Research Activity. His previous experience with DOE includes one year with the Laboratory Technology Research Program, managing cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) in materials and process science, and three years with the Department’s Office of Program Analysis leading independent program reviews of DOE sponsored research. He completed a one year AAAS Congressional Science and Engineering fellowship on the staff of the Senate Committee of Energy and Natural Resources, and provided staff support to the Science and Technology Caucus, a bipartisan group of Senators interested in promoting understanding of scientific and technological issues. He is a former Chair of the Washington D.C. Chapter of ASMInternational and is currently active in the Materials Research Society.

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

Thomas Guevara is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Regional Affairs. Mr. Guevara directs and supervises the activities of the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Office of Regional Affairs, including the Performance and National Programs Division and all six EDA Regional Offices. EDA’s Regional Offices are responsible for promoting competitiveness and preparing American Regions for growth and success in the worldwide economy. Mr. Guevara brings over 24 years of management experience in financial advisory services, public-private partnership finance, and economic development program management and consulting. Prior to joining EDA, Mr. Guevara served as Director at Crow Horwath LLP in Indiana. He previously worked for the State of Indiana as CIO of the largest state agency, where he was responsible for information technology projects and expenditures in excess of $140 million annually, serving over 8500 agency users statewide, and administered by over 250 employees and contractors. Mr. Guevara also served as Assistant State Budget Director at the Indiana State Budget Agency, where he headed the Health and Human Services division. Mr. Guevara also has served as an adjunct professor at Indiana University, teaching finance, management and budgeting courses to graduate and undergraduate students.

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SPEAKER BIOS

Linda Horton Director department of En ergy (DOE), M at er ia ls Sc ien c es and En gin eer in g D i v is i o n , O f f i c e o f B a s i c En er gy S c i en c e s

Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Dr. Linda Horton was the Director for the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), one of the five BES national user facilities for nanoscale science research. Under her leadership, the CNMS grew from its opening in FY2006 to have a strong, interdisciplinary scientific program, which hosts a vibrant user community that reached over 400 users in FY2008. She was also the Project Director for the CNMS facility construction. Prior to leading the CNMS, Dr. Horton was the Program Director for the ORNL BES Materials and Engineering Physics Program. During her career at ORNL, she held many management roles including Deputy Division Director for the Metals and Ceramics Division, Group Leader for Surfaces and Interfaces, and Group Leader for Electron Microscopy. Her personal research emphasized applications of electron microscopy to materials science problems, including investigations of the effects of ion implantation and neut ron irradiation on the structure and properties of ferritic alloys and ceramic materials, and studies of the growth and characterization of diamond thin films. At ORNL, she was involved in the implementation of research programs that integrated basic and applied research. Dr. Horton received her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in Materials Science. She has been active in

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

professional service and has served on the Board of Directors for the Materials Research Society, ASM International, and the Microscopy Society of America. She has also served on both university and international advisory committees including Nanotechnology and Energy for the United Kingdomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Linda Hosler Pu blic Engagement Associate, Americ an Associate fo r the Advancem ent of S c ience (AAA S)

Linda Hosler is Public Engagement Program Associate at AAAS. She organizes and coordinates activities for the AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology, including science communication workshops for scientists and public events such as Family Science Days, a free science showcase during the AAAS Annual Meeting. The AAAS Center for Public Engagement provides a vehicle for boosting public awareness and understanding the nature of science and the work of scientists, while at the same time increasing public input into scientific research and policy agendas. Ms. Hosler has a Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in Evolutionary Biology, and blends her science background with her communications experience to promote better engagement between scientists and public. Prior to working at AAAS, she worked in communications at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

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SPEAKER BIOS

Aardra Kachroo A sso c ia t e P r o f ess or , Dep a rtm en t o f P lan t Pathology, Un iversity of Kentu cky

Aardra P. Kachroo, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Kentucky. The long-term goals of her program are to understand how plant defense signaling pathways interconnect to function as a network in providing protection against a variety of pathogens. She uses Arabidopsis and soybean as the experimental systems and studies the defense responses to viral, bacterial, fungal, and oomycete pathogens.

Mahadev Murthy P ro gr am D ir e ct o r , D iv is i o n o f A g in g B i o lo gy , Na t iona l Insti t u t e on A gi n g , N at ion a l Ins t itut es of H ea lth (N IA- N IH )

Mahadev Murthy, Ph.D., M.B.A., is Program Director in the Division of Aging Biology at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Murthy has been with NIH for over 15 years. He also has over two decades of successful teaching and research to his credit: basic, applied (nutrition) and clinical. Dr. Murthy has major interests in biomarkers and their potential clinical utility in translational and personalized medicine including, “Prediction, Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Treatment of Diseases.” Dr. Murthy has

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

many publications to his credit, including a review on Biomarkers [Peter E. Barker and Mahadev Murthy (2009) Biomarker Validation for Aging: Lessons from mtDNA Heteroplasmy Analyses in Early Cancer Detection, Biomarker Insights 4 165-179]. His many accomplishments include establishing a successful new innovation center on nutraceuticals, a non-profit organization, and two start-up companies. His interests also extend to issues relating to intellectual property and WTO, drug development, clinical trials, regulatory issues, and business strategies at the global level. Prior to coming to NIA-NIH, Dr. Murthy worked as a consultant for pharmaceutical, biotech, and life sciences companies while holding an academic position.

John Naber P ro f ess or an d A sso c iat e Ch a ir , Elec tr ica l a n d C o m pu t e r En g in e er i n g D e pa r t m en t , Un iversity of Lou isville

Dr. Naber’s research over the past 15 years has primarily involved developing custom analog and digital circuits to meet the needs of advanced implantable biomedical sensing systems as well as integrated Lab-On-a-Chip (LOC) systems. The work has been focused on developing implantable, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based sensing systems that encompass two key projects and involve working on a multi-discipline team of engineers, scientists and doctors, and includes over $6.5 Million in funding from KSTC, KSEF, NIH, NSF, and private equity. These two projects are an implantable telemetry system to measure

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SPEAKER BIOS

Intra-Ocular Pressure (IOP) using a Smart Intra-Ocular Lens (IOL) to help treat glaucoma and an implantable telemetry system to measure the strain on a spinal fusion rod and provide data on the progress of the fusion process. Most recently, Dr. Naber has been engaged in developing the next generation implantable nerve stimulator with a team of researchers from the University of Louisville, UCLA, and Cal Tech to assist Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) patients.

Olfa Nasraoui P ro fess or an d En dow ed Cha ir , D e pa rtm en t o f Com pu t e r En g in e er i n g a n d C o m pu t e r S c i en c e, S p e ed S c h o o l o f E n g in ee r ing , U n i v e r s i t y o f L o u is v il l e

Olfa Nasraoui is Professor and Endowed Chair in the Department of Computer Engineering and Computer science, Speed School of Engineering, at the University of Louisville. She is the Founding Director of the Knowledge Discovery and Web Mining Lab that conducts research on data mining, in particular: web mining, mining involving data streams, web personalization, and computational intelligence. Some of her past research included developing an automated system for retrieval of images with coronal loops from NASAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solar image databases, developing an automated system for retrieval of images with coronal loops from NASAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s solar image databases, developing an open source search engine based recommender system for multiple websites, as well as developing several robust and scalable evolutionary clustering algorithms and their application to the field of web usage mining which naturally has

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

extended into clustering data streams. Her recent work (Stream-Dashboard) has focused on the development of a comprehensive and generic framework for tracking, validation, summarization and visualization of the cluster evolution when using any online data stream clustering algorithm. Another area of recent research activity includes formulations of semisupervised learning and Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) for improved machine learning in heterogeneous data sets, and explanation generation algorithms in opaque recommender systems. She is the recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and her research has been funded by NSF, NASA, and KSEF. She has over 130 publications in journals, book chapters and refereed conferences, as well as 10 edited volumes.

Susan Nichols P ro gr am D ir e ct o r , S m al l B u s in es s P rograms Office, Defense Advanced R esear ch Pr o jec ts A gen cy (DARPA )

Susan Nichols started her 25year career with the Department of Defense at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers where she held a variety of positions in financial management, personnel management, program analysis/management, computer information systems development, and training from 1988 to 2004. She served as the U.S. Army SBIR Program Manager at the U.S. Material Command from 20042008, where she developed and successfully implemented several program and system modernization initiatives. She

Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 14

SPEAKER BIOS

is currently serving as Program Director, DARPA Small Business Programs Office, SBIR?STTR Program Manager, where she is focused on creating an environment that considers small business concerns as a primary source of innovative solutions; expanding small business relationships and training opportunities with DoD and other federal agencies; and enabling the small business community to create and transition radical, game-changing technologies that benefit the Warfighter, the federal government, and the commercial marketplace. Ms. Nicholas holds a Bachelor of Science in Management and Computer Information Systems from Park University, and a Master of Public Administration from American University.

Jenny Servo P res iden t / Bus in ess Ac c elerat ion M an a g er , Da w n b r ea ker In c .

Dr. Jenny Servo is the Founder and President of Dawnbreaker. She has written extensively on the topic of innovation, with articles appearing in The Futurist, Entrepreneurial Excellence, and Innovation in the Work Place. Dr. Servo is also the senior author on books including Business Planning for Scientists and Engineers, Knock Their Socks Off: Making Wiling Presentations to Investors, and Indicators of Commercial Potential. Within Dawnbreaker, Dr. Servo specializes in the design of programs for federal and state agencies, and in assisting small, advanced technology firms with business planning, market research, strategic planning, and organizational development. She is a frequent speaker at

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

many national and state-related SBIR conferences. Prior to Dawnbreaker, Dr. Servo worked as a consultant to Kodak’s Office of Innovation where she was responsible for developing training programs for innovation facilitators and monitoring customer satisfaction with the Office of Innovation. She was also responsible for monitoring various aspects of Kodak’s internal venturing processes and providing recommendations on the training needs of new venture management teams. Dr. Servo is bilingual (English and Spanish) and, in the mid-1980’s, consulted with the Organization of American States on issues regarding technology transfer.

Ray Takigiku P res iden t an d CEO , Bex ion P h a rm ac eu t i ca l s

Ray Takigiku, Ph.D., is President and CEO of Bexion Pharmaceuticals. He was previously director of Discovery Core Technologies, Analytical and Bioanalytical for Proctor & Gamble Pharmaceuticals, and also Interim Co-Director of the Genome Research Institute (now Metabolic Diseases Institute) of the College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati. Dr. Takigiku has extensive experience in leading and leveraging multifunctional teams for developing and implementing new technologies to discover, develop, and provide technical support for pipeline and marketed drugs. He was part of the leadership team behind the blockbuster drug Actonel ® . At P&G Dr. Takigiku worked with global business units inside and outside of healthcare, testing and developing new models of innovation. In

Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 15

SPEAKER BIOS

addition to being a Director at Bexion, Dr. Takigiku serves on a number of Boards, including Health Source of Ohio. Dr. Takigiku received his undergraduate degrees from the University of Colorado, and Ph.D. from Indiana University.

Eugenia Wang Gh eens F oun dat ion Chair in Agin g Research , Un iversity of Lou isville / CEO A dv an ced G enom ic Techn o lo gy LL C

Eugenia Wang, PhD., is a Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Louisville. An internationally known specialist in how genetics affect aging, Dr. Wang is also Director of the Gheens Center on Aging. In addition, Dr. Wang is also the CEO of Advanced Genomic Technology, a start-up biotechnology Company in Louisville, Kentucky. Dr. Wang’s research focuses on identifying biomarkers for normal aging and age-dependent diseases, using genomic technology in well-characterized clinical populations and animal models bearing genes involved in the etiology of old age degenerative processes in the brain, liver, etc. Her recent product-driven research has yielded promising leads for diagnosis and prognosis of diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, ovarian cancer, etc. Among her awards are the National Institute on Aging’s Merit Award, the MCR Scientist Award from the Medical Research Council of Canada, and the American Aging Association’s Research Award, and the AllTech Metal of Excellence. She is also the Principal Investigator of two NIH SBIR FastTrack grants and three KSTC grants to Advanced Genomic Technology.

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

http://ksef.kstc.com

Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 16

KSTC TEAMS

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Created under the Kentucky Innovation Act of 2000, KSEF invests in research and development activity to promote innovation, new product development and commercialization, and build a pipeline of new ideas and technologies to add value to the scientific economic growth in Kentucky. http://ksef.kstc.com and @KSEF_Team

…explores and advances medical solutions in the microgravity environment of space. http://exomedicine.com

The KY Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research exists to stimulate sustainable improvement in the KY’s R&D capacity, and to advance science and engineering cap-abilities for discovery, innovation and knowledge-based prosperity. www.kyepscor.org

Managed by the KSEF Team, The Center helps Kentucky innovators, entrepreneurs, and technology-oriented small businesses to advance their concepts, translate them

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

into products or technologies for commercialization, engaging with Federal SBIR/STTR programs. www.kysbir.com

…is an ambitious, non-profit enterprise focused on R&D, educational, entrepreneurial, and commercial space solutions. KS is involved in launches of CubeSats, PocketQubes satellites, and ISS payloads and facilities. Partners include Morehead State University and the University of Kentucky. KS has a Space Act Agreement with NASA. www.kentuckyspace.com

EDUCATION Advance KYorks with local, state, and national partners to dramatically expand access to and participation and success in rigorous college-level work in high school, particularly among student populations traditionally underrepresented in these courses. AdvanceKentucky is an initiative of KSTC, in partnership with NMSI, participating schools, KY Department of Education, Berea College, CPE, Lockheed Martin, Exxon Mobil, Appalachian Regional Commission, and U.S. DoEd AP Incentive Program. www.advancekentucky.com Building on the successful Governor’s Scholars

Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 17

KSTC TEAMS

and Governor’s School for the Arts programs, GSE brings together high school students, teachers, colleges, universities, entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers and product designers in an annual immersive high-energy summer experience. www.kentuckygse.com …is a statewide business plan competition designed to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship KY college and university students. The competition is sponsored by the KY Cabinet for Economic Development. Winning teams have used award funds to complete commercialization of their technology and build their company, several of which are in operation today. The 2015 competition will be open to all KY public and private universities, making it the biggest competition to date. http://ideastateu.com

…was established in 2001, and assisted over 1,300 companies and helped companies raise $785 Million in Funding. It creates a network of business leaders and mentors that encourage relationships, grow companies new and existing, and create jobs through the 13 offices located across Kentucky. Whether you are the leader of an established company, the founder of a small business, a researcher or a university professor, if your goal is to make a difference The Network can help. http://kyinnovation.com

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

LTF is dedicated to enhancing rigorous instruction through training for middle and high school teachers. www.advancekentucky.com/trainings/ltf

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Startups@KSTC provides seed and early stage funding and other resources to Kentucky-based companies. The goal is to build successful technology-related companies in Kentucky. www.startups.kstc.com

…is a for-profit enterprise focused primarily on the entrepreneurial space marketplace and is a commercialization arm of Kentucky Space LLC. Space Tango has collaborated with FedEx in establishing and executing a new business vertical, FedEx Space Solutions, and is providing guidance and professional expertise in the management of their Space Desk. It markets MSU’s 21 M Space Tracking Antenna and facilities for vibration testing, thermal-vacuum testing with residual gas analysis capability, and EMI (electromagnetic interference) and ECM (electromagnetic capability. Space Tango has also begun the nation’s unique new Space Business Accelerator Program to serve space-driven startups. www.spacetango.com

Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 18

POSTER PRESENTERS

PRESENTER

TITLE

B e h no u s h

Humanizing Black Box B i g D a ta Pr ed i c t or s w i t h t he Po w e r o f E x p l a n at i o n s

C om m er c i a l iz a t i o n o f a P a t en t e d D ev i c e f or B o r e h o le Se ism ic T e s t in g

Abd o l l ahi *

R a c he l A d a m s*

Keith An dr ew

F er ha n Atici Masha B a d am i *

Lihui Bai

Paula Bates Matt Br ow n

Weijin C a o*

POSTER#

PRESENTER

TITLE

Eric G.

Applying Next G en er a t io n Se q u en c i n g T e c hn o l og y to E s t im a te Biodiversity: A New T o o l t o A c c ur a t e l y , R a p id l y , a n d E f f i c i e nt l y So lve an O ld Pro b lem

I n tr a c e l lu l ar A T P Deliver y Enhances I n c i s i o na l Wo u n d H e a l in g

B i n g o c i z eTM 3 . 0: A U n i qu e M o b i le A p p l i c a t io n fo r Impr o ving Physical and M e n ta l F i tn es s i n O l de r Adults

F u n ct i o n S cr e e n s t h at C lar if y Var ian t s of U n c er t a i n S ig n i f i c an c e L i n k e d t o S ud d e n I n f an t D ea t h S y n dr o me

G r e en R o ut es t o M a k i n g C o p pe r C o nt a c t s f or S o l ar Panels

E n er g y- E ff i c ie n t P o r t a b le U n i t f or R ea l T i me Mo n i tor i n g of E n v i r o n me n ta l H a z ar d s and Physiolog ical Character istics of Fir st R e s po n de r s

C om m er c i a l iz a t i o n o f a N o v e l O p en - L o o p Sn ar e

A u t om a te d Est r ou s Detection in Cattle

S u r f a c e M i cro s t r u c t ur e Evolution of Metallic Specimens Using the Large Chambe r S c a n n i ng E lect r on Microscope

C h ap ma n

Su f an C h ien

A S tr en g th C h ara c t er i z ed N a no f ibe r Mod if ie d C o n cr e t e S ub s t r a t e

A C o u p le d O D E M em e B a s e d G I S Mo d e l f or a n Eb o l a A p p fr o m D a ta M in in g Tw it te r

C r a nd a l l

P a r a me t er Est i m a t io n s o f S i gm o id a l M o d e l s o f C a n cer

B r i a n P.

Pr ed ict ing Hu m a n Participation in Events t hr o u gh B ig S o c i a l Data Analysis

A Ga me T h eo r et ica l A p pr o a ch to E n er g y C o n su m pt i o n S c h e d u l in g in a S m ar t Gr id

N a no me d icine f or T ar ge t ed T h er a p y o f D i v er s e C a n ce r T yp e s

Crosslinker Releasing S u t ur e C o a t in g s fo r Reducing Suture PullO ut O ccurr ence t hr o u gh D ama g e d C o nn e ct ive T issu e

S p e ctr o sco p ic C h ara c t er i z at i o n o f M e t a l-M e d ia te d H ydr o carb o n Act iva t ion

Jason

Delisle

Ruvini D h arm a da sa *

Vladimir D o bro h ot o v

G er a ld Dr yd en Ashely

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

Duvall* Gr ace E g b u j or*

POSTER#

Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 19

POSTER PRESENTERS

PRESENTER

TITLE

M ar k

Exp lor in g a N o ve l M e ch an ism fo r P a t ho g e n i c Ad a p ta t i on in Fungi

E n h an c e d AM P K P h o s p hor y l a ti o n C o ntr i b ut e s to t he B e n ef i c i a l Eff e c t s o f Lactobacillus R h am no su s GG S u p er na t an t o n C hr on i c A l c oh o l I n d u ce d F at ty L i v er D i s e a se

D e v e lo p me n t o f N itr og e n M ode l t o S i m u l at e t h e F l u v i a l N i tr og e n B u dg e t

Har nessing Star ch Using Thermophilic S t ar c h K i n a se s a nd P h o s p ha t a ses

P a t te r n i n g G o l d N a no p ar t i c l es o n Microdevices

D e v e lo p me n t o f C R E K A- C o n ju g a te d I r o n O x i de Nanoparticles for H y p er t h er m i a T r e at m en t o f C an c er

A New Auto-encoder N e ura l N e two r k f or D e ep Le ar n ing w it h Better Inter p r e t a b ilit y

A R a p i d, S imp l e , a n d I n e x pe n s i v e M e t ho d f or t h e P r e p ar a t io n of S t r a n d- Sp e c if i c R N AS e q L i br ar i e s

C ar bo n- b a sed S i l o x an e N a no arr a ys fo r Pow er G en er a t io n fro m Wa s t e H e at

F arm a n

Wenke F e ng

Jimmy Fox

Matthew G en tr y

Cindy H ar ne t t Ana s ta s ia H a u ser *

Ehsan Hossein i*

Arthur H u nt

Paige Huzyak*

POSTER#

PRESENTER

TITLE

D a l to n

R em o te Mo n it or i n g O f a S er v er i n R e a l - T im e

D e v e lo p me n t o f N iR i c h N iT iH f- B a s e d S h a pe Me m or y A l lo y s

E n g i n eer i n g th e Po r e Structure of Silica P l a t f or m s for t h e I s o l a t io n o f B i o a c t i v e M o l e c u le s

D o car n ivor ou s p lan t s a n d sp i d er s c o m p et e a s pr e da t or s?

Plant Salt Stress T o l er a n c e a nd t he C y t o s ke l e to n

Tr ansmissive D o c um e nt S ca n n i ng

D y sr e g u la t i on o f Tr a n sf or m in g Gr owt h F a ctor -ß1 (TGF-ß 1) a n d F i bro b l ast G r o w t h F a ctor -7 (FGF- 7) in the Ovaries of Se lective T h e ca C e l l P h o s p ha t a se a n d T e n s in H om ol o g ( t Pt e n) M ut an t M i ce w i t h PCO S- L ile P h e no t y p e

L o w V o lt a ge E l e c tr o s ta t i c S wi t ch A p p l i c a t io n In E ne r g y H ar v e s t in g

S y n t h e s i s, F u n ct i o na l i z at i o n , a nd S p e c tr o s co p ic S t u d ie s o f F l u or e s c en t C ar bo n N a no d ot s

Enzyme Technologies f or Am i n o g l yco s i d e Structural Diversification

J a n t z en Haluk Karaca Ba rb ar a K n u t s on

James Kr up a Jasmina K u r e p a* G eo r g e V . L a n do n Z h en m in Lei

G eo r g e Lin

Yiyang Liu*

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

X i a o d on g Liu*

POSTER#

Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 20

POSTER PRESENTERS

PRESENTER

TITLE

H a ng zia ng

S e c ur e N et w o r k-C o de d W i r e l e s s M u lt i c a s t f or D e l a y- Se n s i t ive D a t a

I n t eg r a t ed C om p ut a t i ona l M at er i a l En g in eer in g fo r D e v e lo p i ng 3D C ar bo n N a no ma t er i a ls

P r i v a c y- aw are V i d eo I n t er fa c e f or B e h a v i or a l Eva l u a t io n in Naturalistic E n v i r o n me n t

A Zebr afish Assay for T e s t in g O t o to x i c i t y of P l a t i n um- B a se d An t iC a n cer D r u gs

S i n g l e M o le cu l e S t u d i e s o f Me m br an e R e c ep t or s

I n v e s t ig a t io n o f A l t er n at i v e An t i g en s f or Im pr o v eme n t o f t h e S t r e p to co ccus e q u i S e M E L I SA

I m pr o v in g Pro t e i n S t a b i l i t y i n F r e e ze D r i e d F or m u la t i o n s b y I n S i tu C h ara c t er i z at i o n

Li Y. Charles Lu

Ying Luo*

Jerr y D. M o nr oe *

F ar u k M o o n s ch i * Jennife r K. M or r ow

Eric M u n s on

Matthew Nee Brad l ey N ew s om e *

POSTER#

PRESENTER

TITLE

Matt

A N o v e l I m age - Ba s e d D i a gn o s t i c Sy s t e m f or t h e A c c ur a te D i a gn o s i s o f Au t i s m

D r i l l i n g f o r Bio f u e l: U n c o ve r in g th e Potential of Wasp V e n om fo r t he P r od u c t io n o f R e ne w a b l e En e r g y

A N o v e l Par ad i g m f or P r ot e c t io n a nd T r e at m en t f or Se a s on a l Allergies

Elimination of Lag T i me i n W oun d H e a l in g

D e v e lo p me n t o f a T r a c k ab l e N an o v a c c i ne f or T h era n o st i c A p pr o a ch e s

B i o d e gr a d ab le Po lym er s o f N a tur a l A n t i o x i da n t s t o T r e at Oxidative Stress

I d e nt i f y i ng F a c t or s th a t R e gu la te Br oa d s p e c tr um R es i s t a n c e t o Ph yt o ph t hor a sp p

N o v e l T r e a tme n t o f Hepatoce llula r C ar cin om a

S i n g l e-C e l l ( m m ,u m) Po we r G e nera t or w ith M u l t i-D e c ad e P e r f or ma n c e u s i n g C e nt ur y- Sca le Recyclable Mater ials

D i f fer e nt i a l U n der t a king R e spo n se t o C or p s e s w i t h D i f fer e nt P o st m or te m T i me s i n a S u b te r r a n ean T er m i te

Nitzken*

Victoria G. Pook*

S u d h ir da s P r a ya g a

H ar s h i n i Sarojini* Manish Sethi

N i h ar M . Shah

M.B. Shine*

B r et t T .

R e a l- t i m e M on i t or i n g o f P h o to c a t a l yt ic R e a ct i o n s

R em o v a l o f Pe r s i s te n t O r g an i c Po l lu t a nt s f r o m C on t am in a t ed Water Sour ce s U t i l i z i ng P o l yp h e no l F u n ct i o na l i z ed M a g ne t i c N a no c o mp o s it e Micropar t icles

Spear Eric

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

S t e i n fe l d s

Q ian Sun*

POSTER#

Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 21

POSTER PRESENTERS

PRESENTER

TITLE

Justin

A l l e v i a t i n g p o l a r it yc o n f l i c t a t t he h e t er o in t erf ac e s o f KTaO3/GdScO3

A n t i pr o ca t hep s i n D A n t i b od i e s as a n Indicator of Clinical O ut c o me i n B r ea s t C ar cin om a

U n der s t a nd i ng t he M e c h an i s m s f or A ph i dDer ived Toxicity T ow ar d L ad yb e e t le s

T ur bu l e n ce M e a s ure m en ts u s i n g a Nanoscale Thermal An e mo m etr y Pr ob e

En g in eer in g Isle t s w it h I m mu n om o dula t or y P r ot e i n s f or th e I n d u ct i o n o f T o l er a n c e a n d T r ea t men t of T y p e I D ia b et e s

D e v e lo p me n t o f N o ve l P o r o u s M a ter i a l s f or Mer cur y Removal

A No ve l M e tho d fo r E n c a p s u la t i on o f t he F u n ct i o na l Pro t e i n s i n Block Copolym er Vesicles

T h om p so n *

Vaclav Vetvicka

Jennife r A. White

Br an d on W i t t e*

Kyle W o o dw ar d *

B a n gb o Yan Jivan Yewle

POSTER# PRESENTER

R o ber t Yokel

Leyla Z h uh a dar

Xinyi Z h an g *

Dekui Z h an g Na Z h ou *

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

H o ng ya n Zhu

TITLE

POSTER#

A F i lt r a t i on Sy s t e m T h at Gr ea t ly R e du ce s A l u m i nu m , A C o nt am in a nt in C a l c i um G l u co n a te I n j e c t io n , U SP , U s e d t o Pr ep ar e Par en t er a l N u tr it i o n S o lu t i o n s

Semantically Enriched Massive Open O n line C o ur se s ( MOOC s) P l a t f or m

C h ara c t er i z at i o n o f S. A u r e u s F am i ly I I P y r op h o sp h at a s e Pp aC a n d t h e F u n ct i o n a l R e l e va n c e o f D ime r iza t ion

A n H er b a l Me d i c i n e f or T y p e I I D i a be t e s

O pt o ge n et i c a n d A n a to m i c a l C h ara c t er i z at i o n o f T h a la mo c or t ic a l S y n a p t i c T ar g e t s in th e M o u s e L at er a l Ext ra str ia te C or te x

H o s t g en e t i c c o n tr o l o f symbiosis specificity in M e d i c ag o tr un c a t u la

Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 22

POSTER ABSTRACTS BY FOCUS AREA

Materials Science and Advanced Manufacturing 1. Integrated Computational Material Engineering for Developing 3D Carbon Nanomaterials Johnson Joseph(1), Hannah Whitlock(1), Casey Walls(1), Y. Charles Lu*(1), Liming Dai(2) (1)Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky; (2)Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University

Carbon nanomaterials, including vertically aligned carbon nanotubes arrays (VACNTs) and 3D vertically aligned carbon nanotubes networks (3D VACNTs), are emerging new materials that have demonstrated superior mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties. The carbon nanomaterials have the huge potential for a wide range of space exploration applications, including lightweight and multifunctional composites for vehicles and rovers, high-efficiency batteries and ultracapacitors for energy storage devices, high temperature and durable thermal coatings for hypersonic jets, etc. Unlike traditional materials (metals, ceramics and polymers) whose microstructures are relatively “fixed”, carbon nanotube materials (VACNTs and 3D VACNTs) are highly “tunable” from the structure standpoint. To date, a rational strategy to design and synthesis the carbon nanomaterials is still lacking. The goal of this research project is to design and process carbon nanomaterials through “Integrated Computational Material Engineering (ICME)”. Multiscale computational models at different length

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

scales will be established to simulate nanotube materials. Various architectures will be constructed and analyzed to obtain the optimal performance. Nano-scale tests will be performed to characterize the responses of the materials and to validate the computational models. The integrated computational design will provide inputs for creating novel carbon nanomaterials for space exploration applications. Keywords: nanomaterials, 3D carbon nanotubes, computational materials design

2. Patterning Gold Nanoparticles on Microdevices J. Beharic(1), K.T. James(2), E.V. Moiseeva(3), T.M.Lucas(4), R.S. Keynton(2), M.G. O’Toole(2), and C.K. Harnett*(1) (1)Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Louisville; (2)Department of Bioengineering, University of Louisville; (3)Micro Nano Technology Center, University of Louisville; (4)University of Indiana Bloomington (work done while at University of Louisville)

Gold nanoplates (GNPs) and other metallic nano particles absorb in the infrared region and generate heat, making them ideal for wireless thermal actuation of micromachines. Coatings of GNPs could drive cyclic actuation if different narrowband wavelength selective particles are patterned on different parts of a device. Because infrared light can pass through tissue, these systems could potentially trigger cardiac muscle or other cells that depend on an orderly mechanical impulse—without any batteries or wires inside the body. Microscale GNP patterning

Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 23

POSTER ABSTRACTS BY FOCUS AREA

is a key enabling technology for these applications. This poster presents background measurements on gold nanoplates as wavelength-selective infrared absorbers for thermal actuation. We then describe several methods for integrating the GNPs with micro devices, including spinning, stenciling, and flowing, and discuss techniques for alignment of multi-wavelength GNP patterns with other microfabricated features. Keywords: gold nanoparticles, infrared, MEMS, thermal actuation, plasmons

3. Engineering the Pore Structure of Silica Platforms for the Isolation of Bioactive Molecules Daniel Schlipf, Stephen Rankin, and Barbara Knutson* Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky

The ability to separate potentially valuable therapeutic plant metabolites lags recently developed capabilities for the production of bioactive ligands in transgenic plant cultures. Affinity-based recovery of small molecule ligands using protein receptors immobilized on surfaces is an established technology for the isolation of bioactive ligands, but has not been applied to templated mesoporous materials, which have the advantage of high surface areas and significant pore volumes. This work examines the engineering of thin films and particles with oriented, accessible mesopores that can be functionalized to allow for effective immobilization of proteins and receptors for the subsequent detection and separation of bioactive molecules. Spherical porous silica particles

Kentucky Innovation and Entrepreneurship Conference

of controlled pore size (4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 11 nm) and a particle size appropriate for confocal microscopy (5 -10 Âľm) are used to provide direct visualization of the effects of pore size on functionalization, protein loading, and surface modification. Aminefunctionalized surfaces maintain accessibility to a model protein for silica particles functionalized only on the surface and silica particles functionalized throughout the pores. The synthesis of a synthetic lipid membrane on the outer surface of the porous silica particles provides an additional level of screening to the bioactive molecules entering the pores. Evidence of the strong dependence of the structural properties of the synthetic lipid bilayer on the pore size is provided from confocal imaging and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) and guide the design of synthetic bilayers on porous silica platforms. Keywords: bioseparations, mesoporous silica, protein loading

4. A Strength Characterized Nanofiber Modified Concrete Substrate Keith Andrew*(1), Shane Palmquist(2), and Edward Kintzel(1) (1)Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Engineering, Western Kentucky University

We have modified the content of a concrete matrix by using carbon nanotube fiber based structures. Several mixtures with different mass ratios have been tested or stress strain and fracture limits. Using a modified load frame to handle small scale samples stress-strain curves were

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analyzed as a function of composition and rate of induced stress. The mixtures were also analyzed in an LCSEM and Raman spectrometer for fracture patterns and bond energies. General functional dependencies were determined for arbitrary mixing ratios in order to optimize the nanotube concrete strength and these were compared to microscale fiber modifications to the concrete. In particular we examined the case for basalt fibers added in several different mixing ratios to identical scaled samples and determined the strength dependence. The microscaled basalt fibers are compared to the nanotube results. We find a quadratic dependency for the strength as a function of the mixing ratios. Keywords: concrete, nanotubes, fibers, strain

5 . Surface Microstructure Evolution of Metallic Specimens Using the Large Chamber Scanning Electron Microscope Grace Egbujor* and Edward Kintzel Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Kentucky University

An initial study into the use of the large chamber scanning elect ron microscope (LC-SEM) to interrogate the surface microstructure evolution of metallic specimens has been carried out. The LCSEM located at Western Kentucky University is the largest instrument of its type at any university in the world. As such, unique measurements can be performed due to the size of its chamber and extended view of its optic system.

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Strain was varied for each individual specimen, and imaged using Backscattered Electrons within the gauge length as well as near the grip position. Results will show the relationship between time to failure and nickel content of metallic specimens. Additionally, results will demonstrate the capability of the LC-SEM to carry out these types of measurements. Future measurements will include the incorporation of an in-situ uniaxial load frame for dynamic studies. Keywords: sem, nondestructive, microstructure

6 . Development of Ni-Rich NiTiHf-Based Shape Memory Alloys H.E. Karaca*(1), S.M.Saghaian(1), P.Li(1), and Y.T. Cheng(2 ) (1)Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kentucky; (2)Department of Material Science and Engineering, University of Kentucky

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are an extraordinary group of materials that have the ability to produce very high actuation strain (up to 20%), stress (~400 MPa) and work output (~10 MJ/m3) as a result of temperature, stress or magnetic field induced reversible martensitic phase transformations. Due to their remarkable properties in actuation, vibration damping, noise reduction, sensing, magnetocalorimetric and constant force spring response, SMAs have permeated into the mainstream of many industries, particularly in the biomedical, transportation, energy, aerospace and oil & gas industry. In this study, the shape

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memory behavior of NiTiHf-based alloys was investigated for high temperature and strength applications. Composition alteration considerably affects the transformation temperatures and martensite morphology and shape memory behavior. Precipitation formation is found to be an effective method to improve the strength of material and also control the shape memory properties. Mechanical and indentation experiments are conducted to reveal their shape memory properties. Keywords: shape memory alloys, high strength, high temperature, metals, mechancial tests

7 . Synthesis, Functionalization, and Spectroscopic Studies of Fluorescent Carbon Nanodots Yiyang Liu*, Sinhea Yeom, Tim Little, Somes K. Das, Chris I. Richards, Doo Y. Kim Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky

Fluorescent carbon nanodots (FCNs) have recently received significant attention because of their attractive characteristics: chemical inertness, biocompatibility and low toxicity. They are considered as promising materials for bioimaging, photocatalysis, sensing, and photovoltaic applications. The confined conjugation of sp2-bonded carbons surrounded by a shell of chemical functional groups can produce bright, photostable, and tunable photoluminescence. While research has been actively conducted to promote brightness and modulate the optical properties of FCNs produced by a variety of synthetic approaches, there is a

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significant lack of fundamental knowledge about detailed emission mechanism and structure-property-function relation. Our recent progress in controlling the size and chemical functionalities of FCNs will be presented. For the optical characterization of carbon dots, single molecule spectroscopic technique was successfully utilized to unveil complicated photophysics and multi-chromophoric nature of FCNs. Ensemble fluorescence spectra of surfacecontrolled carbon dots as well as timedependent fluorescence intensity fluctuation of single carbon dots will be presented. Keywords: carbon nanodots, fluorescence, functionalization, single molecule spectroscopy

8. Alleviating polarity-conflict at the heterointerfaces of KTaO3/GdScO3 Justin Thompson*(1), Jinwoo Hwang(2), John Nichols(1), John G. Connell(1), Susanne Stemmer(2), and Sung S. Ambrose Seo(1) (1)Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kentucky; (2)Department of Materials, University of California-Santa Barbara

Interfaces between polar, complex-oxides have been the focus of an enormous amount of research in the Condensed Matter Physics community over the last decade. This interfacial polarity is reported to be the driving physics behind a wide range of novel states in these materials, including the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism. The majority of the work thus far has focused

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on interfaces between a polar material and a non-polar material. In a simple ionic picture this leads to a diverging potential at the interface, the so-called polar catastrophe. In this study we ask the question, “What happens at the interface of two polar materials with opposite polarity?” We have synthesized and investigated the heterointerfaces of KTaO3 (KTO) and GdScO3 (GSO), which are both polar complex-oxides along the pseudo-cubic [001] direction. Since their layers have the same, conflicting net charges at interfaces, i.e. KO(–1)/ScO2(–1) or TaO2(+1)/GdO(+1), forming the heterointerface of KTO/GSO should be forbidden due to strong Coulomb repulsion, the so-called polarity conflict. However, we have discovered that atomic reconstruction occurs at the heterointerfaces between KTO thin-films and GSO substrates, which effectively alleviates the polarity conflict without destroying the hetero-epitaxy. Our result demonstrates one of the important ways to create artificial heterostructures from polar complex-oxides. Keywords: complex oxides, heterointerface, polarity, pulsed laser deposition

9. Spectroscopic Characterization of MetalMediated Hydrocarbon Activation Weijin Cao*, D. Hewage, Y. Zhang, S. Kumari, R. Silva, M. Roudjane, and Dong-Sheng Yang Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky

constituents of petroleum and natural gas, but also the most abundant, low-cost stock for functionalized organic chemicals. Because of their chemical inertness, the transformation of the hydrocarbons to value-added products, however, requires the activation of thermodynamically stable carbon-hydrogen and carbon-carbon bonds. This KSEF-sponsored project aims to fill a critical knowledge gap between the reactivity and mechanisms of metalmediated hydrocarbon activation reactions. The gap is the lack of the knowledge about the structures and electronic states of reaction intermediates and products. Emphasis is placed on the gas-phase reactions between neutral rare earth atoms (Y, La, and Ce) and small alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes. We use laservaporized metal atoms to activate the hydrocarbon compounds in gaseous supersonic jets, mass spectrometry to measure the product abundance and distribution, and high-resolution pulsedfield-ionization ion spectroscopy to search for electronic-vibrational spectra. The outputs of this research include accurate ionization and vibrational energies, electronic states, and structural isomers. The project expands our research program in a new direction, stimulates additional research in metal-hydrocarbon activation chemistry, and increases the basic knowledge about how metal centers activate carbon-hydrogen and carboncarbon bonds. This work opens up a new area for high-resolution ion spectroscopic applications in organometallic chemistry and enhances Kentucky’s international reputation in this field. With the preliminary results from this grant, we have already been awarded a research grant from the National Science Foundation. Keywords: pulsed-field Ionization, high-

Hydrocarbons are not only the major

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resolution ion spectroscopy, hydrocarbon activation, metal catalysis

Information Technology and Communications 10. A New Auto-encoder Neural Network for Deep Learning with Better Interpretability Ehsan Hosseini Asl*(1), Jacek Zurada(1), and Olfa Nasraoui(2) (1)Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Louisville; (2)Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department, Speed School of Engineering, University of Louisville

Recent theoretical studies on Deep Learning proved that deep architectures are capable of learning complex model distributions and also achieve good generalization performance and efficient representation of patterns in challenging recognition tasks. An unsupervised pretraining phase of each layer can help capture the patterns in high-dimensional data, which results in better representation in low-dimensional encoding space, and more sparse feature learning. In this work, we focus on unsupervised feature learning based on auto-encoders. One crucial step in achieving high performance deep networks based on auto-encoders, is learning a meaningful representation from data which discovers the hidden structure of data in a high dimensional space. Inspired by the idea of sparse coding and Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF), learning features which show part-based representation of data could disentangle the hidden structure of data, while at the

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same time, improving generalization and reconstruction error. In this work, we develop a new auto-encoder neural network trained by a non-negativity constraint training algorithm, and learn features which show part-based representation of data. Experiments on standard image data sets indicate that the non-negativity constraint forces the autoencoder to learn features which amount to a part-based representation of data, while improving scarcity and reconstruction quality in comparison with the traditional sparse auto-encoder and Nonnegative Matrix Factorization. Keywords: big data, machine learning, deep learning, neural networks

11. Humanizing Black Box Big Data Predictors with the Power of Explanations Behnoush Abdollahi*(1), Olfa Nasraoui(1), Jacek Zurada(2) (1)Computer Engineering and Computer Science Department, University of Louisville; (2)Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Speed School of Engineering, University of Louisville

Large amounts of data, recently coined as big data, thrive with precious knowledge that is valued and exploited for decisionmaking in the education, scientific, finance, environment and many other domains. In many cases, a decision is presented directly to a user in the form of predictions or recommendations, without any explanations, which adversely impacts the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trust in the validity of predictions. Among the reasons for lack of explanations is the weak interpretability of some prediction models due to their low

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degree of transparency. Our objectives are to overcome these shortcomings by focusing on the deep content of what is being explained to the user and how it can be automatically generated using machine learning techniques that gather strength from both opaque, also known as Black Box (BB), and transparent, also known as White Box (WB) learning models. Our approach focuses on Nonnegative Matrix Factorization (NMF) and exploits additional data sources or modalities to enable and enrich the explainability of predictions. In addition to their role in generating explanations, additional data modalities help in addressing the challenging cold start problem in recommendation systems. Keywords: big data, machine learning, explanations

12. Semantically Enriched Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) Platform Leyla Zhuhadar*(1), Sebastian Ryszard Krukb(2), and Jerry Dadayc(3) (1)Department of Computer Information Systems, Western Kentucky University; (2)Knowledge Hives sp. Z o.o., Rokitnikowa 11, 81-589 Gdynia, Poland; (3)Sociology, Western Kentucky University

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are becoming an essential source of information for both students and teachers. Noticeably, MOOCs have to adapt to the fast development of new technologies; they also have to satisfy the current generation of online students. The current MOOCs’ Management Systems (e.g. Coursera, Udacity, edX) use content management platforms with content organized in a

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hierarchical structure. We envision a new generation of MOOCs that support interpretability with formal semantics by using the SemanticWeb and the online social networks. Semantic technologies support more flexible information management than that offered by the current MOOCs’ platforms. Annotated information about courses, video lectures, assignments, students, teachers, etc., can be composed from heterogeneous sources, including contributions from the communities in the forum space. These annotations, combined with legacy data, build foundations for more efficient information discovery in MOOCs’ platforms. In this project we review various Collaborative Semantic Filtering technologies for building Semantic MOOCs’ management system, then, we present a prototype of a semantic middle-sized platform implemented at Western Kentucky University that answers these aforementioned requirements. Keywords: massive open online courses, MOOCs, SemanticWeb,ontolgoy

13. Secure Network-Coded Wireless Multicast for DelaySensitive Data Hongxiang Li*, Qingyun Li, and Xiaohui Zhang Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Kentucky

Wireless multicast for delay-sensitive data is challenging because of the heterogeneity effect where each receiver may experience different packet losses. Fortunately, network coding offers significant advantages over the traditional Automatic Repeat reQuest (ARQ) protocols

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in that it mitigates the need for retransmission and has the potential to approach the min-cut capacity. Network-coded multicast would be; however, vulnerable to false packet injection attacks, in which the adversary injects bogus packets to prevent receivers from correctly decoding the original data. Without a right defense in place, even a single bogus packet can completely change the decoding outcome. Existing solutions either incur high computation cost or cannot withstand high packet loss. In this project, we propose a novel scheme to defend against false packet injection attacks on network-coded multicast for delay-sensitive data. Specifically, we propose an efficient authentication mechanism based on null space properties of coded packets, aiming to enable receivers to detect any bogus packets with high probability. We will design an adaptive scheduling algorithm based on the Markov Decision Processes (MDP) to maximize the number of authenticated packets received within a given time constraint. Keywords: secure multicast, network coding, delay-sensitive

Environmental and Energy Technologies 14. Real-time Monitoring of Photocatalytic Reactions Samuel T. White, Frankie Wallace, Shashidhar Annarapu, and Matthew J. Nee*

The presence of organic compounds such as pharmaceuticals, road and construction runoff, and farm waste has been detected in drinking water with increasing frequency, and at increasing concentrations. Photocatalytic degradation is an emerging technology which has gained traction in the removal of such harmful organic compounds in water. Addition of a photocatalyst allows reduction and oxidation reactions to occur upon exposure to UV radiation (including sunlight). Although much is understood about the overall rates of conversion of toxic compounds, the chemical mechanisms underlying their degradation are not adequately understood. We use a combination of Raman spectroscopy and thermal analysis to provide faster kinetics to unravel the details of photocatalytic reactions. Recent improvements to our process include the introduction of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and the development of a pulsedlaser Raman spectrometer capable of collecting twenty spectra per second. When fully implemented, this will represent a 1000-fold improvement in time resolution, accessing kinetics of reactions that would not have been observed by traditional chromatographic measurements. These mechanistic details are necessary to guide the development of future technologies that will optimize the use of photocatalytic degradation for municipal districts or for widespread pollution remediation efforts. Keywords: photocatalytic degradation, Raman spectroscopy, wastewater management, pharmaceutical chemistry

Department of Chemistry, Western Kentucky University

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15. Turbulence Measurements using a Nanoscale Thermal Anemometry Probe Brandon Witte* and Sean Bailey University of Kentucky

Engineers are particularly interested in the behavior of high Reynolds number flows, where there is a large separation of scales between the largest and smallest eddies. In fact, almost all theories of turbulence are only valid in the high Reynolds number limit. To achieve large Reynolds numbers in the laboratory we need to make either the facility large, or the smallest scales of turbulence small, or do both. Therefore to measure the smallest turbulence scales in modest laboratory facilities we need to have instrumentation capable of resolving these small scales. Typically hot-wire sensors are used for measuring turbulence, but it is difficult to make hotwire sensors smaller in length than about 0.25 mm. Therefore, to resolve the smallest scales a new solution needed to be found. Our approach was to develop a Nano-Scale Thermal Anemometry Probe (NSTAP) utilizing a free-standing nanoscale Platinum wire with cross-section of 2 mm by 100 nm and active length of 60 microns, suspended between two electrically conducting supports. Here we report on recent measurements in canonical turbulent channel flow. We use these results to investigate the scaling properties of the smallest, most dissipative scales of turbulence. The present results suggest that the distribution of the smallest scales of turbulence is universal. Funding for this research was provided by KSEF through KSEF-148-502-12-301 and NSF through CBET-1351411 Keywords: turbulence, MEMS

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16. Removal of Persistent Organic Pollutants from Contaminated Water Sources Utilizing PolyphenolFunctionalized Magnetic Nanocomposite Microparticles Bradley Newsome*(1,2), Angela GutiĂŠrrez(1,3), Thomas Dziubla(1,3), J. Zach Hilt(1,3), Lindell Ormsbee(1,4), Bernhard Hennig(1,2) (1)University of Kentucky Superfund Research Center; (2)Animal and Food Sciences, University of Kentucky; (3)Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky; (4) Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky

The focus of detailed research in proper nutrition has resulted in discoveries that extend beyond healthy living and dietrelated chronic diseases and enter into the realms of risk assessment and remediation. One example of this is in the use of various bio-molecules and antioxidants (e.g. polyphenols, epicatechin in tea extract, etc.), which have been found to bind persistent environmental pollutants and modulat e their toxicity. This binding affinity can be utilized for biomimetic approaches for the capture, detection and remediation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) using surface-functionalized magnetic nanoparticle-based technologies. Acrylated forms of quercetin (QMA) and curcumin (CDA), nutrient polyphenols with known affinity for organic pollutants, were surface functionalized onto magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) or polymerized in the presence of magnetic nanoparticles and cryomilled to micron sized particles (MNMs). These platforms allow for the specific binding of chlorinated organics

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from contaminated drinking water sources, the rapid magnetic separation of bound organics, and the thermal destabilization of the polymer matrix for contaminant release and material regeneration. Novel materials were characterized via TEM, DLS, FTIR, and TGA; chlorinated organic pollutant (i.e., PCBs) binding studies were performed to determine binding affinity and capacity, as well as optimal binding kinetics. LC-MS/MS analysis demonstrated that the functionalized MNPs effectively bound PCBs with the addition of QMA and CDA resulting in greater affinity, while three-fold increased pollutant binding was seen when MNMs were employed. An alternating magnetic field was used to heat and destabilize the PCB binding in the polymer matrix leading to pollutant release from the particles, and the percentage of uptake and release was determined. Repeated PCB binding/release was performed to determine MNM stability and reusability. This work provides potential platform for rapid, non-toxic pollutant removal from contaminated water sources both near Superfund sites throughout the U.S. and in developing nations. Keywords: water remediation, PCBs, polyphenols, magnetic nanocomposites

17. Development of Novel Porous Materials for Mercury Removal Bangbo Yan*, Xin Liu, Yan Cao, and Wei-Ping Pan Department of Chemistry, Western Kentucky University

During combustion, trace amounts of mercury in coals can be vaporized and released to the atmosphere. This is one of

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the largest sources of mercury pollution in the United States and has been a cause for great concern in recent years. EPA announced a new regulation that requires coal- and oil-fired power plants to control emissions of mercury. Present technology does not, however, provide inexpensive ways to capture or remove mercury from flue gases. Our research is to study the synthesis and the application of novel porous metal-organic framework materials as sorbents for removal of mercury from flue gas in coal-fired power plants. In this presentation, we report the synthesis and properties of new metal-organic framework materials targeting at Mercury Removal from flue gases of coal-fired power plants. Keywords: porous materials, mercury removal

18. Development of Nitrogen Model to Simulate the Fluvial Nitrogen Budget William Ford(1), Jimmy Fox*(2), Carmen Agouridis(3), and Gail Brion(2) (1)USDA-ARS; (2)Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky; (3)Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering, University of Kentucky

To improve water quality modeling technology for in-stream nitrogen in systems characterized by a thin flocculent, advection dominated, sediment layer we introduce TRANSFER (Technology for Removable Annual Nitrogen in Streams for Ecosystem Restoration). The objective of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of elemental and stable isotope routines in TRANSFER to constrain uncertainty surrounding the fluvial nitrogen

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budget. Transported measures of fine particulate nitrogen are utilized as the response variable in the model due to its sensitivity to reflect biotic processes and source signatures, and its efficacy at integrating in-stream processes. Eight years of transported nitrogen data was collected at the watershed outlet of a lowgradient stream utilizing temporally and spatially integrated sediment trap samples. Samples were analyzed for nitrogen isotope and elemental concentrations. Results of the study suggest that: fluvial nitrogen is sensitive to the C:N ratio of algal biomass; NH4 concentrations in the surface water are sensitive to nitrification rates; and NO3 concentrations are sensitive to denitrification rates. Results suggest that the tight coupling of the carbon and nitrogen processes in TRANSFER promote a unique calibration for the fluvial cycle, and the isotopes component shows uniqueness to assisting with calibration of sources. Results of the average annual nitrogen budget suggest that approximately 11% of inflowing DIN is removed through transient and permanent dissolved removal pathways. Keywords: environment, nitrogen, agriculture

19. Single-Cell (mm,um) Power Generator with MultiDecade Performance using Century-Scale Recyclable Materials Eric Steinfelds* and Keith Andrew Department of Physics and Astronomy, Western Kentucky University

decade performance capability which uses century enduring recyclable materials. Energy conversion is vital here. The single-cell power source runs under principles of the scheme of the Solid State PARES. PARES stands for Photon Assisted Radioisotope Energy Source. The singlecell Solid State PARES can be made almost as small at the microscale as a single betavoltaic cell. More recent publications in applied science have shown that betavoltaic cells have a long way to go in terms of steadfast performance. On the other hand, the Solid S PARES does offer constant, steadfast performance, without the otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s liabilities. The question comes up of why industry or the military would want to use Solid S PARES cells or betavoltaic for powering small devices when to some extent lithium-ion batteries and other chemical batteries are available. One needs to consider the electrical work to mass ratio rather than the e-Power to mass ratio. While even the very best of chemical batteries can at bestprovide 200 Joules of useful work per gram in seven years (durably without recharging), a Solid S PARES will provide Â˝ dozen or dozens of kiloJoules of electrical work per gram of battery steadfastly and steadily over the course of over 20 or even 40 years. A similar argument could be made for a betavoltaic cell, except that after the first month the efficiency drops so that only one tenth (or less) of the electrical work of a PARES cell could be delivered by the betavoltaic cell within the same duration of 20 years. Keywords: multi-decade power cell, Microscale, nano-scale, benign and recyclable radioisotope source, radiation hardened, durable

We have a Single-Cell battery with multi-

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20. A Game Theoretical Approach to Energy Consumption Scheduling in a Smart Grid Lihui Bai*(1), Guangyang Xu(1), Michael L. McIntyre(2), and Hongxiang Li(2) (1)Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Louisville; (2)Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Louisville

We propose an equilibrium model to describe residential users' energy consumption behavior that explicitly considers users' possible preference on convenience over cost-saving. In the proposed user equilibrium model, each user maximizes his/her payoff consisting of convenience and cost, under the real-time pricing in a smart grid. On the other hand, a system model is proposed to maximize the social welfare. We show that alternative pricing schemes exist for demand response programs to reconcile between the equilibrium and system solutions. When the equilibrium solution is not unique, we propose a risk-averse demand response pricing framework. Computational results will be reported. Keywords: game equilibrium models, demand response, smart grid

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Human Health and Development 21 . A Novel Method for Encapsulation of the Functional Proteins in Block Copolymer Vesicles Jivan Yewle*, Manish Sethi, Ph.D, Paritosh Wattamwar, Eric Ostertag, Peter Ghoroghchian Vindico NanoBioTechnology, Inc.

Protein therapeutics, including antibodies, have occasionally shown outstanding clinical utility, but they are often limited by problems with stability, circulation time or other pharmacodynamics properties and/or immunogenicity. Encapsulation of proteins in nanoscale polymeric vesicles (i.e. polymersomes) may mitigate some of these problems; however, the existing encapsulation methodologies have resulted in disappointingly low encapsulation efficiencies. We have developed a novel, scalable sequential hydration method for the encapsulation of functional proteins within polymersomes. Several conventional methods were studied and selective parameters were optimized for the development of sequential hydration. Myoglobin (Mb) was used as a model protein, while poly(ethylene oxide)-blockpoly(butadiene) (PEO-b-PBD) was used as a model block copolymer. The final concentration of Mb in our optimal polymersome-encapsulated Mb formulation was around 1.5-2.0 mg/mL, while the yield of functional protein was increased to > 89 %. This method could be applied for encapsulation of other therapeutic proteins.

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Keywords: drug delivery, protein encapsulation, myoglobin, diblock polymer, polymersome, nano vesicles

22 . Dysregulation of Transforming Growth Factorß1 (TGF-ß1) and Fibroblast Growth Factor-7 (FGF-7) in the Ovaries of Selective Theca Cell Phosphatase and Tensin Homolog (tPten) Mutant Mice with PCOS-Lile Phenotype Shawn Redding(1), Xian Li(1), Guizhu Wu(1), CheMyong Ko(2), Austin J. Cooney(3), Henry Bohler(1), Zi-Jian Lan(4), and Zhenmin Lei*(1) (1)Department of OB/GYN and Women’s Health, University of Louisville Health Sciences Center; (2)Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL; (3)Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX; (4)Division of Life Sciences and Center for Nutrigenomics and Applied Animal Nutrition, Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, Kentucky

Pten is a negative regulator of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase signaling. Selective deletion of the Pten gene in mouse theca cells results in androgen excess, enlarged ovaries and ovulation defects, mimicking human PCOS. Here we assessed for differences in growth factors and potential ovarian rigidity related proteins in tPten mutant (tPtenMT) mice. Ovaries from 2.5-month old tPtenMT and wild type (WT) littermates were prepared for quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR),

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immunohistochemistry (IHC), or Western Immunoblot (WB). qRT-PCR showed that growth factors FGF-7 and TGF-ß1 mRNA levels were significantly elevated in tPtenMT ovaries compared to WT while TGF-ß2, BMP4, and BMP7 were not significantly altered. TGF-ß1 and FGF-7 protein levels were significantly increased in both the theca and granulosa cells in tPtenMT ovaries compared to WT using IHC and/or WB. Potential ovarian rigidity related proteins Occludin (OCLN), Nectin2, ß-Catenin, and a-E Catenin were assessed with WB. OCLN and Nectin-2 proteins were elevated while ß-Catenin and a-E Catenin proteins were reduced in tPtenMT ovaries compared to WT. Conclusions: Selective deletion of the Pten gene in theca cells leads to overproduction of TGF-ß1 and FGF-7 along with changes in OCLN, Nectin-2, ßCatenin, and a-E Catenin. Dysregulation of these growth factors may contribute to the PCOS-like ovarian phenotype seen in tPtenMT mice by causing an imbalance in structural proteins that may affect ovarian rigidity. Recent studies suggest the TGF-ß signaling pathway has a strong genetic link to the etiology of PCOS, tPtenMT model may give insight into the pathogenesis of and treatment for PCOS in humans. Keywords: PCOS, ovary, Pten, inovulation, TGF beta, FGF-7

23 . Enhanced AMPK Phosphorylation Contributes to the Beneficial Effects of Lactobacillus Rhamnosus GG Supernatant on Chronic Alcohol-Induced Fatty Liver Disease

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Min Zhang, Cuiling Wang, Chunhong Wang, Yuhua Wang, Craig McClain, and Wenke Feng Department of Medicine, University of Louisville Background: We have previously demonstrated that Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG culture supernatant (LGGs) prevents acute alcohol exposure-induced hepatic steatosis and injury. The protective effects of LGGs were attributed to the improved intestinal barrier function leading to decreased endotoxemia. The purpose of this study was to determine whether LGGs was effective in protecting against chronic alcohol-induced hepatic steatosis and injury, and to evaluate the underlying mechanisms of LGGs on hepatic lipid metabolism. Methods: C57BL/6N mice were fed liquid diet containing 5% alcohol or pair-fed isocaloric maltose dextrin for 4 weeks. LGGs at a dose equivalent to 109 CFU/day/mouse was given in the liquid diet. Hepatic steatosis, liver enzymes and hepatic apoptosis were analyzed. Results: LGGs prevented alcohol-mediated increase in hepatic expression of lipogenic genes, sterol regulatory element binding protein-1 and Stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1; and increased the expression of peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-a, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator protein-1a and carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 leading to increased fatty acid Ă&#x;-oxidation. Importantly, chronic alcohol exposure decreased AMPK phosphorylation and increased acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) activity, which were attenuated by LGGs administration. LGGs also decreased Bax expression and increased Bcl-2 expression, which attenuated alcohol-induced hepatic apoptosis. These LGGs regulated molecular changes resulted in the

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attenuation of chronic alcohol exposuremediated increase in hepatic fat accumulation and liver injury. Conclusions: Probiotic LGG culture supernatant is effective in the prevention of chronic alcohol exposure-induced hepatic steatosis and injury. LGGs likely exerts its beneficial effects, at least in part, through modulation of hepatic AMPK activation and Bax/Bcl-2mediated apoptosis. Keywords: probiotics, AMPK, alcoholic liver disease

24 . A Filtration System That Greatly Reduces Aluminum, A Contaminant in Calcium Gluconate Injection, USP, Used to Prepare Parenteral Nutrition Solutions Robert A. Yokel*(1,2), Wesley R. Harris(2,3), Christopher D. Spilling(2,3), Vasiliy P. Abramov(4), Jason M. Lone(4), and Robert J. Kuhn*(2,5) (1)Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky; (2)ALKYMOS, Inc., Lexington, Kentucky, (3)Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Missouri-Saint Louis, St. Louis, Missouri; (4)CreoSalus, Louisville, Kentucky; (5)Pharmacy Practice and Science, College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky

Problem: Aluminum (Al) is a contaminant of large and small volume component solutions used to compound parenteral nutrition (PN) solutions. Al accumulation is associated with central nervous system and bone toxicity. Objective: Reduce Al in Calcium Gluconate Injection, USP, the main Al contributor to PN solutions.

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Methods: A flow-through filter containing an immobilized chelator that complexes Al as Calcium Gluconate Injection, USP flows through it was designed and extensively tested. When a commercially-available vial containing 100 mL of Calcium Gluconate Injection, USP is connected on the filterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inlet and the outlet is connected to an evacuated receiving vial, filtered solution is drawn into the receiving vial. This filtration system, the ALKYMOS ACE filterÂŽ, constitutes a complete system to remove Al from Calcium Gluconate Injection, USP. RESULTS: The extent of Al removal is flow-rate dependent. At 1 ml/min ~ 85% of the Al was removed from calcium gluconate solution. PN solutions have been reported to deliver 15 to 23 mcg/kg/day of Al to neonates. Given Calcium Gluconate Injection, USP provides 85 % of the Al in neonatal PN solutions, 85 % Al removal from this source was calculated to reduce Al delivered to most neonates to < 5 mcg/kg/day, as level recognized by the US FDA as not resulting in Al accumulation and potential toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: A point-of-use, selfcontained, single-use, disposable, Alcomplexing filter was created. It was calculated to reduce Al delivered in PN solutions by 72%, resulting in daily Al delivery below 5 mcg/kg/day to all but the smallest (< 1 kg) infants. Keywords: aluminum, chelation, medical device, parenteral nutrition, premature infants

25 . Privacy-aware Video Interface for Behavioral Evaluation in Naturalistic Environment Ying Luo* and Sen-ching

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Samson Cheung Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments, University of Kentucky

This project focuses on the development and commercialization of the Video Interface for Behavioral Evaluation (VIBE) system. VIBE is a networked audiovisual recording and coding system for clinical use, specifically designed to capture human behaviors in naturalistic environments. Such a system provides an important behavioral observation tool for early diagnosis and treatment tracking of many neurodevelopmental disorders among children. Different from other behaviorcoding systems on the market, VIBE offers a novel set of privacy protection tools to support audiovisual data collection with full compliance to privacy laws at semi-public places like school and clinic. This unique feature of VIBE enables a much more comprehensive collection of behavioral data, which can be subsequently shared among different stakeholders including caregivers, clinicians, teachers, administrators, and trainees to ensure accuracy in diagnosis and consistency in treatments. The market opportunity and competitive advantages of the VIBE system will be explored in our SBIR Phase I proposal. The technical objective is to develop a fully functional working prototype that surpasses state-of-the-arts in all major aspects of a privacy-aware behavior observation system including subject identification, visual segmentation, privacy control, and event filtering. A small-scale human-subject study is planned to validate the performance of the prototype. Keywords: audio/video monitoring, privacy protection, behavior coding, mental health, secure storage

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Biosciences 26 . Development of a Trackable Nanovaccine for Theranostic Approaches Manish Sethi*, Jivan N Yewle, Eric Ostertag, Peter Ghoroghchian Vindico Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lexington, Kentucky

Theranostics is a concept of integrating imaging and therapy into a single platform. While most of the theranostic approaches aim towards delivering drugs, we are developing a novel method to deliver vaccines for the treatment of pathogens. For this, we have used Leishmania as model microorganism. The goal here is to co-incorporate Leishmania antigen, adjuvant resiquimod and upconverting nanocrystals (UCNCs) within nanoscale polymer vesicles (polymersomes) made from block-co-polymers poly(ethyleneoxide)-block-poly(butadiene) (PEO-b-PBD). UCNCs are fluorescent nanoparticles that convert two or more lowenergy excitation photons, generally NIR, into shorter wavelength (higher energy) emissions. They possess deep tissue penetration, high signal-to-noise ratio and narrow emission bandwidths. This allows their use for multiplexed imaging via optical and other imaging modalities like MRI, SPECT, CAT offering exquisite spatial resolution and sensitivity. Polymersomes, on the other hand, possess unique properties of co-encapsulating both hydrophilic and hydrophobic molecules making them ideal for the delivery of nanovaccine. This nanovaccine would be

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used for transcutaneous delivery and will simultaneously allow for in vivo tracking of nanoparticles and their uptake by antigen presenting cells. While encapsulation of biomolecules within polymersomes is challenging, we have successfully demonstrated the ability to co-encapsulate proteins with hydrophobic dyes into polymersomes. Further, we have synthesized monodispersed UCNCs of desired shape and size. We are currently working towards incorporation of UCNCs into polymersomes, which would be followed by co-encapsulation of the antigen/adjuvant system with the nanocrystals for their in vivo delivery. This approach can provide a framework for further development of novel theranostic nanovaccines and treatment procedures. Keywords: theranostic, nanovaccine, polymersomes, co-encapsulation

27 . Development of CREKAConjugated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for Hyperthermia Treatment of Cancer Anastasia K. Hauser*, J. Zach Hilt, and Kimberly W. Anderson Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Kentucky

Hyperthermia, the heating of tissue between 42 and 45째C, has been shown to enhance the effects of radiation and chemotherapeutics, but current methods of hyperthermia often result in severe side effects due to lack of localization and overheating of tissue. Magnetically mediated hyperthermia provides the opportunity for localized heating, however, this method is currently limited by the lack

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of particle penetration into tumor tissue. In this research, a nanoparticle system composed of an iron oxide core with a crosslinked dextran coating functionalized with the tumor homing peptide, CREKA, has been developed to overcome this limitation by homing to and penetrating into tumor tissue. The iron oxide core allows for particle heating upon exposure to an alternating magnetic field while the dextran coating stabilizes the particles in suspension and decreases the cytotoxicity. The overall goal of this study was to optimize CREKA-conjugated iron oxide nanoparticles for enhanced tumor homing and penetration for effective hyperthermia treatment applications. This specific particle system can enhance particle accumulation at the tumor site, providing a high enough concentration to induce hyperthermia conditions. The particles were characterized for size, stability, biocompatibility, and heating capabilities. The binding and uptake of CREKA conjugated iron oxide nanoparticles into multicellular spheroids and monolayer cell cultures was also evaluated. This particle system is novel in that it incorporates the heating properties of iron oxide with the tumor homing properties of CREKA, to enhance particle homing to tumor sites. Keywords: iron oxide nanoparticles, CREKA, fibrinogen, magnetically mediated hyperthermia

28 . Enzyme Technologies for Aminoglycoside Structural Diversification Xiaodong Liu*(1), Zhaoyong Yang(2), Keith Green(1), Sylvie Garneau-Tsodikova(1), Koichi Nonaka(3), Steven Van Lanen(1)

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(1)College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA. (2)Key Laboratory of Biotechnology of Antibiotics, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China. (3)Bioengineering Research Group I, Process Technology Research Laboratories, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., Fukushima, Japan

Tuberculosis (TB) treatment is often problematic because it requires a multidrug regimen for 9-12 months and extensively drug-resistant strains are becoming commonplace. Capuramycin, a potentially new anti-TB drug, is a nanomolar inhibitor for bacterial translocase I (MraY), which is an essential membrane enzyme for bacterial cell wall synthesis. Capuramycins, such as A500359s and A-503083s, have novel structures compared to current antibiotics and have been shown to kill M. tuberculosis faster than any existing antiTB drug on the market. As part of structural diversification and lead optimization campaign, a newly discovered amide bond formation reaction via an ester-amide exchange catalyst was exploited here to prepare a library of capuramycin analogues for structureactivity studies. In a previous study, we identified CapW -- a class C Ă&#x;-lactamase homologue -- as the catalyst for amide bond formation that utilizes an unusual amide-ester exchange reaction mechanism. A chemoenzymatic approach was used to exploit this unusual catalytic strategy, and a series of new L-aminocaprolactamsubstituted analogues were synthesized in vitro using different amino acyl acceptors. The biological activity assay indicated that several of analogs have improved antibiotic activity, some of which gave ~10fold more potent compared to parent compound against the M. smegmatis. By exploring this new chemoenzymatic reaction, we have expanded the potential

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drug repertoire for treating TB. Keywords: biosynthesis, antibiotics, drug discovery

29 . Host genetic control of symbiosis specificity in Medicago truncatula Jinge Liu, Shengming Yang, Hongyan Zhu* Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky

Legumes have the remarkable ability to establish a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing soil bacteria, known as rhizobia. This mutualism culminates in the formation of a new plant organ, called the root nodule, within which the bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, a biological form that can be directly consumed by the plant. One striking feature of the symbiosis is its high level of specificity. Such specificity can occur at the early phase of the interaction that is associated with bacterial infection and nodulation as well as at the late phase of nodule development that is related to nitrogen fixation. Genetic control of symbiosis specificity is complex, involving complex signal communication between the symbiotic partners. We will present our progress in cloning the genes that are involved in determining symbiosis specificity in Medicago truncatula. Keywords: legume, nodulation, nitrogen fixation, symbiosis specificity

30 . Predicting Human Participation in Events

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Through Big Social Data Analysis Mahsa Badami*(1), Faezeh Tafazzoli(2), Olfa Nasraoui(1), Hichem Frigui(2) (1)Knowledge Discovery and Web Mining Lab, University of Louisville; (2)Multimedia Research Lab, Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science, University of Louisville

As social activities occur all over the world and they become increasingly present on social media, it has recently become an imminent requirement to answer critical questions related to these events and activities such as â&#x20AC;&#x153;what, how, where, when, why and whoâ&#x20AC;? participates in them. Regardless of these questions, it is hard to give information and recommend events that may interest people. There are certain relationships between people and they simply do not attend any event just for the sake of attending. They have likes and dislikes in degrees and these evaluations do mean many things to people to shape out the person`s social world. In other worlds, preferences toward and participation in events is embedded in hidden patterns that can be revealed through Big Data analytics. In this work, we predict what events users will be interested in based on the events they have responded to in the past, user demographic information, and what events they have seen and clicked on in a certain app. In order to achieve this goal, we employ different web mining techniques to build an event recommendation engine. The datasets utilized are provided by a data mining competition on Kaggle. We have information on both users and events and the goal is to label a user-event pair as interested/not interested. One important

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task in this challenge was data preparation and pre-processing since we have to deal with different issues such as the consolidation and integration of various datasets and handling a high proportion of data with missing values, unknown label, and imbalanced data. Keywords: recommender system; event recommendation; collaborative filtering, social media, data mining, big data

31 . Improving Protein Stability in Freeze Dried Formulations by In Situ Characterization Matthew Nethercott(1), Maarten Mensin(2), Michael Pikal(2), Eric Munson*(1) (1)Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky; (2)Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut

Proteins are often very unstable, with shelf lives on the order of hours to days. In order to better stabilize them, proteins are freeze dried in the presence of sugars. The freeze drying process immobilizes the protein molecules in order to stop them from interacting with other protein molecules. To obtain the best stability, the protein molecules should be isolated from each other. In this study, two protein molecules (IgG from bovine serum and LDH from rabbit muscle) were freeze dried in the presence of several different sugars. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy was then used to determine whether the proteins were interacting with the sugars or formed separate regions containing either pure protein or pure sugar. The results showed that a disaccharide sugar, trehalose, had

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the best ability to interact with the proteins, and also had the best stability upon storage. Higher molecular weight sugars, such as dextrans, separated into different regions, and had poor stability upon storage. The results showed that solid-state NMR spectroscopy is an excellent tool to predict protein stability upon storage. Keywords: protein, stability, characterization, NMR

32 . An Herbal Medicine for Type II Diabetes Dekui Zhang* Hospital Care Physicians, Columbus, IN

Herbal medicines have the potential to treat multiple mechanisms of diabetes. The current herbal medicines are not effective due to the following: 1) Most of the active compounds in diabetic herbs are glycosides and polyphenols. The linking sugars needs to be hydrolyzed before they can be absorbed through small intestine. 2) Large compounds cannot be absorbed in the GI tract. We pre-processed the herbs to remove the sugar motifs from the herbal compounds to improve their absorption. They will be further purified to remove compounds smaller than of 200 Daltons (contaminants), or larger than 5000 Daltons (unable to absorb). Methods: 8 different herbs are selected to cover all mechanisms of diabetes. They are preprocessed to remove the sugar motifs. Diabetes rats were generated by injection of small dose of Streptozocin and fed a high fat diet. Results: There is no reduction of glucose after eight treated normal rats were treated for 10 days. Five diabetic rats were treated for two months with herbal medicine, four were treated

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with similar jelly food without medicine. The average HbA1c was 6.56 for treatment group, 10.9 for controls. There was no difference with body weight, blood pressure, liver function and lipid panel. Conclusion: Our product reliably improved the glucose levels in the diabetic rat model. We are in the process of isolating compounds in the molecular weight range of 200-5000 Daltons. We will also test if our drug can protect pancreatic function and prevent diabetic related complications such as diabetic nephropathy. Keywords: diabetes, herbal medicine

33 . Identifying Factors that Regulate Broad-spectrum Resistance to Phytophthora spp Qing-ming Gao(1), MB Shine*(1), Ed Dixon(1), Kenneth Seebold(2), Aardra Kachroo(1) (1)Department of Plant Pathology, University of Kentucky; (2)Valent USA, Lexington, Kentucky

Phytophthora rots affect a large number of crop and horticultural plants causing billions of dollars in economic losses. Prominent examples of Phytophthora losses include the Irish potato famine (P. infestans) and sudden oak death (P. ramorum). Some Phytophthora species like P. cinnamomi, P. parasitica (syn. P. nicotianae) infect many plant species, whereas others like P. sojae (syn, P. megasperma f.sp. glycinea) infect specific hosts. By utilizing existing knowledge of plant defense signaling pathways we identified factors important for defense against Phytophthora in tobacco and soybean. We tested several known

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chemical inducers of plant defense including salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), azelaic acid (AzA), glycerol, and glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) for their efficacy in protecting against black shank in tobacco and Phytophthora rot in soybean. Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and soybean (Glycine max) plants were treated with the different chemicals followed by infection with P. nicotianae and P. sojae, respectively. Disease progression was monitored over time. We find that exogenous application of glycerol or SA enhance soybean resistance to P. sojae; SA and glycerol application each resulted in an ~ 75% or 87% survival rate, respectively. In contrast, only exogenous glycerol, but not SA, enhanced tobacco resistance to P. nicotianae. Consistent with this finding, soybean plants defective in SA biosynthesis show enhanced susceptibility to P. sojae. We are currently comparing the transcriptional changes in tobacco and soybean in response to Phytophthora infection using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Keywords: Phytophthora, plant defense, black shank, Phytophthora rot

34 . Crosslinker Releasing Suture Coatings for Reducing Suture Pull-Out Occurrence through Damaged Connective Tissue Sharath Sundararaj(1), Paul Slusarewicz(1,2), Matt Brown*(1), and Tom Hedman(1,2) (1)Orthopeutics L.P.; (2)University of Kentucky

The most common mode of surgical repair

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of ruptured tendons and ligaments involves the use of sutures for reattachment. However, there is high incidence of rerupture and failure of repair due to pulling out of the suture material from the recovering connective tissue. The main goal of this research is to achieve a localized delivery of crosslinking agent genipin (GP) from rapid-release biodegradable coatings on sutures, for strengthening the repair of ruptured connective tissue. Our hypothesis is that GP released from the suture coating will lead to crosslinking of native connective tissue resulting in beneficial effects on clinically relevant mechanical parameters. Methods: Prototypes were fabricated by coating sutures with a polymer layer containing genipin and a plasticizing agent. The amount of GP loaded in the suture coating was quantified and the tensile strength of the coated sutures was compared with that of uncoated controls. The coated and control sutures were tested in a standard surgical knot in equine tendons. Results and Discussion: The testing showed that ample GP can be loaded into the suture coating, and there was no significant difference in load to failure between the coated and control sutures. Tensile testing of the tendonsuture construct showed that the energyto-failure, failure load and stiffness of the treated tendon increased by 135% (p=0.007), 67 % (p=0.012) and 21 % (p=0.003) respectively. These results suggest that the genipin released from the suture coatings was successful in improving the mechanical properties of the connective tissue, thus strengthening the surgical repair. Keywords: coated suture, controlled release coating, genipin, tendon and ligament repair

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35 . Engineering Islets with Immunomodulatory Proteins for the Induction of Tolerance and Treatment of Type I Diabetes Kyle Woodward*, Hong Zhao, Sanjay K. Singh, Haval Shirwan, and Esma S Yolcu Institute for Cellular Therapeutics and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Louisville

Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the islet cells of the pancreas are destroyed by the bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own immune system. Type I diabetes is treated clinically by islet transplantation; however, transplants are often short lived due to allograft rejection and recurring autoimmunity. T cells play a major role in islet destruction and transplant rejection. As such, our lab developed two fusion immunomodulatory proteins, which target pathogenic T cells for physical elimination or functional inactivation. These two molecules are easily engineered for display on the surface of biotinylated islets. In a chemically diabetic mouse model, allogeneic islets engineered with either or both molecules survived indefinitely when coupled with a short course of immunosuppression by rapamycin. When co-engineered with both molecules, allogeneic islets survived indefinitely in 25 % of chemically diabetic mice in the absence of immunosuppressive drugs. However, in an autoimmune mouse model, NOD mice transplanted with allogeneic islets engineered with these two molecules alone or together failed to maintain euglycemia even when combined with rapamycin treatment. These findings suggest that these 2 immunomodulatory

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proteins have the potential to overcome T cell responses in allograft rejection, but may not be sufficient to control them in the case of autoimmunity, or that other cells may play a major role in autoimmune diabetes. Supported in parts by AHA 09GRNT2380136, KDR-PP09-23, NIH T32 AI055456, and ADA 1-12-BS-191. KSEF148-502-13-318/KSEF-2927-RDE 016 Keywords: type I diabetes, tolerance, islet transplantation, immunomodulation

36 . A Zebrafish Assay for Testing Ototoxicity of Platinum-Based Anti-Cancer Drugs Jerry D. Monroe*(1), Michael E. Smith(1), Kevin M. Williams(2) (1)Department of Biology, Western Kentucky University, (2)Department of Chemistry, Western Kentucky University

Auditory hair cells in vertebrates are the sensory cells that transduce acoustical signals into neural ones thereby enabling hearing. In mammals, when these terminally-differentiated cells are damaged or lost, the result is permanent hearing loss as the hair cells do not regenerate. Current platinum-based chemotherapy drugs like cisplatin are diamine liganded, bind DNA by forming bifunctional adducts and are also highly ototoxic causing sensory hair cell and hearing loss. Recently synthesized heterocyclic- and triamine-liganded platinum(II) compounds bind DNA differently than diamine-liganded drugs and could target alternate cellular pathways causing reduced hair cell death. The goal of this project is to find platinum(II) compounds that kill cancer cells, while avoiding hearing loss. This

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research will be conducted both in vitro and in vivo in a zebrafish model. Specifically, we will test the cytotoxicity of seven novel platinum(II) compounds in six cancer cell lines. If a compound is cytotoxic, i.e., exhibits anti-cancer activity, it will then be tested for ototoxicity in a zebrafish hair cell model. Cisplatin is ototoxic to zebrafish lateral line and inner ear hair cells, but the ototoxicity of the novel platinum(II) compounds has not yet been tested. Ototoxicity will be quantified via auditory evoked potential hearing tests, cell death assays and hair cell counts. Keywords: hair cell, ototoxicity, zebrafish, platinum(II) complexes, cancer

37 . Optogenetic and Anatomical Characterization of Thalamocortical Synaptic Targets in the Mouse Lateral Extrastriate Cortex Na Zhou*, Sean P. Masterson, William Guido, and Martha E. Bickford Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology, University of Louisville

To begin to determine the cortical circuits activated by the pulvinar nucleus, we used optogenetic techniques to study the projections from the mouse lateral posterior nucleus (LPN, rodent pulvinar homologue) to the lateral extrastriate cortex (LES). We used a viral vector to induce the expression of the channel rhodopsin variant Chimera EF with I170 mutation (ChIEF) and a red fluorescent protein (TdTomato) in LPN cells and their axon projections. Coronal slices of the LES were prepared and whole cell recordings were obtained in regions that contained

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TdTomato-labeled thalamocortical axons (distributed primarily in layers I and IV). ChIEF-expressing terminals were photoactivated with 1-10ms blue light pulses and monosynaptic connections were identified by excitatory postsynaptic potentials/currents (EPSPs/EPSCs) that exhibited a fixed latency and amplitudes that increased in proportion to light intensity. These monosynaptic responses were abolished in the presence of 1 µM tetrodotoxin (TTX), but could be elicited in the presence of 1 µM TTX when paired with 1 mM 4-aminopyridine. We found that most cells (87 %) in layer IV of the LES (n = 70) responded to activation of LPN-LES terminals with large amplitude monosynaptic EPSPs that depress when stimulated at frequencies > 5Hz. Biocytin was included in our pipettes to reveal the morphology of the recorded cells. Of 53 filled responsive cells we found that 29 (55 %) were pyramidal cells, 15 (28%) were spiny stellate cells and the remainder did not clearly fall into either category. Our results indicate that the LPN can strongly influence the activity of the LES. Keywords: lateral posterior nucleus, visual cortex, channel rhodopsin, synaptic potentials, ultrastructure

38 . Elimination of Lag Time in Wound Healing Harshini Sarojini*, Sarah Eichenberger, Cuibo Yang, and Sufan Chien Price Institute of Surgical Research, Hiram C Polk Jr. MD Department of Surgery, University of Louisville

lag time before the appearance of granulation tissue. This lag time could be detrimental in wounds leading to infection and necrosis, but no one has ever been able to change it. We have discovered that when we used an intracellular ATP delivery (ATP-vesicles) in acute rabbit ear wounds, this lag time could be eliminated, resulting in fast wound healing. We hypothesized that when intracellular ATP delivery was used, it might activate new pathways that cause rapid macrophage trafficking and proliferation to fill the defect quickly. Rabbit ear wound model was used with four wounds on each ear. Two were treated with 10mM ATP-vesicles and the others with controls (normal saline or Regranex). In ATP-vesicle-treated wounds, new tissue started to regenerate within 24 hours, and immunohistochemical analysis showed massive macrophage trafficking and proliferating in situ. CD68 showed the cells as macrophages and CD-163 showed cells as M2 macrophages. IL-13R revealed an alternate pathway for direct collagen synthesis and rapid wound closure in ATP treated wounds. Reepithelialization tunneled through the granulation tissue, revealing perfectly healed defects without hypertrophic scar formation. A similar growth pattern was not seen in control dressings. The elimination of the traditional lag time and the survival of massive cells in wound cavities without any blood supply are two features never achieved with any other treatments. If these results could be duplicated in humans, it may revolutionize the wound management strategy. Keywords: ATP-Vesicles,collagen, macrophages, wound healing

Wound healing process involves hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling, which causes 3–6 days of

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39 . Biodegradable Polymers of Natural Antioxidants to Treat Oxidative Stress Nihar M Shah*, Joseph Wyse, J Zach Hilt, and Thomas D Dziubla Bluegrass Advanced Materials, LLC, Lexington, Kentucky

Oxidative stress, which damages cells and tissues, is a key causative mechanism of a number of human diseases, viz. oral mucositis, dermal ageing, inflammatory bowel disease and chronic ulcers. These diseases affect millions of patients, inflicting tremendous physical and mental burden, besides billions of dollars in healthcare costs. A number of antioxidants such as vitamin C and E, and polyphenols have been evaluated for treating these conditions by controlling the oxidative stress. However, delivering efficacious doses of an antioxidant to the disease site has remained a major barrier to success due to a combination of rapid degradation, poor solubility and/or first pass metabolism, preventing clinical approval. Our innovation is in the local and prolonged delivery of antioxidants to tissues to increase their efficacy in treating diseases. Our proprietary technology converts naturally-derived polyphenolic antioxidants into biodegradable polymers. The protected antioxidant molecules release continuously when water slowly breaks down the polymer, and then, they scavenge reactive oxygen and nitrogen species responsible for oxidative stress. The polymer degradation and antioxidant release rates are tunable from hours to weeks by selection of the polymer chemistry. We are currently developing two products using our technology: 1) an oral barrier rinse containing polymer microparticles of the antioxidant curcumin

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to treat oral mucositis and, 2) a cream containing polymer microparticles of the antioxidant resveratrol to treat dermal ageing. The oral rinse will deliver curcumin into the oral tissues over 12-24 hours, while the cream will deliver resveratrol into the skin over 12 hours. Keywords: oral mucositis, dermal ageing, antioxidants, oxidative stress, natural, sustained release, biodegradable, tunable

40 . Novel Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Brett T. Spear*(1), Roberto Gedaly(2), Joe Wyse(3), and Jim Stice (3) (1)Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky; (2)Department of Surgery, University of Kentucky, and (3)TwinStar TDS, Lexington, Kentucky

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide with a dismal 5-year survival rate of 16%. HCC incidence is increasing in the United States which is due, in part, to obesity-associated non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Because obesity continues to increase, there is heightened concern about the relationship between HCC and NAFLD. One challenge is the paucity of effective anti-HCC drugs. Furthermore, HCC tumors are often difficult to treat with systemic chemotherapy. Direct ethanol injection into liver tumors to kill cancer cells has been used with some success, although one problem with this strategy is the inefficient distribution of ethanol from the needle tip throughout the tumor. Thus, new and improved anti-HCC therapies are needed. Studies proposed here will compare standard needles with a

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novel micro-porous catheter developed by TwinStar TDS for the infusion of ethanol and drugs into liver tumors using a rabbit model system. Preliminary studies using ex vivo injections into porcine livers indicate that the micro-porous catheter significantly improves the distribution of agents into the liver compared to injections using a standard needle. These studies could improve HCC treatment and be extended to tumors in other tissues. This approach may allow current drugs to be used at higher concentrations and facilitate the development of novel anti-cancer drugs that could be directly delivered to tumors rather than given systemically. These studies will help improve the health of Kentuckians, promote the medical devices industry in our Commonwealth, and provide the framework for future funding opportunities. Keywords: liver, cancer, ethanol, drug infusion, beta-catenin

41 . Plant Salt Stress Tolerance and the Cytoskeleton Jasmina Kurepa*, Tim Shull, and Jan Smalle Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky

Salt stress is a major limiting factor for agricultural productivity. The plant cell response to salt stress includes a fast disassembly of cortical microtubules (MTs) followed by the reassembly of a new MT network believed to be better suited to withstand high salinity (Wang et al., 2007; Wang et al., 2011). We have previously shown that this MT disassembly response requires the accelerated and ubiquitin/26S proteasome-dependent degradation of

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SPIRAL1 (SPR1), a MT-Associated Protein (MAP) that regulates directional plant cell expansion by promoting microtubule stability. In this project, we have investigated this SPR1 degradation mechanism by analyzing the effects of targeted amino acid substitutions on SPR1 stability and function. These analyses have identified a conserved lysine that is required for SPR1 degradation and most likely serves as the attachment site for ubiquitin. In addition, a threonine residue was identified that is important for both SPR1 proteolysis and salt tolerance. As a putative phosphorylation site, this Thr potentially links SPR1 degradation with the salt stress signaling mechanism. References: Wang, C., Li, J., and Yuan, M. (2007). Salt tolerance requires cortical microtubule reorganization in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell Physiol 48, 1534-1547. Wang, S., Kurepa, J., Hashimoto, T., and Smalle, J.A. (2011b). Salt stress-induced disassembly of Arabidopsis cortical microtubule arrays involves 26S proteasome-dependent degradation of SPIRAL1. Plant Cell 23, 3412-3427. Keywords: plant salt tolerance, stress response, proteolysis, cytoskeleton

42 . Understanding the Mechanisms for AphidDerived Toxicity Toward Ladybeetles Jennifer A. White*, Jason A. Wulff, and Allison C. Dehnel Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky

The standing paradigm for tri-trophic chemical interactions between plants, herbivores, and natural enemies is that

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herbivorous insects use chemicals from their host plants to defend themselves against predators. Consequently, when an insect species is found to have to have different defensive qualities when feeding on different host plants, it is generally assumed that differential toxicity is a property of underlying differences in plant chemistry, rather than variation in the herbivore. In the cowpea aphid, Aphis craccivora, this assumption is faulty. It has been documented for decades that A. craccivora from some host plants (e.g. black locust) are toxic to the Asian ladybeetle, Harmonia axyridis, but our data show that this toxic effect is a function of aphid lineage, not host plant. Here we investigate the mechanism of this novel herbivore-derived toxicity using whole transcriptome shotgun sequencing (RNAseq) to compare gene expression of "toxic" and "nontoxic" A. craccivora lineages, and also to compare the transcriptomes of H. axyridis feeding on the two aphid lineages. Keywords: bacterial endosymbionts, defense, predation, RNA-seq, tri-trophic interactions

43 . Single Molecule Studies of Membrane Receptors Faruk Moonschi*, Ashley Fox, and Chris Richards Department of Chemistry, University of Kentucky

Complex protein structures, such as membrane receptors, regulate many aspects of cellular function including the initiation of signal transduction pathways. Oligomeric transmembrane receptors composed of multiple subunits can often be assembled into more than one stoichiometry. Different receptor

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assemblies exhibit different agonist sensitivity, functional characteristics, and desensitization rates. We have developed methods to quantify at the single molecule level the assembly of membrane receptors from the endoplasmic reticulum and from the plasma membrane. Using nanovesicles composed of native cell membranes allows us to isolate and study oligomeric structures from intercellular organelles. By restricting the size of the vesicle, single intact receptors can be isolated from the cell. The receptor remains embedded in a native cell membrane providing an environment capable of maintaining its structural integrity. We have demonstrated the versatility of this method by isolating and studying several classes of membrane receptors. We have also utilized arrays of nanoapertures in a thin metal film to isolate small portions of the plasma membrane of live cells. This has enabled us to isolate and study membrane receptors expressed on the surface of the cell. We have applied these techniques to determine the assembly of nicotinic receptor and the effect of ligands on this process. Keywords: membrane receptors, single molecule, plasmon, fluorescence

44 . Intracellular ATP Delivery Enhances Incisional Wound Healing Sufan Chien*, Harshini Sarojini, and Rong Wan Department of Surgery, University of Louisville

This study was to test a newly developed intracellular ATP delivery technique (VitaSolTM) for incisional skin wound

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healing. Twenty adult rabbits were used and two full thickness skin incisional wounds were made on both sides of dorsal midline and the wounds were closed. The study wounds were treated with VitaSolTM mixed with a neutral cream, and the control wounds were treated with neutral cream only. Dressing changes were made daily and the animals were sacrificed at days 7 and 14. The wounds removed for biomechanical and histologic tests. The peak stress was higher in study group than that in control group (0.71 MPa vs. 0.35 MPa at day 7, and 2.59 MPa vs. 1.68 MPa at day 14). The ultimate tensile strength was much higher in the study group than the controls (104±16 g/mm2 vs. 35±3 g/mm2 at day 7, and 187±31 g/mm2 vs 136±19 g/mm2, at day 14). The Young’s modulus was higher in the study than the controls (0.838±0.132 ksi vs. 0.346±0.033 ksi at day 7, and 2.719±0.192 ksi vs. 1.092±0.068 ksi at day 14). Wounds treated by VitaSolTM showed a notable increase of collagen deposition: Van Gieson staining of wound sections revealed that in the study group, there was 50.21 % and 80.52% positive for red Van Gieson staining on day 7 and day 14 after surgery compared to 19.8 % and 50.2 % for the control group. These results indicated that intracellular ATP delivery increased incisional wound strengths which was accompanied by enhanced collagen production. Keywords: Incisional, wounds, break strength, ATP, intracellular delivery, collagen

45 . A Novel Paradigm for Protection and Treatment for Seasonal Allergies

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Sudhirdas Prayaga*(1) and Changaram Venugopal(2) (1)Antibody Research Corporation, Saint Charles, Missouri; (2)Equine Health Studies, Veterinary Clinical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University

We have identified a novel peptide (AS001) which provided protection from seasonal allergies. Our hypothesis is that peptide sequence from environmental allergens may be used as potential immunotherapy candidate for seasonal allergies. Seasonal allergy is caused by exposure of susceptible individuals to environmental allergens, such as pollens and microbes, which causes the release of inflammatory mediators causing the symptoms of allergy. Currently there is no treatment or therapy for allergy, except controlling the symptoms of the disease. The protective peptide AS001 is part of a native protein, against which we found significant amount of ‘auto-antibodies’ in healthy horses compared to animals with recurrent airway obstruction (RAO), an animal model for seasonal allergy. Computational sequence analysis of AS001 identified significant homology to various environmental allergens, including the common etiological agent Aspergillus. Currently we are validating our hypothesis that immune response can be modified to induce protection with proper vaccination protocol using AS001. Data will be presented indicating the ability of AS001 to induce antibody responses in foals and some preliminary passive immunotherapy and active vaccination data in adult horses. Keywords: seasonal allergy, RAO, immunotherapy

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46 . Applying Next Generation Sequencing Technology to Estimate Biodiversity: A New Tool to Accurately, Rapidly, and Efficiently Solve an Old Problem Michael J. Sharkey and Eric G. Chapman* Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky

The number of species on Earth has been debated for centuries and current estimates range over an order of magnitude. Even rather low estimates of ~6.1 million arthropod species imply that over 250 years of Linnaean-based taxonomy has only described ~1/5 of the Earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biodiversity. With the current rate of biodiversity loss, it is a certainty that many arthropod species will become extinct before they are known to science. For this reason, and many others, it is of interest to document biodiversity now and advanced DNA sequencing techniques provide a means. This research applies next-generation sequencing technology (Illumina MiSeq) to record the genetic diversity of a Kentucky forest. Bulk arthropod samples were extracted and a species-diagnostic mitochondrial DNA region (COI) was amplified with newlydeveloped universal primers and sequenced. Bioinformatics software was used to compute the number of unique sequences and calculate the number of species present based on sequence similarity. This methodology is a vast improvement over those of a recent multimillion dollar study which took over 100 taxonomists a decade to arrive at an approximation with wide variance. By relying on sequence data alone it is

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possible to design a repeatable protocol that can be used anywhere on Earth by just a few researchers. The results of this study will create a new standard in biodiversity measurement that can be used to create an accurate estimate of global arthropod diversity. Our methods can be applied to track environmental impacts of global climate change or human-induced landscape changes over time. Keywords: species diversity, Arthropoda, bioinformatics, DNA barcodes, illumina sequencing

47 . Exploring a Novel Mechanism for Pathogenic Adaptation in Fungi Mark Farman* Department of Plant Pathology, Advanced Genetic Technologies Center, University of Kentucky

Fungal pathogens are major constraints to global agricultural production. The most effective, economical and ecologically sound method for controlling fungal plant diseases is to use resistant plant germplasm. Unfortunately, however, fungi have an uncanny ability to defeat host resistance, causing resistant cultivars rapidly to lose their efficacy. Consequently, one has continually to identify new sources of resistance to keep diseases at bay. A key hurdle in the quest for durable plant disease resistance is that fungal pathogenic variability remains poorly understood. My lab studies the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, a devastating pathogen of cereal crops, forage grasses and turf; and the primary model for studying fungal:plant interactions. Work from our lab and others has shown that fungi can defeat host resistance by

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mutating or losing genes that code for secreted proteins that would normally be recognized by the host plant and trigger a host defense response. Recent studies in my lab suggest that fungal pathogens may use additional strategies to subvert the hostâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surveillance system. Specifically, our data indicate that fungal genes coding for secreted proteins are differentially expressed in different infection sites on a single rice leaf. We hypothesize that this is an adaptive strategy and is widely used by fungal pathogens to avoid host recognition and, hence, increase the probability of successful infection. If true, this would open a new paradigm for fungal-host interactions and would provide new opportunities for combating plant diseases caused by fungi. Indeed, it may alter completely the way we breed plants for resistance to fungal pathogens. The specific objective of the project will be to test the above hypothesis using molecular genetic and cytological approaches to examine in individual infection sites the expression of specific fungal proteins that are known to trigger defenses responses in plants. Keywords: rice blast, plant pathogen, gene expression, epigenetics

48 . Differential Undertaking Response to Corpses with Different Postmortem Times in a Subterranean Termite Qian Sun*, Kenneth Haynes, Xuguo Zhou Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky

Undertaking behavior is the disposal of dead individuals in social colonies to

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prevent potential pathogenic attack, and is generally considered an essential adaptation to social living. In Reticulitermes flavipes, the most common subterranean termite in North America, workers exhibit differential undertaking response toward corpses with different postmortem times. Specifically, newly deceased corpses were retrieved and cannibalized by R. flavipes workers, whereas aged corpses were buried. To link chemical profile with behavioral repertoire, death-related chemicals were documented postmortem in R. flavipes using gas chroma-tography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that two volatiles, 3octanone and 3-octanol, appeared immediately after the death, while fatty acids, phenol, and indole gradually built up with a longer postmortem time. Using an integrative approach combining chemical ecology and behavioral bioassay, specific effects of these chemicals on undertaking response were investigated. Keywords: undertaking behavior, colony hygiene, Reticulitermes flavipes, eusociality

49 . Characterization of S. Aureus Family II Pyrophosphatase PpaC and the Functional Relevance of Dimerization Xinyi Zhang*(1), Wei Lu(1), Cui Ye(1), Harry LeVine III(2,3) and Yinan Wei(1) (1)Department of Chemistry, Univerisity of Kentucky; (2)Sanders-Brown Center on Aging; (3)Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, University of Kentucky

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Inorganic pyrophosphatase (PPase) catalyzes the hydrolysis of pyrophosphate, which provides energy for many cellular processes. Based on sequence homologue, PpaC from Staphylococcus aureus has been identified as an inorganic PPase. Here, we recombinantly expressed and purified PpaC in its active form in Escherichia coli. We found that consistent with other family II PPases, PpaC from S. aureus 1) preferred Mn2+ for activity; 2) catalyzed the hydrolysis of pyrophosphate but not ATP; and 3) existed as a dimer. Metal binding is critical for the function of family II PPases and has been shown to drive dimerization. To elucidate the functional role of dimerization, we introduced several point mutations at the dimer interface to decouple dimerization from metal binding. The dimer interface is distant from the active site. Therefore, mutations at the dimer interface are not likely to directly affect substrate binding. Two mutants were identified, Y111S and R99M, that existed predominantly as monomers when purified. Both mutants retained metal binding properties but completely lost their catalytic activities. These results suggest that dimerization was not merely a passive consequence of metal binding, but rather a critical activation process for family II PPase activity. In addition, unlike most known metalloenzymes, metal binding did not increase the thermal stability of PpaC. In the presence or absence of metal ions, PpaC denatured into completely different unfolded states upon thermal denaturation. Keywords: protein folding, protein stability

50 . Investigation of Alternative Antigens for Improvement of the

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Streptococcus equi SeM ELISA J.K. Morrow*(1), J.F. Timoney(2), A.J. Graves(1), and S.C. Artiushin(2) (1)Equine Diagnostic Solutions LLC; (2)Gluck Equine Research Center, University of Kentucky

Strangles is an infection of the respiratory tract of horses caused by the bacterium Streptococcus equi. It is highly contagious and can have significant medical and economic impact. Although not common, severe medical complications may occur including metastatic abscesses, myositis, latent infection of the guttural pouch, and purpura hemorrhagica. These conditions are often linked to strong immune responses to the protein antigens of S. equi bacterial cells. An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) is often used to determine existing antibody levels against the highly immunogenic SeM protein. These levels aid in diagnosing current or recent infection, guide in making vaccination decisions and identify hyperimmune complications. However, this assay may detect falsely elevated levels in sera from horses infected with Streptococcus zooepidemicus, due to cross-reactivity of antigens of this closely related bacterium. That said, for routine diagnostic testing it would be difficult to know or distinguish horses infected with S. zooepidemicus. In the current study, alternative assay antigens were compared to SeM protein. While none of them individually seemed to inherently improve the specificity of the SeM assay, two were noted to have associations with either early S. equi infection or vaccination. Additional antigens to test and experimental sample sets are needed to identify antigens that can specifically distinguish infections caused by S. equi and S. zooepidemicus.

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Keywords: Streptococcus equi, strangles, equine infectious disease, SeM ELISA

51 . Function Screens that Clarify Variants of Uncertain Significance Linked to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Jennifer L. Smith(1), Allison R. Reloj(1), David J. Tester(2), Michael J. Ackerman(2), Mark Farman(1), and Brian P. Delisle*(1) (1)University of Kentucky; (2)Mayo Clinic

Genome-wide studies have identified large numbers of sequence variants linked to a wide range of diseases. A current challenge is to identify which of the many variants have direct causal links to disease physiology. Inevitably gene-to-function screens will play critical roles in making these connections. Once the identities of genes underlying specific diseases are discovered, this in turn provides new insights into pathophysiological processes, identifies new targets for therapeutics, and allows the development of suitable genetic tests. However, where efficient gene-tofunction screens will really come into their own, it is the characterization of the many private mutations that will be discovered when patients submit to these tests. Genes associated with many diseases tend to exhibit extremely high allelic diversity so that sequence based genetic testing very often identifies large numbers of previously undiscovered mutations whose roles in disease causation are unclear. Despite this uncertainty, patients with private mutations often receive a positive diagnosis and a possible risk of being mis-treated or overtreated. This risk can be easily avoided if

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assays are performed to test the physiological functions of a variant before any conclusions or management decisions have been made. In this presentation we investigate the pathological significance of several cardiac K+ channel variants linked to sudden infant death syndrome. Keywords: gene, mutation, ion channel, screen

52 . Parameter Estimations of Sigmoidal Models of Cancer Ferhan Atici*(1), Mustafa Atici*(2), and Ngoc Nguyen(1) (1)Department of Mathematics, Western Kentucky University; (2)Department of Computer Science, Western Kentucky University

In this project, we introduce fractional sigmoidal curves and estimate their parameters to fit the given tumor growth data. We outline approximation techniques to choose the appropriate exponential functions of discrete and continuous fractional calculus. We demonstrate how to replace the exponential function $e^{-ct}$ in the existing continuous time models with these functions. We use the tumor growth data which were taken over consecutive 17 days, for 28 mice. We apply residual sum of squares and cross-validation methods to compare models on data fitting and predictive performances. Estrus cycle stages of measurement are also taken into account when comparing the models. Keywords: data fitting, sigmoidal curves, fractional calculus

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53 . Drilling for Biofuel: Uncovering the Potential of Wasp Venom for the Production of Renewable Energy Victoria G. Pook*(1) and Seth Debolt(2) (1)Department of Horticulture, University of Kentucky; (2)Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky

Lignocellulosic biomass is the earth's most abundant renewable resource and provides an inexpensive feedstock for bioethanol production. However, conversion of lignocellulose to ethanol is costly, with delignification constituting the main expense, thereby limiting production of energy from this source. Naturally occurring enzymes that degrade lignin may provide environmentally friendly biocatalysts for the deconstruction of the plant cell wall facilitating more efficient production of biofuels. This project investigates the presence of such enzymes in the venom of wasps of the genus Megarhyssa. These parasitic wasps penetrate up to four inches of hardwood in a matter of minutes to lay eggs on their hosts, the larvae of siricid woodwasps which bore galleries inside tree trunks. The appendage used for drilling (the ovipositor) is as fine as a horse hair with no evidence of cutting teeth. Furthermore, unlike other wasps that drill into wood, no sawdust is generated during drilling, indicating that in members of Megarhyssa, this process is not simply mechanical. Scanning electron microscopy of the drilled holes show that the plant cell walls are collapsed and it is postulated that lignolytic enzymes are secreted from the ovipositor facilitating the penetration of wood. This project will investigate the effect of Megarhyssa

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venom on lignocellulosic biomass and will examine the genes and proteins involved in the production of this venom using next generation sequencing technology and state of the art mass spectrometry techniques. The results of this study may reveal a new source of biocatalysts that could revolutionize biofuel production. Keywords: Parasitic wasp, Megarhyssa, transcriptomics, proteomics, lignin, renewable energy

54 . A Rapid, Simple, and Inexpensive Method for the Preparation of Strand-Specific RNA-Seq Libraries Arthur G. Hunt* Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky

High throughput sequencing of short cDNA tags, or RNA-Seq, has become a staple of genome-wide gene expression studies in plants. In addition, RNA-Seq libraries necessarily contain tags that correspond to the mRNA-poly(A) junction, or polyadenylation site, and thus may be mined for data that can help study alternative polyadenylation. This report presents a simple, rapid, and inexpensive method for preparing strand-specific RNASeq libraries. The method detailed on this poster has the following features: (1) it generates strand-specific sequence tags without the need for modified nucleotide precursors, (2) it is easily adaptable to different high-throughput sequencing platforms, (3) it allows for extensive, userdefined barcoding and thus for multiplexing of samples at the sequencing step, and (4) it is rapid and involves a minimal number of steps. Pertinent to the last point,

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modifications such as end-polishing, addition of untemplated tracts using reagents other than reverse transcriptase and ligations are avoided. Importantly, the method in principle can be used to generate strand-specific RNA-Seq libraries from RNA isolated from bacteria as well as from eukaryotes. Because of these features, and because the cost per library is very low, the method is well-suited for teaching as well as research purposes in undergraduate as well as graduate laboratory settings. Keywords: high throughput sequencing, transcriptomics, genomics

55 . Harnessing Starch Using Thermophilic Starch Kinases and Phosphatases Matthew S. Gentry*, Craig W. Vander Kooi, and Satrio Husodo College of Medicine, Center for Structural Biology, University of Kentucky

Starch is the major energy reserve in plants and is comprised of polymer chains of glucose units. The glucose chains are interact and form helices that make starch water-insoluble. This insolubility renders the starch surface inaccessible to most enzymes, including the amylase enzymes that break it down. To circumvent this issue, starch-based feedstocks are generated by an approach that utilizes harsh chemical (acids and bases) and physical (>100째C) extremes combined with large quantities of amylase enzymes to degrade starch for industrial applications. The physical modification produces high energy costs due to both milling the material and providing the energy to cycle temperatures between 50째C and >100째C

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heat necessary to liquefy starch. In addition to physical modification, large amounts of acids and bases are utilized to increase enzymatic accessibility. Large quantities of these chemicals are costly to purchase and companies also incur the cost of disposing of these hazardous chemicals. Finally, large quantities of recombinant a-amylase are used to convert the complex sugar into fermentable glucose. Amylases are second only to proteases in the global enzyme market, representing ~25% of the total global enzyme market with sales for amylases of >$700 million/year. Thus, the inefficiencies in the process results in both increased costs and environmental concerns related to feedstock chemical treatments. Clearly plants do not utilize excess heat or acid and base treatment to solubilize starch. Instead, we discovered a reversible reaction whereby plants modify starch to make it more accessible to amylases. Our technology takes advantage of enzymes that plants utilize to breakdown starch. Keywords: starch, phosphorylation, signaling, feedstock

56 . Do carnivorous plants and spiders compete as predators? James Krupa*(1), Kevin Hopper(2), and James Harwood(3) (1)Department of Biology, University of Kentucky; (2)Bluegrass Community and Technical College; (3)Department of Entomology, University of Kentucky

This project was the most in-depth study to have examined the community dynamics of an endangered carnivorous plant competing with an animal both as predators for the same prey. One of the

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aspects of this study was to determine the potential function of carnivorous plants giving off chemical or visual attractant to capture prey. Many researchers, including Charles Darwin, suggested this is part of the carnivorous plant syndrome. We have shown conclusively that the dwarf sundew does not produce attractant, and suggests that the vast majority of the 600 species of carnivorous plant do not produce attractants. This finding drastically alters the potential dynamic between spiders and carnivorous plants. These finding have been submitted as a manuscript to Biology Letters. Our main 12-month study yielded a vast amount of data. Our study is the first to confirm that sundews and spiders capture the same prey (springtails) providing convincing evidence that competition may occur between these two kingdoms. We also determined that where sundews are most dense, springtail densities are reduced. This is also a first showing a plant can reduce an animal predatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prey abundance. We confirmed that sheet-web spiders and wolf spiders avoid dense patches of sundews and that this suggests exploitative competition, also a first. Our PCR analyses confirmed that spiders are more likely to have springtails in their guts (thus more successful at finding prey) when they occupy sites with fewer sundews. Our results indicate that spiders rely on optimal foraging behavior to reduce competition with sundews! Keywords: sundews, spiders, competition, predation, community structure

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Commercialization Fund Technologies 57 . Automated Estrous Detection in Cattle Ashley Duvall*(1), Kyle Moss(2), Anthony Ford(2), Amer Salihovic(2), Daniel Budlove(2), Patrick Stewart(2), Ron Rizzo(2), Stacy Wilson(2), Patricia Todd(3), Bruce Schulte(4), Fred DeGraves(1) (1)Department of Agriculture, Western Kentucky University; (2)EngineeringManufacturing-Commercialization Center, Western Kentucky University; (3)Department of Marketing, Western Kentucky University; (4)Department of Biology, Western Kentucky University

One of the most important bottlenecks for cattle operations is the simple act of getting cattle pregnant. Without pregnancy, there is no milk or beef production. Many cattle operations use a process called artificial insemination (AI) to impregnate cattle. AI is the single most important technologic advancement of the livestock industry. AI has resulted in rapid genetic improvement and unprecedented production of milk and meat; more meat and milk produced with fewer animals and resources. Almost every dairy in the USA depends on AI to get cows pregnant. AI is also used on beef operations that produce breeding stock and on operations that appreciate the potential to improve genetics, production, and profit. The primary challenge with AI is deciding when to breed cows. Over the last several decades, the number of dairy cows per

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farm has steadily increased. As dairy operations increase in size, deciding when to breed cows becomes more difficult as each farm worker cares for substantially more cows. Consequently, a lower percentage of cows are detected for breeding; this has resulted in declining pregnancy rates with serious economic consequences. The objective of the new technology that is proposed for this project is to markedly improve the detection of cows for breeding. We propose to commercialize an electronic system that accurately monitors cattle for the correct time to breed and then notifies farm personnel to schedule an appointment for AI. It is anticipated that this technology will markedly improve reproductive efficiency on cattle operations and improve agricultural sustainability.

Louisville is currently developing a novel open-loop system that will directly engage the polyp stalk. The open-loop snare (OLS) is placed directly around the polyp stalk prior to polypectomy. The free end of the polyp snare is then captured, and the polyp stalk is ligated with standard electrocautery. Recent testing has demonstrated an 80 % reduction in time required to resect large polyps in a colon model compared to standard devices. Complications associated with current polypectomy snares and reduced procedure times will enhance commercial acceptance of the OLS. We are currently conducting pre-commercialization validation of the POLP system. Ultimately, clinical adoption of this device will reduce complications and the need for surgical resection of large colonic polyps.

Keywords: cattle, reproduction, estrous detection, artificial insemination, fertility

Keywords: snare, polyp, polypectomy, colonoscopy

58 . Commercialization of a Novel Open-Loop Snare

59 . A Novel Image-Based Diagnostic System for the Accurate Diagnosis of Autism

Gerald Dryden*(1), Joe Vicars(1) (1)University of Louisville

Our team has been developing a novel Platform for Open-Loop Polypectomy (POLP) system designed to improve clinical outcomes and expand the role of polypectomy for the treatment of pedunculated colon polyps. Over 14 million screening colonoscopies are performed in the US annually. Up to 35 % will find significant colon polyps. Removal of pedunculated polyps can result in acute bleeding in up to 25% of cases, or delayed bleeding in 13 %. Bleeding complications significantly drive up healthcare costs. Endoscopy Assist Devices, LLC (Louisville, KY), in conjunction with the University of

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M. Nitzken*, M. Casanova, A. ElBaz University of Louisville

Development of a non-invasive and fully automated computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) software that will assist clinicians in detecting autism in young children. The clinical benefits of the software will be improved identification of autism in young children, and better understanding of an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s diagnosis, which will lead to lower diagnostic and treatment costs and improved patient outcomes through targeted treatment.

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Keywords: autism, diagnostic, detection, brain mapping

60 . Nanomedicine for Targeted Therapy of Diverse Cancer Types Paula J. Bates*, M. Tariq Malik, Martin G. O'Toole, Donald M. Miller, Jesse W. Wilson, Gina T. Bardi, Debbie L. P. Voong, Rajat Chauhan, and Jonathan G. Sedelmeier Departments of Medicine and Bioengineering, University of Louisville

We have recently developed novel nanoparticles made from nano-sized gold spheres decorated with many strands of a structured DNA called an “aptamer”. The aptamer binds specifically to a protein (nucleolin) that is found on the surface of cancer cells but not on normal cells. This causes the particles to accumulate very selectively inside cancer cells. It also kills the cancer cells because binding to the aptamer prevents nucleolin from carrying out functions that are essential for cancer cell survival. Attachment to the gold nanoparticles serves to greatly enhance the stability and cancer-targeting ability of the aptamer, such that the aptamer-linked gold nanoparticles are up to 50-fold more effective at inhibiting cancer cells than the aptamer by itself. We predict that these nanoparticles will have many advantages over current treatments, including the following properties: (1) effective against late-stage and drug-resistant cancers, (2) suitable for treating almost any type of cancer, (3) safe with no side effects, and (4) compatible with other cancer treatments. Our goal is to move this new

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technology from “bench-to-bedside” in order to address the urgent need for new medicines for the more than 7.6 million people who die each year because currently available treatments are unable to cure their cancers. Keywords: cancer, nanoparticles, nanomedicine, gold, aptamer, nucleolin, AS1411

61 . Antiprocathepsin D Antibodies as an Indicator of Clinical Outcome in Breast Carcinoma Vaclav Vetvicka* Department of Pathology, University of Louisville

The current situation in biomarkers in breast cancer is not satisfactory. Recently, a new possibility to use the current knowledge of association of the procathepsin D with various types of cancer emerged. The major advantage is the presence of procathepsin D (pCD) in the plasma of breast cancer patients. Research conducted in our laboratory revealed the formation of anti-pCD autoantibodies which are specific to pCD and do not interact with the mature enzyme CD, making it easier to distinguish between these two molecules. In the current study, we focused on the hypothesis that antipCD autoantibodies correlate with the stage of breast cancer, thus offering a possibility to develop a non-invasive screening test. Using the recently patented method, we prepared an ELISA assay for evaluation of the presence of anti-pCD antibodies using a specifically modified synthetic activation peptide as an antigen assay. Employing Multiple Antigen Peptide,

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we were able to measure the level of antipCD autoantibodies in patient serum. Testing over 300 patients sera, we were able to correlate the levels of anti-pCD antibodies with the tumor stage and patients history. Keywords: antibodies, breast cancer, screening

62 . BingocizeTM 3.0: A Unique Mobile Application for Improving Physical and Mental Fitness in Older Adults K. Jason Crandall, Ph.D.*(1), Matthew Shake, Ph.D.(2), Guangming Xing, Ph.D.(3) (1)Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport, Western Kentucky University; (2)Department of Psychological Sciences, Western Kentucky University; (3)Department of Computer Science, Western Kentucky University

The quality of life for our nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s older adults is dependent on their ability to remain functionally independent and able to manage their own life. Exercise interventions and self-management programs (SMPs) designed to maintain or improve functional physical and mental fitness have the potential to help maintain, or even improve, quality of life for older adults. However, the majority of older adults in the United States are not participating in exercise training or SMPs. We created a program that combined bingo and exercise (BingocizeTM 1.0) to achieve an adherence rate over 80 %, while significantly improving muscular strength, flexibility, balance, and cardiorespiratory fitness in a group older adults residing in two assisted living facilities. Spurred by

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this success, a health education component (BingocizeTM 2.0) was added to improve older adultsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; knowledge of exercise, nutrition, stress management, medication usage, and communicating with physicians. To our knowledge no other program combines exercise and health education into an activity that participants enjoy. Based on our previous success, the objective of our new technology is to develop and commercialize a mobile application version of BingocizeTM 1.0 and 2.0. A mobile application provides opportunities for health professionals to engage participants in a fun activity that has more advantages than manual versions: easily modified, easy client/patient tracking, and remote play. The application will be marketed to appropriate clinical facilities (e.g., adult day-cares and long-term care facilities) as well as the general community (e.g., senior centers, assisted living, and independent living). Keywords: exercise, health education, older adults, games, cognition

63 . Remote Monitoring Of a Server in Real-Time Dalton Jantzen*, Zhongzhong Chen, Siddhartha Bhattacharyya, and Chi Shen Kentucky State University

The motivation of this research project is to reduce server downtime and information loss and therefore lessen the cost incurred under such situations. Computers are very reliable, but failures do occur with possible indications of failure. Current solutions attempt to monitor hardware failure with software installed on the failing computer.

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Those software solutions can analyze the trend of server downtime by utilizing the thresholds of server system. However, the software may cause CPU overloading. The running of software might consume substantial am of server time and delay the tasks of the server. Our solution monitors the hardware of the machine with external sensors. The sensors (wireless or wired) collect the data systematically, consistently, and 24 hours per day. The software analyzes the data to predict failure and issue various alerts. The uniqueness of this collection procedure is that the remote monitoring device will operate independently of the monitored machine. Currently, most of the monitoring software and hardware attaches to the monitored machine and cannot alert until a catastrophic failure occurs, our solution can be used to actually prevent that impending failure by alerting the user prior to the catastrophic event. The ultimate goal is to put a wireless sensor device attached outside of a server and generate the data to predict server failure in real time. The wireless monitoring system architecture consists of a sensor motes and monitoring server. The sensor motes utilize a sensor microprocessor board and communication board. The monitoring server works for data collection, data analysis and attempts to predict failures. There are a group of experiments on monitoring sensor mote under various physical conditions. Currently, the sensor motes collect physical parameters which include temperature, air flow, and vibration. The data from the sensors is parsed and used to predict healthy, warning and failure condition of the server, and also used for analysis to predict the failure. We have collected data through several experiments on which we are utilizing data mining techniques to analyze different datasets and find the relationship

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of the parameters. The ideal technique is an association rule for analyzing and predicting server failure. This technique’s approach is to discover the associations by searching massive numbers of possible associations to find co-related associations. The research method is intended to identify unrelated data in datasets, and discover the strong rules between data. Keywords: remote monitoring, server in real time

64 . Transmissive Document Scanning George V. Landon* Department of Comuter Science, Eastern Kentucky University

The dream of the “paper-less” office has yet to be realized, with a recent survey finding that 20 % of companies have increased paper usage in recent years. In fact, over half of documents scanned are 100 % “born digital”, i.e. come directly from a printer. This increase in paper document generation (along with requirements for improved searchability of business documents, compliance, and business process improvement) are all driving the document scanning market to record growth. Current technology to scan, duplicate, or in any way digitize documents typically oversimplifies the inherently complex light interactions with a document by treating them as simple reflectors of light. We present a technology that utilizes the inherently translucent nature of paper and other typical document substrates to improve scanning performance. Using transmissive scanning (light source on the opposite side of the page as the imaging device), we are able to build a statistical

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model describing the orientation and content for each imaged pixel of the document surface. For typical documents, this technology enables single-pass duplex-sided document scanning while removing bleed-through effects typical when digitizing double-sided pages. For damaged documents (such as as those with wrinkles, folds, staining), our technology enables direct 3D surface reconstruction which may be used for correcting distortion and distinguishing between ink and staining. Keywords: document analysis, Iiage processing, 3D scanning

65 . A Coupled ODE Meme Based GIS Model for an Ebola App from Data Mining Twitter Armin Smailhodzic, Keith Andrew*, Eric Steinfelds, Lance Hahn, Phil Womble, and Cathleen Webb Phyiscs and Astronomy, Psychological Sciences, and Chemistry, Western Kentucky University

We are tracking the spread of Ebola in Africa via active Twitter accounts. Using a meme based n-gram semantic usage model we search the Twitter database for indications of illness, flight and death from the spread of Ebola in Africa, principally from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Memes of interest relate disease to location and severity and are coupled to the density of Tweets and re-Tweets. The meme spreads through the community of social users in a fashion similar to nonlinear wave propagation- like shock wave. We model the spreading as a modified SIR (Susceptible, Infected,

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Removed disease model) system of three coupled nonlinear differential equations. We use a GIS based mapping algorithm to place the disease infection density at geographic locations linked to travel and census data. These maps have contour specific threat levels that are ported to an App and can be used by travels to assess the relative safety of the region they will be in. Keywords: Ebola, Twitter, GIS, data mining

66 . Green Routes to Making Copper Contacts for Solar Panels Ruvini Dharmadasa*, Thad Druffel, Menaka Jha, and Gabriel Draper Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research, University of Louisville

This project details the development of the deposition of copper inks and the subsequent sintering using pulsed light from a high intensity flash source. The intended device application is for crystalline silicon (c-Si) photovoltaics (PV), which currently utilize silver electrodes. The PV industry has in the past decade seen extremely fast growth with a current market size of nearly $100 Billion, with extremely tight margins. This extreme growth has also resulted in PV becoming a major consumer of silver recently accounting for nearly 10 percent of the global demand. As such, silver has now become a notable cost of the solar cell. Replacing the silver contacts with a lower cost material has become a major focus of the industry. It is imperative that any new materials for PV be capable of high-speed

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production and not adversely affect the performance of the PV device over an extended period (25-30 years). Our current inks are water based solutions that are synthesized using low cost materials at room temperature and do not require further processing before deposition. The inks can be deposited using very scalable process such as spray, screen printing and inkjet. The sintering by intense pulsed light is accomplished in less than a minute, much faster than the current heating techniques. Keywords: intense pulsed light, copper, ink, solar

67 . Energy-Efficient Portable Unit for Real-Time Monitoring of Environmental Hazards and Physiological Characteristics of First Responders Vladimir Dobrokhotov*, Adam Emberton, Richard Pape, Larkin Heintzman, Kyle Moss, Elena Viugina, and Alexander Larin Applied Physics Institute, Western Kentucky University

We are working on development of a new technology for quick and reliable monitoring of environmental and physiological characteristics of a first responder using a system of highlyintegrated energy efficient sensors. This light and compact system will allow fully automatic operation. The sensing system will be compatible with several wireless protocols for position and time stamp of each measurement and wireless communication for data transmission allowing the automatic data logging for

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archival purposes. The advantages of the proposed technology are the ease of deployment, low power consumption, low cost, small size, and flexible integration with other wireless sensors or devices. In addition to real-time monitoring of physiological parameters, its high gas analytical power will become available in the form of a small and inexpensive module capable of characterizing chemical states immediately on the spot. The gas recognition unit developed by our group is the first commercially available artificial olfactory system on the market. The system will have sensors and algorithms to deduce possible health effects (heart failure, poisoning, etc.) that result from the psychological and physical stress and environmental hazards. Unlike most of the presently existing devices of this kind, the characteristics will be measured continuously without interfering in the routines of everyday life. The system will be set-up to generate an alarm in case of health-threatening conditions. We believe that the outcome of this project will sufficiently help to prevent a variety of dangerous incidents and save thousands of lives. Keywords: environmental monitoring, physiological monitoring, first responder, sensor

68 . Low Voltage Electrostatic Switch Application In Energy Harvesting Ji-Tzuoh Lin*(1), Douglas Jackson(2) (1)Ambiharv Inc., (2)University of Louisville

Low-leakage switches are required to manage the scarce power that is stored in

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energy harvesting systems; however, silicon-based switch relays such as Complementary Metal-OxideSemiconductor (CMOS) and Transistor to Transistor Logic (TTL) devices consume more than the harvested power, making the energy harvesting concept unable to be implemented. In comparison with other types of switches, electrostatic actuated Micro-electromechanical System (MEMS) switches exhibit the nearly no current leakage, offer low “on” resistance and high “off” resistance and require almost zero power consumption. In this study, a large aspect ratio of length/gap from a capacitive type cantilever is proposed for a low voltage electrostatic switch. The analytical formula from closed-form model for the pull-in voltage was used to determine the dimensions of the switch. Finite element analysis (FEA) confirms the results of the analytical data. The MEMS switches were made and preliminarily verified at as low as 4.5 V actuation volts. It is specially suited for low vibration energy harvesting using piezoelectric materials given the power pattern of relatively low current and high voltage production. Keywords: electrostatic switch, vibration, energy harvesting

69. Carbon-based Siloxane Nanoarrays for Power Generation from Waste Heat Paige Huzyak*, John Ferguson, Jeremiah Sharpensteen, and Hemali Rathnayake Department of Chemistry, Western Kentucky University

Two derivatives of fused-arenes

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functionalized polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes were synthesized and fully characterized. Their electrical properties were evaluated towards organic-based thermoelectric devices. Proton NMR and FT-IR spectroscopies confirmed their purity and structure. Electrical characterizations conducted by casting thin films on glass substrates showed typical semiconductor behavior with the electrical conductivity of 36.5 x 10-3 S cm-1 for POSS-ANT and 3.1 x 10-3 S cm-1 for POSS-PDI-POSS at room temperature. The temperature dependence IV curves obtained from the test devices of both materials exhibit no improvement of electrical conductivity. Thermoelectric measurements of POSS-ANT showed promising results with the maximum power factor of 12.6 µW/K2 and Seebeck coefficient of 180.57 µV/K. Keywords: siloxane, nanoarrays, thermoelectric, electrical properties

70. Commercialization of a Patented Device for Borehole Seismic Testing Michael E. Kalinski and Rachel Adams* Department of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky

Borehole seismic testing has traditionally employed the use of devices consisting of geophones or accelerometer in a housing along with a separate inflatable bladder. When lowered into a borehole, the bladder is inflated, which allows intimate mechanical coupling between the ground and the geophones or accelerometers in the housing. These devices have been used effectively, but are relatively cumbersome and expensive. Herein, a

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smaller, lighter, less expensive devices is being commercialized. The patented design incorporates the accelerometer housing and inflatable bladder into a single, durable urethane sleeve. The device is expected to be used by geoscientists for engineering purposes as well as mineral exploration purposes. Keywords: borehole seismic, geophysics, soil dynamic

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Louisville, KY - Sept 5, 2014 / page 64

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