Digital Commons Network^™

Transforming Large-Scale Virtualized Networks: Advancements In Latency Reduction, Availability Enhancement, And Security Fortification, Ibrahim Tamim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In today’s digital age, the increasing demand for networks, driven by the proliferation of connected devices, data-intensive applications, and transformative technologies, necessitates robust and efficient network infrastructure. This thesis addresses the challenges posed by virtualization in 5G networking and focuses on enhancing next-generation Radio Access Networks (RANs), particularly Open-RAN (O-RAN). The objective is to transform virtualized networks into highly reliable, secure, and latency-aware systems. To achieve this, the thesis proposes novel strategies for virtual function placement, traffic steering, and virtual function security within O-RAN. These solutions utilize optimization techniques such as binary integer programming, mixed integer binary programming, column generation, …

Spatiotemporal Optimization Of Intratumoural Electric Field Modulation For Cancer Therapy, Erin Iredale

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The use of anti-cancer non-ablative electric fields is an expanding area of research that includes clinically available external devices for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM), and a pre-clinical internal system called Intratumoural Modulation Therapy (IMT). IMT uses multiple electrodes implanted within the tumour to apply low intensity electric fields (~1 V/cm) focused on the target region, anywhere in the brain, with no externally visible devices. In this thesis, multi-electrode spatiotemporally dynamic IMT is investigated through computer simulation, numerical optimization, brain phantom and in vitro validation methods. These planning and validation strategies are hypothesized to improve tumour coverage with the necessary …

Multi-Device Data Analysis For Fault Localization In Electrical Distribution Grids, Jacob D L Hunte

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The work presented in this dissertation represents work which addresses some of the main challenges of fault localization methods in electrical distribution grids. The methods developed largely assume access to sophisticated data sources that may not be available and that any data sets recorded by devices are synchronized. These issues have created a barrier to the adoption of many solutions by industry. The goal of the research presented in this dissertation is to address these challenges through the development of three elements. These elements are a synchronization protocol, a fault localization technique, and a sensor placement algorithm.

The synchronization protocol …

Frequency Dependent Diffusion Kurtosis Measurement In The Human Brain With Oscillating Gradients, Kevin B. Borsos

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Oscillating gradient spin-echo (OGSE) is an implementation of diffusion MRI that enables shorter effective diffusion times than the conventional pulse gradient spin-echo (PGSE) by periodically modulating the diffusion gradient. Measurements of the diffusion kurtosis, which reflects the degree of restricted diffusion, have previously been prohibited with OGSE due to technical limitations of clinical gradient systems. This thesis presents a novel oscillating gradient waveform that enables the measurement of kurtosis using OGSE without requiring advanced gradient hardware. Decreases of kurtosis are observed in OGSE acquisitions of healthy human subjects relative to PGSE, demonstrating the dependence of the kurtosis on oscillation frequency. …

Multi-Objective Optimization Of Green Transportation Operations In Supply Chain Management, Nayera Elgharably

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Supply chain is the integration of manufacturing process where raw materials are converted into final products, then delivered to customers. Supply chains consists of two basic integrated process that interact together: (1) production and inventory and (2) distribution and logistics. Maximizing competitiveness and profitability are of the main goals of a supply chain. Accounting only for economic impacts as variable and fixed costs does not serve the main goal of the supply chain. Therefore, considering customer satisfaction measures in distribution models is essential in supply chain management. Models that addressed the three objectives simultaneously handled one of the objectives as …

Optimization Of Indentation For The Material Characterization Of Soft Pva-Cryogels, Md. Mansur Ul Mulk

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Over the past few years a variety of clinical procedures aiming at tissue repair and other relevant therapies have been under active investigation [12,32]. Success of procedures aimed at soft tissue repair depend on the combined response of biochemical and biomechanical properties of the organs neighbouring the tissue [53]. Using human or animal cadaveric tissue for this purpose is very challenging due to issues pertaining to biodegradability and infection or biohazard risk factors [135,205].As such, tissue mimicking materials (e.g. Polyvinyl Alcohol Cryo-gel (PVA-C)) have been investigated to satisfy the need for the said clinical applications. Advantages of using tissue-mimicking materials …

Improved Fermentation Design And Screening Devices For Biobutanol Production, Garret Christopher Munch

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A worldwide increase in demand for renewable fuels has revived interest in fermentatively produced butanol. However, butanol fermentation suffers from low product yields and productivity. The work presented in this thesis addresses part of these research and development needs at three levels: innovative fermentation process design; genetic manipulation for strain enhancement; and the development of a new tool for anaerobic process characterization and optimization.

Product yield could be increased through traditional fermentation engineering. Co-fermentation of butyric acid with glycerol increased the butanol yield from 0.45 mol/mol (mols C in butanol / mol C in substrates) to 0.51 mol/mol. In building …

Optimization Of Simulated Electronic Medication Administration For Safe Management During Nursing Education, Laura Brennan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Background: Academic institutions have begun to implement electronic medication administration record (eMAR) technologies into simulated education for undergraduate nursing students. As these technologies are adopted, there is an increasing need to develop insights toward optimal medication administration practices, including the decision-making processes undertaken by nursing students.

Research Question: How do nursing students generate optimized medication administration processes using eMAR technology in simulated clinical practice?

Method: This study is underpinned by the theoretical lens of interdependent, cooperative Game Theory. Primary data collection was conducted using direct participant observation of nursing students administering medications using a simulated eMAR system and a semi-structured …

High Multiplicity Strip Packing Problem With Three Rectangle Types, Andy Yu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The two-dimensional strip packing problem (2D-SPP) involves packing a set R = {r₁, ..., r_n} of n rectangular items into a strip of width 1 and unbounded height, where each rectangular item r_i has width 0 < w_i ≤ 1 and height 0 < h_i ≤ 1. The objective is to find a packing for all these items, without overlaps or rotations, that minimizes the total height of the strip used. 2D-SPP is strongly NP-hard and has practical applications including stock cutting, scheduling, and reducing peak power demand in smart-grids.

This thesis considers …

Structural Optimization Of Cable-Stayed Bridges Considering The Action Of Permanent And Transitory Loads, Carolina Almeida Novaes Dos Santos

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Cable-stayed bridges are complex structures with several advantages such as aesthetical appeal, economic use of materials, and efficient construction method. Due to these advantages and the extensive knowledge gained from projects over the years, longer cable-stayed bridges are being constructed. As span lengths increase, structures become more flexible, which makes the accurate evaluation of wind loads critically important in the design of cable-stayed bridges. A large number of variables are involved in the design of cable-stayed bridges. Those include overall geometric dimensions, cross-sectional dimensions, number of stay-cables and pre-tensioning forces to be applied to the cables. Taking all variables into …

The Effect Of Low Temperature And Low Light Intensity On Nutrient Removal From Municipal Wastewater By Purple Phototrophic Bacteria (Ppb), Peyman Dalaei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There has been increased interest in alternative wastewater treatment systems to improve nutrient recovery while achieving acceptable TCOD, TN, and TP discharge limits. Purple phototrophic bacteria (PPB) have a high potential for simultaneous nutrient removal and recovery from wastewater. This study evaluated the PPB performance and its growth at different operating conditions with a focus on HRT and light optimization using a continuous-flow membrane photobioreactor (PHB). Furthermore, the effect of low temperature on PPB performance was assessed to evaluate the PPB’s application in cold-climate regions. In order to evaluate PPB performance, TCOD, TN, and TP removal efficiencies and Monod kinetic …

Chemically Enhanced Primary Treatment Processes For Wastewater Resource Redirection And Its Impact On Downstream Processes, Tianchen Dong

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

There is a recent focus within the global wastewater industry on the steps being taken by treatment facilities to move towards net zero, or in some cases, energy positive operation. As part of maximizing energy recovery from the incoming wastewater, there has been increased attention upon the energy contained in the wastewater, and maximizing the redirection of more carbon captured through the primary treatment process rather than conventional removal through carbon oxidation. The chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) process is a promising method for carbon redirection and improving the performance and efficiency of wastewater treatment processes. This research was conducted …

Optimization Studies And Applications: In Retail Gasoline Market, Daero Kim

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The study of the retail gasoline market is of great interest in financial economics, since it allows many theories about price formation, oligopolistic markets, and consumer search to be tested. In addition, the risk management of gasoline prices is an important instance of the management of any consumable commodity cost. For the retailer, the tool of dynamic pricing may be found to be useful.

This thesis contributes to the study of retail gasoline markets in three main ways, each in its own paper. The first paper tests various economic models to confirm earlier results about pricing behavior in retail gasoline …

Maintaining And Controlling An Extrinsic Biofilm For Pathogen Removal In Dental Unit Water Lines, Bilal B. Al-Bataina

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The control of biofilm formation is a major concern for industrial, environmental, and public health. Undesirable biofilms can harbor different disease-causing pathogens and shorten the operational life of different equipment. On the other hand, beneficial biofilms are also used in various applications and managing its growth and activity can be desirable. Killing the biofilm does not usually incorporate the removal of the dead biofilm structure that is adhered to the surface. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to control biofilm formation; to be able to remove, inhibit, and enhance biofilm formation. This thesis investigated the use of norspermidine, D-amino …

Treatment Of Oil Sands Process-Affected Water Using Activated And Surface Modified Petroleum Coke For Organic Compounds Recovery, Hojatallah Seyedy Niasar

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Each day large volumes of oil sands process-affected water (OSPW) are being produced during the extraction of bitumen in oil sands industry in northern Alberta. OSPW contains different polyaromatic hydrocarbons which not only are the major source of toxicity in OSPW, but also create operational problems such as corrosion of the equipment during bitumen recovery process. Therefore, these compounds need to be removed prior to the recycle of the OSPW. In this research, petroleum coke (PC) as an abundant, inexpensive adsorbent was selected as an adsorbent for recovery of chemicals from OSPW. The surface area and adsorption capacity of PC …

Aerodynamic Optimization And Wind Load Evaluation Framework For Tall Buildings, Ahmed Elshaer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Wind is the governing load case for majority of tall buildings, thus requiring a wind responsive design approach to control and assess wind-induced loads and responses. The building shape is one of the main parameters that affects the aerodynamics that creates a unique opportunity to control the wind load and consequently building cost without affecting the structural elements. Therefore, aerodynamic mitigation has triggered many researchers to investigate various building shapes that can be categorized into local (e.g. corners) and global mitigations (e.g. twisting). Majority of the previous studies compare different types of mitigations based on a single set of dimensions …

Co-Substrate Fermentation Of Jerusalem Artichoke Tubers And Crude Glycerol To Butanol With Integrated Product Recovery, Tahereh Sarchami

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Butanol has long been considered a potential advanced liquid biofuel, in addition to its current application as an industrial solvent. It can be produced biologically; however, the conventional ABE fermentation suffers from many limitations, including low butanol titer, high cost of traditional raw materials, end-product inhibition and high butanol recovery costs. Possible solutions are the use of renewable low-cost feedstocks, genetic manipulations of Clostridia spp. to improve the strains’ butanol titer and tolerance, advanced fermentation techniques, and in-situ product recovery technologies.

In order to overcome some of these limitations, the overall goal of this thesis was to develop a process …

Middle-Ear Imaging And Estimation Of The Linear Elastic Properties Of The Human Tympanic Membrane, Seyed Alireza Rohani

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Finite-element (FE) modeling of the human middle ear could improve diagnostic techniques, such as tympanometry. Accurate representation of the mechanical properties and geometry of the middle ear, especially of the soft tissues, are crucial for FE modeling of the middle ear. The objective of this work is to quantitatively evaluate the efficacy of iodine potassium iodide (IKI) solution as a contrast agent for imaging the middle-ear soft tissues and to estimate the linear elastic properties of the human tympanic membrane (TM).

In the imaging study, six human temporal bones were used, which were obtained in right-left pairs, from three cadaveric …

Probability Models For Health Care Operations With Application To Emergency Medicine, Azaz Bin Sharif

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis consists of four contributing chapters; two of which are inspired by practical problems related to emergency department (ED) operations management and the remaining two are motivated by the theoretical problem related to the time-dependent priority queue. Unlike classical priority queue, priorities in the time-dependent priority queue depends on the amount of time an arrival waits for service in addition to the priority class they belong. The mismatch between the demand for ED services and the available resources have direct and indirect negative consequences. Moreover, ED physician pay in some jurisdictions reflects pay-for-performance contracts based on operational benchmarks. To …

Recent Advances In Accumulating Priority Queues, Na Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis extends the theory underlying the Accumulating Priority Queue (APQ) in three directions. In the first, we present a multi-class multi-server accumulating priority queue with Poisson arrivals and heterogeneous services. The waiting time distributions for different classes have been derived. A conservation law for systems with heterogeneous servers has been studied. We also investigate an optimization problem to find the optimal level of heterogeneity in the multi-server system. Numerical investigations through simulation are carried out to validate the model.

We next focus on a queueing system with Poisson arrivals, generally distributed service times and nonlinear priority accumulation functions. We …

Modern Optimization Algorithms And Applications: Architectural Layout Generation And Parallel Linear Programming, Bradley J. De Vlugt

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis examines two topics from the field of computational optimization; architectural layout generation and parallel linear programming. The first topic, a modern problem in heuristic optimization, focuses on deriving a general form of the optimization problem and solving it with the proposed Evolutionary Treemap algorithm. Tests of the algorithm's implementation within a highly scalable web application developed with Scala and the web service framework Play reveal the algorithm is effective at generated layouts in multiple styles. The second topic, a classical problem in operations research, focuses on methodologies for implementing the Simplex Algorithm on a parallel computer for solving …

Assessment Of The Regionalization Of Precipitation In Two Canadian Climate Regions: A Fuzzy Clustering Approach, Sarah E. Irwin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Regional frequency analysis (RFA) is used to obtain reliable estimates of local precipitation events for a variety of applications in water resources engineering. The focus of the presented research is on an initial step of the RFA process; that is the formation of precipitation regions (also referred to as regionalization). The aim of this study is to dissect the regionalization procedure into its individual components that require subjective user input, and to evaluate their respective influences on the results. All assessments are conducted in two of Canada's climate regions; namely the Prairie and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence lowlands. Additionally, a new …

Synthesis, Characterization And Applications Of Lignin-Based Epoxy Resins, Fatemeh Ferdosian

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Epoxy resin is one of the most versatile thermosetting polymers with diverse applications. Epoxy resins are mainly produced from the reaction of bisphenol-A (BPA) and epichlorohydrin. The consumption of bisphenol-A is facing growing concerns over its carcinogenic effects and its sustainability. Lignin can be a promising renewable substitute of bisphenol-A in the synthesis of epoxy resins.

In this thesis work, a novel method has been developed for the synthesis of bio-based epoxy resins with reduced side reactions, employing de-polymerized lignin from organosolv lignin (DOL), kraft lignin (DKL) and hydrolysis lignin (DHL) under alkaline condition in the presence of a phase …

On The Application Of Mechanical Vibration In Robotics-Assisted Soft Tissue Intervention, Iman Khalaji

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mechanical vibration as a way of transmitting energy has been an interesting subject to study. While cyclic oscillation is usually associated with fatigue effect, and hence a detrimental factor in failure of structures and machineries, by controlled transmission of vibration, energy can be transferred from the source to the target. In this thesis, the application of such mechanical vibration in a few surgical procedures is demonstrated.

Three challenges associated with lung cancer diagnosis and treatment are chosen for this purpose, namely, Motion Compensation, tumor targeting in lung Needle Insertion and Soft Tissue Dissection:

1. A robotic solution is proposed …

Development And Integration Of Mems Based Inductive Sensors, Luyang Zhang

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Inductive sensors are one of the most widely used sensors especially in automotive. However, with the current PCB manufacture process, the large size of the sensor limits its usage in different applications. In this thesis, a novel method of fabricating bi-layer copper micro inductive sensor is demonstrated to solve the size issue. The two coil layers were built by UV LIGA process respectively, and a polyimide insulation film sandwiched in between. At the beginning, seeding layer was deposited on the substrate as electrode, and then the copper coil layer was created through electroplating in the patterned micromold. The coil was …

Optimal Sizing And Power Management Strategies Of Islanded Microgrids For Remote Electrification Systems, Faruk A. Bhuiyan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Over the past few years, electrification of remote communities with an efficient utilization of on-site energy resources has entered a new phase of evolution. However, the planning tools and studies for the remote microgrids are considered inadequate. Moreover, the existing techniques have not taken into account the impact of reactive power on component sizes. Thus, this thesis concentrates on optimal sizing design of an islanded microgrid (IMG), which is composed of renewable energy resources (RERs), battery energy storage system (BESS), and diesel generation system (DGS), for the purpose of electrifying off-grid communities. Owing to the utilization of both BESS and …

Optimal Contract Design For Co-Development Of Companion Diagnostics, Rodney T. Tembo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

As the number of new drugs requiring companion diagnostics rises, more and more partnerships are formed between drug and diagnostics manufacturers to develop the necessary companion diagnostic. An increasingly significant issue is that of the optimal revenue/profit sharing or compensation schemes for such partnerships. We investigate the structure of an optimal compensation scheme under a scenario where a large pharmaceutical firm that is developing a drug intends to partner with a smaller diagnostics firm to develop a companion diagnostic test for the drug. We describe an optimal contract as one that maximizes the pharmaceutical firm's expected profits while offering enough …

Design And Development Of Magneto-Rheological Actuators With Application In Mobile Robotics, Wenjun Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In recent years, Magneto-Rheological (MR) fluids devices are widely studied and used for various purposes. Among these MR fluids devices, the MR actuator has attracted increasing attention for last two decades. An MR actuator is usually made of an active component (motor) and MR clutches. Compared with the regular actuators, the MR actuator features compliance due to the existence of MR fluids, which is commonly consider as benefits at the aspect of safety. On the other hand, the MR actuator has advantages on controllable bandwidth, torque-mass and torque-inertia ratios compared with the other compliant actuators.

In this study, a new …

High Multiplicity Strip Packing, Devin Price

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

An instance of the two-dimensional strip packing problem is specified by n rectangular items, each having a width, 0 < w_n ≤ 1, and height, 0 < h_n ≤ 1. The objective is to place these items into a strip of width 1, without rotations, such that they are nonoverlapping and the total height of the resulting packing is minimized. In this thesis, we consider the version of the two-dimensional strip packing problem where there is a constant number K of distinct rectangle sizes and present an OPT + K - 1 polynomial-time approximation algorithm for it. This beats a previous algorithm …

Effects Of Surface Topographies On Heat And Fluid Flows, Hadi Vafadar Moradi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Responses of annular and planar flows to the introduction of grooves on the bounding surfaces have been analyzed. The required spectral algorithms based on the Fourier and Chebyshev expansions have been developed. The difficulties associated with the irregularities of the physical domain have been overcome using either the immersed boundary conditions (IBC) concept or the domain transformation method (DT).

Steady flows in annuli bounded by walls with longitudinal grooves have been studied. Analysis of pressure losses showed that the groove-induced changes can be represented as a superposition of a pressure drop due to a change in the average position of …