Digital Commons Network^™

Dolce Ergo Sumo: On Foundational And Domain Models In Swinto (Smart Web Integrated Ontology), Daniel Oberle, Anupriya Ankolekar, Pascal Hitzler, Philipp Cimiano, Michael Sintek, Malte Kiesel, Babak Mougouie, Stephan Baumann, Shankar Vembu, Massimo Romanelli, Paul Buitelaar, Ralf Engel, Daniel Sonntag, Norbert Reithinger, Berenike Loos, Hans-Peter Zorn, Vanessa Micelli, Robert Porzel, Christian Schmidt, Moritz Weiten, Felix Burkhardt, Jianshen Zhou

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Increased availability of mobile computing, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), creates the potential for constant and intelligent access to up-to-date, integrated and detailed information from the Web, regardless of one's actual geographical position. Intelligent question-answering requires the representation of knowledge from various domains, such as the navigational and discourse context of the user, potential user questions, the information provided by Web services and so on, for example in the form of ontologies. Within the context of the SmartWeb project, we have developed a number of domain-specific ontologies that are relevant for mobile and intelligent user interfaces to open-domain question-answering …

Video Frame Differentiation For Streamed Multimedia Over Heavilty Loaded Ieee 802.11e Wlan Using Txop, Nicola Cranley, Mark Davis

Conference papers

In this paper we perform an experimental investigation of using video frame differentiation in conjunction with the TXOP facility to enhance the transmission of parallel multimedia streaming sessions in IEEE 802.11e. The delay constraints associated with the audio and video streams that comprise a multimedia session pose the greatest challenge since real-time multimedia is particularly sensitive to delay as the packets require a strict bounded end-to-end delay. Video streaming applications are considered to be bursty. This burstiness is due to the frame rate of vide., the intrinsic hierarchical structure of the constituent video frame types. The TXOP facility is particularly …

Robust Tuning Of Modern Power System Stabilizers Using Bacterial Foraging Algorithm, B. Sumanbabu, S. Mishra, B. K. Panigrahi, Ganesh K. Venayagamoorthy

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

IEEE Std 421.5, revised by the IEEE excitation system subcommittee introduced a new type of power system stabilizer model, the multiband power system stabilizers (IEEE PSS4B). Although it requires two input signals, like the widely used IEEE PSS2B, the underlying principle of the new IEEE PSS4B makes it sharply different. This paper presents a method based on Bacterial Foraging Algorithm (BFA) to simultaneously tune these modern power system stabilizers (PSSs) in multimachine power system. Simulation results of multi-machine power system validate the efficiency of this approach. the proposed method is effective for the tuning of multi-controllers in large power systems.

Ontology-Enriched Semantic Space For Video Search, Xiao-Yong Wei, Chong-Wah Ngo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Multimedia-based ontology construction and reasoning have recently been recognized as two important issues in video search, particularly for bridging semantic gap. The lack of coincidence between low-level features and user expectation makes concept-based ontology reasoning an attractive midlevel framework for interpreting high-level semantics. In this paper, we propose a novel model, namely ontology-enriched semantic space (OSS), to provide a computable platform for modeling and reasoning concepts in a linear space. OSS enlightens the possibility of answering conceptual questions such as a high coverage of semantic space with minimal set of concepts, and the set of concepts to be developed for …

Measurement And Analysis Of The Shocks Generated During Egg Production, Jay A. Singh, Chris Ferrier, Paul Singh

Industrial Technology and Packaging

In their journey from the laying cage to shipments out of an egg production operation, table eggs encounter multiple shock events. While all agricultural commodities run the possibility of damage during the course of production, shell eggs are particularly susceptible to being cracked or broken during the production operation. A typical egg production facility experiences 2% to 7% checks (a partial mechanical failure to the egg shell) during handling, packaging and transportation of shell eggs. It has been estimated that the total losses to the U.S. egg industry due to checks and breakage of eggs during production amounts to over …

Comparison Of Package Cushioning Materials To Protect Post-Harvest Impact Damage To Apples, Bundit Jarimopas, Sher Paul Singh, S. Sayasoonthorn, Jay A. Singh

Industrial Technology and Packaging

Damage to fruits and vegetables continues to be a big challenge as global markets become a reality. Worldwide distribution of sensitive produce is faced with various levels of impacts from shipping and handling. Despite a variety of packaging options available today, bruising damage is commonplace for post-harvest apples throughout the supply chain. The major sources of bruising are compression, impact or vibration forces. Understanding where these forces occur can help reduce this type of mechanical damage to apples. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact characteristics of foam net and corrugated board when applied as wrapping for …

Evaluating Bag-Of-Visual-Words Representations In Scene Classification, Jun Yang, Yu-Gang Jiang, Alexander G. Hauptmann, Chong-Wah Ngo

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Based on keypoints extracted as salient image patches, an image can be described as a “bag of visual words” and this representation has been used in scene classification. The choice of dimension, selection, and weighting of visual words in this representation is crucial to the classification performance but has not been thoroughly studied in previous work. Given the analogy between this representation and the bag-of-words representation of text documents, we apply techniques used in text categorization, including term weighting, stop word removal, feature selection, to generate image representations that differ in the dimension, selection, and weighting of visual words. The …

Fluvial Geomorphologic And Hydrodynamic Assessment In The Tidal Portion Of The Lower Rio Grande River, Us-Mexico Borderland, Andrew Ernest, B. Bokhim, N. B. Chang, I. J. Huang

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

With fast population growth and economic development in the US-Mexico Borderland, water diversion and usages has reduced the flow substantially in the Low Rio Grande River (LRGR). Tidal portion of the LRGR has posed an environmental drought issue since 1993 and the channel clogged with the invasion of non-native plants also causes environmental problems. As a result of the intensity of these natural and manmade factors, the Rio Grande stopped flowing to the sea in February 2001. The flows were reduced to a point that they were unable to push out the sand deposited at the mouth. Geomorphologic evolution in …

Assessment Of The Bill Emerson Memorial Cable-Stayed Bridge Based On Seismic Instrumentation Data, Genda Chen, Dongming Yan, Wenjian Wang, Man Zheng, Louis Ge, Frank Liu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this study, both ambient and earthquake data measured from the Bill Emerson Memorial Cable-stayed Bridge are reported and analyzed. Based on the seismic instrumentation data, the vibration characteristics of the bridge are investigated and used to validate a three-dimensional Finite Element (3-D FE) model of the bridge structure. The 3-D model is rigorous and comprehensive, representing realistic dynamic behaviors of the bridge. It takes into account the geometric nonlinear properties caused by cable sagging and soil-foundation-structure interaction in the Illinois approach of the bridge. The FE model is successfully verified and validated by using the natural frequencies and mode …

Mesophilic Digestion Kinetics Of Manure Slurry, Khursheed Karim, K. Thomas Klasson, Sadie R. Drescher, Whitney Ridenour, Abhijeet P. Borole, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Anaerobic Digestion Kinetics Study of Cow Manure Was Performed at 35°C in Bench-Scale Gas-Lift Digesters (3.78 L Working Volume) at Eight Different Volatile Solids (VS) Loading Rates in the Range of 1.11-5.87 G L^-1 Day^-1. the Digesters Produced Methane at the Rates of 0.44-1.18 L L^-1 Day^-1, and the Methane Content of the Biogas Was Found to Increase with Longer Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT). based on the Experimental Observations, the Ultimate Methane Yield and the Specific Methane Productivity Were Estimated to Be 0.42 L CH₄ (G vs. Loaded)^-1 and 0.45 L CH …

Theoretical Framework For Predicting Joint Reaction And Ground Reaction Forces In A Dynamic Pendulum Tree Model Of Human Motion, Peyman Rajai

Theses

Lagrangian dynamics and the method of superfluous coordinates are applied to find ground and joint reaction forces on the human body modeled as a general branched 2-D pendulum tree system with arbitrary segments and arbitrarily distributed point masses. A theoretical framework is established for predicting these constraint forces during human motion and consequently their effects on dynamics, dynamic stability, energy efficiency and the potential of these forces to produce joint injury and/or pain. Applications to human walking are initiated. During idealized phases where there is only single point contact of the stance leg with the ground such as just after …

Computer-Based Instruction For Engineering Education In The Developing World, Bradford G. Singley

Theses and Dissertations

Although civil engineers continually develop new ways to solve problems involving water, energy, infrastructure and environmental sustainability, these innovations can take years – or even decades – to reach developing countries. Computer-based instruction has the potential to dramatically decrease this lag time by improving engineering education in the developing world. This paper discusses the development of instructional simulations, based on the theory of model-centered instruction. These simulations can serve as self-paced learning modules, which can be accessed for free over the Internet. A pilot learning module was developed for the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the …

Registration Using Graphics Processor Unit, Koushik Aravalli

All Theses

Data point set registration is an important operation in coordinate metrology. Registration is the operation by which sampled point clouds are aligned with a CAD model by a 4X4 homogeneous transformation (e.g., rotation and translation). This alignment permits validation of the produced artifact's geometry. State-of-the-art metrology systems are now capable of generating thousands, if not millions, of data points during an inspection operation, resulting in increased computational power to fully utilize these larger data sets. The registration process is an iterative nonlinear optimization operation having an execution time directly related to the number of points processed and CAD model complexity. …

Enterprise Security Analysis Including Denial Of Service Countermeasures, Chinar Dingankar

All Theses

Computer networks are the nerve systems of modern enterprises. Unfortunately, these networks are subject to numerous attacks. Safeguarding these systems is challenging. In this thesis we describe current threats to enterprise security, before concentrating on the Distributed denial of Service (DDoS) problem.
DDoS attacks on popular websites like Amazon, Yahoo, CNN, eBay, Buy, and the recent acts of war using DDoS attacks against NATO ally Estonia [1] graphically illustrate the seriousness of these attacks. Denial of Service (DoS) attacks are explicit attempts to block legitimate users' system access by reducing system availability [2]. A DDoS attack deploys multiple attacking entities …

Achiral And Chiral Analysis Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) In The Aquatic And Riparian Food Webs In Twelve Mile Creek, South Carolina., Viet Dang

All Theses

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination in the Twelve Mile Creek arm of Lake Hartwell, South Carolina, has been an issue for decades. Lake Hartwell, which is a reservoir located on the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia, was contaminated with an estimated 440,000 pounds of PCBs. PCBs were released from the Sangamo-Weston capacitor plant located on Town Creek, which feeds into Twelve Mile Creek and ultimately Lake Hartwell. The Twelve Mile Creek tributary connecting the Sangamo-Weston plant to Lake Hartwell has had little attention. Understanding PCBs contamination in the aquatic and riparian food webs of Twelve Mile Creek …

Particle Shape As Revealed By Spectral Depolarization, Donald D. Duncan, Michael Eugene Thomas

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Through a series of numerical simulations we explore some scatter effects due to nonspherical particles. Specifically, we examine the link between the aspect ratio of randomly oriented, prolate spheroidal particles and the resulting linear depolarization of the scattered light in the forward and backscatter directions. The particular objective is to detect the presence of randomly oriented particles that have a systematic size and aspect ratio. Calculations show that the spectral behavior of the linear depolarization reveals the aspect ratio of the scattering particles. The concept is demonstrated using the size, shape, and refractive index of the spore form of Bacillus …

Development Of A Microscopic Moirž Interferometry System, Jeremy Brougher

All Theses

The human tooth is an amazing structure that is worthy of detailed research and analysis. For over half a century, various tests have been conducted to acquire more information about the structural and material properties of dentin, enamel, and the dentin-enamel junction. Unfortunately, variations still exist in the experimental results, even in the most recently collected data. The primary focus of the majority of material property testing on human teeth has been hardness testing utilizing indentation and nanoindentation analysis. However, several limitations still exist with the indentation technique. Thus, the moirŽ fringe analysis method, specifically microscopic moirŽ interferometry, has been …

An In Vitro Evaluation Of Dbm As A Tissue Engineered Scaffold, Stephanie Arnold

All Theses

Over 500,000 bone graft procedures are performed each year in the United States. Bone grafting involves a surgical procedure to replace missing bone. Problems can arise with donor and defect sites during and after surgery, sometimes resulting in poor clinical results. The development and optimization of bone graft substitutes via a tissue engineering approach could markedly improve bone graft surgical outcome. Demineralized bone matrix (DBM), a bone graft material, is currently used in a clinical setting but has variable success rates.
The primary objective of the research presented in this thesis was to assess the cellular activity of D1 mouse …

Glycosaminoglycan Stabilization Reduces Tissue Buckling In Bioprosthetic Heart Valves, Sagar Shah

All Theses

Currently, bioprosthetic heart valves are crosslinked with glutaraldehyde to prevent tissue degradation and to reduce tissue antigenicity. Glutaraldehyde forms stable crosslinks with collagen via a Schiff base reaction of the aldehyde with an amine group of the hydroxylysine/lysine in collagen. However, within a decade of implantation, 20-30% of these bioprostheses will become dysfunctional and over 50% will fail due to degeneration within 12-15 years post-operatively.
Gylcosaminoglycans, a major constituent of valvular tissue, play an important role in maintaining a hydrated environment necessary for absorbing compressive loads, modulating shear stresses, and resisting tissue buckling. One of the disadvantages of glutaraldehyde crosslinking …

Heterogeneous Catalysis And Biodiesel Forming Reactions, Dora Lopez

All Dissertations

Biodiesel, defined as 'a fuel comprised of mono-alkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from vegetable oils or animal fats', is finding favor commercially worldwide. The objective of this study is to evaluate the use of solid catalysts for triglyceride transesterification and carboxylic acid esterification to produce biodiesel fuel.
Processes using mainly homogeneous alkali catalysts (such as NaOH, KOH, and methoxides) have been shown to be effective for biodiesel synthesis when dealing with virgin oil feedstocks. Use of acid catalysts (e.g., H2SO4) becomes important when processing low quality feedstocks that contain appreciable amounts of free fatty acids, such as …

Biodiesel Forming Reactions Using Heterogneous Catalysis, Yijun Liu

All Dissertations

Biodiesel synthesis from biomass provides a means for utilizing effectively renewable resources, a way to convert waste vegetable oils and animal fats to a useful product, a way to recycle carbon dioxide for a combustion fuel, and production of a fuel that is biodegradable, non-toxic, and has a lower emission profile than petroleum-diesel. Free fatty acid (FFA) esterification and triglyceride (TG) transesterification with low molecular weight alcohols constitute the synthetic routes to prepare biodiesel from lipid feedstocks. This project was aimed at developing a better understanding of important fundamental issues involved in heterogeneous catalyzed biodiesel forming reactions using mainly model …

Differentiation Modulation Of Adult Stem Cells In An Adipose System, Aditya Chaubey

All Dissertations

The need for soft tissue reconstruction or augmentation has increased continuously over the years. This need is compounded by patients suffering from post-traumatic repair and congenital soft-tissue deformities. All the current options available to treat the soft tissue deformities have inherent difficulties associated with them. Hence, more research is needed to come up with a better solution to this problem which is only going to increase in magnitude. Tissue engineering is a relatively new technique which has the potential to deliver a cell-based device which can overcome the problems associated with traditional therapies. However, before it becomes clinically viable we …

Activation Of Systemic Adhesion Molecules And C Reactive Protein In Response To Biomaterial Particle Induced Cytokine Production, Robin Graham

All Dissertations

Chronic inflammation has been identified as a major contributor to many diseases including, atherosclerosis, osteoporosis, dementia, Alzheimer's disease and type 2 diabetes, to name a few. Many of the same markers of inflammation found in the diseases listed above, including IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, NF-B and adhesion molecules, have also been found in wear debris induced osteolysis. While the local response to biomaterial wear debris has been characterized quite extensively, very little is known about the systemic effect of biomaterial wear debris on the inflammatory system. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo inflammatory …

The Study On Inland Container Terminal Logistics System Simulation, Jun Wu

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Functional Analysis Of The Mechanically And Metabolically Sensitive Components Of The Skeletal Muscle Exercise Pressor Reflex In Hypertension, Anna Katherine Leal

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Background - In hypertension, physical activity creates a risk for adverse cardiac events by causing exaggerated increases in mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR). One physiological mechanism responsible for this cardiovascular hyperactivity is the exercise pressor reflex (EPR). The EPR is a neural pathway originating in skeletal muscle that contributes to cardiovascular regulation during exercise. The EPR is composed of two afferent arms: one is comprised of mostly mechanically sensitive, group III afferent fibers that respond to muscle stretch and pressure, and the other is predominantly metabolically sensitive, group IV afferent fibers that respond to the chemical milieu …

Foreign Body Reactions To Neural Implants In The Brain, Parisa Lotfi

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Neural implants have been used and studied for many decades. They are applied to record neural signals or to locally deliver drugs. Unfortunately, foreign body reaction and accompanied glial scar formation often lead to implant failure. The lack of knowledge about the molecular mechanism governing foreign body reactions in the brain significantly hinders the development of brain implantable devices with improved safety and biocompatibility. To study the immune responses to brain implants, a novel animal model has been developed and used for the following investigation. Our studies have established cell recruitment time courses of astrocytes, microglial cells, lymphocytes, monocytes and …

Functionalized Nanoparticles For The Selective Killing Of Cancer Cells, Paul Todd Thevenot

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

The use of nanoparticles for cancer imaging and drug delivery has produced some success in improving the efficacy and safety of cancer chemotherapy. It is generally believed that the efficiency of nanoparticle-based cancer therapy would be greatly improved if such particles could be designed to directly interact with and eradicate tumor. Many recent studies have revealed that surface functionality plays an important role in particle:cell interactions. Using titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles (21 nm diameter) as test subjects, nanoparticles with different functional groups, hydroxyl (-OH), amine (-NH2), and carboxyl (-COOH) were produced and used in this investigation. An in vitro cell …

High-Resolution/High-Contrast Mri Of Human Articular Cartilage Lesions., Shadi F. Othman, Jun Li, Osama Abdullah, Jessy J. Moinnes, Richard L. Magin, Carol Muehleman

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

BACKGROUND: Magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) is an important experimental tool in the identification of early cartilage lesions.

METHODS: Normal and degenerated cartilage samples were imaged at 11.74 T using a standard spin echo sequence. Quantitative MR measurements for T1, T2, and ADC were obtained and mapping for T2 and ADC was performed. The bi-exponential model for T2 relaxation was also explored. Histology was carried out for comparison with MR images.

RESULTS: MR images of cartilage samples displaying early stages of degeneration were positively correlated to their histological appearance in 23-microm high-resolution images and also with much shorter imaging times at …

A Pre-Crash Simulator To Evaluate Vehicle Collision Prediction Algorithms, Dana Desrosiers, Charles Birdsong, Peter Schuster

Mechanical Engineering

This paper describes a software simulator for pre-crash collision predictions. The simulator is a surrogate test bed for evaluating the performance of proposed pre-crash algorithms. It reads data from a file, transfers distance and angular position of a target to a test algorithm, and then records the algorithm’s predictions. To illustrate the simulator functionality, a simplified test algorithm is also described. This algorithm predicts collision risks based on assumptions about the size and acceleration of a target object, and the turning and braking limits of the host vehicle. The test algorithm is shown to be effective for cases where both …

D-4f Does Not Mitigate Key Parameters In Rat Model Of Severe Pulmonary Hypertension, Robert C. Molthen, Shelley Baumgardt, K. A. Pritchard Jr

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.