Digital Commons Network^™

Design Guidance For Wetland-Road Crossings To Reduce Blanding’S Turtle Mortality Risk, Thomas P. Ballestero, Lauren E. White, Sandra Houghton, David Burdick, Josh Megyesy

Faculty Publications

Road mortality is a leading threat to freshwater turtles, particularly the Blanding’s turtle (Emydoidea blandingii), an endangered species in New Hampshire. Wildlife wetland-crossing structures, such as culverts and/or fences, have proven effective in reducing wildlife road mortality while retaining habitat connectivity. Funding for adequate wetland-crossing creation or restoration is limited, so prioritizing areas of high mortality risk is essential to ensuring that the resources spent are impactful. A research team of professionals from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, New Hampshire Fish and Game, University of New Hampshire, and other organizations formed to create a model capable …

Biomimetic Approach To Elucidate The Role Of Microenvironment In Regulating Cell Communications In Liver Diseases, Youra Moeun

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Liver is a complex organ but often underappreciated for its functions to remove toxins and fight infection in the body. Despite the ongoing prevalence of patients contracting chronic liver diseases, coupled with a global healthcare investment of approximately $70 billion, there is still no effective treatment for chronic liver diseases including alcoholic liver disease. The purpose of this dissertation was to understand the interactions of parenchymal and non-parenchymal liver cells in physiological and pathological like environments. This allowed us to recreate a healthy and the diseased microenvironments to observe the stages of the liver diseases development and apply appropriate treatments …

Examining The Externalities Of Highway Capacity Expansions In California: An Analysis Of Land Use And Land Cover (Lulc) Using Remote Sensing Technology, Serena E. Alexander, Bo Yang, Owen Hussey, Derek Hicks

Mineta Transportation Institute

There are over 590,000 bridges dispersed across the roadway network that stretches across the United States alone. Each bridge with a length of 20 feet or greater must be inspected at least once every 24 months, according to the Federal Highway Act (FHWA) of 1968. This research developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based framework for bridge and road inspection using drones with multiple sensors collecting capabilities. It is not sufficient to conduct inspections of bridges and roads using cameras alone, so the research team utilized an infrared (IR) camera along with a high-resolution optical camera. In many instances, the IR camera …

Innovative Approaches To Poultry Processing Wastewater Treatment: The Stainless Steel Ultrafiltration Membrane As A Viable Option, Saubana Olorunrola Dada, Chidambaram Thamariselvan, Mahmood Jebur, Sumith Ranil Wickramasinghe

Chemical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

In pursuit of sustainability, we explored replacing conventional dissolved air floatation (DAF) in poultry processing wastewater (PPW) treatment with a precisely tuned 0.02 µm stainless-steel ultrafiltration (SSUF) membrane. SSUF is a robust, homogenously porous membrane with strong chemical resistance, ease of cleaning, and exceptional resistance to organic fouling. Unlike polymeric membranes, it can be regenerated multiple times, making it a cost-effective choice due to its compatibility with harsh chemical cleaning. The PPW used for the study was untreated wastewater from all processing units and post-initial screening. Our study revealed the SSUF membrane’s exceptional efficiency at eliminating contaminants. It achieved an …

Smartphone Based Object Detection For Shark Spotting, Darrick W. Oliver

Master's Theses

Given concern over shark attacks in coastal regions, the recent use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, has increased to ensure the safety of beachgoers. However, much of city officials' process remains manual, with drone operation and review of footage still playing a significant role. In pursuit of a more automated solution, researchers have turned to the usage of neural networks to perform detection of sharks and other marine life. For on-device solutions, this has historically required assembling individual hardware components to form an embedded system to utilize the machine learning model. This means that the camera, neural processing …

Design Of Impact-Free Gaits For Planar Bipeds And Their Stabilization Using Impulsive Control, Aakash Khandelwal, Nilay Kant, Ranjan Mukherjee

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The problem of designing and stabilizing impact-free gaits is considered for point-foot planar bipeds. A set of geometric constraints, which eliminate impact forces at the time of leg interchange, are used to design the gaits. A family of gaits, where the stride length and walking speed can be chosen independently for each gait, is guaranteed to exist. A continuous controller is used to enforce the constraints associated with a desired gait and intermittent impulsive inputs are applied to stabilize the gait. A five-link biped example is used to illustrate the procedure for designing impact-free gaits. The effectiveness of the continuous …

Selection Of Natural Surfactants For Possible Use In Improving Oil Recovery Of Carbonate Oil Reservoirs, Hiba Hachem Limam

Theses

Middle East petroleum industry is currently searching for the most suitable enhanced oil technique to improve the oil recovery from local oil reservoirs. The biggest challenge for the application of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the Middle East is the harsh environment (high salinity and temperature). Surfactant (synthetic or natural) is one of the EOR major players considered for application in the Middle East. However, synthetic surfactants have several drawbacks, such as economically unattractive and environmental impacts. This study investigated the possible use of natural surfactant extracted from the leaves of three types of plants, namely Aloe Vera, Tetraena qatarensis, …

The Santa Clara, 2023-10-31, Santa Clara University

The Santa Clara

No abstract provided.

Deep Learning-Based Automatic Stereology For High- And Low-Magnification Images, Hunter Morera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Quantification of the true number of stained cells in specific brain regions is an important metric in many fields of biomedical research involving cell degeneration, cytotoxicology, cellular inflammation, and drug development for a wide range of neurological disorders and mental illnesses. Unbiased stereology is the current state-of-the-art method for collecting the cell count data from tissue sections. These studies require trained experts to manually focus through a z-stack of microscopy images and count (click) on a hundred or more cells per case, making this approach time consuming (~1 hour per case) and prone to human error (i.e., inter-rater variability). Thus, …

Spatio-Temporal Analysis Mapping Of Air Quality Monitoring In Cairo Using Sentinel-5 Satellite Data And Google Earth Engine, Sara Sameh, Fawzi Zarzoura, Mahmoud El-Mewafi

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Air pollutants including Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and Sulphur dioxide (SO2) cause serious damage to human health and the environment. This research aims to assess built-up seasonal variations of air pollution maps over Cairo city in Egypt using remote sensing data. LST data was obtained from the MODIS Terra Satellite Data, specifically the MOD11A1 V6 product, from January to December 2022. The Sentinel-5 project utilizes the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) sensor to capture images across different spectral bands, enabling precise monitoring of air pollution levels. The concentration data of NO2, CO, and SO2 were extracted from Sentinel-5P using …

10.30.2023 Orsp Connect, Liz Williamson

ORED Newsletter

No abstract provided.

12th International Conference On Business, Technology And Innovation 2023, University For Business And Technology - Ubt

UBT International Conference

Welcome to IC – UBT 2023

UBT Annual International Conference is the 12th international interdisciplinary peer reviewed conference which publishes works of the scientists as well as practitioners in the area where UBT is active in Education, Research and Development. The UBT aims to implement an integrated strategy to establish itself as an internationally competitive, research-intensive university, committed to the transfer of knowledge and the provision of a world-class education to the most talented students from all background. The main perspective of the conference is to connect the scientists and practitioners from different disciplines in the same place and make …

Analysis Of The Pros And Cons Of The Acquisition Of Training Ships By Metis, Jeremiah Yaw Frimpong

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Exploring Underwater Noise Issues : A Study Of Decentralized Approach, Takanori Uzumaki

World Maritime University Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Text Analytics Model For Agricultural Knowledge Discovery And Sustainable Food Production: A Case Study From Oklahoma Panhandle, Ali Bagheri, Saleh Taghvaeian, Dursun Delen

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

With recent increases in the use of social media in agricultural communities, many farmers are showing more and more interest in participating in social media and sharing different aspects of their profession with peers and policymakers. However, researchers have not explored this valuable data source well enough to help improve agribusiness decision-making. This study aims to investigate the potential capability and richness of social media for agricultural knowledge discovery, which can help monitor, detect, and predict critical agricultural events and activities and develop more sustainable food production and agricultural economy. This research utilizes text-mining tools and techniques to collect, process, …

Wastewater Treatment Using Encapsulated Chabazite In Polyvinyl Alcohol-Sodium Alginate Hydrogel Biofilm Carriers, Susieanna Nevada Persaud

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen discharge from wastewater is a global issue and with increased urbanization as well as industrialization, it has become even more essential to develop more efficient wastewater treatment systems. The dominant form of nitrogen in wastewater is ammonium. Biological oxidation of ammonium to nitrite and nitrate is the first step in biological nitrogen removal processes. If left untreated, nitrogen can cause toxicity to aquatic life, unsafe changes in water quality, and eutrophication.

Biofilm carriers can help to improve the efficiency of traditional activated sludge wastewater treatment systems by reducing operating costs and reducing hydraulic retention time. Biofilm carriers also promote …

Arms Control And Deterrence In The Age Of Cross-Domain Coercion, Damon Coletta

Space and Defense

For deterrence, now, first seek arms control. The old relationship linking deterrence, defense, and arms control served U.S. policy makers for decades during the Cold War. It was manifest through the Spirit of Geneva (1955) and the Reykjavik Summit (1986). Much later, during the rise of cross-domain coercion and following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the same idea reemerged in NATO’s Warsaw Communique (2016).

Hurricanes And Tropical Storms’ Impact On Water Quality In Lake Okeechobee, Florida, Daniela Vasquez Diaz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hurricanes are natural events with catastrophic outcomes, while climate change's effects on their intensity and frequency remain discussed. However, it is crucial to analyze these through models and statistics to understand their behavior and impact on the basins. Particularly in lakes on tropical coasts since disruptive events such as hurricanes tend to be highly affected. Lake Okeechobee is a unique lake located in Florida and one of the largest freshwater lakes. The lake and some of its significant stations are the locations chosen to perform the investigation. The main focus of the investigation is determining the effect that hurricanes have …

Statistical And Machine Learning Approaches To Describe Factors Affecting Preweaning Mortality Of Piglets, Md Towfiqur Rahman, Tami M. Brown-Brandl, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu R. Sharma, Vamsi Manthena, Yeyin Shi

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

High preweaning mortality (PWM) rates for piglets are a significant concern for the worldwide pork industries, causing economic loss and well-being issues. This study focused on identifying the factors affecting PWM, overlays, and predicting PWM using historical production data with statistical and machine learning models. Data were collected from 1,982 litters from the United States Meat Animal Research Center, Nebraska, over the years 2016 to 2021. Sows were housed in a farrowing building with three rooms, each with 20 farrowing crates, and taken care of by well-trained animal caretakers. A generalized linear model was used to analyze the various sow, …

Analyzing Multi-Robot Leader-Follower Formations In Obstacle-Laden Environments, Zachary J. Hinnen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Observations in biological formation from nature likes flocks of birds, herds of mammals and packs of wolves have inspired the innovation of robotic architectures. This thesis presents an approach that aims to use robotic systems to mimic leader-follower behaviors in the navigation and formation of sparse and dense environments. The goal of this work is to extend and further analyze the original work of Weitzenfeld et al [3] to evaluate new swarm and pack based multi-robot architectures with the inclusion of obstacle avoidance and variations in group formations. The multiple robot architecture is based off a wolf pack with a …

Characterization Of Environmental Levels Of Pesticide Residues In Household Air And Dust Samples Near A Bioenergy Plant Using Treated Seed As Feedstock, Jabeen Taiba, Eleanor G. Rogan, Daniel D. Snow, Chandran Achutan, Muhammad Zahid

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides is associated with adverse human health outcomes. There is environmental contamination in Saunders County, Nebraska, due to the accumulation of fungicides and insecticides from a now-closed ethanol plant using seed corn as stock. A pilot study quantified environmental contamination in nearby houses from residual pesticides by measuring dust and air (indoor/outdoor) concentrations of neonicotinoids and fungicides at the study site (households within two miles of the plant) and control towns (20–30 miles away). Air (SASS^® 2300 Wetted-Wall Air Sampler) and surface dust (GHOST wipes with 4 × 4-inch template) samples were collected from eleven study …

Influence Of Technological Parameters On Chip Formation And Chip Control In Precision Hard Turning Of Ti-6al-4v, Elshaimaa Abdelnasser, Samar El-Sanabary, Ahmed Nassef, Azza Barakat, Ahmed Elkaseer

Mechanical Engineering

This article presents the results of an experimental investigation into the effect of process parameters in the precision hard turning of Ti-6Al-4V on chip morphology at both macro and micro levels. It also reports on the control of chip generation to improve chip evacuation and breakability at the macro level by varying the process parameters, namely, feed rate, cutting speed and depth of cut during turning tests. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to examine the chips produced for a better understanding of chip curling mechanisms at the micro level. Surface roughness of the machined specimens was measured to …

The Aging Workforce: How It Relates To Incident Rates Within A Distribution Warehouse And A Chemical Manufacturing Building, Elisabeth V. Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past 20 years or so, the average age of the global population has slowly increased. This is due to low birth rates as well as increased life expectancy. With this global population aging, there has also been a shift in the global labor market causing a trend termed the “aging workforce.” However, with the aging workforce comes a new set of issues for the health and safety professional because they create new hazards. This is due mostly because of the body undergoing physical, psychological, and cognitive decline as someone ages which causes decreased capabilities. Thus, the purpose of …

Similarity Measure Of Plithogenic Cubic Vague Sets: Examples And Possibilities, S. Anitha, A. Francina Shalini

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

The crisp, fuzzy, intuitionistic fuzzy, and neutrosophic sets are the extension of the plithogenic set, in which elements are characterized by the number of attributes and each attribute can assume many values. To achieve more accuracy and precise exclusion, a contradiction or dissimilarity degree is specified between each attribute and the values of the dominating attribute. A plithogenic cubic vague set is a combination of a plithogenic cubic set and a vague set. The key tool for resolving problems with pattern recognition and clustering analysis is the similarity measure. In this research, we characterize and investigate the similarities between two …

Analysis And Mitigation Of Cyber-Attacks Targeting Infrastructures Operated By Iot Systems, Raja Salih Mohammed Hasan, Nadia Mahmood Ali, Ihsan Jabbar Hasan

Al-Esraa University College Journal for Engineering Sciences

Numerous countries have a high impact on providing the planet with critical infrastructures offering very important services employed in different fields such as water resources management, public services, power grids, telecoms, commercials, and transportation. The increasing solutions in IoT systems made it possible to exploit internet connection services for supporting the critical infrastructures. The latest are being targeted by various types of cyber-attacks due to the advancement in internet services. Therefore, improving the security systems and the ways to detect the threats is highly required. Meanwhile, protecting the critical infrastructures from hostile cyber-attacks is of high significance. This article examines …

Some Types Of Neutrosophic Filters In Basic Logic Algebras, A. Ibrahim, S. Karunya Helen Gunaseeli, Said Broumi

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

The purpose of this article is to study the neutrosophication of prime and Boolean filters in Basic Logic (BL) algebras. We establish the notions of the neutrosophic prime and Boolean filters of BL-algebras with suitable examples and examine a few of their properties. As a result, we can determine the necessary and sufficient conditions and extension properties of both the neutrosophic prime and Boolean filters of BL-algebras. In addition, by combining both filters we instigate the concept of the neutrosophic prime Boolean filter of BL-algebras with illustration. In the future, the above study can be extended to soft multiset. Moreover, …

Adm: Appraiser Decision Model For Empowering Industry 5.0-Driven Manufacturers Toward Sustainability And Optimization: A Case Study, Gawaher Soliman Hussein, Abdel Nasser H. Zaied, Mona Mohamed

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Whilst it was thought that Industry 4.0 (I 4.0) would support sustainable growth, it overlooked or misinterpreted many current sustainability issues, which gave rise to the Industry 5.0 (I 5.0) agenda. Such a revolution facilitates sustainable development through its three dimensions. Therefore, I 5.0 promotes more effective management of business environment as supply chain resources. Although artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics (BDA) are becoming more well-liked in the context of supply chains, research to this day is fragmented into research streams that are mostly determined by the publishing outlet. This study appraises the ability of these techniques in …

Acute Exposure To Two Biocides Causes Morphological And Molecular Changes In The Gill Ciliary Epithelium Of The Invasive Golden Mussel Limnoperna Fortunei (Dunker, 1857), Amanda Maria Siqueira Moreira, Erico Freitas, Mariana De Paula Reis, Júlia Meireles Nogueira, Newton Pimentel De Ulhôa Barbosa, André Luiz Martins Reis, Afonso Pelli, Paulo Ricardo Da Silva Camargo, Antonio Valadão Cardoso, Rayan Silva De Paula, Erika Cristina Jorge

Michigan Tech Publications

Limnoperna fortunei, the golden mussel, is a bivalve mollusk considered an invader in South America. This species is responsible for ecological and economic damages due to its voluminous fouling capability. Chemical biocides such as MXD-100™ and sodium dichloroisocyanurate (NaDCC) are often used to control L. fortunei infestations in hydraulic systems. Thus, we proposed to investigate the effects of different periods (24, 48 and 72 h) of exposure to MXD-100™ (0.56 mg L−1) and NaDCC (1.5 mg L−1) on the gills of L. fortunei through morphological and molecular analyses. NaDCC promoted progressive morphological changes during the analyzed periods and only an …

3-Dimensional Quartic Bézier Curve Approximation Model By Using Neutrosophic Approach, Siti Nur Idara Rosli, Mohammad Izat Emir Zulkifly

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

In a 3-dimensional data collection process, there exists noise data that cannot be included to visualize the process. Therefore, it is difficult to deal with since fuzzy set and intuitionistic fuzzy set theories did not consider the indeterminacy problem. However, using a neutrosophic approach with three memberships: truth, false, and indeterminacy membership function, the error data will be treated as uncertain data by using the indeterminacy degree. Thus, this study will visualize the 3-dimensional quartic Bézier curve model by using neutrosophic set theory. To construct the model, the neutrosophic quartic control point must first be introduced to approximate the neutrosophic …

Lrtransformer: Learn-Region Transformer For Object-Agnostic Point Cloud Segmentation, Dipesh Gyawali

LSU Master's Theses

3D point cloud segmentation segments the 3D point cloud data into different regions/instances depending on their features that have numerous applications in robotics, autonomous driving, digital twinning, augmented reality, etc. The majority of the existing point cloud segmentation methods depend on class labels to identify 3D objects in the surroundings. Our work focuses on segmenting point clouds into different regions/instances in an object-agnostic manner for any number of objects in the environment. Given the point cloud, our method can segment the entire scene into multiple instances without depending on object shape and size. We leverage the power of the self-attention …