Digital Commons Network^™

Numerical Investigation Of A Dual-Mode Shape Memory Alloy Stent Enabling Secondary Expansion Via Focused Ultrasound: A Potential Strategy For Correcting In-Stent Restenosis, Stephen Asare, Lucinda Duncan, Josiah Owusu-Danquah, Brian L. Davis

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Coronary stent implantation is an invasive procedure performed to correct atherosclerosis. The aftermath of this procedure is identified with neointimal hyperplasia, which contributes to in-stent restenosis (ISR), and thus remains a significant clinical challenge. This study introduces a novel, noninvasive conceptual approach for addressing ISR through the thermal activation of shape memory alloy (SMA) stent using focused ultrasound (FU) in a controlled manner to restore luminal patency. COMSOL Multiphysics and ABAQUS finite element software were employed to perform the numerical modeling to simulate the thermal and mechanical responses of the SMA stent integrated into the arterial wall. After 15 s …

Efficiency Evaluation Of Different Methods For Nitrogen Removal In Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plants: An Integrative Review, Cristiane G. Ferrarezzi, Juliana Canto Duarte

The School of Sustainability Engineering and Environmental Engineering (SEE) Graduate Student Publications

Domestic wastewaters present high nitrogen levels due to the urea and ammonia, which are excreted into urine. Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) normally face some challenges in keeping their treated wastewater at a low total nitrogen concentration, since the majority of their wastewater is domestic. Low nitrogen levels in the treated wastewater are important to avoid increasing eutrophication of the receptor body, which receives the treated wastewater. This work presents an integrative review considering studies related to denitrification in domestic WWTPs published from January 1st, 2018, to April 30th, 2023. This review aims to identify the most effective methods for …

Mining Waste As A Resource In Construction: Applications, Benefits, And Challenges, Chathurika Dassanayake, Nuha S. Mashaan, Daniel Oguntayo

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Mining activities generate vast quantities of waste each year, including mine tailings, bauxite residue, waste rock, and various metallurgical slags. Although these materials have traditionally been regarded as environmental liabilities, many possess physical and chemical properties that make them promising candidates for use in construction. This review synthesizes recent research on the utilization of major mining waste streams, with particular emphasis on pavement applications and other construction materials. The findings indicate that bauxite residue exhibits both pozzolanic and filler characteristics, demonstrating potential in asphalt mastics, asphalt mixtures, and other construction products. Nonetheless, its widespread adoption is constrained by issues such …

Mechanical Characterization And Modeling Of Rat Myocardia Under The Influence Of Epirubicin, Abdallah Mahmoud Alkhaiyat

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer remains a predominant health challenge that is responsible for a significant portion of global morbidity and mortality. Epirubicin (EPI), a chemotherapeutic anti-cancer drug, has shown remarkable efficacy in combating various malignancies. However, it is known to have undesirable side effects on the heart, collectively referred to as cardiotoxicity. This research investigates the adverse effects of chemotherapy on cardiac contractility through an in vitro examination of the mechanics of healthy and infarcted animal heart tissues. Electrically stimulated slices of rat ventricular tissue were tested using an isometric force measurement tissue bath. The tissue slices were subjected to uniaxial stretching, allowing …

Harnessing Ml And Iiot For Traceability In Continuous Production Systems: A Conceptual Framework, Kholoud M. Abdelaal

Theses and Dissertations

In the era of rapid technological advancement, the manufacturing sector faces increasing pressure to leverage emerging technologies to enhance operational efficiency and minimize waste. In this context, traceability plays a pivotal role, as it provides complete visibility of processes and products throughout manufacturing systems, enabling them to identify areas for improvement and take corrective actions accordingly. Additionally, traceability ensures compliance, supports product recalls, provides a clear understanding of the system’s performance, and enables fact-driven decision-making in multiple aspects of the manufacturing system. Although the broad spectrum of traceability applications in batch production-based plants, traceability remains challenging to achieve in continuous …

Human-Machine Communication: Complete Volume. Volume 12

Human-Machine Communication

This is the complete volume of HMC Volume 12.

Whole Earth Machines: Human-Machine Communication For A Green Transition, Klaus Bruhn Jensen

Human-Machine Communication

The climate crisis of the 21st century represents an existential risk to humanity and biodiversity, posing essential questions of how communication may serve to coordinate mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. One recent response has been massive investments by governments and corporations in systems providing feedback on the state of Earth— Whole Earth Machines (WEMs). For human-machine communication (HMC) studies, WEMs invite sustained engagement with communication infrastructures as a key constituent of research agendas, beyond the interface encounters at the center of many HMC studies to date. The article presents a conceptualization and operationalization of WEMs as critical infrastructures …

The Effect Of The Socioeconomic Variety In Greater Cairo On Transport Mode Choices, Rafik Yanni

Theses and Dissertations

In the last decade, Egypt has experienced a noticeable upgrade in its infrastructure investment, implementing a lot of transport projects, especially in the Greater Cairo region. In a city with over 20 million residents, variations lie in socioeconomic elements like income, age, gender, and neighborhood, which shape people’s choice of mobility modes based on their culture and lifestyle. The questions then become: whom are these new projects targeting? What are the barriers to using these services? And is there any willingness to change commuting habits if conditions changed? This thesis investigates how the socioeconomic variety in Greater Cairo metropolitan region …

Conserved Chromatin Programs Orchestrate Cardiac Cell States In Health And Disease And Drive Cardiomyocyte Proliferation After Injury, Xiaoxiao Geng

ETDs from 2020-2029

Chromatin structure is a central regulator of gene expression and cellular identity, yet the chromatin structural factors driving cardiac disease and regeneration remain incompletely defined. This dissertation investigates how modulation of chromatin architecture shapes pathological and regenerative cardiac phenotypes through integrated single-cell transcriptomic, epigenomic, and functional analyses. To determine whether chromatin structural regulators distinguish healthy from diseased cardiac states, we curated a comprehensive list of chromatin structural genes and applied it to single-nuclei RNA sequencing datasets from human hearts with and without dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Chromatin structural gene expression effectively stratified cardiomyocyte and fibroblast populations by disease status. Diseased cardiomyocytes …

The Risc-V Fpga (Rvfpga) Teaching Package, Daniel Chaver, Sarah Harris, Luis Pinuel, Olof Kindgren, Zubair Kakakhel, Chris Owen, Roy Kravitz, Jose I. Gomez-Perez, Fernando Castro, Katzalin Olcoz, Multiple Additional Authors

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

RISC-V is a free and open-standard ISA based on RISC principles, allowing anyone to design, manufacture, and sell RISC-V chips and software. Its flexibility and growing ecosystem have made it popular in research, education, and industry, increasing the need for educational materials. This paper provides an in-depth description of the RVfpga course, which offers a solid introduction to computer architecture using the RISC-V instruction set and FPGA technology. It focuses on providing hands-on experience with real-world RISC-V cores, the VeeR EH1 and EL2 cores, developed by Western Digital and hosted by ChipsAlliance. The course targets students and educators in computing-related …

The Risc-V Fpga (Rvfpga) Teaching Package, Daniel Chaver, Sarah Harris, Luis Pinuel, Olof Kindgren, Zubair Kakakhel, Chris Owen, Jose I. Gomez-Perez, Fernando Castro, Katzalin Olcoz, Julio Villalba-Moreno, Alexander Grinshpun, Freddy Gabbay, Luke Seed, Rui Duarte, Manuel Lopez, Oscar Alonso, Robert Owen

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

RISC-V is a free and open-standard ISA based on RISC principles, allowing anyone to design, manufacture, and sell RISC-V chips and software. Its flexibility and growing ecosystem have made it popular in research, education, and industry, increasing the need for educational materials. This paper provides an in-depth description of the RVfpga course, which offers a solid introduction to computer architecture using the RISC-V instruction set and FPGA technology. It focuses on providing hands-on experience with real-world RISC-V cores, the VeeR EH1 and EL2 cores, developed by Western Digital and hosted by ChipsAlliance. The course targets students and educators in computing-related …

Amino Acid Pet Tracers For Cancer Imaging And Response Assessment, Ugur Akca

ETDs from 2020-2029

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and high-grade glioma (HGG) pose significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenges due to their aggressive biology and the limitations of [¹⁸F]FDG PET, which suffers from nonspecific uptake in inflammatory tissues, complicating differentiation of viable tumor from treatment-related effects. Computed Tomography, while strong for structural changes, has limited soft tissue contrast for distinguishing tumor from inflammation, and Magnetic Resonance Imaging, despite superior soft tissue resolution, struggles with differentiating active tumor from post-treatment changes like edema or necrosis due to nonspecific enhancement. These challenges highlight the necessity for complementary and advanced imaging strategies for improved diagnosis and monitoring. This …

Investigating Stromal Cell-Mediated Biomechanics For Angiogenesis And Reperfusion In A 3d Microfluidic Model For Ischemic Vascular Disease, Vaishali Bala

ETDs from 2020-2029

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects millions worldwide, causing tissue ischemia and impaired healing due to insufficient blood flow. Current therapeutic strategies to promote revascularization remain limited, largely because the mechanical regulation of angiogenesis is poorly understood. While biochemical growth factors like VEGF have been extensively studied, the role of mechanical forces generated by stromal cells in the perivascular matrix remains underexplored. This dissertation investigated how stromal cell contractility drives vascular growth through mechanotransduction pathways and modulation of endothelial cell-cell junctions. Using 3D fibrin or fibrin-collagen-I-based microtissues and compartmentalized microfluidic devices, we characterized the mechanical phenotypes of multiple fibroblast populations and …

Mechanical Performance Evaluation Of Natural Composites Recycled Hemp Rice Bag Reinforced With And Without Silicon Carbide Particles, Gaber A. Elawadi, A. S. Fayed

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Significant progress has been made in the development of natural fiber-reinforced composite materials, owing to their potential to enhance mechanical properties while offering a greener and more sustainable alternative to traditional materials. These materials combine superior ecological benefits with enhanced mechanical performance. This study examines how recycled hemp fiber bags, including recycled hemp fibers obtained from rice hemp fiber bags, affect the mechanical characteristics of unreinforced and reinforced composites. Four composite systems were fabricated and tested: (1) HFR (randomly chipped recycled hemp fiber bags–epoxy composite), (2) HFB (continuous recycled hemp fiber bag–epoxy composite), (3) HFR SiC (randomly chipped recycled hemp …

Photocrosslinkable Morin-Loaded Gelatin-G-Gma Composite Hydrogel For Accelerating Burn Wound Healing: In Vitro And In Vivo Assessments, Samar A. Salim

Nanotechnology Research Centre

The impaired skin regeneration, scarring, and delayed healing make the management of burn injuries a challenging task. We designed a photopolymerized hydrogel of gelatin-grafted with glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) for burn management applications. Hydrogel was incorporated with Morin, a plant flavonoid that was originally isolated from the Moraceae family, with known anti-antioxidant and antifibrotic activities. The physicochemical characterization of the resultant hydrogel, including its gelation time and swelling properties, was conducted. The characterization results indicated that the hydrogel development was successful, exhibiting well-established porosity, as evidenced by the SEM images. In vivo evaluation demonstrated improved tissue regeneration characterized by enhanced collagen …

Direct Solar-Energy Powered Hydrothermal Treatment To Promote Biomethane Production From Anaerobic Digestion Of Rice Processing Waste, Kainat Rahnuma

Student Theses and Dissertations

Hydrolysis is a slow and energy-intensive process and a rate-limiting step in anaerobic digestion (AD). This research investigates performance strategies for integrating hydrothermal treatment (HT) with AD. HT-AD systems were less economically viable than AD-only options because of the high energy consumption of HT. Therefore, we used solar energy to conduct HT via either solar cookers or solar panels. The HT method significantly improved digestion performance, reducing the lag phase from 60 to 24 h, and increasing overall yield. Hydrothermally treated rice, rice bran, and rice hulls produced 22,932 mL, 13,136 mL, and 1283 mL, respectively. However, untreated rice, rice …

Credit Card Fraud Detection Using Metaheuristic Techniques, Narges Sabry Anwer Mohammed, Mohammed Sabry Saraya, Amr M. Thabet, Labib M. Labib

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Credit Card Fraud Detection (CCFD) has become a critical challenge to financial security due to increasingly sophisticated fraudulent activities. This study investigates the effectiveness of Meta-Heuristic (MHT) optimization techniques in improving fraud detection (FD) through feature selection (FS) and model optimization. To address class imbalance, Random Under-Sampling (RUS) was applied. The selected feature subsets were evaluated using three machine learning (ML) classifiers—Decision Tree (DT), KNearest Neighbours (KNN), and XGBoost (Xgb-Tree)—across four benchmark datasets: European, Statlog (Australian Credit Approval), PaySim, and Credit Card Transactions Fraud Detection (CCTFD). Eleven binary MHT algorithms were implemented and compared. The comparative analysis shows that the …

Enhancing Deep Learning And Workload Management In Online Education: The Power Of Scaffolded Weekly Assessments, Maryam Mohammad Zadeh, Rebecca Ferrari

International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

This study investigates the use of scaffolded weekly assessments with individual feedback in promoting deep learning and managing workload among engineering students in online education. The research focuses on how these assessment strategies shape students’ learning approaches and workload distribution. The study involved the implementation of weekly assessments aligned with intended learning outcomes, complemented by personalized feedback. Data collection comprised student surveys and qualitative feedback to assess the impact on learning approaches and workload management. The qualitative results show that 91.9% of the students adopted deep learning, where only 8.1% engaging in surface learning. Students reported that this approach not …

3d Reconstruction For Stadium Cad Drawings Based On Graphic Element Arrangement Pattern Analysis, Shang Ma, Mengyu Zhang, Lan Zhang, Gang Yang

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: To address the issue of the time-consuming and labor-intensive manual conversion of two-dimensional CAD design drawings of buildings into three-dimensional models, and leveraging the characteristic that stadiums contain a large number of repetitively and regularly arranged objects, this study proposes a similar graphical element detection algorithm. This algorithm detects similarities between graphical elements by constructing their bounding boxes and calculating the L2-Norm distance, identifying all graphical elements of the same type within the CAD drawing. Furthermore, a transformation sequence detection algorithm is proposed. Based on the geometric transformation relationships between graphical elements, a geometric transformation space is defined. By …

Virtual Reality Rehabilitation Training System Based On Multimodal Brain-Computer Interface, Jing Qu, Kaining Fang, Shantong Zhu, Lingguo Bu

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: The aging population has led to an increasing demand for rehabilitation for cognitive and motor functions. In response to the lack of interest in traditional rehabilitation and the absence of objective physiological assessment in existing virtual reality (VR) rehabilitation systems, a VR rehabilitation training system based on multimodal brain computer interface is developed by integrating VR interaction, near-infrared brain functional imaging, and motion capture technology. An immersive cognitive-motor integrated training environment was constructed to guide users in completing upper limb tasks. By recruiting subjects and synchronously collecting brain network data and Kinect upper limb motion parameters, multimodal assessment …

Full-Body Co-Speech Gesture Generation Based On Spatial-Temporal Enhanced Generation Model, Shuozhe Zhang, Wenfeng Song, Xia Hou, Shuai Li

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Full-body co-speech gesture generation significantly enhances the interactivity of virtual digital humans, requiring generated gestures to not only align accurately with speech but also demonstrate realistic full-body dynamics. To address limitations of existing methods—Transformer-based approaches often overlook temporal features of action sequences, while diffusion model-based ones inadequately capture spatial correlations between body parts, a full-body action generation method integrating diffusion models, Mamba, and attention mechanisms is proposed. We introduce the spatial self-attention-temporal state space model (STMamba Layer) as the core of denoising network to extract
inter-part spatial features and intra-part temporal features, thus enhancing action quality and diversity. …

Research On Real-Time Animatable Human Avatar Generation Via 3d Gaussian Splatting, Yuyou Zhong, Xukun Shen, Yong Hu

Journal of System Simulation

Abstract: Real-time animatable 3D human avatar generation technology hold significant application value in fields such as virtual reality and remote collaboration. To address the limitations of existing methods in detail modeling, real-time performance, and robustness under novel pose driving, an efficient human avatar generation and driving method based on 3D Gaussian splatting (3DGS) is proposed. This method integrates optimized parametric human reconstruction, tri-plane feature encoding, and dynamic offset prediction to achieve efficient modeling from monocular video input. By introducing a skeleton binding and visibility analysis strategy, while designing a multi-scale regularization loss to address the overfitting problem. Simulation experiments demonstrate …

Place Personality And User Behaviour: Insights From Cairo’S Streets, Sara Sabahy, Zeina Elzein, Doaa Abouelmagd

HBRC Journal

A place’s personality is beyond the sum of its characteristics. It’s how people perceive it on a human level, hoping for a better understanding and seeking connection. This study aims to understand how people connect with public spaces to enhance the quality of urban life.

A place’s personality extends beyond its physical attributes—it reflects how people emotionally perceive and connect with it. This study investigates the relationship between the perceived personality of urban streets and users’ behaviour to enhance the quality of urban life in Cairo. Focusing on Downtown Cairo and New Cairo, it addresses a gap in destination personality …

Theoretical Analysis Of Mir-Based Differential Photoacoustic Spectroscopy For Noninvasive Glucose Sensing, Tasnim Ahmed, Khan Mahmud, Md Rejvi Kaysir, Shazzad Rassel, Dayan Ban

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research

Diabetes is a developing global health concern that cannot be cured, necessitating frequent blood glucose monitoring and dietary management. Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (PAS) in the mid-infrared (MIR) region has recently emerged as a viable noninvasive blood glucose monitoring technique. However, MIR-PAS confronts significant challenges: (i) Water absorption, which reduces light penetration, and (ii) interference from other blood components. This paper systematically analyzes the background of photoacoustic signal generation and proposes a differential PAS (DPAS) in the MIR region for removing the background signals arising from water and other interfering components of blood, which improves the overall detection sensitivity. A detailed mathematical …

Single-Valued Neutrosophic Pessimistic Multi-Granulation Rough Set Model Based On (A,B,C)-Cut Relations And Its Applications, Xu-Xi Wu, Hu Zhao, Qiao-Ling Song, Xiong-Wei Zhang

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

To address uncertainty in multi-source data, this paper proposes a single-valued neutrosophic pessimistic multi-granulation rough set (P-SVN-MGRS) model based on (a,b,c)-cut relations. In this framework, each neutrosophic relation is characterized by three membership-degree functions: T(x,y), I(x,y), and F(x,y). These functions correspond to truth-membership, indeterminacy, and falsity, respectively. The (α,β,γ)-cut relation employs parameters α,β,γ∈(0,1] as thresholds for the three functions. A pair (x,y) belongs to …

Pythagorean Neutrosophic Mathematical Modelling, M. Kavitha, R. Irene Hepzibah

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Survey-based assessments often suffer from ambiguity, inconsistency, and uncertainty, which weaken the reliability of decision-making outcomes. To address these challenges, this study proposes a novel decision-support framework for data fuzzification, ranking, and agility measurement using Pythagorean Neutrosophic Fuzzy Sets (PNFS). The proposed method offers three major advantages: (i) enhanced ability to capture high levels of indeterminacy compared with classical fuzzy and intuitionistic models, (ii) improved ranking accuracy through a newly developed score function and ranking algorithm, and (iii) greater robustness in scenarios involving conflicting, incomplete, or imprecise expert judgments. The framework includes a refined Pythagorean Neutrosophic fuzzification technique, mathematically supported …

Neutrosophic Hankel Transforms And Their Application To Cross-Domain Legislative Integration, Mona Gharib, Mehboob Ali, Ishtiaq Hussain

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

This paper introduces the Neutrosophic Hankel Transform (NHT) as a novel mathematical framework for modeling systems with radial structure under uncertainty, indeterminacy, and inconsistency. Building upon classical Hankel transforms and neutrosophic logic, we define two complementary realizations: a componentwise transform (NHT–C) that transports uncertainty with the signal, and a kernel-weighted transform (NHT–K) that embeds neutrosophic weights into the integral kernel. We establish linearity, inversion, and Parseval-type relations, and derive operational rules that diagonalize the Bessel radial operator.

To demonstrate utility, we formulate a radial diffusion–reaction model for pollutant concentration in a radialized river cross-section and solve it in closed form …

From Uncertainty To Lucidity: Awareness Neutrosophic Kähler-Einstein Innovative Evaluator Methodological In Era Of Green Artificial Intelligence, Mona Mohamed, Ahmed M. Ali

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

The rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) is a double-edged sword. On the positive side, Large Language Models (LLMs) of Gen AI as chatbot considered intelligent friend. Due to its potential to stimulate the maturation of ideas and cultivate fundamental general abilities like problem-solving and critical thinking. The advancement of Gen AI continued after that, moving from “chatbots” to “AI agents” that carry out multi-step activities in addition to responding to queries.

Regarding the downside, the terminology of “Red AI” era brought about by generative AI is marked by a performance at any expense that puts pressure on …

Methods For Radiation-Sparing Navigation In Endovascular And Spine Surgery, William Ross Warner

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Modern surgical navigation systems improve procedural accuracy, limit complications, and can reduce reliance on intraoperative ionizing radiation, yet their adoption remains uneven across surgical domains. Informed by clinical immersion, this thesis identifies and addresses two unmet needs revealed through contrasting image-guidance practices in endovascular and spine surgery, where existing guidance techniques are costly, intermittent, or fundamentally limited. Specifically, these needs include (1) the absence of radiation-sparing navigation techniques for endovascular procedures, which rely heavily on 2D x-ray angiography, and (2) the need for dynamic registration methods in open spine surgery, where navigation accuracy can degrade after initial registration and intraoperative …

Enhancing Wound Healing With Synergistic Dual-Drug Electrospun Roflumilast And L-Arginine Loaded Pla/Pva Nanofibers Through Fabrication, Optimization, And In Vivo Assessment, Samar A. Salim

Nanotechnology Research Centre

Current trends in improved wound management emphasize the development of dual-drug-loaded electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds. Herein, electrospun dual-drug loaded PLA/PVA nanofibrous scaffolds, incorporating roflumilast, a selective phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor with anti-inflammatory activity, and L-arginine, a precursor to nitric oxide with stimulating activity towards wound healing and tissue regeneration, were developed. A dual-spinneret electrospinning process enabled the coloading of drugs in PLA and PVA phases. Scaffolds were characterized by SEM, FTIR, and XRD, showing consistent fiber morphology, and amorphous drug formation. FTIR analysis was performed to confirm drug–polymer compatibility and successful incorporation of roflumilast and L-arginine within the PLA/ PVA nanofibrous matrix. Swelling …