Digital Commons Network^™

Electrochemical Identification Of Metal Chlorides In Eutectic Licl-Kcl Without Prior Knowledge Of Analyte Identities, Tyler Williams, Jason Torrie, Mark Schvaneveldt, Ranon Fuller, Greg Chipman, Devin Rappleye

Faculty Publications

The identities of unknown analytes within four eutectic LiCl-KCl melts were determined using electrochemical methods, simulating the uncertainty of electrochemically probing an electrorefiner salt bath or molten salt nuclear reactor. With a variety of electrochemical methods (e.g. cyclic voltammetry, chronopotentiometry, and square-wave voltammetry), and electroanalytical techniques (e.g. semi-differentiation), every analyte was positively identified, although one false positive occurred because of an unexpected chemical interaction. This study highlights some remaining challenges for the use of electrochemical sensors in nuclear material control and accountability in molten salts: (1) quantification of analytes without the use of calibration curves (e.g. error in property values, …

Finding The Shortest Path Using Dijkstra’S Algorithm, Orit D. Gruber, Deborah Sturm

Open Educational Resources

This lab experiment explores an algorithm which is used to find the shortest path between two or more locations. After completing the lab, you will be able to answer the following questions in the final lab report:

1. What is an Algorithm?
2. What is a Graph ?
3. What is the purpose and operation of Dijkstra’s Algorithm ?

Design And Fabrication Of Passive Microfluidic Devices For Enhancing Membrane-Based Biosensors, Tanner N. Wells

Theses and Dissertations

Microfluidic devices and systems have demonstrated wide applicability in sample processing and analysis. The ability to integrate sample processing and analysis into a single platform is a key benefit of microfluidic technologies. This dissertation describes the design and fabrication two types of microfluidic devices developed to enhance membrane-based biosensors. First is a device for collecting particles into a highly confined region, locally enhancing their concentration. Second is a device for size-based particle separation capable of separating differently sized particles into separate streams. Both types of devices are fabricated with a thin top layer, providing a platform for synthetic membrane-based technologies. …

The Design, Prototyping, And Validation Of A New Wearable Sensor System For Monitoring Lumbar Spinal Motion In Daily Activities, Brianna Bischoff

Theses and Dissertations

Lower back pain is a widespread problem affecting millions worldwide, because understanding its development and effective treatment remains challenging. Current treatment success is often evaluated using patient-reported outcomes, which tend to be qualitative and subjective in nature, making objective success measurement difficult. Wearable sensors can provide quantitative measurements, thereby helping physicians improve care for countless individuals around the world. These sensors also have the potential to provide longitudinal data on daily motion patterns, aiding in monitoring the progress of treatment plans for lower back pain. In this work it was hypothesized that a new wearable sensor garment that makes use …

Manipulating Colloidal Particles Using Chemical Gradients And Top-Down Control, Mark Nichols Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

Colloidal particles provide the ideal building blocks for the next generation of microdevices, such as advanced sensors and precision drug delivery systems. However, many such applications require the use of top-down (i.e. humanly controllable) forces to manipulate colloidal particles with single-particle precision, and current methods can only achieve such precision for small numbers of particles at a time. To address this challenge, we propose using chemical forces in combination with existing top-down techniques to enable the control of larger numbers of particles simultaneously. Controlling colloids using chemical reactions is a novel technique not typically utilized. Due to its distinct difference …

Uhd: Unary Processing For Lightweight And Dynamic Hyperdimensional Computing, Mehran Shoushtari Moghadam, M. Hassan Najafi

Faculty Scholarship

Hyperdimensional computing (HDC) is a novel computational paradigm that operates on long-dimensional vectors known as hypervectors. The hypervectors are constructed as long bit-streams and form the basic building blocks of HDC systems. In HDC, hypervectors are generated from scalar values without considering bit significance. HDC is efficient and robust for various data processing applications, especially computer vision tasks. To construct HDC models for vision applications, the current state-of-the-art practice utilizes two parameters for data encoding: pixel intensity and pixel position. However, the intensity and position information embedded in high-dimensional vectors are generally not generated dynamically in the HDC models. Consequently, …

Infrared Light-Based Data Association And Pose Estimation For Aircraft Landing In Urban Environments, David Akagi

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we explore an infrared light-based approach to the problem of pose estimation during aircraft landing in urban environments where GPS is unreliable or unavailable. We introduce a novel fiducial constellation composed of sparse infrared lights that incorporates projective invariant properties in its design to allow for robust recognition and association from arbitrary camera perspectives. We propose a pose estimation pipeline capable of producing high accuracy pose measurements at real-time rates from monocular infrared camera views of the fiducial constellation, and present as part of that pipeline a data association method that is able to robustly identify and …

Feasibility Of Parallelized Measurement Of Local Thermal Properties, Alexander J. Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents research done in the development and the exploration of feasibility for a high-throughput method to measure local thermal properties. The present capabilities in the measurement of local thermophysical properties such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and Kapitza resistance are very inefficient and impractical to fully understand and characterize heat transport through certain materials and features. This work follows up on past work in local thermal property measurement via the spatial domain thermoreflectance (SDTR) method, and explores the possibility of parallelizing the process. The parallelized SDTR (P-SDTR) method involves using laser projector sources to periodically heat and measure …

Design Of Precision Deployable Origami-Based Space Arrays, Clark Thomas Roubicek

Theses and Dissertations

Deployable origami-based arrays can offer many benefits for a wide variety of engineering applications because of their ability to stow compactly and deploy to a large area. These types of arrays have been demonstrated for use in solar arrays, heat shields, and more; however, they have yet to be shown in high precision applications such as telescopes. The biggest roadblock to using origami in high precision arrays is align- ment in the deployed state; in optical systems, local (single panel) and global (entire array) misalignment can drastically reduce performance. Precision positioning of origami-based arrays can be a challenge because of …

Advancing Omnimodality: Expanding Human Creativity Through Adaptable And Accessible Multimodal Computing Systems, Joshua Urban Davis

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Emerging technologies have given us a whole host of new ways for people to be

creative. From the immersive worlds of AR/VR to the synthesis powers of largelanguage

models and generative AI, these new tools hold the potential to reshape

human expression and creativity. But how can we ensure that these new modalities

are accessible to everyone, even those who aren’t able bodied? This thesis advocates

for a human-centered approach to the development of many-modal systems. I will

probe how our machines support, direct, or inhibit creativity as a mode of problem

solving through 6 novel multimodal prototype interfaces and …

Electrical Conductivity Of Subsurface Ocean Analogue Solutions From Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Catherine A. Psarakis, Timothy Tizhe Fidelis, Keith B. Chin, Baptiste Journaux, Abby Kavner, Pranb Sarker, Marshall J. Stycinski, Steven D. Vance, Tao Wei

Faculty Publications

Investigating the habitability of ocean worlds is a priority of current and future NASA missions. The Europa Clipper mission will conduct approximately 50 flybys of Jupiter’s moon Europa, returning a detailed portrait of its interior from the synthesis of data from its instrument suite. The magnetometer on board has the capability of decoupling Europa’s induced magnetic field to high precision, and when these data are inverted, the electrical conductivity profile from the electrically conducting subsurface salty ocean may be constrained. To optimize the interpretation of magnetic induction data near ocean worlds and constrain salinity from electrical conductivity, accurate laboratory electrical …

Using Discrete-Event Simulation To Balance Staff Allocation And Patient Flow Between Clinic And Surgery In A Pediatric Hospital Setting, John Forbus

Theses and Dissertations

We review the problem of a system-level balanced scheduling scenario. A hospital clinic has a queue for patients needing care. After being seen in clinic, many require follow-up surgery, for which they also wait in a queue. The rate-limiting factor is physician availability for both clinic visits and surgical cases. Much existing work has been done to optimize clinic appointments, as well as to optimize surgical appointments. This novel approach models the entire patient journey at the system level, through both clinic and surgery, to optimize the total patient experience. A discrete-event simulation model of the system is built based …

Mathematical Modeling And Understanding The Physiological Mechanisms Of Vibration On Wound Healing And Scar Remodeling, Devin Rion Needs

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic wounds and pathological scars reduce the quality of life for millions of people worldwide. Through mathematical modeling and clinical testing, understanding of how these conditions occur continues to increase. These tools have also been employed to investigate the efficacy of treatments that could impact wound healing and scar remodeling. The purpose of this work is to investigate the physiological effects of vibration treatment on wound healing, blood flow, and scar remodeling through mathematical modeling and experimental testing. This work presents and validates a mathematical murine model for whole body vibration enhanced wound healing (VEWH). This VEWH model builds on …

Control, Localization, And Shock Optimization Of Icosahedral Tensegrity Systems, Brett Layer

Theses and Dissertations

Exploring the design space of tensegrity systems is the basis of the work presented in this thesis. The areas explored as part of this research include the optimization of tensegrity structures to minimize the size of a tensegrity structure given payload shock constraints, and the control and locomotion of an icosahedral tensegrity system using movable masses and using an accelerometer in conjunction with leveraging geometrical knowledge of an icosahedral tensegrity system to localize the system after the system moves. In the optimization design space, a simplified model was created to represent an icosahedral tensegrity structure. This was done by assuming …

Utilizing Waste Rocks From Phosphate Mining In Jordan As Concrete Aggregates, Tamer Eljufout, Fadi Alhomaidat

Open Initiatives Grant Funded Publications-Archive

This study investigates the potential of replacing natural aggregates in concrete with aggregates obtained from Phosphate Mine Waste (PMW) rocks in Jordan. Several tests were conducted to determine the PMW rocks’ chemical, physical, and mechanical properties according to ASTM standards. A comprehensive experimental investigation was conducted, involving thirty-six concrete cylinder specimens, to evaluate the strength and durability properties of concrete made with PMW rocks compared to concrete made with natural limestone aggregates. The tested aggregates of PMW rocks consist mainly of quartz, dolomite, montmorillonite, and flu- orapatite. Their physical and mechanical properties were found to be similar to the natural …

Back To The Future: A Case For The Resurgence Of Approximation Theory For Enabling Data Driven “Intelligence”, Michael Dominic Ciocco

Theses and Dissertations

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has exploded into mainstream consciousness with commercial investments exceeding $90 billion in the last year alone. Inasmuch as consumer-facing applications such ChatGPT offer astounding access to algorithms that were hitherto restricted to academic research labs, public focus of attention on AI has created an avalanche of misinformation. The nexus of investor-driven hype, “surprising” inaccuracies in the answers provided by AI models – now anthropomorphically labeled as “hallucinations”, and impending legislation by well-meaning and concerned governments has resulted in a crisis of confidence in the science of AI. The primary driver for AI’s recent growth is the convergence …

Visionarium, June 2024, Full Issue

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

No abstract provided.

Embracing The Irreplaceable: The Role Of Neurodiversity In Cultivating Human-Ai Symbiosis In Education, Piper Hutson

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

This study investigates the indispensable role of human skills—such as empathy, ethical judgment, and nuanced understanding—in the development and application of artificial intelligence (AI) within higher education, highlighting the unique contributions of neurodivergent perspectives in creating a symbiotic human-AI relationship. Drawing upon research that evidences the superior performance of diverse teams in creativity and innovation, the paper argues for the integration of neurodiversity into AI development as a means to address the philosophy of 'fearing the Other,' thereby mitigating biases and fostering ethical AI interactions. The technology sector's adoption of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, including biopsychosocial interventions and …

Absent Presence: The Human Influence In Ai-Generated Content In The Age Of Technoculture, Kathi Vosevich, James Hutson

International Journal of Emerging and Disruptive Innovation in Education : VISIONARIUM

In recent years, the field of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly under the banner of generative AI (GAI), has made unprecedented advancements, pushing the boundaries of what was traditionally considered within the realm of human capability. AI systems have not only matched but also surpassed human proficiency in various tasks, sparking widespread discussions about their significant impact across multiple fields, including the arts and humanities. This paper considers the profound implications of AI's rapid progress and explores the concept of "Absent Presence" within the context of Derrida and Technoculture, particularly as illustrated in the arts and humanities. Drawing parallels with renowned …

Highly Comparative Time Series Analysis Of Oxygen Saturation And Heart Rate To Predict Respiratory Outcomes In Extremely Preterm Infants, Jiaxing Qui, Juliann M. Di Fiore, Narayanan Krishnamurthi, Premananda Indic, Additional Authors, Prematurity-Related Ventilatory Control (Pre-Vent) Investigators

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective. Highly comparative time series analysis (HCTSA) is a novel approach involving massive feature extraction using publicly available code from many disciplines. The Prematurity-Related Ventilatory Control (Pre-Vent) observational multicenter prospective study collected bedside monitor data from > 700 extremely preterm infants to identify physiologic features that predict respiratory outcomes. Approach. We calculated a subset of 33 HCTSA features on > 7 M 10 min windows of oxygen saturation (SPO2) and heart rate (HR) from the Pre-Vent cohort to quantify predictive performance. This subset included representatives previously identified using unsupervised clustering on > 3500 HCTSA algorithms. We hypothesized that the best HCTSA algorithms would …

Molecular Behavior Of Silicone Adhesive At Buried Polymer Interface Studied By Molecular Dynamics Simulation And Sum Frequency Generation Vibrational Spectroscopy, Yuchen Wu, Ting Lin, Elizabeth Santos, Dongchan Ahn, Ryan Marson, Pranab Sarker, Xiaoyun Chen, Frédéric Gubbels, Nick E. Shephard, Carol Mohler, Tao Wei, Tzu-Chi Kuoc, Zhan Chen

Faculty Publications

Silicones have excellent material properties and are used extensively in many applications, ranging from adhesives and lubricants to electrical insulation. To ensure strong adhesion of silicone adhesives to a wide variety of substrates, silane-based adhesion promotors are typically blended into the silicone adhesive formulation. However, little is known at the molecular level about the true silane adhesion promotion mechanism, which limits the ability to develop even more effective adhesion promoters. To understand the adhesion promotion mechanism of silane molecules at the molecular level, this study has used sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy (SFG) to determine the behavior of (3-glycidoxypropyl)trimethoxy silane …

Tracking Mining Company Electric Vehicles For Sustainable Development Optimization Using Distributed Ledger Technologies, Teodora Hristova

Journal of Sustainable Mining

It is established that based on the industrial revolutions towards Industry 5.0, the population of the Earth and its well-being are increasing. To preserve and improve living conditions the development in all spheres of life is by the paradigm of sustainable development. Through the prism of the mining industry, one step could be the introduction of circular economy measures for digitized tracking of materials, repairs, consumed electricity, safety, and finances. Implementing of electric cars is an option to achieve this goal through automation, manageability, and data traceability via Industry 4.0 technologies. Such are blockchain technologies, IoT, V2V, and others. For …

Operation Of A Packed Bed Reactor For Hyrdogenation, Austin Joseph Urfer

Graduate Theses - Chemical Engineering

The primary goals of this research were to develop an efficient standard operating procedure for undergraduate students and researchers performing reactions within a packed bed reactor and to determine the optimal operating conditions for phenethylamine formation from mandelonitrile hydrogenation. With the current laboratory packed bed reactor system, undergraduates can conduct gas-liquid phase reactions at a maximum temperature of 95℃ and a maximum pressure of 100 psi. The versatile system setup can be modified for unit operations laboratory instruction or future researchers analyzing heterogeneous catalysis reactions. The developed standard operating procedure provides detailed instructions on packing the reactor with a solid …

Simulation Of Heat And Mass Transfer In A Refractance Window Dryer For Aloe Vera Gel, A. Shahraki, M. Khojastehpour, M. R. Golzarian, E. Azarpazhooh

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Introduction Drying is one of the oldest methods of food preservation. To increase the efficiency of heat and mass transfer while maintaining product quality, the study of the drying process is crucial scientifically and meticulously. It is possible to conduct experimental tests, trial and error, in the drying process. However, this approach consumes time and cost, with a significant amount of energy resources. By harnessing available software and leveraging technological advancement to develop a general model for drying food under varying initial conditions, the drying process can be significantly optimized. Materials and Methods This study was conducted with the aim …

Controlled Drug Delivery And Cellular Activities From Electrospun Fibers, Diala Bani Mustafa

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Electrospun drug-eluting fibers have demonstrated potential applications in topical drug delivery, where modulations of drug releases were achieved through polymer fiber compositions. In this study, blend fibers of polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) at various compositions were electrospun from 10 wt% of polymer solutions to encapsulate a model drug of ibuprofen (IBP). Results showed that average polymer solution viscosities determined the electrospinning parameters and the resulting average fiber diameters. In vitro release of IBP suggested a transition from a gradual release to a fast release when increasing PEO contents in the PCL/PEO blend fibers up to 120 minutes. In …

Global-To-Local Dependencies In Phosphorus Mass Flows And Markets: Pathways To Improving System Resiliency In Response To Exogenous Shocks, Justin Baker, Nathan Schunk, Matt Scholz, Ashton Merck, Rebecca Logsdon Muenich, Paul Westerhoff, James J. Elser, Owen W. Duckworth, Luke Gatiboni, Minhazul Islam, Anna-Maria Marshall, Rosangela Sozzani, Brooke K. Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Uneven global distribution of phosphate rock deposits and the supply chains to transport phosphorus (P) make P fertilizers vulnerable to exogenous shocks, including commodity market shocks; extreme weather events or natural disasters; and geopolitical instability, such as trade disputes, disruption of shipping routes, and war. Understanding bidirectional risk transmission (global-to-local and local-to-global) in P supply and consumption chains is thus essential. Ignoring P system interdependencies and associated risks could have major impacts on critical infrastructure operations and increase the vulnerability of global food systems. We highlight recent unanticipated events and cascading effects that have impacted P markets globally. We discuss …

Valorization Of Spent Zn-C Battery And Construction And Demolition Waste (Cdw): Fabrication And Characterization Of Geopolymer Composites For Radiation Shielding Applications, Raul Florez, Carlos H. Castano Giraldo, Sandra M. Restrepo-Arcila, Henry A. Colorado

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

There is a Serious Threat of Pollution Due to the High Waste of Energy and Materials Worldwide that Needs to Be Decreased. One Way is to Reduce Waste or Use Them in Secondary Processes. New Eco-Friendly Geopolymer Binders Were Fabricated using Metakaolin, CDW, and Battery Waste (BW) Powders as Starting Materials and a Mixture of Potassium Silicate and Sodium Hydroxide as Activation Solutions. 5 Formulations with BW Powder Replacements Ranging from 5 to 40 Wt% Were Prepared and Subjected to Heat Curing at 80 °C for 24 H. the Effect of Zn-C Battery Waste Content on the Phase Composition, Densification, …

High-Power Polyphase Pcb-Type Inductive Coupler For Wireless Electric Vehicle Charging, Donovin D. Lewis, Omer Onar, Lucas Gastineau, John F. Eastham, Dan M. Ionel

Electrical and Computer Engineering Graduate Research

The cost and manufacturing difficulty of traditionally wound coils for wireless charging of electric vehicles has led to the exploration of alternative manufacturing for scalable deployment at a range of rated powers. A rotating-field polyphase wireless coupler is developed with balanced fully pitched coils which are not possible with conventional Litz wire. The usage of printed circuit board (PCB) technology is proposed for the innovative construction at large dimensions due to reduced cost, increased ease of manufacturability, and potential geometric customization compared to would coils. Design considerations specific to PCBs are detailed for wireless power transfer coils including advantages such …

Failure Analysis Of Abutment-Loaded Underground Coal Mine Stoppings During Explosion, Kutay E. Karadeniz, Dogukan Guner, Taghi Sherizadeh

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Underground Mine Structures Like Mine Seals or Built-In-Place (BIP) Refuge Alternatives (RA) Are Exposed to Specific Loadings Like Explosions Because of overlying and Underlying Strata Conditions. Previous Studies Worked on the Vertical Loading Response of Structures Like Abutments from Panel Extraction But Not the Explosion Resistance Upon Being Subjected to These Vertical Strata Loads. in This Study, Two Steel-Reinforced Concrete Wall Designs as Seal and RA Applications Are Simulated to Examine the Performance and Failure Analysis under Abutment-Loading Conditions during an Explosion for a Coal Mine Model using Dynamic Analysis by a Distinct Element Code (3DEC). the Available Abutment Monitoring …

Enhancing Miter Saw Safety: Challenges And Prospects Of Brake Incorporation With An Automatic Blade Retraction System, Derek Cole

University Honors Theses

Miter saws pose significant safety risks with thousands of injuries reported annually. Despite this risk, they are still used every day as they are a necessity for thousands of workers in the United States and globally. This leaves a demand to make these machines safer to mitigate any potential harm. This research addresses the critical need for an automatic safety system for miter saws, aiming to enhance user safety by retracting and stopping the blade upon skin contact. This analysis identified the primary challenge: The large force generated when braking at high speed on a miter saw blade, translates the …