Digital Commons Network^™

Improvement Of Cellular Pattern Organization And Clarity Through Centrifugal Force, Lauren E. Mehanna, James D. Boyd, Shelley Remus-Williams, Nicole M. Racca, Dawson P. Spraggins, Martha E. Grady, Brad J. Berron

Chemical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Rapid and strategic cell placement is necessary for high throughput tissue fabrication. Current adhesive cell patterning systems rely on fluidic shear flow to remove cells outside of the patterned regions, but limitations in washing complexity and uniformity prevent adhesive patterns from being widely applied. Centrifugation is commonly used to study the adhesive strength of cells to various substrates; however, the approach has not been applied to selective cell adhesion systems to create highly organized cell patterns. This study shows centrifugation as a promising method to wash cellular patterns after selective binding of cells to the surface has taken place. After …

Visionmate: Ai-Powered Image Captioning Web Application, Sai Anoushka Kokku

Master's Projects

VisionMate is a web application that generates captions for camera-captured images. It is designed
to assist users with visual impairments by converting visual input into spoken and written text. The
application uses the GIT-base model from Hugging Face, which processes the image and returns a
descriptive caption. Users can take a picture using the device camera—either via webcam on
desktop or the native camera interface on mobile. The app provides audio output using the
SpeechSynthesis API and uses full-screen tap interaction to simplify accessibility.

The frontend is implemented in React.js, and the backend is built with FastAPI. The backend calls …

Unconditional-To-Conditional Transfer And Optimization For Web-Based Skybox Gan, Crystal Kwong

Master's Projects

Generative adversarial networks (GANs) are known for their ability to generate high quality
images mimicking real life or even particular art styles. Yet for all their capability, casually
training a GAN on an average machine can be infeasible as GANs require an enormous amount
of time and data to train. Even with a trained GAN, model inference demands heavy
computations, making GANs difficult to deploy on applications. To address these limitations,
techniques such as transfer learning and quantization have been leveraged to speed up training of
GANs and lighten computational cost of GAN inference. This project aims to use such …

Photoproof: A Mobile Application For Verifying The Authenticity Of Images, Pruthviraj Urankar

Master's Projects

The easy access to artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, such as deepfakes and generative adversarial networks (GANs), has facilitated the creation of highly realistic artificial images, thereby undermining the authenticity of photos in today’s digital age. Misinformation and manipulation are key dangers to digital content due to this advancement. Therefore, the need for reliable methods of photo verification and authentication has become increasingly important. This report presents a decentralized iOS app that uses blockchain to ensure photo authenticity. The app leverages Ethereum smart contracts and cryptographic hashing to securely log image metadata. When a user takes a photo, the app hashes …

Optimizing Analytics Storage Strategies For Search Engines And Wiki Platforms, Sujith Kakarlapudi

Master's Projects

Modern search engines and wiki platforms generate vast quantities of user inter-
/="/">action data such as page views, edits, clicks, and session events. This data must be stored and aggregated efficiently to enable scalable analytics and responsive querying. Yioop, an open-source search engine framework, serves as our primary case study, processing millions of such events to power its indexing and recommendation features. This report explores a shift from the conventional database storage based model to a log based model, in order to improve scalability and write efficiency. A size-limited, append-only logging facility was provided to log analytics events: the …

Suicidal Ideation Detection On Reddit Using Llm-Annotated Data And Graph Neural Networks, Ikbal Singh Gurdev Singh Dhanjal

Master's Projects

Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among people aged 15-29. More than 720, 000 people commit suicide every year. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw an increase in people seeking out mental health support on anonymous forums like Reddit. These anonymous forums allow people to express their suicidal ideation without judgment and give them a support structure that not everyone has. The aim of this project is to detect suicidal ideation using Reddit. In this work, we propose SIRGEL (Suicidal Ideation on Reddit using Graph Embeddings and LLMs), a dual-pipeline approach that combines large language model (LLM)- based …

Transforming Chatbot Text: A Sequence-To-Sequence Approach To Human-Like Text Generation, Natesh Reddy

Master's Projects

With the advancements in Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, the boundary between text written by a human and that created by AI has become blurred. This poses a threat to systems designed to detect AI-generated content. In this work, we adopt a novel strategy to adversarially transform GPT-generated text using sequence-to-sequence (Seq2Seq) models, to make the text more human-like. We concentrate on improving GPT-generated sentences by including significant linguistic, structural, and semantic components that are typical of human-authored text. The goal is to then use this transformed data to train a more robust detection model. Our experiments show …

Framework For Identity Privacy Through Gender Based Skeletonization, Harrison Hwang

Master's Projects

The protection of one’s privacy and sensitive information is becoming increasingly difficult in the modern age full of surveillance and data collection. Through the use of image based object detection machine learning models trained for human and facial recognition, people can be identified and tracked to a terrifyingly accurate degree. On the other hand, the information present in surveillance media can play a key role in security and law enforcement. This presents a problem of how to preserve key information without compromising the privacy of any individuals present in the video. In this research project, Computer Vision techniques and a …

Development Of A Spss-Based Prediction Model To Evaluate ‎Volatile Organic Compounds During Trenchless Cured-In-Place Pipe Method, Salar Bavili Nezhad

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The Cured-in-Place Pipe (CIPP) method is a widely implemented trenchless technology for the rehabilitation of deteriorated pipelines, offering benefits such as cost-effectiveness and reduced surface disruption. However, the CIPP installation process, particularly during curing, raises concerns over the emission of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which can adversely impact worker safety, public health, and environmental standards. This dissertation aims to address these concerns by evaluating VOC emissions during CIPP installations and developing a predictive model to guide emission management practices.

A comprehensive field study was conducted, collecting air samples from 15 pipeline rehabilitation sites that utilized different site-specific conditions using non-Styrene …

Valorizing Municipal Solid Waste For Sustainable Aviation Fuel And Polyhydroxyalkanoate Bioplastics: Pyrolysis And Microbial Pathways, Emon Das

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

The escalating global burden of municipal solid waste (MSW), projected to reach 3.88 billion tons annually by 2050, calls for innovative valorization strategies to mitigate environmental impacts and promote a circular bioeconomy. This thesis investigates the conversion of MSW into two high-value products: sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) bioplastics. Chapter one presents comprehensive physicochemical characterization and pyrolysis-GC/MS analysis of MSW feedstocks. The physicochemical results reveal that densification enhances handling and storage properties, while pyrolysis-GC/MS analysis indicates that plastic-rich MSW streams produce bio-oils with favorable hydrocarbon profiles suitable for SAF production, potentially contributing to decarbonization efforts in the aviation …

Analysis Of Crowd Logistics Networks Using Agent-Based Models, Preetam Kulkarni

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Crowd logistics is a system in which an online platform connects a group of non-professional couriers (crowd/carriers), who use their under-utilized resources to offer delivery service to other individuals or businesses (senders) for a fee. While crowd logistics platforms have the potential to offer more flexible and responsive delivery services for much lower rates than traditional logistics providers, it is difficult for platforms to be successful as it is challenging to meet carriers’ and senders’ expectations. Crowd logistics has been applied in the context of food and grocery delivery, parcel pickup and drop-off services and last-mile delivery, however, it has …

Confronting Indecision, Lane Allison Murray

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

This course aims to increase students' understanding of indecision and how to confront it. The class provides insight into how the fear of the unknown holds people back from making decisions and about understanding one's values as a means to combat indecision. Students and teachers alike explore instances of indecision and evaluate their own impulses & thought processes by reflecting on the deeper reasons for their choices. Students will increase their comfort level of asking themselves and their peers questions about the values that guide them and, in doing so, strengthen their relationships with themselves and others.

Downstreaming Of Natural Materials Huta Ginjang Quartz Sand Doped With Nd2o3 For Laser Medium Application, Juniastel Rajagukguk, Jakrapong Kaewkhao

Journal of Metals, Materials and Minerals

The QSBoBa glasses with chemical formula 10 Quartz sand + (50-x) B2O3 + 10BaO + 30Na2O + xNd2O3 (x = 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mol%) were prepared by a conventional melt-quenching technique. The successfully fabricated glass samples will be analyzed based on their physical, structural, optical and luminescent properties. The XRD and FTIR spectra have been included to observe the complete structural properties. Optical absorption spectra revealed several characteristic transitions, with a prominent hypersensitive transition 4I9/2→4G5/2 at 584 nm, indicating an increasing asymmetry and disorder at higher Nd3+ concentrations. The photoluminescence emission spectra demonstrated strong radiative transitions of …

Cnns And Transformers For Visual Understanding: From Feature Alignment To Image Captioning, Xuehao Liu

Doctoral

Deep learning has developed rapidly since the introduction of Deep Belief Networks during the past decade. As an area of machine learning, it still has many open challenges. Among these open challenges is the issue of transparency, with deep learning models known as black boxes. Both explainability of a model for understanding the decision making process, and the transparency of the relationship between the input and output are crucial for understanding a model. The understanding of models can build trust between AI systems and humans, verify models behavior, and identify potential biases or errors.

Twitter-Based Osint For Cyber Event Analytics, Dakota S. Dale, Kylie Mcclanahan, W. Sky Elder, Qinghua Li

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT) is often regarded as a critical component for cybersecurity intelligence gathering to secure cyber infrastructures. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) and social media progress and become more commonplace, we have the unique opportunity to collect and analyze information from social media in real time. In this paper, we propose an AI-based framework for automatically filtering the Twitter stream for cybersecurity information, analyzing the natural language to aggregate the tweets around specific cybersecurity events, and certifying the information. The system's applications range from discovering events security operators may not have been aware of to helping operators investigate on-going events …

Consumer Preferences And Willingness To Pay For Vertiport Design, Amenities, And Services, David C. Ison

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The rise of urban air mobility (UAM) and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft necessitates the development of well-designed vertiports that align with consumer expectations. This study examines consumer preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for vertiport design, amenities, and services to inform infrastructure planning and investment strategies. Using a survey-based quantitative research design, data were collected from 500 participants to assess key factors influencing WTP, including convenience, security measures, service efficiency, and premium offerings. Findings indicate that location accessibility, affordability, and streamlined security procedures are primary determinants of vertiport adoption. While aesthetic and retail enhancements contribute to passenger …

Assessing The English Language Needs Of Student Pilots: A Comprehensive Analysis For Effective Aviation English Training, Triyani Rps Dewi, Lilis Kurnianingsih

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This research aims to identify the English language material needs for pilot students at the Indonesian Civil Aviation Polytechnic in order to improve communication skills that are essential for flight safety and operational effectiveness. In data collection, the researcher distributed questionnaires to students and conducted a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) involving students, flight instructors, English lecturers, and experienced pilots. The research results show that pilot students need two main skills in English learning. First, listening skills, especially in understanding instructions from ATC. Second, speaking skills used to respond to ATC instructions and to make requests or ask for information from …

The Effect Of Electrode Geometry On Excited Species Production In Atmospheric Pressure Air-Hydrogen Streamer Discharge, Shirshak Kumar Dhali, Stuart Reyes

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

When a gas is overvolted at or near atmospheric pressure, it results in a streamer discharge formation. Electrode geometries exert significant impact on the electrical breakdown of gases by altering the spatial profile of the electric field. In many applications the efficient generation of radicals is critical and is determined by the characteristics of the streamer discharge. We examine the effect of electrode geometry on the streamer characteristics and the production of radicals. This is performed for three different electrode geometries: plane–plane, pin–plane, and pin–pin. A two-dimensional rotationally symmetric fluid model is used for the streamer discharge simulation in the …

The Effect Of Electrode Geometry On Excited Species Production In Atmospheric Pressure Air–Hydrogen Streamer Discharge, Shirshak Kumar Dhali, Stuart Reyes

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

When a gas is overvolted at or near atmospheric pressure, it results in a streamer discharge formation. Electrode geometries exert significant impact on the electrical breakdown of gases by altering the spatial profile of the electric field. In many applications the efficient generation of radicals is critical and is determined by the characteristics of the streamer discharge. We examine the effect of electrode geometry on the streamer characteristics and the production of radicals. This is performed for three different electrode geometries: plane–plane, pin–plane, and pin–pin. A two-dimensional rotationally symmetric fluid model is used for the streamer discharge simulation in the …

From Cyclones To Cybersecurity: A Call For Convergence In Risk And Crisis Communications Research, Ann Marie Reinhold, Ross J. Gore, Barry Ezell, Clemente I. Izurieta, Elizabeth A. Shanahan

VMASC Publications

Effective risk and crisis communication can improve health and safety and reduce harmful effects of hazards and disasters. A robust body of literature investigates mechanisms for improving risk and crisis communication. While effective risk and crisis communication strategies are equally desired across different hazard types (e.g., natural hazards, cyber security), the extent to which risk and crisis communication experts utilize the “lessons learned” from scientific domains outside their own is suspect. Therefore, we hypothesized that risk and crisis communication research is siloed according to academic disciplines at the detriment to the advancement of the field of risk communications research writ …

Are We Ready For Synchronous Conceptual Modeling In Augmented Reality? A Usability Study On Causal Maps With Hololens 2, Anish Shrestha, Philippe J. Giabbanelli

VMASC Publications

(1) Background: Participatory modeling requires combining individual views to create a shared conceptual model. While remote collaboration tools have enabled synchronous online modeling, they are limited to desktop settings. Augmented reality (AR) offers a new approach by potentially providing the sense of presence found in physical collaboration, which may better support participants in achieving the sense of presence found in physical locations, thus supporting them in negotiating meaning and building a shared model. (2) Methods: Building on prior works that developed technology, we performed a usability study with pairs of modelers to examine their ability at performing key conceptual modeling …

Advances In Bacterial Cellulose-Based Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering: Review, Rewati Raman Ujjwal, Gymama Slaughter

Center for Bioelectronics Publications

Bacterial cellulose (BC) has emerged as a highly versatile and promising biomaterial in tissue engineering, with potential applications across skin, bone, cartilage, and vascular regeneration. Its exceptional properties like high mechanical strength, superior biocompatibility, excellent moisture retention, and inherent ability to support cell adhesion and proliferation, make BC particularly effective for wound healing and skin regeneration. These attributes accelerate tissue repair and foster new tissue formation, highlighting its value in skin-related applications. Additionally, BC's capacity to support osteogenic differentiation, combined with its mechanical robustness, positions it as a strong candidate for bone tissue engineering, facilitating regeneration and repair. Recent advancements …

Gold Nanoparticle-Enhanced Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Electrode For Non-Enzymatic Lactate Sensing, Christopher Animashaun, Abdellatif Ait Lahcen, Gymama Slaughter

Center for Bioelectronics Publications

We are reporting the development of a high-performance, non-enzymatic electrochemical biosensor for selective lactate detection, integrating laser-induced graphene (LIG), gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), and a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) synthesized from poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT). The LIG electrode offers a highly porous, conductive scaffold, while electrodeposited AuNPs enhance catalytic activity and signal amplification. The PEDOT-based MIP layer, electropolymerized via cyclic voltammetry, imparts molecular specificity by creating lactate-specific binding sites. Cyclic voltammetry confirmed successful molecular imprinting and enhanced interfacial electron transfer. The resulting LIG/AuNPs/MIP biosensor demonstrated a wide linear detection range from 0.1 µM to 2500 µM, with a sensitivity of 22.42 µA/log(µM) and …

Electrochemical And Nanomaterial Based Strategies For Nonenzymatic Glucose Detection: A Review, Reagan Aviha, Gymama Slaughter

Center for Bioelectronics Publications

Electrochemical glucose sensing technologies have undergone significant evolution, with continual advancements aimed at improving sensitivity, selectivity, and user convenience. This review systematically explores the development of emerging nonenzymatic glucose sensor designs. Nonenzymatic sensors are critically evaluated for their ability to overcome enzymatic limitations, leveraging novel materials and catalytic mechanisms. Additionally, the emergence of smartphone-integrated glucose monitoring systems is highlighted as the fifth generation, representing a paradigm shift toward personalized, real-time healthcare management. Emphasis is placed on the strategies employed to reduce the working electrode potential and enhance analytical performance. Key analytical metrics and real-sample applicability are evaluated, and persistent challenges …

Flipped Classroom Versus Lecture: A Quasi-Experimental Study Evaluating The Performance Of Dental Students.”, Manal Elhijazi, Ihsane Benyahya

Health Sciences

Background: The flipped classroom is an active pedagogical modality that improves learning, autonomy and critical thinking. This work aims to evaluate the impact of the flipped classroom on student performance compared to the lecture in a biomaterials course.

Material and methods:Second-year dental students were invited to participate voluntarily in this quasi-experimental study .Thus, they were divided into two groups: one group benefited́ from the flipped classroom while the control group attended the lecture. At the end of a formative evaluation for both groups, their average grades were compared using Student's test (significance threshold set at p

Results : …

Drag Reduction In Ground Vehicles Using A Model Porous Medium, Abdullah Ikram Nabi

Master’s Theses

This research investigates aerodynamic drag reduction on a 25° Slanted Ahmed Body (SAB) by integrating porous media model rods through combined experimental and computational methods at a Reynolds number of 1.16×10⁴. Two porous media configurations: short rods (6.75% of the model height) and long rods (20.0% of the model height), both featuring cylindrical rods with 80% porosity, were systematically compared against a baseline SAB. In-depth analyses were performed to investigate the wake flow topology, recirculation region characteristics, pressure coefficient distribution, Reynolds stress distributions and drag coefficient. Experimental investigations employed particle image velocimetry for precise flow visualization, while Reynold Averaged Navier-Stokes …

Using Post-Supercritical Co2-Assisted Method To Deposit Niep Alloy Coating On The Micro-Arc Oxidation Layer Of Az31 Magnesium Alloy And Its Corrosion Behavior Analysis, Kang-Yu Liao, Hung-Hua Sheu, Ming-Yuan Lin, Ming-Chih Kuo, Po-Hsun Wu, Hung-Bin Lee

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

In this study, a Ni-P alloy coating was deposited on the micro arc oxidation (MAO) layer of AZ31 magnesium alloy to improve its corrosion resistance. The MAO layers were prepared under different operated voltages from 300 to 400 V. The results indicated that the optimize operated parameters for MAO layer is at 350 V, the MAO coatings had the most compact microstructure and superior corrosion resistance. In order to improve the corrosion resistance of MAO coating, this study chose to deposit Ni-P alloy coating on the surface of MAO coating via the post supercritical CO₂-assisted electroless plating (PSC-CO …

Evaluation Of Carbon Sequestration In Seagrass Meadows Of Kenting: A Comparative Study With Penghu And Dongsha Island, Zih-Wei Tang, Huei-Fen Chen, Jordi Mahardika Puntu, Ping-Yu Chang, Li Lo, Jian-Jhih Chen, Wen-Chen Chou, Lan-Feng Fan, Ying-Ju Chang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study investigates the controlling factors of carbon sequestration (CS) in seagrass bed sediments across three distinct environments in Taiwan: the Kenting (KT) coastal area, the Penghu (PH) open inner bay, and the Dongsha (DS) Atoll lagoon. Actual measurements of the substrate depth beneath the sediment and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) scans of the beach reveal that the coral reef bedrock in KT slopes landward. A field survey of the seagrass area in KT was conducted, and three cross-sectional profiles were analyzed to determine their topography, yielding a median sediment thickness of 88.2cm. Based on these measurements, the sediment volume was …

Calculation Of Aquifer Transmissivity From Borehole Resistance Measurements And Pumping Test Results, Fen-Rong Yang, Chien-Wei Huang, Tien-Kuen Huang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Transmissivity is a crucial hydrogeological parameter for evaluating groundwater resources. This parameter is conventionally evaluated using pumping tests; however, these tests are costly and can be conducted at few sites. Many researchers have used ground resistance and pumping test data to estimate various hydrogeological parameters. In this study, borehole resistance survey and pumping test data collected by the Taiwan Groundwater Monitoring Network were used to establish the relationship between transmissivity and formation factor for aquifers in the Zhuoshui River alluvial fan. This relationship was then used to estimate the water output of the aforementioned aquifers in a cost-effective manner from …

In Vitro Microfluidics System For Mechanobiologic Investigations, Michael A. Daanen

Honors Theses

Mechanobiology is an emerging field that aims to study the relationships between mechanical forces and cellular behavior. Such mechanobiological relationships are especially critical in the cardiovascular system, where endothelial cells lining the vasculature align in response to fluid shear stresses from blood flow (Sinha, 2016). Implanted flow devices, diabetes, chronic hypertension, and various other diseases and pathophysiologies alter vessel geometries and flow dynamics. Such alterations impact fluid shear stress and endothelial cell behavior, leading to microcirculatory dysfunction, vessel leakage, and organ failure (Poredos, 2021; Papadaki, 1999; Leitschuh, 1987). To simulate dysfunctional endothelial cell behavior in vitro and evaluate novel therapeutic …