Digital Commons Network^™

Real-Time Iot-Enabled Dissolved Oxygen Monitoring And Automated Wastewater Recirculation In Constructed Wetlands, Sivasankar Pandiarajan, Vanitha Sankararajan, Devarinti Chandu

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Wastewater treatment is necessary for environmental conservation and combating water pollution. This study demonstrates real-time dissolved oxygen (DO) monitoring in constructed wetland treatment. The system would ensure an adequate supply of oxygen through automated water circulation whenever the level is below 4 mg/L, and shut down when it reaches the normal level. From experiments conducted, it was observed that within three automated circulation processes, it is possible to increase DO concentrations from 0.5 mg/L to 5.0 mg/L. Additionally, Total Dissolved Solids reduced from 1,380 ppm to 920 ppm. pH also stabilized from 8.38 to 7.9. In this system, data is …

Nitrite Oxidation During Ozonation Revisited: Mechanisms Of Nitration Reactions, Tarek Manasfi, Christoph Dieziger, Simon A. Rath, Daisuke Minakata, Urs Von Gunten

Michigan Tech Publications

The formation of toxicologically relevant nitro compounds has been observed during ozonation of nitrite-containing secondary wastewater effluents, but their formation mechanism remains unknown. To identify key nitrating species, three reaction systems were investigated: ozonation of nitrite (O3/NO2^–), peroxynitrite (ONOOH/ONOO^–), and hydroxyl radical oxidation of nitrite with γ-radiolysis (γ/NO2^–). Nitrite ozonation (O3/NO2^–) yielded significant amounts of the nitrating agent nitrogen dioxide ^•NO2 (9.4% at pH 7 to 22% at pH 12) besides the main product nitrate. No peroxynitrite formation was detected during ozonation of nitrite-containing waters, suggesting that ^•NO2 is the …

Amending Planting Media With Typha-Derived Biochar For Sustainable Horticulture, Elissa Touma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Constructed wetlands are widely used to improve water quality by removing excess nutrients from wastewater and stormwater. Nutrients are stored within wetland vegetation, particularly in fast-growing plants such as Typha. Harvesting vegetation provides an opportunity to permanently remove these nutrients while generating biomass suitable for beneficial reuse. Converting harvested biomass into value-added products such as compost and biochar can support nutrient recovery and sustainable biomass management. In addition, increasing concerns regarding the environmental impacts of peat extraction have created interest in renewable alternatives for horticultural growing media. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of harvested …

Adaptive Intervention Strategies In Co-Evolving Multiplex Networks: A Reinforcement Learning Approach To Real-Time Misinformation Containment, Anjali Ashokrao Bhadre Dr., Harshvardhan Prabhakar Ghongade Dr.

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

The growing transmission of misinformation via social media creates serious challenges to public health, democracy and social cohesion. To date, methods used to contain misinformation rely upon static representations of networks and set rules for interventions. In contrast, this study presents the first Multiplex Adaptive Reinforcement Intervention Network (MARIN), a framework for real-time adaptive intervention in the context of dynamic misinformation transmission using co-evolving multiplex networks and deep reinforcement learning. Unlike past studies that have assumed static network structures, MARIN has the ability to allow for dynamic changes in network topology as a result of both misinformation transmission and intervention …

Tinyvgg-Based Real-Time Degradation Classification For Adverse Driving Scenes Using A Newly Collected Iraqi Driving Dataset, Yousif N. Abbas, Matheel E. Abdulmunim, Nada H. Ali, Ismail A. Mageed

Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications

Environmental conditions such as low-light at night, fog scattering, glare artifacts, rain streaks, and rain smear distortions are significant issues of camera-based perception in Autonomous Vehicles (AVs). These degradations alter the statistics of the scene, mask structure, introduce non-uniform noise, and adversely affect downstream vision processes, including detection and tracking. To overcome this shortcoming, this paper presents a lightweight TinyVGG-based degradation classification system that runs in real time. The network extracts discriminative spatial features with hierarchical convolutional encoding and projects them to a lower-dimensional semantic representation with fully connected layers and a multi-class predictor based on SoftMax. In addition, a …

Beneficial Investigation Of Sustainable Recycled Waste Plastic In Treating The Consolidation Behavior Of Fine Soil, Aram Mohammed Raheem, Cumaraswamy Vipulanandan, Mohammed Hiwa Abdullrahman, Ali Tariq Omer

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

Recycled waste plastic is one of the regular garbage utilized as a sustainable material in soil remediation. This study examines the efficacy of utilizing local recycled waste plastic as an ecological quantifiable along with soil containing fine particles to analyze the consolidation behavior. Various recycled waste plastic contents ranging from 2% to 10% were employed experimentally in two patterns where in the first pattern the recycled waste plastic were mixed as dry material with the fine soil particles while in the second pattern a sandwich layer of 10% of the recycled waste plastic was placed in the middle of the …

Development And Standardization Of Teds Actuator Templates Under Ieee 1451 Framework, Jim Kang

Theses and Dissertations

The IEEE 1451 standard is a family of standards that defines a framework for smart transducers, including both sensors and actuators, to support consistent, interoperable, and cost-effective integration across diverse applications. However, the current IEEE 1451.4 standard templates only define the method for encoding Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (TEDS) information for a broad range of sensor types and applications; they do not address actuator TEDS. Specific types of sensors and actuators are being developed to assess underground environmental conditions in cold regions with widespread permafrost. Evaluating subsurface conditions before construction can help prevent high construction expenses for structures built on …

Extraction Of High-Quality Cashew Nutshell Liquid Using Carbon Dioxide-Expanded Hexane, Frank N. Jacob, Neema Msuya, Joseph Y.N Philip, Kando Khalifa Janga

Tanzania Journal of Science

Cashew nutshell liquid (CNSL) is a by–product from cashew processing industries containing four naturally occurring phenolic compounds. This study investigated an extraction approach using CO2–expanded hexane. The central composite design (CCD) was employed in experimental design to investigate the effects and interaction of CO 2 mole fractions and extraction temperature on the CNSL yield and quality (Colour) from Steamed CNSL. The dissolution power of the CO2–expanded hexane was assessed by determining the solubility of CNSL during the initial stages of extraction at different extraction conditions. Findings indicated that higher CO2 mole fractions reduced CNSL solubility, while higher temperatures enhanced it. …

The Effect Of Mwcnt-Oil Impregnation Of Sintered Components On Their Wear And Corrosion Resistance, Maha Khaled Abdelfadeel

Theses and Dissertations

Powder Metallurgy (PM) offers an advantageous route for manufacturing complex and near net-shape components. Their inherent interconnected porosity that promotes the action of self lubrication compromises their structural integrity by creating pathways for corrosion and excessive wear. This research investigates the efficacy of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNTs) as a nano additive within the impregnating base oil (SN-150 base oil). An experimental matrix was designed to evaluate the influence of MWCNTs with different concentrations of 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2 wt.% and ultrasonic dispersion with varying sonication times of 30 and 60 minutes on the tribological and electrochemical performance of sintered steel …

Tuning Ion Mobility And Molecular Confinement In High-Performance Polymer Electrolytes For Energy Storage, Ezzeldien Yousef Muhammed Yousef

Theses and Dissertations

This research addresses the critical energy density limitations of aqueous supercapacitors, which are traditionally constrained by the narrow electrochemical stability window (ESW) of water 1.23 V. By employing two distinct molecular engineering strategies, this study developed high-performance electrolyte systems that significantly extend voltage stability and thermal resilience.

The first system, CsBr@PAM/HA, utilizes a polyacrylamide and hyaluronic acid hydrogel matrix. This system exploits the chaotropic nature of Cs⁺ ions to disrupt the aqueous hydrogen-bonding network, enhancing ionic conductivity to 104 mS cm^-1. Through systematic salt screening, CsBr was identified as the optimal electrolyte, enabling a stable 2.0 V …

Towards Sustainable Marine Education: Assessing High School Students’ Understanding Of Conservation Concepts, Cheng-Chieh Chang, Tsuyoshi Sasaki, Ya-Yin Liao, Ling-Ya Hung, Liang-Ting Tsai

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study assesses the concepts of marine resource conservation and sustainability among Taiwanese high school students by developing a Chinese version of the Marine Resources Conservation and Sustainability Scale. Grounded in the cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral learning objectives outlined in UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development Goals (ESDGs), the scale targets students aged 16 to 18 to examine gender differences in marine knowledge and conservation concepts. The scale comprises 31 items across four dimensions: the first section evaluates marine knowledge, while the remaining dimensions utilize a four-point Likert scale to assess cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral learning objectives, respectively. The results indicate …

Face-To-Face Versus Distance Education In Competence-Based Maritime Education And Training, Clara Borén, Marcella Castells-Sanabra, Manel Grifoll

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The COVID-19 pandemic created significant challenges for higher education, with universities being shut down and face-to-face teaching and assessment shifting to an online format. This presented an opportunity to focus on the continuity of learning through distance education, especially in the maritime context, due to the on-board training requirements, and even though five years have passed, this shift has reshaped the education landscape, proving that remote learning has come to stay.

At the Barcelona School of Nautical Studies, we have developed a weather routing software in the framework of distance education and teaching innovation. We conducted a teaching trial alternatively …

Semantic Directing: A Human-Ai Workflow For Interative Virtual Cinematography, Lejie Liu

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

This thesis presents AI Director, a Unity-based prototype for semantic directing in virtual cinematography. The system enables creators to describe cinematic intent in natural language, receive editable shot-strategy plans generated by a large language model, and refine specific shots through text and visual references. By separating semantic planning from deterministic camera execution, the workflow keeps user authorship centered on shot intent while making the resulting camera plans inspectable, editable, and executable in real time. This work explores semantic directing as a human-AI workflow for iterative cinematic authoring in dynamic 3D scenes.

Fluorescence Cryotomography For Preclinical Validation: Applications In Gene Therapy And Fluorescence-Guided Surgery, Caleb Y. J. Kwon

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Fluorescence imaging has become a powerful tool in biomedical research and clinical practice, offering molecular specificity and high sensitivity for visualizing biological processes in real time, However, the successful translation of novel fluorescent probes or medicines from preclinical development to clinical applications requires rigorous validation of their biodistribution and target specificity. Traditional methods for assessing performance, such as bulk excised organ analysis or two-dimensional histology, provide limited information as they cannot capture the complete, organism-wide distribution of these probes or medicines. This thesis aims to improve this analysis pipeline through the application and optimization of fluorescence cryotomography for quantitative, high-resolution …

Customer Adoption And Trust In Indonesian Islamic Banking: A System Dynamics Perspective, Imam Wahyudi Mr., Komarudin Komarudin, Prof. Rifki Ismal

ASEAN Marketing Journal

Research Aims: This study reframes the growth challenge of Indonesia’s Islamic banking as a financial-service marketing problem: strengthening customer adoption, trust, and perceived value to expand market penetration in a dual-banking environment while maintaining resilience.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Using a system dynamics perspective, the study develops a causal loop diagram (CLD) grounded in a review of policy-document and prior empirical marketing/Islamic banking literature. A multi-actor lens is applied to map how regulators, government, customers, conventional banks, fintech, and ESG investors shape adoption and competitive dynamics.

Research Findings: The CLD identifies seven reinforcing loops that can accelerate adoption and market share (capability reinvestment, …

Interactive Social Game Design For Sustainability Learning, Kayla Mattson, Kayla Huffman, Megha Thottam, Shreeya Koritala

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Our Roots is a community-centered, web-based social game designed to improve sustainability education by turning everyday environmental actions into shared, visible progress. While many existing tools provide information about sustainability, they often focus on individual tracking and short-term motivation, which can lead to disengagement over time. This project addresses that gap by reframing sustainability as a social practice: users log real-world sustainable behaviors, earn points, and see those actions represented as growth in both personal and community digital gardens. By combining friendly competition, peer visibility, and collective outcomes, the platform encourages users to view sustainability not as an isolated task, …

A Computational Micropatterning Approach To Study Caveolae And Protein Localization In Vascular Biology, Andrew B. Grespin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Caveolae are specialized, flask-shaped membrane invaginations highly expressed in endothelium and dysregulated in atherosclerosis. Caveolae play a central role in buffering membrane tension, yet the principles governing their spatial organization remain elusive. Thus, we sought to generate the most comprehensive and systematic analysis of blood vessel caveolar spatial organization. However, cell culturing, the backbone of human-focused biological research, does not standardly do well to model physiologically relevant cell behaviors such as migration or polarity-based tissue formation, particularly for punctate proteins and structures like caveolae. Micropatterns are cell-adhesive shapes that biophysically confine cell(s) to a user defined geometry which stereotype organelle …

Oriented Electrospun Fibers Of Poly(Pro-Curcumin/Peg) Sequester Reactive Oxygen Species And Promote The Growth Of Schwann Cells, Jack W. Devlin, Payton R. O'Connor, Conrad H. Cheung, John T. Leman, Martin Oudega, Edmund F. Palermo, Ryan J. Gilbert

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the biological injury microenvironment, pathologically elevated oxidative stress hinders healthy cell migration. Aligned electrospun fibers are used as tissue engineering scaffolds to support and guide the directionality of cell migration. The ability of cells in the central nervous system to sequester and quench reactive oxygen species is limited, and most electrospun fibers do not exert any antioxidant activity on contact. Thus, the challenge remains in designing a scaffold that can both guide cells to the injury site as well as sequester and quench excess free radicals, allowing cells to thrive and potentially regenerate. Curcumin is a well-known, potent antioxidant, …

A Parallelized Multi-Component Radiation Testing Methodology For Systems-On-Chip, Weston M. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

As the space industry expands, there is an increased reliance on system on chip (SoC) devices in high radiation environments. The reliability of these devices becomes crucial, especially in space applications. The industry's rapid growth has led to a massive expansion in the use of Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components. Electronic systems are vulnerable to single event upsets (SEUs) and the failure modes caused by SEUs are not fully understood, especially for COTS SoCs. Standard radiation testing techniques of SEUs use a single core of a multi-core processor to monitor bit flips. In this work, we present a parallelized radiation testing …

Moisture-Induced Degradation And Mechanical Durability Of Mineral-Filled Polylactide (Pla) Composites, Barbara Szaraniec, Aleksandra Ptaszkowska, Alicja Rapacz-Kmita

Journal of Sustainable Construction Materials and Technologies

This study investigates the influence of mineral fillers on the hydrolytic stability and mechanical durability of polylactide (PLA) composites under accelerated aqueous ageing conditions. Composites containing halloysite nanotubes (HNT) and bentonite-based fillers (BM, BS, BSP) at 2 wt.% were prepared using a powder-coating and injection moulding approach. Accelerated hydrolytic degradation was conducted at 50 °C for up to six weeks. The degradation behaviour was evaluated through mass variation, water absorption, incubation medium analysis (pH and electrical conductivity), mechanical testing, surface observations, and contact angle measurements. The results revealed a clear filler-dependent response. Bentonite-filled composites exhibited increased water absorption and accelerated …

Developing Custom High Resolution 3d Printers For Microfluidic Device Fabrication, Dallin Scott Miner

Theses and Dissertations

The advancement of microfluidics in biomedical diagnostics and lab-on-a-chip systems is increasingly dependent on the ability to fabricate complex, three-dimensional architectures with high-resolution negative features. While Digital Light Processing Stereolithography (DLP-SLA) has emerged as a leading fabrication method, it remains constrained by a fundamental trade-off between feature resolution and build volume, as well as challenges regarding fabrication consistency and design accessibility. This dissertation presents an integrated ecosystem of hardware, materials, and software designed to overcome these barriers and enable scalable, high-resolution microfluidic fabrication. We first introduce a novel multi-resolution 3D printing technique utilizing a dual-optical engine architecture, comprising a Very …

Evaluating C-Band Scatterometer Images For Estimating Deforestation In The Amazon Rainforest, Alex Mcbride

Theses and Dissertations

Satellite-based active microwave sensors have been successfully employed for a wide range of vegetation and soil studies. Spaceborne microwave instruments have proven particularly useful for wide-scale monitoring of the vegetation, especially under conditions that limit the effectiveness of high-resolution optical sensors. Satellite scatterometry can be used to detect and model deforestation in the Amazon rainforest by correlating changes in the C-band backscatter data to observed changes in vegetation coverage. The exploratory methodology developed in this paper applies the longest continuous microwave satellite record to the problem of deforestation. The backscatter measurements taken by the ERS and ASCAT missions provide more …

Ai In Precision Medicine: Redefining Blindness Treatment Via Retinal Stem Cell Differentiation, Calissa Leong, Tiffany Nguyen

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

Age Macular Degeneration (AMD) is currently the leading cause of blindness, driven by the degradation of Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) cells. Stem-cell based therapies, particularly those involving induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), typically consists of differentiating stem cells into RPE cells in vitro and transplanting them into the subretinal space. Our goal is to improve the accuracy of differentiation into RPE cells to better promote retinal regeneration. Traditional methods to alleviate symptoms of AMD is through therapeutic medications to slow disease progression, though stem cell therapy has emerged as a promising alternative. However, despite its potential, stem cell therapy presents …

A Peer Evaluation Of Safety At Signalized Intersections, Auzton Mitchell Stutts

Theses and Dissertations

The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) has made significant efforts to reduce crashes at signalized intersections and is constantly seeking to improve safety across the state. The purpose of this research is to quantify and evaluate the safety rates and frequencies at signalized intersections in Utah compared to other states. Once the crashes have been quantified, the secondary purpose is to determine why there may or may not be differences. A survey was developed to understand how states analyze, prioritize, and implement safety at signalized intersections, including different policies, procedures, and countermeasures. Crash data from eight states were analyzed and …

Integrating Production And Repair Operations Through Data Driven Defect Flow Analytics For Yield And Resource Optimization In Pcba Manufacturing, Ali Tahmasebi, Yingge Zhou, Daryl Santos, Sai Srikanth Reddy Kolli, Edward Wong

Systems Science and Industrial Engineering Student Scholarship

In Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) manufacturing, maintaining a closed loop connection between production and repair operations is critical to improving product quality and operational efficiency. However, in the manufacturing environment that motivated this work, production and repair data are often managed separately, and repair findings are not systematically fed back to production teams, limiting visibility into defect routing patterns and repair workload drivers. This study developed a data-driven framework that integrates production and repair data streams to analyze defect flow and support repair resource planning. The framework applies descriptive statistics, cross tabulations of repair inflow by product/project and repair …

Design Of Precise Hinges For Optical Space Arrays, Jacob Sutton

Theses and Dissertations

Deployable origami-based arrays offer significant advantages for space optical systems due to their ability to stow compactly and deploy to a large surface area. However, achieving the panel alignment precision required for optical applications remains an open challenge, particularly for non-rigid-foldable patterns such as the flasher, where large relative motion during deployment and geometric constraints at panel interfaces limit the effectiveness of traditional hinge designs. This thesis addresses the precision alignment challenge through the design, prototyping, and experimental testing of novel passive precision hinges for rigid-panel origami-based deployable space arrays. A compact kinematic coupling hinge incorporating Lamina Emergent Torsional (LET) …

Development Of A Low-Cost Roadside Monitoring System For Identifying High-Emitting Heavy-Duty Trucks, Spencer Larson

Theses and Dissertations

This project investigated the feasibility of using low-cost sensors to identify high-emitting heavy-duty diesel trucks through roadside emissions monitoring. A sampling system was designed and tested in both laboratory and field environments to evaluate sensor performance and measurement reliability. In the laboratory, controlled engine testing enabled direct comparison between low-cost sensors and research-grade instruments to establish baseline accuracy, response time, and sources of uncertainty. These tests demonstrated that while low-cost sensors exhibit greater bias and slower response, several are capable of detecting transient emission events. Field deployments revealed that real-world conditions, such as plume dilution, spatial variability, and short exposure …

Optimization Of Cyanide Leaching Process Based On Grain Size And Slurry Density In Artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining In Tatelu Area, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, Dadan Mohamad Nurjaman, Harmin Sulistiyaning Titah, Adji Kawigraha, Ipung Fitri Purwanti, Wahyu Hidayat

Journal of Sustainable Mining

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Tatelu Village, North Sulawesi, has shifted from mercury amalgamation to cyanide leaching. However, gold recovery remains inefficient, requiring process optimization. This study uses multiple linear regression analysis to evaluate the influence of grain size and slurry density on gold dissolution. The results indicate that grain size plays a dominant role in leaching efficiency, while slurry density, pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), and cyanide concentration have statistically insignificant effects (p > 0.05). Laboratory tests show that finer grain sizes enhance dissolution, with the highest recovery rate of 89.08% achieved at 75% passing through 44 …

Ml Models For Child-Parent Speech Diarization, Kenneth Kang

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

This senior design thesis presents a machine learning research pipeline for child-parent and child-directed speech diarization. Speech diarization is the task of determining who spoke and when in an audio recording. Although this problem is well studied in adult meeting, broadcast, and conversational speech, child-parent audio is a more uneven setting. Children may speak in short turns, change pitch quickly, vocalize without producing clear words, interrupt adults, overlap with adult speech, cry, laugh, or code switch. These behaviors are normal in real family interaction, but they can confuse diarization systems that were mostly designed and evaluated on adult speech.

The …

The Shrinking Caspian Sea: Eco‐Hydrological Responses To Human And Climate Pressures, Jesse Duku, Mohammad J. Tourian, Marzi Azarderakhsh, Rovshan Abbasov, Ali Mehran, Ali Torabi Haghighi, Stefanos Xenarios, Azara Boschee, Salih Babagiray, Mojtaba Sadegh, Nima Shokri, Ali Nazemi, Alireza Farahmand, Samaneh Ashraf, Temur Khujanazarov, Elmira Hassanzadeh, Dalal Najib, Daniel Placht, Shamshagul Mashtayeva, Ekaterina Rets, Hamid Norouzi, Kaveh Madani, Manoochehr Shirzaei, Hossein Shafizadeh-Moghadam, Chiyuan Miao, Ali Mirchi, Shuo Wang, Amir Aghakouchak

Publications and Research

The Caspian Sea, the Earth's largest inland water body, faces water level decline, drawing comparisons to the collapse of the Aral Sea. Unlike the Aral Sea, the relative roles of climatic variability, hydrological changes, and anthropogenic pressures on the Caspian Sea remain poorly understood. Here, we integrate satellite observations, in situ hydrological records and reanalysis data to examine recent drivers of the Caspian water loss. We show that total river inflow to the Caspian Sea has declined significantly, primarily due to reduced discharge from the Volga River. At the same time, precipitation over the basin has remained broadly stable, while …