Digital Commons Network^™

Low Impact Development: Low-Maintenance Design To Encourage Residential Adoption Of Sustainable Systems, Haley Ellis

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Residential adoption of low-impact development (LID) technology can positively impact downstream watershed hydrology by reducing total volumetric discharge from the residential site. This reduction can provide economic, environmental, and social benefits for the residents as well as the community at large. Additionally, homeowners are often affected by stormwater related issues, like flooding or washout, that could be easily mitigated with a sustainably engineered LID structure or network. Engineering for sustainability often includes the blending of several objectives to provide greater overall benefit. This thesis compares the outflow characteristics of three low-maintenance residential LID design scenarios differing in rain garden soil …

Design Of Control Logic And The Human-Machine Interface For A Demonstration Plant Growth Chamber Implemented On A Programmable Logic Controller, Rachael Koehler

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This honors thesis covers the planning, development, and implementation of system controls and human-machine interface (HMI) for a demonstration plant growth chamber. The work is a continuation of an ongoing project to be used as an educational and recruiting tool manifesting the skills acquired from the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department at the University of Arkansas’ College of Engineering. This work includes emergency controls, overall design interface, and controls for both the aeration and lighting subsystems of the growth chamber. Overall design interface controls established included development of two user modes, Administrator and Visitor. The Administrator user will have full …

Performance And Economics Of Solar Inverters And Module Level Power Electronics In A 1 Mw Photovoltaic System, Maxwell Criswell

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Photovoltaic solar panels convert sunlight to electricity in the form of direct current; therefore, a necessary component of every photovoltaic system is an inverter to convert the electricity to usable alternating current. There are various commercially available inverter technologies manufactured today such as microinverters, string inverters, and central inverters, as well as module level power electronic devices such as DC optimizers that are capable of improving system performance in string and central inverter systems. This thesis compares the performance and economics of five different inverter and module level power electronic systems through model simulation using Helioscope software. The five alternatives …

Nanoscratch Study Of Diamond-Like Carbon Coatings With A Polydopamine + Sio2 Adhesive Underlayer, Anna Fisher

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings have a wide array of desirable characteristics such as low friction, high hardness, and scratch resistance. Due to high residual stress and thermal mismatch, DLC films experience adhesion difficulties when bonded with metallic substrates, leading to cracking and delamination. In this study, the properties of a new coating with a polydopamine underlayer and silica nanoparticles bonded to a stainless-steel substrate (PDA+SiO2/DLC) were studied alongside three other samples, one with a polydopamine underlayer (PDA/DLC), one with a trimethylsilane (TMS) underlayer (TMS/DLC), and one with no underlayer (DLC only). Nanoscratch tests were performed with a 1 μm spheroconical …

Noise Control In Sorting Conveyors, Eyra Herrera

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

E-commerce has increased the necessity of effective material handling equipment in warehouses and distribution centers. Sorter conveyors systems facilitate material handling by providing a reliable and automated system to classify and distribute products in a gentle and rapid manner. With the steady increase of speed in sorter conveyors to satisfy today’s industry demand, some systems have started to produce high noise levels that could potentially affect workers’ health. Since decreasing the speed of these conveyors is not a viable option to decrease noise in sorter equipment, industries have opted to find other ways to apply noise control to their equipment. …

Design And Control Of A Peristaltic Pump To Simulate Left Atrial Pressure In A Conductive Silicone Model, Jeremy Collins

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

According to the CDC, atrial fibrillation is responsible for more than 454,000 hospitalizations and approximately 158,000 deaths per year. A common treatment for atrial fibrillation is catheter ablation, a process in which a long flexible tube is guided through the femoral artery and to the source of arrhythmia in the heart, where it measures the electrical potential at various locations and converts problematic heart tissue to scar tissue via ablation. This paper details the design and control of a low-cost ($400) peristaltic pump system using repetitive control to replicate blood pressure in the left atrium in a conductive silicone model …

Light Intensity Control For Plc-Based Hydroponic Demonstration System, Christian Hitt

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

In order to demonstrate a skill set obtained through the University of Arkansas Biological Engineering, a group of students and I developed a hydroponic system where plants could be grown in a chamber. System parameters such as air quality, irrigation, and lighting were controlled by a Programmable Logic Computer (PLC) and an array of sensors and actuators. Each student focused on a certain aspect of this system, mine being the lighting. Developing this system involved researching the relationship between light intensity and plant growth, designing a system to suspend the lights above the growth chamber, and develop a system to …

Development Of A Computational Framework For Estimating Knee Joint Contact Forces In Running, Sean W. Kapp

Honors Theses

The prevalence of running as a form of exercise and the necessity of walking for simple locomotion obscure massive forces and moments within the body. An especial area of concern is the knee, as common among these injuries is knee pain as a result from high impact on the ground or ground reaction forces. These forces are altered by the foot strike pattern of the individual; in this study, either rearfoot strike (RFS) or forefoot strike (FFS). This alteration will impact internal forces conducted upward through the body. Given the complexity of the motion of running and the forces involved, …

Photobiomodulation Of Neural Stem Cell Differentiation Using Infrared (810 Nm) Laser Stimulation, Noemi Salgado Cordova

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

The standardized clinical use of photobiomodulation (PBM) across many applications has been obstructed due to the lack of understanding in how each of the parameters affect the end results. Although the optimal parameters for the therapy have been estimated with a level of uncertainty, the positive effects have been documented on cell differentiation, wound healing, brain modulation, etc. These positive effects observed by PBM have been attributed to the increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS), nitric oxide (NO), and ATP along other molecules generated by the stimulation of Cytochrome-C Oxidase (CCO). Although there is much uncertainty surrounding the coupling mechanisms …

Fuzzyart: An R Package For Art-Based Clustering, Louis Steinmeister, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Adaptive Resonance Theory (ART) was introduced by Steven Grossberg as a theory of human cognitive information processing (Grossberg 1976, 1980). Extending the capabilities of the ART 1 model, which can learn to categorize patterns in binary data, fuzzy ART as described in (Carpenter, Grossberg, and Rosen 1991) has become one of the most commenly used Adaptive Resonance Theory models (Brito da Silva, Elnabarawy, and Wunsch 2019). By incorporating fuzzy set theroy operators, fuzzy ART is capable of learning from binaray and bounded real valued data. Its advantage over other unsupervised learning algorithms lies in the flexibility of the learning rule. …

A Golden Age For Computing Frontiers, A Dark Age For Computing Education?, Christof Teuscher

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is no doubt that the body of knowledge spanned by the computing disciplines has gone through an unprecedented expansion, both in depth and breadth, over the last century. In this position paper, we argue that this expansion has led to a crisis in computing education: quite literally the vast majority of the topics of interest of this conference are not taught at the undergraduate level and most graduate courses will only scratch the surface of a few selected topics. But alas, industry is increasingly expecting students to be familiar with emerging topics, such as neuromorphic, probabilistic, and quantum computing, …

Computational Frameworks For Microrna Functional Analysis Of Inter-Kingdom And Indirect Targeting., Mohammed Sayed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Genes are DNA sequences that encode the information needed to synthesize molecules necessary for the function of the cell. Some genes are called protein-coding genes because they have the code required to manufacture proteins. The expression of a certain gene means its product (protein) is produced. Although some genes are not protein-coding, they regulate the gene expression of other protein-coding genes. Of these, microRNAs (miRNAs) are small RNA molecules that inhibit the expression of other genes by binding to their mRNA transcripts. miRNAs have been shown to be linked to several biological processes like development and diseases like cancer. Recently, …

Surface Engineering Of Cerium Oxide Nanocyrstal Dispersions: Colloidal Properties, Ageing Effects, & Electroanalysis, Craig Neal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Colloidal materials are highly diverse and present complex physicochemical properties which define their utilities in applications spanning diverse industries. In particular, nano-scale colloids have received tremendous attention due to their unique, specific activities as compared to larger-sized preparations. Within the biomedical sciences, nano-colloids are routinely used as inert carriers of therapeutics and/or diagnostic agents. Beyond this, researchers have developed functional colloids which demonstrate bio-active or diagnostic properties themselves: often related to an optimized, or tuned, surface character. Among these, nanoscale cerium oxide (nanoceria) has shown great promise as a bi-functional, therapeutic material: producing pro- or anti- oxidative chemical response in …

Process Design And Optimization Of A Once-Through Dimethyl Ether Process Using Aveva Process Simulation, Jerrod Scott

Honors Theses

The primary purpose of the project on which I wrote this thesis was to design an optimize a once-through dimethyl ether process utilizing a software called AVEVA Process Simulation. The process was initially modeled and optimized to minimize the EAOC of the distillation column. The result of that effort was an optimized column with six stages with the feed entering the column at stage six. It had a height of 3 m, diameter of 0.44 m, and an EAOC of $65,100. This optimized solution was submitted to a Toller. The Toller provided available equipment to model the plant. From here, …

Immunomodulatory Biomaterials For Cancer Immunotherapy, Larry Donnell Stokes Jr

Honors Theses

Cancer immunotherapy has become an effective treatment in the toolbox of oncologists. Immunotherapy offers a less toxic alternative to standard cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and can have prolonged curative effects to decrease cancer recurrence. Today, many drugs and biological agents have been developed that target the immune system and elicit an antitumor/cancer response. These agents are known collectively as cancer immunotherapies. While immunotherapies have radically improved treatment outcomes for many cancer patients, there are drawbacks to using these treatments. Immunotherapy treatments have poor clinical responses in patients with tumors that lack immunogenicity. Some of the treatments also pose a …

A Study Of Deep Reinforcement Learning In Autonomous Racing Using Deepracer Car, Mukesh Ghimire

Honors Theses

Reinforcement learning is thought to be a promising branch of machine learning that has the potential to help us develop an Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) machine. Among the machine learning algorithms, primarily, supervised, semi supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning, reinforcement learning is different in a sense that it explores the environment without prior knowledge, and determines the optimal action. This study attempts to understand the concept behind reinforcement learning, the mathematics behind it and see it in action by deploying the trained model in Amazon's DeepRacer car. DeepRacer, a 1/18^th scaled autonomous car, is the agent which is trained …

Design Of An Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment Utilizing A Stirred-Tank, Jacketed Bioreactor, Brennen Middleton

Honors Theses

Bioreactors are utilized in many industries, such as the food, alternative fuel, and pharmaceutical industries, to design and manufacture products. Unlike the similar chemical batch reactors utilized in many chemical processing facilities, bioreactor utilization requires engineers to consider a wider range of operating conditions and parameters. This results in a more complex reaction system and controls network. Due to this, it is imperative for chemical and biomedical engineering students to not only understand the theory surrounding these reactor systems, but also understand how to properly design and perform operating procedures with these systems. Thus, it was determined to create an …

Control System For Variable-Orifice Mechatronic Spray Nozzle For Regulation Of Application Rate And Droplet Size Spectra, Rodney Rohrer

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Traditional fixed-orifice spray nozzles are selected for flow rate and droplet spectra required for a given pesticide application. Although limited variation in flow can be achieved by adjusting system pressure, this can adversely affect spray quality. Other nozzle configurations, such as Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) nozzles or passive variable-orifice designs, are intended to maintain consistent droplet size and spray pattern as flow rate is changed but those too have limitations.

A variable-orifice nozzle modified by Luck (2012) can span multiple droplet spectra and offers independent control of flow and droplet size; however, an advanced control system must be developed to …

Predicting Henry's Law Constants Of Volatile Organic Compounds Present In Bourbon Using Molecular Simulations., Christopher A Abney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Henry’s Law describes the partitioning of molecules into liquid and gas phases at low concentrations. Henry’s Law, which is based upon a species-dependent constant and the gas phase partial pressure, is useful for predicting phase behavior of dilute solutes. However, Henry’s Law constants are difficult to measure experimentally or to predict using structure-property or thermodynamic models. Herein, molecular simulations were used to calculate Henry’s Law constants for 18 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in bourbon. The novel simulations analyzed solvation thermodynamics of small organic molecules in 120 proof ethanol. A fast-growth non-equilibrium free energy method was used in which the …

Image Analysis Of Charged Bimodal Colloidal Systems In Microgravity., Adam J. Cecil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Colloids are suspensions of two or more phases and have been topics of research for advanced, tunable materials for decades. Stabilization of colloids is typically attributed to thermodynamic mechanisms; however, recent studies have identified transport or entropic mechanisms that can potentially stabilize a thermodynamically unstable colloidal system. In this study, suspensions of silsesquioxane microparticles and zirconia nanoparticles were dispersed in a nitric acid solution and allowed to aggregate for 8-12 days in microgravity aboard the International Space Station. The suspensions were subsequently imaged periodically at 2.5x magnification. Due to the inadequacy of existing image analysis programs, the python package “Colloidspy” …

Engineering Controls For Bioaerosols In Non-Industrial/Non-Healthcare Settings, David Krause, Cheri Marcham, Bill Mele, Jack Springston, Rob Strode, Donald Weekes, Neil J. Zimmerman

Publications

The list of disease pathogens that can be transmitted in the air is extensive. This list includes the common cold, SARS, measles, Hansen’s disease (leprosy), polio, influenza, Legionella (Legionnaires’ disease and Pontiac fever), and tuberculosis (TB). TB, SARS-CoV-1, avian influenza, varicella, and now SARS-CoV-2 all have received public notice due not only to their known or assumed ability to be transmitted in the air rapidly from one individual to another, but also for their virulence. Other bioaerosols that can be transmitted through the air include bacteria, fungal spores and fragments, dust mites, and pollen. This document was developed to address …

Deep Convolutional Spiking Neural Networks For Image Classification, Ruthvik Vaila

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Spiking neural networks are biologically plausible counterparts of artificial neural networks. Artificial neural networks are usually trained with stochastic gradient descent (SGD) and spiking neural networks are trained with bioinspired spike timing dependent plasticity (STDP). Spiking networks could potentially help in reducing power usage owing to their binary activations. In this work, we use unsupervised STDP in the feature extraction layers of a neural network with instantaneous neurons to extract meaningful features. The extracted binary feature vectors are then classified using classification layers containing neurons with binary activations. Gradient descent (backpropagation) is used only on the output layer to perform …

First-Principles Studies Of Nucleation Of Atomic-Layered Molybdenum Disulfide By Atomic Layer Deposition, Matthew Lawson

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation implements first-principles calculations to understand the nucleation mechanisms for atomic layer deposition (ALD) of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) using MoF₆ and H₂S precursors. ALD is a self-limiting process that can deposit a range of materials at the nanoscale, while maintaining chemical stoichiometry, atomic scale thickness control, and can conform to high-aspect ratio substrate designs. ALD is extremely sensitive to surface chemistry and morphology; therefore, it is critical to understand how these factors control deposition.

Density functional theory (DFT) was used to understand what factors can control the nucleation for ALD of MoS₂ using …

3d Printable And Computational Models Of The Bone Marrow Mechanical Environment, Alexander Regner

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Aged individuals and astronauts experience bone loss despite rigorous physical activity. Bone mechanoresponse is in part regulated by mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). We reported that daily low intensity vibration (LIV) restores MSC proliferation in senescence and simulated microgravity models, suggesting reduced mechanical signal delivery to MSCs likely contributes to declining bone mechanoresponse. To this end, we have developed a 3D bone marrow analog which controls trabecular geometry, marrow mechanics and external stimuli.

Finite element (FE) models of hydrogels, representing bone marrow, were generated using instantaneous compression (1000% strain/s, 20% strain) and relaxation experiments (100s) of both gelatin and hyaluronin-based hydrogels. …

Inverse Methods For Near-Real Time Estimation Of Surface Heat Flux In Thermal Protection Systems For Space Vehicles, Obinna Oluchukwu Ugochukwu Uyanna

Theses and Dissertations

With the increased goal of manned explorations to outer space, safety during the atmospheric entry/reentry process is paramount as the incident heat fluxes on the surface of vehicle can reach critical values. Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) are therefore essential components in space vehicles as they ensure the safety and protection of the payload and cargo. In order to ensure improved active control capabilities and prolonged used of the vehicle, TPS surface conditions need to be known and determined. Since direct measurement of the surface heat flux using sensors is not feasible, one alternative involves the use of temperature sensors located …

The Status Of Construction Jobsite Emergency Alert Systems In The Construction Industry, Steven E. Pulver

Construction Management Theses

There are various types of emergency alert systems available in the construction industry from the air horn to more complex remote and app-based systems. This study utilizes an industry survey to identify the most commonly used emergency alert methods on jobsites, and the industry professionals’ knowledge and perceptions of app-based and remote emergency alert systems. Results indicate that the air horn is the most commonly used method of emergency alerts, and the construction industry is willing to spend more on the remote emergency alert systems compared to the app-based emergency alert systems. The major concerns from the construction industry are …

Development Of A Cyberinfrastructure For Assessment Of The Lower Rio Grande Valley North And Central Watersheds Characteristics, Linda Isabel Navarro Navarro

Theses and Dissertations

Due to an increase in urbanization in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV), there have been substantial modifications to hydrology causing a decline in water quality to the Laguna Madre watershed. The major concern is the inflow of freshwater from the North and Central waterways released to the Lower Laguna Madre which is designated as an impaired watershed for high concentrations of bacteria and low dissolved oxygen. The objective of this study is to perform a watershed characterization to determine potential pollution sources of each watershed by developing a cyberinfrastructure and collect a wide inventory of data. The objective will …

Development And Characterization Of Nanofiber-Based Thermoelectric And Piezoelectric Composites, Julio Enrique Trevino

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the development and characterization of nanofiber-based composites with the goal of developing flexible, lightweight, and cost effective thermoelectric and piezoelectric devices. The following materials were used in the development of the composites: polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) with polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (PPY), polyindole (PIN), polyanthranilic acid (PANA), polycarbazole (PCZ), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-COOH), and camphorsulfonic acid (CSA). Blends and in-situ polymerization techniques were utilized to increase the desired thermoelectric/piezoelectric response. Nanofiber systems were produced utilizing the Forcespinning® technique. The morphology, structure, electrochemical, thermal stability, thermoelectric, and piezoelectric performance was analyzed. All of the nanofiber PVDF/CP …

Assessing The Feasibility Of A Biofilter In Medium-To-High Scale Industries, Javier A. Garcia

Theses and Dissertations

The removal of volatile organic compounds, VOCs, from contaminated sources of air stream has become a major air pollution risk. Excessive amounts discharged to the atmosphere are highly risky to human health and to the environmental system. Demand for sustainable VOC control technologies has become crucial for the reduction of emissions. Biological treatments of waste gas streams, such as biofiltration, have proven to be cost effective and environmentally friendly compared to conventional pollution control technologies. The goal of this research is to simulate data for a given biofilter model, and to evaluate if it is economically and environmentally feasible to …

Development Of Biomaterials For Drug Delivery, Raquel De Castro

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drug delivery systems (DDS) have highly evolved in the last decades with the development of hydrogels and nanoparticles. However, high systemic uptake, side effects, low bioavailability, and encapsulation efficiency continue to be a major hurdle faced by such DDSs.

Nanoparticles and hydrogels can be specifically designed for targeted DDSs to mitigate some of the problems. This dissertation aimed to design two DDSs for ocular drug delivery and one for cancer treatment. The first project sought to develop chitosan nanoparticles (Cs-NP) using PEGDA as a copolymer to encapsulate gentamicin (GtS) for ocular drug delivery. Cs-NPs contain positive charges that can interact …