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Non-Invasive Digital Restoration Of Damaged Photographic Film Negatives, Ankan Bhattacharyya

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Physical restoration of damaged photographic film causes more damage. Also, existing non-invasive digital restoration of film negatives does not produce print-quality optical images. Instead, they produce X-ray projections, which are not the same as optical projections. This thesis addresses these problems and establishes a framework that can digitally restore old, damaged films without the need to open them physically. Virtual Unwrapping is an existing pipeline that has proven itself over the last couple of decades to work on unopenable papyrus scrolls, like the Herculaneum Scrolls. This thesis utilizes the concept of virtual unwrapping to restore damaged photographic film negatives. Due …

Frequency And Phase Synchronization Of Antenna Arrays With Phase Incoherent Microcontrollers, Harley W. Byrd

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The construction of phased array antennas has traditionally been an expensive and complex task. It has recently been claimed that it is possible to construct high-performance Wi Fi antenna arrays using inexpensive consumer components. Motivated by some limited data available from online presentations of such devices, this thesis covers an attempt to construct a phased-array Wi-Fi antenna using several ESP32 chips, which have native Wi-Fi modulation and demodulation capabilities. While there are many positive aspects associated with utilizing ESP32 chips for this purpose, a key challenge is the inherent phase incoherence of their internal Phase Locked Loops (PLLs). The approach …

Development Of An Atmospheric Particle Imaging System (Apis), James W. Hebert

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The study of atmospheric particulates plays a crucial role in both climate change studies and the improvement of hypersonic travel. The current issue at hand is a lack of knowledge of stratospheric particulate content and the high cost that is associated with conducting research at these altitudes. This project focuses on the development of an Atmospheric Particle Imaging System (APIS) to be a low-weight, low-cost optical payload. The goal is to make a device that can be mounted onto an uncrewed aerial system that has the capability of imaging particulates moving at steady flow velocities, and thereby characterize the individual …

Impact Of In-Cabin Human Machine Interface Designs On Passenger Trust In Urban Air Mobility, Ricole A. Johnson, Erika E. Gallegos

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) presents a promising solution for alleviating urban traffic congestion and enhancing transportation efficiency. However, the widespread acceptance of UAM, particularly sustained ridership of autonomous passenger air vehicles (PAVs), is contingent upon addressing critical human factors for building passenger trust, especially in the absence of a human pilot. This paper evaluates how different in-cabin human-machine interface (HMI) designs affect passenger trust in the aircraft and in-cabin display, situation awareness, and pilot preferences. Forty participants, equally split between early and late technology adopters, completed two simulated flights: a baseline flight with no HMI and a second flight featuring …

Instructional Fidelity In Virtual Flight: Applying A Structured Learning Model For Vr-Based Pilot Training, Lindsay Gouedy, Bryce Jarrell, Mary Fendley, Brandon Wolf

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

As immersive training technologies reshape the future of aviation education, this study explores the impact of integrating Virtual Reality (VR) into a structured instructional model for B-52 pilot training. With the development and implementation of the I-BUFF (Integrated B-52 Unit Flight Familiarization) model, an innovative framework built upon the 4C/ID (Four Component Instructional Design) and SEEV (Salience, Effort, Expectancy, Value) models, this research evaluates whether structured VR environments improve training transfer and accelerate task proficiency for in-air refueling tasks. A sample of 233 pilot trainees was assessed across three groups: traditional training (non-VR unstructured), VR semi-structured, and VR fully structured …

The Role Of User Experience In Virtual Reality Flight Training: A Comparison With Pc-Based Simulation, Tianxin Zhang, Christina M. Frederick, Barbara Chaparro

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

The current project explores how user experience (UX) in virtual reality (VR) flight simulation influences both cognitive learning outcomes and procedural skill acquisition when compared to traditional desktop-based simulation.. Using a quasi-transfer of training design, 48 student pilots were randomly assigned to VR, Desktop, or Control groups and trained on the Chandelle maneuver. UX was measured with the User Experience Questionnaire (UEQ), while training effectiveness was evaluated through a post-training knowledge test and recorded maneuver performance on a high-fidelity flight training device. Results indicated that the VR group reported significantly higher UX scores in Attractiveness, Stimulation, and Novelty, and showed …

Utilising Video Recordings To Assess Student Pilot Performance: An Exploratory Study During A Simulated Training Flight, Bradley Moncion, Shi Cao, Allison Lynch, Suzanne K. Kearns, Elizabeth Irving, Ewa Niechwiej-Szwedo

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

In ab initio flight training, the quality of the feedback a flight instructor provides their student is essential to their success. While other high-performance and safety-critical industries have incorporated the use of video recordings into training and assessments, the aviation industry generally has not. There are some studies addressing the potential benefits of video recordings in training professional pilots, but there is a lack of research at the ab initio level. In this study, five flight instructors assessed the performance of student pilots conducting a simulated training flight using a 4-point marking scale. The flights instructors were then tasked with …

Evaluation Of Tactile Cueing Embedded In An Aviation Headset On Pilot Altitude Control, Nicholas D. Wilson, Jessica Van Bree, Matthew Cleveland, Sunny Charakuru, Thomas Petros, Richard Ferraro, Kouhyar Tavakolian

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

This study evaluated the effectiveness of tactile cueing integrated into a pilot’s headset on pilot altitude control during simulated instrument conditions. Pilots typically rely on visual and auditory inputs to maintain situational awareness, but in high-workload or instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), these channels can become overloaded. One underutilized alternative for alerting is a tactile cueing apparatus. Using an X-Plane simulation of a Piper Archer equipped with a G-1000 avionics suite, 39 FAA-certified pilots flew two precision approaches. The experimental group (n = 20) received haptic cues via ear seal-embedded tactors when deviating from assigned altitude or glideslope. The control group …

Navigating The Challenges: Preflight Planning With Notam In Australia’S General Aviation Sector, Joshua Chiang, Guido Carim Junior

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) are an integral part of a pilot’s preflight navigational briefing, providing pertinent information in textual format. However, significant shortcomings have been found in the NOTAM system and in its use, with many of the shortcomings revolving around the interface. This study aimed to identify and evaluate the challenges general aviation pilots face when interacting with NOTAMs during preflight navigational planning. A thematic analysis study was conducted and included episodic semi-structured interviews with 15 pilots and document analysis. The interview transcription and excerpts of NOTAMs were analyzed following a thematic analysis technique. The findings of this preliminary …

Manufacturing And Performance Evaluation Of Carbon/Epoxy Laminated Composites Cured Using Single- And Six-Magnetron Microwave Applications, Nayan Pundhir

Doctoral Dissertations

Microwave curing is fast, energy-efficient, and a viable alternative to conventional thermal curing processes. It has been widely adopted for processing carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites because the high electrical conductivity of carbon fibers enables strong microwave coupling, leading to rapid volumetric heating and reduced energy consumption. The aim of this study is to investigate the use of microwave curing for manufacturing CFRP composites. IM7/Cycom 5320-1 unidirectional prepreg was utilized to fabricate laminated composites in two thickness ranges: 16-layer laminates (2.5 mm thickness) and 64-layer laminates (9.2 mm thickness). Two lay-up configurations were examined: symmetric cross-ply and quasi-isotropic. Different curing …

Adaptive Machine Learning Framework For Microstructural Optimization And Mechanical Performance Prediction In Steels, Henry Adekola Haffner

Doctoral Dissertations

Evolution of microstructures, such as polygonal ferrite, acicular ferrite, bainite, and martensite, plays a pivotal role in determining the final microstructural and mechanical properties of steel products. Given the established inter-relationship between processing parameters, microstructure, properties, and performance, precise control of phase transformation is essential to achieve pre-determined properties. To understand transformation routes in different steel grades, time-temperature-transformation (TTT) and continuous-cooling-transformation (CCT) diagrams are necessary and can be described using the Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorov equation and Scheil’s additivity rule. This study presents a comprehensive computational framework for predicting and optimizing microstructure and mechanical properties in advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) using adaptive machine …

Investigations In Hydrogen Ironmaking, Joseph William Govro

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to contribute to the Grid Interactive Steelmaking with Hydrogen (GISH) project. This research investigates the viability of both producing and melting Direct-Reduced Iron (DRI) utilizing hydrogen. Conventional CO reduced DRI will be referred to as “C-DRI” and DRI produced using hydrogen gas will be referred to as “H-DRI”.

An H-DRI pilot plant was constructed in Golden Colorado. The pilot plant was commissioned and successfully operated four campaigns. Process improvements were made throughout the campaigns and the process was optimized. In addition to running the pilot plant in a pure hydrogen condition, the pilot plant …

Incremental Cluster Validity Indices And Their Role In Interpreting Lifelong Learning Systems, Niklas Max Melton

Doctoral Dissertations

Clustering and supervised learning are often treated as distinct paradigms, yet both rely on structure in feature space. This dissertation investigates the relationship between cluster validity indices (CVIs) and supervised learning in real-time and lifelong learning settings where data arrive incrementally and cannot be revisited. Across four studies, it develops methods for online cluster validation, uses supervised learning to improve their interpretability, and applies these ideas to evaluating performance degradation in continual learning.

The first study extends incremental cluster validity indices (iCVIs), enabling widely used validation metrics to operate in streaming environments. Experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets show systematic …

Strontium Titanate For Capacitor And Energy Storage Applications At Cryogenic Temperatures, Hung Trinh

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the dielectric properties of single crystal and ceramic strontium titanate (SrTiO₃) for cryogenic capacitor applications from room temperature to 4 K. Permittivity (k) and loss tangent are dependent on temperature, frequency, mechanical stress, and applied DC electric field. Accordingly, the dielectric constant and loss tangent were measured at various frequencies and DC bias levels. Loss tangent data are also presented as equivalent series resistance (ESR). For single crystal SrTiO₃, an impurity level of ≈500 ppm barium resulted in an increase of the maximum permittivity to approximately 50,000 at 6 K. This relatively high …

Architecting A Complex Adaptive System Model For Selecting Policies To Reduce Kidney Discard, Lirim Ashiku

Doctoral Dissertations

"The kidney allocation system is a complex, evolving system involving multiple heterogeneous agents. Each agent exhibits emergent behavior that may not fully align with the complex system goals. Therefore, there is a need for a transdisciplinary systems approach to visualize the interdependency among agents and understand the dominant patterns that shape the kidney allocation system.

First, this research presented an incremental hierarchical system engineering approach in identifying the agents’ needs and behaviors toward the complex systems’ goal of maximizing deceased donor kidney utilization and reducing kidney discard. The hierarchical systems approach linked with model-based system engineering aided in eliciting agents’ …

Fabrication And Characterization Of A High Strength Novel Aluminum Alloy For Implementation With Directed Energy Deposition, Rachel Boillat-Newport

Doctoral Dissertations

"Additive manufacturing (AM) is of significant interest due to the ability to fabricate 3D components layer-by-layer. Compared with traditional manufacturing methods, AM allows for the direct fabrication of complex, intricate parts without the need for extensive machining, reducing manufacturing time and tooling costs and minimizing material waste. Aluminum alloys are highly desired for implementation via AM due to their high strength-to-weight ratios; however, there are several challenges that complicate the situation and hinder the use of aluminum alloys. One of the most challenging issues is that the desired high-strength alloys are not compatible with AM processing methods. A method to …

Critical Parameters Controlling Oxide Scale Formation And Hydro-Descaling Efficiency During Steelmaking, Tochukwu Princewill Ojiako

Doctoral Dissertations

In modern steelmaking, cast slabs are exposed to high-temperature oxidizing environments during secondary cooling, reheating, and hot rolling, resulting in the formation of multilayer oxide scales on the steel surface. These scales interact with mold-flux residues originating from the casting process (CC). The morphology, chemistry, and adhesion of oxide scale strongly influence its removability during high-pressure hydraulic descaling and ultimately determine the surface quality of hot-rolled products. However, the mechanistic relationship between oxide scale evolution, scale-steel interfacial structure, and hydraulic descaling performance remains poorly understood.

This dissertation investigates oxide scale formation, modification, and removal in low-carbon thin-slab steels produced by …

Probability Of Detection For Corrosion-Induced Mass Loss And Yield Strain In Metal Structures Using Fe-C Coated Long Period Fiber Gratings Sensors And Electroresistive Strain Gauges, Ying Zhuo

Doctoral Dissertations

"Graphene-based, Fe-C coated long-period fiber grating (LPFG) sensors individually reveal a causal relation between LPFG wavelength change and Fe-C mass loss. Their correlation parameters vary significantly between the sensors mainly because hydrophobic multilayer graphene and graphene oxide make sensor fabrication inconsistent. This study explores MXene-based, Fe-C coated LPFG sensors due to MXene’s inherent hydrophilic property in the presence of surface functional groups such as hydroxyl and oxygen and the probability of detection (POD) for mass loss from Fe-C coated LPFG sensors when deployed at a fixed location. A novel fabrication process incorporating Piranha solution pretreatment is proposed to ensure uniform …

Accelerating Circular Economy Transition For A Sustainable Built Environment: A Systems-Based Framework, Radwa Walid Yassin Eissa

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Circular Economy (CE) has gained momentum as a transformative framework for steering the construction value chain towards greater sustainability. However, this transition requires shifts in production and consumption patterns, adoption of circular business models, and the replacement of linear practices. Despite growing interest, CE adoption in construction faces persistent challenges, including sectoral fragmentation, lack of integrated governance frameworks, and limited coordination among stakeholders. This dissertation aims to accelerate the CE transition in the built environment through a multi-scale, interdisciplinary approach spanning five modules: (1) Module 1 develops a construction value chain-structured portfolio of CE strategies and assesses their implementation; …

Analytical And Empirical Data-Driven Risk-Governance Design Across The Different Phases: Creating Informed Policy Adjustments For The Transportation Project Lifecycle, Mariam A. Elazhary

Doctoral Dissertations

"Transportation infrastructure is a critical foundation for economic productivity, yet agencies still face challenges in translating the expanding transportation datasets into defensible, phase-specific risk-governance tools. This dissertation addresses this gap by developing analytical and empirical, data-driven approaches to support risk governance across the transportation project lifecycle. Module 1 uses a panel model with bid-letting data to examine how out-of-state contractor participation affects pre-award competition and to derive entry-governance rules. Module 2 analyzes nonfatal injury data through iterative multiple linear regression and fatality data through association-rule change mining to identify multi-factor safety-risk configurations and develop adaptive safety-governance provisions. Module 3 develops …

Bond Graph And Extended Generalized Average Method With Applications In Cyber-Physical Systems And Power Electronics, Arnold Anthony Fernandes

Doctoral Dissertations

"This research examines two applications of control theory. The first application considers the bond graph (BG) modeling technique, which is used to develop the MATLAB structural analysis toolbox (MATSAT), an open-source toolbox for sensor placement and qualitative system analysis that considers the observability and fault-detection capabilities of multi-domain cyberphysical systems. The toolbox provides information on redundant sensors, guiding the system designer in cost and security trade-offs. The toolbox uses traditional BG causality assignment procedures. Additionally, MATSAT provides optimal causality assignment methods that perform significantly better at assigning causality to BGs with increased junctions, sources, and simple meshes, without encountering causality …

Integrating Stakeholder Priorities Into Resilience Planning And Investment Decision-Making, Victoria Jeaneen Kraemer

Doctoral Dissertations

"Resilience is a system’s ability to bounce back from a disruption. However, resilience needs may vary across different stakeholders. To better integrate stakeholder input into resilience planning and investment decision-making, existing frameworks were combined to develop the Integrated Stakeholder-Centered Resilience Framework. This broad framework is tailorable across contexts and stakeholder types. Research results demonstrate the use of this framework to evaluate the effects of disruptions and represent stakeholder preferences for investments. In the first study, participants were randomly assigned to power outage scenarios, which did not affect their criteria priorities. An exploratory factor analysis revealed two main priorities, (1) Absorption …

Lidar-Based Point-Cloud Human Modeling: Pose Estimation, Body-Parts Segmentation, 6g Localization, And Applications, Omar Rinchi

Doctoral Dissertations

"The human body represents a rich source of physiological and behavioral information, where precise analysis of anatomy, body parts, 3D pose, and motion enables cross-disciplinary precision applications. This dissertation formulates this challenge as a human modeling problem, where proposed algorithms convert the human body into a three-dimensional digital twin capturing anatomical structure and pose. These representations are further analyzed using additional algorithms to enable precision applications. To realize this vision, LiDAR sensing is adopted due to its privacy-preserving nature, robustness to lighting conditions, color-blind sensing characteristics, and decreasing cost.

Human modeling using LiDAR is challenging due to sparse, irregular, and …

Quantifying, Forecasting, And Mitigating Construction Labor And Material Challenges In A Dynamic Global Economy Using Econometrics And Deep Learning, Ahmed Gamal Elsayed Mohamed Shiha

Doctoral Dissertations

"The construction industry contributes to the global economy, yet its cost management practices remain constrained by labor shortages and material price volatility. These challenges are intensified by economic disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and trade policy shifts. Despite a growing body of literature, five knowledge gaps remain unaddressed: (1) the absence of dynamic, and localized measures of construction labor shortages; (2) limited empirical investigation of macroeconomic leading indicators of labor shortages; (3) underutilization of deep learning (DL) algorithms in forecasting local construction labor earnings; (4) the limited treatment of structural breaks in existing construction material price forecasting models; and (5) the lack …

Senescent Fibroblasts In Aging And Pulmonary Fibrosis, Sara B. Palega, Aiwei Y. Borengasser, Yan Y. Sanders

Department of Biomedical and Translational Sciences Faculty Publications

Aging is a major risk factor for many chronic lung diseases, including Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), a fatal and incurable disease characterized by progressive fibrotic remodeling. Age-associated structural alterations, impaired regenerative capacity, and dysregulated cellular signaling collectively create a pro-fibrotic microenvironment. A central driver of this pathological shift is the accumulation of senescent cells, which undergo irreversible growth arrest and develop a robust pro-inflammatory senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP). Emerging evidence identifies senescent lung fibroblasts as critical mediators of IPF pathogenesis. These cells promote excessive extracellular matrix deposition, myofibroblast differentiation, and tissue stiffening, while simultaneously impairing epithelial regeneration. Together, these effects …

A Dual-Domain Face Forgery And Deepfake Detection Framework, Neha Pradyumna Bora, Pradyumna Mulchand Bora, Rushikesh Sanjay Kumavat, Raunak Manoj Gangwal, Prit Sandesh Jain, Hardik Vijay Ostwal

Mansoura Engineering Journal

Concerns about media authenticity, privacy, and information security arising from rapid advances in deepfake technology have made it increasingly important to detect manipulated facial content reliably. The primary goal of our work was to develop a deepfake detection model with high generalization across multiple datasets. To achieve this, we developed a hybrid detection approach that combines spatial visual texture analysis and frequency-domain analysis to detect manipulated facial images. Our approach includes convolutional spatial feature extraction from facial images and frequency—domain representations of the same images obtained by applying the fast Fourier transform. To help alleviate concerns about overreliance on frequency—domain …

Multi-Method Energy Optimization: Linear Programming, Hmm Modeling And Arduino-Based Simulations, A.E. El-Alfy, Eman Elayat, M. A. E. Sheta

Mansoura Engineering Journal

This paper presents the simulation and optimization of hybrid energy systems integrating renewable energy and storage technologies. Linear Programming (LP) is utilized to minimize operational costs, while a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) improves reliability by accurately predicting energy flow. Hardware-in-the-loop simulation in Proteus demonstrates efficient energy trading, significantly reducing dependence on conventional sources. The results from a 24-hour analysis show that the system achieves an 87.14% load factor, indicating high efficiency in utilizing the system's rated capacity, 26.23 system reliability, and a 20% improvement in cost efficiency and enhanced sustainability, providing a robust and practical framework for hybrid energy solutions …

H2 Matrix Compression For Fast Magnetic Field Post-Processing, Calvin M. Demps

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Large-scale computational electromagnetic simulations frequently require the assembly of dense system matrices, whose computation time and memory cost grow rapidly with problem size and can render high-resolution simulations impractical. This thesis presents a benchmark of the H² hierarchical matrix method applied to the construction of a coupling matrix that maps magnetization current in a structure to the magnetic field at observation points external to the structure. The underlying field interaction is derived from Maxwell's equations and discretized using a Nyström approach, producing a dense matrix.

The method is benchmarked across various geometries of increasing complexity and for increasing mesh …

Enhanced Hydrophilicity And Self-Cleaning Properties Of Tio₂ Thin Films On Glass For Photovoltaic Applications: Influence Of Precursor Concentration And Light Irradiation, Fatma Refaat, Hany Hashem, Mohamed Mahmoud Gouda, Ibrahim Ahmed, Khaled Abdelwahed, Ahmed Bakr El Basaty

Trends in advanced sciences and technology

This study investigates the modification of glass substrates with TiO₂ thin films to enhance surface hydrophilicity and self-cleaning behavior. The films were deposited on glass by spin coating using different precursor concentrations, followed by thermal treatment. Structural and optical properties were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and UV–Vis spectroscopy, while surface wettability was evaluated through water contact angle measurements. XRD confirmed the formation of pure anatase TiO₂, while FTIR spectra verified the presence of Ti–O and Ti–O–Ti bonds. Wettability analysis showed that films prepared with the lowest precursor concentration exhibited the …

Construction-Phase Leed Compliance In Egypt: Development Of A Rule-Based Expert System For Contractor Decision Support, Mohamed R. Ahmed, Atef A. Ragab, Sameh Y. Mahfouz

Mansoura Engineering Journal

This study develops a rule-based expert system implemented in Python to support contractors in achieving LEED BD+C: New Construction v4 certification during the construction phase in Egypt. The research identifies and validates construction-phase obstacles affecting LEED compliance through a structured questionnaire targeting building contractors in Egypt. The questionnaire process was conducted in two stages: a pilot survey was used to screen and refine the initially identified obstacles, while the main survey was used to validate the practical relevance of the retained obstacles within the Egyptian construction context. In parallel, the study analyzes construction-phase prerequisites and credits relevant to contractors through …