Digital Commons Network^™

Reachable Set Computation And Analysis For Perturbed Linear Systems, Prabhjeet Singh Arora

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Determination of the set of all possible states, which a system can attain, plays an important role in safety for critical application. Prior knowledge of this set for the complete run-time provides critical information about how a system may evolve, providing accurate information of all the states, which could violate constraints. The knowledge of these states, helps in estimating control input, which can control the system, such that, these states are eliminated from the reachable set. Computation of reachable set of a dynamic system for a set of initial conditions can be easily performed, provided the analytical solution of the …

An Analytical Design Of Experiments Method For Fatigue Constrained Design Optimization Of A 3d Printed Structure, Ashish Pokharel

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

A design of experiments approach has been used to analytically determine a low cycle fatigue (LCF) constraint for use in design optimization of 3D printed structures. In context of metal additive manufacturing, the process of melting, solidification and consolidation of metal powder introduces very high temperature gradient field within the build which in turn results in high compressive stresses at the core and tensile stresses at the outer surface of the part after it has cooled down to room temperature post build. An approach of finite element modeling in ANSYS Additive has been used to develop a residual stress profile …

Sensor Tasking For Satellite Tracking Utilizing Observability Measures, Mitchel T. Mcdonald

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

In this thesis, novel observability-measure based sensor tasking methods are studied for satellite tracking applications. The tasking is performed by first computing the Hellinger Distance between ground/space based sensors and space objects, and then the measure is utilized for selecting the sensors that maximize observability. Several other measures such as the Fisher Information Gain, Largest Lyapunov Exponent, and Shannon Information Gain have also been utilized and the performance of these measures are computed against each other. The object's state estimates are obtained using nonlinear estimation techniques. The Extended Kalman Filter, Unscented Kalman Filter, and Bootstrap Particle Filter are compared within …

Design And Development Of Flexible Mems-Based Ph Sensor For Agricultural And Biomedical Applications, Shardul Sonu Pawar

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a novel method of using a flexible MEMS-based pH sensor for agricultural and biomedical applications. The first part of the thesis involves demonstration of the capability of our pH sensor for monitoring pH level change in the food product. The pH sensor we have developed consists of Iridium Oxide (IrOx) and Silver Chloride (AgCl) sensing electrodes. The sensor is designed to monitor and sustain long-term continuous usage, which makes it suitable for a wide variety of agricultural based applications. The electrochemical potential generated between IrOx and AgCl electrode is monitored and further …

Enhancing Tensile Strength Of Fdm Parts Using Thermal Annealing And Uniaxial Pressure, Rhugdhrivya Rane

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Additive manufacturing has been a revolutionary and disruptive technological development in the field of design and manufacturing with Fused deposition modelling (FDM) being at the forefront of this technology. But it is seen that parts printed using FDM suffer from an inherent deficiency of weak tensile strength in the out of plane direction (z-direction) thus limiting their application. This issue of weak z-direction strength is due to the weak Inter-bead bond strength of adjacent polymer interfaces. The purpose of this work is to increase this Inter-Bead bond strength thus increasing the overall tensile strength of the part. In this work, …

Inducing Vibro-Tactile Sensation At Mesoscale, Sudip Hazra

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Haptics, the feeling of touch, has primarily been used to provide a person a general sensation such as vibration using a joystick or cellphone. But haptics has gradually developed to a stage where it is investigated for virtual and augmented reality environments. Vibro-tactile based feedback is a modality employed to provide a more realistic and localized sensation. This research focuses primarily on providing vibro-tactile feedback at the mesoscale level on the fingertips. A research platform for mesoscale vibro-tactile feedback has been investigated and developed. The software is based on LabVIEW and could generate a number of different and distinct waveform …

Thermodynamic And Phase-Field Analysis Of Domain Structures And Switching Kinetics Of Bismuth Ferrite Thin Films, Ryan T. Hart

Material Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

In this study, thermodynamic analysis and phase field simulation are utilized to study the polarization, phase transitions, and phase coexistence in BFO thin films. The effect of temperature, substrate strain, and electrical bias on the phase stability and the phase transformation pathways were studied. Existing thermodynamic analysis methods are supplemented by a phase destrain model, which determines free energy minima as a function of biaxial strain and the fractions of BFO’s ferroelectric phases in a thin film. The results of this methodology are compared with phase field modeling. The phase de-strain model shows reasonable accuracy in determining boundaries at which …

Rational Design And Synthesis Of Biodegradable Polyurethane Based Biomaterials, Cancan Xu

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Biodegradable polyurethanes have been applied in biomedical field since 1960s. In recent years, biodegradable polyurethanes have been widely investigated for tissue repair and regeneration because of their good mechanical properties, elasticity, biodegradability, biocompatibility and processability. Compared with some commonly used biodegradable polymers, such as poly(glycolide) (PGA), poly(lactide) (PLA), poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), the favorable aspects of biodegradable polyurethane are its mechanical, physicochemical and biological properties can be tailored by varying the three blocks in polyurethane backbone, diisocyanate, diol and chain extender. In this thesis, we focus on the development of different functional biodegradable polyurethanes to study their structure-property relationships …

Stimuli-Responsive Nanoparticles For Treatment Of Lung Cancer, Roshni Iyer

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Despite extensive research and progress in anti-cancer therapeutics, an effective treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains elusive, resulting in poor 5-year patient survival rate. Towards this end, we have explored a therapeutic regimen to improve the effects of local concurrent chemo-radiation-therapy (CRT), by utilizing multifunctional stimuli-responsive nanoparticles (NPs) as drug carriers. We have also utilized lung cancer targeting strategies for site-specific drug delivery, mainly antibodies against the Ephrin-transmembrane receptor kinase (EphA2), that is over-expressed mainly on lung cancer cells, to promote the targeted delivery of drugs to only cancer cells, and eventually reduce the toxicity to healthy tissues. …

Development Of Particle Platforms For Delivery Of Angiogenic Reagents To Treat Peripheral Arterial Diseases, Duong Quang Le

Bioengineering Dissertations - Archive

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a disease that one or several peripheral arteries are narrowed or blocked. PAD is an emerging disease that cost annually 10-20 billions of US dollars for health care in America. PAD patients suffer high risk of limb loss, amputations and mortalities. At 5 years, the amputation rate for PAD is 40%-70% while the 5-year survival rate is less than 30%. For PAD patients undergoing acute and critical limb ischemia, surgery bypass and endovascular balloon/stenting are applied as standard treatments. However, surgical bypass is subject to patients’ readiness of autologous veins and the depth of arteries …

Laboratory And Field Study Of A Liquid Ionic Soil Stabilizer, Sandesh Gautam

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Chemical stabilization of expansive soil has been practiced for quite a time now. The use of lime/cement stabilization as a traditional method has been well acknowledged, understood and standard guidelines for practice have been developed. However, owing to certain demerits like high production and application cost, environmental impact, durability issues and most importantly incompatibility with high-sulfate soil leading to excessive heaving and swell, there is need to develop alternatives to these stabilizers. Non-traditional stabilizers like ionic soil stabilizer have been used by manufacturers in the past and claimed to effectively reduce the swell-shrink behavior of expansive soil. Undocumented results, the …

Meming And Enthymeming: Persuasion In The Age Of Social Media, Taylor R. Parrish

English Theses - Archive

While rhetoric as a field of study has existed for several millennia, social media can prove to be a difficult medium to analyze rhetorically. This thesis examines some traditional elements of rhetoric, including the rhetorical triangle as well as the canons of rhetoric, and weaves them together with the narrative paradigm theory, as posited by Walter Fisher in his 1987 book Human Communication as Narration: Toward a Philosophy or Reason, Value, and Action. Together, rhetoric and the narrative paradigm provide some useful tools for analyzing the world of social media, helping users to more accurately ascertain the veracity of posting; …

A Gis-Based Framework Creating Green Stormwater Infrastructure Inventory Relevant To Surface Transportation Planning, Xiaofan Xu, Dylan S. P. Schreiber, Qing Lu, Qiong Zhang

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The stormwater runoff that carries pollutants from the land adjacent to road transportation systems may impair the water environment and threaten the ecosystem and human health. A proper management approach like green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) can help control flooding and the runoff pollutants. One barrier for GSI analysis relevant to system-level surface transportation planning is the lack of the inventory of GSI in many U.S. cities. This study aims to develop a GIS-based framework for creating GSI inventory in a time and labor efficient way, different from the traditional survey-based method. The new proposed framework consists of three steps, including …

Epidemiological Evidence And Health Risks Associated With Agricultural Reuse Of Partially Treated And Untreated Wastewater: A Review, Anthony A. Adegoke, Isaac D. Amoah, Thor A. Stenström, Matthew E. Verbyla, James R. Mihelcic

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The use of partially treated and untreated wastewater for irrigation is beneficial in agriculture but may be associated with human health risks. Reports from different locations globally have linked microbial outbreaks with agricultural reuse of wastewater. This article reviews the epidemiological evidence and health risks associated with this practice, aiming toward evidence-based conclusions. Exposure pathways that were addressed in this review included those relevant to agricultural workers and their families, consumers of crops, and residents close to areas irrigated with wastewater (partially treated or untreated). A meta-analysis gave an overall odds ratio of 1.65 (95% CI: 1.31, 2.06) for diarrheal …

The Making Of An Engineer: Examining The Planning Process And Educational Outcomes, Richard L. Raleigh

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

This quantitative study uses data from the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS: 2002) to examine how aspiration levels of planning (or intention) and action (or choice) affect degree attainment for college students who expressed interest in pursing an engineering degree. Utilizing Social Cognitive Career Theory as derived from Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory, I investigated whether students' self-efficacy along with personal aspects of motivation and their aspirations influence educational attainment outcomes. These attributes are indicative of future intentions, and essential in students' persistence to overcome barriers toward completing an engineering degree. Data analysis includes descriptive statistics to compare Aspiring-engineers …

Newsletter. Number 28 Pseudokarst Commission Newsletter. Number 28

KIP Articles

No abstract provided.

Testing Caldor's Hypothesis To Estimate The Relationship Between The Industrial Production And Growth In Gross Domestic Product In Iraq, Ali Wahaib Abdallah

Journal of Economics and Administrative Sciences

The study aimed to test the hypothesis of Caldor to estimate the relationship between industrial production and GDP growth in Iraq using with Integration Framework and to determine the causal relationship in the short and long term using the error correction vector model for the period 1990-2016. the results showed a long-term equilibrium relationship between GDP and industrial output, while Ganger causality tests showed a causal relationship in the long run of GDP to output Subliminal thus illustrated the extent of the recession suffered by the industrial sector, which is supposed to be the driving force of the economy and …

Investigating Autophagy Dysfunction Induced By A Parkinson's Disease-Causing Mutation In Vps35, Abir Ashfakur Rahman

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is an idiopathic disorder with no known cure. With number of cases steadily rising around the world, it is imperative to turn to the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms of the disease manifestation and neurodegeneration to craft novel modes of therapy. VPS35 is one of the few genes that have identified and definitively linked to familial PD. The particular mutation that has been associated is known to cause dysfunction of a key cellular process known as autophagy. This process is primarily responsible for clearance of unwanted, damaged or misfolded proteins, among other things. Our study reveals an …

Injecting Control Commands Through Sensory Channel: Attack And Defense, Farhad Rasapour

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Industrial Control System (ICS) is responsible for controlling and managing critical infrastructures like nuclear plants and power plants. ICS is equipped with various devices like communication media, Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), actuators, and sensors. Sensors are used to measure a physical phenomenon and send these measurements through the sensory channel to the control devices so they can make decisions on the movements of the actuators in the systems. While tampering with the sensor measurements has been the focus of many studies, there is some research that has concentrated on misusing a sensor and sensory channel as an axillary attack device …

Effect Of Subsurface Conditions On Flexible Pavement Behavior: Non-Destructive Testing And Mechanistic Analysis, Md. Fazle Rabbi

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The behavior of flexible pavements under traffic and environmental loading can be significantly affected by subsurface conditions. Inadequate support conditions under the surface can lead to excessive pavement deformations, often leading to structural and functional failure. This research effort focused on assessing the effects of base/subbase and subgrade layer conditions on flexible pavement behavior. The results of this study are presented in the form of two journal manuscripts.

The first manuscript focuses on utilizing pavement structural and functional evaluation data in making pavement rehabilitation decisions. Visual distress surveys and Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) testing are often carried out by agencies …

Studying The Use Of Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation As A Shallow Stabilization Alternative To Treat Expansive Soils, Tasria Rahman

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Expansive soils usually recognized as swell-shrink soils have been a problem for civil infrastructure for a long time. It has been a very common practice to use chemical stabilizers including cement and lime to stabilize expansive soils, especially for lightly loaded structures. However, due to the the detrimental effects of these stabilizers on the environment and several occurrences of premature failures after stabilizing with chemical additives, engineers are in search of sustainable stabilization alternatives. Microbial Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) is a promising process, which can improve the properties of expansive soil through calcite precipitation. Previous research has shown promise for …

Local Peer-To-Peer Communication To Improve Demand Response In Residential Neighborhoods, Ryan Schwartz

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Increased electricity production from intermittent renewables presents a challenge to utilities. Since the grid has little ability to store energy, fluctuations in solar and wind generation require either an increase in generation from expensive sources or a reduction of demand. Demand Response (DR) programs focus on the latter and are designed to increase grid flexibility by allowing grid operators to modify when or how customers use electricity. For residential customers, this typically means shedding load during periods of high demand through a central controller temporarily shutting off air conditioning (AC) compressors. This type of DR can cause spikes in demand …

Optimization Of The Practice Of Slow Cooling Steel Bars: A Redesign And Modernization Of Materials, Eryn Johnston

Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Throughout the process of steel making, certain grades of steel are a higher risk for defects caused by the inability to quickly diffuse hydrogen through the steel when cooled to room temperature at a normal rate based on the ambient air temperature. To reduce the hydrogen flaking defects that are caused due to hydrogen entrapment in the steel, the process of slow cooling is utilized. This process reduces the cooling rate of steel bars by keeping them at a higher temperature for extended periods and in turn gives the hydrogen a chance to fully dissipate from the steel. In many …

Development And Validation Of Hybrid Continuum/Structural Finite Element Model For Evaluating Foot And Ankle Biomechanics, Saif Alrafeek

Dissertations

Bone is composed of two structures: compact bone and spongy bone. Spongy bone porosity highly affects the strength and the physical endurance of bone to carry loads. Most studies use continuum finite element (FE) approaches to model spongy bone and neglect porosity. Neglecting porosity may not efficiently assist orthopaedic surgeons to treat patients who experience bone physical disability. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate an inexpensive approach that simulates spongy bone with more accurate capturing of porosity and less requirements of bone information. The approach is developed through investigating the mechanical characteristics of spongy bone; that is, by …

Retinex-Based Visibility Enhancement System For Inclement Weather With Tracking And Distance Estimation Capabilities, Marwan S. Alluhaidan

Dissertations

Road conditions affected by weather are well known to have an impact on the number of vehicle accidents and fatalities, due to low- to no-visibility conditions. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, there are more than 1,259,000 crashes each year. On average, 6,000 people are killed and more than 445,000 people are injured annually due to severe weather conditions. These accidents could be significantly reduced if real-time visibility enhancement systems were made available. However, eliminating the impact of weather conditions on visibility is still lacking and beyond our control. The time has come to develop technology that is capable …

Development And Characterization Of Nano Nickel-Based Conductive Inks For Flexographic Printing Of Electronics And New Interpretations Of Surface Energies Of Solids, Bilge Nazli Altay

Dissertations

Traditional printing technologies and conductive/functional inks have been integrated to print electronic devices and circuits on really think, lightweight and flexible materials in a time and cost-effective manner. Printing is an additive manufacturing technology, which selectively deposits materials only where needed to produce a wide range of devices including sensors, smart packaging, solar panels, batteries, light sources and wearable electronics. Therefore, it greatly reduces the number of required steps for manufacturing as well as the amount of waste generated relative to conventional electronic manufacturing. However, the process requirements and ink formulations to print electronics differ from graphic printing; therefore, the …

Vision-Based Framework For Monitoring Of Eating Behavior Of Persons With Alzheimer’S Disease, Haitham Al-Anssari

Dissertations

Dementia is a syndrome used to describe an array of significant declines in cognitive abilities due to progressive and irreversible loss of neurons and brain functioning. This neurodegeneration seriously affects daily life activities like driving, shopping, working and speaking. Among these, Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia, with individuals experiencing loss of memory and thinking and reasoning skills. Due to cognitive decline, individuals with Alzheimer’s often suffer from malnutrition, since they do not eat, even when food is presented, and must be fed with assistance. This assistance presents a significant burden of time to caregivers, and consequently …

Comparison Mining From Text, Maksim Tkachenko

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Online product reviews are important factors of consumers' purchase decisions. They invade more and more spheres of our life, we have reviews on books, electronics, groceries, entertainments, restaurants, travel experiences, etc. More than 90 percent of consumers read online reviews before they purchase products as reported by various consumers surveys. This observation suggests that product review information enhances consumer experience and helps them to make better-informed purchase decisions. There is an enormous amount of online reviews posted on e-commerce platforms, such as Amazon, Apple, Yelp, TripAdvisor. They vary in information and may be written with different experiences and preferences.

If …

Design Guidelines Of Profiled Sheet Decking Slab Composite Floor, H M Jagadisha

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

The components of profiled steel decking slab are profiled steel sheet with normal weight concrete, and minimum reinforcement for shrinkage stresses. Nowadays, composite slabs are becoming popular for high-rise office structures due to faster construction, where the structural requirement for fire protection is at a medium level. However, there are no Indian standard codes of practice available for design principles and guidelines for composite floors with profiled sheeting. In this paper, a design guideline for profiled steel decking composite slab is proposed with limit state approach, as per Indian standard.

Performance Of A Wind Torch Under Varying Test Conditions, Sumukh Surya

Manipal Journal of Science and Technology

In an earlier effort, feasibility and proof of the concept for generating wind power to provide a torch-light for cyclists was reported. Performance of the device was proved in a low-speed wind tunnel at the National Aerospace Laboratories, Bangalore. In order to achieve a sufficient confidence level in the performance and assess the reliability of the device, it is essential and desirable to verify the performance in another test facility. Therefore, tests were repeated in the low-speed wind tunnel at the Manipal Institute of Technology. It was found that the device underperformed in the latter, apparently due to the reduced …