Digital Commons Network^™

Performance Of Tetra And Gsm\Gprs As A Platform For Broadband Internet And Multimedia Evolution, M. I. Dababneh, E. S. Al-Khawaldeh

The Journal of Engineering Research

In this paper, a novel approach for the comparison between TETRA system and other contenders is presented showing the relative potentials, thence applications and possible new services. TETRA Voice plus Data (V+D) and GPRSbased- GSM performance are also compared for defined multimedia transmission to revise the capability of bothsystems to afford multimedia applications to large number of subscribers with the shortest time possible while maintaining the optimal channel utilization. Performance measurements for data transmission illustrate that TETRA exhibits faster time response for connection setup time than the GPRS\GSM applications can provide. Simulation results also confirm that TETRA can support larger …

Seismic Response Of Pure-Friction Base Isolated Masonry Building With Restricted Base-Sliding, M. Qamaruddin, S. Ahmad

The Journal of Engineering Research

The earthquake response of pure-friction base isolated masonry building with restricted base sliding is presented in this paper. A clear smoothened surface is created at the plinth level of the building above the damp-proof course, and the superstructure rests at this level to slide freely, except for the frictional resistance and the rigid stopper. As the superstructure is free to slide at the plinth level, there will be a feeling to the occupants that it might slide more than the permissible relative displacement limit provided at the top of the substructure. This may create a fear among the occupants that …

Takagi-Sugeno Neuro-Fuzzy Modeling Of A Multivariable Nonlinear Antenna System, E. A. Al-Gallaf

The Journal of Engineering Research

This article investigates the use of a clustered based neuro-fuzzy system to nonlinear dynamic system modeling. It is focused on the modeling via Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) modeling procedure and the employment of fuzzy clustering to generate suitable initial membership functions. The T-S fuzzy modeling has been applied to model a nonlinear antenna dynamic system with two coupled inputs and outputs. Compared to other well-known approximation techniques such as artificial neural networks, the employed neuro-fuzzy system has provided a more transparent representation of the nonlinear antenna system under study, mainly due to the possible linguistic interpretation in the form of rules. Created …

Using Mobile Computing And Information Technology In Civil Engineering Construction Projects, M.N. Jadid, M.M. Idress

The Journal of Engineering Research

Mobile computing technology has an enormous potential in civil engineering, mainly in the field of construction management. This paper presents an approach by using mobile computing in a civil engineering construction project, exploring how information can be exchanged at a construction site, and how billing of quantities (BOQ), drawings and specifications are shared for the benefit of the project. One of the major obstacles in using information technology (IT) when applied to civil engineering is due to the dynamic changes in the construction activities and the diversity of construction methods as compared to other industries. This has proved to be …

2d Idealisation Of Hollow Reinforced Concrete Beams Subjected To Combined Torsion, Bending And Shear, A.S. Al-Nuaimi, P. Bhatt

The Journal of Engineering Research

This paper presents a finite element model for idealisation of reinforced concrete hollow beams using 2D plane elements. The method of ensuring compatibility between the plates using two-dimensional model to analyze this type of structures is discussed. Cross-sectional distortion was minimised by incorporating end diaphragms in the FE model. Experimental results from eight reinforced concrete hollow beams are compared with the non-linear predictions produced by a 2D in-house FE program. The beam dimensions were 300x300 mm cross section with 200x200 mm hollow core and 3800 mm long. The beam ends were filled with concrete to form solid end diaphragms to …

Facility Location For Solid Waste Management Through Compilation And Multicriterial Ranking Of Optimal Decentralised Scenarios: A Case Study For The Region Of Peloponesse In Southern Greece, A. Karagiannidis, G. Perkoulidis, N. Moussiopoulos, M. Chrysochoou

The Journal of Engineering Research

The present paper addresses the problem of locating solid waste management facilities.Specifically, it studies and proposes optimal alternative solutions for the Greek Region of Peloponnese,by examining facilities for transferring, sorting, treating and landfilling of wastes. Quantitative and qualitative databases concerning the current solid waste management at the Region have been created and used by the model. A customized mixed-integer linear network model has been developed and solved for various evaluation criteria on a single-criterion basis by the use of a location-allocation modeling framework.The solutions resulting from the parametrical application of the multicriterial method ELECTRE III are then ranked for the …

Pavement Stripping In Saudi Arabia: Prediction And Prevention, H.I. Al-Abdul Wahhab, I.M. Asi, S.A. Ali, S. Al-Swailmi, A. Al-Nour

The Journal of Engineering Research

Pavement weathering or stripping is a major distress in highway networks in arid regions. Using the Saudi Arabian road network as a case study area, seventeen road test sections were selected, out of which eight were stripped and nine were non-stripped. Aggregates from quarries used to build these sections were also collected and subjected to detailed physical and chemical tests to evaluate the ability of these tests to distinguish between stripped and non-stripped sections. The modified Lottman test was used to distinguish between compacted mixes. In addition, the Swedish Rolling Bottle test, was also found to be effective in being …

Laboratory Evaluation Of Ground Tire Rubber In Stone Mastic Asphalt, R. Muniandy, A. A. Selim, S. Hassim, H. Omar

The Journal of Engineering Research

Stone mastic asphalt (SMA) is a gap-graded mix whereby stiffer asphalt cement is required to bind the stone matrix or arrangement of stones together. Although various asphalt additives are traditionally available, the use of rubber crumbs in SMA is still a new rresearch endeavor. Many countries around the world are facing serious problems on what to do with reject or discarded tires. In the present study, commercial truck tires, containing 70% natural rubber, were ground and pre-blended in 80-100 penetration asphalt for use in SMA mixtures. An assessment was made of the laboratory performance of rubberized SMA in terms of …

Current Regulatory And Enforcement Landscape Under Mocra, Diane Mcenroe

Oxford ICSB

The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA) became effective December 29th, 2023 and is the most significant expansion of FDA’s authority to regulate cosmetics since the FD&C Act was enacted in 1938. MoCRA expands the FDA's authority over cosmetics and creates new compliance obligations for manufacturers. Diane McEnroe, an FDA regulatory lawyer at Sidley Austin, LLP, will provide an overview of the law and its implication for cosmetic manufacturers and marketers. The presentation will also provide an update on the current regulatory and enforcement landscape to date, including considerations about follow on litigation when there has been publicity …

Cosmetic Adverse Events And The Product Safety Landscape, Rick Kingston

Oxford ICSB

The Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 (MoCRA) became effective December 29th, 2023 and is the most significant expansion of FDA’s authority to regulate cosmetics since the FD&C Act was enacted in 1938. MoCRA expands the FDA's rulemaking and enforcement authority over cosmetics and creates new compliance obligations for manufacturers. There are six key areas of the legislation including Facility Registration, Product & Ingredient Listing, Safety Substantiation, Cosmetics Labeling, and Adverse Event Reporting and Record Keeping. Each of these areas has significant implications for manufacturers and cosmetic ingredients. Given the ubiquitous presence of botanical and other naturally occurring substances …

Advancing Botanical Safety Through Collaborative Innovation: Updates From The Botanical Safety Consortium, Amy Roe

Oxford ICSB

The Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC) is a public-private partnership established in 2019 by the FDA, NIEHS, and HESI to address the unique challenges of botanical safety assessment. Botanicals, derived from plants, algae, and fungi, present inherent complexities due to their variable chemical compositions and the presence of hundreds of constituents. Traditional toxicity tests, designed for single chemical entities, fail to adequately assess these complex mixtures, necessitating the development of novel strategies. The BSC has made significant strides in advancing safety evaluations by employing New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to address critical endpoints, including hepatotoxicity, genotoxicity, cardiotoxicity, neurotoxicity, dermal toxicity, and developmental …

The Effect Of A Stem-Based Enrichment Unit On Gifted Sixth Graders’ Academic Achievement, Problem-Solving Skills, And Attitudes Towards Stem, Aisha Abdulkader Cheikhmous

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

This study aimed to examine the effect of a STEM-based enrichment unit on gifted learners’ academic achievement, problem-solving skills, and attitudes towards STEM. The participants were 33 female sixth-grade students attending the Elite Stream at a public school in the United Arab Emirates. To collect the data, the study followed a triangulation mixed-methods research design where the qualitative data was collected from the researcher’s observations during the program implementation. Furthermore, the quantitative data was obtained from a content-based test that focused on problemsolving skills, a survey on students’ attitudes towards STEM, and the End-of-Term summative achievement exam scores in Mathematics, …

A Veil Of Silence: Women And Sound In Renaissance Italy, Colleen Reardon

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

A book review is presented for A Veil of Silence: Women and Sound in Renaissance Italy, authored by Julia Rombough, by Colleen Reardon.

Bach Against Modernity, Mark Peters

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

A book review is presented for Bach against Modernity, authored by Michael Marissen, by Mark Peters.

Memory, Music, Manuscripts: The Ritual Dynamics Of Kōshiki In Japanese Sōtō Zen, Junko Oba

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

A book review is presented for Memory, Music, Manuscripts: The Ritual Dynamics of Kōshiki in Japanese Sōtō Zen, authored by Michaela Mross, by Junko Oba.

Hearing Islam: The Sounds Of A Global Religious Tradition, Bertie Kibreah

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

A book review is presented for Hearing Islam: The Sounds of a Global Religious Tradition, authored by Lauren E. Osborne, by Bertie Kibreah.

Thomas Pereira’S 'Lülü Zuanyao' 律呂纂要 (Ca. 1685): A Jesuit Music Theory Textbook For The Chinese Emperor, Qingfan Jiang

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

Thomas Pereira (1646–1708), a Portuguese Jesuit missionary, arrived in Beijing in 1672 and was appointed by the Kangxi Emperor (1654–1722) as his music tutor. For the emperor's music lessons, Pereira authored Lülü Zuanyao 律呂纂要 [Elements of Music] (ca. 1685), the first known Western music theory treatise written in Chinese. My translation includes the first half of Zuanyao that focuses on Western music notation, solmization, and the hexachordal system. As a product of the global circulation of musical knowledge in the early modern period, Zuanyao is significant in three ways. First, it illustrates the direct influence of the music education Pereira …

Commemorating August Thirteenth: Music And Theology In Eighteenth-Century Moravian Communities, Ryan M. Malone

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

One of the most important memorial days in the Moravian liturgical calendar is August Thirteenth, a commemoration of the communal spiritual awakening that eighteenth-century Moravians experienced on the Saxon estate of Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700–1760). While the Moravian church has celebrated this storied event for centuries, complete with music-rich religious services, only a few original compositions were crafted specifically for these services. In light of the importance of August Thirteenth, and given of the abundance of musical works that eighteenth-century Moravian composers wrote for other memorial days and religious holidays, this article employs musicological and theological perspectives to …

"Kol Mekadesh Shevi'i": A Liturgical Melody Sung At Home, Naomi Cohn Zentner

Yale Journal of Music & Religion

This article draws upon the unusual characteristics, origins and prevalence of the melody to the poem "Kol mekadesh shevii" [He who sanctifies the Seventh day] and discusses how it came to be recognized in the past seventy years as a signifier of Ashkenazi pre-Holocaust musical and religious culture and in particular as a sonic marker of liturgical sound, although it was sung at home. The Kol mekadesh melody came over time to represent two vastly different symbolic positions. As a melody adopted from non-Jewish sources bringing new, sometimes controversial sounds into the synagogue, and as a typical synagogal …

Visualizing Chattanooga’S Freeway Accidents: An Interactive Dashboard Built On Us National Laboratory Data*, Joshy Kasahara

Campus Research Month

Despite the availability of a freeway accident dataset collected by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), there is no interactive visualization of the data that is easily accessible to the public. Consequently, the local community's awareness of accident trends is very limited. The contribution of this research project is a dashboard that allows the visualization of traffic accidents patterns in Chattanooga, Tennessee, using datasets from national laboratory researchers. By creating an interactive web dashboard with animated and color-mapped geographical map, the project seeks to enhance community awareness of accident trends.

Mobile Application For Historical Markers*, Kellen Erskine, Harvey Alférez

Campus Research Month

Students find it challenging to engage in their local history solely through in-class instruction. Traditionally, teachers remedy this by organizing field trips. However, field trips can be challenging because they are costly, time-consuming, and a liability to the school. Because of these issues, teachers cannot take the students on as many field trips as they would like. The solution is a web app that allows students to discover the historical sites in their areas. This enables the students to independently visit historical sites and gain the valuable out-of-classroom experience that field trips can help with. The web app was introduced …

Microfinance In Latin America: Sustainability, Growth, And Efficiency, Katelyn M. Hoidal

Global Tides

The subsequent research addresses the question: Within populous Latin American countries (Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Argentina, Chile, and Peru), are microfinance institutions associated with differences in GDP and household consumption equally between 2010 and 2018? Which do they have a stronger correlation with? The essence of this question seeks to answer whether the correlation between MFIs and wealth indicators carries over to a national level or merely persists at an individual level. This research has been informed and influenced by literature and studies conducted across South Asia, Africa, and Latin America focusing on the research of Abdelkader, Naveeda, Annim, Campbell, Armendáriz, …

Evaluating Embodied Carbon Emissions Of Post-Seismic Steel Framed Buildings, Nicholas Leavitt

Student Research Symposium

The carbon emissions of earthquake damage repairs is on average 40% of a building's total carbon emissions in 50 years.

Creative Inequality, Ginger Anderson

Student Research Symposium

Does an art degree define success? Some of the world's most famous artists never set foot in a classroom. However, formal training often provides essential technical skills and industry connections. So, is artistic success about raw talent or learned expertise?

Opposition And Expression, Isabelle Johansen

Student Research Symposium

In a culture driven by speed, efficiency, and disposability, tradition has become a quiet act of rebellion. Designers are returning to handmade techniques, ancestral knowledge, and slow processes as a way to reclaim meaning, identity, and sustainability. What was once dismissed as old-fashioned is now powerful again–rooted, radical, and deeply human.

The Influence Of Social Media On Journalism: Challenges To Accuracy, Credibility, And News Consumption, Natalee Parry

Student Research Symposium

Social media has reshaped journalism, challenging accuracy, credibility, and public trust in news. This study examines the impact of social media on news consumers and how it affects their trust in news.

Looking Good: The Math Behind Computer Vision*, Corbin Weiss

Campus Research Month

Exploring the mathematical foundations of a Multilayer Perceptron (MLP), a foundational approach to computer vision. Then expanding this understanding to create a visualization of the representation of reality in the MLP.

Association Of Plant-Based Dietary Patterns With Female Reproductive Cancer Incidence And Mortality: A Systematic Review, Esther L. Farley, Scott Moore, Gary A. Giovino, Darryl Somayaji

Campus Research Month

Healthy plant-based eating, a health-related behavior that nurses may promote, has been associated with a decrease in multiple types of cancer. However, the association of a healthy plant-based dietary pattern with decreased female reproductive cancers has not yet been established.

This review of the literature followed PRISMA guidelines to search for the relationship between a healthy plant-based dietary pattern and incidence of and mortality from a breast or gynecological cancer diagnosis. Databases searched for this review included PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Web of Science.

We identified 27 publications that met the qualifications for inclusion. Twelve studies covered mortality from breast, …

Herbal Medicine For The Management Of Asthma In Taiwan: Insights From Big Data, Laboratory Studies, And Clinical Research, Hung-Rong Yen, Chuan-Teng Liu, Ying-Chyi Song

Oxford ICSB

Introduction: Asthma affects individuals across all age groups and poses a significant public health challenge in Taiwan, with high morbidity rates and substantial healthcare burdens. Traditional medicine theory emphasizes restoring the yin-yang balance, achieved through methods such as herbal medicine. Real-world data from Taiwan highlight the growing reliance on complementary therapies due to recurrent exacerbations and the potential side effects of conventional asthma medications. Materials and Methods: First, we analyzed the National Health Insurance Research Database, encompassing a population of 23 million in Taiwan, to identify the most commonly prescribed Chinese herbal medicines. Subsequently, we conducted in vitro experiments and …

Intoxicating Cannabinoids And Impurities In Hemp-Derived Products In Us Markets, Mahmoud Elsohly

Oxford ICSB

This talk will examine the nature and source of a number of intoxicating cannabinoids and impurities, widely available in the US and marketed as “hemp-derived” and thus promoted as legal and safe products. The presentation will elaborate on the 2018 Farm Bill, the definition of Hemp and the consequences of the interpretation of the definition on the composition of products on the market. Of particular emphasis will be the prevalence of Delta-8 THC in these products and the incorporation of their intoxicating cannabinoids.