Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A Plasmonic On-Chip System To Characterize Changes From External Perturbations In Cardiomyocytes, Maedeh Mozneb

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today’s heart-on-a-chip devices are hoped to be the state-of-the-art cell and tissue characterizing tool, in clinically applicable regenerative medicine and cardiac tissue engineering. Due to the coupled electromechanical activity of cardiomyocytes (CM), a comprehensive heart-on-a-chip device as a cell characterizing tool must encompass the capability to quantify cellular contractility, conductivity, excitability, and rhythmicity. This dissertation focuses on developing a successful and statistically relevant surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor for simultaneous recording of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes’ electrophysiological profile and mechanical motion under normal and perturbed conditions. The surface plasmon resonance technique can quantify (1) molecular binding onto a metal film, (2) …

Volitional Control Of Lower-Limb Prosthesis With Vision-Assisted Environmental Awareness, S M Shafiul Hasan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Early and reliable prediction of user’s intention to change locomotion mode or speed is critical for a smooth and natural lower limb prosthesis. Meanwhile, incorporation of explicit environmental feedback can facilitate context aware intelligent prosthesis which allows seamless operation in a variety of gait demands. This dissertation introduces environmental awareness through computer vision and enables early and accurate prediction of intention to start, stop or change speeds while walking. Electromyography (EMG), Electroencephalography (EEG), Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), and Ground Reaction Force (GRF) sensors were used to predict intention to start, stop or increase walking speed. Furthermore, it was investigated whether …

Hardware-In-The-Loop Simulation To Evaluate The Performance And Constraints Of The Red-Light Violation Warning Application On Arterial Roads, Mahmoud Arafat

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the safety and mobility impacts of Connected Vehicle (CV) applications is critical for ensuring effective implementations of these applications. This dissertation provides an assessment of the safety and mobility impacts of the Red-Light Violation Warning (RLVW), a CV-based application at signalized intersections, under pre-timed signal control and semi-actuated signal control utilizing Emulator-in-the-loop (EILS), Software-in-the-loop (SILS), and Hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HILS) environments. Modern actuated traffic signal controllers contain several features with which controllers can provide varying green intervals for actuated phases, skip phases, and terminate phases depending on the traffic demand fluctuation from cycle to cycle. With actuated traffic signal operations, …

Parameter Estimation And Charge Control In Standalone And Grid-Tied Batteries, Asadullah Khalid

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Energy storage systems are the critical components enabling an electrified future ranging from electric vehicles (EVs) to microgrid (MG) applications. With the advancements in these applications, the operational dynamics of electrochemical energy storage such as Lithium-ion batteries need to be analyzed from the lifecycle impact, cybersecurity, balancing requirements, and prognostics perspectives. These operations enable the interconnected systems to be secure, efficient, and self-adaptive while reducing greenhouse emissions.

This research aims to develop threefold solutions. The first objective of this dissertation is to analyze lifecycle impact, quantify the interconnection requirements of battery energy storage systems, and evaluate cybersecurity frameworks for battery …

Therapeutic Approaches To Alter Mineral Formation And Growth In Vascular Calcification, Amirala Bakhshiannik

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular diseases represent the global leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Cardiovascular calcification is the most significant predictor of cardiovascular events, but no therapeutic options exist to prevent or treat mineral formation in the vasculature. The presence of bone-like mineral increases cardiac work required to move blood through systemic circulation and can lead to mechanical stress in atherosclerotic plaques, promoting plaque rupture events that cause heart attacks. Clinical trials correlated bisphosphonates (BiPs), common anti-osteoporosis pharmaceuticals, with contradicting cardiovascular outcomes. Here, we demonstrated the importance of treatment timing in BiP-induced mineral disruption or promotion. We showed that BiPs can alter morphological …

Photonic Crystal Hydrogels: Simulation, Fabrication & Biomedical Application, Mehenur Sarwar

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Photonic crystal (PhC) hydrogels are a unique class of material that has tremendous promise as biomedical sensors. The underlying crystal structure allows for simple analysis of microstructural properties by assessing the diffraction pattern generated following laser illumination. The hydrogel medium provides elasticity, regenerability, and potential functionalization. Combining these two properties, photonic crystal hydrogels have the potential for sensing physical forces and chemical reagents using a low-cost, reusable platform.

The development of biomedical sensors using this material is limited due to the lack of a method to accurately predict the diffraction pattern generated. To overcome this, a computational model was developed …

Tri-Level Hierarchical Coordinated Control Of A Largescale Electric Vehicle Charging In The Smart Grid, Tawfiq M. Aljohani

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are considered one of humanity's greatest hopes to combat the climate change crises in light of their great potentials to reduce Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions from two main sources: the electric power industry and the fossil-based transportation sector. To help expedite the large-scale adoption of EVs on the roads, optimal solutions are needed to overcome the technical and operational barriers that face the electrical network. This is due to the introduction of significant load levels from EVs; a substantial number is expected during peak demand hours. This dissertation addresses the various interaction between different parts of the …

Impact-Based Analytics Of Cascaded False Data Injection Attacks On Smart Grids, Mohamadsaleh Jafari

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The composition of communication lines and bidirectional smart devices in smart grids makes them greatly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. False data injection attacks (FDIAs) are of the most widespread cyber-attacks severely affecting the performance of smart grids that need to be analyzed. In this context, we analyze the feasibility of launching FDIAs in power systems with high renewables leading to false relay operations (FRO). By modeling the frequency dynamics of power systems, formalizing the FRO attack as a constraint satisfaction problem, our case studies show that power grids with renewables are more susceptible to FRO attacks. Moreover, the results suggest that …

Investigating Mode Choice Of Ridesourcing Services: Accounting For Attitudes And Market Segmentation, Ghazaleh Azimi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The phenomenal development of ridesourcing is possibly one of the greatest revolutions that have happened to transportation networks. Ridesourcing improves mobility and mitigates traffic congestion by reducing vehicle ownership and serving as a first/last-mile feeder to public transportation. This tremendous growth created a burgeoning literature exploring ridesourcing users' characteristics, yet there is no clear picture of its market. In the absence of sufficient information, policymakers face a major challenge in planning equitable and accessible transportation systems. This dissertation presents a detailed analysis of individuals’ decisions to adopt ridesourcing, focusing on three main objectives that have not been addressed previously. First, …

Investigating The Impacts Of Sea Level Rise-Induced High Groundwater Table On Florida Flexible Pavement Structural Performance, Mehmet Goksel Gocmez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis evaluates the impacts of sea-level rise-induced high groundwater table on the structural performance of typical Florida interstate, arterial, and local flexible pavements. Pavement longevity was determined under rising groundwater table level conditions using two analytical methods; the mechanistic-empirical (ME) analysis software and the current Florida empirical analysis practice. Moreover, ABAQUS and KENLAYER software were utilized to analyze the impacts of stress-dependent material nonlinearity on pavement structural performance.

Analysis results estimated that the pavement service life in Florida was reduced by as much as 77 percent with the effects of rising groundwater levels. The empirical method predicted higher rates …

Aptamer-Based Voltammetric Biosensing For The Detection Of Codeine And Fentanyl In Sweat And Saliva, Rosa Lashantez Cromartie

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the many governmental and medicinal restrictions created to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States, opioid abuse and overdose rates continue to rise. The development of an aptamer-based voltammetric sensor and biosensor is described in this dissertation. The aim was to develop a low-cost, sensitive, and specific aptamer-based sensor for on-site, label-free determination of codeine and fentanyl in biological fluids. To do this, the surfaces of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE) were modified with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), followed by the addition of single-stranded DNA aptamers. These were covalently bound to the electrode surface. Operations of the sensors were collected …

Dynamic Flood Management At The Watershed Scale, Linlong S. Bian

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Floods have threatened people’s lives and property for all of human history. Consequently, developing and implementing effective flood mitigation strategies is a constant necessity to protect against the damage caused by floods. This dissertation proposes a dynamic water storage management strategy for flood mitigation at the watershed scale. This strategy aims to release water in a coordinated manner from water storage units before a rainfall event, leading to the entire watershed becoming more effective for flood mitigation.

Three main contributions were developed to achieve this strategy. First, a Deterministic Topographic Wetland Index (DTWI) was developed for rapidly identifying the existing …

Machine Learning For Multiclass Classification And Prediction Of Alzheimer's Disease, Solale Tabarestani

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an irreversible neurodegenerative disorder and a common form of dementia. This research aims to develop machine learning algorithms that diagnose and predict the progression of AD from multimodal heterogonous biomarkers with a focus placed on the early diagnosis. To meet this goal, several machine learning-based methods with their unique characteristics for feature extraction and automated classification, prediction, and visualization have been developed to discern subtle progression trends and predict the trajectory of disease progression.

The methodology envisioned aims to enhance both the multiclass classification accuracy and prediction outcomes by effectively modeling the interplay between the multimodal …

The Corrosion Inhibition Behavior Of Thermally Aged Chromate Conversion Coating Applied To Aerospace Aluminum 2219, Michelle Stephane Pierre

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

NASA Kennedy Space Center’s technical standard for corrosion protection of space flight hardware provides guidance concerning temperature restrictions and exposure limits for processing unpainted chromate conversion coatings (CCC) for the Orion crew space vehicle as part of the Artemis program. The standard requires that all CCC treated flight hardware components be fully coated within seven days with a maximum storage time of seven days at ambient temperatures (much less time at higher temperatures). Currently, there is no literature nor qualified industry testing supporting the exposure limits set by the standard. The standard is quite restrictive to processing flight components. In …

Evaluation And Damage Detection Of Highway Bridges With Distinct Vulnerabilities, Mohammad Abedin

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bridge failures over the past few decades have shown conventional bridge monitoring is insufficient to effectively evaluate the safety of this important piece of infrastructure. Therefore, new methods for bridge monitoring and special considerations in bridge design are needed to ensure the health of these structures as they continue to age and prevent the possibility of catastrophic collapses. The objective of this research is to explore new means for detecting damage in bridge members during normal operations that are both accurate and affordable at the same time. However, to make any damage detection method effective and efficient, the behavior of …

Non-Invasive Techniques Towards Recovering Highly Secure Unclonable Cryptographic Keys And Detecting Counterfeit Memory Chips, Bashir Mohammad Sabquat Bahar Talukder

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to the ubiquitous presence of memory components in all electronic computing systems, memory-based signatures are considered low-cost alternatives to generate unique device identifiers (IDs) and cryptographic keys. On the one hand, this unique device ID can potentially be used to identify major types of device counterfeitings such as remarked, overproduced, and cloned. On the other hand, memory-based cryptographic keys are commercially used in many cryptographic applications such as securing software IP, encrypting key vault, anchoring device root of trust, and device authentication for could services. As memory components generate this signature in runtime rather than storing them in memory, …

Challenges Of Inductive Electric Vehicle Charging Systems In Both Stationary And Dynamic Modes, Hassan Jafari Mr

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Inductive power transfer as an emerging technology has become applicable in wide power ranges including Electric Vehicle, Electric Aircraft, wheelchair, cellphone, scooter and so on. Among them, inductive Electric Vehicle (EV) charging has gained great interest in the last decade due to many merits namely contactless technology, more convenience, full automotive charging process. However, inductive EV charging systems could bring about so many issues and concerns which are addressed in this dissertation. One of the critical challenges addressed in this dissertation is a virtual inertia based IPT controller to prevent the undesirable dynamics imposed by the EVs increasing number in …

Epoxy Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic Dowel Splice For Prestressed Precast Concrete Pile, Saman Farhangdoust

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to limitations in operation, shipping difficulties, and unforeseen soil conditions, it often happens that splicing of precast-prestressed concrete pile (PPCP) segments has to be performed at the construction site to achieve longer lengths. In order to splice PPCPs, Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP), Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP), and Stainless Steel (SS) dowels can be used as corrosion-resistant bars. In addition to their durability and superb mechanical performance, GFRP bars show cost advantage when compared to other corrosion-resistant materials. The objective of this study is to investigate the flexural behavior and effectiveness of the GFRP dowel and compare its …

Novel Attacks And Defenses For Enterprise Internet-Of-Things (E-Iot) Systems, Luis C. Puche Rondon

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This doctoral dissertation expands upon the field of Enterprise Internet-of-Things (E-IoT) systems, one of the most ubiquitous and under-researched fields of smart systems. E-IoT systems are specialty smart systems designed for sophisticated automation applications (e.g., multimedia control, security, lighting control). E-IoT systems are often closed source, costly, require certified installers, and are more robust for their specific applications. This dissertation begins with an analysis of the current E-IoT threat landscape and introduces three novel attacks and defenses under-studied software and protocols heavily linked to E-IoT systems. For each layer, we review the literature for the threats, attacks, and countermeasures. Based …

Development Of A Miniature Pipe Crawler For Application In Fossil Energy Power Plants, Caique C. Lara

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The power generation of fossil fuel power plants relies on burning coal to generate steam. The heat exchange between the water and burned coal occurs in the combustion chamber, which operates at a high pressure and temperature. Monitoring the integrity of the tubes inside the combustion chamber is a key factor to avoid failures. However, this is not an easy task as some areas are hard to reach and the pipeline commonly has a complex geometry. Moreover, the inspection is typically manual, external and the environment is hazardous for humans. This thesis presents the development and testing of an electrically …

Digital Processing Of Magnetic, Angular-Rate And Gravity Signals For Human-Computer Interaction, Neeranut Ratchatanantakit

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation pursued the definition and evaluation of a processing approach for robust real-time orientation estimation of a miniature Magnetic, Angular-Rate, Gravity (MARG) module for use in a human-computer interaction system that also uses a 3-camera IR-video module for position estimation. The proposed algorithm introduces the novel idea of spatially mapping the level of trustworthiness of the magnetometer-based potential corrections to the orientation estimate. This trustworthiness level is used to reduce the strength of magnetometer-based corrections of the orientation estimate where the magnetic field distortion invalidates the assumptions necessary for those corrections.

The new algorithm addresses the three research questions …

Zinc-Oxide Nanostructure-Based Wearable Biosensor Platform For Sweat Analysis, Fahmida Alam

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this research is to develop highly sensitive, flexible, wearable enzymatic and immuno-sensor arrays for continuous and selective sensing of ethanol, lactate, and glucose in human sweat. Human sweat has clinical importance and has been recommended as an early pointer for many health conditions and diseases. Thus, for many health applications, point-of-care non-invasive monitoring of different biomarkers in sweat is ultimately important. The major challenges of the sweat analysis biosensors include selectivity, sensitivity, flexibility, sweat collection, and storage for analysis. In this research, sonochemical synthesis of two-dimensional (2D) Zinc Oxide Nanoflakes (ZnO NFs) and wearable sweat analysis biosensors …

Full-Scale Experimental Modeling To Study Wind-Induced Vibrations, Wind Driven Rain And Their Effects On Curtainwall Window Systems, Krishna Sai Vutukuru

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lewis Fry Richardson famously summarized turbulence as big whirls have little whirls, that feed on their velocity and little whirls have lesser whirls, and so on to viscosity. Big whirls/eddies typically affect the whole building structure whereas small eddies cause local area pressures causing damage to building components. Oncoming wind may carry high energy content due to these small eddies in the high-frequency range and sometimes these frequencies fall in the range of natural frequency of building components. These small eddies may cause response amplification due to this resonance, which is currently not considered in design codes such as ASCE …

Correlation Of Acute Radiation Dermatitis To Tissue Oxygenation In Radiation Therapy Treated Breast Cancer Subjects, Edwin Alexander Robledo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over 95% of radiation therapy (RT) treated breast cancer subjects undergo an adverse skin reaction known as radiation dermatitis (RD). Assessment of severity or grading of RD is clinically visual and hence subjective. Our objective is to determine sub-clinical tissue oxygenation (StO₂) changes in response to RT treatment in breast cancer subjects using near-infrared spectroscopic imaging and correlate these changes to RD grading. A WIRB approved 6-8 week longitudinal pilot study was carried out on 10 RT-treated subjects at Miami Cancer Institute. Significant changes (p < 0.05) in StO₂ of irradiated and contralateral chest wall and axilla regions with weeks of …

Enhancing Serviceability And Resiliency Of Transportation Networks Based On Topological Credentials And Systematic Design Interventions, Md Ashraf Ahmed

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent advancements in network science showed that the topological credentials (i.e., rank of relative importance) of network components (such as nodes and links), carry significant implications as it is critical to know which components contribute the most to the overall network performance. For transportation networks, critical components (roads, bridges) may become inaccessible for adjacent traffic due to day-to-day congestion or external disruptions (i.e., man-made or natural hazards) that significantly reduce the level of service. Hence, topological credentials of critical network components based on their connectivity need to be assessed to enhance the serviceability, i.e., improved travel time experience as well …

A Deep-Dive Into Cryptojacking Malware: From An Empirical Analysis To A Detection Method For Computationally Weak Devices, Ege Tekiner

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cryptojacking is an act of using a victim's computation power without his/her consent. Unauthorized mining costs extra electricity consumption and decreases the victim host's computational efficiency dramatically. In this thesis, we perform an extensive research on cryptojacking malware from every aspects. First, we present a systematic overview of cryptojacking malware based on the information obtained from the combination of academic research papers, two large cryptojacking datasets of samples, and numerous major attack instances. Second, we created a dataset of 6269 websites containing cryptomining scripts in their source codes to characterize the in-browser cryptomining ecosystem by differentiating permissioned and permissionless cryptomining …

Integrating Compound Flood Conditions Through 2d Hydraulic Modeling For Simulating Flood Risk Processes In Coastal Cities, Francisco Pena Guerra Mr.

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Low elevation coastal karst environments are highly vulnerable to flooding conditions due to climate change. Trends in rising global temperatures have increased the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation, hydrometeorological phenomena and sea level rise, exacerbating the impact of pluvial, fluvial, coastal and groundwater flood hazards. Compound flooding events amplify flood hazards and pose a higher threat to residents and infrastructure in unison compared to independent phenomena. Recent advancements in coupling hydrologic and hydraulic modeling frameworks have improved our ability to account for the combined effects of extreme pluvial, fluvial, and coastal flood hazards. This innovation in the hydroinformatics field …

Optimization Of Safety Control System For Civil Infrastructure Construction Projects, Sudip Subedi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Labor-intensive repetitive activities are common in civil construction projects. Construction workers are prone to developing musculoskeletal disorders-related injuries while performing such tasks. The government regulatory agency provides minimum safety requirement guidelines to the construction industry that might not be sufficient to prevent accidents and injuries in a construction site. Also, the regulations do not provide insight into what can be done beyond the mandatory requirements to maximize safety and underscore the level of safety that can be attained and sustained on a site. The research addresses the aforestated problem in three stages: (i) identification of theoretical maximum attainable level of …

Development Of An Ultra-High Performance Concrete Joint Detail For Short-Span Bridges, Francisco De Jesus Chitty Gozalo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Slab beam superstructures have been used for short-span bridges since prestressed concrete began to be used in the US. Poor joint performance of these superstructures led to recent revisions to design standards; one example being the Florida Slab Beam (FSB). The FSB and other similar slab beam systems include a composite cast-in-place (CIP) reinforced concrete deck and joint between adjacent beams. An optimized joint design has been developed to accelerate the construction times and eliminate the need for a CIP deck by using ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) in the longitudinal closure pour to connect the precast members.

The optimized joint …

Understanding The Underlying Mechanism Of Age-Related Underactive Bladder And Proposing A Treatment Option To Mitigate Its Symptoms, Arezoo Gerami Pour

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of underactive bladder (UAB) increases with age, suggesting a link between age-related processes and lower urinary tract (LUT) symptoms; however, the underlying mechanisms of age-related UAB are poorly understood. UAB is characterized by inefficient voiding and bladder overdistension. Due to the unknown etiology, current therapeutic options are insufficient. Thus, a detailed understanding of its mechanism will facilitate the discovery of new treatments.

In Aim 1, we investigated the relationship between age and systems-level function of the LUT reflexes in three age groups of rats, testing the hypothesis that aging causes voiding reflexes to weaken. We systematically investigated the …