Engineering Commons^™

Modification Of The Tumor Microenvironment Enhances Anti-Pd-1 Immunotherapy In Metastatic Melanoma, Guilan Shi, Megan Scott, Cathryn G. Mangiamele, Richard Heller

Bioelectrics Publications

Resistance to checkpoint-blockade treatments is a challenge in the clinic. Both primary and acquired resistance have become major obstacles, greatly limiting the long-lasting effects and wide application of blockade therapy. Many patients with metastatic melanoma eventually require further therapy. The absence of T-cell infiltration to the tumor site is a well-accepted contributor limiting immune checkpoint inhibitor efficacy. In this study, we combined intratumoral injection of plasmid IL-12 with electrotransfer and anti-PD-1 in metastatic B16F10 melanoma tumor model to increase tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and improve therapeutic efficacy. We showed that effective anti-tumor responses required a subset of tumor-infiltrating CD8⁺ and CD4 …

Illuminator, Volume 5, Issue 3, Batten College Of Engineering And Technology, Old Dominion University

College of Engineering & Technology Newsletter

October 2022 issue of Illuminator, a monthly publication of ODU's Batten College of Engineering and Technology.

A Comparative Performance Analysis Of The Novel Turboaux Engine With A Turbojet Engine, And A Low-Bypass Ratio Turbofan Engine With An Afterburner, Kaleab Fetahi, Sharanabasaweshwara A. Asundi, Arthur C. Taylor

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Presented herein is a comparative performance analysis of a novel turbofan engine with an auxiliary combustion chamber, nicknamed the TurboAux engine, against a turbojet engine, and a low bypass ratio turbofan engine with an afterburner is presented. The TurboAux engine is an adaption of the low-bypass ratio turbofan engine, but with secondary combustion in an auxiliary bypass annular combustion chamber for thrust augmentation. The TurboAux engine is envisioned with the desire to facilitate clean secondary burning of fuel at temperatures higher than in the main combustion chamber with air exiting the low-pressure compressor. The comparative study starts by analyzing the …

Monocular Camera Viewpoint-Invariant Vehicular Traffic Segmentation And Classification Utilizing Small Datasets, Amr Yousef, Jeff Flora, Khan Iftekharuddin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

The work presented here develops a computer vision framework that is view angle independent for vehicle segmentation and classification from roadway traffic systems installed by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). An automated technique for extracting a region of interest is discussed to speed up the processing. The VDOT traffic videos are analyzed for vehicle segmentation using an improved robust low-rank matrix decomposition technique. It presents a new and effective thresholding method that improves segmentation accuracy and simultaneously speeds up the segmentation processing. Size and shape physical descriptors from morphological properties and textural features from the Histogram of Oriented Gradients …

Science And Food Fictions: Agricultural Technologies, The Evolution Of The Modern Industrial Diet, And Calls For A Food Revolution, Tracey Daniels-Lerberg

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

[First paragraph] Individual food choices are culturally and historically contingent practices that arise through an amalgamation of often hidden political, scientific, and economic policies that shape desire and influence access. Food, like all other man-made mechanisms of control and authority, has been used “as a political tool for […] subjugating (either economically or politically) other nations” according to William A. Dando, a professor at the University of North Dakota, who in 1975 urged American agricultural officials not to use food as “a weapon” against starving nations, something he feared was eminently possible given the economic and political climate of agricultural …

Influence Of Defects On In-Plane Dynamic Properties Of Hexagonal Ligament Chiral Structures, Ning An, Xunwen Su, Dongmei Zhu, Mileta M. Tomovic

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Although the six-ligament chiral structure has many unique properties, due to its special structure, the stress concentration is prone to defects. In addition, additive manufacturing is also prone to defects. This paper studies the effect of defects, which is helpful for the better application of the six-ligament chiral structure. Several new six-ligament chiral structures with random and concentrated defects were designed to explore the effects of the defects on the in-plane dynamic properties. The structures were studied with the finite element ANSYS/LSDYNA numerical simulation and experimental methods. According to the defect-free six-ligament chiral structures exhibiting different deformation modes at different …

Emergence Of A Norm From Resistance: Using Simulation To Explore The Macro Implications Of Social Identity Theory, Khadijeh Salimi, Jesse T. Richman, Regina Karp, George P. Richardson, David Anderson

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

We usually hope that social norms discourage injustice. However, we are all witnesses to harmful norms enforced by governments, such as xenophobia, which need to be contested and changed. Previous studies have concluded that it is possible to change a harmful norm through contestation by powerless actors if suitable structural conditions exist. However, these structural conditions have not been sufficiently studied and, as such, are the focus of this paper. Our paper begins with a review of well-established micro-level theories of social identity theory (SIT), recast as a set of 42 discrete theoretical statements. These statements are then re-expressed in …

Undergraduate Engineering And Education Students Reflect On Their Interdisciplinary Teamwork Experiences Following Transition To Virtual Instruction Caused By Covid-19, Kristie S. Gutierrez, Jennifer J. Kidd, Min Jung Lee, Pilar Pazos, Krishnanand Kaipa, Stacie I. Ringleb, Orlando Ayala

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This study explores undergraduate engineering and education students’ perspectives on their interdisciplinary teams throughout the rapid transition to online learning and instruction from a face-to-face to a virtual format. In this qualitative study, students’ reflections and focus groups from three interdisciplinary collaborations were analyzed using the lens of Social Cognitive Theory. COVID-19 created a dramatic change in the environment such that the most immediate and direct impact on students’ experiences was on the environmental aspects of Bandura’s triadic reciprocal determinism model, which then triggered behavioral and personal responses to adapt to the new environment. Subsequent evidence of reciprocal effects between …

Multi-Technique Characterization Of Superconducting Materials For Particle Accelerator Applications, Junki Makita

Physics Theses & Dissertations

We investigated the performance limitations of superconducting radio-frequency (SRF) cavities and materials using multiple experimental techniques. In particular, this study focuses on understanding the surface properties of nitrogen-doped Nb cavities and superconducting thin films with higher T_c such as Nb₃Sn. The main goal of this work is to use different techniques to better understand each aspect of the complex loss mechanism in superconductors to further improve the already highly efficient SRF cavities.

Nitrogen doping applied to a Nb SRF cavity significantly improves the quality factor Q₀ compared to a conventional Nb cavity, at an expense of …

Design, Synthesis And Characterization Of Triazole Based Glycoconjugates And 4,6-Acetal Protected D-Glucosamine Derivatives As Low Molecular Weight Gelators, Pooja Sharma

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

Low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) are small molecules that can form gels in either organic solvents or water in their pure form or as mixtures. LMWGs self-assemble through noncovalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding, van der Waals interactions and hydrophobic forces in solvents. They have shown great potential in biomedical industry, catalysis and environmental remediation to name a few. Moreover, the formation of metallogels can be used for detection of various ions as well as catalysis, which adds a new dimension to their applications. Among many classes of LMWGs based on the type of functional groups used, carbohydrate …

Cyber Deception For Critical Infrastructure Resiliency, Md Ali Reza Al Amin

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The high connectivity of modern cyber networks and devices has brought many improvements to the functionality and efficiency of networked systems. Unfortunately, these benefits have come with many new entry points for attackers, making systems much more vulnerable to intrusions. Thus, it is critically important to protect cyber infrastructure against cyber attacks. The static nature of cyber infrastructure leads to adversaries performing reconnaissance activities and identifying potential threats. Threats related to software vulnerabilities can be mitigated upon discovering a vulnerability and-, developing and releasing a patch to remove the vulnerability. Unfortunately, the period between discovering a vulnerability and applying a …

Evaluation Of Generative Models For Predicting Microstructure Geometries In Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing, Andy Ramlatchan

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

In-situ process monitoring for metals additive manufacturing is paramount to the successful build of an object for application in extreme or high stress environments. In selective laser melting additive manufacturing, the process by which a laser melts metal powder during the build will dictate the internal microstructure of that object once the metal cools and solidifies. The difficulty lies in that obtaining enough variety of data to quantify the internal microstructures for the evaluation of its physical properties is problematic, as the laser passes at high speeds over powder grains at a micrometer scale. Imaging the process in-situ is complex …

Utilization Of Finite Element Analysis Techniques For Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Surgical Planning, Michael A. Polanco

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis, a three-dimensional deformity of the thoracolumbar spine, affects approximately 1-3% of patients ages 10-18. Surgical correction and treatment of the spinal column is a costly and high-risk task that is consistently complicated by factors such as patient-specific spinal deformities, curve flexibility, and surgeon experience. The following dissertation utilizes finite element analysis to develop a cost-effective, building-block approach by which surgical procedures and kinematic evaluations may be investigated. All studies conducted are based off a volumetric, thoracolumbar finite element (FE) model developed from computer-aided design (CAD) anatomy whose components are kinematically validated with in-vitro data. Spinal ligament stiffness …

Applied Deep Learning: Case Studies In Computer Vision And Natural Language Processing, Md Reshad Ul Hoque

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Deep learning has proved to be successful for many computer vision and natural language processing applications. In this dissertation, three studies have been conducted to show the efficacy of deep learning models for computer vision and natural language processing. In the first study, an efficient deep learning model was proposed for seagrass scar detection in multispectral images which produced robust, accurate scars mappings. In the second study, an arithmetic deep learning model was developed to fuse multi-spectral images collected at different times with different resolutions to generate high-resolution images for downstream tasks including change detection, object detection, and land cover …

Development Of High Quantum Efficiency Strained Superlattice Spin Polarized Photocathodes Via Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition, Benjamin Belfore

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Spin polarized photocathodes are necessary to examine parity violations and other fundamental phenomena in the field of high energy physics. To create these devices, expensive and complicated growth processes are necessary. While integral to accelerator physics, spin polarized electrons could have other exciting applications in materials science and other fields of physics. In order to explore these other applications feasibly, the relative supply of spin polarized photocathodes with a high rate of both polarization and photoemission needs to be increased. One such way to increase this supply is to develop the means to grow them faster and at a larger …

A Quality Systems Economic-Risk Design Theoretical Framework, Abdallah S. Thefeid

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Quality systems, including control charts theory and sampling plans, have become essential tools to develop business processes. Since 1928, research has been conducted in developing the economic-risk designs for specific types of control charts or sampling plans. However, there has been no theoretical or applied research attempts to combine these related theories into a synthesized theoretical framework of quality systems economic-risk design. This research proposes to develop a theoretical framework of quality systems economic-risk design from qualitative research synthesis of the economic-risk design of sampling plan models and control charts models. This theoretical framework will be useful in guiding future …

Emotion Detection Using An Ensemble Model Trained With Physiological Signals And Inferred Arousal-Valence States, Matthew Nathanael Gray

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Affective computing is an exciting and transformative field that is gaining in popularity among psychologists, statisticians, and computer scientists. The ability of a machine to infer human emotion and mood, i.e. affective states, has the potential to greatly improve human-machine interaction in our increasingly digital world. In this work, an ensemble model methodology for detecting human emotions across multiple subjects is outlined. The Continuously Annotated Signals of Emotion (CASE) dataset, which is a dataset of physiological signals labeled with discrete emotions from video stimuli as well as subject-reported continuous emotions, arousal and valence, from the circumplex model, is used for …

Collaborative Robotics Strategies For Handling Non-Repetitive Micro-Drilling Tasks Characterized By Low Structural Mechanical Impedance, Xiangyu Wang

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Mechanical micro-drilling finds widespread use in diverse applications ranging from advanced manufacturing to medical surgery. This dissertation aims to develop techniques that allow programming of robots to perform effective micro-drilling tasks. Accomplishing this goal is faced with several challenges. Micro-drills suffer from frequent breakage caused from variations in drill process parameters. Micro-drilling tasks afford extremely low feed rates and almost zero tolerance for any feed rate variations. The accompanying robot programming task is made difficult as mathematical models that capture the micro-drilling process complexities and sensitive variations in micro-drill parameters are highly difficult to obtain. Therefore, an experimental approach is …

A Comparison Of Uniaxial Compressive Response And Inelastic Deformation Mechanisms In Freeze Cast Alumina-Epoxy Composites Without And With Rigid Confinement, Tareq Aljuhari

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Cellular ceramics have an array of improved mechanical properties that make them incredibly desired for different applications such as armor systems, aircraft structures, automobiles bumpers, and biomedical implants. It is also desirable that porous architecture could be shaped into bulk complicated shapes and easy to scale-up with low manufacturing cost. Despite several efficient techniques to fabricate cellular ceramics, some limitations are preventing us from meeting the high demand of the after mentioned applications. For that, freeze casting, also called ice-templating, is technique of solidifying an aqueous ceramic suspension under the effect of unidirectional temperature gradient. In this study, Ice-templated porous …

Engineering Of Ideal Systems For The Study And Direction Of Stem Cell Asymmetrical Division And Fate Determination, Martina Zamponi

Biomedical Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The cellular microenvironment varies significantly across tissues, and it is constituted by both resident cells and the macromolecules they are exposed to. Cues that the cells receive from the microenvironment, as well as the signaling transmitted to it, affect their physiology and behavior. This notion is valid in the context of stem cells, which are susceptible to biochemical and biomechanical signaling exchanged with the microenvironment, and which plays a fundamental role in establishing fate determination and cell differentiation events. The definition of the molecular mechanisms that drive stem cell asymmetrical division, and how these are modulated by microenvironmental signaling, is …

Smart Manufacturing—Theories, Methods, And Applications, Zhuming Bi, Lida Xu, Puren Ouyang

Information Technology & Decision Sciences Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) Smart manufacturing (SM) distinguishes itself from other system paradigms by introducing ‘smartness’ as a measure to a manufacturing system; however, researchers in different domains have different expectations of system smartness from their own perspectives. In this Special Issue (SI), SM refers to a system paradigm where digital technologies are deployed to enhance system smartness by (1) empowering physical resources in production, (2) utilizing virtual and dynamic assets over the internet to expand system capabilities, (3) supporting data-driven decision making at all domains and levels of businesses, or (4) reconfiguring systems to adapt changes and uncertainties in dynamic environments. …

Compound Flooding In Convergent Estuaries: Insights From An Analytical Model, Ramin Familkhalili, Stefan Talke, David A. Jay

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

We investigate here the effects of geometric properties (channel depth and cross-sectional convergence length), storm surge characteristics, friction, and river flow on the spatial and temporal variability of compound flooding along an idealized, meso-tidal coastal-plain estuary. An analytical model is developed that includes exponentially convergent geometry, tidal forcing, constant river flow, and a representation of storm surge as a combination of two sinusoidal waves. Nonlinear bed friction is treated using Chebyshev polynomials and trigonometric functions, and a multi-segment approach is used to increase accuracy. Model results show that river discharge increases the damping of surge amplitudes in an estuary, while …

Quantification Of Wave Attentuation Of A Marsh Sill Living Shoreline And Application Of Numerical Modeling For Design Optimization And Adaptation, Maura K. Boswell

Civil & Environmental Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Living shorelines integrate structural and natural features to stabilize the shoreline, through reduction of erosion from the wave climate, while keeping the connectivity between land and aquatic ecosystems. With increasing sea levels, living shorelines have the potential to adapt to changing conditions when compared to armored shorelines due to maintaining a level of interconnectivity between land and water. However, to reduce the ecological tradeoffs associated with any type of shoreline erosion protection project that alters the natural state, the design should seek to minimize structural components to those necessary to provide the protection needed for upland habitat to survive erosive …

The Effect Of Soft Tissue And Bone Morphology On The Stresses In The Foot And Ankle, Jinhyuk Kim

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The foot and ankle interface with the ground, thus they absorb reaction forces and initiate load distribution through the body. The plantar fascia (PF) is a flexible structure that absorbs reaction forces and distributes loading across the foot. It is frequently a source of foot pain especially when people have plantar fasciitis and/or diabetes mellitus. Finite element (FE) models of the foot and ankle were created to examine the function however, the plantar fascia is frequently modeled as a 1D tension only spring, which does not represent variations caused by injury and/or disease.

As models move toward being patient specific, …

Integrating Plcs With Robot Motion Control In Engineering Capstone Courses, Sanjeevi Chitikeshi, Shirshak K. Dhali, Vukica Jovanovic

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

Robotic motion control methods and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are critical in engineering automation and process control applications. In most manufacturing and automation processes, robots are used for moving parts and are controlled by industrial PLCs. Proper integration of external I/O devices, sensors and actuating motors with PLC input and output cards is very important to run the process smoothly without any faults and/or safety concerns. Most traditional electrical and computer engineering (ECE) programs offer high level of motion theory and controls but little hands-on exposure to PLCs which are the main industrial controllers. This paper provides a framework for …

Recrystallization Of Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Semiconductor Thin Films Via Metal Halides Treatment, Deewakar Poudel

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The advancement of low-cost, highly efficient solar cell devices is a major technological challenge demanding suitable materials and fabrication processes. Polycrystalline Cu(In,Ga)Se_{2 (}CIGS) appear to be one of the most promising semiconductor in thin film photovoltaic technology due to its bandgap tunability, high absorption coefficient, and tendency to produce high efficiency solar cells. High-quality CIGS materials fabricated via a three-stage co-evaporation process can convert primary materials into devices with power conversion efficiency above 23%. Increasing the deposition rate and decreasing the deposition temperature, while maintaining high efficiency, is the major concern for the CIGS solar cells to compete …

Role Of Structural Hierarchy In Multiscale Material Systems, Siavash Sattar

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Multiscale material systems derive their effective mechanical properties through a hierarchical organization of their structural elements and components. The hierarchy of a material is related to its effective properties, material processing, and composition. The hierarchy can be defined as an identifiable structural component with a specific size scale, such as the individual fibers collimated into platelets arranged randomly and producing a complex composite system or the lamellar structure in freeze-casted ceramic with the variation of in-plane orientation. In this study, the role of the structural hierarchy on the effective mechanical response and failure behavior of three complex material systems was …

Predictors Of Email Response: Determinants Of The Intention Of Not Following Security Recommendations, Miguel Angel Toro-Jarrin

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Organizations and government leaders are concerned about cyber incidents. For some time, researchers have studied what motivates people to act in ways that put the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information in organizations at risk. Still, several areas remained unexplored, including the role of employees’ evaluation of the organizational systems and the role of value orientation at work as precursors of secure and insecure actions in relation to information technologies (information security [IS] action). The objective of this research project was to examine how the evaluations of formal and informal security norms are associated with the intention to follow them …

Adaptive Risk Network Dependency Analysis Of Complex Hierarchical Systems, Katherine L. Smith

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Recently the number, variety, and complexity of interconnected systems have been increasing while the resources available to increase resilience of those systems have been decreasing. Therefore, it has become increasingly important to quantify the effects of risks and the resulting disruptions over time as they ripple through networks of systems. This dissertation presents a novel modeling and simulation methodology which quantifies resilience, as impact on performance over time, and risk, as the impact of probabilistic disruptions. This work includes four major contributions over the state-of-the-art which are: (1) cyclic dependencies are captured by separation of performance variables into layers which …

Fabrication Of Nb3Sn By Magnetron Sputtering For Superconducting Radiofrequency Application, Md Nizam Sayeed

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Particle accelerators are considered as an important device that has wide applications in cancer treatment, sterilizing waste, preserving foods, ion implantation in semiconductor industry, and in production of isotopes for medical applications. Superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities are the building blocks of a linear particle accelerator. Current particle accelerators use niobium (Nb) superconductors as the sheet material to fabricate a single SRF cavity for particle acceleration. With better superconducting properties (critical temperature T_c ~ 18.3 K, superheating field H_sh~ 400 mT), Nb₃Sn is considered a potential candidate in SRF technology. Magnetron sputtering is a promising deposition …