Engineering Commons^™

Evaluating Thermal Comfort Of Broiler Chickens During Transportation Using Heat Index And Simulated Electronic Chickens, Kaushik Luthra

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Broilers experience high physiological stress during pre-slaughter transport, especially under extremes of thermal environment. Characterization of thermal environment on the trailer is crucial to identify stress-prone regions during transportation. At the same time, Broilers experience high physiological stress during pre-slaughter transport, especially under extremes of thermal environment. Characterization of thermal environment on the trailer is crucial to identify stress-prone regions during transportation. At the same time, quantification of heat loss of the broilers loaded on trailers is important in understanding the well-being of the broilers. We have developed four electronic chickens (E-chickens) to simulate the sensible heat loss of live …

Energy And Performance Balancing Architecture For Asynchronous Data Processing Platforms, Chien-Wei Lo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The semiconductor industry has been increasingly focused on the energy consumption and heat generation in CMOS-based integrated circuits (ICs) for its dominating impact on the system performance and reliability. Without clock-related timing constraints, asynchronous circuits have demonstrated unique flexibility in performance-energy tradeoffs compared to synchronous designs. This dissertation work presents the architecture capable of balancing energy and performance for asynchronous digital signal processing circuits using the Multi-Threshold NULL Convention Logic (MTNCL). Architecture implementing user-configurable adaptive dynamic voltage scaling (DVS) and data processing core disabling based on the detection and parameterization of system throughput are developed for MTNCL parallel homogeneous and …

Operating System Identification By Ipv6 Communication Using Machine Learning Ensembles, Adrian Ordorica

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Operating system (OS) identification tools, sometimes called fingerprinting tools, are essential for the reconnaissance phase of penetration testing. While OS identification is traditionally performed by passive or active tools that use fingerprint databases, very little work has focused on using machine learning techniques. Moreover, significantly more work has focused on IPv4 than IPv6. We introduce a collaborative neural network ensemble that uses a unique voting system and a random forest ensemble to deliver accurate predictions. This approach uses IPv6 features as well as packet metadata features for OS identification. Our experiment shows that our approach is valid and we achieve …

Characterization Of Nanoparticles Using Solid State Nanopores, Santoshi Nandivada

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Solid state nanopores are widely used in detection of highly charged biomolecules like DNA and proteins. In this study, we use a solid state nanopore based device to characterize spherical nanoparticles to estimate their size and electrical charge using the principle of resistive pulse technique. The principle of resistive pulse technique is the method of counting and sizing particles suspended in a fluid medium, which are electrophoretically driven through a channel and produce current blockage signals due to giving rise to a change in its initial current. This change in current is denoted as a current blockage or as a …

Optimization Of Miniaturized Resonant Microwave Cavities For Use In Q-Thrusters, Joshua Steven Pennington

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A gedankenexperiment was considered to compare a hypothetical thruster that used no reaction mass to propulsion methods currently in use. A brief discussion of previous research work done on closed resonant cavity thrust devices was conducted. Using the previous work as a template, a simulation plan was devised. Computational models of resonant microwave cavities were constructed and investigated using COMSOL software. These COMSOL simulations were verified against known analytical solutions using Matlab software as a computational tool. Multiphysics simulations were created to study the microwave heating environment of the resonant cavities. From the COMSOL study outputs, the electromagnetic field magnitude, …

Essays In Measuring, Controlling, And Coordinating Supply Chain Inventory And Transportation Operations, Payam Parsa

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Supply chain collaboration programs, such as continuous replenishment program (CRP), is among the most popular supply chain management practices. CRP is an arrangement between two partners in a supply chain to share information on a regular basis for lowering logistics costs while maintaining or increasing service levels. CRP shifts the replenishment responsibility to the upstream partner to avoid the bullwhip effect across the supply chain. This dissertation aims to quantify, measure, and expand the benefits of CRP for the purpose of reducing logistics cost and improving customer service. The developed models in this dissertation are all applied in different case …

Effects Of Filtration Conditions On Clearance Of Bacteriophage, Rigen Te

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Virus Clearance is one of the major challenges in biopharmaceutical industry, especially in the manufacturing of drugs. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends using several model bacteriophages as surrogates of pathogenic mammalian virus for process validation. In this work, two bacteriophages were tested against 30 kDa, 100 kDa, 300 kDa polyethersulfone (PES) membranes to investigate the effects of pore size on virus clearance. Virus particles were spiked into the protein feed solutions containing bovine serum albumin (BSA) or lysozyme at different concentrations. Besides protein concentration, the effects of feed pH on the filtration performance and virus rejection were also …

Membrane Surface Engineering For Biochemical Applications, Anh T. Vu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Synthetic membranes have been frequently used for many fields, such as, the food and beverage, biopharmaceutical, and biofuel industries. In the beer industry, microfiltration frequently suffers from fouling due to the interaction between different species. It is shown that polyphenols can form cross-links with protein molecules, forming insoluble aggregates. However, by adding an optimal amount of polysaccharides these aggregates can be disrupted thus reducing fouling by the aggregates. Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) is a powerful technique to locate the foulants inside the wet membrane in order to understand more about the behavior of fouling in microfiltration.

Membrane surface modification …

Evaluating Methods For Quantifying Evapotranspiration In Arkansas Rice, Colby Reavis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to evaluate different methods for quantifying evapotranspiration (ET) in commercial rice fields using different irrigation regimes. The rice fields were located in south central Arkansas. The different irrigation regimes were alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and continuous flooding (CF). Alternate wetting and drying and conventional flooding estimates of ET were 602 mm and 570 mm, respectively, based on field observations using eddy covariance. Models used to estimate ET estimated values between 498 and 653 mm for the 2015 growing season. The Penman Monteith actual evapotranspiration model (PM AET) performed best when compared to the …

An Economic Analysis Of Residential Photovoltaic Systems With And Without Energy Storage, Rodney Moses Kizito

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Residential photovoltaic (PV) systems serve as a source of electricity generation that is separate from the traditional utilities. Investor investment into residential PV systems provides several financial benefits such as federal tax credit incentives for installation, net metering credit from excess generated electricity added back to the grid, and savings in price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) from the PV system generation versus the increasing conventional utility price per kWh. As much benefit as stand-alone PV systems present, the incorporation of energy storage yields even greater benefits. Energy storage (ES) is capable of storing unused PV provided energy from daytime periods of …

Intravenous Administration Of Iron Oxide Nanoparticles In The Chicken Model, Huong Thi Ngoc Le

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To be used in health care, the safety and effectiveness of nanoparticles needs to be tested in a living organism. The objective of this project was to develop the chicken as a convenient animal model to examine tissue targeting of intravenously (i.v.)-injected iron oxide (IO) nanoparticles. In Experiment 1, different doses of IO-COOH were i.v. injected into chickens; blood was collected at 0, 5, 15, 30, and 60 minutes post-injection; liver, spleen, lung, and kidney were collected after the last blood collection. For Experiment 2, IO-COOH and IO-PEG were i.v. injected into chickens; blood and the organs were collected at …

Decision Support System For Container Port Selection Using Multiple-Objective Decision Analysis, Rivelino De Icaza

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ports are essential for maritime transportation and global supply chains since they are nodes that connect the sea- and land-based modes of transportation. With containerization and supply chains stimulating global trade, ports are challenged to adjust to changes in the market to create value to their customers. Therefore, this dissertation research focuses on the container port selection decision analysis to provide information to help shipping lines select the best port for their shipping networks. Since the problem is complex, dynamic, and involves multiple and conflicting criteria, the research proposes to use the multi-objective decision analysis with Value-Focused Thinking approach. The …

Si-Based Germanium Tin Semiconductor Lasers For Optoelectronic Applications, Sattar H. Sweilim Al-Kabi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Silicon-based materials and optoelectronic devices are of great interest as they could be monolithically integrated in the current Si complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes. The integration of optoelectronic components on the CMOS platform has long been limited due to the unavailability of Si-based laser sources. A Si-based monolithic laser is highly desirable for full integration of Si photonics chip. In this work, Si-based germanium-tin (GeSn) lasers have been demonstrated as direct bandgap group-IV laser sources. This opens a completely new avenue from the traditional III-V integration approach. In this work, the material and optical properties of GeSn alloys were comprehensively studied. …

Membranes For Food And Bioproduct Processing, Alexandru Marius Avram

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Modified membranes for process intensification in biomass hydrolysis

Production of biofuels and chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass is one of the leading candidates for replacement of petroleum based fuels and chemicals. However, conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into fuels and chemicals is not cost effective compared to the production of fuels and chemicals from crude oil reserves. Some novel and economically feasible approaches involve the use of ionic liquids as solvents or co-solvents, since these show improved solvation capability of cellulose over simple aqueous systems. Membranes offer unique opportunities for process intensification which involves fractionation of the resulting biomass hydrolysate leading to …

Evaluating One-Step Catalytic Free Method Including Hydrolysis, Esterification, Transesterification, And Degradation Reactions To Produce Biodiesel From Soybean Oil, Mahmood Gheni Jebur

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to the environmental and economic impacts of diesel fuel based on petroleum, several studies have been done to find an alternative source of energy. Biodiesel is considered one of these alternative sources. It is a renewable source of energy produced from vegetable oils and animal fats. There are two main reaction routes used to produce biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters). Transesterification reaction is the first route used to convert triglycerides to fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs), while hydrolysis followed by esterification reactions are the second route employed to convert triglycerides to free fatty acids (FFA) and then further converted …

Removal Of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds Using Membrane Bioreactor, Mohanad Ali Abdulsahib Kamaz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The presence of endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and pharmaceutically active compounds (PhAC) such as pesticides, personal care products, antibiotics and pharmaceutical compounds, in sewage, industrial, and domestic waters has extensively become the major concern for health and environmental organizations. These compounds have the ability to interact with mammalian endocrine system and disrupting their functions. The traditional activated sludge processes are designed to degrade solids, organic carbon and nitrogen loading. Although several treatment steps in a wastewater treatment plant can contribute to partial removal of EDCs, effective removal has been a challenge due to their resistant chemical and biological degradation and …

Peptide-Directed Nanoparticle Synthesis With A Denovo Pd-Binding Sequence Fused To A Reporter Protein, Rita Eloisa Tejada Vaprio

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a need for low-cost nanoparticle materials in the context of new technologies for catalyst development. The purpose of this work was to recombinantly produce a 45- amino acid long metal binding peptide that is useful for nanoparticle synthesis. Using splicing by overlap extension PCR, a synthetic gene containing the fusion of the metal binding peptide with Green Fluorescent Protein (GFPUV) was constructed. The metal binding peptide, fused to reporter protein GFPUV, was expressed using high cell density fermentation. Palladium nanoparticles of an average diameter of 1.18 0.45 nm were synthesized by using the crude cell extract containing the …

The Effects Of Sprayer Speed And Droplet Size On Herbicide Burndown Efficacy, Justin Carroll

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An Apache AS1220 self-propelled boom sprayer with a 27.4 m (90 ft) boom was equipped with different sizes (02, 04 and 06) and types (TeeJet AI, XR, AIXR and TTI) of nozzles to achieve medium, very coarse and ultra coarse droplet sizes traveling 11 km/h (7 mph), 19 km/h (12 mph), and 29 km/h (18 mph). These combinations of speed and droplet size were evaluated for percent coverage of the spray and percent control of targeted weeds 3, 7, and 15 days after treatment (DAT). Four replications were conducted for each speed and droplet size combination except for at 19 …

Models And Methodologies To Address Emerging Needs In Network And Supply Chain Optimization, Forough Enayaty Ahangar

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we model three different security scenarios and propose solution methodologies to address each problem.

Chapter 2 presents a large-scale optimization approach for solving a dynamic bi-level network interdiction problem (NIP) in which interdiction activities must be scheduled in order to minimize the cumulative maximum flow over a finite time horizon. A logic-based decomposition (LBD) approach is proposed that utilizes constraint programming to exploit the scheduling nature of this dynamic NIP. Chapter 3 considers a set of centers to which content (e.g., data or smuggled items), are assigned to ensure availability. An interdictor (e.g., border security officials) attempts …

Mushroom Inoculation On Switchgrass Feedstock During Storage: Effects Of Subsequent Pre-Processing For Intended Biofuels Production, Amandeep Singh Turay

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this project was to examine the effect of fungal treatment and liquid hot water pretreatment of switchgrass combine in view of increasing glucose release. The fungal treatment consisted of incubating Pleurotus ostreatus in square switchgrass bales, at 50% moisture content for 25 days, 54 days, and 82 days. The digestibility of the switchgrass biomass was subsequently evaluated using Accelerase 1500 enzyme. Lignin is an important barrier to enzymatic hydrolysis, and it was stipulated that incubation with P. ostreatus would disrupt plant cell walls, resulting in enhanced saccharification. Three different concentrations of P. ostreatus were evaluated: 0%, 2%, …

Peptoid-Based Microsphere Coatings For Use As Tunable Biocompatible Interfaces, German Raul Perez Bakovic

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The pursuit of sensitive, non-invasive, and cost efficient diagnostic tools for early stage disease detection have led to the development of sophisticated biosensor technologies for proteomic studies. As these markers increase in complexity, the role of support substrates grows increasingly important. Limitations in existing support substrates include the potential for increased sensitivity, binding specificity, and bio-stability. Ideal support substrates need to provide biocompatible and bioresistant surfaces, that offer high surface areas for binding, and enables the incorporation of diverse chemistries. The use of peptoids as the basis for the deposition of uniform microsphere coatings offers a mean to the attainment …

Personalized Decision Modeling For Intervention And Prevention Of Cancers, Fan Wang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Personalized medicine has been utilized in all stages of cancer care in recent years, including the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Since prevention and early intervention are particularly crucial in reducing cancer mortalities, personalizing the corresponding strategies and decisions so as to provide the most appropriate or optimal medical services for different patients can greatly improve the current cancer control practices. This dissertation research performs an in-depth exploration of personalized decision modeling of cancer intervention and prevention problems. We investigate the patient-specific screening and vaccination strategies for breast cancer and the cancers related to human papillomavirus (HPV), representatively. Three popular …

A Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramic (Ltcc) Interposer Based Three-Dimensional Stacked Wire Bondless Power Module, Atanu Dutta

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation research is to develop a low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) interposer-based module-level 3-D wire bondless stacked power module. As part of the dissertation work, the 3-D wire bondless stack is designed, simulated, fabricated and characterized. The 3-D wire bondless stack is realized with two stand-alone power modules in a half-bridge configuration. Each stand-alone power module consists of two 1200 V 25 A silicon insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) devices in parallel and two 1200 V 20 A Schottky barrier diodes (SBD) in an antiparallel configuration. A novel interconnection scheme with conductive clamps and a spring loaded …

Experiment-Based Quantitative Modeling For The Antibacterial Activity Of Silver Nanoparticles, Mohammad Aminul Haque

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Silver (Ag) has been well known for its antimicrobial activity for a long time. Recent research showed the potential of Ag nanoparticles as emerging antimicrobial agents. However, little quantitative analysis has been performed so far to decipher the mechanism of interaction between nanoparticles and bacteria. Here, a detailed analysis based on kinetic growth assay and colony forming unit assay has been carried out to study the antimicrobial effect of Ag nanoparticles against Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria. It was observed that the presence of Ag nanoparticles increased the lag time of bacterial growth while not affecting the maximum growth rate …

Simulation Modeling Approach For Evaluating A Solution Designed To Alleviate The Congestion Of Passenger Flow At The Composure Area Of Security Checkpoints, Maria Luisa Janer Rubio

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a previous study, we found that replacing the exit roller of a security checkpoint lane for a continuously circulating conveyor could potentially increase the throughput of passengers by over 28% while maintaining the TSA security-waiting time limit (Janer and Rossetti 2016). This study intends to expand this previous effort by investigating the impact of this circulating conveyor on the secondary screening related processes. Leone and Liu (2011) found that imposing a limit on the x-ray screening time, and diverting any item exceeding this limit to secondary screening, could decrease the waiting time by 43%. Our objective is to verify …

Is It We Or They? The Effect Of Identity On Collaboration And Performance In Buyer-Supplier Relationships, Siqi Ma

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In today’s scale-driven and technology-intensive global economy, collaboration becomes the supply chain’s core capability (Liker and Choi, 2004). A well-developed ability to create and sustain fruitful collaborations gives companies a significant competitive advantage (Kanter, 1994). Retailers are increasingly relying on their suppliers to reduce costs, improve quality, and develop new processes and products faster than their rivals’ vendors can. On the other hand, suppliers benefit from retailers that they are able to monitor store-level demand in real time in order to ensure the top-selling items are in-stock or the accuracy and timeliness of retailer’s demand forecast. Previous literature has shown …

Realization Of A High Power Microgrid Based On Voltage Source Converters, Yusi Liu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microgrid concepts are gradually becoming more popular because they are expected to interface with renewable energies, increase end users’ reliability and resiliency, and promote seamless integration of distributed generators (DG) and energy storage units [1]. Most units are connected through power electronics interfaces, such as ac-dc, dc-dc, and dc-ac converters. The converter design and control are critical to the stability and efficiency of a microgrid.

A microgrid may operate in either gird connected mode or islanded mode [1]. In terms of stability, the grid connected mode is less challenging compared to the islanded mode of operation due to the nearly …

Statistical Movement Classification Based On Hilbert-Huang Transform, Shanqi Sun

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project is to introduce an automatic movement classification technique of

finger movement signals using Hilbert-Huang Transform (HHT). Due to the nonlinear and

nonstationary processing behavior, movement signals are analyzed with the Hilbert-Huang

Transform (HHT). The slope of auto-correlation function and mean of frequency from first

three Intrinsic Mode Functions (IMFs) was used as feature parameters for each category.

Finally, performing support vector machine (SVM) for pattern classification completes clas-

sifying types of finger movement. According to the records of 669 trial samples of two types

of finger movement signals (thumb and pinky), average accuracy is 93.28%. …

Energy From Chemical Reactions: Understanding The Combustion Engine, Tammy Guthrie, Kathy Prophet, Greg Herzig, Cassie Kautzer

Middle School Lesson Plans

Automobiles produce a large amount of heat generated by the burning of gasoline. Burning gasoline is a chemical reaction that causes a phase change. This is called combustible energy. During combustion fuel combines with oxygen to release energy (such as heat, light, sound) along with another product that is often considered waste. Most of the energy produced is not used to power the automobile, but is released as heat. 19.3 pounds of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide, is produced from the combustion of 1 gallon of U.S. gasoline according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Introduction To Signal Timing & Traffic Control, Sarah V. Hernandez, Mariah Crew, Karla Diaz-Corro, Taslima Akter

Civil Engineering Teaching and Learning

The purpose of these lesson plans is to introduce students to traffic signalization basics. Students will be lead through a series of mini-lectures on traffic control and signalization including a discussion on the limitations and benefits of traffic signalization. The lesson plans compliment a computer simulation “game” in which students act as manual operators for a single up to four by four gridded intersection. Students attempt to control the progression of signals to understand the relationship between signal timing and user delay. Through experimentation with the simulation, students generate a presentation discussing the benefits and drawbacks of signal timing and …