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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Reducing The Complexity Of Inter-Prediction Mode Decision For High Efficiency Video Codec, Kushal Shah Jan 2014

Reducing The Complexity Of Inter-Prediction Mode Decision For High Efficiency Video Codec, Kushal Shah

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard is the latest joint video project of the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) standardization organizations, working together in a partnership known as the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC). While the HEVC is based on the same architecture of the widely used H.264/AVC standard [8], it includes many new coding tools and almost all the encoder blocks are optimized with respect to their counterparts in the H.264/AVC. This allows the new standard to achieve up to 50% bitrate reduction compared to its predecessor at …


Parallel Optimization Of Intra Mode Selection In Hevc Using Open Mp, Pratik Devendrakumar Mehta Jan 2014

Parallel Optimization Of Intra Mode Selection In Hevc Using Open Mp, Pratik Devendrakumar Mehta

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

HEVC aims at providing an efficient video coding algorithm which not only provides high performance, but also improves coding efficiency. It also provides high compression efficiency as compared to its counter parts, but at the cost of an increase in complexity. The increased number of intra prediction modes in HEVC allows better compression and more flexible block representation. The purpose of the thesis is to optimize the mode decision process using Open MP to reduce the encoding time without further increase in complexity. This includes implementing a parallel computing method that will calculate 35 distinct intra prediction modes in parallel …


Transformation Of, In, And By Learning In A Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Program, Mary Cazzell, Shirley Theriot, Joan M. Blakey, Melanie L. Sattler Jan 2014

Transformation Of, In, And By Learning In A Service-Learning Faculty Fellows Program, Mary Cazzell, Shirley Theriot, Joan M. Blakey, Melanie L. Sattler

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications - Archive

Transformative learning is the most desired core outcome in adult education. The qualitative study examined critical reflections for professional transformation related to development and implementation of service-learning courses or projects from four university faculty members during enrollment in a Service-Learning Faculty Fellows program and post-servicelearning implementation. Reflective questions related to faculty perceptions of student learning, service-learning as pedagogy, and their own learning— transformation of, in, and by learning, respectively. Content analyses of faculty reflections resulted in three categories of transformation based on three preservice-learning and three post-servicelearning descriptive themes: (1) transformation of student learning from anticipatory integration to conflicts between …


Investigation Of An Association Between Childhood Leukemia Incidences And Airports In Texas, Sala. Nanyanzi Senkayi, Melanie L. Sattler, Nancy Rowe, Victoria Chen Jan 2014

Investigation Of An Association Between Childhood Leukemia Incidences And Airports In Texas, Sala. Nanyanzi Senkayi, Melanie L. Sattler, Nancy Rowe, Victoria Chen

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications - Archive

As worldwide demand for air travel increases, emissions from airports will likely also increase. Airport emissions pose a concern due to lack of information about their quantity and impacts on human health and the environment. This research aimed to address the question of whether there is an association between childhood leukemia cases and airport emissions in Texas. Rather than looking at the impacts of a single airport on the surrounding community, this study looks at all airports in the state of Texas, and 2 134 incidences of childhood leukemia (children age 9 and under) state–wide over a 10–year period. The …


Effect Of Enhanced Leachate Recirculated (Elr) Landfill Operation And Gas Extraction On Greenhouse Gas Emission, Sonia Samir Jan 2014

Effect Of Enhanced Leachate Recirculated (Elr) Landfill Operation And Gas Extraction On Greenhouse Gas Emission, Sonia Samir

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The bioreactor/ enhanced leachate recirculated (ELR) landfill operation with the addition of moisture/ leachate to the landfill, accelerate the process of landfill waste decomposition; and increase the generation of LFG over a shorter period of time. Since emissions from the landfills are directly related to the gas generation, the increase in gas generation might also increase the emission from the landfill. On the contrary, the presence of gas extraction is suggested to mitigate the fugitive emissions from the landfills. Therefore, the motivation of the current study was to evaluate the effect of ELR operation as well as the gas extraction …


Estimation Of Optimum Compaction Level For Bioreactor Landfill Operation, Dipak Tiwari Jan 2014

Estimation Of Optimum Compaction Level For Bioreactor Landfill Operation, Dipak Tiwari

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The effect of compaction on the degradation of MSW is important for the successful operation of bioreactor landfill. It has been a general tendency to compact working face solid waste as much as possible to gain more space. Previous studies has shown moisture content, moisture recirculation and ambient temperature were important components for degradation. There was a limitation on the compaction effect on degradation. Although several studies were conducted in the past to find the hydraulic conductivity of the waste, there was lack of work to find the optimum compaction to achieve sufficient flow inside the landfill and thus to …


Spatial Variability Models And Prediction Analysis Of Soil Properties Using Geostatistics, Tejo Vikash Bheemasetti Jan 2014

Spatial Variability Models And Prediction Analysis Of Soil Properties Using Geostatistics, Tejo Vikash Bheemasetti

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Soils are composed of solid, water and air phases whose characteristics are highly variable. The interactions of these phases in the soil matrix can lead to different types of topographical formations and characteristics. Due to the uncertainty and complex interactions among these phases, studies on soils have always been a challenging problem for engineers. These variations and uncertainties make it necessary for engineers to adopt new techniques and methods to analyze soil properties in order to determine or interpret their generalized behaviors and patterns. Existing research in variability analysis tends to focus on the distribution of the soil properties, reliability-based …


Evaluation Of Lightweight Geofoam For Mitigating Bridge Approach Slab Settlements, Pinit Ruttanaporamakul Jan 2014

Evaluation Of Lightweight Geofoam For Mitigating Bridge Approach Slab Settlements, Pinit Ruttanaporamakul

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The bump at the end of a bridge infrastructure is one of the frequent problems found in Texas and other states. Transportation agencies spend millions of dollars annually to repair the bump problem. The major cause of the problem is the settlement of backfill materials and foundation soils, as well as the erosion of backfill. Research was undertaken at the University of Texas at Arlington to study the embankment located on US 67 over SH 174 in Johnson County, Cleburne, Texas. The embankment was reconstructed, replacing the top of existing fill soil with lightweight EPS 22 geofoam blocks to reduce …


Response Of Unsaturated Silty Sand Over A Wider Range Of Suction States Using A Novel Double-Walled Triaxial Testing System, Ujwalkumar Dashrath Patil Jan 2014

Response Of Unsaturated Silty Sand Over A Wider Range Of Suction States Using A Novel Double-Walled Triaxial Testing System, Ujwalkumar Dashrath Patil

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

In recent decades, the state-of-the-art of our understanding of unsaturated soil performance has been considerably enhanced by incorporating novel and advanced features to the conventional testing devices such as direct shear device, ring shear device, triaxial device and true triaxial device. The novel suction-controlled triaxial system used in this research is fully automated and has enhanced features such as volume change device and double-walled cell to monitor the volume change accurately during all the stages of unsaturated triaxial test. Despite the sophistication, such devices can help in testing mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils only up to matric suction (s) value …


Numerical Modeling Of Ground Movements Associated With Trenchless Box Jacking Technique, Babak Haji Mohammad Hasan Mamaqani Jan 2014

Numerical Modeling Of Ground Movements Associated With Trenchless Box Jacking Technique, Babak Haji Mohammad Hasan Mamaqani

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The Trenchless Technology (TT) is defined as a family of methods used to install, renew, replace or renovate new pipe/box or existing pipe/box underground with little or no surface disruption. TT is divided into two main categories including Trenchless Construction Methods (TCMs) and Trenchless Renewal Methods (TRMs). TCMs are used to install new utilities and pipes underground while TRMs are used to renew, renovate and replace an existing utility or pipe. Box jacking (BJ) is a TCM used to install rectangular box culverts under existing facilities such as highways and railroads. In this method, box culverts are pushed through the …


Phase I Monitoring With Applications In Manufacturing And Healthcare, Smriti Neogi Jan 2014

Phase I Monitoring With Applications In Manufacturing And Healthcare, Smriti Neogi

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This research develops statistical methods for quality monitoring in complex systems. Quality monitoring typically consists of two phases called Phase I analysis (or offline monitoring) and Phase II analysis (or online monitoring). This research is focused on Phase I monitoring. Two application areas are considered, complex manufacturing processes and healthcare delivery processes. In the first application, a robust strategy for Phase I analysis of optical profiles in low-E glass manufacturing is developed. The proposed approach aims to solve the problems such as violation of normality, high dimensionality, detection of multiple change points, etc. It will provide a convenient process monitoring …


Improving Scoliosis Rehabilitation, Ryan Neufeld Jan 2014

Improving Scoliosis Rehabilitation, Ryan Neufeld

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Scoliosis, a disease that mainly affects children, is a deformity of the spinal column in all three dimensions. Treatment for scoliosis aims at straightening the spine with minimal discomfort to the patient. Current treatments involve wearing a polymeric brace that based on its design, exerts force on the spine in order to straighten it. The shape of the brace and the locations where the brace should apply forces are defined based on the experience of the orthotics specialist. Currently used braces are not equipped with sensors to monitor the loads generated and possibly aid in the rehabilitation process. The rehabilitation …


Computational Study Of Data Center Hotspot Mitigation With Snorkels As An Alternative Rack-Level Containment Strategy, Chris Onyiorah Jan 2014

Computational Study Of Data Center Hotspot Mitigation With Snorkels As An Alternative Rack-Level Containment Strategy, Chris Onyiorah

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

One of the major concerns of companies around the world is business continuity and with that comes the need to prevent operational dysfunction by keeping their information systems available and functional. IT professionals therefore, are constantly striving towards network sustainability by boosting the cooling cycle and infrastructure in data centers, while also reducing overall energy consumption. The combination of increasing IT workloads and packaging densities place stringent requirements on data center cooling systems and so, various traditional airflow management technologies have been implemented that propose significant energy savings and potential reduction in net annual cost for running data centers.In this …


Data Center Cooling Augmentation Using Micro-Encapsulated Phase Change Material, Ruddhi Shashikumar Deshmukh Jan 2014

Data Center Cooling Augmentation Using Micro-Encapsulated Phase Change Material, Ruddhi Shashikumar Deshmukh

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The ever increasing information technology heat load and data center cooling energy are the main reasons to investigate the performance of microencapsulated phase change slurry over other heat transfer fluids. In recent years, more effort is being made on the development of a new technique to use the phase change materials as pump-able heat transfer fluid and as heat storage system. Thermal Energy Storage (TES) using Phase Change Materials for data centers offers a very effective method of cutting electric power costs for owners and easing demand on the power grid. Thermal storage systems have been around for decades and …


Complexity Reduction Of Motion Estimation In Hevc, Jayesh Dubhashi Jan 2014

Complexity Reduction Of Motion Estimation In Hevc, Jayesh Dubhashi

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

The High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard is the latest video coding project developed by the Joint Collaborative Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) which involves the International Telecommunication Unit (ITU-T) Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) standardization organizations. The HEVC standard is an optimization of the previous standard H.264/AVC (Advanced Video coding) with the bit-rate reduction of about 50% at the same visual quality.The most complex and time consuming process in the HEVC encoding is the motion estimation. The process involves finding the best matching block in the current frame by comparing it …


Implementation And Analysis Of User Adaptive Mobile Video Streaming Using Mpeg-Dash, Abhijith Jagannath Jan 2014

Implementation And Analysis Of User Adaptive Mobile Video Streaming Using Mpeg-Dash, Abhijith Jagannath

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Modern mobile devices are already matching and surpassing HDTV sets in terms of graphics capabilities. They often feature high density retina screens with 1280X720, 1920X1080 and even higher resolutions. But, the density of the information seen will depend on several factors. The visual perception of the video played on these devices mainly depends on the user, where and how the video is consumed, quality of the video perceived changes when in dark room to that of bright sun light, device held at an arm's distance to device kept away on a table. Streaming high bitrate video to these devices when …


A Formalized Method For State Machine Software Implementation In Smart Microgrid Control Systems, Gregory Kyle Turner Jan 2014

A Formalized Method For State Machine Software Implementation In Smart Microgrid Control Systems, Gregory Kyle Turner

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The introduction section begins with a discussion of the electric power grid in general and a specific definition for Smart Grids and Microgrids. These two different but complimentary technologies combine to form the overall Smart Microgrid concept. The control theory for Smart Microgrid applications is broken down into a three-tiered hierarchical scheme in order to simplify the control systems used at each level of the hierarchy. Some background information is presented about current Smart Microgrid projects.A review of recent literature focuses on three areas of interest. The review of control theory focuses mainly on the highest abstract level of the …


Sparse Sensing In Big Data, Junjie Chen Jan 2014

Sparse Sensing In Big Data, Junjie Chen

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Big data requires exceptional technologies to efficiently process large quantities of data within tolerable elapsed times. While the potential benefits of Big Data are significant, there are still a lot of technical challenges that must be solved to fully realize this potential for Big Data.For processing, transporting and storing large data sets of enormous sizes, data need to be greatly compressed. In this thesis, several sparse sensing algorithms - compressive sensing (CS), co-prime sampling and nested sampling are studied for Big Data, in theory and applications.Error performance bounds of noisy compressive sensing are derived based on information theory and estimation …


Phoresis Of A Solid Particle In Real Fluid, Yuan Ting Wu Jan 2014

Phoresis Of A Solid Particle In Real Fluid, Yuan Ting Wu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

For micro- and nano-scale particles driven by interfacial non-contact forces in fluid, known as phoresis, this dissertation provides a general formulation and a systematic investigation. It starts with an analytical continuum-mechanics formulation that covers various important aspects of an interfacial structure, including viscosity and mass density variations as well as a body force field, in real fluid. It then reduces to specific solutions due to characteristic mechanisms. A closed-form analytical solution to the case of viscosity variation (which manifests itself as Navier's slip boundary condition) is derived. Furthermore, a novel mechanism for thermophoretic mobility driven by near-surface phase transition is …


Moving Obstacle Detection And Avoidance For Unmanned Ground Vehicle, Gangadhar Rajashekaraiah Jan 2014

Moving Obstacle Detection And Avoidance For Unmanned Ground Vehicle, Gangadhar Rajashekaraiah

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

This thesis presents the development and implementation of an autonomous obstacle avoidance algorithm for UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle). The research improves the prior work by enhancing the obstacle avoidance capability to handle moving obstacle as well as stationary obstacles. A mathematical representation of the area of operation with obstacles is formulated by PTEM (Probabilistic Threat Exposure Map). The PTEM quantifies the risk in being at a position in an area with different types of threat. Threat in this context means UGV getting close to or running into stationary and moving obstacles. A LRF (Laser Range Finder) sensor mounted on the …


Computational Flow Analysis Of A Flapping Micro-Flyer Wing For Cycle-Averaged Force Production, Nitesh Rajendra Rajput Jan 2014

Computational Flow Analysis Of A Flapping Micro-Flyer Wing For Cycle-Averaged Force Production, Nitesh Rajendra Rajput

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Human engineers have been trying long to mimic creations of nature for their own benefits. One such area of interest is the insect based micro flapping wing flyers for their wide employment in commercial as well as military applications. These micro air vehicles (MAVs) are capable of performing acts that can be too dangerous for humans to perform, such as tactical reconnaissance in a combat zone. The maneuverability required of these MAVs call for a careful design and thorough study of their aerodynamic performance. This research goal is to provide an estimation of the forces generated during the flapping motion …


Scaling Laws For Radial Foil Bearings, Srikanth Honavara Prasad Jan 2014

Scaling Laws For Radial Foil Bearings, Srikanth Honavara Prasad

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The effects of fluid pressurization, structural deformation of the compliant members and heat generation in foil bearings make the design and analysis of foil bearings very complicated. The complex fluid-structural-thermal interactions in foil bearings also make modeling efforts challenging because these phenomena are governed by highly non-linear partial differential equations. Consequently, comparison of various bearing designs require detailed calculation of the flow fields (velocities, pressures), bump deflections (structural compliance) and heat transfer phenomena (viscous dissipation in the fluid, frictional heating, temperature profile etc.,) resulting in extensive computational effort(time/hardware). To obviate rigorous computations and aid in feasibility assessments of foil bearings …


Stiffness Response Of Chemically Stabilized Sulfate Rich Soil Via Resonant Column Test, Miftah Semane Jan 2014

Stiffness Response Of Chemically Stabilized Sulfate Rich Soil Via Resonant Column Test, Miftah Semane

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Stabilization of expansive soils using lime and cement additives have been used by practitioners over the last few years. However, recent heaving and premature pavement failures in lime and cement-treated subgrades containing sulfates led to questioning the validity of calcium based stabilization. When expansive soils containing sulfates are treated with calcium-based stabilizers, the calcium from the stabilizer reacts with soil sulfates and alumina to form the expansive mineral Ettringite.A series of resonant column (RC) tests (ASTM D 4015-92) was conducted on several chemically stabilized specimens of high-plasticity, sulfate-rich expansive clay from Sherman, Texas. Test results were used to assess the …


Non-Destructive Sasw Evaluation Of Controlled Low Strength Material As A Pipeline Bedding Material, Rathna Phanindra Mothkuri Jan 2014

Non-Destructive Sasw Evaluation Of Controlled Low Strength Material As A Pipeline Bedding Material, Rathna Phanindra Mothkuri

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Evaluation of stiffness properties of subsurface soil layers provides vital insight into the performance of a geotechnical entity. Stiffness properties can be determined by both field and laboratory tests. Owing to their advantages over laboratory tests, the field tests are often given priority. non-destructive seismic method Spectral Analysis of Surface Waves (SASW) has been implemented in the current research to investigate the stiffness properties of buried materials.The SASW technique works on the principle of wave propagation. The surface wave velocity obtained through the test is used to determine the shear modulus, and thus the stiffness, of the geotechnical entity. In …


Development And Analysis Of Low Calcium Flyash Based Geopolymer For Structural Applications, Gaurav Nagalia Jan 2014

Development And Analysis Of Low Calcium Flyash Based Geopolymer For Structural Applications, Gaurav Nagalia

Material Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Geopolymers are an innovative ceramic material composed of long chains and networks of inorganic molecules are being used as an alternative to conventional Portland cement for infrastructure construction, replacement of intersection and localized repairs. Some of the advantages of this material is due to its ultra-fast setting time, rapid strength development and the phenomenal reduction in carbon foot print as compared to Portland cement. However, this material is yet to be commercialized due to the variability in its mechanical strength when using flyash from different sources. In this study aluminosilicate geopolymers with different alkali oxides (feldspars) have been prepared by …


Joint Kinematics, Muscle Activity And Postural Strain For Finger- Intensive Operation Of Small Hand- Held Devices, Farhana Afreen Proma Jan 2014

Joint Kinematics, Muscle Activity And Postural Strain For Finger- Intensive Operation Of Small Hand- Held Devices, Farhana Afreen Proma

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Background: Extensive movement of fingers while playing video games, and while browsing or texting in a smartphone often result in medically recognized repetitive strain injuries such as "PlayStation thumb" or "Blackberry thumb". In order to understand the strenuous effects of these tasks, it is important to study the geometry of the movement of fingers (kinematics), corresponding muscle activities (physiology), and the overall posture of the tasks (ergonomics). There is almost no information available in the present literature regarding the finger kinematics of video gaming. Although texting and browsing tasks have been studied, a multifaceted approach including kinematic, physiological and postural …


Stationary And Non-Stationary Time Series Prediction Using State Space Model And Pattern-Based Approach, Kin Ming Kam Jan 2014

Stationary And Non-Stationary Time Series Prediction Using State Space Model And Pattern-Based Approach, Kin Ming Kam

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The motion-adaptive radiotherapy techniques are promising to deliver ablative radiation doses to tumor with minimal normal tissue exposure by accounting for real-time tumor movement. However, a major challenge of successful applications of these techniques is the real-time prediction of target motion to accommodate system delivery latencies. Predicting respiratory motion in real-time is challenging. The current respiratory mo-tion prediction approaches are still not satisfactory in terms of accuracy and interpretability due to the com-plexity of breathing patterns and the many sources of variability across patients. In this paper, we propose a novel respiratory motion prediction approach based on future values of …


Evaluation Of Physico-Mechanical Properties Of Clayey Soils Using Electrical Resistivity Imaging Technique, Golam Kibria Jan 2014

Evaluation Of Physico-Mechanical Properties Of Clayey Soils Using Electrical Resistivity Imaging Technique, Golam Kibria

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Resistivity imaging (RI) is a promising approach to obtaining continuous profile of soil subsurface. This method offers simple technique to identify moisture variation and heterogeneity of the investigated area. However, at present, only qualitative information of subsurface can be obtained using RI. A study on the quantification of geotechnical properties has become important for rigorous use of this method in the evaluation of geohazard potential and construction quality control of landfill liner system. Several studies have been performed to describe electrical resistivity of soil as a function of pore fluid conductivity and surface conductance. However, characterization tests on pore water …


Sensible Heat Balance And Heat-Pulse Method Applicability To In Situ Soil-Water Evaporation, Andrew C. Trautz, Kathleen M. Smits, Paul Schulte, Tissa H. Illangasekare Dec 2013

Sensible Heat Balance And Heat-Pulse Method Applicability To In Situ Soil-Water Evaporation, Andrew C. Trautz, Kathleen M. Smits, Paul Schulte, Tissa H. Illangasekare

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications - Archive

A combined heat-pulse and sensible heat balance method can be used to determine evaporation using temperature measurements and thermal property estimations. The objective of this study was to investigate the applicability of the combined heat-pulse and sensible heat balance method by comparing laboratory experimental data to both an analytical and a multiphase heat and mass transfer model. A bench-scale laboratory experiment was performed to measure soil thermal and hydraulic properties at fine spatial and temporal resolutions. Comparisons of experimental and numerical results confirmed the applicability of the heat-pulse and sensible heat balance methods to determine evaporation rates. Results showed close …


Au-Based Core-Shell Nanoparticles For Direct Formic Acid Fuel Cells, Chiajen Hsu Dec 2013

Au-Based Core-Shell Nanoparticles For Direct Formic Acid Fuel Cells, Chiajen Hsu

Material Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Unique Au/Pd core-shell nanoparticles were synthesized via galvanic replacement of Cu by Pd on hollow Au nanoparticles. Au/PtCu core-shell nanoparticles were also synthesized using this method. These core-shell nanoparticles exhibited unique electrochemical properties - the Au/Pd nanoparticles demonstrated superior electrochemical activity for formic acid oxidation and the Au/PtCu nanoparticles improved the kinetics in oxygen reduction reaction, when compared to their corresponding pure metal particles. In this dissertation, we aim at investigating catalytic abilities of these core-shell nanoparticles and understanding electrochemical reactions in direct formic acid fuel cells.Different Pd thicknesses on hollow Au nanoparticles in the core-shell configuration have been investigated. …