Engineering Commons^™

Deep Learning For Learning Representation And Its Application To Natural Language Processing, Shekoofeh Mokhtari

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the web evolves even faster than expected, the exponential growth of data becomes overwhelming. Textual data is being generated at an ever-increasing pace via emails, documents on the web, tweets, online user reviews, blogs, and so on. As the amount of unstructured text data grows, so does the need for intelligently processing and understanding it. The focus of this dissertation is on developing learning models that automatically induce representations of human language to solve higher level language tasks.

In contrast to most conventional learning techniques, which employ certain shallow-structured learning architectures, deep learning is a newly developed machine learning …

Estimation And Prediction Of Mobility And Reliability Measures Using Different Modeling Techniques, Fatema Hoque Farzana

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to investigate the predictive ability of less data intensive but widely accepted methods to estimate mobility and reliability measures. Mobility is a relatively mature concept in the traffic engineering field. Therefore, many mobility measure estimation methods are already available and widely accepted among practitioners and researchers. However, each method has their inherent weakness, particularly when they are applied and compared with real-world data. For instances, Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) Curves are very popular in static route choice assignment, as part of demand forecasting models, but it is often criticized for underperforming in congested …

Connectivity Analysis Of Electroencephalograms In Epilepsy, Panuwat Janwattanapong

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation introduces a novel approach at gauging patterns of informa- tion flow using brain connectivity analysis and partial directed coherence (PDC) in epilepsy. The main objective of this dissertation is to assess the key characteristics that delineate neural activities obtained from patients with epilepsy, considering both focal and generalized seizures. The use of PDC analysis is noteworthy as it es- timates the intensity and direction of propagation from neural activities generated in the cerebral cortex, and it ascertains the coefficients as weighted measures in formulating the multivariate autoregressive model (MVAR). The PDC is used here as a feature extraction …

Fall Safety Perspective Of The Construction Professionals In Miami-Dade And Broward Area, Saurav Pokharel

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to understand the fall safety perspective of the construction professionals by analyzing their attributes, workplace safety knowledge, behavior and conduct, and identifying trends in their fall safety opinions. The study involved analysis of the survey data of the 847 construction professionals who participated in the fall training program conducted in the Miami-Dade and Broward County area. About two-thirds of the participants felt that they had adequate safety knowledge, and about half of them said they encountered fall hazards on a daily or weekly basis. The study also found that vulnerability of fall hazards …

Secure Large Scale Penetration Of Electric Vehicles In The Power Grid, Abla Hariri

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As part of the approaches used to meet climate goals set by international environmental agreements, policies are being applied worldwide for promoting the uptake of Electric Vehicles (EV)s. The resulting increase in EV sales and the accompanying expansion in the EV charging infrastructure carry along many challenges, mostly infrastructure-related. A pressing need arises to strengthen the power grid to handle and better manage the electricity demand by this mobile and geo-distributed load. Because the levels of penetration of EVs in the power grid have recently started increasing with the increase in EV sales, the real-time management of en-route EVs, before …

Hand Motion Tracking System Using Inertial Measurement Units And Infrared Cameras, Nonnarit O-Larnnithipong

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a novel approach to develop a system for real-time tracking of the position and orientation of the human hand in three-dimensional space, using MEMS inertial measurement units (IMUs) and infrared cameras. This research focuses on the study and implementation of an algorithm to correct the gyroscope drift, which is a major problem in orientation tracking using commercial-grade IMUs. An algorithm to improve the orientation estimation is proposed. It consists of: 1.) Prediction of the bias offset error while the sensor is static, 2.) Estimation of a quaternion orientation from the unbiased angular velocity, 3.) Correction of the …

Intelligent Data Mining Techniques For Automatic Service Management, Qing Wang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Today, as more and more industries are involved in the artificial intelligence era, all business enterprises constantly explore innovative ways to expand their outreach and fulfill the high requirements from customers, with the purpose of gaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace. However, the success of a business highly relies on its IT service. Value-creating activities of a business cannot be accomplished without solid and continuous delivery of IT services especially in the increasingly intricate and specialized world. Driven by both the growing complexity of IT environments and rapidly changing business needs, service providers are urgently seeking intelligent data mining …

Thin Film Based Biosensors For Point Of Care Diagnosis Of Cortisol, Syed Khalid Pasha

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the different ways to create thin film-based biosensors that are capable of rapid and label-free detection of cortisol, a non-specific biomarker closely linked to stress, within the physiological range of 10pM to 10 uM. Increased cortisol levels have been linked to stress-related diseases, such as chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and post-traumatic stress disorder. It also plays a role in the suppression of the immune system as well. Therefore, accurate measurement of cortisol in saliva, serum, plasma, urine, sweat, and hair, is clinically significance to predict physical and mental diseases.

In this dissertation, thin film-based electrochemical …

Secure Control And Operation Of Energy Cyber-Physical Systems Through Intelligent Agents, Mohamad El Hariri

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The operation of the smart grid is expected to be heavily reliant on microprocessor-based control. Thus, there is a strong need for interoperability standards to address the heterogeneous nature of the data in the smart grid. In this research, we analyzed in detail the security threats of the Generic Object Oriented Substation Events (GOOSE) and Sampled Measured Values (SMV) protocol mappings of the IEC 61850 data modeling standard, which is the most widely industry-accepted standard for power system automation and control. We found that there is a strong need for security solutions that are capable of defending the grid against …

Multivariate Analysis For The Quantification Of Transdermal Volatile Organic Compounds In Humans By Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell System, Ahmed Hasnain Jalal

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this research, a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) sensor was investigated for specific detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for point-of-care (POC) diagnosis of the physiological conditions of humans. A PEMFC is an electrochemical transducer that converts chemical energy into electrical energy. A Redox reaction takes place at its electrodes whereas the volatile biomolecules (e.g. ethanol) are oxidized at the anode and ambient oxygen is reduced at the cathode. The compounds which were the focus of this investigation were ethanol (C₂H₅OH) and isoflurane (C₃H₂ClF₅O), but theoretically, the sensor …

Multi-Robot Coordination And Scheduling For Deactivation & Decommissioning, Sebastian A. Zanlongo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Large quantities of high-level radioactive waste were generated during WWII. This waste is being stored in facilities such as double-shell tanks in Washington, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. Due to the dangerous nature of radioactive waste, these facilities must undergo periodic inspections to ensure that leaks are detected quickly. In this work, we provide a set of methodologies to aid in the monitoring and inspection of these hazardous facilities. This allows inspection of dangerous regions without a human operator, and for the inspection of locations where a person would not be physically able to enter.

First, …

A Mathematical Framework On Machine Learning: Theory And Application, Bin Shi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The dissertation addresses the research topics of machine learning outlined below. We developed the theory about traditional first-order algorithms from convex opti- mization and provide new insights in nonconvex objective functions from machine learning. Based on the theory analysis, we designed and developed new algorithms to overcome the difficulty of nonconvex objective and to accelerate the speed to obtain the desired result. In this thesis, we answer the two questions: (1) How to design a step size for gradient descent with random initialization? (2) Can we accelerate the current convex optimization algorithms and improve them into nonconvex objective? For application, …

Interior Damage Of Residential Building Due To Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion, Farzaneh Raji

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research aims to experimentally investigate the interior damage in residential buildings caused by rainwater intrusion during hurricane events. The first step, to experimentally evaluate the wind-driven rain effects on the building’s interior, is to accurately simulate the rain field associated with the hurricane. The wind-driven rain simulation was performed at the 12-fan Wall of Wind Experimental Facility at Florida International University. The characteristic of the simulated rain field was compared to a target characteristic obtained from the recorded data from past hurricanes to validate the simulation. In the next step, the large-scale models were subjected to the simulated rain …

Search Rank Fraud Prevention In Online Systems, Md Mizanur Rahman

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The survival of products in online services such as Google Play, Yelp, Facebook and Amazon, is contingent on their search rank. This, along with the social impact of such services, has also turned them into a lucrative medium for fraudulently influencing public opinion. Motivated by the need to aggressively promote products, communities that specialize in social network fraud (e.g., fake opinions and reviews, likes, followers, app installs) have emerged, to create a black market for fraudulent search optimization. Fraudulent product developers exploit these communities to hire teams of workers willing and able to commit fraud collectively, emulating realistic, spontaneous activities …

A Holistic Process Model For Evaluating Alternative Biosolids Technologies And Operational Methodologies To Improve Performance And Sustainable Decision-Making At High Purity Oxygen Wastewater Treatment Plants, Manuel E. Moncholi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the span of the last decade the regulatory, public and commercial sentiments in Florida towards wastewater biological sludges, termed biosolids, have resulted in more restrictive land application rules, public cynicism about quality and agricultural benefits, and defensive posturing and marketing to appease public opinion. To determine and recommend the most cost effective and sustainable combination of biosolids treatment technologies to achieve Class B biosolids at the MDWASD facilities, the author created a holistic process model that is novel in the realm of wastewater treatment.

The research methodology focused on the analyses of historical data, analyses of pilot-testing data, development …

Game-Theoretic And Machine-Learning Techniques For Cyber-Physical Security And Resilience In Smart Grid, Longfei Wei

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The smart grid is the next-generation electrical infrastructure utilizing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), whose architecture is evolving from a utility-centric structure to a distributed Cyber-Physical System (CPS) integrated with a large-scale of renewable energy resources. However, meeting reliability objectives in the smart grid becomes increasingly challenging owing to the high penetration of renewable resources and changing weather conditions. Moreover, the cyber-physical attack targeted at the smart grid has become a major threat because millions of electronic devices interconnected via communication networks expose unprecedented vulnerabilities, thereby increasing the potential attack surface. This dissertation is aimed at developing novel game-theoretic and …

Electrochemical Behaviors Of The Electrodes For Proton Conducting Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (It-Sofc), Shichen Sun

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Proton conducting intermediate temperature (600oC-400oC) solid oxide fuel cells (IT-SOFC) have many potential advantages for clean and efficient power generation from readily available hydrocarbon fuels. However, it still has many unsolved problems, especially on the anode where the fuel got oxidized and the cathode where oxygen got reduced. In this study, for the anode, the effects of hydrogen sulfite (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) as fuel contaminants were studied on the nickel (Ni) based cermet anode of proton conducting IT-SOFC using proton conducting electrolyte of BaZr0.1Ce0.7Y0.1Yb0.1O3 (BZCYYb). Both low-ppm level H2S and low-percentage level CO2 caused similar poisoning effects on …

Spectrum Sharing, Latency, And Security In 5g Networks With Application To Iot And Smart Grid, Imtiaz Parvez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The surge of mobile devices, such as smartphones, and tables, demands additional capacity. On the other hand, Internet-of-Things (IoT) and smart grid, which connects numerous sensors, devices, and machines require ubiquitous connectivity and data security. Additionally, some use cases, such as automated manufacturing process, automated transportation, and smart grid, require latency as low as 1 ms, and reliability as high as 99.99\%. To enhance throughput and support massive connectivity, sharing of the unlicensed spectrum (3.5 GHz, 5GHz, and mmWave) is a potential solution. On the other hand, to address the latency, drastic changes in the network architecture is required. The …

Design Optimization Of Inductive Power Transfer Systems For Contactless Electric Vehicle Charging Applications, Masood Moghaddami

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contactless Electric Vehicle (EV) charging based on magnetic resonant induction is an emerging technology that can revolutionize the future of the EV industry and transportation systems by enabling an automated and convenient charging process. However, in order to make this technology an acceptable alternative for conventional plug-in charging systems it needs to be optimized for different design measures. Specifically, the efficiency of an inductive EV charging system is of a great importance and should be comparable to the efficiency of conventional plug-in EV chargers.

The aim of this study is to develop solutions that contribute to the design enhancement of …

New Connection Details To Connect Precast Cap Beams To Precast Columns Using Ultra High Performance Concrete (Uhpc) For Seismic And Non-Seismic Regions, Mohamadreza Shafieifar

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several connection details have been developed for the connection of precast cap beams to precast columns in Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) applications. Currently, the suggested details involve some form of either reinforcement or portion of the precast column to penetrate inside the cap beam. Such details present many challenges in the field, such as necessitating bundling of reinforcement in the cap beam or creating a congested reinforcement arrangement. Furthermore, closer inspection of some of the test data indicates that for currently used details, cap beams could sustain some damages during major seismic events, whereas they are designed to be capacity …

A Neuroimaging Web Interface For Data Acquisition, Processing And Visualization Of Multimodal Brain Images, Gabriel M. Lizarraga

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Structural and functional brain images are generated as essential modalities for medical experts to learn about the different functions of the brain. These images are typically visually inspected by experts. Many software packages are available to process medical images, but they are complex and difficult to use. The software packages are also hardware intensive. As a consequence, this dissertation proposes a novel Neuroimaging Web Services Interface (NWSI) as a series of processing pipelines for a common platform to store, process, visualize and share data. The NWSI system is made up of password-protected interconnected servers accessible through a web interface. The …

Brain Connectivity Networks For The Study Of Nonlinear Dynamics And Phase Synchrony In Epilepsy, Hoda Rajaei

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Assessing complex brain activity as a function of the type of epilepsy and in the context of the 3D source of seizure onset remains a critical and challenging endeavor. In this dissertation, we tried to extract the attributes of the epileptic brain by looking at the modular interactions from scalp electroencephalography (EEG). A classification algorithm is proposed for the connectivity-based separation of interictal epileptic EEG from normal. Connectivity patterns of interictal epileptic discharges were investigated in different types of epilepsy, and the relation between patterns and the epileptogenic zone are also explored in focal epilepsy.

A nonlinear recurrence-based method is …

Active Fault-Tolerant Control Design For Nonlinear Systems, Ali Reza Abbaspour

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Faults and failures in system components are the two main reasons for the instability and the degradation in control performance. In recent decades, fault-tolerant control (FTC) approaches were introduced to improve the resiliency of the control system against faults and failures. In general, FTC techniques are classified into two major groups: passive and active. Passive FTC systems do not rely on the fault information to control the system and are closely related to the robust control techniques while an active FTC system performs based on the information received from the fault detection and isolation (FDI) system, and the fault problem …

Modelling, Design, And Optimization Of Membrane Based Heat Exchangers For Low-Grade Heat And Water Recovery, Soheil Soleimanikutanaei

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transport Membrane Condenser (TMC) is an innovative technology based on the property of a nano-scale porous material which can extract both waste heat and water from exhaust gases. This technology tremendously improves the efficiency of boilers and gas/coal combustors by lowering waste heat and increasing water recovery. Contaminants in the flue gases, such as CO2, O2, NOx, and SO2 are inhibited from passing through the membrane by the membrane’s high selectivity. The condensed water through these tubes is highly pure and can be used as the makeup water for many industrial applications. The goal of this research is to investigate …

Improved Methods For Network Screening And Countermeasure Selection For Highway Improvements, Md Asif Raihan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Network screening and countermeasure selection are two crucial steps in the highway improvement process. In network screening, potential improvement locations are ranked and prioritized based on a specific method with a set of criteria. The most common practice by transportation agencies has been to use a simple scoring method, which, in general, weighs and scores each criterion and then ranks the locations based on their relative overall scoring. The method does not deal well with criteria that are qualitative in nature, nor does it account for the impacts of correlation among the criteria. The introduction of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) …

The Oscillatory Shear Index: Quantifications For Valve Tissue Engineering And A Novel Interpretation For Calcification, Alex Williams

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Heart valve tissue engineering (HVTE) stands as a potential intervention that could reduce the prevalence of congenital heart valve disease in juvenile patients. Prior studies in our laboratory have utilized mechanobiological testing to quantify the forces involved in the development of heart valve tissue, utilizing a Flow-Stretch-Flexure (FSF) bioreactor to condition bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs)-derived valve tissue. Simulations have demonstrated that certain sets of flow conditions can introduce specific levels of oscillatory shear stress (OSS)-induced stimuli, augmenting the growth of engineered valves as well as influencing collagen formation, extracellular matrix (ECM) composition and gene expression. The computational findings discussed …

Design Of Low Impact Development And Green Infrastructure At Flood Prone Areas In The City Of Miami Beach, Florida, Usa, Noura Alsarawi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the effectiveness of Low Impact Development Infrastructure (LIDI) and Green Infrastructure (GI) in reducing flooding resulting from heavy rainfall events and sea-level rise, and in improving stormwater quality in the City of Miami Beach (CMB). InfoSWMM was used to simulate the 5, 10, and 100-year, 24-hour storm events, total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and chemical oxygen demand (COD) loadings, and in evaluating the potential of selected LIDI and GI solutions in North Shore neighborhood.

Post-development results revealed a decrease of 48%, 46%, and 39% in runoff, a decrease of 57%, 60%, and 62% in …

A Simplified Secure Programming Platform For Internet Of Things Devices, Halim Burak Yesilyurt

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The emerging Internet of Things (IoT) revolution has introduced many useful applications that are utilized in our daily lives. Users can program these devices in order to develop their own IoT applications; however, the platforms and languages that are used during development are abounding, complicated, and time-consuming. The software solution provided in this thesis, PROVIZ+, is a secure sensor application development software suite that helps users create sophisticated and secure IoT applications with little software and hardware experience. Moreover, a simple and efficient domain-specific programming language, namely Panther language, was designed for IoT application development to unify existing programming languages. …

Low Cost Scanning Arrays, Matilda Gabriela Livadaru

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decades, phased arrays have played a significant role in the development of modern radar and communication systems. The availability of printed circuit technology and ease of integration with microwave components, as well as the development of low profile and low weight approaches, have also played an important role in their conformal adaptation. However, fabrication costs remain prohibitive for many emergent platforms, including 5G base stations and autonomous vehicles, when compared to a conventional mechanically steered passive array. Therefore, cost reductions in the fabrication and integration of modern phased arrays are essential to their adaptation for many upcoming …

Study On Strut And Node Behavior In Strut-And-Tie Modeling, Nazanin Rezaei

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The strut-and-tie method (STM) is a simple and conservative method for designing concrete structures, especially deep beams. This method expresses complicated stress patterns as a simple truss or kinematic model made up of compression elements (struts), tension elements (ties), and the joints between elements (nodes). STM is based on lowerbound plasticity theorem, so using it properly will lead to a conservative design. Although the concepts of STM have been around in concrete design since the late 19th century, STM was first introduced in AASHTO LRFD in 1994 and ACI 318-02 in 2002. ACI 318 defines two different types of struts …