Engineering Commons^™

Optimal Fleet Size Of An Integrated Production And Distribution Scheduling Problem For A Single Perishable Product, Priyantha Devapriya

All Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on a practical production problem in which a perishable product must be produced and distributed at minimum cost. The problem has some features of the integrated production and distribution scheduling problem in that we seek to determine the fleet size and their routes subject to a planning horizon constraint but there are significant differences as well. In particular, this research differs because the product has a limited lifetime, the total demand must be satisfied within a planning horizon, multiple trucks can be used, and the production schedule and the distribution sequence are considered. Two mixed integer programming …

New Freedom: An Investigation Into The World Of Prosthetics, Jenna Marcus

Senior Honors Projects

Prosthetics dates back thousands of years, with some of the earliest recorded devices dating back to the ancient Egyptians. The devices are used to replace a limb that may have been lost due to a variety of reasons. Of course, much has changed since the basic wooden devices. What is exceptionally fascinating about prosthetics and orthotics is that the field is always changing and become more advanced; it truly has infinite potential. Prosthetics has evolved over many centuries to be what it is today, but where will the technology go in the future?

Focusing on one area of prosthetics, specifically …

Near Optimal Common Detection Techniques For Shaped Offset Qpsk And Feher's Qpsk, Tom Nelson, Michael D. Rice, Erik Perrins

Faculty Publications

This paper compares three candidate detection techniques for shaped offset QPSK (SOQPSK-TG) and Feher's QPSK (FQPSK-JR) modulations which are embodied as fully interoperable modulations in the Interrange Instrumentation Group standard IRIG-106. The techniques are based on a common trellis-coded modulation representation and a common continuous phase modulation (CPM) representation for these two modulations. In addition the pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) decomposition of the common CPM representation is developed. All three techniques achieve near-optimal bit error rate performance. The PAM-based detector offers the best performance-complexity trade-off.

Katp Channel Openers Have Opposite Effects On Mitochondrial Respiration Under Different Energetic Conditions, Matthias L. Riess, Amadou K.S. Camara, André Heinen, Janis T. Eells, Michele M. Henry, David F. Stowe

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Mitochondrial (m) K_ATP channel opening has been implicated in triggering cardiac preconditioning. Its consequence on mitochondrial respiration, however, remains unclear. We investigated the effects of two different K_ATP channel openers and antagonists on mitochondrial respiration under two different energetic conditions. Oxygen consumption was measured for complex I (pyruvate/malate) or complex II (succinate with rotenone) substrates in mitochondria from fresh guinea pig hearts. One of two mK_ATP channel openers, pinacidil or diazoxide, was given before adenosine diphosphate in the absence or presence of an mK_ATP channel antagonist, glibenclamide or 5-hydroxydecanoate. Without ATP synthase inhibition, both mK_{ATP …}

Decision Analysis Considering Welfare Impacts In Water Resources Using The Benefit Transfer Approach, Ashraf Shaqadan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Decision making in environmental management is faced with uncertainties associated with related environmental variables and processes. Decision makers are inclined to use resources to acquire better information in one or more uncertain variable(s). Typically, with limited resources available, characterizing the feasibility of such investment is desirable yet complicated.

In the context of reducing inherent uncertainty, decision makers need to tackle two difficult questions, first, the optimal selection of variable(s) and second, the optimal level of information collection which produces maximum gain in benefits.

We develop a new framework to assess the socioeconomic value of potential decisions of collecting additional information …

Computational Aspects Of Approval Voting And Declared-Strategy Voting, Robert Hampton Legrand Iii

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Computational social choice is a relatively new discipline that explores issues at the intersection of social choice theory and computer science. Designing a protocol for collective decision-making is made difficult by the possibility of manipulation through insincere voting. In approval voting systems, voters decide whether to approve or disapprove available alternatives; however, the specific nature of rational approval strategies has not been adequately studied. This research explores aspects of strategy under three different approval systems, from chiefly a computational viewpoint.

While traditional voting systems elicit only the outcome of a voter’s strategic thinking, a Declared-Strategy Voting (DSV) system accepts such …

Development Of A Microelectrode Array Sensing System For Water Quality Monitoring, Robert D. Gardner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis reports the design and fabrication of a low-cost reliable microelectrode array sensing platform and its application toward water quality monitoring, including heavy metal ion detection. Individually addressable microelectrodes were designed in a planar array on a nonconductive glass substrate by a photolithography method. The size, shape, composition, and functionality of the microelectrodes were theoretically explored in order to maximize performance.

The microelectrode array sensing platform was proven and characterized in the K3Fe(CN)₆ electrochemical standard using cyclic voltammetry. The sensor platform exhibited well defined voltammograms and had increased sensitivity relative to a commercially available microelectrode of similar size. …

Design And Implementation Of Digital Signal Processing Hardware For A Software Radio Reciever, Jake Talbot

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This project summarizes the design and implementation of field programmable gate array (FPGA) based digital signal processing (DSP) hardware meant to be used in a software radio system. The filters and processing were first designed in MATLAB and then implemented using very high speed integrated circuit hardware description language (VHDL). Since this hardware is meant for a software radio system, making the hardware flexible was the main design goal. Flexibility in the FPGA design was reached using VHDL generics and generate for loops. The hardware was verified using MATLAB generated signals as stimulus to the VHDL design and comparing the …

Sampling Frequencies Ratio Estimation And Symbol Timing Recovery For Baseband Binary Pulse Amplitude Modulation, Ana A. Paniagua Rodriguez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The original intent of this project was to perform real time digital communications between a personal computer (PC) as the transmitter and a digital signal processor (DSP) as the receiver using the audio band analog channel. Although transmitter and receiver were both designed with baseband binary Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM), a low data rate and a sampling rate of 8 kilohertz, it was not possible to achieve communication between the two with traditional synchronization algorithms because of large differences in sampling clock frequencies. This thesis explores the theory and results of implementing digital communications between systems with differenet sampling frequencies. …

Monitoring Of Indoor Relative Humidity Levels In Residential Dwellings: A Sensor Network Application, Lizabeth Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Indoor Air Quality is an increasing concern in the world today. The mere presence of people in a building or residence can significantly alter indoor air quality. Relative humidity over the range of normal indoor temperatures (66 - 80 degrees Farenheit) has been linked both directly and indirectly to various health and structural problems. The purpose of this project was to discover whether residential dwellings might benefit from an indoor humidification system. The project consisted of the deployment of three separate sensor networks consisting of 12 tmote sky modules manufactured by the Moteiv corporation, each equipped with a temperature and …

Aquatic Bacteria Removal Using Carbon Nanotubes, Suvish Melanta

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this project is to explore the functionality of carbon nanotubes as a bacterial removal method, specifically towards water-borne bacterial pathogens in wastewater by utilizing its unique magnetic and bacteria-binding properties. The general protocol set for this research follows five steps: 1) Preparation of wastewater media, 2) preparation of CNT culture, 3) preparation of reaction mixture with CNTs for bacterial binding, 4) magnetic separation of bacteria-bound-CNT clusters and, 5) assessment of supernatant. The CNTs effectively removed bacterial contaminants in the wastewater (10%, v/v) after the sand filtration process from the Paul R. Noland Wastewater Facility at Fayetteville, Arkansas. …

Computational Modeling Of Oxidative Stress: An Analysis Of Nad (P)H Effects On Nitric Oxide And Superoxide During Hypertension, Aaron Strobel

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nitric oxide (NO) is inactivated in the human body when exposed to superoxide (O2 -). This reaction forms peroxynitrite (ONOO-). Superoxide is produced in the cardiac system by several different ways, including NAD(P)H oxidase. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) breaks down superoxide into oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. This prevents superoxide from reacting with nitric oxide and allows normal function to take place. Superoxide and peroxynitrite are main contributors to vascular disease in the human body, in particular hypertension. Experiments have shown that there was an increase of superoxide production in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) vs. age-matched Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY) that were …

Nutrient Mobility From Biosolids Land Application Sites, Mai Anh Vu Tran

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Three types of biosolids (lime-stabilized, aerobically digested, and anaerobically digested biosolids) were applied on 0.13-ha test plots on disturbed rangelands in Western Utah at rates of up to twenty times (20X) the estimated N-based agronomic rate. Soil samples at depths up to 1.5 m were collected and analyzed for nitrogen, phosphorus, regulated metals, pH, and electrical conductivity for up to two years after biosolids application.

NH₄-N at the soil surface (0.2 m) was primarily lost through ammonia volatilization and nitrification. This observation was consistent with reported increases in nitrate (NO₃-N) concentrations found within the soil surface …

Axisymmetric Coanda-Assisted Vectoring, Dustin S. Allen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An examination of parameters affecting the control of a jet vectoring technique used in the Coanda-assisted Spray Manipulation (CSM) is presented. The CSM makes use of an enhanced Coanda effect on axisymmetric geometries through the interaction of a high volume primary jet flowing through the center of a collar and a secondary high-momentum jet parallel to the first and adjacent to the convex collar. The control jet attaches to the convex wall and vectors according to known Coanda effect principles, entraining and vectoring the primary jet, resulting in controllable r-θ directional spraying. Several control slots (both annular and unique sizes) …

A Laboratory Study Of Streambed Stability In Bottomless Culverts, Brian Mark Crookston

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Traditional culvert designs, in many cases, have become habitat barriers to aquatic animal species. In response, environmentally sensitive culvert designs have been developed to function as ecological bridges. Bottomless and buried invert culverts are examples of such designs and are commonly used for fish passage. Additional design guidance specific to streambed stability in buried-invert or bottomless culverts under high flow events is needed. This study investigated incipient motion conditions for four substrate materials in a 2-ft (0.61-m) diameter circular bottomless arch culvert and in a 1-ft (0.30-m) wide rectangular flume in a laboratory setting. General scour of the streambed within …

A Field Programmable Gate Array Based Finite-Domain Constraint Solver, Prasad Subramanian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Constraint satisfaction and optimization techniques are commonly employed in scheduling, industrial manufacturing, and automation processes where concepts from Operations Research (OR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are applied. In embedded systems, Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP) finds use in design, synthesis, and optimization. However, most application areas of CSP employ offline solving techniques where design requirements and constraints are captured before the system is deployed online. There is a significant amount of pre-planning and human intervention required.

In embedded systems, online constraint solving techniques are primarily used as onboard control software in order to enable a system that can dynamically adapt to …

Pipe5 Finite Element Analysis For Buried Structures, David Aldous

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

PIPE5 is a finite element analysis (FEA) program designed to analyze buried pipes and culverts whose development was spearheaded by A. P. Moser. PIPE5 started as a modification of the program SSTIPN in 1981 so that the program could run in batch mode on a mainframe and was written in Fortran IV language. Various students made modifications to the original code making it compatible with personal computers and adding additional features. For more history on early PIPE5 developments see Moser [1]. In 2003 Mr. Merrill began a project of updating PIPE5. Mariner did extensive work on making the code compatible …

Algorithm Development Of The Aglite-Lidar Instrument, Christian Marchant

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Particulate emissions from agricultural operations are increasingly receiving attention from regulatory bodies as a potential source of air pollution. The Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) has developed the Aglite system, a suite of instruments including a lidar that is capable of measuring particulate emission levels from agricultural facilities. This system provides a novel method of measuring particulate mass (PM) pollution, allowing measurements to be taken of diverse types of facilities with high temporal and spatial resolution. This high resolution allows for the measurement of emission levels generated by specific activities, fostering the development and determination of best management practices.

The Aglite …

Time-Resolved Piv And Pressure Measurements Of Oscillating And Pulsating Flow In A Diffuser, Cameron V. King

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Separating oscillating and pulsating flows in an internal adverse pressure gradient geometry are studied experimentally. Simultaneous velocity-pressure measurements demonstrate that the minor losses associated with oscillating flow in an adverse pressure gradient geometry can be smaller or larger than for steady flow. Separation is found to begin high in the diffuser and propagate downward. Flows are able to remain attached further into the diffuser with larger Reynolds numbers, larger stroke lengths, and smaller diffuser angles. The extent of separation grows with L₀/h. The minor losses grow with increasing displacement amplitude in the range 10 < L₀/h …