Engineering Commons^™

An Investigation Of Support Vector Machine Classifier In Detecting Nocturnal Airway Obstruction From Spontaneous Heart Rate Combined With Ecg Morphology Changes, Harshan Ravi

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Sleep apnea is a sleep disordered breathing resulting from limitation or cessation to breathing for 10 or more seconds. The prevalence of sleep apnea has increased exponentially in the past decade. The increase in epidemic in sleep apnea is associated with increase in the cases of obesity. It is estimated that 12-18 million of American adults suffer from sleep apnea, which is a sizable sector of the adult population. Sleep apnea is risk factor for hypertension, type II diabetes, and congestive heart failure. Sleep apnea may go undiagnosed for a long period of time after its onset due to complexity …

Evaluation Of Step Detection Of Piecewise Constant Signals Using Phase Congruency, Real Footprints And Complex Footprints, Srikanteswara Sachidananda

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Several applications involve the use of signals that are piecewise constant. Often, their measurements or observations are contaminated with noise. Detecting the steps and recovering the true signal from its noisy measurements is an important problem.There are a number of methods in the literature that address this issue. We use two different approaches. First, we use the idea of phase congruency in detecting singularities in a 1-dimensional piecewise constant signal. Phase congruency has been previously used in feature detection from images. It is a dimensionless quantity that gives an absolute measure in finding the edges or discontinuity in a signal. …

Multiplexing/De-Multiplexing Dirac Video With Aac Audio Bit Stream, Ashwini Urs

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

With the inception of High Definition Television (HDTV) for broadcasting digital multimedia, enormous demand for video streaming over internet and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) applications, the choice of a good compression scheme is vital. A good compression scheme assists in exploiting the limited storage capacity and efficient use of bandwidth required for broadcasting. Dirac [31] is a state-of-the-art video codec aimed at applications from HDTV to web streaming [1]. Dirac was developed by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and is an open technology which does not involve any licensing fees. Studies have shown that the performance of Dirac compares well …

Neptune: Mobile Manipulator With Advanced Human Robot Interaction, Pavan Kanajar

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

This thesis describes Neptune, a mobile manipulator designed as an assistive device for task-related activities and rehabilitation of children with special needs. Neptune consists of a mobile robot base and a 6DOF robotic arm, and it is interfaced to users via Wii Remote, iPad, Neuro headset, a camera, and pressure sensors. These interfaces allow patients, therapists and operators to interact with the robot in multiple ways, as may be appropriate in assistive scenarios such as: direct physical interaction with the iPad, arm positioning exercises through Wii remote, remote navigation and object retrieval through the environment via the Neuro headset, etc. …

Fingerprint Enhancement By Directional Filtering, Sreya Chakraborty

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Although inkless methods for taking fingerprint impressions are now available, these methods still suffer from the positional shifting caused by the skin elasticity. The non cooperative attitude of suspects or criminals also leads to smearing in parts of the fingerprint impressions. Thus a substantial amount of research reported in the literature on fingerprint identification is devoted to image enhancement techniques.The important step in fingerprint matching is the reliable fingerprint recognition. Automatic Fingerprint Recognition System relies on the input fingerprint for feature extraction. Hence, the effectiveness of feature extraction relies heavily on the quality of input fingerprint images. In this thesis …

Real-Time Dynamic Hand Shape Gesture Controller, Rajesh Radhakrishnan

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

The main objective of this thesis is to build a real time gesture recognition system which can spot and recognize specific gestures from continuous stream of input video. We address the recognition of single handed dynamic gestures. We have considered gestures which are sequences of distinct hand poses. Gestures are classified based on their hand poses and its nature of motion. The recognition strategy uses a combination of spatial hand shape recognition using chamfer distance measure and temporal characteristics through dynamic programming. The system is fairly robust to background clutter and uses skin color for tracking. Gestures are an important …

Development And Applications Of Laser Micromachined Inter-Digitated Capacitive Strain Sensors, Shreyas Kiran Thakar

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Reliable strain measurement plays a very important role in the damage detection of the mechanical and civil structures. It can also have a significant contribution in assisting the proper functioning of human body and organs. The current strain sensors and measurement systems have significant drawbacks in terms of high sensitivity to temperature, low gauge factor, low biocompatibility and bulky data acquisition/conditioning circuitry. These factors make the strain measurement unreliable and expensive. In this work, we have developed a laser micro-machined inter-digitated capacitive strain sensor which allowed us to overcome the limitations of existing strain sensing technologies. The structural health monitoring …

Design Of A Novel Electrostatic Micro Energy Harvester, Madhumita Ambokar

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

The batteries have been a major source of energy for the electronic devices. However, the exhaustible nature of the batteries has encouraged the researchers to exploit the renewable energy sources for powering the electronics. Over the years, the researchers have tried to tap the stray energy provided by the ambient sources such as sun, wind, RF energy, vibration energy, etc. In the work presented here, an effort has been made to design a micro energy harvester, which would harness electric energy from the vibrations provided by the machine such as aircrafts, cars, engines, etc. A variable capacitive device was designed …

Experimental Study Of Through-Wall Human Being Detection Using Ultra-Wideband Radar, Ashith Kumar

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Ultra-wideband radars are used for several applications such as subsurface sensing, classification of aircrafts and collision avoidance. The detection of humans hidden by walls or rubble, trapped in buildings on fire or avalanche victims are of interest for rescue, surveillance and security operations. Ultra-wideband technology is favored for these applications due to its inherent property of ultra-high resolution and the ability to penetrate most of the non-metallic building materials such as bricks, wood, dry walls, concrete and reinforced concrete. Detection of human beings with radars is based on movement detection - respiratory motions and movement of body parts. These motions …

Self-Assembled Synthesis Of Microfluidic Channels In Pdms, Jeyantt Srinivas Sankaran

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

The field of microfluidics is expanding rapidly finding applications in diverse areas ranging from solid state devices and semiconductors to bio- applications in cell culture and DNA assays and micro- arrays. PDMS has been a commonly used material for the fabrication of microfluidic devices. Apart from traditional lithographic techniques, soft lithography has also been prevalent in fabrication of micro channels in polymers like PDMS. We propose a novel technique for fabrication of micro/nanochannels in PDMS using hydrophilic- hydrophobic interactions. Several hydrophilic materials have been tried for the fabrication of such channels. This research revolves around the science behind the phenomenon, …

Low Complexity H.264 Encoder Using Machine Learning For Streaming Applications, Suchethan Swaroop Vaidyanath

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

H.264, MPEG-4 part-10 or AVC, is the latest digital video codec standard which has proven to be superior than earlier standards in terms of compression ratio, quality,bit rates and error resilience [1]. Joint model (JM) reference software is used for academic reference and it was developed by the Joint Video Team (JVT) of ISO/IECMPEG and ITU-T VCEG (Video coding experts group). The Intel IPP H.264 (Integrated Performance Primitives) is a product of Intel which uses Intel IPP libraries and SIMD instructions available on modern processors. The Intel IPP H.264 is multithreaded and uses CPU optimized IPP routines. These two softwares …

Needle Detection And Localization In Simulated In-Vivo Ultrasound Image For Use In Breast Biopsy, Nidhi Khullar

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

This thesis addresses needle segmentation in ultrasound images for breast cancer biopsy. The thesis reviews the state-of-the-art in object localization using ultrasound (US) imagery. In particular, principal component analysis, projection based methods (Hough Transform, Radon Transform and Parallel Integral Projection) and model fitting method using RANSAC and work in the field of diffusion filters are reviewed for potential use in a real breast biopsy environment, wherein the US imagery does not have much contrast and the speckle noise content is high. Other image artifacts in these images also mask the needle image.A new needle localization method called ANDSUI algorithm has …

Physical Layer Test Trials And Analysis Of Call Drops And Real Time Throughput Versus Channel Capacity Of The Long Term Evolution (4g) Technology, Sanil Fulani

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

Wireless communication has evolved rapidly in recent years and demand for mobile devices with new and higher services is increasing. The 3G standard, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) is already upgraded with High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) to meet current demands, but this is not sufficient considering the current needs of high speed services. Considering the demand for high speed service, 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has come up with a technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology called as 4G with an objective of a radio access technology with higher data rates, lower latencies and packet services such as …

Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of An Electrospinning Apparatus For The Deposition Of Pmma Polymer For Biomedical Applications, Harsha Malshe

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper describes the successful design and fabrication of a deposition system for synthesis and assembly of nanoscale and submicron sized fibers of poly(methylmethacrylate)(PMMA) polymer. To optimize the electrospinning deposition process, the distance between the needle and the electrically grounded substrate, the applied voltage, and the concentration of PMMA polymer in the solution were varied. PMMA fibers as small as 500 nanometers were observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The chemical signature of PMMA was confirmed for best quality and retention of chemistry using Fourier Transformed Infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). PMMA is a biocompatible polymer, and nanofibers of PMMA are key …

Atomic Friction Studied By Modeling The Buried Inteface, Yalin Dong, Ashlie Martini, Qunyang Li, Robert W. Carpick

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

Molecular dynamics simulation is carried out to model the single-asperity friction in atomic force microscope experiments. Superlubricity is achieved through misalignment between the AFM tip and substrate. Direct observation of the buried interface reveals that incommensurability-induced inhomogeneous shear stress can cause ultra-low atomic scale friction.

A New Look At Optimum Design For Convecting-Radiating Annular Fins Of Trapezoidal Profile, Benjamin T.F. Chung

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research

This paper deals with a controversial problem in answering the question “Does the optimum fin design always exist? If not, what are the optimization ranges and limitations?” These authors employ a general example of convecting-radiating trapezoidal annular fin with heat transfer at the tip and wall resistance at the interface. The present results indicate that the answer to the above first question is negative. The ranges of fin optimum design under different thermal and physical conditions are proposed. The effects of Biot number, radiation number, the heat loss at the tip, fin profile and overall wall resistance on fin optimization …

A Secure Behavior Modification Sensor System For Physical Activity Improvement, Alan Price

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Today, advances in wireless sensor networks are making it possible to capture large amounts of information about a person and their interaction within their home environment. However, what is missing is how to ensure the security of the collected data and its use to alter human behavior for positive benefit.

In this research, exploration was conducted involving the "infrastructure" and "intelligence" aspects of a wireless sensor network through a Behavior Modification Sensor System. First was to understand how a secure wireless sensor network could be established through the symmetric distribution of keys (the securing of the infrastructure), and it involves …

The Role Of Conflict Management On Virtual Team Performance And Satisfaction, Pilar Pazos, Anil Ustun, Rolando Delaguila

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The role that input factors from project planning processes play on conflict emergence and conflict resolution in virtual teams is not well understood. Of particular interest for this paper is the role that factors during planning stages play in preventing interpersonal conflict, supporting conflict resolution and ultimately enhancing team outcomes in virtual team settings. This study examines the relationships among commitment to team goals, conflict management and team outcomes in virtual teams. First we provide an in depth review of relevant empirical findings. Next, we describe a study examining the relationships between three sets of variables: 1) goal commitment, 2) …

Dynamic Electrical Ratings And The Economics Of Capacity Factor For Wave Energy Converter Arrays, Fergus Sharkey, Elva Bannon, Michael Conlon, Kevin Gaughan

Conference papers

Wave Energy Converters (WECs) have been in development for several decades with some devices now coming close to commercial realities. As such, pilot projects are being developed, particularly in the UK and Ireland, to deploy WECs on a pre-commercial array scale. The ultimate ambition is to have multiple WECs installed in a ‘wave farm’ in a similar fashion to offshore wind farms. For large scale wind farms the inter-array and export electrical systems can represent more than 20% of the project’s capital expenditure. Submarine power cables account for a large proportion of this cost. The same is expected to hold …

Relativistic Red-Black Trees, Philip William Howard, Jonathan Walpole

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Operating system performance and scalability on sharedmemory many-core systems depends critically on efficient access to shared data structures. Scalability has proven difficult to achieve for many data structures. In this paper we present a novel and highly scalable concurrent red-black tree. Red-black trees are widely used in operating systems, but typically exhibit poor scalability. Our red-black tree has linear read scalability, uncontended read performance that is at least 25% faster than other known approaches, and deterministic lookup times for a given tree size, making it suitable for realtime applications.

The Ordering Requirements Of Relativistic And Reader-Writer Locking Approaches To Shared Data Access, Philip William Howard, Josh Triplett, Jonathan Walpole, Paul E. Mckenney

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The semantics of reader-writer locks allow read-side concurrency. Unfortunately, the locking primitives serialize access to the lock variable to an extent that little or no concurrency is realized in practice for small critical sections. Relativistic programming is a methodology that also allows read- side concurrency. Relativistic programming uses dfferent ordering constraints than reader-writer locking. The different ordering constraints allow relativistic readers to proceed without synchronization so relativistic readers scale even for very short critical sections. In this paper we explore the diferences between the ordering constraints for reader-writer locking and relativistic programs. We show how and why the dfferent ordering …

Virtualization And Self-Organization For Utility Computing, Mehdi Saleh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We present an alternative paradigm for utility computing when the delivery of service is subject to binding contracts; the solution we propose is based on resource virtualization and a selfmanagement scheme. A virtual cloud aggregates set virtual machines to work in concert for the tasks specified by the service agreement. A first step for the establishment of a virtual cloud is to create a scale-free overlay network through a biased random walk; scale-free networks enjoy a set of remarkable properties such as: robustness against random failures, favorable scaling, and resilience to congestion, small diameter, and average path length. Constrains such …

The Performance And Power Impact Of Using Multiple Dram Address Mapping Schemes In Multicore Processors, Rami Jadaa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lowest-level cache misses are satisfied by the main memory through a specific address mapping scheme that is hard-coded in the memory controller. A dynamic address mapping scheme technique is investigated to provide higher performance and lower power consumption, and a method to throttle memory to meet a specific power budget. Several experiments are conducted on single and multithreaded synthetic memory traces -to study extreme cases- and validate the usability of the proposed dynamic mapping scheme over the fixed one. Results show that applications’ performance varies according to the mapping scheme used, and a dynamic mapping scheme achieves up to 2x …

Design And Simulation Of Cmos Active Mixers, Allen Gibson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This paper introduces a component of the Radio Frequency transceiver called the mixer. The mixer is a critical component in the RF systems, because of its ability for frequency conversion. This passage focuses on the design analysis and simulation of multiple topologies for the active down-conversion mixer. This mixer is characterized by its important design properties which consist of conversion gain, linearity, noise figure, and port isolation. The topologies that are given in this passage range from the most commonly known mixer design, to implemented design techniques that are used to increase the mixers important design properties as the demand …

Web-Based Tidal Toolbox Of Astronomic Tidal Data For The Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, Esturaries Sic] And Continental Shelf Of The South Atlantic Bight, Alfredo Ruiz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A high-resolution astronomic tidal model has been developed that includes detailed inshore regions of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and associated estuaries along the South Atlantic Bight. The unique nature of the model’s development ensures that the tidal hydrodynamic interaction between the shelf and estuaries is fully described. Harmonic analysis of the model output results in a database of tidal information that extends from a semi-circular arc (radius ~750 km) enclosing the South Atlantic Bight from the North Carolina coast to the Florida Keys, onto the continental shelf and into the full estuarine system. The need for tidal boundary conditions (elevation …

The Acquisition Of Lexical Knowledge From The Web For Aspects Of Semantic Interpretation, Hansen A. Schwartz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work investigates the effective acquisition of lexical knowledge from the Web to perform semantic interpretation. The Web provides an unprecedented amount of natural language from which to gain knowledge useful for semantic interpretation. The knowledge acquired is described as common sense knowledge, information one uses in his or her daily life to understand language and perception. Novel approaches are presented for both the acquisition of this knowledge and use of the knowledge in semantic interpretation algorithms. The goal is to increase accuracy over other automatic semantic interpretation systems, and in turn enable stronger real world applications such as machine …

Sysml Profiling For Handling Army Base Camp Planning, Dustin Nottage, Steven Corns

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Army base camp planning is a complicated process involving many variables and optional facilities. the facilities can also vary in size and resource utilization depending on permanency of the base, local resources, and population on the base. Each level of facility is modeled and placed into a library database. All of these facilities must be distinguishable for planners to come in and export the correct facility based on the mission. the first method involves separating the different levels into packages so just the package could be exported. the issue is not all facilities will fit correctly. the second method is …

Comparison Of Progression Of Diffuse Axonal Injury With Histology And Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Nisrine Zakaria

Wayne State University Dissertations

Diffuse axonal injury, also known as traumatic axonal injury (TAI), is a major contributor to the pathology of traumatic brain injury. However, TAI is undetectable to conventional clinical magnetic resonance (MR) imaging techniques. Histologically, TAI is characterized by swollen axons that eventually disconnect and form axonal retraction balls (RB) in various white matter tracts. MR-diffusion tensor imaging (MR-DTI) has been reported to be sensitive to TAI in human TBI patients by measuring water molecular diffusion motion in white matter fiber tracts. To date, only one correlative animal study has been carried out to investigate the DTI relationship to TAI, and …

Testing The Impact Of Training With Simulated Scenarios For Information Security Awareness On Virtual Community Of Practice Members, Craig Leonard Tidwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Information security has become a major challenge for all private and public organizations. The protection of proprietary and secret data and the proper awareness of what is entailed in protecting this data are necessary in all organizations. This treatise examines how simulation and training would influence information security awareness over time in virtual communities of practice under a variety of security threats. The hypothesis of the study was that security-trained members of a virtual community of practice would respond significantly better to routine security processes and attempts to breach security or to violate the security policy of their organization or …

A Web-Based Learning Module For Teaching Gis Within The Context Of Environmental Engineering, Sirjana Dahal, Richard H. Hall, Glenn Morrison, Seth Paul Lamble, Ronaldo Luna

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

There is a Growing Need for Teaching Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Engineering Disciplines, Such as Environmental. However, There Has Been Limited Focus on GIS in Undergraduate Programs, Since It's Difficult to Fit a GIS Class into the Large Number of Class Requirements Already Included in Engineering Curricula. the Purpose of This Research is the Evaluation of Web-Based Learning Module Created by a Multidisciplinary Team at a Midwestern Technological Research University, Which Allows Instructors to Integrate GIS Instruction into Existing Courses. This Module is One Part of a Large-Scale National Science Foundation Funded Project in Which GIS Modules Are Being …