Engineering Commons^™

Futures Methodology As An Analysis And Planning Tool Within The Commercial Real Estate Industry, An Interpretative Study, Dominika Brodowicz

Doctoral

Currently, the majority of methods used in the commercial real estate analysis and planning processes have retrospective and quantitative roots and are based on historic data and trend extrapolation. This approach is based on the assumption that the relationships among key commercial property market variables and trends are constant and develop in a predictable manner into the future. Meanwhile, contemporary real estate companies, which are the subject of this study, are faced with rapid change, often of a discontinuous nature, in their external and internal environments. Furthermore, some of the challenges facing this industry, like social sustainability and a shift …

Approaches That Will Yield Greater Success When Implementing Self-Administered Electronic Data Capture Ict Systems In The Developing World With An Illiterate Or Semi-Literate Population, Stanley J. Mierzwa, Samir Souidi, Irene Friedland, Sarah A. Littlefield, Lauren L. Katzen, Craig Savel, Deborah Boccio, Saumya Ramarao

Reproductive Health

The Information Technology (IT) Group at the Population Council responded to a need for a technology solution that would help researchers obtain more accurate responses to survey questions that concerned subject matter of a sensitive nature. The IT Group had three goals: (1) to enhance research by obtaining the best data possible, (2) to operate successfully in the local environment and be welcomed by the local populations, and (3) to increase the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the survey process. This paper outlines approaches to consider when designing and implementing self-administered information and communications technology (ICT) questionnaires in developing countries, and …

System-Generated Digital Forensic Evidence In Graphic Design Applications, Enos Mabuto, Hein Venter

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Graphic design applications are often used for the editing and design of digital art. The same applications can be used for creating counterfeit documents such as identity documents (IDs), driver’s licences, passports, etc. However, the use of any graphic design application leaves behind traces of digital information that can be used during a digital forensic investigation. Current digital forensic tools examine a system to find digital evidence, but they do not examine a system specifically for the creating of counterfeit documents created through the use of graphic design applications. The paper in hand reviews the system-generated digital forensic evidence gathered …

Coastal Plants For Biofuel Production And Coastal Preservation, Chester Charles Malveaux

LSU Master's Theses

ABSTRACT Sustainable and renewable biofuels as well as coastal preservation are important to the State of Louisiana which is losing its coastline at the rate of up to 100 square kilometers per year. This has important implications for other coastal areas worldwide. By managing water hyacinth in canals and lakes in coastal Louisiana the biomass of this fast growing aquatic plant can reduce coastal erosion by absorbing wave energy, and remediate waste water through bioabsorption of contaminants, while also providing a source of biofuel. This research has shown that coastal vegetation can play a part in lessening the impact of …

Catalytic Conversion Of Biomass Derived Syngas To Liquid Fuels Using Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis, Pratibha Sharma

LSU Master's Theses

Biomass gasification and subsequent conversion to liquid hydrocarbons using Fischer-Tropsch synthesis is a promising source of energy in today’s scenario when the focus has shifted from conventional fuels to alternate sources of energy. Biomass derived syngas is different from other sources of syngas such as steam reforming of methane followed by water gas shift, in terms of H2/CO ratio. Biomass syngas is usually hydrogen deficient and contains various impurities which need to be removed prior to Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis. Syngas derived from biomass also differs significantly with the different sources of biomass, gasification process and the cleanup conditions it is subjected …

Socioeconomic Factors' And Water Source Features' Effect On Household Water Supply Choices In Uganda And The Associated Environmental Impacts, Christine M. Prouty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the last twenty years or more, Uganda has benefitted from significant strides in water and sanitation initiated by the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. While the rapid progress towards development has been vastly beneficial, it is also important that it does not occur at the expense of the environment. The environmental impacts of these water sources must be evaluated and understood. However, to develop a robust understanding of the impact requires inclusion of the community members who use these sources and their perceptions of them. Consequently, the goal of this research is to investigate the interrelationships between socioeconomic factors, …

Spatial Transferability Of Activity-Based Travel Forecasting Models, Sujan Sikder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Spatial transferability of travel forecasting models, or the ability to transfer models from one geographical region to another, can potentially help in significant cost and time savings for regions that cannot invest in extensive data-collection and model-development procedures. This issue is particularly important in the context of tour-based/activity-based models whose development typically involves significant data inputs, skilled staff, and long production times. However, most literature on model transferability has been in the context of traditionally used trip-based models, particularly for linear regression-based trip generation and logit-based mode choice models, with little evidence on the transferability of activity-based models and that …

Embodied Energy And Carbon Footprint Of Household Latrines In Rural Peru: The Impact Of Integrating Resource Recovery, Christopher M. Galvin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over seventy percent of the 2.5 billion people who still lack access to basic sanitation worldwide live in rural areas (WHO/UNICEF, 2012). Despite concerns of water scarcity, resource depletion, and climate change little research has been conducted on the environmental sustainability of household sanitation technologies common in rural areas of developing countries or the potential of resource recovery to mitigate the environmental impacts of these systems. The environmental sustainability, in terms of embodied energy and carbon footprint, was analyzed for four household sanitation systems: (1) Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrine, (2) pour-flush latrine, (3) composting latrine, and (4) biodigester latrine. …

Implementing Jet Aircraft Training In A University Setting: Instructor Perceptions And Lessons Learned, Scott R. Winter, Jennifer E. Kirschner, Steven M. Leib, Richard O. Fanjoy

Publications

This paper presents the findings of a phenomenological study of instructor pilot first-hand experiences when conducting training for collegiate flight students in a jet aircraft. While jet training has been conducted in simulators in the past, this was one of the first instances of training in an actual aircraft. A total of 22 students completed training in a very light jet aircraft during the spring semester of their junior year at the subject university. A group of four instructors conducted both simulator and flight training with the students. Surveys were used to collect data from instructors longitudinally throughout the length …

Contingency Analysis Of Power Systems In Presence Of Geomagnetically Induced Currents, Sivarama Karthik Vijapurapu

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

Geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) are manifestations of space weather phenomena on the electric power grid. Although not a new phenomenon, they assume great importance in wake of the present, ever expanding power grids. This thesis discusses the cause of GICs, methodology of modeling them into the power system and the ramifications of their presence in the bulk power system. GIC is treated at a micro level considering its effects on the power system assets like Transformers and also at a macro level with respect to issues like Voltage instability. In illustration, several simulations are made on a transformer & the …

Evaluation Of Endogenous Allergens For The Safety Evaluation Of Genetically Engineered Food Crops: Review Of Potential Risks, Test Methods, Examples And Relevance, Richard E. Goodman, Rakhi Panda, Harsha Ariyarathna

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

The safety of food produced from genetically engineered (GE) crops is assessed for potential risks of food allergy on the basis of an international consensus guideline outlined by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (2003). The assessment focuses on evaluation of the potential allergenicity of the newly expressed protein(s) as the primary potential risk using a process that markedly limits risks to allergic consumers. However, Codex also recommended evaluating a second concern, potential increases in endogenous allergens of commonly allergenic food crops that might occur due to insertion of the gene. Unfortunately, potential risks and natural variation of endogenous allergens in non-GE …

Complexity Reduction Of Rbf Multiuser Detector For Ds-Cdma Using A Genetic Algorithm, Mustafa Uğur Torun, Damla Gürkan Kuntalp

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The optimal receiver for detecting direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) signals suffers from computational complexity that increases exponentially with the number of users. Several suboptimal multiuser detectors (MUDs) have been proposed to overcome this problem. Due to the nonlinear nature of the decision boundary of the optimal receiver, it is known that nonlinear receivers outperform linear receivers. Radial basis function (RBF) MUD is a nonlinear suboptimal receiver that can perfectly approximate this decision boundary and it needs no training since it is fully determined when the spreading codes of all users and the channel impulse response (CIR) are …

Plga Nanospheres For Sustained Release Of Rifampicin, Alyssa Brianna Terry

All ETDs from UAB

Although Tuberculosis (TB) is often regarded as a disease of the past, it is still one of the leading killers of people worldwide. TB is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bacterium that mostly infects the lungs but can also infect other organs throughout the body. One goal for TB treatment is to create a biocompatible, biodegradable drug delivery system that employs the use of multiple drugs while simultaneously relieving the patient from the burden of self-medicating. For this study, we optimized a procedure for making poly(lactic acid-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanospheres and loading Rifampicin, one of the most potent and least …

Recovering Magnesium Hydroxide And Sodium Chloride From Zero Discharge Desalination Concentrate Streams, Alemayehu Asfaw Yetayew

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

UTEP and Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies have been demonstrating and commercializing the Zero Discharge Desalination (ZDD) technology as part of a three year project sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. ZDD is able to achieve up to 98% recovery by desalinating brackish groundwater. ZDD is typically comprised of a reverse osmosis (RO) or nanofiltration (NF) system and a unique variation of electrodialysis called electrodialysis metathesis (EDM). The ZDD technology increases the yield of fresh water from water supplies that contain enough CaSO4 to cause precipitation problems when the water is treated with RO or NF alone. The EDM …

Investigation Of Wastewater Treatment Plant Sustainability Potential In Terms Of Resource Recovery Essentials, Aoife Moloney

Theses

This thesis aims to explore the sustainability potential which exists in Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP's); particularly focusing on nutrient, energy, and water recovery and reuse. The core of the research will focus on the establishment of a sustainable Resource Recovery Treatment Plant (RRTP) plan for Limerick Main Drainage (LMD) WWTP, and potentially utilising this as a case study plant which could act as a foundation example within the sector.

There is a genuine need to investigate more sustainable options in wastewater treatment (WWT); increasing energy and sludge management costs are a real issue for non-sustainable WWTP's given that thousands of …

Community And Household Management Strategies For Water Supply And Treatment In Rural And Peri-Urban Areas In The Developing World, Ryan William Schweitzer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Eighty percent of the 780 million people worldwide that access water from an unimproved source live in rural areas. In rural areas, water systems are often managed by community based organizations and many of these systems do not provide service at the designed levels. The Sustainability Analysis Tool developed in Chapter 2 can inform decision making, characterize specific needs of rural communities in the management of their water systems, and identify weaknesses in training regimes or support mechanisms. The framework was tested on 61 statistically representative geographically stratified sample communities with rural water systems in the Dominican Republic. The results …

Assessing Appropriate Technology Handwashing Stations In Mali, West Africa, Colleen Claire Naughton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Proper hand hygiene is the most effective and efficient method to prevent over 1.3 million deaths annually from diarrheal disease and Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs). Hand hygiene is also indispensable in achieving the fourth Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce the childhood mortality rate by 2/3rds between 1990 and 2015. Handwashing has been found in a systematic review of studies to reduce diarrhea by 47%#37; and is, thus, capable of preventing a million deaths (Curtis et. al., 2003). Despite this evidence, hand washing rates remain seriously low in the developing world (Scott et al., 2008).

This study developed and implemented …

A Review Of Pharmaceuticals And Endocrine-Disrupting Compounds: Sources, Effects, Removal, And Detections, Jimoh O. Tijani, Ojo O. Fatoba, Leslie F. Petrik

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

There are growing concerns about the increasing trends of emerging micropollutants in the environment due to their potential negative impacts on natural ecosystems and humans. This has attracted attention from both governmental and non-governmental organizations worldwide. Pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and endocrine disruptors are continuously being released consciously or unconsciously into water sources due to poor regulatory frameworks especially in the developing countries. The effects of these contaminants are poorly known. They are not easily biodegradable and have become an environmental nuisance and public health issue. This has heightened the risk of exposure to their deleterious effects in such countries …

Opto-Vlsi-Based Adaptive Optical Power Splitter/Combiner For Next Generation Dynamic Optical Telecommunication Networks, Haithem A. Mustafa

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The demand for optical power splitters is growing globally, due to the rapid deployment of fibre-to-the-premises, optical metropolitan area network (MAN), and active optical cables for TV/Video signal transport. Optical splitters play an important role in passive optical network (PON) technology by enabling several hundred users to share one optical line terminal. However, current PONs, which use fixed optical power splitters, have limited reconfigurability particularly in adding/dropping users to/from an optical network unit.

An adaptive optical power splitter (OPS) can dynamically reallocate the opticalpower in the entire network according to the real-time distribution of users and services, thus providing numerous …

The Advanced Data Acquisition Model (Adam): A Process Model For Digital Forensic Practice, Richard Adams, Val Hobbs, Graham Mann

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

As with other types of evidence, the courts make no presumption that digital evidence is reliable without some evidence of empirical testing in relation to the theories and techniques associated with its production. The issue of reliability means that courts pay close attention to the manner in which electronic evidence has been obtained and in particular the process in which the data is captured and stored. Previous process models have tended to focus on one particular area of digital forensic practice, such as law enforcement, and have not incorporated a formal description. We contend that this approach has prevented the …

Bacillus Thuringiensis: Transgenic Crops, Julie A. Peterson, John J. Obrycki, James D. Harwood

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops, genetically modified to express insecticidal toxins that target key pests of corn, cotton, rice, potato, and other crops, have been rapidly adopted and have become dominant fixtures in agroecosystems throughout the world. Due to the constitutive nature of Bt toxin expression, insecticidal proteins may be found in nearly all plant tissues, presenting multiple sources for Bt toxins to enter the environment, thus creating complex direct and indirect pathways for non-target organisms to be exposed to insecticidal proteins. The environmental impacts of Bt crops have been widely debated, although both benefits and risks do exist. Benefits of …

Gas Dynamics And Heat Transfer In A Packed Pebble-Bed Reactor For The 4th Generation Nuclear Energy, Rahman Abdulmohsin

Doctoral Dissertations

"Proper analyses of axial dispersion and mixing of the coolant gas flow and heat transport phenomena in the dynamic core of nuclear pebble-bed reactors pose extreme challenges to the safe design and efficient operation of these packed pebble-bed reactors.

The main objectives of the present work are advancing the knowledge of the coolant gas dispersion and extent of mixing and the convective heat transfer coefficients in the studied packed pebble-beds. The study also provides the needed benchmark data for modeling and simulation validation. Hence, a separate effect pilot-plant scale and cold-flow experimental setup was designed, developed and used to carry …

Scientometric Dimension Of Research Productivity Of A Leading Private University In India, Dillip K. Swain, Dr. Bijayalaxmi Rautaray, Dr. Chandrakanta Swain

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study examines the research productivity of KIIT University, Odisha, India in regard to 361 papers indexed in Scopus from the year 2000 to till February, 2013. The study attempts to measure authorship pattern, degree of collaboration, Year wise distribution of articles and corresponding citations, domain wise distribution of articles, ranking of authors, ranking of highly cited papers, collaborating countries and such other parameters. The study finds that the major chunk of research is contributed by three joint authors and the trend of collaborative research is rightly at its peak. The study further reveals that authors of this University have …

Utilization Of Booster Fans In Underground Mines, Arash Habibi Javanbakht

Masters Theses

"Booster fans are large underground fans that can increase the volumetric efficiency of ventilation systems by balancing the pressure and quantity distribution throughout a mine, reducing leakage and reducing the total power requirement. The objective of this study is to provide potential users of booster fans with the necessary information on the design, installation and operation of main underground fans. The guidelines listed in this paper were formulated based on current U.S. and international standards, safe operating practices developed by the mining industry, and recommendations provided by fan manufacturers. The principles involved in the design and installation of booster fans …

Regional Geomorphic Analysis And Gis Susceptibility Mapping Of Landslides In The Blue Nile And The Tekeze River Basins Of Ethiopia, Elamin Hassan Dai Ismail

Doctoral Dissertations

"The Plateau region of Ethiopia lies within a seismically active continental extensional regime, which is being rapidly incised by the Blue Nile and the Tekeze Rivers. Extremely large landslides pose serious hazards in this highly populated region (>27 million), which is in the process of developing its hydrologic resources. This research sought to develop cost-effective methods to compile regional landslide inventory and landslide susceptibility maps, using geomorphic tools and GIS technologies. This work also sought to evaluate the relationships between landslide dams and knickpoints, caused by channel bed incision from those caused by slope failures, by utilizing identified knickpoints …

Scaleup And Hydrodynamics Study Of Gas-Solid Spouted Beds, Shreekanta Basavaraj Aradhya

Doctoral Dissertations

"A thorough understanding of the complex flow structure of gas-solid spouted bed is crucial for design, scale-up and performance. Advanced gas-solid optical probes were developed and used to evaluate different hydrodynamic parameters of spouted beds. These optical probes measure solids concentration, velocity and their time series fluctuations. Since solids concentration needs to be converted to solids holdup through calibration, for meaningful interpretation of results, a novel calibration method was proposed (which is inexpensive and reliable compared to the current reported methods) and validated in the present study. The reported dimensionless groups approach of spouted bed scale-up was assessed and was …

Nanoscale Metal Oxide And Supported Metal Catalysts For Li-Air Battery, Kan Huang

Doctoral Dissertations

"The dissertation work focuses on research and development of durable nanoscale catalysts and supports for rechargeable Li-air batteries that use aqueous catholytes. Transition metal oxides, TiO₂ and Nb₂O₅ in particular, were prepared from a sol-gel process in the form of nanocoatings (5~50 nm) on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and studied as catalyst supports. Carbon doping in the oxides and post annealing significantly increased their electronic conductivity. Pt catalyst on the support with TiO₂ (Pt/c-TiO₂/CNTs) showed a much better oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity than a commercial Pt on carbon black (Pt/C). Negligible loss ( …

Analysis Of Integrated Engineering And Social Science Approaches For Projects In Developing Communities, Parry F. Garff, Eric C. Dahlin, Carol Ward, Randy Lewis

Faculty Publications

Current design methods such as appropriate technology, human-centered design, and participatory design are intended to generate development projects that resonate with users in communities in developing countries. These approaches are extremely useful, but often lack adequate documentation about how to collect data on and incorporate users feedback into the project’s design. To address this gap, we introduced social science research methods into a service-learning course for undergraduate engineering students, which culminated in a trip to the communities for whom they were designing, to help students incorporate user feedback into the design of their projects. This paper documents our efforts. One …

Development Of A New Genetic Algorithm To Solve The Feedstock Scheduling Problem In An Anaerobic Digester, Ana Cram

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Genetic Algorithm

Scheduling

Anaerobic digester

Quantification Of The Environmental Impact Of Titanium Dioxide Photocatalytic Pavements For Air Pollution Remediation, Heather Lee Dylla

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Photocatalytic concrete pavements are a promising technology for mobile source air pollution remediation, however before widespread application of this technology is realized many unanswered questions remain regarding its overall environmental impact. In response to these questions, the goal of this study was to increase the understanding of the environmental impact of photocatalytic concrete pavement highways. To achieve this goal, the objectives of this study were to (A) construct a model that evaluates the nitrogen oxides (NOx) reduction from photocatalytic pavements, (B) quantify the nitrates released from the photocatalytic degradation of NOx, and (C) identify and characterize pathways for TiO2 nanoparticle …