Engineering Commons^™

Feeding Condensed Distillers’ Solubles To Feedlot Finishing Steers And The Effects Of Feed Additives In Adaptation Diets, Marie Elizabeth Harris

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

By-products from the dry-milling ethanol process can be used in cattle diets to replace corn. There is a significant interaction between corn processing methods as CCDS concentration increases in the diet. Improvements are observed for SFC in final BW, ADG, and G:F over DRC. An experiment was conducted to determine if greater concentrations of CCDS could be fed in SFC based diets and maintain or improve performance. Performance and carcass characteristics were evaluated with increasing concentrations of CCDS at 0, 9, 18, 27, or 36% in place of SFC in feedlot finishing diets. As CCDS concentration increased, DMI decreased quadratically. …

An Examination Of Radionuclide Transport In The Vadose Zone Using Field Lysimeters, Michael Witmer

All Theses

Understanding how radionuclides interact in the subsurface is important for the remediation of contaminated sites, assessment of risk due to radioactive waste disposal, and designing new radioactive waste management strategies. The current understanding of the geochemical behavior of radionuclides in the subsurface and more specifically the vadose zone has been developed through reactive transport modeling supplemented by laboratory experiments. Interactions between radionuclides with the mineral particles and organic matter in the vadose zone can be very complex and while laboratory experiments produce valuable data, few controlled, intermediate scale transport studies have been performed. In order to accurately predict vadose zone …

Development Of An In Vitro System For Evaluation Of Prosthetic Vein Valves, Ross Gorman

All Theses

Chronic venous insufficiency is a chronic disorder where venous pressure is not reduced during exercise. In a healthy individual, the vein valves and muscle pumps of the extremities combine to allow for a reduction in venous pressure during exercise. Consistent high pressure in the leg can lead to disability, pain, and ulcer formation. Typical causes of chronic venous insufficiency are venous reflux and acute venous obstruction. Research is under way to develop a prosthetic vein valve that can easily be implanted with a minimally invasive catheter procedure which addresses chronic venous insufficiency. This thesis discusses development of an in vitro …

Cost Effectiveness Of 2015 Iecc Compliance Using The Hers Index, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The EnergyGauge HERS software tool is used to examine the 2012 IECC Standard Reference Design (IECC SRD) configuration for three-bedroom, one-story 2000 ft² and three-bedroom, two-story 2,400 ft² single-family homes in sixteen representative U.S. cities. The energy use of the 2012 SRD homes is compared against the energy use of homes complying with the 2015 IECC using the ERI compliance method. HERS simulations for each home are conducted for both a best case home orientation and a worst case home orientation. Improvements to the 2012 IECC SRD homes are made such that the HERS Index for the homes …

Evaluation Of Volatile And Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds Potentially Associated With The Gas Shale Fracturing Process In The Fayetteville And Marcellus Shale, Karl Albert Oetjen

Theses - ALL

With the recent growth of the natural gas industry coupled with technological advancements, gas shale fracturing has become an effective and highly profitable method for natural gas production. Unlike conventional natural gas extraction which may require vertical fracturing, gas shale fracturing relies on a method known as horizontal fracturing to remove gas trapped within the impermeable facies. Compared to vertical fracturing, horizontal fracturing requires larger amounts of fluids to be injected downhole under high pressure. These fracturing fluids can contain high concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons with known adverse health effects. Due to the large volumes used, the potential for groundwater …

Hil Simulation For Smartphone-Guided Autonomous Systems, Matthew Gerdt

Computer Engineering

My bachelor thesis focuses on implementing a Hardware in the Loop (HIL) simulation for a quadcopter controlled by an Android smartphone. The HIL simulation will be able to test the software running on an Android smartphone by simulating a virtual quadcopter on the computer without the need to use an actual quadcopter. To accomplish this I will have to modify my team’s existing simulation to allow for the communication between the smartphone and simulation. At the completion of my work the HIL simulation will allow the testing of different aspects of the Android application, such as the tracking of an …

Electrokinetic Instabilities In Ferrofluid Microflows, Dhileep Thanjavur Kumar

All Theses

Lab-on-a-chip devices have been increasingly used in the past two decades for chemical and biomedical analysis. These devices employ the concepts of microfluidics and offer the promise of incorporating multiple laboratory processes onto a single portable chip. Electric field has been often employed in microfluidic devices for the ease of fluid and sample control as well as the convenience of chip integration and interfacing. Flow instabilities can take place when two fluids of unequal electrical properties are pumped through a microchannel under the application of an adequately strong electric field. The study of these electrokinetic instabilities in microfluidic devices is …

Pharmacists' And Patients' Perceptions Of Role Of Pharmacist In Discharge Process, Ravi Teja Vempati

All Theses

The objective of this study was to identify the perceptions of both patients and pharmacists about the pharmacist's role in the hospital discharge process. In order to do this, observations were conducted with the patients and interviews were conducted with both patients and pharmacists. During the interviews, both the patients and pharmacists were asked about the pharmacist's role in the hospital discharge process. The interviews were qualitatively analyzed using the in vivo technique. Four high-level themes emerged from this study: Current role of a pharmacist in the hospital, Ideal role of a pharmacist in the discharge process, Pharmacists' perceptions of …

Space-Capable Long And Thin Continuum Robotic Cable, Manas Milind Tonapi

All Theses

Design of continuum robots, i.e. robots with continuous backbones, has been an active area of research in robotics for minimally invasive surgery, search and rescue, object manipulation, etc. Along the same lines, NASA developed "Tendril", the first long and thin continuum robot of its kind, intended for in-space inspection applications.

The thesis starts with describing and discussing the key disadvantages of the current state of the art mechanical design of "Tendril'' producing undesirable effects during operation. It then includes the design specifics of a novel concept for construction of a next generation long and thin, space-cable, multi-section, continuum cable-like robot, …

A Low Temperature Nonlinear Optical Rotational Anisotropy Spectrometer For The Determination Of Crystallographic And Electronic Symmetries, Darius H. Torchinsky, Hao Chu, Tongfei Qi, Gang Cao, David Hsieh

Center for Advanced Materials Faculty Publications

Nonlinear optical generation from a crystalline material can reveal the symmetries of both its lattice structure and underlying ordered electronic phases and can therefore be exploited as a complementary technique to diffraction based scattering probes. Although this technique has been successfully used to study the lattice and magnetic structures of systems such as semiconductor surfaces, multiferroic crystals, magnetic thin films, and multilayers, challenging technical requirements have prevented its application to the plethora of complex electronic phases found in strongly correlated electron systems. These requirements include an ability to probe small bulk single crystals at the μm length scale, a need …

Fatigue-Induced Failure In Horizontal-Axis Wind-Turbine (Hawt) Blades And Hawt Drivetrain Gears, Varun Chenna

All Theses

Wind energy is one of the most promising and the fastest growing installed alternative-energy production technologies. In fact, it is anticipated that by 2030, at least 20% of the U.S. energy needs will be met by various onshore and offshore wind-farms [a collection of wind-turbines (converters of wind energy into electrical energy) at the same location]. A majority of wind turbines nowadays fall into the class of the so-called Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines (HAWTs). Turbine blades and the gearbox are perhaps the most critical components/subsystems in the present designs of HAWTs. The combination of high failure rates (particularly those associated …

A Load-Based Approach To Forming A Connected Dominating Set For An Ad Hoc Network, Raihan Hazarika

All Theses

Efficient routing in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) is highly desired and connected dominating sets (CDS) have been gaining significant popularity in this regard. The CDS based approach reduces the search for a minimum cost path between a pair of source and destination terminals to the set of terminals forming the backbone network. Researchers over the years have developed numerous distributed and localized algorithms for constructing CDSs which minimize the number of terminals forming the backbone or which provide multiple node-disjoint paths between each pair of terminals. However none of this research focuses on minimizing the load at the bottleneck …

Design And Demonstration Of A Two-Dimentional Test Bed For Uav Controller Evaluation, Ran Huang

All Theses

A three degree-of-freedom (DOF) planar test bed for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) controller evaluation was built. The test-bed consists of an instrumented tether and an experimental twin-rotor, planar UAV mounted with a one DOF manipulator mounted below the UAV body. The tether was constructed to constrain the UAV under test to motion on the surface of a sphere. Experiments can be conducted through the tether, approximating motion in a vertical plane by a UAV under test. The tether provides the means to measure the position and attitude of the UAV under test. The experimental twin-rotor UAV and one-link on-board manipulator, …

The Use Of Oxidants For Ndma Precursor Deactivation In Wastewater Treatment, Jaclyn Lauer

All Theses

Water treatment plants in the United States (US) have been switching from chlorination to chloramination in the search for a disinfection process to reduce formation of regulated disinfection by-products (DBPs). Unfortunately, the trade-off is the formation of N-nitrosamines. N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) is the most commonly detected N-nitrosamine in US distribution systems. In the Integrated Risk Information Service (IRIS) database of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), NDMA has been identified to have an estimated 10-6 lifetime cancer risk level at a concentration of 0.7 ng/L in drinking water. N-nitrosamines are currently not regulated by the USEPA; however, are listed on …

Effects Of Local Ph On The Formation And Regulation Of Cristae Morphologies, Dong Hoon Song, Jonghyun Park, Martin A. Philbert, Ann Marie Sastry, Wei Lu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Cristae, folded subcompartments of the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM), have complex and dynamic morphologies. Since cristae are the major site of adenosine triphosphate synthesis, morphological changes of cristae have been studied in relation to functional states of mitochondria. In this sense, investigating the functional and structural significance of cristae may be critical for understanding progressive mitochondrial dysfunction. However, the detailed mechanisms of the formation and regulation of these cristae structures have not been fully elucidated. Among the hypotheses concerning the regulation of cristae morphologies, we exclusively investigate the effects of the local pH gradient on the cristae morphologies by using …

Modot Pavement Preservation Research Program, David Newton Richardson, Neil Lennart Anderson, John Bowders, Andrew Z. Boeckmann, Ronaldo Luna, S. Michael Lusher, Brent Rosenblad, Lesley Sneed

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The following report documents a research project on pavement preservation performed by the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) and the University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC) on behalf of the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT). the report consists of a Summary Report followed by six detailed technical reports. to achieve the goal of reducing maintenance costs and improving minor road ratings, MoDOT has embarked upon a plan of formalizing its maintenance/preservation planning. to assist in developing the plan, MoDOT contracted with the Missouri S&T and UMC to conduct a research project, entitled "MoDOT Pavement Preservation Research Program". the product …

Testing The Forensic Soundness Of Forensic Examination Environments On Bootable Media, Ahmed F.A.L. Mohamed, Andrew Marrington, Farkhund Iqbal, Ibrahim Baggili

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

In this work we experimentally examine the forensic soundness of the use of forensic bootable CD/DVDs as forensic examination environments. Several Linux distributions with bootable CD/DVDs which are marketed as forensic examination environments are used to perform a forensic analysis of a captured computer system. Before and after the bootable CD/DVD examination, the computer system's hard disk is removed and a forensic image acquired by a second system using a hardware write blocker. The images acquired before and after the bootable CD/DVD examination are hashed and the hash values compared. Where the hash values are inconsistent, a differential analysis is …

Preliminary Forensic Analysis Of The Xbox One, Jason Moore, Ibrahim Baggili, Andrew Marrington, Armindo Rodrigues

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Video game consoles can no longer be viewed as just gaming consoles but rather as full multimedia machines, capable of desktop computer-like performance. The past has shown that game consoles have been used in criminal activities such as extortion, identity theft, and child pornography, but with their ever-increasing capabilities, the likelihood of the expansion of criminal activities conducted on or over the consoles increases. This research aimed to take the initial step of understanding the Xbox One, the most powerful Microsoft console to date. We report the outcome of conducting a forensic examination of the Xbox One, and we provide …

Realization Of Negative Index In Second-Order Dispersive Metamaterials Using Standard Dispersion Models For Electromagnetic Parameters, Tarig A. Algadey, Monish Ranjan Chatterjee

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In recent work, electromagnetic propagation velocities for plane waves in dispersive metamaterials were calculated assuming frequency dispersion up to the second order. The three velocities were expressed in terms of dispersive coefficients under certain simplifying constraints. Frequency domains were found to exist around resonances where group and phase velocities are in opposition, implying possible negative index behavior.

In this paper, we incorporate in the derived equations physical models (including Debye, Lorentz and Condon) for material dispersion in permittivity, permeability and chirality in order to further examine the consequences of second-order dispersion leading to negative index for practical cases, and also …

Modeling Of Power Spectral Density Of Modified Von Karman Atmospheric Phase Turbulence And Acousto-Optic Chaos Using Scattered Intensity Profiles Over Discrete Time Intervals, Monish Ranjan Chatterjee, Fathi H.A. Mohamed

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

In recent research, propagation of plane electromagnetic (EM) waves through a turbulent medium with modified von Karman phase characteristics was modeled and numerically simulated using transverse planar apertures representing narrow phase turbulence along the propagation path.

The case for extended turbulence was also studied by repeating the planar phase screens multiple times over the propagation path and incorporating diffractive effects via a split-step algorithm. The goal of the research reported here is to examine two random phenomena: (a) atmospheric turbulence due to von Karman-type phase fluctuations, and (b) chaos generated in an acousto-optic (A-O) Bragg cell under hybrid feedback. The …

New Research In Cave Ledenica In Bukovi Vrh On Velebit Mt In Croatian Dinaric Karst, Mladen Garasic

The International Workshop on Ice Caves

No abstract provided.

Investigating Hemodynamic Responses To Electrical Neurostimulation, Sean Youra

Master's Theses

Since the 1900s, the number of deaths attributable to cardiovascular disease has steadily risen. With the advent of antihypertensive drugs and non-invasive surgical procedures, such as intravascular stenting, these numbers have begun to level off. Despite this trend, the number of patients diagnosed with some form of cardiovascular disease has only increased. By 2030, prevalence of coronary heart disease is expected to increase approximately by 18% in the United States. By 2050, prevalence of peripheral arterial occlusive disease is expected to increase approximately by 98% in the U.S. No single drug or surgical intervention offers a complete solution to these …

A Rubric For Electrochemical Testing Of Metallic Biomaterials, Frederick G. De La Fuente

Master's Theses

Corrosion is a major factor for the failure of metallic medical implants. Testing a metal’s suseptability to corrosion prior to implantation is key to a successful implantation. Electrochemical processes were used in this study to evaluate the characteristics of corrosion of both AISI 316 stainless steel and titanium alloy Ti6Al4V, welded and non-welded. Linear, potentiodynamic, and cyclic polarization curves were produced by the PARC 2273 potentiostat showing the corrosion tendencies of the metals in four unique solutions 3.5% NaCl, 0.35% NaCl, phosphate buffered saline solution (PBS), and Butterfield phosphate buffered solution (BPS). The concentration of chloride ions in solutions affected …

Effect Of Adaptive Tabs On Drag Of A Square-Base Bluff Body, Brian W. Barker

Master's Theses

This thesis involves the experimental wind tunnel testing of a 0.127m by 0.127m square-base bluff body to test the effectiveness of trailing edge tabulations to reduce drag in the Cal Poly 0.912m by 1.219 m low-speed wind tunnel. To accomplish this, the boundary layer was first measured on the trailing edge of the model for the three speeds at 10, 20, and 30 m/s, with Re = 8.3e4, 1.6e5 and 2.5e5 respectively, without the tabs. Three different tests were performed to determine the effectiveness of the tabs. These tests included base pressure measurements, total drag force measurements and hotwire velocity …

Design, Characterization And Application Of A Multiple Input Stethoscope Apparatus, Spencer Geng Wong

Master's Theses

For this project, the design, implementation, characterization, calibration and possible applications of a multiple transducer stethoscope apparatus were investigated. The multi-transducer sensor array design consists of five standard stethoscope diaphragms mounted to a rigid frame for a-priori knowledge of their relative spatial locations in the x-y plane, with compliant z-direction positioning to ensure good contact and pressure against the subject’s skin for reliable acoustic coupling. When this apparatus is properly placed on the body, it can digitally capture the same important body sounds investigated with standard acoustic stethoscopes; especially heart sounds. Acoustic signal inputs from each diaphragm are converted to …

An Adaptive Educational Game To Help Students Learn How To Solve Systems Of Linear Equations, Wang Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Educational games have been proven to be effective in developing problem solving skills in well-defined domain, such as Math and Physics. In this thesis, an educational game called Matrix was developed to foster problem solving skills in the domain of linear algebra, particularly solving a system of linear equations. Matrix is an adaptive educational game that uses intelligent tutoring modules to guide the student's learning process and provide feedback based on the student's performance. These modules are domain module, student module, pedagogical module and presentation module. The domain module contains all the concepts the student needs to learn and an …

High-Productivity Membrane Adsorbers: Polymer Surface-Modification Studies For Ion-Exchange And Affinity Bioseparations, Heather Chenette

All Dissertations

This Dissertation centers on the surface-modification of macroporous membranes to make them selective adsorbers for different proteins, and the analysis of the performance of these membranes relative to existing technology. Traditional chromatographic separations for the isolation and purification of proteins implement a column packed with resin beads or gel media that contain specific binding ligands on their exposed surface area. The productivity of this process is balanced by the effective use of the binding sites within the column and the speed at which the separation can take place, in addition to the need to maintain sufficient protein purity and bioactivity. …

Platform Technologies To Advance Clinically Relevant Tissue Engineered Heart Valve Products, Leslie Neil Sierad

All Dissertations

Diseased heart valves are commonly replaced by mechanical, bioprosthetic, or allograft heart valves. These replacements provide major improvements in cardiac function and quality of life, but have significant limitations and eventually require surgical replacement within 15-20 years. These risks are particularly prominent in pediatric patients and young adults. The field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, which combines scaffolds and cells, holds great promise in developing living replacement heart valves that would self-repair and grow in size along with the growing children.

The long-term goal of this project is to generate living, tissue-engineered heart valves from biological scaffolds and autologous …

A Verification Of Steady State Discontinuous Solutions Using The Method Of Manufactured Solutions For Finite Volume Computational Fluid Dynamic Codes, Benjamin Grier

All Dissertations

When applying the method of manufactured solutions (MMS) on computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software, it is traditionally a requirement that all solutions be continuous on the computational domain. This stipulation is limiting for the verification and validation of CFD solutions where discontinuities are frequent. This work details the development of a discontinuous MMS method for finite volume codes. The CFD code used throughout this research is a cell centered, finite volume, 1st order, Eulerian scheme within the software AVUS (Air Vehicles Unstructured Solver) which is combined with uniform structured grids. This code is used as a representative testing platform with …

Electric-Elastic Field Induced By A Straight Dislocation In One-Dimensional Quasicrystals, L. Z. Yang, Y. Gao, Ernian Pan, Natalie P. Waksmansk

Civil Engineering Faculty Research

By using the generalized Stroh formalism, the electric-elastic field induced by a straight dislocation parallel to a periodic axis of a one-dimensional quasicrystal is obtained. The derivation is concise and the solution is in an exact closed form. As an illustration, the electric-elastic fields around a straight dislocation in a one-dimensional hexagonal quasicrystal are studied. Besides the interesting numerical results presented, the generalized Stroh formalism can be applied to more complicated dislocation problems in quasicrystals