Variable Stress Orientations In The Offshore Nile Delta: The Role Of Salt As A Mechanical Detachment Horizon, Weicheng Zhang

Masters Theses

"The offshore Nile Delta is characterized by variations of the maximum horizontal stress orientation in subsalt and supra-salt sequences. Margin-parallel SH, typical for tertiary deltas, is observed for regions that are below or do not contain evaporites. In sequences underlain by evaporates pre-dominantly margin-normal SH is observed. This observation yielded the first conclusive in situ evidence that salt acts as a mechanical detachment layer. In this study, 3D finite element analysis (FEA) is used to simulate the total stress distribution in the offshore Nile Delta featuring evaporate sequences. Several parameters such as different salt sequence geometries, friction coefficient on faults, …

Oxidative Dehydrogenation Of Light Alkanes With Carbon Dioxide, Marktus A. Atanga

Masters Theses

”Most experts studying the global ecosystem and climate suggest that rising anthropogenic CO₂ emissions have contributed to significant global climate change in the last half-century. The development of effective strategies that convert CO₂ into energy, fuels, and chemicals are greatly preferable to oceanic or geologic sequestration options because they offer the potential to create new commercially-viable products from renewable carbon feedstock. On the other hand, the selective oxidative dehydrogenation of light alkanes (C₂-C₄) to corresponding olefins, methane reforming, and methane coupling are the major challenges for producing valuable and versatile feedstocks. The oxidative dehydrogenation …

Biological Activity Of Garcinia Kola On Hepatitis C, Madeline Dwyer

Honors Theses

Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). According to the World Health Organization, hepatitis C infections affect between 130-150 million people worldwide. It is a major cause of liver cirrhosis and liver cancer, and approximately 500,000 people die from hepatitis C infections or related complications each year. Although new treatments are 90% effective at curing chronic hepatitis C infections, they cost tens of thousands of dollars. Available treatments are incredibly cost prohibitive, especially considering that the regions most affected by hepatitis C are Africa and central and eastern Asia (Hepatitis C). This creates a …

Discrimination Of Various Rock Units In Abu Zenima Area, South Western Sinai, Egypt, With Emphases To The Radioactive Areas Using The Hyperspectral Remote Sensing And Gis Techniques, Reda El Arafy

All ETDs from UAB

This research study investigates the potential value of spectral information extraction of Hyperion hyperspectral, The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and, Landsat 8 OLI remote sensing data for geological mapping and mineral exploration in a semi-arid region in the Southwestern Sinai, Egypt. Previous investigations of known uranium deposits reflect its economic importance and justifies exploration for additional prospects. The study area is subject to low average precipitation associated with sparse to nonexistent vegetation cover, making it quite an ideal location for this remote sensing study. This study tested a diversity of advanced hyperspectral analytical image processing techniques …

Development Of Single-Well Gas Assisted Gravity Drainage Process For Enhanced Oil Recovery, Bikash Deep Saikia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

EOR application in prolific deepwater Gulf of Mexico (DGOM) reservoirs has remained a challenge. Exorbitant well cost (>200M$) precludes having extensive injection patterns and very characteristics of the reservoirs themselves are partly to blame for negligible EOR activity in DGOM. We have been able to develop and demonstrate a novel design in the form of Single Well – Gas Assisted Gravity Drainage (SW-GAGD) process, which is potentially cost effective, at the same time ensuring very high oil recoveries. In this design, a single well acts as an injector as well as a producer, thereby minimizing well cost. The efficacy …

Carinata Fame Production Process And Biofuel Oxidation, Benoit Kindo

Honors College Theses

In this experiment, the contribution of a standard production method for biofuels on their oxidative stability was investigated. Peroxide values were measured at different steps of the production process of Brassica carinata and peanut-based biofuels. The washing and drying steps in this production method showed significant increases in peroxide values for both biofuels and was identified as a major contributor of biofuel oxidation. Further analyses of the physical and thermal properties showed a more pronounced affect in the biofuel from Bassica carinata, and indicated an unusual composition much higher in saturated fatty acids much longer than those found in peanut. …

Time Series Analysis For A 1/Tb Memory Function And Comparison With The Lyapunov Exponent Using Volatility Scaling, Paddy Walsh, Jonathan Blackledge

Articles

Being able to provide accurate forecasts on the trending behaviour of time series is important in a range of applications involving the real time evolution of signals, most notable in financial time series analysis but control engineering in general. A critical solution for providing high accuracy forecasts is the filtering operation used to identify the position in time at which a trend occurs subject to a time delay factor that is inherent in the filtering strategy used. The paper explores this strategy and presents some example results that provide a quantitative measure of the accuracy used.

Quantification Of Radicals Generated In A Sonicator, K. O. Badmus, J. O. Tijani, C. P. Eze, O. O. Fatoba, L. F. Petrik

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The hydroxyl radical (OH•) is a powerful oxidant produced as a consequence of cavitation in water. It can react nonspecifically in breaking down persistent organic pollutants in water into their mineral form. It can also recombine to form hydrogen peroxide which is very useful in water treatment. In this study, terephthalic acid (TA) and potassium iodide dosimetry were used to quantify and investigate the behavior of the generated OH radical in a laboratory scale sonicator. The 2-hydroxyl terephthalic acid (HTA) formed during terephthalic acid dosimetry was determined by optical fiber spectrometer. The production rate of HTA served as a means …

Water Demand Forecasting In Al-Ain City, United Arab Emirates, Hebah Ibrahim Younis

Theses

Al-Ain city is the second largest city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the third in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Currently, desalination plants are the only source of municipal water in Al-Ain city with an average daily supply of 170 MIG. The expected natural population growth, in addition to future projects, will certainly put additional stress on the water resources in the city. Therefore, Al-Ain city seems to be in an urgent need for estimations of future water demands for achieving sustainable development. The main aim of this thesis is to introduce a water demand forecasting model to …

Energy Efficiency And Carbon Dioxide Emissions Across Different Scales Of Iron Ore Mining Operations In Western Australia, Shanuka Dilhani Palamure

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

During the last two decades, Western Australian iron ore mining industry experienced an exponential production growth arising from increased global demand for steel. The upturn in the iron ore price and considerably lower production cost encouraged extensive mining and consequently high-grade ore reserves were gradually depleted. Despite the energy-intensive nature of mining, high profitability motivated the mining companies to extract marginal-grade deposits with additional processing requirements, which increased energy consumption and ultimately increased the cost of iron ore production. This thesis sought to identify the energy efficiencies of open-cut iron ore mining operations, in terms of scale of operation as …

Impacts Of Artisanal And Large Scale Gold Mining On Tropical Rivers In West Africa: A Case Study From The Brong Ahafo Region Of Ghana, Karunia F. Macdonald

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Mining communities in more than 70 developing countries, mostly in the tropical regions, still practise artisanal and small scale gold mining (ASGM). ASGM commonly operates along rivers and streams for easy access to process water and as receptacles for mine water discharges. A largely unregulated industry, ASGM employs rudimentary mining and processing methods including the use of mercury amalgamation, and is often found near to larger scale and modern mining (LSM) operations.

The substantial use of mercury by ASGM has drawn the attention of agencies and researchers but so has its persistent economic role in providing much needed rural employment. …

Specification Development For Cold In-Situ Recycling Of Asphalt, Amir Tabakovic, Ciaran Mcnally, Eanna Fallon

Research and Innovation - Articles

In-situ cold recycling provides a valuable means to reduce the environmental impact of road construction. The reduced energy requirements relative to traditional hot mix recycling can lead to significant reductions in cost and associated CO₂ emissions. Worldwide, in-situ cold recycling has been found to be particularly useful in the rehabilitation of rural roads where site locations are far from asphalt plants. However, practical issues remain due to the evolving nature of cold bituminous materials. Unlike hot-mix asphalts which gain strength quickly as they cool, cold-mix bituminous materials gain strength slowly over time. This is particularly an issue in countries …

Analysis Of The Developing States In The Mena Region Seeking Civilian Nuclear Energy, With A Primary Focus On The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia (Ksa) And The United Arab Emirates (Uae), Thaqal Alhuzaymi, Ayodeji Babatunde Alajo

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

The comprehensive analysis presented here attempts to ana­lyze “newcomer” states in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), primarily the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Unit­ed Arab Emirates (UAE), seeking to implement civilian nuclear energy according to their political and economic situations. By investigating their motivations and funding resources for fu­ture nuclear projects, this analysis provides guidance for these states in terms of their nuclear infrastructure and nonprolifera­tion. The overall approach of this analysis relies on the factors for the success of civilian nuclear energy programs identified in experiential studies conducted since the Atoms for Peace speech in 1953.This …

Bytewise Approximate Matching: The Good, The Bad, And The Unknown, Vikram S. Harichandran, Frank Breitinger, Ibrahim Baggili

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Hash functions are established and well-known in digital forensics, where they are commonly used for proving integrity and file identification (i.e., hash all files on a seized device and compare the fingerprints against a reference database). However, with respect to the latter operation, an active adversary can easily overcome this approach because traditional hashes are designed to be sensitive to altering an input; output will significantly change if a single bit is flipped. Therefore, researchers developed approximate matching, which is a rather new, less prominent area but was conceived as a more robust counterpart to traditional hashing. Since the conception …

Security Analysis Of Mvhash-B Similarity Hashing, Donghoon Chang, Somitra Sanadhya, Monika Singh

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

In the era of big data, the volume of digital data is increasing rapidly, causing new challenges for investigators to examine the same in a reasonable amount of time. A major requirement of modern forensic investigation is the ability to perform automatic filtering of correlated data, and thereby reducing and focusing the manual effort of the investigator. Approximate matching is a technique to find “closeness” between two digital artifacts. mvHash-B is a well-known approximate matching scheme used for finding similarity between two digital objects and produces a ‘score of similarity’ on a scale of 0 to 100. However, no security …

Techno-Economic Evaluation Of Solar Irrigation Plants Installed In Bangladesh, Najmul Hoque, Amit Roy, Mohd. Rafiqul A. Beg, B. K. Das

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In the summer season, irrigation sector in Bangladesh suffers a lot due to the country wide electricity crisis. Solar pump offers a clean and simple alternative to the conventional fuel fired engine or grid electricity driven pump in this regard to resolve the issue. In this paper, the techno-economic analyses of solar irrigation plants installed in Bangladesh are evaluated. It was observed that systems were running around 70% to 80% of the rated power which was quite acceptable. A 10 hp pump was able to pump 600 liter of water per minute which was also satisfactory to irrigate the land. …

A Survey Of Wireless Communication Technologies & Their Performance For High Speed Railways, Subharthi Banerjee, Michael Hempel, Hamid Sharif

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

High Speed Railway (HSR) provides its customers not only safety, security, comfort and on-time commuting, but also a fast transportation alternative to air travel or regular passenger rail services. Providing these benefits would not be possible without the tremendous growth and prevalence of wireless communication technologies. Due to advances in wireless communication systems, both trains and passengers are connected through high speed wireless networks to the Internet, data centers and railroad control centers. Railroad communities, academia, related industries and standards bodies, even the European Space Agency, are involved in advancing developments of HSR for highly connected train communication systems. The …

A Scalable Low-Cost Cgmp Process For Clinical Grade Production Of The Hiv Inhibitor 5p12-Rantes In Pichia Pastoris, Fabrice Cerini, Hubert Gaertner, Knut Madden, Ilya Tolstorukov, Scott Brown, Bram Laukens, Nico Callewaert, Jay C. Harner, Anna M. Oommen, John T. Harms, Anthony R. Sump, Robert C. Sealock, Dustin J. Peterson, Scott K. Johnson, Stephan B. Abramson, Michael M. Meagher, Robin Offord, Oliver Hartley

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

In the continued absence of an effective anti-HIV vaccine, approximately 2 million new HIV infections occur every year, with over 95% of these in developing countries. Calls have been made for the development of anti-HIV drugs that can be formulated for topical use to prevent HIV transmission during sexual intercourse. Because these drugs are principally destined for use in low-resource regions, achieving production costs that are as low as possible is an absolute requirement. 5P12-RANTES, an analog of the human chemokine protein RANTES/CCL5, is a highly potent HIV entry inhibitor which acts by achieving potent blockade of the principal HIV …

The Effect Of Community Connectivity On Water And Sanitation Systems In Rural Panama, M.C. Moritz

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The world has yet to realize universal access to water and sanitation. Various academic and professional fields provide frameworks for understanding water and sanitation access, but none directly consider the impact of community connectivity. Community connectivity refers to the infrastructures linking rural communities with urban centers. These infrastructures fall under the broad categories of transportation, energy, and telecommunication. This paper examines 23 rural Panamanian communities and compares connectivity measures with the functionality of the communities’ rural water and sanitation systems (RWSS). Community connectivity was evaluated with the Community Connectivity Analysis Tool (CCAT), while the water and sanitation systems were evaluated …

A Biomimetic, Energy-Harvesting, Obstacle-Avoiding, Path-Planning Algorithm For Uavs, Snorri Gudmundsson

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

This dissertation presents two new approaches to energy harvesting for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). One method is based on the Potential Flow Method (PFM); the other method seeds a wind-field map based on updraft peak analysis and then applies a variant of the Bellman-Ford algorithm to find the minimum-cost path. Both methods are enhanced by taking into account the performance characteristics of the aircraft using advanced performance theory. The combined approach yields five possible trajectories from which the one with the minimum energy cost is selected. The dissertation concludes by using the developed theory and modeling tools to simulate the …

An Improved Smote Algorithm Based On Genetic Algorithm For Imbalanced Data Collection, Qiong Gu, Xian-Ming Wang, Zhao Wu, Bing Ning, Chun-Sheng Xin

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Classification of imbalanced data has been recognized as a crucial problem in machine learning and data mining. In an imbalanced dataset, minority class instances are likely to be misclassified. When the synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) is applied in imbalanced dataset classification, the same sampling rate is set for all samples of the minority class in the process of synthesizing new samples, this scenario involves blindness. To overcome this problem, an improved SMOTE algorithm based on genetic algorithm (GA), namely, GASMOTE was proposed. First, GASMOTE set different sampling rates for different minority class samples. A combination of the sampling rates …

3for2: Realizing Spatial, Material, And Energy Savings Through Integrated Design, Arno Schlueter, Adam Rysanek, Clayton Miller, Jovan Pantelic, Forrest Meggers, Matthias Mast, Marcel Bruelisauer, Chen Kian Wee

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

As the world adapts to dual trends of climate change and urbanization, tall office buildings in hot and humid climate zones near the equator are among the prime candidates for a significant change in design approach. Though many individualized improvements to operating systems, envelopes and material selections have been introduced in recent years, it is generally agreed a holistic approach is needed to truly capitalize on the smaller-scale innovations. With a focus on reducing the necessary size of the services plenum, in this paper, an alternative paradigm for the optimization of space, material, and energy use in buildings is presented: …

Evaluating Of Scale-Up Methodologies Of Gas-Solid Spouted Beds For Coating Triso Nuclear Fuel Particles Using Advanced Measurement Techniques, Neven Y. Ali

Doctoral Dissertations

"The work focuses on implementing for the first time advanced non-invasive measurement techniques to evaluate the scale-up methodology of gas-solid spouted beds for hydrodynamics similarity that has been reported in the literature based on matching dimensionless groups and the new mechanistic scale up methodology that has been developed in our laboratory based on matching the radial profile of gas holdup since the gas dynamics dictate the hydrodynamics of the gas-solid spouted beds. These techniques are gamma-ray computed tomography (CT) to measure the cross-sectional distribution of the phases' holdups and their radial profiles along the bed height and radioactive particle tracking …

Subterranean Photobioreactors For Commercial-Industrial Scale Algal Culture, Daniel James Vidt

Doctoral Dissertations

"There are many potential benefits to the mining industry accruing from the application of algal biotechnology. The main benefits are in the production of biodiesel and in the remediation of mining brownfields. The research in this study was centered in the original idea that these brownfields represent a tremendous opportunity for use as a hybrid model for redevelopment into sustainable "mines" of biomass. The ability of these underground spaces serving as bioreactors to control all aspects of the growing environment, from lighting, to temperature, to biosecurity, are key advantages that have been identified in the literature. The many benefits inherent …

Building Designers' Perception And The Effect On Sustainability In Malawi, Lloyd Ndau

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Environmental sustainability in buildings is an important part of preserving the environment and reducing climate change. The increasing amount of physical infrastructure systems in Malawi has not been accompanied by policy-makers clearly understanding perceptions and attitudinal behaviors of building designers to promote environmental sustainability. Some building designers in Malawi might not be practicing sustainability innovations adequately, requiring more research to understand their perceptions and behaviors. The purpose of this mixed methods sequential and explanatory study was to explore how building designers' behaviors relate to the implementation of sustainability innovations in Malawi. Ajzen's theory of planned behavior explaining how attitudinal behaviors …

Electricity Sector Reform: Sourcing And Cost Management Of Electricity For Steel Manufacturing In Nigeria, Christopher Ndubuisi Okonkwo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In 2014, Lazard levelized cost of energy analysis model priced diesel powered systems at $0.225 – $0.404/KWh and a range of $0.165 – $0.242/KWh for gas-powered systems. The model gave a range of $0.28 – $0.33/kWh for diesel and a range of $0.14/kWh – $0.16/kW for gas fired. Nigeria has an abundance of gas reserves, but heavy gas flaring by oil companies perpetuates power failure across Nigeria. What has resulted is an unreliable electricity infrastructure and a high cost of alternative energy. The Electricity Power Sector Reform Act of 2005 started the reform process. Guided by decision theory, the purpose …

The Next Billion: Lessons In Off-Grid Electricity Development From The Global South, Peter Mcdonough

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Today about a third of the world’s population has no access to electricity, and another third has only limited access. Driven by the push for development on one hand and the reality of climate change on the other, a combination of for-profit companies, NGOs, missions, and aid organizations is looking for the silver bullet to sustainable electricity development. In order to understand the challenges facing off-grid electricity projects I used recent literature in the form of peer-reviewed journals, agency reports, news articles, and technical documents; stakeholder interviews; and on-site observations in selected case studies in Nepal, India, and Tanzania. In …

Assessing The Spatial Relationship Between Fixation And Foveal Specializations, Melissa A. Wilk, Adam M. Dubis, Robert F. Cooper, Phyllis Summerfelt, Alfredo Dubra, Joseph Carroll

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Increased cone photoreceptor density, an avascular zone (FAZ), and the displacement of inner retinal neurons to form a pit are distinct features of the human fovea. As the fovea provides the majority of our vision, appreciating how these anatomical specializations are related is important for understanding foveal development, normal visual function, and retinal disease. Here we evaluated the relationship between these specializations and their location relative to the preferred retinal locus of fixation (PRL). We measured foveal pit volume, FAZ area, peak cone density, and location of the PRL in 22 subjects with normal vision using optical coherence tomography and …

Corn Stover Biochar In Gypsum Board: Empirical Analysis Of Thermal Conductivity And Flexural Strength, Albena Yordanova

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Gypsum board, an economical and durable finish material for wall and ceiling construction in the United States and worldwide, is the component with the lowest thermal performance in a typical exterior wall assembly. It also constitutes a substantial portion of construction waste in landfills, potentially creating harmful environmental effects and dangerous gases. To minimize the negative effects of fast growing construction waste of gypsum in landfills and meet higher standards for energy efficiency in construction, there is a need to explore sustainable ways of improving thermal properties of gypsum board and recycling the material. Gypsum can be recycled and used …

Experimental And Theoretical Investigation Of Sustainable Fast Pyrolysis Biofuels From Woody Biomass, Bethany Jean Klemetsrud

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Biofuels are an important advancement in alternative energy that can provide substantial environmental benefits compared to their conventional fossil fuel counterparts Said benefits are usually measured using life cycle assessments. However, it is not well understood yet how different methodological choices such as system boundaries, biomass feedstocks, conversion pathways, geographical data, etc. affect the conclusions drawn from biofuels LCA. This research shows large variability in life cycle assessment results and limits comparison across different biofuel pathways due to methodological choices set forth by policy and certification schemes. Advanced biofuels have not reached large scale production due to a limited understanding …