Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Cnt-Induced Escherichia Coli Lysis And Protein Release, Abdollah Mosleh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research investigated the use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as a treatment to increase the permeability of a bacterial cell wall. Recombinant Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) containing a plasmid that expressed Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) and -lactamase were exposed to CNTs under various levels of agitation for different times. Fluorescence assay for GFP, optical absorbance for -lactamase activity, and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) were used to determine the amount of released protein, and visually examine the permeability enhancement of the cells, respectively. It was found that more -lactamase was present in the culture fluid after treatment with CNTs in a …

Compact Modeling Of Sic Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors, Sonia Perez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a unified (n-channel and p-channel) silicon/silicon carbide Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) compact model in both MAST and Verilog-A formats. Initially, the existing MAST model mobility equations were updated using recently referenced silicon carbide (SiC) data. The updated MAST model was then verified for each device tested. Specifically, the updated MAST model was verified for the following IGBT devices and operation temperatures: n-channel silicon at 25 ˚C and at 125 ˚C; n-channel SiC at 25 ˚C and at 175 ˚C; and p-channel SiC at 150 ˚C and at 250 ˚C. Verification was performed through capacitance, DC output …

Photoluminescence Measurement On Low-Temperature Metal Modulation Epitaxy Grown Gan, Yang Wu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A low-temperature photoluminescence (PL) study was conducted on low-temperature metal modulation epitaxy (MME) grown GaN. By comparing the PL signal from high temperature grown GaN buffer layers, and MME grown cap layers on top of the buffer layers, it was found that MME grown GaN cap has a significantly greater defect-related emission. The band edge PL from MME grown GaN found to be 3.51eV at low temperature. The binding energy of the exciton in GaN is determined to be 21meV through temperature dependence analysis. A PL peak at 3.29eV was found in the luminescence of the MME grown cap layer, …

Modeling And Simulation Of 1700 V 8 A Genesic Superjunction Transistor, Staci E. Brooks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The first-ever 1.7kV 8A SiC physics-based compact SPICE model is developed for behavior prediction, modeling and simulation of the GeneSiC “Super” Junction Transistor. The model implements Gummel-Poon based equations and adds a quasi-saturation collector series resistance representation from a 1.2 kV, 6 A SiC bipolar junction transistor model developed in Hangzhou, China. The model has been validated with the GA08JT17-247 device data representing both static and dynamic characteristics from GeneSiC. Parameter extraction was performed in IC-CAP and results include plots showing output characteristics, capacitance versus voltage (C-V), and switching characteristics for 25 °C, 125 °C, and 175 °C temperatures.

Initial Structural Subsidence As Reflected In Morrowan And Atokan (Pennsylvanian) Subsurface Stratigraphy, Northern Arkoma Basin, North-Central Arkansas, Fatimah Taher Nahi Al Asadi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Arkoma Basin is a carboniferous foreland basin that is known for its prolific gas production. The objective of this research is to study the initial subsidence of the basin by analyzing the strati-graphic and structural features of the study area. This was accomplished through IHS Petra, Surf-er 13, and Win-Tensor software. Field work studies comprised a large part of this study. Also, a seismic profile and Google earth elevation profiles are among the methods used to study the initial subsidence of the Arkoma Basin. The study area within the basin represents a transitional zone from the shelf into the …

Correlation Of Polymer Performance And Hansen Solubility Parameters, Daniel Jobse Mania

Master's Theses

Ready-to-use (RTU) grout is becoming more important to the finish and remodeling construction industry. Market research shows it is a fast-growing product that not only is creating its own space, but is beginning to supplant existing technology.

The original intent of this research was to investigate formulation parameters and how they affect grout performance. It was learned that particle size and oil absorption (OA) value are important filler properties that affect performance as much as adequate packing density and optimal pigment volume concentration (PVC) without going beyond critical PVC (CPVC).

Polymer architecture was also determined to be extremely important, but …

A Multilingual Semi-Supervised Approach In Deriving Singlish Sentic Patterns For Polarity Detection, Siaw Ling Lo, Erik Cambria, Raymond Chiong, David Cornforth

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Due to the huge volume and linguistic variation of data shared online, accurate detection of the sentiment of a message (polarity detection) can no longer rely on human assessors or through simple lexicon keyword matching. This paper presents a semi-supervised approach in constructing essential toolkits for analysing the polarity of a localised scarce-resource language, Singlish (Singaporean English). Corpus-based bootstrapping using a multilingual, multifaceted lexicon was applied to construct an annotated testing dataset, while unsupervised methods such as lexicon polarity detection, frequent item extraction through association rules and latent semantic analysis were used to identify the polarity of Singlish n-grams before …

Enhancing Local Search With Adaptive Operator Ordering And Its Application To The Time Dependent Orienteering Problem, Aldy Gunawan, Hoong Chuin Lau, Kun Lu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

No abstract provided.

Profit Based Simulation Model For The Rail Transportation Industry, Mark Patrick Doran

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Schedules often conflict in the rail transportation industry. Operations managers assign resources and make scheduling decisions with no visibility of the revenue, cost, and profitability characteristics of the route they are manipulating. Transit speed decisions focus on ensuring trains safely reach their destination on time with little regard given to the actual service needs of the customer. Although all customers want on-time deliveries, few actually pay a premium to garner this level of preferential treatment. Operating in this type of environment results in decisions that severely erode profits.

In this dissertation, a simulation model referred to as the Rail Profit …

Robust Algorithms For Estimating Vehicle Movement From Motion Sensors Within Smartphones, Ilyas Ustun

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Building sustainable traffic control solutions for urban streets (e.g., eco-friendly signal control) and highways requires effective and reliable sensing capabilities for monitoring traffic flow conditions so that both the temporal and spatial extents of congestion are observed. This would enable optimal control strategies to be implemented for maximizing efficiency and for minimizing the environmental impacts of traffic. Various types of traffic detection systems, such as inductive loops, radar, and cameras have been used for these purposes. However, these systems are limited, both in scope and in time. Using GPS as an alternative method is not always viable because of problems …

15-05 Infrastructure And Technology For Sustainable Livable Cities, Upul Attanayake, Mehedi Hasan, Lizmert Lopez

Transportation Research Center Reports

Providing access and mobility for key installations and businesses located in cities become a challenge when there is limited public transport and non-motorized facilities. The challenges are significant in cities that are subjected to severe winter weather conditions. Improving access to sustainable mobility choices is a key aspect of developing livable cities. This project scope is limited to identifying methods and infrastructure to promote walking and cycling. With regards to cycling, bike-share program development and use of location-allocation models as planning tools are presented. To minimize exposure to adverse weather conditions, underground and above ground pedestrian systems are provided. These …

Florida Rural Small Business Energy Assistance Collaborative Cumulative Report Ending July 31, 2016, Florida Solar Energy Center, Janet Mcilvaine

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Development initiative reaches out to communities across America with many programs (http://www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services/all-programs). USDA's Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) offers grants and loan guarantees for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy systems to agriculture operations and qualifying rural small businesses. USDA has awarded the University of Central Florida a grant to provide a limited number of subsidized Energy Audits to eligible businesses in Florida in support of USDA Rural Development (USDA-RD) Grant and Loan programs for rural small businesses. The ultimate goal of the energy audits is to increase participation in …

Experimental Investigation Of Discharge Capacity Of Labyrinth Weirs With And Without Nappe Breakers, Omer Bilhan, Emin Emiroglu, Carol J. Miller

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research Publications

Labyrinth weirs provide higher discharge capacity than conventional weirs, with the ability to pass large flows at comparatively low heads. Labyrinth weirs are primarily used as spillways for dams where the spillway width is restricted. In recent years, many research investigations have considered the hydraulic performance of labyrinth weirs, particularly as dependent on the geometric features. The previous work has improved the design basis for such weirs. However, their design still requires experimentally derived and generalized performance curves. It is especially important to observe the behavior of the weir nappe to ensure the design provides hydraulic optimization and to account …

Cost Effectiveness Of Energy Efficiency And On-Site Photovoltaic Power For 2015 Iecc Energy Rating Index (Eri) Compliance (Draft), Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip W. Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

EnergyGauge® USA v.5.1 is used to simulate the energy use of one-story, three-bedroom, 2000 ft² , single-family, frame homes in sixteen representative U.S. climates comprising all eight IECC climate zones. The energy use of the Section R406.2 minimum efficiency home (the Baseline Home) is compared against the energy use of homes complying with the prescriptive requirements of Section R402 of the 2015 IECC and against homes complying with the Section R406 Energy Rating Index (ERI) Compliance Alternative. The improvement cost and energy savings of the improved homes relative to the Baseline Home are then used to determine the cost …

Dango (Doings And Goings On) - Vol. 22 | Issue 11, Haley Stien, Cecily Towell, Aric Tate, Matthew Kimball, Rusty Towell, Vicente Rojas, Paul Carstens, Joshua Daniel Martinez, Reuben Byrd, Mike Daugherity

DANGO: Doings and Goings On: Summer Research Newsletter, Department of Engineering and Physics

ACU Department of Engineering and Physics Summer Research Newsletter

Use Of Clustering Techniques For Protein Domain Analysis, Eric Rodene

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Next-generation sequencing has allowed many new protein sequences to be identified. However, this expansion of sequence data limits the ability to determine the structure and function of most of these newly-identified proteins. Inferring the function and relationships between proteins is possible with traditional alignment-based phylogeny. However, this requires at least one shared subsequence. Without such a subsequence, no meaningful alignments between the protein sequences are possible. The entire protein set (or proteome) of an organism contains many unrelated proteins. At this level, the necessary similarity does not occur. Therefore, an alternative method of understanding relationships within diverse sets of proteins …

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles For High-Throughput Phenotyping And Agronomic Research, Yeyin Shi, J. Alex Thomasson, Seth C. Murray, N. Ace Pugh, William L. Rooney, Sanaz Shafian, Nithya Rajan, Gregory Rouze, Cristine L. S. Morgan, Haly L. Neely, Aman Rana, Muthu V. Bagavathiannan, James Henrickson, Ezekiel Bowden, John Valasek, Jeff Olsenholler, Michael P. Bishop, Ryan Sheridan, Eric B. Putman, Sorin Popescu, Travis Burks, Dale Cope, Amir Ibrahim, Billy F. Mccutchen, David D. Baltensperger, Robert V. Avant, Jr., Misty Vidrine, Chenghai Yang

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Advances in automation and data science have led agriculturists to seek real-time, high quality, high-volume crop data to accelerate crop improvement through breeding and to optimize agronomic practices. Breeders have recently gained massive data-collection capability in genome sequencing of plants. Faster phenotypic trait data collection and analysis relative to genetic data leads to faster and better selections in crop improvement. Furthermore, faster and higher-resolution crop data collection leads to greater capability for scientists and growers to improve precision-agriculture practices on increasingly larger farms; e.g., site-specific application of water and nutrients. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have recently gained traction as agricultural …

Soil-Bentonite Slurry Trench Cutoff Wall Closeout Report, Daniel Ruffing

NSF Soil-Bentonite Slurry Trench Cutoff Wall Documents

Assessment report of the construction of a soil-bentonite slurry wall including milestone dates, work description, and quality control.

The Impact Of The State-Level Concept On “Newcomers”: A Case Study Of The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Thaqal Alhuzaymi, Ayodeji Babatunde Alajo

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) latest reports indicate a growing number of states (newcomers) considering the deployment of nuclear energy programs. In developing nuclear infrastructure, newcomers have to employ the prevailing standards to deploy the nuclear program in a secure, safe, and sustainable manner. State-Level Concept (SLC) refers to a comprehensive approach that uses information about a state’s nuclear facilities and capabilities to implement safeguards within the scope of the state’s safeguards agreement. SLC focuses on strengthening the effectiveness and improving the efficiency of the safeguards system considering the State as whole. SLC has been implemented in 53 states, …

Generalizations On Active-Passive Dynamic Consensus Filters, J. Daniel Peterson, Tansel Yucelen, Eduardo Pasiliao

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Active-passive dynamic consensus filters consist of agents subject to local observations of a process of interest (active agents) and agents without any observations (passive agents). In this paper, we introduce a new class of active-passive dynamic consensus filters using results from graph theory and systems science. Specifically, the proposed filters only require agents to exchange their current state information with neighbors in a simple and isotropic manner to reduce the overall information exchange cost of the network. In addition, we allow the roles of active and passive agents to be time-varying for making these filters suitable for a wide range …

Multiplex Information Networks For Spatially Evolving Multiagent Formations, Dung Tran, Tansel Yucelen, Eduardo Pasiliao

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this paper, we show how information exchange rules represented by a network having multiple layers (multiplex information networks) can be designed for enabling spatially evolving multiagent formations. Specifically, we consider the formation tracking problem and introduce a novel distributed control architecture. The proposed approach allows capable agents to spatially alter density and orientation of the resulting formation while tracking a dynamic, non-stationary target without requiring global information exchange ability. A numerical example is provided to illustrate the efficacy of the proposed distributed control architecture.

Adaptive Control Architectures For Mitigating Sensor Attacks In Cyber-Physical Systems, Tansel Yucelen, Wassim M. Haddad, Eric M. Feron

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The accuracy of sensor measurements is critical to the design of high-performance control systems since sensor uncertainties can significantly deteriorate achievable closed-loop dynamical system performance. Sensor uncertainty can arise due to low sensor quality, sensor failure, or detrimental environmental conditions. For example, relatively cheap sensor suites are used for low-cost, small-scale unmanned vehicle applications that can result in inaccurate sensor measurements. Alternatively, sensor measurements can also be corrupted by malicious attacks if dynamical systems are controlled through large-scale, multilayered communication networks as is the case in cyber-physical systems. This paper presents several adaptive control architectures for stabilization of linear dynamical …

Mitigating The Effects Of Sensor Uncertainties In Networked Multiagent Systems, Ehsan Arabi, Tansel Yucelen, Wassim M. Haddad

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Networked multiagent systems consist of interacting agents that locally exchange information, energy, or matter. Since they do not in general have a centralized entity to monitor the activity of each agent, resilient distributed control system design for networked multiagent systems is essential in providing high system performance, reliability, and operation in the presence of system uncertainties. An important class of such system uncertainties that can significantly deteriorate the achievable closed-loop system performance is sensor uncertainties, which can arise due to low sensor quality, sensor failure, sensor bias, or detrimental environmental conditions. This paper presents a novel distributed adaptive control architecture …

Adjusting Particle-Size Distributions To Account For Aggregation In Tephra-Deposit Model Forecasts, Larry G. Mastin, Alexa R. Van Eaton, Adam J. Durant

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Volcanic ash transport and dispersion (VATD) models are used to forecast tephra deposition during volcanic eruptions. Model accuracy is limited by the fact that fine-ash aggregates (clumps into clusters), thus altering patterns of deposition. In most models this is accounted for by ad hoc changes to model input, representing fine ash as aggregates with density ρagg, and a log-normal size distribution with median μagg and standard deviation σagg. Optimal values may vary between eruptions. To test the variance, we used the Ash3d tephra model to simulate four deposits: 18 May 1980 Mount St. Helens; 16-17 September 1992 Crater Peak (Mount …

Multiple New-Particle Growth Pathways Observed At The Us Doe Southern Great Plains Field Site, Anna L. Hodshire, Michael J. Lawler, Jun Zhao, John Ortega, Coty Jen, Taina Yli-Juuti, Jared F. Brewer, Jack K. Kodros, Kelley C. Barsanti, Dave R. Hanson, Peter H. Mcmurry, James N. Smith, Jeffery R. Pierce

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

New-particle formation (NPF) is a significant source of aerosol particles into the atmosphere. However, these particles are initially too small to have climatic importance and must grow, primarily through net uptake of low volatility species, from diameters ∼ 1 to 30–100 nm in order to potentially impact climate. There are currently uncertainties in the physical and chemical processes associated with the growth of these freshly formed particles that lead to uncertainties in aerosol-climate modeling. Four main pathways for new-particle growth have been identified: condensation of sulfuric-acid vapor (and associated bases when available), condensation of organic vapors, uptake of organic acids …

Combining Spatial Domain Multiplexing And Orbital Angular Momentum Of Photon-Based Multiplexing To Increase The Bandwidth Of Optical Fiber Communication Systems, Syed H. Murshid, Saud F. Alanzi, Arnob Hridoy, Gregory L. Lovell, Gurinder Parhar, Abhijit Chakravarty, Bilas Chowdhury

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

Spatial domain multiplexing/space division multiplexing (SDM) can increase the bandwidth of existing and futuristic optical fibers by an order of magnitude or more. In the SDM technique, we launch multiple singlemode pigtail laser sources of the same wavelength into a carrier multimode fiber at different angles. The launching angles decide the output of the carrier fiber by allocating separate spatial locations for each channel. Each channel follows a helical trajectory while traversing the length of the carrier fiber, thereby allowing spatial reuse of optical frequencies. We launch light from five different single-mode pigtail laser sources (of same wavelength) at different …

Alginate Hydrogels As Three-Dimensional Scaffolds For In Vitro Culture Models Of Growth Plate Cartilage Development And Porcine Embryo Elongation, Taylor D. Laughlin

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The establishment of in vitro culture models utilizes tissue engineering principles to design functional mimics of in vivo environments in vitro. Advantages for the use of in vitro culture models include ethical alleviation of animal models for therapeutic testing, cost efficiency, and a greater ability to study specific mechanisms via a systematic, ground-up approach to development. In this thesis, alginate hydrogels are utilized in the development of in vitro culture models of porcine embryo elongation and growth plate cartilage development. First, the effect of scaffold and modifications to the scaffold were explored in both projects. In order to modulate …

Summer Ozone Concentrations In The Vicinity Of The Great Salt Lake, John Horel, Erik Crosman, Brian Blaylock, Seth Arens, Ansley Long, John Sohl, Randy S. Martin

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Residents near the Great Salt Lake in northern Utah, USA have been exposed to ozone levels during recent summers exceeding the current United States National Ambient Air Quality Standard. Accurately forecasting those exceedances has been difficult as a result of the complex meteorological and photochemical processes fostering them. To help improve such forecasts, a low-cost field study was conducted during summer 2015 to provide comprehensive observations of boundary-layer ozone concentrations in the context of the prevailing meteorological conditions. A network of surface ozone sensors was supplemented by sensors mounted on vehicles, a public transit light-rail car, news helicopter, tethered sonde, …

Civil And Environmental Engineering Phd Student Wins Major Award | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

July 26, 2016 – Civil & Environmental Engineering PhD student Caleb Buahin has won a major award at the 8^th International Congress on Environmental Modeling & Software. He received one of the best student paper awards at the event held in Toulouse, France July 10-14.

The Equivalent Circuit Model For Electrostatic And Magnetostatic Biased Tunable Graphene As The Absorption Material, Ying S. Cao, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Albert E. Ruehli

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Graphene is being proposed as a new nano material for EMC shielding and absorption due to its tunable resistive characteristics. The surface conductivity of graphene can be flexibly tuned by the electrostatic and magnetostatic bias applied on the graphene surface. Hence, its absorption and radiation characteristics of graphene are changed accordingly. The static electric bias applied on the graphene patch can change the chemical potential and the surface conductivity of graphene. The static magnetic field can make the conductivity a dispersive and anisotropic tensor, which complicates most modeling methodologies. In this paper, a novel equivalent circuit model is proposed for …