Engineering Commons^™

Therapeutic Potential Of Catechins And Derivatives For The Prevention Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Shelby Elaine Chastain

Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition that affects 1 in 9 people over the age of 65, an estimated 5.4 million Americans. It is the only disease among the top 10 that cannot be prevented, cured, or treated. Based on the lack of a viable therapeutic for the prevention or cure of AD, it is vital that therapeutic research for AD continues. AD is characterized by the deposition of extracellular neuritic plaques comprised of insoluble amyloid-β (Aβ) fibrils. These plaques are formed from the amyloidogenic aggregation of Aβ monomer, generated from the cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) …

Performance Of Sanitary Sewer Collection System Odour Control Devices Operating In Diverse Conditions, Mary Kay Camarillo, William T. Stringfellow, J. S. Hanlon, Elizabeth Basha

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

Controlling odours from sanitary sewer systems is challenging as a result of the expansive nature of these systems. Addition of oxidizing chemicals is often practiced as a mitigation strategy. One alternative is to remove odorous compounds in the gases vented from manholes using adsorptive media. In this study, odour control devices located at manholes were observed to determine the ability of these systems to reduce hydrogen sulphide from vented gases. The odour control devices incorporated pressure regulation to control gas flow out of manhole covers and adsorptive media to remove hydrogen sulphide in the vented gases prior to release. Pressure …

Treatment Of Oil-Water Emulsion From The Machinery Industry By Fenton’S Reagent, Mary Kay Camarillo, William T. Stringfellow, C. Feng, H. Sun, S. Li

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

An oil–water emulsion from the machinery industry was treated using Fenton's reagent. The objective was to reduce the high chemical oxygen demand (COD) of this waste stream so that it would meet the COD effluent limit of Chinese Standard JS-7740-95. The optimal [H2O2]/[Fe2+] ratio for COD removal was 3. An orthogonal experimental design was developed based on the optimal [H2O2]/[Fe2+] ratio to evaluate the significance of four parameters relevant to the treatment process, namely, H2O2 dosage, initial pH, oxidation time and coagulation pH. The influence of the four parameters on COD removal efficiency decreased as follows: H2O2 dosage > oxidation time …

Development Of A Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithm For Strain-Enhanced Quantum Cascade Lasers, David Mueller, Gregory Triplett

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

An automated design approach using an evolutionary algorithm for the development of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) is presented. Our algorithmic approach merges computational intelligence techniques with the physics of device structures, representing a design methodology that reduces experimental effort and costs. The algorithm was developed to produce QCLs with a three-well, diagonal-transition active region and a five-well injector region. Specifically, we applied this technique to Alx Ga1−x1- x As/Iny y Ga1−y1- yAs strained active region designs. The algorithmic approach is a non-dominated sorting method using four aggregate objectives: target wavelength, population inversion via longitudinal-optical (LO) phonon extraction, injector level coupling, …

Drops In 2d, Said Shakerin

All Faculty Articles - School of Engineering and Computer Science

No abstract provided.

Fast And De-Noise Support Vector Machine Training Method Based On Fuzzy Clustering Method For Large Real World Datasets, Omid Naghash Almasi, Modjtaba Rouhani

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Classifying large and real-world datasets is a challenging problem in machine learning algorithms. Among the machine learning methods, the support vector machine (SVM) is a well-known approach with high generalization ability. Unfortunately, while the number of training data increases and the data contain noise, the performance of SVM significantly decreases. In this paper, a fast and de-noise two-stage method for training SVMs to deal with large, real-world datasets is proposed. In the first stage, data that contain noises or are suspected to be noisy are identified and eliminated from the genuine training dataset. The process of elimination and identification is …

A New Cmos Zc-Cdta Realization And Its Filter Applications, Ersi̇n Alaybeyoğlu, Hulusi̇ Hakan Kuntman

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The Z copy current differencing transconductance amplifier (ZC-CDTA) is a new current-mode active element that was introduced recently. ZC-CDTA is improved from the current differencing transconductance amplifier (CDTA) and has increased its universality. In the current study, a CMOS implementation of ZC-CDTA is proposed. The first stage of ZC-CDTA consists of a current differencing unit. The output stage consists of a dual output transconductance amplifier. Furthermore, a third-generation current conveyor is used to copy the Z terminal current instead of a classical current mirror. A fourth-order filter application employing ZC-CDTAs is given and simulation results are added. The ZC-CDTA-based filter …

Design And Implementation Of A Man-Overboard Emergency Discovery System Based On Wireless Sensor Networks, Abdullah Sevi̇n, Cüneyt Bayilmiş, İsmai̇l Ertürk, Hüseyi̇n Eki̇z, Ahmet Karaca

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Recently, wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been widely employed in many different fields such as military, surveillance, health, agricultural, automation, and environmental monitoring. This paper presents a designed and implemented WSN-based man-overboard emergency discovery system, abbreviated as W-MEDS, that discovers the location of a person in emergency circumstances and runs an alarm system on a ship. The developed W-MEDS carries out a fast man-overboard (MOB) discovery and initiates the vital rescue procedure. It mainly consists of a WSN and a control and discovery system. When a MOB accident occurs, this situation is easily detected through the WSN nodes capable of …

Residential Electricity Pricing Using Time-Varying And Non-Time-Varying Scenarios: An Application Of Game Theory, Najme Khaleghifar, Hamid Amadeh, Mohammad Hosein Rezaeian Koochi

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

residential consumer and the power network. With the growth of power systems and the advent of new energy sources, such as solar energy, it seems to be more essential to investigate how the network and the consumer can interact with each other to achieve more financial benefits. To do that, a static game is defined considering the fact that there is a direct relationship between the amount of load shifted by the consumer and the incentive offered by the network. It is concluded that the Nash equilibrium of this game is when the consumer decides to cooperate with the network …

A Robust Undervoltage Load Shedding Scheme Against Voltage Instability, Iman Kaffashan, Seyed Mohammad Taghi Mirali Mortezaee, Turaj Amraee

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

No abstract provided.

Predicting Acute Hypotensive Episode By Using Hybrid Features And A Neuro-Fuzzy Network, Marzieh Abbasinia, Fardad Farokhi, Shahram Javadi

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

This paper presents an approach for acute hypotensive episode (AHE) time series forecasting based on hybrid feature space and a neuro-fuzzy network. Prediction was accomplished through a combination of time domain and wavelet features by using six vital time series of each patient, obtained from MIMIC-II and available in the context of the Physionet-Computers in Cardiology 2009 Challenge. At first, statistical time domain features were used and then the wavelet coefficient was utilized for extracting time scale features. Further UTA feature selection was applied and 30 effective features were determined and achieved to predict AHE with 96.30 accuracy 1.5 h …

Energy Efficient Multiconstrained Optimization Using Hybrid Aco And Ga In Manet Routing, Nivetha Senthil Kumaran, Asokan Ramasamy

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Nodes in mobile ad hoc networks (MANET) suffer from limited battery power and bandwidth. Particularly for real time multimedia communications through MANET, metrics like residual node energy, bandwidth, and end-to-end delay have major impacts. In MANET, designing a dynamic routing algorithm to satisfy quality of service (QoS) requirements is a challenging task. Additionally, multiconstrained QoS routing aims to optimize multiple QoS metrics while providing required network resources and is an admittedly complex problem. It has been proved to be NP-complete when a combination of additive, concave, and multiplicative metrics are considered. Hence, this problem can be solved using metaheuristic methods …

A Centralized Self-Adaptive Fault Tolerance Approach Based On Feedback Control For Multiagent Systems, Şebnem Bora, Oğuz Di̇kenelli̇

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Our research introduces a self-adaptive fault tolerance approach for multiagent systems that enables the system to avoid crash failures. It is a replication-based approach that exploits a feedback control loop and a proportional (P) controller within a replication infrastructure. Thus, we are able to both observe the agents' behaviors to estimate criticalities and determine the number of replicas in replica groups with respect to the agents' criticalities and the number of available resources. Thus, agents that are to be replicated and the numbers of replicas in replica groups are automatically and adaptively identified in dynamic environments. We implement this approach …

Integration Of Antennas With Sun-Tracking Solar Panels, Adam Narbudowicz

Articles

A low-cost solution for antennas integrated into solar cells, allowing their implementation in solar tracking installations is proposed. The proposed passive device autonomously adjusts the phase shift of a two-element array proportional to the panel rotation. Consequently, the main beam is steered to compensate for panel rotation and maintain a radio link. The proposed device operates for a rotation of ±45° with an amplitude variation of ≤0.4 dB at 2.51 GHz.

A Study Of Alterations In Dna Epigenetic Modifications (5mc And 5hmc) And Gene Expression Influenced By Simulated Microgravity In Human Lymphoblastoid Cells, Basudev Chowdhury, Arun Seetharam, Zhiping Wang, Yunlong Liu, Amy C. Lossie, Jyothi Thimmapuram

Cyber Center Publications

Cells alter their gene expression in response to exposure to various environmental changes. Epigenetic mechanisms such as DNA methylation are believed to regulate the alterations in gene expression patterns. In vitro and in vivo studies have documented changes in cellular proliferation, cytoskeletal remodeling, signal transduction, bone mineralization and immune deficiency under the influence of microgravity conditions experienced in space. However microgravity induced changes in the epigenome have not been well characterized. In this study we have used Next-generation Sequencing (NGS) to profile ground-based “simulated” microgravity induced changes on DNA methylation (5-methylcytosine or 5mC), hydroxymethylation (5-hydroxymethylcytosine or 5hmC), and simultaneous gene …

Peer Evaluation Of Team Member Effectiveness As A Formative Educational Intervention, Nathan Mentzer, Dawn Laux, Angelika Zissimopoulos, K. Andrew R. Richards

IMPACT Publications

Peer evaluation of team member effectiveness is often used to complement cooperative learning in the classroom, by holding students accountable for their team contributions. Drawing on the tenants of self-determination theory, this study investigated the impacts of formative peer evaluation in university level team-based design projects. The hypothesis was that the introduction of formative peer evaluation cycles would result in a more student-centered learning climate, increased competence, reduced doubt, and improved student learning. Two semesters were compared in this quasi-experimental study where results of peer evaluation became modifiers to students’ grades in the final project. In only one of the …

Judging Airline Pilots’ Performance With And Without An Assessment Model: A Comparison Study Of The Scoring Of Raters From Two Different Airlines, David Weber

Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research

Various models have been suggested to assess the performance of airline pilots. However, the influence of a model on assessors’ scoring remains largely unexplored. The aim of the present study was to contrast the assessments of raters from two airlines, who assessed performance in pairs of the same airline and rank by using or not using an assessment model. The results showed differences between the assessors of the two airlines in terms of their scoring. Implications were drawn in regards to the usage of a model and its influence on pilot performance assessment.

Exploring Deviant Hacker Networks (Dhm) On Social Media Platforms, Samer Al-Khateeb, Kevin J. Conlan, Nitin Agarwal, Ibrahim Baggili, Frank Breitinger

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

Online Social Networks (OSNs) have grown exponentially over the past decade. The initial use of social media for benign purposes (e.g., to socialize with friends, browse pictures and photographs, and communicate with family members overseas) has now transitioned to include malicious activities (e.g., cybercrime, cyberterrorism, and cyberwarfare). These nefarious uses of OSNs poses a significant threat to society, and thus requires research attention. In this exploratory work, we study activities of one deviant groups: hacker groups on social media, which we term Deviant Hacker Networks (DHN). We investigated the connection between different DHNs on Twitter: how they are connected, identified …

Log Analysis Using Temporal Logic And Reconstruction Approach: Web Server Case, Murat Gunestas, Zeki Bilgin

Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law

We present a post-mortem log analysis method based on Temporal Logic (TL), Event Processing Language (EPL), and reconstruction approach. After showing that the proposed method could be adapted to any misuse event or attack, we specifically investigate the case of web server misuses. To this end, we examine 5 different misuses on Wordpress web servers, and generate corresponding log files of these attacks for forensic analysis. Then we establish attack patterns and formalize them by means of a special case of temporal logic, i.e. many sorted first order metric temporal logic (MSFOMTL). Later on, we implement these attack patterns in …

Corrigendum To “Energy Savings Across Eu Domestic Building Stock By Optimizing Hydraulic Distribution In Domestic Space Heating Systems”, Ciara Ahern, Brian Norton

Articles

No abstract.

The Reinforcement And Healing Of Asphalt Mastic Mixtures By Rejuvenator Encapsulation In Alginate Compartmented Fibres, Amir Tabakovic, W. Post, D. Cantero, Oguzhan Copuroglu, S. J. Garcia, E. Schlangen

Research and Innovation - Articles

This paper explores the potential use of compartmented alginate fibres as a new method of incorporating rejuvenators into asphalt pavement mixtures. The compartmented fibres are employed to locally distribute the rejuvenator and to overcome the problems associated with spherical capsules and hollow fibres. The work presents proof of concept of the encapsulation process which involved embedding the fibres into the asphalt mastic mixture and the survival rate of fibres in the asphalt mixture. To prove the effectiveness of the alginate as a rejuvenator encapsulating material and to demonstrate its ability survive asphalt production process, the fibres containing the rejuvenator were …

3d Hydrodynamic Model Development And Verification, Hussein A. M. Al-Zubaidi

Civil and Environmental Engineering Master's Project Reports

A three-dimensional numerical model was developed to simulate hydrodynamic, temperature, and water quality distributions in rivers and lakes. In an attempt to get rid of the extra approximation and complexity, no coordinate transformation has been done and z-coordinate system has been employed. The governing equations are the continuity equation, free surface equation, momentum equations, and conservation equations of temperature and water quality. The model employs the time splitting technique which allows splitting the directions in which we end with two-dimensional governing equations and eventually the solution ends with a tri-diagonal matrix, which is easily solved by Thomas algorithm. The first …

Circular Rc Columns Partially Confined With Frp, Sahar Y. Ghanem

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Wrapping reinforced concrete (RC) columns with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites is effective in increasing their capacity. The current state of art concentrates primarily on fully wrapped RC columns and few studies dealt with partially wrapped columns. The majority of the studies did not account for the influence of the existing steel reinforcement on the column’s behavior. Other studies estimated the total confinement pressure as the sum of the confinement pressure due to the external FRP jacketing and due to the internal transverse steel reinforcement. Few models dealt with the coupled effect of the confinement from steel and partial FRP …

Three-Dimensional Endothelial Spheroid-Based Investigation Of Pressure-Sensitive Sprout Formation, Min Song

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

This study explored hydrostatic pressure as a mechanobiological parameter to control in vitro endothelial cell tubulogenesis in 3-D hydrogels as a model microvascular tissue engineering approach. For this purpose, the present investigation used an endothelial spheroid model, which we believe is an adaptable microvascularization strategy for many tissue engineering construct designs. We also aimed to identify the operating magnitudes and exposure times for hydrostatic pressure-sensitive sprout formation as well as verify the involvement of VEGFR-3 signaling. For this purpose, we used a custom-designed pressure system and a 3-D endothelial cell spheroid model of sprouting tubulogenesis. We report that an exposure …

Characteristics And Composition Of Magnetic Concentrates Of Bottom Ash Samples From Two Types Of Thermal Power Plants In Odisha, India, Subir Kumar Das

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Aluminosilicate bottom ash samples were examined from a thermal power plant in Talcher (sample NT-BA) and in Sambalpur (sample HR-BA), Odisha, India, to determine magnetic particle morphology, internal structure, mineralogy, mineral chemistry, ash fusion temperature, chemical composition, and leaching characteristics. The Talcher plant has adopted pulverized coal combustion, whereas the Sambalpur plant uses circulating fluidized bed combustion boiler technology. For NT-BA, most magnetic particles were ideal solid spheres (ferrospheres) with diverse morphological features (smooth, granular, dendritic and skeletal, porous, spotted, polygonal, and hollow [magnetite cenospheres]). For HR-BA, magnetic particles were subspherical, oval, and angular and showed widely varying surface morphologies, …

Distribution Of Uranium And Other Radionuclides In Coal And Coal Combustion Products, With Discussion Of Occurrences Of Combustion Products In Kentucky Power Plants, James C. Hower, Shifeng Dai, Greta Eskenazy

Coal Combustion and Gasification Products Journal Archive

Uranium and thorium are part of the mineral assemblages within coals. Uranium can also occur in organic associations, particularly in low-rank coals. While the average U concentration in coals is 2.9 ppm for low-rank coals and 1.9 ppm for bituminous and higher rank coals, high concentrations are known from certain low-rank and thin coals and from coals in areas associated with U mineralization. No high-U coals are mined for power production in the United States. Uranium and Th in coal combustion products are found in amounts more or less in proportion to their concentrations in the feed coal. Not being …

Behavior Of Rc Beams Strengthened In Flexure With Spliced Cfrp Rod Panels, Akram Rasheed Jawdhari

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

FRP laminates and fabrics, used as an externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) to strengthen or repair concrete members, have proven to be an economical retrofitting method. However, when used to strengthen long-span members or members with limited access, the labor and equipment demands may negate the benefits of using continuous EBR FRP. Recently, CFRP rod panels (CRPs) have been developed and deployed to overcome the aforementioned limitations. Each CRP is made of several small diameter CFRP rods placed at discrete spacing. To fulfill the strengthening length, CRP’s are spliced together and made continuous by means of overlaps (or finger joints).

In …

3d Infrastructure Condition Assessment For Rail Highway Applications, Teng Wang

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Highway roughness is a concern for both the motoring public and highway authorities. Roughness may even increase the risk of crashes. Rail-highway grade crossings are particularly problematic. Roughness may be due to deterioration or simply due to the way the crossing was built to accommodate grade change, local utilities, or rail elevation. With over 216,000 crossings in the US, maintenance is a vast undertaking. While methods are available to quantify highway roughness, no method exists to quantitatively assess the condition of rail crossings. Conventional inspection relies on a labor-intensive process of qualitative judgment. A quantifiable, objective and extensible procedure for …

Development Of A Statistical Theory-Based Capital Cost Estimating Methodology For Light Rail Transit Corridor Evaluation Under Varying Alignment Characteristics, Anthony J. Catalina

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

The context of this research is the investigation and application of an approach to develop an effective evaluation methodology for establishing the investment worthiness of a range of potential Light Rail Transit (LRT) major system improvements (alternatives). Central to addressing mobility needs in a corridor is the ability to estimate capital costs at the planning level through a reliable and replicable methodology. This research extends the present state of practice that relies primarily on either cost averages (by review of cost data of implemented LRT projects) or cost categories in high and low cost ranges. The current methodologies often cannot …

Underwater Explosion Energy Dissipation Near Waterborne Infrastructure, Paul R. Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Civil Engineering

Underwater explosions pose a significant threat to waterborne infrastructure though destructive pressure waves that can travel significant distances through the water. However, the use of bubble screens can attenuate the peak pressure and energy flux created by explosions to safe levels. This study investigates the prediction of pressure wave characteristics based on accumulated data, the damage potential of underwater explosions based on applied loads and effective material strength, and the bubble screen parameters required to prevent damage. The results were compiled to form a procedure for the design and implementation of a bubble screen the protection of waterborne infrastructure.