Engineering Commons^™

Motor Output Variability Impairs Driving Ability In Older Adults: Reply To Stinchcombe, Dickerson, Weaver, And Bedard, Evangelos A. Christou, Basma Yacoubi, Changki Kim, Hwasil Moon, Tanya Onushko, Neha Lodha

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Driving is a complex skill, as indicated by Stinchcombe and colleagues in their letter. It requires the integration of sensory inputs, cognitive processing, and motor execution. Although our title is broad, we clearly indicate that our findings only address a single component of driving, namely reactive driving. We also indicate that these findings are based on a simulated task and recommend that future studies should examine the contribution of motor output variability to on-road driving performance (see Considerations in the Discussion section). Thus, we share the consideration of Stinchcombe and colleagues that the current results only address a small portion …

Evaluation Of Motion Artifact Metrics For Coronary Ct Angiography, Hongfeng Ma, Eric Gros, Aniko Szabo, Scott G. Baginski, Zachary R. Laste, Naveen M. Kulkarni, Darin Okerlund, Tal Gilat Schmidt

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Purpose

This study quantified the performance of coronary artery motion artifact metrics relative to human observer ratings. Motion artifact metrics have been used as part of motion correction and best‐phase selection algorithms for Coronary Computed Tomography Angiography (CCTA). However, the lack of ground truth makes it difficult to validate how well the metrics quantify the level of motion artifact. This study investigated five motion artifact metrics, including two novel metrics, using a dynamic phantom, clinical CCTA images, and an observer study that provided ground‐truth motion artifact scores from a series of pairwise comparisons.

Method

Five motion artifact metrics were calculated …

Process Safety Management: Optimized Models Influenced By Organization Culture, Taehoon Lee

Graduate Theses - Engineering Management

Companies focus on Process Safety Management (PSM) in order to protect employees and facilities from an accidents, such as explosion and fire. The most elements of PSM are closely related to employees, which determine the organizational culture, and organizational culture directly affects safety culture. Companies put an effort to have a strong safety culture, which is behaviors and responses in regard to emergency and abnormal situation. In this paper, definition and essential theories of PSM were reviewed first, and safety culture in PSM and the safety culture of Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL) were discussed. A method used in IPL …

Some Insights Into The Migration Of Double Imaginary Roots Under Small Deviation Of Two Parameters, Dina Alina Irofti, Keqin Gu, Islam Boussaada, Silviu-Iulian Niculescu

SIUE Faculty Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

This paper studies the migration of double imaginary roots of the systems’ characteristic equation when two parameters are subjected to small deviations. The proposed approach covers a wide range of models. Under the least degeneracy assumptions, we found that the local stability crossing curve has a cusp at the point that corresponds to the double root, and it divides the neighborhood of this point into an S-sector and a G-sector. When the parameters move into the G-sector, one of the roots moves to the right halfplane, and the other moves to the left half-plane. When the parameters move into the …

Effect Of Active Learning On Instrument Rated Pilots’ Knowledge And Self-Efficacy, Robert Leroy Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The study examined the effect of active scenario-based training on the knowledge and self-efficacy of instrument rated pilots who were not instrument current. Additionally, this study addressed an issue that was not present in the existing literature by validating the potential of using at-home personal computer scenario-based simulation for instrument currency. The current method of maintaining instrument currency does not require any context or scenario-based training. At a minimum, a pilot must perform a specific number of instrument approaches and holds in an airplane, approved simulator, or training device.

Sixty-two non-current instrument rated pilots who represented the U.S. general aviation …

Hot Applied Sealant Bond Test For Joints With Penetrating Sealers, Lieska Halsey

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Recently a concern has been raised for hot applied sealant bond for joints with penetrating sealers. The objective of this study will be to determine if the bond between the sealant and the concrete is compromised by the sealer currently approved to be used in Nebraska. The expected results will be that the bond is not compromised and is serving for the expected joint service life.

Systematic Approach To Identifying Deeply Buried Archeological Deposits, Anthony L. Layzell, Rolfe D. Mandel, Courtney L. Ziska, John R. Bozell

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This project is designed to assist cultural resource specialists involved in Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) project planning and development. The goal was to develop Geographic Information System (GIS) data layers that spatially delineate different landform-sediment assemblages (LSAs) and depict the associated geologic potential for buried cultural deposits in select watersheds in Nebraska. The Nebraska Buried Sites GIS resource will allow planners and cultural resource specialists to determine whether future project areas are likely to be free of deeply buried sites or whether subsurface exploration is necessary.

Compressive Strength Of Concrete Cylinders By Different Preparation Methods: Sulphur, Neoprene Pads And Grinding, Wally Heyen, Lieska Halsey

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The purpose of this evaluation is to compare the effects of four types of cylinder preparation methods prior to compressive strength testing in accordance to ASTM C 39.

Corrosive Strength Of Concrete Cylinders By Different Preparation Methods: Sulphur, Neoprene Pads And Grinding, Wally Heyen, Lieska Halsey, Tim Krason

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

The purpose of this evaluation is to compare the effects of four types of cylinder preparation methods prior to compressive strength testing in accordance to ASTM C 39.

Scheduling In Mapreduce Clusters, Chen He

School of Computing: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

MapReduce is a framework proposed by Google for processing huge amounts of data in a distributed environment. The simplicity of the programming model and the fault-tolerance feature of the framework make it very popular in Big Data processing.

As MapReduce clusters get popular, their scheduling becomes increasingly important. On one hand, many MapReduce applications have high performance requirements, for example, on response time and/or throughput. On the other hand, with the increasing size of MapReduce clusters, the energy-efficient scheduling of MapReduce clusters becomes inevitable. These scheduling challenges, however, have not been systematically studied.

The objective of this dissertation is to …

Copper-Doped Lithium Triborate (Lib3o5) Crystals: A Photoluminescence, Thermoluminescence, And Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Study, Brant E. Kananen, John W. Mcclory, Nancy C. Giles, Larry E. Halliburton

Faculty Publications

When doped with copper ions, lithium borate materials are candidates for use in radiation dosimeters. Copper-doped lithium tetraborate (Li2B4O7) crystals have been widely studied, but little is known thus far about copper ions in lithium triborate (LiB3O5) crystals. In the present investigation, Cu+ ions (3d10) were diffused into an undoped LiB3O5 crystal at high temperature. These ions occupy both Li+ and interstitial positions in the crystal. A photoluminescence (PL) band peaking near 387 nm and a photoluminescence excitation (PLE) band peaking near 273 nm verify that a portion of these Cu+ ions are located at regular Li+ sites. After an …

Demonstration Of Head Mounted Displays And Its Effects On Situational Awareness, Adam Richard Goetz

Theses and Dissertations

In this investigation, I discussed the use of Head-Mounted Displayed (HMD) Augmented Reality and its effects on a driver’s Situational Awareness (SA) while observing two driving scenarios. In this study I showed participants two videos, one with a simulated HMD and one without. Throughout the video, the participants were asked questions about their environment to see if they can retain information presented to them. This included the current speed of the vehicle, the next navigation direction, how many cars are surrounding the vehicle, and several others. These questions will give insight into the participant’s SA. This method is called the …

The Bridge Newsletter Spring 2018, Missouri University Of Science And Technology

The Bridge Newsletter

-Steel Bridge Design Team takes first at ASCE student conference
-Sneed helps lead study abroad course
-ACML gifts
-Schonberg named Fulbright Chair

Beauchemin Residence, Hannah E. Rogers

Architectural Engineering

The following report details the structural engineering completed on the Beauchemin Residence, as well as the associated drawings, details, and special considerations. The Beauchemin Residence is an existing single story wood frame building on raised wood floor, located in the city of San Clemente. The scope of work includes calculations for a new roof, new walls (gravity & lateral), retrofit of the existing foundation, new foundation, and providing calculations. The process and progression of the structural design is documented, and correlated to the final product in the Appendix A & B.

Fully Probabilistic Analysis Of Frp-To-Concrete Bonded Joints Considering Model Uncertainty, Dongming Zhang, Xiang-Lin Gu, Qian-Qian Yu, Hongwei Huang, Baolin Wan, Cheng Jiang

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This work presents a full reliability-based analysis framework for fiber-reinforced polymer(FRP)-to-concrete bonded joints considering model uncertainty. Eight frequently used bond strength models for FRP-to-concrete bonded joints were calibrated by defining a model factor. A total of 641 well-documented tests were considered. Four of the eight models had model factors that correlated with input design parameters and the systematic part of the model factor was removed by a regression equation f. By doing this type of characterization, all eight model factors could be comparatively uniform and described by lognormally distributed random variables. The merit of the uniform model uncertainties …

Evaluation Of Continuous Monitoring As A Tool For Municipal Stormwater Management Programs, Walter M. Mcdonald, Randel L. Dymond, Vinod K. Lohani

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the uncertainty attributable to inadequate temporal sampling of stormwater discharge and water quality, and understand its implications for meeting monitoring objectives relevant to municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s). A methodology is presented to evaluate uncertainty attributable to inadequate temporal sampling of continuous stormflow and water quality, and a case study demonstrates the application of the methodology to six small urban watersheds (0.8-6.8 km²) and six large rural watersheds (30-16,192 km²) in Virginia. Results indicate the necessity of high-frequency continuous monitoring for accurately capturing multiple monitoring objectives, including …

Nanoporous Carbon-Based Co2 Reduction Catalysts: Exploring The Combined Effects Of Surface Chemistry And Porosity, Wanlu Li

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

For the first-time sulfur-doped, nitrogen-doped and sulfur, nitrogen-codoped nanoporous carbons were systematically studied as catalysts for CO₂ electrochemical reduction reaction (CO₂ERR). The Faradaic efficiencies (FE) of CO and CH₄ formation were calculated to evaluate the performance of these carbons. The best catalysts showed the FE of CO and CH₄ formation of 29% and 0.76%, respectively. It was found that the overall performance in CO₂ERR dramatically increased upon the reduction pretreatment of the carbons in N₂-saturated electrolyte before the CO₂ reduction process. The pretreated carbon showed the maximum FE of CO …

Vision-Based Assistive Indoor Localization, Feng Hu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

An indoor localization system is of significant importance to the visually impaired in their daily lives by helping them localize themselves and further navigate an indoor environment. In this thesis, a vision-based indoor localization solution is proposed and studied with algorithms and their implementations by maximizing the usage of the visual information surrounding the users for an optimal localization from multiple stages. The contributions of the work include the following: (1) Novel combinations of a daily-used smart phone with a low-cost lens (GoPano) are used to provide an economic, portable, and robust indoor localization service for visually impaired people. (2) …

Analyses Of Crowd-Sourced Sound Levels Of Restaurants And Bars In New York City, Gregory S. Farber, Lily M. Wang

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

For several decades, there has been a significant need to better educate the public about noise pollution. A small number of small-scale studies have focused on the sound levels of restaurants and their impact on health and hearing. There have also been an increasing number of media articles stating that eating and drinking venues are getting increasingly loud making it more difficult for people to connect with others in conversation. This study reports on an exploratory large-scale noise survey of sound levels of 2,376 restaurants and bars in New York City using a novel smart-phone application and categorized them based …

Recent Advances In Study Of Solid-Liquid Interfaces And Solidification Of Metals, Mohsen Asle Zaeem

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Solidification occurs in several material processing methods, such as in casting, welding, and laser additive manufacturing of metals, and it controls the nano- and microstructures, as well as the overall properties of the products. Recent advancements in experimental and computational modeling techniques have made it possible to more effectively study atomistic and microscale mechanisms that control the solidification nano- and microstructures, and formation and evolution of solidification defects.

Curve Number Approach To Estimate Monthly And Annual Direct Runoff, Andrew John Guswa, Perrine Hamel, Kate Meyer

Engineering: Faculty Publications

This paper establishes a novel approach to estimate monthly and annual direct runoff by combining the curve number method of the Natural Resources Conservation Service with an exponential distribution of rainfall depths. The approach was tested against observed rainfall and runoff for 544 watersheds throughout the contiguous United States. For more than half of the watersheds, the performance of the new approach is indistinguishable from the application of the method to daily rainfall when curve numbers are determined via calibration. For all watersheds, the uncertainty introduced by the approximation of the distribution of rainfall depths is far less than the …

Artificial Intelligence(Ai) Application In Library Systems In Iran: A Taxonomy Study, Asefeh Asemi, Adeleh Asemi

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

With introducing and developing AI logic, this science as a branch of computer science could impact and improve all sciences which used computer systems. LIS also could get benefit from AI in many areas. This paper survey applications of AI in library and information science and introduce the potential of library system to apply AI techniques. Intelligent systems have contributed for many librarian purposes like cataloging, indexing, information retrieval, reference, and other purposes. We applied Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) as a primer method for identification of the most applicable AI techniques categories in LIS. ESs are the most usable intelligent …

Eigenstrain As A Mechanical Set-Point Of Cells, Shengmao Lin, Marsha C. Lampi, Cynthia A. Reinhart-King, Gary C.P. Tsui, Jian Wang, Carl A. Nelson, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Cell contraction regulates how cells sense their mechanical environment. We sought to identify the set-point of cell contraction, also referred to as tensional homeostasis. In this work, bovine aortic endothelial cells (BAECs), cultured on substrates with different stiffness, were characterized using traction force microscopy (TFM). Numerical models were developed to provide insights into the mechanics of cell–substrate interactions. Cell contraction was modeled as eigenstrain which could induce isometric cell contraction without external forces. The predicted traction stresses matched well with TFM measurements. Furthermore, our numerical model provided cell stress and displacement maps for inspecting the fundamental regulating mechanism of cell …

Apprehensive Drought Characteristics Over Iraq: Results Of A Multidecadal Spatiotemporal Assessment, Maysoun Ayad Hameed, Ali Ahmadalipour, Hamid Moradkhani

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Drought is an extreme climate phenomenon that happens slowly and periodically threatens the environmental and socio-economic sectors. Iraq is one of the countries in the Middle East that has been dealing with serious drought-related issues in the 21st century. Here, we investigate meteorological drought across Iraq from 1948 to 2009 at 0.25° spatial resolution. The Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) has been utilized as a multi-scalar drought index accounting for the effects of temperature variability on drought. Four of the main characteristics of drought including extent, intensity, frequency and duration are studied and the associated spatiotemporal patterns are investigated for …

Decision Support System For The Design And Planning Of Low-Impact Development Practices: The Case Of Seoul, Jae-Yeol Song, Eun-Sung Chung, Soo Hyun Kim

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study presented the conceptual framework of the water-management analysis module (WMAM) to derive effective physical specifications for the design and planning of low-impact development (LID) practices using the storm-water management model (SWMM). This decision-support system can be used for six LID types and has the following key capabilities: determining relevant LID design parameters within the SWMM that critically influence the hydrological cycle components using a simple sensitivity analysis and determining the best hydrological values for LID planning specification. This study analyzed a highly urbanized university campus as a case study to determine the design and planning specifications for an …

Fault Mode Probability Factor Based Fault-Tolerant Control For Dissimilar Redundant Actuation System, Jun Wang, Shaoping Wang, Xingjian Wang, Mileta M. Tomovic, Cun Shi

Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

This paper presents a Fault Mode Probability Factor (FMPF) based Fault-Tolerant Control (FTC) strategy for multiple faults of Dissimilar Redundant Actuation System (DRAS) composed of Hydraulic Actuator (HA) and Electro-Hydrostatic Actuator (EHA). The long-term service and severe working conditions can result in multiple gradual faults which can ultimately degrade the system performance, resulting in the system model drift into the fault state characterized with parameter uncertainty. The paper proposes to address this problem by using the historical statistics of the multiple gradual faults and the proposed FMPF to amend the system model with parameter uncertainty. To balance the system model …

Scalable Urban Mobile Crowdsourcing: Handling Uncertainty In Worker Movement, Shih-Fen Cheng, Cen Chen, Thivya Kandappu, Hoong Chuin Lau, Archan Misra, Nikita Jaiman, Randy Tandriansyah Daratan, Desmond Koh

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this article, we investigate effective ways of utilizing crowdworkers in providing various urban services. The task recommendation platform that we design can match tasks to crowdworkers based on workers’ historical trajectories and time budget limits, thus making recommendations personal and efficient. One major challenge we manage to address is the handling of crowdworker’s trajectory uncertainties. In this article, we explicitly allow multiple routine routes to be probabilistically associated with each worker. We formulate this problem as an integer linear program whose goal is to maximize the expected total utility achieved by all workers. We further exploit the separable structures …

Risk-Sensitive Stochastic Orienteering Problems For Trip Optimization In Urban Environments, Pradeep Varakantham, Akshat Kumar, Hoong Chuin Lau, William Yeoh

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Orienteering Problems (OPs) are used to model many routing and trip planning problems. OPs are a variantof the well-known traveling salesman problem where the goal is to compute the highest reward path thatincludes a subset of vertices and has an overall travel time less than a specified deadline. However, the applicabilityof OPs is limited due to the assumption of deterministic and static travel times. To that end, Campbellet al. extended OPs to Stochastic OPs (SOPs) to represent uncertain travel times (Campbell et al. 2011). Inthis article, we make the following key contributions: (1) We extend SOPs to Dynamic SOPs (DSOPs), …

Integrated Cooperation And Competition In Multi-Agent Decision-Making, Kyle Hollins Wray, Akshat Kumar, Shlomo Zilberstein

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Observing that many real-world sequential decision problems are not purely cooperative or purely competitive, we propose a new model—cooperative-competitive process (CCP)—that can simultaneously encapsulate both cooperation and competition.First, we discuss how the CCP model bridges the gap between cooperative and competitive models. Next, we investigate a specific class of group-dominant CCPs, in which agents cooperate to achieve a common goal as their primary objective, while also pursuing individual goals as a secondary objective. We provide an approximate solution for this class of problems that leverages stochastic finite-state controllers.The model is grounded in two multi-robot meeting and box pushing domains that …

Resource-Constrained Scheduling For Maritime Traffic Management, Lucas Agussurja, Akshat Kumar, Hoong Chuin Lau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We address the problem of mitigating congestion and preventing hotspots in busy water areas such as Singapore Straits and port waters. Increasing maritime traffic coupled with narrow waterways makes vessel schedule coordination for just-in-time arrival critical for navigational safety. Our contributions are: 1) We formulate the maritime traffic management problem based on the real case study of Singapore waters; 2) We model the problem as a variant of the resource-constrained project scheduling problem (RCPSP), and formulate mixed-integer and constraint programming (MIP/CP) formulations; 3) To improve the scalability, we develop a combinatorial Benders (CB) approach that is significantly more effective than …