Engineering Commons^™

In-Plane Vibration Of Hammerhead Resonators For Chemical Sensing Applications, Luke A. Beardslee, Christopher Carron, Kemal S. Demirci, Jonathan Lehman, Steven Schwartz, Isabelle Dufour, Stephen M. Heinrich, Fabien Josse Phd, Oliver Brand

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Thermally excited and piezoresistively detected in-plane cantilever resonators have been previously demonstrated for gas- and liquid-phase chemical and biosensing applications. In this work, the hammerhead resonator geometry, consisting of a cantilever beam supporting a wider semicircular “head”, vibrating in an in-plane vibration mode, is shown to be particularly effective for gas-phase sensing with estimated limits of detection in the sub-ppm range for volatile organic compounds. This paper discusses the hammerhead resonator design and the particular advantages of the hammerhead geometry, while also presenting mechanical characterization, optical characterization, and chemical sensing results. These data highlight the distinct advantages of the hammerhead …

Localized Dielectric Loss Heating In Dielectrophoresis Devices, Tae Joon Kwak, Imtiaz Hossen, Rashid Bashir, Woo-Jin Chang, Chung-Hoon Lee

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Temperature increases during dielectrophoresis (DEP) can affect the response of biological entities, and ignoring the effect can result in misleading analysis. The heating mechanism of a DEP device is typically considered to be the result of Joule heating and is overlooked without an appropriate analysis. Our experiment and analysis indicate that the heating mechanism is due to the dielectric loss (Debye relaxation). A temperature increase between interdigitated electrodes (IDEs) has been measured with an integrated micro temperature sensor between IDEs to be as high as 70 °C at 1.5 MHz with a 30 V_pp applied voltage to our ultra-low …

Second-Order Fault Tolerant Extended Kalman Filter For Discrete Time Nonlinear Systems, Xin Wang, Edwin E. Yaz

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

As missing sensor data may severely degrade the overall system performance and stability, reliable state estimation is of great importance in modern data-intensive control, computing, and power systems applications. Aiming at providing a more robust and resilient state estimation technique, this paper presents a novel second-order fault-tolerant extended Kalman filter estimation framework for discrete-time stochastic nonlinear systems under sensor failures, bounded observer-gain perturbation, extraneous noise, and external disturbances condition. The failure mechanism of multiple sensors is assumed to be independent of each other with various malfunction rates. The proposed approach is a locally unbiased, minimum estimation error covariance based nonlinear …

Comparative Study Of Winding Configurations Of A Five-Phase Flux-Switching Pm Machine, Hao Chen, Xiangdong Liu, Ayman M. El-Refaie, Jing Zhao, Nabeel Demerdash, Jiangbiao He

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper introduces a general method for determination of the most suitable winding configurations for five-phase flux-switching permanent magnet (FSPM) machines, associated with feasible stator/rotor-pole combinations. Consequently, the effect of winding configurations on the performance of a five-phase outer-rotor FSPM machine is thoroughly investigated, including non-overlapping concentrated windings (single-layer, double-layer, and multi-layer) as well as distributed winding. The electromagnetic characteristics in the low-speed region, the flux-weakening capability in the high-speed region, and the fault-tolerant capability under faulty situations are evaluated and compared in detail. This work shows that compared with the conventional single-layer or double-layer concentrated windings, the FSPM machine …

Comparison And Design Optimization Of A Five-Phase Flux-Switching Pm Machine For In-Wheel Traction Applications, Hao Chen, Xiangdong Liu, Nabeel Demerdash, Ayman M. El-Refaie, Jing Zhao, Jiangbiao He

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A comparative study of five-phase outer-rotor flux-switching permanent magnet (FSPM) machines with different topologies for in-wheel traction applications is presented in this paper. Those topologies include double-layer winding, single-layer winding, C-core, and E-core configurations. The electromagnetic performance in the low-speed region, the flux-weakening capability in the high-speed region, and the fault-tolerance capability are all investigated in detail. The results indicate that the E-core FSPM machine has performance advantages. Furthermore, two kinds of E-core FSPM machines with different stator and rotor pole combinations are optimized, respectively. In order to reduce the computational burden during the large-scale optimization process, a mathematical technique …

Method For Spatial Overlap Estimation Of Electroencephalography And Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Responses, N. Heugel, E. Liebenthal, Scott A. Beardsley

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Simultaneous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) measurements may represent activity from partially divergent neural sources, but this factor is seldom modeled in fMRI-EEG data integration.

New method

This paper proposes an approach to estimate the spatial overlap between sources of activity measured simultaneously with fMRI and EEG. Following the extraction of task-related activity, the key steps include, 1) distributed source reconstruction of the task-related ERP activity (ERP source model), 2) transformation of fMRI activity to the ERP spatial scale by forward modelling of the scalp potential field distribution and backward source reconstruction (fMRI source simulation) …

An Evaluation Of The Host Response To An Interspinous Process Device Based On A Series Of Spine Explants: Device For Intervertebral Assisted Motion (Diam®), Jeffrey M. Toth, Justin D. Bric

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background:

The objective of this study was to evaluate the host response to an interspinous process device [Device for Intervertebral Assisted Motion (DIAM®)] based on a series of nine spine explants with a mean post-operative explant time of 35 months.

Methods:

Explanted periprosthetic tissues were processed for histology and stained with H&E, Wright-Giemsa stain, and Oil Red O. Brightfield and polarized light microscopy were used to evaluate the host response to the device and the resultant particulate debris. The host response was graded per ASTM F981-04. Quantitative histomorphometry was used to characterize particle size, shape, and area per ASTM F1877-05. …

Electrocoagulation As A Pretreatment For Electroxidation Of E. Coli, William Lynn, Joe Heffron, Brooke Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Insufficient funding and operator training, logistics of chemical transport, and variable source water quality can pose challenges for small drinking water treatment systems. Portable, robust electrochemical processes may offer a strategy to address these challenges. In this study, electrocoagulation (EC) and electrooxidation (EO) were investigated using two model surface waters and two model groundwaters to determine the efficacy of sequential EC-EO for mitigating Escherichia coli. EO alone (1.67 mA/cm², 1 min) provided 0.03 to 3.9 logs mitigation in the four model waters. EC alone (10 mA/cm², 5 min) achieved ≥1 log E. coli mitigation in all …

Flexibility Of Remediation Methods For Winding Open Circuit Faults In A Multiphase Pm Machine Considering Iron Losses Minimization, Fan Wu, Ayman M. El-Refaie

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

The flexibility of post-fault control in multiphase machine systems stems from their multiple degrees of freedom. A post-fault loss-minimization method is proposed and investigated in this paper, in which both the machine copper and iron losses are considered during the derivation of post-fault remediation methods. Therefore, machine efficiency during post-fault operation can be further improved compared to the conventional stator-ohmic-loss-minimization approach. In addition, the combination of three key factors/constraints that can influence the post-fault control strategy of a six-phase permanent magnet (PM) machine has been investigated. By comparing four selected remediation methods based on three constraints, the pros and cons …

Power Law Growth And Delayed Feedbacks In Socio‐Hydrological Systems, Anthony J. Parolari, Gabriele Manolia

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Water infrastructure dynamics result from coupled social and physical hydrological processes embedded in “socio‐hydrological systems” (SHSs). Freshwater fuels socioeconomic activity, which in turn exerts pressure on water resources through increased water demand and water quality degradation. Many factors emphasize the need for quantitative tools to predict the future of these systems, including SHS failures due to growing water scarcity from population growth and climate change. However, unfolding the interactions between social and hydrological factors continues to resist theoretical treatment, impeding progress toward a predictive framework. To resolve this issue, we propose and evaluate time delays as surrogates for the social …

Stormwater Management Actions Under Regulatory Pressure: A Case Study Of Southeast Wisconsin, Walter M. Mcdonald, Joseph Naughton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

In the United States, new legislation has given regulatory authorities greater oversight of municipal stormwater management programs. However, estimating the impact of greater oversight on municipal actions is difficult due to the uncertainty in current compliance efforts and their associated costs. This paper seeks to fill this gap through a case study of NPDES stormwater runoff permit reports from municipalities in Southeast Wisconsin. Specifically, this study evaluates the reported actions and expenditures against socioeconomic variables to identify the relationships between cost, socioeconomics, and the best management practices (BMPs) used for compliance. Results indicate that there are distinct differences between municipalities …

Pharmacokinetics Of 99mTc-Hmpao In Isolated Perfused Rat Lungs, Anne V. Clough, Katherine Barry, Benjamin Michael Rizzo, Elizabeth R. Jacobs, Said H. Audi

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Lung uptake of technetium-labeled hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime (HMPAO) increases in rat models of human acute lung injury, consistent with increases in lung tissue glutathione (GSH). Since ^99mTc-HMPAO uptake is the net result of multiple cellular and vascular processes, the objective was to develop an approach to investigate the pharmacokinetics of ^99mTc-HMPAO uptake in isolated perfused rat lungs. Lungs of anesthetized rats were excised and connected to a ventilation-perfusion system. ^99mTc-HMPAO (56 MBq) was injected into the pulmonary arterial cannula, a time sequence of images was acquired, and lung time-activity curves were constructed. Imaging was repeated with a range …

Role Of The Cortex In Visuomotor Control Of Arm Stability, Dylan B. Snyder, Scott A. Beardsley, Brian D. Schmit

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Whereas numerous motor control theories describe the control of arm trajectory during reach, the control of stabilization in a constant arm position (i.e., visuomotor control of arm posture) is less clear. Three potential mechanisms have been proposed for visuomotor control of arm posture: 1) increased impedance of the arm through co-contraction of antagonistic muscles, 2) corrective muscle activity via spinal/supraspinal reflex circuits, and/or 3) intermittent voluntary corrections to errors in position. We examined the cortical mechanisms of visuomotor control of arm posture and tested the hypothesis that cortical error networks contribute to arm stabilization. We collected electroencephalography …

A Dual-Modality Smartphone Microendoscope For Quantifying The Physiological And Morphological Properties Of Epithelial Tissues, Xiangqian Hong, Tongtong Lu, Liam Fruzyna, Bing Yu

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

We report a nonconcurrent dual-modality fiber-optic microendoscope (named SmartME) that integrates quantitative diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and high-resolution fluorescence imaging (FLI) into a smartphone platform. The FLI module has a spatial resolution of ~3.5 µm, which allows the determination of the nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio (N/C) of epithelial tissues. The DRS has a spectral resolution of ~2 nm and can measure the total hemoglobin concentration (THC) and scattering properties of epithelial tissues with mean errors of 4.7% and 6.9%, respectively, which are comparable to the errors achieved with a benchtop spectrometer. Our preliminary in vivo studies from a single healthy human subject …

Vibration Propagation On The Skin Of The Arm, Valay A. Shah, Maura Casadio, Robert A. Scheidt, Leigh A. Mrotek

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Vibrotactile interfaces are an inexpensive and non-invasive way to provide performance feedback to body-machine interface users. Interfaces for the upper extremity have utilized a multi-channel approach using an array of vibration motors placed on the upper extremity. However, for successful perception of multi-channel vibrotactile feedback on the arm, we need to account for vibration propagation across the skin. If two stimuli are delivered within a small distance, mechanical propagation of vibration can lead to inaccurate perception of the distinct vibrotactile stimuli. This study sought to characterize vibration propagation across the hairy skin of the forearm. We characterized vibration propagation by …

High-Sensitivity Magnetic Sensors Based On Gmi Microwire-Saw Idt Design, Akila Khatun, Florian Bender, Fabien Josse Phd, Arnold Kweku Mensah-Brown, R. Dyche Anderson

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This work presents a design approach for a highly sensitive, miniaturized magnetic sensor. The design makes use of GMI microwires and a multi-electrode SAW IDT. The use of SAW IDTs allows for the magnetic effect of the GMI microwire to be measured through the transduction process. This approach permits simultaneous measurement at different frequencies of operation, enabling highly sensitive measurement over a wide range of magnetic fields. This technique may find application in magnetic sensing for non-invasive battery SOC measurement.

Vibration Alert Bracelet For Notification Of The Visually And Hearing Impaired, Kelsey Conley, Alex Foyer, Patrick Hara, Tom Janik, Jason Reichard, Jon D'Souza, Chandana Tamma, Cristinel Ababei

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

This paper presents the prototype of an electronic vibration bracelet designed to help the visually and hearing impaired to receive and send emergency alerts. The bracelet has two basic functions. The first function is to receive a wireless signal and respond with a vibration to alert the user. The second function is implemented by pushing one button of the bracelet to send an emergency signal. We report testing on a prototype system formed by a mobile application and two bracelets. The bracelets and the application form a complete system intended to be used in retirement apartment communities. However, the system …

Quantification Of Mitochondrial Membrane Potential In The Isloated Rat Lung Using R6g, Anthony Cammarata

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Mitochondrial membrane potential (Δm) plays a key role in vital mitochondrial functions, and its dissipation is a hallmark of mitochondrial dysfunction in various cell types. The objective of this study was to develop an experimental and computational approach for estimating Δm in intact rat lungs using the lipophilic fluorescent cationic dye rhodamine 6G (R6G). Rat lungs were isolated and connected to a ventilation-perfusion system. The experimental Protocol consisted of three single-pass phases: loading, wash, and uncoupling, in which the lungs were perfused with R6G-containing perfusate, fresh R6G-free perfusate, or R6G-free perfusate containing the mitochondrial uncoupler FCCP, respectively. This Protocol was …

Biomethane Production From Biodegradable Plastics, Nicholas John Norio Benn

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Organic polymer plastics are often short-lived commodities for single-use that result in landfill buildup and persistence in the environment. Plastic waste accumulation can cause ecological damage. Plastic production continues to outpace plastic waste management and perpetuates the growing epidemic of plastic pollution. More efficient handling of plastics would be beneficial. One improvement involves biodegradable plastics (i.e., bioplastics), particularly polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), which can alleviate environmental concerns stemming from mismanagement. Yet, there are currently no bioplastic waste management strategies scalable to handle the millions of pounds of bioplastics that enter the waste stream. Therefore, new bioplastic resource recovery …

Chemical Pretreatment And Dewaterability Of Aanaerobically Digested Bio-P Biosolids, Eileen Margaret Kennedy

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Phosphorous (P) effluent regulations from water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) have become more stringent to reduce the damage of eutrophication caused by excess amounts of P. Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) is a popular method to help comply with these regulations combined with other practices such as filtration. However, the sludges from facilities that employ EBPR (bio-P sludges) are difficult to dewater and require more polymer than conventional sludge, thereby increasing the cost of solids handling at these facilities. The monovalent to divalent (M/D) cation ratio, which is important in dewatering, is reportedly altered during the EBPR process. P speciation …

Differential Cortical Activation During The Perception Of Moving Objects Along Different Trajectories, Finnegan J. Calabro, Scott A. Beardsley, Lucia M. Vaina

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Detection of 3D object-motion trajectories depends on the integration of two distinct visual cues: translational displacement and looming. Electrophysiological studies have identified distinct neuronal populations, whose activity depends on the precise motion cues present in the stimulus. This distinction, however, has been less clear in humans, and it is confounded by differences in the behavioral task being performed. We analyzed whole-brain fMRI, while subjects performed a common time-to-arrival task for objects moving along three trajectories: moving directly towards the observer (collision course), with trajectories parallel to the line of sight (passage course), and with trajectories perpendicular to the line of …

Impact Of Hurricane Harvey On The Results Of Regional Flood Frequency Analysis, Walter M. Mcdonald, Joseph Naughton

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Hurricane Harvey was an unprecedented event that resulted in immense damage to life and property. As a result, it is important to determine how this event, as well as past and future events like it, will impact engineering design equations that are based upon historical data, such as flood frequency analysis equations. This study seeks to contribute to this discussion by evaluating the extent to which Harvey influenced estimations of instantaneous peak discharges in rural ungauged basins in southeast Texas. Results indicate that Harvey significantly increased the computations of design floods using Log‐Pearson Type III analysis (e.g., 3–55% for 2‐year …

Electrochemical Removal Of Estrogenic Compounds From Drinking Water, Emily Maher

Dissertations (1934 -)

Estrogenic compounds in water pose a range of ecological health risks such as fish feminization and public health risks including reproductive health issues, precocious puberty, cancer, and increased rates of obesity and diabetes. Drinking water treatment systems were not designed to remove estrogenic compounds. This research evaluated the use of advanced drinking water treatment processes, specifically electrocoagulation (EC) and electrooxidation (EO), for the removal of estrogenic compounds. Bench-scale experiments revealed that, during EC, current density correlated well with an increase in estrogenic compound removal, while conductivity did not impact removal. Higher stir rates and faster polarity reversal times improved estrogenic …

Mechanisms Of Virus Mitigation And Suitability Of Bacteriophages As Surrogates In Drinking Water Treatment By Iron Electrocoagulation, Joe Heffron, Brad Mcdermid, Emily Maher, Patrick J. Mcnamara, Brooke K. Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Emerging water treatment technologies using ferrous and zero-valent iron show promising virus mitigation by both inactivation and adsorption. In this study, iron electrocoagulation was investigated for virus mitigation in drinking water via bench-scale batch experiments. Relative contributions of physical removal and inactivation, as determined by recovery via pH 9.5 beef broth elution, were investigated for three mammalian viruses (adenovirus, echovirus, and feline calicivirus) and four bacteriophage surrogates (fr, MS2, P22, and ΦX174). Though no one bacteriophage exactly represented mitigation of the mammalian viruses in all water matrices, bacteriophage ΦX174 was the only surrogate that showed overall removal comparable to that …

Registration Of Total Hip Replacement Implants From Subjects Imaged With 1.5 And 3 Tesla Mri Scanners Using Mavric, Theodore Lawrence Degroot

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Introduction: Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a common treatment to correct arthritis and necrosis ailing the hip joint. An array of diseases can occur in response to the presence and wear of the implant. MRI is an imaging modality that can assess and diagnosis the diseases ailing the periprosthetic tissues, however images of a metal implants are susceptible to artifacts. Aim 1 of this study was to register the THAs imaged at 3T to 1.5T images; Aim 2 was to validate that metal susceptibility artifacts increase with field strength.Methods: 21 subjects with a total of 29 hip prosthetics that …

A Comparison Of Model Reduction Techniques For Multi-Zone Building Thermal Models, John Burroughs

Master's Theses (2009 -)

In this thesis model order reduction techniques are applied to a set of systems representing the thermodynamics of a multi-zone building. The models are intended to be used in a model predictive control (MPC) application, with the individual zones defined using a simplified two temperature model. There has been an increased interest in model identification and reduction for MPC applications of building models that include multi-zone and non-linear models, but the most of this work has focused on models where individual zones are represented with a higher order model. Manual pole/zero removal, dominant eigenvalue, and balanced model reduction methods are …

Magnetic Gears And Magnetically Geared Electrical Machines With Reduced Rare-Earth Materials, Ali Hussain Al-Qarni

Master's Theses (2009 -)

This thesis covers a new emerging class of electrical machines, namely, Magnetic Gears (MGs) and Magnetically Geared Machines (MGMs). This particular kind of gears/machines are able of either scaling up or down the revolution-per-minute to meet various load profiles as in the case of mechanical gearboxes. Mechanical gearboxes have historically dominated various applications due to their relatively high torque density. However, mechanical gearboxes require physical contact between the rotational components, whereas MGs and MGMs accomplish fundamentally the same function via a contactless mechanism. This physical isolation between the rotational components lead to several advantages in a favor of MGs and …

Sequential Electrocoagulation-Electrooxidation For Virus Mitigation In Drinking Water, Joe Heffron, Donald R. Ryan, Brooke K. Mayer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Electrochemical water treatment is a promising alternative for small-scale and remote water systems that lack operational capacity or convenient access to reagents for chemical coagulation and disinfection. In this study, the mitigation of viruses was investigated using electrocoagulation as a pretreatment prior to electrooxidation treatment using boron-doped diamond electrodes. This research is the first to investigate a sequential electrocoagulation-electrooxidation treatment system for virus removal. Bench-scale, batch reactors were used to evaluate mitigation of viruses in variable water quality via: a) electrooxidation, and b) a sequential electrocoagulation-electrooxidation treatment train. Electrooxidation of two bacteriophages, MS2 and ΦX174, was inhibited by natural organic …

Communication Of Recommendations For The Disposal Of Unused Prescription Opioid Medications By Stakeholders In The News Media, Megan Lynn Petrik, Patrick J. Mcnamara, Susan M. Moeschler, Benjamin D. Blair

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Objective

The opioid epidemic is a national public health emergency that requires a comprehensive approach to reduce opioid-related deaths. Proper and timely disposal of unused prescription opioids is one method to deter improper use of these medications and prevent overdose. The objective of this study was to understand how recommendations for disposing of unused prescription opioids, including both take-back programs and toilet disposal, are communicated to the public.

Methods

Two hundred sixty-three US newspaper articles published between January 1, 2014, and June 30, 2017, containing information on opioids and take-back programs were found using LexisNexis. Using content analysis, articles were …

Methane Yield And Lag Correlate With Bacterial Community Shift Following Bioplastic Anaerobic Co-Digestion, Kaushik Venkiteshwaran, Nicholas Benn, Saba Seyedi, Daniel Zitomer

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Past plastic management practices have resulted in pollution. An improved management scenario may involve adding used bioplastic to anaerobic digesters to increase methane for renewable energy. In this work, effects of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) bioplastic anaerobic co-digestion with synthetic primary sludge on operation and microbial communities were investigated. Co-digesters treating sludge were co-fed 20% untreated or pretreated (55 °C, pH 12) PHB. Pretreatment resulted in shorter lag (5 d shorter) before methane production increased after co-digestion. At steady-state, co-digesters converted 86% and 91% of untreated and pretreated PHB to methane, respectively. Bacterial communities were different before and after bioplastic co-digestion, whereas …