Engineering Commons^™

Classification Of North Africa For Use As An Extended Pseudo Invariant Calibration Sites (Epics) For Radiometric Calibration And Stability Monitoring Of Optical Satellite Sensors, Mahesh Shrestha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An increasing number of Earth-observing satellite sensors are being launched to meet the insatiable demand for timely and accurate data to help the understanding of the Earth’s complex systems and to monitor significant changes to them. The quality of data recorded by these sensors is a primary concern, as it critically depends on accurate radiometric calibration for each sensor. Pseudo Invariant Calibration Sites (PICS) have been extensively used for radiometric calibration and temporal stability monitoring of optical satellite sensors. Due to limited knowledge about the radiometric stability of North Africa, only a limited number of sites in the region are …

Cadmium Sulfide-Buffered Pv Systems: Assessing The Environmental, Health, And Economic Impacts, Maqsood Ali Mughal, Rajesh Sharma

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science

As the world’s population continues to grow, global energy crises are expected to rise in the future, thus accelerating the demand for renewable energy technology, particularly solar photovoltaics. The energy sector will face an increasingly complex array of interlocking challenges - technological, environmental, health, economic, and regulatory. In this paper, we study CdS, a widely used buffer material in thin film photovoltaics, to assess and monetize environmental, health, and socio-economic externalities associated with the use of the material. Currently, CdS has a significant advantage over other alternate buffer materials in terms of efficiency and low-cost production of large-area processing of …

Analysis Of Construction Fall Protection Guardrails In A Population With Changing Anthropometrics, Connor S. Klinzing

Masters Theses

The construction trade has commonly been cited as one of the most dangerous industries within the United States, with falls from elevation being the most predominate cause for injuries and deaths. The OSHA standards related guardrails has not changed since its implementation in 1970. These standards originally derive from the 1950s, which expect a 160-pound person with 40 pounds of equipment, tools, etc. However, the anthropometries of the common working age citizen has dramatically changed in respects to their weight. This study examines the relationship of the guardrail system to the changing anthropometries to determine if a reform is necessary …

New Approach For Temporal Stability Evaluation Of Pseudo-Invariant Calibration Sites (Pics), Fatima Tuz Zafrin Tuli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pseudo-Invariant Calibration Sites (PICS) are one of the most popular methods for in-flight vicarious radiometric calibration of Earth remote sensing satellites. The fundamental question of PICS temporal stability has not been adequately addressed. However, the main purpose of this work is to evaluate the temporal stability of a few PICS using a new approach. The analysis was performed over six PICS (Libya 1, Libya 4, Niger 1, Niger 2, Egypt 1 and Sudan 1). The concept of a “Virtual Constellation” was developed to provide greater temporal coverage and also to overcome the dependence limitation of any specific characteristic derived from …

Empirical Absolute Calibration Model For Multiple Pseudo-Invariant Calibration Sites, Bipin Raut

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work extends an empirical absolute calibration model initially developed for the Libya 4 Pseudo-Invariant Calibration Site (PICS) to five additional Saharan Desert PICS (Egypt 1, Libya 1, Niger 1, Niger 2, and Sudan 1), and demonstrates the efficacy of the resulting models at predicting sensor top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance. It attempts to generate absolute calibration models for these PICS that have an accuracy and precision comparable to or better than the current Libya 4 model, with the intent of providing additional opportunities for sensor calibration. In addition, this work attempts to validate the general applicability of the model to other …

Evaluation Of An Extended Pics (Epics) For Calibration And Stability Monitoring Of Optical Satellite Sensors, Md Nahid Hasan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pseudo Invariant Calibration Sites (PICS) have been increasingly used as an independent data source for on-orbit radiometric calibration and stability monitoring of optical satellite sensors. Generally, this would be a small region of land that is extremely stable in time and space, predominantly found in North Africa. Use of these small regions, referred to as traditional PICS, can be limited by: i) the spatial extent of an individual Region of Interest (ROI) and/or site; ii) and the frequency of how often the site can be acquired, based on orbital patterns and cloud cover at the site, both impacting the time …

Assessing The Grit And Mindset Of Incoming Engineering Students With An Emphasis On Gender, Ines Direito, Shannon Chance, Emanuela Tilley, John Mitchell

Conference papers

Engineering programs can be very demanding, particularly in the first years where students encounter new forms of highly challenging coursework. To better prepare and support students, educators must acknowledge non-academic factors, such as the role of self-beliefs and personal attributes. Education research suggests that students are more likely to give up and disengage from their studies when they lack grit or assume a fixed mindset. Previous studies suggest that female students are generally grittier but less confident when compared to male students. This paper presents the initial work of an ongoing study to explore self-confidence and motivations to study engineering …

Improving The Redundancy Of Knuth?S Balancing Scheme For Packet Transmissionsystems, Elie Ngomseu Mambou, Ebenezer Esenogho, Hendrik Ferreira

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

A simple scheme was proposed by Knuth to generate binary balanced code words from any information word. However, this method is limited in the sense that its redundancy is twice that of the full sets of balanced codes. The gap between Knuth?s algorithm?s redundancy and that of the full sets of balanced codes is significantly considerable. This paper attempts to reduce that gap. Furthermore, many constructions assume that a full balancing can be performed without showing the steps. A full balancing refers to the overall balancing of the encoded information together with the prefix. We propose an efficient way to …

A Hybrid Feature-Selection Approach For Finding The Digital Evidence Of Web Application Attacks, Mohammed Babiker, Eni̇s Karaarslan, Yaşar Hoşcan

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The most critical challenge of web attack forensic investigations is the sheer amount of data and level of complexity. Machine learning technology might be an efficient solution for web attack analysis and investigation. Consequently, machine learning applications have been applied in various areas of information security and digital forensics, and have improved over time. Moreover, feature selection is a crucial step in machine learning; in fact, selecting an optimal feature subset could enhance the accuracy and performance of the predictive model. To date, there has not been an adequate approach to select optimal features for the evidence of web attack. …

Identifying Criminal Organizations From Their Social Network Structures, Muhammet Serkan Çi̇nar, Burkay Genç, Hayri̇ Sever

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Identification of criminal structures within very large social networks is an essential security feat. By identifying such structures, it may be possible to track, neutralize, and terminate the corresponding criminal organizations before they act. We evaluate the effectiveness of three different methods for classifying an unknown network as terrorist, cocaine, or noncriminal. We consider three methods for the identification of network types: evaluating common social network analysis metrics, modeling with a decision tree, and network motif frequency analysis. The empirical results show that these three methods can provide significant improvements in distinguishing all three network types. We show that these …

Prey-Predator Algorithm For Discrete Problems: A Case For Examination Timetabling Problem, Surafel Luleseged Tilahun

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The prey-predator algorithm is a metaheuristic algorithm inspired by the interaction between a predator and its prey. Initial solutions are put into three categories: the better performing solution as the best prey, the worst performing solution as a predator, and the rest as ordinary prey. The best prey totally focuses on exploiting its neighborhood while the predator explores the search space searching for a promising region in the search space. The ordinary prey will be affected by these two extreme search behaviors of exploration and exploitation. The algorithm has been tested and found to be effective in solving different problems …

An Improved Form Of The Ant Lion Optimization Algorithm For Image Clustering Problems, Meti̇n Toz

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

This paper proposes an improved form of the ant lion optimization algorithm (IALO) to solve image clustering problem. The improvement of the algorithm was made using a new boundary decreasing procedure. Moreover, a recently proposed objective function for image clustering in the literature was also improved to obtain well-separated clusters while minimizing the intracluster distances. In order to accurately demonstrate the performances of the proposed methods, firstly, twenty-three benchmark functions were solved with IALO and the results were compared with the ALO and a chaos-based ALO algorithm from the literature. Secondly, four benchmark images were clustered by IALO and the …

Identifying Preferred Solutions In Multiobjective Combinatorial Optimization Problems, Banu Lokman, Mustafa Murat Köksalan

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

We develop an evolutionary algorithm for multiobjective combinatorial optimization problems. The algorithm aims at converging the preferred solutions of a decision-maker. We test the performance of the algorithm on the multiobjective knapsack and multiobjective spanning tree problems. We generate the true nondominated solutions using an exact algorithm and compare the results with those of the evolutionary algorithm. We observe that the evolutionary algorithm works well in approximating the solutions in the preferred regions.

Large-Scale Round-Trip Delay Time Analysis Of Ipv4 Hosts Around The Globe, Ali̇ Gezer

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Design and optimization of many network applications, services, protocols, and routing protocols can be improved with delay-related measurement for a better operation over the Internet. Many experimental delay measurements have been performed on predetermined end-to-end connections with a less number of hosts compared to our study. This study aims to investigate up-to-date round-trip delay time measurement results over the Internet through pinging random IPv4 addresses from three vantage points located in the United States, Turkey, and Japan. Considering different time periods in a day and in consecutive 5 years, we performed a large-scale round-trip delay time analysis study by sending …

A Distributed Measurement Architecture For Inferring Tcp Round-Trip Times Through Passive Measurements, Fatih Abut

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The round-trip time (RTT), defined as the time elapsed for transmission of a data packet to travel from one endpoint to the other and back again, is an important parameter for Internet quality. This paper proposes an extended version of the well-known SYN/ACK (SA) methodology for passively measuring the RTTs over Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connections. Differently from the original version of the SA methodology and the rest of studies in the related literature, the proposed passive methodology measures not only the total RTT of an end-to-end connection but also the proportion of the existing connection sections on this entire …

Optimal Siting, Sizing, And Parameter Tuning Of Statcom And Sssc Using Mpso And Remote Coordination Of The Facts For Oscillation Damping Of Power Systems, James Garba Ambafi, Sunusi Sani Adamu

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In electromechanical oscillation damping within power system, power system stabilizers (PSSs) are often deployed. However, a PSS is less effective in damping interarea oscillation and is limited by changes in network configuration due to weak tie-lines and load variations. Consequently, this paper presents a wide-area coordination approach that damps interarea oscillations using FACTS devices and phasor measurement units. We selected a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) and static series synchronous compensator (SSSC) for realistic power system interarea oscillation damping. The performance of the coordinated FACTS installed in a power system depends on their suitable locations, sizes, tuned parameters, and remote input …

Effect Of Model Of Care And Comorbidities On Multiple-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment In Nigeria, Oluremilekun Comfort Kusimo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is a public health problem in several countries such as Angola, India, China, Kenya, and Nigeria. Due to the increasing high burden of MDR-TB, most of these countries do not have adequate capacities to manage MDR-TB patients effectively. This study investigated the effect of model of care; human immunodeficiency virus comorbidity; and demographic factors such as age, gender, and marital status on the treatment outcomes of MDR-TB patients in Nigeria. The study was based on the analysis of secondary data of 402 MDR-TB patients accessed from the data systems of the National Tuberculosis, Buruli Ulcer, and Leprosy …

Microemulsion Based Soil Remediation Using Mixed Anionic And Extended Nonionic Surfactant, Virin Kittithammavong

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

The anionic-nonionic mixed system has a synergistic effect on the microemulsion formation by a reduction of interfacial tension. The challenge of the mixed surfactant based on soil remediation is how to find the appropriate condition. This study aims to investigate the phase behaviors of the anionic-nonionic mixed systems and to formulate their hydrophilic-lipophilic deviation (HLD) equations. Then the mixed surfactant solutions are applied to determine the oil removal efficiency. The conventional anionic surfactants (i.e., sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium dihexyl sulfosuccinate (SDHS), and sodium dioctyl sulfosuccinate (AOT)) and the extended nonionic surfactants (i.e., alcohol ethoxylate series (AE(EOn) and alkyl polyglycol …

การดูดซับไอบูโพรเฟนโดยตัวกลางดูดซับแบบโครงข่ายโลหะสารอินทรีย์ Mil-53(Al) ที่เคลือบเมโสพอรัสซิลิกา, บุญฤทธิ์ ศิริรังสรรค์กุล

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประส่งค์เพื่อศึกษาประสิทธิภาพการดูดซับสารตกค้างจากยากลุ่มยาต้านการอักเสบที่ไม่ใช่สเตียรอยด์ไอบูโพรเฟน (IBP) ในนำ้เสียสังเคราะห์ โดยตัวกลางดูดซับโครงข่ายโลหะอินทรีย์ MIL-53(Al) และ MIL-53(Al) ที่เคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาที่สัดส่วนต่างๆ นอกจากนี้ยังศึกษาเสถียรภาพของ MIL-53(Al) ในนำ้เสียสังเคราะห์ทั้งก่อนและหลังการเคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกา รวมถึงการศึกษาการนำตัวกลางดูดซับกลับมาใช้ใหม่ภายหลังจากฟื้นสภาพตัวกลางดูดซับด้วยเมธานอล จากผลการทดลองกระบวนการดูดซับภายใต้ระบบทีละเท พบว่า MIL-53(Al) มีอัตราเร็วในการดูดซับไอบูโพรเฟนสูงกว่าถ่านกัมมันต์ชนิดผง (PAC) โดยเข้าสู่สมดุลภายใน 75 นาที และเมื่อทำการเคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาที่สัดส่วนต่างๆ พบว่าอัตราเร็วในการดูดซับเพิ่มขึ้นอย่างมาก โดยใช้ระยะเวลาในการเข้าสู่สมดุลภายใน 25 และจลนพลศาสตร์การดูดซับของตัวกลางดูดซับทั้งหมดสอดคล้องกับจลนพลศาตร์การดูดซับเสมือนลำดับที่ 2 ในขณะที่ตัวกลางดูดซับเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาเพียงอย่างเดียวไม่พบการดูดซับ โดย MIL-53(Al) มีความสามารถในการดูดซับสูงสุด เมื่อเคลือบเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาที่สัดส่วนโดยโมลของ MIL-53(Al) ต่อเตตระเอธิลออร์โธซิลิเกต (TEOS) เท่ากับ 1:0.48 มีความสามารถในการดูดซับไอบูโพรเฟนสูงกว่าสัดส่วนอื่นๆ และไอโซเทอมการดูดซับสอดคล้องกับแบบจำลองของเรดลิช-ปีเตอร์สัน ถึงแม้ว่าการเคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาจะมีประสิทธิภาพในการดูดซับลดลง แต่ยังมีความสามารถในการดูดซับใกล้เคียงกับ PAC จากการศึกษาเสถียรภาพพบว่า MIL-53(Al) ที่เคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกามีเสถียรภาพเพิ่มขึ้นและมีการชะละลายของสารอินทรีย์และโลหะน้อยลง นอกจากนี้ MIL-53(Al) ที่เคลือบชั้นเมโสพอรัสซิลิกาสามารถนำกลับมาใช้ใหม่ได้ถึง 2 ครั้งหลังจากสกัดด้วยเมทานอล ในขณะที่ MIL-53(Al) ไม่สามารถในการดูดซับไอบูโพรเฟนได้อีกเมื่อนำกลับมาใช้ใหม่ในครั้งที่ 2 เนื่องจากการพังทลายของโครงสร้าง

Design And Testing Of A Wind Energy Harnessing System For Forced Convective Drying Of Grain In Low Wind Speed, Warm And Humid Climates, Francis Akumabi Agbali

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Forced convective drying using a wind turbine mechanically connected to a ventilation fan was hypothesized for low cost and rapid grain drying in developing countries. The idea was tested using an expandable wind turbine blade system with variable pitch, at low wind speeds in a wind tunnel. The design was based on empirical and theoretical models embedded in a graphical user interface (GUI) created to estimate airflow-power requirements for drying ear corn. Output airflow (0.0016 - 0.0052 m³kg^-1s^-1) increased within the study wind speed range (2.0 - 5.5 m/s). System efficiency peak (8.6%) was …

Simplifying Techniques Applied To Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling Of Methane Explosions, Laura Steeves

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

Traditional methods of studying underground coal mine explosions are limited to observations and data collected during experimental explosions. These experiments are expensive, time-consuming, and require major facilities, such as the Lake Lynn Experimental Mine. The development of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling of explosions can help minimize the need for large-scale testing. This thesis utilized the commercial CFD software, SC/Tetra, to examine three case studies. The first case study modeled the combustion of methane in a scaled shock tube, measuring approximately 1 foot by 1 foot, by 20.5 feet long, with a methane cloud of 2.5 feet in length, at …

Hydrologic Impacts And Trade-Offs Associated With Forest-Based Bioenergy Development Across The Americas, Azad Heidari

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

A simulation-based framework for studying hydrologic impacts and associated tradeoffs for existing and proposed biofuel projects in the US (poplar), Argentina (eucalyptus) and Mexico (oil palm) is developed. For each case study, a representative watershed is selected and a SWAT model is set up and calibrated for an improved simulation of hydrologic processes and plant growth cycles. Potential bioenergy scenarios are developed that represent various planting densities, harvest cycles, fertilization and irrigation rates, land cover types being converted, slope, and locations across the watershed.

Simulations indicate that growth and biomass production are significantly dependent on nitrogen availability, making fertilization a …

A Seed Dormancy Gene-Mediated Biotechnology To Mitigate Transgene Flow Into Weedy Rice, Luai Nahar Muhammad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Transgene flows into wild/weedy relatives may cause ecological and economic problems. Seed dormancy is an adaptive trait that distributes germination over time and promotes persistence of weeds in agroecosystems. Silencing natural genes controlling seed dormancy (SD) could promote germination and reduce weed adaptability. The goal of this project was to develop a transgenic mitigation (TM) technology by linking to a primary transgene with an SD gene-silencing structure, as a tandem construct for transformation, to reduce the risk of gene flow into weed populations. In this research, the Bar (Bialaphos) gene for resistance to the glufosinate herbicide was used as a …

Need For Aeromedical Evacuation High-Level Containment Transport Guidelines, Shawn G. Gibbs, Jocelyn J. Herstein, Aurora B. Le, Elizabeth L. Beam, Theodore J. Cieslak, James V. Lawler, Joshua L. Santarpia, Terry L. Stentz, Kelli R. Kopocis-Herstein, Chandran Achutan, Gary W. Carter, John J. Lowe

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Circumstances exist that call for the aeromedical evacuation high-level containment transport (AE-HLCT) of patients with highly hazardous communicable diseases. A small number of organizations maintain AE-HLCT capabilities, and little is publicly available regarding the practices. The time is ripe for the development of standards and consensus guidelines involving AE-HLCT.

Metadata-Based Image Collecting And Databasing For Sharing And Analysis, Xi Wu

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

Data collecting and preparing is generally considered a crucial process in data science projects. Especially for image data, adding semantic attributes when preparing image data provides much more insights for data scientists. In this project, we aim to implement a general-purpose central image data repository that allows image researchers to collect data with semantic properties as well as data query. One of our researchers has come up with the specific challenge of collecting images with weight data of infants in least developed countries with limited internet access. The rationale is to predict infant weights based on image data by applying …

A Diverse Band-Aware Dynamic Spectrum Access Architecture For Connectivity In Rural Communities, Vijay K. Shah

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

Ubiquitous connectivity plays an important role in improving the quality of life in terms of economic development, health and well being, social justice and equity, as well as in providing new educational opportunities. However, rural communities which account for 46% of the world's population lacks access to proper connectivity to avail such societal benefits, creating a huge "digital divide" between the urban and rural areas. A primary reason is that the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) providers have less incentives to invest in rural areas due to lack of promising revenue returns. Existing research and industrial attempts in providing connectivity …

Aviation Automation And Cns/Atm-Related Human-Technology Interface: Atsep Competency Considerations, Adeyinka Olumuyiwa Osunwusi

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Abstract

The aviation industry has, no doubt, undergone profound transformations ever since the first powered aircraft flight on December 17, 1903. An especially noticeable aspect of the transformations is in the area of automation. Remarkably, aviation operations are becoming increasingly automated and it is expected that the wind of change sweeping through the industry will be getting stormier as new technologies emerge especially within the context of the emerging prospects of intelligent technologies, which may ultimately enthrone complete automated or technology-based intelligent decision making. Perhaps, in no sphere of the aviation system has there been, in recent times, a much …

Actual Evapotranspiration And Crop Coefficients Of Irrigated Lowland Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Under Semiarid Climate, Koffi Djaman, Daran R. Rudnick, Yonnelle D. Moukoumbi, Abdoulaye Sow, Suat Irmak

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Lowland irrigated rice is the predominant crop produced in the Senegal River Valley characterized by very low annual rainfall, high temperatures, and low relative humidity. The Senegal River is shared by Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, and Guinea, and serves as the main source of irrigation water for the adopted double rice cropping system. Developing appropriate resource management strategies might be the key factor for the sustainability of rice production in the region. This study aims to estimate rice seasonal evapotranspiration (ETa), irrigation water requirement, and to develop rice growth stage specific crop coefficients (Kc) to improve rice water productivity. Field experiments …

Techno- Economic Feasibility Study Of Solar Water Pumping For Public Facilities In Nigeria, Anamika Singh

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This thesis presents a techno-economic feasibility analysis of solar water pumping systems in public facilities located in rural parts of Nigeria. Three different public facilities namely, a primary health care center in Ibwa (PHC, Ibwa), a comprehensive health care center in Kwali (CHC, Kwali), and the LEA Primary School in Mapa (LEA School, Mapa), all located in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, were analyzed. The facilities considered in the study have varying levels of water demand (micro, small, and medium), and they are used as cases to establish the techno-economic suitability of solar water pumping systems to deliver water …

Computational Modeling And Simulations Of Condition Deterioration To Enhance Asphalt Highway Pavement Design And Asset Management, Zul Fahmi Bin Mohamed Jaafar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A nation’s economy and prosperity depend on an efficient and safe transportation network for public mobility and freight transportation. A country’s road network is recognized as one of the largest public infrastructure assets. About 93 percent of 2.6 million miles of paved roads and highways in the United States (U.S.) are surfaced with asphalt. Longitudinal roughness, pavement cracking, potholes, and rutting are the major reasons for rehabilitation of asphalt roads. Billions of dollars are required annually for the maintenance and rehabilitation of road networks. If timely maintenance and rehabilitation are not performed, the pavement damages inflicted by heavy traffic repetitions …