Engineering Commons^™

Potential Male Contraceptive Effect Of Eriobotrya Japonica Leaves Extract, Alaa Al Moubarak, Manal El Joumaa, Jamilah Borjac

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Nowadays, the stability of population growth is becoming one of the common global social and health problems that could be solved via contraception. Current research in the field of male contraceptives is focusing on the use of oral herbs. Eriobotrya japonica (Loquat) is a medicinal plant that has been commonly valued for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, hypocholesteremic, and antitumor properties. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of the oral administration of loquat aqueous leaves extract on the fertility of male Balb/c mice. For this aim, six-eight-weeks old male Balb/c mice (~25g) were orally administered (100 mg/Kg/day) loquat leaves …

Dielectric Properties Of Cu0.5tl0.5ba2ca2cu3o10-Δ Superconductor Added With Nano-Fe2o3, Aly Abou-Aly, Ibrahim Ibrahim, Nayera Mohammed, Mona Rekaby

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

A series of high-temperature superconducting samples of type Cu0.5Tl0.5Ba2Ca2Cu3O10-δ, (Cu0.5Tl0.5)-1223, added with nano-Fe2O3 (0.0- 1.0 wt. %) was prepared by a solid-state reaction technique via short time preparation procedure and under ambient pressure. The prepared samples were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) for phase analysis and microstructure examination. The volume fraction results indicated that nano-Fe2O3 addition was significant in enhancing the formation rate of the (Cu0.5Tl0.5)-1223 phase, especially for x ≤ 0.2 wt. % samples. The electrical resistivity of the prepared samples was measured by the conventional four-probe technique from …

Customer Churn Analysis Using Binary Logistic Regression Model, Mohammad Abiad, Sorin Ionescu

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

These days, the fundamental target of all organizations is to accomplish a reasonable gainfulness. Organizations are looking to decide the elements, which has direct impact on their benefit and attempt to investigate them so as to pick up favorable circumstances on their rivals. With this solid aggressive market, holding customers turns into the fundamental objective of telecom mobile service providers opposed to drawing in new customers, since the expense of holding a customer is viewed as low contrasted with the expense of pulling in another customer as referenced before by numerous researchers. Thus, Customer Churn Analytics is one of the …

Solvent Effects On The Electronic Absorption Spectra Of Some Analytical Indicators, Mamdouh S. Masoud, Rabah H.A. Mohamed, Hesham M. Kamel, Najat O. M. El-Ziani

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Electronic absorption spectra of selected ligands (Alloxan, Carmine, Naphthol Yellow S, Hematoxylin and Cyanine) were recorded in presence of different solvents (H2O, Ethyl acetate, Ethanol, DMF, Isopropyl alcohol, Amyl alcohol and Butanol) of variable physical properties. The electronic transitions were assigned. The data are analyzed based on the multiple linear regression technique explained from the views of different solvent parameters. Statistical analyses of the effect of solvents on the electronic spectra of the present ligands have been investigated.

Performance Of Concrete Containing Waste Plastic Straw Fibers, Jamal Khatib, Ali Jahami, Oussama Baalbaki, Adel Elkordi, Abed Bakri, Roba Alaina

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Using fibers in concrete applications has become a common practice. This is partly due to improvement in ductility and crack control of concrete. There will be an added advantage if these fibers come from a waste source as it would lead to reduction in environmental pollution and the need for landfill spaces. This paper forms the initial part of a wide range investigation on the use of waste plastic fibers in concrete applications. This study attempts to apply the concept of sustainability and reduces the environmental pollution by producing fibers from waste plastic straws and adding them to plain concrete …

Effect Of Partial Replacement Of Sand By Mswi-Ba On The Properties Of Mortar, Hassan Ghanem, Jamal Khatib, Adel Elkordi

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

Disposal of municipal solid wastes (MSW) has recently become a major problem in Lebanon as finding appropriate landfill is becoming more challenging than ever. Incineration is a technique currently used to reduce the volume of MSW generated. The output of this treatment is a residue well known as Municipal Solid Waste Incineration bottom and fly ash. This study is focused on the mortar containing Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Bottom Ash (MSWI-BA) as partial replacement of sand. For this purpose, mortar specimens were prepared with 25, 50 and 100% (by weight) MSWI-BA to replace the sand. Specimens were cured in water …

Behavior Of Reinforced Concrete Beams Containing Lightweight Aggregate In The Tensile Zone, Jamal Khatib, Ali Jahami, Oussama Baalbaki, Adel Elkordi, Hakim Abdelgader

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

In reinforced concrete design, the concrete in the tensile zone is assumed to be ineffective and increase the dead load of the structural elements. In order to reduce the self-weight, this paper examines the structural behavior of reinforced concrete beams containing lightweight concrete in the tensile region and normal weight concrete in the rest of the beam. The lightweight concrete was made from waste polystyrene. Four reinforced concrete beams were prepared with different depth of lightweight concrete. The control beam B1 consists of normal concrete. In Beams B2, B3 and B4, the depth of lightweight concrete was 25%, 50% and …

Fuzzy Logic Velocity Optimization Of Autonomous Vehicles Based On Road Bump Geometry, Yassine Zein, Mohamad Darwiche

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

In today’s world of fast developing technologies, semi-autonomous vehicles are becoming a common sight and increasing in numbers. Some feature autopilot systems that drive the vehicle without any intervention from the driver in certain situations or warn the driver of dangers ahead. A fully autonomous vehicle is yet to come due to old fashioned road infrastructures that would convey challenging scenarios for it. From speed bumps and traffic lights to road lanes and warning signs, current autopilot systems will have to cope with all. A system that ensures safe crossing of speed bumps when in autopilot mode is discussed in …

Emergency Vehicles Allocation Model For Urban City, Ramzi Fayad, Hadi Abou Chakra

BAU Journal - Science and Technology

The Emergency Medical Service (EMS) plays a vital role in any community. The accessibility, distribution, and utilization of the emergency health care services have a great impact on the effectiveness and the efficiency of the EMS. In this study, an algorithm has been devised to optimize choosing the appropriate station location, allocating the right number of emergency vehicles to a station, and directing the critical and non-critical patients to the most suitable hospitals. XPRESS-MP solver engine was used in this study to derive a deterministic mathematical model using mixed integer linear programming. This model is customized for Beirut city. The …

Filament Winding Composite Airframes For Sounding Rockets, Eric Ford

Student Works

This study’s objective was to determine the feasibility of manufacturing carbon fiber cylinders using an X-Winder filament winder for a structural airframe in sounding rockets. Multiple carbon fiber tubes were manufactured using the X-Winder and tested. The results of this testing successfully demonstrated that tubes manufactured with the X-Winder are capable of performing as an airframe for small sounding rockets. Five tube samples were destructively tested in compression, and the average maximum compressive strength of the tubes was 9,854 lbf. One of the tubes was used as the airframe in a small sounding rocket which flew to 4,042 feet above …

Narmax Identification Based Closed-Loop Control Of Flow Separation Over Naca 0015 Airfoil, Sohaib Obeid, Goodarz Ahmadi, Ratneshwar Jha

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

A closed-loop control algorithm for the reduction of turbulent flow separation over NACA 0015 airfoil equipped with leading-edge synthetic jet actuators (SJAs) is presented. A system identification approach based on Nonlinear Auto-Regressive Moving Average with eXogenous inputs (NARMAX) technique was used to predict nonlinear dynamics of the fluid flow and for the design of the controller system. Numerical simulations based on URANS equations are performed at Reynolds number of 106 for various airfoil incidences with and without closed-loop control. The NARMAX model for flow over an airfoil is based on the static pressure data, and the synthetic jet actuator is …

Yingying Zheng Joins Usu Biological Engineering Department, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

June 29, 2020 — Dr. Yingying Zheng will be joining the Biological Engineering faculty as a tenure-track assistant professor on August 1, 2020.

Novel Injectable Plga-Peg-Plga Self-Assembled Hydrogels For The Extended And Controlled Release Of Dna Nanocarriers To Prevent Secondary Cataracts, Laura L. Osorno

Theses and Dissertations

Cataracts are the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. There are over 20 million cataract surgeries each year, and these cases are expected to double within the next ten years. Over 40% of adults and nearly all children develop secondary cataracts, or posterior capsule opacification (PCO), following cataract surgery. Currently, Nd:YAG laser therapy is used to treat PCO; however, laser therapy is not available worldwide and treatment may have adverse effects on surrounding ocular tissues. Thus, there is a considerable unmet need for more efficacious and convenient treatments to prevent PCO.

Injectable, stimuli-responsive gels were designed using poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)-b-poly(ethylene glycol)) …

Active Deep Learning Method To Automate Unbiased Stereology Cell Counting, Saeed Alahmari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cell quantification in histopathology images plays a significant role in understanding and diagnosing diseases such as cancer and Alzheimers. The gold-standard for quantifying cells in tissue sections is the unbiased stereology approach. Unfortunately, in unbiased stereology current practices rely on a well-trained human to manually count hundreds of cells in microscopy images. However, this human-based manual approach is time-consuming, labor-intensive, subject to human errors, recognition bias, fatigue, variable training, poor reproducibility, and inter-observer error. Thus, the lack of high-throughput technology for automating unbiased stereology analyses remains a major obstacle to further progress in a wide range of neuroscience and cancer …

Designing Silk Protein-Based Composite Materials With Tunable Heat Transfer And Magnetic Properties, Ye Xue

Theses and Dissertations

Renewable and biocompatible silk protein materials with desired physical properties show promising applications in biomedical field. In this work, a set of protein-based composites with desired thermal and magnetic properties, enhanced by the appropriate distribution of nanofillers in the protein matrix in both 2D-film and 1D-fiber forms was investigated. Results indicate that secondary structures of silk protein materials regenerated by a formic acid-calcium chloride method are different from those of their respective natural silk fibers. Intramolecular beta-sheet structures were found to dominate these silk films, causing these regenerated samples to be water-insoluble but more flexible than traditional silk films with …

Spatial Heterogeneity Utilization In Ct Images For Lung Nodule Classication, Dmitrii Cherezov

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer (LC) is leading in the number of deaths among the other types of cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, 135,720 deaths during 2020 in the USA will be associated with LC. The patient 5-year survival rate of 16\% was reported in 1986 and 19% in 2019. One of the reasons why survival rate remains low is that the majority of patients diagnosed with cancer had stages III and IV. In contrast, a 5-year survival rate of 70% was reported for patients of stage IA after surgical resection in the National Lung Screening Trial.

CT screening detects a …

A Low-Cost, Open Source Monitoring System For Collecting High Temporal Resolution Water Use Data On Magnetically Driven Residential Water Meters, Camilo J. Bastidas Pacheco, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Robb J. Tracy

Publications

We present a low-cost (≈$150) monitoring system for collecting high temporal resolution residential water use data without disrupting the operation of commonly available water meters. This system was designed for installation on top of analog, magnetically driven, positive displacement, residential water meters and can collect data at a variable time resolution interval. The system couples an Arduino Pro microcontroller board, a datalogging shield customized for this specific application, and a magnetometer sensor. The system was developed and calibrated at the Utah Water Research Laboratory and was deployed for testing on five single family residences in Logan and Providence, Utah, for …

Poly(Ethylene Oxide) Based Polymer Electrolytes For All-Solid-State Li-S Batteries, Xue Li, Zheng-Liang Gong

Journal of Electrochemistry

In recent years, research on lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries has received much attention because the sulfur positive electrode and the lithium metal negative electrode produce a high theoretical specific capacity (lithium metal ~ 3800 mAh·g^-1, sulfur ~ 1675 mAh·g^-1). In addition, sulfur is considered to be the most promising cathode material for secondary lithium batteries, due to its advantages of low price and environmental friendly. However, the practical application of conventional liquid Li-S batteries is still obstructed by several critical issues, such as lithium ploysulfides shuttle effect, long-term stability of lithium metal anode with organic liquid electrolytes, …

Synthesis And Raman Study Of Hollow Core-Shell Ni1.2Co0.8P@N-C As An Anode Material For Sodium-Ion Batteries, Jia-Hui Chen, Xiao-Bin Zhong, Chao He, Xiao-Xiao Wang, Qing-Chi Xu, Jian-Feng Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

With the increasing demand for large-scale energy storage, great progress has been made in discovering new advanced energy storage materials. Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted much attention in recent years due to their use of abundant sodium resources and their comparable electrochemical capacity to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In this paper, we developed novel hollow core-shell Ni-Co bimetallic phosphide nanocubes with N-doped carbon coatings (Ni_1.2Co_0.8P@N-C) as the anode material for SIBs. The material was synthesized through a low-temperature phosphorization method using resorcinol formaldehyde (RF) resin coating with a Ni-Co Prussian blue analogue (PBA) as a template and …

Preparations Of Nano-MnoX/Ti Electrocatalytic Membrane Electrode For Catalytic Oxidation Of Cyclohexane Using Intermittent Electrodeposition, Xue Zhou, Hong Wang, Zhen Yin, Yu-Jun Zhang, Jian-Xin Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol (KA oil) obtained from highly selective oxidation of cyclohexane (CHA) show important industrial value and application prospects. In this work, the intermittent electrodeposition was developed to prepare nano-MnO_x catalyst loading porous tubular titanium membrane electrode (MnO_x/Ti), which was employed to constitute an electro-catalytic membrane reactor (ECMR) for the oxidation of cyclohexane to produce cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone. The surface morphology, crystal structure and electrochemical property of the catalysts were characterized by FESEM, XRD and electrochemical workstation, respectively. The results show that the catalyst prepared by the intermittent electrodeposition displayed nano-flower-like γ-MnO₂. Compared with …

Recent Advancement In Pseudo-Random Binary Sequence Signals-Based Fast Reconstruction Of Impedance Spectrum And Its Applications In Electrochemical Energy Sources, Wei-Heng Li, Qiu-An Huang, Wei-Ming Yang, Chang-Ping Yang, Jiu-Jun Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

With the extensive application of impedance spectroscopy, the time-consuming issue of its traditional testing methods has become more and more serious, which limits its application range. In the study of accelerating impedance measurement or reconstruction, the synthesis of wideband excitation signals and the design of high efficiency estimation algorithms have been identified as important ways. In view of the purpose of rapid impedance reconstruction, Pseudo-Random Binary Sequence (PRBS) has the advantages of flat power spectrum and easy generation, and has a good application prospect. This paper reviews three core issues in rapid reconstruction of impedance spectrum: PRBS signal types, different …

Preparation Of Α-Hydroxylated Acetal From 2-Butanone By Indirect Electrooxidation, Hai-Qing Huang, Ye Miao, Xin-Sheng Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Acetoin (3-hydroxy-2-butanone) is an important food spice. As a platform compound, it is widely used in medicine, tobacco, cosmetics, chemical material and other industries. In this paper, α-hydroxylated acetal, an intermediate of acetoin, was prepared from 2-butanone by indirect electrooxidation in the plate and frame electrolytic cell, in which graphite plates were used as both an anode and a cathode, while KOH as an electrolyte and KI as a catalyst. Acetoin could be prepared by hydrolysis in acidic aqueous solution from acetoin intermediate. The effects of current density, electrolyte flow rate between the plates, 2-butanone concentration and electrolysis temperature …

Next-Generation Self-Organizing Communications Networks: Synergistic Application Of Machine Learning And User-Centric Technologies, Chetana V. Murudkar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The telecommunications industry is going through a metamorphic journey where the 5G and 6G technologies will be deeply rooted in the society forever altering how people access and use information. In support of this transformation, this dissertation proposes a fundamental paradigm shift in the design, performance assessment, and optimization of wireless communications networks developing the next-generation self-organizing communications networks with the synergistic application of machine learning and user-centric technologies.

This dissertation gives an overview of the concept of self-organizing networks (SONs), provides insight into the “hot” technology of machine learning (ML), and offers an intuitive understanding of the user-centric (UC) …

Electrochemical Oxidation Of Metal Chromium In Odium Hydroxide Aqueous Solution, Ping Han, Hai-Tao Feng, Ya-Ping Dong, Sen Tian, Bo Zhang, Wu Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Ferrochrome electrolysis technology is a novel method for preparing sodium chromate (Na₂CrO₄). Although the method performs well at soft reaction conditions, controllable process, environmentally friendly production process, etc., the electrochemical oxidation process of metal chromium in NaOH aqueous electrolyte is still unclear. At present, there are few research articles about specific electrochemical oxidation of metal chromium in NaOH aqueous electrolyte. It is, therefore, meaningful to carry out the research in electrochemical oxidation mechanism of chromium. The electrochemical oxidation of metal chromium in 0.01 mol·L^-1 ~ 10 mol·L^-1 NaOH aqueous electrolytes at 20 °C was …

Electrochemical Response Of A Single Wire-Electrode Ac Probe In 3.5wt.% Nacl, Zhen-Wen Zou, Da-Jiang Zheng, Zi-Ming Wang, Guang-Ling Song

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper, a recently developed single wire-electrode AC probe technology which does not need a reference or counter electrode was employed to investigate the electrochemical corrosion and sacrificial anode protection behaviors of steel and zinc in 3.5wt.% NaCl. With this simple, fast, reliable and stable probe, the instantaneous corrosion rate and accumulated corrosion loss of carbon steel in 3.5wt.% NaCl were measured, and the results revealed that both were greater than those of zinc. Furthermore, the observed different corrosion behaviors between carbon steel and zinc during the immersion could be caused by their different surface films. With the galvanic …

Stability Studies For A Membrane Electrode Assembly Type Co2 Electro-Reduction Electrolytic Cell, Qing Mao, Bing-Yu Li, Wei-Yun Jing, Jian Zhao, Song Liu, Yan-Qiang Huang, Zhao-Long Du

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electro-catalytic reduction is an efficient way to achieve resourcable transformation of CO₂, which is one of the important techniques to solve the global environmental problems originated from excessive CO₂ emission. In this study, a membrane electrode assembly(MEA) type CO₂ electro-reduction electrolytic cell was constucted, which enables CO₂ feeding and real-time KHCO₃ aqueous updating on both sides of the cathode gas diffusion electrode (GDE). By means of the electrolytic cell, effects of KHCO₃ concentration and updating inside the liquid electrolytic chamber on CO₂ electro-reduction activity, production distribution and stability were investigated. The experimental …

Degradation Mechanism Of Lini0.83Co0.12Mn0.05O2 Cycled At 45 ℃, Hong-Yun Ma, Xiao-Hui Yao, Meng-Yao Miao, Yang Yi, Shao-Zhong Wu, Jiang Zhou

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nickel-rich layered material has been considered as the most promising one for lithium ion batteries due to its high specific capacity. To further improve the lifetime performance, it is significant to investigate the degradation mechanisms deeply. In this study, the degradation mechanism of NCM811 (LiNi_0.83Co_0.12Mn_0.05O₂) being cycled at 45^oC was systematically researched. Electrochemical impedance spectrum (EIS) results showed that the SEI resistance (R_SEI) and charge transfer resistance (R_ct) went up to 83.41% and 211.34% before and after the NCM811 material being cycled at 45^oC, …

Data-Driven And Model-Based Methods With Physics-Guided Machine Learning For Damage Identification, Zhiming Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Structural health monitoring (SHM) has been widely used for structural damage diagnosis and prognosis of a wide range of civil, mechanical, and aerospace structures. SHM methods are generally divided into two categories: (1) model-based methods; (2) data-driven methods. Compared with data-driven SHM, model-based methods provide an updated physics-based numerical model that can be used for damage prognosis when long-term data is available. However, the performance of model-based methods is susceptible to modeling error in establishing the numerical model, which is usually unavoidable due to model simplification and omission. The major challenge of data-driven SHM methods lies in data insufficiency, e.g., …

Brominated Carbon Materials As Positive Electrodes For Nonaqueous Secondary Lithium-Bromine Batteries, Benjamin Beau Peterson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Secondary lithium-bromine (Li-Br₂) batteries have theoretical potentials near 4.1 V vs Li/Li⁺ and capacities more than 2 times greater than conventional Li-ion batteries. Herein, secondary, non-aqueous Li-Br₂ half-cell batteries are reported using a Li metal anode, carbon-coated glass fiber separator, non-aqueous Li-based electrolytes with and without the addition of lithium bromine (LiBr) salt, and positive electrodes consisting of either chemically brominated non-graphitic carbon or carbon derived from the carbonization of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with LiBr embedded into the micro- and mesopores of the carbon matrix. The separator is effective in mitigating the transport of Br_{2 …}

The Interaction Of Ternary Components Of Ionic Liquid Gel Polymer Electrolytes For Lithium Metal Batteries, Xiao-Na Pan, Li-Lai Liu, Zhi-Pu Wang, Dan Wang, Yun Li, Pei-Xia Yang, Jin-Qiu Zhang, Mao-Zhong An

Journal of Electrochemistry

Ionically conductive gel polymer electrolyte is an excellent candidate due to its inflammable, nonvolatile and high thermal stability as compared to commercial liquid electrolytes which are usually flammable, volatile, and containing toxic organic solution as solvent, The synthesis and application of ionic gel polymer electrolytes in lithium ion/metal batteries have been previously reported. However, the interaction effects of N-methyl-N-propylpiperidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (PP13TFSI) ionic liquid (as plasticizer) and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) on PVDF-HFP polymer remain unclear. In this work, the molecular structure of ionic liquid gel polymer electrolyte (ILGPE) composed of PP13TFSI, LiTFSI and PVDF-HFP was studied by Raman spectroscopy and Fourier-transform …