Engineering Commons^™

Sparse And Random Sampling Techniques For High-Resolution, Full-Field, Bss-Based Structural Dynamics Identification From Video, Bridget Martinez, Andre Green, Moises Felipe Silva, David Mascareñas, Yongchao Yang

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Video-based techniques for identification of structural dynamics have the advantage that they are very inexpensive to deploy compared to conventional accelerometer or strain gauge techniques. When structural dynamics from video is accomplished using full-field, high-resolution analysis techniques utilizing algorithms on the pixel time series such as principal components analysis and solutions to blind source separation the added benefit of high-resolution, full-field modal identification is achieved. An important property of video of vibrating structures is that it is particularly sparse. Typically video of vibrating structures has a dimensionality consisting of many thousands or even millions of pixels and hundreds to thousands …

Trades And Apprenticeship Survey 2020: Focus On Wet Trades, Roisin Murphy

Reports

CIF commissioned the Trades and Apprenticeship Survey 2020 – Focus on Wet Trades report to investigate the causes and implications of the low numbers entering wet trades (Bricklaying, floor and wall tiling, Painting and Decorating and Plastering). The objective for commissioning expert research was to fully understand whether the current model is appropriate for the sector or simply requires a new approach.

The research, carried out by Dr. Róisín Murphy, undertook a multi-stakeholder analysis, to determine the causes and challenges facing wet trades and apprenticeship in Ireland.

The report proposes six recommendations and addresses an Apprenticeship model review, Education and …

The Role Of Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) In Management Of Bone Loss And Infection In Revision Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Review, Leyla Hasandoost, Omar Rodriguez, Adel Alhalawani, Paul Zalzal, Emil H. Schemitsch, Stephen D. Waldman, Marcello Papini, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is widely used in joint arthroplasty to secure an implant to the host bone. Complications including fracture, bone loss and infection might cause failure of total knee arthroplasty (TKA), resulting in the need for revision total knee arthroplasty (rTKA). The goals of this paper are: (1) to identify the most common complications, outside of sepsis, arising from the application of PMMA following rTKA, (2) to discuss the current applications and drawbacks of employing PMMA in managing bone loss, (3) to review the role of PMMA in addressing bone infection following complications in rTKA. Papers published between …

Dc Ir-Drop Analysis Of Multilayered Power Distribution Network By Discontinuous Galerkin Method With Thermal Effects Incorporated, Ping Li, Min Tang, Zhi Xiang Huang, Li (Lijun) Jun Jiang, Hakan Bagci

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Due to the temperature-dependent resistivity of power distribution network (PDN) interconnects, a wiser and necessary strategy is to proceed the electrical-thermal cosimulation in order to include the thermal effects caused by Joule heating. As a natural domain decomposition method (DDM), in this article, a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method is proposed to facilitate the steady-state electrical and thermal coanalysis. With the intention to avoid solving a globally coupled steady-state matrix system equations resulted from the implicit numerical flux in DG, the block Thomas method is deployed to solve the entire domain in a subdomain-by-subdomain scheme. As a direct solver, the block …

Effectiveness Of Using Myfpga Platform For Teaching Digital Logic, Junfei Li, Cara Li, Jae Sok Son, Weidong Kuang, Edgar Gil

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Accompanying electric circuits and computer programming, digital logic is deemed one of the most essential parts of any Electrical and Computer Engineering curriculum, so student success in the course is critical. Furthermore, research shows that the academic performance of students is heavily dependent upon student engagement, which is believed to increase with classroom strategies such as flipped-classrooms, cooperative learning, project-based learning, and virtual labs. The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is a Hispanic serving institution with distributive campuses, where many of the students work part-time. With consideration of the special needs of our students and the latest developments …

Antecedents Of Career Development Success: Insights Into 10 Years Of Research, Sara Karam Nassredine, Nasser Fathi Easa

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

This paper intends to review a flow of previous literature on the antecedents of career development success over ten years, from 2008 to 2018. A systematic literature review has been employed to extract the constitution of literature. A total of 41 relevant articles have been extracted from 16 different top ranked journals. Drawing on the literature, a conceptual model is provided as a clear depiction of what has been studied. Specifically, dependent, independents, mediators, and moderators variables are determined. The systematic literature review identifies six main themes; leadership, organizational and individual commitment, talent management, human resources management practices, career management …

Guidelines For Sustainable Construction Methods To Build Over Difficult Topographies, Israa R. Fadel, Marwan Halabi, Hiba Mohsen, Maged Youssef

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Sustainable construction development is a recent term that is required to create an eco-friendly built environment using renewable and recyclable resources and to reduce energy consumption and waste within protecting the natural environment. This term means such an improvement that pleases the current requirements without limitation of the prospect of sustaining requirements in future. Many problems face builders while executing projects, especially these projects were decided to be built over difficult topographies, such as rivers, falls, inclinations, caves, ridges, cliffs, and mountains. Construction challenges to build a project over a difficult topography are diverse starting by executing piles, retaining walls, …

The Reflection Of Effective Interactive Graphic Design, George Nader Naguib Morcos

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Graphic design has a rich history as a creative practice, which connects different design elements to build effective message. It combines typography and visual elements like Illustrations or photos to create a visual message, graphic design is considered as an important branch in the modern communication technology. Graphic design nowadays has becoming more advanced and moves from the static phase to the dynamic phase which includes unlimited technologies like virtual reality, 3D motion and interactivity, which becomes one of the important factors that affects the successes of the visual communication or the message that has to be sent via the …

Effect Of Different Visible Light Curing Systems On The Color Stability Of Resin Cements, Mohamed A. Ibrahim, Ehab A. Farghaly, Sherine B.Y. Badr

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

The present study aimed to compare the color stability of zirconia cemented veneers, using self-etch adhesive cement after curing with various systems and aging process. Materials and methods: A total of 27 veneers zirconia samples were cemented using resin cement on 27 labially prepared extracted anterior teeth to reach a flat surface, and classified into three groups according to the light curing units (LCU); Group I (Cured with Polywave Ivoclar Bluephase style LCU), Group II (Cured with Polywave Woodpecker iLED LCU), Group III (Cured with Monowave 3M Elipar LCU). Results: Monowave LCU exhibited significantly higher color changes than the polywave …

Re-Interpretation Of City’S Radial Expansion In The Developing Countries Through Green Affordable Housingcase Study: Greater Sour Southern Expansion Axis, Lebanon, Maged Youssef, Aya Dikmak

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

The footprint of the city is at major risk. Cities are growing out in a fast and unplanned way thus increasing ground stress, both environmentally and economically. When the population increases, the suburbs are exposed to an amorphous expansion, which leads to a modification in the form and content of the city’s periphery. Greater Sour is one of the coastal cities in Lebanon that passed through major phases of expansion over time and has the potential for major future growth. This growth is resulting in a radial-shaped structure located along the major roads linking the city to the surrounding towns. …

Monitoring Participatory Approaches In Mediterranean Waterfront Developments (El Mina, Lebanon; Alexandria, Egypt; And Antalya, Turkey), Sima El-Cheikh, Mary Felix, Nabil Mohareb, Ibtihal Y. El-Bastawissi

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Public participation is an important tool for communities to influence development decisions for public spaces in general and waterfronts in particular. In coastal cities, waterfronts are an important touristic attraction and are affected by social and economic issues. Users’ activities and responsiveness to waterfront projects are affected by the development types and methods. This study is part of ongoing research aiming to evaluate the participatory approach methods in the waterfronts of Mediterranean cities. It examines three coastal cities that have developed differently based on sustainable development studies. This study is a top–down approach that investigates the applied phases and methods …

Clinical And Radiographic Evaluation Of Periodontal Infrabony Defects Treated With Chitosan In Periodontitis Patients, Nayer Aboelsaad, Roula Abiad

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Chitosan is a naturally derived polymer that has been investigated for its uses as a biomaterial for drug delivery and anti-inflammatory. Recently, chitosan applications in bone regeneration has gained distinct interest. The aim of this study was to. evaluate clinically and radiographically the healing of the periodontal infra-bony defects using chitosan gel in periodontitis patients .Material & methods: Twenty periodontitis patients with bilateral infrabony defects having stage II and Stage III periodontitis were selected according to the criteria of AAP (2017) classification system of periodontal diseases and conditions. Using split mouth design, 20 defects were treated using chitosan gel; while …

The Digital Fabrication Lab Contribution To The Sustainable Development Goals: Exploring Waste Materials And Fabrication Techniques, Marwan Halabi

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

The SDGs, commonly known as Sustainable Development Goals, unveil the shortcomings and deficiencies of the building sector facing of the challenges of the planet. Unfortunately, the news is not positive since the objectives established by the United Nations General Assembly should be reached by 2030. From the 17 goals and 169 targets, a case study was developed in order to test its effectiveness against SDG 9, which deals with Infrastructure, Innovation and Industry. In this sense, technology should play a significant role in the mapping criteria against the objective and its targets. Therefore, an overview of the potential digital tools …

Knowledge Sharing And Innovation At The Lebanese Banking Industry, Sherine Al Ahmad, Nasser Fathi Easa, Nehale Mostapha

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Knowledge is considered the main critical resource for competitive advantage. By encouraging a knowledge‐sharing culture within service settings such as banks, the quality of service is enhanced and the opportunities for innovation is created. This research seeks to test the relationship between knowledge sharing (KS) and innovation. A quantitative and explanatory analysis was done by using Structural equations modeling (SEM) to investigate the effect of KS on process and product innovation. Research data were collected through a survey method. The sample result was determined through a probability stratified sampling technique of about 310 employees at 27 banks in Lebanon. The …

A Legal Perspective On Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr), Tala Zein, Sarah Zein

BAU Journal - Creative Sustainable Development

Recent years have been marked by a remarkable decline in trust and confidence in the economy as well as in the business community, as a growing number of economic scandals are being reported by observers and whistleblowers. The need for better governance and higher ethical standards has become a focal issue for governments, regulators, supervisors and business actors themselves. In this context, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has come to play an increasingly important role in business and corporate regulation, paving the way for ethical business practices, as the concept of corporate social responsibility encompasses key components of economic growth, social …

Computational Modeling Of Recycled Aggregate Concrete Systems, Anuruddha Jayasuriya

Dissertations

Using recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) as a substitution in concrete materials is an excellent way to improve the sustainability of concrete production. However, due to a lack of globally accepted technical guidance, and high material variability, the usage of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) systems is not readily practiced within most structural engineering applications.

To date, the majority of the experimental findings in the literature indicate that RAC is a weaker composite material when compared to a natural aggregate concrete system in terms of mechanical properties such as compressive strength, elastic modulus, tensile strength, flexural strength, fracture energy, and toughness. However, …

Compound Flooding In Coastal Areas Emanating From Inland And Offshore Events, Hamed Behzad Koochaksaraii

Dissertations

The vulnerability of urban populations to natural hazards and climate change is a major theme in many reports on coastal cities with flooding ranking highly among the climate change concerns. Flooding could occur as a result of runoff for inland rainfall that accumulates at the mouth of the estuary to the sea or it could occur due to a storm surge emanating from the ocean. The techniques for modeling the flooding from these events are very different, as they were developed in different scientific fields: hydrology and hydraulic engineering for inland rainfall versus coastal oceanography and coastal engineering for offshore …

Stress-State And Injection-Rate Dependent Damage Processes During The Hydraulic Fracturing Of Granite, Gayani Sasendrika Gunarathna

Dissertations

Hydraulic fracturing is a well-stimulation technique that is employed in field applications, such as enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) and shale oil/gas extraction. This research experimentally investigates the effect of the state of stress and injection rate on the hydraulic fracturing processes. In addition, a displacement discontinuity method (DDM) code, FROCK, is used to model the crack initiation and propagation in a granite specimen under hydraulic fracturing conditions. In order to conduct the experimental work, a test setup capable of applying a triaxial state of stress and water pressure inside pre-fabricated flaws cut in prismatic granite specimens is developed. Additionally, the …

Modulation Of Cerebellar Purkinje Cell Activity With Low Intensity Electric And Ultrasound Stimulation, Ahmet S. Asan

Dissertations

Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques garner significant interest due to their potential to offer instantaneous and region-specific treatments to neurological disorders. The cerebellum is one of the target sites for NIBS methods due to its central role in motor and cognitive functions. Among several modulation techniques, transcranial electric stimulations (tEs), in particular, transcranial direct and alternating current stimulations (tDCs/tACs), and low intensity focused ultrasound stimulation (LIFUS) show encouraging outcomes in clinical applications. tDCs and tACs are favored due to their low cost and accessibility while LIFUS offers high spatial resolution and deeper penetration without affecting the surrounding structures. In order …

Subspace Portfolios: Design And Performance Comparison, Anqi Xiong

Dissertations

Data processing and engineering techniques enable people to observe and better understand the natural and human-made systems and processes that generate huge amounts of various data types. Data engineers collect data created in almost all fields and formats, such as images, audio, and text streams, biological and financial signals, sensing and many others. They develop and implement state-of-the art machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms using big data to infer valuable information with social and economic value. Furthermore, ML/AI methodologies lead to automate many decision making processes with real-time applications serving people and businesses. As an example, mathematical …

Efficient Hardware Implementations Of Bio-Inspired Networks, Anakha Vasanthakumaribabu

Dissertations

The human brain, with its massive computational capability and power efficiency in small form factor, continues to inspire the ultimate goal of building machines that can perform tasks without being explicitly programmed. In an effort to mimic the natural information processing paradigms observed in the brain, several neural network generations have been proposed over the years. Among the neural networks inspired by biology, second-generation Artificial or Deep Neural Networks (ANNs/DNNs) use memoryless neuron models and have shown unprecedented success surpassing humans in a wide variety of tasks. Unlike ANNs, third-generation Spiking Neural Networks (SNNs) closely mimic biological neurons by operating …

Mechanical Characterization Of Animal Derived Starting Materials For Tissue Engineering, Bin Zhang

Dissertations

Animal derived starting materials are well established in the production of Tissue Engineered Medical Devices. Porcine specifically can be found in products ranging in application from hernia repair to breast reconstruction. Although this material has been largely accepted in the Tissue Engineering industry, little is known of its material properties and mechanical characteristics. A review of the scientific literature describes limited mechanical measures only on uncontrolled research grade material. The objective of this work is to mechanically characterize porcine starting material used in the medical device industry. Porcine skin is provided by Midwest Research Swine, LLC (MRS) an established supplier …

Communications With Spectrum Sharing In 5g Networks Via Drone-Mounted Base Stations, Liang Zhang

Dissertations

The fifth generation wireless network is designed to accommodate enormous traffic demands for the next decade and to satisfy varying quality of service for different users. Drone-mounted base stations (DBSs) characterized by high mobility and low cost intrinsic attributes can be deployed to enhance the network capacity. In-band full-duplex (IBFD) is a promising technology for future wireless communications that can potentially enhance the spectrum efficiency and the throughput capacity. Therefore, the following issues have been identified and investigated in this dissertation in order to achieve high spectrum efficiency and high user quality of service.

First, the problem of deploying DBSs …

Scanless Optical Coherence Tomography For High-Speed 3d Biomedical Microscopy, Yahui Wang

Dissertations

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a high-resolution cross-sectional imaging modality that has found applications in a wide range of biomedical fields, such as ophthalmology diagnosis, interventional cardiology, surgical guidance, and oncology. OCT can be used to image dynamic scenes, in quantitative blood flow sensing and visualization, dynamic optical coherence elastography, and large-scale neural recording. However, the spatiotemporal resolution of OCT for dynamic imaging is limited by the approach it takes to scan the three-dimensional (3-D) space. In a typical OCT system, the incident light is focused to a point at the sample. The OCT system uses mechanical scanners (galvanometers or …

Identification Of Neurobiological Mechanisms Associated With Attention Deficits In Adults Post Traumatic Brain Injury, Ziyan Wu

Dissertations

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is one of the major public health concerns with approximately 70 million new cases occurring worldwide per year. It is often caused by a forceful bump, blow, or jolt to the head, resulting in brain tissue damage and normal brain functions disruption. All grades of TBI, ranging from mild to severe, can cause wide-ranging and long-term effects on affected individuals, resulting in physical impairments, and neurocognitive consequences that permanently affect their abilities to perform daily activities. Attention deficits are the most common persisting neurocognitive consequences following TBI, which significantly contribute to poor academic and social functioning, …

Numerical And Analytical Methods To Predict Behavior Of Reinforced Ductile Concrete Composites, Mandeep Pokhrel

Dissertations

Structural components constructed with ductile concrete composites, such as high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites (HPFRCC), are known to perform exceptionally well under extreme mechanical and environmental loading conditions compared to traditional concrete. HPFRCC flexural components exhibit enhanced performance in terms of displacement ductility, energy dissipation capacity, and damage tolerance capacity. However, recent research suggests that the flexural behavior of reinforced HPFRCCs in terms of crack progression, reinforcement plasticity, and failure mechanism is significantly different than conventional reinforced concrete. Specifically, the failure mode of flexural members is found to be predominantly through the fracture of longitudinal reinforcement rather than compression crushing of …

Coding Against Stragglers In Distributed Computation Scenarios, Malihe Aliasgari

Dissertations

Data and analytics capabilities have made a leap forward in recent years. The volume of available data has grown exponentially. The huge amount of data needs to be transferred and stored with extremely high reliability. The concept of "coded computing", or a distributed computing paradigm that utilizes coding theory to smartly inject and leverage data/computation redundancy into distributed computing systems, mitigates the fundamental performance bottlenecks for running large-scale data analytics.

In this dissertation, a distributed computing framework, first for input files distributedly stored on the uplink of a cloud radio access network architecture, is studied. It focuses on that decoding …

Calculating Elastic Properties Of Confined Simple Fluids, Christopher D. Dobrzanski

Dissertations

Confinement in nanoporous materials is known to affect many properties of the fluids confined within their pores. The elastic properties are no exception. This dissertation begins with an overview of the relevant literature on ways of obtaining elastic properties of confined fluids. It outlines some fundamental gaps in our understanding. The chapters following address some of these gaps in understanding elastic properties of the confined fluid, in particular, how the shape of the confining pore matters, how supercriticality effects the properties, how an equation of state designed for confined fluids can be used to calculate elastic properties, and if an …

Neurobiological Markers For Remission And Persistence Of Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Yuyang Luo

Dissertations

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders in children. Symptoms of childhood ADHD persist into adulthood in around 65% of patients, which elevates the risk for a number of adverse outcomes, resulting in substantial individual and societal burden. A neurodevelopmental double dissociation model is proposed based on existing studies in which the early onset of childhood ADHD is suggested to associate with dysfunctional subcortical structures that remain static throughout the lifetime; while diminution of symptoms over development could link to optimal development of prefrontal cortex. Current existing studies only assess basic measures including regional brain activation …

The Impact Of Conversion On The Durability Of Calcium Aluminate Cement Concrete Systems, Marwa Mohsen Korayem

Dissertations

The deterioration of infrastructure in North America has resulted in a significant need for concrete repair materials that can be used to maintain service life of these structures. Hydraulic cement based rapid repair materials can be used to repair pavement and bridge deterioration with minimal impact on economic activities such as freight handling or public transportation. While there are many options for use in repair situations, calcium aluminate cements have become more popular recently, particularly in situations where repairs must be completed rapidly.

Calcium aluminate cement (CAC) is a cement characterized by its rapid strength gain, even at low temperatures …