Engineering Commons^™

Review Of Current Healthcare Waste Management Methods And Their Effect On Global Health, Anushree Priyadarshini, Christina Kenny

Articles

Healthcare is a rapidly growing industry as medical treatments become more sophisticated, more in demand due to increasing incidence of chronic disease and more widely available worldwide. This booming industry is also creating more waste than ever before and, as such, there is a growing need to treat and dispose of this waste. Healthcare waste (HCW) disposal includes a multitude of disposal methods, including incineration, landfilling and chemical treatments. These rudimentary methods and their growing use present their own problems that negatively impact both the environ- ment and, in turn, damage public health, thus contributing to a global healthcare crisis. …

Source Localization With Machine Learning, Arjun Gupta

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Source localization with sensor arrays have found applications across domains beginning with radar and sonar, astronomy, acoustics, bio-medical devices and more recently in autonomous cars and adaptive communication systems. The knowledge of the spatial spectrum not only provide information about the source and interference but also assists in increasing signal integrity and avoid interference. This provides an added degree of freedom in the form of spatial diversity. This research investigates spatial spectrum estimation of waveforms from the signals sampled by arbitrarily distributed sensors. Conventional high resolution algorithms such as root-MuSiC fails to perform accurate source localization due to the reliance …

Assessment Of Heavy Metal Concentration In Soils Around Geita The Gold Mine, Tanzania, Mariam G. Mgendi, Mkabwa L. K Manoko, W.J.S. Mwegoha, C. Southway C. Southway

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Health issues related to gold mining cannot be underestimated. Gold mining produce acid mine drainage (AMD), which in turn releases heavy metals into the nearby environment, hence causing environmental pollution. Heavy metals are naturally very toxic, thus pose a great health concern especially when their concentration exceeds the recommended permissible limits. In this study, concentrations of five heavy metals—including Pb, Ni, Cr, Cu and Zn—were assessed in the soil around Geita Gold Mine (GGM). A total of 17 sampling sites were established from which the soil samples were collected at 0-15cm and 15-30cm soil depth. The concentration of both total …

Evaluation Of Egyptian Cotton Fibres Characteristics And Their Performance In Spinning Preparations Using "Afis"., Fawkia El-Habiby, Rizk El-Bealy

Mansoura Engineering Journal

In the present study the authors intended to evaluate the performance and properties of different lots of Egyptian cotton fibres using AFIS system. Cottons were processed in different blowroom lines and carding. Fibre properties of raw cotton and card sliver were examined by AFIS system. Analysis of results showed that, for Egyptian cottons, the percentage of seed coat neps to total neps is about 4%. Egyptian cottons contain low nep count, where the majority of cottons corresponded to 5 and 25% of world level according to Uster Statistics, but are characterized by high trash content, since the majority corresponded to …

Black Unicorns: Stem Access For Black Student-Athletes In Non-Revenue Sports, Leroy Long Iii, Sharnnia Artis, Morris Council Iii

Publications

There is a shortage of literature investigating access to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for Black student-athletes who pursue careers in engineering or a related field in STEM. Particularly, individuals who participate in non-revenue generating sports. This narrative inquiry explores the experiences of six (6) Black student-athletes (two male, four female) pursuing degrees in engineering or a related field in STEM, while participating in soccer and lacrosse at their respective institutions. Through personal narratives, the authors critically analyze Black STEM student-athletes’ access to college preparatory courses and STEM camps. Findings and recommendations are discussed.

Estimating Remaining Useful Life In Machines Using Artificial Intelligence: A Scoping Review, Sameer Sayyad, Satish Kumar, Arunkumar Bongale, Anupkumar Bongale, Shruti Patil

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The remaining useful life (RUL) estimations become one of the most essential aspects of predictive maintenance (PdM) in the era of industry 4.0. Predictive maintenance aims to minimize the downtime of machines or process, decreases maintenance costs, and increases the productivity of industries. The primary objective of this bibliometric paper is to understand the scope of literature available related to RUL prediction. Scopus database is used to perform the analysis of 1673 extracted scientific literature from the year 1985 to 2020. Based on available published documents, analysis is done on the year-wise publication data, document types, language-wise distribution of documents, …

Zooming Into The Pandemic! A Forensic Analysis Of The Zoom Application, Andrew Mahr, Meghan Cichon, Sophia Mateo, Cinthya Grajeda, Ibrahim Baggili

Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Faculty Publications

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has turned the spotlight on video conferencing applications like never before. In this critical time, applications such as Zoom have experienced a surge in its user base jump over the 300 million daily mark (ZoomBlog, 2020). The increase in use has led malicious actors to exploit the application, and in many cases perform Zoom Bombings. Therefore forensically examining Zoom is inevitable. Our work details the primary disk, network, and memory forensic analysis of the Zoom video conferencing application. Results demonstrate it is possible to find users' critical information in plain text and/or encrypted/encoded, such …

The Effects Of Display Type, Weather Type, And Pilot Experience On Pilot Interpretation Of Weather Products, Jayde M. King, Beth Blickensderfer, Thomas A. Guinn, John L. Kleber, Thomas A. Guinn

Publications

The majority of general aviation (GA) accidents involving adverse weather result in fatalities. Considering the high weather-related fatality rate among GA flight operations, it is imperative to ensure that GA pilots of all experience levels can incorporate available weather information into their flight planning. In the past decade, weather product development has incorporated increasing levels of automation, which has led to the generation of high-resolution, model-based aviation displays such as graphical turbulence guidance and current icing potential, which rival the resolution of radar and satellite imagery. This is in stark contrast to the traditional polygonal-based displays of aviation weather hazards …

Course Master Planning, Haroon Stephen, Jee Woong Park

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Our specific teaching practice is to use a course master plan, which is a comprehensive document that provides the embodiment to the course skeleton often given in the syllabus. The master plan strategy addresses the need to provide multi-level perspectives of the course. The master plan provides a one-stop source of information and enables a consistent course delivery in case of multiple instructors assigned to a course in the same semester or on rotation.

Application Of Ultrasonic Measurements For The Evaluation Of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete, Belayhun Gebretsadik, Kazem Jdidirendi, Visar Farhangi, Moses Karakouzian

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

This study investigates the feasibility of the application of ultrasonic measurement to characterize Steel-Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (SFRC). Specifically, the effects of steel fiber content, age, moisture content, and fiber orientation on Ultrasonic-Pulse-Velocity (UPV) were investigated. In this regard, beam and cylindrical samples were fabricated with different steel fiber contents. The result indicated that for beam specimens the UPV increases with the addition of fiber up to 2% and decreases for higher fiber percentages. Additionally, the fiber orientation within the beam specimens influences the UPV measurements. For cylindrical samples, the rate of UPV decreased with the addition of steel fiber reinforcement. In …

Quality Assessment Of Flexible Pavement Automated Cracking Data In Louisiana, Mostafiz Emtiaz

LSU Master's Theses

Pavement distress survey is the most critical and integral part of pavement management system. Transportation agencies all over the world depends on the accurate pavement distress survey to take major decisions like pavement rehabilitation or reconstruction. Pavement management at the network level requires accurate pavement distress survey to decide the allocation of budget for pavement maintenance, rehabilitation and reconstruction. This study started collected network-level cracking distress data through manual measurements on high-resolution pavement images and the results were used as the ground truth measurements to evaluate the corresponding automated distress data from the Pavement Management System database. Results showed that …

An Advanced Machine Learning Based Energy Management Of Renewable Microgrids Considering Hybrid Electric Vehicles’ Charging Demand, Tianze Lan, Kittisak Jermsittiparsert, Sara T. Al-Rashood, Mostafa Rezaei, Loiy Al-Ghussain, Mohammed A. Mohammed

Mechanical Engineering Graduate Research

Renewable microgrids are new solutions for enhanced security, improved reliability and boosted power quality and operation in power systems. By deploying different sources of renewables such as solar panels and wind units, renewable microgrids can enhance reducing the greenhouse gasses and improve the efficiency. This paper proposes a machine learning based approach for energy management in renewable microgrids considering a reconfigurable structure based on remote switching of tie and sectionalizing. The suggested method considers the advanced support vector machine for modeling and estimating the charging demand of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). In order to mitigate the charging effects of HEVs …

Understanding Fatigue Within A Collegiate Aviation Program, Flavio Mendonca, Julius Keller, Erik Levin, Aaron Teo

Publications

Objective: The purpose of this study was fivefold: to investigate the symptoms that would prompt collegiate aviation pilots perceive they are fatigued; to investigate the time of the day they are most fatigued; to investigate their academic and personal schedules; to investigate the methods collegiate aviation pilots utilize to ensure they are fit to fly; and to investigate whether they have received any academic and/or flight fatigue identification and management training.

Background: Fatigue is a pervasive safety hazard in aviation affecting several aspects of flight crew members’ ability to perform their job. Fatigue in aviation and its consequences has been …

Characterization Of Spatial-Mode Properties In Few-Mode Fiber Bragg Gratings And Its Applications, Muhammad Khairol Annuar Zaini

Student Works (2020-2029)

Recently, few-mode fiber (FMF) has gained much research attention compared to single mode fiber (SMF) due to its capability to overcome the capacity limit. FMF based fiber sensors have many distinctive advantages such as cost efficiency, great sensitivity, and have the ability to employ the spatial dimension for multi-parameter sensing with discrimination capability. In this work, an analytical model has been proposed to investigate the relationship of the resonant wavelength shift of a few-mode FBG (FMFBG) to the axial stress of the FMF. By applying the proposed model, the axial stress of an FMFs was determined. Besides, the polariscopic technique …

Age And Sex Differences In Load-Induced Tibial Cortical Bone Surface Strain Maps, Alessandra Carriero, Behzad Javaheri, Neda Bassir Kazeruni, Andrew A. Pitsillides, Sandra J. Shefelbine

Publications and Research

Bone adapts its architecture to the applied load; however, it is still unclear how bone mechano-adaptation is coordinated and why potential for adaptation adjusts during the life course. Previous animal models have suggested strain as the mechanical stimulus for bone adaptation, but yet it is unknown how mouse cortical bone load-related strains vary with age and sex. In this study, full-field strain maps (at 1 N increments up to 12 N) on the bone surface were measured in young, adult, and old (aged 10, 22 weeks, and 20 months, respectively), male and female C57BL/6J mice with load applied using a …

Zein And Lignin-Based Nanoparticles As Delivery Systems: Pesticide Release And Nanoparticle Health Impact On Soybean Plants, Fallon Polette Salinas Gonzalez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research examined the effect of biodegradable, polymeric, lignin-based nanoparticles (LNPs, 113.8±3.4, negatively charged) and zein nanoparticles (ZNP, 141.6±3.9, positively charged) on soybean plant health. The LNPs were synthesized from lignin, covalently linked to poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid by emulsion evaporation. ZNPs were synthesized by nanoprecipitation. Soybeans grown hydroponically were treated with three concentrations (0.02, 0.2, and 2 mg/ml) of NPs at 28 days after germination. The effect of ZNPs and LNPs on plant health was determined through analysis of root and stem length, chlorophyll concentration, dry biomass of roots and stem, as well as carbon, nitrogen, and micronutrient absorption after 1, …

Development Of The Cell-Free Protein Biomanufacturing Platform For The Therapeutic Human Protein Production And The Topical Delivery Applications Using The Nanosized Hydrogel System, Jeehye Kim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Proteins are highly structural polymers, performing an enormous range of roles within organisms. Unlike synthetic polymers, proteins have a significant hierarchical ordering that can be disrupted by many environmental factors, which limits the scale-up manufacturing capability as well as the utilization of proteins as therapeutic agents. In this study, the Cell-Free Protein Synthesis (CFPS) system was developed to enhance the production capacity and applications of the therapeutic proteins. The CFPS is an advanced biosynthetic and genetic-engineered system. It enables the efficient production of proteins when the conventional cell-based protein synthesis systems cannot be applied, and when sophisticated control is required …

Generation Of 3d Model Of Downtown Sullivan, Jim Speer

2020 Fall Reports (Sullivan)

The City of Sullivan identified the downtown area as an area for improvement and needed a way to depict areas. In ENVI 610, one graduate student was able to address the agreed upon goals of developing a 3D model of the downtown square. Some recommendations for future use of the 3D model were made for land-use planning, drainage systems, elevation, and more.

Review Of Contemporary Self-Assembled Systems For The Controlled Delivery Of Therapeutics In Medicine., Laura L Osorno, Alyssa N Brandley, Daniel E Maldonado, Alex Yiantsos, Robert J Mosley, Mark Byrne

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

The novel and unique design of self-assembled micro and nanostructures can be tailored and controlled through the deep understanding of the self-assembly behavior of amphiphilic molecules. The most commonly known amphiphilic molecules are surfactants, phospholipids, and block copolymers. These molecules present a dual attraction in aqueous solutions that lead to the formation of structures like micelles, hydrogels, and liposomes. These structures can respond to external stimuli and can be further modified making them ideal for specific, targeted medical needs and localized drug delivery treatments. Biodegradability, biocompatibility, drug protection, drug bioavailability, and improved patient compliance are among the most important benefits …

Fluorination Of Al₂O₃ Coating For Lithium-Ion Battery, Xinhua Liang, Han Yu

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Improving the performance of cathodes by using surface coatings has proven to be an effective method for improving the stability of Li-ion batteries (LIBs), while a high quality film satisfying all requirements of electrochemical inertia, chemical stability, and lithium ion conductivity has not been found. A composite film composed of AI₂O₃ and AIF3 layers was coated on the surface of Li-rich NMC based electrodes by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The electrochemical characterization results indicated that the coating with 1 cycle of AIF3 ALD on 5 cycles of AI₂O₃ ALD (1 A1 F3-5AI₂O …

Coating Compositions And Methods For Using The Same, Fateme Rezaei, Thomas P. Schuman, Glenn Morrison

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Coating compositions and methods for using the same are disclosed. The coating compositions can include an aminosilica adsorbent. The coating compositions can adsorb CO₂.

Catechol-Based Antimicrobial Polymers, Seyedehfatemeh Razaviamri, Kan Wang, Bo Liu, Bruce P. Lee

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Catechol is a key constituent in mussel adhesive proteins and is responsible for strong adhesive property and crosslinking formation. Plant-based polyphenols are also capable of chemical interactions similar to those of catechol and are inherently antimicrobial. This review reports a series of catechol-based antimicrobial polymers classified according to their antimicrobial mechanisms. Catechol is utilized as a surface anchoring group for adhering monomers and polymers of known antimicrobial properties onto various types of surfaces. Additionally, catechol's ability to form strong complexes with metal ions and nanoparticles was utilized to sequester these antimicrobial agents into coatings and polymer matrices. During catechol oxidation, …

An Adaptive Model To Support Biofeedback In Ami Environments: A Case Study In Breathing Training For Autism, Arturo Morales, Franceli L. Cibrian, Luis A. Castro, Monica Tentori

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Biofeedback systems have shown promising clinical results in regulating the autonomic nervous system (ANS) of individuals. However, they typically offer a “one-size-fits-all” solution in which the personalization of the stimuli to the needs and capabilities of its users has been largely neglected. Personalization is paramount in vulnerable populations like children with autism given their sensory diversity. Ambient intelligence (AmI) environments enable creating effective adaptive mechanisms in biofeedback to adjust the stimuli to each user’s performance. Yet, biofeedback models with adaptive mechanisms are scarce in the AmI literature. In this paper, we propose an adaptive model to support biofeedback that takes …

Assembly And Operation Of An Acoustofluidic Device For Enhanced Delivery Of Molecular Compounds To Cells, Connor S. Centner, Emily M. Murphy, Bryce F. Stamp, Mariah C. Priddy, John T. Moore, Paula J. Bates, Michael Menze, Kavitha Yaddanapudi, Jonathan A. Kopechek

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Efficient intracellular delivery of biomolecules is required for a broad range of biomedical research and cell-based therapeutic applications. Ultrasound-mediated sonoporation is an emerging technique for rapid intracellular delivery of biomolecules. Sonoporation occurs when cavitation of gas-filled microbubbles forms transient pores in nearby cell membranes, which enables rapid uptake of biomolecules from the surrounding fluid. Current techniques for in vitro sonoporation of cells in suspension are limited by slow throughput, variability in the ultrasound exposure conditions for each cell, and high cost. To address these limitations, a low-cost acoustofluidic device has been developed which integrates an ultrasound transducer in a PDMS-based …

Development Of A Modular Mixed-Radiation Directional Rotating Scatter Mask Detection System, Bryan V. Egner, Darren E. Holland, Larry W. Burggraf, James E. Bevins

Faculty Publications

The ability to simultaneously identify the direction of both fast neutrons, above 1 MeV, and gamma rays using a light-weight system consisting of a single 1” EJ-309 organic liquid scintillator and a plastic Spartan rotating scatter mask (RSM) is demonstrated computationally through Monte Carlo simulations and validated with experimental measurements. Two sets of directional measurements were performed with an americium–beryllium source, emitting both neutrons and gamma rays. The RSM identified the direction of the source within one 10° rotational increment in the azimuthal and polar directions based on both the neutron and gamma-ray induced signals discriminated by charge integration pulse-shape …

Peak Reduction And Long Term Load Forecasting For Large Residential Communities Including Smart Homes With Energy Storage, Huangjie Gong, Vandana Rallabandi, Michael L. Mcintyre, Eklas Hossain, Dan M. Ionel

Power and Energy Institute of Kentucky Faculty Publications

Domestic load profiles in the residential sectors are being modified with the adoption of smart home management systems and solar generation. In addition, houses with rooftop PV behave like local generators, contributing to the growth of the penetration of PV energy. Hence, the demand for power is declining day by day. However, the increasing PV penetration causes technical challenges for the power system, such as the “duck curve”. This can be addressed through home energy management (HEM) techniques including peak shaving, load shifting with smart home devices. In this regard, electric water heaters (EWH), with high thermal mass and being …

Strength, Fracture Evolution, And Permeability Changes From Confined Brazilian Tests On Sandstone, Tyler Louis Hagengruber

Civil Engineering ETDs

This research reports on confined Brazilian strength tests and concurrent permeability testing on sandstone. The majority of the tests measured permeability during loading to failure in the confined extension region. Additional testing includes unloading and reloading cycles to detect the development of microcracks and the dependence of permeability on mixed stress conditions. Further testing characterizes fracture networks by observing porosity changes due to microcrack interactions before peak load. All tests involve 5 cm diameter disk-shaped, jacketed samples that are subjected to confining stresses while they are diametrically loaded. Specially designed end caps allow for gas flow measurements. The test configuration …

Molecular Dynamic Simulation Of Protein Devices And The Parameterization Of Azides And Alkynes For Use In Unnatural Amino Acid Models, Addison Kyle Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Proteins that have been modified by attaching them to a surface or to a polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecule can see many uses in therapeutics and diagnostics -- these unique proteins are called protein devices. Current techniques can perform these functionalizations at a specific residue on the protein, but what remains is identifying what happens to protein structure when mutated, and where to perform the attachment. Both of these issues can be examined using molecular dynamic (MD) simulations. Currently, simulations of the unnatural amino acid (uAA) mutations necessary for protein device functionalization cannot be executed, and full-protein screens of all possible …

Laser Vibrational Excitation Of Radicals To Prevent Crystallinity Degradation Caused By Boron Doping In Diamond, L Fan, L Constantin, Z P. Wu, K A. Mcelveen, X G. Chen, F Wang, C Debiemme-Chouvy, B Cui, R Y. Lai, X Li, J F. Silvain, Y F. Lu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Pursuing high-level doping without deteriorating crystallinity is prohibitively difficult but scientifically crucial to unleashing the hidden power of materials. This study demonstrates an effective route for maintaining lattice integrity during the combustion chemical vapor deposition of highly conductive boron-doped diamonds (BDDs) through laser vibrational excitation of a growth-critical radical, boron dihydride (BH₂). The improved diamond crystallinity is attributed to a laser-enabled, thermal nonequilibrium suppression of the relative abundance of boron hydrides (BH), whose excessive presence induces boron segregation and disturbs the crystallization. The BDDs show a boron concentration of 4.3 × 10²¹ cm⁻³, a film …

Wearable Sensing Devices: Towards The Development Of A Personalized System For Construction Safety And Health Risk Mitigation, Chukwuma Nnaji, Ibukun Awolusi, Jeewoong Park, Alex Albert

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Wearable sensing devices (WSDs) are increasingly helping workers stay safe and healthy in several industries. However, workers, especially in the construction industry, have shown some aversion towards the use of WSDs due to their ability to capture specific information that may be considered personal and private. However, this revered information may provide some critical insight needed by management to plan and optimize worksite safety and support technology adoption in decision making. Therefore, there is a need to develop personalized WSD systems that are mutually beneficial to workers and management to ensure successful WSD integration. The present study aims to contribute …