Engineering Commons^™

Review Of Biomechanical Studies And Finite Element Modeling Of Sternal Closure Using Bio-Active Adhesives, Amatulraheem Al-Abassi, Marcello Papini, Mark R. Towler

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The most common complication of median sternotomy surgery is sternum re-separation after sternal fixation, which leads to high rates of morbidity and mortality. The adhered sternal fixation technique comprises the wiring fixation technique and the use of bio-adhesives. Adhered sternal fixation techniques have not been extensively studied using finite element analysis, so mechanical testing studies and finite element analysis of sternal fixation will be presented in this review to find the optimum techniques for simulating sternal fixation with adhesives. The optimal wiring technique should enhance bone stability and limit sternal displacement. Bio-adhesives have been proposed to support sternal fixation, as …

The Growth Of Polarization Domains In Ultrathin Ferroelectric Films Seeded By The Tip Of An Atomic Force Microscope, Mohammad Zamani-Alavijeh, Timothy A. Morgan, Adrian V. Kuchuk, Gregory J. Salamo

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Piezoresponse force microscopy is used to study the velocity of the polarization domain wall in ultrathin ferroelectric barium titanate (BTO) films grown on strontium titanate (STO) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The electric field due to the cone of the atomic force microscope tip is demonstrated as the dominant electric field for domain expansion in thin films at lateral distances greater than about one tip diameter away from the tip. The velocity of the domain wall under the applied electric field by the tip in BTO for thin films (less than 40 nm) followed an expanding process given by Merz's …

Electronic Fingerprint Safe, Bryton Flecker, Carlos Bucheli, Tristan Arias

Mechatronics Final Projects

The objective for this project was to create a lockbox storage solution which used a fingerprint sensor (3) as the mechanism for locking and unlocking the device. A user of the device would have the ability to add or remove up to four fingerprints from the device while it is unlocked. As a backup measure for the event that a fingerprint is no longer recognized, the lockbox will have a preprogrammed PIN assigned to the device which the user can enter to unlock it. User input was implemented via a series of buttons (5) on the front panel of the …

A Remote-Controllable Robotics Platform Based On The Pic16f88 Microcontroller, Clyde Johnson, Matthew Roche, Max Ulmer

Mechatronics Final Projects

The goal of this mechatronics system design project is to create a simple robotics control and interface platform using a Microchip PIC processor. The intent is for this platform to be able to host a wide variety of simple sensors, displays, and outputs that can be carried around by its drive. The platform will be able to take in and interpret 2.4GHz remote-control signals.

For a novel twist on remote-control robotics, we have designed this robot to be encapsulated within an acrylic sphere. It is platformed on a 3D-printed chassis that holds upright its two geared DC motors that rest …

Vinyl Player, Cooper Adams, Joshua Geer, Drew Gray

Mechatronics Final Projects

The goal for our final project was to design and manufacture a record player capable of producing music using a 12 inch LP or 7-inch single vinyl record. When powered, the record player spins the vinyl at a specific speed, and using the needle sound vibrations are sent to an audio amplifier to output sound. A motor is used to control the desired speed and rotate the plate which the vinyl record is placed on. Figure 1 shows a simplified sketch of the needle cartridge system; the system consists of a needle and an attached magnet that is placed near …

The Effects Of Microgravity On Human Endothelial Cells In Relation To Deep Vein Thrombosis, Allie Burgess

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a condition where blood clots form in one or more of the deep veins of the body, causing leg pain and/or swelling, potentially leading to pulmonary embolism and/or stroke. The incidence of DVT among astronauts serving on the International Space Station has been shown to be greater than that of the general population, calling into question the effects of microgravity on human thrombolytic processes. Additionally, microgravity conditions have been shown to cause muscular atrophy and a decrease in muscle strength and mobility. Because collagen composes a large portion of muscle tissue, this study also assessed …

Hydrogel Drug Delivery Platform Integrity And Utilization Analysis, Joshua Carson Adams

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) generally results in permanent sensorimotor dysfunction. This is due to failed axonal regeneration at the site of injury. Recent studies have highlighted the use of stem-cell based therapies embedded in hydrogel to treat SCI. Embedding cell therapies in hydrogel provides a platform that increases the survival of both integrated grafted cells and stem cells/stem cell progeny. There are a variety of drug delivery agents for treating SCI such as neuro-regenerative cells and Schwann cells, however, single agents are not promising for functional regeneration. We propose a combinatorial approach using sciatic nerve (SN) extracellular matrix (ECM), …

Determination Of Tissue-Level Changes In Tumors That Are Indicative Of Metastasis Using Optical Spectroscopy, Sanidhya D. Tripathi

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Breast cancer, accounting for 12% of all new cancer cases, is one of the leading causes of death in women worldwide. Although patient survival has improved over the years, metastatic spread to other organ sites and not due to the primary tumor is the most common form of tumor recurrence, accounting for 90% deaths. Hypoxia is a common hallmark of solid tumors and is linked with metastasis, therapeutic resistance, and poor patient survival. Defined as a state of decreased oxygen availability, cells under hypoxia have an increased rate of genetic mutation, local invasion, and resistance to treatment such as radiation …

Characterizing The Expression Pattern And Function Of Tartan During Drosophila Development, Alaina Baggett

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The development of complex structures and organs by multicellular organisms relies on the ability of epithelial cells to self-organize. Epithelia are sheets of connected cells, and compartment boundaries are formed between certain epithelial cells to create distinct tissue compartments. Compartment boundaries are specialized cell-cell interfaces that are enriched for the cytoskeletal proteins actin and myosin, leading to straight cell edges under relatively high tension that act as fences keep cells from moving between compartments. In the model organism Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly), compartment boundaries in the early embryo are established in response to the non-uniform striped expression of the cell-surface …

Designing Autonomous Drone For Food Delivery In Gazebo/Ros Based Environments, Hrishitva Patel

Computer Science and Engineering Research

There has been a growing global trend towards convenience, speed, and ease in delivery services, and this has been further accelerated by the COVID pandemic. With the everincreasing demand for easily accessible deliveries and expanded delivery service coverage, it has become critical that innovations in this space be developed to further ensure the industry’s smooth operation. With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the inadequacies became more apparent, emphasizing the need to revolutionize and accelerate the trend in order to meet the increased demand. Drone delivery systems are of particular interest in this context because they can enable faster and …

Cu And Ni Co-Sputtered Heteroatomic Thin Film For Enhanced Nonenzymatic Glucose Detection, Brianna Barbee, Baleeswaraiah Muchharla, Adetayo Adedeji, Abdennaceur Karoui, Kishor Kumar Sadasivuni, Mizaj Shabil Sha, Aboubakr M. Abdullah4, Gymama Slaughter, Bijandra Kumar

Bioelectrics Publications

In this work, we report a wafer-scale and chemical-free fabrication of nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) heteroatomic Cu–Ni thin films using RF magnetron sputtering technique for non-enzymatic glucose sensing application. The as-prepared wafer-scale Cu–Ni thin films exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity toward glucose oxidation with a 1.86 μM detection limit in the range of 0.01 mM to 20 mM range. The Cu–Ni film shows 1.3- and 5.4-times higher glucose oxidation activity in comparison to the Cu and Ni electrodes, respectively. The improved electrocatalytic activity is attributed to the synergistic effect of the bimetallic catalyst and high density of grain boundaries. The …

Flow Characteristics Through Granular Soil Influenced By Saline Water Intrusion: A Laboratory Investigation, Sudip Basack, Ghritartha Goswami, Hadi Khabbaz, M Karakouzian

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

The coastal geoenvironment initiates saline water intrusion into the freshwater aquifers, producing a geohydraulic problem. Such intrusion not only contaminates the fresh groundwater resources, making them unsuitable for human use, but also alters the hydraulic conductivity of the aquifer materials, which affects the coastal groundwater flow, influencing the water resources planning and management. Past investigations reveal that the groundwater flow can be linear or nonlinear depending upon the hydraulic gradient. Thus, the coefficients of nonlinear hydraulic conductivities are affected by saltwater intrusion. The present study focuses on an in-depth laboratory investigation into the influence of saltwater submergence on the nonlinear …

Solid-State Formation Mechanisms Of Core–Shell Microstructures In (Zr,Ta)B2 Ceramics, Anna N. Dorner, Frédéric Monteverde, William Fahrenholtz, Gregory E. Hilmas

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Transition metal diborides with core–shell microstructures have demonstrated excellent mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. Previous studies concluded that core–shell microstructures were formed by liquid-assisted mass transport mechanisms, but in this study, we propose a solid-state formation mechanism for core-shell microstructures in (Zr,Ta)B2 ceramics produced by reaction hot pressing and in ZrB2-TaB2 diffusion couples. Diffusion couple experiments demonstrated that core–shell microstructures developed as a result of Ta diffusion along ZrB2 grain boundaries, which occurred concurrently with lattice diffusion of Ta into ZrB2. These findings suggest that with optimization of batching and processing parameters, core–shell diboride materials may be formed through solid-state …

Use Of Saturated Lightweight Sand To Improve The Mechanical And Microstructural Properties Of Uhpc With Fiber Alignment, Huanghuang Huang, Le Teng, Xiaojian Gao, Kamal Khayat, Fazhou Wang, Zhichao Liu

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper studied the influence of pre-saturated lightweight sand (LWS) on the mechanical and microstructural properties of UHPC cast with steel fiber alignment. The changes in hydration kinetics, porosity, nano-mechanical, and mechanical properties were studied. The LWS was used at 0–50% replacement volumes of total sand. Predominant fiber alignment was favored through a flow-induced casting method during casting of flexural prisms. Experiment results showed that the 28-d autogenous shrinkage was decreased from 450 to 275 μm/m with the LWS content increasing from 0 to 50%. The addition of 20% LWS led to maximum increases of 15%, 15%, and 20% in …

Evaluation Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Tumor Matrix, Alejandra Ham

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Sex On Proliferation And Maturation Of Primary Isolated Myoblasts, Elsa M. Bean

Biomedical Engineering

Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD) is caused by the buildup of atherosclerotic plaque causing restriction in blood flow in tissue, known as ischemia. It affects 8 million people in the United States and can hinder daily life through the onset of symptoms such as intermittent claudication and in extreme cases ulcers and gangrene. Surgical revascularization is not accessible to certain patient populations, such those of advanced age, highlighting a need for alternative therapies. For example, naturally occurring bypass arteries, called collateral blood vessels, can remodel and enlarge to bypass the occlusion. This process, known as arteriogenesis, has been studied as …

Establishing Pteridine Metabolism In A Progressive Isogenic Breast Cancer Cell Model – Part Ii, Lindsey Rasmussen, Zachary Foulks, Jiandong Wu, Casey Burton, Honglan Shi

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Introduction: Determining the biological significance of pteridines in cancer development and progression remains an important step in understanding the altered levels of urinary pteridines seen in certain cancers. Our companion study revealed that several folate-derived pteridines and lumazines correlated with tumorigenicity in an isogenic, progressive breast cancer cell model, providing direct evidence for the tumorigenic origin of pteridines. Objectives: This study sought to elucidate the pteridine biosynthetic pathway in a progressive breast cancer model via direct pteridine dosing to determine how pteridine metabolism changes with tumorigenicity. Methods: First, MCF10AT breast cancer cells were dosed individually with 15 pteridines to determine …

Quantitative Holistic Assessment Of Implementing Collaborative Planning Practices, Amr Elsayegh, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Practices of collaborative planning - as related to novel project delivery methods, information technologies, lean construction, and supply chain practices - can impact the cost and schedule performance of projects in the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. However, there is a lack of research providing a quantitative holistic assessment of implementing collaborative planning practices. This paper fills this knowledge gap. Using an interdependent multistep research methodology, the authors (1) analyzed a holistic literature-based list of collaborative planning risks using 46 responses from industry expert surveys; (2) calculated the criticality of these risks and compared the obtained results using Spearman …

Examining The Different Snap-Through Characteristics Of Bistable Cfrp Composite Laminates, Vishrut Deshpande

All Theses

Bistable carbon fiber composites, whose bistability arises from having asymmetric fiber layouts in different layers, have shown immense potential for use in shape morphing and adaptive structure applications. While many studies in this field focus on these composite laminates’ external shapes at the two stable states, their snap-through behavior of shifting from one stable shape to the other remains a critical aspect to be investigated in complete detail. Moreover, symmetric loading conditions have been extensively studied based on the classical lamination theory, but the asymmetric loading conditions received far less attention. Therefore, this study examines an asymmetric, localized point load …

An Efficient End-To-End Deep Neural Network For Interstitial Lung Disease Recognition And Classification, Masum Shah Junayed, Afsana Ahsan Jeny, Md Baharul Islam, Ikhtiar Ahmed, Afm Shahen Shah

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The automated Interstitial Lung Diseases (ILDs) classification technique is essential for assisting clinicians during the diagnosis process. Detecting and classifying ILDs patterns is a challenging problem. This paper introduces an end-to-end deep convolution neural network (CNN) for classifying ILDs patterns. The proposed model comprises four convolutional layers with different kernel sizes and Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) activation function, followed by batch normalization and max-pooling with a size equal to the final feature map size well as four dense layers. We used the ADAM optimizer to minimize categorical cross-entropy. A dataset consisting of 21328 image patches of 128 CT scans with …

Linking Bad Credentials To Safety Issues, Andrew Martin, Jeeyen Koo, Valerie Keathley-Helil, Mallory Brown, Jennifer Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This study assesses (1) the effectiveness of the Kentucky Automated Truck Screening (KATS) system, (2) the relationship between credential and vehicle safety violations, (3) the relationship between credential and driver safety violations, and (4) the relationship between credential violations and crashes. The KATS system, which is installed at weigh stations throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is highly effective at detecting KYU, IFTA, and UCR violations with sensitivities of 80.54, 87.56, and 88.28 percent, respectively. However, the system is less effective at detecting IRP violations (sensitivity = 20.83 percent). There is a statistically significant relationship between credentialing and vehicle safety violations, …

A Physical Model Of Deadmans Run, Quinn Brandt

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A physical model of Deadmans Run and a pair of railroad bridges was constructed to assess the impacts of the bridges on flood flows. Lower Platte South Natural Resources District is planning a series of improvements to Deadmans Run to improve flood conveyance capacity and remove approximately 500 homes and businesses from the floodplain. The rail bridges are located less than a mile from the confluence of Deadmans Run and Salt Creek, meaning the bridges present a significant bottleneck to the planned improvements. The physical model was used to characterize the drag effects caused by the bridges, which was used …

Rheological Behavior Of Dspc-, Dbpc-, And Dppc-Oxygen Microbubbles And Their Effectiveness In Improving Survival In A Rat Model Of Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Riaz Ur Rehman Mohammed

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) causes 75,000 deaths in the U.S., annually. It is characterized by hypoxemia and damage to the lung alveoli. ARDS Management strategies involve extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and mechanical ventilation, but none of these methods improve the mortality rates. Oxygen microbubbles (OMBs) consist of a lipid shell with an oxygen core and have potential to augment oxygenation to manage ARDS. Previous studies demonstrated significant improvements in systemic oxygenation and mortality upon administering OMBs.

We replicated an ARDS rat model by intratracheal administration of lipopolysaccharide at a 24 mg/kg dose. After inducing the disease in rats, the …

Ambient Temperature Phase Change Launcher, Johnny Molloy

Senior Honors Projects

JOHNNY MOLLOY (Mechanical Engineering) Ambient Temperature Phase Change Launcher Sponsor: Bahram Nassersharif (Mechanical Engineering)

Deployment of payloads stored in watertight cylindrical bodies in underwater environmental conditions are of interest to the marine and naval community. The proposed work will investigate the possibility of using inert carbon dioxide gas compressed into its liquid state and stored under pressure to launch payloads by means of expansion from a cylindrical tube. To suit the needs of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), this launching system must fire from up to 14 ft underwater, have two degrees of freedom, and the payload must not …

Permaculture As An Ecopedagogy Curriculum And Alternative Theory Of Development : An Exploration Of The Ecological Consciousness Of Rural Western Kenyan Farmers Using Photo-Voice With A Farmer Field School During Covid-19, David Yisrael Epstein

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation explores two main questions of farmers in Western Kenya – how they see farming as a creative process and their role in that – and how change is made possible in their community. I explore stories from farmers themselves, using photographs they have taken and stories they tell about those photographs, which answer these two questions. In doing so, I attempt to understand the degree to which collective action has taken root in a community exposed to a permaculture based curriculum within a farmer field school. It also importantly seeks to understand what happens when such a curriculum …

Ai-Synthesized Speech : Generation And Detection, Ehab Alsayed Albadawy Abdrabuh

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

From speech to images, and videos, advances in machine learning have led to dramatic improvements in the quality and realism of so-called AI-synthesized content. While there are many exciting and interesting applications, this type of content can also be used to create convincing and dangerous fakes. We seek to develop forensic techniques that can distinguish a real human voice from a synthesized voice. We observe that deep neural networks used to synthesize speech introduce specific and unusual artifacts not typically found in human speech. Although not necessarily audible, we develop various detection algorithms to measure these artifacts and be able …

Strain Measurements In Skewed Reduced Beam Section Special Moment Frame Connections, Elizabeth Moriconi

Civil Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

A series of experimental tests were conducted in the Civil Engineering Research and Education Center (CEREC) at the University of Arkansas to evaluate the effect of beam skew on a reduced beam section. Various degrees of skew on deep and shallow column depths were tested following a cyclical loading protocol, established by the AISC Seismic Provisions, to analyze the capacity of the out-of-plane skew connection [1]. Using the prequalified cyclical loading protocol allows for the evaluation of SMF connections in skew configurations against seismic events. Strain distributions throughout the RBS section, the welded beam-column connection, and the column flange were …

Isolation And Production Of Tandem Collagen Binding Domain From Clostridial Collagenase Colg And Developments In C1q Reagent Production For Future Molecule Characterization Work, Stephanie Beitle

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis covers a two part project: the production methods to create a double collagen binding domain molecule with a growth factor for wound healing applications and the development of a new in-house production method for isolating C1q from bovine blood. The wound healing molecule was created using transformation, sonication, and purification before being tested via electrophoresis SDS page and Western blots to confirm the molecule’s presence. The C1q in-house production method utilizes an ultrafiltration flow cell rather than dialysis at a critical point in the process, allowing for researchers to not only be able to use a single small …

Design Of Wideband Decoupling Networks For Mimo Antennas Based On An N-Ary Optimization Algorithm, Min Li, Kwan Lawrence Yeung, Lijun Jiang, Ross Murch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Techniques for reducing the coupling between antenna elements in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems are important for achieving the full potential of MIMO. In this article, a general and systematic method is developed to design a wideband decoupling and matching network (DMN) for MIMO antenna arrays. The DMN is formed by grid-like transmission lines interconnected by lumped components, whose reactance can be obtained from an N-ary optimization algorithm. Four design benchmarks are performed for validating decoupling methodology, elaborating on design/implementation procedure, and demonstrating superiority of the proposed method. Results show that the DMN achieves broad isolation bandwidth while occupying a small …

Sizing Battery Energy Storage And Pv System In An Extreme Fast Charging Station Considering Uncertainties And Battery Degradation, Waqas Ur Rehman, Rui Bo, Hossein Mehdipourpicha, Jonathan W. Kimball

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This paper presents mixed integer linear programming (MILP) formulations to obtain optimal sizing for a battery energy storage system (BESS) and solar generation system in an extreme fast charging station (XFCS) to reduce the annualized total cost. The proposed model characterizes a typical year with eight representative scenarios and obtains the optimal energy management for the station and BESS operation to exploit the energy arbitrage for each scenario. Contrasting extant literature, this paper proposes a constant power constant voltage (CPCV) based improved probabilistic approach to model the XFCS charging demand for weekdays and weekends. This paper also accounts for the …