Engineering Commons^™

Urban-Rural Dynamics And Dui Fatalities In The Inland Empire: A Neural Network Analysis Of Traffic Safety Disparities, Armando Ceja-Lua

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study examines the disproportionately high traffic fatality rates in California's Inland Empire region through neural network analysis of over 500,000 accidents (2013-2022). We argue that the Inland Empire's unique hybrid urban-rural landscape creates a multiplicative risk environment unlike other California regions. Our analysis reveals that San Bernardino County's fatality rate (1.920 per 100 million VMT) significantly exceeds neighboring regions, with alcohol-impaired driving fatalities (0.586) substantially higher than California's average (0.390). Neural network models (92% validation accuracy) identify pedestrian-involved collisions (correlation value 0.164) and alcohol involvement (0.075) as the strongest predictors of fatality in urban areas, while rural crash patterns …

Optimizing Lightweight Authentication Protocols For Enhancing Security In Resource-Constrained Iot Devices, Anuj Jayeshbhai Naik

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

IoT devices are increasingly being used in critical applications such as smart cities, healthcare, and industrial systems. However, due to their limited processing power, memory, and energy, traditional authentication methods are not suitable in these resource-constrained scenarios. To construct and evaluate a lightweight authentication system for such devices, this study incorporates secure, efficient cryptographic techniques. The following are the research questions: Q1) How can a hybrid lightweight authentication protocol that includes ECC and AES be used to safely and successfully link resource-constrained IoT devices? Q2) How can nonce-based challenge-response approaches to protect against replay threats be used to create lightweight …

Propasafe: A Bert-Based Offline Tool For Propaganda Detection, Vivek Sharma, Mohammad Mahdi Shokri, Shweta Jain, Sarah Ita Levitan, Elena Filatova

Publications and Research

In an era marked by the rapid consumption of digital news, the proliferation of propaganda poses significant threats to democratic values and informed decision-making. We propose a novel framework that prioritizes user privacy while assisting in the automatic detection of propaganda in news articles, allowing users to sift through the rhetoric to read the relevant objective news. As a demonstration of this framework, we present Propasafe, a BERT-based browser extension designed to alert users to propagandist tones in news articles. By highlighting instances of propaganda-like language in real-time, Propasafe empowers users to critically engage with news content, promoting objective understanding …

Development Of Rolipram Loaded Pgp Nanoparticles For Spinal Cord Injury Repair, Zhen Liao

All Dissertations

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to devastating neurological deficits due to primary mechanical damage and secondary injury mechanisms, including inflammation, oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, and inhibitory scarring, which collectively impede neural regeneration. One key aspect of SCI pathology is a significant reduction in cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels, primarily due to increased phosphodiesterase (PDE 4) activity. As a ubiquitous second messenger, cAMP regulates key signaling pathways, including protein kinase A (PKA) / cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) and exchange protein activated by cAMP 2 (EPAC2). Therefore, restoring/increasing cAMP level is one of the major therapeutic strategies to reduce neurotrauma and restore …

The Evolution Of Nanoparticles In Nanoparticle Doped Optical Fibers, Mary Cahoon

All Dissertations

Optical fiber and fiber laser technologies based on silica glass are critical to many technologies today. One method to improve the optical performance of laser fibers is engineer the local environment around the active elements in the glass. To that end, this Dissertation focused on the fabrication and characterization of fibers made with nanoparticles incorporated into the glass to control the local composition. First, the nanoparticle composition and structure was analyzed as it evolved from from the initially-synthesized form to incorporation into the dense aluminum-silicate glass. The aluminum oxide in the glass was found to be important not only to …

Development Of Translational Microscale Systems To Interrogate How Biophysical And Biochemical Cues Alter The Phenotype Of Hormone Positive Breast Cancer, Braulio Ortega Quesada

All Dissertations

Cancer is a complicated disease and one in every three diagnoses are women with breast cancer. Recent research shows that the progression of cancer depends strongly on interactions with other non-cancerous cells and non-cellular components. Metastasis, the spread of cancer to other parts of the body, is a key step in cancer progression and makes treatment harder, leading to poor response to treatments culminating in death in ~90% of patients. This dissertation focused on creating a series of microdevices as novel pre-clinical models of breast cancer. Two different devices were fabricated to (1) study how exposing cancer cells to the …

Decision Space Decomposition For Multiobjective Programs, Emma Soriano

All Dissertations

Being inspired by the parametric decomposition theorem for multiobjective optimization problems (MOPs) of Cuenca and Miguel (2017), and by the block- coordinate descent for single objective optimization problems, we present a decom- position theorem for computing the set of minimal elements of a partially ordered set. This set is decomposed into subsets whose minimal elements are used to retrieve the overall minimal elements. We apply this approach to strictly convex MOPs de- composing their decision space into lines. The line decomposition benefits from the fact that a multiobjective line search problem is equivalent to solving a collection of single objective …

Learning Through Online Participation: From Breakout Rooms To Discord, Makayla Moster

All Dissertations

For software development teams, teamwork is an essential part of their day-to-day lives. However, due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, more companies have allowed employees to have more hybrid and remote work options than before. As more companies are adopting hybrid and remote workstyles, we need to ensure that we are preparing the next batch of young software developers to conduct teamwork in remote and hybrid settings. In this dissertation, I address the tools students use for teamwork and how to improve their teamwork inside and outside of the classroom. I present my research on improving student experiences …

Adaptive Delay Compensation Frameworks For Distributed Real-Time Co-Simulation In Power Systems, Elutunji Buraimoh

All Dissertations

This dissertation presents a model-free, adaptive delay prediction and compensation framework for geographically distributed real-time power system co-simulation environments. Communication delays—both constant and real-time-varying—significantly degrade the accuracy, fidelity, and stability of co-simulated systems, particularly in dynamic and transient analyses of partitioned power systems. To address this, a predictor-based framework is developed that compensates for delays without requiring system models, computationally intensive signal transformations, or manual intervention.

The proposed solution leverages a Damping Impedance Method as the interface algorithm, combined with a sliding-mode control-inspired predictor system. Both single-parameter and multi-parameter predictor configurations are implemented, with the multi-parameter design providing an additional …

Toward The Application Of Natural Language Processing In Electronic Health Record Analysis For Taxonomy Development, Latoya Mcdonald

All Dissertations

Electronic health records (EHRs) are pivotal resources for nurse practice because they increase the timeliness and reliability of patient information at the point of care and support access by multiple healthcare providers and the individual patients themselves. However, it is widely recognized that data extraction from EHRs is challenging due to the variability in the language used in clinical care notes and the lack of standardized terminology across healthcare systems. The broad objective of this dissertation is to develop taxonomy-based classification models for nursing care by applying feature engineering approaches to EHRs that include nursing care of ostomy patients following …

Ex Vivo Multiplex Knockdown Of Angptl3 And Cypor In Hepatocytes As A Novel Cell Therapy For Familial Hypercholesterolemia, Callie D. Clark

All Dissertations

Inherited metabolic diseases (IMDs) affect approximately 1 in 800 individuals. The only curative treatment for IMDs is liver transplantation. However, transplantation carries significant risks, including organ rejection and a lifelong need for immunosuppression. Therefore, gene editing has emerged as a promising alternative to liver transplantation for treating IMDs.

Familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) is and IMD characterized by elevated LDL-C levels resulting in premature cardiovascular disease. CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene editing to disrupt the gene encoding angiopoietin-like 3 (ANGPTL3) in the liver represents a novel therapeutic approach for FH. Nonviral delivery performed ex vivo is safer than systemic delivery because gene editing is in …

A System And Method For Measuring Spatially Varying Surface Appearances With A Study Of Feathers, Jessica Baron-Lis

All Dissertations

Real-world materials, particularly biological structures such as feathers exhibit complex appearances that vary spatially across their surfaces. The field of computer graphics provides a means of understanding such surfaces through material modeling which uses both analytical models and data acquired from light-surface interactions. There are many efforts within the past decade in measuring materials for graphics, but common limitations in these works include not accounting for spatially varying properties and reliance on neural networks and synthetic datasets.

Feathers from modern birds present diverse appearances due to how light interacts with their unique hierarchical microstructures. Variations in those structures lead to …

Enhancing Photovoltaic Inverter Reliability Through Advanced Hardware Protection And Simulation Techniques, Buck Brown

All Dissertations

Power electronics converter reliability is an issue in today’s grid, and it is an issue that will only become more prevalent as the nation and world move toward greater renewable energy penetration. While a significant amount of research has been conducted pertaining to power electronics converter reliability, (1) there lacks a universal way to protect the most critical component in a power electronics converter—the power device—from the two most common failure modes—short- and open-circuit faults; and (2) there does not exist a tool that considers both the component- and system-levels of a photovoltaic (PV) inverter for the purposes of lifetime …

Design And Characterization Of Lignin-Based, Thermoresponsive Soft Composites With Improved Mechanical And Transport Properties, Missoury D. Wolff

All Dissertations

In an attempt to reduce reliance on petroleum-based polymers, lignin – an abundant biopolymer – has gained popularity as a sustainable alternative. However, research on lignin-containing soft composites – i.e., hydrogel (bio)composites – has largely been heuristic, providing limited insight into the fundamental structure-processing-property relationships that govern performance improvements in this emerging class of ‘green’ soft composites. As such, this dissertation presents a systematic investigation of how lignin molecular weight (MW), composite composition, and the concentrations of crosslinker and accelerator impact the mechanical and transport characteristics of soft composites composed of lignin, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAm), and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA).

In the …

Understanding Conversion Of Long Chain Fatty Acids In Anaerobic Digestion Systems, Julia Ann Funk

All Dissertations

Anaerobic co-digestion with fats, oils, and grease (FOG) waste can increase energy production due to the high methane potential of lipids. However, adding FOG can lead to operational issues caused by accumulating saturated long-chain fatty acids (LCFA). My research explored why saturated LCFAs are often the primary intermediate that accumulates and the microbial sensitives of the populations responsible for their degradation. In each batch or semi-continuous experiment, all intermediates of FOG degradation, including LCFAs, volatile fatty acids (VFAs), Hydrogen gas (H₂), and endpoint methane production, were paired with temporal quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) of the Syntrophomonas genus …

Adversarial Voltage Transients In Multi-Tenant Fpga Environments, Andrew J. Gerber

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

A Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) is a special type of computer chip that can be reconfigured to implement a nearly unlimited number of functions. Recent trends have led some companies to offer cloud-based FPGA solutions. Researchers are exploring how to properly secure multi-tenant environments where the designs from two or more customers are placed on the same FPGA with logical and spatial isolation, though multi-tenancy is not yet commercially available in cloud FPGAs. The digital circuits within an FPGA require a clock to synchronize timing within the design. The maximum speed that this clock can run at is determined …

Low Speed Water Tunnel Flow Testing, Humberto Cesar Grimaldo Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Water tunnels serve as controlled environments for simulating fluid dynamics, providing an essential platform for studying flow patterns for hydrodynamic effects. This report presents a comprehensive overview and refurbishment of the water tunnel system located at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, focusing on its design, operation, calibration, and visualization capabilities for fluid dynamics research. The water tunnel, originally installed in 1995, was restored and updated with structural repairs, including resolving persistent leaks and implementing an improved drain system. A calibration process using a pitot tube and differential pressure transducer was conducted to establish accurate relationships between flow velocity …

Towards Explainable And Robust Nlp: Neutrosophic Probability Augmentation In Text Classification, Nabil M. Abdel-Aziz, Mahmoud Ibrahim, Khalid A. Eldrandaly

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

The rapid growth of textual data necessitates advanced text classification models. However, traditional methods struggle with ambiguity and uncertainty in natural language, reducing classification reliability. To address this, we integrate neutrosophic logic, which explicitly models truth, indeterminacy, and falsity, into a DistilBERT-based text classification framework. Additionally, we employ data augmentation using synonym replacement to enhance generalization. Our approach is evaluated on the AG News dataset, classifying articles into four categories: World, Sports, Business, and Science/Technology. By incorporating neutrosophic attributes, the proposed framework assesses text quality, mitigates uncertainty, and improves robustness against ambiguous inputs. Experimental results demonstrate an accuracy of 94.10%, …

Single Valued Neutrosophic Hypersoft Set Based On Merec-Moosra Mcdm Methods For Evolution Of Sustainable Strategies For The Circular Supply Chain Based On The Beverage Industry, Alaa Salem, Rayan Hussein, Ahmed Abdelmouty, Mohamed Abouhawwash

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Corporate enterprises around the world are facing increasing pressure to operate sustainably due to rising environmental concerns such as climate change, resource scarcity, and ecological degradation. In response, circular supply chain (CSC) practices have emerged as a promising solution, especially within the manufacturing and beverage sectors. CSC focuses on reusing materials, minimizing waste, and creating value from products that have reached the end of their lifecycle. This study investigates the challenges and opportunities of applying circular supply chain management (CSCM) in the beverage industry, which is known for generating significant waste due to high production volumes. The research identifies key …

The Role Of Ai In Enhancing Teamwork, Resilience And Decision-Making: Review Of Recent Developments, Satyadhar Joshi

Harrisburg University Other Works

This paper explores the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on organizational teamwork, decision-making, and resilience. This paper furthur reviews recent literature on the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in various organizational functions, focusing on its impact on innovation management, leadership paradigms, and organizational resilience. We provide groundwork required to enhance frameworks that can integrate cognitive scaffolding with antifragile team dynamics, employing behavioral economics and neurocognitive principles. We introduce methodologies for enhancing team resilience through adaptive AI systems, cross-training interventions, and pre-mortem simulation techniques. The framework addresses key challenges in confirmation bias mitigation, cultural dimension alignment, and vigilance decrement prevention. …

Cruising On The Beach (Cob), Juan Diego Molina Ii, Ashley Kianna Burga

Biomedical Engineering

This report details the design and development process of Cruising on the Beach (COB), a modular motorized wheelchair intended to improve beach accessibility for high school students with mobility impairments. The project aimed to create an affordable, portable, and sand-capable device using balloon wheels, an adjustable control panel, and a customizable base. Extensive background research, market analysis, design modeling, and test plans were completed. However, final fabrication was not achieved due to financial constraints and limited access to industrial machining tools needed for custom metal components. Despite these setbacks, the project delivered a robust conceptual design and a fully …

Investigating The Effects Of Hepatocyte Growth Factor On Primary Myoblast Proliferation, Grace Heller

Biomedical Engineering

Peripheral artery occlusive disease (PAOD) is a progressive vascular condition that affects over 200 million people worldwide and approximately 8 million in the United States. It is characterized by atherosclerotic narrowing of peripheral arteries, leading to reduced blood flow, ischemia, and, in severe cases, tissue loss and limb amputation. Although surgical revascularization is the gold standard, many patients—particularly those with comorbidities like diabetes— continue to experience poor outcomes, emphasizing the need for alternative therapies. One promising strategy is to enhance collateral arteriogenesis, the remodeling and enlargement of collateral arterioles that naturally bypass occluded vessels. Satellite cells (SCs), which give rise …

Assessment Of Energy Efficiency Measures Recommended For Industrial Facilities: Environmental, Economic, And Life Cycle Perspectives, Dariush Jafari

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

This study assesses the economic, environmental, and life cycle impacts of more than 800 industrial Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) identified in manufacturing facilities across Nebraska. These EEMs are notable for their rapid implementation and minimal disruption to the facility’s building structure or core processes.

The research evaluates the financial viability of EEMs by analyzing utility savings, implementation costs, and payback periods. It also examines their cost-effectiveness in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including calculations of net cost and cost of mitigated CO₂-eq.

Key findings indicate that adding insulation to hot pipes and buildings, replacing personal fans with High-Volume, Low-Speed (HVLS) …

Mash Crashworthiness Of Work Zone Devices And Breakaway Luminaire Poles, Mohammadreza Rajaee

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

This thesis presents a study on the crashworthiness of two commonly-used roadside safety devices: Type II barricades and luminaire poles supported by TB1-17 transformer bases. The first part focuses on designing and evaluating a non-proprietary, Type II barricade that meets MASH criteria. A validated LS-DYNA model, based on a previously-tested Type III barricade, was used to guide the design. The proposed Type II system was evaluated through simulation and confirmed with full-scale crash testing. The second part of the study investigates luminaire poles supported by the TB1-17 transformer base. A previously-developed LS-DYNA model was updated and validated using test No. …

A Framework For Quantifying The Benefits Of Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Development, Donya Negahbani

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

Under the Biden Administration’s Justice40 Initiative, a significant portion of benefits derived from federal clean transportation investments is required to be directed to disadvantaged communities. Meeting this mandate necessitates a transparent and reproducible approach that quantifies various dimensions of value and allocates them equitably. This dissertation presents a flexible framework specifically tailored for the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Nebraska, effectively translating equity goals into rigorous spatial and economic analyses. The framework first identifies multiple distinct categories of benefit that reflect the societal value of charging access: energy savings, economic opportunities, environmental quality enhancements, and public health improvements. …

Development Of Timber Bridge Railing And Approach Guardrail Transition, Aaron Lechtenberger

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

Timber bridges with transverse and longitudinal bridge decks are increasingly utilized across the United States. However, limited research exists to develop bridge railing systems for high-service-level roadways that meet current vehicular impact safety standards. In response to this gap, the United States Department of Agriculture - Forest Service -Forest Products Laboratory (USDA-FS-FPL), in collaboration with the Midwest Roadside Safety Facility (MwRSF), initiated a research program to develop, crash test, and evaluate higher-service-level bridge railings and approach guardrail transitions (AGTs) compliant with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware (MASH).

This study continued …

Towards Advancing Streamflow And Peak Flow Prediction With Machine Learning: Identifying Infrastructure At Risk, Sudan Pokharel

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Due to climate change and its impact, the need for adaptive strategies for natural disaster mitigation and resource management has never been more urgent. Central to this is water resource management, which is essential for sustainable human activities, ecological balance, and the mitigation of natural hazards like floods. Streamflow is a crucial element of water resource management and plays a vital role in planning and building water infrastructure, implementing emergency response plans, supporting flood mitigation initiatives, and regulating agricultural and industrial use. However, accurate prediction of streamflow still remains a challenge due to the complex non-linear and non-stationary interaction between …

Robot-Integrated 4d Building Information Modeling (4d Bim): Framework For Planning Safe Autonomous Construction Operations In Dynamic Environments, Hafiz Oyedimeji Oyediran

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

In the construction industry, the use of autonomous robots is considered a solution to overcome the heavy reliance on human workers to perform repetitive, strenuous, and hazardous tasks. While these robots offer the advantage of autonomous operation, ensuring their safe and efficient integration within construction sites requires precise planning. Such planning must account for the varying project complexities such as scope, site layout, tasks, timelines, existence of human workers, and other spatiotemporal conditions of the construction site. Currently, there are no methods to safely plan autonomous robot operations considering these factors within the overarching construction planning process. Thus, autonomous robots …

Advanced Porosity Control Of Cp780 Galvanized Steel During Gas Metal Arc Welding With Pulsed Arc, Carlos Adrián García Ochoa, Jorge Alejandro Verduzco Martínez, Francisco Fernando Curiel-López, Víctor Hugo López-Morelos, Jaime Taha-Tijerina, Ariosto Medina Flores, Maleni García Gómez

Informatics and Engineering Systems Faculty Publications

This study investigated the control of porosity during gas metal arc welding with pulsed arc (GMAW-P) of complex-phase 780 (CP780) galvanized steel. Due to the Zn coating on this type of steel, porosity forms during welding as a result of Zn vaporization. The objective was to optimize the welding parameters to minimize porosity with a design of experiments using an L9 orthogonal array to analyze the effects of peak current (Ip), pulse time (tp), and pulse frequency (f) in high-speed welding conditions. The results showed that porosity was significantly reduced with a peak current of 313 A, a frequency of …

Empowering Optimal Operations With Renewable Energy Solutions For Grid Connected Merredin Wa Mining Sector, Md Ohirul Qays, Ravi Kumar, Minhaz Ahmed, Stefan Lachowicz, Uzma Amin

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Mining sectors require a continuous and reliable power supply; however, reliance on traditional grid utilities results in high costs and disruptions and increases extreme carbon emission. The Merredin WA sector seeks to resolve critical energy challenges affecting mining operations in Western Australia. Thus, this research proposes an optimal solar PV system with battery storage and backup generation for the mining sector to ensure a stable and cost-effective power supply that reduces harmful environmental effect. A hybrid data-driven long short-term memory (LSTM)-classical optimization framework is designed here, thereby optimizing PV-battery storage operational cost savings and energy usage. The optimization results indicate …