Engineering Commons^™

The Design, Construction And Analysis Of A Large Round Bale Handling Implement, Garrett J. Forbes

Master's Theses

To entice a small-scale hay producer to purchase equipment that will improve their hay hauling operation, a more cost effective and more universal solution must be developed. The objectives of this project are to develop and test a prototype large round bale handler. The prototype was built to industry standards, using modern electronic controls and the latest design and fabrication methods. The prototype makes use of an existing trailer and by doing so can be a less expensive method of hauling hay when compared to other equipment currently on the market. While the combination of the prototype bale handler and …

Impact Of Teaching Practices And Communication Climates On Participation In Computer Science Education, Jackie Krone

Master's Theses

One way to understand teaching is to view it as a people process rather than a presentation of knowledge. It follows that the role of an educator often extends beyond the primary subject matter and into the realm of classroom management. With this in mind, our research aimed to capture the various teaching practices, participation patterns, and communication climates that occur in virtual computer science classrooms. We sought to answer the following research questions related to virtual computer science classrooms at our institution: Who participates in virtual computer science classrooms, and is participation proportional to student demographics? Is there any …

Using Google Trends As A Proxy For Occupant Behavior To Predict Building, Chun Fu, Clayton Miller

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

In recent years, the availability of larger amounts of energy data and advanced machine learning algorithms has created a surge in building energy prediction research. However, one of the variables in energy prediction models, occupant behavior, is crucial for prediction performance but hard-to-measure or time-consuming to collect from each building. This study proposes an approach that utilizes the search volume of topics (e.g., education or Microsoft Excel) on the Google Trends platform as a proxy of occupant behavior and use of buildings. Linear correlations were first examined to explore the relationship between energy meter data and Google Trends search terms …

Coordinated Delivery To Shopping Malls With Limited Docking Capacity, Ruidian Song, Hoong Chuin Lau, Xue Luo, Lei Zhao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Shopping malls are densely located in major cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong. Tenants in these shopping malls generate a large number of freight orders to their contracted logistics service providers, who independently plan their own delivery schedules. These uncoordinated deliveries and limited docking capacity jointly cause congestion at the shopping malls. A delivery coordination platform centrally plans the vehicle routes for the logistics service providers and simultaneously schedules the dock time slots at the shopping malls for the delivery orders. Vehicle routing and dock scheduling decisions need to be made jointly against the backdrop of travel time and …

High-Resistance Connection Diagnosis In Five-Phase Pmsms Based On The Method Of Magnetic Field Pendulous Oscillation And Symmetrical Components, Hao Chen, Jiangbiao He, Xing Guan, Nabeel Demerdash, Ayman M. El-Refaie, Christopher H.T. Lee

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

An online approach for diagnosing high-resistance connection (HRC) faults in five-phase permanent magnet synchronous motor drives is presented in this article. The development of this approach is based on a so-called “magnetic field pendulous oscillation (MFPO)” technique and symmetrical components method. Under HRC fault condition, a “swing-like” MFPO phenomenon is observed compared to the healthy condition. Furthermore, with the extracted current features in symmetrical components domain, different HRC fault types are successfully identified and distinguished. These fault types include single-phase faults, e.g., HRC fault in phase-A; two-phase nonadjacent faults, e.g., HRC fault in phase-A&C; and two-phase adjacent faults, e.g., HRC …

Amplitude And Wavelength Scaling Of Sinusoidal Roughness Effects In Turbulent Channel Flow At Fixed ReΤ, Sparsh Ganju, Sean C. C. Bailey, Christoph Brehm

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Direct numerical simulations are performed for incompressible, turbulent channel flow over a smooth wall and different sinusoidal wall roughness configurations at a constant Re_τ = 720. Sinusoidal walls are used to study the effects of well-defined geometric features of roughness-amplitude, a, and wavelength, λ, on the flow. The flow in the near-wall region is strongly influenced by both a and λ. Establishing appropriate scaling laws will aid in understanding the effects of roughness and identifying the relevant physical mechanisms. Using inner variables and the roughness function to scale the flow quantities provides support for Townsend’s hypothesis, …

Targeting Hif-2Α In The Tumor Microenvironment: Redefining The Role Of Hif-2Α For Solid Cancer Therapy., Leah Davis, Matthias Recktenwald, Evan Hutt, Schuyler Fuller, Madison Briggs, Arnav Goel, Nichole Daringer

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Inadequate oxygen supply, or hypoxia, is characteristic of the tumor microenvironment and correlates with poor prognosis and therapeutic resistance. Hypoxia leads to the activation of the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) signaling pathway and stabilization of the HIF-α subunit, driving tumor progression. The homologous alpha subunits, HIF-1α and HIF-2α, are responsible for mediating the transcription of a multitude of critical proteins that control proliferation, angiogenic signaling, metastasis, and other oncogenic factors, both differentially and sequentially regulating the hypoxic response. Post-translational modifications of HIF play a central role in its behavior as a mediator of transcription, as well as the temporal transition from …

Plant Protein-Based Food Packaging Films; Recent Advances In Fabrication, Characterization, And Applications, Milad Hadidi, Shima Jafarzadeh, Mehrdad Forough, Farhad Garavand, Saeid Alizadeh, Ali Salehabadi, Amin Mousavi Khaneghah, Seid Mahdi Jafari

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Background: Plant-based proteins as an alternative to synthetic polymers have attracted the interest of the global packaging industry in the last decade due to their biodegradability, sustainability, environmental, and beneficial health claims.

Scope and approach: This review covers the recent developments in biodegradable packaging such as edible films/coatings and innovative packaging materials based on plant protein sources. The importance, sources, and techno-functional properties of plant-derived proteins for food packaging are discussed. The impact of different additives on the functionality of plant protein-based biodegradable materials is also investigated. In addition, plant protein-based packaging characteristics and their application in food are also …

Uncertainties In The Projected Patterns Of Wave-Driven Longshore Sediment Transport Along A Non-Straight Coastline, Amin Reza Zarifsanayei, José A. A. Antolínez, Amir Etemad-Shahidi, Nick Cartwright, Darrell Strauss, Gil Lemos

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

This study quantifies the uncertainties in the projected changes in potential longshore sediment transport (LST) rates along a non-straight coastline. Four main sources of uncertainty, including the choice of emission scenarios, Global Circulation Model-driven offshore wave datasets (GCM-Ws), LST models, and their non-linear interactions were addressed through two ensemble modelling frameworks. The first ensemble consisted of the offshore wave forcing conditions without any bias correction (i.e., wave parameters extracted from eight datasets of GCM-Ws for baseline period 1979–2005, and future period 2081–2100 under two emission scenarios), a hybrid wave transformation method, and eight LST models (i.e., four bulk formulae, four …

Facet Dependent Oxygen Evolution Activity Of Spinel Cobalt Oxides, Li-Hua Zhang, Hong-Yuan Chuai, Hai Liu, Qun Fan, Si-Yu Kuang, Sheng Zhang, Xin-Bin Ma

Journal of Electrochemistry

Water splitting is a promising technology to produce clean hydrogen if powered by renewable energies, where oxygen evolution is the rate determining step at an anode. Here we adjust the different crystal planes of the cobalt oxides catalyst to expose more effective active sites through a hydrothermal process, so as to improve the reaction activity for oxygen evolution. The samples were well characterized by TEM, SEM and XRD. Among the three synthetic crystal planes (100), (111) and (110) of spinel cobalt oxides, the (100) crystal plane has the highest intrinsic activity. Combining in-situ infrared and DFT calculations, we …

Selective Co2 Reduction To Formate On Heterostructured Sn/Sno2 Nanoparticles Promoted By Carbon Layer Networks, Xue Teng, Yanli Niu, Shuaiqi Gong, Xuan Liu, Zuofeng Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Tin (Sn)-based materials have emerged as promising electrocatalysts for selective reduction of CO₂ to formate, but their overall performances are still limited by electrode structures which govern the accessibility to active sites, the electron transfer kinetics, and the catalytic stability. In this study, the heterostructured Sn/SnO₂ nanoparticles dispersed by N-doped carbon layer networks (Sn/SnO₂@NC) were synthesized by a melt-recrystallization method taking the low melting point of Sn (m.p. 232^oC). The N-doped carbon layer networks derived from polydopamine could attract more electrons on the electrocatalyst, serve as conductive agents and protect the ultrafine nanoparticles from …

Structural Degradation Of Ni-Rich Layered Oxide Cathode For Li-Ion Batteries, Jia-Yi Wang, Sheng-Nan Guo, Xin Wang, Lin Gu, Dong Su

Journal of Electrochemistry

Nickel(Ni)-rich layered oxide has been regarded as one of the most important cathode materials for the lithium-ion batteries because of its low cost and high energy density. However, the concerns in safety and durability of this compound are still challenging for its further development. On this account, the in-depth understanding in the structural factors determining its capacity attenuation is essential. In this review, we summarize the recent advances on the degradation mechanisms of Ni-rich layered oxide cathode. Progresses in the structure evolution of Ni-rich oxide are carefully combed in terms of inner evolution, surface evolution, and the property under thermal …

Experimental Study Of Turbulent Flow Heat Transfer And Pressure Loss Over Surfaces With Dense Micro-Depth Dimples Under Viscous Sublayer, Peng Zhang, Yu Rao, Phillip M. Ligrani

PRC-Affiliated Research

Presented are experimentally-measured heat transfer and pressure loss characteristics for dimpled surfaces, placed along one surface of a channel, with different ratios of dimple depth to channel height δ/H, and for Reynolds numbers ranging from 10,000 to 70,000. With the same relative dimple spacing to dimple print diameter, and the same ratio of dimple depth to dimple print diameter of δ/d = 0.20, experimental results for arrays of spherical indentation dimples with micro depths of δ = 0.6 and 1.0 mm (δ/H = 0.03 and 0.05) are compared with thermal characteristics for arrays of larger dimples with δ = 4.0 …

Faster Multidimensional Data Queries On Infrastructure Monitoring Systems, Yinghua Qin, Gheorghi Guzun

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The analytics in online performance monitoring systems have often been limited due to the query performance of large scale multidimensional data. In this paper, we introduce a faster query approach using the bit-sliced index (BSI). Our study covers multidimensional grouping and preference top-k queries with the BSI, algorithms design, time complexity evaluation, and the query time comparison on a real-time production performance monitoring system. Our research work extended the BSI algorithms to cover attributes filtering and multidimensional grouping. We evaluated the query time with the single attribute, multiple attributes, feature filtering, and multidimensional grouping. To compare with the existing prior …

Intention To Complain About Unmanned Aircraft System Noise: A Structural Equation Analysis, Robert Brents

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Aircraft noise has a long and documented history as a source of public annoyance and a driver of noise complaints. The impending large-scale use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS)s could expose a broader cross-section of the public to a new type of aircraft noise. Recent research notes some reactions to UAS noise, but no rigorous analyses of public intention to complain about UAS noise have been found.

Due to the potential proliferation of UASs and their attendant noise, understanding public reaction could advise both government and industry. Governments at all levels could apply the results to inform policies related to …

Recent Advances In Electrochemical Kinetics Simulations And Their Applications In Pt-Based Fuel Cells, Ji-Li Li, Ye-Fei Li, Zhi-Pan Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Theoretical simulations of electrocatalysis are vital for understanding the mechanism of the electrochemical process at the atomic level. It can help to reveal the in-situ structures of electrode surfaces and establish the microscopic mechanism of electrocatalysis, thereby solving the problems such as electrode oxidation and corrosion. However, there are still many problems in the theoretical electrochemical simulations, including the solvation effects, the electric double layer, and the structural transformation of electrodes. Here we review recent advances of theoretical methods in electrochemical modeling, in particular, the double reference approach, the periodic continuum solvation model based on the modified Poisson-Boltzmann …

Recent Advances In Structural Regulation On Non-Precious Metal Catalysts For Oxygen Reduction Reaction In Alkaline Electrolytes, Xue Wang, Li Zhang, Chang-Peng Liu, Jun-Jie Ge, Jian-Bing Zhu, Wei Xing

Journal of Electrochemistry

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline electrolytes is an important electrochemical process for metal-air batteries and anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs). However, the sluggish kinetics spurs intensive research on searching robust electrocatalysts. Non-precious metal catalysts (NPMCs) that can circumvent the cost and scarcity issues associated with platinum (Pt)-based materials have been pursued and the challenges lie in the performance improvement to rival Pt-based benchmarks. As the composition and structure of the NPMCs have a significant impact on the catalytic performance, precise regulation on the catalyst structure holds great promise to bridge the activity gap between NPMCs and Pt-based benchmarks. …

Magnetic Resonance In Metal-Ion Batteries: From Nmr (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) To Epr (Electron Paramagnetic Resonance), Bing-Wen Hu, Chao Li, Fu-Shan Geng, Ming Shen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Metal-ion batteries have changed our quotidian lives. The research on the electrode materials for metal-ion battery is the key to improve the performance of the battery. Therefore, understanding the structure-performance relationship of the electrode materials can help to improve the energy density and power density of the materials. Magnetic resonance, including nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), has been continuously improved during the past three decades, and has gradually become one of the important technologies to study the structure-performance relationship of electrode materials. This paper summarizes the progress of magnetic resonance research from our group on several …

A Continuum Damage Approach To Spallation And The Role Of Microinertia, S. B. Qamar, John A. Moore, Nathan R. Barton

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Spall failure is of interest due to its prevalence in high strain rate problems in which the spallation is driven by the interaction of release waves. In this article, a porosity-based damage model that includes microinertial effects is used to examine spall failure. The model is successfully calibrated to plate impact-driven experiments and then used to evaluate experimental conditions producing more extreme strain rate conditions, such as those in laser-driven experiments. The incorporation of microinertia allows us to better understand the increase in apparent macroscopic spall strength seen at high strain rates. Correspondingly, we conclude that the incorporation of microinertial …

Land Use Influences The Composition And Antimicrobial Effects Of Propolis, Amara J. Orth, Emma H. Curran, Eric J. Haas, Andrew C. Kraemer, Audrey M. Anderson, Nicholas J. Mason, Carol A. Fassbinder-Orth

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Honey bee propolis is a complex, resinous mixture created by bees using plant sources such as leaves, flowers, and bud exudates. This study characterized how cropland surrounding apiaries affects the chemical composition and antimicrobial effects of propolis. The chemical composition and compound abundance of the propolis samples were analyzed using Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and the antimicrobial effects were analyzed using the 50% minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC₅₀) assay against four relevant bee pathogens, Serratia marcescens, Paenibacillus larvae, Lysinibacillus sphaericus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Propolis composition varied significantly with apiary, and cropland coverage predicted mean sum abundance of …

Novel Stimuli-Responsive Pectin-Pvp-Functionalized Clay Based Smart Hydrogels For Drug Delivery And Controlled Release Application, Shabnam Rehmat, Nayab Batool Rizvi, Saba Urooge Khan, Abdul Ghaffar, Atif Islam, Rafi Ullah Khan, Azra Mehmood, Hira Butt, Muhammad Rizwan

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Stimuli-responsive drug delivery systems are urgently required for injectable site-specific delivery and release of drugs in a controlled manner. For this purpose, we developed novel pH-sensitive, biodegradable, and antimicrobial hydrogels from bio-macromolecule pectin, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), 3-aminopropyl (diethoxy)methyl silane (3-APDEMS), and sepiolite clay via blending and solution casting technique. The purified sepiolite (40 um) was functionalized with 3-APDEMS crosslinker (ex-situ modification) followed by hydrogels fabrication. FTIR and SEM confirmed crosslinked structural integrity and rod-like morphology of hydrogels respectively. The swelling properties of hydrogels could be controlled by varying the concentration of modified clay in pectin/PVP blends. Moreover, the decrease in pH …

Advancing Ubiquitous Collaboration For Telehealth - A Framework To Evaluate Technology-Mediated Collaborative Workflow For Telehealth, Hypertension Exam Workflow Study, Christopher Bondy Ph.D., Linlin Chen Ph.D, Pamela Grover Md, Pengcheng Shi Ph.D

Articles

Healthcare systems are under siege globally regarding technology adoption; the recent pandemic has only magnified the issues. Providers and patients alike look to new enabling technologies to establish real-time connectivity and capability for a growing range of remote telehealth solutions. The migration to new technology is not as seamless as clinicians and patients would like since the new workflows pose new responsibilities and barriers to adoption across the telehealth ecosystem. Technology-mediated workflows (integrated software and personal medical devices) are increasingly important in patient-centered healthcare; software-intense systems will become integral in prescribed treatment plans [1]. My research explored the path to …

Mass Loading Optimization For Ethylene Glycol Oxidation At Different Potential Regions, Sheng-Nan Sun, Zhi-Chuan Xu

Journal of Electrochemistry

Designing and fabricating the electrocatalysts is attracting more and more attention in recent years due to a global interest in developing techniques for electrochemical energy conversion and storage, as well as elelectro-synthesis of valuable chemicals. The activity is one of the key performance parameters for electrocatalysts, while the observed activity can be affected by mass loading of electrocatalysts. Here, we take cobalt oxide (Co₃O₄)/graphite paper electrode (Co₃O₄/GPE) as a model electrode to demon-strate how the mass loading of Co₃O₄ catalyst influences ethylene glycol (EG) oxidation in alkaline (KOH) by …

The Breathing Human Infrastructure: Integrating Air Quality, Traffic, And Social Media Indicators, Heather O'Leary, Scott Parr, Marwa El-Sayed

Publications

Outdoor air pollution is a complex system that is responsible for the deaths of millions of people annually, yet the integration of interdisciplinary data necessary to assess air quality's multiple metrics is still lacking. This case study integrates atmospheric indicators (concentrations of criteria pollutants including particulate matter and gaseous pollutants), traffic indicators (permanent traffic monitoring station data), and social indicators (community responses in Twitter archives) representing the interplay of the three critical pillars of the United Nations' Triple Bottom Line: environment, economy, and society. During the watershed moment of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns in Florida, urban centers demonstrated the gaps …

Decellularized Articular Cartilage Microgels As Microcarriers For Expansion Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Esmaiel Jabbari, Azadeh Sepahvandi

Faculty Publications

Conventional microcarriers used for expansion of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) require detachment and separation of the cells from the carrier prior to use in clinical applications for regeneration of articular cartilage, and the carrier can cause undesirable phenotypic changes in the expanded cells. This work describes a novel approach to expand hMSCs on biomimetic carriers based on adult or fetal decellularized bovine articular cartilage that supports tissue regeneration without the need to detach the expanded cells from the carrier. In this approach, the fetal or adult bovine articular cartilage was minced, decellularized, freeze-dried, ground, and sieved to produce articular …

Decellularized Articular Cartilage Microgels As Microcarriers For Expansion Of Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Esmaiel Jabbari, Azadeh Sepahvandi

Faculty Publications

Conventional microcarriers used for expansion of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) require detachment and separation of the cells from the carrier prior to use in clinical applications for regeneration of articular cartilage, and the carrier can cause undesirable phenotypic changes in the expanded cells. This work describes a novel approach to expand hMSCs on biomimetic carriers based on adult or fetal decellularized bovine articular cartilage that supports tissue regeneration without the need to detach the expanded cells from the carrier. In this approach, the fetal or adult bovine articular cartilage was minced, decellularized, freeze-dried, ground, and sieved to produce articular …

Precipitation And Temperature Extremes And Association With Large-Scale Climate Indices: An Observational Evidence Over India, S Rehana, Pranathi Yeleswarapu, Ghouse Basha, Francisco Munoz-Arriola

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Climate change exposes more frequent natural hazards and physical vulnerabilities to the built and natural environments. Extreme precipitation and temperature events will have a significant impact on both the natural environment and human society. However, it is unclear whether precipitation and temperature extremes increase physical vulnerabilities across scales and their links with large-scale climate indices. This study investigates the relationship between precipitation and temperature extremes, as recommended by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI), and large scale climatological phenomenon indices (Indian Summer Monsoon Index (ISMI), Arctic Oscillation (AO), and North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)), using India as …

Ph-Responsive Nanocarriers In Cancer Therapy, Nour M. Alsawaftah, Nahid S. Awad, William G. Pitt, Ghaleb A. Husseini

Faculty Publications

A number of promising nano-sized particles (nanoparticles) have been developed to conquer the limitations of conventional chemotherapy. One of the most promising methods is stimuli-responsive nanoparticles because they enable the safe delivery of the drugs while controlling their release at the tumor sites. Different intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli can be used to trigger drug release such as temperature, redox, ultrasound, magnetic field, and pH. The intracellular pH of solid tumors is maintained below the extracellular pH. Thus, pH-sensitive nanoparticles are highly efficient in delivering drugs to tumors compared to conventional nanoparticles. This review provides a survey of the different strategies …

An Ensemble Approach For Patient Prognosis Of Head And Neck Tumor Using Multimodal Data, Numan Saeed, Roba Al Majzoub, Ikboljon Sobirov, Mohammad Yaqub

Computer Vision Faculty Publications

Accurate prognosis of a tumor can help doctors provide a proper course of treatment and, therefore, save the lives of many. Tradi-tional machine learning algorithms have been eminently useful in crafting prognostic models in the last few decades. Recently, deep learning algorithms have shown significant improvement when developing diag-nosis and prognosis solutions to different healthcare problems. However, most of these solutions rely solely on either imaging or clinical data. Utilizing patient tabular data such as demographics and patient med-ical history alongside imaging data in a multimodal approach to solve a prognosis task has started to gain more interest recently and …

Heavy Metals In Harvested Rainwater Used For Domestic Purposes In Rural Areas: Yatta Area, Palestine As A Case Study., Fathi Anabtawi, Nidal Mahmoud, Issam A. Al-Khatib, Yung-Tse Hung

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Rainwater harvesting is considered one of the most important water resources in the Palestinian countryside. In this research, the study area chosen for the study was Yatta town in Hebron city. 75 water samples were collected from 74 cisterns in a number of neighborhoods in Yatta, and a structured household survey was conducted with the same households where the water samples were collected. Statistical analysis was made using the SPSS software. An analysis for the samples was made using ICP-MS to test the existence of a number of heavy metals, namely Pb, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn and Cd. …