Engineering Commons^™

Generation And Characterization Of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Derived Smooth Muscle Cells, Srikanth Sivaraman, Jackson Hedrick, Samia Ismail, Chris Slavin, Raj R. Rao

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide. A completely autologous treatment can be achieved by using elastogenic mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived smooth muscle cells (SMC) at the affected tissue site of vascular diseases such as abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). Thus, our work focused on evaluating the efficacy of (a) the combination of various growth factors, (b) different time periods and (c) different MSC lines to determine the treatment combination that generated SMCs that exhibited the greatest elastogenicity among the tested groups using Western blotting and flow cytometry. Additionally, total RNA sequencing was used to confirm that post-differentiation cells …

Resource Allocation With Sigmoidal Demands: Mobile Healthcare Units And Service Adoption, Andres Alban, Philippe Blaettchen, Harwin De Vries, Luk Van Wassenhove

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Problem definition: Achieving broad access to health services (a target within the sustainable development goals) requires reaching rural populations. Mobile healthcare units (MHUs) visit remote sites to offer health services to these populations. However, limited exposure, health literacy, and trust can lead to sigmoidal (S-shaped) adoption dynamics, presenting a difficult obstacle in allocating limited MHU resources. It is tempting to allocate resources in line with current demand, as seen in practice. However, to maximize access in the long term, this may be far from optimal, and insights into allocation decisions are limited. Academic/practical relevance: We present a formal model of …

Data Mining Cubes For Buildings, A Generic Framework For Multidimensional Analytics Of Building Performance Data, Julien Leprince, Clayton Miller, Wim Zeiler

Research Collection College of Integrative Studies

Over the last decade, collecting massive volumes of data has been made all the more accessible, pushing the building sector to embrace data mining as a powerful tool for harvesting the potential of big data analytics. However repetitive challenges still persist emerging from the need for a common analytical frame, effective application- and insight-driven targeted data selection, as well as benchmarked-supported claims. This study addresses these concerns by putting forward a generic stepwise multidimensional data mining framework tailored to building data, leveraging the dimensional-structures of data cubes. Using the open Building Data Genome Project 2 set, composed of 3053 energy …

Design Of A Two-Echelon Freight Distribution System In Last-Mile Logistics Considering Covering Locations And Occasional Drivers, Vincent F. Yu, Panca Jodiawan, Ming-Lu Hou, Aldy Gunawan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This research addresses a new variant of the vehicle routing problem, called the two-echelon vehicle routing problem with time windows, covering options, and occasional drivers (2E-VRPTW-CO-OD). In this problem, two types of fleets are available to serve customers, city freighters and occasional drivers (ODs), while two delivery options are available to customers, home delivery and alternative delivery. For customers choosing the alternative delivery, their demands are delivered to one of the available covering locations for them to pick up. The objective of 2E-VRPTW-CO-OD is to minimize the total cost consisting of routing costs, connection costs, and compensations paid to ODs …

An Exploration Of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (Cpted) Principles For Enhancing Safety And Security In The Design Of Adamawa State University Students’ Hostel, Mubi, Benjamin Moral, Mudashir Gafar

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

People across the world face growing insecurity, violent conflict spreading and intensifying and the natural systems on which human life depends on, is in jeopardy. Also, today the security condition of student hostel has become one of the major challenges facing Nigerian institutions, with continual media coverage of the state of insecurity of the students’ hostel, level of theft, burglary, abductions, and kidnappings. This research set out to proffer solutions to the rising insecurity challenges in the students’ hostel. This was achieved through the development of a framework from CPTED, on architectural strategies used to deter crime from thriving in …

Power Of Cantilever Design In The Contemporary Architecture, Karen Hassan Beydoun, Jana Hussein, Ahmad Salame

Architecture and Planning Journal (APJ)

Cantilever is a structural form that extends horizontally and is supported by one end and free on the other while the load is distributed equally, initiated by the use of bridges and balconies in the buildings. The power of Cantilevers with its different designs is spreading throughout the world via various perspectives since it increases the ability of design creativity and gives proper solutions. However, from that point forward, a research gap that has been found missing relating the structural challenges and how it affects the design and the decisions taken by the clients/ owners paying budgets on such type …

Enhancing Engineering Identity Among Boys Of Color, Jerrod Henderson, Virginia Snodgrass Rangel, James Holly Jr, Rick Greer, Mariam Manuel

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Black and Brown men continue to be underrepresented in engineering. One explanation for the dearth of Black and Latino men in engineering is that engineering (and STEM) identity often is not inclusive of People of Color. As a result, Black and Brown boys may be less likely to become interested in STEM subjects. The purpose of this study, then, was to investigate how the components of one afterschool engineering program tap into engineering identity formation among fourth- and fifth-grade Black and Brown boys. Leveraging research on the STEM and engineering identity, we argue that the program and its key components …

Socio-Ecological Analysis Of Artisanal Gold Mining In West Africa: A Case Study Of Ghana, Richard Takyi, Rasha Hassan, Badr El Mahrad, Richard Adade

Journal of Sustainable Mining

The surge in artisanal gold mining (AGM) activities and the associated environmental impact in Ghana have elicited several stakeholders' attempts to curb the problem. However, due to little understanding of the underlying issues, these efforts have been ineffective. This study aims to use a socio-ecological framework to analyze drivers of AGM activities, the environmental pressures, the state change, their impact on human welfare, and the management response as measures (DAPSI(W)R(M)) to the problem. Evaluate AGM's impact on Ghana's ability to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Data were collected from relevant literature on the subject and analyzed with …

Justification Of The Main Parameters And Operating Modes Of The Crushers-Shredders Of Coarse Feed, K.D. Astanakulov, F.U. Karshiev, Sh.Kh. Gapparov

Irrigation and Melioration

The article presents the results of research on the justification of the parameters of the working bodies and operating modes of the mini crushers-shredders of coarse feed. On the basis of experimental research to study the effect of the rotor parameters Mini Crusher its qualitative performance indicators. According to the teachings found that rational parametres and operating modes-Crusher are: rotor length 350 mm; rotor diameter 550 mm; rotor speed 1290 min-1; the number of hammers 20 pcs; angle of rotation of the hammers 60.

Plan Dimensions Of The Flow Confinited By Cross Dams, On Rivers With Non-Symmetric Flooring, M.R. Bakiev, U.A. Kahhorov, A.А. Jakhonov

Irrigation and Melioration

Improving methods and technologies for calculating and designing floodplain transverse dams, taking into account the interaction of floodplain and riverbed flows to protect the banks from erosion and regulate riverbeds is one of the most important tasks. At the same time, the priority remains the transverse blind dams made of local soil with the attachment of their head. Their construction on rivers with two-sided asymmetric floodplains has its own characteristics, which consist in the need to take into account the morphology, the different roughness of the floodplain and the channel, the interaction of floodplain and channel flows, the asymmetry of …

Study Of Performance Of Vertical Drainage Well Construction From Polymer Materials, I.A. Akhmedov, Z.K. Mirkhasilova

Irrigation and Melioration

The article is devoted to the reconstruction and construction of vertical drainage wells. The use of vertical drainage wells is characterized by a decrease in the level of groundwater. The article presents data and typical regions of the use of vertical drainage wells.Also presented are mechanical, physical and chemical methods of well cleaning in practice. The information on the design and construction of vertical drainage wells is described. The analysis of corrosion resistance of vertical drainage well materials and their service life has been carried out. It is known that polymeric materials are resistant to corrosive environments. Using filters made …

Results Of Software Modeling Flow Section Of Vane Pumps, О.Я. Гловацкий, R.R. Ergashev, A.A. Abdullaev, J.I. Rashidov

Irrigation and Melioration

The article presents an analysis of data on the flow movement in a centrifugal pump, the results of which are aimed at improving the pump design in the direction of ensuring the flow of the flow without resistance to achieve energy savings in water transmission. To reduce slip on the pumps and to reduce the resistance to current flowing inside the pump to achieve energy savings, working impeller and spiral chamber shape are designed to be constructively correct. Data from pumping stations show that the performance of pumping equipment reduces water consumption by 10-12%, pressure by 18-20% and service life …

Economic Assessment Of A New Energy-Saving Electrical Technology For The Anesthesia Of Silkworms, O.A. Khaliknazarov, A.A. Turdiboev, D.M. Akbarov, D.M. Akbarov

Irrigation and Melioration

The article provides information on the role of Uzbekistan in the world in the field of cocoons, the analysis of cocoon cultivation and primary processing technologies, technologies and technical devices currently used in primary cocoon processing. Suggestion of the use of ultra-high frequency (UV) electromagnetic field in the anesthesia of mulberry silkworm, technical specifications of the electrotechnical device for anesthesia of mulberry silkworm using ultra-high frequency (UV) electromagnetic field, and the implementation of this device SK-150K pilons The cost-effectiveness of the device was assessed, the cost-effective method achieved as a result of the research work is highlighted. According to the …

Main Directions Of Food Security In Uzbekistan (The Case Of Samarkand Province), F.J. Saydullaeva

Irrigation and Melioration

The article assesses food availability as one of the indicators of food security on the example of Samarkand region based on a comparative analysis of the state of agricultural food production over the years and the volume of products per capita and their compliance with established recommended consumption norms. Based on the analysis, the results show that in Samarkand region in 2016-2020, agricultural food products were produced over recommended consumption norms per capita. The periodic evolution of the types of agri-food products produced by dehkan farms and owners of household land increased by 7.1% decreased by 7.3% on private farmers. …

The Economic Assessment Of Factors Affecting Small Household(Tomorka) In Rural Areas And Their Income, Sh.A. Muratov

Irrigation and Melioration

In this research, the role and importance of income from small householding(tomorka) in rural areas, its specific features are analyzed. Economic factors were assessed through the tobit regression model of the factors influencing the formation of income from small households (tomorka) activities, and VIF (Variance inflation factor) test was conducted to determine their multicollinearity. Anonymous surveys of 170 landowners in 4 districts of Samarkand region have been used in the analysis. The age of landowners, the area of arable land, the consumption of organic and mineral fertilizers, the cost of seeds and seedlings, the cost of preparing the field for …

Semi-Annual Progress Report #9, Missouri University Of Science And Technology. Inspire - University Transportation Center

Semi-Annual Progress Reports

No abstract provided.

Three-Dimensional Printing Of Reinforced Concrete And Nozzle Therefor, Chenglin Wu, Genda Chen, Dimitri Feys, Guirong Grace Yan, Bryce Tyler Tafolla

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A three-dimensional printing system for reinforced concrete and a nozzle therefor. The system employs an extruder for extruding unreinforced concrete and a concrete reinforcement feeder is for feeding one or more elongate reinforcement members. The nozzle has an outlet and is operatively connected to the extruder and the concrete reinforcement feeder to receive the unreinforced concrete from the extruder and to receive the one or more elongate reinforcement members from the concrete reinforcement feeder. The nozzle combines the unreinforced concrete from the extruder and the one or more elongate reinforcement members from the concrete reinforcement feeder into a reinforced concrete …

Hydrocracking Of Octacosane And Cobalt Fischer–Tropsch Wax Over Nonsulfided Nimo And Pt-Based Catalysts, Wenping Ma, Jungshik Kang, Gary Jacobs, Shelley D. Hopps, Burtron H. Davis

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty and Staff Publications

The effect of activation environment (N₂, H₂ and H₂S/H₂) on the hydrocracking performance of a NiMo/Al catalyst was studied at 380 °C and 3.5 MPa using octacosane (C₂₈). The catalyst physical structure and acidity were characterized by BET, XRD, SEM-EDX and FTIR techniques. The N₂ activation generated more active nonsulfided NiMo/Al catalyst relative to the H₂ or H₂S activation (X_C28, 70–80% versus 6–10%). For a comparison, a NiMo/Si-Al catalyst was also tested after normal H₂ activation and showed higher activity at the same process …

The A-Step 2030 Summer School, Una Beagon, Johannes Spaas, Klara Kövesi, Brad Tabas, Bente Nørgaard, Claus Spliid, Riitta Lehtinen, Jenni Koponen

Reports

This report outlines the design and evaluation of the Learning and Teaching Activity which forms part of the A-STEP 2030 (Attracting diverSe Talent to the Engineering Professions of 2030) project. This project is an EU Erasmus+ project funded under call number 2018-1-FR01-KA203-047854. The document begins by explaining the purpose and aims of the overall research project and more specifically, the background to the design of the Learning and Teaching Activity. The report provides a detailed description of the organisation of the learning and teaching activity and a summary of the feedback received from participants. Exemplars of the future scenarios co-created …

Https://Dot.Nebraska.Gov/Media/4yaemfil/M100-Nebraska-Buried-Archeological-Sites-Phase-Ii.Pdf, Anthony L. Layzell, Rolfe D. Mandel, Courtney L. Ziska, John R. Bozell

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This project developed a GIS to assist with the identification of deeply buried archeological sites in alluvial settings across Nebraska with the exception of the Sandhills region. Soil survey data, previous geoarcheological investigations, landform position, and other information was used to rank the potential of any stream valley setting as low, low-moderate, moderate-high, or high potential to contain buried soils (paleosols). While the presence of buried soils does not necessarily translate to presence of buried archeological sites, the potential for such sites is far greater in paleosols. The GIS can be used by NDOT and other agencies with statutory historic …

Aerospace Mechanics And Controls, Carlos Montalvo

Textbooks

This report represents aerospace mechanics and controls for CubeSats, quadcopters and aircraft. A CubeSAT is a small satellite on the order of 10 centimeters along each axis. A 1U satellite is a small cube with 10 cm sides. These satellites are used for a variety of missions and created by a variety of different organizations. When deployed from a rocket, a CubeSAT may obtain a large angular velocity which must be reduced before most science missions or communications can take place. Maximizing solar energy charging also involves better pointing accuracy. To control the attitude of these small satellites, reaction wheels, …

Proximal Policy Optimization For Radiation Source Search, Philippe Erol Proctor, Christof Teuscher, Adam A. Hecht, Marek Osiński

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Rapid search and localization for nuclear sources can be an important aspect in preventing human harm from illicit material in dirty bombs or from contamination. In the case of a single mobile radiation detector, there are numerous challenges to overcome such as weak source intensity, multiple sources, background radiation, and the presence of obstructions, i.e., a non-convex environment. In this work, we investigate the sequential decision making capability of deep reinforcement learning in the nuclear source search context. A novel neural network architecture (RAD-A2C) based on the advantage actor critic (A2C) framework and a particle filter gated recurrent unit for …

Improving Bicycle Crossings At Unsignalized Intersections Through Pavement Markings: Analysis Of The City Of Portland Innovative Strategy, Frank Boateng Appiah

Dissertations and Theses

The increasing trend in the number of bicycle crashes in the U.S since 2009 has been a major challenge to safety. In 2019, a total of 36,096 people were killed on U.S roadways. A total of 846 (2.3%) of these fatalities were bicyclists and around 75% of the bicycle fatalities occur in urban areas and intersections are common locations of crashes. Many bicycle enhancements such as bike boxes, bicycle signals, curb extensions have been installed to improve safety at signalized intersections. The City of Portland OR experimented with an innovative treatment to improve bicycle crossings at unsignalized crossings. This treatment, …

Poly(2-Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate) Hydrogels For Contact Lens Applications–A Review, Kushendarsyah Saptaji, Nurlaely Rohmatul Iza, Sinta Widianingrum, Vania Katherine Mulia, Iwan Setiawan

Makara Journal of Science

The emerging technology in biomedical engineering requires biocompatible materials, which are also referred to as biomaterials. For a material to be considered biocompatible, it should not interact with human tissues in a harmful way, and vice versa. Various properties of biocompatible materials, such as mechanical and optical properties, have to be considered for different biomedical applications. One of the most popular applications of biomaterials is for contact lenses. Hydrogels, specifically poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) hydrogels, are among the most popular ones in ophthalmologic applications, especially in soft contact lenses. This paper reviews the use of PHEMA hydrogels as one of the …

Incorporating Virtual Reality Training In An Introductory Public Speaking Course, Kevin Kryston, Henry Goble, Allison Eden

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This study presents the results of two studies using a virtual reality (VR) public-speaking training simulation as an instructional aid in a basic communication course. Results from the first study suggest that VR practice was associated with higher subsequent speech delivery grades in the course compared to no practice. However, VR practice did not reduce public speaking anxiety (PSA). In a follow-up study, VR practice was compared with other forms of lab-based practice including in front of a mirror and a recorded video session. All forms of lab practice (VR, mirror, or video) were associated with higher speech grades than …

Human-Robot Teaming Configurations: A Study Of Interpersonal Communication Perceptions And Affective Learning In Higher Education, Bryan Abendschein, Chad Edwards, Autumn P. Edwards, Varun Rijhwani, Jasmine Stahl

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

Technology encourages collaboration in creative ways in the classroom. Specifically, social robots may offer new opportunities for greater innovation in teaching. In this study, we combined the established literature on co-teaching teams with the developing field of machine actors used in education to investigate the impressions students had of different team configurations that included both a human and a robot. Participants saw one of three teams composed of a human and a social robot with different responsibilities present a short, prerecorded lecture (i.e., human as lead teacher-robot as teaching assistant, robot as lead teacher-human as teaching assistant, human and robot …

A New Era Of Education: Incorporating Machine Teachers Into Education, Jihyun Kim

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

This editorial briefly discusses the potential of machine agents in education that can assist in creating more positive and meaningful teaching and learning environments. Then, it introduces three articles, two empirical research studies and one research-based instructional activity, compromising a special section on “Machine Teachers in Education” of Journal of Communication Pedagogy. Collectively, these articles help us better understand the role of machines in education and facilitate intellectual dialogues.

Avoiding Water Bankruptcy In The Drought-Troubled Southwest: What The Us And Iran Can Learn From Each Other, Mojtaba Sadegh, Ali Mirchi, Amir Aghakouchak, Kaveh Madani

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The 2021 water year ends on Sept. 30, and it was another hot, dry year in the western U.S., with almost the entire region in drought. Reservoirs vital for farms, communities and hydropower have fallen to dangerous lows.

The biggest blow came in August, when the U.S. government issued its first ever water shortage declaration for the Colorado River, triggering water use restrictions.

In response, farmers and cities across the Southwest are now finding new, often unsustainable ways to meet their future water needs. Las Vegas opened a lower-elevation tunnel to Lake Mead, a Colorado River reservoir where water levels …

Unsupervised Learning For Anomaly Detection In Remote Sensing Imagery, Husam A. Alfergani

Theses and Dissertations

Landfill fire is a potential hazard of waste mismanagement, and could occur both on and below the surface of active and closed sites. Timely identification of temperature anomalies is critical in monitoring and detecting landfill fires, to issue warnings that can help extinguish fires at early stages. The overarching objective of this research is to demonstrate the applicability and advantages of remote sensing data, coupled with machine learning techniques, to identify landfill thermal states that can lead to fire, in the absence of onsite observations. This dissertation proposed unsupervised learning techniques, notably variational auto-encoders (VAEs), to identify temperature anomalies from …

A Comprehensive Review Of In-Situ Polymer Gel Simulation For Conformance Control, Baojun Bai, Jianqiao Leng, Mingzhen Wei

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Gel treatment has been widely applied in mature oilfields to improve sweep efficiency and control water production. Correct numerical simulation is of major importance to the optimization design and prediction of a successful gel treatment. However, there exist many problems in current simulation studies in published literature. This paper first presents a comprehensive review on the major factors that have been considered at different gelation stages during gel treatment, the models used in the commercial/in-house simulators, and current numerical simulation studies on both laboratory and field scales. Then we classify the current in-situ gel numerical simulation problems as 1, deficient …