Engineering Commons^™

Reinforcement Learning-Based Access Schemes In Cognitive Radio Networks, Ehab Maged Elguindy

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we propose different MAC protocols based on three Reinforcement Learning (RL) approaches, namely Q-Learning, Deep Q-Network (DQN), and Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG). We exploit the primary user (PU) feedback, in the form of ARQ and CQI bits, to enhance the performance of the secondary user (SU) MAC protocols. Exploiting the PU feedback information can be applied on the top of any SU sensing-based MAC protocol. Our proposed model relies on two main pillars, namely, an infinite-state Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP) to model the system dynamics besides a queuing-theoretic model for the PU queue; the …

Multi-Skilled Labor Optimization With Partial Allocation Of Resources, Amira Saleh

Theses and Dissertations

The current practice of labor allocation in construction schedules assumes single-skilled workforce; meaning that each worker is assumed to be skilled in only one trade. In such practice, at any instance in the project lifecycle, some of the workforce become idle waiting for other labor types to complete their work. Traditionally, companies may relocate idle workers to other projects and return them back to their original project when needed again. This complicates the resource management process and is not often performed successfully, leading to schedule and cost overruns. Alternatively, project managers may keep the idle workforce at their projects because …

Predicting The Effect Of Fly Ash On Concrete’S Mechanical Properties By Ann, Mohammad Mehdi Roshani, Seyed Hamidreza Kargar, Visar Farhangi, Moses Karakouzian

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Fly ash, as a supplemental pozzolanic material, reduces concrete’s adverse environmental footprint by decreasing the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2 ) during the cement manufacturing process. Fly ash, which is a waste material, can enhance both the mechanical characteristics and durability of concrete, and has the capability to play an important role in sustainable design. Considering the widespread interest in applying Fly ash, and despite research studies, the level of replacement is still unclear. In this paper, a novel method using artificial neural networks (ANN) is presented to predict concrete’s mechanical …

Modeling The Effectiveness Of Cooling Trenches For Stormwater Temperature Mitigation, Scott A. Wells

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Due to elevated runoff stormwater temperatures from impervious areas, one management strategy to reduce stormwater temperature is the use of underground flow through rock media termed a cooling trench. This paper examines the governing equations for the liquid phase and media phases for modeling the temperature leaving a cooling trench assuming that changes in temperature occurred longitudinally through the cooling trench. This model is dependent on parameters such as the media type, porosity, media initial temperature, inflow rate, and inflow temperature. Several approaches were explored mathematically for evaluating the change in temperature of the water and the cooling trench media. …

Phase Locked Loop Using Vlsi Technology: A Bibliometric Survey And Future Research Directions, Ujwala Kshirsagar, Ayushi Kamboj Ms.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

: For the design of high frequency networks power has been one of the most significant specifications. Power usage is therefore one of the most significant challenges to microprocessor design. If we lower the supply voltage, this immediately leads to a decrease in static and dynamic power usage in order to reduce the circuit's power dissipation. Decreasing the voltage of the supply, however, often decreases the circuit's output, which is not reasonable.

The low power proposed phase locked loop (PLL) is therefore built using microwind 3.1, 45nm CMOS/VLSI technology, which, in practice, at low power, delivers high intensity output. The …

Bibliometric Survey On Zero-Knowledge Proof For Authentication, Adwait Pathak, Tejas Patil, Shubham Pawar, Piyush Raut, Smita Khairnar, Dr. Shilpa Gite

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Background: Zero Knowledge Proof is a persuasive cryptographic protocol employed to provide data security by keeping the user's identity, using the services anonymously. Zero Knowledge Proof can be the preferred option to use in multiple circumstances. Instead of using the public key cryptographic protocols, the zero-knowledge proof usage does not expose or leak confidential data or information during the transmission. Zero Knowledge Proof protocols are comparatively lightweight; this results in making it efficient in terms of memory. Zero Knowledge Proof applications can reside in authentication, identity management, cryptocurrency transactions, and many more. Traditional authentication schemes are vulnerable to attacks …

Integration And Optimal Control Of Microcsp With Building Hvac Systems: Review And Future Directions, Mohamed Toub, Chethan Reddy, Rush D. Robinett Iii, Mahdi Shahbakhti

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are omnipresent in modern buildings and are responsible for a considerable share of consumed energy and the electricity bill in buildings. On the other hand, solar energy is abundant and could be used to support the building HVAC system through cogeneration of electricity and heat. Micro-scale concentrated solar power (MicroCSP) is a propitious solution for such applications that can be integrated into the building HVAC system to optimally provide both electricity and heat, on-demand via application of optimal control techniques. The use of thermal energy storage (TES) in MicroCSP adds dispatching capabilities to the …

Metal And Flexible Duct Systems Impacts Upon Cooling Energy And Performance, Florida Solar Energy Center, Charles Withers, Jr.

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Flexible duct is commonly used throughout the U.S. in residential construction. It performs well when installed in accordance with industry standards, however, they are often not installed as such. Issues such as not cutting ducts to the exact length needed, and instead using significantly more duct, result in compression and higher static pressure. Poorly supported ducts or turns without proper radius also increase static pressure. A research project was completed to evaluate the differences in performance between a metal duct and flexible duct systems in two side-by-side otherwise identical residential laboratories. Testing evaluated three different flex duct system configurations compared …

Data-Driven Tools Guided By First-Principles For Scale Modeling, Sadegh Poozesh

Progress in Scale Modeling, an International Journal

For decades, traditional scale-modeling techniques have been relying on first-principles models (FPMs). FPMs have been used to find non-dimensional numbers (PIs) and identify normalized underlying forces and energies behind the phenomenon in focus. The two main challenges with FPM-based PIs extraction are finding the relevant PIs and proper correlations between PIs. The emergence and surge of data-driven modeling (DDM) provide a new opportunity to leverage experimental data in model development across scales/plants. In this paper, first, the two mentioned issues in PIs development will be elaborated to reveal the gap, and second, a new insight into scale modeling and similarity …

High Altitude Science Experiments Aboard Nasa’S Wb-57 Airborne Research Platform, Pedro Llanos, Kristina Andrijauskaite, Sathya Gangadharan

Publications

Purpose: Exposure to space radiation may place astronauts at significant health risks. This is an under-investigated area of research and therefore more knowledge is needed to better plan long-term space missions. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of radiation on murine naïve and activated T lymphocytes (T cells) and to test the effectiveness of thermal, radiation and flight tracking technology in biological scientific payloads. We cultured cells in specific cytokines known to increase their viability and exposed them to either flight or had them as ground controls. Flight cells were kept under proper environmental conditions by …

Automated Test Generation For Validating Systemc Designs, Bin Lin

Dissertations and Theses

Modern system design involves integration of all components of a system on a single chip, namely System-on-a-Chip (SoC). The ever-increasing complexity of SoCs and rapidly decreasing time-to-market have pushed the design abstraction to the electronic system level (ESL), in order to increase design productivity. SystemC is a widely used ESL modeling language that plays a central role in modern SoCs design process. ESL SystemC designs usually serve as executable specifications for the subsequent SoCs design flow. Therefore, undetected bugs in ESL SystemC designs may propagate to low-level implementations or even final silicon products. In addition, modern SoCs design often involves …

The Use Of Dynamic Message Signs (Dmss) On The Freeways: An Empirical Analysis Of Dmss Logs And Survey Data, Boniphace Kutela, Hualiang Teng

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

This study evaluates the Dynamic Message Signs (DMSs) use to dissipate incident information on the freeways in Las Vegas, Nevada. It focuses on the DMSs message timing, extent, and content, from the operators’ and drivers’ perspectives, considering the variability in drivers’ freeway experience. Two-week incidents data with fifty-nine incidents, DMS log data, and responses from a survey questionnaire were used. The descriptive analysis of the incidents revealed that about 54% of the incidents had their information posted on the DMSs; however, information of only 18.6% of the incidents was posted on time. The posted information covered the incident type (54.2%), …

A Phenomenographic Study Of Academics Teaching In Engineering Programmes In Ireland: Conceptions Of Professional Skills And Approaches To Teaching Professional Skills, Una Beagon

Doctoral

Engineers play a central role in addressing the challenges which face society. However, the influence of globalisation, disruptive technological change and socially complex problems will greatly affect the way engineers work in the future.

As a result, there have been calls to embrace transformational change in engineering education, yet the literature reveals that many reform efforts have fallen short. Industry and society will therefore continue to look to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to better prepare engineering graduates with the new skills needed to face the challenges of the future. Notwithstanding the critical and valued role that technical engineering subjects have …

Resistive Switching Behaviour In A Polymannose Film For Multistate Non-Volatile Memory Application, Ilias A. Tayeb, Feng Zhao, Jafri M. Abdullah, Kuan Y. Cheong

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

With the shift towards reducing electronic waste, bio-organic materials are considered as prominent alternatives due to their biodegradability and benign environmental impacts. Herein, polymannose is used to demonstrate resistive-switching characteristics with twelve distinctive and reliable memory states that were modulated by the compliance current at a READ voltage as low as −0.05 V.d-Mannose powder and ethanol were mixed to produce the precursor for the formation of a polymannose filmviadrop casting on an ITO/PET substrate and dried at 160 °C for different durations before an array of Ag was deposited as the top electrode. The optimal drying time of 7 h …

Effect Of Varying Wind Intensity, Forward Speed, And Surface Pressure On Storm Surges Of Hurricane Ritaeffect Of Varying Wind Intensity, Forward Speed, And Surface Pressure On Storm Surges Of Hurricane Rita, Abram Musinguzi, Muhammad K. Akbar

Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering Faculty Research

Hurricane storm surges are influenced by several factors, including wind intensity, surface pressure, forward speed, size, angle of approach, ocean bottom depth and slope, shape and geographical features of the coastline. The relative influence of each factor may be amplified or abated by other factors that are acting at the time of the hurricane’s approach to the land. To understand the individual and combined influence of wind intensity, surface pressure and forward speed, a numerical experiment is conducted using Advanced CIRCulation + Simulating Waves Nearshore (ADCIRC + SWAN) by performing hindcasts of Hurricane Rita storm surges. The wind field generated …

Truck Platooning Effects On Girder Bridges, Joshua Steelman, Jay A. Puckett, Daniel Linzell, Bowen Yang

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Truck platooning – digitally linking two or more trucks to travel in a closely spaced convoy – is increasingly used to save fuel, and reduce driver work and road congestion. Currently, the platoon load effects with several constant headways on bridges have been evaluated and compared to AASHTO design and legal loads. However, reliability assessment and a more rigorous investigation of headway spacing assumptions for truck platoons are lacking. This research provides a framework for determining how much a platoon permit load might be increased given strict control over the load characteristics and operational tactics. The present research evaluates the …

Better And Faster: How To Leverage Award-Winning Operations Management Techniques, Carrie Beam

Operations Management Presentations

The INFORMS Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Advanced Analytics, Operations Research, and Management Science identifies innovative applications of operations management in fields as diverse as sewer district management, school bus scheduling, polio vaccinations, and of course transportation. In this seminar, 2021 Edelman Prize Chair Dr. Carrie Beam will introduce the keys of stakeholder engagement, iterative development, and scaled-up implementation of operations management techniques and how they apply to the Franz Edelman Award and to MSOM courses.

• Edelman Overview: https://youtu.be/_fiTelkcHi4
• Edelman 2020 Competition: http://info.informs.org/2020edelman

Up-And-Coming Advances In Optical And Microwave Nonreciprocity: From Classical To Quantum Realm, Sergey V. Kutsaev, Alex Krasnok, Sergey N. Romanenko, Alexander Yu. Smirnov, Kirill Taletski, Vyacheslav P. Yakovlev

Advanced Science Research Center

Reciprocity is a fundamental physical principle that roots in the time-reversal symmetry of physical laws. It allows making predictions on any arbitrary complex system's response and operation and hence simplifies the analysis. However, there are many practical situations in which it is advantageous to break reciprocity, e.g., isolators preventing wave scattering back to lasers and generators, full-duplex systems for multiplexing transmission and receiving in the same channel, nonreciprocal cavity excitation, and protection of fragile states of superconductor quantum computers from thermal noise. The most widespread approach to time-reversal symmetry breaking and nonreciprocity based on magnetic field biasing suffers from bulkiness, …

Light-Responsive Polymeric Micellar Nanoparticles With Enhanced Formulation Stability., Kyoung Nan Kim, Keun Sang Oh, Jiwook Shim, Isabel R Schlaepfer, Sana D Karam, Jung-Jae Lee

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering Departmental Research

Light-sensitive polymeric micelles have recently emerged as promising drug delivery systems for spatiotemporally controlled release of payload at target sites. Here, we developed diazonaphthoquinone (DNQ)-conjugated micellar nanoparticles that showed a change in polarity of the micellar core from hydrophobic to hydrophilic under UV light, releasing the encapsulated anti-cancer drug, doxetaxel (DTX). The micelles exhibited a low critical micelle concentration and high stability in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) solution due to the hydrophobic and π-π stacking interactions in the micellar core. Cell studies showed enhanced cytotoxicity of DTX-loaded micellar nanoparticles upon irradiation. The enhanced stability would increase the …

Radiation‐Induced Oral Mucositis Hamster Model Using A Linear Accelerator Enhances Clinical Relevance Of Preclinical Studies For Treatment Strategy Investigation, Carolyn T. Jordan, Emily M. Bradford, Dennis C. Cheek, Mahesh R. Kudrimoti, Craig S. Miller, Molly H. Smith, J. Zach Hilt, Thomas D. Dziubla

Radiation Medicine Faculty Publications

Translational animal models for oral mucositis (OM) are necessary to simulate and assess the bioclinical effects and response in humans. These models should simulate high levels of radiation exposure that leads to oxidative stress and inflammatory‐initiated tissue changes. Hamster models have been extensively studied to observe pathological effects of radiation exposure and help in the development of effective treatments. To successfully evaluate the potential for treatment regimens with consistency and relevance, a radiation‐induced OM hamster model was developed using a clinical linear accelerator utilized by cancer patients daily. The dose exposure to the isolated, everted cheek pouch of a hamster, …

Blowing Curtain Face Ventilation System For Extended Cut Mining Using Passive Regulator, Andrzej M. Wala, Todor P. Petrov

Mining Engineering Faculty Patents

A ventilation system for an underground mine includes a blowing curtain, a passive regulator in a shape of an airfoil and an airflow ventilation source. The passive regulator is positioned in the air path adjacent a discharge end of the blowing curtain.

Broad Kinase Inhibition Mitigates Early Neuronal Dysfunction In Tauopathy, Shon A. Koren, Matthew J. Hamm, Ryan Cloyd, Sarah N. Fontaine, Emad Chishti, Chiara Lanzillotta, Jennifer Rodriguez-Rivera, Alexandria Ingram, Michelle Bell, Sara M. Galvis-Escobar, Nicholas Zulia, Fabio Di Domenico, Duc Duong, Nicholas T. Seyfried, David K. Powell, Moriel Vandsburger, Tal Frolinger, Anika M. S. Hartz, John Koren Iii, Jeffrey M. Axten, Nicholas J. Laping, Jose F. Abisambra

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Tauopathies are a group of more than twenty known disorders that involve progressive neurodegeneration, cognitive decline and pathological tau accumulation. Current therapeutic strategies provide only limited, late-stage symptomatic treatment. This is partly due to lack of understanding of the molecular mechanisms linking tau and cellular dysfunction, especially during the early stages of disease progression. In this study, we treated early stage tau transgenic mice with a multi-target kinase inhibitor to identify novel substrates that contribute to cognitive impairment and exhibit therapeutic potential. Drug treatment significantly ameliorated brain atrophy and cognitive function as determined by behavioral testing and a sensitive imaging …

Information Technology News, Georgia Southern University

Information Technology: News & Publications (2012-2023)

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The Acoustic Camera As A Tool To Identify Belt Conveyor Noises, Piotr Bortnowski, Anna Nowak-Szpak, Maksymilian Ozdoba, Robert Król

Journal of Sustainable Mining

This paper explores the possibilities of using an acoustic camera as a tool that allows the verification of the correct construction and operation of individual elements of a belt conveyor. Based on the simultaneously recorded components - a video camera and measuring microphones, the sound pressure level map of the belt conveyor was created. The tests were carried out in laboratory conditions and covered the location and identification of individual noise sources. The verification consists not only of searching for dominant sound sources, but above all, of searching for frequencies in the analysed spectrum that should not occur during their …

Optimization Of The Distribution Of Drilling Boreholes In Methane Production From Coal Seams, Anna Wątor, Jarosław Chećko, Tomasz Urych

Journal of Sustainable Mining

The paper presents an evaluation of methane production from coal seams. The Warszowice-PawłowicePółnoc deposit was selected for numerical modelling of methane production. The numerical model was made for a fragment of this deposit of about 2 km². The numerical model was constructed for 6 seams. Three deposits were selected for simulation of methane production. Three horizontal boreholes were designed within the model area, referring to the existing Suszec-19 borehole. A number of simulations related to methane production from the selected deposits were performed. They included different variants of the number of boreholes and also took into account the …

A Systematic Review Of The Use Of Environmental Economics In The Mining Industry, Maria Menegaki, Dimitris Damigos

Journal of Sustainable Mining

Environmental economics is increasingly being used in project appraisals, environmental liability estimates and design of market-based instruments. Mining, an actor capable of causing adverse effects on the environment, human health and well-being, has already been affected by these developments, at a great extent. Up to date, several research studies have been carried out to monetise the externalities of mining projects. Nevertheless, a systematic review of these publications has not been carried out, yet. This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature by investigating (i) the main non-market valuation techniques used; (ii) the main external costs or benefits of …

Covid-19: A Spectio-Temporal Analysis Of Air Quality Status In Coking Coalfields Of India Due To Nationwide Lockdown In India, Amarjeet Singh Mr., Gurdeep Singh Dr.

Journal of Sustainable Mining

A novel infectious corona virus disease (COVID-19) was identified in month of December 2019.It has now been announced as a worldwide pandemic by the World Health Organization [1]. The COVID-19 pandemic has positive impacts on the environmental pollutants. In present work, Coalfield areas of Jharia Coalfields (JCF), India have been taken as a case study to evaluate the effect of lockdown on air quality at 10 locations. This study had been selected to estimate the reduction in concentration of pollutants like PM₁₀, PM_2.5, SO₂, and NOx during 3 Seasons (summer, Post-Monsoon and winter season) …

An Ultrabroadband 3d Achromatic Metalens, Fatih Balli, Mansoor A. Sultan, Aytekin Ozdemir, J. Todd Hastings

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We design and fabricate ultra-broadband achromatic metalenses operating from the visible into the short-wave infrared, 450–1700 nm, with diffraction-limited performance. A hybrid 3D architecture, which combines nanoholes with a phase plate, allows realization in low refractive index materials. As a result, two-photon lithography can be used for prototyping while molding can be used for mass production. Experimentally, a 0.27 numerical aperture (NA) metalens exhibits 60% average focusing efficiency and 6% maximum focal length error over the entire bandwidth. In addition, a 200 μm diameter, 0.04 NA metalens was used to demonstrate achromatic imaging over the same broad spectral range. These …

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

Articles

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

Source Localization With Machine Learning, Arjun Gupta

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

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