Engineering Commons^™

ศักยภาพของแอลกอฮอล์ที่ใช้เป็นเชื้อเพลิงในภาคการบิน ภายใต้โครงการชดเชยและการลดปริมาณการปล่อยก๊าซคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์ภาคการบินระหว่างประเทศ (Corsia), ทัตพงศ์ รัตนะโสภณชัย

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

วัตถุประสงค์ของงานวิจัยฉบับนี้คือการประเมินศักยภาพเชิงเศรษฐศาสตร์และเชิงเทคนิคของเอทานอลที่ใช้เป็นเชื้อเพลิงชีวอากาศยานจากเทคโนโลยี Ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) ในช่วงตั้งแต่ปี 2021 จนถึงปี 2035 โดยพิจารณาความคุ้มค่าในการลงทุน พัฒนาเทคโนโลยี Ethanol-to-jet รวมถึงความพอเพียงเพื่อใช้ในการชดเชยปริมาณคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์ตามกรอบการดำเนินงาน CORSIA โดยข้อมูลการบินระหว่างประเทศถูกนำมาใช้เพื่อประเมินความต้องการของเอทานอลทั้งหมดของปริมาณเชื้อเพลิง ข้อมูลสัดส่วนการผสมเอทานอลสูงสุดที่ทาง ICAO ยอมรับในเทคโนโลยี Ethanol-to-jet และปริมาณคาร์บอนไดออกไซด์ที่ปล่อยในภาคการบินระหว่างประเทศโดยนำมาใช้ประกอบการวิเคราะห์ความอ่อนไหว ปริมาณความต้องการเอทานอลทั้งหมด ที่ไม่รวมปริมาณจากเชื้อเพลิงชีวอากาศยาน และปริมาณเอทานอลในประเทศไทยที่สามารถผลิตได้ โดยในส่วนของสต็อกของผู้ผลิตเอทานอลจะถูกนำมาพิจารณาเพิ่มเติมในส่วนศักยภาพเชิงเทคนิคของเอทานอลด้านอุปทาน จากผลการศึกษาพบว่า ศักยภาพเชิงเศรษฐศาสตร์ของเอทานอลภายใต้ฉากทัศน์ที่สภาวะปกติมีความคุ้มค่าและน่าลงทุนที่ต้นทุนทางเทคโนโลยี Ethanol-to-jet มีราคาต่ำ และภายใต้ฉากทัศน์สภาวะ COVID-19 มีความคุ้มค่าและน่าลงทุนเทคโนโลยี Ethanol-to-jet ในส่วนของศักยภาพเชิงเทคนิคของเอทานอลภายใต้ฉากทัศน์ที่สภาวะปกติ พบว่าปริมาณเอทานอลมีแนวโน้มไม่เพียงพอจนถึงช่วงปลายกรอบเวลาของ CORSIA ในขณะที่ศักยภาพเชิงเทคนิคของเอทานอลภายใต้ฉากทัศน์ที่สภาวะ COVID-19 แสดงว่าประเทศไทยสามารถผลิตเอทานอลได้เพียงพอจนถึงช่วงกลางของ CORSIA (หลังผ่าน 2025-2027) อย่างไรก็ตาม ในช่วง 2025-2027 ได้แสดงถึงความเป็นไปได้ว่าเอทานอลอาจไม่เพียงพอต่อความต้องการ

Energy Renewal: Isothermal Utilization Of Environmental Heat Energy With Asymmetric Structures, James Weifu Lee

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Through the research presented herein, it is quite clear that there are two thermodynamically distinct types (A and B) of energetic processes naturally occurring on Earth. Type A, such as glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid cycle, apparently follows the second law well; Type B, as exemplified by the thermotrophic function with transmembrane electrostatically localized protons presented here, does not necessarily have to be constrained by the second law, owing to its special asymmetric function. This study now, for the first time, numerically shows that transmembrane electrostatic proton localization (Type-B process) represents a negative entropy event with a local protonic entropy …

Photodynamic Therapy Of Inorganic Complexes For The Treatment Of Cancer, Chloe B. Smith, Lindsay C. Days, Duaa R. Alajroush, Khadija Faye, Yara Khodour, Stephen J. Beebe, Alvin Holder

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a medicinal tool that uses a photosensitiser and a light source to treat several conditions, including cancer. PDT uses reactive oxygen species (ROS) such as cytotoxic singlet oxygen ¹O₂ to induce cell death in cancer cells. Chemotherapy has historically utilized the cytotoxic effects of many metals, especially transition-metal complexes. However, chemotherapy is a systemic treatment so all cells in a patient's body are exposed to the same cytotoxic effects. Transition metal complexes have also shown high cytotoxicity as PDT agents. PDT is a potential localized method for treating several cancer types by using inorganic …

Identifying Scotomata In Hazard Identification Caused By Ignorance And Overconfidence, Allen Johanson

Masters Theses

The manufacturing and construction industries are two of the most dangerous professions, and employees are frequently exposed to hazards and hazardous conditions which can lead to serious injury or even death. An observed phenomenon, frequently called the Dunning-Kruger Effect states that unskilled people are often unaware of their shortcomings and those with the higher-level skills often underestimate their abilities. This study examines employees’ training, years of experience, and performance to gauge any correlations among these variables in the area of hazard awareness. The goal of this study is to help individuals to recognize blind spots in their knowledge to identify …

Computational Analysis And Prediction Of Intrinsic Disorder And Intrinsic Disorder Functions In Proteins, Akila I. Katuwawala

Theses and Dissertations

COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION OF INTRINSIC DISORDER AND INTRINSIC DISORDER FUNCTIONS IN PROTEINS

By Akila Imesha Katuwawala

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Engineering, Doctor of Philosophy with a concentration in Computer Science at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2021

Director: Lukasz Kurgan, Professor, Department of Computer Science

Proteins, as a fundamental class of biomolecules, have been studied from various perspectives over the past two centuries. The traditional notion is that proteins require fixed and stable three-dimensional structures to carry out biological functions. However, there is mounting evidence regarding a “special” class …

Nature-Inspired Material Strategies Towards Functional Devices, Sayantan Pradhan

Theses and Dissertations

Naturally sourced, renewable biomaterials possess outstanding advantages for a multitude of biomedical applications owing to their biodegradability, biocompatibility, and excellent mechanical properties. Of interest in this dissertation are silk (protein) and chitin (polysaccharide) biopolymers for the fabrication of functional biodevices. One of the major challenges restricting these materials beyond their traditional usage as passive substrate materials is the ability to combine them with high-resolution fabrication techniques. Initial research work is directed towards the fabrication of micropatterned, flexible 2D substrates of silk fibroin and chitin using bench-top photolithographic techniques. Research is focused on imparting electrochemical properties to silk proteins using conducting …

Imaging Potential In Saturation Recovery Methods For Sarcoidosis Patients With Medical Devices, Samantha Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging is a preferred imaging methodology due to its lack of ionizing radiation and ability to detect myocardial inflammation and fibrosis using quantitative T1 mapping techniques. Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) is characterized as the formation of granulomas in the myocardium. Current methods for detection include measuring non-cardiac specific C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, or PET imaging, which uses ionizing radiation, therefore CMR would make an ideal imaging option. However, many CS patients have implanted cardiac devices which can cause degradation in image. The modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) method is widely used in quantitative T1 mapping with high …

Information Architecture For A Chemical Modeling Knowledge Graph, Adam R. Luxon

Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning models for chemical property predictions are high dimension design challenges spanning multiple disciplines. Free and open-source software libraries have streamlined the model implementation process, but the design complexity remains. In order better navigate and understand the machine learning design space, model information needs to be organized and contextualized. In this work, instances of chemical property models and their associated parameters were stored in a Neo4j property graph database. Machine learning model instances were created with permutations of dataset, learning algorithm, molecular featurization, data scaling, data splitting, hyperparameters, and hyperparameter optimization techniques. The resulting graph contains over 83,000 nodes …

Linear And Nonlinear Optical Effects In High Carrier Concentration Oxides And Nitrides At Epsilon-Near-Zero, Ray Secondo

Theses and Dissertations

Nonlinear optics has been an important method for achieving ultrafast light manipulation. Recently, ENZ material have gained interest due to inherent advantages such as slow light, improved confinement, and ideal relaxation times, the nonlinear response of these materials, such as the intensity-dependent-refractive-index, are ultra-large yet remain ultra-fast. This experimental discovery of epsilon-near-zero enhancement has thus opened new avenues in nonlinear optics research in recent years, and while experiments have continued to progress a theoretical understanding of the processes and origins of nonlinear optical enhancement at epsilon-near-zero has lagged.

To fill this gap, the work herein focuses on uncovering the mechanisms …

Estimating Affective States In Virtual Reality Environments Using The Electroencephalogram, Meghan R. Kumar

Theses and Dissertations

Recent interest in high-performance virtual reality (VR) headsets has motivated research efforts to increase the user's sense of immersion via feedback of physiological measures. This work presents the use of electroencephalographic (EEG) measurements during observation of immersive VR videos to estimate the user's affective state. The EEG of 30 participants were recorded as each passively viewed a series of one minute immersive VR video clips and subjectively rated their level of valence, arousal, dominance, and liking. Correlates between EEG spectral bands and the subjective ratings were analyzed to identify statistically significant frequencies and electrode locations across participants. Model feasibility and …

Effect Of Stimulus Waveform On Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Metrics In Proximal And Distal Arm Muscles, Christopher Lynch

Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of common transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) waveforms (monophasic and biphasic) on resting motor threshold (RMT), active motor threshold (AMT), and motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitudes in the biceps and first dorsal interosseous (FDI) because waveforms may affect motor targets differently. Additionally, we determined the test-retest reliability of TMS metrics for each stimulation type and muscle.

Methods: Ten individuals participated in two sessions of single-pulse TMS delivered to the motor cortex perpendicular to the central sulcus. MEPs were normalized to the maximum EMG signal during contraction and were recorded at …

Pain Intensity Assessment In Sickle Cell Disease Patients Using Vital Signs During Hospital Visits, Swati Padhee, Amanuel Alambo, Tanvi Banerjee, Arvind Subramaniam, Daniel M. Abrams, Gary K. Nave, Nirmish Shah

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

Pain in sickle cell disease (SCD) is often associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and high healthcare costs. The standard method for predicting the absence, presence, and intensity of pain has long been self-report. However, medical providers struggle to manage patients based on subjective pain reports correctly and pain medications often lead to further difficulties in patient communication as they may cause sedation and sleepiness. Recent studies have shown that objective physiological measures can predict subjective self-reported pain scores for inpatient visits using machine learning (ML) techniques. In this study, we evaluate the generalizability of ML techniques to data collected from …

Effectiveness Of Seismic Bearings On A Typical Isolated Two-Column Rc Bridge Pier Located In North Mississippi, Hemant Raj Joshi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The 2020 ASCE infrastructure report card has assigned a letter grade of D- for bridges in Mississippi based on poor to fair condition ratings with many approaching the end of their useful service lives. Bridges in northern Mississippi lie up to 100 miles from the New Madrid Fault and fall into the Region 3 Seismic Performance Category defined by AASHTO. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the performance of commercially available bridge bearings on a common bridge pier type used in northern MS under the combined action of superstructure gravity and lateral seismic loads. The use of …

Water Quality Engineering And Wastewater Treatment, Yung-Tse Hung, Hamidi Abdul Aziz, Issam A. Al-Khatib, Rehab O. Abdel Rahman, Mario Gr Cora-Hernandez

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Identifying Interconnectivities Between Modular Construction Decision-Making Factors Using Clustering And Network Analysis, Mohamad Abdul Nabi, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Understanding the complex and unique requirements of modular construction methods has become crucial given the ongoing increase in popularity of such construction methods. In fact, studying the various modular construction factors and their interconnections to attain successful project performance is perceived to help practitioners choose the modularization strategies that are more suitable for their specific context. To this end, there is a need to better understand the interconnectivities among the various modular construction decision-making factors. As such, the paper aims to enhance the knowledge of the interactions and interdependencies among the various modular construction decision-making factors. To achieve that, the …

Identifying Substantial Changes For Aip Projects Using Rf And Svm, Ramy Khalef, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The budget for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) in FY21 is $3.35 billion. AIP's contractual guidelines and policies are outlined in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) 5100.38D. Substantial contractual changes within AIP projects are likely to create risks that can greatly impact cost, time, and quality. To implement improved change management, identification and evaluation of contractual change are essential. Thus, there is a need to create an automated model to identify and evaluate contractual changes in AIP projects. This paper fills this knowledge gap. Using 876 contractual changes made to FAA 5100.38D, the authors utilized an interrelated multi-step methodology. Firstly, the …

Using Machine Learning To Interpret Dice Rolls, Hunter Wimsatt, Aarohi Panzade, Kaaustaaub Shankar, Warren Campbell

SEAS Faculty Publications

Gamers use polyhedral dice that come with 4 sides (D4), 6 sides (D6), 8 sides (D8), 10 sides (D10), 12 sides (D12) and 20 sides (D20). All dice are unfair, some more than others. The goal of this project was to develop a machine learning and computer vision solution for the interpretation of dice rolls. When combined with an automated dice roller it would facilitate the study of dice unfairness. In the machine learning literature, Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are the preferred method of computer classification of images. The CNN convolves images with different weights and biases through multiple layers …

Long Term Evaluation Of E. Coli Removal From Stormwater Using Recycled Steel Byproducts, Brenden Olevson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater runoff often carries a variety of pollutants and pathogens that can endanger public health and wildlife. One contaminant of concern often highlighted in stormwater quality is Escherichia Coli (E.Coli) because its presence indicates microbial contamination in water. Different types of media filtration are being studied to reduce contaminant concentrations in stormwater. In this study, steel byproducts were examined as a potential material to use in media filtration to remove E. Coli and other contaminants from stormwater. Batch scale studies were conducted in laboratory to evaluate the E. Coli removal potential of steel chips and steel slag over a 24-hour …

Using Machine Learning To Identify The Most Critical Factors Affecting Maintenance Of Tunnels, Muaz O. Ahmed, Ramy Khalef, Gasser G. Ali, Islam H. El-Adaway

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Having well-maintained transportation infrastructure systems, including tunnels, is essential for the functioning and growth of the US economy. As such, monitoring the condition of tunnels through structural evaluation and inspections is essential to maintain their level of service. However, there is a lack of research that utilizes data from previous formal inspections to model and understand the condition of tunnels in the US. Being the case, this paper tackles this research need by developing a tunnel condition rating model that identifies the most critical factors affecting maintenance of tunnels. To this end, the authors utilize random forest (RF), which is …

Complementary Techniques To Study The Behavior Of Water And The Effect On Diffusion And Degradation In Hydrogels, Paige Rockwell

Master’s Theses

Hydrogels exhibit biocompatibility in a range of biomedical applications, including drug delivery. This thesis aims to develop complementary techniques to measure the diffusion and degradation behaviors within an injectable, hydrolytically degradable hydrogel, formed via the covalent crosslinking of ethoxylated trimethylolpropane tri-3- mercaptopropionate (ETTMP) and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), to determine its suitability as a drug delivery matrix. The characterization of water as either free, within the network openings of the hydrogel, or bound, tightly associated with the polymer chains, was determined using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The mobility of each type of water within the hydrogels was determined via nuclear …

Human-Robot Collaboration Enabled By Real-Time Vision Tracking, Travis Deegan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The number of robotic systems in the world is growing rapidly. However, most industrial robots are isolated in caged environments for the safety of users. There is an urgent need for human-in-the-loop collaborative robotic systems since robots are very good at performing precise and repetitive tasks but lack the cognitive ability and soft skills of humans. To fill this need, a key challenge is how to enable a robot to interpret its human co-worker’s motion and intention. This research addresses this challenge by developing a collaborative human-robot interface via innovations in computer vision, robotics, and system integration techniques. Specifically, this …

Mechanically Spliced Precast Bridge Columns, Ted Sjurseth

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mechanical bar splices provide an alternative to the traditional method of lap splicing to achieve reinforcement bar continuity in reinforced concrete. Even though mechanical bar splices can be used as new precast column connections to accelerate the bridge construction (ABC), The use of bar couplers in the plastic hinge region of bridge columns is prohibited by the current US codes since the effects of bar couplers on the seismic behavior of columns is not fully investigated. A bridge column including precast columns with couplers located in a high seismic region must be designed to handle large inelastic lateral deformations. The …

Human Activity Recognition Based On Wearable Flex Sensor And Pulse Sensor, Xiaozhu Jin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In order to fulfill the needs of everyday monitoring for healthcare and emergency advice, many HAR systems have been designed [1]. Based on the healthcare purpose, these systems can be implanted into an astronaut’s spacesuit to provide necessary life movement monitoring and healthcare suggestions. Most of these systems use acceleration data-based data record as human activity representation [2,3]. But this data attribute approach has a limitation that makes it impossible to be used as an activity monitoring system for astronavigation. Because an accelerometer senses acceleration by distinguishing acceleration data based on the earth’s gravity offset [4], the accelerometer cannot read …

Classification And Evaluation Of Extended Pics (Epics) On A Global Scale For Calibration And Stability Monitoring Of Optical Satellite Sensors, Juliana Maria Fajardo Rueda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As targets for the calibration and monitoring of optical satellite sensors, historically stable areas across North Africa have been used, known as Pseudo Invariant Calibration Sites PICS. However, two major drawbacks exist for these sites; first is the dependency on a single location to be always invariant, and second is the limited amount of observation achieved using these sites. As a result, longer time periods are needed to construct a dense data set to assess the radiometric performance of on-orbit optical sensors, and be convinced that the change detected is sensor-specific rather than site-specific. This work presents a global land …

Cascaded Deep Learning Network For Postearthquake Bridge Serviceability Assessment, Youjeong Jang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Damages assessment of bridges is important to derive immediate response after severe events to decide serviceability. Especially, past earthquakes have proven the vulnerability of bridges with insufficient detailing. Due to lack of a national and unified post-earthquake inspection procedure for bridges, conventional damage assessments are performed by sending professional personnel to the onsite, detecting visually and measuring the damage state. To get accurate and fast damage result of bridge condition is important to save not only lives but also costs.
There have been studies using image processing techniques to assess damage of bridge column without sending individual to onsite. Convolutional …

Quantifying The Impacts Of Land Use, Management And Climate Change On Water Resources In Missouri River Basin, Arun Bawa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A location-specific evaluation of hydrological landscape responses concerning past and projected climate and land use land cover (LULC) changes can provide a powerful intellectual basis for developing efficient and profitable agroecosystems, and overcoming uncertain and detrimental consequences of LULC and climate shifts. This dissertation assessed the impacts of land use, management, and climate change on water resources in the Missouri River Basin (MRB) through four specific studies that included: (i) to study the responses of leached nutrient concentrations and soil health to winter rye cover crop (CC) under no-till corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation, (ii) to …

A Speciation Modeling Study Of Heavy Metal Adsorption To Plastic In Municipal Wastewater Treatment Plant Units, Kaitlyn Hague

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microplastics are an emerging concern due to their harmful effect to organisms and their ability to facilitate transport of contaminants including heavy metals. Microplastics can enter the environment through wastewater treatment plants, landfill leachate, and littering. Once in the environment microplastics can be distributed throughout rivers, the ocean, and lakes. In order to understand the adsorption of heavy metals to microplastics a geochemical modeling study was completed using Visual Minteq. Lab tests were completed to better understand what constituents are available in wastewater at four different locations: influent, clarifiers, digesters, and effluent. These constituents were then used to observe how …

Improved Biochar Based Controlled-Release Nitrogen Fertilizers For Sustainable Corn Production, Robiul Islam Rubel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is an essential factor to increase crop yield. When conventional nitrogen fertilizer (e.g. Urea, Ammonium Sulphate, etc.) is applied in the field, generally over 50% of the N of these fertilizers may lose into the air due to vaporization, or run-off and leaching in rivers and lakes. The N losses lead to not only low NUE but also serious environmental problems. The consequence of N losses results in insufficient N available to meet the demand of crop growth at the growing stages. Lack of sufficient N for crop growth puts a threat of nutrient deficiency and …

Kinetics Study Of The Hydrodeoxygenation Of Xylitol Over A ReoX-Pd/Ceo2 Catalyst, Blake Macqueen, Michael Royko, Bradie S. Crandall, Andreas Heyden, Yomaira J. Pagán-Torres, Jochen A. Lauterbach

Faculty Publications

In this study, we elucidate the reaction kinetics for the simultaneous hydrodeoxygenation of xylitol to 1,2-dideoxypentitol and 1,2,5-pentanetriol over a ReOx-Pd/CeO2 (2.0 weight% Re, 0.30 weight% Pd) catalyst. The reaction was determined to be a zero-order reaction with respect to xylitol. The activation energy was elucidated through an Arrhenius relationship as well as non-Arrhenius kinetics. The Arrhenius relationship was investigated at 150–170◦ C and a constant H2 pressure of 10 bar resulting in an activation energy of 48.7 ± 10.5 kJ/mol. The investigation of non-Arrhenius kinetics was conducted at 120–170◦ C and a sub-Arrhenius relation was elucidated with activation energy …

Arab American Women In Engineering: How Did Their Culture Influence Their Achievement?, Iktimal Bia Hamed

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This body of research examined the Arab American culture and its impact on women who studied the male-dominated major of engineering. Through a qualitative approach, women born and raised in an Arab American home unpacked their experiences since childhood that made them who they are today. The 10 female Arab American participants shared how they made it through and successfully completed their major in engineering. This study focused on engineering, since there has been little to no growth in women who major in this male-dominated subject. This research examined how the participants’ parents, extended family, friends, community, and both K-12 …