Engineering Commons^™

Effect Of Cigarette Smoke Extract And Nutrient Deficiency On Energy Metabolism And Biosynthesis: An In Vitro Intervertebral Disc Explant Culture Study, Avery E. Madden

All Theses

Low back pain consistently ranks among the leading causes of disability worldwide, with degenerative changes in spinal intervertebral discs (IVDs) recognized as a key contributor. Degeneration arises from the disruption of mechanical and biological cues within the disc’s cartilaginous tissue, often exacerbated by aging or injury. In recent decades, cigarette smoking has also been identified as a significant risk factor, as IVD degeneration is more prevalent among individuals with a history of smoking. Smoke inhalation is thought to promote degeneration both directly, by exposing cells to water-soluble toxic chemicals in smoke; and indirectly, through nutrient deficiency resulting from vasoconstriction and …

Effects Of Variation In Altitude And Temperature On The Restraining Force And Internal Gauge Pressure Of Constrained Dunnage Airbags, Charles R. Weaver

All Theses

Dunnage airbags are an increasingly popular choice for securing cargo. During transit, changes in ambient temperature and pressure can cause airbags to expand generating damaging horizontal compressive forces in the trailer or container. Previous studies have developed numerical models for the behavior of Kraft paper and woven polypropylene fabric dunnage airbags under standard conditions but do not account for the behavior of airbags under varied altitudes and temperatures. This study provides empirical data on the internal gauge pressure and restraining force dynamics of 4-ply Kraft, woven polypropylene, and polyvinyl chloride airbags under simulated altitude and temperature conditions. Tensile testing characterizes …

Quantifying The Effect Of Initial Molecular Weight Distribution On The Degradation Of Linear Polyethylene At High Temperatures Using Dissipative Particle Dynamics, Cassandra L. Simpson

All Theses

Polyolefins are the primary contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and supply chain energy requirements with respect to other commodity polymers. In order to explore more efficient methods for recycling and upcycling these plastics, it is important to consider the kinetics of polymer fragments during the degradation process to more accurately reflect experimental outcomes. The molecular weight distribution of synthetic polymers is an important factor to consider when synthesizing, processing, and manufacturing industrial plastics. The breadth of this distribution, or dispersity, is determined by the ratio of the weight average molecular weight to the number average molecular weight, and is correlated …

Biological Hydrogen Process Improvements By High Temperature Simultaneous Saccharification And Fermentation, Frank W. Jeffries V

All Theses

The hyperthermophilic bacterium Thermotoga neapolitana is established as a versatile organism for fermentative hydrogen (H₂) production. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the cell yield, product yield, and kinetic parameter values for individual media containing five carbohydrates. The highest H₂ yield of 15.56±0.31 mmol-H₂/g-carbohydrate was reported for glucose medium. H₂ yield was measured to be 14.51±0.38, 14.44±1.15, 11.88±0.84, and 11.53±0.73 mmol/g for media containing xylose, cellobiose, arabinose and xylan respectively. Acetic acid yield followed a similar trend, where the obtained values were 0.470±0.01, 0.462±0.04, 0.431±0.01, 0.409±0.03, and 0.406±0.01 g-acid/g-carbohydrate for glucose, cellobiose, xylose, …

Dealuminated Metakaolin In Supplementary Cementitious Material And Alkali-Activated Systems: A Review, Amany G. Micheal Prof., Mostafa Adel Elsebaei Eng., Maria Mavroulidou Prof., Maria Centeno Assoc. Prof., Rabee Shamass Senior Lec., Ottavia Rispolio Mrs.

Architectural Engineering

This paper presents a comprehensive review of dealuminated metakaolin (DK), a hazardous industrial by-product generated by the aluminium sulphate (alum) industry and evaluates its potential as a component in cementitious systems for the partial or full replacement of Portland cement (PC). Positioned within the context of waste valorisation in concrete, the review aims to establish a critical understanding of DK formation, properties, and reactivity, particularly its pozzolanic potential, to assess its suitability for use as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM), or as a precursor in alkali-activated cement (AAC) systems for concrete. A systematic methodology is used to extract and synthesise …

Development Of A Machine Learning Framework For An Irrigation Decision Support System, Eric Wilkening, Derek M. Heeren, Yeyin Shi, Laila A. Puntel, Guillermo R. Balboa, Abia Katimbo, Kuan Zhang, Precious Nneka Amori, Bruno Lena

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Currently used irrigation scheduling techniques often require significant human intervention and are time consuming, particularly for variable rate irrigation. This research aimed to develop a conceptual framework that incorporates disparate data sources leveraging both mechanistic and machine learning (ML) approaches. The overarching objective is to utilize the growing availability of data and technology to manage irrigation more precisely, which will minimize negative impacts of irrigation on our water resources. An initial irrigation machine learning model was proposed and tested in this study as a key component of an edge-cloud computing and federated learning decision-making framework. The specific objectives were (1) …

Curved Confinement Directs Anchoring-Mediated Structural Transitions In Highly Chiral Liquid Crystal Shells, Sepideh Norouzi, Jeremy Money, Stiven Villada-Gil, José Martínez-Gonález, Monirosadat Sadati

Faculty Publications

Cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) confined in curved geometries exhibit a rich spectrum of defectmediated morphologies governed by the interplay between chirality, curvature, surface anchoring, and confinement. This study systematically investigates structural transitions in highly chiral CLC shells under asymmetric anchoring conditions, focusing on the effects of shell thickness and curvature on pitch axis reorientation and defect formation. Utilizing microfluidic techniques, we generate core–shell droplets with independently tunable anchoring at inner and outer aqueous interfaces. Transitioning from planar–planar to planar-homeotropic boundary conditions via surfactant-mediated modulation induces profound reorganizations in the director field, giving rise to focal conic domains (FCDs), stripe patterns, …

Development And Application Of Novel Apparatus For Ocean Spray In Turbulent Atmospheres, Alicyn S. Koldewyn

All Graduate Reports and Creative Projects, Fall 2023 to Present

Ocean spray droplets can have significant effects including reducing surface heating from the sun, degrading air quality, and intensifying tropical cyclones. However, quantifying these effects has been challenging due to the multiscale, chaotic nature of wave breaking and turbulent flow. This research presents the development of a novel apparatus designed to combine bubble column droplet generation with synthetic jet actuators for turbulence generation. The purpose is to demonstrate reliable bubble formation and droplet generation, air turbulence effect on droplet dynamics, and quantitative measurement and analysis of these effects. The primary goals of the apparatus include optical accessibility for high-resolution imaging, …

Impact Of Non-Uniform Surface Temperature On The Apparent Radiative Properties Of Cavity Receivers, Ehsan Mofidipour, Matthew R. Jones, Brian D. Iverson

Faculty Publications

Radiative surface properties play a critical role in the design, analysis and optimization of solar–thermal systems. Cavity receivers increase the efficiency of solar–thermal energy systems through the cavity effect. The cavity effect refers to increased absorption of radiation due to multiple reflections within a cavity. Apparent radiative surface properties of a cavity characterize the effective interactions of radiation passing through an imaginary surface covering the cavity aperture. In this study, we investigate the extent to which the apparent emissivity of a cavity with a non-uniform surface temperature profile may be estimated using an isothermal enclosure model. A cylindrical cavity was …

A Deep Learning Approach For Semantic Segmentation And Its Application On Ctc., Samir Farag Harb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the modeling and analysis of medical images, focusing on the intricate task of colon segmentation and subsequent 3D reconstruction, which are critical steps in Computed Tomography Colonography (CTC) systems. The primary objective of this research is to develop precise segmentation approaches to enhance the accuracy of colon identification and reconstruction from abdominal CT scans. Three distinct segmentation approaches are proposed and evaluated: a Markov Random Field (MRF)-based approach, a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based deep learning (DL) approach, and a sequential episodic training with dual contrastive learning Approach (G-SET-DCL) that has a flavor of few-shot learning (FSL). To …

Optimization And Simulation Models For Integrating Social Determinants In Assessing And Optimizing The Accessibility And Efficiency Of Community Pharmacy Networks., Md Morshedul Alam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Community pharmacies are essential components of the healthcare system, serving not only as points of medication access but also as providers of health consultations and preventive care. However, disparities in pharmacy access persist due to a combination of geographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral factors. This dissertation develops a comprehensive methodological framework to evaluate and improve accessibility to community pharmacies, integrating optimization, choice modeling, and discrete event simulation. First, we develop an Optimal Community-Pharmacy Assignment (OCPA) model to quantify geographic accessibility across a regional population network. The model minimizes risk-adjusted travel distances between population centers and pharmacies, incorporating social determinants of health …

Design And Testing Method For Quality Control Of Chill Haze In Bourbon Production., Molly J. Wilburn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chill haze is a quality issue in which white wisps and haze become visible in spirits when reaching sub 0℃ temperatures. Common quality control test methods rely on subjective visual tests and ambient temperature turbidity measurements. Currently there is limited access to commercial devices capable of reaching the sub 0 ℃ temperatures that are required for the formation of chill haze. This thesis focuses on the design, assembly and calibration of a custom-built turbidity meter capable of sub 0 ℃ temperatures and humidity control. The system uses an optical sensor at 90 ° to a light source to detect light …

Material Extrusion 3d Printing Of Metal Alloy: Material, Methods And Application., Sihan Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Material extrusion (MEX) additive manufacturing presents a promising pathway for producing metal components with complex geometries while avoiding the safety hazards associated with loose powder handling in conventional metal additive manufacturing processes. This dissertation investigates the development and optimization of MEX processes for aluminum alloys, addressing critical challenges in feedstock formulation, printing parameter optimization, and post-processing strategies. Three distinct approaches were explored to advance the capabilities of aluminum MEX: filament-based processing of 6061 aluminum, paste-based extrusion of 6061 aluminum, and development of a novel aluminum-magnesium-tin alloy system for space manufacturing applications. The filament-based approach successfully demonstrated the production of 6061 …

Enhancing Emotional Accuracy And Behavioral Novelty In Robot Behaviors: A Generative-Discriminative Approach, Rista Baral

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Recent advancements in language modeling have improved robotic emotion expressiveness, yet several challenges remain. Many existing robotic expression models rely on fixed rules and static frameworks, which limit their ability to capture the dynamic nature of emotional expression. Additionally, these systems often struggle to balance emotional accuracy with generating novel and varied behaviors. These limitations underscore the need for method capable of delivering both emotionally accurate and diverse robot behaviors.

In this thesis, we addresses these challenges by introducing a new framework for expressive behavior generation in robots. We develop a generative model that generates robot behavior sequences that align …

Integration Of Highly Mismatched Iii-Sb Virtual Substrates On Silicon Via Interfacial Misfit Arrays For Short-, Mid-, And Long-Wave Infrared Applications, Trent Garrett

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Lattice constants of the III-V semiconductors range from 5.45 Å (GaP) to 6.48 Å (InSb). III-V semiconductors are grown on commercially available substrates made from binary III-V materials (e.g., GaAs, InP, and GaSb), or group IV materials (e.g., Si or Ge). These substrates offer very high quality, but only offer access to a small number of specific lattice constants. Given this constraint, it is desirable to develop growth methods that would allow the grower to modulate from the substrate lattice constant into the lattice constant of the material structure under investigation.

Device structures made from III-V semiconductors lattice-mismatched to these …

Failure Study Of Silicon Gated Field Emitter Arrays: Experiment And Simulation, Rushmita Bhattacharjee

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Silicon-based Gated Field Emitter Arrays (Si-GFEAs) are among the most well-developed field emitters. They are being actively explored for vacuum transistors and microwave vacuum electron devices due to their high-frequency performance, radiation resistance, and thermal stability up to 400 °C. However, their long-term reliability is limited by sudden failure events, resulting in cathodic vacuum arcs. This dissertation presents a combined experimental and simulation-based investigation into arc initiation mechanisms in Si-GFEAs. Different device arrays were tested under normal operation in vacuum at 10^-7 Torr with gate voltages of 50-70 V and emission currents from tens of nA to tens of µA. …

Aging Effect On Effective Connectivity Within The Prefrontal-Motor Network And Postural-Related Muscle Responses During Dual-Task Paradigms, Jiahao Pan

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Falls are a significant global public issue for older adults, leading to severe health and social impacts. To understand the underlying mechanism of increased fall risk with aging, loss of postural automaticity has been suggested as increased prefrontal cortex and motor cortices activation, as well as worse balance performance in response to the secondary cognitive task. However, the interaction within these cortical regions and its effects on postural-related muscle responses are poorly understood. This dissertation investigated age-related changes in effective connectivity within the prefrontal-motor network, postural related lower limb muscle response, and biomechanical characteristics in response to the secondary cognitive …

Considerations For Developing Dna-Templated Dye-Aggregate Systems, Simon Kristopher Roy

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Molecular excitons have been the subject of significant research interest for nearly 100 years. Molecular excitons arise when conjugated organic molecules (dyes) are excited such that the resulting excitation is delocalized over multiple dyes in a wavelike manner. The shared excited states that allow the excitation energy to hop between molecules is of particular interest for applications that can make use of the wavelike properties of excitons, including applications in quantum information science. A key challenge for developing materials for these advanced applications is to overcome the knowledge gaps associated with precisely templating dyes with spatial control of their aggregation, …

A Study On The Propagation And Exploitation Of Structured Light In Underwater Turbulence, Jaxon P. Wiley

All Dissertations

The development and optimization of optical systems will play a pivotal role in the continued exploration and exploitation of the world’s underwater environments. These systems offer advantages in many sectors, and includes applications in areas such as high-speed communication, advanced sensing and imaging, and environmental characterization and monitoring. Underwater environments offer a plethora of challenges, however, and mitigating these obstacles remains an arduous task. In this work, the inherent advantages of structured light are leveraged to optimize optical system performance through non-ideal underwater conditions. Additionally, fundamental relationships between the generation of specified structured modes and their interactions with complex environments …

Multiple View Neural Regression Of A Facial Shape Model, Xiang Li

All Dissertations

Creating re-topologized 3D facial meshes is a critical step in high-quality facial animation pipelines, yet it remains a labor-intensive and time-consuming task. Traditional approaches typically rely on multiview stereo reconstruction and specialized photometric environments to acquire accurate geometric and reflectance data under controlled conditions. This dissertation presents work toward more efficient capture of production-ready meshes including (1) developmental aspects of VarIS, a custom-designed light sphere capable of capturing high-resolution stereo geometry and reflectance maps—including diffuse, specular, and normal components under programmable illumination; (2) a study of the effects of camera parameters on automatic 2D and 3D landmarking methods, (3) methods …

Advancing Smart And Adaptive Living Spaces Through Design And Development Of Reconfigurable Multifunctional Robot Rooms, Nithesh Kumar

All Dissertations

This work explores and introduces prototype hardware for a new category of robots: ‘Robot Rooms’, in an effort to refine the concept of traditional smart spaces and human-robot interaction. Unlike traditional robots that tend to be compact and exist within a space, this new category of robots is designed to be expansive: they do not exist within a space but rather shape space around them. We present several design concepts for potential robotic elements of a Robot Room. We then develop and demonstrate, at full scale, a new and novel concept: a ‘slice’ of a Robot Room. This slice changes …

Robust Online Inertia Estimation In Power Systems Using Ambient Data In The Presence Of Inverter-Based Resources, Narges Ghiasi

All Dissertations

The increasing penetration of Inverter-Based Resources (IBRs) in power systems has significantly altered system dynamics, reducing the system's effective rotational inertia and challenging frequency stability. Accurate online inertia estimation is essential for maintaining system reliability under these evolving conditions. This paper introduces a robust methodology for online inertia estimation using ambient data collected during normal system operation. The proposed method employs a state-space model to represent system dynamics and introduces synthetic step changes to simulate disturbances. By analyzing the frequency response and applying advanced signal processing techniques, the methodology estimates system inertia without requiring real large-scale disturbances. The approach is …

Replacement Optimization For Offshore Wind Turbine Farms, Morteza Soltani

All Dissertations

This dissertation is concerned with devising optimal replacement policies for offshore wind turbines with a focus on minimizing the costs associated with major component replacements and production losses due to downtime. Like their onshore counterparts, offshore wind turbines are subject to progressive degradation due to normal operations, as well as the influence of dynamic environmental conditions that influence their rate of degradation. Due to their proximity, wind farm turbines share common environmental conditions, as well as specialized maintenance resources. Their common exposure to the environment and need to share resources introduce both stochastic and economic dependence between the wind turbines. …

Advancing Life Cycle Assessment For Environmental Sustainability Of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites (Cfrps)), Hao Chen

All Dissertations

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer composites (CFRPs) have emerged as promising materials, particularly for lightweight applications, with the potential to reduce environmental impacts across multiple sectors, including automotive, aerospace, and renewable energy. However, fully realizing their sustainability potential requires a more comprehensive and context-specific understanding of their environmental performance throughout the entire life cycle—from raw material production to end-of-life management.

This dissertation advances life cycle assessment (LCA) practices for CFRPs by addressing key challenges across multiple phases of the CFRP life cycle. First, I conducted a critical review and meta-analysis of carbon fiber manufacturing, revealing substantial variability in reported data on energy …

Designing Self-Healable Aromatic Copolymers And Olefinic Composites, Samruddhi Yashwant Gaikwad

All Dissertations

Self-healing polymers capable of recovering from mechanical damage are promising materials for advanced applications, especially those involving mechanical and/or physical fatigue. In these studies, we have developed techniques to achieve autonomous self-healing in commodity Styrene/n-butyl acrylate copolymers. The mechanism of self-healing in the designed polymers involves inter-and/or intrachain non-covalent interactions between π-cloud and polar linkages of acrylic nBA in random/preferentially alternating copolymers. A combination of spectroscopic tools, thermo-mechanical analysis, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations has been used to elucidate the mechanism of self-healing. These studies further show the incorporation of dipolar C-F groups to understand the effect of having fluorinated …

Effects Of Lossy Compression Data On Machine Learning Models, Max H. Faykus Iii

All Dissertations

Machine learning is a fundamental tool that is incorporated in every field across academia and other industries. Due to the large amount of data needed for training machine learning models, lossy compression plays a crucial role in storing data. Machine learning involves the use of algorithms and models to learn patterns in data. This allows the AI to make decisions without specific programming. On the other hand, compression utilizes encoding and decoding techniques to reduce the size of files. Compression is either lossy or lossless, lossy causes a loss of data while lossless preserves the data. This dissertation will explore …

Structural Design Using Conditional-Gan Fused With Property Text Information: A Case For Masonry Structures, Arash Teymori Gharah Tapeh

All Dissertations

Structural design, by nature, is a complex process that requires a considerable amount of time, expertise, and knowledge. In such a process, the structural designer must navigate various codal provisions to crystallize a proper and adequate design. As the role of automation continues to shape the domain of structural engineering over the past few decades, a new front leverages artificial intelligence (AI). Currently, AI acts as a "copilot," collaborating to advance workflow speed and accelerate the design process. Among all the different collaborations between humans and AI, GANs (Generative Adversarial Networks) are seen to complement human creativity by automating specific …

An Investigation Into The Impact Of Inverter Based Resources On Critical Clearing Time, Trupal Patel

All Dissertations

Renewable energy sources, mainly inverter-based resources (IBRs) such as solar and wind plants are being connected in large numbers to the bulk power grid in the United States and around the world. Additionally, generation using fossil fuels are being phased out, which results in the loss of rotor inertia, a key contributor to the transient stability of power systems. Therefore, the large-signal behavior of IBRs and its impact on transient stability must be studied.

This work studies this impact through the metric of critical clearing time (CCT). Impact of grid topology, generation mix and control modes of IBRs on CCT …

Bilevel Network Interdiction Models For Human Trafficking Disruption, Daniel Bruno Lopes Da Silva

All Dissertations

In this dissertation, we study a series of bilevel network interdiction problems motivated by applications in human trafficking disruption. First, we consider a bilevel network interdiction problem where the follower aims to maximize the amount of flow from the source node to the sink node and the leader aims to minimize the number of arcs from a critical set that have positive flow on them in the solution obtained by the follower. This problem models the situation where an anti-trafficking agent wants to minimize the number of people affected by the trafficking operations whereas the trafficker wants to maximize trafficking …

Modeling Disaster Resilience Through A Human-Centered Lens: Exposure, Vulnerability And Adaptation, Tong Liu

All Dissertations

The core of reframing and operationalizing disaster resilience with a human-centered lens is to incorporate concepts from socio-ecological resilience into engineering resilience to better understand the humans’ capability for disaster adaptation. Existing studies have drawn practical implications by identifying actionable thresholds for infrastructure systems under disasters, which can be easily applied by policymakers, emergency managers and municipal agencies. However, how individuals interact with, respond to, or adapt under these infrastructure thresholds remain understudied. This hinders the operationalization of disaster resilience at the human scale.

First, I examined exposure by analyzing how configuration and distribution of urban infrastructure systems, such as …