Computer-Aided Diagnoses (Cad) System: An Artificial Neural Network Approach To Mri Analysis And Diagnosis Of Alzheimer's Disease (Ad), Berizohar Padilla Cerezo

Master's Theses

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic and progressive, irreversible syndrome that deteriorates the cognitive functions. Official death certificates of 2013 reported 84,767 deaths from Alzheimer’s disease, making it the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. The rate of AD is estimated to double by 2050. The neurodegeneration of AD occurs decades before symptoms of dementia are evident. Therefore, having an efficient methodology for the early and proper diagnosis can lead to more effective treatments.

Neuroimaging techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect changes in the brain of living subjects. Moreover, medical imaging techniques are the …

Design And Simulation Of An 8-Bit Successive Approximation Register Charge-Redistribution Analog-To-Digital Converter, Sumit K. Verma

Electrical Engineering Theses

The thesis initially investigates the history of the monolithic ADCs. The next chapter explores the different types of ADCs available in the market today. Next, the operation of a 4-bit SAR ADC has been studied. Based on this analysis, an 8-bit charge-redistribution SAR ADC has been designed and simulated with Multisim (National Instruments, Austin, TX). The design is divided into different blocks which are individually implemented and tested. Level-1 SPICE MOSFET models representative of 5μm devices were used wherever individual MOSFETs were used in the design. Finally, the power dissipation during the conversion period was also estimated. The supply voltage …

Hardware Based Testing Of Communication Based Control For Dc Microgrid, Mahmoud Saleh, Yusef Esa, Ahmed Mohamed

Publications and Research

This paper further describes our work presented in Industry Application Society 2016 Conference, with more details related to the control and operation of the microgrid. The DC microgrid facility was custom designed and implemented at CCNY with minimal off-the-shelf components to enable flexibility and reconfiguration capability. The design steps, requirements, and experimental results of the developed testbed were discussed. As a case study, a central controller for energy management algorithm was developed and tested under several operational scenarios. The experimental results verify the applicability of the developed testbed for validating DC microgrid controllers.

University Of Maine High Altitude Ballooning Eclipse Experience, Kent Seneres, Derek Haas, William Bessette, Richard Eason

2017 Academic High Altitude Conference

The University of Maine High Altitude Ballooning (UMHAB) team launched two balloons during the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse, producing a consistent online video stream of the eclipse to an altitude of 110,000 feet. This paper discusses the key factors that lead to a successful launch and recovery, such as thorough testing procedures, redesign of components, choice of launch site, and a touch of luck. In preparation for the event, the team tested the equipment and code over eleven balloon launches. Airplane based testing and land testing were conducted for the tracking and video stream components. The payloads and …

Quantitative Analysis Of Regenerative Energy In Electric Rail Traction Systems, Mahmoud Saleh, Oindrilla Dutta, Yusef Esa, Ahmed Mohamed

Publications and Research

This paper aims at determining the influential factors affecting regenerative braking energy in DC rail transit systems. This has been achieved by quantitatively evaluating the dependence of regenerative energy on various parameters, such as vehicle dynamics, train scheduling, ground inclination and efficiency of the electrical devices. The recuperated power and energy have been presented by a mathematical model, comprising of a set of empirical forms, which allows for thorough analysis. A detailed simulation model of a typical DC-traction system has been developed to validate the developed empirical forms. The results verified the validity of the proposed mathematical model, and demonstrated …

Optimal Microgrids Placement In Electric Distribution Systems Using Complex Network Framework, Mahmoud Saleh, Yusef Esa, Nwabueze Onuorah, Ahmed Mohamed

Publications and Research

This paper provides a new approach to find the optimal location for Microgrids (MGs) in electric distribution systems using complex network analysis. An optimal location in this paper refers to a location that would result in increased grid resilience, reduced power losses, less line loading, higher voltage stability and secured supply to critical loads during power outage. The criteria used to find the optimal placement of MGs were based on the centrality analysis adopted from complex network theory, the center of mass concept used in physics, and the controlled delivery grid (CDG) concept. An IEEE 30-bus system was used as …

Feasibility Of 802.11a-Based Transceivers For Vhf/Uhf Communications In Remote Regions, Abhimanyu Nath

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The project focuses on adapting a traditional IEEE802.11a specification originally designed for indoors, to work across mountainous terrains such as areas of rural Montana in the UHF band. The goal of the project is to experiment with various CSMA/CA timing parameters to accommodate long propagation delays between mountain peaks. The simulation tool was built in C++. When links with various data rates and hidden nodes were introduced during worst case performance analysis, severe packet drops and queue latencies were found in the network statistics. A few timing optimizations were explored and alternatives were considered in the systems design. When stations …

Energy Management Algorithm For Resilient Controlled Delivery Grids, Mahmoud Saleh, Yusef Esa, Ahmed Mohamed, Haim Grebel, Roberto Rojas-Cessa

Publications and Research

Resilience of the power grid is most challenged at power blackouts since the issues that led to it may not be fully resolved by the time the power is back. In this paper, a Real-Time Energy Management Algorithm (RTEMA) has been developed to increase the resilience of power systems based on the controlled delivery grid (CDG) concept. In a CDG, loads communicate with a central controller, periodically sending requests for power. The central controller runs an algorithm, based on which it may decide whether to grant the requested energy fully or partially. Therefore, the CDG limits loads discretionary access to …

Spatial Thinking In The Engineering Curriculum: An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Problem Solving And Spatial Skills Among Engineering Students., Gavin Duffy

Doctoral

Long considered a primary factor of intelligence, spatial ability has been shown to correlate strongly with success in engineering education, yet is rarely included as a learning outcome in engineering programmes. A clearer understanding of how and why spatial ability impacts on performance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects would allow educators to determine if spatial skills development merits greater priority in STEM curricula. The aim of this study is to help inform that debate by shedding new light on the role of spatial thinking in STEM learning and allow teaching practice and curriculum design to be informed …

Bifacial Solar Panel Database Interfacepumet: A Tool For Global Meteorological Data Mining For Performance And Reliability Prediction Of Large Scale Solar Farms, Binglin Zhao, Xingshu Sun, Muhammad A. Alam

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Solar energy is one of the top runners among the renewable energy. The design and deployment of solar panels are geographic- and climate-specific to optimize the total energy yield. However, the existing meteorological databases are not accessible to users for direct download and visualization. Hence, we have developed a tool that allows users to download and visualize a variety of global meteorological databases, for instance, the National Solar Radiation Database (NSRDB). Enabled by our tool, both historical and Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data, such as solar irradiance and ambient temperature, across the entire world in specific time intervals (e.g., hourly …

On-Chip Training Of Memristor Crossbar Based Multi-Layer Neural Networks, Raqibul Hasan, Tarek M. Taha, Christopher Yakopcic

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

Memristor crossbar arrays carry out multiply-add operations in parallel in the analog domain, and so can enable neuromorphic systems with high throughput at low energy and area consumption. On-chip training of these systems have the significant advantage of being able to get around device variability and faults. This paper presents on-chip training circuits for multi-layer neural networks implemented using a single crossbar per layer and two memristors per synapse. Using two memristors per synapse provides double the synaptic weight precision when compared to a design that uses only one memristor per synapse. Proposed on-chip training system utilizes the back propagation …

Application-Aware Cognitive Multi-Hop Wireless Networking Testbed And Experiments, Trenton T. Evans

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this thesis, we present a new architecture for application-aware cognitive multihop wireless networks (AC-MWN) with testbed implementations and experiments. Cognitive radio is a technique to adaptively use the spectrum so that the resource can be used more efficiently in a low cost way. Multihop wireless networks can be deployed quickly and flexibly without a fixed infrastructure. In presented new architecture, we study backbone routing schemes with network cognition, routing scheme with network coding and spectrum adaptation. A testbed is implemented to test the schemes for AC-MWN. In addition to basic measurements, we implement a video streaming application based on …

Design & Evaluation Of A Hybrid Switched Capacitor Circuit With Wide-Bandgap Devices For Dc Grid Applications, Joshua L. Stewart

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

ABSTRACT

As technologies advance, the rate at which renewable power sources, such as solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind, are being added to the power grid is increasing. Typically, PV power plants require large inverters for direct current to alternating current (DC-AC) power conversion, as well as large transformers to step up voltages to the grid voltage. Offshore wind farms and large PV power plants in remote locations often aggregate power on a DC bus in order to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of power conversion hardware within the energy complex. However, the power must still be converted to AC …

Analytical Modeling And Characterization For Avalanche Photodiodes, Erum Jamil

Optical Science and Engineering ETDs

For applications requiring the detection of low light levels, avalanche photodiodes (APDs) are the preferred detector of choice. The reason for this is their internal gain, which improves the APDs sensitivity (up to 5 − 10 dB) when compared to PIN-based photodiodes. The internal gain for an APD comes from the process of impact ionization process; however, due to its stochastic nature, the multiplication gain comes at the expense of extra noise. This multiplication noise, called the excess noise, is a measure of the gain uncertainty. Despite significant progress made in the fabrication process for the APDs, the excess noise …

Introduction To Signal Timing & Traffic Control, Sarah V. Hernandez, Mariah Crew, Karla Diaz-Corro, Taslima Akter

Civil Engineering Teaching and Learning

The purpose of these lesson plans is to introduce students to traffic signalization basics. Students will be lead through a series of mini-lectures on traffic control and signalization including a discussion on the limitations and benefits of traffic signalization. The lesson plans compliment a computer simulation “game” in which students act as manual operators for a single up to four by four gridded intersection. Students attempt to control the progression of signals to understand the relationship between signal timing and user delay. Through experimentation with the simulation, students generate a presentation discussing the benefits and drawbacks of signal timing and …

Electrochemical Behavior Of Dense Electrodes For Impedancemetric Nox Sensors, Nabamita Pal

Doctoral Dissertations

NOx (NO and NO2) exhaust gas sensors for diesel powered vehicles have traditionally consisted of porous platinum (Pt) electrodes along with a dense ZrO2 based electrolyte. Advancement in diesel engine technology results in lower NOx emissions. Although Pt is chemically and mechanically tolerant to the extreme exhaust gas environment, it is also a strong catalyst for oxygen reduction, which can interfere with the detection of NOx at concentrations below 100 ppm. Countering this behavior can add to the complexity and cost of the conventional NO x sensor design. Recent studies have shown that dense electrodes are less prone to heterogeneous …

Stretching The Limits Of Dynamic Range, Shielding Effectiveness, And Multiband Frequency Response, Matthew J. Hartmann

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, an RF MEMS variable capacitor suitable for applications requiring ultrawide capacitive tuning ranges is reported. The device uses an electrostatically tunable liquid dielectric interface to continuously vary the capacitance without the use of any moving parts. As compared to existing MEMS varactors in literature, this device has an extremely simple design that can be implemented using simple fabrication methods that do not necessitate the use of clean room equipment. In addition, this varactor is particularly suited for incorporating a wide range of liquid dielectric materials for specific tuning ratio requirements.

Additionally, the shielding effectiveness performance of graphene-doped …

Understanding The Surface Fouling Mechanism Of Ultrananocrystalline Diamond Microelectrodes Using Microfluidics For Neurochemical Detection, An-Yi Chang

Doctoral Dissertations

Electrochemical methods are widely used for chronic neurochemical sensing, but thus far, the organic solution redox reactions fouled the electrodes' surface. It caused the reduction of sensitivity and the electrodes' lifetime.

Here, we present the boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond microelectrodes (BDUNCD) as the next generation electrode material for neurochemical sensor development. To aid in long-term chronic monitoring of neurochemicals, they have a wide window of electrochemical potential, extremely low background current, and excellent chemical inertness. The main research goal is to reduce the rate of electrode fouling due to the reaction by-products, and significantly extend their useful lifetime.

We systematically characterize …

A Hardware One-Time Pad Prototype Generator For Localising Cloud Security, Paul Tobin, Lee Tobin, Michael Mckeever, Jonathan Blackledge

Conference papers

In this paper, we examine a system for encrypting data before storing in the Cloud. Adopting this system gives excellent security to stored data and complete control for accessing data by the client at different locations. The motivation for developing this personal encryption came about because of poor Cloud security and doubts over the safety of public encryption algorithms which might contain backdoors. However, side-channel attacks and other unwanted third-party interventions in Cloud security, probably contribute more to the poor security record history. These factors led to the development of a prototype for personalising security locally which defeats cryptanalysis. The …

Chaos-Based Cryptography For Cloud Computing, Paul Tobin, Lee Tobin, Michael Mckeever, Jonathan Blackledge

Conference papers

Cloud computing and poor security issues have quadrupled over the last six years and with the alleged presence of backdoors in common encryption ciphers, has created a need for personalising the encryption process by the client. In 2007, two Microsoft employees gave a presentation ``On the Possibility of a backdoor in the NIST SP800-90 Dual Elliptic Curve Pseudo Random Number Generators'' and was linked in 2013 by the New York Times with notes leaked by Edward Snowden. This confirmed backdoors were placed, allegedly, in a number of encryption systems by the National Security Agency, which if true creates an urgent …

Multiple-Phase Modeling Of Degradation Signal For Condition Monitoring And Remaining Useful Life Prediction, Yuxin Wen, Jianguo Wu, Yuan Yuan

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Remaining useful life prediction plays an important role in ensuring the safety, availability, and efficiency of various engineering systems. In this paper, we propose a flexible Bayesian multiple-phase modeling approach to characterize degradation signals for prognosis. The priors are specified with a novel stochastic process and the multiple-phase model is formulated to a novel state-space model to facilitate online monitoring and prediction. A particle filtering algorithm with stratified sampling and partial Gibbs resample-move strategy is developed for online model updating and residual life prediction. The advantages of the proposed method are demonstrated through extensive numerical studies and real case studies.

Wireless Window Blinds, Cooper Laone, Niraj Morar, Zachary Malig, Jake Phillips

Electrical Engineering

The Internet of Things asserts that there exists a global need for all objects to connect easily and accessibly. Today, smartphones, tablets, laptops and smart watches makeup just a few of the interconnected devices by the greater population. As a result a growing need for wireless connection between personal devices like phones, and computers to everyday appliances exists. This idea extends directly to households, businesses and buildings, where a growing need for smart home or smart-business appliances has taken root. Many companies like Nest, ADT and Apple make products for automated home security and in home media control. The Wireless …

Solid State Drive, Shaun A. Steele

Electrical Engineering

This project documents the design and implementation of a solid state drive (SSD). SSDs are a non-volatile memory storage device that competes with hard disk drives. SSDs rely on flash memory, a type of non-volatile memory that is electrically erased and programmed. The appeal of SSDs lies in the fact that they allow a fast, reliable, and durable memory storage device. The goal of this project is to have a working external SSD built from scratch.

Formula Sae Power Distribution Controller, Daniel Baron

Electrical Engineering

The Power Distribution Controller senior project aims to replace the current Power Distribution Module (PDM) on Cal Poly’s Formula SAE internal combustion vehicle with a more advanced, configurable, and reliable system. The Power Distribution Controller is a MOSFET based system that can be controlled through either controller area network or a parallel interface to distribute and control power from the vehicle’s battery to the several electrical devices on the car. The Power Distribution Controller also collects output voltage and current data, and communicates this data to the vehicle’s data logger. This will allow engineers to troubleshoot electrical problems on the …

Water Leak Detection System, Ryan T. Hanson

Electrical Engineering

The water supply shortage has increased in recent years due to overpopulation, climate change and obsolete water facilities, where deteriorated pipes cause most of the water leaks. The problem is not the size of the leak, but the time it takes to detect it. This paper presents the implementation of a system installed in the hydraulic facilities of a residence, to detect water leaks. The system consists of a water sensor installed by a water reservoir of interest, a microprocessor to interpret the data and evaluate whether it is a water leak or not, an SMS alert message, and an …

Data Fusion With 9 Degrees Of Freedom Inertial Measurement Unit To Determine Object’S Orientation, Long Dinh Tran

Electrical Engineering

Data fusion is a technique to integrate different types of data to a single unit to provide a more reliable representation of tracking measurement. Today, data fusion can be found in many applications such as tracking and surveillance system as well as on mobile applications. In this project, 9 Degrees of Freedom (DOF) Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) composed of 3-axis Magnetometer, 3-axis Accelerometer, and 3-axis Gyroscope are processed to yield the object’s rotations in 3 dimensions. While the magnetometer (compass) is used to determine the heading angle, accelerometer is used to determine tilt axis, gyroscope can be process to calculate …

Improving A Particle Swarm Optimization-Based Clustering Method, Sharif Shahadat

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses clustering related works with emphasis on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) principles. Specifically, we review in detail the PSO clustering algorithm proposed by Van Der Merwe & Engelbrecht, the particle swarm clustering (PSC) algorithm proposed by Cohen & de Castro, Szabo’s modified PSC (mPSC), and Georgieva & Engelbrecht’s Cooperative-Multi-Population PSO (CMPSO). In this thesis, an improvement over Van Der Merwe & Engelbrecht’s PSO clustering has been proposed and tested for standard datasets. The improvements observed in those experiments vary from slight to moderate, both in terms of minimizing the cost function, and in terms of run time.

Bendablesound: An Elastic Multisensory Surface Using Touch-Based Interactions To Assist Children With Severe Autism During Music Therapy, Franceli L. Cibrian, Oscar Peña, Deysi Ortega, Monica Tentori

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Neurological Music Therapy uses live music to improve the sensorimotor regulation of children with severe autism. However, they often lack musical training and their impairments limit their interactions with musical instruments. In this paper, we present our co-design work that led to the BendableSound prototype: an elastic multisensory surface encouraging users to practice coordination movements when touching a fabric to play sounds. We present the results of a formative study conducted with 18 teachers showing BendableSound was perceived as “usable” and “attractive”. Then, we present a deployment study with 24 children with severe autism showing BendableSound is “easy to use” …

An Exact Analysis For Four-Order Acousto-Optic Bragg Diffraction Which Incorporates Both Incident Light Angle And Sound Frequency Dependencies, Adeyinka Sunday Ademola

Electrical Engineering Theses

This thesis extends the prior work which produced an exact solution to the four-order acousto-optic (AO) Bragg cell with assumed fixed center frequency and with exact Bragg angle incident light. The extension predicts the model that incorporates the dependencies of both the input angle of light and the sound frequency. Specifically, a generalized 4^th order linear differential equation (DE), is developed from a simultaneous analysis of four coupled AO system of DEs. Through standard methods, the characteristic roots, which requires solving a quartic equation, is produced. Subsequently, a derived system of homogeneous solutions, which absorbs the roots obtained using …

Implementation Of Range Autofocus For Sar Radar Imaging, Nicholas J. Testin, Philip Davis

KSU Journey Honors College Capstones and Theses

The range calculation for an FMCW radar depends on accurate linear modulation. In some circumstances, linear modulation may not be available and must be corrected for. This paper describes an autofocus technique used to correct for phase error due to non-linearities in the components of a FMCW radar. Also described here is the algorithm used in calculating the phase error and application of the phase correction with triangle modulation. Known errors were calculated at certain distances and applied to correcting the phase of data taken at similar distances. The results given were generated using a SAR working outside linear ranges.