Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Symbolic Regression Of Crop Pest Forecasting Using Genetic Programming, Basim Alhadidi, Alaa Alafeef, Heba Al-Hiari

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

In this paper, we propose and evaluate a mathematical model that describes the reported data on crop pests to get an accurate prediction of production costs, food safety, and the protection of the environment. Meteorological factors are not the only things that affect a bumper harvest; it is also affected by crop plant diseases and insect pests. Studies show that relying solely on the naked-eye observations of experts to forecast well-planned agriculture is not always sufficient to achieve effective control. Providing fast, automatic, cheap, and accurate artificial intelligence-based solutions for that task can be of great realistic significance. The proposed …

Three-Dimensional Numerical Simulation Of Crystal And Crucible Rotations During Czochralski Growth Of Ge_Xsi_{1-X} Single Crystals, Serkan Abbasoğlu

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The influence of crystal and crucible rotations on the flow field and the radial segregation of silicon are predicted during the growth of Ge_xSi_{1-x} crystals by the Czochralski method under microgravity conditions. Time-dependent 3-dimensional numerical simulations are carried out to present the influence of several rotation rates on the radial segregation and flow fields during the growth of Ge_xSi_{1-x}. Thermal and solutal Marangoni convection are also considered during this study. Different crystal rotation rates varying between 0 and 30 rpm and stationary or -2 rpm crucible rotation rates are considered. The results show that the crystal and crucible rotation rates …

Improved Computerized Evaluation Of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, Semi̇h Utku, Hulusi̇ Baysal, Reyat Yilmaz, Aytaç Gülcü, Recep Alp Kut, Ahmet Yi̇ği̇t Göktay

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Accurate measurements of arterial anatomy are emerging as the most important determinants of endovascular abdominal aneurysm repair. It is quite difficult to define and measure arterial anatomy features quantitatively due to the complex structure of the aneurysm and insufficient visual feedback. During decision making, to assist operators in diagnosing abdominal aortic aneurysms, a specialized preprocessing Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Measurement and Evaluation Tool (AMET) was developed. AMET provides visual interfaces with broad measurement capabilities to generate a 3D model of the aorta for a better diagnosis and accurate stent selection. The accuracy and usability of the tool was tested with a …

Tunable Gold Nanostructures With Nanocapsules As Template Reaction Vessels, Balasubramanian Ramjee, Srujana Prayakarao, Sangbum Han, Wei Cao

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Hollow, polymeric, thiol-ene resorcinarene nanocapsules can act as template reaction vessels for the synthesis of gold nanoshells or spherical aggregates of gold nanoparticles depending on the reaction conditions. The spherical nanoparticle aggregates were evaluated as catalysts in the biphasic reduction of 4-nitrophenol.

Field And Laboratory Comparison Of The Hydraulic Performance Of Two Ceramic Pot Water Filters, Duncan Peabody

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Currently 884 million people worldwide are living without access to an improved source of drinking water (WHO/UNICEF, 2011). Piped-water on premises is the ultimate goal of World Health Organization (WHO) due to the ability to treat all of the water and distribute it safely in pressurized pipes. However, Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (HWTS) is an option for improving the quality of drinking water where that infrastructure is not yet developed, especially where there is a risk of recontamination between point of collection and point of use (Clasen, 2006).

This study analyzed one such HWTS, the ceramic pot water …

Shelf-Scale Mapping Of Fish Distribution Using Active And Passive Acoustics, Carrie Christy Wall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fish sound production has been associated with courtship and spawning behavior. Acoustic recordings of fish sounds can be used to identify distribution and behavior. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) can record large amounts of acoustic data in a specific area for days to years. These data can be collected in remote locations under potentially unsafe seas throughout a 24-hour period providing datasets unattainable using observer-based methods. However, the instruments must withstand the caustic ocean environment and be retrieved to obtain the recorded data. This can prove difficult due to the risk of PAMs being lost, stolen or damaged, especially in highly …

Aggregation Of Sediment And Bacteria With Mucilage From The Opuntia Ficus-Indica Cactus, Audrey Lynn Buttice

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Flocculants are commonly used in industrial settings where solid-liquid separations are desired including industrial and municipal wastewater management and potable water production facilities. Conventional flocculants include inorganic metal salts and synthetic organic polymers. The cost, availability, and harmful effects of the non-biodegradable nature of these flocculants have led to the widespread study of natural flocculants. Current natural flocculants being studied include polysaccharides cultivated from microbial extracellular matrix products and plant based materials. In this study, the mucilage of Opuntia ficus-indica cactus was evaluated as a natural flocculant for sediments and bacteria. The O. ficus-indica cactus is also known as the …

Crack Analysis In Silicon Solar Cells, Maria Ines Echeverria Molina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Solar cell business has been very critical and challenging since more efficient and low costs materials are required to decrease the costs and to increase the production yield for the amount of electrical energy converted from the Sun's energy. The silicon-based solar cell has proven to be the most efficient and cost-effective photovoltaic industrial device. However, the production cost of the solar cell increases due to the presence of cracks (internal as well as external) in the silicon wafer. The cracks of the wafer are monitored while fabricating the solar cell but the present monitoring techniques are not sufficient when …

Precipitation Of Phosphate Minerals From Effluent Of Anaerobically Digested Swine Manure, Alex Y. Lin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Swine production represents approximately 40% of the world's meat production, and its wastes contain high concentrations of organic carbon, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P). Anaerobic digestion is an increasingly popular technology for treating animal wastes while simultaneously generating energy. Its propagation and ability to solubilize organic N and P make adding a struvite recovery process attractive. Recovering struvite (MgNH4PO4) from anaerobically digested swine waste can address global P shortages, meet P discharge guidelines, and produce slow-release fertilizer, which can be sold for revenue.

Anaerobic digesters were operated with at organic loading rates of 3.4-3.9 g volatile solids per liter per …

Design Of Colloidal Composite Catalysts For Co2 Photoreduction And For Co Oxidation, Bijith D. Mankidy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this doctoral dissertation, novel colloidal routes were used to synthesize nanomaterials with unique features. We have studied the impact of nanoparticle size of catalyst, role of high surface area of a photocatalyst, and the effect of varying elemental composition of co-catalytic nanoparticles in combination with core-shell plasmonic nanoparticles. We have demonstrated how physical and chemical characteristics of nanomaterials with these unique features play a role in catalytic reactions, specifically the oxidation of CO and the photoreduction of CO2. The first objective of this doctoral dissertation involved the preparation of CoO nanoparticles with discrete nanoparticles sizes (1-14 nm) using a …

Growth And Characterization Of Functional Nanoparticulate Films By A Microwave Plasma-Assisted Spray Deposition Process, Ted Wangensteen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nanoparticle and nanoparticulate films have been grown by a unique approach combining a microwave and nebulized droplets where the concentration and thus the resulting particle size can be controlled. The goal of such a scalable approach was to achieve it with the least number of steps, and without using expensive high purity chemicals or the precautions necessary to work with such chemicals. This approach was developed as a result of first using a laser unsuccessfully to achieve the desired films and particles. Some problems with the laser approach for growing desired films were solved by substituting the higher energy microwave …

Assessment Of Methods To Manipulate Thermal Emission And Evaluate The Quality Of Thermal Radiation For Direct Energy Conversion, Samantha Wijewardane

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Control of spectral thermal emission from surfaces may be desirable in some energy related applications, such as nano-scale antenna energy conversion and thermophotovoltaic conversion. There are a number of methods, from commercially available paints to advanced surface gratings that can be used to modify the thermal emission from a surface. To find out the proper emission controlling technique for a given energy conversion method all the surface emission controlling methods are comprehensively reviewed regarding the emission control capabilities and the range of possible applications. Radiation with high degree of coherence can be emitted using advanced surface emission controlling techniques. …

The Reduction Of Storm Surge By Vegetation Canopies: Three-Dimensional Simulations, Y. Peter Sheng, Andrew Lapetina, Gangfeng Ma

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Significant buffering of storm surges by vegetation canopies has been suggested by limited observations and simple numerical studies, particularly following recent Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. Here we simulate storm surge and inundation over idealized topographies using a three-dimensional vegetation-resolving storm surge model coupled to a shallow water wave model and show that a sufficiently wide and tall vegetation canopy reduces inundation on land by 5 to 40 percent, depending upon various storm and canopy parameters. Effectiveness of the vegetation in dissipating storm surge and inundation depends on the intensity and forward speed of the hurricane, as well as the …

Economics Of Residue Harvest: Regional Partnership Evaluation, David W. Archer, David J. Muth Jr., Jacob J. Jacobson, Douglas L. Karlen

Douglas L Karlen

Landscape Management For Sustainable Supplies Of Bioenergy Feedstock And Enhanced Soil Quality, Douglas L. Karlen, David J. Muth Jr.

Douglas L Karlen

Agriculture can simultaneously address global food, feed, fi ber, and energy challenges provided our soil, water, and air resources are not compromised in doing so. As we embark on the 19th Triennial Conference of the International Soil and Tillage Research Organization (ISTRO), I am pleased to proclaim that our members are well poised to lead these endeavors because of our comprehensive understanding of soil, water, agricultural and bio-systems engineering processes. The concept of landscape management, as an approach for integrating multiple bioenergy feedstock sources, including biomass residuals, into current crop production systems, is used as the focal point to show …

Cars And Carbon - Automobiles And European Climate Policy In A Global Context, Theodoros Zachariadis

Theodoros Zachariadis

No abstract provided.

Hydrogen Production From Biogas By Oxy-Reforming: Reaction System Analysis, Aleksandra Terlecka, Wojciech M. Budzianowski

Wojciech Budzianowski

Oxy-reforming is emerging as an interesting alternative to conventional methods of hydrogen generation. The current article characterises this process through analysis of individual reactions: SMR (steam methane reforming), WGS (water gas shift) and CPO (catalytic partial oxidation). Analyses relate to optimisation of thermal conditions thus enabling cost-effectivenes of the process.

Developing The Next Generation Of Women And Minority Scientists For The Nuclear Energy Industry, Darrell Burrell, Andrea Todd, Aikyna Finch, Maurice Dawson

Maurice Dawson

The largest source of carbon dioxide emissions globally is the combustion of fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) in power plants, automobiles, industrial facilities and other sources. Generating electricity is the single largest source of carbon dioxide emissions, representing 41% of all emissions. Since 2007 the United States has been more actively considering nuclear power as an option for developing energy. Three decades after the Three Mile Island accident seemed to doom the nuclear power industry, the idea of a nuclear renaissance has been gaining public acceptance as a way to generate energy without greenhouse gas emissions and meet …

Extractive Metallurgy Of Copper, Fathi Habashi

Fathi Habashi

Ocena Efektów Modernizacji Systemu Oczyszczania I Ewakuacji Spalin Na Wybranych Przykładach, Robert Oleniacz, Marcelina Groborz, Michał Ożóg

Robert Oleniacz

The paper presents an assessment of changes in air emissions and impacts on air quality resulting from the modernization of flue gas cleaning and evacuation in two Polish coal-fired power plants. These modernizations were associated with the construction of flue gas desulphurisation systems and use for discharging desulphurized gases separate stacks with a height of 120 m. On the basis of analyzes and atmospheric dispersion modeling, it was found that the changes in the effective height of emitters (the apparent point of emission), due to additional reducing of flue gas volume in existing chimneys, caused that important ecological effects of …

Fluorescein-Polyethyleneimine Coated Gadolinium Oxide Nanoparticles As T1 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Mri)–Cell Labeling (Cl) Dual Agents, Wenlong Xu, Ja Young Park, Krishna Kattel, Md Wasi Ahmad, Badrul Alam Bony, Woo Choul Heo, Seonguk Jin, Jang Woo Park, Yongmin Chang, Tae Jeong Kim, Ji Ae Park, Ji Yeon Do, Kwon Seok Chae, Gang Ho Lee

Dr. Mohammad Wasi Ahmad (Md Wasi Ahmad)

We report the synthesis, characterization and application of highly water-soluble fluoresceinpolyethyleneimine (PEI) coated gadolinium oxide (Gd2O3) nanoparticles to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cell labeling (CL). The average particle diameter and average hydrodynamic diameter were estimated to be 3.92 and 7.5 nm, respectively. Fluorescein-PEI was prepared from EDC/NHS coupling method. The surface coating was characterized by the FT-IR absorption spectrum and the surface coating amount was estimated to be 22.42 wt% from a TGA analysis, corresponding to 0.65 nm22 grafting density. The fluorescein-PEI coated gadolinium oxide nanoparticles showed r1 and r2 of 6.76 and 20.27 s21mM21, respectively, and a strong …

An Analytical Model For Complete Solute Trapping During Rapid Solidification Of Binary Alloys, Sergey Sobolev

Sergey Sobolev

An analytical model has been developed to describe solute partitioning during rapid solidification of binary alloys under local nonequilibrium conditions. The model takes into account the deviations from equilibrium both at the solid–liquid interface according to the kinetic approach of Jackson et al. based on Monte Carlo simulations and in the bulk liquid using local nonequilibrium diffusion model (LNDM). The dimensionless growth parameter b found in the Monte Carlo simulations as the important parameter for solute trapping has been modified for the local nonequilibrium diffusion case. An analytical expression has been developed for the velocity-dependent partition coefficient K which predicts …

Enhancement In The Photocatalytic Activity Of Au@Tio2 Nanocomposites By Pretreatment Of Tio2 With Uv Light, Mohammad Mansoob Khan Dr, M. H. Cho Dr

Dr. Mohammad Mansoob Khan

A novel, efficient and controlled protocol for the synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic activity of Au@TiO2 nanocomposite is developed. TiO2 (P25) was pretreated by employing UV light (λ = 254 nm) and the pretreated TiO2 was uniformly decorated by gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in presence of sodium citrate and UV light. UV pretreatment makes the TiO2 activated, as electrons were accumulated within the TiO2 in the conduction band. These accumulated electrons facilitate the formation of AuNPs which were of very small size (2-5 nm), similar morphology and uniformly deposited at TiO2 surface. It leads to formation of stable and crystalline Au@TiO2 nanocomposites. …