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Title: MULTIUSER COMMUNICATIONS FOR NETWORK CODING AND NOMA
Creator: Attang, Edidiong
Date: 2018, 2018-05
Description: A paradigm shift from single user to multiuser communications helps improve system capacity for an increasing amount of applications. Such...
Show moreA paradigm shift from single user to multiuser communications helps improve system capacity for an increasing amount of applications. Such systems such as cellular mobile radio and wireless local area networks are prone to multi-access interference. Although decoding techniques has been developed, the performance of such multi-access systems is severely degraded by increasing the number of users. Network coding increases the performance of such multi-access systems by increasing its diversity over independent or orthogonal channels at least equal to the number of users. A more resource efficient strategy ensures that the number of independent channels are less than the number of users This design also known as Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) provides resource efficiency with the potential of managing interference. In this thesis, a specific class of Balanced Incomplete Block designs called Steiner designs is analyzed. For this class, the decoding techniques are enhanced by exploiting the structure of these designs. However, decoding criteria for a large number of independent users is prohibitively expensive. Therefore, we provide an optimized way to search through all possible combinations of independent user data. Our work presents decoding users both from a performance oriented and objective oriented viewpoint. Work in physical layer techniques for non-orthogonal transmission is evolving. The need for finding a structured decoding scheme for large number of designs will pave the way for high data rate transmissions. Also, physical implementation and analysis of decoding techniques for a large number of users will bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, May 2018
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Title: AN OPERATING PERFORMANCE STUDY TO ADAPT RETScreen METHODOLOGY TO TREATED WASTEWATER SOURCE HEAT PUMP SYSTEM
Creator: Xu, Limeimei
Date: 2013, 2013-07
Description: A ground source heat pump system (GSHP) is a heating and air-conditioning system where a ground source is used as a heat source and sink....
Show moreA ground source heat pump system (GSHP) is a heating and air-conditioning system where a ground source is used as a heat source and sink. Potential ground sources include groundwater, surface water, and ground. A GSHP has several advantages over other heat pump systems, such as an air-source heat pump, because it has higher heating and cooling efficiency, more energy savings, and lower CO2 emissions. A treated wastewater source heat pump (TWSHP) system is similar to a GSHP system, but the TWSHP system relies on a treated wastewater source, which means that the source temperature is variable. A TWSHP is more convenient and offers greater cost savings; the TWSHP system avoids the costs associated with pumping, grouting, and drilling because the treated wastewater is already available at the surface. RETScreen is a software product that provides a methodology to study the feasibility of installing a constant-temperature source GSHP system. Advantages of using RETScreen include it is tested, valuable, readily available, and free. If design of a variable-temperature source TWSHP system can take advantage of RETSceen methodology, it would bring a tremendous help for TWSHP applications. This paper presents a case study to test whether a TWSHP system can take advantage of RETSceen methodology. The approach involves an assessment of TWSHP system operating performance under variable source temperatures. Results show that a TWSHP system can take advantage of RETSceen methodology for a variable source temperatures span over a certain range. In this study the heating temperature ranged from 9 to 16 ℃ and the cooling temperature ranged from 11 to 22℃. Keywords: treated wastewater source heat pump; RETScreen methodology
M.S. in Environmental Engineering, July 2013
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Title: KINETIC PARAMETERS SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS OF THE CALUMET WATER RECLAMATION PLANT USING GPS-X
Creator: Mao, Xiangzhou
Date: 2015, 2015-07
Description: It is an important objective to find equilibrium between cost and effluent water quality at the Calumet water reclamation plants (WRP)....
Show moreIt is an important objective to find equilibrium between cost and effluent water quality at the Calumet water reclamation plants (WRP). Kinetic parameters of activated sludge process have significant influence on effluent water quality. In this study, based on a simulation model, sensitivity analysis methods were used to assess the effects of six kinetic parameters on dissolved oxygen, carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD5), and effluent ammonia concentration. According to the values of kinetic parameter, two cases: ±10% perturbation of the typical default value and full parameter range were studied. Results presented that main effects have important effects on the output variables. Heterotrophic maximum specific growth rate, heterotrophic decay rate, autotrophic maximum specific growth rate, autotrophic decay rate, and maximum specific hydrolysis rate have relatively significant sensitivity. In addition, the influences of the interactions among kinetic parameters are discussed. Keys words: Kinetic parameters; sensitivity analysis; water reclamation plants; dissolved oxygen; CBOD5; ammonia
M.S. in Environmental Engineering, July 2015
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Title: Taking Time, Risk and Cost out of Drug Discovery (Fall 2001) ENPRO 351: Taking_Time_Risk_and_Cost_Out_of_Drug_Discovery_ENPRO351_Fall2001_Final_Presentation
Creator: Dalmia, Manoj, Hong, Yugenia, Sresty, Padma, Hung, Paul, Morrison, Edward, Johnson, Stephen, Mcguire, Brian, Patel, Sarjan, Patel, Monali, Bhatt, Ajay
Date: 2001, 2001-12
Description: Professor Chapman has invented an x-ray procedure that greatly extends the technique's ability to diagnose tumors (mammogram improvement) and...
Show moreProfessor Chapman has invented an x-ray procedure that greatly extends the technique's ability to diagnose tumors (mammogram improvement) and see problems in soft tissue, such as cartilage. He collaborates with Brookhaven National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Rush Medical College, and several other universities. The potential for enhancement of public health and quality of life through this technology is significant. The team will have the opportunity to analyze and help IIT pursue one or two different paths to commercialization. The current state of development of the technique limits its application to a high-energy beam line at Argonne. Thus, Project Path One involves developing a business plan for a service that would be created in conjunction with Argonne and accessed through the Advanced Photon Source. Project Path Two involves developing equipment that could be installed in a clinic or hospital. The first project can be implemented without significant technology extension, while the second project requires a technological breakthrough to reduce the size and cost of the equipment. The long-term impact will be greater for the second project, because of the potential diffusion of a system throughout the healthcare industry. The scope of the two project paths involve: (1) Understanding the capability relative to current technology; (2) Relating that technical advantage to a patient benefit; (3) Developing understanding of the economics of the alternatives; (4) Preparing commercialization strategies; (5) Performing market research; (6) Developing a business plan; (7) Creating an implementation plan for Project Path One; (8) Developing an equipment development alliance for Project Path Two; and (9) Developing a financing plan and product development strategy for Project Path Two. It is anticipated that the scope of this project may require it to continue over more than one semester. This IPRO team will find this experience highly rewarding, because of its potential for benefiting many people who require medical diagnostic imaging procedures.
Sponsorship: IIT Collaboratory for Interprofessional Studies
Project Plan for ENPRO 351: Taking Time, Risk and Cost out of Drug Discovery for the Fall 2001 semester
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Title: SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS: INFLUENCE OF INFLUENT VARIABLES ON A WRP MODEL
Creator: Wang, Xiaolong
Date: 2015, 2015-07
Description: Balancing between cost and effluent quality at the Calumet water reclamation plants (WRP) is important. Influent quality has strong effects on...
Show moreBalancing between cost and effluent quality at the Calumet water reclamation plants (WRP) is important. Influent quality has strong effects on effluent quality. In this study, based on a simulation model, the influence of influent parameters on effluent ammonia concentration is identified by sensitivity analysis methods. Nine sensitivity analysis methods, including two mathematical methods, five statistical methods, and two graphical methods, are presented. Using different sensitivity analysis, most results presented all main effects have stronger effects than interactions among input variables on the output. Water temperature is always the most important parameter; the most important interaction effect is between water temperature and SS. Key words: Sensitivity analysis; water reclamation plants; design of experiments; simulation model; influent water quality; effluent ammonia
M.S. in Environmental Engineering, July 2015
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Title: CONTROLLED ARCHITECTURE OF HYDROGELS TO ALLOW VASCULARIZATION
Creator: Somo, Sami I.
Date: 2014, 2014-05
Description: Vascularization within biomaterial scaffolds is essential for engineered tissues. A sintering method is investigated in which spherical 106...
Show moreVascularization within biomaterial scaffolds is essential for engineered tissues. A sintering method is investigated in which spherical 106-125 micron poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microspheres are used to create porous poly(ethylene glycol diacrylate) (PEGDA) hydrogels with varying interconnectivity for vascularized tissue invasion. The sintering method resulting in interconnectivity levels that increased with sintering time and temperature. Mechanical testing on hydrogels showed increasing interconnectivity of hydrogels decreases the elastic modulus. A rodent subcutaneous model was used to evaluate influence of hydrogel interconnectivity on in vivo response at 3 and 6 weeks. There was significant difference in tissue invasion between the groups at the two different time points. At week 3, higher interconnectivity hydrogels had twice as much invasion depth compared with the lower interconnectivity. The higher interconnectivity hydrogels had complete vascularization at 3 weeks. In conclusion, a technique for preparation of porous hydrogels with controlled pore interconnectivity has been developed and evaluated. This method has been used to show that higher interconnectivity enables deeper vascularized tissue ingrowth and thus holds great potential for tissue engineering applications.
M.S. in Chemical Engineering, May 2014
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Title: CYBER-PHYSICAL SYSTEM FOR A WATER RECLAMATION PLANT: BALANCING AERATION, ENERGY, AND WATER QUALITY TO MAINTAIN PROCESS RESILIENCE
Creator: Zhu, Junjie
Date: 2015, 2015-07
Description: Aeration accounts for a large fraction of energy consumption in conventional water reclamation plants (WRPs). Although process operations at...
Show moreAeration accounts for a large fraction of energy consumption in conventional water reclamation plants (WRPs). Although process operations at older WRPs can satisfy effluent permit requirements, they typically operate with excess aeration. More effective process controls at older WRPs can be challenging as operators work to balance higher energy costs and more stringent effluent limitations while managing fluctuating loads. Therefore, understandings of process resilience or ability to quickly return to original operation conditions at a WRP are important. A state-of-art WRP should maintain process resilience to deal with different kinds of perturbations even after optimization of energy demands. This work was to evaluate the applicability and feasibility of cyber-physical system (CPS) for improving operation at Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRDGC) Calumet WRP. In this work, a process model was developed and used to better understand the conditions of current Calumet WRP, with additional valuable information from two dissolved oxygen field measurements. Meanwhile, a classification system was developed to reveal the pattern of historical influent scenario based on cluster analysis and cross-tabulation analysis. Based on the results from the classification, typical process control options were investigated. To ensure the feasibility of information acquisition, the reliability and flexibility of soft sensors were assessed to typical influent conditions. Finally, the process resilience was investigated to better balance influent perturbations, energy demands, and effluent quality for long-term operations. These investigations and evaluations show that although the energy demands change as the influent conditions and process controls, in general, aeration savings could be up to 50% from the level of current consumption; with a more xix complex process controls, the saving could be up to 70% in relatively steady-state conditions and at least 40% in relatively challenging transient conditions. The soft sensors can provide reliable and flexible performance on target predictions. The plant can still maintain at a similar level of process resilience after 50% aeration saving, even during long-term perturbations. Overall, this work shows that it is well feasible to provide more cost-effective operations at the Calumet WRP, and meanwhile influent perturbations, effluent quality, and process resilience are well in balance. Keywords: Energy, aeration, effluent quality, perturbation, resilience, water reclamation plant.
Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, July 2015
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Title: HEAT PUMPS IN DRINKING WATER UTILITY BUILDINGS
Creator: Colomer Pons, Ana Maria
Date: 2012-07-12, 2012-07
Description: In the United States each person consumes about 70 million BTUs per year in the residential sector, a tendency that is constantly growing...
Show moreIn the United States each person consumes about 70 million BTUs per year in the residential sector, a tendency that is constantly growing because of technology and society growth (EIA, 2011). The United States Department of Energy (USDOE, 1988) reported that heat pumps are energy efficient devices that can provide heating and cooling in residential and industrial buildings and also in households. According to Bernier (2006) heat pumps offer many advantages such as decreased space needs, higher efficiencies, and lower maintenance costs, and that is why they have been implemented in many regions throughout the United States as well as in many European countries. However, their use is many times hindered due to the high initial costs relative to conventional heating air conditioning ventilating systems (HVAC), technologies that are widely known and have been used for many years. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the performance, economic feasibility, and greenhouse gas emission reduction of implementing heat pump devices in drinking water plants for heating and cooling needs inside the building. The proposed system is similar to groundwater heat pumps (described in an upcoming section) but instead of groundwater the heat pump relies on drinking water that has been treated in the plant and it is ready for its use. Groundwater has one main advantage because it is at a constant temperature year round (NRC, 2005) which gives the heat pump system stability in its behavior. Moreover, it is at a higher temperature than air in winter, and at a lower temperature than air in summer, which makes it an excellent candidate for heat transfer purposes in the refrigeration cycle. The four cases studies described in this work examine medium and high efficiency heat pumps installed in existing plants and new plants. Because drinking water is readily available after its treatment, the cost of drilling and grouting is avoided and this high quality water also avoids most of the problems related to quality of water such as scaling or fouling. This system gives a return of investment that is in all cases lower than six years. emissions are reduced by about 50 per cent because the use of a much more efficient device produces less for each kWh of heating or cooling delivered in the building.
M.S. in Environmental Engineering, July 2012
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Title: AN ASSESSMENT OF HEAT PUMP APPLICATION AT WATER TREATMENT FACILITIES-THAT USE SURFACE WATER
Creator: Yan, Wenpeng
Date: 2012-07-17, 2012-07
Description: Energy-efficient heat pumps have been applied in the United States and other regions of the world for decades. Geothermal heat pumps have been...
Show moreEnergy-efficient heat pumps have been applied in the United States and other regions of the world for decades. Geothermal heat pumps have been used, but their application is not wide spread due to the high cost of drilling and installing a ground loop. An alternative choice for space conditioning at municipal water utilities is a surface water source heat pump. Because treated surface water is readily available and it exists in a relatively narrow temperature range it could be useful heat transfer fluid. In this project the economic benefits and greenhouse gas emissions of a heat pump system for a building in NE Illinois are analyzed. Heating and cooling requirements for a hypothetical a 1000 m2 space at a drinking water treatment plant are considered. The analysis includes initial, operating and maintenance costs as well as greenhouse gas emissions, between a heat pump system and a conventional natural gas furnace and air-conditioner. The cost savings in this project for the heat pump system were from $39900 to $41511 over the life cycle of the system depending on the different efficiency level of the heat pump system. Surprisingly the initial cost of the standard efficiency heat pump system is lower than the conventional NGAC system. There is no need to take time to make up the additional initial cost. Surface water heat pumps operating at different efficiency level produce less greenhouse gas than the conventional NGAC system. The CO2 emission reduction could be as high as 73%.
M.S. in Environmental Engineering, July 2012
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Title: XAFS STUDIES OF RADIATION DAMAGE IN NUCLEAR MATERIALS
Creator: Olive, Daniel Thomas
Date: 2012-11-13, 2012-12
Description: The growing demand for nuclear energy places a high importance on the development of new materials capable of withstanding higher temperatures...
Show moreThe growing demand for nuclear energy places a high importance on the development of new materials capable of withstanding higher temperatures and harsher irradiation conditions than those used in existing reactors. By supporting the development of next generation reactors it also becomes possible to close the nuclear fuel cycle, greatly reducing the amount of waste sent for disposal in deep geologic repositories, where its interaction with the environment is also a matter of interest. In this thesis, X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy is used to investigate the local atomic structure of systems of interest to nuclear energy. First, two XAFS studies on environmental materials are presented. Granular activated carbon (GAC) was treated with iron to improve its water remediation properties, specifically with respect to arsenic. XAFS was used to determine the nature of iron coating on the GAC surface, and the method of arsenic bonding to the treated surface. Next, a neodymium precipitate from solubility studies carried out for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) was analyzed. Neodymium was used as an analog for plutonium in brine solutions. XAFS fitting indicated that the neodymium substituted for calcium in a gypsum lattice, providing information useful for future geochemical modeling. XAFS was also used to study radiation damage in materials. A candidate material for advanced reactor structural materials, modified 9Cr–1Mo, was irradiated to 1, 4, and 10 displacements per atom (dpa). XAFS analyses were performed on the Fe, Mo, and Nb K-edges. Irradiation caused a reduction in coordination for all three elements, but the exact behavior was element specific. Damage around Fe atoms was linear with dose, while damage around xxii Mo atoms saturated at or before 1 dpa. XAFS was shown to provide a useful atomic level description of radiation damage for a complex alloy system. Finally, zirconium carbide and zirconium nitride, candidate materials for advanced fuel claddings were studied at the Zr K-edge. Samples irradiated to 1 dpa retained overall crystallinity, as indicated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images but were found to have an increase in dislocation loops compared to their non-irradiated counterparts. XAFS analysis was able to determine the size of the undefected regions, making it a valuable complement to other analysis techniques. xxiii
PH.D in Physics, December 2012
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Title: P-DOPED STRONTIUM TITANATE GROWN USING TWO TARGET PULSED LASER DEPOSITION FOR THIN FILM SOLAR CELLS
Creator: Man, Hamdi
Date: 2015, 2015-12
Description: Thin-film solar cells made of Mg-doped SrTiO3 (STO) p-type absorbers are promising candidates for clean energy generation. This material shows...
Show moreThin-film solar cells made of Mg-doped SrTiO3 (STO) p-type absorbers are promising candidates for clean energy generation. This material shows p-type conductivity and also demonstrates reasonable absorption of light. In addition, p-type SrTiO3 can be deposited as thin films so that the cost can be lower than the competing methods. In this work, Mg:SrTiO3 (Mg:STO) thin-films were synthesized and analyzed in order to observe their potential to be employed as the base semiconductor in photovoltaic applications. Mg:STO thin-films were grown with pulsed laser deposition (PLD) using a frequency quadrupled Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (YAG) laser and with a substrate that was heated by back surface absorption of infrared (IR) laser light. The samples were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and it was observed that Mg atoms were incorporated in the STO films. Reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) spectroscopy proved that the thin films were polycrystalline. Calculations showed that the lattice constant of Mg:STO/SSF is slightly greater than that of STO/SSF, therefore, the conservation of the characteristic ring pattern for STO suggests of doping by substitution, which is consistent with the examples in literature. Kelvin Probe work function measurements indicated that the work function of the films were 4.167 eV after annealing. EDS spectroscopy showed that Mg was present in the thin films.
M.S. in Physics, December 2015
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Title: Towards Understanding the Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Additively Manufactured Ni-base Superalloys
Creator: Tiparti, Dhruv Reddy
Date: 2022
Description: Nickel-base superalloy components such as turbine discs typically undergo numerous manufacturing steps that contribute to increasing the cost...
Show moreNickel-base superalloy components such as turbine discs typically undergo numerous manufacturing steps that contribute to increasing the cost and the waste of excess materials. With advent of fusion based additive of manufacturing (AM) techniques, such components with complex geometry can be fabricated with great efficiency. However due to characteristically high energy densities, fast cooling rate, and layer-by-layer building process associated with AM; Ni-base superalloys with higher temperature performance are difficult to be fabricated by AM due to susceptibility to composition related defect formation, which is further exacerbated by anisotropic grain structures induced by the large thermal gradients present. Crack-free material can be fabricated but, in most cases, issues such as an anisotropic microstructure will prevail, and the balance of mechanical properties achieved may not be suitable for the desired applications. Several strategies exist to mitigate the challenges posed by additive manufacturing via post-processing such as hot-isostatic processing, annealing heat treatments, application of grain refining inoculants, etc. All these strategies utilized to mitigate issues with AM of Ni-base superalloys still require further study to understand their effects on the microstructure and mechanical properties. This work aims to evaluate the use of inoculant particles, and novel heat treatments on the microstructure and mechanical properties of different superalloys. First, the effect of varying amounts of CoAl2O4 inoculant ranging from 0 to 2 wt.% on the microstructure evolution of Inconel 718(IN718) fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) was evaluated. The findings from this study indicated that additions of CoAl2O4 only resulted in a minor degree of grain refinement with slight increase in anisotropy; in addition, a CoAl2O4 ¬content above 0.2 wt.% resulted in the formation of agglomerate inclusions; and that to effectively utilize CoAl2O4 as a grain refining inoculant, process parameters must be further optimized while considering the formation of agglomerates, and other defects. Second, the application of CoAl2¬O4 was extended towards the Direct Energy Deposition (DED) of IN718. Here findings indicated that due to the modification of the thermophysical properties of the melt pool by oxide addition, an earlier onset of large columnar extending across multiple layers occurred while counteracting conditions required for equiaxed grain formation; and these CoAl2O4 were also found to exhibit a potent Zenner pinning effect that maintained the as-built grain structure despite application of extreme high treatment condition of 1200oC for 4 hrs. Third, the tensile and fatigue properties of the DED IN718 with CoAl2O4 were evaluated. Here, it was found that the addition of CoAl2O4 leads to a minor increase in tensile strength in the as-built condition attributed primarily to the fine oxide dispersion; a more modest increase in tensile strength in the heat-treated condition due to grain refinement induced by retaining the as-built grain structure; and that despite the increase in tensile strength with CoAl2O4 a corresponding increase in fatigue life did not occur. Lastly, the processing of René 65 conducted by laser-powder bed fusion(L-PBF) was done and compared to the conventionally cast and wrought material. Here, the effect of the difference in processing route in conjunction with heat treatments was evaluated to understand the creep and stress relaxation behavior. It was found that L-PBF of René 65 led to an overall improved resistance to deformation by creep and relaxation mechanism.
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Title: UTILITY OF WATERSHED MODELS: IMPROVING TMDL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH A MARGIN OF SAFETY ESTIMATION AND UNCERTAINTY COMMUNICATION
Creator: Nunoo, Robert
Date: 2020
Description: Watershed models are used to represent the physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms that determine the fate and transport of pollutants...
Show moreWatershed models are used to represent the physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms that determine the fate and transport of pollutants in waterbodies (Daniel 2011). These models, in general, are used for exploratory, planning, and regulatory purposes (Harmel et al. 2014). Watershed models have numerous applications; one such use is the development of total maximum daily load (TMDL). TMDL is the amount of pollution a waterbody can receive without becoming impaired. Because of the challenge of uncertainty associated with models and the TMDL development process, the United States Clean Water Act Section 303 (d)(1)(c) requires that a margin of safety (MOS) be specified to account for uncertainty in TMDLs. The question of how MOS is estimated in TMDL was identified as a problem by the National Research Council (NRC 2001). Since the identification of the problem about two decades ago, there have been very few inventories or audits of approved TMDL studies. This study describes a natural language processing and machine learning aided review of the MOS in approved TMDLs from 2002 to 2016. The study determined whether the MOS values incorporated followed a pattern and examined whether there exist a relationship between MOS values and some ecological conditions. Relatively few TMDLs were based on some form of calculation to estimate explicit MOS values; these TMDLs constituted only 16% of the reviewed sample. The remaining 84% used conventional values, but few of those studies provided reasons for their selected values. A statistical assessment of those MOS values revealed that the MOS depended on States (location of waterbody), USEPA regions, waterbody type, designated water use, TMDL model used, and dataavailability. The findings indicate that few TMDL developers are following the National Research Council’s suggestions of using a rigorous uncertainty estimation approach for rational choices for the MOS. An adaptive approach based on Bayes-Discrepancy was proposed for estimating an MOS for a TMDL. The approach is based on the Bayesian hierarchical framework of estimating uncertainty associated with watershed models. With this approach, TMDL developers can communicate the effects of their watershed model. The approach was applied to a Ferson Creek model of the Fox River watershed to access variability and uncertainty in the model results, and also estimate possible MOS values for two monitoring stations in the watershed. Results suggest that an MOS of 0.04 mg/L could lead to a 0.1 probability of violating the water quality standard for an underpredicting model. The Bayes-discrepancy estimation method will enable TMDL developers and watershed managers to strike a balance between implementation options and water quality concerns.
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Title: UTILIZING SUSTAIN TO MODEL BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES FOR STORMWATER MANAGEMENT ON THE IIT CAMPUS
Creator: Miller, Patrick
Date: 2013-05-15, 2013-05
Description: As cities expand the amount of impervious surface area increases, which increases the amount of stormwater runoff generated. Urban stormwater...
Show moreAs cities expand the amount of impervious surface area increases, which increases the amount of stormwater runoff generated. Urban stormwater runoff contributes to the degradation and poor biological conditions of rivers and streams throughout the United States (USEPA, 2013). Currently, there are several different tools (i.e. computer software and models) available for stormwater managers to assess the effectiveness of best management practices (BMPs) to meet stormwater quality and quantity goals. In an effort to a create a single model that allows stormwater managers to evaluate the effectiveness of BMPs and associated cost information, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency developed System for Urban Stormwater Treatment and Analysis INtegration (SUSTAIN) (USEPA, 2009). In this study, SUSTAIN is used to determine what BMPs are necessary to meet the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) 2020 Sustainability Plan’s goal of achieving 100 percent capture and retention of all stormwater runoff on the IIT campus by the year 2020. Multiple BMPs were simulated in currently available green space and parking lots to evaluate the level of runoff reduction and associated cost of BMP installation. Although the simulations show that reductions in runoff are possible without affecting the current layout of the campus, 100 percent capture and retention is not possible for the entire IIT campus. While the 2020 goal of 100 percent reduction cannot be met for the entire campus, significant reductions in runoff can still be realized with the use of BMPs in different sections of campus with high associated costs.
M.S. in in Environmental Engineering, May 2013
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Title: NON-ORTHOGONAL MULTIPLE ACCESS SYSTEM BASED ON COMBINATORIAL DESIGN
Creator: Wu, Yuteng Wu
Date: 2018, 2018-05
Description: In this thesis, a new class of multiuser Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) is studied. Overall, the main contributions are listed as...
Show moreIn this thesis, a new class of multiuser Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) is studied. Overall, the main contributions are listed as follows: Firstly, we study a new class of the space-time code (STC) based on a circulant matrix. A diagonal transmission matrix is adopted by utilizing the singular value decomposition (SVD) on the circulant matrix. After that, we present a Multiuser Multidimensional STC. This code expand the previous diagonal transmission matrix to multiple dimensions. Hence it produces a diversity due to the linear combination of all input elements. Two modified constellations are presented aiming at reducing the constellation expansion and the implementation burden. Secondly, a brief survey on state-of-the-art NOMA systems is provided, where their performance in terms of bit error rate (BER), overload capability and spectrum efficiency are compared. Thirdly, we study a NOMA system systematically. Firstly, an uplink NOMA system based on the Steiner Triple System (STS) is presented. A multiuser detection algorithm by using a reduced size vector correlator which will decrease the receiver complexity with an acceptable performance is proposed. Performance-oriented algorithm and overload-oriented algorithm aiming at handling different channel scenarios are studied. After that, we present a novel constellation forming methodology of downlink NOMA system aiming at solving the surjective-only mapping problem in NOMA systems. Compared with other methods by using constellation shaping, phase shifting and power scaling [1-4], our paradigm is capable of providing a new way to solve the surjective-only mapping with low design complexity. As far as we know, this method has not been used before. Finally, the impact of channel estimation error for NOMA system is simulated. The idea behind channel estimation is transmitting the pilot sequence and estimating the channel coefficient based on the received pilot sequence. As a future work, we will work on ARQ, cryptography and optimal designs.
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, May 2018
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Title: SMALL MODULAR NUCLEAR REACTORS: LEARNING AND PRODUCTION
Creator: Kotlyarevsky, Arnold
Date: 2013, 2013-07
Description: Small Modular Nuclear Reactors o er a new alternative to carbon based energy sources in the energy market of the near future. Understanding...
Show moreSmall Modular Nuclear Reactors o er a new alternative to carbon based energy sources in the energy market of the near future. Understanding the economic forces driving the industrial manufacturing process is crucial to determining the viability of SMRs. This study is a continuation of research that developed a parametric model and initial production cost estimates for a generic 100MWe SMR integrated reactor vessel. The primary goal of this study was to characterize the learning rates, lot sizes, and optimum production of SMR IRVs using the parametric model and the initial cost estimates. Three separate models were developed based on increasing levels of learning transfer: no learning transfer, partial learning transfer, and full learning transfer. Models with no learning transfer and full learning transfer bounded the values for the learning curve expected for IRV manufacture. A model with a partial transfer of learning yielded production cost estimates of $312.2 million. Production of an SMR IRV based on this model is expected to see a learning rate 95.5%. Using the information from the other two models, the expected learning rate for IRV production is expected to fall between 93.3% and 99.1% Simulations of lot sizes of 1 to 12 were conducted to determine the manufacturing lot size that optimizes the factory setting. An optimum con guration of 5 units per lot was determined to be the minimum. However, the lot size is recommended to be increased to 6 units to withstand the possibility of cancellation. In this con guration, the average unit cost is $262 million, with a learning rate of 98.1%. Another important result indicates that optimum manufacturing outcomes are not necessarily correlated with higher levels of learning. Production in larger lot sizes is bene cial, especially for components that are few in number, like the pressure vessel.
M.S. in Physics, July 2013
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Title: North Carolina State University Rapid Transit Center
Creator: Scott, Phillip
Date: 2012-05, 2012-05
Description: North Carolina State University is one of the leading land grant institutions and public research universities in the country. However, its...
Show moreNorth Carolina State University is one of the leading land grant institutions and public research universities in the country. However, its rapidly growing size and required travel distance in-between campuses necessitate drastically improved transit connections. Current plans are in place for the construction of a rapid transit corridor through campus along with commuter and light rail transit. The Master’s Project will focus on the main multimodal center for this transportation network, the North Carolina State University Rapid Transit Center.
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Title: All Season Recreation Center
Creator: Grebliunas, Eric
Date: 2012-04-30, 2012-05
Description: The center is a celebration of Chicago's unique seasonal opportunities and will encourage the inherent entertainment nature provides. This is...
Show moreThe center is a celebration of Chicago's unique seasonal opportunities and will encourage the inherent entertainment nature provides. This is a structurally determinate project.
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Title: Redevelopment of Traditional Market
Creator: Joongkyu, Park
Date: 2012-05-01, 2012-05
Description: The old market is medical herbs and dried fish market. Those stores have started with street stalls from 1900. This market was one of the...
Show moreThe old market is medical herbs and dried fish market. Those stores have started with street stalls from 1900. This market was one of the Busan's attractions. However, as department store, big mart and hotels comes around the market. It has lost its competitiveness And this place will be developed as tourist complex area. My goal is to redevelop its original role as market and provide public space for customers and tourist.
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Title: FACTOR STRUCTURE OF THE EMPOWERMENT SCALE IN MILITARY FAMILIES
Creator: Kereszturi, Katherine
Date: 2018, 2018-05
Description: Military families are vulnerable to many difficulties, including not just physical and mental health issues, but also financial, social, and...
Show moreMilitary families are vulnerable to many difficulties, including not just physical and mental health issues, but also financial, social, and occupational hardships. As such, they may experience disempowerment, or feelings of inadequacy to handle the myriad problems which they must confront. To create greater access to resources and provide necessary supports for this population, it is important that they feel empowered to advocate on their own behalves. Increased empowerment may also help military families to benefit more from programs and services already in place. Additionally, research indicates that empowerment is its own reward; those who feel empowered tend to have better mental and physical health outcomes and are more capable of solving their own problems (as opposed to relying on helping professionals). While empowerment has been studied in the rehabilitation psychology literature in other populations, it has yet to be studied in military families. The current study is an analysis of the factor structure of the Empowerment Scale in a sample of veterans and their family members participating in a peer-to-peer guided services program. Identifying the factor structure of the Empowerment Scale in this sample will aid future researchers in using the scale to study empowerment as both a process and an outcome in psychological studies looking at military families. Though previous studies have established a five factor model of empowerment, the current study suggests a four factor model with the following four factors identified: 1) self-esteem and self-efficacy, 2) autonomy, 3) community activism, and 4) anger and authority. Implications of the four factor model in the understanding of empowerment among military families are explored.
M.S. in Psychology, May 2018
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