The development of nuclear fuel and materials requires is a continuous effort to investigate the acute and prolonged effects of irradiation, thermal-material stress, chemical change, or other conceivable damage mechanics acquired during normal operation or accident scenarios throughout its lifetime. As in-core fuel property measurement techniques advance to support in...
Offshore wind and wave energy have the potential to be significant sources of future global electricity production, reduce carbon emissions, decrease dependence on energy importation, and stimulate economic growth in coastal and remote areas. Fixed-foundation and floating offshore wind and wave energy technologies are at different stages of development, but...
Fungi from the genus Chlorociboria are known for their production of the blue-green quinonic pigment xylindein. Extracted xylindein has been the subject of investigations ranging from fabric dying to use a coloring agent in paint, and shows potential as an organic semiconductor in organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and other technologies. However,...
Water quality impacts both human and ecosystem health. Many pharmaceuticals and personal care products are considered contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) due to their bioactive properties. Among these, metformin—the most commonly prescribed drug for treatment of type 2 diabetes—has been reported at high concentrations (μg L⁻¹) in stream, lake, and...
This dissertation focuses on indoor free-space optical communications systems for use in short range wireless networks. We propose that current radio frequency wireless links be augmented or replaced with optical frequency links due to overcrowding in the radio frequency spectrum. Optical frequencies contain hundreds of terahertz of unregulated bandwidth and...
Skeletal muscle, the largest organ in the body in mass, is composed by 600 specialized muscles in humans with unique biochemical, physiological and metabolic identities. Skeletal muscles control body movement, locomotion, and nutrient balance. Muscle formation requires precisely orchestrated environmental signals and regulatory gene networks in time and space. Gene...
This dissertation addresses the problem of semantic labeling of image pixels. In the course of our work, we considered different types of semantic labels, including object classes (e.g., car, person), 3D depth values (in the range 0 to 80 meters), and affordance classes (e.g., walkable, sittable). Semantic pixel labeling is...
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and oxygen-substituted PAHs (OPAHs) are environmental contaminants present in urban air, dust, soil and water resulting from incomplete combustion of organic materials or fossil fuels; found in crude oil and coal; and formed through photoxidation or biotransformation of microbial. It is widely recognized that PAHs pose...
Oceanic uptake of rising anthropogenic CO₂ emissions has caused the emergence of ocean acidification as a major threat to marine ecosystems worldwide. Along eastern boundary current systems, seawater is naturally acidified due to coastal upwelling of low pH seawater from depth. Compounded by ocean acidification, upwelling regions are expected to...
Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) has recently appeared as a promising approach for removing nitrogen from landfill leachates because it requires less oxygen and no organic carbon compared to traditional nitrification-denitrification system, and it produces low sludge volumes, thereby reducing operating and biological sludge disposal costs by over 60%. Anammox bacteria...