Factors Influencing Retirement Decision Making For Louisiana State Government Employees, Osama A. Amous

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Public pension members continually face factors affecting their decision to retire in the changing American society. Workers are living longer and need more medical care with better retirement benefits. For Louisiana public employees specifically, no prior studies have examined the factors affecting workers’ decision to retire nor evaluated the factors impacting workers’ decision.

This multiphase study aimed to identify factors and evaluate the decision-making process that enables Louisianans to retire happily and satisfied with a guaranteed income, and to examine millennials’ decision-making process. In the initial phase, ten active and retired male and female participants answered questions in-person, leading …

Three-Dimensional Porous Vn Octahedron Catalyst With High Electrocatalytic Efficiency Toward Hydrogen Evolution Reaction, Can Yin, Wei-Wei Fu, Ling Fang, Shi-Li You, Hui-Juan Zhang, Yu Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

With the rapid development of China’s economy, the demand for energy is increasing, and environmental problems are becoming more and more serious. The development and utilization of highly-clean new energy fuel can effectively alleviate the energy crisis and environmental pollution. Nowadays, exploring high-efficiency, environment-friendly and low-cost catalysts remains the focus of research in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this research, firstly, we proposed a three-dimensional porous vanadium nitride (VN) with octahedral structure, which was prepared by a calcination treatment method. The VN catalyst showed a good electrocatalytic activity toward HER, involving a small overpotential of 94.0 mV at -10 …

Influences Of Morphology And Nitrogen Doping On The Electrocatalytic Characteristics For Oxygen Reduction Reaction Of Nio/Rgo, Dong Liang, Heng-Yi Fang, Shuo Yao, Jie-Mei Yu, Zhao-Liang Zhang, Zhan-Kun Jiang, Xue-Ping Gao, Tai-Zhong Huang

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this research, the reduced graphene oxide (rGO) supported sheet-like NiO (NiO/rGO) and spherical-like NiO (NiO/N-rGO) catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were prepared. The structures, morphologies and chemical states of the two catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The electrochemical catalytic performance of the two catalysts for ORR were investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), Tafel, linear sweeping voltammetry (LSV), rotating disc electrode (RDE) and rotating ring disc electrode (RRDE) tests. Electrochemical results showed that the current density and onset potential (about 0.89 V) …

Preparation Of Nanostructural Mno-Porous Graphene Hybrid Material By Thermally-Driven Etching Of Mno For Lithium-Air Batteries, Juan Yang, Jun-Wei Lang, Peng Zhang, Bao Liu

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this paper, improving the surface morphology of graphene(GNSs) as designed concept. we describe a MnO/porous-graphene(MnO-PGNSs) was synthesized by a simple site-localized Mn²⁺ on GO (Mn-GO) by charge adsorption and then driving by high-temperature calcination, growing MnO nanoparticles and etching GNSs achieved on step. And Then focus on the key factors of influenced the etch hole formation are analyzed, founded the dispersion of Mn-GO; layer number of GO and calcination temperature also affected the formation of holes. In addition, the MnO-PGNSs as lithium-air battery cathode exhibits high reversible capacity compared with GNSs and PGNs and it is able to …

Special Issue: Electrocatalysis And Fuel Cells, Shuangyin Wang

Journal of Electrochemistry

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A Facile Route To Synthesize Pt-Wo3 Nanosheets With Enhanced Electrochemical Performance For Her, Peng-Jie Jiang, Yi Lv, Chang-Miao Chen, Hong-Cheng He, Yong Cai, Ming Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Platinum-tungsten trioxide (Pt-WO₃) nanosheets were synthesized on nickel foams (NFs) directly. As great conductive networks, NFs substrates could greatly improve the electrode performance of WO₃. The modified platinum nanoparticles not only enhanced the electron transformation of catalysts, but also increased the active sites for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Pt-WO₃/NF revealed a better catalytic activity than WO₃/NFs with a smaller Tafel slope (80 mV·dec^-1) and a lower overpotential of 72 mV at the current density of 10 mA·cm^-2. In addition, Pt-WO₃/NF showed great durability and stability during …

Nickel Selenide Derived From [Ni(En)3](Seo3) Complex For Efficient Electrocatalytic Overall Water Splitting, Dan-Dan Chen, Xue-Qing Gao, Hong-Fei Liu, Wei Zhang, Rui Cao

Journal of Electrochemistry

Electrocatalytic water splitting is considered as a promising technology for renewable energy. The development of efficient, stable, cost-effective, and bifunctional catalysts for both water reduction and oxidation has continued to face significant challenges. Herein, we report a robust and highly active nickel selenide (NiSe) spheres grown on carbon cloth (CC) by electrodeposition from a nickel selenite complex which is a single source containing both Ni and Se. A combination of two chemicals containing, separately, Ni and Se is used in traditional preparations of metal selenides, causing possible problems in the uniformity of the products. The as-prepared NiSe-EA/CC electrode exhibited electrocatalytic …

Pd Nanoparticles Supported On The Etched Ni Foams As High-Performance Electrocatalysts For Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells, Chi Zhang, Cheng-Fei Li, Gao-Ren Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

The development of non-Pt anode electrocatalysts with high activity and long-term durability at low cost for fuel cells still remains enormous challenge. Here we report the Pd nanoparticles supported on Ni foams etched by the mixed acids (HNO₃+H₂SO₄+H₃PO₄+CH₃COOH) (Pd/ME-NF) that are designed and fabricated as high-performance electrocatalysts for ethanol oxidation in alkaline media. Because of the advantages of large open space, fast electrolyte penetration/diffusion and rapid electron transfer process, the Pd/ME-NF catalysts exhibited significantly improved electrocatalytic activity and durability compared with the commercial Pd/C catalysts.

Investigations In Electrochemical Thermodynamic And Kinetic Properties Of As-Cast And As-Quenched Cemg10Ni2 Hydrogen Storage Alloys, Feng Hu, Li-Rong Luo, Yong-Zhi Li, Ting-Ting Zhai, Xin Zhao, Yang-Huan Zhang

Journal of Electrochemistry

In order to improve the electrochemical hydrogen storage properties of CeMg₁₀Ni₂ alloy, the rapid quenching technology was used to prepare CeMg₁₀Ni₂ alloys with nano-crystalline and amorphous structure. The microstructures of as-cast and as-spinning sample were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The electrochemical hydrogen storage properties were investigated by an automatic galvanostatic charging/discharging, high rate discharging (HRD), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization techniques. The results revealed that the as-cast alloy was composed of multiphase structures. The as-quenched alloys were made up of nano-crystalline and/or amorphous structures, and the …

Relating Individual Characteristics And Task Complexity To Performance Effectiveness In Individual And Collaborative Problem Solving, Kaveh Sheikhrezaei

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this research is to examine the variables that influence performance effectiveness on individual and collaborative problem solving. The last few years have seen renewed interest in how team member personal characteristics and team composition characteristics impact team effectiveness.

Even with a growing quantity of organizations performing jobs by using groups, little is understood how people included in a team impact intragroup interaction and results. Most research investigates group’s performance based on a single characteristic which causes much confusion and contradictory results of the variables that impact overall group performance. Most research typically does not analyze the composition …

Investigating Nano-Coated Surfaces In Improvement Wear Resistance Of Tillage Tools, Saeed Mehrang Marani, Gholamhossein Shahgholi, Saeed Kanoon Marani

Emirates Journal for Engineering Research

The blade in the tillage operation has the most interaction with soil particles. It causes the wear and tear of this piece and reduces its expected life span. Tillage tool wear is of great importance to farmers in terms of economic aspects, reduced quality tillage operations, and increased power consumption. The aim of this study is to investigate wearing of five materials including st37 steel (SST37) plate, galvanized steel (GAS), and fiberglass (GFRP), and two coatings (i.e., titanium nano-nitride (nano-TiN) and tantalum carbide (nano-TaC)) by sputtering in the plasma medium of the layer based on conventional steel. These pieces were …

Beyond The Toolpath: Site-Specific Melt Pool Size Control Enables Printing Of Extra-Toolpath Geometry In Laserwire-Based Directed Energy Deposition, Brian T. Gibson, Bradley S. Richardson, Tayler W. Undermann, Lonnie J. Love

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A variety of techniques have been utilized in metal additive manufacturing (AM) for melt pool size management, including modeling and feed-forward approaches. In a few cases, closed-loop control has been demonstrated. In this research, closed-loop melt pool size control for large-scale, laser wire-based directed energy deposition is demonstrated with a novel modification, i.e., site-specific changes to the controller setpoint were commanded at trigger points, the locations of which were generated by the projection of a secondary geometry onto the primary three-dimensional (3D) printed component geometry. The present work shows that, through this technique, it is possible to print a specific …

Effect Of Silica Fume In Concrete On Mechanical Properties And Dynamic Behaviors Under Impact Loading, Shijun Zhao, Qing Zhang

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The effect of silica fume (SF) in concrete on mechanical properties and dynamic behaviors was experimentally studied by split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) device with pulse shaping technique. Three series of concrete with 0, 12%, and 16% SF as a cement replacement by weight were produced firstly. Then the experimental procedure for dynamic tests of concrete specimens with SF under a high loading rate was presented. Considering the mechanical performance and behaviors of the concrete mixtures, those tests were conducted under five different impact velocities. The experimental results clearly show concrete with different levels of SF is a strain-rate sensitive …

System And Method For Sensing Wind Flow Passing Over Complex Terrain, Saleh Nabi, Piyush Grover, Mithu Debnath

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A wind flow sensing system determines a first approximation of the velocity field at each of the altitudes by simulating computational fluid dynamics ( CFD ) of the wind flow with operating parameters reducing a cost function of a weighted combination of errors , determines a horizontal derivative of vertical velocity at each of the altitudes from the first approximation of the velocity fields , and determines a second approximation of the velocity fields using geometric relationships between a velocity field for each of the altitudes , projections of the measurements of radial velocities on the three - dimensional axes …

Multi-Resonant Feedback Control Of A Single Degree-Of-Freedom Wave Energy Converter, David G. Wilson, Rush D. Robinett Iii, Ossama Abdelkhalik, Jiajun Song, Giorgio Bacelli

Michigan Tech Patents

A multi-resonant wide band controller decomposes the wave energy converter control problem into sub-problems; an independent single-frequency controller is used for each sub-problem. Thus, each sub-problem controller can be optimized independently. The feedback control enables actual time-domain realization of multi-frequency complex conjugate control. The feedback strategy requires only measurements of the buoy position and velocity. No knowledge of excitation force, wave measurements, nor wave prediction is needed. As an example, the feedback signal processing can be carried out using Fast Fourier Transform with Hanning windows and optimization of amplitudes and phases. Given that the output signal is decomposed into individual …

Model Predictive Control Of Parametric Excited Pitch-Surge Modes In Wave Energy Converters, Ossama Abdelkhalik, Rush D. Robinett Iii, Shangyan Zou, David G. Wilson, Giorgio Bacelli, Umesh Korde, Ryan G. Coe

Michigan Tech Patents

A parametric excitation dynamic model is used for a three degrees-of-freedom (3-DOF) wave energy converter. Since the heave motion is uncoupled from the pitch and surge modes, the pitch-surge equations of motion can be treated as a linear time varying system, or a linear system with parametric excitation. In such case the parametric exciting frequency can be tuned to twice the natural frequency of the system for higher energy harvesting. A parametric excited 3-DOF wave energy converter can harvest more power, for both regular and irregular waves, compared to the linear 3-DOF. For example, in a Bretschneider wave, the harvested …

Multi-Agent Control System And Method, Piyush Grover, Karthik Elamvazhuthi

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Motion of multiple agents with identical non - linear dynamics is controlled to change density of the agents from the initial to the final density . A first control problem is formulated for optimizing a control cost of changing density of the agents from the initial density to the final density subject to dynamics of the agents in a density space . The first control problem , which is a non - linear non - convex problem over a multi - agent control and a density of the agents , is trans formed into a second control problem over the …

Modelling The Addition Of Limestone In Cement Using Hydcem, Niall Holmes, Denis Kelliher, Mark Tyrer

Conference papers

Hydration models can aid in the prediction, understanding and description of hydration behaviour over time as the move towards more sustainable cements continues.

HYDCEM is a new model to predict the phase assemblage, degree of hydration and heat release over time for cements undergoing hydration for any w/c ratio and curing temperatures up to 450C. HYDCEM, written in MATLAB, complements more sophisticated thermodynamic models by predicting these properties over time using user-friendly inputs within one code. A number of functions and methods based on up to date cement hydration behaviour from the literature are hard-wired into the code along with …

3d Printing Of Silk Fibroin-Based Hybrid Scaffold Treated With Platelet Rich Plasma For Bone Tissue Engineering, Liang Wei, Shaohua Wu, Mitchell Kuss, Xiping Jiang, Runjun Sun, Reid Patrick, Xiaohong Qin, Bin Duan

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

3D printing/bioprinting are promising techniques to fabricate scaffolds with well controlled and patient-specific structures and architectures for bone tissue engineering. In this study, we developed a composite bioink consisting of silk fibroin (SF), gelatin (GEL), hyaluronic acid (HA), and tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and 3D bioprinted the silk fibroin-based hybrid scaffolds. The 3D bioprinted scaffolds with dual crosslinking were further treated with human platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to generate PRP coated scaffolds. Live/Dead and MTT assays demonstrated that PRP treatment could obviously promote the cell growth and proliferation of human adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (HADMSC). In addition, the treatment of PRP …

3d Printing Of Silk Fibroin-Based Hybrid Scaffold Treated With Platelet Rich Plasma For Bone Tissue Engineering, Liang Wei, Shaohua Wu, Mitchell Kuss, Xiping Jiang, Runjun Sun, Reid Patrick, Xiaohong Qin, Bin Duan

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

3D printing/bioprinting are promising techniques to fabricate scaffolds with well controlled and patient-specific structures and architectures for bone tissue engineering. In this study, we developed a composite bioink consisting of silk fibroin (SF), gelatin (GEL), hyaluronic acid (HA), and tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and 3D bioprinted the silk fibroin-based hybrid scaffolds. The 3D bioprinted scaffolds with dual crosslinking were further treated with human platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to generate PRP coated scaffolds. Live/Dead and MTT assays demonstrated that PRP treatment could obviously promote the cell growth and proliferation of human adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells (HADMSC). In addition, the treatment of PRP …