Digital Commons Network^™

Neural Network Demodulation For An Optical Sensor, Rohit Dua, Steve Eugene Watkins, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Methods and systems of neural network demodulation for an optical sensor. An optical sensor may be coupled to a structure and be capable of reflecting a reflected optical signal. A wavelength of the reflected optical signal may be spread based on a strain being applied to the structure. A replication device may receive the reflected optical signal from the optical sensor and produce a plurality of optical signals. A filter may be coupled to the replication device to receive an optical signal from the plurality of optical signals and filter the received optical signal. A detector may receive the filtered …

Preventing Chemical Product Failure, Kenneth Ombete

Masters Theses

"The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate a research methodology to prevent chemical product failures. This methodology extends the risk in early design (RED) method for prevention of failure in electromechanical products to include products with chemical subsystems. Inclusion of this domain is demanded by the ever-growing semiconductor and energy industries. The RED method was extended by first identifying principal chemical failure modes and adding them to the failure mode taxonomy. The RED database was then augmented with historical failures of products that included chemical subsystems. Finally, the extension was validated with a case study of a fuel cell"--Abstract, …

Fault Detection And Prediction With Application To Rotating Machinery, Gary R. Halligan

Masters Theses

"In this thesis, the detection and prediction of faults in rotating machinery is undertaken and presented in two papers. In the first paper, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), a well known data-driven dimension reduction technique, is applied to data for normal operation and four fault conditions from a one-half horsepower centrifugal water pump. Fault isolation in this scheme is done by observing the location of the data points in the Principal Component domain, and the time to failure (TTF) is calculated by applying statistical regression on the resulting PC scores. The application of the proposed scheme demonstrated that PCA was able …

Feasibility Of A Human Performance Model In Consequence Management, Kashmeera Ghosh

Masters Theses

"Human civilization has always encountered unpredictable disasters as a result of natural events. Now it also faces the disasters caused by terrorist attacks. Governments must have consequence management plans in place to protect public health and safety, restore essential services, and provide emergency relief to affected businesses and individuals. Human performance models predict outcomes in complex dynamic situations. Such models can simulate disaster management procedures under varying circumstances. This work applies human performance modeling in a terrorist situation and evaluates possible uses of such models by first responders in practical consequence management applications. It includes a case study of an …

Hydrogen Infrastructure: Resource Evaluation And Capacity Modeling, Kevin B. Martin

Doctoral Dissertations

"A hydrogen economy could offer energy stability, economical, and environmental benefits. Several issues are involved in the design and implementation of a hydrogen economy such as the selection of feedstocks, generation and storage technologies, transportation methods, appropriate equipment capacity, codes/standards and public awareness. The design of a hydrogen infrastructure may seem insurmountable; however, as the system is deconstructed a proper design can be achieved. In order to better understand how a hydrogen system for light duty vehicles might operate, both hydrogen resource and capacity analysis and modeling is conducted. Specifically, an evaluation of leading near term production and distribution technologies …

Zigbee-Enabled Structural Health Monitoring Using The Smartbrick System, Tyler Harms

Masters Theses

"This thesis describes the design, testing, and proposed extended field test of a wireless sensor network based on the SmartBrick, a structural health monitoring (SHM) device developed at Missouri S&T. The SmartBrick serves as the base station for the network, which utilizes additional sensor nodes to monitor the structure. Each node measures a range of environmental and structural phenomena, including vibration, tilt, humidity, and strain. The nodes use Zigbee short-range communication to transmit their data to the base station, which in turn uses the GSM cellular network to provide long-range communication capability and support for remote control.

Unlike many SHM …

A Renewable Energy Feasibility Study To Power A Water Supply Pump In Sacala Las Lomas, Guatemala, William Anthony Granich

Masters Theses

"A clean and sufficient source of drinking water can be a challenge to develop in the rural highlands of Guatemala. Installing a submersible pump in a groundwater well can provide a source of water that is free of contamination and yields sufficient water throughout the year. Submersible pumps are typically powered from grid-power; however, an alternative energy source may be considered. An evaluation of the renewable energy resources has been conducted in Sacala las Lomas de San Martin Jilotepeque, Chimaltenango, Guatemala (Sacala). The drilling of a deep groundwater well has been proposed in Sacala to supply the community with sufficient, …

Time-Weighted Average Solid-Phase Microextraction (Twa-Spme) For In-Planta Detection Of Chlorinated Solvents, Emily Moore Sheehan

Masters Theses

"Recent interest in the use of phyto-mapping for plume delineation at contaminated sites has promoted a need for new and innovative sampling techniques. Solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) methods have been developed as a chemical analysis tool offering fast, simple, non-invasive sampling without the use of solvents. In this study SPME devices were tested for applicability for in-planta detection of chlorinated solvents. To evaluate the use of SPME for VOCs in-planta a number of integrated studies were undertaken. Uptake profiles were developed for nine chlorinated solvents in a liquid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix with 100 µm Carboxene SPME fibers. Timeweighted average (TWA) sampling …

Catchment Modelling Tools And Pathways Review, Zeinab Bedri, Michael Bruen

Reports

No abstract provided.

Use Of A Single-Multiple-Single-Mode Fiber Filter For Interrogating Fiber Bragg Grating Strain Sensors With Dynamic Temperature Compensation, Qiang Wu, Muhammad Hatta, Yuliya Semenova, Gerald Farrell

Articles

An interrogation technique for fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain sensors with dynamic temperature compensation using a single-multiple-single-mode (SMS) fiber filter as a temperature compensating element is presented. Experimental results show that this technique offers a resolution of better than 3:4 με for strain measurements in the range from 0 to 1667 με, and the temperature induced error is as low as 34 με in the temperature range from 10 to 60 °C. The temperature induced error could be further reduced if the temperature sensitivity (the rate of temperature induced wavelength shift) of the SMS filter was closer to that of …

Preparation, Characterization Of Nipam And Nipam/Bam Copolymer Nanoparticles And Their Acute Toxicity Testing Using An Aquatic Test Battery, Pratap Naha, Alan Casey, Tiziana Tenuta, Iseult Lynch, Kenneth Dawson, Hugh Byrne, Maria Davoren

Articles

Poly N-isopropylacrylamide and N-isopropylacrylamide / N-tert-butylacrylamide copolymer nanoparticles of 50 to 70 nm were prepared by free radical polymerisation. The particle sizes of the copolymer nanoparticles were measured in the test media MilliQ water, Algae Media, Daphnia Media and Microtox Diluent as a function of temperature. Whereas in MilliQ water the particle size was seen to decrease above the lower critical solution temperature of the thermoresponsive polymer, in the test media it was seen to increase significantly, indicative of aggregation. At the temperatures employed for the ecotoxicological studies all particles, with the exception of the 50:50copolymer existed as nanoparticles, however. …

Identity Management To Support Access Control In E-Health Systems, Xu Chen, Damon Berry, William Grimson

Conference Papers

The related and often challenging topics of identity management and access control form an essential foundation for e-health infrastructure. Several approaches and supporting specifications for electronic healthcare record system (EHR-S) communication have been proposed by research projects and standards development organizations in recent years. For instance, part four of the CEN TC251 EN13606 EHRcom standard and the HL7 Role Based Access Control Draft Standard for Trial Use have helped to specify the nature of access control behaviour in relation to EHR communication within and between healthcare organisations. Access control services are a core component not only of the integrated care …

Influence Of Magnesium Nitrate On The Corrosion Performance Of Sol-Gel Coated Aa2024-T3 Aluminium Alloy, Rajath Varma, Brendan Duffy, John Cassidy

Articles

Traditional anti-corrosion technology has relied heavily on using reducible metal species, predominantly hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)), for protecting reactive metal alloys such as aluminium which is extensively used in the aerospace sector. However, the impending changes in the use of Cr(VI) in Europe and the United States have forced aerospace manufacturers to examine alternative materials for protecting aluminium. One of the most promising alternatives being investigated are organosilane based sol-gels containing anticorrosion additives. In this work the anti-corrosion properties of magnesium (II) nitrate (Mg(NO3)2) as a inhibitor was investigated at different concentrations (0.1% - 1.0 wt %) in a methyltriethoxysilane (MTEOS) …

Risk Indexes For Draft Ccl3 Chemicals, J. Alan Roberson, Matthew Lueders, Craig Adams, Jeffrey S. Rosen

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To supplement the processes used for developing the draft third Contaminant Candidate List (CCL3) and better inform decisions made by the US Environmental Protection Agency on future CCLs, the authors offer an evaluation tool for efficiently synthesizing, visualizing, and organizing data for effective comparisons among contaminants. Graphical presentations of health effects-occurrence indexes were developed for more than 300 chemical contaminants, including those on the draft CCL3. a risk indexes framework was then used to elucidate the extent of available data, the data quality, and the underlying uncertainties for occurrence and toxicity. Choosing the appropriate contaminant for regulation is a complex …

Preliminary Investigation Of Novel Bone Graft Substitutes Based On Strontium-Calcium-Zinc-Silicate Glasses, D. Boyd, G. Carroll, Mark R. Towler, C. Freeman, P. Farthing, I. M. Brook

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Bone graft procedures typically require surgeons to harvest bone from a second site on a given patient (Autograft) before repairing a bone defect. However, this results in increased surgical time, excessive blood loss and a significant increase in pain. In this context a synthetic bone graft with excellent histocompatibility, built in antibacterial efficacy and the ability to regenerate healthy tissue in place of diseased tissue would be a significant step forward relative to current state of the art philosophies. We developed a range of calcium-strontium-zinc-silicate glass-based bone grafts and characterized their structure and physical properties, then evaluated their in vitro …

A Pilot Study Evaluating Use Of A Computer-Assisted Neurorehabilitation Platform For Upper-Extremity Stroke Assessment, Xin Feng, Jack Winters

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Background

There is a need to develop cost-effective, sensitive stroke assessment instruments. One approach is examining kinematic measures derived from goal-directed tasks, which can potentially be sensitive to the subtle changes in the stroke rehabilitation process. This paper presents the findings from a pilot study that uses a computer-assisted neurorehabilitation platform, interfaced with a conventional force-reflecting joystick, to examine the assessment capability of the system by various types of goal-directed tasks.

Methods

Both stroke subjects with hemiparesis and able-bodied subjects used the force-reflecting joystick to complete a suite of goal-directed tasks under various task settings. Kinematic metrics, developed for specific …

A Modular Approach To High Throughput Microsystems, Pin-Chuan Chen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A modular high throughput microsystem was developed using microfabrication technology and nucleic acid analysis. The purpose of developing this microsystem is to identify acute infectious disease and prevent contagious outbreak in a matter of time. This microsystem included three major components, a reagent distribution device, a 96 CFPCR array, and a multi-zone thermal system, to efficiently amplify specific DNA fragments to determine the disease status or precisely pinpoint a disease from multiple patients. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the key component in the nucleic acid analysis for disease because it can be used to amplify interested DNA fragments by repeatedly …

Thermal Converter Devices, Systems And Control Methods, Richard A. Flanagan, Rod E. Hosilyk, Rob Arlt, Kakkattukuzhy M. Isaac, Ronald E. Loving, David Alan Gordon

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A system is provided for reducing exhaust emissions. The system can comprise a series of chambers, an injector head, and a controller. The controller can maintain desired temperature zones and chemical environments inside the series of chambers, and the chambers and structures inside the system 10 can provide a desired travel path for the air, fuel, and untreated exhaust mixture inside.

System Identification Of Bridge And Vehicle Based On Their Coupled Vibration, Lu Deng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Most current techniques used for system identification of bridges and vehicles are static-test-based methods. Methodologies that can use bridge dynamic responses or modal information are highly desirable and under development. This dissertation aims to develop new identification methodologies for bridge-vehicle systems using the bridge dynamic responses and modal information. A new bridge model updating method using the response surface method (RSM) was proposed in this dissertation. The RSM was used to design experiments in order to find out the relationships between the bridge responses and parameters to be updated. Results from numerical simulations and a field study show that the …

Modeling The Risk Factors Associated With The Neck Disorders During Manual Material Handling Tasks, Ashish D. Nimbarte

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) of the neck or cervical spine result in longer sick leaves, substantial levels of human suffering, and high costs for society. Epidemiological studies clearly indicate strong associations between MSD of the neck and the work activities requiring forceful arm exertions and heavy lifting. However, studies evaluating the loading of the cervical spine during forceful arm exertions and heavy lifting tasks are limited. Major neck muscles, the sternocleidomastoid and the upper trapezius, run parallel to the cervical spine and couple the shoulder to the skull. It was hypothesized that such anatomical orientation may require these muscles to …

Particle-Chemical Interactions And Environmental Chemodynamics Of Fine And Ultrafine Particles In A Natural Disaster Scenario, Nicholas A. Ashley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The interactions of fine and ultrafine particles with chemicals play a dominant role in determining the mobility and availability of pollutants in the environment. Fine particles in sediments can sequester chemicals from the water column, and release volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds to the gas phase upon exposure to air. Ultrafine particles which are photoreactive can degrade these vapor-phase contaminants, and may transform the molecules into species which are more toxic or hazardous than the parent. As the widespread, commercial use of ultrafine particles becomes more common, understanding the chemodynamics of these particles and their interactions with chemicals in the …

Integrated Data-Driven Techniques For Environmental Pollution Monitoring, Swathi Pakalapati

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The adverse health e_x000B_ffects of tropospheric ozone around urban zones indicate a substantial risk for many segments of the population. This necessitates the short term forecast in order to take evasive action on days conducive to ozone formation. Therefore it is important to study the ozone formation mechanisms and predict the ozone levels in a geographic region. Multivariate statistical techniques provide a very e_x000B_ffective framework for the classifi_x000C_cation and monitoring of systems with multiple variables. Cluster analysis, sequence analysis and hidden Markov models (HMMs) are statistical methods which have been used in a wide range of studies to model the …

Modelling Situation Awareness For Context‐Aware Decision Support, Yu-Hong Feng, Teck-Hou Teng, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Situation awareness modelling is popularly used in the command and control domain for situation assessment and decision support. However, situation models in real-world applications are typically complex and not easy to use. This paper presents a Context-aware Decision Support (CaDS) system, which consists of a situation model for shared situation awareness modelling and a group of entity agents, one for each individual user, for focused and customized decision support. By incorporating a rule-based inference engine, the entity agents provide functions including event classification, action recommendation, and proactive decision making. The implementation and the performance of the proposed system are demonstrated …

Self-Healing Of Fiber Reinforced Polymer Compoistes [Sic], Nebiyu Fikru

LSU Master's Theses

The study of self-healing materials is inspired by biological systems in which damage triggers an autonomous healing response. In recent years, this concept of autonomic healing material, where initiation of repair is integral to the material, is being considered for engineering applications. The concept offers the designer an ability to incorporate secondary functional ability of counteracting service degradation in addition to achieving the primary, usually structural integrity, requirement. Self-healing materials also have the benefit of offering lighter and optimized structures as well as reduced maintenance cost. Previous works on polymer matrix composites have shown that significant fractions of mechanical properties …

Secure Distributed Detection In Wireless Sensor Networks Via Encryption Of Sensor Decisions, Venkata Sriram Siddhardh Nadendla

LSU Master's Theses

We consider the problem of binary hypothesis testing using a distributed wireless sensor network. Identical binary quantizers are used on the sensor's observations and the outputs are encrypted using a probabilistic cipher. The third party (enemy) fusion centers are unaware of the presence of the probabilistic encipher. We find the optimal (minimum-probability-of-error) fusion rule for the ally (friendly) fusion center subject to a lower bound on the the probability of error for the third-party fusion centers. To obtain the minimum probability of error, we first prove the quasi-convexity of error probability with respect to the sensor's threshold for a given …

Hearing Assessment Of Forest Loggers, Antonio A. Fonseca

LSU Master's Theses

Forest logging is the process in which trees are cut down for forest management and/or timber harvest. According to OSHA, logging is the most dangerous occupation in the United States. It consistently represents one of the most hazardous industries, with a fatality rate more than 21 times higher than the rate for all workers in the United States. Yet, little research has been performed to determine the long term effect of noise on forest loggers. OSHA regulations state that the maximum permissible hearing in an 8 hour shift should not exceed 90 dB. Occupational noise exposure is recognized as a …

Phosphorus Dynamics In The Marshland Upwelling System, Dhaval Shirish Shah

LSU Master's Theses

The Marshland Upwelling System (MUS) is an alternative onsite wastewater treatment technology designed to utilize the natural ecology of saltwater marshes to remove human-borne contaminants. Previous research has assessed the ability of MUS to remove both total and orthophosphate. Studies have also indicated a clear zone of phosphorus (P) saturation occurring in MUS soils. Laboratory column study was performed to accomplish the objectives of this study which were to: 1) determine the fate and fractionation of phosphorus in the soil matrix, 2) understand sorption kinetics and determine phosphorus sorption potential of wetland soils in retaining phosphorus in the MUS, 3) …

A Non-Invasive Semiconductor Optical System To Measure Skin Tension, Anna Charron Dugas

LSU Master's Theses

The objectives of this project are to design, construct, validate and test a low-cost, non-invasive and painless device to measure skin tension. Skin is a complex, multi-layered, anisotropic material with non-linear viscoelastic behavior during stress application. The intricate balance of different semi-elastic fibers and continuous regeneration has brought difficulty to the accurate measurement of its mechanical properties. Commercial skin tension measurement products have been described, but are too expensive to be readily accessible for skin research and clinical utilization. The device to be developed in this project differs from existing devices in that it measures skin deformation under vacuum using …

Poly (D, L-Lactide-Co-Glycolide) And Chitosan Particles For Oral Delivery Of Model Lipophilic Vitamin, Abitha Murugeshu

LSU Master's Theses

Improved oral delivery of vitamins and antioxidants via food, beverages or supplements can be achieved by encapsulation of the bioactive component in biodegradable and biocompatible colloidal and nanoparticle systems. Mucoadhesive chitosan/Poly (D, L-lactide-co-glycolide) particles were investigated as a means to control the release of bioactive compounds such as vitamin E in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Chitosan/PLGA particles with entrapped alpha-tocopherol at different initial loadings were synthesized by emulsion evaporation method, compared against PLGA particles in terms of their physical properties, stability, and gastrointestinal release profiles. Chi/PLGA particles of 250 ± 8.9 nm with a zeta potential of 61 ± 3.1 …

Enhancing Reductive Dechlorination Of Chlorinated Ethenes And Ethanes In A Natural Treatment System, Caroline Burda

LSU Master's Theses

Chlorinated solvent contamination continues to plague sites around the world. In many cases, lower chlorinated daughter products build up and remain in ground waters and soils. A Bio-Filter/Phytobed (BFP) system has been developed to replace a traditional pump and treat technology currently operating at the ReSolve Superfund site in North Dartmouth, MA. Pilot scale testing at the facility displayed a significant acclimation period prior to microbial dechlorination, as well as delayed degradation of chlorinated ethanes. Microcosm studies suggest that acidic conditions, possibly created by the peat mixture used to construct the bio-filter, inhibited bacterial growth. The neutralization of trench pH …