Digital Commons Network^™

Application Of Surge Arrester In Limiting Voltage Stress At Direct Current Breaker, Mohammadamin Moghbeli, Shahab Mehraeen, Sudipta Sen

Faculty Publications

Hybrid DC circuit breakers combine mechanical switches with a redirecting current path, typically controlled by power electronic devices, to prevent arcing during switch contact separation. The authors’ past work includes a bipolar hybrid DC circuit breaker that effectively redirects the fault current and returns it to the source. This reduces arcing between the mechanical breaker’s contacts and prevents large voltage overshoots across them. However, the breaker’s performance declines as the upstream line inductance increases, causing overvoltage. This work introduces a modification to the originally proposed hybrid DC breaker to make it suitable to use anywhere along DC grid lines. By …

Insights From Augmented Data Integration And Strong Regularization In Drug Synergy Prediction With Synergnet, Mengmeng Liu, Gopal Srivastava, J. Ramanujam, Michal Brylinski

Faculty Publications

SynerGNet is a novel approach to predicting drug synergy against cancer cell lines. In this study, we discuss in detail the construction process of SynerGNet, emphasizing its comprehensive design tailored to handle complex data patterns. Additionally, we investigate a counterintuitive phenomenon when integrating more augmented data into the training set results in an increase in testing loss alongside improved predictive accuracy. This sheds light on the nuanced dynamics of model learning. Further, we demonstrate the effectiveness of strong regularization techniques in mitigating overfitting, ensuring the robustness and generalization ability of SynerGNet. Finally, the continuous performance enhancements achieved through the integration …

Advancing Hydrogen Gas Utilization In Industrial Boilers: Impacts On Critical Boiler Components, Mitigation Measures, And Future Perspectives, Edem Honu, Shengmin Guo, Shafiqur Rahman, Congyuan Zeng, Patrick Mensah

Faculty Publications

This review sets out to investigate the detrimental impacts of hydrogen gas (H2) on critical boiler components and provide appropriate state-of-the-art mitigation measures and future research directions to advance its use in industrial boiler operations. Specifically, the study focused on hydrogen embrittlement (HE) and high-temperature hydrogen attack (HTHA) and their effects on boiler components. The study provided a fundamental understanding of the evolution of these damage mechanisms in materials and their potential impact on critical boiler components in different operational contexts. Subsequently, the review highlighted general and specific mitigation measures, hydrogen-compatible materials (such as single-crystal PWA 1480E, Inconel 625, and …

Peak Microhardness Recovery Via T6 Heat Treatment With Extremely Soft Annealed Al7075 Feedstock In Additive Friction Stir Deposition, Huan Ding, Uttam Bhandari, Pengcheng Zhu, Ehsan Bagheri, Saeid Zavari, Yehong Chen, Yang Mu, Yongqiang Wang, Shengmin Guo

Faculty Publications

With standard T6 heat treatments, precipitate-hardened alloys such as Al7075 and Al6061 fabricated using Additive Friction Stir Deposition (AFSD) method restore to noticeablely different peak mechanical properties. Previous research observed similar results but did not provide a viable solution. This study proposes a new processing strategy, namely enhanced plastic deformation by subjecting the Al7075 feedstock to annealed softening treatments. Specifically, by annealing the standard T651-Al7075 feedstock and deposition substrate (179 HV), their Microhardness were first degraded to its lowest state (80 HV), which is called a Soft-to-Soft system. For the Soft-to-Soft system subjected to AFSD, after undergoing appropriate T6 heat …

A Review Of Agrivoltaic Systems: Addressing Challenges And Enhancing Sustainability, Amro A. Zahrawi, Aly Mousaad Aly

Faculty Publications

Agrivoltaics is a relatively new term used originally for integrating photovoltaic (PV) systems into the agricultural landscape and expanded to applications such as animal farms, greenhouses, and recreational parks. The dual use of land offers multiple solutions for the renewable energy sector worldwide, provided it can be implemented without negatively impacting agricultural production. However, agrivoltaics represent a relatively new technology, facing challenges including economic viability, vulnerability to wind loads, and interference with growing crops. This paper reviews the recent research on integrating agrivoltaics with farming applications, focusing on challenges, wind impact on agrivoltaics, and economic solutions. The effect of agrivoltaics …

An Intelligent Impulsive Noise Mitigation With Deep Learning Method, Guo Yang, Yuwen Qian, Zikun Wang, Xiangwei Zhou, Wen Wu

Faculty Publications

To enable message transmission among sensors and equipment, power line communication (PLC) is a widely adopted smart grid. However, due to the occurrence of impulsive noise (IN), reliable transmissions over PLC channels in the smart grid are challenging. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an adaptive noise mitigation scheme to clip the IN with the sliding window-based method, where the altitude of the received signal in the current time slots is obtained by computing the average altitude of signals in the previous and next time slots. To detect the states of IN and dynamically estimate the power threshold of signals …

A Hermetic Package Technique For Multi-Functional Fiber Sensors Through Pressure Boundary Of Energy Systems Based On Glass Sealants, Zhichun Fan, Shuda Zhong, Kehao Zhao, Qirui Wang, Yuqi Li, Guangyin Zhang, Guangqun Ma, Jieru Zhao, He Yan, Zhiyong Huang, Jyotsna Sharma, Kevin P. Chen

Faculty Publications

This paper presents a hermitic fiber sensor packaging technique that enables fiber sensors to be embedded in energy systems for performing multi-parameter measurements in high-temperature and strong radiation environments. A high-temperature stable Intrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometer (IFPI) array, inscribed by a femtosecond laser direct writing scheme, is used to measure both temperature and pressure induced strain changes. To address the large disparity in thermo-expansion coefficients (TECs) between silica fibers and metal parts, glass sealants with TEC between silica optical fibers and metals were used to hermetically seal optical fiber sensors inside stainless steel metal tubes. The hermetically sealed package is validated …

Geothermo-Mechanical Alterations Due To Heat Energy Extraction In Enhanced Geothermal Systems: Overview And Prospective Directions, Mary C. Ngoma, Oladoyin Kolawole, Olufemi Olorode

Faculty Publications

Geothermal energy from deep underground (or geological) formations, with or without its combination with carbon capture and storage (CCS), can be a key technology to mitigate anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and meet the 2050 net-zero carbon emission target. Geothermal resources in low-permeability and medium- and high-temperature reservoirs in sedimentary sequence require hydraulic stimulation for enhanced geothermal systems (EGS). However, fluid migration for geothermal energy in EGS or with potential CO2 storage in a CO2-EGS are both dependent on the in situ flow pathway network created by induced fluid injection. These thermo-mechanical interactions can be complex and induce varying alterations in …

The Effects Of The Atrial Natriuretic Peptide Deficiency On Renal Cortical Mitochondrial Bioenergetics In The Dahl Ss Rat, Alena Cherezova, Anastasia Sudarikova, Valeriia Vasileva, Regina Iurchenko, Anna Nikiforova, Denisha R. Spires, Aleksandra S. Zamaro, Adam C. Jones, Ryan S. Schibalski, Zheng Dong, Oleg Palygin, Krisztian Stadler, Daria V. Ilatovskaya

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP) plays an important role in blood pressure regulation. Low levels of ANP correlate with the development of salt-sensitive hypertension (SS-HTN). Our previous studies indicated that ANP deficiency exacerbated renal function decline in SS-HTN. In the heart and fat tissue, ANP was reported to affect lipid peroxidation and mitochondrial bioenergetics but the effects of ANP on mitochondrial function in the kidney are unexplored. We hypothesized that ANP deficiency in SS-HTN causes renal bioenergetic shift, leading to disruption of mitochondrial network and oxidative stress. To address the hypothesis, we placed Dahl SS wild-type (SSWT) and ANP knockout (SSNPPA−/−) …

General And Abdominal Adiposity And Hypertension In Eight World Regions: A Pooled Analysis Of 837 Population-Based Studies With 7·5 Million Participants, Bin Zhou, James E. Bennett, Aidan P. Wickham, Rosie K. Singleton, Anu Mishra, Rodrigo M. Carrillo-Larco, Nayu Ikeda, Lakshya Jain, Ana Barradas-Pires, Rachel A. Heap, Victor P.F. Lhoste, Kate E. Sheffer, Nowell H. Phelps, Archie W. Rayner, Edward W. Gregg, Mark Woodward, Gretchen A. Stevens, Maria L.C. Iurilli, Goodarz Danaei, Mariachiara Di Cesare, Carlos A. Aguilar-Salinas, Noor Ani Ahmad, Pascal Bovet, Zhengming Chen, Albertino Damasceno, Sarah L. Filippi, Imre Janszky, Andre P. Kengne, Young Ho Khang, Kamlesh Khunti, Avula Laxmaiah, Lee Ling Lim, Lauren Lissner, Paula Margozzini

Population and Public Health Science Faculty Publications

Background: Adiposity can be measured using BMI (which is based on weight and height) as well as indices of abdominal adiposity. We examined the association between BMI and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) within and across populations of different world regions and quantified how well these two metrics discriminate between people with and without hypertension. Methods: We used data from studies carried out from 1990 to 2023 on BMI, WHtR and hypertension in people aged 20–64 years in representative samples of the general population in eight world regions. We graphically compared the regional distributions of BMI and WHtR, and calculated Pearson's correlation …

Energy Expenditure In Humans: Principles, Methods, And Changes Throughout The Life Course, Rodrigo Fernández-Verdejo, Guillermo Sanchez-Delgado, Eric Ravussin

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Humans require energy to sustain their daily activities throughout their lives. This narrative review aims to (a) summarize principles and methods for studying human energy expenditure, (b) discuss the main determinants of energy expenditure, and (c) discuss the changes in energy expenditure throughout the human life course. Total daily energy expenditure is mainly composed of resting energy expenditure, physical activity energy expenditure, and the thermic effect of food. Total daily energy expenditure and its components are estimated using variations of the indirect calorimetry method. The relative contributions of organs and tissues determine the energy expenditure under different physiological conditions. Evidence …

Vibrational Study Of Co, O2, And H2 Adsorbed On The Cocrfeni (110) High Entropy Alloy Surface, Frank Mckay, Andrew N. Okafor, David P. Young, Ye Xu, Phillip T. Sprunger

Faculty Publications

The vibrational properties of CO, O2, and H2 molecularly or dissociatively adsorbed on a CoCrFeNi(110) surface have been probed using high-resolution energy loss spectroscopy (HREELS) and modeled using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Large (∼20 mm3) single-crystal, quaternary face-centered cubic CoCrFeNi was synthesized via a modified Czochralski technique. We show strong evidence that CO adsorbs primarily on bridge and on-top sites in compositionally varied local environments, which reflect the random, multielemental surface composition inherent in a high entropy alloy. A variation of adsorption sites is also found with oxygen, which exhibits two broad groups of modes. Comparison to previous photoemission …

Detecting Sand Ingress And Migration Using Fiber Optic Distributed Acoustic Sensing Technology And Computational Fluid Dynamics During Oil And Gas Production, Rishikesh Shetty

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sand production in oil and gas operations presents significant challenges, leading to equipment damage, reduced production efficiency, and costly well interventions. Conventional sand detection techniques, primarily surface-based acoustic sensors, fail to provide real-time insights into sand ingress and migration within the wellbore. This dissertation explores the use of distributed fiber optic sensing technology for monitoring sand transport in pipelines and wellbores.

This research is divided into two experimental phases: a surface flow loop and a wellbore setup. The surface flow loop experiment involves a 40-ft-long, 2-in. diameter PVC pipe to simulate sand transport in horizontal pipelines. Sand slurry, with varying …

Sources And Transport Of Dissolved Organic Carbon In Barataria Basin, Louisiana, Mukseet Mahmood

LSU Master's Theses

The fate of soil organic carbon loss from eroding coastal wetlands is of great importance, given its potential impact on atmospheric CO2 concentration. A large fraction of this soil organic carbon upon coastal erosion is released as dissolved organic and inorganic carbon (DOC and DIC) to adjacent water bodies.

In this study, we investigate the seasonal distribution and transport of DOC and DIC in Barataria basin in Louisiana, USA, bordering northern Gulf of Mexico. This region is currently undergoing one of the highest land-loss in the USA. Seasonal measurements of DOC, DIC and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) were carried …

Coastal Sedimentary Records Of Extreme Events And Human Activity: Examples From Hurricanes And Microplastics, Nicholas T. Culligan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Coastal regions are uniquely vulnerable to a myriad of natural and anthropogenically caused stresses such as hurricane strikes and chronic microplastic pollution. Both hurricanes and microplastics have major negative effects on global coastlines and are forecast to become more damaging in the future. However, current model trends are based on limited modern data and may not provide an accurate or comprehensive view of the future. Therefore, this dissertation investigates coastal stratigraphic records to determine long-term past trends of these presses and pulses so that researchers, stakeholders, and policy makers can use them to enact strategies to mitigate damages from worsening …

Creating A Wholistic Manufacturing Score To Highlight The Effects Of Hidden Inefficiencies In Automated Manufacturing Caused By Soft Dedication And Preventative Maintenance Failures, Oded Tal

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The semiconductor industry is one of the most advanced manufacturing sectors, operating at an unparalleled scale and complexity. A new manufacturing facility costs between $500 million and $15 billion, and the industry's investment in automation is unmatched. However, the intricate and cyclical nature of semiconductor manufacturing creates very complex manufacturing facilities where the boundaries between planning and real-time operations often blur.

For the industry to keep improving, there is a need to create a new method that allows comparison among different manufacturing environments to uncover hidden losses that may be obscured by automation.

To better understand these hidden losses, the …

Insurance Coverage And Flood Exposure In The Gulf Of Mexico Region: Risk, Social Vulnerability, Urban Form, And Scale, Anissa J. Hyde

LSU Master's Theses

Increasing flood losses in the Gulf of Mexico pose serious threats to resilience and insurability. The purpose of this study is to understand how scale, social vulnerability, risk and urban form relate to NFIP insurance coverage and flood exposure. Our multilevel models identify that flooding is significantly clustered by region and counties, especially shoreline counties. Our measures of risk suggest that the FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas underestimates risk and exposure when compared with Flood Factor, and that there is some compensation in terms of insurance coverage, suggesting a pattern of adverse selection. Older housing stock appears both less insured …

Analysis Of Traffic Operation And Safety At Cloverleaf And Diamond Interchanges With And Without Connected And Autonomous Vehicles, Nischal Khadka

LSU Master's Theses

Even though diamond and cloverleaf interchanges are commonly used in road networks, comparative studies on their operational safety and efficiency remain limited. Also, previous studies have explored the impact of Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) at diamond interchanges, but the effects on cloverleaf interchanges are not yet thoroughly investigated. This study addresses these gaps by evaluating the traffic operation and safety performance of cloverleaf interchanges compared to diamond interchanges. It also assesses the influence of various Market Penetration Rates (MPRs) of CAVs on travel time, queue lengths, and conflict points at cloverleaf interchanges, considering different weaving lengths.

Data on peak-hour …

Trends In Hot Carrier Distribution For Disordered Noble-Transition Metal Alloys, Eklavya Thareja, Kevin M. Mcpeak, Phillip T. Sprunger, Ilya Vekhter, William A. Shelton

Faculty Publications

We developed and tested an approach for predicting trends for efficient hot carrier generation among disordered metal alloys. We provide a simple argument for the importance of indirect transitions in the presence of disorder, thus justifying the use of joint density of states (JDOS)-like quantities for exploring these trends. We introduce a new JDOS-like quantity, JDOSK , which heuristically accounts for longer lifetimes of quasiparticles close to the Fermi energy. To demonstrate the efficacy of this new quantity, we apply it to the study of Cu50X50 where X = Ag, Au, Pd and Y50Pd50 where Y = Au, Ni. We …

Improving Bovine Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, Lauren Gatenby

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite large efforts, there has been minimal improvements in bovine intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) in the last few decades. In this study, we investigate methods to improve embryo development rates with ICSI in cattle through addressing sperm and oocyte factors and modifying injection methods. Inducing the acrosome reaction in bull sperm prior to injection with progesterone increased cleavage (46.2% vs 16.2%) and blastocyst (21% vs 3.8%) rates compared to controls, respectively. Supplementing glutathione during in vitro maturation of the oocyte did reduce free reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the oocyte, but did not improve embryo development rates with ICSI or …

Photoactivated Cyclic Polyphthalaldehyde Microcapsules For Payload Delivery, Youngsu Shin, Jared M. Schwartz, Anthony C. Engler, Brad Jones, Oleg Davydovich, Paul A. Kohl

Faculty Publications

Microcapsules with a cyclic polyphthalaldehyde (cPPA) shell and oil core were fabricated by an emulsification process. The low ceiling temperature cPPA shell was made phototriggerable by incorporating a photoacid generator (PAG). Photoactivation of the PAG created a strong acid which catalyzed cPPA depolymerization, resulting in the release of the core payload, as quantified by 1H NMR. The high molecular weight cPPA (197 kDa) yielded uniform spherical microcapsules. The core diameter was 24.8 times greater than the cPPA shell thickness (2.4 to 21.6 μm). Nonionic bis(cyclohexylsulfonyl)diazomethane (BCSD) and N-hydroxynaphthalimide triflate (HNT) PAGs were used as the PAG in the microcapsule shells. …

Treatment Of Adipocytes, Andrew G. Reaume, Weina Cong, Frank Greenway, Ann Coulter

Pennington Biomedical Research Center Patents

The present disclosure provides compositions comprising a lyn kinase activator and TRPM8 agonist, and to methods of: reducing blood glucose levels, weight gain, or fat depot levels; treating metabolic syndrome, Syndrome X, obesity, prediabetes, type II diabetes, type I diabetes; treating hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetic neuropathy, lipodystrophy, diabetic retinopathy, erectile dysfunction, kidney disease, dyslipidemia, dyslipoproteinemia, a peroxisome proliferator activated receptor-associated disorder, septicemia, a thrombotic disorder, or pancreatitis; inducing the beiging of adipocytes; and preventing pancreatic beta cell degeneration.

A Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Study Of Gas Hydrate Formation And Dissociation, Meisam Adibifard

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The study of gas hydrates has increased significantly over the last two decades because of their potential application in energy storage, production and transportation, water desalination, refrigeration, gas separation, etc. There is a significant interest in commercially developing natural gas hydrates because the energy content of methane hydrate reservoirs (MHRs) is at least twice that of all conventional fossil fuels combined. Additionally, due to the higher storage capacity of hydrates, it is proposed to sequester CO₂ in the form of CO₂ hydrate, thereby reducing the amount of greenhouse gases. Hence, hydrates offer a dual solution to two of …

Engineering Electronic Properties Of Random Alloys For Catalytic Applications, Andrew N. Okafor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Engineering catalytic materials is a key endeavor in the catalysis science to improve the catalytic activity of existing catalysts for specific applications and reduce the dependence on rare metals and minerals. While alloying, or mixing of metals, has been extensively studied, the focus has conventionally been placed on intermetallic phases or nanostructures such as core-shell particles, which are conceptually described by simple lattice models. This research focuses on understanding the catalytic properties of structurally ordered but compositionally disordered (or random) alloys, which have remained under-explored due to complexity at the atomic scale. Existing research focuses on synthesizing multicomponent alloys and …

Continuous Pressure-Induced Valence And Magnetic Transitions In Eumnsb2, Raimundas Sereika, Greeshma C. Jose, Silu Huang, Rongying Jin, William A. Shelton, Weiwei Xie, Jiyong Zhao, Barbara Lavina, Esen E. Alp, Yuming Xiao, Dongzhou Zhang, Yogesh K. Vohra, Wenli Bi

Faculty Publications

EuMnSb2 is a unique and promising compound with complex magnetism (Eu and Mn sublattices) to realize magnetic control of topological quasiparticles. By applying pressure (P) to this system, we have observed a continuous pressure-induced valence change from Eu2+ to Eu3+. Remarkably, despite the significant valence change in Eu ions, an extremely large increase in the magnetic ordering temperature (TN,Eu) from 21 K at ambient pressure to 180 K at 28.4 GPa is detected. The substantial enhancement in TN,Eu is likely the consequence of the reduced distance between neighboring Eu ions and the enhanced indirect exchange interaction through increased 4f-5d mixing …

A Tribute To Gregory A. Voth, Jaehyeok Jin, William G. Noid, Jianing Li, Revati Kumar, Jianshu Cao, Seogjoo Jang, Francesco Paesani, David Reichman

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Diploid And Triploid Eastern Oysters For Aquaculture Production Under Extreme Temperatures And Salinities, Joshua H. Kim

LSU Master's Theses

Off-bottom aquaculture of Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) is a nascent industry that is increasingly supported by the use of triploid oysters, which grow faster than diploids. Despite their growth advantage, elevated triploid mortality compared to diploids under high temperature, low salinity, or a combination of these conditions challenge consistent triploid production. Identifying the environmental thresholds at which differential triploid mortality occurs and predicting its economic impact are important to informing decision-making in oyster aquaculture. The goal of this thesis was to compare the biological and economic performance of diploid and triploid oysters under high temperature and low salinity conditions. …

Catalytic Upcycling Of Waste Plastics By Induction Heating, Bernard Whajah

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The development of plastics over the past half century has led to rapid technological advances; however, the long-term negative environmental impacts of these materials compel new depolymerization and upcycling strategies. Plastics are indispensable due to their unique physical and chemical properties and affordability, leading to a significant increase in production rates. However, their recycling rates lag far behind their production rates. Polyolefins like LDPE and HDPE, which are common plastics, decompose very slowly in the environment. Converting these plastics into useful products often requires high-temperature pyrolysis, resulting in undesired distributions of products.

To address this challenge, this study focuses on …

A New Computational Methodology For The Characterization Of Complex Molecular Environments Using Ir Spectroscopy: Bridging The Gap Between Experiments And Computations, Laura X. Sepulveda-Montaño, Johan F. Galindo, Daniel G. Kuroda

Faculty Publications

The molecular interactions and dynamics of complex liquid solutions are now routinely measured using IR and 2DIR spectroscopy. In particular, the use of the latter allows the determination of the frequency fluctuation correlation function (FFCF), while the former provides us with the average frequency. In turn, the FFCF can be used to quantify the vibrational dynamics of a molecule in a solution, and the center frequency provides details about the chemical environment, solvatochromism, of the vibrational mode. In simple solutions, the IR methodology can be used to unambiguously assign the interactions and dynamics observed by a molecule in solution. However, …

Building A Simplistic Automatic Extruder: Instrument Development Opportunities For The Laboratory, Stefanie Klisch, Dylan Gilbert, Emma Breaux, Aliyah Dalier, Sudipta Gupta, Bruno Jakobi, Gerald J. Schneider

Faculty Publications

This work presents an automatic extruder as a research experience for undergraduate students. The system offers a user-friendly approach to preparing vesicles, such as liposomes or polymersomes, with a defined size and polydispersity─properties crucial for research in biology and macromolecules. It comprises two syringe pumps connected by a membrane filter. The setup is controlled by software. Compared to manual extrusion, this automated system provides advantages, such as precisely controlled variables. The project describes a tool to enhance undergraduate learning in science and engineering laboratories. Building an automatic extruder serves as a simplified model of a complex industrial process. It offers …