Digital Commons Network^™

Inverse Machine Learning Framework For Optimizing Lightweight Metamaterials, Adithya Challapalli, Dhrumil Patel, Gouqiang Li

Faculty Publications

Structure scouting and design optimization for superior mechanical performance through inverse machine learning is an emerging area of interest. Inverse machine learning can be a substantial approach in structural design to explore complex and massive numbers of geometrical patterns within short periods of time. Here, an inverse design framework using generative adversarial networks (GANs) is proposed to explore and optimize structural designs such as lightweight lattice unit cells. Lightweight lattice structures are widely accepted to have excellent mechanical properties and have found applications in various engineering structures. Using the proposed framework, different lattice unit cells that are 40–120% better in …

Accounting For Uncertainty In Complex Alluvial Aquifer Modeling By Bayesian Multi-Model Approach, Jina Yin, Frank T.-C. Tsai, Shih Chieh Kao

Faculty Publications

Alluvial aquifers by nature are complex caused by varied depositional environments. Developing a reliable groundwater model to represent an alluvial aquifer is non-trivial. Also, relying on a single best calibrated model may not be sufficient because of an inadequate choice of model parameter values. To better understand groundwater dynamics and improve model prediction reliability, this study presents a Bayesian multi-model uncertainty quantification (BMMUQ) framework to account for model parameter uncertainty in complex alluvial groundwater modeling. The methodology was applied to the agriculturally intensive Mississippi River alluvial aquifer (MRAA), Northeast Louisiana. An aquifer architecture was first constructed using 7,259 well logs …

Robotic Communications For 5g And Beyond: Challenges And Research Opportunities, Yuanwei Liu, Xiao Liu, Xinyu Gao, Xidong Mu, Xiangwei Zhou, Octavia A. Dobre, H. Vincent Poor

Faculty Publications

The ongoing surge in applications of robotics brings both opportunities and challenges for the fifth-generation (5G) and beyond (B5G) of communication networks. This article focuses on 5G/B5G-enabled terrestrial robotic communications with an emphasis on distinct characteristics of such communications. First, signal and spatial modeling for robotic communications are presented. To elaborate further, both the benefits and challenges derived from robots' mobility are discussed. As a further advance, a novel simultaneous localization and radio mapping (SLARM) framework is proposed for integrating localization and communications into robotic networks. Furthermore, dynamic trajectory design and resource allocation for both indoor and outdoor robots are …

Exploring Traffic Safety Problems And Challenges Of Older Roads’ Users In Louisiana: Causes And Countermeasures, Hany Hassan Ph.D, Saba Doulabi

Publications

It is well established that older pedestrians and drivers with 65 years and above are among the most vulnerable road users. As the number and proportion of older road users (as drivers and pedestrians) grows in many countries, as well as their share in pedestrians’ and drivers’ crashes and injuries, it behooves transportation researchers to further investigate the safety and mobility challenges of older road users. This study aims mainly to provide a comprehensive investigation of older pedestrians’ and drivers’ safety challenges. To this end, a three-fold research approach is designed to thoroughly examine older road users’ safety challenges as …

Calculating Pile Downdrag: Experimental And Numerical Investigations, Hai Lin, Shengli Chen, Hussein Alqrinawi

Publications

Piles can be exposed to significant settlement (i.e., downdrag) and compressive force (i.e., dragload) if embedded in consolidating ground. Downdrag has been included in the design of piles, but there is uncertainty about how downdrag and dragload are efficiently considered in the pile design due to the differences in the existing design methods (e.g., AASHTO and FHWA). Although several field monitoring programs were successfully conducted on pile downdrag, fully instrumented pile model tests are still needed to investigate the responses at the soil-pile interface to improve the design of pile downdrag. This research focused on investigating the downdrag and skin …

Developing Notification And Enforcement Systems To Communicate And Administer Bridge Load Postings, Hany Hassan, Hisham Abdu Kunnah

Publications

State and local law enforcement agencies in the US strive to enforce weight restrictions on trucks and heavy vehicles travelling on public roads as a matter of public safety and as a way of safeguarding vital transportation infrastructure. This research aimed to identify plausible notification systems that can effectively communicate bridge load postings to dispatchers and drivers, investigate and suggest possible approaches to communicate potential detour routes, and identify corresponding enforcement methods required to successfully administer bridge load postings. This report discusses the current practices of bridge load posting notification and enforcement systems. Also, it presents an overview of the …

An Innovative Thermo-Energy Harvesting Module For Asphalt Roadway Pavement, Seyed Amid Tahami, Samer Dessouky

Publications

The importance of green technologies for generating renewable energy and sustainable development is widely accepted. Road surfaces are exposed to solar radiation that generates thermal gradients and heat flow in the pavement layers. The heat stored can be harvested providing an untapped source of renewable energy. This report presents the design, construction, and assessment of an improved thermoelectric energy prototype for harvesting heat energy from roadway pavements. To accomplish this, various prototype designs were simulated using Finite Element (FE) analysis, followed by design construction and laboratory testing of the most promising prototypes to evaluate their power harvesting capabilities. The main …

Urban Transportation Infrastructure And Cyclist And Pedestrian Safety, Hatim Sharif, Samer Dessouky

Publications

The goal of this project was to perform a comprehensive evaluation of crash causes and risk factors to identify the root causes of crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians in San Antonio, TX. The research included the development of a database of bicycle and pedestrian crash reports in the target area, calculation of crash counts and rates, identifying road segments and intersections with highly concentrated bicycle and pedestrian crashes, and the development of effective safety countermeasures. Several variables and factors were analyzed, including driver characteristics such as age and gender, road-related factors, and environmental factors such as weather conditions and time …

Coupling Novel Soil Moisture-Suction Sensors And Uav Photogrammetry Technology To The Performance Of Highway Embankments, Navid Jafari, Anand Puppala, Xinbao Yu, Surya Sarat Chandra Congress

Publications

The movement of water plays a critical role in the mechanical performance and service life of transportation infrastructure, especially for pavement subgrades and highway embankments consisting of high-plasticity, expansive soils that saturate and ultimately lead to infrastructure distress. Shallow slides along highway embankments are ubiquitous across Region 6 because long-term wetting and drying cycles considerably weaken these compacted soils. In the aftermath of heavy rains, pore-water pressures increase to a critical threshold such that a failure occurs. The implications of embankment failures range from repeated maintenance repairs to long-term road closures. A comprehensive approach to model highway embankments comprising of …

Rapid Repair Of Cracks On The Embankment Slopes Using Bio-Cement, Hai Lin, Guantao Cheng

Publications

This research explored the feasibility of using Microbially Induced Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) to improve fine-grained soil mechanical properties, seal the soil cracks, and assess the improvement of MICP on slope stability. The conducted research tasks include (1) direct shear tests to investigate the mechanical behavior and biogeochemical reactions of low-plasticity silt treated by MICP, (2) cyclic wetting-drying tests to assess the feasibility of using MICP to seal and waterproof the soil cracks, and (3) SLOPE/W modeling of a slope treated by MICP. Direct shear tests were used to evaluate the shear responses of the low-plasticity silt under different overburden pressures …

An Examination Of Yoga To Improve Symptoms Of Post-Traumatic Stress In Firefighters, Amanda Joy Weathers-Meyer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Firefighters routinely experience traumatic events while executing their daily occupational duties; in turn, this elevates their risk of experiencing post-traumatic stress symptomatology (PTSS). To successfully contend with repeated trauma exposure, effective and culturally appropriate treatment options for firefighters are needed. A growing body of literature shows that yoga effectively reduces PTSS, notably with those in male-dominated fields. Despite these encouraging findings, the impact of yoga on PTSS among fire service personnel has yet to be examined. Therefore, this dissertation aimed to: (a) obtain preliminary data on yoga’s effectiveness to reduce PTSS in firefighters, (b) investigate cultural appropriateness and firefighter receptivity …

Social Marketing Campaigns To Promote Healthy Eating In Low-Income Louisiana Environments: A Mixed Methods Formative Assessment, Linda Fergus

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A healthy diet consistent with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) is associated with reduced risk of obesity and chronic disease. Many people do not consume a healthy diet, especially those with limited resources. The purpose of this research was to study social marketing campaigns and message design factors that promote healthy eating and improved physical activity (PA) behaviors to low-income populations in Louisiana (LA) and to describe the attitudes, beliefs, and barriers of the rural, low-income LA population regarding healthy eating.

In a scoping literature review, an evidence map of publications regarding social marketing campaigns that aim to promote …

Recoverability For Optimized Quantum F-Divergences, Li Gao, Mark M. Wilde

Faculty Publications

The optimized quantum f -divergences form a family of distinguishability measures that includes the quantum relative entropy and the sandwiched R'enyi relative quasi-entropy as special cases. In this paper, we establish physically meaningful refinements of the data-processing inequality for the optimized f -divergence. In particular, the refinements state that the absolute difference between the optimized f -divergence and its channel-processed version is an upper bound on howwell one can recover a quantum state acted upon by a quantum channel, whenever the recovery channel is taken to be a rotated Petz recovery channel.Not only do these results lead to physically meaningful …

Introgression Of Maize Diversity For Drought Tolerance: Subtropical Maize Landraces As Source Of New Positive Variants, Pedro Augusto Medeiros Barbosa, Roberto Fritsche-Neto, Marcela Carvalho Andrade, César Daniel Petroli, Juan Burgueño, Giovanni Galli, Martha C. Willcox, Kai Sonder, Víctor A. Vidal-Martínez, Ernesto Sifuentes-Ibarra, Terence Luke Molnar

Faculty Publications

Current climate change models predict an increased frequency and intensity of drought for much of the developing world within the next 30 years. These events will negatively affect maize yields, potentially leading to economic and social instability in many smallholder farming communities. Knowledge about the genetic resources available for traits related to drought tolerance has great importance in developing breeding program strategies. The aim of this research was to study a maize landrace introgression panel to identify chromosomal regions associated with a drought tolerance index. For that, we performed Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) on 1326 landrace progenies developed by the …

Hydrophobically Modified Polypeptoids And Uses Thereof, Donghui Zhang, Vijay T. John, Yueheng Zhang, Sunting Xuan

College of Science Patents

A variety of hydrophobically modified polypeptoids are provided. The hydrophobically modified polypeptoids can include a polyamide backbone having a random copolymer of two or more different types of repeat units, where one or more of the repeat units have nitrogen atom having a hydrophobic substituent attached thereto. Methods of making the hydrophobically modified polypeptoids are also provided, as well as uses of the hydrophobically modified polypeptoids, for example in liposomal drug delivery.

Understanding And Overcoming Challenges To Photochemical Water Treatment Technologies, Mostafa Maghsoodi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Photochemical water treatment technologies have been extensively studied in recent years to update the current practices and find an innovative, cheap, and sustainable way to treat contaminated water. Despite the well-documented advantages, these technologies faced some challenges and limitations in the way of technology transfer. Among all the challenges, the presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) poses a serious challenge to the application of these technologies, especially photocatalysis. Moreover, the prospect of utilizing the new technology of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) offers an upgrade in the efficiency of the current practice of ultraviolet (UV) dosing. To understand the effect of DOM …

Zeta Potential Measurements For Surface Modification Of Plastic Substrates For Nanofluidic Biosensors, Qinhan Liu

LSU Master's Theses

Polymeric materials have revealed their great potentials in micro- and nano- fluidic devices for biosensing. Their advantages include low cost, various physicochemical properties, well-developed fabrication, and surface modification protocols comparing with traditional materials such as silicon or glass. Surface modification consists an essential step in fabrication of polymer-based biosensors. A proper characterization is required to justify the effectiveness of modifications on polymer surface. For nanofluidic devices, special phenomena such as overlapped electrical double layer, ion rectification and electroosmosis flow can dominate the behavior of single molcules. The concept of surface charge density plays a key role in nanofluidic devices due …

Ligo's Quantum Response To Squeezed States, L. Mcculler, S. E. Dwyer, A. C. Green, Haocun Yu, K. Kuns, L. Barsotti, C. D. Blair, D. D. Brown, A. Effler, M. Evans, A. Fernandez-Galiana, P. Fritschel, V. V. Frolov, N. Kijbunchoo, G. L. Mansell, F. Matichard, N. Mavalvala, D. E. Mcclelland, T. Mcrae, A. Mullavey, D. Sigg, B. J.J. Slagmolen, M. Tse, T. Vo, R. L. Ward, C. Whittle, R. Abbott, C. Adams, R. X. Adhikari, A. Ananyeva, S. Appert, K. Arai, J. S. Areeda

Faculty Publications

Gravitational wave interferometers achieve their profound sensitivity by combining a Michelson interferometer with optical cavities, suspended masses, and now, squeezed quantum states of light. These states modify the measurement process of the LIGO, VIRGO and GEO600 interferometers to reduce the quantum noise that masks astrophysical signals; thus, improvements to squeezing are essential to further expand our gravitational view of the Universe. Further reducing quantum noise will require both lowering decoherence from losses as well more sophisticated manipulations to counter the quantum back-action from radiation pressure. Both tasks require fully understanding the physical interactions between squeezed light and the many components …

Isotopic Fingerprints Of Mountain Uplift And Global Cooling In Paleoclimatic And Paleoecological Records From The Northern Tibetan Plateau, Mingqiu Hou, Guangsheng Zhuang, Minghao Wu

Faculty Publications

Post-middle Miocene changes in climate and ecology in the northern Tibetan Plateau have been attributed to tectonic uplift and global climate change. However, the relative roles of tectonism and global climate change have been a long-standing debate. To untangle the complex influences of global climate change versus the tectonism on regional climate and ecology in the northern Tibetan Plateau, we studied carbon isotopes (δ¹³Cwax) of leaf wax long-chain n-alkanes and carbon (δ¹³C) and oxygen isotopes (δ¹⁸O) of carbonates from three stratigraphic successions (ca. 16 Ma to 2 Ma) in the Hexi Corridor (foreland basin) …

Numerical Method For The Equilibrium Configurations Of A Maier-Saupe Bulk Potential In A Q-Tensor Model Of An Anisotropic Nematic Liquid Crystal, Cody D. Schimming, Jorge Viñals, Shawn W. Walker

Faculty Publications

We present a numerical method, based on a tensor order parameter description of a nematic phase, that allows fully anisotropic elasticity. Our method thus extends the Landau-de Gennes Q-tensor theory to anisotropic phases. A microscopic model of the nematogen is introduced (the Maier-Saupe potential in the case discussed in this paper), combined with a constraint on eigenvalue bounds of Q. This ensures a physically valid order parameter Q (i.e., the eigenvalue bounds are maintained), while allowing for more general gradient energy densities that can include cubic nonlinearities, and therefore elastic anisotropy. We demonstrate the method in two specific two dimensional …

A Modular Open-Technology Device To Measure And Adjust Concentration Of Sperm Samples For Cryopreservation, Nikolas C. Zuchowicz

LSU Master's Theses

Repositories for aquatic germplasm can safeguard the genetic diversity of species of interest to aquaculture, research, and conservation. The development of such repositories is impeded by a lack of standardization both within laboratories and across the research community. Protocols for cryopreservation are often developed ad hoc and without close attention to variables, such as sperm concentration, that strongly affect the success and consistency of cryopreservation. The wide dissemination and use of specialized tools and devices can improve processing reliability, provide data logging, produce custom hardware to address unique problems, and save costs, time, and labor. The goal of the present …

Offerings, Diana C. Patin

LSU Master's Theses

These photographs and writing are a set of offerings, collected as part of an intensive examination of myself and my contentious relationship with self-image. I first established which traits in my personality represent me best. I landed on my fatness, my queerness, my southernness, and my penchant for caring. Then I took a deep dive into each of those four themes with the objective of uncovering both the areas of exaltation and spaces of hurt within them. The images that result are both confrontational and gentle. It is my hope that the uncompromising honesty within these offerings communicates that while …

Generalized Girsanov Transform Of Processes And Zakai Equation With Jumps, Masatoshi Fujisaki, Takashi Komatsu

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Bamboo-Based Biofoam Adsorbents For The Adsorption Of Cationic Pollutants In Wastewater: Methylene Blue And Cu(Ii), Chongpeng Qiu, Xuelun Zhang, You Zhang, Qi Tang, Zihui Yuan, Cornelis F. De Hoop, Jiwen Cao, Shilin Hao, Ting Liang, Feng Li, Xingyan Huang

Faculty Publications

Human health is being threatened by cationic pollutants in wastewater, for example, methylene blue (MB) and Cu(II). Our research team successfully fabricated biofoam adsorbents from recycled bamboo waste that removed cationic pollutants via introducing bamboo fiber sources, i.e., bamboo fiber, bamboo α-cellulose fiber, and bamboo nanocellulose fiber, into a polyurethane (PU) foam matrix. The biofoam adsorbent with 1 g of nanocellulose (PUN1) presented high removal efficiencies for MB (95.52%) and Cu(II) (100%) in low cationic pollutant concentration aqueous solutions. The biofoam adsorbent with 1 g of bamboo fiber (PUB1) also displayed excellent removal efficiency for MB (98.61%) at pH 11. …

Genetic Variants Associated With Beta-Cell Function And Insulin Sensitivity Potentially Influence Bile Acid Metabolites And Gestational Diabetes Mellitus In A Chinese Population, Qiulun Zhou, Ying Wang, Yuqin Gu, Jing Li, Hui Wang, Junhong Leng, Weiqin Li, Zhijie Yu, Gang Hu, Ronald Ching Wan Ma, Zhong Ze Fang, Xilin Yang, Guozhi Jiang

Population and Public Health Science Faculty Publications

Introduction To investigate associations between genetic variants related to beta-cell (BC) dysfunction or insulin resistance (IR) in type 2 diabetes (T2D) and bile acids (BAs), as well as the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Research design and methods We organized a case-control study of 230 women with GDM and 217 without GDM nested in a large prospective cohort of 22 302 Chinese women in Tianjin, China. Two weighted genetic risk scores (GRSs), namely BC-GRS and IR-GRS, were established by combining 39 and 23 single nucleotide polymorphisms known to be associated with BC dysfunction and IR, respectively. Regression and mediation …

Modeling Of Mos2 Tunnel Field Effect Transistor In Verilog-A For Vlsi Circuit Design, Md Azmot Ullah Khan, Naheem Olakunle Adesina, Jian Xu

Faculty Publications

This paper presents the design of an inverter, half adder, and ring oscillator using compact models of MoS2 channel-based tunnel field effect transistor (TFET). The TFET models (both nand p-type) are written in high-level hardware language Verilog-Analog (Verilog-A) following the analytical model of [1] and the output characteristics of the components are simulated in Cadence/Spectre software. The performance of the designed inverter (a basic building block of VLSI circuit) is analyzed by extracting its different parameters, such as transfer characteristics, power dissipation and consumption, delay, power delay product. The simulated outputs (sum carry) obtained from the half adder circuit exactly …

Dosimetric Validation Of A System To Treat Moving Tumors Using Scanned Ion Beams That Are Synchronized With Anatomical Motion, Michelle Lis, Wayne Newhauser, Marco Donetti, Moritz Wolf, Timo Steinsberger, Athena Paz, Christian Graeff

Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to validate the dosimetric performance of scanned ion beam deliveries with motion-synchronization to heterogenous targets. Methods: A 4D library of treatment plans, comprised of up to 10 3D sub-plans, was created with robust and conventional 4D optimization methods. Each sub-plan corresponded to one phase of periodic target motion. The plan libraries were delivered to a test phantom, comprising plastic slabs, dosimeters, and heterogenous phantoms. This phantom emulated range changes that occur when treating moving tumors. Similar treatment plans, but without motion synchronization, were also delivered to a test phantom with a stationary target …

On The Uniqueness Of Solutions To Martingale Problems For Diffusion Operators With Progressively Measurable Random Coefficients, Masaaki Tsuchiya

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Expansion Of The Cello Repertoire In The 21st Century: A Collaboration With Composers Paul Eddison Lewis, Thomas L. Wilson, Austin Franklin, And Alex Shanafelt And The Resulting New Compositions For Cello And Electronics - Examined And Recorded By The Performer, Eduard Teregulov

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Electroacoustic music has been one of the fastest growing genres in classical art music since the middle the twentieth century. Thanks to the pioneers of the genre such as American composer John Cage, Halim El-Dabh, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Morton Subotnick, Iannis Xenakis, as well many others composers and enthusiasts of the twentieth and the twenty-first century the repertoire of electronic and electroacoustic music has grown tremendously withing the last hundred years. Even today it is still a growing art form as contemporary composers are working with yet to be developed and explored electroacoustic programming and equipment.

The purpose of this project …

Engineered Cementitious Composite For Pavement Applications: Materials Development And Design Framework, Hassan Noorvand

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECCs) are a novel class of high-performance fiber-reinforced cementitious composites characterized by their high tensile strain capacity. While ECCs have been presented as a promising material alternative for the construction of durable pavements and overlays, the cost of these materials is a major drawback, which limits their widespread implementation. More importantly, performance prediction models for ECC pavements existing in the literature are incomplete as the effect of ECC plasticity has not been considered in the integration of finite element (FE) analysis and beam flexural fatigue experimental test results. Moreover, the existing ECC pavements performance prediction models are …