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LSU Master's Theses

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

A Study Of Distributed Clustering Of Vector Time Series On The Grid By Task Farming, Arun B. Nayar Jan 2005

A Study Of Distributed Clustering Of Vector Time Series On The Grid By Task Farming, Arun B. Nayar

LSU Master's Theses

Traditional data mining methods were limited by availability of computing resources like network bandwidth, storage space and processing power. These algorithms were developed to work around this problem by looking at a small cross-section of the whole data available. However since a major chunk of the data is kept out, the predictions were generally inaccurate and missed out on significant features that was part of the data. Today with resources growing at almost the same pace as data, it is possible to rethink mining algorithms to work on distributed resources and essentially distributed data. Distributed data mining thus holds great …

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Experimental Investigation Of Drilling Fluid Formulations And Processing Methods For A Riser Dilution Approach To Dual Density Drilling, John Shelton Jan 2005

Experimental Investigation Of Drilling Fluid Formulations And Processing Methods For A Riser Dilution Approach To Dual Density Drilling, John Shelton

LSU Master's Theses

Oil and natural gas resources in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico are important for the U.S. economy, but development is limited by high costs. Dual density drilling concepts that result in wellbore pressure gradients similar to the natural subsurface gradients can simplify well designs and reduce costs. Riser dilution may be an economical means of achieving such a system. This system would use a low density fluid to dilute the weighted wellbore fluid and give an intermediate density fluid in the riser. Two key concerns addressed in this study are whether a drilling fluid can be formulated that will suspend …

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Remote Power Delivery For Hybrid Integrated Bio-Implantable Electrical Stimulation System, Venkat Reddy Gaddam Jan 2005

Remote Power Delivery For Hybrid Integrated Bio-Implantable Electrical Stimulation System, Venkat Reddy Gaddam

LSU Master's Theses

Bio-implantable devices such as heart pacers, gastric pacers and drug-delivery systems require power for carrying out their intended functions. These devices are usually powered through a battery implanted with the system or are wired to an external power source. In this work, a remote power delivery system (RPDS) is considered as a means to charge rechargeable batteries that power a Bio-implanted Electrical Stimulation System (BESS). A loosely coupled inductive power transmitter and receiver system has been designed to recharge batteries for a bio-implanted gastric pacer. The transmitter coil is periodically worn around the waist. The receiver coil, rechargeable batteries, battery-charging …

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Mathematical Models For Estimating Volatile Chemical Emissions From Dredging Operations, Kenneth Alexander Fountain Jan 2005

Mathematical Models For Estimating Volatile Chemical Emissions From Dredging Operations, Kenneth Alexander Fountain

LSU Master's Theses

Dredging operations have been a common remediation for contaminated sediment in an effort to reduce the harmful impact on the environment. The objective of this research was to create models used for estimating chemical release to air from remediating the Indiana Harbor and Canal (IHC) as three separate dredging operations; the Dredge Site, Exposed DM CDF, and Ponded CDF. The evaporative flux estimations are based on a two-resistance mass transport path inclusive of both the molecular diffusion in porous media and interfacial airside mass transport resistances. Several chemodynamic algorithms were used in calculating key transport parameters. Laboratory tests were performed …

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Cognitive Memory Effects On Non-Linear Video-Based Learning, Katherine Renee Comeaux Jan 2005

Cognitive Memory Effects On Non-Linear Video-Based Learning, Katherine Renee Comeaux

LSU Master's Theses

During an informative learning process, information, material, facts and ideas are typically conveyed in a linear arrangement. Individuals are frequently distracted during this process with their attention being diverted to an interruption (Internet, phone call, etc). When presented with any new information, the mind evolves through problem solving and evaluation procedures. The way in which that information is processed and perceived depends on: (a) original presentation (b) examination of material and (c) an individualistic measurement of success. However, when faced with an interruption, the person is forced to deal with non-linear arrangement of information. This research investigates nonlinear presentation or …

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Modeling Of Chemical Fate And Transport In The Environment, Andre Marquette Jan 2005

Modeling Of Chemical Fate And Transport In The Environment, Andre Marquette

LSU Master's Theses

The Environmental Engineering discipline remains on the forefront of discovery due to advancements in computer technology, advancements in experimental methods and an ever increasing public interest in mitigating the harmful effects of the chemical process industry. Experimental methods have a critical role in defining environmental processes and effects but are limited in their ability to predict future environmental conditions. Conceptual and mathematical models are needed in order to evaluate the effect of environmental conditions far into the future as well as to extend and apply the knowledge gained from experimentation. Models can be used to predict chemical exposure levels, design …

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Computer-Aided Diagnosis Tool For The Detection Of Cancerous Nodules In X-Ray Images, Pallavi Bomma Jan 2005

Computer-Aided Diagnosis Tool For The Detection Of Cancerous Nodules In X-Ray Images, Pallavi Bomma

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis involves development of a computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) tool for the detection of cancerous nodules in X-ray images. Both cancerous and non-cancerous regions appear with little distinction on an X-ray image. For accurate detection of cancerous nodules, we need to differentiate the cancerous nodules from the non-cancerous. We developed an artificial neural network to differentiate them. Artificial neural networks (ANN) find a large application in the area of medical imaging. They work in a manner rather similar to the brain and have good decision making criteria when trained appropriately. We trained the neural network by the backpropagation algorithm and …

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Transform Techniques And Non-Stationarity With An Emphasis On Network Applications, Phat Piron Jan 2005

Transform Techniques And Non-Stationarity With An Emphasis On Network Applications, Phat Piron

LSU Master's Theses

The recent years brought a phenomenal development of Internet. It is, therefore, important to find some ways to improve the performances. The first step in this direction is the characterization and modeling of the network traffic. It has been tested that the network traffic behaves like a self-similar process, while packets interarrivals time possess the long-range dependence property. In particular, we model them by using fractional Brownian motion and fractional Gaussian noise, respectively. Note that, the former is just the cumulative sum of the latter. By using these concepts, the traffic characterization reduces to the estimation of one value: the …

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Flow And Temperature Measurements In A Linear Turbine Blade Passage With Leading Edge And Endwall Contouring And With And Without Film Cooling, Ross James Gustafson Jan 2005

Flow And Temperature Measurements In A Linear Turbine Blade Passage With Leading Edge And Endwall Contouring And With And Without Film Cooling, Ross James Gustafson

LSU Master's Theses

Gas turbine efficiency can be improved by increasing the turbine inlet temperature. Secondary flows created in the turbine blade passage cause pressure losses and increase the thermal blade loading on the endwall, thus limiting the combustion temperature. Pressure losses, or aerodynamic losses, extract energy from the fluid, leaving less for torque or thrust production. Secondary flows also cause greater non-uniformity in the exit flow from each blade stage, which decreases the stage efficiency. Weakening secondary flows will lower pressure losses and endwall heat transfer. The following research will explore concepts for weakening the secondary flows through the use of (a) …

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Experimental Investigation Of Stick-Slip Behavior In Granular Materials, Lynne E. Roussel Jan 2005

Experimental Investigation Of Stick-Slip Behavior In Granular Materials, Lynne E. Roussel

LSU Master's Theses

The mechanical behavior of granular materials is highly dependent on the arrangement of particles, particle groups, and associated pore spaces. Changes in the internal structure due to large deformation may cause changes in the mechanical behavior. The changes include: particle sliding, rolling, and interaction; shear band formation; and fabric anisotropy. During those changes, stick-slip behavior may take place between the granular particles. The objective of the thesis is to study the factors that influence the stick-slip behavior of granular materials. The influence of particle size, uniformity, confining pressure, density, and strain rate are investigated in this thesis. A series of …

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Musculoskeletal Disorders In Dentistry, Frank Maurice Pitts Jan 2005

Musculoskeletal Disorders In Dentistry, Frank Maurice Pitts

LSU Master's Theses

Because of the common occurrence of pain experienced by dental professionals during the course of a workday and throughout their career, an epidemiological and a field study were performed in an effort to contribute to the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders in dentistry. The aim of the thesis is two fold: to assess the perception of occupational pain and discomfort felt by dentists through a perception based survey and to assess the muscle behavior of dentists during isotonic postures while performing various dental procedures on their first and last patients in a given work day. One hundred (100) dentists participated in …

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An Application Of Parallel Computation To Collaborative Optimization, Shahab Nayyer Jan 2005

An Application Of Parallel Computation To Collaborative Optimization, Shahab Nayyer

LSU Master's Theses

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) has evolved as a discipline which provides a body of methods and techniques to assist engineers in solving large scale design problems. There are many frameworks for formulating MDO problems. These frameworks can be broadly classified as single-level or bi-level formulations. Collaborative Optimization (CO) is one of the popular bi-level formulations to solve an MDO problem. There are numerous design optimization problems which are highly CPU time intensive and require a long simulation time. With the advent of cheaper and faster available PC’s, distributed parallel computer clusters have become very popular. These clusters provide large computing …

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Traffic Engineering In Multiprotocol Label Switching Vpns, Vinay Kumar Desai Jan 2005

Traffic Engineering In Multiprotocol Label Switching Vpns, Vinay Kumar Desai

LSU Master's Theses

The changing nature of Internet-based applications is imposing stricter demands on the performance of the Internet. For many new applications requiring differentiated quality of service, the best effort model of the internet is no longer adequate. Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) overlays a connection oriented network on the connection-less IP networks, thereby addressing several shortcomings of the IP network. MPLS improves the forwarding speed, and it provides a virtual path capability to efficiently carry differentiated services. Additionally, MPLS enables traffic engineering by explicit traffic engineering tunnels to be set up across the network to utilize all available bandwidth in an efficient …

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Flame Synthesis Of Carbon-Nanostructures, Saritha Perla Jan 2005

Flame Synthesis Of Carbon-Nanostructures, Saritha Perla

LSU Master's Theses

Ever since their discovery carbon nanostructures (nanotubes and nanofibers) have attracted a lot of interest, due to their striking physical, chemical, mechanical and electrical properties, and paves the path to a wide range of applications. Large quantities of these structures are necessary to make their applications viable. The challenge is to produce them in bulk and in an economical way. Current methods like Arc discharge have the disadvantages of short tube lengths, CVD generated nanomaterials are often riddled with defects and although laser ablation method produces pure and high yield of nanotubes, is a costly technique with expensive lasers and …

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A Programmable Cmos Decimator For Sigma-Delta Analog-To-Digital Converter And Charge Pump Circuits, Raghavendra Reddy Anantha Jan 2005

A Programmable Cmos Decimator For Sigma-Delta Analog-To-Digital Converter And Charge Pump Circuits, Raghavendra Reddy Anantha

LSU Master's Theses

PROGRAMMABLE DECIMATOR FOR SIGMA-DELTA ANALOG-TO-DIGITAL CONVERTER: In this work a programmable decimator design has been presented in 1.5 μm n-well CMOS process for integration with an existing modulator to form a sigma-delta analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The decimator is implemented using a second order Cascaded Integrator Comb (CIC) filter and can be programmed to work with two different oversampling ratios of 64 and 16. The input to the decimator is provided from a first order modulator. With oversampling ratios of 64 and 16, an output resolution of 10-bit and 7-bit, respectively are achieved for the ADC. The ADC can be operated …

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Knowledge-Based Fault Detection Using Time-Frequency Analysis, Venkata S. Vongala Jan 2005

Knowledge-Based Fault Detection Using Time-Frequency Analysis, Venkata S. Vongala

LSU Master's Theses

This work studies a fault detection method which analyzes sensor data for changes in their characteristics to detect the occurrence of faults in a dynamic system. The test system considered in this research is a Boeing-747 aircraft system and the faults considered are the actuator faults in the aircraft. The method is an alternative to conventional fault detection method and does not rely on analytical mathematical models but acquires knowledge about the system through experiments. In this work, we test the concept that the energy distribution of resolution than the windowed Fourier transform. Verification of the proposed methodology is carried …

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Mapping Weak Multidimensional Torus Communications On Optical Slab Waveguides, Karthik Sethuraman Jan 2005

Mapping Weak Multidimensional Torus Communications On Optical Slab Waveguides, Karthik Sethuraman

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis deals with the mapping of communication of a d-dimensional weak torus on an optical medium. Our results are derived in the setting of a sawtooth slab waveguide. The mapping aims to reduce the number and cost of optical components, by exploiting the fact that not all edges of a weak topology are used simultaneously. This approach allows for a better utilization of the huge bandwidth of an optical slab waveguide; currently the cost and size of optical components external to the optical communication medium are the primary bottleneck of an optical interconnect. We introduce the notion of adjacency …

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3-Dimensional Flow Measurements In Square Coaxial Jets, Thomas Lagarde Jan 2005

3-Dimensional Flow Measurements In Square Coaxial Jets, Thomas Lagarde

LSU Master's Theses

Results from un-forced experiments conducted in the three-dimensional flow emanating from coaxial contoured nozzles with square cross section and parallel sides are presented and discussed. Two experiments were conducted with the inner to outer jet nominal velocity ratio equal to l=0.5 and l=1.5. The Reynolds number of the outer jet based on the hydraulic diameter of the outer nozzle exit was in both cases 16,000. A multi-position hot-wire anemometry method was used for measurements in the three-dimensional turbulent flow using a dual film sensor (X-probe). A methodology was developed and implemented to derive the mean-velocity components and Reynolds stresses corrected …

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Relative Permeability And Wettability Implications Of Dilute Surfactants At Reservoir Conditions, Ayodeji Adebola Abe Jan 2005

Relative Permeability And Wettability Implications Of Dilute Surfactants At Reservoir Conditions, Ayodeji Adebola Abe

LSU Master's Theses

The improvement or increase of oil recoverable from discovered reservoirs has always been a very important issue as this helps to meet ever growing energy demand. Several methods have been put forward as means of achieving this objective. Chemical flooding, using surfactants has been considered in enhanced oil recovery processes. Surfactants are used primarily to lower oil-water interfacial tension (IFT) and thus improve production. However, surfactants possess the ability to alter rock wettability and hence increase oil production. Previous investigations were performed at ambient conditions using stocktank oil. Extrapolation of the findings from the ambient conditions testing to reservoir conditions …

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Deposition Of Carbon Layers From Cyclohexane By Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition, Bharath Thiruvengadachari Jan 2005

Deposition Of Carbon Layers From Cyclohexane By Thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition, Bharath Thiruvengadachari

LSU Master's Theses

The overall aim of this thesis is to deposit carbon layers by thermal Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and investigate the effects of process parameters on the morphology and structure of the deposited carbon layers. Cyclohexane (C6H12) hydrocarbon is the precursor material used as the source of carbon. A 20% Cu- 80% Ni alloy, deposited by RF magnetron sputtering and annealed at the growth temperature either in an argon flow or in 10% hydrogen-90% argon flow, is used as a catalyst prior to carbon film deposition by CVD. The CVD temperature is varied between 550 0C and 800 0C. The Cu-Ni …

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Distributed Airlift Systems Design With Application To Recirculating Soft Shell Crawfish Shedding Systems, Sripavani Gudipati Jan 2005

Distributed Airlift Systems Design With Application To Recirculating Soft Shell Crawfish Shedding Systems, Sripavani Gudipati

LSU Master's Theses

Soft shell crawfish, a seafood delicacy, has a potential market for growth in the aquaculture industry. Since the industry's collapse in the 1990's, the advent of new technologies like eyestalk ablation, automated hydraulic separation and distributed airlift systems has elevated the hope for restoration. In a distributed airlift system, airlifts and distribution pipes supply water to holding trays. Airlifts are simple devices used to pump water by injecting air at the bottom of an open pipe. The combination of airlifts and distribution pipes has potential economic benefits for low head applications in recirculating aquaculture systems. This thesis focuses on guidelines …

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An In-Situ Capping Design For The Remediation Of Petroleum Contaminated Sediments, Melanie Krystle Harris Jan 2005

An In-Situ Capping Design For The Remediation Of Petroleum Contaminated Sediments, Melanie Krystle Harris

LSU Master's Theses

Historical disposal practices used by oil companies have caused the accumulation of contaminated sediments in their nearby lakes and ponds. These companies are now faced with the challenge of remediating the bodies of water that contain these contaminated sediments. The contaminants that remain in the sediment continue to pose a threat to human health and the environment. For example, high concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are still present in the bottom sediments can have toxic effects on aquatic life. One form of remediation for this problem is In-Situ Capping (ISC), which is defined as a method whereby material …

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Modeling And Experimentation Of Drying Of Adipose Derived Adult Stem Cells, Surbhi Mittal Jan 2005

Modeling And Experimentation Of Drying Of Adipose Derived Adult Stem Cells, Surbhi Mittal

LSU Master's Theses

Development of protocols for storing desiccated cells at ambient temperatures offers tremendous economic and practical advantages over traditional storage procedures such as cryopreservation and freeze-drying. An integrated frame work of experimentation and modeling is adopted in the present work to develop procedures for storage of adult stem cells at ambient temperature. As a first step, we have measured the post-rehydration membrane integrity of two passages, Passage-0 (P0) and Passage-1 (P1), of human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs). hASCs were dried using a convective stage at three different drying rates (slow, moderate and rapid) in D-PBS with trehalose (50 mM) and glycerol …

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Development Of An Alternative Approach To Estimate Vehicle Miles Traveled Using A Classification Procedure, Srividya Vadlamani Jan 2005

Development Of An Alternative Approach To Estimate Vehicle Miles Traveled Using A Classification Procedure, Srividya Vadlamani

LSU Master's Theses

In this study a Classification and Regression Tree (CART) classification system method was developed as an alternative to the HPMS conventional method of VMT estimation. Louisiana Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data from Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Louisiana highway network data from Louisiana Department of Transportation (LADOTD) were used to carry out the analysis. The CART classification was derived based on link attributes that effectively distinguished the homogeneous traffic volume sections. VMT estimation on individual links as well for the different systems was calculated using the CART classification system and the values were assigned on each link. The default …

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Simulations And Experimental Analysis Of High-Aspect-Ratio Diffusive Micro-Mixers, Amit Maha Jan 2005

Simulations And Experimental Analysis Of High-Aspect-Ratio Diffusive Micro-Mixers, Amit Maha

LSU Master's Theses

Passive (diffusional) mixing has been used in designing high-aspect-ratio micro-mixers for the purpose of performing the Liagase Detection Reaction (LDR). A simple model was used to design such mixers optimized for pressure drop or time required to deliver a prescribed volume of mixture. The types of mixers considered are simple, cheap, and durable and can perform over a broad range of volumetric flow rates at reasonably modest pressure drops. The fluids typically have a very low diffusion coefficient of=1.2x10^10m^2/s, and thus diffusional mixing can only be effective in high-aspect-ratio micro-channels. A realizable aspect ratio of 6 has been considered initially …

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Stabilization Of Flue Gas Desulfurization Sludge For Application In Marine Environments, Tej Kour Jan 2004

Stabilization Of Flue Gas Desulfurization Sludge For Application In Marine Environments, Tej Kour

LSU Master's Theses

Flue Gas Desulfurization sludge (FGD, CaSO4·2H2O, CaSO3·1/2H2O) is a waste by-product produced when sorbent slurry is passed through wet scrubbers. FGD contains higher concentrations of Ca, S, Si, Fe, Al and Br making it of great environmental concern. Presently only 16% of 24 million metric tons (MT) of FGD sludge produced is being recycled; the rest is disposed in landfills. This research was focused towards stabilizing FGD sludge with Portland Type II cement and Class C fly ash to produce lightweight fill material to be used in the construction of coastal devices. The specific objectives included the development of a …

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Evaluation Of New Methods For Processing Drilling Data To Determine The Cause Of Changes In Bit Performance, Jaime Solano Jan 2004

Evaluation Of New Methods For Processing Drilling Data To Determine The Cause Of Changes In Bit Performance, Jaime Solano

LSU Master's Theses

Drilling operations represent the major cost in finding and developing new petroleum reserves. Poor drilling performance when drilling deep shale and strong rocks, as evidenced by slow rate of penetration (ROP), has a significant detrimental impact on drilling costs. Also, it has been concluded that bit balling is the main cause of low ROP when drilling deep, clay-rich shale with water-based mud. In addition, it is estimated that a potential saving in drilling cost of hundreds of millions of dollars a year can be obtained if bit balling is mitigated and ROP is improved. Several methods have been developed in …

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Development Of A Methodology To Delineate Hurricane Evacuation Zones, Nandagopal Meduri Jan 2004

Development Of A Methodology To Delineate Hurricane Evacuation Zones, Nandagopal Meduri

LSU Master's Theses

The main focus of this study is to exhibit a simple and easily implemented process to identify hurricane evacuation zones. The proposed study presents a new methodology to delineate hurricane evacuation zones. The new methodology helps in easier identification of zones, thereby making the task of evacuation officials easier. Hurricane evacuation zones were identified based on the elevation of the points comprising the study area. An area layer was created based on the storm surge models run, and were overlaid with zip code boundary layer and land use data available. Elevation point file data was superimposed on the study area …

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Kinetic Analysis Of Kluyveromyces Marxianus Yeast Strain, Erika Guimaraes Madeira Reeves Jan 2004

Kinetic Analysis Of Kluyveromyces Marxianus Yeast Strain, Erika Guimaraes Madeira Reeves

LSU Master's Theses

This research investigated the growth kinetic parameters (Ks and µmax) of the Kluyveromyces marxianus yeast strain for a batch process under aerobic and anaerobic conditions at 45oC using the Two-Liter Bioflo® 2000 Fermentors and the Orbital Shaker Bed with 250mL flasks (New Brunswick Scientific). This yeast strain was grown in twelve different glucose media concentrations (Anderson et al. 1986), ranging from 200 mg/L to 80,000 mg/L. Several analytical techniques were used, such as COD measurement to determine soluble and total substrate concentrations, TSS and OD measurements to determine biomass formation, HPLC measurements to determine carbohydrate concentrations, and GC measurements to …

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An Evaluation Of Multiple Branch Predictor And Trace Cache Advanced Fetch Unit Designs For Dynamically Scheduled Superscalar Processors, Slade S. Maurer Jan 2004

An Evaluation Of Multiple Branch Predictor And Trace Cache Advanced Fetch Unit Designs For Dynamically Scheduled Superscalar Processors, Slade S. Maurer

LSU Master's Theses

Semiconductor feature size continues to decrease permitting superscalar microprocessors to continue to increase the number of functional units available for execution. As the instruction issue width increases beyond the five instruction average basic block size of integer programs, more than one basic block must be issued per cycle to continue to increase instructions per cycle (IPC) performance. Researchers have created methods of fetching instructions beyond the first taken branch to overcome the bottleneck created by the limitations of conventional single branch predictors. We compare the performance of the multiple branch prediction (MBP) and trace cache (TC) fetch unit optimization methods. …

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