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LSU Master's Theses

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Server Assignment In Mirrored Server Environments, Shawn Farlow Jan 2011

Server Assignment In Mirrored Server Environments, Shawn Farlow

LSU Master's Theses

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) may use peer-to-peer, client-server, or mirrored-server environments. Since there exist multiple server options in mirrored server environments, a problem arises when deciding to which server each player should connect. We propose three distinct algorithms that assign players within Quality of Service (QoS) as each player joins and leaves, taking into consideration whether a player already in QoS can be moved to place a newly joining player in QoS without sacrificing QoS for the moved player. Our results show that for certain numbers of servers and values of QoS, our algorithms increase the total number of …


Audio Watermarking Using Transformation Techniques, Rajkiran Ravula Jan 2010

Audio Watermarking Using Transformation Techniques, Rajkiran Ravula

LSU Master's Theses

Watermarking is a technique, which is used in protecting digital information like images, videos and audio as it provides copyrights and ownership. Audio watermarking is more challenging than image watermarking due to the dynamic supremacy of hearing capacity over the visual field. This thesis attempts to solve the quantization based audio watermarking technique based on both the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) and Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT). The underlying system involves the statistical characteristics of the signal. This study considers different wavelet filters and quantization techniques. A comparison is performed on diverge algorithms and audio signals to help examine the performance …


Effect Of Management Awareness Of Safety Climate Concept On Organizational Safety Climate, Christopher Michael Holzner Jan 2010

Effect Of Management Awareness Of Safety Climate Concept On Organizational Safety Climate, Christopher Michael Holzner

LSU Master's Theses

Safety research and practice have shifted focus away from accident rates and accident causal information to a more proactive approach that may predict organizational safety trends. This proactive approach involves the concept of an organizational safety culture and the use of surveys to measure organizational safety climate or „snapshot‟ of the organizational safety culture. Surveys were administered to line workers, supervisors, and managers at a modular home manufacturing company before and after safety climate information was presented to supervisors and managers in an attempt to measure the effect of the supervisors‟ and managers‟ increased awareness of the factors that define …


Investigating The Use Of Bioengineered Oyster Reefs As A Method Of Shoreline Protection And Carbon Storage, Daniel D. Dehon Jan 2010

Investigating The Use Of Bioengineered Oyster Reefs As A Method Of Shoreline Protection And Carbon Storage, Daniel D. Dehon

LSU Master's Theses

The Louisiana Gulf Coast is losing land at an alarming rate for a combination of reasons. At the same time carbon dioxide is accumulating in the atmosphere and the oceans by the increased burning of fossil fuels. Therefore, bioengineered oyster dominated artificial reefs have been developed in an effort to mitigate erosion while storing carbon in the oyster shells. These reefs support the growth of a native oyster species, Crassostrea virginica, which are considered ecological engineers and serve to improve water quality, protect coastal wetlands, capture and store carbon, and enhance the economy. Evaluation of test pieces showed the addition …


Hydrodynamic Modeling Of San Elijo Lagoon, California, Mary Elizabeth Nee Friedmann Bourgoyne Jan 2010

Hydrodynamic Modeling Of San Elijo Lagoon, California, Mary Elizabeth Nee Friedmann Bourgoyne

LSU Master's Theses

Decisions on where to concentrate management efforts need to be guided by an ability to accurately simulate and predict physical and ecological changes. Many restoration projects experience difficulties due to a lack of understanding of the ecological response and evolution of wetland systems (Goodwin et al., 2001). There are several approaches that can be taken in analyzing a system. The appropriate selection should be based on the available data, the spatial scale of the wetland, and the physical processes governing the system (Goodwin and Kamman, 2001). Predictive tools are essential for good long-term management (Goodwin et al., 2001). The objective …


Phase Investigation Of Zirconia Fibers And Their Applications On Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (Sofcs), Luping Li Jan 2010

Phase Investigation Of Zirconia Fibers And Their Applications On Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (Sofcs), Luping Li

LSU Master's Theses

Pure zirconia nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning zirconia-polymer precursor and subsequent annealing. Fiber properties such as polymer decomposition, crystallization formation, phase transformation, surface morphologies, etc., were investigated by various techniques, including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA), high temperature differential scanning calorimeter (HTDSC), powder X-ray diffractometer (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), etc. It was found the crystallization of as-spun fibers started at 450 °C and the initial crystallized zirconia phase was tetragonal (t), which began transforming to monoclinic (m) phase at 650 °C as evidenced by XRD; HTDSC showed at different thermal circles, the m-to-t transformation …


Degradation Behavior Of Shape Memory Polymer Due To Water And Diesel Fuel, Mohammad Nazmul Hasan Nahid Jan 2010

Degradation Behavior Of Shape Memory Polymer Due To Water And Diesel Fuel, Mohammad Nazmul Hasan Nahid

LSU Master's Theses

Shape memory polymers (SMP) are smart materials, which have the ability to memorize the original or permanent shape. Owing to this characteristic SMP can be used as a sensor, a transplant, as well as structural materials in wide range of applications. Despite its importance, its degradation behavior is still not completely known; and only a limited amount of work has been reported in the literature. In this thesis, the experiments have been carried out to evaluate the degradation behavior of Veriflex- SMP (industry supplied SMP samples) upon exposure to two different types of liquids; water and diesel fuel separately. It …


Optimization Of New Chinese Remainder Theorems Using Special Moduli Sets, Narendran Narayanaswamy Jan 2010

Optimization Of New Chinese Remainder Theorems Using Special Moduli Sets, Narendran Narayanaswamy

LSU Master's Theses

The residue number system (RNS) is an integer number representation system, which is capable of supporting parallel, high-speed arithmetic. This system also offers some useful properties for error detection, error correction and fault tolerance. It has numerous applications in computation-intensive digital signal processing (DSP) operations, like digital filtering, convolution, correlation, Discrete Fourier Transform, Fast Fourier Transform, direct digital frequency synthesis, etc. The residue to binary conversion is based on Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT) and Mixed Radix Conversion (MRC). However, the CRT requires a slow large modulo operation while the MRC requires finding the mixed radix digits which is a slow …


Itraconazole Loaded Poly (Lactic-Co-Glycolic) Acid Nanoparticles For Improved Antifungal Activity, Nipur Rajan Patel Jan 2010

Itraconazole Loaded Poly (Lactic-Co-Glycolic) Acid Nanoparticles For Improved Antifungal Activity, Nipur Rajan Patel

LSU Master's Theses

PLGA (polylactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles containing the hydrophobic antifungal Itraconazole (ITZ) were developed to address the need for more efficient means of treating fungal infections. PLGA-ITZ nanoparticles were synthesized using an oil-in-water emulsion evaporation method. The nanoparticles morphology (TEM), size and size distribution, zeta potential (DLS), encapsulation efficiency (UV-VIS), release profile, and antifungal activity were characterized. The blank NPs and loaded PLGA-ITZ NPs were spherical with diameters of 201±5 nm, 232±1 nm and 223±36 nm at 0%, 12.5% and 25% loadings, respectively. All synthesized particles measured a negative zeta potential ranging from -28 to -33 mV. The maximum encapsulation efficiency of …


Modeling And Analysis Of Radial Flux Toroidally Wound Twin Rotor Permanent Magnet Motor, Ravi Kishore Pratapa Jan 2010

Modeling And Analysis Of Radial Flux Toroidally Wound Twin Rotor Permanent Magnet Motor, Ravi Kishore Pratapa

LSU Master's Theses

The main objective of current thesis is the study of Radial Flux Twin Rotor Permanent Magnet (RFTWTRPM) motor. The tasks were to review the literature about RFTWTPM motors and model the motor using Finite Element Method Magnetics (FEMM 4.0). Later the performance of RFTWTRPM motor as a brushless dc motor was analyzed by using MATLAB/SIMULINK package. To find the electrical and mechanical parameters of the RFTWTRPM motor, the rotor and stator dimensions of the motor were firstly optimized using linear FEMM model of the motor. The optimized dimensions were used to construct the cylindrical FEMM model. This model was later …


Operational And Safety Assessment Of Joint And Conventional Lane Merge Configurations For Freeway Work Zones, Pradeep Rayaprolu Jan 2010

Operational And Safety Assessment Of Joint And Conventional Lane Merge Configurations For Freeway Work Zones, Pradeep Rayaprolu

LSU Master's Theses

Inefficient operation of traffic at work zone areas typically leads to increase in travel time delays, queue length, fuel consumption, number of forced merges, and roadway accidents. In order to improve the operational efficiency of work zones, research on freeway work zones constantly seeks to develop different lane merge control strategies, in addition to the conventional lane merge configuration, recommended by the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. This study evaluates the operational efficiency and safety benefits of a newly proposed configuration, joint lane merge (JLM), and compare its performance with the conventional lane merge (CLM) configuration. A simulation model …


Experimental Study On Single Cement Fracture Exposed To Co2 Saturated Brine Under Dynamic Conditions, Tevfik Yalcinkaya Jan 2010

Experimental Study On Single Cement Fracture Exposed To Co2 Saturated Brine Under Dynamic Conditions, Tevfik Yalcinkaya

LSU Master's Theses

Carbon capture and storage is one of the technologies that could help reduce CO2 concentration in the atmosphere while contributing to cutback of Greenhouse Gas emissions. Depleted oil and gas fields are favorable targets for CO2 storage because existing wells can be readily used as injection wells. However, a number of abandoned wells also serve as gateway to the reservoir which should be considered in the context of effective Carbon capture and storage. Wellbore cement is a very essential element in wellbore systems that serve as a barrier between different zones in the subsurface. The fractures inside wellbore cement sheath, …


Cost Effective Prevention Of Reflective Cracking In Composite Pavements, Rakesh Bandaru Jan 2010

Cost Effective Prevention Of Reflective Cracking In Composite Pavements, Rakesh Bandaru

LSU Master's Theses

Louisiana had experimented with various techniques and treatments to control reflection cracking since the 1970s; however, the cost-effectiveness and performance of these methods had not been reliably evaluated. In addition, scientific evaluation and testing of these treatment methods was not performed on many projects. To ensure successful control of this distress and effective allocation of maintenance funds, there is a critical need to assess the performance of pavement sections across the state built with various treatment methods and to determine the most cost-effective techniques to delay or to prevent reflection cracking in composite pavements. The objective of this study is …


The Effects Of Lean On Employees' Affective Attitude In A Modular Homebuilding Manufacturer, Digvesh Khot Jan 2010

The Effects Of Lean On Employees' Affective Attitude In A Modular Homebuilding Manufacturer, Digvesh Khot

LSU Master's Theses

Many organizational problems are related to job dissatisfaction, job-related stress, and lack of commitment in workers. Employees’ Affective Attitude (EAA) involves these three factors: job satisfaction, job stress, and commitment. This research is aimed at measuring the impact of Lean concepts on EAA factors. While providing an overview of Lean production and construction, this study focuses on one fundamental Lean concept, Kaizen. This thesis describes a case study showcasing the application of Lean concepts through Kaizen events and its impact on EAA for a modular homebuilder company. Based on previous literature a conceptual model was developed describing the potential links …


Characterization Of Composite Piezoelectric Materials For Smart Joint Applications, Hari Prasad Konka Jan 2010

Characterization Of Composite Piezoelectric Materials For Smart Joint Applications, Hari Prasad Konka

LSU Master's Theses

Piezoelectric materials have the ability to provide desired transformation from mechanical to electrical energy and vice versa. When a mechanical force is applied to the piezoelectric material an electrical voltage is generated and when an electrical voltage is applied to the piezoelectric material it gets strained or deformed. Owing to these characteristics piezoelectric materials can be used as a sensor, an actuator, as well as a power generation unit. The high brittleness property of the original piezoelectric material is one of the major constraints in using them in the engineering applications. In order to overcome this disadvantage the composite piezoelectric …


Desulfurization And Tar Removal From Gasifier Effluents Using Mixed Rare Earth Oxides, Sumana Adusumilli Jan 2010

Desulfurization And Tar Removal From Gasifier Effluents Using Mixed Rare Earth Oxides, Sumana Adusumilli

LSU Master's Theses

Biomass gasification is a promising source of fuels. However, hydrogen sulphide, tars and other by-products must be removed from the raw gas because they deactivate downstream reforming and water gas shift catalysts. The goal of this project is to find the best REO combination for simultaneous tar cracking and desulfurization of gasifier effluents and to find the sorbents that are stable at high operating temperatures of gasifiers. Simultaneous tar cracking and H2S removal from a simulated gasifier effluent was tested using different rare earth mixed oxide (REO) catalysts/sorbents based on Ce/LaOx, Ce/La/MOx and Ce/La/M2Ox/Al2O3 where M is a transition metal …


Solid-Liquid Separation Technologies In The Conversion Of Bagasse To Liquid Fuel, Keith Miller Jan 2010

Solid-Liquid Separation Technologies In The Conversion Of Bagasse To Liquid Fuel, Keith Miller

LSU Master's Theses

Development of liquid biofuels has entered a new phase of large scale pilot demonstrations. A number of plants in operation or under construction face the engineering challenges of creating a viable plant design, scaling up, and optimizing various unit operations. It is well-known that separation technologies account for 50-70% of both capital and operating costs. Processes vary in terms of selection of unit operations; however, solid-liquid separations are likely to be a major contributor to the overall project costs. A typical process for ethanol production from biomass includes several solid-liquid separation steps. The nature of biomass derived materials makes it …


Hydrogen Production From Molasses Using Chlorinated Alkane-Contaminated Groundwater As An Inoculum, Hector Narez Jan 2010

Hydrogen Production From Molasses Using Chlorinated Alkane-Contaminated Groundwater As An Inoculum, Hector Narez

LSU Master's Theses

The Scenic Highway area of the PetroProcessors of Louisiana, Inc. (PPI) Superfund site located near Baton Rouge, LA, has groundwater contaminated with a variety of chlorinated alkanes (e.g., 1,2-dichloroethane, 1,2-dichloropropane) and alkenes (e.g., trichloroethene and vinyl chloride). In March 2009, a field-scale pilot test was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of injecting diluted agricultural feed grade molasses into the groundwater in an effort to stimulate in-situ reductive dechlorination of these chlorinated contaminants. Because H2 plays an important role as an electron donor in the metabolism of reductively dechlorinating bacteria, in support of the pilot-scale effort, experiments described in this thesis …


Nanomechanics Of Muscovite Subjected To Nanoindentation And The Pertinent Indentation Size Effect, Hang Yin Jan 2010

Nanomechanics Of Muscovite Subjected To Nanoindentation And The Pertinent Indentation Size Effect, Hang Yin

LSU Master's Theses

Two groups of nanoindentation experiments, including repeated loading tests and monotonic loading tests, were performed on muscovite with a sharp indenter tip and loading direction normal to the basal plane. By varying the maximum load in the first group of repeated experiments, influences of the load level can be examined on the modes of nanoscale deformation and the resulting estimation of hardness and elastic modulus. The incipient kink band concept was employed to interpret the observed dispersed loading-unloading hysteresis loops by considering formation and annihilation of IKBs. Furthermore, the material’s contact stiffness behavior was characterized by comparing the normalized unloading …


Antisense Silver Nanoparticles For Photo-Activated Gene Silencing, Paige Kathleen Brown Jan 2010

Antisense Silver Nanoparticles For Photo-Activated Gene Silencing, Paige Kathleen Brown

LSU Master's Theses

The unique properties of noble metal nanoparticles, which include tunable electronic and photonic characteristics, contribute to their potential as novel delivery vectors with enhanced drug stability, cell uptake, and photo-activated functionalities. Silver, as one of best surface-enhancing substrates available for bulk nanostructure synthesis, is a prime choice for investigations of metal nanohybrids as antisense therapy vehicles with special surface plasmon resonance (SPR) enabled functional attributes. The singular photonic properties of silver nanoparticles (SNPs) may contribute to ease of delivery confirmation and in situ photo-activation of protected cargo packed on particle surfaces. Here we show the synthesis and characterization of 40-80nm …


Design And Fabrication Of Micronozzles For Drug Delivery Applications, Yuxuan Zhou Jan 2010

Design And Fabrication Of Micronozzles For Drug Delivery Applications, Yuxuan Zhou

LSU Master's Theses

Inhaled drug is an important drug delivery route. It is widely used in medications for respiratory disorders. However, it has some significant limitations, for examples, concentration of drug, output, and particles size, are not accurately controlled in most of the available drug delivery systems today. Various new devices and technologies continue to be developed and introduced. Vibrating orifice is one of them. The critical issue of vibrating orifice technology is the fabrication of micro-nozzles. Traditional technique to fabricate these nozzles is to use dry etching method, which tends to be expensive and inconvenient for mass production. Other two optional fabrication …


A Portable Phonatory Feedback Device For Patients With Speech Disorders, Richie Sajan Jan 2010

A Portable Phonatory Feedback Device For Patients With Speech Disorders, Richie Sajan

LSU Master's Theses

Vocal intensity-related speech disorders such as dysarthria and vocal nodules can limit quality of life and reduce the patient’s ability to interact with family, socialize, or pursue employment. Behavioral speech therapies exist to address these issues but have limited effectiveness because they are expensive and clinic-based. The ability to monitor vocal intensity outside of the clinical setting will greatly aid in the treatment of these speech disorders, enabling patients to make quicker progress by reinforcing techniques learned in the clinic. The Voice Volume Monitor (VVM) is a portable and cost-effective therapeutic aid designed for this purpose, providing real-time feedback regarding …


A Simulation Study Of Factors That Affect Pressure Control During Kick Circulation In Managed Pressure Drilling Operations, Jose Eduardo Eduardo Chirinos Jan 2010

A Simulation Study Of Factors That Affect Pressure Control During Kick Circulation In Managed Pressure Drilling Operations, Jose Eduardo Eduardo Chirinos

LSU Master's Theses

An university-industry consortium has been studying alternative well control procedures to be used for kicks taken during managed pressure drilling (MPD) operations using the constant bottom hole pressure (CBHP) method. The CBHP method of MPD allows more precise control of wellbore pressure than conventional drilling. MPD surface equipment allows more alternatives for controlling a kick and may support faster detection of kicks and losses which can reduce the severity of a well control event. Nevertheless, the elimination of well control incidents cannot be guaranteed, and the uncertainty in downhole drilling margins are not reduced by adopting MPD methods. The primary …


Computational Examination Of Compaction Wave-Boundary Interaction In Granular Explosive, Anirban Mandal Jan 2010

Computational Examination Of Compaction Wave-Boundary Interaction In Granular Explosive, Anirban Mandal

LSU Master's Theses

Interactions between initially planar, piston supported compaction waves in heterogeneous energetic solids and macro-scale rigid boundaries were computationally examined for a wide range of piston impact speeds (20 ≤ Up ≤ 500 m/s) and initial solid volume fractions of the material (0.73 ≤ ϕ0 ≤ 0.90). The response of the material was described by a continuum theory that accounts for both elastic and inelastic compaction in a thermodynamically consistent manner. Initial conditions were imposed by interpolating the spatial structure of one-dimensional steady compaction waves onto two-dimensional domains considered in this study. For a planar wedge boundary, the peak …


Surfactant-Induced Flow Behavior Effects In Gas Condensate Reservoirs, Bikash Deep. Saikia Jan 2010

Surfactant-Induced Flow Behavior Effects In Gas Condensate Reservoirs, Bikash Deep. Saikia

LSU Master's Theses

Natural gas, which accounts for a quarter of world’s energy, has been a major energy source because of its abundance and less impact on environment. With explorations at higher depth, pressure and temperature, the share of gas condensate reservoirs to global gas production is increasing. A unique production challenge associated with these reservoirs is the condensate blockage problem, which is the buildup of condensate liquid saturation around wellbore as a result of drawdown below dew point pressure. Mitigation of this problem requires in depth understanding of the multiphase flow of liquid and gas. Surfactants are well known in the literature …


Development Of A Compact Optical System For A Forward-Looking Endoscope, Anandi Kalyan Dutta Jan 2010

Development Of A Compact Optical System For A Forward-Looking Endoscope, Anandi Kalyan Dutta

LSU Master's Theses

ABSTRACT Optical Coherence Tomography has been effectively used for endoscopy in many previous studies. In this work, a 2 mm diameter forward-looking endoscope is developed with the help of MEMS technology and Optical Coherence Technology (OCT) to obtain in-vivo cross-sectional images of tissues or body cavities. The design consists of a GRIN lens, optical fiber and MEMS chip that are placed in line to fulfill the aim of achieving a 2 mm diameter probe. A standard assembly process has been established for the probe. An anisotropic etching was performed on the sample chip to create the V-groove for carrying the …


Assessing The Suitability Of Coagulation Pretreatment On Poultry Processing Wastewater For Optimized Dissolved Air Flotation, Adam James Dassey Jan 2010

Assessing The Suitability Of Coagulation Pretreatment On Poultry Processing Wastewater For Optimized Dissolved Air Flotation, Adam James Dassey

LSU Master's Theses

Eleven metal coagulants and one polyelectrolyte were assessed on their suitability for assisting a dissolved air flotation (DAF) system in treating poultry processing wastewater. The DAF unit was designed to maximize the microbubble production by varying the pressure, temperature, hydraulic retention time, and air flow parameters. The maximum microbubble flow from the designed system produced 30 mL of air per L of water. This value was considered low compared to other systems, but attempts to increase the microbubble volume in the current system beyond this value resulted in the coalescing of microbubbles due to turbulent conditions. Jar tests were used …


Modeling Pm Rotary-Linear Motors With Twin-Stator Using 3d Femm, Oleksandr Dobzhanskyi Jan 2010

Modeling Pm Rotary-Linear Motors With Twin-Stator Using 3d Femm, Oleksandr Dobzhanskyi

LSU Master's Theses

A rapid growth of automatization nowadays requires electric machines to be adjusted to any technological process. Therefore, a need in machines with two degrees of mechanical freedom (TDMF), which can operate rotationally and linearly, is relatively large. This thesis is directed on the design and study of performance of PM (permanent magnet) rotary-linear synchronous motors with twin-armature as a new type of electric machines which can perform linear, rotational and helical movements. Three stator versions are considered, namely: stator with rotary and linear armatures, two rotary armatures, and two linear armatures. The rotors have PMs skewed with respect to the …


Biomechanical Evaluation Of Modified Track Shoes, Marlon Alberetos Greensword Jan 2010

Biomechanical Evaluation Of Modified Track Shoes, Marlon Alberetos Greensword

LSU Master's Theses

Track and field runners, especially sprinters and mid-distance runners, face many problems due to walking in spike shoes. Due to the fact that track and field spike shoes are designed specifically for running, the runner’s feet remain in an uncomfortable, flexed position when walking between workouts and races. Problems caused by the dangerous foot-positioning include, but are not limited to, the following: back pain, shin splints, bone spurs, blisters, and overall decreased level of running performance. Over time, runners wearing improper footwear for walking may face chronic injuries such as plantar fasciitis, shin splints, Achilles tendinitis, chondromalacia, and iliotibial band …


Adaptive Quantization In Wireless Sensor Networks With Encryption, Niharika Konakalla Jan 2010

Adaptive Quantization In Wireless Sensor Networks With Encryption, Niharika Konakalla

LSU Master's Theses

We consider the estimation of a deterministic unknown parameter in an encrypted wireless sensor networks. Adaptive quantization is used on the sensor's observation and the outputs of the sensors are then encrypted using a probabilistic cipher. In a conventional fixed quantization scheme, estimation error grows exponentially with the difference between the threshold and the unknown parameter to be estimated. Hence, to avoid this, we used and adaptive quantization scheme where each sensor adaptively adjusts its quantization threshold. We find the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound for the Ally Fusion Center (AFC) and then find the optimal estimate of the unknown parameter for …