Mississippi State University

About: Mississippi State University is a education organization based out in Starkville, Mississippi, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Catfish. The organization has 14115 authors who have published 28594 publications receiving 700030 citations. The organization is also known as: The Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science & Mississippi State University of Agriculture and Applied Science.

Unsupervised Spatial–Spectral Feature Learning by 3D Convolutional Autoencoder for Hyperspectral Classification

Abstract: Feature learning technologies using convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have shown superior performance over traditional hand-crafted feature extraction algorithms. However, a large number of labeled samples are generally required for CNN to learn effective features under classification task, which are hard to be obtained for hyperspectral remote sensing images. Therefore, in this paper, an unsupervised spatial–spectral feature learning strategy is proposed for hyperspectral images using 3-Dimensional (3D) convolutional autoencoder (3D-CAE). The proposed 3D-CAE consists of 3D or elementwise operations only, such as 3D convolution, 3D pooling, and 3D batch normalization, to maximally explore spatial–spectral structure information for feature extraction. A companion 3D convolutional decoder network is also designed to reconstruct the input patterns to the proposed 3D-CAE, by which all the parameters involved in the network can be trained without labeled training samples. As a result, effective features are learned in an unsupervised mode that label information of pixels is not required. Experimental results on several benchmark hyperspectral data sets have demonstrated that our proposed 3D-CAE is very effective in extracting spatial–spectral features and outperforms not only traditional unsupervised feature extraction algorithms but also many supervised feature extraction algorithms in classification application.

Fluoride Removal from Water using Bio-Char, a Green Waste, Low-Cost Adsorbent: Equilibrium Uptake and Sorption Dynamics Modeling

Abstract: Drinking water containing fluoride >1 mg/L is unsafe for human consumption. Higher intake of fluoride can cause potential health hazards. Low-cost pine wood and pine bark chars, obtained as a byproduct from fast pyrolysis in an auger reactor at 400 and 450 °C, were characterized and used as received for water defluoridation. Sorption studies were performed at different temperatures, pH values, and solid to liquid ratios in the batch mode. Maximum fluoride adsorption occurred at pH 2.0. A kinetic study yielded an optimum equilibrium time of 48 h with an adsorbent dose of 10 g/L. Sorption isotherm studies were conducted over a concentration range of 1–100 mg/L. Fluoride adsorption decreased with an increase in temperature. The char performances were evaluated using the Freundlich, Langmuir, Redlich–Peterson, Toth, Temkin, Sips, and Radke adsorption models. Based on average percent error, the best isotherm fits follow the orders for pine wood and pine bark: PWLangmuir ≈ PWRedlich-Peterson > PWToth > PWSips >...

Laboratory persistence and fate of fluoxetine in aquatic environments.

Abstract: The persistence and fate of fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, has been investigated in laboratory-scale experiments, including studies with various aqueous solutions, water/sediment systems, and activated sludge-amended medium The samples were placed in the dark and/or in a growth chamber fitted with fluorescent lamps simulating the ultraviolet output of sunlight Over a period of 30 d, fluoxetine was hydrolytically and photolytically stable in all aqueous solutions except synthetic humic water (pH 7), in which the degradation rate was increased by approximately 13-fold in comparison with buffered solutions at the same pH Fluoxetine rapidly dissipated from the aqueous phase in water/sediment systems, primarily because of distribution to sediments The dissipation rate from the aqueous phase was similar between light and dark systems, indicating a low contribution of photodegradation to the dissipation of fluoxetine in this system The potential impact of fluoxetine in aquatic environments would be decreased because of adsorption to sediments Based on results of ready-biodegradability investigations, fluoxetine would not be expected to rapidly biodegrade in wastewater treatment plants A photoproduct was detected only in a sample of synthetic humic water and was identified as norfluoxetine formed by demethylation Results indicate that fluoxetine is relatively recalcitrant to hydrolysis, photolysis, and microbial degradation and that it is rapidly removed from surface waters by adsorption to sediment, where it appears to be persistent

Development of a Novel Biofuel Blend Using Ethanol−Biodiesel−Diesel Microemulsions: EB-Diesel

Abstract: Oxygenated diesel fuel blends have advantages over regular diesel. Oxygenation significantly reduces particulate matter (PM) and reduces toxic gases such as CO, sulfur oxides (SOx), and, at times, nitrogen oxides (NOx) from tailpipe emissions. Ethanol, which is the oxygenate in E-diesel, is a renewable fuel that reduces the dependency of non-oil-producing countries on foreign petroleum. However, a major drawback with E-diesel is that ethanol is immiscible in diesel over a wide range of temperatures. Studies have revealed that biodiesel, which is another renewable fuel, can be used successfully as an amphiphile (a surface-active agent) to stabilize ethanol and diesel. Research also has revealed that ethanol−biodiesel−diesel (EB-diesel) fuel blend microemulsions are stable well below sub-zero temperatures and have shown equal or superior fuel properties to regular diesel fuel. Microemulsions of certain component concentrations have shown substantially increased lubricity without compromising the cetane numb...

Relationships among root branch order, carbon, and nitrogen in four temperate species.

Abstract: The objective of this study was to examine how root length, diameter, specific root length, and root carbon and nitrogen concentrations were related to root branching patterns. The branching root systems of two temperate tree species, Acer saccharum Marsh. and Fraxinus americana L., and two perennial herbs from horizontal rhizomes, Hydrophyllum canadense L. and Viola pubescens Ait., were quantified by dissecting entire root systems collected from the understory of an A. saccharum-Fagus grandifolia Ehrh. forest. The root systems of each species grew according to a simple branching process, with laterals emerging from the main roots some distance behind the tip. Root systems normally consisted of only 4–6 branches (orders). Root diameter, length, and number of branches declined with increasing order and there were significant differences among species. Specific root length increased with order in all species. Nitrogen concentration increased with order in the trees, but remained constant in the perennial herbs. More than 75% of the cumulative root length of tree seedling root systems was accounted for by short (2–10 mm) lateral roots almost always <0.3 mm in diameter. Simple assumptions suggest that many tree roots normally considered part of the dynamic fine-root pool (e.g., all roots <2.0 mm in diameter) are too large to exhibit rapid rates of production and mortality. The smallest tree roots may be the least expensive to construct but the most expensive to maintain based on an increase in N concentration with order.