Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring An Electron-Rich Iron Tricarbonyl Complex Containing An Α-Diimine Ligand, Joseph Maher

Chemistry & Biochemistry Student Scholarship

Joseph Maher ’25, Chemistry major

Faculty mentor: Dr. Maria Carroll, Chemistry and Biochemistry

The combustion of fossil fuels increases atmospheric CO2, making hydrogen a promising cleaner energy alternative. Pt has been able to facilitate this reaction efficiently, however, it is expensive and scarce. Fe has shown promise in facilitating 2-electron transfers when bound to redox-active ligands. Reacting the redox-active CyDABMe with benzylidene acetone iron tricarbonyl (bdaFe(CO)3) forms Fe[CyDABMe](CO)3, with vCO values ~10 cm-1 lower than FeArDABMe(CO)3, indicating increased electron density. The reduction potential of CyDABMe was probed using Zn[CyDABMe]Cl2, showing a reduction at 200 mV more negative than Zn[ArDABMe]Cl2. X-ray …

Sample Preparation And Acquisition Strategies To Improve Accessibility And Proteome Depth In Single-Cell And Low-Input Proteomics, Sara Madisyn Johnston

Theses and Dissertations

Proteins are responsible for important cellular functions and processes including regulation, structural integrity, signaling, transport, and immune functions. Proteomics directly identifies these proteins and enables deeper characterization of the dynamic cellular environment beyond the capabilities of genomics and transcriptomics. Single-cell proteomics further enhances this approach by capturing cellular heterogeneity, which bulk proteomics obscures due to averaging protein expression across large cell populations. Despite significant advances in single-cell proteomics, continued innovation is necessary to increase workflow accessibility and throughput, minimize peptide losses, and achieve comprehensive coverage of the proteome. This dissertation addresses these challenges by developing improved sample preparation methods, two-dimensional …

Diversity And Habitat Use Of Bats In Modified Suburban Landscapes, Brittany Morgera

Biology Presentations

Bats occupy critical ecological niches and perform important ecosystem services like controlling insect populations. However, humans have altered bat habitat substantially, resulting in the reduction of bat populations. The goals of this research are to assess bat diversity and habitat use across different levels of suburban habitat modification. To accomplish this, we deployed passive acoustic recorders at twelve locations with varying human impact in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. In accordance with The North American Bat Monitoring Program’s standards, acoustic analysis software was used to identify bat species. Manual identification methods from The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative were used to verify these …

Existence Of Maximal And Minimal Weak Solutions And Dinite Difference Approximations For Elliptic Systems With Nonlinear Boundary Conditions, S. Bandyopadhyay, T. Lewis, Nsoki Mavinga

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Works

We establish the existence of maximal and minimal weak solutions between ordered pairs of weak sub- and super-solutions for a coupled system of elliptic equations with quasimonotone nonlinearities on the boundary. We also formulate a finite difference method to approximate the solutions and establish the existence of maximal and minimal approximations between ordered pairs of discrete sub- and super-solutions. Monotone iterations are formulated for constructing the maximal and minimal solutions when the nonlinearity is monotone. Numerical simulations are used to explore existence, nonexistence, uniqueness and non-uniqueness properties of positive solutions. When the nonlinearities do not satisfy the monotonicity condition, we …

Examining The Effects Of Symbiotic State And Environmental Pollution On Wound Healing In Coral, Jonathan De Montagnac

College Honors Program

Understanding coral reef health requires comprehension of the biological processes that support live coral cover. Corals are frequently exposed to physical abrasion from various sources, thereby necessitating vital resources be directed towards wound recovery. For corals and other organisms that harbor photosynthetic symbionts, the balance between autotrophic versus heterotrophic energy contributions influences their fitness. Experimentally disentangling the individual effects of environmental stress and symbiotic state on coral health is difficult in most tropical corals due to the obligate nature of their symbiosis. However, determining how nutritional dynamics, environmental stressors, and health interact is crucial to understanding coral resilience. To examine …

Innovations In Sample Handling Automation To Increase Accessibility Of Sample-Limited Proteomics, Nathaniel Ben Axtell

Theses and Dissertations

Innovation is the vehicle that drives scientific research forward in virtually every field. Advances in genome sequencing propelled the human genome project to completion in 2003 and set the stage for the era of proteomics. Now decades of innovation in liquid chromatography (LC) and mass spectrometry (MS) have improved sensitivity sufficiently to enable single-cell proteomics and other sample-limited studies. Single-cell proteomics reveal patterns of gene expression that are often obscured by bulk-scale proteomics, leading to the identification of new protein biomarker candidates. Sensitive targeted proteomics is the key to successful translation of low-abundance protein assays into clinical applications. With a …

Volume 16, Maggie Duncan, Madeline Little, Alicia Hoffman, Megan Livesay, Gabrielle Quaresma, Serenity Allen, Laina Pfountz, Ainslie Allred, Sabrina Robles, Nicholas J. Duellman, Trinity L. Deguzman, Melissa H. Savage, Margaret Dudley, Jocelyn Escobar, Olivia Hildreth, Olivia Hopkins, Benjamin Gettier, Lee Kassay, Jade Riddle, Ashley Seiders

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction Dr. Amorette Barber, Director, Office of Student Research

From the Editor Dr. Hannah Dudley-Shotwell

Artist’s Statement Maggie Duncan

On Mentoring Dr. Lee Millar Bidwell

The Hujum Campaign in Uzbekistan and its Consequences by Madeline Little

Wet Cupping Compared to Dry Needling for Treatment of Patients with Low Back Pain: A Critically Appraised Topic by Alicia Hoffman and Megan Livesay

Optimization of eDNA Air Sampling Via 3D Printed Fan by Gabrielle Quaresma

Beyond the Classroom: A Qualitative Study of Teacher Attrition and Retention by Serenity Allen and Laina Pfountz

The Treatment of Subacromial Impingement Syndrome with Platelet-Rich plasma Injections Verses …

Developing An Unfolding-Incorporated Coarse-Grained Polymer Model For Fibrinogen To Study The Mechanical Behaviour, Vivek Sharma, Poulomi Sadhukhan

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Fibrinogen is a protein found in blood that forms Fibrin polymer network to build a clot during wound healing process when there is a cut in the blood vessel. The fibrin fiber is highly stretchable and shows a complex mechanical properties. The fibrin monomer, Fibrinogen, has a very complex structure which is responsible for its unusual elastic behaviour. In this work, we focus on mechanism of unfolding of D-domain of Fibrinogen, and study its effect in the mechanical behaviour. We develop a coarse-grained (CG) bead-spring model for Fibrinogen which captures the unfolding of folded D-domains along with other necessary structural …

Inhibition Of Mif With An Allosteric Inhibitor Triggers Cell Cycle Arrest In Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Georgios Pantouris, Leepakshi Khurana, Pathricia Tilstam, Alison Benner, Thomas Yoonsang Cho, Martin Lelaidier, Mathieu Perrée, Zoe Rosenbaum, Lin Leng, Francine Foss, Vineet Bhandari, Amit Verma, Richard Bucala, Elias J. Lolis

Pacific Faculty Work

Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a key modulator of innate and adaptive immunity that has been extensively reported to promote tumor cell survival, proliferation, and metastasis. A recent study focusing on the microenvironment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) showed that pharmacological inhibition of MIF signaling, in vitro as well as in vivo, reduces AML cell survival. Such data highlights the crucial role of MIF in AML pathogenesis and support the efforts for developing selective MIF modulators. Here, we report the identification and crystallographic characterization of a MIF inhibitor (compound 1) with an allosteric binding motif. Single point screening of …

Investigation Of The Interaction Conditions Of As2s5 And Cucl2 Compounds In Water And Ethylene Glycol Medium, Huseyn Imanov, Mahnur Jafarli

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

The article presents the results of interaction conditions of CuCl2 and As2S5 in ethylene glycol and aquatic medium. Besides, results of the obtained samples' physicochemical properties are given by X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential thermogravimetric (DTG), thermogravimetric (TG), elemental and scanning electron microscope (SEM) methods. It was found that when ethylene glycol and water are used as a solvent and CuCl2 and As2S5 as the initial components, Cu3AsS4 is obtained at a temperature of 323-353 K. According to the results of DTA analysis, it was found that the melting point of obtained samples was 964.4 K contrary to the reactions carried …

Synthesis Of Thiazole-Integrated Pyrrolotriazinones: Evaluations Of Cytotoxicity And Effects On Pi3k Levels In Cancer Cells, Eylem Kuzu, Ege Arzuk, Fuat Karakuş, Burak Kuzu, Hasan Genç

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

The synthesis of novel heterocyclic compounds, particularly those targeting critical signaling pathways in cancer, represents a promising approach to drug development. In this study, we designed and synthesized a series of thiazole-integrated pyrrolotriazinone derivatives, aiming to combine the antiproliferative properties of thiazole with the PI3K inhibitory activity of pyrrolotriazinones. The PI3K pathway, which plays a critical role in regulating cell growth, proliferation, and survival, is frequently dysregulated in cancer, making it an attractive target for therapeutic intervention. The synthesized derivatives were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against MCF-7, A549, and HepG2 cancer cell lines. Their effect on PI3K protein levels …

Ecofriendly Synthesis And Characterization Of Oxygen-Enriched G-C3n4 From Diverse Precursors For Efficient Organic Dye Decontamination, Muchammad Tamyiz

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Industrial wastewater from sectors such as textiles, printing, and pharmaceuticals contains harmful pollutants, including nonbiodegradable dyes, which pose significant challenges for environmental safety. Neutral red, a cationic dye commonly found in wastewater, obstructs photosynthesis in aquatic ecosystems and carries potential toxicity. Traditional methods of dye removal often prove ineffective due to the chemical stability of these compounds. In this study, oxygen-doped graphitic carbon nitride (O-doped g-C3N4) was synthesized as an innovative photocatalyst for the degradation of neutral red dye under visible light. The material was synthesized through a sustainable process involving the calcination of urea, dicyandiamide, and oxalic acid, and …

A New Turn Off Fluorescent Nir Probe For Hypochlorous Acid And Its Applications, Ayten Ibrahimova, Ayşe Nur Önem, Mehmet Altun, Emi̇n Ahmet Yeşi̇l, Asli Baysal, Hasan Saygin, Ahu Soyocak, Mustafa Özyürek

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) is a potent nonradical oxidant involved in various physiological processes, particularly within the human immune system. In this study, we introduce a novel, rapid, and highly efficient fluorometric method for the detection of HOCl. The method utilizes a near-infrared (NIR)-based fluorescent probe, NIR-QBH, which is characterized by its high sensitivity and chemical stability. NIR-QBH, containing olefinic C=C bonds, exhibits strong NIR emission at 660 nm (λex = 618 nm). The detection mechanism relies on the oxidation of the C=C bond in the NIR-QBH structure by HOCl, resulting in the formation of non-fluorescent products. With a detection limit …

Trenching And Compost Sustain Grain Yield Increases Over Nine Years On Deep Sands But At A Cost, David J.M. Hall, Tom J. Edwards

Grain and Other Field Crops Research Articles

Context. Crops grown on deep sands on the south coast of WA are limited by soil physical and chemical properties including compaction and poor nutrition. Aims. Crops grown on deep sands on the south coast of Western Australia are limited by soil physical and chemical properties including compaction and poor nutrition. Our aim was to determine what effects deep-placed organic amendments have on soil properties and crop production in a deep sand and whether such amendments are profitable. Methods. A long-term field trial was conducted over nine years (2015–2023) to investigate soil amendments including lime (0 and …

Ensemble Learning With Explainable Ai For Improved Heart Disease Prediction Based On Multiple Datasets, Shahid Mohammad Ganie, Pijush Kanti Dutta Pramanik, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Predicting and detecting heart disease early is crucial, as it allows medical professionals to take appropriate and necessary actions at earlier stages. Healthcare professionals can diagnose cardiac conditions more accurately by applying machine learning technology. This study aimed to enhance heart disease prediction using stacking and voting ensemble methods. Fifteen base models were trained on two different heart disease datasets. After evaluating various combinations, six base models were pipelined to develop ensemble models employing a meta-model (stacking) and a majority vote (voting). The performance of the stacking and voting …

Fabrication Of Au–Pd Bimetallic Dendrites And Their Catalytic Application For4-Nitrophenol Reduction, Jun Liu, Xuanyan Liu, Hongguang Liao

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Bimetal nanocatalysts hold significant application potential in catalytic reactions due to their compositions, morphologies, and electronic structures. In the present work, a series of AuPd alloy dendrites were successfully prepared using sodium formate, without surfactants or templates. A systematic investigation was then conducted to analyze the composition of the AuPd bimetallic dendrites and the effects of preparation conditions on their structure and catalytic performance. The AuPd alloy dendrites were characterized through various techniques, including scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray energy scattering spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results showed that the Au:Pd ratio in the AuPd …

Global Ocean Bottom Temperature Observation Design: Observing System Simulation Experiments For Strategic Deployment Of Smart Subsea Cables, Karen E. Renninger-Rojas

LSU Master's Theses

Deep-ocean observations below 2000 meters remain limited, restricting our ability to model global ocean processes critical to climate prediction. This thesis evaluates the potential of SMART (Science Monitoring and Reliable Telecommunications) subsea cables to address these observational gaps by conducting Observing System Simulation Experiments (OSSEs) and adjoint sensitivity analyses using the MITgcm ocean model and ECCO outputs.

Vertical decorrelation analysis showed that temperature and salinity in key regions decouple from the upper ocean beyond 2000 m. Over 60% of the proposed SMART cable sites exhibited decorrelation depths exceeding Argo’s maximum sampling depth, highlighting their strategic value for deployment.

A comparison …

Advancing Aerial Survey Techniques For Non-Breeding Waterfowl Populations: A Comprehensive Review And Application In Northeastern Louisiana, Victoria L. Drake

LSU Master's Theses

Aerial surveys play a crucial role in monitoring North America's waterfowl populations and habitat conditions, and consistency across geographies and years allows biologists to track trends through time. The goal of this project was to redesign the northeastern portion of the Louisiana wintering waterfowl survey to align with statistically robust transect surveys conducted in neighboring states within the Mississippi Alluvial Valley. To identify the optimal sampling method, we evaluated three transect weighting schemes: stratified random (unweighted), stratified by watershed, and stratified by expert opinion. Approximately 10% of the total sampling area was randomly selected for each survey period, adhering to …

Speed Of Shear Waves As A Function Of Frequency In Micellar Fluid, Michael Basha

Honors Theses

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the frequency dependence of shear wave speed in a micellar fluid. A high-concentration CTAB-NaSal micellar fluid seeded with microspheres was used in the experiment. Shear waves were generated using a wave driver and a function generator, while a high-speed camera captured video recordings. Since the frequency of the wave driver producing the shear waves in the micellar fluid is a constant value set by the experimenter, changes in shear wave speed can be determined by measuring their wavelengths at different frequencies.The captured video was then broken down into frames using MATLAB. These …

Nash Equilibrium Solutions For Continuous Static Games Under Neutrosophic Environment, M. G. Brikaa

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications

Neutrosophic set theory plays an important role in dealing with the impreciseness and inconsistency in data encountered in solving real life problems. This paper presents a novel approach to solving a new class of continuous static games within a neutrosophic framework. In the proposed methodology, the neutrosophic continuous static games are redefined into two separate crisp problems: the lower problem and the upper problem. The study further establishes the necessary conditions for determining equilibrium strategies in neutrosophic continuous static games. To demonstrate its effectiveness and practical applicability, the proposed method is validated through a numerical example.

Synthesis Of Novel Five-Membered Heterocycles As Bioactive Agents, Subrata Roy

Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation outlines the synthesis of various types of heterocyclic small molecules across three chapters. The first chapter discusses the efficient synthesis of seventy-one fluorinated pyrazole molecules and thirty-five 3,4-dihydroxy and 4-hydroxy phenyl-substituted thiazole molecules. These molecules were designed and synthesized for their potential antibacterial properties. The second chapter discusses the synthesis of fused thiazole molecules with enone-based steroidal natural products. This chapter reports on sixty-five novel fused thiazole molecules distributed across three libraries featuring different steroidal natural products: ethisterone, bisnoralcohol, and diosgenin. These molecules were designed and synthesized as potential anticancer agents. The third chapter comprises the development of …

Impacts Of Extreme Weather Conditions On Coastal Fisheries Near Bayou Teche, Louisiana From 2019–2023, Georgia C. Davis

LSU Master's Theses

The region of Southcentral Louisiana, particularly around Bayou Teche, thrives on its commercial and recreational fisheries. These fisheries are occasionally subject to events like extreme weather that cause sudden and unexpected losses (NOAA Fisheries, 2024a). Between 2019 and 2023, a series of extreme weather events impacted southcentral Louisiana near Bayou Teche. This series of extreme events includes Hurricane Barry (2019), Hurricane Laura (2020), Hurricane Delta (2020), Hurricane Zeta (2020), Hurricane Ida (2021), and a United States Drought Monitor (USDM) D4 drought (2023). This study analyzes the impacts of the extreme weather series on coastal fish observed species richness (SR) in …

2025 Academic Conference Program

Holy Cross Undergraduate Academic Conference

No abstract provided.

Using Mathematical Modeling To Study The Dynamics Of Legionnaires’ Disease And Consider Management Options, Mark Z. Wang, Christina J. Edholm, Lihong Zhao

Faculty Articles

Legionnaires' disease (LD) is a largely understudied and underreported pneumonic environmentally transmitted disease caused by the bacteria \textit{Legionella}. It primarily occurs in places with poorly maintained artificial sources of water. There is currently a lack of mathematical models on the dynamics of LD. In this paper, we formulate a novel ordinary differential equation-based susceptible-exposed-infected-recovered (SEIR) model for LD. One issue with LD is the difficulty in its detection, as the majority of countries around the world lack the proper surveillance and diagnosis methods. Thus, there is not much publicly available data or literature on LD. We use parameter estimation for …

From Food To Fashion: Bio-Based Textiles Advancing Sustainability And Socioeconomic Growth In Emerging Markets, Andrew Burnstine

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

The global fashion industry is undergoing a profound shift towards sustainability, driven by innovations in bio-based textiles derived from agricultural byproducts such as cactus, pineapple, banana, coconut, fungi, and bacterial cultures. This article comprehensively explores the technological advancements, industry adoption trends, socioeconomic impact on emerging markets, and barriers to widespread adoption of bio-based textiles. The alignment of these innovations with global sustainability initiatives, key industry collaborations, and policy interventions are also examined.

Application For Prediction Of Heart Failure; The Next Step In Machine Learning For Healthcare, Amy Adyanthaya, Dawn Bowerman, Rachel Liercke, Robert Slater

SMU Data Science Review

Heart failure (HF) is a serious medical condition affecting approximately 6.7 million U.S. adults and is expected to impact 8.5 million Americans by 2030 [1]. Heart failure is a complicated clinical ailment and characterizes the final course of numerous heart diseases [2]. This paper introduces a machine-learning-based application that utilizes Support Vector Machine (SVM), Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP), and XGBoost models, implemented through the Python Flask framework, to predict HF risk using clinical data. The results indicate high model performance, with precision and recall metrics underscoring the application’s reliability in identifying at-risk patients. By providing real-time, accessible insights, this tool aims …

Enhancing Animal Shelter Operations With Time Series And Machine Learning, Sakava L. Kiv, Donald L. Anderson, Shivam Negi, Jacquelyn Cheun

SMU Data Science Review

Enhancing animal shelter operations through machine learning involves employing a variety of advanced techniques aimed at increasing efficiency, promoting animal welfare, and optimizing resource allocation. This paper explores predictive analytics for adoption rates using regression models to estimate the likelihood of adoption based on historical data, encompassing variables such as breed, health status, and previous adoption trends. Additionally, classification algorithms are utilized to categorize animals by adoption probability, facilitating better resources and marketing prioritization. Clustering algorithms are employed to group animals according to behavior patterns and/or physical health, enabling tailored medical care and enrichment activities that improve their mental and …

The Evolution Of Russian And Chinese Disinformation Tactics And The Threat They Pose To The U.S. Cybersecurity, Jehovani Sese

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

This paper aims to discuss how disinformation has become the most powerful tool used against the United State by foreign operatives. Of these foreign operatives, Russia and China have shown the ability to use advanced tactics to truly affect the United States security. Often these tools came in the form of state-sponsored media, influence campaigns and fake online identities. This literature review explores the evolution of Russian and Chinese disinformation tactics, examining how these approaches have changed over time and become more sophisticated. This paper will highlight major campaigns which use tools such as bot networks, and social media manipulation. …

Climate Change Adaptation Through Economic Democracy, Shriraksha Mohan

Best Integrated Writing

Mohan investigates and combines three different areas of literature and social movements to discuss the problem of climate change and economic adaptation. The value of this work is that it can be used to communicate among three independent types of social movements and inquiries. This can strengthen and connect dispersed yet overlapping efforts in addressing work issues, resource utilization, economic governance and participation, and ecological problems economies face today.

Rewiring An Enzyme: K135f Mutation In Malate Dehydrogenase, Lauren Ratz, Kaci Schmoll

Undergraduate Research Symposium 2025

Malate Dehydrogenase (MDH) is an enzyme that catalyzes the reaction of malate to oxaloacetate by reducing the cofactor NAD+ to NADH in the citric acid cycle, playing a crucial role in cellular metabolism. Alterations in the MDH structure have been linked to metabolic diseases and cancers, though its overall structure remains poorly characterized. To better understand MDH, we manipulated its structure by inserting a point mutation into the flexible loop region at position 135, exchanging a lysine (Lys) to a phenylalanine (Phe). We hypothesized that mutating a positively charged amino acid (Lys) to an aromatic amino acid (Phe) would cause …