Digital Commons Network^™

Cpeb3 Maintains Developmental Competence Of The Oocyte, Lucie Lamacova, Denisa Jansova, Zongliang Jiang, Michal Dvoran, Daria Aleshkina, Rajan Iyyappan, Anna Jindrova, Heng Yu Fan, Yuxuan Jiao, Andrej Susor

Faculty Publications

Mammalian oocyte development depends on the temporally controlled translation of maternal transcripts, particularly in the coordination of meiotic and early embryonic development when transcription has ceased. The translation of mRNA is regulated by various RNA-binding proteins. We show that the absence of cytoplasmic polyadenylation element-binding protein 3 (CPEB3) negatively affects female reproductive fitness. CPEB3-depleted oocytes undergo meiosis normally but experience early embryonic arrest due to a disrupted transcriptome, leading to aberrant protein expression and the subsequent failure of embryonic transcription initiation. We found that CPEB3 stabilizes a subset of mRNAs with a significantly longer 3’UTR that is enriched in its …

Harmonizing Soybean-Associated Beneficial Bacteria For Sustainable Cultivation, Jonas J. Padilla

LSU Master's Theses

Long-term reliance on agrochemicals, such as fertilizers and pesticides, to improve crop productivity can severely impact soil physicochemical properties and health. This eventually leads us to completely depend on these chemicals to sustain the needs of our crops. To resuscitate the deteriorating state of our arable lands, we need to shift from traditional farming to more sustainable crop management. One of the alternatives that we can use instead of these chemicals is the utilization of microorganisms that can perform a variety of beneficial functions for the growth and development of crops. Recently, seed-treating materials made up of bacterial consortia were …

Ammonium Chemotaxis In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Gabela Nelson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Analysis of ammonium chemotaxis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is largely hindered, compared to that of phototaxis, despite equal importance on flagellated microalgal physiology. A major contribution of this shortfall is the lack of proper assay method. We developed a simple Petri dish assay method in which light is homogenously exposed while patterns of the cellular migration are tracked with a function of time. Using the method, new findings were revealed. First, this research presented that a strain lacking the eyespot organelle required for light gradient-sensing exhibits similar chemotactic behavior compared to a wild-type strain, suggesting Chlamydomonas sense an ammonium gradient not …

Blocks? Graphs? Why Not Both? Designing And Evaluating A Hybrid Programming Environment For End-Users, Nico Ritschel, Felipe Fronchetti, Reid Holmes, Ronald Garcia, David C. Shepherd

Faculty Publications

Many modern end-user development environments support one of two visual modalities: block-based programming or data-flow programming. In this work, we investigate the trade-offs between the two modalities in the context of robotics tasks. These often contain both aspects that are better solved with blocks and others that best fit data-flow programming. To address this style of task, we present and discuss two novel programming environment prototypes, one purely block-based and one a hybrid of blocks and data-flow programming. We compare the designs through a controlled experiment with 113 end-user participants, in which we asked them to solve programming and program …

Enhancement Of Applied Rice Breeding Programs: Exploring Factors Impacting Genomic Selection Accuracy And Discovery Of A Novel Gene For Grain Shape, Maria G. Montiel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Plant breeding is a crucial tool in addressing global challenges such as climate change, population growth, and the need for more resilient crops. Rice serves as a staple food for a significant portion of the global population and has served as a model crop for genetic and genomic studies. Genomic selection (GS) has become valuable tool in plant breeding, allowing breeders to predict breeding lines’ performance based on their genotypes. The training (TS) set is a central component of genomic selection and the optimization of the training set is crucial for efficient implementation of genomic selection. The first two objectives …

Magnetic Control Of Nonmagnetic Living Organisms, Ahmed Al Harraq, Min Feng, Hashir M. Gauri, Ram Devireddy, Ankur Gupta, Qing Sun, Bhuvnesh Bharti

Faculty Publications

Living organisms inspire the design of microrobots, but their functionality is unmatched. Next-generation microrobots aim to leverage the sensing and communication abilities of organisms through magnetic hybridization, attaching magnetic particles to them for external control. However, the protocols used for magnetic hybridization are morphology specific and are not generalizable. We propose an alternative approach that leverages the principles of negative magnetostatics and magnetophoresis to control nonmagnetic organisms with external magnetic fields. To do this, we disperse model organisms in dispersions of Fe3O4 nanoparticles and expose them to either uniform or gradient magnetic fields. In uniform magnetic fields, living organisms align …

The Oracle Of The Pig's Head, Taylor L. Denton

LSU Master's Theses

The Oracle of the Pig’s Head is a collection of two poems, a short story, and a novel centered around themes of the role of the feminine body in society, monstrosity, disgust, divinity, and human impact on the environment. Inspired by other works of eco-criticism, gothic literature, surrealism, Appalachian folklore, and Greco-Roman mythology, this collection explores how marginalized bodies interact in a world forever altered by climate change.

Denton is primarily interested in how severe climate change has influenced not only human’s overall relationship to the environment, but also how writers are meant to engage with a world riddled with …

Gut Microbial Dysbiosis Differs In Two Distinct Cachectic Tumor-Bearing Models Consuming The Same Diet, Lauri O. Byerley, Brittany Lorenzen, Hsiao Man Chang, William G. Hartman, Michael J. Keenan, Ryan Page, Meng Luo, Scot E. Dowd, Christopher M. Taylor

Faculty Publications

The impact of cancer cachexia on the colonic microbiota is poorly characterized. This study assessed the effect of two cachectic-producing tumor types on the gut microbiota to determine if a similar dysbiosis could be found. In addition, it was determined if a diet containing an immunonutrient-rich food (walnuts) known to promote the growth of probiotic bacteria in the colon could alter the dysbiosis and slow cachexia. Male Fisher 344 rats were randomly assigned to a semi-purified diet with or without walnuts. Then, within each diet group, rats were further assigned randomly to a treatment group: tumor-bearing ad libitum fed (TB), …

Phonic Faces As An Intervention To Improve Decoding Skills Of Children With Persistantly Poor Decoding Abilities, Kayla Therese Martin

LSU Master's Theses

Background: Orthographic rules, phonological awareness, and the ability to process morphemes and phonemes from speech and language begins with verbal speech and the child unknowingly recognizes words from his or her environment as early as the senses can process their surroundings. Some children have difficulty integrating these processes to learn how to read. As Ehri (1979) mentions the importance of establishing mental processes, such as amalgamation and phonological recoding, are essential as a basis for establishing reading fundamentals. Decoding occurs through a complex integration of phonological and orthographic knowledge (Ehri 1992). Early readers typically have well-established amalgams for spoken words …

Spatial Mapping Of The Benthic Community And How It Is Used To Research Effects Of Dredging In Louisiana's Lake Borgne., Meghan Johnson

LSU Master's Theses

Benthic communities are vitally important for healthy aquatic ecosystems across Louisiana’s coast. Specifically in Lake Borgne, ecologically important species of fish like the Gulf Sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi) rely on benthic macrofauna as their main food source. The purpose of this study was to determine the spatial landscape of biodiversity and abundance of the benthic macrofauna community in Lake Borgne. Environmental conditions played a key role in community structure during the study period (fall 2021 through summer 2023) with a major drought occurring in 2023. In 2023, the decline in the abundance of most benthic invertebrates and in …

Examination Of The Effects Of Ultraviolet Radiation On The Toxicity Of An Array Of Pesticides, Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons, And Pharmaceuticals Via In-Vitro Bioassays, Jessica R. Stephens

LSU Master's Theses

Chemicals are often released via anthropogenic means both intentionally and unintentionally into aquatic environments. The chemical fate of these compounds can vary greatly depending on numerous factors that can include but are not limited to salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of UV radiation on the level of toxicity of different chemicals over time. Chemicals were selected based on previous studies of the toxicity of both parent and metabolites formed as a result of photolysis. Anthracene, phenanthrene, anthraquinone, dicloran, chlorothalonil, hydroxy chlorothalonil, benzobicyclon hydrolysate, and sertraline were …

Enhancement Of Soybean Growth And Disease Resistance Through Seed-Priming Strategy, Francisco Javier Valle

LSU Master's Theses

Disease pressure and other environmental stresses, especially increasing temperature and drought incidence, accompanied with global climatic change have presented hard challenges to Louisiana soybean producers. The objective of this study was to explore the efficacy of seed priming techniques as new alternatives to improve soybean crop protection to reduce the amount of yield losses caused by biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, five chemicals were used as priming agents at different concentrations (0.1 mM, 1 mM, and 10 mM) to evaluate their effectiveness in enhancing disease tolerance and yield in soybeans. A seed priming procedure was developed by partially …

A Novel Goat Model To Characterize Male Fertility Following Paternal Cannabidiol Exposure, Ashlyn N. Brewer

LSU Master's Theses

Despite the increasing use of cannabidiol, both for medical and social purposes, the effect of cannabidiol on male fertility is poorly understood. Previous studies have been carried out in rodent models, but a large animal model does not exist at this time. This experiment proposes chronic cannabidiol (CBD) exposure using a goat model to understand the impact CBD has on male reproductive performance. The purpose of this project is to determine if daily exposure to CBD in male goats would impact reproductive parameters such as sperm quality and testosterone levels.

Two studies were conducted to determine the effects of CBD …

Starting Small Or Big: An Artificial Language Paradigm, Rachel Evans

LSU Master's Theses

Previous research on language acquisition has raised two competing hypotheses: Starting Small and Starting Big. Starting Small states that limitations (small working memory capacity, simple structure, short string length, etc.) are beneficial for language learning, which explains why children are able to acquire language more easily than adults. Starting Big proposes the opposite, that input of chunks of language rather than individual units creates a stronger and more fluid understanding of grammatical relations between words. The current study aimed to investigate these theories in the context of an artificial language paradigm using a forced-choice task, a production task, a working …

The Use Of Duddingtonia Flagrans Aged In Mineral For Gastrointestinal Parasitic Nematode Control In Small Ruminants, Elisa M. Preston

LSU Master's Theses

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) are a major constraint to small ruminant health and production throughout the world. Haemonchus contortus commonly known as the “barber pole worm” is a major concern for producers and veterinarians because of the severe anemia, and other clinical symptoms these worms cause. For decades, anthelmintics have been used to control the GIN burden small ruminants face. Katahdin (n=36) and Hampshire sheep (n=12) were used in a randomized block design experiment over a 30-day period. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Duddingtonia flagrans spores, the active ingredient in a commercial product, Bioworma® (International …

Characterizing The Roles Of Bacterial And Viral Agents In House Crickets (Acheta Domesticus) At Commercial Rearing Facilities In The United States, Kimberly L. Boykin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Feeder insects, and in particular crickets, are becoming more popular as food for humans and domesticated animals. However, disease outbreaks continue to decimate commercial populations. The goals of this dissertation were to characterize the epidemiology of different viral and bacterial pathogens affecting the survival of European house crickets (Acheta domesticus) being raised under mass rearing conditions and identify methods to reduce the impact of these pathogens.

Crickets from nine different producers across the United States were sampled during different seasons to better estimate the prevalence of three pathogenic viruses: Acheta domesticus densovirus (AdDV), Acheta domesticus volvovirus (AdVVV), and …

Addition And Subtraction: Coral Reproduction And Disease In A Changing Ocean, Ashley Rossin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Marine diseases are changing the landscapes of coral reefs particularly throughout the Western Atlantic. Stony coral tissue loss disease (SCTLD) swept through this region impacting at least 22 stony coral species. White plague (WP) is a more ephemeral disease, but still has a significant impact on coral reef health and perseverance, especially under a changing ocean. While these impacts are seen on the reef-scale, we can zoom into the tissue-level to identify disease markers for both diseases and identify their differences. This has ramifications for disease intervention, as well as mitigation strategies. Despite continuous disease outbreaks, healthy corals persist and …

Speech And Language Errors In An 8-Year-Old Spanish-English Bilingual Speaker: A Case Study, Alaniss Heredia

LSU Master's Theses

Despite the growing population of Spanish-English bilingual speakers with developmental language disorders and speech sound disorders (SSD) in the United States, there is limited research on assessment for this population. Research suggests that the linguistic environment in which the Spanish-English bilingual speakers are brought up should be considered when assessing and treating this population since the Spanish-English bilingual population is diverse. One result of such environments is differences in degrees of language exposure. For example, a child can be exposed to two languages but have more exposure in one than the other. This might lead to better proficiency in one …

Improving Implicit Communication In Remote Collaboration Through Augmented Reality And Digital Twins, Nicholas Levergne

LSU Master's Theses

Large scale digital twinning projects are beginning to emerge across the tech industry. Within these projects is a desire to integrate augmented reality capabilities into industrial workflows. However, research on augmented reality technology for remote collaboration lacks ecologically valid studies of real world scenarios. Additionally, prior remote collaboration literature is focused on white-collar applications instead of blue-collar field work. Prior AR collaboration software is similarly limited, with most software allowing mixed camera views and annotation that requires participants to be stationary. This thesis introduces SpectAR, an augmented reality and desktop remote collaboration software suite developed in Unreal Engine 5.1.1. SpectAR …

Decoding Affective Information From Neuronal Populations In The Human Hippocampus, Alexander N. Lawriw

LSU Master's Theses

The hippocampus is understood to play a key role in the formation of episodic memories. Prominent theories suggest this is made possible through use of sparse encoding schemes, in which a small number of neurons encode each episodic event using a distinct pattern of neuronal activity. However, more recent computational models suggest that the hippocampus may also be capable of representing semantic structure, a notion previously thought to be exclusive to the neocortex. In our previous line of work, we trained multivariate classifiers to predict the semantic content, specifically affect, of computer-generated faces given spiking data taken from individual neurons …

Spring 2024 Catalog, Lsu Press

LSU Press Seasonal Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Louisiana Agriculture Magazine, Spring 2024, Lsu Agcenter

Louisiana Agriculture

Louisiana’s warm, subtropical climate allows producers to raise an array of crops and livestock. It also provides challenges. Tropical storm winds can lay down rice and cane crops. Ample rain can turn into crop-damaging floods. Last year, a drought struck the southeastern United States, leading to more than $100 million in losses for the cattle sector.

In these cases, LSU AgCenter specialists respond to individual producers’ needs. In each parish AgCenter Extension agents help connect producers with needed resources and become a conduit for the latest knowledge gleaned from scientists at AgCenter research stations across the state.

This issue of …

Pregnane X Receptor Knockout Mitigates Weight Gain And Hepatic Metabolic Dysregulation In Female C57bl/6 J Mice On A Long-Term High-Fat Diet, Lidya H. Gebreyesus, Sora Choi, Prince Neequaye, Mattia Mahmoud, Mia Mahmoud, Malvin Ofosu-Boateng, Elizabeth Twum, Daniel O. Nnamani, Lijin Wang, Nour Yadak, Sujoy Ghosh, Frank J. Gonzalez, Maxwell A. Gyamfi

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Obesity is a significant risk factor for several chronic diseases. However, pre-menopausal females are protected against high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity and its adverse effects. The pregnane X receptor (PXR, NR1I2), a xenobiotic-sensing nuclear receptor, promotes short-term obesity-associated liver disease only in male mice but not in females. Therefore, the current study investigated the metabolic and pathophysiological effects of a long-term 52-week HFD in female wild-type (WT) and PXR-KO mice and characterized the PXR-dependent molecular pathways involved. After 52 weeks of HFD ingestion, the body and liver weights and several markers of hepatotoxicity were significantly higher in WT mice than in …

Human Milk Components And The Infant Gut Microbiome At 6 Months: Understanding The Interconnected Relationship, Maryam Kebbe, Kartik Shankar, Leanne M. Redman, Aline Andres

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Background: Human milk oligosaccharides have been shown to relate to the infant gut microbiome. However, the impact of other human milk components on infant gut bacterial colonization remains unexplored. Objectives: Our cross-sectional analysis aimed to investigate associations between human milk components (energy, macronutrients, free amino acids, inflammatory markers, and hormones) and infant gut microbiome diversity and composition (phylum, family, and genus) at 6 mo of age. Methods: Human milk and infant stool samples were collected at 6 mo postpartum. The infant gut microbiome was profiled using 16S rRNA sequencing. Linear regression models were performed to examine associations, adjusting for pregravid …

Embryonic Exposure To Benzotriazole Ultraviolet Stabilizer 327 Alters Behavior Of Rainbow Trout Alevin, Andreas N.M. Eriksson, Justin Dubiel, Lauren Zink, Zhe Lu, Jon A. Doering, Steve Wiseman

Faculty Publications

Benzotriazole ultraviolet (UV) stabilizers (BUVSs) are used in great quantities during industrial production of a variety of consumer and industrial goods. As a result of leaching and spill, BUVSs are detectable ubiquitously in the environment. As of May 2023, citing concerns related to bioaccumulation, biomagnification, and environmental persistence, (B)UV(S)-328 was recommended to be listed under Annex A of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. However, a phaseout of UV-328 could result in a regrettable substitution because the replacement chemical(s) could cause similar or unpredicted toxicity in vivo, relative to UV-328. Therefore, the influence of UV-327, a potential replacement of …

Evaluation Of Organic And Synthetic Herbicide Applications On Weed Suppression In A Conventional Cropping System In Louisiana, Caitlin Denux, Aixin Hou, Lisa Fultz

Faculty Publications

Synthetic herbicides, with their varying modes of action, are well known for their efficiency in the suppression and control of weed species in U.S. agriculture. However, the consequences of using synthetic herbicides without attention to the surrounding environment produce chemical run-off, changes in soil health and soil health conditions, and create herbicide-resistant weeds. These outcomes have encouraged growers to seek alternative methods for their weed management programs or farming operations. Organic production systems and organic pesticides have helped address these challenges related to sustainability and environmental health. However, the use of organic herbicides in a conventional cropping system is not …

Biochar-Based Materials As Remediation Strategy In Petroleum Hydrocarbon-Contaminated Soil And Water: Performances, Mechanisms, And Environmental Impact, Zhuo Wei, Yi Wei, Yang Liu, Shuai Niu, Yaxi Xu, Jong Hwan Park, Jim J. Wang

Faculty Publications

Petroleum contamination is considered as a major risk to the health of humans and environment. Biochars as low-cost and eco-friendly carbon materials, have been widely used for the removal of petroleum hydrocarbon in the environment. The purpose of this paper is to review the performance, mechanisms, and potential environmental toxicity of biochar, modified biochar and its integration use with other materials in petroleum contaminated soil and water. Specifically, the use of biochar in oil-contaminated water and soil as well as the factors that could influence the removal ability of biochar were systematically evaluated. In addition, the modification and integrated use …

Guinea Pig Herpes Like Virus Is A Gamma Herpesvirus, Brent A. Stanfield, Emmanuelle Ruiz, Vladimir N. Chouljenko, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

Guinea Pig Herpes-Like Virus (GPHLV) is a virus isolated from leukemic guinea pigs with herpes virus-like morphology described by Hsiung and Kaplow in 1969. GPHLV transformed embryonic cells from Syrian hamsters or rats, which were tumorigenic in adult animals. Herein, we present the genomic sequence of GPHLV strain LK40 as a reference for future molecular analysis. GPHLV has a broad host tropism and replicates efficiently in Guinea pig, Cat, and Green African Monkey-derived cell lines. GPHLV has a GC content of 35.45%. The genome is predicted to encode at least 75 open-reading frames (ORFs) with 84% (63 ORFs) sharing homology …

Case Studies On The State Of Journalism In Louisiana, Allison Allsop

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Predicting Antibiotic Resistance In Recreational Areas, Daniela Azevedo

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.