Digital Commons Network^™

Characterizing Drosophila Melanogaster Sleep Models Using An Optogenetic Engineered Caspase And Channelrhodopsins, Corey Cooper

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Theory Of Multiformat Communication: Mechanisms, Dynamics, And Strategies, Jordan W. Moffett, Judith Anne Garretson Folse, Robert W. Palmatier

Faculty Publications

Extant communication theories predate the explosion of digital formats and technological advances such as virtual reality, which likely explains their predominant focus on traditional and format-level (e.g., face-to-face, email) rather than digital or characteristic-level (e.g., visual cues, synchronicity) design decisions. Firms thus lack insights into how to create and use emerging digital formats, individually or synergistically. To establish a holistic framework of bilateral multiformat communication for relationship marketing, this article reviews communication theory to establish a foundation for understanding multiformat communication and to identify any gaps (e.g., AI agents, simulated cues). The authors then review bilateral communication research in light …

Potential Link Between Compromised Air Quality And Transmission Of The Novel Corona Virus (Sars-Cov-2) In Affected Areas, M. G. Manoj, M. K. Satheesh Kumar, K. T. Valsaraj, C. Sivan, Soumya K. Vijayan

Faculty Publications

The emergence of a novel human corona virus disease (COVID-19) has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. One of the mechanisms of airborne transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) amid humans is through direct ejection of droplets via sneezing, coughing and vocalizing. Nevertheless, there are ample evidences of the persistence of infectious viruses on inanimate surfaces for several hours to a few days. Through a critical review of the current literature and a preliminary analysis of the link between SARS-CoV-2 transmission and air pollution in the affected regions, we offer a perspective …

Development Of A Low Power, Low Cost Rural Railway Intersection Smart Detection And Warning System, Sara Ahmed, Samer Dessouky, Raymond Downing

Data

This project explores a different approach to provide preemptive warning for train detection at grade-crossings to increase safety and reduce motor vehicle congestion. The development of a novel, low cost, low power, and off rail right-of-way (ROW) detection and warning system will be presented. A background of track circuits, which is the rail industries standard for train detection, will also be provided to highlight the benefits and challenges of the rail industry installing a system at every grade-crossings that lack any type of active warning. The benefits of using thermal imaging instead of traditional video for computer vision will also …

Metabolic Health Status Contributes To Transcriptome Alternation In Human Visceral Adipose Tissue During Obesity, Qiuzhong Zhou, Zhenzhen Fu, Yingyun Gong, Veerabrahma Pratap Seshachalam, Jia Li, Yizhe Ma, Hui Liang, Wei Guan, Shibo Lin, Sujoy Ghosh, Lei Sun, Hongwen Zhou

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Objective: BMI is a well-established factor affecting the transcriptome profile of adipose tissue, but there are few reports on the relationship between the metabolic health status of people with obesity and the transcriptional changes, particularly in visceral adipose tissue. Methods: Visceral adipose tissue was collected from three subgroups of patients, lean (n = 11), metabolically healthy obesity (MHO; n = 22), and metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO; n = 26), and RNA sequencing was conducted to profile the transcriptome changes between these groups in a pairwise manner. Results: Comparing MUO with lean and comparing MHO with lean revealed similar patterns in …

Aroma, Quality, And Consumer Mindsets For Shelf-Stable Rice Thermally Processed By Reciprocal Agitation, William R. Dixon, Blanca E. Morales-Contreras, Manoch Kongchum, Zhimin Xu, Dustin Harrell, Howard R. Moskowitz, Louise Wicker

Faculty Publications

Food engineering, food chemistry, and consumer segmentation were used to evaluate ready-to-eat rice. The aromatic Louisiana Clearfield Jazzman (CJ) and Thai Jasmine (TJ), and a non-aromatic parboiled (PB) rice were hydrated during the first 10 min of processing with reciprocal agitation followed by static retort processing. The aroma compound, 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) was more heat-stable in CJ than TJ rice but decreased 15-fold compared to the rice cooker method. Pareto analysis indicated that rice type and agitation had the main effect on amylose and total starch and chroma and hue. Color differences of rice agitated during hydration and between rice cooker …

Performance Analysis Of A Quantum Monte Carlo Application On Multiple Hardware Architectures Using The Hpx Runtime, Weile Wei, Arghya Chatterjee, Kevin Huck, Oscar Hernandez, Hartmut Kaiser

Faculty Publications

This paper describes how we successfully used the HPX programming model to port the DCA++ application on multiple architectures that include POWER9, x86, ARM v8, and NVIDIA GPUs. We describe the lessons we can learn from this experience as well as the benefits of enabling the HPX in the application to improve the CPU threading part of the code, which led to an overall 21% improvement across architectures. We also describe how we used HPX-APEX to raise the level of abstraction to understand performance issues and to identify tasking optimization opportunities in the code, and how these relate to CPU/GPU …

Towards Distributed Software Resilience In Asynchronous Many-Task Programming Models, Nikunj Gupta, Jackson R. Mayo, Adrian S. Lemoine, Hartmut Kaiser

Faculty Publications

Exceptions and errors occurring within mission critical applications due to hardware failures have a high cost. With the emerging Next Generation Platforms (NGPs), the rate of hardware failures will likely increase. Therefore, designing our applications to be resilient is a critical concern in order to retain the reliability of results while meeting the constraints on power budgets. In this paper, we discuss software resilience in AMTs at both local and distributed scale. We choose HPX to prototype our resiliency designs. We implement two resiliency APIs that we expose to the application developers, namely task replication and task replay. Task replication …

Deploying A Task-Based Runtime System On Raspberry Pi Clusters, Nikunj Gupta, Steve R. Brandt, Bibek Wagle, Nanmiao Wu, Alireza Kheirkhahan, Patrick Diehl, Felix W. Baumann, Hartmut Kaiser

Faculty Publications

Arm® technology is becoming increasingly important in HPC. Recently, Fugaku, an Arm®-based system, was awarded the number one place in the Top500 list. Raspberry Pis provide an inexpensive platform to become familiar with this architecture. However, Pis can also be useful on their own. Here we describe our efforts to configure and benchmark the use of a Raspberry Pi cluster with the HPX/Phylanx platform (normally intended for use with HPC applications) and document the lessons we learned. First, we highlight the required changes in the configuration of the Pi to gain performance. Second, we explore how limited memory bandwidth limits …

Towards A Scalable And Distributed Infrastructure For Deep Learning Applications, Bita Hasheminezhad, Shahrzad Shirzad, Nanmiao Wu, Patrick Diehl, Hannes Schulz, Hartmut Kaiser

Faculty Publications

Although recent scaling up approaches to train deep neural networks have proven to be effective, the computational intensity of large and complex models, as well as the availability of large-scale datasets require deep learning frameworks to utilize scaling out techniques. Parallelization approaches and distribution requirements are not considered in the primary designs of most available distributed deep learning frameworks and most of them still are not able to perform effective and efficient fine-grained inter-node communication. We present Phylanx that has the potential to alleviate these shortcomings. Phylanx presents a productivity-oriented frontend where user Python code is translated to a futurized …

Development Of A Low Power, Low Cost Rural Railway Intersection Smart Detection And Warning System, Sara Ahmed, Samer Dessouky, Raymond Downing

Publications

This project explores a different approach to provide preemptive warning for train detection at grade-crossings to increase safety and reduce motor vehicle congestion. The development of a novel, low cost, low power, and off rail right-of-way (ROW) detection and warning system will be presented. A background of track circuits, which is the rail industries standard for train detection, will also be provided to highlight the benefits and challenges of the rail industry installing a system at every grade-crossings that lack any type of active warning. The benefits of using thermal imaging instead of traditional video for computer vision will also …

Study Of Control Schemes For Series Hybrid-Electric Powertrain For Unmanned Aerial Systems, Darren A. Dehesa Jr

LSU Master's Theses

Hybrid-Electric aircraft powertrain modeling for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) is a useful tool for predicting powertrain performance of the UAS aircraft. However, for small UAS, potential gains in range and endurance can depend significantly on the aircraft flight profile and powertrain control logic in addition to the subsequent impact on the performance of powertrain components. Small UAS aircraft utilize small-displacement engines with poor thermal efficiency and, therefore, could benefit from a hybridized powertrain by reducing fuel consumption. This study uses a dynamic simulation of a UAS, representative flight profiles, and powertrain control logic approaches to evaluate the performance of a …

Simulating Hydrological Connectivity And Water Age Within A Coastal Deltaic Floodplain Of The Mississippi River Delta, Alexandra Christensen, Robert R. Twilley, Clinton S. Willson, Edward Castañeda-Moya

Faculty Publications

Located at the mouth of large rivers, coastal deltaic floodplains are important ecosystems for trapping sediment and removing excess nitrogen introduced to the river through agricultural and urban runoff. Hydrological connectivity (the percent of river channel water interacting with floodplain wetlands), water age (the time elapsed since water entered the system via the main river channel) and water temperature have strong impacts on the biogeochemical processes controlling the fate of sediment and nutrients at continental margins. A Delft3D hydrodynamic model was used to explore the role of river and tide forcings, hydrogeomorphology, and vegetation roughness on hydrological connectivity, water age, …

The Exemplary Spartacus: Reception, Adaptation, And Reconstruction, Benjamin Franklin Howland

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

My project, “The Exemplary Spartacus: Reception, Adaptation, and Reconstruction,” focusses on various representations of the gladiator Spartacus. I assert that Spartacus has almost exclusively been and continues to be an exemplary figure, with an extensive and connected literary tradition, working as an empty signifier in differing temporalities and localities. I draw specific attention to a core issue in the study of Spartacus, namely, the plethora of modern representations of Spartacus in various genres, and the continuing influence these representations exert through their blurring of the historical figure with local themes and ideologies. Each draw from the same ancient sources, infusing …

Characterizing The Biophysical Properties And Origin Of Extracellular Matrix In The Breast Tumor Microenvironment, Connor T. King

LSU Master's Theses

Tumors derived from breast tissue possess the ability to manipulate and permanently alter their surrounding tissue. Studies demonstrate that tissues surrounding breast tumors have differences in secreted factors as well as extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition and structure. However, some fundamental gaps exist within this paradigm: specifically, what exacerbates this transformation and are these changes maintained between the subtypes of breast tumors? Therefore, a targeted evaluation of the effects of the tumor on the stromal microenvironment in a subtype specific manner will be invaluable. To determine if tumor aggressiveness and subtype differentially regulate the tumor microenvironment, a model must be constructed …

Comparison Of In-Office Psychiatric Encounters With Out-Of-Office Psychiatric Encounters Regarding Efficacy, Presenteeism, And Self-Perceived Stigma Among Adult Recipients Of Psychiatric Treatment For Depression In Louisiana, Lawrence Sullivan Salone

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to conduct a clinical trial to compare the provision of psychiatric evaluation and medication interventions in a virtual out of office format (VOO) with the provision of psychiatric evaluation and medication interventions in a virtual in-office psychiatric encounter (VIO) among adults in Louisiana seeking psychiatric services for the treatment of depression. This study was classified as a pretest-posttest control group non-inferiority double-blind experimental design. Each patient took a self-rated instrument at baseline and at week 8. The study tested the two interventions (VOO and VIO) by way of changes in overall function, changes …

Indeterminate Sample Sequencing In Virtual Reality, Chase Mitchusson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The VR Sequencer is a tool for composing and performing music which takes advantage of spatial configuration of 3-D objects to generate looping sequences. This project combines dice-rolling with omnidirectional playheads and variable terrain to make a sequencer with indeterminate features in Virtual Reality (VR). A comparison of mapping systems for music games and digital instruments demonstrates a middle ground for interactive music making which the VR Sequencer applies. An inspection of current VR works exhibits a disconnect be- tween VR gamers and experimental musicians. In an attempt to give the gaming community access to experimental music making, the VR …

Developing A Competency Model For Highway Safety Engineers: A Delphi Method, Garrett K. Wheat

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the core competencies needed by State DOT Highway Safety Engineers as perceived by Highway Safety experts in the United States. First, a list of competencies was identified. Next, a panel of Highway Safety experts determined the importance of each identified competency for the current year (2020) and for the future (year 2030). Finally, ratings provided by the panel were tested for the presence of consensus.

For this study, the researcher used a Delphi Method as classified by Delbecq, Van de Ven, and Gaustafson (1975). Through this method, a panel of forward-thinking …

Verbal Response Inhibition And Stuttering In Adults, Shanley Belle Treleaven

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Many adults who stutter (AWS) attempt to modify or suppress their stuttered speech daily. The ability to effectively suppress motoric behavior after initiation relies on executive functions such as inhibition – specifically verbal inhibition – a challenging task regardless of clinical status. Minimal published data are available about verbal inhibition in non-stuttering adults, and no data are available for AWS. Researchers have reported slower inhibition for AWS during manual tasks, but inconsistent relationships have been found between manual and verbal inhibition. It is often presumed that inhibition differences in AWS, if detected, would be associated with greater difficulties suppressing the …

A Single Case Study On The Impact Of Louisiana's Induction Program On High School Beginning Teachers, Lorita Ann Eichelberger

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the growing body of literature that suggest that beginning teachers need additional support throughout the first couple of years in the profession, there is little research on the impact of induction programs for high school beginning teachers. The purpose of this single case study was to analyze the encounters of three beginning teachers, three mentors, one teacher induction coordinator, and one administrator participating in a teacher induction program in Louisiana and examine the impact of the induction program on teacher development. This qualitative study addressed three research questions: What are the perceptions of beginning teachers about the teacher induction …

Village Folk: Exploring The Female Black School Counselor's Perception Of Role Confusion And Burnout In Urban Schools In South Louisiana, Christianne Leah Ricard

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study examined female Black school counselor’s perceptions regarding their role when working with students – specifically Black students. More so, this study looked at cultural influence on female Black school counselors’ thoughts and feelings relative to role confusion and burnout. Black Feminist Thought and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs served as the theoretical framework that guided this study. In consideration for cultural differences, female Black school counselor’s perceptions can be used to further explain the phenomenon of role confusion and burnout.

More than 10 invitations to participate, interviews were conducted with five female Black school counselors. The research questions …

Optimizing The Performance Of Multi-Threaded Linear Algebra Libraries Based On Task Granularity, Shahrzad Shirzad

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Linear algebra libraries play a very important role in many HPC applications. As larger datasets are created everyday, it also becomes crucial for the multi-threaded linear algebra libraries to utilize the compute resources properly. Moving toward exascale computing, the current programming models would not be able to fully take advantage of the advances in memory hierarchies, computer architectures, and networks. Asynchronous Many-Task(AMT) Runtime systems would be the solution to help the developers to manage the available parallelism. In this Dissertation we propose an adaptive solution to improve the performance of a linear algebra library based on a set of compile-time …

Parallel And Asynchronous Distributed Optimization For Power Systems Operation, Ali Mohammadi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Distributed optimization approaches are gaining more attention for solving power systems energy management functions, such as optimal power flow (OPF). Preserving information privacy of autonomous control entities and being more scalable than centralized approaches are two primary reasons for developing distributed algorithms. Moreover, distributed/ decentralized algorithms potentially increase power systems reliability against failures of components or communication links.

In this dissertation, we propose multiple distributed optimization algorithms and convergence performance enhancement techniques to solve the OPF problem. We present a multi-level optimization algorithm, based on analytical target cascading, to formulate and solve a collaborative transmission and distribution OPF problem. This …

The Role Of Sediment-Induced Light Attenuation On Primary Production During Hurricane Gustav (2008), Zhengchen Zang, Z. George Xue, Kehui Xu, Samuel J. Bentley, Qin Chen, Eurico J. D'Sa, Le Zhang, Yanda Ou

Faculty Publications

We introduced a sediment-induced light attenuation algorithm into a biogeochemical model of the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system. A fully coupled ocean-atmospheric-sediment-biogeochemical simulation was carried out to assess the impact of sediment-induced light attenuation on primary production in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the passage of Hurricane Gustav in 2008. When compared with model results without sediment-induced light attenuation, our new model showed a better agreement with satellite data on both the magnitude of nearshore chlorophyll concentration and the spatial distribution of offshore bloom. When Hurricane Gustav approached, resuspended sediment shifted the inner shelf ecosystem from a nutrient-limited …

The Role Of Sediment-Induced Light Attenuation On Primary Production During Hurricane Gustav (2008), Zhengchen Zang, Z. George Xue, Kehui Xu, Samuel J. Bentley, Qin Chen, Eurico J. D'Sa, Le Zhang, Yanda Ou

Faculty Publications

© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. We introduced a sediment-induced light attenuation algorithm into a biogeochemical model of the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system. A fully coupled ocean-atmospheric- sediment-biogeochemical simulation was carried out to assess the impact of sediment-induced light attenuation on primary production in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the passage of Hurricane Gustav in 2008. When compared with model results without sediment-induced light attenuation, our new model showed a better agreement with satellite data on both the magnitude of nearshore chlorophyll concentration and the spatial distribution of offshore …

Comparison Of High-Tech Augmentative And Alternative Communication Interfaces: Do Age And Technology Experience Matter?, Surani Gopika Nakkawita

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated that individuals with stroke-induced aphasia can use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) when they cannot meet their communication needs using spoken language (Dietz, Weissling, Griffith, McKelvey, & Macke, 2014; Purdy & Van Dyke, 2011). Of the various interfaces found in the different AAC systems, the grid display and the visual scene display (VSD) have been used by individuals with aphasia (Hough & Johnson, 2009; Dietz et al., 2018). However, there is a scarcity of research examining the comparative usefulness of these interfaces.

This prospective study attempted to understand how neurologically healthy individuals of different ages and …

Relational Turbulence And Perceptions Of Social Network Support For Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kellie St Cyr Brisini, Denise Haunani Solomon

Faculty Publications

A wealth of research indicates that social support positively influences parental and family well-being in families of children with disabilities; however, not all supportive efforts are positively received. This study employs the framework of relational turbulence theory to examine evaluations of social support from social network members among parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). In a cross-sectional survey, ninety-four parents of children with ASD (47 heterosexual couples) reported a social network member to whom they disclose issues regarding their marriage and evaluated that network member’s support for their marriage and their parenting. Results of actor-only interdependence modeling demonstrated …

Adaptive Data Migration In Load-Imbalanced Hpc Applications, Parsa Amini

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Distributed parallel applications need to maximize and maintain computer resource utilization and be portable across different machines. Balanced execution of some applications requires more effort than others because their data distribution changes over time. Data re-distribution at runtime requires elaborate schemes that are expensive and may benefit particular applications.

This dissertation discusses a solution for HPX applications to monitor application execution with APEX and use AGAS migration to adaptively redistribute data and load balance applications at runtime to improve application performance and scaling behavior. This dissertation provides evidence for the practicality of using the Active Global Address Space as is …

Distribution Of Aromatase In The Brain Of The African Cichlid Fish Astatotilapia Burtoni: Aromatase Expression, But Not Estrogen Receptors, Varies With Female Reproductive-State, Karen P. Maruska, Julie M. Butler, Chase Anselmo, Ganga Tandukar

Faculty Publications

© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Estrogen synthesis and signaling in the brains of vertebrates has pleotropic effects ranging from neurogenesis to modulation of behaviors. The majority of studies on brain-derived estrogens focus on males, but estrogenic signaling in females likely plays important roles in regulation of reproductive cycling and social behaviors. We used females of the mouth brooding African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, to test for reproductive state-dependent changes in estrogenic signaling capacity within microdissected brain nuclei that are important for social behaviors. Expression levels of the rate-limiting enzyme aromatase, but not estrogen receptors, measured by qPCR changes across the …

Neural Activation Patterns Associated With Maternal Mouthbrooding And Energetic State In An African Cichlid Fish, Karen P. Maruska, Julie M. Butler, Karen E. Field, Christopher Forester, Ashley Augustus

Faculty Publications

© 2020 IBRO Parental care is widespread in the animal kingdom, but for many species, provisioning energetic resources must be balanced with trade-offs between self-promoting and offspring-promoting behaviors. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying these motivational decisions. Mouthbrooding is an extreme form of parental care most common in fishes that provides an ideal opportunity to examine which brain regions are involved in parenting and energetics. The African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni is a maternal mouthbrooder in which females hold developing young inside their mouths for 2 weeks. This brood care makes feeding impossible, so females undergo obligatory …