Digital Commons Network^™

Cost Of Quantum Entanglement Simplified, Xin Wang, Mark M. Wilde

Faculty Publications

Quantum entanglement is a key physical resource in quantum information processing that allows for performing basic quantum tasks such as teleportation and quantum key distribution, which are impossible in the classical world. Ever since the rise of quantum information theory, it has been an open problem to quantify entanglement in an information-theoretically meaningful way. In particular, every previously defined entanglement measure bearing a precise information-theoretic meaning is not known to be efficiently computable, or if it is efficiently computable, then it is not known to have a precise information-theoretic meaning. In this Letter, we meet this challenge by introducing an …

Factor Predicting Maternal Posttraumatic Stress Symptom Trajectories Following A Natural Disaster: Coping, Social Support, And Family Functioning, Jennifer Clare Piscitello

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Natural disasters are sudden, large-scale events that are associated with significant mental health consequences. Although, most individuals demonstrate resilience, a significant subset of the population develops significant long-term distress (La Greca et al. 2013; Lai, et al., 2015; Lowe & Rhodes 2013; Self-Brown et al., 2014). Moreover, results from emerging longitudinal research suggests that symptom patterns are heterogenous. For example, some individuals recover over time or demonstrate a delayed onset. The most commonly studied post-disaster reaction in adults is posttraumatic stress (PTS) symptoms. However, the extant literature examining elevated PTS symptoms and related risk factors in disaster research has relied …

Climate From The Mcmurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, 1986–2017: Surface Air Temperature Trends And Redefined Summer Season, M. K. Obryk, P. T. Doran, A. G. Fountain, M. Myers, C. P. Mckay

Faculty Publications

©2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. The weather of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, the largest ice-free region of the Antarctica, has been continuously monitored since 1985 with currently 14 operational meteorological stations distributed throughout the valleys. Because climate is based on a 30-year record of weather, this is the first study to truly define the contemporary climate of the McMurdo Dry Valleys. Mean air temperature and solar radiation based on all stations were −20°C and 102 W m−2, respectively. Depending on the site location, the mean annual air temperatures on the valleys floors ranged between −15°C and −30°C, …

First-Principles Simulations Of X-Ray Transient Absorption For Probing Attosecond Electron Dynamics, Min Chen, Kenneth Lopata

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society. X-ray transient absorption spectroscopy (XTAS) is a promising technique for measuring electron dynamics in molecules and solids with attosecond time resolutions. In XTAS, the elemental specificity and spatial locality of core-to-valence X-ray absorption is exploited to relate modulations in the time-resolved absorption spectra to local electron density variations around particular atoms. However, interpreting these absorption modulations and frequency shifts as a function of the time delay in terms of dynamics can be challenging. In this paper, we present a first-principles study of attosecond XTAS in a selection of simple molecules based on real-time time-dependent …

Pressure Monitoring For Subsurface Leakage Characterization, Mojtaba Mosaheb

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Undesirable leakage from underground sedimentary formations is a matter of considerable concern due to implications for water resources contamination and greenhouse gas emissions. Leakage in underground formations can remain undetected for a long period. Pressure monitoring is a dynamic method that can be used for leakage detection and characterization. The pressure signals are affected by the hydraulic characteristics of the reservoir media and leakage pathways. Consequently, the pressure data can be interpreted to obtain information about the hydraulic characteristics of the system. Pressure interpretation is useful for early leakage detection, because the pressure signals travel fast in reservoir media. In …

Study On The Chemical And Mechanical Stability Of Polymer Nanofluidic Biosensors, Dae Won Kim

LSU Master's Theses

Polymer nanofluidic devices have great potential to replace silicon (Si) and glass-based nanofluidic devices in biomedical applications due to their advantages such as low material and fabrication cost, various physicochemical properties, well-developed surface modification protocol, and low electrical noises for electrical measurements. In nanofluidic sensing applications, single molecules such as DNA are introduced into the fabricated nanochannel or nanopore, measuring their physicochemical properties optically or electrically. The properties of materials for nanofluidic devices have a significant role in the performance of the devices, such as DNA translocation and device stability.

Among several nanoscale fluidic physics, surface charge density is a …

The Effect Of Aircraft Manufacturing Riveting Tools On Hand-Arm Vibrations And Muscle Fatigue, Lou Toua Vi

LSU Master's Theses

The overall objective of this research was to compare four types of rivet guns varying by manufacturer and piston material (Tungsten vs. Steel), two rivet gun handle positions (Horizontal and Vertical), and three bucking bars including two with similar dimensions bars made of tungsten and steel, and a Honsa new technology spring dampener and tungsten combined bucking bar based on their impact on hand-arm vibrations and the effect of these vibration levels on muscle fatigue. This objective was covered in three parts. The first part consisted of examining the impact of these factors on riveters’ vibration exposure and muscle fatigue, …

Detecting Fitness Epistasis In Recently Admixed Populations With Genome-Wide Data, Xumin Ni, Mengshi Zhou, Heming Wang, Karen Y. He, Uli Broeckel, Craig Hanis, Sharon Kardia, Susan Redline, Richard S. Cooper, Hua Tang, Xiaofeng Zhu

Faculty Publications

Background: Fitness epistasis, the interaction effect of genes at different loci on fitness, makes an important contribution to adaptive evolution. Although fitness interaction evidence has been observed in model organisms, it is more difficult to detect and remains poorly understood in human populations as a result of limited statistical power and experimental constraints. Fitness epistasis is inferred from non-independence between unlinked loci. We previously observed ancestral block correlation between chromosomes 4 and 6 in African Americans. The same approach fails when examining ancestral blocks on the same chromosome due to the strong confounding effect observed in a recently admixed population. …

Solvation Structures And Dynamics Of Small Molecules: Experimental And Computational Studies Using Carbonyl Vibrational Modes As Probe, Xiaoliu Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Solutions are ubiquitous in both the global environment and the human body, and play a significant role in scientific research and industrial production. The structures and dynamics of solutions have been studied for centuries. However, conventional experimental methods, whose intrinsic measuring time is on the order of nanoseconds to microseconds, could not detect the fast dynamics taking place in the solution on the timescale of femto- and pico-second. In this dissertation, the ultrafast two-dimensional infrared (2DIR) spectroscopy was applied to characterize the structure and dynamics in three different types of solutions on the sub-picosecond timescale. Linear Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy …

Some Results On Seymour’S Second-Neighborhood Conjecture And On Decompositions Of Graphs, Farid Bouya

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two parts. In the first part, I examine Seymour’s Second-Neighborhood Conjecture, which states that every orientation of every simple graph has at least one vertex v such that the number of vertices of out-distance 2 from v is at least as large as the number of vertices of out-distance 1 from it. I present alternative statements of this conjecture using the language of linear algebra, the last one being completely in terms of the inverse of some matrix. In the second part of this dissertation, comprising of Chapters 2 and 3, I examine two conjectures on …

Text-Influenced Expressions Of Understanding: Differences In Kindergartners’ Discourse And Written Retellings Of Traditional And Digital Texts During Buddy Reading, Julie Parrish

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Buddy reading a text is a collaborative act that typically generates discourse that provides researchers with a glimpse of the comprehending taking place. However, in recent years, the infusion of technology in classrooms has resulted in many traditional texts being replaced by digital versions. Thus, this qualitative case study examined the spoken and written discourse of 12 kindergartners (6 dyads) as they buddy read a traditional and digital text.

Drawing upon two distinct lenses—sociocultural and comprehension signifier—video recordings, transcriptions, and written retellings were analyzed. Specifically, process coding and in vivo coding were used to construct categories and uncover sociocultural patterns …

Anatomical Organization And Distinction Of The Sympathetic Inputs To Interscapular Brown Adipose Tissue And Inguinal White Adipose Tissue In The Mouse, Clara Jane Huesing

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Adipose tissue is a dynamic endocrine organ that contains both the problem and the solution to discovering new therapies for individuals with obesity. Excessive adipose tissue disrupts energy balance and causes a host of comorbidities like insulin resistance and hypertension. On the other hand, adipose tissue is essential for life. During periods of energy demand, sympathetic nerve activity in brown and white adipose tissue stimulates thermogenesis and lipolysis; both of which decrease body weight and improve metabolic health. Therefore, comprehensive insight into the organization of sympathetic innervation and how it communicates with adipocytes is critical in order to utilize its …

Bendit_I/O: A System For Extending Mediated And Networked Performance Techniques To Circuit-Bent Devices, Anthony Thomas Marasco

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Circuit bending—the act of modifying a consumer device's internal circuitry in search of new, previously-unintended responses—provides artists with a chance to subvert expectations for how a certain piece of hardware should be utilized, asking them to view everyday objects as complex electronic instruments. Along with the ability to create avant-garde instruments from unique and nostalgic sound sources, the practice of circuit bending serves as a methodology for exploring the histories of discarded objects through activism, democratization, and creative resurrection. While a rich history of circuit bending continues to inspire artists today, the recent advent of smart musical instruments and the …

Floodplain Forest Regeneration Dynamics In The Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley, Whitney Anne Kroschel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Floodplain forest species diversity is driven, in part, by variation in disturbance regime. Flood patterns create heterogeneity in microsite quality from small differences in elevation across a floodplain which, in turn, influence flood timing and duration. Differences in species’ regeneration niches in relation to hydrologic patterns can account for long-term coexistence of various species. In the past century floodplain forests have exhibited a wide range of changes in stand development and species composition as a result of altered hydrology in rivers and floodplains. I evaluated the role of regeneration in floodplain forest systems of the Lower Mississippi River Alluvial Valley …

Delving Into The First Year: A Case Study Of The Novice Teacher Induction Experience, Lindsay Stewart

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The issue of high teacher turnover and low teacher retention rates are the driving force of this research. Teacher retention begins with understanding how induction practices are carried out both formally and informally and what support novice teachers need. The majority of research around teacher induction and turnover works with large data sets to produce pertinent percentages and figures (Ingersoll, 2012; Glazerman et al., 2010; Redding & Henry, 2018; Ronfeldt & McQueen, 2017). To supplement the existing research around new teacher induction, this case study was conducted to 1) combine the research-based induction practices with the theoretical underpinnings of these …

Evaluating The ‘Small Changes, Healthy Habits’ Curriculum For Influencing Change In Eating And Physical Activity Behaviors, And Habit Formation In Adults, Praja Adhikari

LSU Master's Theses

This study evaluated the initial influence of the Small Changes, Healthy Habits (SCHH) pilot program on food/eating, and physical activity behaviors and habits among participants. A convenience sample of 56 adults (≥18 years old) with representation from communities in all five LSU AgCenter regions, was recruited for the program. Complete datasets from 47 participants were collected and used for the evaluation. The participant group was 83% female (n = 39), 89% 51 years or older, and living in rural areas; approximately 83% white (n=38), 13% African American (n=6), and 2% Asian (n=1). A 22-question participant survey was developed to quantify …

Dsrna As A Potential Tool For Cercospora Leaf Blight Management And Elucidation Of A Factors That Contribute To Late Disease Onset In The Reproductive Growth Stage Of Soybean, Marija Zivanovic

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cercospora leaf blight (CLB) of soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.), an important disease in Louisiana, is primarily caused by Cercospora cf. flagellaris. The pathogen produces cercosporin, a toxin necessary for fungal virulence. So far, there are few commercial cultivars of soybean with CLB resistance and few effective fungicides to manage this disease. Consequently, alternative management approaches are needed. With that in mind, the first objective was to develop a screening method to compare the effectiveness of bacterially-expressed double stranded (ds) RNAs corresponding to genes associated with cercosporin accumulation (Avr4, CTB1, CTB8, AY-1 and HN-2 …

Evaluating The Effects Of A Brief Assertiveness And Help Seeking Skill Intervention, Madeline S. Blocker

LSU Master's Theses

Children in foster care lead their lives at an increased risk for mental health issues that are often complicated by the unstable and unpredictable nature of their living arrangements and interpersonal relationships. As such, there is substantial need to examine brief therapies and interventions for use with children in foster care and children who have experienced similar trauma and instability. Mental health care providers for children in foster care often may not have sufficient periods of time to implement treatment with fidelity. The present study investigated the efficacy of a summer camp based, brief behavioral intervention targeting help-seeking behavior and …

Wave Attenuation Toolbox (Watte), Madeline Foster-Martinez, Scott C. Hagen

Civil Engineering Datasets

WATTE is an ArcGIS toolbox. Its function is to estimate and map wave attenuation along coastlines. Wave attenuation is an important ecosystem service of natural coastal ecosystems. The current form of WATTE models wave attenuation as an exponential decay, which is common for marsh coastlines. WATTE calculates wave height change along 1-D transects and interpolates between the transects to produce estimates of wave attenuation and map areas of wave exposure. Users can customize the attributes of the transects and the exponential decay constants used for the calculation. WATTE can be applied to any raster with land type classification, allowing for …

Intraspecific And Biogeographical Variation In Foliar Fungal Communities And Pathogen Damage Of Native And Invasive Phragmites Australis, Warwick J. Allen, Aaron E. Devries, Nicholas J. Bologna, Wesley A. Bickford, Kurt P. Kowalski, Laura A. Meyerson, James T. Cronin

Faculty Publications

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Aim: Recent research has highlighted that the relationship between species interactions and latitude can differ between native and invasive plant taxa, generating biogeographical heterogeneity in community resistance to plant invasions. In the first study with foliar pathogens, we tested whether co-occurring native and invasive lineages of common reed (Phragmites australis) exhibit non-parallel latitudinal gradients in foliar fungal communities, pathogen susceptibility and damage, and whether these biogeographical patterns can influence the success of invasion. Location: North America. Time period: 2015–2017. Major taxa studied: Perennial grass P. australis. Methods: We surveyed 35 P. australis field …

Information-Theoretic Aspects Of The Generalized Amplitude-Damping Channel, Sumeet Khatri, Kunal Sharma, Mark M. Wilde

Faculty Publications

The generalized amplitude-damping channel (GADC) is one of the sources of noise in superconducting-circuit-based quantum computing. It can be viewed as the qubit analog of the bosonic thermal channel, and it thus can be used to model lossy processes in the presence of background noise for low-temperature systems. In this work, we provide an information-theoretic study of the GADC. We first determine the parameter range for which the GADC is entanglement breaking and the range for which it is antidegradable. We then establish several upper bounds on its classical, quantum, and private capacities. These bounds are based on data-processing inequalities …

Louisiana Agriculture Summer, 2020, Lsu Agcenter

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Frequent Fire Slows Microbial Decomposition Of Newly Deposited Fine Fuels In A Pyrophilic Ecosystem, Jacob R. Hopkins, Jean M. Huffman, William J. Platt, Benjamin A. Sikes

Faculty Publications

© 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Frequent fires maintain nearly 50% of terrestrial ecosystems, and drive ecosystem changes that govern future fires. Since fires are dependent on available plant or fine fuels, ecosystem processes that alter fine fuel loads like microbial decomposition are particularly important and could modify future fires. We hypothesized that variation in short-term fire history would influence fuel dynamics in such ecosystems. We predicted that frequent fires within a short-time period would slow microbial decomposition of new fine fuels. We expected that fire effects would differ based on dominant substrates and that fire history …

Mechanical Properties And Performance Under Laboratory And Field Conditions Of A Lightweight Fluorogypsum-Based Blend For Economic Artificial-Reef Construction, Yasser Bigdeli, Michele Barbato, Charles D. Lofton, Maria Teresa Gutierrez-Wing, Kelly A. Rusch

Faculty Publications

This paper investigates the mechanical properties under laboratory and field conditions of a concretelike blend made of fluorogypsum (FG), fly ash, and portland cement for artificial-reef construction, which is referred to as a FG-based blend. The 28-day compressive strength and relative volumetric expansion of the FG-based blend were statistically characterized. After 1 year of immersion in brackish water under field conditions, the compressive strength of the FG-based blend experienced a moderate reduction when compared with material under laboratory conditions but did not degrade below its 28-day value. Visual examination of the immersed specimens indicated that aquatic organisms are attracted to …

Effects Of Hurricane Harvey On The Trophic Status Of Juvenile Sport Fishes (Cynoscion Nebulosus, Sciaenops Ocellatus) In An Estuarine Nursery, Philip Matich, Kaya B. Moore, Jeffrey D. Plumlee

Faculty Publications

Understanding the implications of environmental disturbance is of growing importance as climate change and extreme weather events increasingly threaten estuaries and other coastal ecosystems. Among species at risk in estuarine habitats, sport fishes are of particular interest to conservation and management agencies, because of their ecological and economic value. Here, we evaluate the effects of Hurricane Harvey on the abundance, diet, and body condition of age-0 red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) and spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus) in Powderhorn Lake, a nearshore estuary in Texas, USA. Catch data from seines indicated that the abundances of age-0 red drum and spotted seatrout were …

Components Of Psychological Flexibility And Inflexibility That Predict Risk-Taking Behaviors, Shelley Renee Upton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Psychological flexibility is conceptualized as contact with the present moment and the ability to persist or change one’s behavior to achieve valued ends. The opposite of this process is known as psychological inflexibility, which is posited to lead to the development and maintenance of various psychological disorders. There are 6 components underlying psychological inflexibility—these are cognitive fusion, experiential avoidance, fixating on the past or future, self-conceptualization, lacking contact with values, and inaction toward valued ends, as well as 6 components underlying psychological flexibility (i.e., defusion, acceptance, present moment awareness, self-as-context, contact with values, and committed action). Psychological inflexibility may be …

Social Capitalization As A Positive Emotion Regulation Strategy In Individuals At-Risk For Developing A Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorder, Elana Klein Schwartz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Extant literature indicates that emotional deficits, such as impaired emotion expression/experience, are prominent in schizophrenia-spectrum psychopathology and linked with poorer functional (e.g. social) outcomes. Interestingly, individuals exhibiting schizotypy, an underlying personality organization that confers a vulnerability to developing schizophrenia, report more abnormalities in emotion experience compared to healthy controls and individuals with schizophrenia, a phenomenon termed the “schizophrenia-spectrum emotion paradox.” To aid in the clarification of emotional abnormalities and explore the dynamic nature of emotion experience in individuals with schizotypy, the present study enrolled 93 college-aged individuals to examine positive emotion regulation through the use of social capitalization. In social …

Assessing Breastfeeding Knowledge, Attitudes And Intention Among Adult Female Undergraduate And Graduate Students, Kritee Niroula

LSU Master's Theses

This study measured the breastfeeding knowledge, attitude and intention of adult female students of Louisiana State University. Participants (n=1039; mean age 20.12 ± 3.122 years) were recruited to complete the questionnaire. Racial/ethnic representation was White (76.1%), African American (14.3%), Asian (5.5%), American Indian/ Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander (0.8%) and Multi-racial (3.3%). The questionnaire was used to deliver a set of knowledge, attitude and intention items. Participants were evaluated based on their scores in each section. The questionnaire was pilot tested among five students for comprehensibility and understandability and necessary changes were made according to their suggestions. The …

Investigating Leadership Styles Of Childcare Directors, Michelle P. Grantham-Caston

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of this study was to contribute to the literature on childcare director’s leadership styles and director’s self-perception. For leaders in childcare to be effective they must possess skills, characteristics, and traits of effective leadership which have been identified in the seminal literature of Bass (1995) and Burns (1979). This quantitative study examined early childhood leaders self-identification with the leadership styles in The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) (Bass & Avolio, 1995) as well as other demographic variables which could contribute to early childhood leaders’ self-perception of leadership styles. This study was to break apart the three overarching leadership styles …

Antimicrobial Strategies For Topical Applications, Kelsey Marie Lopez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Bacteria can thrive in diverse environments and are often harmless or beneficial. Bacteria in digestive tracts is one example of beneficial bacteria; however, bacteria can be harmful and when this type proliferates, it can cause infections within hosts. Bacterial infections are easily treated with antibiotics in most cases. However, bacteria are also capable of developing mutations which could cause them to become multi-drug resistant and eventually, “superbugs.” Therefore, the development of novel antimicrobial agents and materials capable of combating drug-resistant bacteria is necessary. Research presented in this dissertation focuses on different strategies for minimizing and preventing topical bacterial infections using …