Digital Commons Network^™

Numerical Experiments Of Temperature Mixing And Post-Storm Re-Stratification Over The Louisiana Shelf During Hurricane Katrina (2005), Mohammad Nabi Allahdadi, Chunyan Li, Nazanin Chaichitehrani

Faculty Publications

Studying mixing and re-stratification during and after hurricanes have important implications for the simulation of circulation and bio-geochemical processes in oceanic and shelf waters. Numerical experiments using FVCOM on an unstructured computational mesh were implemented to study the direct effect of hurricane winds on the mixing and temperature redistribution of the stratified Louisiana shelf during Hurricane Katrina (2005), as well as the post-storm re-stratification timescale. The model was forced by Katrina’s wind stress obtained from a combination of H-Wind database and NCEP model. The climatological profiles of temperature and salinity for August (the month in which Katrina occurred) from the …

Profile Of Commercialized Aphicides On The Survivorship And Feeding Behavior Of The Cotton Aphid, Aphis Gossypii, Flinn M. O'Hara, Jeffrey A. Davis, Daniel R. Swale

Faculty Publications

The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is one of the most destructive agricultural pests due to photosynthate removal and horizontal transmission of plant viruses. Horizontal transmission of plant viruses by aphids occurs during distinct feeding behavioral events, such as probing for non-persistent viruses or phloem feeding for persistent viruses. We employed toxicity bioassays and electrical penetration graph (EPG) methodology to compare toxicity and quantify changes to feeding behavior and toxicity of A. gossypii after exposure to commercialized aphicides. Commercialized aphicides containing flupyradifurone, sulfoxaflor, thiamethoxam, thiamethoxam + lambda cyhalothrin, and bifenthrin induced >90% aphid mortality within 4 h of …

Performance Monitoring Leveraging Advanced Ai Technique With Cnn, Suyun Ham Ph.D, Stefan Romanoschi, Yin Chao Wu, Dafnik Saril Kumar David, Sanggoo Kang

Publications

The main goal of this project is to study and develop a reliable nondestructive testing (NDT)-based structural performance prediction model framework leveraging the advanced machine learning convolutional neural network (CNN) technique and rapid crack evaluation system. There are two steps of application CNN technique in this project: 1) the first step is to identify delamination, noise, and the unexpected signal produced by the existing damage identification algorithm to improve the accuracy of NDT results. The input image or training data of NDT data for CNN is comprehensively studied with several features, such as the duration of the signal, the starting …

Developing A Conceptual Passive Contact Tracing System For Commercial Buildings Using Wifi Indoor Positioning, Sorena Vosoughkhosravi, Amirhosein Jafari

Faculty Publications

Contact tracing is one of the critical tools for fighting against pandemic disease outbreaks, such as the fast-growing SARS-CoV-2 virus and its different variants. At present, automated contact tracing systems face two main challenges: (1) requiring application installation on smart devices and (2) protecting the users’ privacy. This study introduces a conceptual passive contact tracing system using indoor WiFi positioning to address these challenges and investigate the role of such a system in commercial buildings. In this regard, this study uses a simulated small-office layout in a case study to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed system. The special use …

The Need For A Framework Addressing The Temporal Aspects Of Fish Sperm Motility Leading To Community-Level Standardization, Harvey Blackburn, Leticia Torres, Yue Liu, Terrence R. Tiersch

Faculty Publications

Motility is a widely available parameter that can be used to assess sperm quality of aquatic species. Sperm from fishes with external fertilization usually undergo a dynamic and short-lived period of motility after activation. The common practice of assigning a single value at an arbitrary peak of motility presents challenges for reproducibility, community-level standardization, and comparisons across studies. This study aimed to explore statistical approaches to standardize motility reporting, and to develop an initial framework for community-level standards. Sperm samples from 14 zebrafish (Danio rerio) with a total of 21,705 cells were analyzed by use of computer-assisted sperm analysis with …

Reply To G Taubes, Mi Friedman, And V Torres-Carot Et Al., Kevin D. Hall, I. Sadaf Farooqi, Jeffery M. Friedman, Samuel Klein, Ruth J.F. Loos, David J. Mangelsdorf, Stephen O’Rahilly, Eric Ravussin, Leanne M. Redman, Donna H. Ryan, John R. Speakman, Deirdre K. Tobias

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Testosterone Undecanoate Administration Prevents Declines In Fat-Free Mass But Not Physical Performance During Simulated Multi-Stressor Military Operations, Alyssa N. Varanoske, Melissa N. Harris, Callie Hebert, Emily E. Howard, Neil M. Johannsen, Steven B. Heymsfield, Frank L. Greenway, Lee M. Margolis, Harris R. Lieberman, Robbie A. Beyl, David D. Church, Arny A. Ferrando, Stefan M. Pasiakos, Jennifer C. Rood

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Male military personnel conducting strenuous operations experience reduced testosterone concentrations, muscle mass, and physical performance. Pharmacological restoration of normal testosterone concentrations may attenuate performance decrements by mitigating muscle mass loss. Previously, administering testosterone enanthate (200 mg/wk) during 28 days of energy deficit prompted supraphysiological testosterone concentrations and lean mass gain without preventing isokinetic/isometric deterioration. Whether administering a practical dose of testosterone protects muscle and performance during strenuous operations is undetermined. The objective of this study was to test the effects of a single dose of testosterone undecanoate on body composition and military-relevant physical performance during a simulated operation. After a …

Comparison Of Weight Loss Data Collected By Research Technicians Versus Electronic Medical Records: The Propel Trial, Peter T. Katzmarzyk, Emily F. Mire, Emily F. Mire, Corby K. Martin, Robert L. Newton, Robert L. Newton, John W. Apolzan, John W. Apolzan, Eboni G. Price-Haywood, Eboni G. Price-Haywood, Kara D. Denstel, Kara D. Denstel, Ronald Horswell, San T. Chu, William D. Johnson, Corby K. Martin, William D. Johnson, Robert K. Singletary, Cheryl Lewis, Phillip Brantley, Ronald Horswell, Betty Kennedy, Dachuan Zhang, Stephanie Authement, Shiquita Brooks, Danielle S. Burrell, Leslie Forest-Everage, Angelle Graham Ullmer, Laurie Murphy, Cristalyn Reynolds, Kevin Sanders, Stephen Bower, Hillary Gahagan, Tabitha K. Gray

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Background/objectives: Pragmatic trials are increasingly used to study the implementation of weight loss interventions in real-world settings. This study compared researcher-measured body weights versus electronic medical record (EMR)-derived body weights from a pragmatic trial conducted in an underserved patient population. Subjects/methods: The PROPEL trial randomly allocated 18 clinics to usual care (UC) or to an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) designed to promote weight loss. Weight was measured by trained technicians at baseline and at 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. A total of 11 clinics (6 UC/5 ILI) with 577 enrolled patients also provided EMR data (n = 561), which …

Systematic Kmtnet Planetary Anomaly Search: V. Complete Sample Of 2018 Prime-Field, Andrew Gould, Cheongho Han, Weicheng Zang, Hongjing Yang, Kyu Ha Hwang, Andrzej Udalski, Ian A. Bond, Michael D. Albrow, Sun Ju Chung, Youn Kil Jung, Yoon Hyun Ryu, In Gu Shin, Yossi Shvartzvald, Jennifer C. Yee, Sang Mok Cha, Dong Jin Kim, Hyoun Woo Kim, Seung Lee Kim, Chung Uk Lee, Dong Joo Lee, Yongseok Lee, Byeong Gon Park, Richard W. Pogge, Przemek Mróz, Michal K. Szymanski, Jan Skowron, Radek Poleski, Igor Soszynski, Pawel Pietrukowicz, Szymon Kozlowski, Krzysztof Ulaczyk, Krzysztof A. Rybicki, Patryk Iwanek

Faculty Publications

We complete the analysis of all 2018 prime-field microlensing planets identified by the Korea Microlensing Telescope Network (KMTNet) Anomaly Finder. Among the ten previously unpublished events with clear planetary solutions, eight are either unambiguously planetary or are very likely to be planetary in nature: OGLE-2018-BLG-1126, KMT-2018-BLG-2004, OGLE-2018-BLG-1647, OGLE-2018-BLG-1367, OGLE-2018-BLG-1544, OGLE-2018-BLG-0932, OGLE-2018-BLG-1212, and KMT-2018-BLG-2718. Combined with the four previously published new Anomaly Finder events and 12 previously published (or in preparation) planets that were discovered by eye, this makes a total of 24 2018 prime-field planets discovered or recovered by Anomaly Finder. Together with a paper in preparation on 2018 subprime …

The Curve Not Taken: Effects Of Covid-19 International Comparison News, Seon Woo Kim, Martina Santia, Raymond J. Pingree, Ayla Oden, Kirill Bryanov, Jessica Wyers

Faculty Publications

International news can inform people not only about what is happening in other countries, but also about how their own country could benefit from policies that have proved successful elsewhere. Specifically, international policy comparison news, or news that compares the policies of two or more countries on the same issue, is a potentially important but underutilized and understudied form of news content. We use an experiment to test effects of exposure to news comparing the COVID-19 pandemic policies of the U.S. versus South Korea, and find that this increases knowledge of policy differences between the two countries, support for adopting …

A Machine Learning Framework For Detecting Covid-19 Infection Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering, Eloghosa Ikponmwoba, Okezzi Ukorigho, Parikshit Moitra, Dipanjan Pan, Manas Ranjan Gartia, Opeoluwa Owoyele

Faculty Publications

In this study, we explored machine learning approaches for predictive diagnosis using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), applied to the detection of COVID-19 infection in biological samples. To do this, we utilized SERS data collected from 20 patients at the University of Maryland Baltimore School of Medicine. As a preprocessing step, the positive-negative labels are obtained using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing. First, we compared the performance of linear and nonlinear dimensionality techniques for projecting the high-dimensional Raman spectra to a low-dimensional space where a smaller number of variables defines each sample. The appropriate number of reduced features used was obtained …

Effectiveness Assessment Of E-Ticketing Technology In Construction Of Transportation Projects, Sharareh Kermanshachi, Karthik Subramanya

Publications

The construction of highway infrastructure has devoted significant resources towards e-Construction to reduce the paperwork and automate the tasks in daily operations. Electronic Ticketing (e-Ticketing) is one such component of e-Construction that aids in the digital transfer of material tickets such as asphalt and concrete which accounts for more than fifty per cent of construction costs. Despite the benefits of e-Ticketing, many state departments and agencies are unwilling to transition into this technology. No studies have identified the cause of the delay in the implementation process, developed a framework to comprehend the platform's full potential, quantified savings, and suggested strategies …

A Deep Learning Tool For The Assessment Of Pavement Smoothness And Aggregate Segregation During Construction, Mostafa Elseifi, Ramchandra Paudel, Md Tanvir Ahmed Sarkar, Hossam Abohamer, Nirmal Dhakal

Publications

Pavement construction monitoring and quality assurance (QA) practices are mostly based on costly, discrete, and destructive methods. Most quality assurance programs are based on pavement construction procedures encompassing in-situ coring for layer thickness determination, density measurements, laboratory testing to measure volumetric properties, and smoothness measurements in case of the availability of a profiler. The main objective of this study was to develop a machine learning-based classifier for predicting pavement roughness and aggregate segregation based on digital image analysis, image recognition, and deep learning machine models. The developed Convolution Neural Networks (CNN) models were trained, tested, and validated using 600-pavement surface …

Effects Of Doping, Hydrostatic Pressure, And Thermal Quenching On The Phase Transitions And Magnetocaloric Properties In Mn1- X Cox Nige, Tej Poudel Chhetri, Jing Han Chen, Anthony T. Grant, David P. Young, Igor Dubenko, Saikat Talapatra, Naushad Ali, Shane Stadler

Faculty Publications

The effects of doping, hydrostatic pressure, and thermal quenching on the phase transitions and magnetocaloric properties of the Mn1-xCoxNiGe system have been investigated. Cobalt doping on the Mn site shifted the martensitic structural transition toward lower temperature until it was ultimately absent, leaving only a magnetic transition from a ferromagnetic (FM) to a paramagnetic (PM) state in the high-temperature hexagonal phase. Co-occurrence of the magnetic and structural transitions to form a first-order magnetostructural transition (MST) from the FM orthorhombic to the PM hexagonal phase was observed in samples with 0.05 < x < 0.20. An additional antiferromagnetic-ferromagnetic-like transition was observed in the martensite phase for 0.05 < x < 0.10, which gradually vanished with increasing Co concentration (x > 0.10) or magnetic field (H > 0.5 T). The application of …

2-Dimensional String Problems: Data Structures And Quantum Algorithms, Dhrumilkumar Patel

LSU Master's Theses

The field of stringology studies algorithms and data structures used for processing strings efficiently. The goal of this thesis is to investigate 2-dimensional (2D) variants of some fundamental string problems, including \textit{Exact Pattern Matching} and \textit{Longest Common Substring}.

In the 2D pattern matching problem, we are given a matrix $\M[1\dd n,1\dd n]$ that consists of $N = n \times n$ symbols drawn from an alphabet $\Sigma$ of size $\sigma$. The query consists of a $ m \times m$ square matrix $\PP[1\dd m, 1\dd m]$ drawn from the same alphabet, and the task is to find all the locations of $\PP$ …

Creating A Public Space For Georeferencing Sanborn Maps: A Louisiana Case Study, Adam Cox

LSU Master's Theses

As institutional archives digitize their historical map collections and make them publicly available online, new methods for engaging with these materials emerge. Georeferencing the maps transforms their content from static images to dynamic map overlays, and allows for the extraction of geographic data like building footprints or place name coordinates. Many organizations have turned to crowdsourcing to georeference their large holdings, and this thesis approaches crowdsourced georeferencing from the perspective of participatory heritage, taking much inspiration from the idea of the archival commons. To test these ideas, a new extension was created for GeoNode—an open source geospatial content management system—that …

Integration Of Remote Sensing Approaches For In-Season Nitrogen Management, Murilo De Santana Martins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nitrogen (N) management is being conducted at flat rate in Louisiana due to practicality and convenience, but the price of N fertilizer and high breakeven costs are forcing producers to find ways to reduce costs and optimize N application. In this scenario, precision agriculture technologies, specifically the use of optical sensors on board of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to variable rate N application on farm is showing a promising approach to save inputs and reduce environmental impacts. However, the general goal of this research was to develop and evaluate in-season N management approaches for N recommendation in corn (Zea …

Defining Toxicological Endpoints Of Aphis Gossypii Feeding, Flinn O'Hara

LSU Master's Theses

The cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a destructive agricultural pest, due to photosynthate removal and plant virus transmission. This project consisted of two main goals. First, we employed toxicity bioassays and electrical penetration graph (EPG) methodology to quantify changes to feeding behavior and toxicity of A. gossypii after exposure to commercialized aphicides. Commercialized aphicides containing flupyradifurone, sulfoxaflor, thiamethoxam, thiamethoxam + lambda cyhalothrin, and bifenthrin induced > 90% aphid mortality within 4 hours of exposure. This was supported by our EPG results that showed a significant reduction in the proportion of aphids that continued to probe on cotton 4 …

Adaptive Balancing Compensation In Distribution Grid Of Ultra High-Power Manufacturing Plants, Motab Almousa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a method of adaptive compensation, capable of handling power factor and the supply quality improvement under non-sinusoidal conditions. The focus in this dissertation is put on developing compensation for ultra-high power metallurgical plants, meaning on compensation in three-phase, four-wire ultra-high power dynamic, distribution systems. A separate attention in the dissertation is put on the adaptive compensation of ultrahigh power arc furnaces. The dissertation also presents an original method of adaptive compensation of DC current generated by such arc furnaces.

The proposed compensator is developed in the frame of the Currents’ Physical Components (CPC) – based power theory. …

Graph-Based Computational Approach To The Study Of Cancer Pharmacotherapy, Manali Singha

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Recent advances in the analysis of omics data from various cancer cells pave the way for cancer therapy to predict effective drug responses and drug-target interactions based on cell- specific genetic features such as gene expression profiles, mutations, and copy number variations. Because the phenotype of a complex disease, such as cancer, is determined by several factors, it is difficult to predict the best effective treatment for a certain cell line based just on one sort of data, such as genetic traits and drug molecular features. The overall studies in this thesis proposed a graph-based representation of heterogeneous biological data …

The Link Between Intracellular Calcium Signaling And The Nitric Oxide-Dependent Release Of Chloride In Retinal Amacrine Cells, Li Zhong

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Regulation of cytosolic Cl^- is an important determinant in synaptic function. Our lab has discovered that cytosolic Cl^- is regulated not only by transport across the plasma membrane but that Cl^- can also be released from internal Cl^- stores (Hoffpauir et al., 2006) in amacrine cells (ACs). Nitric oxide (NO) is a small molecule neurotransmitter that has been demonstrated to be involved in cytosolic Ca²⁺ elevations and Cl^- regulation via activation of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) (Krishnan et al., 2017). Here, I test the hypothesis that intracellular Ca²⁺ signaling mediates the …

4d Spatio-Temporal Electric Field Characterization Of Ultrashort Light Pulses Undergoing Filamentation, Lana Neoričić, Christoph Jusko, Sara Mikaelsson, Chen Guo, Miguel Miranda, Shiyang Zhong, Felix Garmirian, Balazs Major, Jeffrey M. Brown, Mette B. Gaarde, Arnaud Couairon, Uwe Morgner, Milutin Kovačev, Cord L. Arnold

Faculty Publications

We present an experimental method capable of capturing the complete spatiotemporal dynamics of filamenting ultrashort laser pulses. By employing spatially resolved Fourier transform spectrometry in combination with the capability to terminate the filament at any length, we can follow the nonlinear dynamics in four dimensions, i.e. the transverse domain, time and filament length. Our method thus not only enables the full characterization of the filamentation process throughout its evolution, but also allows to identify and select laser pulses with desired parameters.

Loop Quantum Cosmology And Its Gauge-Covariant Avatar: A Weak Curvature Relationship, Bao Fei Li, Parampreet Singh

Faculty Publications

We explore the relationship between the effective dynamics in standard loop quantum cosmology (LQC) based on holonomies and triads obtained from gauge-fixing fluxes, and a modification of LQC based on holonomies and gauge-covariant fluxes (referred to as GLQC). Both the models yield singularity resolution via a bounce because of nonperturbative quantum geometric effects resulting in a maximum for energy density. In LQC, the bounce is extremely well captured by a ρ2 term in energy density with a negative sign which emerges as a nonperturbative modification to the classical Friedmann and Raychaudhuri equations. But details of such modifications in GLQC have …

Determining The 3d Structure And Dynamics Of Mouse Notch1 Epidermal Growth Factor-Like Repeat 26 Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Kendra D. Jenkins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

NOTCH is a transmembrane protein that transmits signals between cells in direct contact and alters gene expression. The signaling pathway is important because it is involved in cell fate determination. The NOTCH1 extracellular domain has 36 epidermal growth factor-like (EGF) repeats that are responsible for ligand binding. Mutations in the EGF-like repeats cause various neurological and developmental disorders. NOTCH1 signaling initiates when DSL ligands bind to EGF11-12, the minimum Ligand Binding Domain (LBD). The Abruptex region of the NOTCH1 protein (EGF24-29) is a highly glycosylated, flexible region with calcium binding sites that regulates NOTCH1 signaling and binding by interacting with …

Consequences Of Gulf Of Mexico Estuarine Tropical Cyclone Disturbance Regimes For Fish Assemblage Dynamics Conditionally Depend On Life-History Traits And Niche Characteristics, Stephen Edward Potts

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Tropical cyclones (TC) are intense, localized disturbances that can potentially cause extensive damage to ecosystems. This dissertation is motivated by a need for interdisciplinary study of TC-ecosystem dynamics with applications to ecology, geography, and analytical methodology. I explore concept linkages between TC dynamics and ecosystems to characterize TC-ecosystem relationships as ecological disturbance regimes. This dissertation tests hypotheses and relationships of TC effects on estuarine fish assemblages in the north-western Gulf of Mexico. I explore concepts in TC-ecosystem relationships to link biotic dynamics with physical disturbance.

In Chapter 2, I compared spatial performance of generalized linear models (GLMs) and generalized additive …

On A Relation Between Ado And Links-Gould Invariants, Nurdin Takenov

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this thesis we consider two knot invariants: Akutsu-Deguchi-Ohtsuki(ADO) invariant and Links-Gould invariant. They both are based on Reshetikhin-Turaev construction and as such share a lot of similarities. Moreover, they are both related to the Alexander polynomial and may be considered generalizations of it. By experimentation we found that for many knots, the third order ADO invariant is a specialization of the Links-Gould invariant. The main result of the thesis is a proof of this relation for a large class of knots, specifically closures of braids with five strands.

Evolution Of Freshwater Fishes In The Northern Neotropics, Diego Elias

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The northern Neotropics (NN) represents one of the most geologically-complex regions on the planet, composed of island-like geological blocks that have undergone multiple episodes of isolation and connectivity at various geological times. The riverscapes of the NN harbor a unique assemblage of freshwater fishes. In contrast to the freshwaters systems of South America, which are dominated by ostariophysan lineages, the aquatic systems of the NN are dominated by lineages of two families: Cichlidae (cichlids) and Poeciliidae (livebearers). It has been suggested that the geologically complex nature of the region allowed ancestors of cichlids and livebearers to colonize and radiate within …

Neutron Interferometry Using A Single Modulated Phase Grating, Ivan J. Hidrovo Giler

LSU Master's Theses

Neutron grating interferometry provides information on phase and small-angle scatter in addition to attenuation. Previously, phase grating moiré interferometers (PGMI) with two or three phase gratings have been developed. These phase-grating systems use the moiré far-field technique to avoid the need for high-aspect absorption gratings used in Talbot-Lau interferometers (TLI) which reduce the neutron flux reaching the detector. We demonstrate through simulations a novel phase grating interferometer system for cold neutrons that requires a single modulated phase grating (MPG) for phase-contrast imaging, as opposed to the two or three phase gratings in previously employed PGMI systems. We compare the MPG …

Understanding The Horse Fly Species And Species Relations Of The Tabanus Nigrovittatus Complex Along Coastal Louisiana, Darrius M. Davis

LSU Master's Theses

The Dipteran family Tabanidae is among the most diverse families of insects that is comprised of approximately 144 genera with 4455 described species (Pape et al. 2011). Members of the family Tabanidae have been studied for well over 100 years in Louisiana. Hine (1906, 1907) conducted the first surveys of the members of the tabanid family and noted the presence of 14 species. Jones and Bradley (1923) supplemented Hine’s observations with their own inventory of horse flies across four parishes and found an additional 14 species that were not recorded by Hine. Subsequently, Tidwell (1970, 1973) conducted a survey of …

Gendered Violence And The Family: An Analysis Of The 14th-Century Epic "Lion De Bourges", Ashley Paige Holt

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is the first to focus on gender roles within the fourteenth-century French epic Lion de Bourges and the first work to feature extensive translations into English of this medieval text. Using the cyclical dismemberment and reunification of the Bourges family as a lens, it brings into focus the various members of the family, their relationships, and the larger thematic questions about family and society put forward by the poet. Chapter one interrogates the notion of the king as a national father figure as well as the spread of injury and violence from the father/king to the members of …