Digital Commons Network^™

Promoting Social Inclusion Through Sport: A Case Study Of Uyghur Youth In China, Hongxin Li, Yunchao Bai, John Nauright

Faculty Publications

This study examines the role of sports as a means of promoting social inclusion among Uyghur youth in China, drawing upon social inclusion theory. Utilizing a qualitative case study methodology, we explored the perspectives of Uyghur youth athletes to gain insight into the challenges they face in achieving social inclusion without feeling “othered” or excluded. Data analysis followed an inductive grounded theory approach, identifying first‐order concepts, second‐order themes, and aggregate theoretical dimensions. Our findings reveal that social inclusion of Uyghur youth through sports participation is influenced by multiple factors, including language barriers, stereotypes, cultural differences, high expectations, and government policies. …

Functional And Comparative Genomics Of The C.Sojina- Soybean Interaction, Alejandra Maria Vargas Oyuela

LSU Master's Theses

Frogeye leaf spot (FLS), caused by Cercospora sojina, is a significant foliar disease of soybean (Glycine max) and is responsible for substantial yield losses worldwide. While management strategies rely on host resistance and fungicide applications, the emergence of new virulent races and fungicide-resistant isolates necessitates a deeper understanding of C. sojina host interactions and genomic variability. Here, we employed comparative and functional genomic approaches to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying the C. sojina-soybean interaction. A dual RNA sequencing approach was used to identify transcriptomic changes in G. max cultivars Blackhawk (susceptible) and Davis (resistant) across multiple …

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

LSU Master's Theses

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

Impacts Of Climate Change On Cannibalism And Disease Transmission In The Fall Armyworm, Kale Rougeau

LSU Master's Theses

Climate change may alter host-pathogen dynamics in terrestrial ecosystems due to rising global temperatures and carbon dioxide levels. Here, we examined cannibalism and disease transmission using the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), an invasive agricultural pest, and its species-specific lethal baculovirus, Spodoptera frugiperda multiple nucleopolyhedrovirus (SfMNPV), under various potential challenges of climate change. We used three temperature treatments (cooler, optimal, warmer) based on the fall armyworm’s thermal performance curve to simulate a changing climate and four artificial diets with various protein-to-carbohydrate ratios (low, equal, high, standard) to manipulate resource quality from altered carbon dioxide levels. We found that higher …

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

LSU Master's Theses

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

“En Clave” Tania León And Roberto Sierra: Autochthonous Music Of Cuba And Puerto Rico, Contemporary Music Composition And The ‘Puente’ In Between, Omar A. Ramirez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This document is in two parts. The first examines selected works of Latin-American composers Tania León and Roberto Sierra. Both composers cite their cultural background as a force that shapes their artistic expression. Many of their works are titled in Spanish, with compositions referencing their homelands in subject and narrative, and incorporate the autochthonous music(s) of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Elements of these afrodiasporic musical traditions can be found in their works: Alegre, Batá, Stride, (León), Loiza, and Concerto for Viola (Sierra), each examined here.

Autochthonous musical elements are highlighted in score excerpts and described using …

Ligo Detector Characterization In The First Half Of The Fourth Observing Run, S. Soni, B. K. Berger, D. Davis, F. Di Renzo, A. Effler, T. A. Ferreira, J. Glanzer, E. Goetz, G. González, A. Helmling-Cornell, B. Hughey, R. Huxford, B. Mannix, G. Mo, D. Nandi, A. Neunzert, S. Nichols, K. Pham, A. I. Renzini, R. M.S. Schofield, A. Stuver, M. Trevor, S. Álvarez-López, R. Beda, C. P.L. Berry, S. Bhuiyan, L. Blagg, R. Bruntz, S. Callos, M. Chan, P. Charlton, N. Christensen, G. Connolly

Faculty Publications

Progress in gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy depends upon having sensitive detectors with good data quality. Since the end of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory-Virgo-KAGRA third Observing run in March 2020, detector-characterization efforts have lead to increased sensitivity of the detectors, swifter validation of GW candidates and improved tools used for data-quality products. In this article, we discuss these efforts in detail and their impact on our ability to detect and study GWs. These include the multiple instrumental investigations that led to reduction in transient noise, along with the work to improve software tools used to examine the detectors data-quality. We end …

Disentanglement In Representation Learning: Interpretability In Dimension Reduction With Vae, Minh Hong Vu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research explores both theoretical and practical aspects of disentangled representation learning by extending the VAE framework. We address the core challenge of extracting independent generative factors from observed data while preserving high reconstruction fidelity. To this end, we propose two novel VAE variants: (i) the $\lambda\beta$-VAE, which incorporates an additional $\ell^2$-norm reconstruction loss to improve accuracy, and (ii) the $\gamma\beta$-VAE, which introduces a mutual information regularization term to encourage independence across latent dimensions.

Our theoretical analysis is conducted in a linear Gaussian setting, where we derive optimal solutions for these VAE-based models. We further examine how varying levels of …

Ai-Based Accessibility Widget (Aibaw) Shortcomings For Blind Web Users, Joshua A. Rovira

LSU Master's Theses

With legal, ethical, and financial motivations to make their websites more accessible, many businesses and sites have begun to employ the use of artificial intelligence (AI) based widgets to automatically make necessary modifications to their sites' pages and subdomains. In this work, we conduct a qualitative case study to determine the efficacy of these AI tools as they pertain specifically to blind users. We analyze pages from twelve websites using accessiBe's AI accessibility widget and provide a taxonomy of their violations against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 level AA compliance. We found each website to bear numerous violations …

Iiscan: Detection And Analysis Of Iis Native Modules In Volatile Memory, Brennen D. Calato

LSU Master's Theses

The Internet Information Services (IIS) is a Microsoft-developed web server designed with a modular architecture to foster extensibility. Its worker process loads all IIS modules when the server receives a request, and native modules operate with the same level of access as the worker process. The built-in persistence and resource access make malicious modules powerful tools post-compromise. This thesis focuses on identifying all native modules in the system by analyzing volatile memory. Through binary analysis of the worker process, we identify critical data structures containing information about system modules. We developed two Volatility plugins to assist in detecting these modules …

My Tunisia Encounters: Inspiration For Some Mathematical Ideas, Hui-Hsiung Kuo

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Innovative Design Methodology For Durable Open-Graded Friction Course Asphalt Mixtures, Anas Abualia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Open-graded friction course (OGFC) is a thin asphalt mixture surface layer with a high percentage of coarse aggregates and high interconnected air voids, which provides improved skid resistance, visibility, and decreased pavement-tire noise. However, construction personnel at DOTD reported that conventional OGFC mixtures have short service life (raveling distress). Further, their structural contribution to the pavement structure is commonly neglected and designed only for functionality purposes.

The objective of this study was to develop a rational mix design methodology to improve the durability of OGFC asphalt mixtures. Specific objectives are to: (1) conduct a rheological and chemical characterization of polymer-, …

Modeling And Simulation Of Methane And Co2 Hydrates In Porous Media, Chico Sambo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a comprehensive study on modeling and simulation for
methane hydrate production and CO2 sequestration. The research focuses on pore-
scale and reservoir-scale modeling techniques to understand the dynamics of gas
hydrate dissociation, the associated risks of subsidence, and the potential for CO2
storage in deep-sea environments.
This dissertation begins with an investigation into pore-scale modeling. Specif-
ically, a detailed pore network model was developed to simulate the processes of
methane hydrate dissociation and formation. However, the numerical simulations
revealed that assuming an isothermal process for hydrate formation and dissociation
is not physically realistic. Consequently, the results obtained …

Faith And Freedom: The Role Of Religion In The Bishops' Wars, Christopher S. Jordan

LSU Master's Theses

Despite their overall importance to British history, the Bishops’ Wars (1639-1640) remain relatively obscure conflicts. They are more often studied and recognized in larger narratives, such as the English Civil War or the Covenanting movement in Scotland. Regardless, these wars perhaps deserve more attention in themselves to recognize their significance in their own time. While most historians and commentators on this war have noted the many political aspects and undertones of this conflict, which there are many, this thesis will examine the religious aspects and undertones and attempt to argue that religion that had the largest role in the start, …

“They Love Our Rhythm, But Not Our Blues:” An Examination Of The Relationship Between Hip Hop On Depression, Anxiety, And Self-Care Among African American And Hispanic/Latinx Emerging Adults, Richard W. Wiley Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Depression and anxiety are among the most common mental health problems for emerging adults of color in higher education. Specifically, African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx emerging adults on college campuses have poorer mental health than their White counterparts. Considering the systemic oppression and cultural stressors that impact mental health among African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx students, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Emerging Adulthood Theory were theoretical frameworks for this study. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Hip Hop music and depression, anxiety, and intentional use as self-care among African American/Black and Hispanic/Latinx emerging adults who were college …

Unfitted Finite Element Methods For Shape Optimization And Liquid Crystals, Jeremy T. Shahan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We present an approach to shape optimization problems that uses an unfitted finite element method (FEM). The domain geometry is represented, and optimized, using a (dis- crete) level set function and we consider objective functionals that are defined over bulk domains. For a discrete objective functional, defined in the unfitted FEM framework, we show that the exact discrete shape derivative essentially matches the shape derivative at the continuous level. In other words, our approach has the benefits of both optimize-then- discretize and discretize-then-optimize approaches.

Specifically, we establish the shape Fréchet differentiability of discrete (unfitted) bulk shape functionals using both the …

Optimizing Fisher Information In Quantum Technology, Bran Purvis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Fisher information is a statistical metric whose inverse represents a lower bound on the variance of an unbiased estimator. Naturally, in order to make the best estimates of a given unknown parameter, one would desire to find ways to minimize the value of this lower bound. Thus, the Fisher information can also be used to compare the quality of different estimators for a given parameter: whichever estimator has a lower value for its Fisher information must also provide better estimates. The same holds true in the framework of quantum information theory, where an analog to the Fisher information, dubbed quantum …

Identifying Saharan Air Layer Events And Their Relationship To Instability And Rainfall Patterns In The Tropical North Atlantic Ocean, Charles H. Dolce

LSU Master's Theses

Every year, strong North African winds across the Sahara loft dust particles and advect them westward within the Saharan Air Layer (SAL). These plumes of dust often reach the Caribbean Sea and can heavily affect regional weather patterns by suppressing convection. When concentrations are high, decreased rainfall can yield negative societal and ecological impacts, potentially leading to drought. The Puerto Rican early rainfall season (ERS), spanning from 1 April through 31 July, overlaps with Saharan dust migration periods, and systematically detecting instances of SAL activity near the island is important for understanding longer-term drought-forcing trends in the region.

Corridors of …

Theme And Variations On An African Chant, Kenneth Schafer

LSU Master's Theses

“When will I find my voice?” It is question that is sure to cross the mind of any young artist. While I personally believe there is no definite moment or piece that can mark the emergence of a personal voice, I do believe in breakthrough moments. We may listen to a new genre, come across a new ideology, hit on something by chance, visit a new country, or face some lifechanging event. Whatever the cause, the result is that a new facet of our identity has been illuminated and from this point onwards, it will affect our creation.

My latest …

A Skill Assessment Framework For The Fisheries And Marine Ecosystem Model Intercomparison Project, Nina Rynne, Camilla Novaglio, Julia Blanchard, Daniele Bianchi, Villy Christensen, Marta Coll, Jerome Guiet, Jeroen Steenbeek, Andrea Bryndum-Buchholz, Tyler D. Eddy, Cheryl Harrison, Olivier Maury, Kelly Ortega-Cisneros, Colleen M. Petrik, Derek P. Tittensor, Ryan F. Heneghan

Faculty Publications

Understanding climate change impacts on global marine ecosystems and fisheries requires complex marine ecosystem models, forced by global climate projections, that can robustly detect and project changes. The Fisheries and Marine Ecosystems Model Intercomparison Project (FishMIP) uses an ensemble modeling approach to fill this crucial gap. Yet FishMIP does not have a standardised skill assessment framework to quantify the ability of member models to reproduce past observations and to guide model improvement. In this study, we apply a comprehensive model skill assessment framework to a subset of global FishMIP models that produce historical fisheries catches. We consider a suite of …

Correction To: Microaggressions And Cannabis-Related Problems Among Black Adults: The Roles Of Negative Affect And Cannabis Use Motives (Cognitive Therapy And Research, (2023), 10.1007/S10608-023-10375-8), Julia D. Buckner, Michael J. Zvolensky, Caroline R. Scherzer

Faculty Publications

The original publication includes description of the study’s method from an earlier draft that did not include changes requested by the journal Editor to reduce overlap with other publications using this sample. The correct revised Method section is presented here. Participants were recruited for a larger study of race-based microaggressions and substance use (Buckner, Morris, et al., 2023; Buckner, Threeton, et al., 2023; Buckner et al., in press). In Fall 2021, 65.9% of the undergraduates at this large, predominantly White institution in the Southeast identified as White, with 15.6% identifying as African American/Black. For the current study, inclusion criteria were: …

Author Correction: Climate-Driven Connectivity Loss Impedes Species Adaptation To Warming In The Deep Ocean (Nature Climate Change, (2025), 15, 3, (315-320), 10.1038/S41558-025-02256-7), Yuxuan Lin, Yuxin Chen, Xin Liu, Xin Lin, Edward A. Laws, Yuntao Zhou, Zhiyuan Xiang, Xinyi Zhang, Zhixue Chen, Yi Li, Yonglong Lu

Faculty Publications

Correction to: Nature Climate Changehttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-025-02256-7, published online 4 March 2025. In the version of this article initially published, four authors, including Yi Li, were listed as corresponding authors. Yi Li is the sole corresponding author, as in now amended in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

Do Analysts’ Gross Margin Forecasts Influence Manager's Decisions To Recognize Inventory Losses?, Nusrat Jahan, Padmakumar Sivadasan

Faculty Publications

Accounting standards require firms to write down their inventory when its market value (or net realizable value) drops below cost. Recognizing inventory write-downs decreases gross margins and increases scrutiny of managers’ inventory management practices. Further, it is difficult for market participants to assess inventory balances. Therefore, managers often delay recognizing inventory losses. Compared with other analysts, analysts who issue disaggregated gross margin (GM) forecasts evaluate a firm's inventories more closely, which should motivate managers to recognize expected inventory losses. Consistent with this prediction, managers’ likelihood of recognizing an expected inventory loss increases as more analysts provide GM forecasts. However, the …

Audience Participation Structures In The Concert Hall And D, Me, You, We, A Non-Opera For Actor, Chatbot, Musicians, And Audience, Treya Michelle Nash

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Audience participation in the concert hall space has developed into a rich participatory practice with specific characteristics and challenges. Though composers—especially since the 1960s—have written many pieces involving audience participation, asking the concert hall audience to participate remains uncommon. Attempting to shift the role of the audience in such a traditionally spectator-oriented space can lead to tensions that undermine the efficacy of the experience. This research categorizes participatory pieces into the structural elements of performance and facilitation forces, audience groupings, audience roles, and communication types. These structures are used to discuss the complicated relationship between control and agency within participatory …

19ne Excited States In Explosive Nucleosynthesis, Khang Pham

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Classical novae and Type I X-ray bursts are stellar explosions that occur in binary systems, where nuclear reactions involving ¹⁹Ne play a crucial role in nucleosynthesis. In novae, the destruction of ¹⁸F via the ¹⁸F(p,alpha)¹⁵O reaction significantly affects the amount of ¹⁸F remaining in the ejecta, directly influencing the detectability of predicted 511-keV gamma rays. However, discrepancies between observed and predicted ¹⁸F abundances highlight uncertainties in the reaction rates, primarily due to unknown properties of resonances in the compound nucleus ¹⁹Ne. In Type I X-ray bursts, the ¹⁵O(alpha,gamma)¹⁹Ne reaction …

Geo-Ai For Wetland Classification And Evolutionary Analysis, Lirong Yin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Wetlands, as a crucial component of the Earth's ecosystem, play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance and preserving biodiversity. However, wetlands are currently facing severe challenges, as both natural and human-induced factors are contributing to their global degradation. Gaining a deep understanding of the species composition and biodiversity within wetland-covered areas and accurately analyzing their changing trends not only helps assess the current and future state of wetlands but also provides strong support for the formulation of scientifically sound wetland conservation strategies. In recent years, the rapid development of geospatial intelligence and remote sensing technologies has brought new opportunities …

Tonality Without Function In Lee Hoiby's The Shining Place: Five Poems Of Emily Dickinson, Anne Millspaugh

LSU Master's Theses

Lee Hoiby’s life and style are discussed, and his song set The Shining Place: Five Poems of Emily Dickinson is analyzed. A small biography of Emily Dickinson and of the set itself is provided. The song set is analyzed through how Hoiby set Dickinson’s dashes in the music, how diatonic collections are used within the songs, and how motives are used within the songs. Interviews conducted between myself and Lee Hoiby’s partner Mark Shulgasser are transcribed at the end in Appendix A.

Unavoidable Immersions And Topological Minors Of K-Edge-Connected Graphs, Brittian Qualls

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this work, we present results concerning the unavoidable structures in large and infinite k-edge-connected graphs. These results are inspired by the classical result of Ramsey, who proved that for every positive integer r, every sufficiently large graph contains as an induced subgraph either K_r or $\overline{K_r}$. We consider different graph containment relations, focusing primarily on the immersion relation. In the case of finite graphs, we provide the unavoidable immersions of 4-edge-connected graphs and prove that linear edge-connectivity suffices to immerse the graph C_t,r.

This dissertation also considers infinite graphs. We present the …

The Influence Of Selected Demographic And Academic Factors On The Persistence To Degree Completion Of Military Veterans At A Research University In The South, Damon L. Ploger

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A large number of veterans leave the military each year, hoping to reacclimate successfully to civilian society while utilizing the knowledge and skills they acquired in the military to assist in their pursuit of gainful employment. Many wish to enhance this process by earning a college degree. Unfortunately, various barriers and other random personal hurdles can impede the progress of the now-veteran student toward degree completion. The lack of knowledge about these barriers and the factors that support a veteran student’s persistence to complete a college degree has created the need for this investigation. The primary purpose of this study …

Optical Spring Tracking For Enhancing Quantum-Limited Interferometers, Scott M. Aronson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Gravitational waves were first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916. Calculations in the 1970s by Rainer Weiss showed an interferometer of sufficient size could realistically detect gravitational waves, which led to a grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF). With steady progress and over decades of funding by the NSF, the construction of two full scale 4km interferometers was approved and began construction in 1994. This project, coined LIGO the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, came to be a worldwide collaboration of scientists dedicated to the discovery and study of gravitational waves. In 2015, both LIGO detectors detected a coincident inspiral …