Digital Commons Network^™

Experienced And Inexperienced Listeners' Perception Of Childrens' /L/ Productions And Their Acoustic Correlates, Emily A. Coniglio

LSU Master's Theses

The phoneme /l/ is one of the highly misarticulated sounds for young children. Referrals for articulation are often based on a listener’s perception of the problem. The aim of the current study was to examine three listener groups’ perception of word-initial /l/ produced by young children to understand if level of experience with child speech impacts listeners’ perception on /l/. The three groups were separated based on their years of experience: speech-language pathologists with at least 10 years of experience (SLP group), graduate students in speech-language pathology (GS group), and naive listeners with no clinical phonetics experience (NL group). Specifically, …

Effects Of Microtubule Stabilizing And Recovery Agents On Vitrified Bovine Oocytes, Emily Dzekunskas

LSU Master's Theses

Oocyte vitrification, while beneficial for research and species conservation, has limited success due to cryoinjury to the meiotic spindle. This study aimed to evaluate treatments to improve meiotic spindle recovery after vitrification by treating bovine oocytes with either a microtubule stabilizing agent, or a microtubule recovery agent. In the first two experiments, Taxol and epothilone B were used to treat bovine oocytes before vitrification. Both compounds have microtubule stabilizing properties and are known antimitotic compounds commonly used in cancer treatment. Oocytes were incubated with one of the microtubule stabilizing agents for 15 minutes before vitrification at one of three concentrations …

Investigations Of The Structure And Protein-Protein Interactions Of Chlamydia Trachomatis Scc4, Thilini Oshadhi Senarath Ukwaththage

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most common, sexually transmitted bacterial disease (STD) in the world. In the developmental cycle of CT, specific chlamydia chaperone 4 (Scc4) is a unique protein with essential and multiple roles. Hence, Scc4 is significant as a virulence target for therapeutic approaches to treat chlamydial infections. A novel approach was discovered to purify tag free Scc4 by utilizing a 6X-histidine-tag on Scc1 in the co-expressed Scc4:Scc1 complex by capturing the complex on nickel-charged immobilized metal affinity chromatography resin, followed by dissociation of Scc4 with sarkosyl. Using triple resonance NMR experiments, backbone and sidechain resonances …

Majorana Quasiparticles In Topological Material Interfaces, David Alspaugh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation we analyze how Majorana quasiparticles found on material interfaces of both topological insulators (TIs) and topological superconductors (TSCs) are affected by imperfections within their local environment. While these quasiparticles are predicted to be critical for the construction of quantum computers, they are typically modeled only under pristine conditions. Thus, although quantum computers may require the spatial manipulation of Majorana quasiparticles, these topological material interfaces are commonly studied in static contexts and their response to manipulation remains an open question. We first demonstrate that interface potentials on the topological insulator Bi₂Se₃ can enable the emergence …

Neurocognitive Interactions Between Anticipatory Anxiety And Memory Encoding, Felicia M. Chaisson

LSU Master's Theses

Although acute anxiety has been shown to improve encoding of threat-relevant information, its effects on threat-neutral information are less understood. Recent research suggests that anxiety can impair subsequent recall for neutral words, particularly following practice with the recall task. Here we use event-related potentials (ERPs) to test the notion that anxiety specifically disrupts the implementation of encoding strategies—such as elaborative encoding—that tend to develop with practice. ERPs were recorded as participants studied two sets of neutral words, one of which was presented in a stressful context using the threat-of-shock paradigm (threat block), and the other in a non-threatening context (safe …

Low-Cost Hardware-In-The-Loop (Hil) Simulator For Simulation And Analysis Of Embedded Systems With Non-Real-Time Applications, Chanuka S. Elvitigala

LSU Master's Theses

Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) simulation is an approach that is used for embedded systems testing which was popular in the early days of embedded systems. This technology was wrapped and was stored away for a long time. One of the main reasons is that the less use of embedded systems in society. Recent developments in embedded systems, data science, and control systems lead to a focus on testing these systems. The earliest method of testing these systems was by doing destructive testing which is a waste of money, resources, and time. The HIL provided a safe and economical way of testing the …

Evaluation Of Algorithms For Randomizing Key Item Locations In Game Worlds, Caleb Johnson

LSU Master's Theses

In the past few years, game randomizers have become increasingly popular. In general, a game randomizer takes some aspect of a game that is usually static and shuffles it somehow. In particular, in this paper we will discuss the type of randomizer that shuffles the locations of items in a game where certain key items are needed to traverse the game world and access some of these locations. Examples of these types of games include series such as The Legend of Zelda and Metroid.

In order to accomplish this shuffling in such a way that the player is able to …

Controls For A Nonlinear System Arising In Vision-Based Landing Of Airliners, Laurent Burlion, Victor Gibert, Michael Malisoff, Frederic Mazenc

Faculty Publications

We use a novel backstepping method to solve a stabilization problem for a nonlinear system with delayed sampled outputs that are not accurately measured. We provide an application to a system arising in vision-based landing of airliners that includes coupling between the lateral and longitudinal dynamics, for which we provide performance guarantees in the presence of the delay, nonlinearity, and sampling. Our major contributions are (a) designs of lateral and longitudinal controls for our nonlinear model of an aircraft landing on an unequipped runway, (b) mathematical proofs that our controls ensure that the aircraft being modeled achieves desired alignment with …

Garden Of Ruins: Military Occupation And State Power In Civil War Louisiana, Johnathan Matthew Ward

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Using Civil War Louisiana as its focus, I argue that military occupation and expansive state power during the US Civil War served the primary mechanisms by which national states fought the war, stabilized order, and shaped a postwar nation. While many histories of the war separate frontline combat from the domestic home front and distinguish between the policy decisions of high politics and everyday decisions on the ground, this dissertation connects the political decisions of war to the daily acts of governance and resistance in occupied Louisiana. Union occupation officials and Confederate state authorities made contingent decisions throughout the war …

Exploring Attentional Biases, Dispositional Mindfulness, And The Suicide Stroop, Emma H. Moscardini

LSU Master's Theses

Extant research has found that attentional biases to suicide-related stimuli are relevant to suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs). As such, attentional biases are a core feature of both the Fluid Vulnerability Theory of Suicide and the cognitive model of suicide. Individuals with an STB history have demonstrated attentional biases to suicide-related stimuli on a suicide Stroop task, and this attentional bias has been found to aid in prediction of suicide attempts at six-month follow-up. Better understanding this attentional bias may be useful for informing mindfulness-based interventions which target attentional biases, as dispositional mindfulness has been found to be related to …

New Representations For A Semi-Markov Chain And Related Filters, Robert J. Elliott, W. P. Malcolm

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Updated Miniboone Neutrino Oscillation Results With Increased Data And New Background Studies, A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo, B. C. Brown, J. M. Conrad, R. Dharmapalan, A. Diaz, Z. Djurcic, D. A. Finley, R. Ford, G. T. Garvey, S. Gollapinni, A. Hourlier, E-C Huang, N. W. Kamp, G. Karagiorgi, T. Katori, T. Kobilarcik, K. Lin, W. C. Louis, C. Mariani, W. Marsh, G. B. Mills, J. Mirabal-Martinez, C. D. Moore, R. H. Nelson, J. Nowak, I Parmaksiz, Z. Pavlovic, H. Ray, B. P. Roe, A. D. Russell, A. Schneider, M. H. Shaevitz, H. Siegel, J. Spitz, I. Stancu, R. Tayloe, R. T. Thornton, M. Tzanov, R. G. Van De Water, D. H. White, E. D. Zimmerman

Faculty Publications

The MiniBooNE experiment at Fermilab reports a total excess of 638.0 +/- 52.1(stat) +/- 122.2(syst) electronlike events from a data sample corresponding to 18.75 x 10(20) protons-on-target in neutrino mode, which is a 46% increase in the data sample with respect to previously published results and 11.27 x 10(20) protons-on-target in antineutrino mode. The overall significance of the excess, 4.8 sigma, is limited by systematic uncertainties, assumed to be Gaussian, as the statistical significance of the excess is 12.2 sigma. The additional statistics allow several studies to address questions on the source of the excess. First, we provide two-dimensional plots …

Smart Quantum Technologies Using Photons, Narayan Bhusal

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The technologies utilizing quantum states of light have been in the spotlight for the last two decades. In this regard, quantum metrology, quantum imaging, quantum-optical communication are some of the important applications that exploit fascinating quantum properties like quantum superposition, quantum correlations, and nonclassical photon statistics. However, the state-of-art technologies operating at the single-photon level are not robust enough to truly realize a reliable quantum-photonic technology.

In Chapter 1, I present a historical account of photon-based technologies. Furthermore, I discuss recent efforts and encouraging developments in the field of quantum-photonic technologies, and major challenges for the experimental realization of reliable …

Campus Protests And Competing Marketplaces: A Legal Examination Of Operative Tension Between The Marketplace Of Ideas And The Neoliberal Marketplace, Gillian Patricia Foss

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the marketplace of ideas analogy, a longstanding force in First Amendment jurisprudence, as it evolves within the same operational contexts as neoliberal economic policy in higher education. To accomplish this, the study focuses on students, the campus population whose activism patterns are distinctively associated with renewed public debate over free speech in university settings. The study combined legal and qualitative research methods to explore a modern campus environment, rife for student dissent, that exists in unresolved tension between the legal underpinnings of the marketplace of ideas analogy and institutional behaviors increasingly linked to neoliberalism. After all: findings …

Effect Of A Once In 100-Year Flood On A Subtropical Coastal Phytoplankton Community, Lesley A. Clementson, Anthony J. Richardson, Wayne A. Rochester, Kadija Oubelkheir, Bingqing Liu, Eurico J. D'Sa, Luiz Felipe Mendes Gusmão, Penelope Ajani, Thomas Schroeder, Phillip W. Ford, Michele A. Burford, Emily Saeck, Andrew D. L. Steven

Faculty Publications

Subtropical systems experience occasional severe floods, dramatically altering the phytoplankton community structure, in response to changes in salinity, nutrients, and light. This study examined the effects of a 1:100 year summer flood on the phytoplankton community in an Australian subtropical bay – Moreton Bay – over 48 weeks, from January to December 2011. Immediately after maximum flood levels were reached on the rivers flowing into the bay, the lowest salinity, and highest turbidity values, in more than a decade, were measured in the Bay and the areal extent of the flood-related parameters was also far greater than previous flood events. …

Towards A General Framework For Practical Quantum Network Protocols, Sumeet Khatri

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The quantum internet is one of the frontiers of quantum information science. It will revolutionize the way we communicate and do other tasks, and it will allow for tasks that are not possible using the current, classical internet. The backbone of a quantum internet is entanglement distributed globally in order to allow for such novel applications to be performed over long distances. Experimental progress is currently being made to realize quantum networks on a small scale, but much theoretical work is still needed in order to understand how best to distribute entanglement and to guide the realization of large-scale quantum …

The Epigenetics Of Gametes And Early Embryos And Potential Long-Range Consequences In Livestock Species—Filling In The Picture With Epigenomic Analyses, Linkai Zhu, Sadie L. Marjani, Zongliang Jiang

Faculty Publications

The epigenome is dynamic and forged by epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, chromatin remodeling, and non-coding RNA species. Increasing lines of evidence support the concept that certain acquired traits are derived from environmental exposure during early embryonic and fetal development, i.e., fetal programming, and can even be “memorized” in the germline as epigenetic information and transmitted to future generations. Advances in technology are now driving the global profiling and precise editing of germline and embryonic epigenomes, thereby improving our understanding of epigenetic regulation and inheritance. These achievements open new avenues for the development of technologies or potential …

Physical Transport Processes That Affect The Distribution Of Oil In The Gulf Of Mexico Observations And Modeling, Michel Boufadel, Annalisa Bracco, Eric P. Chassignet, Shuyi S. Chen, Eric D’Asaro, William K. Dewar, Oscar Garcia-Pineda, Dubravko Justić, Joseph Katz, Vassiliki H. Kourafalou, Ian R. Macdonald, Tamay M. Özgökmen, Claire B. Paris-Limouzy, Scott S. Socolofsky, David Halpern, John G. Shepherd

Faculty Publications

Physical transport processes such as the circulation and mixing of waters largely determine the spatial distribution of materials in the ocean. They also establish the physical environment within which biogeochemical and other processes transform materials, including naturally occurring nutrients and human-made contaminants that may sustain or harm the region’s living resources. Thus, understanding and modeling the transport and distribution of materials provides a crucial substrate for determining the effects of biological, geological, and chemical processes. The wide range of scales in which these physical processes operate includes microscale droplets and bubbles; small-scale turbulence in buoyant plumes and the near-surface “mixed” …

A Reporting Format For Leaf-Level Gas Exchange Data And Metadata, Kim S. Ely, Alistair Rogers, Deborah A. Agarwal, Elizabeth A. Ainsworth, Loren P. Albert, Ashehad Ali, Jeremiah Anderson, Michael J. Aspinwall, Chandra Bellasio, Carl Bernacchi, Steve Bonnage, Thomas N. Buckley, James Bunce, Angela C. Burnett, Florian A. Busch, Amanda Cavanagh, Lucas A. Cernusak, Robert Crystal-Ornelas, Joan Damerow, Kenneth J. Davidson, Martin G. De Kauwe, Michael C. Dietze, Tomas F. Domingues, Mirindi Eric Dusenge, David S. Ellsworth, John R. Evans, Paul P.G. Gauthier, Bruno O. Gimenez, Elizabeth P. Gordon, Christopher M. Gough, Aud H. Halbritter, David T. Hanson, Mary Heskel, J. Aaron Hogan, Jason R. Hupp, Kolby Jardine, Jens Kattge, Trevor Keenan, Johannes Kromdijk, Dushan P. Kumarathunge, Julien Lamour, Andrew D.B. Leakey, David S. Lebauer, Qianyu Li, Marjorie R. Lundgren, Nate Mcdowell, Katherine Meacham-Hensold, Belinda E. Medlyn, David J.P. Moore, Robinson Negrón-Juárez, Ülo Niinemets, Colin P. Osborne, Alexandria L. Pivovaroff, Hendrik Poorter, Sasha C. Reed, Youngryel Ryu, Alvaro Sanz-Saez, Stephanie C. Schmiege, Shawn P. Serbin, Thomas D. Sharkey, Martijn Slot, Nicholas G. Smith, Balasaheb V. Sonawane, Paul F. South, Daisy C. Souza, Joseph Ronald Stinziano, Ellen Stuart-Haëntjens, Samuel H. Taylor, Mauricio D. Tejera, Johan Uddling, Vigdis Vandvik, Charuleka Varadharajan, Anthony P. Walker, Berkley J. Walker, Jeffrey M. Warren, Danielle A. Way, Brett T. Wolfe, Jin Wu, Stan D. Wullschleger, Chonggang Xu, Zhengbing Yan, Dedi Yang

Faculty Publications

© 2021 The Authors Leaf-level gas exchange data support the mechanistic understanding of plant fluxes of carbon and water. These fluxes inform our understanding of ecosystem function, are an important constraint on parameterization of terrestrial biosphere models, are necessary to understand the response of plants to global environmental change, and are integral to efforts to improve crop production. Collection of these data using gas analyzers can be both technically challenging and time consuming, and individual studies generally focus on a small range of species, restricted time periods, or limited geographic regions. The high value of these data is exemplified by …

Utilization Of Recombinant Viruses And In Silico Protein-Protein Interactions To Investigate The Role Of Herpes Simplex Type-1 (Hsv-1) Us9, Gk, And Ul20 Proteins In Virion Assembly And Egress, Anna Reneé Naquin

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Facility For The Research, Development, And Translation Of Advanced Technologies For Ion-Beam Therapies, M. Lis, W. Newhauser, M. Donetti, M. Durante, U. Weber, B. Zipfel, C. Hartmann-Sauter, M. Wolf, C. Graeff

Faculty Publications

This article describes the updated GSI radiotherapy research facility (Cave M) located at the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research in Darmstadt, Germany. This facility was upgraded by modernizing the beamline that supported a pilot project in carbon ion cancer therapy in Europe from 1997 to 2008. Descriptions are provided of the modernized beamline, related hardware components and treatment delivery system. The performance specifications and general characteristics for each major component are described, along with example pre-clinical test results of selected components. These upgrades to Cave M allow for investigating novel therapy methods. The radiotherapy research facility is located …

Spatial Mode Correction Of Single Photons Using Machine Learning, Narayan Bhusal, Sanjaya Lohani, Chenglong You, Mingyuan Hong, Joshua Fabre, Pengcheng Zhao, Erin M. Knutson, Ryan T. Glasser, Omar S. Magaña-Loaiza

Faculty Publications

Spatial modes of light constitute valuable resources for a variety of quantum technologies ranging from quantum communication and quantum imaging to remote sensing. Nevertheless, their vulnerabilities to phase distortions, induced by random media, impose significant limitations on the realistic implementation of numerous quantum-photonic technologies. Unfortunately, this problem is exacerbated at the single-photon level. Over the last two decades, this challenging problem has been tackled through conventional schemes that utilize optical nonlinearities, quantum correlations, and adaptive optics. In this article, the self-learning and self-evolving features of artificial neural networks are exploited to correct the complex spatial profile of distorted Laguerre–Gaussian modes …

Accelerated Controller Tuning For Wind Turbines Under Multiple Hazards, Aly Mousaad Aly, Milad Rezaee

Faculty Publications

During their lifecycle, wind turbines can be subjected to multiple hazard loads, such as high-intensity wind, earthquake, wave, and mechanical unbalance. Excessive vibrations, due to these loads, can have detrimental effects on energy production, structural lifecycle, and the initial cost of wind turbines. Vibration control by various means, such as passive, active, and semi-active control systems provide crucial solutions to these issues. We developed a novel control theory that enables semi-active controller tuning under the complex structural behavior and inherent system nonlinearity. The proposed theory enables the evaluation of semi-active controllers’ performance of multi-degrees-of-freedom systems, without the need for time-consuming …

The Effects Of Mechanical Rocking Motion On Transdifferentiating Feline Adipose Multipotent Stromal Cells Into Functioning Pancreatic Β-Cell Like Islets, Emily Halphen

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Knock Knock, Who’S There? Communications In Closed Environments With A Special Focus On Vietnam Pows, Carrie Cole

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Walk A Mile In My Shoes: The Disadvantage That Lies At The Intersection Of Race And Gender Through The Lens Of Kamala Harris, Wennafer Caela Donald

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Dynamical Modelling Of Cxogbs J175553.2-281633: A 10 H Long Orbital Period Cataclysmic Variable, Sebastian Gomez, Manuel A. P. Torres, Peter G. Jonker, Zuzanna Kostrzewa-Rutkowska, Theo F. J. Van Grunsven, Andrzej Udalski, Robert I. Hynes, Craig O. Heinke, Thomas J. Maccarone, Ricardo Salinas, Jay Strader

Faculty Publications

We present modelling of the long-term optical light and radial velocity curves of the binary stellar system CXOGBS J175553.2-281633, first detected in X-rays in the Chandra Galactic Bulge Survey. We analysed 7 yr of optical I-band photometry from Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment and found long-term variations from year to year. These long-term variations can most likely be explained with by either variations in the luminosity of the accretion disc or a spotted secondary star. The phased light curve has a sinusoidal shape, which we interpret as being due to ellipsoidal modulations. We improve the orbital period to be P = …

Planet Hunters Tess Ii: Findings From The First Two Years Of Tess, N. L. Eisner, O. Barragan, C. Lintott, S. Aigrain, B. Nicholson, T. S. Boyajian, S. Howell, C. Johnston, B. Lakeland, G. Miller, A. Mcmaster, H. Parviainen, E. J. Safron, M. E. Schwamb, L. Trouille, S. Vaughan, N. Zicher, C. Allen, S. Allen, M. Bouslog, C. Johnson, M. N. Simon, Z. Wolfenbarger, E. M. L. Baeten, D. M. Bundy, T. Hoffman

Faculty Publications

We present the results from the first two years of the Planet Hunters TESS (PHT) citizen science project, which identifies planet candidates in the TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) data by engaging members of the general public. Over 22000 citizen scientists from around the world visually inspected the first 26 sectors of TESS data in order to help identify transit-like signals. We use a clustering algorithm to combine these classifications into a ranked list of events for each sector, the top 500 of which are then visually vetted by the science team. We assess the detection efficiency of this methodology …

Level Structure Of The Tz=-1 Nucleus Ar 34 And Its Relevance For Nucleosynthesis In One Novae, A. R.L. Kennington, G. Lotay, D. T. Doherty, D. Seweryniak, C. Andreoiu, K. Auranen, M. P. Carpenter, W. N. Catford, C. M. Deibel, K. Hadyńska-Klk, S. Hallam, D. Hoff, T. Huang, R. V.F. Janssens, S. Jazrawi, J. José, F. G. Kondev, T. Lauritsen, J. Li, A. M. Rogers, J. Saiz, G. Savard, S. Stolze, G. L. Wilson, S. Zhu

Faculty Publications

The Mg24+C12 fusion reaction was used to perform a detailed γ-ray spectroscopy study of the astrophysically important nucleus Ar34. In particular, an experimental setup, coupling the advanced γ-ray tracking array GRETINA with the well-established Argonne fragment mass analyzer (FMA), was employed to obtain excitation energies and spin-parity assignments for excited states in Ar34, both above and below the proton separation energy. For the first time, an angular distribution analysis of in-beam γ rays from fusion-evaporation reactions, using a tracking array, has been performed and Coulomb energy differences of analog states in the T=1, A=34 mirror system, explored from 0 to …

Prescribed Exercise To Reduce Recidivism After Weight Loss-Pilot (Prevail-P): Design, Methods And Rationale, Damon L. Swift, Joshua E. Mcgee, Anna C. Huff, Marie C. Clunan, Nicole R. Gniewek, Taylor T. Brown, Briceida G. Osborne, Colleen Bucher, Charles J. Tanner, Savanna G. Barefoot, Patricia Brophy, Angela Clark, Gabriel S. Dubis, Corby K. Martin, Robbie A. Beyl, Joseph A. Houmard, Robert A. Carels, Walter Pories, Laura E. Matarese

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Clinically significant weight loss is associated with health benefits for overweight and obese adults. Participation in adequate amounts of physical activity is critical for weight maintenance. However, the recommended amount of physical activity needed to promote weight maintenance is based primarily on retrospective studies that quantified physical activity levels through questionnaires which tend to overestimate physical activity levels. In addition, the present literature has provided little data on the impact of these physical activity levels on cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors, which may have equal or more clinical importance than weight changes. The Prescribed Exercise to Reduce Recidivism After Weight …