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Juvenile Punishment, High School Graduation, And Adult Crime: Evidence From Idiosyncratic Judge Harshness, Ozkan Eren, Naci Mocan

Faculty Publications

This paper contributes to the debate on the impact of juvenile crime punishment on high school completion and adult recidivism using administrative data from a southern U.S. state. We exploit random assignment of cases to judges and use idiosyncratic judge stringency in imprisonment to estimate the causal effect of incarceration. We find that juvenile incarceration increases the propensity of being convicted for a drug offense in adulthood while it lowers the propensity to be convicted of a property crime. Juvenile incarceration has also a detrimental effect on high school completion for earlier cohorts, but it has no impact on later …

Quantum Gravitational Onset Of Starobinsky Inflation In A Closed Universe, Lucia Gordon, Bao Fei Li, Parampreet Singh

Faculty Publications

Recent cosmic microwave background observations favor low-energy-scale inflationary models in a closed universe. However, the onset of inflation in such models for a closed universe is known to be severely problematic. In particular, such a universe recollapses within a few Planck seconds and encounters a big crunch singularity when initial conditions are given in the Planck regime. We show that this problem of the onset of inflation in low-energy-scale inflationary models can be successfully overcome in a quantum-gravitational framework where the big bang/big crunch singularities are resolved and a nonsingular cyclic evolution exists prior to inflation. As an example, we …

Characterization, Immobilization, And Polymer Related Applications Of Watermelon Seed Powder, A Practical Source Of Urease Enzyme, Anthony Quan Quoc Mai

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Urease enzyme was crystallized almost a century ago, and to this day its intrinsic stability is not ideal for everyday applications. This work introduces a new process by which a naturally encapsulated material, watermelon seed powder (WMSP), is characterized for its stability and activity. WMSP enzymatic activity has been measured for over a year at various storage conditions—exposed to ambient atmosphere for a year, WMSP retained above 90% activity. In aqueous conditions, the enzyme maintained above 60% activity after two months; with the addition of a preservative that number stays at about 90%. There is a pH shift of the …

A Feedback-Based Pneumatic Compression System For Effective Lymphedema Management, Mohammad Imrul Kayes

LSU Master's Theses

Bioimpedance analysis (BIA) is a method of detecting lymphedema- a debilitating medical condition involving swelling of the extremities. Pneumatic compression devices are frequently used in the compression treatment of lymphedema. Although existing compression technology provides relief of symptoms, it has limitations in terms of ease-of-use, portability, and monitoring of treatment progress. Currently, there are no BIA analyzers in the market that run on a low-power microcontroller and a rechargeable battery. Moreover, no such device currently exists that integrate the BIA analysis with pneumatic compression system to offer a feedback-based solution for lymphedema treatment. This work represents the first steps towards …

Application Of Compound-Specific Stable Isotopes And Molecular Biomarkers To Paleoclimatic And Paleoecological Reconstructions, Mingqiu Hou

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Compound-specific stable isotope analysis and biomarker-based paleothermometry have been increasingly applied to for paleoclimate and paleoecology studies. The first project aims to reconstruct the paleoclimate in the Qaidam Basin during the last glacial period. Qaidam Basin in the Northern Tibetan Plateau is a critical eolian factory located at a unique geographic location that links the Westerlies and the Asian summer monsoons. However, how the interactions of two climatic systems influence the paleohydrology that in turn impacts the eolian production in the Qaidam Basin has been seldom explored. Our compound-specific hydrogen isotope and U^K ₃₇ temperature data found that the …

Investigation Of The Structure And Dynamics Of Novel Battery Electrolytes By Utilizing Multidimensional Infrared Spectroscopic Techniques, Susith Rajitha Abeythunga Galle Kankanamge

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Novel battery technologies are being developed due to the high global demand for energy in many fields where different specifications are required. The battery electrolyte provides a medium for ions to diffuse between electrodes and its composition determines the compatibility with the electrode pair. While many works focus on characterizing novel electrolyte systems to advance new batteries, the understanding of the microscopic structure and dynamics of speciations present in these electrolytes is limited. Many experiment methods have obtained incomplete time-averaged structure information due to lack of instrumental time resolution compared to the molecular intrinsic time sales of electrolytes that range …

The Influence Of Geographic Variation In Vegetation Characteristics On Habitat Use And Productivity Of An Endangered Warbler, Ashley M. Long, Heather A. Mathewson, Michael L. Morrison

Faculty Publications

Understanding how geographic variation in environmental conditions influences species’ distributions and population dynamics is critical for effective management of at-risk species and can help us anticipate wildlife responses to future change. The Golden-cheeked Warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia; hereafter warbler) is an endangered migratory songbird that nests in oak-juniper woodland in Texas. From 2009 to 2013, we monitored 895 warbler territories at 90 study sites located across the warbler's breeding range to examine how geographic variation in vegetation characteristics influenced aspects of warbler habitat selection and productivity. We found range-wide variation in the tree species composition and vegetation structure of warbler habitat. …

Publisher Correction: A Vaccine Targeting The Rbd Of The S Protein Of Sars-Cov-2 Induces Protective Immunity (Nature, (2020), 586, 7830, (572-577), 10.1038/S41586-020-2599-8), Jingyun Yang, Wei Wang, Zimin Chen, Shuaiyao Lu, Fanli Yang, Zhenfei Bi, Linlin Bao, Fei Mo, Xue Li, Yong Huang, Weiqi Hong, Yun Yang, Yuan Zhao, Fei Ye, Sheng Lin, Wei Deng, Hua Chen, Hong Lei, Ziqi Zhang, Min Luo, Hong Gao, Yue Zheng, Yanqiu Gong, Xiaohua Jiang, Yanfeng Xu, Qi Lv, Dan Li, Manni Wang, Fengdi Li, Shunyi Wang, Guanpeng Wang, Pin Yu, Yajin Qu, Li Yang

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

In the print version of this Article, some of the symbols were corrupted in Fig. 1. The HTML and PDF versions of the Article were correct, and so the original Article has not been corrected online.

Assessing Chlorophyll A Spatiotemporal Patterns Combining In Situ Continuous Fluorometry Measurements And Landsat 8/Oli Data Across The Barataria Basin (Louisiana, Usa), Ivan A. Vargas-Lopez, Victor H. Rivera-Monroy, John W. Day, Julie Whitbeck, Kanchan Maiti, Christopher J. Madden, Armando Trasviña-Castro

Faculty Publications

The acquisition of reliable and accurate data to assess environmental changes over large spatial scales is one of the main limitations to determine the impact of eutrophication, and the effectiveness of management strategies in coastal systems. Here, we used a continuous in situ Chl-a fluorometry sensor and L8/OLI satellite data to develop an algorithm and map Chl-a spatial distribution to assess the impact of freshwater diversions and associated high nutrient loading rates in the Barataria Basin (BB) complex, a coastal system in the northern Gulf of Mexico. We collected water quality samples at 24 sampling stations and high-frequency continuous fluorometry …

Integrating The Jrc Monthly Water History Dataset And Geostatistical Analysis Approach To Quantify Surface Hydrological Connectivity Dynamics In An Ungauged Multi-Lake System, Lili Wu, Yueqing Chen, Guangxin Zhang, Y. Jun Xu, Zhiqiang Tan

Faculty Publications

Determining the dynamics of surface hydrological connectivity in a landscape of multiple lakes with different sizes and depths is challenging. This is especially the case for ungagged, large areas of multi-lake systems. Integrated use of remote sensing and geostatistical analysis can be a useful approach for developing metrics that can be used to identify the hydrological connectivity and their changes. In this study, we conducted a geostatistical analysis of 18 wet and dry binary state rasters derived from Landsat images over a large ungauged multi-lake system, the Momoge National Nature Reserve in Northeast China. Our goal was to investigate applicability …

Revealing Short-Period Exoplanets And Brown Dwarfs In The Galactic Bulge Using The Microlensing Xallarap Effect With The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, Shota Miyazaki, Samson A. Johnson, Takahiro Sumi, Matthew T. Penny, Naoki Koshimoto, Tsubasa Yamawaki

Faculty Publications

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (Roman) will provide an enormous number of microlensing light curves with much better photometric precision than ongoing ground-based observations. Such light curves will enable us to observe high-order microlensing effects which have been previously difficult to detect. In this paper, we investigate Roman's potential to detect and characterize short-period planets and brown dwarfs (BDs) in source systems using the orbital motion of source stars, the so-called xallarap effect. We analytically estimate the measurement uncertainties of xallarap parameters using Fisher matrix analysis. We show that the Roman Galactic Exoplanet Survey can detect warm Jupiters with …

Inflationary Dynamics And Particle Production In A Toroidal Bose-Einstein Condensate, Anshuman Bhardwaj, Dzmitry Vaido, Daniel E. Sheehy

Faculty Publications

We present a theoretical study of the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) trapped inside an expanding toroid that can realize an analog inflationary universe. As the system expands, we find that phonons in the BEC undergo redshift and damping due to quantum pressure effects, owing to the thinness of the ring. We predict that rapidly expanding toroidal BEC's can exhibit spontaneous particle creation, and study this phenomenon in the context of an initial coherent state wave function. We show how particle creation would be revealed in the atom density and density correlations, and discuss connections to the cosmological theory …

Identification Of A Local Sample Of Gamma-Ray Bursts Consistent With A Magnetar Giant Flare Origin, E. Burns, D. Svinkin, K Hurley, Z. Wadiasingh, M. Negro, G. Younes, R. Hamburg, A. Ridnaia, D. Cook, S. B. Cenko, R. Aloisi, G. Ashton, M. Baring, M. S. Briggs, N. Christensen, D. Frederiks, A. Goldstein, C. M. Hui, D. L. Kaplan, M. M. Kasliwal, D. Kocevski, O. J. Roberts, V. Savchenko, A. Tohuvavohu, P. Veres, C. A. Wilson-Hodge

Faculty Publications

Cosmological gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are known to arise from distinct progenitor channels: short GRBs mostly from neutron star mergers and long GRBs from a rare type of core-collapse supernova (CCSN) called collapsars. Highly magnetized neutron stars called magnetars also generate energetic, short-duration gamma-ray transients called magnetar giant flares (MGFs). Three have been observed from the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies, and they have long been suspected to constitute a third class of extragalactic GRBs. We report the unambiguous identification of a distinct population of four local (<5 Mpc) short GRBs, adding GRB 070222 to previously discussed events. While identified solely based on alignment with nearby star-forming galaxies, their rise time and isotropic energy release are independently inconsistent with the larger short GRB population at >99.9% confidence. These properties, the host galaxies, and nondetection in gravitational waves …

Correction To: The Measure Mix Matters: Multiple-Component Plant Protection Is Indispensable For Coping With The Enormous Genome Plasticity And Mutation Rates In Pathogenic Microorganisms (Journal Of Plant Diseases And Protection, (2021), 128, 1, (3-6), 10.1007/S41348-020-00404-Z), Ely Oliveira-Garcia, Andreas Von Tiedemann, Holger B. Deising

Faculty Publications

In the original publication of the article, the first author name is incorrectly published as “Ely Oliceira-Garcia” but the correct name should read as “Ely Oliveira-Garcia”. This has been corrected in this paper.

Anomalies In The Cmb From A Cosmic Bounce, Ivan Agullo, Dimitrios Kranas, V. Sreenath

Faculty Publications

We explore a model of the early universe in which the inflationary epoch is preceded by a cosmic bounce, and argue that this scenario provides a common origin to several of the anomalous features that have been observed at large angular scales in the cosmic microwave background (CMB). More concretely, we show that a power suppression, a dipolar asymmetry, and a preference for odd-parity correlations, with amplitude and scale dependence in consonance with observations, are expected from this scenario. The model also alleviates the tension in the lensing amplitude. These signals originate from the indirect effect that non-Gaussian correlations between …

Novel Adjective Processing In Preschool Children: Evidence From Event-Related Brain Potentials, Katelyn L. Gerwin, Laurence B. Leonard, Jennifer Schumaker, Patricia Deevy, Eileen Haebig, Christine Weber

Faculty Publications

Purpose: Recent findings in preschool children indicated novel adjective recall was enhanced when learned using repeated retrieval with contextual reinstatement (RRCR) compared to repeated study (RS). Recall was similar for learned pictures used during training and new (generalized) pictures with the same adjective features. The current study compared the effects of learning method and learned/ generalized pictures on the neural processes mediating the recognition of novel adjectives. Method: Twenty typically developing children aged 4;6– 5;11 (years;months) learned four novel adjectives, two using RRCR and two using RS. Five-minute and 1-week tests assessed adjective recall using learned and generalized pictures. Also, …

Interdependencies Between Acoustic And High-Speed Videoendoscopy Parameters, Patrick Schlegel, Andreas M. Kist, Melda Kunduk, Stephan Dürr, Michael Döllinger, Anne Schützenberger

Faculty Publications

In voice research, uncovering relations between the oscillating vocal folds, being the sound source of phonation, and the resulting perceived acoustic signal are of great interest. This is especially the case in the context of voice disorders, such as functional dysphonia (FD). We investigated 250 high-speed videoendoscopy (HSV) recordings with simultaneously recorded acoustic signals (124 healthy females, 60 FD females, 44 healthy males, 22 FD males). 35 glottal area waveform (GAW) parameters and 14 acoustic parameters were calculated for each recording. Linear and non-linear relations between GAW and acoustic parameters were investigated using Pearson correlation coefficients (PCC) and distance correlation …

Mobile Technology For Improved Contraceptive Care In Morocco, Manal Kharbouch, Ali Idri, Taoufik Rachad, Hassan Alami, Leanne Redman, Youssef Stelate

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

The fulfillment of unmet needs for contraception can help women reach their reproductive goals. Therefore, there is a growing concern worldwide about contraception and women’s knowledge of making an advised choice about it. In this aspect, an outgrown number of apps are now available providing information concerning contraception whether it concerns natural contraception or modern contraception. However, vast amounts of these apps contain inaccurate sexual health facts and non-evidence-based information concerning contraception. On these bases, and in respect to: (1) the needs of women to effectively prevent unintended pregnancies while conducting a stress-free healthy lifestyle. (2) the World Health Organization …

Association Of Initial Β-Amyloid Levels With Subsequent Flortaucipir Positron Emission Tomography Changes In Persons Without Cognitive Impairment, David S. Knopman, Emily S. Lundt, Terry M. Therneau, Sabrina M. Albertson, Jeffrey L. Gunter, Matthew L. Senjem, Christopher G. Schwarz, Michelle M. Mielke, Mary M. Machulda, Bradley F. Boeve, David T. Jones, Jon Graff-Radford, Prashanthi Vemuri, Kejal Kantarci, Val J. Lowe, Ronald C. Petersen, Clifford R. Jack, Paul Aisen, Michael Weiner, William Jagust, John Q. Trojanowki, Arthur W. Toga, Laurel Beckett, Robert C. Green, Andrew J. Saykin, Leslie M. Shaw, Zaven Khachaturian, Greg Sorensen, Maria Carrillo, Lew Kuller, Marc Raichle, Steven Paul, Peter Davies, Howard Fillit

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Importance: Tau accumulation in Alzheimer disease (AD) is closely associated with cognitive impairment. Quantitating tau accumulation by positron emission tomography (PET) will be a useful outcome measure for future clinical trials in the AD spectrum. Objective: To investigate the association of β-amyloid (Aβ) on PET with subsequent tau accumulation on PET in persons who were cognitively unimpaired (CU) to gain insight into temporal associations between Aβ and tau accumulation and inform clinical trial design. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study included individuals aged 65 to 85 years who were CU and had participated in the Mayo Clinic Study of …

Digital Anthropometry For Body Circumference Measurements: Toward The Development Of Universal Three-Dimensional Optical System Analysis Software, Sima Sobhiyeh, Samantha Kennedy, Alexander Dunkel, Marcelline E. Dechenaud, Jerome A. Weston, John Shepherd, Peter Wolenski, Steven B. Heymsfield

Faculty Publications

Background/Objective: Digital anthropometric (DA) assessments are increasingly being administered with three-dimensional (3D) optical devices in clinical settings that manage patients with obesity and related metabolic disorders. However, anatomic measurement sites are not standardized across manufacturers, precluding use of published reference values and pooling of data across research centers. Subjects/Methods: This study aimed to develop universal 3D analysis software by applying novel programming strategies capable of producing device-independent DA estimates that agree with conventional anthropometric (CA) measurements made at well-defined anatomic sites. A series of technical issues related to proprietary methods of 3D geometrical reconstruction and image analysis were addressed in …

Assessing Mealtime Macronutrient Content: Patient Perceptions Versus Expert Analyses Via A Novel Phone App, Melanie B. Gillingham, Zoey Li, Roy W. Beck, Peter Calhoun, Jessica R. Castle, Mark Clements, Eyal Dassau, Francis J. Doyle, Robin L. Gal, Peter Jacobs, Susana R. Patton, Michael R. Rickels, Michael Riddell, Corby K. Martin

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Background: People with type 1 diabetes estimate meal carbohydrate content to accurately dose insulin, yet, protein and fat content of meals also influences postprandial glycemia. We examined accuracy of macronutrient content estimation via a novel phone app. Participant estimates were compared with expert nutrition analyses performed via the Remote Food Photography Method (RFPM). Methods: Data were collected through a novel phone app. Participants were asked to take photos of meals/snacks on the day of and day after scheduled exercise, enter carbohydrate estimates, and categorize meals as low, typical, or high protein and fat. Glycemia was measured via continuous glucose monitoring. …

Streamline-Based Simulation Of Nanoparticle Transport In Field-Scale Heterogeneous Subsurface Systems, Bin Wang, Yin Feng, John Blears, Karsten Thompson, Richard Hughes

Faculty Publications

Nanoparticle (NP) transport is increasingly relevant to subsurface engineering applications such as aquifer characterization and enhanced oil recovery. An efficient field-scale simulation framework is critical for predicting NP performance and designing subsurface applications. In this work, for the first time, a streamline-based model is presented to simulate NP transport in field-scale subsurface systems with heterogeneous permeability. It considers a series of smart behaviors exhibited by engineered nanoparticles (NPs), including time-triggered encapsulation, retention, formation damage effects and variable nanofluid viscosity. The key methods employed by the algorithm are streamline-based simulation (SLS) and an operator-splitting (OS) technique for modeling NP transport. The …

Developing Teachers’ Ability To Provide Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, London R. Moore

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the nature of developing teachers’ ability to provide Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP). This study places the teacher as the catalyst for change in African American students’ experience. Based on an examination of past research, this study turned to CRP as the instructional shift needed to impact the educational experience for African American students and a professional learning community (PLC) as the vehicle for developing eight teachers’ ability to provide CRP in their classrooms. The study was guided by the following research question: What is the nature of developing teachers ability to provide …

Topological Hall Effect And Magnetic States In The Nowotny Chimney Ladder Compound Cr11ge19, Yu Li, Xin Gui, Mojammel A. Khan, Weiwei Xie, David P. Young, J. F. Ditusa

Faculty Publications

We have investigated the magnetic and charge transport properties of single crystals of the Nowotny chimney ladder compound Cr11Ge19 and mapped out a comprehensive phase diagram reflecting the complicated interplay between the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM) interaction, the dipolar interaction, and the magnetic anisotropy. We have identified a set of interesting magnetic phases and attributed a finite topological Hall effect to the recently discovered biskyrmion phase. These data also suggest the existence of an antiskyrmion state at finite fields for temperatures just below the magnetic ordering temperature Tc as indicated by a distinct change in sign of the topological Hall effect. Above …

Potential Gravitational Wave Signatures Of Quantum Gravity, Ivan Agullo, Vitor Cardoso, Adrián Del Rio, Michele Maggiore, Jorge Pullin

Faculty Publications

We show that gravitational wave astronomy has the potential to inform us on quantum aspects of black holes. Based on Bekenstein's quantization, we find that black hole area discretization could impart observable imprints to the gravitational wave signal from a pair of merging black holes, affecting their absorption properties during inspiral and their late-time relaxation after merger. In contrast with previous results, we find that black hole rotation, ubiquitous in astrophysics, improves our ability to probe quantum effects. Our analysis shows that gravitational wave echoes and suppressed tidal heating are signs of new physics from which the fundamental quantum of …

Quality Assessment Of Flexible Pavement Automated Cracking Data In Louisiana, Mostafiz Emtiaz

LSU Master's Theses

Pavement distress survey is the most critical and integral part of pavement management system. Transportation agencies all over the world depends on the accurate pavement distress survey to take major decisions like pavement rehabilitation or reconstruction. Pavement management at the network level requires accurate pavement distress survey to decide the allocation of budget for pavement maintenance, rehabilitation and reconstruction. This study started collected network-level cracking distress data through manual measurements on high-resolution pavement images and the results were used as the ground truth measurements to evaluate the corresponding automated distress data from the Pavement Management System database. Results showed that …

Covariance Of The Extended Holonomy, Rodolfo Gambini, Jorge Pullin, Aureliano Skirzewski

Faculty Publications

It has been pointed out that the holonomy of generic extended loops is not gauge covariant. We show how to define a family of extended loops for which previous criticism does not apply. We also give sufficient conditions that extended loops must satisfy in order to yield covariant holonomies. This makes a quantum representation for Yang-Mills theories and gravity based on extended loops viable.

Development Of Engineered Soil Surrogates For Modeling Natural Soil Sorption Behavior, Ghada Yehia Abdalla

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The land produces more than 95% of the global food supply, and with a continuously growing population, we need to optimize the use of the available agricultural land. Soil organic matter (SOM) is an essential component of soils, especially concerning their fertility and sorption behavior. The chemical composition of the SOM consists of lipids, lignin, and cellulose. However, the heterogeneous and complex nature of SOM, and real soils, makes their study challenging and introduces uncontrollable factors.

Therefore, structural mimics of natural soils with increasing complexity representing the real soil functionality were synthesized and evaluated for bulk properties related to their …

Patterns Of Relative And Quantitative Abundances Of Marine Bacteria In Surface Waters Of The Subtropical Northwest Pacific Ocean Estimated With High-Throughput Quantification Sequencing, Jie Kong, Xin Liu, Lei Wang, Hao Huang, Danyun Ou, Jiayu Guo, Edward A. Laws, Bangqin Huang

Faculty Publications

Bacteria play a pivotal role in shaping ecosystems and contributing to elemental cycling and energy flow in the oceans. However, few studies have focused on bacteria at a trans-basin scale, and studies across the subtropical Northwest Pacific Ocean (NWPO), one of the largest biomes on Earth, have been especially lacking. Although the recently developed high-throughput quantitative sequencing methodology can simultaneously provide information on relative abundance, quantitative abundance, and taxonomic affiliations, it has not been thoroughly evaluated. We collected surface seawater samples for high-throughput, quantitative sequencing of 16S rRNA genes on a transect across the subtropical NWPO to elucidate the distribution …

Effects Of Spatial Variability On The Exposure Of Fish To Hypoxia: A Modeling Analysis For The Gulf Of Mexico, Elizabeth D. Labone, Kenneth A. Rose, Dubravko Justic, Haosheng Huang, Lixia Wang

Faculty Publications

The hypoxic zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico varies spatially (area, location) and temporally (onset, duration) on multiple scales. Exposure of fish to hypoxic dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations (