Digital Commons Network^™

Development Strategies For A Fractured, Heavy Oil Reservoir - Results From Numerical Simulations, German Albertovich Abzaletdinov

LSU Master's Theses

This research is focused on studying reservoir “N” in the Yarega heavy oilfield (YHOF) for development strategies and production optimization. YHOF is a naturally fractured heavy oil field where only very recently SAGD technology has been introduced. The motivation for this research is derived from the fact that SAGD employed in this field has so far resulted in early steam breakthrough leading to producer abandonment and new drilling, thus increasing costs. This study explores numerically different static and dynamic reservoir characterization models (single porosity versus dual porosity systems), and subsequent pressure-production history matched reservoir simulation for understanding heat and mass …

Direct Quantification Of Deubiquitinating Enzyme Activity In Single Intact Cells, Nora Safabakhsh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Challenges in drug efficacy occur during the treatment of most types of cancer due to the heterogeneity of the tumor microenvironment. This has led to the development of personalized medicine. Due to the clinical success of the proteasome inhibitors Bortezomib and Carfilzomib in treatment of multiple myeloma, interest has shifted towards molecularly-targeted chemotherapeutics for ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs) are an essential part of this pathway which have been found to promote Bortezomib resistance in multiple myeloma patients. Unfortunately, there is a lack of specific, high throughput biochemical assays to characterize DUB activity in patient samples before and after …

Optimized Quantum F-Divergences, Mark M. Wilde

Faculty Publications

The quantum relative entropy is a measure of the distinguishability of two quantum states, and it is a unifying concept in quantum information theory: many information measures such as entropy, conditional entropy, mutual information, and entanglement measures can be realized from it. As such, there has been broad interest in generalizing the notion to further understand its most basic properties, one of which is the data processing inequality. The quantum f-divergence of Petz is one generalization of the quantum relative entropy, and it also leads to other relative entropies, such as the Petz-Renyi relative entropies. In this contribution, I introduce …

Recoverability For Holevo's Just-As-Good Fidelity, Mark M. Wilde

Faculty Publications

Holevo's just-as-good fidelity is a similarity measure for quantum states that has found several applications. One of its critical properties is that it obeys a data processing inequality: the measure does not decrease under the action of a quantum channel on the underlying states. In this paper, I prove a refinement of this data processing inequality that includes an additional term related to recoverability. That is, if the increase in the measure is small after the action of a partial trace, then one of the states can be nearly recovered by the Petz recovery channel, while the other state is …

Third Generation Gamma Camera Spect System, Narayan Bhusal

LSU Master's Theses

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) is a non-invasive imaging modality, frequently used in myocardial perfusion imaging. The biggest challenges facing the majority of clinical SPECT systems are low sensitivity, poor resolution, and the relatively high radiation dose to the patient. New generation systems (GE Discovery, DSPECT) dedicated to cardiac imaging improve sensitivity by a factor of 5-8. The purpose of this work is to investigate a new gamma camera design with 21 hemi-ellipsoid detectors each with a pinhole collimator for Cardiac SPECT for further improvement in sensitivity, resolution, imaging time, and radiation dose.

To evaluate the resolution of our …

Using Local Fishery Monitoring To Understand Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries In Tanzania, Matthew Robertson

LSU Master's Theses

Nearshore marine fisheries provide the main source of protein for nearly 9 million people in the coastal villages of Tanzania, yet for decades the fisheries have shown signs of overexploitation. These fisheries are small-scale and co-managed by local coastal communities in groups known as Beach Management Units (BMUs). BMUs monitor individual fishing trip data (e.g. gear, vessel, taxa); however, these data have only been analyzed in nationally aggregated statistics and to our knowledge, are not presently used in management decision making. The present thesis aimed to identify the forms of data and information that local fishery monitoring can record about …

The Response Strategies Of Proficient Readers When Correcting And Attempting To Correct Miscues On A Complex Scientific Text, Stephen B B. Kucer Dr.

The Journal of Balanced Literacy Research and Instruction

This study examines the strategies that proficient fourth grade readers employ when responding to their miscues. Thirty-four students orally read a complex expository scientific text. The text was part of the fourth grade science curriculum. Reader response strategies to their miscues—corrections and attempts to correct—were identified. It was discovered that response strategies were either graphic or contextual in nature. As measured by Chi-squares, readers varied their use of these strategies. This variation was statistically significant at the p < .001 level for both correction and attempt to correct strategies. For both, the primary focus was on the word level. Existing research documents that as text complexity increases, readers have a tendency to rely on sounding out as a default strategy. As readers progress across the grades, teachers will therefore need to prompt the use more than graphic strategies when readers respond to their miscues. This is particularly the case due to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Students are being introduced to complex disciplinary texts in which the use of context is critical to …

What Counts As Common Core Aligned? An Examination Of A Reading Program's Agreement With The Common Core State Standards, Kim Skinner, Alecia Tate, Emily France, Gina Stocks

The Journal of Balanced Literacy Research and Instruction

Passage and implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) created numerous difficulties for educational stakeholders. One such difficulty, determining the alignment of previously utilized curricula to the CCSS, forced many states, districts, and schools into purchasing “new” curricular resources marketed as “Common Core Aligned” without any available auditing process to validate the claims made by publishers. Since initial implementation of CCSS, measures for determining alignment have been developed. This study examined the alignment of a widely used reading program, Adventures Common Core (pseudonym), to the Common Core State Standards using a modified version of the Educators Evaluating the Quality …

Optimized Quantum F-Divergences And Data Processing, Mark M. Wilde

Faculty Publications

The quantum relative entropy is a measure of the distinguishability of two quantum states, and it is a unifying concept in quantum information theory: many information measures such as entropy, conditional entropy, mutual information, and entanglement measures can be realized from it. As such, there has been broad interest in generalizing the notion to further understand its most basic properties, one of which is the data processing inequality. The quantum f-divergence of Petz is one generalization of the quantum relative entropy, and it also leads to other relative entropies, such as the Petz-Rényi relative entropies. In this paper, I introduce …

Entanglement-Assisted Private Communication Over Quantum Broadcast Channels, Haoyu Qi, Kunal Sharma, Mark M. Wilde

Faculty Publications

We consider entanglement-assisted (EA) private communication over a quantum broadcast channel, in which there is a single sender and multiple receivers. We divide the receivers into two sets: the decoding set and the malicious set. The decoding set and the malicious set can either be disjoint or can have a finite intersection. For simplicity, we say that a single party Bob has access to the decoding set and another party Eve has access to the malicious set, and both Eve and Bob have access to the pre-shared entanglement with Alice. The goal of the task is for Alice to communicate …

Analytical Models Of Neutron Spectral Fluence, Kerma And Absorbed-Dose For Proton Therapy, Suman Shrestha

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract

Purpose: The accurate prediction of stray neutron dose has become increasingly important as it increases the risk of second cancer development after proton therapy. Previously reported analytical models predicted the quantity dose equivalent, which includes physical and biological considerations but does not explicitly take into account material dependence and variation in the radiation quality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of an analytical model of absorbed dose to water from stray neutrons in proton therapy.

Methods: To calculate neutron absorbed dose and kerma in water, the authors developed analytical models of neutron spectral fluence and …

Continuous-Discrete Sequential Observers Under Sampling And Input Delays, Frederic Mazenc, Michael Malisoff

Faculty Publications

We provide continuous-discrete sequential observers for linear systems with input delays, sampling in the controls and in the outputs, and uncertainties. We also include uncertainties and delays in the output. Our observer allows arbitrarily long constant delays in the input and in the output, and can be used to provide input-to-state stabilizing controllers under uncertain sampled outputs, sampling in the control, and arbitrarily long input and output delays. Since our control does not contain distributed terms, this paper is an extension of the recent prediction technique based on subsequential observers. This provides a useful alternative to existing methods that contained …

Verification And Evaluation Of A Passive Intensity Modulation Device For Bolus Conformal Therapy, Elizabeth Noel Hilliard

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: Bolus electron conformal therapy (BECT) provides effective radiation treatment for superficial cancers and other diseases close to the skin surface, but can have as great as a 30% planning target volume (PTV) dose heterogeneity due to scattering from the irregular proximal bolus surface. Intensity modulated (IM) BECT can improve PTV dose homogeneity, but is not currently available. This study fabricated patient-specific passive intensity modulators and validated their delivering planned dose distributions calculated by a modified pencil beam redefinition algorithm (PBRA).

Methods: Two test-patterns and four patient-specific intensity modulators were designed, fabricated, and tested. Dose plans were generated …

Improved Growth Estimates For Lethrinus Harak: Measuring Increments, Adjusting Ages, And Fitting Flexible Growth Models, Stephen Midway

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Early Detection Of Fracture Failure In Slm Am Tension Testing With Talbot-Lau Neutron Interferometry, Adam J. Brooks, Hong Yao, Jumao Yuan, Omoefe Kio, Caroline G. Lowery, Henning Markötter, Nikolay Kardjilov, Shengmin Guo, Leslie G. Butler

Faculty Publications

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Tensile stress in selective laser melted (SLM) stainless steel 316 (SS316) bars was studied with neutron imaging methods for measurement of attenuation, scattering, and diffraction. The hypotheses for stress failure includes modifications to both the grain structure and residual porosity. Neutron Bragg edge imaging showed a change in crystallographic structure and/or texture at a pre-existing fracture, but did not provide evidence for presumptive crack formation. A Talbot-Lau grating-based neutron interferometer yielded better than 100 μm spatial resolution for the attenuation images and was tuned to an autocorrelation scattering length of 1.97 μm for the dark-field (scattering) …

Designing Agricultural Economics And Agribusiness Undergraduate Programs, Jeffrey M. Gillespie, Maria Bampasidou

Faculty Publications

© 2018 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence. Agricultural economics and agribusiness (AEAB) programs offer their graduates unique exposure to agricultural markets, policy, and production systems, which differentiates them from business programs. Despite the advantages associated with AEAB degrees, a significant challenge universities and AEAB graduates face is a general lack of recognition of what agricultural economics is and what an agricultural economist does. Using data collected from U.S. 1862 and 1890 land grant universities, we stress the importance of designing effective AEAB curricula based on enrollment trends, …

An Integrated Approach To Analyzing Risk In Bioeconomic Models, Biswo N. Poudel, Krishna P. Paudel

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Abstract: We provide a new integrated approach to analyzing risk in a setting where both exogenous and endogenous risks are present. We explicitly model these risks to understand their implications to the precautionary principle. We find that, among other things, the increase of exogenous risk in the presence of endogenous risk has a different impact on precaution than the increase in exogenous risk in the presence of only exogenous risk. While the latter is known to decrease precaution, the former unambiguously increases the precaution in the presence of stock effect. Recommendations for Resource Managers: …

Multiphoton Discrete Fractional Fourier Dynamics In Waveguide Beam Splitters, Konrad Tschernig, Roberto J. De León-Montiel, Omar S. Magaña-Loaiza, Alexander Szameit, Kurt Busch, Armando Perez-Leija

Faculty Publications

We demonstrate that when a waveguide beam splitter (BS) is excited by N indistinguishable photons, the arising multiphoton states evolve in a way as if they were coupled to each other with coupling strengths that are identical to the ones exhibited by a discrete fractional Fourier system. Based on the properties of the fractional Fourier transform, we then derive a multiphoton suppression law for 50/50 BSs, thereby generalizing the Hong–Ou–Mandel effect. Furthermore, we examine the possibility of performing simultaneous multiphoton quantum random walks by using a single waveguide BS in combination with photon-number-resolving detectors. We anticipate that the multiphoton lattice-like …

Characterization Of Nuclear Effects In Muon-Neutrino Scattering On Hydrocarbon With A Measurement Of Final-State Kinematics And Correlations In Charged-Current Pionless Interactions At T2k, K. Abe, J. Amey, C. Andreopoulos, L. Anthony, M. Antonova, S. Aoki, A. Ariga, Y. Ashida, Y. Azuma, S. Ban, M. Barbi, G. J. Barker, G. Barr, C. Barry, M. Batkiewicz, V. Berardi, S. Berkman, R. M. Berner, L. Berns, S. Bhadra, S. Bienstock, A. Blondel, S. Bolognesi, S. Bordoni, B. Bourguille, S. B. Boyd, D. Brailsford, A. Bravar

Faculty Publications

This paper reports measurements of final-state proton multiplicity, muon and proton kinematics, and their correlations in charged-current pionless neutrino interactions, measured by the T2K ND280 near detector in its plastic scintillator (C8H8) target. The data were taken between years 2010 and 2013, corresponding to approximately 6×1020 protons on target. Thanks to their exploration of the proton kinematics and of imbalances between the proton and muon kinematics, the results offer a novel probe of the nuclear-medium effects most pertinent to the (sub-)GeV neutrino-nucleus interactions that are used in accelerator-based long-baseline neutrino oscillation measurements. These results are compared to many neutrino-nucleus interaction …

A Triple Comparison Between Anticipating Stochastic Integrals In Financial Modeling, Joan Bastons, Carlos Escudero

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Exit-Time Of Granular Media Equation Starting In A Local Minimum, Julian Tugaut

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Bsdes On Finite And Infinite Horizon With Time-Delayed Generators, Peng Luo, Ludovic Tangpi

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Arratia Flow With Drift And Trotter Formula For Brownian Web, Andrey A. Dorogovtsev, M. B. Vovchanskii

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

A Discrete Time Approximations For Certain Class Of One-Dimensional Backward Stochastic Differential Equations Via Girsanov's Theorem, Aissa Sghir, Driss Seghir, Soukaina Hadiri

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

The Stochastic Order Of Probability Measures On Ordered Metric Spaces, Fumio Hiai, Jimmie Lawson, Yongdo Lim

Faculty Publications

The general notion of a stochastic ordering is that one probability distribution is smaller than a second one if the second attaches more probability to higher values than the first. Motivated by recent work on barycentric maps on spaces of probability measures on ordered Banach spaces, we introduce and study a stochastic order on the space of probability measures P(X), where X is a metric space equipped with a closed partial order, and derive several useful equivalent versions of the definition. We establish the antisymmetry and closedness of the stochastic order (and hence that it is a closed partial order) …

Symmetric Weighted Odd-Power Variations Of Fractional Brownian Motion And Applications, David Nualart, Raghid Zeineddine

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Stochastic Representation Of Tau Functions With An Application To The Korteweg-De Vries Equation, Michèle Thieullen, Alexis Vigot

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Analytical Model To Detect Fault Permeability Alteration Induced By Fault Reactivation In Compartmentalized Reservoirs, Oscar M. Molina, Mehdi Zeidouni

Faculty Publications

Underground fluid injection induces changes in in situ stress condition of the target formation and local faults that can potentially lead to fault reactivation, which may result in the leakage of injected and/or native fluids into neighboring formations. In this paper, we introduce an analytical method to detect fault reactivation caused by fluid injection into deep faulted aquifers considering across-fault leakage. The fundamental assumption made in our model is that fault permeability will be altered upon fault slip. Therefore, we model fault reactivation as a sudden change in fault permeability at the onset of fault slip. The fault is modeled …

Investigation Of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy Delivery Accuracy On An Elekta Linear Accelerator, Addie Barron

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: This work investigated the delivery accuracy of high-dose lung and spine stereotactic treatments delivered with the Elekta Infinity and Versa HD platforms. The accuracy of these platforms will be used for consideration in implementing a spine stereotactic radiosurgery (SSRS) program at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center.

Methods: A geometric phantom was used to perform Winston-Lutz type tests that assessed the relevant degrees of freedom (gantry, collimator, and couch) of the delivery system. A lung stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and spine SRS treatment plan were generated for use in end-to-end testing. Delivery accuracy was tested using a novel diode …

Modeling Of The Veterinary Anesthetic Circuit, Corinne Viloria Duplantis

LSU Master's Theses

Anesthesia is used to sedate both humans and animals for surgery. In veterinary practice, breathing systems are often used to supply anesthetic gas to the patient. Occasionally, a large amount of pressure can build up in the breathing circuit. This high pressure, if unnoticed, can lead to fatal injury to the lungs of the veterinary patient. The maximum allowable pressure in the anesthetic circuit for small animals is 25 cmH₂O or 2450 Pa. As such, it is necessary to monitor oxygen flow rate (ranging from 0.1-4 LPM), pressure, oxygen rate, anesthetic composition, among other variables during an operation. …