Digital Commons Network^™

Kmt-2021-Blg-1547lb: Giant Microlensing Planet Detected Through A Signal Deformed Due To Source Binarity, Cheongho Han, Weicheng Zang, Youn Kil Jung, Ian A. Bond, Sun Ju Chung, Michael D. Albrow, Andrew Gould, Kyu Ha Hwang, Yoon Hyun Ryu, In Gu Shin, Yossi Shvartzvald, Hongjing Yang, Jennifer C. Yee, Sang Mok Cha, Doeon Kim, Dong Jin Kim, Seung Lee Kim, Chung Uk Lee, Dong Joo Lee, Yongseok Lee, Byeong Gon Park, Richard W. Pogge, Berto Monard, Qiyue Qian, Zhuokai Liu, Dan Maoz, Matthew T. Penny, Wei Zhu, Fumio Abe, Richard Barry, David P. Bennett, Aparna Bhattacharya, Hirosame Fujii

Faculty Publications

Aims. We investigate the previous microlensing data collected by the KMTNet survey in search of anomalous events for which no precise interpretations of the anomalies had been suggested. From this investigation, we find that the anomaly in the lensing light curve of the event KMT-2021-BLG-1547 is approximately described by a binary-lens (2L1S) model with a lens possessing a giant planet, but the model leaves unexplained residuals. Methods. We investigated the origin of the residuals by testing more sophisticated models that include either an extra lens component (3L1S model) or an extra source star (2L2S model) on top of the 2L1S …

Machine-Learning-Based Thermal Conductivity Prediction For Additively Manufactured Alloys, Uttam Bhandari, Yehong Chen, Huan Ding, Congyuan Zeng, Selami Emanet, Paul R. Gradl, Shengmin Guo

Faculty Publications

Thermal conductivity (TC) is greatly influenced by the working temperature, microstructures, thermal processing (heat treatment) history and the composition of alloys. Due to computational costs and lengthy experimental procedures, obtaining the thermal conductivity for novel alloys, particularly parts made with additive manufacturing, is difficult and it is almost impossible to optimize the compositional space for an absolute targeted value of thermal conductivity. To address these difficulties, a machine learning method is explored to predict the TC of additive manufactured alloys. To accomplish this, an extensive thermal conductivity dataset for additively manufactured alloys was generated for several AM alloy families (nickel, …

Patient Specific Normalized Glandular Dose Range Estimate For Mammography, Lacey Medlock

LSU Master's Theses

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the United States. It is also the second leading cause of death by cancer among women in the United States. Early detection is key to preventing fatalities. There are over 39 million mammography screening procedures performed yearly [3]. We know that exposure to radiation, including in routine mammography, may induce secondary cancers [4]. Thus, it is important to be able to accurately estimate the dose delivered to a patient during breast cancer screening. The dose delivered to a patient is regulated in the US and in many other …

Chitosan-Coated Lignin Nanoparticles Enhance Adsorption And Proliferation Of Alcanivorax Borkumensis At The Hexadecane-Water Interface, Amber J. Pete, Jin Gyun Lee, Michael G. Benton, Bhuvnesh Bharti

Faculty Publications

Bioremediation of oil spills occurs when indigenous microbes metabolize petroleum hydrocarbons. Rapid proliferation of hydrocarbon-consuming bacteria near the oil-water interface is vital to optimizing the oil biodegradation rate. Adding nanoparticles (NPs) to microbial systems can enhance the bacterial growth rate. However, the role of NP source material and surface charge on their ability to impact bacterial growth and oil-water interface characteristics is poorly understood. Here, we investigate the role of NP composition and surface chemistry on the growth rate of hydrocarbon-consuming bacteria and its attachment to the oil-water interface. We use Alcanivorax borkumensis as a model organism because of its …

Lipid Correction For Carbon Stable Isotope Analysis Of Yellowfin Tuna, Michael A. Dance, Mitchell S. Lovell

Faculty Publications

Carbon stable isotopes (δ¹³C) are widely used in ecological studies to understand diet, food web dynamics, and movements of marine fishes. Still, δ¹³C is influenced by lipid content and often requires chemical extraction or mathematical correction. Here, we developed a species-specific mathematical lipid correction for white muscle tissue of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), a highly migratory finfish of considerable economic and ecological value. Lipid extraction was conducted on yellowfin tuna white muscle tissue (C:N range: 2.96–6.49), and both linear and non-linear lipid correction models for δ¹³C were fitted and assessed. Lipid extraction increased δ …

The World's 100 Worst Invasive Alien Insect Species Differ In Their Characteristics From Related Non-Invasive Species, Zihua Zhao, Cang Hui, Shuo Peng, Shanqing Yi, Zhihong Li, Gadi V.P. Reddy, Mark Van Kleunen

Faculty Publications

While there has been great interest in species characteristics that promote invasiveness, still little is known about the characteristics that distinguish invasive from non-invasive insects. Using a database on the naturalised distributions of alien insects and expert opinions about their impacts, we identified the world's 100 worst invasive insect species. By comparing species characteristics reported in the literature using a meta-analysis, between the 100 worst invasive species and related non-invasive species, we found that invasive insects overall have more pathways of introduction, occur in more habitats, have higher fecundities, higher voltinism, more genes, shorted lifespans and faster development from egg …

A Smartphone-Enabled Imaging Device For Chromotropic Acid-Based Measurement Of Nitrate In Soil Samples, Veerabhadrappa Lavanya, Anshuman Nayak, Partha Deb Roy, Shubhadip Dasgupta, Subhadip Dey, Bin Li, David C. Weindorf, Somsubhra Chakraborty

Faculty Publications

In this study, a novel chromotropic acid-based color development method was proposed for quick estimation of soil nitrate (NO3−). The method utilized a 3D printed device integrated with the rear-end camera of a smartphone and a stand-alone application called SMART NP. By analyzing the mean Value (V) component of the sample’s image, the SMART NP provides instant predictions of soil NO3− levels. The limit of detection was calculated as 0.1 mg L−1 with a sensitivity of 0.26 mg L−1. The device showed a % bias of 0.9% and a precision of 1.95%, indicating its reliability. Additionally, the device-predicted soil NO3− …

Upper Ocean Biogeochemistry Of The Oligotrophic North Pacific Subtropical Gyre: From Nutrient Sources To Carbon Export, Minhan Dai, Ya Wei Luo, Eric P. Achterberg, Thomas J. Browning, Yihua Cai, Zhimian Cao, Fei Chai, Bingzhang Chen, Matthew J. Church, Dongjian Ci, Chuanjun Du, Kunshan Gao, Xianghui Guo, Zhendong Hu, Shuh Ji Kao, Edward A. Laws, Zhongping Lee, Hongyang Lin, Qian Liu, Xin Liu, Weicheng Luo, Feifei Meng, Shaoling Shang, Dalin Shi, Hiroaki Saito, Luping Song, Xianhui Sean Wan, Yuntao Wang, Wei Lei Wang, Zuozhu Wen, Peng Xiu, Jing Zhang, Ruifeng Zhang

Faculty Publications

Subtropical gyres cover 26%–29% of the world's surface ocean and are conventionally regarded as ocean deserts due to their permanent stratification, depleted surface nutrients, and low biological productivity. Despite tremendous advances over the past three decades, particularly through the Hawaii Ocean Time-series and the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study, which have revolutionized our understanding of the biogeochemistry in oligotrophic marine ecosystems, the gyres remain understudied. We review current understanding of upper ocean biogeochemistry in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, considering other subtropical gyres for comparison. We focus our synthesis on spatial variability, which shows larger than expected dynamic ranges of properties …

Leveraging Cultural Wealth, Identities And Motivation: How Diverse Intersectional Groups Of Low-Income Undergraduate Stem Students Persist In Collegiate Stem Environments, Raeshan D. Davis, Zakiya Wilson-Kennedy

Faculty Publications

Grounded in a conceptual framework incorporating intersectionality, motivation, self-determination, and self-efficacy, this empirical study investigated how individuals’ identities, mindsets, and resources in educational environments intentionally cultivated to support their decision-making, development, and connections in the science community, can significantly increase the recruitment, persistence, and success of low-income, academically talented science students from diverse backgrounds. Several factors—academic performance in coursework, self-image, self-agency, financial support, and social integration in the science culture—continue to significantly impact student retention and persistence in STEM disciplines. Many of these factors are negatively affected based on a students’ intersecting identities, which can be detrimental to their academic …

Probiotic Characteristics Of Streptococcus Thermophilus And Lactobacillus Bulgaricus As Influenced By New Food Sources, Ashly Castro, Ricardo S. Aleman, Miguel Tabora, Shirin Kazemzadeh, Leyla K. Pournaki, Roberto Cedillos, Jhunior Marcia, Kayanush Aryana

Faculty Publications

The current research aimed to evaluate the potential effects of Solanum mammosum, Dioon mejiae, and Amanita caesarea on Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus survival and performance after exposure to different harsh conditions such as bile, acid, gastric juice, and lysozyme to mimic the digestive system from mouth to the intestine. Probiotic protease activity was observed to evaluate the proteolytic system. Probiotics were cultured in a broth mixed with plant material, and after incubation, the results were compared to the control sample. Therefore, plant material’s total phenolic compound, total carotenoid compound, antioxidant activity, sugar profile, and acid profile were …

Effects Of Weevil (Rhynchophorus Palmarum), Teosinte (Dioon Mejiae) And Caesar’S Mushroom (Amanita Caesarea) On The Properties Of Lactobacillus Acidophilus La-K, Ricardo S. Aleman, Dany Avila, Allan Avila, Jhunior Marcia, David Picha, Kayanush Aryana, Ismael Montero-Fernández

Faculty Publications

Weevil (Rhynchophorus palmarum) powder, teosinte (Dioon mejiae) and Caesar’s mushroom (Amanita caesarea) flour have bioactive compounds with significant nutritional applications. This paper aimed to examine the influence of weevil, teosinte, and mushroom powders on the protease activity, acid tolerance, bile tolerance, lysozyme tolerance, and gastric juice resistance ability of Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-K. Acid tolerance was determined by adjusting the pH of MRS broth to 2.0 for L. acidophilus incubated under aerobic conditions at 37 °C. Bile tolerance was determined by incorporating 0.3% of oxgall. Protease activity was determined spectrophotometrically at 340 nm. Resistance to 100 mg/L of lysozyme in an …

Cybercompetitions: A Survey Of Competitions, Tools, And Systems To Support Cybersecurity Education, Tyler Balon, Ibrahim (Abe) Baggili

Faculty Publications

Over the last decade, industry and academia have worked towards raising students’ interests in cybersecurity through game-like competitions to fill a shortfall of cybersecurity professionals. Rising interest in video games in combination with gamification techniques make learning fun, easy, and addictive. It is crucial that cybersecurity curricula enhance and expose cybersecurity education to a diversified student body to meet workforce demands. Gamification through cybercompetitions is one method to achieve that. With a vast list of options for competition type, focus areas, learning outcomes, and participant experience levels we need to systematize knowledge of attributes that ameliorate cybercompetitions. In the wake …

Design And Implementation Of An Instrument Package For Measuring Process Conditions In An Expeller, Md Masud Rana

LSU Master's Theses

The expeller process variable has gained increasing attention in research to validate process flow models. The expeller process is a mechanical method used to extract oil and water from seeds, nuts and polymers. Various factors, such as the speed of the press, size, and shape of the expeller, temperature, pressure, and moisture content, impact the efficiency and quality of the oil and water extraction process. By understanding these variables, researchers can develop accurate process flow models to predict the efficiency and quality of the oil and water extraction process. In this research, A custom instrumentation package have designed and implemented …

The Fabrication Of Nearly Monodisperse Chiral And Achiral Plasmonic Nanostructures And Their Applications, Macayla J. Caso

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

An object is chiral when it holds no lines of symmetry. This quality naturally occurs in chemistry and biology. When an object is chiral it has a unique handedness and objects of opposite chirality are called enantiomers. The importance of handedness was brought to light in the 1960’s when a racemic mixture of thalidomide enantiomers was given to pregnant women. One enantiomer was able to treat morning sickness while the other caused severe birth defects. This case brought to light how enantiomers have unique properties from each other even though they are similar materials. With this knowledge chiral nanomaterials must …

Double Barrier Backward Doubly Stochastic Differential Equations, Tadashi Hayashi

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

A Multi-Aerial Vehicle Platform For Testing Collaborative Mobility Formation Controllers, Matthew Snellgrove

LSU Master's Theses

Multi-agent systems have potential applications in a multitude of fields due to their ability to perform complex tasks with a high degree of robustness. Decentralized systems are multi-agent systems where sensing, control, and communication responsibilities are distributed amongst the agents giving this scheme a particularly high potential for robustness, adaptability, and complexity; however, this comes with its own list of challenges. Formation control is a topic in multi-agent systems that aims to have the agents moving as a virtual rigid body through space. In the literature, there have been successful implementation of formation control algorithms on robot agents in both …

Modeling Of Heat And Mass Transfer In Flat Heat Pipes, Salar Saadatian

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Phase-change phenomenon is ubiquitous in nature and widely utilized in thermal management of computer chips. Flat heat pipes have been extensively used in thermal management of microelectronic devices. However, existing research mainly concentrates on developing numerical models and lacks a systematic analytical approach to elucidate the working mechanism of flat heat pipes. We consider a horizontal flat heat pipe with an idealized porous wick. The pores in the wick are straight circular capillaries running along and across the wick and are filled with a liquid. The rest of the pipe is filled with its vapor. The mass evaporative rate at …

Symmetric Functions Algebras (Sfa) Iii: Stochastic And Constant Row Sum Matrices, Philip Feinsilver

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Grounding Line And Calving Front Retreat In Glomar Challenger Basin And Pennell Trough Of Ross Sea, Antarctica Reconstructed From Diatom Abundances And Assemblages, Jaren Bradford

LSU Master's Theses

Previous studies showed that West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) retreat from the Whales Deep Basin continental shelf edge in eastern Ross Sea was underway by 14.7 ± 0.4 cal kyr BP. Following an ice-shelf breakup at 12.3 ± 0.6 cal kyr BP, a calving cliff margin remained within 60 km of the shelf edge until 11.5 ± 0.3 cal kyr BP. McGlannan et al. (2017) inferred that an ice shelf reformed immediately during a subsequent rapid retreat. That interpretation of grounding-line retreat with an intact ice shelf is being reevaluated by Sivils (in prep.). Here, we conducted a similar synthesis …

Autonomous Shipwreck Detection & Mapping, William Ard

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis presents the development and testing of Bruce, a low-cost hybrid Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) / Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) system for the optical survey of marine archaeological sites, as well as a novel sonar image augmentation strategy for semantic segmentation of shipwrecks. This approach takes side-scan sonar and bathymetry data collected using an EdgeTech 2205 AUV sensor integrated with an Harris Iver3, and generates augmented image data to be used for the semantic segmentation of shipwrecks. It is shown that, due to the feature enhancement capabilities of the proposed shipwreck detection strategy, correctly identified areas have a 15% …

On The Evaluation Of Entropy Threshold For Debonding During Crack Prorogation Using Dic Technique, A. Mahmoudi, M. R. Khosravani, M. M. Khonsari, Tamara Reinicke

Faculty Publications

The accumulated entropy at the crack tip of a semi-circular bending (SCB) specimen is investigated to obtain a threshold for material fracture and interatomic debonding. The presented approach uses the experimental data obtained from the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique and strain maps superposed to SCB specimens to measure the plastic flow at the crack tip. The Swift strain hardening model is utilized to calculate the stress domain at the crack tip and, consequently, the plastic strain energy and entropy accumulation. Results show that the crack surface propagates when the generated entropy at the crack tip reaches a critical limit. …

Can Gulf Ribbed Mussels Enhance Coastal Restoration Projects In A Future With Climate Change?, Skylar Liner

LSU Master's Theses

Living shorelines present one restoration approach using biotic elements (via ecosystem engineers) to stabilize shorelines and increase valuable habitat. Gulf ribbed mussels (Geukensia granosissima) are important ecosystem engineers within brackish and salt marshes in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and can increase nutrient availability, enhance marsh vegetation production, and potentially improve shoreline stability. It is unknown whether mussels will maintain these functions as future climate change predicts increases in temperature and water level, which may exceed the mussel’s tolerance. A field survey conducted during the summer of 2022 identified the daily maximum temperature at the marsh surface, where mussels naturally …

On The Injectivity Of Integral Operators Related To The Euler–Poisson–Darboux Equation And Shifted K-Plane Transforms, Boris Rubin

Faculty Publications

We study injectivity of integral operators which map the Cauchy initial data for the Euler–Poisson–Darboux equation to the fixed time measurement of the solution of this equation. These operators generalize the well-known spherical means and are closely related to the shifted k-plane transforms, which assign to functions in L^p(Rⁿ) their mean values over all k-planes at a fixed distance from the given k-planes. Several generalizations, including the Radon transform over strips of fixed width in R² and a similar transform over tubes of fixed diameter in R³ , are considered.

No Strong Evidence Of The Protein Leverage Hypothesis In Pregnant Women With Obesity And Their Infants, Maryam Kebbe, Jasper Most, Abby D. Altazan, Leanne M. Redman

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the role of dietary protein on macronutrient and energy intake, maternal adiposity during pregnancy, and infant adiposity at birth. Methods: In 41 women with obesity, early-pregnancy (13–16 weeks) protein intake was assessed with food photography and expressed as a ratio of Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) in pregnancy for protein (0.88 g/kg/d), herein “protein balance.” Energy intake was measured by the intake-balance method, gestational weight gain as grams per week, and fat mass by a three-compartment model. Spearman correlations and linear models were computed using R version 4.1.1 (p < 0.05 considered significant). Results: Women had a mean (SD) age of 27.5 (4.8) years and a pregravid BMI of 34.4 (2.9), kg/m2, and the majority were non-White (n = 23, 56.1%). Protein balance in early pregnancy was not significantly associated with energy intake across mid and mid/late pregnancy (β = 328.7, p = 0.30 and β = 286.2, p = 0.26, respectively) or gestational weight gain (β = 117.0, p = 0.41). Protein balance was inversely associated with fat mass in early, mid, and late pregnancy (β = −10.6, p = 0.01, β = −10.4, p = 0.03, β = −10.3, p = 0.03, respectively). Protein balance did not predict infant adiposity at birth (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Low …

Cyberinet: Integrated Semi-Modular Sensors For The Computer-Augmented Clarinet, Matthew Bardin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Cyberinet is a new Augmented instrument designed to easily and intuitively provide a method of computer-enhanced performance to the Clarinetist to allow for greater control and expressiveness in a performance. A performer utilizing the Cyberinet is able to seamlessly switch between a traditional performance setting and an augmented one. Towards this, the Cyberinet is a hardware replacement for a portion of a Clarinet containing a variety of sensors embedded within the unit. These sensors collect various real time data motion data of the performer and air fow within the instrument. Additional sensors can be connected to the Cyberinet to …

Optimizing Large-Capacity Key-Value Systems For Efficient Data Management, Kefei Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In today's Internet services, key-value system is playing a crucial and indispensable role, and has attracted extensive research in both academia and industry. During the past years, we have witnessed an unprecedented quick development of both memory-based and flash-based key-value systems. With the rapid evolution of memory and storage technologies, we are seeing both challenges and research opportunities.

In this dissertation, we focus on understanding and optimizing the efficiency of large-capacity, high-speed key-value systems from the perspective of both software and hardware to meet the ever-growing performance expectations. We first propose a multi-tier mapping structure, called Cascade Mapping, exploring the …

Connecting The Optical Regime To The X-Ray In Neutron Star Low Mass X-Ray Binaries, Alexander B. Igl

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Using Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer and Otto Struve Telescope data of low mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs) Cyg X-2 and Sco X-1, the optical regime’s relationship to the X-ray was investigated through several angles. Discrete cross correlations using the optical and X-ray data revealed evidence of reprocessing in both datasets. These were more consistently present in Sco X-1, where both small and obvious features were seen at less than 4 s of optical lag. The size of these lags makes it likely that most of the reprocessing is taking place on the accretion disk. Parameterization of the Z tracks led to …

Bridging The Gap Between Detector Characterization And Gravitational Wave Searches In Ligo, Andre Guimaraes

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis, titled ``Bridging the Gap Between Detector Characterization and Gravitational Wave Searches in LIGO'', investigates the complex interplay between detector noise, gravitational wave search algorithms in the operation of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) detectors. The non-Gaussian behavior of LIGO detectors' data can lead to numerous issues, ranging from causing the detector to lose operational state to misinterpretations of actual gravitational wave signals.

An introduction to the workings of current interferometric gravitational wave detectors and the characterization of their sources and noise is provided. The focus is then shifted to the GstLAL pipeline, its role, and the effects …

A "Rock To Lean On": Young Singers' Experiences In A Community Choir In Louisiana, Yulene Velásquez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to investigate young singers’ experiences in the Livingston Parish Children’s Choirs organization (LPCC), a community-based children’s choir program in Denham Springs, Louisiana. I investigated the impact of those experiences on the children’s lives inside and outside of the ensemble from the perspective of the artistic director and co-director, parents, and the singers themselves.

The LPCC was founded in 1991 by Barbara Walker and her mother, Regina Walker. According to Barbara Walker, the mission of the organization is “to prepare children to go out and be lifelong singers.” This choral community is characterized …

Nonlinear Optical Studies At Surfaces And Interfaces, Mojgan Dehghani

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nonlinear optical studies have revealed that surfaces and interfaces possess unique optical properties due to the lack of inversion symmetry. These properties are significantly different from those of the bulk material. Second harmonic generation (SHG), a second-order nonlinear optical phenomenon, has emerged as a surface-specific technique to study these unique properties. The powerful selection rule allows generation of second harmonic light only in the bulk of noncentrosymmetric media and the regions with broken inversion symmetry, including surfaces and interfaces. The generated second harmonic provides significant information on the electronic and structural properties of the microscopic surface layer at the boundary …