Digital Commons Network^™

Liquid Sealant With Thermally Adaptive Properties, Guoqiang Li

College of Engineering Patents

A composition for sealing defects in structural materials such as roads or paved surfaces, the composition preferably comprising one or more shape memory polymer (SMP) components capable of responding to increased temperature by decreasing in volume.

Food Insecurity Between Two Southern Louisiana Universities: Prevalence And Qualitative Analysis Of Stakeholders' Attitudes, Elizabeth Moore

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Emerging research has demonstrated high food insecurity rates among college students in the United States (US). The goal of this dissertation is to expand upon the literature evaluating food insecurity on college campuses to improve relief efforts. A literature review and mixed methods were used to measure and compare food insecurity prevalence rates and institutional perceptions of this issue among two Louisiana colleges, Louisiana State University (LSU) and McNeese State University (MSU).

Students who were more likely to be food insecure were from low income households, nonwhite, first generation college students, and/or had past reliance on federal assistance. Food insecure …

The Effects Of Covid 19-Related Social Media Hate Crime On Asian And Asian Americans' Self-Esteem, Saachi Chugh

LSU Master's Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people communicate, live, socialize and perhaps the way they feel about the Asian population. The United States has seen a rise in the Asian hate crimes on online and offline platforms since the beginning of the pandemic which has affected the overall well-being of the Asian population. To our knowledge, the present study is one of the first studies to address the effects of COVID 19-related online perceived racial discrimination on the self-esteem of Asians. Additional objectives were to reveal the different coping mechanisms being used by the Asian population to cope with …

Dynamic Modeling Of Aba-Dependent Expression Of The Arabidopsis Rd29a Gene, Ruth Ndathe, Renee Dale, Naohiro Kato

Faculty Publications

The abscisic acid (ABA) signaling pathway is the key defense mechanism against drought stress in plants. In the pathway, signal transduction among four core proteins, pyrabactin resistance (PYR), protein phosphatase 2C (PP2C), sucrose-non-fermenting-1-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2), and ABRE binding factor (ABF) leads to altered gene expression kinetics that is driven by an ABA-responsive element (ABRE). A most recent and comprehensive study provided data suggesting that ABA alters the expression kinetics in over 6,500 genes through the ABF-ABRE associations in Arabidopsis. Of these genes, termed ABA gene regulatory network (GRN), over 50% contain a single ABRE within 4 kb of …

Author Correction: Comparative And Demographic Analysis Of Orang-Utan Genomes (Nature, (2011), 469, 7331, (529-533), 10.1038/Nature09687), Devin P. Locke, La Deana W. Hillier, Wesley C. Warren, Kim C. Worley, Lynne V. Nazareth, Donna M. Muzny, Shiaw Pyng Yang, Zhengyuan Wang, Asif T. Chinwalla, Pat Minx, Makedonka Mitreva, Lisa Cook, Kim D. Delehaunty, Catrina Fronick, Heather Schmidt, Lucinda A. Fulton, Robert S. Fulton, Joanne O. Nelson, Vincent Magrini, Craig Pohl, Tina A. Graves, Chris Markovic, Andy Cree, Huyen H. Dinh, Jennifer Hume, Christie L. Kovar, Gerald R. Fowler, Gerton Lunter, Stephen Meader, Andreas Heger, Chris P. Ponting, Tomas Marques-Bonet, Can Alkan

Faculty Publications

In this Article, we reported genome sequencing data from five Sumatran and five Bornean orang-utans. In re-analysing these data, Banes et al.1 found that eight of the ten samples were mislabelled, and we wish to correct the original publication according to their findings. In addition, Banes et al.1 find that one of the orang-utans that we had labelled as a male Sumatran is in fact a female Tapanuli orang-utan (an orang-utan species that was unknown at the time of publication of our original Article and that was first reported in 2017 (ref. 2)). While we here correct the original tables …

Understanding Consumers' Use Experience On Electrically Heated Jacket: A Study On Online Review Using Topic Modeling, Md Nakib-Ul Hasan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The demand for heated jackets is anticipated to be fuelled by frequent temperature drops, severe winter weather, and increasing outdoor activities. Electrically heated jackets (EHJ) are primarily marketed through online distribution channels and expansion of online sales channels is expected to boost the global market. Consumers are increasingly relying on online reviews from other consumers to help them decide what to buy. Businesses also actively monitor and manage their online reviews to build trust in their brand and make it more likely that customers will buy. Traditional approaches for assessing customer behavior, such as market research surveys and focus groups, …

Mercury Biomagnification In A Coastal Louisiana Food Web Following The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Katelyn J. Lamb, Stephen R. Midway, Rebecka L. Brasso, Paola C. López-Duarte, Matthew E. Kimball, Michael J. Polito

Faculty Publications

The estuarine environments surrounding coastal Louisiana create favorable conditions for microbially mediated mercury (Hg) methylation and subsequent bioaccumulation by biota. In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill released large amounts of oil which, despite having low Hg concentrations, had the potential to influence methylmercury (MeHg) bioavailability in the coastal zone. To explore this possibility, we assessed Hg concentrations and trophodynamics in the coastal Louisiana food web prior to and immediately following the DWH oil spill and compared these metrics with an adjacent coastal ecosystem in the northern Gulf of Mexico. We found no differences in MeHg concentrations between oysters …

Economically Optimizing Elevation Of New, Single-Family Residences For Flood Mitigation Via Life-Cycle Benefit-Cost Analysis, Ehab Gnan, Carol J. Friedland, Rubayet Bin Mostafiz, Md Adilur Rahim, Thanos Gentimis, Arash Taghinezhad, Robert V. Rohli

Faculty Publications

Construction with freeboard—vertical height of a structure above the minimum required—is commonly accepted as a sound investment for flood hazard mitigation. However, determining the optimal height of freeboard poses a major decision problem. This research introduces a life-cycle benefit-cost analysis (LCBCA) approach for optimizing freeboard height for a new, single-family residence, while incorporating uncertainty, and, in the case of insured homes, considering the costs from losses, insurance, and freeboard (if any) to the homeowner and National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) separately. Using a hypothetical, case study home in Metairie, Louisiana and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers design depth-damage functions for …

Impacts Of Ocean-Atmosphere Teleconnection Patterns On The South-Central United States, Robert V. Rohli, Gregg A. Snedden, Elinor R. Martin, Kristine L. Delong

Faculty Publications

Recent research has linked the climate variability associated with ocean-atmosphere teleconnections to impacts rippling throughout environmental, economic, and social systems. This research reviews recent literature through 2021 in which we identify linkages among the major modes of climate variability, in the form of ocean-atmosphere teleconnections, and the impacts to temperature and precipitation of the South-Central United States (SCUSA), consisting of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. The SCUSA is an important areal focus for this analysis because it straddles the ecotone between humid and arid climates in the United States and has a growing population, diverse ecosystems, robust agricultural …

Future Crop Risk Estimation Due To Drought, Extreme Temperature, Hail, Lightning, And Tornado At The Census Tract Level In Louisiana, Rubayet Bin Mostafiz, Robert V. Rohli, Carol J. Friedland, Melanie Gall, Nazla Bushra

Faculty Publications

Louisiana is one of the most hazard-prone states in the U.S., and many of its people are engaged directly or indirectly in agricultural activities that are impacted by an array of weather hazards. However, most hazard impact research on agriculture to date, for Louisiana and elsewhere, has focused on floods and hurricanes. This research develops a method of future crop loss risk assessment due to droughts, extreme low and high temperatures, hail, lightning, and tornadoes, using Louisiana as a case study. This approach improves future crop risk assessment by incorporating historical crop loss, historical and modeled future hazard intensity, cropland …

Understanding The Views Of Beef Show Cattle Parents And The Reasons Why Their Children Participate In Beef Cattle Shows, Matt Schiel

LSU Master's Theses

The population for this qualitative study were 10 families who participated in showing a heifer at the 2022 Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo during the junior heifer show weekend. The families were all from Texas. This study examined why parents allow their children to participate in showing cattle using a case study design. The study was grounded in human capital theory. Interviews and observations were used for the study’s findings. Results showed that the children who showed beef cattle learned responsibility, interpersonal skills, character development, and hard work.

Future research topics include further case studies using the same methodology …

Assessing The Current State Of Louisiana's Crawfish Fishery: Trends And Challenges In Wild Capture And Aquaculture, Mahala G. Gambill

LSU Master's Theses

Crawfish are found throughout the southern U.S.; however, Louisiana is by far the largest producer. The state’s industry includes harvesting wild crawfish from natural habitats such as bayous, swamps, and marshes, and crawfish reared in outdoor ponds. Although commercial harvest records are available, characterization of Louisiana’s wild capture crawfish fishery in recent years is undocumented, and analysis of environmental variables that could be correlated with annual harvest totals have not yet been explored. Using trip ticket data from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, I characterized monthly and annual trends within Louisiana basins to assess changes in crawfish harvest …

The Influence Of Selected Personal And Academic Demographic Characteristics On Persistence To Degree Completion Among Traditional-Age Undergraduate Students At A Research University In The Southeastern United States, Michael Eugene Mckey Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A college education has never been more important than it is today. With nearly two-thirds of jobs in the future requiring some form of advanced education, and approximately one-third of those requiring a bachelor’s degree, it is imperative that research be undertaken to address the factors that contribute to the success of students in college, more so regarding the persistence and retention of those students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the influence of selected personal and academic demographic characteristics on the persistence to graduation, specifically, within six years. A causal-comparative research design was used as the …

Human Total, Basal And Activity Energy Expenditures Are Independent Of Ambient Environmental Temperature, Xueying Zhang, Yosuke Yamada, Hiroyuki Sagayama, Philip N. Ainslie, Ellen E. Blaak, Maciej S. Buchowski, Graeme L. Close, Jamie A. Cooper, Sai Krupa Das, Lara R. Dugas, Michael Gurven, Asmaa El Hamdouchi, Sumei Hu, Noorjehan Joonas, Peter Katzmarzyk, William E. Kraus, Robert F. Kushner, William R. Leonard, Corby K. Martin, Erwin P. Meijer, Marian L. Neuhouser, Robert M. Ojiambo, Yannis P. Pitsiladis, Guy Plasqui, Ross L. Prentice, Susan B. Racette, Eric Ravussin, Leanne M. Redman, Rebecca M. Reynolds, Susan B. Roberts, Luis B. Sardinha, Analiza M. Silva, Eric Stice, Samuel S. Urlacher

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Lower ambient temperature (Ta) requires greater energy expenditure to sustain body temperature. However, effects of Ta on human energetics may be buffered by environmental modification and behavioral compensation. We used the IAEA DLW database for adults in the USA (n = 3213) to determine the effect of Ta (−10 to +30°C) on TEE, basal (BEE) and activity energy expenditure (AEE) and physical activity level (PAL). There were no significant relationships (p > 0.05) between maximum, minimum and average Ta and TEE, BEE, AEE and PAL. After adjustment for fat-free mass, fat mass and age, statistically significant (p < 0.01) relationships between TEE, BEE and Ta emerged in females but the effect sizes were not biologically meaningful. Temperatures inside buildings are regulated at 18–25°C independent of latitude. Hence, adults in the US modify their environments to keep TEE constant across a wide range of external ambient temperatures.

Using 2d Hec-Ras Modeling With Vertical Feature Extraction To Inform Ecological Design In The Lower Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana, Colin Anderson

LSU Master's Theses

A 2D HEC-RAS model was created to demonstrate applications of hydraulic modeling for informing ecological design. This was done by comparing the hydrologic conditions of a baseline year (2010) to that of the environmental flow prescription from Kozak et al. (2016). The inundation results are relevant to hydraulic connectivity and cypress regeneration.

The hydraulic model was created by assimilating numerous data sources, refining the model with vertical feature (VF) extraction, and calibrating/validating the model. Several topo-bathymetric sources were combined to create the digital elevation model (DEM). Most importantly, this included bathymetry of the backswamp. Polylines of significant VFs in the …

Queer Bodies: Homoeroticism, Sensuality, And Erotica In Postmodern Fine Art Photography, Rosa Michel Pace

LSU Master's Theses

The queer body– describes the sum of assumptions and biases attributed to queer people, whereby a person’s own queer identity or expression is overshadowed by the generalizations, (mis)perceptions, and stereotypes that society imposes on that individual. Central to the scope of this thesis is the reality whereby the ostracization of queer people involves the association between the very body of the queer person with sexual acts deemed both deviant and immoral by a cis-heteronormative society. Society renders the queer body as pejoratively deviant simply on the basis of its existence alone, where any form of varied gender or sexual expression …

Investigating Preferences And Behavior Within Environmental Economics, Sapana Bastola

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

To respond to the environmental problems posed by disposable plastic bags, several mechanisms exist, such as bag taxes and bans, but such policies are infeasible in several U.S. states and municipalities. This study uses a social quasi-experiment to examine the effect of a voluntary token-donation program, which reduces disposable plastic bag use by providing a small charitable donation incentive. We find that the token-donation program reduces the probability of disposable bag use by 11.4–12.9 percentage points, representing about a 30%–34% decrease in bag use. Our results demonstrate effective mechanisms to reduce plastic bags exist without government-mandated policy.

Despite the widespread …

Hexavalent Chromium Increases The Metabolism And Genotoxicity Of Aromatic Amine Carcinogens 4-Aminobiphenyl And Β-Naphthylamine In Immortalized Human Lung Epithelial Cells, James T.F. Wise, Raúl A. Salazar-González, Kennedy M. Walls, Mark A. Doll, Mariam R. Habil, David W. Hein

Faculty Publications

Humans are exposed to carcinogenic chemicals via occupational and environmental exposures. Common chemicals of concern that can occur in exposures together are aromatic amines (e.g., 4-aminobiphenyl [4-ABP] and β-naphthylamine [BNA]) and hexavalent chromium (Cr[VI]). Arylamine N-acetyltransferases 1 and 2 (NAT1 and NAT2) are key to the metabolism of aromatic amines and their genotoxicity. The effects of Cr(VI) on the metabolism of aromatic amines remains unknown as well as how it may affect their ensuing toxicity. The objective of the research presented here is to investigate the effects of Cr(VI) on the metabolism and genotoxicity of 4-ABP and BNA in immortalized …

"I'M Not Your Ride Or Die": A Qualitative Study Of Black Women's Experiences In Intimate Marketplaces, Alana Jamelle Peck

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Black women’s marriage rates have consistently been on the decline since the 1960’s and currently, Black women are the least likely to get married across all races and genders (Bureau 2020). Scholars have been using these statistics to tell monolithic narratives of Black womanhood, and even blame Black women for larger issues within the Black community (Collins 2000, Johnson and Loscocco 2015; Moynihan 1965). Prior scholars have also attempted to provide solutions to this problem, while never even approaching Black women, to suggest ways that they can increase their marriage rates and consequently uplift Black families and the Black community …

Longitudinal Associations Between Housing Instability, Primary Caregiver's Mental Health, Parenting Skills, And Child Behavior Problems: A Latent Growth Modeling Approach, Xi Du

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Children who grow up in disruptive environments have heightened vulnerability to psychological and behavioral difficulties, which may influence overall well-being through the course of their lives. This study combined a life course perspective with Conger’s family stress model to investigate the longitudinal associations between housing instability, primary caregiver’s mental health, parenting skills, and child internalizing/externalizing behavior problems by unpacking dynamic change from a focal child’s early childhood to adolescence in each factor.

Data came from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its Child Development Supplement survey. The analytic sample comprises 783 children who aged 3-7 at enrollment with consistent …

Computational Imaging For Shape Understanding, Yuqi Ding

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Geometry is the essential property of real-world scenes. Understanding the shape of the object is critical to many computer vision applications. In this dissertation, we explore using computational imaging approaches to recover the geometry of real-world scenes. Computational imaging is an emerging technique that uses the co-designs of image hardware and computational software to expand the capacity of traditional cameras. To tackle face recognition in the uncontrolled environment, we study 2D color image and 3D shape to deal with body movement and self-occlusion. Especially, we use multiple RGB-D cameras to fuse the varying pose and register the front face in …

Improved Building-Specific Flood Risk Assessment And Implications Of Depth-Damage Function Selection, Ehab Gnan, Carol J. Friedland, Md Adilur Rahim, Rubayet Bin Mostafiz, Robert V. Rohli, Fatemeh Orooji, Arash Taghinezhad, Jasmin Mcelwee

Faculty Publications

Average annual loss (AAL) is traditionally used as the basis of assessing flood risk and evaluating risk mitigation measures. This research presents an improved implementation to estimate building-specific AAL, with the flood hazard of a building represented by the Gumbel extreme value distribution. AAL is then calculated by integrating the area under the overall loss-exceedance probability curve using trapezoidal Riemann sums. This implementation is compared with existing AAL estimations from flood risk assessment. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to examine the variability in AAL results based on depth-damage function (DDF) choice. To demonstrate the methodology, a one-story single-family residence is …

Covid-19 In The United States As Affective Frame, John Protevi

Faculty Publications

In this paper I attempt to contribute to the developing field of “political philosophy of mind.” To render concrete the notion of “affective frame,” a social situation which pre-selects for salience and valence of environmental factors relative to a subject’s life, I conduct a case study of a deleterious socially instituted affective frame, which, during the early days of the COVID19 pandemic in the United States, produced individuated circumstances that came crashing down on “essential workers” who were forced into a double bind. We saw here an untenable and ultimately fatal situation that forced a choice between, on the one …

Insight In Thermomechanical Constitutive Modeling Of Shape Memory Polymers, Amir Shojaei, Wei Xu, Cheng Yan, Qianxi Yang, Guoqiang Li

Faculty Publications

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are a new member of the smart materials family. SMPs have found wide applications or potential applications in almost all manmade structures and devices. In order to better design smart structures and devices using SMPs, thermomechanical constitutive modeling is essential. In this insight paper, we will focus on presenting several multi-length-scale and multi-physics modeling frameworks, including the thermodynamics consistent model, elasto-viscoplastic model, statistical mechanics model, and phase evaluation law model. The SMPs modeled will include amorphous one-way shape memory polymers, semicrystalline one-way shape memory polymers, semicrystalline two-way shape memory polymers, and functional and mechanical damage effects …

Application Of Organic Fertilizers For Lawn Establishment And Maintenance In Louisiana, Matthew Lambert

LSU Master's Theses

Landscape contractors are increasingly interested in organic products for Louisiana's residential and commercial turfgrass areas. However, the use, motivations, and barriers to adopting organic practices in the commercial turfgrass and landscape industry are undocumented. A survey with Louisiana Turfgrass Association (LTA) members to gauge their perceptions on current and future use of organic products in Louisiana was performed; and a field trial was conducted to evaluate organic fertilizers during turfgrass establishment. Substantial majorities of turfgrass professionals are currently applying organic fertilizers and believe organic product use will increase due to consumer demands, potential governmental regulation, and the belief that they …

Evaluating Serverless Computing, Charitra Maharjan

LSU Master's Theses

Function as a Service (FaaS) is gaining admiration because of its way of deploying the computations to serverless backends in the different clouds. It transfers the complexity of provisioning and allocating the necessary resources for an application to the cloud providers. The cloud providers also give an illusion of always availability of resources to the users. Among the cloud providers, AWS serverless platform offers a new paradigm for developing cloud applications without worrying about the underlying hardware infrastructure. It manages not only the resource provisioning and scaling of an application but also provides an opportunity to reimagine the cloud infrastructure …

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap)-Authorised Store Marketing Environments In Louisiana Encourage The Selection Of Less Nutritious Foods And Beverages, Bailey Houghtaling, Melissa Cater, Nila Pradhananga, Denise Holston

Faculty Publications

Marketing influences consumers’ dietary purchases. However, little is known about marketing environments in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)-authorised stores. The present study explored SNAP-authorised store marketing environments in Louisiana by rurality, store ownership and store type (n 42). Sampling methods were designed to include randomly selected stores in each geographic area of the state. The GroPromo was used to measure placement, promotion, and child-focused aspects of marketing strategies used for healthier (fruits and vegetables) and less healthy products (chips, candy, sugar-sweetened beverages, child-focused cereal) in medium- and high-prominence marketing areas. In using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) (P < 0⋅05) for data analysis, variations in GroPromo scores were found among SNAP-authorised stores by rurality (P < 0⋅05) and store ownership (P < 0⋅001); no differences were found by store type (P > 0⋅05). Future …

Hydrodynamic And Biochemical Impacts On The Development Of Hypoxia In The Louisiana-Texas Shelf - Part 2: Statistical Modeling And Hypoxia Prediction, Yanda Ou, Bin Li, Z. George Xue

Faculty Publications

This study presents a novel ensemble regression model for forecasts of the hypoxic area (HA) in the Louisiana-Texas (LaTex) shelf. The ensemble model combines a zero-inflated Poisson generalized linear model (GLM) and a quasi-Poisson generalized additive model (GAM) and considers predictors with hydrodynamic and biochemical features. Both models were trained and calibrated using the daily hindcast (2007-2020) by a three-dimensional coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model embedded in the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). Compared to the ROMS hindcasts, the ensemble model yields a low root-mean-square error (RMSE) (3256 km2), a high R2 (0.7721), and low mean absolute percentage biases for overall (29%) …

Effectiveness Assessment Of E-Ticketing Technology In Construction Of Transportation Projects, Sharareh Kermanshachi, Karthik Subramanya

Data

The construction of highway infrastructure has devoted significant resources towards e-Construction to reduce the paperwork and automate the tasks in daily operations. Electronic Ticketing (e-Ticketing) is one such component of e-Construction that aids in the digital transfer of material tickets such as asphalt and concrete which accounts for more than fifty per cent of construction costs. Despite the benefits of e-Ticketing, many state departments and agencies are unwilling to transition into this technology. No studies have identified the cause of the delay in the implementation process, developed a framework to comprehend the platform's full potential, quantified savings, and suggested strategies …

Development Of A Machine Learning-Based Model To Determine The Optimum And Safe Restriping Timing Of Thermoplastic Pavement Markings In Hot And Humid Climates, Momen R. Mousa, Marwa Hassan

Publications

Due to limited budget, most transportation agencies restripe their thermoplastic pavement markings based on a fixed schedule or based on visual inspection instead of monitoring the retroreflectivity and restriping when the retroreflectivity drops below a pre-determined threshold. These strategies are questionable in terms of efficiency and economy. Therefore, previous studies proposed degradation models to predict the retroreflectivity of thermoplastic markings based on key variables. Yet, most of these studies reported low R² (as low as 0.1), which placed little confidence in these models. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate and predict the field performance of thermoplastics …