Digital Commons Network^™

Methods And Devices For Sample Capture Using Gas-Pulse Nanoparticle Displacement, Kermit King Murray, Fabrizio Donnarumma, Jamira Stephenson

College of Science Patents

The present disclosure provides for sampling instruments and methods of collecting sample particles. The sampling instrument can include a high-pressure pulsed valve coupled to a gas flow system to displace a sample from a surface. Also included can be a voltage supply coupled to a voltage switch, a suction device, a sample collector, and a collection filter. To collect a sample, extractive particles can be deposited onto a sample present on a substrate. At least a portion of the sample becomes coupled to a portion of the extractive particles to form sample particles. High-pressure gas can be discharged at the …

Validation Of The Guess-18 For The Usability Of A Virtual Reality Racing Game, William A. Carman

LSU Master's Theses

Virtual reality (VR) technology has been in development for many decades, with recent strides in the consumer market. Head-mounted displays (HMDs) provide an immersive VR experience by inserting users into an artificially constructed digital world. However, there is currently no standardized tool for measuring the usability of a VR system or environment. The GUESS-18 is a validated usability questionnaire designed for measuring the usability of video games with 9 factors present in video games. The objective of this study was to validate the GUESS-18 for measuring the usability of VR in a gaming environment.

Participants played Assetto Corsa, a racing …

Exploring Toluene Biosynthesis In Microbial Consortia Derived From Sediments And Superfund Site Groundwater, Raymond J. Poche

LSU Master's Theses

While the aromatic hydrocarbon toluene is widely regarded as a contaminant associated with discharges of crude oil and refined petroleum products (e.g., gasoline), the enzyme phenylacetate decarboxylase catalyzes the decarboxylation of phenylacetate to yield toluene. Research described in this thesis further investigated toluene biosynthesis by a microbial consortium originating from chlorinated solvent-contaminated groundwater near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In anoxic growth media supplemented with phenylacetate as a precursor, toluene accumulation was found to be maximal at near-neutral to slightly acidic pHs (toluene accumulation greater than 1 mg/L at pH in the range of 5.6 to 7.6, but was not observed for …

Engineering The Lanthanide And Actinide Dopants Effects On The Local Environment Of Luminescent Complex Metal Oxide, Yuming Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Rare earth (RE) based phosphor materials are widely used as luminescent probes in high-temperature optical thermometry where standard methods are unsuitable. The current generation of luminescent thermometers lacks stability and energy transport within the operating temperature ranges. The challenge is developing an oxide-based material with high luminescence intensity and thermal sensitivity/stability, suitable for an optical temperature sensor/thermal barrier coating. This work aims to develop a fundamental understanding of the local environment surrounding RE or actinide dopants in metal oxide hosts to engineer their luminescence property. To maximize the luminescence, the local symmetry, doping concentration, and radiative/non-radiative relaxation pathways must be …

Zein And Lignin-Graft-Plga Nanoparticles As Agrochemical Delivery Systems To Soybean Plants, Eban A. Hanna

LSU Master's Theses

The majority of applied agrochemicals are lost to the environment due to their poor adhesion to plant tissues, resulting in multiple applications and subsequent environmental toxicity. This thesis focuses on reducing these consequences by entrapping agrochemicals in polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs). In the first section, zein nanoparticles (ZNPs) with entrapped methoxyfenozide (MFZ) (209.0 ± 5.6 nm, -42.1 ± 2.1 mV) were synthesized and used to facilitate the translocation of MFZ to the leaves and stems of soybean plants, as measured by LC-MS, under hydroponic conditions. The agrochemical concentration increased within the leaves over time from 0.04 to 2.35 μg/g at 0.2 …

Self-Healing Composite Of Thermoset Polymer And Programmed Super Contraction Fibers, Guoqiang Li, Harper Meng

College of Engineering Patents

A composition comprising thermoset polymer, shape memory polymer to facilitate macro scale damage closure, and methods for molecular scale healing are provided. The composition can resolve structural defects by a bio-mimetic close-then heal process. In use, the shape memory polymer can provide molecular scale healing in a structural defect. The methods for molecular scale healing can include heating a composition including a thermoplastic such as fibers, particles or spheres to a level at or above the thermoplastic's melting point, then cooling of the composition below the melting temperature of the thermoplastic. The compositions have the ability to close macroscopic defects …

Functional Coupling Of Trpm2 And Extrasynaptic Nmdars Exacerbates Excitotoxicity In Ischemic Brain Injury, Pengyu Zong, Jianlin Feng, Zhichao Yue, Yunfeng Li, Gongxiong Wu, Baonan Sun, Yanlin He, Barbara Miller, Albert S. Yu, Zhongping Su, Jia Xie, Yasuo Mori, Bing Hao, Lixia Yue

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Excitotoxicity induced by NMDA receptor (NMDAR) activation is a major cause of neuronal death in ischemic stroke. However, past efforts of directly targeting NMDARs have unfortunately failed in clinical trials. Here, we reveal an unexpected mechanism underlying NMDAR-mediated neurotoxicity, which leads to the identification of a novel target and development of an effective therapeutic peptide for ischemic stroke. We show that NMDAR-induced excitotoxicity is enhanced by physical and functional coupling of NMDAR to an ion channel TRPM2 upon ischemic insults. TRPM2-NMDAR association promotes the surface expression of extrasynaptic NMDARs, leading to enhanced NMDAR activity and increased neuronal death. We identified …

The Effects Of Burial Practices On The Preservation Of Bioarchaeological Remains From Caddo Sites In Northwestern Louisiana, Riley Kloostra

LSU Master's Theses

There are many variables which can impact the preservation of skeletal remains. This study attempts to understand how six specific variables present at two Native American sites may have impacted the skeletal preservation of burials at those sites. Four of the six variables are extrinsic factors, which vary on the level of the burial pit; these are presence of shell artifacts in the burial, presence of ash in the pit fill, presence of a clay cap over the burial, and depth of the burial pit. The other two variables discussed are intrinsic factors, varying on the level of the individual; …

Adaptive Solid-State Luminescent Phosphors, James A. Dorman

College of Engineering Patents

The absorbance or emission wavelength of composite materials comprising a transition metal doped shell disposed over a rare earth doped core and a functionalizable group on the surface of the transition metal doped shell can change upon subjection to a carboxylic acid. This method of changing the absorbance or emission wavelength of a composite material can be used to identify counterfeit currency using an ink comprising a composite material.

Honey Bee Genetic Stock Determines Deformed Wing Virus Symptom Severity But Not Viral Load Or Dissemination Following Pupal Exposure, Hannah J. Penn, Michael D. Simone-Finstrom, Yanping Chen, Kristen B. Healy

Faculty Publications

Honey bees exposed to Varroa mites incur substantial physical damage in addition to potential exposure to vectored viruses such as Deformed wing virus (DWV) that exists as three master variants (DWV-A, DWV-B, and DWV-C) and recombinants. Although mite-resistant bees have been primarily bred to mitigate the impacts of Varroa mites, mite resistance may be associated with increased tolerance or resistance to the vectored viruses. The goal of our study is to determine if five honey bee stocks (Carniolan, Italian, Pol-Line, Russian, and Saskatraz) differ in their resistance or tolerance to DWV based on prior breeding for mite resistance. We injected …

A Century-Long Trajectory Of Phosphorus Loading And Export From Mississippi River Basin To The Gulf Of Mexico: Contributions Of Multiple Environmental Changes, Zihao Bian, Shufen Pan, Zhuonan Wang, Yuanzhi Yao, Rongting Xu, Hao Shi, Latif Kalin, Christopher Anderson, Dubravko Justic, Steven Lohrenz, Hanqin Tian

Faculty Publications

Phosphorus (P) control is critical to mitigating eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems, but the effectiveness of controlling P export from soils has been limited by our poor understanding of P dynamics along the land-ocean aquatic continuum as well as the lack of well-developed process models that effectively couple terrestrial and aquatic biogeochemical P processes. Here, we coupled riverine P biogeochemical processes and water transport with terrestrial processes within the framework of the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model to assess how multiple environmental changes, including fertilizer and manure P uses, land use, climate, and atmospheric CO2, have affected the long-term dynamics of P …

Phylogenetic Characterization And Genome Sequence Analysis Of Burkholderia Glumae Strains Isolated In Thailand As The Causal Agent Of Rice Bacterial Panicle Blight, Nootjarin Jungkhun, Antonio Roberto Gomes De Farias, Jutatape Watcharachaiyakup, Nuttima Kositcharoenkul, Jong Hyun Ham, Sujin Patarapuwadol

Faculty Publications

Burkholderia glumae is one of the most critical rice-pathogenic bacteria, and it causes bacterial panicle blight (BPB) in rice plants. In 2017, BPB symptoms were observed from rice fields in Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand. Sixty-one isolates obtained from the symptomatic panicles of rice were initially identified as B. glumae by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using species-specific primers. Among them, six selected strains isolated from the susceptible japonica rice cultivar DOA2 were characterized in terms of morpho-physiology, pathology, phylogenetics, and genomics. Our genome sequence analysis of the six selected strains revealed the presence of multiple prophages, which may reflect the high …

Influence Of Weather On Gobbling Activity Of Male Wild Turkeys, Patrick H. Wightman, James A. Martin, John C. Kilgo, Emily Rushton, Bret A. Collier, Michael J. Chamberlain

Faculty Publications

Gobbling activity of Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris; hereafter, turkeys) has been widely studied, focusing on drivers of daily variation. Weather variables are widely believed to influence gobbling activity, but results across studies are contradictory and often equivocal, leading to uncertainty in the relative contribution of weather variables to daily fluctuations in gobbling activity. Previous works relied on road-based auditory surveys to collect gobbling data, which limits data consistency, duration, and quantity due to logistical difficulties associated with human observers and restricted sampling frames. Development of new methods using autonomous recording units (ARUs) allows researchers to collect continuous data …

Recursive Movements Of Eastern Wild Turkey Broods In The Southeastern United States, Nicholas W. Bakner, Bradley S. Cohen, Bret A. Collier, Michael J. Chamberlain

Faculty Publications

Productivity of wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) populations throughout the southeastern United States has declined over the past several decades. Although population trajectory is driven primarily by annual reproduction, wild turkey managers have little information regarding the behavioral ecology of broods immediately post-hatch. Broods are known to revisit areas within their ranges, but revisitation behavior is poorly understood spatially and temporally. Thus, identifying patterns of visitation and revisitation can increase understanding of brood behavior. We monitored 94 brooding females until brood failure or 28 days after hatch to evaluate movements and to quantify landcover and vegetation density at revisited locations which …

The North American Freshwater Migratory Fish Database (Nafmfd): Characterizing The Migratory Life Histories Of Freshwater Fishes Of Canada, The United States And Mexico, Emily M. Dean, Arthur R. Cooper, Lizhu Wang, Wesley Daniel, Solomon David, Clayton Ernzen, Keith B. Gido, Edward Hale, Tim J. Haxton, William Kelso, Nancy Leonard, Chris Lido, Joseph Margraf, Michael Porter, Casey Pennock, David Propst, Jared Ross, Michelle D. Staudinger, Gary Whelan, Dana M. Infante

Faculty Publications

Aim: Migratory freshwater fishes are those that must access discrete habitats to complete their life cycles. Freshwater fish migrations occur around the world and provide numerous ecosystem services for humans and natural systems; however, many migratory species are in decline globally. A limiting factor to successfully conserve freshwater migratory fishes is that the migratory life histories of many species are unknown or only partially described. To provide researchers with critical and comprehensive information to conserve migratory fishes, we developed the North American Freshwater Migratory Fish Database (NAFMFD). Location: Canada, Mexico and the United States. Taxon: Freshwater fish. Methods: To develop …

Interindividual Variation In Maximum Aerobic Metabolism Varies With Gill Morphology And Myocardial Bioenergetics In Gulf Killifish, Bernard B. Rees, Jessica E. Reemeyer, Brian A. Irving

Faculty Publications

This study asked whether interindividual variation in maximum and standard aerobic metabolic rates of the Gulf killifish, Fundulus grandis, correlates with gill morphology and cardiac mitochondrial bioenergetics, traits reflecting critical steps in the O2 transport cascade from the environment to the tissues. Maximum metabolic rate (MMR) was positively related to body mass, total gill filament length and myocardial oxygen consumption during maximum oxidative phosphorylation (multiple R2=0.836). Standard metabolic rate (SMR) was positively related to body mass, total gill filament length and myocardial oxygen consumption during maximum electron transport system activity (multiple R2=0.717). After controlling for body mass, individuals with longer …

Mitochondrial Uncoupling Attenuates Sarcopenic Obesity By Enhancing Skeletal Muscle Mitophagy And Quality Control, Wagner S. Dantas, Elizabeth R.M. Zunica, Elizabeth C. Heintz, Bolormaa Vandanmagsar, Z. Elizabeth Floyd, Yongmei Yu, Hisashi Fujioka, Charles L. Hoppel, Kathryn P. Belmont, Christopher L. Axelrod, John P. Kirwan

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Background: Sarcopenic obesity is a highly prevalent disease with poor survival and ineffective medical interventions. Mitochondrial dysfunction is purported to be central in the pathogenesis of sarcopenic obesity by impairing both organelle biogenesis and quality control. We have previously identified that a mitochondrial-targeted furazano[3,4-b]pyrazine named BAM15 is orally available and selectively lowers respiratory coupling efficiency and protects against diet-induced obesity in mice. Here, we tested the hypothesis that mitochondrial uncoupling simultaneously attenuates loss of muscle function and weight gain in a mouse model of sarcopenic obesity. Methods: Eighty-week-old male C57BL/6J mice with obesity were randomized to 10 weeks of high …

Comprehensive Analysis Of Epigenetic Clocks Reveals Associations Between Disproportionate Biological Ageing And Hippocampal Volume, Lidija Milicic, Michael Vacher, Tenielle Porter, Vincent Doré, Samantha C. Burnham, Pierrick Bourgeat, Rosita Shishegar, James Doecke, Nicola J. Armstrong, Rick Tankard, Paul Maruff, Colin L. Masters, Christopher C. Rowe, Victor L. Villemagne, Simon M. Laws, Balebail Ashok Raj, Kristin Fargher, Amanda Smith, Lisa Raudin, Gloria Chaing, Norman Relkin, Karen Elizabeth Smith, Hyungsub Shim, Laura L. Boles Ponto, Susan K. Schultz, Antero Sarrael, Raymundo Hernando, Nunzio Pomara, Dick Drost, Andrew Kertesz, John Rogers, Irina Rachinsky, Stephen Pasternak, Elizabether Finger

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

The concept of age acceleration, the difference between biological age and chronological age, is of growing interest, particularly with respect to age-related disorders, such as Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Whilst studies have reported associations with AD risk and related phenotypes, there remains a lack of consensus on these associations. Here we aimed to comprehensively investigate the relationship between five recognised measures of age acceleration, based on DNA methylation patterns (DNAm age), and cross-sectional and longitudinal cognition and AD-related neuroimaging phenotypes (volumetric MRI and Amyloid-β PET) in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) and the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). Significant …

Novel Approaches To Environmental Monitoring And Control Of Listeria Monocytogenes In Food Production Facilities, Priyanka Gupta, Achyut Adhikari

Faculty Publications

Listeria monocytogenes is a serious public health hazard responsible for the foodborne illness listeriosis. L. monocytogenes is ubiquitous in nature and can become established in food production facilities, resulting in the contamination of a variety of food products, especially ready-to-eat foods. Effective and risk-based environmental monitoring programs and control strategies are essential to eliminate L. monocytogenes in food production environments. Key elements of the environmental monitoring program include (i) identifying the sources and prevalence of L. monocytogenes in the production environment, (ii) verifying the effectiveness of control measures to eliminate L. monocytogenes, and (iii) identifying the areas and activities to …

Feedback Stabilization And Robustness Analysis Using Bounds On Fundamental Matrices, Frederic Mazenc, Michael Malisoff

Faculty Publications

We prove a new robust stabilization theorem for time-varying systems that have sampled measurements and time-varying disturbances, and we provide new observer designs, using novel bounds for fundamental matrices for systems with disturbances. Our main tools use properties of Metzler matrices and positive systems.

Genetic Variation Among The Salinity Tolerant Breeding Lines Identified From Two Multi-Parent Advanced Generation Introgression Line Populations In Rice (Oryza Sativa), Sandeep Chapagain, Jonathan Concepcion, Rajat Pruthi, Lovepreet Singh, Adam Famoso, Prasant K. Subudhi

Faculty Publications

Salinity is a major environmental constraint affecting rice production in both irrigated and non-irrigated areas and threatening global food security. Development of salt-tolerant rice varieties with desirable agronomic traits is a logical approach to maintain high yield in saline areas. Here, we report development of two multi-parent advanced generation introgression line (MAGIL) rice populations in two US cultivar backgrounds and their physiological and morphological evaluation under salinity stress at germination and seedling stages. From the initial screening of 180 MAGILs in sand culture, 36 tolerant-to-moderately salt-tolerant lines were selected and further confirmed in hydroponics experiment. The selected MAGILs showed lower …

The Price Of Decentralization In Cooperative Coverage Problems With Energy-Constrained Agents, Xiangyu Meng, Christos G. Cassandras, Xinmiao Sun, Kaiyuan Xu

Faculty Publications

A multiagent coverage problem is considered with energy-constrained agents, where a charging station is used to replenish an agent's energy as it becomes depleted while performing the coverage task. The objective of this article is to compare the coverage performance between centralized and decentralized approaches. To this end, a centralized coverage control method is developed to switch agents between an optimal coverage formation and an optimal charging formation. We design a controller for agent trajectories that include dwell times at the optimal coverage locations, and charging times at the charging station to maximize a coverage metric over a finite time …

Whole-Genome Sequencing Of Kmr3 And Oryza Rufipogon-Derived Introgression Line Il50-13 (Chinsurah Nona 2/Gosaba 6) Identifies Candidate Genes For High Yield And Salinity Tolerance In Rice, Shashi Rekha Thummala, Haritha Guttikonda, Shrish Tiwari, Rajeshwari Ramanan, Niranjan Baisakh, Sarla Neelamraju, Satendra K. Mangrauthia

Faculty Publications

The genomes of an elite rice restorer line KMR3 (salinity-sensitive) and its salinity-tolerant introgression line IL50-13, a popular variety of coastal West Bengal, India, were sequenced. High-quality paired-end reads were obtained for KMR3 (147.6 million) and IL50-13 (131.4 million) with a sequencing coverage of 30X-39X. Scaffolds generated from the pre-assembled contigs of each sequenced genome were mapped separately onto the reference genome of Oryza sativa ssp. japonica cultivar Nipponbare to identify genomic variants in terms of SNPs and InDels. The SNPs and InDels identified for KMR3 and IL50-13 were then compared with each other to identify polymorphic SNPs and InDels …

Genomics And Geographic Diversity Of Bacteriophages Associated With Endosymbionts In The Guts Of Workers And Alates Of Coptotermes Species (Blattodea: Rhinotermitidae), Junyan Chen, Christopher R. Gissendanner, Chinmay V. Tikhe, Hou Feng Li, Qian Sun, Claudia Husseneder

Faculty Publications

Subterranean termites depend nutritionally on their gut microbiota, which includes protozoa as well as taxonomically and functionally diverse bacteria. Our previous metavirome study revealed a high diversity and novel families of bacteriophages in the guts of Coptotermes formosanus workers from New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Two assembled bacteriophage genomes (Phages TG-crAlp-04 and 06, family Podoviridae) existed in all colonies and showed similarity to a prophage (ProJPt-Bp1) previously sequenced from a bacterial endosymbiont (Candidatus Azobacteroides pseudotrichonymphae, CAP) of protozoa in the gut of a termite species of the genus Prorhinotermes from Taiwan. In this study the genomes of Phage TG-crAlp-04 and …

Producing Bacterial Cellulose From Coffee (Coffea Arabica) Kombucha Fermentation And Assessment Of Its Efficacy To Remove Pathogenic Bacteria From Contaminated Water And A Pollutant Dye From Aqueous Solution, Federico Bueno

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Bacterial cellulose (BC), composed of cellulosic nanofibrils, is synthesized by a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast during the fermentation of coffee kombucha (CK). BC may be used as a purification agent and adsorbent. The overall goal of this project was to synthesize BC from CK fermentation and assess its efficacy in removing pathogenic bacteria from contaminated water and a pollutant dye from aqueous solution. The objectives of this study were to: (1) compare BCs that were produced from different carbohydrate substrates in the fermentation of CK, (2) characterize dried BCs produced using various drying methods, (3) evaluate BC as …

Creating Musical Scores Inspired By The Intersection Of Human Speech And Music Through Model-Based Cross Synthesis, William Alexander Thompson Iv

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research addresses the development of machine learning techniques used to create musical scores and performances that are inspired by the intersection of speech and music. Machine learning models are created from MIDI files that are transcribed from datasets of musical audio recordings and human speech audio recordings. Through the creation of succinct models, model based cross synthesis is possible. Models trained on musical MIDI data are asked to replicate MIDI data that approximate human speech. Alternatively, models that have been trained on MIDI data that approximate speech are asked to replicate musical MIDI data. The product of these developed …

A Comparative Content Analysis Of How Print Media Framed The Heroin Epidemic And The Opioid Crisis, Quincy Hodges

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examined how the news media covered the Opioid Crisis of the 21st century compared to how the news media covered the Heroin Epidemic of the 1970s. A content analysis of six U.S. newspapers – the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Columbus Dispatch, The Detroit Free Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the New Orleans Times-Picayune indicated that the print news media covered the Heroin Epidemic and the Opioid Crisis drastically different. The news media framed the Opioid Crisis as a public health issue, focusing coverage on rogue doctors and health professionals, and how unethical pharmaceutical companies took …

A New Insight Into Fungal Cell Wall Architecture By Functional Genomics And Solid-State Nmr Along With Recent Advancements In Dynamic Nuclear Polarization For Analyzing Biomolecules, Arnab Chakraborty

LSU Master's Theses

This dissertation summarizes the findings related to the way by which supramolecular architecture of fungal cell wall changes with genetic mutation, dispensing genes responsible for biosynthesis of cell wall polysaccharides. This is necessary because without perfect picture of how supramolecular assembly changes with genetic mutation it is hard to assess new anti-fungal targets. Alongside this we have highlighted how recent advancement into Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (DNP) methods improved characterization of biomolecules both in case of labeled and unlabeled samples.

First study utilized Solid-state NMR (SSNMR) which is a non-destructive technique hence enabled us for the first time to deduce how …

Mental Health Matters: Mental Health Service Utilization Among African American Emerging Adults, Tamecia Curry

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Evidence indicates that people of color underutilize mental health services, but little is known empirically about the help-seeking behaviors of African American emerging adults. The present mixed method study utilizes a concurrent design with nested samples for the qualitative and quantitative components to examine willingness to seek help and help-seeking intentions among college students. Data was collected from four location sites including Louisiana State University (n=38), Texas State University (n=15), The University of Southern Mississippi (n=65) and Southern University and A&M College (n=3). Minority and non-minority participants completed the Willingness-To-Seek-Help Questionnaire and …

'My Name Is Peaches': Black Women's Affect In The Blues Biomyth, Taylor C. Scott

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

For this project, I am interested in the study of nuanced self-representations of Black rage that appear within African American literary traditions, specifically the blues aesthetic, wherein artists narrativize a wide spectrum of intelligent and specific emotion--not just melancholy. Blues narratives in which Black people self-represent are in direct opposition to flattened narratives of certain affective modes such as anger as a useless, backwards, pathologized, and flat feeling that appear within dominant U.S. and global iconographies. What I see in the blues aesthetic is the capacity for a multichromatic approach to studying rage and Black authorship in America. By using …