Digital Commons Network^™

Fecundity Of The Parental And Fitness Of The F1 Populations Of Corn Earworm From Refuge Ears Of Seed Blend Plantings With Genuity® Smartstax™ Maize, Jianguo Guo, Fei Yang, Sebe Brown, David Kern, Graham P. Head, Paula A. Price, Ying Niu, Fangneng Huang

Faculty Publications

Seed blend, also called ‘refuge-in-the-bag (RIB)’, has been used as a refuge strategy to generate susceptible insect populations for Bt maize resistance management in the U.S. Corn Belt. A major concern related to the use of RIB is the cross-pollination of maize plants that cause Bt protein expression in the kernels of refuge ears. Bt protein expression in the refuge ears can negatively affect the insect populations on refuge plants, especially for ear feeders such as the corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie). The current study investigated the reproduction of three populations of H. zea collected from a pure stand of …

Hinge Region In Dna Packaging Terminase Pul15 Of Herpes Simplex Virus: A Potential Allosteric Target For Antiviral Drugs, Lana F. Thaljeh, J. Ainsley Rothschild, Misagh Naderi, Lyndon M. Coghill

Faculty Publications

Approximately 80% of adults are infected with a member of the herpesviridae family. Herpesviruses establish life-long latent infections within neurons, which may reactivate into lytic infections due to stress or immune suppression. There are nine human herpesviruses (HHV) posing health concerns from benign conditions to life threatening encephalitis, including cancers associated with viral infections. The current treatment options for most HHV conditions mainly include several nucleoside and nucleotide analogs targeting viral DNA polymerase. Although these drugs help manage infections, their common mechanism of action may lead to the development of drug resistance, which is particularly devastating in immunocompromised patients. Therefore, …

Response Of Water Resources To Future Climate Change In A High-Latitude River Basin, Peng Qi, Guangxin Zhang, Yi Jun Xu, Zhikun Xia, Ming Wang

Faculty Publications

Global water resources are affected by climate change as never before. However, it is still unclear how water resources in high latitudes respond to climate change. In this study, the water resource data for 2021-2050 in the Naoli River Basin, a high-latitude basin in China, are calculated by using the SWAT-Modflow Model and future climate scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The results show a decreasing trend. When compared to the present, future streamflow is predicted to decrease by 2.73 × 108 m3 in 2021-2035 and by 1.51 × 108 m3 in 2036-2050 in the RCP4.5 scenario, and by 8.16 × 108 …

Dam Effects On Downstream Riparian Wetlands: The Nenjiang River, Northeast China, Yuexin Zheng, Guangxin Zhang, Yanfeng Wu, Y. Jun Xu, Changlei Dai

Faculty Publications

Many studies have found that damming a river can change downstream hydrology, sediment transport, channel morphology, and fish habitat. However, little is known about river dam effects on downstream riparian wetland dynamics and their quantitative relationship with hydrological alterations. In this study, hydrological time series and wetland distribution data spanning nearly 40 years (1978-2016) before and after the construction of a large dam in 2005 across the Nenjiang River in Northeast China were used to reveal the impact of dam on the downstream discharge regime and wetland degradation. Hydro-statistical and stepwise multiple regression analyses were performed to quantify the relationship …

Quantifying Soil Health In A Topographically Diverse Warm-Season Perennial Pasture Over-Seeded With A Mix Of Cool-Season Annuals, Kathleen M. Bridges, Lisa M. Fultz, Montgomery W. Alison, Kun Jun Han, Bisoondat Macoon, William D. Pitman

Faculty Publications

Over-seeding cool-season annual forages in pastures in the southeastern US provides increased grazing opportunities for livestock and reduces the amount of hay needed during winter. The constant presence of vegetation can benefit soil health, the biological aspect of which has only received cursory investigation to date. Since 2009, a commercial cattle grazing operation located in south Mississippi has been over-seeding a diverse mixture of oats (Avena sativa L.), triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack), annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth), radish (Raphanus sativus L.), turnips (Brassica rapa L. subsp. rapa), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), ball clover (Trifolium …

Relative Resistance To Breaking Of Pinus Taeda And Pinus Palustris, Cory Garms, Thomas J. Dean

Faculty Publications

Patterns from hurricane damage indicate that longleaf pine is more windfirm than loblolly pine. Tree windfirmess has been attributed to many factors including species and material properties like wood strength and stiffness. Because longleaf pine wood is stronger and stiffer than loblolly pine wood, this study used static winching methodology to see if these properties account for differences in wind firmness by measuring bending force required to break stems (MMAX). Stress-strain diagrams were constructed for pulled trees to explore how they behave under increasing loads. Based on these diagrams, living trees appear to act as linear elastic materials as they …

Leaf Reflectance Spectroscopy Captures Variation In Carboxylation Capacity Across Species, Canopy Environment And Leaf Age In Lowland Moist Tropical Forests, Jin Wu, Alistair Rogers, Loren P. Albert, Kim Ely, Neill Prohaska, Brett T. Wolfe, Raimundo Cosme Oliveira, Scott R. Saleska, Shawn P. Serbin

Faculty Publications

Understanding the pronounced seasonal and spatial variation in leaf carboxylation capacity (Vc,max) is critical for determining terrestrial carbon cycling in tropical forests. However, an efficient and scalable approach for predicting Vc,max is still lacking. Here the ability of leaf spectroscopy for rapid estimation of Vc,max was tested. Vc,max was estimated using traditional gas exchange methods, and measured reflectance spectra and leaf age in leaves sampled from tropical forests in Panama and Brazil. These data were used to build a model to predict Vc,max from leaf spectra. The results demonstrated that leaf spectroscopy accurately predicts Vc,max of mature leaves in Panamanian …

Climate And Plant Trait Strategies Determine Tree Carbon Allocation To Leaves And Mediate Future Forest Productivity, Anna T. Trugman, Leander D.L. Anderegg, Brett T. Wolfe, Benjamin Birami, Nadine K. Ruehr, Matteo Detto, Megan K. Bartlett, William R.L. Anderegg

Faculty Publications

Forest leaf area has enormous leverage on the carbon cycle because it mediates both forest productivity and resilience to climate extremes. Despite widespread evidence that trees are capable of adjusting to changes in environment across both space and time through modifying carbon allocation to leaves, many vegetation models use fixed carbon allocation schemes independent of environment, which introduces large uncertainties into predictions of future forest responses to atmospheric CO2 fertilization and anthropogenic climate change. Here, we develop an optimization-based model, whereby tree carbon allocation to leaves is an emergent property of environment and plant hydraulic traits. Using a combination of …

Isolation And Characterization Of Cdna Clones Encoding A Novel Subfamily Sporamin B In Sweet Potato, Jollanda Effendy, Don R. Labonte, Darda Efendi

Faculty Publications

Three cDNAs (IbH23, IbH41, and IbH74) encoding sporamin of sweet potato, were isolated from a skinning injury cDNA library. The open reading frame consisted of 288 nucleotides and the deduced polypeptide sequences consist of 96 amino acids with missing 127 amino acid residues at 5′. The sequences shared identity [42-62% (IbH23 and IbH41) and 40-61% (IbH74)] to sporamins A and B previously identified in other sweet potato species. The IbSpors contained three of four signature cysteine residues of sporamin family (Cys135, Cys198, Cys209). In addition to similarity to sporamins, these cDNA clones also showed similarities to miraculin (29-35%); Kunitz trypsin …

Postbreeding Habitat Use By Golden-Cheeked Warblers (Setophaga Chrysoparia), Melanie R. Colón, Mark R. Hutchinson, Ashley M. Long, Gary Voelker, Michael L. Morrison

Faculty Publications

The period following breeding but prior to migration is an important, though understudied, component of the avian annual life cycle. We quantified habitat use by endangered Golden-cheeked Warblers (Setophaga chrysoparia) during the postbreeding period in Golden-cheeked Warbler breeding habitat (i.e., oak-juniper [Quercus-Juniperus] woodlands) predominated by Texas oak (Quercus buckleyi) or post oak (Q. stellata), as well as in immediately adjacent oak woodland, oak savanna, and riparian vegetation not usually associated with breeding activity for this species. Most (87%) of the Golden-cheeked Warblers we detected were in oak-juniper woodlands, especially in Texas oak sites, but we also detected warblers in each …

An Integrated Approach For Constraining Depositional Zones In A Tide-Influenced River: Insights From The Gorai River, Southwest Bangladesh, Edwin J. Bomer, Carol A. Wilson, Dilip K. Datta

Faculty Publications

The tidal to fluvial transition (TFT) of estuaries and coastal rivers is one of the most complex environments on Earth with respect to the transportation and deposition of sediment, owing in large part to competing fluvial and marine processes. While there have been recent advances in the stratigraphic understanding of the TFT, it is still unclear whether these findings are site-specific or representative of mixed tidal-fluvial systems worldwide. Yet, research from this depositional domain holds profound societal and economic importance. For instance, understanding the underlying stratigraphic architecture of channel margins is critical for assessing geomorphic change for fluvio-deltaic settings, which …

Detecting Dna Methylation Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, Syed Mohammad Abid Hasan, Yuyang He, Te Wei Chang, Jianwei Wang, Manas Ranjan Gartia

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society. Among all of the epigenetic events that are responsible for various diseases such as cancer, lupus, and several birth defects, DNA methylation is one of the crucial ones. It occurs because of the alkylation of various bases. These modifications of genes carried through altered creations of proteins ultimately lead to various diseases. For example, a vital cause behind canine lymphoma is found to be DNA methylation in the guanine base. In this work, we analyzed the methylated and nonmethylated guanine structure with the assistance of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT). Because …

Crafting Identity: Language, Gender, And The Internet In The Arab World, Connor C. Rouillier

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Bark Application With Beauveria Bassiana And Permethrin Insecticide On The Walnut Twig Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) In Black Walnut Bolts, Albert E. Mayfield, Jennifer Juzwik, Jamison Scholer, John D. Vandenberg, Adam Taylor, Timothy Schowalter

Faculty Publications

Formulations of entomopathogenic (insect-killing) fungi represent alternatives to synthetic insecticides in the management of forest and shade tree insects. We evaluated bark spray applications of the entomopathogen Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin (Hypocreales: Cordycipitaceae) strain GHA (BotaniGardES), permethrin insecticide (Astro), and water (control) on colonization of black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) (Fagales: Juglandaceae) bolts by the walnut twig beetle (Pityophthorus juglandis Blackman) (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), vector of the fungus that causes thousand cankers disease. Treated bolts were baited with a P. juglandis aggregation pheromone lure and deployed in infested walnut trees. Bark application of permethrin prevented P. juglandis colonization of the phloem. …

The Role Of Minor Pheromone Components In Segregating 14 Species Of Longhorned Beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Of The Subfamily Cerambycinae, Lawrence M. Hanks, Judith A. Mongold-Diers, Robert F. Mitchell, Yunfan Zou, Joseph C.H. Wong, Linnea R. Meier, Todd D. Johnson, Jocelyn G. Millar, Brian Sullivan

Faculty Publications

We present research on the chemical ecology of 14 species of longhorned beetles (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), in four tribes of the subfamily Cerambycinae, conducted in east-central Illinois over 8 yr. Adult males produce aggregation-sex pheromones that attract both sexes. Twenty independent field bioassays explored the pheromone chemistry of the species and tested the possible attractive or antagonistic effects of compounds that are not produced by a given species, but are pheromone components of other species. Analyses of beetle-produced volatiles revealed compounds that had not been reported previously from several of the species. The most common pheromone component was (R)-3-hydroxyhexan-2-one, but pheromones …

Tales From The Ivory Tower: Women Of Color’S Resistance To Whiteness In Academia, Cheryl Matias, Danielle Walker, Mariana Del Hierro

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

No abstract provided.

Fisetin, A 3,7,3',4'-Tetrahydroxyflavone Inhibits The Pi3k/Akt/Mtor And Mapk Pathways And Ameliorates Psoriasis Pathology In 2d And 3d Organotypic Human Inflammatory Skin Models, Jean Christopher Chamcheu, Stephane Esnault, Vaqar M. Adhami, Andrea L. Noll, Sergette Banang-Mbeumi, Tithi Roy, Sitanshu S. Singh, Shile Huang, Konstantin G. Kousoulas, Hasan Mukhtar

Faculty Publications

Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated skin disease that involves the interaction of immune and skin cells, and is characterized by cytokine-driven epidermal hyperplasia, deviant differentiation, inflammation, and angiogenesis. Because the available treatments for psoriasis have significant limitations, dietary products are potential natural sources of therapeutic molecules, which can repair the molecular defects associated with psoriasis and could possibly be developed for its management. Fisetin (3,7,3',4'-tetrahydroxyflavone), a phytochemical naturally found in pigmented fruits and vegetables, has demonstrated proapoptotic and antioxidant effects in several malignancies. This study utilized biochemical, cellular, pharmacological, and tissue engineering tools to characterize the effects of fisetin on …

Rapid Microwave-Assisted Biomass Delignification And Lignin Depolymerization In Deep Eutectic Solvents, Pranjali D. Muley, Justin K. Mobley, Xinjie Tong, Brian Novak, Joseph Stevens, Dorel Moldovan, Jian Shi, Dorin Boldor

Faculty Publications

Biomass deconstruction and lignin depolymerization was performed using three different deep eutectic solvents. Various temperature (110°, 130°, and 150 °C) and time (1, 5, 10, 15 min) conditions were tested in a 2450 MHz microwave reactor. Oxalic acid (130 °C, 15 min) and formic acid DES (150 °C, 15 min) gave the highest lignin yield. Microwave heating reduced the processing time significantly. NMR characterization shows that microwave heating promotes selective bond cleavage during lignin depolymerization and has a narrow molecular weight distribution compared to conventional heating techniques. Molecular dynamic simulations showed that certain lignin bonds are stretched under the electric …

Social Determinants Of Health Inequality: Predictors Of Hiv Transmission Among African Americans In The Deep South, Kayla Allison

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

HIV/AIDS has become an epidemic in Black communities in the Deep South, which poses a major public health crisis. Unfortunately, the lack of attention from health officials has resulted in African Americans experiencing the greatest burden of the disease as compared to any other racial/ethnic group. Thus, this cross-sectional, correlational study examined predictors of HIV transmission with an emphasis on the course of the disease among African Americans in the Deep South region of the United States given the legacy of slavery, historical racism, and plight of African Americans in this geographical area. The institution of slavery was not isolated …

The Role Of Chromatin State Transitions In Modulating Early Phosphate-Deficiency Response Genes In Plants, Maryam Foroozani

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Phosphorus (P) is an essential plant macronutrient vital to fundamental metabolic processes. Plant-available P is low in most soils, making it a frequent limiter of growth. Declining P reserves for fertilizer production exasperates this agricultural challenge. Plants modulate complex responses to fluctuating P levels via global transcriptional regulatory networks. Although chromatin structure plays a substantial role in controlling gene expression, the chromatin-level mechanisms involved in regulating P homeostasis have not been determined.

In this work, I used chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) combined with next-generation DNA sequencing (ChIP-seq) to map the distribution of H3K4me3 in rice (Oryza sativa L.) during both …

Silicon Fertilization In Rice And Wheat: Dynamics With Trace Elements And Effect Of Silicate Slag Granular Size On The Release Pattern Of Monosilicic Acid In Soil, Wooiklee S. Paye

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Studies were conducted to evaluate the impact of silicon (Si) fertilization on the uptake of harmful trace elements in Louisiana rice production system, and document the effect of silicate slag granular size on its ability to supply Si in wheat. The influence of silicate slag and lime on the uptake and translocation of harmful trace elements in rice grain was determined. Results showed that both slag and lime had similar effects on pH at five of the nine sites investigated. Soil Si was significantly (P <0.001) increased with application of silicate slag at all sites. Lime and silicate slag had no effect on the concentration of trace elements in soil. However, increasing Si rates were negatively correlated with arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) concentration in rice grain. The release pattern of monosilicic acid (H₄SiO₄) from wollastonite and silicate slag was compared in a wheat greenhouse …

Sequence-Defined Ionic Peptoid Block Copolymers: Synthesis And Solution Self-Assembly, Garrett Leigh Sternhagen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work covers efforts to develop a peptoid-based model system for systematically studying the role of ionic functional groups in determining the structure of ionic block copolymer (BCP) self-assemblies in water. A key challenge in the study of polyelectrolytes is the lack of synthetic control over the location of ionic monomers along a polymer chain. We developed a model system based on sequence-defined ionic peptoid BCPs having discrete chain length and precisely positioned ionic monomers along the chain to specifically address this issue. In Chapter 1, synthetic strategies to access well-defined polypeptoids and their application in BCP synthesis are reviewed. …

Intelligent Identification For Rock-Mineral Microscopic Images Using Ensemble Machine Learning Algorithms, Jonathan Shi

Faculty Publications

It is significant to identify rock-mineral microscopic images in geological engineering. The task of microscopic mineral image identification, which is often conducted in the lab, is tedious and time-consuming. Deep learning and convolutional neural networks (CNNs) provide a method to analyze mineral microscopic images efficiently and smartly. In this research, the transfer learning model of mineral microscopic images is established based on Inception-v3 architecture. The four mineral image features, including K-feldspar (Kf), perthite (Pe), plagioclase (Pl), and quartz (Qz or Q), are extracted using Inception-v3. Based on the features, the machine learning methods, logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), …

Structural Properties And Cellular Expression Of Afrlea6, A Group 6 Late Embryogenesis Abundant Protein From Embryos Of Artemia Franciscana, Blase M. Leblanc, Mike T. Le, Brett Janis, Michael A. Menze, Steven C. Hand

Faculty Publications

© 2019, Cell Stress Society International. Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) commonly found in anhydrobiotic organisms and are frequently correlated with desiccation tolerance. Herein we report new findings on AfrLEA6, a novel group 6 LEA protein from embryos of Artemia franciscana. Assessment of secondary structure in aqueous and dried states with circular dichroism (CD) reveals 89% random coil in the aqueous state, thus supporting classification of AfrLEA6 as an IDP. Removal of water from the protein by drying or exposure to trifluoroethanol (a chemical de-solvating agent) promotes a large gain in secondary structure of AfrLEA6, …

Euler-Maruyama Method For Regime Switching Stochastic Differential Equations With Hölder Coefficients, Dung T. Nguyen, Son L. Nguyen

Communications on Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Eifiso4g Augments The Synthesis Of Specific Plant Proteins Involved In Normal Chloroplast Function, Andrew D. Lellis, Ryan M. Patrick, Laura K. Mayberry, Argelia Lorence, Zachary C. Campbell, Johnna L. Roose, Laurie K. Frankel, Terry M. Bricker, Hanjo A. Hellmann, Roderick W. Mayberry, Ana Solis Zavala, Grace S. Choy, Dennis C. Wylie, Mustafa Abdul-Moheeth, Adeeb Masood, Amy G. Prater, Hailey E. Van Hoorn, Nicola A. Cole, Karen S. Browning

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2019 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved. The plant-specific translation initiation complex eIFiso4F is encoded by three genes in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana)-genes encoding the cap binding protein eIFiso4E (eifiso4e) and two isoforms of the large subunit scaffolding protein eIFiso4G (i4g1 and i4g2). To quantitate phenotypic changes, a phenomics platform was used to grow wild-type and mutant plants (i4g1, i4g2, i4e, i4g1 × i4g2, and i4g1 × i4g2 × i4e [i4f]) under various light conditions. Mutants lacking both eIFiso4G isoforms showed the most obvious phenotypic differences from the wild type. Two-dimensional differential gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry …

The Kaposi’S Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Orf34 Protein Interacts And Stabilizes Hif-2 Via Binding To The Hif-2 Bhlh And Pas Domains, Muzammel Haque, K. G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

© 2019 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved. Hypoxia and hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) play important roles in the Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) life cycle. KSHV is the causative agent of Kaposi’s sarcoma (KS) and other AIDS-related malignancies. Kaposi’s sarcoma is a highly vascular tumor, which preferentially develops in the lower extremities of the body where blood vessels are often poorly oxygenated. The main cellular responses to hypoxia are mediated mainly by two isoforms of HIF, HIF-1 and HIF-2. HIF-1 and HIF-2 have common as well as distinct functions, although they are similar in structure and function. Previously, we …

For Common Community Phylogenetic Analyses, Go Ahead And Use Synthesis Phylogenies, Daijiang Li, Lauren Trotta, Hannah E. Marx, Julie M. Allen, Miao Sun, Douglas E. Soltis, Pamela S. Soltis, Robert P. Guralnick, Benjamin Baiser

Faculty Publications

© 2019 by the Ecological Society of America Should we build our own phylogenetic trees based on gene sequence data, or can we simply use available synthesis phylogenies? This is a fundamental question that any study involving a phylogenetic framework must face at the beginning of the project. Building a phylogeny from gene sequence data (purpose-built phylogeny) requires more effort, expertise, and cost than subsetting an already available phylogeny (synthesis-based phylogeny). However, we still lack a comparison of how these two approaches to building phylogenetic trees influence common community phylogenetic analyses such as comparing community phylogenetic diversity and estimating trait …

Fisetin, A 3,7,3 ',4 '-Tetrahydroxyflavone Inhibits The Pi3k/Akt/Mtor And Mapk Pathways And Ameliorates Psoriasis Pathology In 2d And 3d Organotypic Human Inflammatory Skin Models, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated skin disease that involves the interaction of immune and skin cells, and is characterized by cytokine-driven epidermal hyperplasia, deviant differentiation, inflammation, and angiogenesis. Because the available treatments for psoriasis have significant limitations, dietary products are potential natural sources of therapeutic molecules, which can repair the molecular defects associated with psoriasis and could possibly be developed for its management. Fisetin (3,7,3 ',4 '-tetrahydroxyflavone), a phytochemical naturally found in pigmented fruits and vegetables, has demonstrated proapoptotic and antioxidant effects in several malignancies. This study utilized biochemical, cellular, pharmacological, and tissue engineering tools to characterize the effects of …

Fisetin, A 3,7,3 ',4 '-Tetrahydroxyflavone Inhibits The Pi3k/Akt/Mtor And Mapk Pathways And Ameliorates Psoriasis Pathology In 2d And 3d Organotypic Human Inflammatory Skin Models, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

Psoriasis is a chronic immune-mediated skin disease that involves the interaction of immune and skin cells, and is characterized by cytokine-driven epidermal hyperplasia, deviant differentiation, inflammation, and angiogenesis. Because the available treatments for psoriasis have significant limitations, dietary products are potential natural sources of therapeutic molecules, which can repair the molecular defects associated with psoriasis and could possibly be developed for its management. Fisetin (3,7,3 ',4 '-tetrahydroxyflavone), a phytochemical naturally found in pigmented fruits and vegetables, has demonstrated proapoptotic and antioxidant effects in several malignancies. This study utilized biochemical, cellular, pharmacological, and tissue engineering tools to characterize the effects of …