Digital Commons Network^™

Gastrointestinal Ischemia In The Horse: Preoperative Detection And Surgical Intervention, Michael P. St. Blanc

LSU Master's Theses

The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of calprotectin, a protein released by activated leukocytes during inflammation, in the detection of gastrointestinal ischemia in horses with signs of abdominal pain (colic). Additionally, one-layer end-to-end anastomoses of the descending colon were critically evaluated in comparison to two-layer closures. For the calprotectin portion of the study, samples were obtained from ten control horses and nineteen clinical cases assigned to three treatment groups (non-strangulating, strangulating small intestinal, or strangulating large intestinal lesions). Objective data was collected from each patient, and calprotectin concentration in serum and peritoneal fluid was determined using …

Mobilizing The Masks Of Carnaval For A Re-Reading Of Zobel's Rue Cases-Nègres, Benjamin E. Tilson

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

The identity of Caribbean literature, subject to the forces of domination and exclusion, has long been contested from both within and outside of its field. Alternately described as imitating, reappropriating, indigenizing and reductionist, Caribbean writers have sought to carve out a space for works that are received as authentic without recourse to fetishes. Drawing upon the works of Maryse Condé, the Creolists and anthropologic studies of Carnaval, the present work attempts to analyze what might be termed alternative narratives, characters and symbols in Joseph Zobel’s novel La Rue Cases-Nègres and its filmic adaptation by Euzhan Palcy through the lens of …

Belonging And Heroic Non-Conformity In Marie-Célie Agnant's Femmes Aux Temps Des Carnassiers, Danica L E Guerrero

Tête à Tête: Journal of Francophone Studies

In an effort to maintain power in an authoritarian state, dictators target, silence, and eliminate those unwilling to conform. In Marie-Célie Agnant's 2015 novel Femmes aux temps des carnassiers, Mika Pelrin and her daughter Soledad are kidnapped, raped, and tortured by the Tonton Macoutes because of Mika's refusal to be silenced by the Duvalier regime in 1958. Through this fictional account based on appalling historical events and the tragic fate of journalist Yvonne Hakim Rimpel, Agnant insists on the vital societal role played by courageous women like her defiant character Mika who, through nonconformity and at the risk of their …

Short Communication: Numerically Simulated Time To Steady State Is Not A Reliable Measure Of Landscape Response Time, Nicole M. Gasparini, Adam M. Forte, Katherine R. Barnhart

Faculty Publications

Quantifying the timescales over which landscapes evolve is critical for understanding past and future environmental change. Computational landscape evolution models are one tool among many that have been used in this pursuit. We compare numerically modeled times to reach steady state for a landscape adjusting to an increase in rock uplift rate. We use three different numerical modeling libraries and explore the impact of time step, grid type, numerical method for solving the erosion equation, and metric for quantifying the time to steady state. We find that modeled time to steady state is impacted by all of these variables. Time …

Euphemism In Ai Discourse As Colonial Harm & Effect: Learnings From Subaltern Puerto Rico, Jacqueline Oquendo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Through three integrated studies, this dissertation explores complex human-AI interactions by comparing the perceptions of two groups of U.S. citizens: subaltern Puerto Ricans and stateside Americans’ interactions with ChatGPT. This corpus-assisted Critical Discourse Analysis or CLCDA, triangulated with 1:1 semi-structured interviews, validates scholars’ concerns about the biases inherent in generative AI. Contributing to those concerns, this dissertation reveals that ChatGPT deploys discourse strategies that, when executed, facilitate digital colonialism. Euphemistic language is prominent among its discourse strategies, replacing controversial words, phrases, and topics with more palatable ones. When prompted on events of historical significance, I find that ChatGPT’s discourse obscures …

Body, Mind, And Archives: A Critical Questioning Of “Places For Knowledge” In David Treuer’S The Translation Of Dr. Apelles, Lisa Brau-Weglinski

Comparative Woman

Western conceptualizations of time and space are common topics to be queried within the field of Indigenous literary study. However, while the focus has been laid on temporal and spatial literary conventions, too little attention has been drawn to the conceptualization and norms around an identity forming element: knowledge. This paper is particularly suspicious of Western conceptualizations of “places for knowledge,” as this has very real consequences for how we understand and treat ourselves and others. As such, my work highlights that “places for knowledge” can cloud and limit our perception of reality, which, concerning the project of decolonization …

Mapping Gender And Territory: The Continent Allegories On European World Maps From The Late Middle Ages To The Renaissance Until The Early Enlightenment, Katharina Eva Oehmichen

Comparative Woman

The four-part set of female continent allegories, which originated in the early Renaissance, was born out of a European need for a new vehicle of thought that served the functions of representing imperial expansion and the superiority of Western science and civilization, while gratifying the curiosity of the readers about newly discovered lands at the same time. The shift from the Christian symbolic tradition of the representation of the continents on world maps mirrored the shift in Western perception and knowledge of the world and Europe’s position in it. Apart from geo-political and imperial agendas that might have favored a …

Online Eye Tracking For Aphasia: A Feasibility Study Comparing Web And Lab Tracking And Implications For Clinical Use, Willem S. Van Boxtel, Michael Linge, Rylee Manning, Lily N. Haven, Jiyeon Lee

Faculty Publications

Background & Aims: Studies using eye-tracking methodology have made important contributions to the study of language disorders such as aphasia. Nevertheless, in clinical groups especially, eye-tracking studies often include small sample sizes, limiting the generalizability of reported findings. Online, webcam-based tracking offers a potential solution to this issue, but web-based tracking has not been compared with in-lab tracking in past studies and has never been attempted in groups with language impairments. Materials & Methods: Patients with post-stroke aphasia (n = 16) and age-matched controls (n = 16) completed identical sentence-picture matching tasks in the lab (using an EyeLink system) and …

Genomic Analysis Of Intracranial And Subcortical Brain Volumes Yields Polygenic Scores Accounting For Variation Across Ancestries, Luis M. García-Marín, Adrian I. Campos, Santiago Diaz-Torres, Jill A. Rabinowitz, Zuriel Ceja, Brittany L. Mitchell, Katrina L. Grasby, Jackson G. Thorp, Ingrid Agartz, Saud Alhusaini, David Ames, Philippe Amouyel, Ole A. Andreassen, Konstantinos Arfanakis, Alejandro Arias-Vasquez, Nicola J. Armstrong, Lavinia Athanasiu, Mark E. Bastin, Alexa S. Beiser, David A. Bennett, Joshua C. Bis, Marco P.M. Boks, Dorret I. Boomsma, Henry Brodaty, Rachel M. Brouwer, Jan K. Buitelaar, Ralph Burkhardt, Wiepke Cahn, Vince D. Calhoun, Owen T. Carmichael, Mallar Chakravarty, Qiang Chen, Christopher R.K. Ching, Sven Cichon

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Subcortical brain structures are involved in developmental, psychiatric and neurological disorders. Here we performed genome-wide association studies meta-analyses of intracranial and nine subcortical brain volumes (brainstem, caudate nucleus, putamen, hippocampus, globus pallidus, thalamus, nucleus accumbens, amygdala and the ventral diencephalon) in 74,898 participants of European ancestry. We identified 254 independent loci associated with these brain volumes, explaining up to 35% of phenotypic variance. We observed gene expression in specific neural cell types across differentiation time points, including genes involved in intracellular signaling and brain aging-related processes. Polygenic scores for brain volumes showed predictive ability when applied to individuals of diverse …

Historic Breeding Practices Contribute To Germplasm Divergence In Leaf Specialized Metabolism And Ecophysiology In Cultivated Sunflower (Helianthus Annuus), Jordan A. Dowell, Alan W. Bowsher, Amna Jamshad, Rahul Shah, John M. Burke, Lisa A. Donovan, Chase M. Mason

Faculty Publications

Premise: The use of hybrid breeding systems to increase crop yields has been the cornerstone of modern agriculture and is exemplified in the breeding and improvement of cultivated sunflower (Helianthus annuus). However, it is poorly understood what effect supporting separate breeding pools in such systems, combined with continued selection for yield, may have on leaf ecophysiology and specialized metabolite variation. Methods: We analyzed 288 lines of cultivated H. annuus to examine the genomic basis of several specialized metabolites and agronomically important traits across major heterotic groups. Results: Heterotic group identity supports phenotypic divergences between fertility restoring and cytoplasmic male-sterility maintainer …

Combined Toxicity Of Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes And Cu2+ On The Growth Of Ryegrass: Effect Of Surface Modification, Dose, And Exposure Time Pattern, Wenwen Xie, Cheng Peng, Weiping Wang, Xiaoyi Chen, Jiaqi Tan, Wei Zhang

Faculty Publications

The escalating release of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) into the environment has raised concerns due to their potential ecotoxicological impacts. However, their combined phytotoxicity with heavy metals such as copper (Cu) is still unclear. This study investigated the individual and combined toxic effects of MWCNTs (MWCNT, MWCNT-OH, and MWCNT-COOH) and Cu²⁺ on ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), uniquely considering different addition orders. The results show that Cu severely inhibited the growth of ryegrass while MWCNTs exhibited a hormesis effect on ryegrass. When MWCNT and Cu were combined, the malondialdehyde (MDA) content in ryegrass showed a 32.39% increase at 20 mg/L MWCNT …

The Roles Of Vicarious Trauma Exposure And Perceived Social Support In Codeine Syrup Misuse Among Black Men Living In Prisons, Jardin Dogan-Dixon, Shawndaya S. Thrasher, Shemeka Thorpe, Paris Wheeler, Danelle Stevens-Watkins

Faculty Publications

Using General Strain Theory, this study investigates the effects of vicarious trauma exposure and perceived social support on nonmedical codeine syrup misuse among Black incarcerated men nearing community re-entry. Data were drawn from the Helping Incarcerated Men project, a study examining mental health, substance misuse, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) risk behaviors among Black men living in prisons who were within 180 days of release. A total of 200 Black men self-reported demographics (i.e., age and length of incarceration after age 18), vicarious trauma exposure (e.g., ever witnessing an assault with a weapon and a sudden accidental death), perceived social …

Characterization Of Health And Safety Resources For Athletes With Sickle Cell Trait At Ncaa Institutions, Susan W. Yeargin, Courtney M. Meyer, Rebecca M. Hirschhorn, Abbi D. Lane, Shawn M. Arent, Clint R. Haggard

Faculty Publications

Yeargin, SW, Meyer, CM, Hirschhorn, RM, Lane, AD, Arent, SM, and Haggard, CR. Characterization of health and safety resources for athletes with sickle cell trait at NCAA institutions. J Strength Cond Res 38(11): 1967-1973, 2024 - The purpose of this study was to report the prevalence of student-athletes with sickle cell trait (SCT), determine which screening practices are most commonly used, describe the health and human performance services provided to athletes, and ascertain if differences between National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) designations or divisions exist. A cross-sectional survey design was used to query healthcare administrators regarding SCT resources at their …

The Sec Spanish Consortium: Foundations For Linguistic Gratuity And Language Documentation Among Latinx Populations In New Destination Communities Of The U.S. South, Stephen Fafulas, Chad Howe, Rafael Orozco, Alicia Cipria, Erin O’Rourke, Nina Moreno, Matthew J. Van Hoose

Faculty Publications

Latinx populations in the USA have grown steadily in recent decades, with significant increases taking place in “new destination communities” of the U.S. South. The focus of our paper is to highlight opportunities for working with these populations, including traditional sociolinguistic ethnographies and community-engaged research. We highlight an initiative named “The SEC Spanish Consortium” which is an interinstitutional collaboration centered on scholarship and service involving Latinx populations in new destination communities of the U.S. South. We show that ongoing and future scholarly work in the U.S. South can act as a mechanism for documenting these emerging Latinx communities while simultaneously …

Do #Blm At The Plantation: A Study Of Plantation Tourism After The Racial Reckoning Of 2020, Denetria N. Lee

LSU Master's Theses

Following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, the widespread public protest of racial injustice created a groundswell that prompted corporate and media responses, so much so that by the end of the summer of 2020, it seemed as if "Black Lives Mattered" everywhere and to everyone. Public response incentivized subsequent corporate response in financial pledges and other commitments to racial justice initiatives until 2020, which became known as the year that America confronted racism or the racial reckoning of 2020. While the public demanded acknowledgment of the many forms of contemporary racial …

Determining The Impact Of Lethal Temperature And Relative Humidity When Combined With Various Insecticide Classes Against A Bed Bug (Cimex Lectularius) Population., Bandana Shrestha

LSU Master's Theses

Common bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are obligatory blood-feeding pests that have adapted well to survive in challenging environmental conditions. Known for their high tolerance to dehydration, low water loss, and high critical thermal maximum, they have become difficult to manage. Environmental factors, particularly temperature and humidity, play a significant role in their survival. However, with growing resistance to insecticides, integrated pest management (IPM) strategies are now essential for effective bed bug control. A key strategy in IPM involves combining insecticides with heat treatments. This method aims to overcome the limitations of heat treatment alone, as bed bugs may …

Coloring Trivalent Graphs: A Defect Tft Approach, Amit Kumar

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We show that the combinatorial matter of graph coloring is, in fact, quantum in the sense of satisfying the sum over all the possible intermediate state properties of a path integral. In our case, the topological field theory (TFT) with defects gives meaning to it. This TFT has the property that when evaluated on a planar trivalent graph, it provides the number of Tait-Coloring of it. Defects can be considered as a generalization of groups. With the Klein-four group as a 1-defect condition, we reinterpret graph coloring as sections of a certain bundle, distinguishing a coloring (global-sections) from a coloring …

Resource Harvesting For Parallel Functions In Serverless Workflows, Peiman Fotouhi

LSU Master's Theses

In the rapidly evolving landscape of cloud computing, serverless architectures have gained attention for their scalability and cost-effectiveness. This thesis aims to introduce a novel approach to maximize resource utilization in serverless environments through the concept of harvesting idle resources within Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)-based workloads. Our proposed solution targets resource harvesting at parallel stages by utilizing Machine Learning models to accurately harvest or accelerate serverless functions. Additionally, we present a scheduling algorithm specifically designed to address the unique requirements of DAG workloads in cloud environments.

The framework leverages dynamic resource allocation techniques to identify and exploit idle resources within …

The Role Of Siamese In G2 Checkpoint Regulation In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Martha A. Schwall

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cyclin-cyclin dependent kinase (Cyclin-CDK) pairs regulate progression through the checkpoints of the cell cycle. They bind with some specificity and must be bound to for their regulative properties to be active. The presence of cyclin-CDKs is conserved throughout eukaryotes, while differences in specifics exist between yeast, animals, and plants. In Arabidopsis, SIAMESE (SIM) is a CDK inhibitor that restricts progression through mitosis. Overexpression of SIM is required for endoreplication in Arabidopsis trichomes, and overexpression of SIM results in increased endoreplication in leaf epidermal cells. SIM is expressed at high levels in the root elongation zone, where it plays a …

Enhancing Writing By Increasing Metacognitive Skills Through Socratic Seminars In A High Poverty Middle School Social Studies Classroom: An Intrinsic Case Study, Kirsten Hickingbottom

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this intrinsic case study was to better understand the role metacognitive skills play within classroom settings to increase students’ writing through Socratic Seminars. A predominant question guided this study: Can improving student metacognition through the repetitive use of questioning techniques in Socratic Seminars lead to improved writing skills? This question, along with four additional research questions guided the research. There is a need for more activities that promote metacognition due to its correlation with academic achievement, critical thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, and perceived self-efficacy (Keus, 2020). The significance of this study was to examine a method of …

The Identity Of A Gymnast: How Health, Wellbeing, And Injury Become Embodied In The Identity Of Collegiate Gymnasts, Skyler M. Yakes

LSU Master's Theses

Gymnastics scholarship has traditionally focused on the physicality of the sport and what the body can and cannot do. This research expands upon gymnastics scholarship by exploring the individual experiences and histories of college gymnasts in the United States through a series of interviews. The goals of this research are to better understand the gymnastics experience and to explore health and wellbeing in gymnastics as it pertains to the formation of a gymnast’s identity. A combined approach using medical anthropology and anthropology of sport serves as a guiding framework for analyzing interview data. Definitions of health and wellbeing change between …

Multiscale & Multiphysics Model Of Damage In Lithium-Ion Batteries, Edris Akbari

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The demand for safer and more reliable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) in electric vehicles has increased significantly, especially in addressing mechanical failures like internal short circuits (ISCs), which can lead to thermal runaway. This research investigates the mechanical behavior and damage mechanisms in lithium-ion pouch cells through a multiscale and multiphysics approach, focusing on Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide (NMC) and Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) batteries.

The study involved quasi-static and dynamic mechanical tests, including indentation and high-speed penetration, to evaluate stress-strain responses and fracture behaviors. Anisotropic mechanical properties were measured for individual battery components (anode, cathode, separator, and shell) using …

Martial Spirits And Marital Rites: Assessing Rousseau's Critique Of Commerce's Devaluation Of The Military And The Family, Jacob A. Harvey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation will investigate Rousseau’s critique of how commercial society devalues soldiers and families and the responses provided by defenders of commerce. I will examine Rousseau’s corpus to demonstrate how Rousseau viewed commerce as a threat to both the responsibilities that men in a political community must be willing to fight and die for their country, as commercial societies intensify the hedonistic risk-averse calculations within members of the community. I will also show how Rousseau’s concerns towards commerce extended to the family, inhibiting the joys that can come with being part of a family and inhibiting citizens' willingness to have …

Coastal Wetlands In The Anthropocene, John Day, Edward Anthony, Robert Costanza, Douglas Edmonds, Joel Gunn, Charles Hopkinson, Michael E. Mann, James Morris, Michael Osland, Tracy Quirk, Andre Rovai, John Rybczyk, Thomas Spencer, Jessica Stephens, Jaia Syvitski, Robert Twilley, Jenneke Visser, John R. White

Faculty Publications

We review the functioning and sustainability of coastal marshes and mangroves. Urbanized humans have a 7,000-year-old enduring relationship to coastal wetlands. Wetlands include marshes, salt flats, and saline and freshwater forests. Coastal wetlands occur in all climate zones but are most abundant in deltas. Mangroves are tropical, whereas marshes occur from tropical to boreal areas. Quantification of coastal wetland areas has advanced in recent years but is still insufficiently accurate. Climate change and sea-level rise are predicted to lead to significant wetland losses and other impacts on coastal wetlands and the humans associated with them. Landward migration and coastal retreat …

Identification Of An Ionic Mechanism For Erα-Mediated Rapid Excitation In Neurons, Meng Yu, Na Yin, Bing Feng, Peiyu Gao, Kaifan Yu, Hesong Liu, Hailan Liu, Yongxiang Li, Olivia Z. Ginnard, Kristine M. Conde, Mengjie Wang, Xing Fang, Longlong Tu, Jonathan C. Bean, Qingzhuo Liu, Yue Deng, Yuxue Yang, Junying Han, Sanika V. Jossy, Megan L. Burt, Huey Zhong Wong, Yongjie Yang, Benjamin R. Arenkiel, Yang He, Shaodong Guo, Pierre Gourdy, Jean Francois Arnal, Francoise Lenfant, Zhao Wang, Chunmei Wang, Yanlin He, Yong Xu

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

The major female ovarian hormone, 17β-estradiol (E2), can alter neuronal excitability within milliseconds to regulate a variety of physiological processes. Estrogen receptor-α (ERα), classically known as a nuclear receptor, exists as a membrane-bound receptor to mediate this rapid action of E2, but the ionic mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we show that a membrane channel protein, chloride intracellular channel protein-1 (Clic1), can physically interact with ERα with a preference to the membrane-bound ERα. Clic1-mediated currents can be enhanced by E2 and reduced by its depletion. In addition, Clic1 currents are required to mediate the E2-induced rapid excitations in multiple brain ERα …

Precision Interventions Targeting The Maternal Metabolic Milieu For Healthy Pregnancies In Obesity, Alexandra M. Niclou, Hannah E. Cabre, Emily W. Flanagan, Leanne M. Redman

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Purpose of Review: Entering pregnancy with obesity increases the risk of adverse health outcomes for parent and child. As such, research interventions are largely focused on limiting excess gestational weight gain during pregnancy, especially in those with obesity. Yet, while many lifestyle interventions are successful in reducing GWG, few affect pregnancy outcomes. Here we review work targeting the metabolic milieu instead of focusing solely on weight. Recent Findings: Work done in non-pregnant populations suggests that specifically targeting glucose, triglyceride, and leptin levels or inflammatory makers improves the metabolic milieu and overall health. We posit that precision interventions that include strategies …

Exercise In The Management Of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Position Statement From Exercise And Sports Science Australia, Angelo Sabag, Rhiannon K. Patten, Alba Moreno-Asso, Giorgia E. Colombo, Xela Dafauce Bouzo, Lisa J. Moran, Cheryce Harrison, Maryam Kazemi, Aya Mousa, Chau Tien Tay, Angelica Lindén Hirschberg, Leanne M. Redman, Helena J. Teede

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most prevalent endocrine condition amongst females of reproductive age, leading to lifelong cardiometabolic, reproductive, psychological, and dermatologic symptoms as well as a reduced quality of life. Lifestyle interventions, which can include structured exercise programmes delivered by appropriately trained exercise professionals such as clinical exercise physiologists, are considered first-line strategies in PCOS management due to their therapeutic effects on various health outcomes and quality of life. This position statement builds on the 2023 International Evidence-based Guideline for the Assessment and Management of PCOS and describes the role of the exercise professional in the context of …

Brain Insulin Signaling Is Associated With Late-Life Cognitive Decline, Han Tong, Ana W. Capuano, Owen T. Carmichael, Kathryn L. Gwizdala, David A. Bennett, Rexford S. Ahima, Steven E. Arnold, Zoe Arvanitakis

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Type-2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of dementia, and the underlying mechanism might involve abnormal insulin signaling in the brain. The objective of this study was to examine the association of postmortem brain insulin signaling with late-life cognitive decline. Among participants of Religious Orders Study, a community-based clinical-pathological cohort, 150 deceased and autopsied older individuals (75 with diabetes matched to 75 without by age at death, sex, and education) had postmortem brain insulin signaling measurements collected in the prefrontal cortex using ELISA and immunohistochemistry. By using adjusted linear mixed-effects models, we examined the association of postmortem brain insulin …

Prescribed Fire Regimes Influence Responses Of Fungal And Bacterial Communities On New Litter Substrates In A Brackish Tidal Marsh, Viet Q. Dao, Crystal N. Johnson, William J. Platt

Faculty Publications

Processes modifying newly deposited litter substrates should affect fine fuels in fire-managed tidal marsh ecosystems. Differences in chemical composition and dynamics of litter should arise from fire histories that generate pyrodiverse plant communities, tropical cyclones that deposit wrack as litter, tidal inundation that introduces and alters sediments and microbes, and interactions among these different processes. The resulting diversity and dynamics of available litter compounds should affect microbial (fungal and bacterial) communities and their roles in litter substrate dynamics and ecosystem responses over time. We experimentally examined effects of differences in litter types produced by different fire regimes and litter loads …

Regulation Of Bacterial Virulence Genes By Pecs Family Transcription Factors, George C. Nwokocha, Arpita Ghosh, Anne Grove

Faculty Publications

Bacterial plant pathogens adjust their gene expression programs in response to environmental signals and host-derived compounds. This ensures that virulence genes or genes encoding proteins, which promote bacterial fitness in a host environment, are expressed only when needed. Such regulation is in the purview of transcription factors, many of which belong to the ubiquitous multiple antibiotic resistance regulator (MarR) protein family. PecS proteins constitute a subset of this large protein family. PecS has likely been distributed by horizontal gene transfer, along with the divergently encoded efflux pump PecM, suggesting its integration into existing gene regulatory networks. Here, we discuss the …