Geophysical Characterization Of Underground Storage In Salt Domes During The Clean Energy Transition, Joses B. Omojola

LSU Master's Theses

Safely transforming geological formations into cost-effective underground storage is critical for the US energy security and global energy transition. Seasonal energy demand requires relatively cheap, impermeable, non-reactive materials for storing vast amounts of natural gas and hydrogen. Due to their low risk of fracturing and leakage, salt formations are ideal for these purposes however, pressure variations during drawdown, differential salt creep, and reactivation of pre-existing fractures along boundary shear zone(s) (BSZ) can be detrimental to salt cavern safety and long-term cavern operations. Several environmental disasters at storage facilities in the US and Europe, have created a need to understand how …

Quantifying Mud Settling Velocity As A Function Of Turbulence And Salinity In A Deltaic Estuary, Michael W. Mcdonell

LSU Master's Theses

Mud settling velocity is controlled by flocculation, which in turn strongly depends on turbulence and on the chemistry and biology of the water-sediment mixture. As a result, mud settling velocity can be poorly constrained in coastal areas and vary in space and time by orders of magnitude. Here we quantified mud settling velocity in Barataria Basin, a deltaic estuary in Louisiana (USA), using three independent methods: eddy covariance (one station for 200 days), floc cameras (4 stations at one time), and Rouse profile inversion (14 stations, replicated 10-30 times each). Eddy covariance indicates that settling velocity increases with turbulence, at …

Exploring The Effects Of Individuals’ Perceived Prototypicality Within A Fandom, Keely Diebold

LSU Master's Theses

Passionate fandoms centered on popular film and television series can elicit large-scale positive fan activity. At the same time, however, negative consequences can arise as factions or subsets of members with varying opinions arise within fandoms. One possible explanation for this phenomenon is varied levels among fandom members of how prototypical they view themselves within the context of that fandom. Research on social groups, however, has historically looked exclusively at perceptions of others' prototypicality and not of the self. Drawing on theories of social identity (SIT) and self-categorization (SCT), this project serves to bridge this research gap by exploring to …

Svip Dependent Tubular Lysosomal Restoration: A New Direction In Vcp Diseases, Ankita Basu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Multisystem Proteinopathy-1 (MSP-1) is a rare, autosomal dominant, degenerative disease resulting from single amino acid mis-sense mutations in the AAA+ ATPase, Valosin containing protein (VCP). Patients with VCP mutations vary widely in their pathology and clinical penetrance, making it difficult to devise effective treatment strategies. To investigate the pathology of VCP- related disease, we engineered CRISPR knock-in Drosophila models for nine MSP-1 associated VCP mutations. These mutant animals mimic human MSP-1 disease phenotypes, including progressive mobility decline and accumulation of protein aggregates, making them excellent models to study the pathology of VCP associated mutations and test potential treatment strategies. At …

Natural Lights & Natural Rights: The Problem Of The New Classical Natural Law Theory, Charles Neville Cacciatore

LSU Master's Theses

The present work examines the natural law jurisprudence of John Finnis. It argues that Finnis’s teaching is a genuinely new natural law theory. Finnis’s jurisprudence is not a re- presentation of the jurisprudence of St. Thomas Aquinas because its central element—a doctrine of natural rights—is a departure from Aquinas’s natural law teaching. In support of these claims, the present work relies upon the scholarship of Ernest L. Fortin, A.A. Following Fr. Fortin, it presents an understanding of the natural law that endorses a clear distinction between natural right and natural rights—between premodern political philosophy and modern political philosophy.

The Nature And Role Of Phenomenology In Hegel And Heidegger, Gabriel W. Connor

LSU Master's Theses

In this work I compare Hegel and Heidegger’s conception of phenomenology and its role in their thinking. Though these two thinkers are not often examined from this angle, and though there is controversy surrounding just how phenomenological each thinker might actually be, an examination of the two thinkers in this regard serves to identify interesting connections between Hegel and Heidegger while also raising questions about phenomenology in general. In short, I seek to establish that phenomenology in both Hegel and Heidegger is not adequately understood unless it is placed in the context of each thinker’s conception of human freedom along …

Analog Cosmology And Superfluidity In Atomic Gases And Electronic Materials, Anshuman Bhardwaj

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We present a study of analog cosmological models in Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) and in graphene, and superfluidity in a box-shaped traps. We start by examining the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) trapped inside an expanding toroid that can realize an analog inflationary universe. The expanding condensate forces phonons to undergo redshift and damping due to quantum pressure, owing to the thinness of the ring. We predict that such expanding BECs can exhibit spontaneous phonon creation from the vacuum state and show how it would manifest in the atom density and density correlations and discuss connections with the inflationary theory. …

Improving Teacher Intervention Decisions Using The Fraction Error Flowchart, Katherine Pettrey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the U.S. the fifth-grade mathematics curriculum is largely devoted to building fraction skills, providing an essential foundation for future success in mathematics (National Mathematics Advisory Panel, 2008). Unfortunately, students in the U.S. struggle with fraction proficiency (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2022; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2018). Even when teachers facilitate interventions for struggling students those interventions may not be aligned with student need (Riccomini, 2005). Additionally, teachers struggle to identify research-based practices (RBPs) when presented with student data (Means et al., 2009). The purpose of this study was to create and test a flowchart that could …

Is There A Balance Between The U.S. Government Secrecy Regime And Free Speech Rights Of Government Employees?: The Legal Landscape Of The U.S. Government Control Of Information, Qinqin Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the tension between the U.S. government’s control of information and government employees’ claims to free speech rights. The U.S. government prepublication review is a censorship system that requires former and current federal government employees to submit any materials intended for publication to their agencies for prior review before they attempt to make any external communication or proceed with any publications. The prepublication review regime has become an essential means by which the U.S. government controls internal information, and has long been controversial because of its censorship nature. Specifically, this dissertation focuses on legal disputes between the U.S. …

Evaluating Attitudes Toward Non-Formal Science Education Programs Among High School Science Teachers In Southeast Louisiana, Heather Egger

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract

The Louisiana Department of Education (LDOE) has begun implementing Louisiana Student Standards for Science (LSSS), as well as developing high school science certification programs. The LDOE recognizes that teaching science using three-dimensional learning methods and phenomena based inquiry learning will be a challenge that would be addressed in part by partnerships between formal science teachers and nonformal science education programs. However, limited available information on this topic shows that utilization of nonformal science education opportunities by science educators has declined and, in some instances, have been relegated to unstructured “fun” outings to reward students, often after the final quarter …

Snacking Consumption Among Adults In The United States: A Scoping Review, Jean Pierre Enriquez, Elizabeth Gollub

Faculty Publications

Snacks are a staple of the American diet, contributing to approximately 20% of energy intake. Most U.S. adults consume one to three snacks/day, yet few reviews have focused on snacking among this population. This scoping review was conducted to characterize snacks and snacking occasions among U.S. adults to further inform healthy eating practices. The protocol was prepared following the PRISMA-Extension for Scoping Reviews. Three web databases were used to identify articles using snacking or eating occasions as primary or secondary outcomes among U.S. adults. A search strategy was developed using subject headings, truncation, and phrase searching in the title and …

Louisiana Agriculture Magazine, Spring 2023

Louisiana Agriculture

In this issue of Louisiana Agriculture, Carl Motsenbocker, the executive director of Seeds to Success, and Crystal Besse, the program director, explain how local food systems are seeing a resurgence. The Seeds to Success team details how the farm to school movement is assisting this growth. They also profile the people who work to make it possible — a teacher, farmers and an AgCenter Extension agent. In additional articles, researchers examine the economic benefits of farm to school programs as well as soil mixes for home gardeners and the media used by our consumer horticulture industry.

Pharmacological Inhibition Of Cftr Attenuates Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (Nash) Progression In Mice, Sangam Rajak, Archana Tewari, Sana Raza, Pratima Gupta, Bandana Chakravarti, Baby Anjum, Madhulika Tripathi, Brijesh K. Singh, Paul M. Yen, Amit Goel, Sujoy Ghosh, Rohit A. Sinha

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is considered a pivotal stage in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) progression and increases the risk of end-stage liver diseases such as fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The etiology of NASH is multifactorial and identifying reliable molecular players has proven difficult. Presently, there are no approved drugs for NASH treatment, which has become a leading cause of liver transplants worldwide. Here, using public human transcriptomic NAFLD dataset, we uncover Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance receptor (CFTR) as a differentially expressed gene in the livers of human NASH patients. Similarly, murine Cftr expression was also found to be …

Strategy For Pre-Clinical Development Of Active Targeting Microrna Oligonucleotide Therapeutics For Unmet Medical Needs, Marc Thibonnier, Sujoy Ghosh

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

We present here an innovative modular and outsourced model of drug research and development for microRNA oligonucleotide therapeutics (miRNA ONTs). This model is being implemented by a biotechnology company, namely AptamiR Therapeutics, in collaboration with Centers of Excellence in Academic Institutions. Our aim is to develop safe, effective and convenient active targeting miRNA ONT agents for the metabolic pandemic of obesity and metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD), as well as deadly ovarian cancer.

Low Species Turnover Of Upland Amazonian Birds In The Absence Of Physical Barriers, Cameron L. Rutt, W. Justin Cooper, Christian B. Andretti, Thiago V.V. Costa, Philip C. Stouffer, Claudeir F. Vargas, David A. Luther, Mario Cohn-Haft

Faculty Publications

Aim: One of the oldest and most powerful ways for ecologists to explain distinct biological communities is to invoke underlying environmental differences. But in hyper-diverse systems, which often display high species richness and low species abundance, these sorts of community comparisons are especially challenging. The classic view for Amazonian birds posits that riverine barriers and habitat specialization determine local and regional community composition. We test the tacit, complementary assumption that similar bird communities should therefore permeate uniform habitat between major rivers, regardless of distance. Location: Upland (terra firme) rainforests of central Amazonia. Methods: We conducted intensive whole-community surveys of birds …

Metabolic Adaptations And Substrate Oxidation Are Unaffected By Exogenous Testosterone Administration During Energy Deficit In Men, Lee E.E.M. Margolis, Kara L. Marlatt, Claire E. Berryman, Emily E. Howard, Nancy E. Murphy, Christopher T. Carrigan, Melissa N. Harris, Robbie A. Beyl, Eric Ravussin, Stefan M. Pasiakos, Jennifer C. Rood

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Introduction/Purpose The effects of testosterone on energy and substrate metabolism during energy deficit are unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of weekly testosterone enanthate (TEST; 200 mg·wk-1) injections on energy expenditure, energy substrate oxidation, and related gene expression during 28 d of energy deficit compared with placebo (PLA). Methods After a 14-d energy balance phase, healthy men were randomly assigned to TEST (n = 24) or PLA (n = 26) for a 28-d controlled diet- and exercise-induced energy deficit (55% below total energy needs by reducing energy intake and increasing physical activity). Whole-room indirect calorimetry …

Monitoring Body Composition Change For Intervention Studies With Advancing 3d Optical Imaging Technology In Comparison To Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry, Michael C. Wong, Jonathan P. Bennett, Lambert T. Leong, Isaac Y. Tian, Yong E. Liu, Nisa N. Kelly, Cassidy Mccarthy, Julia M.W. Wong, Cara B. Ebbeling, David S. Ludwig, Brian A. Irving, Matthew C. Scott, James Stampley, Brett Davis, Neil Johannsen, Rachel Matthews, Cullen Vincellette, Andrea K. Garber, Gertraud Maskarinec, Ethan Weiss, Jennifer Rood, Alyssa N. Varanoske, Stefan M. Pasiakos, Steven B. Heymsfield, John A. Shepherd

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Background: Recent 3-dimensional optical (3DO) imaging advancements have provided more accessible, affordable, and self-operating opportunities for assessing body composition. 3DO is accurate and precise in clinical measures made by DXA. However, the sensitivity for monitoring body composition change over time with 3DO body shape imaging is unknown. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the ability of 3DO in monitoring body composition changes across multiple intervention studies. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed using intervention studies on healthy adults that were complimentary to the cross-sectional study, Shape Up! Adults. Each participant received a DXA (Hologic Discovery/A system) and 3DO (Fit3D ProScanner) …

A Review Of Methods Of Assessing Preference For Social Stimuli, Samuel L. Morris, Madison L. Gallagher, Alva E. Allen

Faculty Publications

Research on preference and reinforcer assessments has historically focused on the evaluation of edible and leisure reinforcers, but the identification and use of individualized social reinforcers may be beneficial for several reasons. Recently, many studies have evaluated methods of assessing preference for social stimuli. The procedures and outcomes across these studies have varied greatly, and the current state of evidence for methods of assessing preference for social stimuli remains unclear. Thus, we conducted a review to synthesize all previous research in this area, evaluate the evidence for the utility of this general methodology, and identify factors that may influence its …

The Impact Of Covid-19, Mental Health Distress, And School-Based Sociocultural Protective Factors Among Elementary-Aged Children And Their Caregivers, Aijah K.B. Goodwin, Anthony J. Roberson, Ar’Reon Watson, Grace L. Chen, Anna C.J. Long

Faculty Publications

Given the individual and systemic stress endured by children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic, research examining culturally responsive school experiences and supports to enhance resilience is critical. This study examined the relationship between caregivers’ perceptions of COVID-19 impact, mental health distress among children and caregivers, and school-based sociocultural protective factors, including culturally responsive practices in schools and the relationships between teachers and caregivers, concurrently and longitudinally. Data were collected from caregivers of elementary-aged children at two-time points from March to April 2020 (N = 174) and one year later in 2021 (N = 114). Regression analyses revealed that COVID-19 …

Measurement Of The Neutron Cross Section On Argon Between 95 And 720 Mev, S. Martynenko, B. Bhandari, J. Bian, K. Bilton, C. Callahan, J. Chaves, H. Chen, D. Cline, R. L. Cooper, D. L. Danielson, J. Danielson, N. Dokania, S. Elliott, S. Fernandes, S. Gardiner, G. Garvey, V. Gehman, F. Giuliani, S. Glavin, M. Gold, C. Grant, E. Guardincerri, T. Haines, A. Higuera, J. Y. Ji, R. Kadel, N. Kamp, A. Karlin, W. Ketchum, L. W. Koerner, D. Lee, K. Lee, Q. Liu

Faculty Publications

We report an extended measurement of the neutron cross section on argon in the energy range of 95-720 MeV. The measurement was obtained with a 4.3-hour exposure of the Mini-CAPTAIN detector to the WNR/LANSCE beam at LANL. Compared to an earlier analysis of the same data, this extended analysis includes a reassessment of systematic uncertainties, in particular related to unused wires in the upstream part of the detector. Using this information we doubled the fiducial volume in the experiment and increased the statistics by a factor of 2.4. We also shifted the analysis from energy bins to time-of-flight bins. This …

Ecophysiology And Genomics Of The Brackish Water Adapted Sar11 Subclade Iiia, V. Celeste Lanclos, Anna N. Rasmussen, Conner Y. Kojima, Chuankai Cheng, Michael W. Henson, Brant C. Faircloth, Christopher A. Francis, J. Cameron Thrash

Faculty Publications

The Order Pelagibacterales (SAR11) is the most abundant group of heterotrophic bacterioplankton in global oceans and comprises multiple subclades with unique spatiotemporal distributions. Subclade IIIa is the primary SAR11 group in brackish waters and shares a common ancestor with the dominant freshwater IIIb (LD12) subclade. Despite its dominance in brackish environments, subclade IIIa lacks systematic genomic or ecological studies. Here, we combine closed genomes from new IIIa isolates, new IIIa MAGS from San Francisco Bay (SFB), and 460 highly complete publicly available SAR11 genomes for the most comprehensive pangenomic study of subclade IIIa to date. Subclade IIIa represents a taxonomic …

Genome-Wide Association Analysis Of Hyperspectral Reflectance Data To Dissect The Genetic Architecture Of Growth-Related Traits In Maize Under Plant Growth-Promoting Bacteria Inoculation, Rafael Massahiro Yassue, Giovanni Galli, Chun Peng James Chen, Roberto Fritsche-Neto, Gota Morota

Faculty Publications

Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) may be of use for increasing crop yield and plant resilience to biotic and abiotic stressors. Using hyperspectral reflectance data to assess growth-related traits may shed light on the underlying genetics as such data can help assess biochemical and physiological traits. This study aimed to integrate hyperspectral reflectance data with genome-wide association analyses to examine maize growth-related traits under PGPB inoculation. A total of 360 inbred maize lines with 13,826 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were evaluated with and without PGPB inoculation; 150 hyperspectral wavelength reflectances at 386–1021 nm and 131 hyperspectral indices were used in the …

The Rise Of Machine Learning In Polymer Discovery, Cheng Yan, Guoqiang Li

Faculty Publications

In the recent decades, with rapid development in computing power and algorithms, machine learning (ML) has exhibited its enormous potential in new polymer discovery. Herein, the history of ML is described and the basic process of ML accelerated polymer discovery is summarized. Next, the four steps in this process are reviewed, that is, dataset selection, fingerprinting, ML framework, and new polymer generation. Finally, a couple of main challenges for ML accelerated polymer discovery is presented and the outlooks in this field are prospected. It is expected that this review can service as a useful tool for the people who just …

Accurately Valuing Blue Carbon Sequestration And Storage To Foster Coastal Conservation Via Evidence-Based Policymaking And Model Environmental Services Statute Methodologies, John Shelton Penton Jr

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Blue carbon ecosystems, especially mangrove forests, provide one of nature’s most effective means for sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in subsurface soils. The six nearshore coastal morphologies found in tropical and subtropical regions each possess a conspicuous environmental signature that can be employed to accurately estimate and predict mangrove forests’ carbon storage in above-ground biomass, below-ground biomass, and the soils by system type. The consistent geomorphology and geophysical processes within each of these coastal environmental settings, that is, the wave and tidal forcings, the rate of coastal sediment accretions, nutrient load and limitations (e.g., nitrogen-to-phosphorus …

Proposal To Add Human Trafficking Prevention Education Measures In The Ladoc, Lauren Shaw

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Party Capability And The Decisions Of The South African Constitutional Court, Isabella Rovere

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Religion And Dress Code Among Muslim, Christian, And Jewish Women In The Middle East And North Africa, Hannah Rodrigue

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Celluloid Bylines: Portraits And Analyses Of The Journalist And Journalism On Film, Domenic Purdy

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Victorian Aestheticisms: Art And Ethics In Swinburne, Wilde, Morris, And Pater, Evan Leonhard

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Europe Divided: An Analysis Of Country Characteristics And Rhetorical Influence On Migrant Acceptance Following The Syrian Migration Crisis, Reece Lantz

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.