Digital Commons Network^™

Some Modal Insights From A Defense Of The Principle Of Sufficient Reason, Daniel Kim

LSU Master's Theses

The Principle of Sufficient Reason has a long history, but basically put, states that everything that exists has a reason or explanation for its existence. This principle has been a controversial one as it has been used to argue for the existence of God and have been accused of entailing determinism. In this thesis, I will be defending a version of the PSR advocated by Alexander Pruss, that all true contingent propositions need an explanation. I will also argue that the principle of sufficient reason should be restricted to our phenomenal experiences, just like Kant does.

This is in response …

The Living Archive: Photography, Social Media, And The New Frontier Of Activism, Lundyn C. Herring

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis seeks to analyze the discursive field and technology of photography and its multi-faceted role in the oppression of colonized people under Western imperialism. Among the main collection highlights of many established state-run archival institutions are photographic records consisting of surveillance images, mugshots, and other visual media as representations of the political hegemony that is exerted over governed peoples. From the mid-19th century to 2026, much has shifted in the realm of photography with the introduction of smartphones, accessible technology, and social media platforms during the beginning of the twenty-first century. As states and powerholders apply the technology of …

Wearable Sensor System Used To Measure Linear And Angular Acceleration Of The Head Of American Football Players, David A. Emerson

LSU Master's Theses

American football players are repeatedly subject to high-velocity impacts; collisions can exceed 100 g in the NFL [1]. Rotational accelerations of the head caused by high-velocity collisions have been proven to be extremely damaging to the highly organized brain fibers at the brain-skull interface [2]. The sensor system (SS) measures the nonplanar acceleration at four locations on a chin strap using ADXL314 accelerometers and utilizes rigid-body kinematics to estimate the head rotational state from the measured acceleration of the SS [3]. The SS was validated through progressive testing, including steady-state, linear impact, and rotational impact testing. The ADLX314 sensor exhibited …

Transcribing Shakuhachi Honkyoku For Bassoon: Notation, Orality, And Perfomance Practice, Adrian Fonseca Tellez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project consists of transcriptions of two pieces from the shakuhachi honkyoku (“original pieces”) repertoire, Kumoi Jishi (Cloud Lion) and Sanya Sugagaki (Three Valleys), with the aim of extending the bassoon’s repertoire outside of the Western canon while exploring the capabilities of the bassoon to emulate the performance practices of the shakuhachi, which include both extended techniques found in current bassoon literature as well as techniques unique to shakuhachi performance. Included in the written document is a brief overview of the shakuhachi and its applications in traditional Japanese music, a description of honkyoku and its characteristics, and the Japanese concept …

Theory, Experiments, And Image Recovery Algorithms For X-Ray Interferometry, Hunter C. Meyer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Purpose: X-ray grating interferometry is a form of X-ray phase contrast imaging capable of simultaneously measuring attenuation, differential-phase, and dark-field images arising from X-ray absorption, refraction, and small-angle scattering, respectively. These additional contrast mechanisms have potential clinical and industrial applications, particularly for lung tissue characterization and disease identification. As grating interferometers approach clinical viability, key challenges include reducing X-ray dose, mitigating mechanical instability, and correcting spectral artifacts resulting from beam hardening.

Methods: The modulated phase grating interferometer (MPGI) is a potential solution for reducing X-ray dose by eliminating the analyzer grating used in alternative interferometer designs, including the Talbot-Lau interferometer …

The Power Of Beliefs: Cognitive Pathways Linking Mental Health Literacy To Psychological Distress, Katherine Elise Kirsch

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mental health disorders are prevalent in children and adolescents, and they are accompanied by challenges throughout the lifespan. Mental health literacy (MHL) provides a flexible framework to address child and adolescent mental health. Identifying significant relationships between MHL and mental health outcomes has the potential to inform successful interventions. This study uses a secondary analysis of data gathered for the Study on Attitudes of Adolescents and Young Adults Toward Relevant Health Issues to isolate MHL belief domains that significantly effect psychological distress levels in adolescents.

The Swiss Youth Mental Health Literacy and Stigma Survey was used to assess the MHL, …

“Where All Is Playtime And Pleasure”: Feeling The Otherworldly In Late Medieval Literature, Anna K. Mcgill

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I present intra-, inter-, and extra-textual felt responses to encounters with the otherworldly as described in Late Medieval texts as a lens through which to consider personal, social, and national imaginative potential surrounding contemporary issues across genres and disciplines. I argue that the use of otherworlds and otherworldly agents as both personally and rhetorically compelling analogues through which contemporary issues can be explored. I start my discussion of the felt impacts of encounters with the Arthurian otherworldly, with a particular focus on Glastonbury and Arthur’s alleged grave there, and how they transmit affects of sovereign authority. Next, …

Effect Of Light Elements On The Melting Behavior Of Liquid Iron Alloys Under Earth’S Inner Core Boundary Conditions, Olaniyi Anisere

LSU Master's Theses

The temperature at Earth’s inner core boundary (ICB) is set by the melting temperature of the iron-rich outer core at core pressures, yet this remains uncertain because melting depends strongly on composition and pressure. Light elements are required to explain the core’s density deficit, but the identity, abundance, and combined influence of these elements on melting under ICB conditions are still debated. This thesis quantifies how candidate light elements modify the melting behavior of iron alloys at ICB-relevant pressures and uses these composition-dependent melting relations to constrain ICB temperature.

Melting relations were determined using molecular dynamics simulations in VASP accelerated …

Making The Right Decisions For Adaptive Radiotherapy, Chloe C.F. Ditusa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Purpose: Daily anatomical changes can invalidate the geometric, dosimetric, and biological assumptions of reference radiotherapy plans, yet quantitative evidence describing fraction-level deviations across disease sites remains limited. This work developed and evaluated a metric-based framework for daily dose assessment to characterize temporal treatment behavior and inform adaptive decision-making in Head and Neck (H&N) radiotherapy and Prostate stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Methods: A web-based Dashboard was created to compute geometric, dosimetric, and radiobiological metrics from daily dose recalculations. Calculations were first verified against a commercial treatment-planning analysis platform. Daily dose on anatomy-of-the-day was reconstructed using CBCT-based pseudo-CTs for H&N and daily …

Genome Wide Association Study (Gwas) On Different Economic Traits And Epigenetic Stability Of Sweetpotato In Louisiana, Ajay Dhungana

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sweetpotato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam] is a globally important food, feed, and industrial crop, yet its improvement is constrained by a complex hexaploid genome, clonal propagation, and susceptibility to multiple diseases. In Louisiana, production is threatened primarily by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. batatas (Fusarium wilt) and Ceratocystis fimbriata (Black rot). Furthermore, the in vitro propagation methods essential for disease-free planting material and germplasm conservation can introduce epigenetic instability that undermines clonal fidelity. This dissertation integrates genome-wide association studies (GWAS), genotype by environment interaction (GEI) and DNA methylation profiling to dissect resistance mechanisms and assess epigenetic stability in Louisiana sweetpotato …

Curriculum For A Two Semester Calculus Course Specializing In Life Science And Data Science, Patrick Mcclain

LSU Master's Theses

Traditionally, introductory calculus has been designed for engineering and physics students, often leaving students majoring in data science or life sciences with a curriculum that lacks professional relevance and is overly reliant on problems that focus on computational fluency. This thesis proposes a two-semester sequence, called MATH 153X and MATH 154X, specifically tailored for the Louisiana State University (LSU) Dual Enrollment program and university-level data science and life sciences majors. By integrating modern computational tools—such as symbolic calculators and artificial intelligence (AI) tools—the proposed curriculum shifts the pedagogical focus from procedural symbolic manipulation toward conceptual literacy.

Through a series …

The Impact Of The Two-Way Immersion Model On Hispanic Pre-Service And In-Service Teachers’ Understanding Of Curriculum Implementation In Early Childhood Field Placements, Omar J. Vigo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Dual language education, also known as Two-Way Immersion (TWI), is a teaching method that puts native English speakers and native speakers of another language in the same classroom. This helps both groups become bilingual and biliterate (Christian, 1996; Lindholm-Leary, 2001). The TWI approach highlights several benefits, including bilingualism and biliteracy, academic achievement, cross-cultural competence, cognitive improvements, and equity and accessibility (Lindholm-Leary, 2001). Research on the TWI model in adults is limited, although it has demonstrated effectiveness in supporting Hispanic teacher candidates, unlike studies conducted in primary education. This demonstrates that the TWI methodology benefits students (Van Booven, 2012). This …

Spatial Narrative Beyond The Proscenium: Set Design As A Tool For Wellness, Christina Griffey

LSU Master's Theses

Inspired by a health crisis that led to spending time in medical settings, this thesis examines how our surroundings impact our well-being. By developing a framework that explores the topics of storytelling, space, place, theatre, and expanded scenography, I propose that set design can be used as a tool for wellness. I explore several disciplines through the lens of set design and highlight the disciplines, professionals, and designers that are contributing to the creation of therapeutic environments using scenographic practices.

Qualitative Versus Quantitative Analysis Of Entheses: Using An Ordinal Scale And 3d Scanned Metrics To Understand Entheseal Differences In The Charity Hospital Cemetery (16or108), Gillian Stewart

LSU Master's Theses

Using a sample from New Orleans’ Charity Hospital Cemetery (16OR108), an analysis between ordinal scores and digital quantitative analysis (DQA) measurements of the entheses (muscle attachment sites) was performed. The skeletal elements (n = 235) examined were the humerus, radius, femur, and tibia. The entheses were 3D scanned using an Artec Space Spider scanner and processed with the Artec Studio Professional© v.2018 and Geomagic Wrap® v.2021 software. Entheses were analyzed by: left and right sides, male and female, and distribution of scores across elements. The analyses yielded significant differences between proliferative and erosive score distribution. Scores between elements exhibited variation. …

Marine Vehicle Dynamics Using Koopman Operator Theory With Hybrid Observables, Mikhalib A L Green

LSU Master's Theses

Accurate modeling of marine vehicle dynamics remains challenging due to strong nonlinear hydrodynamic effects, environmental disturbances, and sensitivity to configuration changes, particularly for small-scale platforms. Classical physics-based models require extensive parameter identification and often exhibit degraded performance outside narrow operating regimes, while purely data-driven approaches may lack structure or impose high computational cost. This thesis presents a data-driven Koopman operator framework with hybrid observables for modeling the dynamics of unmanned marine vehicles. The proposed approach combines structured monomial observables with a learned neural network embedding to construct a lifted state representation in which the nonlinear vehicle dynamics are approximated by …

Large-Scale File Fragment Classification Via Multi-View Learning, Samuel Hildebrand

LSU Master's Theses

File reassembly is one of the most fundamental tasks in digital forensics, enabling recovery of data from potentially damaged storage media even when file system metadata is unavailable. This thesis reviews more than two decades of work in the realm of file carving, with a particular focus on fragmented file carving, which remains a focus of research, and file fragment classification, a principal component of fragmented file carving. This thesis serves a literature review of both file carving and fragmented file carving, surveys the massive amounts of data needed for the task of fragment classification and the datasets that serve …

Key Elements Of Mission-Based Urban Agriculture In The United States Aimed At Addressing The Social Determinants Of Health, Jordan Losavio

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Urban agriculture (UA) in the United States (U.S.) is increasingly positioned as a multi-domain strategy for addressing social determinants of health (SDOH), yet evidence is fragmented and often focused on participant outcomes rather than the organizational and environmental conditions that determine whether those benefits can be sustained, expanded, or maintained over time. This dissertation uses an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design to clarify (1) what SDOH outcomes are associated with UA in the peer-reviewed literature, (2) which internal and external factors leaders perceive as driving UA organizational success or failure, and (3) which factors predict comparative organizational functioning across a national …

Recovery And Validation Of Fragmented Rar Files Through The Scalpel3 Application, Thomas L. Landaiche Iii

LSU Master's Theses

A core component of filesystems includes an address table or other means of tracking metadata on where a given file resides within a disk image. This is crucial for regular operation of a computer, or disk analysis in digital forensics. When filesystem information is missing or corrupted, locating saved files on a disk becomes challenging. Whether the disk was accidentally wiped or intentionally tampered with, data still present on the disk, even while untracked, can possibly be recovered beyond what the filesystem registers. File carving in digital forensics is important for these scenarios when data recovery is necessary but address …

From Network Packets To Physical Consequences: Network-Level Spoofing And Loss Of Visibility In Industrial Control Systems, Lillian B. Beck

LSU Master's Theses

Industrial Control Systems (ICS) are the foundation of critical infrastructure as they provide resources like clean water, electricity, and natural gas to support our everyday functions. Given their essential role in modern society, the failure or compromise of ICS systems can lead to significant negative consequences and public safety impacts. Understanding how these systems can be targeted and exploited by malicious actors is necessary to improve their security and resilience.

This research examines how an attacker could manipulate a real-world ICS network by targeting a fully functional Natural Gas (NG) Compressor Station Platform that emulates real operations. This research led …

Identification Of Thruster Faults In Underwater Vehicles By Using Custom Encodings In Spiking Neural Networks, Donovan Gegg

LSU Master's Theses

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are untethered robotic platforms used for tasks such as seafloor mapping, infrastructure inspection, and environmental monitoring. Recent technological advances have produced smaller, more affordable platforms, broadening access to research teams and small companies alike. This miniaturization comes at the cost of them handling drawbacks associated with a more compact machine such as reduced battery capacity as well as limited processing and sensing capabilities. These constraints make small-sized marine vehicle’s reliability critical as they can cause malfunctions, making the loss of a vehicle more likely. Actuator faults are particularly consequential as unintended and unstable control in an …

Forbidden Induced Restrictions And Unavoidable Minors In Matroids, Matthew P. Mizell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Targets are matroids that arise from a nested sequence of flats in a projective geometry. This class of matroids was introduced by Nelson and Nomoto, who found the forbidden induced restrictions for binary targets. In this dissertation, their result is generalized to targets arising from projective geometries over $GF(q)$. In addition, targets arising from nested sequences of affine flats are introduced and the forbidden induced restrictions for these affine targets are determined.

In 1963, Halin and Jung proved that every simple graph with minimum degree at least four has $K_5$ or $K_{2,2,2}$ as a minor. Mills and Turner proved an …

Transcription Factors Daf-16/Foxo And Hlh-30/Tfeb Form A Regulatory Axis To Control Tubular Lsysosomes Formation In C. Elegans, Cristian Ricaurte

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The development of therapies that can be applied in human health care to promote longer and healthier lives is one of the main goals of aging research. However, many of the interventions currently available have serious adverse effects that limit their translational potential. Thus, new strategies are urgently needed to promote healthy aging in humans. Here, we reveal a functional interaction between the insulin signaling pathway and mTOR pathway that promotes healthy aging in C. elegans via lysosomal tubulation. Their respective transcription factors, DAF-16/FOXO and HLH-30/TFEB cooperate, to drive the formation of tubular lysosomes (TLs) under various contexts, which contributes …

Biogeochemical Controls On Phosphorus Transport And Legacy Storage Across A Coastal Watershed, Lee Potter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Excess phosphorus (P) loading is a key driver of eutrophication and harmful algal blooms (HABs) in aquatic systems worldwide. This relationship is of increasing concern in coastal Louisiana, where climate variability, altered hydrology, and land-use change converge, resulting in increased hydrologic and nutrient loading into coastal systems. This dissertation examines controls on P cycling in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin through a multi-scale framework linking estuarine processes, watershed loading, climate and weather patterns, and sediment dynamics. The dissertation begins with an overview of the study region, P dynamics, and changes in hydrology and nutrient loading patterns. Chapter 2 presents a spatial …

Multimodal Thermal And Mechanical Characterization Of Cryopreservation Effects In Biological Cells, Subhrajyoti Sourav Kumar Kundu

LSU Master's Theses

Cryopreservation is critical for long-term storage of cells, tissues, organs, and reproductive cells in medicine, biotechnology, and conservation. However, its success is limited by ice formation and cryoinjury, prompting extensive research into analytical tools for understanding and improving cryopreservation outcomes. We outline the principles of each technique and how they are used to detect key thermal and physical events such as ice nucleation, vitrification, devitrification, and cryoinjury. DSC enables quantitative thermal characterization including critical cooling/warming rates (ranging from 1-200°C/min for various systems) and glass transition temperatures. Cryomicroscopy provides direct real time visualization of ice crystal dynamics, distinguishing intracellular versus extracellular …

Engaging Underrepresented 11- To 14-Year-Olds In Music: An Autoethnographic Case Study Of A New Inner-City Afterschool Group Piano Program, Eden A. Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research in music education has documented the underrepresentation of Black students in formal music study in the United States, shaped by economic and cultural barriers (Elpus & Abril, 2024; Alegrado & Winsler, 2020). Access to piano instruction is often limited by the high cost of lessons and instruments, inequitable school funding, and the absence of culturally responsive curricula that reflect the experiences of minority students and families. Traditional piano pedagogy rarely addresses this absence, leaving the piano both symbolically and practically distant for many potential musicians in the United States. This autoethnographic case study chronicles the development, launch, and first …

Potential Impacts Of Climate Interventions On Marine Ecosystems, Kelsey E. Roberts, Tyler Rohr, Morgan R. Raven, Michael S. Diamond, Daniele Visioni, Ben Kravitz, Ryan Heneghan, Colleen M. Petrik, Daniele Bianchi, Kelly Ortega-Cisneros, Monica A. Morrison, Vanessa Van Heerden, Nicola A. Wiseman, Gouri Anil, Zachary J. Cannizzo, Marta Coll, Joshua Coupe, Ryan Freedman, Kristen Krumhardt, Lester Kwiatkowski, Nicole S. Lovenduski, Jessica Y. Luo, Holly C. Olivarez, Alan Robock, Jeroen Steenbeek, Cheryl S. Harrison

Faculty Publications

Rising global temperatures pose significant risks to marine ecosystems, biodiversity, and fisheries. Recent comprehensive assessments suggest that large-scale mitigation efforts to limit warming are falling short, and all feasible future climate projections, including those that represent optimistic emissions reductions, exceed the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C or 2° warming targets during this century. While avoiding further CO2 emissions remains the most effective way to prevent environmental destabilization, interest is growing in climate interventions—deliberate, large-scale manipulations of the environment aimed at reducing global warming. These include carbon dioxide removal (CDR) to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations over time, and solar radiation modification (SRM), which …

Minimal Supersolution Of Bsdes Driven By Continuous Martingales In A General Filtration, Badr Elmansouri, Mohamed El Otmani

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

In this paper, we study minimal supersolutions of backward stochastic differential equations (BSDEs) driven by a continuous local martingale in a general filtration. We establish existence, uniqueness, and stability results under various mild conditions on the terminal value and the generator. Additionally, we explore the connection between the concept of non-linear expectation and minimal supersolutions, emphasizing the specific properties that are relevant to our framework. We also prove a general monotonic limit theorem and apply this result to determine the smallest constrained supersolution of a BSDE with a possibly non-convex constraint.

Biomechanical Trade-Offs Between Root Tensile Strength And Porosity In Coastal Marshes, M. O. Hassan, N. H. Jafari, A. S. Rovai, R. R. Twilley

Faculty Publications

Root biomechanics play a fundamental role in stabilizing wetland soils and sustaining coastal ecosystems under increasing environmental stress. This study investigates the tensile strength (TS) and internal porosity (n) of roots from two dominant marsh grasses, Spartina alterniflora and Spartina patens, across four sites in the Mississippi River Delta Plain (MRDP), spanning active (Atchafalaya) and inactive (Terrebonne) basins. Through approximately 300 tensile strength tests conducted on live roots across diameter classes and depths, we observed a consistent decline in strength with increasing root diameter and depth. Fine roots (< 2 mm), particularly those in the upper 15 cm, showed the highest tensile resistance, reinforcing their critical role in erosion control. To assess morphological drivers, we employed high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with a machine learning (ML) segmentation pipeline to quantify porosity and visualize aerenchyma. Coarse roots exhibited significantly higher porosity due to large central lumens and expanded aerenchyma, while fine roots maintained denser tissue structures. An exponential decay relationship emerged between porosity and tensile strength, indicating a trade-off: increased void space enhances oxygen diffusion in waterlogged soils but compromises mechanical integrity. This inverse relationship was most pronounced in saline environments, suggesting that stress amplifies structural compromises in root traits. This integrative approach, combining precision mechanical testing, advanced imaging, and ML-based analysis, provides a scalable and reproducible framework for characterizing root biomechanics. Findings advance understanding of plant contributions to belowground stability in coastal wetlands and offer practical insights for restoration strategies to enhance shoreline resilience.

A Qualitative Examination Of The Motivations For Homeschooling Among Black Americans, Portia J. Witt

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study explored the motivations and lived experiences of African American homeschooling families. Twelve Black parents from multiple states participated in semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using Moustakas’ (1994) Modified Stevick–Colaizzi–Keen method and coded thematically using NVivo. Nine themes emerged: autonomy, holistic education, community belonging, online networks, public resources, curriculum gaps, personal values, effective learning, and legacy of harm. While racialization in schools—including tracking, microaggressions, and misidentification—contributed to participants’ decisions, motivations also reflected intersectional factors such as faith, disability, mental health needs, giftedness, and a desire for cultural protection and flexible learning. Findings suggest homeschooling serves as a …

Qatt&Ck: An Extended Framework For Classifying Adversarial Techniques And Tactics Threatening Quantum Computing Infrastructure Based On Mitre’S Att&Ck, Justin Benjamin Woodring

LSU Master's Theses

The integration of quantum computing into governmental and business processes has raised concerns about potential threats to these systems. To address this, we introduce a novel extension of the MITRE ATT&CK framework, QATT&CK, which provides an extended taxonomy for classifying adversarial Tactics and Techniques in quantum cybersecurity. Our adapted framework bridges the definitions of traditional cybersecurity with a focus on quantum computing infrastructure, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of adversarial behavior in this domain. To evaluate our proposed framework, we leverage current and ongoing research in quantum cyber threats, mapping real-world attacks to our taxonomy to demonstrate its effectiveness in …