Risk Assessment Of Fall Armyworm Resistance To Transgenic Corn Containing Single Or Pyramided Bacillus Thuringiensis Genes, Ying Niu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J.E. Smith), is a target pest of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops in North and South America. However, after more than two decades of the intense use of Bt crop technology, S. frugiperda has developed resistance to Bt corn in several countries. The objectives of this study were: 1) to characterize the inheritance and fitness costs of Cry1A.105 resistance in S. frugiperda; 2) to evaluate larval survival and plant injury of Cry1A.105-susceptibile, -resistant, and -heterozygous S. frugiperda populations on transgenic corn plants containing single or pyramided Bt genes; 3) to estimate the frequency of Cry2Ab2 …

Impact Of Temperature, Plant Species, And Sorghum Cultivar On The Population Dynamics Of Melanaphis Sacchari, Monique Ferreira De Souza

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sugarcane aphid, Melanaphis sacchari Zehner, is now widely established in sorghum, Sorghum bicolor L., production areas of the United States and is an important economic pest. However, detailed studies of temperature, host range and plant resistance effects on the biology and population parameters of the M. sacchari biotype responsible for the sorghum outbreak in the United States have not been performed previously. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate: 1) How temperatures affect M. sacchari 2) M. sacchari interaction with host plants 3) M. sacchari interaction with sorghum genotypes. The response of M. sacchari to six different constant temperatures (15, …

Determining The Drivers Of Anti-Tropical Distributions Across The Fish Tree Of Life, William Benton Ludt

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Anti-tropical distributions are those where populations of a single species, or multiple closely related taxa, are distributed outside of, and on opposing sides of, the tropics. These latitudinally disjunct distributions have been noted for over a century. Despite this long history of interest, little has been concluded regarding the actual mechanisms that drive this pattern, with several prominent hypotheses competing with one another in the literature. Here I review the proposed drivers of anti-tropicality, and subsequently test them using fishes with a variety of life history and taxonomic differences. This includes (1) a temperately restricted family with anti-tropical distributions – …

Radiation Effects In Apatite And High Entropy Alloy Under Energetic Ions And Electrons, Jianren Zhou

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Radiation effects in apatite and high entropy alloy under energetic ions and electrons are studied in this doctoral dissertation to develop advanced crystalline ceramic waste forms and nuclear structural materials. Apatite is proposed as a ceramic waste form for the immobilization of radionuclides, but its performance is strongly affected by the irradiation of the incorporated radionuclides. It is thus important to understand the radiation effects in apatite structure and the underlying physics. Effects of chemical composition, grain size, interfacial structure, as well as radiation conditions on the microstructural evolution, phase transformation and damage mechanisms of apatite under alpha-decay and beta-decay …

Endocytosis And The Nitric Oxide-Dependent Release Of Chloride, Vernon K. Dunn Jr

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding the regulation of retinal synapses is a key step in elucidating the processing of information in the retina. Our lab has previously shown that nitric oxide (NO) can alter the synaptic response properties of amacrine cells by releasing Cl- from internal acidic compartments. This alteration in the Cl- gradient brings about a positive shift in the reversal potential of the GABA-gated current, which can convert inhibitory synapses into excitatory synapses. Recently, we have shown that the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) Cl- channel is involved in the Cl- release. Here, we test the hypothesis that (acidic) synaptic vesicles are …

Evaluation Of Dopaminergic And Antidopaminergic Agents For Use In Equine Metabolic Physiology, Nicole Arana Valencia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A series of experiments studied the effects and practical applications of dopaminergic and antidopaminergic compounds in equine metabolic physiology. The first experiment was performed to assess the long-term effects of repeated cabergoline injections (every 10 days for a total of seven injections) on prolactin and α-melanocyte stimulating hormone concentrations in insulin insensitive mares. Additionally, the experiment also evaluated the use of cabergoline for improving insulin sensitivity. Plasma prolactin and α-melanocyte stimulating hormone concentrations were suppressed throughout the duration of the experiment even when the mares were challenged with a low-dose dopamine antagonist, sulpiride, the day previous to their subsequent cabergoline …

Broadband Measurement And Reduction Of Quantum Radiation Pressure Noise In The Audio Band, Jonathan Daniel Cripe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

One hundred years after Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in his general theory of relativity, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) made the first direct detection of gravitational waves. Since the first detection of gravitational waves from a binary black hole merger, LIGO has gone on to detect gravitational waves from multiple binary black hole mergers, and more recently from a binary neutron star merger in collaboration with telescopes around the world. The detection of gravitational waves has opened a new window to the universe and has launched the era of gravitational wave astronomy.

With the first …

Demonstration Of The Gas Assisted Gravity Drainage (Gagd) Process In Carbonate Rocks., Alok Jiteshkumar Shah

LSU Master's Theses

The Gas Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) process was developed and patented by Dr. Rao at LSU in the early 2000s. The process involves the use of several existing or new vertical injection wells to inject gas and use the natural segregation of reservoir fluids from the density difference and the gravitational forces to displace the trapped oil and mobilize the oil downwards to be produced by a horizontal producing well. The GAGD process can be implemented as a secondary or tertiary oil recovery method. Several physical model experiments have been conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of the GAGD process for …

An Evaluation Of The Utility Of A Mass-Weighted Frequency Distribution Of Sediment For Modeling Aeolian Transport Rates, Raihan Jamil

LSU Master's Theses

Predictions made by aeolian transport models often do not match well with measured data. The poor predictive capability of these models remains a fundamental problem in aeolian geomorphology. This study evaluates the effectiveness of the recently proposed mass-weighted frequency distribution (Edwards and Namikas 2015) and the apparent von Kármán parameter proposed by Li et al. (2010) to improve transport rate predictions. The evaluation consists of comparisons of predicted transport rates versus a large dataset of measured field and lab transport rates collected from the literature. The transport rate predictions are made both with and without recalibration of model empirical coefficients. …

Comparative Study Of One Parameter Budyko Model Index And The Scs Curve Number, Cihad Ayberk Doner

LSU Master's Theses

This study investigates two water balance models from different levels of complexity to recognize the impacts of climate change on water resources. The main objective is to examine the capacity of future runoff calculations of a parsimonious simple water balance model compared to a more complex model under the climate change variables. The selected water balance models are the simple one-parameter Budyko-type model using the Zhang’s equation with single parameter (a) and the more complex model (HELP3) applying Soil Conservation Service (SCS) curve number method to calculate future runoff predictions. The study has a twofold focus, first on explaining the …

Healthcare Utilization & Health Behaviors Among Older Adults: The Role Of Insurance, Jennifer Rose Geiger

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As the population of older adults in the U.S. continues its exponential growth, so too will the need for high-quality health and preventive services. Despite the widely acknowledged need for proactive solutions to the coming public health challenges for this rapidly expanding age cohort, healthcare providers and social work practitioners continue to lack the proper education training to serve the needs of older adults. Furthermore, these allied health professionals also frequently engage in ageist behaviors across care settings that also often employ institutionally ageist policies and procedures. As a result, older adults may be particularly at risk of negative health …

Computational Analysis Of Papionini Evolution Using Alu Insertions, Vallmer Edward Jordan Ii

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Alu elements are primate specific retrotransposons that have remained active throughout the course of primate evolution. As a result of this sustained mobilization. Alu elements are present in greater copy number in primate genomes than any other transposable element. An average of over one million Alu elements has been identified in every sequenced haplorrhine genome to date. These characteristics qualify Alu elements as ideal characters for studying evolutionary relationship among primates.

The increasing availability of whole genome sequencing data presents novel challenges and opportunities for comparative genomic analyses. Genomic data is now publicly available for most primate species. Such an …

An Essay On Fiscal Policy Transmissions In Currency Union, Nikhil Damodaran

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The effect of changes in fiscal policy for open economies are distinct and different from their effects in closed economies. The main idea behiend this dissertation is to examine why and how these differences affect the choice of fiscal instrument designed to provide stimulative effects to an open economy in a currency union. In extending a two country model and adapting it to examine trade within a currency union, I provide a way to truncate rational expectations equilibrium involving two large countries with endogenous relative price determination in chapter three. Using this model, I show that a spending increase is …

Heuristics For Client Assignment And Load Balancing Problems In Online Games, Shawn Michael Farlow

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) have been very popular over the past decade. The infrastructure necessary to support a large number of players simultaneously playing these games raises interesting problems to solve. Since the computations involved in solving those problems need to be done while the game is being played, they should not be so expensive that they cause any noticeable slowdown, as this would lead to a poor player perception of the game. Many of the problems in MMOGs are NP-Hard or NP-Complete, therefore we must develop heuristics for those problems without negatively affecting the player experience as a …

Photon Detector System Timing Performance In The Dune 35-Ton Prototype Liquid Argon Time Projection Chamber, D. L. Adams, T. Alion, J. T. Anderson, L. Bagby, M. Baird, G. Barr, N. Barros, K. Biery, A. Blake, E. Blaufuss, T. Boone, A. Booth, D. Brailsford, N. Buchanan, A. Chatterjee, M. Convery, J. Davies, T. Dealtry, P. Delurgio, G. Deuerling, R. Dharmapalan, Z. Djurcic, G. Drake, B. Eberly, J. Freeman, S. Glavin, R. A. Gomes, M. C. Goodman

Faculty Publications

The 35-ton prototype for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment far detector was a single-phase liquid argon time projection chamber with an integrated photon detector system, all situated inside a membrane cryostat. The detector took cosmic-ray data for six weeks during the period of February 1, 2016 to March 12, 2016. The performance of the photon detection system was checked with these data. An installed photon detector was demonstrated to measure the arrival times of cosmic-ray muons with a resolution better than 32 ns, limited by the timing of the trigger system. A measurement of the timing resolution using closely-spaced calibration …

Purifying Selection In The Toll-Like Receptors Of Song Sparrows Melospiza Melodia, Martha J. Nelson-Flower, Ryan R. Germain, Elizabeth A. Macdougall-Shackleton, Sabrina S. Taylor, Peter Arcese

Faculty Publications

Variation in immune gene sequences is known to influence resistance to infectious diseases and parasites, and hence survival and mate choice, across animal taxa. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) comprise one essential gene family in the vertebrate innate immune system and recognize evolutionarily conserved structures from all major microorganism classes. However, the causes and consequences of TLR variation in passerine birds remain largely unexplored. We examined 7 TLR genes in song sparrows (Melospiza melodia), a species that is studied across North America. We then examined sequences from 4 unduplicated TLRs (TLR1LB, TLR3, TLR4, and TLR15) from birds in 2 parts of the …

Predicting Working Memory And Fluid Intelligence From Measures Of Musicality, Juan Alexander Ventura

LSU Master's Theses

The relationship between musicality and cognitive abilities has been a popular topic in the media and among researchers over the last 25 years. Research has been inconsistent on whether musicality influences performance on non-musical complex tasks, such as measures of working memory and fluid intelligence. Inconsistencies regarding results between studies have arisen partly due to differences in sample and task selection, in addition to conflicting interpretations of results. Consequently, we conducted an individual differences investigation on the prediction of working memory (tonal, verbal, and visuospatial) and fluid intelligence by measures of musicality (formal years of musicality training, musical sophistication, melodic …

Essays In Corporate Finance, Nurul Alam Rafi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation contains two essays in corporate Finance. The first essay is on accelerated share repurchases (ASRs) and the second essay is on corporate inversions.

In my first essay, I investigate the use of stock buybacks, specifically accelerated share repurchases, to meet or beat the analysts’ forecasts of EPS. I find that when the companies want to repurchase their stocks in an effort to meet or beat the EPS expectations, they are more likely to choose accelerated share repurchases (ASRs) rather than open market repurchases (OMRs). Interestingly, upon announcements, these EPS motivated ASRs experience strongest market reaction among all the …

Ab Initio Calculations Of The Linear And Nonlinear Susceptibilities Of N2, O2, And Air In Midinfrared Laser Pulses, Jeffrey M. Brown, Arnaud Couairon, Mette B. Gaarde

Faculty Publications

We present first-principles calculations of the linear and nonlinear susceptibilities of N2, O2, and air in the midinfrared (MIR) wavelength regime from 1-4μm. We extract the frequency-dependent susceptibilities from the full time-dependent dipole moment that is calculated using time-dependent density functional theory. We find good agreement with curves derived from experimental results for the linear susceptibility and with measurements for the nonlinear susceptibility up to 2.4μm. We also find that the susceptibilities are insensitive to the laser intensity even in the strong field regime up to 5×1013W/cm2. Our results will allow accurate calculations of the long-distance propagation of intense midinfrared …

Identification Of Genomic Regions Controlling Leaf Scald Resistance In Sugarcane Using A Bi-Parental Mapping Population And Selective Genotyping By Sequencing, Andres F. Gutierrez, Jeffrey W. Hoy, Collins A. Kimbeng, Niranjan Baisakh

Faculty Publications

Leaf scald, caused by Xanthomonas albilineans, is a major sugarcane disease worldwide. The disease is managed primarily with resistant cultivars obtained through classical breeding. However, erratic symptom expression hinders the reliability and reproducibility of selection for resistance. The development and use of molecular markers associated with incompatible/compatible reactions could overcome this limitation. The aim of the present work was to find leaf scald resistance-associated molecular markers in sugarcane to facilitate marker-assisted breeding. A genetic linkage map was constructed by selective genotyping of 89 pseudo F2 progenies of a cross between LCP 85-384 (resistant) and L 99-226 (susceptible) using 1,948 single …

Shape Memory Polymer Proppants, Methods Of Making Shape Memory Polymer Proppants For Application In Hydraulic Fracturing Treatments, Arash Dahi Taleghani, Amir Shojaei, Guoqiang Li

College of Engineering Patents

The present disclosure provides for shape memory proppants, methods for making shape memory proppants, and methods of using shape memory proppants, and the like. The strong expandable proppants of the present disclosure may be used in maintaining fracture openings.

Susceptibility Of Field-Collected Pupations Of The Corn Earworm, Helicoverpa Zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) From Three Southern States Of The U.S. To Cry1a.105 And Cry2ab2 Proteins, Gagandeep Kaur

LSU Master's Theses

The corn earworm (CEW), Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a major target pest of pyramided Bt corn and Bt cotton in the U.S. In 2016 and 2017, notable corn ear damage and larval survival of CEW were observed on pyramided Cry1A.105/Cry2Ab2 corn in some fields in northeast Louisiana. The objectives of this study were 1) to determine if the ear damage and larval survival observed in the area were due to resistance development to the Bt proteins in the plants, and 2) if resistance had occurred, to determine the approximate distributions of the resistance in the southern region of …

Essays On Stock Repurchases And Exchange Listing, Dung Thi Bui

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation consists of two essays on stock exchange switching and the association between discretionary payouts and real investment.

In the first essay, we examine 49 firms that voluntarily switch from the NYSE to Nasdaq for the period from 2000 to 2013 to determine whether the choice between listing on the NYSE versus on Nasdaq matters any more. We find that there is no documentable economic benefits to moving and some costs in the form of lower liquidity. Consistently, there is little evidence of a significant market reaction. We also find that switch firms are far more like the NYSE …

The Handmaiden Of Gnosis: Music In Esoteric Societies, Justin Andrew Owen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Western esotericism, or the practice of trying to understand divinity through secret initiatic means, exists in several philosophical strains, which mystics through the ages have formalized into systems of teaching. One aspect that appears in many of the traditions is music. Music is a direct language of the consciousness within esoteric traditions because it does not rely on language to express higher concepts. Just as these societies teach truths mainly through symbolism, they use music, since it lends itself to interpretations beyond the connotation-laden nature of words. This dissertation focuses on three major strains of western esotericism: Rosicrucians, Theosophists, and …

Extended Measurement Of The Cosmic-Ray Electron And Positron Spectrum From 11 Gev To 4.8 Tev With The Calorimetric Electron Telescope On The International Space Station, O. Adriani, Y. Akaike, K. Asano, Y. Asaoka, M. G. Bagliesi, E. Berti, G. Bigongiari, W. R. Binns, S. Bonechi, M. Bongi, P. Brogi, J. H. Buckley, N. Cannady, G. Castellini, C. Checchia, M. L. Cherry, G. Collazuol, V. Di Felice, K. Ebisawa, H. Fuke, T. G. Guzik, T. Hams, M. Hareyama, N. Hasebe, K. Hibino, M. Ichimura, K. Ioka, W. Ishizaki, M. H. Israel, K. Kasahara, J. Kataoka, R. Kataoka, Y. Katayose

Faculty Publications

Extended results on the cosmic-ray electron + positron spectrum from 11 GeV to 4.8 TeV are presented based on observations with the Calorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET) on the International Space Station utilizing the data up to November 2017. The analysis uses the full detector acceptance at high energies, approximately doubling the statistics compared to the previous result. CALET is an all-calorimetric instrument with a total thickness of 30 X0 at normal incidence and fine imaging capability, designed to achieve large proton rejection and excellent energy resolution well into the TeV energy region. The observed energy spectrum in the region below …

Factors Affecting Spatial Differences In Health Outcomes, Kwadwo Poku-Agyemang

LSU Master's Theses

This study sought to establish the impact of the disparities between Metropolitan, Micropolitan and Non-Core communities on life expectancy. The study also assesses the impact of individual behavioral choices and certain social variables and county level policies one the life expectancy in a county.

A simple mean comparison analysis is employed to establish the differences in life expectancy across the various levels of the urban hierarchy in 1,553 counties in the United States. An ordinary least squares model is used to tease out the relationship between specific individual choice factors; smoking habits, obesity and exercise habits and socio-economic factors; medicare …

Wave Attenuation By Constructed Oyster Reef Breakwaters, Jason M. Chauvin

LSU Master's Theses

Biloxi Marsh, located along the shoreline of Eloi Bay in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana has experienced significant shoreline erosion in recent years. The Living Shoreline Demonstration Project, completed in November 2016, constructed three miles of living shoreline structures to attenuate waves and thus combat marsh edge erosion along the shoreline of Eloi Bay. Several types of constructed oyster reef breakwaters were installed for this demonstration project. Due to the experimental nature of these products, available performance characteristics are limited.

This research measures wave attenuation across the constructed oyster reef breakwaters using bottom-mounted pressure gauges. Seven pressure gauges were deployed to …

Unavoidable Immersions And Intertwines Of Graphs, Matthew Christopher Barnes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The topological minor and the minor relations are well-studied binary relations on the class of graphs. A natural weakening of the topological minor relation is an immersion. An immersion of a graph H into a graph G is a map that injects the vertex set of H into the vertex set of G such that edges between vertices of H are represented by pairwise-edge-disjoint paths of G. In this dissertation, we present two results: the first giving a set of unavoidable immersions of large 3-edge-connected graphs and the second on immersion intertwines of infinite graphs. These results, along with …

Backstepping And Sequential Predictors For Control Systems, Jerome Avery Weston

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We provide new methods in mathematical control theory for two significant classes of control systems with time delays, based on backstepping and sequential prediction. Our bounded backstepping results ensure global asymptotic stability for partially linear systems with an arbitrarily large number of integrators. We also build sequential predictors for time-varying linear systems with time-varying delays in the control, sampling in the control, and time-varying measurement delays. Our bounded backstepping results are novel because of their use of converging-input-converging-state conditions, which make it possible to solve feedback stabilization problems under input delays and under boundedness conditions on the feedback control. Our …

Dimers On Cylinders Over Dynkin Diagrams And Cluster Algebras, Maitreyee Chandramohan Kulkarni

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation describes a general setting for dimer models on cylinders over Dynkin diagrams which in type A reduces to the well-studied case of dimer models on a disc. We prove that all Berenstein--Fomin--Zelevinsky quivers for Schubert cells in a symmetric Kac--Moody algebra give rise to dimer models on the cylinder over the corresponding Dynkin diagram. We also give an independent proof of a result of Buan, Iyama, Reiten and Smith that the corresponding superpotentials are rigid using the dimer model structure of the quivers.