Digital Commons Network^™

In The Blood: Repressing Reproduction In The French Convent From Sanguinity To Sexuality, John Stanley Patin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project examines the French convent as a convergent point of evolving blood myths in the eighteenth century. According to Michel Foucault, as a society transitions from sovereign power to more liberal forms of government, the target of how power is enforced shifts as well: from the punishment of individuals who pose a threat to the crown to the regulation of perceived “deviants” who threaten the health and stability of the nation’s population. As the eighteenth century was a time of radical social change, the era encapsulates a prime moment for the study of continuities and discontinuities of these various …

Stability Of A Series Of Bodipys In Acidic Conditions: An Experimental And Computational Study Into The Role Of The Substituents At Boron, Maodie Wang, M. Graça H. Vicente, Deanna Mason, Petia Bobadova-Parvanova

Faculty Publications

© Copyright 2018 American Chemical Society. Boron-dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes have been extensively investigated in recent years for a variety of bioanalytical and bioimaging applications. The success of these applications relies on the stability of BODIPYs, particularly under acidic conditions. In this work, the stability of a series of 4,4′-disubstituted BODIPYs (-F, -CN, -Ph, -Me, -OMe) toward addition of excess trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) was studied systematically and comprehensively through 11B and 1H NMR, UV-vis, fluorescence, thin layer chromatography, mass spectrometry, and infrared. The results indicate that 4,4′-dicyano-BODIPY 2 is the most stable among this series and remains unchanged even 3 days …

A Climatology Of Precipitation Days Throughout The Continguous United States, Rudy J. Bartels

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over the last century, scientists have raised questions about climate change and one of the more important variables that may undergo change is precipitation. Precipitation can affect many sectors including agriculture, socio-economic activities and hazard management. This dissertation addresses the temporal aspect of precipitation using 167 first order stations in the contiguous United States from 1951-2015. The three objectives of this dissertation are to perform (1) an annual analysis of the frequency of rain days in the United States and changing magnitudes of daily rainfall, (2) seasonal rain day frequency in the United States, and (3) use an artificial neural …

Jane Austen's Hidden Bodies: Adaptation As Critical Commentary, Elizabeth Gilliland

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Much of adaptation theory calls for a shift away from fidelity discourse, arguing that an adaptation does not need to be a faithful translation of the original, but should rather be viewed as literature in its own right. As such, adaptations are often studied separately from their source texts; yet even so, an unofficial hierarchy sometimes remains in deeming some types of adaptations more ripe for study than others. Further, in separating the adaptation from the original, some of the more radical alterations can be routinely dismissed as an “added” element to the text, rather than exploring what commentary these …

Mixed Categories Of Sheaves On Toric Varieties, Sean Michael Taylor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In [BGS96], Beilinson, Ginzburg, and Soergel introduced the notion of mixed categories. This idea often underlies many interesting "Koszul dualities." In this paper, we produce a mixed derived category of constructible complexes (in the sense of [BGS96]) for any toric variety associated to a fan. Furthermore, we show that it comes equipped with a t-structure whose heart is a mixed version of the category of perverse sheaves. In chapters 2 and 3, we provide the necessary background. Chapter 2 concerns the categorical preliminaries, while chapter 3 gives the background geometry. This concerns both some basics of toric varieties as well …

At The Edge Of Humanity: American Indian Legal Identity And The Development Of American Citizenship, Zachary Charles Isenhower

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Civic standing in the formative era of the United States was defined by land ownership. Landless white Americans demanded access to western lands, while the American government regulated settler pressure on the borderlands in order to preserve peace, and maintain its authority over citizens. Simultaneously, the U.S. depended upon western lands for revenue and on settlers for expanding its domain. As acquisition of property by white Americans depended in very real terms on dispossessing Indians of their lands, justifying that dispossession became one of the most fraught intellectual processes in American thought.

This project explores how civic identity was not …

Trends In The Application Of Cfd For Architectural Design, Soo Jeong Jo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Preliminary Examination Of The Time And Organization Preparation System-College (Tops-C) With Undergraduate Students, Ashley Elizabeth Bordelon

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Many factors contribute to the educational success of undergraduate students, including personal beliefs, effort, and the ability to self-manage. Many students are not prepared for the rigors of post-secondary education. This need is particularly striking given the limited availability of manualized evidenced based interventions available to support college students with academic task demand management. This study sought to determine the efficacy of the Time and Organization Preparation System-College (TOPS-C), a program aimed to increase study skills, organization, self-regulated learning, and time management through direct instruction, group contingency, and performance feedback. To determine changes in skill level, students completed the Learning …

Weyl Semimetal To Metal Phase Transitions Driven By Quasiperiodic Potentials, J. H. Pixley, Justin H. Wilson, David A. Huse, Sarang Gopalakrishnan

Faculty Publications

We explore the stability of three-dimensional Weyl and Dirac semimetals subject to quasiperiodic potentials. We present numerical evidence that the semimetal is stable for weak quasiperiodic potentials, despite being unstable for weak random potentials. As the quasiperiodic potential strength increases, the semimetal transitions to a metal, then to an "inverted" semimetal, and then finally to a metal again. The semimetal and metal are distinguished by the density of states at the Weyl point, as well as by level statistics, transport, and the momentum-space structure of eigenstates near the Weyl point. The critical properties of the transitions in quasiperiodic systems differ …

Craft Production And Sociocultural Context: A Case Study Of Nasa Werregue Coiled Basketry In Colombia, Cindy Cordoba Arroyo

LSU Master's Theses

According to the Alliance of Artisan Enterprise from the Aspen Institute, the existence of the artisan enterprise is valuable for native communities since it creates jobs and preserves ancient techniques (Aspen Institute, 2012). The design and development of the Werregue (Astrocaryum Standleyanum) coiled basket is a source of income for indigenous communities in Colombia. This research uses a case study method which employed semi-structured interviews with fifteen skilled Nasa Werregue coiled basketmakers, to analyze the sociocultural characteristics, design, production, and market in Werregue coiled basketry in the Pacific region of Colombia within two research settings, Cali and the …

Reconstruction Of Antarctic Cenozoic Paleoenvironments Through Palynological Analysis Of Subglacial Lake And Ice Stream Sediments, Patrick Baudoin

LSU Master's Theses

The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS), with a large portion being grounded below sea level, is historically known for its instability. Timing and evaluating the magnitude of WAIS advance and retreat is essential to improve our understanding of control mechanisms. The scarcity of accessible subglacial geology in areas such as the Siple Coast in West Antarctica limits our understanding and ability to gauge WAIS response to environmental changes. To evaluate the ice-sheet history around the Siple Coast, i.e., when it was last covered by vegetation, access to sediment immediately below the ice-sheet is essential. In the absence of large-scale drilling, …

Search For Tensor, Vector, And Scalar Polarizations In The Stochastic Gravitational-Wave Background, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, T. Adams, P. Addesso, R. X. Adhikari, V. B. Adya, C. Affeldt, M. Afrough, B. Agarwal, M. Agathos, K. Agatsuma, N. Aggarwal, O. D. Aguiar, L. Aiello, A. Ain, P. Ajith, B. Allen, G. Allen, A. Allocca, P. A. Altin, A. Amato, A. Ananyeva, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, S. V. Angelova, S. Antier, S. Appert, K. Arai, M. C. Araya

Faculty Publications

The detection of gravitational waves with Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo has enabled novel tests of general relativity, including direct study of the polarization of gravitational waves. While general relativity allows for only two tensor gravitational-wave polarizations, general metric theories can additionally predict two vector and two scalar polarizations. The polarization of gravitational waves is encoded in the spectral shape of the stochastic gravitational-wave background, formed by the superposition of cosmological and individually unresolved astrophysical sources. Using data recorded by Advanced LIGO during its first observing run, we search for a stochastic background of generically polarized gravitational waves. We find …

Multiple Origins Of Green Blood In New Guinea Lizards, Zachary B. Rodriguez, Susan L. Perkins, Christopher C. Austin

Faculty Publications

© 2018 The Authors. Several species of lizards from the megadiverse island of New Guinea have evolved green blood. An unusually high concentration of the green bile pigment biliverdin in the circulatory system of these lizards makes the blood, muscles, bones, tongue, and mucosal tissues bright green in color, eclipsing the crimson color from their red blood cells. This is a remarkable physiological feature because bile pigments are toxic physiological waste products of red blood cell catabolism and, when chronically elevated, cause jaundice in humans and all other vertebrates. Although these lizards offer a promising system to examine the evolution …

Density-Pressure Profiles Of Fe-Bearing Mgsio3 Liquid: Effects Of Valence And Spin States, And Implications For The Chemical Evolution Of The Lower Mantle, Bijaya B. Karki, Dipta B. Ghosh, Charitra Maharjan, Shun Ichiro Karato, Jeffrey Park

Faculty Publications

Density is a key property controlling the chemical state of Earth's interior. Our knowledge about the density of relevant melt compositions is currently poor at deep-mantle conditions. Here we report results from first-principles molecular-dynamics simulations of Fe-bearing MgSiO liquids considering different valence and spin states of iron over the whole mantle pressure conditions. Our simulations predict the high-spin to low-spin transition in both ferrous and ferric iron in the silicate liquid to occur gradually at pressures around 100 GPa. The calculated iron-induced changes in the melt density (about 8% increase for 25% iron content) are primarily due to the difference …

Collaboratively Designed Customized Ethnic Dress: An Exploration Of Consumption Motivation Of First And Second Generation African Immigrant Women In Us, Jane Andayi Opiri

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

African immigrant women in the USA are wear their ethnic dress when attending social functions such as church, weddings, and parties. They work with a tailor to help them create and customize their ethnic dress. With this in mind, the study sought to explore the motivations to collaboratively customize and wear the ethnic dress among these women. A Means end chain, MEC theory (Gutman, 1997) was used as the theoretical model. To answer the research questions, a qualitative approach was utilized, using semi structure interviews with the soft laddering technique and photo elicitation methods. A convenience sample of 15 first …

Voltage-Controlled Deposition Of Nanoparticles For Next Generation Electronic Materials, Subhodip Maulik

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work presents both a feasibility study and an investigation into the voltage-controlled spray deposition of different nanoparticles, namely, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), as well as molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) and tungsten disulfide (WS₂) from the transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) family of materials. The study considers five different types of substrates as per their potential application to next-generation device electronics. The substrates selected for this research were: 1) aluminum as a conducting substrate, 2) silicon as a semiconducting substrate, 3) glass, silicon dioxide (SiO₂), and syndiotactic poly methyl methacrylate (syndiotactic PMMA) as insulating substrates.

Since the …

Hypothesis Testing And Model Estimation With Dependent Observations In Heterogeneous Sensor Networks, Sima Sobhiyeh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Advances in microelectronics, communication and signal processing have enabled the development of inexpensive sensors that can be networked to collect vital information from their environment to be used in decision-making and inference. The sensors transmit their data to a central processor which integrates the information from the sensors using a so-called fusion algorithm. Many applications of sensor networks (SNs) involve hypothesis testing or the detection of a phenomenon. Many approaches to data fusion for hypothesis testing assume that, given each hypothesis, the sensors' measurements are conditionally independent. However, since the sensors are densely deployed in practice, their field of views …

Β -Delayed Neutron Emission From Ga 85, K. Miernik, K. P. Rykaczewski, R. Grzywacz, C. J. Gross, M. Madurga, D. Miller, D. W. Stracener, J. C. Batchelder, N. T. Brewer, A. Korgul, C. Mazzocchi, A. J. Mendez, Y. Liu, S. V. Paulauskas, J. A. Winger, M. Wolińska-Cichocka, E. F. Zganjar

Faculty Publications

Decay of Ga85 was studied by means of β-neutron-γ spectroscopy. A pure beam of Ga85 was produced at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility using a resonance ionization laser ion source and a high-resolution electromagnetic separator. The β-delayed neutron emission probability was measured for the first time, yielding 70(5)%. An upper limit of 0.1% for β-delayed two-neutron emission was also experimentally established for the first time. A detailed decay scheme including absolute γ-ray intensities was obtained. Results are compared with theoretical β-delayed emission models.

Constraints On Cosmic Strings Using Data From The First Advanced Ligo Observing Run, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, T. Adams, P. Addesso, R. X. Adhikari, V. B. Adya, C. Affeldt, M. Afrough, B. Agarwal, M. Agathos, K. Agatsuma, N. Aggarwal, O. D. Aguiar, L. Aiello, A. Ain, P. Ajith, B. Allen, G. Allen, A. Allocca, P. A. Altin, A. Amato, A. Ananyeva, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, S. Antier, S. Appert, K. Arai, M. C. Araya, J. S. Areeda

Faculty Publications

Cosmic strings are topological defects which can be formed in grand unified theory scale phase transitions in the early universe. They are also predicted to form in the context of string theory. The main mechanism for a network of Nambu-Goto cosmic strings to lose energy is through the production of loops and the subsequent emission of gravitational waves, thus offering an experimental signature for the existence of cosmic strings. Here we report on the analysis conducted to specifically search for gravitational-wave bursts from cosmic string loops in the data of Advanced LIGO 2015-2016 observing run (O1). No evidence of such …

Full Band All-Sky Search For Periodic Gravitational Waves In The O1 Ligo Data, B. P. Abbott, R. Abbott, T. D. Abbott, F. Acernese, K. Ackley, C. Adams, T. Adams, P. Addesso, R. X. Adhikari, V. B. Adya, C. Affeldt, M. Afrough, B. Agarwal, M. Agathos, K. Agatsuma, N. Aggarwal, O. D. Aguiar, L. Aiello, A. Ain, B. Allen, G. Allen, A. Allocca, P. A. Altin, A. Amato, A. Ananyeva, S. B. Anderson, W. G. Anderson, S. V. Angelova, S. Antier, S. Appert, K. Arai, M. C. Araya, J. S. Areeda

Faculty Publications

We report on a new all-sky search for periodic gravitational waves in the frequency band 475-2000 Hz and with a frequency time derivative in the range of [-1.0,+0.1]×10-8 Hz/s. Potential signals could be produced by a nearby spinning and slightly nonaxisymmetric isolated neutron star in our Galaxy. This search uses the data from Advanced LIGO's first observational run O1. No gravitational-wave signals were observed, and upper limits were placed on their strengths. For completeness, results from the separately published low-frequency search 20-475 Hz are included as well. Our lowest upper limit on worst-case (linearly polarized) strain amplitude h0 is ∼4×10-25 …

Preoptic Leptin Signaling Modulates Energy Balance Independent Of Body Temperature Regulation, Sangho Yu, Helia Cheng, Marie François, Emily Qualls-Creekmore, Clara Huesing, Yanlin He, Yanyan Jiang, Hong Gao, Yong Xu, Andrea Zsombok, Andrei V. Derbenev, Eduardo A. Nillni, David H. Burk, Christopher D. Morrison, Hans Rudolf Berthoud, Heike Münzberg

Faculty Publications

© Yu et al. The adipokine leptin acts on the brain to regulate energy balance but specific functions in many brain areas remain poorly understood. Among these, the preoptic area (POA) is well known to regulate core body temperature by controlling brown fat thermogenesis, and we have previously shown that glutamatergic, long-form leptin receptor (Lepr)-expressing neurons in the POA are stimulated by warm ambient temperature and suppress energy expenditure and food intake. Here we further investigate the role of POA leptin signaling in body weight regulation and its relationship to body temperature regulation in mice. We show that POA Lepr …

New Inversion Formulas For Radon Transforms On Affine Grassmannians, Boris Rubin, Yingzhan Wang

Faculty Publications

We obtain new inversion formulas for the Radon transform and the corresponding dual transform acting on affine Grassmann manifolds of planes in Rⁿ. The consideration is performed in full generality on continuous functions and functions belonging to L^p spaces.

Effect Of Driver, Vehicle, And Road Related Factors On Crashes At Intersections And Non-Intersections: A Naturalistic Driving Study, Grace Naa Ashley

LSU Master's Theses

Traffic accidents in the U.S. have declined over the last two decades but continue to cost the country billions of U.S. dollars each year. Intersection accidents alone account for 23% of the 32,675 deaths that occurred by motor vehicle crashes in 2014. In light of this, the first part of this study sought to identify driver behavior and secondary tasks that influenced the occurrence of a crashes at controlled, uncontrolled and non-intersections with multiple logistic regression. The second part of the study used decision tree which applied machine learning algorithms to identify significant factors that influenced the occurrence of crashes …

"Swallowing A World": Globalization And The Maximalist Novel, Benjamin S. Bergholtz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation argues that the maximalist novel is an aesthetic response to globalization and a global phenomenon in its own right. To support this claim, I analyze the ways in which four maximalist novels—William Gaddis’s J R (1975), David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest (1996), Zadie Smith’s White Teeth (2000), and Zia Haider Rahman’s In the Light of What We Know (2014)—both map and formally mimic different elements of globalization. Each of these novels, I argue, is organized around a significant feature or, to put it simply, “effect” of globalization. This organization is so extensive that not only the vast majority …

Predictors Of Graduate Students' Self-Efficacy For Working With Persons With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Their Families, Cassie M. Dinecola

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) continue to climb, the need for knowledgeable and competent professionals is critical. Research has shown that child symptoms and behavior are related to parent stress and mental health and that this relationship is bidirectional, suggesting the need for the use of a family-centered care model (FCC) that addresses both child and parent needs. While social workers are well-prepared to provide FCC to persons with ASD and their families, few social workers enter the field of developmental disabilities. Professionals more involved in the ASD field, such as special educators, often are equipped to work …

Direct Determination Of Hydroxymethyl Conformations Of Plant Cell Wall Cellulose Using 1 H Polarization Transfer Solid-State Nmr, Pyae Phyo, Tuo Wang, Yu Yang, Hugh O'Neill, Mei Hong

Faculty Publications

Copyright © 2018 American Chemical Society. In contrast to the well-studied crystalline cellulose of microbial and animal origins, cellulose in plant cell walls is disordered due to its interactions with matrix polysaccharides. Plant cell wall (PCW) is an undisputed source of sustainable global energy; therefore, it is important to determine the molecular structure of PCW cellulose. The most reactive component of cellulose is the exocyclic hydroxymethyl group: when it adopts the tg conformation, it stabilizes intrachain and interchain hydrogen bonding, while gt and gg conformations destabilize the hydrogen-bonding network. So far, information about the hydroxymethyl conformation in cellulose has been …

Investigating Trace Metal Sequestration Of Reducing Environments In Modern And Ancient Settings, Adam Charles Turner

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The incorporation of trace metals into a variety of reducing sediments are important proxies for the oxic state of the water mass in which the sediments form. While much work has been done interpreting these proxies, questions remain on the exact processes and products in which trace metal proxies form. This work employs bulk geochemical techniques to investigate circulation in the Late Pennsylvanian North American Midcontinent Sea (NAMS), and then uses sequential extractions to further understand the chemical phases in which trace metals are incorporated. Sequential extractions are then used to further investigate how trace metals are sequestered in modern …

Endorectal Digital Prostate Tomosynthesis, Joseph Robert Steiner

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Several areas of prostate cancer (PCa) management, such as imaging permanent brachytherapy implants or small, aggressive lesions, benefit from high image resolution. Current PCa imaging methods can have inadequate resolution for imaging these areas. Endorectal digital prostate tomosynthesis (endoDPT), an imaging method that combines an external x-ray source and an endorectal x-ray sensor, can produce three-dimensional images of the prostate region that have high image resolution compared to typical methods. This high resolution may improve PCa management and increase positive outcomes in affected men.

This dissertation presents the initial development of endoDPT, including system design, image quality assessment, and examples …

Homenajes: Finding Spanish Identity In Falla's Orchestral Suite, Leanny Munoz

LSU Master's Theses

Using biographical criticism, this thesis examines Manuel de Falla’s Homenajes (1939) as a reflection of the composer’s views of Spanish identity on regional, national, and international levels. Falla completed Homenajes—a four-movement orchestral suite dedicated to Enrique Fernández Arbós, Claude Debussy, Paul Dukas, and Felipe Pedrell—in Argentina. He began the work in Spain in 1938, during a period of great personal and political disturbance. In 1939, Manuel de Falla left Spain following the end of the Spanish Civil War, which cemented the regime of Francisco Franco. The Francoist regime notoriously aimed to homogenize Spanishness within the country, in part by …

The Uneasy Beginnings Of Public Diplomacy: Vira Whitehouse, The Committee On Public Information, And The First World War, Lauren Claire West

LSU Master's Theses

The established methods and practices of American public diplomacy are commonly credited to the publicity agencies created during and after the Second World War, such as the Office of War Information (OWI) and the United States Information Agency (USIA). However, the Committee on Public Information (CPI) was the first practicing public diplomacy agency. Created by President Woodrow Wilson in April 1917, the CPI and its Foreign Division became a tool for winning the First World War through the dissemination of newspaper articles, films, photographs, and other media techniques. The CPI was the first of its kind to engage with the …