Digital Commons Network^™

Benzyne-Promoted, 1,2-Cis-Selective O-Glycosylation With Benzylchalcogenoglycoside Donors, Tiffany Duong, Erik Alvarez Valenzuela, Justin R. Ragains

Faculty Publications

Here, we show that the reaction of benzylchalcogenoglycosides with benzyne in the presence of alcohols results in highly 1,2-cis-selective O-glycosylation in a solvent-dependent manner. Thioglycosides, selenoglycosides, and alcohols with a range of nucleophilicities lead to a productive reaction, and unusual protecting groups, auxiliary groups, and additives are avoided.

Healthy Eating And Active Living Policy, Systems, And Environmental Changes In Rural Louisiana: A Contextual Inquiry To Inform Implementation Strategies, Bailey Houghtaling, Laura Balis, Nila Pradhananga, Melissa Cater, Denise Holston

Faculty Publications

Background: Healthy eating and active living policy, systems, and environmental (PSE) changes are implemented across the United States through Cooperative Extension. However, translating multisector PSE changes to practice in community settings is challenging and there is a lack of knowledge about barriers and facilitators to PSE changes among state Extension systems using standardized frameworks. Therefore, a research-to-practice partnership effort aimed to identify Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service Family and Consumer Science (LFCS) practitioners’ barriers and facilitators to implementing PSE changes in rural Louisiana communities. Methods: A qualitative approach using the 2022 Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (2022 CFIR) was used. Focus …

The Longitudinal Associations Of Body Dissatisfaction With Health And Wellness Behaviors In Midlife And Older Women, Lisa Smith Kilpela, Savannah C. Hooper, Casey L. Straud, Victoria B. Marshall, Christina L. Verzijl, Tiffany M. Stewart, Taylur T. Loera, Carolyn Black Becker

Population and Public Health Science Faculty Publications

Emerging research suggests that body dissatisfaction (BD) is prevalent among midlife and older women (i.e., upwards of 70%). Cross-sectionally, BD is associated with myriad poor health and wellness outcomes (e.g., depression, disordered eating, bad nutrition) in midlife/older women. However, relatively few studies have examined the longitudinal relations between BD and health outcomes in this population. This preliminary study investigated the longitudinal associations of BD with wellbeing and health-related quality of life (QOL) among midlife/older adult women over one year. Participants (n = 86, women aged 40–72 years, M = 51.49, SD = 7.34, 86% white) completed self-report measures of BD, …

Dna Methylation Is Differentially Associated With Glycemic Outcomes By Different Types Of Weight-Loss Interventions: An Epigenome-Wide Association Study, Xiaoxiao Wen, Helena Palma-Gudiel, Guanhong Miao, Mingjing Chen, Zhiguang Huo, Hao Peng, Stephen Anton, Gang Hu, Ricky Brock, Phillip J. Brantley, Jinying Zhao

Population and Public Health Science Faculty Publications

Background: Alterations in DNA methylation (DNAm) have been reported to be a mechanism by which bariatric surgeries resulted in considerable metabolic improvements. Previous studies have mostly focused on change in DNAm following weight-loss interventions, yet whether DNAm prior to intervention can explain the variability in glycemic outcomes has not been investigated. Here, we aim to examine whether baseline DNAm is differentially associated with glycemic outcomes induced by different types of weight-loss interventions. Methods: Participants were 75 adults with severe obesity who underwent non-surgical intensive medical intervention (IMI), adjustable gastric band (BAND) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) (n = 25 each). …

Mid-Miocene Sea Level Altitude Of The Qaidam Basin, Northern Tibetan Plateau, Yuanyuan Sun, Yu Liang, Hu Liu, Jun Liu, Junliang Ji, Xue Ke, Xiaobo Liu, Yuxin He, Huanye Wang, Bin Zhang, Yongsu Zhang, Guangsheng Zhuang, Junling Pei, Yongxiang Li, Cheng Quan, Jianxing Li, Jonathan C. Aitchison, Weiguo Liu, Zhonghui Liu

Faculty Publications

A detailed uplift history of the Tibetan Plateau is essential for disentangling the proposed geodynamical models and assessing its impacts on climate and biodiversity. However, when and how the plateau formed remains highly controversial. Here, we present unusual geochemical indicators of marine signatures in the Cenozoic terrestrial strata of the Qaidam Basin, northern Tibetan Plateau, with strong implications for the basin altitude. Our investigations across the basin reveal typical marine alkenones and anomalously high carbonate carbon isotopic values during the mid-Miocene, but not at earlier stages, which are accompanied by a divergent trend in the paired carbonate oxygen and leaf …

African Bovid Tribe Classification Using Transfer Learning And Computer Vision, Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo, Juliet Brophy, Gregory J. Mathews, Marcos Pizarro-Monzo, Enrique Baquedano

Faculty Publications

Objective analytical identification methods are still a minority in the praxis of paleobiological sciences. Subjective interpretation of fossils and their modifications remains a nonreplicable expert endeavor. Identification of African bovids is a crucial element in the reconstruction of paleo-landscapes, ungulate paleoecology, and, eventually, hominin adaptation and ecosystemic reconstruction. Recent analytical efforts drawing on Fourier functional analysis and discrimination methods applied to occlusal surfaces of teeth have provided a highly accurate framework to correctly classify African bovid tribes and taxa. Artificial intelligence tools, like computer vision, have also shown their potential to be objectively more accurate in the identification of taphonomic …

Multiscale Analysis Of Spatial Accessibility To Acute Hospitals In Carinthia, Austria, Changzhen Wang, Michael Leitner, Gernot Paulus

Faculty Publications

Health care accessibility studies are well established in the US but lacking in Austria, even though both experience high costs and have hospital care as the largest contributor to health care spending. This study aims to examine multiscale spatial accessibility to acute hospitals in Carinthia, Austria. Using the most recent data at census block and 250 meter grid levels, we refine proximity and generalized two-step floating catchment area (G2SFCA) methods while accounting for the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) and edge effects. For census blocks and 250 meter grids, the mean travel times to the nearest acute hospitals are 16 …

Digital Archives: How Western Newspapers Frame Our Remembrance Of The Gezi Park Protest, Nihar Sreepada, Ahmet Aksoy

Faculty Publications

We analyze the coverage of the Gezi Park protests by two major Western newspapers - The New York Times and The Guardian - through the lens of media framing, rhetoric, and collective memory. We argue that these digital archives frame Turkey's Gezi Park protests as a challenge to an authoritarian government by promoting the themes of unrest as a conflict of ideologies, oppression of citizens, and the park as a site of memory. In a concluding section, we focus on the significance of digital archives as repositories of collective memory and the role of media framing in shaping these reconstructions …

Examining Consumers’ Perceptions Of And Attitudes Toward Digital Fashion In General And Purchase Intention Of Luxury Brands’ Digital Fashion Specifically, Yanbo Zhang, Chuanlan Liu, Yanru Lyu

Faculty Publications

Digital fashion may instill transformative power into the fashion industry as it can simultaneously deliver fashionability and sustainability. Renowned for their innovativeness and creativity, luxury brands embrace digital fashion and achieve market success, indicating the future of digital fashion. This research aims to empirically investigate consumers’ general perceptions and evaluations of digital fashion and to specifically examine consumers’ purchase intention of luxury brands’ digital fashion. A total of 214 responses were collected from a U.S.-based research company’s consumer panel. Data were analyzed by using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results revealed that the general attitude toward digital fashion is influenced …

Informing Trauma-Informed Care In Schools And Other Useful Practices For Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, Paul Mooney, Joseph B. Ryan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Calorie Restriction Modulates The Transcription Of Genes Related To Stress Response And Longevity In Human Muscle: The Calerie Study, Jayanta Kumar Das, Nirad Banskota, Julián Candia, Michael E. Griswold, Melissa Orenduff, Rafael De Cabo, David L. Corcoran, Sai Krupa Das, Supriyo De, Kim Marie Huffman, Virginia B. Kraus, William E. Kraus, Corby K Martin, Susan B. Racette, Leanne M. Redman, Birgit Schilling, Daniel W Belsky, Luigi Ferrucci

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

The lifespan extension induced by 40% caloric restriction (CR) in rodents is accompanied by postponement of disease, preservation of function, and increased stress resistance. Whether CR elicits the same physiological and molecular responses in humans remains mostly unexplored. In the CALERIE study, 12% CR for 2 years in healthy humans induced minor losses of muscle mass (leg lean mass) without changes of muscle strength, but mechanisms for muscle quality preservation remained unclear. We performed high-depth RNA-Seq (387–618 million paired reads) on human vastus lateralis muscle biopsies collected from the CALERIE participants at baseline, 12- and 24-month follow-up from the 90 …

Morphodynamic Modeling Of Fourleague Bay In Mississippi River Delta: Sediment Fluxes Across River-Estuary-Wetland Boundaries, Nan Wang, Qin Chen, Kelin Hu, Kehui Xu, Samuel J. Bentley, Jiaze Wang

Faculty Publications

To mitigate land losses in the Mississippi River Delta, sediment diversions are being employed to enable the flow of river water and sediments into wetlands experiencing degradation. A two-dimensional coupled flow-wave Delft3D model was used in this study to explore the hydrodynamics and sediment transport in Fourleague Bay (FLB), Louisiana, USA, which has been considered an analog site for studying the efficiency of sediment diversion projects. In-situ measurements of sediment accretion and hydrodynamic characteristics from 2015 to 2016 were utilized to calibrate and validate the morphodynamic model. The validated model was then applied to quantify sediment transport in FLB and …

Single-Cell Analysis In Hypersaline Brines Predicts A Water-Activity Limit Of Microbial Anabolic Activity, Emily R. Paris, Nestor Arandia-Gorostidi, Benjamin Klempay, Jeff S. Bowman, Alexandra Pontefract, Claire E. Elbon, Jennifer B. Glass, Ellery D. Ingall, Peter T. Doran, Sanjoy M. Som, Britney E. Schmidt, Anne E. Dekas

Faculty Publications

Hypersaline brines provide excellent opportunities to study extreme microbial life. Here, we investigated anabolic activity in nearly 6000 individual cells from solar saltern sites with water activities (aw) ranging from 0.982 to 0.409 (seawater to extreme brine). Average anabolic activity decreased exponentially with aw, with nuanced trends evident at the single-cell level: The proportion of active cells remained high (>50%) even after NaCl saturation, and subsets of cells spiked in activity as aw decreased. Intracommunity heterogeneity in activity increased as seawater transitioned to brine, suggesting increased phenotypic heterogeneity with increased physiological stress. No microbial activity was detected in the …

Sediment Delivery To Sustain The Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta Under Climate Change And Anthropogenic Impacts, Jessica L. Raff, Steven L. Goodbred, Jennifer L. Pickering, Ryan S. Sincavage, John C. Ayers, Md Saddam Hossain, Carol A. Wilson, Chris Paola, Michael S. Steckler, Dhiman R. Mondal, Jean Louis Grimaud, Celine Jo Grall, Kimberly G. Rogers, Kazi Matin Ahmed, Syed Humayun Akhter, Brandee N. Carlson, Elizabeth L. Chamberlain, Meagan Dejter, Jonathan M. Gilligan, Richard P. Hale, Mahfuzur R. Khan, Md Golam Muktadir, Md Munsur Rahman, Lauren A. Williams

Faculty Publications

The principal nature-based solution for offsetting relative sea-level rise in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta is the unabated delivery, dispersal, and deposition of the rivers’ ~1 billion-tonne annual sediment load. Recent hydrological transport modeling suggests that strengthening monsoon precipitation in the 21st century could increase this sediment delivery 34-60%; yet other studies demonstrate that sediment could decline 15-80% if planned dams and river diversions are fully implemented. We validate these modeled ranges by developing a comprehensive field-based sediment budget that quantifies the supply of Ganges-Brahmaputra river sediment under varying Holocene climate conditions. Our data reveal natural responses in sediment supply comparable to …

Hybrid Hemp/Glass Fiber Reinforced High-Temperature Shape Memory Photopolymer With Mechanical And Flame-Retardant Analysis, Sakil Mahmud, John Konlan, Jenny Deicaza, Guoqiang Li

Faculty Publications

Cultivated natural fibers have a huge possibility for green and sustainable reinforcement for polymers, but their limited load-bearing ability and flammability prevent them from wide applications in composites. According to the beam theory, normal stress is the maximum at the outermost layers but zero at the mid-plane under bending (with (non)linear strain distribution). Shear stress is the maximum at the mid-plane but manageable for most polymers. Accordingly, a laminated composite made of hybrid fiber-reinforced shape memory photopolymer was developed, incorporating strong synthetic glass fibers over a weak core of natural hemp fibers. Even with a significant proportion of natural hemp …

Engineering Inlet Structures To Enhance Dna Capture Into Nanochannels In A Polymer Nanofluidic Device Produced Via Nanoimprint Lithography, Jiahao Wu, Junseo Choi, Franklin I. Uba, Steven A. Soper, Sunggook Park

Faculty Publications

Operating nanofluidic biosensors requires threading single molecules to be analyzed from microfluidic networks into nanostructures, mostly nanochannels or nanopores. Different inlet structures have been employed as a means of enhancing the number of the capture events into nanostructures. Here, we systematically investigated the effects of various engineered inlet structures formed at the micro/nanochannel interface on the capture of single λ-DNA molecules into the nanochannels. Different inlet geometries were evaluated and ranked in order of their effectiveness. Adding an inlet structure prior to a nanochannel effectively improved the DNA capture rate by 190–700% relative to that for the abrupt micro/nanochannel interface. …

Breaking Boundaries In Wind Engineering: Lsu Wise Open-Jet Facility Revolutionizes Solar Panel And Building Design, Aly Mousaad Aly

Faculty Publications

Featured Application: The Louisiana State University (LSU) Windstorm Impact, Science, and Engineering (WISE) Open-Jet Testing facility is instrumental in enhancing structural resilience under windstorms. The facility represents a Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure to address grand challenges and the need for experimental capabilities in the mid-scale range. Its unique capabilities enable the comprehensive testing and evaluation of critical infrastructure components, encompassing low- and high-rise buildings, photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, wind turbines, bridges, vegetation (nature-based solutions), power transmission lines, and more. Through controlled wind conditions, researchers can gain invaluable insights into the behaviour and performance of these critical infrastructures. The facility is pivotal …

Experimental Evaluation Of Asphalt Mixtures With Emerging Additives Against Cracking And Moisture Damage, Md Tanvir A. Sarkar, Mostafa A. Elseifi

Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to evaluate and recommend an asphalt mixture design with emerging additive technologies that would provide superior performance against asphalt concrete (AC) stripping and cracking. To achieve this objective, a laboratory test program was developed to evaluate the use of nanomaterials (nanoclay and graphene nanoplatelet), an emerging anti-stripping agent (adhere), and warm-mix asphalt technologies (ZycoTherm, Sasobit, and EvoTherm). Two mix types were evaluated, which were a stone-matrix asphalt (SMA) and a dense-graded binder mix. In addition, the modified Lottman test (AASHTO T 283) and the indirect tensile asphalt cracking test (IDEAL-CT) test were used as …

Crystal–Melt Interfaces In Mg2sio4 At High Pressure: Structural And Energetics Insights From First-Principles Simulations, Bijaya B. Karki, Dipta B. Ghosh, Jianwei Wang, Shun Ichiro Karato

Faculty Publications

The interplay between crystal–melt and grain boundary interfaces in partially melted polycrystalline aggregates controls many physical properties of mantle rocks. To understand this process at the fundamental level requires improved knowledge about the interfacial structures and energetics. Here, we report the results of first-principles molecular dynamics simulations of two grain boundaries of (0l1)/[100] type for tilt angles of 30.4° and 49.6° and the corresponding solid–liquid interfaces in Mg2SiO4 forsterite at the conditions of the upper mantle. Our analysis of the simulated position time series shows that structural distortions at the solid–liquid interfacial region are stronger than intergranular interfacial distortions. The …

Give Me A Break, Oil Companies Don’T Need Them: A Case Study Of Drilling Incentives In Louisiana Oil & Gas, Samuel Camacho

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

A Novel Velocity Band Energy Workflow For Fiber-Optic Das Interpretation And Multiphase Flow Characterization, Gerald K. Ekechukwu, Jyotsna Sharma, Michael J. William

Faculty Publications

Distributed fiber-optic sensing continues to gain widespread adoption in the energy industry because of the numerous benefits it offers for real-time surface and subsurface monitoring of pipelines, wellbores, reservoirs, and storage infrastructure. In this study, we introduce a novel workflow to analyze optical fiber-based distributed acoustic sensor (DAS) data, which takes into account the speed of sound for a certain phase to filter the acoustic energy or signal contributed by that phase. This information is then utilized for the characterization of multiphase flow. The application of the proposed velocity band energy (VBE) workflow is demonstrated using a dataset acquired in …

Transverse Knot Invariants Across Transverse Knot Concordance, Nicholas Kearns

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Gender Gap: A Comparative Analysis Of Male And Female Rape Victims, Emma Carlo

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Early Effects Of The Emergency Rental Assistance Program: Evidence From A Natural Experiment, Logan Kern

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Performative Mixing For Immersive Audio, Brian A. Elizondo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Immersive multichannel audio can be produced with specialized setups of loudspeakers, often surrounding the audience. These setups can feature as few as four loudspeakers or more than 300. Performative mixing in these environments requires a bespoke solution offering intuitive gestural control. Beyond the usual faders for gain control, advancements in multichannel sound demand interfaces capable of quickly positioning sounds between channels. The Quad Cartesian Positioner is such a solution in the form of a Eurorack module for surround mixing for use in live or studio performances.

Diffusion/mixing methods for live multichannel immersive music often rely on the repurposing of hardware …

Do Contributing Files Provide Information About Oss Newcomers' Onboarding Barriers?, Felipe Fronchetti, David C. Shepherd, Igor Wiese, Christoph Treude, Marco Aurélio Gerosa, Igor Steinmacher

Faculty Publications

Effectively onboarding newcomers is essential for the success of open source projects. These projects often provide onboarding guidelines in their 'CONTRIBUTING' files (e.g., CONTRIBUTING.md on GitHub). These files explain, for example, how to find open tasks, implement solutions, and submit code for review. However, these files often do not follow a standard structure, can be too large, and miss barriers commonly found by newcomers. In this paper, we propose an automated approach to parse these CONTRIBUTING files and assess how they address onboarding barriers. We manually classified a sample of files according to a model of onboarding barriers from the …

Light-Driven And Nutrient-Driven Displacements Of Subsurface Chlorophyll Maximum Depth In Subtropical Gyres, Xiaogang Xing, Peng Xiu, Edward A. Laws, Guo Yang, Xin Liu, Fei Chai

Faculty Publications

The mechanism that determines the dynamics of subsurface chlorophyll maximum depth (zSCM) has long been debated. Although a coupling between zSCM and the top of nitracline (znit) has been widely observed in the open ocean, a co-location of zSCM and an isolume depth (ziso) has often been reported in oligotrophic waters. In this study, based on continuous observations of ten BGC-Argo floats, we found that the seasonal displacement of zSCM in all subtropical gyres was driven mainly by light, but zSCM displayed a nutrient-driven pattern occasionally when znit became shallower than ziso. We therefore proposed a “two-group competition framework”: zSCM …

Bearded Or Smooth? Awns Improve Yield When Wheat Experiences Heat Stress During Grain Fill In The Southeastern United States, Noah Dewitt, Jeanette Lyerly, Mohammed Guedira, James B. Holland, J. Paul Murphy, Brian P. Ward, Richard E. Boyles, Mohamed Mergoum, Md Ali Babar, Ehsan Shakiba, Russel Sutton, Amir Ibrahim, Vijay Tiwari, Nicholas Santantonio, David A. Van Sanford, Kimberly Howell, Jared H. Smith, Stephen A. Harrison, Gina Brown-Guedira

Faculty Publications

The presence or absence of awns-whether wheat heads are 'bearded' or 'smooth' - is the most visible phenotype distinguishing wheat cultivars. Previous studies suggest that awns may improve yields in heat or water-stressed environments, but the exact contribution of awns to yield differences remains unclear. Here we leverage historical phenotypic, genotypic, and climate data for wheat (Triticum aestivum) to estimate the yield effects of awns under different environmental conditions over a 12-year period in the southeastern USA. Lines were classified as awned or awnless based on sequence data, and observed heading dates were used to associate grain fill periods of …

5- And 10-Oxocorroles From Β-Octaalkylcorroles, Lorena Di Zazzo, Sara Nardis, Fabrizio Caroleo, Francesco Pizzoli, Frank R. Fronczek, Kevin M. Smith, Beatrice Berionni Berna, Roberto Paolesse

Faculty Publications

The reaction of Zn ions with β-octaalkylcorroles leads to the air oxidation of the macrocycle, with the formation of a mixture of 5- and 10-oxocorroles. Spectroscopic characterization confirms the antiaromatic character of these macrocycles. A simple synthetic protocol opens the way for more detailed studies of oxocorrole chemistry.

An Intersection Of Science & Art: Vitrification Approaches And Open-Fabricated Tools For The Biomedical Model Sea Hare, Aplysia Californica, Allyssa M. Oune

LSU Master's Theses

The California sea hare (Aplysia californica) is an important biomedical model for molecular neurobiology, electrophysiology, learning, and memory due to their well-mapped and large neurons and well-characterized learning capabilities. The National Resource for Aplysia (NRA, University of Miami) maintains large stocks of live animals and relies on regular shipments of wild-caught individuals to maintain genetic diversity. This is labor and cost-intensive, and environmental changes could alter the availability of wild animals increasing the need to preserve this genetic resource. One solution is vitrification, ultra-fast cooling which produces an amorphous glass that minimizes damage to cells. Aplysia californica presents …