Digital Commons Network^™

The Application Of Deep Learning Algorithms To Pediatric Vascular Anomalies Using A Limited Dataset, Briana I. Robertson

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Culture And Economics: A Literature Review, Faith Howard

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

An Argument For The Second Nuclear Era: Salvaging The Atomic Age In Response To Climate Change, Ian Sager

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Bridge Load Posting Prediction, Sabarethinam Kameshwar, Md. Manik Mia, Sai Bandaru

Publications

There are approximately 13,000 bridges in Louisiana facilitating movement of people, goods, and services. At present, about 12% of the bridges are load posted, i.e., they are deemed to lack the strength to safely carry all legal loads. With time bridges will age and deteriorate; at the same time, legal loads might increase. Load posted bridges disrupt the movement of goods and commerce. Therefore, objective of this research was to estimate the number of load posted bridges in Louisiana over the next 50 years. For this purpose, herein, a data based approach was used. For a given bridge type, the …

Smart Battery Management System For Electric Vehicles: Selflearning Algorithms For Simultaneous State And Parameter Estimation, And Stress Detection, Avimanyu Sahoo, Samir Ahmed

Publications

The project proposes to develop parameter-varying SOH-coupled models for lithium-ion battery and self-learning algorithms to learn the model for simultaneous state and parameter estimation and fault detection. The traditional battery models use constant parameters, limiting their accuracy for predicting the state of the charge and health over the complete life-cycle. In practice, the battery parameters vary with the change in the state of charge and state of health. SOH-coupled models can be used to estimate the state of charge and health accurately. Further, obtaining the model parameters is also a challenging task for designing filters or observers for state estimation. …

Expanding The Concept Of Comprehensive Area Ratio Parameter To The South-Central States: Towards Simplifying The Structural Evaluation Of Flexible Pavements At The Network Level, Mena Souliman, Samer Dessouky, Nitish R. Bastola

Publications

The surface deflection bowl data collected through falling weight deflectometer (FWD) test is utilized by highway agencies in assessing the performance of the flexible pavement. However, a robust method to evaluate pavement sections utilizing FWD data from all the sensors is seldom developed. There is always a need for DOTs and highway agencies to have a simplified procedure, which can be directly implemented in agencies' databases. This study focuses on expanding and validating the concept of previously developed area ratio parameters towards the pavement section of South-Central States (Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) in effectively analyzing the pavement …

Ferris Bakes, Ferris Dehart

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Revealing The Native Status Of Conyza Bonariensis: Specialization Of Insect Herbivores Associated With Conyza And Erigeron Spp. (Asteraceae) In Louisiana, Texas, And Mississippi, Carlos Wiggins

LSU Master's Theses

Flaxleaf fleabane [Conyza bonariensis (L.) Cronquist] (Asterales: Asteraceae) is an annual herb which grows up to 1.0 m in height and is native to South America. Due to introduction and subsequent development of herbicide resistance, C. bonariensis has become a major agricultural weed in Australia. The purpose of this study was to catalog herbivorous insects associated with local populations of C. bonariensis in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi in order to establish comparisons with the Australian fauna and identify potential biological control agents. Leaves, roots, stems, and flowers of C. bonariensis were inspected for signs of insects and pathogens. Results …

Nonsingular Quantum Gravitational Dynamics Of An Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi Dust Shell Model: The Role Of Quantization Prescriptions, Kristina Giesel, Bao-Fei Li, Parampreet Singh

Faculty Publications

We study some consequences of the loop quantization of the outermost dust shell in the LemaitreTolman-Bondi spacetime with a homogeneous dust density using different quantization strategies motivated by loop quantum gravity. Prior work has dealt with loop quantizing this model by employing holonomies and the triads, following the procedure in standard loop quantum cosmology. In this work we compare this quantization with the one in which holonomies and gauge-covariant fluxes are used. While both of the quantization schemes resolve the central singularity, they lead to different mass gaps at which a trapped surface forms. This trapped surface which is matched …

Cure-On-Demand And Time-Lapse Polymerization, John Anthony Pojman

College of Science Patents

The present invention provides compositions, methods and kits for the temporal control induction time for a polymerization reaction.

Application Of Causal Inference To The Analysis Of Occupant Thermal State And Energy Behavioral Intentions In Immersive Virtual Environments, Girish Rentala, Yimin Zhu, Supratik Mukhopadhyay

Faculty Publications

Identification and quantitative understanding of factors that influence occupant energy behavior and thermal state during the design phase are critical in supporting effective energy-efficient design. To achieve this, immersive virtual environments (IVEs) have recently shown potential as a tool to simulate occupant energy behaviors and collect context-dependent behavior data for buildings under design. On the other hand, prior models of occupant energy behaviors and thermal states used correlation-based approaches, which failed to capture the underlying causal interactions between the influencing factors and hence were unable to uncover the true causing factors. Therefore, in this study, the authors investigate the applicability …

Ncs Assessments Of The Motor, Sensory, And Physical Health Domains, Jane E. Clark, Russell Pate, Rose Marie Rine, Jennifer Christy, Pamela Dalton, Diane L. Damiano, Stephen Daniels, Jonathan M. Holmes, Peter T. Katzmarzyk, Susan Magasi, Ryan Mccreery, Kerry Mciver, Karl M. Newell, Terence Sanger, David Sugden, Elsie Taveras, Steven Hirschfeld

Population and Public Health Science Faculty Publications

As part of the National Children's Study (NCS) comprehensive and longitudinal assessment of the health status of the whole child, scientific teams were convened to recommend assessment measures for the NCS. This manuscript documents the work of three scientific teams who focused on the motor, sensory, or the physical health aspects of this assessment. Each domain team offered a value proposition for the importance of their domain to the health outcomes of the developing infant and child. Constructs within each domain were identified and measures of these constructs proposed. Where available extant assessments were identified. Those constructs that were in …

Protein Kinase Sgk2 Is Induced By The Β3 Adrenergic Receptor-Camp-Pka-Pgc-1Α/Nt-Pgc-1Α Axis But Dispensable For Brown/Beige Adipose Tissue Thermogenesis, Chul Hong Park, Jiyoung Moon, Minsung Park, Helia Cheng, Jisu Lee, Ji Suk Chang

Division of Basic Science Faculty Publications

Brown and beige adipocytes are specialized to dissipate energy as heat. Sgk2, encoding a serine/threonine kinase, has been identified as a brown and beige adipocyte-specific gene in rodents and humans; however, its function in brown/beige adipocytes remains unraveled. Here, we examined the regulation and role of Sgk2 in brown/beige adipose tissue thermogenesis. We found that transcriptional coactivators PGC-1α and NT-PGC-1α activated by the β3 adrenergic receptor-cAMP-PKA pathway are recruited to the Sgk2 promoter, triggering Sgk2 transcription in response to cold. SGK2 elevation was closely associated with increased serine/threonine phosphorylation of proteins carrying the consensus RxRxxS/T phosphorylation site. However, despite cold-dependent …

Exploring Rural Engineering Students’ College Choice Process At Two Land-Grant Universities, Rachel E. Worsham, Ashley B. Clayton, Joy Gaston Gayles

Faculty Publications

This qualitative case study examines the college choice decisions of rural students enrolled in engineering majors to understand what conditions and experiences led rural students to pursue engineering at their institution. We found four themes that help illuminate rural engineering students’ college choice journeys (1) The Inextricable Nature of College, Major, and Career Choice (2) “The Smart Person Thing to Do:” The Power of Prestige, (3) “Are You Sure You Don’t Want to Change your Major?” Dissonance Between Aspirations and Expectations, and (4) School and Community as Crucial Resources in College and Major Exploration. These findings have implications for those …

The Use Of Rna Interference To Investigate The Role Of Zmpr10 In Salt Stress Response And Mtl/Nld/Zmpla1 In The Improvement Of Haploid Induction In Maize, Max Carl Miller

LSU Master's Theses

RNA interference (RNAi) is a useful tool in gene characterization and its use is expanding into more practical fields. Two RNAi techniques were used in this case. The studies conducted in the chapter two use transgenic maize lines containing an RNAi construct targeting ZmPR10 to characterize its potential role in growth and development in response to salinity stress. T₁ transgenic plants from events A44S1-35-3 and A44S1-3-4, which had significantly reduced ZmPR10 expression compared to the non-transgenic controls, showed no differences compared to the controls in heights after 30 and 60 days, nor did the T₂ transgenic from these …

Memory Forensics Comparison Of Apple M1 And Intel Architecture Using Volatility Framework, Joshua Duke

LSU Master's Theses

Memory forensics allows an investigator to get a full picture of what is occurring on-device at the time that a memory sample is captured and is frequently used to detect and analyze malware. Malicious attacks have evolved from living on disk to having persistence mechanisms in the volatile memory (RAM) of a device and the information that is captured in memory samples contains crucial information for full forensic analysis by cybersecurity professionals. Recently, Apple unveiled computers containing a custom designed system on a chip (SoC) called the M1 that is based on ARM architecture. Our research focused on the differences …

Deep Learning Based Super Resolution Of Gravity Data For Geophysical Exploration, Yi Zhang

LSU Master's Theses

Gravity measurement from ground can be obtained by precision gyrostabilized gravimeters. However, land-based gravity measurements can be challenging in many hard-to-reach regions. By contrast, satellite-based gravity measurement is considered to be a very promising for large-scale exploration since it opens up the possibilities for geophysical study of remote regions. However, comparing with the gravity from ground, the resolution and precision of satellite-based gravity measurements is lower, which limits its application for geological explorations. The novel and effective methods in improving the low spatial resolution and precision of satellite-based gravity data are active quest.

Super resolution is used for naming any …

Parallel Coordinates-Based Visualization Of Covid-19 Data, Puja Bhandari

LSU Master's Theses

The number of COVID-19 cases has been continuously increasing worldwide since the beginning of 2020. A lot of efforts have been made in identifying, predicting, and mitigating this deadly virus infection. This requires gaining insight into large collections of the related data, which are multivariate in nature involving many variables/attributes. Here we develop a parallel coordinates system to visualize the COVID-19 data in an interactive manner considering all variables, including location and time. The challenges with this approach include mapping many variables of different types (parallel axes) and occlusion associated with highly cluttered data lines. We adopt several functionalities to …

Growth, Characterization, And Mechanical Testing Of Diamond-Like Carbon Films, Tailei Qi

LSU Master's Theses

The high residual stresses within diamond-like carbon (DLC) films limit its thickness and make the film tend to delaminate from the substrate and be defective on the surface. To address this problem, a new plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system (PECVD) was set up to investigate the effects of different film growth parameters on the DLC films, such as chromium doping, gas fluxes, depositing pressures, bias voltages, and depositing times. After the film growth parameters were optimized, this condition was transferred from silicon wafer to SS316 steel plate to deposition of DLC films with some adjustments. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) …

Characteristics And Causal Factors For The Receptive-Expressive Gap In Typically Developed Spanish-English Adult Bilinguals, Rachael Janelle Javaherian

LSU Master's Theses

A receptive-expressive language gap occurs when a standardized receptive score is statistically greater than an expressive score in either a primary or a second language. In bilingual children, gap studies already exist for determining language impairment. In adults, there are few studies; nevertheless, one needs to distinguish between typical language patterns of bilingualism due to non-pathological loss of L1 skills versus problems resulting from accidents, disease, or age. To this end, the present study attempted to expand findings of studies by Gibson et al. (2012 and 2014) that focused on analysis of the gap and possible factors influencing its existence …

Cfd Simulations Of Macroscopic And Microscopic Multiphase Fluid Flow And Droplet Interaction, Aaron Harrington

LSU Master's Theses

Multiphase flow is a complex phenomenon which can be modeled on numerous different length scales, both macroscopically and microscopically. The use of a Euler-Euler model for Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of subcooled boiling phenomena is discussed in detail. The CFD conditions have been set up to mimic previous experimental conditions. A cylindrical vessel with subcooled liquid flow is heated along part of the axial wall of the vessel. A constant heat flux is applied to produce subcooled boiling. We discuss the development of the phase change within the vessel as well as the temperature profile, and validate the results …

Crystallization-Driven Self-Assembly Of Coil-Comb Shaped Polypeptoid Block Copolymers: Controlling The Growth Of One-Dimensional Nanostructures, Md Asmat Ullah

LSU Master's Theses

Poly-peptoid based nanoparticles have gained much attention concerning applications in biotechnology or biomedicine due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, the controlled growth of colloidally stable polypeptoid nanostructures of uniform size and controlled geometry remains a major challenge. In this study, the crystallization driven self-assembly (CDSA) of amphiphilic polypeptoid diblock co-polymers, namely poly (N-methyl glycine)-b-poly (N-decyl glycine) (PNMG-b-PNDG), was investigated for the growth of one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures in solution. PNMG-b-PNDG block copolymers (M₉₈D₂₀) were synthesized by sequential benzyl amine-initiated ring-opening polymerizations of the corresponding N-substituted glycine derived N-carboxy anhydrides, in which the degree of …

Surface Engineering Of Materials For Optical And Biomedical Applications, Syed Mohammad Abid Hasan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The mechanisms of various optical and medical applications depend on the characteristics of the surface of the material which is being used to detect the molecule of interest. In this work, we focused on some specific areas of surface engineering that play a vital role to improve the performance of some material characteristics. Firstly, we focused on the wettability of graphene, which is important for surface modification and thermal/fluidic properties. The level of transparency to van der Waals forces, chemical bonds, and electrostatic interactions between atoms and molecules on two sides of graphene single layer is not well understood. Our …

Reaction Pathways Of Molecular Growth For Bay-Region Methyl-Substituted Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons During Supercritical Pyrolysis Of N-Decane, Venkata Sai Krishna Karthik Vutukuru

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Prior to its combustion, fuel for future-highspeed aircraft will experience supercritical conditions, causing the fuel to undergo pyrolytic reactions that lead to the formation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), precursors to fuel-line solids that hinder aircraft’s safe operation. Therefore, understanding the formation pathways of PAH under supercritical conditions is important to preventing formation of these solids.

Previous work from our group has shown that n-alkanes are particularly problematic regarding solids formation and that the model fuel n-decane produces an abundance of aliphatics and one- to nine-ring aromatics—many of which are methyl-substituted. Some of these methyl-substituted PAH have their …

Evaluating Consumers’ Perception Of Gluten-Free/Clean-Label Muffins, Vanesa Chicaiza

LSU Master's Theses

The gluten-free-natural-ingredient (GF/NCL) product demand is globally increasing and driven by the growing prevalence of celiac-diseases. Nevertheless, the quality of GF product is often inferior compared to wheat-flour counterparts due to the removing of gluten, which, compromises the appearance, structure, and nutritional value. The addition of fiber into GF/NCL products has been considered to improve nutritional values while maintaining quality attributes. According to the US-FDA, a product containing ≥2.5 grams of fiber/serving can be claimed as a “good-source-of-fiber.” However, adding dietary fiber to baked products affects their qualities, and hence possibly lowering product acceptability.

The main objective of this research …

Effects Of Freshwater Input On Nutrient Loading, Toxic Cyanobacteria Bloom Development And Cyanotoxin Production In Lake Pontchartrain Estuary, Louisiana, Callie L. Snow

LSU Master's Theses

Estuaries in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) are undergoing profound alterations due to changes in climate and implementation of coastal restoration activities and these may lead to the increasing frequency of harmful algal blooms (HABs). The introduction of large volumes of nutrient-rich, fresh Mississippi River water into nutrient-poor Lake Pontchartrain Estuary is known to substantially change the chemistry and ecology of the estuary, and warm temperatures paired with the persistent nutrient loading into the estuary supports the proliferation of potentially toxic cyanobacteria blooms (CyanoHABs). Throughout 2019, a long-term opening of the Bonnet Carré Spillway (BCS), initially from February to …

Examining The Effectiveness Of “Turn Around Don’T Drown”, Chance D. Bryant

LSU Master's Theses

Extreme heat is the deadliest weather hazard in the U.S. Flooding is the second worst, and flash flooding is the deadliest form of flooding. The nature of these flood deaths contains a human element that deserves greater study. Since 2004, the National Weather Service has attempted to educate the public with its slogan, ``Turn Around Don’t Drown". Vehicle related mortality rates in Texas since 1996 were examined to answer the question of whether ``Turn Around Don’t Drown" has been effective. The slogan has a large footprint on the social media platform Twitter, with most of the Tweets coming from private …

Hemp Microgreen Mineral Content, Cannabinoids, Total Phenolics, And Antioxidants, Cheston T. Schayot

LSU Master's Theses

Hemp (Cannabis sativa) L. microgreens were grown to 7 and 12 days with and without supplemental lighting and/or fertilizer. The principal macronutrient found in hemp microgreens was nitrogen (N), followed by potassium (K), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), and sulfur (S). The principal micronutrient found in hemp microgreens was iron (Fe), followed by manganese (Mn), zinc (Zn), boron (B), and copper (Cu). Hemp microgreens were similar to other commonly grown microgreen species in minerals except for P and Mg, where they could potentially be an excellent source, and Zn, where they fell below previously reported amounts. The …

An Evaluation Of The Break Up With Salt Community-Based Hypertension Education Program, Helena L. Salgado

LSU Master's Theses

Introduction: Hypertension is a primary risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and contributes to renal disease, premature death, and disability. More recently, hypertension has also been identified as a risk factor for serious symptoms or as an underlying cause of death from Covid-19. Break up with salt (BUWS) is a 4-session, community-based nutrition education program of the LSU AgCenter, developed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, to help Louisiana’s adults prevent or mange hypertension. The BUWS curriculum focuses on the DASH diet, healthy food selection and preparation skills, and physical activity and stress management. BUWS was piloted in a …

Response Of Roseau Cane (Phragmites Australis) To Two Biotic Stresses: Hyalopterus Pruni And Bipolaris Yamadae, Heather E. Cizek

LSU Master's Theses

Roseau cane (Phragmites australis) is considered an invasive plant because of its ability to replace native plant species. However, in Louisiana it plays an important role protecting coastal infrastructure and being part of the marsh ecosystem in the lower Mississippi River Delta. In recent years, Roseau cane has been affected by a die-off, a problem that has also been reported in some European countries. Possible biotic and abiotic factors that have been associated with the die-off include scale insects, climate change, pollution, salinity levels, and pathogens.

In this research, the individual and combined effect of a foliar disease …