Digital Commons Network^™

The Recusant's Dream, Isabella Temperville

LSU Master's Theses

The Recusant’s Dream is a collection of works that portray the overarching lore of an original narrative by Isabella Temperville. Inspired by Biblical narratives, The Recusant’s Dream tells the story of Lucifer’s rebellion against an order of power-hungry archangels and the consequences that follow in the form of an all-consuming curse. The curse is both a marker and a death sentence, as those who bear it are called “demons” and are fated to eventually succumb to it. Lucifer was the first to fall victim to the consumption and his death sparked an infernal war amongst the cursed and the order …

From Exit To Apathy: Migration, Remittances, And The Erosion Of Political Participation, Sanjida Mehrin

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis offers new perspectives on migration and political behavior in Latin America by analyzing how remittances affect political engagement and how economic perceptions influence migration intentions. While classic models focus on structural economic conditions, this study emphasizes the independent significance of subjective economic judgments as well as the different political implications of remittances across national contexts. The first chapter challenges traditional models that mainly link migration with objective economic indicators by examining how migration intentions are influenced by retrospective economic views. Using individual-level data from the 2018 LAPOP survey across 19 Latin American countries, the analysis employs country fixed …

Geo-Ai For Wetland Classification And Evolutionary Analysis, Lirong Yin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Wetlands, as a crucial component of the Earth's ecosystem, play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance and preserving biodiversity. However, wetlands are currently facing severe challenges, as both natural and human-induced factors are contributing to their global degradation. Gaining a deep understanding of the species composition and biodiversity within wetland-covered areas and accurately analyzing their changing trends not only helps assess the current and future state of wetlands but also provides strong support for the formulation of scientifically sound wetland conservation strategies. In recent years, the rapid development of geospatial intelligence and remote sensing technologies has brought new opportunities …

Unavoidable Immersions And Topological Minors Of K-Edge-Connected Graphs, Brittian Qualls

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this work, we present results concerning the unavoidable structures in large and infinite k-edge-connected graphs. These results are inspired by the classical result of Ramsey, who proved that for every positive integer r, every sufficiently large graph contains as an induced subgraph either K_r or $\overline{K_r}$. We consider different graph containment relations, focusing primarily on the immersion relation. In the case of finite graphs, we provide the unavoidable immersions of 4-edge-connected graphs and prove that linear edge-connectivity suffices to immerse the graph C_t,r.

This dissertation also considers infinite graphs. We present the …

The Influence Of Selected Demographic And Academic Factors On The Persistence To Degree Completion Of Military Veterans At A Research University In The South, Damon L. Ploger

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A large number of veterans leave the military each year, hoping to reacclimate successfully to civilian society while utilizing the knowledge and skills they acquired in the military to assist in their pursuit of gainful employment. Many wish to enhance this process by earning a college degree. Unfortunately, various barriers and other random personal hurdles can impede the progress of the now-veteran student toward degree completion. The lack of knowledge about these barriers and the factors that support a veteran student’s persistence to complete a college degree has created the need for this investigation. The primary purpose of this study …

"En Clave" Tania León And Roberto Sierra: Autochthonous Music Of Cuba And Puerto Rico, Contemporary Music Composition And The 'Puente' In Between, Omar A. Ramirez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This document is in two parts. The first examines selected works of Latin-American composers Tania León and Roberto Sierra. Both composers cite their cultural background as a force that shapes their artistic expression. Many of their works are titled in Spanish, with compositions referencing their homelands in subject and narrative, and incorporate the autochthonous music(s) of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Elements of these afrodiasporic musical traditions can be found in their works: Alegre, Batá, Stride, (Leon), Loiza, and Concerto for Viola (Sierra), each examined here.

Autochthonous musical elements are highlighted in score excerpts and described using …

Tonality Without Function In Lee Hoiby's The Shining Place: Five Poems Of Emily Dickinson, Anne Millspaugh

LSU Master's Theses

Lee Hoiby’s life and style are discussed, and his song set The Shining Place: Five Poems of Emily Dickinson is analyzed. A small biography of Emily Dickinson and of the set itself is provided. The song set is analyzed through how Hoiby set Dickinson’s dashes in the music, how diatonic collections are used within the songs, and how motives are used within the songs. Interviews conducted between myself and Lee Hoiby’s partner Mark Shulgasser are transcribed at the end in Appendix A.

Optical Spring Tracking For Enhancing Quantum-Limited Interferometers, Scott M. Aronson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Gravitational waves were first predicted by Albert Einstein in 1916. Calculations in the 1970s by Rainer Weiss showed an interferometer of sufficient size could realistically detect gravitational waves, which led to a grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF). With steady progress and over decades of funding by the NSF, the construction of two full scale 4km interferometers was approved and began construction in 1994. This project, coined LIGO the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, came to be a worldwide collaboration of scientists dedicated to the discovery and study of gravitational waves. In 2015, both LIGO detectors detected a coincident inspiral …

Understanding The Experiences Of Biology Teachers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Amber R. Collins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic has caused the world to focus on the transition of learning environments that are more digital and virtual than any other time in educational history. Schools all over the world were required to adjust not only the mode of instruction, such as in virtual, hybrid, or in-person, but also create guidelines and procedures that reduce the amount of interaction between the teacher and the student (Garbe, Ogurlu, Uzeyir, & Cook, 2020). The research questions that guided this study were: 1) What are the experiences of five Biology teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic in transitioning to …

A Comprehensive Guide To A Trumpet Embouchure Change, Megan E. George

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to expand the literature related to the subject of trumpet embouchure change and provide a comprehensive resource that will assist both student and teacher in navigating a trumpet embouchure change. This resource will not only help them determine whether to go through with the process but will present them with multiple options regarding embouchure change starting methods. It can be used for a variety of ages but primarily intended for use with students high school age or older.

In current method books, one trumpet embouchure is usually presented and is often a “one-size-fits-all” …

Assessing Groundwater Availability And Land Subsidence Risk Associated With Anthropogenic Activities In A Complex Aquifer System, Aya Bakr Attya Mohamed

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Southern Hills aquifer system (SHAS) is the primary source of water in the Capital area of Louisiana. However, the overexploitation of freshwater-bearing aquifers and the presence of two active faults, the BR fault and the DSS fault, have resulted in groundwater depletion, saltwater intrusion, and increased the risk of land surface subsidence. Such critical issues pose substantial threats to groundwater availability and exert detrimental effects on the environment and urban infrastructures. This dissertation presents a comprehensive investigation of the SHAS for recognizing the consequences of groundwater depletion and its potential long-term impacts on groundwater availability and land stability. A …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And High School Dropout: The Roles Of Student Disengagement And Social Support, Rachel D. Pounders

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

More than two million students a year leave high school without a completion credential (NCES, 2024). Students who drop out are at-risk for detrimental long-term outcomes physically, mentally and economically (Rumberger, 2020). Students with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are significantly more likely to have poor educational outcomes, including school dropout (Metzler et al., 2017; Pan et al., 2019). However, there is limited insight into what affects the pathway between ACEs and poor educational outcomes for students (Dupéré et al., 2019; Morrow & Villodas, 2018). Informed by prominent dropout theories with ecological foundations and the theory of stress and coping, this …

Quantitative Risk Analysis For Elections, George A. Buras

LSU Master's Theses

This paper examines risk analysis and risk management in the field of election security. The purpose of this paper is not to enumerate risks to election security or explain how they might be mitigated, but rather to understand and improve how we measure and communicate those risks.

First, I contextualize election security risks by establishing what it means for an election to be secure and I give an overview of the types of events that might threaten election security. Then, I explore different methods that we can use to model electoral risks. Existing resources for managing electoral risks use qualitative …

The Role Of Mental Health Literacy And Social Media In Shaping University Students’ Intentions To Use Telehealth Services: A Theory Of Planned Behavior Approach In A Post-Pandemic Society, Jena R. Anderson

LSU Master's Theses

This study examined the relationships between mental health literacy and social media use as an informational resource in college students and their intentions to use teletherapy. Using the theory of planned behavior as the framework, this research explores how attitudes towards teletherapy, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence students' willingness to seek out mental health services such as teletherapy. Findings revealed that mental health literacy is a strong predictor of students' attitudes and perceived behavioral control, reinforcing prior research that links literacy to better health management among patients. Social media was also a strong predictor of subjective norms, highlighting …

Studies On Cell Cycle Regulation And Ecm Modification During Tubular Organ Formation In Drosophila Embryos, Jeffrey Matthew

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The formation of tubular organs—such as the heart and kidneys—is a complex developmental process that requires the precise coordination of tissue remodeling with dynamic changes in cellular behavior. Key processes including cell proliferation, apoptosis, and extracellular matrix (ECM) formation must be tightly synchronized with mechanisms that generate and transmit physical forces, transforming a flat epithelial sheet into a three-dimensional organ. Disruptions in the homeostasis of these processes during organogenesis can lead to congenital defects, such as pulmonary atresia and renal hypoplasia.

To investigate the mechanisms underlying epithelial morphogenesis, the Chung laboratory employs the Drosophila embryonic salivary gland (SG) as a …

Voices Of Heritage And Resilience: A Performance Guide To Soprano Arias Celebrating The Black Experience In Opera, Imani S. Francis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Voices of Heritage and Resilience: A Performance Guide for Soprano Arias Celebrating the Black Experience explores a selection of soprano arias that illuminate the depth, complexity, and resilience of Black identity through opera. This study provides historical context, musical style, and vocal performance strategies for works that center around the African American experience, spanning both traditional and contemporary repertoire.

By examining the relations between text, music, and historical significance, this dissertation highlights how these arias convey themes of struggle, conflict, oppression, love, and perseverance. It also supplies guidance to the singer through the use of vocal methods, interpretation, and stylistic …

La Nuit Des Idées: Building Solidarity Across Difference, Lsu Center For French And Francophone Studies, Villa Albertine, Consulat Général De France À La Nouvelle-Orléans

Department of French Studies Graduate Student Association Conference

Join us for a concert-conversation with Cajun standards mixed up with a bit of folk, swamp pop, and country.

The evening will be facilitated by LGBTQ+ Cajun musicians Gina Forsyth (the Mid-City Aces, the Bruce Daigrepont Band), guitarist Jan Boney, accordionist Rosemary Benoit (Lee Benoit & the Bayou Stompers, Louisiana Cajun Mixers), bassist Sam Wróbel (the 99 Playboys) and drummer Maegen Benoit (Lee Benoit Family Band).

On Unavoidable Infinite Hypergraphs, Samuel Weiner

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ramsey's Theorem states that every infinite graph contains either K_∞ or $\overline{K_∞}$ as an induced subgraph. For this reason, K_∞ and $\overline{K_∞}$ are often referred to as the unavoidable infinite graphs. Many similar results have characterized the unavoidable members for various classes of infinite graphs; perhaps the most notable of these is König's Infinity Lemma, which states that every infinite, connected, locally finite graph contains a ray as an induced subgraph. From these findings, one can easily deduce that every infinite, connected graph contains an infinite clique, star, or ray as an induced subgraph; …

Exploring Pedagogical Approaches And Discussion For Young Beginner Double Bass Players, Jiaying Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In recent years, early childhood education for the double bass has gained increasing attention and plays a crucial role in shaping the future development of the instrument. However, compared to other instruments, research on early childhood education for the double bass remains relatively underdeveloped, with a lack of written materials on the subject. This thesis introduces the formation of early childhood teaching concepts and explains why parents play an irreplaceable role in a child’s initial exposure to music learning. By collecting and analyzing traditional double bass teaching methods and integrating common principles from other string instrument teaching approaches, this study …

The Effects Of Disclosure Of Genai Use In The Production Of Advertising In High And Low Involvement Settings, Shawn Griffin

LSU Master's Theses

This study explores the effects of GenAI disclosure on advertising effectiveness and how these influences interact with consumers’ involvement in advertised products using a 2×2 experimental design with 83 participants, manipulating AI disclosure (disclosed vs. not disclosed) and involvement level (high vs. low). Findings indicate that disclosure negatively impacts brand attitude but has no significant effect on ad attitude, purchase intention, or sharing intention. An interaction effect was also found that in high-involvement conditions, disclosure increased the intention to share the ad. These results, framed through the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) and Persuasion Knowledge Model (PKM), offer insights into the …

On Regularity And Convergence Of Solutions To The Boltzmann-Enskog Equations, Christian Ennis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Boltzmann equation describes the time evolution of the density function in position-velocity space for a classical particle subjected to possible collisions by other particles in a diluted gas that expands in vacuum for a given initial distribution. While many authors have studied the probabilistic interpretation of the spatially homogeneous Boltzmann equation, there is a dearth of articles on the stochastic framework of the full (that is, spatially inhomogeneous) Boltzmann equation. In this thesis, we examine a stochastic process, developed by S. Albevario, B. Ruediger, and P. Sundar, whose law is a weak solution to a mollified Boltzmann equation. This …

Rheological, Interfacial, And Filtration Behavior Of Lignocellulosic Nanomaterials In Suspension And Emulsion Drilling Fluids, Meen Sung Koo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In recent years, the rheological aspects of suspensions/emulsions applied by cellulose nanomaterials (CNMs) have been gained considerable interests due to high gel-forming properties ascribed by hydrophilicity, crystallinity, ease functionalization, and high aspect ratio. Introducing residual lignin in CNMs (LCNMs) seemed to be capable of achieving various advantages in the application of CNMs ascribed by hydrophobicity, binding effects, and abundant aromatic groups derived from complexity of lignin. This dissertation dedicates to the characterizations of (L)CNMs, and rheological properties of (L)CNMs applied fluids (i.e., suspension and emulsion). In the suspension system, the presence of lignin in LCNMs decreased gel strength, viscosity, and …

Quaternary Subsurface Characterization Of The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer: Insights From Interval Kriging And Airborne Em-Borehole Data Integration, Yuqi Song

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Pleistocene period significantly contributed to the formation of alluvial aquifer worldwide. These productive aquifers are crucial for domestic, industrial, and agricultural water supplies. The Mississippi River Valley alluvial aquifer (MRVA), a principal aquifer in the U.S., is crucial for national food security and global agricultural supply. This study aims to characterize the subsurface architecture of the MRVA, thereby enhancing fundamental understanding of sedimentological processes involved in the genesis of glacio-fluvial aquifers worldwide. The research objectives are threefold: (1) to provide a detailed characterization of the MRVA; (2) to develop 3D geostatistical methods for geological modeling; and (3) to develop …

Explicit Modularity And Moments For Certain Hypergeometric Character Sums, Brian Grove

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A great deal of progress in number theory throughout history has been motivated by trying to solve equations. One of the most famous challenges is to show there are no positive integer solutions to $x^{n}+y^{n} = z^{n}$ for $n > 2$, posed by Fermat around 1637. Special cases, such as the $n = 3$ and $n = 4$ cases, can be established using various algebraic manipulations. However, a general solution was elusive until the late 1990s when the combined work of Wiles \cite{Wiles} and Taylor--Wiles \cite{TaylorWiles} give a full proof.

One of the key insights used in proving Fermat's conjecture involves …

Evaluating Biotic Effecrs Associated With The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum In Mississippi And Alabama: A Palynological And Biostratigraphic Study Of Amoco's Legacy Samples, Sarah Fortin Bancroft

LSU Master's Theses

The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was a ~200 ka period of rapid global warming in the earliest Eocene (~56 Ma) involving a roughly 7 °C rise in atmospheric and sea-surface temperatures. The Gulf of Mexico Wilcox Group contains very well-preserved terrestrial and deltaic sediments that contain exploitable hydrocarbons . The Wilcox Group’s Paleocene Tuscahoma and Eocene Hatchetigbee Formations have been roughly dated with calcareous and planktonic foraminiferal assemblages by AMOCO; however, the precise ages of these formations, their palynological assemblages, and their paleo-depositional geosystems are an area of active research.

Through a high-resolution palynological analysis, this study assesses the depositional …

Abundance And Prevalence Of Antibiotic-Resistant Escherichia Coli In Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Water Bodies Impacted By On-Site Wastewater Treatment System Effluent, Katherine Weise

LSU Master's Theses

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing public health concern, especially with the spread of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) producing Escherichia coli. This study examined the prevalence and abundance of antibiotic-resistant E. coli in Yellow Water (YW) and Natalbany River (NR) in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, which receive effluent from decentralized wastewater treatment systems. Monthly surface water grab samples were collected at four sites on each river from February 2023 to July 2024 and screened for generic and antibiotic-resistant E. coli using membrane filtration with ceftriaxone and cefotaxime as screening agents per the WHO Tricycle Protocol. We evaluated resistance patterns of the …

“San Antonio, ¡De Cabeza!”: An Opera By Marcelo Beltrán Using A Fusion Of Ecuadorian Musical Traditions And Various Musical Genres, Lucía Berenice Carrera Troya

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores the opera San Antonio, ¡de cabeza! (Saint Anthony, upside down!), examining its cultural and musical significance in Ecuadorian folklore and its integration of traditional Ecuadorian genres to create a nationalist opera that is also grounded in operatic traditions. The figure of Saint Anthony of Padua is explored, tracing the origins of his legend and its influence on Ecuadorian folklore, with a focus on how these elements are represented in the opera. The life and career of the composer are discussed, emphasizing academic background, and the development of San Antonio, ¡de cabeza! within the context of his broader …

Stochastic Analysis And White Noise Calculus Of Nonlinear Wave Equations With Application To Laser Generation And Propagation, Sivaguru S. Sritharan, Saba Mudaliar

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Deep Learning Applications For Predictive Modeling In Cancer Therapy And Enzyme Encoding, Mengmeng Liu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Predictive modeling has revolutionized computational biology and molecular bioinformatics, enabling significant advancements in cancer therapy and functional enzyme characterization. Despite considerable progress, significant challenges remain in accurately predicting combinational cancer therapies and systematically representing enzyme functions for computational applications. Traditional methods struggle with capturing the complex interactions between drugs and biological networks, as well as representing hierarchical relationships within enzyme classifications. This dissertation addresses these limitations by developing advanced deep learning models tailored to enhance predictive performance in both domains.

First, a data augmentation strategy is introduced to improve anticancer drug synergy prediction by generating pharmacologically relevant drug pairs based …

The Boltzmann-Enskog Equation With Brownian Forcing, Aurora Wallace

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Interacting particle systems (IPS) are used to rigorously derive partial differential equations modeling macroscopic behavior given by systems of stochastic differential equa- tions in physics, biology, and other sciences. These systems model the time evolution of n interacting particles with desired dynamics. In the n-system studied here, only two parti- cles may interact at a time (binary collisions). The particles are exchangeable; that is, the ordering of the particles does not play a role, and the interaction between the ith particle and the jth particle models an elastic collision. In this thesis, we use the method of inter- acting particle …