Digital Commons Network^™

Bayesian-Based Predictions Of Covid-19 Evolution In Texas Using Multispecies Mixture-Theoretic Continuum Models, Prashant K. Jha, Lianghao Cao, J. Tinsley Oden

Faculty Publications

We consider a mixture-theoretic continuum model of the spread of COVID-19 in Texas. The model consists of multiple coupled partial differential reaction–diffusion equations governing the evolution of susceptible, exposed, infectious, recovered, and deceased fractions of the total population in a given region. We consider the problem of model calibration, validation, and prediction following a Bayesian learning approach implemented in OPAL (the Occam Plausibility Algorithm). Our goal is to incorporate COVID-19 data to calibrate the model in real-time and make meaningful predictions and specify the confidence level in the prediction by quantifying the uncertainty in key quantities of interests. Our results …

Determination Of Sulfite And Antimicrobial Residue In Imported Shrimp To The Usa, Murshida Khan, Julie A. Lively

Faculty Publications

Incorrect usage of grow out and post-harvest products in shrimp aquaculture can lead to problems such as residue from veterinary drugs and melanosis prevention. These residues can be a serious concern for human health during handling and consumption of the shrimp. In an effort to determine if banned antimicrobial drugs were present in commercial shrimp, imported shrimp from India, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh and Ecuador were purchased from retail stores in Baton Rouge, LA, USA and screened for the presence of veterinary drug residues (oxytetracycline, nitrofurantoin, chloramphenicol, fluoroquinolone and malachite green) using ELISA test kits. Additional screening with the …

The Effects Of Family Transitions On Depressive Symptoms: Differences Among Young Adults With And Without Childhood Symptoms Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Rhiannon A. Kroeger, Debra Umberson, Daniel A. Powers, Danequa L. Forrest

Faculty Publications

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is tied to higher levels of depression, but the social factors that shape these associations are not well understood. This study considers whether family transitions affect depressive symptoms differently for young adults with and without childhood symptoms of ADHD at subthreshold or diagnostic levels. Between-within regression analysis of nationally representative longitudinal survey data shows that transitions into cohabitation and parenthood affect depressive symptoms differently for young adults with and without childhood symptoms of ADHD. Specifically, within-person effects indicate that transitions into cohabitation and parenthood are tied to decreases in depressive symptoms, but only for young adults without …

Relationships Between Emotion, Acceptance, Food Choice, And Consumption: Some New Perspectives, Witoon Prinyawiwatkul

Faculty Publications

Food is more than just a source of nutrients—it also provides basic pleasure as well as aesthetic experiences. A number of studies have reported that acceptance, food choice, and consumption are affected by a large number of factors, including both intrinsic and extrinsic factors and cues, as well as consumer characteristics. Food-elicited emotions are becoming a critical component in designing products that meet consumers’ needs and expectations. Several studies have reported emotional responses to food and their relationships to product acceptability, preference, and choice. This Special Issue brings together a small range of studies with a diversity of approaches that …

High Resolution Real-Time Pcr Melting Curve Assay For Identification Of Top Five Penaeidae Shrimp Species, Laxmi Sharma, Evelyn Watts, Prashant Singh

Faculty Publications

In the United States shrimps is the most popular seafood. Penaeidae shrimp species are known to share morphology characteristic and identification based on morphological appearance becomes more challenging when shrimp is processed into ready-to-eat products. Misrepresentation of shrimp is common in commercially available shrimp. The objective of the study was to develop a high-resolution melting (HRM) real time PCR assay targeting the 16S rRNA gene fragment for specific identification of top five penaeid species, Litopenaeus vannamei, Penaeus duorarum, Penaeus monodon, Litopenaeus setiferus and Pleoticus muelleri. The applicability of assay was evaluated using two DNA extraction kits and two real-time PCR …

Aroma, Quality, And Consumer Mindsets For Shelf-Stable Rice Thermally Processed By Reciprocal Agitation, William R. Dixon, Blanca E. Morales-Contreras, Manoch Kongchum, Zhimin Xu, Dustin Harrell, Howard R. Moskowitz, Louise Wicker

Faculty Publications

Food engineering, food chemistry, and consumer segmentation were used to evaluate ready-to-eat rice. The aromatic Louisiana Clearfield Jazzman (CJ) and Thai Jasmine (TJ), and a non-aromatic parboiled (PB) rice were hydrated during the first 10 min of processing with reciprocal agitation followed by static retort processing. The aroma compound, 2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline (2-AP) was more heat-stable in CJ than TJ rice but decreased 15-fold compared to the rice cooker method. Pareto analysis indicated that rice type and agitation had the main effect on amylose and total starch and chroma and hue. Color differences of rice agitated during hydration and between rice cooker …

Local Solutions Of The Landau Equation With Rough, Slowly Decaying Initial Data, Christopher Henderson, Stanley Snelson, Andrei Tarfulea

Faculty Publications

We consider the Cauchy problem for the spatially inhomogeneous Landau equation with soft potentials in the case of large (i.e. non-perturbative) initial data. We construct a solution for any bounded, measurable initial data with uniform polynomial decay in the velocity variable, and that satisfies a technical lower bound assumption (but can have vacuum regions). For uniqueness in this weak class, we have to make the additional assumption that the initial data is Hölder continuous. Our hypotheses are much weaker, in terms of regularity and decay, than previous large-data well-posedness results in the literature. We also derive a continuation criterion for …

Trade-Offs Tip Toward Litter Trapping: Insights From A Little-Known Panamanian Cloud-Forest Treelet, Kyle E. Harms, James W. Dalling, María N. Sánchez De Stapf

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Multi-Trait Genomic Prediction Of Yield-Related Traits In Us Soft Wheat Under Variable Water Regimes, Jia Guo, Jahangir Khan, Sumit Pradhan, Dipendra Shahi, Naeem Khan, Muhsin Avci, Jordan Mcbreen, Stephen Harrison, Gina Brown-Guedira, J. Paul Murphy, Jerry Johnson, Mohamed Mergoum, Richanrd Esten Mason, Amir M.H. Ibrahim, Russel Sutton, Carl Griffey, M. A. Babar

Faculty Publications

The performance of genomic prediction (GP) on genetically correlated traits can be improved through an interdependence multi-trait model under a multi-environment context. In this study, a panel of 237 soft facultative wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) lines was evaluated to compare single-and multi-trait models for predicting grain yield (GY), harvest index (HI), spike fertility (SF), and thousand grain weight (TGW). The panel was phenotyped in two locations and two years in Florida under drought and moderately drought stress conditions, while the genotyping was performed using 27,957 genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) makers. Five predictive models including Multi-environment Genomic Best Linear …

Mixed Incorporation Of Carbon And Hydrogen In Silicate Melts Under Varying Pressure And Redox Conditions, Bijaya B. Karki, Dipta B. Ghosh, Dipendra Banjara

Faculty Publications

Volatiles including carbon and hydrogen are generally considered to be more soluble in silicate melts than in mantle rocks. How these melts contribute to the storage and distribution of key volatiles in Earth's interior today and during its early evolution, however, remains largely unknown. It is essential to improve our knowledge about volatiles-bearing silicate magmas over the entire mantle pressure regime. Here we investigate molten Mg Fe SiO (x=0, 0.25) containing both carbon and hydrogen using first-principles molecular dynamics simulations. Our results show that the dissolution mechanism of the binary volatiles in melts varies considerably under different conditions of pressure …

Interface Kinetics Of Rapid Solidification Of Binary Alloys By Atomistic Simulations: Application To Ti-Ni Alloys, Sepideh Kavousi, Brian R. Novak, Jeffrey Hoyt, Dorel Moldovan

Faculty Publications

Using molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations we investigate the non-equilibrium interfacial kinetics during rapid solidification of Ti-Ni alloys. According to the existing theories, the kinetic coefficient is related, via an analytical expression, to the equilibrium and non-equilibrium solute concentration profiles across the crystal-melt interface, the interface temperature and velocity, and the drag coefficient. The kinetic coefficient was obtained by deriving these properties from specifically designed atomistic simulations and then fitting using the analytical expression. The results show that the kinetic coefficient is only weakly anisotropic and increases with increasing temperature. The velocity-dependent partition coefficient, as described by two solute …

Development And Application Of Interatomic Potentials To Study The Stability And Shear Strength Of Ti/Tin And Cu/Tin Interfaces, Abu Shama Mohammad Miraz, Nisha Dhariwal, W. J. Meng, Bala R. Ramachandran, Collin D. Wick

Faculty Publications

A modified embedded atom method interatomic potential was developed to study semi-coherent metal/ceramic interfaces involving Cu, Ti and N. A genetic algorithm was used to fit the model parameters to the physical properties of the materials. To accurately describe interfacial interactions and shear, two-dimensional generalized stacking fault energy profiles for relevant slip systems were selected as one of the major parameterization targets for the models. The models were applied to study semi-coherent Ti(0001)/TiN(111) and Cu(111)/TiN(111) systems. Ti/TiN was stable with misfits accommodated away from the interface. Cu/TiN, in contrast, was more stable with misfits at the interface. A spiral pattern …

Development Of A 4.75 Mm Asphalt Mixture Design For Implementation In Louisiana Dotd Specifications, Saman Salari, Samuel Cooper, Louay N. Mohammad, Peyman Barghabany

Faculty Publications

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) and other state agencies are continuously looking for techniques to reduce roadway maintenance and construction costs. A common consideration is to introduce asphalt mixtures with a smaller nominal maximum aggregate size (NMAS) for utilization in roadways. In a previous study, DOTD concluded that mixtures with a 4.75 mm NMAS provided acceptable performance as a surface layer. Excessive stockpiles of unused smaller aggregates can result in an economically competitive source to be consi dered for asphalt mixtures. The DOTD developed mixtures with four aggregate types and two binder types. A comprehensive evaluation of …

Performance Analysis Of A Quantum Monte Carlo Application On Multiple Hardware Architectures Using The Hpx Runtime, Weile Wei, Arghya Chatterjee, Kevin Huck, Oscar Hernandez, Hartmut Kaiser

Faculty Publications

This paper describes how we successfully used the HPX programming model to port the DCA++ application on multiple architectures that include POWER9, x86, ARM v8, and NVIDIA GPUs. We describe the lessons we can learn from this experience as well as the benefits of enabling the HPX in the application to improve the CPU threading part of the code, which led to an overall 21% improvement across architectures. We also describe how we used HPX-APEX to raise the level of abstraction to understand performance issues and to identify tasking optimization opportunities in the code, and how these relate to CPU/GPU …

Towards Distributed Software Resilience In Asynchronous Many-Task Programming Models, Nikunj Gupta, Jackson R. Mayo, Adrian S. Lemoine, Hartmut Kaiser

Faculty Publications

Exceptions and errors occurring within mission critical applications due to hardware failures have a high cost. With the emerging Next Generation Platforms (NGPs), the rate of hardware failures will likely increase. Therefore, designing our applications to be resilient is a critical concern in order to retain the reliability of results while meeting the constraints on power budgets. In this paper, we discuss software resilience in AMTs at both local and distributed scale. We choose HPX to prototype our resiliency designs. We implement two resiliency APIs that we expose to the application developers, namely task replication and task replay. Task replication …

Deploying A Task-Based Runtime System On Raspberry Pi Clusters, Nikunj Gupta, Steve R. Brandt, Bibek Wagle, Nanmiao Wu, Alireza Kheirkhahan, Patrick Diehl, Felix W. Baumann, Hartmut Kaiser

Faculty Publications

Arm® technology is becoming increasingly important in HPC. Recently, Fugaku, an Arm®-based system, was awarded the number one place in the Top500 list. Raspberry Pis provide an inexpensive platform to become familiar with this architecture. However, Pis can also be useful on their own. Here we describe our efforts to configure and benchmark the use of a Raspberry Pi cluster with the HPX/Phylanx platform (normally intended for use with HPC applications) and document the lessons we learned. First, we highlight the required changes in the configuration of the Pi to gain performance. Second, we explore how limited memory bandwidth limits …

Towards A Scalable And Distributed Infrastructure For Deep Learning Applications, Bita Hasheminezhad, Shahrzad Shirzad, Nanmiao Wu, Patrick Diehl, Hannes Schulz, Hartmut Kaiser

Faculty Publications

Although recent scaling up approaches to train deep neural networks have proven to be effective, the computational intensity of large and complex models, as well as the availability of large-scale datasets require deep learning frameworks to utilize scaling out techniques. Parallelization approaches and distribution requirements are not considered in the primary designs of most available distributed deep learning frameworks and most of them still are not able to perform effective and efficient fine-grained inter-node communication. We present Phylanx that has the potential to alleviate these shortcomings. Phylanx presents a productivity-oriented frontend where user Python code is translated to a futurized …

Exploring The Role Of Ccp1 And Ccp2 In The Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii Carbon Dioxide Concentrating Mechanism, Lillian Laplace

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Ribosomal Rna Synthesis After Induced Nucleolar Stress In Drosophila Melanogaster, Kyle Maher

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Bridge Design Replacement Project For The Charenton Canal Bridge On La 87 And Comparison Of Deck Design Methods, Emily Rone

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Increasing The Bioavailability Of Poorly Soluble Anti-Cancer Prodrugs Through Encapsulation In Platinum Based Nanocages, Salim Cesar Lutfallah

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Warner Theater Business Plan, Nicholas Adams

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Measuring The Greatest Weight: A Comprehensive Interpretation Of Nietzsche’S Doctrine Of Eternal Recurrence, Sebastian Brumfield Mejía

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Demographic Impacts Of Climate-Induced Migration And Environmental Shocks And Stressors In Cameron Parish, Louisiana, John Green Iii

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Characterizing Drosophila Melanogaster Sleep Models Using An Optogenetic Engineered Caspase And Channelrhodopsins, Corey Cooper

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of Bagasse Ash As Cement And Sand Replacement For The Production Of Engineered Cementitious Composites (Ecc), Gabriel Arce, Marwa Hassan, Sujata Subedi, Ana Rivas, Samantha Hidalgo, Hugo Eguez

Publications

The objective of this study was to develop novel Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) materials implementing sugarcane bagasse ash (SCBA). To this end, the effects on the mechanical and physical properties of ECC materials of: (1) Louisiana raw SCBA (RBA) as a partial and complete replacement of sand (i.e., class S mixtures); (2) Louisiana post-processed SCBA (PBA) as a partial replacement of cement (i.e., class C mixtures); and (3) Ecuador raw SCBA (EBA) as a partial and complete replacement of sand (i.e., class S-E mixtures) were studied. Sand replacement levels with RBA and EBA evaluated were 25, 50, 75, and 100% …

Corrosion Management System Of Regional Reinforced Concrete (Rc) Bridges, Homero Castaneda, Ayman Okeil

Publications

Civil infrastructure assets, including buildings, transportation networks, energy grids and networks, and water-sewer systems, are critical functional components of day-to-day life activity in a modern society. The durability and reliability of these civil infrastructures are largely affected by corrosion-induced structural deterioration. In addition to continual use and increasing traffic demands, natural environmental conditions set degradation due to corrosion damage as a critical condition to durable and reliable infrastructures. Therefore, in order to improve the durability of the bridge infrastructures affected by corrosion in the most efficient manor, we propose a procedure/methodology to manage integrity of corroding RC bridges which is …

Enhancing The Performance Of Asphalt Mixtures Containing High Rap Content With The Use Of Different Wma Technologies, Husam Sadek, Marwa Hassan, Charles Berryman, Mohammad Hossain, Farah Zaremotekhases

Publications

The production of Warm-mix asphalt mixtures in conjunction with reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP) has received considerable interest in recent years for economic and environmental reasons. The primary objective of this project is to enhance the performance of asphalt mixtures containing RAP in Region 6 using different WMA technologies. In this project, the effect of utilizing 0%, 25%, and 35% RAP contents on the performance of different WMA mixtures against rutting, moisture damage, and fatigue cracking are evaluated. The effects of the WMA technologies on the rutting performance of the asphalt mixtures and recovered binders were investigated using loaded wheel tracker …

Development Of A Low Power, Low Cost Rural Railway Intersection Smart Detection And Warning System, Sara Ahmed, Samer Dessouky, Raymond Downing

Publications

This project explores a different approach to provide preemptive warning for train detection at grade-crossings to increase safety and reduce motor vehicle congestion. The development of a novel, low cost, low power, and off rail right-of-way (ROW) detection and warning system will be presented. A background of track circuits, which is the rail industries standard for train detection, will also be provided to highlight the benefits and challenges of the rail industry installing a system at every grade-crossings that lack any type of active warning. The benefits of using thermal imaging instead of traditional video for computer vision will also …

A Framework For Augmenting Building Performance Models Using Machine Learning And Immersive Virtual Environment, Chanachok Chokwitthaya

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Building performance models (BPMs), such as building energy simulation models, have been widely used in building design. Existing BPMs are mainly derived using data from existing buildings. They may not be able to effectively address human-building interactions and lack the capability to address specific contextual factors in buildings under design. The lack of such capability often contributes to the existence of building performance discrepancies, i.e., differences between predicted performance during design and the actual performance.

To improve the prediction accuracy of existing BPMs, a computational framework is developed in this dissertation. It combines an existing BPM with context-aware design-specific …