Digital Commons Network^™

Ketogenic Diets Alter The Gut Microbiome Resulting In Decreased Intestinal Th17 Cells, Qi Yan Ang, Margaret Alexander, John C. Newman, Yuan Tian, Jingwei Cai, Vaibhav Upadhyay, Jessie A. Turnbaugh, Eric Verdin, Kevin D. Hall, Rudolph L. Leibel, Eric Ravussin, Michael Rosenbaum, Andrew D. Patterson, Peter J. Turnbaugh

Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Very low-carbohydrate, high-fat ketogenic diets (KDs) induce a pronounced shift in metabolic fuel utilization that elevates circulating ketone bodies; however, the consequences of these compounds for host-microbiome interactions remain unknown. Here, we show that KDs alter the human and mouse gut microbiota in a manner distinct from high-fat diets (HFDs). Metagenomic and metabolomic analyses of stool samples from an 8-week inpatient study revealed marked shifts in gut microbial community structure and function during the KD. Gradient diet experiments in mice confirmed the unique impact of KDs relative to HFDs with a reproducible depletion of bifidobacteria. In vitro and in vivo …

Characterization Of Bacterial And Fungal Assemblages From Historically Contaminated Metalliferous Soils Using Metagenomics Coupled With Diffusion Chambers And Microbial Traps, Ashish Pathak, Rajneesh Jaswal, Xiaoyu Xu, John R. White, Bobby Edwards, Jaden Hunt, Scott Brooks, Rajesh Singh Rathore, Meenakshi Agarwal, Ashvini Chauhan

Faculty Publications

The majority of environmental microbiomes are not amenable to cultivation under standard laboratory growth conditions and hence remain uncharacterized. For environmental applications, such as bioremediation, it is necessary to isolate microbes performing the desired function, which may not necessarily be the fast growing or the copiotroph microbiota. Toward this end, cultivation and isolation of microbial strains using diffusion chambers (DC) and/or microbial traps (MT) have both been recently demonstrated to be effective strategies because microbial enrichment is facilitated by soil nutrients and not by synthetically defined media, thus simulating their native habitat. In this study, DC/MT chambers were established using …

Cooperative Policing Behaviour Regulates Reproductive Division Of Labour In A Termite, Qian Sun, Jordan D. Hampton, Austin Merchant, Kenneth F. Haynes, Xuguo Zhou

Faculty Publications

Reproductive conflicts are common in insect societies where helping castes retain reproductive potential. One of the mechanisms regulating these conflicts is policing, a coercive behaviour that reduces direct reproduction by other individuals. In eusocial Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps), workers or the queen act aggressively towards fertile workers, or destroy their eggs. In many termite species (order Blattodea), upon the death of the primary queen and king, workers and nymphs can differentiate into neotenic reproductives and inherit the breeding position. During this process, competition among neotenics is inevitable, but how this conflict is resolved remains unclear. Here, we report a …

Is Betelgeuse The Outcome Of A Past Merger?, E. Chatzopoulos, Juhan Frank, Dominic C. Marcello, Geoffrey C. Clayton

Faculty Publications

We explore the possibility that the star α Orionis (Betelgeuse) is the outcome of a merger that occurred in a low-mass-ratio ( 0.07-0.25) binary system some time in the past hundreds of thousands of years. To that goal, we present a simple analytical model to approximate the perturbed internal structure of a post-merger object following the coalescence of a secondary in the mass range 1-4 M o˙ into the envelope of a 15-17 M o˙ primary. We then compute the long-term evolution of post-merger objects for a grid of initial conditions and make predictions about their surface properties for evolutionary …

Transcriptome Analysis Indicates A Broad Range Of Toxic Effects Of Deepwater Horizon Oil On Seaside Sparrows, A. Bonisoli-Alquati, W. Xu, P. C. Stouffer, S. S. Taylor

Faculty Publications

In marine species, the transcriptomic response to Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil implicated many biochemical pathways, with corresponding adverse outcomes on organ development and physiological performance. Terrestrial organisms differ in their mechanisms of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their physiological challenges, and may reveal either distinct effects of oil on biochemical pathways or the generality of the responses to oil shown in marine species. Using a cross-species hybridization microarray approach, we investigated the transcriptomic response in the liver of Seaside Sparrows (Ammospiza maritima) exposed to DWH oil compared with birds from a control site. Our analysis identified 295 genes …

Sediment Transport And Geomorphological Evolution In The Transgressive Ship Shoal, Louisiana: Insights From Geophysical Observation, Modeling, And Machine Learning Studies, Haoran Liu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ship Shoal has been a high-priority target sand resource for dredging activities to restore the eroding barrier islands in Louisiana, USA. Many studies have been performed in Ship Shoal in recent decades, but our knowledge of temporal and spatial variations of sediment transport and post-dredge morphology is still limited. The objectives of this dissertation are to explore the sediment infilling process, the spatial and temporal evolution of the morphology of dredge pits near and on Ship Shoal by using multiple methods. Scientific methods used in this study include (a) geophysical observation using bathymetry, side-scan and subbottom technique, (b) sediment transport …

A Biographical Introduction Of The Korean-German Composer Isan Yun And An Analysis Of Eastern Folk Elements In His Lina Im Garten, Soyeon Seo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

This dissertation explores the work and achievements of the Korean-German composer, Isang Yun, and, specifically sets out to discuss the shared elements of traditional Korean and Eastern music and Western convention in his musical composition. By intentionally manipulating or stretching the definition of western musical forms and conventions, Yun was able to import folk traditions and culture from the East. My dissertation sheds light on some of Yun’s efforts in combining these Eastern and Western elements and thereby works to re-inscribe Yun and his unique importance as a composer of Korean descent onto the Western contemporary canon.

While tracing …

Cover Cropping In Soybean-Corn Rotation System: Economic, Agronomic, And Soil Fertility Impact, Jose Rodolfo Mite

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Planting winter-annual cover crops prevent soil erosion, reduces water runoff, and improves soil structure and soil quality. This research was conducted from 2017 to 2019 to evaluate the nutrient turnover of different species of cover crops in soils under different row crop production systems in Northeast and Central Louisiana. In Northeast Louisiana (Site 1, 2, and 3), treatments (cover crops and no cover crop) were arranged in a strip trial with three replications. At the Ben Hur Research Station, the treatments included three planting dates (September, October, and November) with [7 kg ha^-1 of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K)] …

A Component Analysis Of Implementation Planning: Examining Mechanisms That Underlie A Teacher Implementation Support Strategy, James Jaran Upright

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

To maximize instructional time, teachers must be able to effectively manage student behavior. However, surveys consistently reveal that a significant portion of teachers feel underprepared to address challenging classroom behavior. One of the most effective ways to reduce problem behaviors in school is with systematic classroom management strategies, such as the good behavior game. However, teachers often struggle to effectively implement such procedures. Promising evidence has emerged for implementation planning as an effective support strategy to improve teachers’ intervention implementation. Implementation planning is a one-time consultation process for intervention procedure planning (action planning) and identification and resolution of implementation barriers …

The Concurrent Prevalence Of Modernism And Romanticism As Seen In The Operas Performed Between The World Wars And Exemplified In Ernst Krenek’S Jonny Spielt Auf, Nicole Fassold

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ernst Krenek’s 1927 opera Jonny Spielt Auf represents Zeitoper, or “opera of the times”. The opera’s story line and characters symbolize Krenek’s internal debate of a divided artistic world between all that is modern and innovative and the older mindset of romanticism, both of which he used in his compositions. This dissertation intends to peer into Krenek’s world and influences of the 1920s to consider the symbols in the opera that represent Modernism and Romanticism. The Golden Age of the Weimar Republic occurred from 1924 to 1929, between the World Wars. During this time, Austrian and German composers had the …

Designed And Developed Delivery Systems Containing Extracted Astaxanthin From Crawfish, Procambarus Clarkii, Using A Novel Combined Ethanol Flaxseed Oil Ultrasound Assisted Closed Extraction System And Its Anticancer Activity In Vitro, Ronson Renard Scott Sr

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Crustacean processing in Louisiana generates vast amounts of byproducts, including crawfish processing byproducts (CB), whose disposal can be problematic unless utilized alternatively. The objective of this investigation was to design and develop a delivery system (DS) containing extracted astaxanthin (AX) from CB using a novel combined ethanol flaxseed oil (FO) ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) method and evaluate its quality characteristics. Additionally, anticancer effects of AX were evaluated. Investigations consisted of three studies.

Proximate composition, oxidative stability, and antioxidant capacity of AX from CB extracted both conventionally and by UAE was determined. AX concentration conventionally extracted from CB (FOCAX) was 0.0919 mg …

Metabolic Network Analysis Of Filamentous Cyanobacteria, Daniel Alexis Norena-Caro

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cyanobacteria were the first organisms to use oxygenic photosynthesis, converting CO₂ into useful organic chemicals. However, the chemical industry has historically relied on fossil raw materials to produce organic precursors, which has contributed to global warming. Thus, cyanobacteria have emerged as sustainable stakeholders for biotechnological production. The filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. UTEX 2576 can metabolize multiple sources of Nitrogen and was studied as a platform for biotechnological production of high-value chemicals (i.e., pigments, antioxidants, vitamins and secondary metabolites). From a Chemical engineering perspective, the biomass generation in this organism was thoroughly studied by interpreting the cell as a microbial …

Small Revelations, Christopher Burns

LSU Master's Theses

Small Revelations is a photographic project that recontextualizes images of historic churches found in areas of the United States that have a colonial history. The images in this series subvert and critique the symbolic importance of these structures by interrupting the inherent power found in their architecture. They achieve this subversion through the careful use of color, composition and photographic imperfection. This project builds its argument with visual decisions inspired and validated by work within the art historical canon. Small Revelations is a thesis project produced as the final requirement of Louisiana State University’s Master of Fine Arts in Studio …

In The Garden, Clare Samani

LSU Master's Theses

My work has focused largely on identity and self-expression, primarily through clothing, pattern, and color as a symbolic content. Having heavily investigated historical costume and clothing from various periods, my attention is drawn to the highly sculptural and ornamented garments of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the rococo, and the baroque. In these colorful and puffed garments, I am attracted to the similarities that I see in nature. How we adorn ourselves mimics various flowers, plants and animals in the pursuit of desire and procreation. Focusing on fabric manipulation, printmaking and sculpture, In the Garden coalesces into ambiguous sculptures that …

Meanwhile, Samantha Combs

LSU Master's Theses

Meanwhile is an installation that explores the psychological and physical impact emotions have on individuals and the experienced struggle of restraining and letting go of them. Through the influence of Abstract Expressionism and use of metaphorical materials like soap and self-help book paper, each artwork embodies the intensity of this emotional struggle. Meanwhile represents and exposes the grotesque beauty of peoples’ psychic experience.

Fraught!, Ian Park

LSU Master's Theses

Fraught! explores the visceral feelings and dreamlike memories from my earlier years of life. Through installation, I queer space [or the environment] through the aesthetics of camp and the uncanny, subconscious influences that have steeped inside of me for many years.

Multigrid Methods For Elliptic Optimal Control Problems, Sijing Liu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation we study multigrid methods for linear-quadratic elliptic distributed optimal control problems.

For optimal control problems constrained by general second order elliptic partial differential equations, we design and analyze a $P_1$ finite element method based on a saddle point formulation. We construct a $W$-cycle algorithm for the discrete problem and show that it is uniformly convergent in the energy norm for convex domains. Moreover, the contraction number decays at the optimal rate of $m^{-1}$, where $m$ is the number of smoothing steps. We also prove that the convergence is robust with respect to a regularization parameter. The robust …

Characterizing Middle School Students’ Physical Literacy: A Sequential Mixed Methods Study, Yang Liu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation study was (a) to characterize middle school students’ levels of physical literacy (PL) and PL domains by gender, grade, socioeconomic status (SES), weight status, race, and ethnicity; and (b) to capture PL trajectory change as a result of receiving a theory-informed pedagogical workshop. Participants (N = 350) in sixth and seventh grades were recruited from a public middle school located in a southeastern U.S. state. These students completed the second version of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy (CAPL-2). A subsample (n = 49) received a pedagogical workshop (four sessions over eight weeks), …

Data-Driven Modeling And Prediction For Reservoir Characterization And Simulation Using Seismic And Petrophysical Data Analyses, Xu Zhou

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores the application of data-driven modeling and prediction in reservoir characterization and simulation using seismic and petrophysical data analyses. Different aspects of the application of data-driven modeling methods are studied, which include rock facies classification, seismic attribute analyses, petrophysical properties prediction, seismic facies segmentation, and reservoir dimension reduction.

The application of using petrophysical well logs to predict rock facies is explored using different data analytics methods including decision tree, random forest, support vector machine and neural network. Different models are trained from a set of well logs and pre-interpreted rock facies data. Among the compared methods, the random …

Agenda Cueing In Aggregated Newsfeeds, Kirill Bryanov

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation brings together the findings from three experimental studies that seek to understand how exposure to information in an online news aggregating portal can influence users’ perceptions of the relative importance of problems facing society. Theoretically, this investigation relies on two foundational ideas. One is that in today’s high-choice, multi-source media environment communication flows are curated by a variety of gatekeeping actors, such as algorithms and fellow users. Individuals can have varying attitudes toward and perceptions of these gatekeepers, which can influence the effects of exposure to online information, including agenda-setting outcomes. Another is that users of digital news, …

Empathy, Fiction, And An Educational Ecosystem: A Narrative Case Study Of A High School Ela Classroom, Danielle Marie Klein

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores how empathy exists, as an experience, in an English Language Arts classroom. The research was conducted in an 11^th grade classroom during an instructional unit with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible as the anchor text. The study relies upon Transactional Reader Response Theory (Rosenblatt, 1988) to justify the exploration of the aesthetic, evocative nature of a text. Narrative inquiry methodology was used to collect and assemble the instances of empathy as inspired by the play. Guided by Doll’s (1993) premise of the classroom as an ecological, open system with multiple contributing forces, data was collected through classroom …

Probing Counterion Condensation Phenomena In Nanostructured Thin Film Block Copolymer And Random Copolymer Electrolytes, Qi Lei

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation describes advanced metrology and molecular dynamics simulations for quantifying counterion condensation in block copolymer electrolyte thin films. The fraction of condensed counterions (f_c) were quantified in nanostructured block copolymer electrolyte (BCE) and random copolymer electrolyte (RCE) thin films with new and established experimental techniques. The transition between the osmotic-controlled regime and condensation-controlled regime in BCEs and RCEs was identified using solution uptake measurements via a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and environmental grazing incidence small-angle x-ray scattering (GI-SAXS). The activity coefficients of ions in thin film were quantified experimentally and these values matched predictions from Manning’s Theory …

A Study On The Improvement Of Data Collection In Data Centers And Its Analysis On Deep Learning-Based Applications, Dipak Kumar Singh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Big data are usually stored in data center networks for processing and analysis through various cloud applications. Such applications are a collection of data-intensive jobs which often involve many parallel flows and are network bound in the distributed environment. The recent networking abstraction, coflow, for data parallel programming paradigm to express the communication requirements has opened new opportunities to network scheduling for such applications. Therefore, I propose coflow based network scheduling algorithm, Coflourish, to enhance the job completion time for such data-parallel applications, in the presence of the increased background traffic to mimic the cloud environment infrastructure. It outperforms …

The Influence Of Au Substitution And Hydrostatic Pressure On The Phase Transitions And Magnetocaloric Properties Of Mncoge Alloys, Jing Han Chen, Aaron Trigg, Tej Poudel Chhetri, David P. Young, Igor Dubenko, Naushad Ali, Shane Stadler

Faculty Publications

In this work, the phase transitions and magnetocaloric properties of Mn 1-xAu xCoGe (0 ≤ x ≤ 0.025) alloys were studied as a function of concentration x and applied hydrostatic pressure. The increasing substitution of Au for Mn results in the decrease of the first-order martensitic transition temperature, and this first-order martensitic transition was ultimately converted to a second-order magnetic transition when the Au substitution (x) reached 0.025. The magnitudes of the maximum magnetic entropy changes increased when the magnetic and structural transitions were coupled, which occurred for 0.005 ≤ x ≤ 0.020. The largest maximum magnetic entropy change for …

Erratum: Synthesis Of Functionalized Tetrahydropyransviacascade Cycloaddition Involving Silyloxyallyl Cation Intermediates (Chem. Commun. (2020) 56 (5034–5037) Doi: 10.1039/D0cc01796e), Fatimat O. Badmus, Joshua A. Malone, Frank R. Fronczek, Rendy Kartika

Faculty Publications

© The Royal Society of Chemistry 2020. The authors regret that the title of the original article was incorrect, with the word ‘‘tetrahydrobenzofurans’’ changed to ‘‘tetrahydropyrans’’ in error. The correct title is ‘‘Synthesis of functionalized tetrahydrobenzofurans via cascade cycloaddition involving silyloxyallyl cation intermediates’’. The Royal Society of Chemistry apologises for these errors and any consequent inconvenience to authors and readers.

Reexamination Of The Influence Of Oebalus Pugnax (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Infestations On Rice Yield And Quality, Blake E. Wilson, Michael J. Stout

Faculty Publications

© 2020 The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: [email protected]. The rice stink bug, Oebalus pugnax (F.), is the most important pest of headed rice, Oryza sativa L., in the United States. Numerous studies have attempted to quantify the impact of O. pugnax feeding on rice yield and grain quality, but these studies have often produced conflicting results. Across mid-south U.S. rice, thresholds based on sweep net sampling are used to determine the need for insecticide applications, but few studies have related sweep net captures …

Copper And Ruthenium Pyridyltriazole Complexes And Their Reactivity Toward Carbon Dioxide And Water, Fatemeh Khamespanah

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A variety of pyridyltriazole ligands are readily available via click type cycloaddition of alkynylpyridines and azides. We made functionalized tetradentate m-xylylenebis(pyridyltriazole) (m-xpt) ligands with NH₂ and NMe₂ electron-donating and NO₂ electron-withdrawing substituents on the pyridine moieties. Complexation of these ligands with Cu(II) gives dimeric macrocycles with square pyramidal geometry at Cu centers. Previous work in our lab with the unsubstituted [Cu₂(m-xpt)₂(NO₃)₂]²⁺ complex showed reduction to Cu(I) by using ascorbate as reducing agent. Oxidation of the Cu(I) solution in air results in formation of …

Spatial And Temporal Changes To A Hydrologically-Reconnected Coastal Wetland: Implications For Restoration, Alina C. Spera, John R. White, Ron Corstanje

Faculty Publications

Mississippi River Delta wetlands were isolated from river influence due to levee construction beginning in the early 1900's. Surface water diversions were primarily designed to manage salinity and maintain marsh vegetation by reintroducing Mississippi River water and nutrients into adjacent wetlands. Phosphorus (P) is a major limiting nutrient that can control productivity, but in excess can contribute to wetland eutrophic conditions and water quality degradation. Most wetland soil characterization assessments consider soil total P, however, this parameter alone cannot describe P bioavailability due to differences in organic and inorganic forms. A soil characterization of the Davis Pond diversion was done …

The Seven Valleys For Orchestra And A Study Of Music Composition Pedagogy, Niloufar Iravani

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two parts. The first part consists of an original orchestral work, The Seven Valleys, featuring seven movements, each of which presents various musical elements. The piece is a symphonic poem inspired by a chapter with the same name in the celebrated masterpiece of Persian literature, The Conference of the Birds, by the 12^th-century poet Farid ud-Din Attar. The second part presents a study of music composition pedagogy, investigating past and present pedagogical practices in music composition. Chapter 3 provides a conceptual and historical examination of music composition pedagogy. Chapter 4 surveys the …

Axisymmetric Gravity In Real Ashtekar Variables: The Quantum Theory, Rodolfo Gambini, Esteban Mato, Jorge Pullin

Faculty Publications

In a previous paper we formulated axisymmetric general relativity in terms of real Ashtekar-Barbero variables. Here we proceed to quantize the theory. We are able to implement Thiemann's version of the Hamiltonian constraint. This provides a 2 + 1 dimensional arena to test ideas for the dynamics of quantum gravity and opens the possibility of quantum studies of rotating black hole spacetimes.