Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Immigration On Native Entrepreneurship In The Us: An Analysis Of Self-Employment Over 1980–2018, Bulent Unel

Faculty Publications

This paper examines the causal impact of immigration on entrepreneurship among US-born non-Hispanic whites in non-agricultural private sectors from 1980 to 2018. Using self-employment as a proxy for entrepreneurship and distinguishing between incorporated individuals and unincorporated self-employed workers, I find a sizable negative impact of immigration on native self-employment. Importantly, this effect is consistent across incorporated and unincorporated self-employment and remains robust across demographic groups based on gender, age, and education. Results are robust to the choice of controls and estimation methods.

Using Teacher Prompts To Increase Leadership Skills In Preschool Children, Cynthia F. Dicarlo, Margaret Mary Sulentic Dowell, Michelle Fazio-Brunson, Sarah W. Gauthreaux

Faculty Publications

Background: Early childhood leadership leads to positive outcomes for young children, including social competence. Objective: The purpose of the present study was to examine the leadership behavior exhibited by three preschool aged children and to determine if teacher prompting could increase the frequency of leadership behaviors exhibited by preschool children. Methods: A single case research design was utilized; specifically, we employed a multiple baseline design across preschool children to measure child leadership behaviors and teacher prompting. Results: Baseline observations revealed that children engaged in Parten’s original 1933 framework of both directing and following, reciprocally directing or sharing leadership, and directing …

Ceres: Organic-Rich Sites Of Exogenic Origin?, R. Sarkar, A. Nathues, M. Hoffmann, E. Cloutis, K. Mengel, P. Singh, G. Thangjam, J. Hernandez, S. Karunatillake, M. Coutelier

Faculty Publications

Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt, is the only potential ocean world in the inner Solar System. Previous studies identified deposits of aliphatic organics in and around the Ernutet crater, and at small locations at Inamahari and Urvara craters. The origin of organics, either endogenic or exogenic, in these fresh exposures is still under debate. This study addresses the origin of the organics by analyzing their global distribution and geologic context. Our first step involved a global search for organic-rich sites that might have escaped previous detections. We achieved this by using a deep neural network, utilizing spectral …

Trans-Crustal Magmatic Processes Revealed By Amphibole Breakdown Textures At The Quillacas Monogenetic Volcanic Center, Bolivia, L. C. Velázquez Santana, C. L. Mcleod, B. Shaulis, M. Loocke, R. Al Gbory

Faculty Publications

Amphibole exerts a fundamental control on arc magma petrogenesis, differentiation, and the long-term evolution of the arc crust. This study identifies two texturally distinct amphibole populations within andesitic lavas and entrained hornblendite cumulates at the Quillacas monogenetic volcanic center in the Eastern Altiplano, Bolivia. Within the hornblendites, all amphiboles are tschermakitic, large (≤800 μm) with thick, granular reaction rims (avg. 27 μm thickness). In the host andesites, tschermakites are also the dominant amphibole species but are smaller (250–400 μm) with thin, symplectic reaction rims (avg. 7–9 μm thickness). An intergrowth of symplectic and granular reaction rims is also observed in …

Development And In Vitro Evaluation Of A Lignin-Plga Nanocarrier For Florfenicol Delivery, Emilia Trif, Carlos E. Astete, Sumit Libi, Emoke Pall, Septimiu Tripon, Cristina Coman, Diana Olah, Adrian Valentin Potârniche, Cristina M. Sabliov, Constantin Cerbu

Faculty Publications

Florfenicol (FF) is a widely used antimicrobial in veterinary medicine because of its broad antimicrobial activity, although it has certain limitations and raises concerns about the development of antimicrobial resistance genes. These limitations highlight the need to explore novel drug with controlled release systems to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of FF, while minimizing the potential for resistance development. This study introduces an innovative approach for the design, synthesis, and evaluation of lignin-poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA)-FF nanoparticles. By leveraging the properties of PLGA and lignin, this study aimed to augment the solubility, stability, and bioavailability of FF, thereby enabling dosage reduction and …

Connectedness And Engagement As Predictors Of Dual-Factor Mental Health Groups: A Latent Profile Analysis, Kyle Wilson

LSU Master's Theses

When it was introduced, the dual-factor model of mental health revolutionized student mental health conceptualization by including measures of subjective well-being alongside psychopathological indicators. However, the manner in which students are assigned to mental health profiles may not be reflective of their actual characteristics. Therefore, the current study sought to expand on dual-factor model research through the employment of latent profile analysis (LPA), a person-centered approach to group classification, to examine to what degree well-established constructs predict student mental health. Constructs selected for the current study included school connectedness and school engagement. School connectedness is generally considered a protective factor …

Assessing Water Quantity And Quality In The Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer And Coastal Louisiana Through Integrated Airborne Electromagnetic And Borehole Data, Michael George Henin Attia Khalil

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Numerical modeling has contributed significantly to the understanding of groundwater systems. Many challenges are associated with constructing groundwater models which include an accurate understanding of the geology and aquifer parameters estimation. Traditionally boreholes are a successful way to capture geological features, however, boreholes often have sparse data. Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) data allows for efficient and cost-effective surveying of large areas, providing valuable information about the subsurface electrical resistivity. By bridging the gap between boreholes, AEM data offers a broader view of the aquifer system's structure and heterogeneity. However, interpreting geophysical AEM data has uncertainties. Developing a framework to apply the …

Supplemental Data For "Strong-Field Ionization With Few-Cycle, Mid-Infrared Laser Pulses Induces A Localized Ionization Followed By Long-Lasting Charge Migration In Halogenated Organic Molecules", Kyle A. Hamer, Mette B. Gaarde, François Mauger

Physics & Astronomy Datasets

Supplemental data for Hamer et al. (2024), which includes the time-dependent density-functional theory simulation data and Python scripts used to produce the figures in the paper.

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, under Award No. DE-SC0012462. Portions of this research were conducted with high performance computational resources provided by Louisiana State University (http://www.hpc.lsu.edu) and the Louisiana Optical Network Infrastructure (http://www/loni.org).

Splitting Quintiles: Exploring The Relationship Between Income Inequality And Political Participation In The American Electorate, Laura E. Kaehler

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The connection between economic inequality and unequal democratic engagement has inspired an enduring vein of interest since academic antiquity. Research suggests income inequality has a negative effect on political participation, yet a question remains among the American electorate: Do individuals across income groups share economic insecurities from increasing inequality or do distinct groups democratically disengage?

To empirically investigate, I consider the context of election salience and the contingent role that voter turnout misreporting or “faux-voters” play in this relationship. I dissect the “rich” verses “poor” distinction into five income groups to explore electoral motivations and malaise of middle-income individuals and …

A Family Of Markov Chains, Schur Functions, And Exterior Powers, Philip Feinsilver, John P. Mcsorley

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

On An Asset Model Of Merton Type: Long-Term Observations In Financial Time-Series, Shuya Kanagawa, Narn-Rueih Shieh

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Simulations Of Attosecond Metallization In Quartz And Diamond Probed With Inner-Shell Transient Absorption Spectroscopy, Lucas Kurkowski, Adonay Sissay, Mengqi Yang, Alexander Meyer, Kenneth Lopata

Faculty Publications

When dielectrics are hit with intense infrared (IR) laser pulses, transient metalization can occur. The initial attosecond dynamics behind this metallization are not entirely understood. Therefore, simulations are needed to understand this process and to help interpret experimental observations of it, such as with attosecond transient absorption (ATA). In this paper, we present first-principles simulations of ATA based on bulk-mimicking clusters and real-time time-dependent density functional theory (RT-TDDFT), with Koopmans-tuned range-separated hybrid functionals and Gaussian basis sets. Our method gives good agreement with the experiment for the breakdown threshold in silica and diamond. This breakdown voltage corresponds to a Keldysh …

A Socioeconomic Analysis Of Fashion Entrepreneurs And The Use Of Self-Branding To Influence Consumer Behavior, Jasmine Gibbs-Stepter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The fashion industry is widely recognized as a significant sector within the global economy, crucially driving trends, creating jobs, and shaping culture. Despite its prominence, entrepreneurs from marginalized socioeconomic backgrounds often encounter considerable hurdles in establishing their businesses and sustaining them over time. These challenges manifest in various forms, including access to vital financial resources, insufficient networking opportunities, and restricted entry into lucrative markets, making it difficult for these entrepreneurs to compete in a dynamic and competitive landscape.

The rise of social media, with platforms like Instagram leading the charge, has ushered in a new era for fashion entrepreneurs. As …

Corn And Soybean Responses To Phosphorus And Potassium Application Timings And Methods And Fertilizer Sources, Abrar Bin Wahid

LSU Master's Theses

This research was driven by concerns over phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) losses from fall-applied fertilizers and the increasing marketing popularity of liquid-P and K fertilizers over traditional granular-dry forms. We evaluated corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] yield and tissue nutrient concentration responses to fertilizer-P and K application timings, methods, and sources across 9-13 site-years on silt-loam soils in Louisiana from 2020-2024. For timing and method study, five treatments were evaluated: a no fertilizer-P and/or K check, fall broadcast followed by rehipping the seedbed, spring broadcast without rehipping, spring broadcast with rehipping, and spring top-of-bed …

Rainbow Road To Prismatic Playwriting: Black Women's Dramatic Praxis In Practice, Taren Wilson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the lived experiences of Black women in academia, uplifting those interested in non-traditional or creative scholarship. Underrepresentation and attrition due to exclusionary academic practices is a systemic problem. What can Black feminist playwriting as research do for Black women in academia hoping to resist and connect to themselves and their community? What can playwriting as a Black woman doctoral student elucidate about the utility of playwriting as research, culturally informed epistemologies, and African American women's drama? By merging African American women's drama, Black feminist epistemologies, Practice as Research, and playwriting as research, I developed an onto-epistemological method …

The Full Range Leadership Model (Frlm): Department Head Perceptions Of Leadership Style And Development, Stephanie Elaine Heroman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to discover the perceived leadership styles of department heads as categorized by the Full Range Leadership Model (FRLM), developed by Avolio and Bass (1991). The FRLM categorizes leadership style along a continuum, from laissez-faire leadership, to transactional leadership, and ultimately transformational leadership. Even though department heads occupy a pivotal leadership role, many do not have formal leadership training, and instead rise to power through disciplinary expertise. This study will collect data on the experiences contributing to the development of leadership style in department heads. Understanding the leadership styles and experiences of department heads will …

Bim-Intergrated Simulation Framework For Carbon Emission During Construction, Philip Cheffa

LSU Master's Theses

The construction sector is a major contributor to global carbon emissions, responsible for approximately 39% of energy-related emissions. This research introduces an innovative BIM-integrated simulation framework to estimate and manage carbon emissions during construction. Leveraging 4D Building Information Modeling (BIM), the study integrates critical dimensions of time, cost, and carbon emissions into a cohesive framework. A mathematical model was developed to quantify carbon emissions from construction activities, including equipment utilization and workforce energy consumption, with RSMeans data providing cost and productivity metrics.

The framework was validated through a case study that compared alternative work schedules utilizing different resources to evaluate …

Temporal Scales Of Sediment Accumulation, Mass Wasting, And Stratigraphy Across The Mississippi River Delta Front, Jeffrey E. Duxbury

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Mississippi River Delta Front (MRDF) is a subaqueous apron of rapidly deposited, weakly

consolidated sediment extending from the subaerial portions of the Mississippi River’s Birdsfoot Delta, historically known for sediment transport via mass wasting. To better understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of processes influencing the MRDF, 29 cores ranging from 5.8 to 8.71 meters in length were collected from the South Pass (SP) and Southwest Passes (SWP). These cores targeted specific depositional environments, including the undisturbed topset apron, medial mudflow gully, mudflow lobe, and prodelta. The cores were analyzed along their full lengths for gamma density, grain size, …

The Eastern Oyster Behavioral Response To Low Salinity And Hypoxia In Controlled And Natural Settings, Siyah Yongue

LSU Master's Theses

Oyster aquaculture is expanding in the northern Gulf of Mexico, but climate change may challenge the sustainability of this industry. Projected increases in the frequency and intensity of low salinity and low dissolved oxygen (DO) periods could impact the behavior, metabolism, growth, and survival of oysters. Characterizing how oyster behavior links to environmental stressors could help better identify thresholds in their tolerance and inform predictive tools for aquaculture professionals. In this research, the effect of separate and concomitant exposures to low salinity and DO on the behavioral response of oysters was examined in the lab. The impact of other environmental …

Spin Caloritronics As A Probe Of Nonunitary Superconductors, Taiki Matsushita, Takeshi Mizushima, Yusuke Masaki, Satoshi Fujimoto, Ilya Vekhter

Faculty Publications

Superconducting spintronics explores the interplay between superconductivity and magnetism, sparking substantial interest in nonunitary superconductors as a platform for magneto-superconducting phenomena. However, identifying nonunitary superconductors remains challenging. We demonstrate that spin current driven by thermal gradients sensitively probes the nature of the condensate in nonunitary superconductors. Spin polarization of the condensate in momentum space induces the superconducting spin Seebeck effect, where a spin current is generated along thermal gradients without a thermoelectric charge current. Notably, the nonvanishing superconducting spin Seebeck effect provides a smoking gun evidence of nonunitary superconductivity because it reflects the spin polarization of the condensate in momentum …

Thermal Noise Measurement Below The Standard Quantum Limit, Ronald Pagano

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Quantum mechanics places sensitivity restrictions on physical measurements. These limitations manifest themselves in interferometric force and displacement measurements as uncertainty both in the photon number measured at a photodetector (shot noise), and in the quantum radiation pressure applied to the interferometer (quantum back action noise manifested as quantum radiation pressure noise). The balance between shot noise and quantum radiation pressure noise imposes the Standard Quantum Limit (SQL). A large body of work has been dedicated to measuring these quantum effects and mitigating them. Owing to the inherently small scale at which quantum effects are visible, classical effects must be subverted …

Studying The Low-Lying Structure Of 9b Via The 10b(3he,A)9b Reaction, Rachel M. Shaffer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The unstable nature of ⁹B makes it a challenging isotope to study. The first-excited state of ⁹B has been particularly difficult to characterize. Since the first experimental observation of this state in 1955, many experimental and theoretical nuclear structure studies have sought to classify it, but with large discrepancies in the energy and width values from these results, the properties of the state remain inconclusive.

An experiment using the ¹⁰B(³He,α)⁹B reaction was performed at the John D. Fox Superconducting Linear Accelerator Laboratory at Florida State University in an effort to populate and characterize …

Ghost Fishing Due To Derelict Crab Traps In Louisiana’S Barataria Basin, Emma C. Villemarette

LSU Master's Theses

Ghost fishing, the unintentional entrapment of sea life by derelict fishing gear, is an ecologic and socioeconomic concern in Louisiana's crabbing industry (blue crab, Callinectes sapidus). These ghost fishing traps cause unknown and unaccounted for mortality in blue crab and bycatch species. I aimed to track changes to derelict crab trap catch and trap deterioration over seasons and between habitats. I set and monitored 33 simulated derelict crab traps over 367 soak days in three varying habitats along Barataria Bay, Louisiana. Traps were checked once every two weeks and an additional daily check for five days per season. Blue …

Improving Fertilizer Efficiency In Containerized Nursery Production Through Substrate Temperature Management Techniques, Ashley R. Edwards

LSU Master's Theses

Resource efficiency, particularly regarding mineral nutrients, is a critical factor in the long-term success of the nursery industry. Fertilizer release is controlled by water and temperature in container-grown ornamental nursery production systems. Thus, it was hypothesized that pragmatic management of substrate temperature and moisture could extend the longevity of controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) in a container system. This study was conducted to determine the effect of irrigation scheduling, container color, and stratified substrates on substrate temperature and the subsequent use and longevity of CRF in a crop production setting. ‘Limelight’ Hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) liners were planted in either black …

Baryon Number Violation Search, Tyler D. Stokes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding the fundamental forces and symmetries of nature has long been a central goal of particle physics. While the Standard Model (SM) provides a successful framework, it does not guarantee the conservation of baryon number B or lepton number L, thus motivating searches for their violation. Proton decay, a fundamental process violating B, has been at the forefront of experimental searches for decades.

The discovery of the weak neutral current in 1973 unified the electromagnetic and weak forces and inspired the creation of Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) that also unify the strong force. In 1974, the first-ever GUT, …

Using Phylogenetics And Floral Evolution Of Sicklebill Hummingbird-Pollinated Centropogon Subgenus Centropogon To Support Undergraduate Research, Janet Mansaray

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The genus Centropogon subgenus Centropogon, offers an ideal system for studying macroevolutionary patterns due to its diverse floral morphologies and specialized pollinator interactions. This subgenus comprises 55 species, mostly found in mid-elevation Andean forests, where many species exhibit abruptly curved flowers, often associated with pollination by sicklebill hummingbirds. Using phylogenomic approaches, we conducted the first densely sampled analysis of this group, confirming the monophyly of two sections. Our study highlighted extensive gene tree discordance, likely driven by incomplete lineage sorting. Floral curvature and inflorescence structure evolved in a correlated fashion, leading to multiple independent losses of traits linked to …

Malliavin Calculus On The Clifford Algebra, Takayoshi Watanabe

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Modelling Uncertain Volatility Using Quantum Stochastic Calculus: Unitary Vs Non-Unitary Time Evolution, Will Hicks

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Johann Georg Hamann And The Liberal Project, Jesse D. Ansley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the political thought of Johann Georg Hamann, his relationship to liberalism, and the importance to modern concerns for consensus formation and intercultural dialogue. This contributes to the line of literature sparked by Isaiah Berlin debating the political legacy of Hamann and its relation to the development of modern politics. Berlin labels Hamann an anti-rationalist whose current developed into the ideology of the Nazi party. My work supports the countervailing arguments that Hamann’s work is importantly different from the Romantics he inspired and even more so from the Nazis. By examining two complete works and a number of …

State-Of-Charge Estimation Using Deep Learning For Electric Vehicles, Samer Yahya Ribhe Tahboub

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis investigates the application of deep learning models for State of Charge (SOC) estimation in Battery Management Systems (BMS) for electric vehicles (EVs), focusing on optimizing EV range, lifespan, and performance while addressing challenges like range anxiety. The study explores three deep learning architectures—Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM), Bidirectional LSTM (BiLSTM), and Gated Recurrent Unit (GRU)—each designed to capture complex temporal dependencies in battery data. The LSTM model is trained on EV battery data, including voltage, current, temperature, and SOC, providing a strong baseline for SOC estimation. The BiLSTM model enhances accuracy by processing data in both forward and backward …