Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Preface, Julius Esunge, Brian C. Hall, Ambar N. Sengupta, Aurel Stan

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

A Modelling Study For Smart Pigging Technique For Pipeline Leak Detection, Caitlyn Judith Thiberville

LSU Master's Theses

Although leak incidents continue, a pipeline remains the most reliable mode of transportation within the oil and gas industry. It becomes even more important today because the projection for new pipelines is expected to increase by 1 billion BOE through 2035. In addition, increasing number and length of subsea tiebacks face new challenges in term of data acquisition, monitoring, analysis, and remedial actions. Passive leak-detection methods commonly used in the industry have been successful with some limitations in that they often cannot detect small leaks and seeps. In addition to a thorough review of related topics, this study investigates how …

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

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Microbiological, Physicochemical, And Immunological Analysis Of A Commercial Cashew Nut-Based Yogurt, Christopher P. Mattison, Kayanush Aryana, Kristen Clermont, Eric Prestenburg, Steven W. Lloyd, Casey .. Grimm, Richard L. Wasserman

Faculty Publications

Nut-based milks and yogurts are gaining popularity, but may not offer the same benefits as dairy yogurts to consumers. Cashew nuts often cause severe allergic reactions, and cashew nut allergens are stable to several types of processing. To compare its characteristics to dairy yogurt and characterize the effects of fermentation on the Ana o 1-3 cashew nut allergens, a commercial yogurt made from cashew nuts (Cashewgurt) was evaluated for microbiological, physiochemical, and immunological properties. Average counts for lactobacilli and Streptococcus thermophilus were greater than 10 million colony forming units per milliliter, indicating the capacity to provide a health benefit. Cashewgurt …

A Novel Mutation Of The Narrow Leaf 1 Gene Adversely Affects Plant Architecture In Rice (Oryza Sativa L.), Prasanta K. Subudhi, Richard S. Garcia, Sapphire Coronejo, Teresa B. De Leon

Faculty Publications

Plant architecture is critical for enhancing the adaptability and productivity of crop plants. Mutants with an altered plant architecture allow researchers to elucidate the genetic network and the underlying mechanisms. In this study, we characterized a novel nal1 rice mutant with short height, small panicle, and narrow and thick deep green leaves that was identified from a cross between a rice cultivar and a weedy rice accession. Bulked segregant analysis coupled with genome re-sequencing and cosegregation analysis revealed that the overall mutant phenotype was caused by a 1395-bp deletion spanning over the last two exons including the transcriptional end site …

A Coded Aperture Microscope For X-Ray Fluorescence Full-Field Imaging, D. P. Siddons, A. J. Kuczewski, A. K. Rumaiz, R. Tappero, M Idir, K. Nakhoda, J. Khanfri, V. Singh, E. R. Farquhar, M. Sullivan, D. Abel, D. J. Brady, X. Yuan

Faculty Publications

The design and construction of an instrument for full-field imaging of the X-ray fluorescence emitted by a fully illuminated sample are presented. The aim is to produce an X-ray microscope with a few micrometers spatial resolution, which does not need to scan the sample. Since the fluorescence from a spatially inhomogeneous sample may contain many fluorescence lines, the optic which will provide the magnification of the emissions must be achromatic, i.e. its optical properties must be energy-independent. The only optics which fulfill this requirement in the X-ray regime are mirrors and pinholes. The throughput of a simple pinhole is very …

Potential Link Between Compromised Air Quality And Transmission Of The Novel Corona Virus (Sars-Cov-2) In Affected Areas, M. G. Manoj, M. K. Satheesh Kumar, K. T. Valsaraj, C. Sivan, Soumya K. Vijayan

Faculty Publications

The emergence of a novel human corona virus disease (COVID-19) has been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. One of the mechanisms of airborne transmission of the severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) amid humans is through direct ejection of droplets via sneezing, coughing and vocalizing. Nevertheless, there are ample evidences of the persistence of infectious viruses on inanimate surfaces for several hours to a few days. Through a critical review of the current literature and a preliminary analysis of the link between SARS-CoV-2 transmission and air pollution in the affected regions, we offer a perspective …

A Solution For Funding The Development Of Technology In Oilwell Drilling, Dalmo S. Amorim, Otto L. A. Santos, Ricardo C. Azevedo, Ana Carolina Chieregati

Faculty Publications

This article proposes a novel methodology to solve an existing gap in benchmark definition by the adoption of statistically defined benchmarks as references to test products or technical procedures. In a win-win partnership, remuneration is made upon realistic bases of comparison being proportional to existing risks. However, establishing values for benchmarks is rarely unanimous if asked to different persons involved in drilling analysis. Conventional benchmarking, which enhances few results and leaves aside poor operational performances, produces references that do not properly represent the geological environment. Nonetheless, when testing new products, it serves as reference to remunerate suppliers. The review of …

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

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Correlation Analysis Of Precipitation And River Flow With The Injection And Discharge Of The Three Gorges Dam And Reservoir, Lirong Yin

LSU Master's Theses

The Yangtze River has been the primary support of the resources and transportation of China. Its basin covers an area of 1.8 million square kilometers. The Three Gorges Dam and Reservoir on the Yangtze River is one of the world's largest dams. After the dam construction in 1997, the reservoir started injecting the reservoir to a size of over 600 km². The influence caused by the dam and reservoir on the river system has been overwhelming and destructive. The possible influence of this vast water body and the operation to maintain this waterbody's size and water level on …

A Phase-Field Approach To Diffusion-Driven Fracture, Friedrich Wilhelm Alexander Dunkel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In recent years applied mathematicians have used modern analysis to develop variational phase-field models of fracture based on Griffith's theory. These variational phase-field models of fracture have gained popularity due to their ability to predict the crack path and handle crack nucleation and branching.

In this work, we are interested in coupled problems where a diffusion process drives the crack propagation. We extend the variational phase-field model of fracture to account for diffusion-driving fracture and study the convergence of minimizers using gamma-convergence. We will introduce Newton's method for the constrained optimization problem and present an algorithm to solve the diffusion-driven …

Demonstration Of Dynamic Thermal Compensation For Parametric Instability Suppression In Advanced Ligo, T. Hardwick, V. J. Hamedan, C. Blair, A. C. Green, D. Vander-Hyde

Faculty Publications

Advanced LIGO and other ground-based interferometric gravitational-wave detectors use high laser power to minimize shot noise and suspended optics to reduce seismic noise coupling. This can result in an opto-mechanical coupling which can become unstable and saturate the interferometer control systems. The severity of these parametric instabilities scales with circulating laser power and first hindered LIGO operations in 2014. Static thermal tuning and active electrostatic damping have previously been used to control parametric instabilities at lower powers but are insufficient as power is increased. Here we report the first demonstration of dynamic thermal compensation to avoid parametric instability in an …

The Role Of Sediment-Induced Light Attenuation On Primary Production During Hurricane Gustav (2008), Zhengchen Zang, Z. George Xue, Kehui Xu, Samuel J. Bentley, Qin Chen, Eurico J. D'Sa, Le Zhang, Yanda Ou

Faculty Publications

We introduced a sediment-induced light attenuation algorithm into a biogeochemical model of the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system. A fully coupled ocean-atmospheric-sediment-biogeochemical simulation was carried out to assess the impact of sediment-induced light attenuation on primary production in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the passage of Hurricane Gustav in 2008. When compared with model results without sediment-induced light attenuation, our new model showed a better agreement with satellite data on both the magnitude of nearshore chlorophyll concentration and the spatial distribution of offshore bloom. When Hurricane Gustav approached, resuspended sediment shifted the inner shelf ecosystem from a nutrient-limited …

Adaptive Data Migration In Load-Imbalanced Hpc Applications, Parsa Amini

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Distributed parallel applications need to maximize and maintain computer resource utilization and be portable across different machines. Balanced execution of some applications requires more effort than others because their data distribution changes over time. Data re-distribution at runtime requires elaborate schemes that are expensive and may benefit particular applications.

This dissertation discusses a solution for HPX applications to monitor application execution with APEX and use AGAS migration to adaptively redistribute data and load balance applications at runtime to improve application performance and scaling behavior. This dissertation provides evidence for the practicality of using the Active Global Address Space as is …

Using Spatial Analysis And Machine Learning Techniques To Develop A Comprehensive Highway-Rail Grade Crossing Consolidation Model, Samira Soleimani

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The safety of highway-railroad grade crossings (HRGC) is still an issue in the United States of America (USA). The grade crossing is where a railroad crosses a road at the same level without any over or underpass. To improve the safety of crossings, the crossings’ condition should be explored from several aspects such as engineering design (speed limit, warning signs, etc.), road condition (number of lanes, surface markings, etc.), rail design (the type of track, ballast, etc.), temporal variables (weather, visibility, time of day, lightning, etc.), social variables (population, race, etc.), and last but not least, spatial variables (the type …

The Life History And Population Dynamics Of Southern Flounder, Kenneth A. Erickson

LSU Master's Theses

Southern Flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma, are a coastal, estuarine-dependent flatfish species that inhabits the Southeastern US Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. Throughout their range, Southern Flounder are exploited by both commercial and recreational fisheries. Recently, numerous sources have expressed concerns about Southern Flounder populations, with stock assessments indicating declines in spawning stock biomass and recruitment. To estimate life history traits needed for informed management, such as age, growth, and maturity, I collected 327 Southern Flounder from Louisiana and obtained 14,184 historical records from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. Using a von Bertalanffy growth equation in a Bayesian …

Ideas And Perspectives: The Same Carbon Behaves Like Different Elements - An Insight Into Position-Specific Isotope Distributions, Yuyang He, Xiaobin Cao, Huiming Bao

Faculty Publications

It is expected that information on the source, reaction pathway, and reaction kinetics of an organic compound can be obtained from its position-specific isotope compositions or intramolecular isotope distribution (Intra-ID). To retrieve the information, we could use its predicted equilibrium Intra-ID as a reference for understanding the observed Intra-IDs. Historically, observed, apparently close-to-equilibrium carbon Intra-ID has prompted an open debate on the nature of biosystems and specifically the pervasiveness of reversible biochemical reactions. Much of the debate remains unresolved, and the discussion has not clearly distinguished between two states of equilibrium: (1) the equilibrium among the corresponding bond-breaking and bond-forming …

Preface For Article Collection "Evolution And Variability Of Asian Monsoon And Its Linkage With Cenozoic Global Cooling", Ryuji Tada, Christian Betzler, Peter D. Clift

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Environmentally Clean Access To Antarctic Subglacial Aquatic Environments, Alexander B. Michaud, Trista (Vick-Majors, Amanda M. Achberger, Mark L. Skidmore, Brent C. Christner, Martyn Tranter, John C. Priscu

Faculty Publications

Subglacial Antarctic aquatic environments are important targets for scientific exploration due to the unique ecosystems they support and their sediments containing palaeoenvironmental records. Directly accessing these environments while preventing forward contamination and demonstrating that it has not been introduced is logistically challenging. The Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project designed, tested and implemented a microbiologically and chemically clean method of hot-water drilling that was subsequently used to access subglacial aquatic environments. We report microbiological and biogeochemical data collected from the drilling system and underlying water columns during sub-ice explorations beneath the McMurdo and Ross ice shelves and …

Tidal And Storm Impacts On Hydrodynamics And Sediment Dynamics In An Energetic Ebb Tidal Delta, Kehui Xu, P. Ansley Wren, Yanxia Ma

Faculty Publications

Bottom-mounted instrumentation was deployed at two sites on a large sandy shoal of an ebb tidal delta offshore of the Port Royal Sound of South Carolina of USA to collect hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics data. One site ("borrow site") was 2 km offshore in a dredge pit for nearby beach nourishment and the other site ("reference site") was 10 km offshore. In situ time-series data were collected during two periods after the dredging: 15 March-12 June (spring) and 18 August-18 November (fall) of 2012. Data at the reference site indicated active migrating bedforms from centimeters to decimeters tall, and sediment …

The Dynamic Trophic Niche Of An Island Bird Of Prey, Ulises Balza, Nicolas A. Lois, Michael J. Polito, Klemens Puetz, Amira Saalom, Andrea Raya Rey

Faculty Publications

Optimal foraging theory predicts an inverse relationship between the availability of preferred prey and niche width in animals. Moreover, when individuals within a population have identical prey preferences and preferred prey is scarce, a nested pattern of trophic niche is expected if opportunistic and selective individuals can be identified. Here, we examined intraspecific variation in the trophic niche of a resident population of striated caracara (Phalcoboenus australis) on Isla de los Estados (Staten Island), Argentina, using pellet and stable isotope analyses. While this raptor specializes on seabird prey, we assessed this population's potential to forage on terrestrial prey, especially invasive …

Fish Assemblages Associated With Artificial Reefs Assessed Using Multiple Gear Types In The Northwest Gulf Of Mexico, Jeffrey D. Plumlee, Kaylan M. Dance, Michael A. Dance, Hay R. Rooker, Thomas C. Tinhan, J. Brooke Shipley, R. J. David Wells

Faculty Publications

Quantitative surveys of fishes associated with artificial reefs in the northwest Gulf of Mexico were conducted over a 4-yr period (2014-2017). Artificial reefs surveyed were comprised of three types: concrete structures, rig jackets, and decommissioned ships. All reefs were surveyed using vertical long line ( VLL), fish traps, and Adaptive Resolution Imaging Sonar (ARIS 1800). Mean fish abundance did not significantly differ using VLL [1.7 ind set(-1) (SD 2.2)] among the three reef types. However, relative abundance among all fishes collected was significantly highest on rig reefs using traps [6.2 ind soak(-1) (SD 3.8)], while results from sonar surveys indicated …

All-Atomic Molecular Dynamic Studies Of Human And Drosophila Cdk8: Insights Into Their Kinase Domains, The Lxxll Motifs, And Drug Binding Site, Wu Xu, Xiao-Jun Xie, Ali K. Faust, Mengmeng Liu, Xiao Li, Feng Chen, Ashlin A. Naquin, Avery C. Walton, Peter W. Kishbaugh, Jun-Yuan Ji

Faculty Publications

Cyclin-dependent kinase 8 (CDK8) and its regulatory partner Cyclin C (CycC) play conserved roles in modulating RNA polymerase II (Pol II)-dependent gene expression. To understand the structure and function relations of CDK8, we analyzed the structures of human and Drosophila CDK8 proteins using molecular dynamics simulations, combined with functional analyses in Drosophila. Specifically, we evaluated the structural differences between hCDK8 and dCDK8 to predict the effects of the LXXLL motif mutation (AQKAA), the P154L mutations, and drug binding on local structures of the CDK8 proteins. First, we have observed that both the LXXLL motif and the kinase activity of CDK8 …

Quantum Backaction Cancellation In The Audio Band, Jonathan Cripe, Torrey Cullen, Yanbei Chen, Paula Heu, David Follman, Garrett D. Cole, Thomas Corbitt

Faculty Publications

We report on the cancellation of quantum backaction noise in an optomechanical cavity. We perform measurements of the displacement of the microresonator, one in reflection of the cavity and one in transmission of the cavity. We show that measuring the amplitude quadrature of the light transmitted by the optomechanical cavity allows us to cancel the backaction noise between 2 and 50 kHz as a consequence of the strong optical spring present in the detuned cavity. This cancellation yields a more sensitive measurement of the microresonator's position with a 2 dB increase in sensitivity. To confirm that the backaction is eliminated, …

Weather Derivatives And The Market Price Of Risk, Julius Esunge, James J. Njong

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Oxidation Level On The Interfacial Water At The Graphene Oxide-Water Interface: From Spectroscopic Signatures To Hydrogen-Bonding Environment, Rolf David, Aashish Tuladhar, Le Zhang, Christopher Arges, Revati Kumar

Faculty Publications

The interfacial region of the graphene oxide (GO)-water system is nonhomogenous due to the presence of two distinct domains: an oxygen-rich surface and a graphene-like region. The experimental vibrational sum-frequency generation (vSFG) spectra are distinctly different for the fully oxidized GO-water interface as compared to the reduced GO-water case. Computational investigations using ab initio molecular dynamics were performed to determine the molecular origins of the different spectroscopic features. The simulations were first validated by comparing the simulated vSFG spectra to those from the experiment, and the contributions to the spectra from different hydrogen bonding environments and interfacial water orientations were …

Exchangeably Weighted Bootstraps Of Martingale Difference Arrays Under The Uniformly Integrable Entropy, Salim Bouzebda, Nikolaos Limnios

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

On An Asset Model Of Hobson-Rogers Type, Narn-Rueih Shieh

Journal of Stochastic Analysis

No abstract provided.

The Life And Death And Consequences Of Canals And Spoil Banks In Salt Marshes, R. Eugene Turner, Erick M. Swenson

Faculty Publications

We describe the consequence and demise of levees (spoil banks) built from dredging canals in Louisiana salt marshes using morphometric measurements made over 30 years, soil collections on the spoil bank and in the salt marshes behind, and complementary observations from other areas. These measurements were used to determine the temporal bounds of how long spoil banks last and if salt marsh soils remaining in salt marshes are affected. If the rates of changes in spoil bank morphology continue, then the estimated life time of the shrub-tree vegetation at a representative spoil bank is 81 years, the spoil bank width …

Potential Pollen Evidence For The 1933 M 7.5 Diexi Earthquake And Implications For Post-Seismic Landscape Recovery, Hongyan Xu, Hanchao Jiang, Kam-Biu Liu, Ning Zhong

Faculty Publications

The relationships between strong earthquakes, landslides, and vegetation destruction and the process of post-seismic recovery in tectonically active alpine valley areas have not been adequately documented. Here we show detailed pollen study results from a swamp located near the epicenter of the 1933 M 7.5 Diexi earthquake in eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) to reveal the impact of earthquake on vegetation, and the post-seismic recovery process. Based on(210)Pb-Cs-137 age model, the seismic event layer is well constrained. The earthquake event corresponds stratigraphically to a zone with the lowest pollen concentrations, the lowest pollen diversity, and a high frequency of non-arboreal pollen. …