Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Learning Through Online Participation: From Breakout Rooms To Discord, Makayla Moster

All Dissertations

For software development teams, teamwork is an essential part of their day-to-day lives. However, due to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, more companies have allowed employees to have more hybrid and remote work options than before. As more companies are adopting hybrid and remote workstyles, we need to ensure that we are preparing the next batch of young software developers to conduct teamwork in remote and hybrid settings. In this dissertation, I address the tools students use for teamwork and how to improve their teamwork inside and outside of the classroom. I present my research on improving student experiences …

Toward The Application Of Natural Language Processing In Electronic Health Record Analysis For Taxonomy Development, Latoya Mcdonald

All Dissertations

Electronic health records (EHRs) are pivotal resources for nurse practice because they increase the timeliness and reliability of patient information at the point of care and support access by multiple healthcare providers and the individual patients themselves. However, it is widely recognized that data extraction from EHRs is challenging due to the variability in the language used in clinical care notes and the lack of standardized terminology across healthcare systems. The broad objective of this dissertation is to develop taxonomy-based classification models for nursing care by applying feature engineering approaches to EHRs that include nursing care of ostomy patients following …

Development Of Small-Molecule Inhibitors For Bacteroides, Naegleria, And Toxoplasma Microorganisms And Synthesis Of N-Heterocycles From Thiolated Ene-Ynes And Azodicarboxylates, Samuel Kwain

All Dissertations

Humans and microorganisms are intricately interconnected, with microbes constituting an essential component of human biology and ecology. This interdependence necessitates a delicate balance between leveraging beneficial microbes and mitigating the impact of harmful ones. The human gut microbiome, home to trillions of microorganisms, predominantly comprises commensal species that support health. However, dysbiosis within this ecosystem has been linked to serious diseases. For instance, an overrepresentation of Bacteroides species is associated with Type I diabetes mellitus (T1D) and various chronic gut disorders, including ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, and colorectal cancer. Similarly, Naegleria fowleri, a free-living amoeba, causes …

The Spectral Asymptotics Of Toeplitz Operators On Hilbert Spaces Of Analytic Functions, Trevor Camper

All Dissertations

Many physical systems, whether they are ocean waves or particles moving through space, can be described using the mathematical language of “partial differ- ential equations.” In many circumstances, it is useful to study how these equations amplify an input to the equation, in which case the amplification factor is called an “eigenvalue.” The usefulness of these amplification factors is that they can be used to describe properties of the physical system. In this dissertation, I have studied this amplification factor for a related set of equations called “Toeplitz operators.” In par- ticular, I have studied eigenvalues using statistical techniques. The …

A System And Method For Measuring Spatially Varying Surface Appearances With A Study Of Feathers, Jessica Baron-Lis

All Dissertations

Real-world materials, particularly biological structures such as feathers exhibit complex appearances that vary spatially across their surfaces. The field of computer graphics provides a means of understanding such surfaces through material modeling which uses both analytical models and data acquired from light-surface interactions. There are many efforts within the past decade in measuring materials for graphics, but common limitations in these works include not accounting for spatially varying properties and reliance on neural networks and synthetic datasets.

Feathers from modern birds present diverse appearances due to how light interacts with their unique hierarchical microstructures. Variations in those structures lead to …

A Systemic Approach To Maximize Heterogeneous System Performance, Thomas L. Randall

All Dissertations

Continuous increases in high performance computing (HPC) throughput have served as catalysts for industry and scientific advancement in countless manners that have fundamentally shaped our modern world. Our demands on compute resources continue to scale, but the limitations of Ahmdal’s law and Dennard scaling have proven increasingly difficult to overcome when approached solely through hardware or software design. Furthermore, many HPC applications fail to utilize the collective system’s performance, even on the most advanced supercomputers.

However, the resurgence of AI in the industry has promoted an explosion of hardware and software codesign that have fueled massive improvements in GPU design …

Domain Decomposition For Coupled Systems Of Fluid-Structure Interaction And Numerical Modeling For Thin Film Polymers, Amy De Castro

All Dissertations

We consider two primary areas of physical application in this work: fluid interaction systems with either linear elastic structures or with poroelastic structures, and thin film polymers, where the majority of the work focuses on the fluid-structure interaction systems.

In the first chapter, we present a strongly coupled partitioned method for fluid structure interaction (FSI) problems based on a monolithic formulation of the system which employs a Lagrange multiplier (LM). We prove that both the semi-discrete and fully discrete formulations are well-posed. To derive the partitioned scheme, a Schur complement equation, which implicitly expresses the Lagrange multiplier and the fluid …

Earthscape Ai Dataset V1.1, Matthew Massey, Abdullah-Al-Zubaer Imran

Research Data--KGS

EarthScape v1.1 Dataset Download Links:

esv1p1_smokeset.zip (197 MB)

esv1p1_splits.zip (2.5 MB)

esv1p1_usa_ky_data.zip (1 MB)

esv1p1_usa_ky_hardin_howevalley.zip (26.3 GB)

esv1p1_usa_ky_hardin_sonora.zip (26.3 GB)

esv1p1_usa_ky_warren.zip (166 GB)

Surficial geologic mapping is essential for understanding Earth surface processes and supporting applications in engineering, hazard assessment, and resource management. However, traditional mapping approaches are labor-intensive, limiting spatial coverage and introducing subjectivity. To address these challenges, we introduce EarthScape, a multimodal, AI-ready geospatial dataset designed for surficial geologic mapping and Earth surface analysis. EarthScape integrates high-resolution aerial RGB and near-infrared (NIR) imagery, digital elevation models (DEM), multi-scale terrain features derived from DEMs, and hydrologic and infrastructure vector …

Compiling Haskell Into Lean: A Common Abstract Syntax For Haskell And Interactive Theorem Provers, Talitha Holcombe

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (MS) Theses

In this work, we introduce a program conversion tool, HS-TO-LEAN, that uses GHC's ghc-lib-parser API to translate Haskell programs into Lean code, which is then validated by the Lean compiler. The repo can be found at https://github.com/holcombet/hs-to-lean/tree/main. The result is a successful compilation of a fragment of Haskell into correct and executable Lean code that users can prove theorems about. We conducted a case study using a heap sort algorithm to support our claim that HS-TO-LEAN produces verifiable Lean code. Our approach is inspired by recent advances in formal verification of Haskell programs in Coq, and we currently restrict our …

Reducing Stigma Around Neurodiversity Through The Use Of Celebratory Technology Ice Breakers In First-Year Undergraduate Classrooms, Briana Craig

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (MS) Theses

Celebratory technology for Neurodiversity is a new paradigm in the field of human computer interaction; it focuses on reducing stigma surrounding neurodivergent labels and behaviors. Celebratory technology aims to highlight the strengths of neurodiversity rather than fixing socially undesired traits, shifting the responsibility for change from neurodivergent individuals to society's attitudes. Stigma reduction can be accomplished through providing high quality interactions, where anyone can meet and learn about positive traits in others as well as learn of interests' others have in common, thus reframing neurodivergence as inclusion in human diversity rather than a condition to be stigmatized or objectified. This …

An Analysis Of Bias Towards Women In Large Language Models Using Likert Scale Evaluations, Sarah T. Fieck

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (MS) Theses

Closed-source large language models (LLMs) developed by large technology companies continue to grow in popularity. However, ethical conversations surrounding the safety of model outputs have been a prominent topic of discussion. This project aims to assess three leading closed-source LLMs: OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude, to analyze how their outputs perform when treated as a subject of several psychological evaluation scales measuring biased behaviors against women. The Ambivalent Sexism Index, Modern Sexism Scale, and Belief in Sexism Shift evaluations were used to get descriptions of how the LLMs respond to traditional and modern prompts involving sexism and gender …

A Narrative-Focused Machine Learning Approach To Predicting Feature Film Success, Arisa T. Trombley

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (MS) Theses

For decades, the field of film production has been driven by marketability, and it has relied on gut feelings and subjectivity to produce feature films. The analysis of the relationship between a screenplay’s narrative and a film’s success has been widely overlooked due to the challenges involved in data acquisition and complexity. This study investigates the predictive power of narrative structure on film success and aims to build evidence for hypothesized narrative principles. The results suggest that narrative structural elements exhibit moderate predictive power, with strong support for the alignment of the 2nd act crucial moments and the 2nd act …

Development Of Novel Pharmaceutical For Optimization Of Opioid Overdose Treatment, Larae Kram

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

Although opioids are highly effective drugs for pain management, their overuse and addictive nature has caused an opioid epidemic, resulting in many cases of opioid addiction and overdose. There are two current opioid overdose drugs that are FDA approved: naloxone and nalmefene. These drugs have a higher affinity to the active binding pocket on the opioid receptor than opioids do and displace the opioids, preventing any further binding of the opioid and halting the opioid’s effects. However, naloxone is not active long enough to outlast the duration of the opioid and nalmefene causes severe withdrawal symptoms. The development of more …

Performance Optimization Of A 1:10 Scale Radio-Controlled Car Through Aerodynamic And Mechanical Enhancements, George Kerner

Celebrating Scholarship and Creativity Day (2018-)

Changes in the performance of a 1/10 scale radio-controlled car due to various mechanical and aerodynamic modifications were investigated. The car’s mechanical performance was evaluated by measuring lap times on custom figure-eight and oval tracks to assess handling. A straight 60-foot track was used to measure acceleration times. Mechanical modifications included a low-center-of-gravity chassis, a higher power motor, and wider street tires to optimize suspension, drivetrain, and grip. Aerodynamic enhancements included the integration of front and rear spoilers, a diffuser, and an undertray all designed using Autodesk Fusion. All aerodynamic components were 3D printed and mounted to the vehicle for …

Analysing Bell Experiments Through Test Factors: Applications To Randomness And Strength Of Nonlocality, Soumyadip Patra

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This work presents practical tools to analyse Bell experiments---experiments demonstrating correlations that defy classical explanations and proving that nature violates local realism. We begin by showing that in the Bell scenario specified by n parties with each party having a choice of m binary-outcome measurements---the (n,m,2) scenario---projecting weakly-signalling settings-conditional outcome distributions onto the smallest-dimensional affine subspace (containing the no-signalling set) via an L^2-distance-minimising map preserves correlators. This result ensures that Bell inequalities written in terms of correlators remain invariant under such projections, and we provide an efficient construction method for the projection operator that avoids computationally costly steps such as …

Assessment Of Lake Salvador Shoreline Dynamics To Support Restoration Of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In Jean Lafitte National Historical Park And Preserve, Louisiana, Lydia V. Dipaola

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

High wave energy degrades shoreline habitat between Lake Salvador and Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (JELA), Louisiana. JELA constructed a northern breakwater in 2004, and a southern breakwater in 2024 to protect the shoreline and promote restoration of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). This study analyzes Sentinel-2 imagery to quantify coastal loss along the JELA-Lake Salvador using the Change Polygon Approach, assessing annual, cumulative and major storm event-associated shoreline changes for January 2017-2025. SAV cover, nekton diversity, wave energy, and turbidity were measured before-and-after southern breakwater construction to monitor ecological and environmental outcomes. The JELA-Lake Salvador shoreline has lost …

Animal Burrow Detection In Levee Systems Using Res-Net 34, Christopher D. Moore

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Animal burrow detection is a time-consuming and costly task for levee inspectors. Annual budgets run up to approximately $16 million per state. The inspectors typically will have to travel to the inspection sites using government-assigned transportation. Depending on the distance to the site, it may take minutes or hours to arrive before any productive inspections occur. Once at the site, the inspectors were subject to human error, overgrown foliage, severe weather, or prohibitive landscaping that would make any human inspection impossible. Also, animal burrows could be small enough or overgrown, so the human inspector misses the problem areas. We aimed …

Photochemical Transformations Of Crude Oil In Marine Environments: Temporal And Thermal Dynamics Of Oxygenated Photoproducts And Genotoxic Effects, Mohamed Elsheref

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the photochemical transformation of different crude oil types in marine environments, focusing on the time and temperature dependency of the formation of oxygenated photoproducts and their potential genotoxic effects. Using electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS), we examined the time and temperature dependence of aldehyde and ketone oxocarboxylic acid photoproduct generation from crude oil-seawater systems under simulated solar irradiation. The study revealed a near-linear increase in photoproduct concentration over an 18-hour irradiation period, with production rates ranging from 0.6 to 69 µmol/hm² of oil surface. Temperature effects on photoproduct formation were complex, but generally showed increased total …

Analytics Insights From Text: Machine Learning, Ai, And Sentiment Analysis On Beige Books, Charlie Smith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations (2019 - present)

Business analytics is about drawing actionable insights from data. These distinct but connected essays represent a novel approach to explore how natural language processing (NLP) advances and machine learning can transform unstructured text data into actionable conclusions. Essay 1 provides a broad framework. Essay 2 strengthens the sentiment analysis with the most recent artificial intelligence methodologies for capturing nuanced sentiment in complex texts. Essay 3 applies those insights to forecast recessions using topics that can be readily interpreted and applied.

The research demonstrates how these methodologies can be applied to enhance understanding of the same dataset, Beige Books. Published by …

Comparative Analysis Of Regression And Random Forest Models For Player Performance Prediction In The Mls, Joshua Clement Madeti

Senior Honors Theses

Advanced technology and analytics have transformed the world and have benefited several industries throughout, the sport industry being one of them. Data is constantly generated during sports and requires post-game or post-season analysis which is crucial to team and player success. In this paper, the researcher will focus on the impact of analytics on soccer and soccer players. With over three billion active fans, soccer is the most famous sport in the world yet, when it comes to analytics, it is lagging. The thesis includes a comparative study of multiple linear regression and random forest regression to explore whether these …

Monitoring The Qosh Tepa Canal Project: A Geospatial Timeline Of Taliban Water Diversion, Enerel L. Crosslin

Honors Thesis

The World Food Program states that “acute malnutrition in Afghanistan is above emergency thresholds in 25 out of 34 provinces and is expected to worsen”. Aiming to support agriculture, the Taliban began to build the 285 km “Qosh Tepa Canal” to divert 17% of the Amu Darya, which supports the livelihoods of millions of people in downstream Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The World Bank estimated that roughly 2.4 million Central Asians could become climate refugees by 2050. Our objectives are to create a timeline of satellite imagery of the canal’s construction. Our research questions are (1) Can we characterize water diversion …

Synthesis And Characterization Of 3,5 Trifluoromethyl Tpm With A Metal Carbonyl Complex, Emily P. Berkman

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Tris(pyrazolyl)methane (Tpm) ligands have a central carbon with 3 pyrazole rings attached. These were discovered in 1970 and have since been synthesized with many substituents on the rings. Based on the parent structure, my goal was to synthesize a fluorinated Tpm derivative. By adapting existing procedures, I have synthesized a Tpm derivative with trifluorinated methyl groups in the 3 and 5 positions of the pyrazole ring. The fluorinated ligand is expected to be electron withdrawing and exhibit interesting chemistry when bound to a metal center. Future directions of the project will be discussed.

Disulfide-Cleavable Linkers In Antibody-Drug Conjugates For Targeted Cancer Therapy, Emily Hwang

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This project aims to discover a way to improve the safety of and reduce adverse side effects of disulfide-linked antibody-drug conjugates. Disulfide-cleavable linkers for antibody-drug conjugates function by exploiting the differential concentrations of dominant thiol species in the blood plasma and in the cytosol of malignant cells. This project aimed to identify a relationship between the stability of disulfide cleavable linkers in the blood plasma and disulfide linker structure, to prevent premature release of the cytotoxic drug. Three disulfide linker analogs with varying carbon chain lengths were synthesized through reaction with 2,2’-dipyridyl disulfide. Each analog was conjugated to a fluorescent …

The Playground: Redefining The Artistic Experience And Expression With Technology, Meghan Hutto

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Throughout the artistic community, many creators are exploring new ways to generate innovative works for growing audiences. With the emergence of endless technology, dance makers are searching for mediums to include new lighting techniques and music composition. Across this past year, I have researched and explored new frontiers of artistic mediums to further my project’s artistic expression. By developing and investigating new systems of lighting and musical composition, I created a fifteen-minute work called “Metaphysical Mindscape”. When solidifying the through-line that carried the expression of my piece, I uncovered a piece of myself. The themes that I explored were thoughts …

Cultural Health Benefits And Challenges Of Food Preparation And Consumption: A Comparative Study Of The United States, Italy, And Norway, Natalie G. Link

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This study aims to investigate the cultural health benefits and challenges associated with food preparation and consumption in the United States, Italy, and Norway, with a particular focus on citizens in lower socioeconomic levels. By examining the dietary habits, social structures, and health outcomes in these three countries, this research aims to uncover broader insights into the health status and well-being of their respective populations. The study will employ secondary data analysis approach examining existing research on cultural practices and social support systems. The findings of this research will contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between food …

Semiconductors In Space: Data Analysis Of Microgravity's Impact On Crystal Formation, Keegan Jo Jackson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Comprehensive data analysis on crystal growth in microgravity is a requisite to inform understanding of prior work. Our research constructed and analyzed a database containing data gathered from research focusing on semiconductors grown in microgravity. Data curation spanned multiple decades, countries, and semiconductor materials. All relevant reported information was recorded in the database, notably data regarding the metrics used to determine the impact space had on crystal growth: size, structure, uniformity, and performance. After data cleaning and data processing, the database was organized and readied for analysis. Data analysis was performed using RStudio and SciKit-learn. RStudio was employed for data …

Linking The Past And The Future: Understanding How Pollutants Cause Corrosion During An Oddy Test, Kylie Blair Blake

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Artifacts and artwork continue to tell a story long after a time or culture has disappeared. Preventive art conservation science involves careful and responsible management of the objects entrusted in the care of the museum staff to ensure environmental and display conditions do not cause damage so future generations can observe and learn about past cultures. An accelerated metal corrosion test, the Oddy test, has been used to help determine the suitability of display and storage materials. The Oddy test is subjective, so newer methods are being developed involving the use of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to identify specific …

Hα Variability Of Ab Aur B With The Hubble Space Telescope: Probing The Nature Of A Protoplanet Candidate With Accretion Light Echoes, Brendan P. Bowler, Yifan Zhou, Lauren I. Biddle, Lillian Yushu Jiang, Jaehan Bae, Laird M. Close, Katherine B. Follette, Kyle Franson, Adam L. Kraus, Aniket Sanghi, Quang Tran, Kimberly Ward-Duong, Ya Lin Wu, Zhaohuan Zhu

Astronomy: Faculty Publications

Giant planets generate accretion luminosity as they form. Much of this energy is radiated in strong Hα line emission, which has motivated direct imaging surveys at optical wavelengths to search for accreting protoplanets. However, compact disk structures can mimic accreting planets by scattering emission from the host star. This can complicate the interpretation of Hα point sources, especially if the host star itself is accreting. We describe an approach to distinguish accreting protoplanets from scattered-light disk features using “accretion light echoes.” This method relies on variable Hα emission from a stochastically accreting host star to search for a delayed brightness …

Electrochemically Precipitated Struvite Effects On Extractable Soil Nutrients, Owen Collins

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Struvite recovery from wastewater streams may provide an alternative to traditional fertilizer-phosphorus (P) sources, while also providing the benefit of reducing nitrogen and P loads in wastewater effluent and reducing effects of eutrophication in surface waters. Limited research has been conducted to assess the effects of struvite fertilization on concentrations of soil micronutrients and potassium (K) compared to other traditional fertilizer-P sources in historically agricultural soils. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of fertilizer-P source (i.e., synthetically produced electrochemically precipitated struvite [ECST], chemically precipitated struvite [CPST], monoammonium phosphate [MAP], diammonium phosphate [DAP], triple superphosphate [TSP], rock …

Effects Of The Gravity Gradient On The Path Of 1i/‘Oumuamua, Hannah R. Richardson

Poster Presentations

In October 2017, the asteroid 1I/’Oumuamua first passed into viewing range [1]. The asteroid is notable for being the first interstellar object to enter the solar system. 1I/’Oumuamua was also unusual in its geometry; it is thought to have an aspect ratio of 6:1 and a length of approximately 400 m [2] [3]. The asteroid was observed to experience a non-Keplerian acceleration estimated to be on the order of 1×10−6 m s-2 Several theories have been proposed for the cause of this acceleration, all of which are non-gravitational in nature: volatile outgassing, photon pressure, and solar winds [1][4]. However, none …