Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Distributed Iterative Graph Processing Using Nosql With Data Locality, Ayam Pokhrel

LSU Master's Theses

A tremendous amount of data is generated every day from a wide range of sources such as social networks, sensors, and application logs. Among them, graph data is one type that represents valuable relationships between various entities. Analytics of large graphs has become an essential part of business processes and scientific studies because it leads to deep and meaningful insights into the related domain based on the connections between various entities. However, the optimal processing of large-scale iterative graph computations is very challenging due to the issues like fault tolerance, high memory requirement, parallelization, and scalability. Most of the contemporary …

Geometric Design, John Marceaux

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Using Github In Large Software Engineering Classes: An Exploratory Case Study, Miroslav Tushev

LSU Master's Theses

GitHub has been recently used in Software Engineering (SE) classes to facilitate col- laboration in student team projects. The underlying tenet is that the technical and social feature of GitHub can help students to communicate and collaborate more effectively as a team as well as help teachers to evaluate individual student contribution more objectively. To shed more light on this, in this case study, we explore the benefits and drawbacks of using GitHub in SE classes. Our study is conducted in a software engineering class of 91 students divided into 18 teams. Our research method includes an entry and an …

Waste Management By Waste: Removal Of Acid Dyes From Wastewaters Of Textile Coloration Using Fish Scales, S M Fijul Kabir

LSU Master's Theses

Removal of hazardous acid dyes by economical process using low-cost bio-sorbents from wool industry wastewaters is of a pressing need, since it causes skin and respiratory diseases and disrupts other environmental components. Fish scales (FS), a by-product of fish industry, a type of solid waste, are usually discarded carelessly resulting in pungent odor and environmental burden. In this research, the FS of black drum (Pogonias cromis) were used for the removal of acid dyes (acid red 1 (AR1), acid blue 45 (AB45) and acid yellow 127 (AY126)) from wool industry wastewaters by absorption process with a view to …

Workflows For X-Ray And Neutron Interferometry/Tomography As Applied To Additive Manufacturing, Jumao Yuan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Grating-based interferometry/tomography is being rapidly developed for non-destructive evaluation of additive manufacturing test articles. An application requiring an efficient workflow is extremely necessary for stress and fatigue testing samples.

At present, scientific workflows play an important role for computational experiments in additive manufacturing 3D printing and interferometry/tomography imaging analysis. A clear workflow template allows scientists to process experiments easier and faster. Work flow library grows, but to find an appropriate workflow for their task is challenging. In our research, there are mainly three portions in the workflow, interferometry analysis, image reconstruction and 3D visualization. Currently, the hierarchy of workflows in …

On Structures Of Large Rooted Graphs, Shilin Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A rooted graph is a pair (G,R), where G is a graph and R⊆V(G). There are two research topics in this thesis. One is about unavoidable substructures in sufficiently large rooted graphs. The other is about characterizations of rooted graphs excluding specific large graphs.

The first topic of this thesis is motivated by Ramsey Theorem, which states that K_n and ¯(K_n ) are unavoidable induced subgraphs in every sufficiently large graph. It is also motivated by a classical result of Oporowski, Oxley, and Thomas, which determines unavoidable large 3-connected minors. We first determine unavoidable induced subgraphs, and unavoidable subgraphs in …

Entropic Bounds On Two-Way Assisted Secret-Key Agreement Capacities Of Quantum Channels, Noah Anthony Davis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In order to efficiently put quantum technologies into action, we must know the characteristics of the underlying quantum systems and effects. An interesting example is the use of the secret-key-agreement capacity of a quantum channel as a guide and measure for the implementation of quantum key distribution (QKD) and distributed quantum computation. We define the communication task of establishing a secret key over a quantum channel subject to an energy constraint on the input state and while allowing for unlimited local operations and classical communication (LOCC) between a sender and receiver. We then use the energy-constrained squashed entanglement to bound …

The Effects Of Metal Speciation, Content And Cluster Size In Fly Ash On Pcdd/F Formation, Xia Guan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Transition metal oxides present in waste incineration systems have the ability to catalyze the formation of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) through surface mediated condensation of organic dioxin precursors. Current studies have concentrated on the catalytic effects of individual transition metal oxides, while the complex composition of fly ash introduces the possibility of synergistic or antagonistic effects between multiple, catalytically active components. In addition, there is at present hardly a quantitative link between fly ash physical properties/chemical reactivity and PCDD/Fs yield.

We have tested fly ash surrogates containing different ratios of iron (III) oxide and copper (II) oxide …

Effects Of Enhanced Efficiency Nitrogen Fertilizers On Agronomic Parameters And Loss Pathways In The Subtropical Mississippi Delta Region, Scott Michael Pensky

LSU Master's Theses

Minimizing nitrogen (N) loss is critical for improving N use efficiency (NUE) in crop production and reducing its effects on the environment. Management practices such as seasonal application timing of N fertilizers and the addition of enhanced efficiency N fertilizers (EENFs) were investigated for the high N requirement of the two most common cereal crops globally, corn (Zea mays L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), in the subtropical climate of Louisiana. Field research was established during the 2016 and 2017 seasons at the LSU Agricultural Center’s Dean Lee and Central research stations to examine the effect of different EENFs and …

Evaluation Of Controlled-Release Nitrogen And Potassium Fertilizer In Louisiana Sugarcane Production, Samuel Kwakye

LSU Master's Theses

Sugarcane (Saccharum spp) production is an integral part of Louisiana's economy. Proper fertilizer management, particularly nitrogen (N) and potassium (K), optimizes sugarcane production. An experiment was established in 2015 at the LSU AgCenter Sugar Research Station in St. Gabriel, Louisiana to: (1) assess the effect of N and K fertilizer sources on sugarcane yield and quality parameters, and (2) monitor the changes in inorganic N and K levels in the soil at different sugarcane growth stages. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design on a Sharkey clay soil and complete randomized design on a Commerce …

Spatiotemporal Properties Of Solid State Harmonics, Christopher Abadie

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Radiomic Feature Analysis And Classification Of Tumors For Serial Pre-Clinical Spect/Ct Data, Megan Chesal

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Some Results From The Lariat Experiment, Derek Walker

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Accumulation Of Blue Carbon And Nutrients In An Active Delta Of Coastal Louisiana, Madeline Leblanc

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Resilience In Context: How Cultural Factors Influence Migration Decisions Of Individuals In Flood-Prone Areas Of Coastal Louisiana, Brandon Champagne

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Phylogenetic Similarities Among Bacteria Isolated From Songbirds, Rachel Croy

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Gastrointestinal Helminth Prevalence In Lesser Scaup (Aythya Affinis) Wintering On Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Usa, Sydney Cottingham

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Fate Of Soil Carbon In Louisiana’S Eroding Coastal Wetlands And Potential Impact On Future Climate, Amanda Fontenot

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Modifications To Para-Menthane-(3,8)-Diol To Increase Mosquito Repellency, Heidi Nowakowski

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Operator Semigroups Induced By First-Order Differential Equations, Amy Adair

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Higher Energy Gap Control Of Fluorescence In Conjugated Polymers, Chien-Hung Chiang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Chemo- and biosensors based on fluorescent conjugated polymer benefit from greater detection sensitivity due to amplification of the electronic perturbations produced by analyte binding. This amplification stems from the exciton-transporting properties of conjugated polymers. A conventional design paradigm relies on the analyte binding events which generate sites of lower energy relative to the polymer energy: either fluorescence quenching sites (turn-off sensors) or bathochromically shifted fluorophores (turn-on sensors). In both type sensors, the excitons migrate to the lower-energy site created by analyte binding.

This dissertation primarily focused the investigation of an alternative paradigm when analyte binding creates higher energy gap sites …

Vertical Sediment Accretion In Jamaica Bay Wetlands, New York, Ryan Christopher Clarke

LSU Master's Theses

Over the last century, ~60% of the saltmarsh wetlands in Jamaica Bay (in the Gateway National Recreation Area of the Greater New York City region) have been converted to intertidal or subtidal unvegetated mudflats and projections suggest that all of Jamaica Bay’s saltmarsh wetlands may disappear within the next two decades. After landfall of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and to better understand environmental controls on the maintenance of the remaining Jamaica Bay wetlands, cores were collected from twelve saltmarsh locations in the bay to study the chronology of wetland vertical accretion and mineral sediment accumulation. In association with the United …

General Stochastic Integral And Itô Formula With Application To Stochastic Differential Equations And Mathematical Finance, Jiayu Zhai

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A general stochastic integration theory for adapted and instantly independent stochastic processes arises when we consider anticipative stochastic differential equations. In Part I of this thesis, we conduct a deeper research on the general stochastic integral introduced by W. Ayed and H.-H. Kuo in 2008. We provide a rigorous mathematical framework for the integral in Chapter 2, and prove that the integral is well-defined. Then a general Itô formula is given. In Chapter 3, we present an intrinsic property, near-martingale property, of the general stochastic integral, and Doob-Meyer's decomposition for near-submartigales. We apply the new stochastic integration theory to several …

Topographic Control On Post-Lgm Groundings Of The West Antarctic Ice Sheet In The Whales Deep Basin, Eastern Ross Sea, Matthew Danielson

LSU Master's Theses

By the peak of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) had advanced to the outer continental shelf of eastern Ross Sea trough basins. During the post-LGM retreat, the WAIS paused several times within 75 km of the Whales Deep Basin (WDB) shelf edge. An overlapping stack of seven grounding zone wedges (GZWs) records the locations of these groundings. Here we used ~7500 km of seismic reflection data to map the subglacial unconformity that was eroded when WAIS was grounded at the shelf edge, i.e., prior to the deposition of the backstepping GZWs. With respect to …

Synthesis, Characterization, And Assessment Of Cationic Polypeptoids Toward Gene Delivery And Development Of Air Stable N-Substituted N-Thiocarboxyanhydrides, Jessica Michelle Simpson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Peptoids are a class of peptidomimetic polymers, which have attracted much attention over the years. Due to their structural similarity to peptides, this group of polymers affords good biocompatibility making them of interest for biomedical applications. This dissertation is largely about the design, synthesis, and characterization of cationic polypeptoids for biological applications, particularly nonviral gene delivery. The dissertation will also cover the development, characterization, and polymerization behavior of a new, air stable N-thiocarboxyanhydride (NTA) monomer.

Introducing functionality, such as small biomolecules and organic compounds can provide distinctive properties to the polymers. Chapter 1 introduces gene therapy and concepts pertinent …

Numerical Experiment Of Sediment Dynamics Over A Dredged Pit On The Louisiana Shelf, Nazanin Chaichitehrani

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sediment transport over Sandy Point dredge pit in the northern Gulf of Mexico was examined using field measurements and a finely resolved numerical model. Delft3D model with well-vetted computational grid and input parameters was used. Numerical experiments were performed to examine the effect of wind-generated waves, wind-driven currents and their interaction on sediment dynamics in our study area during a cold front in November 2014 and fair-weather conditions between July and August of 2015. Sediment dispersal from the lower Mississippi River, sediment resuspension, transport and deposition with high spatial and temporal resolution were simulated. A reliable satellite-derived near-surface suspended particulate …

Sediment And Plant Dynamics In A Degrading Coastal Louisiana Landscape, Glenn Michael. Suir

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Alterations to Louisiana’s river systems and local hydrology have resulted in reduced freshwater, sediment, and nutrient inputs into wetland landscapes, causing significant negative impacts on marsh productivity and stability. To combat these losses many restoration projects have been constructed or planned throughout coastal Louisiana. Typical goals of wetland restoration efforts are to conserve, create, or enhance wetland form, and to achieve wetland function that approaches natural conditions. Failure to adequately maintain wetland elevation and hydrology can have serious implications on sedimentation and vegetation processes, which significantly reduces the likelihood of reaching structural and functional targets. Measures of wetland condition have …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Covalent Adaptable Networks Comprised Of Dynamic Imine And Aminal Covalent Bonds, Albert Chao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The dissertation is about the design, synthesis and characterization of materials comprised of covalent adaptable networks (CANs). There are three chapters within this dissertation.

Chapter 1 contains a short overview of conventional thermosets and thermoplastics. A new strategy of combining advantages from thermosets and thermoplastics is utilizing dynamic covalent chemistry (DCC) for material design. Dynamic covalent bonds are able to undergo dynamic exchange which allow the material to adapt to a new state when under stimuli such as stress or strain. Material comprised of such reversible networks is called covalent adaptable networks (CANs). These types of reversible covalent bonds followed …

Chemotherapeutic Applications Of Rhodamine Based Nanogumbos, Nimisha Bhattarai

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The work presented in this dissertation employs nanomaterials derived from a group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS) for selective chemotherapeutic applications. GUMBOS, similar to ionic liquids, are organic salts consisting of a bulky cationic and anionic moiety. In contrast to ionic liquids, these materials have melting points ranging from 25–250 °C, making them solid phase at room temperature. Similar to ionic liquids, GUMBOS display tunable properties, such as hydrophobicity and solubility, through counter ion variation. These tunable properties provide a variety of applications for these GUMBOS, including selective chemotherapeutics applications. The …

The Tensile Root Strength Of Emergent Coastal Macrophytes, Lauris Olivia Hollis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Spartina patens is a dominant emergent macrophyte in fresh, intermediate, and brackish marshes along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of United States where its biomechanical properties are a key component of wetland health and resilience. Its root biomass and tensile root strength are essential for anchorage, erosion protection, and are important determinants of soil strength. Nutrients and the herbicide atrazine are suspected of negatively impacting this wetland plant and others. The objectives of this study were to: 1) ascertain the tensile root strength of five emergent coastal macrophytes in coastal estuaries, and 2) test the effects of nutrient addition, atrazine …