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Cellulose Nanofibers From Energycane Bagasse And Their Applications In Core-Shell Structured Hydrogels, Yiying Yue Jan 2015

Cellulose Nanofibers From Energycane Bagasse And Their Applications In Core-Shell Structured Hydrogels, Yiying Yue

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cellulose fibers (Cellulose I, cellulose II and cellulose I/II Hybrid fibers) were successfully extracted from energycane bagasse by using a combined NaOH and NaClO2 treatment. After the delignification process, most lignin and hemicellulose were removed with a 27.4wt% yield of cellulose fibers, and the mean diameter of cellulose fibers decreased from 137±46 (raw fiber bundles) to 12±5μm (unpacked fibers). The raw bagasse fibers showed a three-step pyrolysis process, while isolated cellulose fibers had a one-step pyrolysis process. NaClO2 treatment caused the reduction of cellulose thermal stability due to its acting on lignin and cellulose. With 10h NaOH treatment, the ribbon …


Game Theoretic Analyses Of The United States-Canada Softwood Lumber Trade, Rajan Parajuli Jan 2015

Game Theoretic Analyses Of The United States-Canada Softwood Lumber Trade, Rajan Parajuli

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The ongoing softwood lumber trade dispute between the United States (U.S.) and Canada is one of the most contentious and largest bilateral trade battles over the recent decades. The bilateral trade debate is mostly because of the different forestland ownership systems in the U.S. and Canada, and the alleged timber subsidies by provincial governments to Canadian lumber producers. The Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) 2006 between the U.S. and Canada is the latest transitory solution of this dispute, entailing Canada to impose mandatory export charges on its lumber shipments to the U.S. In order to understand this trade dispute from a …


Three Year Assessment Of Nearshore Crude Oil Contamination In The Gulf Of Mexico Using Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia Patronus) As An Indicator Species: Menhaden Watch, Gregory Michael Olson Jan 2015

Three Year Assessment Of Nearshore Crude Oil Contamination In The Gulf Of Mexico Using Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia Patronus) As An Indicator Species: Menhaden Watch, Gregory Michael Olson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately 4.9 million barrels of crude oil along with natural gas were released into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) from April to July 2010 (Deepwater Horizon, DWH, spill). Impacts of this magnitude seldom occur in the GoM (Ixtoc I was the last spill close to this magnitude occurring in 1979), and one cannot predict when they will happen. Major constituents of concern found in crude oil are Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), which often have low volatility that allows for prolonged existence in the environment. PAHs are compounds of concern according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), with one …


A Spatial Dynamic Model Of Population Changes In A Vulnerable Coastal Environment, Kenan Li Jan 2015

A Spatial Dynamic Model Of Population Changes In A Vulnerable Coastal Environment, Kenan Li

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Achieving coastal sustainability in low-lying coastal areas is a great challenge. This study developed a spatial dynamic model to study the coupled natural-human responses in the form of population changes in the Lower Mississippi River Basin region. The goal was to identify the key social-economic factors (utility) and selected environmental factors (such as hazards damage, elevation, and subsidence rate) that affect population changes, as well as how population changes affect the local utility and the local environment reciprocally. The study area was partitioned into the “north’ and the “south” by a hypothetical boundary to test the differences of the emergence. …


Effects Of Inbreeding On Endangered Red Wolves (Canis Rufus), Kristin E. Brzeski Jan 2015

Effects Of Inbreeding On Endangered Red Wolves (Canis Rufus), Kristin E. Brzeski

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Inbreeding depression, the reduction in offspring fitness caused by mating among close relatives, is widespread in small populations and a major concern in conservation biology because it can affect population persistence. The negative effects of inbreeding results in the evolution of inbreeding avoidance behaviors; within small populations, such behaviors may encourage individuals to select mates outside of their respective species. Mate choice may also be facilitated by variation at major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes, a gene group critical for immune response and disease resistance. Given broad impacts of inbreeding and MHC variation on fitness and behavior, evaluating their effects is …