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Verification Of Direct Brachytherapy Dosimetry For A Single Seed Implant, Jabari Robinson Jan 2006

Verification Of Direct Brachytherapy Dosimetry For A Single Seed Implant, Jabari Robinson

LSU Master's Theses

A new technique using direct post-implant dosimetry, which does not depend explicitly on brachytherapy seed orientation or position, was explored for a prostate and a breast case. This technique, proposed by E Sajo and ML Williams (SW), uses trace amounts of positron emitters placed in the seed capsule and uses the positron emission tomography image in conjunction with a computed tomography image (PET-CT) to compute the therapeutic dose distribution in the patient. The SW technique could reduce errors in the post-implant dose computations associated with seed localization, seed shadowing and medium heterogeneity. Dose point kernels were obtained using Monte Carlo …


The Business Dynamics In Telecommunication Market Consolidation, George Amstad Jan 2006

The Business Dynamics In Telecommunication Market Consolidation, George Amstad

LSU Master's Theses

The Swiss telecommunication market is quite different from the markets in surrounding European countries. The Swiss Market is characterized by a very small number of competitors and relatively high and stable prices. The model in this thesis explains shows how the limited competition enables the mobile telecommunication service providers to keep prices up. This is due to a oligopoly market situation linked to complicated laws that discourage new competitors to join the Swiss market. Later in 2006, the Swiss federal council will pass the new televisor law, which will make it significantly easier to join the Swiss market. This will …


Investigation Of The Structure In Electrodeposited Nanostructured Co/Cu Alloys, Multilayers, And Cofe/Cu Multilayered Nanowires, Erick Jamal Lawson Jan 2006

Investigation Of The Structure In Electrodeposited Nanostructured Co/Cu Alloys, Multilayers, And Cofe/Cu Multilayered Nanowires, Erick Jamal Lawson

LSU Master's Theses

Since the discovery of giant magnetoresistance (GMR) in electrodeposited nanostructured magnetic multilayers and multilayered nanowires, there has been interest throughout the scientific world in the fabrication and characterization of these materials. Magnetic multilayers in the form of thin films can be used as magnetoresistive sensors in the magnetic data storage industry. Arrays of nanowires have the potential for applications in perpendicular ultra-high density data storage and biosensors. Wire-shaped magnetic multilayered nanowires have been shown to exhibit GMR in the so called “current perpendicular-to plane” configuration (CPP-GMR). GMR of multilayers and multilayered nanowires have been investigated in several systems that include …


Design And Test Of A Displacement Workspace Mapping Station For Articular Joints, Michael Daly Guillet Jan 2006

Design And Test Of A Displacement Workspace Mapping Station For Articular Joints, Michael Daly Guillet

LSU Master's Theses

In 2003, 267,000 Americans received total knee replacements prohibiting high impact athletics for the remainder of a patient’s life. A better understanding of the movement and constraint of the knee is necessary to provide more realistic motion of or possibly eliminate the need for joint prosthetics. Fixed Orientation Displacement Workspaces (FODW) can be applied to study the relationship of the passive constraint system and six (6) degree of freedom (DOF) movement of the human knee. A FODW consists of the volume of possible positions the tibia/fibula can occupy relative to a fixed femur without changing the relative orientation of the …


Effects Of Smoking Cessation And Female Sex Hormones On Food Intake In Postmenopausal Women, Megan Ranae Apperson Jan 2006

Effects Of Smoking Cessation And Female Sex Hormones On Food Intake In Postmenopausal Women, Megan Ranae Apperson

LSU Master's Theses

Following smoking cessation, individuals increase their food intake. Women experience greater postcessation hyperphagia than men, and older women may increase their food intake more than younger women. Some research has suggested that postcessation increases in food intake may be macronutrient specific. However, previous investigations of macronutrient specific changes in food intake following smoking cessation have had significant methodological problems. The current study assessed changes in total food intake and macronutrient selection using the Macronutrient Self-Selection Paradigm (MSSP), a direct, laboratory based measure of food intake that is valid and reliable with respect to macronutrient intake. Fifty-five postmenopausal females completed the …


Freshwater Mussel Communities Of The Florida Parishes, Louisiana: The Importance Of Spatial Scale, Anne Raynie Bambarger Jan 2006

Freshwater Mussel Communities Of The Florida Parishes, Louisiana: The Importance Of Spatial Scale, Anne Raynie Bambarger

LSU Master's Theses

The Southeastern United States has the most diverse and imperiled freshwater mussel (Unionidae) fauna in the world. The community structure and decline of these organisms is the result of complex interactions between biotic and abiotic factors, but the limited spatial scale of most community studies has failed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms shaping community structure. Basing community assessments solely on microhabitat variables alone has lead to stark contradictions in management recommendations and opposing definitions of habitat requirements for these organisms. However, with the introduction of GIS technology into aquatic management, it is now feasible to include variables from larger spatial …


The Observatory, Rene Fletcher Jan 2006

The Observatory, Rene Fletcher

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis my goal is to paint a universe of my creation which is filled with clues that reveal the underlying relationships of things: spirals that ancient man carved in stone, sprouting fiddle ferns emerging from the earth, spinning particles in an atomic clocks, shells, heads of sunflowers, orbiting stars, swirling dervishes, dancing planets and tender tendrils reaching for the sun. As a working artist, keeping a journal helps me organize my thoughts. I have therefore chosen to present this narrative in journal form.


Acoustic Emission Monitoring And Quantitative Evaluation Of Damage In Reinforced Concrete Members And Bridges, Archana Nair Jan 2006

Acoustic Emission Monitoring And Quantitative Evaluation Of Damage In Reinforced Concrete Members And Bridges, Archana Nair

LSU Master's Theses

A considerable proportion of highway bridges in the US, are made of reinforced concrete. The vulnerability of these structures during their long service life is a cause of major concern for civil engineers. Since there is a need to detect and recuperate the condition of the bridge structures numerous innovative non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques have come into the forefront. Of the many available technologies, acoustic emission (AE) monitoring has been the most popular non-destructive technique used on highway bridges. Acoustic emission is a passive monitoring technique. Thus, it can be appropriately used for field bridge monitoring applications. Usually AE monitoring …


Mapping A Weak Hypercube On An Optical Slab Waveguide, Divya Rengan Jan 2006

Mapping A Weak Hypercube On An Optical Slab Waveguide, Divya Rengan

LSU Master's Theses

The communication fabric of a parallel processing system is represented as a directed graph. In a weak topology a processor uses at most one incoming edge or one outgoing edge for communication at any given point in time. Currently, the data rate that can be supported on electronic interconnects is reaching its limits. Optical interconnects have been identified as one of the most promising approaches to the growing demands for today's systems. The “medium bandwidth” of an optical waveguide is huge (order of petabits per second for a 1mm2 cross-section optical slab). The challenge lies in utilizing as much of …


The Effects Of Micronutrients On Pullets And Broilers, Danielle Armantine Lauzon Jan 2006

The Effects Of Micronutrients On Pullets And Broilers, Danielle Armantine Lauzon

LSU Master's Theses

Two experiments were conducted to determine the availability of various vitamin E (E) sources (absorbed to verxite or adsorbed to silica) in broilers. In Experiment 1, at 100 and 300 IU supplemental E, an average of 94 and 44% of E intake from verxite and silica, respectively, was excreted in the feces, but at 30 IU E, 49 and 45% of E intake was excreted in the feces. In Experiment 2 at 30 IU, 52 and 43% of E intake from verxite and silica was excreted (source, P < 0.02). Based on these results, E adsorbed to silica is more available. Two experiments were conducted to determine the relative bioavailability of organic versus inorganic sources of either Mn or Zn. In Experiment 1, Mn as MnSO4 or a Mn amino acid complex (Availa-Mn) were compared. In Experiment 2, ZnSO4 or a Zn amino acid complex (Availa-Zn) were compared. The results indicate that Availa-Mn is a more available source of Mn than MnSO4, but Availa-Zn is not as available as a source of Zn as ZnSO4. An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of organic sources of Zn, Mn, and Cu on White Leghorn pullet performance. Treatment diets consisted of a control diet with 66 ppm Zn as ZnSO4 or a combination of ZnSO4 and Availa-Zn, 66ppm Mn as MnSO4 or a combination of MnSO4 and Availa-Mn, and 10 ppm Cu as CuSO4 or a combination of CuSO4 and a Cu amino acid complex (Availa-Cu). Diets are inorganic sources (IO), organic Zn (OZ), organic Zn and Mn (OZM), or organic Zn, Mn, and Cu (OZMC). Addition of OZM increased (P < 0.08) intestinal tensile strength and increased (P < 0.06) grams of ash per bone compared with OZMC. Pullets fed OZ had a higher (P < 0.08) bone concentration of all minerals than pullets fed OZM. Total tibia Mn was decreased (P < 0.06) by OZMC, but total tibia Cu was increased (P < 0.08) by OZ addition over IO or OZM.


Target Audiences And Communication Channels Of Lighten Up Programs In The United States, Nancy Leah Borden Jan 2006

Target Audiences And Communication Channels Of Lighten Up Programs In The United States, Nancy Leah Borden

LSU Master's Theses

Several Lighten Up programs around the United States were qualitatively studied in efforts to determine their target audiences and the communication channels used to reach these audiences. To guide this study, principles from the social marketing framework and the diffusion of innovations theory were applied. Several Lighten Up program executive directors and other high-ranking individuals in charge of the programs were interviewed in-depth to answer questions pertaining to target audiences and communication channels. Inductive data analysis illustrated that programs did not segment their target audiences, that more programs depended on interpersonal and group communication than mass communication, and finally, that …


An Architecture For Adaptive Real Time Communication With Embedded Devices, Amol S. Patwardhan Jan 2006

An Architecture For Adaptive Real Time Communication With Embedded Devices, Amol S. Patwardhan

LSU Master's Theses

The virtual testbed is designed to be a cost-effective rapid development environment as well as a teaching tool for embedded systems. Teaching and development of embedded systems otherwise requires dedicated real time operating systems and costly infrastructure for hardware simulation. Writing control software for embedded systems with such a setup takes prolonged development cycles. Moreover, actual hardware may get damaged while writing the control software. On the contrary, in a virtual testbed environment, a simulator running on the host machine is used instead of the actual hardware, which then interacts with an embedded processor through serial communication. This hardware-in-the-loop setup …


Symphony Iii, Michael Berthelot Jan 2006

Symphony Iii, Michael Berthelot

LSU Master's Theses

In the summer of 2003 in the outskirts of Portland, Oregon, inspiration was found, and Symphony III is the result. It was here that two conflicting ideas became clear. The juxtaposition of these two ideas is evident throughout this work. Symphony III is a one-movement piece of twenty minutes in duration that consists of five different sections in the arch form ABCBA. One idea is very lyrical, as in Section A, while the other is very rhythmic, as in Section B. The lyrical inspiration can be heard in the opening flutes, and in the piccolo trio, which perfectly reflects the …