Digital Commons Network^™

Characteristics Associated With Improvements In Health Among Community Mental Health Clients With Thought Disorders Receiving Co-Located Primary Care Services, Mary Elizabeth Heintz

LSU Master's Theses

Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) are disproportionately impacted by preventable physical health conditions, which put them at risk for premature mortality. Integrated primary and behavioral health care (PBHC) programs have demonstrated promise in treating comorbid physical and mental health conditions, common to individuals diagnosed with SMI. The current study focused on individuals with thought disorders (i.e., schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and brief psychotic disorder), as those diagnosed are more likely to be retained in care. Treatment retention is especially important, as adherence slows down the progression of psychiatric symptoms and physical health diseases. Extant research has focused on evaluation of …

Magnetic Gradient Drilling, Garrett Lowry Nielsen

LSU Master's Theses

The drilling industry has always had difficulties with staying within the mud weight window. The problems associated with failure to stay within the mud weight window include uncontrolled influxes and wellbore collapse on the low pressure side of the window, and fluid losses and wellbore damage on the high pressure side of the window. When the risk for getting outside of this mud window becomes too great, casing must be set in order to isolate formations from each other. If too many strings of casing are set, or if the damage from getting out of the mud weight window is …

Degrees Are Not Enough : Success And Challenges Of Black Women Pursuing College Degrees., Dequinten Shrez Glenn

LSU Master's Theses

Black women are succeeding highly across the country in Higher Education. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2010) Black women received 66% of undergraduate degrees received by Black people in America in the 2007-2008 school year. This extreme success reflects their abilities to compete at the highest levels while attending institutions of higher education. Their success is not rewarded with job opportunities and equal wages which is reflected by their lack of representation in highly paid fields including science and medicine.

America has been organized and governed by systemic oppression of certain groups this oppression stems from a …

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 …

Transmission Potential Of Rickettsia Felis Through Cutaneous Inoculation Of Infectious Flea Feces, Kelsey Porter Legendre

LSU Master's Theses

Rickettsia felis, the causative agent of flea-borne spotted fever, is an emerging pathogen of the transitional group Rickettsiae and an important cause of febrile illness in Africa. Since the organism’s original discovery in the early 1990s, much research has been directed towards elucidating transmission mechanisms within the believed primary host and reservoir, the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis). However, while a growing number of human cases are being reported throughout the world, a definitive transmission mechanism from arthropod host to vertebrate host resulting in clinical disease has not been found. Several possible mechanisms, including bite of infected arthropods …

A Tale Of Two Birds: Lighting Design And Implementation Of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull And Aaron Posner's Stupid Fucking Bird Running In Repertory At Swine Palace Theatre, Chelsea G. Touchet

LSU Master's Theses

The course of creation never did run smooth. Every act of creation is a process of creation. While theatrical creation and execution may follow the same basic steps each time, the process will always be evolving. One may take many paths to reach the same destination.

This project is a study of the process of creation and execution of a repertory theatrical lighting design for a professional company in an academic setting. In the spring of 2017, Swine Palace Theatre, the professional company associated with Louisiana State University’s (LSU) School of Theatre, produced Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull in full rotating …

From Party To Publicity: The Transitional Role Of Three Publicity Experts On The Road To Modern Campaigning, Meagan H. Collman

LSU Master's Theses

During an election cycle, social media newsfeeds and TV screens are overrun with political advertisements and celebrity politics. Publicity has become a critical component of presidential elections. While many argue that a reliance on publicity developed with the popularization of the television, I argue that a dependency on publicity occurred in the early-to- mid 1900’s with three publicity experts who paved the way for future elections. Robert Woolley in Woodrow Wilson’s 1916 campaign exercised unprecedented management over his publicity bureau and used new techniques catering to new mediums of the time; Albert Lasker in Warren Harding’s 1920 campaign merged the …

Enhanced Grain Partitioning Of X-Ray Microtomography Segmented Images, Nicholas C. Skrivanos Ii

LSU Master's Theses

In the field of petroleum engineering, rock samples are often taken from wells during the drilling process. Grain partitioning of digital three-dimensional microtomography segmented images obtained from these samples provides valuable in-situ properties and statistics that allow for accurate particle and structure characterization. This information can be used directly in detailed production and reservoir analysis, and can also be used to generate realistic packing models for advanced simulation. Additionally, the partitioned image can be used as a building block for realistic hydraulic fracture modeling. This technology has applications in other fields as well, such as core analysis in soil sciences …

Providing Information And Public Outreach Across Three U.S. State Archaeology Offices During The Age Of Open Access, Samuel Thomas Ayers

LSU Master's Theses

Archaeology in the United States has been transformed into a mainstream, practical science over the past fifty years by Cultural Resource Management (CRM) and the federal regulations imposed by the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966. However, this form of archaeology has been plagued with criticisms since the NHPA’s enactment including issues of access and use of data maintained by state site files. State archaeology is publicly funded yet state and federal legislation often exempts CRM data from freedom of information laws. To mitigate this contradiction and stem the growing body of “gray literature”, new open-access (OA) technologies are …

Effect Of Pipe Rotation On Casing Pressure Within Mpd Applications, Zahrah Ahmed Al Marhoon

LSU Master's Theses

Well control is one of the most crucial sectors in drilling engineering. Human lives and safety depend on the correct execution of the engineering design. Managed Pressure Drilling (MPD) is a new technology that has recently emerged in the oil and gas industry. It has special well control abilities supported by the RCD to continue drilling or carry operations that involve pipe rotation, while circulating out a gas kick. This thesis examines the effect of pipe rotation on casing pressure profiles within MPD kick circulation application. The analysis was carried on real scale kick experiments. These experiments were carried in …

Assessing Changes In Self-Reported Driving Ability After Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, John Philip Kelly Bernstein

LSU Master's Theses

The ability to safely drive a car requires intact cognitive functioning across a variety of domains, many of which are adversely affected following a moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI). Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) impacts similar cognitive facets, albeit to a less severe extent, and preliminary evidence suggests that mTBI may also have a deleterious effect on driving abilities immediately following injury. However, changes in driving ability over the course of recovery from mTBI have not been adequately examined. The present study addressed this dearth in the literature through examination of self-reported driving ability in 18 participants with a recent …

Vocal Expression In Schizophrenia: Examining The Role Of Vocal Accommodation In Clinical Ratings Of Speech, Thanh P. Le

LSU Master's Theses

Diminished vocal expressivity, defined in terms of a diminution in speech production and intonation/emphasis, is a chronic symptom in schizophrenia. On interview-based measures of vocal deficits, clinicians typically rate patients with schizophrenia 4 to 6 SDs below their non-patient peers. However, recent studies utilizing objective computerized measures have failed to observe vocal expressivity deficits that approach this level. It may be that vocal deficits can only be understood within the boundaries of dyadic exchanges during interview-based assessments. Vocal accommodation, or the degree to which vocal characteristics (i.e., mean F0) between interlocutors synchronize over time, has been linked to enhanced social …

Crayfish Harvesting Practices In The Southern Atchafalaya River Basin: Quantitative And Qualitative Assessment Of Harvester Techniques And Hydrologic Connectivity Influence On Harvesting Strategies, Ivan A. Vargas-Lopez

LSU Master's Theses

Fisheries produce important impacts around the world through the exploitation of a wide range of species. In Louisiana, crayfish is the most emblematic crustacean and supports a multi-million industry based on pond culture and harvest from natural habitats. Although the economic value (USD) of wild-harvested crayfish has decreased from 10% to 3% of total crayfish value from 2013 to 2015, wild harvested crayfish are highly desired by many consumers and have a strong socio-cultural importance in Louisiana and other Gulf of Mexico coastal regions. This project evaluated harvesting practices by: 1) field observation and mapping of harvest sites in southwestern …

Evaluation Of Growth Characteristics, Yield, Marketability And Nitrate Levels Of Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa L) Cultivars Produced In South Louisiana, William D. Afton

LSU Master's Theses

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) is an important leafy vegetable crop grown in worldwide food systems with the United States ranking second behind China in total production. In 2009 the USDA Food Economic Research Service reported 1,057,715 hectares of lettuce grown in the world. Lettuce is a common market crop grown across the United States. Nitrate (NO^3-) accumulation in lettuce and other leafy vegetables has been found to be a potential health threat and when consumed by humans, potentially causing methaemoglobinaemia and other diseases. There are four main types of lettuce and numerous cultivars within each type. Fresh …

Determining Bioindicators For Coastal Tidal Marsh Health Using The Food Web Of Larvae Of The Greenhead Horse Fly (Tabanus Nigrovittatus), Devika Rajeev Bhalerao

LSU Master's Theses

The greenhead horse fly Tabanus nigrovittatus Macquart is native to coastal marshlands from Texas to Nova Scotia. The larvae are apex invertebrate predators and their development is dependent on the food web in the soil. Surveillance of T. nigrovittatus after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico showed population crashes of adults in the coastal marshes of East Louisiana near places where oil made landfall, but not in West Louisiana where the oil did not reach. Sediment collection in 2011 from West and East Louisiana revealed larval population crashes in the Eastern coastal region. We hypothesized …

Carbon Dioxide Fluxes And Plants Interactions Across The Succession Of A Created Brackish Marsh In Southwestern Louisiana, Andy T. Muench

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine: 1) carbon dioxide (CO₂) fluxes in different plant communities in a created and natural brackish marsh and 2) the role of an early colonizing species, Spartina alterniflora, in facilitating or suppressing a later colonizer and higher marsh species, Spartina patens. CO₂ fluxes were measured in four key successional stages: 1) non-vegetated sediment of a newly created marsh; 2) Spartina alterniflora-dominated areas of a newly created marsh; 3) S. alterniflora-dominated natural marsh; and 4) Spartina patens- dominated natural marsh. Spartina alterniflora-dominated areas were sinks for …

Benefit Of Intensity Modulated Bolus Electron Conformal Therapy For Post Mastectomy Chest Wall Irradiation, John Doiron

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: The delivery of post-mastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) with bolus electron conformal therapy (BECT) for patients with left-sided breast cancer can reduce second cancer complication probability (SCCP) compared to modern rotational intensity modulated x-ray (IMXT) techniques such as volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) or Tomotherapy. However, rotational IMXT yields superior levels of dose homogeneity compared to BECT. This study investigates the use of intensity modulated (IM) BECT (IM-BECT) to improve dose homogeneity in the chest wall (CW) region of the PMRT planning target volume (PTV) abutted to parallel opposed IMXT tangents for the remaining PTV for a clinically-representative set of patients, …

An Evaluation Of The Groundwater Microbial Community's Toluene Biogenesis Potential At A Site In Southeast Louisiana, Michael A. Griffin Jr.

LSU Master's Theses

The broad goal of the research described in this thesis was to better understand the potential for biological toluene production to occur in groundwater at a Superfund Site located in southeast Louisiana. Previous literature reported that bacterial isolates under laboratory test conditions and undefined microbial communities in anaerobic sludge digesters and seasonally stratified lakes can produce toluene biogenically. Most of the research reported on this subject previously, however, has been on systems in Europe and little research has been reported previously on such phenomena in North America.

In the research described here, studies were conducted utilizing groundwater from a Superfund …

Evolution Of The Maximum Upper Level Divergence Field In Gulf-Atlantic Tropical Cyclogenesis, Sara A. Ates

LSU Master's Theses

Upper-level (horizontal) divergence (ULD) is an important variable in tropical weather systems. As part of the circulation within a tropical cyclone (TC), it carries air in the upper troposphere away from the center of circulation (COC). To date, most research assumes the 200 hPa pressure level (approximately 12 km, varying with latitude and time of year) as the height for maximum ULD in a TC, possibly because weather observation at the 200 hPa level by radiosonde have remained mandatory for aviation purposes. The more recent availability of gridded, high-spatial-resolution, global “reanalysis” data at multiple levels, along with improvements in spatial …

Analysis Of Veterinary Drug Residues In Imported And Domestic Crawfish Using Liquid Chromatography—Mass Spectrometry, Emily Kate Wall

LSU Master's Theses

Aquaculture production has greatly increased over the past few decades, and will continue to grow as the world fisheries become overfished and demand for seafood increases. With increased production comes more intense cultivation methods and heavy use of formulated feeds that may contain veterinary drug residues. Currently no antibiotics are allowed in the U.S. for crawfish aquaculture; yet, detectable levels of various antibiotics have been found in imported seafood samples.The FDA is responsible for testing aquaculture products entering the United States, but only has the capabilities to test a minimal amount of those imports. Additionally, for crawfish there is only …