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The Valuation Effects Of Initiations And Terminations Of Joint Ventures, Tomas Mantecon Prieto

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation examines the valuation effects of initiations and terminations of joint ventures formed by two partners.

The evidence indicates that there is an increase in value for both partners at joint venture initiations and that these gains are greater for small partners than for the large partners. The pattern of the gains to partners is consistent with the certification value of the inter-corporate relationship intrinsic to a joint venture. Moreover, an analysis of the operating performance after the initiation of joint ventures indicates that there is no significant improvement in operating performance of the partner firms relative to benchmark …

Artin-Schreier Families And 2-D Cyclic Codes, Cem Guneri

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

We start with the study of certain Artin-Schreier families. Using coding theory techniques, we determine a necessary and sufficient condition for such families to have a nontrivial curve with the maximum possible number of rational points over the finite field in consideration. This result produces several nice corollaries, including the existence of certain maximal curves; i.e., curves meeting the Hasse-Weil bound. We then present a way to represent two-dimensional (2-D) cyclic codes as trace codes starting from a basic zero set of its dual code. This representation enables us to relate the weight of a codeword to the number of …

Diets Of Wild Versus Released, And Pen-Raised White-Tailed Deer In Southeastern Louisiana, Richard James Meyers

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Twenty pen-raised white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) were released into mixed pine-hardwood forest habitat in southeastern Louisiana to compare their seasonal diets to the diets of the wild white-tailed deer population. Microhistological analysis was used to estimate the botanical composition of fecal pellet samples collected from both populations of deer over four consecutive seasons. Wild and pen-raised deer diets were found to be an average of 75.18% similar during the entire year of the study, and were significantly associated during all seasons (P < 0.001), indicating that all deer foraged on similar plant taxa in similar proportions regardless of season. Both populations of deer were found to be predominantly browsers during all seasons, with browse and fruit accounting for a yearly average of >55% of deer diets. Results from this study indicate that rehabilitated or translocated deer released into new environments …

Investigation Of Heat Transfer Enhancement In Conceptual Two-Pass Channels For Gas Turbine Internal Cooling, Gautam Pamula

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Modern gas turbines operate at high inlet temperatures due to which various components undergo severe thermal and mechanical stresses and fatigue. Suitable materials for withstanding such severe conditions are not available or are too expensive to manufacture. As a consequence, components need to be cooled to sustainable temperatures and efficient cooling strategies need to be developed. This study presents new internal cooling designs for turbine blades that eliminate the need for rib turbulators in internal passages producing significantly higher heat transfer enhancements. Detailed local heat transfer coefficient data of the proposed new designs (swirl generation using tangentially injected coolant from …

Embracing The Void: Nietzsche's "Zarathustra" And The Political., James Daniel Stewart

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation explores Nietzsche's political theory through an analysis of his major work, Thus Spoke Zarathustra. It is demonstrated that the narrative structure of Zarathustra follows from a politically-grounded critique of collective human existence. Nietzsche critiques the state and mass society as inherently repressive. He critiques the concept of the community and friendship as producing ressentiment and bad conscience. One of the central metaphors in Zarathustra proves to be that of nausea, arising from contempt for the mediocre masses of humanity and the realization of the chaotic and contingent nature of existence. Through nausea, the individual necessarily becomes separated from …

Production, Process Design And Quality Characterization Of Catfish Visceral Oil., Subramaniam Sathivel

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Between 45--55% of viscera, head, skin, intestine and slurries are generally generated as byproducts or waste from catfish filleting process. Our preliminary study showed that the crude fat content of the whole catfish viscera was 30--35% (wet basis) and the total o-3 fatty acids of oils recovered from the whole and/or portioned viscera ranged from 4.3--20.9 mg/g (dry basis). Catfish viscera may serve as an excellent source of health-promoting oil. Yield of purified (deodorized) catfish visceral oil was 65.7% and contained considerable amounts of DHA (1.21 mg/g of oil) and omega-3 fatty acid (4.6 mg/g of oil). A rapid microwave-assisted …

Numerical Simulations Of Incompressible Flows In Complex Geometries., Konstantinos Vogiatzis

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

A mainly spectral code along with domain-decomposition, a combination that is not widely in use in complex problems, has been developed for the solution of the 3-D unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The code uses fully spectral or a combination of spectral-collocation and finite difference approximations and a 3-step splitting time-marching scheme. The developed Poisson solver utilizes matrix diagonalization and incorporates a direct sub-structuring method based on the influence matrix technique. As a first step, laminar and turbulent confined flows were simulated, initially with DNS, then with LES, using a modified Smagorinksi model. The domain-decomposition technique and parallel implementation were tested …

Economic Consequences Of Caregiving To The Elderly On Women's Lives., Chizuko Wakabayashi

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Family caregiving to the elderly comprises a major part of familial obligations in later family life. The family, however, is not a caregiving unit; it is women in the family who directly provide that care. Theories of gender inequality suggest that women's unpaid work reflect women's politically and economically disadvantaged positions both in the family and the labor market. The present dissertation addresses one dimension of this inequality, the economic consequences of elderly care. The objective of this study is to estimate how much unpaid elderly care depresses women's incomes. The economic costs of elderly care include losses in earnings …

Patterns Of Reef Fish Larval Supply To Petroleum Platforms In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico., James Marvin Tolan

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Surveys of ichthyoplankton assemblages were conducted from four oil and gas platforms located in the northern Gulf of Mexico from November 1994 through July 1997. Diurnal collections, supplemented with light trap collections from the surface and -20 m depth, were taken quarterly during 1994 and 1995. Quarterly ichthyoplankton sampling at dawn and dusk only during 1996 and 1997 were supplemented with surface "lighted plankton net" collections. Of the 36,676 individuals collected, epipelagic (neretic and oceanic Clupeiformes, neretic Carangidae and Lutjanidae, as well as oceanic Scombridae) and mesopelagic (Myctophidae and Gonostomatidae) families comprised the majority of the ichthyoplankton. Reef-dependent (e.g., Pomacentridae, …

"A New Town Will Appear On Charleston Neck": North Charleston And The Creation Of The New South Garden City., Dean Thrift Sinclair

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

In 1912, five residents of Charleston, South Carolina purchased 5,000 acres of land in the area called "the Neck," a marshy and pestilential portion of the peninsula connecting the City of Charleston with the balance of South Carolina. On this property these leaders, tied to the progressive spirit sweeping America and the effort to create the New South, planned a new city called North Charleston. The 1,000-acre city was to be a complete community, with industrial, commercial, and residential activities to serve a population of 30,000 residents. An adjacent 4,000-acre tract was planned as an agricultural development to revitalize farming …

The Curriculum Implications Of Liberation Theology As A Theory For Social Change., Alvaro Basista Alcazar

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

From the perspective of those in the underside of history, contemporary education has so stagnated that it has lost its capacity to be a force for social change in a world plagued by social cruelties and injustice. Liberation theologians have shown considerable success in redirecting tightly institutionalized and intellectualized religious communities from their weddedness to imperial notions and practices of faith into one solidly aligned with the struggle of the poor and the marginalized. These theologians of the poor make a distinction between Christianity and Christendom---the former being the vision of a Jewish religious reformer named Yeshua and the latter …

A Comparison Of Faculty Perceptions Of University Technology Transfer By Level Of Institutional Success In The Technology Transfer Process., Paula T. Jacobi

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to gather information concerning faculty perceptions of university technology transfer and to compare the perceptions of faculty towards university involvement in technology transfer activities by the relative success of the institutions in technology transfer. The objectives were to describe selected faculty at two land grant universities in the southern portion of the United States. The study was designed to describe faculty based on certain personal, professional, and demographic characteristics, and to compare faculty at an institution defined as successful in technology transfer and an institution that is relatively unsuccessful on certain selected measures. Participants' …

The Effect Of Prime Word Processing On The Semantic Priming Effect., Satomi Imai

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

In three experiments the effect of ease of prime word access on semantic priming was investigated. Ease of prime access was manipulated by prime word frequency, by prime degradation, and by prime repetition. Primes accessed faster (high frequency prime words, repeated primes) should produce larger priming than those accessed more slowly (low frequency prime words, degraded prime words). The time course of priming was also examined by comparing a 150 ms SOA to a 500 ms. The results partially supported the hypothesis. There was a prime word frequency effect on priming in both short and long SOA conditions. High frequency …

Orientations Of Graphs Which Have Small Directed Graph Minors., Glenn Randolph Berman

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Graphs are characterized by whether or not they have orientations to avoid one or more of the digraphs K&ar;3 , S&ar;3 , and P&ar;3 . K&ar;3 , S&ar;3 and P&ar;3 are created by starting with a triangle, a three point star, or a path of length three respectively, and replacing each edge with a pair of arcs in opposite directions. Conditions are described when all orientations of 3-connected and 4-connected graphs must have one or more of the above digraphs as a minor. It is shown that double wheels, and double wheels without an axle, are the only 4-connected graphs …

Activist Advertising: Case Studies Of United Colors Of Benetton's Aids -Related Company Promotion., Heidi Jolene Brough

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study explores how advertising and company promotion may be used to address social issues. In particular, I examine how the clothing company United Colors of Benetton attempted to position itself within the AIDS crisis. Specifically, this study investigates through case studies how the Benetton Group used activist advertising and company promotion to bring about social change concerning AIDS-related issues. I also attempt to account for the controversy that the promotion elicited through establishing the anomalous status of the company's promotion within traditional advertising efforts. The study begins with information concerning the AIDS crisis and AIDS activism and then moves …

The Budgetary Impacts Of European Integration: A General Equilibrium Analysis Of Turkish Accession Into The European Union., Selahattin Bekmez

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The main objective of this study is to examine the financial effects of Turkey's trade liberalization efforts, and evaluate the policy decisions made during the transition period toward full membership in the EU. In addition, trade relations between the enlarged EU and the rest of the world modeled to obtain complete general equilibrium results of Turkey-EU integration. In order to accomplish this objective, a single-country, multi-sector computable general equilibrium model is developed. The sectors evaluated are agriculture, manufacturing, and services. The Turkish economy is divided into 22 sectors: 2 agricultural, 18 manufacturing, and 2 services sectors. By so doing, the …

Photoemission And Photo-Absorption Studies Of Ultrathin Iron Films On Copper(100) Oxidized At Elevated Temperature., Reginaldt Hamilton Madjoe

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

In this investigation, I have focused on understanding the structure and morphology of ultrathin iron oxide films and characterizing them by using LEED, photoemission (both angle-resolved and angle-integrated) and photoabsorption measurements. Fe films were deposited on a Cu(100) substrate at room temperature growing in a layer by layer fashion. The sample was then annealed to 810K in oxygen ambient. This oxidation process led to dramatic changes of the sample surface and electronic structure depending on initial Fe coverage. Half-metallic oxides such as CrO2 and Fe3O4 may provide opportunities for new magnetic devices since their single spin orientation at the Fermi …

A World Of Deference: Paradoxes Of Victorian Paternalism In John Ruskin, Charles Dickens, And John Stuart Mill., Peter Mitchell O'Neill

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the residual paternalist ideology in three canonical Victorian texts: namely, John Ruskin's The Nature of Gothic, Charles Dickens's Hard Times, and John Stuart Mill's Autobiography. In exposing an epistemological tension between paternalist and liberal beliefs---especially a putative concern for the working class---that exists in these texts, this discussion concludes that not only are the cultural forces of benevolent authority insidious in Victorian culture, but that the paradoxes that emerge in these texts may reflect a public ambiguity toward the prevalent structures sustaining Victorian paternalism. The three texts examined inscribe hierarchical principles---while ironically exposing them---in generally similar ways: …

Improved Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Linear Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry Of Oligonucleotides And Nucleic Acids Via Matrix Additives And Sample Preparatory Technique., Tracey Arlene Simmons

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

There are two prominent problems recurrent during matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) analysis of oligonucleotides: cation adduction and low molecular ion stability. It has been found that the use of organic base solutions of high gas-phase proton affinity, as used previously in electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), can significantly reduce the cation adduction problem during MALDI-MS. It is proposed that the organic base solutions compete with alkali metal cations for binding to the phosphodiester backbone of the oligonucleotide upon transfer into the gas phase. A comparison of the utility of adding an organic base solution, such as imidazole, triethylamine …

Analysis And Mathematical Modeling Of Autonomously Oscillating Yeast Cultures., Abdelqader M. Zamamiri

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The conditions that precede the onset of autonomous oscillations in continuous yeast cultures were studied in three different types of experiments. It was found that the final state of the culture depends on the protocol used to start-up the reactor. Reaching the desired operating point by slow dilution rate changes gave rise to different final states, two oscillatory states and one steady state, depending on the rate of change in dilution rate. The multiplicity of stable states at a single operating point is not explained by current distributed models and points towards a segregated mechanism of these oscillations. The ability …

Space Geodetic Constraints On Plate Rigidity And Global Plate Motions., Giovanni Federico Sella

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has emerged over the last 10 years as the premier space geodetic technique for geologic observation with the benefits of both accuracy and economy. GPS data from more than 260 stations were processed utilizing GIPSY-OASIS software, and all available RINEX files for these stations beginning on January 1, 1993. The uniform processing strategy, combined with a rigorous independent error estimate of site velocities and the broad geographical distribution of these sites resulted in a global high-precision surface velocity data set. This data set has been used to: (1) compare the effects of different GPS antenna …

Neither Natchez Nor Tara: An Environmental Historial Geography Of The Upper Pearl River Basin Of Mississippi, Protohistoric Period To 1940., Frederick William Sunderman

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the contrasting themes of land degradation and environmental stewardship of farming enterprises in the regional context of the Upper Pearl River Basin of Mississippi. Both the previous imagery and analysis of Southern Cotton Belt agriculture emphasize the profligate nature of farming practices. The contribution this study makes is to amend both the stock images and macro-analyses of Southern cotton culture. Analysis at the sub-regional level demonstrates that many farmers actually practiced sound land management techniques. Reconstructing the experiences of farmers in the Upper Pearl River Basin provides examples of ways in which regional distinctions amend widely conceived …

Novel Formulation And Application Of Model Predictive Control., Guang-Yan Zhu

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Model predictive control (MPC) has been extensively studied in academia and widely accepted in industry. This research has focused on the novel formulation of model predictive controllers for systems that can be decomposed according to their nonlinearity properties and several novel MPC applications including bioreactors modeled by population balance equations (PBE), gas pipeline networks, and cryogenic distillation columns. Two applications from air separation industries are studied. A representative gas pipeline network is modeled based on first principles. The full-order model is ill-conditioned, and reduced-order models are constructed using time-scale decomposition arguments. A linear model predictive control (LMPC) strategy is then …

Analyzing Crime Spatial Patterns Using Remote Sensing And Geographical Information System Technologies: Investigating The Urban Opportunity Structure Model Of Jackson, Mississippi., Tian Wu

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Crime is a spatial phenomenon. This study has proposed an urban opportunity structure model to understand the spatial patterns associated with crime based on the opportunities defined by urban structure. Any site in an urban space presents crime opportunities; the crime probability at a site is determined by factors such as urban physical settings, the transportation network and land use types. The hypothesized model was tested through the approach of multi-scale spatial analyses comprised of units from precinct maps used by the Jackson Police Department. The scales were defined at different area aggregations. The first scale was set on individual …

Kinetic And Mechanistic Studies Of A Bimetallic Hydroformylation Catalyst., Novella Nicole Bridges

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Dicationic bimetallic rhodium complexes based on the novel binucleating tetraphosphine ligand system racemic-Et2PCH2CH 2P(Ph)CH2P(Ph) CH2CH2PEt2, et,ph-P4, are highly active and selective hydroformylation catalysts that make use of bimetallic cooperativity to operate. In situ FT-IR and NMR studies indicate that the most active catalyst is the unique dinuclear dicationic hydrido-carbonyl Rh(+2) oxidation state complex, [racemic-Rh 2H2(mu-CO)2(CO)2(et,ph-P4) 2+]. A kinetic study was performed to determine the rate orders of the dinuclear dicationic catalyst, and the substrate (1-hexene). The rate orders were found to be one for both components. The study was also performed to test the hypothesis of a bis-acyl species, which …

A Study Of Stellar Orbits In A Rotating, Gaseous Bar., Eric Ian Barnes

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

In an effort to better understand the formation and evolution of barred galaxies, the properties of orbits in the effective potential of one specific model of a rapidly rotating, steady-state gas-dynamical bar that has been constructed via a self-consistent hydrodynamical simulation have been examined. This bar is used to test the following idea. If primordial galaxies evolve to a rapidly rotating, bar-like configuration before a significant amount of star formation has taken place, and then stars form from the gas that makes up the bar, the initial stellar distribution function should be much different than those used in previous bar …

A New Testament Geography: Description, Perspectives, And Implications For The Field Of Geography., George Alphin

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The general purpose of this study is to relate the fields of geography and religion at both the academic and the practical levels. Primarily, it investigates the New Testament description of the land and its human occupancy. Secondarily, it identifies New Testament attitudes toward geography and suggests implications for its study and practice. It describes the geography, both physical and human, for each of the five classes of the document's book in a separate chapter. The chapter on the synoptic gospels discusses mountains, weather, biogeography, agriculture, occupations, and urban geography. Four kinds of soil reveal different responses to the word. …

Active Control Of Thermoacoustical Instabilities., Daniel Ulises Campos-Delgado

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation presents some advances in active control of thermoacoustic instabilities in combustion chambers. Large-size gaseous and liquid fueled swirl stabilized combustors were used during the studies. Active control was implemented using different types of actuators. Proportional (loudspeakers and fuel valves) and discrete actuators (open-close automotive fuel injectors) were investigated. Acoustic and fuel modulation control were successfully applied. In large-scale combustors, flame stabilization techniques such as swirl add three dimensional characteristics to the flow. Moreover, the induced turbulence creates highly nonlinear interactions in the system. Thus, in order to capture these characteristics nonlinear partial differential equations have to be used. …

Coming Home: Black Return Migration To The Yazoo -Mississippi Delta., Robert Norman Brown Ii

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Between 1910 and 1970, African Americans moved out of South in one of the largest movements in human history. Today, many of these migrants, and their descendents, are coming home. Some estimates hold that more than nine million black Southerners left the South for new lives in the North and West. The migration reached its peak in the 1950s, and began to slow in the 1960s. In the early 1970s, African Americans began returning to the American South. With major shifts in the United States economy, a change that began in the early 1970s, jobs began to leave the traditional …

Home And Classroom Learning Environment Correlates Of Academic Self -Efficacy In Middle School Mathematics., Thaddeus Theodore Claiborne

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the relationship between home and classroom learning environment characteristics and middle school students' self-efficacy beliefs about mathematics. Specifically, the study examined linkages between sources of efficacy in the home and classroom learning environments and the strength of students' self-efficacy beliefs in mathematics. Social cognitive theory includes self-efficacy beliefs as a major source of human agency and functioning (Bandura, 1997). Enactive mastery experiences, vicarious learning (modeling), verbal persuasion, and physiological/affective states (emotional arousal) are four sources of human efficacy. While numerous studies have been completed linking self-efficacy to learning and achievement (Pajares, 1996b), no studies within schools were …