Digital Commons Network^™

Brain Bioavailability Of Polyphenols: Implications For Delivery Of Brain Health Benefits, Tzu-Ying Chen

Open Access Dissertations

Consumption of fruits and vegetables has been associated with neuroprotection and cognitive benefits throughout the life span. These associations have sparked interest in plant-derived polyphenols as biologically active agents with potential for targeting brain benefits. However, little is known regarding the ability of the polyphenols or their metabolites from polyphenol-rich products to cross the blood-brain-barrier, and be available for biological action. Furthermore, additional insight is needed on factors affecting the absorption and brain distribution of polyphenol metabolites in vivo. To fill gap in current knowledge, this thesis will focus on the effects of diabetogenic diet and diabetic state which have …

"Take A Sad Song And Make It Better": Exploring Rewards Related To Liking Unfamiliar Sad Music, John Hogue

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis tested some of Levinson's (1997) ideas on why people like music that makes them sad. A path model of this effect was interpreted from Levinson's theory, and 5 of the paths were tested. These paths were that music would directly create a communion with the song, that happiness and sadness would mediate this effect, that absorption would moderate the direct path, that absorption would moderate the songs' ability to evoke the emotions, and that satisfaction would moderate the emotions' influence on liking the songs.

A pilot study was conducted to determine if the songs evoked their intended emotions. …

Surface Complexation Modeling Of Cr(Vi) Absorption On Mineral Assemblages, Ann M. Gilchrist

Masters Theses

Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) is a waste product of many anthropogenic processes. Because it is highly mobile, the improper disposal of Cr(VI) has caused widespread contamination. Because reduction and adsorption reactions may reduce the bioavailability and mobility of Cr(VI) in environmental systems, a better understanding of Cr(VI) adsorption behavior will improve remediation efforts.

Subsurfaces and soils are heterogeneous, however most studies focus on single sorbate/sorbent interactions to develop surface complexation models (SCM) for prediction of heavy metal adsorption. Theoretically, combining the SCMsdeveloped for single sorbate/sorbent systems should yield accurate predictions of adsorption in more complex systems (i.e., the component additivity approach …

The Development Of A Self-Report Questionnaire To Measure Problematic Video Game Play And Its Relationship To Other Psychological Phenomena, Anatol Tolchinsky

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Problematic video game play is becoming a more frequent clinical presentation, and currently there is no standard way of measuring this phenomenon. This study operationalized this construct in a way that accurately reflects the existing literature and attempted to construct a valid measure based on this information. This new assessment instrument was evaluated by analyzing its factor structure on both 375 college-age participants and 314 online participants who endorsed being a regular video game player.

This area of research is still in its infancy, especially in regard to comorbid psychopathology. Consequently, this study surveyed participants’ subjective experience of depression and …

Unsymmetrical Trimethine Cyanine Dyes: Synthesis, Optical Properties, And Evaluations As Inhibitors Of Protein Arginine Methyl Transferases, Andrew R. Levitz

Chemistry Theses

Carbocyanine dyes are a class of organic compounds that possess two nitrogen containing heterocycles that act as electron donors and acceptors connected by a conjugated methine bridge. This thesis will present the synthetic methodology of symmetrical and unsymmetrical trimethine cyanine dyes in three chapters. The first chapter is a review on the synthesis and application of unsymmetric cyanine dyes. The second will describe the synthesis of unsymmetrical trimethine cyanine dyes and how their optical properties differ from symmetrical dyes. The third chapter will not only discuss the synthetic procedure for synthesis of symmetrical trimethine cyanine dyes, but also will show …

Adsorption Of Hexavalent Chromium On Hydrous Manganese Oxide, Andrew K. Macleod

Masters Theses

Hexavalent chromium is a very common contaminant most often associated with industrial processes, it is quite mobile in the subsurface and a better understanding of its mobility and interactions with soil constituents will help ongoing remediation efforts.

Hydrous manganese oxides (HMO) are a very common soil constituent and thus would be likely to interact with Cr(VI) in contaminated shallow subsurface environments. The goal of this study is to develop a working model that can improve predictions of Cr(VI) mobility in natural systems. A diffuse double layer surface complexation model (DLM) was developed by deriving reaction stoichiometries and stability constants for …

A Novel Approach To Carbon Dioxide Capture And Storage, Brett P. Spigarelli

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

The novel approach to carbon capture and storage (CCS) described in this dissertation is a significant departure from the conventional approach to CCS. The novel approach uses a sodium carbonate solution to first capture CO₂ from post combustion flue gas streams. The captured CO₂ is then reacted with an alkaline industrial waste material, at ambient conditions, to regenerate the carbonate solution and permanently store the CO₂ in the form of an added value carbonate mineral. Conventional CCS makes use of a hazardous amine solution for CO₂ capture, a costly thermal regeneration stage, and the underground storage …

Generation Of Radio Frequency Induced Metastable Xenon As A Gain Medium For Diode Pumped Rare Gas Laser Systems, Jacqueline Marie Andreozzi

Theses

The pursuit of novel, hybrid methods of achieving lasing from the rare gases has recently been a topic of interest in the field of high energy laser systems. This investigation presents the construction and execution of an experimental setup designed to generate metastable xenon (Xe*) to determine its potential to perform as a high power laser gain medium in a similar capacity as the alkali metals in Diode Pumped Alkali Lasers. A capacitively coupled radio frequency discharge was used to light plasma from naturally abundant xenon, thus exciting the 6s[3/2]₂ metastable state. The metastable xenon was probed with a …

Gumbos And Nanogumbos: Applications As Photosensitizers In Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells, Atiya Nicole Jordan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Renewable energy is a major concern due to increased world energy consumption. In particular, solar energy is a type of renewable energy source that uses devices known as solar cells to convert sunlight to electricity. Specifically, devices referred to as dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employ dyes to absorb solar energy. Dyes derived from ruthenium complexes have been typically used in DSSCs. Unfortunately, several disadvantages are associated with current ruthenium complex photosensitizers, which can be attributed to limited supply and expense of metals, as well as reduced absorption in the near-infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Accordingly, this dissertation is a …