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2006

Theses/Dissertations

LSU Master's Theses

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Application Of Short-Term Sediment Dynamics And Particle-Bound Phosphorus Fractionation Methods (Sedex) To Estimate The Benthic Nutrient Loading Potential In Upper Newport Estuary, California, Hilary Amanda Collis Jan 2006

Application Of Short-Term Sediment Dynamics And Particle-Bound Phosphorus Fractionation Methods (Sedex) To Estimate The Benthic Nutrient Loading Potential In Upper Newport Estuary, California, Hilary Amanda Collis

LSU Master's Theses

Estuaries act as sources, sinks, and biogeochemical transformation sites for natural and anthropogenically-derived nutrients. Sediment loading from watersheds provides an important source of particulate nutrients to estuaries often neglected when constructing nutrient budgets. Deposition and resuspension of these sediments are known to impact biogeochemical cycles in estuarine environments. Phosphorus (P) exists in many forms in aquatic environments, and increased P loading to coastal environments increases primary productivity potentially leading to eutrophication. Magnitude and variability of sediment deposition, resuspension, and sediment-bound P concentrations were evaluated in Upper Newport Bay (UNB), California. During 2004, seven push cores were collected from the intertidal …

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Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of A Body Mass Index-For-Age Percentile Health Report In Raising Parent Awareness Of Their Child's Weight Status, Anantha Padmaja Lakkakula Jan 2006

Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of A Body Mass Index-For-Age Percentile Health Report In Raising Parent Awareness Of Their Child's Weight Status, Anantha Padmaja Lakkakula

LSU Master's Theses

Overweight in children has become a major health concern. Research suggests that many parents may not be aware of their child’s actual weight status. The objectives of this study were to test the effectiveness of a body mass index (BMI)-for–age percentile report in raising parent awareness of their child’s weight status. Eighteen public elementary schools in southeast Louisiana were pair matched and divided into nine intervention and nine control schools. Children in the intervention and the control schools were divided into two groups 1) healthy weight (BMI ≥ 5th to <85th percentile) and 2) at risk and overweight (BMI ≥ 85th percentile). Forty children were randomly selected from each of the two weight groups from the intervention and the control schools. Parents of children in the intervention group received a BMI-for-age percentile health report along with a short questionnaire. Parents of children in control schools received the questionnaire only. Parents in the intervention group have 4.7 times more accurate perception about their child’s weight compared to the control group (OR: 4.7, 95% of CI: 0.89-24.86, p=0.00 ). After receiving the report, more parents of at risk or overweight children were concerned and only fewer parents of healthy weight children were anxious about their child’ weight. When parents were compared based on their child’s weight regardless whether they got the report, parents of at risk or overweight children were more than five times less likely to perceive the correct weight classification of their child (OR: 1.8, 95% of CI: 0.05-0.62, p=0.00) and less concerned about their child’s weight (OR: 0.98, 95% of CI: 0.32-2.93, p=0.00) when compared to parents of healthy weight children. All parents were willing to help their child follow healthy behaviors regard less of the report and their child’s weight status. A BMI-for-age percentile report appears to be an effective way to increase parent awareness and concern regarding their child’s weight status. With increased awareness, parents may be more likely to encourage their children to achieve a healthy weight.

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Sensory Characteristics Of Salt Substitute Containing L-Arginine, Pamarin Waimaleongora-Ek Jan 2006

Sensory Characteristics Of Salt Substitute Containing L-Arginine, Pamarin Waimaleongora-Ek

LSU Master's Theses

Dietary salt restriction is a common approach recommended by physicians in the treatment and prevention of hypertension. Salt substitute is a potential alternative. The most popular salt substitute is KCl, having similar physical properties to NaCl. Because of the higher molecular weight of cations (K+), KCl imparts undesired bitterness and metallic aftertaste. L-arginine has been found to have the bitterness-suppression property. Therefore, it may be used in the mixture of salt substitutes. In the first study, NaCl and four salt substitute solutions consisting of KCl, NaCl, and L-arginine, were developed at 0.5%, 1%, and 1.5% w/v. A discriminative test was …

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Overview Of Cogeneration At Lsu, Robert,Jr. Buckley Jan 2006

Overview Of Cogeneration At Lsu, Robert,Jr. Buckley

LSU Master's Theses

Cogeneration (or Combined Heat and Power) continues to gain importance in power production because of its high efficiency, environmental friendliness, and flexibility. Louisiana State University (LSU) recently began operation of a new 20 MW cogeneration system. This new facility can serve as a useful learning tool for chemical and mechanical engineering students throughout their education at LSU. The goal of this project is to develop educational modules utilizing the cogeneration system which have industrial significance. Educational modules will include: a comparison of ideal gas versus real gas thermodynamics for a cogeneration optimization problem, a cogeneration data reconciliation problem, and a …

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An Analysis Of The President-Press Relationship In Solo And Joint Press Conferences In The First Term Of President George W. Bush, Susan Billingsley Jan 2006

An Analysis Of The President-Press Relationship In Solo And Joint Press Conferences In The First Term Of President George W. Bush, Susan Billingsley

LSU Master's Theses

A comparative analysis of presidential press conferences was conducted to determine whether the previously established adversarial relationship between the United States president and the American press was alleviated to some degree by the presence of a foreign dignitary. The study applied a system for quantifying adversarial behaviors exhibited by the press to questions asked of President George W. Bush in solo conferences and where he was joined by another head-of-state in joint press conference sessions. Questions from selected conferences during his first term were coded according to four indicators of adversarialness: initiative, directness, assertiveness and adversarialness. Results showed that the …

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Automatic Active Contour Modelling And Its Potential Application For Non-Destructive Testing, Srinath Vepathur Sitaraman Jan 2006

Automatic Active Contour Modelling And Its Potential Application For Non-Destructive Testing, Srinath Vepathur Sitaraman

LSU Master's Theses

Active contouring techniques are very useful in medical imaging, digital mapping, non-destructive ultrasonic evaluation, etc. Therefore, we try to explore and investigate the advanced automatic active contouring methods, which can benefit the aforementioned applications. In this thesis work, we study the automatic active contour models adopted for the object characterization, whose extensions could include the potential defect analysis in the ultrasonic non-destructive testing. The active contouring scheme (also called a snake) or an energy minimizing spline, is an algorithm which is very sensitive to the manually marked initial points, and thereby requires an expertly operation. Therefore, we make new research …

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Evaluation On Antioxidant Activities Of The Soybean Oils And Gums, Xianglong Yuan Jan 2006

Evaluation On Antioxidant Activities Of The Soybean Oils And Gums, Xianglong Yuan

LSU Master's Theses

In this study crude soy oil was extracted from the soy flour by hexane solvent. The crude oil was refined using a refining procedure similar to the one in edible oil industries, which included degumming, neutralizing, and bleaching. As the result, the eight groups of the oils and the gums were obtained. The compositions of fatty acids and tocopherols in the eight groups of samples were analyzed using GC-FID and HPLC, respectively. The antioxidant activities of the samples were analyzed by two chemical models, cholesterol and DHA. The results showed that ã- and ä-tocopherols may not be the main antioxidants …

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Awareness Of The Environmental Quality Incentives Program And Subsequent Adoption Of Best Management Practices By Cattle Farmers In Louisiana, Joyce Mamle Obubuafo Jan 2006

Awareness Of The Environmental Quality Incentives Program And Subsequent Adoption Of Best Management Practices By Cattle Farmers In Louisiana, Joyce Mamle Obubuafo

LSU Master's Theses

In recent years, the US livestock industries have undergone structural changes that have led to larger livestock operations with their associated environmental problems. Louisiana is within one of the major cow-calf production areas in the US (the Southeast). Louisiana accounts for about 1.72% of the total US cattle operations. In an attempt to control degradation of the environment, conservation programs have been put in place, one of which is the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The EQIP was established in the 1996 Farm Bill, involving the payment of government subsidies to landowners willing to implement specific cost-intensive conservation practices. The …

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A Comparison Of Dominance And Affiliation Ratings Based On Emotional State, Sex, And Status, Jennifer Bernardi Jan 2006

A Comparison Of Dominance And Affiliation Ratings Based On Emotional State, Sex, And Status, Jennifer Bernardi

LSU Master's Theses

Perceptions of interpersonal dominance and affiliation have been extensively examined throughout past research. In the current study, the purpose was to fill in the some of the gaps of existing research well, specifically the gap created by current confusion in the literature regarding the effects of sex, status, and emotional display on ratings of dominance and affiliation. Also, interactions between the primary variables of interest (sex, status, and emotional display) were observed. Results revealed significant relationships within several of the dimensions addressed, specifically between emotional display and ratings of dominance and affiliation such that individuals displaying anger were viewed as …

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Comparison Of Food Security Status, Nutrient Intakes, Body Mass Index, And Multiple Diseases Among Self-Reported Depressed And Non-Depressed Female Food Stamp Recipients In Southeast Louisiana, Yifang Bai Jan 2006

Comparison Of Food Security Status, Nutrient Intakes, Body Mass Index, And Multiple Diseases Among Self-Reported Depressed And Non-Depressed Female Food Stamp Recipients In Southeast Louisiana, Yifang Bai

LSU Master's Theses

The objectives of this study were to explore the relationships among depression and food security status, dietary nutrient intakes, sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index (BMI), and the presence of chronic diseases in a female food stamp recipient population (n = 66) in Southeast Louisiana. Women were dichotomized by stated depression and descriptive statistics on socioeconomic characteristics and mean nutrient intakes were presented for each group. Logistic regression models were used to determine the relationship of stated depression with food security status, selected sociodemographic characteristics, nutrient intakes, body mass index, and the number of chronic diseases reported. The percentage of women …

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Mothers Grimm And Other House Held Tales, Holly Kay Streekstra Jan 2006

Mothers Grimm And Other House Held Tales, Holly Kay Streekstra

LSU Master's Theses

Mothers Grimm and Other House Held Tales is a body of work that uses fairy tale archetypes and narrative traditions to comment upon tensions and conflicts in sexual self-understanding. This is achieved through a reflection on attitudes that women adopt regarding their own sexuality. Such a reflection is instigated through a presentation of prominent cultural archetypes that exist, no longer as received ideas, but as a bold and entertaining expression of how sex can change our attitude towards those ideas that we often take for granted. Through an assemblage of objects and video, this body of work evokes a domestic …

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The Antipodes: On Rebellion, Michael Scott Robinson Jan 2006

The Antipodes: On Rebellion, Michael Scott Robinson

LSU Master's Theses

This essay argues that the term rebellion applies to two similar but distinguishable experiences representative of the limits to human action and capacity. The political rebel is a man who rebels against an oppressive political regime. Opposing him is the metaphysical rebel whose action is inspired by a grievance against the nature of existence generally, as a human being, which he has interpreted to be oppressive. These contradicting inspirations are matched by juxtaposing consequences, exemplified through a literary analysis of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novels, and a historical analysis of Václav Havel and the Velvet Revolution.

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Modulating Lipolysis For Nutraceutical And Cosmeceutical Applications, Mary Katherine Caruso Jan 2006

Modulating Lipolysis For Nutraceutical And Cosmeceutical Applications, Mary Katherine Caruso

LSU Master's Theses

The first study was conducted to determine if aminophylline cream application to the waist will reduce waist circumference compared to a control. Topical fat reduction from the thigh in women has been demonstrated, but local fat reduction in other areas or in men has not. Fifty men and women were randomized to 0.5% aminophylline cream to the waist twice a day or to no treatment to the waist. At week 12 there was a significant reduction in BMI from baseline that was not different between the groups. The reduction in waist circumference was 11 ± 1.0 cm in the aminophylline …

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Phytoremediation Of A High Phosphorus Soil By Summer And Winter Hay Harvest, Veronica A. Ryan Jan 2006

Phytoremediation Of A High Phosphorus Soil By Summer And Winter Hay Harvest, Veronica A. Ryan

LSU Master's Theses

Phosphorus (P) loading into surface water from runoff and subsurface flow leaving soils subjected to long-term applications of poultry litter (PL) will degrade water quality. A practical way to reduce such loading is to remove soil P through plant uptake and harvest removal. The primary field study presented here examined the effectiveness of hay harvest utilizing a double-cropped system - perennial warm-season forage grass, common bermudagrass (CB; Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.), overseeded with annual ryegrass (ARG; Lolium multiflorum Lam.), a cool-season forage, in reducing soil P from a Ruston fine-sandy loam impacted by PL amendments. A secondary field study similarly …

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Calibration Of Flexural Design Of Concrete Members Reinforced With Frp Bars, Sujata Nandkumar Kulkarni Jan 2006

Calibration Of Flexural Design Of Concrete Members Reinforced With Frp Bars, Sujata Nandkumar Kulkarni

LSU Master's Theses

Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites have been increasingly accepted in the construction industry as a promising substitute for steel. Bridge deck deterioration is one of the most common deficiencies in a bridge system. The use of FRP bars as reinforcement for concrete bridge decks provides a potential for increased service life, economic, and environmental benefits. This research presents the development of resistance models for concrete members (beams and slabs) reinforced with FRP bars (FRP-RC), for carrying out reliability analysis. The scope of this model is limited to the flexural behavior only; i.e. the failures are not shear failure and debonding. …

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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 …

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Compiler Assisted Cache Prefetch Using Procedure Call Hierarchy, Sheela A. Doshi Jan 2006

Compiler Assisted Cache Prefetch Using Procedure Call Hierarchy, Sheela A. Doshi

LSU Master's Theses

Microprocessor performance has been increasing at an exponential rate while memory system performance improved at a linear rate. This widening difference in performances is increasingly rendering advances in computer architecture less useful as more instructions spend more time waiting for data to be fetched from the memory after a cache miss. Data prefetching is a technique that avoids some cache misses by bringing data into the cache before it is actually needed. Different approaches to data prefetching have been developed, however existing prefetch schemes do not eliminate all cache misses and even with smaller cache miss ratio, miss latency remains …

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Comparing Bermudagrass And Bahiagrass Cultivars At Different Stages Of Harvest For Dry Matter Yield And Nutrient Content, Ryan Thomas Dore' Jan 2006

Comparing Bermudagrass And Bahiagrass Cultivars At Different Stages Of Harvest For Dry Matter Yield And Nutrient Content, Ryan Thomas Dore'

LSU Master's Theses

Rapid growth of warm-season grasses such as bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) is associated with a decline in their nutritional value. This study was initiated to provide production and composition data with different cultivars of bermudagrass (common, Russell, Jiggs) and bahiagrass (Tifton-9, Pensacola, Argentina). Dry matter (DM), ash, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) composition and production were evaluated every two weeks for a ten-week period on six different cultivars. Also, Russell bermudagrass was evaluated in a second trial very similar to the first trial for composition and production but was started …

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Index Future Pricing Under Imperfect Market And Stochastic Volatility, Wei-Hsien Li Jan 2006

Index Future Pricing Under Imperfect Market And Stochastic Volatility, Wei-Hsien Li

LSU Master's Theses

Financial markets in emerging countries are volatile and imperfect, so pricing model under traditional perfect-market frameset may not give reliable price of financial derivatives. The most famous pricing model for stock index future is the cost of carry model. The mis-pricing of cost of carry model inspires lots of following researches. Even transaction costs, dividends, stochastic interest rate, stochastic volatility, market imperfection, and other factors are considered, we still do not obtain a model price consistently better than cost of carry model. But these researches offer important insights, for example, the market needs time to mature and the more complex …

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Numerical Solution Of Flow Resistance In Outflow Pathway And Intravitreal Drug Delivery In Vitrectomised Eyes, Jyoti Gururaj Kathawate Jan 2006

Numerical Solution Of Flow Resistance In Outflow Pathway And Intravitreal Drug Delivery In Vitrectomised Eyes, Jyoti Gururaj Kathawate

LSU Master's Theses

In this study, numerical computations of the ocular fluid dynamics in a human eye are presented with a perspective of understanding the mechanisms of increased flow resistance. In the present study, the TM is represented as a multilayered-graded porous structure with specific pore size and void fraction. The flow patterns and pressure distribution in anterior chamber are analyzed to delineate key flow mechanism; the shear stresses on the lens, iris and IW of SC are also examined to locate the maximum values. Inside the human eye, the largest pressure drop occurs across JCT and IW of SC. The highest pressure …

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The Antikythera Youth In Its Context, Elisabeth Myers Jan 2006

The Antikythera Youth In Its Context, Elisabeth Myers

LSU Master's Theses

The bronze statue known as the Antikythera Youth was discovered in numerous fragments by sponge divers in 1900 with the remains of an ancient shipwreck near the small island of Antikythera, south of the Peloponnesus of Greece. The divers, together with the Greek government, recovered the statue and the rest of the ship’s cargo. The statue was then taken to the National Archaeological Museum, where it was assembled and restored. In the 1950s, the statue underwent a second restoration. This thesis examines the condition of the statue after the restorations and the technique by which it was made. It also …

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A Multivariate Analysis Of Economic Reform In Latin America, 1980-1995, Ashley Dyan Ross Jan 2006

A Multivariate Analysis Of Economic Reform In Latin America, 1980-1995, Ashley Dyan Ross

LSU Master's Theses

The current literature on economic reform is fragmented and lacks a cohesive theoretical framework to fully explain the politics of neoliberal reform adoption. The multiple perspectives presented in the literature, including institutional, pluralist, macroeconomic, international pressures, and policy networks, create an incoherent explanation of economic liberalization. In an effort to more completely account for the political dynamics of the economic reform process, my analysis incorporates the primary variables supported by the literature on neoliberal reform within an informal institutions framework. My primary variable of interest is policy networks, and I support this with the theory of informal institutions while considering …

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Physical Model Study Of The Effects Of Wettability And Fractures On Gas Assisted Gravity Drainage (Gagd) Performance, Wagirin Ruiz Paidin Jan 2006

Physical Model Study Of The Effects Of Wettability And Fractures On Gas Assisted Gravity Drainage (Gagd) Performance, Wagirin Ruiz Paidin

LSU Master's Theses

The Gas-Assisted Gravity Drainage (GAGD) process was developed to take advantage of the natural segregation of injected gas from crude oil in the reservoir. It consists of placing a horizontal producer near the bottom of the reservoir and injecting gas using existing vertical wells. As the injected gas rises to the top to form a gas cap, oil and water drain down to the horizontal producer. Earlier experimental work using a physical model by Sharma had demonstrated the effectiveness of the GAGD process in improving the oil recovery when applied in water-wet porous media. The current research is an extension …

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On Being There, Donald Lawrence Simmons Jan 2006

On Being There, Donald Lawrence Simmons

LSU Master's Theses

ON BEING THERE is the physical embodiment of an emotional experience. The works are responses to stories told and memories of my two grandfathers, being made of images from their possessions and sketchbooks. The object was to explore the experience of loss and to create a record of that experience. The work is an investigation of the self through the history of my grandfathers’ lives and experiences told in the media of printmaking.

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New Programs In The Old Asylum: The Deinstitutionalization Of Long-Term Psychiatric Hospital Patients In Argentina, Erica Dillon Jan 2006

New Programs In The Old Asylum: The Deinstitutionalization Of Long-Term Psychiatric Hospital Patients In Argentina, Erica Dillon

LSU Master's Theses

Large psychiatric hospitals with inpatients interned for decades are still the norm in Argentina, where deinstitutionalization and community-based mental health care is almost inexistent. This thesis focuses on some changes taking place in a centenary psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires province: the externación of long-term psychiatric patients through new programs planned and run from inside the institution by health professionals compromised in making a change in the old asylum. Can long-term inpatients with serious mental illness such as schizophrenia leave the asylum and integrate in the society having a recovered life? Do the new externación programs make this possible? What …

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Inhibition Of Hormone Dependent And Independent Breast Cancer Cells By Oyster(Crassostrea Virginica) Ceramide, Madhavi Chintalapati Jan 2006

Inhibition Of Hormone Dependent And Independent Breast Cancer Cells By Oyster(Crassostrea Virginica) Ceramide, Madhavi Chintalapati

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this research was to investigate the in vitro and in vivo anti-angiogenic properties of ceramide isolated from oyster (Crassostrea virginica). Ceramide was isolated from oyster by silicic acid chromatography, purified by alkaline hydrolysis, and analyzed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). In vitro, the activity of ceramide on human hormone-dependent (MCF-7) and hormone-independent (MDA-MB-435s) breast cancer cells was evaluated for cell viability and proliferation, VEGF-induced cell migration and invasion, apoptosis, and autophagy. The activity of ceramide was also evaluated for VEGF-induced human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) tube formation. The protein levels of vascular endothelial growth factor …

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Effect Of Repetitions On Static And Dynamic Strength, Sai Chaitanya Reddy Bogolu Jan 2006

Effect Of Repetitions On Static And Dynamic Strength, Sai Chaitanya Reddy Bogolu

LSU Master's Theses

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of repetitions on static and dynamic strength. The study is divided into two parts, the first part investigated static and dynamic strength during one, three and six repetitions per minute, and the second part of the study analyzed dynamic strength data collected using the Multiaxial Multipurpose Isokinetic Dynamometer. The study comprised of dynamic strength test data at three speeds of one, five and ten inch per second. Five male subjects participated in the first part of the study, and the results were analyzed by plotting a time series to observe …

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Validity Of The Yale Physical Activity Survey For Older Adults, Angela Nickole Solomito Pugh Jan 2006

Validity Of The Yale Physical Activity Survey For Older Adults, Angela Nickole Solomito Pugh

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the validity of the Yale Physical Activity Survey (YPAS) in a population of oldest-old adults residing in Southeastern Louisiana. Methods: Participants were older adults (n=273) in two distinct age groups; 60-81 years of age (YOUNG-OLD) AND 29-103 years of age (OLDEST-OLD). YPAS estimates of physical activity will be compared to physical function as measured by the continuous scale physical function performance test. Results: The OLDEST-OLD demonstrated lower physical function scores and reported less physical activity (and more time sitting) in comparison to the YOUNG-OLD. The correlation between Total Time Summary Index and …

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Alpha-Tocopherol: Extraction From Rice Bran By Microwave-Assisted Method, And Entrapment And Release From Polymeric Nanoparticles, Imola G. Zigoneanu Jan 2006

Alpha-Tocopherol: Extraction From Rice Bran By Microwave-Assisted Method, And Entrapment And Release From Polymeric Nanoparticles, Imola G. Zigoneanu

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was two-fold, 1) to extract and quantify vitamin E components from rice bran using microwave extraction, to determine the antioxidant activity of the rice bran oil, and the effect of solvent and temperature on vitamin E components and oil yield, and 2) to entrap alpha-tocopherol into polymeric nanoparticles, to characterize the nanoparticles in terms of morphology, size and size distribution, zeta potential, entrapment efficiency, and amount of residual PVA associated with the nanoparticles, as well as to study the release of alpha-tocopherol from PLGA nanoparticles. Microwave-assisted extraction was an efficient method for the extraction of …

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Are Enzymes Accurate Indicators Of Postmortem Interval?: A Biochemical Analysis, Karly Laine Buras Jan 2006

Are Enzymes Accurate Indicators Of Postmortem Interval?: A Biochemical Analysis, Karly Laine Buras

LSU Master's Theses

There are numerous ways to estimate postmortem interval (PMI), or time since death, including body temperature, rigor mortis, insect activity, and decomposition. Individually, many of these indicators are prone to inaccuracy due to the influence of the external environment upon them. This study proposed that in addition to or in conjunction with these and other indicators, certain enzymes could be used to accurately determine PMI, namely aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), creatine kinase (CK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). In this project, 18 rats were studied postmortem to determine how ethanol consumption and different environments affect decomposition and enzyme activity. …

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