Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 283

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Spaced-Retrieval Effects On Memory For Scenes In Older Adults With Probable Alzheimer's Disease, Emily Olinde Jan 2006

Spaced-Retrieval Effects On Memory For Scenes In Older Adults With Probable Alzheimer's Disease, Emily Olinde

LSU Master's Theses

Previous studies have found the spaced-retrieval memory intervention technique to be successful in training people with probable Alzheimer’s disease (AD) to learn new, simple associations. In the present study, we expanded on these previous findings by training eight participants with probable AD to learn the names and pictures of countries via spaced retrieval. We demonstrated the flexibility of the technique, gave insight as to the effects of distracters on the spaced-retrieval training performance, and demonstrated the memorial effects of adding pictorial support to the text.


Agriscience Program - Using The No Child Left Behind Principles Of Education, Tiffany Ann Popps Jan 2006

Agriscience Program - Using The No Child Left Behind Principles Of Education, Tiffany Ann Popps

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of use of the eight educational principles included in the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) by currently employed Agriscience teachers in Louisiana. Specific objectives formulated to guide the research were to describe: 1) Louisiana’s Agriscience teachers on selected demographics; 2) professional activities of Louisiana’s Agriscience teachers; 3) how often Louisiana’s Agriscience teachers ascribe to the NCLB principles; 4) determine if a relationship exist between the NCLB principles and selected demographics and, finally, 5) determine if a relationship exist between the NCLB principles and selected professional activities of Louisiana’s Agriscience …


Optimal Binary Trees With Height Restrictions On Left And Right Branches, Song Ding Jan 2006

Optimal Binary Trees With Height Restrictions On Left And Right Branches, Song Ding

LSU Master's Theses

We begin with background definitions on binary trees. Then we review known algorithms for finding optimal binary search trees. Knuth's famous algorithm, presented in the second chapter, is the cornerstone for our work. It depends on two important results: the Quadrangle Lemma and the Monoticity Theorem. These enabled Knuth to achieve a time complexity of O(n2), while previous algorithms had been O(n3) (n = size of input). We present the known generalization of Knuth's algorithm to trees with a height restriction. Finally, we consider the previously unexamined case of trees with different restrictions on left and …


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.


A Generalized Approach For The Control Of Micro-Electromechanical Relays, Mohamed Abdelrahman Younis Jan 2006

A Generalized Approach For The Control Of Micro-Electromechanical Relays, Mohamed Abdelrahman Younis

LSU Master's Theses

MEMS (Micro-Electromechanical Systems) is an area of research and applications that is becoming increasingly popular. It's mainly concerned with integrating micro-mechanical transducers with micro-electronic circuits on common substrates, traditionally silicon, through micro-fabrication. Instead of traditionally having the transducer and the communicating (or control) circuit as two separate entities, MEMS miniaturizes and combines them on a single chip, giving it several advantages, saving space, money, and increasing the sensitivity and accuracy of the integrated system. A micro-electromechanical relay is a type of MEM devices that is becoming increasingly important in a wide range of industries such as the computer industry, the …


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 …


Reliability Of Determining Adults From Juvenile Ducks By Presence Or Absence Of Notched Tail Feathers In Various Species Of North American Ducks, Thomas Michael Siwarski Jan 2006

Reliability Of Determining Adults From Juvenile Ducks By Presence Or Absence Of Notched Tail Feathers In Various Species Of North American Ducks, Thomas Michael Siwarski

LSU Master's Theses

I estimated when juvenile tail molt occurs for several commonly harvested duck species, mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), northern pintails (A. acuta) (hereafter referred to as pintails), gadwalls (A. strepera), lesser scaup (Aythya affinis), and redheads (A. americana). Tests showed that aging mallards by notched tail feathers became unreliable the earliest (early September), followed closely by pintails (mid-late September), with gadwalls being the latest of the dabbling ducks to lose reliability in aging by notched tail feathers (late November). Lesser scaup and redheads retained their notched tail feathers throughout January and the completion of hunting season. Based on initial banding and band …


Efficacy Of Nutrition Education Lessons Targeting A Group Of Low-Income Elderly, Gabriela M. Viteri Jan 2006

Efficacy Of Nutrition Education Lessons Targeting A Group Of Low-Income Elderly, Gabriela M. Viteri

LSU Master's Theses

Nutrition education has the potential not only to increase nutrition knowledge and, potentially, healthy behaviors, among the elderly, but also to reduce the need for health and social services. The nutrition component described herein is part of an overall wellness program that focuses on increasing physical activity and healthy dietary behaviors among participants. We completed a four month nutrition intervention in a group of 33 low income elderly at the Leo Butler Center (LBC) (n=20) and Catholic Presbyterian Apartments (CPA) (n=13) in the fall of 2005 in Baton Rouge, LA. The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) was used as the theoretical …


Robust Fault-Tolerant Control For Aircraft Systems, Phalguna Kumar Rachinayani Jan 2006

Robust Fault-Tolerant Control For Aircraft Systems, Phalguna Kumar Rachinayani

LSU Master's Theses

The need to design controllers that guarantee both stability and performance upon the occurrence of faults has been an active area of research. To address this problem, in this thesis we present different methodologies to design robust controllers that guarantee both stability and robustness for actuator faults and uncertainties. In the first part of this thesis, we introduce the classical uncertainty formulation using Linear Fractional Transformation (LFT) and describe LFT's special cases-norm bounded and convex polytopic uncertainty descriptions. Practical methods to formulate these uncertainty structures are described. In the same spirit, formulation of faults and their modeling for robust control …


U.S. Demand For Certified Tropical Hardwood Products, Shadia Duery Jan 2006

U.S. Demand For Certified Tropical Hardwood Products, Shadia Duery

LSU Master's Theses

Tropical forests, which contain 50 percent of the planet's biodiversity, are threatened by deforestation and illegal logging. Forest certification was initiated initially as a s certification: forest management practices and chain of custody (CoC). The United States is the largest market for secondary, or value-added, tropical hardwood products (STHP) which influences forest management practices in supplier countries. In 2004, this study was conducted to measure the demand for certified products in the U.S. The objectives of the study were to identify characteristics of U.S. demand for secondary (value-added) tropical hardwood products and to understand market perceptions regarding certification of secondary …


The Effect Of Music Tempo On Movement Responses Of Preschool Children, Melanie Woods Alexander Jan 2006

The Effect Of Music Tempo On Movement Responses Of Preschool Children, Melanie Woods Alexander

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of tempo on movement responses of children ages one to three. For two weeks, 17 children between the ages of 22 and 36 months were videotaped twice per week to observe and measure their movement responses to fast and slow musical stimuli. During these sessions, the children were videotaped in their classrooms, engaged in either free play or in a quiet group activity. The videotaped sessions were then analyzed using a Motor Observation Form. Once all of the tapes had been viewed and scored, overall percentages of movement and no …


Genetic Stratigraphy And Geochronology Of Last Interglacial Shorelines On The Central Coast Of South Carolina, Russell Willis Jan 2006

Genetic Stratigraphy And Geochronology Of Last Interglacial Shorelines On The Central Coast Of South Carolina, Russell Willis

LSU Master's Theses

This study investigated the shallow subsurface of the Lower Coastal Plain of South Carolina in order to determine the sea-level history and stratigraphic architecture preserved within several emergent shoreline complexes. The absolute age of each shoreline complex was estimated using single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques. The resulting geochronology was incorporated into a high-resolution stratigraphic framework defined by ground penetrating radar calibrated with deep sediment cores, many of which contain a complete sequence of highstand deposition. Three emergent barrier complexes were identified within the Lower Talbot, Pamlico, and Princess Anne terraces, and assigned to sea-level highstands during interglacial …


Mesoscale Predictions For The Dynamic Compaction Of Explosively-Coated Aluminum Micro-Particles, Michael Wayne Crochet Jan 2006

Mesoscale Predictions For The Dynamic Compaction Of Explosively-Coated Aluminum Micro-Particles, Michael Wayne Crochet

LSU Master's Theses

Conventional granular explosives are widely used in aerospace and defense-related industries. Powdered metals are often mixed with high explosives to enhance detonation. The effectiveness of these mixtures is limited by the slow burning of the metal relative to the explosive and their sensitivity to mechanical loading. Granular energetic composites, composed of an aluminum core coated with a layer of the high explosive RDX (C3H6N6O6), may be a high-performance alternative to conventional explosives because of a higher metal combustion rate and lower impact sensitivity. Though the technology required to manufacture granular energetic composites …


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 …


A Comparative Analysis Of Hurricane Evacuation Traffic Conditions Using Static And Dynamic Traffic Assignments, Santosh Kumar Andem Jan 2006

A Comparative Analysis Of Hurricane Evacuation Traffic Conditions Using Static And Dynamic Traffic Assignments, Santosh Kumar Andem

LSU Master's Theses

This study compares link flows of evacuation traffic using Static Traffic Assignment (STA) with those obtained from Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) and observed traffic counts. The analysis is conducted on a sample of households from South Carolina who evacuated in the face of hurricane Floyd in 1999. The results indicate that traditional static models have the potential to significantly underestimate congestion levels in the network, and DTA models account for nonuniform demand and traffic dynamics in hurricane evacuation much more realistically. From observed traffic counts, traffic volumes vary considerably during an evacuation and the DTA flow estimates generally reproduced these …


Media Framing Of Prescription Drug Coverage Following A Recall, Rebecca Ann Hotard Jan 2006

Media Framing Of Prescription Drug Coverage Following A Recall, Rebecca Ann Hotard

LSU Master's Theses

Direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs receives significant attention from academic researchers. Advertising, however, is not the only way prescription drugs are discussed in the public sphere. Many Americans learn about science through mass media. Additionally, researchers believe readers place more trust in editorial content than in advertisements. This study took a quantitative and qualitative approach to content analysis of prescription drug coverage to examine the effects of the highly publicized and controversial Vioxx recall on the news. Significant changes in framing, drugs mentioned, and prominence of story placement were shown. There were no changes in sources used in prescription drug …


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 …


Evaluation Of An Amperometric Biosensor For The Detection Of Escherichia Coli O157:H7, Danyelle Denise Small Jan 2006

Evaluation Of An Amperometric Biosensor For The Detection Of Escherichia Coli O157:H7, Danyelle Denise Small

LSU Master's Theses

Escherichia coli O157:H7 contamination is a major hazard in the water supply, causing outbreaks of disease. Conventional methods of E. coli O157:H7 detection usually takes 1-2 days and require hands-on preparation. There is a need to develop a rapid, inexpensive means of detecting the organism. The amperometric biosensor technology has achieved success in the area of metabolite detection. In this study, a bench scale amperometric biosensor was investigated to rapidly detect Escherichia coli O157:H7. The amperometric biosensor consisted of a power source, Clark electrode, autoranging picoammeter, and fabricated polyvinyl chloride (PVC) outer insert with nitrocellulose membrane and attached horseradish peroxidase …


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 …


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.


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 …


Performance Modeling Of Explosively Actuated Devices, Adam M. Braud Jan 2006

Performance Modeling Of Explosively Actuated Devices, Adam M. Braud

LSU Master's Theses

Explosively actuated devices (pin pullers, cable cutters, valves, etc) are used extensively to perform critical functions for aerospace, industrial, and defense related applications. The failure of these devices have led to a greater effort to quantify device design and performance. This thesis describes the actuation process of an explosively actuated valve, including: 1) the burning of the solid explosive HMX (C4H8N8O8) and production of its high pressure gas products, 2) the mass transfer of gas products through an actuator to an expansion volume including choked flow effects, 3) the resulting piston motion …


Minority Recruitment Efforts Aimed At Increasing Student Diversity At Historically Black Public Colleges And Universities And Predominantly White Public Institutions, Nia Francis Mason Jan 2006

Minority Recruitment Efforts Aimed At Increasing Student Diversity At Historically Black Public Colleges And Universities And Predominantly White Public Institutions, Nia Francis Mason

LSU Master's Theses

Minority and other race recruitment have become a significant part of general recruitment efforts at many predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Despite increased efforts, some universities have not been successful at increasing diversity on campus. This study relies on the use of in-depth interviews to document, describe and understand the similar and differing characteristics of minority and other race recruitment tactics being used at PWIs and HBCUs. The researcher conducted interviews at four public institutions of higher education; two of which are HBCUs, and two of which are PWIs. The researcher also sought to …


A Sociolinguistic Perspective Toward Hiatus Resolution In Mexico City Spanish, Matthew Anthony Vuskovich Jan 2006

A Sociolinguistic Perspective Toward Hiatus Resolution In Mexico City Spanish, Matthew Anthony Vuskovich

LSU Master's Theses

Vowels occurring adjacently across word boundaries form what is known as hiatus. In orthographic pronunciation, hiatus is defined by the brief pause between the two vowels as in yo – estoy and la – economía, where ‘-‘ represents a pause. However, since speakers of Spanish (or any other natural language) do not always pronounce orthographically when engaging in colloquial speech, the hiatus undergoes a variety of changes in order to accommodate certain phonological constraints. These changes are referred to as hiatus resolution and include vowel weakening, glide formation and vowel elision. As reported by the numerous studies of Spanish dialectology …


An Analysis Of The Relationship Between City Typology, Interactivity And Advertising Message Strategies Of American Municipal Web Sites, Jeremy John Starr Jan 2006

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between City Typology, Interactivity And Advertising Message Strategies Of American Municipal Web Sites, Jeremy John Starr

LSU Master's Theses

This study became to first to scientifically explore the relationship between city typology and the use of advertising message strategy and interactivity within municipal web sites. The study used Taylor’s six-segment strategy wheel to analyze message strategies and previous scales of interactivity to analyze structural interactivity. Medium-size cities and cities within the South and West geographic regions more likely used sensory strategies within their web sites. Cities with racially diverse populations more likely used sensory strategies within their web sites as well. Large cities and central cities, both with large populations, used the most interactive strategies within their sites compared …


An Investigation Of Focus: Local, Regional, And National Newspaper Coverage In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, Roxanne Kearns Dill Jan 2006

An Investigation Of Focus: Local, Regional, And National Newspaper Coverage In The Aftermath Of Hurricane Katrina, Roxanne Kearns Dill

LSU Master's Theses

This study examined the content in coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by local, regional, and national newspapers. Specifically, six newspapers were examined for a variety of items, including topics covered, frame, types of sources cited, types of authorities quoted, geographic focus, and assignment of blame for the devastation and evacuee distress that followed this historic storm. The analysis covered a two-week period, from August 29, 2005, the day Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, to September 11, 2005. The research methods included a content analysis of the 263 articles that appeared on Page 1 of The New York …


Agrobacterium Tumefaciens-Mediated Transformation Of Tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum L.) Leaf Disks: Evaluation Of The Co-Cultivation Conditions To Increase Beta-Glucuronidase Gene Activity, Sunjung Park Jan 2006

Agrobacterium Tumefaciens-Mediated Transformation Of Tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum L.) Leaf Disks: Evaluation Of The Co-Cultivation Conditions To Increase Beta-Glucuronidase Gene Activity, Sunjung Park

LSU Master's Theses

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation is generally used for genetic transformation of higher plants. Several experimental factors important for the increase of beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene activity were evaluated in this study using leaf disks of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Xanthi). We found that co-cultivation temperature at 20C is the most critical factor to obtain the reproducible enhancement of GUS activity. pCAMBIA 1305.01 resulted in higher GUS activity than the other two pCAMBIA vectors 1301 and 1305.02. The highest GUS activity and transformation efficiency were achieved under the following experimental conditions: Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 containing pCAMBIA1305.01 was grown overnight at …


College Recruitment Receptions: Bringing The University To The Student, Jean Marie Gilman Jan 2006

College Recruitment Receptions: Bringing The University To The Student, Jean Marie Gilman

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to see why students, who attended receptions in Texas, decided to enroll at Louisiana State University and to decide if the receptions are an effective method to recruit students in Texas. These receptions are considered special programming. While normal programming is effective, LSU has looked for ways to go above and beyond these methods. Special programming is another way to, “bring LSU to the student.” These informational receptions for Junior and Senior high school students and their parents have proven to yield students. This reception format needed to be evaluated from the student’s perspective. …


How African-American And Hispanics Perceive Their Racial Equality In American Advertising, Denise Michele Pallais Jan 2006

How African-American And Hispanics Perceive Their Racial Equality In American Advertising, Denise Michele Pallais

LSU Master's Theses

This study focuses on how African-Americans and Hispanics perceive their racial equality in American advertising. A survey was conducted to find out the African-American and the Hispanic perceptions about how these ethnic groups saw themselves depicted, and the way they are stereotyped by the U.S. media. Overall, the study found that there was no difference between race and the level of perception between these two ethnic groups. However, age appears to be the only demographic variable that affects the African-American and Hispanic perception of discrimination. In addition, the study also exposed that African-Americans are mostly portrayed in the athletic advertising …


Analysis Of Trade In The Western Hemisphere Utilizing A Gravity Model Framework, Brian Matthew Hilbun Jan 2006

Analysis Of Trade In The Western Hemisphere Utilizing A Gravity Model Framework, Brian Matthew Hilbun

LSU Master's Theses

With the recent proliferation of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) the tendency world-wide has been seemingly toward trade liberalization. This thesis is primarily concerned with the impacts RTAs have had in the Western Hemisphere regarding agricultural trade flows. Utilizing the framework of the Gravity Model, agricultural trade flows for 24 Western Hemisphere Nations were examined. In the course of the study it was expected that if RTAs were to have an effect it would be a positive Trade Creation Effect and a negative Trade Diversion Effect with positive effects for GDP of importer/exporter and population size of importer/exporter and a negative …