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LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

2003

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Influences Of Selected Demographic Variables On The Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Of College Seniors, Mary Edith Whitehead Stacy Jan 2003

Influences Of Selected Demographic Variables On The Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Of College Seniors, Mary Edith Whitehead Stacy

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The study was designed (1) to describe college seniors demographically, (2) to assess college seniors perceived level of career-decision making self-efficacy (CDMSE), (3) to examine the relationship between the participant’s CDMSE scores, as measured by the subscales of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale – Short Form© (CDSE-SF), and selected demographic characteristics, and; (4) to determine if a model existed to explain a significant portion of variance in CDMSE based on the selected demographic characteristics. The sample consisted of 382 college seniors attending a four-year public university completing the application for graduation process in the 2002 fall semester. Along with the …

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Systematics And Cophylogenetics Of Toucans And Their Associated Chewing Lice, Jason David Weckstein Jan 2003

Systematics And Cophylogenetics Of Toucans And Their Associated Chewing Lice, Jason David Weckstein

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Historically, comparisons of host and parasite phylogenies have concentrated on cospeciation. However, many of these comparisons have demonstrated that the phylogenies of hosts and parasites are seldom completely congruent, suggesting that phenomena other than cospeciation play an important role in the evolution of host-parasite assemblages. Other coevolutionary phenomena, such as host switching, parasite duplication (speciation on the host), sorting (extinction), and failure to speciate can also influence host-parasite assemblages. In this dissertation I explore several aspects of the evolutionary history of Ramphastos toucans and their ectoparasitic chewing lice using molecular phylogenetic and cophylogenetic reconstructions. First, using mitochondrial DNA sequences, I …

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The Effects Of Message Direction And Sex Differences On The Interpretation Of Workplace Gossip, Kristen Marie Berkos Jan 2003

The Effects Of Message Direction And Sex Differences On The Interpretation Of Workplace Gossip, Kristen Marie Berkos

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Gossip occurs in the organization and individuals exposed to these gossip messages must decide how to interpret the gossip. This dissertation explains the definitions and research for gossip, message direction, sex differences, message interpretation, politicalism, and believability. Applying symbolic interactionism and social exchange theory, seven relationships between variables are proposed. The seven hypotheses are tested via a web-based questionnaire that manipulated the message direction and sex of the gossiper and gossip receiver. Two hundred seventy-six full time employees completed instruments measuring gossip believability, purpose, and politicalism. Data were subjected to a MANCOVA, and correlation statistics. Results supported three of the …

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Power And Empowerment In Writing Center Conferences, Kerri Stanley Jordan Jan 2003

Power And Empowerment In Writing Center Conferences, Kerri Stanley Jordan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explores power and empowerment in writing center peer conferences. Arguing against the notion of “hierarchical” and “collaborative” conference categories, it suggests that because both participants enact power in conference interaction, conferencing power dynamics exist on a continuum. Issues of ownership are also placed on a continuum (and associated with enactments of power); this study argues against idealized notions of tutees “owning” their texts and conferencing goals. It distinguishes between empowerment in a practical sense (associated with improving writing skills) and in a political sense (associated with increasing critical awareness). The research involved ethnographic methods: it followed two peer …

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An Investigation Of The Factors That Influence Electronic Information Sharing Between State And Local Agencies, Asli Yagmur Akbulut Jan 2003

An Investigation Of The Factors That Influence Electronic Information Sharing Between State And Local Agencies, Asli Yagmur Akbulut

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates the factors that influence local government participation in electronic information sharing with state agencies. Although electronic information sharing has the potential to help government agencies to increase productivity and performance, improve policy-making and provide better public services to the citizens, there is still little information available about the factors that antecede electronic information sharing between local and state agencies. Synthesizing the pertinent literature on interagency information sharing and well-established theories such as diffusion of innovations theory, critical mass theory and social exchange theory, this study proposes that local government participation in electronic information sharing with state agencies …

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Market Timing And Cost Of Capital Of The Firm, Kyojik Song Jan 2003

Market Timing And Cost Of Capital Of The Firm, Kyojik Song

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Graham and Harvey’s (2001) survey evidence and Baker, Greenwood, and Wurgler (2003) indicate that firm managers try to time debt markets based on term spreads or excess bond returns when choosing the maturity of new debt issues. Whether debt market timing increases firm value via a reduced cost of capital is an empirical question. I examine differences in firm value across non-timers and timers, where timers are defined as firms that follow either a naïve strategy of choosing long-term debt when the term premium is low or a complex strategy from Baker et al. (2003) based on the predictability of …

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Characterization Of Native And Bypass Human Coronary Artery Plaque Deposits From The Same Heart: Investigation Of The Chemical Form Of Calcium In Human Coronary Artery Plaque Deposits, Serigne Thiam Jan 2003

Characterization Of Native And Bypass Human Coronary Artery Plaque Deposits From The Same Heart: Investigation Of The Chemical Form Of Calcium In Human Coronary Artery Plaque Deposits, Serigne Thiam

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Gradual deposits of lipids, proteins, and calcium on the coronary arterial walls cause atherosclerosis, leading to blockage of the blood flow and possible heart attack. Despite many studies, the mechanism underlying these processes remains unclear. In this research, differences between native and bypass plaque deposits from the same heart were examined. In addition, the crystalline and the amorphous plaques within these native and bypass vessels were characterized. The techniques used to characterize the deposits included inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), etc. The results from the ICPMS technique showed that …

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Augusto Boal's Theatre Of The Oppressed In The Public Speaking And Interpersonal Communication Classrooms, Jacqueline D. Burleson Jan 2003

Augusto Boal's Theatre Of The Oppressed In The Public Speaking And Interpersonal Communication Classrooms, Jacqueline D. Burleson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, I document and analyze how I applied Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed (TO) techniques in introductory Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communication (IPC) courses. In the first chapter, Boal's democratic praxis is discussed in terms of critical performance pedagogy and Brecht's social aesthetics. I identify the qualitative social scientific method of data collection and analysis I used and base the significance of the study in my testing of TO in non-performance educational contexts and in the integrated communication studies curricula that resulted. In Chapter Two, I summarize Boal's career as an interactive theatre practitioner. My review includes synopses …

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"Magic City" Class, Community, And Reform In Roanoke, Virginia, 1882-1912, Paul R. Dotson, Jr. Jan 2003

"Magic City" Class, Community, And Reform In Roanoke, Virginia, 1882-1912, Paul R. Dotson, Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The "Magic City" of Roanoke, Virginia, the fastest growing urban area in the South from 1880 to 1890, exemplified everything that New South boosters claimed to have wanted. The prototypical New South city, Roanoke emerged as an extreme version of all that was supposed to remedy the South's post-Civil War economic stagnation. The city's promise, however, revealed the empty promise of the New South. Despite intensive demographic and industrial growth, by the early twentieth century, Roanoke failed to evolve into the dynamic and modern city prophesied by New South visionaries. Its abysmal conditions, racial turmoil, class conflicts, and superficial "reforms" …

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Uncovering Strata: An Investigation Into The Graphic Innovations Of Geologist Henry T. De La Beche, Renee M. Clary Jan 2003

Uncovering Strata: An Investigation Into The Graphic Innovations Of Geologist Henry T. De La Beche, Renee M. Clary

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

An historical investigation into the types of illustrations in the Golden Age of Geology (1788-1840) revealed the nature and progression of graphic representation at the dawning of geology as a science. Exhaustive sampling of geology texts published in the period of focus proceeded until saturation was achieved. Qualitative analysis and evaluation of early illustrations were accomplished with Edward R. Tufte's theory of graphic design. Hypothesis testing around a correlation coefficient revealed significance at the 99% confidence level for relationships between publication year and number of included graphics, and publication year and the graphic density of texts. Henry T. De la …

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The Ecology Of Two Estuarine-Dependent Tonguefishes, The Blackcheek Tonguefish (Symphurus Plagiusa) And The Offshore Tonguefish (S. Civitatium), In Coastal Louisiana, Theodore Scott Switzer Jan 2003

The Ecology Of Two Estuarine-Dependent Tonguefishes, The Blackcheek Tonguefish (Symphurus Plagiusa) And The Offshore Tonguefish (S. Civitatium), In Coastal Louisiana, Theodore Scott Switzer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The pattern and process of wetland loss in coastal Louisiana has the potential to influence the distribution and abundance of fishes and macroinvertebrates that utilize inshore estuarine habitat as nurseries during their early life histories. Current management plans designed to stabilize marsh elevations, such as freshwater diversions, may also influence the distribution and abundance of estuarine-dependent nekton. Given the importance of nursery function of inshore estuaries in coastal Louisiana, it is of interest to explore the response of estuarine-dependent organisms to environmental gradients. To this end I examined the ecology of two sympatric tonguefishes, the blackcheek tonguefish (Symphurus plagiusa) and …

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From Lime Kilns To Art Galleries: A Historical Anthropogeography Of The Maine Coast City Of Rockland, William Francis Fagan Jan 2003

From Lime Kilns To Art Galleries: A Historical Anthropogeography Of The Maine Coast City Of Rockland, William Francis Fagan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation is a historical anthropogeography that focuses on the city of Rockland, Maine from its prehistoric beginnings to the present. Throughout the historic period, a series of single industries have dominated Rockland's economy while its population has remained remarkably stable. Lime production, for mortar and plaster, was first, beginning with the earliest Europeans in the area in the eighteenth century and coming to its end in the 1930s. Shipping and shipbuilding were important outgrowths of the lime industry but shipbuilding ended by the early 1920s with the change from wood to steel as the favored material for shipbuilding. Commercial …

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A Comprehensive Analysis Of Recently Integrated Human Line-1 Mobile Elements, Jeremy Shawn Myers Jan 2003

A Comprehensive Analysis Of Recently Integrated Human Line-1 Mobile Elements, Jeremy Shawn Myers

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Long INterspersed Elements (LINE or L1) have had an enormous influence on human genomic structure, comprising about 20% of the mass of the human genome. In this analysis the most recent L1 insertions in the human genome belonging to L1Hs Ta and preTa subfamilies were examined to further understand the impact L1 elements have had on human genomic structure and diversity. Collectively, over 800 human specific L1 elements from the draft sequence of the human genome were characterized. Estimates suggest that human specific L1 mobilization alone is responsible for increasing the size of the human genome by roughly 1.4 million …

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Electrodeposition Of Nickel-Copper Alloys And Nickel-Copper-Alumina Nanocomposites Into Deep Recesses For Mems, Amrit Panda Jan 2003

Electrodeposition Of Nickel-Copper Alloys And Nickel-Copper-Alumina Nanocomposites Into Deep Recesses For Mems, Amrit Panda

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Electrodeposition is an important component in the fabrication of micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS). Nickel is the most commonly used material to produce three dimensional microstructures and few material alternatives have been demonstrated. In this dissertation, electrodeposited Ni-Cu alloys and nanocomposites are investigated as possible replacements for nickel in microsystems. Ni-Cu alloys are attractive for their corrosion resistance, magnetic and thermophysical properties. Alumina nanoparticulates included into metal matrices improve hardness and tribology of deposits. The Ni-Cu alloys and Ni-Cu-g-Al2O3 nanocomposites were electrodeposited from a citrate electrolyte, both at low and high pH. Electrodeposition experiments were performed in recessed microelectrodes 500 …

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The Relationship Between Selected Housing And Demographic Charateristics And Employment Status Among Rural, Low-Income Families, Ann Allgood Berry Jan 2003

The Relationship Between Selected Housing And Demographic Charateristics And Employment Status Among Rural, Low-Income Families, Ann Allgood Berry

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study was a secondary analysis of wave one data of the Rural Families Speak project, a multi-state longitudinal Agricultural Experiment Station project that focused on assessing changes in the well-being and functioning of rural low-income families in the context of welfare reform. Quantitative analysis was conducted to determine the housing situations of the families and the relationships of these factors with the family economic and cognitive well-being and employment circumstances of study participants. Discriminant analysis was used to develop a model to predict the employment circumstances (employed, not employed) of the participants. Housing costs usually take the first and …

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