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Elements Of Mythmaking In Witness Accounts Of Colonial Piracy, Plamen Ivanov Arnaudov Jan 2008

Elements Of Mythmaking In Witness Accounts Of Colonial Piracy, Plamen Ivanov Arnaudov

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Focusing on historical accounts (1684-1734) by English, French, and Spanish witnesses, this dissertation establishes a continuity in fictionalized representations of anti-heroic pirates from the buccaneering period to the Golden Age of Piracy. Informed by history, literary, myth, and performance theory, the analysis identifies significant distortions in reports by observers and participants. The distortions that pertain to mythmaking patterns are classified and analyzed further. Conflicting and ambivalent representations of the pirate as an anti-hero are resolved through the positing of a literary scapegoat hypothesis drawing from René Girard and Joseph Roach. While demonstrating mythical archetypes at work in the construction of …


The Principal As Technology Leader: The Skills E-Learners Consider Essential To The Creation Of A Technology-Rich School Community, Tammy Sue Seneca Jan 2008

The Principal As Technology Leader: The Skills E-Learners Consider Essential To The Creation Of A Technology-Rich School Community, Tammy Sue Seneca

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the skills that e-learners considered essential to the creation of a technology-rich school community. The focus was upon the skills that acting district and school administrators deemed essential to becoming an effective e-leader. The quantitative investigation associated with this study consisted of a researcher created survey based upon the International Society of Technology Educators (ISTE) National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A). The intent of this survey was to obtain a list of skills that the participants felt were necessary for administrators to obtain in order to be effective leaders. These skills are categorized into both theory-based …


A Longitudinal Study Of Married Women's Probability Of Being Housewives In Reforming Urban China, Chiung-Yin Hu Jan 2008

A Longitudinal Study Of Married Women's Probability Of Being Housewives In Reforming Urban China, Chiung-Yin Hu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines married women’s employment status and the factors associated with their being full-time housewives between 1989 and 2004 in urban China. I argue that the transition from a command economy to a market-oriented economy since the early 1980s has had negative impacts on married women’s labor force participation. Using six waves of the Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey (1989, 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000, and 2004), I find that the percentages of full-time housewives in urban China tripled in just 15 years, and the largest amount of growth occurred in the most recent period. Regression analyses confirm that married …


An Experimental Study On The Formation Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons During The Pyrolysis And Oxidation Of Catechol[Ortho-Dihydroxybenzene]-A Model Compound Representative Of Structural Units In Coal, Wood, And Biomass, Shiju Thomas Jan 2008

An Experimental Study On The Formation Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons During The Pyrolysis And Oxidation Of Catechol[Ortho-Dihydroxybenzene]-A Model Compound Representative Of Structural Units In Coal, Wood, And Biomass, Shiju Thomas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) formed during the pyrolysis and combustion of solid fuels like coal, wood, and biomass are widespread environmental pollutants. Since some PAH are known to exhibit carcinogenic and mutagenic activity, understanding the chemical reactions responsible for PAH formation is of utmost importance. To better understand the reactions leading to the formation of PAH from complex solid fuels, pyrolysis and oxidation experiments have been performed in an isothermal laminar-flow reactor, using the model fuel catechol (ortho-dihydroxybenzene), a phenol-type compound representative of structural entities in coal, wood, and biomass. Catechol pyrolysis experiments have also been performed in the presence …


Elasto-Plastic And Damage Modeling Of Reinforced Concrete, Ziad N. Taqieddin Jan 2008

Elasto-Plastic And Damage Modeling Of Reinforced Concrete, Ziad N. Taqieddin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Modeling the mechanical behavior of Reinforced Concrete (RC) is still one of the most difficult challenges in the field of structural engineering. The Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis (NFEA) and modeling of the behavior of RC members are the primary goals of this study. The macroscopic components of RC, Concrete material and reinforcing steel, are represented herein by separate material models. These material models are combined together using a model that describes the global effect of interaction between reinforcing steel and concrete in order to simulate the behavior of the composite RC material. A thermodynamically consistent constitutive model for concrete that …


Development Of An Ultrasonic Nde&T Tool For Yield Detection In Steel Structures, Yilmaz Bingol Jan 2008

Development Of An Ultrasonic Nde&T Tool For Yield Detection In Steel Structures, Yilmaz Bingol

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nondestructive Evaluation and Testing (NDE&T) is a commonly used and rapidly growing field that offers successful solutions for health assessment of structures. NDE&T methods have gained increasing attention in the last few decades especially with the contribution of the advancements in computer and instrumentation technologies. The applications of numerous NDE&T methods in civil engineering mostly focus on material characterization and defect detection. Techniques for nondestructively identifying the stress state in materials, on the other hand, mostly rely on the Theory of Acoustoelasticity. However, the sensitivity and the accuracy of acoustoelasticity are affected by several factors such as the microstructure of …


Internal Cooling In Ribbed Rectangular (Ar=4:1) Passages At High Rotation Numbers And Improvement In Finning Strategies, Fuguo Zhou Jan 2008

Internal Cooling In Ribbed Rectangular (Ar=4:1) Passages At High Rotation Numbers And Improvement In Finning Strategies, Fuguo Zhou

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Experimental studies have been performed on two-pass rectangular internal coolant channels with aspect ratio AR 4:1 with high rotation numbers. Three passages are investigated: smooth, 90 deg ribbed and 45 deg ribbed. A maximum Reynolds number of 150,000 and a maximum rotation number of 0.6 are achieved in the study. These maximum parameter values are considerably higher than those previously reported for the 4:1 AR geometry, and provide data for parameter ranges that may be representative of certain modern turbine blades. Heat transfer behaviors with rotation in the three passages are presented. Rotation effects, density effects and buoyancy effects are …


Surgery Description Of Colored Knots, Steven Daniel Wallace Jan 2008

Surgery Description Of Colored Knots, Steven Daniel Wallace

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

By a knot, or link, we mean a circle, or a collection of circles, embedded in the three-sphere S3. The study of knots is a very rich subject and plays a key role in the area of low-dimensional topology. In fact, a theorem of W.B.R. Lickorish and A.D. Wallace states that any three-dimensional manifold may be described by Dehn surgery along a link which is the process of removing the link from S3 and then gluing it back in a way that possibly changes the resulting manifold. In this dissertation, we will be interested in the pair (K, ρ) consisting …


Cause Of Hispanic Homicides In Major Metropolitan Areas, Michael Gregory Bisciglia Jan 2008

Cause Of Hispanic Homicides In Major Metropolitan Areas, Michael Gregory Bisciglia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research investigating the relationship between segregation and crime has been extensively examined in the literature. Although numerous studies have looked at segregation’s influence homicides, most have focused on African Americans. This study extends current research by focusing on Hispanic segregation and homicide victimization. Using a 236 city sample, homicides are shown to rise when Hispanics are segregated from Whites. In comparison, a 208 city sample finds that segregation also contributes to a rise in African American homicides. It was also expected that the more homogeneous Hispanic population would reduce homicides, but such an association was not present in the full …


The Anomaly Of Racial Variance In Female Perpetrated Spousal Killing: A Structural Explanation, Mark Melder Jan 2008

The Anomaly Of Racial Variance In Female Perpetrated Spousal Killing: A Structural Explanation, Mark Melder

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT Research investigating the relationship of structural factors to homicide abounds in the literature. There is also extant research on female perpetrated intimate partner killings (IPK). However this literature for the most part has examined the phenomenon itself, or has disaggregated the rates by race, where it was discovered that there is a racial anomaly in intimate killings, Black females kill their partners at a higher rate than White females. This research sought to determine how structural factors function to differentially amplify this rate, using classic controls for homicide and adding measures for the presence of female kin, the presence …


Academic Impropriety: Violation Of Normative Teaching Behaviors As Identified By Nursing Educators, Melanie Hilburn Green Jan 2008

Academic Impropriety: Violation Of Normative Teaching Behaviors As Identified By Nursing Educators, Melanie Hilburn Green

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With public criticism of American higher education on the rise, it is prudent for those in the academy to reflect upon their responsibilities to their students. Of particular salience is an examination of what constitutes misconduct within the faculty role. This dissertation reports the results of a study designed to identify what nursing educators believe to be the violation of normative teaching behaviors. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was utilized to develop an understanding of the actions that constitute academic impropriety. The College Teaching Behaviors Inventory, a survey instrument designed by Braxton and Bayer (1999), was distributed to deans …


Assessing The Effectiveness Of The Response To Instruction Model For English Language Learners By Utilizing A Non-Language-Based Intervention, Chisato Komatsu Jan 2008

Assessing The Effectiveness Of The Response To Instruction Model For English Language Learners By Utilizing A Non-Language-Based Intervention, Chisato Komatsu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the use of the Response to Intervention (RTI) model for English Language learners (ELLs) by using a computerized constant time delay procedure (CTD) that de-emphasized the use of language. Forty-five ELLs, 22 native English speakers, and five students with a diagnosis of mild mental retardation participated in the study. A computer-administered CTD procedure was utilized for paired associate tasks. The study found differences and patterns in students’ performances that could be used to differentiate responders and non-responders to intervention. An interesting finding was that once the students were divided into groups …


The Perils And Empowerments Of Mountain Literacies: Reading Loss And Shifting Identities In Appalachian Memoirs And Novels, Erica Abrams Locklear Jan 2008

The Perils And Empowerments Of Mountain Literacies: Reading Loss And Shifting Identities In Appalachian Memoirs And Novels, Erica Abrams Locklear

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the literary portrayal of literacy events in memoirs and novels written by Appalachian women during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Drawing from contemporary literacy scholarship, my project engages several definitions of the term "literacy," including theories defining it as a technical skill, a social act, cultural knowledge, or a potent form of ideological power. In a region historically (and often inaccurately) stigmatized as illiterate, "literacy" is a loaded term, a concept doubly associated with cultural pride and with cultural loss. By applying literacy theories to Appalachian literature, I analyze the identity conflicts literacy attainment causes for several …


The Reliability And Validity Of Screening Measures In Reading, James Albert Van Hook Jan 2008

The Reliability And Validity Of Screening Measures In Reading, James Albert Van Hook

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

National educational groups have recommended the use of universal screening to assist in the early identification of reading problems. One of the most widely used measures used for the universal screening of reading is oral reading fluency (ORF) (Fewster & Macmillan, 2002). However, ORF is somewhat time consuming to administer and has been reported to lack “face validity” with teachers (Fuchs, Fuchs & Maxwell, 1988). The purpose of this study was to investigate maze and other group-administered reading assessments because of their potential as a time efficient assessment that is as psychometrically valid as ORF. In this study, maze and …


Stochastic And Copula Models For Credit Derivatives, Chao Meng Jan 2008

Stochastic And Copula Models For Credit Derivatives, Chao Meng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We prove results relating to the exit time of a stochastic process from a region in N-dimensional space. We compute certain stochastic integrals involving the exit time. Taking a Gaussian copula model for the hitting time behavior, we prove several results on the sensitivity of quantities connected with the hitting times to parameters of the model, as well as the large-N behavior. We discuss the relationship of these results to certain credit derivative instruments. Relevant simulations are presented.


A Rhetoric Of Existentialism, Zachary Gershberg Jan 2008

A Rhetoric Of Existentialism, Zachary Gershberg

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Existentialism is often viewed as a morbid philosophy but adapting it to a rhetorical framework reveals a consistent interest in the ontological function of communication. The exchange of discourse and symbols is what ties humans together and existentialism examines the meaning that abounds in life as opposed to attempting to discover the meaning of life. As a rhetorical construct, existentialism provides a critical and unique view of agency and edification as a method of rhetorical practice.


Exploration Of New Ternary Gallides And Investigation Of Their Structure-Property Relationships, Jung Young Cho Jan 2008

Exploration Of New Ternary Gallides And Investigation Of Their Structure-Property Relationships, Jung Young Cho

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the investigation of new ternary intermetallic gallides, which may exhibit exotic physical properties such as heavy-fermion behavior, large magnetoresistance, and even superconductivity. In particular, the Ln-Cu-Ga (Ln = lanthanides) system has been systematically investigated by changing a reaction ratio and/or using a different temperature profile to optimize desired phases. Single crystals of Ln2MGa12 (Ln = La, Ce; M = Ni, Cu) have been synthesized using Ga flux and compared to their Pd analogues. Interestingly, Ce2MGa12 (M = Ni, Cu) show enhanced Sommerfeld coefficient of ¡Ö 191 mJmol-1K-2 and ¡Ö 69 mJmol-1K-2 for Ni and Cu compounds, …


Apocalypse South: Judgment, Cataclysm, And Resistance In The Regional Imaginary, Anthony Hoefer Jan 2008

Apocalypse South: Judgment, Cataclysm, And Resistance In The Regional Imaginary, Anthony Hoefer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project investigates manifestations of Apocalypse in selected works of southern fiction, each of which simultaneously draws upon the cosmology of southern evangelical Protestantism and disrupts that cosmology’s power to govern the discourses of race, class, and gender in the U.S. South. Apocalypse South proposes that invocations of the Apocalypse are signs of deferred meaning—of hidden histories of undifferentiation, hybridity, and contradiction which defy the prevailing discourses that configure social relationships in southern spaces and places. Southern religious culture maps Apocalypse onto the boundaries of race, class, and gender and imparts catastrophic consequences to their violations. However, the works investigated …


Identification Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In The Supercritical Pyrolysis Products Of Synthetic Jet Fuel S-8 And Methylcyclohexane, Jorge Oswaldo Ona Ruales Jan 2008

Identification Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons In The Supercritical Pyrolysis Products Of Synthetic Jet Fuel S-8 And Methylcyclohexane, Jorge Oswaldo Ona Ruales

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Inside the pre-combustor fuel lines of future high-speed aircraft, at supercritical conditions, hydrocarbon fuels react to form polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and eventually solid deposits. These deposits can block fuel lines and lead to undesirable effects for the aircraft operation. To elucidate the pathways that lead to the formation of PAH (and ultimately, solids formation), the identification of the PAH products generated by the reactions is critical. In this context, two fuels have been analyzed: synthetic jet fuel S-8 and methylcyclohexane. Synthetic jet fuel S-8 is important due to its non-petroleum origin. Methylcyclohexane is important due to its endothermic behavior. …


Factors That Influence Traditional-Age College Students To Re-Enroll In Their Third Year At A Research Extensive University In The Southern Region Of The United States, Joseph M. Lutta Jan 2008

Factors That Influence Traditional-Age College Students To Re-Enroll In Their Third Year At A Research Extensive University In The Southern Region Of The United States, Joseph M. Lutta

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Student retention is of policy significance to higher education systems. In the United States, student retention is a major problem in higher education affecting students, universities, and society. Most of the research on student retention has focused on first-year students. Little is known about the retention of college students after their first year. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of selected demographic and academic characteristics on the decision of traditional-age, undergraduate students to re-enroll at a research-extensive university. The population was defined as all traditional-age undergraduate students who entered the selected university during the fall …


The Rhetorical Myth Of The Athlete As A Moral Hero: The Implications Of Steroids In Sport And The Threatened Myth, Karen L. Hartman Jan 2008

The Rhetorical Myth Of The Athlete As A Moral Hero: The Implications Of Steroids In Sport And The Threatened Myth, Karen L. Hartman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research analyzes changes in the rhetoric of a sustaining myth in order to better assess what happens when a myth is threatened. By examining American sport and its current struggle to withstand the widespread use of steroids, the author investigates how public discourse about the scandal turns athletes from mythical heroes to cheaters. The author begins by explicating the rhetorical construction of the athlete as a moral hero in America and how this myth is perpetuated today. The author then examines how steroids threaten the myth of the moral athlete and uses Major League Baseball as a case study …


Revolutionizing Genomic Analyses: Mutation Analyses Using Novel Enzyme-Based Assays With Laser-Induced Fluorescence And Polymeric Microfluidic Devices As Electrophoretic Platforms, Rondedrick Deshaun Sinville Jan 2008

Revolutionizing Genomic Analyses: Mutation Analyses Using Novel Enzyme-Based Assays With Laser-Induced Fluorescence And Polymeric Microfluidic Devices As Electrophoretic Platforms, Rondedrick Deshaun Sinville

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Polymer-based microelectrophoresis was investigated to analyze known (mutation detection) and unknown (mutation scanning) low-abundant mutations in genomic DNA with high diagnostic value for colorectal cancers. For our mutation detection assays, point mutations in the K-ras oncogene were identified using the ligase detection reaction (LDR). For the mutation scanning assay, which searches for sporadic mutations, an EndoV-LDR assay was utilized with mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene used as a model. A poly(methylmethacrylate), PMMA, microchip filled with a 4% linear polyacrylamide (LPA) gel was used to electrophoretically sort products formed from LDRs, which produced oligonucleotides <65 bp in length. Using microchip electrophoresis with the LPA, a 44 bp ligation product was resolved from a 100-fold molar excess of unligated primers (25 bp) in approximately 120 s, which was ~17 times faster than conventional capillary gel electrophoresis. In order to simplify the electrophoretic process and further reduce development time, the LDR products were sorted in the absence of the sieving gel using free solution conjugate electrophoresis (FSCE). FSCE incorporated polyamide “drag-tags” onto LDR primers, which provided DNA fragment mobilities in free solution that were dependent upon their size. LDR/drag-tagged (LDR-dt) products could be formed in a multiplexed format for mutant-to-wild-type ratios as low as 1 to 100 with single base resolution. Separations were conducted using capillary array electrophoresis (CAE) and PMMA microchips filled with only a TRIS buffer. Analysis times for the LDR-dt products were less than 11 min using CAE and ~85 s for PMMA microchips with high reproducible migration times within and between microchips. PMMA-based microchips were also evaluated for the identification of sporadic mutations using an endonuclease V – LDR (Endo V/LDR) technique. Endo V cleaves heteroduplexed DNA one base 3’ of single-base mismatched sites as well as nicking DNA at some matched sites as LDR reseals miscleaved sites to reduce false positive signals. Results suggested that Endo V/LDR products from p53 mutations could be successfully separated and detected using a PMMA microfluidic chip filled with a sparsely cross-linked replaceable polyacrylamide gel in less than 6 min, which was approximately 10-fold shorter compared to CAE.


Legislative Participation In The American States: Determinants And Consequences, Mileah Kay Kromer Jan 2008

Legislative Participation In The American States: Determinants And Consequences, Mileah Kay Kromer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research seeks to analyze the variability in participation across legislators at the state level and to consider the potential consequences of participatory behavior. In this dissertation, I draw on theories of political participation, legislative goals, and state political institutions to explain participation in state legislative activities. To begin with, I examine legislative participation across the legislative process, considering the determinants of sponsorship and roll-call participation. Next, I examine the consequences that participation has for legislators focusing on challenger emergence in the general election. My research demonstrates that legislative participation varies systematically across individual, institutional, and state level variables. However, …


Resistance To Bacillus Thuringiensis In Sugarcane Borer, Diatraea Saccharalis (F.), Xiaoyi Wu Jan 2008

Resistance To Bacillus Thuringiensis In Sugarcane Borer, Diatraea Saccharalis (F.), Xiaoyi Wu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis (F.), is a dominant corn stack boring pest and a major target of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt)-corn in many areas of the mid-southern region of the United States. A Cry1Ab-resistant strain of D. saccharalis, capable of survival on commercial Bt corn plants, was established using an F2 screening procedure. Larval survival of Cry1Ab-resistant, -susceptible, and -heterozygous genotypes was evaluated on five non-Bt and seven Bt field corn hybrids at two plant stages. During the vegetative stages, all seven Bt corn hybrids were highly efficacious against the three genotypes, while 8-18% of the heterozygous genotype survived on …


Degradation And Water Quality Dynamics Of Sugarcane Residue In South Louisiana, Jose Roberto Deras Jan 2008

Degradation And Water Quality Dynamics Of Sugarcane Residue In South Louisiana, Jose Roberto Deras

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

PURPOSE: This research was conducted to assess methods to manage the residue blanket to avoid open field burning in sugarcane. Experiments were conducted in the state of Louisiana to evaluate methods to asses and potentially reduce water quality issues. METHODS: Concentrations and frequencies of biological compost tea were sprayed on sugarcane combine-harvester residue blanket to increase degradation rate and reduce potential for runoff water to transport nutrients and sediments that may impair water bodies, while sustaining suitable sugarcane yield. Carbon dioxide evolution rate (mg CO2-C) and CO2 fluxes were measured in laboratory and in open field conditions; as an index …


Learning Styles And Student's Perception Of Teachers' Attitudes And Its Relation To Truancy Among African Americans Students In Secondary Education, Kenyetta Quenishia Nelson-Smith Jan 2008

Learning Styles And Student's Perception Of Teachers' Attitudes And Its Relation To Truancy Among African Americans Students In Secondary Education, Kenyetta Quenishia Nelson-Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Many researchers have examined the effect of truancy and student achievement. However, there has been little or no focus on the effect of truancy and non-attendance among ethnic minorities. The current study examined how African American students’ learning styles and their perceptions of teachers’ attitudes toward them and the learning environment influenced their decision to become high truants. Additionally, the study sought to find if selected demographic factors had any relevance on the truancy rate of African American students. The researcher used several assessment instruments to measure the variables being tested. The Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire (ILS), developed by …


Novel Devices And Protocols Enabling Isolation And Enumeration Of Low Abundant Biological Cells From Complex Matrices, Andre Antonio Adams Jan 2008

Novel Devices And Protocols Enabling Isolation And Enumeration Of Low Abundant Biological Cells From Complex Matrices, Andre Antonio Adams

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The dimensions of microfluidic devices closely parallel those of biological cells; thusly, they are excellent platforms for the speciation, transport, manipulation, and analysis of cells. Electrokinetic transport of Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae was evaluated in microfluidic devices fabricated in pristine and UV-modified poly(methylmethacrylate) and polycarbonate. The magnitude and direction of transport of the cells was dictated by the buffer composition, conduit surface chemistry, and intrinsic cellular electrical properties. Baker’s yeast in all devices migrated toward the cathode, because of their smaller electrophoretic mobility compared to the electroosmotic flow of the polymer. E. coli cells suspended in 20 mM PBS …


Identification Of Quantitative Trait Loci Influencing Early Height Growth In Longleaf Pine (Pinus Palustris Mill), Lisha Wu Jan 2008

Identification Of Quantitative Trait Loci Influencing Early Height Growth In Longleaf Pine (Pinus Palustris Mill), Lisha Wu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The delay in early height growth (EHG) has been a limiting factor for artificial regeneration of longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.). Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) markers have been used to map the genome and quantitative trait loci controlling the EHG in a backcross family (longleaf pine x slash pine) x longleaf pine. A total of 228 locus specific SSR markers were screened against 6 longleaf pine recurrent parents and a sample of 7 longlef x slash pine hybrid parents. In total, 135 polymorphic markers were identified. Based on the genetic variance in EHG, available sample size, and the number of …


Vassilis Alexakis: Exorciser L'Exil Déplacements Autofictionnels, Linguistiques Et Spatiaux, Marianne Bessy Jan 2008

Vassilis Alexakis: Exorciser L'Exil Déplacements Autofictionnels, Linguistiques Et Spatiaux, Marianne Bessy

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the writings of contemporary Francophone writer Vassilis Alexakis. I interpret Alexakis’s œuvre as an attempt by the writer to exorcize his own exile. The author left Greece in the 1960s, settled in France, and started to publish novels in French in the mid-1970s. By looking closely at the patterns of cultural dispossession, language loss, estrangement, and identity crisis in his writings, I show that Alexakis constructs an aesthetic of displacement that allows him to free himself cathartically from the angst of exile. A close analysis of Alexakis’s eleven novels, his autobiographical text, and his collection of short …


Elucidating Marine Pore Water Exchange And Fresh Aquifer Sources In Estimates Of Submarine Groundwater Discharge To A Coastal Lagoon, Christopher Gerald Smith Jan 2008

Elucidating Marine Pore Water Exchange And Fresh Aquifer Sources In Estimates Of Submarine Groundwater Discharge To A Coastal Lagoon, Christopher Gerald Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Dynamic balances between fresh groundwater, saline groundwater, and surface water control the physics and chemistry of subterranean estuaries. Investigations were performed in a subterranean estuary on physical processes contributing to fresh groundwater and saline water mixing, vertical and lateral positioning of this mixing zone, and how this mixing affects spatial and temporal distributions of 234,238U, 226Ra, and 222Rn. The subterranean estuary is located in an unconfined aquifer beneath Indian River Lagoon, Florida, USA, where I could examine redox responses to altered flow regimes. Continuous groundwater and surface water level measurements suggest a strong hydrologic connection between this …