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Advocacy Groups In The Wake Of Hurricane Katrina: Who Shapes Coverage Of Wetlands Loss, Paul Harang Jan 2009

Advocacy Groups In The Wake Of Hurricane Katrina: Who Shapes Coverage Of Wetlands Loss, Paul Harang

LSU Master's Theses

Louisiana’s coastal wetlands provide a habitat for diverse wildlife, recreational opportunities for Louisiana residents and tourists, and an important natural buffer between communities and powerful hurricanes. Because they are disappearing at a rapid rate, coastal wetlands issues have been prominent in south Louisiana for decades. The catastrophic hurricanes of 2005 and 2008 have given the discussion an increased sense of urgency. Through this paper, I explore coverage of wetlands loss in local south Louisiana daily newspapers. Specifically, I try to determine how these papers frame the issue and illuminate how sources present in these stories participate in the construction of …


Altering Sweet Potato Starch Functionality By Amino Acids And Ph Treatments, Jonathan Futch Jan 2009

Altering Sweet Potato Starch Functionality By Amino Acids And Ph Treatments, Jonathan Futch

LSU Master's Theses

The sweet potato is a vegetable containing high levels of different vitamins and minerals, needed to protect the body against disease. This study focused on starch found in the Beauregard and Evangeline sweet potatoes and observed the effect of pH and amino acid additives altering the functionality of starch. These modifications of the Beauregard and Evangeline sweet potato starches will also be done to determine if an increase in resistant starch and slowly digestible starch is found. Beauregard and Evangeline starches had similar gelatinization temperature and the two starches required the same amount of energy to gelatinize. In Freeze-dried Beauregard …


Rate Of Change With Applications In Physics Problems, Maria Ludu Jan 2009

Rate Of Change With Applications In Physics Problems, Maria Ludu

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis we approach the concept of Rate of Change as a mathematical model, and we apply it to a few physics problems. Its main goal is to help students to bridge concepts form mathematical models and the real life applications. We begin with a review of measurements, proportionality and similarity based on Euclidean geometry; then, we review linear and affine functions, and we introduce a mathematical model for the average and instantaneous rate of change. This mathematical model is applied to problems from physics following the four representations of functions: verbal, algebraic, tabular and graphical. By doing so, …


A Heideggerian Route Through Kuhnian Revolutions, Ashley Knox Jan 2009

A Heideggerian Route Through Kuhnian Revolutions, Ashley Knox

LSU Master's Theses

Knox, Ashley Renee, B.S., Tulane University, 2006 Master of Arts, Summer Commencement, 2009 Major: Philosophy A Heideggerian Route through Kuhnian Revolutions Thesis directed by Professor Husain F. Sarkar Pages in thesis, 54. Words in abstract, 195. The aim of this thesis is to offer a defense of the philosophy derived from Thomas S. Kuhn’s seminal work, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. I focus on the persistent criticisms that Kuhnian science entails relativism and forbids scientific progress. My unusual line of defense appeals to Martin Heidegger’s concept of truth as the Greek aletheia as explicated in his essay, “The Origin of …


Religiosity And Chinese Immigrants' Marriage, Yaxin Lu Jan 2009

Religiosity And Chinese Immigrants' Marriage, Yaxin Lu

LSU Master's Theses

The existing literature on religion and family indicates that religious beliefs and practices are correlated with various aspects of marriage and family life. Chinese immigrants are an important part of the U.S. population. However, very little is known about the relationship between religion and marriage for Chinese immigrants. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between Christianity and marriage in Chinese immigrant families based on in-depth qualitative interviews. Sixteen highly religious Chinese Christian couples were interviewed to examine how religious faith influenced their perceptions of marriage and family life. Most of the participants in this study held …


Mathematics Grade 8 Leap Scores: A Predictor Of Student Success In Dimensional Analysis?, Martha Lauren Baggett Jan 2009

Mathematics Grade 8 Leap Scores: A Predictor Of Student Success In Dimensional Analysis?, Martha Lauren Baggett

LSU Master's Theses

This study investigates whether the Mathematics Grade 8 LEAP score can be used to predict student success in a key concept of chemistry, dimensional analysis. Mathematics Grade 8 LEAP scores of 106 ninth grade students enrolled in physical science during the 2008-09 school year were tested for correlations with student performance on a pre-test of dimensional analysis, a post-test of dimensional analysis, and student learning gain. Significant, positive correlations were observed between the Mathematics Grade 8 LEAP scores and the pre-test scores of dimensional analysis scores, the post-test scores of dimensional analysis scores, and the dimensional analysis student learning gain. …


Processor Design Space Exploration And Performance Prediction, Balachandran Ramadass Jan 2009

Processor Design Space Exploration And Performance Prediction, Balachandran Ramadass

LSU Master's Theses

The use of simulation is well established in processor design research to evaluate architectural design trade-offs. More importantly, Cycle by Cycle accurate simulation is widely used to evaluate the new designs in processor research because of its accurate and detailed processor performance measurement. However, only configuration in a subspace can be simulated in practice due to its long simulation time and limited resources, leading to suboptimal conclusions that might not be applied to the larger design space. In this thesis, we propose a performance prediction approach which employs a state-of-the-art technique from experimental design, machine learning and data mining. Our …


Autonomic Response And Behavioral Performance Of Avid Video Game Players On A Decision-Making Task, Patrick Clinton Lingenfelter Jan 2009

Autonomic Response And Behavioral Performance Of Avid Video Game Players On A Decision-Making Task, Patrick Clinton Lingenfelter

LSU Master's Theses

Avid video gaming is proposed as a term for individuals that play video games for prolonged periods of time. These individuals were predicted to show similar performance on a MineHunter, an analogue to the Iowa Gambling Task, comparable to the performance of pathological gamblers reported in the literature. Comparisons have been made between gamblers and video gamers based on similarities in the interaction level of the activity, as well as similarities in demographics and reported detriments in social and employment areas. The results of the study do not support a comparison. Avid gaming may be a hobby rather than a …


Power Capabilities And Similarity Of Interests: A Test Of The Power Transition Theory, Garrett Alan Heckman Jan 2009

Power Capabilities And Similarity Of Interests: A Test Of The Power Transition Theory, Garrett Alan Heckman

LSU Master's Theses

The study of major power conflict frequently focuses on the role of the distribution of capabilities. Power transition theory argues that when the dominant state in the international system is overtaken in power capabililities by a dissatisfied challenger, the likelihood of conflict increases significantly. Despite theoretical and empirical support for the power transition theory, it neglects the possibility of increasing power capabilities externally. Alliances and other third parties may enter into a conflict on one side or the other, or remain neutral. A state will necessarily consider the likely actions of other parties before choosing to initiate conflict against its …


The Spontaneous Generation Of Excess And Its Capitalist Capture, Ryanson Alessandro Ku Jan 2009

The Spontaneous Generation Of Excess And Its Capitalist Capture, Ryanson Alessandro Ku

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis evaluates the economic and Marxist claims on excess. As its official science, economics takes the capitalist economy as a given and explains excess as savings on costs resulting from the strategic planning of capitalist agents, whose point of view, in studying economic phenomena, economics takes. Marx, in a historicist move, argues that capitalism is but one political economy among many, where the facts assumed by economics, such as savings, are, far from given, attributable to a particular systemic formation (a political event) of social relations and materials into an economy. This systemic social formation that comes to be …


Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Content Of Breast Milk From Women With And Without Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Julissa Marisel Salguero Jan 2009

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Content Of Breast Milk From Women With And Without Gestational Diabetes Mellitus, Julissa Marisel Salguero

LSU Master's Theses

Reduced insulin sensitivity and abnormal nutrient metabolism in gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) may compromise polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content of breast milk. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate and compare PUFA milk composition of women with and without GDM. Breast milk collections were performed in GDM (n=6) and controls (n=12) at weeks 2, 6, 10 and 12 postpartum using a hospital grade breast pump. Estimated dietary intake of PUFA and use of prenatal supplements containing DHA (PS/DHA) was determined by 24-hour dietary recalls conducted after each milk collection. Based on these preliminary data, milk docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; …


Distribution And Habitat Associations Of Breeding Secretive Marsh Birds In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley Of Northeast Louisiana, Jonathon Joseph Valente Jan 2009

Distribution And Habitat Associations Of Breeding Secretive Marsh Birds In The Mississippi Alluvial Valley Of Northeast Louisiana, Jonathon Joseph Valente

LSU Master's Theses

Populations of many North American secretive marsh birds (SMBs) have declined over the past 30 years, primarily as a function of wetland loss. Ranges for many of these species encompass Louisiana and researchers have investigated various characteristics associated with breeding populations in coastal wetlands, yet similar knowledge is lacking for other parts of the state. I investigated distributions and habitat characteristics associated with breeding SMBs in wetlands and rice fields of the lower Mississippi Alluvial Valley (MAV) of northeast Louisiana. In the 2007 and 2008 breeding seasons we conducted repeated bird surveys in 118 wetlands and 76 rice fields. Common …


Preparation Of The Chinese Sweet Leaf Tea Extract And Its Anti-Obesity Effect In Rodents, Gar Yee Koh Jan 2009

Preparation Of The Chinese Sweet Leaf Tea Extract And Its Anti-Obesity Effect In Rodents, Gar Yee Koh

LSU Master's Theses

The aqueous leaf extract of Rubus suavissimus (Chinese sweet leaf tea) was active in inhibiting angiogenesis, which could be used to suppress adipogenesis and cause weight loss. Following this revelation and approach, the anti-obesity effect was thoroughly investigated in normal and obese rat models. The investigations began with the preparation of quality-controlled extract. First, the crude extraction methods were examined leading to the characterization of the chemical composition. Second, the impure components were removed by alcohol precipitation and column chromatography, resulting in a standardized sweet leaf tea extract (RUS). Third, three bioavailable compounds identified from the urine analyses were re-constituted …


Affective Reactivity Of Speech Disturbances In Schizotypy, Kyle Stuart Minor Jan 2009

Affective Reactivity Of Speech Disturbances In Schizotypy, Kyle Stuart Minor

LSU Master's Theses

Speech disturbances (SD) are a stable, pernicious symptom of schizophrenia that increase when negative emotion and/or arousal are elicited. While considerable research has examined SD in patients with schizophrenia, much less is known about individuals at risk for the disorder, who demonstrate schizophrenia-like, or schizotypic, traits. The present study examined SD and speech reactivity to stress, termed affective reactivity (AR), produced during a laboratory procedure in separate groups of controls and individuals with psychometrically identified schizotypy. This project had two primary aims: 1) to examine SD severity across schizotypy symptoms and 2) to examine how SD varies as a function …


Public Opinion And The Katrina Disaster: Linking Support For Rebuilding And Perceptions Of Flood Victims In New Orleans, Vincenzo Pasquantonio Jan 2009

Public Opinion And The Katrina Disaster: Linking Support For Rebuilding And Perceptions Of Flood Victims In New Orleans, Vincenzo Pasquantonio

LSU Master's Theses

Public support for government assistance to the needy has long been the focus of scholarly attention. Some assert that the perceived race of recipients of such aid is the primary determinant influencing such support. Others cite that it is the degree of trust one has in government institutions while still others cite American notions of individualism and self-reliance versus collective responsibility. The present study analyzes public opinion regarding aid to the City of New Orleans and its inhabitants following Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent flooding of the city. Several important findings emerge from this analysis. First, it cannot be demonstrated …


Impact Of Intrafraction Motion On Post-Mastectomy Tomotherapy Of The Chest Wall, Shima Ito Jan 2009

Impact Of Intrafraction Motion On Post-Mastectomy Tomotherapy Of The Chest Wall, Shima Ito

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: The present work investigates the impact of intrafraction motion of the chest wall due to respiration on Post Mastectomy Radiotherapy (PMRT) with TomoTherapy. The hypothesis of this work is that the impact of intrafraction motion on TomoTherapy PMRT will be insignificant as (1) the largest intrafraction movement of the chest wall (CW) in the medial-lateral, anterior-posterior, and superior-inferior dimensions will not exceed 1 cm and (2) that 95% of in-vivo CW point doses on the patient surface will be within 5% of calculated dose and all doses within 10% of calculated dose. Methods: 4DCT scans were acquired and intrafraction …


These Savages Are Called The Natchez: Violence As Exchange And Expression In Natchez-French Relations, Kathrine Seyfried Jan 2009

These Savages Are Called The Natchez: Violence As Exchange And Expression In Natchez-French Relations, Kathrine Seyfried

LSU Master's Theses

Culture contact in colonial North America sometimes led to violent interactions. The continent during colonization contained two very different populations. Native Americans and Europeans occupied the same space and necessarily developed unique relationships. Each had to maneuver around the other to forge careful and productive bonds. When they could not, conflict arose; sometimes as war, sometimes as stealing or raiding. During their brief relationship, the Natchez Indians and French colonists in Louisiana engaged in several wars. Those wars revealed various elements of each culture. In 1716 Natchez warriors responded to a French diplomatic insult by killing French fur traders travelling …


Effect Of Rotational Or Continuous Stocking Method Of Winter Pasture On Beef Heifer Performance, David G. Skeans Jan 2009

Effect Of Rotational Or Continuous Stocking Method Of Winter Pasture On Beef Heifer Performance, David G. Skeans

LSU Master's Theses

Considerable research has been conducted comparing the effect of continuous and some form of rotational stocking method on animal and forage performance, but most research utilizes put-and-take stocking rates. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of 12-paddock rotational stocking method (ROT) or continuous stocking method (CONT) of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) and annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum) pastures on beef heifer and forage performance while maintaining a continuous stocking rate of 3.7 heifers/ha. Two experiments were conducted and analyzed separately due to confounding year and location. Heifer ADG and WG/ha tended to be increased by ROT compared …


Pulsed Electric Field Influences On Acid Tolerance, Bile Tolerance, Protease Activity And Growth Characteristics Of Lactobacillus Acidophilus La-K, Olga Antonina Cueva Jan 2009

Pulsed Electric Field Influences On Acid Tolerance, Bile Tolerance, Protease Activity And Growth Characteristics Of Lactobacillus Acidophilus La-K, Olga Antonina Cueva

LSU Master's Theses

Pulsed electric field processing represents a promising non-thermal technology which involves the application of pulses of high voltage (20-80 kV/cm) for less than one second to fluid foods placed between two electrodes. During the application of certain PEF conditions microbial inactivation occurs by causing a pore formation and destruction of the cell membranes. Lactobacillus acidophilus is an important probiotic bacterium used for the production of fermented dairy products. The objective of this study was to study the influence of pulsed electric field (PEF) on the growth characteristics, bile tolerance, acid tolerance, and protease activity of Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-K. Freshly thawed …


Inestigation Of The Energy Variation On A Tomotherapy Hi-Art Ii Using An Aluminum Stepwedge, Todd Racine Jan 2009

Inestigation Of The Energy Variation On A Tomotherapy Hi-Art Ii Using An Aluminum Stepwedge, Todd Racine

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: To determine the sensitivity of a topographic stepwedge procedure to energy variations in a helical tomotherapy system. Method and Materials: Topographic procedures were followed using an aluminum stepwedge suspended in air on the end of the couch for a TomoTherapy HI-Art II system. Exit detector data from these procedures, collected and processed using TomoTherapy quality assurance (TQA) software were used to determine the effective beam energy. Energy sensitivity tests of the technique were made by varying the injector current. Topographic procedures were run daily over the lifetime of an x-ray target. Additionally, water phantom scanning data (lateral profiles and …


The Pasquale Amato Correspondence At Louisiana State University, Sarah Wells Kaufman Jan 2009

The Pasquale Amato Correspondence At Louisiana State University, Sarah Wells Kaufman

LSU Master's Theses

Italian baritone Pasquale Amato (1878-1942), who sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 1908–1921, was regarded by critics and colleagues as a leading baritone of the early twentieth-century. Amato appeared in several United States and world premieres, most notably as Jack Rance in Giacomo Pucinni’s La fanciulla del West (1910), and often performed alongside Enrico Caruso. After leaving the Met in 1921 and touring Europe until 1926, Amato returned to the United States. His struggle to find substantial work eventually led to his pursuing teaching. In 1935, having secured a position as director of the opera department at …


Markets Rising, Philip Bastian Jan 2009

Markets Rising, Philip Bastian

LSU Master's Theses

Markets Rising is a thesis that incorporates video and the Internet to communicate with viewers, engage them, and inform them of the socially relevant topic of the 2007+ economic crisis. I intend to visually interpret the crisis in an artistic and accurate manner.


Public Opinion And Policy Liberalism In Louisiana: Does Political Trust Have An Effect?, Susan Quinn Lemieux Jan 2009

Public Opinion And Policy Liberalism In Louisiana: Does Political Trust Have An Effect?, Susan Quinn Lemieux

LSU Master's Theses

Representative democracy is based on the principle that government should be responsive to citizen wishes; thus government policy should reflect those wishes. Research on public opinion supports this (Erikson, Wright, and McIver 1987). While many scholars agree that public opinion affects policy outcomes, they disagree as to which aspect of public opinion policy outcomes emerge. Hetherington (2005) argues political trust explains policy liberalism. Using national-level data he demonstrates that decreased support for progressive policy results from decreased trust in government. Moreover, he finds that trust affects support for spending only when individuals are asked to sacrifice their self-interests and when …


The Desegregation Of New Orleans Public And Roman Catholic Schools In New Orleans, 1950-1962, Kristina D. Mckenzie Jan 2009

The Desegregation Of New Orleans Public And Roman Catholic Schools In New Orleans, 1950-1962, Kristina D. Mckenzie

LSU Master's Theses

New Orleans has recently been called a “chocolate city” by its mayor. It is a curious choice of words, but resonates with anyone who knows anything about New Orleans, a city heavily populated by African Americans. The city is crime ridden and poor; consequently, New Orleans is ranked near the bottom in terms of education. Why does the city’s population remain uneducated? It would be presumptuous to suggest that there is only one reason; there are several. However, one of the most obvious reasons is the utter failure of desegregation in the city. New Orleans has always experienced atypical race …


Project-Based High School Geometry, Danica Le'trice Robinson Jan 2009

Project-Based High School Geometry, Danica Le'trice Robinson

LSU Master's Theses

Project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional strategy that allows students the autonomy to learn, explore and investigate throughout the learning process by means of projects. Many educators have seen the need for such a strategy in the classroom as a remedy for motivating students, showing relevance of student’s education to everyday life, preparing students for college and the work force, and the dire need for students to develop critical thinking skills to encourage future success. In my thesis I will define project-based learning, discuss its characteristics, compare PBL to traditional teaching methods and reflect on my experiences with project-based learning …


Ratio And Proportion: Mapping The Conceptual Field, Christina Vincent Jan 2009

Ratio And Proportion: Mapping The Conceptual Field, Christina Vincent

LSU Master's Theses

Ratio and proportion are central to the middle school mathematics curriculum, but the full scope and extent of this topic is not described in detail in most state curriculum standards. In this thesis, numerous textbooks from the past one hundred years are sampled, along with several state‟s standards and the Louisiana state comprehensive curriculum. These sources are used to develop a more defined map of ratio and proportion as a conceptual field and a structured collection of problems. Proportional reasoning involves three phases: 1) the comparison of two magnitudes, expressed as ratio or rate, 2) the comparison of two ratios, …


Reflections On Pleasure: The Fourteenth-Century Alhambra, Amanda Sharon Foret Jan 2009

Reflections On Pleasure: The Fourteenth-Century Alhambra, Amanda Sharon Foret

LSU Master's Theses

The Nasrids were the last Islamic power on the Iberian Peninsula. They created a place of luxury and wealth in their hilltop fortress, the Alhambra, which is one of the best-preserved examples of medieval Islamic palace architecture. It was transformed in the thirteenth century into a palace-city and during most of its early history housed the most important figure in an Islamic society, the sultan. The Alhambra displays bare, natural elements on the exterior, while the interior mimics and references these natural elements in a grander fashion with gardens, fountains, beautiful vistas, sculpted porticos and lavish rooms. These interior spaces …


Your Land Is My Land: Exploring Land Policy In Tangerang, Indonesia Using Kingdon's Multiple Streams Model, Milla Budiarto Jan 2009

Your Land Is My Land: Exploring Land Policy In Tangerang, Indonesia Using Kingdon's Multiple Streams Model, Milla Budiarto

LSU Master's Theses

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic country comprised of over 17, 000 islands with more than 300 ethnic groups and more than 250 different ethnic languages spoken. Due to its land mass size and multifaceted culture, land policy in this country has been ineffective and inadequate in addressing some of the land affairs. One of the indicators of effective land policy is land tenure security, where land dispute incidence is a function of it. Given that the government has very minimal guarantee for land tenure security in this nation, land disputes are inevitable and very common. By the end of …


Creating An Empirically Derived Community Resilience Index Of The Gulf Of Mexico Region, Ariele Nicole Baker Jan 2009

Creating An Empirically Derived Community Resilience Index Of The Gulf Of Mexico Region, Ariele Nicole Baker

LSU Master's Theses

As coastal areas increase in populations there is an increasing need to determine what community characteristics are most resilient to coastal disasters. This research proposes two methods to quantify community resilience. The factor analysis method results in a weighted additive index model of six variables to derive community resilience. The index places every community in the Gulf of Mexico on a scale from 0-1. The most resilient counties in the Gulf of Mexico region were found to be Hillsborough, FL, Pinellas, FL, Sarasota, FL, Hernando, FL, Okaloosa, FL, Kenedy, TX, and Jefferson, LA with a resilience score of 1. The …


Sulpicius Severus And Martin Of Tours: Defending A Mentor, Securing A Saint, Matthew Ryan Reed Jan 2009

Sulpicius Severus And Martin Of Tours: Defending A Mentor, Securing A Saint, Matthew Ryan Reed

LSU Master's Theses

Martin of Tours has become one of the most famous saints of Western Christendom, yet his life was shrouded in controversy. Martin’s initial fame in Aquitaine came from the circulation of Sulpicius Severus’ writings in the early fifth century. A pupil of the holy man and lawyer from Aquitaine, Severus used his pen to protect Martin’s sanctity from attacks by critics such as Ithacius and other members of the clergy. This thesis will use the three works of Severus, the Vita Martini, Chronicorum, and Dialogus to argue that Severus used a rhetorical strategy throughout his Martinian writings to secure Martin’s …