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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Implementing And Managing Self Assessment Procedures, Terry Leman Armstrong Jan 2013

Implementing And Managing Self Assessment Procedures, Terry Leman Armstrong

LSU Master's Theses

This study tests the hypothesis that implementing, managing and enhancing self-assessment procedures may improve learning. One hundred and fifty seven (157) financial math students in a high school with a predominantly at-risk population were divided randomly into an experimental group (self assessment and reflection) and a control group (traditional practice work). The experimental group performed significantly better than the control group (p = 0.02). The experimental group increased their scores from an average of 5.3 out of 18 correct on the pre-test to an average of 11 out of 18 correct on the post-test. The control group increased their scores …


Some Effects Of Nutrient And Flooding Stress Manipulation On Coastal Louisiana Wetland Vegetation, James Stephen Ialeggio Jan 2013

Some Effects Of Nutrient And Flooding Stress Manipulation On Coastal Louisiana Wetland Vegetation, James Stephen Ialeggio

LSU Master's Theses

Freshwater diversions are a relatively recently utilized tool in wetland loss mitigation that stimulate an organic accretion response in marsh vegetation, which is based in root production and thus belowground biomass. The effectiveness of freshwater diversions in slowing marsh loss probably varies across a gradient of the factors they supply: decreased salinity, increased nutrient concentrations, and increased inundation. Flooding stress is commonly thought to be the overriding factor limiting wetland vegetation growth, however its influence may vary across salinity and nutrients. Therefore, plugs of Spartina patens were planted in four “marsh organs” consisting each of 36 sediment-filled PVC pipes of …


Inertial Oscillations In The Gulf Of Mexico During 2005 Hurricane Season, Fan Zhang Jan 2013

Inertial Oscillations In The Gulf Of Mexico During 2005 Hurricane Season, Fan Zhang

LSU Master's Theses

Near Inertial Oscillations (NIOs) are widely observed in ocean current data after severe weather. In this work, we analyzed the NIOs in the Central Gulf of Mexico (GoM) associated with 6 hurricanes/tropical storms in 2005, including Katrina and Rita, based on the deep ocean mooring from Coastal Studies Institute (CSI), LSU. The basic characteristics of the NIOs, such as phase speed, group speed, frequency, energy were discussed. The phase speed ranged from 0.56 cm/s to 2 cm/s above the thermocline for the NIOs during Hurricane Katrina and Rita, while the group velocity varied from 0.047 cm/s above the thermocline to …


Fraction Proficiency And The Number Line, Jeanne Elizabeth Bass Jan 2013

Fraction Proficiency And The Number Line, Jeanne Elizabeth Bass

LSU Master's Theses

The Common Core State Standards place special emphasis on developing fraction proficiency and the use of the number line, especially in grades three through five, whereas the previously mandated “Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum” put lower priority on fractions and gave little attention to the number line as a model for fractions. The present study was performed in several 6th-grade math classrooms in rural Louisiana. We piloted fraction proficiency tests that were intended to check basic vocabulary and student access to various fraction models, as expected in the Common Core. Some strong error patterns were observed. They might be related to difference …


Temperature And Pressure Conditions Of Archean Amphibolite-Granulite Facies Metamorphic Xenoliths From The Eastern Beartooth Mountains, Montana And Wyoming, Usa, Celina N. Will Jan 2013

Temperature And Pressure Conditions Of Archean Amphibolite-Granulite Facies Metamorphic Xenoliths From The Eastern Beartooth Mountains, Montana And Wyoming, Usa, Celina N. Will

LSU Master's Theses

Compositionally-diverse Archean metamorphic rocks occur as xenoliths within the well-dated 2.8 Ga granitic gneisses that volumetrically-dominate the eastern Beartooth Mountains of the northern Wyoming Province. Common mafic lithologies in the Quad Creek-High Line Trails-Christmas Lake-Wyoming Creek-Line Creek Plateau area include granitic gneiss, amphibolites, mafic granulites and biotite and garnet-bearing peraluminous gneisses. The region also has sillimanite-biotite ± cordierite ± garnet gneisses and migmatites, as well as a single occurrence of a noteworthy orthopyroxene-cordierite gneiss with late-stage anthophyllite. A combination of detailed petrographic analysis and thermobarometric modeling were used to constrain the metamorphic conditions of the xenoliths prior to inclusion in …


Effects Of Physicochemical Properties And Macrohabitat On The Foraging Ecology And Condition Of The Centrarchid Assemblage Of The Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana, Brett A. Miller Jan 2013

Effects Of Physicochemical Properties And Macrohabitat On The Foraging Ecology And Condition Of The Centrarchid Assemblage Of The Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana, Brett A. Miller

LSU Master's Theses

The Atchafalaya River Basin (ARB), Louisiana supports a diverse centrarchid assemblage, characterized by abundant populations of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides, black crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus, warmouth Lepomis gulosus, bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, redspotted sunfish Lepomis miniatus, longear sunfish Lepomis megalotis and redear sunfish Lepomis microlophus. This dynamic floodplain ecosystem is comprised of a mosaic of macrohabitats, including natural bayous, shallow lakes, dead-end and open pipeline canals. I conducted an extensive feeding ecology study to determine the influence of these macrohabitats on foraging activity through stomach content and stable isotope analyses. I collected 2,036 centrarchids with electrofishing efforts in the summers of 2011 …


Predicting Potential Unconventional Production In The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Play Using Thermal Modeling And Log Overlay Analysis, Hunter Berch Jan 2013

Predicting Potential Unconventional Production In The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale Play Using Thermal Modeling And Log Overlay Analysis, Hunter Berch

LSU Master's Theses

The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale formation (TMS) of Central Louisiana and South Mississippi was suggested as a potential hydrocarbon play with up to seven billion barrels of reserves in a 1997 study by Louisiana State University’s Basin Research Institute. The TMS is considered an unconventional resource because it is a source, reservoir, and seal. Since 1997, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing have enabled exploration and documentation of oil reserves in this play. Prior to this study, high resistivity log curves were used to predict areas of economic interest. While areas of high resistivity within the TMS are often indicative of high …


Population Ecology Of The Ribbed Mussel In Southeastern Louisiana, Aaron Jacob Honig Jan 2013

Population Ecology Of The Ribbed Mussel In Southeastern Louisiana, Aaron Jacob Honig

LSU Master's Theses

Benthic intertidal bivalves play an essential role in estuarine ecosystems by contributing to habitat provision, water filtration, and promoting productivity. As such, ecosystem level changes that impact population distributions and persistence of local bivalve populations may have large ecosystem level consequences, making it important to better understand the population distribution and ecology of native bivalve populations. Gametogenesis, recruitment, growth, mortality, size structure and density of the ribbed mussel, Geukensia demissa, were examined across a salinity gradient in southeastern Louisiana. In summer 2012, 100-m transects were placed at interior and edge marsh plots to collect data on mussel density, and vegetation …


Evaluation Of An Automated Delivery Verification System For Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Treatments, John-Paul Grenier Jan 2013

Evaluation Of An Automated Delivery Verification System For Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy Treatments, John-Paul Grenier

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the ability of a treatment delivery verification system to detect clinically significant mechanical errors in VMAT delivery utilizing data contained within a commercial record and verify (RV) system, and to test whether the system can be used to reconstruct dose distributions that agree more closely with measured dose distributions than do the original treatment plans. Methods: VMAT treatment plans from five prostate patients, five head and neck patients, and five post-mastectomy chest wall patients treated at our clinic were selected for this study. Known mechanical errors were introduced into each plan, …


The Effect Of Teaching Biology Concepts With Animations Compared To Static Cartoons On Content Retention, Rebecca Adams Polk Jan 2013

The Effect Of Teaching Biology Concepts With Animations Compared To Static Cartoons On Content Retention, Rebecca Adams Polk

LSU Master's Theses

This study explores the effect of animations versus static cartoons on students’ content retention in a high school biology classroom. Students were pre-tested prior to the introduction of content in three units of study: cellular transport, protein synthesis, and mitosis. After instruction on the topic via PowerPoint presentations, students were randomly assigned to either the test group or experimental group for each unit. The control group was removed from the room and given a series of static cartoons with captions to view. The experimental group viewed an animation on the topic, accompanied by teacher narration, which consisted of the captions …


A Clay Mineral Provenance Study Of The Northern Pandora Trough Continental Margin, Gulf Of Papua, Ashley Len Howell Jan 2013

A Clay Mineral Provenance Study Of The Northern Pandora Trough Continental Margin, Gulf Of Papua, Ashley Len Howell

LSU Master's Theses

X-ray diffraction mineralogy of western-, central-, and eastern-derived fluvial sediments within the Gulf of Papua exhibits distinct and mixed clay mineral assemblages. These mineral assemblages allow for a better understanding of how a thick muddy continental margin shelf-edge depocenter in the eastern Gulf of Papua of latest Pleistocene/early Holocene age formed, as well as connections between terrestrial sediment delivery and evolution of deep-sea deposits in this region. Modern clay mineralogy reveals a high to low gradation of illite/smectite values from the western to eastern Gulf of Papua (Slingerland et al., 2008a), which is applied to the recent past for provenance …


Controls On The Composition Of Saline Formation Waters From Coastal And Offshore Louisiana, Marielle Elaine Ausburn Jan 2013

Controls On The Composition Of Saline Formation Waters From Coastal And Offshore Louisiana, Marielle Elaine Ausburn

LSU Master's Theses

Geothermal energy is a renewable energy source that can contribute to the U.S. energy mix. As such, new technologies are being explored for lower temperature systems which would open new areas for exploration in Louisiana. Unlike concepts proposed in the early 1980s, in which heat would have been extracted at the land surface from produced overpressured waters, methods currently being proposed would involve engineered down-hole heat exchangers with zero-mass-fluid withdrawal. A re-examination has been made of the controls on the composition of formation waters in south central and offshore Louisiana in the context of providing insight into water-rock reactions that …


Statistical Classification Problems In Assessment Of Teachers, Xuan Wang Jan 2013

Statistical Classification Problems In Assessment Of Teachers, Xuan Wang

LSU Master's Theses

Classification and regression trees form an important and indispensable tool in data analysis and classification problems. Class trees are described in detail with examples. The method is applied to a data set pertaining to evaluation of teachers. In addition, two other classification methods, bagging and AdaBoost are explained. These methods improve existing classifiers to nearly optimal classifiers.


Community Resilience To Coastal Hazards : An Analysis Of Two Geographical Scales In Louisiana, Chi Li Jan 2013

Community Resilience To Coastal Hazards : An Analysis Of Two Geographical Scales In Louisiana, Chi Li

LSU Master's Theses

Quantifying resilience is difficulties due to the different definitions of resilience, the interchangeable uses with two other terms “vulnerability” and “adaptability”, as well as the lack of consensus on what indicators should be selected to quantifying resilience. This thesis research studied the community resilience in Louisiana by applying the Resilience Inference Measurement (RIM) model at two geographic levels: county level and zip code level. The RIM model accesses resilience by using three dimensions (exposure, damage, and recovery) and two abilities (vulnerability and adaptability). The types of coastal hazards included in this study were: coastal, flooding, hurricane/tropical storm, tornado, and severe …


Using Formative Assessment To Enhance Student Performance On Geometric Proof Writing, Benjamin Hargrave Jan 2013

Using Formative Assessment To Enhance Student Performance On Geometric Proof Writing, Benjamin Hargrave

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this research is to uncover best practices to create competent proof writers. Studies have shown the best setting to do this is in the high school geometry classroom. Throughout a yearlong study of geometry, students were exposed to theorems and their demonstrations. Despite constant exposure, students were still unable to produce their own proof of propositions. The questions then became how can an educator provide critical feedback that encourages student reasoning and develops logical argumentation skills? With the goal in mind, twenty-five students enrolled in a geometry course at Baton Rouge High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana …


Detection Of Interesting Traffic Accident Patterns By Association Rule Mining, Harisha Donepudi Jan 2013

Detection Of Interesting Traffic Accident Patterns By Association Rule Mining, Harisha Donepudi

LSU Master's Theses

In recent years, the accident rate related to traffic is high. Analyzing the crash data and extracting useful information from it can help in taking respective measures to decrease this rate or prevent the crash from happening. Related research has been done in the past which involved proposing various measures and algorithms to obtain interesting crash patterns from the crash records. The main problem is that large numbers of patterns were produced and vast number of these patterns would be obvious or not interesting. A deeper analysis of the data is required in order to get the interesting patterns. In …


Effects Of Predator Reduction On Nest Success Of Upland Nesting Ducks In Low-Grassland Density Landscapes In Eastern North Dakota, Michael Buxton Jan 2013

Effects Of Predator Reduction On Nest Success Of Upland Nesting Ducks In Low-Grassland Density Landscapes In Eastern North Dakota, Michael Buxton

LSU Master's Theses

Nest success of upland nesting ducks is the primary driver of duck population growth in the Prairie Pothole Region. Nest success is greatly influenced by nest predation and the amount of available nesting cover on the landscape. The decline in acres enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in this region has negatively impacted the amount of available nesting cover, making nesting cover sparse and confined to small patches where predation rates are potentially elevated. I evaluated the efficacy of seasonal predator reduction on increasing nest success on low-grassland density (>10% grassland cover), 93 km2 landscapes in two different …


Characterization Of Epibenthic And Demersal Megafauan At Mississippi Canyon 252 Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Marla Maxine Valentine Jan 2013

Characterization Of Epibenthic And Demersal Megafauan At Mississippi Canyon 252 Following The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Marla Maxine Valentine

LSU Master's Theses

Increased demand for new sources of oil and gas has resulted in an expansion of drilling into deeper waters. With this exploratory drilling come increased risks, which were realized on April 20, 2010 when the blow out preventer on the Macondo Well failed, resulting in the release of a large quantity of oil and gas into the Northern Gulf of Mexico from a bathypelagic source. This unprecedented environmental disaster was coined the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill by the popular news media. In the months that followed the spill, the lack of knowledge about the pre-spill condition of deep-sea communities in …


Evaluating Quaternary Glacial Till Sheet Volume And Duration Of Grounding Events Using Sediment Flux Calculations In The Eastern Basin Paleotroughs, Ross Sea, Anarctica, Logan Gregory Kirst Jan 2013

Evaluating Quaternary Glacial Till Sheet Volume And Duration Of Grounding Events Using Sediment Flux Calculations In The Eastern Basin Paleotroughs, Ross Sea, Anarctica, Logan Gregory Kirst

LSU Master's Theses

A sequence of three seismically-resolvable, back-stepping grounding zone wedges (GZWs) within the Glomar-Challenger Basin paleo-ice-stream trough is conventionally interpreted to have been deposited by the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) since the end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). For this to be true, there would have to have been voluminous GZW deposition via fast moving ice streams with high sediment flux during the short timeframe since the WAIS retreat began at 11 Ka 14C BP and when the WAIS moved south of Roosevelt Island at 3.2 Ka BP. In contrast to this interpretation of how the near-surface stratigraphy relates …


Adaptive Stochastic Conjugate Gradient Optimization For Temporal Medical Image Registration, Huanhuan Xu Jan 2013

Adaptive Stochastic Conjugate Gradient Optimization For Temporal Medical Image Registration, Huanhuan Xu

LSU Master's Theses

We propose an Adaptive Stochastic Conjugate Gradient (ASCG) optimization algorithm for temporal medical image registration. This method combines the advantages of Conjugate Gradient (CG) method and Adaptive Stochastic Gradient Descent (ASGD) method. The main idea is that the search direction of ASGD is replaced by stochastic approximations of the conjugate gradient of the cost function. In addition, the step size of ASCG is based on the approximation of the Lipschitz constant of the stochastic gradient function. Thus, this algorithm could maintain the good properties of the conjugate gradient method, meanwhile it uses less gradient computation time per iteration and adjusts …


Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Response To Intervention In Ela And Math For Sixth, Seventh, And Eighth Grade Students, Shehla Khan Jan 2013

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Response To Intervention In Ela And Math For Sixth, Seventh, And Eighth Grade Students, Shehla Khan

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract This study examined the combined effectiveness of Tier I and Tier II instruction in the context of a Response to Intervention framework with sixth, seventh and eighth grade students both in ELA and Math. The Tier I interventions emphasized topics from the Grade Level Expectations that the students were having difficulties grasping during regular classroom instruction. Tier II instruction mainly emphasized preparing students for the standardized iLEAP and LEAP tests. These students were then compared with a group of similar students who did not receive tiered instructions (control group). Students who participated in Tier I or Tier II instructions …


Natural Fracture Characterization In The Haynesville Shale, East Texas: A Core Study, Frank Leslie Morgan Jan 2013

Natural Fracture Characterization In The Haynesville Shale, East Texas: A Core Study, Frank Leslie Morgan

LSU Master's Theses

The Haynesville Shale in East Texas and Northwest Louisiana is one of the most studied and explored shale-gas plays in the United States. With new horizontal drilling and completion strategies, energy companies can produce hydrocarbons directly from the source rock making the Haynesville Shale an attractive resource. A key component of enhanced hydrocarbon production is the presence of natural fractures. They may serve as permeable pathways for hydrocarbon flow, especially in tight shales such as in the Haynesville Shale, where the matrix permeability is very low. In the case of the Haynesville Shale, little is known about the occurrence of …


Metacognition And Its Effect On Learning High School Calculus, Bonnie Sue Bergstresser Jan 2013

Metacognition And Its Effect On Learning High School Calculus, Bonnie Sue Bergstresser

LSU Master's Theses

The following paper discusses the effect of metacognitive training sessions on students’ calculus retention. Students in two high school classes participated. The students in both classes were then given lessons on a chapter without metacognitive training and lessons on a subsequent chapter with training in a set of metacognitive skills. After the latter chapter students scored higher on a post-test and expressed desire to incorporate the skills they learned into their other classes.


Predicting Mechanical Properties Of Southern Pine Lumber With Nondestructive Measurements, Jacob Romer Jan 2013

Predicting Mechanical Properties Of Southern Pine Lumber With Nondestructive Measurements, Jacob Romer

LSU Master's Theses

Predictive models were developed for stiffness and bending strength of southern pine 2x6, eight ft. lumber using nondestructive measurements of stresswave velocity, density and visual characteristics such as knots, slope of grain and rate of growth. To account for local areas of weakened material due to knots and slope of grain, a grid system was developed to quantify general knot size and location. Multiple regression models were created using these physical and visual measurements. Two sets of models were developed: one that removed influential samples with abnormal wavespeeds (greater than 18,000 ft./s) indicative of poor wood quality; and, models that …


Impacts And Recovery Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill On Vegetation Structure And Function Of Phragmites Australis, Chad Robert Judy Jan 2013

Impacts And Recovery Of The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill On Vegetation Structure And Function Of Phragmites Australis, Chad Robert Judy

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract The aim of this study was to determine the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill on the common reed Phragmites australis, and the processes controlling species effects and recovery, via a greenhouse mesocosm study. In the greenhouse DWH source oil, weathered approximately 40% by weight and emulsified, was applied to the aboveground shoots of P. australis growing in marsh sods to produce the following treatment-levels: (1) oil coverage of the lower 30% of shoot-height, (2) the lower 70% of shoot-height, (3) repeated oil coverage of the lower 70% of shoot-height, (4) 100% oil coverage of shoots, (5) …


An Analysis Of Cardiovascular And Respiratory Admission Rates As A Function Of Air Pollutants In The Baton Rouge Five-Parish Area, Heather Elizabeth Spindel Jan 2013

An Analysis Of Cardiovascular And Respiratory Admission Rates As A Function Of Air Pollutants In The Baton Rouge Five-Parish Area, Heather Elizabeth Spindel

LSU Master's Theses

In past years, the Baton Rouge Air Quality Control Region has struggled with compliance of ozone standards. In June of 2003, the Baton Rouge Five-Parish Ozone Non-Attainment Area was classified as severe under the 1-hour ozone standard. In July of 2012, the EPA classified the area as marginal non-attainment for ozone. Although this is an improvement from its severe classification, studies have shown that health effects of air pollution can be detected at concentrations lower than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Additionally, clinical and epidemiological studies have shown that a majority of the criteria pollutants negatively affect cardiovascular and …


Using Writing Assignments In High School Geometry To Improve Students' Proof Writing Ability, Amanda Choppin Mcallister Jan 2013

Using Writing Assignments In High School Geometry To Improve Students' Proof Writing Ability, Amanda Choppin Mcallister

LSU Master's Theses

The Common Core State Standards encourage the use of writing in mathematics classrooms. This study was designed to create a template for high school teachers to use in a geometry class to improve students’ proof writing ability. The students enrolled in the class were asked to complete journal and expository writing assignments throughout the course. The assignments were scored with a rubric. To assess if growth was made in proof writing, the students were all given a test four times throughout the school year. All four tests were assessed using the same rubric. We provide evidence that the template was …


An Analysis Of The Prevalence Of The West Nile Virus In Relation To Health Resilience Along The Gulf Of Mexico, Lillian Patricia Mata Jan 2013

An Analysis Of The Prevalence Of The West Nile Virus In Relation To Health Resilience Along The Gulf Of Mexico, Lillian Patricia Mata

LSU Master's Theses

As the Earth’s climate changes, coastal communities are increasingly vulnerable to the natural hazards that are driven by these processes, particularly in regards to the health of these communities. It has been shown that disease patterns can change in response to our environment, putting the health resilience of communities at risk. This study looks at the relationship between natural exposure and traditional resilience index variables in the context of the spread of West Nile Virus along the Gulf of Mexico. Through analysis of 534 counties, the West Nile Virus for 2001-2012 was analyzed as an incidence and incidence rate at …


An Evaluation Of Oyster Stocks, Grow-Out Conditions, And Off-Bottom Culture Methods For Increasing Commercial Production Of Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea Virginica) In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Justin Morgan Leonhardt Jan 2013

An Evaluation Of Oyster Stocks, Grow-Out Conditions, And Off-Bottom Culture Methods For Increasing Commercial Production Of Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea Virginica) In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Justin Morgan Leonhardt

LSU Master's Theses

This project examined the ecologically and economically valuable eastern oyster (Crassotrea virginica) in Louisiana with two field experiments. Little information has been gathered on the performance of local Louisiana oyster stocks and no study has focused on a comparison of stocks among variable estuarine conditions. Additionally, the use of alternative grow-out methods and intensive cage aquaculture has never been evaluated in Louisiana. For the first study, a dermo-resistant stock of oysters (LSU-OYS: ‘OBOY’) was compared to three wild oyster stocks along a salinity gradient. The objectives of this study were to determine the optimal oyster stock(s) and the ideal grow-out …


A Middle School's Response To Intervention : Successmaker For Math Remediation, Lauren Hutchinson Jan 2013

A Middle School's Response To Intervention : Successmaker For Math Remediation, Lauren Hutchinson

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis discusses the results obtained upon the implementation of an online math remediation program, SuccessMaker, as a component of Response to Intervention (RTI). The objective was to increase the content knowledge of students struggling in math. Woodlawn Middle chose a targeted group of students considered “at risk” in hopes of preparing them for the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP). Yearly gains in SuccessMaker were compared to achievement levels on the math section of the LEAP test. Results showed that the more time spent on Success Maker resulted in higher gains in grade level. The gains in SuccessMaker did not …