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Non-Equilibrium Colloidal Phenomena In Magnetic Fields And Photoillumination: From Controlling Living Microbots To Understanding Microplastics, Ahmed Al Harraq Jan 2023

Non-Equilibrium Colloidal Phenomena In Magnetic Fields And Photoillumination: From Controlling Living Microbots To Understanding Microplastics, Ahmed Al Harraq

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Colloids are a ubiquitous class of materials composed of microscopic particles suspended in a continuous phase which are found in everyday products and in nature. Colloids are also useful models for studying the spontaneous arrangement of matter from individual building blocks to mesophases. Standard treatment of colloid science is based on the assumption of equilibrium conditions, as defined in traditional thermodynamics. However, novel assembly mechanisms and motility are unlocked by pushing colloids away from equilibrium using external energy. In addition, many colloids in nature and in industrial applications exchange energy and mass with the surrounding environment thus behaving in a …


The Language Of Rats: Unwelcome Animals And Interspecies Connection In Contemporary Anglophone Fiction, Kieran Leigh Lyons May 2020

The Language Of Rats: Unwelcome Animals And Interspecies Connection In Contemporary Anglophone Fiction, Kieran Leigh Lyons

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Language of Rats: Unwelcome Animals and Interspecies Connection in Global Contemporary Fiction consists of three essays examining the representation of what I call unwelcome animals in contemporary Anglophone novels from the United States, Nigeria, and India. These animals often live alongside humans yet are perceived as threats or annoyances. Literary depictions of this fraught relationship reveal, and sometimes critique, the intellectual structures that shape how we understand and represent interspecies connections. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of the interspecies dimensions of contemporary fiction by bringing together the fields of environmental criticism, animal studies, postcolonialism, and U.S. Southern studies. …


Determining Nutrient Recommendations For Agricultural Crops Based On Soil And Plant Tissue Analyses Between Different Analytical Laboratories, Lauren Liuzza Apr 2019

Determining Nutrient Recommendations For Agricultural Crops Based On Soil And Plant Tissue Analyses Between Different Analytical Laboratories, Lauren Liuzza

LSU Master's Theses

There is limited information concerning the disparities between soil and plant tissue testing laboratories. Soil and plant tissue analyses are crucial to determining nutrient applications for agricultural field crops. Accurate fertility inputs improve crop production and long-term agricultural sustainability. The over application of nutrients can potentially decrease yields and reduce profits. A study was established in 2016 at Louisiana State University at Alexandria (LSUA) in Alexandria, Louisiana to 1) assess and compare soil and plant tissue nutrient values, ratings and recommendations between research and commercial laboratories for field corn (Zea mays) and soybean (Glycine max), and …


Studies On Development Of End Rot In Sweetpotato, Ratchanee Pattaravayo Jan 2016

Studies On Development Of End Rot In Sweetpotato, Ratchanee Pattaravayo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

End rot development in sweetpotato is caused by several pathogens and exacerbated by unfavorable environments. A critical need exists to know what factors in the environment trigger end rot development and how to manage the crop to minimize the incidence of end rots which are the overall objectives of this study. This research was divided into three studies: 1) Effect of environmental factors on expression of end rot in sweetpotato roots. Factorial combinations consisted of flooding/non-flooding; skinned/non-skinned; cured/non-cured; recommended storage/ambient storage are environmental variables not tested previously together in a systematic way. Results showed that curing at 29oC and 85-90% …


The Feasibility Of Using Vanadium And Nickel To Track Oil Spills In Coastal Environments, Sean Patrick Kenny Jan 2013

The Feasibility Of Using Vanadium And Nickel To Track Oil Spills In Coastal Environments, Sean Patrick Kenny

LSU Master's Theses

Crude oil has been increasing in world demand over the past century. It is known that oil is resistant to weathering processes and if spilled, can cause serious environmental damage to an area, on land or sea. A complementary approach to current methods of tracking oil and identifying spill-impacted sediments may be to measure trace metals associated with crude oil. Trace metals, such a vanadium (V) and nickel (Ni) are known to be elevated in concentration in some oil sources, but little work has been done on this topic. This research explored less expensive and time-consuming methods to track or …


Nitrogen Biogeochemistry In A Restored Mississippi River Delta: A Modeling Approach, Benjamin Lee Branoff Jan 2012

Nitrogen Biogeochemistry In A Restored Mississippi River Delta: A Modeling Approach, Benjamin Lee Branoff

LSU Master's Theses

There is evidence that significant reductions (about 50%) in surface water nitrate concentrations within coastal deltaic wetlands receiving diverted Mississippi River water can be contributed to denitrification. Yet there is also contrasting evidence that other processes could be responsible for this nitrate reduction. As Louisiana plans the implementation of major Mississippi River sediment diversions, a thorough understanding of nitrogen dynamics is necessary to reduce risks of coastal eutrophication and offshore hypoxia. A mechanistic numerical computer model has been developed to simulate nitrogen biogeochemistry within the wetlands of the prograding Wax Lake Delta. This model is calibrated to observed fluxes within …


Identification Of Falls Risk Factors In Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Validation Of The Comprehensive Falls Risk Screening Instrument, Jennifer Marie Fabre Jan 2009

Identification Of Falls Risk Factors In Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Validation Of The Comprehensive Falls Risk Screening Instrument, Jennifer Marie Fabre

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Identifying risk factors and those at risk for falls is necessary. The first purpose of the dissertation was to validate the Comprehensive Falls Risk Screening Instrument (CFRSI) that weights falls risk factors and includes the subscale scores of history, physical, vision, medication, and environment, and a total falls risk score. The CFRSI total falls risk score was compared to subscale scores, physical activity, physical function, health-related quality of life (HRQL), and history of falls (Study 1). The second purpose of the dissertation was to determine associations between the CFRSI total falls risk score, race, education, and income (Study 2). Data …


Gas-Phase Formation Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals From Thermal Degradation Of Catechol, Hydroquinone, Phenols And Tobacco, Julien Gnonlonfoun Adounkpe Jan 2008

Gas-Phase Formation Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals From Thermal Degradation Of Catechol, Hydroquinone, Phenols And Tobacco, Julien Gnonlonfoun Adounkpe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Catechol, hydroquinone and Phenol are major constituents of the mainstream tobacco smoke. The toxicity of tobacco has been attributed to the ability of catechol and hydroquinone to undergo endogenous or exogenous redox cycling to form semiquinone type radicals responsible of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) formation. ROS such as hydroxyl radicals can cause severe oxidative stress on biological tissues and can provoke severe signaling pathways leading to cardiovascular and pulmonary dysfunctions and carcinogenesis. Given that semiquinone type radicals are organic radicals, characterized by their high instability and reactivity; it is somewhat surprising that they can live long enough mostly when associated …


Risk Reporting And Source Credibility: Trying To Make The Readers Interested, Raluca Cozma Jan 2005

Risk Reporting And Source Credibility: Trying To Make The Readers Interested, Raluca Cozma

LSU Master's Theses

An experiment with 98 participants was conducted to explore the effects of government versus multiple sources on perceived credibility and interest when applied to the same risk stories. It also analyzed the effects of source treatment on participants' assessment of government credibility and source reasonableness. The study investigated the effects of demographic characteristics of participants (age, gender, media use) on the same variables, and tried to determine if there was any statistical correlation between the two dependent variables of credibility and interest. It also analyzed the effects of human-interest reports on credibility and interest. Overall, the study found that participants …


Sustainable Development Principles For East Baton Rouge Parish, Xia Li Jan 2003

Sustainable Development Principles For East Baton Rouge Parish, Xia Li

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines and analyzes the sustainable development indicator data and determines what improvements and recommendations are needed for East Baton Rouge Parish’s development. This thesis has identified methods and indicators for studying sustainable developments, studied patterns of sustainable developments in the East Baton Rouge Parish to identify trends and developed recommendations that would encourage sustainable development in the East Baton Rouge Parish. It forms fourteen sustainable principles that would encourage sustainable development in East Baton Rouge Parish and a framework for a sound development.


Clear-Cutting Eden: Representations Of Nature In Southern Fiction, 1930-1950, Christopher B. Rieger Jan 2002

Clear-Cutting Eden: Representations Of Nature In Southern Fiction, 1930-1950, Christopher B. Rieger

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines how Southern literary representations of the natural world were influenced by, and influenced, the historical, social, and ecological changes of the 1930s and 1940s. Specifically, I examine the ways that nature is conceived of and portrayed by four authors of this era: Erskine Caldwell, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Zora Neale Hurston, and William Faulkner; through their works, I investigate the intersections of race, class, and gender with the natural environment. I argue that during this time of profound regional and national upheaval there exists a climate of professed binary oppositions and that these authors’ representations of nature in …