Digital Commons Network^™

Gaps In College Biology Students' Understanding Of Photosynthesis: Implications For Human Constructivist Learning Theory And College Classroom Practice., Phyllis Baudoin Griffard

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The main research question of this study was: What gaps in biochemical understanding are revealed by a range of university introductory biology students as they work through a critically acclaimed multimedia program on photosynthesis, and what are the corresponding implications for elaboration of the Ausubel-Novak-Gowin Learning Theory (ANG, now Human Constructivism)? Twelve students, mixed for ability, gender and ethnicity, were recruited from two sections of "Bio 101." Before and after instruction in photosynthesis, in-depth clinical interviews were conducted during which participants completed a range of cognitive tasks such as sorting, concept mapping, explaining and predicting. Some tasks involved interacting with …

The Evolution Of The Red River Valley Settlement System, 1714--1860., Keumsoo Hong

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Since the first European settlement was established in the middle of Indian territory in 1714, the Red River Valley had experienced a dramatic transformation until the end of the antebellum period. The trajectory of the evolution can be divided into five vertical cross sections. The formative phase (1714--1803) features the colonial regimes in political arena, less-specialized regional economies, nascent urban units laden heavily with defensive functions, and coerced labor system. The settlement system resembled a semi-primate pattern with Natchitoches on the summit. The period of the Territory of Orleans (1804--1812) corresponded to the transition phase. During this interim, traditional staples …

Input Manipulations, Working Memory, And Word Learning Abilities Of Children., Janice Elisabeth Horohov

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

A storybook task was used to examine the word learning abilities of children with and without specific language impairment (SLI). Speech rate, sentence complexity and word type were manipulated within the narrative. A nonword repetition task also was used to examine the relation between working memory and word learning. Fifty-four children participated; a third were classified as SLI and the others served as either age-matched or language-matched controls. For comprehension, a significant main effect for word type was observed with verb scores higher than noun scores. Main effects for group, race, and rate also were observed and these were qualified …

Grass Shrimp Palaemonetes Pugio Predation On Sediment- And Stem-Dwelling Meiofauna: Field And Laboratory Experiments, Christopher S. Gregg, John W. Fleeger

Faculty Publications

Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to clarify the predatory role of Palaemonetes pugio Holthius in salt-marsh benthic communities. Field experiments (cage enclosures using P. pugio as a predator) were conducted on unvegetated mudflat and vegetated-marsh sites. Neither sediment- or stem-dwelling meiofaunal abundances were significantly impacted. Laboratory experiments measured the functional response of P. pugio feeding on suspended harpacticoid copepods, tested the efficiency of P. pugio feeding on harpacticoids in sediments, and measured the predation rate of P. pugio on stem-dwelling meiofauna. Grass shrimp feeding rate on suspended copepods followed a type II functional response, increasing with increasing prey density …

A 4,000 Year Pollen Record Of Vegetation Changes, Sea Level Rise, And Hurricane Disturbance In Atchafalaya March Of Southern Louisiana, Xinyu Zhou

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Sediment cores from the Atchafalaya Marsh in southern Louisiana were intensively studied by means of pollen and loss-on-ignition analyses to reconstruct the history of late-Holocene environmental changes and hurricane strikes in the area. The data indicate that the coring site was occupied by a fresh marsh about 4000 years ago. Afterwards, the fresh marsh was replaced by a brackish marsh in the following 400 years. The marsh became a salt marsh in response to sea level rise beginning 3250 yr BP. During 2800-1200 yr BP, the study site became an estuarine environment inundated by sea water as a result of …

Nucleotide And Predicted Amino Acid Sequences Of All Genes Encoded By The 3' Genomic Portion (9.5 Kb) Of Respiratory Bovine Coronaviruses And Comparisons Among Respiratory And Enteric Coronaviruses, Vladimir N. Chouljenko, Konstantin G. Kousoulas, Xiaoqing Lin, Johannes Storz

Faculty Publications

The 3'-ends of the genomes (9538 bp) of two wild-type respiratory bovine coronavirus (RBCV) isolates LSU and OK were obtained by cDNA sequencing. In addition, the 3'-end of the genome (9545) of the wild-type enteric bovine coronavirus (EBCV) strain LY-138 was assembled from available sequences and by cDNA sequencing of unknown genomic regions. Comparative analyses of RBCV and EBCV nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences revealed that RBCV-specific nucleotide and amino acid differences were disproportionally concentrated within the S gene and the genomic region between the S and E genes. Comparisons among virulent and avirulent BCV strains revealed that virulence-specific …

Louisiana Agriculture Magazine, Fall 1998, Lsu Agricultural Experiment Station

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Hematite And Calcite Coatings On Fossil Vertebrates, Huiming Bao, Paul L. Koch, Robert P. Hepple

Faculty Publications

Hematite coatings are common on vertebrate fossils from Paleocene/Eocene paleosol deposits in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. In general, hematite coatings are found only on fossils and are limited to soils exhibiting hydromorphic features and moderate maturity. Petrographic and isotopic evidence suggests that hematite and micritic calcite formed at nearly the same time in a pedogenic environment, whereas sparry calcite formed later at greater burial depths. The parent material of paleosols is rich in iron, supplying an ample source of iron for hematite formation. Decomposition of animal tissues around bones may enhance the weathering of iron-bearing minerals in soils surrounding carcasses, …

Hematite And Calcite Coatings On Fossil Vertebrates, Huiming Bao, Paul L. Koch, Robert P. Hepple

Faculty Publications

Hematite coatings are common on vertebrate fossils from Paleocene/Eocene paleosol deposits in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming. In general, hematite coatings are found only on fossils and are limited to soils exhibiting hydromorphic features and moderate maturity. Petrographic and isotopic evidence suggests that hematite and micritic calcite formed at nearly the same time in a pedogenic environment, whereas sparry calcite formed later at greater burial depths. The parent material of paleosols is rich in iron, supplying an ample source of iron for hematite formation. Decomposition of animal tissues around bones may enhance the weathering of iron-bearing minerals in soils surrounding carcasses, …

A Cloned Erwinia Chrysanthemi Hrp (Type Iii Protein Secretion) System Functions In Escherichia Coli To Deliver Pseudomonas Syringae Avr Signals To Plant Cells And To Secrete Avr Proteins In Culture, Jong Hyun Ham, David W. Bauer, Derrick E. Fouts, Alan Collmer

Faculty Publications

The Hrp (type III protein secretion) system is essential for the plant parasitic ability of Pseudomonas syringae and most Gram-negative bacterial plant pathogens. AvrB and AvrPto are two P. syringae proteins that have biological activity when produced via heterologous gene expression inside plant cells or when produced by Hrp+ bacteria. Art-like proteins, presumably injected by the Hrp system on bacterial contact with plant cells, appear to underlie pathogenic interactions, but none has been observed outside of the bacterial cytoplasm, and identifying novel genes encoding them is tedious and uncertain without a phenotype in culture. Here we describe a cloned Hrp …

The Mentawai Of Siberut Island, Indonesia: A Case Study Of Indigenous Land Use And Conservation Areas, Stacy Crevello

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Indonesia has been blessed with the second most ecologically diverse rain forests in the world. The Indonesian government has recognized the importance of preserving these natural resources as they are in jeopardy of extinction with wide spread logging in direct competition for forest resources. These forests are also home to most of Indonesia's 1.5 million indigenous people who rely on natural resources for survival.

This study analyzes the natural resource use and exploitation of the indigenous Mentawai of Siberut Island, Indonesia. The Mentawaians are atypical as they have historically practiced conservation by following strict taboos and "Adat", the customary law. …

Louisiana Agriculture Magazine, Summer 1998, Lsu Agricultural Experiment Station

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Replication Banding And Sister-Chromatid Exchange Of Chromosomes Of Channel Catfish (Ictalurus Punctatus), Q. Zhang, W. R. Wolters, T. R. Tiersch

Faculty Publications

A replication banding procedure using fluorouracil (FU) and bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) was developed for use with cultured leukocytes of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). Analyzable banding patterns were produced on chromosomes stained with a fluorochrome plus Giemsa (FPG) method. The consistency of the chromosomal bands was evaluated by computer-assisted image analysis. Banding patterns of representative chromosomes including those bearing nucleolus organizer regions (NOR) were reproducible. A standard RBG-banded karyotype (R bands by BrdU and Giemsa) was established with idiograms of each chromosome. We also developed procedures to study sister- chromatid exchange (SCE) and sister-chromatid differentiation (SCD) in cultured leukocytes, without addition of …

Mortality Data For Sub-Saharan Africa [10], R. S. Cooper, C. Rotimi, J. Kaufman, T. Lawoyin

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of Buyer Preferences For New Food Products Derived From Louisiana's Undersized Crawfish (Bulletin #864), Aylin Özayan, R. Wes Harrison, Samuel P. Meyers

LSU AgCenter Bulletins

The objective of this study was to investigate the market potential for minced meat products derived from Louisiana’s undersized crawfish. Specific objectives were to: (1) identify potential markets for crawfish mince-based products and the product attributes needed for market acceptance; and (2) estimate potential buyer preferences for food-grade products derived from undersized crawfish minced meat.

The Effects Of In Ovo Injection Of Ascorbic Acid On Chick Hatchability And Body Weight, Craig E. Deao

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Synthesis Of Novel Amino Acids And 310- And Alpha-Helical Alpha, Alpha-Disubstituted Amino Acid Rich Antimicrobial Peptides, Thomas Scott Yokum

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Amphipathic peptides rich in α, α-disubstituted amino acids (ααAAs) were synthesized and examined for antimicrobial activity and helix preference in various solvent systems. Also, a series of polar, ααAAs were synthesized for incorporation into helical peptides and a red-shifted tryptophan analog was synthesized as a fluorescent probe.

A series of short, amphipathic, 3₁₀- and α-helical peptides containing 50 to 80 percent ααAAs was synthesized. Various combinations of 1-aminocyclohexane-lcarboxylic acid, α-aminoisobutyric acid, and 4-aminopiperidine-4-carboxylic acid were incorporated using preformed acid fluorides. In vitro testing revealed that most of these peptides show direct antibacterial activity against E. coli and …

Louisiana Agriculture Magazine, Spring 1998, Lsu Agricultural Experiment Station

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

A Novel Α-Type Carbonic Anhydrase Associated With The Thylakoid Membrane In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii Is Required For Growth At Ambient Co2, Jan Karlsson, Adrian K. Ciarke, Zhi Yuan Chen, Stephanie Y. Hugghins, Youn Il Park, H. David Husic, James V. Moroney, Göran Samuelsson

Faculty Publications

A 29.5 kDa intracellular α-type carbonic anhydrase, designated Cah3, from the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is the first of this type discovered inside a photosynthetic eukaryote cell. We describe the cloning of a cDNA which encodes the protein. Immunoblot studies with specific antibodies raised against Cah3 demonstrate that the polypeptide is associated exclusively with the thylakoid membrane. The putative transit peptide suggests that Cah3 is directed to the thylakoid lumen, which is confirmed further by the presence of mature sized Cah3 after thermolysin treatment of intact thylakoids. Complementation of the high inorganic carbon concentration-requiring mutant, cia3, with a subcloned …

The Effects Of An Enriched Environment On The Stereotypic Movement Of Individuals With Profound Mental Retardation., Brandi Braud Smiroldo

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The present study was an attempt to investigate the effects of a specific type of enriched environment on the stereotypic movements of individuals with severe and profound mental retardation. A multisensory room which contained visual, auditory, and tactile stimulation was used. Effects of brief exposure to the multisensory room was compared to effects of exposure to a placebo probe involving attention and access to tangibles and to no treatment controls. Comparisons were made during a 10-minute post-test session immediately following. No significant differences between groups on rate of stereotypic movements at post-test was noted, anecdotal information and review of raw …

Analysis Of Perceptions Of The 1997 Louisiana Legislature Toward The Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service., Pamela Burgess Hodson

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The study determined the perceptions that the members of the 1997 Louisiana Legislature held of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service (LCES) and identified factors that affected the perceptions. The factors included in the study were: familiarity with LCES programs, perception of effectiveness, sources of LCES information, and participation in LCES programs. The study also determined the association of selected characteristics with Legislators' perceptions. Of the 144 legislators contacted, 109 surveys (76%) were returned. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the personal characteristics of the legislators and correlation coefficients were calculated. Stepwise multiple regression at the.05 level was used to develop …

Ecology And Loss Assessment Of Selected Homopteran Pests On Sugarcane: Interactions With The Fire Ant, Solenopsis Wagneri Santschi., Andrew Evans Woolwine

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Field studies in 1995, 1996, and 1997, using insecticides to alter population densities of yellow sugarcane aphid, Sipha flava (Forbes), West Indian canefly, Saccharosydne saccharivora (Westwood) and the pink sugarcane mealybug, Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell), indicated that sugarcane infested by these insects did not suffer sugar quality loss (as measured by brix, polarity, sucrose, purity, and theoretical recoverable sugar (TRS)). There was no apparent indication that Homoptera stressed sugarcane (indicated by concentrations of free amino acids in extracted sugarcane juice). A very slight, but significant increase in the percent brix was observed in sugarcane juice extracted from stalks washed free of …

The Tiger And The Pangolin: Cultural Ecology, Landscape Ecology, And Nature Conservation In China's Southeast Uplands., Christopher Reed Coggins

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The Wuyi-Daiyun Mountains, which form the core of China's Southeast Uplands Region, support a mosaic of subtropical forest, grassland, and cropland habitats, with some 1,620 species of plants and 326 species of terrestrial vertebrates. Forty-two animal species are officially protected, including the highly endangered South China tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis). This study, based on one year of field research, examines relationships between village land use, landscape change, and wildlife management in the Meihuashan Nature Reserve of Southwest Fujian. It includes comparative studies of reserves in Longxishan and Wuyishan, further north, and Daiyunshan, to the east. Over 500 local gazetteer records …

Characterization Of Root-Associated Methanotrophs From Three Freshwater Macrophytes: Pontederia Cordata, Sparganium Eurycarpum, And Sagittaria Latifolia?, A. Calhoun, G. M. King

Faculty Publications

Root-associated methanotrophic bacteria were enriched from three common aquatic macrophytes: Pontederia cordata, Sparganium eurycarpum, and Sagittaria latifolia. At least seven distinct taxa belonging to groups I and II were identified and presumptively assigned to the genera Methylosinus, Methylocystis, Methylomonas, and Methylococcus. Four of these strains appeared to be novel on the basis of partial 16S ribosomal DNA sequence analysis. The root-methanotroph association did not appear to be highly specific, since multiple methanotrophs were isolated from each of the three plant species. Group II methanotrophs were isolated most frequently; though less common, group I isolates accounted for three of the seven …

Foraging Ecology Of The Philippine Flying Lemur (Cynocephalus Volans), E. William Wischusen, Milo E. Richmond

Faculty Publications

Between August 1986 and September 1987, six Philippine flying lemurs (Cynocephalus volans) were observed foraging on 35 of 76 available species of trees, representing ≥12 families of ≥26 available families. Eight species were foraged on in amounts significantly greater than expected, given the tree's abundance on the study area, and four were foraged on significantly less than expected. The foraging strategy of C. volans involved foraging many times during the night, for short duration, in several different species of tree each night. This strategy differed from that of other arboreal folivores.

From Archive To Map To Pastoral Landscape: A Spatial Perspective On The Livestock Ecology Of Sixteenth-Century New Spain, Andrew Sluyter

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

An Investigation On The Influence Of Feline Flea Allergy On The Fecundity Of The Cat Flea, Beth J. Mcdonald, Carol S. Foil, Lane D. Foil

Faculty Publications

Survival, egg production and egg viability of fleas allowed to feed on eight flea-allergic and six flea-naive cats were compared. Fifty fleas, in feeding cages or free roaming, were allowed to feed on the cats. Flea-allergic cats removed significantly more free-roaming fleas than did flea-naive cats. Female fleas produced fewer eggs on flea-allergic cats than on flea-naive cats regardless of feeding method. There was no significant difference in egg viability between the two groups. The data suggest that flea-allergic cats efficiently removed fleas by grooming and that they also produce unknown factor(s) that affect the fecundity of fleas.

Isolation, Culture And Characterization Of A Primary Fibroblast Cell Line From Channel Catfish, Quiyang Zhang, Richard K. Cooper, William R. Wolters, Terrence R. Tiersch

Faculty Publications

A primary cell line (designated as CCf) derived from caudal fin tissue of channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, was developed using explant techniques. The cell line grew fastest in media supplied with FBS and channel catfish serum. The duplication time of the cell line under optimal conditions was ~56 h at a plating density of 1.1 x 105 cells/ml. The cell line has been propagated continuously for 25 passages (1:4 dilution per passage), cryopreserved, and recovered successfully at different passages. The cultured cells had fibroblastic morphology, and synthesized fibronectin and Type I and III collagens in the cytoplasm. The cell line …

Performance And Metabolic Responses Of Young Dairy Calves Fed Diets Supplemented With Chromium Tripicolinate, C. L. Depew, L. D. Bunting, J. M. Fernandez, D. L. Thompson, R. W. Adkinson

Faculty Publications

Forty-two Holstein calves were used to study performance and metabolic responses when milk replacer and then postweaning starter were supplemented with 1 ppm of Cr as Cr-tripicolinate. From birth through 8 wk of age, supplemental Cr tended to improve the growth performance of bull calves but not of heifer calves. Starter intake and feed efficiency were not affected by supplemental Cr. From 1 to 5 wk of age, plasma cortisol concentrations sampled just prior to feeding decreased, and concentrations of insulinlike growth factor-I increased. All calves appeared to become less sensitive to insulin as they aged. From 1 to 5 …

Egg Parasitoids Of Homalodisca Coagulata (Homoptera: Cicadellidae), Serguei V. Triapitsyn, Russell F. Mizell, Janice L. Bossart, Christopher E. Carlton

Faculty Publications

A survey of egg parasitoids of the leafhopper Homalodisca coagulata was conducted in California, Florida and Louisiana. The mymarid wasp Gonatocerus ashmeadi was found to be the most common natural enemy in all locations sampled; G. fasciatus and the trichogrammatid Zagella sp. are recognized as potential biological control agents for introduction into southern California.