Digital Commons Network^™

Ebusiness In The Forest Products Industry: A Comparison Of The United States And Canada, R. P. Vlosky, O. T. Pitis

Faculty Publications

This study compares eBusiness capabilities of the forest products industries in the United States and Canada. Structural and functional factors limiting or encouraging eBusiness development, attitudes and perceived value of eBusiness, concerns and possible impacts of eBusiness on traditional business practices were studied. Results indicate that high potential exists for eBusiness to flourish in the forest products sectors in both these countries. However, the study indicated that Canadian respondents were further along in Internet implementation in 1998 relative to their U.S. counterparts. In addition, Canadian respondents had a higher degree of satisfaction in achieving the desired benefits of using the …

Signs Sense: Exploring Signs In Urban Place Making, Amy Elizabeth Pecquet

LSU Master's Theses

Signs are prominent elements of the urban landscape; they display messages to the public, orient people in complex environments, act as social landmarks, and serve as a means of cultural expression. Despite the omnipresence of signs, designers have yet to capitalize on their potential urban spaces as creative design tools for enhancing a sense of place. Using literature and urban case studies, this thesis explores several quantitative methods to learn about effects produced by signs in the urban landscape. Case studies in New Orleans, Louisiana locate every sign in defined areas on Bourbon, Royal, and Canal Street to compare and …

Synthesis And Analysis Of Three-Dimensional Molecular Architectures, Patricia Beck

LSU Master's Theses

The use of resorcinarenes in the study of biologically significant phenomena has been the focus of much attention, due to the versatility of these macrocyclic compounds. In this thesis, two applications of resorcinarenes are explored. First, the search for the mechanism by which tetraarylboronic acid resorcinarenes lead to colorimetric detection and quantization of saccharide analyte concentration in solution is described. Second, the extension of the lower rim conjugation of the resorcinarene macrocycle by the fourfold addition of various length oligo(p-phenylene) rods is discussed. The synthesis of these tubular materials, with potential uses as artificial ion channels and for binding and …

When Everybody's A Critic: Effects Of A Newspaper's Self-Improvement Program, John M. Laplante

LSU Master's Theses

This case study examined a peer-evaluation program at The Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in which employees took turns serving on committees that critiqued each day’s coverage. Their critique reports, containing both negative and positive comments on all elements of the news pages, were distributed to each employee of the news department. The purpose of the study was to examine the content of the critique reports and to determine whether the participants and the editors thought the program improved the newspaper, whether they wanted to continue it and what changes might improve it. The research methods included a survey …

Landscape Architecture In El Salvador: A Case Study Of The Cerro Verde National Park, Stephen Price Wilson

LSU Master's Theses

In recent years, the published objectives of international aid organizations have called for the expertise of landscape architects. Projects with attention to sustainability, environment, and land use have become a major emphasis for many organizations. Landscape architecture, a profession which involves physical science, social science, humanities, art and land, is an appropriate profession to participate in aid projects. As a result of their unique training and experience, landscape architects have an unusual opportunity to make a substantial contribution in the planning, design and development of places for people in developing countries. This case study documents the activities and explains a …

A Reexamination Of The Canon Of Objectivity In American Journalism, Les L. Lane

LSU Master's Theses

Journalistic objectivity is the definitive canon of American mainstream journalism. Yet American journalists cannot agree on what it is, how it is measured, or on how it is done. The source of the confusion is the assumption that objectivity is an ideal, absolute, impossible, incomprehensible, value-free state of being, outside of all physical, cognitive, psychological, and social contexts, where reality is perceived without distortions of any kind. This assumption is logically invalid and historically inaccurate. Journalistic objectivity evolved from the American cultural premises of egalitarianism and positive scientific empiricism through four historical stages: Nonpartisanship, Neutrality, Focus-On-Facts, and Detachment. It is …

Electrodeposition Of Niw Alloys Into Deep Recesses, Lakshmikanth Namburi

LSU Master's Theses

Pulse electrodeposition has been investigated as a general technique for the electrodeposition of nickel-tungsten alloys in deep recesses for MEMS. Ni-W exhibits an induced codeposition mechanism, where the Ni reaction rate enhances the codeposition of W. Electrodeposition of this alloy has been achieved into recesses of 500 micron deep. The challenges that have been encountered are those related to gas evolving side reactions, local pH rises, diffusional limitations of the soluble species and long times required for filling the recesses. Electrodeposition on cylinder electrodes at different rotation rates was also carried out in order to obtain data on composition of …

Analysis Of Inorganic Materials Using Advanced Nmr And Nqr Techniques, Anthony Adrian Mrse

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Several advanced solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) techniques have been applied to inorganic materials of commercial interest. The specific techniques applied to each system were chosen to solve specific obstacles which impeded the flow of industrial science.

First, the dispersion of brominated flame retardants in polymers is monitored using pulsed ⁸¹Br NQR (nuclear quadrupole resonance) techniques. The NQR spectrometer consists of a homemade NMR console and an automatically tuned loop-gap resonator probe. The two factors which affect the ⁸¹Br NQR transition frequencies of brominated aromatics are: electron-donating and withdrawing substituents on the ring …

Dynamic Scheduling, Allocation, And Compaction Scheme For Real-Time Tasks On Fpgas, Shobharani Tatineni

LSU Master's Theses

Run-time reconfiguration (RTR) is a method of computing on reconfigurable logic, typically FPGAs, changing hardware configurations from phase to phase of a computation at run-time. Recent research has expanded from a focus on a single application at a time to encompass a view of the reconfigurable logic as a resource shared among multiple applications or users. In real-time system design, task deadlines play an important role. Real-time multi-tasking systems not only need to support sharing of the resources in space, but also need to guarantee execution of the tasks. At the operating system level, sharing logic gates, wires, and I/O …

Evaluation Of In Situ Bioremediation Approaches In Meeting International Standards For Organic And Residual Metals Toxicity In Soils, Jason Allan Mcdonald

LSU Master's Theses

Drilling fluids and muds are an essential component of the rotary drilling process used to drill for oil and gas on land and in offshore environments. However, the bioaccumulation of petroleum contaminated soils/drilling mud due to oil and natural gas exploration has posed a major environmental concern due to its prolonged environmental persistence and its leachability below the rhizosphere. The main objectives of this research were: (i) To assess initial toxicity of drilling mud and related contaminated soils from an agricultural setting in Galliano, Sicily (Phase one) and (ii) To develop a low intervention bioremediation approach using bioplug technology to …

Towards Establishing A Process For Preserving Historic Landscapes In Mexico: The Casa Cristo Gardens In Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, Marcela De Obaldia

LSU Master's Theses

Landscape Architecture is a field that is in process of development in Mexico. However, although empirically, the landscape was considered in the past as part of the human's environment, and this is the Mexican heritage. Thus, this heritage is important to considered because is part of the people's identity, and therefore, vital to protect. However, Mexico focuses its attention to the preservation of its' national heritage in the fields of architecture and fine arts, leaving without protective regulations and guidelines the field of landscape architecture. The following thesis intends to create awareness in people of the importance of the landscape …

A Textual Analysis Comparing The Content Of "Black Enterprise," "Forbes," And "Fortune" Magazines And The Message Each Presents To Its Readers, Karen M. Rowley

LSU Master's Theses

A study of Forbes, Fortune, and Black Enterprise magazines finds that the two mainstream business publications—Forbes and Fortune—provide virtually no coverage of Blacks and the black business community, thereby helping to perpetuate the white-dominated view of society that places minorities in general—and Blacks in particular—outside the norm. Black Enterprise, on the other hand, continues in the long tradition of the black press, providing an alternative view of society through its focus on the black business community.

The Effectiveness Of Sports Sponsorhips: A Study Of The New Orleans Zephyrs, Amy Marie Boyle

LSU Master's Theses

Despite the pervasiveness of sports in American society and the ever-increasing role of sponsorship in the marketing mix, sponsorship marketing as a discipline currently lacks the rigorous academic study and theoretical foundations that exist in other marketing disciplines. The purpose of this study is to determine whether or not sponsorship of New Orleans Zephyrs baseball is an effective way of increasing awareness of a product or brand. Using intermediate measures of recognition testing, fans at three New Orleans Zephyrs games were surveyed to test sponsor recognition. The study examined various elements of sponsorship marketing including the effects that gender, age, …

The Evaluation Of Pcr-Based Techniques For The Detection Of Fecal Indicator Organisms In Environmental Samples, Quinesha Laticia Perry

LSU Master's Theses

Escherichia coli is the indicator organism of choice for the detection of fecal contamination. Standard methods for detecting fecal contamination often rely on detecting fecal coliforms. While this practice if highly efficient in most applications, when used with the sediment-laden waters of Louisiana, free-living soil bacteria, such as Klebsiella pneumoniae were shown to inflate the fecal coliform counts. An accurate assessment of the contamination problem requires methods that detect E. coli. To detect E. coli, several of species-specific genes were tested before the gadAB genes were selected. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was chosen to detect these genes using a …

Multiple-Access Interference Suppression In Cdma Wireless Systems, Jianqiang He

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis presents techniques that suppress the multiple access interference (MAI) in CDMA wireless systems. MAI is the main factor that influences the communication quality and the capacity in CDMA wireless systems. Hence the suppression of MAI is essential to the performance of a CDMA wireless system. For conventional CDMA systems where matched filters are used as receivers, the only MAI suppression method available is the power control, which allocates each user in the system an appropriate transmitter power level such that the transmitter power is minimized to decrease the MAI, while at the same time each user maintains a …

Attribute Agenda-Setting In An Open Primary: An Examination Of Press Coverage And Political Ad Effects, Scott Hobbs

LSU Master's Theses

Creating a favorable candidate image is one of the more difficult tasks a political consultant faces. Besides researching which issues their client will address, the consultant must analyze what attributes voters find most appealing in a candidate. Then, through a complex process, a candidate image is finally packaged and presented to the public. This thesis looks at the end result of the packaging process for a Mayoral candidate in East Baton Rouge parish. By examining the press coverage and campaign ads in a local election in a mid-size city, this study expands on previous second level agenda-setting research. Literature in …

Healing The Whole Person: A Post Occupancy Evaluation Of The Rooftop Therapy Park At Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center, Knoxville, Tennessee, Brad Edward Davis

LSU Master's Theses

This study used a post occupancy evaluation to assess the impact of an existing hospital garden on its users. Previous studies of hospital gardens have been of passive garden use. This study addressed gardens including physical therapy, while also considering the emotional, spiritual, and social aspects. The POE included behavioral observation, interviews with the designer and lead therapist, a staff survey, and a patient questionnaire. In light of historical information and contemporary theory, the results revealed issues to be addressed in the design process of future healing gardens, specifically those including physical therapy. The major issues included: the need for …

"Of One Kind Or Another": Rape In The Fiction Of Eudora Welty, Nicole M. Donald

LSU Master's Theses

"Of One Kind or Another:" Rape in the Fiction of Eudora Welty explores the ways in which Eudora Welty's repeated inclusion of rape in her fiction reveals and questions southern society and women's roles in it. Despite the vague, even confusing language with which she describes the incidents of rape. Welty offers a rich, forceful commentary upon the culture and women's roles in it. The ambiguity with which she describes rape reveals ambivalence toward the society that Welty may be said at once to protect and to expose. An examination of Welty's use of rape in her fiction reveals a …

The Association Of Food Cravings And Preferences With Food Intake, Corby Kyle Martin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

An ubiquitous assumption about food intake behavior is that people eat the types of foods that they crave and prefer. Food preferences reflect hedonic ratings of the degree to which people like certain foods. The present study investigated the association of food cravings and hedonic ratings with food intake behavior, assessed in the laboratory with a Universal Eating Monitor (Kissileff, Klingsberg, & Van Itallie, 1980). The study sample consisted of 162 adults who completed the Food Craving Inventory (FCI; White, Whisenhunt, Williamson, Greenway, & Netemeyer, 2001), a questionnaire that measures craving, including cravings for specific types of foods (i.e., High …

Mass Media Ethics Vs. Ethnicity : The Cuban American National Foundation's Battle With The Miami Herald, Michelle M. Cobas

LSU Master's Theses

In 1992, a prominent Cuban-American organization, the Cuban American National Foundation, launched a full-scale campaign against the Miami Herald following an editorial against the Cuban Democracy Act, sponsored by Congressman Robert Torricelli, (D-NJ). The bill, which the Foundation endorsed and helped craft, was aimed at tightening the loopholes on the U.S. embargo against Cuba. Two men-CANF Chairman Jorge Mas Canosa and Herald publisher David Lawrence-represented opposing sides of the feud. CANF galvanized the exile community to support its side of the debate. The Herald used its opinion and editorial pages to argue against Mas's charges that the newspaper attacked the …

Translating Exile In Panait Istrati's "Mes Departs", Samuel Beckett's "Fin De Partie" And Selected Poems By Paul Celan., Ina Alice Pfitzner

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Translation and exile are two phenomena that marked life in the twentieth century, especially in Europe, and have therefore left their traces in French literature as well. Translation from one language to another is a heightened form of the translation process inherent in any writing. Exile in a foreign country, linguistic exile, is an aggravated form of the exile every human being experiences at some point. Parting from Lucian Blaga's concept of "mioritic space," which is based on the Romanian myth of Mioritza, as well as Walter Benjamin's essay "Die Aufgabe des Ubersetzers" [The Task of the Translator], this study …

Cytopathology, Detection, And Identification Of Viruses Infecting Sweetpotato., Jeonggu Sim

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Studies with the transmission electron microscope were used to detect and attempt to identify viruses infecting sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas ) and other Ipomoea species. Flexuous-rods, short curved-rods, and spherical virus-like particles were observed in cells of symptomatic plants. Also, various cytopathic changes such as crystals, vesicles, fibril structures, and cylindrical inclusions were observed. Some of these cytopathic changes were associated with specific viral groups such as genus Crinivirus and Potyvirus and therefore helpful in diagnosis. Some molecular and biological properties of an isolate of Sweetpotato chlorotic stunt virus from the sweetpotato cultivar White Bunch (SPCSV-WB) were determined. Two species of …

Post -Displacement Employment In A Rural Community: Why Can't Women And Oil Mix?, Linda Anderson Tobin

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This is a study of post-displacement labor market experiences of workers in a rural southern community in which there is a significant presence of the oil and gas industry. Using a guided conversation format, I talked with 99 community members, including displaced workers, representatives of the oil and gas industry, community leaders, and social service agencies. These conversations were used to explore opportunities and constraints found within this community with labor market implications for those displaced. Conversations show that both individual and structural factors explain post-displacement employment of these (predominantly) females. Though an expanding oil and gas industry requires an …

Mass Transfer Of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene And Lower Chlorinated Benzenes From Sediment Into Water., Marti Charleen Blad

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Bioremediation and phytoremediation are in their infancy and this research addresses concerns for application of these technologies. This laboratory and mathematical modeling effort predicts the pollutant flux from soils and sediments to the overlying waters. Little work has been done on transport in surface waters such as the slow moving and stagnant areas of the southern U.S. Mass transfer is a proposed rate limiting factor for biological transformation when using phytoremediation or natural attenuation. The research quantified mass transport of two dfferent contaminants, TNT and chlorinated benzenes, under different advective conditions. The TNT study was part of a "riffle-bed reactor" …

Comparison Of Four Screening Procedures For Identifying Students For Special Education: Validation Of Problem Validation Screening., Amanda Mathany Vanderheyden

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Four screening methods were compared to determine the extent to which each method accurately identified students who exhibited math and reading problems severe enough to warrant a full psycho-educational assessment for special education eligibility determination. Methods examined were teacher referral, two subtests from the Comprehensive Inventory of Basic Skills, Revised, the Developmental Reading Assessment, and a new screening measure called "Problem Validation Screening" (PVS). PVS consisted of three components: classwide curriculum-based measurement probes in math and reading, performance/skill deficit assessment, and a brief instructional session. All students enrolled in first and second grade classes at a participating school were exposed …

The Development Of An Instrument To Assess Strategical Information Processing Style., Beverly Allain Farrell

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Underpinned on the theories of individual differences and the information processing paradigm, the author hypothesized that there were five different strategical information processing styles (SIPS) that individuals prefer to use when processing information. The five constructs are visuo-spatial, analytical, social, categorical, and verbal. Based on this hypothesis, the researcher developed a self-assessment instrument containing specific measurable descriptors for each of the five hypothesized constructs. However, in this study the empirical evidence verified only four strategical information processing styles: visuo-spatial, analytical, social, and categorical. Although the verbal style is theoretically appealing, it did not prove to be a valid construct in …

The Anxious *Double: Twins In Plays Of The 1970s, 1980s, And 1990s., Shellie Kaye O'Neal

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Twin characters have consistently appeared in dramatic literature throughout history. Playwrights from Shakespeare to Goldoni have employed twins in works which usually rely upon the device of mistaken identity. However, twin characters who have appeared in plays of the last thirty years have been employed with more weighty intentions. This dissertation analyzes recent playwrights' portrayals of twins and the playwrights' detailed explorations of the anxieties which drive the twins' relationships with each other and society. Recent playwrights have also employed twins to symbolize fears peripheral to the phenomenon of twins: anxieties which plagued these three decades play heavily into these …

A Treatment-Based Reading Assessment., Gary Joseph Duhon Jr

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Each year a large number of students are identified as having problems in reading. The methodology for the identification of reading problems has been established and in practice for several years, however, the tools necessary for the identification of remediation procedures appropriate for the individual student lack this level of refinement. This study is an attempt at refining current assessment practices for the purpose of identifying remediation procedures that are effective on the level of the individual student. A conceptual model of learning (instructional hierarchy) was combined with a treatment based functional assessment methodology, resulting in a behavior analytic approach …

Holding Up And Holding On: Socialization Experiences Of Beginning Teachers In Differentially Effective Schools., Pamela Sanders Angelle

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The current study examined the socialization experiences of beginning teachers within the context of differentially effective middle schools. A mixed method design, using quantitative and qualitative approaches, was employed. The sample consisted of ten middle schools in Louisiana, five matched pairs, using an intensity strategy. The study was conducted in six phases of data collection. Phase One designed and carried out a pilot study. Interview data from school principals and mentors was collected in Phase Two, while Phase Three involved the collection of survey data from beginning teachers to measure perceptions of assistance, monitoring, team-building, and intention to remain in …

Factors Associated With Research Anxiety Of Human Resource Education Faculty In Higher Education., Chadwick Charles Higgins

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The dissertation examined factors associated with research anxiety of university faculty members. Faculty at research universities have, in the past and at the present, had to deal with pressures associated with roles as researchers, teachers, and service initiators (Miller, 1994). The "publish or perish" atmosphere that accompanies most research university faculty positions often generates questions regarding confidence in one's ability to not only conduct meaningful research, but also to develop a solid and statistically sound research study. The purpose of the study was to determine if certain factors explain possible causes of research anxiety in higher education. These factors included …