Digital Commons Network^™

Soybean Response To Dicamba: Associated Injury Criteria And Development Of A Model To Predict Yield Loss, Matthew Ryan Foster

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In research conducted using indeterminate soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], fourteen injury criteria observed following dicamba at 0.6 to 280 g ae ha^-1 (1/1000 to ½ of 560 g ha^-1 use rate) were rated using a scale of 0= no injury, 1= slight, 2= slight to moderate, 3= moderate, 4= moderate to severe, and 5= severe. Greatest crop injury 15 d after treatment (DAT) was observed following dicamba applied at 0.6 to 4.4 g ha^-1 at V3/V4 for upper canopy pale leaf margins (3.8 to 4.2) and at R1/R2 for terminal leaf cupping (4.1 to 5.0) …

Reinforcement Learning In Robotic Task Domains With Deictic Descriptor Representation, Harry Paul Moore

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the field of reinforcement learning, robot task learning in a specific environment with a Markov decision process backdrop has seen much success. But, extending these results to learning a task for an environment domain has not been as fruitful, even for advanced methodologies such as relational reinforcement learning. In our research into robot learning in environment domains, we utilize a form of deictic representation for the robot’s description of the task environment. However, the non-Markovian nature of the deictic representation leads to perceptual aliasing and conflicting actions, invalidating standard reinforcement learning algorithms. To circumvent this difficulty, several past research …

Effective Methods And Tools For Mining App Store Reviews, Nishant Jha

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research on mining user reviews in mobile application (app) stores has noticeably advanced in the past few years. The main objective is to extract useful information that app developers can use to build more sustainable apps. In general, existing research on app store mining can be classified into three genres: classification of user feedback into different types of software maintenance requests (e.g., bug reports and feature requests), building practical tools that are readily available for developers to use, and proposing visions for enhanced mobile app stores that integrate multiple sources of user feedback to ensure app survivability. Despite these major …

Galveston Bay And Coastal Ocean Optical-Geochemical Response To Hurricane Harvey From Viirs Ocean Color, Eurico J. D’Sa, Ishan Joshi, Bingqing Liu

Faculty Publications

Dissolved and particulate organic carbon, suspended particulate matter concentrations, and their optical proxies colored dissolved organic matter absorption and backscattering coefficients were studied in Galveston Bay, Texas, following the extreme flooding of Houston and surrounding areas due to Hurricane Harvey (25–29 August 2017) using field and ocean color observations. A three-step empirical-semianalytic algorithm for determination of colored dissolved organic matter absorption and backscattering coefficients revealed the dynamics of dissolved organic carbon and particle distribution from Visible and Infrared Imaging Radiometric Suite ocean color. Environmental drivers, especially floodwater discharge and winds, strongly influenced the spatiotemporal distribution of dissolved/particulate material in the …

An Evaluation Of Sciaenid Growth In The Gulf Of Mexico, Shane Flinn

LSU Master's Theses

Growth models estimate life history parameters that are used in the management of fisheries stocks. The most commonly used growth model in fisheries is the von Bertalanffy growth model (VBGM), yet it has been shown to provide a poor fit for length-at-age data of some species and other models exist. I reviewed 196 peer-reviewed age and growth studies and 50 NOAA stock assessments to examine temporal trends in the use of growth models and model selection in fisheries. I found that the use of multi-model frameworks has increased since the year 2000 and information theoretic approaches are replacing goodness-of-fit and …

The Relationship Between The High-Impact Practice Of Communication-Intensive Courses And Undergraduate Degree Completion At A Research University (Ru/Vh), Rebecca Acosta Burdette

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With a critical public lens on quality student learning inclusive of 21^st century communication skills, and organizational effectiveness à la retention and graduation rates, all amidst budget constraints and increasing enrollments, postsecondary institutions must adopt practices that are both efficient and effective. This study examined the educational practice of Communication‑Intensive (C-I) courses and its influence on the institutional outcome of undergraduate degree completion at a large, public research university.

In this longitudinal study, the researcher applied a quantitative ex post facto research design to analyze six years of official university data on undergraduates who entered the selected university as …

Economic Approaches And Market Structures For Temporal-Spatial Spectrum Sharing, Feixiang Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In wireless communication systems, economic approaches can be applied to spectrum sharing and enhance spectrum utilization.

In this research, we develop a model where geographic information, including licensed areas of primary users (PUs) and locations of secondary users (SUs), plays an important role in the spectrum sharing system. We consider a multi-price policy and the pricing power of noncooperative PUs in multiple geographic areas. Meanwhile, the value assessment of a channel is price-related and the demand from the SUs is price-elastic. By applying an evolutionary procedure, we prove the existence and uniqueness of the optimal payoff for each PU selling …

Project Narrative: Examining The Interplay Of Experiences Of Participants In An After-School Writing Club, Courtney A. Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Writing is a vital part of literacy development. It affords the opportunity for the expression and analysis of comprehensive thought, while simultaneously being a modality for unique and creative communication. In order for productive dialogue about the study of writing to be engaged, the contemplation of its many dynamic parts occurring across a diversity of contexts must be considered in such a way that one writing strategy, process, product or environment is not privileged above another. Each constituent part of writing construction contributes meaningfully to the existing body of research for this field, and when carefully disaggregated can offer specific …

Religion, Racism, And Ecological Stress Among African-American Families: A Qualitative Analysis Of Perceptions And Coping Strategies, Johnnie W. Jones

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Americans do not reside in what many consider now a Post-Racial society. A remarkable number of researchers found that African Americans are more likely than any other racial group to experience racism, manifested by racist attitudes and practices, which negatively affect their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing (health). Very importantly, numerous scholarly works have examined racism and Black women qualitatively. Unfortunately, less has been known about the personal processes and meaning-making mechanisms of Black married couples and African American males in terms of how they cope with racism, and ecological stress. To address this gap, this study uses qualitative …

Louisiana Agriculture Fall, 2018, Lsu Agcenter

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Louisiana Agriculture Fall, 2018, Lsu Agcenter

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

Fall 2018 Catalog, Lsu Press

LSU Press Seasonal Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes September 20, 2018, Faculty Senate

LSU Faculty Senate Publications

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes September 20, 2018

Using Improvisation To Increase Students' Self-Efficacy, Oral Proficiency, And Learning Satisfaction In Second Language Learning, Margaret Weston Piccoli

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Second Language teachers are challenged to consistently create communicative and meaningful activities while maintaining a low-anxiety classroom for language acquisition. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of the theatrical technique of improvisation and to understand if the technique improved students’ self-efficacy, oral proficiency, and learning satisfaction. This mixed method study was conducted with an experimental group (n = 10) and a control group (n = 3) at an English language program on a university campus through convenience sampling. Qualitative data were collected through class observations, student interviews, student journals, and video observations and three quantitative pre …

The 'Happiest' Corner Of London: Bethnal Green, 1550-1945, Audrey Lynne Gray

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

How is a cultural identity created, defined, and used? In this study, I have traced Bethnal Green’s cultural identity in the period between 1550 and1945. It was a cultural identity defined by poverty, but also by hope; residents were poor but scrappy, able to make do with the worst of circumstances. That cultural identity defined the area to outsiders; it was also embraced by the residents. Following the area’s path from an idyllic and genteel area to an overcrowded slum, I have traced the experience of poverty, and the development and impact of poverty relief, from the perspective of both …

Engineering Metal-Ligand Interface For Selective Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction, Yuxin Fang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Unsustainable exploitation of fossil fuel and its massive greenhouse gas emission necessitates the development in alternative energy sources. Chemical fuels (CH₃OH or C₂H₅OH) outperform other choices, such as batteries for their high energy densities, which is key to portability. Electrochemical reduction of CO₂is capable of producing a wide range of valuable fuels (Syngas, formic acid, methane and methanol, etc.). Converting CO₂into carbon-based fuels further closes the carbon neutral cycle, which contributes to the effort in reducing global CO₂emission. Integration of organic ligands with transition metals shows great potential …

Spatial Distribution And Contamination Assessment Of Surface Heavy Metals Off The Western Guangdong Province And Northeastern Hainan Island, Qian Ge, Zuo George Xue, Fengyou Chu

Faculty Publications

Surface sediments collected from the continental shelf off the western Guangdong Province and northeastern Hainan Island are analyzed for selected heavy metals contents including Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn, and As to determine spatial distribution, potential ecological risks, and sources. In addition, some of the controlling factors of heavy metals distribution are also discussed. The average heavy metals contents decrease in the order of Zn > Cr > Pb > Cu > As > Cd. The averaged pollution degree, as shown by the index of geo-accumulation (Igeo), decreases in the order of Zn > Cu > Pb > Cr > Cd > As. Due to the barrier of islands, the …

The Mayer And Minimum Time Problems With Stratified State Constraints, C. Hermosilla, P. R. Wolenski, H. Zidani

Faculty Publications

This paper studies optimal control problems with state constraints by imposing structural assumptions on the constraint domain coupled with a tangential restriction with the dynamics. These assumptions replace pointing or controllability assumptions that are common in the literature, and provide a framework under which feasible boundary trajectories can be analyzed directly. The value functions associated with the state constrained Mayer and minimal time problems are characterized as solutions to a pair of Hamilton-Jacobi inequalities with appropriate boundary conditions. The novel feature of these inequalities lies in the choice of the Hamiltonian.

Fiscal Reform Scenarios And Accessibility To Food In Guatemala, Guillermo R. Fernandez

LSU Master's Theses

Since signing the peace accords in 1996, the Guatemalan government committed to increase the tax burden of 1995 by 50% to a total of 13%. This target has only been reached 4 times in more than two decades. There have been multiple attempts at tax reforms that have failed or been incomplete. Guatemala exhibits much income inequality and is one of the poorest countries in the region.

Given this background, the problem to be considered in this analysis is that there is little information regarding how different tax reforms would affect the accessibility to food in Guatemala. With information regarding …

Using Local Fishery Monitoring To Understand Small-Scale Coastal Fisheries In Tanzania, Matthew Robertson

LSU Master's Theses

Nearshore marine fisheries provide the main source of protein for nearly 9 million people in the coastal villages of Tanzania, yet for decades the fisheries have shown signs of overexploitation. These fisheries are small-scale and co-managed by local coastal communities in groups known as Beach Management Units (BMUs). BMUs monitor individual fishing trip data (e.g. gear, vessel, taxa); however, these data have only been analyzed in nationally aggregated statistics and to our knowledge, are not presently used in management decision making. The present thesis aimed to identify the forms of data and information that local fishery monitoring can record about …

Will To Remember: Counter-Archives In The Work Of Alvarez, Danticat, And Díaz, Megan Elizabeth Feifer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation argues the essays, fiction, non-fiction, and non-profit work of authors Julia Alvarez, Edwidge Danticat, and Junot Díaz produce counter-narratives that when assembled, create a counter-archive of the Rafael Leonidas Trujillo dictatorship and its lasting effects. To support this claim, I analyze the various genres and medias they employ throughout the late 20^thand early 21^st centuries as redressing not only the “official” state history of the dictatorship, but also the overarching construction of history with a capital “H”. Through a close reading of form and the thematic concerns present in their work, I demonstrate how they …

Young Adult Book Review - Americanized: Rebel Without A Green Card, Danielle M. Butcher

The Journal of Balanced Literacy Research and Instruction

No abstract provided.

The Literary Canon: Virtue, Vice, Or Both, William P. Bintz

The Journal of Balanced Literacy Research and Instruction

This article evolved from recent conversations with middle and high school English/Language Arts teachers about the literary canon. The conversations were based on a question posed by one teacher in a professional development workshop: “To teach or not to teach the literary canon? That is my question.” Other teachers quickly stated that they have always struggled with this question and still do today. As a former English/Language Arts teacher, I recognized the importance of this question and afterwards spent time asking myself: Is the literary canon a virtue, vice, or both? This article shares my current best thinking about this …

The Power Of Pictures: Drawing On Visual Sign-Systems To Teach Inference In Gerstein’S The Man Between Two Towers, Shannon Howrey

The Journal of Balanced Literacy Research and Instruction

The ability to infer while reading is a critical part of meaning-making. Readers who infer go beyond the literal words on the page by adding information to the text and making implicit connections between the text and their prior knowledge (Barr, Blacowicz, Bates, Katz, & Kaufman, 2013). This skill allows them to establish causal relationships between story events, connect the events to their personal experiences, and determine relationships, motivations, and emotions within and between characters. Drawing on dual coding theory and visual literacy principles, the author demonstrates how the lines in the illustrations of The Man Between Two Towers assist …

The Response Strategies Of Proficient Readers When Correcting And Attempting To Correct Miscues On A Complex Scientific Text, Stephen B B. Kucer Dr.

The Journal of Balanced Literacy Research and Instruction

This study examines the strategies that proficient fourth grade readers employ when responding to their miscues. Thirty-four students orally read a complex expository scientific text. The text was part of the fourth grade science curriculum. Reader response strategies to their miscues—corrections and attempts to correct—were identified. It was discovered that response strategies were either graphic or contextual in nature. As measured by Chi-squares, readers varied their use of these strategies. This variation was statistically significant at the p < .001 level for both correction and attempt to correct strategies. For both, the primary focus was on the word level. Existing research documents that as text complexity increases, readers have a tendency to rely on sounding out as a default strategy. As readers progress across the grades, teachers will therefore need to prompt the use more than graphic strategies when readers respond to their miscues. This is particularly the case due to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. Students are being introduced to complex disciplinary texts in which the use of context is critical to …

What Counts As Common Core Aligned? An Examination Of A Reading Program's Agreement With The Common Core State Standards, Kim Skinner, Alecia Tate, Emily France, Gina Stocks

The Journal of Balanced Literacy Research and Instruction

Passage and implementation of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) created numerous difficulties for educational stakeholders. One such difficulty, determining the alignment of previously utilized curricula to the CCSS, forced many states, districts, and schools into purchasing “new” curricular resources marketed as “Common Core Aligned” without any available auditing process to validate the claims made by publishers. Since initial implementation of CCSS, measures for determining alignment have been developed. This study examined the alignment of a widely used reading program, Adventures Common Core (pseudonym), to the Common Core State Standards using a modified version of the Educators Evaluating the Quality …

Editor's Introduction For Volume 4 Issue 1, Estanislado S. Barrera Iv

The Journal of Balanced Literacy Research and Instruction

No abstract provided.

17.3 Full Issue, Taboo Journal

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

No abstract provided.

Dark Water: Rememory, Biopower, And Black Feminist Art, Stephanie Troutman, Brenna Johnson

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

No abstract provided.

The Spaces In Between: Foreign Language Education As Critical And Intercultural Education, Paola Giorgis

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

No abstract provided.