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An Exploratory Study Of The Influence Of National And State Standards On Middle School Science Teachers' Classroom Assessment Practices., Kathy Jean Mcwaters Jan 2001

An Exploratory Study Of The Influence Of National And State Standards On Middle School Science Teachers' Classroom Assessment Practices., Kathy Jean Mcwaters

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Classroom assessment practices of middle school science teachers were identified and the influence of national and state science standards on these practices was examined. In Phase I of this study a mail questionnaire was sent to 450 middle school (grades 5,6,7 and 8) science teachers in 17 parishes in Louisiana to obtain information about their classroom assessment practices. In Phase II, nine middle school teachers in eight departmentalized classrooms, two classes at each grade, participated in a qualitative study. Data were collected through questionnaires, classroom observations, interviews and document analysis. Data analysis revealed three major categories of classroom assessment targets: …

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Wavelet Analysis And Classification Of Urban Environment Using High -Resolution Multispectral Image Data., Soe Win Myint Jan 2001

Wavelet Analysis And Classification Of Urban Environment Using High -Resolution Multispectral Image Data., Soe Win Myint

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Attempts to analyze urban features and classify land use and land cover directly from high-resolution satellite data with traditional computer classification techniques have proven to be inefficient. The fundamental problem usually found in identifying urban land cover types from high-resolution satellite imagery is that urban areas are composed of diverse materials (metal, glass, concrete, asphalt, plastic, trees, soil, etc.). These materials, each of which may have completely different spectral characteristics, are combined in complex ways by human beings. Hence, each urban land cover type may contain several different objects with different reflectance values. Noisy appearance with lots of edges, and …

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Understanding The Connections Between High-Stakes Test Consequences And School Literacy Experiences., Deborah Karen Setliff Jan 2001

Understanding The Connections Between High-Stakes Test Consequences And School Literacy Experiences., Deborah Karen Setliff

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to connect the remedial summer school experiences of two fourth-grade students and four fifth-grade students with their school literacy experiences the following year. Understanding the students' experiences and connecting the experiences with school personnel provided a link between the students' and school personnel's perceptions of high-stakes testing consequences. Bridging these perceptions through cross-case analysis revealed the physical, emotional, and philosophical effects high-stakes testing is having on the students, school administrators, classroom teachers, and reading curriculum and instruction at the two elementary schools studied. Integrating the findings at the two schools helped develop a …

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Mapping By Cooperative Mobile Robots., Thomas Oliver Smailus Jan 2001

Mapping By Cooperative Mobile Robots., Thomas Oliver Smailus

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Constructing a system of intelligent robotic mapping agents that can function in an unstructured and unknown environment is a challenging task. With the exploration of our solar system as well as our own planet requiring more robust mapping agents, and with the drastic drop in the price of technology versus the gains in performance, robotic mapping is becoming a focus of research like never before. Efforts are underway to send mobile robots to map bodies within our solar system. While much of the research in robotic map construction has been focused on building maps used by the robotic agents themselves, …

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Estimation Of Oceanic Surface Velocity Vector Fields Using Multiresolution., Guillermo Tonsmann Jan 2001

Estimation Of Oceanic Surface Velocity Vector Fields Using Multiresolution., Guillermo Tonsmann

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation presents a new method for the estimation of oceanic surface velocity vector fields using multiresolution. Multiresolution is the ability to analyze a signal at various levels of resolution. In this dissertation, wavelet analysis is used to obtain multiresolution. This method requires the use of two sea surface temperature (SST) images of the same region taken within a known time interval. Wavelet analysis is performed in both images to reveal their components at decreasing resolution levels. The comparison of these components at each level yields vector fields representing local displacements of features within the images. These vector fields are …

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Spatial Variability And Isotopic Studies Of The Prairie -Forest Transition Soil In Louisiana., Asfaw Bekele Jan 2001

Spatial Variability And Isotopic Studies Of The Prairie -Forest Transition Soil In Louisiana., Asfaw Bekele

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The calcareous prairies of Louisiana are among the most endangered ecosystems in North America. The major threat to this ecosystem is the invasion by woody and herbaceous plants, primarily eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana ). The restoration and management of these rare plant communities require a thorough understanding of the soils supporting them. Geostatistical, fractal, and stable isotopic procedures were integrated to study the soil and vegetation spatial variability. The prairie soil was alkaline, the forest soil was acidic, and the transition soil was neutral. The spherical model described the spatial variability of virtually all the soil properties considered with …

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An Inquiry Into The Influence Of Taped Books On The Oral Reading Performance Of Struggling Third-Grade Readers., Dolores Doga Harris Jan 2001

An Inquiry Into The Influence Of Taped Books On The Oral Reading Performance Of Struggling Third-Grade Readers., Dolores Doga Harris

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of the nine-week study was to explore, using taped book intervention, the oral reading fluency of six struggling third-grade readers. The low-income, inner city, African American students were selected using teacher recommendations, standardized test scores, and the school system's Grade Level Indicators of Essential Knowledge---Grade 3 English Language Arts. Procedures used in the study were observing, collecting field notes, reviewing documents, conducting open-ended interviews, prioritizing book selection interests, and making assessments. Pre- and post-intervention assessments included the following: (1) oral reading rate---the Gray Oral Reading Test-3 (GORT-3), two-minute timed readings, and Corduroy benchmark probes; (2) word recognition---Slosson Oral …

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English Immersion Program In Korea: Student Progress After Four Months Of Implementation., Jaiwon Jung Jan 2001

English Immersion Program In Korea: Student Progress After Four Months Of Implementation., Jaiwon Jung

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

In Korea, efforts to teach a non-native language, such as English, to Korean students usually result in native speakers acquiring limited language abilities. As a result, the teaching of English has little effect upon making native speakers fluent in a non-native language. Many foreign language instructors in Korea attempt to find new teaching methods to improve the performance of students in foreign language proficiency. Among the various innovative approaches of the 20th century, research has shown that the immersion approach may be one of the most effective means. Thus this dissertation introduces the innovative immersion teaching methods for Korean school …

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Ways Of Incorporating Photographic Images In Learning And Assessing High School Biology: A Study Of Visual Perception And Visual Cognition., Brenda Chaumont Nixon Jan 2001

Ways Of Incorporating Photographic Images In Learning And Assessing High School Biology: A Study Of Visual Perception And Visual Cognition., Brenda Chaumont Nixon

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study evaluated the cognitive benefits and costs of incorporating biology-textbook and student-generated photographic images into the learning and assessment processes within a 10th grade biology classroom. The study implemented Wandersee's (2000) 20-Q Model of Image-Based Biology Test-Item Design (20-Q Model) to explore the use of photographic images to assess students' understanding of complex biological processes. A thorough review of the students' textbook using ScaleMaster R with PC Interface was also conducted. The photographs, diagrams, and other representations found in the textbook were measured to determine the percentage of each graphic depicted in the book and comparisons were made to …

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Measurement Of Bottom Quark Production In Two -Photon Collisions., Sepehr Saremi Jan 2001

Measurement Of Bottom Quark Production In Two -Photon Collisions., Sepehr Saremi

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The cross section for bottom quark production in two-photon collisions, sigma( e+e- → e+e- bb¯X), is measured for the first time. The measurement is performed with the L3 detector at the Large Electron Positron (LEP) collider at the European Center for Nuclear and Particle Physics (CERN). The data corresponds to 410 pb-1 taken at center-of-mass energies from 189 GeV to 202 GeV. Hadrons containing a bottom quark are identified by detecting electrons or muons from their semi-leptonic decays. The measured cross section is in excess of the Next to Leading Order QCD prediction by a factor of three.

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Evolutionary Implications Of Divergent Clines In An Avian (Manacus: Aves) Hybrid Zone, Robb T. Brumfield, Robert W. Jernigan, David B. Mcdonald, Michael J. Braun Jan 2001

Evolutionary Implications Of Divergent Clines In An Avian (Manacus: Aves) Hybrid Zone, Robb T. Brumfield, Robert W. Jernigan, David B. Mcdonald, Michael J. Braun

Faculty Publications

A previous study of the hybrid zone in western Panama between white-collared (Manacus candei) and golden-collared manakins (M. vitellinus) documented the unidirectional introgression of vitellinus male secondary sexual traits across the zone. Here, we examine the hybrid zone in greater genetic and morphological detail. Statistical comparisons of clines are performed using maximum-likelihood and nonparametric bootstrap methods. Our results demonstrate that an array of six molecular and two morphometric markers agree in cline position and width. Clines for male collar and belly color are similar in width to the first eight clines, but are shifted in position by at least five …

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The Asymptotic Equivalence Of The Fisher Information Matrices For Type I And Type Ii Censored Data From Location-Scale Families, Luis A. Escobar, William Q. Meeker Jan 2001

The Asymptotic Equivalence Of The Fisher Information Matrices For Type I And Type Ii Censored Data From Location-Scale Families, Luis A. Escobar, William Q. Meeker

Faculty Publications

Type I and Type II censored data arise frequently in controlled laboratory studies concerning time to a particular event (e.g., death of an animal or failure of a physical device). Log-location-scale distributions (e.g., Weibull, log-normal, and loglogistic) are commonly used to model the resulting data. Maximum likelihood (ML) is generally used to obtain parameter estimates when the data are censored. The Fisher information matrix can be used to obtain large-sample approximate variances and covariances of the ML estimates or to estimate these variances and covariances from data. The derivations of the Fisher information matrix proceed differently for Type I (time …

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Lsu General Catalog 2001-2002, Louisiana State University And Agricultural And Mechanical College Jan 2001

Lsu General Catalog 2001-2002, Louisiana State University And Agricultural And Mechanical College

LSU General Catalog

The LSU General Catalog describes all undergraduate and graduate departments and programs with degree requirements and courses offered for each one. The General Catalog includes information on registration and financial aid as well as academic services offered to all students.

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Densities Of 4-Ranks Of K(2) Of Rings Of Integers., Robert Burke Osburn Jan 2001

Densities Of 4-Ranks Of K(2) Of Rings Of Integers., Robert Burke Osburn

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Conner and Hurrelbrink established a method of determining the structure of the 2-Sylow subgroup of the tame kernel K2( O ) for certain quadratic number fields. Specifically, the 4-rank for these fields was characterized in terms of positive definite binary quadratic forms. Numerical calculations led to questions concerning possible density results of the 4-rank of tame kernels. In this thesis, we succeed in giving affirmative answers to these questions.

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Seiberg-Witten Invariants Of 4-Manifolds With Free Circle Actions, Scott Baldridge Jan 2001

Seiberg-Witten Invariants Of 4-Manifolds With Free Circle Actions, Scott Baldridge

Faculty Publications

The main results of this paper describes a formula for the Seiberg-Witten invariant of a 4-manifold which admits a nontrivial free circle action. We use this theorem to produce a nonsymplectic 4-manifold with a free circle action whose orbit space fibers over circle. We also describe a nontrivial 3-manifold which is not the orbit space of any symplectic 4-manifold with a free circle action. A corollary of the main theorem is a formula for the 3-dimensional Seiberg-Witten invariants of the total space of a circle bundle over a surface. © World Scientific Publishing Company.

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Causal Compactification And Hardy Spaces For Spaces Of Hermitian Type, Frank Betten, Gestur Ólafsson Jan 2001

Causal Compactification And Hardy Spaces For Spaces Of Hermitian Type, Frank Betten, Gestur Ólafsson

Faculty Publications

Let G/H be a compactly causal symmetric space with causal compactification Φ : G/H → Š1, where Š1 is the Bergman-Šilov boundary of a tube type domain G1/K1. The Hardy space H2(C) of G/H is the space of holomorphic functions on a domain Ξ(C°) ⊂ Gℂ/Hℂ with L2-boundary values on G/H. We extend Φ to imbed Ξ(C°) into G1/K1, such that Ξ(C°) = {z ∈ G1/K1 | ψm(z) ≠ 0}, with ψm explicitly known. We use this to construct an isometry I of the classical Hardy space Hcl on G1/K1 into H2(C) or into a Hardy space H̃2(C) defined on …

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Useful Alternative To The Multipole Expansion Of Potentials, H. S. Cohl, A. R.P. Rau, J. E. Tohline, D. A. Browne, J. E. Cazes, E. I. Barnes Jan 2001

Useful Alternative To The Multipole Expansion Of Potentials, H. S. Cohl, A. R.P. Rau, J. E. Tohline, D. A. Browne, J. E. Cazes, E. I. Barnes

Faculty Publications

Few-body problems involving Coulomb or gravitational interactions between pairs of particles, whether in classical or quantum physics, are generally handled through a standard multipole expansion of the two-body potentials. We develop an alternative based on an old, but hitherto forgotten, expression for the inverse distance between two points that builds on azimuthal symmetry. This alternative should have wide applicability throughout physics and astronomy, both for computation and for the insights it provides through its emphasis on different symmetries and structures than are familiar from the standard treatment. We compare and contrast the two methods, develop addition theorems for Legendre functions …

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The Bennequin Number Of N-Trivial Closed N-Braids Is Negative, Oliver T. Dasbach, Lin Xiao-Song Jan 2001

The Bennequin Number Of N-Trivial Closed N-Braids Is Negative, Oliver T. Dasbach, Lin Xiao-Song

Faculty Publications

A famous result of Bennequin states that for any braid representative of the unknot the Bennequin number is negative. We will extend this result to all n-trivial closed n-braids. This is a class of infinitely many knots closed under taking mirror images. Our proof relies on a non-standard parameterization of the HOMFLY polynomial. Another interesting corollary of this parameterization is that if all Vassiliev invariants up to degree c vanish on a knot of crossing number c, then this knot has trivial HOMFLY polynomial.

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Viscosity Solutions Of The Bellman Equation For Exit Time Optimal Control Problems With Non-Lipschitz Dynamics, Michael Malisoff Jan 2001

Viscosity Solutions Of The Bellman Equation For Exit Time Optimal Control Problems With Non-Lipschitz Dynamics, Michael Malisoff

Faculty Publications

We study the Bellman equation for undiscounted exit time optimal control problems with fully nonlinear Lagrangians and fully nonlinear dynamics using the dynamic programming approach. We allow problems whose non-Lipschitz dynamics admit more than one solution trajectory for some choices of open loop controls and initial positions. We prove a uniqueness theorem which characterizes the value functions of these problems as the unique viscosity solutions of the corresponding Bellman equations that satisfy appropriate boundary conditions. We deduce that the value function for Sussmann’s Reflected Brachystochrone Problem for an arbitrary singleton target is the unique viscosity solution of the corresponding Bellman …

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Cosmopolitanism In Early Travel Literature Alexandre De Rhodes In Vietnam, Barbara W. Maggs Jan 2001

Cosmopolitanism In Early Travel Literature Alexandre De Rhodes In Vietnam, Barbara W. Maggs

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

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Towards A Geriatric Enlightenment, George Rousseau Jan 2001

Towards A Geriatric Enlightenment, George Rousseau

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

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Foliation Jokes In Tristram Shandy, Diana Patterson Jan 2001

Foliation Jokes In Tristram Shandy, Diana Patterson

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

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Quantum Measurement And Decoherence, G. W. Ford, J. T. Lewis, R. F. O’Connell Jan 2001

Quantum Measurement And Decoherence, G. W. Ford, J. T. Lewis, R. F. O’Connell

Faculty Publications

Distribution functions defined in accordance with the quantum theory of measurement are combined with results obtained from the quantum Langevin equation to discuss decoherence in quantum Brownian motion. Closed form expressions for wave packet spreading and the attenuation of coherence of a pair of wave packets are obtained. The results are exact within the context of linear passive dissipation. It is shown that, contrary to widely accepted current belief, decoherence can occur at high temperature in the absence of dissipation. Expressions for the decoherence time with and without dissipation are obtained that differ from those appearing in earlier discussions. © …

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Cure For Unstable Numerical Evolutions Of Single Black Holes: Adjusting The Standard Adm Equations In The Spherically Symmetric Case, Bernard Kelly, Pablo Laguna, Keith Lockitch, Jorge Pullin, Erik Schnetter, Deirdre Shoemaker, Manuel Tiglio Jan 2001

Cure For Unstable Numerical Evolutions Of Single Black Holes: Adjusting The Standard Adm Equations In The Spherically Symmetric Case, Bernard Kelly, Pablo Laguna, Keith Lockitch, Jorge Pullin, Erik Schnetter, Deirdre Shoemaker, Manuel Tiglio

Faculty Publications

Numerical codes based on a direct implementation of the standard Arnowitt-Deser-Misner (ADM) formulation of Einstein's equations have generally failed to provide long-term stable and convergent evolutions of black hole space-times when excision is used to remove the singularities. We show that, for the case of a single black hole in spherical symmetry, it is possible to circumvent these problems by adding terms involving the constraints to the evolution equations, thus adjusting the standard ADM system. We investigate the effect that the choice of the lapse and shift has on the stability properties of numerical simulations and thus on the form …

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Monodromy Of Fiber-Type Arrangements And Orbit Configuration Spaces, Daniel C. Cohen Jan 2001

Monodromy Of Fiber-Type Arrangements And Orbit Configuration Spaces, Daniel C. Cohen

Faculty Publications

We prove similar theorems concerning the structure of bundles involving complements of fiber-type hyperplane arrangements and orbit configuration spaces. These results facilitate analysis of the fundamental groups of these spaces, which may be viewed as generalizations of the Artin pure braid group. In particular, we resolve two disparate conjectures. We show that the Whitehead group of the fundamental group of the complement of a fiber-type arrangement is trivial, as conjectured by Aravinda, Farrell, and Rouchon [AFR]. For the orbit configuration space corresponding to the natural action of a finite cyclic group on the punctured plane, we determine the structure of …

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Developing Consensus Indicators Of Sustainability For Southeastern United States Aquaculture, Rex H. Caffey Jan 2001

Developing Consensus Indicators Of Sustainability For Southeastern United States Aquaculture, Rex H. Caffey

LSU Agricultural Experiment Station Reports

No abstract provided.

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Magmatic And Hydrothermal Activity In Lena Trough, Arctic Ocean, Jonathan Snow, Eric Hellebrand, Wilfried Jokat, Richard Muhe Jan 2001

Magmatic And Hydrothermal Activity In Lena Trough, Arctic Ocean, Jonathan Snow, Eric Hellebrand, Wilfried Jokat, Richard Muhe

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Polyurethane Foam Based Packing Media For Biofilters Removing Volatile Organic Compounds From Contaminated Air, Felipe A. Martinez Jan 2001

Polyurethane Foam Based Packing Media For Biofilters Removing Volatile Organic Compounds From Contaminated Air, Felipe A. Martinez

LSU Master's Theses

In recent years, biofiltration technology has gained acceptance worldwide as an economical and reliable air pollution control technology for treating gases contaminated by low concentrations of biodegradable volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Important applications include control of odors generated by wastewater treatment plants and control of VOC emissions from industrial sources. Although there have been many successful applications, several operational problems have been reported in the literature. These include difficulty in control over bed moisture content, high head loss caused by excessive biomass production, and inability to maintain removal efficiency during transient periods of high concentration loading. Use of a superior …

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Synthesis And Analysis Of Three-Dimensional Molecular Architectures, Patricia Beck Jan 2001

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 …

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Evaluation Of In Situ Bioremediation Approaches In Meeting International Standards For Organic And Residual Metals Toxicity In Soils, Jason Allan Mcdonald Jan 2001

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 …

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