Digital Commons Network^™

Field Performance And Cost Effectiveness Of Crack Sealing In Flexible And Composite Pavements, Momen Ragab Mousa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Surface cracking is one of the major surface distresses in asphalt concrete (AC) pavement, allowing water infiltration through the cracks, causing stripping in asphalt pavement layers, and weakening and deteriorating the base and/or subgrade. Its treatment, therefore, is one of the major activities in pavement preservation for many state DOTs. Among the various treatment methods currently available to preserve AC pavement with existing surface cracking are various forms of crack sealing. Crack sealing is not a common practice to Louisiana highways since the benefit of such treatment appears to be affected by the elevation of the ground water table. Studies …

Chemosensors Based On Higher Energy Gap Control Of Fluorescence In Conjugated Polymers, Chun-Han Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Conjugated polymers (CPs) have been widely investigated for their remarkably high sensitivity towards various chemical detection applications. CPs can exhibit effective transduction of certain analyte binding events through changes in fluorescence. These changes include amplified fluorescence quenching ("turn-offmechanism") or an appearance of a fluorescent emission ("turn-onmechanism"). Whereas turn-offsensors can be readily designed and are widely used, amplifying turn-onsensors, from a practical standpoint, are more convenient to use but are more challenging to design.

This dissertation primarily focuses on the development and study of conjugated polymer based amplifying turn-onfluorescence chemosensors utilizing the novel “higher …

Capturing Contingency: Experimental Documentary In The Wake Of Direct Cinema, Dustin Reed Zemel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines experimental works in the late 1960s utilizing technologies and techniques connected with direct cinema and cinema vérité models of documentary filming. Focusing on three experimental filmmakers, I show how films by Jonas Mekas, Robert Fulton and William Greaves eschew the austere style associated with observational realism of direct cinema in favor of more ostentatious experimental assembly practices which highlight the role of the filmmaker as artist. I argue for a relational model of assessment in which documentary film’s qualitative renderings of environment become important determinants of documentary integrity and efficacy. With separate chapters focusing on works by …

Examining Values Of E-Luxury Among Young Consumers, Nancy Haddad

LSU Master's Theses

Over the past few years, changes in technology, especially the increased use of online shopping, has impacted fashion retailers. Many brands, such as luxury brands, have recognized the online shopping potential and have engaged in setting up their websites in ways that are geared towards meeting luxury consumers’ online shopping needs. Previous research has examined consumers’ luxury consumptions, but there is no known study that has examined young consumers online luxury consumption and which value perceptions can impact shopping intentions. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to shed some light on understanding young consumers’ online luxury consumption. Specifically, …

Evaluation Of Post-Harvest Procedures For Quality Enhancement In The Louisiana Commercial Shrimp Industry, Nicholas Alan Haddad

LSU Master's Theses

The Louisiana commercial shrimp fishery has faced numerous challenges and is declining at an alarming rate. The opportunity may exist to add value to the industry by creating a superior product through optimal operating procedures. Post-harvest processes of plate freezing were analyzed to develop a high-quality shrimp product capable of fostering economic growth for fishermen. Quantifiable data was collected via overnight trips onboard plate freezing boats and at plate freezing docks. Sulfite-free melanosis prevention testing occurred by exploring the use of 4-hexylresorcinol treatments, in combination with vacuum packaging and modified atmosphere packaging, to delay the onset of black spot. Physical …

Cruzando Para El Otro Lado: Motivation, Communication, And The Migrant Experience, Crystal Paul

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Latino/a migration scholarship has largely focused on the motivations to migrate and the assimilation of men migrants. When gender is considered in migration research, it is often treated as a demographic characteristic used to track differences in trends between men and women migrants rather than as a structuring entity informing the migration experience. Recent feminist scholars have shifted focus, employing gender as a theoretical tool to understand how gender shapes the migrant experience before, during and after migration. My research draws upon this theoretical approach and uses data collected via in-depth interviews in an attempt to understand how gender shapes …

Political Parties For Protection And Profit: Explaining Opposition Party Competition Under Electoral Authoritarianism, Michael David Toje

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the presence of open elections and contestable political offices, opposition parties in electoral authoritarian regimes face barriers – formal and informal – that prevent them from attaining de facto power. Yet, these parties still decide to spend the time, money, and effort to run candidates in unfair elections. This dissertation seeks to uncover the reasons that opposition parties decide to compete in such an uncompetitive environment, and what sustains opposition parties though cycles of defeat. It proposes that opposition parties compete not for the purposes of unseating the ruling party, but rather for controlling their own local affairs away …

Factors Influencing Safety Performance Among Industrial Manufacturing Facilities In Louisiana, Sarah Emily Ragona

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of selected organizational, demographic, and safety practice factors on the number and types of injuries within the industrial manufacturing plants in eight parishes in southern Louisiana. The target population was industrial organizational facilities. The accessible population was industrial manufacturing plants in the eight parishes surrounding Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who are members of a trade association comprised of industrial manufacturers. The sample was 100% of the defined as the accessible population. The researcher contacted a trade organization to identify the data source, requested and was granted permission to both access …

#Whyididntreport: Using Social Media Analysis To Inform Issues With Sexual Assault Reporting, Jordyn Warren

LSU Master's Theses

The #MeToo movement allowed victims of sexual assault to go public with their stories. When Dr. Christine Blasey Ford came forward with allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in September of 2018, she was scrutinized by President Trump for not reporting the incident to authorities “when it happened nearly 30 years ago.” Promptly, #WhyIDidntReport came to fruition on Twitter, uncovering the shame victims feel and the complexities behind why so many individuals didn’t and still don’t report their assaults. Victim-service agencies “provide victims with support and services to facilitate their physical and emotional recovery, offer protection from future victimizations, …

Field Drilling Data Cleaning And Preparation For Data Analytics Applications, Daniel Cardoso Braga

LSU Master's Theses

Throughout the history of oil well drilling, service providers have been continuously striving to improve performance and reduce total drilling costs to operating companies. Despite constant improvement in tools, products, and processes, data science has not played a large part in oil well drilling. With the implementation of data science in the energy sector, companies have come to see significant value in efficiently processing the massive amounts of data produced by the multitude of internet of thing (IOT) sensors at the rig. The scope of this project is to combine academia and industry experience to analyze data from 13 different …

Interpreting Reality In The Anthropocene, Jake Philip Hamill

LSU Master's Theses

In this paper, I would like to propose that abundant beautification techniques in contemporary nature documentaries are counterproductive when attempting to address humans’ impact on our planet. By utilizing technology there could be a new way to educate ourselves about the Anthropocene on platforms such as Google Earth where one can view nature, statistics, and art by location. With limited data, learning about our effects on nature in its entirety is close to impossible but art can allow us to try and reveal new hidden connections.

Maximizing And Modeling Malonyl-Coa Production In Escherichia Coli, Tatiana Thompson Silveira Mello

LSU Master's Theses

In E. coli, fatty acid synthesis is catalyzed by the enzyme acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC), which converts acetyl-CoA into malonyl-CoA. Malonyl-CoA is a major building block for numerous of bioproducts. Multiple parameters regulate the homeostatic cellular concentration of malonyl-CoA, keeping it at a very low level. Understanding how these parameters affect the bacterial production of malonyl-CoA is fundamental to maximizing it and its bioproducts. To this end, competing pathways consuming malonyl-CoA can be eliminated, and optimal nutritional and environmental conditions can be provided to the fermentation broth. Most previous studies utilized genetic modifications, expensive consumables, and high-cost quantification methods, making …

Exploring The Role Of Gender And Race In Salary Negotiations, Chelsea D. Hightower

LSU Master's Theses

Research findings from the negotiation literature have revealed significant differences in the negotiation behaviors of men and women, specifically that women do not negotiate as often or as successfully as men do. This difference has been cited as one of many factors contributing to the persistence of the gender wage gap. A possible explanation for the differences is that men and women are treated differently when they negotiate. Thus, there is evidence that women negotiators tend to receive multiple forms of social and economic punishment (i.e., backlash) for engaging in behavior that is inconsistent with stereotype-based expectations of women in …

Phantasmatic: Interrogating The (Im)Materiality Of Bodies Through Wool And Clay, Alexandria J. Arceneaux

LSU Master's Theses

Phantasmaticis an exploration of materials and materiality which relies on the concept of the phantasmatic body elucidated in Gayle Salamon’s work Assuming a Body: Transgender and Rhetorics of Materiality. This thesis is an exploration of these ideas. In my work, I use wool and clay to represent the material (known) and phantasmatic (sensed) bodies in an effort to explore an expanded understanding of the body at large. My work is also an effort to expand my own understanding of my phantasmatic body and its relationship to (my) materiality.

The Link Between Purine Metabolism And Production Of Antibiotics In Streptomyces, Smitha Sivapragasam, Anne Grove

Faculty Publications

© 2019 by the authors. Stress and starvation causes bacterial cells to activate the stringent response. This results in down-regulation of energy-requiring processes related to growth, as well as an upregulation of genes associated with survival and stress responses. Guanosine tetra- and pentaphosphates (collectively referred to as (p)ppGpp) are critical for this process. In Gram-positive bacteria, a main function of (p)ppGpp is to limit cellular levels of GTP, one consequence of which is reduced transcription of genes that require GTP as the initiating nucleotide, such as rRNA genes. In Streptomycetes, the stringent response is also linked to complex morphological differentiation …

Spatiotemporal Coupling Of Attosecond Pulses, Cord L. Arnold, Hampus Wikmark, Chen Guo, Jan Vogelsang, Peter W. Smorenburg, Helene Coudert-Alteirac, Jan Lahl, Jasper Peschel, Piotr Rudawski, Hugo Dacasa, Stefanos Carlstrom, Sylvain Maclot, Mette B. Gaarde, Per Johnsson, Anne Lahuillier

Faculty Publications

Attosecond pulses in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectral range are today routinely generated via high-order harmonic generation (HHG), when intense ultrashort laser pulses are focused into a gaseous generation medium. The effect is most easily understood in a semi-classical picture [1]. An electron can tunnel ionize from the distorted atomic potential, pick up kinetic energy in the laser field, potentially return to its parent ion and recombine. The excess energy is emitted as XUV photon. The process repeats for every half-cycle of the driving field, resulting in a train of attosecond pulses and in the frequency domain in the well-known, …

Current Status And Recommendations Toward A Virus Standard For Ballast Water, Yiseul Kim, Samuel D. Snow, Vanessa Reichel-Deland, Mostafa Maghsoodi, Gabrielle M. Langlois, Volodymyr V. Tarabara, Joan B. Rose

Faculty Publications

Ballast water contains and transfers a variety of biological and non-biological materials between biomes. This study aimed to summarize published literature on the viruses found in ballast water, to evaluate ultrafiltration and plaque assay as methods for concentrating and enumerating viruses, and to assess the efficacy of UV irradiation in the inactivation of infectious viruses in ballast water. Previous studies reported high virus concentrations in ballast tanks, ranging from 109 to 1014 viral particles/L. The ultrafiltration and plaque assay were efficient in concentrating and enumerating four types of phages: MS2, PhiX174, P22, and PP7. The UV dose (radiant fluence) necessary …

Predicting Climate Types For The Continental United States Using Unsupervised Clustering Techniques, D. Sathiaraj, X. Huang, J. Chen

Faculty Publications

The problem of clustering climate data observation sites and grouping them by their climate types is considered. Machine learning–based clustering algorithms are used in analyzing climate data time series from more than 3,000 climate observation sites in the United States, with the objective of classifying climate type for regions across the United States. Understanding the climate type of a region has applications in public health, environment, actuarial science, insurance, agriculture, and engineering. In this study, daily climate data measurements for temperature and precipitation from the time period 1946–2015 have been used. The daily data observations were grouped into three derived …

Characterizing Location-Based Mobile Tracking In Mobile Ad Networks, Boyang Hu, Qicheng Lin, Yao Zheng, Qiben Yan, Matthew Troglia, Qingyang Wang

Faculty Publications

Mobile apps nowadays are often packaged with third-party ad libraries to monetize user data. Many mobile ad networks exploit these mobile apps to extract sensitive real-Time geographical data about the users for location-based targeted advertising. However, the massive collection of sensitive information by the ad networks has raised serious privacy concerns. Unfortunately, the extent and granularity of private data collection of the location-based ad networks remain obscure. In this work, we present a mobile tracking measurement study to characterize the severity and significance of location-based private data collection in mobile ad networks, by using an automated fine-grained data collection instrument …

Pore-Scale Modeling Of Nanoparticle Transport And Retention In Real Porous Materials, Paula C. Sanematsu, Karsten E. Thompson, Clinton S. Willson

Faculty Publications

Modern pore-scale modeling has the ability to simulate flow and particle (i.e., colloids, nanoparticles) transport at the pore- and particle-scale in realistic porous media. The pore structure of a material can be obtained through x-ray micro tomography (XCT) or a similar three-dimensional imaging technique. From these data sets, fluid and particle transport can be simulated by direct numerical simulation of the fundamental equations of motion. In this paper, we employ the finite element method to simulate Stokes flow and, after the flow field is resolved, Lagrangian particle tracking to track the fate and transport of nanoparticles (NPs). The presented methodology …

“I Need To Believe That Something Extraordinary Is Possible”: Effects Of Transcendent Media Experiences On The Destigmatization Of Mental Illness, Stephanie Whitenack

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Entertainment psychology is moving toward an area of study where being entertained means experiencing pleasure and/or satisfying fundamental, meaningful needs as human beings (Vorderer, 2011). Now, scholars are examining meaningful media experiences and a recent subset known as transcendent media experiences. Transcendent media experiences are defined as experiences that elicit mixed affective states that can heighten feelings of elevation, compassion, and connectedness that lead to more prosocial motivations. These subjective experiences of meaningfulness can inspire universality by cultivating desires to overcome intergroup hostility (Oliver et al., 2018).

Much is known about the cognitive processes that contribute to lessening social distance …

The Jeffersonian Huey Long: The Rise Of Southern Socialism, Ali Katherine Nabours

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation argues that there existed in the South between the 1890s and World War II a leftist dissenting tradition which frequently included or had a good deal in common with Socialism. Southern Socialism, broadly defined as a shared set of leftist values among a diverse population, was unique to the region because it was a native-born movement established in response to the region’s unique social, labor, and economic conditions. Huey Long capitalized on this tradition in his rise to power. He went after the voters that political machines and large interests ignored. He echoed the complaints poor Southerners had …

Measurement Of Visual Cues And Their Effects On Online Users: An Image Mining Approach, Shuya Lu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Textual marketing communication is effective in various contexts such as print advertising, user-generated content, and social media (Diamond 1968; Ludwig et al. 2013; Nam and Kannan 2014). However, visual marketing communication studies are limited in the context of print advertising (e.g., Hagtvedt and Brasel 2017). This dissertation includes two essays to examine the visual communication effectiveness online.

Essay 1 develops a conceptual framework to examine the visual-based brand perception (VBBP) and related concepts on social media. We propose that the VBBP is a co-creational process between a company and its consumers and exhibits three characteristics: i) a two-way communication that …

Developing An Optomechanical Approach For Characterizing Mechanical Properties Of Single Adherent Cells, Ali Mehrnezhad

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mechanical properties of a cell reflect its biological and pathological conditions including cellular disorders and fundamental cellular processes such as cell division and differentiation. There have been active research efforts to develop high-throughput platforms to mechanically characterize single cells. Yet, many of these research efforts are focused on suspended cells and use a flow-through configuration. Therefore, adherent cells are detached prior to the characterization, which seriously perturbs the cellular conditions. Also, methods for adherent cells are limited in their throughput.

My study is aimed to fill the technical gap in the field of single cell analysis, which is a high-throughput …

Beyond The Transcript: A Narrative Analysis Of Students' Experiences With Academic Dismissal In A Baccalaureate Nursing Program, Angela Edwards Capello

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Re-defining different is the first step in addressing inequity in nursing education and the disparities that result in a high incidence of academic dismissal in baccalaureate nursing programs. What are the students' differences that contribute to one student’s ease of progression through a baccalaureate nursing program and those who struggle from the first semester?

This study provides a private look into the experiences of nine baccalaureate nursing students who were academically dismissed from their nursing program. Each story chronological from the time they decided to pursue nursing to their experiences during nursing school and to their lives after dismissal. …

Effective Use Of Systems Beyond The Firm’S Control: The Case Of Online Review Systems, Biagio Palese

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The world is changing, and companies are becoming more exposed to systems beyond their control (e.g., online review systems, social media, shopping comparisons websites). We define systems beyond the firm’s control as any information systems neither designed nor commissioned by a company, that the firm must use to compete. Despite their importance and increasing prevalence these types of systems are surprisingly understudied in Information Systems. We focus our attention on the effective use of a specific class of systems beyond the firm’s control: online review systems. Online reviews are virtualized and broadcasted customer service systems that affect customers’ decisions. Companies …

Chemical Approaches For Nanofabrication Based On Colloidal Lithography With Organosilanes, Nanoparticles And Nickel Films: The Role Of Water In Directing Surface Self-Assembly, Neepa Malsi Kumari Kuruppu Arachchige

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The capabilities for accomplishing fundamental surface studies with molecular systems are demonstrated in this dissertation using measurement and imaging modes of scanning probe microscopy. Model systems were chosen for investigations of surface self-assembly mechanisms, with an emphasis on understanding the role of interfacial water in surface reactivity. A key strategy for molecular level studies was to prepare nanostructures using protocols with colloidal lithography and scanning probe-based lithography (SPL). Nanofabricated samples were characterized ex situ with contact and tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (AFM) after key reaction steps, providing direct views of changes in surface morphology at the nanoscale. Magnetic sample modulation …

The Role Of Cognitive Vulnerabilities In The Severity Of Internalizing Symptoms In Children And Adolescents, Maysa Kaskas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Contemporary theories of psychopathology suggest that cognitive vulnerabilities play a key role in the development, severity, and maintenance of internalizing symptomology across the lifespan. The two primary cognitive vulnerabilities assessed in children and adolescents are anxiety sensitivity (i.e., negative beliefs about the consequences of physiological arousal; AS) and negative self-cognitions (i.e., negative self-referential thoughts; NS-C). These cognitive vulnerabilities are theorized to have transdiagnostic qualities, as both have been evaluated as predictors of symptoms of anxiety and depression. However, existing research in youth has largely examined AS in relation to anxiety alone and NS-C primarily in relation to depression. Additionally, the …

After-School Martial Arts: A History, Perceptions Of Academic Advantage, And Effects On Academic Performance, Rose Marie Kelley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

After-School Martial Arts utilizes mixed methods to further our understanding of (a) how martial arts became an established after-school activity for elementary school children, (b) how parents and participants perceive the value of martial arts, and (c) whether sustained participation in martial arts is associated with academic gains. I begin with a historical case study that examines how parents came to see martial arts as one of the viable after-school activities for their elementary school age children. Next, I employed qualitative observations and in-depth interviewing techniques to learn more about what parents and participants perceived as attractive in marital arts …

Mobile Music Development Tools For Creative Coders, Daniel Stuart Holmes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project is a body of work that facilitates the creation of musical mobile artworks. The project includes a code toolkit that enhances and simplifies the development of mobile music iOS applications, a flexible notation system designed for mobile musical interactions, and example apps and scored compositions to demonstrate the toolkit and notation system.

The code library is designed to simplify the technical aspect of user-centered design and development with a more direct connection between concept and deliverable. This sim- plification addresses learning problems (such as motivation, self-efficacy, and self-perceived understanding) by bridging the gap between idea and functional prototype …