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A Multiple Case Narrative Examining The Experiences Of Alumni Of A Minority Research And Training Program, Gretchen Schneider Burton Jan 2017

A Multiple Case Narrative Examining The Experiences Of Alumni Of A Minority Research And Training Program, Gretchen Schneider Burton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The implementation of minority research and training (MRT) programs at the post secondary level has risen to close the educational achievement gap and build undergraduate pathways to generate a highly skilled and diverse STEM pool. Although the numbers of advanced science related degrees have slowly increased over the past decade, partially due to the utilization of MRT programs, this increase has not been adequate to establish an impactful representation in either academic or industry research careers. Numerous studies identify various support interventions influencing positive outcomes among MRT participants achieving graduate degrees. However, majority of the studies utilize quantitative or a …

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The Effects Of Aerobic Exercise And Lipolytic Stimulation On Skeletal Muscle And Adipose Expression Of Perilipin 3 (Plin3) In Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes And Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Jeffrey Daniel Covington Jan 2017

The Effects Of Aerobic Exercise And Lipolytic Stimulation On Skeletal Muscle And Adipose Expression Of Perilipin 3 (Plin3) In Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes And Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Jeffrey Daniel Covington

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ectopic lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle is linked with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Neutral lipid is stored as lipid droplets, which are coated by lipid droplet coat proteins. One important class of these proteins are the perilipins. Little research has focused on perilipin 3 (PLIN3) and coatomer gtp-ases, theorized to be involved in PLIN3 directed lipid oxidation. Under lipolytic stimulation with epinephrine or palmitate, forskolin, and ionomysin (PFI), primary human myotubes taken from health non-T2D donors showed increased protein content levels of PLIN3. Concordantly, following endurance exercise in non-T2D males—an experimental paradigm shown to increase lipolysis—levels of …

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Functional And Structural Analyses Of A Bacterial Antifreeze Protein, Chen Wang Jan 2017

Functional And Structural Analyses Of A Bacterial Antifreeze Protein, Chen Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are a class of ice binding proteins (IBPs) that are expressed by different cold-adapted organisms to increase their freezing tolerance. AFPs have two major properties: thermal hysteresis and ice recrystallization inhibition. Here we report the functional and structural analyses of a bacterial AFP, IBPv. IBPv was originally secreted by a bacterium recovered from a deep glacial ice core drilled at Vostok Station, Antarctica. Our study showed that the recombinant protein rIBPv exhibited a thermal hysteresis of 2°C at concentrations higher than 50 µM, effectively inhibited ice recrystallization, and enhanced bacterial viability during freeze-thaw cycling. Circular dichroism scans …

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Assessing The Effects Of The Smartphone As A Learning Tool On The Academic Achievement And Motivation Of High School Agriculture Students In Louisiana, Henry Eric Smith Jan 2017

Assessing The Effects Of The Smartphone As A Learning Tool On The Academic Achievement And Motivation Of High School Agriculture Students In Louisiana, Henry Eric Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Perhaps the most influential device in modern society is the smartphone. Over 90% of Americans aged 18-29 own a smartphone and 74% of teenagers reported using a smartphone as their primary internet connection. Students perceived that using smartphones in the classroom aided learning. However, two-thirds of American high schools ban students from using phones in the classroom. Secondary science curriculum focuses on subjects that regard the biodiversity of plant and animal species, but disregard the student’s ability to identify species. Consequently, secondary students in general are very poor at identifying species of trees. Previous research supports the idea that advanced …

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Lignocellulosic Syrup Production From Energy Cane Bagasse And Fumaric Acid Fermentation, Fang Deng Jan 2017

Lignocellulosic Syrup Production From Energy Cane Bagasse And Fumaric Acid Fermentation, Fang Deng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Lignocellulosic syrup from dilute ammonia pretreated energy cane bagasse is a promising fermentable sugar feedstock that can improve the logistics associated with long-distance transportation, long-time storage, and year-round supply of lignocellulosic biomass to processing industries. However, non-sugar compounds such as organic acids, furans and phenolic compounds formed during pretreatment can have negative effects on downstream processes such as fermentation. This dissertation focused on addressing challenges associated with the bioconversion of energy cane bagasse to syrup and its fermentation to fumaric acid. The first goal (Chapter 2) was to evaluate the removal of non-sugar compounds with minimal sugar losses from dilute …

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Characterization Of Dehalogenimonas Strains From A Louisiana Superfund Site That Reductively Dehalogenate Polychlorinated Alkanes, Trent Anthony Key Jan 2017

Characterization Of Dehalogenimonas Strains From A Louisiana Superfund Site That Reductively Dehalogenate Polychlorinated Alkanes, Trent Anthony Key

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The research described in this dissertation was aimed at expanding understanding of the diversity and functional roles of microorganisms able to anaerobically transform chlorinated compounds. During the course of the research, a novel strictly anaerobic bacterial isolate originating from chlorinated solvent contaminated groundwater at a Superfund Site in south Louisiana (USA) was characterized. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing placed the newly isolated strain, designated as NSZ-14 T, within the genus Dehalogenimonas but within a separate lineage from previously described species. Like previously described species within the genus Dehalogenimonas (i.e., D. lykanthroporepellens and D. alkenigignens), strain NSZ-14T was …

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Improved Protein Characterizations Using Ionic Liquids: Page And Maldi-Ms, Punprabhashi Vidanapathirana Jan 2017

Improved Protein Characterizations Using Ionic Liquids: Page And Maldi-Ms, Punprabhashi Vidanapathirana

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Protein separation by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and identification by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) are primary tools of protein analysis. In these techniques, surfactants are used in protein sample preparation in order to enhance the protein solubility. Conventional surfactants have shown limitations in protein analysis due to the structural complexity of proteomes, resulting in low resolution. The research goal of this dissertation is to address some of these limitations by applying novel cationic ionic liquid surfactants (ILS), N-alkyl-4-methyl pyridinium bromide (CnPBr where n=4, 8, 11). The ILS would be suitable candidates to be used in PAGE protein …

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Gender Bias In Leadership: Do Gender Of Leader, Type Of Error, Diversity Climate, And Gender Of Subordinate Affect Faculty Perceptions Of Academic Leaders' Effectiveness?, Adriana Alfaro Jan 2017

Gender Bias In Leadership: Do Gender Of Leader, Type Of Error, Diversity Climate, And Gender Of Subordinate Affect Faculty Perceptions Of Academic Leaders' Effectiveness?, Adriana Alfaro

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The cyphers don’t lie: women remain significantly underrepresented in positions of authority across the United States, despite their nearly equal representation in the labor force. Gender bias has been proposed as one of the major reasons for the disparity in leadership roles between men and women. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate whether gender bias influenced faculty’s perceptions of leadership effectiveness at a Research 1 (R1) Doctoral institution in the southeastern United States when high-ranking university leaders made mistakes, and how type of error, diversity climate, and gender of subordinate affected this relationship. Two scenarios were …

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The Roles Of Avr4 In Fungal Virulence,Cercosporin Biosynthesis And Its Potential Use In Host Induced Gene Silencing For Controlling Cercospora Leaf Blight Disease Of Soybeans, Josielle Santos Rezende Jan 2017

The Roles Of Avr4 In Fungal Virulence,Cercosporin Biosynthesis And Its Potential Use In Host Induced Gene Silencing For Controlling Cercospora Leaf Blight Disease Of Soybeans, Josielle Santos Rezende

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The AVR4 effector, secreted by Cladosporium fulvum, has been demonstrated to be involved in pathogen virulence. Recent studies further demonstrated that Avr4 is highly conserved among several Cercospora species, indicating a potential important role of this gene in fungal virulence. Therefore, investigation to determine whether this fungal effector gene is present in Cercospora cf. flagellaris (previously known as C. kikuchii), the causal agent of soybean cercospora leaf blight (CLB) disease, and whether it plays any role in CLB disease development, is of great interest. In the present study, the Avr4 gene from C. cf. flagellaris was cloned and mutants lacking …

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The Effect Of Demographic And Clinical Factors On The Performance Of The Abbreviated Scoring Algorithm For The Baby And Infant Screen For Children With Autism Traits, Paige Elizabeth Cervantes Jan 2017

The Effect Of Demographic And Clinical Factors On The Performance Of The Abbreviated Scoring Algorithm For The Baby And Infant Screen For Children With Autism Traits, Paige Elizabeth Cervantes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social interaction and social communication as well as the presence of restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, or activities (RRBIs; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Individuals with ASD experience lifelong and pervasive impairments across many domains of functioning. Early identification of ASD is imperative as earlier intervention is associated with greater gains in numerous areas. In regards to early identification efforts, routine screening is important. However, screening often fails to be conducted within early childhood care settings. To encourage greater rates of screening by offering a …

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Thermomechanical Modeling Of Polymerica Actuators, Qianxi Yang Jan 2017

Thermomechanical Modeling Of Polymerica Actuators, Qianxi Yang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, the application of smart polymers as actuators was investigated, with focuses on shape memory polymers and twisted-then-coiled artificial muscles. Thermomechanical models have been developed for various polymeric actuators, so as to facilitate interpretation of the underlying mechanisms and to provide guidance for future design. The classical one-way shape memory effect in amorphous shape memory polymers was first reproduced. The amorphous shape memory polymer was treated as a frozen-phase matrix with active-phase inclusions embedded in it. A phase evolution law was proposed from the physics perspective and the Mori-Tanaka approach was used to predict the effective mechanical properties. …

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The Effects Of Chemical Reagents And Physical Environment On The In Vitro And In Vivo Properties Of Adipose-Derived Multipotent Stromal Cells Isolated From Different Species, Wei Duan Jan 2017

The Effects Of Chemical Reagents And Physical Environment On The In Vitro And In Vivo Properties Of Adipose-Derived Multipotent Stromal Cells Isolated From Different Species, Wei Duan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Adult adipose derived mesenchymal stromal cells (ASCs) have been characterized in various species. Many factors may affect ASC fate and ASCs from different species may have different response to these factors. The first study was to identify the differences of the canine ASCs isolated from subcutaneous and infrapatellar adipose tissues, and evaluate the impact of cryopreservation on the cells. Based on paired comparisons of fresh and cryopreserved ASCs, cryopreserved ASCs had lower CD29 and CD44 protein expression and lower proliferation rates. The cryopreserved ASCs had relative lower mitochondria in the cytoplasm compared to the fresh ASCs regardless of tissue sources. …

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Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Is A Novel Protein Sensor In Pregnancy, Elizabeth Frost Sutton Jan 2017

Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Is A Novel Protein Sensor In Pregnancy, Elizabeth Frost Sutton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The twenty-first century has experienced a shift in cause of death worldwide from communicable diseases to noncommunicable diseases. Interestingly, many of these implicated chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, have been shown to be programmed in the womb. As first posited by the Barker Hypothesis, adverse exposures in utero can increase an individual’s risk for chronic disease later in life. Therefore, pregnancy is an opportune time for intervention to improve the health of future generations. Studies of exposures known to negatively impact infant health, e.g. states of overnutrition (obesity, diabetes, excess gestational weight gain) and undernutrition (starvation, …

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Selected Works Of Richard Burchard: A Resource Guide, William Floyd Plummer Jan 2017

Selected Works Of Richard Burchard: A Resource Guide, William Floyd Plummer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This document serves as a resource guide for selected choral works of Richard Burchard, including pertinent background information and biographical details about the composer’s life, information concerning the compositional style and musical structure of his choral works, and accessibility and interpretive considerations for the choral conductor. Works were selected for this study chronologically by publication date, from Burchard’s first published work (Miserere mei, published 2009) through the beginning of this project in early 2012. Born in 1960, Richard Burchard is the Chair of the Music Department at Bellarmine University in Kentucky. Burchrd has written over 50 pieces, many of which …

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Human Gut Microbiota And Obesity: How Is Gut Microbiota Associated With Obesity Improvement Induced By Bariatric Surgeries Or Low-Calorie Diet Treatment?, Rui Zhang Jan 2017

Human Gut Microbiota And Obesity: How Is Gut Microbiota Associated With Obesity Improvement Induced By Bariatric Surgeries Or Low-Calorie Diet Treatment?, Rui Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

An increasing number of studies suggest that the complex microbial community of the human gut may have an important role in human health and disease conditions such as obesity and diabetes. However, the causal relationship among gut microbiota, obesity, weight loss, and the influence of bariatric surgery remains largely unknown. This study investigated the correlation between human gut microbiota and obesity via determining how gut microbiota is associated with obesity improvement induced by bariatric surgeries (BRS) and low-calorie diet (LCD) treatment. Specifically, we investigated the effects of various bariatric surgery (BRS) procedures and a low-calorie diet (LCD) treatment on the …

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Manipulating Physical Properties Of Complex Materials By Processing, Mohammad Saghayezhian Jan 2017

Manipulating Physical Properties Of Complex Materials By Processing, Mohammad Saghayezhian

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Transition metal oxides (TMOs) are a class of materials in which charge, orbital, spin and lattice strongly interact with each other. In the present thesis, a special attention is paid to the physical properties of TMOs as a function of processing. First, TMOs are studied as substrates, where the surface is of prime importance. Second, the thin films are fabricated and their physical properties are presented. The SrTiO3 (001) and (111) surfaces are weakly and strongly polar and the free energy of intact surfaces should diverge. It is shown that in TiO2 terminated SrTiO3(001) the top most layer shows rumpling …

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Deterritorializing Dichotomies In Teacher Induction: A (Post)Ethnographic Study Of Un/Becoming An Elementary Science Teacher, Maria Ferris Greene Wallace Jan 2017

Deterritorializing Dichotomies In Teacher Induction: A (Post)Ethnographic Study Of Un/Becoming An Elementary Science Teacher, Maria Ferris Greene Wallace

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Un/becoming an elementary science teacher is a dynamic phenomenon, yet the process is often intentionally limited to several taken-for-granted assumptions in research on science teacher induction. Inherent to research on beginning science teacher induction is also the construction of certain truths beginning science teachers, science teacher educators, and researchers think, feel, and live. This study complicates prevailing truths shaping notions of beginner, novice, induction, and traditions of inquiry as an ethicopolitical commitment to those implicated. In doing so, this study illuminates more expansive ways science teacher educators and those studying induction might study and understand the experiences of beginning science …

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Symbolic And Deep Learning Based Data Representation Methods For Activity Recognition And Image Understanding At Pixel Level, Manohar Karki Jan 2017

Symbolic And Deep Learning Based Data Representation Methods For Activity Recognition And Image Understanding At Pixel Level, Manohar Karki

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Efficient representation of large amount of data particularly images and video helps in the analysis, processing and overall understanding of the data. In this work, we present two frameworks that encapsulate the information present in such data. At first, we present an automated symbolic framework to recognize particular activities in real time from videos. The framework uses regular expressions for symbolically representing (possibly infinite) sets of motion characteristics obtained from a video. It is a uniform framework that handles trajectory-based and periodic articulated activities and provides polynomial time graph algorithms for fast recognition. The regular expressions representing motion characteristics can …

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Nanoscale Studies Of Proteins And Thin Films Using Scanning Probe Microscopy, Zachary Lane Highland Jan 2017

Nanoscale Studies Of Proteins And Thin Films Using Scanning Probe Microscopy, Zachary Lane Highland

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nanostructures of organosilanes, thin metal films, and protein nanopatterns were prepared and analyzed with atomic force microscopy (AFM). Organosilanes with designed functional groups were used to selectively pattern green fluorescent protein at the nanoscale using protocols developed with particle lithography. Mesospheres are deposited onto a substrate to produce a surface mask. Organosilanes are deposited to form a matrix film surrounding nanopores for depositing proteins. The nanopatterns were characterized using AFM, after steps of particle lithography for directly visualizing surface changes. Studies with AFM also provide a compelling tool for teaching undergraduates to introduce concepts of nanoscience. An undergraduate laboratory was …

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A Model-Centric Framework For Advanced Operation Of Crystallization Processes, Navid Ghadipasha Jan 2017

A Model-Centric Framework For Advanced Operation Of Crystallization Processes, Navid Ghadipasha

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Crystallization is the main physical separation process in many chemical industries. It is an old unit operation which can separate solids of high purity from liquids, and is widely applied in the production of food, pharmaceuticals, and fine chemicals. While industries in crystallization operation quite rely on rule-of-thumb techniques to fulfill their requirement, the move towards a scientific- and technological- based approach is becoming more important as it provides a mechanism for driving crystallization processes optimally and in more depth without increasing costs. Optimal operation of industrial crystallizers is a prerequisite these days for achieving the stringent requirements of the …

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The Rhetoric Of Hospitality: Conditions Of Death In America, Margaret Anne Callahan Jan 2017

The Rhetoric Of Hospitality: Conditions Of Death In America, Margaret Anne Callahan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Right of Hospitality: Conditions of Death in America calls Western biomedicine’s approach to death into question. Death unifies all human experiences and is always possible, despite the human tendency to deny its existence and, instead, orient the self towards a futurity that is always out of reach. This project investigates the structures influencing how death in America occurs, and traces the roots of Western culture’s rejection of death to the execution by hemlock of Socrates’ immortalized in the Phaedo. Western biomedicine’s institutionalization of medicine requires that both patients and doctors enter into imbalanced hospitable relationships, and these pressures, along …

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The Role Of Defects In The Metal-Nonmetal Transition In Metallic Oxide Films, Gaomin Wang Jan 2017

The Role Of Defects In The Metal-Nonmetal Transition In Metallic Oxide Films, Gaomin Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Metal-nonmetal transition, or more specifically, metal-insulator transition (MIT) has been one of the most intriguing topics in condensed matter physics. Two theories describing fundamental driving mechanisms of MIT has been well-established over time: Mott-Hubbard theory and Anderson localization theory. The former mainly deals with contribution of electron interactions/correlations to the MIT, and the latter focuses on the role of disorder. However, it is an open topic how a system behaves when both effects exist in a system. This study mostly takes interest in a type of MIT induced by dimensionality-crossover in the transition metal oxides (TMOs) systems. TMO system is …

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Evolutionary History Of A Large-Genome Salamander Across Five Disjunct Regions Of The Southeastern United States, Catherine Elizabeth Newman Jan 2017

Evolutionary History Of A Large-Genome Salamander Across Five Disjunct Regions Of The Southeastern United States, Catherine Elizabeth Newman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The southeastern United States has a dynamic geologic history. Mountain range uplift, sea level fluctuations, and river basin evolution have shaped species geographic distributions in the region. My dissertation objectively identifies amphibian species with highly fragmented distributions in the Southeast (Chapter 2) and examines the phylogeographic history of one of those species, Plethodon serratus. This salamander species has a widely disjunct range across five regions: the Appalachians, the Ozarks, the Ouachitas, and two allopatric sites in Louisiana. Analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear loci (Chapter 3) showed that P. serratus is comprised of multiple genetic lineages, and the five regions are …

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Chemical Synthesis: New Methods For O-Glycosylation And The Preparation Of Organic Thin Films, Rashanique Deondria Quarels Jan 2017

Chemical Synthesis: New Methods For O-Glycosylation And The Preparation Of Organic Thin Films, Rashanique Deondria Quarels

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the diverse use of chemical synthesis. Herein, I will discuss the use of synthetic organic chemistry for the modification surfaces and the synthesis of small molecules. Chapter One is an introduction to the realm of surface chemistry. I have highlighted some key methods for surface modification. Additionally, methods to characterize the as-formed thin films are also outlined. In Chapter Two, I discuss the use of visible-light photoredox catalysis in the nanoscale lithography of Au(111) surfaces. Blue LED irradiation of solutions of NBDT in the presence of Ru(bpy)32+ results in the formation of p-nitrophenyl radicals that graft …

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Design, Synthesis, And Evaluation Of Innovative Bodipy-Peptidic Conjugates For Biological Application, Tyrslai Menyaee Williams Jan 2017

Design, Synthesis, And Evaluation Of Innovative Bodipy-Peptidic Conjugates For Biological Application, Tyrslai Menyaee Williams

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to colorectal cancer (CRC), methods of detection, photodynamic therapy (PDT), and EGFR as an attractive targeting strategy for imaging CRC. Chapter 2 details the synthesis of ten peptide sequences for targeting EGFR receptors at the site of CRC, as a collaborative work with Dr. Seetharama Jois. This chapter also investigates the efficacy of these peptides for EGFR. Chapter 3 offers the first synthetic strategy for developing BODIPY-peptide conjugates via amide linkages. All conjugates were optimized for the best reaction conditions and good yields were observed. Each conjugate was subjected to photophysical, SPR, and …

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The Fooding Of Narrative In Contemporary Women's Transnational Fiction, Stacey Marie Amo Jan 2017

The Fooding Of Narrative In Contemporary Women's Transnational Fiction, Stacey Marie Amo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Fooding of Narrative in Contemporary Women’s Transnational Fiction examines how foodstuffs are strategically deployed in recent fiction about migration to the United States. The novels examined, all set in the period following the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, depict the experience of resettlement from a diverse set of postcolonial sites: Haiti, Cuba, Vietnam, and India. The Fooding of Narrative argues that food is deployed as a structuring trope and acquires narrative significance in articulating the profound sense of identity crisis that frequently accompanies the immigration experience. By focusing on food’s narrative significance in a broad …

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Elephants, Local Livelihoods, And Landscape Change In Tsavo, Kenya., Peter Ngugi Kamau Jan 2017

Elephants, Local Livelihoods, And Landscape Change In Tsavo, Kenya., Peter Ngugi Kamau

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation provides a historical context for socio-ecological relationships in Tsavo, Kenya by focusing on the interaction between elephants and people in the landscape. A better understanding of the relationship between elephants and people in the Tsavo landscape promotes opportunities for better policy outcomes. The dissertation engages with the analytical approach of political ecology, which has enabled it to provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between elephants and people in Tsavo. Apolitical accounts of human-elephant conflicts in Tsavo do not adequately address the colonial roots of human-elephant conflicts or their consequences for local livelihoods. This dissertation demonstrates how …

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Finding Voice In The Academy Through Yellow Storytelling: An Asian American Autoethnography On Suffering In Higher Education, Thuong Thi Nguyen Jan 2017

Finding Voice In The Academy Through Yellow Storytelling: An Asian American Autoethnography On Suffering In Higher Education, Thuong Thi Nguyen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT Higher education institutions in the United States (U.S.) were founded for a select segment of the population, i.e. white Christian men from upper socioeconomic classes (Thelin, 2011). Research shows the policies, pedagogies, and practices created for use within majority populations and dominant cultures are not as beneficial or effective for individuals from underrepresented backgrounds. As the U.S. becomes more diverse and college enrollment among diverse students increases, higher education institutions need to identify more holistic approaches and investigate alternative methods to better serve these populations. This dissertation is a response to that need. In order to offer other alternatives, …

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Effect Of Metal Speciation In Fly Ash On Environmentally Persistent Free Radical Formation, Elisabeth Eileen Cook Jan 2017

Effect Of Metal Speciation In Fly Ash On Environmentally Persistent Free Radical Formation, Elisabeth Eileen Cook

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Waste incineration and Superfund sites lead to the formation of pollutants harmful to both the environment and human health. Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals (EPFRs) are a class of newly discovered radical pollutants known to form on combustion by-products such as fly ash and particulate matter. EPFRs are rapidly gaining attention for their harmful effects on the environment and human health. Previous research has shown the formation of EPFRs through surface-mediated reactions with transition metal-oxides on particulates. The work presented in this dissertation explores the relationship between fly ash composition and EPFR formation. Fly ash production occurs from combustion systems, namely …

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Motivation For Tobacco Cessation Among Nicotine Dependent Postmenopausal Females, Mackenzie Rae Peltier Jan 2017

Motivation For Tobacco Cessation Among Nicotine Dependent Postmenopausal Females, Mackenzie Rae Peltier

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Postmenopausal females continue to smoke despite considerable health risks related to low levels of estrogen in combination with antiestrogenic effects of nicotine. These females face barriers to cessation that are more severe than their male and pre-menopausal counterparts. These barriers include negative affect, weight concerns, and menopausal symptom severity. Brief motivation-based interventions (B-MIs) that incorporate individualized health-related feedback have demonstrated efficacy for smoking cessation, but have not been tested among postmenopausal females. The current study explored the effect of negative affect, weight concerns, and menopausal symptom severity on motivation and readiness to quit smoking, and the effectiveness of a B-MI …

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