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Aleksander Peçi Before And After The Iron Curtain, Elida Dakoli Jan 2017

Aleksander Peçi Before And After The Iron Curtain, Elida Dakoli

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract This research describes the life, compositional style and works of one of the most well-known Albanian composers, Aleksander Peçi, focusing on how the political climate affected his life and his art. Several of Peçi’s techniques are examined, including Carousel structure, Cartesian Production, Kabaoisos, and Polygravité. Albanian iso-polyphony and its influence on Peçi’s work are discussed. The research was done in hopes of reaching a better understanding of the effects Communism and the subsequent period of freedom have had on Albanian music.

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Epigenetic Profiling Of Mammalian Retrotransposons, Arundhati Bakshi Jan 2017

Epigenetic Profiling Of Mammalian Retrotransposons, Arundhati Bakshi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over evolutionary time, mammalian genomes have accumulated a large number of retrotransposons, making up about half of the genome in any given species. These retrotransposons are typically repressed by epigenetic mechanisms, one of the main ones being DNA methylation. It is well known that improper DNA methylation of retrotransposons can have unwanted consequences on nearby gene expression, and hypomethylation of retrotransposons has been frequently observed in various cancers. Nevertheless, it has been notoriously difficult to study retrotransposon loci individually due to the highly repetitive nature of their sequences. To address this issue, we have developed a novel protocol termed HT-TREBS …

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Determining The Influence Of Imidacloprid And Glufosinate Ammonium On The Population Dynamics Of Twospotted Spider Mite Populations In Louisiana Cotton, Sebe Anthony Brown Jan 2017

Determining The Influence Of Imidacloprid And Glufosinate Ammonium On The Population Dynamics Of Twospotted Spider Mite Populations In Louisiana Cotton, Sebe Anthony Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Twospotted spider mites, Tetranychus urticae, is an important agricultural pest of many field crops worldwide. This study investigated the impacts of imidacloprid seed treatments on populations of twospotted spider mites while also investigating if exogenous applications of jasmonic acid can offset any hormone modulating effects caused by seed treatments. Imidacloprid seed treatments significantly increased cumulative adult mite days in 2013 but not 2015 or 2016 in the field. Applications of 10 millimolar jasmonic acid did not reduce mite severity or injury in all field trials. Imidacloprid seed treatments significantly increased all spider mite life stages in the laboratory while applications …

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Structure-Based Prediction Of Protein-Protein Interaction Networks Across Proteomes, Surabhi Maheshwari Jan 2017

Structure-Based Prediction Of Protein-Protein Interaction Networks Across Proteomes, Surabhi Maheshwari

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) orchestrate virtually all cellular processes, therefore, their exhaustive exploration is essential for the comprehensive understanding of cellular networks. Significant efforts have been devoted to expand the coverage of the proteome-wide interaction space at molecular level. A number of experimental techniques have been developed to discover PPIs, however these approaches have some limitations such as the high costs and long times of experiments, noisy data sets, and often high false positive rate and inter-study discrepancies. Given experimental limitations, computational methods are increasingly becoming important for detection and structural characterization of PPIs. In that regard, we have developed a …

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Succinct Data Structures For Parameterized Pattern Matching And Related Problems, Arnab Ganguly Jan 2017

Succinct Data Structures For Parameterized Pattern Matching And Related Problems, Arnab Ganguly

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Let T be a fixed text-string of length n and P be a varying pattern-string of length |P| <= n. Both T and P contain characters from a totally ordered alphabet Sigma of size sigma <= n. Suffix tree is the ubiquitous data structure for answering a pattern matching query: report all the positions i in T such that T[i + k - 1] = P[k], 1 <= k <= |P|. Compressed data structures support pattern matching queries, using much lesser space than the suffix tree, mainly by relying on a crucial property of the leaves in the tree. Unfortunately, in many suffix tree variants (such as parameterized suffix tree, order-preserving suffix tree, and 2-dimensional suffix tree), this property does not hold. Consequently, compressed representations of these suffix tree variants have been elusive. We present the first compressed data structures for two important variants of the pattern matching problem: (1) Parameterized Matching -- report a position i in T if T[i + k - 1] = f(P[k]), 1 <= k <= |P|, for a one-to-one function f that renames the characters in P to the characters in T[i,i+|P|-1], and (2) Order-preserving Matching -- report a position i in T if T[i + j - 1] and T[i + k -1] have the same relative order as that of P[j] and P[k], 1 <= j < k <= |P|. For each of these two problems, the existing suffix tree variant requires O(n*log n) bits of space and answers a query in O(|P|*log sigma + occ) time, where occ is the number of starting positions where a match exists. We present data structures that require O(n*log sigma) bits of space and answer a query in O((|P|+occ) poly(log n)) time. As a byproduct, we obtain compressed data structures for a few other variants, as well as introduce two new techniques (of independent interest) for designing compressed data structures for pattern matching.

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Activity Of Benzobicyclon Herbicide In Common Louisiana Rice Production Practices, Benjamin M. Mcknight Jan 2017

Activity Of Benzobicyclon Herbicide In Common Louisiana Rice Production Practices, Benjamin M. Mcknight

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A study was conducted at the LSU AgCenter H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station (RRS) to evaluate benzobicyclon herbicide application timing on water-seeded rice. Benzobicyclon was applied at seven different timings, at 246 g ai ha-1 in a water-seeded rice production system. Benzobicyclon controlled ducksalad above 90% when applied into the pinpoint flood. Barnyardgrass control was greater than 90% from applications made on pegging rice and immediately following pinpoint flood establishment. At 49 days after treatment (DAT), yellow nutsedge control exceeded 90% following benzobicyclon treatment with a pegging rice or pinpoint flood timing. Ducksalad control was greater than 90% following …

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Epigenetic Response Of Imprinted Domains During Carcinogenesis, Corey Lane Bretz Jan 2017

Epigenetic Response Of Imprinted Domains During Carcinogenesis, Corey Lane Bretz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The first part of this work induced T-cell lymphoma in mice by employing a breeding scheme involving mouse strains expressing the KrasG12D oncoprotein and mice expressing cyclic recombinase from the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter. Imprinted domains were then systematically surveyed for DNA methylation changes during tumor progression using combined bisulfite restriction analysis and next-generation-bisulfite-sequencing. Hyper-or hypomethylation was detected at the imprinting control regions (ICRs) of the Dlk1, Peg10, Peg3, Grb10 and Gnas domains. These DNA methylation changes at ICRs were more prevalent and consistent than those observed at the promoter regions of well-known tumor suppressors, such as Mgmt, Fhit …

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The Formation Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons From The Pyrolysis Of Model 1-Alkene Fuels, Eva Christine Caspary Jan 2017

The Formation Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons From The Pyrolysis Of Model 1-Alkene Fuels, Eva Christine Caspary

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

To understand the role of 1-alkenes and allylic radicals in the reaction pathways leading to the formation and growth of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), pyrolysis experiments have been performed with three 1-alkene fuels—propylene (CH₂=CH–CH₃), 1-butene (CH₂=CH–CH₂–CH₃), and 1-pentene (CH₂=CH–CH₂–CH₂–CH₃)—at temperatures of 600 – 1000 °C and a fixed residence time of 0.31 s. The experiments are carried out in an isothermal laminar-flow quartz-tube reactor. Analyses of the pyrolysis products by gas-chromatographic and high-pressure liquid-chromatographic techniques reveal that the three fuels differ in: 1) their conversion behavior, 2) the relative amounts of the major C₂ – C₄ species produced, and 3) …

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A Presynaptic Role For Nitric Oxide At A Gabaergic Synapse, John Wesley Maddox Jan 2017

A Presynaptic Role For Nitric Oxide At A Gabaergic Synapse, John Wesley Maddox

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Amacrine cells are a class of retinal interneurons that process the visual signal in the inner retina. Several subtypes of amacrine cells express nitric oxide synthase and produce nitric oxide (NO), making NO a possible regulator of amacrine cell function. My dissertation research tests the hypothesis that NO alters amacrine cell GABAergic synaptic output. To investigate this, I made whole-cell voltage clamp recordings of cultured chick amacrine cells receiving synaptic input from other amacrine cells and Ca2+ imaging of amacrine cell dendrites, which can be presynaptic. I find that NO-dependent increases in GABAergic spontaneous postsynaptic current (sPSC) frequency are …

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Design, Synthesis, Characterization And Evaluation Of Near Infrared Bodipy Dyes For Various Applications, Qianli Meng Jan 2017

Design, Synthesis, Characterization And Evaluation Of Near Infrared Bodipy Dyes For Various Applications, Qianli Meng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

4,4-Difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-5-indacene (BODIPY) have drawn a large number of research attention, for its numerous useful application in the fields of material and biology. Small modification of this well-known fluophore has been shown to optimize its photophysical and chemical properties. This work mainly focuses on functionalization of BODIPY cores with halogenated atoms, particularly iodine, and their subsequent post-functionalization reactions, mainly cross-coupling reaction and substitutions, for various further applications. Chapter 1 of this dissertation gives a general overview of BODIPYs including their synthetic strategies, post-functionalization, and how BODIPYs are utilized in many biological applications. Chapter 2 mainly focuses on the synthesis and characterization …

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Condition Of Birds In Amazonian Rainforest Fragments And Second-Growth Forests, Angelica Maria Hernandez Palma Jan 2017

Condition Of Birds In Amazonian Rainforest Fragments And Second-Growth Forests, Angelica Maria Hernandez Palma

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Deforestation modifies otherwise intact expanses of forest into small, isolated fragments. In addition to fragmentation, deforestation also creates abrupt forest edges and large areas of regenerating vegetation where land is abandoned after clearing. Understanding how changes in the landscape affect the physical condition of birds is crucial for managing populations in human-modified landscapes. Here I use the biomarkers feather growth rate and feather quality (ptilochronology), fluctuating asymmetry (FA), and stress hormones from feathers (CORT), to estimate the physical condition of Amazonian understory birds living in forest fragments, second-growth forests, and continuous forests. Feather CORT revealed how fragmentation disrupts interspecific interactions; …

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Social Work Practitioners Working In End Of Life Care:Learning To Provide Culturally Appropriate Care To Clients Of Middle Eastern Descent, Laura Shafica Meiki Jan 2017

Social Work Practitioners Working In End Of Life Care:Learning To Provide Culturally Appropriate Care To Clients Of Middle Eastern Descent, Laura Shafica Meiki

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study utilized an interpretive qualitative methodological approach to learn about the experiences of individuals with a Master of Social Work degree (MSWs) working in end-of-life (EOL) care with patients of Middle Eastern descent and their families. Specifically, it examined (1) how a sample of social workers obtained the skills necessary to provide culturally appropriate EOL care to clients and families of Middle Eastern descent; (2) the common intervention strategies social workers employ while providing this care; and (3) the recommendations they offer to others who anticipate encountering this population in their own practice. Data collection consisted of in-depth, semi-structured …

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Documentation Of Siderophore Activity, Metal Binding, And Its Effect On Symptomatology Of Cercospora Leaf Blight Caused In Soybean By Cercosporin From Cercospora Cf. Flagellaris, Brian Michael Ward Jan 2017

Documentation Of Siderophore Activity, Metal Binding, And Its Effect On Symptomatology Of Cercospora Leaf Blight Caused In Soybean By Cercosporin From Cercospora Cf. Flagellaris, Brian Michael Ward

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cercospora leaf blight of soybean (Glycine max) is a serious problem in the mid-south of the United States and is present in most soybean-growing regions of the world. The causal organisms, Cercospora kikuchii, C. cf. flagellaris and C. cf. sigesbeckiae, utilize the photo-activated toxin cercosporin as the primary pathogenicity factor. The disease has historically been understood to progress from a purpling or bronzing of the leaves to a blight in which tissue dies. Previous literature showed possible binding of cercosporin to metals and previous work in our group showed possible use of minor element nutrition in the plant to reduce …

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Fluorescent Probe Interrogation Of A Cytoprotective Cancer-Linked Oxidoreductase In Two-Dimensional Human Cell Cultures And Solid Tumor Mimics, Bijeta Prasai Jan 2017

Fluorescent Probe Interrogation Of A Cytoprotective Cancer-Linked Oxidoreductase In Two-Dimensional Human Cell Cultures And Solid Tumor Mimics, Bijeta Prasai

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Fluorescence molecular imaging is an emerging field with potential to aid in optically guided surgery for cancer treatment. To overcome the drawbacks of always-on fluorescent probes, such as indocyanine green, activatable fluorescent probes are being developed that allow high signal-to-background imaging for better discrimination of cancerous cells from normal cells. For activation, turn-on fluorescent probes rely on the presence of biomarkers such as antibodies, cell-surface receptors or enzymes that are highly specific to tumor cells. hNQO1 (human NAD(P)H: quinone oxidoreductase isoenzyme 1) is considered as one of such cancer-associated biomarkers that are present intracellularly in cancers of multiple origins. It …

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Influences Of Perceived Social Network Structure Characteristics On College Student's Perceptions Of Social Capital Value And Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy, Troy Autin Jan 2017

Influences Of Perceived Social Network Structure Characteristics On College Student's Perceptions Of Social Capital Value And Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy, Troy Autin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The collective group of resources that are accessible to an individual because of people within his/her social network is known as social capital. Social capital becomes more valuable when an individual sees that it can help with goal achievement. This is especially true with college-aged students who are deciding on academic major, career path and if should persist or dropout. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of social network characteristics on the perceived social capital value (SCV) and career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE) among freshman college students enrolled at a research university. This present study examined how …

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Digital Osteology: 3d Surface Scanning The Os Coxa, Victoria Harrington Jan 2017

Digital Osteology: 3d Surface Scanning The Os Coxa, Victoria Harrington

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT This research was designed to isolate a standard 3D scanning methodology using a popular 3D scanner (NextEngine®) used in biological anthropology to reproduce research-quality human skeletal remains. Settings using NextEngine® hardware were determined through three successive studies. The first study used minimum settings to create a topography of nine postcranial bones excavated from a Maya archaeological site, Moho Cay, Belize. The research was conducted in Louisiana State University’s (LSU) Digital Imaging and Visualization in Archaeology (DIVA) Lab. The resulting 3D scans were visually compared to the original bone specimens for similarities in five categories. The similarity ratings were used …

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Microbial Distributions And Survival In The Troposphere And Stratosphere, Noelle Celeste Bryan Jan 2017

Microbial Distributions And Survival In The Troposphere And Stratosphere, Noelle Celeste Bryan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Although bioaerosols in the lower altitudes of the atmosphere have been extensively studied, little is known about the distribution and nature of microorganisms at altitudes above the Earth’s surface. To examine the vertical distribution of microorganisms in the atmosphere, a helium balloon payload system was developed to sample bioaerosols at stratospheric altitudes of up to 38 km, where temperature, air pressure, relative humidity, and ultraviolet-C (UV-C) radiation conditions are similar to the surface of Mars. Bioaerosol concentrations between 3 and 29 km were similar to each other, ~three-fold lower than those in the convective boundary layer (CBL; 0-3 km; 1 …

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A Graph-Based Taxonomic Intelligent Tutoring System Utilizingbloom’S Taxonomy And Item-Response Theoretic Assessment, Dennis Gordon Castleberry Ii Jan 2017

A Graph-Based Taxonomic Intelligent Tutoring System Utilizingbloom’S Taxonomy And Item-Response Theoretic Assessment, Dennis Gordon Castleberry Ii

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation details an intelligent tutoring system which aims to raise student trait abilities across concepts and levels of Blooms taxonomy within an educational program. The system utilizes Item Response Theory, a probabilistic theory of assessment which accounts for item discrimination, difficulty, and probability of guessing in its assessment of student trait ability. A modification to Item Response Theory which accounts for question dependencies is used to assess the probability that a student will answer a given question correctly given prior responses on the dependency questions. It also draws from theories of memory and forgetting present in the ACT-R model …

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Termite Gut Microbes As Tools And Targets For Termite Control, Chinmay Vijay Tikhe Jan 2017

Termite Gut Microbes As Tools And Targets For Termite Control, Chinmay Vijay Tikhe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Formosan subterranean termite (FST), Coptotermes formosanus, is an invasive urban pest in the United States. Colonies of the FST are dependent on the symbiotic gut protozoa for cellulose digestion in the workers’ guts, and the gut bacterial community is known to provide essential nutrients to the termite. The objectives of this PhD research were to develop and evaluate paratransgenesis and phage therapy for termite control. During this study, a termite gut bacterium: Trabulsiella odontotermitis was genetically engineered and was evaluated as a ‘Trojan horse’ for paratransgenesis. We proved that T. odontotermitis can tolerate 50 times more concentration of ligand-Hecate …

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Microscopic Evaluations Of Bone In Equine And Muroid Models, Heather Ashley Richbourg Jan 2017

Microscopic Evaluations Of Bone In Equine And Muroid Models, Heather Ashley Richbourg

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The use of advanced imaging techniques has greatly improved orthopedic research and education. Histology of bone is a method of evaluating bone morphology, bony cells, and bone remodeling in two-dimensions, while micro-computed tomography (microCT) is a three-dimensional analysis of bone morphology. Combined, these methods assist in providing a comprehensive analysis of bone. In this dissertation, these techniques were utilized to answer questions currently outstanding in veterinary medicine: the effect of bisphosphonates on equine bone, and variation in murine tarsal anatomy. Bisphosphonates are drugs that reduce osteoclast-mediated bone resorption and have recently been approved for the use in horses. Despite prolific …

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Branch And Stem Growth As Affected By Loss Of Leaf Area On Selected Branches In Loblolly Pine, Shannon Dumo Kidombo Jan 2017

Branch And Stem Growth As Affected By Loss Of Leaf Area On Selected Branches In Loblolly Pine, Shannon Dumo Kidombo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Leaf area and crown dynamics control how trees grow through their supply of carbohydrates and growth regulators, and their influence on tree mechanical stability. The influence of leaf area and crown dynamics to tree growth was investigated by testing the interdependence between leaf area, branch, and stem growth on young loblolly pine trees. The objectives were to (1) determine the influence of current and previous year’s leaf area on elongation of branches; (2) describe and test a unique way of quantitatively measuring the effect of neighbor branches on net growth of a target branch; (3) quantify the growth impact of …

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Performance Evaluation And Characterization Of Encapsulated Calcium Nitrate For Self-Healing Concrete Applications, Jose Eduardo Milla Jan 2017

Performance Evaluation And Characterization Of Encapsulated Calcium Nitrate For Self-Healing Concrete Applications, Jose Eduardo Milla

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Self-healing concrete through microencapsulated calcium nitrate is a novel approach to enhance durability and decrease the costs associated with maintenance and repairs. However, to fully assess the potential of this technology, there are many questions to be answered, ranging from identifying the microcapsule properties that are successfully carry the healing agent, to the effect of the microcapsule size, concentration (by weight of cement), and morphology have on the intrinsic concrete material properties and self-healing potential. Hence, the objectives of this study were to: (a) Develop a microencapsulation procedure for calcium nitrate as the healing agent; (b) Measure the short-term healing …

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Evaluation Of Control Tactics For Management Of Sweetpotato Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Jie Chen Jan 2017

Evaluation Of Control Tactics For Management Of Sweetpotato Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Jie Chen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sweetpotato weevil (SPW), Cylas formicarius elegantulus (Summer), is the most damaging root-feeding insect of sweetpotato, Ipomoea batatas L. (Lam), worldwide. The efficacy and compatibility of host plant resistance and insecticide control were evaluated in this dissertation. cv. Beauregard is the most susceptible cultivar for oviposition and offspring performance of SPW compared to cvs. Evangeline and Murasaki. The oviposition preference was shaped by the larval experience of SPW, providing evidence in support of the Hopkins’ Host-Plant Selection Principle. Although oviposition on cv. Murasaki was reduced, the egg capacity of SPW developed on cv. Murasaki was not decreased, indicating an adaptive behavior …

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Maternal Fatty Acid And Inflammatory Status During Pregnancy Are Related To Infant Heart Rate And Heart Rate Variability, Merritt Leanne Drewery Jan 2017

Maternal Fatty Acid And Inflammatory Status During Pregnancy Are Related To Infant Heart Rate And Heart Rate Variability, Merritt Leanne Drewery

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Early life heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) reflect autonomic maturation. Intervention with n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs) during pregnancy favorably affects fetal HR and HRV; similar observations have been reported with infant n-3 LCPUFA intake. Infant HR and HRV have not been assessed in relation to maternal fatty acid status during pregnancy. Further, exposure to intrauterine inflammation may underlie these observations, although this hypothesis has not been tested. The aim of this observational study was to explore associations between maternal fatty acid and inflammatory status during pregnancy and infant HR and HRV. Simple linear and …

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Brazilian Surface And Upper-Level Wind Characteristics Based On Ground And Model Observations From 1980–2014, Joshua M. Gilliland Jan 2017

Brazilian Surface And Upper-Level Wind Characteristics Based On Ground And Model Observations From 1980–2014, Joshua M. Gilliland

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The examination of temporal changes in surface winds has been analyzed by scientists for a variety of physical, biological, climatological, and socioeconomic reasons. This research uses surface and upper-level wind data from historical in-situ and climate models to examine the geographical and climatological characteristics of wind across Brazil during 1980–2014. Overall linear and quantile regression shows that surface wind speed trends are changing regionally across Brazil. Wind speeds across northeastern Brazil are increasing, while a decreasing trend is documented for interior and southeastern Brazil. The spatial and temporal trends found are possibly related to alterations in the physical landscape (urbanization …

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Pre-College Credit And Examination Programs: One Size Fits All?, Guadalupe M. Lamadrid Jan 2017

Pre-College Credit And Examination Programs: One Size Fits All?, Guadalupe M. Lamadrid

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to utilize a comprehensive 9-16 dataset to quantitatively examine which pre-college credit programs are the most significant predictors of college achievement as defined by college GPA, first to second year retention, time to degree and graduation date. A qualitative analysis was conducted, which via the use of a survey allowed students to share their perceptions and feeling regarding their pre-college credit experiences. Data for this study was obtained from institutional sources and consisted of 9-16 detail high school record, admissions, financial aid, scholarship and enrolled student information. Univariate and Multi-variate statistical analyses …

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Osteogenic Potential Of Poly (L-Lactic Acid) Scaffolds Prepared By Thermally Controlled Methods On Human Adipose Derived Stem Cells, Harish Chinnasami Shanmugam Jan 2017

Osteogenic Potential Of Poly (L-Lactic Acid) Scaffolds Prepared By Thermally Controlled Methods On Human Adipose Derived Stem Cells, Harish Chinnasami Shanmugam

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Thermally Induced Phase Separation (TIPS) method was used to make porous three-dimensional PLLA scaffolds. The effect of imposed thermal profile during freezing of the PLLA in dioxane solution on the scaffold was characterized by their micro-structure, porosity (%), pore-sizes distribution and mechanical strength. The porosity (%) decreased considerably with increasing concentrations of PLLA in the solution, while a decreasing trend was observed with increasing cooling rates. The mechanical strength increases with increase in PLLA concentration and also with increase in the cooling rate for both types of solvents. Therefore, mechanical strength was increased by higher cooling rates while the porosity …

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Private Vs. Public: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Student Experiences And The Influence Of Anti-Discrimination Policies With Respect To Religion, Shalonda Michelle Skidmore Jan 2017

Private Vs. Public: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, And Transgender Student Experiences And The Influence Of Anti-Discrimination Policies With Respect To Religion, Shalonda Michelle Skidmore

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

For a vast majority of Americans, religion is an integral part of life. In fact, 10:30am on Sundays is considered the most holy time in the United States as most persons have just left, are currently attending, or are on their way to their various places of worship. Believing in organized religion comes with challenges, as religion has often been the basis and justification for discriminatory practices. These challenges can cause emotional tension, especially to those who identify with teachings that religions have traditionally condemned. This document sought to determine if religion matters to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) …

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Evolutionary Interactions Of Feather Molt In Birds, Ryan Scott Terrill Jan 2017

Evolutionary Interactions Of Feather Molt In Birds, Ryan Scott Terrill

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The evolution of feathers was a key innovation for birds. The many functions that feathers provide have allowed birds to diversify into myriad habitats and styles of life. However, feathers are lightweight and break down, and must be replaced regularly in a process known as molt. The patterns and timing with which birds molt varies within and between species, and these different strategies are likely a product of the different ways birds use their feathers and the uneven distribution of resources available for molt in time and space. So far, no studies have attempted to place these strategies into an …

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Discursos Contrasexuales: Subversiones Queer, Stephanie Colin Jan 2017

Discursos Contrasexuales: Subversiones Queer, Stephanie Colin

LSU Master's Theses

Judith Butler argues that gender is a performative cultural construction; this analysis is taken to further means of discussion in reference to the revelation of sex and gender as both cultural and social constructions. Sex and gender appear as a result of heteornormative regulations imposed onto social actors, arguing that these constructions are essences naturally attached to the human body. The constructions of the sex/gender system are inflicted by a regulative discourse. In the heterocentric society this discursive control is implemented through social norms which enforce male with masculinity and female with femininity. Through various analyses of contra-hegemonic cultural and …

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