Digital Commons Network^™

Design Of An Automated Sensor Platform For The Calibration Of Aerial Liquid Dispersal Systems, Yin-Lin Chiu

LSU Master's Theses

Operation S.A.F.E workshops, commonly known as “fly-ins” help agricultural pilots “fine tune” their aircraft for aerial application work. During the fly-in several ancillary measurements are recorded; aircraft speed, aircraft spray release height, air temperature and relative humidity, wind speed and direction. These measurements are recorded by personnel operating the flight line with manually operated sensors. Some of the difficulties arise when the lack of personnel and or experience level hinders the ancillary measurement, or when equipment becomes difficult to repair and/or replace. The objectives of this project are to design two automated sensor platforms to aid data collection and analysis …

Lipid Production From A Louisiana Native Chlorella Vulgaris/Leptolyngbya Sp. Co-Culture For Biofuel Applications, Rong Bai

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over the last several decades, microalgae have garnered great interest for biofuel production mainly due to the high lipid productivity and minimum land competition with food crops. In this research, a Louisiana native Chlorella vulgaris/Leptolyngbya sp. co-culture was selected for lipid production. The goal of this work is to improve the lipid productivity and lipid composition of this co-culture via optimizing irradiance and nitrogen levels, lipid extraction method and modeling of pilot photobioreactor (HISTAR). Effects of irradiance and nitrate nitrogen levels on total lipid yield, neutral lipid portion, and fatty acid profile of non-aerated and aerated co-cultures were investigated in …

An Object-Based Image Analysis Approach For Detecting Urban Impervious Surfaces, Amit Kulkarni

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Impervious surfaces are manmade surfaces which are highly resistant to infiltration of water. Previous attempts to classify impervious surfaces from high spatial resolution imagery with pixel-based techniques have proven to be unsuitable for automated classification because of its high spectral variability and complex land covers in urban areas. Accurate and rapid classification of impervious surfaces would help in emergency management after extreme events like flooding, earthquakes, fires, tsunami, and hurricanes, by providing quick estimates and updated maps for emergency response. The objectives of this study were to: (1) compare classification accuracy between pixel-based and OBIA methods, (2) examine whether the …

Environmental And Landscape Determinants Of Population Genetic Structure And Diversity Of The Great Fruit-Eating Bat, Artibeus Lituratus, In Atlantic Forest Remnants In South America, Eve Sutherland Mcculloch

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ecologists and evolutionary biologists attempt to understand processes that determine distribution, abundance, and diversification of taxa through space and time. Genetic variation can provide insight into mechanisms governing the distribution and structure of natural populations, and population responses to environmental change, which in turn can have important consequences for the maintenance of species diversity. For my dissertation, I studied genetic variation of a seed-dispersing bat, Artibeus lituratus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae), in a heterogeneous landscape in South America, with the objective of understanding environmental and spatial forces responsible for the distribution and dynamics of populations. First, I designed thousands of primer pairs …

A Comparison Of Response-Contingent And Noncontingent Pairing In The Conditioning Of A Reinforcer, Sarah Joanne Miller

LSU Master's Theses

Two pairing procedures were compared in the conditioning of a secondary reinforcer. Pairings of a neutral stimulus and primary reinforcer were delivered either contingent upon a participant response or noncontingently (i.e., independent of a participant response). Maintenance of responding when responses resulted in the neutral stimulus alone was compared before and throughout pairing using progressive-ratio probes. Results yielded undifferentiated responding between the contingently-paired and noncontingently-paired stimuli and a stimulus never paired with reinforcement, indicating that no conditioning effect occurred. Potential factors in producing this lack of differentiation are discussed, including differences in methodology between this study and past studies.

The Use Of Discrete Computer Simulation Modeling To Estimate The Direct And Diffusion Effects Of Leadership Development Intervention On The Return On Investment, Brett Wayne Richard

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Organizational leaders seek monetary returns on their investments (ROI). Thus, making decisions to invest in human capital, such as in leadership development interventions, are often difficult due to the lack of research demonstrating monetary returns on development investment (RODI). Further, little research has been conducted on the diffusion effects of leadership development intervention, or returns on leadership diffusion (ROLD). This research expands on previous research conducted by Avolio, Avey & Quinsenberry (2010), which was the first attempt to estimate RODI using utility analysis. This study is unique in that it uses computer simulation modeling along with current research data to …

Biodiesel Production From Microalgae: Co-Location With Sugar Mills, Christian Lohrey

LSU Master's Theses

Co-location of algae production facilities with sugarcane mills in Louisiana was investigated as a way to address the bottlenecks for algal biodiesel production. Using the process modeling software Sugars™, an algal biodiesel production process was integrated with the operation of a typical-sized 10,000 metric tons/day (11,000 short tons/day) sugarcane mill to evaluate material and energy balances. A process is proposed wherein alga production is supplemented with energy, water, and CO2 available from a sugarcane mill. The Energy Return on Invested, EROI (a ratio of the energy produced/energy required) of the proposed algal biodiesel production process was 1.25; meaning 25% more …

The Functional Morphology Of The Intermandibulo-Cervical Envelope Of The American Alligator (Alligator Mississippiensis), Brooke Hopkins Dubansky

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Alligators appear to swallow prey items that are large relative to their head size. Therefore, the intermandibulo-cervical envelope (i.e., the skin, Fascia superficialis, and constrictor musculature) was expected to be expandable. The three main layers of the intermandibulo-cervical envelope expand and recoil in tandem, but through different mechanisms. In the skin, which consists of hard-cornified scales and soft-cornified interscale skin segments, only the latter are expandable. Therefore, the width and orientation of the interscale skin segments determine the extent and direction of expansion of the skin. Whereas the intermandibular skin region is very expandable and enables the manipulation and crushing …

Ayahuasca Characterization, Metabolism In Humans, And Relevance To Endogenous N,N-Dimethyltryptamines, Ethan Hamilton Mcilhenny

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ayahuasca denotes an Amazonian psychotropic plant tea obtained from Banisteriopsis caapi, which contains beta-carboline (b-carboline) alkaloids, chiefly harmine, harmaline and tetrahydroharmine. The tea usually incorporates the leaves of Psychotria viridis, which are rich in N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a psychoactive 5-HT2A agonist. The beta-carbolines reversibly inhibit monoamine-oxidase (MAO), effectively preventing oxidative deamination of the orally inactive DMT and allowing its absorption and access to the central nervous system. Despite increased use of the tea worldwide, easy to perform and validated methods for its characterization do not exist and the metabolism and excretion of DMT and the b-carbolines has not been studied systematically …

Incorporating Neonicotinoid And Anthranilic Diamide Insecticides Into Integrated Pest Management Of Rice Water Weevil, Lissorhoptrus Oryzophilus, Srinivas K. Lanka

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Seed treatments with chlorantraniliprole and thiamethoxam have been used for the management of rice water weevil, Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus in the United States. Both insecticides being plant-systemic could potentially target multiple life stages of L. oryzophilus. The rational use of these chemicals as seed treatments in weevil management requires thorough understanding on targeted life stages of L.oryzophilus and, the relative persistence and potency of both chemicals. A series of greenhouse and laboratory experiments were conducted on weevils by culturing rice plants treated as seeds with different rates of chlorantraniliprole and thiamethoxam. Adult feeding assays on foliage from treated plants revealed divergent …

The Role Of Music-Making In The Identity Construction Of Members Of An Adult Community Concert Band, Pamela G. Taylor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to ascertain how music-making and band membership contributed to the identities of members of the New Orleans Concert Band and how their identities influenced their behaviors. The musician role identity of members of the New Orleans Concert Band, an adult community band, was examined through the lens of identity theory using ethnographic methods. Findings were based upon interviews with 37 band members, observations of rehearsals and concerts, and an examination of the organization’s documents. Results indicated that members valued individual and group music-making, literature played by the band, and social aspects of …

Performing Nostalgia: Body, Memory, And The Aesthetics Of Past-Home, Jade C. Huell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Since its etymological beginnings, the meanings and usages of nostalgia have shifted markedly. In the shifting, nostalgia’s associations with the body and with the concept of home has diminished. This study of African American nostalgia for Africa uses genealogical inquiry, personal and autoethnographic narrative, and performance theories and practices to reinvigorate the relations between body, memory, aesthetics, past, and home. Attending to operations of time and space, I theorize the aforementioned relations in order to build a theory of critical nostalgia. Following Debbora Battaglia, I argue and illustrate that nostalgia is an act realized in performance, and I develop my …

An Experimental Investigation Of The Role Of Small Hydrocarbons And Combustion-Generated Nanoparticles On The Formation And Growth Reactions Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons During The Pyrolysis Of A Model-Fuel And Hydrocarbon Gases, Nimesh Bharat Poddar

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are an important class of environmental pollutants formed during fuel combustion or pyrolysis. Therefore, an experimental study has been undertaken to better understand the formation and growth pathways of PAH.

To investigate the efficacy of C₃ species as PAH growth agents in the context of solid fuels, pyrolysis experiments have been performed in an isothermal quartz flow reactor in the temperature range of 700–1000 °C and a fixed residence time of 0.3 s. Experiments are performed with the C₃ hydrocarbon, propyne; with catechol (ortho-dihydroxybenzene), a model-fuel representative of aromatic moieties in coal …

Writing In Geometry With The Common Core State Standards: Developing Mathematical Thinkers, Yvonne Mariki Chimwaza

LSU Master's Theses

The newly released Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted with the goal in mind that in the future our students will leave high school ready and better prepared for college and careers. In particular, the CCSS insists that a faithful implementation of the eight Standard of Mathematical Practices will lead to a generation of mathematical thinkers who have learned how to read, write, model, reason, and solve problems in mathematical terms. Unfortunately, at present, my students and others do not know how to write and reason mathematically. By way of this thesis, I searched for ways to help forty-five …

Proton Dose Calculations In Homogeneous Media, John Wesley Chapman, Jr.

LSU Master's Theses

In this study, a proton pencil beam dose calculation algorithm was developed for a parallel, monoenergetic beam incident on a homogeneous water phantom. Fermi-Eyges theory (Eyges 1948) was used to transport pencil beams, and the characteristic width of elastic scatter events was modeled using the differential Moliere scattering power (Gottschalk 2010). The incorporation of this scattering power formalism allowed our model to account for multiple Coulomb scattering, single scattering, plural scattering, and rigorously accounted for material effects on scatter. Nonelastic nuclear interactions were incorporated into an additional pencil beam model. The attenuation of primary fluence due to nuclear events was …

Biologically Dominated Engineered Coastal Breakwaters, Jon David Risinger

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Coastal land loss in Louisiana is occurring at astounding rates. New technologies for shoreline protection are needed that incorporate traditional engineering designs with natural systems (e.g., oyster reefs). Under optimal environmental conditions eastern Oysters (Crassotrea virginica) can biologically dominate artificial concrete reef structures used as coastal breakwaters within the intertidal zone. These reefs can also serve as oyster broodstock sanctuaries providing a nexus to the public oyster grounds benefiting the aquaculture industry. The use of biologically dominated, engineered breakwaters may provide a viable solution to coastal restoration and shoreline protection challenges. Biologically dominated coastal breakwaters can be integrated into coastal …

Novel Surface Modifications And New Nanostructured Titania Synthesis For High-Performance Lithium-Ion Batteries And Solar Cells, Dongsheng Guan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With the rapid development of electronic devices, electrical vehicles and space aerocrafts, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have attract numerous interests due to high energy and power density, long lifespan and low self discharge. Spinel LiMn2O4 is a promising cathode material for novel LIBs thanks to high working potential, easy synthesis and low cost, but its severe capacity drop mostly due to inevitable reactions with electrolytes is a drawback. In the dissertation, ultrathin and highly-conformal Al2O3 coatings are grown on the surface of micro-sized and nanosized LiMn2O4 with atomic layer deposition. Thickness of Al2O3 ALD coatings can be precisely controlled by …

Income Inequality And Mortality: A Test Of Competing Pathways, Lisa Winters

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Findings from numerous studies indicate that individuals living in more unequal societies are at greater risk for a variety of health problems. However, questions remain about the possible pathways that link health outcomes and income inequality. In general, the debate about how income inequality affects individual health centers around two issues: 1) whether the relationship is representative of the level of social cohesion within a given area, and/or 2) whether it is more indicative of the level of local investment in public health infrastructure. Each of these theories, then, represents a potential mediating mechanism through which income inequality impacts individual …

Osmoregulation And Acid-Base Tolerance In Fish, Shujun Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The gill, with a large surface area in intimate contact with the environment, is the primary organ of ion and acid-base regulation in fish. These same characteristics make the gill epithelium particularly susceptible to a number of environmental perturbations, including osmotic challenges and metabolic acidosis. For most freshwater fish, the active uptake of the strong ions, sodium and chloride, are intimately linked with the excretion of acid and base equivalents, respectively. However, fish from the genus Fundulus, are unique in their apparent lack of active chloride uptake at the gills. This unique feature makes limiting Cl- loss through paracellular pathways …

Growth Rate And Productivity Of A Louisiana Native Microalgae/Cyanobacteria Co-Culture: Feasibility For Use In Industrial Biotechnology Applications, Athens Gomes Silaban

LSU Master's Theses

Interest in biofuels research has increased in the era of uncertainty of the current fossil fuel sustainability and global climate concerns. Microalgae offer advantages over terrestrial plants as a potential source of biomass-based fuel. In this study, a Louisiana native microalgae/cyanobacteria (Chlorella vulgaris/Leptolyngbya sp.) co-culture was examined to provide foundational information of its growth conditions. Batch studies were conducted to determine optimum nitrogen and irradiance level that yields maximum co-culture biomass growth and productivity under aerated and non-aerated conditions. The optimum nitrogen level was 2.94 mM N and the optimum initial scalar irradiance range was between 400 – 800 µmol …

Investigating The Role Of Genetic Variation In Long Run Economic Outcomes, Charles Justin Cook

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation empirically tests whether adaptations resulting from the Neolithic Revolution, or the widespread adoption of sedentary agriculture for sustenance, have led to economic differences. The development of sedentary agriculture constituted an environmen- tal shift from the previous sustenance method of hunting and gathering. This environmental shift resulted in the natural selection of certain traits. I seek to exploit differences in these traits to measure differing economic outcomes. Two main adaptations are considered in this work: the ability to consume milk, or lactose tolerance, and resistance to infectious Eurasian diseases, which is the result of genetic variation. The first essay …

Essential Role Of Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1 In Gram-Negative Bacterial Pneumonia, Gayathriy Balamayooran

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Acute gram-negative bacterial infections are a leading cause of mortality among the nosocomial infections. Increasing numbers of immunosuppressed individuals and growing numbers of antibiotic resistant strains make antibiotic treatment difficult. Neutrophils are the first cells recruited to the site of infection and are critical players in the host defense against gram-negative bacterial pneumonia. Therefore, identification of targets that boost neutrophil-associated host defense in the lung is essential in designing better therapies to control pulmonary infections. Production of chemokines is an important step for neutrophil recruitment. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a chemokine that is important for monocyte and T-lymphocyte influx. …

The Effects Of Carbon On Nitrogen Transformations In Restored Wetland And Wastewater Soils, Jared M. Theriot

LSU Master's Theses

Since the industrialization of the Haber-Bosch process in the 1940’s, anthropogenic activity has nearly doubled the Earth’s nitrogen fixation. Furthermore, nitrate has become the number one groundwater contaminant in the United States and has harmful effects such as eutrophication, algal blooms, and pollution of drinking water. Soils from two sites influenced by high nitrate loading were examined to determine their biogeochemical integrity. First, the Loosahatchie Bar, located northwest of Memphis, Tennessee, is influenced by excess surface water nitrate loading by the Mississippi River. The Loosahatchie Bar is a newly restored wetland that now has similar hydrologic influence to an upstream …

Investigations Into The Role Of Natural Organic Matter As An Interface Between Aquatic Organisms And Environmental Pollutants, Caroline Lillian Schneider

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The impact of the continuous pollution of freshwater environments by multiple pollutants has not been well-studied. The goal of this research was to evaluate the toxicity of several modern pollutants in a model environment. The prokaryotic, unicellular blue-green algae Synechocystis WT6803 and the eukaryotic, multicellular Utterbackia imbecillis mussel larvae were studied along with Suwannee River natural organic matter (NOM). The toxicity response of the blue-green algae Synechocystis sp. was measured through changes in growth rates. The inorganic pollutant silver nanoparticles (0.044 μM) were toxic. Gold nanoparticles did not affect the growth rate. The addition of 15 mg/L NOM partially inhibited …

Quantification Of Nox Reduction Via Nitrate Accumulation On A Tio2 Photocatalytic Concrete Pavement, David James Osborn

LSU Master's Theses

Field trials of photocatalytic pavements were recently initiated and are presently being considered by many states (e.g., Virginia, Texas, New York, and Missouri). Results from this study originate from the country’s first air-purifying asphalt and concrete photocatalytic pavements, constructed on Dec. 20, 2010. The test area is a pavement site located on the LSU campus. The objective of the study is to validate field photocatalytic degradation of NOx in a field environment by measuring the day to day accumulation of the oxidized byproduct; nitrate salts. The mass of nitrates, produced by the real life photocatalytic pavement, were measured. The measurement …

Longitudinal Assessment Of Shifting Microbial Community Composition In Sandy Beaches Following The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill And Remediation Efforts, Axita Ajaykumar Gupta

LSU Master's Theses

Sandy beaches are geological zones parallel to the shoreline where high energy, open ocean unconsolidated sediments are deposited and reworked. Sandy beaches represent critical ecosystems that support a wide variety of underappreciated biodiversity. Prior to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the diversity and function of microbial communities in supratidal beach sediments along the Gulf of Mexico coastlines were not well understood. It was unclear if possible community compositional changes would occur during and following exposure to oil, or what impact the remediation efforts, such as sand washing, would have to the microbial communities and …

Insights Into The Catalytic Mechanisms Of The Protein Enzymes, Pfkfb3 And Vlde, Using X-Ray Crystallography, Michael Christopher Cavalier

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work describes the crystallographic studies of two enzymes and provides mechanistic insights into their respective catalytic processes. The first study investigates the molecular basis of the fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase reaction of the inducible isoform of the bifunctional enzyme, 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase (PFKFB3). The bifunctional enzyme is solely responsible for the cellular concentration of a regulator of glucose metabolism, fructose-2,6-bisphosphate. PFKB3 was investigated using the crystal structures of the enzyme in a phospho-enzyme intermediate state (PFKFB3-P•F-6-P), in a transition state-analogous complex (PFKFB3•AlF4), and in a complex with pyrophosphate (PFKFB3•PPi). With these structures, the structures of the Michaelis complex and the transition state were extrapolated. …

Design And Analysis Of Cloaked Fluorophores For Rapid Detection And Visualization Of Cancer Cells Containing Nad(P)H:Quinone Oxidoreductase-1, William Silvers

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The development of fluorogenic substrates for real-time tumor cell detection has led to a vastly expanding field for personal oncology. Fluorophores have been studied as appendages to larger scaffolds leading to accumulation of these dyes in tumor cells or their surrounding environment, taking advantage of tumor anatomy. A new class of fluorophores has been developed in which the dye is an active participant in the mechanism of cancer cell detection. These dyes have been conjugated such that their fluorescence has been eliminated or altered and will undergo a change to reveal their fluorescent signal upon activation by a mechanism that …

The Effects Of Regulatory Uncertainty On The U.S. Acid Rain Program, Narendra Paramanand

LSU Master's Theses

Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA 1990) created the first large scale cap-and-trade program as a means to control acid rain in the United States. The program regulated the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrous oxide (NOx) in the atmosphere—the precursor to acid rain (formerly acid deposition). Economists have long argued for the use of market-based incentive approach as oppose to the traditional command-and-control methods for its ability to be efficient and cost-effective. Title IV went into full effect in 1995 and has been lauded among one of the most successful regulation as it …

Phenotypic And Niche Evolution In The Antbirds (Aves: Thamnophilidae), Gustavo Adolfo Bravo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A pervasive goal in evolutionary biology has been to address why some clades are richer in species or phenotypic diversity than others. The Thamnophilidae is a large family of insectivorous passerine birds that provides great opportunities to study variation in species and phenotypic diversity. It comprises ca. 220 species that are mostly restricted to the lowlands and lower montane forests of the Neotropics. Its species are diverse in body size and shape, and the family exhibits high species richness, especially in Amazonian forests, where as many as 40 species may co-occur. Therefore, the fundamental research goal of my dissertation is …