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Characterization And Comparison Of Cell Frequency, Growth, And Multipotential Differentiation Of Adult Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Derived From Equine Bone Marrow And Adipose Tissue, Martin Andreas Vidal Jan 2008

Characterization And Comparison Of Cell Frequency, Growth, And Multipotential Differentiation Of Adult Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Derived From Equine Bone Marrow And Adipose Tissue, Martin Andreas Vidal

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Equine bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) and adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (ASCs) were compared for frequency within their respective tissues, cell doubling characteristics and differentiation multipotential in culture based on histochemical staining and compositional analysis. Equine MSCs and ASCs from young adult horses were harvested and isolated from sternal bone marrow and supragluteal subcutaneous adipose tissue, respectively, and grown up to passage 10 (P10) to determine cell doubling characteristics. Limit dilution assays were performed on primary and passaged (P2, P4) MSCs and ASCs to determine the frequency of colony forming units with a fibroblastic phenotype (CFU-F), and the frequency …

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Assessing A Hydrothermal Liquefaction Process Using Biomass Feedstocks, Jason S. Midgett Jan 2008

Assessing A Hydrothermal Liquefaction Process Using Biomass Feedstocks, Jason S. Midgett

LSU Master's Theses

The need to reduce the United States dependence on foreign oil has never been greater. In the past decade emphasis has been placed on developing new and/or improved means to procure clean renewable energy. Liquefaction, which was developed for coal conversion over a century ago is one of these areas. Liquefaction used for biomass conversions to bio-oils is grouped under the thermochemical conversion (TCC) area of energy conversion methods along with gasification and pyrolysis. This thesis discusses liquefaction experiments conducted using varieties of Louisiana biomass feedstocks. Dairy manure collected from the Louisiana State University Dairy Farm in Baton Rouge, was …

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Incorporation Of Cα,Α-Disubstituted Amino Acids Into Model Peptide Systems: Conformational Analysis And Possible Applications As Therapeutic Agents, Marcus A. Etienne Jan 2008

Incorporation Of Cα,Α-Disubstituted Amino Acids Into Model Peptide Systems: Conformational Analysis And Possible Applications As Therapeutic Agents, Marcus A. Etienne

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A diverse set of human diseases is associated with the misfolding of proteins into insoluble fibrillar structures that have predominantly β-sheet secondary structure. Thus it is imperative to elucidate the structural elements that contribute to β-sheet formation and stability. Peptides that autonomously form β-sheets are ideal models to study principles of protein folding and design. Gellman and coworkers first introduced an automonously folded β-hairpin (H-Arg-Tyr-Val-Glu-Val-Yyy-Xxx-Orn-Lys-Ile-Leu-Gln-NH2) that remained monomeric up to ~1 mM. Circular dichroism (CD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analyses revealed that incorporation of non-stereogenic Aib-Xxx dipeptidyl sequences into i+1 and i+2 positions of a model peptide nucleates a …

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Molecular Diversity And Coat Protein Expression Of Sweet Potato Leaf Curl Virus, Dina Lida Gutierrez Reynoso Jan 2008

Molecular Diversity And Coat Protein Expression Of Sweet Potato Leaf Curl Virus, Dina Lida Gutierrez Reynoso

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Leaf curl virus diseases have been reported in sweetpotato throughout the world. One of the causal agents is Sweet potato leaf curl virus (SPLCV) which belongs to the genus Begomovirus (family Geminiviridae). In the United States, SPLCV has been found infecting an ornamental sweetpotato and several breeding lines but not in sweetpotatoes grown for commercial production. SPLCV does not cause symptoms on Beauregard, the predominant sweetpotato cultivar in the US, but it can reduce its yield. Since SPLCV could become an important constraint for sweetpotato production; diagnosis, identification, and characterization are essential steps to develop an effective management program. The …

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Genetic And Mechanistic Analysis Of Heterochromatin Spreading In The Yeast S.Cerevisiae, Nithya Jambunathan Jan 2008

Genetic And Mechanistic Analysis Of Heterochromatin Spreading In The Yeast S.Cerevisiae, Nithya Jambunathan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

RNA Polymerase III transcribed tRNA genes are implicated in a wide variety of chromosome organizational functions that includes the ability to act as a boundary to heterochromatic silencing. A tRNA gene has been shown to be a major component of the barrier that prevents spreading of silencing from the HMR locus to the downstream GIT1 gene on chromosome III in S.cerevisiae. Our results suggest that additional proteins are involved in maintaining the boundary function of this tRNA gene. Mutations or deletions of the genes coding for these additional proteins have been shown to either weaken the boundary or enhance silencing. …

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Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry For The Analysis Of Collected Bioaerosols, Alton John Dugas Jan 2008

Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry For The Analysis Of Collected Bioaerosols, Alton John Dugas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation was to demonstrate collection, detection and identification of microorganisms from bioaerosols using offline matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) for the analysis of proteins. MALDI-MS intact bacteria techniques were adapted for use with an orthogonal MALDI quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer. Results indicate the instrument is capable of analyzing intact whole-cells. The first phase was to evaluate three bioaerosol samplers, an Andersen N6 single-stage impactor (AI), a cyclone impactor, and a vacuum filter system. The samplers collected test bioaerosols using a constructed bioaerosol exposure chamber (BEC). The BEC allowed all three samplers to operate in parallel. Each …

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Redutive Dehalogenation Of Chlorinated Alkanes By Novel Bacteria At The Petroprocessor Of Louisiana Inc. Superfund Site, Jun Yan Jan 2008

Redutive Dehalogenation Of Chlorinated Alkanes By Novel Bacteria At The Petroprocessor Of Louisiana Inc. Superfund Site, Jun Yan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A reductively dehalogenating enrichment culture was established using chloroalkane-contaminated groundwater from the PetroProcessors of Louisiana, Inc. (PPI) Superfund site. Two novel, strictly anaerobic bacterial strains, designated as BL-DC-8 and BL-DC-9, were isolated from the enrichment culture. These strains represent the first bacteria known to anaerobically dehalogenate 1,2,3-trichloropropane, the degradation pathway of which was determined. Both strains could be cultured in completely defined basal medium and were also able to dehalogenate a variety of other vicinally chlorinated alkanes including 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, 1,1,2-trichloroethane, 1,2-dichloroethane, and 1,2-dichloropropane via dichloroelimination reactions. Chlorinated alkanes containing only a single chlorine substituent (1-chloropropane, 2-chloropropane), chlorinated alkenes (tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, …

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Three Papers On The Behavior Modeling Of The Shrimp Fishermen In The Gulf Of Mexico, Tao Ran Jan 2008

Three Papers On The Behavior Modeling Of The Shrimp Fishermen In The Gulf Of Mexico, Tao Ran

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The overall goal of this research is to empirically analyze shrimp fishermen behavior to help improve the management of the Gulf of Mexico shrimp fleet. Given that optimal management requires consideration of more than the net benefits derived from shrimp harvesting, this research also seeks to provide an empirical framework that would allow future investigators to measure benefits lost through bycatch-related management actions. This paper expands on previous fishing behavior literature by focusing on two of the most important short-run decisions confronting Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishermen (where to fish and how long to fish). A better understanding of these …

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The Developmental Continuity Of A Cognitive Model Of Worry, Kimberly Rae Zlomke Jan 2008

The Developmental Continuity Of A Cognitive Model Of Worry, Kimberly Rae Zlomke

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research on the construct of worry has increased dramatically in the past two decades. This research has also tended to focus on adults, with only a limited number of studies examining adolescent populations. With the continued dominance of developmental psychopathology and a lifespan approach to development, it has become apparent that downward extensions of adult models of psychopathology are inadequate (cf. Mash & Dozois, 2002). As a result, investigations in adolescents are essential due to the potential developmental differences and heterotypic continuity in worry between adolescents and adults. These developmental differences and changes associated with the period of adolescence may …

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Fabrication And Evaluation Of Specialty Nonwoven Materials, Nan Jiang Jan 2008

Fabrication And Evaluation Of Specialty Nonwoven Materials, Nan Jiang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The present work is to develop multifunctional materials with high performance on chemical absorption, adsorption and on acoustic absorption and insulation using natural fiber nonwovens via carbonization and activation. Evaluation of these textile materials includes tensile strength, thermogravimetric analysis, sound absorption and transmission loss, scanning electronic microscopy and surface properties. Carbonization of cotton nonwoven was carried out in a high temperature oven with nitrogen between 300 °C and 500 °C. The physical activation was undertaken using CO2. The N2 adsorpton isotherm curves of the cotton nonwoven showed the presence of micropores and macropores. High BET surface area and average pore …

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The Initial Reliability And Construct Validity Of The Autism Spectrum Disorder-Diagnostic (Asd-Dc) In Children, Melissa Luke Gonzalez Jan 2008

The Initial Reliability And Construct Validity Of The Autism Spectrum Disorder-Diagnostic (Asd-Dc) In Children, Melissa Luke Gonzalez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of the present study was to examine the reliability and construct validity of a newly developed assessment scale designed to identify autism spectrum disorders in children: Autism Spectrum Disorder-Diagnostic for Children (ASD-DC). Participants were parents and caregivers of children between ages 2 and 16 years, who are typically developing or developmentally delayed. Participants were asked to complete several rating scales including the ASD-DC, a DSM-IV-TR/ICD-10 checklist, the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills in Youngsters (MESSY), and the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Version 2 (BASC-2). In Study 1, the test-retest, inter-rater, and inter-item reliabilities of the ASD-DC was …

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A Novel Automated Approach Of Multi-Modality Retinal Image Registration And Fusion, Hua Cao Jan 2008

A Novel Automated Approach Of Multi-Modality Retinal Image Registration And Fusion, Hua Cao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Biomedical image registration and fusion are usually scene dependent, and require intensive computational effort. A novel automated approach of feature-based control point detection and area-based registration and fusion of retinal images has been successfully designed and developed. The new algorithm, which is reliable and time-efficient, has an automatic adaptation from frame to frame with few tunable threshold parameters. The reference and the to-be-registered images are from two different modalities, i.e. angiogram grayscale images and fundus color images. The relative study of retinal images enhances the information on the fundus image by superimposing information contained in the angiogram image. Through the …

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Application Of The Hyman Model To Evaluate The Water And Salt Budgets In Three Mangrove Sites Along Shark River, Everglades, Cheng-Feng Tsai Jan 2008

Application Of The Hyman Model To Evaluate The Water And Salt Budgets In Three Mangrove Sites Along Shark River, Everglades, Cheng-Feng Tsai

LSU Master's Theses

Mangrove trees play an important role in the maintenance and sustainability of coastal wetlands due to their ability to adapt and survive in a wide range of saline and tidal conditions. Hydrologic processes (e.g., inundation frequency) and salinity are important regulators controlling the growth and productivity of mangrove forests. To quantify how changes in landscape-level hydrology will influence these regulators in mangrove forests, the hydrology model (HYMAN) was applied to three sites with distinct tidal forcings along the Shark River estuary in the Everglades National Park. HYMAN model uses mass balance equation to determine daily water and salt budgets as …

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Isolation And Characterization Of Two Siamese Phenotypic Modifiers And Their Role In Endoreplication And Trichome Development, Remmy Wekesa Kasili Jan 2008

Isolation And Characterization Of Two Siamese Phenotypic Modifiers And Their Role In Endoreplication And Trichome Development, Remmy Wekesa Kasili

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Recessive mutations in the ENS1 gene of Arabidopsis thaliana result in reduced trichome branching without altering the ploidy level of trichomes. This implies that ENS1 regulates trichome branching in an endoreplication-independent manner. Mutations in ENS1 also enhance the multicellularity of sim mutant trichomes indicating that ENS1 plays a role in the regulation of the cell cycle during trichome cell differentiation. We have shown that ENS1 is required by the negative regulators of trichome branching for the trichomes to achieve their supernumerary branching. The interaction between ens1-1 and try-JC suggests that ENS1 is involved in both primary and secondary branching events …

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Gas-Phase Formation Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals From Thermal Degradation Of Catechol, Hydroquinone, Phenols And Tobacco, Julien Gnonlonfoun Adounkpe Jan 2008

Gas-Phase Formation Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals From Thermal Degradation Of Catechol, Hydroquinone, Phenols And Tobacco, Julien Gnonlonfoun Adounkpe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Catechol, hydroquinone and Phenol are major constituents of the mainstream tobacco smoke. The toxicity of tobacco has been attributed to the ability of catechol and hydroquinone to undergo endogenous or exogenous redox cycling to form semiquinone type radicals responsible of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) formation. ROS such as hydroxyl radicals can cause severe oxidative stress on biological tissues and can provoke severe signaling pathways leading to cardiovascular and pulmonary dysfunctions and carcinogenesis. Given that semiquinone type radicals are organic radicals, characterized by their high instability and reactivity; it is somewhat surprising that they can live long enough mostly when associated …

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Wax Extraction And Characterization From Full-Fat And Defatted Rice Bran, Junghong Kim Jan 2008

Wax Extraction And Characterization From Full-Fat And Defatted Rice Bran, Junghong Kim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Rice bran oil (RBO) contains 3-4% waxes (rice bran wax, RBW), which are composed of wax esters (WE), hydrocarbons, and other minor constituents. Saponified rice bran wax esters (RBWE) generate fatty acids, long chain alcohols, and phytosterols. Phytosterols and long chain fatty alcohols (policosanol) are known to reduce serum cholesterol and inhibit hepatic cholesterol synthesis. The yields and RBWE contents of RBO and RBW extracted from full-fat RB (FFRB) and defatted RB (DFRB) were determined using 6 different conditions with Soxhlet and Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE). The compositions of WEs from RBO and RBW were also compared. RBW was obtained from …

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Swamp Ecology In A Dynamic Coastal Landscape: An Investigation Through Field Study And Simulation Modeling, Susanne Sigrid Hoeppner Jan 2008

Swamp Ecology In A Dynamic Coastal Landscape: An Investigation Through Field Study And Simulation Modeling, Susanne Sigrid Hoeppner

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Increased flooding, nutrient and sediment deprivation, and saltwater intrusion have been implicated as probable causes of coastal swamp deterioration in the Mississippi Delta. An understanding of the interactive effects of these factors is required to enable successful planning of wetland restoration activities. I used field data collected from 2000 till 2005 at forty study sites to characterize the baseline conditions of the Maurepas swamp. I used a cluster analysis to identify four swamp habitat clusters, and characterized the clusters on the basis of soil properties, salinity, basal area, stem density, and other tree-related variables. ANOVA and related statistical techniques showed …

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Comparative Roles Of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (Hsv-1) Glycoproteins In Cytoplasmic Virion Egress, Hyuncheol Lee Jan 2008

Comparative Roles Of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (Hsv-1) Glycoproteins In Cytoplasmic Virion Egress, Hyuncheol Lee

LSU Master's Theses

HSV-1 acquires its final envelope by budding into cytoplasmic vesicles thought to be derived from Trans-Golgi Network (TGN) membranes. This process is facilitated by interactions among the carboxyl termini of viral glycoproteins and tegument proteins. To investigate the relative importance of different viral glycoproteins in cytoplasmic virion morphogenesis, a set of recombinant viruses were constructed silencing expression of the glycoprotein E (ΔgE), the carboxyl terminus of glycoprotein D (gDΔcp), and the membrane protein UL20 (ΔUL20). In addition, recombinant viruses were constructed having the ΔgE+gDΔcp, and the ΔgE+ΔgM (glycoprotein M) deletions. These recombinant viruses were constructed using the double-red, site-directed mutagenesis …

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Mercury Transport Through A Capped Sediment, Jianrong Liu Jan 2008

Mercury Transport Through A Capped Sediment, Jianrong Liu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Laboratory simulation cells were employed to evaluate the effectiveness of a sand cap for containing highly mercury-contaminated lake sediments and the resultant impacts on the mercury fate beneath the cap. Sand cap can delay and reduce the migration of mercury into the overlying water; however, due to the small partition coefficient of mercury between sand and water, a capping material with higher partition coefficient is better for the long-term containment of mercury. In the following study, efforts were made to identify and investigate an active capping material which works effectively at containing and inhibiting the methylation of mercury. Based on …

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Neuropsychological Performance And Dementia Symptoms In A Hiv Positive Population, Kathleen E. Kendra Jan 2008

Neuropsychological Performance And Dementia Symptoms In A Hiv Positive Population, Kathleen E. Kendra

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is an infectious disease caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which affects millions of individuals worldwide. This syndrome is associated with many medical complications. Fortunately, patients with HIV and AIDS have longer life expectancy than in past decades with HIV and AIDS; however, the risk of cognitive impairment is greater in this population. Identification of dementia due to HIV/AIDS by health care professionals is hampered by the unclear relationship between cognitive functioning and HIV-related health status in the HIV/AIDS research literature. For the current study, individuals with HIV/AIDS who are symptomatic with infection but do …

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Electrochemical Fabrication Of Auco Nanostructures, Maoshi Guan Jan 2008

Electrochemical Fabrication Of Auco Nanostructures, Maoshi Guan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Electrodeposited Au/CoAu multilayered nanowires are materials with alternating layers of Au and CoAu in a wire where the layer thickness and wire diameter are nanometer size. They can be used for different applications. For example, the wires may exhibit giant magnetoresistance (GMR), a change in the materials resistance with a magnetic field, having applications as a sensor material for microdevices. If Co is etched from CoAu nanowires, rough, porous gold nanostructures will be left behind, which could be used as novel catalysts. In this study, the electrodeposition of Au/CoAu multilayered nanowires and nanotubes in nanoporous templates was explored from a …

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Chemotactic And Inflammatory Responses To And Recognition Of Encephalitozoon Spp. Of Microsporidia, Jeffrey Lynn Fischer Jan 2008

Chemotactic And Inflammatory Responses To And Recognition Of Encephalitozoon Spp. Of Microsporidia, Jeffrey Lynn Fischer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Microsporidiosis is an emerging disease among immunocompromised individuals who often present with chronic diarrhea. The intracellular, eukaryotic parasites responsible for this pathology can often disseminate, causing multiorgan infections. Dissemination of these pathogens is believed to occur through vehicular spread by macrophages. The macrophage response to microsporidia is poorly understood. The information, described herein, is focused on defining the host-pathogen interaction and subsequent inflammatory response in human monocyte-derived-macrophages (MDM) against Encephalitozoon spp. of microsporidia. Initial studies were designed to better define the infection kinetics in MDM using various microscopic analysis and novel staining approaches. Spore adherence and uptake occurs within the …

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Failure-Awareness And Dynamic Adaptation In Data Scheduling, Mehmet Balman Jan 2008

Failure-Awareness And Dynamic Adaptation In Data Scheduling, Mehmet Balman

LSU Master's Theses

Over the years, scientific applications have become more complex and more data intensive. Especially large scale simulations and scientific experiments in areas such as physics, biology, astronomy and earth sciences demand highly distributed resources to satisfy excessive computational requirements. Increasing data requirements and the distributed nature of the resources made I/O the major bottleneck for end-to-end application performance. Existing systems fail to address issues such as reliability, scalability, and efficiency in dealing with wide area data access, retrieval and processing. In this study, we explore data-intensive distributed computing and study challenges in data placement in distributed environments. After analyzing different …

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An Analysis Of Marine Protected Areas Legislation In The Caribbean Lesser Antilles, Barry James Bleichner Jan 2008

An Analysis Of Marine Protected Areas Legislation In The Caribbean Lesser Antilles, Barry James Bleichner

LSU Master's Theses

Historically, marine resources and ecosystems were believed to be limitless and exploitation of those resources occurred with little regard to future consequences. Recent studies suggests that this belief is misplaced, as research indicates that many of these marine resources face extinction if protective measures are not implemented soon. Marine protected areas, or MPAs have garnered increasing attention as a means to effectively protect and conserve marine resources. Establishment and management of marine protected areas typically require implementing legislation in order to provide a legal basis for enforcement of MPA rules and regulations. The intent of this research was to determine …

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Microassembly Technology For Modular, Polymer Microfluidic Devices, Byoung Hee You Jan 2008

Microassembly Technology For Modular, Polymer Microfluidic Devices, Byoung Hee You

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Assembly of modular, polymer microfluidic devices with different functions to obtain more capable instruments may significantly expand the options available for detection and diagnosis of disease through DNA analysis and proteomics. For connecting modular devices, precise, passive alignment structures can be used to prevent infinitesimal motions between the devices and minimize misalignment. The motion and constraint of passive alignment structures were analyzed using screw theory. A combination of three v-groove and hemisphere-tipped post joints constrained all degrees of freedom of the two mating modules without overconstraint. Simulations and experiments were performed to assess the predictability of dimensional and location variations …

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Postcolonial Writing In Louisiana: Surpassing The Role Of French Traditionalism In Alfred Mercier's L'Habitation Saint-Ybars, Mary Florence Cashell Jan 2008

Postcolonial Writing In Louisiana: Surpassing The Role Of French Traditionalism In Alfred Mercier's L'Habitation Saint-Ybars, Mary Florence Cashell

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis explores the roles of French patriarchal ideologies of the Enlightenment and exoticism in Alfred Mercier’s novel, L’habitation Saint-Ybars. His novel portrays the antebellum Creole plantation as a hierarchy of strict gender roles similar to those that Enlightenment philosophy espoused. I use the family in Bernardin de Saint-Pierre’s classic, Paul et Virginie, as one example of such a hierarchy. There are also, however, several instances where Mercier departs from the paternalistic norm. I interpret Mercier’s moving away from this model to be a declaration of a unique Louisianian identity.

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Designing Surface Chemistries For In Situ Afm Investigations Of Biomolecular Reactions With Proteins At The Nanoscale, Johnpeter Ndiangui Ngunjiri Jan 2008

Designing Surface Chemistries For In Situ Afm Investigations Of Biomolecular Reactions With Proteins At The Nanoscale, Johnpeter Ndiangui Ngunjiri

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) characterizations and lithography can be applied to investigate the orientation, reactivity and stability of protein molecules adsorbed on nanostructures of self-assembled monolayers at near-physiological conditions. Automated nanografting was used to fabricate regular arrays of nanopatterns of ù-functionalized n-alkanethiols with designated terminal chemistries. After writing nanopatterns, protein binding occurs selectively on carboxylate-terminated nanopatterns via covalent bonds that are formed using N-ethyl-N'(dimethylaminoporpyl)-carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide activation. The amine groups of lysine residues of proteins bond covalently to nanopatterns of carboxylate-terminated alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers, to form a robust surface attachment for sustained contact-mode AFM imaging during biochemical reactions. …

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Moderately-Rapid Assessment Of Alkaline Desiccation Environmental Systems, David Alan Bates Jan 2008

Moderately-Rapid Assessment Of Alkaline Desiccation Environmental Systems, David Alan Bates

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A moderately-rapid assessment tool was developed to analyze the waterless desiccation compost toilet investigated in a rural Mexican setting. Over 100 social factors were identified along with the applicable technical factors that influenced the low acceptability of the toilets. A 4-point rating scale was developed to increase the ability and speed of analyzing both the social and technical data. The treatment process was an alkaline-desiccation process with mean pH values of 8.2 ± sd 1.1 and water content of 18.3% ± sd 9.9, which resulted in mean fecal coliform values of 15.0 MPN/g ± sd 31.8, drastically lower than the …

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Evolutionary History And Hybridization In Passerina Buntings, Matthew D. Carling Jan 2008

Evolutionary History And Hybridization In Passerina Buntings, Matthew D. Carling

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding the genetic basis of speciation is of fundamental importance to evolutionary biology and hybrid zones offer unique natural laboratories in which to investigate the ecological and evolutionary processes important in creating and maintaining biological diversity. By comparing introgression patterns of different loci, researchers can begin to identify genetic regions that contribute to reproductive isolation between hybridizing taxa. In taxa, like birds, with heterogametic females, Haldane’s rule predicts that mtDNA and z-linked loci will introgress less than autosomal loci. I tested this prediction using the hybrid zone between Passerina cyanea (Indigo Bunting) and Passerina amoena (Lazuli Bunting), two species that …

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Retrotransposon-Mediated Instability In The Human Genome, Shurjo Kumar Sen Jan 2008

Retrotransposon-Mediated Instability In The Human Genome, Shurjo Kumar Sen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

LINE-1 (Long Interspersed Element-1/L1) and Alu are two active retrotransposon families in the human genome that have the potential to create genomic instability either during the insertion of new elements or through ectopic recombination. However, recent in vitro analyses have demonstrated that these elements also repair DNA double-strand breaks, hence contributing to the maintenance of genomic integrity. As such, the comprehensive role of mobile elements in either creating or mitigating instability in primate genomes remains unclear. The recent sequencing of the chimpanzee and rhesus macaque genomes uniquely facilitates the accurate resolution of this question, as three-way computational alignment of the …

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