Digital Commons Network^™

Monumental Discourse: Elite And Grassroots Disputes Over White Supremacist Monuments In New Orleans, Jude Bumgardner

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis explores elite and grassroots discourse concerning disputes over monument removal in New Orleans, Louisiana. By means of participant observation, narrative ethnography, and critical discourse analysis, I ground this study of political and academic arguments about Confederate monuments in the context of grassroots concerns regarding white supremacist symbols to inquire about how these divergent discourses relate to inequality in New Orleans. Ultimately, I argue that what is most at stake in each case studied here is speakers’ control over the “public mind” via their control over dominant narratives (van Dijk 1993a, 44-45). In order to preserve their power, each …

Modeling Crowd Feedback In The Mobile App Market, Grant S. Williams

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mobile application (app) stores, such as Google Play and the Apple App Store, have recently emerged as a new model of online distribution platform. These stores have expanded in size in the past five years to host millions of apps, offering end-users of mobile software virtually unlimited options to choose from. In such a competitive market, no app is too big to fail. In fact, recent evidence has shown that most apps lose their users within the first 90 days after initial release. Therefore, app developers have to remain up-to-date with their end-users’ needs in order to survive. Staying close …

Flood Resilience Assessment Of New Orleans After Hurricane Katrina Based On Thermal And Vegetation Index Image Time Series, Yirui Deng

LSU Master's Theses

Resilience is a concept with increasing importance in modern risk management because of its role in reducing risks of unpreventable disasters. Previous resilience assessment studies often require extensive surveys of various social, economic, and psychological data or incorporate remote sensing data as one of the complicated physical and social parameters for assessment models. Limited data accessibility to such data due to funding, time, and labor intensity is a major challenge for their wider applications. Therefore, this study proposes the hypothesis that the overall resilience of an urban area to disturbances of natural disasters can be reflected through the time series …

Theoretical Investigation Of The Ring Opening Of Cyclohexane On Ir(111) And Pt(111), Kushal Ghale

LSU Master's Theses

Diesel engines have higher fuel efficiency and can burn cleaner than gasoline engines. To enhance quality of diesel fuels as measured by the cetane number (CN), the removal of aromatic compounds is necessary. A potentially highly efficient approach would be to convert aromatics to saturated cycloparaffin, followed by selective ring opening to linear or branched alkanes, to increase the CN. Here the focus of the project is to study the mechanism of metal-catalyzed ring opening (RO) of cyclohexane (denoted CHA, or c-C₆H₁₂) through theoretical and computational modeling. CHA, a simplest cycloparaffin, is used as probe molecule …

Climatology, Variability, And Return Periods Of Tropical Cyclone Strikes In The Northeastern And Central Pacific Basins, Nicholas S. Grondin

LSU Master's Theses

Tropical cyclones (TCs) are among the most destructive meteorological phenomena and impact the lives of people who reside along the coast. The American Pacific Coastline borders the second most active TC development region in the world, the northeastern Pacific (NE Pac) basin. This region, along with the Central Pacific (C Pac)-bordering Hawaii is home to a growing population and cities engaged in a variety of economic activities, most prominently agriculture, fishing, and tourism. This study analyzes fifty-two (1966-2017) years of NE Pac and C Pac TCs through applying track data from the National Hurricane Center’s HURDAT2 and a TC size …

Evaluation Of Reproductive Phenology And Ecology Of Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris Gallopavo Silvestris) Across The Southeastern United States, Nicholas W. Bakner

LSU Master's Theses

Avian reproduction is known to be a driver of population dynamics across species and systems. Behavioral decisions during incubation such as habitat selection and nest attentiveness are thought to affect nest success. The incubation process is a costly period during which individuals are sedentary and must balance survival with reproductive success and overall fitness. Current understanding of Eastern wild turkey incubation behavior provides a limited view of the incubation period. Using GPS data collected from Eastern wild turkeys (n = 220), I evaluated nest fate as it relates to recess frequency, distance travelled during recess, and habitat selection during …

String Out And Compressibility Effect On Pressure Rise In A Shut-In Well, Nicholas Henry

LSU Master's Theses

Gas kick migration experiments were performed in a small-scale well prototype model of annular geometry to analyze the behavior of gas kicks in highly non-Newtonian fluids. The objective was to isolate and estimate the effects system compressibility and bubble string out have on the pressure build up in a situation in which a gas kick rises through a noncirculating drilling mud in a vertical well.

The experiments consisted of 2 tests. The first test measured the apparent compressibility of the liquid phase of the experiment – that phase which simulated the drilling mud in a gas kick situation. The second …

Voltage-Dependent Membrane Properties Shape The Size But Not The Frequency Content Of Spontaneous Voltage Fluctuations In Layer 2/3 Somatosensory Cortex, Fernando R. Fernandez, Jad Noueihed, John A. White

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Highly Active And Stable Carbon Nanosheets Supported Iron Oxide For Fischer-Tropsch To Olefins Synthesis, Yunyun Zhou, Sittichai Natesakhawat, Thuy Duong Nguyen-Phan, Douglas R. Kauffman, Chris M. Marin, Kim Kisslinger, Ruoqian Lin, Huolin L. Xin, Eli Stavitski, Klaus Attenkofer, Yijie Tang, Yisong Guo, Iradwikanari Waluyo, Amitava Roy, Jonathan W. Lekse, Yang Yu, John Baltrus, Yu Lu, Christopher Matranga, Congjun Wang

Faculty Publications

Light olefins production utilizes the energy intensive process of steam cracking. Fischer-Tropsch to olefins (FTO) synthesis potentially offers a more sustainable alternative. Here we show a promising FTO catalyst comprised of iron oxide nanoparticles supported on carbon nanosheets (CNS) fabricated from the carbonization of potassium citrate, which incorporates well dispersed K-promoter throughout the CNS support. This catalyst exhibits, to the best of our knowledge, the highest iron time yield of 1790–1990 μmol /g ⋅ s reported in the literature, 41 % light olefins selectivity, and over 100 hours stable activity, making it one of the best performing FTO catalysts. Detailed …

Highly Active And Stable Carbon Nanosheets Supported Iron Oxide For Fischer-Tropsch To Olefins Synthesis, Yunyun Zhou, Sittichai Natesakhawat, Thuy Duong Nguyen-Phan, Douglas R. Kauffman, Chris M. Marin, Kim Kisslinger, Ruoqian Lin, Huolin L. Xin, Eli Stavitski, Klaus Attenkofer, Yijie Tang, Yisong Guo, Iradwikanari Waluyo, Amitava Roy, Jonathan W. Lekse, Yang Yu, John Baltrus, Yu Lu, Christopher Matranga, Congjun Wang

Faculty Publications

Light olefins production utilizes the energy intensive process of steam cracking. Fischer-Tropsch to olefins (FTO) synthesis potentially offers a more sustainable alternative. Here we show a promising FTO catalyst comprised of iron oxide nanoparticles supported on carbon nanosheets (CNS) fabricated from the carbonization of potassium citrate, which incorporates well dispersed K-promoter throughout the CNS support. This catalyst exhibits, to the best of our knowledge, the highest iron time yield of 1790–1990 μmol /g ⋅ s reported in the literature, 41 % light olefins selectivity, and over 100 hours stable activity, making it one of the best performing FTO catalysts. Detailed …

A Systematic Study Of Superluminous Supernova Light-Curve Models Using Clustering, E. Chatzopoulos, Richard Tuminello

Faculty Publications

Superluminous supernova (SLSN) light curves exhibit superior diversity compared to their regular-luminosity counterparts in terms of rise and decline timescales, peak luminosities, and overall shapes. It remains unclear whether this striking variety arises due to a dominant power input mechanism involving many underlying parameters or due to contributions by different progenitor channels. In this work, we propose that a systematic quantitative study of SLSN light-curve timescales and shape properties, such as symmetry around peak luminosity, can be used to characterize these enthralling stellar explosions. We find that applying clustering analysis to the properties of model SLSN light curves, powered by …

Disentangling The Role Of Future Orientation And Callous-Unemotional Traits In The Prediction Of Offending In Justice-Involved Youth, Toni Walker

LSU Master's Theses

Future Orientation and callous-unemotional (CU) traits are well established predictors of future offending. A more positive outlook on one’s future goals seems to protect youth from engaging in antisocial behavior, whereas elevated CU traits predict more severe and persistent forms of delinquency. The relationship between CU traits and other aspects of psychopathy, such as grandiose self-worth, is not consistent with a pessimistic outlook towards the future. This study explored the associations among these variables in a sample of male first-time juvenile offenders (N = 1,216). Results indicated that future orientation predicted delinquency over a 5-year follow-up period, and this …

Surface Gravity Waves In The Gulf Of Mexico And Their Role In Ocean-Atmosphere Coupling, Ehsan Abolfazli

LSU Master's Theses

This study provides an overview of the surface gravity wave dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) using numerical simulations. The focus is on the effects of ocean currents on waves, and the geographic distribution of a set of wave statistics and parameters related to the role of waves on both sides of the ocean-atmosphere interface. Simulations are performed using the Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) model with and without coupling with the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) model within the Coupled Ocean Atmosphere Wave Sediment Transport (COAWST) framework. In the GoM, currents alter the climatological significant wave heights (H …

Impacts Of Anthropogenic Activities On Coastal Wetland Microbes And Microbially-Mediated Processes In Coastal Louisiana, Jessica Vaccare

LSU Master's Theses

Louisiana contains 40% of the nation’s coastal wetlands, but accounts for 80% of the nation’s coastal wetland loss. This loss is attributed to eustatic sea level rise (SLR), regional land subsidence, and sediment starvation. The relative SLR in coastal Louisiana (~13 mm yr^-1) puts this area within the predicted level of SLR for most other coastlines in the next 65-85 years; and makes current coastal Louisiana an ideal proxy for studying the future impacts of SLR, wetland loss, and anthropogenic activities on coastal ecosystems worldwide.

There are approximately 1,500 oil spills reported for Louisiana every year and the …

Effects Of A Repeated Writing Intervention On Writing Fluency And Writing Quality, Katherine L. Moore

LSU Master's Theses

Writing is a fundamental skill that is essential for students’ academic success. In fact, students with writing difficulties are shown to have lower academic achievement and reduced likelihood of college acceptance (Graham & Perin, 2007). Writing fluency is a crucial component in the development of writing abilities, as it allows for the development of higher-order writing skills (Bloom, 1986, Binder, Haughton & Bateman, 2002). Limited research exists of interventions targeted specially for writing fluency; however, performance feedback procedures have been shown as effective (Hier & Eckert, 2016). Literature suggests the skills of reading and writing share similar processes of learning …

Adaptation To Climate Change Through Genetic Accommodation And Assimilation Of Plastic Phenotypes, Morgan Kelly

Faculty Publications

© 2019 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Theory suggests that evolutionary changes in phenotypic plasticity could either hinder or facilitate evolutionary rescue in a changing climate. Nevertheless, the actual role of evolving plasticity in the responses of natural populations to climate change remains unresolved. Direct observations of evolutionary change in nature are rare, making it difficult to assess the relative contributions of changes in trait means versus changes in plasticity to climate change responses. To address this gap, this review explores several proxies that can be used to understand evolving plasticity in the context of …

Aerodynamic Flutter And Buffeting Of Long-Span Bridges Under Wind Load, Shuqian Liu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With the continuous increase of span lengths, the aerodynamic characteristics of long-span bridges under external wind excitation have become much more complex and wind-induced vibration has always been a problem of great concern. The present research targets on the aerodynamic performance of long-span bridges under wind load with an emphasis on bridge flutter and buffeting.

For the aerodynamic flutter analysis of long-span bridges, the present research investigated the effects of the wind turbulence on flutter stability. The characterizations of the self-excited forces are presented in both the frequency-domain and in the time-domain, and the flutter analysis is conducted under both …

Between Regulation And Repression, Tradition And Innovation: How The Royal College Of Physicians Of London Negotiated Its Place In The Early Modern Medical Field, Erin Michelle Halloran

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project seeks to understand the methods employed by the College of Physicians to maintain its authority and privileges in the English medical marketplace in the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The College of Physicians was founded in 1518 by Dr. Thomas Linacre, whose medical humanist ideals became the framework for the College’s organization and statutes. The College was tasked with regulating the medical practice of practitioners in London. Physicians licensed by the College were, by law the only physicians allowed to practice internal medicine in London and the surrounding seven miles. It examined and licensed physicians and scrutinized and …

Optimization Of Quantum Optical Metrology Systems, Nicholas Michael Studer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

It can be said that all of humanity's efforts can be understood as a problem of optimization. We each have a natural sense of what is ``good'' or ``bad'' and thus our actions tend towards maximizing -- or optimizing -- some notion of good and minimizing those things we perceive as bad or undesirable.

Within the sciences, the greatest form of good is knowledge. It is this pursuit of knowledge that leads to not only life-saving innovations and technology, but also to furthering our understanding of our natural world and driving our philosophical pursuits.

The principle method of obtaining knowledge …

Developing The 21st Century Musician: A Case Study Of Applied Tuba And Euphonium Studio Models At American Universities, Chasse Benjamin Duplantis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Musicians navigate an ever-changing career landscape that requires a strong set of ancillary skills in addition to their assumed musical mastery. A successful 21^stcentury career, musical or beyond, demands versatility and command of skills that may include communication, innovation, adaptability, and higher order thinking skills. This document explores the applied professor’s role in introducing the aforementioned elements as well as musical versatility, critical thinking, and skills in collaboration, pedagogy, research, entrepreneurship, and business. Finally, it will examine how or even if the combination of these skills affects student success. The reader will find interviews with successful tuba and …

Health Information Seeking As A Coping Strategy To Reduce The Stress Of Informal Caregivers Of Individuals With Alzheimer’S Disease And Other Forms Of Dementia, Nia Francis Mason

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between information seeking and the perceived stress levels of informal Alzheimer’s and dementia caregivers. An additional component was added to determine whether health literacy and emotional state moderated the relationship.

The study involved conducting qualitative interviews followed by collecting survey data to answer the following research questions: 1) What motivating factors lead informal AD caregivers to seek out information? How do their information needs change? Why do informal caregivers choose to utilize certain resources more than others? Is there a correlation between information seeking and resulting stress levels? Does health literacy moderate the association between …

Blueberry Pectin-Anthocyanin Binding Kinetics And Stability Under In Vitro Digestion, Jee Won Koh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Blueberry pectins were sequentially extracted from highbush blueberry powder and precipitated in alcohol to obtain water soluble fraction (WSF) and chelator soluble fraction (CSF). WSF was high methoxyl pectin (degree of esterification: 53), rich in in neutral sugars (40 mol%), and had less negative charge (-21 mV) whereas CSF was low methoxyl pectin (degree of esterification: 21), rich in uronic acids (92 mol%), and had lower negative charge ( -26 mV).

The stability of blueberry pectin-anthocyanin complex was investigated under simulated in vitro digestion. Binding of blueberry pectins with three anthocyanin standards (malvidin-3-glucoside; M3G, cyanidin-3-glucoside; C3G, and delphinidin-3-glucoside; D3G) and …

The Rhetoric Of Sickle Cell Anemia, Raquel Mcfarland Robvais

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation examines the rhetorical treatment of sickle cell anemia as synecdoche, representing a preoccupation with racialized discourses of disease and the affective registers manifested in public life. From its inception SCA has taken on cultural meanings to satisfy ideological arguments about the nature of black bodies.

It has been appropriated to create “categories of difference and belonging” (Schramm et al). I examine how SCA is gathered by rhetors to serve varying ideological purposes and cultural communities. It is utilized to invite different readings that conceptualize the black body as an object of scientific experimentation, as an agent for resistance …

Fragments And Flânerie: Modernity, Cosmopolitanism, And The Art Of Wandering, Charla Allyn Hughes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation argues that wandering, whether across cities (flânerie) or across geographic regions and countries (travel), is a process of not only finding meaning but also one of confronting alienation and dislocation, conditions of the fragmentariness of modern life, which is signified by transnationalism, media, technology, and consumerism. This examination of flânerie, travel, and cosmopolitanism investigates three women writers’ representations of navigating an alienating, fragmented world—or, more simply, of the search for a sense of home and/or belonging. Transatlantic writers Mary McCarthy, Elizabeth Bishop, and Zadie Smith not only consider specific places and suspended in-betweens but also …

The Use Of Cellulose Nanofibers In Polymer Matrix Composites Via 3d Printing, Ju Dong

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Filament fused fabrication (FFF) is an extrusion-based 3D printing technology for manufacturing thermoplastic polymers. A major obstacle of 3D printed thermoplastic is the limited crystallinity resulting from a fast quench while material leaving the hot nozzle and solidifying quickly at the low-temperature platform. As a result, the mechanical performances of 3D printed thermoplastic is normally inadequate in comparison with conventionally manufactured ones (e.g., from injection molding). In this work, we developed two strategies for reinforcing and functionalizing 3D printed thermoplastic composites using cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) as nanofillers. Firstly, L-lactide monomers were grafted onto CNFs via ring-opening polymerization. The synthesized poly(lactic …

Examining The Role Of Job Resources As Moderators In The Relationship Between Job Stress, Job Satisfaction, And Quit Intention In Teachers, Leanna Becnel Cupit

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Teacher attrition is a major problem facing education today. Some literature reports as many as half of all teachers leave the profession within the first five years. The current study sought to examine the role of resources as moderators to the impacts of job stress and job satisfaction on quit intention in early career teachers. Drawing from conservation of resource theory, findings from this study show that high levels of job stress and low levels of job satisfaction are related to increased quit intention. However, results from this study showed no difference in the stress, satisfaction, and quit intention …

Novel Media: Global Contemporary Fiction In The Digital Age, Mary Catherine Pappalardo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Novel Media argues that contemporary literature—particularly the novel form—is best decoded in terms of the new media forms that have proliferated since the dawn of the internet. Perhaps no other development has so dramatically shaped contemporary life than the ubiquity of the internet, internet-capable devices, and the myriad social networks that have blossomed within. Fiction is no different; the social media forms that dominate our lives online have also, I argue, rewired the way novels work in the twenty-first century. As such, a new reading practice is required that attends to these seismic changes to the novelistic terrain. The project …

The Tripartite Interaction Between Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi, Rice, And Insects, Lina Bernaola Alvarado

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Losses caused by pests remain an important limitation to achieving high rice yields in the United States. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AM fungi) are able to modify plant physiology by increasing plant growth or inducing defense responses against insect herbivores. However, studies of the role of AM fungi in agroecological factors, including natural occurrence, plant resistance, soil dependency, and plant tolerance, with specific regards to pests that feed on rice plants have not been conducted before. A three-year study revealed natural occurring colonization by AM fungi on rice roots sampled in four rice-producing areas in the southern United States. Overall, rice-AM …

Microscale Metal Forming: Mesoscopic Size Effect, Extrusion And Molding, Bin Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The continuing trend of metallic device and product miniaturization has motivated studies on microscale metal forming technologies. A better understanding of materials’ mechanical response and deformation behavior is of importance for the design and operation of micro metal forming processes. In this dissertation, uniaxial compression testing was conducted on Al ring and pillar specimens with characteristic dimensions at meso to micro scales. The experimental data reveal inadequacies of the existing surface layer model and provides a baseline for delineating deformation mechanisms in micro metal forming operations. Microscale reverse extrusion experiment was carried out on Cu and Al rod specimens with …

The Sons Of Emmett Till: Addressing Black Male Masculinity In Urban High Schools In New Orleans, Michael J. Seaberry

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores how Black boys in New Orleans’ urban high schools develop, define, and do masculinity. Beginning with a narrative literature review, this study provides themes common among the six peer-reviewed articles that are specifically written on the subject of Black boys’ masculinity in urban high schools in the United States. Analyzed using Critical Race Theory, the themes discussed in these six articles were used to formulate interview questions for 10 Black male students in New Orleans high schools. The empirical portion of this study found that Black boys in New Orleans urban high schools develop masculinity at birth, …