Digital Commons Network^™

Quantification Of Marine Sediment Properties From Planar And Volumetric Pore Geometries, Allen Hagerman Reed

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Pore geometry and topology are important determinants of sediment physical properties, such as porosity and permeability. They also influence processes that occur in the sediment, such as acoustic propagation, attenuation, and dispersion, single- and multi-phase fluid flow, and hydrodynamic dispersion. This study uses images to evaluate pore geometry and topology of ooid (subspherical particles) and siliclastic (angular quartz) sand that was collected from the marine environment south of Bimni Bahamas and Ft. Walton Beach, FL, respectively. Image analysis techniques and predictive tools enable insight into the relationships among sediment pore geometry, topology, and physical properties for these differently shaped sands. …

Electronic Structural Investigations Of Bi- And Polymetallic Complexes Using Quantum Mechanical Methods, Zakiya Sheni Wilson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding the dynamics influencing chemical reactivity is essential for properly exploiting matter into more useful purposes. In that manner, computational chemistry is a tool frequently used to study chemical properties at the most intimate level, i.e. the single molecule.

With this work, we probe the chemistry governing a variety of multi-faceted bi- and polymetallic compounds. To date our research consists of four major projects: bimetallic rhodium-catalyzed hydroformylation and aldehyde-water shift hydrocarboxylation catalysis; a novel linear M-H-M interaction in a bridged bis(dialkylphosphino)methane complex of nickel; and CeBe₁₃, a heavy fermion conductor. Computational investigations on these systems allow us to …

Direct-To-Consumer Advertising Of Prescription Medicines: Framing With Imprecise Frequency Descriptors, Mikah Zangla

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of the study was to determine how often and to what degree “imprecise frequency descriptors” are used in prescription drug print ads. These descriptors along with the side effects they describe were compared to their corresponding prescription medicine websites and analyzed to determine whether or not the general public is being misinformed and/or misled in terms of side effect warnings by current drug advertising. Content analysis of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertisements found in five of the top seven magazines most likely to be consumed by readers over age 65 was the method of investigation for this study. …

Design And Performance Of Electric Shock Absorber, Oly D. Paz

LSU Master's Theses

The electric shock absorber is a device that converts the kinetic energy of an oscillating object into electric energy. This kinetic energy is normally dumped in a form of thermal energy in a conventional, mechanical shock absorber. The electric shock absorber consists of a permanent magnet linear synchronous generator (PMLSG), a spring, and an electric energy accumulator. The major goal of the project is to design and analyze the operation of an electric shock absorber. In order to define the initial requirements that the electric shock absorber has to satisfy, the construction and performance of currently used shock absorbers were …

Fabrication And Assembly Of An Array Of Micro Fuel Injector Nozzles For A Trapped-Vortex Combustor, Tracy Ettel Morris

LSU Master's Theses

An array of four fuel injector nozzles, each with micrometer-scale swirlers and a microhole, is created on a single coupon. The nozzles are intended to atomize fuel to blend with swirling air before ejecting into a trapped-vortex combustion chamber. A first-generation metal prototype is fabricated in order to form the micro features, supply the fuel and gas to the nozzles, and guide the mixture to the combustion chamber. Microfabrication methods and precision machining are used to create a multiple plate laminate assembly. The central plate contains the four microholes, which atomize the fuel, and facilitate the swirler structures needed to …

Comparison Of The Efficiency Of Utilization Of Amino Acids From Intact Protein And Amino Acids In Crystalline Form By Channel Catfish, (Ictaluras Punctatus), Amogh Arun Ambardekar

LSU Master's Theses

Two laboratory feeding trials were conducted to quantify differences in the digestibility and absorption of dietary amino acids provided in intact protein or in purified amino acid mixtures. In the first experiment, 36 channel catfish (346 ± 47 g) were force-fed one of six practical feed ingredients (blood meal, corn meal, fish meal, meat and bone meal, soybean meal or wheat middlings), or a mixture of crystalline amino acids designed to duplicate the amino acid composition of each of the practical ingredients. Apparent digestibility coefficients (ADC) were calculated for 15 amino acids in each practical ingredient and in each amino …

A Cross-Sectional Study Comparing The Psychosocial Correlates For Overconcern With Body Size And Shape In Men And Women, Amy Elaine Rzeznikiewicz

LSU Master's Theses

The purposes of this cross-sectional study were two-fold. The primary aim of this study was to test whether the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale (MASS), a recently developed, reliable, and valid measure of muscle dysmorphia symptoms, measures a parallel phenomenon in men that the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) does in women, i.e., overconcern with body size and shape. To test this aim, psychosocial correlates for overconcern with body size and shape in women were tested to be the same psychosocial correlates for a measure of muscle dysmorphia in men. The psychosocial variables included in this model were body dissatisfaction, negative affect, …

Phylogenetic Influence Of Complex, Evolutionary Models: A Bayesian Approach, Neeraja M. Krishnan

LSU Master's Theses

Molecular evolution recovers the history of living species by comparing genetic information, exploring genome structure and function from an evolutionary perspective. Here we infer substitution rates and ancestral reconstructions, to better understand mutation responses to some known biochemical phenomena. Mutation processes are commonly inferred using parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian. Parsimony is not explicitly model-based, and is statistically biased due to unrealistic assumptions. The model-based maximum likelihood approaches become computationally inefficient while analyzing large or high-dimensional datasets, leaving little opportunities to incorporate complex evolutionary models. We implemented a posterior probability (Bayesian) approach that evaluates evolutionary models, applying it to primate …

Bezier Curves For Metamodeling Of Simulation Output, Harish J. Kingre

LSU Master's Theses

Many design optimization problems rely on simulation models to obtain feasible solutions. Even with substantial improvement in the computational capability of computers, the enormous cost of computation needed for simulation makes it impractical to rely on simulation models. The use of metamodels or surrogate approximations in place of actual simulation models makes analysis realistic by reducing computational burden. There are many popular metamodeling techniques such as Polynomial Regression, Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines, Radial Basis Functions, Kriging and Artificial Neural Networks. This research proposes a new metamodeling technique that uses Bezier curves and patches. The Bezier curve method is based on …

Bakso (Traditional Indonesian Meatball) Properties With Postmortem Condition And Frozen Storage, Dino Rahardiyan

LSU Master's Theses

Bakso is a finely comminuted boiled Indonesian meat product that is traditionally made of starch, salt and emulsified prerigor or early postmortem meat and often sold from street vendors. Recently processors have begun to commercially manufacture bakso. This research was conducted to investigate the substitution of early postmortem meat with postrigor meat to allow more efficient manufacturing and raw material procurement. The first experiment was to determine the properties of bakso with three tapioca starch concentrations added to early or late postmortem beef. No differences (p<0.05) were observed in bakso properties of composition and texture, though bakso made of post-rigor meat had slightly less elasticity, strength and shear. These disadvantages were compensated by incorporating 15% starch concentration, indicating that the replacement of early postmortem meat with postrigor meat was applicable in industrial mass production of bakso. The second phase of experiments was to investigate the properties of bakso with different frozen storage times of raw postrigor meat and after different times of frozen storage for bakso made from postrigor and early postmortem meat. Postrigor meat substitution for early postmortem meat in bakso with 15% tapioca starch resulted in minimum composition and textural differences (p>0.05). Meat stored frozen for 2 and 4 months was still suitable as raw …

180 Degrees: An Extension Of Self In Photography, Bradly Dever Treadaway

LSU Master's Theses

180 Degrees is a conceptual body of digital photography and video that deals with self-portraiture, identity and change. Intended to serve as a form of therapy, the work analyzes who I have become over the last couple of years by illustrating issues of compulsion, obsession and insecurity. The investigation confronts unexpected and unsettling attributes of my character. Some of it is a little uncomfortable for me to reveal but if nothing else it is the truth.

Arrive, Explore, Reflect: The Development And Evaluation Of A Web-Based Program To Introduce High School Students To Landscape Architecture, Courtney Bailey

LSU Master's Theses

The profession of landscape architecture has struggled with public perception since the mid-nineteenth century. Community programs, coloring books, and educational toolkits are just some of the methods employed in the profession's attempt to improve public perception. Very little research has been conducted to test the efficiency of these educational attempts. The goal of this thesis is to create a Web-based program to effectively educate young members of the public. The program uses five "mini lessons" to present information about landscape architecture to the student. Links to the World Wide Web are scattered throughout the program to supplement lesson material. A …

An Evaluation Of Cost Of Production Insurance As An Income Support Tool For Rice And Cotton Producers In Louisiana, Erica Harding

LSU Master's Theses

Crop insurance has received a great deal of attention over the past several years. The main interest and focus of analysis on crop insurance has been to evaluate its use and performance as a risk management tool for agricultural producers. Several different types of crop insurance policies are currently available, ranging from minimal yield coverage to revenue coverage. Cost of production crop insurance has been proposed recently as a low cost, safety net type of insurance policy for agricultural producers. This study evaluated the performance of cost of production crop insurance for cotton and rice producers in Louisiana. Crop income …

Improved Opportunity Cost Algorithm For Carrier Selection In Combinatorial Auctions, Viswanath Uma Gnanasekaran

LSU Master's Theses

Transportation costs constitute up to thirty percent of the total costs involved in a supply chain. Outsourcing the transportation service requirements to third party logistics providers have been widely adopted, as they are economically more rational than owning and operating a service. Transportation service procurement has been traditionally done through an auctioning process where the auctioneer (shipper) auctions lanes (distinct delivery routes) to bidders (carriers). Individual lanes were being auctioned separately disallowing the carriers to express complements and substitutes. Using combinatorial auctions mechanism to auction all available lanes together would allow the carriers to take advantage of the lane bundles, …

The Atchafalaya Basin Proposal For Nomination To The World Heritage Site List, Mitchell W. Coffman

LSU Master's Theses

The Atchafalaya Basin in the Southern United States is a cultural, environmental, historical and natural land region of such universal importance, designation as a World Heritage Site is appropriate. This thesis provides a justification for this designation through compliance with cultural and natural criteria detailed in the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972. The treaty, also known as the World Heritage Convention (WHC) promotes natural and cultural landscape preservation on an international level. This thesis lists the cultural and natural arguments for nominating the Atchafalaya Basin to the World Heritage Site list.

National, …

I-Tal Foodways: Nourishing Rastafarian Bodies, Mandy Garner Dickerson

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis takes a close look at the lived world of Jamaican Rastafarians through the lens of food-related practices and preferences, working to define the group's characteristic strategies for maintaining wellness and illuminating their tastes and sensibilities. It strives to evoke a sensorial and discursive awareness of the activities through which Rastafarians nourish and heal their physical and social bodies, by focusing on ways in which they produce and use I-tal food-medicines. Rastafarian taste for I-tal has developed alongside collective engagement with the valorization and revitalization of traditional knowledge about health and land use. In addition to providing sites for …

Stabilization Of Flue Gas Desulfurization Sludge For Application In Marine Environments, Tej Kour

LSU Master's Theses

Flue Gas Desulfurization sludge (FGD, CaSO4·2H2O, CaSO3·1/2H2O) is a waste by-product produced when sorbent slurry is passed through wet scrubbers. FGD contains higher concentrations of Ca, S, Si, Fe, Al and Br making it of great environmental concern. Presently only 16% of 24 million metric tons (MT) of FGD sludge produced is being recycled; the rest is disposed in landfills. This research was focused towards stabilizing FGD sludge with Portland Type II cement and Class C fly ash to produce lightweight fill material to be used in the construction of coastal devices. The specific objectives included the development of a …

Temperature Effects On Spawning And Fingerling Production Of Channel Catfish Ictalurus Punctatus, Patrice Arnold Pawiroredjo

LSU Master's Theses

The goal of this study was to develop several techniques that utilize the use of geothermal water that can contribute to increased profitability for commercial catfish producers. The primary objectives of this study were to: 1) determine the heating requirement using degree-days of channel catfish spawning 2) improve the efficiency of artificial spawning and, 3) evaluate the effectiveness of stocking outdoor ponds and pools with channel catfish fry. The heating requirement for channel catfish spawning was determined to be between 99 and 129 degree days at the peak of spawning. There was no difference in degree-day values between spawns collected …

Paul Durand-Ruel And The Market For Early Modernism, Marci Regan

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examines the art sales and marketing of Impressionism in the late nineteenth century, focusing on the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel. Throughout the nineteenth century in Paris, the Académie des Beaux-Arts wrote the history of art by supporting certain artists who followed its ideas of what art should look like. The artists that the Academy chose to support had lucrative careers; they were offered commissions from both the church and state to paint grand historical pictures. Throughout the nineteenth century and until World War II, Paris was the artistic center of the world, and the birthplace of many avant-garde groups. …

Bees Associated With Louisiana Longleaf Pine Savannas, Chanda Sara Bartholomew

LSU Master's Theses

Longleaf pine savannas are perhaps the most threatened ecosystems in North America. Despite a well documented and highly diverse flora, little has been published on insects in general and, in particular, on bees that provide the valuable service of plant pollination. Thus, the aims of this study were to: 1) survey bees found in two savanna types in southeastern Louisiana; and 2) contrast the diversity and species composition of these two savanna types. An ancillary goal was to contrast two collecting protocols for bees in the savanna habitat. Overall, a total of 3,407 bees were collected representing 125 species. Of …

Does Eutrophication Enhance Cd Bioavailability By Trophic Transfer To The Marine Amphipod Leptocheirus Plumulosus From Microalgae?, Riqing Yu

LSU Master's Theses

Bioavailability and nutrient effects on the trophic transfer of Cadmium (Cd) associated with microalgae to the marine amphipod, Leptocheirus plumulosus, were investigated. Cd assimilation efficiencies (AE) were measured by a pulse-chase technique using a radiotracer. Cd AE in L. plumulosus significantly varied among algal species tested, and was highest (38.8 %) for the benthic diatom Nitzschia punctata, lowest (5.9%) for the planktonic diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii, and intermediate (15.6%) for the planktonic dinoflagellate Isochrysis galbana. Instantaneous egestion rates of Cd displayed a typical biphasic pattern over 96 h of depuration. Depuration in seawater-only of L. plumulosus yielded the highest Cd AE …

Influence Of Planting Depth And Mulch On The Growth Of Nine Species Of Ornamental Plants In Landscape And Container Settings, Heather Christianne Pecot

LSU Master's Theses

Six different planting depths and mulch treatments were applied to nine different species of landscape plants in a field study beginning July 5, 2001. Plants were maintained for a two-year study period on the effects of improper planting depths and mulch on the following species; Southern Magnolia ‘Little Gem’ (Magnolia grandiflora), Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum), Crape Myrtle (Lagerstromia indica x fauriei ‘Natchez’), Azalea (Rhododendron indicum ‘George L. Tabor’), Indian Hawthorn (Raphiolepis indica ‘Clara’), Loropetalum (Loropetalum chinense ‘Burgundy’), Dwarf Gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides ‘Radicans’), Dwarf Nandina (Nandina domestica ‘Fire power’), and Liriope (Liriope muscari ‘Big Blue’). Four growth indexes, and quality ratings …

Isolation Of Aflatoxin-Free Lutein From Aflatoxin-Contaminated Corn, Evdokia Menelaou

LSU Master's Theses

Lutein (3,3’-dihydroxy-alpha-carotene) has been identified by the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) of the National Institute of Health (NIH) as a dietary compound with the ability to delay the onset and/or progression of age-related and/or diabetes-related vision loss. Lutein can also be useful in the prevention of other angiogenic diseases such as breast and colon cancer. Although marigold (Tagetes erecta) flowers are an excellent source of lutein, corn (Zea mays) has been identified as a very economical source of lutein because more value-added products, such as lutein, oil, and zein (known for its anti-microbial and anti-hypertensive activities) can be isolated …

Developmentally Appropriate Practice: A Case Study Of Mentoring For Teacher Change, Judi Martin Mccaslin

LSU Master's Theses

This project was a qualitative case study that recorded and analyzed the professional development of one certified elementary teacher as she studied developmentally appropriate practice (DAP) and pursued her Pre-K and Kindergarten add-on certification. It focused on the changes in her classroom practice from mostly developmentally inappropriate practice (DIP) at the beginning of the project towards mostly DAP at the end of the project. The project recorded her acquisition of concrete knowledge about DAP, and her beliefs regarding DAP as she taught young children over the course of one year, June 2003 through May 2004. It included study of the …

Investigation Of Accuracy In Quantitation Of 18f-Fdg Concentration Of Pet/Ct, Yuri Ishihara

LSU Master's Theses

The PET/CT scanner has been recognized as a powerful diagnostic imaging modality in oncology and radiation treatment planning. Traditionally, PET has been used for quantitative analysis, and diagnostic interpretations of PET images greatly relied on a nuclear medicine physician’s experience and knowledge. The PET data set represents a positron emitter’s activity concentration as a gray scale in each pixel. The assurance of the quantitative accuracy of the PET data is critical for diagnosis and staging of disease and evaluation of treatment. The standard uptake value (SUV) is a widely employed parameter in clinical settings to distinguish malignant lesions from others. …

An Analysis Of Marginal Effects Of Land Characteristics And Purchase Factors On Rural Land Values In North Louisiana, Rebecca Summers Mclaren

LSU Master's Theses

Hedonic models estimate the marginal effect of land characteristics and factors that contribute to a purchase decision on rural land values in submarkets of north Louisiana. While size of tract and mix of land use have expected impacts on rural land values, forces that motivate the buyer also affect price. The natural resource endowment of each of the three submarkets in this study differs significantly from one another. Topography has clearly identifiable impacts on crop selection and income in each submarket. Additionally, the relative location of the submarkets to major metropolitan areas is influential on rural land values in one …

Nature And Dynamics Of Late Miocene/Early Pliocene Ice-Sheet Grounding Events On The Pacific Margin Of The Antarctic Pennisula Outer Continental Shelf, David C. Egan

LSU Master's Theses

Package-3 unconformities identified by Bart and Anderson (1995) were mapped to evaluate their glacial unconformity interpretation using a regional grid of single channel seismic data from the Antarctic Peninsula outer continental shelf. Detailed correlations show many crosscutting relationships within Package 3 such that the unconformities and units they bound are not regionally continuous across the margin. Comparison of Package-3 unconformities with the modern bathymetry reveals that cross-shelf trough and bank morphology is absent, which indicates that ice streams probably did not exist on the shelf during Package-3 time. On the continental shelf, only the middle part of Package 3 is …

Evaluation Of The Usda Shafter Cotton (Gossypium Spp.) Collection For Agronomic And Fiber Traits, Jimmy Xavier Zumba

LSU Master's Theses

Many recent additions to the US Cotton Germplasm collection are uncharacterized for common germplasm descriptors. Our objective was to evaluate a subset of this germplasm for their potential to contribute to future plant improvement efforts. One hundred fifty four cotton germplasm lines from the former USDA cotton breeding program at Shafter, California were evaluated in the field (LSU AgCenter Northeast Research Station, Saint Joseph, LA) in 2003 along with three modern commercial varieties (Delta and Pine Land �Deltapearl�, �Fibermax 958�, and �Phytogen 355�). Due to limited seed availability, an unreplicated modified augmented statistical design-2 was used, with single row plots …

Estimating The Population Of Greater And Lesser Scaup During Winter In Off-Shore Louisiana, Sean David Kinney

LSU Master's Theses

I analyzed data from an experimental aerial transect survey, using stratified random sampling, to estimate wintering populations of greater scaup (Aythya marila) and lesser scaup (Aythya affinis) (hereafter scaup) in off-shore waters along the coast of Louisiana during winters 2000-2002. My objectives were to evaluate anecdotal reports of large numbers of scaup in off-shore waters of Louisiana during winter, and to develop estimates and confidence intervals for numbers of scaup in this area. My analysis yielded estimates of 815,700, 420,600, and 791,000 scaup in off-shore Louisiana for years 2000-2002, respectively. Confidence intervals were 1,087,000 to 545,000, 594,300 to 247,000, and …

Efficacy Of Prepartum Intramammary Lactating Cow Treatment In Dairy Heifers, Christopher B. Norman

LSU Master's Theses

Mastitis in prepartum dairy heifers has been recognized as a significant economic problem for the dairy industry. Intramammary infusion of cephapirin sodium was completed in 20 treatment animals and the results were compared to 25 non-treated control animals. Bacteriological data from the quarter milk samples were used to determine and compare initial infection rates and cure rates following calving between treatment and control groups. Comparisons were also made between groups for differences in reproductive performance, milk yield, somatic cell count and milk ketone concentration. Milk yield did not differ between groups for either DHIA monthly average kg/day, 305 day actual …