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2002

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A Model-Based Definition Of The Generic Remanufacturing Business Process, Winifred Ijomah Jan 2002

A Model-Based Definition Of The Generic Remanufacturing Business Process, Winifred Ijomah

Plymouth Business School Theses

Remanufacturing is a process of bringing used products to a "like-new" functional state by rebuilding and replacing their component parts. The practice has a low profile in world economies, however, studies indicate that it obtains cost savings in the region of 20% to 80%, as well as quality similar to that of an equivalent "new" product. In fact, in excess of 73,000 firms are engaged in some sort of remanufacturing in the United States alone. The key remanufacturing issues are the ambiguity in its definition and the scarcity of its analytic models. The objective of the research was to address …


Wavelength Assignment In All-Optical Networks For Mesh Topologies, Prabhulaiah Bijja Jan 2002

Wavelength Assignment In All-Optical Networks For Mesh Topologies, Prabhulaiah Bijja

LSU Master's Theses

All-Optical Networks employing Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) are believed to be the next generation networks that can meet the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth of the end users. This thesis presents some new heuristics for wavelength assignment and converter placement in mesh topologies. Our heuristics try to assign the wavelengths in an efficient manner that results in very low blocking probability. We propose novel static and dynamic assignment schemes that outperform the assignments reported in the literature even when converters are used. The proposed on-line scheme called "Round-Robin" assignment outperforms previously proposed strategies such as first-fit and random assignment schemes. …


Space And Organizations: The Ecology Of Rural Ngos In San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Patricia Marie Campion Jan 2002

Space And Organizations: The Ecology Of Rural Ngos In San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Patricia Marie Campion

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The field of organizational ecology has been reduced to studies of population dynamics. Ecology, however, is a much broader field, that includes relational, spatial, and temporal dimensions. It allows us to combine existing theories of organizations to study their distribution across space. I combine insights from the new institutionalism, population ecology, and resource-dependence theory, to investigate the factors that influence the location of NGO activities in the state of San Luis Potosí­, Mexico. I conducted interviews and participant observation in 51 rural NGOs. The uneven distribution of NGOs in the state is not the result of their strategy to reach …


Development Of Diagnostic Tools For Detecting Expression Of Resistance-Associated Esterases In The Tobacco Budworm, Heliothis Virescens (F.), Huazhang Huang Jan 2002

Development Of Diagnostic Tools For Detecting Expression Of Resistance-Associated Esterases In The Tobacco Budworm, Heliothis Virescens (F.), Huazhang Huang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Esterase-based metabolic resistance was studied using biochemical and biological assays with organophosphate (OP)- and pyrethroid (PYR)- resistant tobacco budworms, Heliothis virescens. In biochemical assays, results suggest that: (1) esterase activities toward all substrates used were enhanced in both resistant strains compared with the susceptible strain, suggesting that esterases were involved in resistance; (2) esterase profiles differed depending on the strain and substrate used, and these differences were visualized by using native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis; 3) esterase activities toward some pyrethroid substrates were significantly higher (P ≤ 0.01) in the PYR-R strain than those in the OP-R strain. These results suggest …


Wash, Karin Eberhardt Watts Jan 2002

Wash, Karin Eberhardt Watts

LSU Master's Theses

In this body of work, Wash, I translate the negative aspects of life in a positive, vibrant way. The physical and psychological sensations of life supply me with an intuitive frame of reference providing a point of departure for visual expression. Digital scanning and imaging techniques allow me to develop an immediate intimacy with the organic and inorganic objects, while I methodically examine, alter and reconfigure their forms. Graphic elements suggest symbolic interpretation from eastern studies and are sometimes enhanced with letterforms and photographic images representing the difficult articulation of thoughts. I synchronize this re-orchestration with the deciphering and close …


Phylogeny Of Ericameria, Chrysothamnus And Related Genera (Asteraceae : Astereae) Based On Nuclear Ribosomal Dna Sequence Data, Roland P. Roberts Jan 2002

Phylogeny Of Ericameria, Chrysothamnus And Related Genera (Asteraceae : Astereae) Based On Nuclear Ribosomal Dna Sequence Data, Roland P. Roberts

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Phylogenetic relationships and classification of Chrysothamnus, Ericameria, Xylothamia and related genera were investigated. The internal transcribed spacer and 3' external transcribed spacers (ITS and ETS) of the nuclear ribosomal (nr) DNA were analyzed separately and combined employing different optimality criteria. These analyses indicated that the previous classifications and hypotheses of relationships were not monophyletic. Chrysothamnus, Ericameria, Xylothamia, and related genera were placed in separate lineages irrespective of data set and optimality criteria. Chrysothamnus species, as traditionally delimited, were resolved in four, not necessarily closely related lineages affiliated with the Solidagininae. Previous sectional classification of Chrysothamnus based primarily on morphology was …


"Getting Above Your Raising" : The Role Of Social Class And Status In The Fiction Of Lee Smith, Sharon Elizabeth Colley Jan 2002

"Getting Above Your Raising" : The Role Of Social Class And Status In The Fiction Of Lee Smith, Sharon Elizabeth Colley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role of social class and status in the fiction of contemporary novelist and short story writer, Lee Smith. As discussed in the Introduction, the study defines social class broadly, not limiting it to production, but also not discarding its economic underpinning. Max Weber's definition of class as "life chances" provides the starting point; any resources that can improve a person's position in the market place positively impact their "life chances." The resources appearing most often in Smith's fiction include economic capital and property, as well as education, family connections and occupational status. The discussion also builds …


Multidemensional Goals Of Farmers In The Beef Cattle An Dairy Industries, Aydin Basarir Jan 2002

Multidemensional Goals Of Farmers In The Beef Cattle An Dairy Industries, Aydin Basarir

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Farm firm decision making processes have long been of concern to agricultural economists. The concept of maximizing utility rather than profit is an important concept in multidimensional goal research. The prevalence of low or negative net returns in Louisiana beef and dairy production leads to the hypothesis that goals other than profit maximization compete strongly in producers' decisions. The objective of this study is to determine the hierarchy of goals that motivate beef and dairy producers and evaluate them in a multi-dimensional framework. Seven goals were evaluated in producer decision making: Maintain and Conserve Land, Maximize Profit, Increase Farm Size, …


Development Of Catalytic Processes For Aromatic Amides And Carboxylic Acids, Yujun Song Jan 2002

Development Of Catalytic Processes For Aromatic Amides And Carboxylic Acids, Yujun Song

LSU Master's Theses

New catalysts were prepared and studied for: (1) a model amidation with a hindered amine, diethylamine (DEA), to N,N¡¯-diethyltoluamide (DEET); (2) the oxidation of m-xylene (MX) to DEET¡¯s alkylaromatic precursor, m-toluic acid (MTA). In both cases the goal was to reduce waste associated with current processes. Thermodynamic analyses showed that the amidation to produce DEET from MTA and DEA was an equilibrium limited reaction with equilibrium constants (Ke) less than 41 at temperatures below 320¡ÆC. The kinetics on silica-supported titanium (¥³) (triethanolaminato)-isopropoxide (Tyzor TE), calcium hydroxyapatites and silica supported tungsten heteropolyacids were studied using a continuous reactor. Both porous hydroxyapatites …


Does Archieving Social Policy Goals Insure Positive Outcomes: From Welfare Reliance Of Wage Work In Rural Louisiana, Lydia Bentin Blalock Jan 2002

Does Archieving Social Policy Goals Insure Positive Outcomes: From Welfare Reliance Of Wage Work In Rural Louisiana, Lydia Bentin Blalock

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research was Wave II of a longitudinal, qualitative study designed to describe the outcomes of welfare reform legislation on rural families in Louisiana as they tried to comply with provisions of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. This particular study looked at a subset of women (n=12) from Wave II and explored two questions: (a) Whether the decline in Louisiana welfare caseloads translated into rural women finding and keeping jobs; and (b) What is the likelihood that the women employed at the time of this study will be able to sustain their work efforts and …


Visco-Elastic Creep In The Lumbar Spine Associated With Static Flexion: A Feline Model, Guntulu Selen Hatipkarasulu Jan 2002

Visco-Elastic Creep In The Lumbar Spine Associated With Static Flexion: A Feline Model, Guntulu Selen Hatipkarasulu

LSU Master's Theses

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) have become a major health concern with the industrial revolution and technological advances. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently estimated the cost of MSDs at $13 to $20 billion annually. Back, spine, and spinal cord disorders add up to 60% of the total MSD injuries. Based on pervious studies, it is known that lumbar ligaments play a limited or little role in stabilizing the spine; where as the musculature around the spine is the major stabilizing structure. However, repetitive or prolonged static displacement or load induces creep in passive tissues of the spine …


Transformation Of Paradise: Geographical Perspectives On Tourism Development On A Small Carribbean Island (Utila, Honduras), Frances Heyward Currin Jan 2002

Transformation Of Paradise: Geographical Perspectives On Tourism Development On A Small Carribbean Island (Utila, Honduras), Frances Heyward Currin

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis addresses the recent development of tourism on Utila, the westernmost island of the Bay Islands of Caribbean, Honduras. Especially during the 1990s, international tourists, mostly Europeans and North Americans, were attracted to the island because it was a relatively inexpensive place to dive on a beautiful fringing reef and to enjoy other benefits of a tropical beach community. Larger nearby islands, Roatán and Guanaja, had developed something of a tourism industry earlier. A review of the economic and culture history of Utila reveals that modern islanders -- English-speaking Anglo- and Afro-Caribbeans originally from the Cayman Islands were preadapted …


Fecal Coliform Decay And Regrowth Kinetics In An Anaerobic Dairy Wastewater Environment, Shufang Liu Jan 2002

Fecal Coliform Decay And Regrowth Kinetics In An Anaerobic Dairy Wastewater Environment, Shufang Liu

LSU Master's Theses

The kinetics of fecal coliforms (FC) decay and regrowth were analyzed under laboratory conditions using filtered dairy wastewater under anaerobic conditions. The mean specific growth rates during the regrowth phase, µr , in the batch study were 1.79, 1.46, and 1.27d-1 for initial organic carbon concentrations of 478, 235 and 127 mg/L COD, respectively. The substrate concentrations had a significant impact on the FC regrowth. A maximum specific growth rate (mmax) of 1.92 d-1, and half-saturated coefficient (ks) of 60.92mg/L were determined from these data. The mean dark FC decay rate coefficients, kd , at 35oC in the batch study …


Bayesian Updating Of Simulated Household Travel Survey Data For Small/Medium Metropolitan Areas, Sirisha Murthy Kothuri Jan 2002

Bayesian Updating Of Simulated Household Travel Survey Data For Small/Medium Metropolitan Areas, Sirisha Murthy Kothuri

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis tests an approach for generating simulated travel survey data that has local characteristics incorporated in it. Travel survey data are generally required for estimating and calibrating travel demand models for a region. The high cost associated with travel surveys puts them beyond the budget of most small/medium MPOs. Therefore simulation of travel survey data provides a viable alternative for these data starved regions to generate data. The simulated data is produced by combining socio-demographic data along with a national survey data set. Updating the simulated data distributions with the distributions obtained by surveying a small sample of local …


The Effects Of Stimulant Medication On The Social Behavior Of Children With Adhd During Times Of Play, Robert, Jr. H. Larue Jan 2002

The Effects Of Stimulant Medication On The Social Behavior Of Children With Adhd During Times Of Play, Robert, Jr. H. Larue

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Psychomotor stimulants are the most commonly prescribed medications for the treatment of ADHD in children and adults. A vast literature has evolved concerning the efficacy and potential side effects of these drugs. Although stimulants are generally regarded as safe and effective, there is concern that potential problems may have been overlooked. Specifically, there is some literature indicating that, at least in some cases, stimulant medications may produce significant disruptions in social behavior. To investigate these effects, a number of different measurements were employed with preschool children, including direct observations during times of play, a social reinforcer assessment and a number …


Relationship Between Neuropsychological Deficits And Cerebral Perfusion Abnormalities In Cocaine Abusers, Karen A. Tucker Jan 2002

Relationship Between Neuropsychological Deficits And Cerebral Perfusion Abnormalities In Cocaine Abusers, Karen A. Tucker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the severity of cocaine/alcohol use, neuropsychological functioning, and cerebral blood flow abnormalities. Cocaine users (n = 60) and control subjects (n = 13) were administered a battery of neuropsychological tests that yielded the following factors: Attention/Executive Functioning, Memory, Simple Motor, and Sensorimotor. Participants were assessed for decreased cerebral blood flow with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Examination of group differences indicated that cocaine users performed significantly worse than controls on the Memory and Sensorimotor factors. The frequency/duration of cocaine use, alcohol use, and a combination of both substances were …


Pot-Au-Feu Japan: Foods And Weddings, Satomi Fukutomi Jan 2002

Pot-Au-Feu Japan: Foods And Weddings, Satomi Fukutomi

LSU Master's Theses

As Japan underwent rapid modernization and economic expansion after World War II, its cultural complex transformed into a postmodern mingling of Western and Eastern cultures, merging modern and antiquated tradition (Heine 1995:29). The Japanese have absorbed many Western traditions without immigrating, or living outside of their own (Eastern) society; Japanese marriage rituals exhibit such Eastern and Western cultural minglings. Wedding receptions, regarded as mini-drama, contain traditions of old—material taboos, inedible wedding cakes, beer ceremony, the importance of the color white, as well as blended traditional-modern acts such as toasting champagne while wearing a kimono, and gift-giving rituals incorporating famous American …


Three-Dimensional Micromachined On-Chip Inductors For High Frequency Applications, Nimit Chomnawang Jan 2002

Three-Dimensional Micromachined On-Chip Inductors For High Frequency Applications, Nimit Chomnawang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Demands for wireless communication are ever-escalating for consumer and military communication applications. The requirements of portability, more functionality and lower cost have been driving forces toward smaller, more sophisticated and flexible wireless devices with lower power consumption. To meet these requirements, monolithically integrated passive inductors with high Q-factors and high self-resonant frequencies are desirable. Q-factor and self-resonant frequency of an inductor are significantly degraded at high frequencies due to conductor ohmic loss, magnetically induced eddy current in the conductive substrate, and lower self-resonant frequency from capacitance between conductive substrate and conductors.
In this dissertation, novel three-dimensional arch-like solenoid and dome-shaped …


On The Stabilization And Regularization Of Rational Approximation Schemes For Semigroups, Simone Flory Jan 2002

On The Stabilization And Regularization Of Rational Approximation Schemes For Semigroups, Simone Flory

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this work we discuss consistency, stability and convergence of rational approximation methods for strongly continuous semigroups on Banach spaces. The Lax-Chernoff theorem shows that in this setting consistency and stability assumptions are necessary to obtain strong uniform convergence of approximation methods. We investigate rational approximation methods for strongly continuous semigroups and their consistency properties, with special emphasis on A-stable methods and Padé-type approximations. In particular, we discuss the stability and convergence properties of these schemes, including the stability of the well-known and widely used Backward-Euler and Crank-Nicolson Schemes. Furthermore, we modify stabilization techniques developed by Hansbo, Larsson, Luskin, Rannacher, …


Constructing Womanhood In Public: Progressive White Women In A New South, Mary Jane Smith Jan 2002

Constructing Womanhood In Public: Progressive White Women In A New South, Mary Jane Smith

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

During the Progressive Era, southern white women were aggressively recruited by the leadership of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, the General Federation of Women's Clubs and the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Each believed the inclusion of southern white women vital to its success as a national association of American women; consequently, by the beginning of the twentieth century, southern white women had achieved positions of leadership in each organization. This dissertation analyzes, primarily through the public statements of the leaders of these groups, how these women defined themselves as women, as white, and as southern vis a vis their …


Artificial Peptides Containing Ca,A- Disubstituted Amino Acids: Synthesis, Conformational Studies, And Application As Β-Strand Mimics, Yanwen Fu Jan 2002

Artificial Peptides Containing Ca,A- Disubstituted Amino Acids: Synthesis, Conformational Studies, And Application As Β-Strand Mimics, Yanwen Fu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Short peptides containing Cα,α-dipropylglycine (Dpg) at alternating sequence positions were synthesized and examined for conformational behavior. Peptide assembly was performed using Fmoc-solid-phase chemistry where the coupling with PyAOP could be significantly enhanced at elevated temperature. Circular dichroism (CD) and NMR conformational studies revealed that incorporation of Dpg residues induced folded structures into peptides. It was observed that Dpg residues adopted helical conformation in a helix-promoting sequence. The resulting helical structure was comprised of consecutive β-turns whose structure was stabilized by salt bridge in aqueous solution. In this study, the preparation of sterically and polyfunctional Cα,α-disubstituted amino …


The Effects Of Local Hydrodynamics On Mass Transfer In Disordered Porous Media, Gang Guo Jan 2002

The Effects Of Local Hydrodynamics On Mass Transfer In Disordered Porous Media, Gang Guo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Interfacial mass transfer in disordered media was studied experimentally and numerically. The dissolution of solid benzoic acid spheres in packed columns showed the existence of spatial variations in mass transfer coefficients in monodisperse and polydisperse packings at the same overall Peclet number. The concept of a local Peclet number (single-particle average) was introduced to quantify the effect of local hydrodynamics on local mass transfer. Correlations between Sherwood number and Peclet number having the form Shi=A·(xiPe)m were used to quantify data from various sites in each packing. These experiments also showed that the exponent m varies …


Characterization Of Alligator, Ostrich And Emu Skins And Comparisons To Traditional Leathers, Terri M. Von Hoven Jan 2002

Characterization Of Alligator, Ostrich And Emu Skins And Comparisons To Traditional Leathers, Terri M. Von Hoven

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Exotic skins and leathers have enjoyed a recent resurgence, as current fashion magazines illustrate. Louisiana would like to increase its niche in the exotic skins market by increasing alligator, ostrich and emu skin usage, mainly by inspiring designers to incorporate them into their repertoire. The possibilities are endless from apparel and trim to upholstery and other home furnishings to accessories; Louisiana exotic skins have significant market potential. In order to assist in these traditional textile applications, characterization of the various skin properties needs to be completed. The research was carried out in three stages. For the preliminary research, one emu …


Intrinsic Biodegradation Potential Of Crude Oil In Salt Marshes, Julius Enock Jan 2002

Intrinsic Biodegradation Potential Of Crude Oil In Salt Marshes, Julius Enock

LSU Master's Theses

Understanding the influence of different perturbations on the fate of spilled oil in marine ecosystems is useful in assessing the environmental impact and remedial investigation. The effect of flooding and spill recurrence on the fate of an experimental crude oil spill (2 L/m2) was investigated using salt marsh intact cores, incubated for about 3 months, by monitoring residual petroleum hydrocarbons, heterotrophic microbial activity (fluorescein diacetate assay) and soluble organic carbon (SOC). For the flooding study, biodegradation rate of crude oil (with half-lives varying between 16.50 and 49.51 days and turnover times between 23.81 and 71.43 days) and microbial …


Missiles Of Terror: Hitler's And Hussein's Use Of Ballistic Missiles, Edward Scott Martin Jan 2002

Missiles Of Terror: Hitler's And Hussein's Use Of Ballistic Missiles, Edward Scott Martin

LSU Master's Theses

Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein were the only national leaders ever to use large-scale missile launches against American forces and their wartime allies. In both cases, the missiles were too few in number and lacked the accuracy and warhead size to be militarily effective. Use of the V-2 and SCUD missiles showed that conventionally armed ballistic missiles have minimal tactical military value and are more suitable as terrorist weapons. Indeed, the goal of those two meglomaniacal dictators was to terrorize enemy civilians and achieve a political settlement of a hopeless military situation. Each leader hoped to split the Allied coalitions …


Quantification Of The Spatial Gradient Of Local Volume Fraction From Tomography Images, Yongping Wang Jan 2002

Quantification Of The Spatial Gradient Of Local Volume Fraction From Tomography Images, Yongping Wang

LSU Master's Theses

Asphalt concrete has three constituents: aggregate, asphalt binder and air voids. In the mixture, aggregates serve as a skeleton of the mixture; asphalt serves as a binder to hold the aggregates together; and air voids prevent asphalt concrete from bleeding to avoid plastic mixes. The properties of asphalt concrete are controlled by the interaction of these three components. In asphalt concrete, asphalt binder, voids and aggregates are not uniformly distributed. The local volume fractions of these constituents vary with spatial locations. As a result, there exist a spatial gradient of the local volume fractions between two locations. Due to the …


Collaboration Or Self-Preservation: The Military Code Of Conduct, Rodney Ray Lemay Jan 2002

Collaboration Or Self-Preservation: The Military Code Of Conduct, Rodney Ray Lemay

LSU Master's Theses

In 1955, Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson established a special committee to investigate allegations of misconduct by American POW’s during the Korean War. The Communists had used the prisoners for propaganda purposes and extended the battlefield into the POW camp as never before. The committee proposed the Code of Conduct as a means of preventing similar occurrences in future conflicts. The Code of Conduct puts into words, for the first time, concepts which had evolved from the experiences of American POW’s in the almost 200 years of combat preceding its development. Americans who became POW’s during conflicts after the implementation …


Mexican Women And Migration: The Effects Of Education And Family Status, Veronica Cuartas Aravena Jan 2002

Mexican Women And Migration: The Effects Of Education And Family Status, Veronica Cuartas Aravena

LSU Master's Theses

Much existing research on migration of Mexican women has focused on those who migrate to the United States. However, most Mexican female migrants move within the country. This study asks two interrelated questions: (1) Does education, marital status, and the number of children influence Mexican women's migration status and (2) are there any differences in the way these factors affect internal versus international migration. Data from the Mexican Migration Project (2001) collected during the winter months of 1987-1997 (N=7610) are employed and three models are constructed, where non-migrants serve as the reference category. These models are also used to examine …


Directing The Threepenny Opera, Alexander G. Harrington Jan 2002

Directing The Threepenny Opera, Alexander G. Harrington

LSU Master's Theses

This production thesis on directing Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s The Threepenny Opera is divided into two sections. The first section consists of four research/critical chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the director’s understanding of the theories of Bertolt Brecht. Chapter two discusses potential differences between the director’s aesthetic point of view and Brecht’s theories. Chapters 3 and 4 lay out the findings and opinions based on those findings of research into two issues that influenced production decisions: Chapter 3 focuses on Brecht’s relationship with totalitarian communism and Chapter 4 looks into questions raised about the authorship of The Threepenny Opera. Section …


Follicular Growth And Development And Gonadotropin Response Of Mares Treated With Dihydrotestosterone And Estradiol Benzoate, Scarlett Lynn Mcmeen Jan 2002

Follicular Growth And Development And Gonadotropin Response Of Mares Treated With Dihydrotestosterone And Estradiol Benzoate, Scarlett Lynn Mcmeen

LSU Master's Theses

An experiment was conducted to determine the effects of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and estradiol benzoate (EB) given simultaneously on concentrations of FSH and LH and the associated follicular activity, and to monitor the subsequent recovery of the gonadotropes and follicular growth following treatment with either DHT or EB. Twelve mares were assigned to daily treatments of DHT (150 Fg/kg BW) plus EB (22 Fg/kg BW) from d 0 through 30 (Phase I). Beginning on d 31, mares were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: 1) oil, 2) DHT (150 Fg/kg BW), or 3) EB (22 Fg/kg BW). On d …