Digital Commons Network^™

Scalable Parallel Molecular Dynamics Algorithms For Organic Systems, Satyavani Vemparala

LSU Master's Theses

A scalable parallel algorithm, Macro-Molecular Dynamics (MMD), has been developed for large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of organic macromolecules, based on space-time multi-resolution techniques and dynamic management of distributed lists. The algorithm also includes the calculation of long range forces using Fast Multipole Method (FMM). FMM is based on the octree data structure, in which each parent cell is divided into 8 child cells and this division continues until the cell size is equal to the non-bonded interaction cutoff length. Due to constant number of operations performed at each stage of the octree, the FMM algorithm scales as O(N). Design and …

From Gamete Collection To Database Development: Development Of A Model Cryopreserved Germplasm Repository For Aquatic Species With Emphasis On Sturgeon, William Rittenhouse Wayman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Development of a cryopreserved sperm repository could greatly benefit the study and recovery of endangered species. Currently, a national repository for endangered aquatic species does not exist. This dissertation addressed the development of methods for the creation of a model germplasm repository, which included methods to reduce bacterial contamination within sperm samples, verify sample identification, store sperm (refrigerated or cryopreserved), evaluate sperm quality before and after thawing, and maintain sample and broodstock information. Although these methods were developed for sturgeon, they could be adapted for any aquatic species. Accurate species identification of sperm samples is essential for an archival repository. …

The Effects Of Composition And Processing Of Milk On Foam Characteristics As Measured By Steam Frothing, Michael Levy

LSU Master's Theses

Steam frothing of milk is required to produce an acceptable foam for many espresso coffee drinks. Specific aspects of composition and processing may affect the foaming properties of milk. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of fat content, heat treatment, free fatty acid addition and storage time on the frothing properties of milk. The four treatments included: fat content (0.08% and 3.25%), pasteurization temperatures (171°F for 15 seconds and 210°F for 45 seconds), pre and post-pasteurization addition of lauric acid solution (0.0% and 2.0% of 0.5 M concentration) and storage time (1 and 10 days). For …

Systematics Of The Western Lyresnake (Trimorphodon Biscutatus) Complex: Implications For North And Middle American Aridland Biogeography, Thomas James Devitt

LSU Master's Theses

The Western Lyresnake (Trimorphodon biscutatus) is found generally from the desert southwestern United States southward along the pacific lowland versant of Mexico to northwestern Costa Rica. This species exhibits substantial geographic variation in size, squamation, and color pattern across its range, and as such has had an unstable taxonomic history. I investigated populations of T. biscutatus representing currently and formerly recognized forms using both morphological and molecular methods to infer the evolutionary history of this widespread, polytypic taxon. Multivariate statistical analyses (principal components and discriminant analysis) of morphological data (432 specimens, 33 characters) yielded six statistically significantly different groups, consistent …

Relative Costs Of Infill Vs. Suburban Residential Developments: A Case Study Of The Greater Baton Rouge Area, John Lawrence Brian

LSU Master's Theses

Driven by the accumulation of vacated buildings along with the need to reconstruct vacant urban areas and neighborhoods, the need to establish infill as the primary means of development in the Baton Rouge Metropolitan area is apparent. As suburban tendencies have increased, the core of our city has diminished. The principles of smart growth and infill development have been created in response these very problems. The methods have proven successful nationwide, but is the process feasible in Baton Rouge area? The answer to this very question goes well beyond yes or no. Many variables must be evaluated; the positives and …

Experimental Evaluation Of Temporal Particle Agglomeration And Metal Partitioning Of Urban Rainfall-Runoff, Aimee Ann Blazier

LSU Master's Theses

Rainfall-runoff quantity and quality control presents unique challenges due to the complexity and variability of hydrology and rainfall-runoff chemistry as well as the variable nature of constituent-producing processes in the environment. This study investigates two fundamental processes in rainfall-runoff: temporal particle agglomeration and metal partitioning between the solid and aqueous phase. A series of rainfall-runoff events were captured at an urban, Portland concrete cement (PCC) paved site in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and characterized with respect to particle gradation and metal phase fractions (dissolved and particulate) over time from a well-mixed, batch experimental system. Results indicate that equilibria and kinetics of …

Wood Laminated Composite Poles, Cheng Piao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Wood composite poles are new engineered products with polygonal shapes and bonded with synthetic resins. The poles have multiple advantages over the solid wood poles and are a promising solid pole substitute in power transmission, telecommunication, and cable TV services. The use of composite poles may reduce the cost both in materials and manipulation, and facilitate installation and treatment. It is necessary to evaluate the factors that affect their properties and construct theoretical and analytical models to analyze these properties. Experiments were conducted to investigate strip thickness and number of strips’ (NOS) effects on the flexural properties and shear stress …

Carbonic Anhydrase And Carbonic Anhydrase Like Genes Of Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, Mautusi Mitra

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) is a zinc containing metalloenzyme that catalyzes the reversible interconversion of CO2 and HCO3-. There are three evolutionarily unrelated CA families designated alpha, beta and gamma CA. Vertebrates have members of the alpha CA family, while higher plants, algae and cyanobacteria have members belonging to all three CA families. In the green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, five CAs have previously been identified including three alpha CAs and two beta CAs. This dissertation describes the identification and characterization of new CA genes from C. reinhardtii. Four new CA or CA like genes have been discovered including two beta CAs …

An Ecopath/Ecosim Analysis Of An Estuarine Food Web: Seasonal Energy Flow And Response To River-Flow Related Perturbations, Laura Lynette Althauser

LSU Master's Theses

Estuaries are often the receiving basins for major river systems which makes them vulnerable to anthropogenic influences. I used Ecopath and Ecosim to investigate the structure of the Weeks Bay, Alabama, USA food web, and the responses of the food web to bottom-up perturbations. Four season-specific steady-state Ecopath models were developed and used to compare the production, biomass, consumption, biomass flows, and higher order indices of ecosystem functioning of the Weeks Bay food web under winter, spring, summer, and fall conditions. The season-specific Ecopath snapshots indicated that the structure of the Weeks Bay food web was resilient. Winter had the …

Exedra: Form And Function In The Landscape, Daniel W. Mcelmurray

LSU Master's Theses

This study resulted in the development of design guidelines used to create a contemporary exedra, in relationship to commemoration in the landscape. Through research and field investigation, an assessment of forms, materials, uses and locational characteristics of the exedra provides an understanding of the dynamics of the relationships between the elements of the exedra. By understanding the historical and commemorative nature of the exedra, landscape architects can utilize the form to create freestanding or structurally-integrated exedral forms as a solution to the identified need for the development of human-scale, urban places which commemorate people, places, and events.

Treatment Of Chlorinated Volatile Organic Compounds Using Wetland Systems, Gabriel Roderick Kassenga

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Bench-scale continuous vertical flow column and microcosm studies were conducted to investigate the attenuation potential of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) in constructed wetland soil mixtures prepared from peat, compost and sand and in a pristine natural freshwater wetland soil. The study also determined geotechnical properties of potential synthetic peat mixtures for construction of treatment wetlands for CVOCs. Trichloroethene (TCE), cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-1,2-DCE) and 1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCA) were the main test chemicals used during the studies. Based on geotechnical and sorption characteristics, two mixtures (one comprised of sand and peat and the other comprised of sand, peat and compost product) were selected …

Agronomic And Molecular Characterization Of Louisiana Native Spartina Alterniflora Accessions, Alicia Beatriz Ryan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Coastal erosion and wetland deterioration are serious and widespread problems affecting Louisiana’s coastal zone. The application of agronomic and molecular techniques for improving crop species is well documented. However, these have not been routinely applied to species of ecological and environmental value. Spartina alterniflora is used extensively for shoreline protection and tidal marsh restoration because of its aggressive spreading habit and tolerance to salinity. The progress of marsh revegetation projects is limited by the costs and labor associated with vegetative propagation of Spartina. Hence, a breeding program was initiated to develop improved smooth cordgrass accessions with superior seed producing ability …

Optimizing Aconitate Removal During Clarification, Niconor Nocony Reece

LSU Master's Theses

The inadequate removal of aconitic acid from sugar cane juice during the clarification process results in the acid contributing to processing difficulties, sucrose loss and extended down time. However, very few attempts have been made to remove the acid during normal factory operations. Batch clarification techniques were used in this study to investigate the effect of sucrose concentration, temperature, pH, time, defecant, and defecant concentration on aconitic acid removal from a synthetic juice solution. Methodology for determining the significance of each parameter to aconitic acid removal involved setting up a multiple factorial experiment looking at aconitic acid removal across all …

Developing Risk Assessment Maps For Schistosoma Haematobium In Kenya Based On Climate Grids And Remotely Sensed Data, Kelsey Lee Mcnally

LSU Master's Theses

It is important to be able to predict the potential spread of water borne diseases when building dams or redirecting rivers. This study was designed to test whether the use of a growing degree day (GDD) climate model and remotely sensed data (RS) within a geographic information system (GIS), could be used to predict both the distribution and severity of Schistosoma haematobium. Growing degree days are defined as the number of degrees centigrade over the minimum temperature required for development. The base temperature and the number of GDD required to complete one generation varies for each species. A monthly climate …

Studies On Rice Transformation And The Use Of Transformed Plants [Electronic Resource], Qiming Shao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research was conducted to enhance utilization of the Liberty herbicide resistance transgene in rice. Non-lethal methods to determine the sensitivity of transgenic rice plants to hygromycin B and Liberty were developed, tested and used in this research. Four homozygous transformed plants were selected to make reciprocal crosses with their non-transformed parent cultivars Taipei 309 and Nipponbare. Their resistances to Liberty and hygromycin B were controlled by the closely linked single dominant genes bar and hpt. Some non-resistant phenotypes in the F2 populations were due to gene silencing. The bar gene in some of these plants were allelic and some …

A Comparative Study Of Two Treatment Approaches For Improving Middle School Students' Reading Comprehension, Vessa Annette Cartmill

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of having material read to and discussed with learning disabled students (i.e., a compensatory approach termed Accommodated Reading in this study) compared to teaching the literate language of text structures to students (i.e., a language intervention approach termed Communicative Reading Strategies). Participants were two 5th grade students and three 6th grade students, classified as learning disabled according to criteria of the State of Louisiana. Students took part in the study 3 times per week, 40 minutes per day for 5 ½ weeks during their regular speech-language therapy time. After each …

A Reinterpretation Of Historical Gender Bias And Women's Mental Health, Jacqueline Lindsay Novak

Student Work

This epistemological review suggests that gender stereotypes and oppression have occurred throughout history and reflects past and present portrayals of women, particularly, the reflection of stereotypes and oppression cause women to suffer mental health consequences in two ways. First, societal oppression reduces and enforces women to an inferior status, which promotes mental health suffering and consequences. Second, women suffer from biased assessments, diagnoses, and treatment via hierarchical relationships and gender stereotypes from professionals. Presently, women are maintained at this subordinate position due to a lack of people and policies enforcing health standards specifically for women.

Black Willow (Salix Nigra) Use In Phytoremediation Techniques To Remove The Herbicide Bentazon From Shallow Groundwater, Robert Mark Conger

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Wetland environments have been impacted by the activities of man over the past several hundred years in North America. Industrialization into wetland areas has brought with it anthropogenic compounds that have been released into soils and groundwater. The use of phytoremediation to detoxify soil and groundwater began in the mid 1990's and has become a popular remediation technology. In 1994, a feasibility study for using phytoremediation in such an industrialized wetland area was conducted at a petrochemical facility at BASF Corporation, located about 20 kilometers south of Baton Rouge, Louisiana in Ascension Parish. The test site consisted of low level …

Proceedings Of The European Conference Black Grouse – Endangered Species Of Europe (September 8–12, 2003: Prague, Czech Republic), Petra Málková, Petr Procházka

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Conference Proceedings

RSPB black grouse conservation work in north Scotland, Chris Donald and Dave O’Hara

Influences of habitat structure, climate, disturbances and predation on population dynamics of black grouse in the northern Ore Mountains, Sven Herzog and Torsten Krüger

Population fragmentation and genetic variability in European black grouse: A progress report, Jacob Höglund, David Baines, Jobs Karl Larsson, and Gernot Segelbacher

Black Grouse habitats in Poland, Robert Kamieniarz

Ecological requirements for black grouse: A case study in the Belgian Hautes-Fagnes, Christine Keulen, Yves Pieper, André Doyen, Olivier Charlet, Pascal Poncin, and Jean-Claude Ruwet

Climatic modelling of black grouse population dynamics: A game …

The Dec1 Transcription Factor: Oncogenic Involvement And Molecular Mechanisms On Transcription Regulation, Yuxin Li

Open Access Dissertations

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) proteins are intimately associated with developmental events such as cell differentiation and lineage commitment. The HLH domain in the bHLH motif is responsible for dimerization whereas the basic region mediates sequence specific DNA binding. Human DEC, mouse STRA and rat SHARP proteins represent a new c lass of bHLH proteins. In each species, two members are identified with a sequence identity of>90% in the bHLH region and - 40% in the total protein, respectively. Based on sequence alignment and domain analysis, DEC/STRA/SHARP proteins show high s imilarities (- 40%) to Drosoph ila Hairy and E(spl) …

Micropropagation Of Carnivorous Plants, Kenneth Stephen Uhnak

Open Access Dissertations

A simple, efficient system for seed surface disinfestation and in vitro germination was developed for the carnivorous pitcher plants Darlingtonia californica and Sarracenia leucophylla. Of the disinfectants tested, hydrogen peroxide or 10% Clorox® were most effective for disinfesting seeds of D. californica, while concentrated sulfuric acid worked best for S. leucophylla. Differences in the effectiveness of sterilants were associated by differences in seed coat morphology. Seeds of D. californica imbibed at 4-7°C in sterile deionized water with surfactant and gibberellin germinated earlier than seeds without exposure to gibberellin. Unimbibed seeds of S. leucophylla germinated …

Antibodies Against Affinity-Purified, Surface-Exposed Outer Membrane Proteins Of Edwardsiella Ictaluri Block Invasion Into Fathead Minnow Epithelial Cells, Ramona T. Skirpstunas, Thomas J. Baldwin

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Surface-exposed outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Edwardsiella ictaluri were isolated by selective solubilization of inner membrane proteins from total membrane preparations. Purification of biotin-labeled, insoluble, surface-exposed proteins using streptavidin columns was performed, and single-dimension sodium dodecyl sulfate–polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE) showed four major OMPs, with apparent molecular weights of 22, 31, 59, and 72 kilodaltons (kDa). Purified surface-exposed proteins corresponded to proteins isolated from total outer membrane preparations resolved by SDS–PAGE, showing that surface-exposed proteins are within the outer membrane fraction and can be successfully isolated using affinity purification. Polyclonal antiserum against these surface-exposed OMPs was produced in New Zealand …

Book Review, Lakshman Guruswamy

Publications

No abstract provided.

Daubert Asks The Right Questions: Now Appellate Courts Should Help Find The Right Answers, Christopher B. Mueller

Publications

No abstract provided.

Managing Interjurisdictional Waters Under The Great Lakes Charter Annex, Mark Squillace, Sandra Zellmer

Publications

No abstract provided.

Dynamical Evolutionary Psychology: Individual Decision Rules And Emergent Social Norms, Douglas T. Kenrick, Norman P. Li, Jonathan Butner

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A new theory integrating evolutionary and dynamical approaches is proposed. Following evolutionary models, psychological mechanisms are conceived as conditional decision rules designed to address fundamental problems confronted by human ancestors, with qualitatively different decision rules serving different problem domains and individual differences in decision rules as a function of adaptive and random variation. Following dynamical models, decision mechanisms within individuals are assumed to unfold in dynamic interplay with decision mechanisms of others in social networks. Decision mechanisms in different domains have different dynamic outcomes and lead to different sociospatial geometries. Three series of simulations examining trade-offs in cooperation and mating …

Sex Plus Age Discrimination: Protecting Older Women Workers, Nicole Buonocore Porter

Faculty Publications

There is little doubt that sexism and ageism still exist. To remedy these "isms," there are laws to protect both women and older workers from discrimination in the workplace, namely Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), which prohibits sex discrimination as well as discrimination based on many other protected categories, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 ("ADEA"), which prohibits age discrimination. Despite these protections, an older woman cannot bring a claim based on the fact that she feels she was discriminated against because she is an older woman. In other words, her …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

No abstract provided.

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

No abstract provided.

Design Of A Tem-Cell With Increased Usable Test Area, Kresimir Malaric, Juraj Bartolic

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

Transversal electromagnetic mode cells (TEM-cells) are used for electromagnetic compatibility measurements (emission and immunity), and for biomedical applications. Over the years, higher and higher frequencies are being used, which demands smaller transmission structures in order to obtain the homogeneous field distribution due to resonance. Such resonance destroys the TEM field, introducing higher order modes. The goal was to design the TEM-cell for GSM frequencies that will have a larger area with a homogeneous field used for testing, while still obtaining the characteristic impedance. Commercial TEM-cells used for frequencies of 900 MHz have only 2 cm in height available for testing, …