Digital Commons Network^™

Mechanistic Study Of Pollutant Degradation, Weixi Zheng

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Environmental pollution has been a serious concern worldwide. Many degradation methods have been developed to clean sites contaminated with pollutants. More knowledge and better understanding in this field will help to protect our environment. The goal of the research in this thesis is to gain a better understanding of the mechanism of organic pollutant degradation in Fenton reactions and sonochemical reactions. Fenton degradation uses hydroxyl radical to oxidize organic compounds. The radical is produced by catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide with Fe(II). Further research has found that addition of cyclodextrins can enhance degradation efficiency of hydrophobic organic pollutants. To study …

Effects Of Quantization, Saturation, And Sampling Time In Multi Output Systems, Chaouki T. Abdallah, R. Sandoval-Rodriguez, R. H. Byrne

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We analyze the effects of sampling and quantization in the states of the plant, and the saturation of the control signal, on the behaviors of closed-loop systems. We present graphical and analytical tools to determine the minimum number of bits in the A/D converters, and the maximum sampling time to ensure stability of closed-loop LTI single input multiple output systems.

Genetics And Sex Expression In Alaskan Populations Of Silene Acaulis, Amber Klaas

Biological Sciences

Gynodioecy, the coexistence of hermaphrodites and females within plant populations, is often caused by an interaction between maternally-inherited cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) genes and nuclear male fertility restorer genes. Previous population studies have found cytoplasmic alleles associated with femaleness. We analyzed the spatial distributions of mitochondrial and chloroplast alleles and the sexual phenotype of individuals within five Alaskan populations of Silene acaulis. Sex ratios were variable between two mountain ranges in this study, possibly due to differences in the frequencies of CMS genes. Clustering of mitochondrial alleles, but not sex, was found within two populations at a scale <̲ 2 m. This result may be because maternally-inherited mitochondrial genes are locally spread through seed, but nuclear restorers are spread through pollen and seed. We also investigated sex ratios and CMS genes temporally and did not find patterns of changing sex ratios or mitotypes across size classes. This does not support the theory that females and the mitotypes they carry have been selected against over time, implying that female clusters were not broken-up due to pollen limitation. Patterns of mitochondrial and chloroplast alleles suggest either non-maternal inheritance of cytoplasmic markers or multiple reversals in the evolutionary history of cytoplasmic markers.

Foraging Ecology Of Yellow-Rumped Warblers In An Alaskan Boreal Forest Following A Spruce Beetle Outbreak, Kristen Bartecchi Rozell

Biological Sciences

I examined the foraging ecology of the Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata) several years after an outbreak of spruce beetles (Dendroctonus rufipennis) in the Copper River Basin, Alaska. With increased beetle-induced mortality of white spruce (Picea glauca), a preferred foraging substrate, we predicted warblers would respond through: (1) decreased overall use of white spruce, (2) increased selectivity of live white spruce that remained, and (3) reduced foraging efficiency, reflected by a greater proportion of time spent foraging and lower prey attack rates. We examined warbler foraging behavior and arthropod biomass on commonly used foraging substrates, and in stands with low-moderate ( …

King Eider Wing Molt: Inferences From Stable Isotope Analyses, Michael J. Knoche

Biological Sciences

The western North American population of the king eider is thought to have declined by over 50% between 1974 and 1996 without an apparent cause. The non-breeding period of king eiders consists of 80-100% of their annual cycle if not impossible by observation. I used stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of feathers and muscle to examine the wing molt and migration ecology of king eiders in 2003. Eider primary feathers were isotopically homogenous along the length of the feather, implying invariable diets during wing molt. Captive eiders in their hatch-year did not fractionate nitrogen isotopes, potentially indicating preferential protein …

Towards A Regression Test Selection Technique For Message-Based Software Integration, Sriram Kuchimanchi

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Regression testing is essential to ensure software quality. Regression Test-case selection is another process wherein, the testers would like to ensure that test-cases which are obsolete due to the changes in the system should not be considered for further testing. This is the Regression Test-case Selection problem. Although existing research has addressed many related problems, most of the existing regression test-case selection techniques cater to procedural systems. Being academic, they lack the scalability and detail to cater to multi-tier applications. Such techniques can be employed for procedural systems, usually mathematical applications. Enterprise applications have become complex and distributed leading to …

Wearable Personal Data Information Capture System, Jiangpeng Shi

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is motivated by development of The Wearable Personal Data Information Capture System (WPDICS), which is used to support the "physical" data stream requirement on a person as they experience daily life, including visual and audio information. To fit the acquirement of "wearable", the system should be very tiny in size and very low cost. Our purpose is to conduct a feasibility analysis for WPDICS using commercially available components (Sharp Zaurus SL 5600 Linux PDA) and evaluate the acquisition of "physical" data streams grabbed by this component. In the thesis, we also develop some software test the data acquisition, …

Employee Satisfaction And Performance: A Study Of The Rc Hotel Company Kitchen Environment, Melissa Bradberry Sims

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Employee satisfaction and performance are a major determinant of the corporate culture of a property. Discussion of whether or not this statement is true within the kitchens of The Ritz Carlton Hotel in New Orleans is the basis for this study. By using the corporate mandated tools (the annual employee satisfaction survey and the employee performance appraisals) the determination of this question was confirmed. However, there were some great concerns about the validity of the two tools. The tools showed a definite relationship between the employee satisfaction survey and the performance appraisal, as well as a negative employee perception of …

Biosorption Of Heavy Metals By Citrus Fruit Waste Materials, Santosh Bramhadev Patil

Engineering

Conventionally used processes for removing heavy metals from wastewater are usually either expensive, such as ion exchange, or inefficient, such as precipitation. An innovative technique that is both efficient and economical is biosorption, in which living and dead biomass can act as biosorbents through physical-chemical processes like ion exchange and micro-precipitation. Pectin, a structural polysaccharide present in plant cell walls, is similar to alginate, a molecule that is often responsible for the high metal uptake by algae. Based on the structural similarity between alginate and pectin, it was expected that pectin rich bio-wastes may be as good a biosorbent material …

Performance Analysis For Remote Power Systems In Rural Alaska, Tyler Chubb

Engineering

Due to the logistical difficulties involved in maintaining a rural Alaskan power generation facility, it is extremely important that the system function as efficiently as possible. Presently, many rural generation systems are not equipped with automated monitoring that enables knowledgeable personnel to view the performance of the system from a distant location. Consequently, system deficiencies resulting in increased fuel consumption and operating expense often go unnoticed as do potential system improvements. This thesis describes the design and implementation of a sophisticated monitoring system that consists of measurement sensors connected to an internet enabled data recorder. The monitoring system was used …

Axisymmetric Numerical Heat Transfer Analysis Of Natural Gas Hydrates Reservoir, Vijayagandeeban Subbaihaannadurai

Engineering

Gas hydrates are crystalline substances, occurring in nature under high pressure and low temperature. Numerical studies were conducted on dissociation of gas hydrate to recover natural gas. The model is a cylindrical geometry with a wellbore at the center through which hot water is injected. Through this thermal stimulation technique frozen hydrate reservoir is melted and natural gas is released. The computational fluid dynamics software FLUENT was adopted to generate the model. The initial model was solely comprised of a hydrate layer. This model was refined by adding the overburden and the underburden to the hydrate and exploring the thermal …

Relationships Among Temperature, Depth, And Abundance Of Commercially Important Fish Captured By Trawl Vessels In The Kodiak Area Of The Gulf Of Alaska, Usa, Allison Eileen Barns

Fisheries

Increased understanding of the factors influencing fish distributions and abundance may improve fisheries management and stock assessment models and may provide the fishing industry with a means to reduce bycatch. I investigated the associations of ambient seawater depth and temperature with catches of commercially important species in the Gulf of Alaska. Time-depth recorders were attached to trawl nets to collect depth and temperature data during commercial bottom trawl fishing operations. The data collected from these recorders were combined with species composition data collected by onboard observers to determine associations between these physical variables and catch of fishes. Parameters for depths …

Maturation Of Walleye Pollock, Theragra Chalcogramma, In The Eastern Bering Sea In Relation To Temporal And Spatial Factors, Jennifer Paige Stahl

Fisheries

Walleye pollock, Theragra chalcogramma, are both ecologically and commercially important in the eastern Bering Sea (EBS). Maturity is a critical parameter in the stock assessment to set annual total allowable catch. Pollock maturity has not been examined in the EBS since 1976, and possible interannual and geographic variation has not been studied to date. Our goal is to estimate correct maturity schedules for EBS pollock. Maturity data, fish lengths and macroscopic maturity stages were collected aboard pollock trawlers during winter 2002 and 2003 across the EBS from 10,197 pollock. Similar data were collected by NMFS scientists during hydroacoustic surveys from …

Simulation Of Coal Gasification Process Inside A Two-Stage Gasifier, Armin Silaen

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Gasification is a very efficient method of producing clean synthetic gas (syngas) which can be used as fuel for electric generation or chemical building block for petrochemical industries. This study performs detailed simulations of coal gasification process inside a generic two-stage entrained-flow gasifier to produce syngas carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The simulations are conducted using the commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver FLUENT. The 3-D Navier-Stokes equations and seven species transport equations are solved with eddy-breakup combustion model. Simulations are conducted to investigate the effects of coal mixture (slurry or dry), oxidant (oxygen-blown or air-blown), wall cooling, coal distribution between …

Shrub Expansion In Arctic Alaska: 50 Years Of Change Documented Using Aerial Photography, Ken Tape

Geosciences

Evidence from arctic Alaska suggests that the terrestrial landscape is changing in response to warming. Between 1946 and 1951, several thousand low-altitude panchromatic oblique aerial photographs were taken as part of geologic reconnaissance and exploration of Alaska's Arctic Slope and Brooks Range. For this study, 202 of the landscapes in the old photographs were re-photographed. Comparison of the old and new photographs revealed an increase in shrub cover in the last half-century. The changes were observed over a 220,000 km2 tract of arctic tundra, and it is likely that they are more widespread. A quantitative method for comparing the photographs …

Physical Volcanology Of A Sub-Plinian And Phreatomagmatic Eruption At Okmok Volcano, Alaska: Implications For Explosive Mafic Volcanism, Lily J. Wong

Geosciences

The Middle Scoria Unit (M.S.) of Okmok Volcano is a basaltic andesite (̃54 wt. % SiO₂) fall deposit that is stratigraphically located between two caldera-forming eruptions (̃12,000 and 2050 y B.P.). Stratigraphy, geochemistry, vesicularity, and crystallinity data imply that the M.S. erupted in three phases that began with an initial phreatomagmatic phase followed by a sub-Plinian phase caused by rapid ascent of magma. The sequence culminates with short-lived Vulcanian eruptions that demonstrate a strong magmatic influence and a possible decrease in ascent rate. The M.S. covers ̃300 km² and averages about 2 m thick. Estimates from this work suggest a …

Volume 40 - Issue 12 - Thursday, December 16, 2004, Rose Thorn Staff

The Rose Thorn Archive

The Rose Thorn, Rose-Hulman's independent student newspaper.

Upmc Health Sys V. Metro Life Ins Co

2004 Decisions

USDC for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Usa V. Todman

2004 Decisions

USDC for the District Court of the Virgin Islands

Usa V. Al Hedaithy

2004 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

Usa V. Barrett

2004 Decisions

USDC for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Kerux - Vol. 39, No. 5, Calvin Theological Seminary

Kerux

Inside This Issue

• Schedule of Events Page 2
• Our Words, Our Testimony Page 2
• Candidacy Application Page 4
• Joining In The Conversation Page 4

The Weekly Challenger, December 16, 2004, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The December 16, 2004, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

Genome Sequence Of Silicibacter Pomeroyi Reveals Adaptations To The Marine Environment, Mary Ann Moran, Alison Buchan, José M. González, John F. Heidelberg, William B. Whitman, Ronald P. Klene, James R. Henriksen, Gary M. King, Robert Belas, Clay Fuqua, Lauren Brinkac, Matt Lewis, Shivani Johri, Bruce Weaver, Grace Pai, Jonathan A. Elsen, Elisha Rahe, Wade M. Sheldon, Wenying Ye, Todd R. Miller, Jane Carlton, David A. Rasko, Ian T. Paulsen, Qinghu Ren, Sean C. Daugherty, Ribert T. Deboy, Robert J. Dodson, A. Scott Durkin, Ramana Madupu, William C. Nelson, Steven A. Sullivan, M. J. Rosovitz, Daniel H. Haft

Faculty Publications

Since the recognition of prokaryotes as essential components of the oceanic food web1, bacterioplankton have been acknowledged as catalysts of most major biogeochemical processes in the sea. Studying heterotrophic bacterioplankton has been challenging, however, as most major clades have never been cultured2 or have only been grown to low densities in sea water3,4. Here we describe the genome sequence of Silicibacter pomeroyi, a member of the marine Roseobacter clade (Fig. 1), the relatives of which comprise ∼10-20% of coastal and oceanic mixed-layer bacterioplankton2,5,6,7. This first genome sequence from any major heterotrophic clade consists of a chromosome (4,109,442 base pairs) and …

Defining Dicta, Michael Abramowicz, Maxwell Stearns

George Mason University School of Law Working Papers Series

In recent decades, legal scholars have devoted substantially greater attention to studying the origin and nature of stare decisis than to defining the distinction between holding and dicta. This appears counter-intuitive when one considers, first, that stare decisis applies only to holdings of announced precedents, and second, that beyond problematic and rudimentary intuitions, the legal system has failed to develop meaningful definitions of these terms. While lawyers, legal scholars, and jurists likely assume that they can identify dicta when they see it, a careful analysis that categorizes the range of judicial assertions in need of proper characterization reveals that defining …

Chemical Composition Of Air Masses Transported From Asia To The U.S. West Coast During Itct 2k2: Fossil Fuel Combustion Versus Biomass-Burning Signatures, J. A. De Gouw, O. R. Cooper, C. Warneke, P. K. Hudson, F. C. Fehsenfeld, J. S. Holloway, G. Hübler, Jr K. Nicks, J. B. Nowak, D. D. Parrish, T. B. Ryerson, E. L. Atlas, Stephen G. Donnelly Ph.D., S. M. Schauffler, V. Stroud, K. Johnson, G. R. Carmichael, D. G. Streets

Chemistry Faculty Publications

As part of the Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation experiment in 2002 (ITCT 2K2), a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) WP-3D research aircraft was used to study the long-range transport of Asian air masses toward the west coast of North America. During research flights on 5 and 17 May, strong enhancements of carbon monoxide (CO) and other species were observed in air masses that had been transported from Asia. The hydrocarbon composition of the air masses indicated that the highest CO levels were related to fossil fuel use. During the flights on 5 and 17 May and other days, …

Nursing Students' Self-Efficacy And Attitude: Examining The Influence Ofthe Omaha System In Nurse Managed Centers, Cherie Mooy

Master's Projects

Self-efficacy, or confidence, as an outcome behavior has been identified as influencing nursing job satisfaction and retention. Clinical learning environments and teaching strategies that build and support perceived self-efficacy are critical aspects of preparing new nurses for their entry and continuing role as professional nurses in today's information-intensive data-management healthcare environment. The purpose of this pre-test post-test study is to measure, using the C-scale (Grundy, 1992), nursing students' self-efficacy to perform patient assessment in Nurse Managed Centers (NMC) after one semester of using the Omaha System documentation framework. Nursing students' attitudes of preparation for using Standardized Nursing Languages (SNL) in …

Critical Discourse Analysis Of Sexual Enhancement Medication Ads, John-Paul Gomez

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study contributes to the expanding critical range of discourse analysis by analyzing texts used to market Viagra and other "sexual enhancement medication," pharmaceuticals that treat "erectile dysfunction". Applying elements of Norman Fairclough's critical discourse analysis framework, this study examines as cultural artifacts Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis print advertisements and television commercials and it offers insight into the institutional discourse of "sexual enhancement medication" and how this discourse constructs male identity and subjectivity.

Meeting Notes 2004-12-16 [Part B] , Joint Policy Advisory Committee On Transportation

Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation

No abstract provided.

Meeting Notes 2004-12-16 [Part A] , Joint Policy Advisory Committee On Transportation

Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation

No abstract provided.