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2005

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Platform Recruited Reef Fish, Phase I: Do Platforms Provide Habitat That Increase The Survival Of Juvenile Reef Fishes?, Lauren Kay Nowling Jan 2005

Platform Recruited Reef Fish, Phase I: Do Platforms Provide Habitat That Increase The Survival Of Juvenile Reef Fishes?, Lauren Kay Nowling

LSU Master's Theses

There are currently over 4000 functioning oil and gas platforms in the northern Gulf of Mexico (Gulf). Platform operations, and their prior drilling operations, produce trace amounts of lead, barium, vanadium, and lanthanum residues that are leached into the surrounding waters and are deposited on the sea floor. These residues have isotopic ratios different from those typical of the Gulf seafloor and can be used as harmless ‘fingerprints’ if they become incorporated into hard-parts or tissues in fishes associated with oil and gas platforms. From 2002 to 2004, 115 red snapper were collected from oil and gas platforms and artificial …

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Automatic Segmentation Of Magnetic Resonance Images Of The Brain, Kirk V. N. Spence Jan 2005

Automatic Segmentation Of Magnetic Resonance Images Of The Brain, Kirk V. N. Spence

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a technique used primarily in medical settings to produce high quality images of the human body’s internal anatomy. Each image is of a thin slice through the body, with the typical distance between slices being a few millimeters. Brain segmentation is the delineation of one or more anatomical structures within images of the brain. It promotes greater understanding of spatial relationships to aid in such tasks as surgical planning and clinical diagnoses, particularly when the segmented outlines from each image slice are displayed together as a surface in three-dimensions. A review of the literature indicates …

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This Is What I Meant When I Told You, Ryan David O'Malley Jan 2005

This Is What I Meant When I Told You, Ryan David O'Malley

LSU Master's Theses

THIS IS WHAT I MEANT WHEN I TOLD YOU is a quest to visually decipher the complexities of "self." The goal is to form a relationship of honesty between my mind and my hand, the art and the viewer. The work investigates reoccurring ideas, threaded through each day, in order to create narratives based on the immediacy of emotion, and the struggle between self-realization and uncertainty. Or as one commented during my show, "A celebration of the dark side of life."

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The Purpose Of Magazine Web Sites, Mark Marquez Ii Jan 2005

The Purpose Of Magazine Web Sites, Mark Marquez Ii

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to determine whether online versions of printed magazines shared an overall purpose. Guided by grounded theory, interviews were conducted of publishers and staff members from the Web sites of 15 printed magazines. The analysis of the interviews suggested that the overall purpose of online versions of magazines is marketing of the printed magazine, and that the sites also are intended to accomplish a number of secondary purposes.

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Models For Ancient Maya Coastal Site Development And Economy: Examination Of Pork And Doughboy Point, Port Honduras, Belize, Kevin Michael Pemberton Jan 2005

Models For Ancient Maya Coastal Site Development And Economy: Examination Of Pork And Doughboy Point, Port Honduras, Belize, Kevin Michael Pemberton

LSU Master's Theses

In the summer of 2003 I conducted an archaeological study at Pork and Doughboy Point, Belize, under the direction of Dr. Heather McKillop. The site, situated amidst other ancient Maya coastal settlements of the Port Honduras in southern Belize, has only been tested for offshore deposits in the three decades since it was reported. The current research involved the first reported terrestrial excavations at the site. The goals of this investigation were to recover pottery that could be used to date the ancient Maya occupation and obtain artifacts that would suggest the nature of the site. From artifact analyses I …

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Medical Image Enhancement, Alina Monica Trifas Jan 2005

Medical Image Enhancement, Alina Monica Trifas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Each image acquired from a medical imaging system is often part of a two-dimensional (2-D) image set whose total presents a three-dimensional (3-D) object for diagnosis. Unfortunately, sometimes these images are of poor quality. These distortions cause an inadequate object-of-interest presentation, which can result in inaccurate image analysis. Blurring is considered a serious problem. Therefore, “deblurring” an image to obtain better quality is an important issue in medical image processing. In our research, the image is initially decomposed. Contrast improvement is achieved by modifying the coefficients obtained from the decomposed image. Small coefficient values represent subtle details and are amplified …

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Sinker Cypress: Treasures Of A Lost Landscape, Christopher Aubrey Hurst Jan 2005

Sinker Cypress: Treasures Of A Lost Landscape, Christopher Aubrey Hurst

LSU Master's Theses

Sinker cypress (Taxodium spp.) logs are timbers that were lost during transit from harvest locations in the swamps and mill sites during the industrial cypress harvest from 1880-1930. A small industry has developed, concentrated on the recovery of sinker logs. Most of the persons involved in the recovery of sinker cypress, mill the logs into lumber, and sell the timber directly to consumers or to distributors. A smaller number of pullers retain the logs for personal use. Recovery operations are a costly endeavor and require a significant investment on the part of the harvesters. Most pullers are owner/operators who do …

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New Contention Resolution Techniques For Optical Burst Switching, Kishore Reddy Koduru Jan 2005

New Contention Resolution Techniques For Optical Burst Switching, Kishore Reddy Koduru

LSU Master's Theses

Optical burst switching (OBS) is a technology positioned between wavelength routing and optical packet switching that does not require optical buffering or packet-level parsing, and it is more efficient than circuit switching when the sustained traffic volume does not consume a full wavelength. However, several critical issues still need to be solved such as contention resolution without optical buffering which is a key determinant of packet-loss with a significant impact on network performance. Deflection routing is an approach for resolving contention by routing a contending packet to an output port other than the intended output port. In OBS networks, when …

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The Language And Politics Of Place: Autobiographical Curriculum In The American South, Michael Brian Casemore Jan 2005

The Language And Politics Of Place: Autobiographical Curriculum In The American South, Michael Brian Casemore

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Place is central to the study of the American South. The question of the meaning and power of place underpinned the earliest efforts to define and understand the region, and place remains a crucial concept in an ongoing process of regional identification and inquiry. This study explores southern place autobiographically, historically, and theoretically in order to illuminate the subjective and social dimensions of place and to promote progressive conversation in the region. My inquiry is interdisciplinary. It draws on psychoanalysis, Southern studies, and the philosophy of place-as well as on theories of curriculum, literature, and art. If places can inspire …

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Genetics And Functions Of The Sars Coronavirus Spike Protein, Chad Michael Petit Jan 2005

Genetics And Functions Of The Sars Coronavirus Spike Protein, Chad Michael Petit

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The SARS-Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) is the etiological agent of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The SARS-CoV spike (S) glycoprotein mediates membrane fusion events during virus entry and virus-induced cell-to-cell fusion. Investigations, described herein, have focused on the genetic manipulation of the SARS-CoV S glycoprotein in order to delineate functional domains within the protein. This was accomplished by incorporating single point mutations, cluster-to-lysine and cluster-to-alanine mutations, as well as carboxyl terminal truncations into the protein and investigating these mutants in transient expression experiments. Mutagenesis of either the coiled-coil domain of the S glycoprotein amino terminal heptad repeat, the predicted fusion peptide, …

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The Role Of Urease In The Pathogenesis Of Edwardsiella Ictaluri, Natha Joy Booth Jan 2005

The Role Of Urease In The Pathogenesis Of Edwardsiella Ictaluri, Natha Joy Booth

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

An Edwardsiella ictaluri strain with disruption of ureG was identified through the use of signature tagged insertion mutagenesis as being attenuated for virulence in the channel catfish host. Sequencing of the flanking regions surrounding the insert showed that the gene was part of a urease gene complex that included ureE, ureF, ureG, ureD, ureI, and an ammonium transporter homologue. The ureG gene encodes a GTP-binding accessory protein which is thought to function in energy-dependent urease assembly. The ureG mutant strain was found to be attenuated for mortality, persistence, and for the ability to establish infection in a competition challenge during …

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Teaching The Progressive Era Through The Life And Accomplishments Of Jane Addams, Kacy J. Taylor Jan 2005

Teaching The Progressive Era Through The Life And Accomplishments Of Jane Addams, Kacy J. Taylor

LSU Master's Theses

Because of standardized testing in Louisiana, the high school American history curriculum has been reduced to a long list of facts. Students no longer learn the story of American history – the people and events that have defined America as we know it. Instead, it is presented to them in fragmented pieces. Teachers move so quickly from subject to subject that they fail to explain the origin and transformation of ideas. This paper proposes teaching a period of history through the life of an important historical figure, in this case, Jane Addams. Through the life of Jane Addams, students can …

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Traffic Engineering And Path Protection In Mpls Virtual Private Networks, Pooja S. Aniker Jan 2005

Traffic Engineering And Path Protection In Mpls Virtual Private Networks, Pooja S. Aniker

LSU Master's Theses

Traffic Engineering (TE) attempts to establish paths for the flow of data in a network so as to optimize the resource utilization and maximize the network performance. One of the main goals of Traffic Engineering is to bring about efficient and reliable network operations. Constraint based routing is the key to Multiprotocol label switching TE. Constraint based routing helps to manage traffic paths within a MPLS network and allows for traffic to flow along certain desired paths. MPLS also supports explicit routing thus providing TE capabilities. MPLS TE enables resiliency and reliability to be built into networks, thus increasing the …

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Effectiveness Of The 4-H Advisory Committee Process As Perceived By 4-H Professionals And Advisory Committee Members, Mark Gerard Tassin Jan 2005

Effectiveness Of The 4-H Advisory Committee Process As Perceived By 4-H Professionals And Advisory Committee Members, Mark Gerard Tassin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The 4-H advisory process is crucial to program development in the 4-H youth development program in Louisiana. Parish 4-H advisory committees in each of the 64 parishes are involved in the addressing the needs of the clientele. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the 4-H Advisory Process as perceived by 4-H professionals in Louisiana and primary stakeholder groups of the LSU Agricultural Center’s 4-H Program. Data for the study were obtained through surveys completed by 104 4-H youth development professionals and 142 parish 4-H advisory committee members. Additionally, six parish advisory committee members were …

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Mania And Intellectual Disability: The Course Of Mania Symptoms In Persons With Disability Over Three Years, Melissa Luke Gonzalez Jan 2005

Mania And Intellectual Disability: The Course Of Mania Symptoms In Persons With Disability Over Three Years, Melissa Luke Gonzalez

LSU Master's Theses

Although bipolar disorder was one of the earliest described mental illnesses, there is a dearth of research on bipolar disorder in individuals with intellectual deficits. The present study aimed to extend this literature by comparing the presence and variation of manic symptoms over time of persons with intellectual deficits with and without bipolar disorder. Three groups of individuals participated: a bipolar group, a psychopathology group (other than bipolar disorder) and a control group. Two dependent measures of mania were taken from retrospective data, Mania subscale of the DASH-II and a Criterion-referenced subscale. The presence and consistency of mania symptom endorsements …

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The Relationship Between Participation In Community Service-Learning Projects And Personal And Leadership Life Skills Development In Louisiana High School 4-H Leadership Activities, Connie S. Phelps Jan 2005

The Relationship Between Participation In Community Service-Learning Projects And Personal And Leadership Life Skills Development In Louisiana High School 4-H Leadership Activities, Connie S. Phelps

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Evidence does not exist that documents the effectiveness of Louisiana 4-H community service-learning projects. The purpose of this study is to compare self-reported perceptions of personal and leadership life skills development of Louisiana high school 4-H leadership activity participants by whether they participate in the 4-H Junior Leader Club (JLC) and/or the CHARACTER COUNTS! (CC) peer teaching program. The target population for this study was all high school students who participated in either the CC peer teaching program or the 4-H JLC. Therefore, this study was limited to those parishes that have both a CC peer teaching program and a …

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Mathematical Models For Estimating Volatile Chemical Emissions From Dredging Operations, Kenneth Alexander Fountain Jan 2005

Mathematical Models For Estimating Volatile Chemical Emissions From Dredging Operations, Kenneth Alexander Fountain

LSU Master's Theses

Dredging operations have been a common remediation for contaminated sediment in an effort to reduce the harmful impact on the environment. The objective of this research was to create models used for estimating chemical release to air from remediating the Indiana Harbor and Canal (IHC) as three separate dredging operations; the Dredge Site, Exposed DM CDF, and Ponded CDF. The evaporative flux estimations are based on a two-resistance mass transport path inclusive of both the molecular diffusion in porous media and interfacial airside mass transport resistances. Several chemodynamic algorithms were used in calculating key transport parameters. Laboratory tests were performed …

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Sensorsimulator: Simulation Framework For Sensor Networks, Cariappa D. Mallanda Jan 2005

Sensorsimulator: Simulation Framework For Sensor Networks, Cariappa D. Mallanda

LSU Master's Theses

Wireless sensor networks have the potential to become significant subsystems of engineering applications. Before relegating important and safety-critical tasks to such subsystems, it is necessary to understand the dynamic behavior of these subsystems in simulation environments. There is an urgent need to develop a simulation platform that is useful to explore both the networking issues and the distributed computing aspects of wireless sensor networks. Current approaches to simulating wireless sensor networks largely focus on the networking issues. These approaches use well-known network simulation tools that are often difficult to extend to explore distributed computing issues. Discrete-event simulation is a trusted …

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Kingship, Structures And Access Patterns On The Royal Plaza At The Ancient Maya City Of Altun Ha, Belize: The Construction Of A Maya Gis, Olga A. Yermakhanova Jan 2005

Kingship, Structures And Access Patterns On The Royal Plaza At The Ancient Maya City Of Altun Ha, Belize: The Construction Of A Maya Gis, Olga A. Yermakhanova

LSU Master's Theses

The GIS of Plaza B represents the application of GIS in the analysis of buildings. The GIS contains information on six structures and recreates the development of the royal residential plaza at the ancient Maya site of Altun Ha, in northern Belize. Altun Ha is a small site with a long history of occupation, rich in architectural and artifactual forms. The major site expansion and development started in the end of the Early Classic (A. D. 400) with the emergence of the institution of kingship at the site. Two adjunct plazas, A and B, formed the largest ceremonial –residential complex …

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Determinants Of Abstention In The United States House Of Representatives: An Analysis Of The 102nd Through The 107th Sessions, Mileah Kay Kromer Jan 2005

Determinants Of Abstention In The United States House Of Representatives: An Analysis Of The 102nd Through The 107th Sessions, Mileah Kay Kromer

LSU Master's Theses

This paper examines the factors that influence roll call voting abstention in the United States House of Representatives. I control for factors both at the individual level and the institutional level. My data set includes all members of the House of Representatives from the 102nd (1991-1992) through the 107th (2001-2002) sessions of Congress. It is my intention to contribute to our scholarly understanding of abstention behavior in the United States House of Representatives and to help future research on Congressional roll call voting behavior. I find strong empirical support for individual level effects, such as seniority, last of term of …

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Mammary Malfunction: A Comparison Of Breastfeeding And Bottlefeeding Product Ads With Magazine Article Content, Angela Broussard Hyderkhan Jan 2005

Mammary Malfunction: A Comparison Of Breastfeeding And Bottlefeeding Product Ads With Magazine Article Content, Angela Broussard Hyderkhan

LSU Master's Theses

Breastfeeding is a pressing social issue in terms of women’s equality, preventative healthcare, and the preservation of a valuable natural resource. Future progress in breastfeeding advocacy will depend on an accurate investigation into the current situation. In this study, three women’s prenatal magazines (American Baby, ePregnancy, and Parenting) are analyzed via content analysis for one calendar year, looking specifically at infant formula-related product advertisements, breastfeeding-related product advertisements and variations of the mother’s role in infant feeding. The content of breastfeeding-related magazine articles also is analyzed within the context of the advertisements. This sample of media appears to have evolved away …

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Evaluation Of Vetiver Oil And Alate Biology As Preventative Measures Against The Formosan Subterranean Termite, Coptotermes Formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), Karen Elizabeth Nix Jan 2005

Evaluation Of Vetiver Oil And Alate Biology As Preventative Measures Against The Formosan Subterranean Termite, Coptotermes Formosanus Shiraki (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), Karen Elizabeth Nix

LSU Master's Theses

The Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, is responsible for over $1 billion in property damage, repairs, and control in the United States. Presently, control of this exotic pest depends mainly on chemical methods. There is an increasing interest in using natural products in pest control because of their low mammalian toxicity and environmental safety. Chemical components of the roots of vetiver grass, Vetiveria zizanioides (L.) Nash, have shown to be effective repellents and toxicants to Formosan subterranean termites. Objectives of this research were to evaluate: 1) vetiver grass root growth and its oil distribution; 2) vetiver oil, nootkatone, and …

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Denitrification And Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Cultivated And Wetland Alluvial Soils, Sami Ullah Jan 2005

Denitrification And Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Cultivated And Wetland Alluvial Soils, Sami Ullah

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Agricultural development in the Mississippi River Basin has contributed to an 3-fold increase in NO3 loading of the river. Increased NO3 loading is a primary cause of eutrophication in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Identification of best management practices (BMPs) to reduce NO3 loss and wetlands restoration to remove NO3 through denitrification are critically needed. The objectives of this research were to determine factors controlling denitrification potential of different landscape units in an agricultural watershed and quantify the effects of BMPs and organic C amendments on denitrification rates of cultivated lands and restored forested wetlands. N2O, CH4 and CO2 emissions …

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Liquid Architectures: Marcos Novak's Territory Of Information, Camile A. Silva Jan 2005

Liquid Architectures: Marcos Novak's Territory Of Information, Camile A. Silva

LSU Master's Theses

The idea of interactivity between humans and their environment no longer represents the only way of exploring new experiences. Equally passé is the idea that information constitutes the means for this interaction. However, this paper presents that the contemporary idea for interaction has embraced new understandings of the content of experience and the structure of space. New electronic technologies and advanced digital media have separated realities from the realm of the body and transformed experiences into a ubiquitous event. The architectural discourse, that once has been largely a discourse of form and style, has finally overcome those limitations and has …

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The Free World Confronted: The Problem Of Slavery And Progress In American Foreign Relations, 1833-1844, Steven Heath Mitton Jan 2005

The Free World Confronted: The Problem Of Slavery And Progress In American Foreign Relations, 1833-1844, Steven Heath Mitton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Enacted in 1833, Great Britain’s abolition of West Indian slavery confronted the United States with the complex interrelationship between slavery and progress. Dubbed the Great Experiment, British abolition held the possibility of demonstrating free labor more profitable than slavery. Besides elating the world’s abolitionists, always hopeful of equating material with moral progress, the experiment’s success would benefit Britain economically. Presented evidence of the greater profits of free labor, slaveholders worldwide would find themselves with compelling reason to abandon slavery. Likewise, London policymakers would proceed with little need—and no economic incentive—to promote abolition in British foreign policy. British hopes foundered on …

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The Evolution Of Prezygotic Reproductive Isolation In The Drosophila Pseudoobscura Subgroup, Sheri Dixon Schully Jan 2005

The Evolution Of Prezygotic Reproductive Isolation In The Drosophila Pseudoobscura Subgroup, Sheri Dixon Schully

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Newly forming species that have differentiated in allopatry may evolve numerous barriers that prevent the interbreeding when they come back into contact with each other. The objective of this dissertation is to evaluate some mechanisms of prezygotic reproductive isolation in the D. pseudoobscura subgroup. I begin by evaluating how the evolution of female preferences and male sexual characters lead to reinforcement between Drosophila pseudoobscura and its congener D. persimils. In particular, I will evaluate two alternative hypotheses; Preference Evolution and Discrimination Enhancement, to determine how selection reduces hybridization between these sister species. Both hypotheses predict a reduction in the overlap …

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An Evaluation Of The Lsu Agricultural Center's Agriculture Leadership Development Program, 1988-2004, Michele Abington-Cooper Jan 2005

An Evaluation Of The Lsu Agricultural Center's Agriculture Leadership Development Program, 1988-2004, Michele Abington-Cooper

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if participants in the LSU AgCenter’s Agricultural Leadership Development Program have increased their leadership skills and become more involved in agricultural and community issues. The target population for this study was the 252 graduates of Classes I - VIII of the LSU Ag Leadership Program. This was a descriptive study using quantitative data. The questionnaire was developed from a review of the literature and instruments from related research. It was validated by a panel of experts from the LSU School of Human Resource Education and Workforce Development and the LSU AgCenter. The …

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Temporal Trends In Tchula Period Pottery In Louisiana, Steven Ray Fullen Jan 2005

Temporal Trends In Tchula Period Pottery In Louisiana, Steven Ray Fullen

LSU Master's Theses

Tchula period pottery (Tchefuncte culture) in Louisiana is characterized by highly contorted and laminated pastes. These diagnostic traits have led investigators to suggest hypotheses concerning manufacturing techniques, but there has been relatively little focus on temporal trends associated with these characteristics. The first step in redressing this problem was to identify a site likely to contain archaeological assemblages that would span the Tchula period. Excavations began at the Sarah Peralta site (16EBR67) in the fall of 2001 and were concluded in the spring of 2002. Artifacts from this site were characterized according to standard identification procedures. A secondary site, the …

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Effects Of Gender Role On The Judgment Of Masculine Signs, Joseph C. Mitchell Jan 2005

Effects Of Gender Role On The Judgment Of Masculine Signs, Joseph C. Mitchell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Masculinity is a multi-dimensional, fairly pliable construct that some scholars approach from a biological perspective, others approach from a social constructionist perspective, and others approach from a unifying perspective. Part of the environment that informs the meaning of masculinity to a given culture is the mass media. This study takes the constructivist theoretical perspective, which attempts to explain the activation of schemata. The schematic process for this study concerns how people perceive, process, and judge masculine signs. This study seeks to explain gender role orientation’s influences on the development of schemata for masculinity as evidenced by differences in assessments of …

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Four Dimensional Presentations As A New Representation Method: A Proposal For The Use Of Interactive Multimedia Presentation In Landscape Architecture, Kinoto Miyakoda Jan 2005

Four Dimensional Presentations As A New Representation Method: A Proposal For The Use Of Interactive Multimedia Presentation In Landscape Architecture, Kinoto Miyakoda

LSU Master's Theses

Few studies on presentation methods in the profession of landscape architecture have been done in the past, because evaluating presentations raises primarily subjective issues. Today, interactive multimedia presentations offer an excellent opportunity to investigate the presentation methods employed by landscape architects, gCan new communication technologies help to enhance the communication between the presenter and his audience?h This is the fundamental question addressed in this thesis. It explores interactive multimedia presentations to see their potentials, and considers ways to integrate various multimedia as presentation methods for future landscape architectural presentations. The main terms, interactivity and multimedia, are explained to understand the …

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