Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Mental Rotation, Visual Aids And Training On Inspection Performance During Airport Baggage Inspection, Sunil Addepalli

LSU Master's Theses

Since 9/11, airport security has become an area of critical national security. The current study investigates the effect of mental rotation training and the presence of visual decision aids on inspection performance. Forty-eight participants were divided into two groups (Group A and Group B) of twenty-four each. Each group was provided with training on visual inspection, baggage screening and on using the software simulation of airport baggage inspection. Participants had to identify from images any object that cannot be allowed on a passenger plane and register a response by clicking one of the buttons, “Threat” or “No Threat”. Participants in …

Full Circle, Elizabeth Cowhig

LSU Master's Theses

My paintings are a result of a mainly intuitive process that evolves out of the combination of shape, color, and texture and originates from personal ideologies involving health phobias and religious beliefs. The imagery in the paintings is of biological origin, cells that fill up with matter, dense spheres that recall cancerous build up, the compositions and colors are inspired by Italian Renaissance paintings. The tangible is inserted into the realm of the ethereal.

The Battle Of New Orleans, Gregory Morris Thomas

LSU Master's Theses

America was not prepared for the War of 1812. The army and navy were so small they could not oppose Britain directly. American strategy in the first year called for the seizure of Canada. Multiple expeditions were complete failures resulting in military defeats and political embarrassment for President Madison. During the second year of the war there were more defeats for American forces, but some victories. These successes came mainly against Indians allied with the British along the frontier. The third and final year of the war started ominously. With Napoleons first abdication the wars in Europe seemed over, allowing …

The Role Of Calisto/Clindor/Theogenes In Tony Kushner's Adaptation Of The Illusion By Pierre Corneille A Production Thesis In Acting, Preston E. Davis

LSU Master's Theses

The role of Calisto/Clindor/Theogenes in Tony Kushner's adaptation of The Illusion by Pierre Corneille was selected as a thesis project in the fall semester, 2004. This thesis is a written record of the actor's interpretation of the character. The thesis includes a Character Analysis, Four Column Score of the Role and Personal notes on the role.

Comparing Calf Sex Ratio And Semen Sex Ratio Determined By Conventional Pcr, Tara Marie Taylor

LSU Master's Theses

Thirty-nine ejaculates from 8 Holstein bulls were collected. Straws of semen (n=750) were distributed among dairies in three states. Ten straws per ejaculate were sent to Louisiana State University (LSU) Dairy Improvement Center for conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Spermatozoal DNA was extracted and PCR analysis was done using one primer set amplifying a single copy 125 base pair (bp) section of the Bos taurus factor IX (Christmas factor) precursor (found on the X chromosome) and another primer set amplifying a single copy section of the Bos taurus sex determining region Y protein (SRY) gene (found on the Y …

The 17 Kda Protein In Photosystem Ii, Purification And Interaction With The Photosystem, Glen Meades

LSU Master's Theses

The structural association of the spinach 17 kDa protein of photosystem II with other extrinsic and membrane-bound components of the photosystem was investigated by labeling the 17 kDa protein with the amino group-specific reagent N-hydrosuccinimidobiotin both on intact photosystem II membranes and free in solution. Following isolation of the biotinylated molecules, the modified 17 kDa protein was allowed to rebind at various molar ratios to photosystem II membranes lacking the 17 kDa protein. Differential binding of the biotinylated proteins compared to unmodified 17 kDa protein indicates steric or ionic interference due to added biotin moieties, impeding physical contact or shielding …

Experimental Investigation Of Stick-Slip Behavior In Granular Materials, Lynne E. Roussel

LSU Master's Theses

The mechanical behavior of granular materials is highly dependent on the arrangement of particles, particle groups, and associated pore spaces. Changes in the internal structure due to large deformation may cause changes in the mechanical behavior. The changes include: particle sliding, rolling, and interaction; shear band formation; and fabric anisotropy. During those changes, stick-slip behavior may take place between the granular particles. The objective of the thesis is to study the factors that influence the stick-slip behavior of granular materials. The influence of particle size, uniformity, confining pressure, density, and strain rate are investigated in this thesis. A series of …

The Effect Of Dietary Phosphorus Level And Phytase Supplementation On Growth Performance, Bone Breaking Strength, And Phosphorus Excretion In Broilers, Syrena Powell

LSU Master's Theses

This research was conducted to determine the effects of feeding different P levels with and without phytase supplementation on broiler growth performance, bone breaking strength (BBS), and P excretion. An experiment with 4 trials was conducted with 7,840 Ross x Ross straight run broilers. For each trial, 1,960 broilers were allotted on d 0 to 4 treatments with 7 replications per treatment with 70 broilers per replication. The broilers were fed a 4 period feeding program consisting of starter (0 to 14 d), grower (14 to 32 d), finisher (32 to 41 d), and withdrawal (41 to 50 d) periods. …

The Importance Of Size And Shape In Imprinted Polymers, Jason Campbell

LSU Master's Theses

The existence of shape selectivity in non-covalent molecularly imprinted polymers has been proven using molecular probes. A series of amines varying with different structural motifs and secondary amines with different sized side chains were imprinted, and binding evaluated by HPLC for each amine on polymers imprinted with similar amines. Trends in the binding relationships revealed two major contributions of cavity structure on selectivity afforded by molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). First, sterics play a dominant role in cases where a molecules structure is too big too fit into an imprinted site formed from a smaller template molecule. Second, molecular structures that …

Geologic Variability And Holocene Sedimentary Record On The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Inner To Mid-Continental Shelf, Triniti A. Dufrene

LSU Master's Theses

Sidescan Sonar, chirp sonar sub-bottom profiles, and grab samples were collected on the north-central Gulf of Mexico continental shelf as part of an interdisciplinary study mapping juvenile red snapper habitat. Demarcation of essential fish habitat for juvenile red snapper (Lutjanus campechansis) in the Gulf of Mexico is considered critical for effective management of this valuable species. The first goal of this study was to map and describe the geology of this region. The second goal was to attempt to relate variations in geology to juvenile red snapper abundance and distribution. Sidescan mosaics were created for ten polygons, ranging in size …

Sacred Trust: The Voluntary Removal And Reburial Of Human Remains From A Historic Cemetery In Louisiana, Christian Williamson

LSU Master's Theses

Members of the Randolph family, a prominent plantation family that has lived in Louisiana since the late eighteenth century, contacted a team of anthropologists from Louisiana State University to help recover thirteen individuals from St. Mary’s Cemetery in Bayou Goula, Louisiana. The cemetery had been abandoned since 1970, its graves overgrown with weeds and desecrated by vandals. Of the thirteen individuals recovered, three sets of remains did not have associated grave markers. These three were taken back to the lab and analyzed using standard forensic procedures. Documentary research on the history of the cemetery, the once associated church, and the …

Modification Of Ct Quality Assurance Phantom For Pet/Ct Alignment And Pet Resolution, Prashanth K. Nookala

LSU Master's Theses

Radiotherapy treatment planning utilizing PET and CT is rapidly gaining acceptance in oncology. A limiting factor of the dual modality is the PET/CT alignment. A small error in PET/CT alignment may result in giving large doses of radiation to healthy tissues as a result of poor treatment planning. For this purpose, regular quality assurance testing of PET/CT must be performed. Separate QA procedures and phantoms have been developed for the two different modalities. In particular, many existing phantoms cannot be used for both modalities, which is a requirement for evaluating PET/CT alignment. Our goal is to evaluate several existing phantom …

Neural Stem Cells As A Delivery Vector For Chemokine Expression In The Central Nervous System, Mark Winston Stalder

LSU Master's Theses

Increased expression of cytokines and chemokines in the central nervous system (CNS) is closely associated with the development of retroviral-induced neurological diseases such as HIV-associated dementia, as well as other neuropathologies such as Alzheimer’s Disease and Multiple Sclerosis. The specific functions of many of these pro-inflammatory factors have yet to be elucidated in the disease process, and it is unclear whether the nature of their effects is protective, pathogenic, or both. Additionally, current models of chemokine function have inherent limitations, with direct injection resulting in a brief response that doesn’t accurately represent the effects of chronic production, and transgenic mice …

Object Tracking Using Log-Polar Transformation, Saikiran Sri Thunuguntla

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis, we use log-polar transform to solve object tracking. Object tracking in video sequences is a fundamental problem in computer vision. Even though object tracking is being studied extensively, still some challenges need to be addressed, such as appearance variations, large scale and rotation variations, and occlusion. We implemented a novel tracking algorithm which works robustly in the presence of large scale changes, rotation, occlusion, illumination changes, perspective transformations and some appearance changes. Log-polar transformation is used to achieve robustness to scale and rotation. Our object tracking approach is based on template matching technique. Template matching is based …

Spotted Sea Trout (Cynoscion Nebulosus) And Pinfish (Lagodon Rhomboides) Dietary Analysis According To Habitat Type, Micah Russell

LSU Master's Theses

The diets of a transitory fish (spotted sea trout, Cynoscion nebulosus) and a fish with presumed greater site-fidelity (pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides) were analyzed with respect to habitat. Sampling occurred in Barataria Bay, Louisiana between May 2003 and May 2004. Spotted sea trout were caught using gillnets, and pinfish were caught using baited fish traps. Each gear was used on three habitats: mud bottom, oyster shell, and marsh edge. In addition, sampling for spotted sea trout was repeated at three locations along a salinity gradient. A total of 175 spotted sea trout stomachs and 137 pinfish stomachs were examined. Seventeen prey …

Mining Picmet: 1997-2005 Papers Help You Track Management Of Technology Developments, Alan L. Porter, Robert J. Watts, Timothy R. Anderson

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

PICMET is providing the abstracts from 1997 -- 2005 to enable you to "mine" the contents of these four conferences. This enables you to overview activity in the field of Management of Technology (MOT) and to identify specific research of interest.

Measuring The Changing Capabilities Of Computer Display Projectors Using Tfdea, Supachart Iamratanakul, Timothy R. Anderson, Lane Inman

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

This paper applies technological forecasting using data envelopment analysis (TFDEA) to computer display projector (CDP) technology. The objective is to analyze the technological change CDP products. The results indicate that the rate of technological change for CDP technology is accelerating, which is consistent with an understanding of the industry. A methodological issue of infeasibility is described and methods for dealing with it are presented. Future work may extend to examine over additional years and product releases.

Flexibility – Examining An Underappreciated Motivation For Outsourcing With An Optimization Model In A Small E-Product Manufacturer, Asser Fayed, Timothy R. Anderson, David Fenwick

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Technology outsourcing has recently become a politically sensitive issue with proponents emphasizing longterm economic growth opportunities, and opponents pointing out immediate job losses. The underlying reason for outsourcing is often assumed to be the availability of cheaper labor outside the USA but this overlooks the possibility that companies may simply be seeking greater labor flexibility outside of US state and federal labor laws. This paper quantitatively tests a software company’s motivation to secure a flexible and adaptable labor pool. Although production lines located at multiple sites provide great flexibility for scheduling and costs because each site has its own local …

Do Maps Guide The Way To Npd Success? Theoretical And Practical Aspects Of Knowledge Mapping In Product Development, Antonie J, Jetter

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

New product development success largely depends on the ability to combine newly acquired information on customer demands and technological options with knowledge that exists within the company. Project organization and high employee turnover, however, make it difficult to be informed about what knowledge is available within the company and to access it successfully. Knowledge maps, a popular concept in present knowledge management, offer a possible solution by ?guiding the way to knowledge?. Their purpose, structure and content varies greatly, as does their ability to capture different aspects of knowledge. This paper investigates the theoretical basis of different types of knowledge …

Methods For Correcting Topographically Induced Radiometric Distortion On Landsat Thematic Mapper Images For Land Cover Classification, David Michael Rosen

Geography Masters Research Papers

Satellite imagery is commonly used to study land-use, land-cover change in mountainous areas. Classification of land-cover types is particularly difficult in this type of terrain because topography affects the spectral response of surface features. Several techniques have been developed to help compensate for this topographic effect and to increase classification accuracy.

The purpose of this study is to compare topographic correction methods to determine which produces the most accurate results. Method 1 does not use any topographic correction, serving as a control. Method 2 is based on the Lambertian model, and uses topographical data as variables in an equation. Method …

Identification Of Recql1 As A Holliday Junction Processing Enzyme In Human Cell Lines, Gary Leroy, Robert Carroll, Saw Kyin, Masayuki Seki, Michael D. Cole

Dartmouth Scholarship

Homologous recombination provides an effective way to repair DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and is required for genetic recombination. During the process of homologous recombination, a heteroduplex DNA structure, or a ‘Holliday junction’ (HJ), is formed. The movement, or branch migration, of this junction is necessary for recombination to proceed correctly. In prokaryotes, the RecQ protein or the RuvA/RuvB protein complex can promote ATP-dependent branch migration of Holliday junctions. Much less is known about the processing of Holliday junctions in eukaryotes. Here, we identify RecQL1 as a predominant ATP-dependent, HJ branch migrator present in human nuclear extracts. A reduction in the …

Silencing Of Retrotransposons In Dictyostelium By Dna Methylation And Rnai, Markus Kuhlmann, Branimira E. Borisova, Markus Kaller, Pontus Larsson, Dirk Stach, Jianbo Na, Ludwig Eichinger, Frank Lyko, Victor Ambros, Fredrik Soderbom, Christian Hammann, Wolfgang Nellen

Dartmouth Scholarship

We have identified a DNA methyltransferase of the Dnmt2 family in Dictyostelium that was denominated DnmA. Expression of the dnmA gene is downregulated during the developmental cycle. Overall DNA methylation in Dictyostelium is ∼0.2% of the cytosine residues, which indicates its restriction to a limited set of genomic loci. Bisulfite sequencing of specific sites revealed that DnmA is responsible for methylation of mostly asymmetric C-residues in the retrotransposons DIRS-1 and Skipper. Disruption of the gene resulted in a loss of methylation and in increased transcription and mobilization of Skipper. Skipper transcription was also upregulated in strains that had genes encoding …

Spoonwood, Ernest Hebert

Dartmouth Scholarship

Ernest Hebert's series of novels set in Darby, New Hampshire, has been hailed by the Boston Globe as "one of the most interesting accomplishments of contemporary American fiction . . . [a series] into which the texture of class is as skillfully woven as it is in Faulkner's Yoknapatawpha County." After almost fifteen years, Hebert has returned to this rich literary landscape for a new novel of the changing economic and social character of New England. Hebert's previous Darby novel, Live Free or Die, recounted the ill-fated love between Freddie Elman, son of the town trash collector, and Lilith Salmon, …

Arsenite Regulates Cystic Fibrosis Transmem­Brane Conductance Regulator And P-Glycoprotein: Evidence Of Pathway Independence, Rangan Maitra, Joshua Hamilton

Dartmouth Scholarship

In the past, people have argued for and against the theory of reciprocal regulation of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) and P-glycoprotein (Pgp). Data have indicated that this may occur in vitro during drug-induced selection of cells, and in vivo during development. Much of this debate has been caused by a severe lack of mechanistic details involved in such regulation. Our past data indicate that certain Pgp modulators can affect CFTR expression and function. The goal of this study was to investigate the effects of trivalent arsenic (arsenite), a known transcriptional activator of Pgp, on CFTR expression. In …

Spectroscopy Of Kiss Emission-Line Galaxy Candidates. Iii. A Second Set Of Mdm Observations, Anna Jangren, Gary Wegner, John J. Salzer, Jessica K. Werk, Caryl Gronwall

Dartmouth Scholarship

Spectroscopic observations for 315 emission-line galaxy (ELG) candidates from the KPNO International Spectroscopic Survey (KISS) have been obtained using the MDM Observatory 2.4 m telescope on Kitt Peak. KISS is a wide-field objective-prism survey for extragalactic emission-line objects that has cataloged over 2200 ELG candidates to date. Spectroscopic follow-up observations are being carried out to study the characteristics of the survey objects. The observational data presented here include redshifts, reddening estimates, line equivalent widths, Hα line fluxes, and emission-line ratios. The galaxies have been classified based on their emission-line characteristics. The procedure for selecting the ELG candidates in KISS is …

Synthetic Studies In Phytochrome Chemistry, Peter A. Jacobi, Imad Odeh, Subhas Buddhu, Guolin Cai, Sundaramoorthi Rajeswari, Douglas Fry, Wanjun Zheng, Robert W. Desimone, Jiasheng Guo, Lisa D. Coutts, Sheila I. Hauck, Sam H. Leung, Indranath Ghosh, Douglas Pippin

Dartmouth Scholarship

An account is given of the author’s several approaches to the synthesis of the parent chromophore of phytochrome (1), a protein-bound linear tetrapyrrole derivative that controls photomorphogenesis in higher plants. These studies culminated in enantioselective syntheses of both (2R)- and (2S)-phytochromobilin (4), as well as several ¹³C-labeled derivatives designed to probe the site of Z,E-isomerization during photoexcitation. When reacted in vitro, synthetic 2R-4 and recombinant-derived phytochrome apoprotein N-C produced a protein-bound chromophore with identical difference spectra to naturally occurring 1.

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published 2-3 times a year. In this issue: Conscientious objectors housed in an Oregon camp during World War II tell their stories; students cast their votes for PSU’s best teachers; a special placed on campus to pay tribute to revered women; families of homicide victims pin hopes on new Portland Police unit; and more.

Learning To See Beyond The Self: Accelerating Pre-Service Teacher Development Through Collaboration, Ronald Breghetto, Alexa Parker

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

A culture of isolation pervades the practice and preparation of teachers. Consequently, the development of teachers can be delayed and result in a focus on self-concerns rather than promoting student learning. Teacher educators have a unique opportunity to address this problem by creating opportunities for meaningful collaboration amongst pre-service teachers, supervisors, and faculty. The purpose of this article is to describe our experiences with an on-going collaborative teacher development project aimed at helping pre-service teachers to see beyond their personal concerns and work collaboratively toward promoting their own, their colleagues, and their students' learning. The body of the article is …

E-Pals: Using E-Mail To Connect Pre-Service Teachers, Writing, And Rural Alaska Students, Lauren Mcclanahan

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

To a certain degree, every teacher is a teacher of reading and writing. No matter the content area, all teachers need to be skilled in the areas of reading and writing instruction, especially today in light of the wave of standards currently driving the curriculum in many states. The project detailed in this paper was used in a secondary education literacy course where only a handful of the students were going to go on to be English teachers. Throughout the academic quarter, the preservice teachers featured in this paper learned about a common language used among many practicing teachers in …

Working Effectively With And Increasing The In-School Participation Of Parents Whose Cultural And Linguistic Backgrounds Differ From Those Of The Teachers, Steven W. Nourse, Terri Anderson, Thuon Chhay, Vanessa Karlsson, Shawna Moore, Stephen Stewart

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Working effectively with parents in the school setting is always a challenge. When the cultural and linguistic backgrounds of teachers and parents differ, the challenge becomes more complex. Washington and the nation as a whole are becoming more ethnically and linguistically diverse. Over 90 percent of recent immigrants come from non-English speaking countries, and many of these immigrants arrive with little or no formal education. Minority groups also have higher birth rates, and many native-born ethnic group members do not speak English in the home. These immigration and birth patterns are contributing to the increase in the linguistic diversity of …