Digital Commons Network^™

Politics And Science: Reproductive Health, Representative Henry A. Waxman U.S. Congress

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

No abstract provided.

Surrounding Embryos: Biology, Ideology, And Politics, Janet L. Dolgin

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

No abstract provided.

Cultural Priorities Revealed: The Development And Regulation Of Assisted Reproduction In The United States And Israel, Ellen Waldman

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

No abstract provided.

Cock-A-Doodle-Doo: Pandemic Avian Influenza And The Legal Preparation And Consequences Of An H5n1 Influenza Outbreak, N. Pieter M. O'Leary

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between City Typology, Interactivity And Advertising Message Strategies Of American Municipal Web Sites, Jeremy John Starr

LSU Master's Theses

This study became to first to scientifically explore the relationship between city typology and the use of advertising message strategy and interactivity within municipal web sites. The study used Taylor’s six-segment strategy wheel to analyze message strategies and previous scales of interactivity to analyze structural interactivity. Medium-size cities and cities within the South and West geographic regions more likely used sensory strategies within their web sites. Cities with racially diverse populations more likely used sensory strategies within their web sites as well. Large cities and central cities, both with large populations, used the most interactive strategies within their sites compared …

Krepa4, An Rna Binding Protein Essential For Editosome Integrity And Survival Of Trypanosoma Brucei, Rezaq Salavati, Nancy Lewis Ernst, Jeffrey O'Rear, Troy Gilliam, Salvador Tarun Jr., Kenneth Stuart, K.

Biology

The 20S editosome, a multiprotein complex, catalyzes the editing of most mitochondrial mRNAs in trypanosomatids by uridylate insertion and deletion. RNAi mediated inactivation of expression of KREPA4 (previously TbMP24), a component of the 20S editosome, in procyclic form Trypanosoma brucei resulted in inhibition of cell growth, loss of RNA editing, and disappearance of 20S editosomes. Levels of MRP1 and REAP-1 proteins, which may have roles in editing but are not editosome components, were unaffected. Tagged KREPA4 protein is incorporated into 20S editosomes in vivo with no preference for either insertion or deletion subcomplexes. Consistent with its S1-like motif, recombinant KREPA4 …

Report Of William & Mary Marshall-Wythe School Of Law 2005-2006, William & Mary Law School

Annual Report

No abstract provided.

Development Of An Inexpensive Guidance System For Agricultural Purposes, Goutam Jagannadha Nistala

LSU Master's Theses

Robotics is a rapidly growing technology and robots have pervaded into most of the industries. Robotics and automation are designed to remove the human factor from the labor intensive and monotonous work and thereby decrease the associated costs. The application of robotics to agriculture is fairly recent. Robotic applications in agriculture vary from autonomous row-guidance tractors to fruit picking robots. Similarly, soil testing and soil sampling is one area in agriculture where automation of tasks and the employment of an autonomous robot would be of great use to consultants and farmers employing site specific farming techniques. Soil testing is an …

Using Web Sites To Achieve Organizational Goals: Are Nonprofits Doing It Right?, Alisha Nicole Tillery

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines how and to what extent nonprofit organizations are using their Web sites to fulfill their organizational goals and missions through volunteerism and fundraising. Through in-depth interviews of communication/public relations managers and executive directors at nonprofit organizations new information reveals factors that negatively affect nonprofits organizations’ growth in Web site development and technology, as well as those factors that push nonprofits to break the digital divide. Four nonprofit organizations that provide youth services in Memphis, Tennessee were selected.

Erosion Control Products From Sugarcane Bagasse, Irina Dinu

LSU Master's Theses

The erosion control industry uses different types of geosynthetics in order to mitigate the negative impact that erosion has on the environment. One of the most rapidly growing segments within this industry is the natural mats and blankets market. With new environmental regulations and enforcement, the demand for these natural products has considerably increased because of their biodegradability, good moisture retention, low cost and environmentally friendly image. The goal of this present work was to develop a continuous manufacturing process for sugarcane bagasse mats, which could be implemented in the local sugar mills and could provide an economic benefit to …

Are Enzymes Accurate Indicators Of Postmortem Interval?: A Biochemical Analysis, Karly Laine Buras

LSU Master's Theses

There are numerous ways to estimate postmortem interval (PMI), or time since death, including body temperature, rigor mortis, insect activity, and decomposition. Individually, many of these indicators are prone to inaccuracy due to the influence of the external environment upon them. This study proposed that in addition to or in conjunction with these and other indicators, certain enzymes could be used to accurately determine PMI, namely aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), creatine kinase (CK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). In this project, 18 rats were studied postmortem to determine how ethanol consumption and different environments affect decomposition and enzyme activity. …

Effect Of Vaccination Of Goats With H-Gal-Gp And H11 Antigens From Intestinal Membrane Cells Of Haemonchus Contortus, Donya Dupree Olcott

LSU Master's Theses

Extracts of adult Haemonchus contortus were purified and used as a vaccine against the blood feeding parasite in goats as previously studied in sheep. The proteins used were H11 and H-gal-GP, hidden gut antigens from the microvillar membrane of the gut of the worm and combined with Quil A as adjuvant, then administered to a group of goats kept on concrete then artificially infected with H. contortus. The control group received Quil A injections and also infected. This study was performed to analyze the effects of the H11/H-gal-GP vaccine when given to goats as compared to sheep. The trial showed …

Agrobacterium Tumefaciens-Mediated Transformation Of Tobacco (Nicotiana Tabacum L.) Leaf Disks: Evaluation Of The Co-Cultivation Conditions To Increase Beta-Glucuronidase Gene Activity, Sunjung Park

LSU Master's Theses

Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation is generally used for genetic transformation of higher plants. Several experimental factors important for the increase of beta-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene activity were evaluated in this study using leaf disks of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Xanthi). We found that co-cultivation temperature at 20C is the most critical factor to obtain the reproducible enhancement of GUS activity. pCAMBIA 1305.01 resulted in higher GUS activity than the other two pCAMBIA vectors 1301 and 1305.02. The highest GUS activity and transformation efficiency were achieved under the following experimental conditions: Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain LBA4404 containing pCAMBIA1305.01 was grown overnight at …

Anoxia Tolerance, Anaerobic Metabolism, And The Lack Of A Mitochondrial Permeability Transition In The Ghost Shrimp, Lepidophthalmus Louisianensis, Schmitt, 1935, Jeremy Dale Holman

LSU Master's Theses

The ghost shrimp, Lepidophthalmus louisianensis, burrows up to meters deep in oxygen-limited marine sediments along the Gulf coast. During low tides these animals are subjected to extended periods of anoxia. The main objective of this study was to assess survival under anoxia and evaluate the physiological mechanisms that underlie the anoxia tolerance of this species. I observed large specimens of L. louisianensis (>2g) having an LT₅₀ of 64 h under anoxia at 25º C. Smaller specimens (<1g) have a significantly higher LT₅₀ of 113 h under identical conditions (P<0.0001). I measured whole body lactate levels in shrimp exposed to anoxia for up to 72 h, and recorded significant accumulation of this anaerobic end product (ANOVA, P<0.001). I also measured adenylates and arginine phosphate in shrimp exposed to anoxia for up to 48 h, and after a 24-h recovery period. Adenylates were not significantly altered during the anoxia regime, and reductions in arginine phosphate occurred after 12 and 24 h, but returned to normoxic values during recovery (ANOVA, P<0.001). While reserves of arginine phosphate are used to some extent to buffer losses in ATP, substantial contribution to the maintenance of energetic status comes from the high rate of anaerobic glycolysis. Energized mitochondria isolated from ghost shrimp hepatopancreas possess a pronounced ability to take up exogenous Ca²⁺ (compared to mitochondria-free controls) as measured by following the external free Ca …

Comparing Bermudagrass And Bahiagrass Cultivars At Different Stages Of Harvest For Dry Matter Yield And Nutrient Content, Ryan Thomas Dore'

LSU Master's Theses

Rapid growth of warm-season grasses such as bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) is associated with a decline in their nutritional value. This study was initiated to provide production and composition data with different cultivars of bermudagrass (common, Russell, Jiggs) and bahiagrass (Tifton-9, Pensacola, Argentina). Dry matter (DM), ash, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF) composition and production were evaluated every two weeks for a ten-week period on six different cultivars. Also, Russell bermudagrass was evaluated in a second trial very similar to the first trial for composition and production but was started …

Assessing The Potential Impact Of Microbes In The Edwards And Trinity Aquifers Of Central Texas, Kelli Willson Randall

LSU Master's Theses

The Edwards Aquifer in central Texas is one of the largest carbonate aquifers in the United States, supplying nearly two million people with water. The role of microorganisms in the development of deep carbonate aquifers has not been thoroughly investigated. The Edwards Aquifer is composed of a freshwater zone and a sulfidic, saline water zone. Down-well video surveys show an abundance of white filamentous and planktonic biomass floating in the water column, indicating that the saline water may serve as a habitat for microbes and provide a unique opportunity to investigate microbially enhanced deep subsurface karstification. A combination of geochemical …

Hamdan V. Rumseld: The Legal Academy Goes To Practice, Neal K. Katyal

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Hamdan v. Rumsfeld is a rare Supreme Court rebuke to the President during armed conflict. The time is not yet right to tell all of the backstory of the case, but it is possible to offer some preliminary reflections on how the case was litigated, the decision, and its implications for the oft-noticed divide between legal theory and practice.

In a widely cited article, Judge Harry Edwards lamented "the growing disjunction between legal education and the legal profession," claiming that "many law schools. .. have abandoned their proper place, by emphasizing abstract theory at the expense of practical scholarship and …

Characterizing Salmonella Fecal Shedding Among Racehorses In Louisiana, Anna Marie Chapman

LSU Master's Theses

Salmonella is an important intestinal pathogen in horses capable of infecting populations without demonstrating clinical illness. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of Salmonella fecal shedding among racehorses in Louisiana. Three serial fecal samples were collected from 429 Thoroughbred horses housed at four racetracks. Feces were tested for Salmonella by microbiologic culture with selective primary enrichment and delayed secondary enrichment (DSE). Samples were also evaluated for the presence of Salmonella by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using genus-specific oligonucleotide primers. A total of 7 (1.6%) horses were positive for Salmonella by either primary bacterial culture or DSE and an …

The Ability Of Food Stamp Households In Southeast Louisiana To Meet The 2005 Dietary Guidelines For Americans, Laura Stewart

LSU Master's Theses

Prices of a market basket of 149 foods that could be combined to meet the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) were surveyed in 29 stores in an eight parish area of Southeast (SE) Louisiana. Two-week cycle menus and recipes were planned to meet the 2005 DGA in a culturally acceptable way. Linear Programming (LP) analysis was also performed on the market basket to determine the cost-minimizing combination of foods that will sufficiently meet the 2005 DGA. The study used dietary recommendations for a reference family of four: a 40 year old male, 40 year old female, 9 year old …

Instantaneously Trained Neural Networks With Complex And Quaternion Inputs, Adityan V. Rishiyur

LSU Master's Theses

Neural network architectures such as backpropagation networks, perceptrons or generalized Hopfield networks can handle complex inputs but they require a large amount of time and resources for the training process. This thesis investigates instantaneously trained feedforward neural networks that can handle complex and quaternion inputs. The performance of the basic algorithm has been analyzed and shown how it provides a plausible model of human perception and understanding of images. The motivation for studying quaternion inputs is their use in representing spatial rotations that find applications in computer graphics, robotics, global navigation, computer vision and the spatial orientation of instruments. The …

Enhanced Degradation Of Phenanthrene And Benzo(A)Pyrene In A Field-Contaminated Sediment Inhabited By Ilyodrilus Templetoni: A Microcosm Study, Marilou Montevirgen Nabatilan

LSU Master's Theses

The influence of the oligochaete Ilyodrilus templetoni on the degradation of phenanthrene and benzo(a)pyrene present in a field-contaminated sediment was studied in microcosm experiments. Results indicate an enhanced degradation of phenanthrene and benzo(a)pyrene in microcosms inhabited by I. templetoni. Total phenanthrene reduction was observed at an average of 9.78 % in worm microcosms, while no reduction was observed in the control microcosms. Benzo(a)pyrene reduction, on the other hand, was determined at 78.60 % and 30.04 % in worm and control microcosms, respectively. The lowest concentrations of these PAHs at the end of 97-day study were observed well below the surface …

Language Classification And Manipulation In Romania And Moldova, Chase Faucheux

LSU Master's Theses

Linguistic classification is a scientific methodology for categorizing the languages of the world. However, the tools and methods of linguistic classification have been used to various degrees by political entities to further nationalistic agendas. This thesis assesses the role of linguistic classification in nationality and politics, and addresses the disjunct between true linguistic classification, based on genealogical, areal, and typological features, and language designation, based on political and nationalistic motives. This thesis uses the Romanian language as a vehicle for illustrating both linguistic classification methods as well as how these methods have been manipulated for non-linguistic reasons both internally by …

Modeling Fabrication And Characterization Of A Bio-Micro Thermoelectric Device For Highly Localized Temperature Control, Aparna Prabhakar

LSU Master's Theses

There is an ever expanding interaction between the fields of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and biology to develop devices to monitor, control and act on living systems. Particularly in the field of cryobiology, there is a need to monitor and control temperature at the cellular level. An important step towards achieving this aim is to fabricate an array of microscale thermoelectric actuators. As a first step for towards achieving such localized control of temperatures in cells and tissues, an array of individually addressable micro-thermoelectric coolers (µTECs) were modeled, characterized, and fabricated. Prefabrication experimentation and modeling were carried out to understand the …

Laboratory And Field Measurements Of Bioturbation By Macrofauna In A Coastal Setting, Skyler Neylon

LSU Master's Theses

Two ophiuroid species, Hemipholis elongata and Ophiophragmus spp. were studied in laboratory microcosms to elucidate patterns of sediment mixing for key bioturbators in the Mississippi Sound, Mississippi. The effects of bioturbation on artificially stratified sediments in microcosms were traced via time-series digital x-radiography. Preliminary results indicate that for three population densities of the brittle stars (comparable to field densities), a steady state volumetric bioturbation rate of 1-2 cm3/d is reached within two months of introduction to a fresh system. The preservation quotient, q, a fractional measure of preserved primary fabric, reached a minimum of 0.5 during the 16-week experiment. Maximum …

Whaddya Want? It's Coney Island!: Tourism, Play And Memory In The Illegible City, Elizabeth Healy Matassa

LSU Master's Theses

In the post-industrial American city, the question of what urban space means seems far less important then how it is lived through the dynamic struggles of city dwellers to claim these spaces as their own. These struggles to define urban space are not always overtly political and thus must be examined through the more everyday, sometimes unconscious practices of city dwellers. This thesis attempts to valorize the emotional work of cities through an ethnographic study of Coney Island, Brooklyn. Coney Island is examined first as an urban space which allows tourists to move beyond traditional practices of visual consumption, then …

A Comparative Analysis Of Hurricane Evacuation Traffic Conditions Using Static And Dynamic Traffic Assignments, Santosh Kumar Andem

LSU Master's Theses

This study compares link flows of evacuation traffic using Static Traffic Assignment (STA) with those obtained from Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) and observed traffic counts. The analysis is conducted on a sample of households from South Carolina who evacuated in the face of hurricane Floyd in 1999. The results indicate that traditional static models have the potential to significantly underestimate congestion levels in the network, and DTA models account for nonuniform demand and traffic dynamics in hurricane evacuation much more realistically. From observed traffic counts, traffic volumes vary considerably during an evacuation and the DTA flow estimates generally reproduced these …

Biopolitics Or The Legislation Of Life: A Foucauldian Analysis, Marina Basu

LSU Master's Theses

Michel Foucault uses the term biopolitics to highlight the focus on life that is at the center of contemporary politics. Biopower or biopolitics is the maximization of life through various regulatory apparatuses that monitor, modify, and control life processes. I elucidate and exemplify Foucault's framework in order to show how the medical discourse exercises a certain kind of power over bodies in the name of health. My argument is that through the mechanisms of biopower, the juridico-medical discourse simultaneously makes pregnancy into an object of study and the pregnant woman into a subject of power. With the help of a …

Are You Ready For Some ... Sex, Violence, And Gender Stereotypes?: A Content Analysis Of Monday Night Football Commercials And Programming Promotions, Joel D. Massey

LSU Master's Theses

This study examined the content of 200 commercials from the 2004 season of Monday Night Football documenting sexual content, violence, and gender role stereotypes. The data revealed that despite the fact that men appeared twice as often as women, women were more likely to be stereotyped than men. About one quarter of the commercials contained sexual content and about one-fifth contained violence. Beer ads were more sexual than other ads but were not significantly more violent than other ads. There was no clear pattern of variance in the amount of sexual and violent commercials across quarters. Programming commercials were far …

Comparison Of Food Security Status, Nutrient Intakes, Body Mass Index, And Multiple Diseases Among Self-Reported Depressed And Non-Depressed Female Food Stamp Recipients In Southeast Louisiana, Yifang Bai

LSU Master's Theses

The objectives of this study were to explore the relationships among depression and food security status, dietary nutrient intakes, sociodemographic characteristics, body mass index (BMI), and the presence of chronic diseases in a female food stamp recipient population (n = 66) in Southeast Louisiana. Women were dichotomized by stated depression and descriptive statistics on socioeconomic characteristics and mean nutrient intakes were presented for each group. Logistic regression models were used to determine the relationship of stated depression with food security status, selected sociodemographic characteristics, nutrient intakes, body mass index, and the number of chronic diseases reported. The percentage of women …

Estradiol Interactions With Dopamine Antagonists In Mares: Prolactin Secretion And Reproductive Traits, Kristian Kandis Kelley

LSU Master's Theses

Two experiments studied the effects of pretreatment with estradiol benzoate before treatment with a dopamine antagonist on prolactin secretion and reproductive traits in mares during 1) the seasonal anovulatory period and 2) the normal breeding season. Experiment 1 was performed in winter with 17 mares selected for low follicular activity. Nine mares received estradiol benzoate injections every other day for a total of 10 injections; 8 mares received similar injections of vehicle. Ten days after onset of injections, all mares were placed on a daily injections of sulpiride (250 mg) for 45 d or until ovulation. Plasma prolactin concentrations were …