Digital Commons Network^™

"Nos Frères D'Outre-Golfe": Spiritualism, Vodou And The Mimetic Literatures Of Haiti And Louisiana, Jean-Marc Allard Duplantier

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The nineteenth-century Francophone literatures of Haiti and Louisiana are often dismissed as pale imitations of literary trends in metropolitan France. This study revisits these literatures and explores how Creole writers used borrowed ideas and imitated styles to assemble "relational" Creole identities. Two interrelated spiritual practices-the mid-century craze for "table turning" commonly known as modern Spiritualism, and the syncretistic New World religion Vodou-structured these writers' mimetic methods, enabling them to speak as, and thereby subvert the hegemony of, their cultural forebears. In France, the mid-century interest in Spiritualism provided French fantastic literature with a useful system for producing the many "revenants" …

Efficacy Of Nutrition Education Lessons Targeting A Group Of Low-Income Elderly, Gabriela M. Viteri

LSU Master's Theses

Nutrition education has the potential not only to increase nutrition knowledge and, potentially, healthy behaviors, among the elderly, but also to reduce the need for health and social services. The nutrition component described herein is part of an overall wellness program that focuses on increasing physical activity and healthy dietary behaviors among participants. We completed a four month nutrition intervention in a group of 33 low income elderly at the Leo Butler Center (LBC) (n=20) and Catholic Presbyterian Apartments (CPA) (n=13) in the fall of 2005 in Baton Rouge, LA. The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) was used as the theoretical …

Bringing Families In: Recommendations Of The Incarceration, Reentry And Family Roundtables, Ann Cammett, Johnna Christian, Nancy Fisherman, Lori Scott-Pickens

Scholarly Works

Building on the findings of the New Jersey Reentry Roundtable and a growing concern around the state about how to improve outcomes for the more than 70,000 individuals expected to return home from prison over the next five years, the roundtable examined the complex role that families – broadly defined – play in the lives of prisoners during incarceration and after their release. This document presents a set of recommendations emerging directly from roundtable sessions and provides a road map for individual and collaborative efforts accepted by a range of key players in New Jersey, including government officials, community and …

Using Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis To Predict Black Male Persistence At A Predominately White Institution: An Approach Investigating The Relationship Between Student Engagement And Presistence, Dewayne K. Bowie

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the impact of student engagement on persistence decisions of Black males attending a predominately White public institution in the South. The phenomenon of Black male student persistence at predominately White public institutions is multifaceted and complex. Many Black males enter predominately White campuses lacking the requisite background and experiences deemed necessary and important to student success and persistence. The role of improving persistence is shared by many with much responsibility placed on the students and the institution. Upon entering a predominately White campus there are several institutional factors identified in research that play a critical role in …

Uv-Liga Micro-Fabrication Of Inertia Type Electrostatic Transducers And Their Application, Seok Jae Jeong

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation discusses the design, working principles, static & dynamic analysis and simulation, mechanics of material, applied MEMS technology, micro-fabrication, and experimental testing of two types of micro-transducers: micro-power relay and micro-accelerometer. Several possible design concepts were proposed, and the advantages and disadvantages of electrostatic working principles were also discussed. Transducers presented in this research used electrostatic force as a driving force in the micro-relay and capacitance as a sensing parameter in the micro-accelerometer. There was an analogy between the micro-relay and the micro-accelerometer in their theoretical approach and fabrication processes. The proposed micro-transducers (micro-relay and micro-accelerometer) were fabricated using …

Exploring The Hot-Carrier Effect On The Wireless Transceivers, Sameer R. Herlekar

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Phase noise can be regarded as the most severe cause of performance degradation in the wireless communication systems. The hot-carriers (HCs), found in the CMOS synchronization circuits, are the high-energy charge carriers that degrade the MOSFET devices’ performance by increasing the threshold voltage required to operate the MOSFETs. The HC effect manifests itself as the phase noise whose level increases with the continued MOSFET operation and such increases result in the performance degradation of the voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) built on the MOSFETs. The HC effect is particularly evident in the short-channel MOSFET devices. In this dissertation, we analyze the wireless …

Performing Citizenship: Tensions In The Creation Of The Citizen Image On Stage And Screen, John William Wright

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

What does it mean to be a “citizen” of the United States? In the simplest of terms, citizenship is a limited position of identity, relegated to a narrow definition of legal and geographical position for an individual. But to be a “citizen” in America means far more than that – it becomes an accepted image of our collective identity which seeks an historical and political supremacy that allows America, and its citizens, to claim ideological status over anyone who is not a part of that nationalistic frame. The citizen has, for us, become a set of understood rights and privileges, …

Em Algorithm For Multiple Wideband Source Localization, Kiran Kumar Mada

LSU Master's Theses

A computationally efficient algorithm using the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm for multiple wideband source localization in the near field of a sensor array/area is addressed in this thesis. Our idea is to decompose the observed sensor data, which is a superimposition of multiple sources, into the individual components in the frequency domain and then estimate the corresponding location parameters associated with each component separately. Instead of the conventional alternating projection (AP) method, we propose to adopt the EM algorithm in this work; our new method involves two steps, namely Expectation (E-step) and Maximization (M-step). In the E-step, the individual incident source …

Factors Which Influence Client Satisfaction With The Services Of Community Development Corporations, Shanta Harrison-Proctor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine factors which influence client satisfaction with the services of community development corporations (CDCs) in metropolitan regions of Louisiana. The CDCs were evaluated based on five specific criteria: housing, social services, workforce development, educational enrichment, and community outreach. The objectives addressed were: description of clients, levels of client satisfaction, and relationships between satisfaction and selected demographic characteristics. The instrument used in this study was a researcher-designed survey questionnaire used to collect client information. It was comprised of two sections – demographics and client satisfaction. The target population for this study was adult …

Effects Of Fire On Habitat Associations, Abundance, And Survival Of Wintering Henslow's Sparrows (Ammodramus Henslowii) In Southeastern Louisiana Longleaf Pine Savannas, Erik Ivan Johnson

LSU Master's Theses

The Henslow’s Sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) is the fastest declining short-distance migrant and fastest declining grassland bird in North America. Declines in longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) savannas, its primary wintering habitat, have exceeded 97%. Other than basic habitat requirements, very little is known about its wintering ecology. I examined habitat associations of wintering Henslow’s Sparrows resulting from fire in longleaf pine savannas in southeastern Louisiana during two winters. Because it is important to understand the relative importance of habitat parameters, which include structure, species composition, and food availability, I measured these to determine their relative importance to Henslow’s Sparrow densities. I …

Civic Journalism And Community Newspapers: Opportunities For Social And Civic Connections, Amy Burroughs

LSU Master's Theses

This study sought to fill in a gap in civic journalism research by considering its implications for community newspapers, those small, locally oriented publications that serve rural and suburban communities throughout the country. In particular, this study posed the argument that such newspapers may have advantages in pursuing civic journalism, and that these approaches may especially benefit newspapers in high-growth communities. This study relied heavily on the language of theorists who describe journalism as a public conversation, the quality of which - its usefulness for readers as citizens and members of a community - the press can either help or …

The Beleaguered Gatekeeper: Protection Challenges Posed By Unhcr Refugee Status Determination, Michael Kagan

Scholarly Works

The number of individual Refugee Status Determination (RSD) applications received by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) offices worldwide nearly doubled from 1997 to 2001, while UNHCR’s RSD operations have been criticized for failing to implement basic standards of procedural fairness. Yet, although there is some literature critiquing how UNHCR determines refugee status, there is little literature examining whether UNHCR should do so, and if it should, when, where, and under what conditions.

UNHCR performance of RSD poses protection challenges because it is founded on a basic contradiction. On the one hand, government action is essential for effective refugee …

Gamete And Cell Technologies For Use In Biological Resource Banking, Liesl Nel-Themaat

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Biological resource banking is becoming important for endangered species conservation. A series of experiments were conducted to address issues concerning collection and utilization of biomaterials from Gulf Coast Native (GCN) sheep (model species) (Ovis aries) and Eland antelope (Taurotragus oryx). In the first experiment, two ejaculates were collected 10 minutes apart from each of five rams three times a week for three weeks to maximize output and minimize handling time. Semen volume, concentration and total number of spermatozoa were significantly greater in first ejaculates, whereas pre-cooled, cooled and post-thaw motility, as well as sperm survival, were greater in second ejaculates. …

Grammatical Morphology Of Children Reared In Poverty: Implications For Specific Language Impairment, Sonja L. Pruitt

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the current study, the past tense systems of children reared in poverty were examined. Guiding the study was Rice and Wexler’s (1996) Extended Optional Infinitive (EOI) account, which makes a number of predictions about the past tense systems of children with specific language impairment (SLI). The goal of the current study was to determine if these predictions apply to other children with weak language systems, such as those reared in poverty. The participants included 15 six-year-olds from low-income backgrounds (LSES), 15 age-matched peers from middle-income backgrounds (AM), and 15 language-matched peers from middle-income backgrounds (LM). All were African American …

An Analysis Of The President-Press Relationship In Solo And Joint Press Conferences In The First Term Of President George W. Bush, Susan Billingsley

LSU Master's Theses

A comparative analysis of presidential press conferences was conducted to determine whether the previously established adversarial relationship between the United States president and the American press was alleviated to some degree by the presence of a foreign dignitary. The study applied a system for quantifying adversarial behaviors exhibited by the press to questions asked of President George W. Bush in solo conferences and where he was joined by another head-of-state in joint press conference sessions. Questions from selected conferences during his first term were coded according to four indicators of adversarialness: initiative, directness, assertiveness and adversarialness. Results showed that the …

A Historical Examination Of The Tradition Of Experience In The Teaching Of Literature In English Education, Deborah Davis Reed

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

By examining major documents for tensions regarding the teaching of literature in the field of secondary English education, this dissertation addressed the following questions: (1) What assumptions about learning and knowledge helped to shape the field? (2) To what extent does the field demonstrate consistency or change in its discourse defined-positions? and (3) How might current conversations in the field fit within a larger historical, social, and political context, thus equipping English educators to better articulate and situate their own pedagogical beliefs? Stephen Toulmin’s (1958) model of an argument served as a means of analyzing the field’s ongoing conversation about …

The Impact Of Open Source On Preinvention Assignment Contracts, Michael Mattioli

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This comment studies the implications of open source on pre-invention assignment agreements. Part I analyzes the basis for past enforcement of these contracts, with an eye toward distinctions between open source projects and more traditional commercial endeavors. Part II briefly reviews the history of patents and explores constitutional and contract-based arguments against the pre-invention assignment. Part III begins with a discussion of open source and then explores how this new phenomenon perfectly fulfills the goals behind the Patent Act. With these addressed, the central inquiry of pre-invention assignment agreements, as they could conflict with open source inventions, will be addressed. …

A Probabilistic Approach For Modeling And Real-Time Filtering Of Freeway Detector Data, Shourie Kondagari

LSU Master's Theses

Traffic surveillance systems are a key component for providing information on traffic conditions and supporting traffic management functions. A large amount of data is currently collected from inductive loop detector systems in the form of three macroscopic traffic parameters (speed, volume and occupancy). Such information is vital to the successful implementation of transportation data warehouses and decision support systems. The quality of data is, however, affected by erroneous observations that result from malfunctioning or mis-calibration of detectors. The open literature shows that little effort has been made to establish procedures for screening traffic observations in real-time. This study presents a …

Influence Of Surface Chemistry On The Aggregation Of Beta Amyloid Peptide, Mariah Joan Wooldridge Mcmasters

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurological ailment affecting 4.5 million aging Americans. The disease is characterized by the presence in the brain of self-assembled fibrils consisting of beta amyloid protein (Aβ). Soluble Aβ protein is present in normal human cerebrospinal fluid, but it is unclear what makes the protein aggregate into insoluble plaques. There is evidence that the Aβ fibril assembly is affected by interactions with biological surfaces, such as neuronal membranes. Here, surfaces consisting of self-assembled alkanethiol monolayers with different end groups were used to test the effect of surface chemistry on the structure and morphology of aggregates formed …

Media Use, Linguistic Preference And Social Capital In The Hispanic Community, Misti Mcdaniel

LSU Master's Theses

While considerable research had been devoted to the study of social capital, limited information is available assessing the connection between linguistic preference and social capital among ethnic groups. Research indicated the American Latino community exhibits levels of social capital similar to the greater United States populous. Latinos who preferred English-language media, however, exhibited higher levels of social capital than those who used Spanish-language media. Finally, Latinos who held a linguistic preference for English held higher levels of social capital than individuals who preferred Spanish.

The Body Politic: Splitting Gender Medically In Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia, Sarah Sally Carraher

LSU Master's Theses

Before the rise of clinical medicine, Western medicine was undergoing several prerequisite shifts in epistemology and methodology - moving from an eighteenth-century practice of spaces and classes, wherein the symptom is synonymous with the disease, toward a nineteenth-century science of signs and cases, in which symptoms are symbols, or products, of a deeper disease (Foucault 1973). During the former age of classes, about mid-century, a particular shift in the medical perception of sex differences appears in the literature, without any great advances or revisions in human anatomical knowledge or treatment methods. This thesis looks at hospitalization of in-patients at Pennsylvania …

Separation Anxieties: Representations Of Separatist Communities In Late Twentieth Century Fiction And Film, Brett Alan Riley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the late 20th century and beyond, American social movements advocating equality have increased national attention to issues of exclusion, inclusion, and multiculturalism within communities. As a result, studying the nature of communities—how the term "community" might be defined, who belongs to a given group or social structure, who does not belong, and why—has become increasingly important. American artists have responded by exploring these sites of social, political, and personal change in their works. Separation Anxieties: Representations of Separatist Communities in Late Twentieth Century Fiction and Film analyzes seven fictional works in which some group is philosophically and/or geographically isolated—sometimes …

Entering The Academy: Exploring The Socialization Experiences Of African American Male, Dorian L. Mccoy

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the socialization experiences of African American male faculty at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and predominately White institutions (PWIs). Rosch and Reich’s Enculturation Model was used as the theoretical framework. To gain a better understanding of the socialization experiences of African American male faculty, a group that has traditionally been underrepresented and marginalized in academia, Critical Race Theory (CRT) was incorporated into the study. More specifically, counter-storytelling, a basic tenet of CRT, was used to learn the stories that African American male faculty tell about their socialization experiences. A mixed methodology research design was utilized. Interviews …

An Introduction To The Music Of Tania León And A Conductor's Analysis Of Indígena, James Spinazzola

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to provide an introduction to the living American composer, Tania Leon, and a detailed analysis of Indigena, her work for large chamber ensemble. Chapter One includes Leon’s biographical information, focusing on her cultural heritage and her dual careers as a composer and conductor. Chapter Two details her compositional style, illustrated by examples from selected works. Subsections focus on her compositional practices with regard to rhythm, melody, harmony, texture, and form, as well as the prevalence of jazz and Latin American influences in her work. Chapter Three analyzes Indígena from a theoretical perspective and makes …

Learner-Centered E-Learning: An Exploration Of Learner-Centered Practices In Online And Traditional Instruction In Higher Education, Helen Bourgeois Ware

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the perceptions of students and instructors in regard to learner-centered pedagogy and web-based learning at a regional public university in a southern state. The study focused on recommendations for online learning, studies of learner-centered pedagogy, and online learning practices such as collaboration, problem-based learning, reflection, asynchronous communication, and authentic learning and assessment. The research examined the students’ perceptions of learner-centered practices in online and traditional courses of the same instructors throughout one semester. The students’ perceptions were compared with the instructors’ perceptions of learner-centered practices in the courses. The qualitative investigation examined each instructor’s pedagogical beliefs about …

The Meaning Of Masculinity For Male Baccalaureate Nursing Program Graduates, Kenneth Tillman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Previous researchers have reported that societal definitions of masculinity may act as a barrier to men entering the nursing profession, and that men who do enter nursing may hold a different view of masculinity. The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of masculinity for recent male baccalaureate nursing program graduates. In addition, the study explored how the participants’ perceived meaning of masculinity shaped or influenced their nursing education experiences, and in turn how their nursing education experiences may have shaped or influenced their perceived meaning of masculinity. A phenomenological research design was used to study eight male …

Genetically Modified Ifn-Alpha For Gene Therapy Treatment Of Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Ryan Craig

LSU Master's Theses

In the last twenty years, interferon-α (IFN-α) has gained success as an immunotherapy for treating such cancers as hairy cell leukemia, malignant melanoma, and renal cell cancer. Our goal was to improve the effectiveness of IFN-α therapy by genetically modified the IFN-α gene to encode a tumor-targeting peptide fused to a functional IFN-α protein. To ensure the targeting peptide worked, a genetically modified reporter gene encoding a secreted alkaline phosphatase (SEAP) gene and different mini-peptides were used to determine distribution and targeting ability. The DNA fragment encoding the most effective peptide was selected to modify the IFN-α gene construct for …

The Effects Of Mini-Conferencing Prior To Iep Meetings On Parental Involvement In The Iep Process, Beth Ashby Jones

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study sought to extend the literature on parent participation in the Individual Education Plan (IEP) process by implementing an intervention aimed at fostering parent participation in IEP meetings and comparing its results to those obtained using one school district’s standard IEP meeting procedures. This study also sought to determine the effects of SES and disability on parent participation in IEP meetings. Specifically, a mini-conference between parent(s) and special education teachers prior to the IEP meeting informed parents of their child’s competencies and allowed for collaboration on a proposed IEP. A control group of parents was exposed to routine procedures …

Datum Is Only Skin Deep: In Vivo Measurements Of Facial Tissue Thickness In Chimpanzees, Julia Rose Hanebrink

LSU Master's Theses

This study is an ultrasonic investigation of chimpanzee (Pan troglodyte) facial tissue depth variability as well as a comparison between chimpanzee tissue depth standards and modern human (Homo sapiens) tissue depth standards. This research intends to broaden the extent of knowledge available regarding nonhuman primate anatomy. In addition, this research hopes to provide valuable information regarding facial reconstructions of early hominins. The subjects utilized for this study were 44 male and female chimpanzees between the ages of two to forty-five years. The chimpanzees were made available by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette New Iberia Research Center (NIRC) in New …

Mimo-Ofdm Communication Systems: Channel Estimation And Wireless Location, Zhongshan Wu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this new information age, high data rate and strong reliability features our wireless communication systems and is becoming the dominant factor for a successful deployment of commercial networks. MIMO-OFDM (multiple input multiple output-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing), a new wireless broadband technology, has gained great popularity for its capability of high rate transmission and its robustness against multi-path fading and other channel impairments. A major challenge to MIMO-OFDM systems is how to obtain the channel state information accurately and promptly for coherent detection of information symbols and channel synchronization. In the first part, this dissertation formulates the channel estimation problem …