Digital Commons Network^™

Interrelationships Between Mitochondrial Function, Maximal Oxygen Consumption, Running Economy, And Diet In Elite Male And Female Runners, Ryan Peyton Mcmillan

LSU Master's Theses

The relationships between maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), mitochondrial function and running economy were investigated in a population of twenty-one endurance trained males and females (range=18-54 yrs). The purposes of this study were: 1) to determine whether mitochondrial oxidative capacity, as defined by the maximal activities of citrate synthase (CS), cytochrome c oxidase (COX), and beta-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (BHAD), is a significant determinant of maximal oxygen consumption in endurance trained men and women, and 2) to observe the relationship between maximal oxygen uptake and running economy in the same population. Muscle biopsy samples were taken from the vastus lateralis prior to a …

New Programs In The Old Asylum: The Deinstitutionalization Of Long-Term Psychiatric Hospital Patients In Argentina, Erica Dillon

LSU Master's Theses

Large psychiatric hospitals with inpatients interned for decades are still the norm in Argentina, where deinstitutionalization and community-based mental health care is almost inexistent. This thesis focuses on some changes taking place in a centenary psychiatric hospital in Buenos Aires province: the externación of long-term psychiatric patients through new programs planned and run from inside the institution by health professionals compromised in making a change in the old asylum. Can long-term inpatients with serious mental illness such as schizophrenia leave the asylum and integrate in the society having a recovered life? Do the new externación programs make this possible? What …

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 …

Development Of Spanish L2 Competence In A Synchronous Cmc (Chat Room) Environment: The Role Of Visually-Enhanced Recasts In Fostering Grammatical Knowledge And Changes In Communicative Language Use, Francisco Ramon Lluna-Mateu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Taking into consideration some gaps observed in SLA research –noticing, recasts, input enhancement (IE),…– and in CALL/CMC research, a study was conducted among 12 advanced FL Spanish learners to assess whether and how, by communicating with a Spanish native speaker in 5 chat-room sessions, their language competence would develop in the following areas: 1) communication strategies; 2) communicative acts; and 3) grammatical knowledge of verb tense-aspect-mood (TAM) assignation. Subjects were assigned to a specific feedback condition/group (A: +recast, -enhancement; B: +recast, +enhancement; and C: no feedback) under which their TAM errors were treated in the sessions. Few research studies have …

Lock'em Up And Throw Away The Key: Racial Attitudes And The Structural Determinants Of Support For Crime Policy Among White Americans, Amanda J. Abraham

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates support for the death penalty and federal crime spending among white Americans. Data from the American National Election Studies (ANES) series (1992-2000) are matched with census tract level indicators of demographic and community characteristics from the 1990 and 2000 Census Bureau Summary File Tape 3A and county level crime data supplied by the Federal Bureau of Investigation�s Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). Ordered logistic regression is used to investigate five general research questions: (1) Are racial attitudes the most salient individual level predictors of support for crime policy among whites as suggested by prior research? (2) Are whites� …

The Other Side Of The Tracks: Railroads, Race, And The Performance Of Unity In Nineteenth-Century American Entertainment, Elissa Sartwell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Nineteenth-century Americans took great pride in the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869. This pride was not solely grounded in the knowledge that a grand, technological feat had been accomplished. When placed in its historical context, the celebration surrounding the completion of the railroad suggests a clear and visible statement of unity following a bitter and divisive civil war. The transcontinental railroad of 1869 undeniably unified the States. But any railroad simultaneously unites and divides, for while the tracks serve to link distant locations, they also produce a literal and metaphorical division in the communities through which they …

Re-Examining The Subculture Of Violence In The South, Timothy Curt Hayes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Southern region of the United States historically has a high rate of violent crime, especially homicide. This has led to a number of studies tackling the issue by relying on subcultural theory or by using structural correlates of crime to account for the South versus non-South difference in homicide. Macro level research has focused on pitting culture (usually measured by a dummy variable for South) against structural characteristics such as poverty and measures of income inequality, but suffers from a lack of direct cultural measures needed to successfully evaluate the subcultural thesis. Micro level research tends to focus on …

Data-Driven Fault Detection Using Trending Analysis, Min Luo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this research is to develop data-driven fault detection methods which do not rely on mathematical models yet are capable of detecting process malfunctions. Instead of using mathematical models for comparing performances, the methods developed rely on extensive collection of data to establish classification schemes that detect faults in new data. The research develops two different trending approaches. One uses the normal data to define a one-class classifier. The second approach uses a data mining technique, e.g. support vector machine (SVM) to define multi class classifiers. Each classifier is trained on a set of example objects. The one-class …

Differential Expression And Detection Of Transcripts In Sweetpotato (Ipomoea Batatas (L.) Lam.) Using Cdna Microarrays, Cecilia E. Mcgregor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Microarray protocols were developed for sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) and then used to study issues of importance in sweetpotato physiology and production. The effect of replication number and image analysis software was compared with results obtained by quantitative real-time PCR. The results indicated that reliable results could be obtained using six replicates and UCSF Spot image analysis software. These methodologies were employed to elucidate aspects of sweetpotato development, physiology and response to virus infection. Storage root formation is the most economically important process in sweetpotato development. Gene expression levels were compared between fibrous and storage roots of the cultivar …

Do Overweight Inactive Parents Raise Overweight Inactive Children? Examination Of The Influence Of The Home Environment On Weight Status Of Children Over Time, Emily York-Crowe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary aim of this study was to test whether body mass index (BMI), psychosocial, and behavioral parental variables were associated with similar variables in children at baseline, and whether these variables also served as significant predictors of overweight status in children after two years. While there have been several cross-sectional studies examining the impact of parental behaviors and characteristics on similar variables in children, and several longitudinal studies predicting weight status, BMI percentile, and risk factors of disease in children over time, there is a paucity of research that has identified (cross-sectionally) and then tested (longitudinally) significant parental variables …

Syntheses And Biological Evaluation Of Water Soluble Carboranylporphyrins For Application In Boron Neutron Capture Therapy, Vijay Gottumukkala

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of the research presented in this dissertation is to develop novel water soluble carboranylporphyrins that can deliver therapeutic dosage of boron specifically to tumors for application in boron neutron capture therapy. In order to accomplish this goal novel water soluble tetra(nido-carboranyl)porphyrin and the octa(nido-carboranyl)porphyrin with high boron contents are synthesized by the condensation of the carborane substituted benzaldehyde with the pyrrole under acidic conditions. These porphyrins are made water soluble by the deboronation of the closo-carboranes to afford the corresponding amphiphilic nido-carborane cages. The low cytotoxicity, high cellular uptake and intracellular localization of these carboranylporphyrins in tumor cells …

Judicial Discretion To Condition, Thomas O. Main

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Mix Design Methodology For Asphalt Mixtures With Analytically Formulated Aggregate Structures, Khalid Salim Alshamsi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research documents an extensive study on the design and characterization of asphalt mixtures for use as road pavement material. Several aspects of asphalt mixtures were addressed using the state of the art laboratory test equipment and technical literature from different information sources. The research was divided into two phases. Phase one included the design and detailed analysis of compaction and performance characteristics of asphalt concrete mixtures with aggregate structures that were designed using an analytical method of aggregate blending. Three aggregate types were considered in this study: limestone, sandstone, and granite. All the aggregates were crushed aggregates. Three different …

Self-Regulation In Physical Activity: Understanding Decisions That Older Adults Make, Janene Marie Grodesky

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Physical activity and exercise have been shown to strongly contribute to an extended quality of life. Half of all physical declines in aging can be prevented by engaging in adequate levels of daily physical activity. Only one in four older adults over the age of 65 participates in regular physical activity. There are various factors that have been identified in this population that influence physical activity behaviors including gender, ethnicity, education, and socioeconomic status. Though important for providing baseline data on older adults, these descriptions do not fully explain why or why not this population engages in physical activity; or …

Popular Constitutionalism In The Civil War: A Trial Run, Daniel W. Hamilton

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Sovereignty, Not Due Process: Personal Jurisdiction Over Nonresident, Alien Defendants, Austen L. Parrish

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The Due Process Clause with its focus on a defendant's liberty interest has become the key, if not only, limitation on a court's exercise of personal jurisdiction. This due process jurisdictional limitation is universally assumed to apply with equal force to alien defendants as to domestic defendants. With few exceptions, scholars do not distinguish between the two. Neither do the courts. Countless cases assume that foreigners have all the rights of United States citizens to object to extraterritorial assertions of personal jurisdiction.

But is this assumption sound? This Article explores the uncritical assumption that the same due process considerations apply …

A Micromechanical Approach For Predicting The Complex Shear Modulus And Accumulated Shear Strain Of Asphalt Mixtures From Binder And Mastics, Cristian Druta

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Asphalt mixtures are particulate composite materials consisting of uniformly distributed mineral aggregates, asphalt binder and air voids. Mixtures of asphalt binder and filler, also called mastics, are often assumed to behave as simple viscoelastic materials, where the binders are stiffened by the filler. Because the workability and performance of bituminous mixes are known to be affected by the filler-asphalt mixture (or mastic) properties, this study is intended for performing rheological tests on asphalt binder and mastics and use the results in order to estimate performance parameters of asphalt mixture. The present work uses the PG64-22 asphalt binder test data initially …

Using The Rod: Education, Punishment, And The New Woman In Fin De Siã¨Cle British Literature, Kristin C. Ross

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the relationship between female education and punishment in the British novel of the fin de siécle. It considers the “New Woman” (the emancipated, intellectualized, and unmarried prototypical feminist appearing in late nineteenth-century culture) in light of how female education affects fictional characterizations of her. Female education in the “New Woman” and her fictional counterparts worked to destabilize class and gender hierarchies for Victorian Society, producing anxiety in its culture and texts. To defuse this anxiety, authors frequently demonstrated the consequences of espousing the feminism driving the “New Woman” and the education producing her. The education she desired/received …

Measuring The Degree Of Market Power In The Export Demand For Soybean Complex, Dwi Susanto

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Previous studies on market power hypothesis strictly assumed that the data used in the analysis were a stationary process. This assumption has been argued that not all time series exhibit a stationary process such that conventional asymptotic theory cannot be applied. This study adopts the “New Empirical Industrial Organization” (NEIO) approach developed by Bresnahan (1982) and Lau (1982) to measure the degree of market power in the export market for soybean complex. The non-stationary properties of the data were accommodated by formulating the model in an error correction framework (ECM) developed by Bårdsen (1989) and applied by Steen and Salvanes …

Smc3 Knockdown Triggers Genomic Instability And P53-Dependent Apoptosis In Human And Zebrafish Cells., Giancarlo Ghiselli

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The structural maintenance of chromosome 3 (SMC3) protein is a constituent of a number of nuclear multimeric protein complexes that are involved in DNA recombination and repair in addition to chromosomal segregation. Overexpression of SMC3 activates a tumorigenic cascade through which mammalian cells acquire a transformed phenotype. This has led us to examine in depth how SMC3 level affects cell growth and genomic stability. In this paper the effect of SMC3 knockdown has been investigated. RESULTS: Mammalian cells that are SMC3 deficient fail to expand in a clonal population. In order to shed light on the underlying mechanism, experiments …

Tracing Nitrogen In Volcanic And Geothermal Volatiles From The Nicaraguan Volcanic Front, James A. Walker, L.J. Elkins, T.P. Fischer, D.R. Hilton, Z.D. Sharp, S. Mcknight

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

We report new chemical and isotopic data from 26 volcanic and geothermal gases, vapor condensates, and thermal water samples, collected along the Nicaraguan volcanic front. The samples were analyzed for chemical abundances and stable isotope compositions, with a focus on nitrogen abundances and isotope ratios. These data are used to evaluate samples for volatile contributions from magma, air, air-saturated water, and the crust. Samples devoid of crustal contamination (based upon He isotope composition) but slightly contaminated by air or air-saturated water are corrected using N2/Ar ratios in order to obtain primary magmatic values, composed of contributions from upper mantle and …

Are Advisers Contributing To Fund Rule Avalanche?, Tamar Frankel

Shorter Faculty Works

The SEC has been prolific in the past few years. By its own initiative, or because of congressional directives, the Commission has issued a record number of rules directed at the mutual funds advisory profession.

From 1975 to 2000 the SEC enacted about 135 substantive rules. However, it has enacted 70 such rules over the five-year span from 2001 to 2006. These rules are progressively more specific, eliminating flexibility, putting the profession in a straight-jacket, and imposing significant costs. The costs of these rules are especially irritating to advisors who have done no wrong.

Professional advisors blame the SEC for …

Impacts Of Red Imported Fire Ants (Solenopsis Invicta Buren) On Native Faunal Communities In Two Pine-Dominated Forests, Lee A. Womack

LSU Master's Theses

Impacts red imported fire ants (RIFA) exert on native faunal communities were monitored in two pine-dominated ecosystems in Louisiana. After suppression of established RIFA populations with Amdro®, cotton mice (Peromyscus gossypinus), herpetofaunal, ground-dwelling invertebrate, Lycosidae, and non-target ant communities were compared between untreated-control and treated plots with respect to possible ecological impacts of RIFA on these communities. Efficacy of Amdro® (A. I. 0.7% hydramethylnon) was tested at Alexander State Forest and Sandy Hollow WMA, and was found to be effective at both sites for 99-42.3% and 97-48%, respectively, suppression of RIFA on treated plots, for three to seven months, with …

Investigation Of Protein-Dna Contacts In The Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Rna Polymerase Iii Recruitment Factor (Tfiiib) Complex And Effects Of Promoter Topology On Transcription, Nick Dimitrios Tsihlis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The TATA-binding protein (TBP) is required for transcription by all three nuclear RNA polymerase systems. TBP binds the TATA box (consensus sequence TATAa/tAa/tN) and induces an ~80° bend in the DNA. To achieve recruitment of Saccharomyces cerevisiae RNA polymerase III, TBP is associated with two additional factors, Brf1 and Bdp1, to form initiation factor TFIIIB. This study focuses on interactions between the proteins and DNA in TFIIIB, and effects of promoter topology on transcription. Previous data suggests that the structure or dynamics of the TBP-DNA complex may be altered upon entry of Brf1 and Bdp1 into the complex. Here, an …

Porous Inorganic-Organic Materials Based On Beta-Diketone Ligands, Yixun Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Synthesis and characterization of porous inorganic-organic materials have been studied mainly on two linear β-diketone multifunctional ligands: pyridine based pyacH and isocyanide based HacphNC. As a known ligand, the preparation of pyacH has been improved with higher yield. When pyacH reacts with Fe and Al metal salts, trigonal metal β-diketonate building blocks M(pyac)3 are produced. When pyacH reacts with zinc acetate, both trans and cis Zn(pyac)2 are produced, both isomers were isolated and characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. Solutions of the trigonal building block Fe(pyac)3 generate various crystal structures on reaction with AgNO3 in CH3CN. When the concentration of AgNO3 …

Three Theories Of Substantive Due Process, Daniel O. Conkle

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Substantive due process is in serious disarray, with the Supreme Court simultaneously embracing two, and perhaps three, competing and inconsistent theories of decisionmaking. The first two theories, historical tradition and reasoned judgment, have explicit and continuing support in the Court's decisions. Under the theory of historical tradition, substantive due process affords presumptive constitutional protection only to liberties that are "deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition." By contrast, the theory of reasoned judgment is far more expansive, permitting the Court to identify rights independently, through a process that amounts to philosophical analysis or political-moral reasoning. The third theory, evolving …

Minority Admissions To Law School: More Trouble Ahead, And Two Solutions, Jeffrey E. Stake

Articles by Maurer Faculty

U.S. News and World Report (USNAWR) rankings have created incentives that have changed law school admissions. The rankings pressure schools to admit applicants with high numbers rather than those who would do the most to improve the admitting law school or the bar to which it sends its graduates. Much attention has already been paid to decreased minority admissions stemming from increased weight on the LSAT. The shoe that has not dropped, but will soon fall, is the undergraduate grade point average (UGPA). When law schools give this the attention that USNAWR mandates, the diversity of law school classes will …

A Brief Comment On Trust Protectors, Jeffrey E. Stake

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Diesel-Fuel And Copper Contaminants On Benthic Microalgae, Soraya Silva

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Salt marshes are dynamic, highly productive habitats and serve as nursery grounds for many commercially and economically important species. Benthic microalgae (BMA) are considered an important food source for benthos and provide the principal source of nutrition that fuels secondary production. Estuarine sediments around the world are a repository for many contaminants from anthropogenic sources. In particular, hydrocarbons and metals are ubiquitous contaminants in coastal systems. The primary goal of this study was to study the effects of diesel fuel and copper, alone and in combination, on the BMA assemblage from a coastal salt marsh. To achieve this objective, salt …

Whose Input Counts And Which Paradigm Prevails?: A Content Analysis Of Mass-Mediated Debate On U.S.-China Relations In 1990'S And A Policy Critique On Republican Virtue Of The Policy Tradeoff, Xiaowei Chen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the public opinion-public policy nexus with regard to the making of U.S.-China policy during the Clinton administration (1992-2000). The researcher investigates how the mass media discourse on U.S.-China relations relates to the policy tradeoff between economic interdependence and confrontation on human rights. Particularly, the quantitative study of the media discourse is placed within a Communitarian perspective to determine: (1) whether the policy tradeoff can claim to have the support of public opinion; (2) whether the media discourse originated from the active civic participation; and (3) how the policy tradeoff broke its promise. As a result, the researcher …