Digital Commons Network^™

How Voice Affects Perceptions Of Relationship Wih Adults, Ownership, And Engagement In Youth, Melissa D. Wade Cater

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if youth voice affects the ownership and engagement experienced by youth in a county 4-H program. For the treatment group, a youth-led approach was used where "having a voice" included youth sharing decision-making power with the adults in the program. The comparison group consisted of 4-H members in three other clubs in the county. These youth experienced an adult-led approach where the decisions about the club programming were made strictly by the adults. The Youth Voice Survey instrument was developed to assess youths' perceptions of ownership, engagement, and relationship with adults at …

The Transformation Of South African Private Law After Ten Years Of Democracy: The Role Of Torts (Delict) In The Consolidation Of Democracy, Christopher J. Roederer

School of Law Faculty Publications

Although the role of the private law has been largely ignored in studies of transitional justice, private law is a crucial component in South Africa’s transition/transformation. Contrary to the views of some commentators, the private law and delict in particular, were tainted by apartheid. Further, even if the private law of South Africa was not infected by the apartheid cancer, it acted as a carrier and facilitator of apartheid values and policies, perpetuating the inequities apartheid. While there is evidence of the cancer in apartheid case law the more serious problem was a failure of delict to progress under apartheid. …

The Musical Journey Of Opera Singer Lenora Lafayette: A Louisiana Treasure, Kyla Dean Pitcher

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Lenora Lafayette (1926-1975) was an African-American opera singer who developed her professional path while facing tremendous racial, cultural, and economic barriers. She was a Louisiana native with great vocal potential who attempted to enroll at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, but was denied admission due to segregation. Lenora attended The Juilliard School as an alternative and earned scholarships that covered her tuition for an entire year. She studied with the prestigious faculty member Dusolina Giannini and developed her talent to the degree that she was able to win a John Hay Whitney Fellowship for study abroad. She traveled to …

Spatial Diversification, Dividend Policy, And Credit Scoring In Real Estate, Darren Keith Hayunga

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Built on the foundation of economic principles, real estate offers many pursuits of academic discovery within the realm of finance. This dissertation examines three areas of real estate finance. In the first chapter, I use the unique real estate characteristics of heterogeneity, immobility, and localized markets to examine the spatial aspects of large-scale commercial real estate portfolios. The results demonstrate a clear need for portfolio managers to diversify properties based upon distances between properties. The second chapter examines another large-scale real estate portfolio, the real estate investment trust, which is held by investors seeking dividend income. Despite the importance of …

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 …

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 …

College Student's Motivation For Physical Activity, Lori Lynn Delong

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine college students' motivations to be physically active by merging the perspectives of self-determination theory and the transtheoretical model. The secondary purpose was to examine the effects of a required physical activity course on college students' levels of physical activity. The premise is that both the theory and model can be used to help predict physical activity outcomes. Participants were 277 male and female students at a small private college. Motivation, self-determination, stage of change, self-efficacy, decisional balance, and leisure time activity levels were assessed using an online survey. Results revealed that activity …

Essays On The Bayesian Estimation Of Stochastic Cost Frontier, Xia Zhao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three essays that focus on a Bayesian estimation of stochastic cost frontiers for electric generation plants. This research gives insight into the changing development of the electric generation market and could serve to inform both private investment and public policy decisions. The main contributions to the growing literature on stochastic cost frontier analysis are to 1. Empirically estimate the possible efficiency gain of power plants due to deregulation. 2. Estimate the cost of electric power generating plants using coal as a fuel taking into account both regularity restrictions and sulfur dioxide emissions. 3. Compare costs of …

A Distribution Kinetics Approach For Polymer Crystallization And Phase Separation, Jiao Yang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The mechanism of polymer crystallization is extensively studied and still far away from consensus. This research adopted cluster size distribution kinetics approach to explore the kinetics of polymer crystallization and phase separation within spinodal region. The kinetics of polymer crystallization is studied by integrating nucleation, crystal growth and ripening. Population balance equations based on crystal size distribution and concentration of amorphous polymer segments are solved numerically and the related differential moment equations are also solved. The model accounts for nucleation and crystal growth. Different mass dependences of growth and dissociation rate coefficients are proposed to investigate the fundamental features of …

Attitudes Des Éducateurs Envers Le Français Et Le Créole: Le Cas D'Haïti, Lesly Jean-François

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Language attitudes represent a serious challenge for Haitian education policy makers. This research is the first attempt to study the attitudes of elementary school educators toward the linguistic situation in Haiti. A survey of 154 teachers addressed their attitudes toward language use, preference and choice, and their stereotypes toward other Haitian native speakers. Three instruments (quantitative questionnaire, Match-Guise-Technique, and qualitative questionnaire) were utilized and two Statistical Methods (descriptive and inference), along with Chi-Square were used in order to observe the significance of differences in independent variables. Since Haitian teachers who participated in this study were assumed bilingual, the questionnaire first …

Antisperm Immunity For Contraception, R. K. Naz

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Generation "X" Professional Women Leaving The Workforce To Become Full-Time, Stay-At-Home Mothers: A Qualitative Analysis Of Motivation, Meaning, And Mindful Parenting, Monisa Shackelford

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Using qualitative data gathering and analysis, the current trend of professional women leaving workforce to rear their children full-time is examined. Women in the second generation to enter the labor force in large numbers indicate that there are factors that push them out of the workforce, such as a non-family friendly workplace, and factors that pull them back home, such as a profound need to rear their own children. While the transition from professional to stay-at-home mother is a complex process, the women in this study deal with this identity shift, and its attendant resistance, by framing their change in …

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 …

Self-Determination In Physical Education: Designing Class Environments To Promote Active Lifestyles, Charity Leigh Bryan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between self-determination, perceptions of the motivational climate, attitude, perceived ability, engagement in physical activity, and health-related fitness indicators. Two structural models related to engagement/intention to engage in physical activity and health-related fitness were tested. The premise of both models is that perceived competence predicts the outcome variables (engagement or health-related fitness), with self-determination, attitude, and motivational climate predicting perceived competence. Participants were 827 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Motivation, perceptions of the climate, attitude, perceived competence, and self-reported physical activity levels were assessed using surveys. Pedometers were used to record …

Essays On Group Lending: Evidence From Jordan, Moh'd Al-Azzam

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Group lending has received a great attention from economists and policymakers for its successful delivery of credit to poor borrowers and its role in alleviating poverty in the developing countries. The success of group lending in providing credit to poor borrowers has been attributed to its ability to mitigate the asymmetry of information and enforcement problems in credit markets. The ability of group lending institutions to overcome the asymmetry of information and enforcement problems has been theorized to be the driving force behind their outreach to the poor, their sustainability, and their repayment performance. While there is a host of …

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 …

Assessment Of Interactions Amoung Viruses Infecting Sweetpotato, Charalambos D. Kokkinos

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Viral diseases, especially those caused by mixed infections, are among the economically most important diseases of sweetpotato. Real-time PCR assays were developed for the detection and quantification of the potyviruses Sweet potato feathery mottle virus (SPFMV), Sweet potato virus G (SPVG), Ipomoea vein mosaic virus (IVMV); the crinivirus Sweet potato chlorotic stunt virus (SPCSV), and the begomovirus Sweet potato leaf curl virus (SPLCV) directly from infected sweetpotato plants. Titers of SPFMV, IVMV, and SPVG were lower in singly-infected sweetpotato plants compared to singly-infected plants of the standard indicator host Brazilian morning-glory (Ipomoea setosa) and the standard propagation host I. nil …

Socioeconomic Characteristics Of Cancer Mortality In The United States Of America: A Spatial Data Mining Approach, Srinivas Kumar Vinnakota

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States of America. Though it is generally known that cancer is influenced by environment, its relation to socioeconomic conditions is still widely debated. This research analyzed the spatial distribution of cancer mortalities of breast, colorectal, lung, and prostate, and their associated socioeconomic characteristics using association rule mining technique. The mortality patterns were analyzed at the county and health service area levels that corresponded to the years between 1999 – 2002 and 1988 – 1992, respectively. Distinct socioeconomic characteristics of cancer mortality were revealed by the association rule mining technique. …

Formal Convention In Verdi's Falstaff, Joseph Salvatore La Rosa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Falstaff (premiered in 1893) draws more explicitly on primo ottocento formal conventions for duets, arias, and central finales than scholars have previously argued. A description of those conventions (generally referred to as the solita forma) is followed by the analytical application of those conventions to selected passages from Falstaff. A general description of the solita forma for duets and arias is followed by a pertinent example from Rossini’s Semiramide. Three passages from Falstaff are then shown to have strong grounding in the solita forma. These passages include Falstaff’s “Honor” monologue in act I, part 1; the scene for Mrs. Quickly, …

Exploring Implicit Versus Explicit Methods Of Teaching Phonemic Awareness Instruction To Kindergarten Students, Sue Antoinette Abshire

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research explored whether there was a difference between two methods of phonemic awareness instruction. Two groups of kindergarten students were selected. One group received an implicit method of phonemic awareness instruction. A second group received an explicit model of phonemic awareness instruction. Of particular concern were these questions: What is the impact of phonemic awareness instruction on reading achievement? How does phonemic awareness instruction delivered via an implicit instructional method differ from an explicit, scripted method of instruction in their respective impact on reading achievement? Triangulation between the qualitative and quantitative data support the finding that an explicit method …

Farquhar College Of Arts And Sciences Student Catalog Winter 2006, Nova Southeastern University

Undergraduate Programs Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

The Development And Optimization Of Microbial Molecular Biomarkers For The In Situ Assessment Of Trace Metal Toxicity, Nicolas James Bouskill

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Microorganisms are fundamental components of many geochemical transformations occurring in the aquatic environment. Microbial redox and methylation of metals within the environment can alter metal speciation, mobility and ultimately, toxicity to eukaryotes. It is therefore practical that any environmental monitoring framework advocating the application of `early-warning biomarker system' should incorporate a holistic view of the environment beginning with microbial activity. This thesis describes the development of protocols for assessing the in situ condition of microbial ecosystems within a gradient of metal contaminated sites radiating downstream of the Anaconda Smelter, a USEPA-designated superfund site and within two control sites. Experiments focus …

The Potential Use Of (1→3, 1→4)-Β-D-Glucan From Barley As A Functional Food Ingredient For Cereal Foods, Louise Jane Cleary

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

The health related importance of dietary fibre as part of a balanced diet is well known. More recently, soluble fibres, such as (1→3, 1→4)-β-D-glucan (β-glucan), have been shown to influence glycaemic, insulin and cholesterol responses to foods. Barley is a rich source of β-glucan; however, consumption of products containing barley grain or flour is often limited by their negative organoleptic quality. A potential solution lies in the use of barley as an extraction source for β-glucan fractions. One problem with regards to this is the lack of clarity on the use of barley β-glucan fractions in food systems, particularly their …

Quantifying Inhabitation, Feeding And Connectivity Between Adjacent Estuarine And Coastal Regions For Three Commercially Important Marine Fishes, Christopher Douglas Bazett Leakey

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

1. Estuaries are regarded as valuable nursery habitats for many commercially important marine fishes. Recruitment of fish from estuarine nursery habitats to adult marine populations is considered important for maintenance of fishable stocks, but most evidence for this is qualitative. Effective and timely implementation of estuarine conservation and fisheries management plans may be aided by quantitative assessment of this habitat connectivity. 2. This thesis reports upon the quantification of inhabitation, feeding and connectivity between adjacent estuarine and coastal regions for Common sole (Solea solea), European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and Whiting (Merlangius merlangus). Sample collection was focused in the Thames …

Improving Abiotic Stress Resistance In Cauliflower (Brassica Oleracea Var. Botrytis L.) By Mutagenesis And Agrobacterium Mediated Transformation, Ehab Mohamed Rabei Metwali Gharieb

School of Biological and Marine Sciences Theses

Abiotic environmental stress such as drought, salinity and low temperature are common conditions that adversely affect plant growth and crop production. Breeding for crop resistance to abiotic stress is difficult due to its multigenic nature. An alternative approach is through DNA mutation and DNA transfer. These approaches were employed and tested in this research and comparison between them was carried out. NEU and NMU induced mutant lines and control plants were sub-cultured many times on maintenance medium and stored at 5°c for 2 years and then tested for salt and hydroxyproline resistance as in-vitro and in-vivo plants and proline content …

The Flood Frog: An Autonomous Wireless Device For Flood Detection And Monitoring, Valerio Plessi

Masters Theses

"Accurate real time monitoring is gaining critical importance in a broad range of domains. Of particular interest to this research is the development of monitoring and detection systems for environmental and structural phenomena. Transportation infrastructures, in particular bridges, provide examples for both categories. Flooding of low water bridges is one example of rapidly evolving environmental phenomena, while stress and vibration are structural phenomena in need of monitoring.

Early warning and advanced preparation for emergency are two of the most effective lines of defense against catastrophic events, where real time monitoring can facilitate containment and recovery efforts. The operating environment of …

The Future Of Student Grouping Systems In Science 14-16., Stephen Rowcliffe

School of Law, Humanities and Social Sciences

Ability grouping is a contentious issue in high school science education, and one that divides teachers,parents, and policymakers alike. However, it may be that current grouping systems are founded on ideasthat are failing to provide for the best interests of students at any ability level. This article aims to reviewcurrent practice and its effects on student and teacher outcomes, and suggest a new direction for studentgrouping polices based on the ideal of “science for all” through curriculum reform and choice-basedmodular course systems. The article is based largely on the British education system.

Wikis, Blogs And Podcasts: A New Generation Of Web-Based Tools For Virtual Collaborative Clinical Practice And Education, Boulos Mn Kamel, Inocencio Maramba, Steve Wheeler

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.