Digital Commons Network^™

Unavoidable Minors In Graphs And Matroids, Carolyn Barlow Chun

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

It is well known that every sufficiently large connected graph G has either a vertex of high degree or a long path. If we require G to be more highly connected, then we ensure the presence of more highly structured minors. In particular, for all positive integers k, every 2-connected graph G has a series minor isomorphic to a k-edge cycle or K_{2,k}. In 1993, Oxley, Oporowski, and Thomas extended this result to 3- and internally 4-connected graphs identifying all unavoidable series minors of these classes. Loosely speaking, a series minor allows for arbitrary edge deletions but only allows edges …

Comparison Of Helical Tomotherapy And Mixed Beam Treatment Plans For Superficial Head And Neck Cancers, Olivier C. Blasi

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: To compare helical tomotherapy (HT) with mixed beam therapy (electron and IMRT) plans for superficial parotid gland and nasal cavity tumors. Methods: Mixed beam and HT dose plans were developed for five patients with superficial tumors (planning target volume or PTV < 5.5 cm depth), three with parotid gland tumors and two with nasal cavity tumors. Seven mixed beam plans included a 5 or 7-field photon IMRT plan optimized on top of a single en-face 16 or 20 MeV electron beam dose distribution. The ratio of photon to electron beam weights (at depth R100) were 1:0 (IMRT only), 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4, and 0:1 (electrons only). Planning objectives for HT plans were set as closely as possible to those in the mixed beam plans, and were determined using our clinical planning protocol for head and neck cancers. The resulting dose distribution from each plan was evaluated using dose-volume quantities, tumor control probability (TCP), normal tissue complication probability (NTCP), and a clinical evaluation by a radiation oncologist. Results: In general, the HT plans showed better target coverage and dose homogeneity index (DHI) than the mixed beam plans. For the parotid patients, the DHI improved an average of 0.056 and 0.035 for the nasal cavity patients compared to the mixed beam plan. TCP was comparable in all patients. NTCP for the mixed beam plan was generally lower or comparable to HT with the largest improvements seen in the contralateral parotid, eye, and lens. Also, the mixed beam plans yielded more favorable PTV and normal tissue results for a single shallow uniform PTV using a heavier weighted electron to IMRT ratio (1:3 or 1:4 ratio of electron to IMRT). Conclusions: The study showed that while HT plans had better target coverage and dose homogeneity, the mixed beam plans (electron and IMRT) had comparable tumor control probability and have the potential for improving NTCP for distal normal tissue for superficial uniform PTVs.

Fabrication Of Nanostructured Surfaces With Well-Defined Chemistry Using Particle Lithography, Jie-Ren Li

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Natural self-assembly processes provide nanofabrication capabilities for designing surfaces with nanoscale control of surface chemistry and relative orientation of the nanomaterials on the surfaces. Particle lithography was used to produce periodic arrays of protein nanostructures. Monodisperse mesoparticles can be applied to rapidly prepare millions of uniform protein nanostructures on flat surfaces using the conventional benchtop chemistry steps of mixing, centrifuging, evaporation and drying. Nanopatterns of bovine serum albumin and staphylococcal protein A were produced with particle lithography. The immobilized proteins remain attached to the surface and form nanopatterns over micron areas corresponding to the thickness of a single layer of …

Typewriters Typing Typist: A Performance History, Sarah Kathryn Jackson

LSU Master's Theses

This study contributes to the ongoing exploration of the multiple ways visual and material artifacts perform. I take a look at how typewriters or rather how two representations of typewriters perform. I focus on two different images of working women, each rendered in terms of a popular female stereotype of the period. I selected the images because they bookend a period of time in which typewriters emerged to the fore as an efficient tool of reproduction in the business world. In turn, two different perspectives on the relationship between the typist and her typewriter, woman and machine, are provided. The …

Your Land Is My Land: Exploring Land Policy In Tangerang, Indonesia Using Kingdon's Multiple Streams Model, Milla Budiarto

LSU Master's Theses

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic country comprised of over 17, 000 islands with more than 300 ethnic groups and more than 250 different ethnic languages spoken. Due to its land mass size and multifaceted culture, land policy in this country has been ineffective and inadequate in addressing some of the land affairs. One of the indicators of effective land policy is land tenure security, where land dispute incidence is a function of it. Given that the government has very minimal guarantee for land tenure security in this nation, land disputes are inevitable and very common. By the end of …

Peptide Targeting Of Platinum Anti-Cancer Drug And Synthesis Of Water Soluble Monofunctional Pt(Ii) Complexes Useful For Biological Labeling, Margaret W. Ndinguri

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Platinum has been used as an inorganic medicinal agent with various applications such as anti cancer agents. Several new targeted Pt(II) conjugates were synthesized having the NGR and LHRH targeting motif. The platinum conjugates bearing the NGR motif revealed selective delivery and destruction of cancer cells that had CD13 receptors compared to untargeted carboplatin drug. The development of targeted chemotherapeutic has opened a new approach for efficient delivery of antitumor toxins with minimal exposure to normal cells. Several peptide sequences are known to have the ability to target tumors, for instance NGR motif which home specifically in solid tumors and …

Applying The Isotope Pairing Technique To Evaluate How Water Temperature And Habitat Type Influence Denitrification Estimates In Breton Sound, Louisiana, Peter L. Lenaker

LSU Master's Theses

The upper Breton Sound estuary was hydrologically reconnected to the Mississippi River via the Caernarvon freshwater diversion structure in 1991. The Caernarvon structure can provide controlled freshwater pulses to the upper Breton Sound estuarine ecosystem, replicating historic freshwater pulsed events, although the original authorization was to control salinity isohalines at specific locations in the estuary. However, unlike historic freshwater pulsed events prior to the construction of levees, the current freshwater pulse contains an unprecedented amount of inorganic nitrogen, predominately as nitrate (annual average 71.4 µM NO3-). Denitrification is a microbial process, which can potentially remove excess nitrate entering coastal Louisiana …

Personalized Noninvasive Imaging Of Volumetric Cardiac Electrophysiology, Linwei Wang

Theses

Three-dimensionally distributed electrical functioning is the trigger of mechanical contraction of the heart. Disturbance of this electrical flow is known to predispose to mechanical catastrophe but, due to its amenability to certain intervention techniques, a detailed understanding of subject-specific cardiac electrophysiological conditions is of great medical interest. In current clinical practice, body surface potential recording is the standard tool for diagnosing cardiac electrical dysfunctions. However, successful treatments normally require invasive catheter mapping for a more detailed observation of these dysfunctions. In this dissertation, we take a system approach to pursue personalized noninvasive imaging of volumetric cardiac electrophysiology. Under the guidance …

Effects Of Student Self-Corrective Measures On Learning And Standardized Test Scores, Beth Darlene Poplin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined whether students who graded and corrected their own test papers improved their learning and standardized test scores on the North Carolina end-of-course test in United States History. Four preexisting, intact classrooms of 11th grade United States History students in two different high schools formed the basis of this quasi-experimental, Static Group Comparison Design. Two classes formed the control group, and two classes participated in the alternative assessment strategy, with both groups taking the pretest and posttest in United States History. The control group had their weekly tests graded by the classroom teacher and returned to them, while …

Development Of A Velocity Metric For Rigid-Body Planar Motion, Luis Ernesto Criales Escobar

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Two motions of motion quality have been developed for planar motion. They are the "best motion measure" and the "velocity metric". The "best motion measure" identifies the best motion for a given displacement. The "velocity metric" quantifies the discrepancy between two planar motions for the same rigid body.

The best motion measure compares the motion of each particle on the body to an "ideal", but usually unobtainable, motion. This ideal motion moves each particle from its current position to its desired position on a straight-line path. Although the ideal motion is not a valid rigid body motion, this does not …

Perfection In Paul: Snapshot Of A Stand-Off, Kent Yinger

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

Following a review of scholarship on ‘perfection’ in Pauline soteriology, this paper will document the current stand-off among Pauline scholars as to whether Paul requires (or thinks Jewish soteriology requires) perfect Law-keeping -- often connected with post-Sanders’ debates over 1st century Jewish soteriology. Along the way it will reflect on the meaning of perfection language in the various corpora. The paper will then suggest that resolving this issue remains crucial for unraveling Pauline soteriology.

The Organization In Front Of The Text : A Critical Hermeneutic Inquiry In Employee Policy Appropriation, Marisa B. Michaels

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

A New Elasticity Element Made For Enforcing Weak Stress Symmetry, Bernardo Cockburn, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Johnny Guzmán

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We introduce a new mixed method for linear elasticity. The novelty is a simplicial element for the approximate stress. For every positive integer k, the row-wise divergence of the element space spans the set of polynomials of total degree k. The degrees of freedom are suited to achieve continuity of the normal stresses. What makes the element distinctive is that its dimension is the smallest required for enforcing a weak symmetry condition on the approximate stress. This is achieved using certain "bubble matrices", which are special divergence-free matrix-valued polynomials. We prove that the approximation error is of order k + …

Unified Hybridization Of Discontinuous Galerkin, Mixed, And Continuous Galerkin Methods For Second Order Elliptic Problems, Bernardo Cockburn, Jay Gopalakrishnan, Raytcho Lazarov

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We introduce a unifying framework for hybridization of finite element methods for second order elliptic problems. The methods fitting in the framework are a general class of mixed-dual finite element methods including hybridized mixed, continu- ous Galerkin, non-conforming and a new, wide class of hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin methods. The distinctive feature of the methods in this framework is that the only globally coupled degrees of freedom are those of an approximation of the solution defined only on the boundaries of the elements. Since the associated matrix is sparse, symmetric and positive definite, these methods can be efficiently implemented. Moreover, the …

Law's Misguided Love Affair With Science, Robin Feldman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Historic Perspectives On Law & Science, Robin Feldman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

An Eigenanalysis And Synthesis Of Unitary Operators Used In Quantum Computing Algorithms, Steven Randall Hutsell

Dissertations and Theses

In this work we tackle the challenge of designing quantum unitary operators which represent solutions to optimization problems. We start with a novel method which combines an evolutionary algorithm known as an Evolution Strategy (ES) with a method to randomly generate unitary operators. With this new method, a quantum operator is represented for the first time using real-valued vectors and can be "evolved" or designed to meet certain target criteria. This criteria could be the solution to an optimization problem. With the ability to evolve quantum operators, we attempt to evolve various known single and multi-qubit quantum gates as well …

Cognition And Star Trek: Learning And Legal Education, Kate Bloch

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Teaching Level-1 Braille Reading Skills Within A Stimulus Equivalence Paradigm To Children With Progressive Visual Impairments, Karen Ann Toussaint

LSU Master's Theses

Degenerative visual impairments refer to conditions that result in the progressive loss of vision; several of these conditions have their onset during childhood. Nearly 3% of the school-aged population will experience vision loss that will require specialized support, yet there has been little attempt to systematically evaluate braille-instruction programs. The current study evaluated an instructive procedure for teaching early braille-reading skills with four school-aged children with degenerative visual impairments. Following a series of pretests, braille instruction involved providing a sample braille letter and teaching the selection of the corresponding printed text letter from a comparison array. Concomitant with increases in …

Toxicological Monitoring And Protocol Development For Abandoned Pipeline Removal In Louisiana, Forest Christopher Wootten

LSU Master's Theses

Oil/Gas extraction have left Louisiana with a legacy of abandoned infrastructure across the State. Presently, the State has developed guidelines for the removal of abandoned vessels and abandoned on shore facilities. No such guidelines exist, however, for the network of abandoned pipelines present throughout the coastal zone of Louisiana. A pipeline removal was simulated in Lake Calcasieu, LA. The site was chosen because of the presence of many abandoned pipelines and previous work done on sight to remove the on shore infrastructure. In addition, the Calcasieu is an industrial water body, with potentially hazardous pollutants sequestered in the sediments of …

All My Pretty Ones By Stephen Paulus; A Song Cycle For Soprano And Piano On A Text By Michael Dennis Browne, Emily Grundstad Hall

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Stephen Paulus (b. 1949) is emerging as one of America’s accomplished composers for the voice. He is skilled in writing sensitively for the demands of the solo voice and is becoming known as an important contributor to the genre with approximately 50 art songs, 12 song cycles as well as 10 operas and 250 choral pieces. This paper will discuss the song cycle, All My Pretty Ones, for soprano and piano, which was published in 1984 with a text by Michael Dennis Browne. The cycle was Paulus and Browne’s first collaboration and since its conception the two have continued to …

Pulsed Electric Field Influences On Acid Tolerance, Bile Tolerance, Protease Activity And Growth Characteristics Of Lactobacillus Acidophilus La-K, Olga Antonina Cueva

LSU Master's Theses

Pulsed electric field processing represents a promising non-thermal technology which involves the application of pulses of high voltage (20-80 kV/cm) for less than one second to fluid foods placed between two electrodes. During the application of certain PEF conditions microbial inactivation occurs by causing a pore formation and destruction of the cell membranes. Lactobacillus acidophilus is an important probiotic bacterium used for the production of fermented dairy products. The objective of this study was to study the influence of pulsed electric field (PEF) on the growth characteristics, bile tolerance, acid tolerance, and protease activity of Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-K. Freshly thawed …

Passenger Car Equivalents Of Trucks Under Lane Restriction And Differential Speed Limit Policies On Four Lane Freeways, John Stanley

LSU Master's Theses

Lane restriction for trucks and differential speed limits for trucks and cars are becoming more common and feasible policies to improve the efficiency and safety of a freeway. It is believed that passenger car equivalents for trucks are impacted by these non typical freeway operating conditions, which are not explicitly addressed by the latest edition of the Highway Capacity Manual. Using simulated and real world data an elevated 18- mile four lane freeway was modeled under the restriction policies. The section which was used as a test bed was simulated under various control variables. Some of the control variables used …

Ternary To Binary Converter Design In Cmos Using Multiple Input Floating Gate Mosfets, Josephine Ratna Sathiaraj

LSU Master's Theses

In this work, a ternary to binary converter circuit is designed in 0.5μm n-well CMOS technology. The circuit takes two inputs corresponding to the ternary bits and gives four outputs, which are the binary equivalent bits of the ternary inputs. The ternary inputs range from (-1,-1)³ to (1,1) ³ which are decimal -4 to 4 and the four binary output bits are the sign bit (SB), most significant bit (MSB), second significant bit (SSB) and the least significant bit (LSB). The ternary inputs (-1, 0 and 1) are represented in terms of voltages of -3V, 0V and 3V. Multiple …

Modeling Gag Grouper (Mycteroperca Microlepis) In The Gulf Of Mexico: Exploring The Impact Of Marine Reserves On The Population Dynamics Of A Protogynous Grouper, Robert D. Ellis

LSU Master's Theses

The gag grouper (Mycteroperca microlepis) population in the Gulf of Mexico supports both a commercial and recreational fishery but has experienced a decrease in the male to female sex ratio over the past thirty years. Protogynous fish populations naturally have a smaller male to female ratio than gonochoristic fish populations; however the decline in the gag population is such that sperm limitation may be occurring. In an effort to correct the decline in sex ratio, fishery managers have recently implemented two marine reserves designed specifically to protect gag spawning aggregations. Results from two population models (an age-structured model and an …

Evaluating Similarity-Based Trace Reduction Techniques For Scalable Performance Analysis, Kathryn Marie Mohror, Karen L. Karavanic

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Event traces are required to correctly diagnose a number of performance problems that arise on today’s highly parallel systems. Unfortunately, the collection of event traces can produce a large volume of data that is difficult, or even impossible, to store and analyze. One approach for compressing a trace is to identify repeating trace patterns and retain only one representative of each pattern. However, determining the similarity of sections of traces, i.e., identifying patterns, is not straightforward. In this paper, we investigate pattern-based methods for reducing traces that will be used for performance analysis. We evaluate the different methods against several …

Finding Irc-Like Meshes Sans Layer 7 Payloads, Akshay Dua, Jim Binkley, Suresh Singh

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

We present an algorithm for detecting IRC-like chat networks that does not rely on Layer 7 payload information. The goal is to extract only those meshes from conventional flows where long-term periodic data is being exchanged between an external server and multiple internal clients. Flow data is passed through a series of filters that reduce the memory requirements needed for final candidate mesh sorting. Final outputs consist of two sorted lists including the fanout list, sorted by the number of client hosts in the mesh, and a secondary list called the evil sort. The latter consists of meshes with any …

Heuristics In Decision Making, Fatima M. Albar, Antonie J. Jetter

Engineering and Technology Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Heuristics are simple rules of thumbs for problem solving that follow a logic that is quite different from consequential logic. They have long been regarded, as an inferior technique for decision making that is the source of irrational decision behavior. Recently, decision making researchers have demonstrated that some heuristics are highly efficient and can compete with complex decision models in some application domains. This paper explores the different streams of research, summarizes the state of the art decision making model, and discusses its implications for complex decisions in engineering and technology management.

Reconfigurable End Effector Allowing For In-Hand Manipulation Without Finger Gaiting Or Regrasping, Jacob Ames Ziesmer

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The goal of this thesis is to move a step towards the solution of the bin picking problem. A novel metamorphic end effector is proposed, tested for proof of concept and analyzed using standard techniques of degrees of freedom and graph theory as well as a classical dynamic analysis. Once proof of concept was achieved, the results from the analysis were formed into an optimization program with the hope of finding a more stable, predictable mechanism.

Capillary Perfusion Kinematics In Lungs Of Oxygen-Tolerant Rats, Madhavi Ramakrishna

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Motivation:

Prolonged exposure to oxygen at high concentrations (hyperoxia), a common treatment for hypoxemia, is toxic to the lungs. Rats exposed to 85% O₂ for 5-7 days develop tolerance to the otherwise lethal effects of 100% O₂. Elucidating the factors that contribute to this tolerance could further our understanding of the mechanisms of lung O₂ toxicity. Since vascular remodeling involving loss of capillary volume and endothelial surface area has been reported in lungs from rats exposed to 85% O₂ for 7 days, we were interested in evaluating the effect of this hyperoxia model on lung …