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2009

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Why The Old Traditions Will Not Fail: Landscape, Legends, And The Construction Of Place At Dartmouth College, Charles H. Wade Jan 2009

Why The Old Traditions Will Not Fail: Landscape, Legends, And The Construction Of Place At Dartmouth College, Charles H. Wade

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Dartmouth College, located in Hanover, New Hampshire, is one of the nine Colonial Colleges and a member of the exclusive Ivy League. Congregationalist minister Eleazar Wheelock founded Dartmouth in 1769 on the premise of training missionaries to Christianize the Indians of the region and, over the years, Dartmouth developed into a premier college. Dartmouth is famous for its traditions, its ardently loyal alumni, and as a classic New England liberal arts college. But this image does not correspond with a closer, more critical look at the College. Through both archival and ethnographic research, this dissertation examines the cultural landscape, folklore, …


Relationship Of Maternal Serum Fatty Acids And Body Mass Index, Emily Fontenot Gilbert Jan 2009

Relationship Of Maternal Serum Fatty Acids And Body Mass Index, Emily Fontenot Gilbert

LSU Master's Theses

Maternal supply of nutrients is critical for the developing fetus during all stages of gestation. The altered lipid metabolism that is often seen in pregnancies complicated by obesity and insulin resistance may negatively impact maternal supply to the fetus. More women are entering pregnancy overweight or obese and recently body mass index (BMI) has been found to be a positive predictor for decreased maternal plasma phospholipid concentrations of the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) docosahexanoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA). These nutrients play important roles in early development and their availability is critical to fetal growth and development. The …


Reproducing Gender On Law School Faculties, Ann C. Mcginley Jan 2009

Reproducing Gender On Law School Faculties, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

This article demonstrates that there is a gender divide on law school faculties. Women work in inferior sex-segregated jobs and teach a disproportionate percentage of female-identified courses. More than 80% of law school deans are men. Men teach the more prestigious male-identified courses. Women suffer from differential expectations from colleagues and students and often bear the brunt of their colleagues' bullying behaviors at work. Using masculinities studies and other social science research to identify gendered structures, practices, and behaviors that harm women law professors, this article provides a theoretical framework to explain why women in the legal academy do not …


The Definition, Creation, And Evolution Of Buyer-Seller Relationships, Anna Maria Walz Jan 2009

The Definition, Creation, And Evolution Of Buyer-Seller Relationships, Anna Maria Walz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The theoretical and practical importance of relational exchange is well known. However, customers are often annoyed at companies’ relationship building attempts. In addition, the literature has three core problems: (1) the relational concept is not well defined; (2) little research has accounted for relationship dynamics; and (3) relational constructs’ conceptualizations have become ambiguous. The purpose of this dissertation is to build an integrative and comparative framework that not only delineates relationship stages, but also identifies the unique roles of all relational forms (e.g., firm-firm). Specifically, three research questions are addressed: (1) How is a relationship defined? (2) How is a …


Tnf-Alpha Inhibition Of Adiponectin Expression By Targeting Ppar-Gamma And C/Ebp In Adipocytes, Yanning Wang Jan 2009

Tnf-Alpha Inhibition Of Adiponectin Expression By Targeting Ppar-Gamma And C/Ebp In Adipocytes, Yanning Wang

LSU Master's Theses

Chronic inflammation is involved in the adipose tissue dysfunction through regulation of endocrine and storage function of adipocytes. As a representative proinflammatory cytokine, TNF-α was reported to inhibit expression of adiponectin. However, the mechanism of inhibition remains to be identified. Here, we provide experimental evidence that TNF-α inhibits adiponectin at both transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. In three animal models (aP2-P65, ob/ob and high fat diets-fed mice), an increase in TNF-α expression was associated with a decrease in adiponectin expression. In 3T3-L1 adipocytes, TNF-α inhibition of adiponectin was observed at mRNA and protein levels. Luciferase reporter assay and mRNA stability tests …


Beyond Crime Quantites: A Multilevel Analysis Of The Relative Prevalence Of Interracial Violence, Shaun A. Thomas Jan 2009

Beyond Crime Quantites: A Multilevel Analysis Of The Relative Prevalence Of Interracial Violence, Shaun A. Thomas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Prior research examining between community variations in violent crime has largely been guided by the social disorganization perspective and the systemic model of community attachment. This literature supports a strong relation between structural resource deprivation, residential instability, and rates of violent crime. In communities where poverty, unemployment, and broken families are geographically concentrated and home ownership and length of residence are relatively low, levels of violent crime are exacerbated. This dissertation extends prior research by focusing on variation in the nature or quality of violence rather than crime rates or quantities. While many analyses explore variations in rates of crime, …


Beyond Mediation: Thinking The Computer Otherwise, David J. Gunkel Jan 2009

Beyond Mediation: Thinking The Computer Otherwise, David J. Gunkel

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Whatever Media Studies 2.0 involves, one thing is certain, there is a need to confront and deal with new technologies, most notably computers and computer networks. Despite the fact that the discipline has largely marginalized these innovations, there has been some effort to incorporate the computer into both the theories and practices of media studies. This has been accomplished, at least in the United States, through the development of what is now called computer-mediated communication (CMC). CMC, which effectively understands the computer as a medium of human communication, does not necessarily institute a significant paradigm shift in media studies but …


Future Of Mediation: A Sociological Perspective, The, Brian Jarrett Jan 2009

Future Of Mediation: A Sociological Perspective, The, Brian Jarrett

Journal of Dispute Resolution

Arguably, these sociological pressures are central to the future direction of the mediation field and, in the aggregate, provide a useful building block in the development of an emerging sociology of mediation-a development that could fill the theory-to-practice gap which currently bedevils the mediation field. Understanding sociological forces reminds us of the constraints within which mediators, as social actors, must work. More importantly, an awareness of these pressures is, conceivably, essential to the development of an autonomous and discernible profession that remains capable of welcoming a diversity of practitioners and their respective approaches. I summarize each of these pressures below …


When It's So Hard To Relate: Can The Legal System Mitigate The Trauma Of Victim-Offender Relationships?, Jody L. Madeira Jan 2009

When It's So Hard To Relate: Can The Legal System Mitigate The Trauma Of Victim-Offender Relationships?, Jody L. Madeira

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article argues that, in the aftermath of violent crime, a relationship that is both negative and involuntary can form between crime victims and offenders. This relationship fetters the victim to the crime and the criminal, rendering it difficult to recover from the transgression. To illustrate how such a relationship may form and what consequences it may have for victims, this article uses the Oklahoma City bombing as a case study, documenting through the use of original interviews an involuntary relationship in which victims' family members and survivors perceived they were tethered to Timothy McVeigh. This perceived relationship with McVeigh …


Regulation Of Adipose Tissue Metabolism By Nfkb P65 In Transgenic Mice, Tianyi Tang Jan 2009

Regulation Of Adipose Tissue Metabolism By Nfkb P65 In Transgenic Mice, Tianyi Tang

LSU Master's Theses

Inflammation has been widely reported to regulate adipocyte functions in adipose tissue. Our early study suggests that NFkB signaling pathway is activated by inflammation and involved in inhibition of insulin sensitivity in adipocytes. NFkB was found to inhibit PPARg function through several possible mechanisms in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. To test this possibility in vivo, we increased the NFkB activity in adipocytes in transgenic mice by expression of NFkB p65 subunit under the aP2 gene promoter. The phenotype study shows that the food intake, physical activity and development are similar in the two groups. The reproductivity was not different in the two …


The Effect Of Interactive Homework On Dibels Performance, Shelley M. Scott Jan 2009

The Effect Of Interactive Homework On Dibels Performance, Shelley M. Scott

LSU Master's Theses

Homework is a common practice in most kindergarten classrooms. There are varying opinions on the purpose of homework, the frequency in which homework should be given, the duration of time kindergarten-aged students should spend on homework, and how the use of homework impacts student performance. The DIBELS (Good & Kamanski, 2003) is an assessment tool that measures student performance on early literacy skills and identifies students who are at-risk for failure to read. The proposed study will incorporate recommendations for creating developmentally appropriate homework that addresses skill deficiencies identified by the DIBELS to determine the impact of homework on DIBELS …


A Sense Of Community And Community Change: An Ethnographic Study Of A Contemporary Louisiana Juke Joint As It Compares To Historical Literature On The Subject, Kristopher Ian Debnam Jan 2009

A Sense Of Community And Community Change: An Ethnographic Study Of A Contemporary Louisiana Juke Joint As It Compares To Historical Literature On The Subject, Kristopher Ian Debnam

LSU Master's Theses

The rural juke joint is a phenomenon that has been mentioned quite frequently in literature pertaining to blues music, but has not received the amount of scholarly attention that it deserves. This social institution is an integral part of the Mississippi Delta’s cultural landscape. Over time, it has developed a dual reputation as a fun place for weekend entertainment, and also a dangerous place for sin and vice. Using qualitative methods, this thesis explores a modern-day juke joint located in Waterproof, Louisiana, a small town in the northeast part of the state. It is the goal of this research to …


Culture And Persuasion Online: Predicting Attitudes, Cognitions, And Behavioral Intentions In A Culturally Diverse Online Marketplace, Gennadi Gevorgyan Jan 2009

Culture And Persuasion Online: Predicting Attitudes, Cognitions, And Behavioral Intentions In A Culturally Diverse Online Marketplace, Gennadi Gevorgyan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With an online experiment and a focus group, I examined the role of cultural appeals in online persuasive communication. The results of the study revealed that culturally oriented Web sites and online advertisements influence individual attitudes and behavioral intentions. These effects were particularly strong when cultural appeals were consistent across advertisements and their hosting Web sites. I observed the main effect of culture on persuasiveness of Web sites and advertisements both the American and the Chinese samples of participants. The results of the study did not, however, support the expectation that ethnic identity and need for cognition would interact with …


Strutting It Up Through Histories: A Performance Genealogy Of The Philadelphia Mummers Parade, Corey Elizabeth Leighton Jan 2009

Strutting It Up Through Histories: A Performance Genealogy Of The Philadelphia Mummers Parade, Corey Elizabeth Leighton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the cultural performances of the parade community in one of the oldest and largest parades in the country: the Philadelphia Mummers Parade. The modern parade celebration consists of groups of mostly working-class white men from South Philadelphia who dress up in extravagant sequined and feathered costumes and, beginning in South Philadelphia, march toward City Hall on one of the largest streets in the city on New Year’s Day. The parade is competitive and marked by performance competitions at the end of each parade. The parade’s history in the city of Philadelphia is extensive but contested. Many locals …


Land Use Based Crime Rates: Exploring Patterns Of Land Use And Crime Rates In Coquitlam And Port Coquitlam, Kathryn Wuschke Jan 2009

Land Use Based Crime Rates: Exploring Patterns Of Land Use And Crime Rates In Coquitlam And Port Coquitlam, Kathryn Wuschke

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

While it is certainly valuable to understand the counts of specific crime types by location, in order to contextualize the relationships between these features, rates are needed. Table 1 further explores this relationship by calculating the rate of each crime by land use. While rates are often employed using population as a denominator, such a measure is not practical when exploring crime at the parcel level. In this case, rates have been calculated according to crimes per 100 lots, producing an understandable and comparable value across all categories of land use and crime.


Land Use & Crime: Coquitlam/Port Coquitlam: Exploring How Violent, Property, Mischief And Drug Offences Relate To Land Uses, Kathryn Wuschke Jan 2009

Land Use & Crime: Coquitlam/Port Coquitlam: Exploring How Violent, Property, Mischief And Drug Offences Relate To Land Uses, Kathryn Wuschke

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam are two suburban cities that are currently undergoing rapid physical changes. In order to accommodate growing urban populations both within these locations, and in the wider surrounding region, Coquitlam Centre area has been designated as a Regional City Centre. It is intended to act as a downtown core for the neighbouring municipalities, and as such, is experiencing rapid redevelopment, focusing on mixed land uses and dense residential/commercial mixes. In an effort to understand and model the shifts in crime types and densities that may be associated with this redevelopment, ICURS has begun exploration of the relationship …


Community Social Capital And Suicide Rates, Anna Cutlip Jan 2009

Community Social Capital And Suicide Rates, Anna Cutlip

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The integrating capacity of social institutions on community organization and the consequential benefits of community cohesion are well-known, i.e. lower crime rates, better health outcomes, economic and social stability. Drawing on the civil society and civic community literatures, this study applies the theory of social capital to study of suicide. Rather than focus on individual level data, macro-level data are analyzed to determine the relationship between the social capital of an area and the prevalence of suicide. Negative binomial regression is used to examine U.S. counties of 100,000 residents or more (urban) and counties of 1,000 to 25,000 residents (rural) …


Women And Science In Development: A Longitudinal Analysis Of Gender, Networks, And Information Technology In Ghana, Kenya, And India, Beverly Paige Miller Jan 2009

Women And Science In Development: A Longitudinal Analysis Of Gender, Networks, And Information Technology In Ghana, Kenya, And India, Beverly Paige Miller

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the gendered nature of the scientific career for researchers in universities and national research institutes in Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala India. Employing panel data, I analyze three issues related to the diffusion of ICTs in the scientific communities of less developed areas: 1) access; 2) interaction; 3) and involvement. More specifically, I examine the way in which human capital, family structure, travel experiences, contextual factors, and technological antecedents interact with gender to influence access to and use of personal computers, email, and the Web. From there, I incorporate technological behavioral changes to predict interaction within professional networks. …


Factors That Influence College Students Who Choose Engineering As Their Major To Presist In That Major To Their Fifth Semester, Kelli Elaine Wildman Jan 2009

Factors That Influence College Students Who Choose Engineering As Their Major To Presist In That Major To Their Fifth Semester, Kelli Elaine Wildman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Individuals, institutions, and society are affected by whether or not students persist in college; therefore, persistence and retention on college campuses is an important topic for higher education systems. However, little research has been done on program retention. Since engineering as a profession is expected to increase, it is imperative to have students persist in the major. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the influence of selected demographic and academic characteristics in the decision of first time in college (FTIC) traditional-age undergraduates who declare engineering as their major at admission to persist in the curriculum from second …


"Why Do I Have Fifty Pairs Of Shoes?": Characterizing And Explaining Acquisitive Buying Behavior, Mousumi Bose Godbole Jan 2009

"Why Do I Have Fifty Pairs Of Shoes?": Characterizing And Explaining Acquisitive Buying Behavior, Mousumi Bose Godbole

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Why do some of us have the fourteenth black shoe? Fifty pens? Thirty fishing rods? While some motivations relate to compulsive, impulsive or excessive buying, others relate to collecting, hoarding, fixated buying and stockpiling. However, there is a set of consumers who purchase recurrently, have an inventory far greater than that of a typical consumer and yet do not share the negative characteristics of the extreme buyers mentioned earlier. This set of consumers is termed ‘acquisitive buyers’ and little research exist to understand them. This dissertation establishes the significance of acquisitive buying as a new buying type in terms of …


The Structure Of Social Networks: Examining Gender Differences And Effects On Social Support And Psychological Distress, Lacie Lin Marie Michel Jan 2009

The Structure Of Social Networks: Examining Gender Differences And Effects On Social Support And Psychological Distress, Lacie Lin Marie Michel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Empirical research demonstrates that social networks — the aspatial social structures created through social relations — constitute a critical context that affects individuals’ health and well-being. Net of individual characteristics, social network structures can increase perceived adequacy of social support and psychological health, particularly in the aftermath of a natural disaster. However, the question of whether social contexts affect men and women differently remains largely unanswered. This dissertation examines the effects of social structural characteristics on social network structures for both national and regional data. The General Social Survey (GSS) provides the nationally representative data on social networks; the 1985 …


Effects Of Network Capital And Social Support On Mental Health By Race And Class, Claire Norris Jan 2009

Effects Of Network Capital And Social Support On Mental Health By Race And Class, Claire Norris

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigates race and class differences in the stress-support-distress process. Incorporating the social support strand of network analysis in the stress-support-distress model allows social support theorists to understand better what network sectors enhance/restrict access to such resources as social support and, in turn, affect such outcomes as mental health. I used data collected in a 2003 study of residents in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, to construct measures used in my analyses. Using independent samples t-test and ordinary least squares regressions, I addressed five general research questions: (1) whether and how there are variations in network capital forms – the structure …


The Agricultural Industry As Percieved By Members Of The General Public Of Louisiana, Julie Baker Richard Jan 2009

The Agricultural Industry As Percieved By Members Of The General Public Of Louisiana, Julie Baker Richard

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge and perceptions of the animal, plant, environmental, and food sciences by the adult residents of Louisiana. This study was conducted using a survey research design. This survey utilized random telephone dialing techniques in order to survey 547 residents of Louisiana. The survey instrument consisted of fifty-five questions divided into three sections: demographic characteristics, agriculture knowledge, and perception of agriculture. The overall mean agriculture knowledge score of adult residents of Louisiana for the twenty items included in the survey instrument equaled 13.60 (SD = 2.743) or 68%. Perceptions of agriculture results …


Religiosity And Chinese Immigrants' Marriage, Yaxin Lu Jan 2009

Religiosity And Chinese Immigrants' Marriage, Yaxin Lu

LSU Master's Theses

The existing literature on religion and family indicates that religious beliefs and practices are correlated with various aspects of marriage and family life. Chinese immigrants are an important part of the U.S. population. However, very little is known about the relationship between religion and marriage for Chinese immigrants. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between Christianity and marriage in Chinese immigrant families based on in-depth qualitative interviews. Sixteen highly religious Chinese Christian couples were interviewed to examine how religious faith influenced their perceptions of marriage and family life. Most of the participants in this study held …


A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Two Alternative Instructional Strategies For Teaching Basic Construction Surveying Concepts, Gabriel N. Trahan Jr. Jan 2009

A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Two Alternative Instructional Strategies For Teaching Basic Construction Surveying Concepts, Gabriel N. Trahan Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this experiment was to compare the effectiveness of two alternative instructional strategies for teaching basic construction surveying concepts. The basic concepts of construction surveying, office, field, angles, distance and elevation must be thoroughly understood before complex construction surveying applications can be performed. Instruction in applied science courses such as construction surveying is constantly being impacted by advances in technology. Technological developments require an evolving pedagogy incorporating change while maintaining the integral basics. The dynamics of change require an instructor to maintain basic construction surveying concepts consideration while developing authentic experiences which can be incorporated into the new …


Mightier Than The Sword: Writing 19th-Century Crime, Megan Lawrence Jan 2009

Mightier Than The Sword: Writing 19th-Century Crime, Megan Lawrence

LSU Master's Theses

Nineteenth-century France, obsessed with personal property, strained under multiple changes in government and the new 1804 Code Napoléon, becomes fascinated with criminal literature. Victor Hugo, Eugène Sue, and Emile Zola span the century with their criminal literature and fascinate their audience. Taking advantage of this nineteenth-century French interest in crime, these popular authors also spread political commentary through their novels. Theft, rape and murder are each treated differently in the nineteenth-century French Penal Code, and I suggest that Hugo, Sue and Zola mirror this inconsistency on the part of the law and its resulting effect on society so well that …


Nutrition And Eating Habits In Adolescent Television Programs: A Content Analysis Of Food And Beverage Consumption On Popular Teen Television, Carly Nicole Dickson Jan 2009

Nutrition And Eating Habits In Adolescent Television Programs: A Content Analysis Of Food And Beverage Consumption On Popular Teen Television, Carly Nicole Dickson

LSU Master's Theses

Media research often argues that viewing certain media can significantly increase the likelihood someone will develop an eating disorder or become obese. This study uses social cognitive and drama theory to discuss how adolescents may learn nutrition information and eating habits by watching television programs. Since adolescence is when people form eating habits, this exploratory study will analyze the nutrition content in three top teen television shows. This quantitative content analysis found that the characters in teen television primarily have a healthy body size but consume unhealthy items. This may be sending a message to adolescents that unhealthy nutrition maintains …


The Theo-Logic Of Paul's Ethics In Recent Research: Crosscurrents And Future Directions In Scholarship In The Last Forty Years, Nijay Gupta Jan 2009

The Theo-Logic Of Paul's Ethics In Recent Research: Crosscurrents And Future Directions In Scholarship In The Last Forty Years, Nijay Gupta

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

This essay presents a survey of scholarship on the theology or logic (hence ‘theo-logic’) of Paul’s ethics in the last forty years. Exploring the work of such prominent Pauline scholars as V.P. Furnish, P. Sampley, W. Schrage, R. Hays and D. Horrell, attention will be drawn to their contributions as well as future desiderata in this field. An important conclusion drawn from this study is that Furnish’s work is a milestone in Paul’s theo-logic of ethics especially with regard to eschatological, Christological and sociological dimensions, and subsequent Pauline interpreters have largely expanded on his work. Such elaborations, though, have often …


A Journey To Tolerance: Overcoming The Politics Of Hate, Leanne Claire Serbulo Jan 2009

A Journey To Tolerance: Overcoming The Politics Of Hate, Leanne Claire Serbulo

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

The article examines the history of race relations in Oregon and Portland, as well as the growth of hate groups. It also discusses anti-gay and anti-abortion violence and rhetoric, and what opponents of hate groups did to stem the growth of extremism in Portland. The author argues that the institutional conditions that gave rise to extremism in the 1980s need to be addressed because we are still susceptible to homegrown hate.


Plain Language Patents, Robin Feldman Jan 2009

Plain Language Patents, Robin Feldman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.