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Numerical Simulation Of Capsule Dissolution In The Usp Apparatus Ii, Jasmine Han

Master's Theses

The capsule is the second most common type of drug dosage form, yet detailed research of capsule dissolution in the USP Apparatus II (a paddle dissolution apparatus that mimics the drug dissolution process in an in vivo environment) is not well reported. In this work, a mathematical model was developed that incorporates both the dissolution of the capsule shell and the slug within the capsule shell. Capsule shell dissolution was modeled with the assumption that the shell undergoes an erosion process only. The capsule slug dissolution model incorporated mass transfer principles, Markov chain theory, and the influence of hydrodynamics on …

Study Of The Lasting Effects Of Attending A Leadershape Program, Daniel J. Stoker

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study investigated the long-term learning resulting from participation in a LeaderShape program. The research examined LeaderShape graduates' current practices and definitions of leadership to see if they remain consistent with the program's learning goals. Graduates with five or more years since attendance were studied to provide a separation of time for the social experience to dissipate and to allow for possible application of the material beyond a collegiate setting. An electronic survey was distributed to 1,399 LeaderShape graduates who attended a national session between 1986 and 2004, resulting in 207 (14.8%) responses. Quantitative questions were analyzed utilizing SPSS …

An Analytic Investigation Into Self Organizing Maps And Their Network Topologies, Renee Baltimore

Theses

This paper details master's thesis work involving research and investigation into the approach of self-organizing maps for clustering of data, more specifically, clustering of image data, and how this can be used in understanding image composition. This work will build upon ideas which have previously been explored, such as using self organizing maps for identifying and grouping different regions of an image which may possess similar features. A large part of this research is based upon experimentation with a variety of topological models of the self-organizing map network and investigation into what advantages these different topologies afford the network in …

Emissions And Impacts From Prescribed Fire In A Longleaf Pine Ecosystem, Scott James Strenfel

Master's Theses

Prescribed fire is a frequently utilized land-management tool in the Southeastern US. In this study, effects of seasonal-related variations and of turbulence generation on emissions and impacts from prescribed fires were evaluated. High frequency in situ data were obtained from three summer (July 2008) and three winter (January 2009) fires within the active burn perimeter and downwind by use of a 10 m instrumented tower and 2 m tripod, respectively. Two cases were selected to evaluate the performance of the EPA-approved short-range regulatory dispersion model, AERMOD, for prescribed fire applications.

Results showed that summer fuels were much greener than winter …

The Psychology Of Good Character, Alice Woolley, Jocelyn Stacey

All Faculty Publications

This paper explores the significance of the changing nature of the good character requirement for law society admission in Canada. It posits that good character has shifted from a philosophical concept into a psychological concept, with evidence of past bad acts claimed to be relevant for whether an applicant represents a future risk to the public. This shifting conception of character has, however, been only partial, and the decision-making processes of Canadian law societies have not kept pace with it. Instead, the decision-making process defines character generally and generically, with only occasional emphasis on character as a relevant predictor of …

Positron Autoradiography For Intravascular Vulnerable Plaque Imaging, Peter Petrek

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: To develop and investigate an intravascular storage phosphor detector for imaging and detection of vulnerable coronary artery plaques. Methods: The concept of the detection of vulnerable plaques (i.e., plaques with inflammation) is based on accumulation of fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in inflammation sites. The FDG is labeled with a radioactive isotope 18F (positron source), injected to patient, and accumulated in vulnerable plaques of coronary arteries. The radiation detector is then inserted into coronary artery, records positrons from FDG accumulated in vulnerable plaque, which allows for imaging and detection of the vulnerable plaque. A prototype detector was developed and tested. The detector …

The Impact Of Hurricanes Katrina And Rita On The Louisiana Judicial System, Charles Simon Mccowan, Iii

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis is a case study of the impact of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the Louisiana court system and the response of the court system to the aftermath of these two hurricanes. Although this thesis focuses on one state’s court system’s response to two natural disasters, the research, conclusions and recommendations are transferable to other states. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast in 2005 devastating large areas in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama. Millions of people, including judges and attorneys, were forced to evacuate their homes, courts and law offices. The Hurricanes caused interruptions to both federal …

Spatial Analyses Of Pedosphere Carbon Stock And Sequestration Potential In Louisiana's Watersheds, Biao Zhong

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation research aimed to quantify current soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks across Louisiana’s landscape, examine the spatial relationships between SOC and terrain factors at the watershed and river basin scales, and predict SOC changes in surface soils during future climate change. Using Louisiana as an example, a spatially-explicit modeling framework was developed that is conducive to watershed-scale prediction of soil carbon stock and change. SOC densities at the watershed scale were estimated using the USDA NRCS Soil Geographic Database (STATSGO). Louisiana watersheds and National Land Cover Database (NLCD) were used to aggregate total soil carbon and estimate average soil …

Taphonomy And Sedimentology Of Two Miocene Vertebrate Fossil Sites On Fort Polk, Louisiana, Julie Lynn Hill

LSU Master's Theses

The discovery of a terrestrial mammalian fauna in the Miocene deposits on Fort Polk, Louisiana, fills a geographic gap in the Gulf Coast paleontological framework, but the provenance of the fossils, nature of the depositional environments, and relationships between the sites is still debated. This is especially true for the TVOR site cluster. TVOR SE has a mixture of marine and terrestrial vertebrates in association with a partly dissolved, in situ bed of articulated oyster shells, which stands in contrast to the fully terrestrial and freshwater assemblage at TVOR, and the indeterminate site TVOR S. Although limited outcrop may bias …

The Ornamentation Of Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy Of San Lorenzo In Florence, Jessica Lynne Clinton

LSU Master's Theses

The Old Sacristy of San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy, was constructed during the years 1419-1428 and is considered one of the most influential buildings of the early Italian Renaissance. Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy, in its original design, was pristine and void of the architectural ornamentation that had come to characterize so many buildings that preceded it and which would come to be associated with the sacristy itself on account of later alterations. Indeed, the original sacristy was characterized by a purely articulated space free of additional ornamentation to the architecture. However, shortly after the termination of construction, the Old Sacristy became …

Fraction Competency And Algebra Success, Coretta Thomas

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract In this thesis, I investigated the importance of fraction competence to success in algebra. I studied 107 of the students whom I teach. These students were all enrolled in Algebra I. A fraction pretest and an algebra pretest were given at the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. A comparison was done to study the connection between the fraction pretest score and the semester grade as well as the algebra pretest score and the semester grade. The strongest correlation was between the fraction pretest and the semester grade. This supported the theory that fraction competence is a strong predictor …

The Influence Of Two Estrogens On The Sex And Ovarian Development Of Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea Virginica) Maintained In A Closed Recirculating System, Wesley Michael Burnside

LSU Master's Theses

As a multi-million dollar industry, production of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica is significant to the economy of the nation’s coastal regions. The cost of commercial oyster aquaculture has higher inputs than the oyster fishery, but larger, better quality oysters can be produced for culture by the stable availability of triploid individuals.

The goal of this project was to determine if the use of an estrogen, estradiol-17β or estradiol-3-benzoate, at a consistent environmental temperature would increase the percentage of females in a population, as well as ovarian development of eastern oysters. Ultimately, this could be applied to triploids to increase …

The Effects Of Channel Stability On Benthic Macroinvertebrates In Southeastern Louisiana Streams, Peter Markos

LSU Master's Theses

Water chemistry, habitat quality, and channel stability interact to influence a stream’s biological integrity. The goal of this project was to assess how channel stability, together with other physicochemical stream measurements, are associated with the structure and abundance of resident macroinvertebrate communities. I recorded multiple physicochemical parameters and calculated a Pfankuch habitat stability index monthly for a year at potential reference streams in southeastern Louisiana. I assessed the relationships of channels stability with measured physicochemical parameters with multiple regression and principle components analysis. Mixed model multivariate analysis of variance was used to determine associations of habitat characteristics with resident macroinvertebrate …

The Returns And Volatility Of Agribusiness Stocks: How Do They Measure Up To Non-Agribusiness Stocks?, Benjamin Michael Clark

LSU Master's Theses

Little literature exists that analyzes the historical risk and return associated with investing in the US agricultural sector. However, several observable trends have recently made investing in the US agricultural sector an area of interest among investors. Stock price indexes are a commonly used tool for summarizing the historical performance of a specific sector. A market-capitalization weighted stock price index is created to represent the largest US agribusiness firms since 1970, using the US Census Standard Industrial Classification system and the Economic Research Service’s definition of agribusiness. Geometric returns, standard deviation, Sharpe Ratio, and beta values are calculated for one, …

Integrating Lattice Space-Time Codes Of Highest Rank And Multiplexing Over Rayleigh Fading Channels, Vamshi Krishna Samudrala

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis, we consider the problem of finding an optimal combination of multiplexing and space-time coding over a MIMO array when a transmitter has a prior knowledge about correlation. Some existing work in this area used multiplexing and space-time coding methods as a technique to achieve capacity over a MIMO wireless channel. In this work, we consider a 2x2 lattice space-time code of highest rank and multiplex it over a MIMO system to improve the bit error rate performance. The main focus of this thesis is to address the problem of switching between spatial multiplexing and space-time coding to …

Influences On Public Support For Green Infrastructure: An Examination Of Urban Wetland Restoration In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Lynette C. Overholser

LSU Master's Theses

The research examines patterns of likely support for urban wetland restoration in the Greater New Orleans area. Through multi-variate statistical analysis of responses derived from an original survey of homeowners in New Orleans, key factors are identified that explain variation in residents’ willingness to accept such areas and their perceptions of ecological benefits associated with a theoretical wetlands restoration design for the Gentilly area. Further, the analysis determines the extent to which direct experience with Hurricane Katrina may influence public support for this and other green infrastructure projects. The results of the data collected show that many people in New …

Patterns Of Habitat Suitability And Abundance Trends Of Current And Candidate Coastal Fish Species Of Concern In Louisiana, Elin Rose Sandy

LSU Master's Theses

Louisiana’s estuaries and coastal waters play an important role in providing habitat for several estuarine-dependent species and also serve as a nursery for the juveniles of several other species. The current rate of land loss in Louisiana and the decline of estuarine-dependent species force us to improve our understanding of the recruitment of these species into Louisiana’s estuaries. Habitat suitabilities were developed for several fish species of concern (SOC) and other estuarine-dependent species across three environmental gradients, abundance patterns were developed for seasons, five-year intervals, and coastal study areas (CSAs). Chi-square analyses and ANOVAs were then used to test for …

A Characterization Of Near Outer-Planar Graphs, Tanya Allen Lueder

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis focuses on graphs containing an edge whose removal results in an outer-planar graph. We present partial results towards the larger goal of describing the class of all such graphs in terms of a finite list of excluded graphs. Specifically, we give a complete description of those members of this list that are not 2-connected or do not contain a subdivision of a three-spoke wheel. We also show that no members of the list contain a five-spoke wheel.

Stochastic Trends In Crop Yield Density Estimation, David I. Maradiaga

LSU Master's Theses

The search for improved methods of estimating crop yield density functions has been a theme of recurrent research interest in agricultural economics. Crop yield density functions are the statistical instrument that generates probability estimates of yield risk, and risk is an important decision variable in production agriculture. Recent research in crop yield density estimation suggests that yield probability estimates can be sensitive to the way yield data are filtered, and if true, then the search for an “adequate filter” is warranted. Such a quest is pursued in this study. It is proposed that unit-root tests can be used to identify …

Effects Of Habitat Structural Complexity On Nekton Assemblages: Lab And Field Observations In Southern Louisiana, Austin T. Humphries

LSU Master's Theses

Greater structural complexity is often associated with more diverse and abundant species assemblages. Biogenic reefs formed by the eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) are structurally complex in nature and have been recognized for their potential habitat value in estuarine systems along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. To determine how the structural complexity of newly created oyster reefs may influence the abundance and distribution of species, three objectives were established. First, to examine spatial and temporal patterns of nekton use at newly created oyster reefs, as well as the impact of wave exposure, six paired oyster reef and mud-bottom treatments …

Planck Versus Poe: Scientific And Poetic Approaches, Anita Kelkar

Quill & Scope

P A M Dirac wrote that "In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by every- one, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it’s the exact opposite." Dirac's quote con- fronts us with the question: Do both the scientific and poetic approaches ultimately enjoy equal success in expanding human knowledge?

Implementation And Analysis Of A Top-K Retrieval System For Strings, Sabrina Chandrasekaran

LSU Master's Theses

Given text which is a union of d documents of strings, D = d1, d2,...., dd, the emphasis of this thesis is to provide a practical framework to retrieve the K most relevant documents for a given pattern P, which comes as a query. This cannot be done directly, as going through every occurrence of the query pattern may prove to be expensive if the number of documents that the pattern occurs in is much more than the number of documents (K) that we require. Some advanced query functionality will be required, as compared to listing the documents that the …

Multi-Scale Habitat Associations Of Shorebirds During Spring Migration In Southwestern Louisiana Rice Fields, Rachel K. Villani

LSU Master's Theses

Rice is the most common wetland crop in the world, and important for waterbirds and shorebirds worldwide, including the United States. In Louisiana, shorebirds use rice fields during spring migration, and are an important for foraging and refueling during migration. However, competing land uses and restoration projects may reduce the availability of rice fields, and impact the landscape that shorebirds use during migration. To determine how shorebirds use the landscape, I evaluated local and landscape factors affecting shorebird use of rice fields during spring migration in southwestern Louisiana. Using five habitat suitability zones (HSZs) based on rice density and canopy …

Homeopathy, Charles Volk

Quill & Scope

For the first 50 years of NYMC's history, the school taught a form of medicine called 'homeopathy'. What is this form of medicine and what would it be like to go to a homeopathic medical school? The author shares his experiences in the world of alternative medicine and the time he spent in a homeo- pathic academy learning about energy medicine, impossibly diluted compounds, how the germ theory is wrong, how science is incorrect, and how miasms are at the core of all human suffering.

Water And Solute Transport In The Shallow Subsurface Of A Riverine Wetland Natural Levee, April Elea Newman

LSU Master's Theses

In riverine wetlands, the rate and magnitude of water exchanged between river channels and adjacent wetlands have a major influence on hydrologic function and associated aquatic habitat and water quality. River channels are generally separated from backswamps by natural levees; however, preferential flow may allow potentially substantial water and solute exchange between them. Determining the influence of preferential flow on water and solute transport in natural levees requires an innovative approach that allows measurement of transport rates at a scale large enough to capture field-scale variability. To test the hypothesis that preferential flow is important to subsurface water movement through …

Investigating The Ironwood Tree (Casuarina Equisetifolia) Decline On Guam Using Applied Multinomial Modeling, Karl Anthony Schlub

LSU Master's Theses

The ironwood tree (Casuarina equisetifolia), a protector of coastlines of the sub-tropical and tropical Western Pacific, is in decline on the island of Guam where aggressive data collection and efforts to mitigate the problem are underway. For each sampled tree the level of decline was measured on an ordinal scale consisting of five categories ranging from healthy to near dead. Several predictors were also measured including tree diameter, fire damage, typhoon damage, presence or absence of termites, presence or absence of basidiocarps, and various geographical or cultural factors. The five decline response levels can be viewed as categories of a …

Glacial Deposits, Vol. 38, 2009-2010, Department Of Geography-Geology

Glacial Deposits

Newsletter of the Department of Geography-Geology

Off-Farm Labor Supply By Farm Operators And Spouses: A Comparison Of Estimation Methods, Mahesh Pandit

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis studies the off-farm labor supply decision of farm operators and their spouses in the United States. The data used in this study is from the Agricultural Resource Management survey, 2006. The objective of this study is twofold. First, to identify those factors that affect off-farm labor supply of farm operators and their spouses. In particular, this study investigates the impact of human capital of farm operators and spouses, personal, family, farm and location characteristics on labor allocation for on- and off-farm work. Empirical results indicate that farm operators’ and their spouses’ human capital are positively correlated with off-farm …

Palynological Analysis Of Tiger And Trinity Shoals, Louisiana Continental Shelf, Russell Ryan Crouch

LSU Master's Theses

Forty sediment samples taken from twenty-six vibracores collected from Holocene shoals (Tiger and Trinity) were processed for palynomorphs and analyzed to characterize the terrestrial and marine paleo-environments of southern Louisiana at the time of deposition of each shoal. Abundant and diverse pollen assemblages were recovered while marine microplankton were sparse (< 2% relative abundance). Pollen species were grouped by plants of similar environmental significances including arboreal, non-arboreal, aquatic, and shrub categories. Palynological signals were compared in detail between each core, as well as along strike and dip transects, to help determine whether or not these shoals were deposited coevally or in distinct depositional cycles. Evidence shows that Tiger and Trinity Shoals carry remarkably similar palynological profiles, indicating that sediments of these shoals areS from the same source, and that deposition extended over an interval of time such that climate change was not sufficient enough to alter the vegetation response (hence palynological signal). Pollen profiles show source sediments are predominantly from the lower Mississippi River drainage basin and exhibit species similar to those present in modern Louisiana coastal marshes and swamps (i.e., Taxodium distichum, Cyperaceae, Graminae, Chenopodiaceae, and Asteraceae), and coastal to upland hardwood forests of the Mississippi River alluvial valley (i.e., Pinus, Quercus, Carya, and Liquidambar styraciflua).

Bioaerosols And The Risk Of Upper Respiratory Infection In Dental Hygienists, Christen Rebecca Gautreau

LSU Master's Theses

Multitudes of pathogenic and infectious microbes are known to spread via contaminated aerosols. Dental personnel have an increased incidence of respiratory infections. Ultrasonic scaling procedures are reported to produce the largest amounts of contaminated aerosols of any dental procedure. The goal of the current study was to see if dental hygienists are at an increased risk of respiratory infections during the performance of their job and to see if certain dental procedures had a significant effect on this risk. This study was conducted at the Dental Hygiene Clinic of the Louisiana State University School of Dentistry in New Orleans, LA. …