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2010

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Edaphic And Vegetative Controls On Mercury Cycling In Oligohaline Wetlands, Jonathan M. Willis Jan 2010

Edaphic And Vegetative Controls On Mercury Cycling In Oligohaline Wetlands, Jonathan M. Willis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With the expansion of the human population and associated industries there is a concomitant increase in both resource utilization and the production of waste and deleterious by-products. Mercury is a naturally-occurring toxic metal with a complicated and unique biogeochemical cycle, and is often a contaminant of ecotoxicological concern in unindustrialized aquatic habitats. The research described herein was designed to elucidate multiple aspects regarding the behavior of mercury in oligohaline wetland habitats, particularly with respect to edaphic and vegetative effects, through a monitoring and characterization study as well as a series of manipulative experiments. The observational study, conducted in the wetlands …


Stereotype And Representation Of Near And Middle Eastern Peoples In La Bande Dessinee, Brandon Matthew Thomas Jan 2010

Stereotype And Representation Of Near And Middle Eastern Peoples In La Bande Dessinee, Brandon Matthew Thomas

LSU Master's Theses

Representation of social groups in the comics is serious. In 2006, a series of twelve cartoons published in a Danish newspaper sparked a controversy that precipitated the deaths of hundreds of people. The images depicted Mohammed and other images that supposedly mocked Islam. All across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa protesters paraded through the streets, some calling for the death of the cartoonists. Trials in Europe over the publication of these cartoons resulted in several firings. Counter protests have also arisen. These protesters found grievance with the firings, claiming that the freedom of the press was being violated …


Low Co-Cultivation Temperature At 20oc Improved Agrobacterium Tumefaciens-Mediated Transformation Of Tobacco Leaf Disks, Guiying Su Jan 2010

Low Co-Cultivation Temperature At 20oc Improved Agrobacterium Tumefaciens-Mediated Transformation Of Tobacco Leaf Disks, Guiying Su

LSU Master's Theses

I investigated the effect of co-cultivation temperature and binary Ti vectors on the fresh weight yield of leaf disks of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Xanthi (nn, Smith) after Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation. I concluded that the temperature at 20ºC during co-cultivation of leaf disks with A. tumefaciens was the most critical factor on the reproducible enhancement of fresh weight yield. The highest fresh weight increase and presumably transformation efficiency was achieved under the following experimental conditions: A. tumefaciens strain LBA4404 containing pLSU binary Ti vector was grown overnight at 28oC in liquid Agrobacterium medium and the concentration was adjusted to …


Influences On Public Support For Green Infrastructure: An Examination Of Urban Wetland Restoration In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Lynette C. Overholser Jan 2010

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 …


Cold Looks And Hot Tempers: Individual-Level Effects Of Incivility In The Workplace, Shannon G. Taylor Jan 2010

Cold Looks And Hot Tempers: Individual-Level Effects Of Incivility In The Workplace, Shannon G. Taylor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The deleterious effects of workplace incivility have been widely decried by practitioners and the popular press, but empirical evidence in this regard has only recently begun to accrue in the academic literature. As such, the present study examines the empirical validity of theoretically relevant attitudinal, health-related, and performance outcomes affected by workplace incivility. Hypotheses were tested with data obtained from individuals employed in a diverse range of for-profit and not-for-profit industries, organizations, and occupations and their supervisors. Results demonstrate that experiences of workplace incivility adversely affect employee attitudes and well-being; that workplace incivility experiences may indirectly affect feelings of burnout …


Creating Brands Online: Third Party Opinions And Their Effect On Consumers' Trust In Brands And Purchase Intentions, Pavel Mrazek Jan 2010

Creating Brands Online: Third Party Opinions And Their Effect On Consumers' Trust In Brands And Purchase Intentions, Pavel Mrazek

LSU Master's Theses

Consumer lack of trust in online vendors and brands is identified as one of the biggest obstacles in the growth of e-commerce. This study examined how third-party product reviews help in building consumers’ trust, in consumers’ perception of product quality, their brand attitudes and consumers’ purchase intention. The six cell experimental design tested the effect of consumer and expert online product reviews on fictitious web sites for high-involvement and low-involvement products. The findings indicate that online consumer product reviews perform better than online expert product reviews and no product reviews. Online product reviews affected visitors to a web site with …


A Treatment Components Analysis In Positive Peer Reporting For Socially Withdrawn Children, Jeffrey S. Chenier Jan 2010

A Treatment Components Analysis In Positive Peer Reporting For Socially Withdrawn Children, Jeffrey S. Chenier

LSU Master's Theses

Socially withdrawn children who do not receive intervention are at risk for struggling in their coursework and having trouble with future psychological adjustment. In spite of these facts, children who act out in the classroom have traditionally received much more attention from teachers and from researchers in the literature. In recent years, there have been many replications of Positive Peer Reporting (PPR) as a quick, effective, and accepted method to help these children overcome their withdrawn status. The extant literature supports the efficacy of PPR. However, there remain several important unanswered questions with regard to PPR. For example, do children …


Paths Of Most Resistance: Navigating The Culture Industry In William Faulkner, Richard Wright, Delmore Schwartz, And Eudora Welty, Jason Dupuy Jan 2010

Paths Of Most Resistance: Navigating The Culture Industry In William Faulkner, Richard Wright, Delmore Schwartz, And Eudora Welty, Jason Dupuy

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores how four modernist writers of the 1930s and 1940s—William Faulkner, Richard Wright, Delmore Schwartz, and Eudora Welty—used their works to present ways to resist and navigate what they present as the frequently reductive worldview offered by the culture industry. Faulkner tends to show the culture industry as selling easy answers that focus on the end result, which allows his characters to approach the culture industry with a sense of fatalism. To resist this, Faulkner stresses a step-by-step, complex dialectical understanding of the culture industry, one that shows the fissures in its seemingly straightforward narratives and allows the …


Upland Nesting Waterfowl Population Responses To Predator Reduction In North Dakota, Matthew R. Pieron Jan 2010

Upland Nesting Waterfowl Population Responses To Predator Reduction In North Dakota, Matthew R. Pieron

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Population growth for mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), and presumably other upland nesting ducks, in the Prairie Pothole Region is most sensitive to nest success, and nest success is most strongly influenced by predation. I evaluated the efficacy of reducing predator populations to improve nest success and increase local breeding populations of upland nesting ducks on township-sized (93.2 km2) management units in eastern North Dakota, USA, during 2005−2008. I also examined potential territorial limitations on local population growth for mallards. Trappers annually removed an average of 245 predators per trapped site. I monitored 7,489 nests on 7 trapped and 5 nontrapped sites, …


Sonata No.1 For Violin And Piano, Op. 80,By Sergei Prokofiev: A Guide To Interpretation, Boris Blagoev Jan 2010

Sonata No.1 For Violin And Piano, Op. 80,By Sergei Prokofiev: A Guide To Interpretation, Boris Blagoev

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sergei Prokofiev was an extremely prolific composer whose career brought him success throughout Europe and the U. S. as well as Russia and the Soviet Union. He wrote for nearly every genre, and his most popular works today include operas, ballets, symphonies, and concertos. As a pianist, most of the concertos and sonatas that Prokofiev wrote were for the piano. However, his contributions to the violin repertoire are significant. Prokofiev wrote two concertos and two sonatas for solo violin. Of these, Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano, Op. 80 is unique for many reasons. The piece took Prokofiev eight …


In Vitro And In Vivo Evaluation Of A Brucella Putative Hemagglutinin, Lauren E. Duhon Jan 2010

In Vitro And In Vivo Evaluation Of A Brucella Putative Hemagglutinin, Lauren E. Duhon

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Brucellosis, a zoonotic disease caused by Brucella spp., presents both health and economic difficulties for livestock, wildlife, and humans. While brucellosis is nearly eradicated in the United States, the disease remains detrimental in many countries worldwide. Attempts to produce a safe and effective small ruminant vaccine have been met with limited success. The current vaccine for bovine brucellosis in the United States is B. abortus RB51. This strain transiently colonizes the host and induces a cell-mediated immune response. Levels of protection have not been demonstrated in goats and thus it is considered a relatively poor caprine vaccine that probably does …


Modeling Pm Rotary-Linear Motors With Twin-Stator Using 3d Femm, Oleksandr Dobzhanskyi Jan 2010

Modeling Pm Rotary-Linear Motors With Twin-Stator Using 3d Femm, Oleksandr Dobzhanskyi

LSU Master's Theses

A rapid growth of automatization nowadays requires electric machines to be adjusted to any technological process. Therefore, a need in machines with two degrees of mechanical freedom (TDMF), which can operate rotationally and linearly, is relatively large. This thesis is directed on the design and study of performance of PM (permanent magnet) rotary-linear synchronous motors with twin-armature as a new type of electric machines which can perform linear, rotational and helical movements. Three stator versions are considered, namely: stator with rotary and linear armatures, two rotary armatures, and two linear armatures. The rotors have PMs skewed with respect to the …


Stochastic Trends In Crop Yield Density Estimation, David I. Maradiaga Jan 2010

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 …


Revitalizing The Suburban Dream: Disaster, Displacement And Resilience In Eastern Orleans Parish, Meredith Morgan Feike Jan 2010

Revitalizing The Suburban Dream: Disaster, Displacement And Resilience In Eastern Orleans Parish, Meredith Morgan Feike

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hurricane Katrina tested the disaster resiliency of communities throughout the city of New Orleans. More than four years after breaches in levees led to the flooding of one hundred forty square miles of the Crescent City, some residents are still struggling to reclaim their neighborhoods one block at a time. Eastern Orleans Parish is a portion of the local landscape whose long-term sustainability remains uncertain. Rebuilding is extremely slow with only a fraction of residents returning to the area. Development in New Orleans East began after World War II as a result of urban sprawl. Many New Orleanians desired a …


Ricci V. Destefano: A Masculinities Theory Analysis, Ann C. Mcginley Jan 2010

Ricci V. Destefano: A Masculinities Theory Analysis, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

This Article applies masculinity theory to explore the aspects Ricci v. Destefano and its political reverberations. Empirical evidence showed that virtually all written tests have a disparate impact on minorities, that a neighboring city had reached less discriminatory results using a different weighting system, and that other fire departments used assessment centers to judge firefighters' qualifications for promotions. While the black male and all female firefighters were made invisible by the case and the testimony, the fact that Ricci's and Vargas' testimony lionized a particularly traditional form of heterosexual masculinity was also invisible. While the command presence required of a …


Dynamic Trip Distribution Models For Hurricane Evacuation, Guangxiang Cheng Jan 2010

Dynamic Trip Distribution Models For Hurricane Evacuation, Guangxiang Cheng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The dissertation presents several methods to estimate time-dependent origin-destination (O-D) trip tables for hurricane evacuation using survey data from hurricane Floyd in South Carolina in 1999. A static disaggregate destination choice model in multinomial logit form was developed considering household characteristics, hurricane threats, and destination socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Models were developed for persons evacuating to friends or relatives, and hotels or motels separately. None of the household characteristics of evacuees were found to be significant in distinguishing destination choice but destination characteristics were. The model was tested by comparing the observed destination choices with predicted values via trip length …


Reliability And Validity Study Of The Motiviation For Fear (Motif) Survey, Marie S. Nebel-Schwalm Jan 2010

Reliability And Validity Study Of The Motiviation For Fear (Motif) Survey, Marie S. Nebel-Schwalm

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of this study was to determine psychometric properties of a newly created, 24-item functional measure of fear and anxiety for typically-developing adults (the Motivation for Fear; MOTIF). Participants initially included 1,277 college students ranging in age from 18-35. Participants were asked to complete the MOTIF, the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF), the Sensation Seeking Scale- Form V, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS). Analyses were conducted on those scoring above a minimum threshold on a well-normed measure of anxiety (the DASS). An exploratory factory analysis, using scree plot and parallel analysis, as well as oblique rotation was …


Effects Of Habitat Structural Complexity On Nekton Assemblages: Lab And Field Observations In Southern Louisiana, Austin T. Humphries Jan 2010

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 …


Community College Success: A Multi-Site Program Evaluation Of Postsecondary Career And Technical Education, Kimberly Tynes Jan 2010

Community College Success: A Multi-Site Program Evaluation Of Postsecondary Career And Technical Education, Kimberly Tynes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Postsecondary career and technical institutions are required to follow a set list of performance indicators in order to receive federal Carl Perkins funding (Perkins IV Accountability, 2009). Within those indicators includes measuring technical skills attainment, which the state of Mississippi chooses to utilize program-specific standardized assessments known as the MS- CPAS2 assessment. The purpose of this multi-site program evaluation was to determine which programs are meeting the assessment passing requirements and to determine how they are achieving success. The rationale for this study was to evaluate the components inherent in successful programs in order to aid other programs who may …


Conceivable Changes: Effectuating Infertile Couples' Emotional Ties To Frozen Embryos Through New Disposition Options, Jody L. Madeira Jan 2010

Conceivable Changes: Effectuating Infertile Couples' Emotional Ties To Frozen Embryos Through New Disposition Options, Jody L. Madeira

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.


The Ifc's New Africa, Latin America, And Caribbean Fund: Its Worrisome Start, And How To Fix It, Christiana Ochoa, Patrick J. Keenan Jan 2010

The Ifc's New Africa, Latin America, And Caribbean Fund: Its Worrisome Start, And How To Fix It, Christiana Ochoa, Patrick J. Keenan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In April 2010 the International Finance Corporation announced the creation of the African, Latin American, and Caribbean fund, a new co-investment vehicle funded largely with commitments from sovereign wealth and pension funds. The fund's objective was to draw on the IFC and the World Bank's strengths in emerging markets to identify and support enterprises that might not otherwise have come to the attention of large investors and thereby help strengthen the private sector and alleviate poverty in some of the world's poorest countries. Unfortunately the fund has, so far, proven a disappointment. It has invested only in large corporations that …


Reading Out Of Doors: How Nature Becomes Text And Vice-Versa, Richmond Minor Eustis Jan 2010

Reading Out Of Doors: How Nature Becomes Text And Vice-Versa, Richmond Minor Eustis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The tensions between city and country, the artificial and the natural, the real and the fake are at the heart of attempts to render nature in writing. In many such texts, nature—especially wilderness—is the realm of the real, authentic, and pure, while the city is the realm of the artificial and corrupt. This placement of value in nature, members of the critical theory camp tend to counter, is misguided. Any effort to render nature in text is by its “nature” artificial—far more about human values embedded in language itself than about some extra-textual world. With an approach derived from theorists …


Social Networking Tools In The Modern Era Of Human Rights Protection, Odessa Balumbu, Richard Fazio, Mera Geis, Michael Karsy Jan 2010

Social Networking Tools In The Modern Era Of Human Rights Protection, Odessa Balumbu, Richard Fazio, Mera Geis, Michael Karsy

Quill & Scope

Human rights are fundamental liberties that should be guaranteed to all human beings. These include things such as access to education and health care, food security, freedom from persecution and access to shelter, safety and security. Human rights promotion and international development have become popular philanthropic efforts and new technology is helping younger generations participate more easily. Whether through activism, fundraising or volunteering, there are many ways to make a difference. Pro- moting the awareness of and access to human rights is a job everyone can and should be a part of.


Planck Versus Poe: Scientific And Poetic Approaches, Anita Kelkar Jan 2010

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?


Nir Dyes For Bioimaging Applications, Jorge O. Escobedo, Oleksandr Rusin, Soojin Lim, Robert M. Strongin Jan 2010

Nir Dyes For Bioimaging Applications, Jorge O. Escobedo, Oleksandr Rusin, Soojin Lim, Robert M. Strongin

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fluorescent dyes based on small organic molecules that function in the near infra red (NIR) region are of great current interest in chemical biology. They allow for imaging with minimal autofluorescence from biological samples, reduced light scattering and high tissue penetration. Herein, examples of ongoing NIR fluorophore design strategies as well as their properties and anticipated applications relevant to the bioimaging are presented.


Negotiating Equitable Access To Influenza Vaccines: Global Health Diplomacy And The Controversies Surrounding Avian Influenza H5n1 And Pandemic Influenza H1n1, David P. Fidler Jan 2010

Negotiating Equitable Access To Influenza Vaccines: Global Health Diplomacy And The Controversies Surrounding Avian Influenza H5n1 And Pandemic Influenza H1n1, David P. Fidler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.


Other Tomorrows: Postcoloniality, Science Fiction And India, Suparno Banerjee Jan 2010

Other Tomorrows: Postcoloniality, Science Fiction And India, Suparno Banerjee

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation I argue that science fiction as a genre intervenes in the history-oriented discourse of postcolonial Anglophone Indian literature and refocuses attention on the nation’s future—its position in global politics, its shifting religious and social values, its rapid industrialization, the clash between orthodoxy and modernity, and ultimately the dream of a multicultural nation. Anglophone Indian science fiction also indicates India’s movement away from a nation trying to negotiate the stigma of colonialism to a nation emerging as a new world power. Thus, this genre reconstructs the Indian identity not only in the domestic sphere, but also in a …


Telemedicine Management Of Diabetics In An Underserved Community, J. Paul Nielsen, Pranav Mehta Jan 2010

Telemedicine Management Of Diabetics In An Underserved Community, J. Paul Nielsen, Pranav Mehta

Quill & Scope

Information technology via telemedicine offers the potential for cost-effective and active management of type 2 diabetes mellitus for people in high-risk underserved communities such as Harlem, NY and the Bronx, NY. Telemedicine is the use of telecommunications technology for medical diagnostic, monitor- ing, and therapeutic purposes to communicate information instantaneously from one location to another, such as from a patients’ home to a hospital. We compared the baseline Hemoglobin A1C levels to the levels recorded after the patient was enrolled in the Housecalls telemedicine program for at least 3 months. The initial results indicate that the Housecalls program is effective …


Multi-Scale Habitat Associations Of Shorebirds During Spring Migration In Southwestern Louisiana Rice Fields, Rachel K. Villani Jan 2010

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 …


Antidepressants Misrepresented, Steve Rockoff Jan 2010

Antidepressants Misrepresented, Steve Rockoff

Quill & Scope

In a January 2010 study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, investigators determined that for patients who had less than “very severe depression”, antidepressants have no measurable effect on de- pressive symptoms when compared to placebo. This resounding statement was widely circulated by every major national media outlet. If true, it has powerful implications for the millions of Americans who are currently prescribed antidepressants. The commentary at hand highlights several glaring flaws in the design and conclusions of these researchers’ meta-analysis, in an attempt to portray their findings in a less alarming and more realistic light.