Digital Commons Network^™

Crisis Management In Organizations: An Exploratory Study Of Factors That Affect Strategy Formation And Selection, Tulika Sinha

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT This study investigated factors that influence the strategic decision-making process, specifically, strategy formation and selection during a crisis. It accomplished this by integrating theoretical concepts from both strategic management and crisis communication literature. Key organizational, environmental, and management factors--comprehensiveness, formalization, uncertainty, politicization, external corporate environment, crisis responsibility, impact of the crisis, stakeholder interests, and top management characteristics --were tested for their role in the strategy formation and selection process using regression analysis. This study used both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The quantitative aspect of the research involved conducting online surveys of senior management within the chemical industry and …

Decoupling User Interface Design Using Libraries Of Reusable Components, Rajesh Sankaran

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The integration of electronic and mechanical hardware, software and interaction design presents a challenging design space for researchers developing physical user interfaces and interactive artifacts. Currently in the academic research community, physical user interfaces and interactive artifacts are predominantly designed and prototyped either as one-off instances from the ground up, or using functionally rich hardware toolkits and prototyping systems. During this prototyping phase, undertaking an integral design of the interface or interactive artifact’s electronic hardware is frequently constraining due to the tight couplings between the different design realms and the typical need for iterations as the design matures. Several current …

Structure-Function Relationships In Poly(3-Hexylthiophene)S Formed Via Manipulation Of Oxidative Coupling Routes, Warren James Solfiell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This investigation focused on the analytical characterization of poly(3-hexylthiophene), a heterocyclic conducting polymer system, with an overall objective of elucidating the effects that the experimental conditions during chemical oxidation using iron(III) chloride as an oxidant impart on the structure of the resulting polymers. Poly(3-alkylthiophene)s are extensively studied materials due to their high electrical conductivities and unique optical properties that make them extremely valuable for use in contemporary technological applications and devices. Specifically, the aim of this research was to determine the dependence of structural characteristics, such as endgroups, molecular weights, and regioregularities, on the solvent employed for the reaction and …

Quantitative Mapping Of Cyanobacterial Blooms Using Oceansat-1 Ocm Satellite Data, Padmanava Dash

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cyanobacteria represent a major harmful algal group in fresh to brackish water environments. Lac des Allemands, a freshwater lake of 49 km² southwest of New Orleans, Louisiana, provides a natural laboratory for remote characterization of cyanobacteria blooms because of their seasonal occurrence. This dissertation makes a contribution to research methodology pertaining to atmospheric correction of satellite data and development of remote sensing algorithms to quantify cyanobacterial pigments. The Ocean Color Monitor (OCM) sensor provides radiance measurements similar to Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) but with higher spatial resolution. However, OCM does not have a standard atmospheric correction procedure and …

Examining Teen Girls' Fashion Behavior In The Virtual And The Real World: An Exploratory Study, Caroline Makena Kobia

LSU Master's Theses

Over the past few years, changes in technology, especially the emergence of virtual worlds, have impacted the landscape of doing business. Many industries, such as retailing and fashion industries have recognized the e-commerce potentials and have engaged in setting up strategic ventures in the virtual worlds to develop products and/or services that are geared towards meeting consumer needs. Previous research has examined consumers’ adoption of innovative products, but there is no known study that has examined consumers’ adoption of virtual fashion. Therefore, the purpose of the current study is to shed some light on understanding consumer adoption of virtual fashion. …

Biochemical And Genetic Insights Into Asukamycin Biosynthesis, Zhe Rui

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Asukamycin, a member of the manumycin family metabolites, is an antimicrobial and potential antitumor agent isolated from Streptomyces nodosus subsp. asukaensis. The entire asukamycin biosynthetic gene cluster was cloned, assembled and expressed heterologously in Streptomyces lividans. Bioinformatic analysis and mutagenesis studies elucidated the biosynthetic pathway at the genetic and biochemical level. Four gene sets, asuA-D, govern the formation and assembly of the asukamycin building blocks, a 3-amino-4-hydroxybenzoic acid (3,4-AHBA) core component, a cyclohexane ring, two triene polyketide chains and a 2-amino-3-hydroxycyclopent-2-enone (C5N) moiety to form the intermediate protoasukamycin. AsuE1 and AsuE2 catalyze the conversion of protoasukamycin to 4-hydroxyprotoasukamycin, which is …

Contingent Constellations: Frederick Douglass And The Fact Freedom, Tomohiro Hori

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Reading the celebrated Narrative (1845) of Frederick Douglass (1817-95) as well as his second autobiography My Bondage and My Freedom (1855) alongside the theories of freedom including Immanuel Kant’s and G. W. F. Hegel’s among others, this dissertation examines the process through which the young American slave Douglass discovers the idea of freedom and turns it into the primary object of his pursuit to the point that he stakes his life in his famed battle with the overseer Edward Covey. The experience of hearing other slaves’ voices—such as Aunt Hester’s cries and slave songs—opens his eyes to the darkest reality …

Pharmacological And Non-Pharmacological Approaches To Prevent Hypertension-Induced Renal Disease In The Spontaneously Hypertensive Rate, Carrie Marie Elks

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hypertension affects 50 million Americans and remains the second leading cause of renal failure in the United States. Current pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches to treat hypertension have proven effective, but the complexities of the disease and its renal effects warrant the need for new treatments. The hypothesis of this dissertation was that pharmacological or non-pharmacological approaches to reducing inflammation and oxidative stress would prevent hypertension-induced renal injury in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). In the first study, we blocked the inflammatory transcription factor, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-ĸB), with pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate in the SHR kidney. In treated SHR, blood pressure decreased, …

Transatlantic Baggage: Expatriate Paris, Modernism, And The Apprenticeship Of Ernest Hemingway, Patrick Blair Bonds

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

“Transatlantic Baggage: Expatriate Paris, Modernism, and the Apprenticeship of Ernest Hemingway” argues that Hemingway’s expatriation and apprenticeship in modernist Paris from 1921-1925 provided an important impetus for his explorations in gender alterity. The project focuses on a critical-biographical rethinking of Hemingway’s literary development, integrating previous Hemingway biography and gender studies scholarship with new revelations from the manuscript of the forthcoming first two volumes of the Cambridge Edition of the Letters of Ernest Hemingway. An updated study of the author’s literary formation is long overdue; Charles Fenton’s The Apprenticeship of Ernest Hemingway: The Early Years (1954), for example, has served for …

Construct Validity Of A Laboratory Aggression Paradigm: A Multitrait-Multimethod Approach, Joshua Parker Phillips

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

There continues to be doubt regarding the validity of laboratory aggression paradigms. This paper provides an investigation of the construct validity of one prominent aggression task, the Taylor Aggression Paradigm (TAP), within a Multitrait Multimethod Matrix (MTMM) methodology. Participants consisted of 151 male undergraduate psychology students with a median age of 19 years old (M=19.45, SD = 2.03). Participants completed self-report and behavioral measures of aggression, impulsivity, and pro-social behavior which were analyzed using a Correlated Trait – Correlated Method Confirmatory Factor Analysis model. Results supported the construct validity of the MTMM model and the TAP. This study …

Enumerate / Construct, Andrew Gilliatt

LSU Master's Theses

I am fascinated how we define and personalize ourselves through the objects we own and accumulate. It is my goal to make a collection of utilitarian pottery forms that through the use of color, form, and pattern, are cohesive in their variety, and are accessible as objects for daily use.

The Biological Activity Of Rare Carbohydrates And Cyclitols In Coptotermes Formosanus, Lucas James Veillon

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In the interest of developing environmentally friendly interventions to infestations by Formosan subterranean termites, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki, a number of carbohydrates were tested for effects on termites and symbionts. Among these, the D-galactose analog, 2-deoxy-D-galactose, myo-inositol and its fully phosphorylated derivative, phytate, showed promise as potential control chemicals. Feeding bioassays with 20 termite workers, where compounds were applied (concentrations ranged from 160.2-1281.7 µg/mm3) to 5 cm filter paper in water, indicated all three compounds significantly impact termite mortality in a dose dependent fashion over a 2 wk period. Interestingly, when myo-inositol was administered to termites in agar (40 mg/mL), in …

Understanding The Selective Detection Of Homocysteine And Studies Toward The Synthesis Of Vinigrol, Dong Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The first part of the work is dedicated to the selective detection of Homocysteine (Hcy). In order to better understand this colorimetric detection method, a thermodynamic model for the pH dependence of the effective reduction potential of Hcy derived á-carbon radicals has been proposed. And using viologen indicators of varying reduction potentials, we demonstrate that colorimetric changes occur at experimental pH values consistent with the model. The one-carbon bridge stereochemistry of bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane framework is critical to make the third ring of the tricyclic precursor of vinigrol. We studied this stereochemistry carefully and found that the major diastereomer formed from Robinson …

Boundaries And Breaches: Complexities And Strategies Down On The Farm, Debra S. Kershaw

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Employing a wide range of theoretical and methodological tools, practitioners within an array of disciplines have attempted to gain new understanding about the structural changes in the agricultural system in the United States and around the world. From Agricultural Economists to Sociologists, quantitative and qualitative research has attempted to shed light on structural change in agriculture and its implications for the real lives of farmers, their families, and consumers of their goods. The current research adopts a comparative-historical approach to examining the particular affects of structural change in six counties in central Nebraska. The general theoretical frame on which this …

T-Phylloplanin And Cis-Abienol, Two Natural Products From Tobacco Have Broad Spectrum, Anti-Fungal Activities, Brian Christopher King

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Tobacco phylloplanins (T-phylloplanin) are a group of closely-related glycoproteins that are formed and disposed at the interface between the plant aerial surface (the phylloplane) and the atmosphere. They are synthesized in short procumbent trichomes and are secreted to aerial surfaces where they are thought to serve the plant as a first line of defense against fungal pathogens. Here it is shown using in vitro and in planta assays that tobacco and sunflower phylloplanins have broad-spectrum antifungal activities against spores - and also hyphae for two species - of several true fungi. Field tests show that T-phylloplanin reduces diseases caused by …

The Creation Of "Echolalia: A Conversation" A Production Thesis In Acting, Olga Michele Guidry

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis, submitted to the Graduate School of Louisiana State University as partial requirement for graduation with the Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre, follows the creation of a solo performance piece by Michele Guidry, called “Echolalia: A Conversation.” This solo project is an exploration of communication through the experience of autism from the perspective of parents, siblings, and therapists of children with autism, and the children themselves. The thesis includes topics of inspiration for creating this solo performance piece, interviews with experts and theatre artists who have personal experience with autism, a copy of the script with explanation …

Performing Selfhoods In U.S. Rituals Of Private And Public Spheres, Linda A. Shkreli

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, I explore four events to learn the embedded instructions of selfhood performatives in each case and how these performatives code public and private space and experience. The selected events offer a different and explicit example of private and public modes of authority and access – e.g., in the public museum experience of an exhibit by photographer Taryn Simon, in the gift of a ticket to Burning Man, womyn only at MichFest, and insider exclusivity at Roden Crater. While each event offered a different understanding of selfhood as it applied to the participant, each confirmed a selfhood performative …

Bio-Implantable Microdevices And Structures For Functional Electrical Stimulation Applications, Naga Srinivas Korivi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation describes the development of microstructures and devices for applications in functional electrical stimulation. A nerve cuff electrode design has been developed for applications in neural electrical stimulation and recording, which addresses limitations with existing cuff electrodes. The developed clip-on micro-cuff electrode design consists of a naturally closed cuff with inner diameter in the micro-scale or above. A novel pinch-hinge feature allows a user to easily open the cuff and place it on target nerve tissue for stimulation or recording purposes. Upon release of the pinch-hinge, the cuff assumes its normally closed nature. The device conducts and reads electrical …

Application Of Scanning Probe Microscopy For New Physical Measurements And Studies Of Surface Chemical Reactions Of Materials At The Molecular Level, Stephanie Loletha Daniels

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) provides unique capabilities for surface visualization and measurements that reach atomic and molecular dimensions. My research focus is directed toward applying and developing new measurements for analytical and surface chemistry with SPM. Two distinct goals based on studies with atomic force microscopy (AFM) will be described within this dissertation. The primary goal was to develop and apply a new AFM imaging mode for ultrasensitive measurements of the superparamagnetic properties of proteins. Magnetic sample modulation (MSM)-AFM, has capabilities to investigate and map the magnetic response of nanomaterials with unprecedented spatial resolution. The second goal was to apply …

Radical Realms: A Materialist Theory Of Fantasy Literature, Rich Paul Cooper

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation offers a materialist theory of fantasy as the literature of estranged cognition, an entirely novel perspective that challenges all of the existing criticism on fantasy literature by proposing an outlook that emphasizes not impossibility, but infinite possibility. During the late-Victorian period, the form of the fairy tale shifted from the literary fairy tale to ‘fantasy.’ Three formal characteristics reveal that fantasy literature derives from the fairy tale: an indication, thematically or formally, that another dimension has been entered; the making and remaking of genres—stories—in dialectically overdetermined configurations; and a textual conflation between physics and ethics that results in …

Automated Semantic Understanding Of Human Emotions In Writing And Speech, Ricardo A. Calix

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Affective Human Computer Interaction (A-HCI) will be critical for the success of new technologies that will prevalent in the 21st century. If cell phones and the internet are any indication, there will be continued rapid development of automated assistive systems that help humans to live better, more productive lives. These will not be just passive systems such as cell phones, but active assistive systems like robot aides in use in hospitals, homes, entertainment room, office, and other work environments. Such systems will need to be able to properly deduce human emotional state before they determine how to best interact with …

Eight Is Not Enough: A Historical, Cultural, And Philosophical Analysis Of The Flash Mob, Rebecca Walker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In 2003, writer and cultural critic Bill Wasik stunned the world with his newest experiment, the MOB Project, which flooded the streets of New York City with strange performances quickly labeled “flash mobs” by participants and local media. With the goal of understanding the communicative purpose and function of these new performance events, this project analyzes the flash mob through the lenses of performance studies, rhetorical studies, cultural studies, and continental philosophy. Drawing from genealogical research, rhetorical analyses, and critical philosophy, I argue the flash mob is a new form of performance serving as a locus of community, creativity, and …

What Is The Importance Of Oil And Gas Platforms In The Community Structure And Diet Of Benthic And Demersal Communities In The Gulf Of Mexico?, Sara Terrebonne Daigle

LSU Master's Theses

Reef-dependent and reef-associated communities found on oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico occur in high densities and are species rich. Platforms may impact nearby communities through the introduction of benthic primary producers and by altering biological and environmental factors that may create influential gradients associated with these structures. To quantify the presence and effective distance exerted by such gradients, reef-dependent and reef-associated communities were analyzed in two ways: (1) community patterns of abundance and diversity were compared near and far from platforms; and (2) a food-web tracer was used to indentify basal resources from platforms used by …

The Role Of Motivation And Physical Activity In A Weight Loss Program, Ellen Kane Stevens

LSU Master's Theses

Every year thousands of overweight and obese people in the United States join weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers in an effort to become healthier and feel more attractive. Weight Watchers has increased its program focus on physical activity as a critical part of weight loss. Initiating a consistent physical activity routine, however, is generally one of the last behavior changes made by program members, despite its proven role in weight loss maintenance. Using self-determination theory as a framework, the purpose of this study was to examine how perceptions of fulfillment of three psychological needs (i.e. competence, autonomy, and …

Effect Of Azithromycin On Macrophage Phenotype During Pulmonary Infections And Cystic Fibrosis, Theodore James Cory

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Azithromycin improves clinical outcomes in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), specifically in patients infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Azithromycin shifts macrophage programming away from a pro-inflammatory classical (M1) phenotype, and towards an anti-inflammatory alternative (M2) phenotype; however, little is known about this mechanism, nor of its impact upon immune response to pulmonary infection. We set out to determine the mechanism by which azithromycin is able to alter macrophage phenotype, and assess the effect of azithromycin induced macrophage polarization on inflammation during pulmonary infections.

Utilizing macrophage cell culture, we found that azithromycin increased IKKβ, a signaling molecule in the NFκB pathway, which …

Population-Level Responses Of The Mummichog, Fundulus Heteroclitus, To Chronic Nutrient Enrichment In A New England Salt Marsh, Konner Chadwick Lockfield

LSU Master's Theses

Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) responses to chronic whole-ecosystem nutrient enrichment were examined near Plum Island Sound, Massachusetts. Dissolved fertilizer was released into replicate salt marsh creeks over 6 growing seasons to simulate agricultural run-off (bottom-up effects). Density, biomass, secondary production, growth rate, and condition factor were estimated in fertilized and reference creeks. Mummichog densities were also used to determine if mummichog growth or health varied with density. Over 7,600 mummichogs were marked and released into the treatment and control areas to measure responses. Over 900 mummichogs were recovered. Mummichog abundance was higher (p = 0.055) in nutrient-enriched creeks than reference creeks …

Resistant Starch In The Diet Of Rodents Promotes An Increase In Fermentation And A Reduction In Body Fat In An Animal Model Of Dietary Obesity, Jason Andrew Charrier

LSU Master's Theses

In previous studies, in has been observed that the addition of resistant starch (RS) in the diet of rodents, a non-digestible fermentable fiber, promotes increases in markers of fermentation and improvements in body weight and body fat analysis when incorporated into low to moderate fat diets. This study investigated whether the same beneficial effects observed with RS addition in these lower fat diets could be obtained in a high fat diet, and if the type of fatty acid consumed in the diet makes a difference in markers of fermentation and body fat. Sprague Dawley rats (n=96) were fed as weight …

A General Approach For Vitrification Of Fish Sperm, Rafael Cuevas Uribe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this project was to develop streamlined protocols that could be integrated into a standardized approach for vitrification of germplasm for all aquatic species. Vitrification (freezing by formation of “glass” rather than crystalline ice) is simple, fast, inexpensive, can be potentially used to preserve samples in the field, and offers new options for germplasm management especially appropriate for small fishes. Sperm were studied from freshwater fish (channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus), viviparous freshwater fish (green swordtail Xiphophorus hellerii), and marine fishes (spotted seatrout Cynoscion nebulosus, red snapper Lutjanus campechanus, red drum Sciaenops ocellatus, and southern flounder Paralichthys lethostigma). To …

The Role Of Inflammatory Molecules In Hypertension, Jeffrey Paul Cardinale

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hypertension is a serious condition with high morbidity and mortality rates, as well as a major predisposing factor for multiple cardiovascular and renal diseases. Angiotensin II (Ang II) of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays a pivotal role in propagating the hypertensive response. Moreover, hypertension is considered a chronic low-grade inflammatory condition that intimately involves the actions of proinflammatory cytokines (PICs) such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF). Recent evidence highlights the role that inflammation, specifically TNF, plays in hypertension and in regulating the RAS, but the understanding as to how inflammation is regulated following Ang II or TNF activation, as well …

A Matter Of Time, Rebecca Kreisler

LSU Master's Theses

We frame our experiences as narratives, and associate the narrative with the book. My work takes the form of an immersive installation of printed, paper polyhedrons that act for me as non-traditional book structures. The planes of the polyhedrons function as pages without prescribing a certain order of events. The focus has been to blur the linear narrative into a body of visual work that represents my particular human experience, one full of memories and dreams, contradictions and juxtapositions, chaos and calm. What began as an objective examination of concepts of time in physics, philosophy, and psychology has developed into …