Digital Commons Network^™

Using Behavior Screening Data To Predict Scores On Statewide Assessments, Jeffrey Steven Chenier

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Federal and state initiatives (No Child Left Behind, 2001) require schools and districts to set high standards for student growth and achievement. Currently, student growth and progress are measured in Louisiana via statewide achievement tests. In 4th and 8th grades these assessments are considered to be ‘high-stakes’, as promotion and retention decisions are made based on how well students perform on these assessments. Making day-to-day decisions based on one assessment per year is not best practice (Jenkins, Deno, & Markin, 1979); therefore, screening instruments known as curriculum based measures (CBMs) were devised and tailored for school-based implementation. CBMs of academic …

Urban Population Density And Environmental Quality In Port-Au-Prince, Haiti: A Geo-Statistical Analysis, Myrtho Joseph

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation revolves around three issues on the urban area of Port-au-Prince, Haiti: the population distribution pattern, its estimation from remote sensing images, and its relationship with environmental quality. It follows a three-paper format. Paper 1 examines the population density pattern by the monocentric and polycentric models, based on the 2003 census data. The regression results show a poor fitting power of monocentric functions, and improved but less than satisfactory R2 by polycentric functions. A five-sector conceptual model is proposed to capture the urban structure shaped by the absence or lack of institutional enforcement of land use regulations and urban …

Performance, Preference, Promotion: Political Mobility Of Chinese Regional Leaders, Liang Qiao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As a study exclusively on the political elites, the dissertation studies the Chinese regional leaders and their political career mobility controlled by the central government from 1949 to 2010. The Chinese Communist Party controls its regional leaders by controlling their career movement (political mobility). This study explains why some regional leaders were promoted while some others were demoted or dismissed while most of them shared similar personal background and career experience. By providing empirical evidence with quantitative analysis, this study shows that in post-Deng Chinese politics (1997-2010) there are certain patterns and manipulated by the CCP center in demoting and …

Computational Techniques To Illuminate Secrets Of The Monoamine Transporters, Bonnie A. Merchant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The solute carrier family regulates the flow of various substances such as drugs, amino acids, sugars and inorganic ions across the cell membrane. In particular, the monoamine transporters (MATs) are responsible for the regulation of synaptic neurotransmitter levels. Their structures and conformational rearrangements associated with transport remain unsolved. We employed novel computational techniques to identify the binding pocket of cocaine in the dopamine transporter (DAT) and two intracellular pathways for substrate egress in LeuT and DAT. We review possible coarse grained molecular dynamics techniques to extend the temporal scale accessible in simulations of the MATs. Finally, we present the first …

Graduate Recital, Piano, Josiane Merlino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mozart composed his D Major Sonata, K. 311 in 1777 when he was twenty-one years old. He seemed to have hit his stride as a composer of keyboard sonatas, assimilating into this piece artistically fulfilling juxtapositions of brilliant virtuosity and subdued lyricism, humor and heartfelt expression. The first movement begins in a spirited manner, then gives way to a lyrical second theme. As the movement draws to a close in pure joy, the contrast of the pleasant and soothing second movement is all the more striking—Mozart's niche as an opera composer proves evident by the beautiful singing melodic line. The …

Graduate Recital, Piano, Benjamin Murray

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My recital will feature jazz music from different decades in the 20th century. The program will feature well known jazz standard tunes from influential artists such as John Coltrane, Joe Henderson, Miles Davis, Steve Swallow, and others. The program will include both solo jazz arrangements for piano such as ‘Alone Together', ‘Quiet Now', and ‘Falling Grace' as well as jazz combo arrangements featuring drums, bass, and trumpet. The jazz music will include different styles of jazz such as ‘swing', ‘modal', and ‘bebop'. In doing so, this will allow me to demonstrate a variety of ways to play and improvise over …

Integrated Marketing Communication (Imc) And Ethnic Target Marketing: A Communitarian Ethical Framework In Action, Denise Christine Murphy Gerber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research project will be designed such that the philosophical metaphors of community, culture and responsibility will be analyzed as they pertain to integrated marketing research. These metaphors will then be placed on top of a theoretical foundation based in communitarian ethics in order to provide a more culturally relevant framework for marketing to United States Hispanics. Lastly, a pedagogy for teaching this framework will be included as an application of the theory.

Specifically, in the introduction, the topic, research questions, arguments and thesis will be introduced. Introductory observations will be made on the size and importance of the Hispanic …

The Impact Of The Symphonological Approach To Ethical Decision Making On Advanced Level Nursing Students, Megan Ann Mraz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Problem: The literature revealed two major gaps; the first gap is the lack of current knowledge about ethical decision-making abilities of the advanced level nurse. A second gap is the need to investigate specific models and theories to support the profession of nursing in making ethical decisions.

Purpose: The purpose was to explore the following research questions: What is the effect of a Symphonology-based educational intervention on the ethical decision-making performance of advanced level nursing students, as measured by the JAND? What is the effect of a Symphonology-based educational intervention on the ethical decision-making performance of advanced level nursing students, …

The Effect Of Caffeine And Choline On Short-Term Memory, Natasha Nagrecha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to determine whether caffeine combined with choline could improve short-term memory in healthy adults. The study tested the effect of choline (2 gm) alone and in combination with several concentrations of caffeine (25 mg, 50mg and 100mg) on short-term verbal and visual memory and attention. The Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning-2 was utilized. Choline 2 gm + caffeine 25 mg group showed significantly (p<0.05) higher overall memory performance whereas memory performance in the choline 2 gm + caffeine 50 mg group was significantly impaired compared to placebo. The data suggest that specific combinations of caffeine and choline can either facilitate or impair short-term memory in adults with normal cognitive function. Future studies of caffeine and choline combinations will test memory performance in subjects with memory impairment.

The Spirit As The Lord And The Giver Of Life: Recovering Relational Pneumatology And Its Significance For Being Church In Postcolonial Nigeria, Okechukwu Njoku

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to recover the relational quality of the Holy Spirit who is the Lord and the Giver of life as enshrined in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (381). Neo-Scholastic theology had utilized the conceptual categories of Aristotelian metaphysics with its orientation to foundationalism and immobility in a manner destructive of difference, plurality, and the relational language of the Spirit as witnessed in the Bible. One of the upshots became the totalizing bent of Western epistemology which eventually found concretion in colonialism and the slavery of Africans among others. This dissertation utilizes the category of "relationality," a core tenet of West …

A Phenomenological-Hermeneutic Study Of Adept Practitioners' Experiences Of Focusing, Sarah Nokes-Malach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study presents a qualitative analysis of six accounts of focusing, a method of embodied reflection. Six expert practitioners were interviewed, and each participant`s account was brought under two rounds of analysis. First, a modified descriptive phenomenological analysis was performed on a portion of the interview in which the participant described a particular focusing experience. This was followed by an interpretive phenomenological analysis of the participant`s interview as a whole. Analyses resulted in the identification of explicit and implicit themes that were constitutive of focusing experiences across participants. Several themes that were identified include: the importance of social support and …

Computational Investigation Of The Mechanism Of N5-Carboxyaminoimidazole Ribonculeotide Synthetase, Venkata Pakkala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

N5-CAIR synthetase catalyzes the conversion of 5-amino-imidazole ribonucleotide (AIR), Mg2ATP, and bicarbonate into N5-CAIR, Mg2ADP, and inorganic phosphate. DFT and ONIOM QM/MM computations revealed that the first step in the reaction mechanism of N5-CAIR synthetase involves the formation of dianionic carboxyphosphate (CP) from the attack of bicarbonate on the γ- phosphate of Mg2ATP, through an SN2 type transition structure. Properties of CP were never reported, as this compound is extremely unstable (t1/2 of 70 ms). Therefore, high level ab inito (MP2 and CCSD(T)), and DFT (B3LYP, BB1K, M05-2X, M06-2X and MPW1K) methods were used to investigate the structure and energetics …

The Effects Of Total Dissolved Solids On Locomotory Behavior And Body Weight Of Streamside Salamanders, And A Baseline Survey Of Salamander Diversity And Abundance, Meghan Pascuzzi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increased levels of total dissolved solids (TDS) in stream habitats are of concern due to salinity as well as the presence of potentially toxic ions. Natural gas drilling in the Marcellus shale could increase TDS in nearby streams. This thesis investigated the effects of water with elevated TDS on the locomotory activity and body weight of the streamside salamander Desmognathus ochrophaeus. Salamanders were exposed to water collected from streams in southwest Pennsylvania with elevated TDS as well as synthetic ion solutions that mimicked the ionic composition found in streams. Chronic, but not acute exposure to solutions of 1000 ppm TDS …

Graduate Recital, Voice, Elizabeth Patterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Entitled "You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman: Pastoral Reflections by Passionate Women," this recital seeks to sing the unsung. The program features music of forgotten composers, forgotten cultures, and especially of forgotten women. The recital speaks on behalf of these composers through pastoral themes. The women of these texts express love and loss through communion with nature. They see their hearts' reflections in the sun and the moon, the flowers, the birds, and the seasons. These women articulate their emotions and explore their identities within a pastoral framework.

Decolonizing Psychic Space: Remembering The Indigenous Psychology Movement In Taiwan, Rong-Bang Peng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project is part of the historical struggle of the indigenous psychology movement in Taiwan. It turns a critical gaze back upon the movement itself in order to decolonize it from colonial cultural imaginary. The contribution of this project is two-fold. First, on the theoretical level, it introduces a critical perspective into the growing body of indigenous psychological research. The indigenous psychology movement risks repeating the vicious cycle of colonization and re-colonization without critically looking back at its own historical trajectory. Second, on the level of intervention, writing the history of the indigenous psychology movement will make this project a …

Metalated Nitriles: Nmr And Cyclization Analysis, Matthew Thomas Purzycki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The ultimate goal of organic chemistry is understanding the processes involved in carbon-carbon bond formation. Metalated nitriles are perfectly suited for the regio- and stereospecific creation of sterically congested quaternary centers. These traits are dependent on the metal and the metal's preference for coordination to either the nitrile nitrogen lone pair of electrons or the electron pair of the "anionic" carbon bearing the nitrile. This thesis outlines the structural differences in solution between lithiated, cuprated, and magnesiated nitriles, providing the first such study of magnesiated nitriles. Nuclear magnetic resonance, which has become a powerful tool for a wide variety of …

Graduate Recital, Clarinet, Paul Quinn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This recital seeks to explore the various ways in which Eastern-European composers have utilized traditional folk-music as inspiration for their works. The programing focuses on several techniques used as a means for synthesizing folk-songs and art-music, ranging from setting preexisting melodies to accompaniment, to manipulating the idiomatic musical and linguistic features of folk-music as the basis for one's musical language. In addition, this recital reveals the wide range of styles and genres, including neoclassicism, expressionism, and polytonality, that can be derived from Eastern-European folk-songs. In this regard, the program itself highlights the relevance of folk-music as a viable source of …

Career And Technical Education In The Crossroads Of Change, Janice Quailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Career and technical education (CTE) is faced with numerous forces that may impact its future. A variety of forces directly or indirectly affect CTE, ranging from the persisting stigma or negative image of career and technical education, the schools' curricular structure and requirements, along with federal laws such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Perkins. Federal laws guide administrators' decisions at the local level that affect CTE. With NCLB goals for all students to improve academic achievement, reach high standards, and graduate from high school (HS), much pressure is placed on schools. NCLB emphasizes increased academic rigor and progress …

Health Communication: Toward A Phenomenological Perspective, Bonnie Reese

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines implications for health communication as a rhetorical and philosophical practice by focusing on the various topics in the health communication field today, identifying areas that have been examined qualitatively and/or phenomenologically and hermeneutically. Currently, health communication scholarship tends toward qualitative and quantitative research from the methodological perspective of social science. Bringing these approaches into conversation with current phenomenological studies in the health care field, particularly those in the area of nursing, offers the potential to transform health communication scholarship, giving birth to a rhetorically and philosophically grounded praxis in this field.

The Lady Showroom: Optical Representations In The Works Of Joanna Baillie And Louisa Stuart Costello, Katherine Richards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Much women's writing in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries attempts to depict other women visually through textual description, use of optical devices, and discussion of bodies and appearances. This thesis argues that they were trying to see and show other women as a way of understanding themselves and each other by examining intersections between visual culture and text through mirrors, miniatures, and portraits. This thesis demonstrates how these works reflect larger shifts in the optical unconscious of the eighteenth century. I focus on works by Joanna Baillie and Louisa Stuart Costello, who theorize the viewing process in their …

The Role Of Forensic Nurses In Communities Experiencing Environmental Contamination, Wendy Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to provide an understanding of the self-perceived physiological and psychosocial needs of persons living in communities which have been exposed to environmental contamination, and to provide an understanding of how forensic nurses can be utilized in these communities.

Background

This study was conducted to provide an opportunity for forensic nurses to advance their profession by finding ways that they can move beyond their traditional roles. Dixon and Dixon's Integrative Environmental Health Model was the theoretical framework.

Research Design

This cross-sectional triangulated study used quantitative and qualitative methods. The Community Environmental Health and Rights …

The Effect Of Resveratrol On Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Dopaminergic Deficits And Bv-2 Cell Activation, Katherine Marie Rose

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neuroinflammation is a common pathology found in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). PD involves a loss of dopamine (DA) neurons and an increase in activated microglia with subsequent proinflammatory cytokine secretion in the substantia nigra (SN) and striatum. A loss of DA neurons is found in the offspring of animals exposed prenatally to the bacteriotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (Ling et al., 2002). Activation of the extracellular regulated kinases, ERK1/2 and ERK5, the downstream targets in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway, has been shown to be involved in the dysregulation of the inflammatory process (Cuschieri and Maier, 2005). Consequently, LPS-induced activation …

A Baseline Study Of Chemical Parameters And Microbial Diversity Of Two Streams In The Ten Mile Creek Watershed In Southwestern Pennsylvania, Jennifer Rutter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale becomes increasingly prevalent, both human safety and environmental concerns have arisen. The aim of this study was to assemble an environmental baseline to make an accurate assessment of its possible impacts. Water samples and chemical parameters were collected from Bates Fork, a stream with Marcellus Shale drilling activity and Fonner Run, a sister stream with no drilling activity, on a monthly basis beginning in the summer of 2010. Bacterial DNA was also extracted from water collected at each site and then amplified using primers for the variable ribosomal internal transcribed spacer …

Two Sides Of The Ancient Vase: Eastern And Western Principles In The Works Of Keiko Abe, Christopher K. Hoefer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Keiko Abe is recognized as one of the leading marimba virtuosos of the Twentieth century. As a composer, she has been writing for solo marimba since the early 1960s and continues composing for the medium today. Her music became popular with Western percussionists after the publishing of Works for Marimba in 1987. This was her first compilation of works for the five-octave marimba. These pieces have become a constant source of repertoire for collegiate and professional performers. Despite Abe’s popularity and influence, little research has examined her compositions. This document features analysis and background of Abe and her music and …

Teacher-Child Interaction Therapy: Efficacy With A Clinical Preschool Population, Kristen Friedrich Schaffner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher-Child Interaction Therapy (TCIT), which is an adaptation of the empirically-based treatment of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), addresses the needs of children and teachers through increasing positive teacher-child interactions while educating teachers on effective discipline techniques. The theoretical and empirical basis for PCIT provides the foundation for the appropriate and effective application of the adaptation of this treatment model for use with teachers.

The efficacy of Teacher-Child Interaction Therapy (TCIT) with a clinical preschool population was evaluated through a single subject A-B design conducted across subjects. The current study examined the impact of the intervention, TCIT, on child behavior, teacher …

An Evaluation Of The Perceptions Of Multicultural Knowledge And Multicultural Awareness Between Graduating Counselor Education Students With Beginning Counselor Education Students Who Have Recently Completed A Course In Multicultural Issues And Strategies In Counseling, Tad P Santos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This was a study of student perceptions and retention of multicultural counseling awareness and knowledge. All of the graduate students of a medium sized, private university in Pennsylvania, in the counselor education program (included marriage and family, school counseling, and community counseling tracks) were required to take the Multicultural Issues and Strategies in Counseling course. This study examined whether or not graduate students retain multicultural counseling knowledge and awareness from the completion of a beginning course in multicultural counseling through to graduation. This investigator hoped to contribute to the field of counselor education by examining if multicultural counseling competencies are …

Examining Relational Aggression And Conflict Resolution Skills In Overtly Aggressive Non-Caucasian Females, Jessica R Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, the researcher sought to examine the differences in relational and social aggression for a non-Caucasian adolescent at-risk population across three different groups. Specifically, the study seeks to determine if the Goodwill Girls Curriculum will decrease covert bullying behaviors (i.e., relational and social aggression) in youth who have been removed from their home school districts due to aggressive behaviors including acts of bullying. A secondary aim of this study will be identify the effects of the Goodwill Girls Curriculum on increasing conflict resolution skills within the sample.

The Goodwill Girls curriculum is designed to be implemented alongside a …

Grace In Intimate Interpersonal Communication: C.S. Lewis On Its Presence And Practice, Celeste Seymour

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project builds a theory of the presence and practice of grace in intimate interpersonal communication utilizing the writings of C.S. Lewis and his intellectual mentors. Lewis, who wrote extensively on the theory and practice of love, offers a compelling approach to understanding human relationships from a Christian philosophical perspective.

The first chapter begins with major questions and themes in the interpersonal literature concerning human discourse, relation, and action. Lewis frames human relationships in a robustly theoretical and practical manner, characterizing the conditions of our discursive relational selves as difficult yet joyful. He argues that the work of intimate interpersonal …

Human Trafficking And Health Care Professionals: Assessment Of Medical And Nursing Education Programs' Curricula On Recognizing And Helping Victims Of Human Trafficking, Nurlanbek Sharshenkulov

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted with the focus on medical and nursing education programs in the U.S. in order to learn if they include training for their students on dealing with victims of human trafficking. In order to address this goal, the survey among professors and instructors of 650 randomly selected medical and nursing education programs was conducted, where they were asked if their programs' curricula include training on recognizing victims of trafficking, as well as providing them with health care services and assistance to escape from their traffickers. The analysis of 116 received responses revealed that the majority of medical …

Graduate Recital, Violin, Caitlin Shroyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sonata in C Major for Violin

J.S. Bach

Bach began composing his six sonatas and partitas for solo violin while in Weimar, but completed the set during his time as Kapellmeister in Köthen. Although completed in 1720, during a time in which the solo violin repertoire was actively growing, these works were not published until 1802 and did not gain recognition until Josef Joachim began performing them. Today the six sonatas and partitas are an essential part of the violin repertoire and have served as an example for later polyphonic compositions for solo violin. The Sonata in C Major is …