Digital Commons Network^™

Sexual Fluidity And Women's Bisexual Identity Development, Julijana Draganic

Theses and Dissertations

Experiences of bisexual and sexual fluid women are poorly explored and understood in the current literature. While there is a need and interest in the exploration of bisexual experiences in the current literature, these experiences are usually lumped together with the experiences of lesbian women, who are vastly overrepresented in the participant samples. Data was collected from LGBT centers, women's centers, bisexual interest listservs, and sexual minority internet groups. This study examined: the relationship between a measure of fluidity in attractions, the Sexual Fluidity Grid (SFG) and a measure of sexual orientation, the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid; the relationship between …

Psychological Biases Affect Hedonic Ratings, Wannita Jirangrat

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Psychological biases in consumer testing may lead to misinterpretation of results and lower experimental power. Reports on various hedonic scales associated with psychological biases induced by sample presentation are limited in the literature. An appropriate experimental protocol could enable sensory scientists to accurately determine if a product is more or less liked. Overall, in this study some drawbacks of hedonic scales were revealed and some recommendations were made under specific circumstances. A more powerful design (SPRCBD) helped minimize positional and First Serving Order (FSO) biases in consumer tests by extracting more explained variances, resulting in decreased Type-II error in the …

The Laws Of Verse : The Poetry Of Alice Meynell And Its Literary Contexts, 1875-1923, Jared Hromadka

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Like other poets who came to prominence in the nineteenth century but continued to publish well into the twentieth, Alice Meynell’s work has come gradually to be occluded by the work of her younger contemporaries, among them T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. The available scholarship records this process of occlusion in the form of an almost complete absence of serious discourse on Meynell’s work following her death in 1922 until the beginnings of a modest revival of interest in her writing beginning in the 1980s. This study aims to address that gap by giving a more complete account of …

Characterization Of Evaporative Metal Bonding In Superalloys For Use In Gasified Coal Turbine Generators, Joshua Elliot Braband

Theses and Dissertations

The diffusion bonding of Kanthal APMT, CM247LC, and Rene 80 was studied. The objective of the first part of this work was to create diffusion bonded test samples of Kanthal APMT, CM247LC, and Rene 80 using a 25μm thick zinc interlayer at varying times and temperatures. Then, using scanning electron microscopy to determine the profile of the zinc diffusing into the parent materials, the diffusion coefficients of the zinc interlayer into the materials were determined for each of the materials at each bonding time and temperature. The next objective was to create a finite element model of the bonding process …

Crystal Growth And An Investigation Of Structural Stability: Synthesis, Structure, And Physical Properties Of Yb(Mn,M)Xal12-X (M = Fe, Ru; X < 2.5) And Lnmnxga3 (Ln = Ho-Tm; X < 0.15), Bradford Wesley Fulfer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The contents of this dissertation describe the crystal growth, crystal structures, and physical properties of ternary intermetallic aluminides and gallides. These compounds are grown in an effort to determine how controlling reaction ratios using the flux growth method can impact chemical structure and physical properties. Three specific examples are given where slight changes in reaction ratios leads to crystalline products that adopt various structure types. LnMn2+xAl10-x (Ln = Gd, Yb) crystals adopt the CaCr2Al10 and ThMn12 structure types. We compare LnMn2+xAl10-x compounds adopting the CaCr2Al10 and ThMn12 structure types, and outline synthesis methods to obtain each polymorph. Magnetic susceptibility measurements …

Seasonal Resource Selection, Site-Specific Brood Predictors, And Nest Characteristics Of Greater Prairie-Chicken Hens In Northwestern Minnesota, Nathaniel Emery

Theses and Dissertations

Greater prairie-chickens, Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus, are in decline across the majority of their already receding range due to changing land use patterns and habitat fragmentation. The Agassiz Beach Ridge region of northwestern Minnesota harbors one of the only sustained to increasing populations of prairie-chickens in the country due to the conversion of marginal agricultural lands to grasslands and through conservation entities securing tracts of land allowing for habitat stability and dispersal.

Nesting and brood-rearing habitats are the most limiting factors for population sustainability. Hens were marked with radio transmitters on booming grounds and at nest sites discovered by nest-dragging. Their …

Effects Of Paid Maternity Leave On The Gender Wage Gap, Rachel Baxter

Theses and Dissertations

The persistence of the gender wage gap in countries throughout the world has sparked several theories as to its cause and possible solutions. One theory centers on the decisions faced by a woman regarding children and fertility throughout her career. Typically, as the primary caregivers for children, women are more likely to interrupt their careers or leave the labor force entirely as a result. This thesis uses a fixed-effects model using a panel dataset of 18 countries with observations from 2000 to 2010 to evaluate whether paid maternity leave has an effect on the breadth of the gender wage gap. …

Integrated Functional Anlaysis Of Quorum-Sensing In The Rice Pathogenic Bacterium Burkholderia Glumae, Ruoxi Chen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-to-cell communication mechanism that allows bacterial cells to collectively behave like a multicellular organism. It regulates the expression of toxoflavin, one of the major virulence factors of the rice pathogen, Burkholderia glumae. The QS system of B. glumae is mediated by the core genes, tofI and tofR. N-octanoyl-L-homoserine lactone, the primary QS signal molecule of B. glumae, is synthesized by tofI and binds to the cognate receptor tofR at the quorum point. However, tofI and tofR null mutants produce toxoflavin in certain growth conditions, indicating the presence of tofI- and tofR-independent pathways for toxoflavin production. …

"Oh, Must We Dream Our Dreams And Have Them Too?": Transformation Through Reading In Elizabeth Bishop's "Questions Of Travel," Carol Shields' Swann, And Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck's The Lives Of Others, Carissa Anne Green

Theses and Dissertations

Literary scholars study how readers interpret texts. Louise Rosenblatt, Wolfgang Iser, and Wayne Booth analyze how readers interact with texts transactionally, as a phenomenology, and as an ethical exchange. This grounding gives a foundation on which to analyze and define the interpretive acts demonstrated by readers. Poststructuralist critics Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida open up the idea of "text," allowing us to apply our phenomenology of reading beyond words on paper. I apply the work of these and other critics not to the readers of texts but to characters depicted within texts who are readers. These characters confront unfamiliar texts, …

Microwave Tomography Using Stochastic Optimization And High Performance Computing, Michael William Holman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis discusses the application of parallel computing in microwave tomography for detection and imaging of dielectric objects. The main focus is on microwave tomography with the use of a parallelized Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) forward solver in conjunction with non-linear stochastic optimization based inverse solvers. Because such solvers require very heavy computation, their investigation has been limited in favour of deterministic inverse solvers that make use of assumptions and approximations of the imaging target. Without the use of linearization assumptions, a non-linear stochastic microwave tomography system is able to resolve targets of arbitrary permittivity contrast profiles while avoiding …

Single-Crystal Metal Oxides And Supported Metal Nanoclusters As Model Catalyst Sytems, Matthew C. Patterson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We have investigated the morphology and electronic structure of two basic classes of systems: metal oxide surfaces that catalyze the formation of environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) from aromatic precursors, and Au and Cu nanoparticles that may be suitable catalysts for the catalytic oxidation of CO or hydrogenation of CO2. First, we examine the adsorption behavior of phenol on rutile TiO2(110) and ultrathin films of alumina prepared on a NiAl(110) substrate. Electron paramagnetic resonance studies show that exposure of both γ-alumina and titania powder to phenol at 250°C results in the formation of persistent phenoxyl radicals. EELS studies of phenol …

Sex Offenders' Perceptions Of North Dakota's Sex Offender Policies, Mariah Dawn Laver Juanto

Theses and Dissertations

Registered sex offenders in North Dakota were interviewed regarding their experiences with being on the registry. Results from the coded transcripts indicate that offenders felt the registry made finding housing and employment more difficult. Additionally, participants reported feeling the registry negatively impacted their ability to be involved in community organizations and impacted how they interacted with others, including forming supportive relationships. Participants also completed surveys, assessing general psychological symptoms, general stress levels, and demographic information, including registration requirement information. No significant relationships between sex offenders' registry requirements and psychological symptoms were found. Conclusions and implications for future research are discussed.

How Native American Women Perceive Their Unique Lived Experiences : Three Women Tell Their Stories, Marjorie Larson Kopacsi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT Qualitative research that explores and further examines the lived experiences of Native American women is an important, yet a frequently neglected, part of the history of the United States (US). This is an important avenue of investigation, as historians have traditionally marginalized many groups within U.S. society, including women and groups that can be viewed as part of the fabric of U.S. culture, yet exist as subcultures. Native Americans (indigenous peoples, ‘Indians’) should share a special place within U.S. society as First Americans; however, qualitative studies of Native American women, offered through a feminist lens as keepers of tradition …

The Relationship Between Forgiveness, Imagined Interactions, Empathy And Relational Satisfaction Among Long-Distance Romantic Couples, Christopher Michael Mapp

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Forgiveness is viewed as a major factor in maintaining healthy romantic relationships. But couples involved in long-distance relationships experience a different set of challenges than geographically-close couples when it comes to maintaining and enjoying satisfying and stable relationships. Many long-distance couples rely on increased empathy and intrapersonal communication – in the form of imagined interactions – to release tension, rehearse conversations, and review and analyze conflicts. While forgiveness has been studied extensively in a variety of interpersonal settings, it has not been explicitly studied in relation to the usage of imagined interactions or in maintaining long-distance relationships. Moreover, even though …

The Louisiana Recovery School District's Long Term Relationship To Student Dropout And Achievement, Jandel Crutchfield

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

May 14, 2013 marked the 10 year anniversary of the creation of the Louisiana Recovery School District (RSD), the turnaround intervention for low performing public schools. Since 2003, the RSD has grown to include over 80 schools across the state. The purpose of this multilevel longitudinal study was to examine the relationship of the Louisiana Recovery School District to student and school outcomes including risk of dropout and standardized test scores. The dissertation measured these influences over time (2007-2010). The data collected were derived from Louisiana’s Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) and quantitative data on dropout status from the Louisiana Department …

Voices From The Coolest Corner Of Hell: A Content Analysis Of Slave Narratives In The Study Of Creolization In The Education Of 19th Century African American Slaves, Gina M. Rizzuto

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The general argument made by Southern historian, Ulrich Bonnell Phillips in 1918, is that the plantation functioned as a type of school for the slave. Similarly, in 1976, Anthony Gerald Albanese examined the plantation system as an institution that conditioned the behaviors of both slaves and slave owners. I maintain that the plantation system was not only an educative agency that conditioned behaviors, but also a conduit for the creolization process. The focus of this study is creolization in the education of African American slaves in the nineteenth century. This is a mixed methods content analysis of African American slave …

Toward Digitizing The Human Experience : A New Resource For Natural Language Processing, Jerry Scott Weltman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A long-standing goal of Artificial Intelligence is to program computers that understand natural language. A basic obstacle is that computers lack the common sense that even small children acquire simply by experiencing life, and no one has devised a way to program this experience into a computer. This dissertation presents a methodology and proof-of-concept software system that enables non-experts, with some training, to create simple experiences. For the purposes of this dissertation, an experience is a series of time-ordered comic frames, annotated with the changing intentional and physical states of the characters and objects in each frame. Each frame represents …

Tensions Between Abstraction And Replication In Early-Twentieth-Century Design : Norman Bel Geddes' Designs For Broadway's The Miracle, John Thomas-Hood Mabry

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

I make a major contribution to American scenographic historiography with this revised account of Norman Bel Geddes’ set for Max Reinhardt’s 1924 Broadway production of The Miracle, a design theatre scholars have consistently used not only to define Geddes’ aesthetic “versatility,” but also as a prime exemplar of New Stagecraft style. Based on both secondary and primary research material, I contend that the cathedral setting was neither indicative of Geddes’ fundamental aesthetic principles, nor of the aesthetic principles of the New Stagecraft. I firmly establish the principles of the latter within the first definitive, concise demarcation of what constitutes New …

Zoltán Kodály's Sonata For Unaccompanied Cello, Op. 8 : One Cellist's Path To Performance, Celeste Power

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

My purpose in writing this document is to simply present my experience in learning and performing Zoltán Kodály’s Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello, Op. 8. My intent is not to instruct cellists on the interpretation of this piece. Each musician must decide how to play it in a way that suits his or her own conception of the piece. Rather I intend to go through each movement and discuss the problems I faced and how I endeavored to solved them, why some solutions worked and others did not, how I prepared for a recital performance of the piece, and what I …

Lifestyle Factors And Risk Of Heart Failure: A Prospective Cohort Study, Yujie Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Heart failure (HF) has become a major health problem with its high prevalence, poor clinical outcomes, and large health-care costs. Compared with medical intervention, the prevention of HF through lifestyle approaches is free of side effect. Therefore, the prevention of HF through lifestyle approaches is of special interest. In this project, we aim to investigate 1) the association of different levels of occupational, commuting and leisure-time physical activity with HF risk; 2) the association of coffee consumption with HF risk; 3) the role of lifestyle factors in explaining the risk of HF; and 4) the association between antihypertensive drug treatment …

Contractional Tectonics : The Himalayan Orogen And Perdido Fold-Thrust Belt, Dian He

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the kinematic evolution of two major categories of contractional tectonics: collisional orogenic belts and toe structures of passive margins, which are characterized by fold-thrust belts that are hundreds of kilometer-scale and tens of kilometer-scale, respectively. The Himalayan orogen is an excellent example of collisional orogenic belts along convergent plate boundaries. It is commonly structurally defined as three stacked units separated by two fault systems: the Main Central thrust (MCT) and South Tibet detachment (STD). The development and emplacement of the middle unit, the Himalayan crystalline core, has long been debated within the extrusion framework, a process …

Investigating "Experimentalism" : A Case Study Of The Tuba And Its Repertoire, Andrew Brian Larson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The extant repertoire for the tuba serves as a landmark for how the tuba was perceived at that moment in time by that composer. This document contains a brief analysis of the tuba “experiment” that has been ongoing since its invention. In addition, it contains a brief parallel case study of the saxophone and how this instrument, invented at about the same time as the tuba, has embraced experimentalism and modern performance. This document contains five major sections. The first provides a brief history of the tuba and its predecessors. The second introduces numerical data representing the performance frequency of …

Nanoindentation Characterization Of Clay Minerals And Clay-Based Hybrid Bio-Geomaterials, Rohit Raj Pant

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Layered hydrous aluminosilicates are key constituent minerals in rocks, soils, and other parts of the Earth crust. Understanding mechanical properties of these aluminosilicates is crucial for seismic study, stability of parent rocks and geomaterials, and for geophysical subsurface exploration. Recently, growing prospects of clay based nanocomposites have renewed further interest in understanding the fundamental elastic and plastic properties of hydrous aluminosilicates. Their distinct, nanoscale layered crystal structure is known to result in anisotropic responses to loading, however, owing to their tiny sizes; it is a significant challenge to determine the anisotropic properties. There is a little data available in the …

Restoring Performance : Personal Story, Place, And Memory In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Anne-Liese Juge Fox

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Following the devastation of 80 percent of the city of New Orleans and the prolonged period of trauma due to levee failure and lack of effective emergency response in 2005, New Orleanian performing artists independently and along with national artists to create post-K performances as acts of restoration. This study explores post-disaster New Orleanian performances that engage with the interaction of personal story, place, and memory in response to disaster. How are these site-specific performances at significant sites of memory performative in the J.L. Austin sense? In the context of disaster, what are ethical implications of remembering? How may certain …

Nonprofit Organizations In The Making Of Civic Community : Exploring How The Structure Of Nonprofit Sectors Matters For Community Wellbeing, Sarah Prater Walsh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, through the lens of the civic community perspective, I examine the role of nonprofit organizations in enhancing community wellbeing. The primary contribution of this dissertation to existing literature on civic communities is the theoretical development of the concept of civically engaging institutions. I take a multifaceted approach to the understanding and investigation of civically engaged institutions, in which I expand the concept beyond civic congregations and associations, to include all organizations categorized as nonprofit. Synthesizing literatures on nonprofit organizations and civic communities, I argue that nonprofits can be considered locally oriented and civically engaged as they are …

Creating An Sli Performance Profile With Load, Christy Marie Seidel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this body of work was to gain a clearer understanding of the potential cognitive factors that may contribute to Specific Language Impairment (SLI). This study attempted to simulate a performance profile of SLI in typically developing children within a grammaticality judgment task, featuring structures historically difficult (third person singular –S and auxiliary BE) and easy (plural –S and progressive –ING) for individuals with SLI. Cognitive load was manipulated through the length of the sentences to be judged, and individual differences in phonological short term memory (PSTM) and working memory were measured (WM). For a successful simulation to …

Perceptions Of Legal Policy And Sex Offender Treatment, Kirsten Sierra Engel

Theses and Dissertations

Sex offender policy, treatment, and public perception are greatly intertwined in the numerous policies in place regarding sex offenders. These policies tend to reflect the underlying perceptions and myths about sex offenders than the reality of sexual offenses and treatment. These perceptions have also had a role in shaping psychological treatment of sex offenders through enacted policies and public support, or dissent, for community treatment centers, half-way houses, or residency restriction laws. With the sizeable potential impact of the public's perceptions of these issues, examination of their perceptions of sex offenders, sex offender policies, and sex offender treatment, and whether …

Neuropsychological Comparisons Of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Subtype And Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptomatology, Linda Renee Keenan

Theses and Dissertations

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are often severe and disabling psychiatric conditions. Although BDD is currently regarded as a somatoform disorder in the DSM-IV, it has been suggested that it would be better classified as being part of an obsessive-compulsive spectrum, as it shares many characteristics with OCD in terms of its clinical presentation. Although both disorders have been found to be associated with executive function deficits and other neuropsychological correlates, few studies have compared the two disorders directly in this regard. Further, some research has indicated that OCD symptom dimensions are associated with varying patterns of …

Comparison Of United States Aia First-Inventor-To-File With Chinese First-To-File, Jing Wang, Weidong Liu, Lei Zhang, Lei Han, Ningling Wang, Stacy Lewis, Christina N. Gervasi, Tom Irving

University of Dayton Law Review

No abstract provided.

Digital Image-Based Frameworks For Monitoring And Controlling Of Particulate Systems, Bing Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Particulate processes have been widely involved in various industries and most products in the chemical industry today are manufactured as particulates. Previous research and practise illustrate that the final product quality can be influenced by particle properties such as size and shape which are related to operating conditions. Online characterization of these particles is an important step for maintaining desired product quality in particulate processes. Image-based characterization method for the purpose of monitoring and control particulate processes is very promising and attractive. The development of a digital image-based framework, in the context of this research, can be envisioned in two …