Digital Commons Network^™

Government Spending And Child Well-Being : A Correlational Study Of The Organization For Economic Co-Operation And Development (Oecd) Countries, Rachel Suzanna Foretich

LSU Master's Theses

Children who live in poverty are more likely to suffer from avoidable illnesses, become teenaged parents, be involved in the criminal justice system, and mature into adults who live in poverty (Isaacs et al., 2011). This study examines the relationship between government spending as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 21 child well-being indicators. The samples in this study were collected from 30 Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries for the years 2009 and 2012. The major finding of this study reveals that there is a statistically significant relationship between government spending as a percent of …

Conflicts Of Interest In Medicine, Research, And Law: A Comparison, Stacey A. Tovino

Scholarly Works

Several of the remarks and articles presented in this symposium have addressed conflicts of interest arising during the provision of legal counsel to individuals who are elderly, including specific conflicts of interest implicated by estate planning, retirement planning, and long-term care planning. Topics examined thus far include conflicts of interest with respect to the application of rules of confidentiality within state rules of professional conduct to elderly clients with impaired decision-making capacity; conflicts of interest involving representative payees for Social Security benefits; conflicts of interest in distributions when parents enter into marriages that are unprotected by law; and conflicts of …

The Effects Of Morphophonic Faces As A Method For Teaching Sight Words, Ashley Jean Williams

LSU Master's Theses

Previous studies exploring the use of superimposed pictures for sight word learning provide mixed results, with inconclusive benefits. One criticism is that even when sight word learning is enhanced, it does not improve the learner’s use of the alphabetic principle. A second criticism is that it is only feasible for easily depicted words. This study addressed these criticisms by using pictured sight words representing a hybrid between alphabet and sight word learning, MorphoPhonic Faces (MPF). MPF have the first letter drawn in the mouth of a face suggesting speech production cues. Thus, participants were provided alphabet cues first and then …

Schizotypy: The Dynamic Relationship Between Trait And State Processes, Rebecca K. Macaulay

LSU Master's Theses

Importantly, elevations in emotional reactivity to stress are often found in individuals vulnerable for psychosis. This study investigated several meaningful factors that appear to either increase vulnerability to stress (degree of schizotypy traits, trait negative affect, low perceived control, and impaired selective attention), or increase resiliency to stress (trait positive affect). A modified Posner spatial-cueing task utilizing affective cues was employed to assess selective attention within a neutral and an uncontrollable stressor condition. Between group differences (high, medium and low in schizotypy traits) and interactions between affective traits, state affect, and perceived control were evaluated in order to shed light …

Purpose And Criteria For Blood Smear Scan, Blood Smear Examination, And Blood Smear Review., Gene Gulati, Jinming Song, Alina Dulau Florea, Jerald Gong

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

A microscopic examination of an appropriately prepared and well-stained blood smear by a knowledgeable laboratory professional is necessary and clinically useful in a number of circumstances and for a variety of reasons. In this article, an attempt is made to delineate the purpose and criteria for blood smear examination in a variety of circumstances that are encountered in everyday laboratory hematology practice. A blood smear scan serves to at least (a) verify the flagged automated hematology results and (b) determine if a manual differential leukocyte count needs to be performed. Blood smear examination/manual differential leukocyte count with complete blood count …

Ethanol Diverts Early Neuronal Differentiation Trajectory Of Embryonic Stem Cells By Disrupting The Balance Of Lineage Specifiers., Rosa Sánchez-Alvarez, Saurabh Gayen, Rajanikanth Vadigepalli, Helen Anni

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Ethanol is a toxin responsible for the neurodevelopmental deficits of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Recent evidence suggests that ethanol modulates the protein expression of lineage specifier transcription factors Oct4 (Pou5f1) and Sox2 in early stages of mouse embryonic stem (ES) cell differentiation. We hypothesized that ethanol induced an imbalance in the expression of Oct4 and Sox2 in early differentiation, that dysregulated the expression of associated and target genes and signaling molecules and diverted cells from neuroectodermal (NE) formation.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We showed modulation by ethanol of 33 genes during ES cell differentiation, using high throughput microfluidic dynamic array …

Cis And Trans Regulatory Mechanisms Control Ap2-Mediated B Cell Receptor Endocytosis Via Select Tyrosine-Based Motifs., Kathleen Busman-Sahay, Lisa Drake, Anand Sitaram, Michael Marks, James R Drake

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Following antigen recognition, B cell receptor (BCR)-mediated endocytosis is the first step of antigen processing and presentation to CD4+ T cells, a crucial component of the initiation and control of the humoral immune response. Despite this, the molecular mechanism of BCR internalization is poorly understood. Recently, studies of activated B cell-like diffuse large B cell lymphoma (ABC DLBCL) have shown that mutations within the BCR subunit CD79b leads to increased BCR surface expression, suggesting that CD79b may control BCR internalization. Adaptor protein 2 (AP2) is the major mediator of receptor endocytosis via clathrin-coated pits. The BCR contains five putative AP2-binding …

The Contributions Of Hif-Target Genes To Tumor Growth In Rcc., Ting Zhang, Xiaohua Niu, Lili Liao, Eun-Ah Cho, Haifeng Yang

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Somatic mutations or loss of expression of tumor suppressor VHL happen in the vast majority of clear cell Renal Cell Carcinoma, and it's causal for kidney cancer development. Without VHL, constitutively active transcription factor HIF is strongly oncogenic and is essential for tumor growth. However, the contribution of individual HIF-responsive genes to tumor growth is not well understood. In this study we examined the contribution of important HIF-responsive genes such as VEGF, CCND1, ANGPTL4, EGLN3, ENO2, GLUT1 and IGFBP3 to tumor growth in a xenograft model using immune-compromised nude mice. We found that the suppression of VEGF or CCND1 impaired …

Chronic Ethanol Feeding Alters Mirna Expression Dynamics During Liver Regeneration., Rachael P Dippold, Rajanikanth Vadigepalli, Gregory E. Gonye, Biswanath Patra, Jan B. Hoek

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Adaptation to chronic ethanol (EtOH) treatment of rats results in a changed functional state of the liver and greatly inhibits its regenerative ability, which may contribute to the progression of alcoholic liver disease.

METHODS: In this study, we investigated the effect of chronic EtOH intake on hepatic microRNA (miRNA) expression in male Sprague-Dawley rats during the initial 24 hours of liver regeneration following 70% partial hepatectomy (PHx) using miRNA microarrays. miRNA expression during adaptation to EtOH was investigated using RT-qPCR. Nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) binding at target miRNA promoters was investigated with chromatin immunoprecipitation.

RESULTS: Unsupervised clustering of …

The Languages Of Pyidawtha And The Burmese Approach To Naitonal Development, Tharaphi Than

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Burma’s first well known welfare plan was entitled Pyidawtha or Happy Land, and it was launched in 1952. In vernacular terms, the literal meaning of Pyidawtha is ‘Prosperous Royal Country’. The government’s attempt to sustain tradition and culture and to instil modern aspirations in its citizens was reflected in its choice of the word Pyidawtha. The Plan failed and its implications still overshadow the development framework of Burma. This paper discusses how the country’s major decisions, including whether or not to join the Commonwealth, have been influenced by language; how the term and concept of ‘development’ were conceived; how the …

What Do Clients Want From Their Lawyers, Clark D. Cunningham

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This article, however, will show how the research upon which the ABA story was based–as well as substantial research with other clients ranging from large organizations to individuals–indicates that what clients want most from their lawyers is an aspect of legal services given too little attention both in legal education and professional development: effective lawyer-client communication. After reviewing extensive social science research on causes of client dissatisfaction, this article will conclude by suggesting a variety of ways–from easy to ambitious initiatives—that law schools and law firms can provide greater emphasis on the importance of effective communication with clients, teach effective …

Determining Arbitrability Of The Dispute: The Clear And Unmistakable Standard For Choice Of Law In Arbitration Agreements , Kristen Sanocki

Journal of Dispute Resolution

This note will also address the "clear and unmistakable" standard adopted by the Ninth Circuit and used to determine whether or not parties have agreed to apply non-federal arbitrability law. Based on the Ninth Circuit's reasoning in Cape Flattery Ltd. v. Titan Mar., LLC, this Note concludes that the court properly extracted a standard normally used to determine whether a court decides arbitrability as applicable to determining whether parties have sufficiently contracted for non-federal arbitrability law. Lastly, this Note will address the interpretation of arbitration clauses under federal law.

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Classwide Social Skills Intervention With Preschoolers And Kindergarteners, Haley E. York

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of the current study was to determine the effectiveness of a manualized, universal social skills intervention for young students. Past research on the use of universal interventions within the domain of social skills has shown great promise, and the importance of social skills has been demonstrated through their empirical relation to academic and behavioral outcomes. Additional research has shown that, overall, social skills training interventions for young children are successful and have lasting effects. These findings convey the importance and need for effective, efficient, and early social skills training interventions. As such, this study used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest …

Controversy Trend Detection In Social Media, Rajshekhar Vishwanath Chimmalgi

LSU Master's Theses

In this research, we focus on the early prediction of whether topics are likely to generate significant controversy (in the form of social media such as comments, blogs, etc.). Controversy trend detection is important to companies, governments, national security agencies, and marketing groups because it can be used to identify which issues the public is having problems with and develop strategies to remedy them. For example, companies can monitor their press release to find out how the public is reacting and to decide if any additional public relations action is required, social media moderators can moderate discussions if the discussions …

The Tyrants Within Us And The Thread Of History : The Creation Of "Sic Semper Tyrannis," A One-Person Play, Benjamin Todd Koucherik

LSU Master's Theses

The assigned task was to create and perform a 20-40 minute long one-person play, with no other guidelines or restrictions offered. Having never performed in or written a full one-person play, my challenge was two-fold: create a cohesive and coherent script, and craft the production and performance of that script. From several inspirational sources, I was spurred on to explore the dynamics of revolutionaries, fanatics, and vigilantes through the lens of presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth. Through the combination of Booth’s infamy and the modern day realities of fame-seeking, political divisiveness, and tragically pervasive “spectacle killing” events, I was ultimately …

March Madness For Men, Gabrielle P. Jones

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the manner in which the media covers men’s and women’s athletics and how it may affect the public’s perception of women’s athletics. The study also seeks to examine how the hegemonic devices and primes that the sports media use can affect viewers’ enjoyment of women’s athletic coverage as well as the effect that sports fandom plays on viewers perceptions. Using an experiment exposing participants to heavy men’s college and women’s college basketball coverage, the results showed that sports media coverage did not elicit negative perceptions toward women’s athletics.

Abnormal Emotional Experience In Schizophrenia, Dallas A. Callaway

LSU Master's Theses

Ambivalence is defined as the state of simultaneously experiencing antithetical emotions towards a single attitude object (Bleuler, 1911/1950). Recent studies have evidenced ambivalence as a prominent aspect of schizophrenia patients’ in-the-moment emotional experiences (Cohen & Minor, 2010; Trémeau et al., 2009). The present study extended this line of work through the use of an experimental mood-induction methodology to explore the amount, frequency, and average duration of univalent positive, negative, and ambivalent emotional episodes within individuals with schizophrenia and those without psychiatric disturbance. The results indicate that, when exposed to a film clip stimulus selected for its documented (Larsen & McGraw, …

Inductivley Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectroscopy Analysis Of Heavy Metal Concentrations In Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia Patronus) Populations In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico From 2011 To 2012, Hannah Paula Rockett

LSU Master's Theses

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, released 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, creating the largest marine oil spill in the history of the U.S. petroleum industry. Trace metals, including those from crude oil, were dispersed in the water column and bound to suspended particulates. As obligate filter-feeding omnivores and a predominate fishery in the Gulf of Mexico, Gulf menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) are susceptible to trace metal accumulation. Samples of menhaden were collected at two locations in coastal Louisiana, Grand Isle (GI) and Vermillion Bay (VB), with VB serving as the non-impacted DWH oil …

The Diagnosis Of Well Control Complications During Managed Pressure Drilling, Brian Piccolo

LSU Master's Theses

The constant bottom-hole pressure method of managed pressure drilling is generally expected to reduce well control risks and apply well understood concepts when a kick is taken. Nevertheless, complications, such as operator error, leaks, plugging, equipment failures, and exceeding kick tolerance, can occur during kick circulation. By not properly interpreting the symptoms of a complication, a driller risks the consequences of additional influx, lost circulation or the simultaneous occurrence of both. To address the challenge of diagnosing complications, the implied pit gain (IPG) method is being evaluated as an enhancement to established industry practices. Traditional diagnostic methods attempt to match …

Measuring Soluble Salts In Soils Via Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, Samantha Lynn Swanhart

LSU Master's Theses

Soil scientists have been using the same quantification methods for soluble salts for decades. Yet they have long struggled with an effective method for quantifying gypsum content, because current methods are fraught with problems. Saline soil has been historically defined as soil containing salts more soluble than gypsum (e.g., various combinations of Na+, Mg2+, Ca2+, K+, Cl-, SO42-, HCO3- and CO32-) to the extent that soil fertility is severely reduced across a wide array of climates and geological settings. Since salinity is not germane to specific soil characteristics such as texture or parent material, it can be challenging to predict …

Louisiana Department Of Children And Family Services : A Case Study Of Child Welfare Workers' Burnout, Crystal Ward

LSU Master's Theses

Social work can be an extremely gratifying profession. However, social workers who are exposed to graphic realities related to vulnerable and traumatized individuals and families may experience challenging workload demands and increased levels of burnout. To best understand and support these key human service workers, it is important to investigate variables influencing levels of burnout. In this study, the author examined whether specific individual worker characteristics contribute to burnout among child welfare workers in Louisiana. Characteristics were compared to individual variables such as job tenure, agency department, supervisor/front line worker, and educational background. The Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) was completed …

Climate Action Progress, 2013, Campus Sustainability Office

Campus Sustainability Office Publications, Reports and Presentations

In 2010, Portland State University (PSU) adopted the University’s first Climate Action Plan (CAP) as part of the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment (ACUPCC). The CAP calls for climate neutrality by 2040 and identifies emission reduction targets in the following areas: Buildings & Energy, Materials, Travel, Commuting, Education & Research, and EcoDistrict Development. This report serves as an assessment of progress to date and provides: an updated carbon emissions profile, a snapshot of progress on individual actions, a summary of efforts contributing to CAP goals, and suggestions regarding next steps.

Oral Care & Asian And Pacific Islander Communities In Oregon, Amira Caluya

Center to Advance Racial Equity Publications and Reports

This report attempts to describe the current knowledge of oral health care access within Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities in Oregon based on secondary data from the Oregon Health Authority’s Smile Survey 2007, Smile Survey 2012; and the Coalition of Communities of Color’s 2012 report, The Asian and Pacific Islander Community in Multnomah County: An Unsettling Profile. To be clear, the 2012 survey report draft is cited most, as the 2012 survey reported more data on children of color compared to the 2007 survey. This paper also attempts to highlight the multifaceted aspects of access to care …

Long-Term Stimulation Of Alpha 1a-Adrenergic Receptors May Increase Neurogenesis Of Parvalbumin-Positive Interneurons, Amber R. D Nielsen

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Community Resilience To Coastal Hazards : An Analysis Of Two Geographical Scales In Louisiana, Chi Li

LSU Master's Theses

Quantifying resilience is difficulties due to the different definitions of resilience, the interchangeable uses with two other terms “vulnerability” and “adaptability”, as well as the lack of consensus on what indicators should be selected to quantifying resilience. This thesis research studied the community resilience in Louisiana by applying the Resilience Inference Measurement (RIM) model at two geographic levels: county level and zip code level. The RIM model accesses resilience by using three dimensions (exposure, damage, and recovery) and two abilities (vulnerability and adaptability). The types of coastal hazards included in this study were: coastal, flooding, hurricane/tropical storm, tornado, and severe …

Influencing The Confirmation Bias On A Matchmaker Task Through Manipulation Of The Feeling Of Rightness, Patrick Clinton Ledet

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The confirmation bias occurs when an individual ignores potentially disconfirming evidence and gives greater attention to apparent confirming evidence. The confirmation bias is theorized to result from rapid, automatic and unconscious processing. Such processing generates decisions that are considered to be “good enough” to meet the demands of a situation. Although such judgments are guided by unconscious processing, the individual may have conscious awareness of the generated hypothesis while still failing to systematically consider important information. Previous attempts to counter the confirmation bias have focused on directly instructing individuals to use systematic decision making. This method has had some success …

Extending To Fashion Category: An Exploratory Study On An Auto Brand Extension, Langchao Zhang

LSU Master's Theses

Brand extension has been one of the most commonly used marketing strategies. Many industries use existing well-known brand names to launch new lines or categories to reduce the cost for creating awareness. Auto companies have been increasingly looking for opportunities of broadening their brand halo to gain more profit, while the billion-dollar global fashion industries have been seeking the chance of brand extensions from established durable brands. Previous research has examined the factors affecting consumers’ attitude toward brand extension, however, the majority of brand extensions are reportedly not successful. There are no known studies investigating the case of extending into …

Investigating Soil Property And Quality Changes From Samples Submitted To The Lsu Agcenter Soil Testing Laboratory, Mark A. Williams

LSU Master's Theses

The primary purpose of the study is to investigate the trends in soil nutrient levels from soil samples submitted to the LSU AgCenter soil testing and plant analysis laboratory during 2008 to 2012. This study indicates the trend for soil pH, soil phosphorus and soil potassium for corn, cotton, rice, grain sorghum, soybeans, and sugarcane. These six crops were analyzed in this study because of the economic significance to the Louisiana agricultural industry. The trend in soil nutrients studied were generally within the recommended levels for sustainability and environmental stewardship. This study describes the trends for soil pH, soil phosphorus …

Differentiation Of Voice Disorders Using Objective Parameters From Harmonic Waveform Modeling In High-Speed Digital Imaging, Aimee Elaine Perkins

LSU Master's Theses

High-speed digital imaging (HSDI) has recently become clinically available for the direct observation of vocal fold movement in the last 20 years. However, before it can become routinely used in the clinical setting, a universal means of objectively analyzing and interpreting the HSDI data must be established. In this study, preliminary data was gathered for five parameters used to objectively analyze vocal fold vibratory patterns observed with HSDI. The parameters investigated were established by Ikuma, Kunduk, and McWhorter (2012a) and were previously studied with a small sample (N=8) comparing pre and post-phonosurgical removal of benign lesions. The five parameters included …

Development And Evaluation Of Molecular-Based Assays For Detecting Salmonella Serovars In Various Food Commodities, Qianru Yang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As a leading cause of foodborne illnesses and outbreaks, Salmonella poses a major public health risk in the United States and worldwide. Various food commodities including meat and poultry, eggs, and fresh produce can serve as the transmission vehicles for Salmonella infections. To better ensure the safety of these products and protect public health, rapid, accurate, and reliable detection methods for Salmonella are needed. Molecular-based methods like loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), have gained wide applications in Salmonella detection, owning to their rapidity, specificity, and sensitivity. However, there is a paucity of data on the robustness of these assays. And very …