Digital Commons Network^™

Digital Image Analysis Of Selected Tchefuncte And Alexander Series Ceramics, Peter Albert Cropley

LSU Master's Theses

In this study, I used digital image analysis to quantitatively describe and detail the prehistoric pottery associated with the coastal Tchefuncte culture (ca. B.C. 800—100 A.D.). The first step was to select and procure samples of Tchefuncte Plain var . Tchefuncte, var. Mandeville, Baldwin Plain var. O’Neal, and two decorated Alexander series wares from the Tchefuncte site. Two samples of var. Tchefuncte from the Bayou Jasmine site (16SJB2) and two Alexander series samples from the Tennessee-Tombigbee area were included for comparison. The sites represented by the samples from the Tennessee-Tombigbee region are the Kellogg Village Site (22CL527) and the Sanders …

Avis De Recherche : Valentine Penrose, Œuvre Et Vie D'Une Artiste Surréaliste, Séverine Aline Orban

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

"Avis de Recherche: Valentine Penrose, vie et œuvre d’une artiste surréaliste" presents a new appreciation of the work of French artist, poet and novelist Valentine Penrose associated with the Surrealist Movement. This research offers the first detailed and accurate version of Valentine Penrose’s biography, which shows her relationship with artists and writers of her time, and her engagement during the Spanish Civil War and WWII. It compiles and publishes for the first time all her unpublished and ‘forgotten’ works with accompanying analyses for each piece. It demonstrates through the recording of her life and the exploration of her poetry how …

A Forgotten Composer And His Music: Two Viola Compositions By Arends, Monica Pamela Rodriguez De La Hoz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this document is to explore the viola music of the unknown Russian multi-talented musician Andrei Fedorovich Arends, in his two compositions written for that instrument: the Ballade for viola and piano, Op. 4 (1885) and the Concertino for viola and orchestra, Op. 7 (1886). The first section of the document provides an essential biography of the composer and information about his artistic highlights. The second section is devoted to a formal and stylistic analysis of the Ballade and the Concertino and their musical influences. The final section provides a performance guide to the Concertino, including the author’s …

The Confluence Of Structure And Dynamics In Lanthanide(Iii) Chelates: How Dynamics Help Define Structure In Solution, Benjamin Charles Webber, Mark Woods

Chemistry Faculty Publications and Presentations

Coordination exchange processes tend to dominate the solution state behaviour of lanthanide chelates and generally prohibit the study of small conformational changes. In this article we take advantage of coordinatively rigid Eu³⁺ chelates to examine the small conformational changes that occur in these chelates as water dissociatively exchanges in and out of the inner coordination sphere. The results show that the time-averaged conformation of the chelate alters as the water exchange rate increases. This conformational change reflects a change in the hydration state (q/r_LnH⁶) of the chelate. The hydration state has recently come …

Can Gravitational Influences Explain Endpoint Precision Between Visual Conditions?, Chelsea Marie Soebbing

LSU Master's Theses

Reaches to remembered target locations often result in different endpoint precision when compared to reaches to actual (seen) targets. Interestingly, errors are observed whether the reach to the remembered location is performed in an environment with or without allocentric cues (visual cues from the environment) available. People tend to point below remembered target locations in the dark relative to normal room lighting while seated, standing, and reaching with a step. In this study we questioned the effect of gravitational influences on upper extremity reaching and pointing accuracy in dark and illuminated environments. We hypothesized that alterations in body orientation would …

The Analysis & Implementation Of Key Innovation Methods In Order To Prove That Innovation Is Required For Promoting Market Growth In The United States Track & Field Industry, Michael Hays Lauro

LSU Master's Theses

In relation to the rest of the world, the track and field industry within the United States lacks interest from the public. The market makes a name for itself during the short period of time the sport is televised in the Olympic Games. This is a problem for the elite athletes who are considered professional but have little to show for this title. The current marketing strategies and distribution of wealth within the industry are ineffective and detrimental to the future success of the sport. We must point the finger at the governing powers and demand a change. I believe …

A Feasibility Study Of Ultra-Short Echo Time Mri For Positive Contrast Visualization Of Prostate Brachytherapy Permanent Seed Implants For Post-Implant Dosimetry, Melissa Lamberto

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: Ultra-short echo time (UTE) imaging is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that uses very short echo times (on the order of microseconds) to measure rapid T2 relaxation. An application of UTE is the visualization of magnetic susceptibility-induced shortening of T2 in tissues adjacent to metal, such as prostate tissue with implanted brachytherapy seeds. This study assessed UTE imaging of prostate brachytherapy seeds on a clinical 3T MRI scanner to provide images for post-implant dosimetry. Methods: A prostate tissue phantom was made of gelatin mixed with Gd and other materials to mimic the prostate peripheral zone’s T1 and T2 …

The Anti-Inflammatory Effects Of Vitamin D And Exercise, Laura Ann Forney

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Elevated inflammation is associated with several chronic diseases, including obesity. Exercise is an established effective treatment of this condition by decreasing adiposity and independently regulating inflammatory pathways. The potential for vitamin D to confer anti-inflammatory benefits has been explored in cell culture studies, but few have explored its action at the whole body level. PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between inflammatory markers in trained and untrained individuals with vitamin D levels either above or below a suggested optimal concentration. METHODS: College-aged females (N = 63), both trained and untrained, reported to the lab four times: to assess body size and …

Performance Improvement Of Distributed Computing Framework And Scientific Big Data Analysis, Praveenkumar Kondikoppa

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Analysis of Big data to gain better insights has been the focus of researchers in the recent past. Traditional desktop computers or database management systems may not be suitable for efficient and timely analysis, due to the requirement of massive parallel processing. Distributed computing frameworks are being explored as a viable solution. For example, Google proposed MapReduce, which is becoming a de facto computing architecture for Big data solutions. However, scheduling in MapReduce is coarse grained and remains as a challenge for improvement. Related with MapReduce scheduler when configured over distributed clusters, we identify two issues: data locality disruption and …

Search-Based Model-Driven Loop Optimizations For Tensor Contractions, Ajay Panyala

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Complex tensor contraction expressions arise in accurate electronic structure models in quantum chemistry, such as the coupled cluster method. The Tensor Contraction Engine (TCE) is a high-level program synthesis system that facilitates the generation of high-performance parallel programs from tensor contraction equations. We are developing a new software infrastructure for the TCE that is designed to allow experimentation with optimization algorithms for modern computing platforms, including for heterogeneous architectures employing general-purpose graphics processing units (GPGPUs). In this dissertation, we present improvements and extensions to the loop fusion optimization algorithm, which can be used with cost models, e.g., for minimizing memory …

Inattentional Blindness And Auditory Attention: Effects Of Cognitive Load On Visual Awareness, Dillon James Cornett

LSU Master's Theses

The current study investigated the effects of cognitive load, in the presence or absence of distractors, during a dynamic inattentional blindness (IB) task on IB rate. IB is a phenomenon where one fails to notice an unexpected object (UEO) or event (UEE) that is in full view while attention is occupied. In the present study, the presence of distractors was manipulated (present/absent) to investigate the effects of selective attention in inattentional blindness when inhibition of distractors is required or not required. Undergraduates at Louisiana State University completed a visual task while listening to music embedded with sine wave tones (low …

Effort-Based Decision-Making In Schizotypy, Jessica Elaina Mcgovern

LSU Master's Theses

Avolition/apathy, defined as reduced initiation of or persistence in goal-directed behavior, is a pernicious, core negative symptom of schizophrenia. While deficits in effort-based decision-making have been proposed to underlie negative symptom deficits, it remains unknown whether subjective or objective motivation deficits are evident in individuals with elevated schizotypy, a trait associated with putative latent liability of developing psychosis. Thus, the present study examined whether and how objective and subjective motivation deficits manifest in individuals high (n = 57) versus low (n = 58) in schizotypy traits (based on a median-split of total experience scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire –Brief …

Effect Of Tissue Source On Adult Equine Multipotent Stromal Cell Pluripotency Induction Treatment With Synthetic Mrna, Javier Martin Jarazo

LSU Master's Theses

Autogenous and autologous adult multipotent stromal cells are applied to treat equine musculoskeletal injuries in clinical practice. However, options for autologous therapy in the equine specie are restricted due to the limited biological material obtained or MSCs tissue harvest procedure and because of their unpredictable in vivo behavior. Induced pluripotent stem cells represent an alternative to overcome these limitations. Traditionally, iPSCs are produced by introducing DNA for early embryonic genes into cells with viruses. The method tested in this study, avoids the use of viral vectors and potential for exogenous DNA integration into the cell’s genome by utilizing a lipid …

Effects Of Latitude On The Competitive Ability Of Native And Invasive Genotypes Of Phragmites Australis, Anthony K. Chow

LSU Master's Theses

One commonly cited mechanism for the success of invasive species is their superior competitive ability relative to that of native species. Although 88% (22 of 25) of the empirical studies support the prediction that the strength of competition for native species increases with latitude, no studies to date have compared the competitive ability of native and co-occurring invasive species across a broad latitudinal range. In a greenhouse, I investigated whether the competitive ability of North American native and European invasive haplotypes of Phragmites australis vary with latitude. Another widespread, non-indigenous haplotype, the Gulf Coast haplotype, was also included for assessment …

Addressing The Health Of Refugees: Vitamin D, Laura B Madsen

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Convocation Of Thanks Remarks, Christopher Monson, Vinod Ravikumar, Israel Ackerman

Quill & Scope

No abstract provided.

Gumbos- And Ionic Liquid-Coated Quartz Crystal Microbalance Sensors For Detection And Molecular Weight Determination Of Organic Vapors, Bishnu Prasad Regmi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

There has been an ever-increasing demand for the development of high-performance sensing devices for detection and discrimination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) present in different environments. Among a number of sensing devices currently available, sorption-based sensors are particularly attractive because they are simple and inexpensive, require low power, and are appropriate for fabrication of multisensor arrays. A sorption-based sensor is comprised of a chemically active coating immobilized on the surface of a physical transducer. The chemically active film interacts with analytes, and the transducer converts the binding event into an electrical signal. This dissertation is focused on a sorption-based sensor …

Kiobel's Broader Significance: Implications For International Legal Theory, Austen L. Parrish

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Cybersecurity And The Administrative National Security State: Framing The Issues For Federal Legislation, David G. Delaney

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In the digital age, every part of federal government has critical cybersecurity interests. Many of those issues are brought into sharp focus by Edward Snowden's disclosure of sensitive government cyber intelligence programs conducted by the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Central Intelligence Agency. Courts are reviewing various constitutional and statutory challenges to those programs, two government review groups have reported on related legal and policy issues, and Congress is considering cyber intelligence reform proposals. All of this action comes on the heels of significant efforts by successive administrations to restructure government and pass comprehensive cybersecurity …

The Effects Of A Test-Taking Skills Intervention On Test Anxiety And Test Performance In 4th Graders, Meredith T. Harris

LSU Master's Theses

Increases in standardized testing have been accompanied by increased reports of test anxiety in younger students. School-based test anxiety interventions can be implemented to decrease test anxiety and improve test performance. Skill-based interventions have effectively addressed both of these variables; however, the research has primarily targeted secondary and university students. The purpose of the current study was to determine if a test-taking skills intervention would decrease test anxiety and improve test performance in 4th grade students. Results indicated that the test-taking skills intervention resulted only in a minor decrease in test anxiety that maintained at 1-month follow-up. Effects on test …

More Than Met The Eye: Industry In The Antebellum Gulf South, Michael Sean Frawley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

1860 was a census year. Census marshals spread out across the United States to record many different aspects of American society, including information on population, agriculture and, most importantly for this study, manufacturing. The antebellum Gulf South has traditionally been viewed as a region with little industrial development. But, both contemporaries and historians based their view of industry in the Gulf South on what was recorded in the census schedules. Alabama, Mississippi, and Texas were portrayed in the census as areas with little industrial development. But, as many historians have discovered, there were errors in the 1860 census, especially errors …

Vocabulary Matching : Potential For A Diagnostic Performance Indicator, Jodie Schraven

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Predictive validity was explored between vocabulary matching (VM) probe scores and the integrated Louisiana Education Assessment Program (iLEAP) social studies standardized subtest score for 224 sixth-grade students across demographic categories from one rural southeastern Louisiana school district. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) conducted in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, 2007) produced Pearson correlations between .51 and .70 for five benchmark probes for the entire sample. Predictive cutscores created using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analyses and a diagnostic accuracy application software program illustrated that VM cutscores did not correctly predict which students would pass or fail with enough …

Methionine Restriction-Induced Metabolic Changes In C57bl6j Mice, Cory Christopher Cortez

LSU Master's Theses

Introduction: Eighty percent restriction of normal dietary methionine (MR) intake has been shown to increase energy expenditure and attenuate the rate of adiposity gain in rodents, despite a paradoxical increase in energy intake. Energy expenditure in rats was shown to increase, even though physical activity level stays the same. This observation suggests that metabolic mechanisms account for the majority of increased energy expenditure measured in methionine restricted animals. Purpose: To observe and document the onset of physiological effects brought about and to determine the mechanistic role of the skeletal muscle on MR-induced metabolic changes in the C57BL6J mouse. Methods: C57BL6J …

Quantum Optical Metrology, Sensing And Imaging, Kebei Jiang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation we begin with a brief introduction to quantum optics concentrating on the topics of the noise of quantum optical states, quantum estimation theory, quantum interferometry and the atom-field interaction. This background is necessary for understanding the discussions in later chapters. In particular, quantum interferometry, which is optical interferometry when the light source is a quantum mechanical state, plays a central role in this dissertation. In Chapter 2 we discuss the phase estimation sensitivity of quantum metrology when photon loss is present. In Chapter 3 we extend the discussion to include the phase fluctuation of the system caused …

Identifying Congressional Overrides Should Not Be This Hard, Deborah Widiss

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This paper is an invited response to Professor William N. Eskridge, Jr., and Mr. Matthew R. Christiansen’s recently-published study (92 Texas L. Rev. 1317 (2014)) identifying and analyzing Congressional overrides of Supreme Court statutory interpretation decisions since 1967. Christiansen and Eskridge provide a new taxonomy for overrides that distinguishes between "restorative" overrides, which denounce a judicial interpretation as misrepresenting prior Congressional intent, and overrides that simply update or clarify policy. Although political science and legal scholarship has focused on the interbranch struggle implicit in restorative overrides, Christiansen and Eskridge classify only about 20% of the overrides in their total dataset …

Virtual Designs, Mark D. Janis, Jason J. Du Mont

Articles by Maurer Faculty

Industrial design is migrating to the virtual world, and the design patent system is migrating with it. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has already granted several thousand design patents on virtual designs, patents that cover the designs of graphical user interfaces for smartphones, tablets, and other products, as well as the designs of icons or other artifacts of various virtual environments. Many more such design patent applications are pending; in fact, U.S. design patent applications for virtual designs represent one of the fastest growing forms of design subject matter at the USPTO.

Our project is the first comprehensive …

Did The National Security Agency Destroy The Prospects For Confidentiality And Privilege When Lawyers Store Clients' Files In The Cloud--And What, If Anything, Can Lawyers And Law Firms Realistically Do In Response?, Sarah Jane Hughes

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Investigation Of Dimensionality-Dependent Foam Rheological Properties By Using Mechanistic Foam Model, Woochan Lee

LSU Master's Theses

A numerous laboratory and field tests revealed that foam can effectively control gas mobility, improve sweep efficiency, and increase oil production, if correctly designed. It is believed that there is a significant gap between small laboratory-scale experiments and large field-scale tests because of two main reasons: (i) typical laboratory flow tests are conducted in linear systems, while field-scale foam EOR processes are performed in radial (or spherical partly) systems in general; and (ii) through the complicated in-situ lamella creation and coalescence mechanisms and non-Newtonian behavior, foam rheology is thought to depend on geometry and dimensionality and, as a result, it …

A Qualitative Study Utilizing Non-Fiction African-American Folktales: Process And Product With Struggling Second, Third, And Fifth Graders In North Louisiana, Gail Guidry Griffin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation presents a qualitative of a study utilizing non-fiction African-American Folktales with struggling readers in second, third, and fifth grades. The study was conducted to explore how teachers, reading/library media specialists, and students utilize a variety of non-fiction folktales in their classrooms and the library media center. From this topic the following research questions were devised. The researcher discovered the challenges that teachers are faced with the implementation of folktales, how is folktales aligned with the (CCSS) Common Core State Standards, what role do heroes play in folktales, and what traits and/or characteristics would students prefer their hero to …

Art Tweets: A Content Analysis Of Social Media Activity Among Six Top Art Museums In The U.S.A., Patricia Ann Milford-Hoyt

LSU Master's Theses

This study presents a content analysis of Twitter posts tagged with one of six institutions to establish uses and gratifications with this medium and the art museum industry. Due to industry norms, copyright law, museums traditionally do not permit photography and therefore may limit the advancement of their mission through misuse of the social media. This study establishes a baseline by seeking to understand how museums and individual account holders engage on Twitter within the art museum space as well as begin to unearth whether museums are misusing this media outlet and limiting their potential to educate the public while …