Digital Commons Network^™

A New Model To Explore Non-Profit Social Media Use For Advocacy And Civic Engagement, David Chapman, Katrina Miller-Stevens, John C. Morris, Brendan O'Hallarn

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

Non-profit organizations are actively using social media platforms as a way to deliver information to end users, yet little is known of the internal processes these organizations follow to implement this tool. We present a case study of one non-profit organization, Blue Star Families, Inc., that is actively engaged in advocacy and civic engagement. We offer a new model to explore non-profit organizations' use of social media platforms by building on previous models and frameworks developed to explore the use of social media in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.

I. Synthesis Of Ascarosides For Chemical Biology Studies In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Ii. A Photochemical Approach To Delavayine, And Iii. Remote Hydroxylation By Radical Translocation And Polar Crossover, Kyle Allen Hollister

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The foci of this dissertation are the synthesis of analogs for chemical biology studies, synthetic chemistry method development (with an emphasis on photochemistry), and the application of these methods toward total synthesis. Chapter 1 outlines the synthesis of an array of pheromone analogs that are derivatives of the dideoxy sugar ascarylose. Referred to as ascarosides, such compounds have recently been shown to influence important biological processes in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. C. elegans secretes ascarosides into its environment, where the compounds then act as signaling molecules by providing information on factors like population density. Chapter 2 describes the biological …

Straight Ahead: The Life, Pedagogy, And Influence Of Dennis L. Schneider, Louie Colton Sperry Eckhardt

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The career of Dennis L. ‘Denny’ Schneider, Professor of Trumpet at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from 1961-1996, was expansive. From small town Nebraska, Schneider graduated from the University of Nebraska and Indiana University. After serving in the USAF Strategic Air Command Band, and teaching public school music, Schneider began teaching at the University of Nebraska. He served as principal trumpet of the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, Omaha Symphony Orchestra, and the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra for decades. Schneider also served as principal trumpet for the Cabrillo Summer Festival Orchestra, and performed and recorded with the Summit Brass. He was the recipient of …

New Identification And Decoding Techniques For Low-Density Parity-Check Codes, Tian Xia

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Error-correction coding schemes are indispensable for high-capacity high data-rate communication systems nowadays. Among various channel coding schemes, low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes introduced by pioneer Robert G. Gallager are prominent due to the capacity-approaching and superior error-correcting properties. There is no hard constraint on the code rate of LDPC codes. Consequently, it is ideal to incorporate LDPC codes with various code rate and codeword length in the adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) systems which change the encoder and the modulator adaptively to improve the system throughput. In conventional AMC systems, a dedicated control channel is assigned to coordinate the encoder/decoder changes. …

Development Of Satellite-Assisted Forecasting System For Oyster Norovirus Outbreaks, Jiao Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Norovirus outbreaks can cause the closure of oyster harvesting waters and acute gastroenteritis in humans associated with consumption of contaminated raw oysters. The overall goal of this study was to develop a satellite-assisted forecasting system for oyster norovirus outbreaks. The forecasting system is comprised of three components: (1) satellite algorithms for retrieval of environmental variables, including salinity, temperature, and gage height, (2) an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based model, called NORF model, for predicting relative risk levels of oyster norovirus outbreaks, and (3) a mapping method for visualizing spatial distributions of norovirus outbreak risks in oyster harvest areas along Louisiana …

Analysis Of Nonlinear Dispersive Model Equations, Jacob Grey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this work we begin with a brief survey of the classical fluid dynamics problem of water waves, and then proceed to derive well known evolution equations via a Hamiltonian Variational approach. This method was first introduced in the seminal work of Walter Craig, et al. \cite{CG}. The distinguishing feature of this scheme is that the Dirichlet-Neumann operator of the fluid domain appears explicitly in the Hamiltonian. In the second and third chapters, we utilize the Hamiltonian perturbation theory introduced in \cite{CG} to derive the Benjamin-Bona-Mahony (BBM) and Benjamin-Bona-Mahony-Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (BBM-KP)equations. Finally, we briefly review the existence theory for their corresponding …

Towards The Realization Of Systematic, Self-Consistent Typical Medium Theory For Interacting Disordered Systems, Chinedu Ekuma Ekuma

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work is devoted to the development of a systematic method for studying electron localization. The developed method is Typical Medium Dynamical Cluster Approximation (TMDCA) using the Anderson-Hubbard model. The TMDCA incorporates non-local correlations beyond the local typical environment in a self-consistent way utilizing the momentum resolved typical-density-of-states and the non-local hybridization function to characterize the localization transition. For the (non-interacting) Anderson model, I show that the TMDCA provides a proper description of the Anderson localization transition in one, two, and three dimensions. In three-dimensions, as a function of cluster size, the TMDCA systematically recovers the re-entrance behavior of the …

Chemical Structure And Dynamics In Laminar Flame Propagation, Mohsen Ayoobi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation is to investigate fundamental aspects of premixed flame structures as well as flame dynamics that arise due to conjugate heat transfer in narrow channels. Laminar premixed combustion simulations in narrow 2D channels show that conjugate heat transfer allows for combustion of mixtures at small scales that are not flammable at normal conditions. To investigate the impact of conjugate heat transfer, preheated 1D cases with premixed H2/Air fuel are simulated for a wide range of operating conditions based on inlet temperature and equivalence ratio. For post-processing, Chemical Explosive Mode Analysis (CEMA, an eigen-analysis technique) is used …

Constitutive Modeling And Experiments For The Micro And Nano Behaviors In Metals, Cheng Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work addresses the micro- and nano-behaviors in metals through constitutive modeling and experiments. The size effect encountered during nanoindentation experiments, which is known as indentation size effect (ISE), is investigated for metal materials. The ISE is believed to be related with the strain gradient at small indentation depths. Geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) are formed in order to accommodate the strain gradient, which results in the increase in the material hardness. The grain boundaries in polycrystalline materials play an important role on the material hardness during nanoindentation experiments as there is a soften-hardening segment in the curve of hardness as …

Career Development Among College Students: Determining The Influence Of Career Services On Student Persistence To Graduation, Anne Wanjiku Sang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of participation in career services activities and selected demographic characteristics on the persistence to graduation among undergraduate students at a research university-very high research activity (RU/VH) in the Southern portion of the United States. The target population was all undergraduate students enrolled at a research university –very high research activity (RU/VH) in the Southern portion of the United States. The accessible population for this study was undergraduate students at one selected research university –very high research activity (RU/VH) in the Southern portion of the United States and the sample …

Spinoza's Ethology: Recognizing Dynamic Transitions Between Imagination, Reason, And Intuition, Christina Rawls

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Seventeenth Century lens grinder and Dutch philosopher, Benedict de Spinoza, illuminates a rigorous and dynamic theory of knowledge and action in his major system the Ethics. What we learn by adequately learning Spinoza's epistemology is that within it is a proto-physics of ideational force between the three kinds of knowledge expressed by the attribute of thought and, simultaneously, expressed as ratios of motion and rest, speed and slowness, intensity and transformation by the attribute of extension. Such dynamic processes or ways lead to one's capacity for increased rational thought and action, increased uses of creativity, and the enhanced ability to …

Social Functioning In Schizotypy: An Exploration Of Communicative Effectiveness Through Speech Analysis And Observer Rated Performance In A Socially Demanding Task, Tracey Lauren Auster

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Individuals with schizotypal traits have demonstrated sub-clinical symptoms of psychosis (e.g. perceptual disturbances, self-reported social functioning impairment, self-reported memory problems, and delusions). However, the evidence has been mixed regarding what impairments exist, particularly with regards to social functioning domains. As schizotypy is posited to reflect an underlying vulnerability for development of clinical levels of psychosis/risk conversion, individuals with these traits are an important group to study in order to identify these vulnerabilities. Research has indicated that current measures of social functioning (whether they are localized objective measures of verbal and non-verbal communication or global self-report of functioning) are missing some …

Synthesis With Hypergraphs, Christopher Thomas Alvin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Many problems related to synthesis with intelligent tutoring may be phrased as program synthesis problems using AI-style search and formal reasoning techniques. The _x000C_first two results in this dissertation focus on problem synthesis as an aspect of intelligent tutoring systems applied to STEM-based education frameworks, specifically high school geometry. Given a geometric _x000C_figure as input, our technique constructs a hypergraph representing logical deduction of facts, and then traverses the hypergraph to synthesize problems and their corresponding solutions. Using similar techniques, our third result is focused on exhaustive synthesis of molecules. This synthesis process involves bonding sets of basic, molecular `fragments' …

The Impact Of Financial Knowledge On Student Retention From The Second To The Third Year At A Public Research University, Eric N. Monday

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of financial knowledge and selected demographic characteristics on student retention from the second to the third year at a public research university in the southern region of the United States. The accessible population was defined as students in the Fall 2013 entering freshman cohort who were enrolled in the Spring 2015 semester. Measurements including the independent variable represented by the financial knowledge score and 17 other independent variables were collected using a survey instrument and downloaded data from the university’s electronic student information system. A total of 695 students …

Women In Alcoholics Anonymous: A Qualitative Research Study, Ariel Larson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research looks at how women in particular navigate the complicated power dynamics of twelve-step programs, specifically AA, to achieve long-term sobriety. This study attempts to understand how women in AA are appropriating and shaping AA and its reliance on the twelve-steps in unique and resourceful ways to make recovery their own. The methodological approach of this study is empirical-phenomenological. Interviews with five female members of Alcoholics Anonymous were conducted, transcribed and analyzed in an attempt to identify and understand how women approach and adapt recovery strategies and technologies that evolved during the twentieth century to meet the needs of …

Empire Of Faith: Toleration, Confessionalism And The Politics Of Religious Pluralism In The Habsburg Empire, 1792-1867, Scott Michael Berg

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The issues of religious toleration and confessionalism are complex, with deep roots and unresolved, enduring legacies. This project takes a look on one sustained attempt to tackle this problem by looking at the Habsburg Empire after the death of Joseph II (r. 1780-1790), whose far-reaching reforms established extensive state control over the Catholic Church and introduced toleration for Protestants, Orthodox Christians and, in a more limited way, to Jews. Yet ultimately, religious toleration was one of the many factors that caused Joseph’s reign to end in failure. In addition, the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars created conditions that promoted confessionalism, …

Time-Resolved Investigations Of Continuous Flow Synthesis Of Nanomaterials And Catalysis Using Millifluidic Reactors For Biomass Conversion Reactors, Chelliah V Navin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Millifluidics can be used as a simple tool and convenient platform to perform in-situ investigations on nanoparticles synthesis to generate real-time information in a continuous flow fashion. These investigations can be used to observe the relationship between the structure and performance of nanoparticles for catalytic applications as a function of space and time. These improvements in nanoparticles research offer unique advantages to develop catalysts with molecular strategies. In order to showcase these advantages of the millifluidic reactors, here we: A. Extensively covered a complete literature review on Lab-on-a-chip devices for gold nanoparticle synthesis and as a catalyst support for continuous …

U.S. State Social Spending And Economic Growth, Chris Heitzig

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

U.S. state social spending has increased both as a percentage of national GDP and a percentage of the national budget since 1960. Growth in spending across states, however, has not been uniform. Those advocating for more conservative spending argue that large social expenditure budgets dampen the growth of society as a whole. In this paper, I examine the effect that state social spending has on the growth rate of personal income per capita. I follow the model proposed by Peter Lindert (2004), who studied the relationship between social spending and economic growth at the national level. I examine the period …

Truth In Sight: The Effect Of Physical Cues On Emotion, Daniel R. Green

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

This study explored whether an actor taking a physical pose, normally associated with a specific emotion, affected the emotional state of an actor and whether this state was observable as well as transferable to an observer in an empathic fashion. The study consisted of 53 students from CSB/SJU obtained through convenience sampling. Dyads of the participants where observed who alternated in the roles of actors, who took on a posture normally associated with an emotion, and observers, who watched the pose taken by the actor. There were two conditions. One denoting confidence and one denoting sadness. Actors had their faces …

Discrepancy Between Parents And Children In Reporting Of Distress And Impairment: Association With Critical Symptoms, Laura Bein, Megan Lynn Petrik, Stephen M. Saunders, James V. Wojcik

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Background: We examined discrepant parent–child reports of subjective distress and psychosocial impairment.

Method: Parent–child pairs (N = 112 pairs) completed the Health Dynamics Inventory at intake for outpatient therapy.

Results: Average parent scores were significantly higher than average child scores on distress, impairment, and externalizing symptoms, but not internalizing symptoms. There were significant associations between parent–child discrepancy (i.e. children who reported greater distress or impairment than parents or vice versa) and child endorsement of several notable symptoms (rapid mood swings, panic, nightmares, and suicidal ideation).

Conclusion: Parents tended to report more externalizing symptoms, distress, and impairment than children reported; …

Tumor Growth Increases Neuroinflammation, Fatigue And Depressive-Like Behavior Prior To Alterations In Muscle Function, Diana M. Norden, Sabahattin Bicer, Yvonne Clark, Runfeng Jing, Christopher J. Henry, Loren E. Wold, Peter J. Reiser, Jonathan P. Godbout, Donna O. Mccarthy

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Cancer patients frequently suffer from fatigue, a complex syndrome associated with loss of muscle mass, weakness, and depressed mood. Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) can be present at the time of diagnosis, during treatment, and persists for years after treatment. CRF negatively influences quality of life, limits functional independence, and is associated with decreased survival in patients with incurable disease. Currently there are no effective treatments to reduce CRF. The aim of this study was to use a mouse model of tumor growth and discriminate between two main components of fatigue: loss of muscle mass/function and altered mood/motivation. Here we show that …

Differences In Inflammatory Markers Between Nulliparous Women Admitted To Hospitals In Preactive Vs Active Labor, Jeremy L. Neal, Jane M. Lamp, Nancy Lowe, Shannon L. Gillespie, Loraine T. Sinnott, Donna O. Mccarthy

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

Objective

To determine whether labor-associated inflammatory markers differ between low-risk, nulliparous women in preactive vs active labor at hospital admission and over time.

Study Design

Prospective comparative study of low-risk, nulliparous women with spontaneous labor onset at term (n = 118) sampled from 2 large Midwestern hospitals. Circulating concentrations of inflammatory markers were measured at admission and again 2 and 4 hours later: namely, neutrophil, and monocyte counts; and serum inflammatory cytokines (interleukin -1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-10) and chemokines (interleukin-8). Biomarker concentrations and their patterns of change over time were compared between preactive (n = 63) and active …

When Auditory And Visual Signal Processing Conflict: Cross-Modal Interference In Extended Work Periods, Stephen J. Guastello, Katherine Reiter, Matthew Malon, Anton Shircel

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Auditory and visual stimuli presented at intervals of about 300 m sec often produce miss errors in one or the other channel, which result from a bottleneck in a neural circuit associated with executive memory. The present study examined the possibility that cross-modal interference could carry over to performance units that transpire over 3 min or longer. An N-back task performed by 113 undergraduates with simultaneous auditory and visual stimuli was organised into 1-min blocks of 20 trials in 2-back and 3-back conditions. Results showed that impairment of visual processing was more frequent than impairment of auditory processing under …

Modular Biped Robotic Base, Lawrence T. Chiavaroli, Andrew J. Forchione, Wesley A. Miller, Joseph M. Drockton

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This report contains the final developments and research involved with the modular biped robotic base. A need was first identified in 2011 when President Obama announced the National Robotics Initiative, an initiative focused on the funding of robotic development to work alongside or cooperatively with humans. This scope of this project concerns building a robotic base modeled after human legs and hips, capable of interfacing with future modular subsystems depending on what tasks are trying to be accomplished. Firstly, a mathematical torque simulation of the hip, knee, and ankle joints was developed in MATLAB. Using this information, complimentary actuators and …

Multi-Modal Communication In School-Age Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Lauren Dougherty

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have a difficult time communicating on a daily basis. To help enhance and sometimes substitute speech altogether, they require Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices. A review of literature found that school-age children with ASD utilize multiple modes of communication. The observation conducted looked at six school-age children, grades 6-8, with ASD and their use of multimodal communication. Each child was observed throughout their school day in settings such as the classroom, lunch/recess, and the speech therapy room. Data was collected for the number of times a child was given the opportunity to use …

A Survey Of Speech-Language Pathologists On Facilitating Support Groups For Those With Communication Disorders, Danielle A. Hower, K. Todd Houston Ph.D

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Support groups are used in a variety of settings and can be helpful for group members to develop coping strategies. This research aims to evaluate Ohio Speech-Language Pathologists’ perceived knowledge of planning and implementing support groups. Another goal for this research is to gain information on how many Speech-Language Pathologists are using this knowledge to conduct a support group, what type of populations are benefiting, and in what setting type utilizes support groups.

Philosophy Of Mathematics: Theories And Defense, Amy E. Maffit

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In this paper I discuss six philosophical theories of mathematics including logicism, intuitionism, formalism, platonism, structuralism, and moderate realism. I also discuss problems that arise within these theories and attempts to solve them. Finally, I attempt to harmonize the best features of moderate realism and structuralism, presenting a theory that I take to best describe current mathematical practice.

Brainstorm Radiation Systems Inc, Calia Battista, Leah Krichbaum, Lauren Wickert, Cody George, Ryan Manges

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Many different designs have been created to immobilize patients for radiation therapy of the head and neck. Options exist which result in varying degrees of patient comfort, radiation attenuation, and limitation of movement. While one requirement can be met effectively, it is difficult to design a system which adequately meets all requirements for radiation therapy. Brainstorm Radiation Systems aims to address all of these variables and transform the patient and technician experience during radiation treatment. The requirements for our head and neck immobilization design were to immobilize the patient within 3mm of movement for at least 30 minutes, and must …

Tourism In Crisis: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Seaworld's Twitter Response To Blackfish, Nicholas E. Marek

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Released on July 19, 2013, the documentary Blackfish highlighted the mistreatment of dangerous sea-life and the lack of employee training at the aquatic zoological theme park SeaWorld. Considering the immense reputational damage suffered by SeaWorld, this study uses qualitative content analysis to examine SeaWorld’s Twitter (twitter.com) response to the Blackfish crisis. An inductive method of coding highlights overall themes present in SeaWorld’s tweets while the deductive method of coding utilizes Benoit’s (1997) image repair theory to determine how this tourism organization utilizes Twitter as a medium of image restoration. The results prompt suggestions for clarifying image repair theory as well …

Exploring The Benefits Of Embedded And Sustained Field Placements For Pre-Service Teachers And Students Through Research Of The F.A.C.E Collaboration, Marie Corrigan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

No abstract provided.