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Omega-3 Fatty Acid Status In Overweight Pregnant Women Of Louisiana, Adriana Virginia Gaitan

LSU Master's Theses

Omega-3 fatty acids are well known to benefit pregnant women and infant outcomes. More women are entering pregnancy with excess weight which puts them at higher risk for complications such as gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and preterm delivery, amongst others. In the present study we assessed the omega-3 fatty acid (docosahexaenoic acid, DHA) status in overweight (BMI = 25.0 - 29.9 kg/m2) pregnant women of Louisiana. Age, ethnicity, weeks of pregnancy, weight, and length were recorded for each participant. Dietary intakes were assessed by repeated 24-h dietary recalls using the University of Minnesota Nutrient Data System for Research. Blood samples were …

Stress Tolerance Enhancement Of Rice By Genetic Manipulation Of A Bhlh-Myc2 Transcription Factor, Luis Eduardo Sanchez Timm

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Rice yield is adversely affected by various abiotic and biotic stresses. Jasmonic acid (JA) signaling has been implicated in stress response of plants. The nuclear localized basic helix loop helix (bHLH) Myc2 transcription factor is known to be a master regulator of genes involved in the response of the JA-mediated signaling pathway during stress and plant development. Myc2 is also induced by wounding and mechanical damage, and is associated with resistance against herbivore insects. In order to understand the mode of action of Myc2 in stress response of rice, overexpresser (OE) and knock-down (KD) mutants for OsMyc2 were generated in …

Laboratory Experimental Demonstration Of The Effect Of Oceanic Whitecaps In The Transport Of Oil And Dispersant Components To The Atmosphere, Paria Avij

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

During the DWH oil spill, vast quantities of crude oil were released into the sea-surface environment of the Gulf of Mexico. There has been ample research focused on the transport of oil into the different environmental sections. Evaporation has been considered to be the only transport pathway of oil spill matter into the atmosphere. However, the aerosolization of oil and dispersant via bursting bubbles as they occur in whitecaps and breaking waves has not been considered in the oil and dispersant budget calculation. This transport vector is significant as it is the dominant source of particulate matter production in the …

Fermentable Non-Digestible Dietary Fiber And Bioactive Compounds Affect Aging And Fat Deposition In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Chenfei Gao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Overweight and obesity have been imposing $147 billion a year to the health care system in the United States. Limited medications are available in the market with side effects. Surgical treatments are second-line obesity treatments. Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced from the fermentable resistant starch improves the secretion of satiety hormones peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) from L-endocrine cells of cecum and colon. We hypothesized that consumption of fermentable non-digestible dietary fiber and bioactive compounds will increase insulin sensitivity, reduce body fat, and improve healthspan in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), and hyperglycemia (2% glucose) that may …

The Moderating Effects Of Family Management Factors On The Relationship Between Violence Exposure And Aggression, Christine Marie Raines

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Community violence, in the form of direct victimization or witnessing violent acts, is a prevalent public safety concern in many communities. Individuals who are exposed to community violence often exhibit a variety of associated mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. One of the most common negative outcomes associated with violence exposure among adolescents is engaging in aggressive or violent behavior. In order to mitigate the health, safety, and legal consequences associated with this outcome, it is worth examining factors that may protect adolescents from exhibiting behavior problems subsequent to community violence exposure. In the present study, …

An Ontological (Re)Thinking: Ubuntu And Buddhism In Higher Education, David Wayne Robinson-Morris

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Institutions of higher education, the nation’s ideological filters, shape our world and our very being-in-the-world. Given the current anthro-cultural state of affairs around the globe, this investigation posits institutions of higher education’s complicity in the proliferation of societal dis-ease and its responsibility in assisting to recalibrate the global moral compass. Following these assertions this inquiry is focused on the other-than-ness of higher education, and re-imagines both humanity and higher education to be what it is not yet, but must become. More specifically, through Buddhism and Ubuntu, this investigation (re)thinks institutions of higher education as transformational educative environments of human becoming …

Examining Electronic Medical Records System Adoption And Implications For Emergency Medicine Practice And Providers, Barbara Cook Overton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This ethnographic research study documented the use and effects of an electronic medical records system (EMR) by healthcare providers working in a community hospital-based emergency room. Using data collected from participant observation, in-depth interviews, questionnaires, and hospital documents, the research findings suggest EMRs impinge providers’ agency, alter emergency room systems, affect communication patterns among providers, and exacerbate structurational divergence (SD) conditions. Findings suggest that providers’ attempts to regain lost agency tips the SD-nexus into an SD-cycle, characterized by negative communication spirals between providers. The discussion chapter examines the impact of EMRs on emergency room structures, system reproduction, providers’ workflow and …

Essays On Mortgage Debt Payment, Meagan Nicole Mccollum

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I offer three independent studies that each contribute to the literature on mortgage debt payment. In the first paper, I examine the recent phenomenon of mortgage curtailment (borrowers making voluntary partial prepayments) and link this behavior to consumer deleveraging trends. In the second paper, I use the curtailment measures developed in the first essay to examine heterogeneity in sensitivity to current mortgage leverage in default decisions. Considering the group of borrowers who have previously curtailed mortgage debt, I posit such borrowers should be less sensitive to current leverage than borrowers without past curtailments because previous curtailers have …

Assessing The Use Of Concept Maps In The Science Classroom, Paige Russell

LSU Master's Theses

Graphic organizers have been used in the classroom since the late 1960’s. Several studies have been published on the effects of graphic organizers on cognitive learning and yet the traditional method of teaching in the science classroom still remains strongly focused on traditional lecture and note taking. This study shows that relative to traditional methods graphic organizers maintain equivalent learning gains, but increase excitement and engagement among the students. The purpose of this study was to assess traditional lecture vs. traditional lecture with the addition of concept maps to determine if concept maps affect learning gains in the high school …

A Comparative Assessment Of Ergonomic Risk Factors In University Personnel Using Rula And Reba Aiming To Study The Cause And Effect Relationship, Nabila Chowdhury

LSU Master's Theses

The aim of this research was to conduct an ergonomic assessment of working postures and the design of computer workstations of the employees in Louisiana State University. The purpose of the study was threefold- (1) to determine the major ergonomic issues in university employees while working on computer workstations, (2) to compare the two ergonomic assessment tools (RULA and REBA) to see how similarly or differently they assess the risks present in the same working condition and (3) to develop a model that correlates between working condition, work posture and computer workstation design with their effects on musculoskeletal system. This …

Driver Response And Safety Effect Of Three-Foot Bicycle Passing Laws, Nelida Andreina Herrera

LSU Master's Theses

The long and tragic history of vehicle-bicycle crashes in the United States has increasingly led to calls for legislative action to provide greater protections for bicyclists on the nation’s roadways. Among the most common of these actions are the three-foot passing laws. Recent history suggests that these laws may contribute to reducing the number of vehicular/bicycle-related collisions as well as their accompanying deaths and injuries, but few, if any, studies have shown how they substantively affect driver behavior. This thesis builds upon the results of recent research quantifying the effects of the three-foot passing laws by comparing key behavioral aspects …

An Exploration Of Plasmonics For Nanoparticle-Based Gene Delivery, Corey Raymond Landry

LSU Master's Theses

The spatiotemporal control of biological processes, especially cell growth and differentiation, remains one of the most compelling challenges in basic and clinical biomedical research. Fields as diverse as cancer therapy and regenerative medicine rely on spatial and temporal control of biochemical cues to achieve desired biological objectives. MicroRNA are attractive for highly-localized delivery applications because their instability in the cell restricts their biological effect to a small target area. These short, non-coding strands can be easily synthesized and modified for attachment and release from nanoparticle delivery vehicles. The research interest around microRNA therapies has produced a wide array of pathways …

Evaluating Technical Adequacy Features Of Sentence Verification Technique As A General Outcome Measure Of Content Knowledge, Ren&Eacutee E. Lastrapes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Once students have mastered the mechanics of reading, they are expected to learn new material by reading. This new material, however, becomes increasingly more complex as students enter upper elementary and especially middle and high school. If students fail to comprehend what they read, they risk failure in content courses such as science and social studies. Early assessment of risk and appropriate response to that risk is a goal of effective education. One problem with the risk reduction sequence is that there are limited formative assessments that have been validated as technically adequate for assessing content knowledge. The present study …

A Monte Carlo Approach To Studying The Hydrogen Storage Capabilities Of Potassium Magnesium Hydride (Kmgh3), Brandon L. Borill

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations and the weighted histogram analysis method (WHAM) were employed at selected temperatures and pressures in the study of the hydrogen storage capabilities of KMgH3. A specially tailored addition/removal algorithm was employed to add hydrogen directly at the lattice sites. Agreement between experimental results was obtained through GCMC simulations. WHAM type studies were employed to obtain probability distributions for the purpose of learning the probability of finding hydrogen atoms at specific temperatures and hydrogen pressures. The radial distribution function was employed to study the changes in the structure of KMgH3 for the selected model as …

Poly (Lactic Co-Glycolic) Acid Nanoparticles: Synthesis Using Millifluidic Chip And Interaction With Red Blood Cells, Sumit Libi

LSU Master's Theses

Nanoparticles (NPs) have recently been developed for application as drug carriers in different fields, including biomedical engineering. This study was focused on the use of a millifluidic chip for synthesis of polymeric poly (lactic co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs and the understanding of PLGA NPs interaction and effect on red blood cells (RBCs). A method for NPs synthesis on a millifluidic chip was developed, exploiting the precise flow control offered by this device. PLGA NPs ranging from 230nm to 350nm in diameter were produced. Smaller NPs of lower polydispersity were synthesized at higher flow rates of the aqueous phase; increase in …

Ages Of [Wo]Man, Amanda Jane Clark

LSU Master's Theses

Ages of [Wo]Man, was written to fulfill the thesis requirements of a solo performance for the M.F.A in Acting at Louisiana State University (LSU) in May 2015. The purpose of this project is to write, produce and perform a solo performance, to be reproduced after my time here at LSU. This paper documents the conception of my work, adaptation of Shakespeare’s text, rehearsal process and production of this piece. It contains five chapters. Chapter 1 is comprised of an introduction and discussion of how I decided on the topic for my solo performance. Chapter 2 continues with a layout of …

Money, Power, Respect: Philanthropic Giving Of African American Alumni Of Predominately White Institutions, Melvin Jonathan Jackson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As colleges and universities throughout the United States face economic downturns that translate into budget reductions, hiring freezes, and academic program dissolution, it is becoming increasingly more pertinent to secure valuable alumni donations to meet the financial and budgetary needs of these institutions. African American alumni of Predominately white Institutions (PWIs) have often been an overlooked resource for colleges and universities soliciting philanthropic donations. This study will explore the relationship between African American alumni and their Predominately white alma maters and how this relationship affects philanthropic giving to the institutions. In addition to exposing the stimulus for giving to their …

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Dynamics In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Puspa Lal Adhikari

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are introduced into the marine environment via oil seeps/spills, riverine discharges, continental runoff, coastal erosion, and atmospheric deposition. An estimated 2.1 x 1010g of PAHs entered into the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill in 2010. It became evident following the oil spill that accurate quantification of ultimate fate of these potentially carcinogenic and/or mutagenic organic pollutants is extremely challenging. In general, very little is known about PAHs fate, distribution and accumulation in the open ocean ecosystems. This study determines the upper ocean vertical fluxes and sedimentary PAHs accumulation rates …

A Performer's Guide To Ivor Gurney's The Western Playland (And Of Sorrow), Ridley Chauvin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this document is to serve as a performance guide for Ivor Gurney’s song cycle, The Western Playland (and of Sorrow), a song cycle for baritone, piano and string quartet, consisting of eight songs set to the poetry of A. E. Housman. Within this performance guide an analysis of each song and poem in The Western Playland (and of Sorrow) will be explored, along with performance recommendations for each of the eight songs. Given that there were relatively few composers writing works for string quartet, piano and solo voice during the years Ivor Gurney was composing, the author …

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 …

A Neuro-Genetic Hybrid Approach To Automatic Identification Of Plant Leaves, Oluleye Hezekiah Babatunde

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Plants are essential for the existence of most living things on this planet. Plants are used for providing food, shelter, and medicine. The ability to identify plants is very important for several applications, including conservation of endangered plant species, rehabilitation of lands after mining activities and differentiating crop plants from weeds.

In recent times, many researchers have made attempts to develop automated plant species recognition systems. However, the current computer-based plants recognition systems have limitations as some plants are naturally complex, thus it is difficult to extract and represent their features. Further, natural differences of features within the same plant …

The Form And Use Of Social Capital Among Foreign Direct Investors In Their Interactions With Locals In Northern Laos, Bjarne Sorensen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The research conducted for this thesis is in the area of international business; it has focused on the emerging market of Laos – and it has in particular sought to identify the form and use of social capital in the northern part of the country. This thesis will present the rationale behind the research, the planning that took place before the fieldwork commenced, and most importantly the findings of the study.

Social capital is a sociological concept that since the early 1990s has gained significant recognition in the literature. While the benefits to holders of economic capital is commonly recognised …

Rapid Root Elongation By Phreatophyte Seedlings Does Not Imply Tolerance Of Water Table Decline, Caroline A. Canham, Raymond H. Froend, William D. Stock

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Key message Despite high rates of root elongation during phreatophyte establishment once connection to groundwater has occurred and leaf area develops, seedlings demonstrate limited capacity for root elongation in response to groundwater decline.

Abstract In a water-limited environment, rapid root elongation immediately after germination can be critical for a plant to reach deeper water sources such as a water table to avoid water deficit stress. However, once plants have accessed a water table, their continued survival may depend on their ability to adapt their root distribution to changes in the depth to a water table. In glasshouse experiments using two …

Multiple Drivers Of Decline In The Global Status Of Freshwater Crayfish (Decapoda: Astacidea), Nadia I. Richman, Monika Bohm, Susan Adams, Fernando Alvarez, Elizabeth A. Bergey, John J.S. Bunn, Quinton Burnham, Jay Cordeiro, Jason Coughran, Keith A. Crandall, Kathryn L. Dawkins, Robert J. Distefano, Niall E. Doran, Lennart Edsman, Arnold G. Eversole, Leopold Fureder, James M. Furse, Francessa Gherardi, Premek Hamr, David M. Holdich, Pierre Horwitz, Kerrylyn Johnston, Clive M. Jones, Julia P.G. Jones, Robert L. Jones, Thomas G. Jones, Tadashi Kawai, Susan Lawler, Marilu Lopez-Mejia, Rebecca M. Miller, Carlos Pedraza-Lara, Julian D. Reynolds, Alastair M.M. Richardson, Mark B. Schiltz, Guenter A. Schuster, Peter J. Sibley, Catherine Souty-Grosset, Christopher A. Taylor, Roger F. Thoma, Jerry Walls, Todd S. Walsh, Ben Collen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Rates of biodiversity loss are higher in freshwater ecosystems than in most terrestrial or marine ecosystems, making freshwater conservation a priority. However, prioritization methods are impeded by insufficient knowledge on the distribution and conservation status of freshwater taxa, particularly invertebrates. We evaluated the extinction risk of the world's 590 freshwater crayfish species using the IUCN Categories and Criteria and found 32% of all species are threatened with extinction. The level of extinction risk differed between families, with proportionally more threatened species in the Parastacidae and Astacidae than in the Cambaridae. Four described species were Extinct and 21% were assessed as …

South African Hiv-1 Subtype C Transmitted Variants With A Specific V2 Motif Show Higher Dependence On Aα4Β7 For Replication, Simone I. Richardson, Elin S. Gray, Nonhlanhla N. Mkhize, Daniel J. Sheward, Bronwen E. Lambson, Constantinos K. Wibmer, Lindi Masson, Lise Werner, Nigel Garrett, Jo A.S Passmore, Quarraisha A. Karim, Salim S.A. Karim, Carolyn Williamson, Penny L. Moore, L. Morris

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: The integrin aα4β7 mediates the trafficking of immune cells to the gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) and is an attachment factor for the HIV gp120 envelope glycoprotein. We developed a viral replication inhibition assay to more clearly evaluate the role of aα4β7 in HIV infection and the contribution of viral and host factors. Results: Replication of 60 HIV-1 subtype C viruses collected over time from 11 individuals in the CAPRISA cohort were partially inhibited by antibodies targeting aα4β7. However, dependence on aα4β7 for replication varied substantially among viral isolates from different individuals as well as over time in some …

Follow-Up Plasma Apolipoprotein E Levels In The Australian Imaging, Biomarkers And Lifestyle Flagship Study Of Ageing (Aibl) Cohort, Veer B. Gupta, V.B, Andrea C. Wilson, Samantha Burnham, Eugene Hone, Steve Pedrini, Simon M. Laws, Wei L.F. Lim, Alan Rembach, Stephanie Rainey-Smith, David Ames, Lynne Cobiac, S L. Macaulay, Colin L. Masters, Christopher C. Rowe, Ashley I. Bush, Ralph Martins, Aibl Research Group

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a growing socioeconomic problem worldwide. Early diagnosis and prevention of this devastating disease have become a research priority. Consequently, the identification of clinically significant and sensitive blood biomarkers for its early detection is very important. Apolipoprotein E (APOE) is a well-known and established genetic risk factor for late-onset AD; however, the impact of the protein level on AD risk is unclear. We assessed the utility of plasma ApoE protein as a potential biomarker of AD in the large, well-characterised Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle Study of Ageing (AIBL) cohort. Methods: Total plasma ApoE levels were …

Seagrass Meadows As A Globally Significant Carbonate Reservoir, I Mazarrasa, N Marbà, O Serrano, C E. Lovelock, Paul S. Lavery, J W. Fourqurean, H Kennedy, M A. Mateo, D Krause-Jensen, A D. Steven, C M. Duarte

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

There has been growing interest in quantifying the capacity of seagrass ecosystems to act as carbon sinks as a natural way of offsetting anthropogenic carbon emissions to the atmosphere. However, most of the efforts have focused on the particulate organic carbon (POC) stocks and accumulation rates and ignored the particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) fraction, despite important carbonate pools associated with calcifying organisms inhabiting the meadows, such as epiphytes and benthic invertebrates, and despite the relevance that carbonate precipitation and dissolution processes have in the global carbon cycle. This study offers the first assessment of the global PIC stocks in seagrass …

Bone Mineral Density, Adiposity, And Cognitive Functions, Hamid R. Sohrabi, Kristyn A. Bates, Michael Weinborn, Romola S. Bucks, Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith, Mark A. Rodrigues, Sabine M. Bird, Belinda M. Brown, John Beilby, Matthew Howard, Arthur Criddle, Megan Wraith, Kevin Taddei, Georgia Martins, Athena Paton, Tejal Shah, Satvinder S. Dhaliwal, Pankaj D. Mehta, Jonathan K. Foster, Ian J. Martins, Nicola T. Lautenschlager, Francis Mastaglia, Simon Laws, Ralph Martins

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Cognitive decline and dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been associated with genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors. A number of potentially modifiable risk factors should be taken into account when preventive or ameliorative interventions targeting dementia and its preclinical stages are investigated. Bone mineral density (BMD) and body composition are two such potentially modifiable risk factors, and their association with cognitive decline was investigated in this study. 164 participants, aged 34–87 years old (62.78 ± 9.27), were recruited for this longitudinal study and underwent cognitive and clinical examinations at baseline and after 3 years. Blood samples were collected for …

Cardiorespiratory Adaptations During Concurrent Aerobic And Strength Training In Men And Women, Moritz Schumann, Kaisu Yli-Peltola, Chris R. Abbiss, Keijo K. Häkkinen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study investigated the effects of endurance followed by strength training (ES, men n = 16; women n = 15), the reverse exercise order (SE, men n = 18, women n = 13) and concurrent endurance and strength training performed on alternating days (AD, men n = 21, women n = 18) on cardiorespiratory parameters. Peak oxygen consumption (VO_2peak) and oxygen consumption at sub-maximal power outputs (VO_2submax) of 50 to 175 Watts in men and 50 to 125 Watts in women were assessed during an incremental cycling test both before and after 24 weeks of training. …

The Nature Of Attachment Relationships And Grief Responses In Older Adults: An Attachment Path Model Of Grief, Yan Kho, Robert T. Kane, Lynn E. Priddis, Josephine Hudson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Various researchers have theorized that bereaved adults who report non-secure attachment are at higher risk of pathological grief. Yet past findings on avoidant attachment representations and grief have yielded limited and contradictory outcomes. Little research has been conducted with older adults to identify the psychological processes that mediate between self-reported attachment representations and the patterns of grief.

Objective: To examine the impacts of avoidant attachment and anxious attachment dimensions on emotion and non-acceptance, in response to the loss of a conjugal partner, and the mediating effect of yearning thoughts.

Design: Men (N = 21) and women (N …