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2016

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A Framework To Incorporate A Structural Capacity Indicator Into The State Of Louisiana Pavement Management System, Omar Salaheldin Elbagalati Jan 2016

A Framework To Incorporate A Structural Capacity Indicator Into The State Of Louisiana Pavement Management System, Omar Salaheldin Elbagalati

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Non-structural factors such as surface distresses and ride quality have been commonly used as the main indicators of in-service pavement conditions. In the last decade, the concept of implementing a structural condition index in Pavement Management System (PMS) to complement functional condition indices has become an important goal for many highway agencies. The Rolling Wheel Deflectometer (RWD) provides the ability to measure pavement deflection while operating at the posted speed limits causing no user delays. The objective of this study was two-fold. First, this study developed a model to predict pavement structural capacity at a length interval of 0.16 km …

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The Influence Of Selected Academic And Demographic Characteristics On The Success Of First-Year Students Enrolled In A Baccalaureate Nursing Program, Scelitta F. Bond Jan 2016

The Influence Of Selected Academic And Demographic Characteristics On The Success Of First-Year Students Enrolled In A Baccalaureate Nursing Program, Scelitta F. Bond

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of the study was to determine the influence of selected demographic and academic characteristics on success in nursing education among first year baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in a private college in the Southern region of the United States. The participants in the study were 102 baccalaureate students admitted to the nursing program in Fall, 2013. For the purpose of the study, success was defined as a grade of C or higher in two clinical nursing courses in the first year of the nursing program. Academic and demographic criteria were examined and compared using means, standard deviations, Independent …

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The Effects Of Using Knee Wraps On Back Squat And Vertical Jump Performance., Cardyl Trionfante Jan 2016

The Effects Of Using Knee Wraps On Back Squat And Vertical Jump Performance., Cardyl Trionfante

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Using knee wraps (KW) as an ergogenic aid has been commonly practiced in various sports such as powerlifting, strongman, and Olympic weightlifting. There is limited research investigating the effects of using KW during back squat (BS) and none regarding vertical jump (VJ). This dissertation investigates the effects of wearing KW on BS and VJ performance through a series of studies. The first study was designed to observe acute and long term effects of using KW on VJ performance. VJ performance decreased when KW were worn and was not considered an ergogenic aid for VJ. The second study was designed to …

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Data-Driven Rational Drug Design, Yun Ding Jan 2016

Data-Driven Rational Drug Design, Yun Ding

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Vast amount of experimental data in structural biology has been generated, collected and accumulated in the last few decades. This rich dataset is an invaluable mine of knowledge, from which deep insights can be obtained and practical applications can be developed. To achieve that goal, we must be able to manage such "Big Data'' in science and investigate them expertly. Molecular docking is a field that can prominently make use of the large structural biology dataset. As an important component of rational drug design, molecular docking is used to perform large-scale screening of putative associations between small organic molecules and …

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Development Of Functional Markers For Resistance To Leaf Scald In Sugarcane, Andres Felipe Gutierrez Viveros Jan 2016

Development Of Functional Markers For Resistance To Leaf Scald In Sugarcane, Andres Felipe Gutierrez Viveros

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Leaf scald, caused by Xanthomonas albilineans, is a major sugarcane disease worldwide. The disease is managed primarily with resistant cultivars obtained through classical breeding; however, the erratic symptom expression hinders the reliability and reproducibility of the selection process. The development of molecular markers associated with incompatible/compatible reaction can overcome this limitation. Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) and quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping were the strategies used to find leaf scald resistance-associated genes and molecular markers in sugarcane. SSH results showed that genes involved in signal perception and transduction, and DNA binding, were highly expressed in the resistant clone LCP 85-384 compared …

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How Should A Judge Be: In Defense Of The Judge As Ceo, David Lat, Stephanie S. Estey Jan 2016

How Should A Judge Be: In Defense Of The Judge As Ceo, David Lat, Stephanie S. Estey

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Is Erie Normal, Michael S. Greve Jan 2016

Is Erie Normal, Michael S. Greve

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Diagnosis And Treatment Of The Superiority Problem, Jay Tidmarsh, Stanley Onyeador Jan 2016

Diagnosis And Treatment Of The Superiority Problem, Jay Tidmarsh, Stanley Onyeador

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

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The Constitution Of Agency Statutory Interpretation, Evan J. Criddle Jan 2016

The Constitution Of Agency Statutory Interpretation, Evan J. Criddle

Vanderbilt Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Cognitive Effects Of Breastfeeding, Abraham Englard Jan 2016

Cognitive Effects Of Breastfeeding, Abraham Englard

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

This paper explores the cognitive effects of breastfeeding through Intelligence Testing and Imaging Testing that compares IQ, success, and brain structure of individuals that were breastfed, formula fed, and both breastfed and formula fed. Intelligence studies available are widespread for all age groups and signify a causal relationship between breastfeeding and intelligence. However, imaging testing is not as extensive, but shows a strong correlation between cognitive development and breastfeeding. The mechanism of breast milk’s impact on cognitive development is at an exploratory phase, with a possibility that docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acids, along with other nutrients found in breast milk, contribute …

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Artificial Sweeteners And Weight Gain: Fighting Or Feeding The Obesity Epidemic?, Shanna Frisch Jan 2016

Artificial Sweeteners And Weight Gain: Fighting Or Feeding The Obesity Epidemic?, Shanna Frisch

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Our world has developed an obsession with weight control and, as a result, has begun replacing high calorie foods with low-fat and non-caloric substitutes. Artificial sweeteners are a widely used solution to this growing problem. Though the intention when using artificial sweeteners is to lose weight, studies have shown that the opposite sometimes occurs. Researchers attempt to explain this surprising phenomenon with multiple hypotheses. Lack of appetite suppression and reward response may cause individuals to search for more food and to consume more calories. Artificial sweeteners can also have negative affects on biological mechanisms such as resting metabolic rate, as …

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Mechanism Of Fecal Bacteriotherapy In Treating Clostridium Difficile Infection And Gi Tract Disorders, Rivka Steinberg Jan 2016

Mechanism Of Fecal Bacteriotherapy In Treating Clostridium Difficile Infection And Gi Tract Disorders, Rivka Steinberg

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Clostridium difficile infection, an increasingly prevalent and virulent condition, is often resistant to treatment. Standard antibiotic therapy is rarely efficient when used to treat recurrent C. difficile infection. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a safe, effective and inexpensive treatment that has a cure rate of about 90%, according to clinical trials and reports. This approach may also be applicable in treating ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease, on the basis of the restoration of flora imbalances. Additionally, recent data suggests that a disproportion in composition of the gut microbiome may contribute to obesity. FMT, may restore a healthy …

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Pesticide Partitioning In Louisiana Wetland Aand Ricefield Sediment, Brendan Michael Marsh Jan 2016

Pesticide Partitioning In Louisiana Wetland Aand Ricefield Sediment, Brendan Michael Marsh

LSU Master's Theses

Pesticides are used globally and are often found within bodies of water. The EPA investigates the potential environmental impact through computer modeling in order to help mitigate some of the regulatory burden of pesticide fate investigation. Currently when pesticides enter a water body, the Exposure Analysis Modeling System (EXAMS) estimates partitioning depth as 5 cm and assumes equal distribution. This assumption was tested with a wide variety of pesticides with varying Koc ranges and water solubilities. Savillex 150 ml Teflon tubes were filled with wetland and ricefield sediments with fresh and seawater as the aqueous phase. The seven pesticides tested …

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Using Tourmaline As An Indicator Of Provenance: Development And Application Of A Statistical Approach Using Random Forests, Erin Lael Walden Jan 2016

Using Tourmaline As An Indicator Of Provenance: Development And Application Of A Statistical Approach Using Random Forests, Erin Lael Walden

LSU Master's Theses

Tourmaline is a petrologic indicator mineral that is the major repository of boron in the earth’s crust. It forms readily when boron is present, accommodating multiple cations and anions with multiple possible substitutions for each site in the crystal structure. It is stable over a wide variety of pressures and temperatures, from near-surface P/T conditions to greater than 950 C and 7 GPa. It records information about conditions of formation, as well as pressure and temperature. Due to its resistance to chemical or physical weathering, and the negligible diffusion of elements in the crystal lattice, information about provenance is preserved. …

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Inmate Populations In A Disaster: A Labor Force, A Vulnerable Population, And A Hazard, Jordan Carlee Smith Jan 2016

Inmate Populations In A Disaster: A Labor Force, A Vulnerable Population, And A Hazard, Jordan Carlee Smith

LSU Master's Theses

Within the disaster literature, few studies have been devoted to the role of incarcerated populations as a source of labor within the context of emergency operations. When faced with a lack of resources, emergency management rely on inmate labor forces to prepare for and respond to hazards and disasters. In the U.S., inmates from the Louisiana State Penitentiary helped with sandbagging the facilities in preparing for the potentially flooding of the Mississippi River and Hurricane Katrina (Gaillard, 2012). The state of California has long maintained inmate firefighting forces to combat destructive wildfires statewide (Goodman, 2012). However, there has never been …

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Hydrodynamic Modeling Of Newly Emergent Coastal Deltaic Floodplains, Alexandra Christensen Jan 2016

Hydrodynamic Modeling Of Newly Emergent Coastal Deltaic Floodplains, Alexandra Christensen

LSU Master's Theses

Coastal deltaic floodplains provide an important ecosystem service by removing or retaining nitrate from enriched riverine water. Wetland plants, soils, and microbes within these floodplains use nitrate through uptake, burial, and denitrification, thereby reducing the impact of nitrate on algal blooms and hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. However, these processes depend on the physical, biological, and chemical conditions within the floodplain. Understanding and characterizing the hydrodynamics of these systems and the relative impact of river, tide, and wind forcings are the first steps in understanding the biogeochemical processes controlling nitrate removal. Motivated by the desire to identify biogeochemical hotspots …

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Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership: Implications To Global Wine Market, Natalia Antosova Jan 2016

Transatlantic Trade And Investment Partnership: Implications To Global Wine Market, Natalia Antosova

LSU Master's Theses

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership was first introduced in 2013, with the goal of liberalization of the trade and investments, better coordination of trade by specific regulations, enhancing intellectual property protection and lifting government’s impediments to trade. This Thesis is concerned on potential implications of the TTIP on the wine industry in the European Union and particular consequences related to EU wine producers. The literature review of this paper is developed with the purpose to bring general knowledge in the matter of the TTIP. In addition, linkages of the TTIP with the political economy are provided in the latter part …

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Successful Aging In Oldest-Old Adults: Role Of Physical And Social Factors, Katie Elizabeth Stanko Jan 2016

Successful Aging In Oldest-Old Adults: Role Of Physical And Social Factors, Katie Elizabeth Stanko

LSU Master's Theses

Successful aging, increasing in chronological age while maintaining health, is related to a multitude of factors including social and physical behaviors. Older adults may report that they are aging successfully while biomedical outcomes suggest otherwise. In the present study, sociodemographic characteristics, social engagement, physical activity in relation to frailty and health-related quality of life (HR QoL) were examined using a lifespan sample of adults (N = 732) from the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study (LHAS). Four age groups were compared: younger (21-44 years), middle-aged (45-64 years), older (65-84 years), and oldest-old adults (85 to 101 years). A main effect of age …

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Decolonizing World History: Mis-Representations Of The Middle East In Secondary Social Studies Textbooks, Amanda Megan Schellhaas Jan 2016

Decolonizing World History: Mis-Representations Of The Middle East In Secondary Social Studies Textbooks, Amanda Megan Schellhaas

LSU Master's Theses

This study utilizes content analysis to evaluate three United States High School World History textbook’s coverage of the Middle East since 1945 in order to determine if an authentic global approach to history is being utilized. This was determined by analyzing the amount of coverage that was dedicated to the Middle East, the focus of the narrative, and the portrayal of the Middle East. Analysis of the narrative content of the texts showed that coverage of the Middle East overall did not receive an equitable representation in comparison to other regions. The focus of this coverage centered on defining the …

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Developing And Characterization Of Catfish Skin Hydrolysates Including Antioxidant And Antimicrobial Properties, Cesar Augusto Galindo Perez Jan 2016

Developing And Characterization Of Catfish Skin Hydrolysates Including Antioxidant And Antimicrobial Properties, Cesar Augusto Galindo Perez

LSU Master's Theses

Catfish skin (CS) contains considerable amount of protein that may be hydrolyzed enzymatically to generate hydrolysates (CSH) which may have antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. The generation of natural compounds with these properties is of special interest to the food industry. The objective of this study was to develop and characterize CSH including antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. CSH were produced from different enzymatic reaction periods using alkaline protease, and their characterization, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and some functional properties were evaluated. A selected CSH was analyzed for peptide composition and partial amino acid sequences. The color analysis showed that darker, more yellow, and …

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Strategic Use Of Language In White House Twitter Communications, Margo L. Jolet Jan 2016

Strategic Use Of Language In White House Twitter Communications, Margo L. Jolet

LSU Master's Theses

Lippmann (1922) theorized that we understand our world through elites and the media because we cannot experience everything ourselves. We look to others to share their experiences with us. In this way, the media and elites tell us what is important in our world. Converse (1964), Zaller (1992), and Lupia (1994) argue that not only do elites and the media help us see what is important, but they draw out attributes of these issues to help us make political determinations congruent with our belief systems. In this thesis, I conduced two studies investigating candidate, party, and White House tweets about …

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Characterization Of Thermoplastic Fusion Bonding Of Microchannels Using Pressure Assisted Boiling Point Control System, Kavya Dathathreya Jan 2016

Characterization Of Thermoplastic Fusion Bonding Of Microchannels Using Pressure Assisted Boiling Point Control System, Kavya Dathathreya

LSU Master's Theses

An innovative method of thermoplastic fusion bonding using a pressure assisted boiling point control (PABP) system was characterized to determine the optimum parameters for bonding polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) components containing microchannels and thin, 250 µm cover sheets. The PABP system enables precise control of the temperature boundary condition and the applied pressure by immersing the components being bonded in boiling water and varying the vapor pressure. Test structure geometries containing microchannels of two depths and four different aspect ratios were designed: 1:10 (Depth: 10µm, Width: 100 µm and Depth: 5µm, Width: 50 µm), 1:50 (Depth: 10µm, Width: 500µm and Depth: …

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Hydrodynamic Simulations Of The Prototype Mississippi River And Expanded Small-Scale Physical Model To Investigate Impact Of Sea Level Rise, Linsey Brooke Olivier Jan 2016

Hydrodynamic Simulations Of The Prototype Mississippi River And Expanded Small-Scale Physical Model To Investigate Impact Of Sea Level Rise, Linsey Brooke Olivier

LSU Master's Theses

The Expanded Small-Scale Physical Model (ESSPM) is a distorted-scale, moveable bed model that will complement numerical and field studies studying management strategies in the lower ~140 miles of the Mississippi River and their effect on flooding, navigation and coastal restoration. It is recognized that relative sea level rise (RSLR), the combination of eustatic sea level rise (ESLR) and subsidence, will have an impact on the hydraulics and sediment transport in the lower River. However, it is physically impossible to replicate subsidence in the ESSPM; thus, future RSLR conditions will be experimentally simulated by raising Gulf of Mexico (GoM) levels commensurate …

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New Archiving, Fingering, And Assessing Techniques For Sheet Music Using Advanced Signal Processing Approaches, Ting-Chen Hsu Jan 2016

New Archiving, Fingering, And Assessing Techniques For Sheet Music Using Advanced Signal Processing Approaches, Ting-Chen Hsu

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis, advanced signal processing techniques are proposed to archive the musical scores, guide the novice pianists to play piano with appropriate fingerings, and assess the harmonization for musical composition. The mathematical frameworks for these three applications are established and the corresponding optimization problems are formulated. The optimal solutions are also provided. First, the hard- and soft-archiving approaches for storing and distributing musical scores are investigated. By use of the popular musical scripting language, LilyPond, as the intermediate data format, we propose to encode the LilyPond script, which is converted from the original musical score, to the two-dimensional quick-response …

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Spatial Biodegradation Of Mc252 Crude Oil On A Coastal Headland Beach, Zachary Joseph Romaine Jan 2016

Spatial Biodegradation Of Mc252 Crude Oil On A Coastal Headland Beach, Zachary Joseph Romaine

LSU Master's Theses

Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in April, 2010, hard structures were constructed to deter oil migration into sensitive marsh areas behind Fourchon Beach, LA These hard structures created conditions for accumulation and burial of oil across an 8 foot deep beach vertical profile. Buried oil persists in these areas due to anaerobic conditions of beach groundwater. The objectives of this thesis are to compare the rate and extent of biodegradation of 3-ring PAHs in crude oil deposits from the surface and subsurface, and to investigate effects on beach groundwater after introduction of O2. Field samples were removed from 2011-2016 …

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Weld Quality Classification From Sensory Signatures In Friction-Stir-Welding (Fsw) Using Discrete Wavelet Transform And Advanced Metaheuristic Techniques, James Devecmon Roberts Jan 2016

Weld Quality Classification From Sensory Signatures In Friction-Stir-Welding (Fsw) Using Discrete Wavelet Transform And Advanced Metaheuristic Techniques, James Devecmon Roberts

LSU Master's Theses

Controlling the quality of welds is an essential part of high quality fabrications and ensuring structural integrity of welded joints and welded structures. Industry is in an endless pursuit to find more cost effective methods of testing welds for defects and eliminating them entirely. This Study contributes to this goal by investigating a new system with the ability to monitor welding conditions during the forging process. Monitoring the condition of the weld, while the metals are joined together is faster and more cost- effective than conventional methods of post-weld defect detection. In this study, the feedback signals are first collected …

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A Comparison Between Functional And Traditional Interface Displays In Support Of Console Operator Performance And Workload, Sophie Lynn Schwartz Jan 2016

A Comparison Between Functional And Traditional Interface Displays In Support Of Console Operator Performance And Workload, Sophie Lynn Schwartz

LSU Master's Theses

In the petrochemical industry, schematic interfaces have been traditionally used as the main interface for console operators to monitor activities. There is limited research in this industry investigating alternative interface types to better support console operator’s decisions during alarm management. Furthermore, even less of that research includes eye-tracking as a measure for console operator situation awareness (SA). This research aimed to investigate an alternative interface, called a functional interface, in its level of support of console operator situation awareness, accuracy, subjective workload, and average response time. Additionally, eye-tracking was incorporated to explore its value as measure for situation awareness on …

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Initial Development And Validation Of The Student Wellbeing Teacher-Report Scales, Anthony Joseph Roberson Jan 2016

Initial Development And Validation Of The Student Wellbeing Teacher-Report Scales, Anthony Joseph Roberson

LSU Master's Theses

Given that youth mental health is associated with their success in school and in life more broadly, it is important that school-based psychological service providers embrace best-practice prevention and intervention strategies that target mental health when working with student populations. One line of study in this area has begun exploring the incorporation of a dual-factor model of mental health within universal screening systems in schools. The dual-factor model is differentiated from the traditional unidimensional mental health model, which focuses on the presence or absence of psychopathology, by conceptualizing mental health alternatively as consisting of both psychopathology and wellbeing dimensions. The …

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Option Volatility & Arbitrage Opportunities, Mikael Boffetti Jan 2016

Option Volatility & Arbitrage Opportunities, Mikael Boffetti

LSU Master's Theses

This paper develops several methods to estimate a future volatility of a stock in order to correctly price corresponding stock options. The pricing model known as Black-Scholes-Merton is presented with a constant volatility parameter and compares it to stochastic volatility models. It mathematically describes the probability distribution of the underlying stock price changes implied by the models and the consequences. Arbitrage opportunities between stock options of various maturities or strike prices are explained from the volatility smile and volatility term structure.

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Driver Engagement In Secondary Tasks: Behavioral Analysis And Crash Risk Assessment, Mengqiu Ye Jan 2016

Driver Engagement In Secondary Tasks: Behavioral Analysis And Crash Risk Assessment, Mengqiu Ye

LSU Master's Theses

Distracted driving has long been acknowledged as one of the leading causes of death or injury in roadway crashes. The focus of past research has been mainly on the change in driving performance due to distracted driving. However, only a few studies attempted to predict the type of distraction based on driving performance measures. In addition, past studies have proven that driving performance is influenced by the drivers’ socioeconomic characteristics, while not many studies have attempted to quantify that influence. In essence, this study utilizes the rich SHRP 2 Naturalistic Driving Study (NDS) database to (a) develop a model for …

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