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The Effects Of Chemical Reagents And Physical Environment On The In Vitro And In Vivo Properties Of Adipose-Derived Multipotent Stromal Cells Isolated From Different Species, Wei Duan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Adult adipose derived mesenchymal stromal cells (ASCs) have been characterized in various species. Many factors may affect ASC fate and ASCs from different species may have different response to these factors. The first study was to identify the differences of the canine ASCs isolated from subcutaneous and infrapatellar adipose tissues, and evaluate the impact of cryopreservation on the cells. Based on paired comparisons of fresh and cryopreserved ASCs, cryopreserved ASCs had lower CD29 and CD44 protein expression and lower proliferation rates. The cryopreserved ASCs had relative lower mitochondria in the cytoplasm compared to the fresh ASCs regardless of tissue sources. …

Reduced Order Models For Beam-Wave Interaction In High Power Microwave Sources, Lokendra Singh Thakur

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We apply an asymptotic analysis to show that corrugated waveguides can be represented as cylindrical waveguides with smooth metamaterial coatings when the corrugtions are subwavelength. Here the metamaterial delivers an effective anisotropic surface impedance, effective dielectric constant, and imparts novel dispersive effects on signals traveling inside the waveguide. These properties arise from the subwavelength resonances of the metamaterial. For sufficiently deep corrugations, the waveguide exhibits backward wave propagation, which can be understood in the present context as a multi-scale phenomenon resulting from local resonances inside the subwavelength geometry. Our approach is well suited to numerical computation and we provide a …

Fibroblast Growth Factor 21 Is A Novel Protein Sensor In Pregnancy, Elizabeth Frost Sutton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The twenty-first century has experienced a shift in cause of death worldwide from communicable diseases to noncommunicable diseases. Interestingly, many of these implicated chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, have been shown to be programmed in the womb. As first posited by the Barker Hypothesis, adverse exposures in utero can increase an individual’s risk for chronic disease later in life. Therefore, pregnancy is an opportune time for intervention to improve the health of future generations. Studies of exposures known to negatively impact infant health, e.g. states of overnutrition (obesity, diabetes, excess gestational weight gain) and undernutrition (starvation, …

From Products To Politics: Understanding The Effectiveness Of A Celebrity Political Endorsement, Melissa Sanati

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

From Scott Baio’s endorsement of Donald Trump to Sarah Silverman’s endorsement of Bernie Sanders and subsequent rejection of the “Bernie or Bust” crowd at the DNC, celebrities have habitually inserted themselves into the political sphere, however, there has been little empirical research on celebrity endorsements of political candidates. Rooted in branding theory, this study seeks to understand the effectiveness of celebrity political endorsements by utilizing advertising effectiveness models. The primary model, derived from work done by Amos, Holmes, and Strutton (2008), translates source factors of a celebrity product endorser to those of a celebrity candidate endorser, such as credibility, attractiveness, …

Human Gut Microbiota And Obesity: How Is Gut Microbiota Associated With Obesity Improvement Induced By Bariatric Surgeries Or Low-Calorie Diet Treatment?, Rui Zhang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

An increasing number of studies suggest that the complex microbial community of the human gut may have an important role in human health and disease conditions such as obesity and diabetes. However, the causal relationship among gut microbiota, obesity, weight loss, and the influence of bariatric surgery remains largely unknown. This study investigated the correlation between human gut microbiota and obesity via determining how gut microbiota is associated with obesity improvement induced by bariatric surgeries (BRS) and low-calorie diet (LCD) treatment. Specifically, we investigated the effects of various bariatric surgery (BRS) procedures and a low-calorie diet (LCD) treatment on the …

Public Policy And Workers’ Rights: Wrongful Discharge Discipline Actions And Reasonable Good Faith Beliefs, Ann C. Mcginley, Nicole Buonocore Porter

Scholarly Works

In this paper, Professor Ann McGinley responds to Chapter 5 of the ALI's Restatement of the Law: Employment Law ("Restatement of Employment Law"), concerning "The Tort of Wrongful Discharge in Violation of Public Policy."' It proceeds in five parts. Following an introduction in Part I, Part II summarizes generally the provisions of Chapter 5, the Working Group's objections to the earlier version and recommendations for changes, and explains (when appropriate) where the final version deviated from the prior version. Part III argues that this chapter should have kept the prior version's protection against wrongful discipline instead of protecting only against …

Selected Works Of Richard Burchard: A Resource Guide, William Floyd Plummer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This document serves as a resource guide for selected choral works of Richard Burchard, including pertinent background information and biographical details about the composer’s life, information concerning the compositional style and musical structure of his choral works, and accessibility and interpretive considerations for the choral conductor. Works were selected for this study chronologically by publication date, from Burchard’s first published work (Miserere mei, published 2009) through the beginning of this project in early 2012. Born in 1960, Richard Burchard is the Chair of the Music Department at Bellarmine University in Kentucky. Burchrd has written over 50 pieces, many of which …

Exploring Social Indicators Of Situational Interest In Physical Education And Activity Classes: Integration Of Interest And Self-Determination Theories, Joseph Opiri Otundo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

It is clearly documented that physically active lifestyles result in numerous health benefits. Unfortunately, a majority of individuals do not meet recommended physical activity (PA) guidelines. Physical education (PE) courses provide avenues for students to increase PA. Teachers and public health officials identify the importance of student motivation constructs such as interest in promoting PA behaviors and other healthy life habits. The purposes of this dissertation were to advance the measurement of situational interest by investigating social indicators derived from self-determination theory (SDT), and to test a theoretical model that integrates interest theory and SDT. Two quantitative studies were designed …

Manipulating Physical Properties Of Complex Materials By Processing, Mohammad Saghayezhian

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Transition metal oxides (TMOs) are a class of materials in which charge, orbital, spin and lattice strongly interact with each other. In the present thesis, a special attention is paid to the physical properties of TMOs as a function of processing. First, TMOs are studied as substrates, where the surface is of prime importance. Second, the thin films are fabricated and their physical properties are presented. The SrTiO3 (001) and (111) surfaces are weakly and strongly polar and the free energy of intact surfaces should diverge. It is shown that in TiO2 terminated SrTiO3(001) the top most layer shows rumpling …

Mining Social Media Data For Improved Understanding Of Disaster Resilience, Lei Zou

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Disaster resilience is the capacity of a community to ‘bounce back’ from disastrous events, by effecting resilience building activities through the four phases of emergency management – preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. However, data describing a community’s behaviors in each phase are difficult to access in traditional databases. Social media data provide an innovative data source to better understand communities’ responses and behaviors in each phase of emergency management during disasters, and thus could ultimately monitor and enhance disaster resilience. This study analyzes the spatial-temporal patterns of Twitter activities during Hurricane Sandy, which struck the northeastern United States on October …

A Narrative Of A Teacher's Perspective Of Over-Age Students Who Are Out-Of-Grade In The Middle School Classroom, Melissa J. Porter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research sought to understand the impact on the middle school classroom environment of over-age students who are out-of-grade. A qualitative study utilizing a narrative lens examined the stories of the lived experiences of the teachers of these students; a social constructivism theoretical approach explored the teaching and best practices in their classrooms. These teachers provided an insight into the complexity of teaching and gave voice to managing a classroom where emotionally and physically mature students often pose a significant challenge to the classroom environment; moreover, their positive influence on the teaching space in which they inhabit also was explored …

The Effects Of Aerobic Exercise And Lipolytic Stimulation On Skeletal Muscle And Adipose Expression Of Perilipin 3 (Plin3) In Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes And Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Jeffrey Daniel Covington

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ectopic lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle is linked with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Neutral lipid is stored as lipid droplets, which are coated by lipid droplet coat proteins. One important class of these proteins are the perilipins. Little research has focused on perilipin 3 (PLIN3) and coatomer gtp-ases, theorized to be involved in PLIN3 directed lipid oxidation. Under lipolytic stimulation with epinephrine or palmitate, forskolin, and ionomysin (PFI), primary human myotubes taken from health non-T2D donors showed increased protein content levels of PLIN3. Concordantly, following endurance exercise in non-T2D males—an experimental paradigm shown to increase lipolysis—levels of …

The Professional Prospectus: A Call For Effective Professional Disclosure, Benjamin P. Edwards

Scholarly Works

Without easy access to relevant information, many consumers unwittingly trust serious decisions to professionals with histories of malpractice and negligence-leading to both individual and societal harms. This Article proposes to improve professional services markets with a tool that has already proven effective in the securities markets: a prospectus. A "Professional Prospectus" would reduce information asymmetries and improve the market for professional services through disclosure and consumer choice.

A Professional Prospectus would alter the market for professional services by making professional reputation a more potent force. Economic theory often relies on "reputation effects" to ensure the efficient functioning of the market …

Vibration Control In Wind Turbines For Multi Hazards, Milad Rezaee

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The increasing demand for reliable and clean energy with a low running cost, has developed wind energy harvesting industry in a fast rate during the past two decades, and has led to wind farms’ spreading in various regions with larger and taller wind turbines. Consequently, it is more likely that wind turbines are installed or planned to be installed in areas with higher possibility of natural multihazard. Therefore, flexible modern wind turbines are subjected to severe dynamic environmental loads. Generated excessive vibrations in the wind turbine’s structure due to these loads can have detrimental effects on energy production, structural lifecycle …

Conflicts & Capital Allocation, Benjamin P. Edwards

Scholarly Works

The regulatory structure for financial advice now tolerates incentives motivating financial advisors to manipulate and deceive retail investors. While scholars thus far have argued for ways to improve investor protections, the literature has largely ignored how these flawed incentives affect the economy.

This Article contends that these flawed incentives cause financial advisors to negatively affect capital allocation throughout the overall economy.

This Article draws on literature about manipulation and deception in principal-agent relationships to show how conflicts of interest cause the market for financial advisor services to generate excessive intermediation, driving harms to the real economy. This Article uses case …

Functional And Structural Analyses Of A Bacterial Antifreeze Protein, Chen Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are a class of ice binding proteins (IBPs) that are expressed by different cold-adapted organisms to increase their freezing tolerance. AFPs have two major properties: thermal hysteresis and ice recrystallization inhibition. Here we report the functional and structural analyses of a bacterial AFP, IBPv. IBPv was originally secreted by a bacterium recovered from a deep glacial ice core drilled at Vostok Station, Antarctica. Our study showed that the recombinant protein rIBPv exhibited a thermal hysteresis of 2°C at concentrations higher than 50 µM, effectively inhibited ice recrystallization, and enhanced bacterial viability during freeze-thaw cycling. Circular dichroism scans …

Developments In The Law Affecting Electronic Payments And Financial Services, Sarah Jane Hughes, Stephen T. Middlebrook, Tom Kierner

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Decentralized Scheduling For Many-Task Applications In The Hybrid Cloud, Brian Lyle Peterson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

While Cloud Computing has transformed how we solve many computing tasks, some scientific and many-task applications are not efficiently executed on cloud resources. Decentralized scheduling, as studied in grid computing, can provide a scalable system to organize cloud resources and schedule a variety of work. By measuring simulations of two algorithms, the fully decentralized Organic Grid, and the partially decentralized Air Traffic Controller from IBM, we establish that decentralization is a workable approach, and that there are bottlenecks that can impact partially centralized algorithms. Through measurements in the cloud, we verify that our simulation approach is sound, and assess the …

Characterization Of Dehalogenimonas Strains From A Louisiana Superfund Site That Reductively Dehalogenate Polychlorinated Alkanes, Trent Anthony Key

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The research described in this dissertation was aimed at expanding understanding of the diversity and functional roles of microorganisms able to anaerobically transform chlorinated compounds. During the course of the research, a novel strictly anaerobic bacterial isolate originating from chlorinated solvent contaminated groundwater at a Superfund Site in south Louisiana (USA) was characterized. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing placed the newly isolated strain, designated as NSZ-14 T, within the genus Dehalogenimonas but within a separate lineage from previously described species. Like previously described species within the genus Dehalogenimonas (i.e., D. lykanthroporepellens and D. alkenigignens), strain NSZ-14T was …

Remembering In Spite Of All: The Construction Of Collective Memory Of State Terrorism In Mexico, Argentina, And Chile, Telba Espinoza-Contreras

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to contribute to the understanding of the formation of collective memory of State violence in Argentina, Chile, and Mexico. By comparing these three cases, I pursue to discern how citizens can challenge the silence and amnesia that the groups in power want to impose on society after a period of State terrorism. In order to examine the process of formation of collective memory, this dissertation highlights two important figures from which citizens have been able to build counter-hegemonic narratives, that is, los exiliados and los desaparecidos. I will highlight how they become lenses through which citizens can …

Improved Protein Characterizations Using Ionic Liquids: Page And Maldi-Ms, Punprabhashi Vidanapathirana

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Protein separation by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and identification by matrix assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) are primary tools of protein analysis. In these techniques, surfactants are used in protein sample preparation in order to enhance the protein solubility. Conventional surfactants have shown limitations in protein analysis due to the structural complexity of proteomes, resulting in low resolution. The research goal of this dissertation is to address some of these limitations by applying novel cationic ionic liquid surfactants (ILS), N-alkyl-4-methyl pyridinium bromide (CnPBr where n=4, 8, 11). The ILS would be suitable candidates to be used in PAGE protein …

The Roles Of Avr4 In Fungal Virulence,Cercosporin Biosynthesis And Its Potential Use In Host Induced Gene Silencing For Controlling Cercospora Leaf Blight Disease Of Soybeans, Josielle Santos Rezende

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The AVR4 effector, secreted by Cladosporium fulvum, has been demonstrated to be involved in pathogen virulence. Recent studies further demonstrated that Avr4 is highly conserved among several Cercospora species, indicating a potential important role of this gene in fungal virulence. Therefore, investigation to determine whether this fungal effector gene is present in Cercospora cf. flagellaris (previously known as C. kikuchii), the causal agent of soybean cercospora leaf blight (CLB) disease, and whether it plays any role in CLB disease development, is of great interest. In the present study, the Avr4 gene from C. cf. flagellaris was cloned and mutants lacking …

Immigration, Ethnicity, And Citizenship: The Words And Faces Of The Chinese Of North America, Pengyi Huang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I have analyzed the migrant experience of Chinese immigrants in North America through their representation in literature and photography. Each of its three chapters focuses on three major ethnic issues affecting the lives and identity of Chinese immigrants and their offspring in North America: the first concerns the ways in which occupation, home, and family affect the destinies of Chinese immigrants; the second deals with the role of language in the lives of Chinese immigrants and the career of Chinese migrant writers; the third addresses stereotypes about Chinese immigrants and their offspring and the redefinition of their …

Organizational Misconduct Within The National Collegiate Athletic Association, Khirey Bennie Walker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Prior research on organizational misconduct within intercollegiate athletics focuses on the penalties administered by the NCAA and types of violations committed by member institutions, rather than the engagement of misconduct and the role of the NCAA as a social-control agent. Consequently, the purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the relationship between social-control agents and potential wrongdoers (i.e., organizations), in addition to how the relationship affects the evolving line separating right from wrong. A three-paper multiple method examination has been conducted, including a historical analysis of NCAA enforcement, a qualitative framing analysis on the detailing of NCAA major infractions to …

"Leave All That You Have, That You May Take All:" What Hugo Distler's Totentanz Reveals About His Life And Music, Alison Elizabeth Allerton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hugo Distler (1908-1942) has been described as the most important composer of Protestant Church music in Germany in the early twentieth century—a remarkable epithet given that he was a professional church musician and composer for only about twelve years before his life was abruptly ended with his suicide in 1942. Though he is more well-known in Germany, in the United States public perception of Distler is often limited to two basic “facts:” (1) he is a neo-Baroque composer whose works emulate Heinrich Schütz, and (2) his suicide was an act of resistance against the hated National Socialist regime. This study …

Tribological And Dynamical Study Of An Automotive Transmission System, Meng Li

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The transmission system is critical for automotive and heavy duty equipment due to its prominent role in the powertrain system, which is often challenged with degraded torque capacity and harsh dynamic response. Simulation-guided design can provide appropriate guidelines to resolve these problems with virtual analyses. In current study, the tribological and dynamical study of an automatic transmission is performed at two levels: a wet clutch and powertrain. In this dissertation, tribological study is performed for a wet clutch based on the thermohydrodynamic (THD) analysis that takes the following factors into account. • The groove effect (depth, area, and pattern) is …

Analytical Solutions And Multiscale Creep Analysis Of Functionally Graded Cylindrical Pressure Vessels, Jasem Amjad Ahmed

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study deals with the time-dependent creep analysis of functionally graded thick-cylinders under various thermal and mechanical boundary conditions. Firstly, exact thermoelastic stress, and iterative creep solutions for a heat generating and rotating cylindrical vessel made of functionally graded thermal and mechanical properties are proposed. Equations of equilibrium, compatibility, stress-strain, and strain-displacement relations are solved to obtain closed-form initial stress and strain solutions. It is found that material gradient indices have significant influences on thermoelastic stress profiles. For creep analysis, Norton’s model is incorporated into rate forms of the above-mentioned equations to obtain time-dependent stress and strain results using an …

Bonaparte's Dream: Napoleon And The Rhetoric Of American Expansion, 1800-1850, Mark Ehlers

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Between 1800 and 1850, the United States built a continental empire that stretched from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific Ocean. As scholars have come to realize over the past three decades, this expansion was not a peaceful movement of American settlers into virgin wilderness. Instead, it involved the conquest and subjugation of diverse peoples in Louisiana, Florida and the northern provinces of Mexico, and forced the United States to interact aggressively with the European empires of Great Britain, France, Spain, and eventually Mexico. My work helps to explain how Americans in the early republic reconciled this militant expansion with …

Sediment Transport And Slope Stability In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Jeffrey Blake Obelcz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sediment transport and slope stability are fundamental organizing agents of the geological record. These processes have been extensively studied along the northern margin of the Gulf of Mexico basin for both basic and applied purposes, but our knowledge of them is limited by the spatial and temporal sampling capabilities of traditional geologic oceanographic surveying tools such as coring, single-beam echosounders, and sidescan sonar. This dissertation seeks to update the state of knowledge regarding northern Gulf of Mexico sediment transport and slope stability from annual to millennial timescales, primarily using relatively high-resolution acoustic geophysical tools such as swath bathymetric echosounders and …

Deterritorializing Dichotomies In Teacher Induction: A (Post)Ethnographic Study Of Un/Becoming An Elementary Science Teacher, Maria Ferris Greene Wallace

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Un/becoming an elementary science teacher is a dynamic phenomenon, yet the process is often intentionally limited to several taken-for-granted assumptions in research on science teacher induction. Inherent to research on beginning science teacher induction is also the construction of certain truths beginning science teachers, science teacher educators, and researchers think, feel, and live. This study complicates prevailing truths shaping notions of beginner, novice, induction, and traditions of inquiry as an ethicopolitical commitment to those implicated. In doing so, this study illuminates more expansive ways science teacher educators and those studying induction might study and understand the experiences of beginning science …