Digital Commons Network^™

Role Of Varietal Resistance In Managing The Rice Water Weevil, A Major Insect Pest Of Louisiana Rice, Maisarah Mohamad Saad

LSU Master's Theses

Resistance of several commercial rice varieties widely grown in Louisiana was assessed against the rice water weevil (Lissorhoptrus oryzophilus Kuschel), the major insect pest of rice in the United States. A five-year field study was conducted to identify resistant genotypes among conventional inbred, herbicide tolerant, conventional hybrid, and herbicide tolerant hybrid varieties. Resistance was evaluated in two different locations to enable selection of rice varieties with wide adaptability over diverse environments. There were no large differences in the resistance found amongst commercial rice varieties over the five-year field study. Jefferson was frequently found to support lower larval densities than other …

Measuring The Effects Of Recycled Water On The Growth Of Three Algal Species: Tisochrysis Lutea, Chaetcoeros Calcitrans, And C. Muelleri In A Commercial-Scale Oyster Hatchery, Lisa Marie Bourassa

LSU Master's Theses

Algal production is often the limiting factor in large-scale oyster hatcheries, and constant, reliable production is required to grow enough algae to support all oyster larvae and broodstock grown and conditioned in a hatchery. The algal rooms in the Michael C. Voisin Oyster Hatchery at Grand Isle, LA are temperature-controlled to maintain consistent temperature, but this hatchery is also unique in its ability to recycle natural seawater pumped from the northern Gulf of Mexico. Effects of recycling seawater on algal production in an oyster hatchery, however, are undocumented. In this study, Tisochrysis lutea, Chaetoceros calcitrans and C. muelleri were grown …

Collecting And Selecting, Masy Hebert

LSU Master's Theses

In Collecting and Selecting, I am exploring the way others adorn their lives and how these elements add up to emblematize the keeper of the treasures. With linoleum relief prints and drawings, I compose a unique type of portraiture that reveals the parallel identity between the way we dress ourselves and our living spaces. Within my process, I capture moments with photographs, draw, carve, print, and cut out the elements that hold a presence of the owner. Utilizing a heightened sense of contrast with black and white images, the textures and details of these objects come alive. Each gallery wall …

Development And Test Of A Sweet Sorghum Feedstock Separation Technology And The Effect Of Trash On Fermentable Sugar Yield In Juice And Syrup, Edgar Jose Tobias Corado

LSU Master's Theses

In the recent years, processing sweet sorghum feedstock to obtain syrup for biofuels production is an option that has gained attention, especially where sugar cane milling infrastructure is already available; however, the leafy matter and panicles (trash) in the feedstock could negatively impact the process. Therefore, it seems sensible to reduce the trash level in the feedstock prior to milling and expand the current knowledge on the effect of trash in the juice and syrup. In this project, a pneumatic system to separate the leaves from sweet sorghum harvested with a sugar cane billet harvester was tested and a panicles …

Welcome (Or Not So Welcome) Home: A Transatlantic Examination Of 19th Century Spain's National Identity Through The Literary Portrayal Of The Indiano In Galdós And Eva Canel, Shelley E. Tompkins

LSU Master's Theses

In the second half of the nineteenth century, Spain’s history was marked by political, ideological, social, and economic crisis. The resultant division on all of these levels and a paralyzing culture of decadence left the nation fragmented and unable to establish a national identity. This and the conflict between tradition and modernity largely contributed to the Disaster of 1898 in which Spain lost Cuba, the last of its remaining American colonies. This thesis presents a transatlantic examination of some of the works of nineteenth century Spanish writers Benito Pérez Galdós and Eva Canel in which I focus specifically on the …

Experimental Study Of Frequency Oscillations In Islanded Power System, Kevin Daniel Wellman

LSU Master's Theses

Since the introduction of power electronics to the grid, the power system has quickly changed. Fault detection and removal is performed more accurately and at quicker response time, and non-inertia driven loads have been added. This means stability must continue to be a main topic of concern to maintain a stable synchronized grid. In this thesis a lab was designed, constructed, and tested for the purpose of studying transient stability in power systems. Many different options were considered and researched, but the focus of this paper is to describe the options chosen. The lab must be safe to operate and …

Development Of Gene-Based Microsatellite Markers In Acer Saccharum Marsh., Monica Harmon

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh) is an important ecological and economic resource. Despite its significance, there are few molecular genetic resources available to date. This study used previously developed EST libraries generated for sugar maple and other hardwood species to develop and characterize EST-SSRs in sugar maple and test their transferability to other Acer species. Out of 58 markers tested, 22 showed amplification in the expected size range. From these, 16 polymorphic markers were selected to test transferability and 13 of these showed amplification in at least one other Acer species.

Human Centered Design Of An Open-Drum, Treadle Thresher For Quinoa Farmers In The Andes Of Northern Peru, Robert A. Hayes

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Growing international demand for quinoa in recent years has led to increased production throughout its South American range, including the Peruvian Andes. Small-scale farmers, who are among the poorest Peruvians, are increasingly growing quinoa for both food security and economic benefit; however, manual harvesting activities, such as threshing, are labor-intensive and time-consuming. This report documents the design, construction and operation of prototype quinoa thresher in a rural village in Northern Peru. In addition, an overview of the history and evolutionary approach to design for the developing world is presented. From this overview, a series of criteria is considered for the …

A Host Board Design For An Experiment System Of Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks, He Huang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Evaluation of theoretical innovation in field experiments plays an important role for research in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs). During the experiments, the problems of power consumption, costs, and assembly of underwater nodes concern researchers all the time. This project develops a host board for an UWSNs field experiment system. This host board solves the above problems by deploying power management module, utilizing cheap and low power consumption chips (Raspberry Pi and MSP430), and rationalizing layout.

The main functions of the host board include battery monitoring, on-board DC converters, remotely power supply control, data ports bridge, and pluggable module for …

Neutral And Adaptive Genetic Variation In North American Hardwood Tree Species, Sudhir Khodwekar

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

'Northern Hardwoods,’ are a characteristic composition of multiple tree species and a part of the rich and diverse northeastern forests. Hardwoods e.g. oaks (Quercus: Fagaceae and Sugar maple), serve as foundation species and offer ecological and economical gains to wildlife and humans. Most of the forest trees go through many biotic and abiotic stresses, for example climate change in their long life span. To overcome these threats and to adapt to changing conditions, tree species need to maintain variation especially in adaptive genes. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze genetic diversity within forest tree populations and take appropriate …

Using Lower Extremity Muscle Activations To Estimate Human Ankle Impedance In The External-Internal Direction, Lauren N. Knop

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

For millions of people, mobility has been afflicted by lower limb amputation. Lower extremity prostheses have been used to improve the mobility of an amputee; however, they often require additional compensation from other joints and do not allow for natural maneuverability. To improve upon the functionality of ankle-foot prostheses, it is necessary to understand the role of different muscle activations in the modulation of mechanical impedance of a healthy human ankle. This report presents the results of using artificial neural networks (ANN) to determine the functional relationship between lower extremity electromyography (EMG) signals and ankle impedance in the transverse plane. …

The Influence Of Native Woody Species, Combretum Glutinosum And Piliostigma Reticulatum, On Soil Fertility In Dialacoto, Senegal, Gwen Jacobson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In the low-fertility soils of Senegal, West Africa, management of woody species in agricultural fields has the potential to improve soil fertility and crop production. However, optimal species for this purpose have not been clearly defined. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the potential for two native woody species, Combretum glutinosum and Piliostigma reticulatum, to improve soil fertility. Soil samples were collected from beneath tree crowns of P. reticulatum and C. glutinosum and compared with fertilizer-amended and non-amended soil from adjacent open fields in a bioassay experiment. Two common crops, millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and maize (Zea mays), …

The Role Of Active Flow-Control Devices In The Dynamic Aeroelastic Response Of Wind Turbine Rotors, Muraleekrishnan Menon Menon Muraleedharan Nair

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The significance of wind as a renewable source of power is growing with the increasing capacity of individual utility-scale wind turbines. Contemporary wind turbines are capable of producing up to 8 MW and consequently, their rotor sizes are rapidly growing in size. This has led to an increased emphasis on studies related to improvements and innovations in load-control methodologies. Most often than not, controlling the loads on an operational turbine is a precarious scenario, especially under high wind loading. The up-scaling of turbine rotors would thus benefit from a rationale change in load control through methodologies such as variable-speed stall, …

Identification Of Nitric-Oxide Degradation Products Of Ascorbic Acid, Sushant Satyanarayan Kolipaka

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to possess many Anti-inflammatory effects. Ascorbic acid which is naturally present in human body is known to react with S-nitrosothiols (RSNO) directly to reduce RSNO to NO and produce free thiol groups, if present in more than millimolar concentration. Higher concentration of ascorbic acid is required because the reduction of RSNO is not caused by ascorbate instead, but instead a decomposed product of ascorbic acid. S-Nitroso-N-Acetylpenicillamine is used as an NO donor. An HPLC method is used for determination of the degradation product of ascorbic acid and simultaneously identifying the compound responsible for NO …

The Spatial Ecology Of Gray Wolves In The Upper Peninsula Of Michigan, 1994–2013, Shawn O'Neil

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

All natural processes are dynamic in space and time. Establishing the links between spatiotemporal patterns and ecological processes is critical for improving our understanding of natural systems. Empirical data representing wildlife populations is accumulating and increasingly involves spatiotemporal components. Wildlife monitoring programs for threatened, endangered, or other species of interest often involve radio-tracking of a sample of individual animals combined with census data. Such data are valuable both for conservation and management of populations and for testing ecological theories about species distribution and what influences patterns over time. We used 20 years of radio telemetry and snow tracking data to …

Understanding Perceptions Of Barriers To International, Interdisciplinary Scientific Teamwork And The Expansion Of Mexican Oil Palm Plantations, Erin Pischke

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Understanding the multiple drivers of environmental change is essential for devising strategies for overcoming impacts and planning for the future. Anthropogenic causes and physical impacts of such environmental changes are not fixed in space; thus, it is necessary to conduct international research to solve such problems by integrating multiple disciplinary approaches. My dissertation research examines the public perceptions of socioecological impacts of oil palm production and uncovers barriers that international, interdisciplinary teams face when studying such impacts. In one chapter, I present research that identifies challenges that interdisciplinary researchers are confronted with when working in an international setting. Findings show …

Multi-Modal And Short-Range Transmission Loss In Ice-Covered, Near-Shore Arctic Waters, Miles B. Penhale

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In the past century, extensive research has been done regarding the sound propagation in arctic ice sheets. The majority of this research has focused on low frequency propagation over long distances. One of the most commonly used excitation methods for air-ice-water layers has been explosives. However, environmental regulation has become more stringent, disallowing the use of almost all explosive excitation types. Due to changing climate conditions in these environments, new experimentation is warranted to determine sound propagation characteristics in, through, and under thin ice sheets, in shallow water, over short distances. In April, 2016 several experiments were conducted approximately 2 …

Continuous Hydrologic Modeling For Analyzing The Effects Of Drought On The Lower Colorado River In Texas, Khalid Samady

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

A physically based hydrologic model, the HEC-Hydrologic Modeling System (HMS), developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been parameterized using the Soil Moisture Accounting (SMA) algorithm, calibrated, and validated for the Lake Travis and Lake Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) contributing basins in central Texas. The basins are divided into a total of 15 sub-basins, and HEC-HMS with the SMA algorithm represents each sub-basin with five water storage layers involving twelve parameters--surface depression storage, canopy interception storage, upper zone soil storage, tension zone soil storage, infiltration rate, and soil percolation rate, along with storage depths, storage coefficients and percolation …

The Emission And Particulate Matter Oxidation Performance Of A Scr Catalyst On A Diesel Particulate Filter With A Downstream Scr, Sagar Sharma

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems along with a NH₃ slip control catalyst (ASC) offers NOₓ conversion efficiency >90 % with NH₃ slip < 20 ppm. However, future heavy duty diesel (HDD) engines are designed for higher engine-out NOₓ to improve fuel consumption. Consequently, there is a strong desire to further improve the NOₓ reduction performance of SCR systems, to meet the 2015 California Optional Low NOₓ Standard. SCR catalysts on a diesel particulate filter provide an effective solution to reduce NOₓ and PM using a single aftertreatment device. It also provides an opportunity to increase the SCR volume to achieve NOₓ conversion efficiency >95 %. A downstream SCR catalyst substrate can be used to get additional NO_x conversion by using the SCRF^® outlet NH₃ to increase the cumulative NOₓ conversion of the system.

In this study, NOₓ reduction, NH₃ slip and PM oxidation performance of a Cu-zeolite SCRF^® with a downstream Cu-zeolite SCR were investigated based on engine experimental data at steady state conditions. The experimental data were collected at varying SCRF^® inlet temperatures, space velocities, inlet …

Wetland Policy Design In The Upper Great Lakes States: Cases Of Policy Success And Failure, Miranda N. Smith

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The national goal of “no net loss” of wetlands in the United States has significantly lowered the rate of wetland loss, but wetlands are still being impacted in some areas. Many states have their own policies in place to protect wetlands aside from the main federal policy, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, and those policies are implemented in different ways by different levels of government. This research focuses on wetland policy in the Upper Great Lakes states comparing Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Wetland policy and implementation practices vary from state to state, with wetland approval being more devolved …

Air Injection As A Scour Countermeasure At Bridge Piers, Ravi Teja Reddy Tippireddy

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Local scour is a major cause of concern for the stability of bridge piers and the safety of the public using the bridges. Structural countermeasures and flow-altering devices have been developed to deal with local scour. Many armoring structural countermeasures are very effective and efficient in clear water conditions but are susceptible to moving bed forms and leaching. The flow-altering devices are effective in both clear water conditions and moving bed forms, but are prone to clogging, less efficient in changing flow direction, etc. This study aims to reduce the local scour by injecting air in order to reduce the …

Rock Magnetic Investigation Of The Michigan Basin Soils And Sediments Overlying The Oil-Bearing Silurian Pinnacle Reefs, Jake Tresnak

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

A relationship between the hydrocarbon migration and magnetic properties of near-surface sediments was investigated from several hundreds of samples collected over the hydrocarbon-bearing Silurian pinnacle reef belt of the Michigan Basin. The collected samples were investigated using several rock magnetic methods and optical microscopy. The investigation has not revealed a straightforward relationship between the magnetic susceptibility and hydrocarbon reservoirs within the reef belt; both anomalously high and low susceptibility values were observed. The elevated values are associated with newly formed magnetite in the form of spheroidal grains produced by hydrocarbon-related diagenesis while the extremely low susceptibilities may reflect dissolution of …

The Visual And Performing Arts In The Technical Communication Classroom: Reinforcing The University's Internal Community Literacy Via Service-Learning, Richard L. Ward

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This report details a class taught that was an exploration into the value of STEAM or science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics within the confines of Technical Communication as it applies to the business and industry of theatre. It was an experiment in service learning as it could be tied into the Arts via differing technai, as described by John Wild in “Plato’s Theory of Texnh a Phenomenological Interpretation,” demonstrating a necessity for Arts as they pertain to STEM-centric universities. This report discusses a section of Technical and Professional Communication taught at Michigan technological University that consisted of twenty-five students …

Dynamics Of Wild Red Raspberry (Rubus Idaeus L.) And The Influence On Tree Regeneration Within Silvicultural Openings In A Northern Hardwood Stand, Matthew J. Widen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Previous studies have investigated how the abundance of raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) impacts tree regeneration, but few have linked these impacts to location within canopy openings with a legacy tree. To fill this knowledge gap, we investigated the presence, abundance, and location of raspberries within openings containing legacy trees and the resulting impacts on tree regeneration. During the winter of 2003, 49 openings were created of three sizes: small, medium, large and 20 reference single-tree selection sites in a northern hardwood stand in Ford Forest near Alberta, Michigan. Tree regeneration and vegetative species cover were recorded in 2005 and …

Impact Of Natural Gas Direct Injection On Thermal Efficinecy In A Spark Ignition Engine, James Sevik

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Interest in natural gas as an internal combustion engine fuel has been renewed due to its increasing domestic availability and stable price relative to other petroleum fuel sources. Natural gas, comprised mainly of methane, allows for up to a 25% reduction in engine out CO2 emissions due to a more favorable hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, relative to traditional petroleum sources. Traditional methods of injecting natural gas can lead to poor part-load performance, as well as a power density loss at full load due to air displacement in the intake manifold. Natural gas direct injection, which allows the fuel to be injected directly …

Techno-Economic And Life Cycle Assessments Of Biofuel Production From Woody Biomass Through Torrefaction-Fast Pyrolysis And Catalytic Upgrading, Olumide Winjobi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Biofuel production through fast pyrolysis of biomass is a promising conversion route in the production of biofuels compatible with existing technology. The bio-oil produced from fast pyrolysis is a versatile feedstock that can be used as a heating oil or upgraded to a transportation hydrocarbon biofuel. Comparative study of a one-step, fast pyrolysis only pathway and a two-step torrefaction-fast pyrolysis pathway was carried out to evaluate the effect of torrefcation on (i) the minimum selling price of biofuel and (ii) the potential life cycle GHG emissions of the biofuel production pathway.

To produce bio-oil which can serve as a substitute …

Laboratory, Computational And Theoretical Investigations Of Ice Nucleation And Its Implications For Mixed Phase Clouds, Fan Yang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Ice particles in atmospheric clouds play an important role in determining cloud lifetime, precipitation and radiation. It is therefore important to understand the whole life cycle of ice particles in the atmosphere, e.g., where they come from (nucleation), how they evolve (growth), and where they go (precipitation). Ice nucleation is the crucial step for ice formation, and in this study, we will mainly focus on ice nucleation in the lab and its effect on mixed-phase stratiform clouds.

In the first half of this study, we investigate the relevance of moving contact lines (i.e., the region where three or more phases …

Direct Sampling Methods For Inverse Scattering Problems, Ala Mahmood Nahar Al Zaalig

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Recently, direct sampling methods became popular for solving inverse scattering problems to estimate the shape of the scattering object. They provide a simple tool to directly reconstruct the shape of the unknown scatterer. These methods are based on choosing an appropriate indicator function f on R^d, d=2 or 3, such that f(z) decides whether z lies inside or outside the scatterer. Consequently, we can determine the location and the shape of the unknown scatterer.

In this thesis, we first present some sampling methods for shape reconstruction in inverse scattering problems. These methods, which are described in Chapter 1, …

Preserving The Vernacular Postindustrial Landscape: Big Data Geospatial Approaches To Heritage Management And Interpretation, John D. M. Arnold

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Redundant historical industrial sites, or postindustrial landscapes, face numerous preservation challenges. Functionally obsolete, and often derelict and decaying, these cultural landscapes often retain only a fraction of their original infrastructure. With their historical interconnections made indistinct by their physical separation and obscured by the passage of time, surviving remnants are isolated and disjunct, confounding both their legibility and their consideration for formal historic preservation. Nevertheless, they persist. This dissertation presents a theoretical understanding of the nature of postindustrial landscape preservation, and argues that the material persistence of its historical constituents is the result of previously overlooked processes of informal material …

On The Logic, Method And Scientific Diversity Of Technical Systems: An Inquiry Into The Diagnostic Measurement Of Human Skin, Joel Beatty

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation explores some of the scientific, technical and cultural history of human skin measurement and diagnostics. Through a significant collection of primary texts and case studies, I track the changing technologies and methods used to measure skin, as well as the scientific and sociotechnical applications. I then map these histories onto some of the diverse understandings of the human body, physics, biology, natural philosophy and language that underpinned the scientific enterprise of skin measurement. The main argument of my thesis demonstrates how these diverse histories of science historically and theoretically inform the succeeding methods and applications for skin measurement …