Variation In Herbivore Effects On Grassland Primary Production: A Test Of Three Models, Jacob Penner

Theses - ALL

Grazing animals influence a wide range of plant and soil processes in the world’s grasslands. Ecologists have long understood that grazing can stimulate aboveground net primary production (ANPP), although this phenomenon has not been broadly generalizable across grasslands and grazing regimes. The mechanisms underlying grazer stimulation of ANPP are therefore of interest to a wide variety of stakeholders from ecologists to land managers. Three data-supported hypotheses offer differing explanations for the ways in which grazing interacts with resource availability to drive ANPP: the compensatory continuum hypothesis (CCH) implicates background resource availability, the limiting resource model (LRM) considers the direct effects …

Design And Development Of A Perfusion Bioreactor With Internal Volume Expansion And Cell Retention For Cell And Gene Therapy Manufacturing, Corinna Doris

KGI Theses and Dissertations

Economically producing patient-specific cell therapies at commercial levels remains a challenge as it requires manufacturing separate batches per patient where the production system must be scaled-out rather than scaled-up to supply more patient doses. The resulting high production cost and consequent price-point can limit patient access. Specifically, the current cell expansion processes are highly manual and laborious, with the number and complexity of operations and components increasing the opportunities for failure and contamination. This work therefore aims to design a mechanically simple bioreactor that is better suited for scale-out by consolidating the cell expansion process to fewer components, vessels, and …

Near-To-Far Field Signal Propagation For The Wave And Maxwell Equations, Alhassan Ahmed

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

The Maxwell equations may be viewed as evolution equations which develop an initial state of the electromagnetic field forward in time. Such evolution can be simulated numerically, that is modeled on a computer, in which case the domain of simulation is typically finite in extent. Nonetheless, one is often interested in the electromagnetic waves which reach infinity (of course which is outside of the simulation domain). Thus we are interested in near-to-far field signal propagation, that is a mathematical process where a signal or solution recorded at a finite radius r = r1 can be converted to a signal at …

Evidence For Late-Stage Eruptive Mass Loss In The Progenitor To Sn2018gep, A Broad-Lined Ic Supernova: Pre-Explosion Emission And A Rapidly Rising Luminous Transient, Anna Y.Q. Ho, Daniel A. Goldstein, Steve Schulze, David K. Khatami, Daniel A. Perley, Mattias Ergon, Avishay Gal-Yam, Alessandra Corsi, Igor Andreoni, Cristina Barbarino, Eric C. Bellm, Nadia Blagorodnova, Joe S. Bright, E. Burns, S. Bradley Cenko, Virginia Cunningham, Kishalay De, Richard Dekany, Alison Dugas, Rob P. Fender, Claes Fransson, Christoffer Fremling, Adam Goldstein, Matthew J. Graham, David Hale, Assaf Horesh, Tiara Hung, Mansi M. Kasliwal, N. Paul M. Kuin, S. R. Kulkarni, Thomas Kupfer, Ragnhild Lunnan, Frank J. Masci

Faculty Publications

We present detailed observations of ZTF18abukavn (SN2018gep), discovered in high-cadence data from the Zwicky Transient Facility as a rapidly rising (1.4 ± 0.1 mag hr-1) and luminous (Mg,peak = -20 mag) transient. It is spectroscopically classified as a broad-lined stripped-envelope supernova (Ic-BL SN). The high peak luminosity (Lbol ≳ 3 × 1044 erg s-1), the short rise time (trise = 3 days in g band), and the blue colors at peak (g-r ∼ -0.4) all resemble the high-redshift Ic-BL iPTF16asu, as well as several other unclassified fast transients. The early discovery of SN2018gep (within an hour of shock breakout) enabled …

Measurement Of The Integrated Luminosity Of The Phase 2 Data Of The Belle Ii Experiment, F. Abudinén, I. Adachi, P. Ahlburg, H. Aihara, N. Akopov, A. Aloisio, F. Ameli, L. Andricek, N. Anh Ky, D. M. Asner, H. Atmacan, T. Aushev, V. Aushev, T. Aziz, K. Azmi, V. Babu, S. Baehr, S. Bahinipati, A. M. Bakich, Milind Purohit, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

From April to July 2018, a data sample at the peak energy of the Υ(4S) resonance was collected with the Belle II detector at the SuperKEKB electron-positron collider. This is the first data sample of the Belle II experiment. Using Bhabha and digamma events, we measure the integrated luminosity of the data sample to be (469.3±0.3±3.0) pb^-1, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. This work provides a basis for future luminosity measurements at Belle II.

Bureaucratic Modernity And The Erosion Of Practical Reason: A Rhetorical Education As An Antidote, David Impellizzeri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To what extent and in what ways does modernity reveal itself through the bureaucratic? This project aims at an interpretive understanding of bureaucratic modernity. The rationalization of society and action in the (late) modern world requires that an increasing number of human activities and domains be explained in allegedly neutral, ‘rational’ terms and without reference to morally substantive ends. Ultimately, this entails a form of epistemic reductionism that elevates instrumental rationality to the exclusion of practical reason and probabilistic ways of knowing. Bureaucratic modernity signifies a decrease in choices that can be legitimized in public on some basis other …

Effective Instructional Strategies In Sixth Grade Inclusion Mathematics Classrooms: The Effect Of Active And Passive Engagement On Concept Learning And Opportunity To Learn, Christy Mikolaj

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-method study focused on the effect of active engagement on opportunity to learn and concept learning among sixth grade special education students participating in the inclusion mathematical setting. By implementing two instructional strategies and using the theoretical frameworks of Vygotsky’s Social Constructivism and Erikson’s Stage of Psychosocial Development of Industry vs. Inferiority, findings showed there was a significant negative relationship between active engagement time during instruction and concept learning. The study showed students with identified needs within an inclusion mathematics setting increased concept learning in both instructional classrooms. Therefore, there was no difference in concept learning …

Females In Stem: Self-Efficacy Within Women Who Pursue Stem Majors, Lori Grata

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While many efforts have been made within the United States, women are still underrepresented within STEM. Research within this document shows that women and men score similarly on STEM-related standardized tests. The question remains, why are there still large quantities of men outnumbering women in college majors and career fields of STEM? Looking at female STEM self-efficacy and gender role in culture could provide insight to the problem at hand. A survey was given to investigate self-efficacy and students’ STEM backgrounds of undergraduate female students who are currently in a 4-year STEM-related major within one university.

Exploratory Study On Trust, Distrust, And Credibility In Machine Journalism, Stephen Wonchul Song

Dissertations - ALL

The current study investigated the effect of machine-generated journalism. Specifically, the effect of machine journalism compared to human journalist on the perceptions of credibility and distrust for news articles on controversial topics was explored. To further extend the well- established theories of credibility in journalism, this study introduced the concept of distrust as a construct that is distinct from credibility or trust. The relationship between trust and hostile media effect was explored. Finally, this study investigated if trust and hostile media effect are related to the perception of fake news. The results show that distrust was indeed distinct from credibility …

Evolution And Stratigraphic Architecture Of Tidal Point Bars With And Without Fluvial Input: Influence Of Variable Flow Regimes On Sediment And Facies Distribution, And Lateral Accretion, Pricilla Souza

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Tide-influenced point bars represent a significant proportion of shallow-marine deposits, commonly developed along meandering channels in most backbarrier and estuarine systems. However, sedimentological studies to characterize this type of deposit are still emerging. They often present very heterogeneous internal architectures which development is controlled by the complex flow patterns operating in tidal environments. The study of the sedimentological and morphological characteristics of these features provides better understanding of the hydrodynamic processes that shape coastal systems and control their evolution as well as it contributes to better reservoir potential prediction and production strategy optimization, as tidal point bars may represent hydrocarbon …

Comparative Reflection On Best Known Instructional Design Models: Notes From The Field, Bengi Birgili

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

This paper is intended to stimulate discussion on historical and evolving instructional design models in an educational era. After enriching the vision of what constitutes an instructional design, the paper explores the historical development and improvement of instructional design processes and models. The instructional design models of Dick and Carey, Morrison, Ross and Kemp, Posner and Rudnitsky, and Smith and Ragan are identified herein as being among the best known, most popular, and most widely applied instructional design models in the field of educational sciences. The philosophical underpinnings and the rationales for the arrangement of components in each instructional design …

Blaschke Decompositions On Weighted Hardy Spaces And The Unwinding Series, Stephen D. Farnham

Dissertations - ALL

Recently, several authors have considered a nonlinear analogue of Fourier series in signal analysis, referred to as either the unwinding series or adaptive Fourier decomposition. In these processes, a signal is represented as the real component of the boundary value of an analytic function F : ∂D → C, and by performing an iterative method to obtain a sequence of Blaschke decompositions, the signal can be efficiently approximated using only a few terms. To better understand the convergence of these methods, the study of Blaschke decompositions on weighted Hardy spaces was initiated by Coifman and Steinerberger, under the assumption that …

Homology Over A Complete Intersection Ring Via The Generic Hypersurface, Eric Jeffrey Ottman

Dissertations - ALL

We study homological properties and constructions for modules over a complete intersection ring $Q/(f_1,\ldots,f_c)$ by way of the related generic hypersurface ring $Q[T_1,\ldots,T_c]/(f_1T_1+\cdots+f_cT_c)$. The advantage of this approach is that over a hypersurface ring, free resolutions are eventually 2-periodic, given by matrix factorizations, and are thus relatively easy to understand. We approach this relationship in two ways. First, we give a correspondence between the two rings in the graded setting, where existing results are insufficient for preserving graded structures. As an application, we use this correspondence to move a functor appearing in a theorem of Orlov to the generic hypersurface …

Detection And Inference In Gravitational Wave Astronomy, Steven Daniel Reyes

Dissertations - ALL

We explore the detection and astrophysical modeling of gravitational waves de- tected by the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo. We discuss the techniques used in the PyCBC search pipeline to discover the first gravitational wave detection GW150914, and estimate the statistical signifi- cance of GW150914, and the marginal trigger LVT151012. During Advanced LIGO’s first observing run there were no detections of mergers from binary neutron star and neutron star-black hole binaries. We use Bayesian inference to place upper limits on the rate of coalescence of these binaries. We use developments made in the PyCBC search pipeline …

Homeostatic Elastic States And The Stability Of Elastic Arteries, Xinyu Zhang

Dissertations - ALL

Vascular mechanics has undergone significant growth within the last 50 years owing to the rapid development of nonlinear continuum mechanics occurring roughly within the same period and motivated primarily by rubber materials. However, one important distinction of blood vessels, in contrast to typical engineering materials is that, through a variety of physiological mechanisms, they seek to maintain constant a preferred mechanical state (mechanical homeostasis) thereby exhibiting a remarkable mechanical stability in response to temporal evolution and alterations in blood pressure, vessel tethering forces and geometry and material properties. The mechanical state experienced by blood vessels plays a critical role in …

Vertical Acoustic Propagation In The Non-Homogeneous Layered Atmosphere For A Time-Harmonic, Compact Source, Edward J. Yoerger Jr

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In this work we study vertical, acoustic propagation in a non-homogeneous media for a spatially-compact, time-harmonic source. An analytical, 2-layer model is developed representing the acoustic pressure disturbance propagating in the atmosphere. The validity of the model spans the distance from the Earth's surface to 30,000 meters. This includes the troposphere (adiabatic), ozone layer (isothermal), and part of the stratosphere (isothermal). The results of the model derivation in the adiabatic region yield pressure solutions as Bessel functions of the First (J) and Second (Y) Kind of order $-\frac{7}{2}$ with an argument of $2 \Omega \tau$ (where $\Omega$ represents a dimensionless …

Euclidean Dynamical Triangulations: Running Couplings And Curvature Correlation Functions, Scott David Bassler

Dissertations - ALL

Quantum field theories have been incredibly successful at describing many fundamental aspects of reality with great precision, sometimes relying on the powerful computational tool of lattice methods. Gravity has so far eluded a quantum field theory description, leading many to consider alternate theories like String Theory. However, recent results in lattice quantum gravity have brought some renewed interest in the subject. After reviewing the progress made so far in Euclidean Dynamical Triangulations, a lattice theory of gravity, we examine how the couplings of the theory run with scale. We find that the dimensionless couplings $\hat{G}$ and $\hat{\Lambda}$ are not separately …

Understanding The Role Of Anisotropy On The Optoelectronic And Colloidal Properties Of Quantum Rods For Programmable Self-Assembly With Dna Origami, Yuetian Chen

Dissertations - ALL

Semiconductor nanocrystals, like quantum dots (QDs) and quantum rods (QRs), have tunable optoelectronic properties that depend on their composition, size and asymmetry. A small change in size or aspect ratio can lead to measurable changes in optical absorption and photoluminescence emission energies, as well as varied degrees of polarized optical behaviors at those energies. My dissertation research focuses on investigating the role of anisotropy on the optoelectronic and colloidal properties of quantum rods, as well as using DNA-mediated self-assembly to align these quantum rods on DNA origami for energy transfer applications in biocompatible systems. First, CdSe of systematically varied aspect …

Numerical Investigation Of Laser-Induced Ignition Phenomena, Deshawn Coombs

Dissertations - ALL

This thesis investigates various aspects of laser-ignition. Laser ignition is a form of combustion initiation by means of a focused laser pulse in a combustible mixture. The ignition process consists of a chain of processes with varying degrees of importance to the prediction of a successful flame propagation. Some of these processes include plasma formation, induced shock wave, emergence of a flame kernel, and successful transition to a self-sustained flame or flame quenching. This thesis will explore various aspects of this process using computational fluid dynamics and model analysis with the aim of identifying the controlling processes and simplified ways …

Digital Readout And Control Of A Superconducting Qubit, Caleb Jordan Howington

Dissertations - ALL

In the quest to build a fault-tolerant quantum computer, superconducting circuits based on Josephson junctions have emerged as a leading architecture. Coherence times have increased significantly over the last two decades, and processors with ∼ 50 qubits have been experimentally demonstrated. These systems traditionally utilize microwave frequency control signals, and heterodyne based detection schemes for measurement. Both of these techniques rely heavily on room temperature microwave generators, high-bandwidth lines from room temperature to millikelvin temperatures, and bulky non-reciprocal elements such as cryogenic microwave isolators. Reliance on these elements makes it impractical to scale existing devices up a single order of …

Fft Phase Shift Of Water Wave Analysis, Chu-Kuan Lin, Shih-Yu Hsu, Jaw-Guei Lin

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The fast Fourier transform (FFT) has been accepted as a tool for signal processing. This study conducted a series of numerical experiments using Matlab. By conducting FFT analysis on designated wave trains, the FFT results revealed that an extra phase shift of ��ሺ2�� ��⁄ ሻ , with N representing the number of data points for an i-th wave component, was implicitly added to the analyzed phases during the analysis. When extra phase shifts were subtracted from the analyzed phases of each component, signals could be completely reconstructed in the time domain with an acceptable difference. This study tested component and …

Computational Studies And Design Of Pparγ And Glut1 Inhibitors, Suliman Almahmoud

Theses & Dissertations

The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) is a ligand-dependent transcription factor of the nuclear receptor superfamily that controls the expression of a variety of genes involved in fatty acid metabolism, adipogenesis, and insulin sensitivity. PPARγ is a target for insulin-sensitizing drugs, and it plays a significant function in prostate cancer. PPARγ antagonists have anti-proliferative effects in a broad range of hematopoietic and epithelial cell lines. The ligand binding domain (LBD) of PPARγ is large and has orthosteric and allosteric binding sites. Several PPARγ-ligand co-crystal structures show two bound molecules, one to the orthosteric pocket and a second to the allosteric …

Fresh Faces, Familiar Favorites Found At Um Books And Bears, Edwin B. Smith

University of Mississippi News

Annual toy distribution for employees' families draws volunteers and recipients

The Vezo Communities And Fisheries Of The Coral Reef Ecosystem In The Bay Of Ranobe, Madagascar, Shane Abeare

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Madagascar, a country whose extraordinary levels of endemism and biodiversity are celebrated globally by scientists and laymen alike, yet historically has received surprisingly little research attention, is the setting of the present dissertation. Here, I contribute to the need for applied research by: 1) focusing on the most intensely fished section of the Toliara Barrier Reef, the Bay of Ranobe; 2) characterizing the marine environment, the human population, and the fisheries; and 3) collecting the longest known time-series of data on fisheries of Madagascar, thereby providing a useful baseline for future analyses. In Chapter 1, the bathymetry of the Bay …

The Effects Of Automated Grading On Computer Science Courses At The University Of New Orleans, Jerod F A Dunbar

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This is a study of the impacts of the incorporation, into certain points of the Computer Science degree program at the University of New Orleans, of Course Management software with an Autograding component. The software in question, developed at Carnegie Mellon University, is called “Autolab.” We begin by dissecting Autolab in order to gain an understanding of its inner workings. We can then take out understanding of its functionality and apply that to an examination of fundamental changes to courses in the time since they incorporated the software. With that, we then compare Drop, Failure, Withdrawal rate data from before …

Detection Of Whale Acoustic Signals In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico Ladc-Gemm Database, Yingxue Gao

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Low-pass Fourier filter, wavelet filter, as well as matched filter detection methods were used to detect baleen whale signals in northern Gulf of Mexico data collected by the Littoral Acoustic Demonstration Center (LADC) consortium. Some potential low frequency signals appeared on the matched filter output figure. The shape of the signals is in line with one of the typical signal shapes of fin whales--vertical down-sweeps with 18s-time interval. Another shape of the signals is in line with one of the call type shapes of Bryde's whales--down-sweeps with 7s-time interval. A high-pass Fourier filter was also used to find toothed whale …

Multi-Agent Narrative Experience Management As Story Graph Pruning, Edward T. Garcia

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I describe a method where an experience manager chooses actions for non-player characters (NPCs) in intelligent interactive narratives through story graph representation and pruning. The space of all stories can be represented as a story graph where nodes are states and edges are actions. By shaping the domain as a story graph, experience manager decisions can be made by pruning edges. Starting with a full graph, I apply a set of pruning strategies that will allow the narrative to be finishable, NPCs to act believably, and the player to be responsible for how the story unfolds. By …

Working Memory Deficits Are Associated With Altered Regional Brain Volume And Structural Connectivity In Children With Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome., Diana Hobbs

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Background: Children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) exhibit nonverbal learning disability that may manifest in part because of working memory (WM) deficits. 22q11.2DS is a complex developmental disorder with serious physical, learning, cognitive, and psychiatric symptoms including a risk of developing schizophrenia 30 times that of the general population. WM impairment likely contributes to and exacerbates learning difficulties, school problems, existing neuropsychological disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and a poor WM may be a biological risk marker for future mental illness. WM impairment is established in this population, but less is known about its neurological origins. …

Teachers' Perceptions Of How The Teacher Evaluation Process Impacts Classroom Instruction In Three High Poverty School Districts, Zina R. Jones Ms

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Improving the educational system for students and teachers is of the upmost importance. Educational leaders have realized that the best way to improve student success is by improving teachers’ instructional practices and measuring their effectiveness (Mathers, Oliva, & Laine, 2008). Because of this awareness, educators have realized the importance of connecting student achievement with instructional practices and instructional practices with teacher effectiveness. Evaluation tools are used to measure how effective teachers are in their classrooms. Evaluations are crucial in assisting our teachers in their professional growth. When evaluations are utilized as supportive tools, they help teachers and administrators identify …

An Experimental And Numerical Study Of High Temperature Gaseous Flow Through An Open Cell Silicon Carbide Foam Heater, Denis Pansolin

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.