Life Sciences Commons^™

Rice Hull Bioreactor For Recirculating Aquaculture, Marlon A. Greensword

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The engineering of floating media biofilters has been optimized over the years. The backwashing process has made them more energy and water efficient. Likewise, moving bed bioreactors (MBBR) are gaining interest and popularity because they are relatively affordable to build. Yet, developing countries’ aquaculture production remains largely excluded from the advances made in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). This discrepancy is partially driven by the high costs of media such plastic beads and Kaldnes (KMT) media, commonly used in MBBR.

This dissertation evaluates the usability and profitability of rice hulls (RH), an abundant by-product in many developing nations, as a sinking …

Three Essays On Consumption Behavior, Credit, And Labor Supply Of Farm Households In Sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence From Uganda, Seydina Ousmane Sene

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Consumption patterns, credit, and labor supply are determinants of human welfare, and also indicators of a country's economic progress, poverty, and inequalities. In this study, I review many of the stylized facts regarding consumption behaviors, credit, and the decision to engage in off-farm labor supply. I also put the life cycle model into an empirical model and perform testing. This is done in a three-essay format with a focus on the country of Uganda. In the first essay, I test whether farm households’ consumption behavior is consistent with an optimization process predicted by economic theory. In essay II, I evaluate …