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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Conservation And Ecological Implications Of The Introgression Between Black Bass Subspecies, Rachel Tessier Dec 2014

Conservation And Ecological Implications Of The Introgression Between Black Bass Subspecies, Rachel Tessier

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Synthesis And Antimicrobial Activity Of Brominated Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, Wendy Pippin Aug 2014

Synthesis And Antimicrobial Activity Of Brominated Quaternary Ammonium Compounds, Wendy Pippin

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Introduction Of Advanced Math Concepts Through A Geometry Project, Emelie Mativi May 2014

Introduction Of Advanced Math Concepts Through A Geometry Project, Emelie Mativi

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Adaptation Of Gamma Camera System For Small Field-Of-View Applications, Melanie Carroll May 2014

Adaptation Of Gamma Camera System For Small Field-Of-View Applications, Melanie Carroll

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Mapping Of Pathogenic Vibrio Spp. Densities In The Gulf Of Mexico And Their Relationship To Fecal Indicators Used In Oyster Harvest Regulation, Morgan Taylor May 2014

Mapping Of Pathogenic Vibrio Spp. Densities In The Gulf Of Mexico And Their Relationship To Fecal Indicators Used In Oyster Harvest Regulation, Morgan Taylor

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Categorical Data Analysis Of First-Year Programs And Its Effect On Retention Of Lsu First-Year Students, Morgan Matchett May 2014

Categorical Data Analysis Of First-Year Programs And Its Effect On Retention Of Lsu First-Year Students, Morgan Matchett

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Synthesis And Functionalization Of Bodipy Dyes For Applications In The Detection Of Colorectal Cancer, Logan Elise Leblanc May 2014

Synthesis And Functionalization Of Bodipy Dyes For Applications In The Detection Of Colorectal Cancer, Logan Elise Leblanc

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Sedimentary Record Of Extreme Events In The Lake Maurepas Basin, Southern Louisiana, Jonathan Edward Lambert Apr 2014

Sedimentary Record Of Extreme Events In The Lake Maurepas Basin, Southern Louisiana, Jonathan Edward Lambert

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Controlling Competing Phases Of Magnetic Intermetallics And Bioceramics, Jacob D. Mcalpin Apr 2014

Controlling Competing Phases Of Magnetic Intermetallics And Bioceramics, Jacob D. Mcalpin

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Association Of Drd4 Gene Polymorphisms With Range In Species Of The Genus Copsychus, Jocelyn B. Miller Apr 2014

Association Of Drd4 Gene Polymorphisms With Range In Species Of The Genus Copsychus, Jocelyn B. Miller

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


An Introduction To The Markov Chain Monte Carlo And Wang-Landau Algorithms, Jacob R. Desmond Apr 2014

An Introduction To The Markov Chain Monte Carlo And Wang-Landau Algorithms, Jacob R. Desmond

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


On The Amount Of Sediment Deposited In Floodplains From The Mississippi River: A Case Study In Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana, Matthew Smith Apr 2014

On The Amount Of Sediment Deposited In Floodplains From The Mississippi River: A Case Study In Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana, Matthew Smith

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Analyzing Market Incentives For Wetland Restoration In Louisiana: Wetland Mitigation Banking, Blue Carbon Sequestration, And Wetland Entrepreneurship, Eric Newberry Apr 2014

Analyzing Market Incentives For Wetland Restoration In Louisiana: Wetland Mitigation Banking, Blue Carbon Sequestration, And Wetland Entrepreneurship, Eric Newberry

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Polymer Micro- And Nanofluidic Systems For In Vitro Diagnostics: Analyzing Single Cells And Molecules, Swathi Reddy Pullagurla Jan 2014

Polymer Micro- And Nanofluidic Systems For In Vitro Diagnostics: Analyzing Single Cells And Molecules, Swathi Reddy Pullagurla

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Polymer micro- and nanofluidic systems, with their critical dimensions, offer a potential to outperform conventional analysis techniques and diagnostic methods by enhancing speed, accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. In this work, applications of microfluidics have been demonstrated to address the existing challenges in stroke diagnosis, by mRNA expression profiling from whole blood within <20 min. A brief overview of various biomarkers for stroke diagnosis is given in chapter 1 followed by design and testing of individual microfluidic modules (chapter 2 and 3) required for the development of POC diagnostic strategy for stroke. We have designed and evaluated the performance of polymer microfluidic devices for the isolation of leukocyte subsets, known for their differential gene expression in the event of stroke. Target cells (T-cells and neutrophils) were selected from with greater purities, from 50 µl whole human blood by using affinity based capture in COC devices within a 6.6 min processing time. In addition, we have also demonstrated the ability to isolate and purify total RNA by using UV activated polycarbonate solid phase extraction platform. Polymer-based nanofluidic devices were used to study the effects of surface charge on the electrodynamic transport dynamics of target molecules. In this work, we report the fabrication of mixed-scale micro- and nanofluidic networks in poly(methylmethacrylate), PMMA, using thermal nanoimprint lithography using a resin stamp and surface modification of polymer nanoslits and nanochannels for the assessment of the associated electrokinetic parameters – surface charge density, zeta potential and electroosmotic flow. This study provided information on possible routes that can be adopted to engineer proper wall chemistry of polymer nanochannels for the enhancement or reduction of solute/wall interactions in a variety of relevant single-molecule studies.


Some Numerical And Phenomenological Studies In Loop Quantum Cosmology, Brajesh Kumar Gupt Jan 2014

Some Numerical And Phenomenological Studies In Loop Quantum Cosmology, Brajesh Kumar Gupt

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A key feature of the singularity resolution in loop quantum cosmology (LQC) is the occurrence of the quantum bounce when the spacetime curvature becomes comparable to the Planck scale. The presence of quantum bounce greatly modifies the dynamics of the early universe and can have important implications for observational signatures. Although the quantum bounce has been previously studied via numerical methods for initial conditions that correspond to large macroscopic universes at late times, a detailed study of the robustness of the quantum bounce for a generic class of initial condition has so far been missing due to severe computational challenges. …


Syntheses And Characterization Of Isoporphyrins And Bodipys For Pdt And Imaging, Haijun Wang Jan 2014

Syntheses And Characterization Of Isoporphyrins And Bodipys For Pdt And Imaging, Haijun Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This Dissertation is divided into five chapters reporting various aspects of the background to my field of study and the results obtained during my research program. Chapter 1 gives a very brief introduction to photodynamic therapy including the mechanism of the treatment, the localization of photosensitizer in tumor cells, the pathways leading to tumor death and characteristics of various photosensitizers such as porphyrin-based photosensitizers and non-porphyrin based photosensitizers. Chapter 2 reports a total synthesis of zinc(II) isoporphyrins by cyclization of b-bilene salt using á-keto esters for the macrocyclization carbon. Functionalization of the resulting zinc(II) isoporphyrins was attempted using different strategies …


Cdom Optical Properties Near Dwh Site, Gulf Of Mexico: Pot Oil Spill, Zhi Li Jan 2014

Cdom Optical Properties Near Dwh Site, Gulf Of Mexico: Pot Oil Spill, Zhi Li

LSU Master's Theses

The Deep Water Horizon (DWH) oil spill resulted in the largest accidental release of crude oil in U.S. waters with both short- and long-term effects on the marine environment. Extensive studies conducted immediately following the oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico provided greater understanding of the physical processes influencing the distribution of the released oil, including the use of optical detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), a toxic crude oil fraction in the northern Gulf of Mexico. In this study, the optical properties of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and the concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were …


Temporal Variability Of Particulate Organic Carbon Fluxes In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Somiddho Bosu Jan 2014

Temporal Variability Of Particulate Organic Carbon Fluxes In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Somiddho Bosu

LSU Master's Theses

There is limited data of Particulate Organic Carbon (POC) export from the Northern Gulf of Mexico and this work presents the first estimation of the efficiency of the “biological pump” in this region. In oligotrophic oceans like the Gulf of Mexico, POC is the main source of particles and POC flux is the key mechanism for the removal of particle reactive contaminants and pollutants from upper ocean water column. Particle-reactive, the naturally occurring radionuclides are useful tracers of the sinking flux of organic matter from the surface to the deep ocean. The disequilibrium between natural radioisotope pair 238U-234Th as well …


Holocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction From Mexico's Pacific Coast-A Paleotempestological Investigation, Thomas Bianchette Jan 2014

Holocene Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction From Mexico's Pacific Coast-A Paleotempestological Investigation, Thomas Bianchette

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the paleoenvironments of four lagoons from Mexico’s Pacific coast, with the aim of retrieving sediment deposition from storm surge events to determine long-term tropical cyclone (TC) records. Lagoons Agua Dulce, Boquita, Mitla, and Nuxco are located along a 700 km stretch in states Jalisco and Guerrero. Roughly 70 meters of sediment were collected and subjected to multiple proxies, including loss-on ignition, a microfossil survey, and geochemical analysis. Nuxco’s dynamism is caused by intense and prolonged rainfall (largely from TCs), responsible for increasing water level, opening the tidal inlet, and draining the site (termed “blowouts”). High amounts of …


Methods For The Characterization Of Deep-Sea Benthic Megafauna In The Vicinity Of The Deepwater Horizon Macondo Well, Stephanie Marie Sharuga Jan 2014

Methods For The Characterization Of Deep-Sea Benthic Megafauna In The Vicinity Of The Deepwater Horizon Macondo Well, Stephanie Marie Sharuga

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Soft-sediment benthic environments are amongst the largest marine ecosystems in the world and play important roles in many ecosystem functions. In recent years, exploitation of resources and unintentional impacts on deep-sea benthic environments has increased. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill of 2010 in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM) represented a prime example of this. The oil spill not only highlighted deficiencies of data and information on baseline conditions, but also represented an opportunity to learn more and develop better methods for the future. Deep-sea imaging platforms such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) have been …


Variations In Salinity And Temperature On The Flank Of An Offshore Louisiana Salt Structure, Candice M. Mccollum Jan 2014

Variations In Salinity And Temperature On The Flank Of An Offshore Louisiana Salt Structure, Candice M. Mccollum

LSU Master's Theses

Sediments located in the vicinity of salt structures in the northern Gulf of Mexico have highly complex structures and fluid dynamics associated with the dissolution and diapirism of salt. Past studies (Lin and Nunn, 1997; Bruno and Hanor, 2003; Richards, 2013) have shown that faults associated with salt structures can act both as migration pathways and barriers to the flow of formation waters. Bruno and Hanor (2003), Steen et al. (2011), and Richards (2013) also demonstrated that lithology was a controlling factor in the flow of formation waters. In this study, two sets of wireline logs, one used in salinity …


Addressing The Land Loss-Fish Production Paradox, Kristy A. Lewis Jan 2014

Addressing The Land Loss-Fish Production Paradox, Kristy A. Lewis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Saltmarsh loss is occurring at high rates in Louisiana (LA), but understanding the impacts that marsh degradation has had on historical abundance of estuarine nekton in Barataria Bay, LA is lacking. I first examined the differences between fishery independent and fishery dependent data as indices of relative abundance. Previous studies used landings data to evaluate the importance of marsh habitat (e.g. distance of marsh edge and area of intertidal marsh) to fisheries production, but for most species, landings and survey data showed differing patterns of abundance through time. These findings emphasize the importance of using survey data (not landings data) …


An Efficient Approach To Epid Transit Dosimetry, Bart Alan Morris Jan 2014

An Efficient Approach To Epid Transit Dosimetry, Bart Alan Morris

LSU Master's Theses

Introduction: In order to maintain uniform standards in the accuracy of fractionated radiation therapy, quantification of the delivered dose per fraction accuracy is required. The pupose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of a transit dosimetry method using the electronic portal imaging device (EPID) for dose delivery error detection and prevention. Methods and Materials: In the proposed method, 2D predicted transit images were generated for comparison with online images acquired during treatment. Predicted transit images were generated by convolving through-air EPID measurements of each field with pixel-specific kernels selected from a library of pre-calculated Monte Carlo pencil kernels …


Preliminary Multifactorial Analysis Of Parkinson's Disease, Max James Miller Jan 2014

Preliminary Multifactorial Analysis Of Parkinson's Disease, Max James Miller

LSU Master's Theses

Neurodegenerative disorders affect millions of Americans every year. Incidence increases as the human population ages. Parkinson’s Disease, a neurodegenerative disorder in the dopaminergic system of the basal ganglia, causes deterioration of movement as the disease progresses. Researchers have attempted to figure out what causes PD and are currently examining it as an environmental disease. This study examined PD as an environmental disease using a multifactorial approach. Methods included 1) utilization of hospital and mortality records in order to investigate a relationship between occupation and PD 2) using ArcGIS 10.2 technology to examine the spatial components of PD 3) conducting Chi-Square …


Does Exploring Non-Linear Models Address High School Students' Misconceptions Of Linearity And Rate Of Change?, Kailyn Brabham Jan 2014

Does Exploring Non-Linear Models Address High School Students' Misconceptions Of Linearity And Rate Of Change?, Kailyn Brabham

LSU Master's Theses

Previous studies have shown that students at all levels—elementary, secondary and post-secondary—tend to apply linear reasoning in mathematical problems where non-linear models are needed. They rely on proportionality and linear equations without paying attention to the problem features needed for an accurate model. In the present study, students were taught using an activity-inspired by modeling curricula. In a hands-on activity, they explored the rate of change of linear and nonlinear functions that arise in describing elastic materials, recording average rates of change and noting key graphical features. This led them to articulate the relationship between nonlinear models, local linearity and …


Contractional Tectonics: Investigations Of Ongoing Construction Of The Himalaya Fold-Thrust Belt And The Trishear Model Of Fault-Propagation Folding, Hongjiao Yu Jan 2014

Contractional Tectonics: Investigations Of Ongoing Construction Of The Himalaya Fold-Thrust Belt And The Trishear Model Of Fault-Propagation Folding, Hongjiao Yu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the kinematic evolution of contractional tectonics: the Himalayan fold-thrust belt along the collisional orogenic belts, and growth of the basement-cored monoclines in Colorado Plateau. Ongoing Himalayan growth is generally thought to be dominated by duplexing and/or extrusion processes. Duplexing models highlight accretion of material from the subducting plate to the over-riding orogenic wedge, whereas extrusion models focus on up-dip translation of a block bounded by out-of-sequence faults. Here, a primary outstanding question involves the uncertain relationship of the Berinag thrust and the Tons thrust, structures with displacements of >80 km and >40 km, respectively. The uncertainty …


Tube Current Modulated Computed Tomography Effective Dose And Size Specific Organ Dose Estimates With Impact: Total Scan Versus Slice By Slice Parameters For Urogram Protocols, David Wayne Byrd Jan 2014

Tube Current Modulated Computed Tomography Effective Dose And Size Specific Organ Dose Estimates With Impact: Total Scan Versus Slice By Slice Parameters For Urogram Protocols, David Wayne Byrd

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: One of the predominant computed tomography (CT) dosimetry estimation programs, ImPACT, was not designed to estimate organ absorbed dose or effective dose for modern tube current modulated-CT (TCM-CT). ImPACT also only estimates organ doses for a standard adult hermaphrodite mathematical phantom, not for a specific patient. Two methods for calculating size specific TCM-CT organ absorbed dose and non-size dependent TCM-CT effective dose were developed and compared with conventional dose estimation methods. Methods: A sample of 48 TCM-CT urogram procedures was obtained. Patient specific dose was calculated for each data set by two methods. The first method was a summation …


Developing Auxiliary Resource Materials To Support The Engageny Geometry Curriculum, Joanne Griffin Jan 2014

Developing Auxiliary Resource Materials To Support The Engageny Geometry Curriculum, Joanne Griffin

LSU Master's Theses

With the advent of current education reform, and the introduction of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, the present offerings of the geometry curriculum have become dated. One contribution to remedy this situation is a project by the state of New York called EngageNY. EngageNY is a common core aligned mathematics curriculum across all grades. The EngageNY Geometry Curriculum Module 1 is the basis from which this thesis was developed. It is the purpose of this thesis to present a supplement to the EngageNY Geometry Module 1 Curriculum and to describe why it is advantageous to have such a …


Predicted Risk Of Post-Irradiation Cerebral Necrosis In Pediatric Brain Cancer Patients: A Treatment Planning Comparison Of Proton Therapy Vs. Photon Therapy, Derek Freund Jan 2014

Predicted Risk Of Post-Irradiation Cerebral Necrosis In Pediatric Brain Cancer Patients: A Treatment Planning Comparison Of Proton Therapy Vs. Photon Therapy, Derek Freund

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose: To predict the risk of radiation necrosis in a cohort of pediatric patients with glioma and ependymoma and compare the predicted risk between volumetric modulated arc photon therapy (VMAT), passively scattered proton therapy (PSPT) and intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT). Methods: Thirteen pediatric patients with varying age and sex were selected for this study. A radiation oncologist contoured a clinical treatment volume (CTV) on 8 patients selected for glioma in the cerebral hemisphere and 5 with ependymoma located in the posterior fossa. A 1 cm margin was added to the CTV to define the planning treatment volume (PTV). VMAT …


Prevalence Of Blue Crab (Callinectes Sapidus) Diseases, Parasites, And Symbionts In Louisiana, Holly Rogers Jan 2014

Prevalence Of Blue Crab (Callinectes Sapidus) Diseases, Parasites, And Symbionts In Louisiana, Holly Rogers

LSU Master's Theses

Research on blue crab diseases, parasites, and symbionts has been sporadic in the Gulf of Mexico. Understanding the prevalence of diseases, parasites, and symbionts is important for managers to set informed regulations for the commercial industry and to understand the impacts of environmental disasters on aquatic animal health. The objective of this research was to determine the prevalence of Lagenophrys callinectes, Urosporidium crescens, Hematodinium perezi, Loxothylacus texanus, reo-like virus (RLV), shell rot, and Vibrio spp. in crabs collected from four coastal locations and four shedding facilities in 2013 and the beginning of 2014. Additionally, I determined the prevalence of white …