Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Outcrop To Subsurface Stratigraphy Of The Pennsylvanian Hermosa Group Southern Paradox Basin U.S.A., Alan Lee Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Pennsylvanian (Desmoinesian) sedimentary rocks within the Paradox Basin Four Corners area of the western United States afford a unique opportunity to study the development of sedimentary successions in a complex marine to nonmarine depositional setting. The close association of thick intervals of nonmarine fan-delta facies adjacent to and in time equivalent position to marine carbonate-evaporite facies suggests complex relationships between the factors affecting deposition. Development of an effective scheme to differentiate the depositional signatures from within these sedimentary successions is the primary goal of this study. To achieve this goal, two objectives were pursued. The first was to calibrate the …

Ontogeny And Intervals Of Development In Five Reef-Associated Species Of Blenny From The Northern Gulf Of Mexico (Teleostei: Blenniidae), James G. Ditty

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

I examined patterns and timing of ontogeny and relative growth in five species of blenny (Teleostei: Blenniidae) from the northern Gulf of Mexico by assigning a suite of discrete character state scores to ontogenetic events (10 external traits; 218 total specimens). This is the first study to evaluate developmental patterns in reef-associated fishes relative to the timing of metamorphosis and settlement by applying scaling techniques and statistical methods to quantify, differentiate, and select criteria for defining intervals of development across taxa. Blennies settle at a common state of ontogeny and share a common pattern of body and fin/cirrus growth. Three …

The Ligase Detection Reaction: The Evolution Of A Mutation Detection Strategy, Hannah D. Farquar

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Early detection of genetic mutations is important for control of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer's. Early detection requires methods that detect small amounts of mutated DNA in very large amounts of normal or wild type DNA. One method to detect mutated DNA is the ligase detection reaction (LDR). Since its inception LDR has evolved greatly from a simple detection reaction after PCR amplification to PCR/RE/LDR, a scheme which uses nucleoside base analogs in PCR to convert wild type sequences to sequences containing restriction endonuclease (RE) sites which can then be cleaved leaving only mutant sequences for detection by LDR. …

Efficient Parallel Computation On Multiprocessors With Optical Interconnection Networks, Min He

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation studies optical interconnection networks, their architecture, address schemes, and computation and communication capabilities. We focus on a simple but powerful optical interconnection network model - the Linear Array with Reconfigurable pipelined Bus System (LARPBS). We extend the LARPBS model to a simplified higher dimensional LAPRBS and provide a set of basic computation operations. We then study the following two groups of parallel computation problems on both one dimensional LARPBS's as well as multi-dimensional LARPBS's: parallel comparison problems, including sorting, merging, and selection; Boolean matrix multiplication, transitive closure and their applications to connected component problems. We implement an optimal …

Synthesis And Properties Of Novel Macrocycles And Related Chromophoric Benzenoid Compounds, Jorge O. Escobedo Cordova

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The synthesis and properties of some macrocyclic compounds of interest are presented. Resorcinarenes with functionalized conjugated rigid rods made of oligo-p-phenylenes would lead to an entirely new class of functional, soluble, well-defined architectures impacting a variety of multidisciplinary research efforts. The general synthetic design described in this document could be readly extrapolated to include other electronic systems such as heteroaromatics and polyenes. An extensive collaborative study of chromophore formation in resorcinarene solutions is also described here. The study reveals that upon oxidation, the reversible conversion to acyclic precursors occur first, and then these precursors undergo oxidation to quinoid-type compounds (xanthenes). …

Hydrodynamics And Freshwater Diversion Within Barataria Basin, Dongho Park

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In order to understand the physical processes in the Barataria estuary, a previously developed two-dimensional, depth-integrated hydrodynamic model is applied to simulate estuarine processes. The equations for conservation of mass and momentum predict specific physical processes when forced by tidal and salinity variations at the open boundaries, wind forcing patterns, precipitation and evaporation over the model domain, and freshwater runoff as point sources. This study is focused on examining the impact of freshwater dispersion from the freshwater sources. Thus, a hydrologic model was developed to estimate runoff. Furthermore grid size was reduced, a new advective code added, and baroclinic effects …

Peroxynitrite-Mediated Oxidations: Nitration And Nitrosation, Rachel Bolzan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Using a direct ultraviolet second-derivative spectroscopy method, three peroxynitrite preparative methods were investigated for the nitrite and nitrate present either as impurities or produced during peroxynitrite decomposition: (I) ozonation of azide, reaction of hydrogen peroxide with (II) isoamyl nitrite and (III) nitrous acid. The oxidation of morpholine by peroxynitrite in the presence and absence of added carbonate gives N-nitromorpholine and N-nitrosomorpholine. Nitration and nitrosation of morpholine are catalyzed by low levels of CO₂; however, excess CO₂ dramatically reduces the yields of nitrosation but not nitration, and the combined yields of the products are about the same under …

The Combined Effects Of Salinity And Sulfide On The Growth And Physiology Of The Freshwater Marsh Plant Pancium Hemitomon J.A. Schultes, James Wesley Pahl

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Vegetative response to saltwater intrusion into coastal freshwater wetlands is governed by the combined effects of increased salinity and porewater sulfide concentrations. I conducted a series of experiments to address the primary hypothesis that growth of Panicum hemitomon is adversely affected by an interaction between salinity and sulfide stresses associated with saltwater intrusion, and the mechanisms for decreased growth are alterations in the metabolic and morphological adaptations needed for a plant to survive in a flooded environment. I exposed marsh sods to a factorial treatment arrangement of three salinities (0, 2, and 4 ppt) and three porewater sulfide concentrations (0, …

Racks, Quandles And Virtual Knots, Victor Samuel Nelson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We begin with a brief survey of the theory of virtual knots, which was announced in 1996 by Kauffman. This leads naturally to the subject of quandles and quandle homology, which we also briefly introduce. Chapter 2 contains a proof in terms of Gauss diagrams that the forbidden moves unknot virtual knots. This chapter includes material which has appeared in the Journal of Knot Theory and its Ramifications and is reprinted here by permission of World Scientific Publishing. In chapter 3 (cowritten with my advisor R.A.Litherland) we confirm a conjecture of J.S.Carter et.al. that the long exact sequence in rack …

Tidal Dynamics In The Bab El Mandab Strait, Ewa Jarosz

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Bab el Mandab Strait is where the transition occurs between two noticeably different tidal regimes: the Gulf of Aden, where tidal fluctuations are mixed and have a range in excess of 2 m, and the Red Sea, where the tides are principally semidiurnal and their range is less than 1 m. Within the Strait, observations collected between May of 1995 and July of 1997 indicate that tidal currents are a mixed type and dominant constituents are the K₁ and M₂. The vertical structure of the tidal currents is complicated, differs between semidiurnal and diurnal constituents, and …

Branch, Crown, Tree And Stand Water Flux In An 180-Year-Old Loblolly Pine Plantation After Thinning, Fertilization, And Throughfall Exclusion Treatments, Shufang Yu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Branch and tree sap flux density (SFD) was measured to evaluate the effects of thinning, fertilization, and throughfall exclusion treatments on water use by loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) trees. Variations in SFD at different radial xylem depths were also examined to improve estimates of tree water use from sap flux density measured in the outer sapwood. This study was conducted in an 18-year-old loblolly pine plantation in central Louisiana in 1999. The results revealed that SFD was higher in the outer xylem than in the inner xylem and large trees had higher SFD than small trees. Thinning increased daily …

Explicit Multiplicative Relations Between Gauss Sums, Brian J. Murray

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

H.Hasse conjectured that all multiplicative relations between Gauss sums essentially follow from the Davenport-Hasse product formula and the norm relation for Gauss sums. While this is known to be false, very few counterexamples, now known as sign ambiguities, have been given. Here, we provide an explicit product formula giving an infinite class of new sign ambiguities and resolve the ambiguous sign in terms of the order of the ideal class of quadratic primes.

Electronic And Structural Properties Of Rare Gas Cation Clusters, Jose Alejandro Gascon

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We study structure and ground and excited state properties of rare gas cation clusters, Rg⁺_N, for N=3-60. The main goal is to understand how the positive charge is delocalized over the cluster and the relationship between cluster geometry and delocalization. He⁺_N, Ar⁺_N, and Xe⁺_N are selected as representatives of the rare gas elements. We perform Monte Carlo simulations to obtain finite temperature properties of the energy spectrum. The Hamiltonian of the system is based on a semi-empirical model whose parameters are obtained through the fitting of experimental and calculated …

On Properties Of Linear Control Systems On Lie Groups, Fabiana Cardetti

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this work we study controllability properties of linear control systems on Lie groups as introduced by Ayala and Tirao in [AT99]. A linear control system _x0006_Σ Lie group G is defined by x' = X(x) + Σ^k_j=1 u_jY_j(x), where the drift vector field X is an infinitesimal automorphism, u_j are piecewise constant functions, and the control vectors Y_j are left-invariant vector fields. Properties for the flow of the infinitesimal automorphism X and for the reachable set defined by _x0006_Σ are presented in Chapter 3. Under a condition similar to the Kalman …

Exotic Integral Witt Equivalence Of Algebraic Number Fields, Changheon Kang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Two algebraic number fields K and L are said to be exotically integrally Witt equivalent if there is a ring isomorphism W(O_K) ~ W(O_L) between the Witt rings of the number rings O_K and O_L of K and L, respectively. This dissertation studies exotic integral Witt equivalence for totally complex number fields and gives necessary and sufficient conditions for exotic integral equivalence in two special classes of totally complex number fields.

Analysis Of Inorganic Materials Using Advanced Nmr And Nqr Techniques, Anthony Adrian Mrse

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Several advanced solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) techniques have been applied to inorganic materials of commercial interest. The specific techniques applied to each system were chosen to solve specific obstacles which impeded the flow of industrial science.

First, the dispersion of brominated flame retardants in polymers is monitored using pulsed ⁸¹Br NQR (nuclear quadrupole resonance) techniques. The NQR spectrometer consists of a homemade NMR console and an automatically tuned loop-gap resonator probe. The two factors which affect the ⁸¹Br NQR transition frequencies of brominated aromatics are: electron-donating and withdrawing substituents on the ring …

Analysis Of Near-Infrared Dye-Labeled Sanger Sequencing Fragments With Gel Electrophoresis Using The Time-Resolved Flourescence Lifetime Indentification Methods, Suzanne Jeanel Lassiter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The research presented in this dissertation involves the identification of sequencing fragments with time-resolved methods. For this application, near-infrared heavy-atom tricarbocyanine dyes were developed in our laboratory, which can be excited with a single laser and emission collected using a single detection channel. The dyes have four spectroscopically unique, but relatively short lifetimes that can be altered by the intramolecular heavy-atom they contain. The work described here involves the optimization of dye-primer chemistry for preparing Sanger sequencing reactions for longer reads and the optimization of the separation matrix for capillary gel electrophoresis that produces favorable statistical analysis of the aforementioned …

Bounding The Wild Set (Counting The Minimum Number Of Wild Primes In Hilbert Symbol Equivalent Number Fields), Marius M. Somodi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation makes a contribution to the study of Witt rings of quadratic forms over number fields. To every pair of algebraic number fields with isomorphic Witt rings one can associate a number, called the minimum number of wild primes. The situation is particularly nice when this number is 0; often it is not 0. Earlier investigations have established lower bounds for this number. In this dissertation an analysis is presented that expresses the minimum number of wild primes in terms of the number of wild dyadic primes. This formula not only gives immediate upper bounds, but can be considered …

Artin-Schreier Families And 2-D Cycle Codes, Cem Guneri

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We start with the study of certain Artin-Schreier families. Using coding theory techniques, we determine a necessary and sufficient condition for such families to have a nontrivial curve with the maximum possible number of rational points over the finite field in consideration. This result produces several nice corollaries, including the existence of certain maximal curves; i.e., curves meeting the Hasse-Weil bound.We then present a way to represent two-dimensional (2-D) cyclic codes as trace codes starting from a basic zero set of its dual code. This representation enables us to relate the weight of a codeword to the number of rational …

Numerical Simulations Of Dynamical Mass Transfer In Binaries, Patrick Michael Motl

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

We present results from investigations of mass transfer instability in close binary star systems. By unstable mass transfer we mean the exchange of material where the response of the binary to the initial Roche lobe overflow causes the donor to loose even more material. Our work is guided by approximate arguments that dictate the stability boundaries for binary star systems. To proceed further one must explicitly treat extended mass and velocity distributions that are both nitially, and through their subsequent evolution in time, self-consistent. In this dissertation, we present the first three-dimensional, fully self-consistent treatment of mass transfer in close …

The Synthesis Of Deuterated Arylamine Dna Adducts For Use In The Development Of An Isotope Dilution Lc/Ms/Ms Method, Philip Dmitri Olsen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Polycyclic aromatic amines (arylamines) are a class of chemical carcinogens that are prevalent in environmental and industrial settings. In order to study the mechanism of their toxicity a quantitative and qualitative detection method was developed to measure the C8-adenine adducts of benzidine and 2-aminofluorene in DNA samples. To do this a novel synthetic method using a palladium catalyst was developed to prepare authentic and deuterated arylamine adducts to serve as standards. These standards were then used to develop a high performance liquid chromatography, electrospray, tandem mass spectrometry, isotope dilution, detection method. To demonstrate the validity of this method two spike …