The 1980 Eruptions of Mount St. Helens: Disregard for Volcanic Hazards and its Effects on State Preparedness

This paper works to identify the disregard for volcanic hazards in the Cascades and how that affected the emergency response to the Mount St. Helens eruption. Using executive orders from prior governors, documents issued by the USGS, and prior volcanic activity, this paper works to identify why the state was so unprepared for the eruption, when they had received so much prior warning and experience of the hazards of these cascade volcanoes

Jordan DeRouen, Organ

Magnificat Primi Toni BuxWV 203 / Dieterich Buxtehude; Suite du Second Ton / Jean-Adam Guilain; From Cathedral Windows Op. 106 / Sigfrid Karg-Elert; ( Schübler-Choräle ) Meine Seele erhebt den Herren BWV 648 / J. S. Bach; Meine Seele erhebt den Herren / J. S. Bach; From 15 Pieces for Organ / Marcel Dupr

Estimation of Additive and Heterotic Direct and Maternal Genetic Effects for Carcass Traits in Beef Steers.

Carcass measurements were taken on straightbred and crossbred steers to estimate least squares means and heterosis (1,494 steers) and, to partition additive and heterotic genetic effects (1,536 steers) on hot carcass weight (HCWT), retail yield (YIELD), ribeye area (REA), fat thickness (FT), marbling score (MS) and Warner-Bratzler shear (WBS). Steers were produced over four generations in a rotational crossbreeding study and consisted of Angus (A), Brahman (B), Charolais (C) and Hereford (H) breeds. Two-, three- and four-breed rotation systems were generated with the restriction that each breed combination include the B. Straightbreds were maintained as controls. Treatment, mating system and line within mating system were significant sources of variation for all carcass traits. Treatment effects indicated that feeding for longer periods resulted in greater HCWT, YIELD, FT and MS and lower WBS. The C was superior for yield traits, while A and H had higher FT and MS. The B was similar to A and H for yield traits and ranked last for MS and WBS. Crossbreds were superior to straightbreds for all traits except MS. Combinations involving the C had superior yield traits to other combinations. Three- and four-breed rotations had slightly heavier HCWT and YIELD than two-breed rotations. A regression model was used to partition breed direct (Ig) and maternal (Mg) additive and heterotic (Ih and Mh) genetic effects. Breed direct and maternal additive effects were expressed as deviations from $\mu$ and summed to zero. The IgC and MgC effects significantly increased yield traits. The IgA and IgH increased FT and had desirable effects on MS and WBS. The IgB effect was negative for yield traits and MS and positive (less tender) for WBS. The MgB negatively influenced all traits. Direct heterotic effects on yield traits were beneficial but not for FT and MS. The largest Ih effects were exhibited by B crosses for yield traits and WBS. Higher FT and MS were associated with the MhAB, MhBC and MhBH effects. These results confirm the importance of the C and crossbreeding involving the B for improving carcass merit of beef steers in the Gulf coast region

MyMathLab Educational Intervention to Enhance Student Performance in Calculus I at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

According to the Obama Administration, we need a workforce that is going to be STEM ready because this is the only way that the U.S. will be able to compete on a global level with other nations. Louisiana will demand a total of 66,250 STEM jobs by 2018, up from 61,610 in 2008, according to Georgetown University (Carnevale, Smith, & Melton, 2014). By 2020, sixty-five percent of the nation’s jobs will require post-secondary education. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the attrition rate between first- and second-year college students is 24.5% (2017). The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction, MyMathLab, in teaching Calculus I to increase academic achievement for students majoring in a STEM discipline at HBCUs. Research in this study was conducted by a quantitative study quasi-experiment design with one independent variable and one dependent variable. This study investigated the differences in the final course grade of Calculus I students that used the computer assisted instructional tool, MyMathLab and students who did not use the MyMathLab or any assisted instructional tool. For the purposes of this study, passage rate was defined by student’s letter grade. The historical data collected span over a seven-semester period, with a total of six hundred twenty-six participants, at an HBCU in the southeastern region of the United States. The results of the Wilcoxon two-sample test equals 103,064, which is the sum of the Wilcoxon scores for the students who used the MyMathLab. The sum is greater than 90,288, which is the expected value under the null hypothesis of no difference between the two groups of students. The one-sided p-value is less than alpha 0.0001, which shows the students who used MyMathLab are significantly more than those students who did not use the MyMathLab software

Bridging Research and Education: A Look into the Evolutionary History of Batfishes and How Museum Exhibits Can be Used to Engage the Public

The objective of this thesis was not only to contribute to our understanding of batfishes but to also show interesting and educational ways research can be presented to the general public. The first part of this project examines the evolutionary history of batfishes. Batfishes (Ogcocephalidae) are an understudied, group of marine anglerfishes that are dorsoventrally flattened and have an illicium and esca used to attract prey. Relationships among these taxa, as well as the position of Ogcocephalidae within Lophiiformes, remain poorly understood, with previous studies showing conflicting, and poorly resolved results. The timing of divergence and depth of origination in the water column have also not been explored in any detail. In this study, a concatenated nuclear and mitochondrial dataset was constructed across several anglerfish families to elucidate phylogenetic relationships among all batfish genera, to clarify the placement of Ogcocephaloidei within Lophiiformes, and to estimate divergence times using fossil calibrations. An ancestral state reconstruction was also conducted to examine the history of shifts in preferred habitat depths within batfishes. Phylogenetic analyses supported monophyly of each sub-order within Lophiiformes, and placed Ogcocephaloidei as the sister group to Antennarioidei. Batfish genera were divided into an Eastern Pacific/Western Atlantic clade and an Indo-Pacific clade; Halieutaea was recovered as the sister group to all other batfishes. Based on divergence time estimations and ancestral state reconstructions, Ogcocephalidae is Eocene/Paleocene in age and likely originated on the lower continental shelf/upper continental slope. To bring elements of the batfish research into public outreach, I contributed to the LSU Museum of Natural Science’s stand alone fish exhibit book, “Making a Big Splash with Louisiana Fishes,” which aimed to complement the concepts discussed in the exhibit in an engaging way. In addition to the text included in the exhibit, the book also incorporates ten kids’ activities, a short story for kids, ABCs of Louisiana, and a short guide to Louisiana fishes. Museum exhibits are a great way to incorporate research into public outreach. They not only enrich the surrounding community, but also contribute to an overall understanding of the importance and nature of scientific research

Depletion of 32-kbp circular plasmids from Borrelia burgdorferi

The Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi has a very unusual genome composed of one linear chromosome and up to 21 linear and circular plasmids. Several plasmids are known to be important either for mammalian infection or tick colonization. A single spirochete harbors up to 7 different cp32 plasmids; however, nothing is known about their role in mammalian infection. The plasmids in this family are well maintained during in vitro cultivation, making it difficult to study their functions. To effectively deplete the plasmids, an 8kbp fragment containing essential elements for replication and partitioning in B. burgdorferi was amplified from one of the cp32 plasmids, cp32-3, and cloned into the vector pGE22 that carries a gentamycin resistance cassette and essential elements for replication in Escherichia coli. The resulting construct, pG22cp32-3plus, was electroporated into borrelial cells. By increasing gentamycin selection pressure, the spirochetes were forced to lose the corresponding cp32 plasmid. This strategy can be used to knock out other members of the cp32 family

Discrimination of cardiac health and disease by assessment of heart rate variability: wavelet vs. fast Fourier transformation

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) modulation of the heart is of clinical importance because of its relevance to risk of life threatening arrhythmic events. Decomposition of heart rate variability (HRV) has been used to quantify ANS control of the heart. The traditional method for frequency analysis has involved the use of fast Fourier transformation (FFT). However, heart rate data typically violate assumptions of the FFT. Therefore, the assessment of HRV may benefit from other, potentially more suitable, mathematical approaches. For example, the discrete wavelet transformation (DWT) appears to have promise with respect to its ability to discriminate between healthy and diseased populations. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to examine the extent to which the FFT can discriminate between a control group and heart failure patients (CHF) in comparison to DWT. Seven CHF (mean +/- standard deviation, age: 51.9 +/- 17.6 yrs) and eight age-matched controls (49.5 +/- 17.9 yrs) were evaluated. HRV was evaluated during 5 minutes of supine spontaneous breathing (SB) and supine paced breathing (PB) (0.2Hz). The ECG data were sampled at 200 Hz, converted to heart rate tachograms, and subjected to frequency analysis via FFT and DWT. The FFT approach did not reveal group differences in HRV, while the DWT revealed group differences in LF/HF during SB (p\u3c0.05) and PB (p=0.053). With respect to breathing condition, only the FFT revealed that PB resulted in a decrease in low- to high-frequency ratios (p\u3c0.05), and an increase in standard deviation of normal R-R intervals. These results support further consideration of both methods of analysis, as they each appear to provide unique information about HRV

A Brief Introduction to Display Holography: Curation of the Lake Forest College Holography Gallery

A hologram is a complex diffraction grating made by recording the interference pattern of two electromagnetic radiation fields on a light-sensitive surface. Holography is the study of this process. While holograms have been used for many purposes, I will focus on holography’s role in the art world, through the examination of Lake Forest College’s hologram collection, and subsequent curation of the holography gallery. Holograms get almost no exposure today, but it seems that their aesthetically striking nature cannot be ignored by the art world, once presented. If holography were reintroduced to the art world (and perhaps the art world to the holographic community), conditions may be right for a “holographic renaissance,” especially considering the changes in artists’ and audiences’ mindsets and expectations over the time that holography has lain somewhat dormant. My objective for this gallery is to provide a space where this exposure can occur

Assessment of Relationships Between Site‐Specific Variables

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/142021/1/jper0368.pd

Making a Big Splash with Louisiana Fishes

This book is a companion piece to Making a Big Splash with Louisiana Fishes, an exhibit created in 2012 at Louisiana State University’s Museum of Natural Science (MNS)https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/spmns/1002/thumbnail.jp