One of the leading causes of mortality for African-American women is breast cancer. The national breast cancer mortality rate for African-American women is 28.0 per 100,000. However, African-American women residing in Northwest Louisiana have a breast cancer mortality rate of 34.5 per 100,000 (American Cancer Society; National Cancer Institute; Landis, Murry, Boldern & Wingo, 1998). This is the fourth highest of all women living in the United States (Early Cancer Detection Program, Annual Report, 1999). Breast cancer mortality is correlated to the stage at diagnosis. The earlier breast cancer is diagnosed and treated, the more likely women can survive the disease (Davis, Axelrod, Osborne & Telang, 1997). African-American women are frequently diagnosed with breast cancer at an advanced stage (Phillips, Cohen, & Moses, 1999). The frequent advanced stage diagnosis may be due to African-American women breast cancer screening practices. When done correctly and as recommended, breast cancer screening can help women detect breast cancer at an early stage, when it is most treatable. Since African-American women residing in Northwest Louisiana have the fourth highest national mortality rate, and little is known about their compliance with the recommendations of the American Cancer Society regarding breast cancer screening, there is a need to identify these practices of African-American women in Northwest Louisiana.The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between select variables and breast cancer screening practice. A questionnaire was used to gather information from a convenient sample of 273 African-American women recruited from two sites located in Northwest Louisiana -- Grambling State University and the Willis-Knighton Neighborhood Clinic. The questionnaire was used to gather information about: demographics, knowledge, and individual breast cancer risk factors (age of menarche, full term pregnancy, history of breast condition or disease, type of breast condition or disease, age when gave birth to first child, menopause, age menopause began). Andersen's theoretical framework served as the guiding theory for the study. The hypotheses were analyzed by the chi square test of independence and logistic regression.Results from the chi-square test of independence indicated that breast cancer screening is dependent upon age, education, income, age when gave birth to first child, menopause, and age menopause began. In contrast, breast cancer screening is independent of breast cancer knowledge, age of menarche, full term pregnancy, history of breast condition or disease, type of breast condition or disease, and family history of breast cancer. Logistic regression was used to predict the odds of breast cancer screening compliance by the women in this study. The analysis found that having an annual income of 25,000 - 39,999 as the strongest income predictor of non-compliance. Logistic regression analysis found that having a Master's degree was the strongest educational attainment predictor of non-compliance. / Ph. D.

As the nineteenth century drew to a close, people living in coastal Louisiana noticed that local rodents called muskrats were rapidly increasing and quickly becoming pests by digging up crops and into levees. Property owners soon demanded their elimination, but to the ire of many, Louisiana officials chose to develop a market for muskrat fur and protect its supply through management laws. The state sought the cooperation of trappers in order to maintain global demand, but when nutria were released alongside the muskrat, the ecological balance of the marsh was permanently altered. Muskrats shrank back into obscurity, and trappers struggled to embrace the nutria as a substitute. This thesis will trace the Louisiana muskrat industry's development starting with its rise in the 1890s, continuing through its years as a leading furbearer, and ending with its replacement by the nutria in the 1960s.

Thesis. 1978. M.Arch.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 92-94. / M.Arch.

In this study the term "woman's movement" is defined as any advancement made by women, socially, economically, legally, or politically. In addition to information gathered from various collections, memoirs, diaries, and contemporary newspaper accounts of Louisiana women's activities, material from a number of pertinent secondary works is included. Chapter one gives a brief overview of the women's movement as it developed in America in the latter half of the 19th century. This is followed by a chapter on women in Louisiana before 1879- Evidence suggests that a number of Louisiana women shared a common bond with other southern women in longing for an emancipation from their limited role in society. The last six chapters are devoted to the woman's movement in the state, beginning in 1879 when women first dared to to speak out in public in behalf of women. After the Civil War, a large number of women were forced by post war conditions to depart from the traditional life-style of home and family and venture into public life. Liberated from their societal mold, women slowly expanded their sphere, going beyond the immediate need to provide a livelihood. Early women's organizations, temperance unions, church societies, and women's clubs, provided the necessary training ground as women moved into legal, civic and social reforms. Women entered literary and professionally fields and gradually became active in civic affairs. The movement reached a climax in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting women the right to vote, and marking the end of an era. While the liberation of women was not complete, from the achievements gained by women of this era emerged the modern woman of today.

Abstract High stakes testing is popularly examined in educational research, but contemporary analyses tend to reflect a qualitative or quantitative research design (e.g., Au, 2007; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2006; Gamble, 2010). Exhaustive debate over the relative success or failure of high stakes testing is often framed between competing visions of epistemological constructs, and the historical foundations of high stakes testing policies are rarely explored. The origins of high stakes testing can be traced to local school reform efforts in states like Louisiana, and investigating the roots of high stakes testing at the state level contextualizes the national debate on student assessment in research and scholarship. Using historical research methods, this project details the local campaign to implement the Louisiana Educational Assessment Program (LEAP) as Louisiana’s comprehensive high stakes testing program. Enacted under state law in 1986, the LEAP is a series of K-12 student assessments aligned to prescriptive state standards. The LEAP is among the nation’s longest comprehensive high stakes testing programs and is the centerpiece to Louisiana’s school accountability system. The narrative of its development offers critical insight into the overarching rationales for high stakes testing that continue to drive accountability policies throughout the country. This study interweaves sociological and political history into a singular chronological record of the LEAP. Historical research methodology informs this study by establishing the basis for data collection and analysis. Historical research method is the systematic collection and evaluation of primary source data in order to determine trends, causes, or effects of past events (Gay, 1996; Lucey, 1984). Methods used in this research investigation include document analysis and oral history interviews. Multiple data sources are used to gain a thorough understanding of the historical context surrounding the implementation of the LEAP. The LEAP functions as both a student assessment program and policy of school accountability, and the story of its development is an important narrative within the field of high stakes testing research and scholarship.

Not available / text

Utilizing 887 kilometers of multi-stacked seismic reflection profiles and data from 27 exploratory wells, five salt domes arranged along two intersecting salt ridges, bounding and separating localized depocenters , were delineated by subsurface mapping of the structure, sediment distribution, and major sand trends of a 1621 square kilometer area on the Louisiana continental shelf. Pervasive normal faulting in the study area developed to accommodate lengthening of sedimentary units resulting from relative vertical displacement caused by uneven deposition and salt dome growth. These faults are domal (crestal and radial), bounding, and transverse in geometry. The genesis of the bounding faults can be visualized by two models; hinge faulting and collapse faulting. The dominant structural features of the study area began developing in early Pliocene. These features developed coincident with, and as the result of, a huge influx of paralic sediments associated with the progradation of the shelf edge across the study area between early Pliocene and early Pleistocene. The two major dip-oriented sand trends within this sediment wedge represent high constructive delta systems. The positions of the two systems were locally controlled by growing salt structures and sediments were therefore concentrated in the evolving depocenters . A hint of the deep structure which predated the influx of paralic sediments in Pliocene and early Pleistocene is revealed by a structural reversal present on seismic profiles at about 4.0 seconds in the northwest part of the study area. Reconstruction of the paleostructure of this area reveals the flank of an ancestral structural and stratigraphic basin. This basin may represent an ancestral depocenter which began developing very early on the abyssal plain. / text

Thesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Geography, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (Proquest, viewed on Aug. 10, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-201). Also issued in print.

Three groups of Academic librarians in Louisiana were surveyed to determine what factors other than job performance influenced professional progress (Salary increases, promotion and tenure) for them. Staff development activities were also investigated to determine if they played any significant role in influencing professional progress. Three opinion questions were also asked in this investigation about the feasibility of using an index that was developed to assess quantitatively staff development activities.

The Louisiana coastal ecosystem is experiencing increasing threats from human flood control construction, sea-level rise (SLR), and subsidence. Louisiana lost about 4,833 km2 of coastal wetlands from 1932 to 2016, and concern exists whether remaining wetlands will persist while facing the highest rate of relative sea-level rise (RSLR) in the world. Restoration aimed at rehabilitating the ongoing and future disturbances is currently underway through the implementation of the Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act of 1990 (CWPPRA). To effectively monitor the progress of projects in CWPPRA, the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System (CRMS) was established in 2006. To date, more than a decade of valuable coastal, environmental, and ground elevation data have been collected and archived. This dataset offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the wetland ground elevation dynamics by linking the Rod Surface Elevation Table (RSET) measurements with environmental variables like water salinity and biophysical variables like canopy coverage. This dissertation research examined the effects of the environmental and biophysical variables on wetland terrain elevation by developing innovative machine learning based models to quantify the contribution of each factor using the CRMS collected dataset. Three modern machine learning algorithms, including Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN), were assessed and cross-compared with the commonly used Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). The results showed that RF had the best performance in modeling ground elevation with Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) of 10.8 cm and coefficient of coefficient (r) = 0.74. The top four factors contributing to ground elevation are the distance from monitoring station to closest water source, water salinity, water elevation, and dominant vegetation height. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection