Resetting a Level from within itself

We are having problems loading a level with Application.LoadLevel("levelName"); if that level has been previously loaded already. Particle systems don't play (although I can see them in the inspector), as well as animations.

Is there some other function for loading a level that really and truly loads a "pure" level as though it has never been played? It seems like Application.LoadLevel("name"); also does some destructive things as it "unloads" the current level that permanently changes settings in that level during one playthrough.

EDIT:

I have begun working on a test case to see if I can get a repro.

I created an empty scene, and created a particle system in that scene. I didn't edit any settings in the particle emitter component. I created a new animation for that particle system in which it moves up and down out of view for a few seconds, and then loops back around.

I created this script, and attached it to an empty game object. This scripts reloads a specified level after the timer runs out. In my level, I have set the "Level To Load" as the current level.

 using UnityEngine;

using System.Collections;

[System.Serializable] public class Test_Loader : MonoBehaviour {

 public string levelToLoad;
 public float timerDuration;
 
 private float timer;
 
 // Use this for initialization
 void Start () {
     timer = timerDuration;
     Debug.Log("Timer = " + timer);
 }
 
 // Update is called once per frame
 void Update () {
     timer -= Time.fixedDeltaTime;
     
     if(timer <= 0)
         loadLevel(levelToLoad);
 }
 
 public void loadLevel(string level)
 {
     Debug.Log("Loading " + levelToLoad);
     Application.LoadLevel(level);
 }

}

So far, everything works as expected. I am now going to modify this script to trigger the animation to play on level load, and remove the looping wrapping and the play automatically flags.