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Visual Representations Of The Spatial Relationship Between Bermuda High Strengths And Hurricane Tracks, Jason T. Knowles, Michael Leitner Jan 2007

Visual Representations Of The Spatial Relationship Between Bermuda High Strengths And Hurricane Tracks, Jason T. Knowles, Michael Leitner

Faculty Publications

The 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons dramatically demonstrated the magnitude of the societal significance of hurricanes, negatively impacting on all scales from the personal to the national. Although definitive identification of the forcing mechanisms controlling hurricane tracks and landfall patterns remains elusive, increasing evidence supports the hypothesis that the increase in hurricane activity along the Gulf Coast is due to a southwestward shift in the position of the Bermuda High. This research uses multiple visualization techniques to explore the spatial correlation between Bermuda High strengths - as interpreted from the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index - and hurricane tracks. Using …

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Use Of The Global Positioning System In The Field Recovery Of Scattered Human Remains, Ginesse A. Listi, Mary H. Manhein, Michael Leitner Jan 2007

Use Of The Global Positioning System In The Field Recovery Of Scattered Human Remains, Ginesse A. Listi, Mary H. Manhein, Michael Leitner

Faculty Publications

This study examines the Global Positioning System (GPS) as a tool for field mapping of scattered human remains or other materials in forensic investigations. Two aspects of the GPS are considered: (1) the level of accuracy that can be obtained using a mid-priced GPS unit, and (2) the effectiveness of using the GPS to map scattered materials. The positional accuracy of the GPS receiver was tested using a National Geodetic Survey (NGS) point located in Baton Rouge, LA. The utility of the GPS for mapping was investigated by setting up a mock field recovery and mapping the remains using both …

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An Evolutionary Model Of Parabolic Dune Development: Blowout To Mature Parabolic, Padre Island National Seashore, Texas, Winston Mckenna Jan 2007

An Evolutionary Model Of Parabolic Dune Development: Blowout To Mature Parabolic, Padre Island National Seashore, Texas, Winston Mckenna

LSU Master's Theses

The Texas barrier islands have been studied and well documented in relation to barrier island evolution and morphology (Leatherman, 1979; Morton, 1994; White and Weise, 1980). The detailed analysis and mapping of various dune types and systems that comprise Padre Island National Seashore, specifically parabolic dunes, is the focus of this research. Dune surveys and doqq’s, along with wind and weather records were used to develop an improved morphodynamic model for parabolic dunes. The wind records were provided by the Padre Island National Seashore, the National Data Climate Center, and the Texas Coastal Ocean Observation Network. Individual dune surveys were …

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Voices In Cultural Heritage Preservation: A Comparative Study Between New Orleans And Changting (China), Guiyuan Wang Jan 2007

Voices In Cultural Heritage Preservation: A Comparative Study Between New Orleans And Changting (China), Guiyuan Wang

LSU Master's Theses

This is a comparative study between the historic preservation in two countries – the United States (New Orleans) and China (Changting). The main questions are how the voices of different groups become foregrounded or effaced in the dynamics of the political process. Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts -- social capital, cultural capital, and symbolic capital – are applied. The historic preservation in the United States is distinct from that in China. First, the national structures of governments are different, and the historic preservation systems are established in dissimilar ways. Second, at the local level, the question, that who take part in historic …

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Comparative Phylogeography Of Four Montane Bird Species In Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, Cheryl Leigh Haines Jan 2007

Comparative Phylogeography Of Four Montane Bird Species In Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, Cheryl Leigh Haines

LSU Master's Theses

Because of a dearth of modern quantitative studies of the ecology and evolution of birds, our understanding of the biogeography of the Bornean avifauna is rudimentary. Although paleogeographic evidence provides a well known mechanism for speciation in the lowlands of Borneo (i.e., repeated colonization and isolation of populations on Sunda islands caused by sea level changes), the process of speciation in montane areas is less easily explained. Knowledge about the processes responsible for montane speciation in Borneo is desirable because mountains clearly have played a key role in the evolution of the island’s avifauna, as evidenced by the relatively large …

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Accuracy Assessment Of Individually Calibrated Journey-To-Crime Geographic Profiling Models, Tania Pal Jan 2007

Accuracy Assessment Of Individually Calibrated Journey-To-Crime Geographic Profiling Models, Tania Pal

LSU Master's Theses

Technological advances are fundamental to the development of spatial analysis tools and methodologies available and used within the criminal investigative process. This research focuses on one such methodology for serial crime analysis: Journey-to-Crime (JTC) Geographic Profiling (GP). JTC or the study of the travel behavior between an offender’s residence to and from the crime scene has been a subject of study within criminology for many years. GP, based on such travel behavior, is a spatial analysis and decision support tool that is used by law enforcement agencies to determine or predict the likely location of a serial offender’s residence or …

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Hurricane Andrew And Pregnancies In Louisiana, Anzhelika Antipova Jan 2007

Hurricane Andrew And Pregnancies In Louisiana, Anzhelika Antipova

LSU Master's Theses

There are anecdotal accounts about the possible impact of a pregnant woman's mental health on her unborn fetus. This thesis investigates the possible association between hurricane-related stress experienced by pregnant women living in the area afflicted by Hurricane Andrew in Louisiana in 1992 and poor pregnancy outcomes such as preterm and Low Birth Weight (LBW) births. This is an important topic of research because by investigating past events one can better understand the pregnancy-related health issues for areas affected by extreme weather events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This research analyzed birth data from Louisiana both before and after …

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Sendero Luminoso And Peruvian Counterinsurgency, Russell W. Switzer Jan 2007

Sendero Luminoso And Peruvian Counterinsurgency, Russell W. Switzer

LSU Master's Theses

Sendero Luminoso first appeared in Peru in May 1980 by burning several ballot boxes and hanging dogs from streetlights. This unusual event signaled the beginning of one of the most violent insurgencies in the Western hemisphere. Abimael Guzmán, the founder of Sendero Luminoso, set out to utterly destroy Peruvian society in order to replace it with his vision of a utopian communist society by creating a peasant uprising starting in the Andean highlands and spreading throughout Peru, eventually surrounding the capital, Lima. The government of Peru virtually ignored Sendero Luminoso for two years, which allowed the group to establish strong …

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In Vivo Facial Tissue Depth Study Of Chinese-Americans In New York City, Wing Nam Joyce Chan Jan 2007

In Vivo Facial Tissue Depth Study Of Chinese-Americans In New York City, Wing Nam Joyce Chan

LSU Master's Theses

Facial tissue depth measurements are used to create forensic facial reconstructions to aid in human remains identification. Collection of such measurements began in the late nineteenth century with anatomists His, Kollman, and Welcker. Their results were used to bring the rich and famous back to life. In the 1970s, the technique of facial reconstruction was revitalized and incorporated into the forensic science field to aid in human identification. However, certain populations are extremely under-represented. This study collected facial tissue depth information from the adult Chinese-American population in New York City. The study sample included 101 adult Chinese-Americans of varying weights …

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Prospects For Democratization In The Oil Monarchies Of The Persian Gulf, Julie Gauthier Jan 2007

Prospects For Democratization In The Oil Monarchies Of The Persian Gulf, Julie Gauthier

LSU Master's Theses

The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (G.C.C.) represent a unique subset of the Arab world, with many common cultural, political, and economic characteristics. This research project is designed to assess the prospects for future democratization in these oil-rich monarchies. Contrary to many other Arab States, these nations have several advantages that bode well for future liberalization, including small, highly educated populations and vast resources. Several have young, progressive-minded rulers who are competing against each other regionally to be more modern and prestigious and enjoy increased influence. Further, these rulers face tremendous pressure to create jobs and opportunity for their …

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Reevaluating Age In Subadult Remains In Response To Secular Changes In Skeletal Growth, Katherine Ann Blackwelder Jan 2007

Reevaluating Age In Subadult Remains In Response To Secular Changes In Skeletal Growth, Katherine Ann Blackwelder

LSU Master's Theses

The goal of forensic anthropology is the analysis and identification of human skeletal remains in a medicolegal context (Byers 2005:1-2). A forensic anthropologist can determine the age of subadult remains by various means, including dentition, centers of ossification, cranial suture closure, and epiphyseal union. Epiphyseal union is when all bones have completed their growth and fused, which happens for all bones by early adulthood. In this way, a forensic anthropologist can analyze the extent of epiphyseal union to determine the age of a deceased individual. This is done by comparing the skeletal remains to age-specific x-ray images of bones featured …

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New Orleans: About Face, Kari Rose Cesta Jan 2007

New Orleans: About Face, Kari Rose Cesta

LSU Master's Theses

"New Orleans: About Face" investigates the typography found in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The areas of St. Charles Avenue, Bourbon Street, the Warehouse District, Oak Street, the Lower Ninth Ward, Lakeview, Magazine Street, and Canal Street have very distinctly different styles of typography found on signage, store, windows, etc. Each area's function dictates what the letterforms found in that vicinity look like. A unique kind of beauty is found in these fonts, hand-drawn letters, and three-dimensional signage. This investigation showcases a graphic designer's perspective of New Orleans in compliment to the emotional attachments and memories other New Orleanians …

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The Politics Of Improvement: Internal Improvements, Sectionalism, And Slavery In Mississippi 1820-1837, Sam Beardsley Todd Jan 2007

The Politics Of Improvement: Internal Improvements, Sectionalism, And Slavery In Mississippi 1820-1837, Sam Beardsley Todd

LSU Master's Theses

The increased consensus among historians that the emergence of a market revolution engendered widespread economic, political, and social changes throughout the second quarter of nineteenth-century America has brought a number of provocative questions to bear on the antebellum South. Among the most provocative is the assertion that during the 1830s, a strain of reform-minded southern planters took it upon themselves to integrate the regions subsistence farmers into the market economy. The historian Harry Watson has asserted that a small, but influential, group of southern planters sought to confront Dixie’s dilemma of pursuing a modern economy without cutting ties with the …

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Environmental Factors Influencing The Siting Of Temporary Housing In Orleans Parish, Philip J. Chandler Jan 2007

Environmental Factors Influencing The Siting Of Temporary Housing In Orleans Parish, Philip J. Chandler

LSU Master's Theses

The disaster in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina showcased the city's many environmental problems. The industrial history of the city, subsidence of the city causing it to be below sea-level, and the fact that the city is protected by levees and pumps were critical elements of the disaster and played a large role in the emergency response. The disaster led to an enormous emergency response by many entities, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has the lead in these actions. In response to the large number of homes being flooded and unlivable in Orleans Parish, FEMA implemented its …

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Logging-On To Sai Baba: The Poetics Of Sacred Globalization, Meredith Morgan Feike Jan 2007

Logging-On To Sai Baba: The Poetics Of Sacred Globalization, Meredith Morgan Feike

LSU Master's Theses

Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is the leader of a progressive religious movement steeped in the Hindu tradition. The Sathya Sai Baba Organization claims to have over thirty million members in approximately 170 countries. The dedicated followers of the movement believe Sai Baba to be an avatar or incarnation of God in human form. Sai Baba utilizes the Internet to transmit his universalistic philosophies around the world. With this digital universe, devotees can log-on to a multitude of official Sai websites that act as training ground for achieving liberation of the mind and soul. This path of devotion that Sai …

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Spatial And Temporal Structure Of Typhoid Fever In Washington, D.C., 1895-1909: A Geographic Information Systems Exploration Of Urban Health Concerns, Sarah Elizabeth Hinman Jan 2007

Spatial And Temporal Structure Of Typhoid Fever In Washington, D.C., 1895-1909: A Geographic Information Systems Exploration Of Urban Health Concerns, Sarah Elizabeth Hinman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The period between 1880 and 1920 was one of the most dynamic in the history of medicine. Morbidity and mortality rates for infectious diseases dropped quickly. Concurrently, miasmatic theory gave way to germ theory. Many of these dynamic changes occurred in the urban centers of North America, which were also entering into a period of dramatic growth and change. Following the 1905 completion of infrastructure improvements intended to improve public health in Washington, D.C., typhoid fever rates unexpectedly increased. Previously, for mitigation purposes, Dr. George Kober investigated a typhoid epidemic in 1895, and as a result of the 1906 increase …

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Fever, Firepower, And Flood: The Transformation Of The Missouri River Bottomlands In The Dakotas 1804-2005, Robert A. Dunn Jan 2007

Fever, Firepower, And Flood: The Transformation Of The Missouri River Bottomlands In The Dakotas 1804-2005, Robert A. Dunn

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the indigneous geography of the Missouri River Valley of the Dakotas. Since Lewis and Clark's expedition in 1804, this landscape has been transformed by two externally introduced components, reservations and reservoirs. To move the native tribes out of the way of an expanding American empire in the mid-19th century, the U.S. Government confined the tribes to territories, then to reservations, which grew smaller as each new wave of Euro-American immigration launched more land-taking by the federal government. To ensure military and political control over the tribes, the U.S. government supported the efforts of hide hunters to …

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Liturgical Expressions Of A Classical Romantic: A Choral Conductor's Investigation Of Selected Sacred Trebel Chorus Compositions By Josef Rheinberger, Natasia Sexton Jan 2007

Liturgical Expressions Of A Classical Romantic: A Choral Conductor's Investigation Of Selected Sacred Trebel Chorus Compositions By Josef Rheinberger, Natasia Sexton

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract In his attention to the demands of the liturgy, ideals of musical reform in worship during the 19th century, and contemporary compositional practices, Rheinberger reflected his environment in the Marianische Hymnen, opus 171 and the Missa in g, opus 187. Although little documentation exists regarding the origins of these compositions, clearly they were intended for Catholic worship. Syllabic, homophonic settings of Latin texts feature graceful yet restrained organ accompaniments functioning to support the voices while revealing the liturgical practices of the period. Furthermore, diary entries by both Rheinberger and his wife reveal that the composer occasionally prepared works for …

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Characteristics Of Four Highly-Regarded Literacy Teachers In Rural And Urban Elementary Schools, Evan Thomas Ortlieb Jan 2007

Characteristics Of Four Highly-Regarded Literacy Teachers In Rural And Urban Elementary Schools, Evan Thomas Ortlieb

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

How does geography play a role in student learning and teacher instruction? Limited research efforts reveal that the needs of students in rural areas are quite distinct from other settings (Muijs & Reynolds, 2003; Rice, 2003). It is not until exclusive qualities are determined in both rural and urban environments that instructional plans can be geared to each student body. Addressing these sociocultural issues is crucial with an increasingly diverse population of students nationwide. Spradley’s (1980) Developmental Research Sequence and ethnographic interviews of four classroom teachers within rural and urban schools are the primary methods utilized throughout this inquiry. The …

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Wind Loads For Petrochemical Structures, Samuel Amoroso Jan 2007

Wind Loads For Petrochemical Structures, Samuel Amoroso

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Techniques currently available to practicing engineers for estimating wind loads for petrochemical structures have little theoretical or experimental basis. This dissertation research is an effort to expand the understanding of wind effects on petrochemical and other, similar structures. Petrochemical structures introduce geometric scales into wind tunnel model simulations below what are common for enclosed structures. Wind tunnel experiments were performed to help determine whether this will introduce problems in achieving dynamic similarity between models and prototypes. The experiments did not reveal any clear indication that petrochemical structures cannot be modeled in wind tunnels at scales similar to those used for …

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Understanding The New York Rabies Epizootic 1985-2005, David Dorrell Jan 2007

Understanding The New York Rabies Epizootic 1985-2005, David Dorrell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Surveillance data are an important part of medical geography. These data are used to produce much of the analyses that define the subdiscipline. It is understood that surveillance data may contain biases, but there have only been limited studies devoted to determining in what ways the data are not representative of actual disease prevalence. New York was selected for this research for several reasons. First, it has a strong rabies data set. Second, it has a centralized system of licensing animal and dog control officers. Third, it is well-represented in terms of local media. This dissertation attempts to better understand …

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Factors Influencing The Spatial Distribution Of Natural Resource-Based Industries: The Softwood Lumber Industry In The United States South, Francisco Xavier Aguilar Jan 2007

Factors Influencing The Spatial Distribution Of Natural Resource-Based Industries: The Softwood Lumber Industry In The United States South, Francisco Xavier Aguilar

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Expanding on the Theory of Location, New Economic Geography, and Porter's Theory of Clusters this dissertation attempts to identify key factors influencing the location of firms in a resource-based industry. The softwood lumber industry in the United States is used as a case study to test several hypotheses concerning these theories. Two U.S. regions, the West and the South, were selected for analysis because they account for over 70 percent of U.S lumber manufacturing capacity. A multi-disciplinary research approach involved three-stages. First, self-reported preferences were analyzed using common factor and conjoint analyses for preferences for location attributes. Surveys were sent …

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Chagas In Culture And Place: A Mixed Methods Approach To A New Medical Geography Of Chagas Disease In Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, Frances Heyward Currin Mujica Jan 2007

Chagas In Culture And Place: A Mixed Methods Approach To A New Medical Geography Of Chagas Disease In Los Tuxtlas, Mexico, Frances Heyward Currin Mujica

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project is concerned with a new medical geography approach to investigating Chagas disease in Los Tuxtlas, Mexico which focuses on the intersection of disease risk and place. More specifically this work will describe the domestic cycle of Chagas disease and the cultural factors that perpetuate its transmission in six communities in the Los Tuxtlas region, Municipio San Andres, Veracruz State, Mexico. Using several collection techniques, such as interviews and house type surveys, as well as identifying and collecting the vector Triatoma dimidiata (including testing them for the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi), this dissertation describes the characteristics of the Chagas landscape …

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The Urban Development Of Spanish Colonial Pensacola, 1781-1821, Harry James Wilson Jan 2007

The Urban Development Of Spanish Colonial Pensacola, 1781-1821, Harry James Wilson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Pensacola evolved through the second Spanish period (1781-1821) from a fledgling military outpost to an increasingly complex urban center. Local and regional demographic trends and environmental conditions prompted Pensacola to grow in a manner that differed from other Spanish colonial urban centers and created in Pensacola an unusual class structure and residential patterning. The primary goal of this dissertation is to show that Pensacola’s residential and landowning patterns never experienced the degree of socioeconomic residential clustering noted in other Spanish colonial urban centers. Social residential clustering was unusual in Spanish Pensacola, and socioeconomic classes and land values varied from lot …

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Identifying Effective And Ineffective Schools For Accountability Purposes: A Comparison Of Four Generic Types Of Accountability Models, Fen Yu Jan 2007

Identifying Effective And Ineffective Schools For Accountability Purposes: A Comparison Of Four Generic Types Of Accountability Models, Fen Yu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The stakes associated with student performance have been raised to new highs under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB, 2001). Many people are concerned with the adequacy and appropriateness of the statistical models used in identifying low-performing schools for educational accountability. The purpose of this study was to compare four generic types of accountability models (i.e., status models, improvement models, growth models, and value-added models) and see if they reach consistent/inconsistent conclusions regarding the effectiveness of the same set of schools. Further, the four models were also compared in terms of “fairness”. A fair model is defined as one …

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Spatial Econometric Analysis Of Agglomeration Economies Associated With The Geographical Distribution Of The U.S. Biotech Industry, Pramod Reddy Sambidi Jan 2007

Spatial Econometric Analysis Of Agglomeration Economies Associated With The Geographical Distribution Of The U.S. Biotech Industry, Pramod Reddy Sambidi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation analyzed spatial agglomeration economies associated with the geographical distribution of the U.S. biotech industry. Three location issues associated with the biotech industry were addressed in the study. The first study utilized a Bayesian spatial tobit model and examined the overall and regional differences in factors affecting the location of the U.S. biotech industry. The second study examined the inter- and intra-industry spatial association of biotech related research and development (R&D) and testing facilities across all contiguous U.S. counties employing a Spatial Two-Stage Least Squares model. Finally, the interdependence between different subsectors of the U.S. biotech industry was analyzed …

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Environmental Equity In Southeast Louisiana: Oil, People, Policy, And The Geography Of Industrial Hazards, Scott Allan Hemmerling Jan 2007

Environmental Equity In Southeast Louisiana: Oil, People, Policy, And The Geography Of Industrial Hazards, Scott Allan Hemmerling

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores issues and concepts underlying the creation of Louisiana’s rural-industrial petrochemical complex as they relate to environmental equity and industrial development’s deleterious consequences. Cumulative hazards models examine the distribution of technological hazards associated with petroleum extraction and processing and explores how this varies among different socioeconomic groups in three coastal Louisiana parishes. Considerable onshore oil extraction occurs in Jefferson Parish. Lafourche Parish is the primary land-based supply center for the majority of the offshore oil activity in the Gulf of Mexico. The refineries of Saint Bernard Parish represent the endpoint of the flow of raw product and the …

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Modeling Spatial And Temporal Variations Of Surface Moisture Content And Groundwater Table Fluctuations On A Fine-Grained Beach, Padre Island, Texas, Yuanda Zhu Jan 2007

Modeling Spatial And Temporal Variations Of Surface Moisture Content And Groundwater Table Fluctuations On A Fine-Grained Beach, Padre Island, Texas, Yuanda Zhu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The basic goals of this study are to document, represent and model beach surface moisture dynamics. Achieving these goals requires that the dynamics be understood within the context of the key associated processes including evaporation and groundwater table fluctuations. Atmospheric parameters including wind speed, air temperature and relative humidity, evaporation, beach surface moisture content, groundwater table fluctuations and tidal oscillations were directly monitored in an eight-day field experiment. Field measurements demonstrated that beach surface moisture content has a relatively high degree of variability in the cross-shore direction and a relatively low variability in the alongshore direction. The highest levels of …

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Land-Cover And Land-Use Study Using Genetic Algorithms, Petri Nets, And Cellular Automata, Fei Wang Jan 2007

Land-Cover And Land-Use Study Using Genetic Algorithms, Petri Nets, And Cellular Automata, Fei Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Recent research techniques, such as genetic algorithm (GA), Petri net (PN), and cellular automata (CA) have been applied in a number of studies. However, their capability and performance in land-cover land-use (LCLU) classification, change detection, and predictive modeling have not been well understood. This study seeks to address the following questions: 1) How do genetic parameters impact the accuracy of GA-based LCLU classification; 2) How do image parameters impact the accuracy of GA-based LCLU classification; 3) Is GA-based LCLU classification more accurate than the maximum likelihood classifier (MLC), iterative self-organizing data analysis technique (ISODATA), and the hybrid approach; 4) How …

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How Legend Constructs French National Identity: Jeanne D'Arc, Stephanie Louise Coker Jan 2007

How Legend Constructs French National Identity: Jeanne D'Arc, Stephanie Louise Coker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Since the fifteenth century, French authors have (re)told the story of Jeanne d’Arc. There is a sense of timelessness that accompanies her reception by the French public. In this transhistorical study, I look at Jeanne’s legend in light of four centuries and reveal how French authors (re)appropriate the Maid for their own political purposes. Along with the timeliness of Jeanne’s appearance, I investigate the gendered nature of her depictions. In short, I examine how Jeanne’s legend constructs, reconstructs, and deconstructs French national identity. In 1429, Christine de Pisan composes Ditié de Jehanne d’Arc, a poem that celebrates her contemporary in …

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