Digital Commons Network^™

Security Analysis On Network Systems Based On Some Stochastic Models, Xiaohu Li

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Due to great effort from mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists, network science has attained rapid development during the past decades. However, because of the complexity, most researches in this area are conducted only based upon experiments and simulations, it is critical to do research based on theoretical results so as to gain more insight on how the structure of a network affects the security. This dissertation introduces some stochastic and statistical models on certain networks and uses a k-out-of-n tolerant structure to characterize both logically and physically the behavior of nodes. Based upon these models, we draw several illuminating results …

Math, Class, And Katrina Aftermath: The Impact Of Experiences Teaching Mathematics To Low-Income Middle School Students On Middle-Income Teachers’ Pedagogical Strategies, Susan J. Ikenberry

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Despite a century of educational reforms, no matter how achievement is measured, learning and opportunity gaps can still be predicted by race and socioeconomic status. Teachers and schools are blamed for functioning to reproduce social inequality. This study investigated teacher agency and transformative potentials. It considered how teachers modified their pedagogical practices when teaching low-income and high-poverty students. In order to capture teacher beliefs and logic, a qualitative approach was used involving in-depth interviews of a small number of participants.

The research used the context of the dislocation of students from high-poverty Orleans Parish schools in the year following Hurricane …

Rachel's Madcap Theater, Joseph Laura

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This paper will cover the making of my thesis film Rachel’s Madcap Theater. I will break down all of the interdisciplinary aspects and collaborations with other artists that formed the final film: screenwriting, production design, directing, cinematography, sound, music, and special effects. For each of these categories, when appropriate, I will compare and contrast the changes made during the main stages of filmmaking: pre-production (all decisions made before shooting begins), production (all decisions made while shooting the movie), and post-production (all decisions made after shooting ends). I will then provide self-analysis of my process in order to judge both …

“Put The Church Right There”: A Study Of The Inclusion Of Congregational Structures Within New Urbanist Developments, Matthew L. Pierce

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Beginning with the development of Seaside (Walton County, FL), Kentlands (Gaithersburg, MD), and Laguna West (Elk Grove, CA), New Urbanist developments have set aside parcels for civic structures, many of which now house congregations. Using interviews with developers, planners, and church officials, this thesis examines the rationale behind including congregations within New Urbanist developments in four southeastern states (Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina). The expectations of New Urbanist developers largely mirror those found within key New Urbanist texts: congregational structures help create a legible landscape through typological architecture and conspicuous siting while providing space for public gathering. The …

Synthesis And Biological Evaluation Of N-Heterocycles For Activity On Monoamine Transporters And Exploration Of Iridium Chemistry For Synthesis Of Medicinally Important Molecules, Tushar D. Apsunde

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The focus of these studies was directed towards the synthesis of novel N-heterocyclic compounds and pharmacological evaluation of these compounds for activity at monoamine transporters. A series of novel piperidine and pyrrolidine analogues were prepared from commercially available starting material with a three and four step synthetic method, respectively. A variety of substituents on the aromatic ring were incorporated to achieve a diverse library of compounds. The preliminary binding studies of piperidine molecules showed strong affinity towards serotonin transporters and moderate affinity towards dopamine transporters. The focus of further studies was directed towards utilization of iridium catalysis for the development …

Study Of Iridium Catalyzed N-Alkylation Of Urea With Benzyl Alcohols, Majed Abdullah Bajaber

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The solvent-free (Cp*IrCl2)2 catalyzed N-alkylation of urea with benzyl alcohol has been studied. A variety of reaction conditions were studied and optimized to produce a high yield (82%) of N,N-dibenzylurea. A series of substituted benzyl alcohols were examined at the optimal reaction conditions. However, the preparation of substituted benzyl urea derivatives using conditions optimized for benzyl alcohol gave poor yields or intractable mixtures.

Feature Selection And Clustering For Malicious And Benign Software Characterization, Dalbir Kaur R. Chhabra

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Malware or malicious code is design to gather sensitive information without knowledge or permission of the users or damage files in the computer system. As the use of computer systems and Internet is increasing, the threat of malware is also growing. Moreover, the increase in data is raising difficulties to identify if the executables are malicious or benign. Hence, we have devised a method that collects features from portable executable file format using static malware analysis technique. We have also optimized the important or useful features by either normalizing or giving weightage to the feature. Furthermore, we have compared accuracy …

Determining Kinetics For Simulated Sunlight-Exposed Oil Compounds, Dustin D. Kountz

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Understanding of the fate of oil in the environment is of utmost importance; however, accurate, predictive models are still in very early stages. To aid in the development of these models, photodegradation of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in an n-alkane hydrocarbon matrix was followed for individual PAHs and mixtures of PAHs similar to that found in the Deepwater Horizon spill. Tetracene in tetradecane photodegraded quickest of all observed PAHs, with a loss of 99% after only one hour of irradiation. Binary mixtures of PAHs showed different degradation amounts, including changes in PAH kinetics. These results suggest that the …

Maximizing The Impact Of Local Police Agencies Through Optimum Staffing Levels, April Overman

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to identify an optimum ratio of police officers to city residents for the purpose of reducing year-to-year crime rates in cities with populations between 25,000 and 999,999. Current research in this area focuses on the impact of the number of police officers on overall crime rates. However, that body of research does not distinguish the impacts found in minimally-staffed, moderately-staffed, and highly-staffed agencies. By examining each of these three groups separately, a statistically significant relationship was determined to exist between per capita staffing levels and short-term property crime reduction for agencies with 1.50 to …

The Chorus Of Disapproval: The Battle Of St. Paul's And Women's Protest In Occupied New Orleans, Denice J. Richard

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Although scholars have explored women’s public resistance in occupied cities during the Civil War, few have explored women in occupied New Orleans. Studies have been limited to the rambunctious activities of women in the city streets, armed with sharp tongues. The use of private spaces, specifically religious spaces, as a platform for protest, has not been explored. By analyzing the events surrounding the closure of an uptown church on October of 1862, known as “The Battle of Saint Paul’s,” this thesis will address Confederate female activism and protest to Union occupation in New Orleans. It will do so by examining …

The Structure Of Child And Adolescent Aggression: Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of A Brief Peer Conflict Scale, Justin Russell

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The importance of simultaneous consideration of forms and functions in youth measures of aggressive behavior is well established. Competing models have presented these highly interrelated constructs as either independent (e.g., reactive or overt) or paired factors (e.g., reactive and overt). The current study examines these models in the context of assessing the viability of a new self-report measure, the Peer Conflict Scale – 20 Item Version. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on PCS 20 responses from 1,048 school-age youth living in the Gulf Coast region. Both models significantly improved upon one or two-factor alternatives, and demonstrated partial invariance across gender …

Comparison Of Nonlinear Filtering Methods For Battery State Of Charge Estimation, Klaus Zhang

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In battery management systems, the main figure of merit is the battery's SOC, typically obtained from voltage and current measurements. Present estimation methods use simplified battery models that do not fully capture the electrical characteristics of the battery, which are useful for system design. This thesis studied SOC estimation for a lithium-ion battery using a nonlinear, electrical-circuit battery model that better describes the electrical characteristics of the battery. The extended Kalman filter, unscented Kalman filter, third-order and fifth-order cubature Kalman filter, and the statistically linearized filter were tested on their ability to estimate the SOC through numerical simulation. Their performances …

Transverse Thermoelectric Effect, Charles Crawford

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Anisotropic thermoelectric effects can be measured in certain materials. Anisotropy can also be simulated using a repeated, layered structure of two materials cut at an angle. Various aspect ratios and angles of inclination are investigated in device geometry in order to maximize the thermopower. Eddy currents have been shown to occur in thermoelectric devices, and evidence of these currents are revealed in finite element analysis of the artificially synthesized anisotropic Peltier effect.

From The Same Branch, Aurielle Destiche

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Gendered Bodies And The U.S. Military: Exploring The Institutionalized Regulation Of Bodies, Heather K. Horton

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis supplements existing literature by examining the relationship between institutional regulations and gendered assumptions about bodies. This thesis draws from feminist social constructionist perspectives and gendered organizational theories to explore the role of gendered body assumptions in the organizational framework of a hypermasculine political institution. Using the U.S. military as an illustrative example, this thesis studies military policies and rationales historically, focusing on the post-Vietnam accelerated inclusion of women, the increasing use of combat as a divisive component, and the gendered structural elements that are used to determine physical competence. Findings coincide with existing literature and suggest that social …

Analysis And Detection Of Heap-Based Malwares Using Introspection In A Virtualized Environment, Salman Javaid

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Malware detection and analysis is a major part of computer security. There is an arm race between security experts and malware developers to develop various techniques to secure computer systems and to find ways to circumvent these security methods. In recent years process heap-based attacks have increased significantly. These attacks exploit the system under attack via the heap, typically by using a heap spraying attack. The main drawback with existing techniques is that they either consume too many resources or are complicated to implement. Our work in this thesis focuses on new methods which offloads process heap analysis for guest …

Does Parenting Style Moderate The Association Between Parental Monitoring And Adolescent Problem Behavior?, Laura Lafleur

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to test whether parenting style as conceptualized through Self-Determination Theory (SDT) moderates the association between parental monitoring and adolescent problem behavior. Self-reported data from adolescents (n = 242; 49.2% male; M age = 15.4 years) and their parents (n = 276; 70% mothers) were used in the study. Results showed that monitoring through questions, but not through rules, was significantly associated with behavior problems. Adolescent-reported monitoring through questions, but not parent-reported, was linked to less problem behavior. Also, parental autonomy support and involvement were linked to less problem behavior. Results showed that …

Steady State Voltage Stability Enhancement Using Shunt And Series Facts Devices, Jahnavi Lakkireddy

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

It is specifically important to focus on voltage stability analysis of the power system to avoid worst case scenarios such as voltage collapse. The purpose of this thesis is to identify methods for enhancing the steady-state voltage stability using FACTS devices and determining their impact on real and reactive power losses, improvement of bus voltage magnitude, and transmission line loadability. To achieve this, FACTS devices such as Static VAR Compensator (SVC), Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM), and Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitor (TCSC) are used in the test system as three separate test cases. The results obtained assist in drawing conclusions on …

Here There Is No Place That Does Not See You, Carolyn B. Mikulencak

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Synthesis And Applications Of Mutimodal Hybrid Albumin Nanoparticles For Chemotherapeutic Drug Delivery And Phototherml Therapy Platforms, Donna V. Peralta

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Progress has been made in using human serum albumin nanoparticles (HSAPs) as carrier systems for targeted treatment of cancer. Human serum albumin (HSA), the most abundant human blood protein, can form HSAPs via a desolvation and crosslinking method, with the size of the HSAPs having crucial importance for drug loading and in vivo performance. Gold nanoparticles have also gained medicinal attention due to their ability to absorb near-infrared (NIR) light. These relatively non-toxic particles offer combinational therapy via imaging and photothermal therapy (PPTT) capabilities.

A desolvation and crosslinking approach was employed to encapsulate gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), hollow gold nanoshells (AuNSs), …

Bus Shelters As Shared Public And Private Entities; And Bus Shelter Advertising Contracts (Bsacs), A Product And Source Of Global Change: An Overview, History, And Comparison, Alexander Depriest

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The transit shelter, the space where riders make the transition from open space to more controlled buses and trains, is in many cases the site of a public-private transaction. Here, government agencies contract private companies to build and maintain shelters in exchange for governmental allowance of advertising in these locations. This dual purpose—the shelter serves concurrently as protection for transit users and as a moneymaker—means the space is contested, with economic and social needs often at odds. Bus shelter advertising contracts (BSACs), increasingly operated by large corporations, have resulted in widespread networks of bus shelters; observing these renders processes of …

Phylogenetics And Mating System Evolution In The Southern South American Valeriana (Valerianaceae), Lauren A. Gonzalez

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Species of Valerianaceae in South America represent one of the best examples of rapid diversification on a continental scale. The phylogeny of Valerianaceae has received a lot of attention within the last 10 years, but relationships among the South American species are fairly unresolved. Results from previous studies have not been well resolved with traditional genetic markers, most likely due to its recent and rapid radiation. Species in this clade exhibit a variety mating systems and inflorescence types. For the first part of this research I used several traditional plastid markers, and 3 new low copy nuclear markers to better …

Efficient Fpga Architectures For Separable Filters And Logarithmic Multipliers And Automation Of Fish Feature Extraction Using Gabor Filters, Arjun Kumar Joginipelly

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Convolution and multiplication operations in the filtering process can be optimized by minimizing the resource utilization using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) and separable filter kernels. An FPGA architecture for separable convolution is proposed to achieve reduction of on-chip resource utilization and external memory bandwidth for a given processing rate of the convolution unit.

Multiplication in integer number system can be optimized in terms of resources, operation time and power consumption by converting to logarithmic domain. To achieve this, a method altering the filter weights is proposed and implemented for error reduction. The results obtained depict significant error reduction when …

Affective And Cognitive Empathy Deficits Distinguish Primary And Secondary Variants Of Callous-Unemotional Youth, Rachel E. Kahn

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined whether a sample of detained male adolescents (n = 107; Mean age = 15.50; SD = 1.30) could be disaggregated into two distinct groups, consistent with past research on primary and secondary variants of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in adolescents. This study also sought to determine a possible explanation for the CU traits among youth in the secondary variant by examining whether they differ from primary variants on measures of cognitive and affective empathy. Using Latent Profile Analyses, two groups of adolescents high on CU traits were identified, a large group (n = 30) high …

Sustainable Development Through Green Infrastructure: A Critical Evaluation Of The Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, Olivia R. Burchett

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Sustainable development is achieved through the equal promotion of environmental protection, economic development and social equity. Urban planners play a key role in sustainable development through the mediation of tensions inherent between these priorities. Using urban planning theory that focuses on the conflicts between the priorities of sustainable development and lessons learned from planning practice provides a basis from which to evaluate the claims of sustainability present in the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan. Outreach initiatives, policy frameworks and ecosystem co-management are suggested to make the planning and implementation processes of the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan more …

Romantic Rhetoric And Appropriation In William Apess’S A Son Of The Forest, Courtney Hilden

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1992 republication of On Our Own Ground: The Complete Writings of William Apess, a Pequot, most academic work on Apess has focused on his Methodism, his Native American identity, or the intersection between these two parts of his life and work. Dr. Tim Fulford is the only scholar to have written about Apess and Romanticism. In his book Romantic Indians: Native Americans, British Literature, and Transatlantic Culture, 1756-1830, Fulford illustrates the elegiac modes often present in the work of Apess. This thesis will examine William Apess’ Son of the Forest as an expression of early nineteenth century …

The Adversity Pop Culture Has Posed, Darel Joseph

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

I am a collage artist working with multiple mediums such as paint, photography, video, audio, and performance. As a New Orleans’ native, I have a unique history that is unflattering, for my history echoes that of America’s historical misdeeds. I make sociopolitical art because I am of a historically oppressed people. I make art that celebrates my diverse culture that is a collage of Native American, African, and New Orleans’ French Creole.

The Exercise Of Power : Counter Planning In Palestine, Husni S. Qurt

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In the beginning of the 2000s, Israeli policies in the West Bank shifted from policies of control to policies of separation, which in turn led to the Transformation of West Bank communities into isolated urban islands. Current plans prepared for Palestinian localities by Palestinian planning institutions most often address these isolated islands without taking into account the Israeli-controlled areas surrounding these localities. Palestinians envision the entire West Bank as a contiguous area that will eventually form part of the Palestinian national state. However, most Palestinian plans take the boundaries imposed by Israel as a given and plan only for areas …

Green Infrastructure And The Sustainability Concept: A Case Study Of The Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, Jessica Fisch

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Sustainability has been touted as an ideal in city and environmental planning in recent decades, evolving to include environmental, economic, and equity-focused goals. While much has been written about these ideals, it remains unclear how their inherent tensions and challenges affect planning practice. This thesis analyzes these goals as they are perceived and prioritized in The Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan, a regional water management plan released by Waggonner and Ball Architects in September 2013, utilizing interviews with architects involved in the plan’s development, staff at agencies involved in green infrastructure implementation, and advocacy groups involved in and affected …

Eclectica, Melanie D. Fitch

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

MFA thesis