Digital Commons Network^™

Termites, Bully Boys, And The Architect Of Search & Destroy: An Assessment Of General William E. Depuy As Macv J-3 And Commander Of The 1st Infantry Division, Republic Of Vietnam, 1964-67, Adam D. Coste

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

As Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations (J-3) at MACV from 1964-1966, General William DePuy served as the main architect of the campaign strategy implemented by General William Westmoreland in fighting both VC and NVA units during the earliest and most critical years of the Vietnam War. Following his role at MACV, DePuy assumed command of the 1^st Infantry Division in March 1966 where he exhibited a distinct command philosophy and transformed the organizational culture of the “Big Red One” through a series of directives and tactical innovations. Most historians are critical of Westmoreland’s chosen strategy as well as …

Motion Simulation And Risk Assessment Of Dropped Objects In Offshore Operations, Hanqi Yu

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Subsea pipelines are a cost-effective and reliable way to transport hydrocarbons in offshore oil and gas development. However, dropped objects can pose hazards and cause damage to pipelines. This dissertation briefly introduces the hazards and hidden dangers caused by dropped containers, discusses motion simulation methods for different object shapes, and reviews risk assessment procedures for handling dropped objects in offshore operations. Ongoing research at the University of New Orleans' towing tank on dropped container models is also discussed. Using ANSYS Fluent, we simulate trajectories of container models and calculate relevant hydrodynamic coefficients for different dropped angles. We then apply risk …

Seagrass Epibiont Biodiversity In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Kathryn Wyssmann

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Epibionts on seagrass leaves contribute substantially to productivity and trophic interactions in seagrass ecosystems. Differences in epibiont assemblages and factors that contribute to epibiont diversity have been little studied on the seagrass Halodule wrightii in the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM). We used a metabarcoding approach to describe epibiont assemblages on H. wrightii leaves in four bays across the nGoM and to test whether epibiont assemblages differed spatially at local levels (within bays) or regional levels (from west to east). Furthermore, we tested if epibiont diversity was related to environmental conditions and/or seagrass productivity. Epibiont assemblages differed significantly between bays …

The Influence Of Advanced Math Course Enrollment In Potential First-Generation Students, Marian N. Jackson

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

There is limited research on potential first-generation college students’ K12 experiences. The enrollment in advanced math coursework while in high school is a crucial factor for such prospective college completion and success. Potential first-generation students, however, are more likely to enter college without advanced mathematics coursework. This grounded theory study utilized math literacy (Moses & Cobb, 2001) and notions of additive schooling (Valenzuela, 1999) to explore the reasons behind potential first-generation students’ enrollment decisions in advanced math courses. Data collection included semi structured interviews and demographic survey data of potential first-generation students. Findings indicate that the school counselor functions as …

From Child To Children: The Experiences Of Economically Marginalized Parents As Their Family Sizes Grow, Yvanna Pogue Vicks

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Goostly Coumforte In God: The Rhetoric Of Mysticism In The Cloud Of Unknowing, Clinton M. Sensat

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I analyze the rhetoric of the Cloud of Unknowing by an anonymous fourteenth-century English Catholic mystic. First, I situate the Cloud in its tradition, both spiritual and rhetorical. Then, after analyzing the linguistic arts employed, I engage in a sustained examination of the Cloud’s rhetorical technique. Ultimately, I conclude that the author of the Cloud succeeds in his rhetorical goals, even if some of his strategies are less successful than he perhaps believes, and that he does so through the use of concrete language and an appeal to the ethos of Christian monastic friendship.

Advancing Additive Manufacturing For Biomedical Applications: Antimicrobial And X-Ray Absorptive Composite Filaments For Fused Filament Fabrication, John M. Arnold Jr

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research was to investigate the use of nano- and microparticle amendments for the creation of Poly-lactic Acid composite materials for use in biomedical applications using the Fused Filament Fabrication process of Additive Manufacturing. Composites were created with the goal of imparting the useful properties of antimicrobial activity and x-ray absorption to the material. In addition to testing the efficacy of the particle amendments in achieving the desired properties, the thermal and mechanical properties of the composite materials were tested to ensure that the composites would be compatible with the Fused Filament Fabrication process and would produce …

Wavelet Compression As An Observational Operator In Data Assimilation Systems For Sea Surface Temperature, Bradley J. Sciacca

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The ocean remains severely under-observed, in part due to its sheer size. Containing nearly billion of water with most of the subsurface being invisible because water is extremely difficult to penetrate using electromagnetic radiation, as is typically used by satellite measuring instruments. For this reason, most observations of the ocean have very low spatial-temporal coverage to get a broad capture of the ocean’s features. However, recent “dense but patchy” data have increased the availability of high-resolution – low spatial coverage observations. These novel data sets have motivated research into multi-scale data assimilation methods. Here, we demonstrate a new assimilation approach …

Dropped Objects Recognition In Offshore Operations Based On Computer Vision And Artificial Intelligence, Xiaochuan Yu

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

We are more interested in recovering and salvaging containers which may be loaded with either valuable or harmful substances. Therefore, we designed various container models to account for different loading conditions and then exported them to a 3D printer. Six small container models were dropped into the trailer pool at the University of New Orleans (UNO) as planned at angles of 0°, 45°, and 90°.

After collecting all the videos using a high-definition camera set outside the tank, we perform pre-processing tasks on the videos in preparation for model training. The two-phase angle classification method uses a pretrained ResNet50 model …

Measuring The Lengths Of Sperm Whales Of The Northern Gulf Of Mexico By Wavelet Analysis Of Their Usual Clicks, George Drouant

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Acoustic recordings of underwater sounds produced by marine mammals present an attractive alternative to costly and logistically complex ship based visual surveys for collecting population data for various species.

The first reported use of underwater acoustic recordings in the long-term monitoring of sperm whale populations was by Ackleh et al. (Ackleh et al., 2012). The paper describes counting sperm whale clicks at different locations to track population changes over time.

Analysis of sperm whale clicks offers additional insight into sperm whale populations. The echo location clicks (usual clicks) of sperm whales can be used to give an estimate of …

Faults Segmentation In Levee Systems Using Deep Learning Approaches, Manisha Panta

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Levees are earthen structures constructed to mitigate flooding in low-lying areas. Although levee systems can reduce flood risks, they cannot completely eliminate them. Failures within flood control systems due to inadequate maintenance or strong water currents can lead to significant property damage and catastrophic loss of life, as was seen during Hurricane Katrina. Consequently, regular inspections are essential to identify and address any issues with the levees promptly. However, current inspection methods rely on manual techniques that are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and prone to human error. Therefore, this study proposes using deep learning models for more efficient and frequent assessment of …

Assessing Math Motivation, Educational Expectancy, And Grades In Corequisite Coursework To Predict Outcomes In College Algebra, Kurt M. Ovella

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The lack of preparation and math motivation are obstacles for new students entering higher education. Students who are underprepared in math often lack the skills and motivation to succeed in College Algebra. The purpose of this research study is to assess student math self-efficacy, task value, intrinsic value, educational expectancy, and grades in corequisite coursework to predict outcomes in College Algebra. Using binary logistic regression, the researcher examined motivational factors and corequisite course grades to determine their impact on student success in College Algebra. The primary objective of the present study was to examine college students’ math achievement in College …

“The East:” A History Of New Orleans East And The Retail Redlining Of Black Middle-Class Suburbs, Charles Miller

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of New Orleans East, a collection of diverse suburban neighborhoods that comprise the easternmost part of New Orleans. This interdisciplinary research study chronicles the growth and decline of “The East” to more generally understand the challenges facing Black middle-class suburbs. Decades-long mischaracterizations and overstated negative perceptions of The East persist, unjustly and unceasingly detracting from economic development and prosperity and exacerbating the inequities that have long plagued the city’s Black residents. Findings from this dissertation uncover how, in metropolitan New Orleans, residents, city officials, and local news media have effectively stigmatized and written off …

Sachsenhausen, “More Of The Same”: The Transition Of A Nazi Concentration Camp Into A Soviet Special Camp, Douglas C. Molin

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Totalitarian use of the concentration camp to subjugate and control its citizens was exemplified on a massive scale with the world’s most oppressive twentieth century regimes, Nazi Germany, and the USSR. While evolved from very different political origins, concentration camps were the primary instrument within each nation’s security services resulting in human misery and death on a massive scale. One camp, Sachsenhausen, near Berlin was especially prominent, designed and constructed in 1936 as a model camp with the IKL eventually housed adjacent to it. In May 1945 the Soviets invaded Germany, and within months Sachsenhausen was utilized by the …

Props, Bianca Walker

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In their artwork Bianca Walker takes a refreshing and historically engaging approach to the act of painting. After researching through photographic references of black people from the early 1900s the artist reimagines these photographs as painted portraits using a drip painting method purposely eliminating paint brushes from their practice. Incorporating more utilitarian materials such as drop cloth and palms, the artist’s relationship to the traditional act of paintings versus their current practice mirrors the current point of view placed upon and change of view that they would like to be seen in conversations around black working-class people from this period.

Comparison Of Facial Emotion Recognition Models Using Deep Learning, Arsany Hanin

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Facial emotion recognition is a widely studied area with applications in diverse domains such as human-computer interaction, affective computing, and social robotics. This thesis aims to improve the accuracy of facial emotion recognition models by incorporating a second neural network trained on original probabilities and probability transformation, while also comparing the performance of different techniques. The thesis begins with a thorough review of available datasets and technologies used for data collection, highlighting the challenges associated with these datasets. A detailed analysis of various facial emotion detection models, including the baseline model and its different architectures, is presented. The thesis also …

Perceptions Of Sub-Saharan African International Students In United States: Mental Health Concerns And Help-Seeking Behavior, Adekemi L. Ekanoye

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

International students face a lot of challenges while studying abroad, with or without the supportive system that their families provide. Sub-Saharan Africa international students consists of 3.7 percent of the population, which indicates a 2.1 percent increase prior to previous year. While in the host country, this population is saddled with the self-responsibilities of maintaining their values, cultural identities, personality, language ability, self-perceptions, and attitudes. African international students adopt a masking behavior in the form of adaptive strategies that could hide the mental health concerns experienced.

The purpose of this constructivist grounded theory study was to explore the untold lived …

A Cultural Legacy Of Resiliency: Black Male Teacher Retention In K-12 Classrooms, Mtichell Brookins

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Only 18% of the nation's teaching force are minorities, with 2% being Black male teachers (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013). Black educators have the lowest retention rate and the highest departure rate (Snyder et al., 2014). There is limited empirical research that explores turnover patterns and organizational conditions that impact Black male educators’ decisions to remain in the field (Achinstein et al., 2010; Johnson et al., 2005; Kirby et al., 1999). As a result, this qualitative study is imperative in that it contributes to a body of literature that explores aspects and experiences of Black male teachers in K-12 …

Voices In My Head: An Improvisers Approach To Becky Mode’S Fully Committed, Drew Stroud

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis will focus on improvisational theatre and its importance in my overall process in the creation of Becky Mode’s Fully Committed. I will explain my previous knowledge and theories that I brought to the University of New Orleans and run in tandem with the techniques and discoveries I learned during the process of my Master of Fine Arts, both in the classroom and on the stage. Fully Committed was performed in the Robert E. Nims Studio Theatre September 23^rd, 24^th, 25^th, 28^th, 29^th, 30^th, and October …

Reading The Room: Memory, Dwelling, And The Everyday, Sara R. Hardin

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In any space, there is a residue that coats the present with a patina of memory. Creating layered imagery in dream-like paintings and prints, I use the domestic realm as a metaphor for the internal world of the mind, memories, and private thoughts, including them in compositions with symbols like the boundaries of windows, doors, and gates. These metaphorical structures also portray outward identities, which guard inner emotions. The conceptual aspects of these compositional elements weave together memories of the past and places of the present into a unified whole.

I began graduate school at the beginning of the COVID-19 …

Hydrological Modeling For The Impact Of Predicted Climate Change And Urbanization: A Case Study Of The Lower Mississippi River Basin, Amelie E. Lagarde

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The Mississippi River Basin is the United States’ largest watershed and consists of many subbasins. Each subbasin has hydrological processes including flow rate, evapotranspiration, and groundwater flow. It is important to understand how these processes change through shifts in weather, time, and land use. This study uses the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to predict how changes in temperature, rainfall, and land use can change hydrological processes responses. This study concludes that, for the studied subbasin, a high representative concentration pathway (RCP) will result in lower flow rates and ground water flow as well as higher evapotranspiration by the …

Working Memory And Language Associations In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Megan A. Goldfarb

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social communication and interaction, with repetitive behaviors or specialized interests. A range of language abilities is seen in ASD, with some having typical abilities and others severe impairments. Working memory (WM) deficits have also been found in some children with ASD. In typically developing, as well as non-ASD children with language deficits a strong relationship has been found between WM and language abilities. Although both language and WM deficits are often seen in ASD, the relationship between these deficits has been underexplored. The objective of this study is …

A Pelican's Journey To Flight: A Louisiana National Guardsman, The Development Of The United States Army Air Service, And The Human Cost Of Military Innovation, James H. Smith

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

George E. Dicks deployed to the Mexican Punitive Expedition and World War I with the Louisiana National Guard. He recorded his experience in writing and photography, which reside in the Jackson Barracks Military Museum in Chalmette, Louisiana. His memorabilia reflect an officer’s perspective on early military aviation and parallel to the United States military’s experimentation with aviation. Through experimentation, Dicks became an aerial observer in World War I.

This thesis explores George E. Dicks’ memorabilia and how it both represents the development of the American Air Service and the human cost of military aviation with photographic evidence. By representing aviation’s …

Past And Present Patterns Of Neutral And Adaptive Genetic Diversity In Wild Mandrills (Mandrillus Sphinx), Anna Weber

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Although primates have fascinated researchers and the public alike for generations, one species that has remained enigmatic is the mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx), a large Cercopithecine monkey endemic to Central Africa. Mandrills are currently in decline due to bushmeat hunting, urbanization, and habitat loss. Neutral and adaptive genetic diversity are important tools for understanding evolutionary history and future viability, since diversity influences a species’ ability to adapt to a changing environment. However, thus far, minimal genetic information has been available for wild mandrills. Because of the dense vegetation in their tropical forest habitat, studying wild mandrills has proven to …

Experiencing Positional Turbulence: High School Social Studies Teachers' Perceptions Of Instructional Leadership Support While Teaching During National Crises, Lynn M. Walters-Rauenhorst

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This research examined instructional leadership support of eight Louisiana high school social studies teachers as they experienced positional turbulence as a result of teaching to politically and socially aware students in a polarized political and social climate during the 2020-2021 school year. In recent years the American education system has been challenged in unprecedented ways. A global pandemic, renewed calls for social justice, and a highly polarized political climate created an extremely turbulent environment for all educators. Social studies teachers faced a unique set of challenges of integrating controversial current events into a high-stakes standards-based curriculum. Utilizing a conceptual framework …

State Estimation And Data Fusion With Data-Driven Communication, Xiaolei Bian

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the systemic design of proper estimation as well as fusion techniques and data-driven communication schemes to infer the state of a dynamic discrete-time linear system over a wireless network. The goal is to effectively extract and share key information over networks to enhance estimates of system states. Such co-design research is drawn by the need to leverage limited resources (communication bandwidth, energy and computational power) for a multitude of data and data sources in networked systems.

We first build the overarching structure by synthesizing communication and estimator/fuser, and research the collective behaviors of the system.

In …

Therapeutic Approaches To Working With Perinatal Loss Clients: A Grounded Theory Study, Heather H. Olivier

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Perinatal loss (i.e., miscarriage, stillbirth, termination, and infant death) is commonly referred to in the literature as an invisible loss, non-loss, and even medical event. It is an ambiguous loss exhibiting the dialectical contradiction between the physical absence and psychological presence of the baby accompanied by disenfranchised grief, a reaction to a loss that is unacknowledged by society. Despite the likelihood of mental health clinicians working with clients who have experienced perinatal loss, there has yet to be a therapeutic model designed specifically for the unique grief and trauma reactions presented in this population. Existing grief models do not address …

Theatre And The Pandemic - Directing Fully Committed By Becky Mode, William Ware

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The following thesis will provide a detailed account of the University of New Orleans’ School of the Arts production of the play Fully Committed by Becky Mode. I will explain our process as we slowly began to surface from the Coronavirus pandemic that shuttered theatres in March of 2020, and discuss the social climate and attitudes toward theater just before, during and as we come out of pandemic. Fully Committed was performed on September 21^st, 22^nd, 23^rd, 24^th, 25^th, 28^th, 29^th, 30^th, and October …

Theory Application In Home-Based Counseling, Victoria Rodriguez

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Home-based counseling is a modality of counseling where a provider conducts sessions within a client’s home. Providing services in the home can improve access to services in rural areas or for clients without access to transportation or childcare and can increase participation in services in cases where traditional office-based services have been unsuccessful.

Despite these benefits for clients, home-based counselors might struggle with applying counseling theory within this setting. Theory is an integral part of both counselor identity and treatment planning; a theoretical orientation helps counselors conceptualize client issues, guide treatment goals, and assess progress. Due to the lack of …

So To Speak, Heather G. Boyle

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.