Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

1997

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 7321 - 7350 of 8703

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Development Of A Prototype Computer-Assisted Well Control System For Deep Ocean Drilling Environments., Orville Allen Kelly Jan 1997

Development Of A Prototype Computer-Assisted Well Control System For Deep Ocean Drilling Environments., Orville Allen Kelly

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

An advanced prototype computer-assisted deep water drilling well control system was developed using process control technology. The goal of the system was to improve rig safety by reducing the potential for surface and underground blowouts through providing enhanced bottom hole and casing seat pressure control during the well kill process. The system developed is capable of full computer control of the fluid pump and drilling choke control functions during normal well control operations. The system provides computer-assistance in collecting and curve fitting slow circulation rate pump pressure data, in developing a well kill program (kill sheet), and in detecting anomalies …

Go to article

Nanoscale Structures And Fracture Processes In Advanced Ceramics: Million-Atom Md Simulations On Parallel Architectures., Andrey A. Omeltchenko Jan 1997

Nanoscale Structures And Fracture Processes In Advanced Ceramics: Million-Atom Md Simulations On Parallel Architectures., Andrey A. Omeltchenko

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Properties and processes in silicon nitride and graphite are investigated using molecular-dynamics (MD) simulations. Scalable and portable multiresolution algorithms are developed and implemented on parallel architectures to simulate systems containing 10$\sp6$ atoms interacting via realistic potentials. Structural correlations, mechanical properties, and thermal transport are studied in microporous silicon nitride as a function of density. The formation of pores is observed when the density is reduced to 2.6 g/cc, and the percolation occurs at a density of 2.0 g/cc. The density variation of the thermal conductivity and the Young's modulus are well described by power laws with scaling exponents of 1.5 …

Go to article

An Adiabatic Bond Charge Model For The Phonon Properties Of Ii-Vi Materials And Superlattices., Bhagwan Das Rajput Jan 1997

An Adiabatic Bond Charge Model For The Phonon Properties Of Ii-Vi Materials And Superlattices., Bhagwan Das Rajput

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

I present an extension of the adiabatic Bond Charge model to study lattice dynamics of highly polar II-VI semi-conductors and semi-metals and CdTe-HgTe superlattices grown along (001) and (111) directions. This is the first attempt to study phonons in CdTe-HgTe superlattices. My results for phonon dispersion, specific heat and elastic constants for the six bulk materials are in good agreement with experimental observations. The best parameter sets for the six compounds show trends that are consistent with the parameters for group IV elemental semi-conductors and III-V compounds. For CdTe-HgTe superlattices, I find that the long range Coulomb interaction between particles …

Go to article

Seafloor Morphology, Geologic Framework, And Sedimentary Processes Of A Sand-Rich Shelf Offshore Alabama And Northwest Florida: Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico., Randolph Alexander Mcbride Jan 1997

Seafloor Morphology, Geologic Framework, And Sedimentary Processes Of A Sand-Rich Shelf Offshore Alabama And Northwest Florida: Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico., Randolph Alexander Mcbride

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Late-Pleistocene and Holocene geology of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico shelf offshore Alabama and northwest Florida was investigated using 38 vibracores, 47 radiocarbon dates, foraminiferal and macrofauna assemblages, and bathymetry data. The morphologic and stratigraphic signatures of the last rise of eustatic sea level was examined along a passive continental margin. Major shelf features include shore-oblique sand ridges, mid-shelf linear shoals, and shelf-edge deltas. Surficial shelf sediments consist of $>$90% sand, $<$2.7% mud, and $<$2% granules and fine in a westerly direction from a medium to fine sand. The sharp boundary that demarcates these two sand types (Apalachicola and Mobile subprovinces) was identified for the first time in this study. Six facies and two erosional surfaces characterize shelf stratigraphy. Facies 1 is a Pleistocene soil horizon. This facies is truncated by a major erosional unconformity (Type 1 sequence boundary) created by subaerial exposure during the last sea level lowstand and the bay ravinement process during the ensuing transgression. Fine-grained estuarine deposits (Facies 2, 3, or 4 (lower transgressive systems tract)) overlie the unconformity. Facies 3 and 4 are truncated by a shoreface ravinement diastem (flooding surface) and overlain by a marine shell-bed (Facies 5; lower shoreface). Facies 5 grades into Facies 6, a quartz sand with marine foraminifera. Facies 5 and 6 comprise the upper transgressive systems tract (up to 5.5 m thick). Compared to a eustatic sea level curve, mollusk dates from estuarine shell beds show a time-transgressive trend, whereas marine shell beds are time-averaged. Transgressive and post-transgressive processes (strong cold fronts, tropical cyclones) concentrate marine mollusks above the shoreface ravinement diastem. Consequently, linear shoals are not in-situ or degraded barriers because marine species dominate the foraminiferal and molluscan assemblages, and deposits lie above shoreface ravinement diastem. Although shelf morphology is similar to modern barrier island geomorphology, shelf morphostratigraphy (linear shoals) is related to transgressive and post-transgressive processes. Shoal form and orientation are dictated by underlying transgressive topography (escarpments) that was cut into the Pleistocene substrate during the Holocene transgression. During transgression, erosional shoreface retreat produced a trailing sand sheet that draped the transgressive topography.

Go to article

Sugar Cane Fiber Geotextiles., Julia L. Thames Jan 1997

Sugar Cane Fiber Geotextiles., Julia L. Thames

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The study of sugar cane fiber geotextiles represents a holistic approach to interdisciplinary research that includes product development, product testing, industry and target market identification, and strategic and financial planning for manufacturing and distribution. Based upon satisfactory results of prior research, a field test of soil erosion control in a natural environment was designed to determine performance of the sugar cane product and commercially available natural fiber geotextiles of wood, straw, and coconut fiber. Field test results indicated that the sugar cane mats allowed grass from planted seed to germinate and the mats maintained integrity during heavy rains. Due to …

Go to article

Potential For Glufosinate As A Selective Herbicide For Red Rice Control In Bar-Transformed Rice., Sujatha Sankula Jan 1997

Potential For Glufosinate As A Selective Herbicide For Red Rice Control In Bar-Transformed Rice., Sujatha Sankula

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

A three year study was conducted to evaluate the herbicide glufosinate on BAR-transformed rice and on the weed red rice. Preliminary evaluations with 1.1 and 2.2 kg/ha glufosinate on the BAR-transformed Gulfmont and Koshihikari rice varieties showed that both were resistant, but there was more injury to Koshihikari. Glufosinate at 2.2 kg ai/ha injured BAR-transformed Gulfmont rice more when applied to the 1- to 2-leaf stage (23-26%) than when applied to 3- to 4-leaf (13-19%) plants. The damage was least with boot stage applications (3-14%). Phytotoxicity to BAR-transformed Gulfmont rice was greater when 2.2 kg/ha glufosinate was combined with 0.4 …

Go to article

Studies Of The Morphology And Dynamics Of Flame-Generated Agglomerates Using Dynamic Light Scattering., Glenn Michael Waguespack Jan 1997

Studies Of The Morphology And Dynamics Of Flame-Generated Agglomerates Using Dynamic Light Scattering., Glenn Michael Waguespack

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Accurate determination of the morphology and dynamics of aerosols consisting of agglomerated sub-micron sized particulates is needed for soot formation studies, process monitoring in flame-based materials synthesis applications, and pollution control studies. The objective of the current study is to investigate the application of dynamic light scattering (DLS) to flames as an extension of current measurement technologies. Unlike previous DLS flame studies, conventional polarized DLS is supplemented with depolarized DLS measurements to account for the agglomerates' anisotropy. Because unavailable relationships between the agglomerates' morphological parameters and the Brownian translational and rotational diffusion coefficients under non-continuum conditions are required for accurately …

Go to article

Removal Of Hydrophobic Organic Compounds And Surfactants From Wastewater: Polyaphron-Enhanced Solvent Extraction And Biodegradation., Chunlong Zhang Jan 1997

Removal Of Hydrophobic Organic Compounds And Surfactants From Wastewater: Polyaphron-Enhanced Solvent Extraction And Biodegradation., Chunlong Zhang

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Surfactant based processes are emerging and becoming increasingly important in pollution control. A novel predispersed solvent extraction (PDSE) technique using surfactant based colloidal liquid aphrons (CLAs or polyaphrons) and colloidal gas aphrons (CGAs) for the removal of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) from the aqueous phase was studied. The process involves an extraction of HOCs into CLAs, followed by a flotation using CGAs. Polyaphrons were characterized by a particle size analyzer. The size distribution was found to be bimodal. The effects of surfactant types, surfactant concentrations and storage times on the size distribution were studied. Polyaphrons have long shelf-lives and are …

Go to article

Genetics And Functions Of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (Hsv-1) Glycoprotein K (Gk) In Virus Envelopment And Egress., Sukhanya Jayachandra Jan 1997

Genetics And Functions Of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (Hsv-1) Glycoprotein K (Gk) In Virus Envelopment And Egress., Sukhanya Jayachandra

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

HSV-1(KOS)$\Delta$gK, a virus lacking the UL53 gene coding for glycoprotein K(gK) was constructed, characterized and compared to the partially deleted gK-null virus HSV-1(F)-gK$\beta$. $\Delta$gK and F-gK$\beta$ viruses produced microscopic plaques on Vero cells at 48 hours post infection. F-gK$\beta$ plaques at 72 hours post infection contained fused cells (syn), while $\Delta$gK plaques resembled wild-type KOS plaques ($syn\sp+$). $\Delta$gK replicated efficiently in exponentially dividing Vero cells whereas F-gK$\beta$ yields were 10 and 1000-fold lower than $\Delta$gK yields in HEp-2 or log-phase Vero cells, respectively. Electron micrographs of $\Delta$gK-infected Vero cells revealed large numbers of capsids in the nuclei of Vero, but …

Go to article

Optimization And Scale-Up Of Thiarubrine A Production From Hairy Root Cultures Of Ambrosia Artemisiifolia., Santosh G. Bhagwath Jan 1997

Optimization And Scale-Up Of Thiarubrine A Production From Hairy Root Cultures Of Ambrosia Artemisiifolia., Santosh G. Bhagwath

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Thiarubrine A (TA), a plant secondary metabolite synthesized by members of the family Asteraceae possesses antifungal and antiviral properties and is a potential pharmaceutical. The objective of the work was the optimization and scale-up of a bioprocess for the production of TA using hairy root cultures of Ambrosia artemisiifolia. At the inception of the work an established hairy root culture of the model system was used as inoculum in reactor experiments for the development of a protocol for the quantification of TA and in subsequent shake flask experiments to determine optimum culture conditions. TA accumulation closely paralleled growth and then …

Go to article

The Organ Symphony: Its Evolution In France And Transformation In Selected Works By American Composers Of The Twentieth Century., Richard Edward Beckford Jan 1997

The Organ Symphony: Its Evolution In France And Transformation In Selected Works By American Composers Of The Twentieth Century., Richard Edward Beckford

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

During the mid to late nineteenth century organ building and organ music in France underwent radical change. The French organ of the early nineteenth century was still the instrument of the French Classical school, the instrument of Clicquot and his predecessors. These instruments were limited in manual and pedal compass, variety and power of stops, and in their ability to vary expression and nuance. The great organ builder Aristide Cavaille-Coll changed all this and introduced to France instruments that were capable of tremendous tonal variety, nuance, and expressions. His instruments introduced many tonal changes particularly harmonic stops and stops that …

Go to article

New Developments In Portable Fast Gas Chromatography., Elena Ursula Ehrmann Jan 1997

New Developments In Portable Fast Gas Chromatography., Elena Ursula Ehrmann

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Currently commercially available portable gas chromatographs are suitable only for the analysis of volatile organic compounds, and do not include temperature programming capability. This dissertation presents the development of a novel direct at-column heater design and a pressure driven injection system that is compatible with semi-volatile analytes. The collinear and coaxial at-column heater designs incorporate heater and temperature sensing elements placed along the column. Resistive heating controls the column temperature via a feedback circuit and a software selected program. Linear temperature programming ramps up to 14$\sp\circ$C/s were obtained, with a total power consumption of less than 100 Watt. The accuracy …

Go to article

Cellulose-Reinforced Composites And Srim And Rtm Modeling., Mohammad Fahrurrozi Jan 1997

Cellulose-Reinforced Composites And Srim And Rtm Modeling., Mohammad Fahrurrozi

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Structural reaction injection molding (SRIM) cellulosic/polyurethane composites were prepared from various forms of cellulosic mats, and elastomeric polyurea-urethane (PUU) and rigid polyurethane (PU) formulations. Mats (woven and non-woven) prepared from different sources of fibers with lignin content ranging from zero (cotton) to at least 10% (sugar cane and kenaf fibers) performed comparably in PUU/cellulosic composites. Young's modulus and tensile strength of PUU/cellulosic composites were doubled with 5% and 7% fiber loading respectively. Young's modulus and tensile strength of PU/cellulosic composites were improved by 300% and 30%, respectively, with 7% fiber loading, whereas their bending moduli and strengths were improved up …

Go to article

Gravity-Assisted Tertiary Gas Injection Process In Water-Drive Oil Reservoirs., Bogdan Lepski Jan 1997

Gravity-Assisted Tertiary Gas Injection Process In Water-Drive Oil Reservoirs., Bogdan Lepski

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

In dipping, water-drive reservoirs, substantial incremental oil can be produced using gravity-assisted gas injection improved recovery processes. These processes include the Double Displacement Process (DDP) and the Second-Contact Water Displacement (SCWD). The efficiency of these processes depends, in part, on phase distribution in the pore space after gas injection which in turn depends on interfacial and surface tensions (IFT) of the phases involved. The research described here-in pertains to experimental work performed to investigate various aspects of the DDP and the SCWD in both homogenous and heterogeneous rock types with dead oil/nitrogen and recombined-oil/methane fluid systems. Additional work was performed …

Go to article

The Influence Of Violence Upon Academic Achievement Among African American First Time College Students., Diana F. Kelly Jan 1997

The Influence Of Violence Upon Academic Achievement Among African American First Time College Students., Diana F. Kelly

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the relationship between early exposure to violence--both personal and community--and the later academic achievement of African American first time college students. The study incorporated several variables that were thought to impinge upon the academic achievement process. Specifically, those variables were divided into several groups: background factors (socioeconomic status, high school academic record, personal and community violence exposure), student characteristics (locus of control, educational aspirations and expectations), and university characteristics (campus safety, academic and social integration). Student achievement was measured by students' expected grade point average, as indicated on a student questionnaire. University administrators, professors, and researchers who …

Go to article

Approach-Avoidance Behavior Of Consumers As Influenced By Existing And Supplemental Merchandise Display Lighting., Paulette R. Hebert Jan 1997

Approach-Avoidance Behavior Of Consumers As Influenced By Existing And Supplemental Merchandise Display Lighting., Paulette R. Hebert

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study explored the influence of lighting on consumer approach-avoidance behavior. A methodology was developed to empirically measure the approach-avoidance behavior of consumers. Supplemental lighting on merchandise displays in two non-urban retail stores was temporarily installed and manipulated On or Off to test for the effects on consumer behaviors of Time at Display, Number of Items Touched and Number of Items Picked Up. Video cameras were positioned to record consumers' actions at each display. Subjects consisted of an accidental sample of consumers who visited the field settings, a hardware store and a western/apparel feed store, during the two consecutive weekends …

Go to article

Characterization Of Aminoalkylcarbamoyl Cellulosic And Chitosan Derivatives For Use In Cosmetic Formulation., Melissa Ann Manuszak Guerrini Jan 1997

Characterization Of Aminoalkylcarbamoyl Cellulosic And Chitosan Derivatives For Use In Cosmetic Formulation., Melissa Ann Manuszak Guerrini

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Polymer and surfactant interactions have been a subject of intense research due to industrial applications utilizing a polymer-surfactant system, such as cosmetic formulation. A series of aminoalkylcarbamoyl cellulose derivatives were prepared from the amidation of methylcarboxymethyl cellulose. These derivatives were quaternized with either iodomethane, or hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium chloride, or epichlorohydrin and dimethylamine to yield polyquaternary ammonium salts. The focus of this dissertation is the characterization of a family of these compounds based on N,N$\sp\prime$,-dimethylethylene diamine. As these compounds are similar to Polyquaternium 10, a quaternized hydroxyethyl cellulose derivative, the solution properties have been characterized; antimicrobial activity and keratin affinity have …

Go to article

Performance And Analysis Of Segmented Multiple Bus Systems., Jungjoon Kim Jan 1997

Performance And Analysis Of Segmented Multiple Bus Systems., Jungjoon Kim

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The dissertation introduces a new class of bus-based systems called the Segmented Multiple Bus System (SMBS). One of the unique characteristics of the SMBS is that it allows the exploitation of memory reference locality even though it is a bus-based nondirect network. This comes from the architectural interconnection feature that the SMBS can be viewed as a large-scale multiple bus system (MBS) that has been partitioned into smaller partitions called segments. Each such segment is in effect a small conventional MBS whose size is chosen so as to avoid bus loading problems. The SMBS overcomes the architectural limitations of bus-based …

Go to article

Electrochemical And Spectroscopic Studies Of Boron And Sulfur Species In Nonaqueous Media., Jianzhong Liu Jan 1997

Electrochemical And Spectroscopic Studies Of Boron And Sulfur Species In Nonaqueous Media., Jianzhong Liu

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Room temperature molten salts have been of interest because of their unique properties such as aprotic nature and excellent Lewis acid-base adjustability. They provide a novel medium for fundamental studies and constitute a promising electrolyte for metal plating and secondary batteries. In the present study, the room temperature N-Butyl-pyridinium chloride (BPC)-boron trichloride (BCl$\sb3)$ and mixed BCl$\sb3$-AlCl$\sb3$-BPC melts have been prepared and characterized using reaction stoichiometries, electrochemistry and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). At normal atmosphere and room temperature, even when excess BCl$\sb3$ was added, BCl$\sb3$-BPC melts have a constant composition of 52:48 mole ratio BCl$\sb3$:BPC. SIMS studies confirmed previous Raman …

Go to article

Technology In The English Composition Classroom: Freshman Composition Students Using The Internet To Plan Assignments And Conduct Research., Michael Allen Mccord Jan 1997

Technology In The English Composition Classroom: Freshman Composition Students Using The Internet To Plan Assignments And Conduct Research., Michael Allen Mccord

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The use of computer and electronic communication and network technology is becoming increasingly important not only in society in general, but also in the college-level English composition classroom. These technologies amount to what some researchers term "multilayered literacies" or "new grammars." However, there have been few systematic studies of how students actually use these technologies. The current research presents a descriptive/naturalistic study of how students both learn and use the new electronic technologies as they accomplish research for, and respond to, a college-level writing assignment. This study examines the use of computers and networks by eight case study participants in …

Go to article

Academic Discipline, Mentoring, And The Career Commitment Of Women Faculty., Gloria Tara Nye Jan 1997

Academic Discipline, Mentoring, And The Career Commitment Of Women Faculty., Gloria Tara Nye

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Women continue to be underrepresented as faculty at U.S. universities, especially in the physical sciences and engineering. The belief that only women can adequately serve as role models and mentors for other women may be a roadblock to progress for women in disciplines where they are underrepresented. This study of women faculty investigates how female career commitment is influenced by academic discipline and mentoring. The survey responses of sixty-six tenure-track women faculty were used to obtain data for both science or engineering and non-science or engineering academic disciplines at three public Ph.D. granting research universities. The women faculty in science …

Go to article

Performance Of Composite Piping Systems: Thermal, Fire Endurance, And Joining Characteristics., Michael Andre Stubblefield Jan 1997

Performance Of Composite Piping Systems: Thermal, Fire Endurance, And Joining Characteristics., Michael Andre Stubblefield

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Composite piping systems are becoming the "System of Choice" in many applications previously the domain of metallic piping systems. For full acceptability and usage of these composite piping systems, new innovative approaches must be developed. Three areas of development are addressed; (i) thermal efficiency, (ii) fire endurance, and (iii) joining techniques. In the development of the energy conserving composite pipe, the thermal contact resistance acts as an additional insulating layer. A model and device to predict and measure the contact resistance for a pipe system has been developed. A corrugated layer, which acts as an enhanced contact resistance layer, forms …

Go to article

Photoemission Studies Of Magnetic Systems., Krishnan Subramanian Jan 1997

Photoemission Studies Of Magnetic Systems., Krishnan Subramanian

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

I have studied the electronic structure of thin films by photoelectron spectroscopy. My results show that even a monolayer film of Ni/Cu(001) exhibits bulk-like electronic structure and resembles that of bulk Ni. In order to better understand this result, I tracked the sp-band dimension at the Fermi surface of the Ni films for various coverages. For submonolayer coverages of Ni, the sp-band dimension was smaller than that of bulk Cu, but quickly reached that of bulk Ni by 1.2 ML Ni coverage. This continuous decrease implies a charge transfer from the Cu substrate to the Ni film, resulting in a …

Go to article

Coupled Field Equations For Saturated Soils And Its Application To Piezocone Penetration And Shield Tunneling., Murad Yusuf Abu-Farsakh Jan 1997

Coupled Field Equations For Saturated Soils And Its Application To Piezocone Penetration And Shield Tunneling., Murad Yusuf Abu-Farsakh

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

An elasto-plastic coupled system of equations are formulated here in order to describe the time-dependent deformation of saturated cohesive soils. Formulation of these equations is based on the principle of virtual work and the theory of mixtures for inelastic porous media as proposed by Prevost (1980) and Kiousis and Voyiadjis (1988). The saturated soil is considered as a mixture consisting of two deformable media, the solid grains and the water. Each medium is regarded as a continuum and follows its own motion. The coupled equations are developed for large deformations with finite strains in an updated Lagrangian reference frame. The …

Go to article

An Integrated Gps-Gis Methodology For Performing Travel Time Studies., Cesar A. Quiroga Jan 1997

An Integrated Gps-Gis Methodology For Performing Travel Time Studies., Cesar A. Quiroga

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation describes a methodology for conducting travel time studies based on global positioning system (GPS) receivers and geographic information system (GIS) technology. Compared to traditional approaches, the new methodology provides consistency, automation, finer levels of resolution, and better accuracy in measuring travel time and speed. These characteristics enable the detection of localized traffic effects much more efficiently than with traditional techniques. The new methodology automates the data collection and data reduction procedures, and provides improved procedures for documenting and analyzing travel time and speed data. As a result, large amounts of reliable travel time and speed data can be …

Go to article

A Theory Of Cortical Neural Processing., David Timothy Young Jan 1997

A Theory Of Cortical Neural Processing., David Timothy Young

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This dissertation puts forth an original theory of cortical neural processing that is unique in its view of the interplay of chaotic and stable oscillatory neurodynamics and is meant to stimulate new ideas in artificial neural network modeling. Our theory is the first to suggest two new purposes for chaotic neurodynamics: (i) as a natural means of representing the uncertainty in the outcome of performed tasks, such as memory retrieval or classification, and (ii) as an automatic way of producing an economic representation of distributed information. We developed new models, to better understand how the cerebral cortex processes information, which …

Go to article

Land/Water Interface Delineation Using Neural Networks., Rajabhushanam Cherukuri Jan 1997

Land/Water Interface Delineation Using Neural Networks., Rajabhushanam Cherukuri

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The rapid decline in acreage of land areas in wetlands caused by frequent inundations and flooding has brought about an increased awareness and emphasis on the identification and inventory of land and water areas. This dissertation evaluates three classification methods--Normalized Difference Vegetation Index technique, Artificial Neural Networks, and Maximum-Likelihood classifier for the delineation of land/water interface conditions using Landsat-TM imagery. The effects of three scaling algorithms, including resampling by aggregation, Gaussian smoothing, and local variance analysis, on the classification accuracy are analyzed to determine how the delineation, quantification and analysis of land/water boundaries relate to problems of mixed pixels, scale …

Go to article

The Sugar Masters: Slavery, Economic Development, And Modernization On Louisiana Sugar Plantations, 1820-1860., Richard J. Follett Jan 1997

The Sugar Masters: Slavery, Economic Development, And Modernization On Louisiana Sugar Plantations, 1820-1860., Richard J. Follett

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

In this dissertation, I contend that sugar planters in the antebellum South managed their estates progressively, efficiently, and with a capitalist political economy and ideology. By embracing slavery, technology, and a host of improvements, sugar planters strove to create integrated units producing, manufacturing, and marketing sugar on an agro-industrial scale. Despite a century of historiographical debate, historians remain divided over the incompatibility of slavery with industrial and agricultural innovation. Whether they look to Adam Smith or Karl Marx, most historians deem free labor a necessity for technology and growth. This, however, appears inaccurate, as antebellum sugar planters confidently advocated improvement …

Go to article

Stochastic Techniques For The Solution Of Electrostatic Problems With Applications To Electron Optics., Elias Kougianos Jan 1997

Stochastic Techniques For The Solution Of Electrostatic Problems With Applications To Electron Optics., Elias Kougianos

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

We apply stochastic techniques towards the solution of the two-dimensional Laplace's equation in boundary value problems encountered in the calculation of electrostatic potentials in electron lenses and deflectors. The justification of these techniques arises from an astonishingly simple but far-reaching principle, which has been known for a long time but has been rarely used: the potential at any point in the interior of a charge-free region can be calculated by performing random walks starting at this point and terminating at the boundary of the region--the potential is then the average of the potential boundary values (assumed known) over the random …

Go to article

The Rainbow Portrait And The Faery Queen: Emblem, Imagination And The Arthurian Gentleman., Robert Gibson Robinson Iii Jan 1997

The Rainbow Portrait And The Faery Queen: Emblem, Imagination And The Arthurian Gentleman., Robert Gibson Robinson Iii

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This work re-interprets the symbolism of the emblematic "Rainbow" portrait (c. 1600) of Elizabeth I. The traditional title comes from the identification of the rainbow in the portrait as that of Genesis 9:13. In fact, this work demonstrates, it is the philosophers' rainbow, a cryptonym for the colors--black, red, white--of the three stages of alchemic transmutation: purification, illumination, perfection. Elizabeth is represented as the Faery Queen, the alchemical monarch--historically the pre-Homeric Hecate--who transmutes not only the brazen world of her subjects but their brassy selves as well. In the text the portrait is therefore designated the "Alchemists' Rainbow" portrait, the …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last