Digital Commons Network^™

Novel Pitch Detection Algorithm With Application To Speech Coding, Vijay Kura

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis introduces a novel method for accurate pitch detection and speech segmentation, named Multi-feature, Autocorrelation (ACR) and Wavelet Technique (MAWT). MAWT uses feature extraction, and ACR applied on Linear Predictive Coding (LPC) residuals, with a wavelet-based refinement step. MAWT opens the way for a unique approach to modeling: although speech is divided into segments, the success of voicing decisions is not crucial. Experiments demonstrate the superiority of MAWT in pitch period detection accuracy over existing methods, and illustrate its advantages for speech segmentation. These advantages are more pronounced for gain-varying and transitional speech, and under noisy conditions.

An Investigation And Comparison Of Accepted Design Methodologies For The Analysis Of Laterally Loaded Foundations, Chad Rachel

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Single piles and pile groups are frequently subjected to high lateral forces. The safety and functionality of many structures depends on the ability of the supporting pile foundation to resist the resulting lateral forces. In the analysis and design of laterally loaded piles, two criterions usually govern. First, the deflection at the working load should not be so excessive as to impair the proper function of the supporting member. Second, the ultimate strength of the pile should be high enough to take the load imposed on it under the worst loading condition. Typically, pile length, pile section, soil type, and …

The Dynastine Scarab Beetles Of Costa Rica And Panama (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Dynastinae), Brett C. Ratcliffe

Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum (1924–2023)

The 157 species of dynastine scarab beetles that occur in Costa Rica and Panama are comprehensively reviewed. Keys, descriptions, distributions, and notes on biology are provided for all species as well as illustrations and maps. The larvae of Enema endymion, Heterogomphus chevrolati, and Dynastes hercules are described for the first time. Also included are synopses of the higher-level taxa, a glossary, a gazetteer of place names, and a species checklist.

The following new species are described: Cyclocephala alazona, C. enigma, C. labidion, C. marylizae, C. mustacha, C. stockwelli, C. una mas (all Cyclocephalini); Irazua dilicra (Oryctini); Amblyoproctus centroamericanus, Hemiphileurus curoei, …

Perilous Polities? Regime Transition And Conflict 1950-2000, Ursula Daxecker

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

While evidence continues to mount that democracies resort to military force reluctantly, the transition to democracy may in fact be a dangerous and conflictual one. With the eyes of the world now focused squarely on democratization, a reassessment of the relationship between regime change and inter-state conflict seems fitting. To date, the evidence remains mixed. No clear consensus has emerged on whether regime transition either increases or decreases conflict propensities. The research here builds on models of democratization and conflict by including a more fully specified vector of conflict variables and by using an updated set of cases. Further, interaction …

A Comparison Of Predicted Brace Loads In Temporary Retaining Structures And Observed Brace Loads In Two Full Scale Test Sections, Daniel Haggerty

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents analyses of the results of a geotechnical instrumentation program performed by Eustis Engineering Company for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) during the construction of two covered canals in New Orleans, Louisiana. At each site, a cast-in-place concrete culvert was constructed within a sheeted and braced excavation. Information provided by Eustis Engineering Company to the USACE is presented describing the existing soil conditions, the construction schedule, the geotechnical testing apparatus and instrumentation, and the data produced from the geotechnical instrumentation program. In this thesis, several theoretical approaches available for estimating the strut loads in braced excavations …

Determination Of Phase Fraction, Lattice Parameters And Crystallite Size In Mechanically Alloyed Fe-Ni Powders, Dileep Simhadri

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This is the first systematic report on the synthesis of mechanically alloyed Fe-Ni powders ball milled at liquid nitrogen temperature. Pure Fe-Ni samples were ball milled in a SPEX 8000 shaker mill at liquid nitrogen temperature. X-ray diffractometry was used to determine the phase fractions of the bcc and fcc phases in the alloys and to determine the lattice parameters and crystallite size. The main objective of this project is to study how the milling at low temperatures affects the region of two phase co-existence, phase structure and crystallite size. It was found that the composition ranges of the bcc …

Dna Microarray Data Analysis And Mining: Affymetrix Software Package And In-House Complementary Packages, Lizhe Xu

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Data management and analysis represent a major challenge for microarray studies. In this study, Affymetrix software was used to analyze an HIV-infection data. The microarray analysis shows remarkably different results when using different parameters provided by the software. This highlights the fact that a standardized analysis tool, incorporating biological information about the genes is needed in order to better interpret the microarray study. To address the data management problem, in-house programs, including scripts and a database, were designed. The in-house programs were also used to overcome problems and inconveniences discovered during the data analysis, including management of the gene lists. …

A Theoretical And Empirical Analysis Of The Impact Of The Digital Age On The Music Industry, Norbert Michel

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

We present an in-depth analysis of the music industry and use our findings to judge the practical assumptions and design of an original theoretical model. The model is in three stages, where, in a Hotelling-type framework, the last agents to act are consumers who choose between copying, purchasing, or staying out of the market for music. Prior to the last stage, the record label chooses its profit maximizing price and, in the first stage, we incorporate the artist-label bargaining agreement into a theoretical framework using the Nash cooperative bargaining solution. The current structure of the music industry is a combination …

Best Linear Unbiased Estimation Fusion With Constraints, Keshu Zhang

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Estimation fusion, or data fusion for estimation, is the problem of how to best utilize useful information contained in multiple data sets for the purpose of estimating an unknown quantity — a parameter or a process. Estimation fusion with constraints gives rise to challenging theoretical problems given the observations from multiple geometrically dispersed sensors: Under dimensionality constraints, how to preprocess data at each local sensor to achieve the best estimation accuracy at the fusion center? Under communication bandwidth constraints, how to quantize local sensor data to minimize the estimation error at the fusion center? Under constraints on storage, how to …

An Accurate Vo2max Non-Exercise Regression Model For 18 To 65 Year Old Adults, Danielle I. Bradshaw

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop a regression equation to predict VO2max based on non-exercise (N-EX) data. All participants (N = 100), aged 18-65 years old, successfully completed a maximal graded exercise test (GXT) to assess VO2max (mean ± SD; 39.96 mL∙kg-¹∙min&sup-1; ± 9.54 mL∙kg-¹∙min-¹). The N-EX data collected just before the maximal GXT included the participant's age, gender, body mass index (BMI), perceived functional ability (PFA) to walk, jog, or run given distances, and current physical activity (PA-R) level. Multiple linear regression generated the following N-EX prediction equation (R = .93, SEE = 3.45 mL∙kg-¹∙min-¹, %SEE = …

Breaking Of Thunderstorm-Generated Gravity Waves As A Source Of Short-Period Ducted Waves At Mesopause Altitudes, Jonathan B. Snively, Victor P. Pasko

Publications

Numerical simulation results indicate that the breaking of atmospheric gravity waves generated by tropospheric convection can excite short-period secondary waves, which are trapped in the lower thermospheric duct and which closely resemble quasi-monochromatic structures commonly observed in airglow imaging experiments.

Environmental Performance Of Coal Slag And Garnet As Abrasives, Sanjay Datar

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

This study was aimed at understanding the environmental performance of two abrasives, coal slag and garnet which are commonly used by shipyards and many other industries in surface preparation of metallic surfaces. Environmental performance evaluated in this study included, (1) productivity (ft2/hr), (2) consumption and or used-abrasive generation rate (ton/2000 ft2; lb/ ft2), (3) particulate emission factors (mg/ft2; mg/lb; lb/lb; lb/kg; lb/ton). In order to achieve the study objectives, an emission test facility was built and necessary equipment and materials were procured. Blasting was performed on rusted steel panels inside the test facility and emissions were measured using EPA Source …

Development Of Discontinuous Galerkin Method For 1-D Inviscid Burgers Equation, Kiran Voonna

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The main objective of this research work is to apply the discontinuous Galerkin method to a classical partial differential equation to investigate the properties of the numerical solution and compare the numerical solution to the analytical solution by using discontinuous Galerkin method. This scheme is applied to 1-D non-linear conservation equation (Burgers equation) in which the governing differential equation is simplified model of the inviscid Navier-stokes equations. In this work three cases are studied. They are sinusoidal wave profile, initial shock discontinuity and initial linear distribution. A grid and time step refinement is performed. Riemann fluxes at each element interfaces …

Electrospray Fundamentals And Non-Covalent Peptide-Lipid Interactions As Studied By Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Reonance Mass Spectrometry, Yan Li

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A novel electrochemical probe has been designed, built, and used to characterize the distribution in solution potential within the metal capillary and Taylor cone of the electrospray (ES) device. Results show that the measured potential difference increases as the internal probe travels toward the ES capillary exit, with values rising sharply as the base of the Taylor cone is penetrated. Higher conductivity solutions exhibit potentials of higher magnitude at longer distances away from the counter electrode, but these same solutions show lower potentials near the ES capillary exit. Removal of easily oxidizable species from the solution causes the measured potential …

Jb Hunt Transp Inc V. Usf Distribution Ser

2003 Decisions

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Sexual Risk Taking In Adolescence: The Role Of Self-Regulation And Attraction To Risk, Marcela Raffaelli, Lisa J. Crockett

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Precursors of adolescent sexual risk taking were examined in a multiethnic sample consisting of 443 children (51% girls) of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth participants. Respondents were 12–13 years old in 1994 and 16–17 in 1998. Controlling for demographic and contextual factors, self-regulation—but not risk proneness—was significantly (modestly) associated with overall sexual risk taking 4 years later, Analyses of individual sexual behaviors indicated that self-regulation may affect choices made after becoming sexually active (e.g. number of partners) rather than the initiation of sexual activity. Measures of parent and peer influence had independent effects on sexual risk taking but did not …

Boone V. Comm Social Security

2003 Decisions

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Tucker V. Varner

2003 Decisions

United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Comparison Of The Inverse Probability Of Treatment Weighted (Iptw) Estimator With A Naïve Estimator In The Analysis Of Longitudinal Data With Time-Dependent Confounding: A Simulation Study, Thaddeus Haight, Romain Neugebauer, Ira B. Tager, Mark J. Van Der Laan

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

A simulation study was conducted to compare estimates from a naïve estimator, using standard conditional regression, and an IPTW (Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighted) estimator, to true causal parameters for a given MSM (Marginal Structural Model). The study was extracted from a larger epidemiological study (Longitudinal Study of Effects of Physical Activity and Body Composition on Functional Limitation in the Elderly, by Tager et. al [accepted, Epidemiology, September 2003]), which examined the causal effects of physical activity and body composition on functional limitation. The simulation emulated the larger study in terms of the exposure and outcome variables of interest-- physical …

Mccurdy V. Dodd

2003 Decisions

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

Massaro V. Comm Social Security

2003 Decisions

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

Usa V. Perez

2003 Decisions

United States District Court of the Virgin Islands

Hayes V. Fed Bur Prisons

2003 Decisions

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

Camden City Environmental Center Site Based Curriculum And Teacher Activity Guide, Wanda D. Little

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this curriculum and teacher activity guide is to provide Camden City School District's Environmental Center Program with a curriculum for kindergarten through fourth grade students. The curriculum provides students with site-based lessons and activities that are aligned and correlated with New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Science, and the Excellence in Environmental Education Guidelines For Learning (K - 12). The Site-Based Curriculum and Teacher Activity Guide, upon approval by the Camden City School District Board of Education, will provide students with guided discovery experiences that introduce new ideas, dispel misconceptions and reinforce previous learning.

The scope …

Perceptions And Barriers To Welfare Reform, Patricia Joan Weaver

Psychology

The current study examined the barriers and perceptions of Welfare Reform of welfare recipients answering questions through a survey in Alaska's Northern Regional area (Appendix A). The areas covered in the survey concerned family health and well-being, barriers to getting a job, and how they are managing on and off welfare. An area of central concern was to understand how families reported that they were managing after closure. The major problem identified was the ability to pay monthly bills and purchase food. Families were also concerned with finding an appropriate childcare provider and their inability to obtain health care coverage. …

A Place For The Birds: The Legacy Of Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, Jessica A. Ryan

Arctic and Northern Studies

This thesis details the farming history and current importance of the Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge in Fairbanks, Alaska. More significantly, it is the story of a grassroots effort by the community of Fairbanks, working with a kindly old farmer, to preserve open land in the heart of a rapidly expanding city for the benefit of the thousands of migrating cranes, geese and ducks that rely upon the grain fields each spring and fall. Because of their vision, Creamer's Field has become a center for environmental education, outdoor recreation, and biological research while actively providing for the needs of wildlife.

Investigation And Development Of A Mathematical Model For The Oxidation Of Cyanide In The Inco So₂/O₂ Process, James L. Oleson

Engineering

The purpose of this study was to develop a mathematical model to describe the oxidation of cyanide with SO₂ as proposed in the INCO process. This research employed a direct method for measuring the change in cyanide concentration with respect to time as affected by varying concentrations of SO₂ and copper and pH. This model may be applicable in determining optimum conditions in a process well known and used in the mining industry.

Assembly Of Α4Β2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors Assessed With Functional Fluorescently Labeled Subunits: Effects Of Localization, Trafficking, And Nicotine-Induced Upregulation In Clonal Mammalian Cells And In Cultured Midbrain Neurons, Raad Nashmi, Mary E. Dickinson, Sheri Mckinney, Mark Jareb, Cesar Labarca, Scott E. Fraser E. Fraser, Henry A. Lester

Biology Faculty Publications

Fura-2 recording of Ca²⁺ influx was used to show that incubation in 1 μM nicotine (2–6d) upregulates several pharmacological components of acetylcholine (ACh) responses in ventral midbrain cultures, including a MLA-resistant, DHβE-sensitive component that presumably corresponds to α4β2 receptors. To study changes in α4β2 receptor levels and assembly during this upregulation, we incorporated yellow and cyan fluorescent proteins (YFPs and CFPs) into the α4 or β2 M3–M4 intracellular loops, and these subunits were coexpressed in human embryonic kidney (HEK) 293T cells and cultured ventral midbrain neurons. The fluorescent …

Meeting Notes 2003-12-17 [Part B] , Joint Policy Advisory Committee On Transportation

Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation

No abstract provided.

Hydrovolcanism In Okmok Caldera, Alaska, Leslie Deanne Almberg

Geosciences

Hydrovolcanic activity in Okmok Caldera predominated on the crater floor during approximately the first 775 years after the caldera collapsed at 2050 yr. B.P. Interactions between rising magma and shallow water (<100 m) controlled the development of lithofacies observed in the early post-caldera deposits. The distinctive lithofacies reflect the eruptive processes active as Cone D, a composite tuff, lava flow, and cinder cone, breached the surface of a lake which once covered the caldera floor. Three phases of eruptive activity constructed Cone D: first, a subaqueous cycle; second, emergent; and finally a purely subaerial strombolian and hawaiian phase built the edifice to its current height. Radiocarbon dates provide constraining ages for a catastrophic flood that emptied the 4.3 x 10⁹ m³ caldera lake and exposed the subaqueous lithofacies. An effusion rate of 2.7 x 10⁶ m³yr⁻¹ for this early eruptive period is calculated using eruptive volumes determined from a 5-m resolution DEM, based on AirSAR data. The prehistoric effusion rate determined for Cone D is on the same order of magnitude as the calculated historic effusion rate of 5.3 x 10⁶ m³yr⁻¹ from Cone A, based on mapped extents and thicknesses of lava flows and the cone itself.