Digital Commons Network^™

Fuzzifying [Sic] Markov Decision Process, Ahmed Syed Irshad

LSU Master's Theses

Markov decision processes have become an indispensable tool in applications as diverse as equipment maintenance, manufacturing systems, inventory control, queuing networks and investment analysis. Typically we have a controlled Markov chain on a suitable state space in which transitional probabilities depend on the policy (or decision maker) which comes from a set of possible actions. The main problem of interest would be to find an optimal policy that minimizes the associated cost. Linear Programming has been widely used to find the optimal Markov decision policy. It requires solutions of large systems of simultaneous linear equations. By the fact that the …

Milton's "Covering Cherub": The Influence Of Stanley Fish's Surprised By Sin On Twentieth-Century Milton Criticism, Thomas Thoits

LSU Master's Theses

During a time when ideological debates between Milton critics remained largely unresolved, Stanley Fish reconciled both sides of the “Milton Controversy” with Surprised by Sin, positing a theoretically sophisticated method that centers the poem’s meaning in the reader’s experience. Christian and non-Christian critics became enfranchised in critical debate since their reactions, according to Fish, were valid and intended by Milton. Borrowing his intentionalist approach from A.J.A. Waldock, Fish asserts his version of both author and text while implicitly employing a radically subjective hermeneutics. Fish focuses on the multiple and contradictory linguistic meanings within Paradise Lost, locating the source of these …

Do You Speak English?: A Study On English Language Proficiency Testing Of Hispanic Defendants In U.S. Criminal Courts, Jana Anette Radmann

LSU Master's Theses

Hispanics are not only the largest language minority in the United States, but also in U.S. prisons. An increasing number of primarily Spanish-speaking defendants face the legal and linguistic challenges of a U.S. courtroom. Constitutional and statutory protections have been put in place to guarantee that non-native English defendants have access to a court interpreter during their trial. Yet, under these protections it is left to the presiding judge to determine whether a court interpreter is truly needed. Thus, the judge has to determine if the comprehension of the non-native English defendant is “sufficiently inhibited” as to require language assistance …

Blaine's Name In Vain: State Constitutions, School Choice, And Charitable Choice, Jill Goldenziel

Denver Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation Of Reproductive Health Services In Bolivia, Fernando Gonzales Salguero, Antonieta Martin, Rosario Perez Mendoza, Ricardo Vernon

Reproductive Health

The Bolivian Ministry of Health and Sports and the Integral Health Project, with the technical assistance of the Population Council’s Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program (FRONTIERS), tested several strategies to make health services in Bolivia more culturally appropriate for the country’s indigenous peoples. The goal of the project was to increase women’s access to, use of, and satisfaction with health services in general, and reproductive health services in particular, through: a) enhanced understanding and acceptance of the “other” culture; b) improving communication skills; c) facilitating and promoting use of the Quechua language in clinics; d) systematically screening clients’ health service …

Translation As Transmission And Transformation, Jay L. Garfield

Philosophy: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Secured Email Using Steganography / Syaiful Annuar Omar, Omar Syaiful Annuar

Student Works (2000-2009)

Bagi memenuhi keperluan dan syarat bergraduasi yang telah ditetapkan oleh FSKTM, saya telah memilih Secured Email Using Steganography sebagai tajuk Latihan Ilmiah saya. Sepanjang tempoh Latihan Ilmiah tersebut, saya dan seorang lagi rakan saya telah memilih tajuk yang sama dibawah selain Puan Fazidah Bte Othman. Tajuk ini telah dipecahkan kepada dua modul utama iaitu modul pelayan email (email server) dan juga model steganography. Daripada pecahan kedua-dua modul ini, saya telah memilih modul yang kedua iaitu sistem steganography sebagai tajuk latihan ilmiah saya. Sistem Steganography adalah merupakan sistem keselamatan data yang kini semakin popular dikalangan pengguna siber. Ini dapat dibuktikan melalui …

Child's Temperament And Conscious Sedation Outcomes, Jennifer Mark Dixon

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of child temperament and its effect on the outcome of conscious sedation using the following agents: Chloral Hydrate (35mg/kg), Meperidine (2mg/kg), and Hydroxyzine (2mg/kg).The Emotionality, Activity, Sociability (EAS) Temperament Survey for Children was used to measure the child's temperament. The temperament survey measures three realms (Emotionality, Activity, Sociability/Shyness). The sedation outcomes were rated using the modified North Carolina Behavior Rating Scale (NCBRS) from 1-4 (Quiet, Annoyed, Upset, and Wild). The final sample population consisted of 34 children, 24 girls (71%) and 10 boys (29%), ranging in age from 0-9 years …

Exploring Classical And Contemporary Conception Of Ethos Applied Case-The Rhetorical Ethos Of President George W. Bush, Bobby J. Antrobus

Theses and Dissertations

By exploring classical and contemporary conceptions of rhetorical ethos, this thesis assembles theories of analysis and then applies them in the form of rhetorical analysis of the rhetorical ethos exhibited by President George W. Bush in his presidential speeches. The theoretical investigation reveals the extensive use of the ethical appeal in all manner of rhetorical situations in the contemporary world but especially focuses on how political rhetoric has come to rely predominantly on this persuasive appeal. The study examines several speeches given by President Bush and concludes that his success as president is attributed largely to the sophisticated rhetorical strategies …

Reflections On The Perpetual Myth Of The University As Seeker Of Truth, Michael I. Krauss

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

David Reimer's Legacy: Limiting Parental Discretion, Hazel Glenn Beh, Milton Diamond

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article argues that parents should not have unilateral authority to consent to surgeries aimed at normalizing intersex children's genitalia. It emphasizes that such decisions should be deferred until the child can make informed choices, highlighting the long-term psychological and physical risks associated with early surgeries.

Outside The Law: Intersex, Medicine And The Discourse Of Rights, Jo Bird

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article argues that the legal system perpetuates the erasure of intersex individuals by constructing intersex as a medical rather than a legal issue, leading to human rights violations. It contends that the law requires individuals to fit into a binary sex classification to be recognized as fully human, thereby denying intersex people legal visibility and protection. The article advocates for the recognition of intersex as a legal category to address the systemic discrimination and violence intersex individuals face, particularly in medical practices.

What Happened At Hopkins: The Creation Of The Intersex Management Protocols, Alison Redick

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article examines the development of intersex management protocols at Johns Hopkins University, highlighting their significance as a pivotal shift in medical treatment and the conceptual understanding of sex and gender. It argues that these protocols, introduced by John Money and his team in 1955, moved away from a case-by-case approach to a standardized method, influenced by Money's theory of gender acquisition, which emphasized environmental factors over biological ones. The protocols aimed to enforce binary gender norms through practices like early surgical interventions, which the article critiques as flawed and harmful.

Table Of Contents - Cardozo Women's Law Journal, Vol. 11, Iss. 2

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

No abstract provided.

From Lavender To Purple: Privacy, Black Women, And Feminist Legal Theory, Jennifer C. Nash

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The article critiques traditional feminist legal theory for its narrow view of privacy as inherently oppressive, particularly for women of color. It argues that privacy can be a source of empowerment and safety for Black women, challenging the one-size-fits-all approach of mainstream feminist theory. The author advocates for a more nuanced, intersectional perspective that considers how privacy affects different groups differently.

Sites Of Resistance: Language, Intertextuality, And Subjectivity In The Poetry Of Diane Wakoski, Cordelia Maxwell Hanemann

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation explores the interconnectedness of language and related cultural texts and women’s subjectivity. The poststructuralist feminist enterprise of examining and critiquing language and signifying practices for the ways in which they impose social values and of interrogating and undermining the fixity of meanings in cultural texts will serve as my primary frame. Concerned with the individual (gendered) consciousness, poststructuralist feminist theory of subject formation posits that while language, along with ideologically biased texts of the culture, construct subjects, language and the cultural texts also serve as sites of resistance for the deconstruction and reconception of individual and collective subjectivities. …

Recovering Ancient Ritual And The Theatre Of The Apache: A Journey Through The False Consciousness Of Western Theatre History, Marla Kathleen Dean

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines past cultural influences that have shaped theatre historians' perception of ancient Greek and contemporary Native American performance. It suggests that through a recognition of these influences, which have long tempered the Western narrative of theatre, ancient and Indigenous performance can be reviewed as similar forms of a lived exchange. The study tracks the formation of certain beliefs and assumptions within performance history through Roman, early Christian and Renaissance cultural identities. It notes the misrepresentation of oral and popular theatre within theatrical scholarship through its reliance upon the written remains of the ruling classes and confronts the notion …

A Case Study Inquiry Into The Relative Impact Of Balanced Reading Instruction On Hispanic Students In A Highly Culturally Diverse Elementary School, Rita Ramirez

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research explores the relative impact of Balanced Reading instruction upon Hispanic students in a highly culturally diverse elementary school. This case study inquiry focuses on Hispanic students learning to read in English in kindergarten, first and third grade, how these Hispanic students are affected by the classroom setting within the context of the Balanced Reading instructional framework of each respective grade, and what are the similarities and differences in the learning methodologies and strategies that impact the learning curve of these Hispanic students. The researcher collects qualitative data to determine the methods and strategies found to be most effective …

"To The Latest Generation": Cold War And Post Cold War U.S. Civil War Novels In Their Social Contexts, Jeffrey Neal Smithpeters

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation argues that readings of the Civil War novels published in America since 1955 should be informed by a consciousness of the social forces at work in each author’s time. Part One consists of a study of the popular Civil War novel, 1955’s Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor; part two, 1974’s The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. Chapters One through Three explain that Kantor was especially fitted for the ideological work going on in Andersonville, then outlines the way that novel tried to contribute to the transition between World War II and the Cold War. The book attempted to aid …

Teacher Beliefs And Practices Survey: Operationalizing The 1997 Naeyc Guidelines, Kyung-Ran Kim

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the psychometric properties of a revised measurement, the Teacher Beliefs and Practices Survey, devised for teachers of 3- to 5-year-old children. The measure was designed to reflect the concepts of DAP (developmentally appropriate practices) as presented in the revised 1997 NAEYC guidelines and consisted of 2 scales. Three hundred seventy five surveys completed by public kindergarten teachers in Southeast Louisiana were utilized in the study. Reliability was examined using internal consistency method. Cronbach¡¯s ¥á was .858 for the Beliefs Scale and .787 for the Instructional Activities Scale. Validity of the measure was examined in its content, criterion, …

Aquinas And The Knowledge Of God, Casey Edler

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis concerns the introduction of mystical knowledge into a debate about God that relies on scientific evidence. The thesis focuses in particular on the relevance of Thomas Aquinas' view of mystical experience. After first presenting Aquinas' theory of rapture as an anticipation of the beatific vision and distinguishing it from other ways of knowing God, I argue that such a theory convincingly renders mystical knowledge inadmissible into a debate about God that relies on scientific evidence, owing to one's inability to either remember or communicate such an experience. As a result, introducing mystical knowledge into the debate causes the …

African-American Women's Reception Influence And Utility Of Television Content: An Exploratory Qualitative Analysis, Bettye A. Grable

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study featured 33 in-depth interviews of college-aged, African-American women and offers baseline exploratory data about how a majority cultural artifact like televised depictions become utilized in the everyday lives of an underrepresented group in media studies. This research represents one of a few studies to explore how black females decode and utilize TV content, and offers a new theoretical framework to explain informants' decoded receptions, influence and utility of television. An inductive analysis of interview narratives found that viewers use TV content like a looking-glass to understand how they are seen by others and where they fit in …

A Conductor's Study Of Villa-Lobos's Magnificat-Alleluia And Bendita Sabedoria, Hoffmann Urquiza Pereira

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Heitor Villa-Lobos is one of the most important names in South American music and probably the most important name in Brazilian music. His musical output includes symphonies, symphonic poems, operas, chamber music, concertos, and choral music, among other genres. His choral music output is significant and includes pieces in which the chorus seems to be used for color and rhythm in a primarily instrumental texture, educational music, folk and secular pieces, large scale choral pieces, and sacred music. This document provides a brief survey of his choral music and a conductor's study of his last two choral works, Bendita Sabedoria …

Alice's Shadow: Childhood And Agency In Lewis Carroll's Photography, Illustrations, And Alice Texts, R. Nichole Rougeau

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The nineteenth century marks the emergence of a new literary market directed at the entertainment of children. However, a dichotomy exists concerning the image of childhood. Adults tended to idolize childhood in literature to reflect on their own lives ignoring the needs of children to possess an identity of their own. Essentially children are shadows of adults. Examinations of the shadows of childhood—children as shadows of adults, children shadowed by adults, the shadows as identifying children, and the shadows children themselves cast—lead to a discussion of agency over childhood. Lewis Carroll, entering this new literary market with his Alice series, …

The Everywhere Chronicles, Jamie Brownell Baldridge

LSU Master's Theses

The Everywhere Chronicles is a body of work that has been perambulating through my mind since the halcyon days of childhood. It is not intended as any sort of catharsis, metaphorical or otherwise, nor is it any forum of self discovery, accidental or intentional. These Chronicles are quite simply a journey into imagination, an exercise in "what ifs?". They confront the theory that Columbus was actually on a munchies run to an Indian Takeaway in Ipswich and simply took a wrong turn at the Antilles, and that the Lost City of Atlantis is alive and well somewhere outside of Duluth …

Feminist Hard-Boiled Detective Fiction As Political Protest In The Tradition Of Women Proletarian Writers Of The 1930s, Laura Ellen Ng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Contemporary feminist hard-boiled detective fiction has been studied as an adaptation of the traditional masculine hard-boiled detective genre. Writers such as Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, and Marcia Muller create compelling feminist protagonists to fill the role of detective. The successes and failures of these feminist detectives have then been measured against the standards created in the classic genre by Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain. The classic hard-boiled masculine genre came of age in the 1930s and 1940s at the same time as proletarian literature. The two genres share many characteristics including reliance upon first person narrative, the …

The Bewitchment Of Intelligence: Language And Ex Post Illusions Of Intention, Jeffrey M. Lipshaw

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

Lawyers who negotiate and litigate over complex deals have an intuitive notion of the value of what they do in connection with the contract. The arguments around technical contract language often are a lawyers' game; in most cases, what is clear would have been clear on a handshake; and what is tightly negotiated bears only a random relationship to the areas of future dispute. If they happen to have drafted tight and clear language around the particular matter in dispute, it is as much luck as foresight. Thereafter complex agreements can have binding effect for years, but most of the …

The Iconography Of Nationalism: Icons, Popular Culture, And American Nationalism, Dallas Hulsey

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Iconography of Nationalism: Icons, Popular Culture, and American Nationalism develops a model of cultural icons, defining icons as highly visible, culturally variable, and overdetermined auratic images. Situating icons within the context of mass reproduction technologies and American nationalism, this study seeks to demystify the simple images presented by infantile, national, and scapegoat icons in literature, film, and political rhetoric. This dissertation argues that icons participate in the American nationalist project by channeling citizens’ political and patriotic feelings through seemingly simple images. While acknowledging that icons are necessary to construct what Benedict Anderson calls “the imagined community” of the nation, …

The Impact Of School Reform Design, English Speakers Of Other Languages (Esol) Instruction And Socioeconomic Status On Esol Students' Reading Achievement, Cristina P. Valentino

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how school reform design, English speakers of other languages (ESOL) instruction, and socioeconomic status (SES) impact the academic achievement of ESOL students in Grade 2. Gains in lexile scores on the Scholastic Reading Inventory were used to measure one aspect of academic achievement, namely, general reading ability.

The primary research question was: To what extent can gains in lexile scores on the Scholastic Reading Inventory be explained by the independent variable set of school reform design (America's Choice/Direct Instruction), ESOL instruction (ESOL instruction/no ESOL instruction), and SES (free and reduced lunch/no free …

The Relationship Between The Papacy And The Jews In Twelfth-Century Rome: Papal Attitudes Toward Biblical Judaism And Contemporary European Jewry, Marie Therese Champagne

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The relationship of the papacy to the Jews in the Middle Ages, which had developed under the influences of Patristic writers, Roman law, and papal precedent, was marked in the twelfth century by toleration and increasing restriction, but also by papal protection. Between the First Crusade massacres of Jews and the restrictions and persecutions of the thirteenth century, the twelfth century is set apart as a unique era in the lives of European Jews. As Eugenius III (1145-1153) and Alexander III (1159-1181) extended their protection to the Jews of Rome and perhaps all of Christendom through the papal document Sicut …