Digital Commons Network^™

Commodity Price Fluctuations: A Century Of Analysis, Walter C. Labys

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

Commodity prices again! The twentieth century has only been the latest spectator to the impacts and importance of commodity price fluctuations. It is reasonably well known that commodity price records have come down to us from the ancient civilizations of India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome. Earlier in the century, formal research began on the relationships between agricultural demand, supply and prices in a market context. This research not only evolved in sophistication but extended to mineral and energy commodities. Also at the beginning of the century, some of the earliest work took place on applying statistical methods to price …

Assessing Demographic Changes And Income Inequalities: A Case Study Of West Virginia, Yohannes G. Hailu, Tesfa Gebremedhin, Randall Jackson

Regional Research Institute Working Papers

The study examines the trends in demographic changes and income inequalities in West Virginia from 1990 to 2000. The relationship between economic growth and income inequality is tested using a system of equations model and county level data. The empirical results indicate that except for 65 years and above age group, income inequality increased in all other age groups. The highest increase was in the age group under 25 years and those 35 to 44 years. Using 3-Stage-Least-Squares estimations, the endogenous dependent variable per capita income growth was positively related with population and employment growth, but it is significantly and …

The Teaching Of Harmony And Composition In The French Conservatoire In The Nineteenth Century - The Importance And Influence Of Reicha And Fétis, Gloria Toplis

Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy

In 1818 Antoine Reicha was appointed teacher of counterpoint at the École Royale de Musique et de Déclamation. He was joined in 1821 by F-J. Fétis. At the time of their appointment each of these two composers brought to the École an established reputation as a teacher and a philosophy of teaching well considered, though the ideas and the musical repertoire which each called upon in his teaching differed from that of the other and of the teachers of composition of longstanding whom they joined at the École. Reicha and Fétis are rarely discussed in the same context. Fétis, from …

The Subjectivity Of Visual Inspection: Variables That Influence Inspector Decisions About Quality At A Cabinet Manufacturing Business, Bradley R. Bechthold

Graduate Research Papers

The following paper is an investigative project on the subjectivity of visual inspection by finished goods inspectors at a custom cabinet manufacturer located in northeast Iowa. The company manufactures custom and semi-custom kitchen and bath cabinets; with very few of the ~ 1.6 million pieces shipped each year being exactly alike in design, wood species, or color. The company employs over 1200 associates that support a three shift manufacturing operation.

The focus of the study involved the subjectivity of visually inspecting the company's finished product, while exploring elements in the manufacturing arena which affect inspector decisions. Some variables explored include …

Domination Graphs Of Tournaments And Other Digraphs, Deborah J. Bergstrand, L. M. Friedler

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Relative Growth On Information In Two-Dimensional Partitions, K. Dajani, M. De Vries, Aimee S.A. Johnson

Mathematics & Statistics Faculty Works

Let ... ∈ [0, 1)^sup 2^. In this paper we find the rate at which knowledge about the partition elements ... lies in for one sequence of partitions determines the partition elements it lies in for another sequence of partitions. This rate depends on the entropy of these partitions and the geometry of their shapes, and gives a two-dimensional version of Lochs' theorem.

Cyclic Maps In Rational Homotopy Theory, Gregory Lupton, Sam Smith

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

The notion of a cyclic map g:A→X is a natural generalization of a Gottlieb element in π n (X). We investigate cyclic maps from a rational homotopy theory point of view. We show a number of results for rationalized cyclic maps which generalize well-known results on the rationalized Gottlieb groups.

Homotopy Actions, Cyclic Maps And Their Duals, Martin Arkowitz, Gregory Lupton

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

An action of A on X is a map F: AxX to X such that F|_X = id: X to X. The restriction F|_A: A to X of an action is called a cyclic map. Special cases of these notions include group actions and the Gottlieb groups of a space, each of which has been studied extensively. We prove some general results about actions and their Eckmann-Hilton duals. For instance, we classify the actions on an H-space that are compatible with the H-structure. As a corollary, we prove that if any two actions F and F' of A on X …

How Many Years Of Life Could Be Saved If Malaria Were Eliminated From A Hyperendemic Area Of Northern Ghana?, Ayaga A. Bawah, Fred N. Binka

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For some time, Chinese government policies have treated rural and urban areas very differently, and a by-product of China’s rapid development seems to be an even greater differentiation between urban and rural social and economic life. Over the next several decades, in part because of rapid fertility declines and in part as a result of mortality declines at older ages, China and other developing countries will experience enormous increases in the proportion of older adults and the proportion of the “oldest-old.” It is reasonable to expect that these age structure changes will alter the provision of health care, making an …

The Simultaneous Onset And Interaction Of Taylor And Dean Instabilities In A Couette Geometry, C. P. Hills, A. P. Bassom

Articles

The fluid flow between a pair of coaxial circular cylinders generated by the uniform rotation of the inner cylinder and an azimuthal pressure gradient is susceptible to both Taylor and Dean type instabilities. The flow can be characterised by two parameters: a measure of the relative magnitude of the rotation and pressure effects and a non-dimensional Taylor number. Neutral curves associated with each instability can be constructed but it has been suggested that these curves do not cross but rather posses `kinks'. Our work is based in the small gap, large wavenumber limit and considers the simultaneous onset of Taylor …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Do Predator Exclusion, Position, And Plant Architecture Influence Hydrilla-Dwelling Macroinvertebrate Communities?, Jonathan C. Fisher

LSU Master's Theses

Hydrilla verticillata invaded south central Louisiana during the 1970s subsequently becoming the dominant submerged macrophyte in floodplain habitats of the Atchafalaya River Basin. The effects of hydrilla on littoral habitat structure, water quality, fish, and macroinvertebrates have been pervasive, and I hypothesized that dense hydrilla stands would also impact vertebrate predation on resident macroinvertebrates, although predation effects would likely be mediated by bed position. During 2003 and 2004, I conducted exclosure experiments in the Atchafalaya River Basin with artificial substrates to test for variations in hydrilla bed macroinvertebrate communities caused by predation, plant architecture, and bed position. To determine invertebrates …

A Parallel Computing-Visualization Framework For Polycrystalline Minerals, Venkatasrirama Pavankumar Yerraguntla

LSU Master's Theses

In this report, we have reported some preliminary results in the development of a parallel computing-visualization framework for large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of polycrystals of minerals, which are geophysically relevant for Earth’s mantle. First, we have generated the input configurations of atoms belonging to various grains distributed in the space in a way, which resembles the polycrystalline structure of the minerals. The Input configuration is developed using Voronoi geometry. Thus generated polycrystalline system is simulated using the PolyCrystal Molecular Dynamics algorithm. Performance tests conducted using up to 256 processors and a couple of millions of atoms have shown that the …

Image Processing Techniques To Identify Predatory Birds In Aquacultural Settings, Uma Devi Nadimpalli

LSU Master's Theses

Bird predation is a major problem in aquaculture. A novel method for dispersing birds is the use of a vehicle that can sense and chase birds. Image recognition software can improve their efficiency in chasing birds. Three recognition techniques were tested to identify birds 1) image morphology 2) artificial neural networks, and 3) template matching have been tested. A study was conducted on three species of birds 1) pelicans, 2) egrets, and 3) cormorants. Images were divided into 3 types 1) Type 1, 2) Type 2, and 3) Type 3 depending upon difficulty to separate from the others in the …

Target Tracking In Wireless Sensor Networks, Tarun Anand Malik

LSU Master's Theses

The problem being tackled here relates to the problem of target tracking in wireless sensor networks. It is a specific problem in localization. Localization primarily refers to the detection of spatial coordinates of a node or an object. Target tracking deals with finding spatial coordinates of a moving object and being able to track its movements. In the tracking scheme illustrated, sensors are deployed in a triangular fashion in a hexagonal mesh such that the hexagon is divided into a number of equilateral triangles. The technique used for detection is the trilateration technique in which intersection of three circles is …

Development And Model Formulation Of Scalable Carbon Nanotube Processes: Hipco And Comocat Process Models, Adedeji Ebenezer Agboola

LSU Master's Theses

Carbon nanotubes are seamless cylindrical tubes, consisting of carbon atoms arranged in a regular hexagonal structure. It is considered as the ultimate engineering material because of its unique and distinct electronic, mechanical and material characteristics. The discovery of these materials pioneered the nanotechnology revolution, which encompasses a broad and multidisciplinary spectrum, including nanomaterials, nanobiotechnology, and nanoelectronics. Hundreds of published articles of laboratory scale and pilot plant processes were reviewed that describe potential synthesis and post–synthesis purification methods for large scale production of carbon nanotubes. The main production technologies include electric arc discharge, laser vaporization, and catalytic chemical vapor deposition. These …

Environmental Factors Influencing Incubation Constancy And Recess Frequency In Gadwall (Anas Strepera) In The Prairie Pothole Region Of North Dakota, Nicole F. Lorenz

LSU Master's Theses

I examined nest attendance patterns for 132 Gadwall (Anas strepera) females breeding in the prairie pothole region located in Towner County, North Dakota from May to July 2000 - 2001. Overall, Gadwall had a daily incubation constancy of 76.5 ± 10.8%, and daily recess frequency of 2.2 ± 1.1 with each recess lasting 179.8 ± 133.8 minutes. Unlike other waterfowl species, Gadwall increased incubation constancy and decreased recess frequency as daily high temperature increased and showed no change in constancy with precipitation. Gadwall incubation constancy did not fit the body-size hypothesis, as Gadwall have a lower incubation constancy compared to …

Behavior Of Heat Straightened Plates Bent Along The Minor Axis, Manish Sharma

LSU Master's Theses

The heat straightening method of repair for damaged steel structures has been employed for many years. The method was based on the experience of practitioners. Recent research has given an engineering background for the technique and established certain procedures and guidelines to be followed while using heat straightening. Although a scientific basis has now been established, there still exist some major gaps in the data. Misuse of the heat straightening technique has produced fractures in the steel during repair.There are two parameters that may be keys to limiting fracture sensitivity: degree of damage and application of jacking force stress during …

Hierarchical Indexing For Region Based Image Retrieval, Eka Aulia

LSU Master's Theses

Region-based image retrieval system has been an active research area. In this study we developed an improved region-based image retrieval system. The system applies image segmentation to divide an image into discrete regions, which if the segmentation is ideal, correspond to objects. The focus of this research is to improve the capture of regions so as to enhance indexing and retrieval performance and also to provide a better similarity distance computation. During image segmentation, we developed a modified k-means clustering algorithm for image retrieval where hierarchical clustering algorithm is used to generate the initial number of clusters and the cluster …

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 …

Influences On The Establishment Of County Wildfire Risk Mitigation: The Case Of California's Fire Safe Councils, Timothy Richard Soileau

LSU Master's Theses

In response to increased annual wildfire destruction and insufficient wildfire mitigation approaches from the federal government, the state of California adopted Public Resources Code Sections 4290 and 4291 in the year 1991. These laws force the removal of fire-causing agents from public and private areas, and establish what is known as defensible space. Defensible space is defined in Section 4291 as the area within the perimeter of a parcel, development, neighborhood, or community where basic wildland fire protection practices and measures are implemented, providing the key point of defense from an approaching wildfire or escaping structure fire. One method to …

Improved Watermarking Scheme Using Decimal Sequences, Naveed Shaik Ashfaq

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis improves upon the work carried out by Mandhani on decimal sequence watermarking showing that the embedding and decoding algorithms used by Mandhani are not robust. We next specify improvements to these algorithms so that the peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) is maximized and the distortion introduced in the image due to the embedding is minimized. By exploiting the cross correlation property of decimal sequences, the concept of embedding more than one watermark in the same cover image has been investigated. A comparison between the PSNRs for decimal sequence watermarking and other pseudorandom sequences has been made.

Autonomic Nervous System Modulation Of The Heart Following A High Carbohydrate Liquid Meal, Calynn Davis Bunol

LSU Master's Theses

The involvement of the sympathetic nervous system in the pathology of obesity has long been a debate among researchers. Various methods of capturing the resting sympathetic activity as well as the response of the sympathetic activity elicited by the introduction of a meal or a bout of exercise in both lean and obese individuals have been investigated. This study examined the autonomic modulation of the heart following a high carbohydrate liquid meal in various body types. Twenty-five females with body mass indexes [weight (kg)/height²(m)] ranging from 19.3-39.5 were grouped according to relative basal energy expenditure adjusted for lean …

Scalable Schemes Against Distributed Denial Of Service Attacks, Kishori Nanduri

LSU Master's Theses

Defense against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks is one of the primary concerns on the Internet today. DDoS attacks are difficult to prevent because of the open, interconnected nature of the Internet and its underlying protocols, which can be used in several ways to deny service. Attackers hide their identity by using third parties such as private chat channels on IRC (Internet Relay Chat). They also insert false return IP address, spoofing, in a packet which makes it difficult for the victim to determine the packet's origin. We propose three novel and realistic traceback mechanisms which offer many advantages …

Stability Of Stochastic Pricing Models Under Volatility Fluctuations, Krassimir Zhivkov Nikolov

LSU Master's Theses

The standard theory of the stochastic models used to value financial derivatives contracts involves models whose input parameters are deterministic functions and often constants. Because of the random nature of the changes in the market prices of the financial instruments, the coefficients of these models are inevitably susceptible to random perturbation from their initial estimates. In this paper we will investigate the behavior of some of the most widely used models when small changes are applied to their volatility component. Starting with the Black-Scholes model for the price of a European call option, we will continue our analysis of the …

Petite Women: Fit And Body Shape Analysis, Lisa Barona Mcroberts

LSU Master's Theses

Only small quantities of apparel are available to the domestic petite sector, and they do not fit well due to lack of attention to proportion. In addition, other factors contributing to improper fit are a sizing system based on outdated anthropometric data gathered in the 1930s to create the voluntary product standard PS 42-70, and a rising obesity problem, resulting in an array of figure type variations ranging from apple-shaped to pear-shaped women, as opposed to the industry focused hourglass shape. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate fit and design with figure type variations for petite women, …

A Bioeconomic Supply Model For Louisiana Nutria And Impacts On Wetlands Conservation Associated With Economic Incentives, Cheikhna Ould Dedah

LSU Master's Theses

Nutria (Mayocastor) were first introduced to Louisiana in 1938. With few natural predators and high prolific productivity, they became well established in the surrounding coastal marsh within a few years. Prior to 1980’s, as a result of high demand for nutria products from European countries, harvest pressure was sufficient to keep the population in ‘check’ with their wetlands capacity. By the mid-1980’s, however, prices had fallen sharply, culminating in declining annual harvests and an increasing population. Because of their feeding habits, the increased nutria population has resulted in a substantial amount of wetland degradation. In this thesis, a long-run bioeconomic …

Roc Comparison Of Acquisition Parameters For Two Pet/Ct Scanners Based On Lesion Detectability In A Torso Phantom, Kenneth Bernstein

LSU Master's Theses

Positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) are well established and powerful tools for medical diagnostics but even integrated PET/CT scanner images still lack the necessary quality and resolution that would make medical diagnoses flawless. In this thesis experiments were performed to statistically determine the effect that image acquisition parameters have upon diagnostic accuracy. Images from different PET/CT scanners were assessed by comparing subject human diagnostic accuracy from a sample of both professional and student volunteers. The assessment results were compared to the objective NEMA-standards performance data provided by the manufacturers for each scanner. The data analysis method is …