Digital Commons Network^™

Server Assignment In Mirrored Server Environments, Shawn Farlow

LSU Master's Theses

Massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) may use peer-to-peer, client-server, or mirrored-server environments. Since there exist multiple server options in mirrored server environments, a problem arises when deciding to which server each player should connect. We propose three distinct algorithms that assign players within Quality of Service (QoS) as each player joins and leaves, taking into consideration whether a player already in QoS can be moved to place a newly joining player in QoS without sacrificing QoS for the moved player. Our results show that for certain numbers of servers and values of QoS, our algorithms increase the total number of …

The Jurisprudential Turn In Legal Ethics, Katherine R. Kruse

Scholarly Works

When legal ethics developed as an academic discipline in the mid-1970s, its theoretical roots were in moral philosophy. The early theorists in legal ethics were moral philosophers by training, and they explored legal ethics as a branch of moral philosophy. From the vantage point of moral philosophy, lawyers’ professional duties comprised a system of moral duties that governed lawyers in their professional lives, a “role-morality” for lawyers that competed with ordinary moral duties. In defining this “role-morality,” the moral philosophers accepted the premise that “good lawyers” are professionally obligated to pursue the interests of their clients all the way to …

Network Traffic Data Analysis, Harish Kapri

LSU Master's Theses

The desire to conceptualize network traffic in a prevailing communication network is a facet for many types of network research studies. In this research, real traffic traces collected over trans-Pacific backbone links (the MAWI repository, providing publicly available anonymized traces) are analyzed to study the underlying traffic patterns. All data analysis and visualization is carried out using Matlab (Matlab is a trademark of The Mathworks, Inc.). At packet level, we first measure parameters such as distribution of packet lengths, distribution of protocol types, and then fit following analytical models. Next, the concept of flow is introduced and flow based analysis …

(Im)Possibilities Of Theatre And Transgression: The Critical Impact Of Transgressive Theatrical Practices, Christopher J. Krejci

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

While performance practitioners often rely on socially, aesthetically, and politically transgressive practices to critically impact the socio-political climate outside the theater walls, transgression is fraught with contradiction. Historically, acts of transgression have led to both the expansion and suppression of democratic rights. (Im)possibilites of Theatre and Transgression employs a critical lens that takes into account the historical and ideological specificities of individual productions in Austin, TX and Baton Rouge, LA to argue that transgressive theatrical practices both counter and reproduce normalizing discourses and discourses of domination in local and regional culture. This study focuses on the types of aesthetically, socially, …

A Comparative Study Of And Performer's Guide To Selected Songs By The Swiss Composer Othmar Schoeck, Travis Archie Richter

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This written document compares three songs settings of Othmar Schoeck to three other settings, written to the same text, by Hugo Wolf, Alban Berg, and Franz Schubert. The three pairings discussed are as follows: Schoeck’s Er ist’s (1937) as compared to Hugo Wolf’s setting, 1888; Ergebung (1918) as compared to Alban Berg’s setting Es wandelt, was wir schauen, 1908 (both settings were set to the same text); Rastlose Liebe (1909-1914) as compared to Franz Schubert’s setting, D. 138 (1815). Each comparison discusses how the respective composers treated text, dynamics, melody, harmony, and various other musical elements. The comparisons will show …

Comorbid Psychopathology In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders - Cut-Off Scores For The Autism Specturm Disorders-Comorbidity For Children (Asd-Cc), Ryan Thomas Thorson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Once considered rare, Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are increasingly becoming viewed as common disorders. Prevalence rates of ASD have increased drastically in recent years. Recent studies suggest comorbid psychopathology within ASD to be more common than previously thought. Though these deficits exist, specific instruments to diagnose psychopathology in this population do not yet exist. This highlights the underlying need for instruments to identify psychopathology in individuals with ASD. The aim of this study was to establish cut-off scores for the Autism Spectrum Disorder – Comorbidity for Children, an instrument designed to assess for comorbid psychopathology within individuals with ASD.

Assessing Social Support In Children: Development And Initial Validation Of The Social Support Questionnaire For Children, Arlene Tayag Gordon

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research examining risk and protective factors associated with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children has established social support as one of the strongest predictors of psychological health and overall adjustment post-traumatic event (Vigil & Geary, 2008). Greater perceived social support, generally, has been related to more positive outcomes in children (Borja & Callahan, 2008; Cryder, Kilmer, Tedeschi, & Calhoun, 2006; Pina, Villalta, Ortiz, Gottschall, Costa, & Weems, 2008). Understanding the impact of social support on coping with traumatic events such as natural disasters or exposure to community violence is limited by the lack of psychometrically sound measures. The current study …

Celebrity Versus Non-Celebrity: Parasocial Relationships With Characters In Reality-Based Television Programs, Nicole Webb Henry

LSU Master's Theses

Research of parasocial relationships suggests that audiences engage in one-sided relationships with their favorite personae in the media. This study attempts to explore two types of reality stars: those who had fame before being on reality television and those who have fame because of the show. Using the PSR-Processing Scale, I compared levels of parasocial interactions for each, as well how moral disengagement might play a role for each type of reality star. I also explored whether these parasocial relationships are influenced by the frequency with which respondents watch various types of sub-genres of reality-based programs (i.e. game docs, dating …

Extraterritorial Intellectual Property Enforcement In The European Union, Marketa Trimble

Scholarly Works

This paper was prepared for the 2011 ABILA International Law Weekend – West volume of the Southwestern Journal of International Law. It addresses extraterritorial enforcement of intellectual property rights in the European Union. The maximum length of the paper was set by the Journal.

The problems associated with extraterritorial enforcement of intellectual property rights in the European Union (the “EU”) may be divided into three categories: enforcement of unitary EU-wide rights, enforcement of multiple national rights, and enforcement of rights based on one national law with extraterritorial effects on activities in other countries. Although these are three distinct categories of …

Institutional Accreditation Liaisons In The Southern Association Of Colleges And Schools Region: Characteristics, Responsibilities, And Force Field Analysis, Tracy W. Molidor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges’ role of Accreditation Liaison to (a) explore the characteristics of the professionals who fill the Accreditation Liaison role and (b) understand factors that support or challenge liaisons. Within the theoretical framework of Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory, a sequential mixed-methods research design was employed to collect data in two phases. The quantitative method in the first phase was an on-line survey. The instrument focused on respondents’ educational, professional, and demographic characteristics, as well as their roles, responsibilities, and practices as Accreditation Liaisons. The …

Understanding The Selective Detection Of Homocysteine And Studies Toward The Synthesis Of Vinigrol, Dong Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The first part of the work is dedicated to the selective detection of Homocysteine (Hcy). In order to better understand this colorimetric detection method, a thermodynamic model for the pH dependence of the effective reduction potential of Hcy derived á-carbon radicals has been proposed. And using viologen indicators of varying reduction potentials, we demonstrate that colorimetric changes occur at experimental pH values consistent with the model. The one-carbon bridge stereochemistry of bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane framework is critical to make the third ring of the tricyclic precursor of vinigrol. We studied this stereochemistry carefully and found that the major diastereomer formed from Robinson …

Laboratory Scale Seismic Analysis Of A Spatially Variable Hydrological Surface In Unconfined, Unconsolidated Sand, David E. Smolkin

LSU Master's Theses

The ability to measure the depth to the water table can provide information such as reservoir characteristics, soil conditions for agriculture, and actions to be taken with contaminant flow and removal. We attempt to detect this boundary in a larger-than-lab scale experiment. We attempt to simulate a spatially variable water level and attempt to image changes in the depth of this water level. We try to reduce the normally complex natural conditions to those of a nominally homogeneous and isotropic, unconfined sand volume for modeling. These simplified conditions help isolate the effects of remaining complexities such as the variable saturation …

Oblivious Buy-At-Bulk Network Design Algorithms, Srivathsan Srinivasagopalan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Large-scale networks such as the Internet has emerged as arguably the most complex distributed communication network system. The mere size of such networks and all the various applications that run on it brings a large variety of challenging problems. Similar problems lie in any network - transportation, logistics, oil/gas pipeline etc where efficient paths are needed to route the flow of demands. This dissertation studies the computation of efficient paths from the demand sources to their respective destination(s). We consider the buy-at-bulk network design problem in which we wish to compute efficient paths for carrying demands from a set of …

The Vocal Works Of Charles Lloyd, Jr.: A Performer's Guide To Selected Dramatic Works, Art Songs, And Spiritual Art Songs, Charis Kelly Hudson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

African-American composer Charles Lloyd, Jr. has written some of the most beautiful and challenging solo vocal works of the present day. His abilities as a composer have awarded him the opportunity to work with names such as Jessye Norman, Kathleen Battle, and Veronica Tyler. He has also written and published a number of works which include the art song Compensation, published in the Anthology of Art Songs by Black Composers and his first collection of spiritual art songs which appear in The Spiritual Art Song Collection by Charles Lloyd, Jr. Even more, his Psalm 30: Cantata for Soprano and Piano …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Bacillus Thuringiensis Resistance In The Sugarcane Borer, Yunlong Yang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis, is a major target pest of transgenic corn expressing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins in many areas of the U.S. mid-southern region. A Cry1Ab-resistant (Cry1Ab-RR) strain of D. saccharalis has been developed from a single two-parent family-line. To examine the molecular mechanisms of the Cry1Ab resistance in this insect strain, cDNAs of five types of potential candidate genes related to Bt resistance were sequenced using reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and 5’ rapid amplification of cDNA end (5’ RACE). The Bt resistance candidate genes examined included three trypsins (DsTRYs), three chymotrypsins (DsCHYs), three aminopeptidases N …

Improving Intelligence In A Counterinsurgency Or Counterterrorism Environment Through The Application Of A Critical Thinking-Based Framework, James Henry Hess

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The intelligence community is responsible for providing competent analysis and assessments pertaining to the many significant geo-political situations that may potentially or do effect the nation’s interests. The intelligence community has always experienced challenges living up to that charge, and while it may merely be a case of the nature of the profession, there are always lessons that can be learned and processes that may improve the analytical processes. Critical thinking is a cognitive process that may be able to provide that improvement to the analytical processes, and when an analytical framework is built by applying these cognitive skills, the …

Landscape, Mobilities, And Performance: An Autoethnographic And Visual Engagement With Public Protests In Washington, Dc, Paul Ronald Watts

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines how geography’s traditional approach to studying cultural landscapes, which has been largely reliant upon vision, should also include the embodied practices: the customary and habitual actions that inform human engagement. Using public protests in Washington, DC as an extended case study, I reveal an underlying tension between protest participants’ embodied practices and material objects in the built environment. I accomplish this by drawing from over one year’s fieldwork in Washington, where I used qualitative approaches, including—but not limited to—participant observation and autoethnography, to engage in public protests as an embodied participant. To support my empirical data, I …

An Agent-Based Simulation Model For Business Reopenings In New Orleans Post Hurricane Katrina, Helbert Arenas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The empirical study of business responses to disasters is relatively scarce, despite that they are a fundamental part of the cities, providing services, jobs and, taxes that are essential for urban sustainability. This dissertation develops an agent-based simulation model to represent and understand the businesses reopening process in a dynamic environment in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The objectives are two-fold: 1) To identify the main reopening predictors involved and estimate their relative importance through time, using an empirical data set collected from another study; 2) To represent the business reopening process through a computer simulation model, using the parameters …

Crisis Management Post Hurricane Katrina: A Qualitative Study Of A Higher Education Institution's Administrators' Response To Crisis Management, Steven Lee Mccullar

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

From campus shootings to mass prolonged campus closures in the Gulf Coast due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the past decade has seen an increase in high profile crises at higher education institutions. Louisiana State University was one of the institutions impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. After the experience, university administrators created an Emergency Operation Center and a new plan for how to handle campus crises. In 2008, LSU administrators had an opportunity to test their full scale plan with the landfall of Hurricane Gustav. In this study, university administrators from LSU were interviewed about their experiences …

Crystal Growth Of Complex Intermetallics In Search For Heavy Electron Systems, Brenton L. Drake

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The structural solution and physical property characterization of several Ln-T-Al/Ga and Ln-T-Al-Si contain phases, which include Ln(Cu,Al)12 (Ln = Y, Ce, Pr, Sm, and Yb), Ln(Ag,Al,Si)2 (Ln = Ce and Gd), LnCu2(Al,Si)5 (Ln = La and Ce), Ln(Cu,Al,Ga)13-x (Ln = La, Ce, Pr, and Eu), α and β LnNiGa4 (α Ln = Y and Gd – Yb; β Ln = (Tb – Er)), and Ln4FeGa12 (Ln = Tb – Er) will be presented in this work with an emphasis on crystal growth. The systems cover a large breadth of phase space and serve to illustrate the new and rich chemistry …

Redbanded Stink Bug, Piezodorus Guildinii (Westwood): Pest Status, Control Strategies, And Management In Louisiana Soybean, Joshua H. Temple

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The redbanded stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood), was identified as a pest of Louisiana soybean during 2000. Currently, this species has become established throughout Louisiana and into the soybean production regions of bordering states. Seasonal abundance, patterns of oviposition, and population dynamics of this species were surveyed in soybean during 2008-10. The redbanded stink bug comprised the largest percentage (54%) of the total stink bug complex collected at five survey sites followed by the southern green (27%), Nezara viridula L. and brown (7%) stink bugs, Euschistus servus L. Peak oviposition occurred during the (R5) soybean growth stage. Most (80%) egg …

Vessel Manifest, Jessie Marie Hornbrook

LSU Master's Theses

Vessel Manifest explores vessel forms and their pathways through time and experience. In using semiotic definitions to define the term vessel I investigate the ways in which it has become profound in my life. In seeking comfort and in searching for an explanation for the process of life and death, I look to the ways in which a vessel can manifest itself, physically, emotionally, mentally, and metaphysically. Memories of life spent on the water and theories and tenets of Tibetan Buddhist Philosophy are sewn together through images of physical vessels and abstract vessel forms. The large-scale intaglio prints incorporate multi-media …

The Lady, Or The Tiger? A Field Guide To Metaphor & Narrative, Linda L. Berger

Scholarly Works

Metaphor and narrative reassure us that things hang together, providing a sense of coherence to the patterns and paths we employ for perception and expression. In this field guide, I hope to illustrate - with images and stories when possible - how better understanding of metaphor and narrative can guide those engaged in legal rhetoric and persuasion.

The article briefly summarizes cognitive theory relating to metaphor and narrative, provides snapshots of their use in the field, in real-life legal persuasion, and suggests ways to adapt metaphor and narrative to a specific example of legal persuasion. In the field guide section, …

When Courts Collide: Integrated Domestic Violence Courts And Court Pluralism, Elizabeth L. Macdowell

Scholarly Works

This Article proposes court pluralism as a new theory for analyzing the role of the justice system in addressing domestic violence. It argues that a systemic view of the justice system is essential to developing coherent reform strategies, and lays out the foundation for taking into account the unique functions of civil and criminal justice in domestic violence cases. In doing so, the Article challenges the one-dimensional characterization of a fragmented court system as bad for victims of domestic violence that dominates legal scholarship, and shows that court fragmentation can be an opportunity and potential source of protection from systemic …

A Qualitative Study Of 4-H State And Field Faculty Use Of Social Media To Communicate With Youth, Volunteers, And Stakeholders, Mary Christina Sorenson

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to explore the type of social media technology utilized by 4-H field and state faculty to communicate with 4-H members, volunteers, and advisory board members. As youth increase their use of technology for communications it is critical for youth development agents to adapt to new communication methods Qualitative research methods were used to explore this topic. Guiding questions were developed from the empirical literature. Responsive interviewing technique was used to gather data. A purposeful sample was chosen for this study. The sample consisted of field and state 4-H Cooperative Extension Service faculty located in …

Relationships Among The Behavioral Inhibition System, Response Inhibition, Heart Rate Variability, And Anxiety Sensitivity Between Older Adolescents With And Without Significant Anxiety, Erin Tarcza Reuther

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Differences in the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS; Gray, 1982), response inhibition, and cardiac vagal control are evident between individuals with anxiety and nonclinical control participants. In this study, the role of inhibition in anxiety was examined, as well as relationships between the primary indexes of inhibition including the behavioral inhibition system (BIS), response inhibition, and cardiac vagal tone (or heart rate variability) at rest and during tasks of response inhibition. Additionally, anxiety sensitivity, an established risk factor for developing anxiety disorders, was examined and how it relates to indexes of inhibition. As expected, inhibition and anxiety sensitivity were found to …

Decoupling User Interface Design Using Libraries Of Reusable Components, Rajesh Sankaran

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The integration of electronic and mechanical hardware, software and interaction design presents a challenging design space for researchers developing physical user interfaces and interactive artifacts. Currently in the academic research community, physical user interfaces and interactive artifacts are predominantly designed and prototyped either as one-off instances from the ground up, or using functionally rich hardware toolkits and prototyping systems. During this prototyping phase, undertaking an integral design of the interface or interactive artifact’s electronic hardware is frequently constraining due to the tight couplings between the different design realms and the typical need for iterations as the design matures. Several current …

Investigating The Use Of Graphic Organizers For Writing, Laura Nicole Delrose

LSU Master's Theses

Students are placed under increasing demands for more complex syntax and discourse structure in oral and written language as they age. Children with language and learning disabilities struggle to grasp the organization and relationships between the facts of the topic, making writing an increasingly daunting task. In addition, these students must also master conventions such as vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and syntax to produce a written essay (Schumaker & Deshler, 2003). This study explored the efficacy of graphic organizers as a strategy to facilitate higher complexity of syntactic and discourse structures in sentence and story formation. After seven weeks of intervention, …

A Comparison Of Career Goals And Educational Values Between Hispanic Immigrant And Caucasian United States Citizen Employees Of Louisiana Crawfish Farm Operations, Richard Dean Johnson Ii

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hispanic immigrants come to the United States with hopes to obtain a better life for their families through perceived better wages and educational opportunities. One source of income for Hispanic immigrants is through employment in crawfish farm operations. Crawfish farm operations benefit from the employment of Hispanic immigrants through government programs that supply workers to the industry. Therefore, many crawfish farm operations in Louisiana employ both Caucasian U.S. citizen and Hispanic immigrant labor to operate efficiently. The purpose of this study was to compare selected characteristics of crawfish farm workers as well as to explore values related to education, monetary …

Design, Development, And Testing Of A Multi-Agent Autonomous Surface Fleet For Environmental Applications, Daniel Davis Smith

LSU Master's Theses

As costs have decreased and both computational complexity and robustness have increased, the use of autonomous vehicles in real-world environments has increased dramatically. The development of a fleet of autonomous surface vehicles able to coordinate their actions through communications provides a significant tool for numerous water-based applications such as the reduction of predatory birds on aquaculture ponds, tracking of pollutant gradients, and water quality mapping applications. A fleet of three autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) was developed using the best characteristics from earlier designs. Each vehicle is a dual-pontoon, dual-paddlewheel design powered by batteries recharged using a vehicle-mounted solar array that …