Digital Commons Network^™

Distributed Solar Photovoltaic Grid Integration System : A Case Study For Performance, Ming Shen

Dissertations and Theses

The needs to the sustainable development of electricity, energy efficiency improvement, and environment pollution reduction have favored the development of distributed generation (DG). But the problems come with increasing DG penetration in distribution networks. This thesis presents the Solar Energy Grid Integration System (SEGIS) Stage III project done by Portland General Electric (PGE), Advanced Energy, Sandia National Lab on a PGE selected distribution feeder. The feeder has six monitored commercial solar PV systems connected. The total power output from the PV systems has the potential to reach 30% of the feeder load. The author analyzes the performance of the solar …

The Evil Technology Hypothesis: A Deep Ecological Reading Of International Law, Ugo Mattei, Luigi Russi

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Asymptotic Reliability Rheory Of K-Out-Of-N Systems, Nuria Torrado, J. J. P. Veerman

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We formulate a theory that allows us to formulate a simple criterion that ensures that two k-out-of-n systems A and are not ordered. If the systems fail the criterion, it does not follow they are ordered. Thus the theory only serves to avoid some a priori useless comparisons: when neither A nor can be said to be better than the other. The power of the theory lies in its wide potential applicability: the assumptions involve very weak estimates on the asymptotic behavior (as t→0 and as t→∞) of the constituent survival probabilities. We include examples.

Effects Of Network Trace Sampling Methods On Privacy And Utility Metrics, Phillip A. Fazio, Keren Tan, David Kotz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Researchers choosing to share wireless-network traces with colleagues must first anonymize sensitive information, trading off the removal of information in the interest of identity protection and the preservation of useful data within the trace. While several metrics exist to quantify this privacy-utility tradeoff, they are often computationally expensive. Computing these metrics using a \emphsample\/ of the trace could potentially save precious time. In this paper, we examine several sampling methods to discover their effects on measurement of the privacy-utility tradeoff when anonymizing network traces. We tested the relative accuracy of several packet and flow-sampling methods on existing privacy and utility …

Application Of An Adaptive Step-Size Algorithm In Models Of Hyperinflation, Olena Kostyshyna

Economics Faculty Publications and Presentations

An adaptive step-size algorithm [Kushner and Yin, Stochastic Approximation and Recursive Algorithms and Applications, 2nd ed., New York: Springer-Verlag (2003)] is used to model time-varying learning, and its performance is illustrated in the environment of Marcet and Nicolini [American Economic Review 93 (2003), 1476–1498]. The resulting model gives qualitatively similar results to those of Marcet and Nicolini, and performs quantitatively somewhat better, based on the criterion of mean squared error. The model generates increasing gain during hyperinflations and decreasing gain after hyperinflations end, which matches findings in the data. An agent using this model behaves cautiously when faced …

A New Model For Simulating Climate Change And Carbon Dynamics In Forested Landscapes, Caren C. Dymond, Robert M. Scheller, Sarah Beukema

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Journal of Ecosystems & Management vol. 13 no. 2 2012 news brief .

Greenhouse Gas Fluxes In Southeastern U.S. Coastal Plain Wetlands Under Contrasting Land Uses, Jennifer L. Morse, Marcelo Ardón, Emily S. Bernhardt

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Whether through sea level rise or wetland restoration, agricultural soils in coastal areas will be inundated at increasing rates, renewing connections to sensitive surface waters and raising critical questions about environmental trade-offs. Wetland restoration is often implemented in agricultural catchments to improve water quality through nutrient removal. Yet flooding of soils can also increase production of the greenhouse gases nitrous oxide and methane, representing a potential environmental trade-off. Our study aimed to quantify and compare greenhouse gas emissions from unmanaged and restored forested wetlands, as well as actively managed agricultural fields within the North Carolina coastal plain, USA. In sampling …

Patterns As Objects In Grace, Andrew P. Black, Michael Homer, James Noble, David J. Pearce, Kim B. Bruce

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Object orientation and pattern matching are often seen as conflicting approaches to program design. Object oriented programs place type-dependent behaviour inside objects and invoke it via dynamic dispatch, while pattern matching programs place type-dependent behaviour outside data structures and invoke it via multiway conditionals (case statements). Grace is a new, dynamic, object-oriented language designed to support teaching: to this end, Grace needs to support both styles. In this paper we explain how this conflict can be resolved gracefully: by modelling patterns and cases as partial functions, reifying those functions as first-class objects, and then building up complex patterns from simpler …

Parallel Sorting On A Spatial Computer, Max Orhai, Andrew P. Black

Computer Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

We describe a parallel sort for a spatial computer that requires minimal communication. We show simulations of the sort in 1 and 2 dimensions.

Presentation slides are located below in the Additional Files

Do Learning Logs Have An Impact On The Conceptual Mastery Of Force And Motion?: Subtitle, John Arthur Underwood

LSU Master's Theses

This two-week study was conducted to investigate the impact Learning Logs have on student conceptual mastery of force, motion, and kinematics. To begin the study a sample of 554 ninth grade students were selected from a suburban public school in Louisiana. The students were randomly divided into experimental and control groups within four teachers’ classrooms. This distribution was to examine the impact of Learning Logs regardless of the teaching style or time of day. Upon the study’s conclusion there was no significant differences noted due to teaching style or time of day. The Force Motion Concept Evaluation (FMCE) was used …

Longitudinal Assessment Of Shifting Microbial Community Composition In Sandy Beaches Following The 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill And Remediation Efforts, Axita Ajaykumar Gupta

LSU Master's Theses

Sandy beaches are geological zones parallel to the shoreline where high energy, open ocean unconsolidated sediments are deposited and reworked. Sandy beaches represent critical ecosystems that support a wide variety of underappreciated biodiversity. Prior to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the diversity and function of microbial communities in supratidal beach sediments along the Gulf of Mexico coastlines were not well understood. It was unclear if possible community compositional changes would occur during and following exposure to oil, or what impact the remediation efforts, such as sand washing, would have to the microbial communities and …

Introduction: The Trajectory Of German Philosophy After Kant, And The "Difference" Between Fichte And Schelling, Michael Vater

Philosophy Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

How Do Principals' Behaviors Facilitate Or Inhibit The Development Of A Culturally Relevant Learning Community?, Gwendolyn Julia Kelley

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the question: “How do principals facilitate or inhibit the development of a culturally responsive learning environment?” A second question asked, “What is the principal's role in developing a culturally relevant learning community?” The criteria for purposely selecting the 12 principals chosen for the study included finding principals who served in schools with a 50% or greater non-White population and who also had served a minimum of three years as the school's leader at the time of the study. Additionally, the schools chosen from various districts around the state showed an …

An Exploratory Examination Of Antecedents To Software Piracy: A Crosscultural Comparison, Andrew J. Setterstrom, John M. Pearson, Hassan Aleassa

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Software piracy continues to be a growing problem on a global scale for software developers. The purpose of this study was to conduct a cross-cultural comparison of a model predicting the intent of individuals to pirate software using two subsamples: Jordan and the US. Our results suggest that the Theory of Reasoned Action provides a strong predictive ability for our US subsample, but not for our Jordanian sample. Additionally, public self-consciousness, ideology, and religiosity varied in their ability to moderate the relationships of TRA across cultures. Overall, our results suggest culture plays an important role in affecting software piracy, and …

The Impact Of Information And Communication Technology (Ict) On News Processing, Reporting And Dissemination On Broadcast Stations In Lagos, Nigeria., Ifeanyi Adigwe

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Information and Communication technology is perceived to be a force to be reckoned with in the 21^st century because it has caused and continues to cause major changes in the way we live. In the electronic media, ICT has ignited and provoked radical and drastic changes that has affected and revolutionized the broadcast industry, most especially in immediacy and timeliness of news. With Information and Communication Technology information spread, infinitely becomes faster and cheaper and readily available. This study attempts to investigate the impact of information and communication technology in news processing and reporting on some selected broadcast stations …

Gis-Based Urban Land Use Characterization And Population Modeling With Subpixel Information Measured From Remote Sensing Data, Quan Tang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation provides deeper understanding on the application of Vegetation-Impervious Surface-Soil (V-I-S) model in the urban land use characterization and population modeling, focusing on New Orleans area. Previous research on the V-I-S model used in urban land use classification emphasized on the accuracy improvement while ignoring the discussion of the stability of classifiers. I developed an evaluation framework by using randomization techniques and decision tree method to assess and compare the performance of classifiers and input features. The proposed evaluation framework is applied to demonstrate the superiority of V-I-S fractions and LST for urban land use classification. It could also …

The Effects Of Regulatory Uncertainty On The U.S. Acid Rain Program, Narendra Paramanand

LSU Master's Theses

Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA 1990) created the first large scale cap-and-trade program as a means to control acid rain in the United States. The program regulated the emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrous oxide (NOx) in the atmosphere—the precursor to acid rain (formerly acid deposition). Economists have long argued for the use of market-based incentive approach as oppose to the traditional command-and-control methods for its ability to be efficient and cost-effective. Title IV went into full effect in 1995 and has been lauded among one of the most successful regulation as it …

Boron Composite Nanoparticles For Enhancement Of Bio-Fuel Combustion, Neng Wang

LSU Master's Theses

Bio-fuels such as ethanol are good candidates to replace fossil fuels, which are being depleted, and whose combustion is associated with net production of greenhouse gases and other environmental issues. However, bio-fuels have low energy densities and can be subject to incomplete combustion. Boron is a promising additive for bio-fuels in combustion applications. It can increase their overall heat release and reduce ignition temperature, because boron itself is among the highest energy density materials. In this study, different B/rare earth oxide and B/Fe composite nanoparticles were produced by simple mechanical milling. Also, a new low temperature milling method was developed …

Phenotypic And Niche Evolution In The Antbirds (Aves: Thamnophilidae), Gustavo Adolfo Bravo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A pervasive goal in evolutionary biology has been to address why some clades are richer in species or phenotypic diversity than others. The Thamnophilidae is a large family of insectivorous passerine birds that provides great opportunities to study variation in species and phenotypic diversity. It comprises ca. 220 species that are mostly restricted to the lowlands and lower montane forests of the Neotropics. Its species are diverse in body size and shape, and the family exhibits high species richness, especially in Amazonian forests, where as many as 40 species may co-occur. Therefore, the fundamental research goal of my dissertation is …

What Does The ¹⁴C Method For Estimating Photosynthetic Rates In The Ocean Really Measure?, Shaofeng Pei

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The ¹⁴C method has been used extensively by both limnologists and oceanographers to measure photosynthetic rates in aquatic systems, and the large database of ¹⁴C measurements that now exists is the ground truth with which satellite algorithms for estimating marine photosynthetic rates on a basin and global scale have been calibrated. However, disconcerting uncertainties still remain with respect to whether and under what circumstances the ¹⁴C method provides an estimate of net or gross photosynthesis, or something in between. My study combined batch and continuous culture studies to clarify this ambiguous issue. The batch culture work with …

Mathematical Models For Interest Rate Dynamics, Xiaoxue Shan

LSU Master's Theses

We present a study of mathematical models of interest rate products. After an introduction to the mathematical framework, we study several basic one-factor models, and then explore multifactor models. We also discuss the Heath-Jarrow- Morton model and the LIBOR Market model. We conclude with a discussion of some modified models that involve stochastic volatility.

Movements And Habitat Use Of Southeastern Blue Sucker Cycleptus Merdionalis In The Lower Pearl River, Devon Charles Oliver

LSU Master's Theses

Riverine fisheries management programs often do not focus on non-sport and non-commercial fishes, such as catostomids, yet many suckers have become threatened or endangered throughout river systems in the United States because of habitat alterations. In the Pearl River, sedimentation, dam construction, and other hydrologic modifications have negatively impacted habitats used by southeastern blue suckers Cycleptus meridionalis, a species of concern in both Louisiana and Mississippi. The principal objective of this project was to investigate habitat use of likely historically abundant southeastern blue suckers in the lower Pearl River. During electrofishing surveys in 2010 and 2011, we observed no southeastern …

Relationship Between Adult Mentors And Placement Outcomes Among At-Risk Youth, Meagan Curtis

LSU Master's Theses

Approximately 1.3 million students drop out of school each year (National Guard Youth Foundation, 2012). The Youth ChalleNGe Program, which caters to at-risk youths who have dropped out of high school, utilizes a mentoring program. This study examines the relationship between the youth having regular contact with a mentor and the youth’s placement outcomes. The sample of this study included 215 youths who graduated in September of 2008 from the Youth ChalleNGe Program (YCP) at the Gillis W. Long Center in Carville, LA. Data regarding each youth’s placements during the post-residential phase and the number of contacts with his or …

Greenhouse Gas Emissions And Nutrients Dynamics In Restored Wetlands Of The Mississippi River Basin, Christopher Lundberg

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Greenhouse gases were sampled during spring and summer months in 2010 and 2011 at two sites in the Mississippi River Basin: a riparian forested wetland under restored flood pulsing near Memphis, TN and a coastal estuarine marsh complex impacted by a river diversion at Caernarvon, LA. Mean methane fluxes at Caernarvon (-0.09 g CH4-C m-2 d-1) were lower than those at Memphis (0.53 g CH4-C m-2 d-1), and did not differ between seasons. Nitrous oxide fluxes were generally below detection limits. Fluxes were uncorrelated with water depth, soil temperature, and ambient air temperature, though sampling occurred over a narrow range …

Writing In Geometry With The Common Core State Standards: Developing Mathematical Thinkers, Yvonne Mariki Chimwaza

LSU Master's Theses

The newly released Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted with the goal in mind that in the future our students will leave high school ready and better prepared for college and careers. In particular, the CCSS insists that a faithful implementation of the eight Standard of Mathematical Practices will lead to a generation of mathematical thinkers who have learned how to read, write, model, reason, and solve problems in mathematical terms. Unfortunately, at present, my students and others do not know how to write and reason mathematically. By way of this thesis, I searched for ways to help forty-five …

Semantically-Aware Data Discovery And Placement In Collaborative Computing Environments, Xinqi Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As the size of scientific datasets and the demand for interdisciplinary collaboration grow in modern science, it becomes imperative that better ways of discovering and placing datasets generated across multiple disciplines be developed to facilitate interdisciplinary scientific research.

For discovering relevant data out of large-scale interdisciplinary datasets. The development and integration of cross-domain metadata is critical as metadata serves as the key guideline for organizing data. To develop and integrate cross-domain metadata management systems in interdisciplinary collaborative computing environment, three key issues need to be addressed: the development of a cross-domain metadata schema; the implementation of a metadata management system …

The Effect Of Extrinsic Rewards In The High School Classroom, Amanda Vargo

LSU Master's Theses

One of the biggest obstacles that a high school teacher faces in the classroom is motivating students to complete work. Traditional ideology focuses on intrinsic rewards as way to encourage students to participate and try in the classroom. Things like valuing education, planning for college, and taking pride in a good report card are used in attempts to motivate. Yet, in the adult world, people expect a concrete extrinsic reward (i.e. a paycheck) for the work that they do. This study takes the idea of extrinsic rewards and brings them into the classroom. This study was conducted over two academic …

The New Stochastic Integral And Anticipating Stochastic Differential Equations, Benedykt Szozda

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In this work, we develop further the theory of stochastic integration of adapted and instantly independent stochastic processes started by Wided Ayed and Hui-Hsiung Kuo in [1,2]. We provide a first counterpart to the Itô isometry that accounts for both adapted and instantly independent processes. We also present several Itô formulas for the new stochastic integral. Finally, we apply the new Itô formula to solve a linear stochastic differential equations with anticipating initial conditions.

The Feasibility Of Using Megavoltage Ct For The Treatment Planning Of Hdr Cervical Brachytherapy With Shielded Tandem And Ovoid Applicators, Jeffrey Roger Kemp

LSU Master's Theses

Purpose/Objectives: A drawbackof tandem and ovoid (T&O) ICBT is exposure of the posterior bladder and anterior rectal walls to relatively high isodoses. To mitigate this effect, intra-ovoid shielding may be used to reducedose to these OARs. However, metal artifactspresent in images acquired via kVCT make anatomy segmentation and catheter localization difficult for the purpose of 3D treatment planning. We present a method that combines MVCT-based imaging and applicator modeling to increase the quality of 3D treatment plans for shielded T&O ICBT. Materials/Methods: Using Oncentra’s TPS, 9 participants from multiple institutions performed organ segmentation and catheter reconstruction for KVCT and MVCT …

Single-Molecule Detection Of Molecular Beacons Generated From Ldr On Thermoplastic Microfluidic Device For Bioanalysis, Zhiyong Peng

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Current clinical techniques for nucleic acid detection and analysis often involve PCR, lacking adequate specificity or sensitivity to meet the stringent requirements in certain applications. This research aims to develop an innovative molecular assay and the associated hardware to rapidly signal the presence of certain targets using reporter sequence found in their genome without requiring PCR. This assay coupled the sensitivity of single-pair fluorescence resonance energy transfer (spFRET) with the specificity of ligase detection reaction (LDR) to provide near real-time readout of target biomarkers. Heightened concerns on potential bioterrorism threats, such as rapid dissemination of pathogenic bacteria or viruses into …