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An Analysis of the Physical and Cultural Landscape of Grand Isle, Louisiana
Get PDFThe town of Grand Isle, Louisiana, and its rich geographic history, can offer insight into the early history of the State of Louisiana and the establishment of the United States as a country, as well as the study of the formation of barrier islands and methods of land use with such areas. The following thesis presents a geographic, as well as a historical, analysis of Grand Isle’s history. It attempts to answer the following questions: What is the shape, form, and origin of the physical landscape of Grand Isle? How have humans interacted with the land and surrounding areas of Grand Isle? And what impacts, if any, have these interactions had on the island and its landscape? These questions include research into both the built environment and the natural environment
A study of three paradigms for storing geospatial data: distributed-cloud model, relational database, and indexed flat file
Get PDFGeographic Information Systems (GIS) and related applications of geospatial data were once a small software niche; today nearly all Internet and mobile users utilize some sort of mapping or location-aware software. This widespread use reaches beyond mere consumption of geodata; projects like OpenStreetMap (OSM) represent a new source of geodata production, sometimes dubbed “Volunteered Geographic Information.” The volume of geodata produced and the user demand for geodata will surely continue to grow, so the storage and query techniques for geospatial data must evolve accordingly.
This thesis compares three paradigms for systems that manage vector data. Over the past few decades these methodologies have fallen in and out of favor. Today, some are considered new and experimental (distributed), others nearly forgotten (flat file), and others are the workhorse of present-day GIS (relational database). Each is well-suited to some use cases, and poorly-suited to others. This thesis investigates exemplars of each paradigm
Kinky Criticism: BDSM Principles Applied to Literature
Get PDFThis thesis proposes a new school of literary analysis: Kinky Criticism. This critical theory will examine the presence in literature of themes related to BDSM, an acronym referring to bondage/discipline, domination/submission, and sadism/masochism. My purpose in examining this power exchange and sadomasochism in literature is threefold. Firstly, I aim to reveal the presence of kinky themes in not only a range of literary works, but also leave the reader aware of kink present in everyday human interactions. Secondly, through this application to literature, Kinky Criticism sheds new light on the techniques of characterization and adds complexity to the dynamics between characters. Finally, Kinky Criticism provides a new perspective that leads to unexpected conclusions about hotly debated topics in literature, such as the infamous sodomites of Dante’s Inferno. Although a few scholars have commented on kinky themes, their analyses have not yet gained the coherence of a critical movement. This thesis aims to outline the tenets of Kinky Criticism and to establish not only its legitimacy as a critical lens, but also Kinky Criticism’s unique contributions to the interpretation of three major literary works: Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls, and D.H. Lawrence’s Women in Love
Additive Friction Stir Manufacturing of 7055 Aluminum Alloy
Get PDFThe objective of the report is to investigate the feasibility and reliability of additive friction stir manufacturing of 7055 aluminum alloy. This is a technique in which multiple lap welds are performed to create a three-dimensional part out of relatively thin plate aluminum. To accomplish this, a four inch stack of 7055 aluminum alloy lap welds must be created. The solid weld nugget is then machined out of the center of the welded stack to create ASTM approved subsize tensile coupons. Rockwell hardness, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and percent elongation information is gathered from the tensile coupons to investigate the effectiveness of the additive friction stir manufacturing process. The data shows that the additive manufactured material experiences a significant reduction in strength and percent elongation while not showing any significant response to heat treatment. Suggestions are made regarding possible changes to the weld schedule that could improve the material properties of the additive manufactured aluminum
A Maritime Advanced Geospatial Intelligence Craft for Oil Spill Response: White Paper
Get PDFIn line with current research thrusts on unmanned systems, the University of New Orleans has formed a collaborative team from industry, academia, and government (e.g., Department of Homeland Security). UNO’s intent is to work with organizations such as the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to experiment and demonstrate the potential offered by Unmanned Surface Vessels within the Gulf of Mexico
If Only They Tried; The Complicated Crusade for Salvation in the Post-Katrina Education Reform Movement
Get PDFEducation reform is shifting the landscape of New Orleans public schools, where alternative certification programs are thriving and changing the demographics of core teachers. This study follows a Teach for America (TFA) Corps Member from 2007 (just after the historic flooding from Hurricane Katrina) who brought a promise of innovation through idealism and green wisdom. The teacher’s preparation and motivations are shown to be problematic. Examining the assumptions and privileges that underlie the import of inexperienced talent to urban education systems, this study considers the ways that community voices have been lost or undervalued in New Orleans schools. The thesis tracks five unique student experiences in two schools over nine years, with accounts of the daily life of students and educators, some of whom are effective and make marked contributions to the community. The study concludes that care should be taken as reform continues to make schools better for kids
Numerical Computation of Transient Response of 2D Wedge Impact
Get PDFThe diverse applications of advanced marine craft ascribed to their high speed and technological advancements has led to the use of stronger and lighter metals in such crafts. High speed, in effect also increases slamming loads as higher speed increases frequency of wave encounter while operating in waves. The present study is limited to wedge impact models. Fundamentally, the study is thus about two-dimensional (2D) wedge impact in water. In an attempt to predict the structural response to impact hydrodynamic force, a beam element based finite element (FE) computer program is written and the results of the code are presented in the thesis. A computational tool is developed to predict the transient elastic response of a 2D wedge under impact force using two different numerical methods. Both explicit and implicit numerical schemes have also been studied in order to apply to the present work. Explicit forth order Runge-Kutta (RK4) method and implicit Newmark-b (NB) method have been used in the present work. Coupling effects between excitation and response are ignored in the present numerical computations. Both the numerical schemes are validated using simple static solution and also modal expansion technique
Brief Encounters
Get PDFThis collection of essays meditates on connection and how it is formed and severed. Several pieces consider lasting or arbitrary connections, like those holding together members of a family or the bridges joining two sides of a city. Some consider more tenuous bonds, such as the chance meeting of near-strangers or the moment shared between a child and a dying mouse. Indeed, many pieces consider the ways in which characters are bound to life – and to death