DSpace at NDU: Recent submissions

  • Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Lebanon : evaluation of distribution and pupae microbiota 
    Sahakian, Joseph Ohannes (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2020-09)
    Ceratitis capitata or the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) is a highly invasive and destructive pest due to its tolerance of various climatic and environmental conditions as well as broad host range, including hundreds of fruits and vegetables. Medfly has a great economic impact on fruit production, national market and world trade. The population in Lebanon has been on the rise since 2007 due to several factors including optimal climate and host conditions, insecticide resistance, and negligent regulatory and detection measures during fruit harvest and transportation. Medfly infestation in Lebanon ...
  • Inconsistency between state and sequence diagram 
    Hamadeh, Sakr (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2005)
    UML is an acronym for Unified Modelling Language. It has become de facto the standard for the object-oriented software analysis and design stages in software development. UML is a visual modelling language, and it consists of a set of diagrams. Static diagrams are used to depict static structure of a program, where is dynamic diagrams specify how the control flow(s) of the program should behave. The examples of behavioral diagrams are a Sate diagram, which describes the behavior of objects of a given class, and a Sequence diagram, which describes inter-object interactions in a given scenario. A ...
  • Experimenting with HITS based Algorithms with new Heuristics for assigning the link weights 
    Maroun, Bashir M. (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2001)
    This thesis uses the link structure of the World Wide Web as a basis to create better search engines. It focuses on the HITS algorithm, which was the first algorithm to up the link topology. HITS is implemented with slight modifications and tested with variations of its input parameters. It is also used in order to discover emerging communities in cyberspace. Other related algorithms, which use the link structure of the web as an undirected graph are described and compared with HITS. Finally, an attempt to combine link-based with text-based analysis in order to create more accurate search methods ...
  • On artificial economy with applications to reinforcement learning 
    Karam, Rita (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2002)
    This thesis discusses Artificial Economy with applications to Reinforcement Learning. It focuses first on Reinforcement Learning, comparing it to other types of learning such as Supervised Learning. It then covers a historical overview of the field and summarizes the current works. The work described in this thesis has a psychological approach as we focus on reward and punishment. We experiment Artificial Economy with a prototype which solves the Blocks World problem. We then show how the Artificial Economy approach can be integrated with other concepts of Reinforcement Learning techniques.
  • Guidelines for the solar chimney application : as a passive single and Integrated strategy for heating and cooling residential buildings in Aley – western mid-mountain climatic zone of Lebanon 
    Saad Eddine, Nour (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2020)
    Solar Chimney (SC) is a passive design used to enhance natural ventilation and space conditioning in a building, limiting the energy requirement of the building to low operational costs. In Lebanon, high energy consumption of residential buildings is recorded mainly for heating and cooling, marking the highest consumption in the Western Mid Mountain (WMM) climatic zone. Thus, proposing the SC application for limiting this high thermal demand in residential buildings of the WMM zone for both heating and cooling would limit the total energy consumption. SC design has various types (Stand-alone SC ...
  • Tripoli international fair between out-of-place/in-place : a Utopian nonbeing : emerging voices : a dialogue with Niemeyer 
    Al Baba, Rana A. (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2018-06)
    Place is a word that speaks for itself - a concept both simple and complicated that allows the cultural elite to savour city's life. We can see many manifestations of a certain place; it is what we call "place of memory", where participating in certain activities expresses the spirit of such places. Place and memory intersect together so that every place has a memory, and each memory is related within a place. Memory and its representations touch very significantly upon questions of identity, nationalism, power and authority. This is what Tim Cresswell (2004) discussed fully in his introduction ...
  • Enhancing component interactivity and manageability using delegates 
    Faddoul, Fady S. (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2004)
    Software components enable practical reuse of software parts and amortization of investments over multiple applications. Software components are binary units of independent production, acquisition that are combined together to form a functioning system. Building solution by combining bought and made components improves quality and supports rapid development, leading to short time to market. For these reasons, component technology is expected by many to be the corner stone of software in the year to come. Even though component software is a very promising way of building applications, it is very ...
  • Impact of climate change on the flow of El Kalb River and water demand of Beirut 
    Saade, Jad Elia (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2020)
    The general circulation models (GCMs) projections of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicate an increasing temperature and a drying trend in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region by the end of the 21st century. Accordingly, Lebanon’s water resources are expected to be heavily affected, and concomitantly, urban water demand is expected to increase. In this context, this thesis focuses on the impact of climate change on water demand in Greater Beirut Area (GBA) and the water flow in El Kalb basin – which feeds 70% of GBA population. This study is the first to: (1) ...
  • Performability in wireless sensors network 
    Eid, Fadi (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2005)
    This thesis tackles Performability issues in Wireless sensors networks. Performability is a mission-specific measure of system effectiveness that seeks to combine the traditional reliability and performance measures of a system. Wireless Sensor networks consist of a huge number of small sensor nodes, which communicate wirelessly. These sensor nodes can be spread out in hard accessible areas by what new applications fields can be pointed out [13]. This thesis aims to provide wireless communication architecture for Petroleum installations, such as off shore platforms and on shore processing units, ...
  • Introduction to differential geometry of space curves and surfaces 
    Nicolakis, Tatiana (Notre Dame University-Louaize., 2020)
    This thesis is an introduction to some of the classical theory and results of Differential Geometry: The geometry of curves and surfaces lying (mostly) in 3-dimensional space. One of the most important tools used to analyze a curve is the Frenet frame, a moving frame that provides a coordinate system at each point of the curve that is adapted to the curve near that point. Given a curve, one can define two quantities: its curvature and torsion. Both quantities are scalar fields and depend on some parameter which parametrizes the curve that is in general the arc length of the curve. The Fundamental ...
  • Beyond rules of play : rethinking play in serious game design assessment frameworks 
    Boukaram, Natalia Lyzanne (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2018)
    It is widely acknowledged that video games can provide an engaging, motivating, and fun experience, but their capacity to constitute learning experiences is less known and their learning experiences are usually an accidental side effect. The digital gaming community has branched over to games that aim to leverage the power of play to support specific activities, such as therapeutic, educational, or organizational training activities; called serious games. After reviewing underpinning theories, key literatures, and challenges and issues involved in the process of serious game design; it is quickly ...
  • Lebanese exposure to heavy metals via consumption of pitta bread 
    Tahtouh, Rawane (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2020)
    Recently, high levels of heavy metals in several Lebanese foods were reported, which has raised the issue that today, many Lebanese products could be contaminated with heavy metals and toxins. Knowing that no regulations, effective control or corrective actions from the Lebanese government are present, there is a need to assess the exposure of the Lebanese to those contaminants through its consumption. The objective of this study was to assess the exposure of the Lebanese population to heavy metals through the consumption of white pitta bread and to evaluate the health risks of its consumption ...
  • Integration of politics and sports in Lebanon 
    Nasrallah, Ahmad (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2020)
    Throughout history, politics has played a major role in exerting its power into other domains, especially sports. In Lebanon, sports has been heavily linked to politics and religion as Lebanon’s history is known for its political and religious conflicts. The purpose of this research is to investigate the influence of politics on Lebanese sports in the two most prominent sports fields, football and basketball, using the Spiral of Silence and the Two- Step theories. The final sample of 295 participants filled a questionnaire that targeted their fandom and attitudes towards political intervention ...
  • The stress strain response of concrete laterally confined with low and high performance fiber-reinforced cements and polymer composites : a comparative experimental and theoretical study 
    Sarieldine, Rawan Osmat (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2020)
    While concrete, steel and Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) jackets are the most commonly used types of jackets in the industry to confine columns, the focus of this research is to study and compare the compressive behavior of concrete cylinders confined with different types of fibrous composites; including Fiber Reinforced Concrete (FRC), Fiber Reinforced Mortar (FRM), and Slurry Infiltrated Fiber Concrete (SIFC). This study will provide a broad understanding of the behavior of the different confinement types used to retrofit columns to resist detrimental loads including blast and impact. The study ...
  • Preliminary assay for extraction of saponins from Styrax Officinalis and characterization of emulsifying properties of their extract 
    Ghosn, Marc (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2020-07)
    An extraction protocol for saponins of Styrax Officinalis plant was adopted, modified and successfully applied. The extract obtained was tested by stabilizing Oil-in-Water emulsions. Ethanol extraction and successful one-step partial purification using AB-8 adsorption column chromatography yielded positive colorimetric (Vanillin – Sulfuric Acid) TLC results. The 3D structure of the four Styrax Officinalis saponins reported in the literature were rendered for the first time, and their partitioning properties exclusively acquired using Marvin Sketch chemical drawing software. 10% w/w Sunflower Oil ...
  • Framing as a political weapon 
    Haddad, Pierrot (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2017)
    In this study, the role Lebanese television stations generally play in influencing the public opinion by using their promotion department as a tool to inject certain fears and concerns to the public, in favor of their agendas, is to be explored. This paper will specifically study the promos that Future Television produced in 2006, for the first memorial of late prime minister Rafik Hariri, asking the people to participate in a huge gathering; a shout out then against the Syrian regime and all its Lebanese supporters. Such promos and television spots are deliberately produced to influence the ...
  • The future of the international trade system 
    Chemali, Elie-Charbel A. (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2019)
    Today, the world is witnessing a debate between free trade (doctrine) and protectionism (doctrine). Those two are, opposite trade policies. The world’s main concern is the future of the international trade system. The issue of Trade is a global modern phenomenon that has an immense impact on countries and international relations. Changes came along the election of Donald Trump as the 45th US president. Among those changes, is Trump’s adoption of protectionist policies in opposite to Obama’s liberalist policies taken during his presidential term. One of those protectionist policies Trump has ...
  • Corporate social responsibility practices in the Lebanese banking sector: a reality or a Myth? 
    Chlela, Maria (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2020)
    Purpose – The purpose of this research is to study the difference between the CSR reporting and the CSR execution in the Lebanese banking sector specially during the current financial crisis and lack of trust between the customers and the banks‟ administration as a whole. Design/methodology/approach – To proceed with this study, we used the quantitative method by extracting data and information for 13 Lebanese banks and calculating the sovereign exposure debt of all these banks separately and comparing them to their disclosed CSR practices. Findings – Our research showed that not all CSR actions ...
  • Electoral campaigns in the digital age: the impact of social media and design communication on the 2018 “Lebanese parliamentary elections” campaigns 
    Nasr, Riham Houssam (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2020)
    Technology is altering human communication and their lifestyle. It helped in spreading information and made it more focused for serving human needs. This technological revolution was known as the “information age” which had a dramatic impact on our culture, in terms of making life much easier. The digital revolution changed a lot in the ways we communicate and we interact. Living in the digital age, people are being exposed to a brand-new power; the digital power. Social media gives the opportunity to bring politics closer to people and creates an atmosphere that is incredibly informative and ...
  • Unit root tests in finance 
    Jreij, Rima (Notre Dame University-Louaize, 2020)
    The knowledge of whether a time series contains a unit root or not provides guidance to determine whether the series is stationary or not. This topic is one that covers vast amount of research given to its importance in the analysis of economic and other time series data. To understand the behavior, the properties of the series and the influence of any shock that occur to the series, stationary and unit root tests were constructed. In this thesis, we first present the Box and Jenkins ARMA models, discuss the conditions for station-arity. Then, we display different method to test autocorrelation. ...