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Electronic Theses and Dissertations

2007

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Articles 1 - 30 of 104

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Chromatic Number Of The Alphabet Overlap Graph, G(2, K , K-2)., Jerry Brent Farley Dec 2007

Chromatic Number Of The Alphabet Overlap Graph, G(2, K , K-2)., Jerry Brent Farley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A graph G(a, k, t) is called an alphabet overlap graph where a, k, and t are positive integers such that 0 ≤ t < k and the vertex set V of G is defined as, V = {v : v = (v1v2...vk); vi ∊ {1, 2, ..., a}, (1 ≤ i ≤ k)}. That is, each vertex, v, is a word of length k over an alphabet of size a. There exists an edge between two vertices u, …

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New Technique For Imputing Missing Item Responses For An Ordinal Variable: Using Tennessee Youth Risk Behavior Survey As An Example., Andaleeb Abrar Ahmed Dec 2007

New Technique For Imputing Missing Item Responses For An Ordinal Variable: Using Tennessee Youth Risk Behavior Survey As An Example., Andaleeb Abrar Ahmed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Surveys ordinarily ask questions in an ordinal scale and often result in missing data. We suggest a regression based technique for imputing missing ordinal data. Multilevel cumulative logit model was used with an assumption that observed responses of certain key variables can serve as covariate in predicting missing item responses of an ordinal variable. Individual predicted probabilities at each response level were obtained. Average individual predicted probabilities for each response level were used to randomly impute the missing responses using a uniform distribution. Finally, likelihood ratio chi square statistics was used to compare the imputed and observed distributions. Two other …

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Packings And Coverings Of Various Complete Digraphs With The Orientations Of A 4-Cycle., Melody Elaine Cooper Dec 2007

Packings And Coverings Of Various Complete Digraphs With The Orientations Of A 4-Cycle., Melody Elaine Cooper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are four orientations of cycles on four vertices. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for covering complete directed digraphs Dv, packing and covering complete bipartite digraphs, Dm,n, and packing and covering the complete digraph on v vertices with hole of size w, D(v,w), with three of the orientations of a 4-cycle, including C4, X, and Y.

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Examining Significant Differences Of Gunshot Residue Patterns Using Same Make And Model Of Firearms In Forensic Distance Determination Tests., Heather Lewey Dec 2007

Examining Significant Differences Of Gunshot Residue Patterns Using Same Make And Model Of Firearms In Forensic Distance Determination Tests., Heather Lewey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In many cases of crimes involving a firearm, police investigators need to know how far the firearm was held from the victim when it was discharged. Knowing this distance, vital questions regarding the re-construction of the crime scene can be known. Often, the original firearm used in commission of a suspected crime is not available for testing or is damaged. Crime laboratories require the original firearm in order to conduct distance determination tests. However, no empirical research has ever been conducted to determine if same make and model firearms produce different results in distance determination testing. It was the purpose …

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Probability And Statistics For Third Through Fifth Grade Classrooms., Melissa Taylor Mckinnon Dec 2007

Probability And Statistics For Third Through Fifth Grade Classrooms., Melissa Taylor Mckinnon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This document contains a variety of lesson plans that can be readily used by a teacher of intermediate students. This thesis contains two units in Probability and one unit in Statistics. Any educator can supplement this document with any curriculum to teach lessons from vocabulary to concept.

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Self-Management Of Type 2 Diabetes In Appalachina Women., Melissa Joy Magness Dec 2007

Self-Management Of Type 2 Diabetes In Appalachina Women., Melissa Joy Magness

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gender, minority, and regional-related disparities have been documented in diabetes management. Self-efficacy, the belief in one's ability to carry out the actions mandated by a task, has been identified as a key predictor in glycemic control; however, it has not been investigated in rural, female populations. This cross-sectional, correlation investigation examined the relationships among self-efficacy, depression, and diabetes self-care management in women living in Appalachia with type 2 diabetes. Using Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory, 85 women ages ≥ 21 with type 2 diabetes for a minimum of 6 months who were residents in Appalachia completed the 1) Diabetes Self-Efficacy Scale, …

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Decomposition, Packings And Coverings Of Complete Digraphs With A Transitive-Triple And A Pendant Arc., Janice Gail Lewenczuk Dec 2007

Decomposition, Packings And Coverings Of Complete Digraphs With A Transitive-Triple And A Pendant Arc., Janice Gail Lewenczuk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the study of design theory, there are eight orientations of the complete graph on three vertices with a pendant edge, K3∪{e}. Two of these are the 3-circuit with a pendant arc and the other six are transitive triples with a pendant arc. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for decompositions, packings and coverings of the complete digraph with each of the six transitive triples with a pendant arc.

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Technical Evaluation Of Hardwood Biorefinery Using The "Near-Neutral" Hemicellulose Extraction Process, Haibo Mao Dec 2007

Technical Evaluation Of Hardwood Biorefinery Using The "Near-Neutral" Hemicellulose Extraction Process, Haibo Mao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A technical analysis was performed for a new process that produces ethanol and acetic acid from hardwood in addition to bleached hardwood Kraft pulp. The new process, termed the "near neutral" hemicellulose extraction process, involves the extraction of wood hemicellulose using green liquor prior to conventional Kraft pulping. This thesis assumes that the new process is located at an existing kraft pulp mill. Ancillary unit operations in the process include hydrolysis of the extracted carbohydrates using sulfuric acid, filtration of the extract to remove lignin that was extracted with the carbohydrates, liquid-liquid extraction of acetic acid and by-product furfural, liming …

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Sharing A Landscape: The Construction Of Sense Of Place On The Maine Coast, Andrea Jane Ednie Dec 2007

Sharing A Landscape: The Construction Of Sense Of Place On The Maine Coast, Andrea Jane Ednie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Motivated by interest and concern over the changing coastline in Maine, this study uses the concept of sense of place to develop an understanding of how a range of users share the resource, and to explore how place meanings are associated with their social experiences and perceptions. The site for this study was the Stonington region archipelago, an area that has not yet experienced the same amount of development as seen on the southern Maine coast, yet one that has witnessed a boom in recreational use and an influx of people from other areas. Using a mixed methodology, two groups …

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Combining Geospatial And Temporal Ontologies, Kripa Joshi Dec 2007

Combining Geospatial And Temporal Ontologies, Kripa Joshi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Publicly available ontologies are growing in number at present. These ontologies describe entities in a domain and the relations among these entities. This thesis describes a method to automatically combine a pair of orthogonal ontologies using cross products. A geospatial ontology and a temporal ontology are combined in this work. Computing the cross product of the geospatial and the temporal ontologies gives a complete set of pairwise combination of terms from the two ontologies. This method offers researchers the benefit of using ontologies that are already existing and available rather than building new ontologies for areas outside their scope of …

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Linking Moving Object Databases With Ontologies, Kraig King Dec 2007

Linking Moving Object Databases With Ontologies, Kraig King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work investigates the supporting role of ontologies for supplementing the information contained in moving object databases. Details of the spatial representation as well as the sensed location of moving objects are frequently stored within a database schema. However, this knowledge lacks the semantic detail necessary for reasoning about characteristics that are specific to each object. Ontologies contribute semantic descriptions for moving objects and provide the foundation for discovering similarities between object types. These similarities can be drawn upon to extract additional details about the objects around us. The primary focus of the research is a framework for linking ontologies …

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Mechanics Of Burrowing In Muddy Sediments, Kelly M. Dorgan Dec 2007

Mechanics Of Burrowing In Muddy Sediments, Kelly M. Dorgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Marine muds are elastic solids through which animals move by propagating a crack-shaped burrow. Dilations previously considered anchors serve to exert dorsoventral compressive stresses on the burrow walls that, through elastic behavior of the medium, focus strongly at the tip of the burrow. This focused stress breaks adhesive or cohesive bonds, propagating a crack for the animal to follow. The force exerted by the polychaete, Nereis virens, to propagate a crack has been measured in gelatin, an analogue of muddy sediment, through photoelastic stress analysis. Finite element analysis was used to convert measured forces to those exerted in natural sediments …

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Beverage Consumption And Hypertension: Findings From The Third National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey., Vishal Arunbhai Mandge Aug 2007

Beverage Consumption And Hypertension: Findings From The Third National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey., Vishal Arunbhai Mandge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study sample was comprised of 18,953 subjects aged 18 years and older who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Preference for diet soda over regular soda was higher in females as compared to males and in Caucasians as compared to other races. Mean alcohol consumption was almost three times higher in males than in females. Undiagnosed hypertension was more common in males than in females, in 65-90 than in 50-64 year olds, and in people with less than high school education compared to those with higher education. Diastolic pressure was correlated with the level of …

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A Computational Chemistry Study Of Spin Traps., Jacob Fosso-Tande Aug 2007

A Computational Chemistry Study Of Spin Traps., Jacob Fosso-Tande

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many defects in physiological processes are due to free radical damage: reactive oxygen species, nitric oxide, and hydroxyl radicals have been implicated in the parthenogenesis of cancer, diabetes mellitus, and rheumatoid arthritis. We herein characterize the phenyl-N-ter-butyl nitrone (PBN) type spin traps in conjunction with the most studied dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO) type spin traps using the hydroxyl radical. In this study, theoretical calculations are carried out on the two main types of spin traps (DMPO and PBN) at the density functional theory level (DFT). The energies of the optimized structures, hyperfine calculations in gaseous and aqueous phases of the spin traps …

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Pleistocene Peccaries From Guy Wilson Cave, Sullivan County, Tennessee., April Season Nye Aug 2007

Pleistocene Peccaries From Guy Wilson Cave, Sullivan County, Tennessee., April Season Nye

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Descriptive and taphonomic analyses of undescribed Pleistocene Tayassuidae from Guy Wilson Cave within the East Tennessee State University and McClung Museum collections revealed a MNI of 16 Platygonus compressus and 2 Mylohyus from left femora and isolated teeth, respectively. Linkage between upper dentition and species identification is suggested by comparing Mylohyus fossilis to M. nasutus from other Pleistocene-aged sites. Long-bone NISP and age profiles show a predominance of Platygonus adults. Tayassuidae upper canines, likely Platygonus, suggest sexual dimorphism. Long bones were analyzed for carnivore damage and utilization revealing light utilization similar to that caused by modern wolves. Long bone …

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A Statistical Evaluation Of Algorithms For Independently Seeding Pseudo-Random Number Generators Of Type Multiplicative Congruential (Lehmer-Class)., Robert Grisham Stewart Aug 2007

A Statistical Evaluation Of Algorithms For Independently Seeding Pseudo-Random Number Generators Of Type Multiplicative Congruential (Lehmer-Class)., Robert Grisham Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To be effective, a linear congruential random number generator (LCG) should produce values that are (a) uniformly distributed on the unit interval (0,1) excluding endpoints and (b) substantially free of serial correlation. It has been found that many statistical methods produce inflated Type I error rates for correlated observations. Theoretically, independently seeding an LCG under the following conditions attenuates serial correlation: (a) simple random sampling of seeds, (b) non-replicate streams, (c) non-overlapping streams, and (d) non-adjoining streams. Accordingly, 4 algorithms (each satisfying at least 1 condition) were developed: (a) zero-leap, (b) fixed-leap, (c) scaled random-leap, and (d) unscaled random-leap. Note …

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Tricyclic Steiner Triple Systems With 1-Rotational Subsystems., Quan Duc Tran Aug 2007

Tricyclic Steiner Triple Systems With 1-Rotational Subsystems., Quan Duc Tran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Steiner triple system of order v, denoted STS(v), is said to be tricyclic if it admits an automorphism whose disjoint cyclic decomposition consists of three cycles. In this thesis we give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a tricyclic STS(v) when one of the cycles is of length one. In this case, the STS(v) will contain a subsystem which admits an automorphism consisting of a fixed point and a single cycle. The subsystem is said to be 1-rotational.

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Decompositions, Packings, And Coverings Of Complete Directed Gaphs With A 3-Circuit And A Pendent Arc., Chrys Gwellem Aug 2007

Decompositions, Packings, And Coverings Of Complete Directed Gaphs With A 3-Circuit And A Pendent Arc., Chrys Gwellem

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the study of Graph theory, there are eight orientations of the complete graph on three vertices with a pendant edge, K3 ∪ {e}. Two of these are the 3-circuit with a pendant arc and the other six are transitive triples with a pendant arc. Necessary and sufficient conditions are given for decompositions, packings, and coverings of the complete digraph with the two 3-circuit with a pendant arc orientations.

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Confidence Intervals For Population Size In A Capture-Recapture Problem., Xiao Zhang Aug 2007

Confidence Intervals For Population Size In A Capture-Recapture Problem., Xiao Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a single capture-recapture problem, two new Wilson methods for interval estimation of population size are derived. Classical Chapman interval, Wilson and Wilson-cc intervals are examined and compared in terms of their expected interval width and exact coverage properties in two models. The new approach performs better than the Chapman in each model. Bayesian analysis also gives a different way to estimate population size.

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Risk Assessment For Hazardous Materials Incident, Washington County, Tennessee: Road Transportation, Rail Transportation, And Hazardous Materials Storage., Steed Kenlee Stagnolia Aug 2007

Risk Assessment For Hazardous Materials Incident, Washington County, Tennessee: Road Transportation, Rail Transportation, And Hazardous Materials Storage., Steed Kenlee Stagnolia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to provide a quantitative risk assessment for road transportation, railway transportation, and storage of hazardous materials in Washington County, Tennessee. A roadside survey, railroad hazardous materials survey, and a chemical inventory were conducted. It revealed an estimated 267,858 HAZMAT shipments per year on primary and secondary roadways and an estimated total of 9.4 x 109 tons of HAZMAT shipped by rail per year. There are 49 facilities that store a daily average of 33,722,700 lbs of HAZMAT. The risk of a hazardous materials incident occurring in Washington County is highest for Interstate transportation. The risk for …

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Economic Approaches To Public And Private Land Conservation In The United States, Amy Claire Hudnor Aug 2007

Economic Approaches To Public And Private Land Conservation In The United States, Amy Claire Hudnor

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research is composed of two essays, both using economic approaches to evaluate land conservation in the United States. Essay I uses econometric methods to evaluate public lands, and Essay II uses New Institutional Economics to gain insight into private land conservation. Essay I is titled "The Relationship Between Public Conservation Lands and Tourism Employment in the United States." This research examines the relationship between public conservation lands and the importance of tourism in United States counties. A spatial error model is used on three categories of conservation land: general public land, recreational land, and wilderness areas. A positive, significant …

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Assessment Of The Flame Angelfish (Centropyge Loriculus) As A Model Species In Studies On Egg And Larval Quality In Marine Fishes, Chatham K. Callan Aug 2007

Assessment Of The Flame Angelfish (Centropyge Loriculus) As A Model Species In Studies On Egg And Larval Quality In Marine Fishes, Chatham K. Callan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project sought to determine if flame angelfish (Centropyge loriculus) could serve as models in examination of environmental and dietary effects on egg quality in marine fishes. Evaluation of 21 marine ornamental species identified flame angelfish as being amenable to egg quality research, due to their rapid conditioning and frequency of spawning. At the onset of this project, accidental copper introduction to broodstock systems required assays to determine the effects of copper exposure on survival and reproduction. Flame angelfish exhibited accute sensitivity to copper, as 60% of fish exposed to 0.25mg/L died within 12 hours of exposure. Likewise, fish exposed …

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Factors That Affect The Global Positioning System And Global Navigation Satellite System In An Urban And Forested Environment., Douglas Allen Ritchie May 2007

Factors That Affect The Global Positioning System And Global Navigation Satellite System In An Urban And Forested Environment., Douglas Allen Ritchie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy in real time measurements acquired from GPS and GLONASS satellite observations using RTK techniques in an urban and forested environment. To determine this accuracy, 2 data sets of 3-dimensional coordinates were created and compared at 14 stations situated at East Tennessee State University. One data set included coordinates determined by conventional land survey methods; the second was solved by RTK GPS/GLONASS. Once the magnitude of any deviation in the coordinate positions was determined, the contributions to the accuracies from cycle slips, multipath, satellite availability, PDOP, and fixed or float solutions …

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Epidemic Of Lung Cancer Or Artifact Of Classification In The State Of Kentucky?, Beatrice Simo May 2007

Epidemic Of Lung Cancer Or Artifact Of Classification In The State Of Kentucky?, Beatrice Simo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States despite public health campaigns aimed at reducing its rate of mortality. Kentucky is the state with the highest lung cancer incidence and mortality. This study aims to assess the impact of misclassification of cause of death from Lung Cancer in Kentucky for the period 1979 to 2002. We will examine the potential competing classification of death for two other smoking-related diseases, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and Emphysema. Age-adjusted mortality rates for these diseases for white males were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics. There …

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Alliance Partitions In Graphs., Jason Lachniet May 2007

Alliance Partitions In Graphs., Jason Lachniet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For a graph G=(V,E), a nonempty subset S contained in V is called a defensive alliance if for each v in S, there are at least as many vertices from the closed neighborhood of v in S as in V-S. If there are strictly more vertices from the closed neighborhood of v in S as in V-S, then S is a strong defensive alliance. A (strong) defensive alliance is called global if it is also a dominating set of G. The alliance partition number (respectively, strong …

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Myriophyllum Heterophyllum Michx. (Haloragaceae): Control And Vegetative Reproduction In Southwestern Maine, Jacolyn E. Bailey May 2007

Myriophyllum Heterophyllum Michx. (Haloragaceae): Control And Vegetative Reproduction In Southwestern Maine, Jacolyn E. Bailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Native to the southeastern United States, variable-leaf watermilfoil (Myriophyllum heterophyllum) is an invasive species in the Northeast and has been documented in Maine lakes for twenty years. Variable-leaf watermilfoil is targeted by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection as a species of grave concern as it has aggressively colonized twenty-six water bodies in Maine. This aquatic invasive plant grows in dense mats and outcompetes native vegetation. It is causing both ecological and economic disruption to Maine's lakes and ponds. The plants clog boat motors and deter people from swimming and other water related activities. Allofragmentation and autofragmentation occur …

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Arrow Symbols: Theory For Interpretation, Yohei Kurata May 2007

Arrow Symbols: Theory For Interpretation, Yohei Kurata

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

People often sketch diagrams when they communicate successfully among each other. Such an intuitive collaboration would also be possible with computers if the machines understood the meanings of the sketches. Arrow symbols are a frequent ingredient of such sketched diagrams. Due to the arrows’ versatility, however, it remains a challenging problem to make computers distinguish the various semantic roles of arrow symbols. The solution to this problem is highly desirable for more effective and user-friendly pen-based systems. This thesis, therefore, develops an algorithm for deducing the semantic roles of arrow symbols, called the arrow semantic interpreter (ASI). The …

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Kinetics And Mechanism Of Oxygen Delignification, Yun Ji May 2007

Kinetics And Mechanism Of Oxygen Delignification, Yun Ji

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Considerable research has been conducted into the kinetics and selectivity of the oxygen delignification process to overcome limitation in its use. However most studies were performed in a batch reactor whereby the hydroxide and dissolved oxygen concentrations are changing during the reaction time in an effort to simulate tower performance in pulp mills. This makes it difficult to determine the reaction order of the different reactants in the rate expressions. Also the lignin content and cellulose degradation of the pulp are only established at the end of the experiment when the sample is removed from the batch reactor. To overcome …

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Remote Assessment Of 4-D Phytoplankton Distributions Off The Washington Coast, Brandon S. Sackmann May 2007

Remote Assessment Of 4-D Phytoplankton Distributions Off The Washington Coast, Brandon S. Sackmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Satellite-based optical measurements were coupled with physical and optical measurements from Seaglider – a long-range autonomous glider – to study interactions between biological and physical processes off the coast of Washington, USA, and to evaluate space-time variability of regional phytoplankton and particle distributions. Using satellite ocean color data variability in near-surface chlorophyll a was characterized across a range of spatial and temporal scales ranging from 1 – 500 km and from days – years to assess region-wide responses by phytoplankton to changes in environmental conditions. Results from 1998 – 2002 revealed both strong negative and positive anomalies associated with lingering …

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Modification Of Semi-Metal Oxide And Metal Oxide Powders By Atomic Layer Deposition Of Thin Films, Mark Q. Snyder May 2007

Modification Of Semi-Metal Oxide And Metal Oxide Powders By Atomic Layer Deposition Of Thin Films, Mark Q. Snyder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This work describes two methods of modifying, and the subsequent characterizing of, oxide nanopowders. The first method, atomic layer deposition, or ALD, is a series of surface-limited reactions that are repeated to deposit a thin, inorganic film on the surface of the nanopowder. Deposition of a thin film is a useful method to alter the surface properties of a material while retaining its bulk properties. Part of this thesis concerns the understanding of the growth mechanism of thin film titanium nitride (a material known for thermal and chemical stability as well as electronic conductivity) on silica through the ALD process. …

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