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Science As Storytelling, David A. Grandy, Barry R. Bickmore Dec 2014

Science As Storytelling, David A. Grandy, Barry R. Bickmore

BYU Studies

Much if our modern world revolves around something called "science." But what is science? Interestingly, this turns out to be a very difficult question to answer because every definition seems to include something we don't consider science or seems to exclude something we do consider science. In this essay, the authors present their own definition: Science is the modern art of creating stories that explain observations of the natural world and that could be useful for predicting, and possibly even controlling, nature. They then refine this definition by offering seven rules that scientific storytelling must follow to distinguish it …

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Teachers' Curricular Reasoning And Mkt In The Context Of Algebra And Statistics, Kolby J. Gadd Dec 2014

Teachers' Curricular Reasoning And Mkt In The Context Of Algebra And Statistics, Kolby J. Gadd

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates 7th grade teachers' curricular reasoning and MKT in algebra and statistics. Although the use of curriculum materials and MKT both influence the quality of mathematics instruction, no relationship between teachers' curricular reasoning and MKT was found. Further, teachers' curricular reasoning across algebra and statistics was very similar despite differences in these fields and differences in MKT. A model for thinking about the knowledge needed to provide high quality instruction is proposed by considering the role of curricular reasoning and MKT in instruction.

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Replication And Knowledge Production In Empirical Software Engineering Research, Jonathan L. Krein Dec 2014

Replication And Knowledge Production In Empirical Software Engineering Research, Jonathan L. Krein

Theses and Dissertations

Although replication is considered an indispensable part of the scientific method in software engineering, few replication studies are published each year. The rate of replication, however, is not surprising given that replication theory in software engineering is immature. Not only are replication taxonomies varied and difficult to reconcile, but opinions on the role of replication contradict. In general, we have no clear sense of how to build knowledge via replication, particularly given the practical realities of our research field. Consequently, most replications in software engineering yield little useful information. In particular, the vast majority of external replications (i.e., replications performed …

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The Existence Of A Discontinuous Homomorphism Requires A Strong Axiom Of Choice, Michael Steven Andersen Dec 2014

The Existence Of A Discontinuous Homomorphism Requires A Strong Axiom Of Choice, Michael Steven Andersen

Theses and Dissertations

Conner and Spencer used ultrafilters to construct homomorphisms between fundamental groups that could not be induced by continuous functions between the underlying spaces. We use methods from Shelah and Pawlikowski to prove that Conner and Spencer could not have constructed these homomorphisms with a weak version of the Axiom of Choice. This led us to define and examine a class of pathological objects that cannot be constructed without a strong version of the Axiom of Choice, which we call the class of inscrutable objects. Objects that do not need a strong version of the Axiom of Choice are scrutable. We …

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Microchip Thermal Gradient Gas Chromatography, Anzi Wang Dec 2014

Microchip Thermal Gradient Gas Chromatography, Anzi Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Although the airbath oven is a reliable heating method for gas chromatography (GC), resistive heating is needed for higher analytical throughput and on-site chemical analysis because of size, heating rate and power requirements. In the last thirty years, a variety of resistive heating methods were developed and implemented for both benchtop and portable GC systems. Although fast heating rates and low power consumption have been achieved, losses in column efficiency and resolution, complex construction processes and difficulties experienced in recovering damaged columns have also become problematic for routine use of resistively heated columns. To solve these problems, a new resistively …

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Framework To Implement Authentication, Authorization And Secure Communications In A Multiuser Collaborative Cax Environment, Francis Mensah Dec 2014

Framework To Implement Authentication, Authorization And Secure Communications In A Multiuser Collaborative Cax Environment, Francis Mensah

Theses and Dissertations

Computer Aided Design (CAD) applications have historically been based on a single user per application architecture. Although this architecture is still popular to date, it does have several drawbacks. First of all the single user CAD architecture inhibits a concurrent engineering design process where several designers can work on the same model simultaneously. This limitation introduces time inefficiency especially when a project involves geographically dispersed designers. A solution to these drawbacks could be a transition from the traditional single user CAD architecture to a multiuser collaborative architecture. Advances in computer networking technologies, especially relating to the Internet, have provided the …

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Fuel Response To Mechanical Mastication Of Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands In Utah, Alan Wyatt Shakespear Dec 2014

Fuel Response To Mechanical Mastication Of Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands In Utah, Alan Wyatt Shakespear

Theses and Dissertations

Pinyon-juniper woodland encroachment threatens ecosystem function and diversity on sagebrush steppe. Decreased fire frequency likely favors proliferation of pinyon-juniper woodlands and subsequent decline in desirable understory species. Increased tree cover produces hazardous canopy fuel loads that contribute to severe crown fires and threaten life and property at the wildland-urban-interface. Mechanical mastication converts large canopy fuels into small woody debris, altering wildfire dynamics from a potential crown fire to a more controllable surface fire. We measured fuel loading and cover on untreated, masticated, and masticated + burned treatments on 30-m transects within 30 X 33-m subplots, representing 45 different sites throughout …

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A Covering System With Minimum Modulus 42, Tyler Owens Dec 2014

A Covering System With Minimum Modulus 42, Tyler Owens

Theses and Dissertations

We construct a covering system whose minimum modulus is 42. This improves the previous record of 40 by P. Nielsen.

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Modeling And Testing Of Bistable Waterbomb Base Configurations, Brandon Holbrook Hanna Dec 2014

Modeling And Testing Of Bistable Waterbomb Base Configurations, Brandon Holbrook Hanna

Theses and Dissertations

Origami is making an impact in engineering as solutions to problems are being found by applying origami principles (eg. flat-foldability) and using specific crease patterns as inspiration. This thesis presents an in-depth analysis of a particular origami fold -- the waterbomb base -- to facilitate its use in future engineering problems. The watebomb base is of interest due to its familiarity to the origami community, simple topology (can be made by folding a single sheet of paper four times), scalability, generalizability, and interesting kinetic behavior. It can behave as a nonlinear spring as well as a one- or two-way bistable …

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The Bioluminescence Heterozygous Genome Assembler, Jared Calvin Price Dec 2014

The Bioluminescence Heterozygous Genome Assembler, Jared Calvin Price

Theses and Dissertations

High-throughput DNA sequencing technologies are currently revolutionizing the fields of biology and medicine by elucidating the structure and function of the components of life. Modern DNA sequencing machines typically produce relatively short reads of DNA which are then assembled by software in an attempt to produce a representation of the entire genome. Due to the complex structure of all but the smallest genomes, especially the abundant presence of exact or almost exact repeats, all genome assemblers introduce errors into the final sequence and output a relatively large set of contigs instead of full-length chromosomes (a contig is a DNA sequence …

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A Hybrid Method For Sensitivity Optimization With Application To Radio-Frequency Product Design, Abraham Lee Dec 2014

A Hybrid Method For Sensitivity Optimization With Application To Radio-Frequency Product Design, Abraham Lee

Theses and Dissertations

A method for performing robust optimal design that combines the efficiency of experimental designs and the accuracy of nonlinear programming (NLP) has been developed, called Search-and-Zoom. Two case studies from the RF and communications industry, a high-frequency micro-strip band-pass filter (BPF) and a rectangular, directional patch antenna, were used to show that sensitivity optimization could be effectively performed in this industry and to compare the computational efficiency of traditional NLP methods (using fmincon solver in MATLAB R2013a) and they hybrid method Search-and-Zoom. The sensitivity of the BPF's S11 response was reduced from 0.06666 at the (non-robust) nominal optimum to 0.01862 …

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A Desk Study Of The Education Policy Implications Of Using Data From Multiple Sources: Example Of Primary School Teacher Supply And Demand In Malawi, Moses Khombe Dec 2014

A Desk Study Of The Education Policy Implications Of Using Data From Multiple Sources: Example Of Primary School Teacher Supply And Demand In Malawi, Moses Khombe

Theses and Dissertations

Malawi, as a country with very limited resources, needs to have educational policies in place to maximize effectiveness of the public education system. Policymakers depend on accurate data, but variations in data between sources leaves policymakers uncertain as they attempt to craft policies to address the growing educational crisis in Malawi. A desk study was performed to evaluate the policy implications of employing data from multiple sources using primary school teacher supply and demand in Malawi as an illustration. This study examined one national organization, Malawi's Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MoEST); three international aid and assistance organizations (IAAOs), …

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Algebraic Semi-Classical Model For Reaction Dynamics, Tim Glenn Wendler Dec 2014

Algebraic Semi-Classical Model For Reaction Dynamics, Tim Glenn Wendler

Theses and Dissertations

We use an algebraic method to model the molecular collision dynamics of a collinear triatomic system. Beginning with a forced oscillator, we develop a mathematical framework upon which inelastic and reactive collisions are modeled. The model is considered algebraic because it takes advantage of the properties of a Lie algebra in the derivation of a time-evolution operator. The time-evolution operator is shown to generate both phase-space and quantum dynamics of a forced oscillator simultaneously. The model is considered semi-classical because only the molecule's internal degrees-of-freedom are quantized. The relative translation between the colliding atom and molecule in an exchange reaction …

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Goodness And Truth: An Essay On Ralph Hancock's The Responsibility Of Reason, Joseph M. Spencer Dec 2014

Goodness And Truth: An Essay On Ralph Hancock's The Responsibility Of Reason, Joseph M. Spencer

BYU Studies

Joseph Spencer explains the shift in thinking that occurred about five hundred years ago: very generally speaking, premoderns took the ideal to be metaphysically fundamental, and moderns take the physical to be metaphysically fundamental. Latter-day Saint thinkers may fall into one camp or the other. Ralph Hancock's The Responsibility of Reason is a defense of a premodern conception of the world, mobilized by an attempt to reveal real problems in certain modern conceptions of the world. But Hancock's view that the moral order is total and consistent proves to be limiting. The Restoration not only took its rise in the …

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Synthesis And Characterization Of Complex Molecular Assemblies On Surfaces, Nitesh Madaan Dec 2014

Synthesis And Characterization Of Complex Molecular Assemblies On Surfaces, Nitesh Madaan

Theses and Dissertations

The research presented in this dissertation is focused on the construction of complex molecular structures on planar gold and silicon dioxide surfaces using a variety of surface modification techniques, along with thorough surface characterization at each modification step. The dissertation is structured into six separate chapters. In Chapter 1, an introduction to the importance and implications of molecular level surface modification, commonly employed surface modification methods, and available surface characterization techniques is presented. Chapter 2 shows applications of novel methodologies for the functionalization of gold surfaces using alkane dithiol self-assembled monolayers and thiol-ene click chemistry. The resulting functionalized gold substrates …

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Chaperone-Mediated Folding And Assembly Of Β-Propeller Proteins Into Cellular Signaling Complexes, Rebecca L. Plimpton Dec 2014

Chaperone-Mediated Folding And Assembly Of Β-Propeller Proteins Into Cellular Signaling Complexes, Rebecca L. Plimpton

Theses and Dissertations

G protein signaling depends on the ability of the individual subunits of the G protein heterotrimer to assemble into a functional complex. Formation of the G protein βγ (Gβγ) dimer is particularly challenging because it is an obligate dimer in which the individual subunits are unstable on their own. Recent studies have revealed an intricate chaperone system that brings the Gβ and Gγ subunits together. This system includes the cytosolic chaperonin containing TCP-1 (CCT) and a co-chaperone phosducin-like protein 1 (PhLP1). Two key intermediates in the Gβγ assembly process, the Gβ-CCT and the PhLP1-Gβ-CCT complexes, were isolated and their structures …

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Normal Fault Block Or Giant Landslide? Baldy Block, Wasatch Range, Utah, Eric R. Meyer Dec 2014

Normal Fault Block Or Giant Landslide? Baldy Block, Wasatch Range, Utah, Eric R. Meyer

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the interplay between surficial and tectonic processes in the development of Utah's Wasatch Range is vital to evaluating geologic hazards along the Wasatch Front. Baldy is a large (6.125 km3) block of limestone and sandstone structurally overlying shale on the western flank of Mount Timpanogos. It has been mapped as a downdropped normal fault block of Permian units, but no other trace of such a fault exists along the range. The Baldy block structurally overlies the weak Manning Canyon shale, which has produced a regional geomorphology replete with faceted spurs, landslide scarps and deposits. Structural, bio- and litho-stratigrahic mapping …

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Impact Of Peer Praise Notes Issued During Recess: Effects On Office Disciplinary Referrals, Elise Ann Teerlink Dec 2014

Impact Of Peer Praise Notes Issued During Recess: Effects On Office Disciplinary Referrals, Elise Ann Teerlink

Theses and Dissertations

School recess can be a problematic setting due to inadequate safety, supervision, and structure. Peer praise notes (PPNs) is a school-wide positive behavior support strategy that was implemented during recess to address these concerns at a Title I elementary school. An ABAB reversal design across all students was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of PPNs. Overall changes in office disciplinary referrals (ODRs) in each phase of the design, an effect size that reflects a highly effective treatment, and a moderately strong and statistically significant negative correlation suggest that PPNs decreased ODRs. Results from social validity surveys completed by eight recess …

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Tincr: Integrating Custom Cad Tool Frameworks With The Xilinx Vivado Design Suite, Brad S. White Dec 2014

Tincr: Integrating Custom Cad Tool Frameworks With The Xilinx Vivado Design Suite, Brad S. White

Theses and Dissertations

The field programmable gate array (FPGA) is appealing as a computational platform because of its ability to be repurposed for a number of different applications and its relatively low design cost. Traditionally, FPGA vendors provide a set of electronic design automation (EDA) tools to assist customers with the implementation of their designs. These tools are necessarily general purpose, and the resulting tool flow does not provide the user much in the way of customization. Frameworks such as RapidSmith and Torc allow for the creation of custom CAD tools that are able to target actual Xilinx FPGA devices. However, they are …

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Design And Implementation Of An Inverse Modeling Framework Using The Method Of Anchored Distributions, Carlos Andres Osorio Murillo Dec 2014

Design And Implementation Of An Inverse Modeling Framework Using The Method Of Anchored Distributions, Carlos Andres Osorio Murillo

Theses and Dissertations

Estimation of spatial random fields (SRFs) such as transmissivity or porosity is required for predicting groundwater flow and subsurface contaminant movement. Similarly, distributed parameter fields such as terrain roughness and evapotranspiration coefficients are required by other areas of environmental and earth sciences modeling. This dissertation presents an inverse modeling framework for characterizing SRFs called MAD#, which is an end-user software implementation of the Bayesian inverse modeling technique Method of Anchored Distributions (MAD). The MAD# framework allows modelers to “wrap” existing simulation modeling tools using an extensible driver architecture that exposes model parameters to the inversion engine. A compelling aspect of …

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The Word Problem Factor: Assessing The Ability Of Utah High School Career And Technical Education Students To Do The Math Involved In Formulating And Calculating Energy Cost Factors, Kristen Bentley Dec 2014

The Word Problem Factor: Assessing The Ability Of Utah High School Career And Technical Education Students To Do The Math Involved In Formulating And Calculating Energy Cost Factors, Kristen Bentley

Theses and Dissertations

Much research has been done showing the difficulty people have with word problems. This has been shown to be true for many types of word problems and for different demographics. Questions have remained unanswered regarding the reasons for this difficulty. It has been unclear if the word problems were hard because the people had forgotten or had not yet learned how to do the math calculations involved or for some other reason. This study deals with high school students who are currently in a high school level math class. They were given an assessment involving word problems and number-only problems. …

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Spatial Heterogeneity Of Ecosystem Metabolism In A Shallow Wetland, Daniel Riley Rackliffe Dec 2014

Spatial Heterogeneity Of Ecosystem Metabolism In A Shallow Wetland, Daniel Riley Rackliffe

Theses and Dissertations

Spatial heterogeneity in ecosystem metabolism may play a critical role in determining ecosystem functions. Variation in ecosystem metabolism between macrophyte patches in shallow wetlands at the extremes of freshwater habitats has not been investigated. We estimated ecosystem metabolism in mesocosms containing different macrophytes using 24-hour oxygen curves to test our hypotheses: (1) net aquatic production (NAP) during spring and summer would be similar among algal patches (metaphyton and Chara), (2) NAP in algal patches would be greater than patches dominated by the vascular plant Potamogeton foliosus, (3) heterotrophy and anaerobiosis would be greatest in patches dominated by Lemna, and (4) …

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A Lesson In Rhetoric: Finding God Through Language In “Batter My Heart”, Marc Daniel Giullian Dec 2014

A Lesson In Rhetoric: Finding God Through Language In “Batter My Heart”, Marc Daniel Giullian

Theses and Dissertations

A reexamination of John Donne's Holy Sonnet “Batter my heart,” especially one looking at the sonnet's relationship to Early Modern rhetoric, is long overdue. In this paper, I hope to show that a focus on Donne's relationship to Early Modern rhetoric yields several useful new insights. I argue specifically that Donne was probably exposed to Non-Ramist rhetorical methods and theory at many points in his education, from his childhood to his college years to his years at the Inns of Court. Furthermore, Non-Ramist rhetoric has moral implications, suggesting that aspects of an author's feelings, character, and desires can be analyzed …

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A Variable-Stiffness Compliant Mechanism For Stiffness-Controlled Haptic Interfaces, Jeffrey C. Hawks Dec 2014

A Variable-Stiffness Compliant Mechanism For Stiffness-Controlled Haptic Interfaces, Jeffrey C. Hawks

Theses and Dissertations

In this research a variable-stiffness compliant mechanism was developed to generate variable force-displacement profiles at the mechanisms coupler point. The mechanism is based on a compliant Roberts straight-line mechanism, and the stiffness is varied by changing the effective length of the compliant links with an actuated slider. The variable-stiffness mechanism was used in a one-degree-of-freedom haptic interface to demonstrate the effectiveness of varying the stiffness of a compliant mechanism. Unlike traditional haptic interfaces, in which the force is controlled using motors and rigid links, the haptic interface developed in this work displays haptic stiffness via the variable-stiffness compliant mechanism. The …

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B1 Mapping For Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Daniel Joseph Park Dec 2014

B1 Mapping For Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Daniel Joseph Park

Theses and Dissertations

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a non-ionizing form of medical imaging which has practical uses in diagnosing, characterizing, and studying diseases in vivo. Current clinical practice utilizes a highly trained radiologist to view MR images and qualitatively diagnose, characterize, or study a disease. There is no easy way to compare qualitative data. That is why developing quantitative measures in MRI show promise. Quantitative measures of disease can be compared across a population, MRI sites, and over time. Osteoarthritis is one disease where those who have it may benefit from the development of quantitative MRI measures. Those benefits may include earlier …

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The Production Of Voice Onset Time In Voiceless Stops By Spanish-English Natural Bilinguals, Ivan K. Banov Dec 2014

The Production Of Voice Onset Time In Voiceless Stops By Spanish-English Natural Bilinguals, Ivan K. Banov

Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzes the production of Voice Onset Time (VOT) of natural Spanish-English bilinguals. VOT is a linguistic characteristic that measures the amount of aspiration occurring after the release of a stop consonant. In terms of VOT, English stop consonants differ substantially from their Spanish equivalents. This study analyzes whether or not natural bilinguals produce VOTs that approximate VOTs of monolingual speakers of each language. Participants completed two surveys to quantify their linguistic dominance in English and Spanish. They were then recorded performing similar speaking tasks in both languages. The conclusions show that natural bilinguals do not produce their English …

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Pro-Covering Fibrations Of The Hawaiian Earring, Nickolas Brenten Callor Dec 2014

Pro-Covering Fibrations Of The Hawaiian Earring, Nickolas Brenten Callor

Theses and Dissertations

Let H be the Hawaiian Earring, and let H denote its fundamental group. Assume (Bi) is an inverse system of bouquets of circles whose inverse limit is H. We give an explicit bijection between finite normal covering spaces of H and finite normal covering spaces of Bi. This bijection induces a correspondence between a certain family of inverse sequences of these covering spaces. The correspondence preserves the inverse limit of these sequences, thus offering two methods of constructing the same limit. Finally, we characterize all spaces that can be obtained in this fashion as a particular type of fibrations of …

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Optimized Photogrammetric Network Design With Flight Path Planner For Uav-Based Terrain Surveillance, Ivan Yair Rojas Dec 2014

Optimized Photogrammetric Network Design With Flight Path Planner For Uav-Based Terrain Surveillance, Ivan Yair Rojas

Theses and Dissertations

This work demonstrates the use of genetic algorithms as a stochastic optimization technique for developing a camera network design and the flight path for photogrammetricapplications using Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. This study develops a Virtual Optimizer for Aerial Routes (VOAR) as a new photogrammetric mapping tool for acquisition of images to be used in 3D reconstruction. 3D point cloud models provide detailed information on infrastructure from places where human access may be difficult. This algorithm allows optimized flight paths to monitor infrastructure using GPS coordinates and optimized camera poses ensuring that the set of images captured is improved for 3D …

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The 1852 Banda Arc Mega-Thrust Earthquake And Tsunami In Indonesia, Tsz Man Fisher Dec 2014

The 1852 Banda Arc Mega-Thrust Earthquake And Tsunami In Indonesia, Tsz Man Fisher

Theses and Dissertations

In 1852, a five-minute long earthquake hit the Banda Arc region that was felt over most of Indonesia. It caused uplift of new islands and sent a tsunami across the Banda Sea that reached a height of 8 meters at Banda Neira and was also registered at Ambon, Saparua and other islands. Records of the 1852 earthquake at multiple locations provide the constraints needed to reconstruct the disastrous event through earthquake intensity analysis and numerical modeling of the tsunami. Using tsunami heights and arrival times as the major constraints, best fit numerical models of the tsunami were constructed using Clawpack. …

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Compositional Analysis Of Three Clay Artifact Collections From The Southwestern United States, Kathleen R. Kirkham Dec 2014

Compositional Analysis Of Three Clay Artifact Collections From The Southwestern United States, Kathleen R. Kirkham

Theses and Dissertations

This study assessed ways compositional analysis, facilitated by portable X-ray fluorescence technology (PXRF), can be applied in the museum setting to resolve provenance issues and other collections management questions. A major segment of the study evaluated PXRF as a non-invasive geochemical analysis technique to address concerns about whether the resolution of results is sufficient to draw meaningful conclusions. Compositional analysis, mainly facilitated by PXRF, was successfully applied to three clay artifact collections from the southwestern United States. Pottery sherds from Fourmile Ruin were analyzed using PXRF and compared to analyses from invasive wavelength-dispersive XRF and X-ray diffraction techniques. Expanding the …

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