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A Tunable System For High Frequency Bioimpedance Plethysmography, Daniel H. Tebbs Dec 2023

A Tunable System For High Frequency Bioimpedance Plethysmography, Daniel H. Tebbs

Theses and Dissertations

Bioimpedance measurements are useful for determining a variety of biological conditions. By accounting for small impedance variations due to the arterial pulse, the effect of the blood can be studied more closely. The quasi-circulator system presented enables monitoring of pulsatile impedance changes with input frequencies above 1 MHz. The adjustable Rmatch allows for dynamic tuning of the system to increase sensitivity. By tuning Rmatch to be near the match point, the pulsatile signal in the output magnitude can be amplified, and tuning Rmatch to be at the match point causes the pulsatile signal in the output phase to be amplified. …

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Combined Design And Dispatch Optimization For Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy Systems, Daniel Clyde Hill Dec 2023

Combined Design And Dispatch Optimization For Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy Systems, Daniel Clyde Hill

Theses and Dissertations

Reliable, affordable access to electrical power is a requirement for almost all aspects of developed societies. Challenges associated with reducing carbon emissions has led to growing interest in nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems (N-RHES). Much work has already been done in suggesting and analyzing various N-RHES using a variety of optimization techniques and assumptions. This work builds upon previous techniques for simultaneous combined design and dispatch optimization (CDDO) for hybrid energy systems (HES). The first contribution of this work is the development and application of sensitivity analysis tailored to the combined design and dispatch optimization problem. This sensitivity analysis cover uncertainty …

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Simulating Incident Management Team Response And Performance, Daniel Jarvis Dec 2023

Simulating Incident Management Team Response And Performance, Daniel Jarvis

Theses and Dissertations

The effectiveness of Incident Management Teams (IMT) in reducing the duration and impact of traffic incidents is well-documented. The capacity of large-scale simulation models to illustrate the negative effects of these incidents on vehicle delays and excess user costs (EUC) is also widely recognized. However, there is a gap in research integrating large-scale simulation modeling with IMT performance analysis. This study uses the Multi-Agent Transport Simulation (MATSim) framework to simulate the impact of incidents and evaluate the performance of IMT across the regional network of Utah's Wasatch Front, analyzing their operation in various hypothetical situations. Our findings validate the role …

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Dynamic Segmental Kinematics Of The Lumbar Spine During Diagnostic Movements, Paul Mcmullin Dec 2023

Dynamic Segmental Kinematics Of The Lumbar Spine During Diagnostic Movements, Paul Mcmullin

Theses and Dissertations

While lumbar kinematics can be measured in vivo, most measurements are invasive (such as percutaneous bone pins), provide high doses of radiation (such as biplane fluoroscopy), or are taken with the patient in a static position (such as MRIs). Recent work suggests that lumbar kinematics can be determined by dynamic measurements of epidermal strain in the lower back. This work aims to develop and examine a method of examining lumbar kinematics via optoelectronic motion capture utilizing skin-mounted markers in the lumbar region. Two studies were performed. One study examined lumbar epidermal strain in 28 asymptomatic subjects during diagnostic movements, while …

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A Finite-State Morphological Analyzer For Q'Eqchi' Using Helsinki Finite-State Technology (Hfst) And The Giellatekno Infrastructure, Cody Scott Christopherson Dec 2023

A Finite-State Morphological Analyzer For Q'Eqchi' Using Helsinki Finite-State Technology (Hfst) And The Giellatekno Infrastructure, Cody Scott Christopherson

Theses and Dissertations

Finite-state morphological modeling has been used in natural language processing for many years particularly when dealing with lower resource languages. The present study details the development of an open-source finite-state morphological model for the Q'eqchi' Maya language using Helsinki Finite-State Technology (HFST) and the Giellatekno infrastructure. This project represents the first comprehensive morphological analyzer for Q'eqchi' and sets a foundation for future work in data annotation for this language. The resulting transducer consists of 4,439 lexemes, 2,610 states and 9,558 transitions and covers between 75% and 85% of tokens in a Q'eqchi' corpus. The success of this project lays the …

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Soft Robot Trajectory Generation: Enabling Soft Robot Arms To Reliably And Effectively Perform Real World Tasks Through Optimization, Haley P. Sanders Dec 2023

Soft Robot Trajectory Generation: Enabling Soft Robot Arms To Reliably And Effectively Perform Real World Tasks Through Optimization, Haley P. Sanders

Theses and Dissertations

The robotic platform presented in this thesis is underdamped with high inertia and can store potential energy in its compliant joints, making it ideal for many different types of real-world tasks for which traditional rigid-robots are ill-suited. Some real-world tasks suited to soft robots include high impact tasks like hammering a nail into a wall or moving heavy objects with other robot or human teammates while using relatively little power. Some of the same characteristics which make soft robots useful, such as their underdamped, highly compliant joints, also make motion planning and control for soft robots difficult. In this thesis, …

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Leucine Lock: An Amplified Rapid Antigen Detection System, Matthew David Goff Dec 2023

Leucine Lock: An Amplified Rapid Antigen Detection System, Matthew David Goff

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19, influenza, and blood analytes currently have many drawbacks. They vary greatly in accuracy, are expensive to manufacture, and can be insufficiently sensitive to small antigen loads. Leucine lock is designed to rectify these issues that exist in current rapid diagnostics by creating a rapid antigen test with minimal background activity, tunable sensitivity, and low manufacturing cost. Leucine lock consists of a novel leucine zipper containing an intramolecular hairpin, an ScFv antigen binding domain, and a fluorophore reporter in a FRET combination. By altering the number of hydrophobic and electrostatic mismatches in the intramolecular hairpin, as …

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Drop Retention And Departure In Shear Flow On Structured Superhydrophobic Surfaces, Blake Morgan Lyons Dec 2023

Drop Retention And Departure In Shear Flow On Structured Superhydrophobic Surfaces, Blake Morgan Lyons

Theses and Dissertations

Water is often found adhering to surfaces in droplet form. Droplets can develop as a result of precipitation, condensation, or chemical reactions. Drops are retained or held on a surface due to a retention force exerted on the drop by the surface. This retention force is a function of the surface tension of the liquid, drop geometry, and the contact angle between the drop and the surface. When external or body forces exceed this retention force the drop begins to move. This thesis seeks to understand and quantify the forces present at the point of droplet departure once it begins …

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Development Of A Submerged Hydraulic Jump Prediction Method Using Documented Fatal Incidents At Low-Head Dams, Caleb Mccurry Dec 2023

Development Of A Submerged Hydraulic Jump Prediction Method Using Documented Fatal Incidents At Low-Head Dams, Caleb Mccurry

Theses and Dissertations

Low-head dams are known to be dangerous due to a recirculating current that, when formed, drowns recreationalists who become trapped in the current. Efforts to mitigate the hazard of low-head dams have led to the compilation of a database of low-head dams with proven fatalities. Additionally, flume-based experiments along with well-known hydraulic equations have been used to create a spreadsheet-based system for predicting the occurrence of the dangerous recirculating current, otherwise known as a submerged hydraulic jump. The premise of the spreadsheet is that if the normal depth calculated with the Mannings Equation for the downstream reach is between the …

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View Dependent Simplification And Tessellation For Real-Time High Quality Rendering Of 3d Meshes, Dallin M. Hagman Dec 2023

View Dependent Simplification And Tessellation For Real-Time High Quality Rendering Of 3d Meshes, Dallin M. Hagman

Theses and Dissertations

The increasing complexity of 3D meshes and growing disparity in performance between high and low-end hardware necessitates more efficient rendering techniques that do not sacrifice visual quality. To support as many hardware configurations as possible, producers of 3D content provide several resolutions of each mesh. Low-end hardware is typically restricted to low-resolution meshes to maintain performance similar to their high-end counterparts, sacrificing visual appeal. However, the presence of hardware tessellation in nearly all modern GPUs presents the opportunity to render high-resolution versions of simplified meshes on low-end hardware with little computational cost. Some research has been conducted into this opportunity, …

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Brazili(Americ)An: Perception, Preservation, And Transmission Of Identity Among 1st Generation Brazilians Living In Utah And Salt Lake Valleys, Elisabeth Morris Dec 2023

Brazili(Americ)An: Perception, Preservation, And Transmission Of Identity Among 1st Generation Brazilians Living In Utah And Salt Lake Valleys, Elisabeth Morris

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to better understand how first-generation Brazilian immigrants to Utah’s Salt Lake and Utah Valleys perceive, preserve, and transmit their identity. With this purpose in mind, I hope to add to the previous studies and discussion of identity in the Brazilian diaspora in the United States. The study focuses on the question: How do first-generation Brazilians living in Utah and Salt Lake Valleys perceive their own identities? Additionally, it seeks to answer the following subquestions: How is identity preserved among first-generation Brazilian immigrants to Utah and Salt Lake Valleys and where and how is identity …

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A Series Of Improved And Novel Methods In Computer Vision Estimation, James J. Adams Dec 2023

A Series Of Improved And Novel Methods In Computer Vision Estimation, James J. Adams

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, findings in three areas of computer vision estimation are presented. First, an improvement to the Kanade-Lucas-Tomasi (KLT) feature tracking algorithm is presented in which gyroscope data is incorporated to compensate for camera rotation. This improved algorithm is then compared with the original algorithm and shown to be more effective at tracking features in the presence of large rotational motion. Next, a deep neural network approach to depth estimation is presented. Equations are derived relating camera and feature motion to depth. The information necessary for depth estimation is given as inputs to a deep neural network, which is …

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Interfacial Properties Of Hybrid Lipid-Polymer Bilayers: Applications In Drug Delivery And Biosensors, Keith L. Willes Dec 2023

Interfacial Properties Of Hybrid Lipid-Polymer Bilayers: Applications In Drug Delivery And Biosensors, Keith L. Willes

Theses and Dissertations

Amphiphilic block copolymers are unique macro-molecules capable of self-assembling into bilayers analogous to naturally occurring lipid membranes. When combined with lipids, these copolymers form hybrid membranes with unique and sometimes unpredictable properties, including increased chemical and mechanical stability. These synthetically enhanced biological structures represent a versatile platform suitable for a wide range of applications, from advanced biosensing devices to drug delivery systems. The realization of these advancements necessitates a deep understanding of material properties, including the ability to predict and control interfacial behaviors. It has been shown that in the case of pure lipid membranes, interfacial behaviors are dominated by …

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Effectiveness Of Intelligent Transportation Systems On Utah Roadways, Matthew Cline Davis Dec 2023

Effectiveness Of Intelligent Transportation Systems On Utah Roadways, Matthew Cline Davis

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the findings of a comprehensive research study conducted for the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to evaluate the effectiveness of commonly deployed Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) treatments in Utah, with a focus on Variable Message Signs (VMS), traffic cameras, and Road Weather Information System(s) (RWIS) sites. The study aimed to determine the impact of these ITS treatments on mobility and safety for Utah's unique road conditions and configurations. Three primary analyses were performed: a diversion rates analysis to assess the effectiveness of VMS on Utah freeways during incidents; a weather analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of VMS …

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Advancements In Levitated Optomechanics: Exploring Plasmon-Enhanced Light-Matter Interactions In Optical Trapping, Siavash Mirzaei Ghormish Dec 2023

Advancements In Levitated Optomechanics: Exploring Plasmon-Enhanced Light-Matter Interactions In Optical Trapping, Siavash Mirzaei Ghormish

Theses and Dissertations

Optical trapping of metallic nanoparticles investigates phenomena at the interface of plasmonics and optical micromanipulation. This thesis combines ideas from the optical properties of metals, originating in solid-state physics, with the force mechanisms resulting from optical trapping. I explore the influence of enhanced light-matter interaction due to the plasmon resonances of gold particles on their trapping properties. I present theories for trapping mechanisms of gold metallic particles and then verify these theories through experiments. Optical trapping of metallic nanoparticles is considered challenging, especially in air, as they are highly absorbing and reflecting at optical wavelengths. Yet the optical levitation of …

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Analysis And Simulation Of Nuclear Thermal Energy Storage Systems For Increasing Grid Stability, Jaron Wallace Dec 2023

Analysis And Simulation Of Nuclear Thermal Energy Storage Systems For Increasing Grid Stability, Jaron Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

With the growing capacity of renewable energy production sources, nuclear energy, once a mainstay of power generation, faces challenges due to its limited adaptability to fluctuating energy demands. This inherent rigidity makes it less desirable than the more flexible renewable sources. However, integrating thermal energy storage (TES) systems offers a promising avenue, enabling nuclear power plants (NPPs) to enhance their operational flexibility and remain competitive in an evolving renewable market. A comprehensive ranking methodology has been introduced, delineating the criteria and processes to determine the most synergistic TES/NPP design couplings. This methodology considers the unique characteristics of both current and …

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Investigating The Effects Of Unfused Powder Damping In Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Samuel Hao Teng Dec 2023

Investigating The Effects Of Unfused Powder Damping In Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Samuel Hao Teng

Theses and Dissertations

This study uses Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes to fabricate 316L stainless steel beams with pockets of unfused powder for increased damping. Modal testing was completed to compare damping factors of beams with varying pocket geometries as well as number of pockets and pocket location. For the first three bending modes that were tested, an initial damping increase was observed when pocket height is greater than powder diameter. Following the initial increase there is a height threshold, which is mode dependent, that is required to achieve a statistically significant increase in damping.

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Economy Of Scale Of Energy Intensity In Aquifer Storage And Recovery (Asr), Alyson Haley Rapp Dec 2023

Economy Of Scale Of Energy Intensity In Aquifer Storage And Recovery (Asr), Alyson Haley Rapp

Theses and Dissertations

More water utilities are adopting Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) to balance long-term water supply and demand. Due to large implementation and operation costs, ASR projects need to be optimized, particularly for energy use, which is a major operating expense. This study examines the relationships among energy use, recharge, and recovery at two ASR projects in the western United States. The major finding is an economy of scale for recovery processes, but not for gravity-fed recharge processes. The economy of scale found is as follows: the energy intensity recovered decreases with volume. This suggests it is more energy-efficient to recover …

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Hosts: Relic, Gesture, Site, And Connection In An Art Installation, Gabriella Warnick Dec 2023

Hosts: Relic, Gesture, Site, And Connection In An Art Installation, Gabriella Warnick

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project is meant to contextualize the art installation Hosts within research regarding ritual, relics, and the concepts of gesture and sites which accumulate in human connection and wonderment. It investigates the historical and philosophical significance of Catholic relics regarding their ability to conjure connection between an audience and their divinity as well as play host to a sense of awe. Additionally, this essay will explore the terms gesture and site as they relate to the ability to create moments of interaction between spans of time, context, and intention. The work will also examine the particular experiences encountered in Rome, …

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Using Jtag For External Scrubbing On The Amd Versal Acap, Michael L. Bjerregaard Dec 2023

Using Jtag For External Scrubbing On The Amd Versal Acap, Michael L. Bjerregaard

Theses and Dissertations

The Versal Adaptive Compute Acceleration Platform (Versal ACAP) is a system-on-chip (SoC) developed by AMD Xilinx. To help protect the programmable logic from soft errors, the configuration needs to be constantly checked and repaired through a process called scrubbing. This thesis provides a methodology for scrubbing the configuration over JTAG. The scrubber uses two platform device image (PDI) files, one to read the configuration and one to send corrected frames. The methodology is characterized to determine the time it takes to completely scrub the configuration. The designed scrubber was able to scrub the VM1802 in 11.5 seconds, or 41.6 Mbits/second, …

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An Inexpensive, 3d Printable, Arduino And Bluray-Based, Confocal Laser And Fluorescent Scanning Thermal Microscope, Justin Loose Dec 2023

An Inexpensive, 3d Printable, Arduino And Bluray-Based, Confocal Laser And Fluorescent Scanning Thermal Microscope, Justin Loose

Theses and Dissertations

The Fluorescence Scanning Thermal Microscope (FSTM v3.0), was designed to create an inexpensive, and easily manufactured, device for measuring the diffusivity of samples with microscopic locational precision. This was accomplished by using a Blu-ray device known as a PHR-803T, referred to in this work as a PHR. The optics in the PHR are nearly identical in function to conventional devices used in thermoreflectance microscopy, making the PHR extremely useful to integrate into the FSTM design. The focus of this thesis is the application of the FSTM as a confocal microscope using 3D printed components and various low-cost devices to operate …

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Modeling The Influence Of Vibration On Flow Through Embedded Microchannels, Joseph S. Seamons Dec 2023

Modeling The Influence Of Vibration On Flow Through Embedded Microchannels, Joseph S. Seamons

Theses and Dissertations

The influence of vocal fold (VF) vibration on perfused flow through VF vasculature is an area of research that has previously received limited attention. The aim of the research presented in this thesis was to contribute towards an improved understanding of the effects vibration on perfusion through vasculature within the VFs. This was done using a series of computational simulations of geometric changes to, and perfusion through, microchannels embedded in VF models. A computational structural model based on synthetic VF models used in previous experimental studies was first developed. The model and its embedded microchannel were initially studied under static …

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Understanding The Experiences And Perceptions Of Subject Librarians And Faculty At Brigham Young University, Duane E. Wilson Dec 2023

Understanding The Experiences And Perceptions Of Subject Librarians And Faculty At Brigham Young University, Duane E. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

This study used a qualitative case study method to explore the position of a subject librarian in a large academic library in the United States using the subject librarians at Brigham Young University as the case. In the first phase of the study, all Brigham Young University subject librarians were given the opportunity to participate in a semi-structured interview. Subject librarians considered their main purpose to be connecting the people at the university with library resources. Their duties of collection development, reference, instruction, liaison, citizenship, professional development, and scholarship are interrelated and work together in important ways. Subject librarians are …

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Coarsening Dynamics Of Ternary Polymer Solutions With Mobility And Viscosity Contrasts, Jan Ulric Garcia, Douglas R. Tree, Alyssa Bagoyo, Tatsuhiro Iwama, Kris T. Delaney, Glenn H. Fredrickson Dec 2023

Coarsening Dynamics Of Ternary Polymer Solutions With Mobility And Viscosity Contrasts, Jan Ulric Garcia, Douglas R. Tree, Alyssa Bagoyo, Tatsuhiro Iwama, Kris T. Delaney, Glenn H. Fredrickson

Faculty Publications

Using phase-field simulations, we investigate the bulk coarsening dynamics of ternary polymer solutions undergoing a glass transition for two models of phase separation: diffusion only and with hydrodynamics. The glass transition is incorporated in both models by imposing mobility and viscosity contrasts between the polymer-rich and polymer-poor phases of the evolving microstructure. For microstructures composed of polymer-poor clusters in a polymer-rich matrix, the mobility and viscosity contrasts significantly hinder coarsening, effectively leading to structural arrest. For microstructures composed of polymer-rich clusters in a polymer-poor matrix, the mobility and viscosity contrasts do not impede domain growth; rather, they change the transient …

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Tidygeo Preparing Analysis-Ready Datasets From Gene Expression Omnibus, Avery Mecham, Ashlie Stephenson, Badi I. Quinteros, Grace S. Brown, Stephen R. Piccolo Dec 2023

Tidygeo Preparing Analysis-Ready Datasets From Gene Expression Omnibus, Avery Mecham, Ashlie Stephenson, Badi I. Quinteros, Grace S. Brown, Stephen R. Piccolo

Faculty Publications

TidyGEO is a Web-based tool for downloading, tidying, and reformatting data series from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). As a freely accessible repository with data from over 6 million biological samples across more than 4000 organisms, GEO provides diverse opportunities for secondary research. Although scientists may find assay data relevant to a given research question, most analyses require sample-level annotations. In GEO, such annotations are stored alongside assay data in delimited, text-based files. However, the structure and semantics of the annotations vary widely from one series to another, and many annotations are not useful for analysis purposes. Thus, every GEO series …

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Design And Implementation Of A Software System For Measuring Cookstove Emissions In Peru, Cody Arvonen Dec 2023

Design And Implementation Of A Software System For Measuring Cookstove Emissions In Peru, Cody Arvonen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted from cookstoves cause many potential health and environmental risks. This work outlines the design of a sensor system to accurately and affordably measure these gas quantities to aid in the certification of cookstoves for a laboratory in Peru. Our team was able to design and build this system at a price ten times reduced than the current commercial sensor unit in use. The performance of our sensor system was verified by comparing its PM and CO trends to that of the commercial unit. After testing, we …

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Thermal Atomization On Superhydrophobic Surfaces Of Varying Temperature Jump Length, Eric D. Lee, Daniel Maynes, Julie Crockett, Brian D. Iverson Dec 2023

Thermal Atomization On Superhydrophobic Surfaces Of Varying Temperature Jump Length, Eric D. Lee, Daniel Maynes, Julie Crockett, Brian D. Iverson

Faculty Publications

This paper presents an experimental study of drop impingement and thermal atomization on hydrophobic and superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces. Superhydrophobic surfaces having both microscale and nanoscale geometry are considered. Microscale SH surfaces are coated with a hydrophobic coating and exhibit micropillars and cavities which are classified using the surface solid fraction and center to center pitch. The solid fraction and pitch values explored in this study range from 0.05-1.0 and 8-60 μm respectively. Nanoscale textured surfaces are created by applying a blanket layer of carbon nanotubes. Both types of surfaces are further classified by a temperature jump length (λ …

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Full Issue Nov 2023

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

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Scripture Concordance On Computer Disk Nov 2023

Scripture Concordance On Computer Disk

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The "DSEARCH" Scripture Computer Concordance, recently developed by a BYU research staff, is now available for purchase at the BYU Bookstore. This computerized index engine ($30.00) locates chapter and verse references by simply entering a word or combination of words contained in the scripture, searching 40,000 verses in about 3 seconds.

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More Perspectives On Benjamin's Speech Nov 2023

More Perspectives On Benjamin's Speech

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Two more interesting insights into the complex nature of King Benjamin's speech have been noticed. First, in the June 1985 issue of the Journal of Biblical Literature, an article by William Kurz analyzes the twenty elements found in typical classical Greek, Roman and Biblical " farewell addresses." In such speeches, the person who is about to die summons successors, points to his own mission as an example, proclaims his innocence, discusses his impending death, gives exhortations, appoints a successor, etc. While many of these elements taken alone are unremarkable, the full pattern Kurz displays is interesting. It is apparent …

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