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Full Issue Aug 2023

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

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Dean Of Engineering Joins Farms Board Aug 2023

Dean Of Engineering Joins Farms Board

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

Douglas M. Chabries, professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at BYU, has accepted an invitation to become a member of the board of directors of FARMS. He brings to the board some new research perspectives and a wealth of university administrative experience.

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Preliminary Study Identifies Possible Sources For Nephi's Ore Aug 2023

Preliminary Study Identifies Possible Sources For Nephi's Ore

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

The efforts begun by Warren and Michaela Aston to identify important sites along the Lehi trail eventually evolved into a FARMS project and exploration to Southern Oman's Dhofar region in 1992. The remote area of Wadi Sayq in that region has been identified as a location that appears to meet all of the criteria one can infer from the text of the Book of Mormon for the coastal site named Bountiful by Lehi and his family, where they lived while building a ship for their ocean crossing.

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Preparing For V2x Deployment: Evaluating Current Anonymity Implementations, And Developing A Framework For Gauging Roadside Unit Networkability, Daniel Arnaudov Sharp Aug 2023

Preparing For V2x Deployment: Evaluating Current Anonymity Implementations, And Developing A Framework For Gauging Roadside Unit Networkability, Daniel Arnaudov Sharp

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we answer two questions relating to the impending deployment of V2X. We answer, "What is the state of current privacy measures implemented to prevent tracking and promote anonymity?" We answer this by showing that tracking methods used to circumvent changing IDs are possible. We also show through conservative calculations that this problem will not go away on its own and requires direct effort. We also answer, "Is the available production V2X hardware ready for scalable deployment?" To do this we develop a framework for evaluating RSUs and many of their core functions related to deployment, scalability, and …

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Designed For Better Control: Using Kinematic And Dynamic Metrics To Optimize Robot Manipulator Design, John R. Morrell Aug 2023

Designed For Better Control: Using Kinematic And Dynamic Metrics To Optimize Robot Manipulator Design, John R. Morrell

Theses and Dissertations

In the field of control theory, optimal performance is generally defined as the best possible controlled performance given a static, unchangeable plant system. However, principled design of the underlying system can make designing effective controllers easier and dramatically improve the final control performance beyond what any finely tuned controller could achieve alone. This work develops performance metrics for serial robot arms which help guide the design and optimization of the structure of the arm to achieve greater final performance. First, a kinematic (motion-based) metric called the Actuator Independence Metric (AIM) measures the uniqueness of the movement capabilities of the different …

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Detailed Characterization Of Material Deformation, Alexander J. Farnsworth Aug 2023

Detailed Characterization Of Material Deformation, Alexander J. Farnsworth

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a comprehensive exploration of material deformation at the atomic level, investigating key findings and contributions through three fundamental methods: Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy (SFG), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), and Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD). The research commences by uncovering the material dependency of nonresonant responses in both SFG and Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) signals. This redefinition of the nonresonant component as an information-rich carrier, rather than mere background noise, leads to novel insights into the potential applications of SFG. The study then delves further into the influence of mechanical stress on materials, establishing a connection between dislocation density on …

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Interaction Of Natural Convection And Real Gas Radiation Over A Vertical Flat Plate, Nathan Hale Aug 2023

Interaction Of Natural Convection And Real Gas Radiation Over A Vertical Flat Plate, Nathan Hale

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores natural convection heat transfer and fluid flow from a vertical plate in a radiating gas accounting for real gas spectral behavior. Finite volume techniques are used to solve the coupled nonlinear partial differential equations for mass, momentum, and energy conservation, while radiation transfer is modeled using the Discrete Ordinates finite volume finite angle method. Real gas spectral behavior is accounted for using the Rank Correlated Spectral Line Weighted-sum-of-gray-gases method. It is found that gas temperature and velocity are higher in the boundary layer, thickening the thermal and hydrodynamic boundary layers compared to the limiting case of pure …

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Effects Of Annual Weather Variation On Peak Herbaceous Yield Date In Sagebrush Steppe, Jonathan Bates, Dustin Johnson, Kirk W. Davies, Tony Svejcar, Stuart Hardegree Aug 2023

Effects Of Annual Weather Variation On Peak Herbaceous Yield Date In Sagebrush Steppe, Jonathan Bates, Dustin Johnson, Kirk W. Davies, Tony Svejcar, Stuart Hardegree

Western North American Naturalist

Interannual climate variability impacts forage yield in semiarid rangelands, but it also affects the timing of peak yields. Knowledge of peak standing crop or yield dates would be useful when planning fieldwork for various research or management activities and for developing more accurate models linking herbage production to climatic variables. In this study, herbaceous yield was measured every 2 weeks (April–August) over an 8-year period in a Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) community in southeastern Oregon. Date of peak yield (Julian day) was calculated for morphological groups (tall perennial bunchgrasses, perennial forbs, annual forbs), Sandberg bluegrass …

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Full Issue Aug 2023

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

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Dead Sea Scrolls Conference To Be Held In Jerusalem Aug 2023

Dead Sea Scrolls Conference To Be Held In Jerusalem

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

On April 30, members of the F.A.R.M.S.-BYU team that is developing the Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Database will formally introduce the first edition to a small group of Dead Sea Scroll scholars and Israeli government officials and museum curators at a private conference at the BYU Jerusalem Center. In addition to a first look at the database, the conference will feature papers presented by scholars working with the scrolls, including Emanuel Tov, Frank Moore Cross, Eugene Ulrich, and Florentino Garcia Martinez. A public conference on the database will be held in Provo in 1996.

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Journal Presents Another Interdisciplinary Look At The Book Of Mormon Aug 2023

Journal Presents Another Interdisciplinary Look At The Book Of Mormon

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

The fall issue of the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, now available on the enclosed order form, features articles that examine the Book of Mormon in terms of theology, chronology, textual analysis, Jewish customs, and even engineering principles. Articles include the following.

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Groundwater Resource Assessment For West Africa Using Earth Observations And Groundwater Modeling, Sergio Armando Barbosa Casas Aug 2023

Groundwater Resource Assessment For West Africa Using Earth Observations And Groundwater Modeling, Sergio Armando Barbosa Casas

Theses and Dissertations

Groundwater is a crucial global resource, particularly in semiarid regions where surface water is scarce. As a result, effective groundwater management is essential. However, the challenge lies in a lack of data and information for proper decision-making. This dissertation present studies related to groundwater storage changes and recharge in West Africa, using data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission. In Niger, this research reveals little change in groundwater storage from 2002 to 2010 but a steep rise from 2010 to 2021, attributed partially to increased precipitation. Groundwater resources in Niger are found to be underutilized, with estimated …

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Evaluating And Advancing Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures: Statistical And Machine Learning Approaches, Bangyu Wang Aug 2023

Evaluating And Advancing Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures: Statistical And Machine Learning Approaches, Bangyu Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Automated traffic signal performance measures (ATSPM) are increasingly used to collect and evaluate traffic data from signalized intersections. ATSPM provide invaluable insights into both current and historical traffic signal performance. With their adoption by over 39 state and local transportation agencies, ATSPM play a crucial role in traffic operation and maintenance. ATSPM are continually evolving, introducing new performance measures and applications tailored to the needs of various transportation agencies. However, despite their potential, several challenges require attention and resolution. The first challenge involves the underutilization of ATSPM data due to its massive volume, which can overwhelm traditional identification and prioritization …

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Terahertz From Electrons, Electronics From Terahertz, Clayton D. Moss Aug 2023

Terahertz From Electrons, Electronics From Terahertz, Clayton D. Moss

Theses and Dissertations

Time-domain terahertz spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is a valuable technique for studying collective ultrafast phenomena. Several mechanisms exist for converting ultrashort optical laser pulses into coherent THz sources. Broadband THz pulses can be obtained from electron currents in air plasma, which requires combinations of different colors of light to be most effective. I report multi-color generation schemes of THz pulses that deliver coherent THz output. Experimental and theoretical work using the photocurrent model describe ways to use non-harmonic color combinations to utilize several sources of light available in a table-top laser setup. Additionally, THz-TDS is used to study a variety of ultrafast …

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Robust Localization And Landing For Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles In Maritime Environments, Alexander D. Jordan Aug 2023

Robust Localization And Landing For Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles In Maritime Environments, Alexander D. Jordan

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents methods for robust precision landing of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) on platforms at sea. Localization methods are proposed for UAV-to-boat state estimation for systems that employ real- time kinematic (RTK) global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and vision sensors. Solutions for GNSS-only are first presented, followed by the fusion of GNSS and vision. The important problem of sensor intrinsic calibration is solved with a novel offline batch estimation approach. Hardware results are presented for all methods. Our calibration of GNSS-to-camera is shown to estimate sensor offsets with millimeter level accuracy. Localization systems are combined with custom state machines …

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The Influence Of Political Media On Large Language Models: Impacts On Information Synthesis, Reasoning, And Demographic Representation, Alexander Glenn Shaw Aug 2023

The Influence Of Political Media On Large Language Models: Impacts On Information Synthesis, Reasoning, And Demographic Representation, Alexander Glenn Shaw

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the impact of finetuning the LLaMA 33B language model on partisan news datasets, revealing negligible changes and underscoring the enduring influence of pretraining datasets on model opinions. Training nine models across nine distinct news datasets spanning three topics and two ideologies, the study found consistent demographic representation, predominantly favoring liberal, college-educated, high-income, and non-religious demographics. Interestingly, a depolarizing effect emerged from partisan news finetuning, suggesting that intense exposure to topic-specific information might lead to depolarization, irrespective of ideological alignment. Despite the exposure to contrasting viewpoints, LLaMA 33B maintained its common sense reasoning ability, showing minimal variance on …

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Full Issue Aug 2023

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

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Brown Bag Lectures Continue To Inform Aug 2023

Brown Bag Lectures Continue To Inform

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

Two outstanding Brown Bag lectures were presented in February. Louis C. Midgley, professor of Political Science at BYU, discussed "The Authorship Debate: Who Really Wrote the Book of Mormon?" This lecture was based on a paper Midgley has submitted for publication in a new FARMS collection of essays on the authorship issue. Midgley gave a history of attempts to dismiss Joseph Smith's explanation for the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. In his paper, Midgley writes: "Those who fashion ... naturalistic explanations [of the Book of Mormon's origin] are faced with, among other challenges, the task of uncovering in …

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New Committees Will Set Media And Electronic Policies Aug 2023

New Committees Will Set Media And Electronic Policies

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

FARMS has formed two new committees to give the Foundation guidance on nonprint forms of distribution. As opportunities grow to disseminate faithful scholarship on the Book of Mormon and related subjects through new means, the Foundation wants to be ready to respond appropriately.

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Farms Audiovisual Materials Can Be Found In Video Stores And Libraries Aug 2023

Farms Audiovisual Materials Can Be Found In Video Stores And Libraries

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

FARMS is now providing some public libraries and video rental stores with copies of videos, audiotapes, and transcripts of Hugh Nibley's Teachings of the Book of Mormon course videos and the FARMS Book of Mormon Lecture Series, as part of its mission to make Book of Mormon research findings available widely, promptly, and economically.

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Farms, Oxford University Press, And E. J. Brill Join In Publishing Venture Aug 2023

Farms, Oxford University Press, And E. J. Brill Join In Publishing Venture

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

The Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies is in the last stages of negotiating an agreement with Oxford University Press and E. J. Brill (in the Netherlands) to jointly publish The Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Reference Library. The FARMS Dead Sea Scrolls Electronic Database, currently under development with technical assistance from BYU, will be published as volume 2 in the series. Volume 1, a collection on disk of high resolution digitized images of some of the nonbiblical scrolls and scroll fragments that Oxford has been working on for some time, is scheduled for demonstration at the "International Symposium …

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Early Life Drift And Environmental Effects In Nanocomposite Sensors For Biomechanics Applications, Jacob D. Carter Aug 2023

Early Life Drift And Environmental Effects In Nanocomposite Sensors For Biomechanics Applications, Jacob D. Carter

Theses and Dissertations

Wearable nanocomposite strain sensors are a promising technological advancement for real-time monitoring of human biomechanics. However, characterization of these sensors for biomechanical use can be complex due to factors such as creep-related resistance drift and environmental influence (humidity and temperature). The purpose of this work is to investigate and quantify these factors as well as seek to mitigate their effects. The first portion of this thesis is a study on creep-related drift of the electrical behavior of the sensors, investigating the impact of material cure levels and application of a compressive prestrain in ameliorating the observed drift. DSC testing of …

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Enhancing Local Hydrological Services With The Geoglows Ecmwf Global Hydrologic Model, Jorge Luis Sanchez Lozano Aug 2023

Enhancing Local Hydrological Services With The Geoglows Ecmwf Global Hydrologic Model, Jorge Luis Sanchez Lozano

Theses and Dissertations

Global hydrological models can fill crucial gaps for providing essential information on water resources management, flood and drought forecasting, and assessing the impacts of climate change. However, these models face several challenges that must be addressed to ensure their applicability at local scales. These challenges include effectively managing Big Data, proper communication, adoption, and achieving accuracy in their results. Achieving accuracy in global hydrological models is critical for acceptance in decision-making, but poses the most significant challenge due to the extensive amount of observed data required and the complexity of obtaining and preparing such data for model evaluation. In this …

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Real-Time Spatial Interference Removal And Maximum Ratio Combining In Communication Systems, Adam Gary Whipple Aug 2023

Real-Time Spatial Interference Removal And Maximum Ratio Combining In Communication Systems, Adam Gary Whipple

Theses and Dissertations

Radio frequency interference (RFI) is undesired and commonplace. Using a subspace projection method to spatially remove the interference from a phased array system gives results of a 30 dB interference null rejection (INR). Unmanned systems have been developed to observe underwater activity and communicate their observations to passing aircraft. These systems are currently limited by their use of a single transmitter. The uplink can be improved by using a dual-antenna beam steering approach to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) the aircraft receives. This approach demonstrates an increase in SNR of 3 dB when compared to a single transmitter.

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Numerical Evaluation Of Forces Affecting Particle Motion In Time-Invariant Pressurized Jet Flow, Donald E. Peterson Aug 2023

Numerical Evaluation Of Forces Affecting Particle Motion In Time-Invariant Pressurized Jet Flow, Donald E. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

This work evaluates the relative significance of forces determining the motion of a pulverized coal particle under conditions representative of a pressurized oxy-coal combustor. The gravity force and surface forces of drag, fluid stress, added mass, and Basset history are discussed and appropriate forms of these force equations are chosen, with a consideration of spherical and non-spherical drag and the Basset history kernel. Studies from the literature that emphasize specific forces are used to validate the implementation of the force equations and correlations. Modeling is based on time-averaged, one-dimensional motion of a single non-reacting particle along the centerline of a …

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Continuous-Time Trajectory Estimation And Its Application To Sensor Calibration And Differentially Flat Systems, Jacob C. Johnson Aug 2023

Continuous-Time Trajectory Estimation And Its Application To Sensor Calibration And Differentially Flat Systems, Jacob C. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

State estimation is an essential part of any robotic autonomy solution. Continuous-time trajectory estimation is an attractive method because continuous trajectories can be queried at any time, allowing for fusion of multiple asynchronous, high-frequency measurement sources. This dissertation investigates various continuous-time estimation algorithms and their application to a handful of mobile robot autonomy and sensor calibration problems. In particular, we begin by analyzing and comparing two prominent continuous-time trajectory representations from the literature: Gaussian processes and splines, both on vector spaces and Lie groups. Our comparisons show that the two methods give comparable results so long as the same measurements …

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A Polarizable Molecular Dynamics Potential For Molten Salt Property Prediction, Jared Thurgood Aug 2023

A Polarizable Molecular Dynamics Potential For Molten Salt Property Prediction, Jared Thurgood

Theses and Dissertations

The present study attempts to find an alternate computational tool to model the complex physical interactions within the molten salt FLiNaK in a way that is both efficient and accurate. Additionally, this study seeks to describe the effects of several different types of impurities on the FLiNaK salt system. This study selects two different polarizable force fields, the AMOEBA polarizable approach and the polarizable ion model, to determine the density and the structure of the impure FLiNaK salt mixtures at typical operating temperatures in molten salt reactors (between 500-900 °C). This study conducts ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations and …

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Experimental Characterization Of Internal Wave Generation By Multiple Ridge Topographies, Natasha J. Wilson Aug 2023

Experimental Characterization Of Internal Wave Generation By Multiple Ridge Topographies, Natasha J. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Internal waves are three dimensional waves that occur in stratified fluids, where density increases with depth, such as the ocean and atmosphere. In the oceans, internal waves are continuously generated by tidal flow over subsea topography. The size and shape of the topography, as well as the stratification relative to the oscillation frequency influence the characteristics of the generated internal wave field. To advance the current understanding of how ridges on a subcritical topography changes the internal waves generated, four symmetric topographies are used with ridge numbers ranging from three to six. An additional single ridge topography is used, as …

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Deployable Mechanisms And Applications For Minimally Invasive Surgery, Jacob L. Sheffield Aug 2023

Deployable Mechanisms And Applications For Minimally Invasive Surgery, Jacob L. Sheffield

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores techniques to utilize deployable, developable, and compliant mechanism design principles while investigating applications for minimally invasive surgery. This work also examines contemporary outreach strategies to broaden awareness and expand dissemination avenues of engineering research. The outcomes of this research aim to (i) equip product designers with machine design tools, (ii) deliver background and designs to mitigate surgical frustration and procedure complications associated with obstructed laparoscope lenses during laparoscopic surgery, and (iii) provide engineering researchers with new tools to extend the impact of their research. Part one of this work (Chapter 2) introduces methods for embedding linear-motion mechanisms …

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Exploring The Role Of Salt-Tolerant Halomonas Inoculant In Altering Plant Gene Expression To Improve Salt Tolerance In Alfalfa., Ashley Kay Miller Aug 2023

Exploring The Role Of Salt-Tolerant Halomonas Inoculant In Altering Plant Gene Expression To Improve Salt Tolerance In Alfalfa., Ashley Kay Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Soil salinity is an increasing problem facing agriculture in many parts of the world. Climate change and irrigation practices have led to decreased yields of large areas of farmland due to increased salt levels in the soil. Irrigation introduces salts to the soil that with time accumulate and threaten crop yield. In arid climates like Utah, the practice of irrigation is especially threatening to salt-sensitive crops including alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Plants that have tolerance to salt are needed to feed livestock and the world's population. One approach to address this problem is to introduce genes encoding salt tolerance into the …

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