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Cathartic Concentration: Meditation And Altered States In Apuleius' Metamorphoses, Benjamin L. John

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

In this thesis, I offer my reading of Apuleius’ novel, the Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass. Modern scholars are divided on whether we should read the novel as a genuine expression of religio-philosophical sentiment or a satire of religious devotion. My goal is to show that these are not mutually exclusive readings, but two positions from which to consider the idea of spiritual transcendence.

The first chapter explores the way that Apuleius uses light imagery to characterize the religious experience of the novel’s protagonist, Lucius, by analyzing similar phenomena in contemporary and modern descriptions of altered states of …

Analysis Of Double-Wall And Twisted-Tube Heat Exchanger Concepts For Use In Fluoride Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactors, Bryan M. Wallace

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Fluoride Salt-cooled High-temperature Reactors (FHRs) are an attractive fourth generation reactor concept. Like other fourth generation concept designs, FHRs offer characteristics such as a high-temperature low-pressure molten salt coolant allowing the reactor to be combined with a high-temperature high-efficiency power generation cycle such as an air-Brayton or supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2). \par

Like most Gen IV reactor concepts, there are a few problems which need to be addressed with the design before it can be licensed. One particular design is the Mark 1 pebble bed FHR, a design put out by the University of California Berkeley. Two problems that need …

Gray Matter Correlates Of Emotional Intelligence In Incarcerated Males, Devin Marie Ulrich

Psychology ETDs

Emotional intelligence (EI) is form of social intelligence that is important for navigating one’s social environment. Deficits in these abilities have been associated negative psychological outcomes such as anxiety, substance use, and aggression. Here, we extend current literature that suggests that EI is correlated with gray matter volume (GMV) in limbic regions (e.g. insula ventromedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, and cerebellum) in healthy samples, by using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to assess the relationship between GMV and EI. In study 1, emotional intelligence was positively correlated with GMV in the cerebellum and anterior cingulate cortex in a sample of incarcerated adult …

High-Throughput Automated Multi-Target Super-Resolution Imaging, Farzin Farzam

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

Super-resolution microscopy techniques developed through the past few decades enable us to surpass the classical diffraction limit of light, and thus open new doors to investigate the formerly inaccessible world of nanometer-sized objects. Most importantly, by using super-resolution microscopy, one can visualize sub-cellular structures in the range of 10 to 200 nm. At this range, we can investigate exciting problems in biology and medicine by visualizing protein-protein interactions and spatiotemporal analysis of structures of interest on the surface or inside cells. These techniques (collectively known as nanoscopy) have a high impact on understanding and solving biological questions. This dissertation starts …

Linking Climate Change And Mortality In Piñon-Juniper Woodlands, From Leaf To Ecosystem, Amanda I. Liebrecht

Biology ETDs

As global climate changes, the Southwestern US is predicted to experience more frequent and intense drought events. Extreme droughts can drive decreases in both physiological and ecosystem function, and can result in widespread tree mortality. Piñon-juniper (PJ) woodlands are a prevalent ecosystem in the region, co-dominated by two tree species, piñon (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma). Drought-induced piñon mortality has occurred over the past few decades, coinciding with outbreaks of a piñon-specific bark beetle. Piñon and juniper have different hydraulic strategies (isohydry and anisohydry, respectively) that should affect the way each species responds to drought. …

Optimization Of Supersingular Isogeny Cryptography For Deeply Embedded Systems, Jeffrey Denton Calhoun

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Public-key cryptography in use today can be broken by a quantum computer with sufficient resources. Microsoft Research has published an open-source library of quantum-secure supersingular isogeny (SI) algorithms including Diffie-Hellman key agreement and key encapsulation in portable C and optimized x86 and x64 implementations. For our research, we modified this library to target a deeply-embedded processor with instruction set extensions and a finite-field coprocessor originally designed to accelerate traditional elliptic curve cryptography (ECC). We observed a 6.3-7.5x improvement over a portable C implementation using instruction set extensions and a further 6.0-6.1x improvement with the addition of the coprocessor. Modification of …

Split-Ring Resonator Waveguide Structure Characterization By Simulations, Measurements And Linear Time-Invariant Modeling, Mohamed Aziz Hmaidi

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Interest in Metamaterials has been rising drastically in the recent years as they have been used in several optical and RF applications, from antennas to perfect lenses and pulsed power devices. Nevertheless, the time-behavior of metamaterials remains opaque and poorly understood.

In this research work, characterization of a metamaterial structure in time and frequency-domain was made through simulations and experiments. The structure consists in a series of edge-side coupled Split Ring Resonators (SRRs) in a below cutoff waveguide. A linear time invariant model of distributed elements has been elaborated as well in an attempt to approach the structure’s behavior. The …

How The Proximity Of Crime Impacts Housing Prices: A Hedonic Pricing Study Of Inner-Loop Houston, Tx., Samuel D. Thompson

Geography ETDs

This research used data on over 2200 house sales in inner-city Houston, TX to estimate the impact of crime on house prices. A GIS was used to tabulate home sale data from the MLS, neighborhood characteristics and crime data published by the Houston Police Department. Hedonic Pricing Models were built to assess how crime effects housing price and if proximity to the criminal event matters. Results show that crime does have a measurable impact on home sale price and that proximity of crime is important. An increase in number of violent criminal events leads to a discount in home price. …

Density And Velocity Measurement Of Ari And Arii Using Laser Induced Fluorescence (Lif) In A Large-Scale Helicon Plasma, Ralph F. Kelly

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Helicon plasma sources are widely used in basic plasma science, as well as for materials processing. These plasmas typically operate at high gas fill pressure, and therefore have significant densities of neutral particles. However, the role of neutrals in the overall plasma dynamics, such as ion flows, remains poorly understood. There are at least two possible mechanisms for neutrals to influence ion flows. One is an FxB drift, where F is the force exerted on ions by neutrals through collisions. The second is through Pedersen conductivity which is dependent on the ratio of the ion cyclotron frequency, ω …

Revealing Biotic Diversity: How Do Complex Environments Influence Human Schistosomiasis In A Hyperendemic Area, Martina Rose Laidemitt

Biology ETDs

Human schistosomiasis is one of the great neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) of our time with more than 206 million individuals infected and more than 90% of those infected reside in Sub-Saharan Africa (WHO 2017). Chemotherapy based control programs play an essential role in contributing to the elimination of human schistosomiasis; however, there is an increasing consensus that chemotherapy needs to be supplemented by other means if interruption of transmission and elimination are to be achieved. Given this situation, the focus of this dissertation was to better understand transmission dynamics in a hyperendemic setting in western Kenya and to find alternative …

Automatic Conversation Review For Intelligent Virtual Assistants, Ian R. Beaver

Computer Science ETDs

When reviewing the performance of Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs), it is desirable to prioritize conversations involving misunderstood human inputs. These conversations uncover error in natural language understanding and help prioritize and expedite improvements to the IVA. As human reviewer time is valuable and manual analysis is time consuming, prioritizing the conversations where misunderstanding has likely occurred reduces costs and speeds improvement. A system for measuring the posthoc risk of missed intent associated with a single human input is presented. Numerous indicators of risk are explored and implemented. These indicators are combined using various means and evaluated on real world data. …

Thinking With Images, Ed Sarkis

Philosophy ETDs

This thesis argues that images are necessary for thinking. If this is true then the nature of images needs to be understood. The problem with many accounts of perception is assuming that representing what we see is a matter of accurate depiction. The problem is solved by attending to the skills of visual discernment rather than judgments about those perceptions. My approach is both historical and analytic. Aristotle, Hume, and Wittgenstein give accounts of perception which are critically discussed. The notion that an image is a copy is rejected by showing how complicated and indeterminate that relation is. Images have …

Managing Riparian Succession And Stabilizing Native Plant Assemblages In The Middle Rio Grande State Park, Roman M. Lopez

Architecture and Planning ETDs

Anthropogenic alterations of hydro geomorphological conditions of the Rio Grande River have changed the processes that have created the mosaic of riparian habitats valuable for ecosystem functioning, wildlife, and enjoyment by residents. These changes have created conditions that have increased the frequency of historically unprecedented disturbances such as fire and aggressive invasion of exotic species. Restoration activities and planning efforts have begun to reverse these effects, yet large areas of the Middle Rio Grande State Park, commonly called the Bosque, are still being affected by ecosystem changes. Studies of the Rio Grande and other Riparian corridors suggest that lack of …

A Speleothem Record Of Climate Variability In Southwestern North America During Marine Isotope Stage 3, Justin G. Peinado

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

During Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS-3) of the last glacial period, there were rapid transitions between warm and cold climates referred to as Dansgaard-Oeschgerr (DO) events. In Southwestern North America (SWNA), two speleothem paleoclimate records document changes in moisture source delivery in response to DO-events during MIS-3, but do not address potential changes in effective moisture for the region. In this study, we introduce a new high-resolution speleothem paleoclimate record from Carlsbad Cavern in the Guadalupe Mountains. The speleothem, sample BC-5, grew continuously from 46-31 kya during the latter half of MIS-3, based on U-Th dating. We also tied stable …

"Health Is An Achoot Beat": Factors Influencing Pakistani Journalists' Coverage Of Polio Vaccination, Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah

Communication ETDs

Pakistan is one of the three countries where polio remained endemic in 2017—the other two being Afghanistan and Nigeria. The highest number of polio cases, 15, was recorded in Pakistan in 2016. A majority of the polio cases emerged among the ethnically Pakhtun population living in Pakhtunkhwa, FATA (the Federally Administered Tribal Areas), and Karachi, a metropolitan city in the Sindh province where Pakhtun immigrants from Pakhtunkhwa and FATA work and live. The resistance to polio vaccination among Pakhtuns has been associated with several factors, including a lack of knowledge about polio and anti-polio vaccine, the ongoing “war on terror,” …

Mindfulness In The Workplace: Mindful Self-Regulation, Sophia M. Bowers

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

Organizations are under pressure to perform and adapt to an ever-changing environment, creating stress on the employees, translating to direct and indirect costs to the organization. Mindfulness is recognized as an effective approach to managing stress, and has benefits on cognition, attention, and well-being, but limited research has investigated how individuals integrate mindfulness into their workplaces, which is the purpose of this study. The primary research question in this study asked how mindfulness workplace practice help individuals to self-regulate a) attention or thoughts, b) emotions, and c) both attention or thoughts and emotions and what the associated benefits are in …

The Structural Violence Of Maya Sacrifice: A Case Study Of Ritualized Human Sacrifice At Midnight Terror Cave, Belize, C. L. Kieffer Nail

Anthropology ETDs

The site of Midnight Terror Cave is located in the karstic Roaring Creek Valley near the village of Springfield in the Cayo District of Belize. The site was discovered in 2006 and fieldwork was conducted by the Western Belize Regional Cave Survey Project and California State University, Los Angeles, between 2008 and 2010. This dissertation focuses on the osteological analysis of the bones of 118 individuals recovered and recorded at the site. The osteological, contextual, and demographic evidence is framed within ritual and costly signaling theory of structural violence and viewed with the ethnohistoric and ethnographic literature of the ancient …

Reconstructing Landscape Use Patterns Using Strontium Isotope Ratios, Marian Irene Hamilton

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation uses modern habitats and fauna to model the variability and predictive power of strontium isotope ratios in identifying dispersal patterns in primates and habitat preference in primate and non-primate fauna. It concludes that there are significant isotopic differences between gallery forest and xeric grassland habitats in the same area and that these differences are reflected in fauna with habitat preferences for one or the other. It also identifies the most reliable methodological approaches for identifying the philopatric and dispersing sex in primate communities. Finally, it applies this methodological recommendation to strontium isotope data from South African hominins, concluding …

Application Of Ps Scattering Kernels To Imaging The Mantle Transition Zone With Receiver Functions, Han Zhang, Brandon Schmandt

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Both the thermal structures and the hydrated level of the mantle transition zone are attractive to researchers in solid Earth science fields. Although some aspects of the questions have been answered based on current geophysical observations, a high resolution seismic map of such layer on a continental scale is still valuable for improving our understanding of the lateral variations inside the mantle transition zone. Here we extend a 3D pre-stacking migration method to make it more applicable for imaging the mantle transition zone depths. After the validation of the method with 1D synthetic data, two types of 2D structures are …

Designing Synthetic Environments To Control Valvular Interstital Cells In Vitro, Kent E. Coombs

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Aortic valve disease (AVD) is a large contributor to health costs in the United States affecting 2.8% of the population greater than 75 years old. With a growing elderly population due to medical advances, AVD will continue to rise in prevalence over time. Current treatments for AVD are insufficient due to a lack of preventative therapies and the bioprosthetic valves used for surgical replacement have major limitations. Tissue engineered heart valves (TEHVs) present an ideal solution to current AVD needs because of their biocompatibility, capability to integrate with the host’s tissue, and ability to utilize the natural repair mechanisms of …

How A Brownfield Redevelopment Planning Effort In Gallup Resulted In A New Regulation For Vapor Intrusion In New Mexico, Michelle G. Hunter

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

The Puerco River basin has, within its confines, one small city, Gallup, New Mexico. Gallup is located within close proximity to the Navajo Nation, and many Navajo Nation members live and work in Gallup and need affordable housing. A local Gallup non-profit proposed a multi-family housing development on a long-vacant, and blighted property in the middle of downtown Gallup. After several environmental assessment investigations, the developer discovered significant groundwater contamination, from an adjacent dry cleaner, that had the potential to migrate into the indoor air at the future housing facility. A series of brownfield assessment, planning, and cleanup efforts resulted …

New Geochemical And Isotopic Approaches To Shallow Crust Landform Evolution, David Decker

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Many researchers have studied the Guadalupe Mountains in detail and starting with King (1948), many of them have speculated about the timing of the uplift of the Guadalupe block. There are several competing hypotheses including Laramide, Basin and Range, and Rio Grande Rifting uplift scenarios. Using uranium-lead dating of scalenohedral spar found in small vug caves throughout the study area, I have dated the episodes of spar formation to two major phases, 36 to 33 Ma and 30 to 27 Ma. These two episodes of spar formation are in good agreement with the time frame of the ignimbrite flare up …

Sexual Orientation And Gender Identification Data Collection: Attitudes, Beliefs, And Perceived Barriers Among Inpatient Registered Nurses And Medical Providers On Progressive Care Units, Ryan J. Harris

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

As the United States healthcare system continues to evolve and more Americans receive health insurance coverage, trends in diseases and care delivery to meet these trends are expected to shift. As this evolution takes place the ability to track trends to address the anticipated needs will need to develop at a faster pace. One such area is how healthcare providers engage the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community and how these interactions can improve care, perceived healthcare quality, and address health disparities. Currently most electronic health record (EHR) programs do not have the ability to track the sexual orientation or …

State Constitutional Litigation In New Mexico: All Shield And No Sword, The Honorable Linda M. Vanzi, Andrew G. Schultz, Melanie B. Stambaugh

New Mexico Law Review

No abstract provided.

Coalition For Prisoners' Rights Newsletter, Vol 43-Zz, No. 5, Coalition For Prisoners' Rights

Coalition for Prisoners' Rights Newsletters

National Memorial for Peace and Justice

Women in Prison

Primero de Mayo en Puerto Rico

A Reminder

Program to Pay Bail for the Poor

Democracy

Wagon Tracks Volume 32, Issue 3 (May 2018), Santa Fe Trail Association

Wagon Tracks

2 On the Cover: Santa Fé, N.M. 1882

4 President: As I See It

5 Manager: Joanne's Jottings

6 Faye Gaines to be Feted June 16

7 Trail News

10 Membership Information

26 Photo Contest News

27 Books: Presidents Who Shaped the American West

28 Chapter Reports

32 Calendar

The Role Of Descriptive Social Norms In Opioid And Other Substance Use Among College Students, Karlyn A. Edwards

Psychology ETDs

Recreational opioid use among college students has increased steadily over the past decade, and has been shown to be influenced by social pressures. Social norm informed interventions have been used to help correct student misperceptions of peer substance use and curb personal substance use, however most of this research has been centered on alcohol use. This study examined the role of descriptive social norms of two peer reference groups (close friend and acquaintance) at two time periods (30 days and 12 months) in a number of different substances, including opioids, alcohol, marijuana, stimulants, sedatives, and psychedelics in a diverse sample …

On Rugina’S System Of Thought, Florentin Smarandache

Branch Mathematics and Statistics Faculty and Staff Publications

This article investigates Rugina's orientation table and gives particular examples for several of its seven models. Leon Walras's Economics of Stable Equilibrium and Keynes's Economics of Disequilibrium are combined in Rugina's orientation table in systems which are s percent stable and 100 ÿ s percent unstable, where s may be 100, 95, 65, 50, 35, 5, and 0. Classical logic and modern logic are united in Rugina's integrated logic, and then generalized in neutrosophic logic.

Improving Nurse Managers Skills In The Veterans Health Administration, Charles Silveri

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) provides an education module for nurse mangers that prepares them for unique duties and responsibilities. This project explores the self-reported confidence in knowledge learned of nurse managers who participated in an online management and leadership training program through measurement of pre- and post- training participation. The aim of this study is to analyze an online training program for nurse managers in regards to improvement in leadership/management skills and promote better management and patient advocacy (Kvas, Seljak & Stare, 2014; American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) Nurse Executive Competencies, 2005).

Experimental Verification Of A6 Magnetron With Permanent Magnet, Andrew J. Sandoval

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

A compact A6 relativistic magnetron with diffraction output using a transparent cathode, simple mode-converter, and a permanent magnet were simulated and tested at the University of New Mexico (UNM) for the Office of Naval Research. The standard compact MDO with a simple mode converter and transparent cathode radiates a TE11 mode axially through a cylindrical horn antenna. The magnetic field, essential for magnetron operation, is provided by a Neodymium Iron Boron (NeFeB) GradeN40M rare earth magnet. The permanent magnet eliminates the need for a pulsed magnet and accompanying circuit, significantly reducing the size of the system. A permanent magnetic field …