Digital Commons Network^™

Essays On The Child Health And Education Benefits Of Government Programs, Abhradeep Karmakar

Economics ETDs

This work comprises five chapters. Chapter 1 presents an outline of three separate research papers, highlighting their objectives, main findings, and contributions to existing literature. Chapter 2 evaluates the impact of the Right to Education Act on children’s health and cognition in Andhra Pradesh, using the Young Lives data. We exploit the timing of the survey rounds and variations in children’s age in each round for studying the relationship. Chapter 3 studies the impact of the Clean India Mission sanitation program on children’s math and reading test-scores. Using data from the ASER surveys and from the Govt. of India, we …

Phylogeographic History Of The Leaf-Eared Mouse, Phyllotis Xanthopygus Complex, Tabitha R. Mcfarland

Biology ETDs

Museum collections provide essential biodiversity sampling needed to understand the species limits, phylogeny, and biogeographic history of mammals, all key features of the foundation for comparative analyses in ecology and evolution. We add to this framework a diverse assemblage of species of leaf-eared mice (genus Phyllotis) in South America and then focus on the Phyllotis xanthopygus complex by combining available mitochondrial sequence (cytochrome b; cytb) data (351 GenBank samples) with 52 newly sequenced museum samples from the northern extent of this complex’s range (51 from Bolivia and 1 from northern Chile) to reconstruct evolutionary relationships using maximum …

The Effect Of Sodium Bicarbonate On Acute Kidney Injury Markers During Physical Work In The Heat, Abdulaziz Abdulrahman A. Masoud, Fabiano Amorim, Christine Mermier, Michael Deyhle, Zidong Li

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Sodium bicarbonate supplementation (NaHCO₃) before physical work in the heat may reduce the risk of developing acute kidney injury (AKI). Purpose: To determine the effects of NaHCO₃ supplementation before a prolonged bout of physical work in the heat on AKI markers and kidney function. Method: A randomized, cross-over, double blinded design was conducted on 8 participants (3 females) who consumed NaHCO₃ (0.2 g/kg body weight) or placebo (CON) before prolonged (120 minutes) moderate intensity (~65% of maximal heart rate) physical work in the heat [40℃ and 23% relative humidity (RH)]. Blood and urine samples were collected …

Assessing Ecological Relationships Among Late Triassic Vertebrates In Petrified Forest National Park, Alexandra Davis Apgar

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

The complex vertebrate ecosystem of the Late Triassic has not yet been fully understood, largely due to oversimplification of hypothesized trophic hierarchies and limited preservation of direct evidence of faunal interaction. Paleocommunity reconstruction attempts can also fall victim to taphonomic biases, time-averaging inaccuracies, and non-analogue paleoecologies. Utilizing a combination of PAIRS analysis and NMDS ordination, we highlight vertebrate faunal relationships within the Adamanian and Revueltian faunachrons of Petrified Forest National Park, assess the likelihood that these patterns have ecological rather than preservational drivers, and examine how these potential interactions may have been impacted by the Adamanian-Revueltian turnover event. We are …

Sensitivity And Uncertainty Analysis Of Inertial Confinement Fusion Experiments, Colin A. Weaver

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Sandia National Laboratories conducts Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) experiments at the Z Pulsed Power Facility. Their objective is to study the burning plasma formed under magnetic direct drive Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) conditions and use the inferred information to reduce uncertainty in computational models and improve experimental designs. The Z machine has five neutron time-of-flight (nToF) detectors that measure the fusion neutron time spectrum from three lines-of-sight. Together, these signals are used to infer the ion temperature, target liner mass density, and the burn history of the MagLIF experiment from measured data. These parameters are a few used by …

Photophysical Properties Of Synthetic Oligomeric Phenylene Ethynylene, Hugh F. Fritz Jr.

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

Oligomeric Phenylene Ethynylenes (OPEs) are a class of synthetically prepared compounds with the basic structure of phenylene rings connected by triple-bonded carbon atoms, also known as an ethyne link. This structure can be modified by incorporating functional groups onto one or more of the phenylene rings. The addition of functional groups, such as sulfoxide or imidazole, may alter the photophysical properties in detectable ways. The photophysical techniques used in this report include fluorescence, spectroscopy in the ultraviolet and visible light range (UVVIS), and photon-based excitation using a photo chamber.

One attractive function of OPEs is their antimicrobial property. Previously published …

Risk Management Perceptions And Preventive Practices Of Athletic Directors From Naia Schools, Yan Gioseffi

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

The increase in the number of incidents associated with sports has led to the rise of litigation, and physical, emotional, and financial damage to stakeholders. Collegiate athletic directors (ADs) have the duty to keep their programs safe.

This study aimed to explore and understand the practices, perceptions, and experiences of ADs from National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) institutions regarding preventive risk management. As risk management is significantly new in the sporting industry, an exploratory study using a qualitative design, grounded in narrative inquiry was conducted using the D.I.M. Process as a guide to collect data from 10 NAIA ADs …

The Bearing Earth: Colonization, Conservation, And Political Ecology In Costa Rica (Coto Brus 1948 - Present), Pablo Alonso Arias-Benavides

Latin American Studies ETDs

This thesis presents two questions: How are relationships between people in Coto Brus and the land – specifically, forest – mediated by social, political, and economic forces? How are personal and collective identities expressed through relationship with the landscape? I chose Coto Brus because it is a forested region of Costa Rica which was populated with state support in the 1950s, and because it is my father’s hometown. In order to understand the subjective experiences of Costa Ricans involved in deforestation and reforestation, I performed interviews in the canton, visited conservation sites, and analyzed historical sources. This study combines multiscale …

Ms4 Swmpp 2023, National Technology & Engineering Solutions Of Sandia, Llc (Ntess) And Department Of Energy (Doe)

Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit

Stormwater discharges from Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM) are eligible for coverage under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) Permit. This Stormwater Management Plan (SWMP) was prepared by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS) for the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Sandia Field Office (SFO), owner of SNL/NM, located in Albuquerque, NM.

Measurements Of Scintillation Light Quenching For Protons In Rare-Earth Inorganic Scintillators, Tatiana Nathaly Espinoza

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Scintillator detectors have become a leading choice of radiation detectors for a variety of applications, including space science. Due to their intrinsic characteristics, rare-earth inorganic scintillators provide the capability to detect both gamma and charged particles in a small detector. The response of these detectors is typically characterized using isotropic gamma sources. However, the light output produced in the scintillator from an incident gamma of a particular energy differs from the light output produced from an incident charged particle of the same energy; a phenomenon known as quenching. Using two types of rare-earth inorganic scintillators, Y2SiO5(YSO:Ce), and Gd₃Al₂Ga₃O₁₂(GAGG:Ce), we measured …

Academic Health Sciences Libraries' Outreach And Engagement With North American Indigenous Communities: A Scoping Review, Allison B. Cruise, Alexis Ellsworth-Kopkowski, A Nydia Villezcas, Jonathan Eldredge, Melissa L. Rethlefsen

Publications

Objective: We sought to identify trends and themes in how academic health sciences libraries in the United States, Canada and Mexico have supported engagement and outreach with Native Americans, Alaska Natives, First Nations, and Indigenous peoples, in or from those same countries. We also sought to learn and share effective practices for libraries engaging with these communities.

Methods: We conducted a scoping review utilizing Arksey and O’Malley’s framework for scoping reviews and followed principles from JBI Manual for Evidence Synthesis. We searched seven bibliographic databases, E-LIS (Eprints in Library and Information Science repository), and multiple sources of grey literature. Results …

Tragic Fate And History In Thomas Hardy's "The Return Of The Native", Tristan Pageze

Foreign Languages & Literatures ETDs

This thesis explores the operation of the tragic in Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native by taking as a starting point the formalist approach to the genre of tragedy, before extending its definition to encompass the key concept of tragic conflict. This thesis argues that Hardy’s tragic vision takes for object human history, and especially the effects of new, unveiled knowledge on the human psyche, thus locating the root cause of tragedy in these contingencies. This continuum between individual action and the larger historical causes that shape it is expressed via the narrator’s discourse, and the discrepancy between his …

Optimizing High-Performance Computing Design: The Impacts Of Bandwidth And Topology Across Workloads For Distributed Shared Memory Systems, Jonathan A. Milton

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

With the complexity of high-performance computing designs continuously increasing, the importance of evaluating with simulation also grows. One of the key design aspects is the network architecture; topology and bandwidth greatly influence the overall performance and should be optimized. This work uses simulations written to run in the Structural Simulation Toolkit software framework to evaluate a variety of architecture configurations, identify the optimal design point based on expected workload, and evaluate the changes with increased scale. The results show that advanced topologies outperform legacy architectures justifying the additional design complexity; and that after a certain point increasing the bandwidth provides …

New Mexico Teachers’ Perceptions Of Students Who Stutter, Kyla Evelyn Cook

Speech and Hearing Sciences ETDs

Although stuttering may have a negative impact on quality of life, social support can mediate this impact and result in better outcomes. Teachers can be an important support for children. However, studies have shown that teachers have similar biases and knowledge compared to the public, and therefore may hold harmful beliefs about their students who stutter. This online survey is part of the assessment phase that aims to investigate the local attitudes and beliefs of K-12 school teachers in New Mexico. The data showed that New Mexico teachers have similar knowledge and biases as teachers globally. Results indicate New Mexico …

Coping Mechanisms For Lymphedema: An Analysis Of Patient Experiences, Claudia Admoun, Harvey N. Mayrovitz

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

Background and objective Lymphedema is a condition caused by impaired lymphatic function. Acquired lymphedema is often due to neoplasia, infection, trauma, or radiation damage. Most patients rely on advice from fellow patients and personal research to manage their symptoms. We believe coping mechanisms for lymphedema can be more streamlined and made easily accessible if the most common effective strategies are determined and collected in a single repository for reference. To that end, we aimed to assess the experiences of lymphedema patients and the coping mechanisms they employed. Methods Feedback from lymphedema patients was obtained using a 19-item questionnaire-based survey distributed …

Validation Of The Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment Among Diverse Individuals With Alcohol Use Disorder, Elena R. Stein

Psychology ETDs

Individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are heterogeneous in terms of etiology, maintenance, symptoms, and recovery, yet current diagnostic categories fail to adequately capture this heterogeneity. Corresponding to the neurobiological addiction cycle, the Alcohol and Addictions Research Domain Criteria proposes a framework of three core domains disrupted in AUD: negative emotionality, incentive salience, and executive function. The Addictions Neuroclinical Assessment (ANA) is a hypothesized multimodal assessment battery of these three domains, which may better characterize AUD heterogeneity. The current study validated the ANA in a sample of drinkers (N=245) who were diverse with respect to ethnicity and alcohol treatment-seeking status. …

Data-Driven Porosity Prediction For Directed Energy Deposition, Georgia E. Kaufman

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Stochastic flaw formation leading to poor print quality is a major obstacle to the utility of directed energy deposition (DED), a laser and metal powder-based additive manufacturing technology for construction and repair of custom metal parts. While melt pool temperature variability is known to be a major factor in flaw formation, control schemes to decrease flaw formation are limited by a lack of physics-based models that fully and accurately describe DED. In this work, a stochastic reachability analysis with a data-driven model based on thermal images of the melt pool was conducted to determine the likelihood of violating melt pool …

Progression Of Surface Flashover In Vacuum With Polymer Insulators, Kimberly M. Faris

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

In pulsed power devices, an insulator is needed to isolate the transmission line from vacuum chambers. Vacuum is used as the insulator because it contains no atoms. Since it is being used as an insulator in these pulsed power insulation systems, surface flashover in vacuum is one of the most extensively studied areas since it being the greatest constraint in providing power due to dielectrics that are not able to sustain the voltage the system is operating under. These dielectrics are used in between high voltage electrodes in various pulsed power applications as electrical insulators to limit the electric current …

Modified Geometries, Clifford Algebras And Graphs: Their Impact On Discreteness, Locality And Symmetr, Roman Sverdlov

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

In this dissertation I will explore the question whether various entities commonly used in quantum field theory can be “constructed". In particular, can spacetime be “constructed" out of building blocks, and can Berezin integral be “constructed" in terms of Riemann integrals.

As far as “constructing" spacetime out of building blocks, it has been attempted by multiple scientific communities and various models were proposed. But the common downfall is they break the principles of relativity. I will explore the ways of doing so in such a way that principles of relativity are respected. One of my approaches is to replace points …

Pregnancy In United States Immigration Detention: Listening To Migrant Women's Stories, Amanda Heffernan

Nursing ETDs

Over the last five years, dramatic shifts in immigration policy across three presidential administrations have impacted migrants arriving at the U.S.’ southern border, with unique impacts on pregnant migrants. The purpose of this study was to document, analyze and contextualize the experience of pregnancy in United States immigration detention. Specifically, the study aimed to: 1) understand the situation of pregnant migrants detained in United States immigration detention facilities between 2017-2022; 2) situate the experience of detained pregnant migrants within multiple contexts, including their own individual and family migration stories and the larger context of United States immigration policy; and 3) …

Long-Term Monitoring And Maintenance Plan For The Mixed Waste Landfill – March 2012, Revision 2, July 2023, Sandia National Laboratories/Nm Snl

Facilities-Units

The New Mexico Environment Department approved the Class 2 Permit Modification Request (23-024) to plug and abandon monitoring well MWL-MW4. The proposed revisions to the LTMMP have been incorporated as Revision 2 (July 2023) of the Long-Term Monitoring and Maintenance Plan for the Mixed Waste Landfill and replaces Revision 1 (dated February 2022). 268 pages.

Capacity And Communication: Addressing Barriers To Agricultural Innovations In The Middle Rio Grande Basin, Corina Michelle Gomez

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Farmers and ranchers across the American Southwest are battling intense droughts, leaving them with decreasing water supplies to irrigate their fields or perform the necessary activities their operations require. These shortages have placed mounting pressures on agricultural water users and water managers alike to seek techniques and innovations that will stretch water supplies further and help them survive into the future. In an area like the Middle Rio Grande (MRG) basin in central New Mexico, for many farmers agriculture is more than a way to generate income, it’s a way of life. It is closely intertwined with the history of …

The Clear Path: A Framework For Enhancing Information Literacy Through Prompt Engineering, Leo S. Lo

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

This article introduces the CLEAR Framework for Prompt Engineering, designed to optimize interactions with AI language models like ChatGPT. The framework encompasses five core principles—Concise, Logical, Explicit, Adaptive, and Reflective—that facilitate more effective AI-generated content evaluation and creation. Additionally, the article discusses technical aspects of prompts, such as tokens, temperature, and top-p settings. By integrating the CLEAR Framework into information literacy instruction, academic librarians can empower students with critical thinking skills for the ChatGPT era and adapt to the rapidly evolving AI landscape in higher education.

Canada's Indigenous Health Information: Creating Collaborative Space For Archives And Community In The Native Health Database, Jonathan M. Pringle

Posters and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Gold Thin Film Electrodes For High Sensitivity & Selectivity Electrochemical Detection Of Arsenite In Water, Tybur Q. Casuse Driovínto

Civil Engineering ETDs

This is partial fulfillment of a dissertation defense on electrochemical detection of Arsenic (As) in water using gold (Au) nanofilms as sensing electrodes. The maximum contaminant level of Arsenic in drinking water is set at 10 g L^-1 by the WHO and USEPA. Electrochemical detection by linear stripping voltammetry has comparable detection limits to more expensive laboratory-based methods but with added benefits of being portable and manufacturable. The work has developed sputtered and crystallographically oriented nanofilms for detection of trace As (III). Ultraflat Au(111) oriented thin films, Au(UTF), were compared to single crystal model electrodes to identify the impacts …

20230627_Take The Test & Take The Next Step – National Hiv Testing Day, Brandon Carroll

HSLIC Blog Post

No abstract provided.

Associations Between Nonsuicidal Self-Injury And School-Based Health-Promotive Factors For Sexual And Gender Minority Youth And Their Peers, Alena Kuhlemeier, Daniel Shattuck, Cathleen Willging, Mary M. Ramos

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Methods Of Magneto-Optical Spectroscopy And Analysis For Porphyrins And Polymer Thin-Films, Emigdio E. Turner

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

This dissertation describes the construction of two high precision magneto-polarimeters for performing Faraday rotation and Magnetic Circular Dichroism (MCD) measurements of polymer thin-films. There is a focus in materials science on the development of thin-film magneto-optically active materials. These materials could allow for the construction of a thin-film optical diode, an important device for next-generation photonic technology. Upon completion of the Faraday rotation spectrometer, two publications were generated from Faraday rotation measurements of novel polymer thin-film materials.

With growing interest by materials scientists in magneto-optically active transition-metal containing materials, an MCD spectrometer was constructed to study these materials. This spectrometer …

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, Environmental Quality And Public Health, Suraj Ghimire

Economics ETDs

Using dairy farm data, this dissertation investigates the environmental and health implications of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in New Mexico. It seeks to answer three primary research questions: (1) the relationship between environmental justice indicators and proximity to dairy farms; (2) the overall health consequences of dairy air pollutants; and (3) the viability of implementing an anaerobic digester (AD) system as a potential solution to externality concerns while maintaining dairy farm economic sustainability.

The first study demonstrates that foreign-born populations and Hispanics disproportionately experience emissions from CAFOs, with living near dairy farms or in areas with elevated ammonia levels …

Parents' Perspectives On The Utility Of Genomic Sequencing In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Amy A Lemke, Michelle L Thompson, Emily C Gimpel, Katelyn C Mcnamara, Carla A Rich, Candice R Finnila, Meagan E Cochran, James M J Lawlor, Kelly M East, Kevin M Bowling, Donald R Latner, Susan M Hiatt, Michelle D Amaral, Whitley V Kelley, Veronica Greve, David E Gray, Stephanie A Felker, Hannah Meddaugh, Ashley Cannon, Amanda Luedecke, Kelly E Jackson, Laura G Hendon, Hillary M Janani, Marla Johnston, Lee Ann Merin, Sarah L Deans, Carly Tuura, Trent Hughes, Heather Williams, Kelly Laborde, Matthew B Neu, Jessica Patrick-Esteve, Anna C E Hurst, Brian M Kirmse, Renate Savich, Steven B Spedale, Sara J Knight, Gregory S Barsh, Bruce R Korf, Gregory M Cooper, Kyle B Brothers

Pediatrics Research and Scholarship

BACKGROUND: It is critical to understand the wide-ranging clinical and non-clinical effects of genome sequencing (GS) for parents in the NICU context. We assessed parents' experiences with GS as a first-line diagnostic tool for infants with suspected genetic conditions in the NICU.

METHODS: Parents of newborns (N = 62) suspected of having a genetic condition were recruited across five hospitals in the southeast United States as part of the SouthSeq study. Semi-structured interviews (N = 78) were conducted after parents received their child's sequencing result (positive, negative, or variants of unknown significance). Thematic analysis was performed on all interviews.

RESULTS: …