Digital Commons Network^™

Full Issue, New Mexico Historical Review

New Mexico Historical Review

No abstract provided.

Keeping Power In Charge: Federal Hydropower And The Downstream Environment, Reed D. Benson

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines legal issues regarding hydropower, fish and wildlife at federal water projects in the West. It begins by briefly explaining the legal and institutional framework for federal water projects that generate hydropower. The following section summarizes relevant laws and policies for fish and wildlife protection in relation to federal hydropower operations, focusing primarily on the application of the ESA in this context. The article then considers the case of Glen Canyon Dam, where the Bureau and the National Park Service recently adopted a new operating plan after an extensive review that addressed hydropower, the needs of two very …

Ros-Enabled Framework For A Miniature Hexapod As A Mobile Robot Research Platform, Joseph Michael Kloeppel

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate and develop a framework for connected six-legged robots which can be used as a Robotic Operating System (ROS) based research platform. The research presented aims to purvey the necessary engineering and scientific steps needed to evolve a consumer-grade connected toy into a fully functioning and highly capable robotic system. Such a platform can be used to simulate and implement novel biologically inspired swarm research. Crawling robots have the advantage of being able to scale terrains which wheeled mobile robots may not and possess many interesting characteristics. The miniROaCH, miniature ROS-enabled and Crawling …

Moving Bed Biofilm Reactors: Evaluation Of Geometry, Attachment Surface Material And Biofilm Populations On The Uptake Of Ammonia And Synthetic Organic Contaminants In Wastewater., Patrick D. Mclee

Civil Engineering ETDs

Plastic biofilm carriers are used in biological wastewater treatment to encourage the attachment and retention of microorganisms that metabolize pollutants. The following research was conducted to better understand how different characteristics of the biofilm carrier affect the treatment performance of the attached biofilms in moving bed bioreactors. Lab scale reactors were used in this study to grow nitrifying biofilms in reactors with contrasting and controlled conditions. The effect of surface geometry on nitrification performance was evaluated by testing commercially available moving bed bioreactor media that contrast in physical design, and by varying operational parameters. Additionally, mature biofilm from a similar …

The Indigenous Sovereign Body: Gender, Sexuality And Performance, Michelle S. A. Mcgeough

Art & Art History ETDs

Gender variance and artist production are not topics that are often discussed within the discipline of art history. In fact gender variance and in particular its relationship to sexual orientation was not a topic studied, much less discussed outside of the medical community until the mid-twentieth century. It was generally thought that sexuality and gender were “biologically determined” and deviation from the heterosexual norm was considered pathological. In contrast, Indigenous nations in Canada and the United States had a very different understanding regarding the relationship between gender, biology, and sexual object of choice. One area that provides us with a …

Effective Training Modalities To Teach The Use Of Naloxone Nasal Spray, Dominick V. Zurlo

Individual, Family, and Community Education ETDs

This paper examines the use of four different modalities to teach the correct assembly and administration method to use a naloxone nasal device. Naloxone is a medication which can reverse an opioid overdose when administered correctly. This specific device has been used for over a decade, and has been instrumental in opioid prevention educational programs to bystanders and individuals who use substances (NMDOH, 2017). Prior research studies utilizing naloxone nasal devices, have included outcome data collected from programs which train individuals who use opioids, and distribute the naloxone nasal device (Kerr, 2008). Others have included examination of curriculum content with …

Synthesis, Characterization, And Spectroscopy Of Donor-Acceptor Charge Transfer Complexes, Dominic Kofi Kersi

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

A series of square-planar metal (diimine)(dichalcogenolene) chromophoric complexes have been synthesized, characterized and studied spectroscopically. Studies conducted on diimineplatinum(II) dichalcogenolene complexes (LPtL’) using time resolved spectroscopic techniques such as transient absorption and emission, reveal a charge-separated excited state of the type dichalcogenolene → diimine charge-transfer (LL’CT) [(dichalcogenolene^•+)Pt(diimine^•-) with an open shell donor-acceptor biradical character. This makes the low-energy ligand-to-ligand charge-transfer (LL’CT), or the mixed-metal ligand-to-ligand charge-transfer (MMLL’CT), transitions of diimineplatinum(II) dichalcogenolene complexes particularly interesting to us in facilitating our knowledge of biradical charge-separated states. Long-live excited state lifetimes were observed for these complexes upon visible photoexcitation …

Next Generation Sequencing Technologies For Real-Time Genotyping And Targeted Sequencing For Precision Medicine, Priyanka Rawat

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Astounding success of Human genome project and accelerating success of sequencing technologies have enabled $ 1000 genome goals possible. But, this is still far-fetched from the reach of many resource refrained populations with high genetic variations causing lethal genetic diseases. Based on present technology principles, I have developed prototypes for affordable, scalable and customizable point-of-care genotyping and targeted sequencing. Ion-sensitive field effect transistors with novel read-out and signal amplification techniques are used for laying foundation of possible ISFET based allele-arrays. Sequencing-by-synthesis based full-fledge sequencer is made with novel immobilization, flow-cell and data acquisition methods for massive sequenciing.

The Processing And Polarization Reversal Dynamics Of Thin Film Poly(Vinylidene) Fluoride, Noel Mayur Dawson

Nanoscience and Microsystems ETDs

Many ferroelectric devices benefit from the ability to deposit thin ferroelectric layers. Poly(vinylidene) fluoride (PVDF) is the prototypical ferroelectric polymer, but processing of thin film ferroelectric PVDF remains a challenge due to the formation of large voids in the film during traditional thin film processing. The research described in this dissertation starts by investigating the origin of these voids. The cause of these voids is found to be caused by vapor induced phase separation (VIPS). Guided by the thermodynamics of VIPS, a process is then designed to produce void-free ferroelectric PVDF thin films on polar and non-polar substrates. The films …

Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Impact On Oxidative Stress, Antioxidant Responses And Vascular Function, Kayla R. Zehr

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading global cause of death, and cigarette smoking (CS) is a major risk factor for CVD. Although there are smoking cessation programs that include a combination of pharmacological and behavior treatments, failure to curb behavioral habits and pharmacological addiction leads to low cessation success rates. Thus, developing a treatment to decrease CVD risk is critical. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) decrease oxidative stress and have been shown to restore endothelial function, an indicator of CV health, in cigarette smokers. Metabolites of n-3 PUFAs have been shown to have CV-protective effects, but the mechanism by …

Comparison Of Bacterial And Archaeal Communities In The Subsurface Versus Surface: Implications For Nitrogen Cycling, Jason Cody Kimble 5059801155

Biology ETDs

Arid-land caves are thought to be extremely nitrogen-limited, but almost nothing is known about how microbes in subsurface arid-land environments obtain this essential element to meet cellular demand. The depth of caves beneath the surface may represent a critical factor affecting microbial nitrogen cycling in these environments. Percolation of water and nutrients from a precipitation pulse event would affect deep arid-land carbonate caves at a much slower rate. To obtain nitrogen in deep, carbonate caves, microorganisms could use fixed N in the host rock for assimilatory biochemical pathways or for a respiratory electron acceptor. However, the latter process leads to …

Cholesterol Regulation Of Pulmonary Endothelial Calcium Entry Following Chronic Hypoxia, Bojun Zhang

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Chronic hypoxia (CH)-induced pulmonary hypertension (PH) is associated with diminished ATP-induced endothelial Ca2+ entry as well as membrane cholesterol in pulmonary arteries. Store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) and depolarization-induced Ca2+ entry are major components of the response to ATP and are similarly decreased after CH. Because endothelium-dependent vasodilation is closely associated with pulmonary endothelial [Ca2+]i, the blunted agonist-induced Ca2+ influx in pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAEC) may contribute to the development of CH-induced PH. Interestingly, impaired agonist-induced Ca2+ influx in PAEC following CH can be restored by membrane cholesterol supplementation. In the current studies, we hypothesized that impaired Ca2+ entry in …

Forage Selection And Habitat Architecture As Drivers Of Small Mammal Community Dynamics In An Arid, Nutrient Limited, Highly Stochastic Ecosystem, Jennifer Darby Noble

Biology ETDs

In the Northern Chihuahuan desert, grassland and shrubland co-occur as separate stable states under similar climatic conditions. In this bottom up (resource driven) system, the magnitude and timing of precipitation events drives primary production which varies from year to year and season to season. Climate change is predicted to alter precipitation regimes, and increase aridity, facilitating shrub encroachment which results in increased landscape heterogeneity and a decrease in plant biodiversity. These changes will likely result in a restructuring of small mammal communities.

We used long-term data on precipitation, primary production, and abundances of small mammals in adjacent grassland and shrubland …

A Case Study Of Two Taiwanese Students With Hearing Loss Navigating The English As A Foreign Language Requirement At Their University, Yu Chen

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Many institutions of higher education (IHE) students in Taiwan now need to meet the English proficiency requirement to earn their higher education degrees. In this case study, I intended to a) provide the opportunity for IHE students with hearing loss in Taiwan to share their opinions, thoughts, and experiences of learning English as a foreign language in higher education institutes; and b) understand how English as a foreign language policies and educational practices contribute to create opportunities and barriers for IHE students with hearing loss. The research question I intended to examine was “what are the perceptions of the lived …

Otras Perspectivas (Other Perspectives), Volume 19, Issue 01, December 2017, Occupational Therapy Graduate Program

OTras Perspectivas: UNM Occupational Therapy Program Newsletter

Acknowledging that the success of the Occupational Therapy Program hinges on the mutual investment of community and friends beyond the local community, the UNM Occupational Therapy Program faculty and staff have initiated this newsletter. The goal is to provide an additional forum for communication, and provide updates about the program's development, faculty, students, alumni, and friends.

Diatom Community Response To An Acidic, Ambient Temperature, Geothermal Gradient, April Fox

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

Geothermally influenced surface waters are typically linked to high temperatures; however, they can also be associated with ambient temperature and have the distinct solute chemistry that identifies them as geothermal in origin. Few studies have been linked to diatom assemblages in ambient temperature, geothermally influenced waters. This study focused on the Sulphur Creek watershed in the Valles Caldera National Preserve, northern New Mexico. Seven representative sites were sampled monthly between May 2016-September 2016 for physicochemical parameters and diatom community composition. Ambient temperature waters with high conductivities, lower pH values (≤ 4.0), and increased Al+++, Fe++, SO4=, and SiO2 concentrations are …

Anodic Catalysts For Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells, Aaron Joseph Roy

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

With a limited availability of energy resources from petroleum and other fossil fuels, as well as growing concerns relating to the environmental implications of fossil fuel emissions, non-carbon fuels which can be utilized in proton and anion exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC’s/AEMFC’s), such as hydrogen and hydrazine hydrate (HH), are becoming more attractive as alternative fuels. Historically, platinum and platinum group metal catalysts (PGM) have been used as cathode and anode catalyst materials for both PEMFC’s and AEMFC’s. Although these catalysts are the highest performing catalysts available for the conversion of hydrogen energy in fuel cells, the limited availability and …

Mexico Designates Archipelago Off Pacific Coast As A National Park, Carlos Navarro

SourceMex

No abstract provided.

Development Of Biomimetic Membrane Assemblies On Microspheres For High-Throughput And Multiplexable Studies, Nadiezda P. Fernandez Oropeza

Biomedical Engineering ETDs

Membranes and membrane-associated components are the target of approximately 60% of the current drugs, of synthetic materials, such as polymers, which are used for drug delivery purposes and of other biomolecules, such as endotoxins, which gain entry into the cell by disrupting the membrane. Therefore, the development of biomimetic membrane assemblies allows the study of different biological processes in which cell membranes play an important role, and the characterization and screening of drug delivery tools and other membrane-bound components.

Since its development, membrane assemblies on planar silica surfaces have been the method of choice to study membrane-associated and membrane-bound components. …

Because We Have To: Flamenco As Survival Strategy Against Detrimental Effects Of Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dolores Garcia

Theatre & Dance ETDs

Can daily practice in flamenco training help mediate the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on the brain and body? This thesis focuses on the inner-workings of the brain and how it processes stress and trauma. This is discussed through the idea of the Fear Circuit, which is a habitual response to reminders of the original trauma; the review of a current therapy for PTSD patients-Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR); the theory that throwing (skill in speed and precision –based throwing activities), music, and dance can all work to increase strength in areas of the brain that atrophy …

Performing (Female) Masculinity In The Early Modern Ibero-Atlantic World: An Analysis Of The Mujer Varonil In Gender And Genre, Nathaniel L. Redekopp

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

The following dissertation on the trope of the mujer varonil^[1] employs bibliographical research in literary criticism and historiography to identify and describe socio-historic attitudes about gender. In particular, this dissertation examines gender as communicated by texts that use the mujer varonil, or “masculine woman”, characterization to either praise or vilify exceptional female subjects in ways that highlight normative limits for masculine and feminine gender expression. Four texts are examined: a male author writes each and each represents a literary genre that was significant in early modern Spain and Spanish America. These genres are the hagiography, the relación, the …

Which Factors Influence Student Success In Intermediate Algebra, Math 101-102-103?, Linh T. Ward

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

At The University of New Mexico (UNM), Intermediate Algebra (MATH 120 and MATH 101-102-103) has historically been a so-called “killer course”, with very low pass rates: approximately 40% in Fall 2009 to Spring 2011 and about 50% from Fall 2011 to Spring 2013. Furthermore, many students failed the class multiple times. Since 2013, a computer system called ALEKS has been used to teach the course and, along with some additional interventions, on Albuquerque/Main campus success rates for MATH 101 have increased to roughly 80% and MATH 102 to about 70%. This thesis provides a strategy to identify those 20-30% as-risk …

Post-Transcriptional Regulation Of Addiction-Related Behaviors: Opposing Roles Of Nucleus Accumbens Mir-495 And Hud, Robert J. Oliver Jr.

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Substance use Disorders (SUDs) are characterized by chronic relapse after periods without symptoms. This has been hypothesized to stem from persistent alterations in corticolimbic circuit function and structure caused by drug-induced alterations in addiction-related gene (ARG) expression. Transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of ARGs and addiction-like behaviors have been well characterized but the role of post-transcriptional regulation is an understudied, yet promising field. RNA binding proteins (RBPs) are one post-transcriptional regulator of mRNA stability. HuD is a neuronal specific RBP that stabilizes mRNAs and is regulated by neuronal activity and cocaine. Another type of post-transcriptional regulator, microRNAs (miRNAs), are non-coding RNAs …

Diné Bina'nitin Dóó O'Hoo'aah/Education For Us, By Us: A Collective Journey In Diné Education Liberation, Lyla June Johnston

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

This study is an educational memoir of my experience working for education liberation with hundreds of Diné (Navajo) people written in the style of auto-ethnography. We are indigenous to what is now known as the southwestern United States and organize in the wake of attempted genocide and destructive assimilation policies. Our collective set out to answer the following question: If we could teach and learn anything we wanted, in any way we wanted, what would we do? Based on our ancestral Nitsáhakees-Nahat’á-Iiná-Sii Hasin strategic framework, this Diné collective organized a summer school that reflected their hearts’ true pedagogical desires. What …

Formation Of Highly Functionalized Indole Through Carbon-Carbon Bond Cleavage, Ryan A. S. Pike

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

Indoles are one of the most abundant heterocycles found in nature and have a wide range of functions. There are a wide variety of indole synthesis methods known both in synthetic chemistry and through biosynthesis. Many of the known indole synthesis routes use a benzene derivative or cyclized ring structure derivative as a starting material. Here, we describe a novel synthetic method utilizing 1, 3-diketones and fumaronitrile with a catalytic amount of base to form a highly functionalized indole as our product. We have isolated and characterized 12 functionalized indoles.

Fruit, Fiber, And Fire: A Cultural History Of Modern Agriculture In New Mexico, William R. Carleton

History ETDs

In New Mexico, no crops have defined the people and their landscape in the industrial era more than apples, cotton, and chile peppers. They illustrate, more than any other three crops in twentieth-century New Mexico, how agriculture has spurred migrations of plants and people, and in turn, shaped the culture of the place. The physical origins, the shifting cultural meanings, and the environmental and market requirements of these three iconic plants all broadly point to the convergence in New Mexico of diverse regional attitudes toward industry in agriculture. These three crops, all industrialized at different times in the twentieth century …

Construction Of Synthetic Signal Pathways In Mammalian Cells Via Induced Protein Proximity, Guihua Zeng

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

Cell signaling translates extracellular signals into intracellular processes that carry out cellular functions. The introduction of artificial signaling networks using synthetic biology methods has facilitated the investigation of signaling mechanisms and the generation of novel cell functions. Several synthetic biology methods that are based on chemical controls have been developed to provide precise temporal regulation. In my dissertation, we constructed new synthetic biology engineering strategies to control tailored cellular events.

Described in Chapter 2, we developed a new chemical strategy to generate de novo signaling pathways that link a signaling molecule, H₂O₂, to different downstream cellular …

Autism Spectrum Disorder Policymaking In New Mexico: An Ethnographic Case Study, Elisheva H. Levin

Special Education ETDs

ABSTRACT

Understanding how ASD policy is made at the state level is important to the various institutional and individual stakeholders who make, apply, and are governed by it. Critical disability theory was applied to this qualitative study of ASD policymaking in New Mexico. This study examined how policymakers and stakeholders brought their identities, knowledge, values, and beliefs to policymaking in New Mexico. The study was guided by the question, “How is ASD policy in New Mexico constructed?” The research used the following methods: (a) individual interviews of policy stakeholders, (b) observations of public policy meetings, (c) document review. Six major …

Bacterial Siderophore Production In Lechuguilla And Spider Caves, Carlsbad National Park (Ccnp) Carlsbad, New Mexico, Tammi R. Duncan

Biology ETDs

Lechuguilla and Spider caves, Carlsbad Caverns National Park, contain a rich microbial diversity. Despite oligotrophic conditions, the microorganisms in these caves have developed strategies to acquire essential nutrients. I hypothesized that cave bacteria use siderophores, a ferric iron chelating compound, to acquire iron for essential life processes. To understand the backdrop against which the cave bacteria would produce siderophores, I examined the bacterial physiological characteristics, determined whether cave bacteria have an ability to produce siderophores, and investigated a possible correlation between iron and manganese concentrations in cave deposits and siderophore production by bacteria cultured from the same site. I carried …

Microbial Desalination Cells With Efficient Platinum Group Metal-Free Cathode Catalysts, Morteza Rezaei Talarposhti

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Iron-nitrogen-carbon based catalyst was used at the cathode of a microbial desalination cell (MDC) and compared with platinum (Pt) and activated carbon (AC) cathode. Fe-N-C catalyst was prepared using nicarbazin (NCB) as organic precursor by sacrificial support method (SSM). Rotating ring disk electrode (RRDE) experiments shows that Fe-NCB had higher electrocatalytic activity compared to AC and Pt. The utilization of Fe-NCB into the cathode improved substantially the performance output with initial maximum power density of 49±2 μWcm^-2 in contrast to Pt and AC catalysts which have shown lower values of 34±1 μWcm^-2 and 23.5±1.5 μWcm^-2, respectively. …