Digital Commons Network^™

A Multi-Frequency Investigation Of Compact Symmetric Objects, Evan E. Sheldahl

Physics & Astronomy ETDs

Some of the brightest objects in the radio sky are jetted active galactic nuclei (AGN), supermassive black holes in the centers of galaxies that accelerate relativistic electrons into twin radio jets. One of the biggest questions surrounding AGN is how they produce radio jets in the first place. We search for an answer to this question by exploring a class of AGN that have uniquely well-constrained physical properties and are thought to be in an early stage of AGN development: compact symmetric objects (CSOs). Throughout our journey with these remarkable sources, we quantify their efficacy as calibrator sources for radio …

Sexual Violence By Government Security Forces: Leaders, Institutions, And Culture, Margaret Avera

Political Science ETDs

I assess how the interaction between leader preferences, regime type, and agent personal motives impacts patterns of sexual violence. I ask, “Why do some government security forces perpetrate sexual violence while others do not?” and “How does the interaction between leader motives and institutions impact victimization patterns?” I found that police corruption was correlated with sexual violence by government security forces, but military corruption was not. My findings indicate the importance of moving beyond a conflict scope and distinguishing between different types of state security actors. In addition, I use natural language processing methods to collect disaggregated allegation data to …

Quantifying Co2 And Ch4 Fluxes In A Semi-Arid Floodplain: Assessing Spatial And Temporal Drivers, Miles E. Kelsey

Earth and Planetary Sciences ETDs

Rivers transport sediment and carbon across Earth’s surface, and their floodplains can store carbon over decades to millennia, making them important to terrestrial carbon management. While soil carbon can persist long term, it may be released as greenhouse gases through processes like methanogenesis and heterotrophic respiration. Environmental controls on these fluxes remain poorly constrained across floodplains in different climate and geomorphic setting, but especially in semi-arid systems where measurements are limited. To address this gap, we quantified CO₂ and CH₄ fluxes along the Middle Rio Grande (New Mexico, USA) using 227 chamber measurements collected May to November 2025 at three …

Heavy Metal And Metalloid Accumulation In The Gallinas River Following The Hermit's Peak / Calf Canyon Wildfire, Olivia A. Kelly

Geography ETDs

This study evaluates the persistence and bioavailability of heavy metals and metalloids in the Gallinas River three years after the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Wildfire of 2022 using a multicompartment sampling framework that includes water, sediment, and benthic macroinvertebrate tissue analysis via inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Results indicate that the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire continues to influence the hydrogeochemical condition of the Gallinas River. Sediments contain elevated concentrations of several metals and metalloids, and these same elements are detectable in macroinvertebrate tissues, linking sediment contamination to biological uptake. Zinc (Zn), silicon …

Nanoscale Structure And Spontaneous Self-Assembly Of Hydrothermal Organic Products, Glorianne P. Dorce

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

Carbon nanomaterials derived from citric acid and urea exhibit behaviors that challenge conventional structure–property models based on static bulk descriptions. This study examines how precursor pairing and reaction duration, post‑synthetic thermal history, and time‑dependent aging govern nanoscale organization and optical response. Through controlled synthesis and processing, distinct nanostructures with tunable structural and spectroscopic profiles are generated.

A multiscale framework integrating nano‑FTIR, atomic force microscopy, and thermal analysis reveals chemical heterogeneity and continuous structural reorganization across length scales. By correlating local chemical environments with optical behavior, we show that fluorescence efficiency and photostability depend on specific nanoscale architectures rather than average …

Technical Advancements In Single-Molecule Spectroscopy For High-Throughput Measurement Of Long-Time Dynamics, Quyen B. Le

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy is a powerful technique for resolving transient biomolecular dynamics and quantifying free energy landscapes, kinetics, and binding interactions. However, two fundamental limitations restrict its broader application: slow, labor-intensive data acquisition and the limited observation time imposed by fluorophore photobleaching. These limitations hinder its use in drug discovery and biomedical engineering applications that require both high-throughput and access to long-time dynamics. In this work, both challenges are addressed through technical advancements. First, a simple, generalizable approach is introduced to automate data acquisition, eliminating manual intervention during experiments. This increases the acquisition rate by more than an order of …

Advertising Influence On Climate Change News Coverage: A Comparison Of The New York Times And The Guardian, Natalie L. Hamren

Communication ETDs

This study examines how fossil fuel advertising may influence climate change coverage by comparing The New York Times, which publishes fossil fuel advertisements, and The Guardian, which has banned them. Drawing on the Hierarchy of Influences and Social Responsibility Theory, the study uses ethnographic content analysis by analyzing (n=104) articles between 2022 and 2025 to examine framing, source usage, tone, and emphasis. Findings indicate that The New York Times more frequently framed climate change through political and economic lenses and relied heavily on government and business sources. In contrast, The Guardian more often employed scientific framing, cited researchers, …

Shelter From The Storm: Public Library Value And Community Adaptive Capacities, Margo Gustina

Economics ETDs

This dissertation contributes to theoretical framing within the discipline of library science, while building out empirical methods for quantitatively valuing broadly loved public libraries. Chapter 1 lays the foundation for understanding how analysis public libraries must always be set within regional contexts. Chapter 2 demonstrates that positive voter valuation of public libraries is driven by proximity to a library building by using data from public funding referendum events. Chapter 3 estimates a reduction of 0.75 percentage point (p=0.002) in graduation rates where public libraries were closed (but school instruction was in-person) from COVID closures. Chapter 4 builds on the previous …

Unpacking The Roots Of School Vouchers: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Its Origins And The Arizona Model, Swechha Singh

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Critical Race Theory (CRT) gained prominence in mainstream political discourse following President Trump issuance of Executive Order 13950, Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping, which intensified political debate surrounding CRT, diversity initiatives, and educational curricula. This study used Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis to examine how ideological forces gave rise to the enactment of school vouchers. Using CRT as a theoretical lens, the study examined historical and contemporary data to explore how ideology functioned to advance an expansive education policy agenda, including Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program. This study offers evidence of the impact of the anti-CRT movement, as well as sustained …

Empowering Pedagogical Practice Through Autoethnography Within The Context Of Family Literacy Projects, Sarah M. Johnson

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Family Literacy Projects being used in the high school setting to promote cultural and linguistic identities. The Family Literacy Project is used to bridge the gap between student identities at school and the identities at home. The purpose of this study was for the teacher to reflect in an autoethnographic study of herself in relation to the context of community, pedagogy, and the perceived needs and changes of the project for both students and the school’s culture. Through the autoethnographic study, the focus of the Family Literacy Project is in its importance to the school, community, students, and teachers was …

A Colonial Past Revisited: An Authethnography Of Outsider And Insider Identities In Indigenous Education Communities, Tara L. Deyoung

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

In the late 90s, at Rehoboth Christian school, a small private boarding school in northwest New Mexico, I had four different English teachers in my four years of high school. All but two of my teachers at that time would be considered outsiders to the community in which they taught. Teacher outsiders leave schools and districts at higher rates than insiders to a community; this is especially true for rural and remote areas (Hudson et al., 2020). The purpose of this autoethnographic study is to analyze my history as a cultural outsider and insider in relation to my core beliefs …

La Raza In The U.S.-Mexico Borderlands: A Comparative Regional Study Of Mexican American Elite Identity-Making From Texan Independence To The Mexican Revolution, Davis Diego Massey

History ETDs

After the U.S. annexed much of Mexico following the Mexican-American War, Mexicans in  the incorporated regions began to think of themselves as a racial group within the U.S. rather  than a distinctive nationality. The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo promised citizenship  rights to all Mexicans in the area. The Treaty promises rarely were put into practice, as they  were left up to the enforcement of territories and states. Even where enforced, the rights of  citizenship were restricted and defined on the basis of race. Local laws excluded  Afro-Mexicans and Mexican Natives from exercising the rights promised by the Treaty. This …

Torá: A Description Of A Dormant Chapacuran Language From Legacy Materials, Akasha Synclair

Linguistics ETDs

Torá, an Amazonian language of the Chapacuran family, went dormant as the Torá people survived colonization. Yet, in the early 1920’s, over 600 Torá words, phrases, and sentences were documented. Despite interest by today’s Torá community in language revitalization, no comprehensive analysis of the data has been undertaken. This project used methods of linguistic reconstitution, cross linguistic comparison, and the creation of an open-access database to produce a phonological and morphosyntactic analysis of Torá. Phonological findings of particular interest include evidence for vowel harmony and variable oralization of nasals. In structure, Torá is very similar to related languages, displaying a …

The Role Of Cumulative Usage In Language Learning And Language Variation: Evidence From Spanish Voiced Stops, Sarah Lease

Linguistics ETDs

This dissertation investigates the cumulative repercussions of a word’s typical context of use on lexical representations and speech production, both in cases of language learning and language variation, through the lens of Usage-Based Linguistics. The data come from sociolinguistic interviews with Spanish-speaking children and adults of Mexican heritage living and working in the Pacific Northwestern United States. Each study examines Spanish word-initial /bdɡ/ productions using a myriad of statistical approaches. The dissertation adds to our understanding of the long-term storage of variation in lexical representations, as well as its nuanced impact on children’s and adults’ speech production. The dissertation also …

Helium Effects In High Entropy Alloys For Fusion Reactor Plasma Facing Components, Shane Evans

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

The plasma facing materials (PFMs) within fusion reactors, such as the divertor, must be able to withstand high temperature (>1000 K) for extended durations of time, in addition to extreme flux from neutrons, helium (He) ash, and neutral species such as deuterium and tritium. These materials must withstand these conditions while maintaining their selected mechanical properties, minimal sputter yield, and low fuel retention. In recent years refractory high entropy alloys (RHEAs) have been investigated due to their improved mechanical and irradiation-resistant properties when compared to pure W, the current material for PFMs. In this work RHEAs have undergone fusion …

Development Of A Lead-Lithium Eutectic Magnetohydrodynamic Loop For Corrosion Studies, Xavier S. Angus

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Lead–lithium eutectic (LLE) is a leading candidate coolant and tritium breeder for fusion reactor blankets due to its favorable heat transfer properties and high tritium breeding ratio. However, LLE is highly corrosive and, in the strong magnetic fields present in fusion reactors, experiences magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) effects that can produce significant pressure drops and flow instabilities. Understanding corrosion behavior in these extreme environments is essential for assessing the viability of LLE blanket systems. This work presents the design and construction of a forced-convection LLE corrosion loop to study corrosion behavior at temperatures up to 425 °C and flow velocities up to …

Cfd Simulation Analyses Of The Blowdown Phase Of A Depressurized Loss Of Forced Cooling Accident In A Htgr, Keenan Kresl-Hotz

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

This research numerically investigates the helium-air mixing in HTGR containment cavities during the blowdown phase of a simulated DLOFC accident. The results of the performed CFD simulation analyses, using the commercial code STAR-CCM+, are compared with reported measurements from an experiment conducted at CCNY. The analyses investigate the effects of the RANS and LES turbulence models, numerical mesh refinement, time-step size, and flow rate and temperature of the injected hot helium into the scaled reactor cavity. Calculated parameters analyzed include the pressure and spatial distributions of temperature and oxygen concentration in the simulated reactor and steam generator cavities. CFD oxygen …

Design And Analysis Of An Intermediate Heat Exchanger And Passive Decay Heat Removal System For A Generic Fluoride Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactor Application, Bao Hoang Nguyen

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Generation IV reactors, such as the Fluoride salt-cooled High-temperature Reactor (FHR), feature efficient heat transfer and passive heat removal systems. However, accurately predicting thermal behavior under steady-state and transient conditions remains challenging. This work designs and evaluates a twisted tube heat exchanger (TTHX) serving as an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) and a reactor cavity cooling system (RCCS) serving as a passive decay heat removal system for a generic FHR (gFHR), integrating both systems into a system-level MELCOR model. The TTHX was first designed and assessed using a MATLAB-based framework, followed by detailed MELCOR simulations. The results demonstrate effective heat transfer …

Sensitivity-Informed Resonance Parameter Cross Section Adjustments, Matthew Juan Lazaric

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

This work details the process of developing several new features into the MCNP6.3 Monte Carlo code for use in uncertainty quantification and reduction. These new capabilities, which include the CLUTCH method of calculating k-eigenvalue cross section sensitivities and the Windowed Multipole method of calculating cross sections, are implemented and verified against previous implementations and existing cross section data, respectively. These capabilities are then combined to produce sensitivities of k-eigenvalue to resonance parameters, which are verified against direct perturbation sensitivity estimates. The resonance parameters are calibrated using linear Bayesian methods and the accuracy of the resulting cross section is evaluated via …

Representativeness And Sensitivity Analysis Of Accident Tolerant Fuel Cladding Behavior In Reactivity-Initiated Accidents, Melissa Andrea Moreno

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATFs) such as FeCrAl are being developed to enhance safety margins in light water reactors during transients like Reactivity Initiated Accidents (RIAs). This dissertation evaluates the accuracy and representativeness of TRACE thermal hydraulic models for predicting FeCrAl C36M cladding behavior under steady state and transient flow boiling conditions. Benchmarking against University of New Mexico separate effects experiments shows that TRACE reproduces key thermal trends but underpredicts cladding temperatures near CHF by approximately 25 to 30%. A calibrated uncertainty and global sensitivity analysis, using Sobol indices, demonstrates that CHF and cladding temperature variability are dominated by mass flux, …

In-Situ Measurement Of Dynamic Deuterium Retention In Tungsten-Based Alloys Under Plasma Exposure, Ethan Gabriel Rashap

Nuclear Engineering ETDs

Nuclear fusion is a promising pathway for sustainable energy production, but the performance of plasma-facing materials remains a key challenge for reactor operation. In particular, hydrogen isotope retention in tungsten—the leading candidate material for divertor components—affects tritium inventory, fuel recycling, and overall material lifetime. In this work, the temperature-dependent deuterium retention behavior of W–Ti and W–TiTa alloys was experimentally investigated under fusion-relevant ion irradiation conditions between 400 and 700 K. In-situ nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) was used to track retention during plasma exposure and subsequent cooldown, providing depth-resolved insight into deuterium accumulation and release. The results show that deuterium retention …

Continuous Polygenic Trait Evolution Under Brownian Motion With Gaussian Mixture Models, Mary S. Hopkins

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

Gaussian mixed-models (GMMs) show promise as a tool for modeling polygenic trait evolution for multiple taxa with established phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs). When phenotypic traits are influenced by more than one gene, neither a gene tree nor a species tree may be completely adequate to model specific cross-taxa dependencies. In such cases common solutions include using trees inferred from concatenated DNA sequences [35, 95] and consensus gene trees [35]. The GMM-based model, first proposed by Jiang in 2017 [55] allows traits to evolve on more than one tree with distinct topologies. This approach provides a framework for trait evolutionary modeling …

Bayesian Designs For Two-Arm Clinical Trials With Time-To-Event Endpoints: Incorporating Historical Data Through Power Priors, Sara Hajraf H. Almutiri

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

Bayesian methods provide a flexible framework for time-to-event analysis by incorporating prior information. The power prior offers a systematic way to borrow information from historical data. This approach is especially valuable in clinical research, where historical data can enhance inference in early-phase trials with limited sample sizes. This dissertation develops Bayesian approaches for two-arm survival studies using both closed-form and simulation-based methods. The closed-form inference is derived under exponential and Weibull survival models. Under the proportional hazards framework, the posterior is derived through a normal approximation to the log hazard ratio, allowing inference on the treatment effect when the variance …

Self-Supervised Spoofing Detection, David S. Choi

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are vulnerable to spoofing attacks that can mislead receivers with counterfeit signals. Traditional detection techniques, such as antenna-based, encryption based, and signal processing approaches, often face limitations in adaptability, computational cost, or reliance on predefined thresholds. Supervised machine learning models, while powerful, require large labeled datasets and struggle to generalize to unseen spoofing scenarios. In this work, we propose a self-supervised spoofing detection framework based on Adaptive Sparse Gaussian Processes (ASGP). The method predicts incoming GNSS features using past observations and identifies spoofing as anomalous deviations in the prediction residuals. Unlike supervised approaches, ASGP adapts …

Hierarchical Safe Reinforcement-Learning Framework For Mission-Aware, Edge-Enabled Multi-Uav Iot Networks, Abee F. Alazzwi

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

This Ph.D. dissertation presents a unified Hierarchical Safe Reinforcement Learning (HSRL) framework for mission-aware, edge-enabled multi-UAV Internet of Things (IoT) networks. The work addresses the need for autonomous aerial infrastructures capable of delivering low-latency communication, scalable edge computation, and provably safe operation in dynamic environments. The dissertation develops three primary contributions. First, it formulates longhorizon drone base station placement and load balancing as a strategic actor–critic learning problem, enabling proactive adaptation to spatiotemporal demand variations. Second, it introduces a mission-aware multi-agent reinforcement learning controller for coordinated mobility, sensing, and computation offloading under latency and energy constraints. Third, it integrates a …

Novel Algorithmic Methods For Random Telegraph Noise Detection And Characterization In Electronic Devices, Victor Darie Pepel

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Random telegraph noise (RTN) produces discrete stochastic fluctuations in nanoscale semiconductor devices and increasingly limits performance and reliability as dimensions scale. This dissertation introduces three algorithmic contributions enabling automated and accurate RTN characterization across diverse devices and operating conditions. First, a computationally efficient histogram-based detection algorithm enables rapid identification of RTN in large focal plane array datasets for statistically robust defect analysis. Second, a frequency decomposition framework separates slow and fast RTN components, extending the range of extractable time constants and reducing estimation error in multi-trap signals obscured by background noise. Third, to address the lack of standardized RTN metrics, …

Statistical And Spectral Theory For Spatially Correlated Random Aperiodic Antenna Arrays, Thomas Edward Christian Jr

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Aperiodic phased arrays enable beam steering, interference suppression, and spectrum efficiency for 6G, radar, biomedical imaging, and distributed sensing. Minimum inter-element spacing and keep out zones induce spatial correlation, violating the i.i.d. element-position assumption behind classical probabilistic random array theory. This dissertation develops a unified probabilistic spectral framework for correlated (non-i.i.d.) arrays. Second moment power pattern analysis incorporates the pair-correlation function  and structure factor , recovering the i.i.d. limit when  and accommodating unequal excitations. Side lobe and main lobe fields deviate from Rayleigh/Exponential and are modeled by weighted Nakagami and Gamma-mixture distributions, parameterized via Monte Carlo. The blue noise spectral …

Quantum Control Protocols For Robust Quantum Computing, Leeseok Kim

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

The fundamental goal of quantum computing is to precisely control quantum systems to perform meaningful tasks, including implementing high-fidelity quantum gates for reliable quantum computation and accurately simulating complex quantum many- body dynamics. In this dissertation, we develop improved quantum control protocols for three distinct objectives, quantum error suppression, quantum optimal control, and analog quantum algorithms, achieving performance beyond standard approaches. First, we introduce new dynamical decoupling protocols, including both determin- istic and randomized constructions, that can substantially outperform conventional deterministic sequences. We then extend the randomized approach to dynamically corrected gates. Second, we propose a randomized quantum optimal control …

Fault Tolerant Quantum Computing With Lower Overhead, Benjamin E. Anker

Electrical and Computer Engineering ETDs

Quantum computation promises asymptotic speedups over classical algorithms, but realizing these advantages requires overcoming the noisiness of quantum hardware. Although fault-tolerant error correction can allow for reliable quantum computation even using unreliable components, the resource overheads required can substantially erode the asymptotic performance gains. This dissertation focuses on constructing and optimizing fault-tolerant procedures with lower overhead than previous methods were capable of. We present new frameworks for fault-tolerant syndrome extraction using flag gadgets with exponentially reduced ancilla requirements, explicit measurement schedules that achieve asymptotically fewer measurements than stabilizer generators, and a general method for making arbitrary Clifford circuits fault tolerant. …

Automation, Migration, And Development: Geography Of Job Precarity In South Asia And North Africa, Keshav Bhattarai, Ambika P. Adhikari

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

This article examines how accelerating automation and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in advanced economies reshape labor markets across the Global South through interconnected channels of production, migration, and remittances. Drawing on the theories and practices of economic geography, labor economics, and development studies, the analysis conceptualizes automation as a transnational shock that contracts demand for migrant labor while simultaneously amplifying employment precarity in labor-surplus economies. The article advances a geographically grounded framework linking technology adoption in core industries with labor displacement, youth unemployment, and urban labor saturation in South Asia and North Africa. It further highlights the macroeconomic …