Digital Commons Network^™

Hartogs Domains And The Diederich-Fornæss Index, Muhenned Abdulameer Abdulsahib

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Diederich-Fornss Index has played a crucial role in studying regularity of the Bergman projection on pseudoconvex domains in Sobolov spaces as is shown by Kohn, Harrington, Pinton and Zampieri and others. In this work, we discuss the Diederich-Fornss Index on Hartogs domains, and its relation to other properties connected to regularity of the Bergman projection. An upper and lower bound for the Diederich-Fornss Index is calculated for Hartogs domains and computed sharply for worm domains. Related conditions for the existence of a strong Stein neighborhood basis for Hartogs domains are introduced.

Impedance Sensing Of Cancer Cells Directly On Sensory Bioscaffolds Of Bioceramics Nanofibers, Hanan Alismail

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cancer cell research has been growing for decades. In the field of cancer pathology, there is an increasing and long-unmet need to develop a new technology for low-cost, rapid, sensitive, selective, label-free (i.e. direct), simple and reliable screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of live cancer and normal cells in same shape and size from the same anatomic region. For the first time on using an impedance signal, the breast cancer and normal cells have been thus screened, diagnosed and monitored on a smart bioscaffold of entangled nanowires of bioceramics titanate grown directly on the surface of implantable Ti-metal and characterized by …

Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment For Parts, Ground, And Msc Poultry Product Including Intervention Analysis And Exploration Of Enterobacteriaceae As An Indicator Organism In Poultry Processing, Leigh Ann Parette

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Samples collected at five different large bird poultry processing facilities over a period of 7 months from prescald to post debone locations were enumerated for Enterobacteriaceae, Salmonella spp., and Campylobacter spp. and the results were used to create Quantitative Microbial Risk Analyses (QMRA) models for parts, ground, and mechanically separated chicken (MSC) products. Sensitivity analyses indicated the points in the process at which reductions would be most advantageous to the endpoint and simulation models were run to test reductions required to meet the current USDA performance standards.

These data were analyzed to determine the reductions from one node (location) to …

Identifying Opportunities That Promote A Habit Of Mind In The Quantitative Reasoning Classroom., David Lavie Deville

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Quantitative literacy and its role in a democratic society are emerging topics of concern to mathematics educators throughout the world. Undergraduate courses in Quantitative Reasoning (QR) are a recent addition to the growing list of resources aimed at remedying quantitative illiteracy in America. Students were interviewed after completing three different undergraduate QR courses. A qualitative analysis of the interviews as well as course texts identified opportunities and hindrances for students in developing a habit of mind toward QR, how students apply a habit of mind, and obstacles students faced in developing a habit of mind.

Plasmonic Enhancement Of Photoluminescence And Photobrightening In Cdse Quantum Dots, David Alan French

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Quantum dots are gaining recognition not just in the physics and chemistry community, but in the public eye as well. Quantum dot technologies are now being used in sensors, detectors, and even television displays. By exciting quantum dots with light or electricity, they can be made to emit light, and by altering the quantum dot characteristics the wavelength can be finely tuned. The light emitted can be also be made more intense by an increase in the excitation energy. The excitation light can be increased via plasmonic enhancement, leading to increased luminescence. Aside from the relatively steady-state response, quantum dots …

Stability Analysis Of A High-Power Microgrid, David Manuel Carballo Rojas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to perform the modeling and stability analysis of a high-power microgrid with multiple parallel-and grid connected voltage source converters using the system parameters from the high-power microgrid testbed at the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission (NCREPT) at the University of Arkansas in order to identify, minimize, if not eliminate, the potential instabilities that can affect the proper operation of the microgrid testbed. To achieve this objective, the mathematical modeling of the high-power microgrid considering the adverse effects of resonances due to interactions among the converter LCL output filters is presented and analyzed. …

How Do Instructional Coaches Support The Adult Development Of Teachers, Amanda Carol Linn

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This case study focused on five Instructional Coaches working in public high schools. The intent of this study was to determine how these Coaches support the adult development of teachers. Three themes emerged from this study: 1) ambiguity regarding the role of Instructional Coaches impacts the performance of Coaches and the adult learners they support, 2) Instructional Coaches struggle to balance the work of supporting adult learners with tasks unrelated to supporting adult learners, and 3) preparation and ongoing professional development for Instructional Coaches is inconsistent in content and frequency.

Exfoliation, Synthesis, And Characterization Of Nanoscale Te, Takayuki Hironaka

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the experimental discovery of graphene, two dimensional materials have enjoyed more attention and emphasis in academic research than nanowires, but the latter are an important area of study for creating 1D materials, or single atom chains, the next generation materials for advancing electronic devices. Atomically thin layers can be generated from 2D materials with weak bonds in one direction, and by applying this concept to one dimensional weakly bonded materials, we hypothesize that single atom chains with atomic-scale diameters may be produced. Tellurium (Te) and selenium (Se) have lattices consisting of spiral chains oriented along the c-axis, and each …

Experimentation And Modeling Of The Effects Of Along-Wind Dispersion On Cloud Characteristics Of Finite-Duration Contaminant Releases In The Atmosphere, Jessica M. Morris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Along-wind dispersion, or stretching of the cloud in the direction of the wind, plays an important role in the concentration and modeling of contaminant releases in the atmosphere. Theoretical and empirical derivations were compared for appropriate parameterization of along-wind dispersion. Available field data were analyzed to evaluate and improve previous parameterizations of the along-wind dispersion coefficient, σ_x. An experimental test program was developed and executed in an ultra-low speed wind tunnel at the Chemical Hazards Research Center to determine the effects of the time distribution coefficient on true finite-duration releases from an original area source. Multiple wind speeds, release durations, …

Assessing Rice Consumers’ Preferences And Willingness To Pay In Haiti, Cleeford Pavilus

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the last 30 years, rice has become the number one food staple in Haiti, and rice imports have outpaced domestic production to supply the country’s increasing rice demand. Policy makers support the claim that increasing local rice supply will not only reduce the dependency on imported rice but also upheave the national economy. However, there is a lack of information on Haitian consumers’ preferences for rice to aid the development of the local rice supply chain. This research aims to bridge that gap by assessing Haitian consumer preferences and willingness to pay for selected rice quality characteristics. The results …

Keeping Pace With Relative Sea Level Rise: Marsh Platform Monitoring Shows Minimal Sediment Deficit Along The Louisiana Coast, Kelly Marie Sanks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent reports estimate that the marshes of the Mississippi Delta receive just 30% of the sediment necessary to sustain current land area1. An extensive monitoring campaign by the USGS and LCPRA provides direct measurements of sediment accumulation, subsidence rates, and deposit characteristics along the coast over the past 10 years2, allowing us to directly evaluate this sediment balance. By interpolating bulk density, organic fraction, and vertical accretion rates from 273 sites, a direct measurement of organic and inorganic sediment accumulation can be made. Results show that a total of 82 MT/year of sediment is delivered to the coast. Using a …

Teacher Perception And Their Understanding Of Progress Monitoring Throughout A Longitudinal Assessment System, Rena A. Duewel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the phenomenon of teacher perception and their understanding of progress monitoring throughout a longitudinal assessment system. This monitoring of student progress is to enhance their academic skills in mathematics and provide necessary interventions for growth as measured on a longitudinal assessment system through fidelity of implementation of interventions processed through progress monitoring. Data was collected from participant responses through interviews, a demographic survey, and focus groups. Interview respondents participated in a closed-door, face-to-face interview. The survey was used to collect specific demographic data to provide a concise snapshot of each individual …

Geophysical Assessment Of Subsurface Soil Conditions Using Capacitively Coupled Resistivity, Folaseye Coker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to explore the applicability of Capacitively-Coupled Resistivity (CCR) as an improvement on traditional drilling and sampling methods for subsurface soil investigations. The CCR method could be used to identify critical locations for drilling and sampling such as expansive clay layers and anomalies (sinkholes, unknown landfills, etc.) rather than uniformly sampling across a site. CCR surveys were performed at Alpena, Arkansas along a highway expansion project changing US 62 from a two lane to four lane highway, and at Alton, Illinois along the Mel Price Levee, a 5.2 mile levee along a portion of the …

Computer Modeling Of Close-To-Ground Tornado Wind-Fields For Different Tornado Widths, Mohammadhossein Kashefizadeh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Tornadoes induce different wind forces on buildings than straight-line (SL) winds. The tangential velocity (Vθ) of tornados is the main parameter that causes damage to the buildings. In-field tornado measurements cannot evaluate the tornado’s Vθ at less than 20m above ground level (AGL). The laboratory tornado simulators suggest that the Swirl ratio (S) and the radius (ro) are the most influential factors affecting Vθ. However, due to scaling problems, laboratory simulators cannot report the Vθ for elevations less than 10m AGL. Well refined computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models can evaluate the Vθ at less than 10m AGL. However, the CFD …

Evaluating Climate Change Policy Through The Endangered Species Act, Richie Donahou

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research sets out to address a growing knowledge gap of climate change science in regards to the state of Arkansas. Within the coming chapters, the goal of this research is to examine climate data and to identify if any evidence of climate change can be detected and what are the policies in place to adapt to these potential changes. Furthermore, the scope of this research will be narrowed to a few counties over the southwest Arkansas, and a specific endangered species, the Leopard Darter. Upon examination of previous environmental and ecological climate change related research it became clear that …

Proposed Astm Standard For The Stokoe-Type Resonant Column Torsional Shear Device, Anh Tuan Tran

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Resonant Column Torsional Shear (RCTS) testing has become one of the most commonly used methods for determining laboratory soil stiffness and soil damping. The RCTS test has been accepted and is commonly utilized during the permitting of new nuclear facilities. However, there is still no available public standard for performing RCTS tests using the Stokoe-type device. Therefore, an ASTM standard for calibration and performance of RCTS tests using the Stokoe-type RCTS device is presented herein. Data collected using the Stokoe-type RCTS devices at the University of Arkansas (UofA) and at the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) also aided in the development …

Barge Prioritization, Assignment, And Scheduling During Inland Waterway Disruption Responses, Liliana Delgado-Hidalgo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Inland waterways face natural and man-made disruptions that may affect navigation and infrastructure operations leading to barge traffic disruptions and economic losses. This dissertation investigates inland waterway disruption responses to intelligently redirect disrupted barges to inland terminals and prioritize offloading while minimizing total cargo value loss. This problem is known in the literature as the cargo prioritization and terminal allocation problem (CPTAP). A previous study formulated the CPTAP as a non-linear integer programming (NLIP) model solved with a genetic algorithm (GA) approach. This dissertation contributes three new and improved approaches to solve the CPTAP.

The first approach is a decomposition …

Sustainability Of Utilizing Renewable And Nuclear Energy In Saudi Arabia Using Different Types Of Life Cycle Assessment, Kamel Almutairi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Evaluating the global environmental impacts of the current and future energy policies in Saudi Arabia using Life cycle assessment (LCA) method was the main objective of this dissertation. First, the attributional life cycle assessment (ALCA) framework was used to evaluate the Saudi’s air conditioning systems, as they are responsible for about 70% of the total Saudi residential electricity consumption. The ALCA’s results showed that the AC use phase produces the largest share of the environmental impact and the magnitude of the environmental impacts is influenced by the type of primary fuel used for electricity generation.

Emerging non-fossil sources of electricity …

Flow Regime Influences On Stream And Riparian Soil Carbon Dynamics In The Ozark Highlands And Boston Mountains Of Arkansas, Allyn Dodd

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The natural flow regime exerts primacy over lotic ecosystem patterns and processes. However, little work has examined the influence of flow regime on instream and riparian carbon (C) dynamics in minimally-impacted, temperate forested systems. To date, most research efforts have focused on characterizing C movement and transformations across biomes and land use categories; however, flow regime represents an overlooked, finer level of detail that may drive differences in ecosystem function. My dissertation objective was to measure C fixation and movement within and across multiple environmental spheres (e.g. within stream channels, between stream surfaces and the atmosphere, and from riparian soils …

The Spatial Agency Of The Catacombs: An Analysis Of The Interventions Of Damasus I (305-384), Natalie A. Hall

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Damasus I (305-384) ascended to the office of the Bishop of Rome after a bitter and bloody battle with Ursinus in 366 CE. The violence was a culmination of doctrinal squabbles and power contests which erupted in the Roman church over the course of the fourth century. Damasus engaged in a substantial program of physical renovation and enlargement of martyr sites and personally penned numerous epigrams both extolling the virtue of the honored dead and the patronage of the bishopric. Scholarship related to Damasus and his works is typically narrowly focused, considering motive(s) for his actions, his use of specific …

Stratigraphic Evaluation Of The St. Joe-Boone Boundary Interval, Kinderhookian-Osagean Series, Lower Mississippian System, Tri-State Region, Southern Midcontinent, Forrest Dalton Mcfarlin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Lower Mississippian interval comprises a single, third-order, eustatic cycle subdivided lithostratigraphically into the St. Joe Limestone (Hopkins 1893) and overlying Boone Formation (Branner 1891, Simonds 1891) with type areas in northern Arkansas. Coeval, homotaxial limestones occur in adjacent southwestern Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma. Missouri formation names for the St. Joe interval are recognized in Arkansas as members (ascending order): Bachelor, Compton, Northview, Pierson. The Boone interval in Missouri is represented by the (ascending order): Reeds Spring, Elsey, Burlington-Keokuk undifferentiated, but utilization of those names in Arkansas is problematic. in northern Arkansas, the Boone Formation is subdivided into informal lower …

Methane Emissions From Rice Production On A Silt-Loam Soil In Arkansas, Joshua Jeffry Humphreys

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Methane (CH4) emissions from rice (Oryza sativa L.) production are a source of concern in the environmental and agricultural communities. New and/or revised agronomic methodologies will be needed to identify production practice combinations that reduce CH4 emissions without decreasing yields. The objective of this multi-year study was to evaluate the effects of water management (i.e., full-season flood and mid-season drain) (2015), cultivar (i.e., pure-line cultivar ‘LaKast’ and the RiceTec hybrid “XP753”) (2015), soil organic matter (SOM) concentration (2016), and tillage [conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT)] and urea-based fertilizers [N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamide (NBPT)-coated urea and non-coated urea] (2017) on CH4 …

Closed Range Composition Operators On Bmoa, Kevser Erdem

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Let φ be an analytic self-map of the unit disk D. The composition operator with symbol φ is denoted by Cφ. Reverse Carleson type conditions, counting functions and sampling sets are important tools to give a complete characterization of closed range composition operators on BMOA and on Qp for all p ∈ (0,∞).

Let B denote the Bloch space, let H2 denote the Hardy space. We show that if Cφ is closed range on B or on H2 then it is also closed range on BMOA. Closed range composition operators Cφ : B → BMOA are also characterized. Laitila found …

Estimating Watershed Mercury Contribution To Lake Fort Smith State Park, Arkansas, Usa, William Miles Harmon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mercury contamination associated with human activities poses global human health and environmental risks. A fish-consumption advisory has been in effect at Lake Fort Smith in central west Arkansas for more than a decade due to observed methylmercury concentrations in fish tissue. Lake Fort Smith is an important municipal drinking water supply and recreational resource. Water samples from the majority contributing tributary stream, Frog Bayou creek, were collected periodically, under differing hydrologic conditions in order to quantify the allochthonous mercury load delivered to the lake. Temperature, specific conductance, and turbidity data were collected and used to estimate dissolved organic carbon, methylmercury …

Mapping Lower Austin Chalk Secondary Porosity Using Modern 3-D Seismic And Well Log Methods In Zavala County, Texas, David Kilcoyne

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Establishing fracture distribution and porosity trends is key to successful well design in a majority of unconventional plays. The Austin Chalk has historically been referred to as an unpredictable producer due to high fracture concentration and lateral variation in stratigraphy, however recent drilling activity targeting the lower Austin Chalk has been very successful. The Upper Cretaceous Austin Chalk (AC) and underlying Eagle Ford (EF) units are considered by many to act as a single hydrocarbon system, with communication between these two units largely through expulsion or dewatering fractures, extensional faults or along the AC/EF unconformity. Total porosity for the Eagle …

Scattering Of Few Photon Fields By Two Level Systems In A One Dimensional Geometry, William Konyk

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent experimental progress has realized strong, efficient coupling of effective two level systems to waveguides. We study the scattering of multimode photons from such emitters coupled losslessly to the confined geometry of a one dimensional waveguide. We develop novel techniques for describing the scattered state of both single and multi-photon wavepackets and explore how such wavepackets interact with arrays of emitters coupled to a one dimensional waveguide. Finally, we apply these techniques and analyze the capability of two particular systems to act as a quantum conditional logic gate.

Interpolating Between Multiplicities And F-Thresholds, William D. Taylor

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We define a family of functions, called s-multiplicity for each s>0, that interpolates between Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity and Hilbert-Kunz multiplicity by comparing powers of ideals to the Frobenius powers of ideals. The function is continuous in s, and its value is equal to Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity for small values of s and is equal to Hilbert-Kunz multiplicity for large values of s. We prove that it has an associativity formula generalizing the associativity formulas for Hilbert-Samuel and Hilbert-Kunz multiplicity. We also define a family of closures, called s-closures, such that if two ideals have the same s-closure then they have the …

Chemical Strategies For Drug Development Of Fucose-Truncated Ipomoeassin F Analogues, Melissa Hirsch

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Natural product synthesis has many applications in the field of chemical biology, due to the protein binding affinity to the complex three-dimensional structure. However, synthetic and structure-activity relationship studies concerning certain drug targets are scarce. For example, members of the ipomoeassin family have exhibited anti-cancer properties, but cost-effective optimization of these compounds has not yet been extensively studied. Ipomoeassin F, a natural glycoresin isolated from the leaves of the Ipomoea squamosa plant in the Suriname rainforest, has shown high cytotoxicity, with IC50 values measured at the low nanomolar range. Two studies by Postema and Fuerstner have outlined synthesis pathways for …

Predicting Changes In Earnings: A Walk Through A Random Forest, Joshua Hunt

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper investigates whether the accuracy of models used in accounting research to predict categorical dependent variables (classification) can be improved by using a data analytics approach. This topic is important because accounting research makes extensive use of classification in many different research streams that are likely to benefit from improved accuracy. Specifically, this paper investigates whether the out-of-sample accuracy of models used to predict future changes in earnings can be improved by considering whether the assumptions of the models are likely to be violated and whether alternative techniques have strengths that are likely to make them a better choice …

Establishing Influence And Authority In Ancient Civilizations And Modern Politics: The Rhetoric Of Oracles And The Oracular Maneuvers Of Political Action Committees, Michel C. Lacrue

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While most animals communicate in order to convey environmental information such as danger or where food is located, humans have evolved and developed an articulated language for a myriad of uses, and our language is the basis for how we shape and maintain reality. Language can be used to teach, express an attitude or affiliation to a group, and give us a sense of our state of being, but it can also be used to manipulate a narrative in order to gain power over others. This project argues that Political Action Committees (PACs), and the language that they use in …