Digital Commons Network^™

Shock Layer Radiation Measurements For Mars And Venus Entry Conditions In An Electric Arc Shock Tube, Ramon Martinez

Master's Theses

This work reports on upgrades in the Electric Arc Shock Tube (EAST) Facility and shockwave characterization experiments performed at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC). The importance of testing in the EAST Facility is shown, detailing research work that has occurred in the facility. A facility description follows, in order to explain how the facility is structured and how it conducts operations. The EAST Facility upgrade project is summarized to present current advancements in the facility. Calibration techniques are explained, and experimental data is presented. This data is obtained with the use of highly specialized spectroscopic, …

Employment Decisions As A Function Of An Applicant's Accent, Lam Thanh Nguyen

Master's Theses

Using data collected from 167 college students, the present study examined the effects of an applicant's accent (Standard American English vs. Spanish) on employment-related decisions (i.e., job suitability, likelihood of promotion, and decision to hire) and perceived applicant characteristics (i.e., competence and likability). Results showed that Spanish-accented applicants were rated less suitable for an entry-level software engineering job, were perceived as having a lower chance of being promoted to a managerial position, and were hired less frequently compared to the Standard American English-accented applicant. Additionally, the Spanish-accented applicant was rated less competent but just as likable as the Standard American …

The Struggle For Sufficient Housing In Santa Clara Countuy, Robert Musallam

Master's Theses

This study examined the role systemic racism plays in shaping people's ability to acquire sufficient housing in Santa Clara County. The purpose of this study was to identify historical and contemporary forms of institutional racism through the narratives of residents or former residents of the San Jose Family Homeless Shelter [SJFS] in San Jose, California. Of particular interest is evidence of housing discrimination and what Neubeck and Cazenave (2001) call "welfare racism." Clients of the SJFS represent those directly affected by welfare reform and least protected from oppressive housing policies or practices.

Through semi-structured open-ended interviews with former residents of …

Radical Reading: Print Culture And The San Francisco Labor Movement, 1880-1889, Marie Louise Silva

Master's Theses

Labor historians have documented the extraordinary growth of unionism in 1880s San Francisco and its lasting impact on the city's political and industrial landscape, emphasizing the San Francisco labor movement's impressive organizational and political accomplishments. Little attention has been paid, however, to the blossoming of radical print culture that accompanied and inspired the organizational campaigns of the 1880s. Informed by developments in the fields of labor and book history that emphasize the cultural agency of workers and working-class readers, this study addresses this gap in the historical record, reconstructing the history of radical print culture in 1880s San Francisco through …

Functionalized Silica Nanostructures For Biosensing Applications, Hector Nuno

Master's Theses

This work covers both two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) silica-based nanostructures for use in biomedical sensing applications. The first section of this study discusses the formation of 2D nanostructured surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based biosensor substrates. The surface of these biosensors was nanostructured by adding sacrificial star polymers or block copolymers to a silicate precursor solution. Subsequent vitrification resulted in two distinct morphological patterns: random and ordered porosity. Amino groups on the surface of the biosensors enabled the installation of analyte receptors and antifouling agents such as oligo (ethylene oxide).

The second section discusses the development of 3D core-shell …

Women With Facial Disfigurements: Impact Of Media-Constructed Images Of Beauty, Sophia M. Papadopoulos

Master's Theses

WOMEN WITH FACIAL DISFIGUREMENTS: IMPACT OF MEDIA-CONSTRUCTED IMAGES OF BEAUTY

by Sophia M. Papadopoulos

The purpose of this study was to analyze whether women with congenital or acquired facial disfigurements were negatively influenced by the images of beauty found in television, magazines, newspapers, and advertisements and to determine how these images affected their overall perceptions of self. A qualitative study was conducted through in-depth telephone interviews with 25 women with various facial disfigurements. The study showed that, although media-constructed images of beauty did have some influence on the participants' overall perceptions of self, other factors such as the manner in …

Surfactant-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis Of Titania Nanorod Thin Films, Ben Milo Petersen

Master's Theses

Titania (TiO2) nanorods have shown promise for applicability in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) and may present a cost-effective solution for the fabrication of efficient and affordable solar power generation. In contrast to traditional silicon solar cell fabrication, the fabrication of DSSCs does not require expensive high energy, vacuum, and temperature processes. Titania nanorods have the potential to increase the electron transport rate in DSSCs by forming a direct electrical pathway, thus improving the performance. This study set out to investigate ways in which titania nanorod hydrothermal growth could be enhanced and made more reliable through (1) experimentation with procedures to …

String Quartet No. 1, Jeffrey Scott Perry

Master's Theses

String Quartet No. 1, by Jeffrey Scott Perry, is absolute music. It uses unconventional techniques that challenge the interpretations of performers and listeners. Performers treat tempos and phrasing flexibly that yields a different version of the piece with each performance. The structure is Rounded Binary, but is manipulated to be purposefully obscure until the last measures of the piece. This is accomplished by incorporating ideas of motivic development into the overall form. The first four motifs are the source of all subsequent material. Therefore, motivic development is vital to the construction of the piece and becomes a unifying factor between …

Clast Provenance Constraints, Late Cretaceous Pigeon Point Formation, California, Anne Sanquini

Master's Theses

The depositional location of the Late Cretaceous Pigeon Point Formation, which crops out between San Francisco and Santa Cruz on the California coast, is unknown. Petrographic and chemical analysis of the conglomeratic clasts in the formation revealed several types of clasts that were helpful to constrain provenance. These included clasts of the recently identified underlying Pescadero felsite, clasts of dark porphyries with salmon-colored phenocrysts that have been identified at four other depositional locations, and granitoids for which isotopic data existed.

Synthesis of research performed for this thesis with previously published data leads to a hypothesis that suggests the Pigeon Point …

Kinna-Uganda: A Review Of Uganda's National Cinema, Kristin Alexandra Rasmussen

Master's Theses

Kinna-Uganda (K-U) is a form of cinema that has emerged in Uganda following decades of the totalitarian political regime of Idi Amin, which in turn followed almost a century of colonial rule. The concept of national cinema is evaluated in this thesis as a tool for analysis of K-U. The national cinema concept is compared with four other models -- regional, continental, Pan-African, and transnational -- that can also be used to analyze and deconstruct films and the academic space within which they reside. This study examines Uganda's pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial times and their impact on the production of …

In Situ Detection Of Tbx5 Expression In Developing Chick Embryonic Heart, Vaishali Agarwal

Master's Theses

The Tbx 5 gene codes for a highly conserved transcription factor containing a DNA-binding motif called the T box (or T-domain). Tbx 5 is expressed in the posterior sinoatrial segment of the heart along with the developing forelimb buds. Mutations in Tbx 5 gene are associated with Holt Oram Syndrome (HOS), which is characterized by heart septal defects and forelimb abnormalities. Tbx 5 expression was examined during various stages of heart development in chick embryos using both a double stranded digoxygenin-labeled DNA probe and a single stranded digoxygenin-labeled anti-sense RNA probe (riboprobe). Due to the presence of homology in the …

Pure Authoritarianism: A New Approach To Authoritarianism, Michael E. Vallerga

Master's Theses

Attempting to explain the Holocaust, Adorno Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, and Sanford (1950) developed a theory of the authoritarian personality, looking at people who follow strong leaders and adhere to tradition. Altemeyer (1996) conceptualized authoritarianism as Authoritarian Submission (submission to authority), Authoritarian Aggression (aggression on behalf of an authority), and Conventionalism (adherence to tradition). However, his Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) scale is ideologically biased and is unable to separate the different aspects of authoritarianism. The present study improved upon RWA by creating the Pure Authoritarianism (PA) scale.

The present study developed PA as a measure of authoritarianism with each aspect of authoritarianism …

Denoising Of Natural Images Using The Wavelet Transform, Manish Kumar Singh

Master's Theses

A new denoising algorithm based on the Haar wavelet transform is proposed. The methodology is based on an algorithm initially developed for image compression using the Tetrolet transform. The Tetrolet transform is an adaptive Haar wavelet transform whose support is tetrominoes, that is, shapes made by connecting four equal sized squares. The proposed algorithm improves denoising performance measured in peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) by 1-2.5 dB over the Haar wavelet transform for images corrupted by additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) assuming universal hard thresholding. The algorithm is local and works independently on each 4x4 block of the image. It performs …

Design And Analysis Of Multistage Cooperative Broadcast With Amplify And Forward Relays, Bhargava Yammanuru

Master's Theses

Cooperative communication achieves spatial diversity by having the transceivers in an ad-hoc network pool their resources at the physical layer and cooperatively transmit their information. For this to be possible without adding a large overhead, we need low overhead-distributed protocols. This thesis proposes one such distributed scheme for wireless ad-hoc networks.

In this work, we study the propagation of the signal in a cooperative network where a single source message is retransmitted by multiple stages (levels) of relays. Relays are assumed to have limited computational abilities and hence adopt the amplify-and-forward scheme. At each node, cooperative diversity is obtained by …

Design Techniques To Improve Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown Based Failure For Cmos Circuits, Emanuel S. Tarog

Master's Theses

This project investigates the failure of various CMOS circuits as a result of Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown (TDDB) and explores design techniques to increase the mean time to failure (MTTF) of large-scale circuits. Time Dependent Dielectric Breakdown is a phenomenon where the oxide underneath the gate degrades as a result of the electric field in the material. Currently, there are few well documented design techniques that can increase lifetime, but with a tool chain I created called the MTTF Analyzing Program, or MAP, I was able to test circuits under various conditions in order to identify weak links, discover relationships, …

Recommender System For Audio Recordings, Jong Seo Lee

Master's Theses

Nowadays the largest E-commerce or E-service websites offer millions of products for sale. A Recommender system is defined as software used by such websites for recommending commercial or noncommercial product items to users according to the users’ tastes. In this project, we develop a recommender system for a private multimedia web service company. In particular, we devise three recommendation engines using different data filtering methods – named weighted-average, K-nearest neighbors, and item-based – which are based on collaborative filtering techniques, which work by recording user preferences on items and by anticipating the future likes and dislikes of users by comparing …

New Media Use Among High Achieving Adolescents, Kathleen Sara Alpizar

Master's Theses

To date, there has been relatively little research on adolescents and their new media use in school and at home. It is important to study this new media use because it can reveal much about how communication patterns are changing or evolving as adolescents incorporate new media seamlessly into their lives.

This study examined high achieving adolescents' use of new media at school and in their homes. Data were gathered at school through questionnaires and group discussion sessions. In addition, students kept diaries of all of their media use for one week.

This study revealed that high-achieving adolescents use new …

Charge Injection And Clock Feedthrough, Jonathan Yu

Master's Theses

Turning off a transistor introduces an error voltage in switched-capacitor circuits. Circuits such as analog-to-digital converters (ADC), digital-to-analog converters (DAC), and CMOS image sensor pixels are limited in performance due to the effects known as charge injection and clock feedthrough. Charge injection occurs in a switched-capacitor circuit when the transistor turns off and disperses channel charge into the source and drain. The source, which is the sampling capacitor, experiences an error in the sampled voltage due to the incoming channel charge. Simultaneously, the coupling due to gate-source overlap capacitance also contributes to the total error voltage, which is known as …

Hcnabc Gene Expression In The Soil Bacterium Pseudomonas Putida Ath2-Iri/9 Under Various Culture And Rhizosphere Conditions, Myrna May Biswas

Master's Theses

Pseudomonas putida ATH2-1RI/9, a bacterium that colonizes plant roots, can suppress weed seedling growth of velvetleaf by producing hydrogen cyanide in the rhizosphere. The operon hcnABC constitutively expresses HCN synthase, an enzyme which catalyzes glycine to form carbon dioxide and hydrogen cyanide, a secondary metabolite. Cyanogenesis is influenced by several environmental factors including iron, phosphate, and oxygen-limiting conditions. This study used a hcnABC::luxAB gene fusion in Pseudomonas putida ATH2-1RI/9 involving the insertion of a promoterless luxAB gene into the hcnABC operon, which results in bacterial luciferase expression instead of HCN synthase. Bioluminescence by this reporter strain was compared to cyanide …

Courtship And Copulation In Glaucous-Winged Gulls, Larus Glaucescens, Kelly M. Mcwilliams

Master's Theses

Using video recordings and scan counts, I examined the occurrence, sequences, and durations of behavior and environmental factors associated with courtship and copulation in glaucous-winged gulls, Larus glaucescens. Males and females in a pair had equivalent pre- and post-Mount behavior occurrences and durations. The main courtship sequence was Head Toss -- Courtship Beg/Respond -- Mounted/Mount, and felames appeared to initiate transitions between these pre-Mount behaviors. More Mounts occurred during the egg-laying stage of the breeding season, but copulation duration, wing-flag duration, and cloacal contacts per copulation showed no significant differences across sampling periods. Poisson analysis showed no significant grouping …

Yom Yhwh As A Biblical-Theological Theme, Robert Czarnitzki

Master's Theses

Problem. Although it has been shown in recent studies on the topic that the "Day of YHWH" is to be understood not only as a collocation or concept, but as a motif-complex (a theme), the single theological motifs comprising the motif-complex have seemingly never been outlined in a systematic text-oriented study. -- Method. This thesis investigates which main theological motifs comprise the motif-complex of the "Day of YHWH" by means of a text-oriented study of the final text as existent today. It shall be asked whether the "Day of YHWH" is a true biblical-theological theme, that is, whether it is …

Recruitment Initiatives In Higher Education: A Comparison Of Study Abroad And Enrollment Management Procedures, Carla Joy Ruffer

Master's Theses

There is a disparity of minority students' participation in study abroad, and establishing best practices for successful recruitment would assist in closing this gap. This project will look to add research toward reaching such best practices by analyzing the methods of recruiting minority students into higher education study abroad programs. What methods are universities using to recruit minority students into study abroad, and how do these compare to the methods used by enrollment management to recruit minority students into an institution? In order to answer these questions, I will use a qualitative analysis through interviews of study abroad and enrollment …

Impact Of Short-Term Study Abroad On Mba Students, Jessica Oldford

Master's Theses

Short-term study abroad programs are quickly becoming the new norm for study abroad within higher education. Results from the Institute of International Education's opendoors 2009 research show that short-term programs were the most popular during the 2007-08 academic year with 56% of students participating in this type of exchange. Many graduate programs of U.S. institutions are now expanding international program offerings to include short-term options to accommodate their students, particularly graduate-level students. Graduate-level students often times have other responsibilities such as full-time employment, young families, etc. which prevent them from participating in full-term study abroad programs. As such, these students …

Finite Element Analysis Of A Golf Ball And Driver Head Impact: Understanding The Feasibility Of An Acoustical Optimization, Nickolai A. Volkoff-Shoemaker

Master's Theses

An acoustic profile from the impact between a golf ball and driver head was produced using FEA. Following this, the results were analyzed to determine the feasibility of an acoustical optimization of such an impact. A validation of the FEA program LS-DYNA® was undertaken to ensure a proper solution was attained in the software analysis. An experimental and theoretical validation was performed that involved firing a golf ball at a titanium plate and comparing data from the impact to FEA simulations. Once the FEA program was validated, a golf club driver head model was used to generate an acoustical output …

The Design And Manufacture Of A Light Emitting Diode Package For General Lighting, Michael S. Krist

Master's Theses

Lighting technologies have evolved over the years to become higher quality, more efficient sources of light. LEDs are poised to become the market standard for general lighting because they are the most power efficient form of lighting and do not contain hazardous materials. Unfortunately, LEDs pose unique problems because advanced thermal management is required to remove the high heat fluxes generated by such relatively small devices. These problems have already been overcome with complex packaging and exotic materials, but high costs are preventing this technology from displacing current lighting technologies.

The purpose of this study is to develop a low-cost …

Habitat Conditions And Steelhead Abundance And Growth In A California Lagoon, Kristine Ann Atkinson

Master's Theses

To better understand the temporal and spatial relationships of water quality parameters, as well as steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) habitat use and growth in San Gregorio Creek estuary / lagoon, water quality and steelhead at San Gregorio Creek estuary / lagoon were studied over a period of two years. During both years, there was above-average rainfall, and during the dry seasons of both years the lagoon was repeatedly artificially breached. In spite of the breaching, variations in growth and population size relative to variable sandbar dynamics were measured both within and between years. Data showed that repeated artificial breaching …

Voltaire Et Le Sauvage Civilisé, Christopher J. Barros

Master's Theses

This thesis explores Voltaire's interpretation of human nature, society, and progress vis-à-vis the myth of the "noble savage," an image that was widespread in the literature, imagination, and theater of the 17th and 18th centuries. For many people at that time, the "bon sauvage" embodied a certain happiness, simplicity, and equality that were lost when humankind exited its "primitive" state and became "civilized." Rousseau's "Discours sur l'origine et les fondements de l'inégalité parmi les hommes," which was vehemently criticized by Voltaire, greatly popularized the myth of primeval bliss, a myth which is still with us today.

In various works by …

Elliptic Curves And Cryptography, Senorina Ramos Vazquez

Master's Theses

In this expository thesis we study elliptic curves and their role in cryptography. In doing so we examine an intersection of linear algebra, abstract algebra, number theory, and algebraic geometry, all of which combined provide the necessary background. First we present background information on rings, fields, groups, group actions, and linear algebra. Then we delve into the structure and classification of finite fields as well as construction of finite fields and computation in finite fields. We next explore logarithms in finite fields and introduce the Diffie-Hellman key exchange system. Subsequently, we take a look at the projective and affine planes …

Recess Policy In Chicago Public Schools: 1855-2006, Laura Ann Wurzburger

Master's Theses

The history of Chicago Public Schools (CPS) recess policy has been marked by long periods of consistency. However, in the last two decades the history of recess policy has changed significantly. Beginning in the mid-19th century, the Board of Education required one to two recess sessions per day in primary or elementary schools. This is in stark contrast to the 1991 policy which eliminated recess entirely for seven years. In 1998 there was another policy shift which is still in effect today. This policy allows individual principals and their local school councils to determine how to allocate their daily schedule. …

Comprehensive U.S. Higher Education Internationalization: Exploring Study Abroad As An Indicator, Candace Brzoska Matta

Master's Theses

Increasing undergraduate study abroad participation is a popular response embraced by both higher education institutions and the U.S. government to internationalize college campuses and to meet the demands of globalization. Yet the nature of the internationalization phenomenon in higher education is much more complex in spite of its ambiguous definition and lackluster theoretical indicators. The purpose of this study was to examine whether one indicator of internationalization, that of study abroad, had any predictive bearing on an institutions' level of comprehensive internationalization. Six institutions were examined--three that consistently held a high study abroad participation percentage or SAPP, and three that …