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2011

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Ongoing Studies In Rio Grande Valley History, Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, Antonio Zavaleta Jan 2011

Ongoing Studies In Rio Grande Valley History, Milo Kearney, Anthony K. Knopp, Antonio Zavaleta

Studies in Rio Grande Valley Regional History Series

Chupacabras, a poem / Milo Kearney -- The Texas Center for Border and Transnational Studies / Antonio Zavaleta with help from others -- History Through World War I : Comparative freedom in the borderlands: fugitive slaves in Texas and Mexico from the age of enlightenment through the U.S. Civil War / Francis X. Galan and Joseph Leon -- Contraband trade in Matamoros and its impact on the northern Mexican economy during the 1820s / Melisa Galvan -- Preparando los festejos para la inauguración del Ferrocarril a Monterrey / Andres F. Cuellar -- Adolf F. Dittman and Brownsville's first motion picture …

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Foreign Language Houses: Identities In Transition, Jennifer Brown, Dan Dewey, Rob A. Martinsen, Wendy Baker Jan 2011

Foreign Language Houses: Identities In Transition, Jennifer Brown, Dan Dewey, Rob A. Martinsen, Wendy Baker

Faculty Publications

This study examined the lived experience of students participating in foreign language houses to improve their skills in Russian, French, or Japanese. American students residing in apartments with other language learners and a nativespeaking resident facilitator were required to speak with one another exclusively in the target language and participate in activities such as preparing and eating dinner together. Data sources for the study included interviews, observations, and video recordings. The data, which were analyzed qualitatively, revealed that the central experience of living in the foreign language house was the creation of a livable community and that use of the …

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Behavioral Economics Perspectives On Public Sector Pension Plans, John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian Jan 2011

Behavioral Economics Perspectives On Public Sector Pension Plans, John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian

Faculty Publications

We describe the pension plan features of the states and the largest cities and counties in the U.S. Unlike in the private sector, defined benefit (DB) pensions are still the norm in the public sector. However, a few jurisdictions have shifted towards defined contribution (DC) plans as their primary savings plan, and fiscal pressures are likely to generate more movement in this direction. Holding fixed a public employee‘s work and salary history, we show that DB retirement income replacement ratios vary greatly across jurisdictions. This creates large variation in workers‘ need to save for retirement in other accounts. There is …

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Detection Of The Timing And Duration Of Snowmelt In The Hindu Kush-Himalaya Using Quikscat, 2000-2008, Prajjwal K. Panday, Karen E. Frey, Bardan Ghimire Jan 2011

Detection Of The Timing And Duration Of Snowmelt In The Hindu Kush-Himalaya Using Quikscat, 2000-2008, Prajjwal K. Panday, Karen E. Frey, Bardan Ghimire

Geography

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region holds the largest mass of ice in Central Asia and is highly vulnerable to global climate change, experiencing significant warming (0.21 ± 0.08 °C/decade) over the past few decades. Accurate monitoring of the timing and duration of snowmelt across the HKH region is important, as this region is expected to experience further warming in response to increased greenhouse gas forcing. Despite the many advantages and applications of satellite-derived radar scatterometer data shown for capturing ice and snow melt dynamics at high latitudes, similar comprehensive freeze/thaw detection studies at lower latitudes (including the HKH region) are …

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The West Africa-Latin America Drug Trafficking Epidemic; An Institutional Analysis, Madi Ceesay Jan 2011

The West Africa-Latin America Drug Trafficking Epidemic; An Institutional Analysis, Madi Ceesay

Dissertations and Theses

"West Africa, like any other region in the world, has had to swallow its fair share of modern-day political, economic and social dilemmas. One phenomenon that has had huge negative implications on the political, economic and social spheres of almost every country on the face of the earth is the production, trafficking, marketing and consumption of illicit drugs. The countries in West Africa have not been spared of the negative consequences of illicit drugs. While some countries have an illicit drug production problem, others have a consumption problem. The countries in West Africa have an illicit drug trafficking problem. The …

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Neofunctionalism Vs Liberal Intergovernmentalism; The Creation Of The European Stability Mechanism And The Limits Of Political Theory, Holger Scheidt Jan 2011

Neofunctionalism Vs Liberal Intergovernmentalism; The Creation Of The European Stability Mechanism And The Limits Of Political Theory, Holger Scheidt

Dissertations and Theses

"The aim of this study is to determine the expanatory and predictive value of the two predominant schools of thought on state integration, namely neofunctionalism and liberal intergovernmentalism, of supranationalist or state-centric theory, with respect to the creation of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) and the ""Pact for the Euro"" on March 25, 2011 in Brussels. After a 14-month long period of great controversy among the supranational agentsof the European Commission and the representatives of member states of the Economic and Monatery Union (EMU) during 2010, the European Council established a permanent mechanism, which is supposed to grant the stability …

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Sexual Gender-Based Violence In The Democratic Republic Of Congo, James Aldworth Jan 2011

Sexual Gender-Based Violence In The Democratic Republic Of Congo, James Aldworth

Dissertations and Theses

"This thesis explores the issue of Sexual Gender-Based Violence in the Democratic of Congo, focusing specifically on the Eastern region of the country. An analysis of the United Nations peacekeeping operation forms a large part the study because the operation remains the most significant multilateral attempt to protect Congolese civilians from sexual violence and other human rights abuses. The objective of the thesis is to highlight the issue of Sexual Gender-Based Violence, describe the background to the continued violence in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and offer an explanation of the causal factors behind the sexual crimes …

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Anatomical Identification Of Primary Auditory Cortex In The Developing Gerbil, Luis Pendola Jan 2011

Anatomical Identification Of Primary Auditory Cortex In The Developing Gerbil, Luis Pendola

Dissertations and Theses

Cortical development is an active field of study. The gerbil provides an excellent model for research because at the moment of birth its brain is rather immature, anatomically and functionally. Furthermore, the gerbil auditory cortex is particularly amenable to investigation in that the gerbil's onset of hearing occurs approximately after 14 days of postnatal life. Despite these advantages of the gerbil for auditory cortex development not much is known about the anatomy of the postnatal gerbil auditory cortex. For example, where is the gerbil auditory cortex? Prior to the onset of hearing, sounds cannot be used to localize auditory cortex. …

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Artist Stores: An Evolution In Art And Commerce, Naomi Huth Jan 2011

Artist Stores: An Evolution In Art And Commerce, Naomi Huth

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

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Healthy Choices; Preferential Foraging Of Insects Within Senescent, But Nutrient-Rich, Tropical Flowers., Amie Whigman Jan 2011

Healthy Choices; Preferential Foraging Of Insects Within Senescent, But Nutrient-Rich, Tropical Flowers., Amie Whigman

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

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The Development Of Hearing In Rats; Reliability Of Wave 1 As A Determinant Of Auditory Maturation And Contributions Of Peripheral Structure Progression, Aminat Saliu Jan 2011

The Development Of Hearing In Rats; Reliability Of Wave 1 As A Determinant Of Auditory Maturation And Contributions Of Peripheral Structure Progression, Aminat Saliu

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

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Bone Tissue Quality Determination Of Mice Through A Novel Reference Point Indentation Technique, Matin Lendhey Jan 2011

Bone Tissue Quality Determination Of Mice Through A Novel Reference Point Indentation Technique, Matin Lendhey

Dissertations and Theses

"Bone strength deteriorates with age; which increases the susceptibility to fracture. Current clinical techniques for the estimation of bone strength are largely Bone Mineral Density (BMD) based. However, toughness, which is the ability to resist crack growth, plays a critical role in bones‟ fracture resistance. Traditionally, toughness measurements involve large samples, obviating their use clinically. Recent data suggest that a reference point indentation approach provides a novel, localized measure of toughness from whole bones. In the current research, we evaluated the sensitivity of this method to discriminate small known differences in fracture toughness that exist between inbred mouse strains with …

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Development Of An Approach To Increase Drug Uptake To Bone Tumors Using Non-Invasive Mechanical Loading, Paolo E. Palacio Jan 2011

Development Of An Approach To Increase Drug Uptake To Bone Tumors Using Non-Invasive Mechanical Loading, Paolo E. Palacio

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis develops an approach to enhance drug delivery to bone tumors by implementing a non-invasive mechanical loading technique. An imaging protocol that characterizes the load-enhanced drug uptake is also presented. The long-term goal of this work is to develop a clinical protocol that enhances the delivery of therapeutic agents to bone tumors by utilizing load-bearing activity. This easy-to-implement approach could help increase drug uptake into the tumor interstitial fluid space as well as into tumor cells, thereby enhancing a drug's clinical effect while decreasing systemic drug dosage and unwanted side effects. This thesis details the process used to grow …

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Effects Of Estrogen Loss On The Vascular Porosity In Rat Cortical Bone, Jessica D Levy Jan 2011

Effects Of Estrogen Loss On The Vascular Porosity In Rat Cortical Bone, Jessica D Levy

Dissertations and Theses

"Osteoporosis is a skeletal disease that currently affects 10 million Americans, and is characterized by low bone mass and increased skeletal fragility (National Osteoporosis Foundation, 2011). Estrogen loss, which begins during menopause, is the leading cause of osteoporosis in women. Recent research has focused on changes in cortical bone microporosity due to estrogen loss, which is important for bone health; load-induced interstitial fluid flow within the lacunar-canalicular porosity surrounding osteocytes is thought to play an important role in bone maintenance, while the vascular porosity provides a pressure relaxation mechanism for the fluid flow in the lacunar-canalicular porosity. Recent high-resolution micro-CT …

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Transport Of Antibodies And Nanoparticles Across An In Vitro Blood-Brain Barrier, Lin Zhang Jan 2011

Transport Of Antibodies And Nanoparticles Across An In Vitro Blood-Brain Barrier, Lin Zhang

Dissertations and Theses

"The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic interface between the blood circulation and the central nervous system (CNS). While it serves as a selective barrier to water and solutes to prevent the blood-borne toxins from entering into the brain tissue, it hinders the drug delivery to the CNS for the treatment of brain diseases. Recently therapeutic antibodies and a variety of drug-loaded nanoparticles (NPs) have been widely used to treat CNS disorders such as brain tumors, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease. To improve brain delivery efficacy of antibodies and NPs, it is necessary to quantify their transport parameters across the …

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Evaluation Of A Novel Self-Assembled Nanocoating In Promoting Bone On-Growth And Apposition On Metal, Hani Ghazi Jan 2011

Evaluation Of A Novel Self-Assembled Nanocoating In Promoting Bone On-Growth And Apposition On Metal, Hani Ghazi

Dissertations and Theses

"Loosening of metal is the leading cause of clinical failures of orthopedic surgeries. A novel coating of self-assembled monolayer of phosphonate molecules (SAMP) that chemically enhances metallic surfaces by covalently bonding to their naturally occurring oxidized surfaces has been developed.1 The SAMP coating is chemically stable, and its in-vitro results showed that it promotes cell proliferation, osteoblast adhesion and enhances biological attachment to metal surfaces.1 The purpose of this study is to establish the efficacy of this novel chemical surface treatment in improving the fixation of metallic implants in both cortical and cancellous bone over a conventional untreated implant. We …

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Synthesis Of Alkynyl Ribofuranosides, Christian Rodriguez Jan 2011

Synthesis Of Alkynyl Ribofuranosides, Christian Rodriguez

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

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Evaluation Of Quikscat Data For Monitoring Vegetation Phenology, Doralee Pellot Jan 2011

Evaluation Of Quikscat Data For Monitoring Vegetation Phenology, Doralee Pellot

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

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Towards A Better Monitoring Of Soil Moisture Using A Combination Of Estimates From Passive Of Microwave And Infrared Observations, Zulamet Z. Vega-Martinez Jan 2011

Towards A Better Monitoring Of Soil Moisture Using A Combination Of Estimates From Passive Of Microwave And Infrared Observations, Zulamet Z. Vega-Martinez

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

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Validation Of Noaa Interactive Snow Maps In The North American Region With National Climatic Data Center Ground-Based Data, Christine Chen Jan 2011

Validation Of Noaa Interactive Snow Maps In The North American Region With National Climatic Data Center Ground-Based Data, Christine Chen

Dissertations and Theses

"Both the areal coverage of snow and the volume of water in its subsequent melt are of concern for the creation and maintenance of both hydroelectric power and local water supply. The interactive multisensor snow and ice mapping system (IMS) is a geographic interactive system that allows for both the viewing of various sensor data and the mapping daily both snow and sea ice extent by an analyst on one platform. This thesis investigates the agreement between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) interactive multisensor snow and ice mapping system (IMS) and snow depth values obtained from the National …

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Complexity Of Minimum Corridor Guarding Problems, Ning Xu Jan 2011

Complexity Of Minimum Corridor Guarding Problems, Ning Xu

Dissertations and Theses

"In this paper, the complexity of minimum corridor guarding problems is discussed. These problem can be described as: given a connected orthogo-nal arrangement of vertical and horizontal line segments and a guard with unlimited visibility along a line segment, find a tree or a closed tour with minimum total length along edges of the arrangement, such that if the guard runs on the tree or on the closed tour, all line segments are visited by the guard. These problems are proved to be NP-complete. Keywords: computational complexity, computational geometry, corridor guarding, NP-complete"

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High-Resolution Numerical Simulation Of Tidal Enegry Distribution Along The New Jersey Coastline And Influence Of Sea-Level Rise, Simon Kraatz Jan 2011

High-Resolution Numerical Simulation Of Tidal Enegry Distribution Along The New Jersey Coastline And Influence Of Sea-Level Rise, Simon Kraatz

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

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Parallel Computing With Improved Techniques For Monte Carlo Simulation In Var, Ping Hung Wu Jan 2011

Parallel Computing With Improved Techniques For Monte Carlo Simulation In Var, Ping Hung Wu

Dissertations and Theses

"Value at Risk ( VaR ) is a widely used tool for the assessment of one’s investments. VaR is used to evaluate the risk of loss on a financial portfolio. This metric can be computed in several ways. In the historical approach, past trends of the appropriate combination of stocks is used to estimate current portfolio fluctuations. The variance – covariance method, meanwhile, seeks to discover relationships in price fluctuations for one’s stocks. Finally, Monte Carlo simulation capitalizes upon the stochastic nature of stock prices to predict future value. This latter approach, however, relies heavily on the multiplication of vectors …

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Assessment And Classification Of The Coastal Regulation Zone Of Bhanvngar District And Digital Elevation Modeling Of Gujarat State, India; Using Remote Sensing And Gis, Pinak Pandya Jan 2011

Assessment And Classification Of The Coastal Regulation Zone Of Bhanvngar District And Digital Elevation Modeling Of Gujarat State, India; Using Remote Sensing And Gis, Pinak Pandya

Dissertations and Theses

No abstract provided.

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Development Of An Inline Cleaning Procedure And A Concentration Method For Analyzing Low Levels Of Organophosphate Flame Retardants And Plasticizers In Sediment, Olgica Vezmar Jan 2011

Development Of An Inline Cleaning Procedure And A Concentration Method For Analyzing Low Levels Of Organophosphate Flame Retardants And Plasticizers In Sediment, Olgica Vezmar

Dissertations and Theses

"To minimize the background contamination of organophosphate flame retardants and plasticizes (OPFPs) during sediment analysis, an inline cleaning procedure was developed to clean materials (extraction cell, glass fiber filters, diatomic earth, and aluminum oxide) involved in sediment extraction using pressurized liquid extraction (PLE). The materials remain in the extraction cell until sediment extraction takes place, at which time the top 5 grams or so diatomic earth was taken out, sediment was added together with the surrogate standard, and extracted. This inline method minimizes transfer and exposure of diatomic earth and aluminum oxide with possible sources of OPFPs in the laboratory. …

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Revised Stratigraphic And Tectonic Evolution Of The San Francisco Ridge; An Emerging Push-Up Structure In The Northeast Dominican Republic, Jorge Betancur Jan 2011

Revised Stratigraphic And Tectonic Evolution Of The San Francisco Ridge; An Emerging Push-Up Structure In The Northeast Dominican Republic, Jorge Betancur

Dissertations and Theses

"The San Francisco Ridge is bounded by left-lateral strike-slip faults associated with the Septentrional Fault System. In this regard, the Septentrional Fault represents a major fracture in the northeast of the Hispaniola Island and separates an uplifted oceanic crust represented by the Cordillera Septentrional, and a “fore arc” basin, corresponding to the Cibao Valley. The San Francisco Ridge is a 50 km long by 11 km wide deformed and faulted asymmetrical anticline, interpreted as a “push-up” structure. It is located in the northeast region of the Hispaniola Island between the Cordillera Septentrional, to the north, and the Cibao Valley, to …

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Climate Variability And Drought In The South Platte River Basin, Aaron Davitt Jan 2011

Climate Variability And Drought In The South Platte River Basin, Aaron Davitt

Dissertations and Theses

The South Platte River Basin has been identified as an area experiencing water overuse, making conflicts and shortages likely during times of drought. This study used multiple sources of climate and water consumption data to better understand climate and water consumption changes during drought: North American regional Reanalyses (NARR), Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS), United States Geological Survey (USGS), and Colorado Decision Support System (CDSS). A water budget was constructed for the South Platte River Basin during 1979-2006 and for the sub-periods 1990-1999 (above-average precipitation) and 2000-2006 (below-average precipitation, drought). The main focus, the drought period, revealed above-average use …

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The Modern Day Gold Rush ; Private Military Corporations, Deirdre Kornhiser Jan 2011

The Modern Day Gold Rush ; Private Military Corporations, Deirdre Kornhiser

Dissertations and Theses

Since wars have existed, there have been soldiers for hire. As the state evolved, originating during the peace of Westphalia, and matured, the definition and the business of mercenarism have gone through many mutations. Today, and particularly since the 1970s, mercenaries have banded together, incorporating themselves as private military firms, some of which are units of multinational corporations. Private Military Corporations (PMCs) offer expertise ranging from construction to logistics but a number of contractors have been accused of human rights violations, particularly in the current theatres of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The theme of this thesis is that PMCs …

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Private Sector Engagement For Poverty Reduction;The Experience Of Undp And Lessons For G-20, Fareeda Ehthesham Jan 2011

Private Sector Engagement For Poverty Reduction;The Experience Of Undp And Lessons For G-20, Fareeda Ehthesham

Dissertations and Theses

"The Group of Twenty countries has recently adopted its first development plan called the “Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth” with an unprecedented focus on inclusive development and increased participation from the private sector. The statement from the heads of state of the G-20 group calls for ""financial inclusion"", ""private investment and job creation"" and trade, among other required steps toward economic development and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The traditional approach to development has been through development assistance and aid flowing from developed to developing nations. This approach has had some successes, but with the large numbers of people …

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Climate Torts And Ecocide In The Context Of Proposals For An International Environmental Court, Patrick Foster Jan 2011

Climate Torts And Ecocide In The Context Of Proposals For An International Environmental Court, Patrick Foster

Dissertations and Theses

"This thesis is an exploration of two questions that are neither novel nor lacking in exploration: Is an International Environmental Court (IEC) needed? Is such a court feasible? Proposals for an IEC have a rich history, are well founded and numerous. On the issue of necessity, this thesis attempts to pull together historical and current information on two distinct areas of international environmental law and use these analyses to contextualize the need for an international environmental tribunal. Arguments for and against an IEC are presented within a discussion of environmental diplomacy. This thesis begins with a legal discussion of potential …

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