Digital Commons Network^™

Using Emotion As Inferred From Prosody In Language Modeling, Shreyas Ashok Karkhedkar

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research has focused on using prosody as an alternative source of information for language modeling. However, prosody is a surface phenomenon and to develop deeper models of language production, the underlying mental processes need to be considered. There are several cognitive factors, such as dialog-states and formulation, that have been given attention. However, emotion { as a cognitive factor, has been neglected so far. Speakers' emotional state plays an important role in spoken dialog. Participants seem to infer each others emotional state from multiple cues and react accordingly. In particular, these states manifest themselves moment-by-moment in the speakers voice. This …

Homelessness And Migration At The Edge Of America: Transnational Mobility And Survival On The Streets Of El Paso, Josue Gilberto Lachica

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examined both homelessness and migration, as they pertain to border transnationalism, by addressing the social phenomena of homelessness as it is theoretically and fundamentally viewed in both the U.S., Mexico, and the border region between. This thesis simultaneously observes and compares the phenomena of homelessness within the cross-border shared experience of migration between Mexico and the United States. There is limited sociological research that combines homelessness with migration, but the interrelationship between migrants experiencing homelessness and homeless people migrating has often co-existed. This study attempts to address this limitation.

As with many things along the U.S. - Mexico …

Mental Health And Medication Adherence As A Function Of Early Life Physical And Sexual Trauma In Hiv+ Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men, Carolina Lara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The objective of the study is to understand sexual risk and medication adherence among Latino HIV+ men who have sex with men (MSM) and who have a history of childhood trauma (CT; which may include unwanted sexual experiences, physical threats, physical harm and /or verbal abuse prior to the age of 16). We sampled 150 Latino adult MSM living with HIV at a clinic in El Paso, Texas that offers comprehensive HIV/AIDS services to those living on the U.S.-Mexico Border. We assessed self-reported histories of childhood abuse and participants' control expectancies not only toward sexual impulsivity, but also more generally. …

Geology And Geochemistry Of The Sierra Blanca Rare Earth Complex, Sierra Blanca, Texas, Nicole Kyger

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

With an increasing standard of living comes an increase in demand for high tech goods, environmentally friendly (green) and military technologies, and the inherent need to procure the necessary raw materials. Demand for the rare earth elements (REE) is on the rise, and there is no foreseeable decline in the need for accessible deposits. Between 2010 and present, the United States Congress has heard numerous reports on the importance of REE, and in 2012 the Department of Defense(DoD)declared REE a critical resource, with implications for national security. The Sierra Blanca laccoliths, 150 kilometers southeast of El Paso, TX represent a …

Brooklyn And The Bicycle, David V. Herlihy

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Strength Of Family Bonds: A Look Into The Lives Of A Family That Has Overcome Adversity And Marginality, Angelique Nevarez Maes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the recent literature that entails the effectiveness of parent/child bonds in deterring children from crime and related deviant activities, little information is mentioned about the effectiveness of Kinship (extended family members) and its possible effectiveness in deterring an individual from crime and related deviant activities. Adverse events such as drug abuse, early death, prostitution and gang activity can plague a family and threaten its unity when parental bonds are absent or non-consistent during adolescence. Marginalities such as poverty and racism take the family unit to the edge of society only serve to further the extent of the damage that …

Mental Health In A Colonia, Guadalupe Marquez-Velarde

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Mental health outcomes in colonias are the main focus of this thesis. They were examined in the colonia of Westway, which is an unplanned settlement in El Paso County with high poverty rates and adjacent to the Interstate highway, a steel plant and other polluting industries with a 97.3% Hispanic population (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census). Data were collected through a door-to-door social survey in order to achieve three research objectives. In the first objective, I compared the prevalence of mental health outcomes in Westway and El Paso and found that the colonia residents do have significantly higher rates of …

Modeling Visibility In The El Paso Del Norte (Pdn) Region, Richard Medina Calderon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Poor visibility is a subject of growing public concern throughout the U.S, and an active area of research. Its societal impacts on air quality, aviation transport and traffic are significant. Aerosols play a fundamental role in the attenuation of solar radiation, and also affect visibility. The scattering and extinction coefficients of aerosol particles in the Paso del Norte Region have been calculated using the T- matrix model in conjunction with a laser particle counter. Inter-comparison of the model's results of the scattering and absorption coefficients against the corresponding data from a Photoacustic extinctiometer instrument (which measures in-situ absorption and scattering …

When Medicine Divorces Morality: The Effects Of Immigration Status On Health Care Access In The United States, Angelica Menchaca

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study highlights the importance of noting the heterogeneity of citizenship statuses among Latina/os when analyzing access to health care and health insurance attainment. A significant breakthrough in health care in the U.S. came on March 23, 2010 when President Barack Obama signed [H.R. 3590] The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) legislating a "universal" health care system in the U S. While the passing of this legislation might have been a historical accomplishment it was not a panacea for all those suffering from lack of health insurance. The objectives of this study were three fold: 1) to analyze …

The False Promise Of Proffit, Stephen K. Harper

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Innocence And Its Impact On The Reassessment Of The Utility Of Capital Punishment: Has Time Come To Abolish The Ultimate Sanction?, Vincent R. Jones, Bruce Wilson

University of Miami Law Review

No abstract provided.

Experimental Study On The Fabrication Of Advanced Materials For Energy Applications Using High Energy Mechanical Milling, Ashvin Kumar Narayana Swamy

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The reaction of aluminum (Al) powder with water has the potential for on demand hydrogen generation. Conventional Al powders, however, react with water slowly due to a highly protective oxide layer on the particle surface. Current methods for Al activation involve harmful and expensive materials. The nano-scale Al powders also remain very expensive and have problems such as a large amount of oxide on the surface. The use of aluminum in an energy generation cycle is also hindered by the fact that, although Al is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust, its recovery from ore consumes a lot …

The Development And Validation Of A Domestic Violence Scale Administered To Ged Program Participants To Determine The Effect On Test Performance, Andres Muro

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Overwhelming evidence shows that domestic violence is a very serious problem affecting women in the United States. Black et al. (2010) report that approximately 34 million women in the United States, or approximately 30%, have experienced some form of violence including rape, physical, violence, and/or stalking in their lifetimes. Twenty-two percent of the victims have experienced PTSD, 15% have been injured, and 8% have needed medical care. While these statistics show that domestic violence is a serious problem, there are virtually no statistics about the extent to which domestic violence is a barrier to the academic success of Latina immigrant …

An Econometric Approach For Modeling Population Change In Arkansas, David Alexandro Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study models population in the state of Arkansas using a small econometric model, and is similar to a previous demographic model developed by Fullerton and Barraza de Anda (2008). The components of population change consist of births, deaths, and net migration. Births minus deaths equal natural increase, and population in the current period is population from the previous period plus natural increase plus net migration. Births and deaths are modeled as functions of a one period autoregressive lag as well as national trends. Net migration is also modeled as a one period lag of itself in addition to relative …

Adsorption Of Arsenic, Chromium, And Uranium From Saline Water On Clinoptilolite And The Treatment Of The Spent Regenerant By Duffusion Dialysis, Mutiu Olaitan Tanimola

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Among various water purification and recycling technologies, adsorption is a fast, inexpensive and universal method. The development of low-cost adsorbents has led to the rapid growth of research interests in this field. The objective of this present study is the optimization of process parameters in adsorption of arsenic, chromium and uranium ions. The adsorption behavior of natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) has been studied in order to determine its applicability in treating water containing arsenic, chromium and uranium. The multiple adsorption of arsenic As (V), trivalent chromium Cr (III)] and uranium (VI) on natural zeolite (clinoptilolite) in single component and multiple component …

Effect Of Hafnium-Incorporation On The Microstructure And Dielectric Properties Of Cobalt Ferrite Ceramics, Stephen Josiah Wells

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The effect of hafnium ion (Hf⁴⁺) incorporation in cobalt ferrite (CFO) was studied. Samples of Hf substituted CFO ceramic (CoFe_2-xHf_xO₄), were synthesized in the laboratory with hafnium concentrations ranging from x=0.000 to x=0.200. X-ray diffraction scans show that the Hafnium CFO crystalizes in the inverse spinel phase. Inclusion of hafnium causes lattice expansion, increasing the lattice parameter from 8.374 í? for pure CoFe2O4 to 8.391 í? for the highest concentration of hafnium tested (x=0.020). The dielectric properties of CFO are greatly enhanced by inclusion of hafnium. The enhancement is due to the …

Cjc: An Extensible Checker For The Cleanjava Annotation Language, Cesar Eduardo Yeep

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Formal program verification can be used as a complementary technique to software testing. It allows checking the correctness of all the states of a program which may be impossible using only software testing as a verification technique. One software development process that relies on formal verification is Cleanroom Software Engineering. Cleanroom's main principles are to certify the software with respect to its specification and to produce zero-fault or near-zero-fault software. Cleanroom has being tested primarily in safety-critical systems that require a high level of correctness by development teams in places such as NASA and IBM, demonstrating lower fault rates and …

Portraits Of Success: A Mixed-Method Study Of The Enrollment, Persistence, And Success Experiences Of Female Graduate Engineering Students At A Hispanic Serving Institution, Sandra Aguirre-Covarrubias

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The current study addresses the underrepresentation of female graduate engineering students. Specifically, its purpose was to gain insight on how enrollment, persistence, and success factors are experienced by female graduate engineering students at a Hispanic Serving Institution located on the U.S.-Mexico border. The topic of underrepresentation of female graduate engineering students is important for higher education practitioners because in spite of the numerous attempts to increase their enrollment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, their underrepresentation has persisted. The current study is modeled after research conducted by Cordova-Wentling and Camacho (2006). The research question that guides the current study is: …

Substance Abuse And Rehabilitation: Understanding The Issue From First-Hand Accounts, Mauricio Enrique Austin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study clarifies understanding of factors influencing substance abuse and rehabilitation from the perspective of the substance abuser. The data collection and analysis methods employed include single and cross-case analyses, based on data gathered through semi-structured, face-to-face life history interviews with thirteen individuals who had substance abuse histories. In some respects, study results coincide with the extant literature on the subject. For example, most study participants first used drugs and/or alcohol while they were children or adolescents; experienced family and/or peer influence to start using; suffered from illnesses and/or loss of employment in association with their substance abuse; experienced a …

Optimization Of Stress Wave-Based Nondestructive Methods In Identifying Deterioration In Concrete Structures, Hoda Azari

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The transportation infrastructure across the United States is deteriorating and requires periodic inspection to predict the cost of repair and extent of maintenance activities, to remedy structural problems, and to ensure safety and serviceability. The use of nondestructive testing (NDT) methods in detecting and characterizing flaws in the infrastructure has become more common. Among different NDT methods, the stress wave-based methods, including ultrasonic surface waves (USW) and impact echo (IE) methods, are widely used to maintain concrete structures. In this dissertation, a complete literature review of seismic wave theory and wave propagation in plate like structures, and stress wave-based methods …

Supply Chain Management: Impact Of Customer Relationship Marketing On Performance Under Cooperation And Competition Strategies, Maria Eugenia Barua

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The dissertation investigation proposes a modified supply chain management model that is grounded on marketing theory and the concept of production sharing. Specifically, the model challenges the traditional cooperation-conflict continuum of strategic marketing management with a new managerial approach based on a cooperation-competition continuum. I investigate the significance of the new model in explaining behaviors in the supply chain management and its performance. In addition, I investigate whether the proposed managerial continuum (cooperation-competition) is consistent with other behaviors including power, conflict, trust, and customer relationship marketing such that coordination and supply chain performance is enhanced.

The data collection from manufacturers, …

Modeling The Human Gait Phases Using Granular Computing, Melaku Ayenew Bogale

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Gait analysis is applied for the provision of diagnosis, evaluation, and for the design of therapeutic intervention for subjects suffering from neurological disorders. The benefits accruing from gait analysis are well established. People with neurological disorders like mild traumatic brain injury, Cerebral Palsy and Multiple Sclerosis, suffer associated functional gait problems. The symptoms and sign of these gait deficits are different from subject to subject and even for the same subject at different stage of the disease. Identifying these gait related abnormalities helps in the treatment planning and rehabilitation process.

The dynamic behavior of gait parameters is cyclic and the …

Size-Dependent Transitions In Grafted Polymer Brushes, Courtney Bosse

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Finding probabilities in order to solve for the most likely configuration of a grafted polymer chain is easily calculated by solving a random walk problem, starting form a given point (the surface). A property of the random walk is used to describe the partition function of a polymer in terms of a sum over possible loops configurations, which simplifies tremendously the problem of calculating the partition function of the grafted polymer. Instead of solving the non-interacting random walk that has been well studied in the theory of the probability, the focus is on the problem of self-interacting random walks, …

Thermal Barrier Coatings (Tbc's) For High Heat Flux Thrust Chambers, Christopher Michael Bradley

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The last 30 years materials engineers have been under continual pressure to develop materials with a greater temperature potential or to produce configurations that can be effectively cooled or otherwise protected at elevated temperature conditions. Turbines and thrust chambers produce some of the harshest service conditions for materials which lead to the challenges engineers face in order to increase the efficiencies of current technologies due to the energy crisis that the world is facing. The key tasks for the future of gas turbines are to increase overall efficiencies to meet energy demands of a growing world population and reduce the …

Quark Fluctuations In A Chiral Model In The Presence Of A Magnetic Field, Lidens Cheng

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Understanding the nature of the chiral and deconfinement phase transitions, the location of the critical point, and the properties in its vicinity are among the most important problems in the field of QCD. The purpose of this thesis is to use the two-flavor Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model in the presence of a magnetic field at the chiral limit to study the phase boundary where the spontaneously broken chiral symmetry is restored. At small chemical potential, the phase boundary exhibits a second-order phase transition. On the other hand, at large chemical potential and appropriate coupling constant, the phase boundary exhibits a first-order phase …

Three Essays Employing Cultural Value Theories To Explain Individual And National Differences In Ict Use/Adoption And Media Utilization Among Multiple Nations, Khendum Choden

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates the impact of values on Information Communication Use/ adoption at an individual level and at the national level among advanced and emerging economies. We employ the use of Schwartz's individual values, Schwartz's cultural values and Hofstede's cultural values to empirically demonstrate its impact on multiple information communication technologies across advanced economies while controlling for demographics, GDP, income, and pronoun drop. We also study the moderating effects of culture on a variety of task characteristics and media use.

A Block Operator Splitting Method For Heterogeneous Multiscale Poroelasticity, Paul M. Delgado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Traditional models of poroelastic deformation in porous media assume relatively homogeneous material properties such that macroscopic constitutive relations lead to accurate results. Many realistic applications involve heterogeneous material properties whose oscillatory nature require multiscale methods to balance accuracy and efficiency in computation.

The current study develops a multiscale method for poroelastic deformation based on a fixed point iteration based operator splitting method and a heterogeneous multiscale method using finite volume and direct stiffness methods. To characterize the convergence

of the operator splitting method, we use a numerical root finding algorithm to determine a threshold surface in a non-dimensional parameter space …

Rare Earth Element Geochemistry Of The Sierra Blanca Laccoliths, Texas, Amed Gomez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Primary Drug And Multidrug Resistant Tuberculosis, Of The Diagnostic Properties Of The Sputum Smear Versus Culture Method For Tuberculosis Diagnosis In An Ecuadorian Urban Public Health Facility, Sandra Luz Groeschel

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: The accurate diagnosis and effective prevention and control of tuberculosis (TB) are major global public health challenges. Ecuador has among the highest documented TB incidence (59/100,000 inhabitants) and mortality rates in the Americas region (27/100,000 inhabitants). In addition, TB multi-drug resistance is becoming increasingly common. The culture method is the preferred method of choice for diagnosing TB in the United States and many other high resource countries due to its high documented sensitivity. An added benefit of the methods is that it also can be used to detect primary TB resistance. In contrast, despite its lower diagnostic sensitivity, …

Reduced-Order Modeling Using Orthogonal And Bi-Orthogonal Wavelet Transforms, Miguel Hernandez Iv

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

It is well known that model reduction methods borrow techniques typically found in data compression, and current state-of-the-art techniques for data compression are based on the wavelet transform. Given these facts, it is surprising that model reduction using wavelets has not received much attention and has not been adequately addressed in the literature. This research seeks to determine if wavelets can be used for model reduction and if wavelet model reduction is a viable alternative to existing model reduction methods.

In this work we propose a novel method for model reduction using wavelets. Specifically, we introduce techniques for deriving wavelet …