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2015

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Development Of Human And Rodent Based In Vitro Systems Toward Better Translation Of Bench To Bedside In Vivo Results, Bonnie Berry Jan 2015

Development Of Human And Rodent Based In Vitro Systems Toward Better Translation Of Bench To Bedside In Vivo Results, Bonnie Berry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prospective medicinal compounds progress through multiple testing phases before becoming licensed drugs. Testing of novel compounds includes a preclinical phase where the potential therapeutic is tested in vitro and/or in animal models in vivo to predict its potential efficacy and/or toxicity in humans. The failure of preclinical models to accurately predict human drug responses can lead to potentially dangerous compounds being administered to humans, or potentially beneficial compounds being kept in development abeyance. Moreover, inappropriate choice in model organism for studying disease states may result in pushing forward inappropriate drug targets and/or compounds and wasting valuable time and resources in …

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Autonomous Quadcopter Videographer, Quiquia Rey Coaguila Jan 2015

Autonomous Quadcopter Videographer, Quiquia Rey Coaguila

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the interest in quadcopters as a robotics platform for autonomous photography has increased. This is due to their small size and mobility, which allow them to reach places that are difficult or even impossible for humans. This thesis focuses on the design of an autonomous quadcopter videographer, i.e. a quadcopter capable of capturing good footage of a specific subject. In order to obtain this footage, the system needs to choose appropriate vantage points and control the quadcopter. Skilled human videographers can easily spot good filming locations where the subject and its actions can be seen clearly in …

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Modeling User Transportation Patterns Using Mobile Devices, Erfan Davami Jan 2015

Modeling User Transportation Patterns Using Mobile Devices, Erfan Davami

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Participatory sensing frameworks use humans and their computing devices as a large mobile sensing network. Dramatic accessibility and affordability have turned mobile devices (smartphone and tablet computers) into the most popular computational machines in the world, exceeding laptops. By the end of 2013, more than 1.5 billion people on earth will have a smartphone. Increased coverage and higher speeds of cellular networks have given these devices the power to constantly stream large amounts of data. Most mobile devices are equipped with advanced sensors such as GPS, cameras, and microphones. This expansion of smartphone numbers and power has created a sensing …

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Real People Acting Out Interpersonal Issues With Paper Representations, Gary Dufner Jan 2015

Real People Acting Out Interpersonal Issues With Paper Representations, Gary Dufner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis body of work, I have interacted and collaborated with five friends to create images exploring human relationships. The subject matter illustrates my friends and myself acting out interpersonal issues with paper representations of one another. It has been my aim to represent my imagery in a campy thematic way. I include a discussion of the images in my body of work from both my perspective and the perspective of my models. The figurative paper images "stand in" as representatives of the genders of their subjects. I have explored multiple points of view, constructing, reconstructing and deconstructing complex …

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Assessing Biofiltration Pretreatment For Ultrafiltration Membrane Processes, Andrea Cumming Jan 2015

Assessing Biofiltration Pretreatment For Ultrafiltration Membrane Processes, Andrea Cumming

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An engineered biological filtration (biofiltration) process treating a nutrient-enriched, low-alkalinity, organic-laden surface water downstream of conventional coagulation-clarification and upstream of an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane process was assessed for its treatment effectiveness. The impact of biofiltration pretreatment on UF membrane performance was evaluated holistically by investigating the native source water chemistry and extending the analysis into the drinking water distribution system. The biofiltration process was also compared in treatment performance to two alternative pretreatment technologies, including magnetic ion exchange (MIEX®) and granular activated carbon (GAC) adsorption. The MIEX®, GAC adsorption, and biologically active carbon (BAC) filtration pretreatments were integrated with conventional …

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Multiculturalism As Reported By The European Online Press: A Qualitative Study On The Manifestation Of Othering Discourses, Shomik Chakrabarti Jan 2015

Multiculturalism As Reported By The European Online Press: A Qualitative Study On The Manifestation Of Othering Discourses, Shomik Chakrabarti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study critically examined how issues of multiculturalism and Muslim immigration are discursively constructed within the English language European online press. Through the use of a frame analysis as well as a more focused discourse analysis, an examination was undertaken to uncover how “us” versus “them” perspectives were manifest within a public discourse. A total of 132 articles from The Daily Mail, Le Monde Diplomatique, Dutchnews.nl, Spiegel Online and The International Herald Tribune were selected using a systematic sampling method based on the results of a search query for multiculturalism at each news site. The analysis of the data corpus …

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White Light Continuum For Broadband Nonlinear Spectroscopy, Trenton Ensley Jan 2015

White Light Continuum For Broadband Nonlinear Spectroscopy, Trenton Ensley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Supercontinuum (SC) generation, oftentimes referred to as white-light continuum (WLC), has been a subject of interest for more than 40 years. From the first observation of WLC in condensed media in the early 1970s to the first observation of WLC in gases in the mid-1980s, much work has been devoted to developing a framework for understanding the complex nature of this phenomenon as well as discovering its utility in various applications. The main effort of this dissertation is to develop a WLC for the purpose of broadband nonlinear spectroscopy and use it in spectroscopic measurements. The ability to generate a …

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Le Temps Des Copains: Youth And The Making Of Modern France In The Era Of Decolonization, 1958-1968, Drew Fedorka Jan 2015

Le Temps Des Copains: Youth And The Making Of Modern France In The Era Of Decolonization, 1958-1968, Drew Fedorka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the popular yé-yé phenomenon and its role in articulating a vision of modern France in the aftermath of decolonization. Yé-yé, a teen-oriented and music-based popular culture that flourished from roughly 1962-1966, was in a unique position to define what it meant to be young in 1960s France. I argue that the yé-yé popular culture, through its definition of youth, provided an important cultural channel through which to articulate a modern French identity after the Algerian War (1954-1962). Using a combination of advertisements, articles, and sanitized depictions of teenage pop singers, the yé-yé popular culture constructed an idealized …

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Transnational Class Actions In The Shadow Of Preclusion, Zachary D. Clopton Jan 2015

Transnational Class Actions In The Shadow Of Preclusion, Zachary D. Clopton

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The American class action is a procedural tool that advances substantive law values such as deterrence, compensation, and fairness. Opt-out class actions in particular achieve these goals by aggregating claims not only of active participants but also passive plaintiffs. Full faith and credit then extends the preclusive effect of class judgments to other U.S. courts. But there is no international full faith and credit obligation, and many foreign courts will not treat U.S. class judgments as binding on passive plaintiffs. Therefore, some plaintiffs may be able to wait until the U.S. class action is resolved before either joining the U.S. …

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#Isis: The Largest Threat To World Peace Trending Now, Annalise Lekas Jan 2015

#Isis: The Largest Threat To World Peace Trending Now, Annalise Lekas

Emory International Law Review

In this comment, Annalise Lekas urges that the international legal system must evolve to solve the largest threat to world peace, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The current system imposes strict territorial boundaries, inhibiting the armed intervention required to successfully combat terrorist organizations like ISIS. The United Nations Charter permits armed intervention in self-defense or collective self-defense and armed intervention sanctioned by the security counsel. However, Annalise Lekas argues neither mode allows States to defeat ISIS and instead, recommends that the Security Council, under its duty to maintain international peace and security, sets clear standards that allow …

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Comment: In The Street Tonight: An Equal Protection Analysis Of Baltimore City's Juvenile Curfew, Andrew Middleman Jan 2015

Comment: In The Street Tonight: An Equal Protection Analysis Of Baltimore City's Juvenile Curfew, Andrew Middleman

University of Baltimore Law Forum

The sun is setting on a late-August evening in Baltimore. Children are playing in the gym at an elementary school in Berea, a small neighborhood in East Baltimore. Ulysses Cofield is watching the clock. Cofield keeps the Fort Worth Elementary School gym open late so the neighborhood kids have a place to blow off steam at the end of the day. At 8:30 p.m., he tells a pair of ten-year-olds they must leave so they can be home within the next thirty minutes. Cofield closes the gym for the evening, then scans the block for lingering children; he wants to …

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Declarative Knowledge Acquisition In Immersive Virtual Learning Environments, Rustin Webster Jan 2015

Declarative Knowledge Acquisition In Immersive Virtual Learning Environments, Rustin Webster

School of Engineering Technology Faculty Publications

The author investigated the interaction effect of immersive virtual reality (VR) in the classroom. The objective of the project was to develop and provide a low-cost, scalable, and portable VR system containing purposely designed and developed immersive virtual learning environments for the US Army. The purpose of the mixed design experiment was to compare lecture-based and immersive VR-based multimedia instruction, in terms of declarative knowledge acquisition (i.e. learning) of basic corrosion prevention and control with military personnel. Participants were randomly assigned to the control group (N = 115) or investigational group (N = 25) and tested immediately before …

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Leisure And Life Satisfaction Among Tai Chi And Public Square Dance Participants In Hong Kong, Yechen Yao Jan 2015

Leisure And Life Satisfaction Among Tai Chi And Public Square Dance Participants In Hong Kong, Yechen Yao

Lingnan Theses

Public Square Dance, or Guang Chang Wu (GCW) is a form of group dance that originated from Mainland China and has emerged gradually in Hong Kong. Like the more traditional Tai Chi, GCW is popular among the middle-aged and older adults, and is carried out in public spaces. However, the two activities seem to be treated quite differently by both government authorities and the general public. The study aims to compare the physiological, social and psychological benefits of the two forms of exercise. It also seeks to explore whether and how social determinants affect people’s choice to participate in either …

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2015 Nyar (Savannah) Program, Nyar (Savannah) Jan 2015

2015 Nyar (Savannah) Program, Nyar (Savannah)

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

N/A

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Childhood Diet And Mobility At Medieval (1240s Ad) Solt-Tetelhegy, Hungary As Reconstructed From Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, And Oxygen Isotope Analysis, Ariana Gugora Jan 2015

Childhood Diet And Mobility At Medieval (1240s Ad) Solt-Tetelhegy, Hungary As Reconstructed From Stable Carbon, Nitrogen, And Oxygen Isotope Analysis, Ariana Gugora

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Between 2005 and 2009, archaeologists excavated more than 100 skeletons from the medieval (1240s AD) Hungarian site of Solt-Tételhegy. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were conducted on dental enamel and dentin from 24 individuals to examine their childhood diet. Although previous stable isotopic research has described the diet of medieval European peoples, this is the first such study on a medieval Hungarian population. The enamel ?13C values range from -14.4‰ to -8.6‰, with a mean of -11.1‰, while the dentin ?13C values range from -19.4‰ to -14.9‰, with an average of -17.4‰. These data indicate that C3 plants were …

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The Impact Of User-Generated Interfaces On The Participation Of Users With A Disability In Virtual Environments: Blizzard Entertainment's World Of Warcraft Model, Donald Merritt Jan 2015

The Impact Of User-Generated Interfaces On The Participation Of Users With A Disability In Virtual Environments: Blizzard Entertainment's World Of Warcraft Model, Donald Merritt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

When discussing games and the experience of gamers those with disabilities are often overlooked. This has left a gap in our understanding of the experience of players with disabilities in virtual game worlds. However there are examples of players with disabilities being very successful in the virtual world video game World of Warcraft, suggesting that there is an opportunity to study the game for usability insight in creating other virtual world environments. This study surveyed World of Warcraft players with disabilities online for insight into how they used interface addons to manage their experience and identity performance in the game. …

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Visions Of Race And Gender: Press Coverage Of The French Colonial Expositions Of 1922 And 1931, Zachary Morgan Jan 2015

Visions Of Race And Gender: Press Coverage Of The French Colonial Expositions Of 1922 And 1931, Zachary Morgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During the interwar period, France attempted to reinvigorate interest in the empire amongst the public via elaborate colonial expositions. The colonial expositions of Marseille (1922) and Paris (1931) served as a means to celebrate the empire and to educate the French about the benefits of living within Greater France, an entity that included the metropole and the colonies. This thesis examines how press coverage of both expositions worked alongside these events to counteract anxieties regarding France's economic recovery after the war, continuing world presence, demographic losses, and most importantly the relationship between France and its colonies. It explores how the …

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Watch Me Disappear: Gendered Bodies, Pro-Anorexia, And Self-Injury In Virtual Communities, Leandra Preston-Sidler Jan 2015

Watch Me Disappear: Gendered Bodies, Pro-Anorexia, And Self-Injury In Virtual Communities, Leandra Preston-Sidler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project examines the relationship between gendered identities, virtual communities, and material bodies, with an emphasis on eating disorders and self-injury practices. The use of the internet to represent and foster particular categories of material bodies, such as the anorexic, the fitness buff, and the self-injurer, has gained substantial visibility due in part to the proliferation of visual imagery presented through social networks. I analyze written and visual texts within specific social networks to assess their function and potential impact on individuals and larger communities. Drawing from Donna Haraway's cyborg theory, N. Kathryn Hayles' posthuman, Judith Butler's performativity, feminist poststructural …

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Social Media Responsiveness In The Public Sector: A Study Of Social Media Adoption In Three Functional Departments Of U.S. Cities, Daniel Seigler Jan 2015

Social Media Responsiveness In The Public Sector: A Study Of Social Media Adoption In Three Functional Departments Of U.S. Cities, Daniel Seigler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Public administration research strongly supports the argument for administrator-citizen collaborations and shows that Web 2.0 social media tools have the potential to increase these collaborations. Some public managers have fully embraced the adoption of social media tools to their fullest collaborative potential while other managers have chosen to limit their full collaborative potential. This study examines four environmental influences to determine if they are the cause of the diverse levels of social media adoption among public administrators. A survey of 157 department managers from 261 large cities across the U.S. shows that 82% of the respondents are currently using some …

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Millennials Making Meanings: Social Constructions Of Sexual Harassment Regarding Gender And Power By Generation Y, Nicole Stark Jan 2015

Millennials Making Meanings: Social Constructions Of Sexual Harassment Regarding Gender And Power By Generation Y, Nicole Stark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The term sexual harassment was brought to light by legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon during the second wave feminist movement in the 1970s, and has since changed in its meaning over the past four decades, influencing policy, legal action, and the way we, as a society, treat this social problem. Millennials, or those born between 1980 and 2000, will be the next generation of working adults that will influence the way sexual harassment is understood and defined both legally and socially. The Millennial generation is typically considered liberal and socially conscious, prompting the research question of “How do Millennials socially construct …

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The Rwandan Genocide And Western Media: French, British, And American Press Coverage Of The Genocide Between April And July Of 1994, Candice Tyrrell Jan 2015

The Rwandan Genocide And Western Media: French, British, And American Press Coverage Of The Genocide Between April And July Of 1994, Candice Tyrrell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Rwandan Genocide occurred between April and July of 1994. Within those four months, approximately a million Tutsi were brutally murdered by the Hutu in an effort to cleanse the country of a Tutsi presence. The genocide was the culmination of decades of unrest between the two groups created from Western influence under colonialism and post-colonial relationships. The international response to the genocide was scarce. While international intervention waned, the international media kept the genocide relevant in its publications. This thesis examines print media sources from the United States, Britain, and France. This thesis argues that the reporting of the …

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Finding Treasure: The Story Of A Micro-Budget Digital Film, Christopher Williamson Jan 2015

Finding Treasure: The Story Of A Micro-Budget Digital Film, Christopher Williamson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Treasure is a feature-length narrative fictional film directed by Chris Williamson as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema from the School of Visual Arts and Design at the University of Central Florida. This thesis is a documentary record of the film production from concept to completion. In this thesis the concerns of authorship are explored from the perspective of the author as the executive producer, writer, and director of the film.

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Examining The Social Interactions Of Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorders In A Virtual Environment, Jennifer Gallup Jan 2015

Examining The Social Interactions Of Young Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorders In A Virtual Environment, Jennifer Gallup

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study examined the social interactions during online game play in a virtual environment for five young adults with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who attended a large metropolitan university, enrolled in the first 60 credits of a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field of study. Given the evolution of technology and opportunities to socialize in virtual communities, it is becoming increasingly important to understand how young adults with ASD assimilate into new social opportunities that provide supports for extraneous variables such as face-to-face situations. As research begins to emerge on virtual environments there is little research addressed …

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Layers Of Identity & Privilege In Legislation: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Senate Bill 744, Jessica Hewkin Jan 2015

Layers Of Identity & Privilege In Legislation: A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Senate Bill 744, Jessica Hewkin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research examines Senate Bill 744 (S.744) from the 113th Congress of the United States, and its findings will be used as a model to reveal problems in similar legislation. Senate Bill 744 was proposed by the 113th Congress in an attempt to accomplish bi-partisan immigration reform. The bill was viewed (and still is) as a comprehensive compromise, in that neither Democrats nor Republicans were completely satisfied with its result. The outcome was that the legislators who were involved in S.744*s creation were satisfied that something on the topic of immigration reform had been accomplished (the bill passed the Senate, …

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A Formative Evaluation Of A Technology-Mediated Alternative To Traditional Study Abroad, Wendy Howard Jan 2015

A Formative Evaluation Of A Technology-Mediated Alternative To Traditional Study Abroad, Wendy Howard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if a proposed technology-mediated intervention is a viable alternative to traditional study abroad for those who are unable to travel. While technology cannot reproduce the same experience of traveling abroad, the primary objective of this study was to determine if there is value in using Web conferencing technology to provide students with access to the same opportunity to interact with international experts in the field as their counterparts who were able to travel. This formative evaluation is the first in a series of iterative studies aimed at developing a viable, sustainable, …

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Propagation Failure In Discrete Inhomogeneous Medium Using A Caricature Of The Cubic, Elizabeth Lydon Jan 2015

Propagation Failure In Discrete Inhomogeneous Medium Using A Caricature Of The Cubic, Elizabeth Lydon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spatially discrete Nagumo equations have widespread physical applications, including modeling electrical impulses traveling through a demyelinated axon, an environment typical in multiple scle- rosis. We construct steady-state, single front solutions by employing a piecewise linear reaction term. Using a combination of Jacobi-Operator theory and the Sherman-Morrison formula we de- rive exact solutions in the cases of homogeneous and inhomogeneous diffusion. Solutions exist only under certain conditions outlined in their construction. The range of parameter values that satisfy these conditions constitutes the interval of propagation failure, determining under what circumstances a front becomes pinned in the media. Our exact solutions represent …

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Selective Electro-Magnetic Absorbers Based On Metal-Dielectric-Metal Thin-Film Cavities, Janardan Nath Jan 2015

Selective Electro-Magnetic Absorbers Based On Metal-Dielectric-Metal Thin-Film Cavities, Janardan Nath

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Efficient absorption of light is required for a large number of applications such as thermo-photovoltaics,thermal imaging, bio-sensing, thermal emitters, astronomy, and stealth technology. Strong light absorbers found in nature with high intrinsic losses such as carbon black, metal-black, and carbon nano-tubes etc. are bulky, not design-tunable and are hard to pattern for micro- and nano- devices. We developed thin-film, high performance absorbers in the visible, near-, mid-, long-wave - and far-IR region based on a 3 layer metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) structure. We fabricated a 3-layerMDMabsorber with large band-widths in the visible and near IR spectral range without any lithographic patterning. This …

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Essays On Marketing Strategies In The Context Of Interdependent Consumption, Minoo Talebi Ashoori Jan 2015

Essays On Marketing Strategies In The Context Of Interdependent Consumption, Minoo Talebi Ashoori

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two essays in which I study the impact of two interdependent consumer behaviors, fairness concerns and exclusivity seeking, on a companys marketing strategies and profits specifically in a context where it tries to expand its clientele with the objective of generating repeat purchases, for example by running deals on daily deal platforms. In the first essay, I examine the impact of customers fairness concerns on the profitability of a company running promotions on daily deal platforms. With the prevalence of social media and the internet, information about such targeted promotions can become available to all consumers …

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Principals' Perceptions And Self-Efficacy In Relation To School Security, Julian Jones Jan 2015

Principals' Perceptions And Self-Efficacy In Relation To School Security, Julian Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Principals in the nation's schools have been tasked with managing crisis incidents that may occur with students and others on their campuses on a daily basis. The purposes of this study were to determine the differences, if any, that existed in Central Florida public school principals' perceptions regarding school security, their perceived confidence to address critical crisis incidents on their campuses, their perceptions of the likelihood critical incidents would occur, their perceptions of interaction with law enforcement, the critical incidents they fear the most, and their perceptions of factors impacting the incidents they fear the most. Principal subgroup mean responses …

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Theoretical Study Of Laser Beam Quality And Pulse Shaping By Volume Bragg Gratings, Sergiy Kaim Jan 2015

Theoretical Study Of Laser Beam Quality And Pulse Shaping By Volume Bragg Gratings, Sergiy Kaim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The theory of stretching and compressing of short light pulses by the chirped volume Bragg gratings (CBG) is reviewed based on spectral decomposition of short pulses and on the wavelength-dependent coupled wave equations. The analytic theory of diffraction efficiency of a CBG with constant chirp and approximate theory of time delay dispersion are presented. Based on those, we performed comparison of the approximate analytic results with the exact numeric coupled-wave modeling. We also study theoretically various definitions of laser beam width in a given cross-section. Quality of the beam is characterized by the dimensionless beam propagation products (?x???_x)?? , which …

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