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Controversial Defenses To Legal Malpractice Claims: Are Attorney Experts Being Asked To Be Advocates?, David S. Caudill

Faculty Publications

Attorney-experts in legal malpractice litigation are like many other experts. Although easily distinguishable from experts offering science-based testimony, attorney expertise is similar to that of witnesses offering experience-based testimony, and very much like the expertise of a physician in a medical malpractice case. An attorney-expert is, however, somewhat unique among experts in terms of the type of expertise offered, the inherent risk that the expert’s testimony will invade the province of the judge or jury, and, I believe, the risk of over-testifying. First, there is a problem of defining the attorney-expert’s “expertise” to ensure that the expert is not testifying …

Archaeological And Historical Research To Establish The Jasper County, Missouri Civil War Museum And Park, Christopher Dennis Dukes

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

In May, 1863 a group of Confederate guerillas led by Major Thomas Livingston attacked Union troops at William Rader’s farm in western Jasper County Missouri. The guerillas killed eighteen Union troops, who were unarmed at the time, and mutilated their bodies. Most of them were from the first African American regiment of the civil war. The following day Union troops retaliated by burning the town of Sherwood, Missouri and multiple homesteads in the area. These events caused an increase in the brutality of the civil war in Southwest Missouri. To commemorate these conflicts and provide a “living history” site for …

Archaeological And Historical Investigations Of The Robert Newsom Farmstead (23cy497), Callaway County, Missouri, James Adam Halpern

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Scholarly research on slavery in the U.S. has focused on large commercial plantations in the Old South. Yet a majority of slaveholders and nearly half of the enslaved lived in smaller slaveholding houses and family farms (Burke 2010:4). This study helps redress the dearth of research on small slaveholdings through study of the Robert Newsom Farmstead, or "Celia" Site (23CY497), located in Callaway County, Missouri. The research goal is to model the antebellum spatial organization of the landholding, thereby increasing our understanding of slavery at the Newsom site and on non-plantation slaveholdings generally. This was accomplished through collection and analysis …

Origin And Stratigraphic Architecture Of The Middle Permian Lower And Upper Quanzijie Low-Order Cycles, Bogda Mountains, Nw China, Jonathan Obrist-Farner

Doctoral Dissertations

"This study is carried out in the Bogda Mountains, NW China, and aims to provide a detailed sedimentary, stratigraphic, environmental, and paleoclimatic reconstruction in the paleo-mid-latitude along the east coast of Pangea. The Middle Permian lower and upper Quanzijie low-order cycles (QZJ LCs) provide a nearly complete sedimentary record in an area were little is known. In the first part of this work, the previously-established QZJ LC is divided into two LCs on the basis of regional stratigraphic correlation and major changes in depositional environments and tectonic and climatic processes. The newly-established lower QZJ LC is mainly composed of meandering …

Dissolution Of Borate Glasses And Precipitation Of Phosphate Compounds, Jaime Lynn George

Doctoral Dissertations

"Borate glasses have been developed for biomedical applications such as scaffolds for soft tissue and bone repair. The dissolution processes of borate glasses in phosphate-containing aqueous solutions were studied by µ-Raman spectroscopy which provided information about the types and concentrations of borate species released into the solution as a function of time and characterized the formation of calcium phosphate reaction products on the glass surface. Boric acid molecules (H₃BO₃) and borate anions (B(OH)₄^-) can be detected in solution and their relative concentrations depend on the solution pH.

Static and dynamic single-pass flow-through experiments …

Shear Wave Splitting Analysis Beneath Tien Shan: Geodynamic Implications Of Complex Anisotropy, Solomon Gerra Cherie

Doctoral Dissertations

"In spite of numerous studies, the mechanisms for the crustal shortening, mountain formation and associated tectonism leading to complex or simply seismic anisotropy formation beneath the Tien Shan Orogenic Belt is still debated. The most popular hypotheses suggested for the existence of seismic anisotropy are small-scale mantle convection, regional scale resistive basal shear and APM induced asthenospheric flow. Here, we used shear-wave splitting (SWS) measurements with good azimuthal coverage to provide additional constraints on the various models proposed by previous studies. One of the most effective approaches utilized to constrain convective mantle flow patterns is the splitting of P-to-S converted …

An Integrated Study For Hybrid Composite Beam (Hcb) Structures, Mohamed Abdelkhalik Aboelseoud

Doctoral Dissertations

"The hybrid composite beam (HCB) consists of a self consolidating concrete (SCC) arch that is tied at the end by galvanized strands. The tied arch is encapsulated by a glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) shell. A limited number of researches have studied the essential design methodologies and long-term performance of the HCB. The research presented in this dissertation aimed to more fundamentally understand the structural behavior of this new beam and evaluate its durability. This research study was conducted through four phases. A full-scale bridge load testing was conducted on a single-web HCB bridge during the first phase. The first …

Characterization Of Bending Fatigue Mini-Specimens For Nuclear Materials, Ahmed Suliman R. Haidyrah

Doctoral Dissertations

"New materials with superior radiation and corrosion resistance are needed to improve the economy and performance of current nuclear reactors as well as future nuclear reactors. Measurement of mechanical properties of the material of equipment is required to estimate its safe operating life. Studying fatigue of irradiated specimens is challenging due to space limitation in research reactors (e.g. ATR). The mini-specimen bending fatigue (Krouse-type) of nuclear materials was used to study fatigue properties and compare the obtained results with that of reference data of full size specimen. These Krouse-type were made of austenitic SS304, SS316, HT9 ferritic martensitic steel, and …

Fusion Welding Of Diboride-Carbide Ceramic Composites, Derek Scott King

Doctoral Dissertations

"Plasma and pulsed plasma arc welding (PAW and PPAW) processes were used to fusion weld ZrB₂ containing 20 vol% ZrC. Varying welding parameters resulted in changes in weld pool shape and size, and the size of ZrB₂ grains within the fusion zone. For PAW processes that resulted in a keyhole fusion zone (full penetration), the arc to workpiece power transfer efficiency was estimated to be 2 grain lengths were observed to decrease between binary PAW FZs (~1 mm in length), and binary PPAW FZs (~0.8 mm in length), and an increasing aspect ratio for ZrB₂ grains in …

Containment Materials For Thin-Strip Casting Of Steel, Abhishek Kumar

Doctoral Dissertations

"The focus of this research was to investigate the corrosion behavior of BN-based and ZrO₂-C refractories by molten steel. These refractories are used as side-dam and core-nozzle in the thin-strip casting of steel. The improvement and development of these refractory components will increase the process efficiency by prolonging the refractory service life.

The first part of this study focused on interaction of BN-ZrO₂-SiC side-dams with steel-inclusion system in a laboratory setup under argon gas environment. It was observed that corrosion of this ceramic was severe in contact with steel compared to slag/inclusion.

The second part of …

Models Predicting The Performance Of Ic Component Or Pcb Channel During Electromagnetic Interference, Chunchun Sui

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation is composed of three papers, which cover the prediction of the characteristics of jitter due to crosstalk and due to simultaneous switching noise, and covers susceptibility of delay locked loop (DLL) to electromagnetic interference.

In the first paper, an improved tail-fit de-convolution method is proposed for characterizing the impact of deterministic jitter in the presence of random jitter. A Wiener filter de-convolution method is also presented for extracting the characteristics of crosstalk induced jitter from measurements of total jitter made when the crosstalk sources were and were not present. The proposed techniques are shown to work well both …

Analysis Of Ion Emitting Jet Structures During Ionic Liquid Electrospraying, Shawn W. Miller

Doctoral Dissertations

"The ionic liquid [Bmim][DCA] is a propellant candidate for a standalone electrospray thruster or a dual-mode propulsion system. Characterization of positive polarity ions produced by [Bmim][DCA] capillary emitters with a nominal extraction voltage of 2.0 kV within a quadrupole and time-of-flight mass spectrometers is presented along with the predictions of propulsion performance. Flow rates from 0.05 to 2.18 nL/s are used to investigate the impact variations in the flow parameter have on the electrospray plume. The retarding potential analysis reveals ions emitted from the capillary are formed below the emitter potential of 500 eV. Angular distributions indicate broadening of both …

Information Fusion Architectures For Security And Resource Management In Cyber Physical Systems, Brijesh Kashyap Chejerla

Doctoral Dissertations

"Data acquisition through sensors is very crucial in determining the operability of the observed physical entity. Cyber Physical Systems (CPSs) are an example of distributed systems where sensors embedded into the physical system are used in sensing and data acquisition. CPSs are a collaboration between the physical and the computational cyber components. The control decisions sent back to the actuators on the physical components from the computational cyber components closes the feedback loop of the CPS. Since, this feedback is solely based on the data collected through the embedded sensors, information acquisition from the data plays an extremely vital role …

Detection And Removal Of Emerging Environmental Contaminants, Ruipu Mu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Water is a very crucial natural resource for human. The increasing number of contaminants detected in water bodies has drawn considerable increasing attention over the last decade. There are numerous emerging environmental contaminants which may cause serious health issues. The recent occurrence studies of these contaminants show both industrial and household activity introduction of chemicals into water resources. These various sources result in a large variety of chemicals such as explosives, pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) and disinfection byproducts detected in water worldwide. Due to the relatively low contaminant concentrations, development of new and improved detection methods along with …

Occurrence, Monitoring And Removal Of Drinking Water Contaminants By Advanced Technologies, Danielle Marie West

Doctoral Dissertations

"In order to maintain drinking water primary standards compliance under the USEPA Stage 2 Disinfectant Disinfection Byproducts Rule, drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) are switching from free chlorine (FC) to chloramines (MCA). Concerns are raised as MCA disinfection has been linked N-nitrosamine formation. N-nitrosamines are a group of nitrogenous DBPs (N-DBPs) which are highly carcinogenic in comparison to regulated DBPs (THMs and HAAs, generated by FC disinfection). Also in the forefront of drinking water concerns are other emerging drinking water contaminants such as perchlorate. Perchlorate is a contaminant which can enter drinking water from natural deposits or through introduction by …

Behavior Of Hollow-Core Fiber Reinforced Polymer-Concrete-Steel Bridge Columns Under Extreme Loading, Omar I. Abdelkarim

Doctoral Dissertations

"This study introduces an investigation of the behavior of innovative, resilient, and quickly-constructed hollow-core fiber reinforced polymer-concrete-steel (HC-FCS) bridge columns under extreme loading. The HC-FCS column consists of a concrete wall sandwiched between an outer fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) tube and an inner steel tube. The steel tube was embedded into a reinforced concrete footing with an embedded length of 1.6-1.8 times the diameter of the steel tube. The FRP tube only confined the concrete wall and truncated at the top of the footing level. The hollow steel tube was the only reinforcement for shear and flexure inside the HC-FCS …

Flow Mechanisms And Numerical Simulation Of Gas Production From Shale Reservoirs, Chaohua Guo

Doctoral Dissertations

"Shale gas is one kind of the unconventional resources which is becoming an ever increasing component to secure the natural gas supply in U.S. Different from conventional hydrocarbon formations, shale gas reservoirs (SGRs) present numerous challenges to modeling and understanding due to complex pore structure, ultra-low permeability, and multiple transport mechanisms.

In this study, the deviation against conventional gas flow have been detected in the lab experiments for gas flow through nano membranes. Based on the experimental results, a new apparent permeability expression is proposed with considering viscous flow, Knudsen diffusion, and slip flow. The gas flow mechanisms of gas …

Development Of Ionic Liquid Multi-Mode Spacecraft Micropropulsion Systems, Steven Paul Berg

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation presents work on development of multi-mode specific spacecraft propulsion systems. Specifically, this work attempts to realize a single propellant capable of both chemical monopropellant and electric electrospray rocket propulsion, develop methods to characterize multi-mode propulsion system performance, and realize a system capable of both monopropellant and electrospray propulsion for a small spacecraft. Selection criteria for ionic liquid propellants capable of both monopropellant and electrospray propulsion are developed. These are based on desired physical properties and performance considering use in both propulsive modes. From these insights, a monopropellant mixture of 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl sulfate and hydroxylammonium nitrate is selected and …

Investigating New Accident Causation, Risk Assessment, And Mitigation Strategy Selection Tools In The Petroleum Industry, Mohammad A. Alkazimi

Doctoral Dissertations

"The inherent complexity of the processes and the volatile nature of petroleum products compel the petroleum industry to continually seek and develop tools and techniques to identify, evaluate, and mitigate potential risks that can negatively impact their process operations. Additionally, government agencies and nonprofit professional societies guide the petroleum industry with regulatory guidelines, standards, and recommended best practices. The industry and these agencies and societies work to improve operational management, to ensure safe working conditions, and to minimize risk of all kinds, so that if failures occur, damage is contained within tolerable limits (Health and Safety Executives, 2013).

The currently …

Computing And The Electrical Transport Properties Of Coupled Quantum Networks, Casey Andrew Cain

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation a number of investigations were conducted on ballistic quantum networks in the mesoscopic range. In this regime, the wave nature of electron transport under the influence of transverse magnetic fields leads to interesting applications for digital logic and computing circuits. The work specifically looks at characterizing a few main areas that would be of interest to experimentalists who are working in nanostructure devices, and is organized as a series of papers. The first paper analyzes scaling relations and normal mode charge distributions for such circuits in both isolated and open (terminals attached) form. The second paper compares …

Nmr T₁ Studies Of Colloidal Unimolecular Polymer (Cup) Surface Water, Yousef Abobaker Dawib

Doctoral Dissertations

"This dissertation is subdivided into three topics: Experimental study of colloidal unimolecular polymer (CUP) hydration; probing of polymer chain dynamics by ¹³C solid state NMR technique; and the anticorrosive effect of 5-mercapto-1, 3, 4-thiadiazole-2(3H)-thione (MTT) derivatives.

The states of water in colloidal unimolecular polymer system were investigated by low field proton NMR. Bound and free water fractions were determined using spin-lattice relaxation measurements. A model equation was used to analyze the inversion recovery data.

The proton cross polarization and the pulse sequence for total spinning sideband suppression CP-TOSS NMR method were developed to determine the chain mobility of polymers …

Accuracy Of Theory For Calculating Electron Impact Ionization Of Molecules, Hari Chaluvadi

Doctoral Dissertations

The study of electron impact single ionization of atoms and molecules has provided valuable information about fundamental collisions. The most detailed information is obtained from triple differential cross sections (TDCS) in which the energy and momentum of all three final state particles are determined. These cross sections are much more difficult for theory since the detailed kinematics of the experiment become important. There are many theoretical approximations for ionization of molecules. One of the successful methods is the molecular 3-body distorted wave (M3DW) approximation. One of the strengths of the DW approximation is that it can be applied for any …

Modelling Of Interconnects In 3dic Based On Layered Green Functions, Siming Pan

Doctoral Dissertations

As traditional CMOS scaling pace gradually slows down, three-dimensional (3D) integration offers another dimension of in the ”More-than-Moore” era. In this dissertation, a number of investigations were conducted to better model interconnects in 3D integrated circuit (IC), to evaluate electrical behavior including delay, power consumption, signal integrity (SI), and power integrity (PI) for 3D ICs. Partial Element Equivalent Circuit (PEEC) method with layered Green’s function is studied here, since it consumes less computational resources and provides better physical insight to model the interconnects in 3DIC for high-speed digital circuits. The work is organized as a series of papers. The first …

Small Signal Modeling And Analysis Of Microgrid Systems, Md. Rasheduzzaman

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on small-signal modeling and analysis of inverter based microgrid systems. The proposed microgrid consists of two microsources placed on two different buses. The buses are connected using a distribution feeder with some impedance. The proposed microgrid can operate with the grid support, or without the grid support. When operated without the grid support, the standalone system’s microsources participate in controlling the system voltage and frequency. For a non-inertia source, such as the inverter, the load perturbations play an important role in system dynamics. In paper-I, such complex system was studied.

In the grid-tied mode, the microsources share …

Energy Management In Electric Vehicles: Development And Validation Of An Optimal Driving Strategy, Warren Santiago Vaz

Doctoral Dissertations

Electric vehicles (EVs) are a promising alternative energy mode of transportation for the future. However, due to the limited range and relatively long charging time, it is important to use the stored battery energy in the most optimal manner possible. Existing research has focused on improvements to the hardware or improvements to the energy management strategy (EMS). However, EV drivers may adopt a driving strategy that causes the EMS to operate the EV hardware in inefficient regimes just to fulfil the driver demand. The present study develops an optimal driving strategy to help an EV driver choose a driving strategy …

Seismological Investigation Of The Okavango Rift, Botswana, Youqiang Yu

Doctoral Dissertations

The mechanisms of rifting have been intensively investigated using geological and geophysical techniques beneath mature rift zones. However, current understanding on the earliest stages of rifting is seriously limited. Here we employ recently archived data from 17 broadband seismic stations traversing northern Botswana to conduct the first shear wave splitting and mantle transition zone (MTZ) studies within the Okavango Rift Zone (ORZ). The ORZ is an incipient continental rift situated at the terminal of the southwestern branch of the East African Rift System. The resulting normal MTZ thickness and consistently rift-parallel fast polarizations imply an absence of significant thermal anomalies …

Local Alternative Sources For Cogeneration Combined Heat And Power System, Abdulhakim Amer Agll

Doctoral Dissertations

"Global demand for energy continues to grow while countries around the globe race to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions by implementing policy measures and advancing technology. Sustainability has become an important issue in transportation and infrastructure development projects. While several agencies are trying to incorporate a range of sustainability measures in their goals and missions, only a few planning agencies have been able to implement these policies and they are far from perfect. The low rate of success in implementing sustainable policies is primarily due to incomplete understanding of the system and the interaction between …

Application Of Colloidal Unimolecular Polymer (Cup) Particles In Coatings, Sagar Vijay Gade

Doctoral Dissertations

"Colloidal unimolecular polymer (CUP) particles were prepared by the process of water reduction on copolymers containing hydrophobic and hydrophilic monomers at definite ratio using free radical polymerization. The CUPs are formed by the effect of hydrophilic /hydrophobic interactions of the polymer with a change in the solvent environment around them. Once formed these colloidal particles are thermodynamically stable with collapsed hydrophobic groups forming a spheroidal core and hydrophilic charges on the surface stabilizing the particle by the charge repulsion. CUPs contain only the charged CUP particles, water and counterions with all the functionality on the surface for further chemistry. CUP …

Analysis Of Production And Pressure Data To Characterize The Performance Of Oil And Gas Reservoirs, Abuagila Ramadan Elgmati

Doctoral Dissertations

"Production data analysis is an important tool for estimating important reservoir parameters. In particular, determining the average reservoir pressure (p_av) and tracking its change with time is critical to analyzing and optimizing reservoir performance. The traditional method for determining p_av involves pressure buildup tests. A direct method for estimating (p_av) from flowing pressures and rate data is available. However, the method is for an idealized case that assumes constant production rate during pseudo steady-state (PSS) flow, which is not generally true for real wells. This research extends that approach so that it can …

Localization And Tracking Of Electronic Devices With Their Unintended Emissions, Nurbanu Guzey

Doctoral Dissertations

"The precise localization and tracking of electronic devices via their unintended emissions has a broad range of commercial and security applications. Active stimulation of the receivers of such devices with a known signal generates very low power unintended emissions. This dissertation presents localization and tracking of multiple devices using both simulation and experimental data in the form of five papers.

First the localization of multiple emitting devices through active stimulation under multipath fading with a Smooth MUSIC based scheme in the near field region is presented. Spatial smoothing helps to separate the correlated sources and the multipath fading and results …