Digital Commons Network^™

High Temperature Helical Tubular Receiver For Concentrating Solar Power System, Nazmul Hossain

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the field of conventional cleaner power generation technology, concentrating solar power systems have introduced remarkable opportunity. In a solar power tower, solar energy concentrated by the heliostats at a single point produces very high temperature. Falling solid particles or heat transfer fluid passing through that high temperature region absorbs heat to generate electricity. Increasing the residence time will result in more heat gain and increase efficiency. A novel design of solar receiver for both fluid and solid particle is approached in this paper which can increase residence time resulting in higher temperature gain in one cycle compared to conventional …

Sociocultural Influences On Perceived Risk In Latinos At Risk Of Developing Type 2 Diabetes, Allyson S. Hughes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Previous studies have shown that perceived risk is a predictor of positive health behaviors to avert preventative chronic conditions. As a major factor in the Health Belief Model, high levels of perceived risk may operate as a "perceived susceptibility" to disease and may function as a "perceived threat" that triggers action towards preventing the onset of disease (Champion & Skinner, 2008). Following an Ecodevelopmental Model approach in an effort to prevent prediabetes and type 2 diabetes (Castro, Shaibi & Boehm-Smith, 2009) includes understanding the potential protective effects of certain cultural factors (including sources of social support that can promote healthy …

Design Of A High Intensity Turbulent Combustion System, Mohammad Arif Hossain

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In order to design next generation gas turbine combustor and rocket engines, a systematic study of flame structure at high intensity turbulent flow is necessary. The fundamental study of turbulent premixed combustion has been a major research concern for decades. The work is focused on the design and development of a high intensity turbulent combustion system which can be operated at compressible (0.3 < M < 0.5), preheated (T0=500K) and premixed conditions in order to investigate the 'Thickened Flame' regime. An air-methane mixture has been used as the fuel for this study. An optically accessible backward-facing step stabilized combustor has been designed for a maximum operating pressure of 6 bar. A grid has been introduced with different blockage ratios (BR = 54%, 61% & 67%) in order to generate turbulence inside the combustor for the experiment. Optical access is provided via quartz windows on three sides of the combustion chamber. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is done in order to verify the structural integrity of the combustor at rated conditions. In order to increase the inlet temperature of the air, a heating section was designed to use commercially available in-line heaters. Separate cooling subsystems have been designed for chamber cooling and exhaust cooling. The LabVIEW software interface has been selected as the control mechanism for the experimental setup. A 10 kHz Time Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (TR-PIV) system and a 3 kHz Planer Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) system have been integrated with the system in order to diagnose the flow field and the flame respectively. The primary understanding of the flow field inside the combustor was achieved through the use of Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) by using commercially available software package ANSYS FLUENT. Preliminary validation is done by 10 kHz TR-PIV technique. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis have been done for CFD and experiment. Major flow parameters such as average velocity, fluctuation of velocity, kinetic energy, and turbulent intensity have been calculated for two distinct Reynolds number (Re = 815 & 3500). PIV results are compared with CFD results which show significant agreement with each other.

Study Of Materials And Machines For 3d Printed Large-Scale, Flexible Electronic Structures Using Fused Deposition Modeling, Seyeon Hwang

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The 3 dimensional printing (3DP), called to additive manufacturing (AM) or rapid prototyping (RP), is emerged to revolutionize manufacturing and completely transform how products are designed and fabricated. A great deal of research activities have been carried out to apply this new technology to a variety of fields. In spite of many endeavors, much more research is still required to perfect the processes of the 3D printing techniques especially in the area of the large-scale additive manufacturing and flexible printed electronics.

The principles of various 3D printing processes are briefly outlined in the Introduction Section. New types of thermoplastic polymer …

Design Of Screening System For Transatlantic Container Transport, Michal Jizba

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Maritime container transport plays a major role in international trade. As such, it can be an attractive target of acts of unlawful interference, e.g., smuggling, piracy or terrorism. One major issue of maritime security is the container screening at ports, which is the main focus of this Thesis. The goal of this Thesis is to study the efficiency of different designs of screening systems using simulation. The literature review covers contemporary laws and requirements, container screening equipment and processes related to screening that take place in seaports. Next, operation of three screening checkpoints models, which symbolize predominant approaches to container …

Rents, Loyalty, And The Economy: How An Unstable Economy Plays A Role In The Occurrence Of Coups D'État, Alexandra Elizabeth Infanzon

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis examines why coups d'état still occur, regardless of institution type, in some states but not others. Building off Wintrobe's and Hiroi and Omori's observations, an elite theory is presented that attributes the success of avoiding coups lies in both the stability of economic growth and a system of internal incentives that create a direct link between the government and the people. Without either present, the elite in government are not constrained from engaging in undemocratic behavior and usurping power, ultimately resulting in coups. Using a zero-inflated negative binomial logistic regression, indicators of economic stability and internal loyalty systems …

Communication Of Self And Cyberlife Through Avatars In Second Life Online Communities, Kyron Joseph

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Virtual worlds are becoming more and more recognized for its social capabilities. It's making a splash on the global scale as the use for virtual worlds is surpassing the expected means of the creators. The purpose of this study is to investigate how users in the virtual world of Second Life identify themselves with fellow users through their Avatars through the theory of narrative identity. In the virtual world of Second Life, there are many different avenues that users can express themselves, through the narrative plot analysis these avenues will show the relation to the users and self.

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Total Synthesis Of Syringolides 1 And 2, Sudhakar Kalagara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The total synthesis of Syringolides is described. The synthetic pathway was designed in order to synthesize Syringolides in high yields using inexpensive starting materials. The synthesis strategy features a preparation of the linear tricarbonyl compound followed by intramolecular cyclization. The linear precursor is divided into two fragments, β-keto acid and protected D-xylulose, which are the key fragments and were synthesized from α,β-unsaturated compound followed by asymmetric dihydroxylation. The α,β-unsaturated compound was efficiently prepared by a Wittig reaction between aldehyde and ylide fragments. The butenolide derivative was also achieved by the Knoevenagel condensation of the tricarbonyl compound.

Japanese Computational Lexicon: A Computational Dictionary Of Japanese Verb Forms, Mayumi Kobayashi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper presents two main topics: a linguistic analysis of Japanese morphological lexicon focused on verb conjugation and a computational analysis of Japanese verb conjugation in Prolog programming. Prolog is one of the computer programming languages and is used to solve a problem logically with a number of statements called "clauses," which are defining various relationships of the entities. With respect to the linguistic aspect, this paper discusses Japanese verb formation, its conjugation patterns, twelve basic forms of Japanese verbs, and a Japanese morphophonemic process called “音便 (onbin)” by investigating 304 regular verbs and 2 irregular verbs. Among the several …

Transition Metal Carbide (Tmc) Novel Materials For Novel Catalytic Applications, Svetlana Lagoykina

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Transition metal carbides (TMC) constitute a diverse class of materials and traditionally have many technological applications. TMC became a subject of extensive research since 1973, when their platinum -like properties were discovered. They demonstrated high catalytical activity and selectivity in a variety of chemical reaction and have potential for some novel catalytic application.

This research is an effort to design new high effective, selective and stable bimetal or alkali promoted TMC catalyst. After extensive theoretical research a wide range of TMC, including bimetal and alkali promoted carbides, were synthesized by different methods. All solids were characterized by XRD and microscopy. …

An Ethnic Comparison Of Intimate Partner Violence Among Ecuadorian Women Of Reproductive-Age, Marlene Lara

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: Afro-Ecuadorian and Indigenous women in Ecuador are ethnic minorities that may be at a greater risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) and adverse physical, sexual, and psychological health outcomes compared to Mestizo/White majority women. Prior studies have suggested factors such as SES, age, marriage, marital status, prior history of abuse and violence, attitudes regarding IPV, and alcohol and/or drug use are associated to IPV. Aims: The aim of this secondary analysis was to compare IPV prevalence and sociodemographic and health-related correlates by ethnicity (minority versus majority) among Ecuadorian women. Methods: A total of 10,730 Mestizo/White, Indigenous, and Afro-Ecuadorian Ecuadorian …

The Role Of P62/Imp2 In Breast Cancer Progression, Yang Li

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in women. In most patients with breast cancer, it is not the primary tumor that leads to death, but rather metastatic tumors. Once breast cancer spreads to other organs in the body, the disease becomes almost incurable. It is estimated that about 20% to 50% of patients diagnosed with primary breast cancer will develop metastatic disease. Considering this, it is important to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms behind metastatic breast cancer and to identify new proteins that regulate the metastatic process. These proteins may be used as targets …

Health Assessment For Loved Ones: Development And Validation Of A New Instrument To Measure Well-Being In Military Spouses, Christi Luby

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Since 2001, over 2.7 million US troops have deployed in support of the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. Combat stress and deployments affect Service members, and consequently affect their spouses/intimate partners. In addition, these spouses often act as the social support system to other spouses experiencing traumatic events, such as death, injury, or illness of their deployed soldier. These indirect exposures to trauma may make spouses vulnerable; yet little research has focused on how the lived experiences of spouses of deployed and returning US Service members have affected their well-being. The purpose of this three-part study was to develop …

Damas Y Caballeros, Guadalupe Mendez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Collected Poetry - Manuscript over socio - political and culturally relevant context.

On The Path To Multi-Electron Redox Chemistry With Bimetallic Systems, Nathalie Metta

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The following study is presented in two sections, in the first, a novel digold (II) complex with semi-bridging chlorides supported by two bulky formamidinates was synthesized for the purpose of studying late-transition metal multi-electron redox chemistry. Electrochemical analysis shows one non-reversible reduction. Although the electrochemistry of this complex is restricted, the compound shows interesting electronic properties. The crystal structure reveals a geometry distortion of the Au2ï?­-Cl2 core. The coupling of an unoccupied orbital and an occupied orbital through a vibrational mode, causes a distortion in the geometry of the molecule lowering the D2h symmetry to C2h. This is an example …

Bayesian Adaptive Penalized Splines In Nonparametric Regression And In Spectral Time Series Analysis, Luis Angel Mora

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A Bayesian approach to nonparametric regression using Penalized splines (P-splines) is presented. The approach uses the linear mixed model formulation of P-spines. The usual model assumes a single value for the smoothing parameter controlling the amount of smoothing of the fitted function. The main focus of the Thesis is on spatially adaptive smoothing where the smoothing parameter is a function of the covariate so that different amounts of smoothing are applied in different regions of the covariate. An application to spectral time series analysis will be demonstrated. Markov chain Monte Carlo methods are used to make inference based on the …

Identification Of A Novel Phosphoserine Site On Crkl Regulated By Interleukin-2 And Protein Phosphatase-1, Stephanie Moreno

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

CrkL, a 36 kD adaptor protein, is part of the Crk family of proteins which have been implicated in a variety of human malignancies. CrkL is of special interest in hematopoietic malignancies because of an increased level of expression in myeloid and lymphoid derived cells lines. CrkL remains understudied but it has been shown to interact with Bcr-Abl in chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and is currently being used as a prognostic marker for patients by evaluating phosphorylation levels. Though regulation of CrkL by tyrosine phosphorylation has been studied extensively, the role of serine and threonine phosphorylation in an IL-2 dependent …

Re-Specifying The Sacred Values Scale, Adon Lee Neria

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

An object or value becomes sacred when a person feels compelled to protect and admire it. When a person holds a Sacred Value (SV) they are less likely to accept compromises, or "taboo tradeoffs," to that value and will behave less rationally to protect it from perceived slights. Though research on SV has replicated well, there has yet to be a popularized scale measuring it. A previous attempt at developing a multidimensional scale for measuring the degree to which a person holds any value as sacred was made that resulted in a 15-item measure. Though this version demonstrated good predictive …

Crustal Structure Beneath The Eastern Nepal Himalayas And Southern Tibet From Receiver Function Analysis, Arjun Sharma Neupane

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Himalayas are the results of continental collision between the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate and serve as a natural site to study the physical causes and process of mountain building. The crustal structure beneath the Himalayas has been subject to numerous geophysical studies and the variation in the velocity structure across the Himalayan region suggests significant differences in the crustal structure between the southern and northern portion in that region. In this research, a P receiver function analysis has been conducted on data collected for 14 years (2000-2014) from 211 different stations in Eastern Nepal and Southern Tibet, …

Sexual Self-Esteem And Its Relation To Substance Use And Sexual Risk In A Sample Of Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men And Who Are Living With Hiv, Miriam Pando

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The objective of the present study was to assess whether sexual self-esteem -- an individual's tendency to feel sexually pleased, attractive, and in control of their sexual thoughts, feelings, and behaviors -- influences the relationship between substance use and sexual risk behavior in a sample of men who have sex with men (MSM) and who are living with HIV. We sampled 106 Latino adult MSM living with HIV who were being treated at a clinic in El Paso, Texas that offers comprehensive HIV/AIDS services. We assessed demographic variables, as well as two domains of sexual self-esteem (i.e., overall feeling of …

Rare Pride Campaigns: Evaluating Participatory Communication In Conservation Efforts Throughout Indonesia, Lauren Elizabeth Perez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Communication scholars who study international development and social change have found that if facilitators of social change hope to find positive, lasting solutions to complex social and environmental issues, they must incorporate more participatory approaches. However, even the practitioners with the most noble intentions oftentimes fall short of facilitating truly participatory practices because their strategies are the product of linear processes for evaluating the change context. In this study, I apply Lennie and Tacchi's (2014) approach to evaluating communication for development in a case study of Pride Campaigns implemented by managers throughout Indonesia who partnered with the conservation non-governmental organization …

A Tectonic Analysis On The Central Region Of The Himalaya Collision Zone Using Double Difference Tomography, Chanel Perez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Himalaya mountain range remains the only place on Earth undergoing continuous effects from the continental-continental collision between India and Asia. Because of this, the Himalayas have been subjected to extensive deformation and transpression, and contain five major shear zones. Extensive seismic analysis of the region, however, is lacking due to sparse seismograph coverage and complexity of the crustal structure. I examined seismic event data from two temporary seismic networks deployed in the central Himalaya, the HIMNT deployment from 2001-2003, and the Bhutan deployment from 2002-2003. Using this data I develop a 3-D earth model for the region using double-difference …

Student Experiences In College Readiness Programs: A Phenomenological Study, Marisa Elva Pierce

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study discusses the concept of college readiness initiatives and defines what educational systems expect from this level of readiness of a high school student. It demonstrates that the topic of college readiness is broad and particularly concerned with academic rigor, teacher preparedness, and administrative support systems. The purpose of this study is to examine an aspect of these initiatives that is not often addressed - how students experience these programs.

Attempts to research the topic of college readiness from the lens of the student yielded few studies on the issue. Consequently, seeking a grounded understanding of the meaning and …

Ac-Susceptibility And Epr Investigations Of Superspin Dynamics In Magnetite Nanoparticles, Alex D. Price

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this investigation we use two complementary techniques to distinguish between superparamagnetic blocking (SPB) and superspin-glass (SSG) freezing phenomena in magnetite nanoparticles. While these manifestations of the superspin dynamics are fundamentally different, they have similar "signatures", especially in dc-magnetization experiments. Even if ac-susceptibility measurements are employed, careful use of mathematical models to analyze the data are needed to uncover which type of phenomena (SPB or SSG freezing) occurs within the material. Yet, by utilizing electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) on a 10 nm Fe3O4 nano-powder as well as on a ferrofluid (based on the same nanoparticle ensemble) we found a very …

Fluid Flow Characterization Of High Turbulent Intensity Compressible Flow Using Particle Image Velocimetry, Marco Efrain Quiroz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A high turbulent intensity combustion chamber has been designed in order to operate with compressible (0.3 < M < 0.5) and preheated (T=500K) air-methane combustion. These conditions will allow the investigation of different flame regimes; most notably the proposed "Thickened Flame" regime. Initial design and flow validation has been completed in order to begin further experimentation. A 10 kHz Time Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (TR-PIV) system and a 3 kHz Planer Laser Induced Fluorescence (PLIF) system have been integrated with the system in order to diagnose the flow field and the flame respectively. The exhaust and chamber cooling subsystems were designed to comply with safety regulations, and the control systems were set up in a way that allows automated (LabVIEW) and user controlled sequencing. This work's main purpose is to characterize and map the flow properties at maximum flow conditions (M > 0.3) in order to map the following; flow structures, kinetic energy at different length scales, velocity fluctuations and turbulent intensity. PIV measurements are carried out for three different volumetric flow rates (ð???Ì? = 25 scfm, 55 scfm, and 115 scfm) and three different grid geometries for each (BR= 67%, 61%, and 54%). Upon finding that the main flow structure consisted of jets caused by the grid at higher flowrates, experiments were done with a grid BR = 67% which was thinner (50% of original …

Studying Cellular And Molecular Interaction With Two-Photon Fluorescence Microscopy, Arifur Rahaman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Advances in microscopy and fluorescent probes provide new insight into studying cellular and molecular interactions. Two-photon fluorescence microscopy is one of the most important recent inventions in cellular and molecular study. This technology enables noninvasive study at cellular and molecular levels in three dimensions with submicrometer resolution. Two-photon excitation of fluorophores results from the simultaneous absorption of two photons. This excitation process has a number of unique advantages, such as reduced specimen photodamage and enhanced penetration depth. In this study, we used our two-photon microscope to observe predatorial behavior of fast moving bacterivorous marine organism Cafeteria roenbergensis and quantify Mycobacterium …

Punto Ciego, Adelmar Alvin Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Ciudad Juarez, another type of history shown through newspaper articles and headlines, going against the stereotypical values of violence and feminicides.

A Stochastic Approach For Pavement Condition Projections And Budget Needs For The Mtc Pavement Management System, Rafael Arturo Ramirez Flores

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Pavement management decision-making is the most important task for officials in transportation agencies, who develop maintenance and rehabilitation programs. Information about historical pavement network performance is needed for decision-making; pavement management systems (PMS) provide means to organize road network data to improve the pavement network condition. PMS have prediction performance models to forecast the future condition of the pavement networks with information required for decision-making; these models can be deterministic or probabilistic. Pavement performance deterministic models are commonly used in PMS, but they do not consider the uncertainty in forecasting pavement performance. Pavement performance depends on many random factors like …

The Rock And The Hard Place: How The Prison Psychotherapist Balances Treatment Needs With Security Needs, Elijah Paige Ricks

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research on traditional psychotherapy suggests that the quality of the relationship between the therapist and client is the most important element of effective mental health work. In contrast, prison policies often require that staff maintain an emotional distance from offenders, and many elements of the prison environment and characteristics of the offenders may be counterproductive to the therapeutic relationship. Due to the competing demands of psychotherapy and prisons, it is important to understand how prison psychotherapists reconcile the aims of both in their work. This Dissertation examined the psychometric properties of a new measure of how prison therapists balance the …

Processing Of Language Switches In Bilingual Individuals With Aphasia: An Event-Related Potential Comparison, Lizette Rodarte

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Switching between languages, or code-switching, is a common phenomenon in bilingual individuals. In proficient bilinguals, these switches are done with ease and are used for many purposes. Contrary to popular belief, these switches are rule-governed and follow grammatical structure. Bilingual individuals diagnosed with aphasia present with difficulty processing languages and these language switches. With the increase in bilingual individuals, it is likely that the speech-language pathology community will see an increase of bilingual individuals with aphasia on their caseload. For this reason, the purpose of this study is to increase our understanding of the neural processes involved in processing of …