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Dimensionality Of Magnetism In Trirutile Cota2o6 And Its Derivatives, Raju Baral

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, we addressed the question of low dimensionality of trirutile compound CoTa2O6 and studied how the low dimensionality evolved with doping of Mg on Co-site. In order to study low dimensionality in CoTa2O6 and its derivative compounds Co1-xMgxTa2O6 (x = 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1), we used different techniques: X-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, specific heat and elastic neutron diffraction. We have addressed the question of low dimensional magnetism of CoTa2O6 by preparing phase-pure samples of the compound. In CoTa2O6 a broad feature is observed in magnetic susceptibility at 10 K and an antiferromagnetic phase transition is …

Towards Multiple Model Approach To Bridge Deterioration, Jin A. Collins

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) marked the start of a new era in transportation in the United States. ISTEA required transportation agencies to take a proactive approach to planning and management of their assets. This included requirements for managing pavement, bridges, safety, congestion, public transportation, and intermodal systems. For horizontal transportation assets (i.e., bridges and pavement), deterioration modeling is an essential tool (Yanev and Chen 1993). Since ISTEA, Bridge Management Systems (BMS) have been utilized to inform decision-making regarding bridge projects such as maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement (MR&R) under financial limitations (Agrawal, Kawaguchi, and Chen 2010). …

Comparative Study Of Analytical Models Of The Gruneisen Parameter Of Metals As Function Of Pressure, Celia Garcia Amparan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Commonly used Gruneisen parameter (γ) models only hold accurate in limited regimes making them inapplicable for use over wide temperature-pressure conditions. The accuracy of these analytical models of γ and of the thermal expansion of solids are of particular interest as these are considered proxies for quantifying anharmonicity, which may be a significant contribution to the thermal pressure at high temperatures. This work reviews various definitions of γ and their relations to the equations of state and apply them to two simple metals: Tantalum (Ta) and Copper (Cu), for which a high body of experimental data exists. Classical Molecular Dynamics …

Energy Efficiency And Fatigue Failure On Gears And Bearings For Processing Rebar Steel, Jesus Gabriel Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Steel industry is a major emitter of air pollutants, a leading industrial consumer of water, a minor source of contaminated liquids, a massive producer of solid waste, and a significant source of CO2. The objective on this thesis work is to minimize the greenhouse gas emissions when processing steel. Gears and bearings were evaluated based on their performance when exposed to cyclic stresses. The importance for having a proper set up on rolling mills to increase efficiency for processing rebar steel has been detailed on paper. In contrast, mechanical vibration has been measured on gears and bearings to determine efficiency …

Inverse Gaussian Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Applied To Modeling High Frequency Data, Emmanuel Kofi Kusi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

With about 226050 estimated deaths worldwide in 2010, an earthquake is considered as one of the disasters that records a great number of deaths. This thesis develops a model for the estimation of magnitude of future seismic events.

We propose a stochastic differential equation arising on the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes driven by IG(a,b) process. IG(a,b) Ornstein-Uhlenbeck processes offers analytic flexibility and provides a class of continuous time processes capable of exhibiting long memory

behavior. The stochastic differential equation is applied to geophysics and financial stock markets by fitting the superposed IG(a,b) Ornstein-Uhlenbeck model to earthquake and financial time series.

Access Points And Weave Lengths For Automated Truck Lanes At Two Closely Spaced Interchanges, Ximena Jauregui

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The increase of traffic on major U.S. roadways has motivated the implementation of new technologies and better management of the transportation infrastructure, including managed lanes on freeways. Dedicated truck lanes, a type of managed lane, are increasingly attracting attention since truck freight is continuously increasing and trucks have greater impact on traffic flow relatively to cars. Truck-only managed lanes allow trucks to travel at their own speeds in an exclusive lane with no passenger vehicles on the way; likewise, vehicles on the main lanes of the freeway will have fewer trucks to travel with.

As truck-only managed lanes are being …

Electron Binding Energy Of Polar Molecules Using Fermi Löwdin Orbital Self Interaction Corrected Density Functional Scheme, Peter Obinna Ufondu

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Density functional theory (DFT) has become a standard method for electronic structure calculations in physics. The standard approximate density functional usually do not bind this class of anions, due to self-interaction error (SIE). We apply the recently developed Fermi Löwdin orbitals based self-interaction correction method (FLOSIC) with long-range diffuse Gaussian functions to study dipole bound anions and negatively charged water clusters. These calculations are carried out using Perdew-Wang (1992) local spin density PW91-LDA, Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof PBE-GGA, and the recently developed Strongly Constrained and Appropriately Normed SCAN-meta-GGA functional which satisfies all the known constraints for exchange-correlation functional. Plot from FLOSIC density difference …

Preclinical Models Of Metastatic Disease, Paloma Alejandra Valenzuela

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Breast cancer is a disease that continues to take the life of approximately 40,000 men and women in the United States each year [1]. Tumor drug resistance represents a major problem for the treatment of many breast cancer patients. The mechanisms underlying such resistance remain to be elucidated, and one approach to study this issue involves the development of tumor drug-resistant breast cancer models in mice. HER-2 positive breast cancer is considered to be one of the most aggressive subtypes of breast cancer and has become a major target for treatment. HER-2 status is a routinely checked marker for breast …

From Mistakes, We Learn: Variations In Teacher Dis/Position Toward Errors In Mathematics Classrooms, Mariana Alvidrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Mistakes are commonly perceived by students and teachers as an evidence of a lack of knowledge and ability (Brown, & Quinn, 2006). Recently, U.S. and Mexico mathematics education reforms has been calling to promote a positive status of errors in mathematics teaching and learning.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to examine secondary mathematics teachers' dis/positions toward mistakes in two contexts: their own mistakes and their students' mistakes. The study employs the frame of teacher dispositional functions (Beyers, 2011) which includes cognitive, affective, and conative characteristics. The frame provides a better understanding of teachers' dis/positions toward errors based on …

Quantifying Early-Age Concrete Mechanical Properties And Curing Conditions Utilizing An Automated System, Benjamin Arras

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The validation of concrete quality based on the 28-day strength is a lengthy process. Predicting concrete mechanical properties through early-age methods can streamline the construction process. Early-age concrete behavior consists of assessing the concrete curing as-related to setting stages, the hydration process, strength and stiffness development, while considering various environmental system parameters. This paper reports on a nondestructive method for observing the early-age strength and modulus development of concrete mixes over seven days in a controlled, laboratory setting. An apparatus was designed and built for continuous acquisition of seismic modulus data (using free-free resonant column) and heat of hydration/maturity information …

The Influence (Or Lack Thereof) Of Stereotypes On Spontaneous Trait Inferences, Jessica Renee Bray

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research has shown that people spontaneously make trait inferences from observing others perform behaviors. The present research presents two experiments that examined the influence of stereotypes on spontaneous trait inferences. Experiment 1 utilized the recognition probe paradigm, a traditional method of assessing spontaneous trait inferences. Experiment 2 controlled for potential biases (e.g. priming effects and linguistic properties) by modifying the recognition probe paradigm. Results showed support for spontaneous trait inferences only with the traditional recognition probe paradigm. Stereotypes only influenced the accuracy of spontaneous trait inferences with the traditional recognition probe paradigm. The current results suggest that the traditional recognition …

Novel Methods For The Inactivation Of Cruzain For The Prevention And Treatment Of Chagas Disease, Veronica Gonzalez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chagas Disease, also known as American Trypanosomiasis, is endemic to Latin American and is gradually making its way to other countries. The disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi, a protozoan parasite that causes lesions and inflammation of organs including the heart, esophagus, and colon. Over 30% of people infected will develop heart disease which can be fatal if untreated. While no vaccine is yet available, research is currently being conducted in finding new treatments for the disease. One target is an enzyme that is believed to help the progression of the disease. Cruzain, a cysteine protease expressed as a pro-enzyme, …

Structural And Sedimentological Analysis Of The Bear Canyon Conglomerate, Southeastern California: Implications For The Timing And Style Of Miocene Deformation Within The Eastern California Shear Zone, Garrett Goff

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The region between Indian Pass and Picacho State Recreation Area (PSRA) in southeastern California records complex deformation related to the transition from a Paleogene convergent margin to a Neogene transform setting, although the timing and nature of youngest deformation in this region remains incompletely known. A 1.7 km-thick section of Miocene Bear Canyon conglomerate (BCC) was studied to constrain this young period of deformation. These rocks lie unconformably upon 23 Ma volcanic and epiclastic rocks and a Mesozoic metamorphic basement terrane. Near PSRA the BCC contains locally derived clasts and can be further subdivided into three unconformity-bounded sequences, referred to …

An Investigation Of The Loci Of Bilingual Switch Costs During Reading Comprehension, Joseph Anthony Negron

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the present study, we examined whether the comprehension of language switches can be accounted for exclusively by activation dynamics within the lexicon, or whether there is evidence that cognitive general control processes outside of the lexicon are also engaged. In Experiment 1 we compared the fixation durations made on words embedded in either language pure or language switched sentences. The critical words were either cognates or non-cognate controls and served as the switch point in the language switched versions of the sentences. An overall switch cost was observed, which did not interact with cognate status or direction of the …

Hfo Detector Based On Eeg Mean Energy Change Detection, Raul Ontiveros

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The main goal of this work is to support automated seizure prediction by identifying preictal states using multiple detectors of high-frequency oscillations (HFOs). Assessment of HFOs from a seizure onset zone may be facilitated using automatic HFO detectors. However, studies have shown that HFOs can be generated by physiological or pathological brain processes. Distinguishing between pathological and physiological HFOs is challenging due to a lack of discriminant information in signals' morphology and other characteristics. Other complicating factors include a lack of consistency in definitions of HFO frequency ranges, the need for expert verification of HFO detection, and lack of robustness …

The Role That Language Proficiency Variables Play On Grammaticality, Morphosyntax, And Semanitc Skills In Bilingual Children, Stephanie Escobar

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Purpose: A number of experiential factors contribute to bilingual development. Factors such as opportunities to hear and use language, age of first exposure, context of learning, social value of a language, education and others have been discussed in other studies. (Bedore et al 2016; Bedore et al 2012). Language questionnaires and self-reports have been used to quantify language variables and current usage of a language. The current study was part of a larger project examining diagnostic accuracy of various assessment tools for Spanish English bilingual children living in a US/Mexico border city (Curtis, Summers, Stubbemann, & Smith, 2017). The purpose …

Assessing The Predictive Utility Of The Positive Achievement Change Tool At A Texas Juvenile Justice Agency, Elizabeth Perez Hutchins

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the United States, millions of youth are processed in the juvenile justice system each year. Juvenile probation officers, case managers, and clinicians have the daunting task of making critical case-processing decisions for this vulnerable population including program placement, supervision, and treatment. Moreover, juvenile justice professionals must be mindful of numerous factors such as risk to public safety and the juvenile's risk to reoffend when making these decisions. In recent years, juvenile justice agencies have employed the Risk-Need-Responsivity model, the pre-eminent evidence-based model for offender assessment and management, to aide in the decision-making process. Although implementation of risk assessment tools …

Development Of Ligand-Kinase Binding Affinity Predictive Model, Govinda Kc

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Prediction of interaction between drugs or drug like compounds and targets, is of high importance in drug discovery process as it provides important insights into therapeutic potential and possible adverse effects. As the experimental testing would be highly expensive, laborious and time consuming, screening the molecules computationally before performing experiments would be cost effective, faster and convenient as a method of approach. In this study, I have developed computational models, leveraging machine learning techniques, to predict drug-kinase binding affinities. The predictive model is mainly built using the Random Forest (RF) machine learning method. This study is focused on kinases because …

Computational Studies On Perovskite-Metallofullerene Interface And Magnetic Properties Of Mn-Based Mixed Olivines, Bethuel Omutiti Khamala

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Methyl ammonium lead halide (MAPbX3) perovskite based solar cells have recently emerged as promising class of materials for photovoltaic applications with efficiencies reaching over 22%. Designing interfaces with strong binding is vital to developing efficient, high-performing solar cells. Fullerene-based materials are widely employed as efficient electron acceptors and can serve as electron transporting layer in perovskite based solar cells. We have studied interfaces of methyl ammonium lead iodide MAPbI3 with Sc3N@C80 fullerene and Sc3N@C80PCBM fullerene derivate within the density functional formalism. Different surface terminations and orientations of the methyl ammonium are examined for binding of the fullerene layer. Our calculated …

A Bottom-Up Modeling Methodology Using Knowledge Graphs For Composite Metric Development Applied To Traffic Crashes In The State Of Texas, Daniel Michael Mejia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Data is a key factor for understanding real-world phenomena. Data can be discovered and integrated from multiple sources and has the potential to be interpreted in a multitude of ways. Traffic crashes, for example, are common events that occur in cities and provide a significant amount of data that has potential to be analyzed and disseminated in a way that can improve mobility of people, and ultimately improve the quality of life. Improving the quality of life of city residents through the use of data and technology is at the core of Smart Cities solutions. Measuring the improvement that Smart …

La Muralla Stories, Irma Leticia Nikicicz

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

La Muralla Stories is a short story collection depicting Tex-Mex characters within the geographical and social context of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Seismic Analysis Of The 30 July 1972 Sitka Earthquake Aftershocks, Stress Drop Of Aftershocks In Cook Strait, New Zealand Following The 2013 Cook Strait And Lake Grassmere And 2016 Kaikoura Earthquakes, And 2d Seismic Tomography In The Brady Hot Springs Geothermal Site, Nevada, Juan Alejandro Ochoa Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The 1972 Mw 7.6 Sitka earthquake is the largest earthquake to have occurred along the Alaska portion of the Queen Charlotte fault (QCF) in historic time. The QCF system forms the plate boundary between the Pacific and North American plates within southeastern Alaska and has accumulated enough slip since 1972 to produce a comparable sized event in the near future. Thus, it is important to better understand the controls on the rupture process of the 1972 mainshock and its aftershocks. Following the mainshock the U.S. Geological Survey installed a network of 11 portable seismographs that recorded over 200 aftershocks of …

Zircon (U-Th)/He Thermochronologic Investigation Of The Long-Term Thermal History Of Proterozoic Rocks In West Texas And Southern New Mexico, Nathan Zachary Reade

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The tectonic history of west Texas and southern New Mexico is well documented, however existing geologic data only provide limited snapshots of the region’s prolonged and complex tectonic evolution. Zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) thermochronology is used to examine the long-term thermal history of Proterozoic rocks exposed in the southern Rio Grande rift. ZHe data were collected from the Carrizo Mountains (10 dates), Cookes Range (16 dates), and Franklin Mountains (30 dates) in order to constrain the long-term (>1 Ga) thermal history of rocks in this region and relate this history to known tectonic or climatic events. Individual ZHe dates range …

Spectroscopic Analysis Of Calcium Oxalate Kidney Stone Inhibition By Nordihydroguaiaretic Acid (Ndga), Mahendra Subedi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This current study provides information regarding the inhibition of calcium oxalate type of kidney stones by the use of nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA). Around 80% of kidney stones found in patients are principally made of calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate. NDGA is an antioxidant compound that is chemically extracted from the desert bush Larrea tridentata. This work is a logical continuation of a previous research, where different concentrations of Larrea tridentata extract were used for such inhibition. Size and morphological changes from a calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM) structure to a calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD) structure were previously reported.

In the current …

A Computational Method For Predicting Functional Effects Of Cancer-Related Genetic Sequence Variants, Bofei None Wang

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Rapid advances in next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies provide many oppor- tunities to identify associations between genetic sequence variants (GSV) and diseases, which may lead to better clinical diagnosis and treatments. OncoMiner is a bioinformatics pipeline developed at UTEP (OncoMiner.utep.edu) for mining NGS data. It can identify exonic sequence variants, link them with associated literatures, visualize genomic locations and compare their occurrence frequencies among dierent groups. However, the current version of OncoMiner is limited to accepting only a specic input le format provided by the Otogenetics NGS Lab Services. The main objectives of my current work are (1) to de- …

Information Content Of Revised Earnings Forecasts, Market Learning, And Analyst Behavior, Lifei Xue

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In my first essay, I examine how the quality of private information and the quality of public information contained in analyst revised one-year-ahead earnings forecasts issued right after a quarterly earnings announcement affect the post-earnings announcement drift (PEAD). I find that high precision of private information contained in revised forecasts reduces the level of PEAD and that the precision of public information contained in the revised one-year-ahead earnings forecasts partially offset the reduction in PEAD. Moreover, I find the effect of precision of private information on PEAD decreases after Reg FD, which required in the year 2000 that analysts could …

Newcomer English Language Learners In High School Choral Music Education: An Ethnographic Case Study, Lisa Ann Serna

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This five month long ethnographic case study seeks to add to the limited literature on Newcomers enrolled in choir (Carlow, 2006), by understanding the role a focused choral music education plays in their ability to listen, speak, read, and write in the English language. The study also seeks to contribute to the literature connecting language learning and choral music education. The purpose of the study was to understand Newcomer English language learners' (NELs) experiences of practice and performance in high school choir, as it relates to language learning and social belonging. Cultural Historical Activity Theory framed my study which allowed …

Experimental And Numerical Investigation Of Continuous Bending Under Tension Processing Of Dual Phase High Strength Automotive Steels, Camille Poulin

Master's Theses and Capstones

The following research explores the continuous bending under tension (CBT) incremental forming process effects on four dual phase (DP) steels: DP 590, DP 780, DP 980, DP 1180. A parameter study was conducted, finding the ideal parameters for increased elongation to fracture compared to tension of over five times for DP 1180 and DP 980. These parameters were found to be a normalized bend depth of 3.5 and a crosshead pull speed of 1.35mm/s. Using these parameters, following tests were conducted on all four steels by stopping the CBT process before fracture at 2, 4, 6, 8, and some even …

Environmental Law, Travis M. Trimble

Scholarly Works

In 2017,1 district courts in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit decided three cases that clarified issues arising under the Clean Water Act (CWA). 2 The United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia preliminarily enjoined the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Army Corps of Engineers from enforcing the Waters of the United States Rule (WOTUS Rule), 3 a regulatory attempt to define the term "Waters of the United States," which is a jurisdictional threshold for agencies' regulatory authority under the CWA.4 Also, the United States District Court for the Northern District of …

Code Revision Commission V. Public.Resource.Org And The Fight Over Copyright Protection For Annotations And Commentary, David E. Shipley

Scholarly Works

This article is about the Eleventh Circuit’s 2018 decision in Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org concerning the public edicts doctrine and holding that the State of Georgia’s copyright on the annotations, commentary and analyses in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated is invalid. About a third of the States claim copyright in the annotations to their codes so the potential impact of this decision is substantial. The U.S. Supreme Court granted Georgia’s petition for a writ of certiorari on Monday, June 24.

The article’s thesis is that the Eleventh Circuit was wrong and should be reversed. It first discusses the …