Digital Commons Network^™

Multicultural Education And Cultural Competency Standards For Legal Professionals, Stephanie Bono

Theses and Dissertations

The development of multicultural education and cultural competency standards for legal professionals is an important topic within the legal field (Bryant, 2001; Weng, 2005; Curcio, Ward, & Dogra, 2013). The legal profession plays a major role in American society, with legal professionals working in prominent positions within the government, financial sector, and business, in addition to private law firms. These professionals create policy, write laws, and advocate on behalf of others. They are leaders and experts who possess enormous power, and we rely on them to make decisions that will allow our society to thrive. In recent decades, however, our …

Determination Of Sorption Characteristics Of Wood Using A New Non-Fickian Empirical Model, Joshua Troy Hatton

Theses and Dissertations

Wood is a versatile and cost-effective building material found in everyday life. However, it has a disadvantage of readily absorbing both water vapor from the surrounding air and liquid water when in direct contact. The absorption of water increases the rate of the wood decaying and can also affect the physical properties, such as warping and swelling. Previous research has looked into defining the rate of absorption by modeling it based on Fick’s second law. Fick’s second law bases the rate of absorption on a diffusion coefficient; a constant that changes with time. Herein, a new empirical model is proposed …

Nothing Is Revealed: An Intimate Look Back At 1968, Aaron Barlow

Publications and Research

This started as a blog project, 99 entries on days in 1968 posted on the corresponding days of 2018. It is a cultural study of sixties America and a personal memoir.

Deciduous Shrub Encroachment Effects On Tundra Soil Properties, Daniela Aguirre

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Deciduous shrub abundance is increasing in tundra ecosystems as an effect of rising temperatures which may change tundra physical properties and, in turn, microbial communities and biogeochemical processes. Two mechanisms through which shrub presence may affect tundra ecosystems were examined in this study; the physical presence of the shrubs and effects of increasing shrub litter inputs. In a sub-arctic alpine tundra ecosystem, dominated by the deciduous shrub Betula glandulosa, both shrub presence (shrub present and removed) and litter quantity (no litter/litter removed, ambient litter, and twice ambient litter) were manipulated; multiple ecosystem properties where measured within the treatment plots over …

Molecular Mechanism Of Neurodegeneration Induced By 4-Nonylphenol, Michelle Alejandra Aranda

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Neurodegeneration, a progressive loss of nerve cells, occurs in many neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's diseases (PD), as well as in dementia. The pathogenesis of these diseases is unknown, and recent evidence suggests that environmental factors, which act as endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) could play a significant role in developing the disease process. 4-Nonylphenol (4-NP), an EDC, and a ubiquitous environmental toxin has been shown to affect brain development and may cause neurodegeneration. 4-NP is produced in large quantities in the U.S. and used as raw materials for making detergents, pesticides, plastics, paints, cosmetics, rubber, and other industrial/household …

Electronic Tuning Of Dimolybdenum Complexes Through Symmetry Manipulation Of Formamidinate Ligands In Their Second Coordination Sphere, Iván Alonso Cervantes Cervantes Martã­Nez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Alternative sustainable energy sources are required to decrease our dependence on carbon-based fuels. Small molecule activation is one of the most promising to fulfill global energy demand and maintain a sustainable world. Most of the industrial processes relevant for global energy supply and expenditure involves small molecules and metal catalysts. However, it is still required to gain fundamental insights on how these catalysts achieve such reactions. Dinuclear compounds, namely dimolybdenum complexes, may serve as a good experimental model to understand metal-metal cooperativity and its influence in catalysis.

In Chapter 2, three unsymmetric aryl formamidines were synthesized and characterized through 1H …

Assessing Spatiotemporal Exposures To Transportation Pollutants In Near-Road Communities Using Aermod, Mayra Consuelo Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Traffic-related air pollution has a profound impact on human health especially for residents living in near-road communities which are constantly exposed these air pollutants. A near-road community is expected to observe significant spatial and temporal variations in pollutant concentrations, as air pollution resulting from emissions from major highways decreases rapidly from the highway. This research conducted on-site traffic and air quality measurements on four critical transportations related air pollutants, PM2.5, PM10, NO2, O3, as well as emission and air dispersion modeling of transportation emission impacts in a near-road community. Using numerical models provided by the EPA, integrated with field measurements …

Let's Talk About We Otherwise Risk Ignoring: Sexual Health Among Women Who Have Sex With Women, Denise Natalia Delgado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Sexual health research suggests that women who have sex, or have had sex, with women (WSW) are at a higher risk for negative reproductive health outcomes, however, WSW are less likely to use preventive reproductive health care than heterosexual women. This research aims to examine the constructions of knowledge and risk perceptions of sexual health practices and sexual health behaviors among WSW in the US. Sexual health practices and sexual health behaviors measures were based on self-reported sexual health knowledge, sexual health perceptions, and sexual activity. A convenience nationwide sample of 254 WSW participants recruited through online LBGTQIA+ social groups …

Stratified Access On The Border: Examining Experiences Of Reproductive Care, Maralyn Doering

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Patient care experiences shape and affect the way that patients perceive and contextualize health care (Koenig 2011). Prior care experiences can change how patients choose to receive care in the future. In Texas, reproductive health care research has primarily focused on troubling trends in reproductive health care outcomes. This can be noted by the high cervical cancer rate (CDC 2019), the high unintended pregnancy rate (Kost 2015), and the limited access to reproductive care, particularly preventative care (Hopkins et al. 2015). The focus of this research has been on structural barriers, such as funding cuts (White et al. 2012), barriers …

Innovation In Higher Education: Three Sites In Haiti, Lucas Endicott

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Recent decades have brought seismic changes to global higher education. Educational leaders labor to sharpen administration, funding, teaching and learning practices in response to an increasingly globalized and technological world. The possibilities that this changing landscape may provide are perhaps most exciting for those currently economically disadvantaged and historically underserved by higher education. The advent of a knowledge economy and the need to train hundreds and thousands of new students paired with technological developments may help correct inequalities in access and excellence in education. This study asks the question: What, however, is the lived reality on the ground? Are university …

Quasi-Harmonic And Anharmonic Entropies In Transition Metals, Bimal K C

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Density functional theory (DFT) employing the quasi-harmonic approximation (QHA) is a robust method for evaluating thermal properties of solids. In the case of transition metals however, the method yields high values of the thermal pressure when compared to experimental data or with more direct methods like quantum-molecular dynamics (QMD) simulations. Surprisingly, there has not been to date, a systematic study aimed at understanding the reasons for these large discrepancies, particularly at low temperature, i.e. below the Debye temperature of the solid. Using Tantalum as a test model for which a lot of experimental data exist, thermal properties were evaluated employing …

I'M Never Fine, Joseph S. Lezza

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Title of Thesis: I'm Never Fine

Joseph S. Lezza, Master of Fine Arts, 2019

Thesis Directed by: Nelson Cardenas, Ph. D.

The University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Creative Writing

During the course of my father's fifteen-month battle with pancreatic cancer, and in its oceanic aftermath, I became both intimately and uncomfortably familiar with the phrase "I'm fine." It developed into a practical and efficient tool for bringing about a quick shift in subject whenever my family situation came under question by a well-meaning friend, trepidatious relative and even during an unexpectedly emotional phone call with my …

Using Spanish In English-Language Spaces: Identifying Bilingual Composition Students' Translanguaging Practices, Maria Isela Maier

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Dissertation is a qualitative study that uses ethnographic research methods to examine the translanguaging practices of bilingual students in first-year composition at a university along the U.S.-Mexico border. Specifically, I observe how and why bilingual students employ translanguaging practices, as they are encouraged or invited by their instructors, in contexts where English Standard Language policies exist. The results of this qualitative project demonstrate bilingual students' use of translation as part of their translanguaging practices, as well as a tool that uncovers students' writing processes which also demonstrates their language negotiation. Furthermore, the students' translanguaging practices reveal the rhetorical use …

The Female Nature: Representations Of Motherhood And Nature In Dystopian Films, Veronica Andrea Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study will explore female representation and conceptualization of nature in dystopian narratives by examining dystopian films. The study is guided by film theory and ecofeminism to investigate themes of domination of both nature and women. The main goal is to examine the structure, themes, dialogue, and visuals in the films to explore the underlying essence of dystopian narratives and examine roles of reproduction and motherhood of female characters. The study contributes to previous studies on female and nature representation in media.

Critical Political Correctness In The Era Of Properness, Isaac Tapia Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In an Era of Properness, opinions, beliefs, expressions, attitudes, and actions are suppressed through Repressing Situationalities with the ultimate goal of portraying an acceptable and mainstream proper personal display. Repressing situationalities are stances an individual takes that limits it from attempting or reaching their full potential on diverse objectives as they are disempowering states of mind and body linked to deterministic, fatalistic and conformist ideological frameworks. Inner motives and external pressures play a critical role in how decisions are made, especially those related to behavior. This Dissertation investigates and describes from an advocacy and participatory worldview, how mainstream Repressing Situationalities …

Residential Electricity Consumption In Las Cruces, Felipe Francisco Mejia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study examines how residential electricity consumption (KWHC) reacts to changes in the price of electricity, the price of natural gas, real income per capita, heating degree days, and cooling degree days. Annual frequency data analyzed are for Las Cruces, the second largest metropolitan economy in New Mexico. The sample period is 1977 to 2016. An Autoregressive-Distributed Lag model (ARDL) is employed to obtain long-run and short-run elasticities. In the long-run, residential consumption responds in a statistically reliable manner only to real per capita income. In the short-run, residential consumption responds reliably to all of the variables except heating degree …

Non Linear Optics For Materials Fabrication And Medical Instrumentation, Aurelio Paez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Two-photon absorption is a nonlinear optical process where two photons are absorbed by a molecule simultaneously. The probability of this quantum phenomenon is proportional to the quadratic excitation of light intensity. It has many applications in biomedical and materials research, such as two-photon fluorescence microcopy. The first project is to apply two-photon absorption induced bond cleavage in photoreactive materials for engineering 3D tissue scaffolds. The major challenge for growing thick 3D tissues is the lack of vasculature, where nutrients and oxygen can be delivered to the growing cells. Our collaborators have synthesized a novel polypeptide that is composed of 34-mer …

Combination Of Resampling Based Lasso Feature Selection And Ensembles Of Regularized Regression Models, Abhijeet R. Patil

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In high-dimensional data, the performance of various classiers is largely dependent on the selection of important features. Most of the individual classiers using existing feature selection (FS) methods do not perform well for highly correlated data. Obtaining important

features using the FS method and selecting the best performing classier is a challenging task in high throughput data. In this research, we propose a combination of resampling based least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) feature selection (RLFS)

and ensembles of regularized regression models (ERRM) capable of handling data with the high correlation structures. The ERRM boosts the prediction accuracy with …

Scratching The Surface Of The Isotope Landscape Of An Ore Deposit Molybdenum-Sulfur Isotope Relationships In A Porphyry Copper-Molybdenum Deposit (Santa Rita / Chino Mine, Nm), Joshua Roger Peterson

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

More than 95% of the world's molybdenum (Mo) is mined from porphyry deposits (Sinclair, 2007). Molybdenum is an important component for the metal industry, as a key ingredient in stainless steel alloys and high-speed heat resistant tools. Despite the importance of porphyry deposits for the supply of this industrially important metal, major questions about Mo mineral precipitation remain unresolved and the process of ore body emplacement and formation remains poorly investigated (Cooke et al., 2014a).

Recent observations have revealed a wide range of Mo isotope compositions in porphyry deposits, both globally and locally (Greber et al., 2014a; Shafiei et al., …

How Far Have We Come? A Comparison Of Jamaican Representations In Cool Runnings And Luke Cage, Israel Cariche Ramsay

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Representation of minority groups in popular media has been the cause of many debates in recent years. There has been outcry against the lack of diverse representations, and the kind of representation of minority groups. When powerful media organizations are representing minority groups, imperialism and post colonialism become part of the conversation. To look at the representation of minorities, I examined the representation of Jamaicans in two popular texts. The first is Cool Runnings, a 1993 film, and the second is season two of Luke Cage, a Netflix series released in 2018. In both of these instances, Jamaicans and Jamaican …

The Effects Of Bilingualism, Modality, And Concreteness In Foreign Language Vocabulary Learning, Naoko Tsuboi

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The present study investigated claims in previous research that bilinguals may have an advantage over monolinguals in learning vocabulary in an unfamiliar language, but only if learning through the more proficient language. The present study examined whether bilingual adults learn new language vocabulary more efficiently than monolingual adults and whether language dominance or proficiency impacts associative memory performance. English monolinguals (n = 48), English-Spanish bilinguals (n = 48), and Spanish-English bilinguals (n = 48) learned Japanese words paired with English translations and completed cued-recall and associative-recognition tests. In contrast to previous research, there was no bilingual advantage in learning new …

Towards Analytical Techniques For Systems Engineering Applications, Griselda Valdepeñas Acosta

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

One of the main objectives of systems engineering is to design, maintain, and analyze systems that help the users. To design an appropriate system for an application domain, we need to know: what are the users' desires and preferences (so that we know in what direction we should aim to change this domain), what is the current state and what is the dynamics of this application domain, and how to use all this information to select the best alternatives for the system design and maintenance. Designing a system includes selecting numerical values for many of the parameters describing the corresponding …

In Situ Selective Nitriding Using An Open Source Laser Powder Bed Fusion System, Andres Gerardo Navarro

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Conventional forms of nitriding titanium limit the locations to surfaces, limiting applications to simple coatings. Additive manufacturing methods provide the opportunity for surface coating methods to be utilized in a layer by layer fabrication method and increase the uses of nitrides. Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) in particular, provides a fabrication environment with sufficient energy to allow for material nitriding as well as the flexibility of being able to utilize a variety of materials and shielding gases for processing. This project utilizes an AconityONE open source LPBF system with custom laser parameter settings to fabricate and nitride Ti-6Al-4V substrates. This …

Numerical Investigation Of Molten Metal Infiltration And Pillared Cooling Systems At Microscale, Shaikh Tanveer Tanveer Hossain

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Flow-through porous media at pore-scales is one of the less explored sides of fluid mechanics due to the complexity associated with highly irregular pore geometry. Most of the established methods that try to quantify such flow are based on statistical observations of flow through numerous porous specimens. Such understandings may satisfy the need for applications where micro-level details are not a concern. Some numerical approaches did try to analyze the micro-level flow, but the analysis was confined to small sample sizes due to the intensive computation challenge. There are several applications of porous media flow where analyzing the large-scale flow …

Chance Wanderer And Other Tales Of Hunger, Camille Goodison

Publications and Research

Goodison's collection explores the lives of a range of people who find themselves at a pivotal point in life, often brought there through unpredictable, unseen forces. The characters are seemingly ordinary individuals -- teachers, shoemakers, shop clerks -- who at some point reveal themselves to be loners, dissidents, artists, seekers and sages; essentially, representatives of traditions under test. The many material fetishisms of modern life never satisfy or replace our individual desires, and so these characters attempt to offer new perspectives, new ways to look at the world that’s already around them. While the stories are told realistically, they sometimes …

Determination Of Maximum Scour Depth For Spur Dikes Based On A Validated Two-Dimensional Hec-Ras Model, Mathew Lee Cox

Theses and Dissertations

The introduction of spur dikes into a river flow field can have many far-reaching positive effects on the stability of a river channel. While the flow velocity directly at the spur dike tip or crest may increase, a large embayment area downstream of the spur dike will form with reduced flow velocities. Due to the increase in flow velocity at the spur dike, a scour hole will form. Scour is the leading cause of failure of hydraulic structures. In the past many hydraulic structures were tested by building scale prototype models, this method is very costly and hard to model …

Examining Self-Regulation Of Learning Among Community College Students In Developmental Mathematics Courses, Katrina M. Eberhart

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to self-regulate one’s learning is crucial to the success of all college students, but is particularly important to those who are considered to be underprepared; it puts students on a path towards successful course completion, subsequent course enrollment, and eventual graduation from a postsecondary institution. Those enrolled in remedial coursework are a large portion of students labeled as underprepared. Remedial education is a contentious topic in higher education. Thus, it is critical to investigate the use of classroom strategies to foster a self-regulated environment to support student success in these early classes and move onto the classes needed …

Enhancing Liquid And Gas Separation With Activated Carbon Mixed-Matrix Membranes, Jeremy Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

Mixed matrix membranes are one class of membrane material that are an especially promising separation media. By adding a particle phase to a matrix phase, multiple mechanistic pathways become available that are not present in pristine organic or inorganic membranes. These pathways can be exploited to better enhance separation performance for a variety of applications.

This research has focused on a specific mixed matrix membrane, which contains bio-derived activated carbon particles in a polysulfone matrix. In proper selection of activating agent, this research has shown that the surface functional groups of the activated carbon are highly influenced. This can lead …

Principals' Perspectives Regarding Grades 9-12 Black, Asian, And Latino Males In North Dakota Public Schools, Maggie Harrison Lowery

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to review school policy documents and seek secondary principals’ perspectives regarding Black, Asian, and Latino males grades 9-12 in North Dakota public schools. Qualitative data was collected to investigate practices, policies, and routines that contributes to their graduation rates. Interviews were conducted to four secondary principals within two North Dakota school districts.

For the purpose of this study, participants included secondary principals from selected North Dakota public school districts where Black, Asian, and Latino students have the highest enrollment. School district data include public documents posted on districts’ websites for the term 2017-2018, and …

Examining The Perceptions Of Bullying Between Certified And Non-Certified School Personnel, Shanna Morlock

Theses and Dissertations

Bullying has been a widely researched topic. However, many areas are yet to be researched in regards to school personnels’ perceptions. This dissertation was focused around several of these missing research areas, as well as included non-certified staff. Non-certified staff have been left out of the vast majority of studies involving school personnel and bullying. That, or their perceptions have not been explored as a separate group of school personnel. This is problematic as non-certified staff are often part of supervisory roles in settings where bullying often occurs. This study addressed differences among school personnel perceptions in regards to bullying …