Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

A Decision Making Approach For Selection Of Sustainable Pavements In Texas By Integrating Life Cycle Cost Analysis (Lcca), Life Cycle Assessment (Lca) Of Environmental And Social Impacts, Sundeep Inti

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A sustainable pavement can be defined as the one that minimally impacts future economic opportunities, social conditions, human health, and the environment and still fulfills the engineering objectives. Although a pavement as outlined above is not yet entirely feasible, continual effort from every stakeholder with a vision of achieving sustainable development is essential for the future of society. In this study, one such effort was initiated by proposing a framework for selection of pavement design based on sustainable development.

The concept of sustainability is widely believed to be founded on three criteria: economic, environmental, and social standards. Since the purpose …

Geology And Mineralization Controls Surrounding The Palmarejo Mining District - A Compilation Of Remote And Hands On Exploration Techniques, Castulo Molina Sotelo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Exploration is the base of the mining industry, and it is often taken as synonymous with "finding a mine". In reality it is a more complex process; where the selection, evaluation, screening and testing of successively smaller areas lead to the discovery of an economic deposit. Once the deposit is found, the economic factors become more important than the geological ones, and then the exploration becomes a tool to give sustainability to the mining operation through time.

The silver and gold deposits of the world-class Palmarejo District are typical, intermediate sulfidation- style epithermal, precious metal occurrences, hosted in Cretaceous- to …

A Geophysical Investigation At The Potrillo Maar, Manuel Moncada Gutierrez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Potrillo Volcanic Field (PVF) is a unique geological site located in Doña Ana County the southernmost part of New Mexico, and part of northern part of Chihuahua, Mexico. The main feature of the southern PVF is Potrillo Maar. This maar-volcano straddles the international boundary between United States and Mexico and lies within the southern part of the Rio Grande Rift. The Potrillo Maar was formed about 20,000 years ago in three major events that formed basalt lava flows and ejecta deposits that consist of crustal and mantle xenoliths.

The purpose of this Thesis is to determine the area of …

Reconstructing Dinosaur Foot Tracks And Identifying New Footprints Using Structure From Motion Photogrammetry, Valeria V. Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The use of 3-D Structure from Motion models to study fossils is a relatively new technique that has an advantage over traditional field methods, such as plaster casts or collecting samples, because it is non-destructive and can be easily shared with a wide audience. It is also ideal for use with persons with disabilities because it does not require field access and it can be manipulated for optimum computer viewing or printed with a 3-D printer for tactile examination as needed. Our study focused on a known site in Cristo Rey, New Mexico where Cretaceous Iguanadon and Ankylosaur footprints have …

Box-Fusion: A Way To Enhance The Pairwise Testing Approach, Omar Ochoa

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Critical software systems that have failed due to the software errors are well documented. As our dependency on computer-based systems increases and such systems become more complex, software verification becomes even more important. Enhancing and improving the verification and defect correction techniques used in software engineering for the development of software systems is of utmost importance to keep pace with our increasing reliance on software.

Pairwise testing has emerged as an effective technique for software system-level testing that have large combinations of inputs, although a drawback is the lack of support for defect location. This research aims to increase the …

Insights Into Volcanic Processes Using Seismic Data Techniques, Ezer Patlan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

We present in this study numbers of technique to understand the volcanic processes using seismology. The types of techniques we used are earthquake location (double difference travel-time, cross-correlation tremor technique, and time reversal), stresses (b-values, focal mechanism), and tomography imagery (ambient noise tomography). The areas of study we focus on are in two different tectonic settings. The East Africa Rift System at Kenya, studying four volcanoes: Menengai Caldera, Silali, Paka, and Korosi volcanoes. The other area of study is located in a subduction zone in Central America, Salvador at San Miguel volcano.

In this study we aim to calculate accurate …

Environmental Dynamics: A Compendium Of Rhetorical Application, Annalisa Perez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Technology, albeit exceedingly useful, has exponentially exacerbated the communications dilemma between the technical and the non-technical. Additionally, based on a current new understanding of the term environmental, it can no longer be fully defined by terms such as air, water, waste, or purification. Rather, the meaning of environmental has been globally transformed in several ways. The term environmental is encompassing an expansion of understanding and is further defined with words such as essence, perception, rapport and multi-dimensional spaces. This work, Environmental Dynamics: A Compendium of Rhetorical Application (EDC), provides a framework where communication can be enhanced in areas where communication …

An A Posteriori Error Estimator For The C0 Interior Penalty Approximations Of Fourth Order Elliptic Boundary Value Problem On Quadrilateral Meshes, Mohammad Arifur Rahman

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Numerical solutions of fourth order elliptic problems with finite element methods has been the topic of research in computational mechanics for over 50 years. Traditional approaches to solve these problems include using C1 conforming finite element methods which demand the C1 continuity of the underlying shape functions, which is computationally very expensive. In this work, we will present the C0 Interior Penalty Galerkin approximation of the fourth order elliptic problems which relies only on continuous i.e., C0 shape functions, which is much cheaper to implement. The spatial discretization is based on quadrilateral meshes and the underlying C0 shape functions are …

Fabrication And Testing Of Cfrp Composites With Embedded Piezoelectric Particles For Temperature Sensing And Energy Harvesting, Emilio Tarango Valles

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

As a part of this world's continuous evolution and technological advancements, smart materials and functional composites have become an attractive topic. In many cases, these new functional composites are replacing the traditional engineering material due to their customizable mechanical properties. This Thesis analyzes and demonstrates the signal response, sensing capabilities and structural properties from Carbon/Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic Composites (CFRP) with embedded Lead Zirconate Titanate Particles (PZT). The added PZT particles function as actuators, giving the composites a functionality. The PZT quantity inside each composite was variated to study better and characterize the mechanical and electrical properties; the variations were …

Geophysical Constraints On The Hueco And Mesilla Bolsons: Structure And Geometry, Victor Manuel Avila

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Hueco and Mesilla Bolsons are part of the intramountain basins of the Rio Grande Rift system. These bolsons are the primary source of groundwater for the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez metropolitan area and contain faults that show evidence of repeated earthquakes during the Quaternary. The region is also associated with has low-level (M<4) seismicity. The collection and analysis of precision gravity data, coupled with information from water wells, multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) studies and previously published seismic reflection lines, have been used to examine the structure and faulting within these bolson. This study reveals that the Hueco and Mesilla Bolsons are very different structurally. The southern Mesilla Bolson contains about 500 m of sediment. Faults are difficult to trace and have less than 50-100 m of displacement across them. The southernmost bolson contains numerous Tertiary intrusions and the thickness of Cretaceous bedrock appears to decrease from south to north, possibly delineating the edge of Laramide age deformation within the bolson. The northern Hueco Bolson contains 1800 to 2500 m of basin fill. Displacement along the East Franklin Mountains fault (EFMF), a fault with evidence for repeated earthquakes within the past 64,000 years, is about 1500 m, and displacement on intrabasin faults is 200-300 m. Several intrabasin faults appear to control the saline to freshwater contact within the bolson. The EFMF may extend over 30 km south of the end of its mapped trace at the end of the Franklin Mountains and a number of intrabasin faults also extend south into the urbanized regions of the study area. The EFMF and other basin structures appear to be offset or disrupted at the speculated edge of Laramide deformation that lies beneath the bolson. Horizontal Gradient Methods (HGM) were applied to the gravity data and were successful for tracing faults and older Laramide features within the Hueco Bolson beneath the urbanized regions of the cities. HGM were not as successful at tracing faults within the Mesilla Bolson, however they were helpful for tracing the subsurface extent of igneous intrusions including the Mt. Cristo Rey, River, Three Sisters, and the Westerner outcrops. Some of these features appear linked at depth by a series of dikes and faults. MASW data were used to determine the average shear wave velocity in the upper 30m (Vs 30) at ~70 sites within the Hueco Bolson. These observations were combined with similar data collected previously in Juarez to produce regional velocity and site classification maps. The results show low velocities are found close to the river within fluvial deposits with higher velocities close to the Franklin Mountains where bedrock is close to the surface and higher velocities in upland regions of northeast El Paso were soils appear to be more highly cemented. These data will be used in conjunction with information on bolson geometries to model the expected effects of strong ground motion from earthquakes in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez region.

Reliable And Secure Scada Framework For Residential Microgrid Communications, Goutham Krishna Chalamasetty

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Cyber security is one of the major needs for electric power industry like many other industries and organizations. The advancements in technology provide numerous benefits to power industry as well as benefits cyber attackers to perform different cyber-attacks on the industry. Power system is a complex physical entity that deals with power generation, distribution, and transmission. In general, no individual or company or an organization can bear a one hour power cut, which shows the need for reliability in electric power industry.

In order to develop a reliable and secure Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) communication network, this Thesis …

Sedimentologic And Stratigraphic Analysis Of Synrift Siliciclastic Fluvial And Lacustrine Strata In The Lower Cretaceous Upper Yucca Formation, Indio Mountains, West Texas, Matthew Robert Fox

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Outcrops of the upper Yucca Formation in the Indio Mountains near Van Horn, Texas provide temporal, tectonic, and climatic similarities to Lower Cretaceous, synrift, greenhouse pre-salt lacustrine strata along in the subsurface of the South Atlantic margin. These "pre-salt" strata hold prolific petroleum reservoirs but despite extensive seismic studies performed for regional scale hydrocarbon exploration in these lacustrine reservoirs, sedimentologic and stratigraphic analyses have rarely been published. The Upper Yucca Formation in the Indio Mountains contain lacustrine reservoir analogs that intertongue with fluvial and deltaic sandstones. Near Squaw Canyon, fluvial-deltaic sandstones are reduced in abundance to lacustrine carbonates by nearly …

Creating Multi-Functional G-Code For Multi-Process Additive Manufacturing, Efrain Aguilera Jr

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Additive manufacturing (AM) started over thirty years ago and with it a manufacturing revolution that moves industrial production into the personal home. With recent interest shifting into multi-functional parts fabricated through AM technologies, unified systems are being developed. Merging different manufacturing technologies into one single machine is a challenge but undergoing research has shown promise in the development of multi-functional systems. Concurrent work is being done in the software, automation, and hardware aspect of multi-functional systems. An effort to use industry compatible Computer Aided Design (CAD) software to design multi-functional parts including circuits, micro-machining, and foil embedding then exporting and …

Seismic Modeling, Rock Physics, Avo And Seismic Attribute Analysis For Illuminating Sandstone Facies Of The Late Ordovic Ian Mamuniyat Reservoir, R-Field, Murzuq Basin-Libya, Yousf Milad Abushalah

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Late Ordovician Mamuniyat Formation is the main hydrocarbon reservoir in the R-Field in Murzuq Basin, SW Libya. The Lower Mamuniyat, which is the only unit that was encountered in the study area, is composed of sandstone facies called Clean Mamuniyat and shaly sandstone facies called Dirty Mamuniyat. One major problem with the development of the R-Field is the difficulty of distinguishing the two units so this project was aimed to develop better methods for distinguishing between the two units of the Lower Mamuniyat. The other problem is to distinguish the transgressive shaly facies of the Bir Tlacsin, which has …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Uranyl Dipyrrin Complexes For Environmental Applications, Duer Bolotaulo Bolotaulo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic chemicals that adversely affect the health of human populations as well as the environment. The need to develop remediation methods and materials as well as understand the mechanisms in which they can degrade POPs is necessary. Furthermore, heterogeneous phase metal based catalysts in place today do not fully understand the chemistry underlying degradation processes. The proposed research seeks to synthesize and characterize uranyl dipyrrin complexes to assess and understand the reactivity of uranyl dipyrrins with pollutants. Photophysical and electrochemical techniques will be used to characterize and determine the viability of utilizing the uranyl complexes …

New Organosilicon Chemistry, Paulina Elena Gonzalez Navarro

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The formation of siloxymethylamine intermediates R3SiOCH 2NMe2, 1, as initial products of the reduction of DMF by hydrosilanes catalyzed by Mo(CO)5NMe3 has been reported. These siloxymethylamines can react with R’3SiH to form trimethylamine and disiloxanes, and with chlorosilanes to form disiloxanes and ClCH 2NMe2, Eschenmoser’s salt. I shall illustrate, in Chapter 1, how attempts to react 1, formed in situ in the presence of chlorosilanes R’3SiCl in the hope producing heterosilyl disiloxanes, R3SiOSiR’3, was not successful but led to a newly discovered activation of the Si-Cl bond by DMF.

In Chapter 2, we surmised that 1 acts as a transient …

Sparse Matrix Diagonalization In The Nrlmol Electronic Structure Code, Md Mahmudulla Hassan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Density functional theory (DFT) based simulations are playing a major role in quantum mechanical studies of materials ranging from molecules, nanoparticles to the biological systems as they offer insights that are not directly accessible from experiments and also due to their ability to make sufficiently accurate predictions. The DFT implementation in the NRLMOL electronic structure code employs Gaussian basis sets to express the Kohn-Sham orbitals. A major computationally demanding task in the electronic structure calculations is solution of the generalized eigenvalue problem, that is the determination of nontrivial solutions (λ, c) of Hc = λOc where H and O are …

On An Iteration Method For Solving A Class Of Nonlinear Matrix Equations, Mohamed Illafe

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, I looked at the most recent extension of the Banach Contraction Principle [1]. Then I show that a concept of Sorgenfrey space may be used to explain this extension as well as Ran and Reurings fixed point theorem.

Density Functional Study Of Reactivity And Regioselectivity Of H2o@C60, Govinda Bahadur Kc

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The exohedral reactivity of endohedral fullerene has aroused significant interest because of its potential applications in biology, medicine and material science. The encapsulation of a single water molecule without any hydrogen bonding to other compounds, inside the hydrophobic environment of C60 is an intriguing topic to study about. In 2011, Kurotobi and Murata successfully synthesized H2O@C60 fullerene. The presence of a polar water molecule inside the cage is expected to cause changes in the exohedral reactivity of C60. In order to find out the impact of an entrapped single water molecule on the reactivity of C60 fullerene, we use density …

Removal Of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds From Water And Wastewater Using Ecofriendly Materials, Alma Lili Loya Posada

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are compounds considered pollutants of emerging concern. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) defines emerging pollutants as new chemicals without regulatory status and with an impact on the environment and human health that is poorly understood. Bisphenol A (BPA) has been considered an EDC and found to be ubiquitous in the environment because of its presence in a multitude of products including food and beverage packaging, flame retardants, adhesives, building materials, electronic components, and paper coatings Currently, BPA is not regulated by the federal government in the US and waste water treatment plants are not …

Spatiotemporal Variability Of Plant Phenology In Drylands: A Case Study From The Northern Chihuahuan Desert, Naomi Robin Luna

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

With global change, which includes climate change, there is a sense of urgency to understand how shifts in climate will affect ecosystems. Although several studies have improved understanding of how and why some ecosystems respond, most studies have not explored simultaneous responses of different land cover types throughout a given region. Dryland ecosystems, such as the Chihuahuan Desert, appear to respond to climate variability and currently make up about 40% of global land surface area. It is expected that drylands will expand to cover 60% of land surface area on earth by mid-century making this ecosystem more critical to global …

Equation Of State Of A Dense And Magnetized Neutron System, Md Masud

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Neutron stars (NSs) are the windows to check the validation of physical laws at extreme conditions, for example, at very high densities and strong magnetic fields and thus to reach the equations of state (EoS) for a better understanding of the structure as well as the composition of the NSs. In our investigations, it is found that the system's (NSs) pressure becomes anisotropic due to the breaking of rotational symmetry in the presence of strong magnetic fields, which even can be significantly sufficient to lead into the deformation of NSs or to destroy itself.

Application Of Secondary Analyses On Industrial Data Sets, Luis G. Perez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Secondary analysis on quantitative data sets is the in-depth analysis of relationships, trends, patterns or behaviors that are not obvious from a superficial examination of data but that can be very germane in the application of that data. The present work presents a framework for investigators to use in applying secondary analysis on big data that correlates to the research topic. The framework can facilitate the illumination of possible data behaviors or patterns that could be useful in arriving at an answer to a question. Behavior of monitored equipment (analyzers, meters, etc.) can easily be depicted and can be used …

Identifying Non-Classical Active Sites As A Tool For Enzyme Inhibition, Marisol Serrano

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, is an endemic life-threatening disease that affects mainly the heart. It remains the leading cause of heart failure in Latin American countries. Since current treatments against this parasite are highly toxic and somewhat ineffective, novel and more efficacious types of interventions are desired. Cruzain, identified as the major cathepsin for T. cruzi, plays a major role in the parasite's life cycle; making this enzyme very attractive for potential trypanocidal drugs discovery. The recombinant cruzain is synthesized as a zymogenic pro-protein (PCZN) which possesses a pro domain and a catalytic domain. In this …

Using Word Embeddings For Text Classification In Positive And Unlabeled Learning, Emmanuel Carlo Tafoya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Machine Learning is a sub-field of Artificial intelligence that aims to automatically improve algorithms by experience. It has been used successfully to solve various problems, such as playing checkers, or even as simple as word prediction when typing a sentence. These algorithms perform best with large amounts of training data. The more labeled data, the better a machine learning algorithm will be able to recognize patterns. However, the ideal scenario, where there is a large amount of labeled data available to train the algorithm, does not occur all the time. There are cases where labeling data is both time-consuming and …

Complex Gleason Measures And The Nemytsky Operator, Miguel Angel Valles

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis is devoted to generalize previous results on Gleason measures

to complex Gleason measures, and to develop a functional calculus

for complex measures in relation to the Nemytsky operator. Furthermore

we present the interpretation of our results in the field of quantum

mechanics, some concrete examples and further extensions of several

theorems.

A New Test For The Mean Vector In High Dimensional Setting, Behzad Aalipur Hafshejani

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Traditional statistical data analysis mostly includes methods and techniques to deal with problems in which there are many observations but a few variables. Nonetheless, the current inclination is toward more observations but also, toward more variables. Today's observations gathered on individuals are images, curves, or even movies. Unfortunately many traditional methods do not work well in high dimensional settings. As an example Hotelling's test which is well known and widely used in the literature does not work when it comes to high dimensional problems. Consequently statisticians are making an effort to find remedies or new approaches to multivariate mean testing. …

Studying Grazing Behavior Of Cafeteria Roenbergensis With Two-Photon Microscopy, Faisal Abedin Abedin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Major innovations in recent years have largely revolutionized the fluorescence imaging. Two-photon fluorescence microscopy is one of them. Two photon fluorescence microscopy has evolved as an alternative to conventional single-photon confocal microscopy and has been shown to provide several advantages. These include three-dimensionally resolved fluorescence imaging of living cells deep within thick, strongly scattering samples, and reduced phototoxicity, enabling long term imaging of photosensitive biological specimens. The inherent three-dimensional resolution of TPE microscopy has been exploited in a number of studies wherein spatial discrimination of fluorescence signals at the micrometer and submicrometer scale within thick biological specimens proved critical. In …

Study Of No2 Photolysis Rate Coefficients For The Paso Del Norte Region, Pema Wangchuk

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The photolysis of nitrogen dioxide is one of the most influential chemical processes in the formation of photochemical air pollution. In this study, we compared simulated and measured nitrogen dioxide photolysis rate coefficients (J_(NO_2 )) for the Paso Del Norte (PdN) region. The Tropospheric Ultraviolet-Visible (TUV) radiation transfer model was used to calculate J_(NO_2 ) values. The measurements of hemi-spherically integrated, spectrally resolved solar photon flux between the wavelengths 400 and 700 nm were used to obtain the photolysis rate coefficients for ã??NOã??_2. Results are presented for a selected episode on July, 2015. The work investigated the use of measured …

Effects Of Citric Acid Coated And Uncoated Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum) Plants, Ana Cecilia Barrios

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This research was performed to examine the physiological and biochemical effects of bare (nCeO2) and citric acid coated (nCeO2+CA) cerium oxide nanoparticles in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Plants were germinated and grown to full maturity in soil amended with 0-500 mg/kg and periodically analyzed using ICP-OES/MS and other spectroscopic and biochemical techniques. Although Ce in tissues increased as the external nCeO2 increased, there were no visible signs of toxicity. In mature plants, nCeO2 induced developmental changes and altered nutritional quality (essential elements) in fruits. On the other hand, nCeO2+CA affected fruit carbohydrate composition (sugars and starch). This study gives insights on …