Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Effects Of Coated/Uncoated Copper-Based Nanoparticles And Compounds On Rice (Oryza Sativa) And Soybean (Glycine Max) Plants, Chaoyi Deng

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Engineering nanoparticles (ENPs) have been widely used in industry due to their promising chemical, physical, electrical, magnetic, optical, and electronic properties. Copper-based ENPs are used as gas sensors, catalysts, semiconductors and agricultural products, among others. Because of their antifungal and antibacterial properties, they are used in agriculture as insecticides, herbicides and antifungal agents. Due to their mass production and use, ENPs are likely to be ubiquitous in our in the environment in the near future. In addition, metal nanoparticles are usually coated with organic compounds to enhance the properties of the nanoparticles. Previous studies have shown that copper-based ENPs can …

Goes-16 Level 2 Land Surface Temperature Product-Filling For Cloud Masked Data, Guadalupe Ortega

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The GOES-16 satellite ground segment team develops different levels of environmental products and makes them readily available to the public. The level 2 Land Surface Temperature (LST) product aims to provide a remote measurement of the Earth’s surface temperature every hour. LST is of fundamental importance to many aspects of the geosciences, for example, to study the Urban Heat Islands (UHI) effect. The product however, does not provide values for pixels where the satellite imager’s view is obstructed by clouds, as determined by a cloud mask intermediate product. The objective of this thesis is to estimate LST in the cloud …

Linking Plot And Landscape Level Phenology, Alejandra Flores

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Plant phenology has become popularize since the 1990s to help understand the effects of climate change on vegetation, it is a way to study the patterns of leaf-out, flowering, and senescing of the life-cycle of the plant. The timing from start of season (SOS) to end-of-season (EOS) of plant leaf-out development has important implication on ecosystem productivity and carbon cycling across ecological scales from individual trees to whole regions. The need for plant phenology studies in dryland are highly anticipated, since they make up 40% of the terrestrial landscape and recently have shown the play an important role in the …

Supercritical Co2 Recompression Closed Brayton Cycle Analysis, Andres Eduardo Gutierrez Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

On this research, the results of an analysis made of a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (sCO2) Recuperated Closed Brayton Cycle (RCBC) done by performing theorical calculations and comparing it to the results obtained with the use of the software ASPEN Plus will be presented. To demonstrate and determine that this software is a useful tool for modeling the proposed type of cycle, a preliminary comparison was made to verify with previous studies found in literature. A comparison and analysis between the possible working fluids and thermal energy sources was also performed to emphasize the decision of using CO2 as the cycle …

Environmental Justice Issues And Sea Level Rise In Frontline Communties Along The Gulf Coast, Karla Michel Lopez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Sea level rise poses a great threat to coastal areas and our way of life. As flooding increases in frequency and intensity across the country, vulnerable populations become a target to its impacts. The U.S. dedicates much research to risk communication and climate change adaptation strategies; however, these coastal areas are home to a large percentage of underserved and underrepresented communities that can be challenging to meaningfully engage. The impacts of short-term sea level rise combined with long-term sea level rise will not only cause flooding, erosion, and intrusion of saltwater into freshwater resources but also increased financial consequences, such …

Global Analysis Of The Hydrologic Sensitivity To Climate Variability, Marisol Dominguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Identifying the regions with greatest changes in their hydrologic behavior under extreme weather events in the 21st century, constitutes a study priority of global impact. Here, we present a global assessment assessing the sensitivity of the world’s water landscapes to climate variability during 2001-2016, using a new metric called the Hydrologic Sensitivity Index (HSi). This equation is based on the well-known Budyko curve that uses annual values of Potential and Actual Evapotranspiration (PET and AET), and Precipitation (P), to assess the hydrologic behavior of a location under a given climatic condition by plotting the Evaporative Index (AET/P) against the Dryness …

Land Use And Land Cover Change Impact On Sustainability In The United Arab Emirates: A Big-Data Approach Using Google Earth Engine, Wissam Atwah

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The relevance of land use and land cover change (LULCC) impact on sustainability and well-being is increasing due to the urban growth challenges. LULCC data offers significant insight into the historic development patterns and their relations to various sustainability indicators. Different from the previous LULCC studies that merely focused on investigating LULCC problems in a small area (e.g., a city of an urban area) within a short span of time (e.g., a year), the current study intends to assess the long-term urbanization trend within a 20-year period for a whole country through the tracking of LULCC changes within the period. …

Impact Of Xenobiotics On Neuronal Outcomes, Gabriela Henriquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Neurodegenerative diseases are a common affliction of the Central Nervous System. They are caused by age, genetics, and environmental factors. Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis are well-known among the host of neurodegenerative disorders, with Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease being the leading pathologies across this canvas. It is known that the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases is multifactorial due to the involvement of genetic mutations, radical-induced protein damage, abnormal aggregation of misfolded proteins, and the formation of amyloid deposits. The amyloid proteins in neurodegenerative disease include Tau and Amyloid (Aβ) in Alzheimer's disease and α-Synuclein in …

Relationship Between Sustainability Determinant Variables For Usa, India, China During The Sustainability Awareness Years From An Energy Usage Perspective And Its Relation To Environmental Kuznets Curve: Analysis By Linear Regression, Krishnan Iyer

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Sustainable development promotes economic growth alongside environmental quality preservation and minimizes greenhouse gas emissions .The Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) shows that, as countries transition from low income to higher income levels of economic development it leads to a deterioration of the environment, but after a certain level of economic growth, environmental quality is preserved alongside economic growth to a good extent and makes the developmental model sustainable. In this research we perform Linear Regression to test the effect of sustainability determinant variables on Total greenhouse gas emissions and perform a comparative study of the test results on the world’s leading …

Transboundary Air Quality Governance: A Case Study Of The Paso Del Norte Air Basin 1940-2000, Laura Margarita Uribarri

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

For thousands of years, the Paso del Norte region which today includes Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, El Paso, Texas, and Sunland Park, New Mexico, has been a strategic location by virtue of its geographic positioning at the lowest and easiest passage across the continental divide. During the 19th and 20th centuries as railroad networks connected the region to the far reaches of the U.S. and the interior of Mexico, it became a nexus for natural resource and labor extraction. Mining and smelting industries were later joined by agriculture and manufacturing to benefit from the transportation network and the abundance of labor. …

Microgrid Design And Component Replacement Analysis, Jose Trinidad Reyes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study focuses on developing specific methods that can be friendly applied to obtain efficient usage and maintenance of electricity production in a micro-grid used in a residence or stand-alone building to determine long-term component replacement strategies for aging components. After designing the best option to produce electricity by installing green energies such as photovoltaic panels and their proper devices such as inverters and batteries, this work has developed electric power reliability models to approximate the most efficient component replacement accurately. Due to the nature of the components of this study, repair time is not a substantial part of the …

Articulating The Importance Of Broader Relevance In Cures: From Definition To Actualization, Nikki T. Donegan

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) have emerged as a means to foster student' scientific reasoning, promote positive attitudes and motivations toward research, and increase persistence in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. In contrast to prescriptive laboratories, students enrolled in CUREs employ techniques and skills to collaboratively and iteratively address novel questions of broad relevance to audiences beyond the scope of the course itself. While many of the core components of CUREs are perceived to be relatively straightforward, definitionally-speaking, this latter dimension of broader relevance has, in contrast, remained largely ill-defined. In the series of studies presented herein, …

Associations Between Exposure To Air Pollution After A Dust Event And Hospitalizations., Estrella De Jesus Herrera-Molina

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The Southwestern region has been identified as one of the most persistent dust producing regions of North America. Exposure to inhalable particulate matter (PM10) originating from desertic landscape during dust events/dust exposures (DEs) can reach hazardous levels. El Paso, Texas’s ambient air has reached hazardous levels of PM10 above 4000 μg/m3 with near zero visibility due to these natural events. There are very few prior studies in the southwestern United States pertaining to the associations between exposure to atmospheric aerosol after DEs and hospitalizations, nor are there many epidemiological studies globally in dusty environments where most of the atmospheric aerosol …

Pacific Black Duck Ecology And Habitat Assessment In Aunu'u, American Samoa, And Their Relationship To Other Mallard-Like Ducks Of Oceania, Greater Indonesia, And The Philippines, Marissa Kaminski

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Determining a species’ ecological needs, assessing the quality of their habitat, and determining genetic differentiation and connectivity among populations is essential to their conservation. My dissertation focuses on obtaining such a holistic view for a population of Pacific Black Ducks recently established on the Island of Aunu’u, American Samoa. Specifically, I present the first evaluation of the ecology and habitat of a recently established population of Pacific Black Ducks on the Island of Aunu’u, American Samoa, in Chapter 1, while I assess the genetic connectivity and relationship of this population to other Mallard-like ducks found in Greater Indonesia, Oceania, and …

Small Commercial And Industrial Electricity Consumption In Las Cruces, New Mexico, Andrew Taylor Yurachek

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Research examining small commercial and industrial electricity usage patterns have historically received less attention than residential electricity consumption patterns. This study examines electricity as an input to commercial and industrial production in Las Cruces, New Mexico using annual frequency data from 1978 to 2018. Those data examined include labor, per capita personal income, price measures for electricity and natural gas, and weather variables. The long-run and short-run elasticities of the data are then estimated using an autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL). In the long run, CIS customers in Las Cruces respond to natural gas a complimentary good, and the derived-demand …

Stability Of Blood Lead Levels In Children With Chronic Low-Level Lead Absorption, Michelle Del Rio

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background and Significance: Despite the many historical efforts by the U.S. to reduce lead (Pb) in the environment, childhood Pb poisoning continues to be a public health issue today. Pb has been identified as a child hazard because children are highly vulnerable to the effects even at lower levels of exposure (blood lead levels (BLLs) < 10 μg/dL), and these effects can be physical, cognitive, and behavioral. Current state and federal blood lead level screening guidelines for identifying exposed children are based on assumptions that BLLs < 10 μg/dL will remain stable or decline over time (with age); disregard the effects of lowest-range Pb exposure; and disregard Pb levels in children older than approximately age 6. We have observed in past clinical studies that in one U.S./Mexico border community, children in high-risk neighborhoods experienced substantially higher proportions of elevated blood lead levels (CDC reference level of ≥ 5 μg/dL) than the rest of the U.S., and a large proportion of children had detectable blood lead levels. To test current policy assumptions regarding child blood lead level screening, this study examined whether time and/or other possible factors over time, predicted child blood lead levels in children with chronic low-level Pb absorption. Whether time was a significant predictor was examined, and also whether age, sex, and living in families with incomes below the U.S. poverty line, living in an older home, and living near industries predicted child blood lead levels.

Aims and Objectives: Changes in current policy must be evidence-based. The over-arching goal of this study was to test current assumptions that one blood lead level test is sufficient to rule out child lead exposure, and that lead exposure and risk of lead exposure, reliably …

How Does Land Cover Classification In Google Earth Engine Compare With Traditional Methods Of Land Cover Classification? What Are The Tradeoffs?, Carlos Sebastian Reyes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The project focuses on comparing land cover classification of traditional methods such as ArcGIS with newer ones such as Google Earth Engine (GEE) as well as discussing any potential tradeoffs. Two studies were performed in both platforms, the first involved analyzing land cover change in the Middle Rio Grande (MRG) region of southern New Mexico, far west Texas, and northern Chihuahua, Mexico. The MRG study focused on urban and agricultural change in the region using two different classification methods. The second study focused on creating a post-hurricane damage assessment (PDA) with the goal of developing an automated method of estimating …

A Study Of The Frustrated Honeycomb Battery Material Na2ni2teo6, Nathan Christopher Episcopo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The P2-type layered hexagonal compound Na2Ni2TeO6 with Ni2+ on a honeycomb lattice was synthesized by the standard solid-state route. Structural characterization chemical phase purity was confirmed by Rietveld refinement of laboratory and synchrotron data. The crystal structure refines well in the P63/mcm space group. Single crystal growth trials using the self-flux-melt method were conducted with limited success. The magnetic transition temperature pertaining to Ni2+ lattice was confirmed by analysis of specific heat capacity to be . The magnetic susceptibility remains largely unchanged in magnetic field of and external pressure of . There is an almost linear response in isothermal magnetization …