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403 Matching Results
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403
Regional Breakability in Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) Eggshells
Thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing the soundness of emu eggshells.
Date:
2002
Creator:
Khorrami, Sheva
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Women under Monasticism in Renaissance Italy
Honors thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing the marginalization experienced by women in the Catholic Church in Renaissance Italy.
Date:
Autumn 2002
Creator:
Lloyd, Leslie
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Autonomic Control of Heat Rate Variability in Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae) Hatchlings
Thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing the role of the autonomic nervous system in the heart rate variability of day-old emu hatchlings. Atropine and propranolol were administered to block the action of cholinegric and adrenegric pathways and thereby reduce heart rate.
Date:
Autumn 2002
Creator:
Motiwala, Rajesh
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Remote Field Eddy Current Probes for the Detection of Stress Corrosion in Transmission Pipelines
Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) is a technique used widely in non-destructive testing (NDT) of natural gas and petroleum transmission pipelines. This inspection method relies on magnetizing the pipe-wall in axial direction. The MFL inspection tool is equipped with an array of Hall sensors located around the circumference of the pipe, which registers the flux leakage caused by any defects present in the pipe-wall. Currently, the tool magnetizes the pipewall in axial direction making it largely insensitive to axially oriented defects. One type of defect, which is of a growing concern in the gas and petroleum industry is the stress corrosion crack (SCC). The SCCs are a result of aging, corrosion, fatigue and thermal stresses. SCCs are predominantly axially oriented and are extremely tight, which makes them impossible to be detected using current inspection technology. A possible solution to this problem is to utilize the remote field eddy current (RFEC) effect to detect axially oriented defects. The RFEC method has been widely used in industry in the inspection of tubular products. The method uses a pair of excitation and pick-up coils. The pick-up coil located in the remote field region, usually two, three pipe-diameters away from the excitation coil. With RFEC …
Date:
August 27, 2002
Creator:
Ivanov, Plamen Alexandroz
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Hydrogen Storage Properties of Lithium Aluminohydride Modified by Dopants and Mechanochemistry
Alkali metal aluminohydrides have high potential as solid hydrogen storage materials. They have been known for their irreversible dehydrogenation process below 100 atm until Bogdanovic et al succeeded in the re-hydrogenation of NaAlH{sub 4} below 70 atm. They achieved 4 wt.% H{sub 2} reversible capacity by doping NaAlH{sub 4} with Ti and/or Fe organo-metallic compounds as catalysts. This suggests that other alkali and, possibly alkaline earth metal aluminohydrides can be used for reversible hydrogen storage when modified by proper dopants. In this research, Zr{sub 27}Ti{sub 9}Ni{sub 38}V{sub 5}Mn{sub 16}Cr{sub 5}, LaNi{sub 4.85}Sn{sub 0.15}, Al{sub 3}Ti, and PdCl{sub 2} were combined with LiAlH{sub 4} by ball-milling to study whether or not LiAlH{sub 4} is capable to both absorb and desorb hydrogen near ambient conditions. X-ray powder diffraction, differential thermal analysis, and scanning electron microscopy were employed for sample characterizations. All four compounds worked as catalysts in the dehydrogenation reactions of both LiAlH{sub 4} and Li{sub 3}AlH{sub 6} by inducing the decomposition at lower temperature. However, none of them was applicable as catalyst in the reverse hydrogenation reaction at low to moderate hydrogen pressure.
Date:
June 27, 2002
Creator:
Hosokawa, Ketia
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Optical Properties and Wave Propagation in Semiconductor-Based Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystals
This work is a theoretical investigation on the physical properties of semiconductor-based two-dimensional photonic crystals, in particular for what concerns systems embedded in planar dielectric waveguides (GaAs/AlGaAs, GaInAsP/InP heterostructures, and self-standing membranes) or based on macro-porous silicon. The photonic-band structure of photonic crystals and photonic-crystal slabs is numerically computed and the associated light-line problem is discussed, which points to the issue of intrinsic out-of-lane diffraction losses for the photonic bands lying above the light line. The photonic states are then classified by the group theory formalism: each mode is related to an irreducible representation of the corresponding small point group. The optical properties are investigated by means of the scattering matrix method, which numerically implements a variable-angle-reflectance experiment; comparison with experiments is also provided. The analysis of surface reflectance proves the existence of selection rules for coupling an external wave to a certain photonic mode. Such rules can be directly derived from symmetry considerations. Lastly, the control of wave propagation in weak-index contrast photonic-crystal slabs is tackled in view of designing building blocks for photonic integrated circuits. The proposed designs are found to comply with the major requirements of low-loss propagation, high and single-mode transmission. These notions are then collected …
Date:
December 31, 2002
Creator:
Agio, Mario
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Microstructural evolution of eutectic Au-Sn solder joints
Current trends toward miniaturization and the use of lead(Pb)-free solder in electronic packaging present new problems in the reliability of solder joints. This study was performed in order to understand the microstructure and microstructural evolution of small volumes of nominally eutectic Au-Sn solder joints (80Au-20Sn by weight), which gives insight into properties and reliability.
Date:
May 31, 2002
Creator:
Song, Ho Geon
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Pathway and Surface Mechanism Studies of 1,3-butadiene Selective Oxidation Over Vanadium-Molybdenum-Oxygen Catalysts
The partial oxidation of 1,3-butadiene has been investigated over VMoO catalysts synthesized by sol-gel techniques. Surface areas were 9-14 m{sup 2}/g, and compositions were within the solid solution regime, i.e. below 15.0 mol % MoO{sub 3}/(MoO{sub 3} + V{sub 2}O{sub 5}). Laser Raman Spectroscopy and XRD data indicated that solid solutions were formed, and pre- and post-reaction XPS data indicated that catalyst surfaces contained some V{sup +4} and were further reduced in 1,3-butadiene oxidation. A reaction pathway for 1,3-butadiene partial oxidation to maleic anhydride was shown to involve intermediates such as 3,4-epoxy-1-butene, crotonaldehyde, furan, and 2-butene-1,4-dial. The addition of water to the reaction stream substantially increased catalyst activity and improved selectivity to crotonaldehyde and furan at specific reaction temperatures. At higher water addition concentrations, furan selectivity increased from 12% to over 25%. The catalytic effects of water addition were related to competitive adsorption with various V{sub 2}O{sub 5}-based surface sites, including the vanadyl V=O, corner sharing V-O-V and edge sharing V-O oxygen. Higher levels of water addition were proposed to impose acidic character by dissociative adsorption. In addition, a novel combinatorial synthesis technique for VMoO was used to investigate the phase transitions of V{sub 2}O{sub 5}, solid solutions of Mo …
Date:
May 27, 2002
Creator:
Schroeder, William David
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Electrocatalytic Materials and Techniques for the Anodic Oxidation of Various Organic Compounds
The focus of this thesis was first to characterize and improve the applicability of Fe(III) and Bi(V) doped PbO{sub 2} film electrodes for use in anodic O-transfer reactions of toxic and waste organic compounds, e.g. phenol, aniline, benzene, and naphthalene. Further, they investigated the use of alternative solution/electrode interfacial excitation techniques to enhance the performance of these electrodes for remediation and electrosynthetic applications. Finally, they have attempted to identify a less toxic metal oxide film that may hold promise for future studies in the electrocatalysis and photoelectrocatalysis of O-transfer reactions using metal oxide film electrodes.
Date:
June 27, 2002
Creator:
Treimer, Stephen Everett
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Band anticrossing effects in highly mismatched semiconductor alloys
The first five chapters of this thesis focus on studies of band anticrossing (BAC) effects in highly electronegativity- mismatched semiconductor alloys. The concept of bandgap bowing has been used to describe the deviation of the alloy bandgap from a linear interpolation. Bowing parameters as large as 2.5 eV (for ZnSTe) and close to zero (for AlGaAs and ZnSSe) have been observed experimentally. Recent advances in thin film deposition techniques have allowed the growth of semiconductor alloys composed of significantly different constituents with ever- improving crystalline quality (e.g., GaAs{sub 1-x}N{sub x} and GaP{sub 1-x}N{sub x} with x {approx}< 0.05). These alloys exhibit many novel and interesting properties including, in particular, a giant bandgap bowing (bowing parameters > 14 eV). A band anticrossing model has been developed to explain these properties. The model shows that the predominant bowing mechanism in these systems is driven by the anticrossing interaction between the localized level associated with the minority component and the band states of the host. In this thesis I discuss my studies of the BAC effects in these highly mismatched semiconductors. It will be shown that the results of the physically intuitive BAC model can be derived from the Hamiltonian of the many-impurity …
Date:
September 9, 2002
Creator:
Wu, Junqiao
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Heterotic orbifolds
A review of orbifold geometry is given, followed by a review of the construction of four-dimensional heterotic string models by compactification on a six-dimensional Z{sub 3} orbifold. Particular attention is given to the details of the transition from a classical theory to a first-quantized theory. Subsequently, a discussion is given of the systematic enumeration of all standard-like three generation models subject to certain limiting conditions. it is found that the complete set is described by 192 models, with only five possibilities for the hidden sector gauge group. It is argued that only four of the hidden sector gauge groups are viable for dynamical supersymmetry breaking, leaving only 175 promising models in the class. General features of the spectra of matter states in all 175 models are discussed. Twenty patterns of representations are found to occur. Accommodation of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) spectrum is addressed. States beyond those contains in the MSSM and nonstandard hypercharge normalization are shown to be generic, though some models do allow for the usual hypercharge normalization found in SU(5) embeddings of the Standard Model gauge group. Only one of the twenty patterns of representations, comprising seven of the 175 models, is found to be …
Date:
April 1, 2002
Creator:
Giedt, Joel
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Air Pollutant Penetration Through Airflow Leaks Into Buildings
The penetration of ambient air pollutants into the indoor environment is of concern owing to several factors: (1) epidemiological studies have shown a strong association between ambient fine particulate pollution and elevated risk of human mortality; (2) people spend most of their time in indoor environments; and (3) most information about air pollutant concentration is only available from ambient routine monitoring networks. A good understanding of ambient air pollutant transport from source to receptor requires knowledge about pollutant penetration across building envelopes. Therefore, it is essential to gain insight into particle penetration in infiltrating air and the factors that affect it in order to assess human exposure more accurately, and to further prevent adverse human health effects from ambient particulate pollution. In this dissertation, the understanding of air pollutant infiltration across leaks in the building envelope was advanced by performing modeling predictions as well as experimental investigations. The modeling analyses quantified the extent of airborne particle and reactive gas (e.g., ozone) penetration through building cracks and wall cavities using engineering analysis that incorporates existing information on building leakage characteristics, knowledge of pollutant transport processes, as well as pollutant-surface interactions. Particle penetration is primarily governed by particle diameter and by the …
Date:
September 1, 2002
Creator:
Liu, De-Ling
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Development of Novel Electrode Materials for the Electrocatalysis of Oxygen-Transfer and Hydrogen-Transfer Reactions
Throughout this thesis, the fundamental aspects involved in the electrocatalysis of anodic O-transfer reactions and cathodic H-transfer reactions have been studied. The investigation into anodic O-transfer reactions at undoped and Fe(III)[doped MnO{sub 2} films] revealed that MnO{sub 2} film electrodes prepared by a cycling voltammetry deposition show improved response for DMSO oxidation at the film electrodes vs. the Au substrate. Doping of the MnO{sub 2} films with Fe(III) further enhanced electrode activity. Reasons for this increase are believed to involve the adsorption of DMSO by the Fe(III) sites. The investigation into anodic O-transfer reactions at undoped and Fe(III)-doped RuO{sub 2} films showed that the Fe(III)-doped RuO{sub 2}-film electrodes are applicable for anodic detection of sulfur compounds. The Fe(III) sites in the Fe-RuO{sub 2} films are speculated to act as adsorption sites for the sulfur species while the Ru(IV) sites function for anodic discharge of H{sub 2}O to generate the adsorbed OH species. The investigation into cathodic H-transfer reactions, specifically nitrate reduction, at various pure metals and their alloys demonstrated that the incorporation of metals into alloy materials can create a material that exhibits bifunctional properties for the various steps involved in the overall nitrate reduction reaction. The Sb{sub 10}Sn{sub 20}Ti{sub …
Date:
August 27, 2002
Creator:
Simpson, Brett Kimball
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Experimental Cross Sections for Reactions of Heavy Ions and 208Pb, 209Bi, 238U, and 248Cm Targets
The study of the reactions between heavy ions and {sup 208}Pb, {sup 209}Bi, {sup 238}U, and {sup 248} Cm targets was performed to look at the differences between the cross sections of hot and cold fusion reactions. Experimental cross sections were compared with predictions from statistical computer codes to evaluate the effectiveness of the computer code in predicting production cross sections. Hot fusion reactions were studied with the MG system, catcher foil techniques and the Berkeley Gas-filled Separator (BGS). 3n- and 4n-exit channel production cross sections were obtained for the {sup 238}U({sup 18}O,xn){sup 256-x}Fm, {sup 238}U({sup 22}Ne,xn){sup 260-x}No, and {sup 248}Cm({sup 15}N,xn){sup 263-x}Lr reactions and are similar to previous experimental results. The experimental cross sections were accurately modeled by the predictions of the HIVAP code using the Reisdorf and Schaedel parameters and are consistent with the existing systematics of 4n exit channel reaction products. Cold fusion reactions were examined using the BGS. The {sup 208}Pb({sup 48}Ca,xn){sup 256-x}No, {sup 208}Pb({sup 50}Ti,xn){sup 258-x}Rf, {sup 208}Pb({sup 51}V,xn){sup 259-x}Db, {sup 209}Bi({sup 50}Ti,xn){sup 259-x}Db, and {sup 209}Bi({sup 51}V,xn){sup 260-x}Sg reactions were studied. The experimental production cross sections are in agreement with the results observed in previous experiments. It was necessary to slightly alter the Reisdorf …
Date:
May 24, 2002
Creator:
Patin, Joshua B.
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Synthesis and Gas Phase Thermochemistry of Germanium-Containing Compounds
The driving force behind much of the work in this dissertation was to gain further understanding of the unique olefin to carbene isomerization observed in the thermolysis of 1,1-dimethyl-2-methylenesilacyclobutane by finding new examples of it in other silicon and germanium compounds. This lead to the examination of a novel phenylmethylenesilacyclobut-2-ene, which did not undergo olefin to carbene rearrangement. A synthetic route to methylenegermacyclobutanes was developed, but the methylenegermacyclobutane system exhibited kinetic instability, making the study of the system difficult. In any case the germanium system decomposed through a complex mechanism which may not include olefin to carbene isomerization. However, this work lead to the study of the gas phase thermochemistry of a series of dialkylgermylene precursors in order to better understand the mechanism of the thermal decomposition of dialkylgermylenes. The resulting dialkylgermylenes were found to undergo a reversible intramolecular {beta} C-H insertion mechanism.
Date:
December 31, 2002
Creator:
Classen, Nathan Robert
System:
The UNT Digital Library
High Throughput Sample Preparation and Analysis for DNA Sequencing, PCR and Combinatorial Screening of Catalysis Based on Capillary Array Technique
Sample preparation has been one of the major bottlenecks for many high throughput analyses. The purpose of this research was to develop new sample preparation and integration approach for DNA sequencing, PCR based DNA analysis and combinatorial screening of homogeneous catalysis based on multiplexed capillary electrophoresis with laser induced fluorescence or imaging UV absorption detection. The author first introduced a method to integrate the front-end tasks to DNA capillary-array sequencers. protocols for directly sequencing the plasmids from a single bacterial colony in fused-silica capillaries were developed. After the colony was picked, lysis was accomplished in situ in the plastic sample tube using either a thermocycler or heating block. Upon heating, the plasmids were released while chromsomal DNA and membrane proteins were denatured and precipitated to the bottom of the tube. After adding enzyme and Sanger reagents, the resulting solution was aspirated into the reaction capillaries by a syringe pump, and cycle sequencing was initiated. No deleterious effect upon the reaction efficiency, the on-line purification system, or the capillary electrophoresis separation was observed, even though the crude lysate was used as the template. Multiplexed on-line DNA sequencing data from 8 parallel channels allowed base calling up to 620 bp with an …
Date:
May 27, 2002
Creator:
Zhang, Yonghua
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Doping Experiments on Low-Dimensional Oxides and a Search for Unusual Magnetic Properties of MgAlB14
Doping experiments on La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4}, Sr{sub 2}CuO{sub 3} and SrCu{sub 2}(BO{sub 3}){sub 2} were performed with the intent of synthesizing new metallic low-=dimensional cuprate oxide compounds. Magnetic susceptibility {chi}(T) measurements on a polycrystalline La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4} sample chemically oxidized at room temperature in aqueous NaClO showed superconductivity with a superconducting transition temperature T{sub c} of 42.6 K and a Meissner fraction of 26%. They were unable to electrochemically oxidize La{sub 2}CuO{sub 4} in a nonaqueous solution of tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) and methanol. Sr{sub 2}CuO{sub 3} was found to decompose upon exposure to air and water. Electron paramagnetic resonance, isothermal magnetization M(H), and {chi}(T) measurements on the primary decomposition product, Sr{sub 2}Cu(OH){sub 6}, were consistent with a nearly isolated, spin S = 1/2, local moment model for the Cu{sup +2} spins. From a fit of {chi}(T) by the Curie-Weiss law and of the M(H) isotherms by a modified Brillouin function, the weakly antiferromagnetic exchange interaction between adjacent Cu{sup +2} spins in Sr{sub 2}Cu(OH){sub 6} was found to be J/k{sub B} = 1.06(4) K. Doping studies on SrCu{sub 2}(BO{sub 3}){sub 2} were inconclusive. {chi}(T) measurements on an undoped polycrystalline sample of SrCu{sub 2}(BO{sub 3}){sub 2}, a sample treated with distilled water, …
Date:
December 31, 2002
Creator:
Hill, Julienne Marie
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Effector Response of the Aspartate Transcarbamoylase From Wild Type Pseudomonas Putida and a Mutant with 11 Amino Acids Deleted at the N-terminus of PyrB.
Like its enteric counterpart, aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) from Pseudomonas putida is a dodecamer of two different polypeptides. Unlike the enterics, the Pseudomonas ATCase lacks regulatory polypeptides but employs instead inactive dihydroorotases for an active dodecamer. Previous work showed that PyrB contains not only the active site but also the effector binding sites for ATP, UTP and CTP at its N-terminus. In this work, 11 amino acids were deleted from the N-terminus of PyrB and the ATCase with the truncated protein was expressed in E. coli pyrB- and purified. The wild type enzyme was similarly treated. Velocity-substrate plots without effectors gave Michaelis-Menten kinetics in all cases. Deleting 11 amino acids did not affect dodecameric assembly but altered effector responses. When carbamoylphosphate was varied, the mutant enzyme was inhibited by UTP while the wild type enzyme was activated 2-fold. When the aspartate was varied, CTP had no effect on the mutant enzyme but strongly inhibited the wild type enzyme.
Date:
May 2002
Creator:
Asfour, Hani
System:
The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of the Effectiveness of Computer Assisted Instruction in General Chemistry at an Urban University.
The science-major General Chemistry sequence offered at the University of Houston has been investigated with respect to the effectiveness of recent incorporation of various levels of computer technology. As part of this investigation, questionnaire responses, student evaluations and grade averages and distributions from up to the last ten years have been analyzed and compared. Increased use of web-based material is both popular and effective, particularly with respect to providing extra information and supplemental questions. Instructor contact via e-mail is also well-received. Both uses of technology should be encouraged. In contrast, electronic classroom presentation is less popular. While initial use may lead to improved grades and retention, these levels decrease quickly, possibly due to a reduction in instructor spontaneity.
Date:
May 2002
Creator:
McGuffey, Angela
System:
The UNT Digital Library