Thesis written by a student in the UNT Honors College discussing the rise of Spanish, English, and French colonialism in the Americas, the conflicts that arose with the native populations, and alliances between the colonists and various tribes.

Studies have shown that the presence of microbial growth correlates with health complaints associated with sick building syndrome. Microbial growth may be found in damp places within a building, and may be dispersed to other areas if present in the HVAC system. Certain individuals may be especially sensitive to the presence of these microorganisms, and may experience adverse reactions at extremely low concentrations. Unfortunately, the source of the problem may not be discovered because many times the microbial growth is not visible. However, there are some volatile organic compounds that are given off by certain microorganisms which may be used to determine the presence of microbial contamination. 3-Methylfuran is an excellent indicator of growing fungi. It is produced by a majority of fungi, and can be used as an indicator of ongoing growth. 1-Octen-3-ol is also produced by a number of fungi, and has been used in the past as an indicator of such. These two compounds and many other volatiles given off by microorganisms have been termed microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs). Many of these compounds are commonly found in indoor air, and thus, may be present even when there is not microbial contamination.

Reservoir engineering is performed to predict the future performance of a reservoir based on its current state and past performance and to explore other methods for increasing the recovery of hydrocarbons from a reservoir. Reservoir simulations are routinely used for these purposes. A reservoir simulator is a sophisticated computer program which solves a system of partial differential equations describing multiphase fluid flow (oil, water, and gas) in a porous reservoir rock. This document describes the use of a reservoir simulator version of BOAST which was developed by the National Institute for Petroleum and Energy Research in July, 1991.

To overcome the extreme difficulties encountered in the experimental decay studies of proton drip line nuclei, several techniques have been utilized, including a helium-jet transport system, particle identification detectors and mass separation. Improvements to the ion source/extraction region of the He-jet coupled on-line Recoil Atom Mass Analyzer (RAMA) and its target/ion source coupling resulted in significant increases in RAMA efficiencies and its mass resolution, as well as reductions in the overall transit time. At the 88-Inch Cyclotron at LBNL, the decays of {sup 31}Cl, {sup 27}P and {sup 28}P, with half-lives of 150 msec, 260 msec and 270.3 msec, respectively, were examined using a he-jet and low-energy gas {Delta}E-gas {Delta}E-silicon E detector telescopes. Total beta-delayed proton branches of 0.3% and 0.07% in {sup 31}Cl and {sub 27}P, respectively, were estimated. Several proton peaks that had been previously assigned to the decay of {sup 31}Cl were shown to be from the decay of {sup 25}Si. In {sup 27}P, two proton groups at 459 {+-} 14 keV and 610 {+-} 11 keV, with intensities of 7 {+-} 3% and 92 {+-} 4% relative to the main (100%) group were discovered. The Gamow-Teller component of the preceding beta-decay of each observed proton transition …

Three-dimensional meshes modeling nonlinear problems such as sheet metal forming, metal forging, heat transfer during welding, the propagation of microwaves through gases, and automobile crashes require highly refined meshes in local areas to accurately represent areas of high curvature, stress, and strain. These locally refined areas develop late in the simulation and/or move during the course of the simulation, thus making it difficult to predict their exact location. This thesis is a systematic study of new tools scientists can use with redistribution algorithms to enhance the solution results and reduce the time to build, solve, and analyze nonlinear finite element problems. Participatory design techniques including Contextual Inquiry and Design were used to study and analyze the process of solving such problems. This study and analysis led to the in-depth understanding of the types of interactions performed by FEM scientists. Based on this understanding, a prototype tool was designed to support these interactions. Scientists participated in evaluating the design as well as the implementation of the prototype tool. The study, analysis, prototype tool design, and the results of the evaluation of the prototype tool are described in this thesis.

The unusually high temperature in the primary combustor of the Coal-Fired Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) power generation system causes much higher nitrogen oxides (NO{sub x}) to be produced than in a conventional coal fired generation system. In order to lower the NO{sub x} concentration to an acceptable level, it is important to know how parameters of the MM power generation system affect the NO{sub x} concentration. This thesis investigates those effects in the Coal-Fired Flow Facility (CFFF) at the University of Tennessee Space Institute under the contract of US Department Of Energy (DOE). With thermodynamic and kinetic computer codes, the theoretical studies were carried out on the parameters of the CFFF system. The results gathered from the computer codes were analyzed and compared with the experimental data collected during the LMF5J test. The thermodynamic and kinetic codes together modeled the NO.{sub x} behavior with reasonable accuracy while some inconsistencies happened at the secondary combustor inlet.

The content of my work focused on examining the relationship between certain elements of nature and of human beings and was also based on the question of what true life is. The woodcut process - combined with the other printing techniques such as intaglio, collagraph, and monotype - was adopted as a potentially successful medium for conveying the content of the work. Overlay printing techniques and repeated textures were utilized as well.