This dissertation describes an alternative method of measuring the W boson mass in D0 experiment. Instead of extracting M{sub W} from the fitting of W {yields} e{nu} fast Monte Carlo simulations to W {yields} e{nu} data as in the standard method, we make the direct fit of transverse mass between W {yields} e{nu} data and Z {yields} ee data. One of the two electrons from Z boson is treated as a neutrino in the calculation of transverse mass. In ratio method, the best fitted scale factor corresponds to the ratio of W and Z boson mass (M{sub W}/M{sub Z}). Given the precisely measured Z boson mass, W mass is directly fitted from W {yields} e{nu} and Z {yields} ee data. This dissertation demonstrates that ratio method is a plausible method of measuring the W boson mass. With the 1 fb{sup -1} D0 Run IIa dataset, ratio method gives M{sub W} = 80435 {+-} 43(stat) {+-} 26(sys) MeV.

Sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy was used to investigate the interfacial properties of several amino acids, peptides, and proteins adsorbed at the hydrophilic polystyrene solid-liquid and the hydrophobic silica solid-liquid interfaces. The influence of experimental geometry on the sensitivity and resolution of the SFG vibrational spectroscopy technique was investigated both theoretically and experimentally. SFG was implemented to investigate the adsorption and organization of eight individual amino acids at model hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces under physiological conditions. Biointerface studies were conducted using a combination of SFG and quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) comparing the interfacial structure and concentration of two amino acids and their corresponding homopeptides at two model liquid-solid interfaces as a function of their concentration in aqueous solutions. The influence of temperature, concentration, equilibration time, and electrical bias on the extent of adsorption and interfacial structure of biomolecules were explored at the liquid-solid interface via QCM and SFG. QCM was utilized to quantify the biological activity of heparin functionalized surfaces. A novel optical parametric amplifier was developed and utilized in SFG experiments to investigate the secondary structure of an adsorbed model peptide at the solid-liquid interface.

MINOS is a long baseline neutrino oscillation experiment based at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, USA. The experiment was designed to study neutrino oscillation phenomena. The {nu}{sub {mu}} beam produced by the NuMI beam facility at FNAL is used along with two functionally identical detectors. The Near Detector at FNAL and a Far Detector 735 km away in the Soudan Underground Laboratory in northern Minnesota. Comparison of the observed spectra of neutrinos at the two detectors provides the evidence for neutrino oscillations. This thesis presents work on the postulated phenomena of sterile neutrinos. Oscillations between active and sterile neutrinos will lead to a deficit in the expected rate of measured Neutral Current interactions at the Far Detector. A technique for selecting Neutral Current events utilizing an Artificial Neural Network is presented with resulting overall efficiency of 91.1% and purity of 66.0%. A method of predicting the expected Charged and Neutral Current energy spectra at the Far Detector given the data recorded at the Near Detector is presented. A model to search for oscillations between sterile and active neutrinos is developed. Sources of systematic uncertainty that can effect the results of the analysis are discussed. The analysis developed is …

We report the result of a search for the pair production of the lightest supersymmetric partner of the top quark ({tilde t}{sub 1}) in 5.4 {+-} 0.3 fb{sup -1} of data from the D0 detector at a p{bar p} center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. The scalar top quarks are assumed to decay into a b quark, a charged lepton and a scalar neutrino ({tilde {nu}}), and the search is performed in the electron plus muon final state. No significant excess of events above the standard model prediction is detected and new exclusion limits at the 95% C.L. are set for a portion of the (m{sub {tilde t}{sub 1}}, m{sub {tilde {nu}}}) mass plane.

This dissertation measures the t{bar t} production cross section at the Run II CDF detector using data from early 2001 through March 2007. The Tevatron at Fermilab is a p{bar p} collider with center of mass energy {radical}s = 1.96 TeV. This data composes a sample with a time-integrated luminosity measured at 2.2 {+-} 0.1 fb{sup -1}. A system of learning machines is developed to recognize t{bar t} events in the 'lepton plus jets' decay channel. Support Vector Machines are described, and their ability to cope with a multi-class discrimination problem is provided. The t{bar t} production cross section is then measured in this framework, and found to be {sigma}{sub t{bar t}} = 7.14 {+-} 0.25 (stat){sub -0.86}{sup +0.61}(sys) pb.

Ischemic events of even a very short duration are not tolerated Ill in humans. The human cost of ischemia, when looked at as combined cardiovascular disease, dwarfs all other causes of death in the United States. Annually, CVD kills as many people in the US as does cancer, chronic lower respiratory disease, accidents, and diabetes mellitus combined. In 2005 (the latest year for which final statistics are available), CVD was responsible for 864,480 deaths or 35.3 percent of total deaths for the year. In my study, I have used the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to determine genetic and environmental modulators of oxygen deprivation a key component of ischemia. I have found that animals with mutations in insulin like signaling pathways, neuronal function, electron transport chain components, germline function, and animals that are preconditioned by being raised on a diet of E. coli HT115 bacteria at 25°C have an enhanced ability to survive long-term (>72 hours) anoxia (<.005 kPa O2) at 20°C. The enhanced anoxia survival phenotype partially correlates with increased levels of carbohydrate stores in the nematodes. Suppression of this enhanced anoxia survival phenotype is possible by altering expression of the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, the FOXO transcription factor DAF-16, and …

Currently, standards from government agencies such as the National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health exist to aid in safeguarding individuals’ capacity for hearing, but only in factory settings in which large machines often produce loud levels of sound. Neglecting the fact that these preventative measures are only in place in the most limited of settings, no system currently exists to observe and report sound exposure levels in a manner timely or easily recognizable enough to adequately serve its purpose of hearing conservation. Musicians may also incur significant levels of risk for hearing loss in their day-to-day rehearsals and concerts, from high school marching bands to university wind bands. As a result, music school accrediting organizations such as the National Association of Schools of Music and even the European Union have begun taking steps meant to determine the risks associated with music. To meet these goals and improve upon current technologies, a system has been developed that electronically records sound levels utilizing modern hardware, increases the speed of reporting by transmitting data over computer networks and the Internet, and displays measures calculated from these data in a web browser for a highly viewable, user-friendly interface.

This research proposed to evaluate whether homework or daily quizzes were better for academic success within high-school pre-AP chemistry or if differences in the two methods were detectable. The study involved two years of data where homework was assigned and graded and one year of data where homework was suggested but daily quizzes provided the assessment. The mean of each of the unit tests were evaluated and t-tests were calculated. The results showed that over two-thirds of the units had statistically significant data when daily quizzes were utilized.

One can argue that embracing technological models may produce students who are illiterate in the "proper" methods of communication. With rapid technological change, some fear traditions in their "original" form may be lost. Practices such as trying to recapture the artist's intent should be abandoned as a way of opening up literacy discourse to multiple narratives. Failing to critically explore the possibilities of emerging models of thinking, teaching, and learning in a technological culture can produce a loss equal to the loss of tradition. An a/r/tographer works toward a fluid practice between the domains of artist, researcher, and teacher in order to negotiate emerging forms of visual/tactile/auditory communication which include the body as a networked organism situated recursively within the larger structure of society. This study occurred during two separate semesters of an art education course for pre-service elementary teachers. Through interaction with hypermedia, social networking, installation art, and mash-ups, the teacher and students became artists, researchers, and teachers in a community of practice. A new form of teaching practice was envisioned that opens the possibility for both collective and individual understandings in the formation of curricula. A set of guiding principles was invented through practice as a way of …

This qualitative inquiry explores a community-based art partnership called the semester programs that took place between Artpace San Antonio and Louis W. Fox Academic and Technical High School from 2004 until 2006. This narrative inquiry used interviews with artists and former Fox Tech art students involved in our program, along with my teacher/ researcher reflections, to make meaning from the data. The artists involved in the semester programs were Gary Sweeney, Daniel Guerrero, David Jurist, and Ethel Shipton. Former students interviewed include Eloy McGarity, Rosa Leija, John Contreras, and Jennelle Gomez, while I, Maria Leake represent the voice of the art teacher. Our stories of experience were analyzed and connections between situated learning theory, creativity theories, community-based art education, and memory research were all recognized as being exhibited during our community partnership programs. There were seven patterns and themes that were noted as occurring within each semester program, as well as notable distinctions. The patterns and themes from the data analysis suggest that our community partnership reflected the following: learning and creative expression went beyond the individual; networks of support and communication were available to all participants; challenges were acknowledged; empathy between participants was an unintentional outcome; working together as …

This study examined the correlates between the dependent variables African-American and Hispanic student enrollment in Texas public higher education to the independent variables institution type, education region, faculty demographics, curricular offerings and student organizations. Data for African-American (n = 124,000) and Hispanic enrollment (n = 314,000) in all Texas public higher education institutions (n = 109) for the 2008 academic year were examined. Significant results, using a statistical significance of p = .005, were reported for two of the variables. A correlation of Pearson's r = .946 and statistical significance of p = .000 was observed between African-American student enrollment and the percentage representation of African-American faculty in the same institution. A correlation of Pearson's r = .982 and statistical significance of p = .000 was observed between Hispanic student enrollment and the percentage representation of Hispanic faculty in the same institution. The results of this study found significant relationships between the presence of African-American and Hispanic faculty and enrollment of African-American and Hispanic students. Recommendations are made for exploring these findings in further detail.

Wireless sensor networks are composed of sensor nodes, which can monitor an environment and observe events of interest. These networks are applied in various fields including but not limited to environmental, industrial and habitat monitoring. In many applications, the exact location of the sensor nodes is unknown after deployment. Localization is a process used to find sensor node's positional coordinates, which is vital information. The localization is generally assisted by anchor nodes that are also sensor nodes but with known locations. Anchor nodes generally are expensive and need to be optimally placed for effective localization. Passive localization is one of the localization techniques where the sensor nodes silently listen to the global events like thunder sounds, seismic waves, lighting, etc. According to previous studies, the ideal location to place anchor nodes was on the perimeter of the sensor network. This may not be the case in passive localization, since the function of anchor nodes here is different than the anchor nodes used in other localization systems. I do extensive studies on positioning anchor nodes for effective localization. Several simulations are run in dense and sparse networks for proper positioning of anchor nodes. I show that, for effective passive localization, the …

In this study we applied ultra-short laser pulses on a biological sample (Arabidopsis), in order to cut it precisely in a square pattern and subsequently use it for studying stress generation mechanisms. For this purpose, we utilized femtosecond laser pulses at 100 fs pulse width and 80 MHz repetition rate. We took two processing parameters into consideration such as laser power, laser exposure time which is related to the stage speed. Therefore, we were able to find the laser optimum conditions for ablation of biological tissues. The mutant and wildtype (control) obtained from laser cutting with a size of 500 µm × 500 µm were directly transferred (in-situ with laser cutting) into a microfabricated chamber containing ~500 nanoliters deionized water for measuring ion conductivity. The ion conductivity is a signature of cell-death mechanisms caused by various stresses. A light with intensity of 100 µmol was exposed to the samples for 2 hours and 20 minutes as a source of stress. A quantitative electrical analysis with high accuracy was assured by utilizing a microchamber, which enables a measurement in nanoliter volume. We measured the impedance which is reciprocal of conductivity using a lock-in amplifier and a precise current source at frequency …

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine resident, family member and staff perceptions of electronic monitoring and their effect on resident rights. The sample consisted of 53 nursing home residents, 104 staff and 25 family members, in the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex, from a nursing facility in which residents utilize video cameras in their rooms (Nursing Facility 1), two nursing facilities that have video cameras in their common rooms areas (Nursing Facility 2 and 3) and a nursing facility that does not utilize video cameras (Nursing Facility 4). The interview questions and self-administered surveys were in regard to the participant's perceptions of electronic monitoring, perceived risks and benefits of video cameras, awareness of resident rights and consciousness of potential risks to resident rights. Data were analyzed using a mixed methods approach using both ATLAS t.i and SAS. Study findings revealed that residents, family members and staff are aware of the potential benefits of electronic monitoring in nursing facilities. While respondents are hesitant to have electronic monitoring in resident rooms, they are interested in utilizing electronic monitoring in common areas. While residents and staff believe that electronic monitoring compromises resident rights, family members believe resident rights are protected. Different …

Spectroscopic measurements of the helium atom are performed to high precision using an atomic beam apparatus and electro-optic laser techniques. These measurements, in addition to serving as a test of helium theory, also provide a new determination of the fine structure constant &#945;. An apparatus was designed and built to overcome limitations encountered in a previous experiment. Not only did this allow an improved level of precision but also enabled new consistency checks, including an extremely useful measurement in 3He. I discuss the details of the experimental setup along with the major changes and improvements. A new value for the J = 0 to 2 fine structure interval in the 23P state of 4He is measured to be 31 908 131.25(30) kHz. The 300 Hz precision of this result represents an improvement over previous results by more than a factor of three. Combined with the latest theoretical calculations, this yields a new determination of &#945; with better than 5 ppb uncertainty, &#945;-1 = 137.035 999 55(64).

Technology offers opportunities for museums to expand the ways in which cultural perspectives relevant to objects on display can be exchanged and understood. Multimedia content offered online in an environment with user input capabilities can encourage dialogue and enrich visitor experiences of museums. This action research project using narrative analysis was an effort to develop the use of web technology in museum education practice, with an emphasis on constructivist learning. Concepts including the visitor-centered museum and multiple narratives led the researcher to collaborate with a pre-service art teacher education classroom and a local Hindu community to create content that might better develop understandings of one museum's Hindu sculpture collection that are personal, cultural, and complex.

To paraphrase an old bromide, "you are what you consume." Consumers derive their sense of self through products, brands, performances and a host of other meaning-laden materials that they consume. The marketing literature has long recognized possessions as an extension of the self-concept. Although hundreds of studies have examined the linkage between consumption and the self, surprisingly few have examined a related phenomenon - the relationship between the self-concept and word of mouth (WOM). A handful of studies have demonstrated the use of WOM to enhance the consumer's self-image, but most extant research focuses on how the act of engaging in WOM is used to build the self-concept. To date there has not been an extensive examination of the process by which WOM transfers the meaning of a product, brand, advertisement or narrative from one consumer to another as part of identity construction. This dissertation attempts to answer the following research questions: 1. Do self-concept and identity motivate consumers to engage in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM)? 2. Is there a conceptual model to represent the effects of message characteristics, product/brand characteristics and individual personality differences on the self-enhancement value of eWOM and resulting eWOM behaviors? A conceptual model was proposed and, …

The identification and examination of cultural information strategies and censorship patterns used to propagate the controversial issue of the caricatures in two separate cultural contexts was the aim of this dissertation. It explored discourse used for the coverage of this topic by one newspaper in a restrictive information context and two newspapers in a liberal information context. Message propagation in a restrictive information environment was analyzed using the English daily Kuwait Times from the Middle East; the liberal information environment of the US was analyzed using two major dailies, the New York Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer. The study also concurrently identifies and elaborates on the themes and frames through which discourse was presented exposing the cultural ideologies and premises they represent. The topic was approached with an interdisciplinary position with the support and applicability testing of Chatman's insider-outsider theory within information science and Noelle-Neumann's spiral of silence theory and Herman and Chomsky's propaganda model based in the area of mass communication. The study has also presented a new model of information censorship - circle of information censorship, emphasizing conceptual issues that influence the selection and censorship of information.

This study investigated the perceptions of emergency managers regarding the degree of emergency management professionalism in Mexico and how it can be improved. The disaster of the Mexico City earthquake of 1985 was used as the starting point for this case study, as the prospects for more-frequent and more-intense disasters lend credence to the need for improved professionalism and, thus, effectiveness among emergency managers in the future. An expansive framework of emergency management professionalism mechanisms (or characteristics) and an additional compilation of new public management components (or values) were devised from the extant literatures found within the respective emergency management and public administration fields. The theory advanced by this study is that by integrating new public management components with emergency management mechanisms, professionalism in Mexico will improve and, thus, emergency managers will become more effective. ualitative field research was the methodology employed and it included interviews with 35 emergency managers in Mexico in corroboration with documentary evidence, to ascertain emergency managers' perceptions of professionalism in Mexico. The findings of this study determined that emergency managers in Mexico are implementing many of the mechanisms of professionalism but fewer new public management components. This study posits that by integrating new public management …

The focus of the following research was to (1) understand the chemistry involved in nitriding an organosilicate glass substrate prior to tantalum deposition, as well as the effect nitrogen incorporation plays on subsequent tantalum deposition and (2) the reduction of a native oxide, the removal of surface contaminants, and the etching of a HgCdTe surface utilizing atomic hydrogen. These studies were investigated utilizing XPS, TEM and AFM. XPS data show that bombardment of an OSG substrate with NH3 and Ar ions results in the removal of carbon species and the incorporation of nitrogen into the surface. Tantalum deposition onto a nitrided OSG surface results in the initial formation of tantalum nitride with continued deposition resulting in the formation of tantalum. This process is a direct method for forming a thin TaN/Ta bilayer for use in micro- and nanoelectronic devices. Exposure to atomic hydrogen is shown to increase the surface roughness of both air exposed and etched samples. XPS results indicate that atomic hydrogen reduces tellurium oxide observed on air exposed samples via first-order kinetics. The removal of surface contaminants is an important step prior to continued device fabrication for optimum device performance. It is shown here that atomic hydrogen effectively …

This study offers a concentrated view of how a national movement developed networks from the grassroots up and how regional identity can influence national campaign strategies by examining the roles Texas and Texans played in the woman suffrage movement in the United States. The interest that multiple generations of national woman suffrage leaders showed in Texas, from Reconstruction through the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, provides new insights into the reciprocal nature of national movements. Increasingly, from 1868 to 1920, a bilateral flow of resources existed between national women's rights leaders and woman suffrage activists in Texas. Additionally, this study nationalizes the woman suffrage movement earlier than previously thought. Cross-regional woman suffrage activity has been marginalized by the belief that campaigning in the South did not exist or had not connected with the national associations until the 1890s. This closer examination provides a different view. Early woman's rights leaders aimed at a nationwide movement from the beginning. This national goal included the South, and woman suffrage interest soon spread to the region. One of the major factors in this relationship was that the primarily northeastern-based national leadership desperately needed southern support to aid in their larger goals. Texas' ability to …

This study is part of a larger research project examining family attachment processes. The current study tests a family process model that postulates the mediating role of parent-child attachment and sibling relationship quality in the associations of parent psychopathology or marital adjustment to children's psychological dysfunction. A community sample of 86 families with at least one school-aged (8-12 years) child was recruited from area schools and organizations. Families came to the UNT Family Attachment Lab, where they participated in research tasks, including interviews, self-report instruments, and videotaped interaction tasks. Specific questionnaires used in this study included the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire, the Security Scale, the Behavior Assessment System for Children, the Symptom Assessment-45 Questionnaire, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Using a single indicator for each variable, path analyses tested three paternal models, three maternal models, and three systemic models using different informants' (i.e., father, mother, child) reports of child functioning as the outcome variable. Results of this study highlight the positive relationship between parent marital adjustment and parent-child attachment security, as well as the inverse relationship between maternal psychopathology and mother-child attachment security. In addition, the inverse relationship between parent-child attachment security and child psychological dysfunction was significant across nearly all …

Ida Gotkovsky, a student of Olivier Messiaen and Nadia Boulanger, composed for nearly every instrument, voice, and ensemble. Although Gotkovsky's Concerto for Trombone is a monumental work for the trombone it is rarely performed and recordings are scarce. There is a general lack of scholarly attention to the music of Ida Gotkovsky, however, the technical and aesthetic quality of her music merits further examination. Previous studies of Gotkovsky's music focused on the analysis of individual compositions. However, much more can be learned by examining a work within the context of her general compositional output. Gotkovsky's compositional style includes extensive musical self-borrowing. The goal of this project is to demonstrate melodic and textural similarities and differences within her music to inform performance practice and to establish interest in her music. The context in which Gotkovsky reuses her music is significant and can provide additional musical insight. An informed awareness of her extensive use of self-quotation familiarizes the performer with her compositional language in a variety of musical settings. Such familiarity with her musical style leads to an improved and artistically educated performance.

Colonoscopy is an endoscopic technique that allows a physician to inspect the mucosa of the human colon. Previous methods and software solutions to detect informative frames in a colonoscopy video (a process called informative frame filtering or IFF) have been hugely ineffective in (1) covering the proper definition of an informative frame in the broadest sense and (2) striking an optimal balance between accuracy and speed of classification in both real-time and non real-time medical procedures. In my thesis, I propose a more effective method and faster software solutions for IFF which is more effective due to the introduction of a heuristic algorithm (derived from experimental analysis of typical colon features) for classification. It contributed to a 5-10% boost in various performance metrics for IFF. The software modules are faster due to the incorporation of sophisticated parallel-processing oriented coding techniques on modern microprocessors. Two IFF modules were created, one for post-procedure and the other for real-time. Code optimizations through NVIDIA CUDA for GPU processing and/or CPU multi-threading concepts embedded in two significant microprocessor design philosophies (multi-core design and many-core design) resulted a 5-fold acceleration for the post-procedure module and a 40-fold acceleration for the real-time module. Some innovative software modules, …