The motion of thin drops under the effects of surfactants and gravity is studied. First, the effects of surfactant and temperature on the spreading of a viscous droplet are considered. Lubrication theory is used to develop a two-dimensional model for the evolution of the droplet. The surfactant is assumed to...
The goal of this dissertation was to examine the influence of motivational incentives on visual spatial attention in patients with probable Alzheimer's Disease (PRAD), patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and healthy age-matched control subjects (EC). Specifically, I compared the ability of monetary incentives to influence behavioral and neural performance...
I examine horizontally differentiated firms in three different contexts. First, I look at an industry where firms can develop self-customizable products -- products which appeal to different consumers for different reasons. This addition results in an unexpected conclusion that sometimes more differentiated firms can end up with lower profits than...
Ceramic matrix composites are known for their low density, high strength and high stiffness, but lower fracture toughness compared to metal matrix composites. The addition of a reinforcing agent within the matrix can increase the toughness of the composite via many strain energy absorption mechanisms such as plastic deformation. This...
The goal of this study was to investigate the properties of the retinal ganglion cell receptive field at low light levels. There has been considerable interest in whether the surround of a ganglion cell receptive field disappears and the center expands in size under scotopic conditions. The previous data from...
Modeling and simulation at different scales were used to study mass transport, residence times and selective oxidation in nanostructured membranes. First, analytical equations of the possible mass transport mechanisms inside the pores were used to determine that diffusion dominates over convection under the conditions of interest for selective oxidation: 700...
The purpose of this dissertation study was to build on scholarly work in the area of critical mathematics by such scholars as Gutstein (2003) and Gutierrez (2002). Critical pedagogy is designed to foster political agency and critical consciousness in students (Freire, 1971). That is the aim of critical mathematics in...
The abundance and breadth of condition data generated by advanced inspection technologies have increased the frequency and accuracy of data collection, which is not exploited by the existing performance models. Moreover, simultaneity of deterioration and maintenance causes difficulty of estimating effectiveness of maintenance activities for existing performance models. To address...
The optical and magneto-optical properties of the ferromagnetic semiconductors, InMnAs and its alloy InMnAsP were investigated to determine the band structure and nature of the ferromagnetism in these materials. Alloys were grown by metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. Infrared absorption of InMnAs was investigated to determine the presence and properties of...
Experimental and numerical studies of lasing in multiple light scattering media with gain are presented in this thesis. Depending on the dielectric constant spatial distribution is random or periodic, two different kinds of lasers are discussed: the random laser and the photonic crystal laser. This thesis, therefore, is divided into...