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Improving Surface and Materials Properties of Distillation Membranes for Water Desalination
Get PDFThere is an increased interest in implementing distillation membranes in desalination technologies due to their potential for high chemical resistance and ability to reject nonvolatile contaminants. Distillation membranes are typically hydrophobic in nature therefore, when they are submerged into a wastewater stream, an air liquid interface is formed and driving forces such as heat, pressure or concentration cause the water to evaporate at the interface and transport through the membranes as vapor water. This mechanism allows for full rejection of nonvolatile contaminants from the feed stream. While distillation membranes have benefits over commercial membranes, they also suffer drawbacks. Like most membranes distillation membranes are susceptible to the buildup of material on their surface, otherwise called fouling. This causes the eventual decline of the membrane’s performance through either clogging of the membranes pores or water penetrating through the air-gap leading to pore wetting and eventual loss of the highly selective nature of these membranes. The purpose of this dissertation research is to understand the surface and materials properties of distillation membranes for their eventual application as air-gap membranes in desalination technologies. As a first objective, we aim to understand the full extent of commercial distillation membranes chemical resistance to oxidative disinfection chemicals. From this information, we probe methods to modify commercially available distillation membranes to prevent fouling and wetting. We investigate how low power plasma technologies can create omniphobic surfaces to prevent pore wetting. Then we explore utilizing an atomic layer deposition process to create self-cleaning catalytically active distillation membranes to prevent fouling. Lastly, we explored ways to improve the flux of distillation membranes in pressure driven processes through the informed design of their pore structures. Overall, this dissertation research provides insight into the design and subsequent fabrication of highly oxidative resistant distillation membranes that can resist fouling and wetting.</p
Miniaturization of Microwave Radiometers for Internal Body Thermometry
Get PDFThis thesis presents the development and characterization of microwave radiometer sensors for non-invasive internal body temperature measurement, addressing a need for accurate, real-time, and non-invasive thermometry. The work spans the design, implementation, and validation of advanced radiometer architectures and near-field antennas, integrating them into compact sensors capable of deep tissue temperature sensing.
The theoretical foundations of radiometry are presented, highlighting key parameters such as sensitivity and calibration methods. Various radiometer architectures, including Dicke, correlation, and hybrid correlation-Dicke designs, are analyzed. This is followed by the design and characterization of GaAs MMIC radiometer front-ends, including low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), switches, and hybrid couplers. These MMICs achieve low noise figures and power efficiency, enabling high sensitivity in compact form factors.
Near-field antennas are developed to optimize power absorption from targeted tissue layers, including single and dual-feed architectures. Electromagnetic simulations validate their performance in layered dielectric environments, ensuring effective thermal power retrieval from human tissues. Two-layer tissue phantoms are used to experimentally validate the system, providing controlled testing environments with known temperature distributions. The results demonstrate the radiometer ability to resolve internal temperature variations with average errors as low as 0.1 ◦C.
In-vivo measurements are conducted using human cheek tissue, demonstrating the sensor capability to monitor the temperature of liquid held in the mouth. Repeatability and sensitivity analyses confirm the robustness of the system under realistic application conditions, accounting for variations in tissue properties and environmental factors.
This thesis establishes a framework for non-invasive internal body thermometry using microwave radiometers. The combination of MMIC technology, advanced antenna design, and experimental validation forms a foundation for future integration into wearable medical devices, offering significant potential for applications in continuous health monitoring and diagnostics.</p
Oceania Newspaper Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2000-2025 - November 2025
No full textThe Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 131 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 59 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
Canadian Newspaper Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2000-2025 - August 2025
No full textThe Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 131 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 59 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
Asian Newspaper Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2004-2025 - August 2025
No full textThe Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 131 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 59 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
International Wire Services Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2004-2025 - November 2025
No full textThe Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 131 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 59 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
Spanish Newspaper Coverage of Climate Change or Global Warming, 2000-2025 - November 2025
No full textThe Media and Climate Change Observatory Data monitors 131 sources (across newspapers, radio and TV) in 59 countries in seven different regions around the world. Data is assembled by accessing archives through the Lexis Nexis, Proquest and Factiva databases via the University of Colorado libraries. More information may be found at: http://mecco.colorado.edu.</p
What’s in an Address? Transforming ILLiad Data into Resource Sharing Insights
Get PDFInterlibrary loan (ILL) systems contain a wealth of data that can inform operations, assessment, and collection development. Yet, the capacity to analyze and interpret ILL activity often lags behind other library departments because of legacy software. ILLiad, one of the most widely used ILL management systems, contains numerous free text fields, including address records originally designed for mailing rather than for analysis. Inconsistent and incomplete entries limit the ability to extract meaningful statistics about resource sharing activity. To answer nuanced questions, including those required by the ALA RUSA STARS Quadrennial International Interlibrary Loan Survey, we developed a simple, replicable three part method: Clean, Create, and Group. By cleaning address data using a controlled vocabulary, creating internal-use addresses to represent local workflows, and grouping records by category, we transformed a static contact list into a dynamic data source. This project enhanced our ability to generate targeted statistics, improved collaboration across departments, and demonstrated how a modest data-cleaning initiative can yield lasting operational and analytical benefits.</p
Subversifying the Marriage Plot: Amatonormativity in Little Women
Get PDFSocietal norms have always been a driving force in the transition from girlhood to womanhood, and in Civil War Era New England, this was no different. Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women follows the lives of four sisters through their journeys as young women during and after the Civil War in Massachusetts. Alcott was initially asked to write a story for young girls by her publishers at Roberts Brothers and her editor, Thomas Niles. Alcott would publish Little Women in two parts Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy in 1868 followed by Good Wives the following year. In order to adhere to societal standards of the time, Alcott’s characters go through several changes between the two parts, resulting in the novel’s ending feeling as though Alcott abandoned her initial plans for the girls and choosing to conform to Victorian New England standards. However, a close reading and analysis of the novel offers the perspective that while her writing drifts towards being more socially acceptable, it is observed that she is able to subversify reader’s expectations through subtle societal critiques. Although this seemingly furthered the herteronormative and amatonormative expectations, the way in which Alcott used characters and plots allowed her to be able to provide subtle commentary on the Victorian marriage trope and expectation for a heteroromantic relationship. This led to pieces of the novel feeling forced while simultaneously calling out the stereotypes of heteronormativity and the societal norms of the Victorian period. The goal of this thesis is to show how these changes occurred between the two publications, what drove Alcott to make these changes, and how this affects the outcome of the story and its reception.</p
Bone Conduction and Masking Effects on Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials
Get PDFObjectives: The P1 cortical auditory evoked potential (CAEP) is a biomarker of auditorycortical maturation, which has been mostly studied in individuals with hearing loss in the innerear (sensorineural) using traditional air conduction testing. Fewer studies have investigatedhearing loss at the level of the outer and/or middle ear (conductive), in which one treatmentoption is a bone conduction hearing aid that bypasses the outer and middle ear and often requiresmasking. Therefore, research is needed to investigate the impact of CAEPs via bone conduction.Methods: Bone conduction CAEPs without masking, with appropriate masking, and over-masking were compared to air conduction CAEPs in 20 normal hearing adults. Stimulus intensitywas also varied in air and bone conduction conditions to reflect participants’ most comfortablelistening levels. Results: CAEP latencies did not significantly differ across conditions, butoverall amplitudes for over-masking were reduced. Additionally, intensity of the stimulus did notsignificantly affect latencies or amplitudes. Conclusion: Cortical testing via bone conduction issimilar to air conduction testing and therefore could be used to evaluate the development andmaturation of the central auditory system in individuals who may be candidates for or use a boneconduction hearing aid. Significance: CAEP testing pre- and post-treatment with a boneconduction hearing aid could be useful in guiding clinical treatment decisions in the conductivehearing loss population.</p
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