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The pandemic and uprisings against police terror have heightened the devastation of white supremacy and capitalism. During this time of heightened devastation, revolutionary organizing efforts have amplified. As people are coming together to resist and create alternatives to these murderous systems, the purpose of this project is to strengthen the connection between revolutionary organizers and educators who struggle for the justice condition (i.e. racial liberation and decolonization). The fight for Ethnic Studies in 1968 marks the beginning of a field to bring this revolutionary struggle into schools. Ethnic Studies has taken a variety of shapes, but a revolutionary approach to Ethnic Studies is grounded in community struggles for racial liberation and decolonization. The three branches of decolonizing pedagogy, culturally responsive pedagogy, and community responsive pedagogy ground ethnic studies programs to the revolutionary roots of the field to resist the incessant co-optation of liberalism and repression of conservatism. Communities engaged in revolutionary struggles have tended the roots of the field, and yet, ethnic studies literature rarely centers their knowledge and experiences. Repeatedly, ethnic studies literature indicates that Ethnic Studies is a community-centered and community-directed approach to education; however, there is a sparsity of research that learns from people who have taken up the struggle for racial liberation and decolonization. To begin seeding this sparse area, this research will gather the stories of people engaged in the revolutionary struggle that ethnic studies educators work to bring into schools. The purpose of this research is to bolster the connection between Ethnic Studies and community organizing for racial liberation and decolonization. To this end, I worked with revolutionary organizers to create a collaborative autoethnography. We wrote autoethnographies of revolutionary organizing and collectively analyzed them to address the following research questions: What can the stories of revolutionary organizers offer ethnic studies educators who are struggling to carry this work into schools? Moreover, what do their stories illuminate about resistance to co-optation and repression? This collaborative autoethnography uses the theoretical framework of critical race theory (CRT) to center race in analyses of systems of oppression and will rely on the experiences and knowledges of people from racialized communities for these analyses that inherently disrupt dominant ideologies. The collaborative autoethnography functions as a critical race counterstory by disrupting majoritarian stories that deny the importance of stories to produce knowledge. Furthermore, this theoretical lens fits the Chicana feminist epistemology, which uses decolonial approaches to position margins as sites of strength and necessary to fuel the struggle for liberation and decolonization. This collaborative autoethnography includes the stories of three revolutionary organizers using the four movements of the "Nahui Ollin" (a.k.a. the Aztec calendar) as a decolonial framework to shape our stories. The themes in the data fit into the four movements of the "Nahui Ollin" and offer an embodied understanding of these elements: home, family, education, resistance, and organizing. Within these themes, there were also subthemes that appear. First, home and family aligned with the critical self-reflection of "Tezcatlipoca." The three elements of culture, language, and land are present in data on home, and the two elements of roots and resistance appear under the theme of family. These themes illuminate the sacred nature of the work because it carries the intimacy of home, and they reveal what is at stake in the revolutionary struggle against US imperialism's destruction of home and families. Secondly, education is distinct from schooling, and the precious and beautiful knowledge offered by, "Quetzalcoatl," the feathered serpent radicalized us through study and organizing. Furthermore, the data illuminated the common cultural elements in ethnic studies classes (e.g. music, food, language, and family) are vehicles of embodied learning. Thirdly, the radicalization we experienced is sustained through the gifts of "Huitzilopochtli" as the hummingbird to the left, at the place of our hearts. Our willpower is sustained through the dialectical nature of individual and collective resistance fueled by a revolutionary spirit guided by love. The interdependence inherent in this resistance disrupts the destructive ideology of individualism embedded in whiteness and capitalism. Finally, revolutionary organizing offers the transformation of "Xipe Totec" that carries all of the movements. Furthermore, the transformation offered through revolutionary organizing relies on the foundation of revolutionary love. The patterns in the data illuminate the organic nature of the three branches of ethnic studies pedagogy outside of classrooms. Secondly, the data addresses the process of radicalization that we experienced through study and organizing outside of schools. Third, the reciprocity between the revolutionary struggle inside and outside of schools offers space to support both in the areas where there are pitfalls. In response to the first research question, these findings offer five areas of fertile ground for ethnic studies educators. First, our autoethnographies and collaborative data analysis reveal the importance of removing boundaries between inside and outside of the classroom for the branches grounded in the revolutionary struggle to flourish. Secondly, community responsive pedagogy can be the most difficult branch to flourish, and this research indicates that this branch also holds the most space to cultivate the reciprocity between Ethnic Studies and revolutionary organizing, which, in turn, strengthens both. Third, we have to recognize the prevalence of harm when people reproduce the destructive systems we seek to dismantle. A decolonial politics of caring offered by critical pan ethnic studies (CPES) can be used to mitigate these harms. This research speaks to why all three branches are necessary because community responsive pedagogy without the medicine of the other two branches, more often than not, cannot tend to these harms in ways that do not inhibit the work. Fourth, this research indicates that expecting the work to meet schooling's expectations is not fruitful, and ethnic studies educator must develop assessment that can reflect embodied knowledge developed through the praxis of study and organizing. Finally, this research illuminates the sacred nature of the work, which is a key reminder that we must produce generative work to avoid the performative nature of producing isolated events. To address the second research question, we offer seeds for tending to strengthen our resistance to co-optation and repression. Valentina emphasizes the importance of a strong and clear political line. Micaela offers the importance of claiming and being claimed. Finally, as someone with a foot in struggles inside and outside of schools, I maintain that we must dismantle the walls of schooling so that the reciprocal flow of the work feeds "el camino" of the revolutionary struggle and cultivates power that is not easily co-opted or repressed. Future research can gather more people who straddle these walls and use CAE to harvest their lessons in order to support collectively dismantling these walls. Additionally, we can gather more revolutionary organizers to harvest lessons that are not bound by the imposed timeline of a dissertation; this carries the potential to cultivate the reciprocity between educators and organizers separated by school's walls. Finally, we can apply this research to creating paths for future educators to earn their degrees through doing this work. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The planning of distribution systems consists in determining the optimum site and size of new substations and feeders in order to satisfy the future power demand with minimum investment and operational costs and an acceptable level of reliability. This problem is a combinatorial, non-linear and constrained optimization problem. Several solution methods based on genetic algorithms have been reported in the literature; however, some of these methods have been reported with applications to small systems while others have long solution time. In addition, the vast majority of the developed methods handle planning problems simplifying them as single-objective problems but, there are some planning aspects that can not be combined into a single scalar objective; therefore, they require to be treated separately. The cause of these shortcomings is the poor representation of the potential solutions and their genetic operators This thesis presents the design of a genetic algorithm using a direct representation technique and specialized genetic operators for power distribution system expansion planning problems. These operators effectively preserve and exploit critical configurations that contribute to the optimization of the objective function. The constraints of the problems are efficiently handle with new strategies. The genetic algorithm was tested on several theoretical and real large-scale power distribution systems. Problems of network reconfiguration for loss reduction were also included in order to show the potential of the algorithm to resolve operational problems. Both single-objective and multi-objective formulations were considered in the tests. The results were compared with results from other heuristic methods such as ant colony system algorithms, evolutionary programming, differential evolution and other genetic algorithms reported in the literature. From these comparisons it was concluded that the proposed genetic algorithm is suitable to resolve problems of largescale power distribution system planning. Moreover, the algorithm proved to be effective, efficient and robust with better performance than other previous methods.

Recent advances in detector technology have made possible to develop imaging detectors with enhanced x-ray response and fast readout electronics. In this project a quantitative evaluation of the imaging performance of two of these new x-ray detectors has been made and their possible application in the field of medical imaging has been studied. The systems investigated are based on position sensitive detectors, and produce digital output in real time. Gaseous and semiconductor detectors that use different modes of x-ray detection (counting mode and integrating mode) and different irradiation geometries (scanned projection and area projection) were considered. An experimental procedure for the assessment of the imaging characteristics of digital x-ray detectors was set up. The evaluation process was based on widely accepted image assessment and dosimetry techniques. It included both subjective and objective measurements of image quality, and took into account the effect that various digital parameters - such as sampling aperture, sampling distance and quantization - have in the imaging characteristics of the digital radiography system. Subjective measurements were based on phantom studies, and consisted in the determination of the threshold-contrast detail-detectability properties of the imaging systems under investigation at different exposure levels. Objective measurements included the study of spatial transfer characteristics and resolution using modulation transfer function analysis, and of system noise characteristics such as noise power spectrum and detective quantum efficiency. The results of the experimental measurements have been compared with equivalent figures of system performance obtained with conventional film-screen combinations. Computer models were used to investigate the parameters that alter the performance of the detectors, and to study the effect that exposure conditions (e.g. filtration and kVp) and photon statistics have upon image quality.

One of the core strategies to transform the United States national healthcare system is the implementation of key technologies such as the electronic patient medical record. Such key technologies improve patient care and help the organization gain competitive advantage. With a high demand for strategic and operational change, healthcare providers are turning to their own internal Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) for integrated technology solutions (e.g., clinical systems, robotics, infrastructure) in order to reduce costs, improve patient care, and unlock new value through innovation. Due to the overreliance on advanced technology solutions for revamping the US Healthcare System, the role of internal HIT needs to evolve into that of an effective strategic business change partner. As such, the purpose of this study was to test an a priori conceptual model of five competencies that would enable HIT to be an effective strategic business change partner. An on-line survey instrument was used to collect data from hospitals across the country and the data was analyzed through quantitative methods. Results suggest that the perception of internal healthcare information technology (HIT) organizations as an effective strategic business change partner is determined by its competence as a "Healthcare Strategists, Change Driver, Collaborator, Agile Leader, and Technology Service Provider." [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Currently, many deep learning approaches for single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) analysis suffer from a lack of interpretability. We present scANNA (single-cell ANalysis using Neural-Attention), a deep-learning cell annotation model that provides interpretability through neural attention. Through neural attention, scANNA is able to provide clear explanations regarding the reasoning behind its predictions. The generated attention weights enable us to comprehend the model's decision-making process. Our model's high accuracy is attributed to its neural attention architecture, which outperforms the capabilities of current state-of-the-art models. We conducted tests using viral infection and cancer datasets to assess scANNA's ability to handle diverse immunological datasets and ensure its reliability and effectiveness. ScANNA simplifies scRNAseq analysis for researchers, eliminating the need for specialized training and task-specific models. It saves time and enhances the research process. Neonatal immune homeostatic proliferation can lead to potential risks of immune dysregulation and related disorders in later stages of life. We analyzed CD8 T cells in neonatal mice to investigate gene expression patterns, subpopulations, and differentiation trajectories. We identified a subpopulation of CD8 T cells called Virtual Memory cells (TVM) that may play an important role in neonatal immune homeostasis and disease progression. Understanding the mechanisms of CD8 T cells during immune homeostatic proliferation will deepen our understanding of autoimmune disorders and the regulation of homeostasis.

This doctoral dissertation investigates structurally controlled geothermal systems of poor-magma continental rifts in the Western Branch, using as an example the Malawi Rifted Zone (MRZ). The MRZ is at the southern end of the Western Branch of the East African Rift System. It has been affected by repeated stages of deformation, a Paleozoic- Mesozoic rifting event, and the current Cenozoic rifting, which are superimposed on Paleoproterozoic shear zones of mobile belts. Thereby, the propagation and segmentation of the present-day Cenozoic rifting have been controlled by inherited Precambrian suture zones and Mesozoic rift basins structures. The high heat flow and hot springs reported in some segments of the ~N-S Cenozoic rift are the main evidence of the role these structures play in the geothermal systems in this region. The research aims to advance the understanding of structurally controlled geothermal systems to help accelerate the development of low- to medium-temperature geothermal resources in the Western Branch countries. To this end, this research investigates the geochemistry of hot springs and the distribution of estimated reservoir temperatures, the fracture network architecture, and its reactivation potential to identify favorable settings and structures that control the geothermal fluids pathways and storage of geothermal systems. A combination of geochemistry, remote sensing, structural geology, and geophysical methods was implemented to address the objectives of this dissertation. The main results of this research are summarized as follows: (1) the hot springs in the MRZ have their origin in the local meteoric water, infiltrated at depth, and then heated by a high heat flow, where water-rock interaction takes place. Afterward, the parent water ascends through faults to the surface, and processes such as admixture with cold water (>45%) and CO2 outgassing occur. (2) The northern part of the MRZ shows the hottest area with a maximum reservoir temperature estimated at ~200 °C by geothermometers in the Chiweta zone. (3) Favorable structures control the ascent of geothermal fluids in the northern part of the rift showing high fracture intensity and connectivity proxies a) fault segments coalescing to form hard and soft-linked relays, b) two different oriented fracture segments intersecting each other, and c) on the tips of major normal faults. (4) Aeromagnetic data revealed that possible reactivated foliation planes of Precambrian Shear Zones are important structural controls of geothermal waters at greater depths. (5) A high reactivation potential of ~NW- and ~NNE-striking faults southwest- and northwest dipping respectively, were identified as active fluid pathways in the Chiweta zone. (6) The reactivation potential results allowed defining possible structural boundaries of the Chiweta reservoir and improved its geothermal conceptual model. Detailed information about this doctoral dissertation is presented in the following chapters.

This essay proposes new paths for the analysis of hip-hop in Mexico, providing a brief history of its development and suggesting new ways of defining its local meanings and uses. The essay bases much of its analysis on notions of cultural hybridity as employed by Helena Simonett and Néstor García Canclini, and George Yúdice’s concept of culture expediency. It frames the appropriation of rap music in Mexico as a form of cultural agency and self-empowerment on the part of marginal social groups. This is seen in many ways: through the integration of indigenous heritage and languages into performance, or musical elements derived from the northern border. It is also evident in the ways artists have occupied and converted abandoned buildings within Mexico City into concert venues or cultural spaces. Three different artists serve as my principal case studies: Mare Advertencia Lirika, Akil Ammar, and The Guadaloops. Although Mexican hip-hop is represented to an extent in existing scholarship, it remains less well documented than in many other Latin American countries. This document demonstrates the dynamic impact of hip-hop music culture on Mexican youth and advocates for its further study.

By taking advantage of complementary communication technologies, distinct sensing functionalities and varied motion dynamics present in a heterogeneous multi-robotic network, it is possible to accomplish a main mission objective by assigning specialized sub-tasks to specific members of a robotic team. An adequate selection of the team members and an effective coordination are some of the challenges to fully exploit the unique capabilities that these types of systems can offer. Motivated by real world applications, we focus on a multi-robotic network consisting off aerial and ground agents which has the potential to provide critical support to humans in complex settings. For instance, aerial robotic relays are capable of transporting small ground mobile sensors to expand the communication range and the situational awareness of first responders in hazardous environments. In the first part of this dissertation, we extend work on manipulation of cable-suspended loads using aerial robots by solving the problem of lifting the cable-suspended load from the ground before proceeding to transport it. Since the suspended load-quadrotor system experiences switching conditions during this critical maneuver, we define a hybrid system and show that it is differentially-flat. This property facilitates the design of a nonlinear controller which tracks a waypoint-based trajectory associated with the discrete states of the hybrid system. In addition, we address the case of unknown payload mass by combining a least-squares estimation method with the designed controller. Second, we focus on the coordination of a heterogeneous team formed by a group of ground mobile sensors and a flying communication router which is deployed to sense areas of interest in a cluttered environment. Using potential field methods, we propose a controller for the coordinated mobility of the team to guarantee inter-robot and obstacle collision avoidance as well as connectivity maintenance among the ground agents while the main goal of sensing is carried out. For the case of the aerial communications relays, we combine antenna diversity with reinforcement learning to dynamically re-locate these relays so that the received signal strength is maintained above a desired threshold. Motivated by the recent interest of combining radio frequency and optical wireless communications, we envision the implementation of an optical link between micro-scale aerial and ground robots. This type of link requires maintaining a sufficient relative transmitter-receiver position for reliable communications. In the third part of this thesis, we tackle this problem. Based on the link model, we define a connectivity cone where a minimum transmission rate is guaranteed. For example, the aerial robot has to track the ground vehicle to stay inside this cone. The control must be robust to noisy measurements. Thus, we use particle filters to obtain a better estimation of the receiver position and we design a control algorithm for the flying robot to enhance the transmission rate. Also, we consider the problem of pairing a ground sensor with an aerial vehicle, both equipped with a hybrid radio-frequency/optical wireless communication system. A challenge is positioning the flying robot within optical range when the sensor location is unknown. Thus, we take advantage of the hybrid communication scheme by developing a control strategy that uses the radio signal to guide the aerial platform to the ground sensor. Once the optical-based signal strength has achieved a certain threshold, the robot hovers within optical range. Finally, we investigate the problem of building an alliance of agents with different skills in order to satisfy the requirements imposed by a given task. We find this alliance, known also as a coalition, by using a bipartite graph in which edges represent the relation between agent capabilities and required resources for task execution. Using this graph, we build a coalition whose total capability resources can satisfy the task resource requirements. Also, we study the heterogeneity of the formed coalition to analyze how it is affected for instance by the amount of capability resources present in the agents.

The purpose of this thesis is to develop a control architecture running at real-time for a multi unmanned aerial vehicle test bed formed by three AscTec Hummingbird mini quadrotors. The reliable and reconfigurable architecture presented here has a FPGA-based embedded system as main controller. Under the implemented control system, different practical applications have been performed in the MARHES Lab at the University of New Mexico as part of its research in cooperative control of mobile aerial agents. This thesis also covers the quadrotor modeling, the design of a position controller, the real-time architecture implementation and the experimental flight tests. A hybrid approach combining first-principles with system identification techniques is used for modeling the quadrotor due to the lack of information around the structure of the onboard controller designed by AscTec. The complete quadrotor model structure is formed by a black-box subsystem and a point-mass submodel. Experimental data have been gathered for system identification and black-box submodel validation purposes; while the point-mass submodel is found applying rigid-body dynamics. Using the dynamical model, a position control block based in lead-lag and PI compensators is developed and simulated. Improvements in trajectory tracking performance are achieved estimating the linear velocity of the aerial robot and incorporating velocity lead-lag compensators to the control approach. The velocity of the aerial robot is computed by numerical differentiation of position data. Simulation results to a variety of input signals of the control block in cascade with the complete dynamic model of the quadrotor are included. The control block together with the velocity estimation is fully programmed in the embedded controller. A graphical user interface, GUI, as part of the architecture is designed to display real-time data of position and orientation streamed from the motion tracking system as well as to contain useful user controllers. This GUI facilitates that a single operator conducts and oversees all aspects of the different applications where one or multiple quadrotors are used. Experimental tests have helped to tune the control parameters determined by simulation. The performance of the whole architecture has been validated through a variety of practical applications. Autonomous take off, hovering and landing, target surveillance, trajectory tracking and suspended payload transportation are just some of the applications carried out employing the real-time control architecture proposed in this thesis.

The leaf-feeding beetles Galerucella calmariensis and G. pusilla, introduced as biocontrol agents of the invasive purple loosestrife, are usually highly effective in controlling purple loosestrife. However, at certain sites the insects fail to attain outbreak populations, possibly due to the interaction of predation and flooding regime. Predator exclusion experiments indicated a positive effect of flooding on leaf-beetle survival for all developmental stages, while predator exposure had little effect. The effect of predation did not vary between regions with successful and lack of purple loosestrife control. Purple loosestrife plants grown in flooded soils had higher water content and lower tannin concentration than plants grown in well-drained soil, likely indicating that flooding improves purple loosestrife nutritional quality for leaf-beetles. Dispersal behavior may also affect leaf-beetle dynamics and hence purple loosestrife control. The effect of matrix habitat, isolation and plant damage on leaf-beetle movement was evaluated through a mark-recapture/resight experiment. Leaf-beetles were more likely to colonize purple loosestrife patches embedded in meadow than in forest habitat and they preferred previously attacked purple loosestrife plants over un-attacked plants, especially in the forest habitat. Movement of both species was similarly affected by matrix type, but G. pusilla recaptures were always higher than G. calmariensis. Additionally, I used a mark-recapture study and a spatially-explicit simulation model to evaluate the effect of host-plant damage and distribution, and presence of conspecifics on the dispersal behavior of Galerucella spp. In the field, leaf-beetles preferred purple loosestrife plants that had been previously attacked by conspecifics. A factorial simulation experiment with degree of host-plant aggregation and insect density as factors revealed that mean dispersal distances were lower in the least aggregated landscape, but were not affected by insect density. Dispersal kernels for all cases were fat tailed but kurtosis was higher for the least aggregated landscape. Overall, our results indicate that environmental disturbances such as flooding and landscape features such as matrix habitat mediate Galerucella?s interactions and behavior, leading to variations in their survival and distribution. Biotic and abiotic interactions of biocontrol agents in the introduced range may influence the success of a biocontrol program and should be considered in management.

Two straight and one curved Southern Pine glued-laminated beams are subjected to bending, bending and compression, and biaxial bending. The beams are tested at service loads and only one beam is loaded to failure. The analysis is performed by using the finite element program ABAQUS. The 3-D beam finite element model used is formulated on engineering theory and includes shear deformations. The engineering elastic constants needed to specify the constitutive matrix of the beam element are obtained experimentally. Strain measurements in wood with small bonded strain gages are not accurate. A simple clip-type transducer is fabricated and used to measure the strains in the test glulam beams. The distribution of normal stresses is investigated for symmetrically applied concentrated loads. Experimental and analytical values agree very well.

A finite element modeling and geometrically nonlinear static analysis of glued-laminated timber domes is presented. The modeling and analysis guidelines include: the generation of the geometry, the selection of finite elements to model the components of a dome (beams, purlins, connections, and tension ring), the specification of boundary conditions, the specification of material properties, the determination of a sufficiently accurate mesh, the determination of design loads and the specification of load combinations, the application of analysis procedures to trace the complete response of the structure, and the evaluation of the response. The modeling assumptions and analysis procedures are applied to a dome model whose geometry is based on an existing glulam timber dome of 133 ft span and 18 ft rise above the tension ring. This dome consists of triangulated networks of curved southern pine glulam members connected by steel hubs. The members lie on great circles of a spherical surface of 133.3 ft radius. The dome is covered with a tongue-and-groove wood decking, which is not considered in this study. Therefore, the surface pressures are converted into member loads and then discretized into nodal concentrated loads. A geometrically nonlinear, 3-d, 3-node, isoparametric beam element for glulam beams is formulated, and a program is developed for the analysis of rigid-jointed space frames that can trace the response of the structure by the modified Newton-Ralphson and the modified Risk-Wempner methods. The material is assumed to be continuous, homogeneous, and transversely isotropic. The material properties are assumed to be constant through the volume of the element. The transverse isotropy assumption is validated for southern pine by testing small samples in torsion. The accuracy of the modeling assumptions for southern pine glulam beams is experimentally verified by testing full-size, curved and straight, glulam beams under combined loads. The results show that the isobeam element can accurately represent the overall linear response of the beams. However, to analyze glulam domes with the program, connector elements to model the joints and a truss element to model the tension ring must be added. Therefore, the finite element program ABAQUS is used for the analysis of the dome model. Three dead-load/snow-load combinations are considered in the analysis of the dome model. The space frame joints and the purlin-to-beam connections are modeled with 2-node isobeam elements. A 3-d, 2-node, truss element is used to model the tension ring. Three distinct analyses are considered for rigid and flexible joints: a linear analysis to check the design adequacy of the members. A linearized eigenvalue buckling prediction analysis to estimate the buckling load, which provided accurate estimates of the critical loads when rigid joints were specified. Finally, an incremental, iterative, geometrically nonlinear analysis to trace the complete response of the structure up to failure. It is shown that elastic instability, which is governed by geometric nonlinearities, is the dominant failure mode of the test dome. At the critical load, the induced element stresses remained below the proportional limit of the material. A discussion of the results is presented, and recommendations for future extensions are included.