ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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Description
There is a documented gap between research-based recommendations produced by university-based scholars in the field of education in the United States and the evidence that U.S. politicians' use when deciding which educational policies to implement or amend. This is a problem because university-based education scholars produce vast quantities of research each year, some of which could, and more importantly should, be useful to politicians in their decision-making processes and yet, politicians continue to make policy decisions about education without the benefit of much of the knowledge that has been gained through scholarly research. I refer to the small fraction of university-based education scholars who are demonstrably successful at getting scholarly research into the hands of politicians to be used for decision-making purposes as "university-based bipartisan scholarship brokers". They are distinct from other university-based education scholars in that they engage with politicians from both political parties around research and, as such, are able to use scholarly research to influence the education policymaking process. The problem that this dissertation addresses is the lack of use, by U.S. politicians, of scholarly research produced by United States university-based education scholars as input in education policy decisions. The way in which this problem is explored is through studying university-based bipartisan scholarship brokers. I focused on three areas for exploration: the methods university-based bipartisan scholarship brokers use to successfully get U.S. politicians to consider scholarly research as an input in their decision-making processes around education policy, how these scholars are different than the majority of university-based education policy scholars, and how they conceive of the education policy-setting agenda. What I uncovered in this dissertation is that university-based bipartisan scholarship brokers are a complete sub-group of university-based education scholars. They work above the rigorous promotion and tenure requirements of their home universities in order to use scholarly research to help serve the research needs of politicians. Their engagement is distinct among university-based education scholars and through this dissertation their perspective is presented in participants' own authentic language.
ContributorsAckman, Emily Rydel (Author) / Garcia, David R. (Thesis advisor) / Powers, Jeanne (Committee member) / Fischman, Gustavo E (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Traditional approaches to modeling microgrids include the behavior of each inverter operating in a particular network configuration and at a particular operating point. Such models quickly become computationally intensive for large systems. Similarly, traditional approaches to control do not use advanced methodologies and suffer from poor performance and limited operating range. In this document a linear model is derived for an inverter connected to the Thevenin equivalent of a microgrid. This model is then compared to a nonlinear simulation model and analyzed using the open and closed loop systems in both the time and frequency domains. The modeling error is quantified with emphasis on its use for controller design purposes. Control design examples are given using a Glover McFarlane controller, gain sched- uled Glover McFarlane controller, and bumpless transfer controller which are compared to the standard droop control approach. These examples serve as a guide to illustrate the use of multi-variable modeling techniques in the context of robust controller design and show that gain scheduled MIMO control techniques can extend the operating range of a microgrid. A hardware implementation is used to compare constant gain droop controllers with Glover McFarlane controllers and shows a clear advantage of the Glover McFarlane approach.
ContributorsSteenis, Joel (Author) / Ayyanar, Raja (Thesis advisor) / Mittelmann, Hans (Committee member) / Tsakalis, Konstantinos (Committee member) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Gender and sex are often conflated. Our laws, policies, and even science establish sex and gender as intrinsically linked and dimorphic in nature. This dissertation examines the relationship between sex and gender and the repercussions of this linked dimorphism in the realms of law, politics, and science. Chapter One identifies the legal climate for changing one's sexual identity post-surgical reassignment. It pays particular attention to the ability of postsurgical transsexuals to marry in their acquired sex. Chapter Two considers the process for identifying the sex of athletes for the purposes of participation in sex-segregated athletic events, specifically the role of testing and standards for categorization. Chapter Three explores the process of identifying and assigning the sex of intersex children. Chapter Four examines the process of prenatal sex selection and its ethical implications. Chapter Four also offers an anticipatory governance framework to address these implications.
ContributorsParsi, John (Author) / Crittenden, Jack (Thesis advisor) / Guston, David H. (Committee member) / Marchant, Gary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
In October, 2009, participants of the Arizona Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) began receiving monthly Cash Value Vouchers (CVV) worth between six and 10 dollars towards the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables. Data from the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) showed CVV redemption rates in the first two years of the program were lower than the national average of 77% redemption. In response, the ADHS WIC Food List was expanded to also include canned and frozen fruits and vegetables. More recent data from ADHS suggest that redemption rates are improving, but variably exist among different WIC sub-populations. The purpose of this project was to identify themes related to the ease or difficulty of WIC CVV use amongst different categories of low-redeeming WIC participants. A total of 8 focus groups were conducted, four at a clinic in each of two Valley cities: Surprise and Mesa. Each of the four focus groups comprised one of four targeted WIC participant categories: pregnant, postpartum, breastfeeding, and children with participation ranging from 3-9 participants per group. Using the general inductive approach, recordings of the focus groups were transcribed, hand-coded and uploaded into qualitative analysis software resulting in four emergent themes including: interactions and shopping strategies, maximizing WIC value, redemption issues, and effect of rule change. Researchers identified twelve different subthemes related to the emergent theme of interactions and strategies to improve their experience, including economic considerations during redemption. Barriers related to interactions existed that made their purchase difficult, most notably anger from the cashier and other shoppers. However, participants made use of a number of strategies to facilitate WIC purchases or extract more value out of WIC benefits, such as pooling their CVV. Finally, it appears that the fruit and vegetable rule change was well received by those who were aware of the change. These data suggest a number of important avenues for future research, including verifying these themes are important within a larger, representative sample of Arizona WIC participants, and exploring strategies to minimize barriers identified by participants, such as use of electronic benefits transfer-style cards (EBT).
ContributorsBertmann, Farryl M. W (Author) / Wharton, Christopher (Christopher Mack), 1977- (Thesis advisor) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Committee member) / Johnston, Carol (Committee member) / Hampl, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Dixit-Joshi, Sujata (Committee member) / Barroso, Cristina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Global climate change (GCC) is among the most important issues of the 21st century. Adaptation to and mitigation of climate change are some of the salient local and regional challenges scientists, decision makers, and the general public face today and will be in the near future. However, designed adaptation and mitigation strategies do not guarantee success in coping with global climate change. Despite the robust and convincing body for anthropogenic global climate change research and science there is still a significant gap between the recommendations provided by the scientific community and the actual actions by the public and policy makers. In order to design, implement, and generate sufficient public support for policies and planning interventions at the national and international level, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the public's perceptions regarding GCC. Based on survey research in nine countries, the purpose of this study is two-fold: First, to understand the nature of public perceptions of global climate change in different countries; and secondly to identi-fy perception factors which have a significant impact on the public's willingness to sup-port GCC policies or commit to behavioral changes to reduce GHG emissions. Factors such as trust in GCC information which need to be considered in future climate change communication efforts are also dealt with in this dissertation. This study has identified several aspects that need to be considered in future communication programs. GCC is characterized by high uncertainties, unfamiliar risks, and other characteristics of hazards which make personal connections, responsibility and engagement difficult. Communication efforts need to acknowledge these obstacles, build up trust and motivate the public to be more engaged in reducing GCC by emphasizing the multiple benefits of many policies outside of just reducing GCC. Levels of skepticism among the public towards the reality of GCC as well as the trustworthiness and sufficien-cy of the scientific findings varies by country. Thus, communicators need to be aware of their audience in order to decide how educational their program needs to be.
ContributorsHagen, Bjoern (Author) / Pijawka, David (Thesis advisor) / Brazel, Anthony (Committee member) / Chhetri, Netra (Committee member) / Guhathakurta, Subhrajit (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
In the United States, under the provisions set forth by a policy known as community benefit, nonprofit hospitals receive special tax exemptions from government in exchange for providing a wide range of health care services to the communities in which they are located. In recent years, nonprofit hospitals have claimed billions of dollars as community benefit justifying their tax-exempt status. However, growing criticism by numerous stakeholders has questioned the extent to which the level of community benefit claimed by nonprofit hospitals reflects the exemptions they receive. In addition, a dearth of research exists to understand the relationship between community benefit claims and the impact they have on improving the health of communities. In an effort to better understand the relationship between community benefit claims, tax status, and community health outcomes this study examines the community benefit policies of a nonprofit healthcare system representing hospitals in California, Nevada, and Arizona. It does so by reviewing materials produced by the system, her hospitals, vested stakeholders, and government that have shaped the development, implementation, and assessment of community benefit policy processes. Findings of the study suggest that the majority of nonprofit hospital community benefit claims are consumed by shortfalls reported between costs associated with providing care to Medicare and Medicaid patients and the compensation nonprofit hospitals receive from government. Results of the study also demonstrate that community benefit policies do positively impact the health of communities. However, future community benefit policies need to be refined to include measures that capture the magnitude of community health improvement if the relationship between policy and health outcomes is to be fully realized.
ContributorsMartz, Mark Patrick (Author) / Cayer, Joseph (Thesis advisor) / Glaser, Mark (Committee member) / Corley, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The object of this study was a 26 year old residential Photovoltaic (PV) monocrystalline silicon (c-Si) power plant, called Solar One, built by developer John F. Long in Phoenix, Arizona (a hot-dry field condition). The task for Arizona State University Photovoltaic Reliability Laboratory (ASU-PRL) graduate students was to evaluate the power plant through visual inspection, electrical performance, and infrared thermography. The purpose of this evaluation was to measure and understand the extent of degradation to the system along with the identification of the failure modes in this hot-dry climatic condition. This 4000 module bipolar system was originally installed with a 200 kW DC output of PV array (17 degree fixed tilt) and an AC output of 175 kVA. The system was shown to degrade approximately at a rate of 2.3% per year with no apparent potential induced degradation (PID) effect. The power plant is made of two arrays, the north array and the south array. Due to a limited time frame to execute this large project, this work was performed by two masters students (Jonathan Belmont and Kolapo Olakonu) and the test results are presented in two masters theses. This thesis presents the results obtained on the north array and the other thesis presents the results obtained on the south array. The resulting study showed that PV module design, array configuration, vandalism, installation methods and Arizona environmental conditions have had an effect on this system's longevity and reliability. Ultimately, encapsulation browning, higher series resistance (potentially due to solder bond fatigue) and non-cell interconnect ribbon breakages outside the modules were determined to be the primary causes for the power loss.
ContributorsBelmont, Jonathan (Author) / Tamizhmani, Govindasamy (Thesis advisor) / Henderson, Mark (Committee member) / Rogers, Bradley (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This dissertation examines the role that business counselors in a public entrepreneurial development program play in improving the Entrepreneurial Specific Human Capital (ESHC) of nascent and active entrepreneurs. Through multiple research methodologies, this study identifies the types of ESHC provided by business counselors then compares them to the types of ESHC commonly accepted as necessary for entrepreneurial success. The comparison reveals a number of insights for policy and research, most notably a minimum portfolio of skills necessary for entrepreneurial success. This study also examines the methods counselors use to help entrepreneurs acquire higher levels of ESHC. These methods allow counselors to assist entrepreneurs in recognizing and overcoming common barriers to business growth, and a model of entrepreneurial business growth barriers has been produced which depicts these barriers as conceptual-operational transition points for the entrepreneur. Additionally, this dissertation develops important information about the use of the business plan in entrepreneurial development, and uncovers a number of moderators in the relationship between the use of the business plan and entrepreneurial success. Finally, the study produces detailed information about ESHC which has potential for scale development, and highlights a number of insights for policy and research that have not been identified previously.
ContributorsDahlstrom, Timothy R (Author) / Chapman, Jeffrey I. (Thesis advisor) / Phillips, Rhonda (Committee member) / Knopf, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) are currently being explored as a cheaper alternative to the more common silicon (Si) solar cell technology. In addition to the cost advantages, DSSCs show good performance in low light conditions and are not sensitive to varying angles of incident light like traditional Si cells. One of the major challenges facing DSSCs is loss of the liquid electrolyte, through evaporation or leakage, which lowers stability and leads to increased degradation. Current research with solid-state and quasi-solid DSSCs has shown success regarding a reduction of electrolyte loss, but at a cost of lower conversion efficiency output. The research work presented in this paper focuses on the effects of using nanoclay material as a gelator in the electrolyte of the DSSC. The data showed that the quasi-solid cells are more stable than their liquid electrolyte counterparts, and achieved equal or better I-V characteristics. The quasi-solid cells were fabricated with a gel electrolyte that was prepared by adding 7 wt% of Nanoclay, Nanomer® (1.31PS, montmorillonite clay surface modified with 15-35% octadecylamine and 0.5-5 wt% aminopropyltriethoxysilane, Aldrich) to the iodide/triiodide liquid electrolyte, (Iodolyte AN-50, Solaronix). Various gel concentrations were tested in order to find the optimal ratio of nanoclay to liquid. The gel electrolyte made with 7 wt% nanoclay was more viscous, but still thin enough to allow injection with a standard syringe. Batches of cells were fabricated with both liquid and gel electrolyte and were evaluated at STC conditions (25°C, 100 mW/cm2) over time. The gel cells achieved efficiencies as high as 9.18% compared to 9.65% achieved by the liquid cells. After 10 days, the liquid cell decreased to 1.75%, less than 20% of its maximum efficiency. By contrast, the gel cell's efficiency increased for two weeks, and did not decrease to 20% of maximum efficiency until 45 days. After several measurements, the liquid cells showed visible signs of leakage through the sealant, whereas the gel cells did not. This resistance to leakage likely contributed to the improved performance of the quasi-solid cells over time, and is a significant advantage over liquid electrolyte DSSCs.
ContributorsMain, Laura (Author) / Munukutla, Lakshmi (Thesis advisor) / Madakannan, Arunachalanadar (Committee member) / Polesky, Gerald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Potential induced degradation (PID) due to high system voltages is one of the major degradation mechanisms in photovoltaic (PV) modules, adversely affecting their performance due to the combined effects of the following factors: system voltage, superstrate/glass surface conductivity, encapsulant conductivity, silicon nitride anti-reflection coating property and interface property (glass/encapsulant; encapsulant/cell; encapsulant/backsheet). Previous studies carried out at ASU's Photovoltaic Reliability Laboratory (ASU-PRL) showed that only negative voltage bias (positive grounded systems) adversely affects the performance of commonly available crystalline silicon modules. In previous studies, the surface conductivity of the glass surface was obtained using either conductive carbon layer extending from the glass surface to the frame or humidity inside an environmental chamber. This thesis investigates the influence of glass surface conductivity disruption on PV modules. In this study, conductive carbon was applied only on the module's glass surface without extending to the frame and the surface conductivity was disrupted (no carbon layer) at 2cm distance from the periphery of frame inner edges. This study was carried out under dry heat at two different temperatures (60 °C and 85 °C) and three different negative bias voltages (-300V, -400V, and -600V). To replicate closeness to the field conditions, half of the selected modules were pre-stressed under damp heat for 1000 hours (DH 1000) and the remaining half under 200 hours of thermal cycling (TC 200). When the surface continuity was disrupted by maintaining a 2 cm gap from the frame to the edge of the conductive layer, as demonstrated in this study, the degradation was found to be absent or negligibly small even after 35 hours of negative bias at elevated temperatures. This preliminary study appears to indicate that the modules could become immune to PID losses if the continuity of the glass surface conductivity is disrupted at the inside boundary of the frame. The surface conductivity of the glass, due to water layer formation in a humid condition, close to the frame could be disrupted just by applying a water repelling (hydrophobic) but high transmittance surface coating (such as Teflon) or modifying the frame/glass edges with water repellent properties.
ContributorsTatapudi, Sai Ravi Vasista (Author) / Tamizhmani, Govindasamy (Thesis advisor) / Srinivasan, Devarajan (Committee member) / Rogers, Bradley (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012