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Item type:Item, Access status: Open Access , Title Tectonic evolution and basin analysis of the Hanover Block in western Jamaica(2012) Yalcin, Bora; Pigott, John D.; Slatt, Roger M.; Keller, G. RandyItem type:Item, Access status: Open Access , Microphysical Studies of Melting Hail Using In Situ Aircraft Measurements, Cloud Modeling, and Polarimetric Radar Data(University of Oklahoma – Graduate College, 2026) Southward, Savannah; Bodine, David; Ryzhkov, Alexander; Carlin, Jacob; Lebo, Zachary; McFarquhar, GregHail is a highly destructive severe weather hazard, causing over $10 billion USD in insured losses annually. Beyond impacts to personal and commercial property, industries such as agriculture and aviation are also highly vulnerable to the damaging nature of hail. Advanced polarimetric weather radars provide the primary means for remotely detecting hail, estimating its size, and issuing timely warnings. However, existing methodologies for quantifying and forecasting large hail remain limited, particularly due to uncertainties in relating radar signatures to hail microphysics and storm dynamics. This research leverages unique in situ observations from the armored T-28 aircraft, which has sampled hail-bearing storms across multiple field campaigns, to better constrain these relationships. Throughout this work, I investigate the sensitivity of polarimetric radar variables to hail size aloft and the role of downdraft dynamics in shaping radar signatures in hail-producing storms. Using a one-dimensional downdraft model with spectral bin microphysics initialized from T-28 aircraft observations, I examine how different definitions of maximum hail size (Dmax) influence simulated vertical profiles of reflectivity (ZH), differential reflectivity (ZDR), and specific differential phase (KDP). The model framework enables controlled exploration of how microphysical assumptions and environmental conditions influence both radar presentation and downdraft evolution. By linking in situ measurements, modeling, and radar observations, this work aims to improve understanding of hail microphysics and support the development of more optimized radar-based hail detection and prediction methodologies. The results demonstrate that uncertainty in the assumed maximum hail size propagates directly into simulated polarimetric radar signatures. While the inclusion of modeled downdrafts produced measurable reductions in hydrometeor concentration and corresponding decreases in radar variables, these effects were secondary to the influence of the particle size distribution and environmental thermodynamic structure. Comparison with S-Pol observations from the 29 June 2000 STEPS field campaign showed that the model successfully reproduced the primary characteristics of the observed vertical profiles of ZH, ZDR, and KDP, providing confidence that the coupled aircraft-model-radar framework captures the dominant physical processes governing melting hail. These findings improve understanding of how particle size distribution uncertainty and vertical transport influence polarimetric radar observations and provide guidance for the continued development of radar-based hail detection and quantitative precipitation estimation algorithms.Item type:Item, Access status: Embargo , Structured sound and the temporal organization of vigilance behavior(2026) Yost, Jake; Vanhoy, Mickie; Hamlin, Mark; Jean, VickieAuditory noise is often treated as a background condition or source of interference, yet noise contains measurable spectral structure that may shape attention and performance. Prior research suggests that noise can influence arousal, sustained attention, and response variability, but these effects are unlikely to be uniformly helpful or harmful. This thesis examined whether pink, white, and brown noise functioned as structured auditory contexts during a visual vigilance task. Participants completed a sustained signal-detection task in which they monitored a moving Gabor stimulus for subtle rotational changes while exposed to one auditory condition. Traditional behavioral outcomes, including hit rate, false alarm rate, response time, d′, β, and criterion c, were analyzed alongside distributional, recurrence, multifractal, and scan-path measures. Traditional Signal Detection Theory and mean response-time analyses did not show clear omnibus differences among the three sound-profile conditions. However, temporal and eye-movement analyses indicated that performance organization remained informative even when average behavioral outcomes were broadly similar. Response-time recurrence provided descriptive evidence about behavioral organization, whereas scan-path analyses provided the strongest nonlinear evidence: scan-path MFDFA supported participant-level profile interpretation, and scan-path RQA showed a condition difference in laminarity. These findings support the thesis in modified form. Pink, white, and brown noise should not be evaluated only by whether they improve or impair average performance; they may also be examined as structured contexts in which vigilance behavior unfolds over time. Future research should test longer vigilance tasks, larger samples, additional sound profiles, physiological measures, and individual-difference predictors.Item type:Item, Access status: Open Access , Invoking power: restoration of Native American women's power through the Mississippian Earthmother(2026) Wilmot, Trista Louise; Panther, Natalie; Ball, Chelsea; Weber, Reid S.; Vaughn, HeidiHistorians and scholars have written much in feminist Indigenous studies about the Native women who call North America, or Turtle Island, home. But when historians wrote about Mississippian women or their descendant communities, they left out crucial information about these women and how they lived day to day. They have also failed to realize just how much their religions shaped their worlds. Earthmother was a Mississippian deity that can still be seen today in the rituals and ceremonies of the Southeast Indigenous nations who descend from the Mississippians. Through research into archaeological and iconographic records, evidence of how Earthmother shaped women's roles and gave them power over certain aspects of society can be seen. If the teachings of Earthmother could be restored, women could regain their sacred power and take a more prominent place in their communities.Item type:Item, Access status: Open Access , Differential extraction: a comparison of SpermX and Sampletype i-sep DL-MB(2026) Wheeler, Evan; Williams, Rhonda (Rhonda Clark); Creecy, James; King, ChadDifferential extraction is a modified extraction that was developed in 1985 to separate male DNA (sperm cells) from female DNA (epithelial cells) in mixed samples. This process presents challenges such as the loss of male spermatozoa cells and the potential for epithelial cell carryover. Recent advancements in DNA analysis kits have improved separation during the differential extraction process. In this project, Biotype’s Sampletype i-sep® DL-MB and InnoGenomic’s SpermXTM kits were compared to a variation of the Qiagen DNA Investigator Kit to determine cell separation efficiency and sensitivity. Ease of use and processing time were also taken into consideration. Mixed samples at semen concentrations of neat, 1:10, and 1:100 dilutions were created and extracted according to the kit protocols and quantified with Quantifiler TrioTM. Results obtained from triplicate testing show that SpermXTM is highly effective at isolating the sperm fraction from neat and 1:10 sperm samples. SpermXTM yielded an average of 0.75 ng/μl compared to 0.22 ng/μl for neat and 0.12 ng/μl compared to 0.041 ng/μl for 1:10, when correlated with i-sep® DL-MB. Conversely, the i-sep® method outperforms SpermXTM in extracting DNA from the epithelial fraction. Notably, the DNA quantities from SpermXTM at 1:100 dilution were similar to those from i-sep® at the same dilution (0.031 ng/μl and 0.028 ng/μl), and both methods surpassed the Qiagen DNA Investigator Kit. Future applications for SpermXTM and i-sep® DL-MB would be to develop a way for the protocols to be automated or for the kits to be used in cold cases.