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Texas ScholarWorks was established to provide open, online access to the products of the University's research and scholarship, to preserve these works for future generations, to promote new models of scholarly communication, and to help deepen community understanding of the value of higher education.
UT Tower and campus image credit: Earl McGehee, CC-BY, https://www.flickr.com/photos/ejmc/7452145850
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Recent Submissions
Housing choice in an evolving remote work landscape
(2023-12) Robbennolt, Dale; Bhat, Chandra R. (Chandrasekhar R.), 1964-
We estimate a joint model of housing choice along several dimensions to account for changing valuations of housing outcomes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We consider housing outcomes including housing type, tenure type, the presence of a patio or yard, the number of bedrooms, neighborhood population density, median housing cost, accessibility of amenities, school quality, crime rate, and commute distance. Data used for this analysis were collected in October and November of 2021 from 24 metropolitan areas across the United States. A Generalized Heterogeneous Data Model (GHDM) is used to estimate these housing outcomes as a function of exogenous household sociodemographic characteristics and latent lifestyle propensities. The GHDM also captures jointness caused by unobserved factors, allowing for the estimation of accurate causal effects between outcomes. The results reveal that lifestyle preferences have significant impacts on housing outcomes. Specifically, individuals with a preference for teleworking are more likely to reside in single-family homes in highly populated areas, experience longer commute distances, and exhibit a higher sensitivity to the presence of amenities in their neighborhoods. Additionally, the analysis of tradeoffs between housing outcomes reveals the relative valuations of various housing outcomes. An increased commute distance is found to lead to an increase in single-family homes, reductions in density, and an increased crime rate. Choosing an apartment in a high-density neighborhood is found to lead to reductions in school quality and significant increases in crime rates. Implications of the results for land-use planning, travel demand analysis, and equity considerations are identified and discussed.
Lattice based and isogeny based post-quantum cryptography
(2023-12) David, Rachelle H.; Garg, Vijay K. (Vijay Kumar), 1963-
Modern cryptography involving public-keys relies on mathematically difficult problems, such as factoring large numbers into prime factors and finding rational points on elliptic curves. A typical public-key scheme involves two communicators who each have a public and a private key. Each party publishes their public key so that others may use it to encrypt directed messages while only the individual party uses their private key to decrypt those messages. As computers advance, so too do the methods of breaking cryptographic systems. This drives the development of increasingly difficult cryptographic schemes. While these schemes are more difficult to break and are faster than historic encryption methods, quantum computers threaten the security of classical cryptography. These highly efficient computers will break existing classical ciphers, such as RSA (Rivest Shamir Adleman), ECC (elliptic curve cryptography) and others. It is therefore necessary and urgent to improve cryptographic algorithms to make them resistant to quantum computers. These modifications improve the security of cryptographic schemes and make it more challenging for adversaries to intercept, modify, or decrypt confidential messages. There are currently several areas of research for potential post-quantum cryptographic algorithms. Two such areas are isogeny based cryptography and lattice based cryptography. This kind of cryptography relies on isogenies of elliptic curves as well as lattices and works by each communicating party taking random walks on isogeny graphs. In this report we explain in detail how to find isogenies of elliptic curves, how we can compute isogeny graphs from isogenies of elliptic curves and practical applications of isogeny-based cryptography in the Diffie-Helman key exchange, and lastly analyze the security of the quantum-resistant cryptographic technique. Since this is a new area of research there is no available book which covers in detail all the tools used in isogeny based and lattice based cryptography, so this report is an initiative toward formalization. As quantum computers become more realistic threats to classical cryptography, there is a clear need to develop practical quantum-resistant algorithms. By better understanding and improving cryptographic schemes, our communications in public channels will be better protected from adversaries.
Sensor systems for the characterization of vent products from thermal runaway of lithium-ion batteries
(2023-12) Pinkerton, Katherine Ann; Ezekoye, Ofodike A.
With the increasing prevalence of lithium-ion batteries in residential and commercial applications, their failure, via thermal runaway, is also becoming increasingly common. Four primary hazards result from this self-heating phenomenon: flammability hazards, explosion hazards, toxicity hazards, and inhalation hazards. This thesis aims to explore sensor systems, both handheld and benchtop, that can be used to characterize these vented gases and particulates. The first chapter investigates the accuracy and time response of commercial multi-gas sensors commonly utilized by firefighters. Recommendations for interpretations of readings are provided, along with equations and correction factors to improve sensor accuracy. The second chapter describes the use of benchtop and commercially available PM2.5 sensors. Additionally, validation of these sensors via comparison with calibrated equipment is provided, along with recommendations for interpretations and adjustments that should be considered during use. The following chapter describes the use and results of these particle sizing sensors and handheld multi-gas sensors in near source and dilute battery thermal runaway environments. This data provides preliminary guidelines on the composition and concentrations of battery thermal runaway particulates released for varying cell chemistries and states of charge. The final chapter details an acquired structure test involving lithium-ion batteries of varying capacity and chemistry. The sensor systems described previously were utilized to characterize the resulting gaseous products, alongside additional sensors measuring temperature and heat fluxes. The summation of this work provides guidelines for the use of particulate and gas analysis sensor systems to characterize lithium-ion battery thermal runaway vent products for the improved safety of firefighters and the general public.
COERLL Blog
(COERLL, 2022) Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning
In 2010, COERLL became one of the 16 National Foreign Language Resource Centers funded by the US Department of Education. Our center’s specific mission is to produce and disseminate Open Educational Resources (OER) for the Internet public. OER are “teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under an intellectual property license that permits sharing, accessing, repurposing—including for commercial purposes—and collaborating with others.” (Free to Learn)
The purpose of the COERLL Blog was to speak directly with language teachers and learners interested in OER. The publication contained news, opinions, and teaching and learning resources, as well as the expertise of leaders in Open Education. The blog was discontinued in 2022.
Towards participatory planning in the IMPLAN Ahome, Mexico: practices and discourses of participation
(2023-12) Pacheco Meraz, Ana Luisa; Sletto, Bjørn; Wegmann, Jake
Local public planning in Mexico, mainly represented by the Municipal Planning Institutes (IMPLANs in the Spanish acronym) has been unable to confront all the challenges of the cities in the new millennium. These institutes adopted a predominantly strategic planning model heavily influenced by the traditional rational planning, highly focusing on technicalities and physical interventions. IMPLANs now struggle to adopt new progressive tendencies in planning that highlight the social, political, and ethical aspects of the profession. Deep citizen participation is a key element in achieving a more democratic, just, and inclusive planning. In this thesis I draw on the Instituto Municipal de Planeación de Ahome (IMPLAN Ahome) as my case study, to understand the characteristics of the strategic planning model applied to the Ahome context, explain how participation is being integrated in their practices and their discourses, and uncover the predominant ideas driving these practices, all with the intention to answer if it is possible to achieve truly meaningful and inclusive participatory planning through the IMPLAN Ahome. I analyze the citizen participation approach of this institute in a holistic way, looking at six categories: the institution’s general view about participation; the methods used; the outreach and communication strategies; the intended and usual subjects; the approach to conflict; and the values surrounding participation. In addition, I address the perception of IMPLAN planners about their role in participatory planning and examine the main barriers and limitations to more meaningful participatory processes. For this, I apply a discourse analysis to three official planning documents elaborated by IMPLAN Ahome and to semi structured interviews with its planning personnel. IMPLAN’s Ahome approximation to participation is closer to consensus planning, however, I identify a regression since now citizen participation has been mostly reduced to solicitating feedback. Nevertheless, there is a latent possibility for change through the deep reflection of the planners about their role.