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Evaluation Of Methods For Determining Bulk Specific Gravity Of Hma Specimens, Giovanni Icuspit Galacgac
Evaluation Of Methods For Determining Bulk Specific Gravity Of Hma Specimens, Giovanni Icuspit Galacgac
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
In this study, comparisons were made on the methods for bulk specific gravity measurements of rutted and unrutted Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA). Bulk specific gravity determination was performed using three methods: Water Displacement(TM), Parafilm(TM) and Corelok(TM). The evaluations were made on a total of sixty-two sets of two or three specimens, four different mix designs for rutted specimens, and three different mix designs for the unrutted specimens. The bulk specific gravity test results were compared for similarity of the methods and repeatability of the measurements for each method. Analysis of the data showed that (1) for unrutted specimens, the bulk …
Radiometric Evaluation Of The Prehistoric Mortuary Practices Of The Chinchorro Culture In Northern Chile, Matthew Ray Doubrava
Radiometric Evaluation Of The Prehistoric Mortuary Practices Of The Chinchorro Culture In Northern Chile, Matthew Ray Doubrava
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
The Chinchorros were the aboriginal, pre-ceramic peoples of the northern Chilean and southern Peruvian coastline. The Chinchorro culture used four types of mummification techniques (red, black, natural and mud-coated). Each of these types may be distinct to the chronological time period in which it was used and, therefore, the typology would be used to define the Chinchorro chronology. Also, if the mummification styles are unique to a particular time period it would support the idea that this was an egalitarian group that did not recognize individual social rank in mortuary practices. To test these hypotheses 16 samples from 15 Chinchorro …
Evaluation Of Factors Affecting The Performance Of Biological Phosphorus Removal In A Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plant, Cesar Rossas Mota Filho
Evaluation Of Factors Affecting The Performance Of Biological Phosphorus Removal In A Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plant, Cesar Rossas Mota Filho
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Parameters bearing on the performance of a full-scale 88-MGD enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) system were examined. Samples were collected for a 10-month period in a basin and in a secondary clarifier of the plant. Samples were analyzed for nitrate, total and ortho-phosphorus, COD, acetic acid, polyhydroxybutyrate, glycogen, calcium, magnesium, potassium, ammonia, alkalinity, TSS, ORP, pH, and DO. Profiles of the aerobic and anaerobic zones, and secondary clarifier showed that the plant is operating as an actual EBPR system, with sporadic phosphorus excursions. Low BOD input to the system, high phosphorus from return streams of the sludge handling process, high …
Evaluation Of In Situ Biodegradation Of Perchlorate In A Contaminated Site, Zhong Zhang
Evaluation Of In Situ Biodegradation Of Perchlorate In A Contaminated Site, Zhong Zhang
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
This thesis investigated parameters affecting perchlorate biodegradation in the Las Vegas Wash area in Las Vegas, NV. Perchlorate is known to interfere with the functioning of the thyroid gland of humans. Perchlorate concentrations along the Las Vegas Wash were found to range from zero to 1000 ppb, while perchlorate concentrations in the contaminated seepage were approximately 100 ppm. Microbial counts in 30 water samples from the Las Vegas Wash and the contaminated seepage indicated that indigenous perchlorate-reducing microbes are ubiquitous and present in reasonable numbers. In the contaminated area, natural perchlorate biodegradation seems to be limited by at least three …
Evaluation Of Geophysical Methods To Characterize Alluvial Soils In The Arid Environment, Bjorn E Sundquist
Evaluation Of Geophysical Methods To Characterize Alluvial Soils In The Arid Environment, Bjorn E Sundquist
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Non-intrusive geophysical investigations, both seismic and electrical, were performed at several locations on the Las Vegas Springs Preserve in Las Vegas, Nevada, along with intrusive drilling. These investigations were conducted to determine whether it is possible use geophysical methods to detect piping-induced cavities and shallow inclusions such as calcific nodules and horizons known as caliche in dry, desert soil, while at the same time characterizing the mechanical structure of the soil and distribution of soil moisture for engineering purposes. The geophysical methods used were the Spectral-Analysis-of-Surface-Waves (SASW) method, surface-based seismic cavity detection, multi-electrode electrical resistivity, and electromagnetic conductivity. The results …
An Evaluation Between Confidence Judgments And Differences In Monitoring Ability, Brett Douglas Campbell
An Evaluation Between Confidence Judgments And Differences In Monitoring Ability, Brett Douglas Campbell
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Metacognition is the awareness of a person's thinking and the ability to regulate that thinKing This study examines how confident a person is at monitoring progress during two cognitive tasks. The fast task was the feeling-of-knowing paradigm, when participants judge how accurately they can retrieve an answer in a recognition task, when they cannot retrieve the answer in free recall. The second task was a paired-associate interference paradigm. Participants were presented with a list of noun-noun pairs twice and then a new list was presented for recall. Participants were placed into three groups (high, medium, low) based on responses to …
Development And Validation Of An Instrument For Student Evaluation Of Web -Based Instruction, Ingrid Stewart
Development And Validation Of An Instrument For Student Evaluation Of Web -Based Instruction, Ingrid Stewart
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
The current study attempted to develop an instrument to be used by instructors to conduct a comprehensive Web-based course evaluation. Four phases of instrument development were implemented. Phase I, involved the development if items through a review of the literature and the opinions of instructors and students enrolled in four Web-based mathematics courses. After the items were formulated and a response format was established, a questionnaire blueprint was developed. An item review, a content validation study, and an item tryout were conducted; In Phase II, the initial questionnaire was placed on the World Wide Web together with a cover letter …
Gis-Based Evaluation Of Mid-Block Pedestrian Crossing Safety, Zhenzhong Cui
Gis-Based Evaluation Of Mid-Block Pedestrian Crossing Safety, Zhenzhong Cui
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Transportation related problems have become one of the most pressing and visible concerns of urban life. One major aspect of safety relates to pedestrian crossings, especially pedestrian crossings away from an intersection i.e. at mid-block locations. There is need to develop a program to address mid-block pedestrian crashes (MBPC) to better understand them. This thesis describes the development of set of tools designed to help better understand MBPCs. Included are general statistical methods, GIS database, and visualization interface software; This thesis evaluates the potential of spatial clustering techniques and nearest neighbor methods to identify areas where high concentrations of mid-block …
Ocr-Directed Evaluation Of Binarization Techniques, Diego Antonio Vinas
Ocr-Directed Evaluation Of Binarization Techniques, Diego Antonio Vinas
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
The objective of this work is to study different binarization methods and to investigate their effect on the performance of OCR systems. Two sets of document images and four OCR systems were used to study several binarization algorithms. The simplest method that chooses the median value of the gray levels, i.e., 127 from 256 levels, as the global threshold value did not work well unless the scanner characteristic matched with the nature of a collection of documents by chance. The best-fixed method uses the global threshold value that minimizes the number of overall errors for a combination of an OCR …
Examining Specialized Drug Courts: An Evaluation Of The Las Vegas Drug Court Treatment Program, Erin Nicole Reese
Examining Specialized Drug Courts: An Evaluation Of The Las Vegas Drug Court Treatment Program, Erin Nicole Reese
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Developed in response to overcrowded jails and backlogged court dockets, drug courts use comprehensive treatment and graduated sanctions to deal with drug offenders. This study evaluates the Las Vegas Drug Court in terms of its effectiveness in reducing recidivism by comparing data for drug court cases with drug cases not processed in the drug court. The results indicate that recidivism rates for drug court participants are significantly higher than for non-drug court participants. These findings suggest that further research should be conducted about the impact and utility of drug courts.
Chinese Children's Evaluation Of Authority's Responses To Social Events, Pui San Tse
Chinese Children's Evaluation Of Authority's Responses To Social Events, Pui San Tse
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Chinese children's conceptualization of moral, conventional and personal events and their judgments of authority were examined by assessing their evaluation of authority's responses to these acts. Seventy-two Macau children from second, fifth and eighth grades made judgments of permissibility of acts, personal jurisdiction, and obedience to rules regarding these events and then rated moral, conventional and filial duty reasons provided by parents in response to these events. Findings were that children made distinctions among these events. They also rated moral reasons as the best response to moral transgressions. Children rated both moral reasons and conventional reasons more positively than duty …
Elder Care: An Evaluation Of Communication Resources For Lay Caregivers In Southern Nevada, Deborah Lee Hauth
Elder Care: An Evaluation Of Communication Resources For Lay Caregivers In Southern Nevada, Deborah Lee Hauth
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Hidden behind closed doors of nursing homes, hospitals and neighborhood residences, was a segment of the population suffering from dementing illnesses. Although seldom seen, these older Americans presented significant challenges for the family members caring for them. This study focused attention on these lay caregivers and the effectiveness of community resources, from their perspective. With assistance from Southern Nevada Alzheimer's Association staff, a survey was conducted. The results showed agencies rated as "satisfactory" in their efforts to provide information, with the Alzheimer's Association newsletter ranked as the primary source of information for caregivers. While the survey provided insights regarding caregivers …
An Evaluation Of Unsaturated Flow Models In An Arid Climate, Jason Michael Dixon
An Evaluation Of Unsaturated Flow Models In An Arid Climate, Jason Michael Dixon
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of two unsaturated flow models in and regions. The area selected for the study was the Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Site (RWMS) at the Nevada Test Site in Nye County, Nevada. The two models selected for this evaluation were HYDRUS-1D [Simunek et al., 1998] and the SHAW model [Flerchinger and Saxton, 1989]. Approximately 5 years of soil-water and atmospheric data collected from an instrumented weighing lysimeter site near the RWMS were used for building the models with actual initial and boundary conditions representative of the site. Physical processes affecting …
Development Of An Inexpensive Test System And Evaluation Of The Test Procedures For Conducting Vibration Tests On Antivibration Gloves Per Iso Standard 10819, Jason K Stein
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
An inexpensive test system was developed for conducting vibration tests on vibration attenuating gloves using ISO Standard 10819: Mechanical Vibration and Shock--Hand-Arm Vibration--Method for the Measurement and Evaluation of the Vibration Transmissibility of Gloves at the Palm of the Hand. A small electromechanical shaker initially incapable of handling a 42-58 N static push applied to its handle during glove testing was modified using a simple air bladder so it could handle the required forces. Test procedures were developed to obtain the proper input acceleration levels delivered to the shaker's handle without using a feedback network. Using these procedures, a cross …
Formative Evaluation: An Instrument To Measure The Effects Of Using The Universal Format, Dale B Warby
Formative Evaluation: An Instrument To Measure The Effects Of Using The Universal Format, Dale B Warby
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
An instrument to measure the effects of using the Universal Format for translating research to practice was developed. Measures of teachers, responses concerning the benefits, knowledge of research practices (informed status), and beliefs toward research-based knowledge were formatively evaluated. Five developmental phases were employed to identify, develop, and field-test a questionnaire and a training module with teachers enrolled in university coursework; A quasi-experimental design was utilized including an experimental and a control group. Subjects in the experimental group received training in using the Universal Format and translated research articles. Subjects in the control group translated research articles, but received no …
The Impact Of A Substance Abuse Prevention Program: An Evaluation, Julie Ann Hogan
The Impact Of A Substance Abuse Prevention Program: An Evaluation, Julie Ann Hogan
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
This study tests the theory of risk and protective factors. The risk and protective theory suggests that substance abuse prevention programs, in order to be effective, must decrease risk factors and increase protective factors for youth. Seventeen risk and protective factors are identified in the literature and are tested in this study; To determine the degree to which this theory applies to prevention programming, this study evaluates the effectiveness of a substance abuse prevention program entitled the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP). NYSP is a nationally sponsored summer youth and academic program that includes a prevention education component. Three hundred …
Statistical Evaluation Of Motorist And Pedestrian Behavior At Signalized Intersections In Las Vegas, Sivashankar Subramani
Statistical Evaluation Of Motorist And Pedestrian Behavior At Signalized Intersections In Las Vegas, Sivashankar Subramani
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
This study examines the effect of a law enforcement program implemented to check illegal and unsafe motorist and pedestrian behavior. A case study involving eight selected intersections in Las Vegas (four control and four treatment) was carried out over a period of seven months in conjunction with the pedestrian law enforcement program conducted during March and April of 1996. Pedestrian and motorist behaviors were video taped in 120 minute segments. The tapes were then reviewed to count vehicle violations, pedestrian violations, conflicts, total vehicles and total pedestrians. Violations and conflict rates for pre and during enforcement, and pre and post …
Evaluation Of Accessibility Of Urban Transportation Networks, Nanda N Srinivasan
Evaluation Of Accessibility Of Urban Transportation Networks, Nanda N Srinivasan
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
This thesis examines accessibility of urban networks to serve the transportation needs of a community. The term accessibility is dealt with qualitatively and quantitatively, giving it a form and structure readily adaptable for implementation by metropolitan planning organizations. Accessibility has been defined from the point of view of the network. This definition helps in interfacing the network with the traditional travel demand models. A methodology was enunciated to develop accessibility indices for urban areas and implemented by means of automated software. The trip generation stage in the traditional urban transportation planning process (UTPP) is used along with a geographic information …
Evaluation Of An Alternative Statistical Decision Rule For Site Remediation, Bradley Donald Schultz
Evaluation Of An Alternative Statistical Decision Rule For Site Remediation, Bradley Donald Schultz
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
A method proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency to optimize site remediation, called the CRG approach states that soil cleanup levels are typically misapplied on a point by point basis rather than on average. The effectiveness of the CRG approach will be evaluated for lognormal, exponential, uniform, and normally distributed data by first simulating data sets for each distribution. Next the CRG approach will be applied to the simulated data sets. Finally, the results of the CRG approach will be analyzed.
A Critical Evaluation Of The Dolby Digital Compression Algorithm, David Andrew Ingbretsen
A Critical Evaluation Of The Dolby Digital Compression Algorithm, David Andrew Ingbretsen
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Dolby Digital, or AC-3, provides for the compression of high-quality audio signals at a bit rate of 384 kbps. for 5.1 audio channels. The purpose of this thesis is to conduct an analysis and evaluation of the AC-3 compression algorithm. The main conclusion is that AC-3 allocates too few bits to the upper frequency ranges. This conclusion is supported by two lines of argument. First, a comparison of the AC-3 perceptual coding model with known facts concerning the masking properties of sound reveals omissions in the AC-3 perceptual model that lead to loss of high frequency resolution. Second, a test …
Evaluation Of Work Motivation Factors Among Management And Employees In Food And Beverage Departments In International Tourist Hotels In Taiwan, Pearl Lin
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Perceptional inconsistencies have the potential for creating barriers to motivational development because management may not be responsive to employee needs. An absence of a convergence in perceptions may increase employee turnover, thus creating a liability to the company. In order to increase the employee retention rate, greater insight was needed for understanding work motivational factors. The purpose of this research has been to evaluate the perceptions of management and employees on work motivation factors relative to their importance. Methodology and data analysis are included. Lastly, conclusions of the research findings and suggestions for further studies are discussed.
Development, Modeling, Testing And Evaluation Of Vibration Attenuating Gloves, Douglas James Weaver
Development, Modeling, Testing And Evaluation Of Vibration Attenuating Gloves, Douglas James Weaver
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Gloves that attenuate vibration above approximately 25 Hz and that exceed the characteristics of standard viscous-elastic, neoprene based gloves have been developed using an air bladder system in the palm and fingers of a gLove Testing was performed on a variety of viscous-elastic gloves currently marketed to obtain the ratio of energy leaving the handle of a vibrating device and the energy entering the hand. Several, simple rectangular air bladders of varying thickness were developed and tested for their vibration attenuating characteristics. A four degree-of-freedom, lumped-parameter model of the vibration response of the human hand and bladder was developed using …
Adaptive Sorting Algorithms For Evaluation Of Automatic Zoning, G. S Rajarathinam
Adaptive Sorting Algorithms For Evaluation Of Automatic Zoning, G. S Rajarathinam
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) involves analysis of machine-printed and hand written document images. The first step in an OCR process is to locate the text to be recognized on a page. An OCR device tries to identify the characters in these text regions and outputs the characters in ASCII. To evaluate the performance of any OCR device, the ASCII output of the OCR device is compared with the ground truth text which is entered into the computer manually; Some OCR devices provide the users with automatic zoning. The output of any automatic zoning algorithm has to be corrected manually to …
Evaluation Of Key Factors In Transportation Risk Analysis, Krishnapriya Madhavapeddi
Evaluation Of Key Factors In Transportation Risk Analysis, Krishnapriya Madhavapeddi
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Pursuant to the enactment of federal legislation, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is presently evaluating Yucca Mountain as a candidate site for a repository to store spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level radioactive waste (HLRW). Risk analyses could be used to support transportation decisions (such as route and mode selection) pertaining to the repository program; The purpose of this study is to develop a procedure to facilitate comparative transportation risk assessment. A case study of Lincoln County, Nevada is used to discuss the significance of key input data required to support such risk analysis. A methodology was developed to …
Evaluation Of Ultrasound Method For Determining Aggregate Gradations In Asphaltic Concrete Mixes, Michael Robert Dunning
Evaluation Of Ultrasound Method For Determining Aggregate Gradations In Asphaltic Concrete Mixes, Michael Robert Dunning
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
The purpose of this study is to evaluate a geotechnical method, ultrasound, to detect aggregate gradation differences in asphaltic concrete pavements. Empirical data had previously been used to suggest that the more coarse the gradation, the less incidence's of rutting. It is my thesis that the more coarse the gradation, the higher the velocity of a sound wave through the asphalt concrete. This being the case, the velocity measure can be used in a design or field quality control procedure as a correlation to a performance test to choose a coarse gradation that has non-rutting field performance properties. Tests were …
Factors In Faculty Evaluation Procedures In Community Colleges, Richard Lee Mcgee
Factors In Faculty Evaluation Procedures In Community Colleges, Richard Lee Mcgee
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Two hundred forty-seven community colleges in ten states were studied through survey analysis to determine the nature of faculty evaluation procedures employed in those schools. Further, data on external factors affecting evaluations, such as the existence of collective bargaining agreements, missions of the institutions, and school enrollment were collected and analyzed; The survey found that teaching was the major focus of evaluation procedures, and that student evaluations were by far the most popular means of assessing faculty performance. Faculty's service to the college was next in importance to administrators, with other areas, such as community service or participation in professional …
The Development And Formative Evaluation Of An Interactive, Multimedia, Multimethod, Simulation On Teacher Evaluation, Corean Robinson Mayorga
The Development And Formative Evaluation Of An Interactive, Multimedia, Multimethod, Simulation On Teacher Evaluation, Corean Robinson Mayorga
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
The goal of this dissertation was to produce a prototype interactive, multimedia simulation that could be used by an instructor as an experience medium in bridging theory of teacher evaluation with practice. Nine administrative skills found to be frequently a part of the school administrators day by the NASSP were used as guidelines in designing the environment for the realism of the simulation; The simulation consists of three main segments in a video format that closely follow the Clinical Supervision Model of Teacher Evaluation. Options and variations for the simulation include teacher selection, several realistic administrative decision-making problems, teacher rating, …
Evaluation Of Page Quality Using Simple Features, Luis Ricardo Blando
Evaluation Of Page Quality Using Simple Features, Luis Ricardo Blando
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
A classifier to determine page quality from an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) perspective is developed. It classifies a given page image as either "good" (i.e. high OCR accuracy is expected) or "bad" (i.e., low OCR accuracy expected). The classifier is based upon measuring the amount of white speckle, the amount of broken pieces, and the overall size information in the page. Two different sets of test data were used to evaluate the classifier: the Test dataset containing 439 pages and the Magazine dataset containing 200 pages. The classifier recognized 85% of the pages in the Test dataset correctly. However, approximately …
Evaluation Of Rutting Resistance Of Coarse Graded Aggregate Asphaltic Concrete Mixes In Clark County, Nevada, Jerold Dewayne Stegeman
Evaluation Of Rutting Resistance Of Coarse Graded Aggregate Asphaltic Concrete Mixes In Clark County, Nevada, Jerold Dewayne Stegeman
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of utilizing coarse aggregates in asphaltic concrete pavements for reducing rutting in Clark County, Nevada. Previous specifications used for asphaltic concrete mix designs in the Clark County area allowed for a wide range of aggregate gradations. The aggregate gradations in the asphaltic concrete mixes produced from these specifications tended to be on the finer side of the range. The pavements constructed based on the specifications were observed to be tender and susceptible to rutting. Paving projects were initiated which demonstrated that coarser aggregates in the asphalt mixes appeared to reduce …
Analysis And Evaluation Of Three Promising Nuclear Waste Disposal Options, Venugopal Veeramachaneni
Analysis And Evaluation Of Three Promising Nuclear Waste Disposal Options, Venugopal Veeramachaneni
UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations
Disposal of high level nuclear waste has evoked much interest among scientists, engineers and society at large. Numerous schemes have been proposed in this regard and a few have been analyzed thoroughly. However, these schemes have been found to be valid only under very specific environmental conditions, thus imposing constraints on the scheme of disposal. The option of retrievability imposed another constraint. In addition to accommodating the constraints, the disposal scheme must also comply with federal regulations (NRC 10 CFR PART 60, EPA 10 CFR PART 191, DOE 10 CFR PART 960). Due to the longevity of radionuclide toxicity, the …