Digital Commons Network^™

Development And Validation Of Forest Habitat Models In The Uinta Mountains, Utah, Tracey S. Frescino

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A significant question currently facing environmental managers is how to accurately and efficiently quantify forest diversity and resources. Numerous studies have demonstrated the use of modern spatial analytical tools, such as geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing devices, and statistical models for predicting the distribution of dominant vegetation cover types. This study examines the ability of generalized additive models (GAMs) to delineate structural diversity in forested ecosystems (specifically the Uinta Mountain Range in Utah) using GIS tools and satellite spectral data, and analyzes the effect of including different forms of satellite data in model construction (i.e., Landsat thematic mapper (TM), …

Ammonium And Nitrate Effects On Growth, Development And Nutrient Uptake Of Hydroponic Wheat, Thomas M. Hooten

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The long-term effects of low and high NH₄⁺/ NO₃^- uptake ratios in a system with rigorous control of pH and nitrogen concentration are poorly understood. In two replicate studies, two cultivars of wheat (Triticum aestivum) were grown to maturity with three NH₄⁺/ NO₃^- ratios in hydroponic solution: 0/100, 25/75, and 85/15%. Nitrogen was controlled at ample levels throughout the 70-d life cycle and pH was controlled at 5.8 ± 0.2. An equimolar ratio of NH₄⁺ to Cl^- was used to facilitate charge balance. Nitrogen consumption …

Essays On The Impact Of Foreign Aid On Economic Growth And Development: The Case Of Jordan, Jamal G. Husein

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation examines the role of foreign aid in economic growth and development of Jordan. The flow of foreign capital takes two main forms: private foreign investment, mostly foreign direct investment by large multinational corporations, and public development assistance (foreign aid) from both individual national governments and multinational donor agencies. The distinguishing characteristic of foreign aid is the concessional element. In this dissertation, recent techniques and advances in time-series analysis are used in the empirical section of Chapters 2 and 3, i.e., vector autoregression (VAR), impulse response functions, and variance decompositions. In the fourth chapter, we use a nonlinear three-stage …

Therapy Videotape Presentation For Eating Disorder Clients: Development And Evaluation, Benita J. Quakenbush

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Eating disorder clients show low motivation, poor follow-through, and inordinate premature dropout rates in treatment. Earlier studies support the use of pretherapy training to help clients understand the tasks and challenges of therapy. However, a pretherapy intervention, such as showing prospective clients a video that outlines recovery issues and themes, had not yet been developed specifically for the prevalent, recalcitrant problem of eating disorders. Thus, of particular interest to clinicians who treat eating disorders may be the development of a theoretically sound, pretherapy videotape that outlines recovery issues.

One of the purposes of this study was to review prior investigations …

The Role Of Communication In Promoting Oral Rehydration In Egypt, Naglaa Saad Hassanein

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Defense Intelligence Agency: An In-Depth Study Of The Development Of The Intelligence Agency, Stacie Delaine Neff

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This thesis will examine the history of intelligence leading to the creation of DIA, DIA's changing and emerging roles, its missions and organization, agency contribution during military operations, criticisms of the agency, and lastly the intelligence outlook for the future of DIA. Since its creation in 1961, DIA has undergone numerous reorganizations and this thesis will examine the history of intelligence leading to the creation of the attempts to streamline intelligence and provide the best product possible. Most of these changes have occurred after major campaigns in which intelligence either failed, was inaccurate or could have played a better or …

Development Of A Phosphotriesterase Enzyme Assay For Determination Of Organophosphate Pesticides, Yan Wang

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Phosphotriesterase catalyzes the hydrolysis of a wide range of organophosphate insecticides such as paraoxon and parathion and nerve toxins such as soman and sarin. This project resulted in the development of novel phosphotriesterase enzyme assays to measure paraoxon and other representatives of the organophosphate pesticides. The assay is based on a substrate-dependent change in pH at the local vicinity of the enzyme. This enzyme, which was labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), was immobilized on polymethylmethacrylate beads and the pH change is monitored through the pH-sensitive quantum yield of FITC. Analytes were measured using a KinExA fluorescence analyzer. This assay can …

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 …

The Development Of A Job-Related Non-Discriminatory Physical Abilities Test For The Firefighters At The Nevada Test Site, Nickele A'Lise Miller

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

A job-related, non-discriminatory Physical Abilities Test (PAT) was developed for the Nevada Test Site (NTS) firefighters. The PAT was developed through firefighter interviews and tabulated call responses between 1990 and 1995. The interviews and task history yielded a job analysis from which six routine, physically demanding tasks were identified and developed into a test battery. Eleven NTS firefighters tested the proposed PAT for reliability. Subjects were timed on the six tasks. The total time for completion, including the change from bunker gear to wildland gear, was also recorded. An Intra-class Reliability coefficient was calculated for each task and total time. …

Instrument Development And Validation For Use In A Health Education Program, Joanna Lynn Blockey

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study was conducted to establish the validity and reliability of a dependent measure instrument developed specifically for health education programs geared to expectant mothers and their significant others who smoke; This study's instrument was distributed to 201 randomly chosen college students participating in health education, general education, educational psychology, and communication studies classes at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Results from this study found that the instrument has merit. The confirmatory factor analysis, which proved the instrument's reliability, isolated three different areas of study: beliefs about smoking in general; the effects of smoking on pre- and post-natal babies; …

Family And Service Coordinator Agreements In The Development And Implementation Of The Individualized Family Service Plan (Ifsp), Byoung-In Lee

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Part C of Public Law 105-17 (originally Part H of Public Laws 99-457, 101-476, and 102-119), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 1997, strengthened incentives to states to provide services for infants and toddlers, from birth to age three, who have disabilities or are at-risk for developmental delays. The law and its regulations require that the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) is a written plan for services to be developed and implemented for the child and family. Inclusion of family members as full participants in the design and implementation of services is emphasized; This study was designed to …

The Influence Of An Intermediate Intervention Model On Two Teachers' Literacy Practices, Margaret Michelle Smith

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The focus of this study was to explore the changes in literacy practice that occurred as two intermediate teachers attempted to implement an intervention model within their literacy instruction. There were two participants in this study, Mrs. Bailey, a fourth-grade teacher in her twelfth year of teaching, and Mrs. Cook, a third-grade teacher in her twenty-eighth year of teaching. Multiple data sources including interviews, observations, descriptive self-report items, reflective journal entries, lesson plans, and exit slips and evaluation forms were collected. The constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) was used for analyzing data. This inductive analysis allowed for initial …

Effects Of Training And Development On Job Satisfaction, Lora Applebury

Theses

This thesis will focus on the effect training and development in the workplace on employees job satisfaction.

Research has stated that with the proper kinds of training and development employees will be more satisfied with their jobs overall. Researchers believe that the kinds of training and development given to employees will also improve the overall quality and productivity of the work environment.

With companies trying to move into the global job market training and development has come to the for front of all companies improvement programs. Most of the large companies CEO believe that training and development is the only …

Parametric Software Project Estimating: An Analysis Of Current Practice, Stuart Hope

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

As society and the world economy moves into the second millennium. the service industries involving knowledge workers will continue to increase. Software is the enabling technology that is driving the knowledge industry. As the development of software is mostly a design process, where new artefacts are conceived and built, the prediction of outcomes in the process is fraught with difficulties. Software project estimating is one of the essential Software Engineering techniques that will enable the rationalisation of decision-making regarding software development. Estimates that are more accurate will increase the probability of success and lower the risk. This thesis analyses the …