Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Effects Of Ambient Air Pollution On Asthma-Related Emergency Department Visits Within The Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, Loiren E. Monardes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The objective of this research was to evaluate the risk for asthma-related Emergency Department visits and their association with ambient air pollution within the Las Vegas metropolitan area. All data were aggregated by date and ZIP Code. The association was analyzed by applying the distributed lag non-linear model in an attempt to identify elevated concentrations of specific air pollutants

as triggers and their delayed effects (lag days). Relative Risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals were produced, while adjusting for socioeconomic status. This ecological population-based study analyzed daily asthma counts of Emergency Department visits from January 1st, 2009 to December 31st, …

Prokaryotic Diversity And Aqueous Geochemistry Of Subsurface Environments Of The Death Valley Regional Flow System, Joshua David Sackett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation summarizes over four years of effort towards the completion of a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences. The work presented in this document covers a broad range of topics, but a central unifying theme is prokaryotic life in the continental subsurface. The work presented in each chapter relied heavily on cultivation-independent methods for assessing prokaryotic communities, including prokaryotic community structure reconstruction from high-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene libraries and single-cell genome analysis of novel uncultivated bacteria.

Chapter 2 examines the aqueous geochemistry and prokaryotic diversity of Devils Hole, a cavernous limnocrene and sole natural habitat for the critically endangered …

Examining Environmental Hazards In Rental Homes And Habitability Laws In Clark County, Nevada, Jorge Luis Bertran

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It is well established that home conditions are linked to the health outcomes of occupants. There are over 880,000 housing units in Clark County, Nevada; nearly half of those are renter-occupied units (ROUs). Currently, there is limited research on the characteristics of environmental hazards found in Clark County ROUs and the strength of habitability statutes created to protect tenants from substandard housing. Understanding how renters in Clark County are affected by environmental hazards in ROUs and the processes by which landlords and tenants resolve grievances related to those hazards would benefit public health. It would enhance the ability to quickly …

Linking Gait Dynamics To Mechanical Cost Of Legged Locomotion, David V. Lee, Sarah L. Harris

Life Sciences Faculty Research

For millenia, legged locomotion has been of central importance to humans for hunting, agriculture, transportation, sport, and warfare. Today, the same principal considerations of locomotor performance and economy apply to legged systems designed to serve, assist, or be worn by humans in urban and natural environments. Energy comes at a premium not only for animals, wherein suitably fast and economical gaits are selected through organic evolution, but also for legged robots that must carry sufficient energy in their batteries. Although a robot's energy is spent at many levels, from control systems to actuators, we suggest that the mechanical cost of …

Ultrafast Laser Filament-Induced Fluorescence Spectroscopy Of Uranyl Fluoride, P. J. Skrodzki, M. Burger, L. A. Finney, F. Poineau, S. M. Balasekaran, J. Nees, K. R. Czerwinski, I. Jovanovic

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

Uranyl fluoride (UO2F2) is a compound which forms in the reaction between water and uranium hexafluoride, a uranium containing gas widely used for uranium enrichment. Uranyl fluoride exhibits negligible natural background in atmosphere; as a result, its observation implies the presence and active operation of nearby enrichment facilities and could be used as a tracer for treaty verification technologies. Additionally, detection of UO2F2 has a potential application in guiding remediation efforts around enrichment facilities. Laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) has been proposed in the past as a viable technique for the detection and tracking of UO2F2. We demonstrate that ultrafast laser filamentation …

Larval-Ant Interactions In The Mojave Desert: Communication Brings Us Together, Alicia Mellor

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Butterflies are a diverse and essential group of pollinators whose abundance is predominantly determined by growth and survival of their larvae. In the family Lycaenidae, many species participate in a larval-ant mutualism where ants feed on nutrient-rich nectar produced by larvae and, in turn, protect those larvae from predators. Emerging evidence indicates larval scent in the form of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHCs), not nectar production, drives this interaction. This study takes two approaches to investigate CHCs as the driver behind the larval-ant mutualism in three butterfly species native to southern Nevada: Euphilotes bernardino martini (Martin’s blue), Brephidium exilis (western pygmy blue), …

An Examination Of The Community And Environmental Impact Of A Las Vegas Convention Food Rescue Program, Samantha H. To

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Food insecurity affects millions of Americans each year, inflicting negative consequences on the physical and mental health outcomes at all ages. Concurrently, millions of tons of leftover edible foods are sent to landfill each year. Not only does this pose a question of ethics, but increasingly harms the environment by misusing resources and increasing the release of

greenhouse gases.

Food rescue advisory meetings highlighted the need for more focused research to be conducted that assessed the impacts of donating rescued convention food on local environmental and community health. A mixed-method approach was used to detail the food rescue process between …

Assessing Near Surface Hydrologic Processes And Plant Response Over A 1600 M Mountain Valley Gradient In The Great Basin, Nv, U.S.A., Dale Devitt, Brian Bird, Brad Lyles, Lynn Fenstermaker, Richard Jasoni, Scotty Strachan, Jay Arnone Iii, Franco Biondi, Scott Mensing, Laurel Saito

Life Sciences Faculty Research

This study investigated near surface hydrologic processes and plant response over a 1600 m mountain-valley gradient located in the Great Basin of North America (Nevada, U.S.A.) as part of a long-term climate assessment study. The goal was to assess shifts in precipitation, soil water status and associated drainage with elevation and how this influenced evapotranspiration and plant cover/health estimated by a satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), all to better understand how water is partitioned in a mountain valley system. Data were acquired during a three-year period from meteorological stations located in five plant communities ranging in elevation from 1756 …

Nevada Desert Dust With Heavy Metals Suppresses Igm Antibody Production, Deborah E. Keil, Brenda J. Buck, Dirk Goossens, Brett Mclaurin, Lacey Murphy, Mallory Leetham-Spencer, Yuanxin Teng, James E. Pollard, Russell Gerads, Jamie C. Dewitt

Geoscience Faculty Publications

Systemic health effects from exposure to a complex natural dust containing heavy metals from the Nellis Dunes Recreation Area (NDRA) near Las Vegas, NV, were evaluated. Several toxicological parameters were examined following lung exposure to emissive dust from three geologic sediment types heavily used for recreational off-road activities: yellow sand very rich in arsenic (termed CBN 5); a shallow cover of loose dune sand overlying a gravelly subsoil bordering dune fields (termed CBN 6); and brown claystone and siltstone (termed CBN 7). Adult female B6C3F1 mice were exposed by oropharyngeal administration to these three types of geogenic dusts at 0.01–100 …