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Exchange Of Oxygen And Hydrogen Isotopes Between Water And Water Vapor: Experimental Results, Michael Willem Slattery Jan 1993

Exchange Of Oxygen And Hydrogen Isotopes Between Water And Water Vapor: Experimental Results, Michael Willem Slattery

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The exchange of {dollar}\delta\sp{18}{dollar}O, {dollar}\delta{dollar}D, and tritium between water and water vapor was quantified using two methods. The first was quiescent equilibration of water samples having widely contrasting isotopic compositions, surface areas, volumes and temperatures, but similar salinities. Rates of exchange (k) depended on surface area and vapor pressure, while the end-point equilibrium was controlled by volume and isotopic composition of the exchanging waters. Values of k ranged from 0.09 to 0.19 cm/day at 22{dollar}\sp\circ{dollar}C and from 0.86 to 0.92 cm/day at 52{dollar}\sp\circ{dollar}C. The second method involved sparging 30 l of tritiated water (5,000 and 630,000 TU) with a constant …

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Concept-Based Text Classification, Shanthi Kumar Adloori Jan 1993

Concept-Based Text Classification, Shanthi Kumar Adloori

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to do automatic concept based document classification. Classification or clustering is the process of grouping similar objects together so that they can be effectively retrieved when queried upon. An experimental system that does this concept based document classification is built by a series of steps such as indexing the documents, assigning weights to the keywords, generating the document vectors, building concept lists, generating concept vectors, finding the similarity between the concept and document vectors and classifying the documents under concepts depending on the similarity value. The performance of this experimental system is evaluated against …

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Application Of Multirate Digital Signal Processing To Image Compression, Ali Akrouf Jan 1993

Application Of Multirate Digital Signal Processing To Image Compression, Ali Akrouf

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

With the increasing emphasis on digital communication and digital processing of images and video, image compression is drawing considerable interest as a means of reducing computer storage and communication channels bandwidth requirements. This thesis presents a method for the compression of grayscale images which is based on the multirate digital signal processing system. The input image spectrum is decomposed into octave wide subbands by critically resampling and filtering the image using separable FIR digital filters. These filters are chosen to satisfy the perfect reconstruction requirement. Simulation results on rectangularly sampled images (including a text image) are presented. Then, the algorithm …

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Practical Algorithms For Image Compression And Surface Estimation, Matthew Y Au Jan 1993

Practical Algorithms For Image Compression And Surface Estimation, Matthew Y Au

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Practical Algorithms for Image Compression and Surface Estimation describes three algorithms for image compression and one algorithm for surface estimation that incorporates kriging and parametric cubic splines. Two of the image compression algorithms are innovative extensions of the Run Length Encoding image compression algorithm and the third is an image compression technique based on kriging. In general the modified Run Length Encoding algorithms yield a better compression ratio by a factor of two while retaining fast decompression of the image. The algorithm based on kriging achieves a compression ratio up to 250:1 and is unique in that the compressed image …

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Character Recognition And Information Retrieval, Julia Ann Cooley Borsack Jan 1993

Character Recognition And Information Retrieval, Julia Ann Cooley Borsack

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Presented are two technologies, character recognition and information retrieval, that are used for text processing. Character recognition translates text image data to a computer-coded format; information retrieval stores these data and provides efficient access to the text. The necessity of their eventual coupling is obvious. Their sequential application though (with no manual intervention) has been considered impractical at best. Our experimentation exploits these two technologies in just this way. We identify problems with their combined use, as well as show that the technologies have come to a point where they can be applied in succession.

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Members' Perception Of Service Quality At The Nellis Air Force Base Officers' Open Mess, Brian Douglas Campbell Jan 1993

Members' Perception Of Service Quality At The Nellis Air Force Base Officers' Open Mess, Brian Douglas Campbell

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study pertains to members' perceptions of service quality at the Nellis Air Force base Officers' Open Mess. The Officers' club members were surveyed using the parsimonious 22-item SERVQUAL instrument. Perceptions were compared to expectations to achieve a SERVQUAL score for the five dimensions of service quality. These scores were then averaged to obtain an Overall Unweighted and Weighted SERVQUAL score for the Officers' Club. The results indicated that the Officers' Club was providing less than average service quality as perceived by the club members. The Active Duty members perceived the difference to be greater than that of the Other …

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Probing Corruption: Elite Perceptions Of Sting Operations, John L Chaddic Jan 1993

Probing Corruption: Elite Perceptions Of Sting Operations, John L Chaddic

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines whether a governmental elite consensus exists that the nature of public corruption in the Las Vegas Valley justifies the use of federal law enforcement undercover operations. Using the elite interviewing method, the writer obtained the perceptions of twenty-four sworn public officials from the cities of Henderson, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas regarding their views of public corruption and undercover operations. The writer contends that in accordance with social contract theoretical principles, federal undercover operations are justified if a consensus of seventy-five percent of the respondents agree to their use. The research demonstrated that ninety-six percent of …

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On The Effect Of Dynamic Adjustment Of Recurrent Network Parameters On Learning, Stephen Lee Felgar Jan 1993

On The Effect Of Dynamic Adjustment Of Recurrent Network Parameters On Learning, Stephen Lee Felgar

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The thesis examines sequential learning in a neural network model derived by M. I. Jordan and J. L. Elman. In each of three experiments, different network parameters are systematically altered in a series of simulations. Each simulation measures learning ability for a specific network configuration. Simulation results are consolidated to summarize each parameter's significance in the learning process.

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The Use Of Synthesized Images To Evaluate The Performance Of Ocr Devices And Algorithms, Frank Robert Jenkins Jan 1993

The Use Of Synthesized Images To Evaluate The Performance Of Ocr Devices And Algorithms, Frank Robert Jenkins

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This thesis will attempt to establish if synthesized images can be used to predict the performance of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) algorithms and devices. The value of this research lies in reducing the considerable costs associated with preparing test images for OCR research. The paper reports on a series of experiments in which synthesized images of text files in nine different fonts and sizes are input to eight commercial OCR devices. The method used to create the images is explained and a detailed analysis of the character and word confusion between the output and the true text files is presented. …

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A Comparative Study Of Management's Perception Of Front Desk Service Quality At Casino And Non-Casino Hotels, Howard Mark Levy Jan 1993

A Comparative Study Of Management's Perception Of Front Desk Service Quality At Casino And Non-Casino Hotels, Howard Mark Levy

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare casino to non-casino hotels of comparable size in Las Vegas, Nevada, to determine if differences exist in management's perception of the service quality being delivered by the front desk. The study tested the descriptive hypothesis that no differences existed in the delivery of service quality by the front desk of casino and non-casino hotels from management's perception; A descriptive-elemental study was utilized to collect information through a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with front desk management personnel. The information obtained from these interviews were categorized and compared to determine if there were …

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Dynamic Analysis Of An Overhead Crane Carrying A Canister By Finite Element Method, Vijayachander Reddy Musukula Jan 1993

Dynamic Analysis Of An Overhead Crane Carrying A Canister By Finite Element Method, Vijayachander Reddy Musukula

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

A finite element model for an overhead crane carrying a nuclear waste canister is developed. This model is used to perform the static, dynamic and impact analysis using the finite element software COSMOS/M. Static results are compared with simplified model solutions to verify the accuracy of the finite element model. Frequency analysis is also performed to determine the first six natural frequencies of the system. Three of these six frequencies are compared with analytical results for verification. In the dynamic analysis, the crane is allowed to travel for a specified time. A computer program is written to connect static and …

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Sexuality Research: Untested Gender Assumptions Amid Paradigm Shifts, Donna J Walker Jan 1993

Sexuality Research: Untested Gender Assumptions Amid Paradigm Shifts, Donna J Walker

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Content analysis of 803 sexuality research abstracts selected from Sociological Abstracts published from January 1974 to August 1992 answers three questions: (1) Are there trends in sexuality research? (2) Is there a paradigm shift? and (3) Is gender differentiation present? Research between 1973 and 1991 displayed a consistent division between the positivist "nature" paradigm and the interactionist "nurture" paradigm. The proportion of studies which attempt to be non-gender specific has declined annually while researchers have consistently neglected to study male sexuality. Although there has been little change in basic principles, there have been trends in interpretations of research data. Conclusions …

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The Impact Of Legalized Casino Gambling On Regional Economic Development: The Case Of Atlantic City, Neil Evan Walkoff Jan 1993

The Impact Of Legalized Casino Gambling On Regional Economic Development: The Case Of Atlantic City, Neil Evan Walkoff

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In 1976, Atlantic City was facing a situation whereby, as the city was experiencing economic decline, casino gambling became an option that could help the city become revitalized. Even though many questions accompanied this option, Atlantic City did pass a referendum to legalize casino gambling; This thesis illustrates both the benefits and costs that come from casino gambling. By using a hypothetical city as our model, we can explain the impact that casino gambling has on a city. After developing assumptions from our hypothetical model, we can compare these to the actual evidence of the results in Atlantic City; It …

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The Role Of Affective Information In The Sociomoral Development Of Preschool Children, Noelle Susanna Wiersma Jan 1993

The Role Of Affective Information In The Sociomoral Development Of Preschool Children, Noelle Susanna Wiersma

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Early theories of social-cognitive development emphasized children's unilateral respect for rules and authority (Piaget, 1932/65). Recently, however, children have been found to make conceptual distinctions among moral, conventional, and personal events. These distinctions are hypothesized to be related to the differential judgments that 6- to 8-year-old children have been shown to make about the emotional experience of others in these types of events (Arsenio & Ford, 1985). However, it is not known if preschoolers make similar distinctions between the affect of various participants in different event-types. The judgments of preschoolers regarding the affect of participants in sociomoral events were examined. …

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History, Organization And Belief Among Cuban "Plantado" Political Prisoners, 1959-1993, William Raymond Yaworsky Jan 1993

History, Organization And Belief Among Cuban "Plantado" Political Prisoners, 1959-1993, William Raymond Yaworsky

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Anti-Castro activists began organizing guerrilla groups in the early 1960's to oppose the revolutionary government of Cuba. The perception that the new regime posed a threat to religion and pre-existing cultural values were among the motives for this activity. This thesis presents three case studies of individuals who due to their beliefs, became guerrillas, were imprisoned for that activity, and who subsequently refused to participate in the prison reeducation program. The findings of this study indicate that ideology and beliefs function to provide meaningful explanations to social life, and are not necessarily thin veils for self interest masquerading as principle. …

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On The Design Of A Multiagent User Interface For Next Generation Geographic Information System, Guishen Wang Jan 1993

On The Design Of A Multiagent User Interface For Next Generation Geographic Information System, Guishen Wang

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, a multiagent user interface architecture is designed for the Next Generation Geographic Information System(NGGIS) which supports the following advanced features: multiple users, multiple views, direct manipulation, distribution, and intelligence. In this architecture, agent is a basic functional unit. Agents cooperate with each other by exchanging messages. The User is just a special agent who communicates with any other agents. The ShowCase and its cooperative agents are specialized to present the geographic objects in different views. The WorkShop and its cooperative agents provide a complete interface to allow the user to manipulate the GIS objects directly. The Monitor …

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David Shaw In The Continuum Of Press Self-Criticism, Mark S Bacon Jan 1993

David Shaw In The Continuum Of Press Self-Criticism, Mark S Bacon

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

David Shaw is the Los Angeles Times press critic, the only newspaper writer in the United States who devotes his full time to researching and writing criticisms and explanatory articles about broad issues affecting the press and the public. In addition to calling attention to bias, sensationalism, arrogance, and unresponsiveness in the press, Shaw has sparked internal criticism from his colleagues at the Times; At a time of declining public confidence in the media, Shaw asserts that the press has a duty to explain itself and engage in public self-criticism: The only public institution the press does not regularly scrutinize …

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Job Satisfaction Of Slot Department Shift Managers In Las Vegas Casinos, Gary A Waters Jan 1993

Job Satisfaction Of Slot Department Shift Managers In Las Vegas Casinos, Gary A Waters

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The problem statement for this thesis was as follows: Low job satisfaction exists among slot department shift managers in Las Vegas casinos. The objectives were to define job satisfaction of slot department shift managers, compare job level satisfaction of slot department shift managers among different Las Vegas casinos, and analyze how job satisfaction of slot department shift managers may be improved in Las Vegas casinos; It was hypothesized that job satisfaction levels of slot department shift managers would be the same among Las Vegas casinos. Using the Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) Test, the null hypothesis was accepted except for one …

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Algorithms For Automatic Parallelism, Optimization, And Optimal Processor Utilization, Katharine J Macke Jan 1993

Algorithms For Automatic Parallelism, Optimization, And Optimal Processor Utilization, Katharine J Macke

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis we first investigate the reaching definitions optimization. This compiler optimization collects and stores information about where a variable is defined and how long that definition of the variable stays alive before it is redefined. We compare the old iterative solution to a new algorithm that uses the partialout concept. The partialout solution decreases execution time by eliminating the multiple passes required in the iterative solution. Currently, compilers that find a data dependence between two statements in a loop do not parallelize the loop. Next we investigate automatic parallelism for these loops by breaking the loop into a …

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Distributed Mutual Exclusion Algorithms, Paul Banta Jan 1993

Distributed Mutual Exclusion Algorithms, Paul Banta

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis we present three original algorithms which solve the distributed mutual exclusion problem. Two of the three solve the problem of allowing only one site at a time into the critical section. The third solves the more difficult problem of allowing a specific number of sites (k sites) into the critical section at a time; All three algorithms are "Token Based". That is, they make use of a token and token queue in order to guarantee mutual exclusion. Only the site that currently has the token is allowed to enter its critical section in the 1 mutual exclusion …

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Prediction Of Performance Criteria For Passive Heating Ventilation And Air Conditioning Silencers, Mark Olen Bodie Jan 1993

Prediction Of Performance Criteria For Passive Heating Ventilation And Air Conditioning Silencers, Mark Olen Bodie

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Unwanted noise is generated by the operation of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in large buildings. The unwanted noise can be reduced by installing a passive silencer in the HVAC system. The ability to predict the performance criteria (insertion loss, regenerated sound power, and pressure drop) associated with a passive silencer is of great importance to the HVAC engineer. The purpose of this thesis is to predict the performance criteria listed above. Empirically derived regression equations are provided which calculate the performance criteria associated with 2ft x 2ft cross sectional area rectangular passive silencers for various internal geometries …

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Ethics And Foreign Policy Decisions: Iran-Contra United States-Iraq Interaction, 1988-1991, Maureen Stephanie Carroll Jan 1993

Ethics And Foreign Policy Decisions: Iran-Contra United States-Iraq Interaction, 1988-1991, Maureen Stephanie Carroll

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

As industrialized nations, particularly the United States, continue to rely on oil to support their standard of living and production, the Middle East increases as a strategic location. Ethics and Foreign Policy Decisions: Iran-Contra - United States-Iraq Interaction, 1988-91 explores the ethics of policy making which employ the 'many hands' and 'dirty hands' approach. The Iran-Contra affair and United States-Iraq interaction from 1988-91 are used as case studies. Suggestions for counteracting the usage of the 'many hands' and 'dirty hands' practices are discussed. These suggestions include real communication and accountability for the many players involved in decision making and reflection …

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Nixon And Carter: A Comparative Analysis Of American Foreign Policy Toward The Middle East, Kristen Josie Dolan Jan 1993

Nixon And Carter: A Comparative Analysis Of American Foreign Policy Toward The Middle East, Kristen Josie Dolan

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Nixon and Carter: A Comparative Analysis of American Foreign Policy Toward the Middle East examines the Nixon Administration's policies and objectives toward the Middle East, particularly its handling of the October 1973 Arab-Israeli war, and contrasts them with the Carter Administration's policies, which culminated in the peace talks at Camp David. This examination focuses on how these two very different presidents approached a dilemma which has been central to American Middle Eastern policy since the creation of Israel; how can the United States achieve a balance between the competing interests of protecting Israel and maintaining access to Middle East oil?

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Consumers' Attitudes Of Fast Food Restaurants In Hotels, Miyoung Jeong Jan 1993

Consumers' Attitudes Of Fast Food Restaurants In Hotels, Miyoung Jeong

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine consumers' expectations regarding food, service, and amenities provided by on-site fast food restaurants in hotels. In relation to this, the study investigated several sub-issues which were consumers' attitudes combined with expectations concerning fast food restaurants in hotels, the consumers' preferred attributes of these restaurants and the factors that impact consumer attitudes, the correlation between consumers' expectations of these restaurants and the performance the restaurant provides for consumers, and the influence of consumers' expectations and restaurant performance on consumer satisfaction; Data for the study were collected from 324 customers at in-hotel fast food …

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A Comparison Of The Comprehension Of Procedural Information Using Computer And Hard-Copy Media, Aiessa Moyna Lawrence Jan 1993

A Comparison Of The Comprehension Of Procedural Information Using Computer And Hard-Copy Media, Aiessa Moyna Lawrence

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Users of technical procedures must be able to understand the documents to use them to perform their work. As more companies contemplate putting their procedures on-line, it is important to know whether computer systems will be as effective as traditional hard-copy presentation in communicating procedures to the employees who must use them; To determine whether there is a relationship between computer usage and the comprehension of technical procedures, an experiment was conducted among employees of a scientific and technical company in Las Vegas, Nevada. A control group read and demonstrated its comprehension of hard-copy procedures only, while an experimental group …

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The Effect Of Preoperative Intensive Care Orientation On Postoperative Anxiety Levels In Spouses Of Coronary Artery Bypass Clients, Eva Marie Lenhart Jan 1993

The Effect Of Preoperative Intensive Care Orientation On Postoperative Anxiety Levels In Spouses Of Coronary Artery Bypass Clients, Eva Marie Lenhart

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the effect of a preoperative intensive care unit (ICU) orientation program on the anxiety levels in spouses of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients. Therefore, this study tested if primary prevention reduces stress as proposed by Neuman by using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design. A convenience sample of 50 spouses of CABG patients were met the evening prior to surgery during preoparative teaching. Afterward, all subjects completed the Demographic Data Sheet (DDS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Scale (STAI). The experimental group was given the ICU orientation. The State anxiety scale was administered to both groups after the spouses …

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Relationship Between Participation In A Self-Directed Work Group And Employee Communication Competence And Apprehension: An Exploratory Study, Gretchen Dahlberg Lychuk Jan 1993

Relationship Between Participation In A Self-Directed Work Group And Employee Communication Competence And Apprehension: An Exploratory Study, Gretchen Dahlberg Lychuk

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Self-directed work groups are a new innovation in the workplace involving small group interaction. A by-product of working in a group environment is often increased communication between group members. This study investigated members' perceptions of their own communication competence and communication apprehension as a result of self-directed work group involvement. Surveys were given to employees participating in self-directed work groups and a comparable group not participating in work groups at a government defense contractor. Results of the study indicated no statistical differences between groups for perceived communication competence and communication apprehension, although the scores were in the predicted direction. A …

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Optimal Scheduling Of Thermal Generating Units In Electric Power Systems, Narsimha Misra Jan 1993

Optimal Scheduling Of Thermal Generating Units In Electric Power Systems, Narsimha Misra

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The Unit Commitment Problem (UCP) in electric power system problem that consists of finding the startup and shutdown schedule of generating units over a period of time (e.g., 24 hrs) so that the operating cost is minimized; The UCP is often characterized by its prohibitive computational time and memory space requirement. The thesis investigates some computational aspects of the problem in an effort to improve the CPU time as well as the quality of the solution. Two algorithms that show significant improvement over existing methods are presented: One is based on the dynamic programming approach and designed for implementation on …

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A Genetic Algorithm Applied To The Fractal Inverse Problem, Hiroo Miyamoto Jan 1993

A Genetic Algorithm Applied To The Fractal Inverse Problem, Hiroo Miyamoto

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The theory of iterated function systems (IFS) allows one to construct a fractal which depends on a finite number of parameters. The associated inverse problem, finding a set of parameters which reconstructs a given fractal, is much more difficult. This paper explores the possibility of solving the inverse program with the genetic algorithm.

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Potential Use Of Ultrasound In Chemical Monitoring, Grazyna Elzbieta Orzechowska Jan 1993

Potential Use Of Ultrasound In Chemical Monitoring, Grazyna Elzbieta Orzechowska

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this study was to examine the potential of combining sonication with other technologies for monitoring specific classes of organic pollutants in water. The research specifically addressed using ultrasonic processors to decompose organochlorine compounds into ions which could be detected using a specific ion electrode as a screening method for organochlorine pollutants. Changes in chloride, conductivity, and pH were measured using commercially available equipment before and after sonication in order to detect the presence of the organochlorine pollutant. Chloride ion could be detected in aqueous solutions of low ppm concentrations of carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, and trichloroethylene after one …

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