Digital Commons Network^™

Development And Validation Of The Biophilic Attitudes Inventory (Bai), Lawrence Letourneau

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study investigated the viability of an instrument called the Biophilic Attitudes Inventory (BAI), a pen-and-paper instrument intended to measure attitudes toward nature that, according to naturalist Edward O. Wilson, are rooted in an innate predisposition that humans possess to connect with other forms of life. Utilizing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), two models were tested (n=334)--a seven-factor model that reflected Stephen Kellert's biophilia typology and a more parsimonious two-factor model. However, neither model proved viable in terms of construct validity. As a result, a new model with four factors was developed via exploratory factor analysis (EFA). A subsequent CFA revealed …

Separation Of Tc From U And Development Of Metallic Tc Waste Forms, Edward Mausolf

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The isotope Technetium-99 (⁹⁹Tc) is a major fission product of the nuclear industry. In the last decade, approximately 20 tons of 99Tc have been produced by the US nuclear industry. Due to its long half-life (t_1/2 = 214,000 yr), beta radiotoxicity, and high mobility as pertechnetate [TcO₄]^-, Tc represents long-term concern to the biosphere. Various options have been considered to manage ⁹⁹Tc. One of them is its separation from spent fuel, conversion to the metal and incorporation into a metallic waste form for long-term disposal. After dissolution of spent fuel in nitric …

Closed Loop Control Of A Cylindrical Tube Type Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (Ipmc), Benjamin Mead

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The goal of this research is to provide a framework for the integration of tube type, cylindrical Ionic Polymer Metal-Composite (IPMC) into conventional devices. IPMCs are one of the most widely used types of electro-active polymer actuator, due to their low electric driving potential and large deformation range. For this research a tube type IPMC was investigated. This IPMC has a circular cross section with four separate electrodes on its surface and a hole through the middle. The four electrodes allow for biaxial bending and accurate control of the tip location. One of the main advantages of using this type …

Understanding Effects Of Changes In Land Use, Environmental Parameters, Habitat Characteristics On The Great Basin Aquatic Invertebrates Using Ecological Stoichiometric Theory, Knut Mehler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many freshwater ecosystems in the Great Basin have undergone dramatic alteration over the past decades due to groundwater withdrawal, water diversion and changes in land use. These changes have affected benthic food web dynamics by altering the availability of chemical key elements for primary and secondary producers, by loss of biodiversity and extinction of endemic species. However, only few studies are available that addresses the link between changes in land use, habitat characteristics and its effects on benthic macroinvertebrates (BMI) communities comprehensively and little attention has been given to integrating physiochemical aspects to link ecosystem functions.

This dissertation analyzes the …

Investigating The Feasibility Of Growing Algae For Fuel In Southern Nevada, Faegheh Moazeni

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Microalgae capable of growing in waste are adequate to be mass-cultivated for biodiesel, avoiding fertilizers and clean water, two obstacles to sustainability of the feedstock production. This study replaces fertilizers and clean water with waste products. The investigated wastes include (1) the liquid fraction of sewage after solids and particles are removed, known as centrate, and (2) algal biomass residue, i.e. the algae remaining at the end of the lipids extraction process at biofuel plants. These wastes contain sufficient amount of nitrogen and phosphorus required for algal growth. This study proposes a system in which centrate would be used as …

School Psychologists' Perspectives Of Response-To-Intervention: Training, Practices, And Implementation, Michelle Nathan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Specific learning disabilities currently account for the 39 percent of the 6.6 million students who receive special education services in a public school setting (Aud, Husser, Planty, Snyder, Bianco, Fox, et al, 2010). The current federal definition of what constitutes a specific learning disability states that school districts are allowed to use either the aptitude-achievement discrepancy model or alternative assessment methods, thereby legitimizing the use of response-to-intervention (RTI) (Dykeman, 2006).

The current study provided an investigation into the current training and practices of school psychologists and the barriers they face when implementing RTI within a school setting. The purpose of …

A Comparison Of Two After School Strategies For Improving The Parenting Knowledge And Parenting Perceptions Of Preschool Families Enrolled In A Title 1 Program, Rae Ette Veronna Newman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A parent is a child's first educator in communication, social/emotional skills, motor development, and academics. As the achievement expectations placed on schools increase and the schooling population continually diversifies, the need to increase the overall parental involvement in schools and their ability to assist with academics in the home becomes more significant to ensure academic success for all children. By acquiring the fundamental parenting knowledge and skills, despite the barriers and additional disadvantages, parents can overcome daily obstacles, reduce family stress, and support developing proficient children. By encouraging positive parenting skills, parents can increase their parenting self-efficacy.

The purpose of …

Effective Use Of Multimedia Presentations To Maximize Learning Within High School Classrooms, Eric Eugene Rapp

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research used an evidenced-based experimental 2 x 2 factorial design General Linear Model with Repeated Measures Analysis of Covariance (RMANCOVA). For this analysis, time served as the within-subjects factor while treatment group (i.e., static and signaling, dynamic and signaling, static without signaling, and dynamic without signaling) served as the between-subject independent variable. Three dependent variables were used to assess learner outcomes: (a) a 14 multiple-choice pre and post-test to measure knowledge retention, (b) a pre and post-test concept map to measure synthesis and structure of knowledge, and (c) four questions based on a Likert scale asking students to rank …

Forensic Signatures Of Chemical Process History In Uranium Oxides, Jonathan Plaue

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation comprehensively explores and develops new tools for nuclear forensic science to facilitate the identification of chemical process history in uranium oxides. Nuclear forensics is an emerging discipline motivated by the need to prevent and combat malevolent acts involving nuclear and radiological materials. This dissertation examined process signatures in uranium oxide powders, precursors, and sintered fuel pellets.

Signatures were investigated on set of powder and pellet exemplars synthesized in the laboratory and a set of real‐world samples with process information obtained from the literature or manufacturer. The examined techniques included morphology as revealed by scanning electron microscopy, near‐infrared reflectance …

Real Time Digital Night Vision Using Nonlinear Contrast Enhancement, Nishikar Sapkota

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis describes a nonlinear contrast enhancement technique to implement night vision in digital video. It is based on the global histogram equalization algorithm. First, the effectiveness of global histogram equalization is examined for images taken in low illumination environments in terms of Peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) and visual inspection of images. Our analysis establishes the existence of an optimum intensity for which histogram equalization yields the best results in terms of output image quality in the context of night vision. Based on this observation, an incremental approach to histogram equalization is developed which gives better results than …

An Analysis Of English Language Learning Instruction Provided In Teacher Education And Inservice Training Programs For General And Special Educators, Lidia E. Sedano

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It is essential that English language learners (ELLs) are able to effectively receive an education. Recent national data indicates that the achievement gap between English and non-English learners in school is approximately a two grade-level difference (NCES, 2012). The increase of students who are learning English and who have a disability is a challenge for schools in terms of curricula adjustments, to meet the needs of this population. (Artiles & Ortiz, 2002).

The need to prepare general and special educators to provide appropriate instruction to ELLs is crucial for positive learning outcomes (Shyyan et al., 2008; Youngs & Youngs, 2001). …

Soil Moisture Recognition And The Spatial Distribution Of Storm Activity In The Mojave Desert Using High-Resolution Aster And Modis Imagery For Thermophysical Mapping, Russell J. Skuse

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Climate models suggest that the Mojave Desert ecoregion is vulnerable to becoming drier in the future, and as the human population grows and development increases, environmental stresses will likely increase. Determining the spatial distribution and variation of soil moisture on a regional scale is an essential component to climate change, hydrologic, and habitat analyses. Soil permeability and sediment stability are characteristics that have been shown to be measurable from remote sensing observations. The primary objective of this project is to map the mechanical composition of the surface materials in the Mojave Desert ecoregion with implications for soil permeability, sediment stability, …

Traffic Modeling In Lagrangian Coordinates Using Smartphone Apps, Sergio Contreras

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Traditionally, one of the ways traffic flow has been studied is by using the kinematic wave model. This model is derived in the Eulerian framework by using conservation of the number of vehicles. Recently, the kinematic wave model has been transformed into Lagrangian coordinates. In this framework, the independent variables are unique

vehicles and time. The detailed change in framework, and the properties of the model in the changed framework are reviewed. Numerical results from different traffic cases are explained. Since vehicle trajectory data can be easily collected from smartphones,

a smartphone application is developed for this purpose. This data …

Solar Cell Design Using Metamaterials, Yang Liu, Yitung Chen, Jichun Li

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

Natural structure with simultaneous negative permittivity and permeability has not been discovered yet. However, using specially-designed metal embedded in dielectric bodies can achieve a kind of artificial negative index. This periodic structure which is smaller than the guided wavelength is known as a metamaterial. However, recent designs of metamaterials have some disadvantages when they are used in the application of solar cell. The perfect absorption is only within a narrow band, and for most of the solar spectrum, the absorption is no more than 10%. Here, a new kind of absorber for the solar spectrum has been designed and analyzed, …

New N-Nitrosodimethylamine (Ndma) Precursors That React With Ozone: Implications For Water Reuse, Erica Marti, Aleks Pisarenko, Eric Dickenson

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

Ozonation is a promising treatment step for water reuse. Compared to the “gold standard” with reverse osmosis and advanced oxidation, ozone requires less energy and does not result in a waste brine. This makes ozone more cost-effective. However, the formation of nitrosamines may be a significant barrier to the use of ozonation in water reuse applications, particularly for potable reuse.

Calibration Of Traffic Flow Models, Victor Molano

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

This study proposes a methodology to calibrate microscopic traffic flow simulation models. A Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approximation (SPSA) algorithm searches for the set of model parameters that minimizes the difference between actual and simulated values

Assessing The Impact Of Additional Seismic Sources On The Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment For The Las Vegas Valley, Nevada, Suchan Lamichhane, Barbara Luke, Wanda Taylor, William Savage

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

• The densely populated (~2M) Las Vegas Valley, Nevada (LVV) is underlain by sediments that are cut by six mapped, active normal faults that comprise the Las Vegas Valley Fault System (LVVFS). Recent research indicates that these faults have the potential to generate earthquakes up to a maximum magnitude of 6.8.
• The current (2008) USGS national seismic hazard model (NSHM) explicitly considered only the Eglington fault of the LVVFS (the remaining 5 LVVFS sources were classified as "Class B" in the USGS fault and fold database and effectively given a weight of zero in the 2008 NSHM) and also did not …

Development Of A Smart Application For Police Crash Reports, Sebastien Bonnet, Victor Molano, Alexander Paz

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

• Gaining a significant amount of time to help police work
• Developing a User Friendly Interface
• Optimizing the GPS Gaining a significant amount of time to help police work
• Developing a User Friendly Interface
• Optimizing the bar code scan technology
• Application for MC 75 mobile technology

Owners’ Satisfaction Level With The Use Of Alternative Project Delivery Methods In Water And Wastewater Infrastructures, Pramen Shrestha, Jacimaria R. Batista

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

In 2013, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Report Card for America’s Infra-structure stated that the US needs up to $1.3 trillion in capital investments to replace the aging water pipes and repair the wastewater infrastructures. It is further believed by the industry that the streamlined approach of alternative project delivery methods, such as Design-Build (DB), and Construction Manager At-Risk (CMAR) helps ensure the economical and timely design and construction of the water and wastewater infrastructures.

Modeling And Architectural Simulations Of The Statistical Static Timing Analysis Of The Variation Sources For Vlsi Circuits, Abu M. Baker

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

As CMOS technology scales down, process variation introduces significant uncertainty in power and performance to VLSI circuits and significantly affects their reliability. Although Static-Timing Analysis (STA) remains an excellent tool, current trends in process scaling have imposed significant difficulties to STA. As one of the promising solutions, Statistical static timing analysis (SSTA) has become the frontier research topic in recent years in combating such variation effects. This poster will be focusing on two aspects of SSTA and its applications in VLSI designs: (1) Statistical timing modeling and analysis; and (2) Architectural implementations of the atomic operations (max and add) using …

Fast Sobel Edge Detection Using Parallel Pipeline-Based Architecture On Fpga, Mohammad Shokrolah Shirazi, Brendan Morris

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

Implementing image processing algorithms on FPGA has recently become more popular since it provides high speed in comparison with software-based approaches. In this paper, we have presented fast pipeline-based architecture for one of the most popular edge detection algorithms called Sobel edge detection. The objective of our work is to present two fast pipeline-based architectures for Sobel edge detection on FPGA benefiting one and two way parallelism. We used Verilog language to implement our designs and we synthesized each one for Cyclone IV FPGA. Experimental results show that our pipeline-based architectures perform edge detection process more than 379 and 751 …

On High-Performance Parallel Decimal Fixed-Point Multiplier Designs, Ming Zhu

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

Decimal computations are required in finance, and etc.

• Precise representation for decimals (E.g. 0.2, 0.7… )
• Performance Requirements (Software simulations are very slow)

A Computation Model For Nanoantenna-Based Solar Cell With High Conversion Efficiency, Yiyan Li, Ke-Xun Sun, Yingtao Jiang

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

• Build a model of spiral nanoantenna and an antenna
  array based solar cell collector.
• Using Rao-Wilton-Glisson (RWG) basis functions to
  simulate the spiral nanoantennas.
• We calculate the frequency response of the radiation
  gain as the indicator of receiving bandwidth which is a
  key factor in conversion efficiency.

Image Processing Algorithms For Improving Planetary Exploration And Understanding, Ali Pouryazdanpanah

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

• To design a fully automated tool-set that allows to detect and extract the sky region in planetary images.

• To develop the new method for rock segmentation in planetary stereo images.
• To develop the new method for shadow detection in planetary images

A Visualization Tool For A Highway Safety Management System, Indira Khanal, Naveen Veeramisti, Justin Baker, Alexander Paz

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

• With lot of research, Federal Highway Administration
  has released a highway Safety management System
  software called as SafetyAnalyst (SA)
• SA has a suite of analytical tools to identify and
  manage system-wide safety improvements:
  Network Screening
  Diagnosis and Countermeasure Selection
  Economic Analyses and priority Ranking
  Countermeasure Evaluation
• SA provides a very rudimentary approach to display
  results just in tabular and textual format
• This study proposes a visualization tool that expands
  the output capabilities provided by SafetyAnalyst

Mono-Sized Sphere Packing Algorithm Development Using Optimized Monte Carlo Technique, Karn Soontrapa, Yitung Chen

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

In this research, fuel cell catalyst layer was developed using the optimized sphere packing algorithm. An optimization technique named adaptive random search technique (ARSET) was employed in this packing algorithm. The ARSET algorithm will generate the initial location of spheres and allow them to move in the random direction with the variable moving distance, randomly selected from the sampling range (a), based on the Lennard–Jones potential and Morse potential of the current and new configuration. The solid fraction values obtained from this developed algorithm are in the range of 0.610–0.624 while the actual processing time can significantly be reduced by …

Applied Analysis Of Ionic Polymer Metal-Composite Actuators, Siul Ruiz, Benjamin Mead, Woosoon Yim

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

• IPMC is a type of smart material called an electroactive polymer
• Consists of an ionic polymer such as Nafion or Flemion and a conducive metal such as platinum or gold
• COMSOL multi-physics simulations accurately model the experimental displacement results
• Optimization performed using the multi-physics model to find the maximum deflection, force, and twisting
• Using the closed loop control system accurate IPMC tip location can be achieved
• This control system has been extended to function using a computer mouse as an input

Century Wide Hydrologic Trends And Shifts In Colorado River Basin, Soumya Sagarika, Ajay Kalra, Sajjad Ahmad

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

To evaluate the long-term trends and step (abrupt change) changes in three hydrologic variables: temperature, precipitation, and streamflow over a century wide time frame in Colorado River Basin.

Development Of A Comprehensive Database System For A Highway Safety Engineering And Management, Naveen Veeramisti, Justin Baker, Indira Khanal, Kenny Moupita, Alexander Paz

College of Engineering: Graduate Celebration Programs

In simple words, the objective of this study is to develop a comprehensive database system to provide a data for highway safety engineering and management.

Desertsol: Construction Kickoff And Ribbon Cutting, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas. Solar Decathlon Team.

DesertSol: Planning and Design

This is a promotional flyer for the DesertSol project house Construction Kickoff and Ribbon Cutting event. The event was hosted by University of Nevada, Las Vegas President Smatresk and Team Las Vegas.