Digital Commons Network^™

Impacts Of Stock Prices And Interest Rates On Tourism Consumption, Ming-Chih Tsai

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Tourism industry has emerged as a leader in the U.S.'s service economy in the last decade. Meanwhile, stock markets and interest rates have been playing a more important role in Americans everyday lives. Prior research mainly focused on the economic impact of travel and tourism industry, but there are very few studies regarding how changes in economic factors will affect domestic tourism industry. This study focuses on measuring the impacts of stock prices and interest rates on tourism consumption. The results of this study show that stock prices and interest rates do have a certain amount of impacts on people's …

Control Of Flexible Joint Robotic Manipulator Using Tuning Functions Design, Pavan Krishna Aripirala Venkata

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The goal of this thesis is to design the controller for a single arm manipulator having a flexible joint for the tracking problem in two different cases. A controller is designed for a deterministic case wherein the plant parameters are assumed to be known while another is designed for an adaptive case where all the plant parameters are assumed to be unknown. In general the tracking problem is; given a smooth reference trajectory, the end effector has to track the reference while maintaining the stability. It is assumed that only the output of the manipulator, which is the link angle, …

Modeling Of Short-Distance Running, Maria Camille Theresa Jose Capiral

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, we construct a model of human performance in short distance foot races. First, we describe the Hill-Keller model of competitive running, based on the solution to an optimal control problem, and then focus on that part of the model dealing with short distance races. Our task is to estimate two underlying physiological parameters that characterize the runner's performance. Second, we customize this submodel by linearizing Keller's analytical solution for short distance races, we then apply a high quality linear least squares estimation based on the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) in order to estimate the two physiological parameters. …

Theoretical Study Of Mbe Growth Of Indium Gallium Arsenide Semiconductor Compound On Gallium Arsenide Substrate, Golshan Colayni

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The theoretical study of Molecular Beam Epitaxy allows us to model and construct an experiment with the same conditions. Growth modeling investigates compound semiconductor characteristics during the MBE growth which can achieve the best results to control the quality of growth. Growth modeling also is less expensive and faster than experiments. The wide variation in the band-gap and lattice constants between InAs and GaAs is a subject for a variety of optical and electronic device applications involving InGaAs/GaAs systems. In this material system, the perfection is intrinsically controlled by the surface segregation of In due to its larger atomic size …

Fluid Flow And Slope Stability Model, Gene Cotner

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this work was to develop a computer model to calculate the changes in factor of safety of a slope with time resulting from changes in the water saturation. A two-phase fluid flow model was incorporated to calculate the saturation and saturation changes in fractured and nonfractured soil and rock. A slope stability model was created to calculate the factor of safety. The fluid flow module executes for every time interval specified by the user. The slope stability module is executed at the end of any time interval when desired. As examples, factors of safety for the downstream …

The Relationship Between Casino Drop And Gaming Stock Performance: A Multivariate Analysis, Mark H Gilbert

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In reference to the gaming industry, investors and analysts examine many different variables that affect the financial viability of the business. Areas of investigation have included competition, governmental regulation, debt structure, cash flow, visitor volume, and so on; The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship of yet another variable of casino performance, the casino drop, to gaming stock performance. Utilizing statistics provided from the State of Nevada's Gaming Revenue Report, the casino drop was divided into five segments, blackjack, craps, baccarat, quarter slots, and dollar slots; Tested by using a multiple regression analysis against a market capitalization-weighted …

Do Rna-Dependent Polymerases Share Common Ancestry? A Bioinformatic Approach, Julianna Hudak

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Bioinformatics is the use of computational methods to perform hypothesis-driven research that generates new knowledge from existing biological databases. For any bioinformatic analysis, it is important that the most accurate method(s) be used. The first portion of this thesis is a comparative evaluation of six programs designed for the local alignment of protein sequences. The results demonstrate that two of the programs, MEME and PROBE, outperform all other programs (BLOCKMAKER, ITERALIGN, MATCHBOX, and PIMA). The second portion of this thesis uses MEME and PROBE in an attempt to locate an ordered-series-of-motifs (OSM) among two groups of RNA-dependent polymerases, the large …

A Parametric Study On The Contained Burning Of Solid Rocket Motor Propellant, Jennifer Erin Politano

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Outmoded solid rocket motor propellant is being destroyed by burning as part of the worldwide demilitarization process. Many of these bums have been performed in spaces where the combustion products are contained within a sealed chamber. There is currently no accepted method to predict the gas temperature and pressure that results from this process. The primary focus of this study was the prediction of the peak temperature and pressure of the gas inside an underground containment chamber as a function of the propellant consumed and the prediction of the wall surface temperature as a function of time; A thermodynamic lumped …

The Selection And Preparation Of Paramedic Preceptors In Emergency Medical Services, Brian James Tilton

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In Emergency Medical Services, training programs for paramedics, providers of Advanced Life Support emergency care, include a field internship where students are partnered with a preceptor for training and evaluation before program completion; The purpose of this study was to determine if certain attributes could be used as predictors for preceptor success measured by a preceptor performance evaluation. The quantitative descriptive, correlation study was based on data gathered from paramedic preceptors in Clark County, Nevada in the spring of 1999. The sample (n = 66) was drawn through a consensus survey of every paramedic preceptor employed by a provider agency …

Inverse Control And Stabilization Of Free-Flying Flexible Robots, G. De Rivals-Mazeres, Woosoon Yim, F. Mora-Camino, Sahjendra N. Singh

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

The question of control and stabilization of flexible space robots is considered. Although, this approach is applicable to space robots of other configurations, for simplicity, a flexible planar two-link robot, mounted on a rigid floating platform, is considered. The robotic arm has two revolute joints and its links undergo elastic deformation in the plane of rotation. Based on nonlinear inversion technique, a control law is derived for controlling output variables describing the position and orientation of the platform and the joint angles of the robot. Although, the inverse controller accomplishes reference trajectory tracking, it excites the elastic modes of the …

Uncertainty In Recharge From Subsidence Craters At Frenchman Flat, Nevada Test Site: Impacts Of Initial And Boundary Conditions And Media Properties, David Matthew Ely

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Nevada Test Site has over 400 subsidence craters formed by the collapse of overlying rock following underground nuclear tests. Under natural conditions, infiltration and recharge would not be considered likely due to infrequent precipitation events and extreme evapotranspiration. Crater U5a in Frenchman Flat was chosen for study because it intercepts significantly more drainage than surrounding craters. Vadose zone modeling was conducted to test the sensitivity of water movement to boundary and initial conditions. The effects of ponding depth was negligible but depth of wetting front movement was highly dependent on the lateral extent of the ponds. The model was …

High-Resolution Electron Time-Of-Flight Apparatus For The Soft-X-Ray Region, Oliver Hemmers, S. B. Whitfield, P. Glans, H. Wang, Dennis W. Lindle, R. Wehlitz, I. A. Sellin

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

A gas-phase time-of-flight (TOF) apparatus, capable of supporting as many as six electron-TOF analyzers viewing the same interaction region, has been developed to measure energy- and angle-resolved electrons with kinetic energies up to 5 keV. Each analyzer includes a newly designed lens system that can retard electrons to about 2% of their initial kinetic energy without significant loss of transmission; the analyzers can thus achieve a resolving power (E/ΔE) greater than 10⁴ over a wide kinetic-energy range. Such high resolving power is comparable to the photon energy resolution of state-of-the-art synchrotron–radiation beamlines in the soft …

Photofragmentation Of Third-Row Hydrides Following Photoexcitation At Deep-Core Levels, D. Hansen, M. E. Arrasate, J. Cotter, G. R. Fisher, Oliver Hemmers, K. T. Leung, Jon C. Levin, R. Martin, Paul Neill, Rupert C. Perera, I. A. Sellin, Marc Simon, Y. Uehara, B. Vanderford, S. B. Whitfield, Dennis W. Lindle

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

The relaxation dynamics of HCl, DCl, H₂S, and D₂S following photoexcitation in the vicinities of the Cl and S K-shell thresholds (∼2.8keV for Cl, ∼2.5 keV for S) were studied by means of ion time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. In all cases, the onset of pre-edge core-shell photoionization precedes the formation on resonance of a significant amount of neutral hydrogen as well as postcollision-interaction effects above threshold. Examination of the width of the H⁺ peak in spectra taken with the analyzer parallel and perpendicular to the polarization vector of the incident light indicates that on resonance, the …

Photofragmentation Of Third-Row Hydrides Following Photoexcitation At Deep-Core Levels, D. L. Hansen, M. E. Arrasate, J. Cotter, G. R. Fisher, Oliver Hemmers, K. T. Leung, Jon C. Levin, R. Martin, Paul Neill, Rupert C. Perera, I. A. Sellin, Marc Simon, Y. Uehara, B. Vanderford, S. B. Whitfield, Dennis W. Lindle

X-Ray Atomic and Molecular Science Program

The relaxation dynamics of HCl, DCl, H₂S, and D₂S following photoexcitation in the vicinities of the Cl and S K-shell thresholds (~2.8 keV for Cl, ~2.5 keV for S) were studied by means of ion time-of-flight mass spectroscopy. In all cases, the onset of pre-edge core-shell photoionization precedes the formation on resonance of a significant amount of neutral hydrogen as well as postcollision-interaction effects above threshold. Examination of the width of the H⁺ peak in spectra taken with the analyzer parallel and perpendicular to the polarization vector of the incident light indicates that on resonance, …

Vegetation Analysis: A Graphical Analysis Of Plant Succession In Desert Communities Affected By Fire, Jeff Lantow

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Mojave Desert is affected by fire every year. With each fire comes the removal of old growth and, in its place, new growth – consisting primarily of those species which thrive in disturbed areas. The focus of my research is to look at plant communities that have been disturbed by fire, and examine the successional pathway of these disturbed environments. The seven environments I analyzed were burned within the last twenty years and are found in the Coleogyne ramosissima ecotone throughout the Spring Mountain range near Las Vegas, Nevada. The data was collected with randomly chosen circle plots in …

Water Conservation In The Las Vegas Valley, Judith M. Keir

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis deals primarily with residential use of water in the Las Vegas Valley, an arid climate located in the Mojave Desert, and whether the education of people living here has any bearing on whether or not they conserve water. Many of the residents of the Las Vegas Valley have moved from other areas of the country, and perhaps are not aware of the fact that there is a limited supply of water available to the Valley. I believe that people are not necessarily wasteful, and that they would want to conserve water, if they were aware that conservation and …

Stachybotrys: Is Nevada At Risk?, Terrylynn C. Foley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Stachybotrys chartarum (atra) is a toxigenic fungus that is known to adversely impact the health of animals. Until recently, there have only been a few documented clinical reports linking Stachybotrys chartarum to human health effects. Scientists are increasingly convinced that Stachybotrys and its metabolites are responsible for several adverse health effects experienced by people all over the world, although conclusive proof has yet to be established. All the physical requirements needed for indoor Stachybotrys sporulation and growth is provided through water leaks (plumbing, roof or ceiling), flood events, nutrient sources (cellulose and nitrogen), pH, and temperature(23° - 28°C). Stachybotrys has …

Lead Shot Concentration In Soil At The Overton Wildlife Management Area, Nevada, George R. Bertoty

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the spring of 1998, soil samples were collected from two areas at the Overton Wildlife Management Area (OWMA), located in the Moapa Valley of Clark County, Nevada. Lead shot has been banned for the hunting of waterfowl since 1986 but is still legal for upland game hunting. Both types of hunting occur at OWMA. One area sampled is a cultivated field and serves primarily as a dove hunting area. The other area is primarily a waterfowl hunting area and is flooded during the waterfowl-hunting season. Lead shot was recovered from 83% of the samples from the dove hunting area, …

A Strategic Analysis Of The Rocky Flats Cleanup, Patrick Mccann

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site is located in Golden, Colorado. It is situated on 384 acres in a 6,550-acre natural preserve. Rocky Flats ended its original mission in 1989, after raids on the site by both the FBI and the EPA for illegal dumping and other environmental violations. Since then the site has been scheduled for cleanup. This thesis will provide background information on the site and on the company hired to perform the cleanup. It also provides an evaluation of some key policies regarding the cleanup procedures. Since the end of the cold war, the production of nuclear …

Auger Resonance Decay Process In Ar 2p Shell Excitation And Ionization, Y. Lu, Wayne C. Stolte, J.A. R. Samson

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

The production and subsequent autoionization of the Ar⁺ (¹D₂)6d¹ satellite state that is formed either by shake-up or recapture during the Auger decay of a 2p vacancy in Ar has been studied by photoelectron spectroscopy in the energy region from 243 to 256 eV. The creation of near zero energy electrons below and immediately above the Ar 2p ionization threshold is discussed. Some ambiguous points in previous studies are clarified.

Interagency Lake Mead And Las Vegas Wash Monitoring Program: Standard Operating Procedures Manual, Bureau Of Reclamation, City Of Henderson Water Reclamation Facility, City Of Las Vegas Water Pollution Control Facility, Clark County Sanitation District, Nevada, Southern Nevada Water Authority

Publications (WR)

A number of agencies sample Lake Mead and the Las Vegas Wash on a routine basis at several locations. In order to share and properly interpret the data, the Bureau of Reclamation, Southern Nevada Water Authority and the three Wastewater Treatment Facilities (City of Las Vegas, Clark County Sanitation District and City of Henderson) formed a committee to examine sampling and analytical protocols and to share information with the goal of maximizing the data quality. The group first met in April 1997. It was agreed that an effort should be made to discuss and compare specific sampling and analytical techniques …

Validation Of Waimss Incident Duration Estimation Model, Wei Wu, Pushkin Kachroo, Kaan Ozbay

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

This paper presents an effort to validate the traffic incident duration estimation model of WAIMSS (wide area incident management support system). Duration estimation model of WAIMSS predicts the incident duration based on an estimation tree which was calibrated using incident data collected in Northern Virginia. Due to the limited sample size, a full scale test of the distribution, mean and variance of incident duration was performed only for the root node of the estimation tree, white only mean tests were executed at all other nodes whenever a data subset was available. Further studies were also conducted on the model error …

Wide-Area Incident Management System On The Internet, Kaan Ozbay, Pushkin Kachroo

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

The incident management process consists of four sequential steps-incident detection, response, clearance and recovery. Each of these components comprises of a number of operations and coordinated decision-making between the agencies involved. The provision of computer based support tools for the personnel involved will help develop appropriate strategies and increase efficiency and expediency. Existing systems are developed on various traditional computing platforms. However, with the advent of World Wide Web and Internet based programming tools such as Java, it is now possible to develop platform independent decision support tools for the incident management agencies. Any agency will be able to use …

A Teachers Guide: The Basic Characteristics Of Wetlands And Why They Are Important To The Environment, Charles W. Fisher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this thesis is to develop an educational guide about wetlands that can be used by 3rd- 12th grade teachers. This guide will enable students to learn about wetlands and why they are important to our environment. I will provide examples and a series of activities that teachers can use in the classroom to help their students better understand the benefits and function of wetlands.

The Price Of Clean Air: A Consideration Of Market Based Emissions Trading, Mark W. Miller

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Traditional regulatory approaches for environmental protection do not consider

the costs and benefits of the standards they impose. Further, imposing strict performance

standards on firms with heterogeneous control costs leads to an inefficient allocation of resources devoted to pollution control. This paper explores the use of emission allowance trading as a way to improve economic efficiency within the context of environmental protection. PM10 air pollution from sources within the Las Vegas Valley is used as the case study.

This paper found that an emission trading

program in this particular case study would not live up to the theoretical expectations. Although, …

Effects Of Oxygen Variation On The Ecology Of Devil's Hole, Death Valley National Park, Norma J. Azad

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The inability to rear Devil's Hole pupfish, Cyprinodon diabolis Wales, in captivity, when captive propagation has been successful with other species of pupfish, led to the examination of environmental factors which are unique to Devil's Hole. It has been suggested that C. diabolis regularly experience developmental arrest due to hypoxic conditions. This arrest may be reversible in areas of the shallow shelf during periods of photosynthetic activity. Oxygen measurements over the shallow shelf reveal a gradient of oxygen variation with the greatest diel variability over the inner portion of the shelf diminishing to nearly imperceptible diel variation toward the outer …

Watercraft Impact On The Lake Mead National Recreational Area, Terence Lino

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

No abstract provided.

Neutral Dissociation Of Hydrogen Following Photoexcitation Of Hcl At The Chlorine K Edge, D. L. Hansen, J. Cotter, G. R. Fisher, K. T. Leung, R. Martin, Paul Neill, Rupert C. Perera, I. A. Sellin, Marc Simon, Y. Uehara, B. Vanderford, S. B. Whitfield

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

Time-of-flight mass spectroscopy was used to study the relaxation dynamics of HCl following photoexcitation in the vicinity of the Cl K edge (~2.8 keV) using monochromatic synchrotron radiation. At the lowest resonant excitation to the 6ơ* antibonding orbital, almost half of the excited molecules decay by emission of a neutral H atom, mostly in coincidence with a highly charged Cln1 ion. The present work demonstrates that neutral-atom emission can be a significant decay channel for excited states with very short lifetimes (1 fs). [S1050-2947(98)03604-X]

A Comparison Of Astm Standard E1599-94 And A Site Assessment Project Located In North Las Vegas, Kenneth Anthony Katsuda

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This document provides a comparison of ASTM E-1599-94 Standard for a petroleum release and the procedures performed on a site assessment project in North Las Vegas. The major elements of a site assessment are thoroughly discussed in this document. They elements consist of the Initial Site Assessment, On-Site Delineation, Off-Site Delineation, Sampling/Analysis, and Site Assessment Methodologies.

The data was obtained through extensive research, utilizing reference documents,on-site experience, and the knowledge of Keith Stewart of Stewart Environmental.

After reviewing and comparing the data of my research, the procedures applied to the North Las Vegas Site (NLVS) were quite similar to the …

Double Photoionization Of Helium, James A.R. Samson, Wayne C. Stolte, Z. X. He, Y. Lu, J. N. Cutler, R. J. Bartlett

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Research

The cross sections for double photoionization of helium and the ratios of double to single ionization have been measured from the double-ionization threshold to 820 eV. The results are in very good agreement with several recent calculations.