Digital Commons Network^™

Estimating Pareto's Constant And Gini Coefficient Of The Pareto Distribution, Brian Christopher Hodge

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The Pareto distribution is widely used to describe the distribution of incomes. The distribution can be defined by a location parameter c and a shape parameters a. The maximum likelihood estimators (MLE) and the uniform minimum variance unbiased estimators (UMVUE) for parameters a and c are available in current literature. An improved estimator for parameter a will then be found using a frequentist decision theoretic technique. It is then shown that this improved estimator is the generalized bayes estimator for a certain choice of priors; The Lorenz curve is a tool used to evaluate the share of income of sub-populations …

The Effects Of Deregulation On The Structure Of The Texas Natural Gas Production Industry, Scott Lemuel Martin

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Buying, selling, and transporting natural gas through underground pipelines has historically been regulated. However, in 1978 the Natural Gas Policy Act was passed, reducing the control that regulators had over the price of natural gas. In addition, the 1989 Natural Gas Wellhead Decontrol Act and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Order #636 in 1992, continued deregulation of both natural gas prices and transportation from the point of sale to the customer's burner tip; Analysts have argued these regulatory changes have increased competition in the natural gas industry. This paper presents an empirical analysis of the Texas natural gas production industry …

A Variational Principle And Its Connection With Fixed Point Theory, Ryo Ohashi

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, the following topics will be discussed; In chapter 2, a variational principle due to I. Ekeland (EVP) will be considered which deals with minimization of functions on a complete metric space; In chapter 3, the notion of completeness of a metric space will be characterized by means of various approaches. Several different statements will be given and shown to be all equivalent. One of these will be considered separately in chapter 4; In chapter 4, a direct approach to finding a fixed point of a self-mapping T on a complete metric space will be discussed. A transfinite …

The Use Of Portfolios To Inform Classroom Practice, Dora Jean Olson

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The Use of Portfolios to Inform Classroom Practice is a case study examining the effects of a portfolio assessment system introduced into a second grade classroom. The research was based on the philosophical analysis of Duschl and Gitomer (1991) who describe the concept of a "portfolio culture": as a result of using literacy portfolios in the classroom, what changes, if any, occur in students' metacognition, attitudes, behaviors, empowerment and engagement? The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey as well as two teacher-constructed semantic differential instruments were used to collect quantitative measures on the effects of portfolio use. These measures were supplemented with …

Intradistrict Equity: A Proposed Methodology For Resource Allocation, Susan J Miller-Defrancesco

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop an intradistrict allocation funding model. An extension of research methodology using an index-of-need as a proxy for the magnitude of educational need, this study identified indicators-of-need from the research literature and as present in 31 middle schools in Clark County School District, Las Vegas, Nevada. A neural net analysis categorized schools based on their indicator-of-need variables. Six variables were the basis for the index development: student poverty level, transiency rate, limited English proficiency (LEP) student enrollment, special education student enrollment, percentage of minority enrollment, and percentage of students eligible for Title I …

An Investigation And Analysis Of The Baccalaureate Degree Completion Rates Of Community College Transfer Students, Christian Ifeanyi Egemba

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The United States faces increasing competition in the global marketplace. One viable way to strengthen America's competitive position in the global economy is to develop its human capital through a genuine commitment to and aggressive investment in its higher education system, which culminates in baccalaureate-level education. There are several benefits of a baccalaureate-level education, for both individuals and for the country. For individuals, there are self-development and economic benefits. For the country, there are economic development benefits and a more enlightened citizenry; The transferability of the community college credits to four-year institutions extends the following benefits to the economically disadvantaged …

The Development Of An At-Risk Index And Its Implications For The State Of Texas, Craig A Kadlub

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to devise a model for funding Texas school districts in proportion to their varying at-risk student needs. The method employed was the development of a composite indicator--an index of need--based upon commonly accepted at-risk indicators. Advantages of an index include its objectivity and the fact that it can be constructed using commonly available statistics. Additionally, because it produces a recommended level of resource allocation predicated upon cumulative needs rather than student-or program-specific spending dictates, it fosters district-level control and authority over resources provided by the state and inhibits the student labeling and rigid program …

Having Their Say: Parents Of High-Achieving African American Elementary Students Talk About The Home-School Relationship, Donna Mahler

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Having Their Say: Parents of High-Achieving African American Elementary Students Talk About the Home-School Relationship describes a qualitative research study that explored parents' perceptions of their role in education and how these perceptions translate into specific parent involvement practices both at home and at school. It also identifies the concerns that African American parents have about their children's schooling and offers their suggestions for improvement; Twelve parents of African American students identified as "high-achieving" and of varying socioeconomic levels participated in either a focus group discussion or in an individual in-depth interview about parent involvement in education. Epstein's theoretical model …

Avian Habitat Use In Southern Nevada Riparian Areas With Varying Amounts Of Tamarix Ramosissima, Sandra Lou Haigh

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Avian species richness, species diversity, and density were measured and compared over a 21 month period on six riparian sites in Lake Mead National Recreation Area (LMNRA), southern Nevada. Sites consisted of two lake shore areas with almost pure stands of Tamarix ramosissima and four stream side areas, two with mixed Tamarix and native vegetation and two with only native vegetation. Overall mean avian species richness, diversity, and density were lowest on lake shore sites, intermediate on mixed stream sites and highest on stream sites with native vegetation. Differences in these values were significant between lake shore and stream sites …

Comparison Of Models To Mitigate Flood Hazard To Transportation Alignments On Alluvial Fans, Julianne Joy Miller

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Many investigators have suggested that available one- and two-dimensional, deterministic models may provide better discharge estimates for alluvial fan flood mitigation studies than the one-dimensional, stochastic Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) model; A modified version of the one-dimensional, stochastic FEMA model (French, 1992), and the one- and two-dimensional, deterministic models, DAMBRK (Fread, 1984) and FLO-2D (O'Brien, 1995), respectively, are used to estimate peak discharges at railroad alignments crossing three alluvial fans in southern Nevada. Risk analyses calculate exceedance probabilities. Results are compared with railroad maintenance records documenting damage to these alignments; All three models generally predict peak discharges that are …

Effects Of Bacteria Polysaccharide And Cationic Surfactant Treatment On The Sorption Of Volatile Organic Compounds By Soil, Wenkai Ma

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In this study, the vapor-phase sorption of trichloroethylene (TCE) and benzene onto soil were assessed using Inverse Gas Chromatography (IGC). Soils were treated with two different methods: (1) Soils were incubated with bacterial polysaccharide (to increase organic matter); (2) Soil was modified with cationic surfactant tetrabutyl-ammonium (TBA) and benzyl-diemethyl-sterylammonium (BDMS) respectively. The sorption results on the treated soils were compared to sorption results on the untreated soil. This comparison indicated that there were no significant differences between the VOC sorptions on untreated soil and bacterial polysaccharide treated soil. Sorption experiments on TBA-treated and BDMS-treated soil were conducted at various moisture …

Alternative Estimation Methods For Survival Models, John William Trabert

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis, we will address the problem of estimating the parameters of two types of three parameter survival models for the force of mortality, the Makeham model and the Weibull model. The existing methods for estimating these parameters by the method of least-squares include using a log-transformation on the force of mortality data. We will propose another method of estimating these parameters that uses linear regression, and finding the least-squares estimates of the parameters by using the golden section search procedure for computer minimization.

A Path To Nowhere: Violence, Sex, And Humor In Cormac Mccarthy's "Child Of God" And "Suttree", Justin Cord Hayes

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

A Path to Nowhere: Violence, Sex, and Humor in Cormac McCarthy's Child of God and Suttree discusses some of the uses of three prevalent elements in two of McCarthy's works. Chapter One introduces violence and its importance to his fiction, demonstrating that it is often linked with sex and humor, and it discusses the two novels' lack of closure. Chapter Two describes McCarthy's use of the three elements in Child of God. Chapter Three illustrates his use of the elements in Suttree. Chapter Four concludes the essay by offering some reasons why Child of God and Suttree lack closure.

Dc And Ac Modeling Of Heterostructure Bipolar Transistors (Hbts), Roxana Arvandi

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Starting with a homojunction or graded heterojunction bipolar transistor, a complete model for the dc and ac performances of the device is developed based on the Ebers-Moll methodology. The formulation is modified to include the abrupt single HBT, by introducing the effects of the conduction band discontinuity at the base-emitter junction as an energy barrier for electrons flow resulting in transmission and reflection processes. Finally, using the same approach, the formulation is extended to the abrupt double HBT. The collector current as a function of collector-emitter voltage, the collector and base currents as a function of base-emitter voltage, the dc …

Synthetic Organic Compounds: Las Vegas Wash And Lake Mead, National Water Quality Assessment Program (Nawqa): Nevada Basin And Range

Publications (WR)

The Nevada Basin and Range (NVBR) study unit of the U.S. Geological Survey's National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program is investigating the status of, trends in, and factors affecting water quality in the Las Vegas area. A principal objective of the investigation is to assess the effects of urbanization on the quality of area water resources. Las Vegas Wash is the surface-water outlet for the Las Vegas area. The wash transports stormwater runoff, shallow ground-water discharge, and tertiary-treated sewage effluent from the Las Vegas area to Las Vegas Bay of Lake Mead on the Colorado River. Most of the flow—about 96 …

A Self-Consistent Numerical Method For Simulation Of Quantum Transport In High Electron Mobility Transistor; Part Ii: The Full Quantum Transport, Rahim Khoie

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

In Part I of this paper we reported a self-consistent Boltzmann-Schrodinger-Poisson simulator for HEMT in which only electrons in the first subband were assumed to be quantized with their motion restricted to 2 dimensions. In that model, the electrons in the second and higher subbands were treated as bulk system behaving as a 3 dimensional electron gas. In Part II of this paper, we extend our simulator to a self-consistent full-quantum model in which the electrons in the second subband are also treated as quantized 2 dimensional gas. In this model, we consider the electrons in the lowest two subbands …

Mafic Volcanism In The Colorado Plateau: Basin And Range Transition Zone, Hurricane, Utah, Alexander Sanchez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Hurricane volcanic field (HVF) is a small-volume (0.48 km³) mafic volcanic field in the Colorado Plateau/Basin & Range Transition Zone located in the eastern part of the St. George basin in southwestern Utah. Strombolian-Hawaiian style eruptions produced thin (10 m) a'a lava flows and cinder (scoria) cones composed of vesicular basalt, bombs and agglutinate. Radiometric dating and geologic relationships demonstrate that the HVF formed over a period of at least 100,000 years. In the upper crust, magma probably rose along joints in sedimentary rocks because chains of volcanic vents follow joint orientation maxima in sedimentary rocks.

Three …

Geochemical Evolution Of A Mid-Miocene Synextensional Volcanic Complex: The Dolan Springs Volcanic Field, Northwestern Arizona, Scott Michael Mcdaniel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Dolan Springs volcanic field (DSV), of northwestern Arizona, is dominated by andesite and basaltic-andesite flows and breccias, with minor amounts of basalt, rhyolite, and ash-flow tuff. Geochemistry is used here as a tool to evaluate the roles and contributions of the lithospheric and asthenospheric mantles to magmatism related to Miocene extension in the Colorado River extension corridor (CREC). The majority of synextensional volcanic rocks in the DSV are geochemically similar to regional trends, but rare tholeiitic basalts erupted near the end of extension. The tholeiites have trace element signatures similar to ocean island basalt (OIB), but have isotopic values …

Tectonic Denudation Of Mesozoic Contractile Structures By A Low-Angle Normal Fault And Associated Faults, Southern White Pine Range, Nevada, Holly Langrock

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Blackrock Canyon area in the southern White Pine Range, Nevada mostly consists of the highly extended upper plate of a low-angle normal fault, the Blackrock fault. The post-31.3 Ma Blackrock fault places upper Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and overlying Tertiary volcanic rocks of the Garret Ranch Group in its hangingwall against a 50 degrees E-dipping homocline of Cambrian through Mississippian rocks in its footwall. The 15 to 30 degrees W-dipping Blackrock fault is non-planar and consists of two fault segments and a pronounced corrugation, the Bull Spring corrugation. These geometric irregularities suggest the slip direction on the fault was east-southeast …

Geology And Geochemistry Of Tertiary Volcanic Rocks In The Northern Reveille And Southern Pancake Ranges, Nye County, Nevada, Kelly Brian Rash

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The northern Reveille and southern Pancake Ranges, located in the south-central Great Basin, experienced a prolonged history of Tertiary volcanism. Volcanic activity in this area began with the eruption of large-volumes of ash-flow tuffs from calderas of the central Nevada caldera complex. The Reveille Range and the southernmost portion of the Pancake Range are the site of two calderas that are the sources for the tuff of Goblin Knobs and tuff of northern Reveille Range. The tuff of Goblin Knobs (70.4-75.3 wt.% SiO₂) erupted from the caldera of Goblin Knobs (25.6 Ma) and is the thickest (~1700 m) …

Intelligent Control Of Vehicles: Preliminary Results On The Application Of Learning Automata Techniques To Automated Highway System, Cem Unsal, John S. Bay, Pushkin Kachroo

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

We suggest an intelligent controller for an automated vehicle to plan its own trajectory based on sensor and communication data received. Our intelligent controller is based on an artificial intelligence technique called learning stochastic automata. The automaton can learn the best possible action to avoid collisions using the data received from on-board sensors. The system has the advantage of being able to work in unmodeled stochastic environments. Simulations for the lateral control of a vehicle using this AI method provides encouraging results.

Management Of Pesticide Related Soil Contamination In Tulare County, California: Remediation And Prevention Options, Nickolas Keoni Akana

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The case study chosen for research is the Remedial Action Plan (RAP) summary report of Remedial Investigations of the Harmon Field contaminated site located near the town of Pixley, in Tulare County, California. "These reports were prepared in accordance with a directive from the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal-EPA), formerly the California Department of Health Services (DHS). (Canonie, 1996).

Harmon Field is a hundred acre field located at 1494 South Airport Road. The airfield has been in full operation since 1952. The uses of the airport are all agriculturally related. The primary use is for crop duster operations. (Canonie 1996). …

Flexible Low-Cost Automated Scaled Highway (Flash) Laboratory For Studies On Automated Highway Systems, Pushkin Kachroo, Kaan Ozbay, Robert G. Leonard, Cem Unsal

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

This paper addresses the development of a flexible low-cost automated scale highway (FLASH) laboratory which is intended to serve as a catalyst for accelerating the development of many intelligent vehicle highway system (IVHS) concepts. It also highlights the significance of the laboratory for the research, evaluation, and testing of automated highway system (AHS) configurations, architectures, designs and technologies. This laboratory, using small scale standardized vehicles will serve as a test bed for the economical development and evaluation of various hardware, software, and management systems before full scale testing and deployment. The laboratory will provide the capability to test day and …

Nutrient Limitation In A Southwestern Desert Reservoir: Eutrophication Of Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, Nevada, Davine M. Lieberman

Publications (WR)

Algal bioassay tests were conducted with Selenastrum capricornutum and natural algae on inner Las Vegas Bay, Lake Mead, Nevada, from December 1992 through September 1993, to identify any nutrient limitation in an area of the reservoir that has experienced problems associated with severe nutrient enrichment. Three areas were sampled based on a gradient of water quality conditions that existed in Las Vegas Bay (LVB). Disodium ethylenedinitrilotetraacetate (EDTA) significantly stimulated algal growth compared to non-EDTA treatment. Algal bioassays indicated that phosphorus (P) was the primary limiting nutrient at all stations for most of the test dates. Chl a response with EDTA …

Comparison Of Time-Domain Reflectometry Performance Factors For Several Dielectric Geometries: Theory And Experiments, S. V. Maheshwarla, R. Venkatasubramanian, Robert F. Boehm

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Research

We propose three nontraditional dielectric geometries and present an experimental and theoretical analysis and comparison of time domain reflectometry (TDR) performances for them. The traditional geometry (the probes inserted in material of essentially infinite extent) is compared to three nontraditional geometries where the probes are affixed outside of a core sample, inside of a bore, or flat on the surface of a semi-infinite solid. Our derivation relates the velocity of electromagnetic wave propagation to the complex permittivities and permeabilities of the media and the geometry for the three nontraditional configurations. Experimental results for air, styrofoam, dry sand, wet sand of …

Angle-Resolved Photoelectron Spectroscopy Of C60, T. Liebsch, O. Plotzke, Franz Heiser, U. Hergenhahn, Oliver Hemmers, R. Wehlitz, J. Viefhaus, B. Langer, S. B. Whitfield, U. Becker

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Angle-resolved photoelectron spectra of gaseous C₆₀ were recorded in the photon energy regions from 21 to 108 eV and from 295 to 320 eV. Partial cross sections σ and the angular distribution anisotropy parameter β vary significantly with photon energy, particularly in the near-threshold region of the valence and the core ionization regimes. Some of these effects may be attributed to scattering of the outgoing photoelectron by the atoms of the ionized C₆₀ molecule. Our results indicate that the observed satellites of the C(1s) main line are most likely of shake-up character. Low-energy electrons emitted below the shake-off …

Vibrational-State-Dependent Decay Of The Co C(1s) Excitation, N. Saito, Franz Heiser, Oliver Hemmers, A. Hempelmann, K. Wieliczek, J. Viefhaus, U. Becker

Environmental Studies Faculty Publications

Molecular ionization and ionic fragmentation of core excited CO valence and Rydberg states are studied by partial-ion-yield spectroscopy at vibrational resolution. The vibrational intensities of the Rydberg excitations differ significantly depending on the ionization and/or fragmentation channel. The observed intensity variations are explained by nondissociative excited final ionic states of the subsequent molecular Auger decay. The vibrational levels of these final states become selectively depopulated due to interaction with dissociative decay channels leading to ionic fragmentation.

A Petrographic And Fluid Inclusion Study Of The Purple Vein And Post/Betze Orebodies, Carlin, Nevada, Jan B. Lamb

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Purple Vein (Meikle Mine) and Post/Betze orebodies, two Carlin-type, gold deposits, display important differences in size, alteration, silicification, pyritization, and gold grade. A core hole was examined from each deposit to gather petrographic and microthermometric data to determine the mineral paragenesis, to determine fluid pressure, temperature, and composition to compare of the two orebodies, and to determine depths of formation.

The parageneses determined were divided into three stages. (1) The Early Mineralization Stage contains quartz, pyrobitumen, barite, sphalerite, sulfosalts, quartz, and pyrite in the Purple Vein deposit and consists of calcite in the Post/Betze deposit. High salinity basinal brines, …

An Understanding Of Factors Controlling Isotopic Ratios Of Wine As A Potential Surrogate Of Past Precipitation, Eric Alan Caldwell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Precipitation, vapor water, ground water, soil water, grape berry and grape leaf water, grape must, and vintage wines were collected from northern California for stable isotopic analysis. An understanding of factors controlling isotopic ratios of wine allows evaluation of wine as a surrogate of past precipitation. Stable isotopic compositions of grape berry waters collected at Charles Krug Winery in Napa Valley. CA range from -31 to -17 per mil in 8D and +7.2 to +15.3 per mil in 8180, and plot along a transpiration line of slope 2. 7. Grape leaf waters range from -25 to +5 per mil in …

Resource Use Conflict In New York City's Catskill Watersheds: A Case For Expanding The Scope Of Water Resource Management, Krystyna Anne Stave

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

In New York City's water supply watersheds, controversy over water quality protection underscores both the need to expand the scope of water resource management and the challenges to doing so. This paper describes the response of watershed residents to !'Jew York City's efforts to avoid filtration mandated by the 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments and 1989 Surface Water Treatment Rule. The emergence of a spectrum of stakeholder groups representing land owners, sport fishermen, businesses, environmental groups and local communities has brought social and economic issues not previously part of the City's water management program to the center of the …