Digital Commons Network^™

Change Deafness: A Comprehensive Examinations, Vanessa Claire Irsik

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Environmental changes are a vital source of information which can drive advantageous behavioral responses. For example, detecting visual changes can be critical when driving a vehicle or when simply walking down a busy street. Auditory perception is an essential complement to vision as it can allow awareness of changes in and out of sight. While subjective perception would suggest that our sensory representation of the world is complete, research on change deafness indicates that quite often the opposite is true. Healthy listeners often miss salient, suprathreshold auditory changes. Three separate manuscripts will be presented, each of which aims to advance …

Leonardo Balada And Surrealism In Music, Ivan Ivanov

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Leonardo Balada (1933) is a Catalan born composer who came to New York City in 1956 and began teaching at Carnegie Mellon University in 1970, where I became acquainted with him. He studied composition with Vincent Persichetti, Aaron Copland and conducting with Igor Markevitch. He composes in a stylistic synthesis of a new level of surrealistic avant-garde. He is a postmodern composer that has clearly assimilated every possible trend or technique of the 20th Century and incorporated them into a vocabulary which is very specific and categorized as his own. His writing represents a true synthesis of styles that provides …

Movement Efficiency Through Autonomy Support, Takehiro Iwatsuki

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Supporting performer autonomy has been consistently been shown to enhance motor learning (for reviews, see Sanli, Patterson, Bray, & Lee, 2013; Wulf, 2007; Wulf & Lewthwaite, 2016). Autonomy-supportive situations are those in which learners are given control over aspects of the practice conditions or are provided with other choices, including small and incidental choices that are not necessarily related to the task at hand. Providing autonomy support also benefits immediate motor performance, as demonstrated by enhanced punching velocity and impact forces in a study involving skilled kick boxers (Halperin, Chapman, Martin, Lewthwaite, & Wulf, 2016). Autonomy support is a key …

Preliminary Investigation Of Tensile Strength And Impact Characterization Of Cementitious Composite Incorporating Carbon Nanotubes, Robabeh Jazaei

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Cement has been largely used in the construction industry, specifically as a matrix for concrete. Recently, a new generation of cement-based composite that greatly increases mechanical properties is replacing conventional concrete. With periodic advances in the field, researchers considered particles with high-aspect ratios such as Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) to reinforce cement matrices. Although there is not much literature to draw upon in research, some research on improving the tensile strength of cementitious composite incorporating with CNTs does exist. However, there had been no evidence of investigation into impact strength until this study.

Most papers presented examined the effect of multi-walled …

Concurrency In Blockchain Based Smartpool With Transactional Memory, Laxmi Kadariya

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Blockchain is the buzzword in today's modern technological world. It is an undeniably ingenious invention of the 21st century. Blockchain was first coined and used by a cryptocurrency namedBitcoin. Since then bitcoin and blockchain are so popular that every single person is taking on bitcoin these days and the price of bitcoin has leaped to a staggering price in the last year and so.Today several other cryptocurrencies have adapted the blockchain technology.

Blockchain in cryptocurrencies is formed by chaining of blocks. These blocks are created by the nodes called miners through the process called Proof of Work(PoW). Mining Pools are …

You're Out! Explaining Non-Criminal Diplomatic Expulsion, Anthony Jordan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The practice of diplomatic expulsion, as well as expulsion of other foreign personnel by an executive, has received little attention in the field of International Relations or in Political Science more broadly. If expulsion were analyzed under the broader category of diplomatic relations, then studying the variation in expulsions could improve our understanding of international relations. It would be understood as one of the many tools executives use in negotiation between states. Executives, however, appeared to treat expulsion specially. Although no international convention requires executives to notify the public of the expulsion of a diplomat, ambassador or other personnel, it …

Modeling Impaired Hippocampal Neurogenesis After Radiation Exposure, Kapukotuwa Walawwe Sidath Chathuranga Kapukotuwa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The birth of neuronal cells from neuronal stem cells is known as neurogenesis, and the granular cell layer of the dentate gyrus of hippocampus is one of the two regions in the brain this process occurs. Cognitive damages following radiation therapy for brain cancers in both children and adults have been linked to impairment of neurogenesis in the hippocampus. Studies followed using mice and rats as model animals have shown impairment in neurogenesis process following exposure to radiation. Obtaining experimental data for radiation-induced changes in neurogenesis in humans is very difficult. Model was developed and applied to mouse data previously; …

Effect Of Bmp Treatment On Periostin Gene Expression In Pre-Osteoblastic Mc3t3-E1 Mouse Cells, Vincent Lee Khang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Periostin is a secreted, extracellular matrix (ECM) protein widely expressed within collagen-rich fibrous connective tissues of the body including the periodontal ligament (PDL), bone, skin, heart, and cornea. Periostin has been shown to serve many important regulatory functions including cell adhesion, cell motility, wound healing and of particular importance to the dental field, differentiation of osteoblasts. The deletion of periostin compromises osteoblast attachment to bone matrix and induces a reduction in mineralization and expression of bone markers, including type I collagen, osteocalcin, osteopontin and alkaline phosphatase. Periostin has also been shown to play a significant role in collagen fibrillogenesis by …

Reimagining High School Writing: A Multi-Case Examination Of The Impact Of External Pressures On High School Writing Contexts, Nicole Elizabeth Klimow

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research concerning teachers’ pedagogical beliefs shows a strong relationship between planning and instruction; however, the sources of pedagogical beliefs have not been researched thoroughly. Because teachers bring their histories and experiences to their interactions with students, their pedagogical beliefs may also be present in their instruction, mediating the relationship between knowledge (planning) and action (writing instruction). Framed by Sociocultural Theory (SCT), the purpose of this qualitative, multi-site, multi-case case study was first to understand teachers’ expectations for teaching writing based on their beliefs about learning. A secondary intent was to examine ways in which high school English teachers’ learning expectations …

School Bullying: Exploring Juvenile Victimization Trends With The Ncvs School Crime Supplement (Ncvs-Scs), Matthew Morris Le Claire

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bullying is broadly defined as the act of repeatedly exercising superior strength or social capital to intimidate an individual or group and is enacted by different modes. This research is the first to distinguish between traditional modes (direct and indirect bullying) and contemporary modes (cyberbullying) of bully victimization using the National Crime Victimization Survey’s School Crime Supplement (NCVS-SCS). While establishing new conceptual criterias for defining bullying modes, the study explores the relationship between demographic variables (i.e., agre, gender, and race), socioeconomic disadvantage (i.e., hate words present on school premises, households earning less than $25,000 per year, perceptions of controlled substance …

Design Optimization And Control Of A Fully Actuated Hexrotor Uav For Use In Aerial Manipulation Applications, Jameson Yau Sung Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This work addresses the issue of controller complexity in the application of a special class of multirotor in aerial manipulation tasks. Much of the current research concerning aerial manipulation involves the modeling and control of highly coupled multirotor and manipulator systems. This is a consequence of the platform’s under-actuation condition. To accommodate the rejection of arbitrary wrench disturbances brought about by the environment, multirotor must perform deliberate attitude tracking to affect forward and lateral maneuvers mid-flight. The manipulator end-effector tracking is highly affected by this, thus, their performance in general aerial manipulation is limited. To address these limitations, a special …

Morphological And Energy Transport Optimization Of Spectrally-Selective Solar Absorber Coatings At Mesoscale, Dale Karas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A special class of cuprous-based inorganic oxide materials, synthesized as nanoparticles via hydrothermal and co-precipitation methods, are portable to spectrally-selective absorber coatings with high solar-thermal energy conversion efficiency. Operating reliably at elevated temperatures when used in tandem with solar concentrators, these materials enable cost-competitive solar energy conversion technology that can be incorporated with thermal energy storage systems, supporting the viability of novel renewable power generation; notably, optimizing absorptive performance while mitigating thermal losses through re-radiated waste heat motivates sustainable energy production particular to desert climates, where water conservation and ecological sensitivity needs are paramount.

This work targets the chemical synthesis …

Fathers’ Caregiving In Fragile Families: Variation By Family Contexts, Gender Ideology, Race And Ethnicity, Rachel Teressa Macfarlane

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, I explore factors that predict fathers’ caregiving for children up to five years old. I study the role of social contexts in fathers’ caregiving trajectories for their young children, including family dynamics and parent’s gender ideology, across ethnoracial groups. I use OLS regressions to investigate how fathers’ early caregiving experiences, their linked-lives with others, and their attitudes about the fatherhood role predict later caregiving for their children, and how those patterns very between families with different ethnoracial backgrounds. I use summed averages of itemized caregiving by fathers, rather than proxy …

Outer Space In A Western Place: How Environmental Perceptions Of The American West Shaped The Space Race, William Marino

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis analyzes how environmental perceptions of the American West at the intersections of nature and technology shaped vital decisions regarding the space race. The analysis is first contextualized by pervasive political ideologies of the Cold War, which elucidates how these firmly held beliefs turned into political actions and transformed the post-World War II arms race into the space race. The author next examines the technological sublime, an awe-inspiring experience arising in people when they view impressive feats of massive, powerful, human-built machines, in this case nuclear bombs, and rockets. Where the nuclear bomb’s destructive capabilities eventually turned many Americans …

Changes In Igf-1 Levels Post Deer Antler Velvet Supplementation, Nicole Alexandra Marmillo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Context: Deer antler velvet has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years but has recently gained popularity in Western medicine as an ergogenic aid. According to Oriental medicine deer antler velvet can be attributed to enhancing immune system function, improving athletic performance, increasing muscle recovery, enhancing sexual function, improving disease recovery, and enhancing cardiovascular function. Deer antler velvet is orally taken in pill, powder or spray form. Although a number of health and human performance effects have been attributed to deer antler velvet the scientific rationale behind these beliefs is ambiguous Objective: The purpose of this study …

Working With Constraints: The Merit Of Prudence, Matthew Martinez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Families are essential building blocks of human social organization. For most of human history, families were fundamental economic and social elementary units (Chapais, 2009). Past research has identified a relationship between family structure and political regimes, such that specific types of kin organization seem to be typically associated with particular forms of political regimes. Such systematic macro-level associations have held up to significant scientific scrutiny. However, little research has attempted to provide detailed mechanistic accounts of those associations. Notably absent from the literature are empirical studies into the possible association between specific features of families and political orientations has been …

Structural Evolution And Regional Implications Of The Arrowhead Mine Fault Within The Pahranagat Shear Zone, Nevada, Usa, Michael Dennis Evans

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Basin and Range province is characterized by normal faults associated with

extension, but the occurrence of strike-slip faults and the seismic hazard accompanying

them is less understood. One major strike-slip zone, the Pahranagat shear zone (PSZ),

lies in Lincoln County, Nevada and within the boundary zone between northern Basin

and Range (NBR) and central Basin and Range (CBR) sub-provinces. The PSZ is a 20-

25 km long zone of Cenozoic left-lateral faults. The Arrowhead Mine Fault (AMF) is one

of the three major faults in the PSZ. The western AMF and the faults that surround and

abut it are …

Deep Data Locality On Apache Hadoop, Sungchul Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The amount of data being collected in various areas such as social media, network, scientific instrument, mobile devices, and sensors is growing continuously, and the technology to process them is also advancing rapidly. One of the fundamental technologies to process big data is Apache Hadoop that has been adopted by many commercial products, such as InfoSphere by IBM, or Spark by Cloudera. MapReduce on Hadoop has been widely used in many data science applications. As a dominant big data processing platform, the performance of MapReduce on Hadoop system has a significant impact on the big data processing capability across multiple …

Implementing High-Fidelity Simulation To Meet Undergraduate Clinical Requirements, Tammy Lynn Mccoy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Increased demand for clinical experiences, lack of clinical sites, and shortages of qualified nursing faculty are reasons undergraduate nursing programs are seeking to utilize simulation to meet student learning needs. High-fidelity simulation (HFS) gives students the

opportunity to develop technical skills, enhance critical thinking skills, and apply theoretical concepts to clinical presentations in a controlled, safe environment. There is mounting interest in replacing traditional clinical hours with simulated practice experiences, particularly in specialty nursing areas like obstetrics. Despite literature supporting HFS and the positive effects of its use in undergraduate nursing education, faculty remain unfamiliar with the process of integrating …

Design Guidelines And Strategies For Thermal Solar Management Of Fenestration In The Desert Climate, David Mccredo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research evaluates the effects of varying thermal properties of windows in

residential energy use for the moderate altitude and 36'N latitude climate of southern

Nevada, which has a distinct cooling season. A selection of windows across different

shading conditions and total window areas were studied using BEopt energy simulation.

Findings demonstrate that for the specific climate, latitude, and altitude of Las Vegas,

Nevada, the most expensive “high performance” windows are not always the best

option in terms of total site energy use, and can be outperformed by properly shaded

less advanced windows. Under certain conditions, shading was found to …

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

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

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

Spiritual Roots And Classical Fruits: A Stylistic Analysis And Performance Guide Of Selected Spirituals And Art Songs By Jacqueline Hairston, Phillip Lewis Newell Harris

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Spiritual Roots and Classical Fruits is the title of Jacqueline Butler Hairston’s first and only CD. Hairston is an American born composer and arranger who has proven herself as a prolific writer of vocal music, most notably in the genre of spirituals and art songs. The

Charlotte, North Carolina native brings a wealth of experience to composition through her southern roots in spirituals and her formal classical training at The Juilliard School of Music, Howard University and Columbia University. The goal of this document is to introduce and present solo vocal music of Hairston’s with an emphasis on harmonic structure, …

Concept Interview Assignment To Foster Intentional Learning In Nursing Students, Sarah Mollman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Intentional learning is the process of acquiring skills and attributes that facilitate knowledge attainment and application, and this process may foster learning skills and attributes in nursing students so they may thrive in student-centered nursing curricula and competently practice in today’s dynamic and complex healthcare system. The purposes of this study were to determine 1) if there are any associations between academic achievement and intentional learning and 2) if there is an effect of a nursing concept interview assignment on academic achievement and intentional learning scores in second-semester nursing students.

The majority of studies on intentional learning were quasi-experimental designs …

“Everyone Wants That Ring, And I Have It”: A Content Analysis Of Identity Expressions From Female Castmembers On The Reality Television Series Wags (Wives And Girlfriends Of Sports Stars), Kaitlyn Millican

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Identity formation has been conceptualized in communication studies, but holds reduced presence as applied to contemporary cases involving the reality documentary television genre. This study investigates identity formation by examining the reality television series WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends of Sports Stars). This study utilized social identity theory as a lens through which an examination of how female partners of professional sports stars manage identity via the social medium platform of Twitter, with consideration to whether the identity management reinforces or negates identities portrayed on WAGs. In order to examine if the identity management reinforces or negates identities portrayed on WAGs, …

Why Such Constriction Of The Moral Sphere? The Importance Of Social Coordination In Croatia’S Ethnic Conflict, Michael Arthur Moncrieff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Scholars have described ethnic violence in great length and detail. Many of the social and

psychological causal mechanisms that facilitate the rapid mobilization of ethnic groups and the eventual violence that can ensue are less understood. Morality typically eases cooperative interactions between members of a community by establishing rules that help to restrain self- interested actions that may be harmful to others. It is well documented that during periods of increasing ethnic conflict once intimate neighbors, colleagues, and friends can be recruited to take part in violence against each other solely on account of declared ethnic differences. In such circumstances, …

Interleukin-1 Beta (Il-1Β) Gene Polymorphisms In Pre-Treatment Orthodontic Patients Exhibiting Short Root Anomaly (Sra), Satyaprasad Nayak

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Root resorption is a frequent unwanted occurrence during orthodontic treatment. Biological factors include the quantity of specific inflammatory mediators, growth factors, and hormones as well as an individual’s specific alleles for the genes encoding these mediators. Studies have shown an association between external apical root resorption (EARR) and the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at +3954 of the IL-1β gene. Studies have also shown associations between chronic periodontitis and IL-1β gene polymorphisms in the region of +3954, -511 and -31. All previous studies to date, have evaluated genetic factors and root resorption in orthodontic patients in-treatment or post-orthodontic treatment. This study …

Digging Biomechanics In Geomyoid Rodents, Alexis Moore Crisp

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Subterranean digging behaviors provide opportunities for protection, access to prey, and predator avoidance for a diverse array of vertebrates, yet studies of the biomechanics of burrowing have been limited by the technical challenges of measuring kinetics and kinematics of animals moving within a substrate. Prior studies of burrowing have recorded a single axis of x-ray video and/or force. However, empirical observations show that burrowing is not restricted to a single axis or plane. I describe a new system called a ‘tunnel-tube’ for measuring 3D reaction force during burrowing. This tunnel-tube has two separate tubes, one ‘entry tube’ that has no …

The Design, Modeling, And Optimization Of A Biomimetic Soft Robot For Fluid Pumping And Thrust Generation Using Electroactive Polymer Actuators, Zakai Jedidiah Olsen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Nature is a constant source of inspiration for engineers and scientists through its simple, effective, and elegant solutions to many complex problems. Smart materials and soft robotics have been seen to be particularly well suited for developing biomimetic devices and are active fields of research. In this study, the design, modeling, and optimization of a new biomimetic soft robot is described. Preliminary work was made in the modeling of a biomimetic robot based on the locomotion and kinematics of jellyfish. Modifications were made to the governing equations for jellyfish locomotion that accounted for geometric differences between biology and the robotic …

Numerical Study Of Biopolymer Implants For Distal Femoral Condyles– Finite Element Simulations, Luke Olsen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Approximately 12% of the adult population in the United States is affected by

Osteoarthritis (OA) [1, 2]. Because of this, OA is the considered the most chronic degenerative joint disease, and is subject to continuous research into treatment. OA mainly manifests itself by degrading the articular cartilage in joints, such as the knee, and can eventually lead to complete loss of cartilage and potentially bone damage, leading to pain and discomfort for the patient [3]. For severe OA, the most common treatment is total knee arthroplasty (TKA) [4]. This procedure includes removing portions of the femur and tibia, and replacing …

Assessing The Potential For A Backfire Effect On Citizen Perceptions: A Test Of Hot Spot Policing In Las Vegas, Steven Andrew Pace

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Objects: In this dissertation, I explore whether the use of motorized police saturation patrol in high crime neighborhoods negatively impacts citizen perceptions of police activity, opinions about the police, and perceived safety level. This research focuses on evaluating

whether or not any backfire effects were attributed to the use of the hot spot policing tactic. Methods: I report on survey data from the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI), which entailed face-to face interviews in 12 hot spot neighborhoods (n=1,005) (6 paired locations) as part of an evaluation from the SPI on the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Mobile Crime Saturation Team. …