Digital Commons Network^™

The Acute Effects Of Static Stretching Of The Gastrocnemius On Limits Of Stability In Young Adults Versus Elderly Adults, Matt Bugnet, Kirk Player

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background and Purpose: Balance is an important part of everyday life for all individuals with many body systems interacting to achieve optimal balance. Proprioceptive organs aid in this interaction, while also acting as stretch receptors. Therefore, it is possible that stretching may influence the overall balance of the individual. The purpose of this study was to investigate the acute effects of stretching on dynamic balance of healthy young and elderly adults. The two groups were used to determine if stretching may discriminately affect balance at different ages.

Subjects: Thirty healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 35 …

Effects Of Environment On Children's Motor Scores, Eligibility Status, And Administration Times, Derrick Mittelstadt, Abigail Parker, Kirsten Pickett, Heather Temkin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Best practices for assessing developmental skills in young children focus on naturalistic observation in everyday settings, but the effects of environment on test scores, eligibility status and administration time have not been explored. The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales-Second Edition (PDMS-2) was administered to 34 children aged 18 to 59 months in natural and pull-out settings. PDMS-2 total, gross, and fine motor quotient (TMQ, GMQ, and FMQ) scores were significantly lower in the natural environment (p’s≤.014). Based on our results, more children would qualify for services when tested in natural environments using TMQ and GMQ scores. It also took significantly longer …

The Relationship Between Participation In Extracurricular Activities And Utah's Proficiency Assessments Of Students In A Suburban School District, Everett N. Kelepolo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to discover whether a relationship exists between participation in extracurricular activities and meeting Utah proficiency assessment standards. This study took place in a suburban school district in the state of Utah.

Throughout the history of public education, economic hardships have wreaked havoc on school systems that depend on public sources of income. Schools today are managing these budget restraints by reducing or eliminating extracurricular programs.

The relationship between academic success and participating in extracurricular activities is found concretely in the research data. However, schools must make budget decisions which place activities and academics in …

Help Of Southern Nevada Analysis Project, Lauren Cella, Carly Dunlap, Jonathon Nunes, Anna Vaillancourt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

HELP of Southern Nevada (HELP), a not-for-profit agency, would like to expand their current services by operating a thrift store. It is anticipated that this thrift store would bring in additional revenue and also benefit their current programs. In direct conversations with the Chief Operating Officer of HELP, areas of concern were expressed regarding the implementation process of the thrift store. These areas pertained to size and location of their potential facility, staffing issues, and distribution priority of donated goods to their existing programs. Analysis was conducted through on-site interviews with other executives of Southern Nevada not-for profit thrift stores …

Telework Within The Bureau Of Reclamation Lower Colorado Region Office, Theresa Lee, Lynne Arnold, John Wagner, Elias Samorano, Anita Morgan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A team of researchers from The University of Nevada, Las Vegas were invited by management to observe, assess, and offer recommendations. It was determined by the research team that the first step to improving participation would be to observe the functional telework policy, compare and contrast it with the Department of the Interior standards, and offer recommendations to generate data necessary to develop an updated telework policy by management. The recommendations made by this group include creating an employee eligibility list, tracking actual participation by creating a renewal policy for employees choosing to telework. It is also recommended that a …

Public Utilities Commission Of Nevada: A Research Design For Data Collection, Mario Heresi, Jamie Stout, Brandy Davis, Cheyenne Pasquale

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) needs tools to develop a system by which reliable data can be collected in order to assist in the regulation of public utilities in Nevada. Their particular emphasis is on low-income and elderly populations. The PUCN needs to have reliable data they can utilize to make decisions that are fact based. Part of their needs is to have a thorough understanding of the factors that affect both low-income and elderly populations. Like so many other organizations, the PUCN does not have a set system to investigate all issues and makes decisions on a …

Ultrasound Imaging Of Lumbar Multifidus Immediately Following Three Physical Therapy Techniques In Asymptomatic Individuals, Victoria Byers, Steven Lim, Kathryn Rice

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Study Design

Randomized, blinded, cohort, within subjects design.

Background and Objective

The effects of different manual therapy (MT) techniques on lumbar multifidus (LM) thickness have been investigated in subjects with low back pain (LBP) but have not been investigated in asymptomatic subjects. The objective of this study was to examine the immediate effects of mobilization and manipulation on contraction thickness of LM in healthy individuals.

Methods and Measures

Forty-two healthy individuals participated in the study. Ultrasound imaging techniques were used to record LM thickness (L4-5 level) at rest, during an abdominal drawing in maneuver (ADIM), and during a prone upper …

Second-Order Conditioning In Drosophila, Christopher J. Tabone

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Animals possess the ability to associate neutral stimuli in their environment with both rewards and punishment. A conditioned stimulus (CS1) such as a smell or sound, can become associated with an unconditioned stimulus (US), such as a food reward, to elicit what is known as the conditioned response (CR). This type of learning is commonly referred to as classical conditioning or first-order conditioning (FOC). Second-order conditioning (SOC) is an extension of this type of association wherein a novel stimulus is introduced (CS2) and associated with a previously conditioning first-order stimulus (CS1). As a result, the organism may show an attraction …

Environmental Engagement Demand Differences Within And Among Holland Academic Environments, Derek K. Lester

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

College and university administrators have increased the use of measurements of student engagement to gauge the levels on their campuses. However, little research measures student engagement levels among different academic environments or different academic majors. Some research has been done that used Holland's theory of person/environment fit, and accompanying Hexagonal model, as a means to compare differences among academic environments. However, the validity of the assumptions that the model is based on has not been examined, nor the validity of the grouping of academic majors into environments.

The data set used for this study is the 2005 National Survey of …

Molecular Organic Geochemistry Of The Oil And Source Rocks In Railroad Valley, Eastern Great Basin, Nevada, United States, Laode Ahdyar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A comprehensive geochemical study of oils from Railroad Valley, Nevada and two candidate source rock intervals from the nearby Egan Range, was conducted in order to establish oil-oil and oil-source rock correlations. Analyses consisted of total organic carbon, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, and vitrinite reflectance for source rock samples, as well as biomarker, diamondoids, and stable carbon isotope analyses on source rock extracts and oil samples.

Total organic carbon analyses showed high organic content in the Mississippian Chainman Shale. However, outcrop samples of the Paleogene Sheep Pass Formation Member B are organically lean. Strata in both of these units are immature to …

To Consult Or Not To Consult? Investigating Barriers To Dysparenia Treatment-Seeking In Young Women, Robyn L. Donaldson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Little is known about mediators of treatment-seeking in dyspareunia. The general health belief literature as well as some existing qualitative data specific to dyspareunia, however, suggests a number of potentially significant barriers that may delay or prevent women from enlisting the aid of health care professionals. The aim of this study was to investigate influences on dyspareunia treatment-seeking behavior in young women, for whom the consequences of treatment avoidance are hypothesized to be the greatest. Given the lack of standardized health behavior measures relevant to intercourse pain, we constructed a measure assessing potential barriers to dyspareunia treatment-seeking. An exploratory principal …

The Effect Of Acute Exercise-Induced Fatigue On Pistol Shooting Performance In Police Officers, Melissa Jean Brown

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Duties of police officers include apprehending suspects, which may involve foot pursuit and firing a weapon at a suspect. Previous studies in biathletes and soldiers suggest that shooting performance is compromised when fatigue is present. Purpose: To investigate the effects of exercise-induced fatigue on shooting performance in police officers. Methods: Nine police officers fired five rapid-fire shots at three targets each with a fifteen second rest period in between each trail. Officers then exercised on a cycle ergometer to 85% maximum heart rate or voluntary fatigue. The pretest shooting was repeated post-exercise. Distances of 4 shots from the center of …

Public Interest Standard Characteristics In Hybrid Digital Multicasts Of Noncommercial Educational Radio, Michele Ann Gothard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Radio broadcasting implements digital multicasting in the United States with the adoption of HD Radio from iBiquity. Hybrid digital radio multicasts can upgrade either AM or FM facilities, and stations adopt the technology without loosing traditional analogue broadcasts. Broadcasting with digital technology creates additional channels of information, extending limitations of the electromagnetic spectrum. Scholarly research about hybrid digital technology considers motivations for adoption by stations but has not focused on content of existing multicasts. This study examines noncommercial educational radio multicasts for characteristics of service in the public interest.

Discourse characteristics find a mix of sounds that include both speech …

Employment Selections Of Resident And Non-Resident Graduates Of Physical Therapy Programs In Underserved Western States, Trever J. Cornia, Ryan B. Dutot, Jacob T. Parsons, Kathryn D. Swart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background and Purpose:Physical therapy (PT) is an essential component of the healthcare system in providing a comprehensive treatment plan for patients with functional limitations. The demand for physical therapy services is projected to expand in the next eight years, leading to an increased need for practicing physical therapists. The Mountain States plus Washington State (MSPWS) demonstrate the greatest shortage of therapists and are considered to be medically underserved. The purpose of this study was to determine the retention rates of resident and non-resident physical therapy graduates of public universities in the MSPWS and to determine which factors influenced their …

Program Evaluation: Bureau Of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region Business Lines And Focus Areas “Water Drop” Project, Adriana Vanbuskirk, Marion Biron, Kris Kirby, Theodore Anderson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper examines how familiar Bureau of Reclamation employees in the Lower Colorado Region are with the region’s goals and priorities and how well they understand their individual role in relationship to those goals and priorities. It also analyzes the effectiveness of the communication strategies in place to communicate the goals and priorities of the organization.

Child Advocacy Centers And Child Sexual Abuse In Nevada, Chrystal Ruggieri

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Child sexual abuse has gained significant attention from the medical, legal and social research communities over the last couple decades. Developed in the 1980s, Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) have been noted as one of the leading developments in combating child sexual abuse. Child Advocacy Centers bring together multi-disciplinary teams in a child friendly environment to improve resources for abused children and their families as well as aid in prosecution. The majority of states across the country have adopted aggressive legislation and funding initiatives to aid in protecting this vulnerable population. This study analyses Nevada's position on childhood sexual abuse and …

Phylogeography Of Three Heteromyid Taxa: Insight On The Evolution Of A North American Arid Grassland Rodent Guild, Sean A. Neiswenter

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Revealing how communities are shaped by abiotic and biotic factors plays a central role in biogeographic and comparative phylogeographic studies. The biogeography of North American arid grasslands is explored using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from three groups of heteromyid rodents that are broadly sympatric in aridlands across western North America. Phylogenetic and molecular clock analyses are used to estimate the timing of divergences within each group. A general pattern of late Miocene divergence and expansion of lineages in each of the groups that is coincident with the rapid expansion of arid grasslands at the time. The initial divergence is followed …

Teacher Gesture In A Post-Secondary English As A Second Language Classroom: A Sociocultural Approach, Natalie Hudson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Vygotsky (1978) uses the example of gesture in a child, stating that finger pointing represents an interpersonal relationship, and only after this cultural form is internalized can an intrapersonal relationship develop. Language learning must be viewed in the context of social interaction, and the gesture of others, specifically language instructors toward their students, is a form of social interaction worthy of attention. Newman and Holzman (1993) discuss the idea of performance as a mode of semiotic mediation related to meaning making. Daniels, Cole, and Wertsch (2007) also discuss the concept of performance, stating that gestures are tools which assist performance. …

The Hormonal Correlates Of Stress And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms In Female Veterans, Meghan Pierce

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the increase of female veterans serving in the military, a better understanding of posttraumatic stress disorder is needed to provide comprehensive treatment. This study examines salivary cortisol in female veterans with PTSD, female veterans without PTSD, civilian females with PTSD and healthy controls. The Posttraumatic Stress and Beck Depression Inventory-II were used to assess posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms. Saliva samples were collected at bedtime and awakening, as well as in response to the Trier Social Stress Test. Significant results were not found for diurnal cortisol levels [ F (3, 11)= .979, p < .05] or stress cortisol levels (F (3,12) = 1.140, p >.05). …

An Examination Of The Grieving Processes Of Suicide Survivors, Sarah Van Der Pol

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The scope of this research serves to aid in the understanding and counseling of survivors of loved ones who have committed suicide. This study will examine the phenomenon of survivors; specifically, what occurs as survivors move through the experience of grief and loss, as well as their individual grieving processes. The grieving process of those who deal with suicidal deaths of loved ones will be examined. Themes that emerge within the experiences of the participants will be identified and examined. Further, recommendations for the clinical practice of current and future counselors for work with suicide survivors will be suggested. Recommendations …

The Male Educational Leader In Utah: Gender Dynamics, Power, And Relational Leadership In A Mormon Dominant Culture, Rick Robins

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This qualitative study explored the impact of Mormon culture and theology on male and female school leaders that co-exist on high school administrative teams. This problematic relationship is caused by the scarcity of female administrators in Utah as they move up the leadership ladder in education. According to the Utah State Office of Education in 2006, there were 118 public high schools in the state of Utah. Out of those 118 high schools, 18 were lead by female principals. There were 141 middle schools. Of the middle schools in the state, 40 were lead by female principals. Of the 617 …

Effect Of Aquastretch On Range Of Motion At Knee Joint In Total Knee Arthroplasty Patients, Raja Devinder Kochar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The success of the Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA) depends upon its functional outcomes of increase in reduction in pain, and gait ambulation and performing functional activities of daily living. Compromised range of motion, pain and weakness can reduce their ability to perform activities of daily living. Aquatic Physical Therapy may offer an alternative intervention to traditional Physical Therapy Rehabilitation and many studies have shown improvements in range of motion, swelling, pain reduction, stiffness and quality of life after TKA. AquaStretch, a relatively new form of aquatic therapy, claims to restore the functional mobility which is lost restrictions caused due to …

Modeling Gamma-Ray Bursts, Amanda Maxham

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Discovered serendipitously in the late 1960s, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are huge explosions of energy that happen at cosmological distances. They provide a grand physical playground to those who study them, from relativistic effects such as beaming, jets, shocks and blastwaves to radiation mechanisms such as synchrotron radiation to galatic and stellar populations and history. Through the Swift and Fermi space telescopes dedicated to observing GRBs over a wide range of energies(from keV to GeV), combined with accurate pinpointing that allows ground based follow-up observations in the optical, infrared and radio, a rich tapestry of GRB observations has emerged. The general …

A Montage In Its Leaves, Andrew S. Nicholson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation consists of a series of lyric poems preceded by an introduction to those poems. The introduction gives a background to the method of composition and historical precedents to the poems, connecting the lyric poems to the writing and thoughts of William Blake, Martin Heidegger, and Robert Creeley. The poems are presented in three parts, and cover a variety of subjects, frequently favoring the presentation of subjective experience over an imagined objectivity.

The Father Birth, Alissa Nutting

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This creative dissertation is a fabulist and satirical novel. The book follows the story of main character and narrator Earleen, an atypical and hyper-intelligent sixteen-year-old who continues to be traumatized by her sociopathic father even after he dies. A self-taught bookworm born in the early 1980s, her formative years were spent trapped inside her parents' rural methamphetamine cookhouse. When her parents blow up inside their house during a drug-manufacturing incident on the eve of Earleen's early adolescence, she finds herself in the arms of an affluent adoptive couple (Dennis Stark, a fertility specialist, and his homemaker wife Beverly) who have …

Jackpot! A Legal History Of Indian Gaming In California, Aaron Peardon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Indian Gaming has transformed the economic, political, and sociological landscape of California. The growth of Indian casinos has had a profound impact on both Indian and non-Indian communities alike. California tribes took the lead in legalizing Indian Gaming throughout the nation. The efforts of California tribes in the legislative and political process have enabled many tribal groups to rise out of poverty and to gain prosperity that would otherwise be impossible to achieve. They have also brought increased revenue to local communities and have provided thousands of jobs to all Californians.

This thesis discusses the historical relationships between Native American …

Climate Change In Rural Nevada: The Influence Of Vulnerability On Risk Perception And Environmental Behavior, Ahmad Safi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this research, I examine the impact of vulnerability on risk perception, stated willingness to adopt individual mitigation behavior, and support for climate change mitigation policies. My major research question is, "Does vulnerability to climate change increase risk perception, encourage more energy-efficient individual behavior, and enhance support for climate change mitigation policies?" But to understand the role of vulnerability I also pursue answers to questions regarding its three components: Physical vulnerability; sensitivity and adaptive capacity. I investigate the following sub-questions:

• Do physical vulnerability, and sensitivity to climate change increase risk perception, encourage more energy-efficient individual behavior, and enhance support for …

Topic Detection And Tracking Using Hidden Markov Models, Aditya S. Tatavarty

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There is a continuous progress in automatic recording of broadcast speech using speech recognition. With the increasing use of this technology, a new source of data is added to the pool of information available over web. This has increased the need to categorize the resulting text, based on their topic for the purpose of information retrieval.

In this thesis we present an approach to automatically assign a topic or track a change of topic in a stream of input data. Our approach is based on the use of Hidden Markov Models and language processing techniques. We consider input text as …

Effectiveness Of Earthtec ® On Killing Invasive Quagga Mussels (Dreissena Rostriformis Bugenis) And Preventing Their Colonization In The Western U.S., Ashlie Watters

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Dreissena rostriformis bugensis, an invasive species, also known as the quagga mussel, was discovered in Lake Mead, NV in January of 2007. In the four years since detection, quagga mussels have created tremendous economical, ecological, and human health impacts. The mussels clog pipes, ruin boat motors, and damage recreational equipment, and once established in the lake, routine maintenance is necessary to avoid further damage. Because of quagga mussels' high fecundity, planktonic veliger stage, and ability to attach to substrates with byssal threads, they have easily and swiftly spread to other lakes and reservoirs in the Lower Colorado River Basin. …

The Self: Your Own Worst Enemy? A Test Of The Self-Invoking Trigger Hypothesis, Bradley J. Mckay

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The self invoking trigger hypothesis was recently proposed by Wulf and Lewthwaite (2010) as the mechanism underlying the robust effects of attentional focus on motor learning and performance. The hypothesis suggests that causing individuals to access their self schema will negatively impact their ability to learn and perform a motor skill. The purpose of the present study was to provide an initial test of this hypothesis by causing one group of participants to activate their self schema in a straightforward manner. Participants (N = 32) were assigned to either a self-activated or control condition and asked to practice a wiffleball …