Digital Commons Network^™

Molecular Evolution And Historical Biogeography Of New World Birds, Brian T. Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Deciphering the patterns of how biodiversity has evolved across time and space has remained a fundamental objective for biologists for the last 200 years. Researchers are faced with the challenge of interpreting the complexity of evolutionary patterns that have been generated over the deep history of the Earth. The advancement of DNA sequencing technology has yielded a new and powerful genetic toolkit that has allowed biologists to address novel evolutionary questions. For my dissertation research, I used molecular genetics and a statistical framework to study the evolution and historical biogeography of birds distributed in North and South America. My dissertation …

Cyberbullying In Schools: A Research Study On School Policies And Procedures, Brian Wiseman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A mixed-methods research design first using quantitative then qualitative data was used in order to explore what cyberbullying policies are being employed by principals in the state of Nevada. Electronic surveys were given to all 118 middle school principals in Nevada. Middle school was chosen because it is the age where cyberbullying behaviors are most prevalent. Out of the 118 surveys that were deployed, 66 principals responded. A series of independent t-tests and a chi-squared analysis was conducted using the survey data. The survey concluded by asking principals if they were willing to participate in a one-on-one interview regarding the …

Pleistocene Climate In Alaska From Stable Isotopes In An Ice Wedge, Corinne Y. Griffing

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The CRREL permafrost tunnel offers a unique opportunity to sample ice wedges in a climate-controlled environment, penetrating frozen silts which host massive ground ice that may record Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) and Heinrich Events. Ice wedges in the tunnel have been dated to approximately 36-22 ka (Hamilton et al., 1988), allowing the paleoclimate of the region to be reconstructed during MIS 3, when D-O and Heinrich events were documented in various other records. These climate cycles are rapid climate oscillations that have been recognized in records from the Arctic and subarctic, and suggest that climate can rapidly shift by 10°C over millennial …

A Multi-Wavelength Study On Gamma-Ray Bursts And Their Afterglows, Binbin Zhang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the prompt emission and afterglow phases, GRBs(Gamma-Ray Bursts) release their huge amount of energy not limited in gamma-ray, but in a wide range of muti-wavelengths, from radio band to GeV gamma-rays. Thanks to the recent missions of Swift and Fermi, I was able to use their multi-wavelength observation data of GRBs and study their physical natures. I have processed all the Swift BAT/XRT and Fermi GBM/LAT GRB observation data. Based on the Swift data, I have studied the following comprehensive topics: (1) high-latitude "curvature effect" of early X-ray tails of GRBs Swift XRT afterglow (2) diverse physical origins of …

Factors Influencing Music Teacher Retention: A Mixed Method Study, Charles W. Cushinery

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine what internal and external factors influence the retention attributions of secondary level music teachers who participated in this study and identify what interactions exist between those factors. Phase one of this study was a survey of a group of secondary music teachers (N=260). The survey was used to quantify those factors that influenced music teacher retention and how those factors were ranked by the survey group. Phase two of this study employed case study methodology, specifically, interviews of six secondary music teachers selected from the initial survey pool, to provide a …

Exploring Geographic Proximity To Fast-Food Restaurants And Convenience Stores With Dental Caries In Patients At The University Of Nevada Las Vegas School Of Dental Medicine, Charles K. Hill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Dental caries is present worldwide and has afflicted over 90% of all adults in the United States. Biological determinants of the disease are well understood but social determinants and how they interact with biological factors are not. Programs designed to reduce incidence and prevalence of caries often target certain individuals and involve behavioral change. Some programs are more successful when environmental and societal issues are also addressed (Watt, 2002). Biological and behavioral processes leading to caries should include the modification of social factors to enhance results of prevention programs designed to reduce caries in populations. Preventing disease comes not only …

Fertility Symbols In Rock Art: Cupuls And Incised Grooves In The Lower Pecos, Texas, Cara D. Connolly

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Rock art at archaeological sites are often dismissed as a culturally symbolic representation that cannot be objectively or scientifically analyzed or interpreted adequately. Such dismissals are detrimental to understanding all aspects of a given culture. Although uninformed interpretations of rock art panels are counterproductive, systematic recording and the testing of different hypotheses is a valid way to begin to better understand the possible range of social functions of rock art. This research examines whether indigenous women's fertility is represented in rock art depictions, known as cupules and groove marks, in the archaeological record. Cupules are defined as a boulder or …

Analysis Of Ghrelin Concentrations In Serum Samples Processed At One, Two, And Three Hours After Collection, Christine E. Prato

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Obesity is becoming an epidemic of modern society. While the health-related consequences of obesity have been well studied, scientists continue to search for biological risk factors associated with this disease. Since the 1999 discovery of an appetite-stimulating hormone, ghrelin, researchers have further questioned the physiological interactions that lead to obesity. The fundus of the stomach, as well as the intestines and kidneys produce ghrelin before it circulates throughout the body and attaches to its receptor sites located within the section of the brain responsible for appetite-regulation. The hormone increases and decreases in a circadian rhythm that may dictate the routine …

Set In Stone: Legends, Traditions, And Symbols Influencing Place Attachment For Southern Utah University Students, Claudine Nielsen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study explored the influence of campus legends, traditions, and symbols on the development of place attachment in students at Southern Utah University. An examination of organizational theory, including universities as cultures, student development theory, alumni participation, and place attachment revealed no cross-disciplinary research into how place attachment to a university campus may be influenced by intentional attempts to instill a sense of collective identity through the stories and rituals that occur on campus, hence the need to address this void. Unlike many organizations, colleges have a vested interest in maintaining a connection with students beyond the point of separation. …

Learning Middle School Mathematics Through Student Designed And Constructed Video Games, Camille M. Mccue

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mathematics achievement is an area in which American precollege students are faltering. Emerging research suggests that making mathematics instruction relevant and applicable in the lives of youth may impact math achievement, especially when it capitalizes on high-interest technologies such as video games.

Employing a quasi-experimental and descriptive approach, this study examined the mathematics (i.e., numbers and operations, algebra, geometry, measurement, and probability) that middle school students employed during their design and construction of video games. First, it examined the mathematics content learned by 19 sixth and seventh graders during their analysis, synthesis, and programming of three video game projects over …

Assisting The Accompanying Partner: A Dramaturgical Explanatory Study Of Dual Career Couples Offices, Christine Promin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study is a mixed methods explanatory sequential design framed in resource dependency theory that uses Goffman's dramaturgical analysis to explore how the dual career couples offices address issues, serve constituencies, and relate to the broader institution. The researcher examined schools with dual career offices by using the Higher Education Dual Couple Network [HEDCN]. In Phase I of the study, the researcher surveyed HEDCN affiliates regarding their dual career offices. In Phase II of the study, three schools from the HEDCN sample were selected through purposeful sampling for site visits which included in-depth, one-on-one interviews, observations, and artifact analysis.

The …

Investigating The Effects Of A Combined Problem-Solving Strategy For Students With Learning Difficulties In Mathematics, Dustin B. Mancl

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many students, specifically those with learning difficulties in mathematics, struggle when presented with word problems to solve. With this in mind, the purpose of this research was to examine the effects of the READER Strategyon word problem performance of students with mathematics disabilities and students who are at-risk to fail in mathematics. There were two parts to this research. Part One was implemented using a single-subject design (i.e., multiple-probe across participants) and Part Two was implemented using a group design (i.e., 2 x 4 factorial design). The single-subject design included three participants identified as having mathematics disabilities. There were two …

A New Socialist World In Latin America?, Dana R. Ramos

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the last decade, the left-turn, or pink tide, in Latin America has caused many scholars to seek to explain what has fueled the political gains of leftist parties in this region. One of the main challenges is to try and define what constitutes a leftist party or a left agenda. There is a wide spectrum when it comes to classifying left-right placement ideologies and the distinction may be based on both economic and social values' differences. This study will examine a number of competing theories concerning left-right placement of three case studies: Bolivia, Venezuela, and Colombia. These three case …

High-Risk Human Papillomavirus (Hpv): An Emerging Health Issue For Women And Minorities, Dierdre O. Turner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is the cause of nearly all cases of cervical cancers worldwide. HPV viral DNA is found in more than 99% of cervical cancers. In addition to cervical cancer, HPV is also associated with some breast and oral cancers. White women have been showing a decline in breast cancer rates while black women are continuously showing higher rates of mortality from both breast and cervical cancer. Minority women are also more likely to receive a late diagnosis and are showing increased incidence of oral cancer, which makes study of HPV in women and minorities significant.

To date, …

Effects Of Classwide Self-Management Intervention On Second Grade Students’ Social Skills In Physical Education, Elian Aljadeff-Abergel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Maintaining students' on-task behavior and engagement with learning materials is difficult due to factors such as a large number of students and the increasing occurrences of disruptive behaviors in class. Students' acquisition of appropriate social skills can increase the teacher's ability to effectively teach in class and facilitate students' academic success. Self-management (SM) interventions in which students manage their own behaviors can serve as socially and ecologically-valid strategies for enhancing students' social skills in the classroom. Self-management programs have wide empirical support that demonstrates their merit for students' learning of social and academic skills. In school settings, self-management interventions were …

Testosterone And Vasopressin In Men’S Reproductive Behavior, Eric T. Steiner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

One common practice used by researchers is to divide human reproduction into two major domains: mating and parenting. Adaptive problems men faced over the millennia may have produced evolutionary pressure for hormone responses and behavior that facilitate both mating and parenting, either separately or simultaneously. The sometimes competing domains of mating and parenting in men are often mediated by a number of the same hormones, such as testosterone (T) and arginine vasopressin (AVP). One aim of the current study was to examine differences in baseline levels of T and AVP between childless men who were not in an exclusive, romantic …

Gamma-Ray Burst Populations, Francisco J. Virgili

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Over the last fifty years the field of gamma-ray bursts has shown incredible growth, but the amassing of data has also left observers and theorists alike wondering about some of the basic questions surrounding these phenomena. Additionally, these events show remarkable individuality and extrema, ranging in redshift throughout the observable universe and over ten orders of magnitude in energy. This work focuses on analyzing groups of bursts that are different from the general trend and trying to understand whether these bursts are from different intrinsic populations and if so, what can be said about their progenitors. This is achieved through …

The Whiter Lotus: Asian Religions And Reform Movements In America, 1836-1933, Edgar A. Weir Jr.

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examines the influence of Asian religions and thought on various reform movements in America, including anti-slavery, labor rights, the alleviation of poverty, women's rights, and the rights of immigrants. The interactions between these two forces will be uncovered and analyzed from 1836, the year Ralph Waldo Emerson's ground-breaking work Nature was published, until 1933, the year that Dyer Daniel Lum, the last individual discussed in this work, passed away. Previous studies have demonstrated that those who incorporated Asian religions and thought into their own lives and worldviews also affixed great importance on affecting society in a positive manner. …

The Development And Evaluation Of A Safety Skill Intervention For Child Victims Of Neglect, Heather H. Hill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Child neglect is the least studied, yet most frequently indicated, type of child maltreatment. Still, there are few assessment and treatment methods specifically designed for victims of child neglect. Unintentional injuries have long remained the leading cause of death for children in the United States after the first year of life, and research suggests the majority of these child fatalities are actually the result of child neglect. Homes of neglectful families are often inundated with safety hazards but child-focused home safety skill interventions have yet to be developed. Thus, the present study focused on the development and initial evaluation of …

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (Pcos) In Urban India, Heidi A. Manlove

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis research focuses on urban women in India diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is a complex metabolic, endocrine and reproductive disorder affecting approximately 5-10% of the female population in developed countries. The prevalence of PCOS is on the rise in developing nations like India, which are undergoing rapid nutritional transitions due to Westernized diets and lifestyle. However, less appreciated in the literature are the developmental psychosocial impacts for women diagnosed with PCOS, especially in developing countries. Thus, the goal of my thesis research was to contribute to the small but growing literature by investigating psychosocial dimensions of …

Complex Vs Profiles To 100 M Depth From Rayleigh Waves And 3-D Vs Model For Las Vegas Valley, Helena Murvosh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A three-dimensional (3-D) shear wave velocity (VS) model was developed for the heterogeneous shallow sediments (to nearly 400 m) of the Las Vegas Valley (LVV), Nevada. The model was based on more than 200 VS profiles and 1400 geologic well logs. Five sediment units including a cemented unit were defined from geologic log descriptions. A characteristic VS profile for four of the units was obtained by correlating between closely spaced pairs of VS and sediment data; a constant VS was assigned to the cemented unit. VS profiles were then assigned to each well location based on type of sediment according …

Cognitive Load Of Critical Thinking Strategies, Hanem Shehab

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Critical thinking is important for today's life, where individuals daily face unlimited amounts of information, complex problems, and rapid technological and social changes. Therefore, critical thinking should be the focus of general education and educators' efforts (Angeli & Valanides, 2009; Oliver & Utermohlen, 1995). Despite passively agreeing or disagreeing with a line of reasoning, critical thinkers use analytical skills to comprehend and evaluate its merits, considering strengths and weaknesses. Critical thinkers also analyze arguments, recognizing the essentiality of asking for reasons and considering alternative views and developing their own point of view (Paul, 1990). Kuhn and Udell (2007) emphasize that …

Shop Problems In Scheduling, James Andro-Vasko

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The shop problems in scheduling will be discussed in this thesis. The ones I'll be discussing will be the flow shop, open shop, and job shop. The general idea of shop problems is that you're given a set of jobs and a set of machines. Each job is predeterminely broken into parts and there are rules to how each part is executed on a machine. In this thesis, several shop problems and their algorithms will be introduced that I have researched. There are several examples and counter examples that I have constructed. Also I will discuss how an arbitrary problem …

The Dilemma Of Minors’ Access To Adult Content On The Internet: A Proposed Warnings Solution, Helen Zaikina-Montgomery

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Internet can be a dangerous place for children. Because minors have unrestricted access to adult content, a system of warnings targeting minors on the Internet should be developed. The present studies tested icons for such a system and subsequently to examined selected icons in combination with signal words, color, and warning messages. One hundred and ninety three adults and eleven children participated in the first study. Participants rated thirty eight icons created by the researcher for their understandability, carefulness, attention-getting, likelihood of encountering and severity of danger, likelihood of avoidance and familiarity. Familiar icons were found to be rated …

The Effect Of Working Memory And Math Ability On Decision Making, Jeremy A. Krause

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Previous research has indicated that people use various strategies when making decisions. A majority of the research has involved the idea that people use a heuristic when making decisions. Kahneman and Tversky have illustrated that there are instances that people respond with an answer that appears to be indicative of usage of the representativeness heuristic. One of the purposes of the current paper is to gain insight into the actual strategies that are used in these instances. Another purpose of the current experiment is to see if math ability and working memory capacity influence the strategy that a person selects …

Taming The Waters That Taketh From The Devil’S Playground: A History Of Flood Control In Clark County, Nevada, 1955-2010, Jarvis Marlow

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Las Vegas valley is the driest metropolis in the United States, with an annual rainfall of less than five inches. A large majority of the annual precipitation occurs between May and September in the form of high intensity thunderstorms. Since the founding of Las Vegas in 1905 until the formation of the Clark County Regional Flood Control District in 1986, the five jurisdictions that make up the Las Vegas valley: Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, and Clark County, struggled to manage stormwater. The principal defect was that they reflected the particular whims of each government entity, …

Licensing Policies Of Public School Principals, Jerri Mausbach

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A descriptive rationalist policy analysis was used to examine current licensure policies in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. The differences and similarities between states that received Race to the Top competitive grant funds and those that did not were examined, in addition to the proposed policy reforms included in recipients of Race to the Top competitive grant funds. The demands made of public school principals in the 21st century have increased significantly. In addition to the continuing role of school manager, today's principals are also expected to be instructional leaders, and in some cases exemplary leaders.

With …

Woman Or Warrior? How Believable Femininity Shapes Warrior Women, Jessica D. Mccall

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

My dissertation is an exploration of how femininity is constructed in the characters of warrior women. I define and apply my theory of believable femininity: the notion that in order for characters gendered female to be accepted by an audience, specific textual markers must render them submissive to a dominating male figure. I examine the following warrior women at length: Britomart and Radigund from Spenser's The Faerie Queene; Christine de Pizan's treatment of Amazons in her Book of the City of Ladies and Hippolyta's specific portrayal by de Pizan in comparison to Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, and the …

Engaging Non-Alumni Advisory Board Members In Hospitality Education, Judy A. Nagai

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Hospitality education programs within higher education institutions often rely upon members of the hospitality industry to serve as volunteer advisory board members. A common role for volunteers of an academic program advisory board is to serve as a credible link between the formal education and degree earning process to the hospitality industry, provide insight and advice on current issues and trends, assist in developing industry relationships, and share their time and resources to help promote the program (Edwards, 2008; Merrill, 2003). While volunteer advisory boards within higher education are often made up of both alumni and non-alumni, this study focused …

Sharp Feature Identification In A Polygon, Joseph P. Scanlan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis presents an efficient algorithm for recognizing and extracting sharp-features from polygonal shapes. As used here, a sharp-feature is a distinct portion of a polygon that is long and skinny. The algorithm executes in O(n^2) time, where n is the number of vertices in the polygon. Experimental results from a Java implementation of the algorithm are also presented.