Digital Commons Network^™

Recolonization Of The Flicker And Other Notes From Isla Guadalupe, Mexico, Paul R. Sweet, George F. Barrrowclough, John Klicka, Liliana Montanez-Godoy, Patricia Escalante

Ornithology Program (HRC)

During a visit to Isla Guadalupe from 31 May to 3 June 1996, we documented three species new to the island, the Barn Owl, Swainson's Thrush, and Hooded Oriole, and established first breeding records for the European Starling and Western Meadowlark. Red-shafted Flickers are now breeding on the island, representing a recent recolonization from the mainland following the extinction of the endemic population. We investigated the validity of Colaptes auratus rufipileus and concluded that it doesn’t meet the standard for phylogenetic species but differs from C. a. collaris at the 75% level usually associated with subspecific rank. Damage to the …

Modeling, Fabrication, And Optimization Of Niobium Cavities: Phase I, Robert A. Schill Jr., Mohamed Trabia

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

Niobium cavities are important parts of the integrated NC/SC high-power linacs. Over the years, researchers in several countries have tested various cavity shapes. They concluded that elliptically shaped cells and buffered chemical polishing produce good performance. The objective of the proposed research is to maximize the performance of the niobium cavities through studying multipacting, studying the effect of chemical etching on the surface roughness, and redesigning the cavities.

The US Congress has recently authorized exploring an alternative way to deal with spent nuclear fuel: Accelerator Transmuting of Waste (ATW). In this approach, a particle accelerator produces protons that react with …

Experimental Investigation Of Steel Corrosion In Lead Bismuth Eutectic (Lbe): Characterization, Species Identification, And Chemical Reactions, John Farley, Dale L. Perry

Transmutation Sciences Materials (TRP)

The goal of the present research is to achieve a basic understanding of corrosion of steels by Lead Bismuth Eutectic (LBE). Liquid LBE is under consideration in the transmuter as both a coolant and a target material. There have been studies of LBE, especially by the Russians, but a fundamental understanding and verification of its role in the corrosion of steels is still very 2 incomplete. Post-experiment testing and analysis will be performed on steel samples that have been in intimate contact with LBE. Chemical alterations and resulting chemical species will be measured at the steel surface. Techniques to be …

The Procedure For Determining And Quality Assurance Program For The Calculation Of Dose Coefficients Using Dcal Software, A. Arndt, John P. Shanahan, C. Gold, R. Brey, T. Gesell, Phillip W. Patton, Mark Rudin, K. Eckerman, V. Rusetski, S. Pagava

Transmutation Sciences Physics (TRP)

The development of a spallation neutron source with a mercury target may lead to the production of rare radionuclides. The dose coefficients for many of these radionuclides have not yet been published. A collaboration of universities and national labs has taken on the task of calculating dose coefficients for the rare radionuclides using the software package: DCAL. The working group developed a procedure for calculating dose coefficients and a quality assurance (QA) program to verify the calculations completed. The first portion of this QA program was to verify that each participating group could independently reproduce the dose coefficients for a …

The Practice Of Leadership: The Life And Times Of Joshua L. Chamberlain, Patrick W. Carlton

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

Explores the life and achievements of Brevet Major General J.L. Chamberlain, the "hero of Little Round Top," describing his activities as pre-war professor, Civil War leader, and post-war governor, college president and federal official. Chamberlain, a military novice at the beginning of the war, was appointed second-in command of the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, in August, 1862. Quickly learning the soldier's craft, Chamberlain was promoted to Colonel and regimental commander in June, 1863, just prior to the battle of Gettysburg. There the unit, profiting from Chamberlain's inspired and creative leadership, is credited with preventing the extreme left flank of …

Laminin-5 Mediates Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Response To Growth Factors, Karl Kingsley

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The development and normal function of cells in the body depend upon interactions with other molecules. One such group of molecules, referred to as the extracellular matrix (ECM), is secreted by subsets of epithelial, endothelial, and mesenchymal cells within multicellular organisms. The laminin families comprise a set of soluble ECM glycoproteins that are required for structural integrity and development in many epithelial tissues. Ln-5 is a laminin isoform composed of three subunits: alpha3, beta3, and gamma2. In this study, I sought to determine temporal and spatial patterns of ln-5 expression in non epithelial tissues. Using an enzyme-linked immunofluorescence amplification system …

Political Ramifications Of Gender Complementarity For Women In Native American Literature, Patrice Eunice Marie Hollrah

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores how a tribal construct of gender relations---gender complementarity---functions in the works of Zitkala-Sa (Yankton Sioux), Leslie Marmon Silko (Laguna Pueblo), Louise Erdrich (Ojibwe), and Sherman Alexie (Spokane/Coeur d'Alene). Gender complementarity, or balanced reciprocity, acknowledges that the worlds of men and women are different but not generally perceived as hierarchical. If gender roles are not seen as unequal but simply different, the resulting political relationships do not necessarily result in power struggles for equality. Examining the political ramifications of gender complementarity for women in Native American literature is approached through the historical and cultural contexts of each specific …

Perceptions Of Standards -Based Reform And The Role Of Instructional Leadership, Robert Bruce Anderson

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to increase the knowledge about science teachers' and principals' perceptions regarding science standards-based reform efforts in Nevada. The intent of the Nevada Education Reform Act (NERA) was to improve teaching and learning by impacting the following categories: (a) instruction, (b) assessment, (c) accountability, (d) professional development, (e) curriculum, and (f) supervision. The study investigated science teachers' and principals' perceptions of how standards impacted these areas as well as the role of instructional leadership in the implementation of standards-based reform. Finally, the study investigated how perceptions differed based on school size; This study employed what …

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Commitment As Loyalty: Commitment As A Key Mediating Variable For Loyalty, Shiang-Lih Chen

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Many studies have verified that a service provider can benefit greatly from customer commitment and loyalty. However, there is a lack of consensus in the definition of commitment and loyalty constructs and ways of measuring them. As indicated by Pritchard, et al. (I999), there is a dearth of empirical consumer research examining the relationship between commitment and loyalty. Understanding the role that commitment plays in developing and explaining loyalty and the relationship between commitment and loyalty are critical in facilitating the evolution of loyalty; This study empirically examined whether commitment is a key-mediating variable for loyalty. The relationships between commitment …

The Use Of Teacher Facilitation During Computer Activities To Improve The Social Interaction Of Preschool Children In Inclusive Classrooms, Cynthia Lau

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Social competence is a major focus in early childhood education and there is a need for effective teaching methods to increase social skills for both children with and without disabilities. Even though technology is used as a tool for teaching young children, there is limited research on the use of structured teaching coupled with assistive technology to facilitate social skill development in young children; This study investigated the impact of teacher facilitation during computer activities on the social skill development and concurrent interactions of young children. The study compared dyads comprised of children with and without disabilities who received teacher …

Factors Affecting Enrollment And Retention At The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter -Day Saints St George Institute Of Religion, John Savage Naegle

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to identify those factors that influence the decision of young, single, adult members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints ages 18--30 to be involved or not in the institute program; For Institutes to be effective in their charge to involve all young, single adults it would be helpful to understand why potential Institute students do one of the following: (1) Enroll in and complete an institute class. (2) Enroll in and stop attending an institute class. (3) Do not enroll in an institute class; Because the Church Educational System was asked …

Coping Strategies And Stress Levels Of Parents Of Children With Autism, Tammy L Neil

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to assess stress levels and coping strategies of parents with children with autism. The goal is to identify the resources and support systems which parents use for coping with their stress and to assess whether the support systems differ between mothers and fathers. This study will also investigate differences in coping strategies used by parents of children with autism and parents of typically developing children; Subjects in this study included thirty parents of children with autism, and thirty parents of typically developing children. All participants were recruited from the Eastern, Midwest, and Western part …

In Vitro Analysis Of Integrin Mediated Adhesion, Migration, And Signaling, William Lathrop Rust

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Integrins are cellular adhesion receptors whose functions are critical to the progression of solid tissue cancers. The research described here involves four projects aimed at understanding how integrins modulate key elements of carcinogenesis, (adhesion and migration), on laminin basal lamina proteins; In order to carry out these studies, a novel fluorescence based protocol for quantifying cell migration towards a bound substrate was developed (Chapter 2). This method is more reliable, efficient, and informative than currently available protocols. I demonstrate its use as a screen for migration-blocking chemotherapeutic drugs; The small heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) is found to be over-expressed …

The Politics Of Lesbian "Nature": A Feminist Critique Of Scientific Knowledge And Practice, Jaime L Phillips

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is a feminist analysis of scientific articles published from 1990--2000 reporting findings from research on biological origins of lesbian and bisexual orientations in women. Informed by feminist standpoint epistemologies and the theories and empirical research of the interdisciplinary field of feminist science studies, I assert that scientific efforts to locate biological origins of lesbian and bisexual orientations in women are likely to be infused with culturally-based assumptions and beliefs regarding sex, gender, sexual orientation, and race. To the extent that these assumptions and beliefs go unacknowledged in the science, they place limitations on the knowledge claims that can …

The Professional Development Needs Of High School Principals For School Improvement, Pamela Cummins Salazar

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study examined the professional development needs of high school principals for school improvement. Successful educational reform and school improvement within a high school ultimately hinges on the leadership skills of the principal. If schools are to successfully confront the complexities of a changing society and improve learning for students, then school leaders must be provided with professional development activities that improve their ability to lead schools through a school improvement process. The purpose of this study was to determine professional development needs of high school principals for school improvement and their preferred delivery system for that professional development. A …

The Metahistory Of The American West, Don Franklin Shepherd

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In 1893, Frederick Jackson Turner published his famous thesis, "The Significance of the Frontier in American History." The thesis, as well as his subsequent writings, established the groundwork for the dialogue on the American West. That groundwork essentially captured western history as the relationship between seen and unseen forces. Implicit in Turner's work was a structural model for how visible and invisible worlds interacted with one another. When one examines the work of later scholars like Henry Nash Smith who shifted away from Turner's synthesis, it becomes apparent that there was more underpinning Smith's dissent than simply a disagreement regarding …

A Descriptive Study Of The Organizational Culture And Structure Of Accelerated Schools, Susan Virginia Steaffens

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to survey teachers at five accelerated schools in the Clark County School District to determine their perceptions of the organizational culture and properties of their respective schools, and to determine if there are any differences between the results on these surveys and the original studies; Two instruments, the Organisational Culture Assessment Inventory (OCAI) and the Structural Properties Questionnaire (SPQ), were administered in the Spring of 2001 to 277 teachers from five selected accelerated schools in the Clark County School District. This resulted in a response rate of 35%. The stories and metaphors obtained from …

Development And Validation Of An Instrument For Student Evaluation Of Web -Based Instruction, Ingrid Stewart

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The current study attempted to develop an instrument to be used by instructors to conduct a comprehensive Web-based course evaluation. Four phases of instrument development were implemented. Phase I, involved the development if items through a review of the literature and the opinions of instructors and students enrolled in four Web-based mathematics courses. After the items were formulated and a response format was established, a questionnaire blueprint was developed. An item review, a content validation study, and an item tryout were conducted; In Phase II, the initial questionnaire was placed on the World Wide Web together with a cover letter …

Nervousness In The Works Of F Scott Fitzgerald, Michael Emil Tischler

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study examines how nervousness and the ideas that came to be associated with it manifest themselves in the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald, often influencing both the characters and themes in his fiction; Chapter one traces the development of what is referred to as a "nervous discourse" from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries, revealing how the pre-Enlightenment sense of nervous, which signified strength, gradually gave way to a meaning which indicates agitation or timidity and implies a sense of weakness. In addition, this chapter demonstrates that nervousness, even within medical literature, became linked to a number of …

Ecology And Evolution Of An Annual Plant Following Fire In The Mojave Desert, Cheryl Hightower Vanier

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Plant succession following disturbance in deserts is difficult to study because there is no well-defined series of species replacements and "successional stages" contain many of the same plant species. Persistence of the same species through successional stages introduces the possibility that desert species could respond to natural selection induced by disturbed environments. This study details changes in perennial vegetation, plant distribution, and small-scale abiotic environments on the scale of individual annual plants in order to examine corresponding changes in plant character phenotypes and natural selection in response to disturbance caused by fire. Two burned and two unburned populations of the …

An Investigation And Analysis Of The Hispanic Students' Nationwide School Dropout Rates And The Difference Between Those Who Complete Their High School Diploma And Those Who Dropout, Maria Olivia Egemba

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

As the United States embarks on the twenty-first century, anxiety continues about the American educational system. The dropout crisis in the United States and particularly among the Hispanic students is a matter of serious concern for parents, educators, politicians, and the general public. Due to the rapid technological advances, staying in school and graduating is crucial for preparing a skilled, knowledgeable, and flexible work force needed by America to compete in the global economy. Hispanic students are the largest-growing sector of the population and have the highest dropout rate of any major segment of the U.S. population (Hispanic Dropout Project, …

Postmodern American Sociology: A Response To The Aesthetic Challenge, Jongryul Choi

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Over the past two decades, American sociologists have debated about the postmodern and what we might call "postmodern American sociology" began to emerge at the turn of this century. This dissertation examines the nature of the postmodern in general, and postmodern American sociology in particular, in terms of three models of knowledge: science, morality, and aesthetics; This dissertation pays close attention to the fact that science, morality, and aesthetics began to be differentiated from religion in the modern era, which posited two problems: the problem of legitimacy of knowledge and the problem of figuring out the relationship among science, morality, …

Effects Of Elevated Carbon Dioxide On Primary Productivity In A Mojave Desert Ecosystem, David Charles Housman

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Growth and gas exchange are predicted to be most responsive to future atmospheric CO2 concentrations within and ecosystems. It is hypothesized that elevated CO2 will result in enhanced seasonal growth, increased leaf area and extension of the growing season via increased water-use efficiency (WUE). Greater WUE could result in increased survivorship and productivity of desert shrubs, and may increase the importance of this biome in the global carbon budget. Elevated CO2 is also expected to influence future species distribution and abundance, which could alter structure and function, especially in arid ecosystems. For these reasons, we measured aboveground production, gas exchange, …

Instructional Differentiation In General Education And The Gifted Resource Room: Teacher And Student Perceptions, Mary Trombatore Greene

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study compared the perceptions of three groups concerning differentiated educational opportunities provided for students with gifts and talents. The perceptions of general education teachers, gifted resource room teachers, and students with gifts and talents were collected using a questionnaire that encompassed questions focused on cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal skill development; Results indicated that gifted resource room teachers and general education classroom teachers perceived that they provided differentiated instruction more often in the cognitive and interpersonal domains than in the intrapersonal domain. The most frequent differentiated instructional practices used by teachers (general education and gifted resource room) were in the …

A Comparative Study Of Funding Mechanisms For Community Colleges In The State Of Nevada And Selected States, Christopher Pat Kelly

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to compare the mechanism utilized by the State of Nevada to fund its community colleges with the models used by other selected states to fund their two-year institutions. The comparison states that were chosen represented peer institutions of Nevada community colleges or systems held in high regard by the American Association of Community Colleges; These selected states, as well as Nevada, face difficult fiscal challenges funding their two-year colleges. Not only is there increasing competition for limited state resources, but virtually all of the states are projecting budget shortfalls due to the slowing economy; …

Television As A Medium To College Students' Predispositions: Portrayals Of Professors And Their Profession, Mona Millicent Lauber

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Students bring preconceived beliefs and attitudes to their initial college experience. These predispositions influence their communication and interaction with faculty and others in the higher education environment. Previous research identified family, school, and peers as sources that contribute to the formation of students' predispositions. This study was designed to explore television as a fourth medium to college students' predispositions; Drawing from the perspectives of social cognitive theory and cultivation theory, portrayals of professors were analyzed in 15 episodes across three television programs. The content analysis employed both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Personality categories for the quantitative portion were adapted from …

Technology Leadership At A Junior High School: A Qualitative Case Study, Alvin Wesley Matthews

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to explore and describe the technology leadership at a junior high school. Technology-related attitudes, behaviors, and skills that have an impact on the school's technology program were examined with emphasis on the building principal. Interviews, observations, and other documents were the means of data collection. This study has implications for people who want to support computers and other educational technology. This case study included the principal, computer specialist, and teachers with varying degrees of computer experience. In addition to Kearsley's three roles of leader, manager, and politician (1991), four other technology-related roles emerged …

A Study Of Allied Health Care Entry -Level Employee Workplace Basic Skills And Competencies, Mildred Arroyo Mcclain

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study utilized quantitative research methodologies to investigate the perceptions of Nevada allied health care providers regarding the importance of the workplace basic skills and competencies identified by the United States Department of Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS,1991). Since it was assumed that employers possess direct knowledge of their employees' work skills, a questionnaire was developed and distributed to allied health care department supervisors in all of the identified hospitals within the state of Nevada; A primary purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which allied health care providers in Nevada considered each of …

Facilitating The Process Of Knowledge Construction Among Preservice Teachers Through Computer -Mediated Communications, Jennifer Ann Peterson-Lewinson

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

This study was concerned with the potential for asynchronous computer-mediated communications (CMC) to facilitate the process of knowledge construction among preservice teachers. Using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, this study examined the extent to which the CMC among six groups of preservice teachers was influenced by (a) the structure and focus of CMC, and (b) the interactions among peers. Of particular interest was (a) how these factors influenced the depth in cognitive processing that was displayed throughout the course of the semester, and (b) the patterns of social dialogue and interactions that were involved with the displayed levels in …

Effects Of Social Skill Training For High -Functioning Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Barbara Jane Webb

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to investigate the efficacy of using the SCORE Skills Strategy to teach high-functioning adolescents with autism spectrum disorder five social skills that are needed to work in cooperative groups. Ten male subjects ranging in age from 12 to 17, participated in a 10-week evening program. The subjects were in grades 6 through 11, and spent 17% to 100% of their school day in general education classes. The effects of the intervention were evaluated using a multiple-baseline across-skills and a multiple probe design. Data were collected to answer seven research questions related to subjects' abilities …