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Dynamic Property Characterization Of Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (Ipmc), Prashanth Reddy Duvvuru Kamakshi

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

In this thesis dynamic properties of Ionic Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) is studied. The ionic polymer (IPMC) is made out of a high polymer gel film whose surface is plated with platinum. This ionic polymer finds its application in future as artificial muscle. Analytical modeling method for both single and segmented ionic polymer which can exhibit varying curvature along the polymer was introduced. This segmented ionic polymer can generate more flexible propulsion compared with a single strip ionic polymer where only forward propulsion can be generated by a simple oscillatory bending motion. It is well known in biomimetic system research …

The Social Implications Of The Architecture At Ppnb Ghwair I, Ramzy Ladah

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Investigations at the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) Village of Ghwair I in the Wadi Feinan in Southern Jordan have yielded important information concerning the development of social structure during the early Neolithic. The architecture at the site becomes more complex throughout occupation exhibiting more compartmentalization along with the emergence of certain special structures. This along with the location of certain key artifacts and an infant burial in association with the architecture all indicate that the social structure became more complex throughout PPNB occupation. This further corroborates the association between sedentism, domestication, demographic changes and an increase in social complexity.

Strategic Alliance And Loyalty Marketing: Do Partnerships Affect Loyalty Customers?, Myongjee Yoo

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

It becomes essential for hospitality professionals to explore the concepts that underlie in strategic alliances of loyalty programs to assess business strategies as a source of competitive advantage to improve and sustain customer loyalty which will eventually bring growth to a company. Having such a numerous number of selections of hotel brands at the present time, are customers loyal to a hotel because of their preference in a specific brand or are they loyal because of the additional benefits they can receive from partnering companies? In other words, does strategic alliance create value and increase customer satisfaction which leads to …

Paleoepidemiology Of Bacterial Infections Among Prehistoric Human Populations In Northern Chile: An Ancient Dna Approach, Luz-Andrea Pfister

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Bacterial pathogens not primarily affecting the skeleton but causing sepsis and death, have not been systematically studied in prehistoric human populations, although increasing evidence support our species long co-evolution with many of them. With molecular methods we can identify bacteria at the species level and distinguish pathogenic from environmental and soil bacteria. Bone marrow of ancient people may provide valuable information about ancient pathogens causing sepsis and death. To test the hypothesis that PCR amplification using universal bacterial primers will identify prehistoric bacterial pathogens in bone marrow, 30 samples were aseptically obtained from partially mummified remains of three archaeological sites …

Molecular Phylogenetics Of Trogon: Exploring Patterns Of Diversification In A Widespread Neotropical Avian Genus, Jeffrey M Dacosta

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Study of Neotropical avian biodiversity have generally been focused on South American taxa. As a result, the contribution of Central America to overall Neotropical diversity remains under-studied. The Great American Interchange (GAI) between North and South America is a biogeographic event known to impact biodiversity throughout the Neotropics, linking the evolutionary history of these land masses. Here I show that genetic diversity in the well-known and widespread Neotropical avian genus Trogon greatly exceeds previously recognized biodiversity in this group. Results also invoke a Central American center of origin for the genus, with multiple independent dispersals into and subsequent diversification within …

The Forgotten Chinese Cemetery Of Carlin Nevada: A Bioanthropological Assessment, Ryan William Schmidt

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The investigation of historical cemeteries enables direct assessment of biological variability, health and disease, and additional insights into populations that have gone relatively undocumented in North America and elsewhere. This thesis examines a historic cemetery located in northern Nevada, in the town of Carlin. A total of 13 well-preserved skeletal individuals were excavated in 1996, all buried within coffins and whose Chinese origin has been confirmed through historical documentation and associated artifacts (Chung et al. 2005). Although the sample size is small, it provides a number of important insights into the health and behavior of early Chinese-American communities, including dental …

Public College Students' Academic Experiences And Performance In Utah's Religious Enclave, Joe Peterson

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Many American colleges were established in "religious enclaves," regions dominated by somewhat homogeneous religious cultures that were formed when cobelievers experienced socially inhospitable conditions and removed themselves from the culturally diverse mainstream and gathered into more homogeneous cultural strongholds. Through modernization and urbanization, many former religious enclaves have evolved into pluralistic social settings; however, one large enclave remains. In Utah, students at public colleges and universities experience a cultural environment where the LDS (Mormon) religion has overwhelming demographic dominance (77 percent of Utah's population in 2000, Grammich, 2004, p. 20). This dissertation explores the influence of the enclave milieu on …

Student-Athlete Recruitment At The University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, Christi Smith Dewaele

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

With the impact winning athletic teams have on a university it is not surprising that pressure to produce winning teams is enormous. Coaches are expected to recruit the most athletically talented players to provide the university with winning seasons (Letawsky, Palmer & Schneider, 2005). In order for institutions to bring in athletes who are able to excel academically and athletically, it is important for coaches to understand what characterizes the college selection process for student-athletes. Therefore, an important step in this regard would be to develop instrumentation to measure this process. Hence, the purpose of this study was to conduct …

The Development Of Domain-Specific And Domain-General Metacognitive Monitoring, Brett Douglas Campbell

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Metacognitive monitoring may be a critical element in self-regulated learning. Two types of metacognitive monitoring have been identified: domain-specific and domain-general. Domain-specific metacognitive monitoring occurs when an individual is monitoring content-specific knowledge. Domain-general metacognitive monitoring occurs in situations when content-specific knowledge is not available. Currently no research is available that examines the developmental differences between domain-specific and domain-general metacognitive monitoring in children. This study attempted to address this issue by asking children in first, fourth, and seventh grade to make item-by-item confidence judgments while providing answers in two domain-specific tasks and two domain-general tasks. Two working memory spans tasks were …

An Analysis Of Social Skills Instruction Provided In Teacher Education And In-Service Training Programs For General And Special Educators, Nicole Dobbins

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

The effective demonstration of social skills in classroom and personal settings is essential to successfully develop and sustain professional and personal relationships. Students with disabilities often exhibit social skills deficits which, in turn, place them at risk to experience school failure, peer rejection, and/or mental health problems (Elksnin & Elksnin, 2006). There is an increasing number of students with disabilities receiving instruction in the general education classroom setting (U.S. Department of Education, 2003). Direct instruction of social skills is imperative to ensure the academic and personal success of students; The research supports the direct instruction of discrete social skills behaviors …

The Decline Of Provincial Culture In Dorset And Somerset Counties As Reflected In Thomas Hardy's Wessex Novels, Jay C. Durgin

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Government Information Research, Susie Skarl

Library Faculty Research

Prior to the mid-1990s, much government information lay outside the mainstream of library catalogs and core indexes and, consequently, was greatly underutilized. Finding government information required negotiating cumbersome search tools, specialized indexes, and separate call number systems. By the end of the 1990s, government information had become more accessible on the World Wide Web. Although the Internet has made searching and finding government information less taxing for patrons, most still require instruction from library staff in order to satisfy their needs in the best possible manner.

Evolution And Intelligent Design: College Students' Perspectives, Bethany Klein

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Exploring Native American Folklore : Little People And Giants, Frederick E. Harris

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

A Grounded Theory: Realising Family Potential Through Choice Of Schooling, Angela Mccarthy

Theses

This study was designed to develop a substantive theory that would explain the process through which a family makes educational choices in Western Australia. The grounded theory method was chosen for this research. The participants in the study were mainly parents of children in Catholic schools who were invited to assist in the research through purposive sampling. Further theoretical sampling extended the parental informant group to include parents of children in the government sector as well as in non-government schools other than Catholic schools. The data were primarily obtained through formal interviews. The analysis of the data was conducted through …

Land Use Controls In Montana: An Analysis Of Factors Affecting Policy Adoption Of Countywide Zoning, Kristin N. Smith

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Primary Care Utilization As A Predictor For Incidence Of Stroke In The United States., Mohammad Anwarul Huq Mian

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.

Morphometric Analysis Of Martian Valley Network Basins Using A Circularity Function, W. Luo, A.D. Howard

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

This paper employs a circularity function to quantify the internal morphology of Martian watershed basins in Margaritifer Sinus region and to infer the primary erosional processes that led to their current geomorphologic characteristics and possible climatic conditions under which these processes operated. The circularity function describes the elongation of a watershed basin at different elevations. We have used the circularity functions of terrestrial basins that were interpreted as having been modified by (1) erosion related to primarily groundwater sapping and (2) erosion related to primarily rainfall and surface run-off, as well as the circularity functions of cratering basins on the …

A Survey Assessment Of Veterinarians To Determine The Level Of Preparedness For An Infectious Disease Outbreak, Tamara Crutchley Bushell

All ETDs from UAB

Safeguarding animal health is of paramount importance to the US economy, public health and food safety. One of the most important causes of contamination in food products and of food-borne disease in humans is microorganisms that reside in the intestines of animals, such as Salmonella species and Escherichia coli O157:H7. A fundamental knowledge of the epidemiology of diseases, including an understanding of the agents and hosts, is a critical component of early (front-line) detection and prevention of contamination by microorganisms. Front-line detection is provided by animal handlers and personnel working with animals on a day-to-day basis, such as veterinarians. Currently …

An Investigation Of The Dynamic Indicators Of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Dibels) And The Illinois Snapshot Of Early Literacy (Isel), Cara Williams

Masters Theses

This longitudinal study was conducted to compare and investigate the predictive power of DIBELS and ISEL measures. Data were collected to determine if ISEL and DIBELS measures similarly identify students as being at-risk. The predictive value of DIBELS and ISEL scores were evaluated in relation to third grade Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) scores and Illinois Standards of Achievement Test (ISAT) scores. Participants included 63 students from one grade level at a Chicago suburban school. Test scores from kindergarten through third grade were obtained for these students. Results indicate that the risk identification of students was significantly different between ISEL …

Montesquieu On Commerce, Conquest, War And Peace, Robert Howse

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

The "Actual State Of Things": Teaching About Law In Political And Historical Context, David E. Wilkins

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Vine Deloria, Jr., the most prolific Native writer and one of the most gifted intellectuals in American history, left a deep imprint in many of the fields he so artfully plowed, including: education, religion, politics, cultural critic, history, and indigenous knowledge. His scholarship on specific subjects came in waves, with each wave building upon the previous one before reaching its remarkable crest.

Deloria's scholastic and pragmatic legacy in federal Indian law and policy and indigenous governance is one that has produced several major books and numerous articles, which, in the pantheon of Deloria's prodigious body of works, rank highly in …

Rediscovering Sponge Activities: A Strategic Approach To Time On Task, Todd A. Hernandez, Paul A. Garcia

Spanish Languages and Literatures Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

A Survey And Developmental Biology Of Iliamna Remota Greene (Malvaceae), An Endangered Species In Illinois, April Lyn Mcdonnell

Masters Theses

Iliamna remota Greene (Malvaceae), or Kankakee mallow, is an endangered species in Illinois that is limited to Langham Island in the Kankakee River, Kankakee County. Plants are herbaceous and perennial with a racemose inflorescence consisting of showy, slightly fragrant flowers ranging in color from almost white to lavender. Leaves are alternate and shallowly palmately lobed and stems and leaves are coarsely pubescent.

Middle School Mathematics Teacher Certification, Degree Level, And Experience, And The Effects On Teacher Attrition And Student Mathematics Achievement In A Large Urban District, Bonnie Swan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the backgrounds and experiences of middle school mathematics teachers that often distinguish "quality" teachers, including certification, experience, degree type, and degree level and how those demographics and others vary for different types of schools. The emphasis was on profiling teachers in a large urban district by describing their basic features and distributions, as well as how middle school mathematics teachers, according to those differences, relate to student mathematics achievement, teacher attrition and teacher mobility. Student achievement was measured by test results from the Norm Reference Test-Normal Curve Equivalent (NRT-NCE) mathematics portion of …

Faculty Senate Librarian's Report-2006, Georgia Southern University

Faculty Senate: Librarian's Reports

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Multivariate Regression Model For Soil Nitrate Nitrogen Content Prediction*

Journal of Spatial Hydrology

Although soil nitrate nitrogen (N) is a nutrient source for crop, it could be a potential nonpoint pollution source to the environment when its content remains high with an inappropriate management. Soil nitrate N content is affected by various factors, such as cultivation practices, N fertilizer application rate, soil properties, and climatic conditions. Understanding the effects of these factors on soil nitrate N content is necessary for nitrogen management and nonpoint source pollution control. Taking the data measured from 1996 to 1998 in a 25 ha row crop field located in Central Iowa, this paper intended to study the interwoven …

Political Space, Guaranteed: Utilizing New Zealand's 'Reserved Seats' System To Help Aboriginal Canadians Realize Their Guaranteed Democratic Rights, Jennifer Hefler

Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies

Despite having formally recognized the distinctiveness and importance of Aboriginal Rights with the enactment of section 35 of the 1982 Constitution, Aboriginal persons continue to be under-represented in Canadian political institutions. This article will argue that the solution to this problem does not lie in section 35. Instead, this article will demonstrate this historic lack of political space constitutes an infringement of rights guaranteed to Aboriginal Canadians under section 3 of the Charter of Rights and Freedom. The most effective method to remedy this breach is through the implementation of a ‘reserved-seat’ system similar to that in New Zealand. This …

Copyright, Commodification, And Culture: Locating The Public Domain, Julie E. Cohen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The relationship between increased commodification and the public domain in copyright law is the subject of considerable controversy, both political and theoretical. The paper argues that beliefs about what legal definition the public domain requires depend crucially on implicit preconceptions about what a public domain is. When considered in broader historical context, the term public domain has a specific set of denotative and connotative meanings that constitute the artistic, intellectual, and informational public domain as a geographically separate place, portions of which are presumptively eligible for privatization. This idea meshes well with the current push toward commodification in copyright. The …

Political Power And Judicial Power: Some Observations On Their Relation, Mark V. Tushnet

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Essay summarizes and perhaps extends slightly some important recent work, mostly by political scientists, on the structural relation between the array of political power in a nation's nonjudicial branch or branches and the way in which judicial review is exercised in relatively stable democracies. Robert Dahl's classic article identified one such relation. According to Dahl, "[e]xcept for short-lived transitional periods when the old alliance is disintegrating and the new one is struggling to take control of political institutions, the Supreme Court is inevitably a part of the dominant national alliance." What, though, if there is no "dominant" national political …