Digital Commons Network^™

The Interrelationship Between The Bio- And Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Middle Cambrian Spence Shale Of Northern Utah And Southern Idaho, Eva Lyon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This project was undertaken with the objective of discerning the relationship between sea level change and changes in the fauna of the Spence Shale. A combination of field and lab work was employed to undertake this research. The Spence Shale is rich in fossils from the earliest period of visible life on this planet. It provides a unique window onto the evolution of life and changes in the Earth at this time. It is important to study this relationship between sea level and life changes as these conditions are constantly changing, particularly in this day and age. A better understanding …

Determining Co2 Storage Potential: Characterization Of Seal Integrity And Reservoir Failure In Exposed Analogs, Daniel Corey Barton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into subsurface porous sandstone is proposed as a method for reducing accumulation of anthropogenic emissions of CO₂ into the atmosphere. Natural exposures of reservoir and top-seal pairs in central and southeastern Utah are identified as analogs to proposed CO₂ injection targets. Reservoir and top-seal pairs in natural analog exposures are analyzed in tandem to evaluate evidence for paleo-migration of fluids and/or hydrocarbons from the reservoir through the top seal. The San Rafael Swell and Monument Uplift exhibit similar structure and exposures of Jurassic units yet differ in amount and type of …

Measuring The Differences In Spatial Ability Between A Face-To-Face And A Synchronous Distance Education Undergraduate Engineering Graphics Course, Scott D. Greenhalgh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A study was conducted in the Engineering and Technology Education Department at Utah State University by Scott Greenhalgh and Gary Stewardson to measure and compare a face-to-face engineering graphics course with a synchronous distance education engineering graphics course by identifying the impact of the teacher's physical presence on students' spatial ability. This study is unique because it involves laboratory classes in a science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) field with greater emphasis on hands-on laboratory experiences and skills rather than mastery of information and knowledge. The potential for impact of the study extends beyond a few courses in a specific …

Environmental Influences On Juvenile Fish Abundances In A River-Dominated Coastal System, Laure Carassou, Brian Dzwonkowski, Frank J. Hernandez, Jr., Sean P. Powers, William M. Graham, Kyeong Park, John Mareska

University Faculty and Staff Publications

We investigated the influence of climatic and environmental factors on variations in juvenile abundances of marine fishes in a river-dominated coastal system of the north-central Gulf of Mexico, where an elevated primary productivity sustains fisheries of high economic importance. Fish were collected monthly with an otter trawl at three stations near Mobile Bay from 1982 to 2007. Fish sizes were used to isolate juvenile stages within the data set, and monthly patterns in juvenile fish abundance and size were then used to identify seasonal peaks for each species. The average numbers of juvenile fish collected during these seasonal peaks in …

What Was Sherlock Holmes' Alma Mater? Elementary: St. John Fisher College, Tim Madigan

Verbum

In lieu of an abstract, below is the essay's first paragraph.

"As the recent Robert Downey, Jr. movie has clearly demonstrated, interest in all things relating to Sherlock Holmes remains strong. This is just as true at St. John Fisher College as anywhere else, where the immortal detective stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle are taught in literature courses by Lisa Jadwin of the Department of English, and where Holmes‘ skills at deduction are discussed in philosopher David White‘s Basic Logic classes. Several other professors, including Donald Muench and Gerry Wildenberg in Mathematics, and Charles Natoli and yours truly in …

Embodied Compositionality, A Cangelosi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Luc Steels [10] provides a comprehensive overview of the key theoretical issues on the cultural evolution of language and of the contribution of computational and robotics models to the study of the social emergence of language in societies of interactive agents. In this short commentary, I would like to extend the discussion by focusing: (i) on the origins of the hierarchical structure of language, as grounded in the embodied compositional nature of motor representations and skills such as those of object manipulation; and (ii) on the interaction of genetic and cultural evolution processes in language evolution.

Concept Tests For A New Wire Flying Vehicle Designed To Achieve High Horizontal Resolution Profiling In Deep Water, Chris Roman, Dave Hebert

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Efficiently profiling the water column to achieve both high vertical and horizontal resolution from a moving vessel in deep water is difficult. Current solutions, such as CTD tow-yos, moving vessel profilers, and undulating tow bodies, are limited by ship speed or water depth. As a consequence, it is difficult to obtain oceanographic sections with sufficient resolution to identify many relevant scales over the deeper sections of the water column. This paper presents a new concept for a profiling vehicle that slides up and down a towed wire in a controlled manner using the lift created by wing foils. The wings …

Estimating Oil Concentration And Flow Rate With Calibrated Vessel-Mounted Acoustic Echo Sounders, Thomas C. Weber, Alex De Robertis, Shep Smith, Samuel F. Greenaway, Larry A. Mayer, Glen Rice

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping

As part of a larger program aimed at evaluating acoustic techniques for mapping the distribution of subsurface oil and gas associated with the Deepwater Horizon-Macondo oil spill, observations were made on June 24 and 25, 2010 using vessel-mounted calibrated single-beam echo sounders on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ship Thomas Jefferson. Coincident with visual observations of oil at the sea surface, the 200-kHz echo sounder showed anomalously high-volume scattering strength in the upper 200 m on the western side of the wellhead, more than 100 times higher than the surrounding waters at 1,800-m distance from the wellhead, …

Examining Experience In Depressed And Nondepressed Individuals, Jedidiah D. Gunter

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The inner experience of nine depressed and nine nondepressed individuals was explored using Descriptive Experience Sampling. Each participant completed four days of descriptive experience sampling, exploring about six moments of their inner experience on each sampling day. Although the Depressed participants self-reported substantially higher levels of depressive symptomatology on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale (CES-D) on each day of sampling, the differences in the frequency of depressive symptomatology in the inner experiences of these two groups were not statistically significant. Despite the group differences not reaching statistical significance, the Depressed group experienced somewhat more frequent moments of depression, …

A Study Of A Novel Modular Variable Geometry Frame Arranged As A Robotic Surface, Christopher James Salisbury

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The novel concept of a "variable geometry frame" is introduced and explored through a three-dimensional robotic surface which is devised and implemented using triangular modules. The link design is optimized using surplus motor dimensions as firm constraints, and round numbers for further arbitrary constraints. Each module is connected by a passive six-bar mechanism that mimics the constraints of a spherical joint at each triangle intersection. A three dimensional inkjet printer is used to create a six-module prototype designed around surplus stepper motors powered by an old computer power supply as a proof-of-concept example.

The finite element method is applied to …

A Landscape Approach To Late Prehistoric Settlement And Subsistence Patterns In The Mojave Sink, Tiffany Ann Thomas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The environment of the Late Prehistoric period (1200 A.D. to Historic Contact) Mojave Sink was wetter than modern conditions. The settlement and subsistence patterns of the occupants of the region during this period were driven by the availability of water, subsistence resources, raw material sources, and tradition. These people utilized the regional landscape based upon the seasonal availability of these resources. Supplemental agricultural production has been proposed for the Mojave River Delta due to the more favorable environmental conditions of this period. If agriculture was being practiced it would have affected the regional land-use patterns. For this thesis I propose …

Hydroclimatic Forecasting In The Western United States Using Paleoclimate Reconstructions And Data-Driven Models, Christopher Allen Carrier

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis investigated climate variability and their associated hydrologic responses in the western United States. The western United States faces the problem of water scarcity, where the management and mitigation of available water supplies are further complicated by climate variability. Climate variability associated with the phases of oceanic-atmospheric oscillations has been shown to influence streamflow and precipitation, where predictive relationships have led to the possibility of producing long-range forecasts. Based on literature review, four oceanic-atmospheric oscillation indices were identified in having the most prominent influence over the western United States including the El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Pacific Decadal …

Changing Climatic Conditions In The Colorado River Basin: Implications For Water Resources Management In The Las Vegas Valley, Srijana Dawadi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Climate change affects the water available in a region. It also affects the water demand, because of the increase in temperature. A system dynamics model was developed for the Colorado River Basin (CRB), operating at a monthly time scale, to assess the potential impacts of climate change on streamflow in the Colorado River and its subsequent impact on the water resources management in the Las Vegas Valley (LVV). The effect of climate change on streamflow was evaluated using 16 global climate model outputs for 3 emission scenarios, also referenced in the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report. Risk …

Causes Of Job Turnover In The Public School Superintendency: An Explanatory Analysis In The Western United States, Toby A. Melver

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to determine the factors that affect public school superintendent turnover in five western states. An explanatory theory was developed to cover all of the possible variables and show the relationship between those variables. The questions that guided this research study were:

(1) What environmental factors influence the tenure of superintendents in western states?

(2) What governance factors influence the tenure of superintendents in western states?

(3) What personal factors influence the tenure of superintendents in western states?

(4) What are the incentives and/or disincentives that influence the tenure of superintendents in western states? …

Parallel Machines Scheduling With Applications To Internet Ad-Slot Placement, Shaista Lubna

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

We consider a class of problems of scheduling independent jobs on identical, uniform and unrelated parallel machines with an objective of achieving an optimal schedule. The primary focus is on the minimization of the maximum completion time of the jobs, commonly referred to as Makespan (C _max ). We survey and present examples of uniform machines and its applications to the single slot and multiple slots based on bids and budgets.

The Internet is an important advertising medium attracting large number of advertisers and users. When a user searches for a query, a search engine returns a set of results …

Front Matter

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Alohamora! Unlocking Magic With The Wonders Of Science, Anna Dardick

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

What's Up, Weelic?: Tracking Neural Pathways With A Sugar-Coated Virus, Weelic Chong

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

This Is Your Brain On Acetylcholine, Ksenia Vlasov

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

What Are Friends For?: The Importance Of Friend Groups In Academic Success, Emily Neuhoff

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Mike Got A Bigger Bike: Mike Rauscher On Nuclear Space Travel, Quinton Steele

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Honors Research, Matt Hartsock, Sam Asinof, Sage Aronson, Yuhua Lu

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

A Novel Telecommunications-Based Approach To Mathematical Modeling Of Hiv Infection, Aaron T. Sharp

Department of Computer Electronics and Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

It is well known that biological systems utilize communication in some form, one prolific example of this is the propagation of HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) in the human body. By modeling HIV infection as a communication system, we hope to gain a unique insight into HIV and biological communication systems in general. Such a model would provide researchers a platform for experimenting and simulating various biological communication systems. We have previously developed a layered communication protocol for interpreting biological communication systems using telecommunications paradigms and will apply said model to HIV proliferation. We will also demonstrate the effectiveness of the …

A Comparison Of The Effectiveness Of Scent Lures On Attracting Mesopredators, Tom Batter

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

A mesopredator is a medium-sized middle trophic level predator such as a raccoon (Procyon lotor), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), or coyote (Canis latrans; Crooks and Soule 1999). Mesopredators have long been trapped for recreational, economic, or academic reasons. Throughout human history trapping has been used to capture animals for food and skins, as well as to prevent personal harm and property damage from predators. In order to increase the probability of success, scent lures are often used as an attractant (Geary 1984, Mills et al. 2010, Schlexer 2008).

Mapping Potential Crp Land And Determining Crp Profitability In Lancaster County, Jamie Pesek

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Annually 17 tons of soil is lost due to the erosion of agriculture land. A majority of the soil lost is fertile topsoil, which can render the land unproductive. The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was enacted to reduce the high erosion rates on agriculture land by giving landowners a monetary incentive to let their land lay idle and allow the soil to regenerate. Although there is awareness of the benefits of CRP, little effort has been put toward delineating CRP eligible land. In this project, Geographical Information Systems were used to map CRP eligible land in Lancaster County, Nebraska based …

Assessing Flood Inundation Mapping With The Use Of A Dem And Gis Along The Missouri River At Sioux City, Iowa, Kathryn A. Pfaffle

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

There are various methods that are used to predict flood inundation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided inundation maps for the 2011 Missouri River flood event that did not utilized aerial photo imagery. This study assesses the suitability of using a digital elevation model (DEM) in combination with aerial photo imagery within a geographic information system to predict flood inundation mapping along the Missouri River in Sioux City, Iowa. GPS data was collected during the height of this flood event in order to validate the positional accuracy of the DEM. Using the GPS receiver’s accuracy standards to determine the …

The Urban Fabric Of The Great Plains, Andrew Becker

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

To most Americans the Great Plains region of North America is mysterious place. There are disagreements when defining its limits, and some people just refer to it as the Midwest. The Great Plains has been a place under an ocean, a place under glaciers, and a place on fire. It was once dubbed “the Great American Desert,” but is now known for its agricultural viability. The Great Plains sparks imagination because it is so massive and was one of the final frontiers for Euro-American settlement. The Great Plains is seen as a rural place but the majority of the region’s …

Prey Selection By The Northern Watersnake, Nerodia Sipedon, Kyle O' Connell

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Prey selection and composition of the northern waternake, Nerodia sipedon was investigated between 8/2010 and 3/2011 by palpation of stomach contents in the field and conducting laboratory trials. 41 snakes were captured, five yielded prey contents. Fish parts, freshwater mussels, and an insect exoskeleton were found. No amphibians were found despite availability at study sites. Snakes in the laboratory underwent 22 trials, feeding on 11 occasions. Snakes fed on an equal number of both fish species, revealing no selection. Further research is needed to determine the rate of digestion of N. sipedon.

Gendered Livelihoods And The Politics Of Socio-Environmental Identity: Women’S Participation In Conservation Projects In Calakmul, Mexico, Claudia Radel

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

A livelihoods approach positions individuals, situated within households, as active agents within processes occurring at various scales. Environmental conservation efforts represent one such process with direct implications for local sustainable livelihoods and the gendered nature of livelihood strategies. In this article, I examine collective processes of socio-environmental identity construction as gendered sustainable livelihood strategies, articulated in and through the activities of women's agricultural organizations in communities bordering the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in rural southern Mexico. I present group histories and visual evidence from group activities – adapted from participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methodology – to highlight two important concepts. These …

Stochastic Capacity Investment And Flexible Vs. Dedicated Technology Choice In Imperfect Capital Markets, Onur Boyabatli, L. Bertil Toktay

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper analyzes the impact of endogenous credit terms under capital market imperfections in a capacity investment setting. We model a monopolist firm that decides on its technology choice (flexible versus dedicated) and capacity level under demand uncertainty. Differing from the majority of the stochastic capacity investment literature, we assume that the firm is budget constrained and can relax its budget constraint by borrowing from a creditor. The creditor offers technology-specific loan contracts to the firm, after which the firm makes its technology choice and subsequent decisions. Capital market imperfections impose financing frictions on the firm. Our analysis contributes to …