Digital Commons Network^™

Life Cycle Cost Example:Colaiste Bhride, Dermot Kehily

Reports

No abstract provided.

Life Cycle Costing Template (Excel), Dermot Kehily

Reports

No abstract provided.

The Valuation Of User-Generated Content: A Structural, Stylistic And Semantic Analysis Of Online Reviews, Noi Sian Koh

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The ability and ease for users to create and publish content has provided vast amount of online product reviews. However, the amount of data is overwhelmingly large and unstructured, making information difficult to quantify. This creates challenge in understanding how online reviews affect consumers’ purchase decisions. In my dissertation, I explore the structural, stylistic and semantic content of online reviews. Firstly, I present a measurement that quantifies sentiments with respect to a multi-point scale and conduct a systematic study on the impact of online reviews on product sales. Using the sentiment metrics generated, I estimate the weight that customers place …

Fluid Flow-Related Transport Phenomena In Steel Slab Continuous Casting Strands Under Electromagnetic Brake, Yufeng Wang, Lifeng Zhang

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In the current study, a three-dimensional (3D) numerical model is built to investigate the effect of a local-type electromagnetic brake (EMBr) on the fluid flow, heat transfer, and inclusion motion in slab continuous casting strands. the results indicate that the magnetic force affects the jet characteristics, including jet angle, turbulent kinetic energy, and its dissipation rate. to reduce the top surface velocity and stabilize the top surface, the magnetic flux intensity should be larger than a critical value. with a 0.39 T magnetic flux intensity, the top surface velocity and its fluctuation can be well controlled, and less slag is …

Grain Boundary Behavior In An Ultrafine-Grained Aluminum Alloy, P. S. De, R. S. Mishra

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The low-angle grain boundary (LAGB) stability in an ultrafine-grained (UFG) Al alloy during monotonic loading was investigated by orientation imaging microscopy (OIM). the experiments show that boundaries with misorientation below ∼2.5 deg are stable, while boundaries with misorientation between 2.5 and 15 deg are unstable. Similar results were observed during cyclic loading of UFG Al alloy. This behavior was rationalized using the nonequilibrium thermodynamics concept. on the other hand, it is postulated that the grain boundary behavior in microcrystalline alloy is different because of the larger dislocation mean free path. © 2011 the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM …

Influence Of Grain Size And Texture On Hall-Petch Relationship For A Magnesium Alloy, W. Yuan, S. K. Panigrahi, J. Q. Su, R. S. Mishra

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Friction stir processing was applied to a magnesium alloy to generate various grain sizes with the same intense basal texture. Subsequent tensile deformation along two orthogonal directions by easy activation or inhibition of basal slip follows the Hall-Petch relationship between yield stress and grain size in both directions. the Hall-Petch parameters are texture dependent. Easy activation of basal slip introduces lower values, while inhibition of basal slip leads to higher values. the Hall-Petch parameters are interpreted by texture and microstructural factors. © 2011 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lake Water Quality, Recreation, & Restoration: The Importance Of Stakeholder Involvement, Biran Gedlinske, Wade Kooiman, Katie Olsen

Other Faculty and Staff Publications

Historically, Iowa’s lakes have been plagued with numerous water quality problems including excessive siltation, nutrients, pesticides, and bacterial contamination. Iowa places a heavy reliance on voluntary efforts to address these problems, largely in the form of best management practices (BMPs). Studies have shown that BMPs can improve lake water quality and, in turn, increase recreational activity and visitor spending. In recognition of the potential economic, recreational, and social benefits of improved lake water quality, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) secured significant legislative funding in 2006 to initiate a state-wide lake restoration program (LRP).

LRP case studies are presented …

Vireo@Trecvid 2011: Instance Search, Semantic Indexing, Multimedia Event Detection And Known-Item Search, Chong-Wah Ngo, Shi-Ai Zhu, Wei Zhang, Chun-Chet Tan, Ting Yao, Lei Pang, Hung-Khoon Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The vireo group participated in four tasks: instance search, semantic indexing, multimedia event detection and known-item search. In this paper,we will present our approaches and discuss the evaluation results.

Tag-Based Social Image Search With Visual-Text Joint Hypergraph Learning, Yue Gao, Meng Wang, Huanboo Luan, Jialie Shen, Shuicheng Yan, Dacheng Tao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Tag-based social image search has attracted great interest and how to order the search results based on relevance level is a research problem. Visual content of images and tags have both been investigated. However, existing methods usually employ tags and visual content separately or sequentially to learn the image relevance. This paper proposes a tag-based image search with visual-text joint hypergraph learning. We simultaneously investigate the bag-of-words and bag-of-visual-words representations of images and accomplish the relevance estimation with a hypergraph learning approach. Each textual or visual word generates a hyperedge in the constructed hypergraph. We conduct experiments with a real-world …

Visualizing Social Studies, Sarah Christine Larsen

Honors Program Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to determine the benefits of incorporating visual learning methods into high school social studies curricula through a thorough examination of the history of the study of intelligence and learning, focusing on several studies that made significant contributions. From my personal experience throughout school, I have observed that many of my peers appear to be visual learners. While I myself am an auditory learner, I believe that, due to the large amount of visual stimulation students are exposed to in American society, most students respond best to visual styles of teaching. This thesis will investigate …

The Information Battlefield: Al-Qaeda's Use Of Advanced Media Technologies For Framed Messaging, Jessica Marie Martin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Through a descriptive and qualitative content analysis of Al-Qaeda videos from 2001 to 2010, this thesis describes how the organization's video production has undergone a surge in production quality by using modern technology and skilled recruits. This thesis also provides background on the Islamic culture and the history of Al-Qaeda in order to put into perspective the goals of the organization's framed messages that are incorporated into their videos. The study also draws on parallels of propaganda use throughout history to highlight how regimes from all over the world understand the importance of communication during a time of war.

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 …

Effects Of High-Impedance-Contrast Boundary Upon Multi-Modal Seismic Surface Wave Data, Prajwol Tamrakar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Synthetic studies and analyses of an experimental dataset were conducted to address the use of Rayleigh-type surface waves for estimation of shear wave velocity (VS) profiles of shallow bedrock sites. The shallow bedrock presents a high impedance contrast boundary which causes surface wave energy to be partitioned to higher modes. Idealized studies of hypothetical datasets and root-mean-squared calculations of error surfaces showed that if reliable dispersion data are available over a broad frequency spectrum, the VS profile can be recovered using the fundamental mode alone. However, when dispersion data are limited to a relatively narrow frequency band representing what might …

Fenestration Studies On Building Energy Using The Facade Evaluation Facility, Wendell Cocina

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The project was developed to assess several types of facades and their influence on building energy, mainly focused on windows and other building fenestrations. Requirements for the facility are stated in this paper alongside corresponding solutions. The facility is designed to represent a section of a building façade. Experimenting on a wide range of fenestrations including windows with integrated PV elements was the primary prerequisite. The option of removable façade configurations was used and allowed testing specimens to be changed effortlessly. Instrumentation and data acquisition are discussed including calibration and uncertainty analysis. Investigation of the air conditioning unit was concluded …

The Effect Of Pre-Collaborative Activity Instruction On Self-Efficacy, Robert Ray Mattson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Collaborative learning is increasing in popularity in education. This collaborative pedagogy is based on a significant body of research that shows positive learning gains. Additionally, given the nature of much of the information-age work, it is thought that such collaborative activity in school helps develop knowledge, skills and attitudes that will be beneficial to students in their post-college lives.

In spite of collaborative learning's increasing use and popularity, there is only limited research on how students feel about such methods and their level of confidence in their collaborative knowledge, skills and attitudes. Based on the current theories about self-efficacy, delineated …

Job Satisfaction And The Internship In State Level Law Enforcement, Catherine J. Sapp

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

It was the hypothesis of the researcher that exposing criminal justice students to the career field through the completion of a criminal justice internship will increase job satisfaction for the individual in state level investigative law enforcement and the field as a whole. Increased job satisfaction, in turn, produces higher retention rates which may lead to making the state level investigative law enforcement field a more stable environment. Therefore, the purpose of this correlational study was to discover if there was a difference in the score on Spector's Job Satisfaction Survey between state level investigative law enforcement personnel who completed …

The Examination Of Real-Life Implementations Of Critical Elements In A Professional Learning Community For High-Performing Middle Schools And Low-Performing Middle Schools, Damita Griffin Bynes

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

In a September 2 Education Week Commentary, Kahlenberg (2009) identified 5,000 schools across the nation categorized as failing or low-performing schools. A significant amount of attention and resources are dedicated to transform low-performing schools to high-performing schools promoting student achievement. Because of the increasing demand that low-performing schools be turned around, Georgia schools that do not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) two consecutive years for the same indicator are placed in Needs Improvement (NI) status and face escalating consequences from the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE). In the midst of all of the demands to meet local and state requirements, …

African American Male Students' Perceptions Of Factors That Contribute To Their Academic Success, Gertrude Rolland

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study sought to understand African American high school males' perceptions of factors contributing to academic success. The researcher gathered information by interviewing students and collecting their demographic profile data. This qualitative research method enabled the researcher to learn directly from students what factors African American male students associated with academic success as well as challenges to academic success and solutions for achieving academic success. Participants were three junior and three senior African American high school male students attending a rural high school in Georgia. Data collection occurred during the spring semester of 2011. Each participant was asked 16 questions …

The Impact Of A Modified Cooperative Learning Technique On The Grade Frequencies Observed In A Preparatory Chemistry Course, Bridget J. Hayes Russell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation explored the impact of a modified cooperative learning technique on the final grade frequencies observed in a large preparatory chemistry course designed for pre-science majors. Although the use of cooperative learning at all educational levels is well researched and validated in the literature, traditional lectures still dominate as the primary methodology of teaching. This study modified cooperative learning techniques by addressing commonly cited reasons for not using the methodology. Preparatory chemistry students were asked to meet in cooperative groups outside of class time to complete homework assignments. A chi-square goodness-of-fit revealed that the final grade frequency distributions observed …

Alternative Modeling Of Multiply Hydraulic Fractures In Horizontal Wells Completed In Low Permeability Formation, Mahmod S. Alkalawi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Many conventional gas reservoirs around the world have been developed and well-understood on contrary to unconventional gas reservoirs where the amount of information available to the public considered still not abundant. The unconventional reservoirs (tight formation) where permeability ranges from 0.001millidarciesto micro-Darcy permeability is a relatively new area in some parts of the world and the details involving ways to increase productivity of wells and best fracture design yet has to be investigated .The unconventional gas reservoirs are important in the world due to its availability, future energy demand around the world, and most conventional gas reservoirs have already been …

Utilization Of Igs Information For Improved Real-Time Gps Positioning, Francis James Barchesky

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The estimation of a precise user's position is a difficult and complex problem. In addition, the use of geodetic grade position instruments is often not possible for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (SUAV) systems. However, the availability of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and International GNSS Service (IGS) predicted product data allows an attempt to increase the precision of a navigation algorithm, which is the aim in this thesis.;The utilization of this information within an algorithm work environment is a complex problem, requiring the development of multiple tools in order to use and access the IGS raw and product data. …

Nonlinear Aerodynamic Corrections To Blade Element Momentum Model With Validation Experiments, Robert S. Merrill

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Blade element momentum theory is well suited for propeller analysis during the early stages of design. The analytic blade element momentum model is presented along with a proposed nonlinear improvement. The analytical model makes small angle assumptions which are known to be inaccurate under some conditions. The nonlinear model avoids these assumptions. The results of the analytical and nonlinear models are compared against each other. The differences between these are most prevalent on lower pitch propellers at high advance ratios. A wind tunnel validation test is outlined. Results of the validation test and other published data from the University of …

Closed-Loop Attitude Control Using Fluid Dynamic Vectoring On An Aerospike Nozzle, Nathan Erni

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Attitude control of a prototype satellite bus using fluid mechanical vectoring on an aerospike nozzle is demonstrated. The design achieves thrust vectoring by injecting propellant asymmetrically into the unconstrained aerospike exhaust plume near the nozzle base. The prototype system uses cold-gas thrusters to both spin-up and de-tumble the test article. The system is configured with axially directed annular flows that produce large longitudinal thrusts and smaller secondary lateral-injection flows for side thrusts. Both open and closed-loop attitude control, with and without main aerospike annular flow active, are demonstrated. Proportional, integral, derivative (PID) regulation is used for closed-loop attitude control. When …

Enhancing Inettest By Improving The Programming Question And Group Grading, Sushil Dosi

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This report describes an improvement to the Utah State University iNetTest testing system. The iNetTest system allows instructors and/or students to: • Create/take tests with rich sets of question types (multiple choice, essay, true/false, computational programming question, etc.); • Monitor the test takers for cheating; • Auto-grade for many types of questions, as well as group grade for all question types; and • Send scores to students via either email or SMS. Specifically, this report discusses the design and development of an improved computational programming question for the iNetTest system. For programming questions, iNetTest allows for the use of various …

A Model For Rapid Charging Events On International Space Station, Debrup Hui

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Surface charging by plasma can be a serious issue for any spacecraft. Though significant charging is not observed in all spacecrafts at all times, it only requires a single episode of extreme charging to result in serious damage. The International Space Station (ISS) is an interesting platform to study these charging effects because of its size and relatively high voltage systems. Of the many kinds of charging observed on ISS, the rapid charging events during solar eclipse exit in a low-density ionosphere is not yet understood. This report is an investigation to understand this phenomenon. This report proposes a simple …

Optimization Of Crime Control Resources In A Society, Steven S. Thompson

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This paper looks at the economics of crime control through the Phillips-Votey Societal Cost Function model and mathematically proves that there is a socially optimal point at which society should be devoting resources towards the prevention of crime. This allows the society to minimize the social cost of crime given a theoretical cost constraint. This paper take the model further by conducting comparative analysis to determine the effect that changes in the functional form of crime generation, and crime prevention will have on society as represented in the model. This paper also looks at the counter intuitive effect that growth …

Profile Verification System, Jayanth Narlekar Gade

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

The proposed idea provides a solution in integrating Employer and Immigration department for the purpose of locating Employee and verifying background before recruitment. The application proposes to isolate problems of fake certificates and employment details furnished by candidates. In the present scenario the concerned employer authorizes legal consultants to provide information about the candidate and verify his credibility on the certificates submitted. The consultants then make a physical call, additionally may send their officers to the specified previous employer and verify the authenticity of the candidate. The status of the investigation is then reported to the organization for them to …

Model Development And Incorporation Of Gis Tools For Floodplain Management, Andrew P. Darnell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Floodplain management consists of efforts to reduce flood damage to critical infrastructure and to protect the life and health of individuals from flooding. A major component of this effort is the monitoring of flood control structures such as dams because the potential failure of these structures may have catastrophic consequences. In order to prepare for these threats, engineers utilize inundation maps that model the flood resulting from high river stages. To create the maps, the structure and river systems are modeled using engineering software programs, and hydrologic events are used to simulate the conditions leading to the failure of the …

Critical Review Of Inundation Mapping Procedures For Floodplain Management, Richard M. Wise

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Inundation mapping is a major component of floodplain management, providing critical information as to the consequences of potential failures of flood control structures, such as dams. To develop inundation maps, a dam and river system are modeled with engineering computer programs, and a simulation of the dam failure is performed to generate data for the flood. This output data is input into other programs to develop inundation maps. Inundation maps have traditionally been produced in a paper format, but recent advances in computer modeling have provided the capability for virtual inundation maps. Thus, these mapping methods need to be investigated …

The Nature Of Context-Sensitive Solutions, Stakeholder Involvement And Critical Issues In The Urban Context, Marta Panero, Jan Botha

Mineta Transportation Institute

Over the last several decades many transportation and planning agencies have experienced conflicting demands emerging from the need to develop projects in an expeditious manner while at the same time involving stakeholders in the decision-making process, which sometimes is perceived as slowing project delivery and/or increasing costs. Given this tension between apparently conflicting demands, it is important to understand how the stakeholder involvement is being carried out and what best practices may be recommended. This study examines the issue in the context of a relatively new policy framework – Context Sensitive Solutions (CSS) – which supports the early integration of …