Digital Commons Network^™

A Case Study Of Zero Energy Home Built For Solar Decathlon Competition 2013, Sanjib Mulepati

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Energy consumption in residential homes has been a subject of research related to sustainability. Reduction in the consumption of energy is a goal of sustainable construction. The Department of Energy (DOE) started a Solar Decathlon competition in 2002 in which the students from different universities around the globe build an energy efficient and affordable home suitable for their climate and location. The main goal of this competition is to select the best home that is designed and built in a sustainable way. In this study, the home designed and constructed for participation in the competition by the students at University …

Estimation Of Travel Time Based On Vehicle-Tracking Models, Anuj Nayyar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this thesis we study the travel time problem based on the known traffic density model. Using the conservation law, we model the travel time function by a boundary value problem of a non homogeneous linear hyperbolic equation. The equation is transformed into an initial value hyperbolic equation, and the well-posedness of the problem is discussed. The mathematical analysis for both density and travel problems are given. We also derive the analytic solutions for several special cases of traffic density. Numerical schemes are proposed for solving for travel time problem. Several numerical examples are presented and error analysis on the …

The Water Wall: A Passive Solar Collection And Thermal Storage Device For Supplementary Radiant Heating, Rhett Roman Noseck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Through the implementation of passive solar building systems, suburbia could take a fresh new step forward toward a progressively more sustainable direction. Making passive solar strategies a priority, master planned community developments would see opportunity to change the style and design of future suburban residences.

The focus and intention of this body of work is to research, design, fabricate, and test a prototype of a passive solar heating device using water as the medium for thermal storage. The size and shape of the design for the water wall device will be determined by the currently built suburban environment; however, for …

Factors Associated With Parental Decision Making And Childhood Vaccination, Zuwen Qiu-Shultz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In order to better understand factors affecting immunization status, logistic regression was used to assess the association of various socio-demographic factors and whether parents would have their child immunized if not a state mandate. Factors included in the study were race, household income, number of children in the household, number of adults in the household, if the child had a primary provider, if the child had a health check-up in the last twelve months, and medical insurance status of the child. The combined Nevada Kindergarten Health Survey Result of 2009-2010 (Year Two) and 2010-2011 (Year Three) conducted by the Nevada …

Maps On The Backs Of Our Eyes, Joan Paulette Robinson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A collection of poems related to places in the Mojave Desert and the Las Vegas area or in rural central Michigan. Most poems deal with history and memory and the overlapping nature of experience.

Perceptions And Definition Of Infidelity: A Multimethod Study, Sarah Schonian

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Most couples in committed relationships have implicit or explicit rules regarding infidelity. However, not all partners view infidelity in the same way, and the discrepancy in opinions can lead to problems in the relationship and can complicate the healing process. The purpose of this study was to better understand how people define infidelity and the variables that influence perceptions about infidelity. A mutlimethod design was used to collect quantitative and qualitative data on participants' perceptions and definitions of infidelity. Quantitative data was collected through participants' answers to questions on a scale about perceptions of potentially unfaithful behaviors that was developed …

Field Testing The Upright Versus The Aero Cycling Position, Curtis Scrugham

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Body position can be of great importance to athletes who want to maximize their performance on the bike. Aerodynamic resistance can account for 70-90% of resistance encountered by cyclists, and a strategy used to reduce this resistance is riding in the aero position Research has been done in the lab to determine if there are trade-offs to using this position (Jobson et al. 2008, Welbergen and Clijsen 1990, Hubenig, Game and Kennedy 2011, Peveler 2004, Origenes et al. 1993, Ryschon and Stray-Gunderson 1991, Gnehm et al. 1997, Ashe et al. 2003). . Researchers have reported that riders untrained in the …

Performance Comparison Of Design-Build And Construction Manager/General Contractor Highway Projects, Binita Shakya

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Researchers have conducted numerous studies comparing project performance of design-bid-build (DBB) and design-build (DB) highway projects. However, little research has been done to compare the performance of DB and construction manager/general contractor (CM/GC) highway projects. Therefore, an exploratory study was conducted to compare the performance of 55 DB and 34 CM/GC highway projects from various States Departments of Transportation (DOTs) in terms of cost, change orders, and construction intensity. The results showed that contract award cost growth was significantly lower in DB projects than in CM/GC projects. In contrast to this, the total cost growth of DB projects was higher …

A Comparative Study Of Performance, Impediments, Advantages, And Disadvantages Of Construction And Professional Disadvantaged Business Enterprises, Ravi Sharma

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Construction and professional disadvantaged, minority, and women business enterprises (DBE/MBE/WBEs) face several impediments that hinder their business growth. A questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the important factors that affect their business performance, impediments faced by these business enterprises, advantages, and disadvantages of being DBE (DBE will be an umbrella designation for DBE, MBE, and WBE). This study compares the difference in responses from these two groups. A total of 333 business enterprises responded to the questionnaire. The survey results showed that construction firms gave significantly higher importance to "financial" issues and "safe work practices" as their most important factors …

Sex Determination Using Discriminant Function Analysis In Hispanic Children And Adolescents: A Lateral Cephalometric Study, Alyssa E. Sprowl

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lateral cephalometric radiographs have been used for years to help diagnose skeletal and dental patterns in Orthodontics. Within the last decade, these radiographs have caught the interest of the department of Anthropology for the identification of gender within the adult and adolescent population. Numerous publications have been made but failed to identify sexual dimorphism in the pre-adolescent population. 303 lateral cephalograms of pre and post Latino adolescence age ranging from 6.5 to 17.9 years old were obtained from University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) digital database. 25 variables were identified and plotted with all linear and angular measurements transferred into …

A Survey On Detection And Defense Of Application Layer Ddos Attacks, Naga Shalini Vadlamani

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As the time is passing on, the effect of DDoS attacks on Internet security is growing tremendously. Within a very little span there is a huge increase in the size and frequency of DDoS attacks. With the new technologies and new techniques, the attackers are finding more sophisticated ways to attack the servers. In this situation, it is necessary to come up with various mechanisms to detect and defend these DDoS attacks and protect the servers from the attackers. Many researches have been carried out to detect the DDoS attack traffic in transport layer, which is more vulnerable to DDoS …

The Role Of Music-Specific Representations When Processing Speech: Using A Musical Illusion To Elucidate Domain-Specific And -General Processes, Christina M. Vanden Bosch Der Nederlanden

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

When listening to music and language sounds, it is unclear whether adults recruit domain-specific or domain-general mechanisms to make sense of incoming sounds. Unique acoustic characteristics such as a greater reliance on rapid temporal transitions in speech relative to song may introduce misleading interpretations concerning shared and overlapping processes in the brain. By using a stimulus that is both ecologically valid and can be perceived as speech or song depending on context, the contribution of low- and high-level mechanisms may be teased apart. The stimuli employed in all experiments are auditory illusions from speech to song reported by Deutsch et …

The Perceived Level Of Enjoyment In Sports Violence: An Experiment Examining How Sports Commentary, Fanship, And Gender Affect Viewer Emotions, Sarah Vineyard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This investigation examines if the independent variables of sports commentary, fanship, and gender affect the viewer's level of perceived enjoyment while watching sports violence through televised professional football and hockey clips. Previous studies have found that these three variables contribute most to a viewer's level of perceived enjoyment. This study aimed to test to see if that was still true, while taking into account new rules regarding violence by the National Football League and the National Hockey League. This thesis addresses all variables in one study, which something past research has failed to do.

Perhaps the most significant finding from …

Time-Dependent Random Effect Poisson Random Field Model For Polymorphism Within And Between Two Related Species, Shilei Zhou

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Molecular evolution is partially driven by mutation, selection, random genetic drift, or combination of the three factors. To quantify the magnitude of these genetic forces, a previously developed time-dependent fixed effect Poisson random field model provides powerful likelihood and Bayesian estimates of mutation rate, selection coefficient, and species divergence time. The assumption of the fixed effect model that selection intensity is constant within a genetic locus but varies across genes is obviously biologically unrealistic, but it serves the original purpose of making statistical inference about selection and divergence between two related species they are individually at mutation-selection-drift inequilibrium. By relaxing …

Ichnology And Paleoecology Of The Jurassic Aztec Sandstone, Heather Marie Stoller

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this study I describe and interpret tracks and trackways of the Jurassic Aztec Sandstone of southern Nevada and southern California. This study involved mapping of all known tracks and trackways, including foot length, stride length, and trackway width. Photogrammetric data, collected by Bureau of Land Management scientists, were utilized for several trackways in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

More than three hundred tracks belonging to five ichnotaxa were documented within the Aztec Sandstone, including about 165 tridactylGrallator, 250 tetradactyl (four-toed)Brasilichniumtracks, and 7 arthropod trackways ofOctopodichnusandPaleohelcura. Four of the five ichnotaxa were not previously reported from the Aztec Sandstone. …

Vitamin And Mineral Intake Relative To The Dris In Young Adults, Samantha M. Coogan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

INTRODUCTION: In general, most college-aged students live highly, and newly, independent lives. Although campuses offer wide varieties of food choices, most choices do not meet the standards set by the RDA or DRIs, per NHANES 1999-2000.

METHODS: In order to document these eating patterns, 1001 male (n=379) and female (n=622) college-aged students quantified dietary intake for three consecutive days using the food log method. Assessment reports were generated and analyzed in order to determine the percentage of the DRI in both males and females, and groups with a BMI of less than 20 and greater than 30. Tests for correlation …

This Is The Place: Utah's Gaming History And Current Attitude, Jackson Tad Butterfield

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Global gambling is what it is. It is global. Gambling has become an economic force to be reckoned with. It has spread to all corners of the globe, from Europe to North America to Asia. There are regions that have widely supported the introduction of gambling into their economy and society but there are also those that have shunned it, despite the clear economic advantages associated with gambling. The AGA estimated that total gambling revenue in the United States for 2012 was approximately $37.74 billion, with commercial casinos contributing approximately $8.6 billion to local communities via taxes (AGA, 2013c). This …

The Hotel Manager’S Perceived Conflict Of Providing For Hospitality And Security: Can The Two Exist In Harmony?, Silvano Cozzini

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The hospitality industry relies upon regular and repeat customers for its survival. No traveler or visitor will return to a hotel property where a bad incident occurred. Would a diner go back to any restaurant where they were sickened by their meal? Would a hotel guest return to any property where they were a victim of a crime? Bad experiences make us tell ourselves, “I will never go back there again!”

This same psychology holds true for criminals. At places where they have been deterred by a high security presence, it is unlikely that they would return there, either. A …

Business Plan For A Korean Fine-Dining Restaurant In Las Vegas, Jihoon Kim

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Korean food industry is enjoying international attention and growth as the Korean government’s globalization efforts spur the development of Korean restaurants in international markets such as the United States (Korean Food Foundation, 2013). Korean cuisine is being branded as healthy food that harmonizes nutrition and flavor (Jang & Ha, 2009). Now is the time to start new Korean restaurants in the U.S.’s ethnic cuisine market. This paper provides a business plan focusing on a fine-dining Korean restaurant operation in the Las Vegas market, which is currently devoid of such an operation.

Pre-Employment Drug Screening: Cost And Benefits, Rena Sultany

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper will answer the question of whether pre-employment drug testing of applicants is helpful or harmful to an organization as a whole. The following question will be explored in this paper: What are the benefits and costs associated with pre-employment drug-screening?

The target of this study will be the hospitality industry in Las Vegas. A recommendation to the industry will be made once a thorough literature review of past research on the topic is conducted. Drug testing is a common practice in hospitality companies in Las Vegas. It is costly to these companies to conduct such tests. It is …

What Do They Do In Las Vegas Strip Casinos? An Analysis Of The Attitudes And Behaviors Of Gen Y Casino Customers, Mei Iok Un

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Totaling over 63 million, Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation, is the new generation of casino customers (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2011). While there are no specific dates to mark its beginning and ending, individuals born between 1982 and 1994 are generally considered as Millennials or Gen Yers. A survey conducted by the American Gaming Association (2013) revealed that Gen Y casino customers made up the highest casino visitation rate with 39% having visited a casino in the previous year; however, it is also shown that Gen Yers spends more on non-gaming departments and have less intention to …

Number 17, 2013, Palara Editors

PALARA: Publication of the Afro-Latin/American Research Association

Complete Issue

Beyond Reuse Distance Analysis: Dynamic Analysis For Characterization Of Data Locality Potential, Naznin Fauzia, Venmugil Elango, Mahesh Ravishankar, J. Ramanujam, Fabrice Rastello, Atanas Rountev, Louis Noël Pouchet, P. Sadayappan

Faculty Publications

Emerging computer architectures will feature drastically decreased flops/byte (ratio of peak processing rate to memory bandwidth) as highlighted by recent studies on Exascale architectural trends. Further, flops are getting cheaper, while the energy cost of data movement is increasingly dominant. The understanding and characterization of data locality properties of computations is critical in order to guide efforts to enhance data locality. Reuse distance analysis of memory address traces is a valuable tool to perform data locality characterization of programs. A single reuse distance analysis can be used to estimate the number of cache misses in a fully associative LRU cache …

Interprofessional Faculty Development: Integration Of Oral Health Into The Geriatric Diabetes Curriculum, From Theory To Practice., G. Dounis, M. Ditmyer, S. Vanbeuge, S. Scherman, M. Mcclain, K. Dounis, C. Mobley

Dental Medicine Faculty Research

No abstract provided.

Vol. 5 No. 1, Fall 2013; "Correcting" The Foreclosure Crisis?, Matthew Broucek

Northern Illinois Law Review Supplement

Mortgage Resolution Partners, a venture capitalist firm based out of San Francisco, has been visiting with state and local governments across the country. Mortgage Resolution Partners proposes that eminent domain can, and should, be used to seize mortgages and refinance them in an attempt to correct the United States' foreclosure crisis. This article identifies and analyzes the policy issues and constitutional concerns that are inherent in the plan. The most critical constitutional concerns with the plan implicate the Takings Clause, the Contracts Clause, and the Dormant Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution.

“Mad-Speak” And Manic Prose: Nick Cave’S Presentation Of Insanity In And The Ass Saw The Angel, Laura Hardt (Class Of 2014)

English Undergraduate Publications

Nick Cave’s novel And the Ass Saw the Angel attempts to exist firmly within the Southern Gothic tradition, pulling direct inspiration from authors such as William Faulkner, Cormac McCarthy, and Flannery O’Connor. However, Cave’s novel seems to lack the careful construction and purposefulness of these writers, with its graphic violence, constantly shifting tone, style, narrative voice, and employing an utterly bizarre and arcane vocabulary. This essay aims to illustrate that although this may make the work seem poorly composed and somewhat slipshod, the manic prose of Cave’s novel is actually rather purposeful, presenting the protagonist’s descent into madness in an …

Hospitality As Companionship And Justice, Laura Stivers

Collected Faculty Scholarship

My work has not been in direct ministry to people who are homeless but instead I have been involved in writing, teaching, and organizing to do the work of justice. . .to end homelessness as this homeless poet asks us to do. Organizing for justice through structural change (e.g. affordable housing, good work for all, universal healthcare, no wars, etc.) is of paramount importance. It is our fight. The problem of homelessness is less about the individuals who find themselves without a place to sleep and more about our collective identity as a people and a society. Organizing for justice, …

Comparing Full Day Kindergarten To Half Day Kindergarten, Alisha Catherine Bazzano

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

This study examines half- and full-day kindergarten programs and their effectiveness in regard to a child’s academic progress. Some literature finds a positive relationship between the success of a child and the minutes spent in the classroom. However, other literature debates as to how long the progress is sustained. The purpose of this study is to compare the scores of kindergarten students in both half-day and full-day programs and analyze the data to determine if one program is more successful than the other. Three assessments in language arts were given to each student, assessing uppercase, lowercase, and letter sounds. The …

Workshop-Style Instruction: Comparing Achievement And Attitudes Of English Only And English Language Learning Students, Jennifer Marie Radtke-Rodgers

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

This study analyzed the effectiveness of the Reader’s Workshop style of instruction, its effect on students’ reading comprehension, students’ attitudes about reading, and whether the effect differentiated between students who speak English as a native or second language.

Understanding Synesthesia And Impact For Learning, Kateri Lynn Wheeler

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Synesthesia is a neurological disorder that has to do with the ‘union of the senses.’ The literature reveals that students with synesthesia are affected with various degrees of severity. Students may hear a bell ring. Their brain is wired to take that sound and interpret it differently, through color, texture, taste, sound or temperature among other things. While some people hear a bell, others may also experience the activation of another sense. The difficulties these students exhibit involves longer processing or thinking time to sort out the extra stimulus. Limiting sound environments and other visual cues like color coding to …