Digital Commons Network^™

Study Of Machine Learning Methods In Intelligent Transportation Systems, Vishal Jha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Machine learning and data mining are currently hot topics of research and are applied in database, artificial intelligence, statistics, and so on to discover valuable knowledge and the patterns in big data available to users. Data mining is predominantly about processing unstructured data and extracting meaningful information from them for end users to help take business decisions. Machine learning techniques use mathematical algorithms to find a pattern or extract meaning out from big data. The popularity of such techniques in analyzing business problems has been enhanced by the arrival of big data.

The main objective of this thesis is to …

An Examination Of U.S. Restaurant Firms' Internationalization In A Risk Context, Soyeon Jung

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this dissertation is to advance the theoretical and practical understanding

of the relationship between publicly traded U.S. restaurant firms’ internationalization as a

corporate strategy and risks using a comprehensive set of risk measures: 1) market-based risk (i.e., systematic and unsystematic risk) and 2) accounting-based risk (i.e., standard deviation of return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and earnings per share (EPS) during the period of 2000-2013. This dissertation further investigates linear, nonlinear, and lagged effects of internationalization on restaurant firms’ risks. In summary, the findings of this dissertation reveal that internationalization tends to mitigate systematic risk, …

Predictive Modeling Of Terrestrial Radiation Exposure From Geologic Materials, Daniel A. Haber

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Aerial gamma ray surveys are an important tool for national security, scientific, and industrial interests in determining locations of both anthropogenic and natural sources of radioactivity. There is a relationship between radioactivity and geology and in the past this relationship has been used to predict geology from an aerial survey. The purpose of this project

is to develop a method to predict the radiologic exposure rate of the geologic materials in an area by creating a model using geologic data, images from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), geochemical data, and pre-existing low spatial resolution aerial surveys …

Evidence-~Based Practices: An Exploratory Study Concerning School District Professional Development Considerations, Pamela Marie Juniel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The identification and implementation of evidence-based practices by special education and general education teachers continues to be an issue in the field of education (Cook & Cook, 2011; Cook, Tankersley, Cook, & Landrum, 2008). Since the mandates of providing students with disabilities access to the general education curricula (IDEA, 2004) with services based on empirical research (NCLB, 2001) are required, teachers are implored to improve their teaching skills (Cook et al., 2008). Recently, the field of education has made efforts to support teachers in the identification and use of evidence-based practices by establishing a system and process for identifying evidence-based …

Examining The Inner Experience Of Individuals With Bipolar Disorder, Johanah Yoosun Kang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a serious, chronic mood disorder. The diagnostic criteria for BD provide a description of expected experiences of individuals with BD (e.g., sadness, expansive mood, inflated self-esteem, anhedonia). Despite these criteria, the details of inner experience of individuals with BD are generally unknown. Understanding the inner experience of individuals with BD may provide greater understanding of the lived experience of BD and may provide insights into treating BD. The present study examined the inner experience of six individuals with BD using Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES), a method aimed at apprehending high- fidelity accounts of momentary inner experience. …

Solving Differential Equations With Least Square And Collocation Methods, Katayoun Bodouhi Kazemi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this work, we first discuss solving differential equations by Least Square Methods (LSM). Polynomials are used as basis functions for first-order ODEs and then B-spline basis are introduced and applied for higher-order Boundary Value Problems (BVP) and PDEs. Finally, Kansa's collocation methods by using radial basis functions are presented to solve PDEs numerically. Various numerical examples are given to show the efficiency of the methods.

Experiencing Parental Loss During Adolescence And Factors Influencing Hospital Involvement And The Grieving Process, Vaida Kazlauskaite

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Experiencing the death of a loved one can be traumatic and painful to anyone. Adolescents in particular experience death in a unique way, during a time in their lives when they are developing their own autonomy and independence. Experiencing the deteriorating conditions of a terminally ill parent may affect an adolescent in many ways. However, there is relatively little research on adolescent involvement in the medical setting during a parent’s terminal illness and how this may affect the adolescent’s bereavement. This qualitative study utilized heuristic inquiry and procedures of Grounded Theory to investigate factors influencing the involvement in the hospital …

Vitamin D Status And Bone Mineral Density In Female Collegiate Dancers And Cheerleaders, Tara Sue Kenny

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction: An athlete’s bone mineral density reflects their cumulative history of energy availability, physical activity, genetic predisposition for bone health, and menstrual status, as well as nutritional, behavioral, and environmental factors.

Purpose: To determine if bone mineral density (BMD) and nutritional factors in bone health are different in two groups of female athletes who have comparable body size/weight requirements, but who engage in qualitatively different training regimens.

Methods: Participants were female collegiate athletes who were members of the UNLV Dance team (n=10) or Cheer team (n=9), ages 18-22. Participants vitamin D status was assessed by obtaining a finger prick sample …

The Arab Uprisings: An Assessment Of The Roots And Implications Of Contemporary Mobilization In The Arab World, Autoosa Elizabeth Kojoori-Saatchi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Much of the existing theories of mobilization appear to focus on either micro or macro level elements that lead to mobilization, very few seem to focus on fusing the two; specifically psychological dynamics with macro structural components. This dissertation seeks to synthesize the two together to explain how psychology, specifically the perception of deprivation exacerbated by heightened social interaction through technology has introduced a new element to politics in the Middle East and North, which has furthered awareness of the exploitative nature of neoliberalism and the impact that the system has on the greater Arab populace. This dissertation explains how …

Differences In Disease Reporting: An Analysis Of State Reportable Conditions And Their Relationship To The Nationally Notifiable Conditions List, Brian Labus

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The basis of public health surveillance is the reporting of diseases and conditions to the health department by clinicians and laboratories. In the United States, over eighty diseases and conditions of national importance (e.g., tuberculosis, syphilis, and cancer) are included on the list of Nationally Notifiable Conditions (NNC) for submission to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) by the states. The legal basis for disease reporting is found at the state level, where inconsistent laws may differ in terms of which conditions are reportable and their reporting process. The process by which states require the reporting of NNCs …

Evaluating A Novel Approach For Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patient Education: Modified Team -~ Based Learning, Corine Belle Lazaro

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

One of the world’s most serious health issues today is the increasing prevalence of diabetes (Chobev, Sotirovska, Mihajilov, 2011). Indeed, the growth of this widespread and pernicious disease has been categorized as epidemic. The antidote for the diabetes epidemic lies in prevention and the use of a chronic care model that focuses on improving diabetes self-management. For both diabetes prevention and self-management, a core component pertains to knowledge—and specifically to improved public health literacy, public health education, and patient education. For example, ongoing patient education is a critical factor in helping patients to manage their diabetes and prevent the micro- …

A Hybrid Approach For Increasing Baffling Factors In Contact Tanks, Justin J. Kattnig, Subhas K. Venayagamoorthy

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A novel approach using a hybrid combination of internal baffles and industrial packing material is investigated in order to optimize the hydraulic residence time of a 1,500-gal rectangular concrete tank. Hydraulic residence time, which is commonly classified using the baffling factor (BF), was determined from residence time distribution curves obtained using both computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and physical tracer studies. CFD simulations were used to model two scenarios. The first scenario was a base system consisting of an unbaffled concrete tank, and the second scenario was a two-baffle system. Computational simulation results were experimentally validated via tracer studies on …

State-Created Immigration Climates And Domestic Migration, Huyen Pham, Pham Hoang Van

Faculty Scholarship

With comprehensive immigration reform dead for the foreseeable future, immigration laws enacted at the subfederal level -- cities, counties, and states -- have become even more important. Arizona has dominated media coverage and become the popular representation of the states' response to immigration by enacting SB 1070 and other notoriously anti-immigrant laws. Illinois, by contrast, has received relatively little media coverage for enacting laws that benefit the immigrants within its jurisdiction. The reality on the ground is that subfederal jurisdictions in the United States have taken very divergent paths on the issue of immigration regulation.

Compiling city, county, and state …

Time To Say Local Cheese And Smile At Geographical Indications Of Origin? International Trade And Local Development In The United States, Irene Calboli

Faculty Scholarship

In this Article, I offer some considerations on a possible compromising solution for the controversy between the European Union (EU) and the United States (U.S.) on the regulation of geographical indications of origin (GIs) as part of the negotiations in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Notably, I advocate that the EU and the U.S. consider adopting a solution similar to that adopted in the Canada and European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). In particular, I note that, even though CETA accepted several of the EU's requests to claw-back names that were not previously protected in Canada, …

Fast Random Walk Based Capacitance Extraction For The 3-D Ic Structures With Cylindrical Inter-Tier-Vias, Chao Zhang, Wenjian Yu, Qing Wang, Yiyu Shi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

3-D integrated circuits (3-D ICs) make use of the vertical dimension for smaller footprint, higher speed, lower power consumption, and better timing performance. In 3-D ICs, the inter-Tier-via (ITV) is a critical enabling technique because it forms vertical signal and power paths. Accordingly, it is imperative to accurately and efficiently extract the electrostatic capacitances of ITVs using field solvers. Unfortunately, the cylindrical via shape presents major challenges to most of the existing methods. To address this issue, we develop a novel floating random walk (FRW) method by rotating the transition cube to suit the cylindrical surface, devising a special space …

An Overview On Optimized Nlms Algorithms For Acoustic Echo Cancellation, Constantin Paleologu, Silviu Ciochină, Jacob Benesty, Steven L. Grant

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Acoustic echo cancellation represents one of the most challenging system identification problems. The most used adaptive filter in this application is the popular normalized least mean square (NLMS) algorithm, which has to address the classical compromise between fast convergence/tracking and low mis adjustment. In order to meet these conflicting requirements, the step-size of this algorithm needs to be controlled. Inspired by the pioneering work of Prof. E. Hänsler and his collaborators on this fundamental topic, we present in this paper several solutions to control the adaptation of the NLMS adaptive filter. The developed algorithms are "non-parametric" in nature, i.e., they …

Trash Talk, Brendan Mahoney

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

An Interview With John Gallaher, Robert Held

Gandy Dancer Archives

No abstract provided.

Plant Community Responses To Invasive Shrub And Vine Removal In An Urban Park Woodland., Eric Richard Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Counter to what some people think, urban areas can be biodiversity hotspots. Maintaining this biodiversity can be challenging, since exotic shrubs and vines block sunlight and threaten native plant regeneration. Since 2007, the Louisville Olmsted Parks Conservancy (LOPC) has spent $2 million on invasive plant management in Cherokee Park. Before the project began, long-term transects were established by the LOPC to collect baseline presence/absence data on 11 invasive plant species. In 2014, I revisited these transects and documented presence/absence data on the entire plant community. I found that four species (garlic mustard, winter creeper, Japanese honeysuckle, and English ivy) have …

Conflicted Tourism : Heritage Narratives, Sectarian Schism, And Economic Growth In Northern Ireland., Ashleigh Larissa Bixby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines tourism as a politically charged facet of the economic process in Northern Ireland. While violence has abated in the region, sectarian conflict continues to affect Northern Irish society. Tourism has helped develop the economy by opening the market to visitors through the marketing of the region as unique and different. As conflict in the region is ongoing, the rise of tourism as a viable economic strategy raises the question: how does the Northern Irish tourist industry reconcile the past and ongoing conflict in order to present the region as a desirable tourist destination? The answer lies in …

Student Engagement And College Readiness In Mathematics., Leah White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between reform practices, student engagement in mathematics class, college readiness in mathematics for high school students, and mathematics teacher Professional Development (PD). Quasi-experimental mixed methodology addressed the research question(s) in a parallel design. Treatment teachers participated in PD where reformed teaching practices were presented, observed, discussed, and analyzed using a Cognitive Apprenticeship (CA) framework. Student’s mathematics readiness was measured distantly and proximally. Student engagement in mathematics class and reform practice implementation were observed, using Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP), and compared across groups to assess treatment effects pre and post …

Improving The Accuracy Of Middle School Students' Self-Assessment, Peer Assessment, And Mathematics Achievement., Elizabeth Popelka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the documented advantages of formative assessment (FA) strategies in elevating student achievement, much of the relevant research is dated and undermined by questionable design and inattention to K-12 settings. In order to fill these voids, this quantitative study tested the effect of a self- and peer-assessment-training instructional sequence, developed with recommendations from past research and employing explicitly described assessment measures and criteria, on middle school students’ assessment accuracy and subsequent mathematics achievement. The researcher hypothesized a correlation between measurable growth in assessment accuracy and gains in achievement, as well as a reciprocal effect of self- and peer-assessment ability. The …

Places In The Polity Of Rhetoric : Topoi, Evolution, And The Fragmentation Of Discourse., Benjamin James Bickel Wetherbee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation integrates classical rhetoric with postmodern understandings of textual fragmentation. “Places in the Polity of Rhetoric” follows two mutually constitutive avenues of inquiry, one of which stresses the importance of understanding textual fragments as rhetorical topoi—that is, as generative “places” that allow writers and speakers to economically evoke larger fields of cultural meaning in the space of a single word, phrase, or image. The other stresses the evolution of rhetorical culture that emerges through the interaction between human agents, who use these topoi for rhetorical ends, and discursive agents (topoi themselves) who use human rhetors to propagate …

The Pedagogy Of Medical Humanities : Using Literature And The Visual Arts To Help Future Caregivers Maintain Their Compassion And Resilience., Lisa Higgins Shugoll

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation argues that medical humanities education for students considering careers in healthcare should begin at the general undergraduate level and should have two primary objectives, (1) providing tools that will help students foster therapeutic, compassionate relationships with their patients, and (2) providing strategies that will help students maintain healthy habits of mind that afford resilience against compassion fatigue. I assert that in order for students to practice compassion for themselves and others three core objectives must be met. (1) Students must be exposed to the fundamentals of bioethics in order to understand the virtue of compassion itself, (2) they …

Pregnancy And Performance : Rights To The Unveiling., Takayla Justina Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Imagine you are an actress auditioning for a role, and the director asks, “If cast”, would you have conflicts?” You know you’re pregnant, but the director does not.You are also aware of the theatre’s production calendar; the production will be over before you start showing, or a couple of months before your due date. What do you do? Should you reveal the pregnancy, even though you know there is a possibility you may be discriminated against? Or do you hide it? What are the benefits and risks involved when the pregnant performer decides to conceal her pregnancy? This thesis serves …

The Czech-Egyptian Arms Deal Of 1955 : A Turning Point In Middle Eastern Cold War History., Thomas Michael Shaughnessy Skaggs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the Czechoslovakian-Egyptian arms deal of 1955 and analyzes how it impacted Middle Eastern Cold War policy. Central to the issue is Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser’s approach to garnering Pan-Arab Nationalist support and his decision to approach the Soviet Bloc for weapons and economic aid. Supporting evidence came from several repositories, including the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, and the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. In addition to primary sources, a thorough examination of the existing scholarship was conducted. In conclusion, the Czech-Egyptian arms deal, more than any other event, cemented Nasser's place as champion …

Blade Resolved Simulation Of Wind Farms, Walied E. Hassan

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This research examines the feasibility of reducing the time to solution for a high-fidelity, blade-resolved CFD simulation of a wind farm using Tenasi. The intent is to reduce the overall cost by initializing the flow fields of the individual turbines in the wind farm using a steady state or an unsteady simulation of a single turbine. This is achieved by replicating the mesh and the solution corresponding to a single turbine repeatedly, thus initializing the solution for the entire wind farm. The wind farm consists of the DTU 10 MW Reference Wind Turbines. Results compared to the “from scratch” solutions …

Synchrotron Micro-Scale Study Of Trace Metal Transport And Distribution In Spartina Alterniflora Root System In Yangtze River Intertidal Zone, Huan Feng, Weiguo Zhang, Wenliang Liu, Lizhong Yu, Yu Qian, Jun Wang, Jia Jun Wang, Christopher Eng, Chang Jun Liu, Keith W. Jones, Ryan Tappero

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This study is focused on micro-scale measurement of metal (Ca, Cl, Fe, K, Mn, Cu, Pb, and Zn) distributions in Spartina alterniflora root system. The root samples were collected in the Yangtze River intertidal zone in July 2013. Synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (XRF), computed microtomography (CMT), and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) techniques, which provide micro-meter scale analytical resolution, were applied to this study. Although it was found that the metals of interest were distributed in both epidermis and vascular tissue with the varying concentrations, the results showed that Fe plaque was mainly distributed in the root epidermis. Other metals (e.g., …

A Low Complexity Reweighted Proportionate Affine Projection Algorithm With Memory And Row Action Projection, Jianming Liu, Steven L. Grant, Jacob Benesty

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A new reweighted proportionate affine projection algorithm (RPAPA) with memory and row action projection (MRAP) is proposed in this paper. The reweighted PAPA is derived from a family of sparseness measures, which demonstrate performance similar to mu-law and the l0 norm PAPA but with lower computational complexity. The sparseness of the channel is taken into account to improve the performance for dispersive system identification. Meanwhile, the memory of the filter's coefficients is combined with row action projections (RAP) to significantly reduce computational complexity. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed RPAPA MRAP algorithm outperforms both the affine projection algorithm (APA) and …

Barriers For Immunization Against Hpv In Developing Countries (India), Sandhya Ghanta

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers in women. Incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer are high in less developed and developing countries. In some countries, the acceptance of the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer is low. Previous studies revealed that lack of awareness, income, and education were major barriers for accepting the HPV vaccine. Apart from the above-mentioned barriers, some socio-cultural barriers for accepting the HPV vaccine exist in less developed and developing countries. This study surveyed 250 women in India of age groups 18 years and above. The sample population for the study was …