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 …

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.

Examining The Dynamics Of Infant Face Processing Using State Space Grids, Andrea Jane Kayl

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this investigation we examined the potential processes underlying infant preferences for and categorization of male and female faces as well as the outcome of these preferences. Infants with female primary caregivers exhibit preferences for same-race females over males and categorize females more readily than males. Little is known, however, about how infants may arrive at these collective preferences and categorization abilities. In research settings infants are exposed to novel stimuli in relatively short periods of time, and their experiences outside of the lab may be imposing structure onto their learning in lab settings. We used state space grids (SSGs) …

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 …

A Comparison Of Beliefs And Attitudes About Body Image, Eating And Weight Between Incarcerated And Non-~Incarcerated Females, Anne R. Lindsay

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Abstract

Incarceration and substance abuse are two of the largest public health issues in America. While the U.S. makes up only 5% of the world’s population, it accounts for 25% of its prisoners. Incarceration affects more than 2.2 million individuals who will eventually return to their families and communities with ongoing family, social and health issues. Women in prison are a particularly vulnerable and underserved population, generally of low education and socio-economic status and although they account for a small percent of the prison population, many are mothers of young children who are likely to become incarcerated themselves. Substance abuse …

Factor Analysis Of The Sport Interference Checklist With Collegiate Athletes, Travis Albert Loughran

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There are a variety of cognitive and behavioral factors that have been indicated to have a negative impact on sport performance. College student-athletes may be at particular risk to evidence problems that interfere with optimal sport performance due to high physical, social, and emotional demands. To fully understand what factors influence student-athlete sport performance, appropriate, psychometrically validated assessment measures are needed. The Sport Interference Checklist (SIC) is an assessment tool that was developed to assess sport performance in both training and competitive situations for student-athletes. The SIC includes two scales, the Problems in Sport Training Scale (PSTS) and the Problems …

Optimization Of The Development Process For Air Sampling Filter Standards, Rajah Marie Mena

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Air monitoring is an important analysis technique in health physics. However, creating standards which can be used to calibrate detectors used in the analysis of the filters deployed for air monitoring can be challenging. The activity of a standard should be well understood, this includes understanding how the location within the filter affects the final surface emission rate. The purpose of this research is to determine the parameters which most affect uncertainty in an air filter standard and optimize these parameters such that calibrations made with them most accurately reflect the true activity contained inside. A deposition pattern was chosen …

Designing, Building And Testing A Solar Thermoelectric Generation, Steg, For Energy Delivery To Remote Residential Areas In Developing Regions, Yacouba Moumouni

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

New alternatives and inventive renewable energy techniques which encompass both generation and power management solutions are fundamental for meeting remote residential energy supply and demand today, especially if the grid is quasi-inexistent. Solar thermoelectric generators can be a cost-effective alternative to photovoltaics for a remote residential household power supply. A complete solar thermoelectric energy harvesting system is presented for energy delivery to remote residential areas in developing regions. To this end, the entire system was built, modeled, and then validated with LTspice simulator software via thermal-to-electrical analogy schemes. Valuable data in conjunction with two novel LTspice circuits were obtained, showing …

Compression Of Climate Data Through Artificial Neural Networks, Astha Puri

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lately, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of climate monitoring

stations in various parts of the country producing abundant climate data. Among climate data parameters, humidity and temperature are the two parameters influencing hydrological and agricultural processes, weather monitoring, and having critical effect on living organisms. As more data is being generated over time, there is a strong need to develop compression methods for efficient transfer and storage of this data.

The main goal of this thesis is to perform compression of humidity and temperature

data via prediction. As these are critical components of climate, it is …

The Comparison Of Two Supine Manikins And The Use Of A Shock And Vibration Isolation System For Litter Patients In Air Medical Transport, Karina Karlui Saenz Acosta

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Studies show that repeated shock and vibration during aero medical and ground transport are causing patient pain and may be adversely affecting patients’ medical outcome. Patients with spine and head injuries and other severe neurological injuries are the most vulnerable to repeated shock and vibration exposure caused by the vehicle. It is crucial to minimize the effects of these forces on patients during air and ground medical transport. The development of new medical evacuation platforms creates a need to better understand the effects of human exposure to shock and vibration. The use of human subjects to measure whole body vibration …

What Do We See: Number Line Estimation With Eye Tracking, Sarah Ann Salas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The following paper presents a study investigating adult number line estimation patterns through use of an eye tracker. Estimation patterns were examined by changing the range of the number line on which the estimations occur from the typical ranges of 0-100 and 0-1000 to a more difficult range of 0-723. There were two main conditions of the experiment; in one condition the number to estimate and the number line were presented simultaneously, and in the other condition, the number line presentation was delayed. In each of the two conditions of the experiment, eye fixations and area of interest analysis were …

Characterization Of Gold And Related Mineralization At The North Bullion Carlin System, Railroad Project, A Nevada Carlin-~Type Gold Prospect, Melanie Nicole Newton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A study of the North Bullion Carlin system, a Nevada Carlin-type gold prospect located on trend with the large Carlin-type gold deposits (CTGD) of the Carlin Trend, identified characteristics of ore and alteration mineralization, mineral paragenesis, and pyrite and whole rock geochemistry that are similar to characteristics that typify Carlin-type gold deposits. The North Bullion Carlin system is hosted in Devonian shelf carbonates and the Mississippian overlap assemblage, host rocks that are different from typical CTGD shelf-slope carbonate assemblage host rocks. The mineralogy and ore-stage gold-bearing pyrite rims at North Bullion are not as well developed as they are in …

Ediacaran Ocean Redox Evolution, Swapan Kumar Sahoo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The relative role that environmental versus intrinsic biological factors played in

shaping the history of life on Earth is a fundamental but unanswered question in the

natural sciences. Most famously, it has been heavily debated if the emergence and

diversification of early animals during the Ediacaran Period (ca. 635–541 Ma) was tied to

a rise in atmospheric-oceanic oxygen levels. Temporally discontinuous geochemical data and patchy fossil record in literature are inadequate to chart the Ediacaran redox history and its causal relationship with the biotic evolution. My PhD study aims for a multiproxy geochemical record within a well-established stratigraphic framework of …

Ecosystem Response To Recent Climate Change In Alpine Environments, Patrick Shawn Sawyer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Recent variations in meteorological conditions indicate the earth’s climate is changing in ways that can impact delicate ecological balances in sensitive regions. These impacts threaten the essential services provided by such ecosystems. Determining how climate changes are affecting the biosphere is essential to adapt and mitigate harmful consequences. In order to mitigate the negative effects of climate change and adapt to shifting ecological resource constraints, it is imperative to locate such changes and determine vulnerability of ecological resources to changing environmental conditions.

Identifying climate driven ecological changes faces numerous challenges given the reliance on vegetation indices as the primary measure …

Alkali-~Activated Fly Ash Binders: Feasibility As A Sustainable Alternative To Ordinary Portland Cement For Pre-~Cast Systems, Kimberly Sierra

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Fresh, load-dependent, transport, and durability properties of alkali-activated fly ash mortars were studied. The influences of activator concentration, solution-to-binder ratio, curing condition, activator type, and sodium silicate-to-total solution ratio on the properties of the studied alkali-activated mortars were examined. This study was divided in two phases. The first phase dealt with the use of sodium hydroxide as the sole activator. The second phase of the study was divided into two parts, both of which used a combination of sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate as the activator solution. Part I of phase II used elevated temperature curing conditions, whereas part II …

Dissolution Of Nontronite In Low Water Activity Brines And Implications For The Aqueous History Of Mars, Michael Henry Steiner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Water is essential to life on Earth and is likely to play a role in determining the habitability of other planets. Pure liquid water is not stable on the surface of Mars but brines can temporarily remain liquid, and increasing evidence suggests the presence of recent liquid water, including brines, on Mars. Brines can host life at temperatures as low as -30 ºC and some organisms can live at activities of water as low as 0.61. Therefore, if brines have been present on Mars, they may act as habitable environments.

The Fe-rich smectite nontronite, (CaO0.5,Na)0.3 Fe3+2(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2·nH2O, has been detected on …

The Visual Framing Of The Three Cycles Of Climate Control In The New York Times 1851 To Present, Jason Lee Thompson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research explored the visual framing of climate control in The New York Times through three cycles of media history. Although no peer-reviewed study has explored this specific topic, a wealth of prior communication articles on both the visual and textual aspects of climate change and geoengineering in the media was mined in order to discover the frames present. Once the visual frames of climate control (war, fix, people, and impacts) were revealed a content analysis was conducted in order to see which frame elements were most and least frequent considering the images of climate control. When combining all three …

Architectural Form, Orientation, And Energy For Residential Design In The Southern Nevada Region., Ludwing Vaca

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the population increase, the high demand of energy from the residential sector, as well as the harsh weather conditions of the Las Vegas region, there needs to be careful consideration in the design of new homes. Energy efficiency in a single family residential building can be augmented early in the design process by careful consideration of the building form and orientation. A systematic investigation and analysis was taken to study the effects of five building forms and different orientations along the cardinal points using the software BEopt version 2.4.0.1. To connect the study to real world circumstances, a residential …

A Phenomenology Study Of First-~Year Teachers Looking At The Shared Lived Experience Of Learning To Grade, Brandon Lee Yost

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study describes the phenomenon of how first-year teachers learn to evaluate students learning by (letter) grades. Grades seem simple enough; but in reality, each grade carries serious consequences with it – for either good or bad. For example, grades affect benefits/consequences at home; they affect placement in remedial or advanced courses; they affect grade level promotion; they affect participation in programs, i.e. extracurricular activities like sports; they affect high school graduation, college acceptance, and scholarship eligibility (Brookhart, 1991; Marzano, 2000).

Despite the extreme importance of grades and how they can influence a person’s life over a period of time …

Testing Established Models Of Hydrothermal Fluid Distribution Around Porphyry Deposits: The Application Of Fluid Inclusion Research To Porphyry Deposit Exploration, Wyatt Moyer Bain

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Kabba porphyry copper prospect in northwestern Arizona contains two zones of porphyry style mineralization and alteration, which are spatially separated by a north-south trending normal fault. These two zones are referred to as the Kabba footwall and hanging wall and are hypothesized to represent the root and intermediate depth levels of the same porphyry-like hydrothermal system, respectively. If this hypothesis is correct, then fluid inclusions found in the hanging wall and footwall should have the physical and chemical characteristics of fluid inclusions in the root and intermediate depth levels of other known porphyry deposits. Vein and alteration petrography, fluid …

An Enantiodivergent Synthesis Of CΑ-Methyl Nipecotic Acid Analogues From δ-Lactam Derivatives Obtained Through A Highly Stereoselective Cyclization Strategy, Souvik Banerjee, Emily R. Vogel, Daniel Hinton, Michael Sterling, Douglas S. Masterson

Faculty Publications

A stereoselective and enantiodivergent strategy for the construction of δ-lactams is described. The strategy utilizes chiral malonic esters prepared from enantiomerically enriched mono esters of disubstituted malonic acid. A cyclization occurs with the selective displacement of a substituted benzyl alcohol as the leaving group. The resulting δ-lactams are then converted into nipecotic acid analogues using straightforward transformations. The resulting nipecotic acid analogues proved capable organocatalysts in Mannich reactions.

Supporting Data For The Characterization Of Pna-Dna Four-Way Junctions, Douglas Van Iverson Ii, Crystal C. Serrano, Ann Marie Brahan, Arik Shams, Filbert Totsingan, Anthony J. Bell Jr.

Faculty Publications

Holliday or DNA four-way junctions (4WJs) are cruciform/bent structures composed of four DNA duplexes. 4WJs are key intermediates in homologous genetic recombination and double-strand break repair. To investigate 4WJs in vitro, junctions are assembled using four asymmetric DNA strands. The presence of four asymmetric strands about the junction branch point eliminates branch migration, and effectively immobilizes the resulting 4WJ. The purpose of these experiments is to show that immobile 4WJs composed of DNA and peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) can be distinguished from contaminating labile nucleic acid structures. These data compare the electrophoretic mobility of hybrid PNA–DNA junctions vs. …

The Classical Theory Of Rearrangements, Monica Josue Agana

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

One type of conditionally convergent series that has long been considered by mathematicians is the Alternating Harmonic Series and its sum under various types of rearrangements. The purpose of this thesis is to introduce results from the classical theory of rearrangements dating back to the 19th and early 20th century. We will look at results by mathematicians such as Ohm, Riemann, Schlömilch, Pringsheim, and Sierpiński. In addition, we show examples of each classical result by applying the Alternating Harmonic Series under the different types of rearrangements, and also introducing theorems by Lévy and Steinitz, and Wilczyński which are modern extensions …

Poisson Versus Negative Binomial Regression In The Analysis Of Count Data, Barbie Ann L. Bugna

Dissertations

Commonly used tests for treatment effect in kx2 frequency data are Poisson regression, negative binomial regression, and Cochran-Mantel-Haentzel. In practice, Poisson regression or CMH is used as default, and NB regression is used only when there is reason to believe the data has overdispersion beyond what is expected of Poisson counts.

We show that the Poisson regression is sensitive to the Poisson assumption, and does not maintain its size in the presence of overdispersion. In particular, it tends to interpret overdispersion as significant treatment effect. Thus there is a need for a reliable pretest for the Poisson assumption. A commonly …

Design And Synthesis Of New Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs With Anti-Cancer Activity On Colon Rectal Cancer Cell Lines Hct-116 And Caco-2, Wanda Ivette Rodríguez Rivera

Dissertations

Colon rectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer and is the third leading cause of cancer related deaths among western countries. Current chemotherapy treatments are highly toxic and mostly result in only a low percentage of tumor reduction; therefore an effective treatment with low toxicity is needed.

In this study, different innovative new COX-2 inhibitors were synthesized using the frame of biologically active chalcones to which active COX-2 pharmacophores SO₂CH₃, SO₂NH₂, SO₂NHCOCH₃ were added. Additionally, the effect of different alkyl chain lengths and the effect …

Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations, Their Solutions, And Properties, Prasanna Bandara

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Although valuable understanding of real-world phenomena can be gained experimentally, it is often the case that experimental investigations can be found to be limited by financial, ethical or other constraints making such an approach impractical or, in some cases, even impossible. To nevertheless understand and make predictions of the natural world around us, countless processes encountered in the physical and biological sciences, engineering, economics and medicine can be efficiently described by means of mathematical models written in terms of ordinary or/and partial differential equations or their systems. Fundamental questions that arise in the modeling process need care that relies on …

Early School Leavers In Belize: Perspectives On School Experiences, The Purpose Of School And Why They Left, Bevin Etheridge

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The research herein focuses on how early school leavers described why they left school, their school experiences, and their beliefs about school’s purpose in their lives. This interpretive, multiple case study is based on 21 semi-structured interviews with early school leavers, a Likert-scale survey generated from the themes that emerged in the interviews, as well as national and school policy documents, evaluative reports on education and social issues, and various media pertaining to youth and education (Stake, 2005a). In order to understand the perspectives of participants, I tie them into the larger sociocultural, historical and economic context.

Although secondary education …

Men And The Socially Created Stigma Of Anorexia, Marcus Ogawa

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

This study illuminates how college men negotiate and communicate their body image in a culture that is placing greater emphasis on the importance of body image for men. Embracing the theory of Social Construction, this study offers a communicative perspective to explore men’s articulation of body image and how they make sense of anorexia. Existing research reveals anorexia as a problem primarily associated with women, and consequently men demonstrating anorexic behaviors often find it difficult to receive help. Literature also affirms that our culture often expects men to be ashamed of behaving in any way that does not conform to …

Soybean Planting And Risk-Return Tradeoffs In The Mid-Southern United States, Weston Weeks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is comprised of two studies on the effects of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) planting date (PD) and maturity group (MG) selection on producer expected returns. Having to replant soybean after early-season planting because of poor stand establishment is costly for producers. Replanting costs have increased in the last ten years as seed and other input costs for soybean have increased. Using five years of field trial results from two locations in Arkansas, the yield response to early and late season plant population density has been estimated to determine yield and future revenue potential for the purpose of …

The Multicultural Goal: The Acculturation Experiences Of Foreign Elite Athletes In The United States, Claudia Stura

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

As elite athletes are moving to foreign countries more than ever before, many experience acculturation difficulties that may affect their performance. Since research on these acculturation experiences is limited, this study explores the acculturation process of foreign athletes to top level sports teams and the host culture in the United States. The research was designed in two phases. In Phase I, the acculturation experiences of 18 first-year elite foreign student-athletes were studied during their first year through semi-structured interviews conducted at three Division I universities. Phase II consisted of a comparative case study analysis of two Major League Soccer clubs …