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Ming China As A Gunpowder Empire: Military Technology, Politics, And Fiscal Administration, 1350-1620, Weicong Duan

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the transformation of Ming China in the gunpowder age. Focusing on the relation between military technology, politics, and fiscal administration, it closely traces the change of the Ming state in association with the gunpowder revolution. Two aspects of institutional change receive special attention. The first aspect is the formation of an absolute authority in the Ming period, a development exhibiting many parallels with the absolute monarchies of other major gunpowder states in Europe and the Islamic world. The second is the modification of the Confucian bureaucratic government. The revolutions in gunpowder technology had a complex impact on …

Understanding Adolescent Physical Activity In The Early Nutrition Transitioning Country Of Haiti, Haley V. Becker

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The nutrition transition is underway in Haiti, giving rise to the dual burden of malnutrition. Physical activity (PA) plays an important role in mitigating the negative health consequences of nutrition transition and the dual burden, but heretofore this data has been unavailable for Haiti. This dissertation undertook an exploratory needs assessment providing baseline PA data for Haitian adolescents. It evaluated two different PA data collection methodologies: a cross-sectional survey adapted from the IPAQ long-form and objectively measured PA via Actigraph GT1M accelerometers. Next, it identified initial covariates of self-reported and objectively-assessed PA behaviors; data was operationalized as meeting the World …

Flurry Gene Perry Sr.

African American Funeral Programs

No abstract provided.

Universities In Imperial Austria, 1848–1918: A Social History Of A Multilingual Space, Jan University Surman

Purdue University Press Books

Combining history of science and a history of universities with the new imperial history, Universities in Imperial Austria 1848–1918: A Social History of a Multilingual Space by Jan Surman analyzes the practice of scholarly migration and its lasting influence on the intellectual output in the Austrian part of the Habsburg Empire.

The Habsburg Empire and its successor states were home to developments that shaped Central Europe's scholarship well into the twentieth century. Universities became centers of both state- and nation-building, as well as of confessional resistance, placing scholars if not in conflict, then certainly at odds with the neutral international …

Examining Environmental Hazards In Rental Homes And Habitability Laws In Clark County, Nevada, Jorge Luis Bertran

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It is well established that home conditions are linked to the health outcomes of occupants. There are over 880,000 housing units in Clark County, Nevada; nearly half of those are renter-occupied units (ROUs). Currently, there is limited research on the characteristics of environmental hazards found in Clark County ROUs and the strength of habitability statutes created to protect tenants from substandard housing. Understanding how renters in Clark County are affected by environmental hazards in ROUs and the processes by which landlords and tenants resolve grievances related to those hazards would benefit public health. It would enhance the ability to quickly …

Literature In The World: A Critical Discourse Study Of World Literature Pedagogy, Elisa Cogbill-Seiders

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

“Literature in the World” is a critical discourse analysis of world literature pedagogy in U.S. higher education. It investigates the ways discourse communities in higher education produce and shape the field of world literature. The dissertation begins by establishing and analyzing the generic conventions of university mission statements, finding they are primarily dominated by discourse on global learning. It follows with an analysis of world literature course descriptions from the same schools. World literature course descriptions alternatively replicate, resist, or subvert global learning discourses. The last chapter uses findings from the first two chapters to trace how university and instructor …

Design And Preliminary Evaluation Of A Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Brayton Cycle For Solar Dish Concentrator Clean Energy Production, Danielle Nobles-Lookingbill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As we move toward energy independence and more ambitious clean energy goals, solar energy research must push the efficiency limits of traditional energy generation systems. Increases in efficiency can be achieved by increasing the hot temperature of the power cycle. Recent research demonstrates the potential for increased efficiency and a vastly smaller component size when supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton power cycles are used. Concentrated solar and nuclear heat sources are capable of achieving the high working fluid temperatures needed for significant efficiency gains. This NSF EPSCoR funded, experimental research system is designed to exploit the uniquely immense solar irradiance of …

A Qualitative Study Of School Psychologists' Perception And Interpretation Of Their Professional Identity, Elizabeth A. Sanders

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The primary focus or aim of this qualitative multiple-case study was to increase understanding of how experienced school psychologists define themselves as professionals within the field, taking into consideration the profession’s collective or organizational identity, the parameters established by the organization, and the actual performance of the job within the educational setting. Specifically, this study examined how the individuals’ definitions had changed over time and what lived experiences led to development and change in professional identity. Six school psychologists with 10 or more years of experience from a large urban Southwestern school district’s school psychology department were invited to participate. …

Analysis And Design Of Analog Front-End Circuitry For Avalanche Photodiodes (Apd) And Silicon Photo-Multipliers (Sipm) In Time-Of-Flight Applications, Vikas Vinayaka

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis reports the analysis and design of analog front-end circuitry for reading out signals from avalanche photodiodes (APD) or silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) in time-of-flight (ToF) applications. An integrated circuit was designed using AMS SiGe 0.35 um BiCMOS process. The chip measured 2 mm x 2 mm (2000 umx2000 um). The chip mainly contains the following circuits: an APD with photoactive area measuring 24 umx24 um, an SiPM with 8x8 APDs with 236 k ohm quench resistors, a transimpedance amplifier (TIA), a comparator and a R-2R digital to analog converter (DAC). The TIA is based on the shunt-shunt feedback topology. …

Performance-Based Economical Seismic Design Of Multistory Reinforced Concrete Frame Buildings And Reliability Assessment, Chunyu Zhang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As the next generation of seismic design methodology, performance-based seismic design (PBSD) method requires a structure satisfy multiple preselected performance levels under different hazard levels. Optimal PBSD methods provide different strategies to design the numerous variables, including strength, stiffness and ductility of each structural component. The overall goal of this study is to develop a new optimal PBSD method for multi-story RC moment frames. This method is capable of overcoming the deficiencies of existing optimal PBSD methods and can be implemented by the U.S. design practice. The proposed method minimizes construction cost and takes the limit of member plastic rotation …

An Examination Of Perceived Leadership Behaviors And Employee Engagement In The Us Federal Government: An Exploratory Study, Jason Barker

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Leadership can exist in any organization or entity. It has been studied extensively and examined comprehensively. There have been various theories of what type of leadership is ideal or suitable for a group or organization. From transformational to transactional leadership, leadership styles exist that can contribute to organizations and the style they employ. Employee engagement can be based on either or both transformational and transactional leadership factors. Transformational leadership behaviors generally show an increase in employee engagement. Employee engagement has an association with job satisfaction and leadership perception. Leadership styles will be defined, in addition to factors in the employee’ …

Combinatorial Ant Optimization And The Flowshop Problem, Tasmin Chowdhury

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Researchers have developed efficient techniques, meta-heuristics to solve many Combinatorial Optimization (CO) problems, e.g., Flow shop Scheduling Problem, Travelling Salesman Problem (TSP) since the early 60s of the last century. Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) and its variants were introduced by Dorigo et al. [DBS06] in the early 1990s which is a technique to solve CO problems. In this thesis, we used the ACO technique to find solutions to the classic Flow shop Scheduling Problem and proposed a novel method for solution improvement. Our solution is composed of two phases; in the first phase, we solved TSP using ACO technique which …

Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of Oppositional Defiant Disorder Within Clinically Referred Youth, Breanna Garcia

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Each new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; APA, 2013) has been met with substantial criticism. Particularly, in DSM-5, two disorders were defined by very similar criteria. Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) was defined as consisting of three dimensions - irritability, noncompliance, and spiteful/vindictive. Additionally, ODD has duration criteria that indicate its symptoms must be present for at least 6 months suggesting the presence of chronic irritability. DSM-5 also included disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD) as a disorder marked by the presence of chronic irritability in childhood and adolescence. The question of whether chronic irritability (i.e., …

Design, Layout, And Testing Of Sige Apds Fabricated In A Bicmos Process, Dane Laurence Gentry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This Thesis is concerned with the design, layout, and testing of avalanche photodiodes (APDs). APDs are a type of photodetector and, thus, convert light signals into electrical signals (current or voltage). APDs can be fabricated using silicon (Si). In this Thesis, however, three integrated circuit (IC) chips containing various silicon-germanium (SiGe) APDs with different sizes, structures, and geometries were designed, laid out, and fabricated using the Austriamicrosystems (AMS) 0.35μm SiGe BiCMOS (S35) process. This was done in order to compare SiGe APDs to Si only APDs and investigate the hypothesis that SiGe APDs are capable of detecting longer wavelengths than …

Effects Of Ambient Air Pollution On Asthma-Related Emergency Department Visits Within The Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, Loiren E. Monardes

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The objective of this research was to evaluate the risk for asthma-related Emergency Department visits and their association with ambient air pollution within the Las Vegas metropolitan area. All data were aggregated by date and ZIP Code. The association was analyzed by applying the distributed lag non-linear model in an attempt to identify elevated concentrations of specific air pollutants

as triggers and their delayed effects (lag days). Relative Risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals were produced, while adjusting for socioeconomic status. This ecological population-based study analyzed daily asthma counts of Emergency Department visits from January 1st, 2009 to December 31st, …

Tall Tales Of Danger And Security: How A Critical Human Security Approach Can Address Major Contradictions Revealed Through A Critical Narrative Analysis Of Dominant U.S. Security Strategies, Stephen Schneider

Master's Theses

Over many generations, humans have developed many perspectives and practices regarding the best ways to recognize and address what they perceive to be dangerous. Stories are used to help shape and narrate perceptions about the world, and they serve to pass on vital information that impacts how a society responds to threats and vulnerabilities. These narratives of danger and security are subjective to the experiences and political intentions of society, and therefore in many ways are partial and biased in their assessments and policies. This results in flawed security practices that may actually exacerbate threats or create new insecurities. What …

Application Of Ict To Cataloguing And Classification For Effective Bibliographic Control In The National Library Of Nigeria: Issues And Challenges, Juliana Obiageri Akidi Phd, Cln, Chinyere A. Okezie Phd, Cln

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The study examines the application of information and communication technology (ICT) to cataloguing and classification for effective bibliographic control, with a focus on the National Library of Nigeria as the bibliographic control agency of the nation. The study was guided by six objectives. The research design adopted was survey research method. Population of study was 33 cataloguers, while the sampling technique was complete census of cataloguers in the National Library of Nigeria (NLN), as the population was manageable. The instrument for data collection was structured questionnaire, comprising forty-two item statements in six clusters. Method of data analysis involved the use …

Eddie Roe White

African American Funeral Programs

No abstract provided.

Queen O. Davis

African American Funeral Programs

No abstract provided.

Comparing Pollen And Archaeobotanical Data For Chalcolithic Cereal Agriculture At Çatalhöyük, Turkey, Warren J. Eastwood, Andrew Fairbairn, Elizabeth Stroud, Neil Roberts, Henry Lamb, Hakan Yiğitbaşıoğlu, Çetin Şenkul, Andrew Moss, Rebecca Turner, Peter Boyer

More Faculty of Science and Engineering Research

© 2018 Establishing agricultural activity using pollen analysis is one of the prime challenges of a palaeoecological investigation. Here we report combined pollen and archaeobotanical data originating from a waterlogged off-site organic-rich fill radiocarbon dated to ∼8 ka Cal BP located between the two occupation mounds at Neolithic-Chalcolithic Çatalhöyük, south central Turkey in order to investigate the record of Early Chalcolithic agricultural activity. Pollen results indicate extremely high abundances of Cerealia-type pollen (30->70%) and critical measurements of these show them to be Triticum-type, Avena/Triticum-type, Secale-type and Hordeum-type. Pollen data are also compared with archaeobotanical data retrieved from the same …

Wrong In All The Right Ways, Charlotte Esplin

Children's Book and Media Review

Emma Ellenburg has the perfect life: her father is a retired famous baseball player, they live in an amazing house in California, and she is the perfect student. Nothing can pull her focus away from the thing that matters most, namely, getting into an Ivy League college. That is, until her parents bring home a new foster sibling, Dylan. The two find themselves in the same English class for the semester where they are studying Wuthering Heights. Quickly, it becomes obvious how the two feel about each other, and they become intertwined in a risky and secretive relationship. Things take …

World's Best (And Worst) Animal Jokes, Mavanee Farnsworth

Children's Book and Media Review

World’s Best (and Worst) Animal Jokes really lives up to its name. This joke book is filled with everything animal. There are many different types of jokes, from question-and-answer to knock-knock jokes. There are great, laugh-out-loud jokes, as well as others labeled as “groaner jokes” that are meant to make you sigh and laugh. Each page has several fun jokes that will get the reader thinking about other animal jokes that could be found on the next page. There are many types of animals included, ranging from ocean creatures to cave creatures to mountain creatures. Animal lovers will love laughing …

With My Hands: Poems About Making Things, Nicole Clark

Children's Book and Media Review

What is a maker? According to With My Hands: Poems About Making Things, a maker is someone who is a creator, someone who makes mistakes, and someone who produces something that has never existed before. This picture book is a collection of twenty-six short poems, all of which are topically centered around the theme of creating. The poems showcase a diverse collection of media, including soap carving, shadow puppets, collage, fort building, and collage making

Wish, Emma Patton

Children's Book and Media Review

Charlie makes the same wish every day, but she can’t say what it is or it won’t come true. She has a lot that needs fixing, though. Since her daddy is in jail and her mama isn’t doing so well at being a mama, Charlie is sent to live with her aunt and uncle, whom she doesn’t even know. At first, she thinks she will hate living their small town. But she soon realizes that it’s nice to be able to rely on her aunt Bertha and uncle Gus, even when she makes mistakes. She meets Howard, a boy who …

What We Saw, Emma Patton

Children's Book and Media Review

Kate has a loyal group of girlfriends, a best friend-turned-boyfriend, and complete loyalty to her school and its athletics program. But one drunken party changes everything. A girl at the high school makes allegations of rape against some of the stars of the basketball team. Suddenly, the whole school is caught up in investigations and news reports. A lot of people in their small town, including adults at the school, accuse the girl who made the allegations of trying to stir things up and make a statement. But nobody seems willing to say what actually happened that night, and Kate …

Vincent Comes Home, Samantha Bullock

Children's Book and Media Review

Vincent the cat has never been home. He leads a life of adventure sailing all around the world on the cargo ship where he lives. Though the list of destinations he has seen is impressive and enviable, what he really wants is to experience this “home” he hears so many of the sailors refer to with great excitement. The ship docks and Vincent leaves the ship to discover a city, which at first glance is completely underwhelming. As he wonders what the sailors see in this “home” that makes it so great, he notices that one by one the men …

Valiant, Maryn Wheeler

Children's Book and Media Review

Saville and her father, a tailor, move to the kingdom of Reggen, which is being threatened by giants and a duke claiming to be the heir to the throne. When her father becomes ill, Saville disguises herself as a boy and convinces King Eldin to hire her as tailor. As the giants get closer, the King Eldin offers his sister’s hand in marriage to anyone who can defeat them. To rescue a homeless boy, Saville tricks the scouting giants, which convinces the people of Reggen that she is “the champion” who will defeat the immortal duke. When King Eldin and …

Tractor Mac: Tune-Up, Beverly Jones

Children's Book and Media Review

Take a trip to the farm with Tractor Mac! In this installment of the beloved series, Mac is not feeling well and he must go visit the tractor doctor. Mac is worried, but his animal friends send him well wishes and positivity for a quick fix and recovery. Mac needs some new parts and a tune-up, and soon he is better than new and ready to get back to work at Stony Meadow Farm. Mac is delighted to leave Dr. Lou behind and rejoin his friends and Farmer Bill on the farm.

Track #1: Ghost, Emma Patton

Children's Book and Media Review

The first time Ghost remembers running was also the scariest moment in his life. When his father got violent and started shooting, he and his mom ran as fast as they could. Years later, Ghost has the opportunity to run again. This time, his dad isn’t in his life. This time, it’s not for survival. This time, it’s on a team of other talented runners. Ghost knows that he’s got what it takes to be great. Even as a new member of the team, he’s already one of the best. But he wonders if he could really belong on the …

The Year Of The Fortune Cookie, Kelly Garcia

Children's Book and Media Review

Anna Wang is an adolescent trying to find her place in the world. She is Chinese on her mother's side, but she was born and raised in the United States. Her baby sister was adopted from China. Anna goes on a trip to China to visit the orphanage her sister came from. This trip helps Anna accept her culture and feel good about being different. When she is in China, she is able to go back to her roots and be proud of who she is. Anna is able to see life from a different perspective, and it helps her …