Digital Commons Network^™

Christianity + Schooling On Nature Versus Culture In Amazonia, Aparecida M. N. Vilaça

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

Based on the analysis of Evangelical Biblical translations, as well as on the school writing of Wari' (Southwestern Amazonia) students, produced in indigenous secondary school classrooms and at the intercultural university, this article aims to show how, in both church and school, a nature separate from humans is invented with which they should relate in a utilitarian and also contemplative way. Simultaneously nature’s opposite is invented–a culture that excludes animals and subjects them.

Cell Velocity Is Asymptotically Independent Of Force: A Differential Equation Model With Random Switching., J. C. Dallon, Emily J. Evans, Christopher P. Grant, William V. Smith

Faculty Publications

Numerical simulations suggest that average velocity of a biological cell depends largely on attachment dynamics and less on the forces exerted by the cell. We determine the relationship between two models of cell motion, one based on finite spring constants modeling attachment properties (a randomly switched differential equation) and a limiting case (a centroid model-a generalized random walk) where spring constants are infinite. We prove the main result of this paper, the Expected Velocity Relationship theorem. This result shows that the expected value of the difference between cell locations in the differential equation model at the initial time and at …

Coulombic And Non-Coulombic Effects Of Single And Overlapping Electric Double Layers With Surface Charge Regulation, Raviteja Vangara

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

The physical origin of charged interfaces involving electrolyte solutions is in the thermodynamic equilibrium between the surface reactive groups and certain dissolved ionic species in the bulk. This equilibrium is very strongly dependent on the precise local density of these species, also known as potential determining ions in the solution. The latter, however, is determined by the overall solution structure, which is dominated by the large number of solvent molecules relative to all solutes. Hence, the solvent contribution to the molecular structure is a crucial factor that determines the properties of electric double layers. Models that explicitly account for the …

Mojave Desert Ecosystem Recovery: Potency Of Biotic And Abiotic Restoration Methods In Low Elevation Plant Communities, Mary Amanda Balogh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The historic and current state of land in the Mojave Desert, including land managed by the National Park Service with fundamental goals of natural resource conservation and preservation, been severely degraded by a variety of anthropogenic disturbances. Due to increasingly sporadic and unpredictable precipitation patterns, land managers struggle to implement restoration projects with high success rates and are resource-limited for post-treatment monitoring. In this study, I examined success rates of biotic (outplanting, seeding) and abiotic (soil manipulation, vertical mulch) restoration treatments on various disturbance types in the creosote-bursage (Larrea tridentata-Ambrosia dumosa), blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima), and Joshua tree woodland (Yucca brevifolia) …

On Muddy Banks: An Ecoethnography Of A River Island Community, Nicholas Baxter

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this study, I examine the relationship between a river and a community. Specifically, I analyze the processes and patterns that organize the nature-society relationship and define the river town of Sabula, IA. To guide my historical and ethnographic analysis, I utilize a co constructionist posture (Rice 2013), which sees culture, community, economy, and physicality as much a product of bio-physical forces as social forces. My aim is to understand how Sabula is conjointly constructed and reveal the nuanced interconnections between human communities and nature through which social and environmental problems play out. My analysis clarifies patterns in residents’ identity …

Zirconium Tetrachloride, Fundamental Chemistry And Nuclear Fuel Cycle, Rosendo Borjas Nevarez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Zirconium alloys are used in the United States as cladding materials in nuclear reactors. The purification of Zr is of relevance due to the large amount of spent nuclear fuel produced every year (2,000 metric tons per year and rising), of which 25% corresponds to radioactive zirconium cladding. Through the recovery and reuse of Zr, estimated savings of $40 million per year are estimated due to the high cost of hafnium-free nuclear grade zirconium, and also due to the minimization of nuclear waste disposal requirements.

Several chemical approaches have been proposed for the recovery and purification of Zr. Historically, a …

Arbitrary High Order Finite Difference Methods With Applications To Wave Propagation Modeled By Maxwell's Equations, Min Chen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation investigates two different mathematical models based on the time-domain Maxwell's equations: the Drude model for metamaterials and an equivalent Berenger's perfectly matched layer (PML) model. We develop both an explicit high order finite difference scheme and a compact implicit scheme to solve both models. We develop a systematic technique to prove stability and error estimate for both schemes. Extensive numerical results supporting our analysis are presented. To our best knowledge, our convergence theory and stability results are novel and provide the first error estimate for the high-order finite difference methods for Maxwell's equations.

The Retrospective Analysis Of Radionuclides In Banded Coral From The Bikini Atoll, Athena Marie Gallardo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Nuclear weapons testing conducted within the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands resulted in local fallout contamination, including long lived isotopes of plutonium (Pu) and uranium (U), within the surrounding environment. The Bikini lagoon provides a continuous source of Pu (239+240Pu) and U (236U) to the Pacific Basin. The rate at which these isotopes are flushed from the lagoon to the ocean is balanced by inputs from remobilization of lagoon sediments. This research will provide a basis for predicting future change in the solubility and export potential of Pu and U in lagoon sediments. This is important to better understand …

Moisture Dynamics Of A Near-Surface Desert Soil, Yuan Luo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Desert soils cover about one third of the Earth’s land surface. Despite their large extent, however, our understanding of desert soil hydraulic processes and properties is still rather limited. In particularly with respect to the near-surface (top centimeters) of the soil profile, which play a critical role for infiltration, redistribution and evapotranspiration of rainwater, the limiting resource for life in desert environments, but also hosts most of the biologic activity and controls runoff, erosion as well as the emission of dust (Nannipieri et al.,2003; Bradford et al.,1987). Additionally, deserts are ideal locations for electricity generation with solar energy using large-scale …

Improving Community College Students' Interest, Utility-Value, And Performance: How Does Future Time Persective Influence A Utility-Value Intervention?, Elsa Maria Mason

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The economic benefits of academic success and completion are long-lasting. Students who attend community colleges can stand to benefit a great deal by completing a 4-year degree or even a 2-year degree. Unfortunately, these students often begin their higher education journey not fully prepared for college-level coursework. Students often fail to see how their college coursework relates to their lives and in turn, don’t hold interest or perceive value for the course and consequently do not perform well. Using Eccles et al. (1983) expectancy-value theory this study tested how community college students would respond to a utility-value intervention in which …

On Algebraic Structures And Automaton For Optimal Computer Network Design And Performance Study, Xiangrong Ma

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For decades, study of computer networks has been concentrated on the use of the well-established OSI or TCP/IP reference models that have found tremendous success in the actual implementation of various network structures and protocols. Lack of theoretical foundation, this implementation-driven, empirical approach, however, is experiencing insurmountable difficulties in delivering, tuning for, and sustaining the promised peak performance of a computer system that is so heavily dependent on the performance of the underline computer networks. This issue is becoming particularly prevalent in today’s cloud-based high-performance computing environment where CPU-time-extensive computation loads need to get distributed among computing machines through high-speed …

A Highly-Sensitive Global-Shutter Cmos Image Sensor With On-Chip Memory For Hundreds Of Kilo-Frames Per Second Scientific Experiments, Konstantinos Moutafis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this work, a highly-sensitive global-shutter CMOS image sensor with on-chip memory that can capture up to 16 frames at speeds higher than 200kfps is presented. The sensor fabricated and tested is a 100 x 100 pixel sensor, and was designed to be expandable to a 1000 x 1000 pixel sensor using the same building blocks and similar architecture.

The heart of the sensor is the pixel. The pixel consists of 11 transistors (11T) and 2 MOSFET capacitors. A 6T front-end is followed by a Correlated Double Sampling (CDS) circuitry that includes 2 capacitors and a reset switch. The 4T …

Sizing A New Bike Sharing System For The University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nesley Orochena

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The strategic planning objectives for a novel Bike Sharing Systems (BSS) are to locate the BSS stations, size the stations, and determine the bicycle fleet size, among others. Current guidelines to design BSS programs are tailored to city centers with large coverage areas and high bicycle to population ratios, and thus not directly transferable to a university setting. An ordered probit model was created using data from a university online stated preference survey to determine the key factors that affect the uptake rates for the UNLV BSS program and to estimate the potential demand. The demand analysis was incorporated into …

Impact Of Design Cost Percentage On Cost Growth, Schedule Growth, And Construction Intensity Of Road Construction Projects, Elina Prajapati

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The performance of construction projects is measured in terms of cost and schedule variation. Studies have identified that such variations are mainly due to design changes, which are more frequent on projects executed through the design-bid-build (DBB) delivery method. Thus, the design factor is identified as one of the major parameters affecting the performance of DBB projects. Despite the majority of road projects being constructed following the DBB method, the impact of design cost on the performance of road projects has not been sufficiently studied yet. Therefore, this study focuses on determining the effect of design cost on the performance …

Carbon Management And Volatile Fatty Acid Production In Primary Clarifiers At A Wastewater Treatment Plant, Brittany Nicole Radke

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

An increasing number of treatment plants are required to remove nutrients from domestic wastewater to lessen the impact of nutrient loading to water bodies. Enhanced Biological Phosphorus Removal (EBPR) is one of the processes commonly used to remove phosphorus from domestic wastewater. The presence of an adequate quantity of volatile fatty acids (VFA) in the wastewater influent to EBPR is important for process efficiency and stability. The objective of this research was to investigate the production of VFAs through fermentation of sludge in primary clarifiers as it related to improving nutrient removal, primarily targeting phosphorus.

The research tested, in full-scale, …

Examination Of Maskelynite Through Static Recompression And Dynamic Compression, Justin James Reppart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This is an experimental study that aims to clarify the possible formation mechanisms of maskelynite. Maskelynite is a diaplectic glass, that forms during shock compression of feldspar far below the melting point, and without fusion. Maskelynite also paramorphises precursor feldspar grains. Maskelynite is an important probe of shock-pressures at terrestrial impact sites and in many meteorites. Two mechanisms of formation of maskelynite are examined here: 1) maskelynite is result of a pressure-induced amorphization of feldspar compressed beyond its mechanical stability where the formation of thermodynamically stable phases is kinetically inhibited [1, 2]. 2) Feldspar transforms upon dynamic compression into a …

Application Of Data-Driven And Process-Based Modeling Approaches For Water Quality Simulation In Lakes And Freshwater Reservoirs, Ali Saber Sichani

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Lakes and freshwater reservoirs often serve as the primary drinking and irrigation water sources for surrounding communities. They provide recreational and tourism opportunities, thereby promoting the prosperity of neighboring communities. Reliable estimates of water quality in lakes and reservoirs can improve management practices to protect water resources.

Seasonal water temperature and solar shortwave radiation variations, and their subsequent interactions with water column aquatic life, combined with seasonal variations of mixing intensity throughout the water column, result in variations of water quality constituents with depth during the annual cycle. The complexity of these variations entails the use of advanced water quality …

Neural Network In Hardware, Jiong Si

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation describes the implementation of several neural networks built on a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and used to recognize a handwritten digit dataset – the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) database. A novel hardwarefriendly activation function called the dynamic ReLU (D-ReLU) function is proposed. This activation function can decrease chip area and power of neural networks when compared to traditional activation functions at no cost to prediction accuracy.

The implementations of three neural networks on FPGA are presented: 2-layer online training fully-connected neural network, 3-layer offline training fully-connected neural network, and two solutions of Super-Skinny …

On The Human Factors Impact Of Polyglot Programming On Programmer Productivity, Phillip Merlin Uesbeck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Polyglot programming is a common practice in modern software development. This practice is often considered useful to create software by allowing developers to use whichever language they consider most well suited for the different parts of their software. Despite this ubiquity of polyglot programming there is no empirical research into how this practice affects software developers and their productivity. In this dissertation, after reviewing the state of the art in programming language and linguistic research pertaining to the topic, this matter is investigated by way of two empirical studies with 109 and 171 participants solving programming tasks. Based on the …

Habitat Selection Of The Spotfin Killifish In Coastal Connecticut, Megan L. Upp

Master's Theses

The Spotfin Killifish (Fundulus luciae) is a salt marsh inhabitant, occupying a habitat subject to change from 1) historic changes from mosquito ditching practices to 2) more contemporary anthropogenic changes from sea level rise and coastal development. Though thought to be a habitat specialist along the Atlantic coast, Spotfin Killifish resource selection has yet to be quantified. Spotfin Killifish presence or absence data was recorded with measured habitat characteristics at sites along a 14 km stretch of coastal Connecticut. Three hypotheses were proposed to create probabilistic models that could predict Spotfin Killifish presence or absence using logistic regression: …

Landscape Scale: Inter- And Intraspecific Variation In Plant Interactions Along A Stress Gradient In The Sheep Range Of Nevada, Jordan Dowell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Impending threats to shrubland ecosystems, posed by climate change, necessitate niche modeling efforts to project vegetation range shifts. However, efforts often remain unguided by individual-scale interspecific plant interactions. The stress gradient hypothesis posits that facilitation should increase in areas of high abiotic stress, only if the individuals are able to ameliorate the surrounding area via functional traits. The Sheep Range of Nevada was used to assess the role of functional traits as predictors of plant association. Larrea tridentata, Coleogyne ramosissima, and Artemisia nova were selected as shrubs with variable life history strategies and ranges in order to identify general patterns …

Consequences Of Math Anxiety And Stereotype Threat: An Intersectional Perspective, Jennifer E. John Buck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Individuals with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills are highly valued for their contribution to the U.S. workforce and society. However, women and some people of color enter STEM fields at lesser rates than do White men. Math anxiety and stereotype threat have been found to cause math performance decrements for women and some people of color. Presently, it is not clear how math anxiety and stereotype threat might work together to dually influence math performance and subsequent STEM participation. The current study focuses on a diverse sample of 295 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to one of …

Utility Of Bench Scale Sand Tank Experiments At Assessing Permeable Reactive Barrier Design, Brandon Meier

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The objective of this work was to evaluate the utility of bench scale sand tank experiments at assessing permeable reactive barrier (PRB) design. Our criteria for meeting this goal was that differences between PRB designs could be identified solely by measuring concentration in outflow from the sand tank models. For our PRB designs (funnel-and-gate, staggered wells, and parallel bars), numerical simulations clearly showed that PRB design had a quantifiable effect on outflow concentration, provided that the solute reacted with the PRB materials. Conversely, use of a conservative (non-reactive) solute did not allow us to discern between PRB design alternatives. Employing …

The Effects Of Background, Classroom Assessment Competence, Self-Efficacy, And Self-Perceived Assessment Skills On Classroom Assessment Practices Of Teachers In India, Manognya Murukutla

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Teacher-conducted assessments are necessary to gather important information to facilitate student learning and academic success. Unfortunately, there is an inconsistency in teacher knowledge of assessment and assessment practices. While previous research identified a gap in teacher competence and teacher perceptions of their competence, and this affects classroom assessment practices that then impact student learning, the research is limited, outdated, and not grounded in any theoretical framework. This study addresses gaps in literature and establishes self-efficacy as a theoretical framework in which classroom assessment can be studied. Data were collected in India, and a path analysis and a Kruskal Wallis non-parametric …

The Timing Of Dynamical Interactions Between Planets In Exoplanetary Systems, David Robert Rice

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

During the late stage of planet formation, a system is often dynamically packed with protoplanets. These bodies collide together and are ejected from the system to form the final planets. The duration of stability before these dynamical interactions occur is dependent on the initial separation of the bodies in a system. Previous works have shown that the time before a planet-planet close encounter is exponential with the initial planet spacing measured in units of mutual Hill radius. We investigate the limitations of these previous studies. We find that systems that are initially similar can have larger differences in stability times …

Pressure Driven Electronic Band Gap Engineering In Tin(Iv)-O,N Compounds, Daniel Thomas Sneed

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The intrinsic link between long-range order, coordination geometry, and the electronic properties of a system must be understood in order to tailor function-specific materials. Although material properties are typically tailored using chemical dopants, such methods can cause irreversible changes to the structure, limiting the range of functionality. The application of high pressure may provide an alternative “clean” method to tune the electronic properties of semiconducting materials by tailoring their defect density and structure.

We have explored a number of optoelectronic relevant materials with promising characteristics, specifically Sn-(O,N) compounds which have been predicted to undergo pressure-mediated opening of their optical band …

Finding A Viable Neural Network Architecture For Use With Upper Limb Prosthetics, Maxwell Lavin

Master of Science in Computer Science Theses

This paper attempts to answer the question of if it’s possible to produce a simple, quick, and accurate neural network for the use in upper-limb prosthetics. Through the implementation of convolutional and artificial neural networks and feature extraction on electromyographic data different possible architectures are examined with regards to processing time, complexity, and accuracy. It is found that the most accurate architecture is a multi-entry categorical cross entropy convolutional neural network with 100% accuracy. The issue is that it is also the slowest method requiring 9 minutes to run. The next best method found was a single-entry binary cross entropy …

Respons Pertumbuhan Tanaman Kelapa Belum Menghasilkan Terhadap Pemberian Air Kelapa Dan Asam Humat, Mira Ariyanti, Santi Rosniawaty, Muhamad Rizky Permana

Jurnal Kultivasi

Kelapa kopyor banyak diminati masyarakat karena memiliki sifat yang unik. namun produktivitas kelapa kopyor masih rendah. Peningkatan pertumbuhan kelapa kopyor belum menghasilkan dapat dilakukan dengan aplikasi zat pengatur tumbuh alami (ZPT) seperti air kelapa yang diaplikasikan langsung pada tanaman dan asam humat sebagai bahan organik untuk meningkatkan kualitas tanah agar dapat sesuai bagi pertanaman kelapa kopyor. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh kombinasi aplikasi air kelapa dan asam humat terbaik terhadap pertumbuhan tanaman kelapa kopyor belum menghasilkan. Penelitian dilaksanakan di Lahan Taman Buah Mekarsari, Cileungsi, Bogor, Jawa Barat, pada bulan Mei 2018-Oktober 2018. Penelitian ini menggunakan tanah berordo Ultisols. Metode …

On Improving Performance Of The Binary Logistic Regression Classifier, Michael Chang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Logistic Regression, being both a predictive and an explanatory method, is one of the most commonly used statistical and machine learning method in almost all disciplines. There are many situations, however, when the accuracies of the fitted model are low for predicting either the success event or the failure event. Several statistical and machine learning approaches exist in the literature to handle these situations. This thesis presents several new approaches to improve the performance of the fitted model, and the proposed methods have been applied to real datasets.

Transformations of predictors is a common approach in fitting multiple linear and …

Characterizing Compact Game Trees, Andrew Dubose

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It is well-known that the body of a game tree of height less than or equal to ω is compact

if and only if the tree is finitely branching. In this thesis, we develop necessary and sufficient

conditions for the body of any game tree to be compact.