Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Phase I Dose-Escalation Trial Of Intravaginal Curcumin In Women For Cervical Dysplasia, Leda Gattoc, Paula M. Frew, Shontell N. Thomas, Kirk A. Easley, Laura Ward, H-H Sherry Chow, Chiemi A. Ura, Lisa Flowers

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background: This is a Phase I trial demonstrating safety and tolerability of intravaginal curcumin for future use in women with cervical neoplasia. Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of intravaginal curcumin in healthy women. Study design: We conducted a 3+3 dose-escalation Phase I trial in a group of women aged 18–45 years. Thirteen subjects were given one of four doses of curcumin powder (500 mg, 1,000 mg, 1,500 mg, and 2,000 mg) packed in gelatin capsules, which was administered intravaginally daily for 14 days. The primary end point for this study was …

College Of Engineering Senior Design Competition Fall 2016, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

Fred and Harriet Cox Senior Design Competition Projects

Part of every UNLV engineering student’s academic experience, the senior design project stimulates engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. Each student in their senior year chooses, plans, designs, and prototypes a product in this required element of the curriculum. A capstone to the student’s educational career, the senior design project encourages the student to use everything learned in the engineering program to create a practical, real world solution to an engineering challenge. The senior design competition helps focus the senior students in increasing the quality and potential for commercial application for their design projects. Judges from local industry evaluate the projects on …

Vulnerability Analysis And Security Framework For Zigbee Communication In Iot, Charbel Azzi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Securing IoT (Internet of Things) systems in general, regardless of the communication technology used, has been the concern of many researchers and private companies. As for ZigBee security concerns, much research and many experiments have been conducted to better predict the nature of potential security threats. In this research we are addressing several ZigBee vulnerabilities by performing first hand experiments and attack simulations on ZigBee protocol. This will allow us to better understand the security issues surveyed and find ways to mitigate them. Based on the attack simulations performed and the survey conducted, we have developed a ZigBee IoT framework …

Determining The Effects Of The Think Risk Initiative As Implemented By The Southern Nevada Health District, Karalin Nichole Cronkhite

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the United States, someone becomes infected with a foodborne illness every 2 seconds, is hospitalized by a foodborne illness every 4 minutes and dies due to a foodborne illness every 3 hours. Foodborne illness is preventable, yet each year, 1 in 6 Americans is affected by it from contaminated foods or beverages. There are over 250 different foodborne diseases, and in 2015, there were 73 confirmed cases of Salmonella infection in Southern Nevada alone. Since the emergence of public health, food establishment inspections have been an important part of the regulation of food safety. Risk-based inspections were developed by …

Improvement Of Security In Uas Communication And Navigation Using Ads-B, Vedadatta Gouripeddi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this thesis, we congregate the security threats on UAS and suggest solutions using ADS-B device. UAS ground and intercommunication is prone to availability, confidentiality and integrity attacks. UAS communication has three layered wireless Ad-Hock network which comprises of Complex group key exchange. Loss of one layer in the Ad-hock network leads to a complete loss of communication in the network. Current UAS navigation methods include complete reliance on on-board sensors, radars and GPS. This research proposes solutions for UAS communication, navigation and collision avoidance using ADS-B. ADS-B acts as a back-up when there is a loss in any one …

Acoustic Detection, Source Separation, And Classification Algorithms For Unmanned Aerial Vehicles In Wildlife Monitoring And Poaching, Carlo Lopez-Tello

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This work focuses on the problem of acoustic detection, source separation, and classification under noisy conditions. The goal of this work is to develop a system that is able to detect poachers and animals in the wild by using microphones mounted on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The classes of signals used to detect wildlife and poachers include: mammals, birds, vehicles and firearms. The noise signals under consideration include: colored noises, UAV propeller and wind noises.

The system consists of three sub-systems: source separation (SS), signal detection, and signal classification. Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) is used for source separation, and random …

From Access To Excess: Agribusiness, Federal Water Programs, And The Historical Roots Of The California Water Crisis, Tracy Marie Neblina

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this paper is to show the link between water use, land consolidation, agribusinesses, and the water crisis that California began to experience in 2011. In order to better understand the relationship between the growth of agribusiness in the state and the evolution of water policy, this paper explores the historical context of land policy, the growth of farming in the San Joaquin Valley, and the development of federally funded water projects in the Central Valley. Years of expanding farmland and use of surface and underground water with limited regulation played an important role in exacerbating California’s water …

A Case Study On Enterprise Content Management Using Agile Methodology, Rohit Raj

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Every organization has the need to create, classify, manage and archive information so that it is accessible when they need it. The amount of data or information needed for an organization to build their business and for them to be more positive in today’s business world is increasing exponentially, which also includes unstructured data or unstructured content. It is not appropriate only to “manage” content, but whether the correct version of the data or document or record can be accessed. Enterprise Content Management is an efficient collection and planning of information that is to be used by a very particular …

Analyses Of Streamflow Change Patterns And Correlation Of These Changes With Sea-Surface Temperature Fluctuations, Kazi Ali Tamaddun

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis presents a comprehensive statistical analysis that determines the direction, rate, and interval of significant streamflow change patterns in the continental U.S. and correlates these changes with sea-surface temperature fluctuations. First, by using two non-parametric tests, namely, the Mann-Kendall trend test and the Pettitt’s test, the presence of long-term trends and abrupt shifts were determined at 10% significance level over continuously adjustable periods that stretched from 1903 to 2012. Modified versions of the tests were applied to account for the presence of persistence (autocorrelation) in data. Theil-Sen slope was determined to evaluate the rate of change across multiple temporal …

Structuring A Risk-Based Bioassay Program For Uranium Usage In University Laboratories, Johnne' Talia Dawson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bioassay programs are integral in a radiation safety program. They are used as a method of determining whether individuals working with radioactive material have been exposed and have received a resulting dose. For radionuclides that are not found in nature, determining an exposure is straightforward. However, for a naturally occurring radionuclide like uranium, it is not as straightforward to determine whether a dose is the result of an occupational exposure. The purpose of this project is to address this issue within the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’s (UNLV) bioassay program. This project consisted of two components that studied the effectiveness …

Simulation Of Online Bin Packing In Practice, Kalpana Rajagopal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The bin packing problem requires packing a set of objects into a finite number of bins of fixed capacity in a way that minimizes the number of bins used. We consider the online version of the problem where items arrive over tine and a decision has to be made as soon as an element is available. Online algorithms can be analyzed in terms of competitiveness, a measure of performance that compares the solution obtained online with the optimal offline solution for the same problem, where the lowest possible competitiveness is best. Online processing is difficult due to the fact that …

Estimation And Comparison Of Thermoelectric And Pv Solar Water Usage In The Colorado River Basin States, Yuzhen Feng

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the continual expansion of populations in the arid Southwest, energy demands will continue to rise. On the other hand, depleting water levels in reservoirs of the Colorado River Basin is expected to continue as more intense and frequent drought events persist in addition to the rapid development in the region. Currently, the three largest water-use categories in the United States are thermoelectric energy, irrigation, and municipal water, which cumulatively account for 90 percent of the national water use. In the Southwest, most of the total electricity generated is still through thermoelectric means. That is, massive amounts of water are …

Characterizing Crystal Populations For The Petrogenesis Of The Post-Collapse Rhyolites In The Long Valley Caldera, California, William Joseph

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Post-collapse rhyolites of the Long Valley in eastern California are the product of remelting of crystal mush bodies via mafic rejuvenation following the eruption of the Bishop Tuff. This is supported by mineral textures and major element geochemistry from the Resurgent Dome rhyolite, the Moat rhyolite, the Hot Creek Flow, and the Deer Mountain rhyolite. New 40Ar/39Ar eruptive ages are reported for the Moat rhyolites (525 ka, 333 ka, 118 – 94 ka), Hot Creek Flow (312 – 295 ka), and the Deer Mountain rhyolite (65 ka). The initial post-collapse eruptions, resulting in the Resurgent Dome rhyolite, appear to be …

Stationary Nonimaging Concentrators – A Comprehensive Study And Design Improvements, Srikanth Madala

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Most places on our planet receive an annual average radiation between 800-1000 W/m2. In the man-made world, this radiation is largely incident on stationary structures such as buildings, roads, monuments, bridges etc. Moreover, in the natural world also, there are large tracts of barren land which can be put to good use given their solar energy potential. The vision of the current research is to concentrate all this available solar energy to a more readily usable form. Therefore, stationary nonimaging solar concentrator technologies are sought after. This dissertation work is an exhaustive research on the nonimaging concentrating mechanisms with stationary …

Interference Effects Of Urban Rubble On The Radioanalytical Analysis Of Strontium, Derek Roger Mclain

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Most current radioanalytical protocols have been developed for the analysis of air, water, soil and bioassay samples. While these protocols build the foundation of operational environmental monitoring, they are not necessarily suitable for the analysis of samples that will be encountered in the aftermath of a nuclear incident. In such a situation, it will be important to characterize the isotopes of interest present in the affected area to obtain signatures for nuclear forensics and ensure the appropriate response. Specifically, this research is aimed at the determination of strontium-90 and its separation from zirconium-90 in a post-detonation situation.

Strontium-90’s relatively long …

Canovas Canyon Rhyolites, Jemez Volcanic Field, New Mexico: Discrete Source Magmas, Or A Potential Caldera Forming Magma System?, Penelope Marie Padmore

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Jemez volcanic field (JVF), New Mexico, is a caldera-forming volcanic field located at the junction of the Rio Grande Rift and the Jemez Lineament. The JVF is one of three large North American caldera-forming systems, including Long Valley, California and Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field, Wyoming, which have been active during the Quaternary. Because portions of the JVF are unusually well preserved, it offers a rare opportunity to study how such systems develop. Insight into the history of caldera-forming systems will contribute to the understanding of their potential future behavior. In the case of Yellowstone and Long Valley, that insight …

Enhancing The Draft Assembly With Minhash, Saju Varghese

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this thesis, we report on the use of minhash techniques to improve the draft assembly of a genome mapping. More specifically, we use minhash to compare the scaffolds of sea urchin and sea cucumber genomes.

One of the main contributions of this thesis is the implementation of minhash with the Message Passing Interface (MPI) utilizing Intel Phi co-processors. It is shown that our implementation significantly reduces the processing time for identification of k-mer similarities.

Statistical Inference Of Genetic Forces Using A Poisson Random Field Model With Non-Constant Population Size, Jianbo Xu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The fidelity of DNA sequence data makes it a perfect platform for quantitatively analyzing and interpreting evolutionary progress. By comparing the information between intraspecific polymorphism with interspecific divergence in two sibling species, the well established Poisson Random Field theory offers a statistical framework with which various genetic parameters such as natural selection intensity, mutation rate and speciation time can be effectively estimated. A recently developed time-inhomogeneous PRF model has reinforced the original method by removing the assumption of stationary site frequency, but it preserves the condition that the two sibling species share same effective population size with their ancestral species. …

Novel Non-Blocking Approach For A Concurrent Heap, Rashmi Niyolia

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

We present a non-blocking algorithm for a concurrent heap in asynchronous shared memory multiprocessors. Processors in these machines often execute instructions at varying speeds and are subject to arbitrarily long delays. Our implementation supports Non-blocking Insert, Delete, and Find-Min operations on a heap. Non-blocking techniques avoid the drawbacks associated with mutual exclusion and also admit improved parallelism. Insert and DeleteMin operations in heap take more than one atomic instruction to complete, thus, it is possible that a new operation may be started before the previous one completes, leaving heap inconsistent between operations. We have represented heap as an array of …

Assessing A Potential Paleothermal Anomaly Near A Salt Wall Using (U-Th)/He Thermochronology And Silica Cementation Analysis, Onion Creek, Utah, Richard Gregory Ness

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Onion Creek salt wall in Fisher Valley, Utah is an exposed salt structure that lies adjacent to sandstones of the Permian age Cutler Group. The thermal conductivity of salt is two to four times greater than other sedimentary rocks and has been shown to act as a regional conduit for heat flow which has implications for petroleum systems in hydrocarbon exploration. Numerical models predict that thermal anomalies should extend 1.5 times the radius of a salt structure into adjacent strata. I hypothesized that an elevated paleothermal anomaly exists in sandstones of the Cutler Group where they are located near …

Structural Behavior Of Nbsexte2-X Superconductors Under High Pressure, Vahe Mkrtchyan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Niobium chalcogenide compounds have recently gained a great deal of interest due to the fact that a superconducting phase coexists with the charge density wave state (CDW), as well as their potential for numerous applications. Two superconducting compositions, NbSexTe2-x (x=2, 1.5) were prepared by solid state route using high purity Nb, Se, and Te powders. Powder X-ray diffraction patterns collected at ambient conditions for NbSe2 and NbSe1.5Te0.5 showed a single phase with hexagonal crystal structure, with space group P63mmc. High-pressure X-ray diffraction measurements were performed at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory to investigate structural stability up to …

The Jvmcsp Runtime And Code Generator For Processj In Java, Cabel Dhoj Shrestha

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The modern day advancements in multi-core technologies require programmers to use the right tools and languages to fully harness their potentials. On that front, our endeavor lies in developing a new multipro- cessing programming language. Concurrent or parallel programs can be hard to get right because of locks, monitors, mutexes, etc. One solution is using a CSP based process-oriented language. Process-oriented programming alleviates many of the problems found in thread and lock programming by proper encapsu- lation of data, explicit synchronous message passing, and the ability to verify code to be free of deadlocks and livelocks by using tools like …

Forcing Cesium Into Higher Oxidation States Via Useful Hard X-Ray Induced Chemistry At Extreme Conditions, Daniel Thomas Sneed

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Recent theoretical work published in Nature Chemistry postulates the existence of cesium in high oxidation states when bonding with fluorine. It is thus predicted to behave as a p-block element (such as xenon) at pressures above 5 GPa. At these pressures, fluorine atoms may bond with the inner p-shell electrons forming CsFn, where n may vary from 2 up to 6; thus the oxidation state of Cs may change up to 6+. My research focused on physically synthesizing these compounds and to verify that, given the right conditions, bonding doesn't only occur with valence electrons, but with the inner p-shell …

Evaluating The Risk To Ostomy Patients Working With Uranium Using The Icrp Biokinetic Model For The Gastrointestinal Tract, Sara Taylor

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The ICRP has published two biokinetic models providing a basis for radiation dose assessment due toradionuclides incorporated inside the gastrointestinal tract. These models are a sufficient tool to assess the committed dose equivalent for occupational exposures to workers assuming normal anatomy. The colostomy is becoming a more prevalent procedure. A colostomy permanently or temporarily bypasses a portion of colon to allow rest and healing. There are four different colostomies; ascending, transverse, descending and sigmoid and an ileostomy. As a patient’s strength returns, they can return to normal daily activities, including returning to work. Therefore, as an ostomy patient returns to …

Biogeochemistry Of A Saline, Alkaline, Terminal Lake Ecosystem In Transition; Walker Lake, Nevada, Katherine Lynn Willever

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Walker Lake is a saline, alkaline, terminal lake ecosystem located in west-central Nevada. For over one hundred years, anthropogenic streamflow diversions within the Walker River Basin have ultimately led to little or no water reaching Walker Lake, the basin’s terminus for water flow. These diversions have resulted in a >46 meter decrease in the lake surface altitude and increases in salinity and dissolved salt constituents that have caused the elimination of native fish species. This study examines how the lack of freshwater inflow has altered the physical, chemical, and microbiological structure of Walker Lake during the lake’s ongoing desiccation.

Between …

Structural Evolution Of The Maynard Lake Fault Within The Left-Lateral Pahranagat Shear Zone, Nevada, Usa, Mahmud Mustafa Muhammad

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Pahranagat shear zone (PSZ) contains three ENE-striking left-lateral strike-slip faults: The Arrowhead Mine fault (AMF), Buckhorn fault (BF), and Maynard Lake fault (MLF) from north to south. This shear zone lies along the boundary between the northern and central Basin and Range physiographic sub-provinces (NBR-CBR). In addition, this zone is positioned SW of a regional strike-slip zone, the Caliente-Enterprise zone (CEZ), and surrounded by extensional domains with differences in timing and magnitude of extension. Hence, understanding the development of the PSZ, particularly the MLF, is essential to better understanding tectonic evolution of the boundary zone between the northern and …

The San1 Ubiquitin Ligase Functions Preferentially With Ubiquitin-Conjugating Enzyme Ubc1 During Protein Quality Control, Rebeca Lea Ibarra

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Protein quality control (PQC) is a critical process wherein misfolded or damaged proteins are cleared from the cell to maintain protein homeostasis. In eukaryotic cells, the removal of misfolded proteins is primarily accomplished by the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). In the UPS, ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes and ubiquitin ligases append poly-ubiquitin chains onto misfolded protein substrates signaling for their degradation. The kinetics of protein ubiquitylation are paramount since a balance must be achieved between the rapid removal of misfolded proteins versus providing sufficient time for protein chaperones to attempt refolding. To uncover the molecular basis for how PQC substrate ubiquitylation rates are controlled, …

Patterns Of Synorogenic Sedimentation Associated With The Unroofing Of The Willard-Paris-Meade Thrust Sheets, Sevier Fold-Thrust Belt, Amanda Gentry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Willard-Paris-Meade thrust is the oldest and western-most sheet to develop in the Wyoming salient of the Sevier fold-thrust belt. The 10-15 km thick thrust sheet was emplaced ~60 km eastward and included Jurassic-Triassic strata, mixed siliciclastic-carbonate upper Paleozoic strata, carbonate-rich lower Paleozoic strata, and quartzite-rich basal Cambrian to Neoproterozoic strata. Each stratigraphic interval has a distinctive detrital zircon (DZ) age signature, which can be used in provenance analysis of foreland basin fill. The thrust system had a long deformation history recorded by westward thickening and coarsening synorogenic strata. DZ U-Pb geochronology of 27 synorogenic samples collected from two transects …

Incomplete Denitrification In Thermus Species, Chrisabelle Mefferd

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Members the bacterial genus Thermus have been shown to be incomplete denitrifiers, terminating with nitrite or nitrous oxide (N2O). However, the ability to carry out denitrification and the evolution of nitrogen oxide reductase genes in Thermus remains poorly understood. This study tests the hypothesis that incomplete denitrification is common in Thermus and seeks to uncover patterns in the evolution of denitrification pathways in Thermus. Denitrification capacity was determined in a collection of 25 strains representing ten species of Thermus and phylogenetic analysis was performed to determine whether denitrification genes evolved horizontally in Thermus. No strains in this study reduced nitrate …

Novel Pathways To High-Efficiency Chalcopyrite Photovoltaic Devices: A Spectroscopic Investigation Of Alternative Buffer Layers And Alkali-Treated Absorbers, Michelle Mezher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Within the past few years, breakthroughs in Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ (CIGSe) thin-film photovoltaic device efficiencies (on a laboratory scale) were achieved utilizing alkali-treated (KF) absorbers. Na incorporation in the CIGSe absorber, either diffused from the substrate or deliberately deposited, affects the surface electronic properties of the CIGSe absorber. The role of Na, however, is still not fully understood with some studies suggesting that Na also passivates defects at the grain boundaries. Replacing Na with K offered an efficiency boost resulting in KF treatments becoming the new “hot topic” in the chalcopyrite field, both in terms of understanding how the treatment changes …