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Honors College Theses

Theses/Dissertations

2014

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Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

A Quasi-Classical Logic For Classical Mathematics, Henry Nikogosyan Nov 2014

A Quasi-Classical Logic For Classical Mathematics, Henry Nikogosyan

Honors College Theses

Classical mathematics is a form of mathematics that has a large range of application; however, its application has boundaries. In this paper, I show that Sperber and Wilson’s concept of relevance can demarcate classical mathematics’ range of applicability by demarcating classical logic’s range of applicability. Furthermore, I introduce how to systematize Sperber and Wilson’s concept of relevance into a quasi-classical logic that can explain classical logic’s and classical mathematics’ range of applicability.

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Water Use On The Las Vegas Strip: Assessment And Suggestions For Conservation, Suzanne H. Trabia May 2014

Water Use On The Las Vegas Strip: Assessment And Suggestions For Conservation, Suzanne H. Trabia

Honors College Theses

Due to stresses on the water supply in southern Nevada, which include an average of three million tourists per month and an ongoing drought since the year 2000, water conservation is imperative in order to sustain the growing urban area of Las Vegas. The purpose of this study is to assess water use in fourteen casinos on and off the Las Vegas Strip (the main boulevard of the largest casinos in Las Vegas) in order to suggest approaches for water conservation, such as reducing, reusing, and modifying the current system. Since data on water consumption is not publicly available, five …

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Calculator Usage In Secondary Level Classrooms: The Ongoing Debate, Nicole Plummer May 2014

Calculator Usage In Secondary Level Classrooms: The Ongoing Debate, Nicole Plummer

Honors College Theses

With technology becoming more prevalent every day, it is imperative that students gain enough experience with different technological tools in order to be successful in the “real-world”. This thesis will discuss the debate and overall support for an increased usage of calculators as tools in the secondary level classroom. When the idea of calculators in the classroom first came to life, many educators were very apprehensive and quite hesitant of this change. Unfortunately, more than 40 years later, there is still hesitation for their usage; and rightfully so. While there are plenty of advantages of calculator use in the classroom, …

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Initial Characterization Of A Conserved Active Site Residue For The Cdc34 Ubiquitin Conjugating Enzyme, Arvin Akoopie May 2014

Initial Characterization Of A Conserved Active Site Residue For The Cdc34 Ubiquitin Conjugating Enzyme, Arvin Akoopie

Honors College Theses

Ubiquitin-conjugating enzymes (E2s) covalently modify protein substrates with ubiquitins. The active site cysteine residues on E2s are essential for catalyzing the transfer of ubiquitin from the E2 active site onto the protein substrate, however there is a limited amount of information available concerning additional active site residues for E2s that may also participate in catalysis. Cdc34 is an essential E2 that has merited the lion’s share of attention for biochemical analysis of the E2 family. Previous phylogenetic analysis of Cdc34 amino acid sequences has identified an invariably conserved histidine residue close to the active site cysteine in the primary structure, …

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The Construction And Characterization Of A Magneto-Optical Trap For Rubidium-87 And Electromagnetically-Induced Transparency In Rubidium-87 In A Vapor Cell, Yu Liu May 2014

The Construction And Characterization Of A Magneto-Optical Trap For Rubidium-87 And Electromagnetically-Induced Transparency In Rubidium-87 In A Vapor Cell, Yu Liu

Honors College Theses

Recent years have observed fast developments in neutral atomic vapor based quantum information storage technology. The technique utilizes light fields in the optical wavelength region as signal carrier and retriever and neutral atomic systems (e.g. single atoms, ensembles of atoms, atom-like defects in solids) as storage media. Photons are robust carriers of information due to their high velocity (c = 2.998 x 108 m/s) and ease of transportation (they propagate rectilinearly with low loss). Their high mobility, however, makes it a challenging task to spatially localize and therefore store them. Atoms (or atom-like systems), on the other hand, can …

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Polyethylene Glycol Containing Rompolymers For The Modification Of Neuro-Protective Hemoglobin, Andrea L. Mccollum Apr 2014

Polyethylene Glycol Containing Rompolymers For The Modification Of Neuro-Protective Hemoglobin, Andrea L. Mccollum

Honors College Theses

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) has shown the ability to improve compatibility when used in combination with cell-free hemoglobin in the treatment of traumatic brain injuries. It has been demonstrated that the covalently bonded PEG increases the hydrodynamic radius of the hemoglobin and hence generates a physical barrier while slowing down the oxygen delivery of the strongly oxidative hemoglobin. In this context, I have been working on the development of synthetic pathways to incorporate PEG into monomers and polymers through both direct modification of (7-oxa)norbornene derivatives and post polymerization modification. Starting from the (7-oxa)norbornene anhydride derivatives, we have developed pathways to cationic …

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Dipole Bound Excited States Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Containing Nitrogen And Their Relation To The Interstellar Medium, Mallory L. Theis Apr 2014

Dipole Bound Excited States Of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Containing Nitrogen And Their Relation To The Interstellar Medium, Mallory L. Theis

Honors College Theses

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are the most abundant type of molecule present in the interstellar medium (ISM). It has been hypothesized that nitrogen replacement within a ring is likely for PAHs present in the ISM. Additionally, electrons, protons, and hydrogen atoms are readily added to or removed from PAHs creating a truly diverse set of chemistries in various interstellar regions. The presence of a nitrogen within a PAH (called a PANH herein) that is additionally dehydrogenated leads to a neutral radical with a large dipole moment. It has recently been shown through the use of high-level quantum chemical computations for …

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Detection Of Heavy Transition Metal Cations Using Novel Chemosensors, Shannon Rhodes Apr 2014

Detection Of Heavy Transition Metal Cations Using Novel Chemosensors, Shannon Rhodes

Honors College Theses

Transition metals (TM) are found in the environment and living systems. When present in excess, these metals can trigger health problems, which include memory loss and cognitive functions. In this project, commercially-available compounds were used to aid in the making of novel mono- and di-triazole molecular sensors with a well-known reaction called “click chemistry”. These sensors were used efficiently and selectively to attract a specific metal like iron III, copper, and zinc. Six sensors were tested via UV-spectroscopy, NMR, and fluorescence with the cations and selectivity increased as the sensors were altered.

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Analysis Of Resource Allocation Through Game Theory, Brittney L. Benzio Apr 2014

Analysis Of Resource Allocation Through Game Theory, Brittney L. Benzio

Honors College Theses

Game theory presents a set of decision-makers in a model in order to simulate how they will interact according to a set of rules. The game is set up with a set of players, actions, and preferences. The model allows each player to, in some way, be affected by the actions of all players. Nash equilibrium illustrates that the best action for any given player depends on the other players’ actions, and so, each player must make some assumption about what the competition will do. The goal of this project is to model situations of different car companies to improve …

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Photodynamic Cancer Therapy A Study Of The Photolysis Reaction Between Porphyrin And 9,10-Diphenylanthracene, James Z. Akins Apr 2014

Photodynamic Cancer Therapy A Study Of The Photolysis Reaction Between Porphyrin And 9,10-Diphenylanthracene, James Z. Akins

Honors College Theses

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a method of combating cancerous tumors. PDT works when certain molecules called photosensitizers absorb light and transfer that energy to dissolved oxygen in solution. Next, this singlet oxygen will interfere with nearby molecules that are necessary for cancer cells to function. This research focuses on the kinetics (rates) of the reaction with respect to the photosensitizer, light, and the target molecule. A laser set at 514nm was used in photolysis with the photosensitizer 5,10,15,20-Tetrakis(2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl)porphyrin (TPP). To mimic cancer cells and monitor the effectiveness of the chosen photosensitizer, 9,10-Diphenylanthracene (DPA) was used as the target molecule. In …

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