Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Renewable Engergy Boom: How Nevada Is Playing A Vital Role In The Growth Market, Kathleen M. Drakulich

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas.

Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

Energy Conservation Opportunities In The Hotel And Casino Sector, Eric Dominguez

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas.

Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

Dri’S Green Power Program And Renewable Energy Center, Kent Hoekman

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas.

Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

Solar Generations, Larry Burton

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas.

Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

Nellis Afb Photovoltaic Array, Michelle Price

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas.

Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

Projects Of The Center For Energy Research, Robert F. Boehm

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas. Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

Renewable Energy - The Future Is Now, Thomas Fair

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas.

Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

2007 Symposium Schedule, University Of Nevada Las Vegas

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas.

Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

Photos From The 2007 Symposium, University Of Nevada Las Vegas

UNLV Renewable Energy Symposium

This inaugural event is dedicated to showcasing the renewable/sustainable energy projects of UNLV faculty, staff, students, and collaborators, as well as other external projects underway statewide and nationally. The development and utilization of new technologies to protect the environment, achieve energy independence, and strengthen the economy will be explored. Speakers and poster-session presenters will provide further insight to many ongoing projects and innovative research ideas. Organized by UNLV’s Office of Strategic Energy Programs, the event offers participants the opportunity to learn about energy projects and will encourage networking and collaboration. This symposium is intended for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, …

Session 11 - Radioactive Dispersion Devices (Rdd): What Are The Odds?, Dennis Bechtel

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Since the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 there has been apprehension that the United States may be ill-prepared to prevent future terrorist events. One source of concern is that a Radioactive Dispersion Device (RDD) could be detonated at a vulnerable target anywhere in the nation. A RDD, also known as a “dirty bomb, is a conventional explosive packed with radioactive material. The explosion could disperse radioactive material over a wide area. The target could be an icon associated with American democracy and government, critical systems and infrastructure, a water supply, a nuclear power plant and others. Such an event …

Session 9 - The Century Of Living Dangerously, Part Ii: Confronting Uncertainty, R. J. Bogumil

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) methodological limitations as well as environmental application-specific features confound much needed objective analysis and hope for equitable remediation of anthropogenic climate change. Issues addressed include: risk subjectivism, the difficulty of mathematical and computer model prediction-validity assessment associated with chaotic system dynamics, as well as standards of scholarship and the obstacle to societal reform posed by commercial, consumer-driven mass-media journalism.

Session 7 - A Comparative Geographic Analysis Of The Impact Of Scale On Hazards And Vulnerability In Industrialized Continental Lands And Small Pacific Islands, William J. Smith Jr.

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Geography, specifically scale, has significant impacts in terms of hazards and vulnerability. Small islands, such as those found in the Pacific, experience the impacts of their relatively unique geography and scale in terms of hazards and vulnerability in at least five ways: 1) Perception and communication; 2) Impact and escape from impact; 3) Technology; 4) Recovery; and 5) Socio-environmental justice. Comparative analysis in these five areas between the Pacific’s small islands and industrialized continental regions illuminates differences regarding the way hazards and vulnerability should be conceptualized in the under-treated small islands of the world. Lessons from this analysis will aid …

Session 7 - Technology And The Creation Of Wilderness: The Making Of Quabbin Reservoir, Timothy J. Farnham

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Large dams in the United States have frequently been the targets of attacks by environmentalists who believe that the dams and the reservoirs they create are violations of wilderness. There are currently numerous proposals to dismantle some dams in order to restore river ecosystems to their pre-dam conditions, including Hetch Hetchy Reservoir’s O’ Shaunnessy Dam. Less attention has been paid to those dams and reservoirs that have arguably created protected areas that otherwise may have been subject to degradation from development. The Quabbin Reservoir, the primary water source for metropolitan Boston, serves as a prime example. Viewed as an engineering …

Session 6 - The National Environmental Policy Act (Nepa): Is It All That It Can Be? The Case For Evaluating Stigma Effects, Dennis Bechtel

International Symposium on Technology and Society

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) has long been regarded as the“Magna Carta” of environmental policy legislation. The government in implementing its requirements on NEPA is required to evaluate potential environmental impacts from “significant” projects, to examine alternatives to proposed actions, and to enable the public to provide meaningful input to decision-makers. Despite the significance of NEPA there is evidence to suggest that environmental impact analyses may in fact be understating potential negative effects to citizens and communities. In particular potential impacts associated with stigma have been almost universally ignored in documents prepared under NEPA. The proposed high-level nuclear waste …

Session 2 - Societal-Consciousness In The Computing Curricula: A Time For Serious Introspection, Daniel Moix, Srini Ramaswamy

International Symposium on Technology and Society

This paper addresses the growing need for inculcating appropriate ethics within the computing curriculum by fostering the development of a societally-conscious ethical framework among our students to address the use of information technology vis-à-vis government, business and society. We propose a new integrated model based approach (IDEA) and suggest its adoption to encourage students on reflecting upon the social and ethical ramifications of technology, beyond the narrow, project focused tunnel vision that currently (subliminally) exists in many computing curricula, and in particular, in today’s profit-focused, consulting and contract-based software industry.

Session 1 - Cold War Technoscience In Nevada: The Nevada Test Site Oral History Project, Mary Palevsky

International Symposium on Technology and Society

During the Cold War, the United States conducted over 1000 nuclear weapons tests. Of those, 928 took place at the Nevada Test Site (NTS). One hundred tests were in the atmosphere and 921 underground at the 1375 square mile site located 65 north of Las Vegas. Nevada Test Site Oral History Project (NTSOHP) researchers have conducted over 300 hours of interviews with individuals affiliated with and impacted by the NTS, documenting the diversity of experience among many communities of voices including: weapons scientists, test site officials, laborers, contractors and support personnel, the military, American Indians, communities downwind of the NTS, …

Session 1 - Rationalizing The Home Front: The Cold War, The Nevada Test Site, And Radiation Exposure, Leisl A. Carr

International Symposium on Technology and Society

Beginning in 1953, radiation exposure and its effects became a hotly contested issue between the government, members of communities surrounding the Nevada Test Site (NTS), and researchers within the national scientific community. The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), concerned about maintaining a continental testing facility and aware that atomic testing would impact communities surrounding the NTS, sent representatives to areas potentially affected by fallout to instruct and reassure the affected public. How government officials perceived neighboring communities and how these communities perceived these representatives of the government often determined public responses to the atomic testing program. The story of radiation monitors …

Spectral Procedures Enhance The Analysis Of Three Agricultural Time Series, D. Meek, J. Prueger, M. Tomer, R. Malone

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Many agricultural and environmental variables are influenced by cyclic processes that occur naturally. Consequently their time series often have cyclic behavior. This study develops time series models for three different phenomena: (1) a 60 year-long state annual average crop yield record, (2) a four year-long daily stream flow record with values aggregated to weekly averages, and (3) a half-hour long wind speed record sampled at 10 hertz with values aggregated to 0.5 min averages. Trend tests, simple high pass filtering, and spectral analysis on original and detrended and residual data series are used to guide model development. Next, as a …

Sample Size Determination In Animal Health Studies, Zhanglin Cui, Alan G. Zimmermann, Daniel H. Mowrey

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Oftentimes in animal health studies, a treatment group is randomly assigned to a pen of animals, and the pen of animals as a whole is treated (fed the same medicated feed or water) together. In this scenario, the pen of animals is the experimental unit and the individual animal may be an observational unit. In addition to having the pen as the experimental unit, if multiple sites are used and site is treated as a random factor, this adds complexity to the study. To properly design the study, it is necessary to determine the number of animals in a pen, …

Using A Nonlinear Crossed Random Effects Model With Three-Way Treatment Structure For Describing Circadian Patterns Of Serum Prolactin Concentrations In Heat Stressed Holsteins, M. Zhou, A. M. Parkhurst, B. C. Pollard, R. J. Collier

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

A modified Gaussian model with three-level crossed and nested random effects is used to describe circadian patterns of serum prolactin concentrations in a crossover experiment. Testing of three-way treatment effects and carryover effects are incorporated with the model building process as is the within-group correlation. We found that the interaction between environment and parity had significant effect (p<0.05) on both initial serum prolactin concentration and range of the prolactin concentration. There was no significant effect of recombinant bovine somatotropin (rbST) on either the initial value or concentration of serum prolactin. The inclusion of carryover effects in the model significantly improves the fit of the multilevel nonlinear mixed effects model. We present in detail a general approach to nonlinear crossed random effects model building and three-way treatment effects testing.

Using Nonlinear Fixed And Mixed Models With Switching Functions To Allow For Hormesis In Growth Of Escherichia Coli, C. Tu, A. M. Parkhurst, L. M. Durso, R. W. Hutkins

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Individual Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains can be characterized by measuring growth rate. Strains better adapted to the environment are expected to grow faster. Classic bacterial growth curves display an increase in optical density over time. In this paper, we use the logistic function to model growth in optical density of E. coli over time. We examine 16 curves for 8 E. coli strains originally isolated from cattle and found many curves have a paradoxical dip at the beginning that is indicative of hormesis (an initial contrarian response showing, stimulation or suppression of growth). We examine several switching functions that …

Tolerance Intervals For Gene Flow Rates From Transgenic To Non-Transgenic Wheat And Corn Using A Logistic Regression Model With Random Location Effects, Samuel Broderick, Phillip Chapman, Patrick Byrne, Todd Gaines

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Crop scientists and government regulators are interested in mediating pollen flow from transgenic crops to other crops and weed species. To this end, a multi-year, multilocation series of experiments was conducted in eastern Colorado by the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Colorado State University. These experiments were done to estimate the distance required between plots of transgenic corn and wheat and plots of the respective non-transgenic crop to obtain at most a regulated limit of cross-pollination. The experiments involved planting a rectangle of transgenic crop in the middle of a non-transgenic field and measuring the proportion of cross-pollinated …

Adjusting Population Estimates For Genotyping Error In Non-Invasive Dna-Based Mark-Recapture Experiments, Shannon M. Knapp, Bruce A. Craig

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

DNA from non-invasive sources is increasingly being used as molecular tags for markrecapture population estimation. These sources, however, provide small quantities of often contaminated DNA, which can lead to genotyping errors that will bias the population estimate. We describe a novel approach, called Genotyping Uncertainty Added Variance Adjustment (GUAVA), to address this problem. GUAVA incorporates an explicit model of genotyping error to generate a distribution of complete-information capture histories that is used to estimate the population size. This approach both reduces the genotyping-error bias and incorporates the additional uncertainty due to genotyping error into the variance of the estimate. We …

Selection Of Blocked Two-Level Fractional Factorial Designs For Agricultural Experiments, Weiming Ke, Cuirong Ren, Huitian Lu

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Blocked two-level fractional factorial designs are a very useful tool for efficient data collection in agricultural and other scientific research. In most experiments, in addition to the main effects, some two-factor interactions are also meaningful and need to be estimated. We propose a method for efficiently selecting blocked two-level fractional factorial designs when some of the two-factor interactions are non-negligible. We then present some results for a design with only 8 or 16 runs to illustrate how to use this method.

Specifications Of A Prototype Software System For Developing Variable-Rate Treatment Prescriptions For Use In Precision Agriculture, Kevin S. Mccarter, Eugene Burris, George A. Milliken, Ernest L. Clawson, Hoi Yee Wong, Jeffrey L. Willers

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

This paper discusses the process of developing variable-rate treatment prescriptions and gives specifications for a prototype software system for implementing that process. The process is based on statistical analysis of data from embedded field trials, and incorporates producer preferences in determining a treatment prescription. The system can be used by researchers in agricultural research stations for developing prescriptions for commercial agricultural producers. The specifications provided are general enough to be implemented using a variety of statistical and database packages that are available to researchers. In addition to these specifications we provide online access to source code for implementing the system …

Using The Cumulative-Size Mechanistic Model For Analyzing Insect Data, T. I. Matis, J. H. Matis, G .J. Michels Jr., M. N. Parajulee

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Two data sets of aphid abundance are analyzed using a new cumulative-size based mechanistic model. The first data set pertains to the cotton aphid, and its analysis demonstrates the power of the mechanistic model-based approach. The second data set pertains to greenbug populations, and its analysis shows the key role that birth and death rate coefficients may play in predicting the peak and the cumulative population sizes.

Alternative Estimation Techniques For Assessing Probability Of Frost Damage In Subalpine Fir Trees, William J. Price, Bahman Shafii, Danny L. Barney

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa var. lasiocarpa) is commonly used for nursery stock and Christmas tree applications. Spring frost damage to new buds, however, can jeopardize the longterm investment of growers and reduce the quality of the resulting fir trees. Hence, it is important to evaluate the risk of frost damage when considering prospective growing sites. A prediction model for bud development based on heat units can be used in conjunction with historical climate data to assess the likelihood of frost damage. That is, given the probability of a frost event at a given location and time, and the corresponding probability …

Tridimensional Regression, Kendra Schmid, David Marx, Ashok Samal

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Shape analysis is useful for a wide variety of disciplines and has many applications. There are many different approaches to shape analysis, one of which focuses on the analysis of shapes that are represented by the coordinates of predefined landmarks on the object. This paper introduces Tridimensional Regression, a technique that can be used for mapping images and shapes that are represented by sets of three-dimensional landmark coordinates. The degree of similarity between shapes can be quantified using the tridimensional coefficient of determination (R²). An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of this technique to correctly match …

Editor's Preface And Table Of Contents, John E. Boyer Jr.

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

These proceedings contain papers presented in the nineteenth annual Kansas State University Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture, held in Manhattan, Kansas, April 27-May 1, 2007.

Textbooks For Computer Forensic Courses: A Preliminary Study, Jigang Liu, Larry Gottschalk, Kuodi Jian

Annual ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law

As computer forensics develops into one of the fastest-growing areas in the computer related fields, many universities and colleges are offering or are planning to offer a course in computer forensics. When instructors begin to develop a new course in the area, one of critical questions they would ask is what textbook should be used. To better answer the question, we conducted a study in which we tried to find which textbooks are being used in computer forensic courses. We believe that the results and analysis of our study will help instructors in choosing adequate textbooks for their new course …