Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Age And Petrogenesis Of The Roaring Mountain Rhyolites, Yellowstone Volcanic Field, Wyoming, Kathleen Marie Wooton

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Extracaldera rhyolites in the Norris-Mammoth Corridor of the Yellowstone Volcanic Field (YVF) appear to be unrelated to intracaldera volcanism, resulting instead from a new crustal magma source derived from northeastward propagation of the Yellowstone “melting anomaly.” The youngest extracaldera rhyolite unit, the Roaring Mountain Member (RM), is chemically distinct from the previous extracaldera lavas, reverting to more primitive compositions.

This study suggests that the majority of the RM rhyolites erupted from the same large-scale silicic magma system. Based on geochemistry and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, the Crystal Spring mingled rhyolite and Obsidian Cliff rhyolite erupted concurrently at 59.1 ± 2.0 ka. The …

Pattern Extraction From The World Wide Web, Praveena Mettu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The World Wide Web is a source of huge amount of unlabeled information spread across different sources in varied formats. This presents us with both opportunities and challenges in leveraging such large amount of unstructured data to build knowledge bases and to extract relevant information.

As part of this thesis, a semi-supervised logistic regression model called “Dual Iterative Pattern Relation Extraction” proposed by Sergey Brin is selected for further investigation. DIPRE presents a technique which exploits the duality between sets of patterns and relations to grow the target relation starting from a small sample.

This project built in JAVA using …

Self-Stabilizing Group Membership Protocol, Mahesh Subedi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In this thesis, we consider the problem of partitioning a network into groups of bounded diameter.

Given a network of processes X and a constant D, the group partition problem is the problem of finding a D-partition of X, that is, a partition of X into disjoint connected subgraphs, which we call groups, each of diameter no greater than D. The minimal group partition problem is to find a D-partition {G1, ... Gm} of X such that no two groups can be combined; that is, for any Gi and Gj, where i ≠ j, either Gi U Gj is disconnected …

Sequence And Chemostratigraphy Of The Middle Cambrian Succession In Nevada And Utah, Robyn A. Howley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The House Range Embayment of western Utah and eastern Nevada was a prominent topographic feature on the passive margin of western North America during the middle and late Cambrian. In this study, detailed documentation of sequence boundaries, and their intervening sequences across a platform-to-basin transect of the House Range Embayment was used to establish a sequence-stratigraphic framework from which the depositional history of the embayment was deciphered. This framework was then used to test the hypothesis that the House Range Embayment formed by tectonic subsidence. In addition, the chemostratigraphic (δ13Ccarb) record across the embayment was analyzed within this framework to …

Characterization Of Unsaturated Flow In Dual-Porosity Granular Media, Jeevan A. Jayakodilage

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A geological medium made up of uncemented coarse porous rock fragments may be described as a “dual-porosity granular medium” due to the presence of two types of pores; small pores within individual fragments and large pores between the fragments. Crushed stone found in heap leach piles, mine waste, backfills, rock drains, and engineered capillary barrier systems fit this description. Unsaturated flow in a dualporosity granular medium will occur both through the fragments (matrix flow), and on the fragment surfaces (film flow). The relative influence of gravity and capillary forces on these two flow regimes will be largely different. Therefore, unsaturated …

Differential Equation Models And Numerical Methods For Reverse Engineering Genetic Regulatory Networks, Mi Un Yoon

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation develops and analyzes differential equation-based mathematical models and efficient numerical methods and algorithms for genetic regulatory network identification. The primary objectives of the dissertation are to design, analyze, and test a general variational framework and numerical methods for seeking its approximate solutions for reverse engineering genetic regulatory networks from microarray datasets using the approach based on differential equation modeling. In the proposed variational framework, no structure assumption on the genetic network is presumed, instead, the network is solely determined by the microarray profile of the network components and is identified through a well chosen variational principle which minimizes …

An Investigation Of Sustainable Environmental Practices And Consumer Attitudes & Behaviors Toward Hotel Bathroom Amenities, Edward James Bobbett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the 1980s hotel operators became concerned with greening and sustainability. It was at this time the hospitality industry began focusing on energy efficiency and the sustainable development of tourism (Chan & Lam, 2001; Welford, Ytterhus, & Eligh, 1999). Since then, a global trend has emerged as hotels introduce programs to reduce the amount of resources used and the overall environmental impact they have on the planet, or their carbon footprint. The hospitality industry has introduced programs such as recycling in both the front and back of the house, energy-efficient lighting, towel re-use programs, linen exchange programs, Green Certifications, and …

Influence Of Sex On Long-Term Outcomes After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention With The Paclitaxel-Eluting Coronary Stent: Results Of The "Taxus Woman" Analysis, Ghada W. Mikhail Md, Robert T. Gerber Md, Phd, David A. Cox Md, Stephen G. Ellis Md, John M. Lasala Md, Phd, John A. Ormiston Mbchb, Gregg W. Stone Md, Mark A. Turco Md, Anita A. Joshi Phd, Donald S. Baim Md, Antonio Colombo Md

Department of Medicine

No abstract provided.

Xpath-Based Template Language For Describing The Placement Of Metadata Within A Document, Vijay Kumar Musham

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

In the recent years, there has been a tremendous growth in Internet and online resources that had previously been restricted to paper archives. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tools can be used for digitalizing an existing corpus and making it available online. A number of federal agencies, universities, laboratories, and companies are placing their collections online and making them searchable via metadata fields such as author, title, and publishing organization. Manually creating metadata for a large collection is an extremely time-consuming task, and is difficult to automate, particularly for collections consisting of documents with diverse layout and structure. The Extract project …

K–12 Environmental Education Resources, Roxanne Myers Spencer

DLPS Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Quantum Chemical Studies Of Nucleic Acids Can We Construct A Bridge To The Rna Structural Biology And Bioinformatics Communities?, Jiri Sponer,, Judit Sponer, Anton I. Petrov, Neocles B. Leontis

Chemistry Faculty Publications

In this feature article we provide a side-by-side introduction for two research fields quantum chemical calculations of molecular interaction in nucleic acids and RNA structural bioinformatics Our main aim is to demonstrate that these research areas while largely separated in contemporary literature have substantial potential to complement each other that could significantly contribute to our understanding of the exciting world of nucleic acids We identify research questions amenable to the combined application of modern ab initio methods and bioinformatics analysis of experimental structures while also assessing the limitations of these approaches The ultimate aim is to attain valuable physicochemical insights …

Use Of Sub-Saharan Vultures In Traditional Medicine And Conservation And Policy Issues For The African Grey Parrot (Psittacus Erithacus), Kristina Dunn

All Theses

ABSTRACT
Wildlife populations worldwide are being negatively affected by the illegal wildlife trade. The severity of the impact to both Sub-Saharan vultures and African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) (AGP) populations are explored in this thesis. Many species of Sub-Saharan vultures are used in the traditional medicinal trade. Previous studies have found that vultures have mystical powers attributed to them due to their keen
ability to find food. AGP's are sought after for international trade due to their ability to mimic human vocabularies and for their aesthetic beauty.
Due to the illegal, secret, and illusive nature of this trade, the monetary …

Sysml-Based Domain-Specific Executable Workflows, Vikas Patel

All Theses

The Systems Modeling Language (SysML) is a general-purpose graphical modeling language for specifying, analyzing, designing, and verifying complex systems. This thesis presents a tool called SysFlow Workflow Engine (SWE) that is being developed to execute a domain workflow defined using SysML's Activity Diagram. The thesis also describes extensions added to the SysML semantics to make them SWE executable. SWE focuses on grid computing, cyberinfrastructure and related domains; however, support for other domains can be easily added. SWE aims to provide a common interface to grid, cyberinfrastructure and other domain-specific software by abstracting their complexity and idiosyncrasies. To create a workflow, …

Explicit Level Lowering Of 2-Dimensional Modular Galois Representations, Rodney Keaton

All Theses

Let f be a normalized eigenform of level Npα for some positive integer α and some odd prime p satisfying gcd(p,N)=1. A construction of Deligne, Shimura, et. al., attaches a p-adic continuous two-dimensional Galois representation to f. The Refined Conjecture of Serre states that such a representation should in fact arise from a normalized eigenform of level prime to p.
In this presentation we present a proof of Ribet which allows us to 'strip' these powers of p from the level while still retaining the original Galois representation, i.e., the residual of our new representation arising from level N will …

Libstatmech And Applications To Astrophysics, Tianhong Yu

All Theses

In this work an introduction to Libstatmech is presented and applications especially to astrophysics are discussed. Libstatmech is a C toolkit for computing the statistical mechanics of fermions and bosons, written on top of libxml and gsl (GNU Scientific Library). Calculations of Thomas-Fermi Screening model and Bose-Einstein Condensate based on libstatmech demonstrate the expected results. For astrophysics application, a simple Type Ia Supernovae model is established to run the network calculation with weak reactions, in which libstatmech contributes to compute the electron chemical potential and allows the weak reverse rates to be calculated from detailed balance. Starting with pure 12C …

The Dependence Of Electrical Resistivity, Saturation And Saturation Exponent On Multi-Phase Flow Instability, Zuolin Liu

All Theses

Multiphase flow channeling in oil reservoirs during water floods reduces oil recovery. Electrical methods may be used to monitor reservoirs and detect the onset of channeling, but the dependence of electrical resistivity on reservoir flow conditions is complex. The present study is directed toward understanding how the parameters of Archie's law, a commonly assumed relationship between electrical resistivity and water saturation in a porous medium, depends on multiphase flow instability leading to flow channeling. In this research a series of 34 flow experiments were conducted in a thin, two-dimensional tank (55cm x 55cm x 3.75cm) packed with 2mm glass beads …

Using Nestling Bald Eagles To Assess Spatial And Temporal Trends Of Environmental Contaminants, Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota, Henry Pittman

All Theses

Bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) are a avian species used to monitor environmental contaminants such as mercury (Hg), methylmercury (MeHg), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and organochlorine pesticides (OCs) in North America. Populations of bald eagles nesting along the Great Lakes were very slow to recover after the ban of PCBs and OCs because these compounds were very persistent. Bald eagles at Voyageurs National Park (VNP) have been monitored since 1973 and provide an opportunity to assess temporal and spatial trends of persistent environmental contaminants. Nestling bald eagle feathers were analyzed for Hg concentrations for the past 12 years. Nestling bald …

Effects Of Varying Field Conditions On Potential Painted Bunting Habitat In Coastal South Carolina, Kelly Campbell

All Theses

Daily point counts were conducted during the summer seasons of 2006, 2007 and 2008 in randomly selected agricultural plots at two field sites in coastal South Carolina to examine habitat use by painted buntings, indigo buntings, blue grosbeaks and brown-headed cowbirds. Plots were selected based on their original condition, such as planted, fallow or old field, in 2006. The two sites, James A. Webb Wildlife Management Area and Nemours Plantation, are areas managed in methods similar to those described in several Conservation Reserve Programs (CRPs), and CP33 - Habitat Buffers for Upland Birds - in particular. I propose the management …

Evaluation Of A Pilot-Scale Constructed Wetland Treatment System For Renovation Of A Specific Oilfield Produced Water For Beneficial Use, Jennifer Horner

All Theses

Oilfield produced waters (OPWs) are brought to the surface when oil reservoirs contained in water-bearing geologic units are extracted. Large volumes of OPW present environmental challenges concerning disposal, as well as potential opportunities for beneficial use if constituents posing risk can be remediated. In this study a pilot-scale constructed wetland treatment system (CWTS) was specifically designed to treat an OPW from sub-Saharan Africa for use in irrigation and livestock watering. Three major objectives were to: characterize and identify constituents of concern in the OPW in terms of beneficial use, evaluate treatment performance of a pilot-scale constructed wetland treatment system for …

Coercivity And Exchange Bias Of Mn0.25ti1.1s2 In The Cluster-Glass State, P. M. Shand, T. Rash, M. Streicher, T. E. Kidd, K. R. Boyle, Laura Strauss

Faculty Publications

Magnetic measurements have been carried out on the Mn-intercalated transition-metal dichalcogenide Mn_0.25Ti_1+yS₂. The material, which contained a concentration y≈0.1 of excess intercalated Ti, exhibited paramagnetic behavior at high temperatures with an effective moment per Mn ion of µ_eff=6.07 ± 0.23 µ_B, which shows that the system comprises localized Mn²⁺ moments. A Curie-Weiss temperature Θ_CW=-26 ± 1 K indicated that antiferromagnetic interactions were dominant. Deviation from Curie-Weiss behavior below 100 K signaled the formation of antiferromagnetically correlated clusters. Bifurcation of the zero-fieldcooled and field-cooled magnetizations below 20 K …

Robust Interval Estimation Of A Treatment Effect In Observational Studies Using Propensity Score Matching, Scott F. Kosten

Dissertations

Estimating the treatment effect between a treatment group and a control group in an observational study is a challenging problem in statistics. Without random assignment of subjects, there are likely to be differences between the treatment group and control group on a set of baseline covariates. If one of these baseline covariates is correlated to the response variable, then the difference in sample means between the groups is likely to be a biased estimate of the true treatment effect.

Propensity score matching has become an increasingly popular strategy for reducing bias in estimates of the treatment effect. This reduction in …

Confidence Intervals And Tests On The Difference Of Means Of Two Delta Distributions, Karen Grace Villarente Rosales

Dissertations

Various research fields produce data that are lognormally distributed and inflated with zero values. This type of data follows a delta distribution. In this study, we want to extensively investigate different interval and hypothesis testing methods for comparing the means of two delta populations to see which methods are optimal under different conditions of the populations.

For confidence intervals, existing MVUE methods are extended to two sample cases and compared to classical and two proposed robust methods. We investigated the performance of the classical Student's t, Welch t, and Wilcoxon-based interval to see if these methods really perform badly on …

Folate Receptor-Targeted Delivery Of Small Interfering Rna To Cancer Cells, Yilin Zhang

Dissertations

The vitamin folic acid (folate, FA) has been extensively explored as a targeting ligand to deliver a variety of diagnostic/prognostic/therapeutic agents into various tumors through the assistance of its receptor – the folate receptor (FR). FR is over-expressed in many types of human cancer and can mediate internalization of FA-conjugates through an endocytic pathway. The discovery of small interfering RNA (siRNA), which is cable of inducing potent gene silencing in a sequence-specific manner, provides an excellent molecular tool to suppress aberrant gene expression in malignancies, and therefore siRNA has the potential to revolutionize cancer therapeutics. Towards the goal of developing …

Proton Capture Reactions And Network Calculations On 46Ti, 64Zn, 114Sn And 116Sn Relevant To The Rp-Process, Ravin S. T. Kodikara

Dissertations

The rp-process makes an important contribution to the stellar nucleosynthesis by producing many of the light proton rich nuclei. Successive proton captures on seed nuclei followed by occasional β-decays and electron captures are the key features of this mechanism. For a detailed rp-process analysis, proton capture cross sections and reaction rates are essential. However, the lack of experimental data forces the researcher to largely depend on statistical model predictions.

This dissertation research is an attempt to investigate the proton captures of four particular nuclides; ⁴⁶Ti, ⁶⁴Zn, ¹¹⁴Sn and ¹¹⁶Sn. At Western Michigan University Van de Graaff …

Terrain Impostors, William Hamilton Hess

Master's Theses

Interactive software applications which need to render large terrain meshes can suffer from slow frame rates if the geometry of the terrain is sufficiently dense. However, the viewing angle to many distant features of the terrain does not change rapidly with respect to time. If the movement of the viewing position is limited to continuous motion and restrained to a known speed, many terrain features may be rendered once in high detail and reused for several frames.

This thesis proposes a method to increase the rendering speed of large complex terrains by splitting the terrain into contiguous chunks. If a …

Bringing The Endangered Barn Owl Back To Mclean County, Illinois: Implementing A Local Nest Box Program, Anna Groves '11

Outstanding Senior Seminar Papers

Barn owls are an endangered species in Illinois, but populations have been known to increase where nest box programs have been implemented. In conjunction with the John Wesley Powell Audubon Society, a barn owl nest box program was established in McLean County and the surrounding area. Seventeen boxes are now scheduled for construction and installation this winter in the McLean County area in order to enhance existing barn owl populations, and the nest box program will continue in the future through the JWP Audubon.

Book Review Of "Natural Climate Variability And Global Warming: A Holocene Perspective" Edited By Richard W. Battarbee And Heather A. Binney, Shaily Menon

Shaily Menon

No abstract provided.

Modeling Longitudinal Data Using A Pair-Copula Decomposition Of Serial Dependence, Michael S. Smith, Aleksey Min, Carlos Almeida, Claudia Czado

Michael Stanley Smith

Copulas have proven to be very successful tools for the flexible modelling of cross-sectional dependence. In this paper we express the dependence structure of continuous-valued time series data using a sequence of bivariate copulas. This corresponds to a type of decomposition recently called a ‘vine’ in the graphical models literature, where each copula is entitled a ‘pair-copula’. We propose a Bayesian approach for the estimation of this dependence structure for longitudinal data. Bayesian selection ideas are used to identify any independence pair-copulas, with the end result being a parsimonious representation of a time-inhomogeneous Markov process of varying order. Estimates are …

Changing Mutual Perception Of Television News Viewers And Program Makers In India- A Case Study Of Cnn-Ibn And Its Unique Initiative Of Citizen Journalism, Ratnesh Dwivedi Mr

Ratnesh Dwivedi

The Indian television system is one of the most extensive systems in the world. Terrestrial broadcasting, which has been the sole preserve of the government, provides television coverage to over 90% of India's 900 million people. By the end of 1996 nearly 50 million households had television sets. International satellite broadcasting, introduced in 1991, has swept across the country because of the rapid proliferation of small scale cable systems. By the end of 1996, Indians could view dozens of foreign and local channels and the competition for audiences and advertising revenues was one of the hottest in the world. In …

Source Attribution Of Ozone In Southeast Texas Before And After The Deepwater Horizon Accident Using Satellite, Sonde, Surface Monitor, And Air Mass Trajectory Data, Gary A. Morris, Barry Lefer, Bernhard Rappenglueck, Christine Haman, Marc Taylor, Mark R. Schoeberl

Gary A. Morris

Since the summer of 2004, over 300 ozonesondes have been launched from Rice University (29.7 N, 95.4 W) or the University of Houston (29.7 N, 95.3 W), each < 5 km from downtown Houston. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality maintains a large database of hourly surface ozone observations in Southeast Texas. In this study, we identify the contributions to surface ozone pollution levels from natural and anthropogenic sources, both local and remote in nature. This source identification is performed two ways: 1) through an analysis of sonde data, including ozone concentrations, wind speed and direction, and relative humidity data, and 2) through an analysis that combines trajectory calculations with surface monitor data. We also examine regional changes in Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) measurements of formaldehyde and ozone from 2004 – 2010. In particular, we compare the 2010 sonde, surface monitor, and satellite data after the Deepwater Horizon accident with data from previous years to determine the impact, if any, of the large source of hydrocarbons in the Gulf of Mexico on air quality in Southeast Texas.