Micone v. Micone, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 14 (March 3, 2016)

The Court considered an appeal from a district court order modifying a child custody decree. The Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the Eight Judicial District Court’s order. The Court affirmed the District Court’s order barring modification of certain child support arrearages. The Court reversed the District Court’s award of primary physical custody to the child’s nonparty grandparents

The Labyrinth of Autism: Heuristic Journeys of Fathers Who Have a Child on the Autism Spectrum

The relationship between a father and his child on the autism spectrum (AS) is a life changing and powerful experience. However, there is a paucity in the literature about fathers and their experiences with raising a child on the AS. This research study explored the phenomenological experiences of fathers who have a child on the autism spectrum through the use of heuristic inquiry. In this study, I conducted interviews with 10 fathers whose children had an official AS diagnosis. By using Seidman’s three separate, semistructured interview method, this study highlighted fathers’ experiences and provided greater understanding into their lives. Seidman’s interview method provided opportunities for the fathers to reveal the truth in their lived experiences. They revealed their joys, sorrows, and moments that have shaped their lives. The study gathered data in key areas and are organized by the findings that emerged. These findings are organized by subquestions and include: (a) fathers’ reactions before and after receiving a diagnosis, (b) the new reality the fathers experienced, (c) the roles played by fathers in their children’s lives, (d) fathers’ views on disability, (e) the impact of the fathers’ beliefs on their views of their child and autism, (f) the experiences of fathers with two children on the AS, and (g) fathers’ experiences of personal growth. The findings in this study are significant and show the continuing commitment that fathers who have a child on the AS have regarding their children. As autism prevalence rates continue to rise, this study illustrates the need for further research on fathers who have a child on the AS

Khoury v. Seastrand, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 52 (July 28, 2016)

The Court considered three consolidated appeals from a district court judgment, pursuant to a jury verdict, and post-judgment orders awarding costs and denying a new trial in a personal injury action. While the Court addressed numerous issues, the following three questions comprised the bulk of the consolidated appeals: (1) whether an attorney may ask prospective jurors questions concerning a specific verdict amount to determine potential bias or prejudice; (2) whether repeatedly asking questions about that specific amount results in jury indoctrination warranting a mistrial; and (3) when a district court abuses its discretion in dismissing jurors for cause under Jitnan v. Oliver. The Court determined that a party may use specific verdict amounts when conducting voir dire so long as the questioning is kept within reasonable limits. The questioning used in the current case did not amount to jury indoctrination warranting a mistrial. The district court, however, did abuse its discretion by dismissing for cause five jurors because their statements, when taken as a whole—the standard set forth in Jitnan—indicated that they could be impartial and follow the law and jury instructions. The district court also abused its discretion by excluding evidence of the medical lien’s existence to prove bias in Seastrand’s medical providers. However, the Court determined that both errors were harmless. Finally, the Court determined that the district court abused its discretion by awarding respondent Seastrand expert witness fess in excess of $1,500 per expert because it did not state a basis for its award. The Court reversed and remanded this portion of the consolidated appeals, instructing the district court to redetermine the amount of expert fess or, if awarding fees in excess of$1,500 per witness, to explain the reasoning behind its decision

Computational universes

Suspicions that the world might be some sort of a machine or algorithm existing ``in the mind'' of some symbolic number cruncher have lingered from antiquity. Although popular at times, the most radical forms of this idea never reached mainstream. Modern developments in physics and computer science have lent support to the thesis, but empirical evidence is needed before it can begin to replace our contemporary world view.Comment: Several corrections of typos and smaller revisions, final versio

A Narrative and Poetic Exploration into Self-Defining Asperger’s: Ceasing to be X-1

Research has found that females on the autism spectrum often spend years not understanding why they are different resulting in experienced otherness. My self-directed study written through narrative and poetry-explored the story of a non-traditional graduate student on the autism spectrum at a university. This thesis addresses the question “how is identity shaped through life events”? Looking inside the layers and doorways of self challenged my own long held assumptions of difference and marginalization. Acceptance of self is a lifetime journey. The result showed mentoring is a critical function of academic and personal success. Suggestions are provided to educators to see the person as an individual, look for the twice-gifted student, and attempt to understand the feelings of marginality. These suggestions are presented with the hope of bringing insight and awareness to educators’ understanding of individuals on the wide spectrum called Autism

Khoury v. Seastrand, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 52 (July 28, 2016)

The Court considered three consolidated appeals from a district court judgment, pursuant to a jury verdict, and post-judgment orders awarding costs and denying a new trial in a personal injury action. While the Court addressed numerous issues, the following three questions comprised the bulk of the consolidated appeals: (1) whether an attorney may ask prospective jurors questions concerning a specific verdict amount to determine potential bias or prejudice; (2) whether repeatedly asking questions about that specific amount results in jury indoctrination warranting a mistrial; and (3) when a district court abuses its discretion in dismissing jurors for cause under Jitnan v. Oliver. The Court determined that a party may use specific verdict amounts when conducting voir dire so long as the questioning is kept within reasonable limits. The questioning used in the current case did not amount to jury indoctrination warranting a mistrial. The district court, however, did abuse its discretion by dismissing for cause five jurors because their statements, when taken as a whole—the standard set forth in Jitnan—indicated that they could be impartial and follow the law and jury instructions. The district court also abused its discretion by excluding evidence of the medical lien’s existence to prove bias in Seastrand’s medical providers. However, the Court determined that both errors were harmless. Finally, the Court determined that the district court abused its discretion by awarding respondent Seastrand expert witness fess in excess of $1,500 per expert because it did not state a basis for its award. The Court reversed and remanded this portion of the consolidated appeals, instructing the district court to redetermine the amount of expert fess or, if awarding fees in excess of$1,500 per witness, to explain the reasoning behind its decision

A Distributed Approach to Dynamic Routing Algorithms Based on Vehicle to Vehicle Interaction

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) allow for broad implementation approaches regarding the distribution of data and the processing of that data for use in a particular framework. In this dissertation, analysis and approaches in describing methods of vehicular interaction incorporating the architectures are explored. These architectures include those where vehicles are not aware of what other vehicles are doing, as well as those where vehicles have an awareness of the state of the road network and the intent of those vehicles. These architectures include centralized and decentralized designs, and can be applied to a number of ITS applications, such as the distributed routing problem.Within ITS, concepts of vehicle communication with other vehicles and the traffic systems infrastructure are understood. However, the concepts of vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), and infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) that describe the relationships between how the data are captured and processed using these techniques remains vague. This dissertation provides a distinctions and relationship between vehicle and infrastructure architecture topologies. When considering the distributed architecture, many researchers have presented the relationship of the vehicles and a parallel to multi-agent system. This concept is explored in this dissertation and extended to recognizing that fundamental to V2V distributed approaches is the notion that the interaction between the agents is vital to ensuring that the agents are capability of interacting successfully. This dissertation also explores the method of implementation the communication between the vehicles from a perspective of programming the ITS algorithms. New programming paradigms are presented and explored that are well suited to the concepts presented in as the vehicles shared between themselves.As a key element of this dissertation, the developed distributed architectures are applied to the distributed vehicle routing problem. The distributed routing problem is the notion that vehicles share their current state while on the road with other vehicles within its vicinity. As the data are shared, vehicles are able to assess the shared information and make alterations to their current route to reduce traffic congestion while improving their travel time. This research work examines and compares the effect on transportation mobility when incidents occur when: 1) ITS concepts are not used at all; 2) when ITS concepts are used based upon a centralized architecture; and 3) with a decentralized architecture. Simulations of both hypothetical and actual road data base simulations are performed comparing the various architectural approaches

Problematizing Disability Disclosure in Higher Education: Shifting Towards a Liberating Humanizing Intersectional Framework

Disability disclosure contains significant implications when considering democratic educational opportunities for students with disabilities in higher education. Especially for graduate students with disabilities, there is minimal research on their experiences with disability disclosure. In a collaborative autoethnography, two doctoral students with disabilities engage in a critical dialogue about how disability disclosure operates within everyday interactions. Through dialogue and praxis, our narratives highlight how acts of disability disclosure continuously construct the notion of disability, democracy, citizenship, and empowerment in higher education. In turn, critical reexaminations of disability disclosure may present insight into future directions that will ensure equal educational opportunities, attainment and achievements for all