Digital Commons Network^™

The Autocrat Influence On International Organization Design, Zachary Billot

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Research Question: How do different regime types, namely autocracies, design international organizations (IO)?

Summary of Results: Pooling and delegation generally have a positive correlation to increase in democracy. Pooling and Delegation generally have a negative correlation to average member state GDP. Social IOs Pool and Delegate more than political IOs compared to Economic IOS. Impact of # of Member States has a mixed effect: Fixed Effects models -, + in other models. Regional Impacts pronounced for Africa, Asia, Americas compared to Europe.

Determinants Of Gun Violence In America, Rick Fuller

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Gun violence is on the rise in America. 74.5% increase between 2014-2022. 55.2% increase in Gun Safety Legislation. Constitutional Carry adopted by 27 states. Suicide rates skew gun violence statistics.

A Scorpion's Sting: Coming-Of-Age Vignettes Focalized On Modern Las Vegas Youth Culture, Vlada Stark

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Explored themes: mother and daughter relationships, large immigrant community in Las Vegas, adolescent platonic and romantic relationships, hardships of girlhood, abundancy of sex work, increased substance abuse, importance of creative youth culture, disparity between Las Vegas as a city and local life.

The Perfect Storm: Behavioral Finance In The Face Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Aubrey Bucher, Kirk Silvernail

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

US Stock Market Volatility 2020. Prevalent Behavioral Biases: Loss Aversion, Self-Attribution, Anchoring, Herd Behavior.

Analysis Of Triton Cg 110 Foaming Characteristics For Use As A Potential Fire Suppressant, Addison Cobb, Jeremy Cho

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

Background: Per-FluoroAlkyls (PFAs) are incredibly stable molecules which do not biodegrade. These chemicals have been linked with a series of health issues and environmental problems.

Problem: PFAs have been identified in most drinking water supplies in the United States. Large Amounts of this is due to Aqueous Fire-Fighting Foams (AFFF’s), which contain PFAs, seeping into the groundwater supply.

Solution: While little can be done about PFAs currently in groundwater supplies, replacing PFA-based AFFFs with newer Eco-AFFFs can halt AFFF contamination, and maintain firefighting suppression.

Ai Integration In The Common Workplace: Beneficial Or Harmful?, Logan Karen, Kirk Silvernail

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

Integrating AI in the Workplace: 77% of businesses are using or exploring AI. 35% of these companies are using AI. 42% of these companies are exploring AI.

Benefits: Productivity and efficiency improvements, daily workflow improvements, resource optimization, cost reduction, innovation.

Challenges: Job security, impact on mental health, psychological impact, ethical challenges.

The path to Ethical and Effective AI Integration: Involve and educate employees, monitor on a continuous bases, identify and manage risks, find a balanced approach.

The Emergence Of “The School Shooter” As A Category Of Analysis, Rebecca Jimenez

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

Policy Recommendation: Creating a more inclusive campus, administrative checks, recognizing the signs of violence, ineffective school punishments, putting a stop to stereotypes.

Purposeful Stem Integration In School-Based Agricultural Education Programs, Christopher J. Eck, Kristopher Rankin Iii, J. Shane Robinson

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

The emphasis for STEM integration in school-based agricultural education (SBAE) classrooms is imperative, resulting in a need for teacher educators to generate a positive view on the integration. Specifically, SBAE teacher aspirants need to be prepared to deliver relevant agricultural curriculum grounded in STEM. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the content knowledge and interest in STEM-related careers for secondary students enrolled in SBAE programs in Oklahoma. Pre-service SBAE teachers from Oklahoma State University were charged with delivering a sustainable bioenergy unit of instruction to their students. This study resulted in a statistically significant improvement in students’ STEM …

Library Of Congress Classification Monthly Approved Changes Lists: Implementing An Ongoing Reclassification Workflow At Unlv, Katherine Manifold

Library Faculty Presentations

Changes to the Library of Congress Classification (LCC) schedules include updates to address the use of biased and harmful language and cutters that were built on this language. While the literature on why these changes are important is substantial, how these changes are implemented in individual institutions remains relatively unexplored in scholarship, most likely due to the unique nature of each library and the depth to which individual institutional environments must be considered when developing workflows. In this presentation, the practical impacts of implementing classification changes on collections will be examined and the process of implementing these changes in an …

The Emergence Of “The School Shooter” As A Category Of Analysis: What The 1990s Can Teach Us About Youth Violence, Rebecca Maria Jimenez

Honors College Theses

This thesis is a case study of the emergence and framing of “the school shooter” as one part of the larger problem of American youth violence during the 1990s. This decade forever changed the way school safety is viewed. Although the annual number of school shootings largely remained the same from the 1970s to the early 1990s, a spike in fatalities in 1993 occurred during a fraught historical moment. A wave of youth violence, beginning in the late 1980s, helped to set the stage for new security measures, such as zero tolerance policies in schools, and the development of new …

Non-Operative Management Strategy For Blunt Pulmonary Artery Pseudoaneurysm: A Case Report, Declan A. Feery, Kevin Kuruvilla, Allison G. Mcnickle, Douglas R. Fraser

Department of Surgery Faculty Research

Traumatic pulmonary artery pseudoaneurysms (PAP) are rare findings and are often associated with penetrating trauma to the chest. We present a case of a pulmonary artery pseudoaneurysm following blunt trauma. A 49-year-old man presented after a motor vehicle collision. Contrast enhanced computed tomography scans of the neck, chest, abdomen, and pelvis were obtained demonstrating a proximal right pulmonary artery pseudoaneurysm, small volume hemopericardium, left first rib fracture, and focal non-flow limiting dissection of left subclavian artery. For the management of right PAP, we adopted a non-operative management strategy with an esmolol infusion for strict heart rate and blood pressure control. …

Nevada Workforce Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Study 2023, Becky Harris, Andrea Dassopoulos

International Gaming Institute Faculty Research

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) metrics enable organizations to set concrete goals and self-monitor their performance. In 2021, Nevada’s legislature passed Senate Bill No. 267 (SB267), authorizing the University Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) to study DEI benchmarks in the State. The study is designed to produce actionable results capable of informing policy and employer best practices in Nevada. Workforce Study data was collected for the 2022 calendar year with study participation taking place between January 2-April 30, 2023.

The questions in the study were crafted based on DEI public policy considerations as well as metrics for gauging the scope of …

Sensitive Capacitance Measurements Of The Quantum Hall Effect In Graphene, Vergil Schreiber, Justin Alvarez, Joshua Island

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Research on how electrons respond to confinement holds potential for breakthroughs in quantum computing and more energy efficient electronics. In intense magnetic fields and near-zero temperatures, electrons in confined to 2D display unique quantum behaviors. These conditions quantize electron motion into circular orbits, resulting in discrete Landau energy levels.

The Association Between Parent-Adolescent Communication About Sex And Risk-Aware Sexual Health Knowledge In Latino College Students, Jacquelyn Rodriguez

Undergraduate Research Symposium Podium Presentations

Timing and Content of Parent-Adolescent Sex Communication: Puberty discussions as gateway to sex discussions (Miller et al., 2009; O’Sullivan et al., 2001), Abstinence-based (Grossman et al., 2013; Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2006), Shame, embarrassment, or fear (Goldfarb et al., 2015; O’Sullivan et al., 2001), Information guarding (Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2006; Rouvier et al., 2011).

Gender, Cultural, and Religious Influences on Communication: Marianismo: “pure and asexual” (Wood & Price, 1997); Sex-negative talk vs. sex-neutral or positive talk (Evans et al., 2019; Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2019; Sevilla et al., 2016); Mothers are main communications with all genders (Guilamo-Ramos et al., 2019; Goldfarb et …

The Covid-19 Pandemic And Work From Home 2019-2021, Maryam Raja, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Undergraduate Research Symposium Lightning Talks

Research Background and Methods: The ACS reports that by 2021 around 27.6 million individuals (17.9% of workers) worked from home. Pandemic affected commuting patterns and workplace systems.

Research Findings: The data presented in Table 1 account for all workers aged 16 and above. Among Mountain West states, Nevada reported the smallest percentage of home-based workers in both 2019 (tied with Colorado) and 2021. Table 2 presents population data for Mountain West MSAs with populations of 1 million or more and percentage of home-based workers with a margin of error in both 2019 and 2021.

Identifying Trauma Related Predictors Of Dissociation In Maltreated Youth, Amanda L. Mraz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Maltreated youth who experience traumatic dissociation are at an increased risk for various psychopathological difficulties. Much is still unknown about the machinations behind experiences of dissociation post-trauma. This study aimed to identify variables that place maltreated youth at risk for experiencing traumatic dissociation (e.g., dissociative amnesia, absorption and imaginative involvement, passive influence, depersonalization and derealization, and total adolescent dissociative experiences symptoms (A-DES)). Investigatory variables included demographic (e.g., age, gender, and racial identity), cognitive (e.g., resiliency and posttraumatic cognitions), and psychological (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD) and anxiety) factors. Classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was utilized to observe the …

An Exploratory Pilot Study On Generating An Emergency Evacuation Vr Experience For A Real-Life Building Without Existing Bim Or Floor Plans, Naveed Ahmed

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the rising frequency of active shooter incidents and fire hazards in both private and public facilities, it is crucial to establish a strategy for an effective emergency evacuation response for minimizing its consequences. Modern technological advancements such as virtual reality (VR) and game engines offer the potential to serve as valuable evacuation training tools within a virtual environment, aiding real-time decision making. Previous studies highlight the benefits of using VR simulations for emergency evacuation training, enhancing safety; however, two challenging factors exist that hinder their application. First, many existing structures (especially for older buildings) lack an available computer model/approach. …

Development, Voice, And Vulnerability: A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Policy-Making Discourse Regarding The Paris Agreement As An Organizational Response To Climate Change, David Almanza-Canas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

On December 12, 2015, the Paris Agreement was officially ratified by 196 sovereign entities. This treaty represents a global call to action to ameliorate the impact of human activities on our environment, and it creates a means of cooperation through financial support and transparent industrial practices with the goal of promoting accountability across the world. This treaty and the discourse surrounding it present fertile ground for the academic understanding of persuasive practices in policy-making. By examining the rhetorical implications of the Paris Agreement as a global policy, scholars can gain new insight about the communities represented in the conversation as …

Investigation Of The Chemical And Electronic Structure Of A 2h Phase Mos2 Single Crystal, Mary Blankenship

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Molybdenum disulfide has a wide range of applications in energy conversion devices, like thin-film solar cells, batteries, bio sensors, and more. Although the properties of MoS2 and other transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) have been widely studied, disagreements and discrepancies regarding its electronic structure remain.

In this thesis, a highly-oriented synthetic 2H phase MoS₂ single crystal is investigated using a toolchest of spectroscopic techniques to uncover its chemical and electronic properties. Lab-based x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS), inverse photoemission spectroscopy (IPES), and low energy electron diffraction (LEED) were performed at UNLV and combined with resonant inelastic soft …

Assessing The Risk Of West Nile Virus In The Southwestern United States, Bradon Bucher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Climate change is an increasing public health threat that has been shown to influence Culex mosquito populations, the vectors of West Nile Virus (WNV). The main objective of this study was to determine which variables are most associated with WNV in the Southwest United States, defined herein as: California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah. A Poisson regression model was used to analyze total cases from 2004-2020 using the following predictors: mosquito season temperature average, mosquito season precipitation average, bodies of water, and protected lands. Results indicated that precipitation average (P =.014) and the interaction between precipitation and temperature (P=.024) were significant. …

Unraveling Water Quality Issues In The Colorado River Basin: Utilizing Remote Sensing Satellite Images, Statistical, And Machine Learning For Improved Monitoring, Godson Ebenezer Adjovu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research was aimed at exploring innovative and cost-effective tools in understanding the spatiotemporal variability of water quality parameters in the Colorado River Basin (CRB), which includes the Colorado River and major reservoirs and lakes in the USA including Lake Mead. The river which arises in the state of Colorado and empties into the Republic of Mexico at the Gulf of California, is a source of water to seven US states and the Republic of Mexico and provides water to about 40 million people and million acres of farmlands in seven states in the western US and the Republic of …

Factors Associated With Caregiver Responsive And Non-Responsive Feeding Styles In Clark County, Nevada, Amanda Castelo Saragosa

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Early childhood obesity has increased significantly over the last few decades, reaching epidemic levels in the United States. Many interventions exist to alleviate early childhood obesity; however, little focus is on preventing obesity-related risks for children under two. High-quality child-caregiver interactions are deemed critical for preventing early childhood obesity development, but there is little information on the socio-ecological factors that influence a caregivers' feeding styles. This study examined socio-ecological factors associated with caregivers' feeding styles (responsive vs. non-responsive) for infants under two in Clark County, Nevada. This cross-sectional study utilized a survey targeted to caregivers (18 and older) with infants …

Addressing Challenges Faced By Public Organizations: The Central Role Of Agility At The Federal Level During The Covid-19 Crisis, Shuktika Chatterjee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation investigates the role of organizational agility in public organizations (such as the United States Federal Agencies) and demonstrates how agility works in public institutions. This study explores how organizational agility within public institutions can lead to successes and prevent failures stemming from underutilized agility, identifies the societal demographics impacted by these outcomes, and offers recommendations for effectively implementing agility to enhance efficiency and societal progress. Agility in sum, is adaptability and proactiveness. If developed and practiced by public organizations, this process can avert prominent institutional failings that impede the dispersal of services and resources that would promote social …

Effects Of Loading Age And Transverse Reinforcement Ratio On Collapse Resistance Of Rc Frame Beams Under High Sustained Loads, Taiga Cibulka

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Catastrophic progressive collapses of reinforced concrete (RC) frame buildings can be triggered by column failure. In such a scenario, the beams supported by the failed column shall be able to form an alternative load path guarding the building against collapse. The compressive arch action passively generated after losing a column has been identified as an effective load-resisting mechanism for axially restrained RC frame beams. However, the beams need to continuously carry the redistributed gravity loads sustaining in the structural system. Past research predominantly focused on the short-time collapse resistance of RC beams and little is known about their time-dependent response …

Examining The Social Equity Pillar Of Sustainability: The Effects Of Public Participation And State Actions On Local Social Services Initiatives, Jennifer Mary Crownhart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Sustainability policies are vital in promoting social equity in municipalities across the United States. When examining economic development, environment protection, and social equity, the three pillars of sustainability, the third pillar of social equity is shown in research to be largely ignored. Using understanding drawn from co-production theory and the multilevel governance perspective, this study proposed to advance the literature on urban sustainability by examining the effects of public participation and state grants of local authority on municipal social equity. Affordable housing, transportation, and childcare programs are essential in promoting livability and social equity within urban communities. National survey data …

Examining Emotion Regulation Strategies As Predictors Of Posttraumatic And Depressive Symptomatology In Maltreated Youth, Kinsey Ellis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Youth with a history of maltreatment victimization are at heightened risk for developing symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression. Recent work has identified emotion dysregulation as a potential transdiagnostic mechanism linking maltreatment victimization to youth psychopathology, but few studies have examined the influence of specific emotion regulation strategies. Habitual utilization of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal have each demonstrated associations with trauma-related psychopathology in adults. The present study examined both strategies as predictors of posttraumatic and depressive symptomatology in youth with a history of maltreatment, as well as mediators in the relationship between the two conditions.

The sample included 133 …

Examining Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Among The Nevada African American Population Using The Social-Ecological Model, Katelyn Faulk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In Nevada, COVID-19 vaccines have been widely available to the general population since March 2021; however, even with the wide availability of these vaccines only 40% of the African American population in Nevada has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of May 2023. This is problematic as it has been shown that the African American population is disproportionately affected by COVID-19 with higher rates of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths when compared to other races or ethnicities. Through the literature, it has also been well documented that African Americans may experience hesitancy toward these vaccinations for a multitude of reasons including …

Scalable Algorithm Design And Performance Analysis For Graph Motifs Discovery, Md Abdul Motaleb Faysal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Discovering motifs or structural patterns, such as communities, is a significant graph application utilized for classifying groups in social and business networks, identifying similar proteins, detecting anomalous behavior in the cybersecurity domain, and finding critical entities in rumor propagation or infectious disease spreading. Existing state-of-the-art techniques for community discovery face challenges related to scalability, performance limitations, and methodological inaccuracies. The objective of this doctoral dissertation is to introduce novel parallel algorithms and propose high-performance computing architecture designs to address the performance constraints of current community detection approaches when processing large-scale social and biological data. This research focuses on two main …

Investigating Van Der Waals Josephson Junctions With 2h-Nbse2 And 1t’-Wte2, Kristine Lorraine Haley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Josephson junctions have garnered significant attention due to their unique electronic properties and applications in quantum devices. In this thesis, we investigate the fabrication processes and characterization of two-dimensional (2D) Josephson junctions consisting of layered van der Waals materials: niobium diselenide (2H-NbSe₂) and few layered tungsten ditelluride (1T’-WTe₂). The reduction of dimensionality can bring forth unique characteristics in certain materials that are not seen in their bulk counterparts, making them prime candidates for physical exploration. 2H-NbSe₂ is an s-wave superconductor at temperatures near and below 7 K. 1T’-WTe₂ is a semimetal in bulk but …

Investigating A Passive Treatment System For The Removal Of Nutrients From Urban Runoff, Jasminn Gray

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Environmental Protection Agency recognizes urban runoff as a major contributor of surface water pollution with nutrients as the second largest cause of surface water impairment in the United States. While a water quality standard of 100 lbs/day total phosphorus load allocation for all nonpoint sources is permitted for the Las Vegas Valley (LVV) under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, currently there is not a counterpart standard for nitrogen. With the continued development of the LVV and the depletion of the quantity of water in Lake Mead due to the ongoing drought, the concentrations of phosphorus and nitrogen species …