Digital Commons Network^™

Gigaassay – An Adaptable High-Throughput Saturation Mutagenesis Assay Platform, Ronald Benjamin, Christopher J. Giacoletto, Zachary T. Fitzhugh, Danielle Eames, Lindsay Buczek, Xiaogang Wu, Jacklyn Newsome, Mira V. Han, Tony Pearson, Zhi Wei, Atoshi Banerjee, Lancer Brown, Liz J. Valente, Shirley Shen, Hong-Wen Deng, Martin R. Schiller

Nevada Institute of Personalized Medicine Faculty Research

High-throughput assay systems have had a large impact on understanding the mechanisms of basic cell functions. However, high-throughput assays that directly assess molecular functions are limited. Herein, we describe the “GigaAssay”, a modular high-throughput one-pot assay system for measuring molecular functions of thousands of genetic variants at once. In this system, each cell was infected with one virus from a library encoding thousands of Tat mutant proteins, with each viral particle encoding a random unique molecular identifier (UMI). We demonstrate proof of concept by measuring transcription of a GFP reporter in an engineered reporter cell line driven by binding of …

Shortage Of Affordable Rental Homes In The Mountain West, Joshua Padilla, Kelliann Beavers, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Housing & Real Estate

This fact sheet examines data from the 2022 report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), “The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes” for the Mountain West region. The original report includes data from 2016- 2020 American Community Survey (ACS) Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) to help “determine the availability of rental homes affordable to extremely low-income households.”

Student Loan Debt In Mountain West States, Zachary Walusek, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet summarizes findings on student loan debt across Mountain West states from “Student Loan Debt by State,” a report by the Education Data Initiative.

How Much Of ‘Home Field Advantage’ Comes From The Fans? A Natural Experiment From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kevin Krieger, Justin L. Davis

UNLV Gaming Research & Review Journal

Home field advantage has been a commonly discussed and researched topic in sports. How much of this advantage is due to the home team’s supporters’ physical attendance at the game where they might encourage their team, intimidate the opponent, and influence game officials? We utilize the unique natural experiment of the COVID-19 pandemic and consider the case of American professional (NFL) and collegiate (NCAA) football to examine this question. We measure how typical spreads, relative to home teams, changed in the 2020 season compared to their historical levels, and we determine that roughly half of what football fans and analysts …

Human Trafficking In Nevada And The Mountain West, 2016-2020, Corryn Richardson, Elia Del Carmen Solano-Patricio, Kristian Thymianos, Saha Salahi, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Criminal Justice

The National Human Trafficking Hotline (“NHTH”) maintains one of the largest human trafficking datasets in the nation. This fact sheet reports on the number of tips the hotline received related to Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah. Data collected includes the top venues for human, labor, and other types of trafficking cases from 2016-2020, as well as demographic information for victims and survivors.

The Disk Of Fu Orionis Viewed With Matisse/Vlti: First Interferometric Observations In L And M Bands, Foteini Lykou, P. Ábrahám, L. Chen, J. Varga, Á. Kóspál, A. Matter, M. Siwak, Zs. M. Szabo, Z. Zhu, H. B. Liu, B. Lopez, F. Allouche, J.-C. Augereau, P. Berio, P. Cruzalebes, C. Dominik, Th Henning, K.-H. Hofmann, M. Hogerheijde, W. J. Jaffe, E. Kokulina, S. Lagarde, A. Meilland, F. Millour, E. Pantin, R. Petrov, S. Robbe-Dubois, D. Schertl, M. Scheuck, R. Van Boekel, L. B. F. M. Waters, G. Weigelt, S. Wolf

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research

Aims. We studied the accretion disk of the archetypal eruptive young star FU Orionis with the use of mid-infrared interferometry, which enabled us to resolve the innermost regions of the disk down to a spatial resolution of 3 milliarcseconds (mas) in the L band, that is, within 1 au of the protostar. Methods. We used the interferometric instrument MATISSE/VLTI to obtain observations of FU Ori’s disk in the L, M, and N bands with multiple baseline configurations. We also obtained contemporaneous photometry in the optical (UBVRIri ; SAAO and Konkoly Observatory) and near-infrared (JHKs; NOT). Our results were compared with …

Changes In State Fiscal Support For Higher Education In The Mountain West, 2016-2021, Vanessa Booth, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet explores higher education budget appropriation changes from fiscal year 2016 (FY16) to fiscal year 2021 (FY21) in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. This fact sheet reports data original presented in the 2021 Inside Higher Ed report, “States Maintain Higher Ed Funding,” by Emma Whitford.

The Outdoor Recreation Economy In The Mountain West, 2020, Miguel Soriano Ralston, Joshua Padilla, Peter Grema, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet provides select data from the State Outdoor Recreation Satellite Account (ORSA) at the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on the 2020 outdoor recreation economy in the Mountain West region, including Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado.

Wildfire Risk In Mountain West States, 2017-2021, Olivia K. Cheche, Corryn Richardson, Zachary Billot, Miguel Soriano Ralston, Vanessa Booth, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet examines data on wildfire destruction in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The original report from the Insurance Information Institute presents findings on percent of properties at risk of wildfire destruction, the number of wildfires by state, and numbers of acres burned per state.

Compositional And Metabolic Responses Of Autotrophic Microbial Community To Salinity In Lacustrine Environments, Yun Fang, Jun Liu, Jian Yang, Geng Wu, Zhengshuang Hua, Hailiang Dong, Brian P. Hedlund, Brett J. Baker, Hongchen Jiang

Life Sciences Faculty Research

The compositional and physiological responses of autotrophic microbiotas to salinity in lakes remain unclear. In this study, the community composition and carbon fixation pathways of autotrophic microorganisms in lacustrine sediments with a salinity gradient (82.6 g/L to 0.54 g/L) were investigated by using metagenomic analysis. A total of 117 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) with carbon fixation potentially belonging to 20 phyla were obtained. The abundance of these potential autotrophs increased significantly with decreasing salinity, and the variation of sediment autotrophic microbial communities was mainly affected by salinity, pH, and total organic carbon. Notably, along the decreasing salinity gradient, the dominant lineage …

Comparing Stress And Behavioral Coping Strategies During The Early Stages Of The Covid-19 Crisis Among Domestic And Overseas Taiwanese, Cheng-Che Chen, Harry Yi-Jui Wu, Ming-Jui Yeh, Austin Horng-En Wang

Political Science Faculty Research

This study reported domestic and overseas Taiwanese people’s perceived stress levels and examined the mediation effect of their coping strategies during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. We recruited 2727 Taiwanese respondents from the COVIDiSTRESS Global Survey (N = 173,426) between March 30 and May 30, 2020. The self-report questionnaire included a modified 10-item Perceived Stress Scale and a 16-item coping strategy scale. Three stress-coping factors were extracted with principal component analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Their effects were examined through a regression and mediation analysis. The overseas Taiwanese participants had a significantly higher stress level than domestic counterparts …

Incomplete Denitrification Phenotypes In Diverse Thermus Species From Diverse Geothermal Spring Sediments And Adjacent Soils In Southwest China, Chrisabelle C. Mefferd, Enmin Zhou, Cale O. Seymour, Noel A. Bernardo, Shreya Srivastava, Amanda J. Bengtson, Jian-Yu Jiao, Hailiang Dong, Wen-Jun Li, Brian P. Hedlund

Life Sciences Faculty Research

A few members of the bacterial genus Thermus have been shown to be incomplete denitrifiers, terminating with nitrite (NO2⁻) or nitrous oxide (N2O). However, the denitrification abilities of the genus as a whole remain poorly characterized. Here, we describe diverse denitrification phenotypes and genotypes of a collection of 24 strains representing ten species, all isolated from a variety of geothermal systems in China. Confirmed terminal products of nitrate reduction were nitrite or N2O, while nitric oxide (NO) was inferred as the terminal product in some strains. Most strains produced N2O; complete denitrification was not observed. Denitrification phenotypes were …

The Effect Of Natural Disturbances On Forest Biodiversity: An Ecological Synthesis, Mari-Liis Viljur, Scott R. Abella, Martin Adamek, Janderson Batista Rodrigues Alencar, Nicholas A. Barber, Burkhard Beudert, Brahim Chergui, Chang-Yong Choi, Daniel F. R. Cleary, Thomas Seth Davis, Yanus A. Dechnik-Vazquez, William M. Downing, Andrés Fuentes-Ramirez, Kamal J. K. Gandhi, Catherine Gehring, Kostadin B. Georgiev, Mark Gimbutas, Konstantin B. Gongalsky, Anastasiya Y. Gorbunova, Cathryn H. Greenberg, Kristoffer Hylander, Erik S. Jules, Daniil I. Korobushkin, Kajar Köster, Valerie Kurth, Joseph Drew Lanham, Maria Lazarina, Alexandro B. Leverkus, David Lindenmayer, Daniel Magnabosco Marra, Pablo Martín-Pinto, Jorge A. Meave, Marco Moretti, Hyun-Young Nam, Martin K. Obrist, Theodora Petanidou, Pere Pons, Simon G. Potts, Irina B. Rapoport, Paul R. Rhoades, Clark Richter, Ruslan A. Saifutdinov, Nathan J. Sanders, Xavier Santos, Zachary Steel, Julia Tavella, Clara Wendenburg, Beat Wermelinger, Andrey S. Zaitsev, Simon Thorn

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Disturbances alter biodiversity via their specific characteristics, including severity and extent in the landscape, which act at different temporal and spatial scales. Biodiversity response to disturbance also depends on the community characteristics and habitat requirements of species. Untangling the mechanistic interplay of these factors has guided disturbance ecology for decades, generating mixed scientific evidence of biodiversity responses to disturbance. Understanding the impact of natural disturbances on biodiversity is increasingly important due to human-induced changes in natural disturbance regimes. In many areas, major natural forest disturbances, such as wildfires, windstorms, and insect outbreaks, are becoming more frequent, intense, severe, and widespread …

Direction Of Attentional Focus In Prosthetic Training: Current Practice And Potential For Improving Motor Learning In Individuals With Lower Limb Loss, Szu-Ping Lee, Alexander Bonczyk, Maria Katrina Dimapilis, Sarah Partridge, Samantha Ruiz, Lung-Chan Chien, Andrew Sawers

Physical Therapy Faculty Research

Objective:

Adopting an external focus of attention has been shown to benefit motor performance and learning. However, the potential of optimizing attentional focus for improving prosthetic motor skills in lower limb prosthesis (LLP) users has not been examined. In this study, we investigated the frequency and direction of attentional focus embedded in the verbal instructions in a clinical prosthetic training setting.

Methods:

Twenty-one adult LLP users (8 female, 13 male; 85% at K3 level; mean age = 50.5) were recruited from prosthetic clinics in the Southern Nevada region. Verbal interactions between LLP users and their prosthetists (mean experience = 10 …

Coexistence Of Vitreous And Crystalline Phases Of H2o At Ambient Temperature, Ali K. Shargh, Aude Picard, Rostislav Hrubiak, Dongzhou Zhang, Russell J. Hemley, Shanti Deemyad, Niaz Abdolrahim, Saveez Saffarian

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Formation of vitreous ice during rapid compression of water at room temperature is important for biology and the study of biological systems. Here, we show that Raman spectra of rapidly compressed water at greater than 1 GPa at room temperature exhibits the signature of high-density amorphous ice, whereas the X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern is dominated by crystalline ice VI. To resolve this apparent contradiction, we used molecular dynamics simulations to calculate full vibrational spectra and diffraction patterns of mixtures of vitreous ice and ice VI, including embedded interfaces between the two phases. We show quantitatively that Raman spectra, which probe …

Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis To Examine Intrapartum Interventions, And Maternal And Neonatal Outcomes Following Immersion In Water During Labour And Waterbirth, Ethel Burns, Claire Feeley, Priscilla J. Hall, Jennifer Venderlaan

Nursing Faculty Research

Objectives Water immersion during labour using a birth pool to achieve relaxation and pain relief during the first and possibly part of the second stage of labour is an increasingly popular care option in several countries. It is used particularly by healthy women who experience a straightforward pregnancy, labour spontaneously at term gestation and plan to give birth in a midwifery led care setting. More women are also choosing to give birth in water. There is debate about the safety of intrapartum water immersion, particularly waterbirth. We synthesised the evidence that compared the effect of water immersion during labour or …

A Journey To Accountability, Sara Smock Jordan

Journal of Solution Focused Practices

The Journal of Solution Focused Practices (JSFP) underwent structural changes in 2019 as a result of a new editorial team. These changes occurred as a result of prioritizing equitable access to knowledge and leadership in the SF community. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the process of relaunching JSFP as an inclusive international journal. Two major initiatives are described. A renewal and alignment of purpose of the Editorial Board and the development of the journal’s Mission and Values statement. Both initiatives took place within the context of developing accountability for inclusivity, diversity and accessibility.

Developing And Sustaining A Successful Family Business: A Solution-Focused Guide -Written By Louis Cauffman, Julio Príncipe

Journal of Solution Focused Practices

No abstract provided.

Coaching A-Z: The Extraordinary Use Of Ordinary Words -Written By Haesun Moon, Mark Mckergow

Journal of Solution Focused Practices

No abstract provided.

The Practical Negotiation Handbook: A Five-Step Approach To Lasting Partnerships -Written By Melissa Davies, Andrew Gibson

Journal of Solution Focused Practices

No abstract provided.

Assessing Covid-19 Booster Hesitancy And Its Correlates: An Early Evidence From India, Geetanjali C. Achrekar, Kavita Batra, Yashashri Urankar, Ravi Batra, Naved Iqbal, Sabiha A. Choudhury, Deepti Hooda, Roohi Khan, Suraj Arora, Aditi Singh, Francesco Chirico, Manoj Sharma

School of Medicine Faculty Research

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 mutants, waning immunity, and breakthrough infections prompted the use of booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to fight against the pandemic. India started booster doses in January 2022 and it is critical to determine the intention of booster dose uptake and its correlates. Therefore, the current cross-sectional study aimed to investigate booster dose acceptability and associated predictors among the Indian population. A convenience sampling technique was utilized to recruit a sample of 687 Indian residents. A 55-item psychometric validated survey tool was used to assess booster dose acceptability, vaccine literacy and vaccine confidence. Univariate, bivariate, and …

An Essential Role For Tungsten In The Ecology And Evolution Of A Previously Uncultivated Lineage Of Anaerobic, Thermophilic Archaea, Steffen Buessecker, Marike Palmer, Dengxun Lai, Joshua Dimapilis, Xavier Mayali, Damon Mosier, Jian-Yu Jiao, Daniel R. Colman, Lisa M. Keller, Emily St John, Michelle Miranda, Cristina Gonzalez, Lizett Gonzalez, Christian Sam, Christipher Villa, Madeline Zhuo, Nicholas Bodman, Fernando Robles, Eric S. Boyd, Alysia D. Cox, Brian St Clair, Zheng-Shuang Hua, Wen-Jun Li, Anna-Louise Reysenbach, Matthew B. Stott, Peter K. Weber, Jennifer Pett-Ridge, Anne E. Dekas, Brian P. Hedlund, Jeremy A. Dodsworth

Life Sciences Faculty Research

Trace metals have been an important ingredient for life throughout Earth’s history. Here, we describe the genome-guided cultivation of a member of the elusive archaeal lineage Caldarchaeales (syn. Aigarchaeota), Wolframiiraptor gerlachensis, and its growth dependence on tungsten. A metagenome-assembled genome (MAG) of W. gerlachensis encodes putative tungsten membrane transport systems, as well as pathways for anaerobic oxidation of sugars probably mediated by tungsten-dependent ferredoxin oxidoreductases that are expressed during growth. Catalyzed reporter deposition-fluorescence in-situ hybridization (CARD-FISH) and nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS) show that W. gerlachensis preferentially assimilates xylose. Phylogenetic analyses of 78 high-quality Wolframiiraptoraceae MAGs from terrestrial and …

Trends In Utilization Of Human Papillomavirus Vaccines And The Incidence Of Malignant Cervical Cancer In The U.S. Population: A Secondary Analysis, Myah Luna, Soumya Upadhyay

Healthcare Administration and Policy Faculty Research

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted infection, and HPV types 16 and 18 are responsible for approximately 66% of all U.S. cervical cancer cases in women. The quadrivalent HPV vaccine was licensed in mid-2006, and it was designed to target and protect against HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18. The aim of this study is to examine the utilization rate of the HPV vaccine, and the trends and incidence rate of malignant cervical cancer across the United States. Methods: This study utilized data from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) and the National Immunization Survey's (NIS) teenage …

Brain Functional Topology Differs By Sex In Cognitively Normal Older Adults, Zhengshi Yang, Filippo Cieri, Jefferson W. Kinney, Jeffrey L. Cummings, Dietmar Cordes, Jessica Z K Caldwell

Brain Health Faculty Research

Introduction: Late onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia, in which almost 70% of patients are women. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that women show worse global FC metrics compared to men, and further hypothesized a sex-specific positive correlation between FC metrics and cognitive scores in women. Methods: We studied cognitively healthy individuals from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative cohort, with resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Metrics derived from graph theoretical analysis and functional connectomics were used to assess the global/regional sex differences in terms of functional integration and segregation, considering the amyloid status and the contributions of …

2019 Statewide Child Death Report, Nevada Institute For Children’S Research And Policy, Dawn L. Davidson, Elizabeth Holka

Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy Reports

The purpose of this report is to provide comprehensive information regarding the circumstances by which children die in Nevada in order to prevent future child deaths and improve the health and safety of children in the state.

Associations Of Dietary Antioxidants With Glycated Hemoglobin And Insulin Sensitivity In Adults With And Without Type 1 Diabetes, Arpita Basu, Amy C. Alman, Janet K. Snell-Bergeon

Kinesiology and Nutrition Sciences Faculty Research

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) has been associated with increased risks of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and poor glycemic control and oxidative stress play a major role in its pathology. There is a lack of data on the role of dietary antioxidant micronutrients, including vitamins and trace elements, in glycemic control in T1D. The aim of this study is to examine associations of dietary intakes of micronutrients with glycemic status. We report data from a cross-sectional analysis from the coronary artery calcification in type 1 diabetes (CACTI) study (n = 1257; T1D: n = 568; nondiabetic controls: n = 689) collected between …

Nevada Job Gains/Losses, January 2020 - January 2022, Hira Ahmed, Joshua Padilla, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Economic Development & Workforce

This fact sheet displays county-level job gains and losses for 17 counties in Nevada, as reported in the March 2022 The Daily Yonder article “Most Recent Jobs Data Shows Rural Employment Is Nearly Back to Pre-Pandemic Level.”

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation In Decompensated Cirrhosis: A Systematic Review On Safety And Efficacy, Annie S. Hong, Kyaw Min Tun, Jenny M. Hong, Kavita Batra, Gordon Ohning

Department of Internal Medicine Faculty Research

Background and Aims: Due to increasing knowledge of the “gut–liver axis”, there has been growing interest regarding the use of fecal microbiota transplant in the management of chronic liver disease. There are limited data available and current guidelines are mostly based on expert opinions. We aim to perform the first systematic review investigating safety and efficacy of fecal microbiota transplant particularly among high-risk decompensated cirrhosis patient populations. Methods: Literature search was performed using variations of the keywords “fecal microbiota transplant” and “cirrhosis” on PubMed/Medline from inception to 3 October 2021. The resulting 116 articles were independently screened by two authors. …

Complete Genome Sequence Of Klebsiella Quasipneumoniae Subsp. Similipneumoniae Strain If3sw-P1, Isolated From The International Space Station, Natasha S. Sushenko, Nitin K. Singh, Daniel L. Vellone, Scott W. Tighe, Brian P. Hedlund, Kasthuri Venkateswaran, Duane P. Moser

Life Sciences Faculty Research

The 5.2-Mb circular genome of Klebsiella quasipneumoniae subsp. similipneumoniae strain IF3SW-P1, isolated from the International Space Station, was sequenced using Oxford Nanopore Technologies. The genome lacks a megaplasmid typical of hypervirulent and multidrug-resistant Klebsiella strains but does contain a chromosomally encoded OqxAB efflux pump associated with carbapenem resistance.

Cutting-Edge Technologies To Achieve A Higher Level Of Modular Construction – Literature Review, Seungtaek Lee, Jin Ouk Choi, Seung Song

Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction Faculty Research

Cost overruns, schedule delays, and a shortage of skilled labor are common problems the construction industry is currently experiencing. Modularization and standardization strategies have the potential to resolve the various problems mentioned above and have been applied for various construction applications for a long time. However, the level of modularization remains low, and modular construction projects have not been getting the full benefits. Thus, this review investigated the cutting-edge technologies currently being utilized to develop the modular construction field. For this paper, qualified research papers were identified using predetermined keywords from previous related research papers. Identified literature was then filtered …