Digital Commons Network^™

Broadband Equity, Access, And Deployment In Nevada, Brad Wimmer

Policy Briefs and Reports

The $45.45 billion Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program’s primary objective is to extend broadband service to all unserved and underserved locations in the U.S. and its territories. Several industry studies predict that the BEAD program can meet its goal of providing universal access to broadband service if eligible entities execute their grant programs well. My review of the BEAD program indicates that policy makers can enhance the likelihood of program success by designing competitive grant programs that give applicants the incentive to undercut the subsidies proposed by their rivals and provide applicants the flexibility to design networks that …

On Subset Labelings Of Trees, Gary Chartrand, Ebrahim Salehi, Ping Zhang

Mathematical Sciences Faculty Research

For a nontrivial graph G, a subset labeling of G is a labeling of the vertices of G with nonempty subsets of the set [r]={1, 2, ... , r} for a positive integer r such that two vertices of G have disjoint labels if and only if the vertices are adjacent. The subset index ρ(G) of G is the minimum positive integer r for which G has such a subset labeling from the set [r]. If T is a tree of diameter d, then ρ(Pd+1) ≤ ρ(T). It is shown that there are several classes of trees T of diameter …

2024 Graduate Program Rankings, Unlv & Unr, Emily J. Daclan, Isabelle G. Graham, Annie Vong, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents the 2024 graduate program rankings for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and for the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) based on the data published in the U.S. News and World Report. The graduate program categories reported in U.S. News and World Report include business, medicine, engineering, nursing, law, public affairs, education, fine arts, health, science, social sciences, and humanities.

2023-2024 Median Earnings Four Years After Graduation From Unlv & Unr, Isabelle G. Graham, Emily J. Daclan, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents data from The HEA Group examining 2023-2024 median earnings four years after graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). Median earnings are presented for the following undergraduate areas of study: business; hospitality; fine arts; education; engineering; medical; sciences and mathematics; and social sciences and humanities.

Ocr Post-Processing Using Large Language Models, Mahdi Hajiali

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology transforms textual visuals into an electronically readable, non-graphical format of the text. This allows the editing and other text manipulation of the content by language technology software such as machine translation, text comprehension, query-answering systems, and search engines. While Optical Character Recognition (OCR) systems continually progress towards greater precision, several complications persist when dealing with low-resolution source images or those with multicolored backgrounds. Consequently, the text derived from OCR necessitates additional refinement to optimize accuracy, beneficial for various subsequent applications. It is recognized that the character accuracy of OCR-generated text may influence certain natural language …

Environmental And Socio-Economic Stress In The Mountain West, Ayda Atici, Caitlin J. Saladino, Fatma Nasoz, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet examines data on environmental and socio-economic risk metrics including which metrics pose the most risk for Nevada counties.The data are retrieved from “System for the Triage of Risks from Environmental and Socio-Economic Stressors” created by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) joint program on the science and policy of global change.

Using The Multi-Theory Model (Mtm) Of Health Behavior Change To Explain The Seeking Of Stool-Based Tests For Colorectal Cancer Screening, Manoj Sharma, Christopher Johansen, Kavita Batra, Chia-Liang Dai, Ravi Batra, Traci Hayes, Aditi Singh

Social and Behavioral Health Faculty Research

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide and is the second leading cause of cancer-associated deaths. While colorectal cancer is on the decline in the United States (US), disparities still exist, despite the non-invasive screening modalities, such as stool-based tests have shown themselves to be effective in the detection of colorectal cancer. Many of the existing stool-based test interventions lack the use of a contemporary theory-based approach. Given the paucity of theory-based interventions intended to promote stool-based tests, this cross-sectional study utilizes the multi-theory model (MTM) of health behavior change to explain the seeking of stool-based tests for …

Initial Examination Of The Mental Health Disorders: Screening Instrument For Athletes, Brad C. Donohue, Jesse Scott, Grace Goodwin, Kimberly Barchard, Greg Bohall, Daniel N. Allen

Psychology Faculty Research

Introduction: There is a need to psychometrically develop assessment instruments capable of screening mental health disorders in athlete populations. The current study was conducted to determine reliability, validity and clinical utility of the Mental Health Disorders Screening Instrument for Athletes (MHDSIA).

Methods and results:: 259 collegiate athletes completed the MHDSIA. Factor analysis determined a single factor with good internal consistency, and this factor was positively correlated with an established measure of psychiatric symptomology (Symptom Checklist 90-R), demonstrating its concurrent validity. An optimum clinical cutoff score (i.e., 32) was determined using Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analyses to assist appropriate mental health …

A Mixed Methods Examination Of First Year College Students: The Impact Of Ethnic Studies On Post-Secondary Education Experiences, Sherry Bell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Across the United States, fewer high school students are enrolling in university and completing university. Scholars have suggested that ethnic studies may positively influence student engagement and potentially increase university enrollment. This dissertation will discuss the literature related to ethnic studies and critical race theory in relation to frameworks that have been positively associated with student retention. The study described in this dissertation explored if ethnic studies taken prior to attending university is related to positive student experiences during university. The aims of the study were to (1) test the relationship between ethnic studies and positive student experiences (i.e., critical …

Teachers’ Relationship Ratings Of Adolescents With And Without The “Emotional Disturbance” Label, Ashley Colson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The importance of student-teacher relationships is well established. However, research suggests that students in special education tend to experience lower quality student-teacher relationships than their peers in general education. Of particular importance is the developing research indicating that students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs), and especially females, are at the highest risk of poor relationships with teachers. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the presence of an emotional disturbance (ED) label may impact teachers’ perceptions of relationships with adolescents who exhibit behavior that meets ED criteria. A correlational research design with a between-subjects analysis of the …

Climatic Influences On Incipient Alteration In Mars-Relevant Ultramafic Soils, Anthony Feldman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

An ongoing debate exists around the nature of the climatic conditions present during the Noachian and early Hesperian periods (~4.1 to 3 Gyr ago) of Mars’ ancient history. The various theories put forward can reasonably be grouped into “warm and wet” vs “cold and icy” camps. Warm and wet approximates an Earth-like system with a relatively clement climate with significant liquid water present including potentially long-lived oceans. Cold and icy theories generally postulate thick ice sheets at high elevations with periodic warming events driving precipitation and the formation of river channels and leading to the formation of chemical alteration products. …

Synergy And Antagonism In Log-Linear Models, Md Nahid Hasan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Synergy and antagonism have been extensively studied in the context of the statistical analysis of drug combinations given to treat a disease. “Synergy” (“antagonism”, resp.) in a drug combination occurs when the desirable effect of two drugs given together for treating a disease is greater than (less than, resp.) the effect of each drug given separately.

In this dissertation, however, we study “synergy” and “antagonism” in log-linear models. We also give a thorough review and extend several epidemiological definitions of synergy and antagonism for categorical data, and we connect these definitions to the definitions of synergy and antagonism in log-linear …

Development Of Pre-Magnetized Magnetorheological Elastomer For Bidirectionally Variable Stiffness Applications, Choonghan Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) utilize magnetic forces between ferromagnetic particles to cause variable stiffness properties and damping with external magnetic fields. In the MREs, the particles are embedded in a cured elastomer matrix, and an external magnetic field makes the stiffness change due to induced magnetic forces among particles. A disadvantage of the conventional MREs is that they cannot be softened (reduced stiffness) under an external magnetic field. Considering that there are many engineering applications where fast changes of stiffness in both directions (stiffening and softening) are required, embedding magnetically biased particles in the MRE can provide potential solutions. In this …

Magmatic Processes Leading To Compositional Diversity In The Mars Crust, Amanda Marie Ostwald

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The ancient Mars crust can yield insights into planet formation and evolution that Earth cannot. Direct investigation of the martian surface is limited to studies on meteorites and rover-obtained analyses. The nakhlites and chassignites, two classes of martian meteorites, are together the largest suite of martian meteorites derived from a single location on the surface. As such, they present a rare opportunity to study the Mars crust in detail using samples bearing a contextual relationship. Rover studies have found a surprising amount of compositional diversity in surface materials, the formation mechanisms of which are not well-constrained. This dissertation leverages meteorites …

Benchmarking And Practical Evaluation Of Machine And Statistical Learning Methods In Credit Scoring: A Method Selection Perspective, Gwen Verbeck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Predictive models are important tools used in all scientific fields. Machine learning (ML) algorithms and statistical models are widely used for decision-making because of their capability to tackle intricate and unique problems. In domains where data are high-dimensional and contain irrelevant and redundant features, ML algorithms are known to have superior performance over traditional (statistical) learning methods. However, researchers and analysts are often faced with a myriad of techniques to choose from, with no clear consensus on which will perform best for their specific task. Considering resource limitations, exhaustive exploration of all available methods is impractical and often fails to …

Polygenic Risk Score Development And Validation For Early Detection And Risk Stratification Of Rheumatoid Arthritis And Osteoarthritis In Postmenopausal Women, Yingke Xu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction: Around one in four adults worldwide suffer from arthritis. There are more than one hundred different forms of arthritis; the two most common forms of arthritis are rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). RA is an autoimmune disease that can cause joint inflammation. Around 1.3 million adults in the US suffer from RA, representing 0.6%–1% of the population. The RA diagnosis in its early stages is difficult since its signs and symptoms are similar to other arthritis. OA is the most common form of arthritis. In the US, around 30.8 million people are affected by this disease. However, OA …

Principals’ Perceptions Of School Sponsored Field Trips, Melissa Suzanne Giannantonio

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore the views, attitudes, and ideas that school principals have on school-sponsored field trips. As society continues to change it is increasingly necessary to contemplate the growing significance of field trip facilities’ educational roles and garner “information about the audiences they serve” (Anderson et al., 2015, p. vii). Additionally, the past decade has seen a decline in the number of field trips taken by schools, and in 2020, field trips came to a complete halt due to COVID-19 (Center for Disease Control (CDC), 2020; Mathews, 2014; Mehta, 2008; Plummer, 2014; Reeves & …

Instructional Practices That Foster Argumentative Discourse In Secondary Science Classrooms, Alicia N. Herrera

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

To remain competitive in an innovative world, American classrooms are promoting careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by utilizing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Students are engaged in inquiry by applying scientific practices like argumentation. However, science teachers are finding it difficult to respond to, as well as deepen students’ argumentative conversations. Therefore, research must uncover what instructional practices (or combinations) are used to overcome classroom obstacles, along with fostering students’ discourse and sensemaking. A teacher research approach was taken to investigate how the researcher, a secondary science teacher herself, effectively combines three under-researched instructional practices for …

Depression, Anxiety, And Estimated Cardiorespiratory Fitness In College Students, Christian Ison

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Depression and anxiety disorders are two common mental health conditions worldwide. College students are considered a high-risk population for the development of these conditions. Improved cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) has been shown to decrease depression and anxiety risk, symptoms, and severity but this relationship and the extent to which improved CRF can reduce these risks has yet to be examined in the college student population. Validated and reliable non-exercise estimated cardiorespiratory fitness (eCRF) algorithms could be used to identify relationships and associations with depression and anxiety severity levels among college students. The purpose of this study was to assess eCRF and …

Informing Management Strategy For The Relict Leopard Frog (Rana Onca): Insights Into Breeding Biology And An Attempt To Improve Augmentation Success Through Pre-Exposure And Clearance Of An Emerging Amphibian Pathogen, Rebeca Rivera

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Relict Leopard Frog, Rana onca, is a species of conservation concern that suffered a decline sometime during the 20th century. Even after two decades of intensive management, the species currently only occupies 20 spring sites in southern Nevada and northwestern Arizona. The causes for the historical decline are mostly speculative, but relate to habitat loss, introduced predators, and emergent disease. Since 2001, R. onca has been under an intensive conservationprogram managed by a multiagency conservation team. There are several objectives specified in the program including the need to investigate the biology of the species and incorporate findings into …

Facial Expression Recognition Using Convolutional Neural Networks (Cnns) And Generative Adversarial Networks (Gans) For Data Augmentation And Image Generation, Shekhar Singh

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Facial expressions play a crucial role in human communication, serving as a powerful means to convey emotions. However, classifying facial expressions using artificial intelligence (AI) can be challenging, especially with small datasets and images. Facial Expression Recognition (FER) is an active area of research, with Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) being widely employed for classification. In this research, we propose a CNN-based approach for FER that utilizes both original and augmented datasets to enhance classification accuracy. Experimental results on the FER2013 dataset show test accuracies of 63.39% and 64.59% for the original and augmented datasets, respectively, in a seven-class classification task. …

Development And Characterization Of Lead & Lead-Free Perovskite Solar Cell Materials, Rubaiya Murshed

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In recent years, perovskite photovoltaic technology has offered enormous viability and dimensionality in solar cell research. As a light-harvesting active layer, Perovskite generated remarkable development in device efficiency of 25.7% for the single-junction solar cell, and over 33% for the perovskite/silicon tandem solar cell. Also, perovskite-perovskite tandem solar cell (also called all-perovskite tandem solar cell) shows great potential in device performance and achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 26.4%. Transitioning photovoltaic technology from the laboratory to commercial products, high PCE, low cost, long lifetime, and low toxicity are some of the critical factors to consider during material selection. Pb-halide …

Development Of A Metapgs For Accurate Prediction Of Osteoporotic Fracture, Xiangxue Xiao

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction: Early identification of individuals at high-risk for osteoporotic fractures who may benefit from preventive intervention is essential. However, the predictive accuracy of the currently used fracture risk assessment tool remains suboptimal. The first aim of this research is to construct genome-wide polygenic scores for the femoral neck (PGS_FNBMD_idpred) and total body BMD (PGS_TBBMD_idpred) and to estimate their potential in identifying individuals with a high risk of osteoporotic fractures. The second aim is to validate the predictive performance of two previously established PGSs (PGS_FNBMD_idpred and PGS_TBBMD_idpred) in an external cohort …

Coal Ash Dumps In The Mountain West, Julia Salangsang, Nicole Diaz Del Valle, Zachary Billot, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Environment

This fact sheet presents data on coal ash dumps, their management, and the pollutants that exist at each site in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The original report includes data on coal ash dumping sites for all 50 states.

The Forgotten Language Skill: Finding A Prominent Place For Listening In Meaningful Programming For Multilingual Learners With Learning Disabilities, Tracy Griffin Spies

Educational & Clinical Studies Faculty Research

Listening is the primary vehicle through which children learn, is fundamental to all other communication competencies, is a core component of multimodal instruction, and is key to learning language. At the same time, listening comprehension is the least understood language skill and is challenging for teachers in the provision of high quality instruction. For multilingual learners with learning disabilities it also presents certain challenges at the intersection of students’ disability and developing language proficiency. This article presents a conceptual analysis of listening comprehension across the perspectives of learning disability and second language acquisition in an effort to link disconnected understandings …

Not All Doctoral Journeys Are Paved With Gold, Derek E. Fialkiewicz

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

This article is a reflection on the journey through the process of my doctoral studies. Published dissertations or research articles are very neat and tidy with no mention of any adversity or struggle. Hence why many doctoral students feel stressed, anxiety, or like quitting when obstacles or roadblocks are encountered. My doctoral program took much longer than anticipated, and my resulting dissertation veered far from my original proposal. What began as a mixed-methods study with a possible 1,400 surveys and 20 interview participants was morphed into a qualitative case study with one participant. There were many contributing factors, most uncontrollable …

A Case Study: Examining Biological Sex Differences In A 14-Week Neck Strength Protocol For Optimal Neuromuscular Indicators To Reduce The Incidence Of Traumatic Brain Injury, Jennifer L. Kale, Maggie Craig Tyndall, Alexander T. Mcdaniel, Lindsey Schroeder, Yishi Wang

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology Volume 4: Issue 1, Article 9, 2023. The primary aim of this research was to analyze potential biological sex differences to determine if a variation in dynamic and isometric neck strength existed following a 14-week novel neck strengthening protocol. College-aged healthy participants who did not have a previous history of head or neck trauma were recruited for this study. A pre- and post-assessment was conducted to gather initial isometric and dynamic neck strength values. The neck strengthening intervention utilized a novel dynamic neck strength device for 14-weeks. 14-week neck strength protocol used in this …

Resistance Training In Patients After Metabolic And Bariatric Surgery: Protocol For A Systematic Review, Whitney Elks, Adam Rooks, Spencer Schulte, Kavita Batra, Jocelyn Burke, Varun Jain

Department of Medical Education Faculty Research

Background: Resistance training has been consistently shown to have multiple health benefits, especially for patients who have undergone bariatric surgery. Patients who have undergone bariatric surgery are recommended to participate in resistance exercise; however, protocols and guidelines for resistance training remain poorly implemented. Objective: This is a protocol for a systematic review and possibly a meta-analysis that will synthesize evidence of the effects of resistance exercise on changes in body composition, muscular strength, overall weight loss or maintenance of weight loss, and quality of life in patients after metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS). The findings of this study may provide …

Covid-19 In Casinos: Analysis Of Covid-19 Contamination And Spread With Economic Impact Assessment, Anastasia (Stasi) D. Baran, Jason D. Fiege

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic caused tremendous disruption for casinos, with the virus causing various lengths of shutdowns, capacity restrictions, and social distancing strategies such as machine removals or section closures. Although most of the world has now eased off these measures, it is important to review lessons learned to understand, and better prepare for similar circumstances in the future. We present Monte Carlo slot floor simulation software customized to simulate players spreading COVID-19 on the slot floor. We simulate the amount of touch surface contamination; the number of potential surface contact exposure events per day, and a proximity exposures statistic …

Statistical Methods To Generate Artificial Slot Floor Data For The Advancement Of Casino Related Research, Courtney Bonner, Anastasia (Stasi) D. Baran, Jason D. Fiege, Saman Muthukumarana

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

Abstract:

A common difficulty when researching gambling topics is the availability of high-quality data sets for development and testing. Due to the high level of secrecy within the gambling industry, if data is obtained for research purposes it is often prohibitively obfuscated, incomplete, or aggregated. Although these data have allowed for advancement in academic work, it leaves both the researchers and readers left wondering about what would be possible if more detailed data sets were available. To mitigate the paucity of data available to researchers, we present a Markov chain-based statistical process for producing artificial event data for a simulated …