Digital Commons Network^™

Stronger Together: Boys Of New School And Costanoa, Analupita Ramirez-Cortes

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Monarch Services has been in Santa Cruz County since 1977, providing crucial support to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault through a range of programs, including crisis intervention, youth support, and emergency shelter. The organization serves approximately 1,500 survivors annually, with a strong focus on Latino communities and bilingual services. In 2023, the Children and Youth Program served 118 individuals, offering case management, safety planning, and counseling. This capstone project aims to bridge the gap in education about healthy relationships, focusing on teen boys at CostaNoa High School and New School Community Day High School. By implementing The Mask …

Breaking Barriers: Bridging Resource Gaps In Low-Income Communities, Maria Fernanda Yanez Cabrera

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Low-income individuals often struggle with access to resources. CHISPA, which serves low-income individuals in Monterey County and surrounding areas, aims to remove this barrier through its community services department. CHISPA worked to address the resource barrier by implementing a resource fair for its population of low-income individuals, families, and seniors. CHISPA’s residents were invited to come out, explore, and create connections with community resources during a resource fair. The expected outcome was for residents gaining new knowledge and the opportunity to use resources there or in the future. Results were measured through surveys which showed success and interest in the …

Parental Involvement In Supporting Inclusive Elementary School Classrooms, Marisol Aldama Hernandez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The purpose of this senior capstone research project is to examine the effective ways that parents can get involved in their elementary school students’ education that would impact their children’s academics in school classrooms. Given the barriers that some families face that cause them to be absent from their education in the classrooms, this study examines the role of parents on how they could support their children’s education in inclusive elementary school classrooms. Through the use of literature review and a case study, the findings revealed that parental involvement is important for their children’s early education years in both inside …

Effects Of Caretakers And Attachment Styles, Shayna Tran

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Daycare workers and teachers play vital roles in the emotional well-being and developmental trajectory of the children they care for. Attachment styles are rooted in early childhood interactions with primary caregivers and greatly influence a child’s social, emotional, and cognitive well-being (Fathi-Ashtiani & Sheikholeslami, 2019). Recognizing and responding appropriately to different attachment styles not only fosters secure attachment and relationships but also mitigates behavioral challenges (Bergin & Bergin, 2009). To address this need, I have created an interactive presentation for daycare workers at VillaSport, San Jose, by explaining why staff should know the different attachment styles, how it affects the …

The Importance Of Mental Health In Children, Haide Batres

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project focuses on teaching children how to identify and cope with their mental health challenges. Ho and Funk's (2018) research highlighted how children's social and emotional health impacts their development and social interaction. During this time, children experience changes within themselves, increased sensitivity to stress, and challenges to socially interact with others. They begin to develop mechanisms, which can either support or delay their emotional well-being. Understanding these changes is important for contributing to their future mental health. To promote resilience and healthy coping mechanisms, I presented a three-day workshop to third-grade students (8-9 years old) from Hispanic …

Buying The Trend: How Trends Target Identity Leading Into The Normalization Of Overconsumption, Marian Alvarado Rivera

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper puts a lens on the growing popularity of social media apps promoting fashion trends for it's users leading to a rise in overconsumption of products. Research was aimed at several different online trends that were marketed towards female consumers; The Stanley Cup, The 2023 Barbie movie press tour and The Hello Kitty girl. In examining these trends the findings show that through the usage of the algorithm social media apps are able to learn and curate specific content targeted towards certain parts of one's identity.

Increasing College Students' Awareness Of Stress, Mental Health, And Well-Being, Marlene Villicana

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

College students face many stressors due to the transitions and responsibilities of young adulthood. According to Karyotaki et al. (2020), 93% of respondents in an international study of college students reported at least one type of mild stress, and 73% named stress in at least three life areas. The same study found that stress management interventions effectively reduce perceived stress, mood, and anxiety problems through a combination of problem-focused and appraisal-focused strategies. In order to address the issues of stress, mental health, and well-being among college students, I created an interactive two-day presentation for Human Development and Family Science students …

Easing The Transition To School By Strengthening Attachment, Serena A. Rodriquez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The transition to school for preschoolers aged three to five years old can be extremely challenging, more so due to the fact that separation anxiety is considered developmentally normal for children ranging from nine months to three years of age, regardless of attachment style. However, children with insecure attachment styles, such as anxious-ambivalent or avoidant, are especially vulnerable during this transition (Verywell Health, 2023). Children who exhibit insecure attachment styles often face several negative consequences that affect both their school experience and their overall development (Evans et al., 2018). Although the fear of separating from one's parents or primary caregiver …

Teaching New Mothers The Importance Of Prenatal And Postnatal Nutrition, Brisa Villa

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Many pregnant women are unaware of the significant impact that prenatal and postnatal malnutrition can have on both their health and their baby's development. Prenatal and postnatal malnutrition can affect pregnancy, childhood, and even adulthood. According to Barker (1997), prenatal malnutrition puts the baby at a high risk for heart disease, low-birth weight, high blood pressure, stillbirth, and many more long-term health issues. To address the issue of prenatal and postnatal malnutrition, I created a two-day workshop for new mothers on how to identify consequences of malnutrition during and after pregnancy, understanding appropriate portion sizes across different food groups and …

Eurocentrism In Curriculum And Its Detriment To Cultural Awareness, Kimberly Rose Sterzick

Masters Projects

Some school curricula may hinder students' development of cultural awareness. School is the vessel through which many students get their first glimpse of the world, and bias throughout that voyage can negatively alter students’ development of cultural awareness --- the very skill that schools hope to promote. A Eurocentric approach and overemphasis on Western civilizations and ideals dominates the cultural conversations through their prolific use in “world” courses. When educational discourses point to Western cultures as the epitome of culture in “world” courses, students fail to obtain a true cultural understanding and awareness of the world around them, and they …

Why And When Do We Invasively Restage After Neoadjuvant Chemoimmunotherapy?, Jonathan D Spicer, Tina Cascone, Murry W Wynes, Karen L Kelly

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Supporting Well-Being For The Home Visiting Workforce: Organizational Supports For Experiences Of Bias & Discrimination, Beth L. Green, Nicole M. Lauzus, Yumi Lee, Ron Joseph, Erin Gaines, Center For Improvement Of Child And Family Services

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This learning brief is the third in a series to share findings from a 2023 statewide survey of over 700 members of Oregon’s home visiting workforce. This study has provided a wealth of information about Oregon’s home visiting workforce and what could be done to improve and support worker well-being and retention, with a focus on the needs and experiences of home visitors of color and those who speak languages other than English.

Little research has examined the extent to which home visitors experience racism or discrimination on the job, how this may impact their professional and personal well-being, and …

Integrated Transcriptomics And Proteomics Study Of Starvation Selected Drosophila Melanogaster, Aavash Adhikari

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Drosophila melanogaster, selected for starvation resistance exhibits phenotypic traits such as increased body size, slower development, reduced fecundity and obesity like characteristics including higher lipid reserves and cardiac dysfunction. While prior studies have explored the metabolic and biochemical changes in these flies, the underlying genetic and molecular mechanisms remain unclear. This study aims to investigate the gene expression and protein abundance in starvation-selected Drosophila through RNAseq, proteomics, and integrating both datasets using the MixOmics package in R. I found differential gene expression in the fat body at the third instar larval stage, particularly in pathways related to lipid metabolism, calcium …

Real-Time Predictive Analytics For Healthcare Monitoring And Terrain Classification Using Data Streaming And Online Learning, Ayemon Baraka

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This thesis develops a scalable, real-time predictive framework aimed at improving outcomes in healthcare monitoring and gait classification. Specifically, it addresses two primary applications: early detection of cardiovascular events, myocardial infarction (MI) and arrhythmia, through continuous analysis of ECG data streams; and adaptive terrain classification from gait data. Utilizing data streaming technologies such as Apache Kafka and Apache Spark, coupled with machine learning models, this framework enables near real-time and precise predictions from high-throughput, real-time data. Furthermore, the integration of online learning frameworks, including the River API and TensorFlow I/O, allows for continuous model adaptation, enhancing the system’s responsiveness and …

Analyzing Sars-Cov-2 Wastewater Surveillance Data For Public Health Impact In Southern Nevada, Casey A. Barber

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers determined that levels of severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic material in wastewater could provide information about COVID-19 occurrence in communities. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) efforts have subsequently expanded throughout the U.S. and internationally; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiated its National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) in September of 2020 and continues its SARS-CoV-2 wastewater monitoring efforts following the end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency in May 2023. The field of WBE has reached a critical juncture in determining the future of how SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance data …

Addressing Inference Time Of Machine Learning Models In Embedded Systems, Samuel Black

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Embedded Systems are used for a wide range of specialized computing purposes including surveyal, safety, security, and quality of life. Many areas that embedded systems are used in require the use of machine learning models. Constraints can be placed on embedded systems. Timeliness of execution, user satisfaction, security, power, and resource limitations must be considered when designing for embedded systems. Neural networks excel at complex tasks that are otherwise intractable, but their relatively high computational cost poses a challenge for inclusion in embedded systems. Neural network architectures should be optimized to reduce the total number of operations performed while maintaining …

Exploring The Interactive Effects Of Officer, Subject, And Encounter Factors On Police Use Of Force Outcomes, Jeremy David Barnum

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Police use of force incidents are highly complex events that can be characterized by factors pertaining to the officers, subjects, and immediate encounter. These factors and the dynamic interrelationships between them encompass the situational context of use of force and have been widely studied in the criminological literature (Bolger, 2015). However, extant research has almost exclusively focused on identifying the main effects of situational factors on use of force with little consideration of how effects may vary across specific situational contexts. This limits our understanding of police use of force and complicates efforts to develop policy or training that ensures …

Biological Reduction Of Mixed Oxyanions In Wastewater Brine, Katherine J. Earp

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Treatment of contaminated brine water is an area of active research spurred by the use of advanced treatment technologies, such as membrane separation, reverse osmosis, ion exchange, etc. for water reuse and recycling, which has become critical due to the impact of climate change on water resources throughout the globe. Biological reduction of harmful organic and inorganic pollutants in water has been demonstrated as an effective method for water and wastewater treatment and would be a potential technology for brine treatment. However, biodegradation of contaminants in high salinity waters is challenging because most microbial communities cannot survive brine environments. The …

Understanding Levels Of Perceived Racism And Discrimination When Utilizing Perinatal Care, Alexandria S. Evans

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Social and structural determinants of health, grounded in historical racism and discrimination, significantly influence maternal health outcomes. Because of this, communities of color experience a higher burden of maternal health disparities. In the last several decades, there has been an increased awareness of the need to integrate critical race theory into public health research to address maternal health disparities in the context of perinatal care delivery, policy, and funding decisions.

This three-manuscript dissertation utilized mixed methods to examine the ways in which systemic racism and discrimination are perceived and how it impacts the utilization of perinatal care services in historically …

Effect Of Epistemic Cognition And Self-Regulation On The Evaluation Of Online Information, Devin T. Foschi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While research has shown that epistemic cognition plays an important role in self-regulation, the way in which it does so in online contexts needs further research. The objective of this dissertation was to examine the relationship between Internet-specific epistemic cognition and Internet-specific self-regulated learning, and to use a mixed-methods approach in order to expand upon the way learners undergo the evaluation of information in online spaces beyond the traditional method of only using self-report measures and other common quantitative techniques. Using an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design, Phase 1 (N = 117) used quantitative methods to first look at the relationship …

The Assignment Despite Objection Construct: Its Efficacy And Utility In Measuring Nurse-Perceived Unsafe Staffing Events And Associated Outcomes, Debra F. Fox

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Purpose: This three-manuscript approach provided a progressively built overview of Assignment Despite Objection as a construct used by nurses to document their perceptions of unsafe staffing events and as an unstudied concept in the staffing outcomes literature.

Background: All nurses have an ethical, legal, and professional responsibility to refuse or object to assignments they believe are unsafe for their well-being or their patient’s safety. Assignment Despite Objection being the only widely used construct nurses use to document these perceptual details. No studies have focused on Assignment Despite Objection as a construct or concept, leaving a complete gap in understanding its …

Understanding Failure Mechanisms For Two Colorectal Anastomosis Techniques, Youssef Sherif Sadek Fahmy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Colorectal Surgery continues to be one of the most common gastrointestinal surgeries performed in the US. A common complication known as Anastomotic Leakage (AL) that threatens up to 30% of patients with this surgery. Many cases of AL can decrease the quality of life for patients or extensively extend hospital stays, and in many cases, lead to death. Researchers have studied this complication in clinical trials, yet few studied the mechanics of stapled anastomosis in controlled environments. The purpose of this research was to understand the mechanical interaction between the staples and the tissue, and to eventually apply it in …

Social Network Analysis: How Social Media Groups Can Influence Policies Among Hispanic Families, Valeria Gurr

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 impacted the entire world in various ways. On March 15, 2020, education in Nevada was significantly impacted when the Governor announced the closure of public schools due to the pandemic. When the schools were closed, students were forced to stay home and receive their education through virtual instruction. This transition to distance education affected the Hispanic/Latino(a) communities in pronounced ways and highlighted issues such as limited access to the Internet, technology, lack of hardware devices, as well as language barriers and more. This study uses social networking analysis techniques to examine the nature of …

Uptake Of Contaminants Of Emerging Concerns (Cecs) By Plants Irrigated With Recycled Waters, Abid Hussain

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The increasing demand for water in arid and semi-arid regions necessitates the use of recycled water (RW) for irrigation. RW is a viable alternative to conventional irrigation water at most locations, but it can be a major route for contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs) to be taken up by the tissues of food crops, thereby leading to their subsequent entry into the food chain. CECs include pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and industrial chemicals that are generally present at low concentrations in environmental waters, hence their common designation as trace organic compounds (TOrCs), and CECs also include microbiological constituents such as …

Physiology And Genomics At The Bottom Of The World: Genome To Phenome, Amy Christine Klink

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mammals are exposed to a suite of physiological challenges based on the environment in which they inhabit. Animal individuals can overcome challenges associated with the dynamic nature of their habitat through variation in phenotypic traits. The plasticity of a phenotype relies on an individual’s genome and the transcription factors that act on regulatory elements. Species living in Antarctica display physiological specializations to withstand harsh conditions, such as severe cold temperatures, shifts in available ice habitat, and annual fluctuations in daylight. To explore the connections between an individual’s genome and its phenotype, we investigated two physiologies of the Antarctic Weddell seal …

Exploring Staff Nurses’ Perceptions Of Nursing Student Enculturation Within Clinical Teaching: A Focused Ethnography, Larizza Limjuco Woodruff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The traditional clinical education model in nursing has utilized on-site learning experiences in clinical settings with patient encounters. With the growing complexity and demands of contemporary nursing care today, it is imperative to question the principal assumptions that guide the design and use of traditional clinical teaching experiences. Staff nurses working with nursing students can illuminate the impact of sociocultural workplace factors on clinical teaching and learning when preparing students for practice. Yet there is little known about staff nurses’ perspectives of nursing culture and how enculturation prepares nursing students for the profession. By understanding the perceptions of enculturation among …

The Relationship Between Police Stress And Officer Misconduct, Leobardo Lopez-Cristobal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Recent high-profile and controversial police-related incidents have sparked an intensified public discourse on police misconduct. This has resulted in increasing calls for greater accountability and transparency within U.S. police agencies. Much of the existing research on police misconduct centers around two competing explanations: the "bad apples" perspective, which attributes misconduct to individual officers, and the "bad barrels" perspective, which points to systemic or organizational factors (Rojek, Decker, & Wagner, 2015). However, one factor that has been underexplored in the literature is the role of police stress in influencing deviant police behavior. Previous studies suggest a potential link between police-related stress …

Using Neighborhood Information To Improve Fiber Direction Estimation From Neuroimaging Data, Anjan Mandal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Accurately estimating neuronal fiber directions is crucial in neuroimaging analysis. The Ball-and-Stick Model (BSM), introduced by Behrens et al. (2003), and widely used in software tools like FSL, remains one of the most popular models for this purpose. BSM analyzes each voxel individually, based solely on its signal information.In this dissertation, we propose modifications to BSM, that incorporate signal information from neighboring voxels in the estimation process, potentially improving the accuracy of the estimates. Additionally, within the estimation process, we introduce two novel proposal distributions to enhance the efficiency of the Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling procedure on the simplex …

A Performance Guide To Lisabeth-Claude Jacquet De La Guerre’S Cantate Fran Oise: Semel, Cho Hee Hwang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study explores one of the French cantatas, Semel , composed by lisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre (1665–1729) to provide an analysis of her sophisticated text painting and a performance guide for singers. The cantata genre originated in Italy and by the early-eighteenth century, it flourished in France as well: approximately eight hundred French cantatas were composed between 1700 and 1730. lisabeth-Claude Jacquet de La Guerre was among the French composers who adopted the genre, along with Jean-Baptiste Morin (1677–1745), Nicholas Bernier (1664–1734), Fran ois Couperin (1668–1733), and Louis-Nicolas Cl rambault (1676–1749). In 1715, Jacquet de La Guerre published the …

Α-Quartz Plastic Strength Investigation Via Diffraction Experiments On Novaculite Using A D-Dia And Elastic Plastic Self-Consistent Interpretation, Denali Jivanjee Medina

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The plastic response of experimentally deformed quartz provides insight into the strength of ductile shear zones that has implications for tectonic, lithospheric, and ore deposit models. We present a suite of 15 uniaxial deformation experiments on Arkansas novaculite conducted in a DDIA apparatus with in-situ synchrotron x-rays. Experimental temperatures range from 25 C to 1334 C with pressures between 1.39 GPa and 3.1 GPa, and strain rates between 1x10-5 s-1 and 9x10-6 s-1. Macroscopic sample strain ranges from 3% to 24%. d-spacings from the (101), (110), (200), (201), and (112) lattice planes were measured, producing lattice strain up to ~5%. …