Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

2014-2019 National Science Foundation (Nsf) Rankings By Total R&D Expenditures, Katie M. Gilbertson, Caitlin J. Saladino, William E. Brown Jr.

Higher Education

This fact sheet presents National Science Foundation (NSF) funding data for 10 individual research universities in addition to the combined funding received by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) for the years 2014 to 2019.

Angular Momentum In Skilled Kicking Pullover Performed By Elementary School Children, Yutaka Shimizu, Saburo Nishimura, Shoichi Matsushita

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology

Topics in Exercise Science and Kinesiology Volume 3: Issue 1, Article 2, 2022. This study aimed to clarify the differences in body positions and the role of the swing leg, support leg, and head-arm-trunk segment in generating and maintaining angular momentum of the whole body about a horizontal bar as well as how to improve the skill level of successful kicking pullover attempts. Two-dimensional kinematic parameters of successful kicking pullover attempts and body composition indices of 26 fifth-grade elementary school children were collected. Their techniques were classified into excellent and good groups based on the subjective evaluation of three evaluators. …

Covid-19 Vaccination Rates In Nevada Counties, December 2021, Kristian Thymianos, Olivia K. Cheche, William E. Brown Jr., Caitlin J. Saladino

Health

This fact sheet presents vaccination rates in Nevada counties as originally reported by the Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup in the Joint Coordination Cell, under the White House COVID-19 Team in the December 30th “COVID-19 Community Profile Report.” Data on one-dose and full vaccination rates are presented.

Topical Analysis Of Nuclear Experts' Perceptions Of Publics, Nuclear Energy, And Sustainable Futures, Hannah K. Patenaude, Emma Frances Bloomfield

Communication Studies Faculty Research

Nuclear energy experts consider commercial power from fission to be a strong contender to help mitigate the increasing effects of climate change, in part due to its low-to-no carbon emissions. Nevertheless, nuclear energy’s history, including meltdowns such as Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, and dumping in sacred Indigenous land such as Yucca Mountain, raises important concerns in public deliberation over nuclear power. These communicative dynamics are crucial to study because they inform larger conversations in communication scholarship about the role of experts in scientific controversies and the complicated nature of public trust in and engagement with science. Thus, this …

Race And Ethnic Group Dependent Space Radiation Cancer Risk Predictions, Francis A. Cucinotta, Premkumar B. Saganti

Health Physics and Diagnostic Sciences Faculty Research

Future space missions by national space agencies and private industry, including space tourism, will include a diverse makeup of crewmembers with extensive variability in age, sex, and race or ethnic groups. The relative risk (RR) model is used to transfer epidemiology data between populations to estimate radiation risks. In the RR model cancer risk is assumed to be proportional to background cancer rates and limited by other causes of death, which are dependent on genetic, environmental and dietary factors that are population dependent. Here we apply the NSCR-2020 model to make the first predictions of age dependent space radiation cancer …

Public Policy Should Foster Alzheimer’S Treatment Availability: Comment On The Draft Us Medicare Decision To Limit Payment For Aducanumab (Aduhelm™) To Patients Participating In Clinical Trials, Jeffrey L. Cummings

Brain Health Faculty Research

Aducanumab (AduhelmTM) was approved by the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease on June 7, 2021. Soon after, the approved labeling was adjusted to direct treatment to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild AD dementia reflecting the severity of cognitive impairment among participants in the clinical trials that led to the approval (1, 2).

Individuals over age 65 in the US are entitled to have the cost of prescription drugs partially paid by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS; “Medicare”) if they participate in an …

Dirtiest Cities In The Mountain West, 2021, Olivia K. Cheche, Kristian Thymianos, William E. Brown Jr., Caitlin J. Saladino

Environment

This fact sheet presents rankings of the dirtiest cities in the Mountain West, as originally reported by LawnStarter in “2021’s Dirtiest Cities in the U.S.” The original report examines various measures for 200 major U.S. cities. Twenty-five Mountain West cities are included in the original report and are showcased here.

Building H.O.U.S.E (Healthy Outcomes Using A Supportive Environment): Exploring The Role Of Affordable And Inclusive Housing For Lgbtqia+ Older Adults, Amy Rosenwohl‐Mack, Darin Smith, Meredith Greene, Karyn Skultety, Madeline Deutsch, Leslie Dubbin, Jason D. Flatt

Social and Behavioral Health Faculty Research

Little is known about how permanent, inclusive, affordable, and supportive long‐term housing may affect the health of low‐income lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual and/or another identity (LGBTQIA+) older adults. Focus group interviews were conducted with 21 older adults to explore the lived experiences and potential health benefits of living in a new LGBTQIA+‐welcoming senior housing. Participants reported that moving into the housing was associated with benefits for health and well‐being, especially for psychological health. Community, social support, and in‐house services were particularly important. However, the combined nature of LGBTQIA+‐welcoming and older adult only housing evoked mixed feelings. Appropriate …

Women's Safety In Nevada, Tsion Mekonnen, Aika Dietz

Research Briefs

43.8% of Nevadan women experience domestic violence in their lifetime (2020).

Fifty Shades Of Deservingness: An Analysis Of State-Level Variation And Effect Of Social Constructions On Policy Outcomes, Rebecca J. Kreitzer, Elizabeth A. Maltby, Candis Watts Smith

Political Science Faculty Research

A patchwork of policies exists across the United States. While citizens' policy preferences in domains such as the criminal legal system, gun regulations/rights, immigration, and welfare are informed by their political predispositions, they are also shaped by the extent to which policy targets are viewed as deserving. This article centres the idea that collective evaluations matter in policymaking, and it ascertains whether subnational levels of deservingness evaluations of several target groups differ across space to illuminate the link between these judgements and state policy design. We leverage original survey data and multilevel regression and poststratification to create state-level estimates of …

Librarians Attending Non-Librarian Conferences: Benefits And Preparing To Attend, Amanda Nevius, Kathryn Houk, Erica Brody, Xan Goodman, Roy Brown, Christine Andresen

Library Faculty Research

This experience-based opinion piece, authored by a diverse team of librarians, will empower readers to attend non-librarian conferences by acknowledging the benefits and challenges of doing so, along with advice for overcoming these challenges and making the most of this professional development and advocacy opportunity. A review of the literature provides background and support for Part 1, which discusses the benefits of attending non-librarian conferences, organized into the categories of broadening horizons and advocacy. In Part 2 we give advice for preparation for attending and overcoming challenges. We present Part 2 organized into the following themes: 1) Acquiring time, money, …

The Desert Southwest: Population Growth 2010-2020, Kelliann Beavers, Joshua Padilla, Katie M. Gilbertson, William E. Brown Jr.

Demography

In 2021 the United States Census Bureau identified the Desert Southwest as one of the fastest growing regions in the country. The Desert Southwest encompasses portions of five states (Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas) including forty counties and ten metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). Using data from the Census Bureau, this fact sheet showcases population growth within Desert Southwest counties and metropolitan statistical areas from 2010 to 2020.

On The Estimation Of Cross-Firm Productivity Spillovers With An Application To Fdi, Emir Malikov, Shunan Zhao

Molasky Family Department of Economics and Real Estate Faculty Research

We develop a novel methodology for the proxy variable identification of firm productivity in the presence of productivity-modifying learning and spillovers which facilitates a unified "internally consistent" analysis of the spillover effects between firms. Contrary to the popular two-step empirical approach, ours does not postulate contradictory assumptions about firm productivity across the estimation steps. Instead, we explicitly accommodate crosssectional dependence in productivity induced by spillovers which facilitates identification of both the productivity and spillover effects therein simultaneously. We apply our model to study cross-firm spillovers in China’s electric machinery manufacturing, with a particular focus on productivity effects of inbound FDI.

Hot Topics Trade Publications Connect Research With Career Ambitions, Lateka J. Grays, Mark N. Lenker Iii

Library Faculty Research

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), is home to the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality. Due to the college’s size and its importance for the city’s economy, it is a separate school from the College of Business. Information literacy for hospitality has been a priority for the college’s first-year seminar program since its inception, and the hospitality librarian has been working with seminar coordinators to refine this aspect of the curriculum for over six years.

Five years ago, the hospitality librarian began collaborating with a new teaching and learning librarian in order to give him more teaching experience …

A Stillness In The Desert? Engaging The Public Through An Immersive Exploration Of Southwest Soundscapes, Julian Kilker, Thomas Bjelic

Creative Collaborations

The pandemic highlighted the anthropocentric nature of soundscapes, while the recent popularity of electric cars, quadcopters, and “noise cancellation” earbuds demonstrated how consumer products can rapidly change our awareness of sound. While light pollution is already extensively addressed in scholarly research, popular works such as The End of Night, and public engagement such as The International Dark Sky Association, the complex interplay of sound, natural resources, and public engagement is still emerging, particularly in creative fields.

Two UNLV scholars and artists are collaborating on this project: Julian Kilker, who specializes in visual and emerging technology research, and Tom Bjelic, who …

Awareness And Knowledge Of Aging And Hiv-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder: Service User And Provider Perspectives And Experiences In Southern Nevada, Renato M. Liboro, Brandon Ranuschio, Sherry Bell, Jenna Despres, Trinity Puno, Aruna Sedere, Nadia Sheik Yosef, Esmeralda Villalobos, Janelle Wackens, Lianne Barnes

Psychology Faculty Research

This community report presents the findings and analysis of a survey that was part of the quantitative stage of a mixed-method Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) project dedicated to examine the awareness and knowledge of racially and ethnically diverse, middle-aged and older people living with HIV/AIDS, and their healthcare and service providers from Southern Nevada, on aging, brain health, HIV/AIDS, and the condition known as HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorder. The CBPR project was conducted in collaboration with community partners such as the LGBTQIA+ Community Center of Southern Nevada, Southern Nevada Health District’s Ryan White Program, Community Counseling Center of Southern Nevada, and …

Digital Partnerships: Nontraditional Learning Opportunities At The Freedman Center For Digital Scholarship, Amanda Koziura, R. Benjamin Gorham

Library Faculty Research

This book chapter details instructional partnerships between experts at the Freedman Center for Digital Scholarship and faculty and students at Case Western Reserve University. Applications of digital scholarship methods in the classroom are discussed through case studies, which include assignments and activities incorporating GIS, Scalar, and photogrammetry. A literature review and mapping of digital scholarship concepts and methods to the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy in Higher Education are included.

Gathering Knowledge In Your Library: Community Mentoring For Academic Librarians, Lateka J. Grays, Xan Y. Goodman, Andrea Wirth

Library Faculty Research

There are many mentoring definitions in the literature; however, the one that best describes the spirit of mentoring for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries (University Libraries) comes from the Dictionary of Business. It defines mentoring as “a form of training or employee development in which a trusted and respected person with a lot [of] experience—the mentor—offers special guidance, encouragement and support to a less experienced employee.”1

Mentoring at the University Libraries is designed to provide guidance and encouragement to incoming tenure-track librarians who must navigate the tenure process and organizational culture in higher education. The purpose of this …

Hispanic/Latinx Inclusive Terminologies Projects Technical Report, Aidy Weeks, Katie Hoskins

Library Faculty Research

The purpose of this document is to describe the project management elements of the Hispanic/Latinx Inclusive Terminologies Project that was completed within a one-year timeframe. Individuals are welcome to review this document in order to apply/inform their future project objectives, structure, and deliverables when working with large/multi-project teams.

Mobile Health App For Adolescents: Motion Sensor Data And Deep Learning Technique To Examine The Relationship Between Obesity And Walking Patterns, Sungchul Lee, Eunmin Hwang, Yanghee Kim, Fatih Demir, Hyunhwa Lee, Joshua J. Mosher, Eunyoung Jang, Kiho Lim

Nursing Faculty Research

With the prevalence of obesity in adolescents, and its long-term influence on their overall health, there is a large body of research exploring better ways to reduce the rate of obesity. A traditional way of maintaining an adequate body mass index (BMI), calculated by measuring the weight and height of an individual, is no longer enough, and we are in need of a better health care tool. Therefore, the current research proposes an easier method that offers instant and real-time feedback to the users from the data collected from the motion sensors of a smartphone. The study utilized the mHealth …

Social Media Engagement With Transgender Fertility Content, Kajal Verma, Benette K. Sagun, Melody Rasouli, Cindy M. Duke

Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology Faculty Research

Objective: To identify transgender fertility content with the highest online engagement on social media, determine its accuracy and quality, and see how this has changed over a 2-year period. Design: BuzzSumo, a content research tool, was used to identify the top 10 article links related to transgender fertility most interacted with on the social media platforms of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Reddit. We compared article links from June 2019 to June 2020 and from June 2020 to June 2021. The articles were categorized as accurate or misleading based on the references cited and current research. A qualitative analysis was performed …

Power In A Pandemic: Teachers’ Unions And Their Responses To School Reopening, Bradley D. Marianno, Annie A. Hemphill, Ana Paula S. Loures-Elias, Libna Garcia, Deanna Cooper, Emily Coombes

Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education Faculty Research

Drawing on Bachrach and Baratz’s first and second faces of interest group power, we explore the relationship between teachers’ union power and reopening decisions during the fall 2020 semester in 250 large districts around the United States. We leverage a self-collected panel data set of reopening decisions coupled with measures of teachers’ union first face power (drawn from social media postings on teachers’ unions’ Facebook pages) and second face power (operationalized as district size, whether the school district negotiates a collective bargaining agreement with the teachers’ union, the length of the collective bargaining agreement, and the amount of revenue raised …

The Resilience Of Middle-Aged And Older Men Who Have Sex With Men To Hiv/Aids: Southern Nevada Stakeholder Perspectives In The 21st Century, Renato M. Liboro, Sherry Bell, Brandon Ranuschio, Jenna Despres, Trinity Puno, Aruna Sedere, Nadia Sheik Yosef, Esmeralda Villalobos, Janelle Wackens, Lianne Barnes

Psychology Faculty Research

This community report presents the findings and analysis of a survey that was part of the quantitative stage of a mixed-method Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) project dedicated to examine the perspectives and lived experiences of racially and ethnically diverse, middle-aged and older men who have sex with men in Southern Nevada on factors that build and promote their resilience to HIV/AIDS. The CBPR project was conducted in collaboration with community partners such as the LGBTQIA+ Community Center of Southern Nevada, Southern Nevada Health District’s Ryan White Program, Community Counseling Center of Southern Nevada, and numerous other agencies from Clark County …

Common Features In Compulsive Sexual Behavior, Substance Use Disorders, Personality, Temperament And Attachment—A Narrative Review, Yaniv Efrati, Shane W. Kraus, Gal Kaplan

Psychology Faculty Research

Do addictions share common traits of an “addictive personality” or do different addictions have distinct personality profiles? This narrative review examines the differences in the associations between substance use disorder (SUD) and compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD), on the one hand, and personality traits, attachment dispositions, and temperament, on the other hand. We found that both people with a SUD and people with CSBD tended to be more spontaneous, careless, and less reliable, to place self-interest above getting along with others, to show emotional instability and experience negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, and/or depression, to be less able to …

Transdisciplinarity In Experience Design: A Global Survey Of Higher Ed Programs In Exd/Xd, Yvonne Houy

Creative Collaborations

In our age of ubiquitous devices and digital media it is the perceived value of the end-to-end experience that brings people to a place. Designing inspiring and emotionally engaging end-to-end experiences requires experts in a wide range of disciplines committed to an interdisciplinary collaboration that can arrive at transdisciplinary design - the sum becomes greater than its parts.

Civil engineering, hospitality, business, psychology, digital User Experience (UX) design, and experience data analysis need to be seamless integrated with the fine and performing arts and design fields:

• Architecture, interior, landscape and sound design actively engage the senses.

• Graphic and fine arts …

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Smartphones And Learning: An Extension Of M-Learning Or A Distinct Area Of Inquiry, Kendall Hartley, Alberto Andújar

Teaching and Learning Faculty Research

The smartphone has become an integral part of the education landscape. While there has been significant smartphone research in education under the guise of m-learning, the unique role of the device suggests that m-learning may not be an appropriate characterization. The purpose of this paper is to review the use of m-learning as a primary descriptor for smartphone-and learning-related research. In support of this goal, the paper reviews the definitions associated with m-learning, smartphones, and related technologies from the perspective of educational research. In addition, a review of author keywords of research on smartphones in education is used to provide …

Development And Validation Of A Shortened And Practical Frailty Index For People With Intellectual Disabilities, J. D. Schoufour, A. Oppewal, M. C. Van Maurik, Thessa Hilgenkamp, R. G. Elbers, D. A.M. Maes-Festen

Physical Therapy Faculty Research

Background: There is no widely used instrument to detect frailty in people with intellectual disabilities (IDs). We aimed to develop and validate a shorter and more practical version of a published frailty index for people with IDs. Method: This study was part of the longitudinal ‘Healthy Ageing and Intellectual Disability’ study. We included 982 people with IDs aged 50 years and over. The previously developed and validated ID-Frailty Index consisting of 51 deficits was used as the basis for the shortened version, the ID-FI Short Form. Content of the ID-FI Short Form was based on statistics and clinical and practical …

A Survey Of Faculty Perceptions Of Community College Career And Technical Education, Thomas Gauthier Dr.

Journal of Research in Technical Careers

Community colleges are the leaders in facilitating career and technical education (CTE), and faculty help develop program offerings on campus. This study explored faculty perceptions of community college CTE programs using the survey research method. Participants included 36 faculty members from various disciplines from 15 state colleges in Florida. Participants were sent a digital survey and asked to use a scale from 0 (do not agree) to 8 (agree) to score their agreement level with 43 statements of opinion. Data revealed that community college faculty perceive CTE as beneficial, but CTE programs must include the habits of mind and support …

Paleohydrological Context For Recent Floods And Droughts In The Fraser River Basin, British Columbia, Canada, Becky L. Brice, Bethany L. Coulthard, Inga K. Homfeld, Laura A. Dye, Kevin J. Anchukaitis

Geoscience Faculty Research

The recent intensification of floods and droughts in the Fraser River Basin (FRB) of British Columbia has had profound cultural, ecological, and economic impacts that are expected to be exacerbated further by anthropogenic climate change. In part due to short instrumental runoff records, the long-Term stationarity of hydroclimatic extremes in this major North American watershed remains poorly understood, highlighting the need to use high-resolution paleoenvironmental proxies to inform on past streamflow. Here we use a network of tree-ring proxy records to develop 11 subbasin-scale, complementary flood-and drought-season reconstructions, the first of their kind. The reconstructions explicitly target management-relevant flood and …

Consideration In Curriculum Design For Teaching About Race And Racism In Gerontology, Darren Liu, Betty Burston

Healthcare Administration and Policy Faculty Research

The recognition of structural racism as a public health crisis has enlarged the breadth and depth of discussions of the unique “Isms” in higher education classrooms. A significant number of undergraduate or graduate level gerontology programs participate in the delivery of training through instruction on the topics of aging, gerontology, or long-term care administration to future labor market participants. Absent from these classroom conversations, however, has been an analysis of how syntax, the analytical vocabulary, and other framing of such conversations can impact learners. While these educational programs provide highly critical information on disease, illness and injury prevention, selfcare, population …