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Purchasing Choices that Reduce Climate Change: An Exploratory Factor Analysis
No full textHousehold consumption is a primary source of green-house gas emissions. Individuals can substantially reduce their climate impact by making sustainable purchasing choices, such as choosing products that are made locally and have less packaging, buying used, repairing items rather than replacing them, supporting libraries and bike-share programs, encouraging others to buy less, and donating to charity in someone’s name rather than buying gifts. The Climate Change Action Inventory measures the frequency of 77 daily behaviors, including 14 items regarding Climate-Friendly Purchasing Choices. The purpose of this research was to determine if purchasing choices could be divided into meaningful factors. We recruited 500 United States MTurk workers, aged 19 to 76 (mean 40). Both the minimum average partial test and scree test both suggested three factors, which were rotated using direct oblimin. We labeled the factors Choosing Sustainable Options, Supporting Collective Action, and Avoiding Buying New. These three factors have strong inter-correlations, suggesting that interventions to increase one type of sustainable purchasing choice might also impact other types of sustainable purchasing choices
Implementing Physical Therapy Services and Screenings for the Students of the UNLV College of Fine Arts for Health and Injury Prevention: A Service-Learning Approach
No full textIndividuals who participate in Fine Arts such as orchestra, dance, and theater at high levels are predisposed to injury. Many of these injuries are preventable, and when not adequately managed, they can result in lost rehearsal time and prevent participation in performances required for degree completion. While collegiate athletes typically have access to healthcare resources such as a team physician, athletic trainer, and physical therapist, collegiate performing artists often must navigate the healthcare environment on their own. Furthermore, available healthcare providers may lack knowledge and experience working with performing artists and be less able to treat the unique healthcare needs of these individuals adequately. Thus, the purpose of this servicelearning project is to create a mutually beneficial relationship between the University of Nevada Las Vegas Department of Physical Therapy (UNLVPT) and College of Fine Arts (CFA) for the benefit of students from both disciplines.
To address this local gap in healthcare, a group of six second year UNLVPT students completed five hours of professional development coursework related to screening and treating performing artists and then provided pro-bono physical therapy services and dance screens for CFA students over one academic year. Through hands-on practice of clinical skills coupled with faculty mentorship and grand rounds, student physical therapists refined their clinical reasoning and enhanced peer collaboration. Student physical therapists and faculty mentors met regularly to discuss quality improvement strategies in real time to refine and enhance clinic operating procedures.
During this project, student physical therapists provided 16 individual patients a total of 48 skilled physical therapy treatment sessions, and three individuals received an evidence-based injury prevention screen for dancers. This project\u27s outcomes were iv assessed via satisfaction surveys for CFA students, post-project reflective journaling for PT students, and an information interview with one CFA faculty member. Given that verbal feedback was received from only one professor in the CFA, the generalizability of the faculty satisfaction assessment is limited. The response rate for the CFA student satisfaction survey was 37%, and 24% of CFA students met all therapy goals. Common themes found in the comments from the CFA student satisfaction survey included attentiveness of PT students to patients’ needs and desire for increased clinic hours of operation. Common themes found in the reflections of the PT students included improved confidence and opportunity to enhance clinical reasoning skills with mentorship. While no definite conclusions can be drawn from this limited data from CFA students and faculty, the positive feedback and constructive criticism offers promise for the continued improvement of the project and ongoing collaboration between the Department of Physical Therapy and the College of Fine Arts.
This project outlines a potential model for student physical therapist service learning that can enrich physical therapy education, while also enhancing the unique skills of physical therapists to better serve individuals within the collegiate performing arts community who may be underserved. This service-learning project design may inform similar projects in academic settings and with similar community needs
Effects of Exercise on Level of Support, Mobility, and Quality of Life in Adults with Down syndrome
No full textDown syndrome (Ds) is a genetic disorder characterized by the autosomal abnormality of a third copy of chromosome 21. Due to the physical and intellectual disabilities that many people with Ds experience, they often need support with (instrumental) activities of daily living. Since adults with Ds are living longer, it is important to determine how exercise can affect mobility and quality of life in the Ds community. The impact on more functional outcomes, such as level of support and quality of life has not been systematically investigated. Therefore, the aim was to investigate whether twelve weeks of a remote, structured exercise program will decrease the need of support provided by caregivers and increase quality of life compared to those doing usual activities. The participants were randomly assigned to a 12-week exercise intervention or a control condition. The exercise intervention was based on the Mann Method PT and consisted of a one-hour exercise session 3 times per week, conducted via Zoom, while the participants in the control condition continued their usual activities. All participants were evaluated before and after the 12 weeks using the following assessments: Supports Intensity Scale for Adults (SIS-A) and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL-IDD). The baseline level of support varied between participants, with no participant being fully dependent. This study did not confirm or reject our hypotheses on the effects of an exercise program when measuring level of support and quality of life in adults with Ds, and further research is necessary to further elucidate this question
Postmodern Paranoia: Conspiracy Theories as Network Anxieties in Don DeLillo’s White Noise and Underworld
No full textConspiracy theories find their way into a majority of Don DeLillo’s novels, ranging from rumors that reference pop culture to speculations with political consequences. While conspiracies can be found throughout a variety of time periods and cultures, I historicize the specific forms of paranoia that arise in DeLillo’s fiction. In White Noise, disturbances in smalltown America in the form of industrial waste spill are accelerated by mass media culture and lead to a family man’s conversion into an attempted murderer. Underworld sees the reliable concerns of the Cold War become untenable as the American empire expands and events like the Kennedy assassination and Vietnam War lead to more complicated forms of paranoia. The novel traces the full extent of nuclear weapons development, all the way to the destruction of nuclear waste products. It is in these depictions of post-1945 American paranoia that DeLillo engages with the feelings of fear and uncertainty that can result from postmodernity. Both novels show an awareness of global systems intruding into civilian life, forcing their characters to learn how to reorient themselves or fail and succumb to their paranoia. The re-emergence of previously hidden waste proves the conspiracy theorist’s dictum that “everything is connected” to be true. Drawing on DeLillo’s treatment of the topic, I will expand on the sorts of anxieties that these conspiracy theories expose and consider how a subject’s positionality influences their relationship to paranoia. This project also seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of conspiracy as a way of comprehending the world, as it can be both an exaggerated reaction to the uncertainties of postmodernity and a reasonable expression of cynicism toward obscured power structures
Global Structure and Asymptotic Profiles of the Endemic Equilibria of a Diffusive Epidemic Model with Mass-Action
No full textInfectious diseases are a great challenge to the health and successful function of society. Therefore, it becomes crucial to develop methods and tools that would allow us to be able to control an infectious disease once it starts spreading within an environment. In this regard, mathematical research on epidemic models has provided important tools in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of the spread and control of infectious diseases. Each mathematical epidemic model incorporates important factors that could affect the spread of a disease, such as population movement and temporal or environmental heterogeneity.
This dissertation focuses on a susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) model in the form of a system of diffusive partial differential equations that takes into account a moving population within a spatially heterogeneous environment. Our goal is to assess the effectiveness of disease control strategies aimed at restricting population movement. To this end, we first consider basic fundamental questions such as existence, uniqueness, and global stability of solutions to the model. Next, we discuss how population movement may affect the disease dynamics by looking at the asymptotic profiles of endemic equilibrium (EE) solutions of the model. Consequently, we determine conditions leading to a multiplicity of EE solutions, which demonstrate that the disease can become difficult to control when movement is included in the model. In doing so, we discover various bifurcation curves describing multiple EE solutions for the diffusive SIS epidemic model
Redirection of Current in a Dense Plasma Focus
No full textThe Mission Support & Test Services (MSTS) reports that significant amounts of energy needed for generating high energy neutrons is lost within a Dense Plasma Focus between its pinch-end of the anode stalk and at its base near the insulating sleeve. It is their mission and the goal of this research effort to both experimentally and theoretically study current redirection in a DPF during and after pinch dynamics. It is hypothesized that current redirection, due to restrike, behind the dynamic sheath of a dense plasma focus will result in a measurable change in the magnetic field along the longitudinal axis of a DPF. It is further hypothesized that a linear monopole antenna will be able to measure the loss current and determine the location of redirection. Theory and software will be utilized to demonstrate the expected current distribution within a dense plasma focus and then be compared to experimental data measured by the linear monopole antenna
Roadblocks to Momentum: An Analysis of College Major GPA Restrictions and Stranded Students
No full textCollege retention, persistence, and completion are key indicators of a successful institution, but six-year degree completion has remained stagnant in recent years (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2022). Despite institutional efforts through success initiatives to keep students retained, one set of barriers to degree completion may be due to established major GPA restrictions and policies that prevent students from being able to declare their majors. Accordingly, students who are unable to declare their major but keep enrolling in courses may be in danger of becoming “stranded.” This quantitative examination of student data from one large public four-year college aims to identify the characteristics of stranded students and consider how they compare to non-stranded students. The Academic Momentum Model by Cliff Adelman (1999, 2006) provides a lens to identify academic factors that may predict stranded status.
The results of the analysis found that stranded students demonstrate indicators of academic momentum (Adelman, 2006), however, decreased levels of academic performance increased the likelihood of becoming stranded. A student’s choice of major was found to be related to the likelihood of becoming stranded, along with other academic characteristics such as summer term enrollment, second-year GPA, changing of majors, and continuous enrollment. The study confirmed that major GPA admission restrictions were associated with a lower likelihood of a positive outcome for students
Analyses of Thermal and Spectral Characteristics of Artificial Turf and Natural Grass in Las Vegas Valley
No full textThis thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of the thermal and spectral characteristics of Las Vegas Valley (LVV). The first objective examines the effects of artificial turf on the urban thermal environment in the LVV by analyzing the impact of Land Surface Temperature (LST) and surface albedo at 26 ROIs that transitioned from natural to artificial turf, alongside another 26 ROIs that remained unchanged between 2018 and 2022 utilizing available Landsat 8 satellite images for the respective years. In the comprehensive comparison of ROIs over the two years in question, it was observed that transitioning to artificial turf correlated with elevated surface temperatures, but only during the warmer months. Two series of paired T-Tests results, taking the combined annual and seasonal data, revealed significant differences on the LST of the transitioned ROIs indicating turf transition had substantial impact on LST for these ROIs. The albedo values for sites with natural grass remained relatively unchanged between the two years. Conversely, a notable decrease in albedo was observed in most sites that transitioned to artificial turf. The T-Tests revealed significant differences in albedo between 2018 and 2022 for these transitioned sites.
The second objective examined the spectral signatures of 26 transitioned ROIs in both 2018 and 2022 by creating spectral signature curves and analyzed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) at both transitioned and non-transitioned ROIs in both years by creating the NDVI maps. For the spectral signatures, the 2018 curves had features indicative of natural grass, while the 2022 curves did not show these traits. The most evident distinction was in the SWIR1 region\u27s reflectance, with opposing slope directions in the two years. Interestingly, despite being plastic, the synthetic turf exhibited increased reflectance in the SWIR1 region, possibly due to surface temperature effects. Average reflectance values of all 26 ROIs of each month of 2018 and 2022 at each wavelength displayed distinct curves for each year. Two sets of paired T-Test results, one for each month and the other for each ROI, presented significant differences in the reflectance values between 2018 and 2022 due to the turf transition. Distinct NDVI values and curves were obtained for artificial turf. T-Test results confirmed the significant differences on NDVI due to the turf transition as well. The entire analysis for the first and second objectives was conducted using GEE and ArcGIS Pro, with statistical assessments carried out in R-Studio.
This thesis includes an additional chapter that examines the health and environmental effects of artificial turf. It covers issues such as the use of recycled tire crumb as infill, the presence of microplastics in turf components, and the composition of turf fibers. It also addresses health risks like Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) infections, heat-related illnesses, and various injuries that athletes might suffer on artificial playing surfaces. On the environmental side, the focus is on the higher temperatures of turf surfaces, ecological damage from toxic substances, and a greater risk of flooding. The thesis suggests that the decision to install artificial turf should be tailored to the unique conditions and requirements of each location.
Studying the impact of artificial turf on the urban thermal environment of LVV can be helpful for informed urban planning and policymaking, aimed at creating a healthy and comfortable urban environment, especially considering the unique climate challenges of the region
First Year Earnings and Debt in the Mountain West
No full textThis fact sheet examines data from the Georgetown University report, “Buyer Beware: First-Year Earnings and Debt for 37,000 College Majors at 4,400 Institutions,” comparing and ranking the earnings, debt, and earnings net of debt based on post-secondary educational level. This fact sheet focuses on state-level data on first year earning and debt for five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah
Nevada Medical Residencies, 2024
No full textThis fact sheet highlights medical residency data for the 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 graduating classes of the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) School of Medicine. This fact sheet presents data on residency program matches at the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV and the UNR School of Medicine and reveals where Nevada medical school graduates pursue their residencies, and updates findings from a 2023 fact sheet exploring 2021, 2022, and 2023 graduating class data