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Unemployment, Weekly Earnings, and Cost of Living in Mountain West Metros, 2022
No full textThis fact sheet examines data on unemployment, weekly earnings, and cost of living for five Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. The Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP). Local Analysis report includes data on the 50 largest MSAs in the U.S., which include the following in the Mountain West: Phoenix-Mesa Scottsdale, AZ; Tucson, AZ; Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO; Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV; and Salt Lake City, UT
Average Child Care Costs in Nevada and the Mountain West, 2024
No full textThis fact sheet reports data on the average costs of child care in the five most populous cities in each Mountain West state and the ten most populous cities in Nevada based on the “2020: ACS 5-Year Estimates Data Profiles” United States Census Bureau (Salt Lake City, UT; Albuquerque, NM; Denver, CO; Phoenix, AZ; and Las Vegas, NV). The original report from care.com provides child care data for all U.S. cities to assess the costs of child care nationally
Black-Owned Businesses in the Mountain West, 2017-2020
No full textThis fact sheet examines data on Black-owned businesses in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah. The report “Who is driving Black business growth? Insights from the latest data on Black- owned businesses from the Brookings Institution includes data on Black-owned businesses in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) across the United States
Gender Pay Gaps in Mountain West Cities & States, 2024
No full textThis fact sheet examines data on the gender pay gap, or the difference in pay between male and female year-round full-time workers in the Mountain West states of Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. “Cities with the Largest Gender Pay Gaps” published by the Chamber of Commerce uses 2020-2021 data from the U.S. Census Bureau
Homelessness in Mountain West Continuums of Care (COC), 2022-2023
No full textThis fact sheet examines data on the number of homeless per 100,000 individuals and the number of unsheltered per 100,000 individuals in six Mountain West metropolitan areas in 2023. Six continuums of care (CoC) are identified in the Mountain West: the Albuquerque, NM CoC; the Las Vegas/Clark County, NV CoC; the Phoenix, Mesa/Maricopa County, AZ CoC; the Tucson/Pima County, AZ CoC; the Metropolitan Denver, CO CoC; and the Colorado Springs/El Paso County, CO CoC
Homelessness Assessment of the Mountain West, 2023
No full textThis fact sheet examines 2023 homelessness assessment data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for five Mountain West states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah
Evaluating Language and Communication Surrounding Responsible Gambling
No full textThe topic of responsible gambling has been the focus of debate over recent years. Unfortunately the language surrounding responsible gambling has proven ineffective, due to varying definitions and debate over stigma related to responsibility. This paper discusses the importance of language in communicating about consumer protection and harm minimization to the public. Three key areas of discussion are highlighted: 1) decoupling responsible gambling and problem gambling to reduce the barrier of stigma; 2) redefining responsible gambling, and 3) the need for conversations amongst peers and parents, all with the view to proactively prevent gambling-related harms
Transformative Technology Integration: A Quantitative Study of the Effects of Observed Modeling of Mentor Teachers and Teacher Educators on Elementary Preservice Teacher Technology Integration Efficacy
No full textIn a technology-driven era marked by the widespread use of computers, mobile devices, software, and apps, stakeholders in both government and academia have been formulating strategies, frameworks, and models to integrate technology into the educational landscape seamlessly. Despite these efforts, a critique of preservice teacher preparation is its lack of focus on equipping educators with the necessary skills for effective technology integration in K-12 settings. Grounded in Bandura\u27s social cognitive theory, TPACK and Kimmons\u27 PICRAT Model, this study was guided by overarching questions: What are the reported observations preservice teachers make of technology modeling practices in their teacher preparation coursework and field placements? Is there a relationship between the modeling observations of Teacher educators/mentor teachers and preservice teachers\u27 reported technology integration efficacy? Is there a relationship between the observations of modeling of teacher educators/mentor teachers and preservice teacher lesson plan technology integration? To explore these questions, preservice teachers in elementary education completed a survey recording their technology integration efficacy, observations of technology modeling by their teacher educators, and observations of technology modeling by their mentor teachers. Additionally, preservice teachers submitted lesson plans to investigate the application of observed modeling in their teaching practice. Results of this study indicated that teacher educator modeling and mentor teacher modeling are significant predictors of preservice technology integration efficacy
Development of a Passive Drag Reduction Modification for the 25° Ahmed Body using Large Eddy Simulation
No full textIn the field of automotive aerodynamics, the Ahmed body is a generic vehicle-shaped bluff body which is meant to generalize the rear end of fastback and hatchback vehicles. Specifically, an Ahmed body with a rear slant angle of 25° has seen common use due to its resemblance of common rear windshield shapes as well as its notoriously complex wake structure. This research focuses on simulating the flow over a 25° in various situations with an ultimate goal of drag reduction. First, a simple benchmark of the k-ω shear stress transport (SST), large eddy simulation (LES) with the Smagorinsky-Lilly subgrid scale model, LES with the wall-adapting local eddy viscosity (WALE) subgrid scale model, and improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) for the flow over a 25° Ahmed body traveling at 30 mph or approximately 13.44 m/s. Using the body height H as the characteristic length, this makes the Reynolds number ReH ≈ 2.65 × 105 In this benchmark, LES with the WALE was found to predict drag and lift forces both within 6% of previous experiments conducted at higher Reynolds numbers as well as consistent wake structures to higher Reynolds number experiments. This demonstrated a degree of Reynolds number independence for LES with the WALE model, making it suitable for use in lower Reynolds number simulations to reduce computational costs.
Next, simulations were performed for two platooning 25° Ahmed bodies to validate some previous experimental data as well as provide further information into the energy in the wake regions when driving in disturbed air. Regarding the aerodynamic forces, it was found that the first body in the platoon experiences a decrease in drag of up to 59.23% due to a drastic increase in pressure at its rear end when the second vehicle is following closely. For the second body, an increase in drag of up to 33.45% was observed for close following distances as the wake of the body ahead impinges on its rather blunt front end, leading to markedly higher pressures at the front end. However, although one body experienced an increase in drag, the total drag of the two vehicles in a platoon was found to always be less than the total drag of two bodies traveling in isolation, with the net drag being as low as 87.10% of that of two isolated bodies for close following distances. In addition to changes in drag, lower turbulent kinetic energies were observed in many portions of the wake of the second body in the platoon, with this being attributed to the lower upstream total pressure compared to that upstream of the body ahead of it. Using a proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) on fluctuating pressure components in a downstream plane, it was found that 80-83% of the total turbulent kinetic energy was found in the first mode, with this mode consisting of the C-pillar vortices and other vortical structures in the separation bubble behind each body. Using POD to identify high-energy modes of the flow gives an indication of which vortical structures should be targeted when implementing a drag reduction modification, as well as how these structures are altered during a close following scenario compared to driving in isolation.
Finally, a passive drag reduction modification was developed taking into consideration the POD modes and which flow structures contribute most to the overall drag force. Of the two designs tested, a novel bifurcating duct concept based on quadratic and cubic Bézier curves was found to improve the aerodynamic forces by a noticeable margin, where a reduction in drag of 2.77% and a reduction in lift of 14.75% were observed. Further improvements were made through both a more manual reshaping of the ducts and adjoint optimization, and the end result was a morphed bifurcating duct which reduced drag by 4.77% and lift by 15.90% compared to an isolated body. Additionally, the high-energy first POD mode had an overall energy content that was reduced by over 10%, with energy being transferred to other POD modes via the energy cascade, demonstrating the design’s success at reducing the energy content of high-energy POD modes. While a more complex optimization algorithm is needed to truly maximize drag reduction when the flow field is highly transient, the bifurcating duct showed great promise in drag (and lift) reduction, so further testing of this type of design is recommended for passive drag reduction on automobiles
Perceptions of a Community-Based Playgroup to Promote Caregiver Knowledge of Resources and Prevention of Developmental Delays in a Rural Setting
No full textFor children living in rural communities, the likelihood of having a developmental delay substantially increases compared to children living in urban areas (Weglarz-Ward et al., 2019). This can be due to a lack of access to resources, limited education, and geographical isolation. Despite the rising trend of developmental delays among rural children, there is a noteworthy lack of early intervention resources for both the child and their family. This trend of minimal resources is demonstrated in Lincoln County, Nevada. Using an occupational therapy lens, a community-based playgroup program was developed for residents in Lincoln County. Community-based playgroups involve a structured interaction between caregivers and their child/children in a community context and incorporate the occupation of play, socialization, and caregiver education. This is consequential as there are currently no community-based programs in place within Lincoln County, Nevada. Semi-structured interviews, clinical observations, and a needs assessment were completed to gather information on where the disparities in resources are and how the program can fill them. The guiding question throughout this project was as follows: “What are the perceptions of stakeholders of children ages zero to three regarding the development of an occupational therapy-based playgroup that focuses on enhancing their understanding of developmental milestones?” Utilizing the information gathered from caregivers, teachers, and stakeholders, a community-based playgroup was developed to meet the needs of the community, thereby increasing the feasibility of caregivers to attend