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About the Collection
The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) provides students with the opportunity to present their research at three annual undergraduate research symposia. This collection contains student posters.
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High School Environment in the Clark County School District
Oscar Canale, John David Reyes, Asia Sunga, and Jay Tumanan
12-9-2022Our group was interested in analyzing the high school public education system in the Clark County School District. As Las Vegas residents, it is important to know how the schools in our city are being affected, especially since many of us went to school here. It is also detrimental to know as it could potentially be the schools of our future children and generation. We took data from the 2017-2018 school year and decided to model the total index score of each high school based on four different variables. Chronic absenteeism is defined as the percentage of students in the school who missed 10% or more school days in the school years. Proficiency average refers to the percentage of the student body who are proficient in basic science, math, and English. CCR completion, or college career readiness completion is the percentage of students who completed a college and career readiness program. Lastly, the high school graduation rate 4-5 is the graduation rate of students from the high school after 4 or 5 school years attending it. We built a model and used STATA to create the descriptive statistics and eimpirical results. We also created scatterplots and bar charts to clearly see the relationships between the variables if there are any.
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A Study of Improvement in the User Experience of UNLV's Campus Safety Mobile Application
Mayra Carrera, Mustafa Diallo, Cecilia Garcia-Leon, Khristine Le, and Kristine Monsada
4-27-2022In 2019, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), reported an average of 28,000 crimes on college campuses across the United States. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) has taken measures to address campus safety through their app, RebelSAFE. However, there is little research showing how effective such apps are in aiding students through emergencies. This study aims to evaluate the usability of RebelSAFE through usability testing and surveys.
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Development of a Novel Ionic Liquid-Coated Adsorbent for Treating Emerging Contaminants in Recycled Water on the International Space Station
Madeline Carroll, Gabson Baguma, and Savanna Vacek
12-9-2022Synthesize at least 3 biobased ionic liquids. Optimize method for conducting liquid-liquid extractions. Analyze and quantify how much DMSO2 is removed by the ionic liquids. Coat biochar with the most effective biobased ionic liquids.
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Self-Blame Associated with Sexual Maltreatment
Jessica Castillo and Mallory Constantine
12-9-2022Sexually maltreated youth are at increased risk for developing thoughts of self-blame associated with their traumatic experiences (Melville et al., 2014). Self-blame increases risk of maladaptive emotion regulation strategies and self-harming behaviors (Gorgi et al., 2019). Self-blame can cause negative side effects in development and adulthood, changing the trajectory of the child who was affected by sexual assault (Ullman et al., 2014). Recent studies suggest we must continue to investigate the role in shame in producing meaning making progress, and how it affects other emotions, cognitive learning, and emotion regulating strategies (McElvaney et al., 2022). In order to continue to improve the quality of life in individuals who have experienced sexual maltreatment, we must continue to uncover the secret nature of shame.
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The Relationship Between Misophonia Sensitivity and Musicality
Mae Ling Catayong, Sarah Uganiza, William Smithers, Aileen Corral, Sivan Barashy, Solena Mednicoff, and Destiny Gonzales
4-27-2022Misophonia is a condition characterized by negative emotional reactions to certain everyday sounds. Musicality involves Active Musical Engagement (AE), Self-reported Perceptual Abilities (PA), Musical Training (MT), Self-reported Singing Abilities (SA), Sophisticated Emotional Engagement with Music (EM), and General musical sophistication (GM). Numerous active musicians have self-reported having misophonia, while anecdotal reports have shown that music can help treat misophonia symptoms.
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Expanding the Library of Planet Building Materials in Magrathea
Rosalie Chaleunsouck and Tristan Benally
4-27-2022Exoplanets are often modeled with fully-differentiated layers of iron, silicates, water, and gas. The large pressure and temperature ranges within each layer results in changes of phase and mineral equilibrium. MAGRATHEA is an open-course planet interior structure code with a large library of equations of state for planet building materials. This allows for the user to build detailed planet models and test differing measurements of the equation of state. We extend MAGRATHEA's library to include upper-mantle materials and various phases of iron cores. We show the impact of these materials on the characterization of rocky planet interiors.
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Infants' Intermodal Knowledge of Gender Using Faces and Voices
Bijoux Cheun, Christina Saliba, Alexis Rice, and Marian Espina
4-27-2022Infants begin to use intermodal knowledge to match male and female faces to the corresponding voice, in their first year of life.
Infants have more experience with female faces which should lead to greater intermodal knowledge of female faces.
Previous studies have found inconsistent results. This could be due to the type of stimuli used.
This study uses several pairs of static and dynamic faces to investigate how methodological differences may impact infants' performance.
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Lesbian Visibility and Censorship in Early Twentieth Century New York City
Aimee Clouse
4-27-2022On the brisk night of February 9th, 1927, New York City Police crammed the casts of two Broadway plays, one of which Edouard Bourdet's The Captive, into the back of a paddy wagon. These arrests and the legislation that enabled them were just one step taken by institutions to hide lesbians from the public. The eclectic nature of New York City in the early twentieth century fostered a growing scene of gender and sexual expression unlike anywhere else in the United States. Here, lesbians found freedom to express their sexuality and explore a growing subculture.
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Peripheral Blood Cell Counts as Potential Biomarkers for Alzheimer's Disease: A Look at Polygenetic Risk Scores
Melika Cummings, Yimei Lu, Joan Manuel Cue, Neel Patel, and Jenifer Do
4-27-2022Blood-based biomarkers for neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been extensively researched. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurological illness whose progression has been ascribed to gene expression. However, the pathophysiology of these disorders and its relationship to other abnormalities remain unknown. AD has been connected to PBCs, which include erythrocytes, platelets, and leukocytes and have a complicated interaction with the brain system. The pathogenesis of PBCs has been related to a negative influence on established neurodegenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer's. Candidate gene association studies have become more common as progress in mapping the human genome has increased their viability. The plurality of candidate genes were selected based on their function or expression in disease-related systems (e.g., dopamine neurotransmitter systems), and this strategy is crucial for defining the nature of internal disturbance. It has increasingly been postulated that, in addition to cell-cell signaling inside the brain, dynamic crosstalk between the brain and systematic mechanisms such as circulation of blood cells may be crucial.
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An Illustrated Metamorphoses
Alexandria Devlin
4-27-2022This project was a comic consisting of five different myths from Ovid's Metamorphoses. My goal was to make it easier and more enjoyable for audiences to read classical myths, and give these stories a way to shine in the 21st century. Myths from many different cultures have been adapted into comics, but direct depictions are much less common than shaping mythological figures to fit a new story. I have yet to find a direct comic adaptation of Metamorphoses. Ovid's Metamorphoses is full of rich and interesting stories and deserves to be represented alongside other mythological tales.
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How Children and Adults Make Judgments About Who To Trust
Rachel E. DeWald, Jennifer L. Rennels, and Kindy Insouvanh
4-27-2022"Beauty is Good Stereotype": Higher attractive individuals are thought to be more intelligent, more successful, and happier overall. They also obtain more visual attention and are deemed more trustworthy.
Making a choice based on a person's appearance and attributes might lead to dangerous consequences and lead to being deceived.
We investigated how the appearance of male and female experts influence whether children and adults trust statements made by the expert, establish what that expert knows and determine that expert's attributes (warmth and competence). The results of this study will help us better determine what cues children and adults use when making trustworthiness decisions.
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Electrochemical Inactivation of Tobacco Mosaic Virus: A Novel Vaccine Method
Angelica Diaz
12-9-2022We tested the effectiveness of using electrochemistry to irreversibly damage Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV). Hypothesis: By utilizing the acidic properties of DNA and RNA, viral genetic material can be irreversibly and selectively damaged using electrochemical methods. Technique could assist in development of highly targeted and effective vaccines.
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Horizontal Ladder Task: Assessing the Effect of a Walking Intervention on Mobility in People with Lower Limb Amputation
Chelsea Domingo
12-9-2022Hundreds of thousands of people struggle with mobility due to lower limb amputation. Learning how to do something you have never done is a difficult task for anyone. Practice is important when person with amputation uses a prosthesis because each environment they encounter could vary. Across settings, different textures such as even and uneven terrain require different skills to maintain balance. The purpose of this research is to determine if practicing walking on uneven terrain will help people with amputation improve their ability to walk in different environments. We will use a horizontal ladder task (Christie et al., 2020) to test this ability.
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The Relationship Between Masculinity & Friendships: A Thematic Analysis On The Qualities of Male Friendships
Dulshi Fernando, Valeria Aguilera, Kristin Vierra, and Diana Gutierrez
4-27-2022Certain masculinity norms such as toughness, emotional stoicism, and homophobia appear to be barriers to forming intimate friendships between boys and men.
Boys and men who do not successfully build close connections may experience low self-esteem and impaired psychological health.
Boys and men who effectively build intimate relationships benefit from peer support and companionship as well as a decrease in anxiety and depression levels.
Scholars have yet to conduct a meta-synthesis exploring the relation between masculinity and friendship.
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Correlational Analysis Between Self-Esteem and Selective Mutism
Janelle Ferraris, Karina Carrillo-Juarez, Alexandra Caballero, and Melanie Rede
12-9-2022These results demonstrate that children who score higher in being self-conscious or easily embarrassed are may be more likely to present more severe symptoms of selective mutism. These results also suggest that, in treating or identifying children with selective mutism, it is beneficial to understand the severity to which these children feel self-conscious or embarrassed.
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Portrayals of Characters of Color in Teen Media
Janelle Ferraris, Lindsay Denecker, and Kristin Vierra
4-27-2022Some teen television shows are actively addressing race and racism.
Teen television shows are highlighting the development of ethnic-racial identity. This is promising considering scholars label the development of ethnic-racial identity to be an essential product of the development of older children and adolescents (Syed & Azmitia, 2008, Umaña-Taylor et al., 2014).
Teen television shows are emphasizing factors in a person of colors' community or interactions with peers that may influence their overall well-being. This is encouraging considering research suggests that hearing stories from individuals of various backgrounds can help individuals better recognize systems of oppression and discrimination (Freire, 1995).
Future research should continue to explore how race and racism are depicted in teen television.
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A Comparative Analysis of Community College Governance in the Mountain West and Policy Proposals for Nevada
Peter Grema
4-27-2022Purpose of Research: 1) To explore the role of community colleges in workforce development. 2) To understand the current structure of higher education in Nevada. 3) To compare Nevada's community college governance and administration to neighboring Mountain West states (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah). 4) To offer policy recommendations for updating Nevada's workforce development capacity for its community college system. 5) To present findings to Nevada policymakers during the AB450 Study Committee period.
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Trapping and Cooling of Ca+ for Cold Ion-Radical Collisions
Bernardo Gutierrez
12-9-2022Free radicals are molecules that contain an unpaired valence electron which induces high reactivity. Ion radical reactions are typically exothermic and have low (or zero) activation energy. It is for these reasons that ion-radical reactions are believed to dominate in interstellar clouds where temperatures hover around 3-10K. State-to-state measurements require precision control of both reactants.
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An Exploratory Factor Analysis of Climate Friendly Purchasing Choices
Susan E. Gutierrez, Fred Vincent Y. Margallo, and Zihan Gong
12-9-2022Climate change is negatively affecting the environment and all its inhabitants. People's increased awareness have made them more willing to adopt more climate friendly purchasing choices. The Climate Change Action Inventory measures how often individuals take actions that can reduce climate change. We focused on the Climate Friendly Purchasing Choices Domain. We conducted an exploratory factor analysis of the Climate Friendly Purchasing Domain to help us examine the factor structure.
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You're So Harsh On Me: Meanness in Psychopathy and Perceived Family Criticism
Jordan E. Hayes and Kayla McGinty
12-9-2022Overall, the lack of research on percieved criticism, especially within populations that display meanness, show a need for research because just like mood, percieved criticism may change throughout the day. Understanding the relationship between psychopathic meanness and momentary patterns of percieved criticism among family members could provide helpful insight into social interactions and elucidating patterns of family dysfunction involved in the most antagonistic features of psychopathy.
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The Global Effects of Climate Change: Detrimental Impacts on the Environment, Ecosystem, Coral Reefs, Human Health/Well-Being, and Global Economy
Lucky Heng
12-9-2022Despite criticism, scientists have been continuing to find more evidence to prove that the threats on the coral reefs around the world are real. The impact of rising climate temperature, pollution, ocean acidification, etc. has been leading to increasing amounts of mass bleaching and a massive decline in coral reefs in past decades. This research study utilizes a systematic literature review and secondary research to collect, analyze and provide evidence that climate change impacts the ecosystem, and marine life (coral reefs) species on the planet. By addressing the impact of climate change and its significance on the ecosystem and global economy. The research also shows the detrimental of climate change on coral reefs bleaching, health and its well being. Overall, the main objective of this research is to collect information regarding the causes, and effects, and study the impact it has on the ecosystem, coral reefs species and human well-being. By studying the detrimental factors that contribute to the cause of global climate change, greenhouse gases, temperature, and the ecological environment.
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Growth of Pseudocotalpa giulianii Larvae in Sand from Different Dune Sources
Cosset Hernandez Pena and Mandy Mountain
12-9-2022Pseudocotalpa giulianii (PSGU) is an endemic species known to inhabit two sand dunes in Nye County, Nevada: Big Dune Recreational Area and Lava Dune. Differences in sand properties between Big Dune and Lava Dune could impact survival and growth of the larvae of P. giulianii. Use of permitted off-road vehicles (ORV) in Big Dune can impact its habitats and cause disturbances to local populations, including the Giuliani Dune Scarab as ORV activity is correlated with changes in dune vegetation. Lava Dune has no permitted ORV activity, however, differences in sand composition, including eroded basalt, have the potential to influence the life cycle of PSGU, specifically larval development as larvae reside beneath the surface of the dune sand for more than a year.
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The Stability of the Speech-to-Song Illusion
Jennifer Hsu, Brooke Booth, Jordyn Karns, and Rodica R. Constantine
12-9-2022The Speech-to-Song (STS) illusion: when a listener is presented with multiple repetitions of a spoken phrase and begins to hear it as increasingly song-like. In the present study, we aim to verify anecdotal evidence that suggests the STS illusion is temporally stable and replicate existing evidence that excerpts transform to song by the third or fourth repetition and perhaps faster upon future encounters.
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The Analysis of Radio and X-Ray Energetics of Fast Radio Bursts
Emily Huerta
12-9-2022Here, we analyze the graphs and figures presented in Laha et al. (2022) and compare their slopes to our figures. Laha et al. (2022) includes two graphs, one that shows a comparison between radio fluence vs. x-ray fluence and radio energy vs. x-ray energy. In these graphs, the slopes are anywhere from 3.3e-14 to 2e-5, which are much less than unity. Our figures are consistent with these values, also providing slopes anywhere between the same range. Strong limits on this ratio between radio and x-ray energetics can either support the magnetar progenitor model, or completely dismiss it. Since we found slopes much less than unity, our calculations strongly support the magnetar progenitor model for the 22 FRBs in this work.
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Testing Wickelgren's Model of Interference and Decay
Gabriel Hull and Isabella Lacy
12-9-2022Two explanations have been proposed to explain forgetting: decay (forgetting occurs as a function of time) and interference (the mental activity can impinge on the consolidation of a recently acquired memory). Wickelgren (1974) proposed a model of forgetting which suggests that forgetting is a function of both decay and interference, best expressed as a power-exponential function. The present research will be the first to directly examine whether Wickelgren’s model accurately predicts the observed effects of these two components on forgetting. This research will further the study of human memory by improving current models, and helping to resolve the debate surrounding decay and interference.