Digital Commons Network^™

Representations Of Women And Minorities Groups In Comics, Laticia Donelle Marshall

Master's Theses

The focus of this research is to examine the representation of women and minority groups within comic books. Comic books are a cultural product that involves many actors when it comes to changing the representations of women and minorities. Therefore, this research focused on examining not only literary works but also the actions and contributions of producers and consumers throughout the publication of American comics. In the chapters, I examined the various representations of women, African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asians in comic books. To conduct my research on changing cultural productions, I used the method of textual analysis …

Disordered Eating In Collegiate Athletes: Prevalence And Relationships With Body Composition, Sofia Apsey

Master's Theses

Performance pressures and emphasis on body weight and shape put collegiate athletes at risk for disordered eating. If not identified early, disordered eating behaviors could develop into a clinical eating disorder. While such behaviors are a known problem, prevalence rates are not well established in collegiate athletes. Disordered eating may also relate to physiological changes in athletes, such as body composition and performance, although this relationship is not well understood. The aims of this research were to 1) determine the prevalence of disordered eating risk in NCAA Division I student-athletes and 2) determine if such behaviors are related to baseline …

Start-Up Power Requirements Of Ammonia Filled Aerospace Thermosyphon Heat Pipes, Eric Chu

Master's Theses

Boiling and condensing of internal working fluids are essential heat transfer concepts which heat pipe technology relies on for transporting a large amount of heat between two distanced points effectively. Tilt angle and working fluid saturation temperature have a direct impact on how well the evaporator is flooded. This paper focuses on how the tilt angle and the working fluid saturation temperature affect the start-up heat input requirements for an S shaped axial grooved ammonia thermosyphon heat pipe. A series of experiments was performed by supplying and extracting heat to the evaporator and condenser of the thermosyphon heat pipe. Temperature …

Zircon Trace Element Variation From Mono Craters (California) Ashes And Domes As Recorders Of Temporal Changes In The Rhyolite Magma System, Natalie D. Baker

Master's Theses

The Pleistocene to Holocene Mono Craters in eastern California comprise at least 28 high-silica rhyolite domes, lava flows and tephra cones. To examine the geochemical evolution of the magma system, trace elements were analyzed on crystal rims of zircons separated from juvenile pumice clasts from 5 ashes in the correlative Wilson Creek Formation (spanning from 62 to 21 ka) and from 3 rhyolite domes (21, 12.5, and 7 ka). Rare earth element (REE) patterns show similar overall shapes with prominent negative Eu anomalies, indicative of similar geochemical environments of zircon crystallization, but variation in key trace elements and ratios indicate …

Climate-Driven Insect Herbivory In Mixed Coast Live Oak Woodlands Within The Mt. Hamilton Range, Santa Clara County, Michelle Domocol

Master's Theses

Climate change is expected to dramatically alter and destabilize critical functions of oak woodlands (Quercus spp.) in California. Oak woodlands support hundreds of vertebrate species and thousands of native insect species. Climate-driven changes in annual temperature, annual rainfall, and spatial climatic variability may increase insect herbivore pressures on mixed coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia) woodlands. The Mt. Hamilton Range of Santa Clara County, California offers a unique matrix to study oak-insect herbivore relationship using elevation as a proxy for climate change. This thesis research assessed the relationship between lepidopteran herbivory and coast live oak with insect surveys and the laboratory …

Relationship Between Habitat Variables And Leopard Shark (Triakis Semifasciata) Population Trends In The South San Francisco Estuary, Patrice Frazier

Master's Theses

The San Francisco Estuary (the Estuary) supports a diversity of native marine species, including the leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata). As the human population has increased in the Bay Area, elasmobranchs have simultaneously been subjected to habitat loss and changes in hydrology. On a large scale, global climate change is also affecting the Estuary's water quality. There is little research on the long-term population size of leopard sharks in the Estuary. Leopard shark catch data collected by the Marine Science Institute (MSI) and water quality data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) from 1998 to 2017 were analyzed to assess …

Observations Of Fire Behavior On A Grass Slope During A Wind Reversal, Dianne Hall

Master's Theses

This experiment studied fire-atmospheric interactions and wildland fire behavior on a slope. A grass slope was instrumented with both in situ and remote instruments to record both meteorological conditions and the fire behavior. A headfire was lit and allowed to burn upslope through the instruments. The data collected were analyzed to determine the fire behavior, specifically fire spread (direction and rate) and flame characteristics (length, height, and angle). During the first several minutes of the experiment, fire behavior was as expected with an upslope rate of spread at 0.1 m s-1 and flame lengths between 1 m and 4 m. …

Expression And Purification Of Snake Antivenom Peptide In Pichia Pastoris, Israel Juarez Contreras

Master's Theses

It has been shown that a peptide of the first 10-15 N-terminal amino acids of the lethal toxin neutralizing factor (LTNF) protein found in opossums (Didelphis spp.) holds promise as a low-cost therapy for snake envenomation. To date, the 11-mer has been expressed in E. coli and shown to neutralize snake venoms. However, possible endotoxin concerns warrant an investigation into other microbial hosts. The methylotrophic yeast, Pichia pastoris, shows promise as an alternative host. Active LTNF peptide was expressed and purified in P. pastoris. This was accomplished by subcloning a tandem repeat of the first 15 N-terminal amino acids of …

The Relationship Between Flexible Work Arrangements And Work-To-Family Conflict: The Role Of Self-Control, Michelle Ching Klinker

Master's Theses

The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between flexible work arrangements and work-to-family conflict. Previous research has not yet examined the possible moderating impact of personal characteristics on this relationship. Therefore, this study also examined self-control as a moderator of the relationship between flexible work arrangements and employees’ experience of work-to-family conflict. A total of 131 participants participated in an on-line survey. Results showed that those who had flexplace and flextime available to them in their organizations tended to experience less work-to-family conflict than those who did not have flexplace and flextime available to them. Furthermore, …

The Top-Down Influences Of Characteristic Sounds On Visual Search Performance In Realistic Scenes, Ghazaleh Mahzouni

Master's Theses

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate whether meaningful sounds can facilitate visual search performance in the context of realistic scenes. It also aimed to determine whether the stimulus onset asynchrony (SOA) of sound and picture is a significant factor in enhancing performance. A 3 X 4 X 2 within subject design was used with independent factors sound congruency (congruent, incongruent and white noise), SOA (-1000, -500, 0, 300 ms), and target presence (present and absent). Participants were 55 (34 female and 21 male) college aged students at San Jose State University. On each trial participants were presented with …

Synthesis And Study Of Verdazyl Stable Free Radical Substituted Oligothiophenes For Magnetoresistive And Spintronic Properties, Amir Shakouri Mansouri

Master's Theses

Interest in spin polarizing materials and their application in electronic devices in the field of spintronics has been steadily growing in recent years. The development of wholly organic spin polarizing materials has been of particular interest due to the material flexibility, solution processing, synthetic modifiability, and longer spin lifetimes of organics compared to inorganic analogs. One class of organic compounds with significant room for exploration is polyconjugated π systems coupled with stable radicals. We have explored the synthesis of oligothiophenes substituted with verdazyl stable free radicals with differing thiophene chain lengths, through a series of halogenation, borylation, and palladium catalyzed …

Electrical Characterization Of Blood Clots, William Mcgrath

Master's Theses

This work reports the use of dielectric spectroscopy to study blood and blood clots. A test setup was developed and electrode behavior was characterized with water and salt solutions. By measuring changes in electrical permittivity, trends differentiating clotting and non-clotting blood were identified. Non-clotting blood exhibited an increase in normalized permittivity at high frequencies that is credited to the sedimentation of red blood cells (RBCs) in static blood samples. Clotting blood was found to show a decrease in permittivity after some time at high frequencies. This is associated with the aggregation of red blood cells. Platelet rich plasma (PRP) and …

The Deformability Of Red Blood Cells In Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Me/Cfs), Brendan Robert Schmidt

Master's Theses

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disease that causes profound fatigue in its sufferers as well as loss of concentration, headaches, and sleep abnormalities. Unfortunately, the disease is poorly diagnosed, and etiology is not known. Although the ME/CFS patients do not show anemic readings, and their arterial partial pressure is normal, it is possible that their extreme post-exertional malaise stems from poor microvascular perfusion and oxygenation. Previous studies have indicated that the red blood cells (RBCs) in ME/CFS patients show evidence of oxidative damage. We hypothesized that the RBC deformability metrics can serve as a reliable biomarker of ME/CFS …

Evaluating Tropical Tropospheric Ozone And Water Vapor In Merra-2, Era-Interim, And Cam-Chem Using Aircraft Observations From The Western Pacific, Kathryn Steinmann

Master's Theses

Tropospheric ozone (O3) negatively is a greenhouse gas, affecting global climate. To improve climate predictions, the behavior of O3 and the mechanisms affecting its distribution must be understood and accurately represented in model simulations. This study evaluates O3 and water vapor (H2O) observations from the Convective Transport of Active Species in the Tropics (CONTRAST) campaign with data from the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s (NCAR) Community Atmospheric Model with Chemistry (CAM-Chem), the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2), and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) Re-Analysis-Interim (ERA-Interim). In the tropical middle troposphere, CAM-Chem shows …

High-Throughput Screening Of A Metagenomic Library Using A Novel E. Coli Chip For Discovery Of Antibiotic Resistance Genes, Richard Paul Manarin Tiongco

Master's Theses

The growing prevalence of antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest challenges facing humankind today. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have estimated that about 2 million people in the US each year develop an infection caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and about 23,000 people die. To combat this growing crisis, efforts geared toward the discovery of novel compounds, such as antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), have spurred. However, current approaches for identification of such compounds have proven to be costly, time-consuming and ineffective. This problem underscores the need for a new approach, one that is fundamentally different from traditional methods …

Association Of Food Pharmacy Participation With Type Ii Diabetes Risk Factors, Breanne Vinogradoff

Master's Theses

Food insecurity is defined as a lack of access to enough food for a healthy lifestyle and has been found to lead to higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). In recognition of this relationship, many safety-net clinics and food banks have introduced “food pharmacies.” The term “food pharmacy” may be used to describe a treatment model that focuses on provision of disease-specific, medically appropriate food. This observational study examined data from a food pharmacy in the San Francisco Bay Area to determine if program participation improved clinical measures of T2DM status or risk, namely glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), fasting blood …

Comparing Levels Of Environmental Literacy Between Stars- And Non-Stars-Rated Universities, Analisa Kathleen Campos

Master's Theses

The Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) is a program that measures university sustainability levels. STARS ranks university campuses based on the number of points received from individual specifications such as green buildings, access to mass transit, number of environmental courses, and more. Therefore, the rank a school receives translates directly to its level of sustainability as an institution. Currently, it is unknown if there is a relationship between a campus’s STARS-rating and individual students’ environmental literacy (EL). The purpose of this project was to analyze the impacts of university’s sustainable features on student EL. Surveys were administered to …

Using Blockchain Technology For The Organ Procurement And Transplant Network, Utsav Jain

Master's Theses

The organ donation system in the United States is centralized and difficult to audit by the general public. This centralized approach may lead to data integrity issues in the future. The Organ Procurement and Transplant Network (OPTN) was built and maintained by a non-governmental organization called the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) under its proprietary UNet(SM) umbrella platform. This platform is made up of proprietary closed source software and does not provide the general public easy access to the organ transplant data for auditing. This study investigates the feasibility, challenges, and advantages of a blockchain-based OPTN.

A prototype of …

The Effects Of A 6-Week Group Meal Prep Program On The Frequency Of Consumption Of Home-Cooked Meals, Shannon Mendez

Master's Theses

Consumption of food away from home is associated with higher caloric intake and poorer diet quality compared to home-cooked food. The advance quantity meal prep (AQMP) program is a group-based program developed to increase the frequency of consumption of home-cooked meals. The AQMP pilot study was a pre-experimental 6-week intervention aimed at analyzing the effects of the program on frequency of consumption of home-cooked meals, cooking attitudes, cooking self-efficacy, and anthropometric measures. Ten study participants met once a week at a commercial kitchen to prepare and package lunches, dinners, and snacks for the work week. A survey was administered and …

Summer Habitat Used By American Kestrels In Santa Clara County, California, Nicole Tomes

Master's Theses

Urbanization can be a primary source of the loss of native species populations by causing habitat loss, fragmentation and land conversion (Tilman et al., 2001; Krauss et al., 2010; Marzluff, 2001). Birds of prey, which are mid or top carnivores, are especially at risk from the loss of habitat that can occur on both the breeding and wintering grounds. Raptors can be considered environmental indicators of habitat degradation because of their small populations, low population densities, and high position in local food webs. This research investigated the habitat preference of the American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) (kestrel), a widely distributed raptor, …

Predicting Switch-Like Behavior In Proteins Using Logistic Regression On Sequence-Based Descriptors, Benjamin Nathan Strauss

Master's Theses

Ligands can bind at specific protein locations, inducing conformational changes such as those involving secondary structure. Identifying these possible switches from sequence, including homology, is an important ongoing area of research. We attempt to predict possible secondary structure switches from sequence in proteins using machine learning, specifically a logistic regression approach with 48 N-acetyltransferases as our learning set and 5 sirtuins as our test set. Validated residue binary assignments of 0 (no change in secondary structure) and 1 (change in secondary structure) were determined (DSSP) from 3D X-ray structures for sets of virtually identical chains crystallized under different conditions. Our …

Non-Invasive Hyperglycemia Detection Using Ecg And Deep Learning, Renato Silveira Cordeiro

Master's Theses

Hyperglycemia is characterized by an elevated level of glucose in the blood. It is normally asymptomatic, except for an extremely high level, and thus a person can live in that state for years before the negative - sometimes irreversible - health impacts appear. Unexpected hyperglycemia can also be an indication of diabetes, a chronic disease that, when not treated, can lead to serious consequences, including limb amputations and even death. Therefore, identifying hyperglycemic state is important. The most common and direct way to measure a person’s glucose level is by directly assessing it from a blood sample by pricking a …

Late-Stage Deformation And Exhumation Of A High-Pressure Metamorphic Belt In An Active Arc-Continent Collision, Taiwan, Michael Chojnacki

Master's Theses

Structural analyses and fluid inclusion microthermometry were conducted within the blueschist facies, Yuli Belt in the Taiwan arc-continent collision in order to better understand the kinematics and pressure and temperature conditions associated with rapid exhumation (~10 km/myr) of high-pressure rocks. The most recent ductile deformation, observed as a penetrative fabric, S3, and relatively late, steeply dipping, mineral-filled, mode-I fractures, was characterized by vertical shortening, top-to-the southwest shear, and northeast-southwest extension. The late-stage veins record entrapment conditions ranging from 200°C to 450°C. To generalize, this structural and metamorphic history is interpreted to reflect the later stages of exhumation of the Yuli …

Exploring Parallel Algorithmic Choices For Graph Analytics, Akif Rehman

Master's Theses

Sequential graph algorithms are implemented through ordered execution of tasks to achieve high work efficiency. Exposing parallelism in these ordered workloads tends to be an elusive problem. Strict-ordered parallel implementations find nodes that don't have read-write dependencies and hence can be executed in parallel. They have the work efficiency of their sequential counter-parts due to strict ordering constraints. Larger amount of parallelism can be achieved at the expense of redundant work. Relax-ordered implementations remove the global order and only impose the local order. They go through multiple iterations and have the property of monotonically increasing or decreasing output values allowing …

Keeping Track Of Change: Developmental Insights Into The Ability To Represent Objects In Episodic Terms, Emily Yearling

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Allies In Training: The Construction & Management Of Cis Allyship At State University, Davida J. Schiffer

Master's Theses

Many universities provide LGBT Ally Training Programs, but who are the allies who attend them? My research examines how participants conceptualize cis allyship and how they enact it in their professional and personal lives. In describing the gendered and racialized role of cis allyship, I situate my analysis in theories of doing gender & performativity (West & Zimmerman 1987; Johnson 2013) and the scholarship around white allies in academic diversity narratives (Bonilla-Silva 2006; Collins & Bilge 2016). Focusing on an Ally Training program at State University, I conducted an ethnography of 4 Ally Trainings and performed 21 interviews with 12 …

Atrial Fibrillation Detection From Smartwatch Based Photoplethysmography Signals, Syed Khairul Bashar

Master's Theses

Detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) from a wrist watch photoplethysmography (PPG) signal is important because the wrist watch form factor enables long term continuous monitoring of arrhythmia in an easy and non-invasive manner. We have developed a novel method not only to detect AF from a smart wrist watch PPG signal, but also to determine whether the recorded PPG signal is corrupted by motion artifacts or not. In order to detect the motion and noise artifacts from PPG signal, we have used both the accelerometer signal and variable frequency complex demodulation based time-frequency analysis of the PPG signal. After the …

The Workability Of Dominican University Of California (Duoc) Transitioning To A Community Choice Aggregation (Cca) Program Energy Supply, Alexandra Fuentes

Master's Theses

For almost 10 years Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), or community based energy programs, have been developing and or providing clean energy resources to both commercial and residential customers in various regions around the United States. Although there are several programs in communities in the surrounding regions of California, this study focuses on a specific California program known as MCE. This research examines the feasibility of Dominican University of California (DUoC) transitioning from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) to becoming a client of MCE in the future. Out of the 19 community energy programs currently available in the state, MCE is …

Cultivating Hope, Weaving Peace: Colombian Educators Building Pathways To Teach About The Armed Conflict, Laura Vesga Villalba

Master's Theses

Communities affected by conflict require additional educational support in order to adequately reflect on their situation and learn peacebuilding skills. Research is needed to examine how peacebuilding education is being approached through an intergenerational lens, to address the trauma that is carried throughout generations and the healing and reconciliation that may be brought about through successful critical peacebuilding education programs. The purpose of this study is to analyze the formal and informal educational approaches to teaching about the armed conflict in Colombia. The research methodology for this study was phenomenological research conducted through semi-structured interviews. Results illustrated that educational approaches …

The United States Eroding Global Military Advantage; Is There A Way Back?, Fatima Munib

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the U.S. eroding global military advantage in light of the current changing security environment. First, I examine the process and type of erosion taking place. I expand the existing debate and show that the erosion is not defined in monetary terms but in terms of the declining U.S influence within the established rule-based international order. Secondly, I use China and Russia as case-studies to define the present geopolitical rivalries and the (re)emergence of revisionist powers. Both China and Russia aim to shape the emerging international order and threaten the U.S. national security with the increased inter-state competition. …