Digital Commons Network^™

Habitat Heterogeneity Affects The Thermal Ecology Of The Federally Endangered Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard, Nicole Gaudenti

Master's Theses

Global climate change is already contributing to the extirpation of numerous species worldwide, and sensitive species will continue to face challenges associated with rising temperatures throughout this century and beyond. It is especially important to evaluate the thermal ecology of endangered ectotherm species now so that mitigation measures can be taken as early as possible. A recent study of the thermal ecology of the federally endangered Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard (Gambelia sila) suggested that they face major activity restrictions due to thermal constraints in their desert habitat, but that large shade-providing shrubs act as thermal buffers to allow them …

Microfluidic Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy System Automation And Characterization, Keaton Frahmann

Master's Theses

In this work, a novel microfluidic cell culture platform capable of automated electrical impedance measurements and immunofluorescence and brightfield microscopy was developed for further in-vitro cellular research intended to optimize cell culture conditions. The microfluidic system design, fabrication, automation, and design verification testing are described. Electrical and optical measurements of the 16 parallel cell culture chambers were automated via a custom LabView interface. A proposed design change will enable gas diffusion, removing the need for an environmental enclosure and allow long-term cell culture experiments. This "lab on a chip" system miniaturizes and automates experiments improving testing throughput and accuracy while …

Emotion And Cognition Analysis Of Intro And Senior Cs Students In Software Engineering, Justin Evans

Master's Theses

he software engineering community has advanced the field in the past few decades towards making the software development life cycle more efficient, robust, and streamlined. Advances such as better integrated development environments and agile workflows have made the process more efficient as well as more flexible. Despite these many achievements software engineers still spend a great deal of time writing, reading and reviewing code. These tasks require a lot of attention from the engineer with many different variables affecting the performance of the tasks. In recent years many researchers have come to investigate how emotion and the way we think …

A System Dynamics Model Of Soil Carbon Stock And Flows In Grasslands Under Climate And Grazing Scenarios., Deirdre Sommerlad-Rogers

Master's Theses

Carbon sequestration is paramount to reducing climate change. Grasslands, representing 40% of all terrestrial area, can serve as a primary sequestration location if optimal management strategies can be realized. This study used system dynamics modeling to examine the temporal dynamics of carbon stocks and flows in response to grass species composition, grazing intensity, and temperature and precipitation changes at the landscape level. While there are other biogeochemical models in existence, they are either meant to model large areas, including globally, or are meant to be at a farm level and have limited plot sizes, limiting the options for rangeland managers …

Effects Of Compost On Soil Health And Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Case Study In A Mediterranean Vineyard, Tsz Fai Wong

Master's Theses

Compost is commonly used as an organic amendment in cropping systems such as vineyards, and has been shown to be beneficial to carbon (C) sequestration and soil health. As perennial crops, grapevines have a larger potential for C sequestration than most crops. Yet, there is a lack of understanding regarding the relationship between compost application rate, the magnitude of C sequestration, and its environmental tradeoff in the form of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the study, we investigated the effects of compost application rate on soil C sequestration, GHG emissions, crop growth, and overall soil health after two annual compost …

Perishable Food Waste Reduction Through Technological Implementation At The Retail Level Of The Food Supply Chain, Cassandra Harriman

Master's Theses

Food waste has become a disaster of global proportion that the world can no longer turn a blind eye to. This paper aims to reduce food waste at the retail level of the food supply chain by recommending and quantifying the effects of current technology that can be implemented in traditional supermarkets. This research recommends that retailers implement electronic shelf labels in stores and employ dynamic pricing of perishable products, leading to reduction of food waste. No prior research had considered the primary goal of reducing food waste while preserving retailer profit through technological implementation. This paper quantifies the effects …

The Impact Of Myoblast Transplantation On Collateral Capillary Arteriogenesis And Macrophage Phenotype, Christine Hue Do

Biomedical Engineering

Gangrene, pain, loss of limb function, amputation, and death are only few of the grievous consequences associated with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), a vascular disease caused by an obstruction that narrows the blood vessels. Since some patients have collateral vessels that can re-route blood to its downstream destination, much focus has been spotlighted upon discovering the mechanism of this process, termed arteriogenesis, as well as cell therapies to increase arterial diameter of collateral vessels. Since some patients do not have native pre-existing collateral vessels, another method to re-route blood is through arterialized collateral capillaries (ACC), which is the conversion of …

Stair Wagon To Heaven, Maria Cristina Solis Andrade, Nick Ryan Dion, Alexander Pham

Biomedical Engineering

Our design process began with developing a list of questions for our sponsor based on the problem statement we were provided. We took these questions to interview our sponsor. From this interview, we derived a series of customer requirements, which were then used to develop our more specific engineering specifications (Table 8.1). We used these engineering specifications to develop a design morphology. Each of our group mates used the concepts from our design morphology to develop their own full concept sketches. We used Pugh charts to compare the different aspects of each design. The designs were compared based off their …

A Critique Of Scanlon On The Scope Of Morality, Benjamin A. Elmore

Between the Species

In this essay, I argue that contractualism, even when it is actually used to construe our moral duties towards non-human animals, does not do so naturally. We can infer from our experiences with companion animals that we owe moral duties to them because of special relationships we are in with them. We can further abstract that we owe general moral duties to non-human animals because they are the kinds of beings that we can have relationships with, and because of the capacities that make possible this relational capacity. This type of approach better explains our duties to non-human animals and …

Wild Animal Suffering And The Laissez-Faire Intuition, Beka Jalagania

Between the Species

Are we required to assist wild animals suffering due to natural causes? The laissez-faire intuition (LFI) says that we are not. On this view, although we may have special duties to assist wild animals, there are no general requirements to care for them. In this article I critically examine the origins of the LFI and assess its reliability. In particular, I attempt to provide answers to the questions such as how people who have come to endorse this intuition form it and whether it is a genuine moral intuition. I conclude that the LFI is the result of various external …

Review Of Andy Lamey's Duty And The Beast: Should We Eat Meat In The Name Of Animal Rights?, Angus Taylor

Between the Species

In Duty and the Beast, Andy Lamey confronts arguments for what he calls new omnivorism – recent arguments that profess to undermine the moral injunction against eating meat that is so prominent in the animal protection (animal rights) movement. Instead of rejecting animal protection as such, the new critics claim that in the pursuit of this objective the consumption of some meat is permissible or even obligatory.

Arguing For Vegetarianism: (Symbolic) Ingestion And The (Inevitable) Absent Referent — Intersecting Jacques Derrida And Carol J. Adams, Mariana Almeida Pereira

Between the Species

In this paper I draw together the notion of the absent referent as proposed by Carol J. Adams, and the notions of literal and symbolical sacrifice by eating the other — or ingestion — advanced by Jacques Derrida, to characterize how animals are commonly perceived, which ultimately forbids productive arguments for vegetarianism. I discuss animals as being literally and definitionally absent referents, and I argue, informed by Derrida’s philosophy, that it is impossible to aim at turning them into present referents without reinforcing symbolic ingestion by linking symbolic ingestion to epistemic appropriation or conceptualization. With this, I highlight the ethical …

Executive Committee - Agenda, 05/11/2021, Academic Senate Executive Committee

Academic Senate Agendas

No abstract provided.

Executive Committee - Minutes, 05/11/2021, Executive Committee

Academic Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Review Of Lorraine Daston's Against Nature, Kyle Johannsen

Between the Species

Lorraine Daston's Against Nature seeks to explain why, in spite of compelling objections to the contrary, human beings continue to invest nature with moral authority. More specifically, she claims that our propensity to moralize nature is traceable in part to human nature. Though I criticize Daston for not paying adequate attention to John Stuart Mill's narrow sense of 'nature', I also highly recommend her book.

Graduate Internship Report In Ag Education- Le Grand High School, Yessica Hernandez

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship and project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding. In addition, this document outlines the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Le Grand High School, the agriculture program, and the community.

Proposal For A High Tunnel At Delaney Community Farm, Michael Rh Pham

City and Regional Planning

This paper is a case study of an urban agriculture operation in Aurora, Colorado that focuses on providing refugees with food and work that contributes to a sense of community connectedness and pride. The paper is also a proposal for a high tunnel system that could extend the growing season of the farm and provide unique opportunities for urban farmers to learn about emerging resiliency based food production practices.

Graduate Internship In Agricultural Education - Shafter High School, Kelly Carter

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship and project report includes documentation required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The documents are concurrently used for the Agriculture Incentive Grant review process at Shafter High School conducted by representatives of the California Department of Education. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding, outline the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Shafter High School, the agriculture program and the community.

Development Of The Cmacn Online, Asynchronous Course: An Exploration Of Professional Practices For Dispersing Digital Information, Jacob B. Morgan

Architectural Engineering

The collaborative development of the CMACN (Concrete Masonry Association of California and Nevada) online course, taught as ARCE-305 at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), fulfills the Architectural Engineering department’s vision to “Empower people through the balance of theory and practice to thrive professionally.” The collaboration used a team format consisting of faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students. The development team approached the creation of this course analogous to how a small firm would approach a project. The review and compilation of theory necessary to teach the course reinforced concepts critical to masonry design and construction. The development team’s goal during …

Inclusion Of Olive Or Coconut Oil In A High-Fructose High-Fat Diet Increases Liver Injury In A Pig Model Of Pediatric Nafld, Kayla A. Dillard

Master's Theses

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents the major cause of pediatric chronic liver pathology in the United States. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of partial substitution of dietary lard by an isocaloric amount of olive or coconut oil on endpoints of NAFLD. Thirty-eight 15-d-old Iberian pigs housed in pens balanced for weight and sex were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 hypercaloric high-fructose high-fat (HFF) diets for 10 weeks: 1) lard (LAR; n=5 pens), 2) lard + olive oil (OLI, n=10), and 3) lard + coconut oil (COC; n=10). Additional pigs (BSL, n=4) were …

Lotus: A Web-Based Computational Tool For The Preliminary Investigation Of A Novel Mst Method Utilizing A Library Of 16s Rrna Bacteroides Otus, Ginger Dewitte

Master's Theses

Microbial Source Tracking (MST) is a field of study that attempts to identify the source of fecal contamination in waterways in order to assist with development of remediation strategies. Biologists at Cal Poly Center for Applications in Biotechnology (CAB) are developing a new MST method using microbes from the genus Bacteroides. Bacteroides species are host-specific microorganisms that can theoretically be used to trace back to a single host species. After fecal samples are collected, biologists use Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques to obtain only the genetic sequences of microorganisms belonging to the phylum Bacteroidetes. Investigators hypothesize that similar sequences belong …

Graduate Internship Report- King City High School, Chelsey Porter

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This graduate internship report includes the documentation required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The documents are concurrently used for the Agriculture Incentive Grant review process at King City High School conducted by representatives of the California Department of Education. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding, outline the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of King City High School, the agriculture program and the community.

Woodford, Justin Ayers

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.

Pareidolia, Andrew Larochelle

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

.RAW Journal of Art and Design

.RAW is a collaboration between Art & Design students at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. It features a variety of material from all departments including photography, studio art, graphic design and others with the aim to showcase student artistry.

Human Identity, Animal Identity, And Reflective Endorsement, Rachel D. Robison-Greene

Between the Species

In this paper, I will argue that philosophers have overestimated the value of reflective endorsement. Introspection does not, as many philosophers have supposed, shine a searchlight on a person’s authentic identity. Our “selves” are not as transparent to us as we would like to think. In fact, much of the work done in an introspective mood is confabulation or rationalization rather than genuine self-discovery. I will argue that if this is the case, the outputs of the reflective endorsement process are not inherently normative in the way that thinkers like Harry Frankfurt and Christine Korsgaard have suggested.

If this is …

From The Runway To The Racks: A Comparative Analysis Of Gucci And Zara, Hailey Bauer

Experience Industry Management

The fashion industry is constantly evolving. Today, consumers face more choices than ever when it comes to purchasing clothes. The purpose of this study was to examine a high-end luxury brand, Gucci, and a fast fashion brand, Zara, to compare and contrast their marketing strategies, sustainability practices, brand personality, and customer experiences. The research for this study was collected using a case study matrix, developed by the researcher, to evaluate Gucci and Zara’s marketing, sustainability, and customer experience practices. The study resulted in findings indicating the importance of social media and online marketing platforms for the increase of sales and …

Choose Your Own Adventure: A Comparative Analysis Of Storytelling Elements In Selected Immersive Experience Attractions, John E. Balido

Experience Industry Management

Stories are powerful tools used to both connect and communicate through a multitude of mediums. Movies, marketing campaigns, and experience design in theme parks are modern examples of storytelling, using various practices to bring the narrative to life. The purpose of this study was to analyze the manipulation of storytelling elements to create and build an immersive adventure experience in selected theme park attractions. A comparative analysis was conducted on theIndiana Jones Adventure and the Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance rides at Disneyland using an instrument that analyzed both experience design and storytelling practices. Findings concluded that the practices …

A Cause For The Kids: A Best Practices Examination Of Cmn Hospitals And St. Jude Children’S Research Hospital, Kailey Ridenour

Experience Industry Management

Children’s hospitals provide funding for patients and their families to receive proper treatment and resources without having to worry about a financial burden. The purpose of this study was to examine the best practices of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and St Jude Children’s Hospitals; compare and contrast the best practices of each foundation and identify how they can learn from each other. A comparative analysis was conducted between Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. This study concluded that both children’s hospitals foundation teams are led by a board of directors that differ in size and draw …

Trudging The Road Of Happy Destiny: The Gift Economy In Early Alcoholics Anonymous History And The Creation Of The Big Book, Timothy J. Parker

History

In 1939, Bill Wilson and his peers published Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How Many Thousands of Men and Women Have Recovered from Alcoholism, and in doing so, codified a spiritual gift economy through which millions of people have recovered from alcoholism and other addictions. This project examines the pragmatic formulation of this economy and argues its origins were driven as much by self-interest as altruism. It further explores the syncretic leadership of Bill Wilson and his mark on "The Big Book."