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Full Issue

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

“Filipinos In California, Community, And Identity”: A Personal Inquiry, Sam T. Mcclintock

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

“She May Look Clean, But—”: Venereal Disease In The U.S. Military During World War Ii, Emma Lukin

The Forum: Journal of History

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Captured At The Cape: The Enslaved Africans Aboard Bom Caminho, Gracie L. Edler

The Forum: Journal of History

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Information For Authors

The Forum: Journal of History

No abstract provided.

Increased Strength And Stiffness In Plywood Shear Walls Through Steel Straps, Mike Deigert, Elizabeth Claypool, Michelle Dennin, John W. Lawson

Architectural Engineering

In a recent iteration of an upper-division engineering design lab course at Cal Poly SLO, students were challenged to identify and understand the probable failure mechanism of conventionally built plywood shear walls and hypothesize how they could delay or prevent common failure mechanisms to increase the overall lateral load carrying capacity. After observing the results of a test on a conventional, code specified wall, a solution to integrate metal gauge strapping into edge nailing was developed to address the common failure mechanisms of nail head pull through and panel edge tear out. A shear wall with metal strapping installed between …

Post-Fire Erosion Following The Czu Lightning Complex Fire: Quantifying Hillslope Erosion And Providing Guidance Towards Improving Post-Fire Response, Matthew C. Crockett, Matthew Crockett

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

The size and severity of wildfires have increased in California during recent decades. This trend is highlighted through the CZU Lightning Complex fire of August 2020 which burned over 86,000 acres in the Santa Cruz mountains of California. The fire greatly impacted the Little Creek watershed, a roughly 1,300 acre watershed that exists largely within Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Swanton Pacific Ranch (SPR). The current trends of California’s increased wildfire regime are expected to continue, raising concerns regarding the direct and secondary effects on forest watersheds and the effectiveness of current post-fire erosion control management. Accelerated rates of erosion …

Vermicompost Versus Traditional Compost Amendments Leads To Different Soil Health Outcomes In A Mediterranean Vineyard, Elizabeth L. Luck

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Compost application has become a common practice in vineyard management to increase soil and crop health, however, the environmental externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from cropping systems that utilize organic fertilizers, such as compost, is uncertain. Vermicompost, which is compost created through the digestion of organic matter by earthworms, and its related ‘extract’ are commonly thought to provide more benefits for soil and crop health compared to standard compost. However, organic fertilizers such as vermicompost, vermicompost extract, and compost have not been compared in their effects on soil health in Mediterranean vineyards. In this two-year study, I assessed …

Environmental Justice Mapping In The U.S. Pacific Island Territory Of Guam, Ben Rocha

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Academics, regulators, and the public currently use geospatial analysis tools to identify locations that may be candidates for further environmental justice review in the continental United States (U.S.). However, current environmental justice geospatial analysis tools overlook a small but significant portion of the U.S. - the U.S. Pacific Islands. This study analyzes environmental justice within the U.S. Territory of Guam using existing geospatial analysis methods and publicly available environmental, climate, and socio-economic data to: (1) Spatially map relevant demographic and environmental data and (2) determine the correlation, if any, between the exposure to environmental hazards and the socio-economic status of …

Environmental Justice Mapping In The U.S. Pacific Island Territory Of Guam, Sina Schwenk-Mueller

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Academics, regulators, and the public currently use geospatial analysis tools to identify locations that may be candidates for further environmental justice review in the continental United States (U.S.). However, current environmental justice geospatial analysis tools overlook a small but significant portion of the U.S. - the U.S. Pacific Islands. This study analyzes environmental justice within the U.S. Territory of Guam using existing geospatial analysis methods and publicly available environmental, climate, and socio-economic data. This research aims to: (1) spatially map relevant demographic, environmental, and climate data and (2) determine the correlation, if any, between the exposure to environmental hazards, climate …

Abbott Cardiac Electrophysiology Wet Lab Project, Melissa Kurani, Fiona Lynn

Biomedical Engineering: Graduate Reports and Projects

Cardiac mapping systems provide electrophysiologists with pertinent information about ablation treatment plans for patients who suffer from cardiac arrhythmias. This thesis describes the process of designing a functional wet lab that integrates with Abbott’s EnSite Precision 3D Mapping System, with the purpose of providing Cal Poly students and faculty with an opportunity to have a hands-on learning experience with cardiac mapping. This project encompassed a thorough literature review of cardiology, electrophysiology, and in vitro lab systems, followed by the design, manufacturing, and evaluation of a functional and anatomically representative wet lab. This is a continuation of previous master’s projects that …

Barriers And Motivations To Residential Pro-Environmental Actions In San Luis Obispo, Dalis Rae De La Mora

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

Carbon neutrality has become an important focus for many municipalities, with the inclusion of mitigation measures targeted at the residential sector becoming increasingly prominent for the implementation of climate action plans (CAPs). However, many analyses fall short in identifying the barriers and motivations faced by residents to adopting pro-environmental actions in their daily lives, focusing instead on the available actions themselves. This research aims to identify both the barriers and motivations to adopting pro-environmental behaviors and assess their relationship(s) to key demographic variables, along with climate change perceptions. Using the city of San Luis Obispo (SLO) as a case study, …

Developing Positive Thermal Coefficient (Ptc) Heaters For Solar Electric Cooking, Katarina Ivana Brekalo, Andrew Shepherd

Physics

Positive Thermal Coefficients, PTCs, are materials that abruptly change in resistance in response to changes in temperature. The purpose of this experiment is to explore the viability of using the switching type ceramic PTC thermistor as a replacement for current resistive heaters. These types of PTCs have a nonlinear change in resistance with increases in temperature. This device will be used as a temperature-controlling heating element intended to power an Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (ISEC). The ISEC is designed to cook meals throughout the day for impacted communities as an alternative cooking method that doesn’t require biofuel as an energy …

Potassium And Sodium Sensing Isfet Device And Array, Liam Stephen Hayes

Electrical Engineering

The use of Ion-Sensitive Field Effect Transistors (ISFETs) as a means of testing a person’s potassium concentration in real-time has broad applications in the consumer space. An avid runner could use such a device to keep track of their hydration and salt levels. A hospital could use it for patients who require around-the-clock remote monitoring, and a variation of ISFETs are currently being used as continuous glucose monitors for diabetes patients. While ISFETs are not a new development in the field of microelectronics, their use as wearable devices has recently become relevant. The goal of this project is primarily to …

Removing Soluble Phosphorus From Tertiary Municipal Wastewater Using Phosphorus- Deprived, Filamentous Microalgae, Aloysia Ahern

Master's Theses

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can be detrimental to ecosystems, human health, and economies. The low levels of phosphorus remaining in the effluent of municipal wastewater treatment plants can contribute to HAB formation. To achieve more complete phosphorus removal, an effluent treatment method has been proposed that uses phosphorus-deprived, filamentous microalgae to quickly assimilate soluble phosphorus to low concentrations. This study investigated two parameters that influence the feasibility of such a system: (1) the biomass growth productivity of algal cultures during the phosphorus deprivation period and (2) the correlation between the duration of this period and the phosphorus uptake rate by …

How It's Made: The Crime And Kombucha Podcast, Melissa Nemeth

Journalism

The goal of this senior project is to write, produce, edit and market a podcast through the application of skills acquired throughout the culmination of a Cal Poly journalism degree. The podcast created in conjunction with this senior project is called Crime and Kombucha. Crime and Kombucha is a true crime and pop culture podcast hosted by two bubbly best friends, Marcela Cabral and Melissa Nemeth. It explores the relationship between true crime and pop culture, both of which cannot exist without the other in modern internet culture, using one genre to understand the other. In fact, the “Kombucha” …

Impacts Of Fertility On Physiological Stress, Photosynthetic Activity, And Crop Development In Salanova Lettuce, Sarah I. Miller

Master of Science in Environmental Sciences and Management Projects

The agricultural industry is one of the main drivers of soil degradation due to conventional crop production methods and overuse of soil which results in accelerated erosion, loss of soil fertility, acidification, and salinization (Lal, 2015). Loss of soil fertility from degradation can be detrimental to crop production as plants grown under nutrient limited conditions show signs of physiological stress and reduced photosynthetic rates leading to reduced yields (Zangani et al., 2021). Organic crop production and fertilizers are viable alternatives to conventional methods as they improve soil fertility and the physiological and biological properties of soil (Ilahi et al., 2021). …

Leveraging Lessons Learned From A Virtual Hands-On Outreach Program To Cultivate Diversity In The Next Generation Of Structural Engineers, Anahid Behrouzi, Nicole Buck, Sarah Navias

Architectural Engineering

A challenge that continues to face the structural engineering (SE) profession is the recruitment and retention of individuals from underrepresented minority (URM) groups, underscored over the years by findings reported on by the SE3 project committee. One approach to address this is by developing and conducting early outreach efforts with diverse populations of K-12 students, so they are aware of SE’s meaningful contributions to society and the intriguing technical problem- solving opportunities in this field. During these educational activities it is also important for young students to be exposed to engineering practitioner-educators who represent diverse backgrounds and whose lived experience …

The Importance Of Street Lighting: A Study In San Luis Obispo, Kaitlyn P. Lam

City and Regional Planning

The purpose of this report is to shed light on the importance of resident and student safety in the City of San Luis Obispo. The report goes over exact locations of frequently used areas in the City of SLO that lack street lighting. By spreading awareness, studying different lighting types, and getting citizen input, it helps to plan out a method of bettering San Luis Obispo’s streets. The report presents information on efficient and cost-effective lighting in order to integrate them into a location specific proposal that the city could utilize. By the end of the report, readers will be …

Differing Moisture Content In Concrete And Mitigation Methods: Research Of Sacramento, Taylor S. Tonda

Construction Management

The city of Sacramento and its concrete foundations face one of the most challenging conditions in the flooring industry, high RH Moisture. RH Moisture or Relative Humidity Moisture is one of the main causes for flooring systems to fail. The source of High RH Moisture consists of surrounding geographic features like rivers, flood plains, and elevation, as well as improper or nonexistent use of a vapor barrier beneath the concrete foundation. Mapping and other data is used to support these claims. If a flooring system is not properly prepared for high RH Moisture levels, issues such as bubbling, delamination, and …

Construction Of Modular Concrete Footings For Use In Cal Poly’S High Bay Laboratory, Tyler W. Giddens

Construction Management

This project-based senior project had the end goal of creating two concrete modular foundations that can be used in the High Bay Laboratory for testing procedures. The concrete modular blocks are 6’ long by 3’ wide, and 1.5’ tall. The foundations each held 100 embeds. Each embed serves as an anchor point for various attachments for testing purposes. This was an interdisciplinary project amongst two CM students and one ARCE student. The ARCE student was responsible for the design of the blocks, encompassing the formwork and the rebar. The CM students were responsible for estimating, scheduling, and the construction of …

An Inexpensive Maximum Power Point Tracking System For An Insulated Solar Electric Cooker Using An Off-The-Shelf Buck Converter, Andrew A. Perez

Physics

A specialized control circuit using an off-the-shelf buck converter is built for an Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (ISEC). Cost and efficient power delivery are the focus. An ISEC is synonymous to a direct load heat resistor, allowing a specific maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm and fewer components. Only a microcontroller, voltage sensor, and digital-to-analog converter are used with the buck converter to maximize the power delivered by a 100W solar panel for the 3.3Ω load.

An Integrated Approach For Controlling Verticillium Wilt Of Strawberry, Jack T. Koster

Master's Theses

Strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa, Duch.) is an important crop in California, with more than 35,000 acres planted in 2018 resulting in a farm gate value of $3.1 billion. In 2020, California strawberry production accounted for more than 85% of national strawberry production and faces serious threats to production due to various soil-borne diseases. One such disease, Verticillium wilt, is caused by the fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae and is commonly found in temperate zones around the world where strawberries are grown. Due to the phase-out of efficacious fumigants like methyl bromide, alternative disease management methods have become necessary to …

Analysis Of Current And Future Flood Hazard In The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Nicholas L. Mcguire

Master's Theses

The primary motivation of this study is to estimate the current and future flood hazard throughout the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in the context of sea-level rise. I also analyzed the effects of storm surge and river flow on extreme events to better understand how these events originate and vary spatially and in time. To address this goal, I combined digital water level records (primarily 1983-present) with archival data collected by the California Department of Water Resources (1929-1983) to reevaluate flood hazard in the Delta and investigate the possible sensitivity of the region different sea-level rise projections. Available archival records from …

Determination Of Fungicide Resistance In Botrytis Cinerea On Wine Grapes In California's Central Coast Region, Evelyn Alvarez-Mendoza

Master's Theses

Botrytis bunch rot, caused by Botrytis cinerea, is a fungal disease that primarily affects the fruit of wine grapes. Infection of fruit consequently results in reduced yields and wine quality. These factors lead to significant economic losses for growers which prompts the implementation of management practices to control the disease. One objective of this study was to evaluate the level of resistance that populations of B. cinerea in the Central Coast region showed to various chemicals. A fungicide assay was conducted to determine resistant phenotypes to six fungicide active ingredients (pyrimethanil, iprodione, fenhexamid, fludioxonil, trifloxystrobin, boscalid). Thirty-five (2020) and …

Design And Analysis Of A Discrete, Pcb-Level Low-Power, Microwave Cross-Coupled Differential Lc Voltage-Controlled Oscillator, Pavin Singh Virdee

Master's Theses

Radio Frequency (RF) and Microwave devices are typically implemented in Integrated Circuit (IC) form to minimize parasitics, increase precision and tolerances, and minimize size. Although IC fabrication for students and independent engineers is cost-prohibitive, an abundance of low-cost, easily accessible printed circuit board (PCB) and electronic component manufacturers allows affordable PCB fabrication.

While nearly all microwave voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) designs are IC-based, this study presents a discrete PCB-level cross-coupled, differential LC VCO to demonstrate this more affordable and accessible approach. This thesis presents a 65 mW, discrete component VCO PCB with industry-comparable RF performance. A phase noise of -103.7 dBc/Hz …

Cofermentation, Post-Alcoholic, And Post-Malolactic Fermentation Blending Of Malbec, Merlot And Petite Sirah Wines, Armando Arturo Vega-Osorno

Master's Theses

A two-year study was conducted to assess the effects of cofermentation on red wine varietals. During the winemaking process, wines can be made from two or more varieties by picking, crushing and fermenting them together, a practice known as cofermentation. They can also be blended either after the completion of alcoholic fermentation or after malolactic fermentation. In the first year of the study, two grape varieties, Merlot (Mer), and Malbec (Mal) were cofermented. On the second year, a third varietal, Petite Sirah (PS) was also studied. Cofermented wines containing every possible binomial combination of the varietals was made and one …

Hydrologic Response Of Little Creek To The 2020 Czu Lightning Complex Fire At The Swanton Pacific Ranch, Kylie E. Dupuis

Master's Theses

In this study, stage, streamflow, and precipitation data was collected from small watersheds in the Swanton Pacific Ranch for the first two hydrologic years following the 2020 CZU Lightning Complex. The Little Creek watershed was setup for high-resolution data collection with four separate stage gauge sites (Main Stem, North Fork, South Fork, and Upper North Fork) and four rain gauge sites (Al Smith House, Ridgeline, Upper North Fork, and Landing 23). Stage gauge sites were also established at Queseria, Archibald, and Mill creeks. Preliminary post-fire rating curves were developed for the four sites of Little Creek. The Main Stem (MS) …

A Study Of Pressure Probe Response In Steady And Unsteady Flows, Michael T. Charonnat

Master's Theses

The objective of this thesis is two-fold: to analyze the directional calibration of a 3-hole probe in steady flow and to develop a method for the interpretation of measurements recorded with a novel, fast-response Pitot-type probe in unsteady, turbulent flow. Calibration data for the 3-hole probe’s two side ports was taken in the steady, non-turbulent region of a free jet and was evaluated for symmetry. In addition, data that was recorded using one side port in two independent calibration runs was compared to study repeatability. Misalignment was found between the nominally symmetric data sets, which may be the result of …

A Parametric Study Of The New Wood Diaphragm Design Force Methods, John Lawson, Emily Taylor

Architectural Engineering

Since the introduction of seismic design provisions in U.S. building codes and standards, a single generally-accepted method has existed for determining seismic design forces on diaphragms. Recently, an alternate procedure was introduced in the Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE 7-16) (ASCE, 2016), and an additional alternate procedure is introduce in its next edition ASCE 7-22 (ASCE, 2022) for single-story rigid-wall flexible-diaphragm (RWFD) buildings. Suddenly the determination of seismic diaphragm forces has become a much more complex choice. The two newer alternate methods are based on better predictive modeling research; however, it is of …