Digital Commons Network^™

Improving The Process Of Pain Management By Implementing Best Practices In A Nursing Home, Sukhjit Dhillon

Doctoral Projects

Pain is often untreated or undertreated among older adults living in nursing homes. The lack of standardized pain management protocols makes it difficult to address pain in this population. Deficiencies in pain management and documentation were identified in a nursing home and a performance improvement project was implemented with the aim to improve pain management, pain documentation, and staff knowledge of pain management. A pre-and post-intervention study design was used, and data analysis included descriptive statistics and a paired samples t-test. Participants (n=12) included seven registered nurses and five licensed vocational nurses who provide direct care to the residents in …

Educational Intervention With Visual Cues To Increase Compliance With Postoperative Warming, Michael J. Domingo

Doctoral Projects

Millions of operations are performed annually in the United States. However, postoperative hypothermia still affects surgical patients who are not thermoregulated and can occur among them during the postoperative period. Postoperative warming compliance rates across countries and institutions are generally poor (Koh et. al, 2021). Therefore, the focus of the DNP project was to assess how providing education on postoperative warming and providing visual cues to the PACU RNs would increase postoperative warming compliance. The PACU RN participants were provided postoperative warming education with visual cues. Specifically reviewed with the PACU RNs was taking the patient’s temperature, connecting the patient …

Impact Of Mindfulness Practice On Compassion Fatigue In Pediatric Cardiovascular Critical Care Nurses: A Quality Improvement Project, Kendy Luu

Doctoral Projects

Background: A considerable proportion of the extant literature on healthcare has documented compassion fatigue (CF) as a major factor that contributes to poor job performance, satisfaction, and negative patient outcomes (Figley, 2002). CF is well known to negatively impact patient care and outcome, relationships, and job satisfaction among pediatric cardiovascular intensive care (CVICU) nurses. Developing interventions to reduce burnout and CF bear the potential to reduce costs and improve quality care; one particularly promising approach in this regard is the practice of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Purpose: This quality improvement project aimed to determine the impact of an abbreviated MBSR …

Industry And Malady: Entanglements Of Power, Culture, And Disease Afflicting Breast Cancer Patients In The Bay Area, Brieann N. Deornellas

Master's Theses

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States and, apart from some forms of skin cancer, is the most common cancer diagnosis for women. In 2021, the U.S Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results reported that approximately 281,550 women were diagnosed with, and 43,600 died of the breast cancer. Despite advancements in testing and treatments, about one in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, and breast cancer has the highest cancer death rate for women, excluding lung cancer.Studies have also shown that breast cancer prognosis and mortality is not uniform, and is statistically …

Use Of A Utility-Scale Solar Energy Facility By Avian Populations In Central California, Quratulain Ahmed

Master's Theses

With an ever-increasing demand for renewable energy in response to climate change, utility-scale solar energy (USSE) is on the rise, particularly in California. Although solar energy is viewed as an essential resource for transitioning from a fossil fuel economy, USSE installations can cover thousands of acres of habitat used by avian species. Little is known about the effects of USSE on avian populations, although some evidence suggests that USSE facilities may be leading to bird mortality. The lake-effect hypothesis suggests that birds may mistake solar arrays for large bodies of water resulting in injury or mortality. Though several studies describe …

Motivational And Participatory Experiences Of Female Service Members In Crossfit, Nicole M. Levine

Master's Theses

CrossFit is a high-intensity exercise program that has expanded globally over the last several years. Its minimalistic approach targeted at multiple aerobic and muscular strength domains make it accessible and applicable to populations with limited space and equipment, such as overseas military installations. Despite several studies examining the motivational factors of individuals engaging in CrossFit, research is scant on the motivational factors of military professionals participating in CrossFit outside of their formalized operational training. Additionally, there is no specific literature on female military participation in CrossFit. This study qualitatively explored the participatory motivations of 15 female U.S. military service members …

Impacts Of Transit-Oriented Development Through The Eyes & Lives Of Low-Income Latinx Residents: A Case Study In Fruitvale, Oakland, Diana Saavedra

Master's Theses

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is often showcased as a solution for private vehicle dependency and growing climate issues. Although TOD seems promising, it usually has harsh, unforgiving effects such as ecological gentrification. Ecological gentrification occurs when lower-income communities, especially of color, are pushed out of their neighborhoods due to the implementation of an environmental amenity, benefit, or service. However, research suggests that TODs that apply Transportation Justice principles seem to produce more equitable results. This study explores the Fruitvale Village TOD, located in Fruitvale, Oakland, California. This TOD was selected because it is unique in its conception and implementation, as it …

The Relationship Between Transformational Leadership And Affective Commitment And Intent To Leave The Organization: The Mediating Role Of Psychological Empowerment, Neiry Lara

Master's Theses

The leadership style of organizational leaders has important implications for organizations and their employees. Transformational leadership has been studied extensively due to the numerous positive outcomes. Unfortunately, not much research has focused on the mediating mechanism between transformational leadership and outcomes. Therefore, the present study explored the mediating role of psychological empowerment on the relationship between transformational leadership and the outcomes of affective organizational commitment and turnover intentions. It was hypothesized that psychological empowerment would act as a mediator between transformational leadership and affective organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Results of an online survey from 111 employed individuals showed that …

Evaluation Of The Offline-Coupled Gfs-Cmaq In Recent Wildfires In Northern California, Joyce Leung

Master's Theses

As wildfires become more frequent and severe under climate change, there is a growing need to simulate the impact of fires on air quality and human health using numerical models. The National Air Quality Forecast Capability is an operational air quality forecasting system that provides nationwide ozone and particulate matter (PM2.5) prediction. It is made up of a chemical transport model – the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model – driven by a meteorological model. Recently, the Global Forecast System (GFS) replaced the North American Mesoscale Forecast System (NAM) to drive CMAQ. In addition to these two modeling systems, the …

Characterizing Metabolic Changes In Cancer Cells After Treatment With An Extract Created From Walnuts, Codey Y. Huang

Master's Theses

Cancer cells undergo metabolic reprogramming to meet the energy and metabolite demands of constant proliferation. Originally observed as the Warburg Effect, where cancer cells are more glycolytically active, recent research has shown that cancer cells can also utilize oxidative phosphorylation to meet these demands, better known as metabolic flux. Previous work from our lab showed that treatment with a Walnut Extract (WE) induced cell death in MDA-MB-231 and HeLa cells by destabilizing the mitochondrial outer membrane potential, suggesting that the extract may be able to impact oxidative phosphorylation. The aim of the current research was to further characterize the impact …

Inverse Association Between Yogurt Consumption And Metabolic Syndrome Prevalence In United States Adult Males, But Not In Females Or In The Total Population: Nhanes 2017-2018, Diana K. Lee

Master's Theses

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is prevalent in the United States (US) population andconcerns lie in related chronic diseases and financial burdens. To mitigate MetS, modifying the diet is a possible solution. Yogurt is known for its nutrient density and is a possible health food. The growing interests in yogurt and the growing concerns for MetS are met with the gap of unraveling the yogurt consumption status and MetS prevalence in the US. We evaluated the association between yogurt consumption and MetS using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2017-2018 and Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies data. The …

"For Better Or Worse": Imagining Innovation In Smart City Municipal Design, Kevin M. Kochever

Master's Theses

The smart city concept recently (ca. 2010) emerged as a corporate-led system-as-a-service (SaaS) tool to meet city needs of accessibility and efficiency. I looked at three Western cities—Reykjavík, San José, and Toronto—to discover what it meant for city managers to meet municipal needs by embracing smart initiatives. Senior-level city managers, consultants, and technologists invoked vocabularies of smartness and innovation, adopting Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) as tools to facilitate human resource and service efficiency needs. I found persistent ambiguity in how city managers described and measured outcomes for city smartness. I also found stakeholders used smartness to …

Acoustic Lens Design Using Machine Learning, Wei-Ching Wang

Master's Theses

This thesis aims to contribute to the development of a novel approach and efficient method for the inverse design of acoustic metamaterial lenses using machine learning, specifically, deep learning, generative modeling, and reinforcement learning. Acoustic lenses can focus incident plane waves at the focal point, enabling them to detect structures non-intrusively. These lenses can be utilized in biomedical engineering, medical devices, structural engineering, ultrasound imaging, health monitoring, etc. Finding the global optimum through a traditional iterative optimization process for designing the acoustic lens is challenging. It may become infeasible due to high dimensional parameter space and the compute resources needed. …

Historic Ohlone Resource Distribution Within The Alameda Creek Watershed, Naseem Fazeli

Master's Theses

The Alameda Creek watershed is located within the ancestral homeland of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area. Their ancestors historically utilized a variety of plants for food, medicine, ceremonies, and building materials, with their understanding of the value of the plants based on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). The arrival of Spanish, and later Anglo/American, colonists beginning in the mid-18th century introduced urbanization and European agricultural practices, which have degraded wildlands and impacted species richness and diversity. As interest in environmental restoration has been increasing in recent decades, the present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe has an opportunity to …

No Association Between Macronutrient Intake And Body Composition Indices In Collegiate Athletes, Bryan Singharaj

Master's Theses

A scarcity of literature follows the relationship between macronutrient intake and bodycomposition indices within an athletic population. Therefore, the primary aims of the present study were to evaluate the relationship between the percent intake of carbohydrates, dietary fat, and protein with fat-free mass percentage (FFM %), fat mass percentage (FM %), fat mass index (FMI), and lean mass index (LMI). In addition, a secondary objective was to determine if there were any sex differences in the relationship between macronutrient intake and body composition indices. A total of 58 San José State University student-athletes from multiple sports were included in the …

An Empirical Assessment Of Environmental Variable Combinations For Use In Fire Weather Forecasts, Daniel Sunvold

Master's Theses

Predicting high fire danger conditions is paramount to mitigating the impacts caused by wildfires. Such warning systems as red flag warnings (RFWs) and the National Fire Danger Rating System (NFDRS) utilize atmospheric and fuel moisture properties to warn public and government entities about conditions that may lead to the ignition or rapid growth of wildfires. In this study, we use high-resolution reanalysis and wildfire growth data from 2003-2020 in California to test a variety of different variables to determine if a more viable variable combination exists that could be used to create a better warning index which would allow for …

Amplifying Testimonios Of Latino Male Student Success, Jilian Gómez

Master's Theses

The purpose of this qualitative counternarrative ethnographic study was to explore the success stories and lived experiences of six Latino male students, utilizing an asset-based approach and consideration of intersectional identity, cultural wealth, and contextual settings. This asset-based theoretical framework, the Latino Male Student Success Paradigm, was developed and used to contextualize the Latino male students' testimonios of their experiences and how they advanced their academic success. A semi-structured interview protocol was used to invite testimonios from the research participants, which included discussions about their academic success. The testimonios provided insight into what facilitated their resiliency when facing adversity within …

Black, Green, And Young: A Case Study Assessing Implementation And Outcomes Of An Environmental Science, Technology, Engineering And Math Curriculum For Youth In West Oakland, California, Ashari A. Taylor-Watson

Master's Theses

Environmental racism plagues low-income communities of color through exposure to environmental hazards, and the youth are most vulnerable. Environmental science, technology, engineering, and math (E-STEM) curriculums promoted as tools for corrective justice. Using a West Oakland, California Boys and Girls Club as a case study, I first describe the environmental awareness, attitudes, and actions of a group of six- to 13-year-old, predominantly African - American, children from this low-income community. I then examine the possible impacts of an E-STEM curriculum on participants, and I identify staff- and researcher-identified challenges to its implementation. During the study, the cohort experienced a heightened …

Co-Composted Biochar Improves Dry-Farmed Tomato Productivity In The Santa Clara Valley, Ca, With No Change In Soil Microbiology, Duncan A. Keller

Master's Theses

California is a globally important site for agricultural production, but the state is currently suffering from an unprecedented drought. One strategy to conserve water is dry farming, where growers cache moisture in the soil from off-season rain or early-season irrigation for crops to use throughout the growing season. Some California growers have dry-farmed tomatoes for decades. Recently, some have begun adding co-composted biochar (COMBI) to boost productivity and stimulate soil microbiology, particularly arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. To the best of my knowledge, no field research on dry-farmed tomato systems currently exists, let alone on the effects of COMBI amendments on yield, …

Evaluating Schizochytrium Sp. As An Alternative Ingredient In Fish-Free Feeds For Sablefish (Anoplopoma Fimbria) Aquaculture, Katherine A. Neylan

Master's Theses

Alternative feeds for marine finfish aquaculture are critical for the sustainable expansionof the aquaculture industry. Fish that are farmed for human consumption are often carnivorous; therefore, the industry uses wild-caught forage fish as a primary ingredient in feeds in the form of fishmeal and fish oil. As the aquaculture industry grows, it is important to identify alternative feed ingredients with high omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentrations. This study was designed to test a microalga, Schizochytrium sp., as an alternative feed ingredient for sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) using six test diets. The first diet (+FM+FO) contained both fishmeal and fish oil. …

Examining Communibiology During Adrenal Stress Scenario Training In Feminist Self-Defense: An Experimental Study, Daniel A. Van Hook

Master's Theses

In communication episodes featuring heightened stress, interactions that are perceived as threatening and evoke a sense of powerlessness often predict a cycle of victimization. Meanwhile, social interactions which affirm safety and agency amidst stress foster empowerment. This study utilized Hoplology, which studies stress inoculation against aggression and posttraumatic stress, and Communibiology, the study of neurobiology as an antecedent and outcome of communication, to explore (a) whether Adrenal Stress Scenario Training in Feminist Self-Defense (ASST-FSD) produces a physiological response to promote stress inoculation, (b) how anxiety impacts physiological response, and (c) reports of mental toughness. A 4-day ASST-FSD training pilot study …

Cloud Provisioning And Management With Deep Reinforcement Learning, Alexandru Tol

Master's Projects

The first web applications appeared in the early nineteen nineties. These applica- tions were entirely hosted in house by companies that developed them. In the mid 2000s the concept of a digital cloud was introduced by the then CEO of google Eric Schmidt. Now in the current day most companies will at least partially host their applications on proprietary servers hosted at data-centers or commercial clouds like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Heroku.

This arrangement seems like a straight forward win-win for both parties, the customer gets rid of the hassle of maintaining a live server for their applications and …

Ending Homelessness In Santa Clara County: A Program Evaluation Of Homefirst Services’ Rapid Re-Housing Program Using Client Feedback, Karen Gomez

Master's Projects

This research was designed to evaluate whether HomeFirst Services’ RRH Program has proven to be more effective than traditional approaches in eliminating homelessness for its participants in Santa Clara County, California. Research was based on the Program Satisfaction Survey conducted at the end of the participants’ program enrollment in comparison with data collected for clients in other HomeFirst Services programs. The research question that is being answered from this survey is whether or not the HomeFirst Services RRH Program is fulfilling the clients’ needs. This questionnaire has been able to help HomeFirst Services understand the factors that help satisfy program …

Proxy Re-Encryption In Blockchain-Based Application, Wangcheng Yuan

Master's Projects

Nowadays, blockchain-based technology has risen to a new dimension. With the advantage of the decentralized identity, data are transferred through decentralized and public ledgers. Those new contracts provide great visibility. However, there is still a need to keep some data private in many cases. Those private data should be encrypted while still benefiting from the decentralized on-chain protocol. Securing those private data in such a decentralized blockchain-based system is thus a critical problem. Our solution provides a decentralized protocol that lets users grant access to their private data with proxy re-encryption in SpartanGold (a blockchain-based cryptocurrency). We implement a third-party …

Discrimination Experiences During Covid-19 Among A National, Multi-Lingual, Community-Based Sample Of Asian Americans And Pacific Islanders: Compass Findings, Van M. Ta Park, Marcelle M. Dougan, Oanh L. Meyer, Bora Nam, Marian Tzuang, Linda G. Park, Quyen Vuong, Joon Bang, Janice Y. Tsoh

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Reports of escalated discrimination among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) due to COVID-19 are alarming, making this a public health priority. However, there are limited empirical studies on the scope and impact of COVID-19-related discrimination among AAPIs. Using the COVID-19 Effects on the Mental and Physical Health of AAPI Survey Study (COMPASS) data (N = 4971; survey period: October 2020–February 2021), which is a U.S.-wide multi-lingual survey, we examined the prevalence of, and factors associated with discrimination experiences attributable to being an AAPI during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, 60.7% reported experiencing discrimination; the group prevalence ranged from 80.0% (Hmong) …

Crowdfunding Non-Fungible Tokens On The Blockchain, Sean Basu, Kimaya Basu, Thomas H. Austin

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been used as a way of rewarding content creators. Artists publish their works on the blockchain as NFTs, which they can then sell. The buyer of an NFT then holds ownership of a unique digital asset, which can be resold in much the same way that real-world art collectors might trade paintings. However, while a deal of effort has been spent on selling works of art on the blockchain, very little attention has been paid to using the blockchain as a means of fundraising to help finance the artist’s work in the first place. Additionally, while …

Blackcurrants: A Nutrient-Rich Source For The Development Of Functional Foods For Improved Athletic Performance, Ali Ali Redha, Shahida Anusha Siddiqui, Reza Zare, Daniele Spadaccini, Silvia Guazzotti, Xi Feng, Nur Alim Bahmid, Yuan Seng Wu, Fathima Zahraa Ozeer, Rotimi E. Aluko

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Blackcurrants are nutrient-rich fruits with a significant amount of bioactive compounds including vitamin C and polyphenols, especially anthocyanins. The high phytochemical content of blackcurrants promotes this fruit to become a valuable functional food ingredient with varying health-promoting activities targeting different consumers including athletes. Athletes experience oxidative stress during intense exercise, which can result in inflammation and reduced exercise performance. Antioxidants such as vitamin C and polyphenols can restore the regular oxidative status of the body. Blackcurrant supplementation has shown potential ergogenic activity to improve athlete performance during high-intensity training. Clinical trials have evaluated the effectiveness of blackcurrant supplementation on exercise …

Flexible And Robust Real-Time Intrusion Detection Systems To Network Dynamics, Kicho Yu, Khanh Nguyen, Younghee Park

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Deep learning-based intrusion detection systems have advanced due to their technological innovations such as high accuracy, automation, and scalability to develop an effective network intrusion detection system (NIDS). However, most of the previous research has focused on model generation through intensive analysis of feature engineering instead of considering real environments. They have limitations to applying the previous methods for a real network environment to detect real-time network attacks. In this paper, we propose a new flexible and robust NIDS based on Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) with a multi-classifier to generate a detection model in real time. The proposed system adaptively …

Spartan Face Mask Detection And Facial Recognition System, Ziwei Song, Kristie Nguyen, Tien Nguyen, Catherine Cho, Jerry Gao

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), wearing a face mask is one of the most effective protections from airborne infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Since the spread of COVID-19, infected countries have been enforcing strict mask regulation for indoor businesses and public spaces. While wearing a mask is a requirement, the position and type of the mask should also be considered in order to increase the effectiveness of face masks, especially at specific public locations. However, this makes it difficult for conventional facial recognition technology to identify individuals for security checks. To solve this problem, the Spartan Face Detection …

Predicting Cervical Cancer Biopsy Results Using Demographic And Epidemiological Parameters: A Custom Stacked Ensemble Machine Learning Approach, Krishnaraj Chadaga, Srikanth Prabhu, Niranjana Sampathila, Rajagopala Chadaga, S. Swathi, Saptarshi Sengupta

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

The human papillomavirus (HPV) is responsible for most cervical cancer cases worldwide. This gynecological carcinoma causes many deaths, even though it can be treated by removing malignant tissues at a preliminary stage. In many developing countries, patients do not undertake medical examinations due to the lack of awareness, hospital resources and high testing costs. Hence, it is vital to design a computer aided diagnostic method which can screen cervical cancer patients. In this research, we predict the probability risk of contracting this deadly disease using a custom stacked ensemble machine learning approach. The technique combines the results of several machine …