Digital Commons Network^™

Incivility As A Communication Barrier: The Effects Of Incivility Experiences, Appraisals, And Context On Employees’ Constructive Voice Behavior, Kerri C. Nelson

Master's Theses

In today’s competitive environment, organizations and researchers alike are placing increasing emphasis on the role of communication and, more specifically, employee voice at work. However, much less is known about workplace mistreatment as an antecedent factor that might hinder this important workplace asset. The current research examined a specific antecedent factor, workplace incivility, and its effects on constructive voice and engagement using a transactional stress theory framework. Currently, no research has investigated the potential for a connection between incivility and constructive voice, limiting our current understanding of their relationship. In an initial study, psychological safety and appraisals of control were …

The 2013 Boston Marathon Attacks: An Experimental Investigation Of Worldview Change Following Film Re-Exposure To Mass Trauma, Ian A. Gutierrez

Master's Theses

Models of meaning making and post-traumatic growth contend that traumatic events are catalysts for significant and long-lasting change in a person’s worldview—that is, their beliefs about social, metaphysical, theological, and political reality. Nearly all tests of this contention have employed retrospective and cross-sectional methods. However, the limitations inherent in these designs preclude causal conclusions. The current study represents the first longitudinal, laboratory-based experimental examination of belief change following trauma exposure using the trauma film paradigm. Findings reveal that the trauma film paradigm can successfully induce posttraumatic affective responses with live news coverage of a mass trauma (i.e., the 2013 Boston …

The Impact Of A Smarter Lunchrooms Makeover On Children's Food Choice And Consumption, Polina Zhuzhina

Master's Theses

Childhood obesity has tripled over the past three decades and poses a serious public health problem. The Smarter Lunchrooms Movement aims to increase healthy eating by incorporating low-cost to no-cost alterations to the school lunchroom in an effort to increase consumption of healthier foods, such as fruits and vegetables, by making them more attractive and convenient.

Our study implemented Smarter Lunchrooms interventions at two primarily Hispanic elementary schools in Paso Robles, CA. The interventions focused on increasing the appeal of the salad bars, including installation of age-appropriate signage highlighting fruits and vegetables, as well as branding of fruits and vegetables …

The Use Of Lactic Acid Bacteria To Control The Growth Of Foodborne Pathogens On Fresh-Cut Fruits And Sprout Vegetables, Franca Gabriela Rossi

Master's Theses

Growing consumer awareness of the health benefits associated with fruits and vegetables and demand for easy to prepare products has prompted the development of a wide variety of minimally processed fruits and vegetables. Minimally processed fruits and vegetables are often peeled, cut, or diced which compromise the produces’ natural protective barriers, exposing a nutrient rich medium and providing an ideal environment for the growth of microorganisms, including foodborne pathogens. The germination conditions of sprout vegetables consisting of relatively high temperatures and humidity, low light and abundance of nutrients are also conducive to the proliferation of foodborne pathogens. Recent outbreaks and …

Subsystem Failure Analysis Within The Horizon Simulation Framework, Ian M. Lunsford

Master's Theses

System design is an inherently expensive and time consuming process. Engineers are constantly tasked to investigate new solutions for various programs. Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) is an up and coming successful method used to reduce the time spent during the design process. By utilizing simulations, model-based systems engineering can verify high-level system requirements quickly and at low cost early in the design process. The Horizon Simulation Framework, or HSF, provides the capability of simulating a system and verifying the system performance. This paper outlines an improvement to the Horizon Simulation Framework by providing information to the user regarding schedule failures …

An Investigation Into The Use Of Polymer Bound Boronic Acid For Glucose Detection In Paper Based Microfluidic Devices, Spencer A. Schultz

Master's Theses

Paper Based Microfluidic Devices (microPADs) are a new platform for point-of-care diagnostic assays for use in resource-limited settings. These devices rely typically on enzymatic assays to produce their results, which makes them susceptible to degradation when exposed to extreme environmental conditions such as high temperature. In order to overcome this limitation, this research project focused on investigating the use of polymers instead of enzymes to detect analytes on microPADs.

Polymer-bound boronic acid, a glucose and pH sensitive polymer, was incorporated into microPADs in order to develop a chronometric, paper-based glucose assay. The polymer was tested with both lateral and vertical …

Astro – A Low-Cost, Low-Power Cluster For Cpu-Gpu Hybrid Computing Using The Jetson Tk1, Sean Kai Sheen

Master's Theses

With the rising costs of large scale distributed systems many researchers have began looking at utilizing low power architectures for clusters. In this paper, we describe our Astro cluster, which consists of 46 NVIDIA Jetson TK1 nodes each equipped with an ARM Cortex A15 CPU, 192 core Kepler GPU, 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of flash storage. The cluster has a number of advantages when compared to conventional clusters including lower power usage, ambient cooling, shared memory between the CPU and GPU, and affordability. The cluster is built using commodity hardware and can be setup for relatively low …

Evaluation Of The Effects Of Walnut Extract On The Cell Division G2/M Cyclin-Cyclin B1 In Breast Cancer Cells, Savita Pinaki Shah

Master's Theses

Walnuts are rich in polyphenols and have potential for cancer prevention and treatment. Our lab has previously shown that a walnut extract (WE) is able to block the cell cycle at the S and G2 phases of cell division with a corresponding decrease in the amount of the cyclin B1 protein and induce cell death in human breast cancer cells (Le et al., 2014). The aim of the current research was to identify whether this effect on the expression of cyclin B1 was at the transcriptional or the translational level. A cycloheximide (CHX) chase revealed that a WE does not …

The Effects Of Discrete Emotions On Risky Decision Making, Hoeun Sim

Master's Theses

Contrary to the dominant view that generally equates feelings with poor thinking, converging evidence indicates that decisions – including those involving risk – are influenced by affective experiences. Research, however, is limited to studies on undifferentiated, global positive versus negative mood states; less is known about the influence of discrete emotions. The purpose of this research was to extend the affect-cognition literature by (a) examining the effects of discrete emotions varying along the dimensions of valence and arousal, and (b) identifying the systematic ways that discrete emotions underlie risky decision making. We used a set of emotion-laden IAPS images to …

A Multi-Carrier Collaborative Solution To Minimize Connectivity-Loss, Michael Wong

Master's Theses

Nearly two-thirds of Americans own a smart phone, and 19% of Americans rely on their smartphone for either accessing valuable information or staying connected with their friends and family across the globe [15]. Staying always-on and always-connected to the Internet is one of the most important and useful features of a smartphone. This connection is used by almost every single application on the device including web browsers, email clients, messaging applications, etc. Unfortunately, the cellular networks on our smartphones are not perfect and do not always have cellular signal. Our devices often lose Internet connection when users are on the …

Effects Of Bisphenol-A And Styrene On Fertilization And Development Of The Purple Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus), Nicole C. Uibel, Nikki L. Adams, Jennifer Carroll, Sean Lema

Master's Theses

Plastic waste and debris have greatly increased in the marine environment during the past 50 years. Not only do these plastics entangle and get ingested by marine mammals, turtles, and sea birds, but they also leach chemicals, such as bisphenol-A (BPA) and styrene into the aquatic environment. While some of these chemicals are known to be toxic, few studies have examined their effects on broadcast spawning marine invertebrates, specifically at environmentally relevant concentrations. Purple sea urchins, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, from the central coast of California, were utilized to examine effects of BPA and styrene on fertilization success and early development of …

Exploring Travel Time Reliability Using Bluetooth Data Collection: A Case Study In San Luis Obispo, California, Krista Purser

Master's Theses

Bluetooth technology applications have improved travel time data collection efforts and allowed for collection of large data sets at a low cost per data unit. Mean travel times between pairs of points are available, but the primary value of this technique is the availability of the entire distribution of travel times throughout multiple days and time periods, allowing for a greater understanding of travel time variations and reliability. The use of these data for transportation planning, engineering and operations continues to expand. Previous applications of similar data sources have included travel demand and simulation model validation, work zone traffic patterns, …

Removing Oil From Fried Foods Via Mechanical Process, Yufay Chow-Yee

Master's Theses

Fried foods are delicious and enjoyed by almost everyone. However, they are not the healthiest foods to eat because of the amount of oil they contain. This thesis, sponsored by Moaero Company founder, Mr. Harrish Bhutani, intends to determine whether a simply designed centrifuge system can remove a reasonable amount of oil from fried foods after it has been deep fried without adversely affecting the texture of the fried food. Due to a large variety in the texture as well as the type of fried foods, and in order to keep the scope of this thesis more focused and feasible, …

The Impact Of Cargo Bikes On The Travel Patterns Of Women, Jana E. Schwartz

Master's Theses

There are a number of issues preventing the rollout of cargo bikes as a transportation mode in the United States. One concern that has been raised is whether cargo bikes can function as a gender equitable transportation solution in the United States, given documented gender gaps in national bike riding statistics and ongoing inequities in childcare in 2-parent heterosexual households. The research is aimed at reviewing the practicality, enjoyment, and outcome of cargo bike use as a gender equitable transportation solution. This research contributes to new knowledge in gender equitable transportation in 2 ways — a) gender-focused analysis of survey …

Design Of Inexpensive And Easy To Use Diy Internet Of Things Platform, Samuel R. Jaffe

Master's Theses

This thesis focuses on the design and implementation of a new, inexpensive, and less complex system for a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Internet of Things (IoT) platform. The hardware aspects focus on a new chip called the ESP8266 which contains both microcontroller and WiFi connectivity capabilities in an extremely affordable package. The system uses the Arduino IDE to program the ESP8266, which is known to be an extremely user-friendly environment. All other software is both free and easy to use. Past methods of creating IoT projects involved either expensive hardware, often ranging from $50-$100 per node, or complicated programming requiring a full …

After The Paris Agreement: How India Can Use Climate Financing To Implement A Sustainable Clean Cookstove Program, Hannah Kornfeld

Master's Theses

The burning of biomass for cooking purposes without proper ventilation and filters poses a massive health and climate risk. Health implications from exposure to household air pollution from this type of fuel impacts women and children in many developing countries, who spend many hours a day cooking and gathering fuel. Climate implications from burning solid biomass results in increased carbon dioxide and black carbon emissions, which contribute to global climate change. This thesis aims to explore the issues associated with biomass cookstoves in terms of both health and climate, and seeks to understand how a new national clean cookstove program …

Mimica: A General Framework For Self-Learning Companion Ai Behavior, Travis Angevine

Master's Theses

Companion or support characters controlled by Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been a feature of video games for decades. Many Role Playing Games (RPGs) offer a cast of support characters in the player’s party that are AI-controlled to various degrees. Many First Person Shooter (FPS) games include semi-autonomous or fully autonomous AI-controlled companions. Real Time Strategy (RTS) games have traditionally featured large numbers of semi-autonomous characters that collectively help accomplish various tasks (build, attack, etc.) for the player. While RPGs tend to focus on a single or a small number of well-developed character companions to accompany a player controlled main character, …

The Influence Of Exclusive Breastfeeding On Growth Trajectory From Birth To Year 5 In A Wic Cohort, Lindsey Arevalos

Master's Theses

OBJECTIVE. The impact of exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) on child body mass index (BMI) from birth through 60 months of age was investigated.

METHODS. 60,190 mothers and children attending Women, Infant and Children (WIC) clinics in the Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties of California provided data on breastfeeding duration, maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, and child weight-for-length (WL) was measured at 3 month intervals until 5 years of age. Missing time points were interpolated in determining child BMI/WL z-score trajectories plotted on the Center of Disease Control (CDC) infant and child growth curves. Multivariate analysis of variance was used to contrast …

An Ergonomics Analysis Of Redundancy Effect In Touch Screen Design For The Aged Population, Sarah Riesenberg

Master's Theses

Touch screen technology is rapidly increasing, and at the same time there is a shifting, aging population. As the percentage of the population over the age of 65 increases, adults of the age group are adopting smartphones and tablets more now than ever before. Although older adults are adopting touch screen devices, they face many challenges when interacting with said devices, such as not knowing how to navigate between pages, not knowing where to click for an action to occur, and the touch screen interface is often too sensitive or the buttons are not big enough. Furthermore, the challenges of …

Does Grid Alternatives Impact Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Targets In Central Coast Climate Action Plans?, Sandra V. Knapp

Master's Theses

As of March 2016, GRID Alternatives’ 179 solar electric system installations on low-income housing contributed 103 metric tons of carbon (MT CO₂e) emissions reduction for the climate action plans’ Energy or Renewable Energy climate action measures that pertain to solar electric installations in the cities of: Arroyo Grande, Atascadero, Paso Robles, and San Luis Obispo and San Luis Obispo County.

In 2007, the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) created a team of government agencies to design climate action plans (CAP) that met the emission reduction goals set out by AB 32 and the …

Hall Effect Modeling In Fem Simulators And Comparison To Experimental Results In Silicon And Printed Sensors, Leonardo A. Frem

Master's Theses

Finite element method simulation models for thin-film semiconductor-based Hall sensors were developed using secondary data in order to understand their behavior under strong magnetic fields. Given a device geometry and charge carrier density and mobility, the models accurately calculated sensor resistance, Hall voltage under a normally-incident constant magnetic field, and expected offset from a population of Hall devices. The model was successfully matched against data from integrated chip Hall sensors from St. Jude Medical. Additionally, the feasibility of creating Hall effect devices with common carbon ink was explored experimentally. The material properties obtained from testing these ink-based devices through the …

Assessment Of Micronutrient Status In Pregnant Malawian Women Before And After Treatment For Moderate Malnutrition, Cambria M. Glosz

Master's Theses

Background: Multiple micronutrient deficiencies are prevalent in pregnant women in developing countries and can result in adverse effects to both the mother and infant. Multiple micronutrient supplements or supplementary foods may be a way to combat micronutrient deficiencies.

Objective: To assess change in micronutrient and protein levels in moderately malnourished pregnant Malawian women after receiving one of three nutritional interventions.

Methods: Serum retinol, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, ferritin, vitamin B₁₂, folate, zinc, albumin and C-reactive protein concentrations were measured in pregnant women with MUAC >20.6 cm and

Results: Baseline micronutrient concentrations indicated high rates of deficiency …

Benefits Of Advanced Traffic Management Solutions: Before And After Crash Analysis For Deployment Of A Variable Advisory Speed Limit System, Alexander Lindsay Chambers

Master's Theses

Variable speed limit (VSL) systems are important active traffic management tools that are being deployed across the U.S. and indeed around the world for relieving congestion and improving safety. Oregon’s first variable advisory speed limit signs were activated along Oregon Highway 217 in the summer of 2014. The variable advisory speed system is responsive to both congestion and weather conditions. This seven-mile corridor stretches around Western Portland and has suffered from high crash rates and peak period congestion in the past. VSL systems are often deployed to address safety, mobility and sustainability related performance. This research seeks to determine whether …

Variation In Adrenal And Thyroid Hormones With Life-History Stage In Juvenile Northern Elephant Seals (Mirounga Angustirostris), Jennifer Jelincic

Master's Theses

Interpretation of stress responses in wildlife is inadequate due to the range of natural variation and potential confounds of individual and life-history variables. In marine mammals, endocrine response data are sparse and variable across species. Blood adrenal and thyroid hormones were measured in 144 chemically immobilized yearling elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Reserve to characterize variation between sexes and across semiannual haul-outs. There was no relationship between hormone concentration and time needed for collecting blood or diel pattern, suggesting that concentrations represented baseline values. Serum cortisol concentrations did not vary with gender or across fasts but increased dramatically during …

Intercolony Comparison Of Diets Of Western Gulls In Central California, Anne L. Cassell

Master's Theses

As human populations expand, they force free-ranging animals to adapt to an increasingly urban environment, resulting in changes in diets, reproductive success, and mortality. The diets of two western gull (Larus occidentalis) breeding populations in central California were compared. One colony, Año Nuevo Island (ANI), is 1 km from shore and within 30 km of a municipal landfill. The other colony, Southeast Farallon Island (SEFI), is located 45 km off the shore of San Francisco, CA. Given the proximity of ANI to the shore and the landfill, I predicted that gulls from ANI would have more garbage in their diets. …

A Qualitative Investigation Of Usa Weightlifting Facebook Follower Engagement During A World Event, Dora Gyulai

Master's Theses

The current case study explored USA Weightlifting’s Facebook use during a world event. Research questions were developed to guide a study through which the author investigated how USA Weightlifting utilized Facebook for advertising purposes, to encourage fan engagement, and to encourage brand community amongst customers interested in weightlifting at the international level. I used qualitative content analysis and collected data from the organization’s Facebook page, utilizing the Facebook Insights tool. By examining Facebook posts by type (photo, video, link) and engagement (likes, shares, comments), I developed a hierarchical categorization of the types of Facebook actions taken by USA Weightlifting. Based …

Traditional Agricultural Practices And Sex Ratios At Birth In Modern Times, Patrick Krause

Master's Theses

This study examines the impact of cultural gender norms created by differences in traditional agricultural practices on observed sex ratios at birth over last four decades. Building on the plough hypothesis developed by Ester Boserup and the work of Alesina et al. (2013), this study provides a further empirical test of the legacy of the plough. I perform empirical analysis on micro level data from the Demographic and Health Survey in over 75 countries to develop a number of stylized facts on this relationship. Descendants of plough societies exhibit a more male skewed sex ratio at birth today. These descendants …

Testing Ostrom: An Analysis Of Water User Committees In Uganda, Emily Mcpartlon

Master's Theses

In 2009 Elinor Ostrom received the Nobel Prize for her analysis of economic governance of the commons. Specifically, by challenging the conventional wisdom at the time, demonstrating how communities can successfully manage the common resources without any regulation by central authorities or privatization. Ostrom proposed eight design principles that identify the underlying criterion of institutions that have successfully maintained CPRs over time. I examine whether Ostrom’s Eight Design Principles affect the long-run functionality of borehole wells in Uganda using quantitative methods. I find that the one of the principles, clearly defined boundaries, is significant in all four estimations, and remains …

Air Pollution And Fetal Loss In The Global Tropics, Shuqiao Cheng

Master's Theses

Abstract: Recent work has shown that in-utero air pollution has negative effects on both contemporaneous birth outcomes and long-term human capital outcomes. However, only a few studies explore the effects of in-utero exposure to air pollution on fetal loss, and none of the studies has been done in developing countries. In this study, we examine the impact of naturally caused CO and PM 2.5 on reproductive outcomes in 40 developing countries from 1997 to 2009. We present childbirths and birth gender as measures for potential fetal losses. The richest model identified using variation in pollution between pregnancies with controlling for …

The Effect Of Financial Sector Development On Fdi Led Growth In China, John Costigan

Master's Theses

Abstract: Over the past several decades developing countries have attracted and relied on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to supply their economies with the investment needed to maintain high economic growth and development. In their pursuit of FDI, many developing countries have passed policies and regulations aimed at attracting inward FDI. Because of the high growth rates and high returns on investment in many of these economies they have experience a large increase in FDI inflow over the past few decades. As these economies have grown and investment has increased, the financial services sector in the developing world has grown to …