Digital Commons Network^™

Non State Sovereignty: A Case Of The European Union, Natalie Murphy

Master's Theses

This paper uses the European Union as a case study to look at sovereignty and the formation of a new type of sovereignty which both diverges and interacts with existing state sovereignty. The European Union is developing a new form of non-state sovereignty which diverges from traditional conceptions in three ways: The EU is a non-state actor; unlike in the past, a body is operating with and exercising sovereign rights outside of the nation-state formation. Secondly, the sovereignty of both the European Union and its member states overlaps. Both maintain exclusive responsibilities often tied to the state, but with the …

The Avenues Of Social And Economic Empowerment For Women In Ghana's Poor Urban Settlements, Comfort Amoah

Master's Theses

Poor urban settlements have over the years and in the present been described as places of despair and destitution with its inhabitants especially women referred to as the most poor and vulnerable of the society. This research however attempts to provide a complete elevation of the Avenues of Social and Economic Empowerment for Women in Ghana’s Poor Urban Settlements by using three contextual framework such as the social networks available to women and the political opportunities available to them in their communities and the role of men and women in achieving this agenda and how it has reshaped the status …

Engineering Yeast To Evaluate Human Proteins Involved In Selective Rna Packaging During Hiv Particle Production, Ryan M. Bitter

Master's Theses

Despite recent advances in antiretroviral therapy, nearly 37 million people continue to live with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Basic and applied research on the assembly of HIV could be enhanced by using a genetically tractable organism, such as yeast, rather than mammalian cells. While previous studies showed that expression of the HIV Gag polyprotein in Saccharomyces cerevisiae spheroplasts resulted in the production of virus-like particles (VLPs), many questions regarding the utility of yeast in HIV assembly remain uninvestigated. Here, we report use of S. cerevisiae for both the production of VLPs with selectively packaged RNA and to evaluate the human …

Application Of Data Analytics For Prediction Of Suicide Rates At The State And National Levels, Derek Benson

Master's Theses

The increasing suicide rate in the United States has amplified the need to assure that regions with high suicide risk receive adequate funding for programs and related resources for prevention methods. The way in which organizations dedicated to preventing suicides distribute funding could be improved with the development of predictive models for suicide rates. In this study, a multiple linear regression model at a national level was developed to identify relevant factors associated with suicide. The national level model was developed in two phases; the first using response variable data and explanatory variable data from the same time period, and …

Presence Of Antibiotic Resistant Salmonella Spp. In Backyard Poultry And Their Environment, Nicole Land

Master's Theses

As keeping backyard poultry rises, human contact with zoonotic pathogens will increase. One such pathogen that backyard enthusiasts have exposure risks to is Salmonella spp. which may cause a potential public health threat due to its increasing multidrug resistancy. Salmonella spp. were present in 33 of 50 samples collected from 29 sites with backyard poultry coops in San Luis Obispo County during March to May in 2014. Two different Hardy-CHROME™ Salmonella Selective Media plates were used to culture and isolate positive samples of Salmonella spp.. Each positive isolate was tested for antimicrobial sensitivity to 6 standard antibiotics: Ampicillin, Bacitracin, …

Using Offline Activities To Enhance Online Cybersecurity Education, Sarah Padlipsky

Master's Theses

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the United States has experienced the impact of a technological revolution. One effect of this technological revolution is the creation of entirely new careers related to the field of technology, including cybersecurity. Continued growth in the cybersecurity industry means a greater number of jobs will be created, adding to the existing number of jobs that are challenging an under-educated and under-trained workforce. The goal of this thesis is to increase the effectiveness of cybersecurity education. This thesis studies whether an online course in cybersecurity can be enhanced by offline, in-person activities that mirror …

Progressing Flight: A Transformative And Somatically-Informed Performance Practice For The Aerial Dance Student Practitioner, Rosalinda Rojas

Master's Theses

Somatic based methods is an emerging area of interest within the subject area of dance study and more recent in aerial movement practice. Somatic movement experiences have inherent, distinctive and transformative characteristics to deepen understanding and knowledge of the concept of soma. This thesis investigates how somatic based exercises might influence physical strength, endurance, body awareness and sensitivity in an original research design. The study incorporates Progressing Ballet Technique or traditional based aerial circus methods with an aim to answer three essential questions. How might the use of somatic based or traditional aerial movement methods improve students’ muscular strength and …

Improving Student Skills Through Video-Guided Assessments In The Dance Classroom, Kate Elizabeth Secor

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to improve novice dance students’ technique and skill level through the use of video-guided summative assessments in the public high school classroom. The assessments and associated classroom activities examine how the use of video cameras can enhance movement instruction and promote the advancement of student skills if implemented in a meaningful way. The research was conducted in one semester with an introductory level dance class where nineteen student participants filmed themselves performing ballet exercises at the beginning and end of the semester. Participants and researcher assessed these videos using specific movement-based rubrics that measured …

An Investigation Of Enzymes Capable Of Activating Cannabinoid Prodrugs, Brittney J. Morgan

Master's Theses

The plant Cannabis sativa contains a class of terpenophenols called cannabinoids which, in their active form, have been shown to have antiproliferative, anti-metastatic, anti-angiogenic, and pro-apoptotic effects on several types of cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. Cannabinoids have been shown to not exert this apoptotic activity in healthy cells and they do not elicit the usual side effects seen with conventional chemotherapies. However, naturally occurring prodrugs from Cannabis must first be converted into the active form to induce the apoptotic and other physiological activities. Although humans do not possess the enzyme(s) necessary for this conversion, several different …

Teaching Musical Theatre Skills In The Performance-Based Classroom: James And The Giant Peach, Kelsey Alys Meiklejohn

Master's Theses

The popularity of musical theatre in America is driving more students to seek out performance opportunities while theatre classrooms are facing dwindling attendance rates. The goal of this thesis is to determine whether it is possible to employ the mounting of a full-scale musical production of James and the Giant Peach in a classroom setting to motivate student growth in acting, singing, and dance due to the product-oriented environment. The complex material in the script and score of James and the Giant Peach was adequately challenging to necessitate and promote significant student growth as musical theatre performers. Through working on …

The Boys Next Door: Progressing Disability Awareness And Representation Through Inclusive Production Practices, Shelby Lewis

Master's Theses

The Boys Next Door was a progressive and popular piece of theatre when first produced in 1986 and remains a ripe tool for spreading disability consciousness if mounted with research and respect. Playwright, Tom Griffin, chronicles a series of amusing and meaningful events in the lives of four men with varying levels of cognitive impairments told through the lens of Jack Palmer, their able-bodied supervisor. The goal of this thesis production was to illuminate the opportunities, challenges, and considerations required to produce this play with a message that is progressive to the goals of the disability community rather than detrimental. …

Improving Ultra-Wideband Localization By Detecting Radio Misclassification, Cory A. Mayer

Master's Theses

The Global Positioning System (GPS) and other satellite-based positioning systems are often a key component in applications requiring localization. However, accurate positioning in areas with poor GPS coverage, such as inside buildings and in dense cities, is in increasing demand for many modern applications. Fortunately, recent developments in ultra-wideband (UWB) radio technology have enabled precise positioning in places where it was not previously possible by utilizing multipath-resistant wide band pulses.

Although ultra-wideband signals are less prone to multipath interference, it is still a bottleneck as increasingly ambitious projects continue to demand higher precision. Some UWB radios include on-board detection of …

Art As Invitation: The Effects Of Including Art Education In The Curriculum Of A Preschool Classroom Of Refugee Students, Nancy Heckmann Erekson

Master's Theses

This study is about how art constitutes an invitation for marginalized people. Refugees are the uninvited, and often remain on the periphery of host communities. This research examines how artmaking acts as an invitation for refugee preschool students and their families to connect with the broader community. I approached data collection through the method of educational connoisseurship and educational criticism and the theory of relational aesthetics. I analyzed data from observations conducted in a refugee preschool classroom and from interviews with six families. Further, I analyzed observations and surveys from a public exhibit of children’s art. These sources provided data …

Discovering Countries And Their Cultures Through Movement: Fifth-Grade Students Developing Awareness And Empathy Toward Each Other, Rebecca S. Epstein

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate and answer the following essential questions: 1) What are students’ responses to use of movement and dance to teach multi-cultural lesson content? 2) What movement and dance-based methods can be used to help fifth-grade students develop empathy towards classmates from different cultures and countries from around the world? 3) Which movement and dance-based lessons seemed to be most effective to develop student empathy for other students from a different culture and country? One goal of the study was to help students become more empathetic toward one another through movement. There were twenty-four …

Dancing The Diaspora: Discovering The Influence Of Traditional And Tribal African Dance In The History Of African-American Social And Concert Dance In The Caribbean And The United States, Kerri-Noelle Humphrey

Master's Theses

The primary goal of this research project was to identify the influence of traditional African dance on African diasporic dance in the Caribbean and the United States. The study demonstrated how movement connects people and gives them the opportunity to share common experiences, ideas, and traditions. This qualitative and quantitative study was designed to answer four essential questions. Q1 What is traditional African dance? Q2 What is Black (Africanist) dance? Q3 How the elements of dance (Time, Space, Energy) can be used to help students make comparisons between African tribal dance and a variety of Africanist dance genres? Q4 How …

Perceptions Of Technology In Dance Education: The Effect Of Technology On Student Learning And Teaching Strategies Of The Twenty-First Century Skills In Dance Education, Anna Kristine Gradwohl

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to assist educators in understanding the advantages and disadvantages of using technology in a dance classroom to teach the twenty-firstcentury- skills of creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration. This research evaluated perceptions of technology integration through the lens of fifty-four current dance educators with a goal of discovering the effects technology has on teaching strategies and student learning in a dance classroom. The research instrument used in this study was an electronic survey that included both quantitative and qualitative questions to analyze the data. The data suggested that current dance educators supported the use of …

Vitality Of Water/Vitalidad Del Agua: Our Sacred Connection To Water And How We Can Interpret The Importance Of Water Through Artistic Inquiry, Jenifer Fogarty

Master's Theses

Water has appeared in the work and study of artists for centuries. There are countless aspects of water to be explored, from the sheer physical qualities of water to the spiritual, political, and practical associations with water. Water is what gives us life, and yet the vitality of this precious resource has been threatened over time. This exploration highlights important aspects of the study of water through art-making. My exploration began in the studio while making my own work. I sought to create a multi-sensory environment where viewers could participate and be immersed in the work itself. The site-specific installation …

Postpartum Depression In The News Media, Lauren Michelle Mcdonald

Master's Theses

The current study analyzed the relationship between gender constructs and the construction of illness in the news media. Drawing on Entman’s (1993) framing analysis, the present study assessed if postpartum depression was constructed in the news media differently for men and women. Using LexisNexis, 153 news media articles were collected from major United States news sources between 1994-2016 using keywords such as, postpartum depression and paternal depression. The content analysis indicated that the definition of postpartum depression, the cause of the illness, the moral evaluations and the prescribed treatments were related to gender constructs. Overall, these findings enhance our understanding …

Rhetoric, Legislation, And The Felony Offender, Cyrus Taylor

Master's Theses

Rhetoric is arguably of more importance than the message that is being overtly conveyed. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand how rhetoric can be utilized to convey one message while simultaneously transmitting another distinct message (Walter 2017). In this study, discourse analysis was conducted by examining the rhetoric associated with the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act (VCCLE), through the use of legislative speeches and newspaper articles, to determine how language has effectively resulted in the relegation of felony offenders within a class-based society. Utilizing two theories, class structure theory and distributive justice theory, an understanding was …

The Song Style Of Antonio Carlos Jobim: An Analysis Of Four Songs, Rachel Rogers

Master's Theses

The songs of Antônio Carlos Jobim are a national treasure of Brazil, beloved around the world. Their beauty and subtle simplicity have enthralled audiences for the last 60 years, yet they often reveal some unusual construction. Following the lead of other Brazilian theorists, this study was commenced with the belief that applying rigorous theoretical analysis to bossa nova would show its qualityand enduring worth. Four songs were selected for analysis based on their importance in Jobim’s career and their centrality to the bossa nova genre, “Chega de Saudade,” “Corcovado,” “Insensatez,” and “Garota de Ipanema.” They are among the most recorded …

Pseudomonas/Brachypodium As A Model System For Studying Rhizosphere Plant Microbe Interactions Under Water Stress, Janiece Mcwilliams

Master's Theses

In contrast to well-studied mechanisms of drought tolerance in plants, the interactions between plants and their microbiome during water stress are still poorly understood. This missing knowledge is crucial for the exploitation of beneficial microbial communities to improve the sustainability of agriculture under changing climatic conditions. The research described here bridged this gap by focusing on the molecular interactions between beneficial rhizobacterium Pseudomonas synxantha 2-79 and annual grass Brachypodium distachyon Bd21. 2-79 exemplifies a group of rhizobacteria associated with dryland wheat, while B. distachyon originates from the Middle East and has emerged as a model for valuable biomass, food, forage, …

Molecular Dynamics Of P21 And Fluorescent Sphingomyelin In Keratinocytes Exposed To Uvb, Tyler Malcolm Fraser

Master's Theses

Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is the most common malignant tumor, representing more than a third of all malignant tumors combined and the incidence is increasing every year. Ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun is the most dominant factor contributing to tumor initiation and progression. The condition is most prevalent in populations with lighter skin and older age. Current pharmaceutical molecular research targets the inhibition of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR), a receptor which is commonly over-expressed or dysregulated in skin malignancies. This study evaluates the content and location of the damage marker p21 within keratinocytes that were incubated in …

Logging, Visualization, And Analysis Of Network And Power Data Of Iot Devices, Neal Huynh Nguyen

Master's Theses

There are approximately 23.14 billion IoT(Internet of Things) devices currently in use worldwide. This number is projected to grow to over 75 billion by 2025. Despite their ubiquity little is known about the security and privacy implications of IoT devices. Several large-scale attacks against IoT devices have already been recorded.

To help address this knowledge gap, we have collected a year’s worth of network traffic and power data from 16 common IoT devices. From this data, we show that we can identify different smart speakers, like the Echo Dot, from analyzing one minute of power data on a shared power …

Optimizing A Quantitative Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reactionprotocol For The Characterization Of Gene Expression In Blood Vesselmimics, Tristin Mcguffick

Master's Theses

Blood vessel mimics (BVMs) are tissue engineered blood vessels that are intended as an intermediate testing environment for intravascular devices, such as stents. Specifically, Cal Poly’s Tissue Engineering Lab hypothesizes that BVMs can be used to test endothelial cell and smooth muscle cell responses to existing and new vascular stents. Characterization techniques are required for BVMs to be accepted as a valid testing model, prior to being employed as an in vitro model to determine the effects of medical treatments. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is one available option for evaluating gene expression of tissues. qPCR can be performed …

Covering A Killer: A Content Analysis Of Newspaper Coverage Of White Male Mass Murderers In The U.S, Rhys Hall

Master's Theses

White men represent a disproportionate number of mass murderers via guns/bombings in the U.S. Though, there may be disparities in how often white masculinity is probed as a conflictual site of socialization when compared with other social racial and gender identities. Holding concern for how masculine violence is criminalized across racial lines, I conduct a review of racial typificiations of Black crime in newspapers to juxtapose with contemporary discourse of white masculine crime.

Using content analysis, I examine hundreds of newspaper publications released from 2011-2016 covering mass killers. I look for tendencies from paper writers to minimize sociological similarities between …

Prophecy For Sale: On American Rails, Erik Bryan White

Master's Theses

Prophecy for Sale: On American Rails follows the poetic tradition of Walt Whitman and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. This collection contains five numbered sections which show a progression of the human consciousness. Drawing on the works of Sylvia Plath, Weldon Kees, Jack Spicer, and others, the works in this collection exhibit a strong poetic American voice. Section “I: How Much Longer?” addresses class separation, racism, and inequality. Form mirrors content, confronting a world which seems bent on its own destruction. Section “II: The New Garden,” explores the human impact on nature in more detail and sets up solutions to the problems of …

(T)Witch Hunting: A Crusade Against Women And Femininity In The Digital Age, Marcus Garcia

Master's Theses

The digital world is an integral part of everyday life regarded as an extension of the self and the physical world. The advent of live video streaming services offers a more interactive form of social media than existing photo and video sharing platforms, like Facebook or Instagram. Twitch, a social video streaming service where people watch live broadcasts of video game play and other various forms of creative content, has contributed to the creation and growth of online communities where variations and similarities between online and offline self are made visible. Early research, specifically concerned with cyberbullying, identifies age, gender, …

Heat Transfer Interface To Graphitic Foam, Fang-Ming Lin

Master's Theses

The A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS (ATLAS) strip tracking detector is scheduled to be upgraded in 2025. The order of magnitude for the hit densities and the radiation damage are expected to increase. When radiation increases, the leakage current increases and the heat generated at the silicon trackers can lead to thermal runaway. Cooling is critical in these detectors.

In this study, a glassy graphitic foam was developed by AllComp Inc.~as a precursor to the adhesives (glues). Graphene\textsc{\char13}s highly anisotropic thermal properties result in high thermal conductivity in the planar direction, while it is low in the normal direction. In these …

Characterization Of Four Type-C Silica Columns Using Resveratrol Analogues, Joshua Topete

Master's Theses

High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is an analytical technique used to separate, identify and quantify components in a solution based on the affinities between analyte, mobile phase and stationary phase. The main goal of my research is to characterize four Type-C silica columns by comparing the retention of resveratrol analogues. The four columns included are functionalized with either Diamond Bidentate C18 (DBC18), Bidentate C18 (BC18), phenyl hydride or diol groups. Retention maps displaying mobile phase composition compared to compound retention times were compared between columns. In addition to this, two organic solvents (acetonitrile and methanol) were compared. Considering that the …

All Eyes On You: The Impact Of Increased Surveillance And Media Publicity On Police Identity, Sara Serpa Rodrigues

Master's Theses

The recent surge in media footage surrounding police killings of unarmed black men clearly signifies the national concern for police violence, yet researchers have yet to study police identity in connection with such publicized inequality. This qualitative study closes this gap in research by addressing the following questions: “How do patrolling officers think about and experience their jobs at this particular historical juncture of increased internet and media exposure?” and, “How does the mass exposure and scrutiny of police violence shape police perceptions of their work and impact their work identity?” Face to face semi-structured interviews, symbolic interactionism, and interpretive …