Digital Commons Network^™

Finding Identity Through Survival: The Impact Of The Hurricanes In Zora Neale Hurston’S Their Eyes Were Watching God And Jesmyn Ward’S Salvage The Bones, Crystal F. Giles

Master's Theses

This paper attempts to convey the importance of the hurricane symbol in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Jesmyn Ward’s Salvage the Bones. In both novels, the authors use the imagery of setting combined with the characterization of poor women of color in order to emphasize both the effects of environmental disaster on vulnerable communities and also the inherent power of their protagonists to overcome systemic racism combined with natural disaster. The climax of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel revolves around the deadly 1928 Okeechobee Hurricane in Florida, and the rising action of Jesmyn Ward’s novel peaks …

Non-Religious Employee's Perceptions Of Microaggressions And Their Relationship With Job Satisfaction As Moderated By Calling, Jessica Schultz

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between microaggressions, person-organization fit (P-O fit), job satisfaction, and calling in non-religious individuals. Established research demonstrates that job satisfaction is predicted by P-O fit (Dawis, 2005). Research with minority groups has found that microaggressions are negatively related to P-O fit and job satisfaction (Lyons, Velez, Mehta, & Neil, 2014). However, research has yet to examine these interactions with a non-religious population. Previous investigations have found that calling is positively correlated with both P-O fit and job satisfaction (Duffy & Dik, 2013; Duffy, Allan, & Dik, 2011; Hirschi, 2012), suggesting the …

Effects Of Perceived Poverty And Chaotic Living Conditions On Externalizing Problems In At-Risk Adolescents, Margaret Bullerjahn

Master's Theses

Adolescent externalizing behaviors have consistently been related to both poverty and family dysfunction within the psychological literature; however, the distinction between the effects of objective poverty and perceived poverty on adolescent behavior is relatively new. The current study aimed at understanding the relationship between adolescents’ perceived poverty and their engagement in externalizing behaviors. The sample for this study is 194 at-risk youths in a military-style residential program. Participants completed a series of questionnaires addressing perceptions of their family’s financial status, family chaos, the number of daily routines practiced within their home, and history of externalizing behaviors. Additionally, information about participants’ …

Exploring The Relationships Between Mothers' Use Of Food To Soothe, Feeding Type And Mode, Maternal Feeding Style, Infant Behavior, And Infant Weight-Related Outcomes During Early Infancy, Megan K. Hupp

Master's Theses

Rapid infant weight gain (RWG) in the first six months postpartum is a strong predictor for obesity during childhood and adolescence. Although biological factors can influence infant weight gain trajectories, the modifiable factor of parent feeding practices can also have an influence. The use of food to soothe (FTS), or the act of feeding a child when he/she is upset for reasons other than hunger, has been associated with unhealthy eating behaviors and less-favorable weight outcomes in children and older infants. However, limited studies have explored the use of FTS during early infancy before the introduction of solids foods. The …

Assessing Undergraduate Sustainability Knowledge At California Polytechnic State University, Elysa C. M. Briens

Master's Theses

Sustainability education has become an important focus of many higher education institutions (HEIs), with the inclusion of many sustainability-related learning objectives for undergraduate students. As sustainability is a new, rising discipline, an increasing number of HEIs have made efforts to assess their teaching and learning effectiveness. However, most assessments fall short in determining the relationship between sustainability curriculum and the impacts on leaning outcomes. Therefore, this study aims to assess the impact of academic setting, specifically of a structured sustainability curriculum, on undergraduate sustainability knowledge, as well as analyze the implications of perceived barriers and opportunities to implementing sustainability into …

Antibacterial Coatings Derived From Novel Chemically Responsive Vesicles, Emily B. Mobley

Master's Theses

In order for a drug, or any material used for the purpose of eliciting a change in an organisms’ physical or chemical state, to be effective it must reach the intended target intact and for a sustained rate over time. Drug delivery systems encapsulate a drug to protect it from degradation, prevent side reactions, increase solubility, improve accumulation rates at target sites, and release drugs at a controlled rate. Controlled and sustained release of drugs is achieved by degradation of the carrier triggered by breaking dynamic chemical bonds caused by changes in the chemical environment such as pH or redox …

State-Level Fiscal Policy And Economic Growth: Assessing Recovery From The 2007 Recession, Nathan Barron

Master's Theses

This research examines state-level fiscal policy responses to the 2007 recession, with a particular focus on the short- and long-run effectiveness of government spending at achieving economic growth. Using OLS regression models to test the impact of government spending, institutional constraints, and economic policy climates on economic growth, this research shows that government spending has a positive impact on growth that decreases into a negative impact over time. Additionally, institutional constraints are consistently found to hinder growth while the effects of policy climate are mixed.

Marketing To The New Generations Of Lgbtq+ Tourists, George Smith

Master's Theses

As social acceptance for LGBTQ+ people grows, it is essential to research and understand more about tourism and its important role in the lives of LGBTQ+ populations. There are tourism communities around the country that may not be familiar with this market segment and are not sure where to start. This can leave the LGBTQ+ market segment under-represented in the tourism industry. This research sets out to answer the question, “Can tourism communities who wish to expand to newer generations of LGBTQ+ travelers market to them successfully?” Mixed research methods include an exploration of city tourism websites, interviews with tourism …

Interrelationships Among Monorchiid Trematodes With Special Emphasis On Some Northwestern Atlantic Genera, Apryle Panyi

Master's Theses

The Monorchiidae Odhner, 1911 is a cosmopolitan family of flukes (Trematoda: Digenea) comprising species that parasitize the digestive tract of estuarine and marine fishes as adults. Compared with other oceans, recent morphological or molecular taxonomic work conducted on monorchiid species from the northwestern Atlantic Ocean has been sparse (Manter, 1931; Overstreet, 1969; Andres et al., 2018; Wee et al., 2018, 2019, 2020). Therefore, the present work investigated the interrelationships of some monorchiids from the northwestern Atlantic Ocean with emphasis on several genera and investigated if Lasiotocus minutus (Manter, 1931) Thomas, 1959 constitutes a complex of cryptic species. New morphological and …

Freshwater Endmembers Impacting Carbonate Chemistry In The Mississippi Sound, Allison Savoie

Master's Theses

Coastal ecosystems are highly dynamic areas for carbon cycling and are likely to be negatively impacted by increasing ocean acidification. This research focused on dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and total alkalinity (TA) in the Mississippi Sound in order to understand the influence of local rivers that supply alkalinity to the area and buffer against ocean acidification. This area receives large fluxes of freshwater from local rivers, in addition to episodic inputs from the Mississippi River through a human-built diversion, the Bonnet Carré Spillway. Sites in the Mississippi Sound were sampled monthly during August 2018 to November 2019 and at weekly …

The Role Of Potential For Interaction In Parasocial Relationships, Aaron Bermond

Master's Theses

Previous research suggests that individuals can develop parasocial relationships, or strong emotional attachments to figures in the media. While these relationships typically only involve a one-way exchange of information (target to viewer), viewers still receive many positive benefits that are typical of friendships and other interpersonal bonds. The current literature on parasocial relationships provides detailed information on why they are formed, who forms them, and why they are useful, yet no research has investigated whether the potential for interaction between a media figure and a viewer moderates their psychological effects. We proposed that the most beneficial types of parasocial relationships …

Do Mosquito Pesticides Harm Their Natural Enemies? Ecological Impacts And Non-Target Effects Of Larvicides On Mosquito Predators, Joseph Nelsen

Master's Theses

Larvicides are chemicals used to kill juvenile mosquitoes. When applied to an area, other aquatic organisms are exposed to these chemicals. The removal or impairment of top insect predators could be beneficial to mosquito populations once harmful pesticide levels dissipate. Two common larvicides were examined: growth regulators (IGRs) and surface films (SFs). The goal of this project was to determine if larvicides harm mosquito predators common to southern Mississippi. I surveyed aquatic sites before and after IGR and SF treatments, and then compared changes in insect community structure. Community evenness was lower in SF treated habitats. When analyzing prey taxa …

Effects Of Various Decontamination Protocols On The Surface Microbial Load Of Conventional And 3d Printed Surgical Guides For Dental Implants, David Remiszewski

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Interprofessional Collaboration For Oral Health Education And Screening Of Children With Special Health Care Needs, Lamia Habib

Master's Theses

In 2016, National Survey of Children’s Health conducted by the U.S. Department (HRSA MCHB) identified 18.8% of children aged 0-17 years old with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN). Of these children, 83.4% are not receiving adequate healthcare. It has been well established that oral health is an integral part of the child’s general health. Medical primary care physicians may play an important role in improving oral health outcomes through oral screening, referral, oral health education and promotion. CSHCN may be at an increased risk for oral health problems throughout their life which may negatively impact their quality of life and …

Assessment Of The Effects Of Malaria And Anemia In Pregnant Malawian Women Before And After Treatment Of Moderate Malnutrition, William Shipley

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Assessment of the Effects of Malaria and Anemia in Pregnant Malawian Women Before and After Treatment of Moderate Malnutrition

William Shipley

Background: Moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) can lead to adverse maternal and infant outcomes and possibly further complications. Supplementary foods or treatments with high quality nutrients should be administered to those with MAM in hopes to increase the chance of healthy maternal and infant outcomes. Sometimes supplementary food is not enough to overcome MAM and disease may play a role, particularly in pregnant malnourished women.

Objective: To determine if the effects of malaria and anemia moderated the effect of …

An Application Of The Unscented Kalman Filter For Spacecraft Attitude Estimation On Real And Simulated Light Curve Data, Kent A. Rush

Master's Theses

In the past, analyses of lightcurve data have been applied to asteroids in order to determine their axis of rotation, rotation rate and other parameters. In recent decades, these analyses have begun to be applied in the domain of Earth orbiting spacecraft. Due to the complex geometry of spacecraft and the wide variety of parameters that can influence the way in which they reflect light, these analyses require more complex assumptions and a greater knowledge about the object being studied. Previous investigations have shown success in extracting attitude parameters from unresolved spacecraft using simulated data. This paper presents a focused …

Limitations Of Initial Orbit Determination Methods For Low Earth Orbit Cubesats With Short Arc Orbital Passes, James P. Johnson

Master's Theses

This thesis will focus on the performance of angles only initial orbit determi- nation (IOD) methods on observational data of low Earth orbit (LEO) CubeSats. Using data obtained by Lockheed Martin’s Space Object Tracking (SpOT) facil- ity, four methods: Gauss, Double-R, Gooding and Assumed Circular, will use different amounts of orbital arc to determine which methods perform the best in the short arc regime of less than 10 degrees of orbital arc. Once the best method for estimating the orbit is determined, there will be analysis on whether these IOD methods are accurate enough to predict a secondary observation session. …

Development And Optimization Of Imaging And Image Quantification Techniques For Tissue-Engineered Blood Vessel Mimics, Ashley Turcott

Master's Theses

Blood vessels mimics (BVMs) are tissue-engineered blood vessels used to test vascular devices in an environment that mimics some simple anatomical factors of native blood vessels. It is important to accurately and consistently assess tissue-engineered blood vessels, although there is currently a lack of standardization in Cal Poly’s Tissue Engineering Lab and in the entirety of the field. The goal of this thesis was to develop and optimize imaging and image quantification techniques for tissue-engineered blood vessels.

The first aim of this thesis optimized and compared imaging and assessment techniques for electrospun scaffolds. Images from different SEMs were compared to …

Identification Of Users Via Ssh Timing Attack, Thomas J. Flucke

Master's Theses

Secure Shell, a tool to securely access and run programs on a remote machine, is an important tool for both system administrators and developers alike. The technology landscape is becoming increasingly distributed and reliant on tools such as Secure Shell to protect information as a user works on a system remotely. While Secure Shell accounts for the abuses the security of older tools such as telnet overlook, it still has fundamental vulnerabilities which leak information about both the user and their activities through timing attacks. The OpenSSH client, the implementation included in all Linux, Mac, and Windows computers, sends each …

Retrospective Evaluation Of The Survival Rate Of Buccal Mini-Implants And The Factors Associated With Their Survival, Ledjo Palo

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the success rate of common mini-implants used on the buccal side of both the maxilla and mandible for orthodontic purposes. All orthodontic mini-implants placed at the University of Connecticut residency from July of 2013 till April of 2020 by various residents and faculty. The location and outcome of the implant was measured as success if the implant was stable or if it failed.

Materials and Methods: Records of all mini-implants placed on the buccal aspect of both maxilla and mandible of patients receiving orthodontic treatment at the University of Connecticut …

Comparing The Outcomes Of Closed Vs. Open Surgical Exposure Of Palatally Impacted Canines: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial, Sina Banankhah

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Data Acquisition, Analysis, And Modeling Of Rotordynamic Systems, Michael P. Mullen

Master's Theses

Data acquisition systems for rotordynamic analysis and machine vibration were explored for the purpose of replacing the obsolete Bently Nevada ADRE 208 and ADRE for Windows system. These included the development of Matlab based custom data acquisition systems and a user interface. A model of an anisotropic rotor response undergoing transient speed was developed for the rapid prototyping and testing of data acquisition systems. Several methods for the measurement of amplitudes and phase in both the time domain and frequency domain were developed and compared. An alternate data acquisition method which is more inline with industry practices was created for …

Dynamic Analysis And Seismic Retrofit Of The Point Sur Lighthouse, Nicholas M. Dekker

Master's Theses

The Point Sur Lighthouse is an unreinforced stone masonry building completed in 1889 on the central coast of California. The lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is still an active aid to navigation. The original first-order Fresnel lens was removed from the lantern room and placed in safekeeping due to its high risk of damage in the event of a strong earthquake. The lens has been approved to return to its original setting but the seismic performance of the building must first be assessed in order to ensure the safety of the lens and lighthouse, …

Towards Security And Privacy In Networked Medical Devices And Electronic Healthcare Systems, Isabel Jellen

Master's Theses

E-health is a growing eld which utilizes wireless sensor networks to enable access to effective and efficient healthcare services and provide patient monitoring to enable early detection and treatment of health conditions. Due to the proliferation of e-health systems, security and privacy have become critical issues in preventing data falsification, unauthorized access to the system, or eavesdropping on sensitive health data. Furthermore, due to the intrinsic limitations of many wireless medical devices, including low power and limited computational resources, security and device performance can be difficult to balance. Therefore, many current networked medical devices operate without basic security services such …

Writing For Each Other: Dynamic Quest Generation Using In Session Player Behaviors In Mmorpg, Sean Christopher Mendonca

Master's Theses

Role-playing games (RPGs) rely on interesting and varied experiences to maintain player attention. These experiences are often provided through quests, which give players tasks that are used to advance stories or events unfolding in the game. Traditional quests in video games require very specific conditions to be met, and for participating members to advance them by carrying out pre-defined actions. These types of quests are generated with perfect knowledge of the game world and are able to force desired behaviors out of the relevant non-player characters (NPCs). This becomes a major issue in massive multiplayer online (MMO) when other players …

Initial Orbit Determination Error Analysis Of Low-Earth Orbit Rocket Body Debris And Feasibility Study For Debris Cataloguing From One Optical Facility, Kyle Stoker

Master's Theses

This paper is predicated on determining the effectiveness of angles-only initial orbit determination (IOD) methods when limited observational data is available for low-Earth orbit (LEO) rocket body debris. The analysis will be conducted with data obtained from Lockheed Martin Space’s Space Object Tracking (SpOT) facility, focusing on their observational data from 2018 that contains tracking of rocket body debris for less than one minute per overhead pass. After the IOD accuracies are better understood, a feasibility study will follow that investigates the possibility of cataloguing LEO orbital debris from a single optical observation facility with similar observational capabilities as that …

A Floristic Study Of The Cal Poly Swanton Pacific Ranch And A New Combination In Sanicula Crassicaulis (Apiaceae), Sanicula Crassicaulis Var. Nudicaulis, Reed J. Kenny

Master's Theses

Globally we are experiencing a biodiversity crisis and potentially a sixth mass extinction event. Plant specimens are one of the best, most concrete records of biodiversity that we can create. Despite this, the rate of plant collecting has declined steeply since World War II. Now more than ever, plant collections are vital, both for the purpose of quantifying the plant biodiversity in an area and for discovering previously unrecognized diversity.

In Chapter 1, we conducted a floristic survey of the Cal Poly Swanton Pacific Ranch. The Swanton Pacific Ranch (SPR) is located north of the small town of Davenport California, …

Attacking Computer Vision Models Using Occlusion Analysis To Create Physically Robust Adversarial Images, Jacobsen Loh

Master's Theses

Self-driving cars rely on their sense of sight to function effectively in chaotic and uncontrolled environments. Thanks to recent developments in computer vision, specifically convolutional neural networks, autonomous vehicles have developed the ability to see at or above human-level capabilities, which in turn has allowed for rapid advances in self-driving cars. Unfortunately, much like humans being confused by simple optical illusions, convolutional neural networks are susceptible to simple adversarial inputs. As there is no overlap between the optical illusions that fool humans and the adversarial examples that threaten convolutional neural networks, little is understood as to why these adversarial examples …

Host Plant Resistance In Strawberries To Anthracnose And Colonization Of Crown And Root Tissue By Verticillium Dahliae And Macrophomina Phaseolina, Omar A. Gonzalez-Benitez

Master's Theses

Strawberries are considered an important crop in California where in 2018 it was in the top 5 valued fruit and vegetable commodities valued at $2.84 billion accounting for 88% of the total U.S. production. Strawberry production can be severely impacted by soilborne pathogens that can affect strawberry roots, crowns and leaves which can result in plant mortality. As much as 50 to 60% mortality can occur in one field. Pathogens responsible for such losses include Colletotrichum acutatum (syn.C. nymphaeae), Macrophomina phaseolina and Verticillium dahliae. With the phaseout of methyl bromide, host resistance and an understanding of host-pathogen interactions …

The Strawberry Rhizosphere Microbiome: Role On Plant Health And Nutrition, Eric Michael Boyd

Master's Theses

Microbial-root associations are important to help plants cope with abiotic and biotic stressors. Managing these interactions offers an opportunity for improving the efficiency and sustainability of agricultural production. By characterizing the bacterial and archaeal community (via 16S rRNA sequencing) associated with the bulk and rhizosphere soil of sixteen strawberry cultivars in two controlled field studies, we explored the relationships between the soil microbiome and plant resistance to two soilborne fungal pathogens of strawberry (Verticillium dahliae and Macrophomina phaseolina). Overall, the plants had a distinctive rhizosphere microbiome relative to the bulk soil, with higher abundances of known beneficial bacteria …