Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Prolonged Sitting On Central Hemodynamics: Role Of Intermittent Pneumatic Compression Therapy, Anna Kayleigh Downey

Master's Theses

Prolonged sitting (3-6 hours) negatively impacts peripheral vascular health. Whether sitting similarly impacts central cardiovascular hemodynamics and vascular stiffness is unknown. Purpose: Determine if prolonged sitting increases central blood pressure, aortic pulse wave reflection and vascular stiffness. Methods: In 10 subjects (Age=22±2 yrs, BMI=28±4kg/m², 3 females), brachial artery pulse wave analysis was performed before (baseline-BL), during, and after 3 hours of sitting. Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) was examined before and after sitting using carotid applanation tonometry coupled with oscillometry performed on left upper-thigh. For mechanistic insight, intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) was applied during sitting (i.e., 3, 120 …

1300 Years Of Snowpack Change For The Sangre De Cristo Mountian Range, Michael Thornton

Master's Theses

New Mexico is heavily dependent on hydrologic inputs along high elevation sites where much of the cool-season precipitation accumulates as snowpack in the lower Southern Rocky Mountains. Snowpack runoff from the Sangre de Cristo (SDC) range provides critical headwater resources for the two major rivers that run through New Mexico and by extension the greater population. Yet, over the past four decades snowpack data from high and mid-elevation sites exhibit a linear trend of declining snowpack in conjunction with earlier seasonal melting. Due to the importance of these cool-season inputs for the region, a decline in montane runoff availability is …

Protection Against Ungrounded Single Phase Open Circuit Faults In 3-Phase Distribution Transformers, Higinio Ariel Montoya

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the impacts and behavior of 3-phase distribution transformers when subject to ungrounded single phase open circuit faults. A simple 3-phase system is modeled using MATLAB Simulink and operation under fault conditions are simulated and studied. Simulation results are confirmed via lab experimentation. Finally, a robust detection and protection method using neutral current injection (as proposed in industry literature) is built and demonstrated.

Electric utility operating experience has demonstrated that all too often, loads on 3-phase distribution transformers are not adequately protected against an ungrounded single phase open circuit fault (commonly called “single phasing”). This type of fault …

T.S. Eliot, "The Waste Land", And Yoga Philosophy, Jessica Cloud

Master's Theses

While pursuing his graduate studies at Harvard, T.S. Eliot put a year into deep study of the Yoga Sutras with renowned scholar James Haughton Woods. Yoga, defined in the Sutras as the practice of stopping “the fluctuations of the mind-stuff” (Patañjali 8), provides the possibility of hope and equanimity in Eliot’s poem The Waste Land (1922), which depicts a world seemingly devoid of meaning. Not only can the influence of the Yoga Sutras be seen in the poetic form, style, and voice of The Waste Land and in the explanatory notes to the poem provided by Eliot, but classical yoga …

"There Was Something Grotesque": The Application And Limits Of Respectability In The Daughters Of Bilitis, Elizabeth Diane Greer

Master's Theses

Living in both the “deviant” and “normal” worlds, the leadership of The Daughters of Bilitis generally adhered to a respectable and assimilationist public persona as evidenced through political activities and the publication of their periodical The Ladder. Due to this juxtaposition, the largely middle-class, white membership exhibited socially conservative views in order to make long-term social change, leading to an inherent contradiction between maintaining their middle-class identity and public respectability. Seen from the organization’s founding in 1955 until its collapse in 1970, these contradictions and the focus on respectability politics adds to the existing scholarship on the DOB.

The …

Analysis Of The Upper Cotton Valley Group In The Northeastern Mississippi Interior Salt Basin, Theresa A. Woehnker

Master's Theses

The Mississippi Interior Salt Basin (MISB) is a major negative structural feature in the interior onshore northeastern Gulf of Mexico. The Cotton Valley Group is an Upper Jurassic – Lower Cretaceous subsurface siliciclastic unit that has been studied extensively in the MISB for the last several decades because of its high potential as a reservoir rock. This study focuses on the Shuler Formation in the Upper Cotton Valley, which consists of an upper Dorcheat Member, and a lower Shongaloo Member. The boundary between these units correspond to a transgressive-regressive sequence boundary, which marks the beginning of a rise in sea …

Evaluating The Effects Of An Independent Versus Interdependent Reinforcement Contingency On Teachers' Use Of Behavior Specific Praise, Ashleigh E. Eaves

Master's Theses

The present study sought to evaluate the effects of two reinforcement contingencies on the use of behavior specific praise in the classroom setting. An alternating treatments design was used to rapidly evaluate the effects of both an independent and interdependent paired contingency to increase frequency of behavior specific praise delivery. Four general education elementary school teachers and their students participated. Teachers’ use of behavior specific and general praise, as well as, behavior specific and general reprimands were evaluated during baseline and treatment phases. Data were also collected on students’ levels of academic and disruptive behaviors. Both the independent and interdependent …

From Dago To White: The Story Of Sicilian Ethnic Evolution In New Orleans Amidst The Yellow Fever Epidemic Of 1905, H. Denise Lopresto Saucier

Master's Theses

The story of the Sicilian immigrants’ experiences in Louisiana is a tale of racial and ethnic evolution in the face of physical threats. With the end of the Civil War, many emancipated slaves migrated to other parts of the country, which left Louisiana planters in need of laborers. Planters turned to European labor to fill that need, bringing thousands of Sicilian peasants to work on their plantations. Extreme poverty and oppression made the opportunity to emigrate highly attractive, but Sicilians found problems in Louisiana as well. In addition to low wages, crowded living conditions, discrimination, and violence, the immigrants faced …

Education In Post-Conflict Colombia, Juliana Cabrera Pena

Master's Theses

After 52 years of civil war, Colombia now enters a period of precarious peace. The Colombian government and the largest guerrilla group, the FARC, signed a monumental peace agreement which ushered a period of change in a country which has yet to have sustained peace. Utilizing the power of civil society and social services, the Colombian government has the authority to maintain peace. Education, with its stabilizing power, has the capability of cultivating a society of peace. Thus, this thesis explores the level of value and importance the Colombian government is placing on the expansion of quality education to …

Detection, Activity Measurement And Phylogeny Of Ureolytic Bacteria Isolated From Elasmobranch Tissue, Yimu Yang

Master's Theses

Free-ranging marine elasmobranch tissue-associated micro-organisms were cultured from free-ranging Atlantic stingray (Dasyatis sabina) and Atlantic sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae). 16S rRNA gene phylogeny indicated bacteria community structure in both elasmobranchs were under phylum Proteobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. By conducting split-plot ANOVA, we found the microbial richness is significantly different (P=0.0814) between two superorders of elasmobranch, which may largely due to their preferred habitats and feeding habits. Urease presentence and activity was detected in phylogenetically diverse bacterial strains. Species with high urea-hydrolyzing ability, such as Micrococcus luteus (shark blood isolate: 46.84 mU/mg protein; stingray blood isolate: 24.36 …

Unlonely: A Collection Of Short And Nonfiction, Mary Karnes

Master's Theses

The following work was produced by the author during her career at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Behavioral Skills Training To Teach Correct Heading Skills To Youth Soccer Players, Laura Quintero

Master's Theses

Recently, concerns regarding sport-related concussions have increased within the research literature, the media, and popular culture. It is unknown to what degree purposefully striking the ball with one’s head (i.e. heading) contributes to concussions within youth soccer. There is currently limited research on an effective teaching method to improve heading technique. Due to the numerous applications of Behavioral Skills Training (BST) to teach a wide variety of behaviors, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of BST to teach correct heading techniques to youth soccer players. A task analysis was produced to score each header. Results …

Evaluating Recruitment Seasonality Of Red Abalone (Haliotis Rufescens) To Inform Fisheries Management And Conservation Policy, Leslie Christine Hart

Master's Theses

Recruitment, the addition of new individuals to a population, must be understood to make predictions about population growth of marine invertebrates. Red abalone (Haliotis rufescens) represent a former important commercial fishery in California, and until recently, supported a major recreational fishery. However, there have been statewide declines since the 1960s due to overfishing, disease, and climatic factors. Thus, understanding population dynamics to inform management and population restoration is critical. Recruitment dynamics of red abalone are poorly understood, with no prior knowledge of seasonal trends. To address this knowledge gap, I assessed monthly (July 2016-June 2017) and annual (2012-2016) …

Mobile Security Education With Android Labs, Siavash Rezaie

Master's Theses

The recent consumer explosion of smartphones and tablets has led to the proliferation of sensitive data stored on mobile devices and the cloud. In 2015, it was reported that 16.2% of files uploaded to file sharing services contain sensitive data (Skyhigh Networks). With users having so much personal data on their devices and the cloud, security becomes an imperative subject. Unfortunately, security is often overlooked or implemented improperly in many commercial devices. Knowledge of security fundamentals is essential to ensure users maintain their privacy and security.

The work in this thesis designs and implements five labs for a potential undergraduate …

Characterization Of Botrytis Cinerea Resistance To Fungicides In California Strawberry Production, Scott D. Cosseboom

Master's Theses

Gray mold of strawberry, caused by Botrytis cinerea, is a very destructive pre- and post-harvest fruit rot. Outside of California, fungicide resistance in B. cinerea has been reported to every site-specific chemical class labeled for use against gray mold. One objective of this study was to characterize the resistance of 888 isolates of B. cinerea from California strawberry fields to ten active ingredients. Isolates were collected from the same planting block in 47 fields during the early-season (0 to 8 fungicide applications) and late-season (16 to 26 fungicide applications) of 2016. Sensitivity of each isolate was determined using the …

Predicting The Vote Using Legislative Speech, Aditya Budhwar

Master's Theses

As most dedicated observers of voting bodies like the U.S. Supreme Court can attest, it is possible to guess vote outcomes based on statements made during deliberations or questioning by the voting members. In most forms of representative democracy, citizens can actively petition or lobby their representatives, and that often means understanding their intentions to vote for or against an issue of interest. In some U.S. state legislators, professional lobby groups and dedicated press members are highly informed and engaged, but the process is basically closed to ordinary citizens because they do not have enough background and familiarity with the …

Showing Programmers That They Already Know How To Write Well, Alanna Buss

Master's Theses

Being able to communicate effectively through writing is an important skill for computer scientists and software engineers. In addition to being able to write code, programmers need to write clearly and concisely for everything from comments in their code to documentation. Despite writing being essential to their future careers, many programming students from Cal Poly find writing to be unimportant and many of them believe that they are not capable of writing good papers. How can Cal Poly help these students?

This paper describes a pedagogy to help students improve their writing skills. It is based heavily on the belief …

But I Need My Money Now: A Stratified Propensity Score Analysis Of The Effects Of Retirement Decisions Made During The Great Recession On Income Mobility, Zachary Kline

Master's Theses

The Great Recession and accompanying financial crisis that occurred between 2007 and 2009 presented a host of emergency expenses to Americans with historically low traditional savings while at the same time limiting their access to credit. The resulting increase in poverty and decrease in real median family income raises the question: What if more Americans had access to liquid, emergency funds? The United States’ retirement system increasingly relies on choice-based public policy programs that allow individuals to access their retirement funds by “cashing out” during financial hardship. Proponents of choice programs may expect individuals who cash out of their retirement …

An Overview Of Body Armor And Single Plate Impact Dynamics, Thomas Matzinger

Master's Theses

In the past, personal body armor was constructed of simple plates of high- strength alloys. However, with the advancement of modern combat and weaponry, particularly armor-piercing ammunition, personal body armor has evolved into more complex and effective metal, ceramic, and composite structures. This paper lays the groundwork for experimental and modeling methods used to understand the effectiveness of new armor designs. Focusing on the first layer of modern body armor, the ”High Impedance” layer. Experiments measuring the change in velocity of bullets passing through aluminum and titanium plates were conducted. These experiments were then replicated through FEA simulation.

Assessment Of Maternal And Infant Outcomes Of Moderately Malnourished Pregnant Adolescents In Malawi, Alyssa Marie Friebert

Master's Theses

Background: Adolescent childbearing and maternal malnutrition are common in low- and middle-income countries and are associated with increased risk for poor maternal and infant outcomes. Adolescent pregnancy compounded with moderate malnutrition exacerbates outcomes common to both individually. Supplementary foods may be a way to improve outcomes in malnourished adolescent pregnant women.

Objective: To retrospectively assess maternal and infant outcomes in moderately malnourished pregnant young adolescents (16-17 YO), older adolescents (18-19 YO), and adults (≥20 YO) in response to one of three nutritional interventions and in a pooled treatment group analysis, and to assess differences in infant outcomes by infant gender. …

Implementing Modified Aha Criteria In The Measurement Of Blood Pressure In Uconn’S Migrant Farmworker Clinics, Alexandra Turgeon

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Capturing Spatial Variation In The Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System, Timothy Bugden

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Novel And Dynamic Shear Rheometer Based Extensional Deformation Test To Replace Force Ductility Test, Waleed M. Omer

Master's Theses

Modification of asphalt binders is essential to improve the physical and rheological properties of asphalt and to reduce the aging effect. The use of polymers to modify asphalt is the most common approach in asphalt modification. Force ductility test has been a challenging topic as an indicator of asphalt performance, especially for the modified asphalt binders. The significance of the force ductility test as a measure of fatigue and thermal cracking has been debated because of its low reproducibility, empirical nature and the unclear relationship with the fundamental asphalt properties, especially with modified asphalt binders [1]. Extensional deformations tests where …

The Politics Behind The National School Lunch Program, Jaylyn Brown

Master's Theses

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is one of the longest federally funded programs in the United States. The program is meant to provide food that is nutritious and affordable to schoolchildren. Indeed, most students receive free or a reduced price lunch highlighting the importance of affordability and nutrition in the school lunch system. Since the creation of the NSLP in 1946 debates about food quality and nutrition standards have consumed school lunch reform discussions. Many health organizations stress the importance of child nutrition, and advocate for the means to prevent diseases such as childhood obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. …

Chronic Circadian Misalignment Leads To Reduced Longevity And Largescale Changes In Gene Expression In Drosophila Melanogaster, Alex Christ Boomgarden

Master's Theses

As a result of earth's orientation toward the sun producing day and night, organisms have evolved an endogenous circadian timing system that is responsible for the 24-hour oscillation of most physiological and behavioral processes. This timing system is constantly synchronized to the external environment to adapt to and anticipate changes in light, temperature, food, and mate availability. In modern society, social and work constraints cause people to live schedules that are out of sync with their internal circadian clocks, producing a chronic circadian misalignment (CCM). While epidemiological studies in humans point to potentially damaging metabolic and cognitive consequences of CCM, …

Faith And New Life In Christ: The Problem Of Circumcision In Galatians 5:2-6, Keldie S. Paroschi

Master's Theses

Problem

Paul explicitly addresses the issue of circumcision for the first time in the epistle of Galatians in chapter 5:2–6. The precise meaning of circumcision, however, both historically and exegetically, has been much debated in Pauline scholarship.

Method

This thesis will first provide an overview of how circumcision has been interpreted in the context of different approaches to Pauline theology. Then, the historical background of the significance of circumcision around the first century AD will be analyzed, both in the Jewish and the Greco-Roman context. Finally, an exegetical study of Galatians 5:2–6 will focus on how Paul addresses the topic …

Induction Of Zika Virus-Specific Cd8+ T Cells By Means Of Dna Vaccine, Frank Gambino Jr.

Master's Theses

Zika virus (ZIKV) is a member of the virus family flaviviridae and is transmitted via Aedes aegypti mosquitos. Monoclonal antibodies against dengue virus have been found to cross-react with ZIKV but show no ability to neutralize it. Further studies have shown that Stat2-/- mice given plasma from dengue positive donors exhibit a heightened disease phenotype when challenged with ZIKV. Antibody dependent enhancement is theorized to cause such effect. The goal of this study was to design a plasmid which, when encoded, creates an antigen that will be used to stimulate exclusively CD8+ T cells. The gene sequence of NS3 was …

The Power Of A Stereotype: American Depictions Of The Black Woman In Film Media, Brittany Terry

Master's Theses

How are black women depicted in popular films? The significance of this study is that it sheds new light on the ways in which black women are depicted in film, and exemplifies some means to deconstruct dehumanizing representations of ourselves. This work advances the goal of institutionalizing more accurate visual accounts of black femaleness thereby exposing the inaccuracies of the dominant gaze. This study also transparently marks my intersectional positionality as a black feminist spectator-- simultaneously privileged and marginalized. I identify as a heterosexual woman of color, raised in an upper-middle class American community. As such, I benefit from classism …

Cryptic Diversification Of Two Widespread Species In Madagascar, Lynika Sharlice Strozier

Master's Theses

Using phylogenetic and phylogeographic tools to uncover hidden diversity within the genus Newtonia in Madagascar

Madagascar is known for its rich biodiversity and high level of endemic species that are found nowhere else. Cryptic diversification, defined as genetically and evolutionarily distinct species that are hard to detect because they are morphologically indistinguishable from their closest relatives, has been hypothesized to occur in many groups on Madagascar. Currently it is unclear to what extent this phenomenon occurs in birds because only a few studies have been conducted. My study examined the phylogenetic and phylogeographic patterns within a songbird genus, Newtonia, that …

Desde La Caballería A La Cristiandad: La Transformación Espiritual De Don Quijote, Amanda Kathleen Verduin

Master's Theses

Este presente trabajo es un análisis literario, histórico y teológico del protagonista de la obra famosa de Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. Esta tesina presenta el argumento que Alonso Quijano experimenta una transformación espiritual significativa, desde el momento en que pierde el juicio y se reinventa en el caballero andante, don Quijote, hasta el momento en que muere en su lecho, alabando a Dios por su misericordia. Específicamente, asevero que esta transformación parece a la transformación que Jesucristo describió como el vínculo que se establece entre Dios y la persona que vuelve …