Digital Commons Network^™

Nutrition At Tipu: A Comparative Analysis Of Juvenile Health In Maya Populations, Sydnie A. Bianchi

Master's Theses

The site of Tipu in west central Belize provided a foothold for Spanish missionaries in the 17^th century. The effects of contact on adults among the 550 burials recovered in the cemetery there have been well studied, but the children have received less attention. Therefore, this study examined juvenile health through four markers: Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH), a non-specific marker of health disruptions; Porotic Hyperostosis (PH), an indicator of anemia; and Periostitis, an indicator of infection. Some 131 individuals were evaluated using criteria developed by Steckel, Sciulli, and Rose (2002). The results were compared to Late Classic Copán (Storey, …

Envrment: Investigating Experience In A Virtual User-Composed Environment, Matthew Key

Master's Theses

Virtual Reality is a technology that has long held society's interest, but has only recently began to reach a critical mass of everyday consumers. The idea of modern VR can be traced back decades, but because of the limitations of the technology (both hardware and software), we are only now exploring its potential. At present, VR can be used for tele-surgery, PTSD therapy, social training, professional meetings, conferences, and much more. It is no longer just an expensive gimmick to go on a momentary field trip; it is a tool, and as with the automobile, personal computer, and smartphone, it …

Study Of Plants Used Against Infections By California Native American Tribes, Maria J. Rojas

Master's Theses

The objectives of this research were to evaluate the antibacterial activity and to determine the chemical composition of a list of medicinal plants used by Native Americans in California. Artemisia californica, Mimulus aurantiacus, Equisetum telmateia, Equisetum hyemale, and Marah fabacea were selected from a list of plants reported as having been used for ailments related to infections by tribes located in California. The extracts obtained through steam distillation from E. telmateia, E. hyemale and M. fabacea were assayed for in vitro antibacterial activity against 16 Gram-negative and 6 Gram-positive bacteria using disk diffusion assays and measuring the diameters of inhibition …

Investigation On The Use Of Small Aperture Telescopes For Leo Satellite Orbit Determination, Luis R. Curiel Iii

Master's Theses

The following thesis regards the use of small aperture telescopes for space domain awareness efforts. The rapidly populating space domain was motivation for the development of a new operation scheme to conduct space domain awareness feasibility studies using small telescopes. Two 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes at the California Polytechnic State University and the Air Force Research Lab in Kirtland AFB, NM, in conjunction with a dedicated CCD camera and a commercial DSLR camera, were utilized to conduct optical observations on satellites in Earth orbit.

Satellites were imaged during August 2019, and from January 2020 to March 2020, resulting in the collection …

Field Testing The Effects Of Low Reynolds Number On The Power Performance Of The Cal Poly Wind Power Research Center Small Wind Turbine, John B. Cunningham

Master's Theses

This thesis report investigates the effects of low Reynolds number on the power performance of a 3.74 m diameter horizontal axis wind turbine. The small wind turbine was field tested at the Cal Poly Wind Power Research Center to acquire its coefficient of performance, C­_p, vs. tip speed ratio, λ, characteristics. A description of both the wind turbine and test setup are provided. Data filtration and processing techniques were developed to ensure a valid method to analyze and characterize wind power measurements taken in a highly variable environment. The test results demonstrated a significant drop in the …

Real-Time Body Tracking And Projection Mapping In The Interactive Arts, Sydney Baroya

Master's Theses

Projection mapping, a subtopic of augmented reality, displays computer-generated light visualizations from projectors onto the real environment. A challenge for projection mapping in performing interactive arts is dynamic body movements. Accuracy and speed are key components for an immersive application of body projection mapping and dependent on scanning and processing time.

This thesis presents a novel technique to achieve real-time body projection mapping utilizing a state of the art body tracking device, Microsoft’s Azure Kinect DK, by using an array of trackers for error minimization and movement prediction. The device's Sensor and Bodytracking SDKs allow multiple device synchronization. We combine …

Design And Validation Of An Led-Based Solar Simulator For Solar Cell And Thermal Testing, Matthew Gunther

Master's Theses

An LED-based solar simulator has been designed, constructed, and qualified under ASTM standards for use in the Cal Poly Space Environments Laboratory. The availability of this simulator will enhance the capability of undergraduate students to evaluate solar cell and thermal coating performance, and offers further research opportunities. The requirements of ASTM E927-19 for solar simulators intended for photovoltaic cell testing were used primarily, supplemented by information from ASTM E491-73 for solar simulators intended for spacecraft thermal vacuum testing. Three main criteria were identified as design goals - spectral match ratio, spatial non-uniformity, and temporal instability. An electrical design for an …

English Language Learners In The Dance Classroom: Building Bridges To Rigorous Language Acquisition, Breegan Kearney

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate several aspects of instructing English Learners (ELs) in the dance classroom. The researcher created three essential questions to guide her research: Q1 What specific strategies are currently being utilized by dance teachers to support English Learners in accessing dance-specific language? Q2 What are the opportunities for and barriers to incorporating these strategies? Q3 Does this teaching process have any effect on student engagement in dance class? Thirty dance educators discussed their experiences instructing English Learners in dance content in the form of a digital survey, and rated common strategies for ELs based …

Missing In Action: Locating The Body In Interdisciplinary Studies, Ann Lenore Moradian

Master's Theses

This research project relied on the use of interdisciplinary literature, surveys and interviews to explore the prevalence of the human body and its movement across a variety of disciplines other than movement-based practices, and also to explore perspectives of movement experts regarding the knowledge, skills, and capacities they believed might be related to their practice-based work. In other words, what do movement practitioners and movement experts know, and who cares? The materials gathered were analyzed with the aim of understanding the range of possibilities for future work, and identifying areas of potential discourse, engagement, or collaboration across disciplines. The outcomes …

Unique Considerations For Creating High School Musical Theatre Choreography, Tahlia Remer

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research study was to identify what unique considerations should be made when choreographing for high school musical theater. In this study, both directors and choreographers of musical theatre at the high school level were surveyed regarding the research questions. Research questions for this study were: 1) What special considerations need to be made when creating choreography for musical theater at the high school level? 2) What do directors of musical theater at the high school level expect of their choreographers? 3) What strategies do directors and choreographers of musical theater at the high school level use …

From Concrete To The Classroom: A Street Dance Toolkit, Tarayjah Hoey-Gordon

Master's Theses

Minimal research exists in the way of successfully and appropriately incorporating the study of Hip-Hop culture into public education dance curriculum. Many of the available resources about this topic are not academic, standards based, or developed through research studies. The purpose of creating a Street Dance Toolkit was to analyze the ways in which access to an extended curriculum based on Hip-Hop culture can be used to expand a dance educator’s knowledge of Street Dance as a formal technique in a public school setting. The process of designing and analyzing the toolkit to establish a formalized street dance curriculum was …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of N-(9'-Acridinyl)-O-Phenylhydroxylamines, Jana Forster

Master's Theses

Anilinoacridines are a class of compounds that are known to intercalate DNA. This class of compounds can be used as a target therapy to combat cell growth and replication. The anilinoacridines, DNA, and topoisomerase II will form a ternary complex that results in numerous strand scissions leading to apoptosis. Previous research has shown that the anilinoacridines can have a short half-life and produce harmful side products as a result of hydrolysis. The half-life could increase if this structure was slightly altered by making a molecule that does not readily hydrolyze. N-(9’-Acridinyl)-O-phenylhydroxylamines can be synthesized in three steps starting with commercially …

Fostering Resilience: Integrating Positive Character Strengths With Dance Making Skills To Help Young Children Cope With Adversity, Laura Vormwald

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate how involvement in a choreography unit focused on positive character strengths could increase confidence in strengths that foster resilience. Research shows that building resilience is the key to helping children overcome adversity and trauma. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to answer the three research questions in this study. Q1 Does involvement in dance making build students’ character strengths? Q2 Which character strengths are best developed through dance making? Q3 Which inspirations for dance making relate most thoroughly to the selected character strengths? The research instruments used were a pre and …

Investigating The Timing Of Initial Louann Salt Flow And Its Relationship With The Gilbertown Fault Zone, Southwest Alabama, Avery Rosenbalm

Master's Theses

The Mesozoic Louann Salt extends through the northern GOM, extending onshore from eastern Texas to western Alabama and Florida. Along the landward terminus of the salt is a system of peripheral faults, including the Gilbertown Fault Zone bordering the Mississippi Interior Salt Basin to the north and east. This study sought to constrain the timing of fault movement and determine its relationship to the baswinward evacuation of Louann Salt through the use of a 3D seismic survey and well logs. By mapping Mesozoic formations and the peripheral fault system, lateral changes in formation thickness were used to generate fault expansion …

My Child’S Keeper: Child Vulnerability And Quality Of Life On Parental Stress And Grit, Abigail Armstrong

Master's Theses

There is a reciprocal relationship between parenting stress and child distress that has been well documented (e.g., Rechenberg, Grey & Sadler, 2017). These effects generalize to physical outcomes such that higher maternal depression has been associated with poorer child health-related quality of life (HRQOL; Jaser, Whittemore, Ambrosino, Lindemann, & Grey, 2008). In the same way that parental distress has been shown to affect the child, parental perceptions of child vulnerability in children with chronic illness has also been associated with negative outcomes, including child depressive symptoms (Mullins et al., 2004), increased health care use (Spurrier et al., 2000), and increased …

Exploring Dissociation As A Facilitator Of Suicide Risk Using Virtual Reality, Nicole Caulfield

Master's Theses

Research shows that suicidal behavior is not a result of a single cause or single event, but instead is an interaction of facilitators. One potential facilitator that needs further exploration is dissociation. Dissociation has been consistently linked to suicidal behavior, and treatment for dissociative disorders seem to be associated with a reduction of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Prior theories have posited that dissociation increases the possibility of a suicidal act because of intensified disconnect from the body. However, these theories do not indicate whether dissociation is a facilitator of suicide risk by increasing suicidal ideation, attempt behaviors, and capability …

Hate Speech, Habitus, And Identity Signaling On 4chan’S Politically Incorrect Board, Jonathon Geiger

Master's Theses

Websites, such as 4chan, have provided a place for extremism and hate speech to flourish through anonymous discourse. One group that has been especially important to this growth has been the alt-right. The alt-right is a far-right white nationalist movement that is known for engaging in trolling, creating memes, and generating conspiracy theories. Past research has focused on the amounts of hate speech and characterizing content on the website. However, past studies have not looked at the experience of using the website through the combination of participant observation and content analysis. Here I show that the extensive use of hate …

The Impact Of A Casve-Cq Enhanced Intervention On Group Career Counseling Outcomes, Kendall L. Klumpp

Master's Theses

This study aimed to investigate the effect of using the CASVE Cycle Questionnaire (CASVE-CQ) on career group intervention outcomes, specifically career decidedness, negative career thoughts, career decision-making difficulties, and career decision-making self-efficacy. Participants included 45 undergraduate students who receive scholarships from a student retention program which includes a career group intervention as a requirement to receive the scholarship. It was predicted that the use of the CASVE-CQ would result in greater increases in career decidedness and career decision-making self-efficacy, as well as greater decreases in negative career thoughts and career decision-making difficulties compared to those receiving the same intervention that …

Rapid Implicit Diagonalization Of Variable-Coefficient Differential Operators Using The Uncertainty Principle, Carley Walker

Master's Theses

We propose to create a new numerical method for a class of time-dependent PDEs (second-order, one space dimension, Dirichlet boundary conditions) that can be used to obtain more accurate and reliable solutions than traditional methods. Previously, it was shown that conventional time-stepping methods could be avoided for time-dependent mathematical models featuring a finite number of homogeneous materials, thus assuming general piecewise constant coefficients. This proposed method will avoid the modeling shortcuts that are traditionally taken, and it will generalize the piecewise constant case of energy diffusion and wave propagation to work for an infinite number of smaller pieces, or a …

Assessing The Recalibration Interval For Nearshore Sediment Assemblages After Hurricane Irma: Implications For Developing Long-Term Records Of Overwash Deposits, Stephen Mitchell

Master's Theses

Surface distributions are commonly collected to assist with overwash interpretation; however, many of these are first established immediately after a major overwash event as part of a post-event field survey. This study documents the impacts of Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm, on nearshore sediments off the coast of Anegada (British Virgin Islands) using distributions of Homotrema rubra, an encrusting foraminifer with a defined provenance in coral reef ecosystems. Over four sampling intervals spanning 2 years, from six months pre-Hurricane Irma to 18 months post-Hurricane Irma, surface sediment was collected from three shore-perpendicular transects on both the northern and …

Contribution Of Submarine Groundwater Discharge To Select Biogeochemical Fluxes In St. Louis Bay, Mississippi, Haley Spaid

Master's Theses

This thesis assesses the role of submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) in St. Louis Bay, Mississippi. Located along the northern Gulf of Mexico, St. Louis Bay (SLB) is a semi-enclosed bay that is important to the local area for recreation and tourism. SGD is the movement of any water into the water column across the sediment-water interface. In coastal environments, SGD can be a source of a variety of substances including nutrients and pollutants. In this study, a steady state mass balance approach was used to quantify SGD flux for SLB using ²²³Ra, ²²⁴Ra, and Ba. Using the water …

Microplastic Abundance, Distribution And Impacts On Sargassum-Associated Juvenile Fishes In The Gulf Of Mexico, Olivia Lestrade

Master's Theses

Microplastics are a concern in marine environments because they are highly durable, ubiquitous, and can be mistaken for food and ingested by small organisms. Pelagic Sargassum, an important habitat for larval and juvenile stages of many fish species, is found in large surface aggregations, and may provide complex structure in which microplastics become trapped. This could lead to greater risk of microplastic ingestion by fish early life stages associated with Sargassum habitats. To better understand the impacts of microplastics within Sargassum communities, this study examined 1) microplastic concentrations and ingestion by juvenile fishes associated with Sargassum; 2) the microbial …

Sediment Provenance Of Tsunami Deposits: Implications For Assessing The Relative Intensity Of Paleotsunamis From The Sendai Coastline Of Japan, Tiffany Otai

Master's Theses

The 2011 Tohoku tsunami impacted the northeastern coast of Japan and caused unexpected damages due to the underestimation of this type of hazard. Of particular importance is the fact that geologic evidence for a predecessor event, the Jogan tsunami (CE 869), could have forecasted the severity of the 2011 Tohoku event. While the timing of tsunamis is important for effective hazard mitigation, outside of the 2011 Tohoku event, the intensity of past tsunamis remains unclear. To understand paleotsunami intensity, it is important to document characteristics of modern analogues like the 2011 event. This study utilizes surface distributions of foraminifera from …

Korngold's Dream States: An Analysis Of Transitional Passages In Erich Wolfgang Korngold's Opera "Die Tote Stadt", Tyler Brandon

Master's Theses

This thesis aims to compare Korngold’s treatment of altered states of reality in his 1920 opera Die tote Stadt to that of other composers and apply a theoretical approach to explain the transitions between the diegetic realms, or multiple narrative levels, that the work is contained within. These are outlined by William Cheng in his article entitled “Opera ‘en abyme’: The prodigious ritual of Korngold’s ‘Die tote Stadt.’” An overview of Cheng’s article is provided, recounting the claims that he posits and the analyses that he uses to explain the transitions between these diegetic realms. Next, other instances of altered …

Diagonalization Of 1-D Schrodinger Operators With Piecewise Constant Potentials, Sarah Wright

Master's Theses

In today's world our lives are very layered. My research is meant to adapt current inefficient numerical methods to more accurately model the complex situations we encounter. This project focuses on a specific equation that is used to model sound speed in the ocean. As depth increases, the sound speed changes. This means the variable related to the sound speed is not constant. We will modify this variable so that it is piecewise constant. The specific operator in this equation also makes current time-stepping methods not practical. The method used here will apply an eigenfunction expansion technique used in previous …

Measuring Implicit And Explicit Attitudes Toward Transracial Adoption, Lillian Spadgenske

Master's Theses

Attitudes toward Transracial Adoption, or TRA (i.e., White individuals adopting a child of a different race than their own) have been largely positive in a few experimental studies conducted, with only one study (Tinkler & Horne, 2011) employing an implicit measure, the Implicit Association Task (IAT). The current study has focused on assessing attitudes toward TRA families with Black versus Asian children using both explicit and implicit (the IAT) measures of bias. In addition, religiosity was tested as a moderator of the attitudes toward TRA adoption. It was found that individuals had much more supportive attitudes toward transracial families on …

Assessing The Nursery-Role Function Of Pelagic Sargassum For Juvenile Fishes In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Courtney Stachowiak

Master's Theses

Sargassum, a genus of holopelagic brown algae, floats at the ocean’s surface using air-filled bladders and forms a complex comprised of two species, S. natans and S. fluitans. Oceanic processes (e.g., Langmuir circulation, etc.) aggregate Sargassum into mats and weedlines, and primarily distribute the algal complex throughout the North Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). These floating habitats provide shelter and feeding opportunities for a diverse community of invertebrates and fishes. Sargassum is a presumed nursery habitat for juvenile stages of commercially- and recreationally-targeted fishery species. In this study, I estimated the standardized abundances of juvenile …

​Burned Out But Barely Begun: A Qualitative Study On Newer Clergy And Communication Surrounding Emotional Labor And Personal Well-Being In South Mississippi, Lauren Noll

Master's Theses

This study provides an overview of the concepts surrounding clergy burnout,

organizational culture, and emotional labor theory. Furthermore, it explains the need

for  clearer understanding of clergy perceptions of their own personal

experiences with burnout and their emotional wellbeing in relation to their organizational environment and careers as clergy members. The methodology of qualitative interviews sought to understand the narratives and experiences of clergy members from their own words and worldviews rather than from a statistical basis or analysis.

This research found answers to key questions involving communication about burnout in the context of organizational culture and emotional labor, including …

Navigating Hate: The Public Deliberation Of Matthew Shepard And Hate Crime Legislation, Abigail Barnes

Master's Theses

Since Matthew Shepard’s murder in 1998, his narrative has been recirculated to justify a federal hate crime statute and Shepard has been used as a symbol for the demand for hate crime legislation. This study seeks to evaluate how Shepard is used in public deliberation, the role of private organizations in the public deliberation of hate crime legislation, and the discursive history of the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2009. Through a rhetorical criticism, this study finds that the nuances of Shepard’s narrative are abandoned in order to construct him as a “permissible” symbol for LGBTQ+ protections. However, if …

Validation Of An Inertial-Measurement-Unit System For Calculating Hip And Knee Flexion Angles During Gait, Joonsun Park

Master's Theses

Technological advances regarding Inertial Measurements Units (IMUs) have positioned this type of sensor as an alternative for camera-based motion capture. This study introduces a new IMU based system (IMU_sys) to measure hip and knee flexion angles. PURPOSE: To validate the use of a five-sensor IMU_sys for the measurement of knee and hip flexion angles during gait in adults and pediatrics at two different time points. METHODS: Bilateral hip and knee flexion patterns (LH, RH, LK, and RK) of twenty-two healthy participants (12 adults and 10 pediatric) between the ages of 8 – 35 years were investigated. Participants …