Digital Commons Network^™

Predicting Work And Organizational Engagement With Work And Personal Factors, Andrea Kittredge

Master's Theses

The current study examined how psychological hardiness and self efficacy would be related to both work engagement and organizational engagement after controlling for job characteristics, perceived organizational support, and procedural justice as work characteristics. Findings showed that psychological hardiness, specifically commitment, added significant predictive value to both work and organizational engagement after controlling for the work characteristics. However, commitment accounted for more variance in work engagement than variance in organizational engagement. Although it was correlated with overall hardiness, self efficacy was not found to be directly related to either engagement variable, nor did it add predictive value to either of …

Interferometric Porosimetry Of Porous Silicon With Radius Distribution Functions, Yu-Chun Lu

Master's Theses

In this study a set of porous silicon (pSi) interferometric vapor sensor were made from p+ (~1 ohm-cm) and p++ (~0.005 ohm-cm) B-doped Si. The pSi layers were prepared electrochemically, stabilized either by ozone oxidation or 1-octene derivatization, and then characterized. FTIR reflection spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray spectroscopy of pSi layer cross sections confirmed the completeness of the ozone oxidation and 1-octene hydrosilation. The performance of the pSi layers as interferometric ethanol vapor sensors was assessed by constructing calibration curves of optical thickness change versus ethanol partial pressure and using these to assess the detection limits for ethanol …

Observed Water Vapor Enhancement In Smoke Plumes, Caroline Marie Kiefer

Master's Theses

Wildland fires cause the loss of life and billions of dollars in property damage every year in the US annually; thus, there is a need to better understand, predict, and manage both wildland and prescribed fires. Moisture released from combustion, in addition to added heat, can enhance buoyancy and convection, influencing fire behavior. Previous studies have shown a wide range of smoke plume moisture enhancement, but much uncertainty still exists in the quantitative values of moisture released during combustion. In this study, three measurement platforms were used to obtain in situ measurements of temperature and relative humidity during various prescribed …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Silica Hydride-Based Fluorinated Stationary Phases, Kavita Vipool Prajapati

Master's Theses

Silica-based fluorinated bonded stationary phases have shown enhanced selectivity with altered elution orders for molecules differing in hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity in comparison with C8 and C18 reversed phase columns. Hence, two novel silica hydride-based fluorinated bonded phases have been synthesized using a hydrosilation

procedure to exploit fluorine-based unique selectivity for polar basic metabolites. Bonded moieties have been characterized by elemental and spectral analyses. Silica hydride-based aqueous normal phase (ANP) chromatography has retention behavior similar to normal phase chromatography, except for the use of water as a part of the binary solvent (>60 % acetonitrile : water). In ANP, a …

Trophic Interactions Among Chlorostoma Brunnea, Macrocystis Pyrifera, And Fungi, Selena Mcmillan

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate how one of the most abundant kelp forest herbivores in central California, the trochid snail Chlorostoma brunnea, affects the productivity and survivorship of the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera within central California. The effects of this turban snail species were investigated using experimental field manipulations of snail abundance on Macrocystis sporophytes and supplementary laboratory experiments. Experimental field manipulation of C. brunnea densities (0-450 snails per sporophyte) revealed an overcompensation of growth by Macrocystis in response to moderate snail densities. This finding is consistent with a terrestrial growth premise, the Grazing Optimization Hypothesis. …

Visual Framing Of Patriotism And National Identity On The Covers Of Der Spiegel, Andrea Marie Pyka

Master's Theses

This thesis studied how Der Spiegel, a news magazine in Germany, visually framed images of German patriotism and national identity on its front covers between 1947 and 2009. This study specifically examined whether the covers showed an increase in symbols of patriotism and national identity following four major events in Germany. The events included: the building of the Berlin Wall, the reunification of Germany, the adoption of the Euro, and the 2006 World Cup. A framing analysis of the covers showed that there was an increase in symbols of national identity across each of these four events. However, based …

Difference And Accommodation In Visigothic Gaul And Spain, Craig H. Schamp

Master's Theses

This thesis examines primary sources in fifth- and sixth-century Gaul and Spain and finds a surprising lack of concern for ethnicity. Authors in the fifth century expressed concern for the sanctity and safety of the church, their patria, and themselves, but seldom mention any issues that could be related to ethnicity. Even the Arian Christianity of the Goths seems to be of little or no concern. This changes in the middle of the sixth century, when Arian Christianity becomes an overarching issue in Visigothic history. The sources portray nearly every political concern in the second half of the sixth century …

Improvement Of A Propagation Delay Model For Cmos Digital Logic Circuits, Rodger Lawrence Stamness

Master's Theses

Propagation delay models, for CMOS Digital Circuits, provide an initial design solution for Integrated Circuits. Resources, both monetary and manpower, constrain the design process, leading to the need for a more accurate entry point further along in the design cycle. By verifying an existing propagation delay method, and its resulting delay model, calibration for any given process technology can be achieved. Literature reviews and detailed analysis of each step in the model development allow for greater understanding of each contributing parameter, and ultimately, adjustments to the model calibration result in a more accurate analytical model. An existing model was verified …

Emissions And Impacts From Prescribed Fire In A Longleaf Pine Ecosystem, Scott James Strenfel

Master's Theses

Prescribed fire is a frequently utilized land-management tool in the Southeastern US. In this study, effects of seasonal-related variations and of turbulence generation on emissions and impacts from prescribed fires were evaluated. High frequency in situ data were obtained from three summer (July 2008) and three winter (January 2009) fires within the active burn perimeter and downwind by use of a 10 m instrumented tower and 2 m tripod, respectively. Two cases were selected to evaluate the performance of the EPA-approved short-range regulatory dispersion model, AERMOD, for prescribed fire applications.

Results showed that summer fuels were much greener than winter …

Acoustic Intensity Measurement System: Application In Localized Drug Delivery, Natalie Phipps

Master's Theses

Ultrasound is used for many applications in diagnostics and therapy. New developments are being made specifically for the use of therapeutic ultrasound for enhancement of localized drug delivery. The long term goal of this study is to find ultrasound pulsing sequences that will allow for controlled mass diffusion from hydrogel drug reservoirs. Developing this new method requires the calibration and characterization of therapy transducers using power and acoustic intensity measurements. Mechanical index, spatial peak pulse average intensity, and spatial temporal pulse average intensity calculations were made using hydrophone measurements set-up in a tank measurement system. These were compared to safety …

Amount Of International News By Four World Newspapers: Pre And Post-9/11, Sidney Mitchell

Master's Theses

World newspapers, The New York Times, The London Times, The Australian, and The Toronto Star, have the power to enlighten countries and shape public opinion domestically and abroad. However, at times, newspapers tend to be biased and reflect ideologies or values, which tend to be slanted towards home cultures and personal politics. Consequently, the public often suffers because what it learns about the world may be distorted. As a result, newspapers have witnessed a steady decline in readership following the end of the Cold-War and continuing throughout post-9/11. Irrespectively, studies have reported “spikes“ in international news coverage following 9/11 that …

Ethnic Identity As A Moderator Of Ingroup Bias, Katherine Stokes-Guinan

Master's Theses

This thesis replicated and extended work by Perdue, Dovidio, Gurtman, and Tyler (1990) by priming 132 Asian, Hispanic, and White participants with ingroup and outgroup designators outside of conscious awareness before asking them to make judgments about positive and negative trait words. While bias patterns were similar for participants from all three ethnic groups, they were different among individuals with high and low scores on a measure of ethnic identity (the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure by Phinney, 1992). Specifically, participants with high ethnic identity scores demonstrated ingroup bias along ethnic lines, while participants with low ethnic identity scores did not. …

Performance Based Analysis Of Steel Buildings, Matthew Joseph Williams

Master's Theses

This project investigated the performance of two separate building types, designed using ASCE 7-05, using the analysis procedures from ASCE 41-06. The results from the ASCE 41-06 analyses were compared to the expected performance level of Life Safety to determine the adequacy of the ASCE 7-05 design. ASCE 7-05 is intended to result in designs that perform to a Life Safety performance level regardless of the building type. A design using the AISC specifications for a steel Special Moment Frame and the lateral loads from ASCE 7-05 resulted in a building that slightly exceeded an Immediate Occupancy performance level for …

The Economic Impact In Stanislaus And San Joaquin Counties If A Fruit And Vegetable Processor Left As A Result Of Changes In The Food Processing Byproduce Use Program, Jessica Erin Bylsma

Master's Theses

In 1978, Stanislaus County took a proactive approach to food processing byproduct waste and established the Food Processing Byproduct Use Program. It allows processors to transport byproduct to local producers, where it serves as an alternative input. There is concern that the program negatively impacts local groundwater. The Regional Water Quality Control Board proposed that the County institute water monitoring which would increase program expenses. In response to this proposal, participants investigated the impact of the cost increase and some have concluded that this increase would preclude their continued involvement. They believe the program has allowed them to maintain their …

Automation In Cs1 With The Factoring Problem Generator, Joshua B. Parker

Master's Theses

As the field of computer science continues to grow, the number of students enrolled in related programs will grow as well. Though one-on-one tutoring is one of the more effective means of teaching, computer science instructors will have less and less time to devote to individual students. To address this growing concern, many tools that automate parts of an instructor’s job have been proposed. These tools can assist instructors in presenting concepts and grading student work, and they can help students learn to program more effectively. A growing group of intelligent tutoring systems attempts to tie all of this functionality …

Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation Applied To Flight Training, Joel D. Hanson

Master's Theses

Between 1994 and 2003 spatial disorientation resulted in at least 202 aircraft

accidents, 184 of them resulting in fatalities. Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS)

provides a cost effective and safe way to simulate spatial disorientation and

potentially test pilot’s vestibular system prior to aircraft operation. This experiment

investigates the use of GVS as an indicator of motion sensitivity and explores the

effects of GVS on flight simulation performance. Bilateral bipolar rectangular pulse

electrical stimulations were given to subjects via skin-mounted electrodes placed over

each mastoid process to stimulate the vestibular system with roll and yaw sensations.

Two studies were conducted in …

Neural Replay : A Possible Mechanism For Differing Rehersal Strategies Across Parity, Cassie Brooke Jones

Master's Theses

All mammalian females undergo behavioral and neurological changes during pregnancy and motherhood. Many of these changes lead to an enhanced ability to be an effective mother including: increased memory, foraging behaviors, and boldness. Here, we examined the differences in rehearsal strategies between mother and virgin rats. Stops made by rats when exploring their environment have been found to result in reverse replay activity in the hippocampus (Foster & Wilson, 2006). Reverse replay is sequential replay that occurs in the hippocampus immediately after a spatial experience; this replay/activation is in reversed order of the initial spatial episode (Foster & Wilson, 2006). …

"A Change Has Swept Over Our Land": American Moravians And The Civil War, Adrienne E. Robertson

Master's Theses

When they first came to North America, the Moravians—a pietistic, Germanic Christian sect—settled in isolated communities where only a few people ventured out to do missionary work for the community. They separated themselves from their non-Moravian neighbors, one missionary community serving the North from its seat in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and the other serving the South from Salem, North Carolina, and neither participating in civic or military life. Then, over the course of a few decades, economic and civic circumstances forced the Moravians in North America to adapt their ways to be more like those of their non-Moravian neighbors, adopting styles …

Two-Phase Boost Converter, Tadeus Gunawan

Master's Theses

A boost converter is one of the most efficient techniques to step up DC input voltage to a higher needed DC output voltage. The boost converter has many possible applications, such as in a photovoltaic system, hybrid car and battery charger. The proposed prototype in this report is a proof of concept that a Two-Phase Boost Converter is a possible improvement topology to offer higher efficiency without compromising any advantages readily offered by a basic boost. The prototype is designed to be able to handle up to 200 watts of output power with an input of 36 volts and an …

Extraction And Characterization Of Lipids From Microalgae Grown On Municipal Wastewater, Matthew W. Hutton

Master's Theses

Based on results of its Aquatic Species Program (1978-1996), which sought to develop algae-to-liquid fuel technology, the U.S. Department of Energy has suggested that algal wastewater treatment may be incorporated into biodiesel production schemes to reduce the operating costs of both processes. the purpose of the current research was to evaluate the triglycerides produced by wastewater-grown algae for their suitability as a fuel feedstock and to investigate the effectiveness of several solvent mixtures and extraction procedures at recovering lipids from fresh algae. The research involved two separate experiments. The first determined the quantity and quality of lipids produced over the …

Techniques For Triggering Germination Of Adenostoma Fasciculatum In Revegetation Projects At Rocky Canyon Quarry, Stephanie B. Scolari

Master's Theses

Rocky Canyon Quarry is a granite mine located in the Santa Lucia Mountains about 5 miles southeast of the city of Atascadero. The Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA), which passed in 1975, dictates that California mines must rehabilitate lands disturbed by mining operations. Dr. V. L. Holland and his students in the Biological Sciences Department at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) have been working on restoration and revegetation of the Rocky Canyon Quarry since the early 1990’s.

Adenostoma fasciculatum (chamise) dominates the chaparral communities (chamisal chaparral) found in Rocky Canyon. Chamise is the most common …

Point-Of-Use Water Treatment Device For Disaster Relief, Patricia Marie Compas

Master's Theses

A point-of-use water treatment device and an optimal method for its use were developed. The specially-designed vessel is to be used with flocculation and disinfection agents, while also providing for clean water storage. Possible applications would be disaster relief, emergency preparedness, and outdoor recreation.

Analysis Of A Pinus Radiata Seed Stock Field In The Native Año Nuevo Stand In California, Christina Brassey

Master's Theses

This study was a part of the international collaborative IMPACT project, which aims to address the potential threat that the pitch canker disease poses to the use of Pinus radiata D. Don in plantations in New Zealand, Australia, and Chile. A field trial of 264 seedstocks was planted adjacent to a native stand of pitch canker infected P. radiata on the central coast of California, and disease symptom development was recorded over a period of 3 years. The results did not correlate with a greenhouse study of the same seedstocks inoculated with Fusarium circinatum Nirenberg & O'Donnell, the causal agent …

Detection And Tracking Of Stealthy Targets Using Particle Filters, Philip M. Losie

Master's Theses

In recent years, the particle filter has gained prominence in the area of target tracking because it is robust to non-linear target motion and non-Gaussian additive noise. Traditional track filters, such as the Kalman filter, have been well studied for linear tracking applications, but perform poorly for non-linear applications. The particle filter has been shown to perform well in non-linear applications. The particle filter method is computationally intensive and advances in processor speed and computational power have allowed this method to be implemented in real-time tracking applications. This thesis explores the use of particle filters to detect and track stealthy …

Single Cell Impedance Measurements Using Microfabricated Electrodes And Labview Graphical Programming, Stephanie Sophia Hernandez

Master's Theses

This Master’s Thesis project consists of the research, design, and fabrication of a system that could perform broadband impedance measurements (1kHz-20Mhz) of single cells using National Instruments Labview data acquisition and programming in coordination with a single cell capture device. Presented first is the background information on cells and their electrical properties, along with background in micro-total-analysis systems as well as impedance spectroscopy. Experimental Methods are then discussed for the electrode design, cellular modeling in COMSOL, fabrication methods, and Labview 8.0 Set-up and programming. Measurements were performed using the single-cell capture device on saline, yeast cells, and a polysterene bead. …

Measurement And Modeling Of Blocking Contacts For Cadmium Telluride Gamma Ray Detectors, Patrick R. Beck

Master's Theses

Gamma ray detectors are important in national security applications, medicine, and astronomy. Semiconductor materials with high density and atomic number, such as Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), offer a small device footprint, but their performance is limited by noise at room temperature; however, improved device design can decrease detector noise by reducing leakage current.

This thesis characterizes and models two unique Schottky devices: one with an argon ion sputter etch before Schottky contact deposition and one without. Analysis of current versus voltage characteristics shows that thermionic emission alone does not describe these devices. This analysis points to reverse bias generation current or …

A Longitudinal Study Of The Outcomes From Participation In Wilderness Adventure Education Programs, Jason Phillip Cummings

Master's Theses

The results from this study suggest that participants of wilderness adventure education programs offered by Outward Bound and the National Outdoor Leadership School felt challenged by many of the experiences from their programs. Interactions with their group helped in dealing with the challenges presented by the experience. The development of hard skills gave participants a confidence in their abilities to survive and feel safe in these wilderness environments, which allowed them to relax and enjoy the experience, develop new perspectives, become motivated and inspired, and develop a sense of independence. Participants developed a sense of growth and maturity from their …

Evaluating Head Gestures For Panning 2-D Spatial Information, Matthew O. Derry

Master's Theses

New, often free, spatial information applications such as mapping tools, topological imaging, and geographic information systems are becoming increasingly available to the average computer user. These systems, which were once available only to government, scholastic, and corporate institutions with highly skilled operators, are driving a need for new and innovative ways for the average user to navigate and control spatial information intuitively, accurately, and efficiently. Gestures provide a method of control that is well suited to navigating the large datasets often associated with spatial information applications. Several different types of gestures and different applications that navigate spatial data are examined. …

Nutrient Removal By Algae Grown In Co2-Enriched Wastewater Over A Range Of Nitrogen-To-Phosphorus Ratios, Laura Michelle Fulton

Master's Theses

In conventional wastewater treatment, biological nutrient removal (BNR) depends on bacterial assimilation for phosphorus removal and nitrification+denitrification for nitrogen removal, with the resulting loss of the fixed nitrogen resource. Alternatively, treatment by microalgae allows for assimilative removal of both phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) thereby avoiding the oxygen demand of nitrification and preserving fixed N for fertilizer use. Paddle wheel mixed high-rate ponds have much higher algal productivity than typical oxidation ponds, but even high-rate ponds often cannot grow sufficient algae to completely assimilate the N and P in domestic wastewater. Algae growth in high-rate ponds is usually limited by …

Development Of An Air-Cycle Environmental Control System For Automotive Applications, Christopher James Forster

Master's Theses

An air‐cycle air conditioning system, using a typical automotive turbocharger as the core of the system, was designed and tested. Effects on engine performance were kept to a minimum while providing the maximum amount of cooling possible and minimizing weight and space requirements. A test stand utilizing shop compressed air was developed to measure component performance. An unmodified automotive turbocharger was tested initially as a baseline in a Reversed‐Brayton Cycle air cooling system. Once the baseline was established, another aircycle machine, assembled from commercial turbocharger components chosen individually to optimize their performance for cooling purposes, was tested to improve the …