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Digressions: Literary & Art Journal

“Digressions” are temporary departures or instances of divergence from a main theme, so it makes sense that this journal invites students to move away from the rigidity of academia and scholarship. As D.J. King–our first editor–said in Volume 1 in 2004, Digressions encourages students to “take a break from ‘Works Cited’ and turn inwardly to work sighted.” At the Digressions Literary & Art Journal, we strongly believe that everyone is capable of creativity, and should be presented with the opportunity to express themselves, even while pursuing the more fact-oriented fields that Nova Southeastern University has to offer; but we …

Evaluating The Impact Of Grafting On Local Tomato Production In Nebraska, Raihanah Hassim, Samuel E. Wortman, Ashley A. Thompson, Stacy A. Adams

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Grafting has been successfully used in vegetable production for tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, and watermelon. Besides its usefulness for managing soil-borne diseases, grafting can improve nutrient uptake and yield. However, few studies have assessed the effects of grafting and soil fertility management on yield of open field-grown tomatoes in the Midwest. Therefore, the objective of this two-year research was to better document the effects of grafting heirloom and hybrid tomato cultivar onto hybrid tomato rootstocks on tomato yield and quality. The field experiments were located at the University of Nebraska Lincoln - East Campus in Lincoln, West Central Research and …

Ethnographic Narrative Project, Ry Finerty

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This ethnography seeks to describe my evolution as a teacher. It begins with my background, past experiences (both in the classroom and outside of it), and initial personal motivation for becoming a teacher. As I began teaching in my classroom this year, I detail my experiences with three Focus Students (all names in this ethnography have been changed to protect their identities) with whom I forged relationships. I include portions of interviews I have conducted with them and their families, as well as demographic analyses of the communities in which they live. I describe my school community, incorporating information gleaned …

Spectral Analysis Of Complex Dynamical Systems, Casey Lynn Johnson

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The spectrum of any differential equation or a system of differential equations is related to several important properties about the problem and its subsequent solution. So much information is held within the spectrum of a problem that there is an entire field devoted to it; spectral analysis. In this thesis, we perform spectral analysis on two separate complex dynamical systems. The vibrations along a continuous string or a string with beads on it are the governed by the continuous or discrete wave equation. We derive a small-vibrations model for multi-connected continuous strings that lie in a plane. We show that …

Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea: An Analysis Of The Consequences Of 20th Century American Imperialism And Nuclear Testing Upon The Marshall Islands And Its Inhabitants, Michelle Hahn

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This thesis could not have been accomplished without the support of my family, friends, and peers who have cheered me on the entire way throughout my tenure as a master’s student at Claremont Graduate University (CGU). I would especially like to thank my mother who has had the patience of a saint throughout this journey. At my lowest moments, she reminded me of my strengths as a scholar and encouraged me to keep going, even when I thought this thesis would fall apart. I love you very much, thank you for always being my cheerleader. This project has undergone several …

The Use Of Graphic Conceptual Models In Theory-Driven Evaluation, Susana Marianne Bonis

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Theory-driven evaluation has been adopted by numerous philanthropic organizations and government agencies across the world. Many evaluators also have embraced elements of theorydriven evaluation, regardless of their approach to evaluation. In theory-driven evaluation, the beliefs or assumptions behind an intervention are made explicit and used to guide the evaluation. These may be based on the perspectives and experiences of stakeholders, social science theory, observation, and previous evaluation and research. A graphic conceptual model, often in the form of a logic model or theory of change, is commonly developed to show how an intervention is expected to lead to desired outcomes. …

Investigating The Social Capital & Help-Seeking Behaviors Of High School Latino Foster Youth, Rachel Acosta

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Foster youth in high school face a barrage of obstacles not faced by their peers, obstacles which make it challenging to finish high school and gain acceptance into four-year universities. But foster youth are resilient in ways that we can only begin to understand, navigating how to codeswitch, and speak to social workers, lawyers, foster parents, teachers, and peers to gain the resources they need to be successful. Within the past ten years, there has been a multitude of research on foster youths, which examine mental health, graduation rates, college acceptance, and the importance of mentorship. Missing from the research …

Modern Artificial Intelligence: Philosophical Context And Future Consequences, Mark Kumleben

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This paper analyzes the state of modern artificial intelligence research from a philosophical perspective, in order to argue for interdisciplinary cooperation in building an effective AI research paradigm. I assess four different aspects of AI: its ability to perceive the world through pattern recognition, its ability to act in the world through reinforcement learning, its role in technological society as predicted by Heidegger’s theory of technology, and its future development into potential superintelligence. By connecting these to an unexamined theory of the human mind underpinning AI research, I seek to show the relationship between our understanding of natural minds and …

Mindfulness, And Workplace Outcomes For Secondary Teachers, Jonathan Erickson

CGU Theses & Dissertations

For teachers to most effectively teach and support students in their classrooms, we want them to feel good about the work they do and burnout from emotional exhaustion. This study investigates how mindfulness, as measured by a comprehensive questionnaire, may play an important role in supporting teachers’ well-being, and specifically asks how mindfulness and other demographic factors may affect the key workplace outcomes of job satisfaction, efficacy, burnout, and resilience. Analyses were performed on data collected from 86 participants, of 330 who were contacted, and who were all secondary teachers in the Los Angeles area at total of five urban …

Contaminants Of Emerging Concern: Reconsidering Our Paradigm Of Water Pollution, Jonathan Gunasti

Pomona Senior Theses

In this senior thesis, I explore contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) and discuss the ways in which these novel contaminants defy traditional notions of pollution. I discuss the history and “emergence” of CECs and EDCs in scientific and public spheres and outline ongoing challenges to recognizing, prioritizing, and understanding the action of these contaminants. I position EDCs within the framework of environmental injustice and health disparities and suggest that these compounds could reinforce multigenerational health inequities. Finally, I perform a pilot analysis of the EDC bisphenol A (BPA) in Mt. Baldy Creek, the Los Angeles …

"And All Were Welcome": An Analysis Of The Transgender Child In Contemporary Picture Books, Isaac Prestwich

Pomona Senior Theses

This paper constitutes an interrogation of children’s picture books that feature trans and gender non-conforming child protagonists. In these books, the audience, presumed to be a child, whose experience of the narrative is mediated through the adult or older figure reading the picture book, is brought to empathize and identify with the book’s characters, whether they be the protagonist themselves, or those auxiliary figures who surround the main character. My goal is to identify consistent themes across the genre, as well as within the field of critical childhood studies, particularly as they pertain to the rhetorical value of the Child, …

The Psychosomatic Journey Of Trauma And Its Healing: A Comparative Synthesis Between Scientific And Psycho-Spiritual Perspectives, Isabel Kelly

Pomona Senior Theses

The purpose of this paper is to create a comparative synthesis between scientific perspectives and spiritual perspectives of understanding the psychosomatic (mind-body) nature of trauma. In order to do so we will consider the works of Dr.Bessel van der Kolk, a world-leading psychiatrist in the field of trauma therapy who advocates for the use of body-oriented approaches to healing, and the works of Carl Jung and Donald Kalsched. Jung is considered one of the founding fathers of the field of Transpersonal Psychology, while Kalsched is a Jungian psychoanalyst who specializes in working with trauma patients. We will see that while …

Multidimensional Zonation In The Renal Vasculature, Hannah Black

Pomona Senior Theses

The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs located in the posterior abdominal wall. They perform the vital task of filtering the blood and concentrating its waste products into urine. As a result, the kidneys play a role in regulating blood pressure, blood pH, and electrolyte balance.4 Kidney disease is a broad heading for a variety of illnesses pertaining to the kidney, but the end result is that the kidneys have a greatly reduced ability to clean the blood.11 The overall burden of kidney disease is massive because the treatments available are extremely expensive, in short supply, and the condition itself greatly …

Llusd Articulator - Volume 30, Number 2, Loma Linda University School Of Dentistry

Articulator (Dentistry)

Contents:

6 | Dean's Circle member assemble at ESRI
11 | PNAM celebrates tenth anniversary
15 | From street life to restoration
18 | Applications for 3D printing in dentistry
25 | LLUSD research publications
31 | Riverside's fifth Long Night
35 | Profiling Lee Ingersoll

Enhancing The Impact Of Behavioral Activation Via Prospection, Chelsey M. Maxson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Biotic And Abiotic Drivers Of Acyclic Snowshoe Hare Population Dynamics In A Spatiotemporally Complex System, Alexander Vishvamitra Kumar

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Although periodic fluctuations in species abundance have long fascinated society (e.g. lemming mass migrations and locust plagues in Egypt), it was not until 1924 that Charles Elton brought cycles to the attention of the scientific community. Following his work, cycle dynamics have remained an enigmatic area of ecology with many cyclic species exhibiting dampened and even acyclic dynamics across space (i.e. portions of their range) or time. One such species, snowshoe hares, exhibit drastic population fluctuations in the northern boreal, but are thought to exhibit dampened cyclic or acyclic population dynamics in the southern portion of their range with quantification …

Protecting Biodiversity On National Forests: The Evolution And Implementation Of Forest Planning Regulations, Anna Wearn

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2012, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) promulgated new forest planning regulations that significantly altered national forest management. One of the most controversial and important advancements was the inclusion of what were meant to be stronger biodiversity protections. An analysis of USFS’s rationale in revising the biodiversity regulations provides insights into how to interpret the substantively and procedurally new ecosystem and species protections. Examining this regulatory history reveals three key changes to the manner in which national forests are required to manage and monitor biodiversity: 1) a greater reliance on science to inform planning, 2) a new emphasis on ecological …

Down The Deer Path: Reflections On The Future Of Hunting In America, Jackie A. Bussjaeger

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This collection of chapters delves into the dramatically shifting landscape of hunting sports from a personal perspective of a young hunter. As older hunters age out of the sport, hunter-funded conservation initiatives are in danger of losing support. This work examines the nature of relationships between hunters, their prey, and their worldview, as well as the elements of hunting that appeal to new hunters, and the challenges they may face as they become the hunters of the future.

Food Web Effects Of Lake Trout (Salvelinus Namaycush) Invasion In Northwestern Montana, Charles Wainright

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Around the turn of the 20th century, lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) were widely introduced in several lakes and reservoirs outside their native range in western North America. Since then, lake trout have become problematic in many lakes where they were introduced, causing significant declines in popular sport fishes and native species, most notably federally protected bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus). Despite evidence that invasive fish can cause cascading trophic effects in aquatic communities, the impacts of lake trout introduction / invasion on aquatic food webs remain poorly understood. Moreover, native fish restoration programs tend to focus on suppression …

Characterizing The Requirements For The Matricellular Protein, Dccn, In Nervous System Function, Elizabeth L. Catudio Garrett

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The brain is organized as a complex network of specialized neurons that communicate via a combination of electrical and chemical signals. Our brains function to generate movement, control organ function, or direct complex behaviors; all of which requires the ability to regulate the flow of communication between circuits and networks. Work in this thesis addresses two areas of neuron communication: first, how does the release of more than one neurotransmitter from a single neuron impact behavior, and second, are matricellular proteins (MCPs) key contributors to synaptic transmission and neuron function? The conserved CCN family of MCPs have a …

Single-Particle Cryo-Em Study Of The Ric-8a:Gαi1 Complex, Jake David Johnston Mr

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Adaptive Harvest Management Of Wolves: The Role Of Recruitment And Hierarchical Demography In Population Dynamics Of A Social Carnivore, Allison Christine Keever

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Regulated public harvest became an important management tool following recovery of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in the U.S. Northern Rocky Mountains. Decisions on harvest regulations, however, can be contentious due to conflicting stakeholder values, uncertainties in the effects of harvest on wolves, and difficulty in monitoring wolves. We addressed challenges associated with wolf management by 1) developing methods to estimate recruitment, 2) evaluating the role of hierarchical demography in wolf population dynamics, 3) developing competing population models to address uncertainty, and 4) developing an adaptive management framework to identify harvest regulations that best meet objectives for wolf management. We developed …

Spirit Eye Cave: Reestablishing Provenience Of Trafficked Prehistoric Human Remains Using A Composite Collection-Based Ancient Dna Approach, Tre Blohm

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Worth A Dam: Glacier View And The Preservation Of Wild America, Shawn Patrick Bailey

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Conceived in the mid-1930s and formally proposed in 1943, the Glacier View Dam was an Army Corps of Engineers’ proposal for the North Fork of the Flathead River in northwestern Montana. This 416-foot tall dam would have provided inexpensive hydroelectric power to the region and helped control flooding on the volatile Columbia River watershed. Glacier View would also have flooded 20,000 acres of Glacier National Park, one of the “crown jewels” of the national park system. An ideologically diverse coalition of National Park Service officials, wilderness activists and outdoor recreation enthusiasts organized the defense of Glacier National Park and convinced …

Water For Fish And Farms: An Examination Of Instream Flow Programs In Montana Using Spatially-Explicit Water Rights Data, Anna Leigh Crockett

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The state-level institutions governing water use in the western United States have increasingly come under pressure and scrutiny related to their inability to navigate water use conflicts in recent decades. Rapid population growth and shifting public values towards leaving water instream for recreational and environmental purposes pose challenges to Montana water supplies which are predominantly allocated for irrigated agriculture. Additionally, while water scarcity and unpredictable availability are not new dilemmas in Montana, the rate at which climate change is driving shifts in the distribution, timing, and availability of water supplies is unprecedented. Current water policies may not be nimble enough …

Golden Eagle Resource Selection And Environmental Drivers Of Reproduction In The Northern Range Of Yellowstone National Park, David Brown Haines

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the United States (US), National Parks are considered the “crown jewels” of protected lands. However, the importance of National Parks to wildlife populations and the species that inhabit them is not often quantified, thus, requiring a better understanding of National Parks as a conservation tool. Golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) are a North American species of conservation concern and territories in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) are relatively dense. However, average reproductive rates over the past ten years (2011-2020) have been low (productivity = 0.34, nest success = 28%). The contrast of high density and …

Temperate Eurasian Origins Of Hawaiian Chenopodium (Amaranthaceae) Plus Description Of A New Species Endemic To Moloka‘I, Jason T. Cantley, Angela J. Mcdonnell, J Branson, S R. Long, W Garnett, Christopher T. Martine

Faculty Journal Articles

Chenopodium taxa of Hawai‘i are tetraploids distinguished from other members of the circumglobally distributed genus by minute morphological characters. Because of these reasons, the geographic origin of Hawaiian Chenopodium has remained unclear. Across the Hawaiian Archipelago, Chenopodium taxa are morphologically variable and grow in highly disparate xeric habitats, especially in terms of precipitation, temperature, wind, salt spray, and solar irradiation. Habitats include dry subalpine shrublands, sandy beach strand of atolls in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands, dry forests, and precipitously tall sea cliffs of northwestern Moloka‘i. From the Moloka‘i sea cliffs, which are battered by high energy winds, salt spray, and …

Prenatal Aromatase Inhibition Alters Postnatal Immunity In Domestic Chickens (Gallus Gallus), Jeff W. Simkins, Abby E. Joseph, Frances Bonier, Z. Morgan Benowitz-Fredericks

Faculty Journal Articles

In birds, exposure to exogenous testosterone during embryonic development can suppress measures of immune function; however, it is unclear whether these effects are due to direct or indirect action via aromatization. Estradiol (E2) is synthesized from testosterone by the enzyme aromatase, and this conversion is a necessary step in many signaling pathways that are ostensibly testosterone-dependent. Many lines of evidence in mammals indicate that E2 can affect immune function. We tested the hypothesis that some of the immunomodulatory effects observed in response to in ovo testosterone exposure in birds are mediated by conversion to E2 by aromatase, by using fadrozole …

The Reproductive Priming Effect Revisited: Mate Poaching, Mate Copying, Or Both?., Rebecca Burch, T. Joel Wade, James Moran

Faculty Journal Articles

According to the reproductive priming effect, an individual who enters into a romantic relationship tends to see an increase in admirers. To further understand the mechanisms underlying this effect and its relationship with mate poaching and copying, 560 undergraduates were asked to report their experiences of being a romantic target (i.e., experiencing more admirers when in a new relationship) or an admirer (having greater attraction for someone in a relationship). Over two thirds of respondents noticed this increase in admirers, and approximately half reported being more attracted to a person who recently entered a new relationship. Many of the responses …

Development, Characterization, And Cross-Amplification Of Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers For North American Trachymyrmex And Mycetomoellerius Ants, Alix E. Matthews, Chase Rowan, Colby Stone, Katrin Kellner, Jon Seal

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Objective: The objective of this study is to develop and identify polymorphic microsatellite markers for fungus-gardening (attine) ants in the genus Trachymyrmex sensu lato. These ants are important ecosystem engineers and have been a model group for understanding complex symbiotic systems, but very little is understood about the intraspecific genetic patterns across most North American attine species. These microsatellite markers will help to better study intraspecific population genetic structure, gene flow, mating habits, and phylogeographic patterns in these species and potentially other congeners. Results: Using next-generation sequencing techniques, we identified 17 and 12 polymorphic microsatellite markers from T. septentrionalis and …