Digital Commons Network^™

How Reading To Dogs Can Benefit Children’S Development, Victoria Larios

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This senior capstone research project investigates the benefits of children’s development when they read to dogs. Through literature review, interviews, and anonymous questionnaires, I was able to gather information proving this such as cognitive development, socio-emotional development, increase in oxytocin, and a decrease in cortisol level, among others. Results from my research yielded for more research to be done but all stated the positive impacts reading to dogs and did not mention anything that would dispute the use of dogs to benefit children’s development.

Sound Design In Video Games / Creating Sound For Heartrift, Israel C. Powers

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

In all media that we consume, sound is a major element in bringing that media to life. Whether it be a show, a film or a video game, sound design is essential to enhancing the experience of the audience. The practice of creating sound effects for films is known as foley, named after the man who pioneered it, Jack Foley. A foley artist’s job is creating or performing the sound post-production in time with the film. For the case of video games in particular, the sound design stages are similar and primarily in a digital format. Just like in film, …

A Content Analysis Of Lgbtqia+ Representation In Anime & American Animation, Ana Bravo

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This capstone project examines the ways the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+) community is portrayed in Japanese and American animation and the differences or similarities the portrayals share. My methodology for this study includes a qualitative method. The qualitative research conducted for this capstone project involves a content analysis of three American animated series and three Japanese animated series. Two to three episodes were analyzed for each series, consisting of fifteen episodes altogether. This study will draw on Queer theory to examine and highlight how queer identities and culture are depicted in the two different forms …

Gerontoludic Character Design: Creating Engaging Player Characters For Older Adults, Robin Noelle Koman

Theses

In this thesis, findings of research in gerontoludic character design, in other words the design of game player characters focused upon the needs, wants, and expectations of older adults, are delivered. To support these findings, there is a review of qualitative and quantitative literature on ageism, including the impact of aging stereotypes and assumptions upon technology driven industries such as the game industry. This exploration of the roots of ageism includes an examination of how ageism affects the frequency and nature of older adult characters, both playable and non-playable, found in video games. Part of the justification of this topic …

The Artists Of The Walter Crane Fan: Gender And Performance In 1895, Caroline Haller

Theses

The curiosity of the Walter Crane Fan, an autograph fan created in 1895, is that despite featuring forty signatures of famed artists, writers, musicians and public figures, it has received little critical examination. The re-discovery of the Walter Crane Fan when it came to auction, prompted its inclusion in The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900 exhibition originally held at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 2011. Then, the Crane Fan was the focus of Robyne Calvert’s essay “An Artistic Fan in Victorian Society” in Connecting Whistler: Essays in Honour of Margaret F. Macdonald. However, to date, …

The Taxonomy Of Extinction: Brian Jungen’S Tombstone, Jasen Evoy

Theses

This thesis focuses on the recent work (Tombstone, 2019) by Brian Jungen, a Canadian artist of mixed European and Dane-zaa heritage. The work is explored in detail, leveraging concepts present in Jungen’s existing body of work to extract intent and meaning through Jungen’s complex use of space, materiality, and iconography. Tombstone is a large scale, multimedia sculpture consisting of white plastic Rubbermaid stepstools cut and assembled into the form of a turtle or tortoise shell resting on a bank of thirty-seven black filing cabinets. While Tombstone initially presents itself as aesthetically sparse, it is a deeply-layered commentary on inequity, power …

Web For All – An Accessibility Website, Kirsten Hawkes

Theses

This project focuses on how to improve awareness and implementation of web accessibility. The primary focus of the webforall.tech website is to provide a guide of best practices for web accessibility and a list of resources. The aim of the project is to create a website that provides UX designers and developers with the tools to design with accessibility in mind. Furthermore, the project involves testing the website with a survey and usability testing sessions to inform the updates and improvements implemented.

Cross-Cultural Currents And Syncretism In Early Modern Opossum Iconography, Deniz Martinez

Theses

Opossums (Order Didelphimorphia) are marsupial mammals endemic to the Americas. They are also the first marsupials Europeans ever encountered, over a century before any Australasian species. Because of their unique marsupial characteristics, opossums have historically been viewed as an “anomalous” animal form across both Indigenous American and European cultures, and thus developed a rich and complex transatlantic cultural history. By tracing the development of opossum imagery through the millennia, one can uncover clear patterns of how their distinct features became embedded in iconographies relative to biogeocultural sphere, and how certain iconographic conventions were transmitted through various media both within and …

The Effects Of Therapeutic Arts On Black Mental Health, Alicia Newsome

Theses

This project focuses on black mental health that encompasses mental wellness education through social media and builds community connection by sharing stories. It reduces social exclusion and creates positive change in black communities. The final deliverable will be a short video poem compilation via YouTube that gives insight into what it is like living with depression and anxiety. It will include motion graphics, photo manipulation, and graphic art covers titled Misconceptions, Beautiful Temptations, Relentless, and Old Abuse. It is about implementing healthy coping mechanisms and bringing together a community that is often overlooked and/or stigmatized regarding mental health. It enhances …

The Control Of Morality As Demonstrated Through Allegorical Symbolism In Late Medieval Tapestry And Morality Plays, Kelsey Cook

Theses

This paper examines the use of allegory in the late medieval tapestry The Prince of Malice and His Court, produced between 1470 and 1480, alongside similar allegorical devices used in the contemporary French morality play L’Homme Juste et L’Homme Mondain. Recent scholarship on late medieval tapestry has included conversations of literary influence, mainly focusing on romance literature in particular. Although these comparisons have laid a foundation for the use of allegory within tapestry, a comparison to other literary examples is lacking. The following research, therefore, will analyze tapestry against morality plays to further extrapolate the visual exchange that occurred between …

How Do Science Enrichment Programs Impact The Academic Achievement Of 1 Class Of Grade 7, Oluwayemisi I. Olaitan Ms

Multidisciplinary Studies Theses

Throughout my long experience as an educator, I have noticed the weak attitude towards learning science amongst students in Qatar. I work as an administrator at a school called The Fourth Assalam School. The school caters to 80% Indians and Pakistanis, while 20% are from Africa and the Philippines. The school collaborates with one of the national charitable organisations ( Qatar Charity) to integrate out-of-school children and Families with Financial issues into a school system to complete formal education.

This academic year, I had the opportunity to go through the final score of the Cambridge progression test conducted in my …

Support “Thai Halal Farmers” : Boosting Andaman Halal Economy, Aslinda Radenahmad

Halal Insight

No abstract provided.

The Interaction Between Serotonin Transporter Allelic Variation And Maternal Care Modulates Instagram Sociability In A Sample Of Singaporean Users, Andrea Bonassi, Ilaria Cataldo, Giulio Gabrieli, Moses Tandiono, Jia Nee Foo, Bruno Lepri, Gianluca Esposito

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Human social interactions ensure recognition and approval from others, both in offline and online environments. This study applies a model from behavioral genetics on Instagram sociability to explore the impact of individual development on behavior on social networks. We hypothesize that sociable attitudes on Instagram resulted from an interaction between serotonin transporter gene alleles and the individual’s social relationship with caregivers. We assess the environmental and genetic components of 57 Instagram users. The self-report questionnaire Parental Bonding Instrument is adopted to determine the quality of parental bonding. The number of posts, followed users (“followings”), and followers are collected from Instagram …

Greater Sage-Grouse Brood Responses To Livestock Grazing In Sagebrush Rangelands, Hailey Peatross Wayment

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The distribution and abundance of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) have declined in the last 60 years. Range contractions and population declines have been attributed to loss and fragmentation of their sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats. Grazing by livestock remains the predominant anthropogenic land-use across sagebrush ecosystems in North America, occurring on 87% of remaining sage-grouse habitat. Most of the peer-reviewed literature reports the potential for negative impacts of sagebrush reduction treatments, to increase livestock forage, on sage-grouse habitat. However, few studies have linked livestock grazing at the landscape level to vital rates (e.g., nest initiation rates, …

Let Us Live To Make Men Free: Locke And Aquinas On Toleration And Natural Law, Micah Safsten

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Tolerance is a difficult and controversial concept in political rhetoric. For many, tolerance requires the acceptance of what one believes is evil. Still, most of us feel as though we must accept the differences of others on some level. This thesis is an attempt to better understand tolerance. To do so, it uses the concept of natural law, or the idea that all law should justified through one, universal theory of good. This would seem contradictory, as natural law supposes that a single vision of the good life exists for all. Yet the natural law theory of one legal theorist, …

Impact Of Ph And Palmitic Acid On Ruminal Fermentation And Microbial Community Composition, Lexie Padilla

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of dietary palmitic acid and pH on rumen fermentation, fiber digestibility, and bacterial community composition. The two factors in the experiment were palmitic acid treatment and pH treatment. Palmitic acid treatments included a control diet compared to a diet containing 1.5% palmitic acid. pH treatments included normal pH (6.6 to 7.0) compared to low pH (6.0 to 6.4). Rumen fluid from a cow was added to artificial rumens to study the effects of the two treatments relative to fermentation and changes within the microbial community. Results of the study showed …

A Study Of Wings With Constant And Variable Sweep For Aerodynamic Efficiency In Inviscid Flow, Bruno Moorthamers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wing sweep has been studied by industry and academia since the pioneering days of aviation for both high-speed and low-speed applications. In transonic and supersonic flight regimes it serves to delay the onset of compressibility effects and decrease wave drag. In subsonic conditions, flying wing designs sweep back the main lifting surface in such a way that it can be used for longitudinal stability and control, to allow for the elimination of a traditional empenage. This is desirable because it can decrease the aerodynamic drag. Sweep can also be seen in nature in the wings of birds and fins of …

Nutrient Uptake And Water Quality In Great Salt Lake Wetland Impoundments, Rachel L. Buck

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Great Salt Lake (GSL) is the largest inland body of water on the Pacific flyway, a major pathway for migratory birds in the Americas that extends from Alaska to Patagonia. The lake is surrounded by approximately 360,000 acres of wetlands, providing critical food, shelter, cover, nesting areas, and protection to between 4–6 million birds that visit each year. Impounded wetlands were created as part of the GSL ecosystem to support waterfowl habitat. These large, shallow, submergent wetlands are diked to control water levels to sustain aquatic plants which are an important food source. Besides providing critical habitat, these impoundments …

Carnivoran Frugivory And Its Effect On Seed Dispersal, Plant Community Composition, Migration, And Biotic Carbon Storage, John P. Draper

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Seed dispersal by animals is important for the ecology of plants. It is particularly important to understand which animals are involved and how they move seeds differently from one another. Some seed dispersers are understudied despite ample evidence they consume fruits and seeds. This includes animals commonly referred to as carnivores in the order Carnivora. The overall goal of my dissertation was to describe the extent and quality of seed dispersal by Carnivorans, estimate important aspects of seed dispersal for a specific Carnivoran, the coyote, and estimate how differences between a coyote and songbirds affect where plants …

Effects Of Providing Novel Feedstuffs To Livestock On Production And Skeletal Muscle Growth, Laura A. Motsinger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As the population increases and available land for food production decreases, it is necessary for livestock producers to continually work towards increasing livestock production efficiency. In livestock operations, feed accounts for the majority of input costs associated with raising livestock. As such, it is necessary to improve growth and production of livestock animals, while also optimizing feed utilization. Different feedstuffs can be included in the diet of livestock animals to maximize growth and production. However, the effects of some of these novel feedstuffs on growth and production of livestock animals has not been elucidated. As such, we investigated the effects …

Voces: Experiences Of Undocumented Latines, José Manuel González Vera

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to learn about the challenges that this community faced before the pandemic and how they coped through those challenges. To answer this question, I examined transcripts from group interviews collected in the state of Texas. In total, there were 67 participants, many of whom were undocumented (n = 49) while the others had a relative or friend who was undocumented. Data were analyzed by looking for common patterns and themes in the transcripts, and guided by Critical Race Theory, Latine Critical Theory, and Undocumented Critical Theory. Results suggest that psychological distress is common …

Changes In Voting Behavior Along Partisan Lines Due To Extreme Weather Events Linked To Climate Change, Daniel Brinkerhoff

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper investigates the relationship between extreme weather events linked to climate change and partisan voting behavior. Looking at House of Representative and Senate elections in the US between 2000-2018 and comparing them to extreme damages from droughts, flooding, tropical cyclones, and fire. Ultimately, we do not find a stable relationship between weather damages and partisan voting behavior.

Cultivating Agrobiodiversity In The U.S.: Barriers And Bridges At Multiple Scales, Kaitlyn A. Spangler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The diversity of crops grown in the United States (U.S.) is declining, causing agricultural landscapes to become more and more simplified. This trend is concerning for the loss of important plant, insect, and animal species, as well as the pollution and degradation of our environment. Through three separate but related studies, this dissertation addresses the need to increase the diversity of these agricultural landscapes in the U.S., particularly through diversifying the type and number of crops grown. The first study uses multiple, openly accessible datasets related to agricultural land use and policies to document and visualize change over recent decades. …

Role Of Mitochondria In Postmortem Proteolysis And Meat Tenderness, David Son Dang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Among all eating quality characteristics in beef, tenderness is regarded as one of the most important traits. Previous research indicates that consumers are willing to pay a premium for beef guaranteed to be tender. Yet, tenderness is difficult to control and predict as it is influenced by a multitude of factors. Among these factors, meat aging has been shown to be a strong determinant of tenderness. Meat aging describes a process in which muscle tissue is broken down by other proteins within the muscle, resulting in a more tender product after cooking. Two well-recognized proteins that participate in the breakdown …

Computational Studies On Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Uptake And Its Effects On Antimicrobial Resistance, Andrew Turgeson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The topic of this research was initiated by the discovery, in part by Dr. David Giles, that Vibrio cholerae, the enteric bacteria responsible for the disease cholera, has the ability to uptake and utilize long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids up to 22 carbon atoms long. Before this discovery was made, conventional belief was that fatty acids of greater than 18 carbons long were toxic to bacteria. Further investigations have revealed that this uptake is not unique to Vibrio cholerae, and a range of bacteria such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii, and even Escherichia coli have been found to …

Wavzine: Independent, Localized Cultural Journalism In The Digital Age, Jake Edward Davis

Journalism

wavzine (also called .WAV or colloquially known as “The Zine”) is a music, arts, and culture multimedia website and print periodical founded by Cal Poly students in the summer of 2020. Two years on, it was comprised of roughly 45 regular staff members and even more occasional contributors, all of whom are volunteers. Along with independently publishing articles, videos, podcasts, and art online, wavzine also organizes and hosts concerts for local bands, collaborates with local cultural events such as Shabang Music Festival and the San Luis Obispo Film Festival, and sells its own branded merchandise. To its 2,700 Instagram followers, …

Insole Fall Prevention Device, Nick M. Hughes, Andrew M. Slaboda

Biomedical Engineering

Falls among the aging population occur every single day, with 1 in every 5 resulting in some injury and 300,000 hospitalized every year with a hip fracture [1]. The most popular and effective way to mitigate these falls is through physical therapist intervention. However, with the increased popularity in telerehab, many patients at risk for falls cannot accurately convey their gait tendencies to their physical therapists from the comfort of their home or while not in direct contact with the PT. A device like an insole, implanted with force sensors, which measures different parts of a patient’s foot, could convey …

Mechanisms For Funding Biosecurity And Declared Pest Management In Western Australia - Report By The Biosecurity Council Of Western Australia, Biosecurity Council Of Western Australia

Biosecurity published reports

There are five legislated funding mechanisms used for biosecurity-related purposes in wa declared pest rates, Industry Funding Schemes (IFSs), fees for service through the Agricultural Produce Commission (APC), specified area rates and the Modified Penalties Revenue Account. Of these, three were assessed as sustainable sources of biosecurity funding:

• Declared pest rates (DPRs) - rates chargeable on land in a prescribed area. The funds collected via this mechanism are matched dollar-for-dollar from the State's Consolidated Account and used for activities to control declared pests, including biosecurity threats.
• IFSs - schemes that enable agricultural industries to collect funds from producers. The funds …

Rivers As International Borders: A Comparison Of How Social-Political Factors Have Impacted Natural Resources In The Usumacinta River Basin And Rio Grande River Basin Within The Context Of Climate Change, Anna A. Flores

Water Resources Science and Technology Theses and Graduate Research Reports (Archived)

Along transboundary river borders in North and Central America social-political factors such as conservation, militarization, and migration impact natural resources leaving the United States, Mexico, and Guatemala at risk of ecological decline due to the changing climate. I present a qualitative case study comparing the social-political factors and their impact on natural resources in the Usumacinta River Basin (URB) and Rio Grande River Basin (RGRB). A comprehensive evaluation of social-political factors is performed starting from the 19th century to the current era. I contribute to the field of environmental sociology by extending Laako and Kauffer’s (2022) work on eco-frontiers of …

Aflatoxin In Dairy Cattle Water Troughs, Julie A. Scott

Water Resources Science and Technology Theses and Graduate Research Reports (Archived)

One of the most commonly found mycotoxins, aflatoxin, has been an emerging concern for the milk and dairy industry and a continued concern for the human food supply and cattle feed industry. There is a possibility of this carcinogenic mycotoxin being found in water and several studies have found them in water storage tanks, treated wastewater systems, and even in bottled water. With the potential presence in water, this study explores the possibility of aflatoxin in water troughs found on dairy farms which could be one of the exposures to cattle linked to causing aflatoxin in milk. Trough water samples …