Digital Commons Network^™

Radon In Utah Homes, Madison Mackay

Physics Capstone Projects

Radon gas can be found nearly everywhere. It is formed by the decay of radium, which is found in rocks, soil, plants, and animals. Radon gas can become trapped in buildings and is dangerous at high levels. It is particularly known to be high in many areas of the state of Utah. It is important for the average citizen in Utah to understand more about radon and what levels they may be exposed to. An experiment was done to try an alternate, faster method of testing for radon gas. This experiment was performed in several different locations in Utah. While …

A Study Of Biochar Production Via Continuous Vacuum-Assisted Pyrolysis, Max Wohlgenant

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The present study focuses upon the design, fabrication, and feasibility of the bulk production of scientific biochar for mobile delivery. In the 2022 annual report, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine recommended the integration of mobile, decentralized reactors that employ flexible manufacturing and circular economic principles. Biochar production, involving the thermal degradation of biomass under an inert atmosphere to yield remediation media is an ideal material to satisfy this recommendation. Many potential application sites, such as abandoned mines, are remote and limit the construction of large infrastructure. The continuous vacuum-assisted pyrolysis (CVAP) reactor was designed to: increase biochar …

Dies Legibiles Iii

Dies Legibiles

Thank you for reading the third volume of Dies Legibiles! We’ve had an exciting semester, as our core editorial team was composed entirely of students who were new to the journal. Though this came with a certain amount of trial and error, it also brought a sense of passion and drive that served us well: we received more submissions this year than ever before. Many of our submissions came from outside Smith College and the Five College Consortium—including several international submissions! We are thrilled to expand our outreach and cover a wider array of perspectives and topics.

Why Understanding Food Choice Is Crucial To Transform Food Systems For Human And Planetary Health, Krystal K. Rampalli, Christine E. Blake Ph.D., Rd, Edward A. Frongillo Ph.D., Joseph Montoya

Faculty Publications

What, how and why people eat has long been understood to be important for human health, but until recently, has not been recognised as an essential facet of climate change and its effects on planetary health. The global climate change and diet-related health crises occurring are connected to food systems, food environments and consumer food choices. Calls to transform food systems for human and planetary health highlight the importance of understanding individual food choice. Understanding what, how and why people eat the way they do is crucial to successful food systems transformations that achieve both human and planetary health goals. …

The Lumberjack, May 03, 2023

Cal Poly Humboldt's Student Newspaper

The student newspaper of Humboldt State University.

Transcendence: Exploring The Connections Between Transgender/Gender Non-Conforming Identities And Experiences Of Nature Through Art, Mc Jackson

Undergraduate Theses

“Transcendence: Exploring the connections between transgender/gender non-conforming identities and experiences of nature through art” is the written portion of a creative thesis revolving around an immersive art installation and short film. Transcendence, the installation, was created to promote connection by exploring the overlap between transgender and gender non-conforming (GNC) experiences and experiences of nature. Part of this installation is a short film of interviews conducted with transgender and GNC individuals about nature, their gender experiences, and the transcendent nature of the two. The written thesis analyzes existing literature on nature as a restorative, therapeutic, spiritual setting, offers insight into …

An Analysis Of The Higher-Order Thinking Requirements Of An End-Of-Course Ela Assessment, Timothy J. Dowd

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Higher-order thinking has been promoted in the American classroom for several decades. Summative assessments have the dual role of ascertaining the student’s proficiency and also providing them with opportunities to employ various cognitive behaviors and to offer them with opportunities to demonstrate their ability to think in complex ways. The creators of one such summative assessment, the North Carolina End-of-Course English II Test, claim that their test provides up to 40% of its items at the higher-order of thinking. The purpose of this convergent mixed-methods study was to investigate how the language found in the released items on the North …

Destruction Or Disruption: Political Violence Inconsistencies In Liberation Movements, Julia Lemmon

Honors Thesis

Political violence is seldom viewed as an appropriate means to achieving a goal. Despite extensive studies produced on the reasons for using political violence, the scholarly world fails to consider comparing why some groups choose violence while their counterparts do not. Why is violence such an attractive method to some organized political groups, but not to others? Drawing on case studies of liberation movements, I attempt to understand what impacts the outcome of political violence during these movements. This study cross examines the Algerian Independence War with India’s nonviolent independence movement and the nonviolent independence movement of East Timor with …

From Factory Schooling To Nai Taleem: A Paradigm Shift In Education, Manish Jain

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

The article invites readers to question and reflect on the purpose of modern education and narratives of a good life, success and happiness. Modern, capitalistic, industrialized, urbanized and colonial (and colonizing) ways of living and being have created numerous global challenges. In light of these challenges, we need to re-examine our educational systems. I explore the potential of nai taleem as a philosophy of learning, living, and being; one that decolonizes education, our monoculture mindsets, and our notions of a good life. In an increasingly globalized, albeit disconnected, world I call for nai taleem as a means for building meaningful …

Music On Canvas: A Quest To Generate Art That Evokes The Feeling Of Music, My Linh (Lucy) Tran

Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science Honors Projects

Although the idea of connecting music and art dates back to ancient Greece, recent advancements in computing have made automating this feasible. This project represents a quest to transform music into art, using three methodologies where each is an improvement towards generating images that convey our feelings and imaginations during music listening. The three methods respectively involve:

1. An element-wise mapping of sound and colors
2. Using song tags
3. Tuning an Artificial Intelligence (AI) model to generate pictorial text captions.

To create artistic images, methods two and three utilize an existing text-to-image generative AI.

A Sister-Group Comparison Of Branching And Pedicellariae In Brittlestar S (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea), Richard L. Turner, Brenna O. O'Neill

Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences Faculty Publications

Branching of arms and presence of pedicellariae are characters among ophiuroids found only in the order Euryalida (snakestars and basketstars). Family Asteronychidae has neither character; family Euryalidae has 2 small clades with branched arms; and family Gorgonocephalidae has all species with pedicellariae and 3 or 4 clades with branched arms. Despite the rare occurrence of these characters in the Ophiuroidea, they might be key adaptations within the Euryalida that have led to relatively high diversification. Sister-group comparison of the distribution of these 2 characters among taxa indicates that neither character alone explains diversity patterns within the order. In particular, branching …

Vinyle Zine: The Execution Of The Pedagogy Of Pro-Blackness, Kandice Fowlkes

Master of Arts in Professional Writing Capstones

Vinyle zine, is a Black literary magazine pedagogically driven to increase cultural literacy within the African-American community. In order to do this, this magazine must have the foundation of Pro-Blackness as a driving force towards advancing Black people in the ways this platform can offer its service. Vinyle zine allows Black individuals to practice using writing and any art form as their medium of expression –a tool that has been utilized to extol African American truths and increase cultural knowledge. By encouraging expression in art and provoking cultural knowledge, Vinyle zine will continue to encourage Black artists and writers to …

New Insights Into The Paleovegetation Of The Ancient Underwater Forest Located In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Karla Lizarraga Garcia

Master's Theses

A well-preserved remnant of an ancient bald cypress forest (hereafter, Underwater Forest) constitutes the only known archive of a glacial refuge on the once exposed continental shelf of the Northern Gulf of Mexico. This forest existed around 41-72 yBP (MIS 3-5) according to the existing dating methods applied on previous studies. As the climate conditions and sea levels changed, the vegetation of this glacial refuge shifted from bald cypress forests to open marshes, altering the vegetation dynamics. The present research analyzed four new cores (21DF-5A, 21DF-5B, 15DF-6, and 16DF-3A), which provided additional insights into the vegetation that once existed in …

Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms In Plasmodium Falciparum Genes: Their Roles In Antimalarial Drugs Resistance And Recent Detection Strategies, Raihanny Andrea Zahra, Ananda Maulana Fanshur, Aurelia Maria Prajna Saraswati, Nurul Inayah Rahmani

Indonesian Journal of Medical Chemistry and Bioinformatics

Introduction: Malaria is a serious tropical disease with Plasmodium falciparum as its most well-known causative parasite for producing higher levels of late stage parasites that leads to sequestration in vital organs which could lead to death. There is a growing trend of antimalarial drugs resistance against Plasmodium falciparum. Molecular assessment using polymerase chain reaction could trace the presence of mutation and also determine single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in Plasmodium falciparum genes. This SNP can determine the particular population’s response to antimalarial drugs. Objectives: This study aims to examine the relationship between SNP in Plasmodium falciparum genes and antimalarial drugs resistance. …

The Measurement And Treatment Of Overt Stuttering In Handwriting, Preston Dubberly

Honors Theses

While stuttering continues to be considered a speech disorder, other linguistic expressive modalities are reported as having stuttering-like disfluencies (SLD) as well. With research now defining the stuttering phenomenon as a medical disease, the modern stuttering research paradigm is now better equipped to account for SLDs in multiple expressive modalities, including handwriting. As our appreciation of stuttering crosses expressive modalities, the purpose of this manuscript is to document, describe, and define SLDs in handwriting, as well as to investigate fluency enhancement strategies for those who stutter in handwriting. The participant in this case study self-referred himself for an evaluation and …

Microparticle-Delivered Cxcl9 Prolongs Braf Inhibitor Efficacy In Melanoma, Gabriele Romano, Francesca Paradiso, Peng Li, Pooja Shukla, Lindsay N Barger, Olivia El Naggar, John P Miller, Roger J Liang, Timothy L Helms, Alexander J Lazar, Jennifer A Wargo, Francesca Taraballi, James C Costello, Lawrence N Kwong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Patients with BRAF-mutant melanoma show substantial responses to combined BRAF and MEK inhibition, but most relapse within 2 years. A major reservoir for drug resistance is minimal residual disease (MRD), comprised of drug-tolerant tumor cells laying in a dormant state. Towards exploiting potential therapeutic vulnerabilities of MRD, we established a genetically engineered mouse model of BrafV600E-driven melanoma MRD wherein genetic BrafV600E extinction leads to strong but incomplete tumor regression. Transcriptional time-course analysis after BrafV600E extinction revealed that after an initial surge of immune activation, tumors later became immunologically "cold" after MRD establishment. Computational analysis identified candidate T-cell recruiting chemokines as …

Strategic Audit Report Pfizer – Brand-Name Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (U.S.), Madeleine Grimm, Meghan Schuette, Trent Lockard, Connor Boudreau, Kollin Goff

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The purpose of this strategic audit report is to provide an in-depth analysis of different aspects of Pfizer Inc.’s business operations and an overview of the different types of strategies that Pfizer employs within the Brand-Name Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Industry. The audit contains analyses of the company’s history and strategic leadership strategies, external environment, internal environment, performance, and competitive dynamics. These aspects are examined to provide a foundation for further analysis of Pfizer’s strategies in the context of the environment. This report also analyzes the company’s business and corporate-level strategies, the impact of recent mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance practices, and …

Pathogenesis Of Oral Toxicities Associated With Targeted Therapy And Immunotherapy, Alessandro Villa

All Publications

Targeted therapy and immunotherapy have redefined cancer treatment. While they have enhanced tumor response and improved survival rates in many cancer types, toxicities continue to occur, and these often involve the oral cavity. Broadly reported as "mucositis" or "stomatitis," oral toxicities induced by targeted therapies differ clinically and mechanistically from those associated with conventional chemotherapy. Manifesting primarily as mucosal lesions, salivary gland hypofunction, or orofacial neuropathies, these oral toxicities may nonetheless lead to significant morbidity and impact patients' quality of life, thereby compromising clinical outcomes. We conclude that familiarity with the spectrum of associated toxicities and understanding of their pathogenesis …

A Review Of Propagation And Restoration Techniques For American Beech And Their Current And Future Application In Mitigation Of Beech Bark Disease, Andrea L. Myers, Andrew J. Storer, Yvette L. Dickinson, Tara Bal

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The American beech (Fagus grandifolia Ehrh.) has been impacted by the beech bark disease (BBD) complex throughout the northeastern United States for over 100 years, but the disease has been present in the Great Lakes region only for around 20 years, requiring acknowledgement of the evolving context surrounding F. grandifolia. This disease threatens to remove a foundational tree species which is especially important ecologically for wildlife habitat and mast, and as a climax successional species. We review advances in propagation techniques of F. grandifolia with the goal of addressing their use in the rehabilitative restoration of forests affected by BBD. …

Sexual Dimorphism In Bidirectional Sr-Mitochondria Crosstalk In Ventricular Cardiomyocytes, Richard T Clements, Radmila Terentyeva, Shanna Hamilton, Paul M L Janssen, Karim Roder, Benjamin Y Martin, Fruzsina Perger, Timothy G Schneider, Zuzana Nichtova, Anindhya S Das, Roland Veress, Beth S Lee, Do-Gyoon Kim, Gideon Koren, Matthew S Stratton, György Csordás, Federica Accornero, Andriy E Belevych, Sandor Gyorke, Dmitry Terentyev

Department of Pathology, Anatomy, and Cell Biology Faculty Papers

Calcium transfer into the mitochondrial matrix during sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) Ca²⁺ release is essential to boost energy production in ventricular cardiomyocytes (VCMs) and match increased metabolic demand. Mitochondria from female hearts exhibit lower mito-[Ca²⁺] and produce less reactive oxygen species (ROS) compared to males, without change in respiration capacity. We hypothesized that in female VCMs, more efficient electron transport chain (ETC) organization into supercomplexes offsets the deficit in mito-Ca²⁺ accumulation, thereby reducing ROS production and stress-induced intracellular Ca²⁺ mishandling. Experiments using mitochondria-targeted biosensors confirmed lower mito-ROS and mito-[Ca²⁺] in female rat VCMs challenged …

Legacy, Joseph Jackson

Theses

What will A.I. look like in the near future, and how will we incorporate it? In the past decade, I have seen personal assistants like Siri and Alexa become common. I believe that the next leap in personal assistants will not be a new personality entirely but one our own choosing. Legacy is a short fiction film that offers a glimpse into the life of a programmer named Wright, who works at an A.I. company called Legacy. Legacy is a subscription-based A.I. personal assistant developer that creates a likeness of historical persons and celebrities. Following the recent death of Wright’s …

Which?, Ting Yu Chang

Theses

Which? is a 2D animation of a young witch, who looks like the typical witch with her black robe and her bony face. She is trying to find her prince charming from a dating app. The witch keeps scrolling on the mirror. Suddenly, a prince's profile gets her attention. The prince is tall and handsome.She falls in love with the prince at first sight. However, the prince's profile shows that he only loves a princess, who has beautiful long hair and a delicate face. The witch decides to change herself to look like a princess. The witch’s little friends, such …

Reviews Of The Shared Room And The Most Beautiful Thing, Bao Diep

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

Grief and Loss are often seen as taboo subjects to discuss openly in many cultures. However, grief is universal, perpetual, and complex. Grief can take many forms and depend on the nature of the attachment between the survivor and the dead (people, animals, living things). When Loss happens, the survivor’s attachment will influence the shape and level of grief. Kao Kalia Yang (2020) has brought the topic of attachment, grief and loss to her children’s books, The Shared Room and The Most Beautiful Things, to initiate this difficult conversation.

Review Of The A-Z Of C. S. Lewis: An Encyclopedia Of His Life, Thought, And Writings, Doug Jackson

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

Review of Colin Duriez, The A-Z of C. S. Lewis: An Encyclopedia of His Life, Thought, and Writings (Oxford, 2013). 352 pages. $24.95. ISBN 9780745955865.

Traces Of Transcendence: C. S. Lewis And The Ciphers Of Being, A. N. Hunt

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

C. S. Lewis experienced several moments of Sehnsucht in his life. In one incident, he reported “such a sudden intense feeling of delight that it sort of stopped me in my walk and spun me round. Indeed the sweetness was so great, & seemed so to affect the whole body as well as the mind.” This essay contends that new and significant light can be thrown on these fascinating episodes in Lewis’ life. In fact, the general philosophical features of the phenomenon causing Sehnsucht can be discerned, and described within the framework established by German existentialist Karl Jaspers (1883-1969). Like …

How Much Does That Hideous Strength Owe To Charles Williams?, Charles A. Huttar

Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal

do not intend here anything so ambitious as a comprehensive study of the question posed by my title. My purpose in this essay is threefold: in the first section, to augment the case that has been made for one debt to Williams; in the second, to narrow down the demonstrable range of Williams’ influence in another area, that of the Arthurian material in That Hideous Strength; and finally, to point out a commonality in their theory of history that can probably not, however, be considered an instance of oneway influence, but rather an agreement that reflects their shared Christian worldview. …

Learning About Buddhism, Maria Diaz

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Buddhism was founded over 2500 years ago in India by Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha. Buddhism is a popular religion, not only in Asia but all over the world. Its popularity has grown not only in terms of its religious beliefs but of its practices as well. Core Buddhist beliefs such as samsara, nirvana, and the lack of a soul are present when learning about the religion. The Buddhism Temple of Chicago is an important part of both the Buddhist religion and the city, rising in popularity and importance once the history of the temple is explained.

Enhancement Of Pcb Uptake In Zebrafish By Different Microplastics, Heba Hussain

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Plastic debris is widespread in aquatic environments. The goal of this study is to determine how the structural differences of the polymers in plastic will affect the transfer of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) absorbed on the surface to zebrafish. We have exposed zebrafish to three types of plastic (polyethylene, polymethylmethacrylate, and polycellulose) to determine how the chemical structure of the plastic affects the uptake of PCBs by the fish. Fluorescence analysis shows that the fish do not retain a significant amount of plastic beads. We are analyzing zebrafish tissue to determine which plastic better transfers PCBs to the fish.

Predicting The Consequences Of Global Climate Change On Aquatic Snakes In The Midweset, Ella Janson, Jess Lindberg, Joseph Milanovich

Undergraduate Research and Engagement Symposium

Global Climate change is a concern for herpetologists attempting to understand the influence of a changing climate on distributions and populations. Our objectives were to use Species Distributions Models (SDMs) to quanitfy distributional changes for aquatic snake species in the Midwest. An ensemble of distributions were created as a result of modeling combinations of GCMs. These data show changes in the distribution of some aquatic snake species across the Midwestern United States.

Animal Planet, Emily O'Hara

The Mercury

No abstract provided.