Meta-Analysis Of The Effect Of Vagus Nerve Stimulation On Functional Heart Failure Outcomes, Ariana B. Labrada

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Globally, Heart Failure (HF) is a significant cause for concern. Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) is an emerging therapy for patients with HF. It involves the activation of efferent vagal signals, which result in the release of acetylcholine (ACh). In practice, VNS has obtained relatively mixed results in clinical trials so far. In order to ascertain the extent of the effects VNS has on functional clinical outcomes, this meta-analysis consolidates studies that involve patients with Heart Failure with reduced Ejection Fraction (HFrEF) and Heart Failure with preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF). Outcomes were measured through the change in mean heart rate (HR) …

Partisan Divides In Environmental Spending Attitudes: A Two-Level Hierarchical Analysis, 1973-2022, Jordan Lipner

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Public attitudes toward environmental spending have become increasingly divided along party lines, with sharp shifts over the past five decades. This thesis updates and expands on Johnson and Schwadel’s 2019 study by applying a two-level hierarchical linear model to General Social Survey data updated to include data from 2015-2022, capturing how political affiliation, education, race, and economic context interact with broader political and economic contexts to shape environmental attitudes over time.
The results show that political affiliation remains the strongest and most reactive predictor of environmental spending attitudes. Republican respondents are significantly more likely to oppose environmental spending, especially under …

Genomic Epidemiology Of Staphylococcus Aureus Sequence-Type 72, Sachitaa Senthilkumar

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus, SA) is a gram-positive bacterial colonizer and pathogen commonly carried on the skin and in the anterior nares of humans. SA colonization may lead to a variety of non-invasive (e.g., skin and soft tissue infections, SSTIs) and invasive (e.g., bacteremia and osteomyelitis) infections. The SA population is comprised of multiple lineages that can be delineated through multi-locus sequence typing (MLST), which compares nucleotide sequences within seven housekeeping genes. Strains belonging to an MLST share a common evolutionary history and phenotypic characteristics like antibiotic resistance or virulence. As a result, the epidemiology of lineages can be …

High-Throughput Drug Screening For Disease-Modifying Arthritis Therapy, Janapriya Vijayakumar

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Current therapy for arthritis predominantly focuses on the symptoms rather than the underlying causes of disease progression. Thus, it is necessary to identify novel drugs which target the underlying molecular basis of such diseases. Using high-throughput cell-based drug screening, we screened 458 different compounds, narrowed down from 811 starting compounds from the NIH Mechanistic Set. We selected drugs from the Mechanistic Set following Lipinski's Rule of 5 to ensure optimal pharmacokinetic properties. The study used modified primary human chondrocytes (IIAM-PRG4Luc), which secrete a lubricin promoter-driven luciferase reporter. We use this luciferase expression as a proxy to measure lubricin, a compound …

Investigation Of Lubricin-Stimulating Fda-Approved Compounds For A Disease-Modifying Osteoarthritic Drug, Swathi S. Menon

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease that affects many people worldwide. Current methods of treatment are palliative, and no treatment exists to fully reverse or cure OA once it begins to progress. The discovery of a disease-modifying osteoarthritic drug (DMOAD) would increase the quality of life for millions and reduce the need for invasive procedures. Screening FDA-approved drugs ensures more promise due to their known safety profile and potential for faster translation to the clinic. The goal of this project was to conduct dose-response assays with FDA-approved drugs that have been shown to stimulate lubricin production in cells that mimic …

Active Musical Engagement Versus Passive Music Listening: Effects On Emotional Modulation, Claudia Allocca

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study explored how different forms of musical engagement, actively playing versus

passively listening, impact emotional regulation following exposure to a stressor. The goal was

to better understand whether active participation in music offers greater emotional benefits

compared to simply listening, as previous research often highlights music’s role in emotional

modulation but overlooks the influence of performance-based engagement. A total of 28

participants either played music or listened to music and then completed both pre- and post-

stressor measures assessing mood, mental task load, and heart rate. Contrary to the original

hypothesis, findings revealed that participants from the listening group …

Development Of A Proposed Selective Medium For The Isolation And Differentiation Of P. Sordellii, Dimyana Bottros

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Clostridium, a genus of anaerobic, spore-forming bacteria, includes clinically and ecologically significant species like Clostridium difficile and Paeniclostridium sordellii. C. difficile causes antibiotic-associated colitis, while P. sordellii is linked to fatal infections and spontaneous abortions. Recent studies found both species in marine sediments, suggesting their role in environmental and wildlife health disturbances, including the 2013 mass mortality of over 300 manatees in the Indian River Lagoon. However, isolating and differentiating P. sordellii is challenging due to the lack of selective media optimized for its growth. This thesis proposes a novel selective medium tailored to P. sordellii’s physiological …

Environmental Law And Social Mistrust- How The Repeal Of The Chevron Doctrine May Hinder The Epa And More, Rebecca R. Collins

Honors Undergraduate Theses

I am specifically studying the effects of a recent Supreme Court decision will have on administrative law and specifically on the EPA. Simply put, the decision is likely going to foster distrust within the EPA and decisions that are made within environmental law, as the shift goes away from scientific experts, but to less educated legal professionals who interpret the laws. In the past, people thought of the initial Chevron decision as incredibly beneficial for scientific matters and for the environment. Chervon was removed recently with another Supreme Court decision that made this idea obsolete, removing professionals from the power …

The San Francisco Bay Area’S Vulnerability To Sea Level Rise: Integrating Community Engagement And Equity Into Sea-Level Rise Adaptation Planning, Isabella Marie Carreon

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis examines the San Francisco Bay Area’s vulnerability to sea-level rise (SLR), highlighting the importance of equity and community engagement in adaptation planning. The study integrates geospatial data and qualitative community input using a GIS Story Map to identify Points of Interest (POIs)—such as schools, hospitals, and public transportation routes—and assess SLR vulnerabilities across social, economic, geographic, and contamination dimensions. Case studies, such as the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan, demonstrate the limitations of large-scale policies in accommodating diverse communities and highlight the effectiveness of community-driven strategies. The thesis also explores innovative approaches to community engagement in educational settings and …

“Regression To The Mean”: The Confluence Of Eugenics And Statistics In The 19th And 20th Centuries, Emrys G. King

Pomona Senior Theses

The work of this thesis is twofold — first, qualitatively characterizing the confluence between the British eugenics and statistics movements in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and second, quantitatively analyzing the effect of this foundation on pedagogical materials in the growing field of statistics between 1880 and 1970. Towards the first goal, the history of the method of least squares, state statistics, and positive and negative eugenics are outlined, followed by a close reading of the foundational texts authored by Francis Galton and Karl Pearson that introduced linear regression. Towards the latter goal, English-language statistics textbooks published between …

From Feedlot To Floor Vote: ​​How Animal Agribusiness Wields Power To Capture The American State, Hannah Hughes

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis examines how large-scale animal agriculture operations exercise disproportionate political influence to shape regulatory policy in their favor, often at the expense of environmental protection and public health. Through analysis of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), this study demonstrates how the animal agribusiness industry has systematically captured regulatory processes at federal, state, and local levels. The research traces industrial animal agriculture's development in the 21st century and its environmental consequences. The analysis reveals significant gaps in federal oversight, examining how the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act have proven inadequate in regulating CAFO operations. At the state level, …

Biomechanics Of The Atherosclerotic Lipidome: (Un)Expected Statin Interactions And Membrane Remodelling, Ethan M. Fong

Pomona Senior Theses

Statins interact with lipid membranes in ways that shape their pharmacokinetics, off-target effects, and pleiotropic actions, yet these interactions' mechanical and biophysical consequences remain poorly understood. This thesis employs a combination of surface plasmon resonance (SPR), quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D), and rheological modelling to characterize how representative statins intercalate within biomimetic supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) of healthy and diseased composition. SPR reveals that lipophilic statins exhibit higher apparent affinities and slower dissociation kinetics, especially in cholesterol- and anionic lipid-rich membranes. QCM-D analyses demonstrate that statins alter membrane mass, dissipation, and interfacial stiffness in a statin- and membrane-dependent …

Behavior Or Diagnosis? Comparing Explicit And Implicit Biases Of School-Based Professionals Towards Adhd And Asd, Vincent Rutherford

Pomona Senior Theses

Previous research shows bias against people with ADHD and ASD both in and outside of the classroom and demonstrates that access to a diagnosis impacts educator’s beliefs about a child. ADHD and ASD have a high level of diagnostic co-occurrence, as well as symptom overlap beneath the clinical threshold. The current study uses a vignette-length description of a student, an explicit bias questionnaire, and an Implicit Association Test to assess the relationship between implicit and explicit bias, as well as how educator bias is impacted by the diagnosis they have access to. Results suggest no statistically significant differences between explicit …

January 2025 News, Office Of Sustainability

Office of Sustainability Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Ultra-Processed Food Intake And Dietary Intake Behaviors In Young Adults, Alexandra Black Larcom

Open Access Dissertations

Ultra-processed food (UPF) intake has been positively associated with adverse health outcomes and poor diet quality (DQ). UPFs tend to be of lower nutritional quality (NQ) than less processed foods, though NQ varies widely within each category of food processing. Young adults are the highest consumers of UPF, but UPF intake and related behaviors have not been examined in college students, a key subset of young adults. UPF overconsumption at meals has been proposed as a mechanism for the association between UPF intake, poor DQ, and adverse health outcomes, though no existing studies have considered NQ. Further, consumer understanding of …

Assessing Distribution And Density Changes Of The Ecosystem Engineers, Rockweed And Kelp, In Narragansett Bay, Ri, Rebecca Venezia

Open Access Dissertations

Climate change and anthropogenic stressors in marine costal habitats include increased sea surface temperatures (SST) and precipitation. The impacts of these stressors can affect ecosystem engineer species, which create three-dimensional habitat space in and provide various ecosystem services that modify and maintain ecosystem resources. In Narragansett Bay, RI, USA there is anecdotal evidence that the habitat forming species of kelp, Saccharina latissima, and rockweeds, Ascophyllum nodosum and Fucus spp, are changing but few long-term studies have been conducted to verify this. We compared the historical studies from the 1960s to 2010s on seaweeds in Narraganset Bay to modern SCUBA …

Microplastics Detection, Characterization, And Cytotoxicity Evaluation Via Lab-On-Chip, Liyuan Gong

Open Access Dissertations

Microplastics (MPs) pose a growing challenge to the ecological system, prompting increasing research efforts in diverse directions. Accurate characterization of MPs is essential for understanding their properties, relying on efficient sampling and detection techniques. Additionally, studying the cytotoxic effects of MPs is critical for evaluating their impact on biological systems. Lab-on-chip (LoC) systems offer significant advantages for precise particle manipulation and compatibility with advanced analytical instrumentation, making them valuable for MP detection and characterization. Microfluidic-based on-chip cell-culturing systems provide a controllable, physiologically relevant microenvironment for more realistic in vitro tissue modeling. By leveraging advanced LoC concepts and integrating state-of-the-art machine …

Analysis Of Early Interventions To Retain Underrepresented Students In Computer Science, Michael Conti

Open Access Dissertations

Computer science, like many STEM disciplines, faces persistent challenges in recruiting and retaining women and individuals from racially and ethnically minoritized backgrounds. This study examines whether targeted interventions can produce sustained improvements in academic performance and sense of belonging among these underrepresented groups. By analyzing longitudinal data, this research aims to evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions in promoting equity and persistence in computer science education.

Using An Ecological And Cultural Lens To Examine The 1st Year Persistence And Science Identity Development Of At-Risk Biology Students Experiencing Multiple Equity-Minded High Impact Practices, Aura Fajardo Grandidge

Open Access Dissertations

In this study, I used an ecological and a cultural perspective to examine the first-year experiences of two cohorts of biology students exposed to multiple equity-minded High Impact Practices (HIPs) designed to promote their persistence and science identity development.

In chapter 1, I applied Graham et al.’s Persistence Framework (2013) and Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory (1977) to investigate the bridges and barriers to persistence that biology students face while experiencing either an equity minded learning community, a first-year seminar, a course-based research experience, and/or an active learning introductory biology course. Using a mixed methods approach that focused on phenomenology, I …

The Chemical Ecology Of A Caribbean Boulder Coral During Restoration And The Interplay Between Fish Predation And Microbiome Variation, Catherine E. Raker

Open Access Dissertations

Coral reefs are one of the most biodiverse and productive ecosystems on the planet. In recent decades, however, climate change and other global threats have caused severe declines in live coral cover worldwide. Coral propagation, or “gardening,” is a popular strategy to attempt to restore healthy corals to degraded reefs. Slow-growing boulder corals are often restored using microfragmentation, where cutting coral colonies into roughly 1 cm² fragments can increase their growth rates up to 5x. However, extreme early mortality of fragments has been observed in the field, which has been at least partially attributed to predation. It has been …

Identifying Optimal Temperature Ranges That Support Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus Tshawytscha) Growth In The Klamath Basin, Isabelle Shirah

IdeaFest 2025

This project looks at yearly temperature ranges and growth metrics for fish sampled at three sites along the Klamath basin.

James' Fabulous Mobile Dog Food Pantry: A Grassroots Initiative!, James Brother

IdeaFest 2025

I developed a mobile dog food pantry to meet the needs of unsheltered pets across Humboldt County. Using donations from various sources and implementing similar models used by local nonprofits, I developed access to pet food in areas with an unmet need.

A Picc Dislodgement And Securement Solution, Judah O’Shaughnessy

IdeaFest 2025

This research project introduces a quality improvement initiative aimed at reducing or eliminating the risks associated with peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) dislodgement. While PICCs are a valuable and useful tool at providing safe and effective intravenous medication administration, they do have the vulnerability of dislodgement which can have catastrophic consequences resulting in patient harm or death. Nurse-led implementation of the subcutaneously anchored securement system and interventions at the patient, department, and policy level can reduce or eliminate PICC dislodgement and the risk associated with inadequate PICC securement.

Alcohol Use Disorder In Humboldt, Emily Monahan

IdeaFest 2025

Residents of Humboldt County have a higher-than-average incidence of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) when compared to the rest of California and the US. Local youth report drinking alcohol at a younger age, and more frequently than average. Alcohol related hospital admissions are frequent for those who have AUD. Addressing the problem starts at early intervention in adolescents and continues through adulthood. Humboldt county lacks resources for those suffering from AUD and a specialized detox facility would decrease the amount of hospital admissions for alcohol related diagnoses. Making these resources and facilities available to Humboldt County residents could help reduce Alcohol …

Fawn Awareness - A Health Education Initiative, Jessica De Laguna

IdeaFest 2025

"Fawn Awareness" is a year-long health education initiative highlighting the often-overlooked fourth stress response: Fawn, or the “Submit” response. Seen across the animal kingdom, submission can be just as vital for survival as fight, flight, or freeze. In humans, Fawn often develops in childhood as a way to maintain a sense of security with inconsistent caregivers, later manifesting as difficulty setting boundaries and chronic people-pleasing. This project includes a YouTube video, news article, and research paper featuring expert insight and real-life anecdotes to raise awareness and promote mental health through understanding this misidentified trauma response.

Potawot Community Garden: Moving Beyond Land Acknowledgements, Chrys Furrer

IdeaFest 2025

Potawot Community Garden serves as an exemplary model of the environmental and social health impacts of returning Indigenous land to Indigenous hands. The College Corps program, with Potawot as a community partner, gives student fellows the opportunities to serve in support of Potawot's mission of enhancing Indigenous food sovereignty while mitigating food insecurity, restoring the land, and supporting the cultural healing of Indigenous community members as well as the broader community. This project invites readers to take action through volunteer involvement with organizations such as Potawot, making monetary donations to the Wiyot tribe, and advocating for Indigenous land rematriation.

Nourishing Community Health, Levit Cantu

IdeaFest 2025

Open Door Health Centers is a nonprofit community clinic that provides affordable, accessible healthcare to underserved populations. As a College Corps Fellow, I work with the Member Services department, specifically supporting gardens and food resources. My role focuses on increasing access to fresh, healthy food through community garden initiatives and resource navigation. This experience has allowed me to support food security efforts while gaining insight into the intersection of health, nutrition, and community service.

Climate Anxiety: What Are The Effects Of Climate Change On Young People’S Development?, Benjamin Romo, Makayla Millea, Sami Alvarez

IdeaFest 2025

We reviewed nine peer-reviewed empirical articles on the effects of climate change on young people’s development. The problem is that climate change is so rapid that not many people know its severity and how it can affect us, our children, and our daily lives. We aim to shed light on the psychological side of climate change and present solutions we have found through the various articles listed.

Nourishing Communities, One Meal At A Time, Hanna Valentin, Ulises Godinez, Rah Camacho Ruiz, Petrita Rodriguez

IdeaFest 2025

Food banks around the country are working to alleviate hunger and improve food security for low-income families, seniors, and children through distribution programs and nutrition education. This poster explores the vital role that food banks play in our community and examines how federal budget cuts - especially to SNAP and TEFAP - threaten its ability to serve those in need. By highlighting both research and community data, this project underscores the urgent need to support local food systems and advocate for sustainable food assistance programs.

Addressing The Full Spectrum Of Acl Injury, Delilah Kimble-Gray

IdeaFest 2025

Having torn my own ACL, I understand firsthand the physical, emotional, and psychological challenges athletes face in recovery. Through this research, I aim to shed light on the often-overlooked aspects of ACL treatment. This includes the need for gender-specific prevention programs and the mental resilience required for healing. While advances in surgery and rehabilitation offer hope, there is still much to be done, particularly in supporting non-elite athletes and integrating innovative technologies. In conclusion, my goal is to create a more holistic approach to ACL injury prevention and recovery, addressing both the body and the mind.