Digital Commons Network^™

Literature Review: The Relationship Between Art And Anxiety, Madeline R. Armendariz Sullivan

University Honors Theses

In this literature review, several articles and studies are discussed to address the question: What is the relationship between making art and anxiety? Within the literature discussed, three themes are reviewed: the effects of making art on anxiety, the long-term impacts of making art, and making art and other psychological conditions. The literature reviewed suggested that making art significantly improves the symptoms of anxiety, helps participants achieve meditative, or flow, states, improves the participants' emotional regulation and quality of life, and that making art helps with comorbidity and even other psychological conditions besides anxiety disorders.

Impact Of Familial Immigration On Childhood Academic Achievement And Motivation, Maritsa S. Tatchukova

University Honors Theses

This paper conducted a review of the current literature on the topic of immigrant children and academic success. It particularly focuses on the role of key factors such as family, peers, teachers, self-perceptions, language, and extracurriculars. This paper then discusses the study done in addition to the literature review. The study involved interviewing six college students in the Pacific Northwest. All were a mix of first and second-generation children of immigrants. The study conducted a qualitative analysis of the interview transcript and discusses the results of four of those interviews. The findings suggest that the role of the family and …

The Effect Of Media And Filtration In Inducing The Oxidative Stress Response In Escherichia Coli, Suzanne Hollingsworth

University Honors Theses

Escherichia coli grown in complex medium (LB), but not defined medium (DGC), arrest DNA replication when collected on membrane filters and resuspended in fresh media. The arrest is similar to that observed when cells are challenged with hydrogen peroxide. Yet, the reason behind this arrest is unknown.

I hypothesized that the arrest in replication in complex medium after filtering might be due to oxidative shock, and therefore cells grown in complex medium and filtered should induce an oxidative stress response similar to cells treated with hydrogen peroxide. Utilizing the indicator dye H₂DCFDA, which fluoresces in response to reactive …

Social Media Marketing And Insurance: An Analysis Of The Impact Of Social Media Marketing On Small Independent Brokerages Of Property And Casualty Insurance, Kaylee B. Brucker

University Honors Theses

Property and casualty insurance is an intangible service. It is a large industry within the US that in most regard is perpetual. Marketing for insurance is not similar to marketing for most other services or products. The agent must relay the value to the consumer prior to them purchasing it. Further, when considering social media marketing, we find a separate strategy of marketing. Social media marketing is becoming increasingly popular, it has shown as a successful strategy for obtaining consumers' attention and their business. This success has been seen in many industries, including insurance. However, there is a lack of …

The Impact Of Maternal Nutrition On The Development And Severity Of Generalized Anxiety Disorders In Rodent And Non-Human Primate Studies, Esmeralda H. Cardoso

University Honors Theses

Generalized anxiety has become more prevalent among children and adolescents in the United States which impacts their health and livelihood. Maternal nutrition during pregnancy is purported to play a role in cognitive development and mental health during childhood, adolescence, and into adulthood. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease theory suggests maternal nutrition before and during pregnancy influences transgenerational susceptibility, onset, and severity of disease through epigenetic mechanisms that then impact the child’s overall health, including cognitive development and mental health later in life. A literature review of rodents and non-human primate studies was conducted to explore the association between …

Reflecting On Resilience: Insight Into Resiliency Development And Utilization In Oregon's Older Adults From 2020 To 2022, Riley A. Wilton

University Honors Theses

The events of the last 2 years have complicated the lives of older adults throughout the world. For many, their survival can be traced back to one key trait: resilience. In the state of Oregon, the years 2020-2022 came with a host of issues that expanded past the COVID-19 pandemic. These events provide context for the world our storytellers discuss.

Using a snowball recruitment strategy through the efforts of community organizations and senior centers, 4 storytellers sat down to describe their resilience in different ways. They were asked to reflect on their own life experiences, how it influenced their resilience, …

Multicolor Fluorescence Guided Surgery For Head And Neck Cancer, Dani Szafran-Reeder

University Honors Theses

This project aims to take a novel, NIR nerve-specific fluorophore LGW05-75⁴ and test its compatibility with a tumor-targeting affibody molecule, ABY-029⁶ that has been labeled with IRDye800CW. The overall goal is to show that these two molecules can be co-administered to show the nerves and tumor cells in real-time to better assist surgeons in a full resection while avoiding iatrogenic nerve damage.

The Influence Of The Mothers Of The Plaza De Mayo On Contemporary Feminist Movement In Argentina, Ni Una Menos, Alexandria Blackwill

University Honors Theses

This thesis aims to explore the development of Argentine feminism between the Madres Plaza de Mayo and Ni Una Menos movements. This study will examine the extent to which the Madres have established a permanent human rights framework that provides a structure for contemporary movements in Argentina. First, the socio-cultural and economic conditions in which the Madres emerged are dissected, including the results of Peronism and Eva Perón's influences on Argentine culture as explored through a feminist lens. Next, the tactics used by the Madres to subvert patriarchy and instead use oppression to their advantage are analyzed through their conceptions …

Disrupted Course Delivery In The Covid-19 Landscape: Consequences For University Student Stress And Mental Health, Madison M. Eki

University Honors Theses

University students have experienced a massive disruption in the path to their academic goals. The Covid-19 pandemic has negatively impacted populations of students internationally. They have incurred physical and psychological distress. In this paper, the literature and data collected about how the pandemic affected the stress levels of students at universities will be analyzed and a recommendation for future research will be made. The purpose of this literature review is to analyze data and publications pertaining to the mental health and perceived stress of students resulting from Covid-19. There is an emphasis on the severity of the ways that their …

Trouble Within The Fold: The Communal Response To Madness In Medieval Europe, Alice P. Holland

University Honors Theses

Medieval descriptions of mental distress can inform us on a range of subjects, from community organization to diagnostic and interpretive practices. While we often employ the medical model of understanding disability presently and, while this model was still present in the Middle Ages, medieval individuals often understood mental distress as a religious phenomenon. This paper utilizes two miracle collections written in the twelfth century: The Miracle Collections of Thomas Becket and the Miracle Collection of Our Lady of Rocamadour. Miracle collections record miraculous occurrences at a saint's shrine. Many of these miracles documented healings and, of these healings, some …

Investigating The Efficacy & Implications Of Abstinence-Based Drug Education, Sophia Hanken

University Honors Theses

The United States has a long and complex history surrounding substance use. Drug education programs have become widely implemented in American schools and the media. Policy, rhetoric, and ideology have directly affected the curriculum of drug education programs. Drug education in the United States centers around substance abstinence. While well-intended, abstinence-based drug education is not a pragmatic solution for reducing substance-related harm or promoting health. The purpose of this thesis is to critique two of the most widely used abstinence-based drug education programs; Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) and Project ALERT. These programs often emphasize the dangers of substance use …

Addressing The Body Mass Index Using A Teaching Math For Social Justice Lens, Riley J. Wolfe

University Honors Theses

Teaching Math for Social Justice (TMSJ) lessons are designed to explain math in social justice contexts. TMSJ leads to better engagement with math content by providing relevant contexts. Because the field is so new, there are math topics not yet covered and areas of social justice that also have gone unaddressed by TMSJ. One of these topics is the problem of weight discrimination. This paper will explain how Body Mass Index (BMI) can be used as a jumping off point to introduce the issue of weight discrimination. Then, a detailed lesson plan is provided which connects the historical origin of …

Assessing The Efficacy Of Physical Prehabilitation On A Total Knee Arthroplasty, Zen S. Miyashiro

University Honors Theses

Prehabilitation is a rather new method of approach to the physical therapy setting in which patients attend therapy sessions to prepare for their upcoming surgery. Researchers hypothesize that if patients enter a procedure with higher levels of strength and function, they will be able to recover from their surgery quicker and more successfully. This literature review assesses different approaches that numerous studies have taken with regards to prehabilitation for patients about to undergo a Total Knee Arthroplasty. Majority of the studies conclude that there needs to be further research done to yield consistent results. Based on what has been done, …

Shellter Beer Garden: The Redevelopment Of An Abandoned Parcel Into A Community Gathering Space, Madison Leonard, Lainie Kastner

City and Regional Planning

The Shell Beach neighborhood of Pismo Beach serves a quiet, active community in need of an enjoyable, outdoor community gathering space. While the current main street, Shell Beach Road, has undergone major streetscape improvements, there are still vacant parcels in need of refurbishments. A vacant lot on the corner of Shell Beach Road and Cuyama Avenue that previously served the community as a drive-thru restaurant, now provides a desirable site for business. At the location of 1901 Shell Beach Road, a community beer garden built out of shipping containers will provide an ideal space for the Shell Beach community to …

Cal Poly Campus Safety: Policy Proposal, Alan Cazares, Phung (Karen) Bich La, Junhyun Kim

City and Regional Planning

As described in this project, the California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo is in need of improving the campus’s sense of safety and safety features. With an increasing student population and increasing dangers, the importance of safety for all is becoming evident. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that it is essential to have proper safety features and preventative measures in place to keep the student and faculty population safe. The project’s goal is to produce safety recommendations that could be used to amend the existing 2035 Campus Master Plan. Currently, safety is not a topic extensively covered in …

A Study Of Best Practices To Address Food Deserts In The United States, Hannya M. Moritz

City and Regional Planning

Urban and rural food deserts have become increasingly prevalent throughout the United States. Food deserts impact disadvantaged individuals the most, with larger populations of minorities, higher rates of poverty and unemployment, and lower rates of secondary and higher education seen within their populace. Food desert populations face many barriers with regards to the affordability and accessibility of fresh, healthy foods. This results in a multitude of long-term negative health outcomes within these populations. For these reasons it is important for planners to address the needs of food desert populations, working towards more equitable neighborhoods and improving overall quality of life …

Gender, Sex, & Emerging Adulthood, Katarina Andrea Reyes

Psychology and Child Development

Emerging adulthood is a key developmental period when individuals explore and make meaning of their intimate relationships. National trends suggest that experimentation with non-committed relationships has increased (Olmstead, 2020), particularly for females (Netting & Reynolds, 2018). Young women utilize casual sex to explore sex, while men use sex for pleasure (Sizemore & Olmstead, 2017). Moreover, the double sexual standard impacts women’s sexual satisfaction and self-esteem (Williams & Jovanovic, 2018). Little research has examined how sex influences emerging adult’s self-esteem. Previous research has primarily relied on survey data to understand women’s and men’s experiences. Narrative identity scholars posit that individuals can …

The White House: No Drugs Allowed, Olivia A. Jones

Communication Studies

The War on Drugs is a long-term metaphorical war designed to reduce illegal drug distribution, trade, and use by maintaining significant punishment for drug dealers and users. This paper serves to examine how U.S. presidents throughout history have impacted this drug war through their targeted rhetoric and ensuing policies. I examine the research question, “How have presidents used their rhetorical power to perpetuate the War on Drugs while pushing a tough-on-crime narrative that portrays certain drug users and minorities as deviants responsible for crime?” Historical contexts, primary sources, and existing research are used to examine the issue. Using Ideographic Criticism, …

Stabilization Of Palm Wood Using Water-Based Impregnation, David A. Barnes

Materials Engineering

Impregnation is a technique for stabilizing wood that involves saturating the material in a liquid and allowing it to cure before use. Stabilization methods such as this are employed for a variety of reasons; chiefly, the low dimensional stability of wood and palm means that they are subject to several failure modes that arise from changing environmental conditions, such as cracking, warping, and bending. Samples of Borassus flabellifer, black palm, provided by DuraPalm were impregnated with solvent-based and water-based stabilizers, and untreated wood samples used as a control group. Kop-Coat WoodYouth® Plus was used as a solvent-based stabilizer, and impregnation …

An Analysis And Application Of Pedestrian Streets, Ellie Krantz, Austin Lucero

City and Regional Planning

The goal of this project is to closely examine the conversion of traditional roads into pedestrian streets. By studying two examples, we will create an understanding of why cities do this, how they implement pedestrian streets, what results pedestrian streets bring, and what makes a successful conversion project.

The second part of this project is to implement the key takeaways of the research phase into a conceptual design of a similar project for San Luis Obispo. This design based phase will consider the entire scope of the project, detailing project location selection, implementation, and recommendations.

A Redevelopment Plan For Santa Rosa Plaza, Abraham Miranda Roldan, Benjamin K. Ip

City and Regional Planning

The purpose of this document is to hypothesize a successful and innovative plan for the redevelopment of the Santa Rosa Plaza Mall (Downtown Mall) in Santa Rosa, California. This project proposal seeks to address the Plaza Mall’s challenges and provide an alternative solution to develop a unique character that promotes a sense of place, foster vibrant civic spaces, and meets the City’s housing and job needs.

Shopping malls in the United States are dying and are becoming less popular among the new generation, which means malls must adapt to fulfill the role of “third place” that many people need. This …

Increasing Legends Salon Revenue Per Square Foot, Jacob William Andreatta, Margaret Faison Gustafson, Julia Galina Odisho, Joshua Spry Morrison

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Katie MacNamara acquired Legends Hair Salon in Atascadero, California in January of 2021. After a few months of learning to run her own business she discovered that her retail revenue per square foot was not high enough. Her goal, and the project objective, was to raise her revenue while also increasing space for her stylists. The metrics used for these objectives were revenue per square foot and the square footage of the retail areas. The beginning state metrics were 48.75 square feet of retail and a retail revenue per square foot of $2.15 with a total of six stylist stations. …

Processing And Characterization Of Silicon Nitride For Rapid And Low-Level Detection Of Water Pathogens, Arielle H. Buchanan, Logan A. Chai

Materials Engineering

Water sanitation is a serious issue affecting the lives of many, and methods for assessing water cleanliness have been a major research interest for decades. Rapid and accurate water pathogen detection methods that can be performed in field applications have been a growing research focus, especially in low-income countries most affected by poor water quality. Silicon nitride was explored as a material for colorimetric water-pathogen sensing due to the large body of knowledge around its processing, and its isoelectric point. A bioassay of chlorophenol red-β-Dgalactopyranoside (CPRG) and β-galactosidase (β-gal) enzymes with Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria was used to examine …

Citric Or Acetic Acid Effects On The Crosslinking Of Pvoh, Samuel Carr, Erika Szaldobagyi

Materials Engineering

Transportation and shipping processes are the most dangerous times for food due to harsh handling and frequent temperature changes. Plain corrugated boxes cannot withstand the damp environment caused by melting ice that is used to keep foods cold and fresh. To minimize damage, a protective polymer film coating can be applied. These coatings can be unsafe when used with food and will lead to excess waste by limiting the recyclability of the boxes. The purpose of this project was to produce nontoxic crosslinked PVOH films to determine suitability for a cost effective, biodegradable, and repulpable corrugated box coating. Polyvinyl alcohol …

Determining The Efficacy Of A Silica And Bacterial Cellulose Composite Model System, Hannah Martin, Daisy Kamp

Materials Engineering

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a sustainable alternative to petroleum-based polymer films for synthetic leather applications. Synthesized by a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, BC is a three-dimensional structure composed of cellulose microfibrils. However, pure BC lacks certain desirable properties such as high tensile strength. Previous studies have shown that loading BC with nanoparticles to form nanocomposites has improved BC’s mechanical properties. However, this was not studied as a function of particle size. This study focuses on using silica/BC nanocomposites to model the impact that particle size and silica soaking concentrations have on the uptake efficiency of these particles into …

Soil Degradation Of A Plastic Blend Of Opuntia Ficusindica Juice, Animal Protein And Beeswax, Isabel A. Gamez, Daniel R. Kava

Materials Engineering

Since the introduction of single use plastics in the early 1900s, their usage has increased exponentially. Unfortunately, due to this exponential increase there are negative environmental implications of their production, which requires further consideration. Currently, there are various waste disposal practices for SUPs, including landfilling, incineration, and recycling. Recent data revealed that only 14 % of plastic waste was recycled, with 40% of plastic waste being landfilled, while the rest of the plastic waste was incinerated or released to the environment at 14 % and 32 %, respectively. A potential solution to the plastic waste issue is developing a polymer …

Eagle Medical Tray Denesting & Debris Removal Process, Nicholas Allen Ungefug, Noah Chavez, Susana Shu-Lin Okhuysen, Michael Augustine Pennington

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Eagle Medical Incorporated is a contract medical device packaging and sterilization company. The company purchases thermoformed medical packaging trays, which maintain the sterility of medical devices, from various manufacturers. To ensure packaging quality and to prevent cleanroom contamination, Eagle Medical inspects and sterilizes each blister tray that they order. This process is an essential non-value-added activity that creates a bottleneck. Cleanroom employees must stop packaging medical devices and attend to the processing of blister trays and packaging solutions. The blister trays arrive at Eagle’s facility in nested stacks. Vibration and movement during shipping further compresses the stacks, which makes separation …

Biomass Estimation Of Marine Biofilms On Plastic Surfaces, Kian Banihashemi, Fernando Javier Gil

Biological Sciences

Plastics have become a major source of marine pollution, which threatens food safety and quality, human health, and marine ecosystems. Due to the drastic negative effects of plastics in a marine environment, alternative biodegradable plastics are being generated that are more eco-friendly and have less environmental impact. Though some of these plastics are known to biodegrade, the process of degradation for bioplastics has not been heavily studied in a marine environment. This pilot project sought to both quantify the process of biodegradation and compare across different methods for effectiveness of biomass estimation, which serves as an indicator of biodegradation. Plastics …

Aging In Lynn: A Community Needs Assessment, Caitlin Coyle, Mary Krebs, Setarreh Massihzadegan

Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging Publications

This report describes research undertaken by the Center for Social & Demographic Research on Aging within the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston, on behalf of the City of Lynn and the Lynn Department of Elder Services. The goals of this project were to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of residents of the City of Lynn age 60 or older. The contents of this report are meant to inform the planning and operation of the Lynn Senior Center, and organizations that work with and on behalf of older residents of the City of Lynn. The report …

Asas–Nanp Symposium: Mathematical Modeling In Animal Nutrition: Opportunities And Challenges Of Confned And Extensive Precision Livestock Production, Hector M. Menendez Iii, Jameson R. Brennan, Charlotte Gaillard, Krista Ehlert, Jaelyn Quintana, Suresh Neethirajan, Aline Remus, Marc Jacobs, Izabelle A.M.A. Teixerira, Benjamin L. Turner, Luis O. Tedeschi

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Modern animal scientists, industry, and managers have never faced a more complex world. Precision livestock technologies have altered management in confned operations to meet production, environmental, and consumer goals. Applications of precision technologies have been limited in extensive systems such as rangelands due to lack of infrastructure, electrical power, communication, and durability. However, advancements in technology have helped to overcome many of these challenges. Investment in precision technologies is growing within the livestock sector, requiring the need to assess opportunities and challenges associated with implementation to enhance livestock production systems. In this review, precision livestock farming and digital livestock farming …