Digital Commons Network^™

Stronger Together: Boys Of New School And Costanoa, Analupita Ramirez-Cortes

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Monarch Services has been in Santa Cruz County since 1977, providing crucial support to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault through a range of programs, including crisis intervention, youth support, and emergency shelter. The organization serves approximately 1,500 survivors annually, with a strong focus on Latino communities and bilingual services. In 2023, the Children and Youth Program served 118 individuals, offering case management, safety planning, and counseling. This capstone project aims to bridge the gap in education about healthy relationships, focusing on teen boys at CostaNoa High School and New School Community Day High School. By implementing The Mask …

Affordable Housing Solutions: Navigating The Cienega Heights Application Process, Valerie Solorzano

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The lack of affordable housing and widespread knowledge about the eligibility and application process in Santa Cruz County has created significant challenges for the community. This project focuses on addressing these issues by increasing public awareness of affordable housing opportunities and providing guidance on the application process. MidPen Housing, a nonprofit organization specializing in affordable housing, serves as a key example of efforts to meet this need. Their development in Watsonville provides housing for low-income and farmworker families.

A key component of this project involves conducting a public educational outreach event to inform the local community about qualifying for Cienega …

Breaking Barriers: Bridging Resource Gaps In Low-Income Communities, Maria Fernanda Yanez Cabrera

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Low-income individuals often struggle with access to resources. CHISPA, which serves low-income individuals in Monterey County and surrounding areas, aims to remove this barrier through its community services department. CHISPA worked to address the resource barrier by implementing a resource fair for its population of low-income individuals, families, and seniors. CHISPA’s residents were invited to come out, explore, and create connections with community resources during a resource fair. The expected outcome was for residents gaining new knowledge and the opportunity to use resources there or in the future. Results were measured through surveys which showed success and interest in the …

Empowering Minds: Navigating Mental Health Through Workshop Based Learning, Isabel E. Rocha-Fernandez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Luna Y Sol is an organization located in Santa Cruz county, specifically in Watsonville. The organization serves youth with the ages ranging from 12 to 17 and their families. Luna Y Sol supports youth with Mental Health, Trauma and those who are exposed or have direct involvement with violence. The program offers youth a safe place and community for them to visit when needed. The project implemented at Luna Y Sol consisted of a four part mental health workshop for youth. The purpose was for youth to become more aware and familiarized on the topic of mental health which included, …

Negative Effects Of Social Media Usage On College Students, Tanya Gallo

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

My capstone project focuses on the negative effects of social media use on college students. Social media has become the primary source of communication for college students, but its impact on self-esteem presents a mix of effects. One of the major effects that social media can have is on self-esteem, and "individuals with low self-esteem try to compensate by becoming active in on-line activities” (Pineiro, 2016, p. 9). To address the negative impacts of social media usage, I created a two-day lesson plan for lower-division HDFS students at CSUMB. The lesson focuses on the adverse effects on self-esteem that can …

The Effects Of Physical Education On The Well-Being And Academics Of Elementary School Students, Maria Melendez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This senior capstone examines the vital role of physical education in schools, highlighting its profound impact on students' academic success and overall well-being. Despite its importance, many districts have recently reduced physical education programs, negatively affecting students' well-being and academic performance, particularly in elementary schools. This study aims to demonstrate the necessity of physical education in elementary schools for facilitating students' well-being and academic achievement through a comprehensive review of existing literature and interviews.

The Impact Of Single Parent Households On Middle School Students, Erik Puga

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This research explores the influence of single-parent households on the academic achievement of middle school students in Salinas, CA, with a particular focus on East Salinas, an area marked by economic challenges. Grounded in my personal experience growing up in a single-parent household in Salinas and shaped by my journey through the Alisal district pipeline, this study seeks to uncover the specific barriers and strengths that middle school students from single-parent families encounter. By examining socioeconomic pressures, parental involvement, and emotional well-being, I aim to identify how family structure affects students’ educational trajectories within the community. This research strives to …

Buying The Trend: How Trends Target Identity Leading Into The Normalization Of Overconsumption, Marian Alvarado Rivera

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper puts a lens on the growing popularity of social media apps promoting fashion trends for it's users leading to a rise in overconsumption of products. Research was aimed at several different online trends that were marketed towards female consumers; The Stanley Cup, The 2023 Barbie movie press tour and The Hello Kitty girl. In examining these trends the findings show that through the usage of the algorithm social media apps are able to learn and curate specific content targeted towards certain parts of one's identity.

Increasing College Students' Awareness Of Stress, Mental Health, And Well-Being, Marlene Villicana

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

College students face many stressors due to the transitions and responsibilities of young adulthood. According to Karyotaki et al. (2020), 93% of respondents in an international study of college students reported at least one type of mild stress, and 73% named stress in at least three life areas. The same study found that stress management interventions effectively reduce perceived stress, mood, and anxiety problems through a combination of problem-focused and appraisal-focused strategies. In order to address the issues of stress, mental health, and well-being among college students, I created an interactive two-day presentation for Human Development and Family Science students …

Effects Of Teacher Burnout On Elementary School Students’ Learning, Isela Padilla

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This senior capstone explores the impact of teacher burnout on elementary students through literature review and qualitative research. Interviews with local teachers, an administrator, and a school psychologist reveal a notable correlation between teacher burnout and student outcomes. Key findings indicate that burnout among teachers is linked to lower academic performance and increased behavioral issues in students. These results underscore the importance of addressing teacher well-being to support positive student learning and behavior.

Easing The Transition To School By Strengthening Attachment, Serena A. Rodriquez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The transition to school for preschoolers aged three to five years old can be extremely challenging, more so due to the fact that separation anxiety is considered developmentally normal for children ranging from nine months to three years of age, regardless of attachment style. However, children with insecure attachment styles, such as anxious-ambivalent or avoidant, are especially vulnerable during this transition (Verywell Health, 2023). Children who exhibit insecure attachment styles often face several negative consequences that affect both their school experience and their overall development (Evans et al., 2018). Although the fear of separating from one's parents or primary caregiver …

Parenting With Grace, Eva Nelson Cole

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Parents are often caught off guard by the upheaval of adding children to their lives. Feelings of guilt, shame, isolation, and depression can arise when parents are faced with the demands and stressors that come along with having children. Studies have shown that children who have distressed parents endure lasting negative outcomes that can extend into the primary school years (Mihelic et al., 2018). Educating parents and giving them some awareness about what to expect can make a real difference. To have these conversations, I created a two-part parenting workshop for new parents at Parents’ Place in Pacific Grove, CA. …

Eurocentrism In Curriculum And Its Detriment To Cultural Awareness, Kimberly Rose Sterzick

Masters Projects

Some school curricula may hinder students' development of cultural awareness. School is the vessel through which many students get their first glimpse of the world, and bias throughout that voyage can negatively alter students’ development of cultural awareness --- the very skill that schools hope to promote. A Eurocentric approach and overemphasis on Western civilizations and ideals dominates the cultural conversations through their prolific use in “world” courses. When educational discourses point to Western cultures as the epitome of culture in “world” courses, students fail to obtain a true cultural understanding and awareness of the world around them, and they …

Draft Final 2022 Insufficiently Reclaimed Sites Sampling Bres No. 37 – Josephine Shaft Site Evaluation Summary Report, Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Low Intensity Mechanical Signals Promote Proliferation In A Cell-Specific Manner: Tailoring A Non-Drug Strategy To Enhance Biomanufacturing Yields, M Ete Chan, Christopher Ashdown, Lia Strait, Sishir Pasumarthy, Abdullah Hassan, Steven Crimarco, Chanpreet Singh, Vihitaben S Patel, Gabriel Pagnotti, Omor Khan, Gunes Uzer, Clinton T Rubin

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Biomanufacturing relies on living cells to produce biotechnology-based therapeutics, tissue engineering constructs, vaccines, and a vast range of agricultural and industrial products. With the escalating demand for these bio-based products, any process that could improve yields and shorten outcome timelines by accelerating cell proliferation would have a significant impact across the discipline. While these goals are primarily achieved using biological or chemical strategies, harnessing cell mechanosensitivity represents a promising - albeit less studied - physical pathway to promote bioprocessing endpoints, yet identifying which mechanical parameters influence cell activities has remained elusive. We tested the hypothesis that mechanical signals, delivered non-invasively …

Assessment Of Racial Bias Within The Risk Analysis Index Of Frailty, Michael A Jacobs, Leslie R M Hausmann, Robert M Handzel, Susanne Schmidt, Carly A Jacobs, Daniel E Hall

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Objective: Our objective was to assess potential racial bias within the Risk Analysis Index (RAI).

Background: Patient risk measures are rarely tested for racial bias. Measures of frailty, like the RAI, need to be evaluated for poor predictive performance among Black patients.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study using April 2010-March 2019 Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program and 2010-2019 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program data. The performance of the RAI and several potential variants were compared between Black and White cases using various metrics to predict mortality (180-day for Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program, 30-day for National Surgical Quality Improvement …

Association Between Chronotype And Chronic Neuropathic Pain Sensitivity: A Pilot Prospective, Observational, Single-Center, Cross-Sectional Study, Michael Kim, Yuri C Martins, Kishan Patel, Chiu-Hsieh Hsu, Mohab Ibrahim, Vasudha Goel, Amol M Patwardhan, Sejal Jain

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background: Chronotype defines an organism's biological preference for timing of activity and sleep. Being a morning chronotype (i.e., tending to wake up early and go to bed earlier at night) is associated with protection against chronic musculoskeletal pain and headaches, but the relationship between chronotype and neuropathic pain sensitivity remains unclear.

Objectives: The aim of this pilot study was to explore the relationship among chronotype, neuropathic pain sensitivity, and pain interference in patients with chronic neuropathic pain disorders.

Study design: This was a prospective, observational, single-center, cross-sectional study.

Setting: Patients were recruited from pain management clinics.

Methods: The Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire …

Metaverse-Powered Basic Sciences Medical Education: Bridging The Gaps For Lower Middle-Income Countries., Syeda Samnita Batool Zaidi, Umer Adnan, Kadriye O. Lewis, Syeda Sadia Fatima

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

BACKGROUND: Traditional medical education often lacks contextual experience, hindering students' ability to effectively apply theoretical knowledge in real-world scenarios. The integration of the metaverse into medical education holds great enormous promise for addressing educational disparities, particularly in lower-middle-income countries (LMICs) accompanied by rapid technological advancements. This commentary paper aimed to address the potential of the metaverse in enhancing basic sciences education within the constraints faced by universities in LMICs. We also addressed learning design challenges by proposing fundamental design elements and a suggested conceptual framework for developing metaverse-based teaching methods.The goal is to assist educators and medical practitioners in comprehensivley …

Supporting Well-Being For The Home Visiting Workforce: Organizational Supports For Experiences Of Bias & Discrimination, Beth L. Green, Nicole M. Lauzus, Yumi Lee, Ron Joseph, Erin Gaines, Center For Improvement Of Child And Family Services

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

This learning brief is the third in a series to share findings from a 2023 statewide survey of over 700 members of Oregon’s home visiting workforce. This study has provided a wealth of information about Oregon’s home visiting workforce and what could be done to improve and support worker well-being and retention, with a focus on the needs and experiences of home visitors of color and those who speak languages other than English.

Little research has examined the extent to which home visitors experience racism or discrimination on the job, how this may impact their professional and personal well-being, and …

Artificial Intelligence Uncertainty Quantification In Radiotherapy Applications – A Scoping Review, Kareem A Wahid, Zaphanlene Y Kaffey, David P Farris, Laia Humbert-Vidan, Amy C Moreno, Mathis Rasmussen, Jintao Ren, Mohamed A Naser, Tucker J Netherton, Stine Korreman, Guha Balakrishnan, Clifton D Fuller, David Fuentes, Michael J Dohopolski

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Background/purpose: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in radiotherapy (RT) is expanding rapidly. However, there exists a notable lack of clinician trust in AI models, underscoring the need for effective uncertainty quantification (UQ) methods. The purpose of this study was to scope existing literature related to UQ in RT, identify areas of improvement, and determine future directions.

Methods: We followed the PRISMA-ScR scoping review reporting guidelines. We utilized the population (human cancer patients), concept (utilization of AI UQ), context (radiotherapy applications) framework to structure our search and screening process. We conducted a systematic search spanning seven databases, supplemented by manual …

Addressing Inference Time Of Machine Learning Models In Embedded Systems, Samuel Black

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Embedded Systems are used for a wide range of specialized computing purposes including surveyal, safety, security, and quality of life. Many areas that embedded systems are used in require the use of machine learning models. Constraints can be placed on embedded systems. Timeliness of execution, user satisfaction, security, power, and resource limitations must be considered when designing for embedded systems. Neural networks excel at complex tasks that are otherwise intractable, but their relatively high computational cost poses a challenge for inclusion in embedded systems. Neural network architectures should be optimized to reduce the total number of operations performed while maintaining …

Exploring The Interactive Effects Of Officer, Subject, And Encounter Factors On Police Use Of Force Outcomes, Jeremy David Barnum

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Police use of force incidents are highly complex events that can be characterized by factors pertaining to the officers, subjects, and immediate encounter. These factors and the dynamic interrelationships between them encompass the situational context of use of force and have been widely studied in the criminological literature (Bolger, 2015). However, extant research has almost exclusively focused on identifying the main effects of situational factors on use of force with little consideration of how effects may vary across specific situational contexts. This limits our understanding of police use of force and complicates efforts to develop policy or training that ensures …

Biological Reduction Of Mixed Oxyanions In Wastewater Brine, Katherine J. Earp

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Treatment of contaminated brine water is an area of active research spurred by the use of advanced treatment technologies, such as membrane separation, reverse osmosis, ion exchange, etc. for water reuse and recycling, which has become critical due to the impact of climate change on water resources throughout the globe. Biological reduction of harmful organic and inorganic pollutants in water has been demonstrated as an effective method for water and wastewater treatment and would be a potential technology for brine treatment. However, biodegradation of contaminants in high salinity waters is challenging because most microbial communities cannot survive brine environments. The …

Understanding Levels Of Perceived Racism And Discrimination When Utilizing Perinatal Care, Alexandria S. Evans

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Social and structural determinants of health, grounded in historical racism and discrimination, significantly influence maternal health outcomes. Because of this, communities of color experience a higher burden of maternal health disparities. In the last several decades, there has been an increased awareness of the need to integrate critical race theory into public health research to address maternal health disparities in the context of perinatal care delivery, policy, and funding decisions.

This three-manuscript dissertation utilized mixed methods to examine the ways in which systemic racism and discrimination are perceived and how it impacts the utilization of perinatal care services in historically …

Social Network Analysis: How Social Media Groups Can Influence Policies Among Hispanic Families, Valeria Gurr

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 impacted the entire world in various ways. On March 15, 2020, education in Nevada was significantly impacted when the Governor announced the closure of public schools due to the pandemic. When the schools were closed, students were forced to stay home and receive their education through virtual instruction. This transition to distance education affected the Hispanic/Latino(a) communities in pronounced ways and highlighted issues such as limited access to the Internet, technology, lack of hardware devices, as well as language barriers and more. This study uses social networking analysis techniques to examine the nature of …

Uptake Of Contaminants Of Emerging Concerns (Cecs) By Plants Irrigated With Recycled Waters, Abid Hussain

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The increasing demand for water in arid and semi-arid regions necessitates the use of recycled water (RW) for irrigation. RW is a viable alternative to conventional irrigation water at most locations, but it can be a major route for contaminants of emerging concerns (CECs) to be taken up by the tissues of food crops, thereby leading to their subsequent entry into the food chain. CECs include pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and industrial chemicals that are generally present at low concentrations in environmental waters, hence their common designation as trace organic compounds (TOrCs), and CECs also include microbiological constituents such as …

Physiology And Genomics At The Bottom Of The World: Genome To Phenome, Amy Christine Klink

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Mammals are exposed to a suite of physiological challenges based on the environment in which they inhabit. Animal individuals can overcome challenges associated with the dynamic nature of their habitat through variation in phenotypic traits. The plasticity of a phenotype relies on an individual’s genome and the transcription factors that act on regulatory elements. Species living in Antarctica display physiological specializations to withstand harsh conditions, such as severe cold temperatures, shifts in available ice habitat, and annual fluctuations in daylight. To explore the connections between an individual’s genome and its phenotype, we investigated two physiologies of the Antarctic Weddell seal …

Exploring Staff Nurses’ Perceptions Of Nursing Student Enculturation Within Clinical Teaching: A Focused Ethnography, Larizza Limjuco Woodruff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The traditional clinical education model in nursing has utilized on-site learning experiences in clinical settings with patient encounters. With the growing complexity and demands of contemporary nursing care today, it is imperative to question the principal assumptions that guide the design and use of traditional clinical teaching experiences. Staff nurses working with nursing students can illuminate the impact of sociocultural workplace factors on clinical teaching and learning when preparing students for practice. Yet there is little known about staff nurses’ perspectives of nursing culture and how enculturation prepares nursing students for the profession. By understanding the perceptions of enculturation among …

The Relationship Between Police Stress And Officer Misconduct, Leobardo Lopez-Cristobal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Recent high-profile and controversial police-related incidents have sparked an intensified public discourse on police misconduct. This has resulted in increasing calls for greater accountability and transparency within U.S. police agencies. Much of the existing research on police misconduct centers around two competing explanations: the "bad apples" perspective, which attributes misconduct to individual officers, and the "bad barrels" perspective, which points to systemic or organizational factors (Rojek, Decker, & Wagner, 2015). However, one factor that has been underexplored in the literature is the role of police stress in influencing deviant police behavior. Previous studies suggest a potential link between police-related stress …

Using Neighborhood Information To Improve Fiber Direction Estimation From Neuroimaging Data, Anjan Mandal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Accurately estimating neuronal fiber directions is crucial in neuroimaging analysis. The Ball-and-Stick Model (BSM), introduced by Behrens et al. (2003), and widely used in software tools like FSL, remains one of the most popular models for this purpose. BSM analyzes each voxel individually, based solely on its signal information.In this dissertation, we propose modifications to BSM, that incorporate signal information from neighboring voxels in the estimation process, potentially improving the accuracy of the estimates. Additionally, within the estimation process, we introduce two novel proposal distributions to enhance the efficiency of the Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling procedure on the simplex …