Digital Commons Network^™

Stress Response Pathways And The Origins Of Novelty: How Snakes Regenerate Organs And Regulate Venom, Aundrea Kristene Westfall

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Snakes have captured evolutionary biologists’ attention for decades as extreme examples of adaptive evolution models for studying how novel and extreme traits evolve in nature, but research has long overlooked or been unable to determine the molecular and genomic bases of these traits, and their underlying mechanisms. Here, I dissect the molecular mechanisms and associated signaling pathways underlying two such extreme traits – extreme intestinal regenerative capacity and the evolution of venom regulation – using functional genomics approaches to understand the conserved and non-canonical gene regulatory cascades that drives them. I first combined physiological data with RNA sequencing, proteomics, and …

Lost In Your Halo: The Influence Of Group Attractiveness And Diversity On Perceived Group Performance Ratings, Jade C. Chacon

Psychology Theses - Archive

Research on attractiveness suggests that more attractive individuals are assumed to have superiority on several traits, such as happiness and extraversion. This is termed the halo effect. Additionally, within the diversity literature, although inconsistent, there is evidence supporting the importance of diversity within a team to promote better group performance and to foster creativity and innovation. This study examined, for the first time, whether the physical attractiveness halo effect applies to groups. Particularly, overall group attractiveness, group diversity, and their interactive influence on perceived group creative performance were examined. This experiment manipulated both the attractiveness and the diversity of the …

Fatigue Performance Modeling In Advanced Out-Of-Autoclave Composites For Aerospace Applications, Grayson Reid Curry

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Increased application of composite materials in the military and civil applications renewed the interest to development of high-fidelity methodologies for predicting their performance characteristics. Besides the traditional autoclave processed structural composites such as IM7/8552 and IM7/977-3 widely used on various platforms, novel materials such IM7/5320-1 suitable for Out-of-Autoclave (OoA) cure became of interest. Static and fatigue performance prediction of Open-Hole quasi-isotropic laminates made from IM7/5320-1 was performed in this work by using the Finite Element Analysis software BSAM. Progressive failure simulation including delaminations, matrix cracks and fiber failure was performed. Regularized eXtended Finite Element Methods (RXFEM) was used for mesh …

Understanding The Impact Self-Service Technology (Sst) Has On Front-Line Employees (Fles) In A Retail Service Environment, Abigail Torres Rico

Marketing Dissertations - Archive

The widespread adoption of self-service technology (SST) has revolutionized how customers make decisions and dramatically shifted the roles of front-line employees (FLEs) in retail environments. However, most research on SSTs only focuses on their effects on customer behavior. This three-essay dissertation explores how SST affects the job outcomes of FLEs and their interactions with consumers in the current service environment. The first essay is a conceptual paper that overviews the current SST literature and proposes a theoretical framework that draws from the pyramid model and socio-technical system theory (STS). The second essay employs qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews …

Dispersion Study Of Metal-Organic Frameworks And Synthesis Of Mof-High-Density Polyethylene Fibers, Sathvika Gondi

Material Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a highly versatile class of materials with a wide range of potential applications in gas storage, separation, catalysis, drug delivery, and sensing. The ability to tailor the properties and functionalities of MOFs by varying the organic linkers and inorganic nodes makes them highly attractive for a wide range of applications. The unique properties of MOFs also make them promising materials for fundamental studies in materials science and chemistry. The current investigation focuses on the dispersion study of MOFs and the synthesis of MOF-Polymer composites. The dispersions of MOFs in various organic solvents like ethanol, isopropanol, tetrahydrofuran, …

Application Of Photogrammetry For Monitoring Soil Surface Movement, Arjan Poudel

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Understanding slope behavior and forecasting failure requires accurate soil surface movement measurements. Research gaps and constraints remain despite the development of diverse methods. Recently, photogrammetry has become a promising method for detecting soil surface movement. This method involves setting coded targets and ground points on the soil surface, taking photographs before and after the movement, and using photogrammetric software to measure accurately. However, past studies have mostly used high-end cameras with excellent resolution and geotagging, which may not have been available in all contexts. Thus, this study compares the accuracy and precision of geotechnical soil surface measurement with a consumer-grade …

Writing Workshops: The Authentic Writing Experience, Ashley Kevil

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Many of the artistic aspects of writing are lost in the common lecture-style teaching of grammar and essays. A writing workshop is used to resolve this, acting as a coaching approach to teaching writing in which students move at their own pace. To study the effectiveness of a writing workshop, a third-grade student from an urban setting was worked with three times a week. These sessions began with 10 minutes on an aspect of learning, followed by 30 minutes of writing, and 10 minutes of conferencing. After working with the student, it was found that the student’s writing greatly benefited …

Sakuga Animation In Harmony, Farhan Hossain Fahim

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

‘Sakuga’ is colloquially known to be a style of Japanese animation (anime) characterized by dynamism, fluidity, and attention to detail. It helps to make a scene livelier, more realistic, and exciting, and is typically used for action scenes. With RETAS Studio being the industry-standard 2D animation software in Japan, its Western counterpart, Toon Boom Harmony, does not see much use in the anime industry. This project attempts to create a short sakuga animation of a dragonfly using Harmony. The dragonfly’s trajectory is initially mapped out in the software, followed by sketches of the key frames defining its movement. The in-between …

The Effects Of Prison Gerrymandering On Election Results, Francesca Jaubert

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

This study looks at whether or not there is a correlation between the voting patterns of a county and the presence of prisons within that county. There is a history of prisons being used to inflate population numbers within states to change where voting power lies. Previous research exists indicating a speculative relationship between Republican politicians and increased prison gerrymandering, so this research was developed to reveal if there is a genuine relationship between these two factors. Some of the variables included to better isolate the influence of prison location are per county income, biographical information, total population, voter turnout, …

Covid-19 Patients Who Discharge With Home Oxygen Have Lower Readmission Rates Than Covid-19 Patients Who Discharge Without Oxygen, Samantha G. Landers

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The purpose of this study was to explore what the best care should be at discharge after being diagnosed with COVID-19. This was a retrospective study using data from electronic health records. Patients discharged to home with oxygen (O2) were less likely to be readmitted within 30 days. Linear Regression was computed to determine variables that could predict if discharge with and without O2 would affect readmission rates. When adjustments were made for co-variants, it was determined that patients having been in the ICU on the ventilator were 2.6 times more likely to be readmitted within 30 days. However, COVID-19 …

Value Of Mechanical Design In Buildings Proper Information Inputs System Creation 3-D Modeling, Johnathan Noe Vasquez

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Mechanical design of a building is a crucial discipline that focuses on the comfortability of the occupants of the building. Functionality of proper systems within the building is essential in building success and proper design. Specifically, knowing the factors that affect HVAC design is crucial in designing properly. In addition to this knowledge, one should gain expertise in a program that can generate loads based on a mechanical standpoint. After loads are generated, the information provided is used to select specific equipment that can satisfy the design required. This is where manufacturers are researched, and data is compared to view …

Suburban Application Of Image Processing For License Plate Detection, Ryan James Bluestein

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

It is not uncommon to see vehicles speeding in residential neighborhoods, particularly near high traffic areas such as highways or city centers. This issue is typically either dealt with by stationing police officers along streets, or by ignoring the issue completely. By capturing images of license plates and processing them to extract the plate numbers, offenders can easily and inexpensively be monitored and reported. One method of processing these images is to run them through a convolutional neural network. These networks excel at detecting objects within images. By creating a convolutional neural network, and training it based on sample data, …

A Way To Assess The Impairment Of Cerebral Autoregulation In Pediatric Patients Under Ecmo With Neuroimaging Abnormalities, Sylvine N. Ineza

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Cerebral autoregulation protects the healthy brain by maintaining an adequate cerebral blood flow in case of blood pressure changes. Cannulation of great blood vessels and alterations of pulsatile flow patterns during ECMO (Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) alters cerebral autoregulation. This project provides a reliable methodology that can assess the degree of cerebral autoregulation impairment of ECMO patients and examine if it can be correlated or predictive of neuroimaging abnormalities. Initially, we used the normal WTC MATLAB code to obtain a time-frequency map. Then we calculated the in-phase percent significance and used the resultant values to determine the Scale Averaged Percent Significance …

Interactive Living Stream, Yuvaram Devarajulu

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The Living Stream product promotes education of the wildlife instreams of the national parks by making the sites accessible and providing the opportunity to experience nature through augmented reality. The US ARMY CORPS of Engineers stated the need for making national parks accessible to individuals unable to participate in the great outdoors. There are several individuals who often face difficulties accessing outdoor parks due to different reasons. The stream projection is expected to include several elements that resemble real water streams on earth. A projector would display a simulation of a pond with some animations of native fish and splashing …

Evolution Of Dallas's Old City Hall, Alexia Diermeier

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

This thesis analyzes the preservation of Old City Hall in Dallas, Texas, as its functionality has evolved over time. It evaluates its significance as a monument to Dallas's early municipal government and civic pride, and as a prime example of early 1900s public buildings in America. The paper uses case studies of other historic preservation projects, including the 1976 Old Supreme Court and Old Senate Chamber in Washington D.C., the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas. The thesis compares the preservation processes of Old City Hall with these landmarks and provides …

Design And Implementation Of A 14-Segment Display For A Speed Feedback Sign, Sam Safaei Mehro

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The speed feedback sign is an instrumental tool in providing feedback to drivers on the road to ensure the safety of all patrons around them by showing said drivers an instantaneous visual comparison to the speed limit. While the entire project involves the creation of a speed feedback sign equipped with a camera to record video of speeding vehicles, the contribution presented here is the display for the sign. The sign will not only provide the numerical vehicle speed, but also a message to flash intermittently at a given vehicle speed. The display on the speed feedback sign must not …

Comparing Machine Learning Algorithms For Vehicle Route Prediction, Prithvidhar Pudu

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Route prediction is an important tool in understanding the trajectories of vehicles. This information can be used to make intelligent decisions in city planning such as traffic avoidance and pedestrian safety. Machine Learning can predict these routes by learning common patterns from previous vehicle paths. These vehicle paths are plentiful due to the abundance of IoT devices and advancements in computer vision. The most suitable machine learning algorithm that could accurately predict destinations was determined by passing vehicle data to three popular machine learning algorithms: Decision Trees, Artificial Neural Networks, and Naïve-Bayes. The training data for these algorithms was converted …

Examining Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome Through Social Determinants Of Health, Race, And Ethnicity, Tolulola Ogundiran

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) is a serious health issue in which an infant withdraws from intrauterine opioid exposure. Due to the opioid epidemic, the prevalence of NOWS increased in the United States. To determine if there are disparities in the NOWS population, social determinants of health (SDOH), race, and ethnicity were examined, as they have not been studied in NOWS previously. The Child Opportunity Index (COI), assessed SDOH factors on a community level. Data from the 2018-2019 Texas Inpatient Discharge Data set identified 1,262 infants diagnosed with NOWS and affected by Maternal Opioid Use (MO). Infants affected by MO …

Effects Of Prebiotics, Probiotics, And Antibiotics On The Human Gut Microbiome, Ai-Vy Dinh

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The human gut microbiome is a community of microbes that are found in the gastrointestinal tract and serves many purposes to the human host, such as immune system regulation and food digestion. In adults, thousands of bacterial species may develop over time based on changes in diet, environment, and other factors. A dietary category of interest is that of prebiotics and probiotics, both of which are necessary for a healthy microbiome. Prebiotics aid microorganisms by acting as “food,” while probiotics are microorganisms themselves. A dataset was extracted from the National Center for Biotechnology Information that included abundant bacterial genera in …

The Rise And Fall Of High-Profile Issues In Modern American Politics, Taylor Thanh Huynh

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

New controversies in America’s current political environment signal increased social uncertainty. By looking at changing public interest following a significant political event, this research provides an insight into how high-profile issues affect public awareness, political participation, and substantive views. With a focus on the topic of abortion, the project examines reactions to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision as a case study to determine how high-profile issues impact public attitudes. A multi-method approach with regular opinion polls, entrance polls, exit polls, voter turnout data, news endorsements, and media usage patterns is used to examine …

Genotypic Result Of The Insulin-Like Receptor Gene Knockout In Daphnia Pulex Eb1, Anisa Sarah Kammaz

2023 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas9 has been used in multiple gene modification studies in various organisms. Daphnia, water fleas, are used in ecological studies due to their ability to sense and respond to environmental factors. Their quick life cycles make them prime candidates for gene modification and evolutionary studies. In our experiment, Daphnia pulex EB1 was used in the knockout of the Insulin-like Receptor gene via CRISPR-Cas9 due to its effect on dwarfism in humans and developmental disorders in mice. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) sequencing was done to compare the EB1 gene of interest to the PA42 reference …

Rethinking The Civil Protection Of Patients From Misleading Pharmaceutical Marketing Under Saudi Law, Muflih Saud Almughyirah

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

The effect of pharmaceutical marketing on individuals is a universal concern. It can influence patients' health and wealth. Patients, as well as their prescribing medical doctors, have been targeted by such marketing through different means. Many patients are unaware of their position as the most vulnerable party in this context and how these promotional strategies affect their physicians' decisions. When pharmaceutical marketing includes false, misleading, or otherwise negligent statements, patients become potential victims. This research addresses patients' civil protection from misleading pharmaceutical marketing under Saudi law. The study addresses four crucial aspects of patient protection: (i) ex-ante government regulations, (ii) …

Eastside Gentrification & The Diminishing Prospects Of Home-Ownership: Can Neighborhoods Such As Boyle Heights Sustain As Gateways To The American Dream?, Alexandra V. Romero

Whittier Scholars Program

Hit hard by gentrification that is moving further East and North into working-class neighborhoods such as Boyle Heights that were once affordable to aspiring Latino communities, home ownership is increasingly inaccessible, even for college educated and professionally employed Gen Zers. The housing market in Los Angeles, California has been preventing younger generations from owning their own home. Homeownership is changing the future of living and this article will help readers understand how the global financial market is changing, the issues of home renovations in Boyle Heights, and the differences of buying a home now than in the early 70s. Readers …

Students With Disabilities In Higher Education, Adan J. De La Loza

Whittier Scholars Program

My research paper consists of researching the experiences of students with disabilities in higher education as well as the history of disabilities acts, what has changed for SWD's in higher education and how we can make more accommodations for higher education. Furthermore, I will be discussing the stigma behind disability as well as include research about accommodation strategies and how accommodations have improved in recent years. The research paper will also entail how online learning during the COVID pandemic has affected students with disabilities in higher education and how inequity as well as the lack of face to face interaction …

Effects Of Parental Alcoholism On Adolescent Development, Diana Michel-Gonzales

Whittier Scholars Program

Studies assessed the magnitude and specificity of parental alcoholism as a risk factor for internalizing symptomatology, externalizing symptomatology, and alcohol and drug use in adolescence. The results show that alcoholism is a moderate risk factor. The outcome measure has a different risk specificity. The risk of alcoholism is caused by parental psychopathology and environmental stress. The father's alcoholism was a risk for alcohol use that was beyond the effects of stress and family turmoil. The children of problem drinkers are affected by externalities. When designing and financing addiction treatment programs, long-term consequences of alcohol misuse should be taken into account. …

The Political Power Of Roman Empress Julia Domna, 193-217 C.E., Abigail Sanchez

Whittier Scholars Program

This research paper aims to analyze the extent of Roman Empress Julia Domna’s political power and how her power would have influenced the Roman empire. Roman women faced many limitations in the political world, including being unable to be elected to public office; however, Roman imperial women were in the unique position of being able to take up space in the political world. Empress Julia Domna’s role was symbolic and active, putting her nearly in equal standing to her husband, Emperor Septimius Severus, and her son, Emperor Caracalla. When considering the political limitations of Roman women, analyzing the extent of …

The Developing Effects Of Potassium Ferricyanide On Tetrahymena, Katelyn Coronell

Whittier Scholars Program

Potassium Cyanide is a highly toxic chemical asphyxiant that interferes with the body's ability to use oxygen, typically by directly affecting the body by ingestion, inhalation, skin contact, or eye contact(CDC, 2011). Due to its high toxicity, the main effect that leads to the downfall of the organism begins with the cessation of aerobic metabolism; it does this by cyanide binding to the ferric ions and inhibiting cytochrome oxidase within the mitochondria (Zhang, 2015). There are no physical dangers the substance causes. Although, there are many chemical dangers. If used at temperatures higher than 70℉ The substance may produce toxic …

Consumers' Perceptions Of Digital Privacy In The United States And Japan, Destiny Randle

Whittier Scholars Program

The purpose of my study is to explore the contours of contemporary consumer privacy protections derived from legislation, regulations and publicly available company policies as a way to get a better understanding of how consumer data is protected. A few examples ranging from company-based consumer protection in the United States to data breaches in Japan will be explored and examined. Finally, this paper includes a comparative survey of consumer perceptions and concerns related to personal data privacy in the U.S. and Japan. As a way to assess the degree to which digital privacy and personal data breaches have adversely influenced …

Bluetooth Low Energy Indoor Positioning System, Jackson T. Diamond, Jordan Hanson

Whittier Scholars Program

Robust indoor positioning systems based on low energy bluetooth signals will service a wide range of applications. We present an example of a low energy bluetooth positioning system. First, the steps taken to locate the target with the bluetooth data will be reviewed. Next, we describe the algorithms of the set of android apps developed to utilize the bluetooth data for positioning. Similar to GPS, the algorithms use trilateration to approximate the target location by utilizing the corner devices running one of the apps. Due to the fluctuating nature of the bluetooth signal strength indicator (RSSI), we used an averaging …

I Grew Up Indoctrinated, Consuelo Ferschweiler

Whittier Scholars Program

My capstone project is looking at homeschooling as an educational path. I started with researching homeschooling and studies done to show the affects, outcomes, and comparisons of homeschooling with other methods commonly used such as Public or Private schools. I then read a few books and material that fall into the memoir and researched memoir genre, such as Educated, to understand how the voice and gain familiarity of memoir writing and the process of researching into your own life and history.

I have been looking back on my education of growing up homeschooled and writing scenes from those memories, …