UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal

Letter introducing the Volume 16, Issue 2, From Here on Out: Creating Landmarks Undergraduate Research Journal (URJ) including excerpts from the entire editorial staff. Staff members include Sheila Chavez, Yu Fang Tseng, Guadalupe Castaneda, Christopher Finley, Genesis Iniguez-Espinoza, Analee Munoz Luna, Keith Buchignani, Angel Perez, Mireya Contreras, Henry Pacheco, and Susan Varnot.

I examined how Pacific Islander communities are experiencing and responding to climate change, and the future of the region as a whole. For this paper, I conducted research on climate change, Pacific Islander communities, and predictions, alongside the cultural, social, economic, and political responses. Pacific Islander communities are experiencing the negative effects of climate change, and their responses—while adaptive—are often constrained due to their geography (Barnett, & Campbell, 2010). The future is full of negative effects, but the extent of the damages remains a subject of debate, with both pessimistic and optimistic perspectives. In conclusion, climate change has negative impacts on Pacific Islander communities, and this continued trend and its outcomes will persist and be determined by our actions today (Campbell, 2010). These vulnerable populations are at risk due to climate change, which makes it even more important to address the impacts in order to assist them.

Sex and gender are complex components of both individual and group identities, and examining them together with other aspects of identity is an important part of understanding larger social contexts. Historically, studies of sex and gender in society focused more on male roles and contributions, but recent research has become more inclusive and diverse in the examination of both female and nonconforming gender roles. This study examines the intersectionality of social roles, sex, and gender as expressed through funerary objects in the burial contexts of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Using existing records of burials in two cemeteries, Coyo Oriental and Solcor 3, this project compares 184 sampled graves to determine similarities and differences in burials for male and female individuals. Results show that some burials may reflect gendered practices, though the degree to which these practices are associated with sex differs between the two cemeteries, suggesting that regional culture plays a role in the social construction and expression of gender.

In the early 2000’s, animated family movies portray various versions of home and family. Some movies portray home as the place where you were born, whereas others portray home as any place you want it to be. While some films, such as Bao, portray family as blood relatives, other films, such as Wreck-It Ralph, Ice Age, and Monsters University, depict families as a group of individuals that have strong friendships and end up becoming their chosen family. An example of both of these concepts of family being portrayed in a family film is The Book of Life. In this essay, I will focus on the portrayal of home and family in animated family movies with a focus on case studies from the second movie of the Madagascar franchise: Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. In addition, I will be analyzing how the soundtrack, in particular the songs “The Traveling Song” and “Alex on the Spot,” help in showing the film’s portrayal of home and family.

The Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi, Twa, and Hutu moderates of 1994 is one of themost egregious and horrifying instantiations of mass atrocity since Nazi Germany. Despite solemn vows from the mouth of the United Nations to “never again” countenance the terror of genocide in the wake of the Holocaust, the international community largely stood apart, noncommittal and ineffectual, as 800,000 people or more were hunted, tortured, raped, and murdered by a war-torn Hutu populace mobilized into genocidal militias called interahamwe – a Kinyarwanda word meaning “those who fight together”. Indeed, those Hutu who participated in the genocide saw themselves as Rwanda’s defenders against a race of foreign invaders, a separate and altogether lesser subspecies of human stereotyped by ineptitude, duplicity, and depravity — therefore deserving of any brutality the genocidaires could imagine. This belief derived from a racial hierarchy imported into and inflicted upon Rwanda by German and Belgian colonizers. The regime which perpetrated the genocide used a popular radio station to exploit this — and other fault lines in Rwandan society — with terrifying efficacy.

Substitute methods of burial and funerals have been researched as populations rise and natural environments continue to be depleted, and human composting has become a leader in combating these issues. Still, the idea of having a loved one naturally decay in dirt has not sat comfortably for many family members and friends, deeming it as disrespectful in meriting a person’s life. With a compelling graduate thesis, Katrina Spade lit the movement of green burials and is fighting for them to be normalized and offered to those who have a green thumb and dedication to helping the earth’s natural resources. Her efforts have created the first human composting company, “Recompose,” which has sparked much debate about whether this new method of treating the dead is ethical or not. Human composting can be proven ethical, as it gives a new way of honoring the dead, it provides consent throughout the process, it has been legalized in numerous states, it provides current and long-term benefits, and its procedure is very similar to cultures and religions that have been practicing green burials for many generations. This research, focused on the context of the United States, provides a new insight to tackling and accepting this new life-after-death decision.

Cultural appropriation in the United States is an issue that individuals do not acceptleading cultures to be viewed as humorous and not dignified of respect. In particular, the fashionindustry has previously had problems with the address of cultural appropriation in designelements and similarities in clothing appearance in designers and clothing companies. Designersare not supplying adequate references to contributors or evidence of the clothing design beingdifferent than a cultural clothing item. The inappropriate use of cultural elements results inculture being represented inappropriately by others and for worldviews to be modified intonarrow categories regarding the characteristics of a particular culture, therefore, fostering biasesand stereotypes. Despite the ongoing prevalence of cultural appropriation within the realm offashion design, I want to understand why certain cultural groups like Mexicans are targeted byfashion designers and clothing companies. To understand the continuing process of culturalappropriation, I conducted a literature review on different cases of clothing companies accusedof Mexican cultural appropriation by the media. The literature review highlights the importanceof being aware of other cultural values, elements, and traditional clothing to avoid culturalappropriation. In the need to be influenced by other cultures in clothing design elements properjustification and accreditation must be given to demonstrate respect to other cultures. Regulatingcultural appreciation and acceptance of other cultures will increase unity and decrease theproblems associated with cultural appropriation among fashion designers and clothingcompanies.

Food deserts are typically associated with limiting health variables, which can contribute to poor nutrition and result in negative medical conditions among residents. Patterns in the differences and similarities in the experiences of residents within urban and rural food deserts are caused by a myriad of factors. This paper will display how all three of the referenced studies conducted on different urban and rural food desert locations within the U.S. indicate that rural residents face a greater amount of health disparities due to variables like affordability and income, distance, time of day, and social and demographic variables–all of which can affect one's nutritional intake. Researching and exploring comparisons between various urban and rural food deserts within the U.S. can indirectly lead to possible intervention and alleviation methods to improve access to nutritional foods. Research-based solutions that tackle nutritional intake in both urban and rural food deserts could effectively reduce and potentially mitigate a multitude of negative health consequences caused by living in a food desert, those of which tend to be made up of low-income residents and people of color. A more condensed food desert map within a singular state such as California was initially considered for a smaller area to analyze, but many available studies on food deserts conduct their research from different locations in the U.S.

Researchers have developed multiple approaches to treat major depressive disorder (MDD). Clinicians commonly employ antidepressant medication (ADM) and psychotherapy as treatment protocols. This review surveys the knowledge and identifies problems with the effects of personality and temperament for MDD treatment in 14 quantitative studies. High extraversion and conscientiousness have a positive effect on psychotherapy treatment while high neuroticism has a negative effect. Agreeableness and openness to experience appear to have conflicting results. All individual traits do not influence ADM treatment except for high and low reward dependence, which may be better for psychotherapy and ADM respectively. Low persistence and high harm avoidance adversely affect psychotherapy, but novelty seeking has an insignificant effect. Some problems in the literature include the self-report measures for individual traits, heterogeneity of study designs, and the complexity of defining personality and temperament. This paper is limited to ADM by SSRIs, SNRIs, and tricyclic antidepressants. These findings may assist patients in choosing treatment types and clinicians in creating better treatment plans for patients, especially psychotherapy. This article may also contribute to the reconceptualization of mental disorders as a dimension instead of a type.

Despite developments in the Central Valley, some significant health disparities need addressing. Naturally, finding drug rehabilitation is difficult with limited resources. Local hospitals flood with patients requiring care, but hospitals are typically at brimming capacity. Individuals with substance use disorder face a specific issue: they do not have direct access to thoroughly clean and sterile syringes. Substance use disorder is a multifaceted condition characterized by the persistent and uncontrollable consumption of a substance despite its adverse effects. Over the years, there has been a push to establish programs that provide clean syringes at no cost when a person exchanges their existing syringe for a clean one. Even so, these Service3 Exchange Programs (SEPs) frequently have a negative connotation and perception attached to them, with people believing that they cause more issues than solutions. In many counties where the establishment of these programs remains illegal, the widespread belief is that access to clean syringes incentivizes people to start using drugs. Many people believe that clean syringes intensify the substance abuse crisis in the Central Valley, not realizing that these programs play a crucial role in preventing disease spread.

Smoking is common among adults of all ages. Decades of research have shown that smoking is linked to side effects such as lung cancer. This study aims to systematically review how smoking is linked to sleep. Database searches were done through Web of Science and Google Scholar. A total of 19 peer-reviewed journals were referenced to conduct this literature review. 15 peer-reviewed journals were used for the results. Results demonstrated that smoking was found to be correlated with sleep deprivation in both males and females of all ages. Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) was a source of non-smokers' sleep complaints. Although there are multiple kinds of cigarettes, sleep quality has been shown to be poor regardless of the smoking medium. Ceasing smoking may lead to sleep benefits. Additional research will need to be conducted to further corroborate this statement.

Psychedelic substances, which were once categorized as Schedule 1 drugs, are gaining public attention for their potential to treat individuals with mental conditions. Every Schedule 1 drug was once considered to have no medicinal value, with the potential for high abuse, but recent research has suggested otherwise. LySergic acid Diethylamide (LSD) and MethyleneDioxy-MethAmphetamine (MDMA) are two Schedule 1 class substances, which have been studied on a diverse amount of subjects and shown to have positive benefits on the physical and mental psyche with no potential for addiction or bodily harm. Moreover, studies regarding neuroplasticity in humans displayed benefits in how the brain can restructure itself through new learning while under the influence of psychedelic substances. Psychedelic substances are becoming more accessible to scientists, who now have legal authority to conduct research regarding their advantages to further investigate the benefits and unfound knowledge. As new information about psychedelic substances progress, and are now being introduced to the public, regulations are needed in order to uphold public demand. Open source projects, which are accessible to the public, such as Golden Euphorics at goldeneuphorics.org, have already contributed to providing individuals with safe and reliable products. Although psychedelic substances have made a significant amount of progress in the realm of medicine, and psychological sciences, further research is required to ensure safety of the public.

Polycystic ovarian syndrome is the most common endocrine disorder that affects women. The focus on inflammatory PCOS will be the basis of understanding how hormonal imbalances are due to inflammatory diets, stress, and environmental factors that impact symptom severity. The objective of this paper was to provide a systematic review that would determine if symptom severity was associated with psychological stress on polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). It is important to note that PCOS does not have a cure but symptom severity may only be treated, this is due to the cause being unknown and PCOS being used as an umbrella term for issues related to the ovaries and reproductive cycle. As a result, the most commonly suggested findings were to improve diet, improve exercise habits, and seek psychological help if feeling distressed by the symptoms of PCOS.

Researchers have developed multiple approaches to treat major depressive disorder (MDD). Clinicians commonly employ antidepressant medication (ADM) and psychotherapy astreatment protocols. This review surveys the knowledge and identifies problems with the effects of personality and temperament for MDD treatment in 14 quantitative studies. High extraversion and conscientiousness have a positive effect on psychotherapy treatment while high neuroticism has a negative effect. Agreeableness and openness to experience appear to have conflicting results. All individual traits do not influence ADM treatment except for high and low reward dependence, which may be better for psychotherapy and ADM respectively. Low persistence and high harm avoidance adversely affect psychotherapy, but novelty seeking has an insignificant effect. Some problems in the literature include the self-report measures for individual traits, heterogeneity of study designs, and the complexity of defining personality and temperament. This paper is limited to ADM by SSRIs, SNRIs, and tricyclic antidepressants. These findings may assist patients in choosing treatment types and clinicians in creating better treatment plans for patients, especially psychotherapy. This article may also contribute to the reconceptualization of mental disorders as a dimension instead of a type.

Transgender individuals struggle with a misalignment between their biological and interpersonal self, in order to rectify this issue gender affirming health care is used to re-align the two aspects of themselves. The American Psychiatric Association defines transgender individuals as those who are assigned one gender identity at birth and identify as another later in life (Yarbrough 2023). There are various different gender orientations that a person canidentify with but most of the examples will focus on male-to-female (MTF) or female-to-male (FTM) transgender experiences. The current standard on gender affirming care focuses on various steps of diagnosis, traditional therapy, hormone therapy and surgical interventions (Yarbrough 2023). Transgender children suffer academically and socially due to having an internal struggle with their gender dysphoria, often affecting their everyday life (Boyle 2022). The argument against gender affirming care for minors focuses on the ability of minors to conceptualize the long-lasting effects the care will have on their body as well as the fear theindividual will change their mind over time. The argument for gender affirming care for minors views the issue as necessary medical care that treats a life-threatening issue. This paper will conduct a thorough review of current opinions on gender affirming care for minors, addressing gaps in understanding of what care is given and the effects the care has on the individual with a special note on beneficence, non-maleficence, and autonomy using a deontological ethical framework.

The question of authorship and legal ownership in AI-generated creative materials has become a contentious issue on an international level. This paper investigates the complexity of attribution of legal copyrights within the framework of the U.S. Copyright Law system and explores potential solutions to this evolving dilemma. The U.S. Copyright Law, rooted in the protection of inventors' exclusive rights, extends to both authors and owners, intending to safeguard intellectual property in the judicial field. AI-generated works, however, present a unique issue as they blur the lines of authorship in presented works. The U.S. Copyright Office, while expressing interest in addressing these issues, currently rejects applications attributing AI as the primary creator due to historical legal precedents, marking uncertainty with both creators and the general public about the future of commercialized AI-generated works. This paper highlights the intricate legal and philosophical questions surrounding AI and copyright law, emphasizing the need to carefully consider the roles and responsibilities of both AI and its users in the creative process. As AI technology continues to evolve, these debates will shape the future of copyright law's application to AI-generated works. The current application of AI in the creative process does fit within the U.S. Copyright Law, but with further evolution, the scope of human involvement could be reduced.

Bacteria are some of the first organisms to ever exist in the biosphere, being prokaryotic organisms, they have been present on Earth for the past 3 billion years. Soon afterward, however, certain retroviruses evolved to infect these organisms soon becoming the most populous entity in the biosphere. For decades, researchers have delved into the various interactions between bacteria and bacteriophages due to their coevolutionary dynamics. Through this research, scientists eventually were able to discover a plethora of various mechanisms that bacteria have utilized to prevent bacteriophage infections, including but not limited to, receptor inactivation, modification, clustering, and CRISPR-Cas systems. Bacteriophages have developed superb countermeasures to these defenses over billions of years of coevolution. Scientists are trying to understand these coevolutionary dynamics to develop better potential antibiotic treatments using bacteriophages, as the prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria has become a critical issue in modern healthcare. The excessive utilization of antibiotics has accelerated the prevalence of resistant strains of bacteria, rendering conventional antibiotics ineffective against once-treatable infections. This phenomenon can dramatically reduce patient outcomes and pose a substantial challenge to public health systems. In response to this crisis, virologists are actively exploring alternative therapeutic strategies to combat antibiotic resistance. One such novel approach that is becoming increasingly more studied is bacteriophage therapy, which utilizes viruses that selectively target and kill specific pathogenic bacterial strains. By sparing beneficial bacteria and offering a safe solution, bacteriophage therapy presents a promising avenue for addressing the growing threat of antibiotic resistance.

Studies have shown that the COVID-19 pandemic led to global panic and ultimately, an increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Research has reported on the misuse of antimicrobials during theCOVID-19 outbreak, which led to global complications. The misuse of antimicrobials discussed in the literature includes the empirical use of antibiotics, the knowledge gaps, and the excessive use of disinfectant products. There has been a greater impact of the misuse of antimicrobials on developing countries due to their lack of resources which will result in improper sanitation, inadequate infrastructure, and limited preparedness for future pandemics. To combat the increase in AMR, it is necessary to explore a variety of resolutions. These resolutions may include antimicrobial stewardship programs, rapid diagnostic methods, and funding for communicative research. Collaborative efforts between clinicians and researchers can lead to future advancements in AMR. To inhibit the progression of AMR, it is important to further research and further exploration.

A cancerous tumor in the brain known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) originates from astrocytes of the central nervous system. Consequently, GBM poses significant challenges to the oncology community because of its aggressive characteristics and poor prognosis. GBM hallmarks include fast growth, invasiveness, and high rates of recurrence. This tumor is highly heterogeneous with different genetic and molecular features found within the tumor cells. There is an ongoing obstacle to conceptualizing effective management for this grappling disease. This is largely due to the tumor displaying intra-heterogeneity, in addition to a plethora of differences in the tumor’s microenvironment. The heterogeneity exhibited by this tumor not only makes it more resistant to treatment but also influences its ability to evolve. The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) which falls under the Human Epidermal Growth Factor (ErbB) family is a transmembrane receptor that assists in understanding complex molecular pathways involved in GBM formation. EGFR mutations have been shown to affect signaling cascades including Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK, PI3K/Akt/mTOR, JAK/STAT, PLC/PKC among others transforming cellular machinery involved in cell survival, proliferation and invasion. Knowledge about EGFR’s aberrant mutations can be useful for developing novel therapeutic strategies aimed at EGFR inhibition in GBM therapy. This gives hope for patients with this challenging disease to have better outcomes.

The rapid growth of cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the U.S., and lung cancer has the highest mortality rate. This, in turn, creates a high demand for new technology to effectively treat this disease. This synthesis project delves into the capabilities of AI technologies that are specialized in diagnosing lung cancer at an early stage and their effectiveness in creating personalized treatment and risk prevention. By understanding more about the Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) tool along with the Triplet Network method, the study reveals that it has a high accuracy rate (86.39%) on early diagnosis of lung cancer and can examine a patient’s genome for cancer risk. The application of AI technology for the diagnosis of complex diseases like cancer is essential for maximizing patients’ safety and recovery, along with the reassurance that medical professionals need. As AI technology continually improves over time, it may soon perform more complex tasks than simply scanning and analyzing data.

Background and Aim Health literacy and public awareness about common health problems are critical for individual and public health. The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) of California, home to four million people, is a medically underserved region with a lack of access to health resources, contributing to the region’s high prevalence of health concerns. In response to health education challenges in this region, our intervention aims to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of animated medical education videos in improving health literacy behavior by equipping high school students with medical knowledge to empower them to uplift their communities through informative outreach.

Methods The intervention will involve the use of five-minute animated videos regarding relevant fundamental medical problems through the provision of age-appropriate health information given to all participating high school students (n=400) in Merced, CA. Relevant medical problems include health conditions endemic to the SJV, such as diabetes, asthma, and oral health. These conditions were selected based on public health data and interviews with public health experts in the region. The intervention will take place from January to March of 2024. The animated medical videos will be created based on information from federal government health agencies and will be peer-reviewed by physicians or health experts with relevant experience. The animated videos are based on the Health Belief Model, aiming to enhance perceived susceptibility, the severity of consequences, and the benefits of taking preventive actions. Effectiveness measures will include knowledge gained from the intervention and intention to engage in specific health behaviors. Feasibility measures will include accessibility of the materials, measured by perceived difficulty in understanding the video content.  To assess effectiveness and feasibility, we will employ a pre-and post-test design, where participants will be given a baseline questionnaire to assess their knowledge, attitude, perception, and behavior relevant to the medical topic. Students will then be presented with the video intervention, after which a post-test is administered using the same questions to assess post-intervention changes. Generalized mixed models will be used to analyze survey data.

Results and Implications Results are expected in March. The findings will provide insights to educators and policymakers regarding the use of age-appropriate medical education resources and their potential benefits in medically underserved communities. We aspire to contribute valuable insights that may pave the way for innovative approaches to health education, ultimately empowering individuals in underrepresented communities with the knowledge needed to make informed health-related decisions.