http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification 720 https://escholarship.org/uc/ucrhonors/rss Recent eScholarship items from University Honors Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:35:40 +0000 https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9q15r43k Liquid argon (LAr) has wide applications in nuclear and particle physics, particularly in dark matter research, where it enables the detection of ionization and scintillation signals while minimizing radioactive background. Doping liquid argon with xenon can enhance ionization and increase photon yield, lowering the energy threshold and improving signal strength. This amplification of light output enhances detector sensitivity, increasing the likelihood of detecting weak interactions, such as those from potential dark matter candidates. However, the system presents challenges due to the narrow liquefaction temperature range and the potential for xenon to separate from argon or to form ice, which can introduce instabilities. This paper discusses a cryogenic system designed to increase liquid argon production while maintaining a stable liquefied state to address these challenges. This research involves developing a stable, functional cryogenic condenser to ensure a continuous supply... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9q15r43k Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Li, Alan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9hq09302 As schools are the primary education facilities for many, it is essential that they are conducive learning environments that support student wellbeing. Previous research showcases the positive connection between school climate and student wellbeing. Regretfully, the COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant negative impact on student well-being and a host of school outcomes. This systematic literature review examined post-COVID-19 pandemic research to glean recommendations for practices, policies, and interventions that foster improved school climate and wellbeing. Sources were identified through a search of psychology and education research databases using specified terms identified review of school climate and wellbeing related research for the period between February 1, 2020 and November 5, 2025. The systematic review retained 20 articles for review. A synthesis of this information yielded several best practice recommendations for strategies to promote positive school climate and... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9hq09302 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lu, Edwin https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9g61z08w Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects cognitive processing in ways that challenge conventional models of human cognition. Previous studies have shown contradictory findings regarding the specific impacts on working and sensory memory. By examining autistic traits along with psychiatric comorbidities, this study seeks to bridge this gap. To gain a deeper understanding of the distinct neural and behavioral mechanisms that underlie the cognitive functions and memory precision of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), this study utilized a quantitative approach. To evaluate sensory memory precision, the study will modify Zhang & Luck's (2008) color wheel paradigm. In addition to verbal and visuospatial working memory exercises, participants will complete executive function tests that assess cognitive flexibility. The study displayed evidence that higher scores on the ASQ correlate with higher sensory memory precision and categorical encoding, no associations with working... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9g61z08w Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Saxena, Ishika https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9fc3h7cs A brain aneurysm is a bulging artery inside the brain that can rupture, often causing severe debilitation or death. A potential patient-specific treatment involves using a polyurethane shape memory polymer (SMP)-based foam that can be compressed for endovascular surgical insertion and then expanded with heat to maximally fill the aneurysm space. By blocking blood flow into the aneurysm, the customizable SMPs reduce rupture risk and improve patient outcomes. However, their long-term mechanical durability and shape recovery capabilities must be well understood before they can be safely implemented in medical applications. The goal of this research is to examine the durability, shape retention, and recovery time of SMPs through repeated compression tests, so this material can eventually be used to treat patients. A total of 18 SMP foams were fabricated with 10%, 15%, and 20% infill densities using fixed ratios of three monomers: (i) hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), (ii) N,N,N0,N0-tetrakis... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9fc3h7cs Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Bowling, Andrea https://escholarship.org/uc/item/973852q3 In order for equity within any higher education institution to be attained, most notably equity in science education, it must be conceptualized with sufficient attention to access, as only then can full participation for all students be achieved. Disabled students have continued to face exclusion due to the historical and ongoing design of science laboratories that primarily serve able-bodied individuals. Even as relatively recent efforts introduced more physically accessible features, such as adjustable fume hoods and workbenches, these improvements have not fully addressed the broader challenges students encounter in relation to systemic ableist barriers. Given the complex systems through which disability resources operate in any institution, it is critical to examine not only existing resources and the degree of student awareness of those resources, but also the preparedness of all instructional faculty and teaching assistants (TAs) to support disabled students effectively.... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/973852q3 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Haidar, Leila https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9657f00s Breast cancer survivors often experience significant psychosocial burden after treatment, including depression and anxiety. Although post-mastectomy breast reconstruction (PMBR) has been associated with improved body image and quality of life, existing literature on psychiatric outcomes after reconstruction remains mixed, with some studies reporting psychosocial benefits while others finding no significant differences. Additionally, much of the current literature focuses on patient-reported psychosocial well-being rather than incident psychiatric diagnoses reported in large clinical datasets. Using the TriNetX Collaborative Network, this study evaluated incident depression and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) among women undergoing PMBR within five years of surgery, with marital status serving as the primary factor of interest. Multivariable Cox regression and propensity score-matched subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate predictors of psychiatric outcomes and compare... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9657f00s Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ko, Amy https://escholarship.org/uc/item/90s4x1jv Insect monitoring is important for agriculture, biodiversity research, and public health, but many traditional monitoring methods can be expensive, labor-intensive, destructive, or difficult to apply over large areas. Acoustic insect monitoring offers a promising alternative because insects can be detected by analyzing the unique sounds produced by their wingbeats. However, real-world audio recordings collected by sensors often include background noise, environmental interference, and other non-insect sounds, making it difficult to accurately identify true insect activity. The goal of this project was to optimize acoustic insect sensor performance by developing a MATLAB-based workflow that can process insect audio recordings and identify sound segments most likely to contain insect wingbeat signals. The workflow incorporated frequency-domain signal processing techniques including Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis, dominant-frequency extraction, spectral filtering, area-under-the-curve... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/90s4x1jv Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Raju, Saachi https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8v21q05m Radio Access Network (RAN), widely known as base stations, is a critical component in cellular networks to provide wireless data services. 5G introduces a new approach to RAN, as Open RAN (O-RAN), allowing the traditional hardware base stations of RAN to be virtualized as Cloud supported software. O-RAN is disaggregated into multiple components, each a part of RAN functionality. Additionally, it introduces the RAN Intelligence Controller (RIC) as a new software component that allows the creation and deployment of xApps. These AI-powered components collect and process large amounts of data in order to train their configurations which are used to optimize some specific utilities. The physical or PHY-layer of the 5G protocol stack is responsible for the modulation, coding, and radio signal processing of mobile communications. We investigated potential attack behavior occurring on the PHY-layer in O-RAN and what intrusion detection would look like. We ran several machine learning... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8v21q05m Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 O'Connor, Charlette https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8qp6n0vp Ethnic-racial socialization (ERS) in Asian American families is understudied. This study addresses that gap by focusing on Korean American families. Prior research shows an association between ERS and mental health, although these studies primarily focused on effects in childhood. This paper examines the effects on emerging adulthood. The results stem from a qualitative analysis of interviews with 20 Korean American young adults, aged 18-25 years, from Southern California. We assessed parentsí messages about racism, Asian Americans, and other people of color, received while growing up, and their relation to participantsí current mental health. We found that all but one participant described messages about racism as a problem. However, when participants also received messages minimizing racism and denigrating other groups of color, they described having negative mental health outcomes. We also found that some participants who described messages denigrating other groups of color... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8qp6n0vp Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Sohn, Isabel https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8nc416z3 Boxing has reshaped me into a different person than I was before, shaping my resilience, confidence, and inner-strength. The lessons I have learned in the ring have also been applicable to my personal life. This unique sport has not only allowed me to discover a different part of myself, but has also helped me build and maintain many wonderful friendships and relationships with other fellow fighters. While it is undeniable that boxing requires physical toughness, this sport requires one to delve deeply within themselves, requiring the ability to create and fortify a mental toughness. Through the use of personal anecdotes and self-documentation via smartphone, audio clips and archived footage, I aim to share with others how boxing can serve as a great personal resource of self-improvement and empowerment. My documentary will display my personal accounts of training, revealing my struggles as well as my achievements. The footage captured in this documentation will be filmed almost... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8nc416z3 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Flores, Alessandra https://escholarship.org/uc/item/86s0r3wz War is on the horizon. A seer hides his past, a mechanical hybrid chases promises, and a prince desires revenge. Corruption runs rampant throughout the ranks while outsiders observe from the shadows. Felix Adelric is a seer. Serving as the Lieutenant General of Switzerland, he values trust between his officers more than anything, hoping theyíll listen to his orders when their lives are on the line. But when a letter arrives, old memories are reawakened, and Felix must pay a price for every lie he tells. Even if that price is betrayal. Reko Erkki is a mechanical hybrid. Half-soldier, half-child, heís both extremely violent but undeniably adorable. Pledging his life and loyalty to Felix after being saved from death in Finland, Reko will do anything to ensure Felix remains alive and well. Even if it means going behind his back and embracing the soldier he knows he was never meant to truly be. Lars Theodor is a prince. The Crown Prince of Denmark who was forced to flee his kingdom... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/86s0r3wz Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Eaton, Courtney https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8501j7xr This paper examines whether evangelical voters in Brazil have become increasingly politically cohesive over time and what factors may explain this transformation. Using survey data from LAPOPís AmericasBarometer from 2006 to 2023, I examine patterns of voter choice, ideological self-placement, and religiosity among evangelicals relative to other groups across six presidential elections in Brazil. The findings show that while evangelical voting patterns between 2002 and 2014 were not markedly different from other groups, the elections of 2018 and 2022 reveal a more cohesive and right-leaning evangelical voting bloc alignment. Evangelical identification becomes a strong and statistically significant predictor of both support for conservative candidates on the ballot and right-wing ideological self-placement. Additional analysis on church attendance shows that the shift cannot be explained by increased religiosity, as evangelicals have consistently attended religious services at... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8501j7xr Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Altafini, Leonardo https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8411q3x7 Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been recognized as a condition associated with elevated cardiovascular risk. PTSD patients frequently present with multiple cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and nicotine dependence that may increase the likelihood of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE). While the prevalence of PTSD and cardiovascular disease differs across race and sex, the relationship between PTSD and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and PTSDís impact on CVD across race and sex remains poorly defined. Objective: This study examines how the cumulative burden of cardiovascular risk factors affects the incidence of MACE among PTSD patients and evaluates whether these associations vary across race and sex. Methods: De-identified electronic health record data from the TriNetX Research Network was used to create cohorts examining PTSD patients without cardiovascular risk factors and with a varied number... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8411q3x7 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Nguyen, Nathan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/81x0b91x Within the ever-growing complexity of gender and sexual identification of the LGBTQ+ population, those who still question their gender and sexual identities often experience tendencies opposite of societal norms and/or their original birth gender. The purpose of this short film is to inform its intended audience of the complex narratives surrounding the questioning LGBTQ+ individuals in their pursuit to find their own identity and how higher education can aid in the developmental process of determining oneís gender and sexual identity. When creating this short film, the director will provide a short story that is based on the authorís perspectives and personal experiences on gender and sexual identity. The director will do this by introducing a character who is similar to them. With the simple, yet intriguing story of a young and gifted college student who is questioning their sexual and gender identity, this film will follow the basic pre-production planning, production filming,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/81x0b91x Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Nanna, Aria https://escholarship.org/uc/item/80q4p87q In the digital age, social media has fundamentally altered the relationship between corporations and consumers, creating new mechanisms of public accountability. This paper examines the long-term financial effects on firms involved in major social media activism events, analyzing three case studies: Starbucks, Target, and Costco. Through qualitative analysis of public sentiment across TikTok, Instagram, and X, alongside quantitative financial data including stock price fluctuations and quarterly revenue reports, this paper identifies correlations between online consumer behavior and corporate financial performance over a one-year period following each event. Findings suggest that while social media activism produces measurable short-term financial consequences, its long-term impact is limited by activism fatigue, discourse displacement, and the resilience of large corporations. Furthermore, negative and positive sentiment appear to produce different financial outcomes, with negative... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/80q4p87q Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Chang, Amayah https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7zv1d4zs The First Amendment and the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses derived from it are the basis for what Thomas Jefferson coined as the ìwall of separation.î As of 2020 however, the appointments to the Supreme Court made during the first Trump administration marked the creation of an unprecedented 6-3 conservative, catholic, ìsuperî majority. This research project aims to examine not only the impacts of the current religious majority on the Supreme Court, but to argue that there has been a substantial erosion in the separation of church and state in recent decades. This study investigates how judicial decisions have increasingly accommodated religious influence within public institutions, particularly in areas such as education, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ protections, and public funding of religious organizations. This project argues that this erosion is the product of gradual and calculated movements towards satisfying religious interests, and analyzes the shortcomings and... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7zv1d4zs Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Fu, Sophia https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7wn7013r Do You Like My Face is a short film centered around the experience of a young artist named Dina. As a Black/ Nigerian American woman, Dina finds herself in an art class focused on accentuating Eurocentric beauty standards, excluding anyone who looks different. This, of course, rubs Dina the wrong way, and she sets out to confront her professor regarding the matter of representation in the class. After being shot down numerous times, Dina decides to take matters into her own hands and becomes her own model in order to feel beautiful. As the film progresses, we see that the drawing instructor, who had previously been so oppositional to the idea of diversity, had been another version of Dina all along. She was a version of Dina that had let the world affect how she viewed her identity and allowed it to limit her art. Within the film, two important things are being addressed: the first is a commentary on beauty standards in the film, TV, and media industry; the second is about identity,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7wn7013r Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Adesida, Joy https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7vv5c2t3 Limited data exists regarding the mental health and substance use rates of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) adults. This research capstone project utilized a large dataset of NHPI adults to investigate prevalence rates of mental health and substance use, the relationships between mental health and alcohol severity, and significant differences among age groups. NHPI adults across the United States completed surveys to assess their mental health and substance use behaviors. The participant sample was a balanced gender distribution between female and male (46% female, 44% male) with 10% identifying as another gender. Key findings from the data include high prevalence rates of depression, anxiety, and alcohol use disorder. However, despite this heavy mental health burden, there is a large treatment gap as almost half of NHPI participants reported delaying or avoiding care. Statistical analyses revealed a strong significant positive correlation between anxiety and depression... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7vv5c2t3 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Oka, Kaylee https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7r77f847 Californiaís Assembly Bill 5 of 2019 (AB5) was enacted to protect workers from misclassification as independent contractors, granting them protections and payroll benefits previously available only to employees. Problematically, introducing the ABC test (to be discussed below) into legislation consequently harmed highly educated students by preventing them from obtaining the experience necessary for their careers. This paper will examine how AB5 developed from precedent cases, how the loss of jobs for students was obscured, and identify the unintended effects of students obtaining jobs for financial support and experience. This results in the student-worker bridge gap, where students are unable to obtain opportunities such as internships because the cost for firms would be employee status, making it too expensive and risky to hire students. This study proposes a hypothetical student expansion model that uses Employer by Records and the Federal Work-Study program to help college... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7r77f847 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Trinh, Kody https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7p48d8bm Ecdysis, the intricate process by which insects shed their exoskeleton, is initiated by ecdysis-triggering hormone (ETH) secreted from endocrine Inka cells. While ETH is essential for the successful developmental sequence leading to adulthood, recent evidence indicates that this hormone is re-purposed for adult functions, including reproductive physiology and behavior. Prior work has revealed that adult ETH signaling plays a major role in modulating post-copulation courtship inhibition (PCCI). I have found that heat stress appears to create ETH deficiency and reduced courtship success. Furthermore, promotion of Inka cell secretory activity rescues behavior. Using the GAL4/UAS system, I express either CsChrimson or dTRPA1 in Inka cells to evoke ETH release with light or temperature, respectively, following heat stress exposure. Courtship is quantified with a standard courtship index and ethogram-based scoring of sequential behaviors, complemented by automated tracking to extract... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7p48d8bm Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Vijaya Kumar, Likhith https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7m14180w Problem: There are many individuals residing in the Inland Empire who lack health insurance and suffer from a variety of social determinants, making access to healthcare difficult. Student-run free clinics serve as part of an organized safety network to help combat the low accessibility of healthcare. This is done by hosting clinical events at publicly accessible locations where basic necessities, information, and medical consultations are provided. However, there is no clear, developed model that assesses whether these student-run free clinics are effective and are achieving their stated goals. Approach: The purpose of the research is to analyze the effectiveness of student-run free clinics, and in this report, to investigate how these clinics commonly support and engage with certain patient populations, such as the underinsured, unhoused, and unemployed populations. We hypothesize that student-run free clinics are an effective means of providing baseline care, addressing health... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7m14180w Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Fan, Jonathan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7g55c0zt Dance offers benefits beyond physical movement, requiring the integration of visual input, auditory cues, mindñbody coordination, and long-term memory recall. However, its influence on cognitive processes, particularly visual working memory (VWM), remains under-explored. VWM is essential for processing and retaining visual information, playing a key role in learning and decision-making. Additionally, dance also supports emotional states by providing an outlet for stress, a major disruptor of VWM. Thus, this study examines VWM performance through dancers and non-dancers. Additionally, exploratory analyses considered whether anxietyís negative effects on VWM were dampened in dancers. Participants completed a dance history questionnaire, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 item scale (GAD-7), and a Dot Matrix Task for VWM. Preliminary analyses showed no significant difference in memory performance between dancers and non-dancers; however, there are hints of a potential correlation.... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7g55c0zt Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Kona, Rishitha https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7fj8342f Resource leaks occur when a program utilizes resources (e.g., files, database connections, network sockets), but fails to release them after use. This can result in performance slowdowns, system crashes, and denial-of-service attacks leaving applications vulnerable to security risks. The Checker Framework Resource Leak Checker (RLC) is a static analysis tool that soundly detects potential resource leaks in Java programs but does not automatically repair them. Recent work, Arodnap, combines RLC, RLCís annotation inference component, and RLFixerís repair framework to improve automation of resource leak repair. Arodnap uses NJR-1 Dataset, a normalized benchmark consisting of 293 Java programs, to run its full pipeline but does not test on real-world projects. In this work, we evaluate the effectiveness of resource leak detection and repair using Arodnap on 9 open-source Java applications spanning diverse domains, including game engines, bioinformatics, networking, and embedded database... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7fj8342f Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hojo, Bryce https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7f85409b Abstract It is not the job of the President of the United States of America to make legislation, it is understood that this task is largely the job of the U.S. Senate. However, throughout American history, United States presidents have sought to influence this country by enacting laws that align with their views of the direction the country should take. After all, the president's vision for what they consider to be the right direction for the countryís well-being is what they tirelessly campaign and become elected on. This means that although U.S. Presidents have very limited constitutional power of legislation that gets enacted, somehow, their potential sway on the laws, and the socio-political direction that the country adopts is enormous. But, what strategies do they use to bring their vision to fruition? What tactics permit for someone who, by the rules, is seemingly powerless to make major changes? And more importantly, why are some presidents much more effective than others... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7f85409b Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Landin, Peter https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7f01v59d The recitation and reenactment of children's stories with their associated images and illustrations are often an individual's first encounters with storytelling, literature, and guided imaginative experiences. These stories may have a general focus of academic, social, or ethical and moral instruction, especially through the use of anthropomorphic characters and magical or mythical elements. There is, however, a significant subgenre of children's literature which focuses intently on exercises in imagination and wonder. Imagination and wonder are tools of communication, but even more they are a critical part of growing up, maintaining perspective, and embracing joy in literary forms. Literature as the inciting factor in wonder allows children to explore complex problems and their own concerns in a safe space. This project is an exploration of communicative tools in children's literature with a special emphasis on how wonder is created and used int he telling of these stories. The... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7f01v59d Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Kizer, Lauren https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7c08d8z0 Imagine a world where nobody could speak using vocal sounds. Instead, the only way to communicate is through the body. Dance is a language that does not necessarily need the help of using words. Expressing emotions, thoughts, identity and more. The nature of this project is the creation of an original dance piece with the guidance of my mentor Toni Pasion. Developing choreography through an experimental lens is the purpose behind this creative project. This project has a personal significance to me, providing me with a challenge of exploring the art of dance by combining topics of psychology and interconnecting both disciplines. Researching dance has helped improve my physical and mental health, while implementing concepts and practices of healing as the main idea of this choreography. This process/creative research is portrayed through dance. In addition, having the chance to interact with the audience and come together as a community represents the importance of support from... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7c08d8z0 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Arizmendi Castilla, Angela https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bq6z7b7 Minimum wage policy plays a significant role in shaping the economic wellbeing of American workers. However, political actors and media outlets often frame minimum wage debates in divergent ways, potentially influencing public understanding of its economic effects. This capstone project examines how politicians and news media across the political spectrum interpret and present minimum wage policy, focusing on Gavin Newsomís 2024 $20 minimum wage policy in California. Afterwards, we will be reconciling how each party views the policy and clarifying the economic implications to viewers. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7bq6z7b7 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ho, Philson https://escholarship.org/uc/item/78w2v9n1 This project outlines the development of a journaling application designed to enhance deep self reflection with LLMs. This application addresses the existing privacy and ethical risks prevalent in existing cloud-based journaling chatbots. The app is built as a native macOS application using Flutter for the frontend graphical user interface and Python for the backend engine. OLLAMA to securely host local large language models (LLMs) and integrated into the backend through Langchain. Local storage is managed through SQLite for data serialization and FAISS vector stores for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). The application guarantees absolute data privacy with zero external network dependencies. The system functions as a reflective mirror following the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Core feature capabilities include value systems analysis, temporal cognitive tracking, and contradiction awareness. Through natural language processing, the AI extracts virtues... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/78w2v9n1 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Wang, Nathan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/752712k6 In research conducted with 28 medical doctors, 12 said that they had experienced Imposter Syndrome in some way, shape, or form(LaDonna et al.), and at least 24 percent of medical students experienced Imposter Syndrome (Feigofsky, Suzanne.). Imposter Syndrome is the feeling of being a fraud in your field as well as the notion that accomplishments made were by luck or chance, and you currently do not belong where you are (Shanna, Slank). Imposter Syndrome causes feelings of self doubt, and inferiority to peers, which can lead to negative effects in work and scholarly environments, like student work overload, and disinterest in given tasks. The purpose of my capstone project is to create a short-film that details the causes, manifestations, and results of Imposter Syndrome as well as the precautions against it. It hopes to inform undergraduate students about Imposter Syndrome, so that they are better able to detect and manage it. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/752712k6 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Georgy, Micheal https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7403f0qw Counterfactual thinking occurs when a person considers whether an alternative course of action in the past could have changed the outcome of the present. One type, upward counterfactual thinking, imagines how the past could have been better. Previous research finds that upward counterfactuals influence an individual's motivation, but these findings have varied. For example, these counterfactuals may motivate someone to improve, prompting them to learn from their mistakes. However, such counterfactuals may prove dysfunctional when they are considered at length and cause. Less is known about how other factors, such as risk, can influence these thoughts. It was predicted that individuals who consider upward counterfactuals will have lower levels of motivation compared to individuals who did not consider a counterfactual. Additionally, individuals who were in a high-risk situation will have lower levels of motivation compared to those who were in a low-risk situation. Lastly, risk... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7403f0qw Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hernandez, Angelina https://escholarship.org/uc/item/71f6155d Brain aneurysms occur when the walls of a blood vessel inside the brain weaken and form a focal dilation. The rupturing of brain aneurysms can cause catastrophic damage to a patient's neurovascular health and in many cases premature mortality. Current treatments for aneurysms include surgical clipping, minimally invasive endovascular procedure with detachable coils, and flow diverting stents. In vitro flow tests of cerebral vascular systems with patient-specific aneurysm geometries are crucial for evaluating the efficacy and performance of new aneurysm treatment devices. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) is an optical technique that measures the fluid velocity field by tracking the movement of small particles within the fluid. A PIV flow loop system will be constructed to study aneurysm hemodynamics at a 100% size scale. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) aneurysm phantoms will be made to mimic the brain aneurysm geometry. The working fluid of this system will be made of a mixture of... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/71f6155d Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Dinh, Phiphi https://escholarship.org/uc/item/70r8482b Spatial memory, the ability to encode and recall information about an environment, plays an important role in everyday tasks such as locating objects and navigating space. Object-location memory, a component of spatial memory, involves remembering both what an object is and where it is located. Although strategies such as storytelling have been suggested to support memory, and video game experience has been linked to enhanced spatial cognition, it remains unclear how these factors interact. This study examined whether gaming experience is associated with differences in object-location memory performance within a fictional narrative condition. Participants (N = 40) watched a narrative-based video in a Minecraft environment in which an avatar located objects, and then completed the Minecraft Memory and Navigation Task-2 (MMN-2), which assessed object accuracy, spatial location accuracy, and object-location binding. Results showed that Gamers demonstrated significantly higher object... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/70r8482b Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Kim, Christine https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6sm1d6s8 This paper examines worker-ownersí experiences with and perspectives on worker cooperatives in California. A worker cooperative is a business model where the workers within the business also collectively own and operate it. Lacking a traditional business owner, worker-owners usually practice a form of workplace democracy, whereby workers elect management or hold votes via direct democracy to make business decisions. Prior research on worker cooperatives focuses mainly on examples found outside of the United States or in previous decades. This paper compares worker-ownersí experiences in California to those found in traditional businesses in terms of individual structures, day-to-day operations, economic performance, workersí beliefs and perspectives, and interactions with other groups. My research is based on in-depth interviews with worker-owners and experts on worker cooperatives in California. The workers interviewed greatly prefer worker-owned cooperatives over traditional... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6sm1d6s8 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Donahue, Colin https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6s15h9bs Early exposure to tabletop role-playing games shaped my interest in building worlds governed by unique rules, unpredictable consequences, and character agency. As a microbiology major trained to value structure, evidence, and historical context, my project builds on my education. Become Again applies a research-informed framework to literary fiction, grounding its narrative in documented realities: plague medicine, late fourteenth-century Burgundian politics, and monastic life during the Anglo-French conflict. Rather than treat fantasy as spectacle, the project uses it as a controlled narrative device to examine sacrifice, agency, and identity under constraint. The opening chapter follows Aline, a young novitiate confined to a Burgundian abbey during a resurgence of plague. Isolated and frequently disciplined, she tends the dying until a confrontation with nobility leads to imprisonment and a failed escape that leaves her closest companion, Phileine, mortally wounded. In solitary... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6s15h9bs Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Kim, Dae https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6rd1h6pg Macrophages are innate immune cells responsible for engulfing foreign material and clearing damaged cells. They naturally migrate toward sites of inflammation, making them attractive candidates for targeted payload delivery. They also release exosomes, nanosized (30-150 nm) extracellular vesicles (EVs) of endosomal origin that retain key molecular features of their parent cell and protect selected cargo from premature degradation. Exosomes have emerged as versatile delivery vehicles across wound healing, inflammation, regeneration, and the blood-brain barrier. Indocyanine Green (ICG) is a near-infrared dye widely used in medical imaging and photothermal therapies but is limited by its half-life of ~3-5 minutes. Macrophages and their exosomes may enhance ICG circulation time and delivery. However, low exosome yield and ex vivo stability remain barriers to translational application of macrophage-derived exosomes. In this study, we established a reproducible macrophage exosome isolation... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6rd1h6pg Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Gajjar, Amani https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6p46c1gr Invasive species are a serious and urgent problem worldwide. In California, the impact of invasive species on the ecological environment, economy, and human society has already caused significant losses. Among the methods discussed for controlling invasive species, the ìHomeland Securityî hypothesis suggests that the effect of inhibiting invasive species can be achieved through the allelopathy of local plants. Here, I selected the native plant Encelia farinosa from southern California and the invasive species Brassica tournefortii as a study system to test the feasibility of using the allelopathic effects of the native plant to control the invasive species. Encelia farinosa, or brittlebush, is a shrub that is distributed in the desert areas of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. In earlier studies, it was identified that the leaves of brittlebush contain toxic plant compounds, namely 3-acetyl-6-methoxybenzaldehyde. Although this compound has been determined to... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6p46c1gr Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Wang, Michael https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6mp2k0gr There are many pollutants in our water, pharmaceuticals being one of the main contributors to the pollution. This literature review quantifies some of the pharmaceuticals (Acetaminophen, Naproxen, and Diclofenac) that are introduced into our water, tracks their excretions through the body, their degradation by wastewater treatment, and determines if they persist in the environment. This was done by looking at various research papers and compiling information related to excretion rates, degradation rates, and more to develop into sankey diagrams tracking the fate of these pharmaceuticals. This research found that of the three drugs investigated, only Naproxen persisted in the environment after a year. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6mp2k0gr Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Thompson, Xander https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6kt6k5m8 Asian Americans in the United States are underrepresented in both politics and public administration. One of the reasons could be the type of education that Asian Americans obtain leading them to a political career. In fact, nearly all members of Congress have a bachelor's degree, coming in with 94% of representatives; most also have a graduate degree, with 64% of the elected officials holding one. Furthermore, the most common subjects that legislators study are political science, history, and economics in their undergraduate degrees. This shows that there is a ìtypicalî career pathway in order to work in politics or become a policymaker through public administration. I hypothesize that the underrepresentation of Asian Americans in politics is due to lower enrollment rates in typical pathway majors/degree programs that lead to careers in politics and public administration. These lower enrollment rates are an individual-level explanation of lower political participation, which... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6kt6k5m8 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Rai, Kashish https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6hf5n3zj Health equity focuses on ensuring all individuals have equal access to care and resources, but not everyone has this opportunity, particularly immigrant women within the Riverside communities. This is a critical issue, as access to essential health resources should not be a concern, particularly in life-threatening situations. Female immigrants face significant barriers when seeking access to healthcare and other resources. By exploring how they are treated and the potential obstacles or delays they encounter, we can identify gaps in the system. To investigate, we conducted in-depth, one-on-one interviews with immigrant women and UCR students/faculty affiliated with Riverside clinics to capture their individualized experiences. The interviews explored their experiences and situations from their perspective. By receiving more detailed information and scenarios, we were able to get to the common root of the barrier. Certain complications that cause the gap can be things such as... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6hf5n3zj Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Attia, Marly https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6g19v3vm The purpose of this research is to explore the formation and influence of parasocial relationships (PSRs) in the digital age. This paper focuses on the ways media technologies facilitate an illusion of intimacy in the audience-media relationship. Parasocial relationships refer to one-way emotional attachments formed between fans and celebrities who are unaware of their existence. With the rise of digital media, these bonds have become more interactive and emotionally immersive due to features like self-disclosure, media visibility through algorithms, and micro-interactions between creators and users. To analyze the mechanisms of parasocial relationships and their evolution in the digital world, this paper relies on previous studies concerning attachment styles, emotional gratification, and media use. Through a literature-based approach supported by illustrative online examples, this study attempts to understand the underlying psychological and social processes behind PSRs as well... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6g19v3vm Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ma, Doris https://escholarship.org/uc/item/69j6f67b Mental health is vital to an individualís emotional and psychological wellbeing. Mental health care is important for coping with lifeís unpredictability. When thinking of the pursuit of mental health, the age group in which this type of care is common tends to be a younger demographic. However, older adults are often overlooked for this type of care. The elderly Latinx community often tends to view mental health negatively, as several were not exposed to believing in that type of care growing up, which prevents access to care. Therefore, this community is a vulnerable population that needs access to this care to improve their mental wellbeing. The focus of my project is the older adult Latinx community because this community is often underserved for mental health care. Barriers are what make older adults reluctant to seek assistance for mental health; hence, the purpose of this project is to identify the barriers that make this population undertreated. This would be done through... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/69j6f67b Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Garcia, Wendy https://escholarship.org/uc/item/66h1s5nq Spiroalanfurantone A is an eudesmanolide-furan sesquiterpenoid adduct biosynthesized by Inula helenium, a plant occurring throughout Asia, Africa, and North America. Its medicinal properties are potentially highly valuable; specifically, spiroalanfurantone A is an inhibitor of nitric oxide production, which has implications in reducing the severity of memory loss and combating migraine headaches. Accessing this and related natural products must come from chemical synthesis because their isolation from the natural source is extremely low yielding and impractical. Importantly, the ability to synthesize these compounds enables further exploration of their nitric oxide synthase inhibition. This class of complex natural products has never been synthesized. Thus, developing a synthesis of spiroalanfurantone A is critical for future biomedical and chemical innovation. This project involves a seventeen-step synthesis employing two novel chemical reactions developed in the Kou lab: (1)... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/66h1s5nq Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Stevens, Anthony https://escholarship.org/uc/item/641065gq Homelessness continues to be a major social issue in the United States, and one practical challenge is that people who need help often have difficulty finding clear and reliable information about available services. Food assistance, shelter programs, mental health support, and other community resources are often listed across different online directories, but these directories can be difficult to search quickly. This capstone project developed a retrieval-based artificial intelligence system for organizing and searching homeless-support and community resource information. The system was built in Python using structured service data stored in CSV format. Service records were represented as subjectñrelationshipñobject triples, allowing each providerís name, service category, address, phone number, website, ZIP code, and hours of operation to be stored in a consistent format. The system used sentence-transformer embeddings and FAISS similarity search to match user questions with... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/641065gq Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Xiu, Chenzi https://escholarship.org/uc/item/61h880c1 Hua Hua is an autobiographical fiction graphic novel featuring seventeen stories across twenty-one pages. Across these stories, the graphic novel focuses on the key memories of Mei, a young Taiwanese-American woman, as it follows her chronologically from early childhood to young adulthood. It focuses on her challenges growing up as an outcast at home and in school, and her constantly evolving sense of self. Throughout, she questions and evaluates her relationship with her culture, family, friends, and former acquaintances. Depending on the audience, Mei learns which aspects of herself she should hide away and others she can safely express. Her early childhood focuses on the struggles of growing up as the only Taiwanese student in her predominantly white elementary school. It explores her earliest encounters with self loathing from the constant teasing and badgering of racial and cultural differences. Meanwhile, her teenage years focus on self discovery, retrospection, and acknowledging... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/61h880c1 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Chang, Stephanie https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5wh9j3rz This study investigated the emissions from three different wood materials, hem-fir wood, alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ) treated wood, and pressed wood, all commonly found in housing structures. The lumber was burned in a controlled burn chamber with a sampling system pulling burn emissions onto filters, sampling media, and a gas analyzer so further analysis could be conducted. OCEC analyzer data showed that organic carbon dominated the emission profile of each lumber sample, with an average organic carbon to total carbon ratio of 86%. Ion chromatography and X-ray fluorescence compared charged ions and metals, which showed clear differences between the materials, particularly in ACQ treated wood with its metal based production treatment. A major observation found was that certain metals are not immediately mobilized into the emission plumes, suggesting that metal concentrations found in communities following major urban fires are attributed to ash mobilization that takes place... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5wh9j3rz Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Koffman, Kainoa https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5w86j5q8 In the United States, there is a present educational attainment disparity between Latine college students and peers from other racial groups and across gender. One major concern that can pose a barrier to education is racial discrimination, which can result in worse mental health (i.e. depressive and anxiety symptoms) and well-being (i.e. hope and satisfaction with life) outcomes. Community cultural wealth (CCW), which refers to the specific cultural assets that help students of color traverse through social inequities, has been shown to improve educational outcomes. For the present study, two domains of CCW, familial capital and social capital, were investigated as a potential buffer to the impact of racial discrimination on mental health and well-being. Gender was explored to account for potential disparities in interactions between CCW and racial discrimination. Results indicate that social capital moderates the relationship between racial discrimination and well-being by improving... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5w86j5q8 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ramirez, Pablo https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5tn812ps Haptic perception is the ability to understand the world through touch. It is a fundamental sensory process that allows individuals to gather information about objects through physical interaction. Humans rely on tactile input such as texture, weight, temperature, and shape to interpret their surroundings, often in situations where visual information is limited or unavailable. Research in haptic perception has significant implications in learning how effectively we can perform tactile based tasks and further significance in clinical applications. Findings suggest that incorporating haptic technology, robotic or non-robotic, supports improvements in motor control and sensorimotor function in therapeutic settings. Medical and dental education settings have begun to use haptics to improve essential hands-on skills such as stitching simulators. (Pacheco-Barrios et al., 2024). In my personal experience, I have applied haptic perception to decision-making while shadowing an oncologist,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5tn812ps Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Aulakh, Jasleen https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5t17j5q7 The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to its integration across fields such as healthcare. At its core, AI uses mathematical algorithms to produce an output from inputs chosen by the user. Traditional AI approaches include symbolic AI which solves problems using logical reasoning and predefined rules but fails for data it does not recognize or have rules for. Neural network is another approach that can recognize patterns to make skilled inferences but lacks interpretability of how an output was reached. For these reasons, it is risky to incorporate neural or symbolic AI methods to healthcare where both accuracy and interpretability is crucial. To address these concerns, this research introduces neuro-symbolic AI, a revolutionary AI learning paradigm that combines both symbolic and neural approaches to solve complex problems and be interpretable. The effectiveness of neuro-symbolic AI is demonstrated through the context of retinal prosthesis, also known as... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5t17j5q7 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Saleem, Nimrah https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5jb111gv Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder characterized by abnormal, spontaneous limb movements in infants. Early detection is crucial for timely treatment, but such assessments are challenging and rigorous, requiring extensive training to objectively identify abnormal movement patterns. Pose estimation models enable automated, markerless joint tracking, which can be used to detect and quantify movements patterns. However, most models are built using adult subjects, and those for infants require labeled training data, which is very laborious to generate and difficult to access. To address these challenges, we built an adaptive method called SHIFT: Leveragine SyntHetic Adult Datasets for InFanT Pose Estimation. SHIFT incorporates innovative techniques like the mean teacher framework, an infant manifold pose prior, and a novel visibility consistency module to effectively adapt a pre-trained 2D adult pose estimation model to infants. We performed extensive experiments on multiple... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5jb111gv Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Dela Cruz-Yuan, Hannah https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5h44b7tg Urbanization leads to the cultivation of non-native horticultural and weedy plant species, which provide abundant floral resources and may dominate pollinator diets. Flowers are major conduits of microbial transmission, shaping the potential transfer of microbes between pollinators. Studying how the abundance of microbes within floral microbiomes changes over a season may help us understand some of the impacts of global climate change on pollinators and plants. To investigate these trends, I monitored urban gardens on and around the University of California, Riverside campus, recording ambient temperatures, humidity, wind speed, and I conducted pollinator surveys at a specified time once per week. At the same time, I aseptically collected whole flower head samples for culturing on Pollen Extract (PE) medium, a modified de Man, Rogosa, and Sharpe with Pollen Extract (MRS-PE) medium, and a modified Tryptic Soy Agar with Pollen Extract (TSA-PE). I tested how bacterial Colony Forming... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5h44b7tg Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lu, Daniella https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5f13p45z Past research suggests that spending cash is more psychologically painful than using other payment methods because cash is tangible and more salient (Prelec & Loewenstein, 1998). However, with shifts in how cash is viewed and used due to increased digital payments and online shopping, it is unclear whether these prior findings hold true, especially among younger consumers. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the psychological pain of paying differs by payment method (cash, credit, debit) and purchase type (splurge, hedonic, utilitarian), and whether these effects differ from past research. This study measured the pain of paying among UCR undergrads (n = 832) using a 5-point Likert scale across the three purchase-type scenarios. We hypothesized that these younger consumers would experience less pain of paying when spending cash compared to using credit or debit, and more pain for splurges than hedonic and utilitarian. We found support for both hypotheses. For UCR... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5f13p45z Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Guidotti, Milena https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5b3698dt In the world of video game music (VGM), certain stereotypes have arisen regarding the social media use of American and Japanese composers. American composers are characterized as more enthusiastic about using their social media accounts to give insight into their creative process and personal lives, while Japanese composers are characterized as more tight-lipped. Questioning this trend, along with my recent encounters with labor studies, has led me to the following project: a cross-cultural examination of American and Japanese VGM composers, especially regarding their public presentation and workplace cultures. This research paper first uses sources from YouTube and social media to describe the public interactions of two individual American composers and one group of Japanese composers commonly assumed to have a single public persona. Then, this paper synthesizes these interactions with writings about the video game industry and entertainment labor more broadly in each country... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5b3698dt Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Kalal, Elijah https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5b24f406 Video games have been synonymous with entertainment for years now, which has allowed business companies to ignore their ethical obligations. Companies exploit consumers in order to push the bottom line. While video games are approved by a rating board for in-game content, these boards often overlook the harmful tendencies that these games push, specifically those focused on gambling. Companies employ unethical strategies to manipulate their in-game content and conceal gambling principles, thereby maximizing their profits. This allows them to inflate profits and push predatory practices under the guise of ìengaging game contentî. I have reviewed existing research that includes financial earnings, strategy reports, and consumer responses, centered around two major sports video game companies, Electronic Arts (EA) and Take-Two Interactive (2K). I also used core Business Ethics and Principles readings to properly determine how and where unethical business strategies are being applied.... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5b24f406 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Sharma, Kaeshev https://escholarship.org/uc/item/59t7x6gc In ethical philosophy, the ìkilling and letting dieî argument discusses whether a moral distinction exists between killing someone and letting them dieóan extension of the ìdoing and allowingî argument. There is some sense of intuition in which we understand that this distinction exists between doing harm and allowing harm to be done to another. However, this intuition disappears when shifting the discussion from two parties to one partyóin other words, it is not intuitive whether there is a distinction between killing oneself and letting oneself die. This capstone project is concerned with determining whether a possible distinction between killing oneself and letting oneself dieóor in synonymous terms, an ìactiveî and ìpassiveî suicide. In order to examine a possible distinction between the two, an intention-based account of suicide was created, under which suicide is defined using terminology such as want, means, end goal, and intention. Utilizing this new framework for suicide,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/59t7x6gc Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Phan, Allyson https://escholarship.org/uc/item/59g1099n The brainís extracellular space (ECS) is regulated by astrocytes, which have a direct impact on brain excitability by maintaining ionic homeostasis. Astrocyte volume is inversely proportional to ECS volume. Acute and chronic astrocyte volume changes can be measured in real-time using confocal microscopy. This study presents a control experiment to determine whether the laser light used during confocal imaging elevates cellular metabolism, thereby causing volume regulation independent of the applied experimental solutions. This potential artifact may dampen astrocyte swelling responses even under elevated extracellular potassium (K+) conditions, under which astrocytes have been shown to swell. Prior work from this laboratory has demonstrated that astrocytes, but not neurons, swell selectively in response to raised extracellular K+ (up to 26 mM), and that this swelling reduces the ECS and elevates neuronal excitability (Walch et al., 2020; 2022). The current experiments use confocal... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/59g1099n Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Dixon, Ashley https://escholarship.org/uc/item/57m6v47r TP53 is one of the most commonly mutated genes in human cancers and is linked to major body regulation roles like cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, apoptosis, and oxidative stress responses. Because TP53 mutations display diverse functional behavior, researchers have increasingly relied on clustering analyses to identify the complexity of its behavior. Recent studies have clustered TP53 mutations into functional groups using different analyses and clustering methods. This study, however, applies exploratory data analysis (EDA), principal component analysis (PCA), and unsupervised clustering methods to analyze and comprehend functional transactivation patterns across eight TP53 scores that closely relate to the major regulation roles being studied (WAF1, H1433S, MDM2, BAX, AIP1, GADD45, p53R2, NOX). These scores are measured using a yeast transactivation assay (YTA) (Kato et al.). Clustering techniques and validation, such as k-means clustering, hierarchical clustering, and silhouette... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/57m6v47r Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Palmukhopadhyay, Tista https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5430w72d Obesity remains one of the most significant public health challenges in the United States and globally, affecting approximately 42 percent of adults and nearly 20 percent of children (Bryan et al., 2021). Excess consumption of sugar sweetened foods and beverages is widely recognized as a major contributor to rising obesity rates and associated metabolic disorders (Malik and Hu, 2022). In response, non nutritive sweeteners have been increasingly adopted as low calorie alternatives designed to reduce caloric intake while maintaining palatability. Between 1999 and 2012, consumption of non nutritive sweeteners among children rose from 8.7 percent to 25.1 percent, reflecting their growing prevalence in modern diets (Sylvetsky et al., 2017). Despite their widespread use, the long term physiological and behavioral consequences of non nutritive sweetener exposure, particularly during early development, remain poorly understood. Emerging research suggests that these compounds may influence... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5430w72d Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Venigalla, Dhanish https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5409t2xx Iron deposition and demyelination are commonly observed in the aging brain and neurodegenerative diseases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows for characterization of iron deposition and myelination in vivo. Quantitative susceptibility mapping is a MRI technique that measures magnetic susceptibility, the degree a material is magnetized in response to an applied magnetic field, and quantitative susceptibility source separation allows for the separation of paramagnetic (i.e. positive susceptibility) and diamagnetic (i.e. negative susceptibility). components. Iron is paramagnetic and myelin is diamagnetic and the magnetic susceptibility of different tissues will vary based on the relative content of iron and myelin. Here, we examine the relationship between age and susceptibility in 54 healthy older adults (aged 60-87 years; interquartile range: 65-73, median: 68, mean: 69.3 ± 6.02 years; 24 males and 30 females) recruited from the community surrounding University of California,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5409t2xx Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Jenkins, Liam https://escholarship.org/uc/item/53s1f23r University students are often exposed to two types of police officers: some dedicated solely to campus policing, and others dedicated to the broader community. My goal for this project is to better understand UCR studentsí perceptions of both types of officers. Additionally, I assess studentsí comfort interacting with campus police officers who either share or do not share their race/ethnicity and gender. Students first completed a series of surveys assessing their perceptions of campus and community police. Next, they read a series of vignettes describing good deeds the officers performed and rated their perceptions of officers in each vignette. I found that students rated campus police officers moderately positively, and rated campus police more positively than community police officers. However, match between participantsí and officersí race/ethnicity or gender was not related to participantsí comfort levels. Given that campus police officers were more positively perceived... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/53s1f23r Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Selvan, Kavin https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5146c217 Chocolate wellness tourism has become increasingly popular in recent years, especially in countries in Central and South America, where cacao and chocolate originated and were used by ancient civilizations. Chocolate wellness tourism has significantly influenced the medicinal uses and values associated with chocolate and cacao. Wellness and food tourism are becoming increasingly popular as people seek experiences that value healthier lifestyles and an authentic sense of place. Research has focused on the health benefits of consuming chocolate. However, there is a need to investigate how tourism may change the values surrounding chocolate, as tourism involves the exchange of values and ideas across different backgrounds and cultures. Using a cultural exchange framework, this project examines tourism literature, archival data on chocolate and cacao, and case studies of cacao farms and tastings. This project examines how the growth of chocolate tourism has changed how tourists and... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5146c217 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Seanez, Rebecca https://escholarship.org/uc/item/50c3q523 This paper examines the effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on the net income and profitability of firms based in the United States. The research focuses on difference-in-differences regression analyses, using Compustat to collect data on the treated American firms, and Canadian firms that we use as a control group. We present and explain estimates regarding the causal effect of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on firmsí net income and profitability. Our findings suggest that the positive effect on net income and profitability is likely concentrated in the short run, particularly in the first year following the TCJA, potentially due to provisions regarding bonus depreciation and repatriation of foreign earnings. Understanding how the corporate tax adjustments within the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affect these dependent variables contributes to a better understanding of the corporate sectorís elasticity but also lays the foundation for future fiscal policy. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/50c3q523 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Tsang, Mason https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5041t3pp In recent years bed bugs have become a pest of interest due to their increasing populations. This, and bed bugs' increased pesticide resistance, requires development of new control strategies. Insect pathogenic fungi, specifically Beauveria bassiana and essential oils like citronella are both promising biopesticide products that could prove effective and environmentally friendly. Experiments using biopesticides in the past have shown that the environment they are used in can have a significant impact on how effective they are against the chosen insect. So we used laboratory bioassays with B. bassiana and citronella oil products to evaluate their efficacy against bed bugs in different environments. In these bioassays, we found that of the two commercial products used, Naturganic did have a statistically significant impact on the bed bug mortality, and BotaniGard did not. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5041t3pp Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Talley, Indigo https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4zx1t6h7 Silent at Last is a psychological horror novella, blending the supernatural with emotional realism, drawing loosely from concepts of cognitive dissonance in order to investigate trauma, guilt, repression, and distorted perception. The narrative follows fifty-four year old Matthew Wilson who relocated from Los Angeles, California, to Govan, Washington, seeking peace following a divorce. However, Govan proves to be unsettling, filled with eerie occurrences. As Matthew struggles with his paranoia, he is convinced that his ex-wife is connected with all of the disturbances, forcing him to confront deeper truths tied to his past. Rather than relying on psychological horrorsí typical external factors, Silent at Last centers emotional isolation and psychological distortion to have fear confront internal conflict. With a limited, single perspective that remains unreliable, it blurs reality with what is not. Silent at Last explores the fragility or reality and effects of unresolved emotional... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4zx1t6h7 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Vargas, Jacqueline https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4tj3z222 This study examines the relationship between music ensemble participation and academic performance, time management, and cognitive well-being among STEM students at the University of California, Riverside. Recent research has highlighted the benefits of music participation, yet limited research has examined its impact on the academic experiences and well-being of STEM students. Using a mixed-methods approach, survey data were collected from undergraduate STEM students: 235 enrolled in an introductory organic chemistry course and 58 students participating in university music ensembles, of whom 70.7% were STEM majors. Structured interviews were conducted with a subset of STEM music participants and music faculty, including ensemble directors. Results indicate that participation in music ensembles is associated with positive self-reported outcomes in time management and cognitive well-being. Many STEM students involved in music reported effective time management abilities, suggesting... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4tj3z222 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Majd, Omeid https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4p78s84b Divergent Toxins is a short story following Jamina Sierra, a young woman gathering evidence against her own familyís company, Sierra Pharmaceuticals, due to an impending toxic tort case. The case in question involved a pill containing an endocrine disrupting drug diethylstilbestrol (DES), produced and distributed over twenty years prior and later revealed to have caused severe reproductive issues for women whose mothers took the drug while pregnant with them with the intended use being prevention of miscarriages. Meanwhile, her twin brother Oscar introduces her to his fiance Julia, who ends up finding out that she, too, is affected by the drug after her first prenatal check-up. The story addresses legal issues of liability, causation, and compensation while other key themes include parent-child relationships and related impacts, as well as trust and betrayal. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4p78s84b Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Odeh, Batoul https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4j0198s5 As students diagnosed with learning disabilities (LD) face disadvantages in the classroom, there is an increasing need to better understand how educators can increase equitable instruction and aid students in overcoming educational challenges. Previous research has shown that students with LD respond well when presented with Opportunities to Respond (OTRs). In several studies, the incorporation of OTRs within existing curriculum increased academic engagement and overall student outcomes for students with learning disabilities. This study uses data collected by the Special Education Research Accelerator (SERA) through three classroom observations during fifth-grade science lessons. Data was collected by determining the number and type of OTRs presented to a target student identified as having a learning disability compared to the number and type presented to the whole class and other individual students. The findings revealed that the target student received far less OTRs, as well... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4j0198s5 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Nabours, Wendy https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4733p34c This Capstone project presents the development and execution of The ArtPosium, an in- person art conference and exhibit designed to link emerging artists to local professionals. This project was created in response to the challenges artists face when entering the art community, including anxiety, a lack of networks, and high barriers to professional growth. The ArtPosium combined elements of a symposium and a conference to promote exposure to art and networking. The planning involved branding, social media marketing, and extensive community outreach to recruit presenters, exhibitors, and local art organizations. The ArtPosium exceeded initial expectations, drawing approximately 200 attendees in total, including 26 exhibitors, 12 presenters, 12 volunteers, 12 participating organizations, and 67 mixed-media art pieces. The feedback from participants emphasized the quality of the event and the value of networking opportunities, increased exposure, and a supportive social environment.... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4733p34c Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Curren, Lilly https://escholarship.org/uc/item/46p5m5fr Carbon-nitrogen (C-N) couplings have an essential role in the production of commodity chemicals. For example, 84% of drugs contain at least one nitrogen atom, with amines and amides being the most common functional groups, and 59% incorporating nitrogen-containing heterocycles. Based on previous literature, C-N cross-coupling has been extensively accomplished through palladium (Pd) and nickel (Ni) catalysis which present high costs. This research focuses on developing a new methodology for amine N-arylation with an inexpensive copper (Cu)-indole system as catalyst under photochemical conditions. Through multiple chemical experiments in which various laboratory techniques are utilized, a set of conditions have been tested to identify the optimal conditions for increasing product yield. Each reaction parameter like temperature, concentration, and stoichiometry was investigated in separate experiments to determine their effect on product formation. The project also explores the role... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/46p5m5fr Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Abdulhasan, Ryam https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4643k9pv High-control ideological groups enforce isolated communities based on shared beliefs and often use coercion and intense emotional manipulation to gain the following of members (Coates, 2012). Whether fueled by religious commitment or other motivations, these groups create power dynamics and abusive interactions that form dysfunctional emotional ties between leaders and followers. When manipulation and coercion infiltrate relationships, emotional ties play a role in establishing unhealthy bonds. This research seeks to understand the psychological mechanisms that underlie ìtrauma bondingî in individuals exposed to prolonged stress or abuse in these settings. This study provides an interdisciplinary approach to identifying psychological factors that make individuals vulnerable to harmful, manipulative groups. The author analyzes memoirs, articles, survivor accounts, and documentaries to observe how these emotional ties motivate members to join and remain affiliated despite abuse.... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4643k9pv Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Mafnas, Analeah https://escholarship.org/uc/item/44v0d73s Older adults have shown well-documented declines in memory for relationships between items, especially as the number of items that must be bound together increases. Less is known about the neural mechanisms that support this type of associative memory, particularly the hippocampus and its neuromodulatory input from the Locus Coeruleus (LC). In the current study, cognitively healthy older adults completed the QuadMax associative memory task during fMRI scanning. They studied word pairs, triplets, and quadruplets and were subsequently tested on their ability to remember repeated, recombined, and novel word sets. Diffusion-weighted MRI measures were also collected to assess LC microstructural integrity. Results revealed that associative memory, recognition, and hit rates declined significantly as associative load increased from pairs to triplets to quadruplets. These effects were no longer significant when age and sex were included as covariates. At the neural level, associative... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/44v0d73s Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Barrios, Riley https://escholarship.org/uc/item/42h4h1rb The ability to perform athletic activities is often limited for individuals with lower limb mobility issues due to the sustained physical demands required to maintain bent knee postures for extended periods of time. This research explores the development of a lightweight and wearable soft pneumatic actuator which aims to address this issue. The actuator design consists of an inflatable bladder encased within a fabric sleeve, with the sleeve opening secured by 3D-printed end caps. When inflated, the actuator resists bending to provide supportive assistance, while deflation allows for unrestricted movement. Positioned behind the knee, the actuator aims to deliver adaptive support that enables users to comfortably maintain physically demanding postures for longer durations. The performance of the actuator will be characterized using a custom test setup. This setup includes a force sensor that will accurately measure the force generated by the actuator at a range of different pressures... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/42h4h1rb Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lee, Jungwon https://escholarship.org/uc/item/41v2h2cb With nearly one billion square feet of warehouse space, Californiaís Inland Empire (IE) has become the nationís e-commerce epicenter, handling 40 percent of the countryís goods. While the logistics industry has expanded significantly in recent decades and emerged as the regionís largest employment sector, its growth has contributed to poor air quality, community displacement, and labor issues. This project examines California Assembly Bill 98 (AB 98), a law intended to ìraise the standards for warehouse developmentî and improve local communitiesí ìquality of life.î My study draws on interviews with state and local stakeholders, including elected officials, city and county officials, state lobbying groups, business associations, and environmental and labor advocacy organizations, to identify the bill's strengths and weaknesses and assess its early implementation. My research also compares pre-AB 98 local IE municipal codes with the new law to assess how local policies align with... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/41v2h2cb Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Diroll, Cecile https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3z69v22x This study evaluates the effectiveness of large language models known as LLMs in numeric financial time-series forecasting by comparing three distinct forecasting workflow architectures, including prompt-driven, autoregressive generative workflows, fixed-horizon rolling-origin forecasting, and a structured, block-based forecasting pipeline with periodic resetting. The autoregressive generative workflows represent the LLM-based aspect of the overall experiment. While LLMs have shown strong performance in sequence modeling tasks, how well they perform in the area of financial forecasting remains unclear. All workflows were evaluated under a shared out-of-sample period from December 2023 through December 2024, with identical accuracy, bias, and directional metrics, using S&P 500 daily closing prices. The autoregressive workflows are deployed through the use of prompt-driven LLM generation, where each predicted value is reused as input for the next prediction without periodic... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3z69v22x Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Magdlen, Maya https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3w73t6v4 Deepfakes have become increasingly realistic with the rise of diffusion models, vision transformers, and multimodal generators, posing major risks to security, trust, and authenticity in digital media. While existing detectors achieve strong benchmark accuracy, their performance deteriorates under real-world distortions such as compression, transmission loss, or bitrate fluctuations. This literature review traces the evolution of deepfake detectionófrom early spatial and temporal CNNs to frequency-, latent-, and transformer-based architecturesóand examines robustness-oriented frameworks including ADD, QAD, BZNet, and DPL. To address the gap between laboratory conditions and deployment environments, this study introduces two complementary research directions. First, an adaptive detection framework, the MDN-Guided Noise-Aware Modular Ensemble, models test-time uncertainty using a Mixture Density Network to dynamically select noise-specific fine-tuning modules. Second, a new dataset,... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3w73t6v4 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Bhushappagala, Shreya https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3v71v8w1 This literature review examines the emergence of human-AI relationships as an extension of parasocial relationships, focusing on the psychological, cognitive, and ethical factors that shape these interactions. Parasocial relationships have traditionally been defined as one-sided emotional bonds formed with media figures (Horton & Wohl, 1956), but advances in artificial intelligence have introduced interactive systems that can simulate reciprocity and personalization. Drawing on research in social cognition, personality psychology, and human-computer interaction, this paper explores how AI systems engage mechanisms such as anthropomorphism, attachment, and emotional regulation. Particular attention is given to how AI mirrors usersí language, tone, and preferences, creating a sense of intimacy that may blur the boundary between tool and social entity. The review also considers how individuals use AI in both functional and relational contexts, as well as how corporate design... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3v71v8w1 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Cheng, Erin https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3n84g7h1 Accurate short-term equity forecasting is challenging due to nonstationarity and noisy market signals. This project develops an end-to-end forecasting prototype that predicts short-horizon price movement (future return over a user-selected horizon) for a selected stock. Historical openñhighñlowñcloseñvolume (OHLCV) data are retrieved using yahoo finance API and transformed into a compact set of core technical indicators, including daily returns, moving averages, RSI, Bollinger percent-B, average true range (ATR), and volume/range-based measures. To incorporate qualitative market information that may not be fully captured by prices alone, the system also retrieves recent news headlines for the chosen ticker and computes VADER sentiment scores, producing a sentiment signal used to generate sentiment-adjusted forecasts for demonstration. The forecasting model is a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network, a recurrent neural architecture designed to learn patterns and dependencies in... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3n84g7h1 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Dash, Swaraj https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3mx8p69j ìThe Four Windsî is the colloquial name of a set of albums written by The Oh Hellos, an American folk band. Together, Notos, Eurus, Boreas, and Zephyrus reflect the journey taken by both a fictional character and the band members themselves in the wake of foundational beliefs crumbling. Although the band did not classify themself or their music as ìfantasy,î much of the structures present throughout the songs connect deeply to the genre. With this context in mind, I analyze how fantasy and sentiment enhance the bandís message to embrace personal growth. The genre is steeped in emotional connections with the audience through fantastic imagery, enabling its lessons to reach past their mental barriers. Using various mythologies, The Oh Hellos capture not only the fear of the unknown in the faces of gods, but the significance of the cycle of change in winds. Giving space for the audience to connect their own emotional journeys to these figures lets the notion of change ring closer... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3mx8p69j Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Pacini-Carlin, Samantha https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3dw8z49k The year 2022 marks the beginning of a period in the United States of economic stress marked by high inflation, surges in housing prices, and increasing competition in the job market. That same year, social media platforms Instagram and TikTok have witnessed a revitalization of traditional gender roles through the promotion of digital archetypes: the ìtradwifeî and ìstay-at-home girlfriend.î While both archetypes vary in how they negotiate femininity in their use of accessible short-form video content, they both prioritize domesticity and financial dependence on male partners. Recognizing that their rise in popularity parallels speculated stagflation, I argue that womenís reclamation of patriarchal expectations is a way to exploit traditional roles to evade responsibilities of the public sphere as workers under late-stage capitalism. Recalling the anthropological framework of cultural materialism, this article explores the relationship between women and the economy by navigating... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3dw8z49k Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hernandez-Ioannidis, Nadya https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3cg170jt California's mental health system has undergone a series of reforms over the past six decades, each framed as a meaningful improvement on what came before. The deinstitutionalization movement of the 1960s and 1970s, formalized through the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act of 1967, ended indefinite involuntary commitment and was widely understood as a civil liberties victory. But the community-based system that was supposed to replace state hospitals was never funded at the scale it required, and as institutional beds declined without a comparable expansion of outpatient services, individuals with serious mental illness increasingly cycled through emergency holds, county jails, and conservatorship placements. This paper argues that forced psychiatric intervention in California did not disappear after deinstitutionalization but instead changed where and how it occurred, particularly for unhoused individuals, for whom the gap between the promise of community care and its reality has been... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3cg170jt Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Sureshbabu, Aparna https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3bx2r5fj Cognitive reappraisal (CR) is an emotion regulation strategy that involves an individual changing their view of a situation in order to manage their emotions, associated with improved emotional awareness, adaptability, and effective interpersonal functioning. The areas CR enhances are highly relevant to being an effective leader, although its relationship with leadership qualities remains underexplored. According to implicit leadership theories, a person holds qualities that are prototypical of their ideal leader and strives to be congruent to them. These qualities can be positive (i.e. helpful) or negative (i.e. selfish). The current study examined whether CR predicts positive self reported leadership qualities along with congruence to their perception of an ideal leader. We predicted that CR would increase positive leadership qualities and decrease incongruence to a participant's ideal leader. Undergraduate students recruited from the University of California, Riverside research... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3bx2r5fj Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Santos Chia, Sandy https://escholarship.org/uc/item/39h665rk Mitral valve degeneration is a common age-related condition that progressively impairs cardiac function by reducing the flexibility and structural integrity of the valve leaflets. The mitral valve regulates blood flow from the left atrium to the left ventricle, and its dysfunction can lead to regurgitation, a condition in which the valve fails to close fully and allows backward flow into the atrium. A key contributor to this degeneration is the gradual breakdown of elastin, an extracellular matrix (ECM) protein that enables the valve leaflets to stretch and recoil during each heartbeat. As elastin deteriorates, mechanical loading shifts to stiffer collagen fibers, which can alter leaflet motion and contribute to disorders such as mitral valve prolapse. Previous research has characterized tissue behavior after complete or nearly complete removal of elastin, but aging occurs as a gradual process rather than an abrupt loss of the ECM components. As a result, little is known about... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/39h665rk Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Singhal, Shubhra https://escholarship.org/uc/item/39c8x9w1 Biological soil crust, or biocrust, is a combination of living organisms that are in a symbiosis in soils. Biocrust can be located throughout the world, from polar regions to dry arid deserts, and comprise over 70% of living ground cover unoccupied by green plants. Soil biocrusts play an important role in desert ecosystems, increasing water retention, soil fertility and its physical structure helps reduce wind and water erosion. Within these soil crust communities, common microorganisms form by-products that create the soil surface crust. As the main source of fresh inlet water from the Colorado river continues to be diverted away, rapidly evaporating the Salton Sea, new playa is exposed. Seasonal winds suspend fine particles from newly exposed playa beds, posing pulmonary health risks to local communities. While research exists on soil and sediment around the Salton Sea, studies specifically focused on soil biocrusts are less prominent. The Salton Seaís extreme salinity, high... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/39c8x9w1 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Hirata, Yasuko https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3339c7nb People assess the ease of tasks on a daily basis, yet little work has been done on the way they make these assessments. One possible proxy is sustainability, the ability to maintain a consistent level of performance throughout the task duration. It was hypothesized that sustainability is the same proxy as difficulty. UC Riverside students completed visual search tasks in multiple trials. In contrast to previous studies which imposed fixed delays between trials, our participants initiated each trial on their own, providing us with a novel measure of self-pacing. The visual search trials were completed after participants studied a word list. After the visual search trials were completed, participants saw a new list of words and reported the number they believed stayed the same (an anticipated test of memory). The addition of a memory load affected participantsí timing on the visual search task, but did not affect their accuracy. Comparing participantís subsequent sustainability... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3339c7nb Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ghosn, Laya https://escholarship.org/uc/item/31p5p8t4 The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed how students access and use educational information. While AI-generated summaries and podcast-style explanations have become increasingly popular, less is known about how these formats influence immediate comprehension, delayed retention, engagement, and perceived understanding. This study compared AI-generated text summaries, AI-generated audio summaries, and human-written text summaries among undergraduate students enrolled in a business course at the University of California, Riverside. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the three summary-format conditions and completed an immediate comprehension assessment (T1), a delayed retention assessment approximately four hours later (T2), and post-learning measures of engagement, cognitive load, and confidence. Results indicated no significant differences in immediate comprehension across summary formats. The predicted overall decline from T1 to T2 was... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/31p5p8t4 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Johal, Amrit https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3000v259 This project presents an open-source simulation benchmark for developing and evaluating sustainable Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS). Built on top of the OpenCDA and CARLA simulation platforms, the framework extends traditional evaluation metrics such as safety and traffic efficiency by incorporating sustainability, equity, and social inclusion as core performance dimensions. The goal is to provide a flexible and reproducible environment for testing control strategies under realistic multi-vehicle scenarios. To demonstrate the benchmarkís capabilities, we evaluate two vehicle control approaches, a baseline Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller and a custom energy-aware (ECO) controller, within a cooperative platoon merging scenario. Performance is measured using speed profiles, acceleration smoothness, and a proposed efficiency metric that captures the trade-off between mobility and energy consumption. Results show that the ECO controller improves trajectory... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3000v259 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Lee, Hyunsoo https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2w23q4mh Achievement gaps, as defined by disparities in pass and fail rates across demographic groups, including, but not limited to gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, exist in many STEM courses and continue to persist despite institutional and pedagogical efforts to mitigate and eliminate them. This disparity in higher-education has led to a predominantly non-URM (underrepresented minorities), male, and high social-class workforce in STEM careers. Sense of belonging is a factor strongly associated with student success in STEM courses. Observing how a sense of belonging varies across these notable demographics in the classroom can be effective for analyzing the underlying cause for such achievement gaps. In this study, students in an introductory organic chemistry course were surveyed on their sense of belonging, as well as their demographic identities. The purpose of this study was to identify if different demographic groups report differences in sense of belonging and determine... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2w23q4mh Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Mummy, William https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2vp8p4n5 Dream-KG is a large language model (LLM)-based chatbot being developed to integrate and query data from multiple sources and formats, delivering personalized information on social services for people experiencing homelessness (PEH). The two main standouts of Dream-KG are that itís a chatbot and that the data is collected directly from the services via their websites, so none of the information is outdated. My mentor, Dr. Yuzhou Chen, and one of his graduate students, Chenguang Yang, are working with a team of four other researchers to develop Dream-KG. My mission for the big picture was to gather online datasets on homeless services in LA County and San Bernardino and format them so they would work with the Dream-KG prototype. However, I also created a sample version of the Dream-KG prototype to share, to provide a better understanding of how it works and what it does. I used the service information I gathered to build a knowledge graph we can query and used free, open-source... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2vp8p4n5 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Guzman, Leo https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2nh1n5sg In January 2025, I witnessed the devastating fires in Los Angeles and the efforts of the community to support those affected. Many people donated clothing with the best intentions, yet much of it was unfit for use. This experience inspired me to imagine a system that could help collect clean, gently used clothing and distribute it to those in need while reducing waste and minimizing harm to the environment. This experience inspired the creation of Kindred. Kindred is a conceptual nonprofit organization designed to provide clean clothing to communities in need, including unhoused individuals, low income families, and natural disaster survivors, while prioritizing sustainability and responsible use of resources. This project focuses on developing the branding for Kindred, including a logo, supporting graphic elements, and a website layout. The website is designed to guide users through volunteering, donating, and engaging with the organization in meaningful ways. The goal of this... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2nh1n5sg Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Singh, Anjaline https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2j4803kw Artificial intelligence (AI) use is becoming increasingly popular among students in higher education. Many students utilize AI to assist with tasks such as brainstorming, drafting, editing, summarizing information, studying, and note-taking. Of particular interest is understanding the ways that AI use can help or hinder note-taking. Previous research has shown that note-taking is beneficial to learning because it requires people to put information into their own words, which engages cognitive processes that allow them to gain a deeper understanding of the materials. Using AI can help students with summarizing the main ideas of the learning materials, which supports their learning process. Additionally, it may reduce their test-taking stress by making them feel more prepared for the exam. However, AI use may also hinder learning if it replaces the cognitive processes involved in note-taking. Therefore, this study addressed: 1) whether using AI to assist with note-taking is more... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2j4803kw Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Nguyen, Van https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2992k318 Whole-body plethysmography (WBP) is a non-invasive technique used to measure respiratory parameters in conscious, unrestrained animals. The FinePointe WBP software (DSI/Buxco) employs a breath rejection algorithm that calculates the Rinx (Rejection Index), a metric reflecting the proportion of invalid breaths surrounding each accepted breath. Despite its routine generation, Rinx has received little attention as a potential biological readout in disease models. This study investigates whether Rinx is elevated in male C57BL/6 mice following IPLPS-induced systemic inflammation compared to saline controls, and whether any elevation reflects genuine respiratory dysregulation rather than movement artifact. LPS-induced inflammation produces well-characterized sickness behaviors including alterations in homeostatic breathing that reflect neuroinflammatory changes within brainstem circuits governing ventilatory control. Rinx was characterized across three behavioral states: complete stillness... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2992k318 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Horta, Jeremy https://escholarship.org/uc/item/28t564tf Friendship is widely understood as a type of social relationship crucial to an individualís well-being and a beneficial evolutionary mechanism that enables cooperation. While behavioral and social explanations for cultivating close relationships have been thoroughly examined, sociocognitive processes focused on "how" have hardly been examined. I propose that social curiosity serves as a cognitive driver in both exploring new relationships and in deepening understanding of close friends and family. Although the well-being benefits of social interaction and curiosity are well explored, research is limited on how these two concepts interact in social relationships. To explore this question, I conducted a secondary analysis using data from a curiosity intervention aimed at improving well-being. Participantsí journal entries were coded for socially curious behaviors and relationship strength to investigate how frequently participants were curious towards, with, and inspired by weak... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/28t564tf Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ho, Megan https://escholarship.org/uc/item/27d97186 Well-child visits (WCVs) are central to pediatric preventive care, yet immigrant families in the United States experience disparities in access and quality of WCV care. Structural barriers, language discordance, and cultural incongruence contribute not only to missed visits but also to increased caregiver burden in care management. In this scoping review, we synthesized the evidence on barriers to and interventions to improve WCV access among immigrant families. Using a scoping review approach, we identified studies focused on WCV access among immigrant and underserved families. Studies were included if they addressed structural, cultural, and language barriers that influenced caregiver burden and access to WCVs. Nine studies met the inclusion criteria, where we then synthesized qualitative, randomized controlled, and other quantitative studies. Across the studies, we found that language and cultural differences emerged as common barriers for immigrant families. Even when families... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/27d97186 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Zheng, Stephanie https://escholarship.org/uc/item/25b843nb The Weight of Tomorrow is a short narrative film that follows Jordan, a Black college student struggling to balance school, work, and her personal life. As she moves through exhausting days filled with classes, long work shifts, and constant responsibilities, Jordan begins to feel overwhelmed and disconnected from herself and her passion for photography. As the pressure continues to build, Jordan experiences burnout, self-doubt, and emotional isolation. Through a series of everyday challenges, she realizes that constantly putting work and school before her own well-being is causing her to lose sight of who she is. With encouragement from those around her, Jordan begins to reflect on what truly matters to her. The film explores themes of identity, perseverance, and self-discovery while highlighting the emotional weight many students carry. By focusing on ordinary experiences rather than dramatic events, it opens your eyes to the importance of finding balance and reconnecting with... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/25b843nb Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Ballard, Lauren https://escholarship.org/uc/item/22k871sn Rates of substance use have skyrocketed over the years, whether for recreational drugs or nicotine. Nicotine addiction, however, has been a major public health concern for many years. Although individuals attempt to quit their nicotine use, relapse amongst addicted individuals occurs at a high rate. Understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of addiction and relapse is crucial to coming up with interventions that would be viable to reduce relapse rates. This study investigates the therapeutic effects that aerobic exercise has on nicotine relapse, as well as the dopaminergic mechanisms of nicotine in mice. In order to carry out this study, a 50:50 ratio of male to female adult C57BL/6J mice will be used. Mice were trained to interact with an operant box, which is used to study a mouseís behavior. Following the training, the experimental group was introduced to nicotine via intravenous administration placed in the jugular vein via a catheter. Then, the mice underwent a 21-day... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/22k871sn Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Abawi, Marian https://escholarship.org/uc/item/21c2b15q Modern medicine has advanced through discoveries of biological mechanisms and the development of new treatments; however, the emphasis on scientific knowledge and clinical technology has consequently diminished the emotional connection within physician-patient relationships. Alongside these advancements, research studies in music therapy suggest specific melodies and rhythmic structures may enhance patient recovery and improve overall well-being. While additional research is needed, music has been shown to help patients better manage disease symptoms and treatment side effects, such as stress and pain. This project consists of an original composition that explores how musical characteristics associated with positive patient outcomes can be integrated with personal stories. Research methods include reviewing relevant literature to identify patterns of musical characteristics that influence patient healing. Selected piano scores are analyzed for chord progressions, tempo, and musical... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/21c2b15q Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Huang, Isabelle https://escholarship.org/uc/item/20j2q25w In this project, different methods were used in an attempt to figure out which method was best for preserving the conformation of the protein EGFR. Serum Starvation, Chemical Induction, and osmotic shock were the methods used. HeLa cells were grown and cultured in an incubator and after each method, blebs were collected and visualized under a microscope. Western Blotting was used to indicate the presence of EGFR in the HeLa cells. SDS Gels were used to isolate EGFR from the mixture of proteins in the blebs. It was found that osmotic shock yielded the highest concentration of blebs out of the three methods with its concentration being 100 times greater than serum starving and 16 times greater than chemical induction. Western blots did show EGFR bands at the 150-200 kDa range. From this it was confirmed that osmotic shock was the best method of the three due to its simplicity, high yield, and flexibility. Further analysis of ganglioside regulation was proposed in addition to figuring... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/20j2q25w Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Khadiya, Shivam https://escholarship.org/uc/item/205509x9 Glassy-winged sharpshooters (GWSS), Homalodisca vitripennis, are an invasive species brought to California from the Southeastern United States. They are pests that serve as vectors for the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa - a pathogen of various plants of great economic importance for California, including grape and citrus. In grapes, X. fastidiosa causes Pierceís disease (PD), which famously eradicated over 40% of the Temecula grapevines in the 1980ís and continues to cause millions of dollars in losses to viticulture. In vitro experiments are essential for evaluating strategies to control GWSS, such as CRISPR. The goal of this experiment is to determine the optimal parameters for X. fastidiosa acquisition by GWSS via an artificial diet system and (Periwinkle) inoculation. Using the in vitro feeding system that was developed and validated by our lab. The ability of X. fastidiosa to colonize the GWSS precibarium and foregut was assessed after 2 and 4 hours of the acquisition-access... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/205509x9 Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 De Leon, Cynthia https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1zm416pp Although the concept of love languages is a popular topic known by many, there is not sufficient research to support their existence in romantic relationships. There has also not been any previous studies that audibly observes the existence of love languages between romantic couples. Conducting a study examining the presence of love languages, if any, through audible recordings is significant for giving a greater extent of how individuals may express and receive love. Love language is determined by Chapmanís Five Love Languages model, a model designed from a marriage counselorís experiences with helping individuals improve their relationships. Based on his personal observations when working with couples, he noted expressive language, such as words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch, as ways individuals express and receive love. In this research design, I developed and implemented a coding system to observe love languages in the everyday lives... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1zm416pp Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Huerta, Gissela https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1w91536q Public higher education in the United States has undergone a structural transformation: a massive transfer of costs from the state to the student. While the economic dimensions of this ìcost-shiftî are well documented, the political communication techniques utilized to legitimize this withdrawal remain under-analyzed. This capstone project tests the hypothesis that austerity policies were aligned with a measurable shift in executive rhetoric. Using a mixed-methods design, this study introduces the Negative Metaphor Density Index (NMDI), a quantitative metric developed to measure the saturation of ìmarket-basedî and ìburdenî framing in gubernatorial discourse. A comparative analysis of eight U.S. states (N = 8) reveals a strong, statistically significant inverse relationship between negative rhetorical density and per-capita funding levels (Spearman r = ?0.714, p < .05). Robustness checks using Correlates of State Policy Project (CSPP) unemployment data (p = 0.547) and a Wilcoxon... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1w91536q Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Torres, Antonio https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1v34q82n Abortion access has long been a contentious issue in the United States, subject to changing social values, new scientific findings, and public policies. This project examines how historical, political, and cultural forces have shaped abortion law and abortion access in the United States through an analysis of the Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade (1973) through Dobbs v. Jackson Womenís Health Organization (2022). Using a multidisciplinary literature review, I analyze abortion policy through legal, public health, and sociological scholarship to examine the dynamics of abortion policy development and dispute resolution. The research pinpoints legal and policy solutions that enable better access to reproductive healthcare under existing system constraints. The paper uses a comparative case study ñ with California as an abortion-access state and Texas as an abortion-restricted state ñto show how various legal and political systems control post-Dobbs abortion access. My findings... https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1v34q82n Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Phan, Tiana