Recent urcaj_2025 items

Queer Asian American Women’s Search For Identity, Belonging, and Community

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Queer Asian American (QASAM) women often have difficulty finding spaces that are accepting of their intersecting identities as both queer women and as Asian Americans. Because mainstream queer spaces are not inclusive for people of color and women, and many ethnic spaces are not accepting of queer identities, QASAM women often do not feel a sense of belonging in the community and social spaces that already exist. Through survey methods of 50 participants and in-depth interviews from 8 of those survey participants, this study investigates QASAM women’s perceptions of identity, relationships with their families, experiences in their ethnic communities, and experiences in gender/sexuality communities to help understand the strategies QASAM women deploy to build hybrid spaces and communities for themselves. This study provides insight into QASAM women’s community building by analyzing the ways in which they transition between ethnic communities and queer communities, how they create...

The Role of Fulfillment in Undergraduate Learning Assistant Professional Development

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This qualitative study examines the developmental outcomes of Undergraduate Learning Assistants (ULAs) in three STEM departments (Psychology, Statistics, Chemistry) at a large public institution. The purpose is to understand how fulfillment in the ULA role relates to ULAs reported professional development. Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews (n=10) revealed fulfillment as a central theme in the ULA experience, based on participants' accounts of sense of purpose, enjoyment, and perceived impact in their role. This sense of fulfillment provided the foundation for professional skill development like communication, confidence, leadership, and networking. Findings highlight the importance of emotional dimensions in shaping professional identity and suggest that peer-instructional programs should be intentionally designed to cultivate connection and meaning for all participants.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Puberty Blockers in Gender-Affirming Care for Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Many claim that puberty suppression is an unsafe and unnecessary treatment for transgender adolescents to leverage support for limiting policies for gender-affirming care. This review establishes an overview of research on puberty blockers to evaluate the treatment’s effectiveness and risks for gender dysphoric adolescents. Studies confirmed the necessity of puberty-blocking treatment after discovering that gender dysphoric individuals who do not receive treatment are significantly more likely to have suicidal ideation compared to individuals who have received treatment. Studies also found that puberty blockers are effective in reaching their desired functions as they lower the need for gender-affirming hormones, slow the development of secondary characteristics, and surpass their expected effective durations. Puberty blockers only posed a few serious risks to the individual's health, mainly a risk to bone health. However, most studies have not been able to define the severity...

Physiological Alcohol Dependence Alters Risk-Taking Behavior in Drosophila melanogaster Larvae

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Alcohol use disorder alters cognition, risk evaluation, and behavior across species. Drosophila melanogaster larvae are innately attracted to ethanol in nature, where moderate concentrations enhance fitness but higher levels increase mortality. Their conserved alcohol tolerance and withdrawal phenotypes make them a tractable model for studying how dependence alters survival-relevant decision-making. We investigated how alcohol dependence and withdrawal impact larval risk-taking using the dig-and-dive assay, where larvae explore agarose chambers under hypoxic conditions guided by odor gradients. We hypothesized that acute ethanol exposure would suppress exploration, while ethanol-dependent larvae in withdrawal would show hyperexcitability characterized by increased surfacing, decreased digging, and similar levels of diving. Canton-S larvae were chronically exposed to 5% ethanol food for six days to establish dependence, then either tested immediately (inebriated group) or after...

Mother and Child: Gender Ambiguity and Fluidity in Ancient Mesoamerica

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In this paper I consider how gender was expressed in ancient Mesoamerican figurines. I focus on a Nayarit figurine (300 BCE-300 CE) from UCSB’s Art, Architecture and Design Museum, considering its physical attributes, physique and clothing in reference to other Mesoamerican sculptures. The artwork’s gender ambiguity reflects a more dynamic role of gender in ancient Mesoamerica; one not confined to biological characteristics but rooted in broader cultural and societal values.

Political Moral Violations on Social Media: How Emotional Responses Shape Political Cynicism

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The rise of social media has fundamentally reshaped the political information environment. Citizens now regularly encounter political content on platforms where messaging is designed to evoke strong emotional reactions that drive virality. This study investigates whether short-form video content depicting moral violations committed by politicians increases political cynicism through the activation of negative emotions (anger, disgust, and outrage). A between-subjects survey experiment was conducted testing whether exposure to a moral violation committed by a politician increases political cynicism via emotional activation. It also examines whether the effect is stronger when the violator is a member of the viewer’s out-party rather than their in-party. Results show that moral violations increased political cynicism through negative emotions. Group identity did not alter the strength of these effects. Given the established association between political cynicism and reduced political...

Husmann and Phylloxera: An Early Window into Napa’s Future

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This article recenters Napa Valley's rise by challenging the dominant narrative that defines its history through luxury, refinement, and economic success. Instead, I argue that Napa's transformation in the late nineteenth century can only be understood through an analytic framework that links three histories often examined separately: ecological change, working-class experience, and capitalist consolidation. Using the period between 1880 and 1905 as a critical window, the paper adopts a multispecies, history-from-below approach to show how phylloxera's disruption of grapevines, the social effects of widespread brandy consumption among immigrant laborers, and the creation of exclusive wine cooperatives formed the foundations of Napa's modern identity.Rather than treating environmental issues, public disorder, and business organization as separate developments, this article demonstrates that they worked together as interdependent forces that shaped the region's image, economy, and...

Sustaining Attention with Varying Response Frequencies

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Sustaining attention has shown to be increasingly difficult over time, and it has become important to understand how task demands impact the maintenance of focus on any given task. Sustained attention tasks using both high and low target frequencies have measured declining performance over time. This project investigates, within a single task, how target frequency (high: 90%, low: 10%, intermediate: 50%) impacts different measures of sustained attention performance when subjects continuously monitor for subtle visual targets. As predicted, higher target frequencies showed higher false alarm rates, along with significant increases in participant responding and decreases in response times. Further, increases in target frequency predicted changes in attention, such as increased difficulty distinguishing targets from noise and a more liberal response bias. This suggests that the type of sustained attention task, in respect to target frequency, may influence subjects’ sustained attention....

Psychedelics: Friend or Foe? Perceived Parental Attitudes, Use, and Current Personal Attitudes Toward Classic Hallucinogens

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This project investigates relationships between parental attitudes toward classic hallucinogens (i.e., LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline) during adolescence, frequency of personal hallucinogen use, and current attitudes toward hallucinogens from the perspective of recreational psychedelic users. Previous literature highlights self-reported benefits, spiritual experiences, and less harm in comparison to other substances when reporting on recreational classic hallucinogen use. However, the associations of parental communication and level of familial religious affiliation with current relationships involving hallucinogens have seldom been investigated. 120 participants took a web-based survey on Qualtrics marketed on Prolific regarding the parental communication involving classic hallucinogens during adolescence, first age of use, current frequency of use, and personal attitudes toward legality, medical value, and safety of hallucinogenic substances. In comparison with infrequent hallucinogen...

Political Emotions:Undergraduate Experiences and Expressions of Political Grief

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Grief is a complex emotion brought about by both perceived and actual losses that can profoundly shape an individual. In the context of politics, one’s experience, processing, and expression of grief has significant impacts on our understanding of disenfranchised grief and invisible loss. These dynamics affect individuals who experience grief outside the conventional frameworks of recognition, validation, and support. The present study uses in-depth interviews to gain insight into how college students experience and express their grief in relation to politics with those who both share and conflict in values. Findings suggest strong parallels between the experience of political grief and traditional grief while highlighting differences in how individuals navigate these conversations across a political divide. Participants’ willingness to express grief relating to the election with those that disagree with them politically varied depending on their perception of the permanence of...

The Bonds That Ground Us: A Mixed-Methods, Cross-Cultural Exploratory Study on the Psychological Construct “Place Attachment"

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This mixed-methods, cross-cultural exploratory research study investigates the construct of place attachment by integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches across diverse geographic and cultural contexts. Study 1 employed focus groups in the United States, Spain, and Singapore to identify core predictors of emotional bonds to place, including autonomy, psychological security, personal growth, and social belonging. Thematic analyses revealed autonomy in movement, safety, opportunities for self-development, and cultural fit as key factors shaping attachment to meaningful places. Study 2 quantitatively examined these predictors using a Place Attachment Scale and Place Attachment Predictors Scale in a sample of 150 U.S.-based adult participants, stratified by ethnicity and migration background. Results from correlational and regression analyses demonstrated moderate to strong associations between attachment and predictors such as self-sufficiency, cultural belonging, community...

Maize, Ritual, and Resistance: Identifying Nixtamalization at Ancient East St. Louis

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Maize has been a significant part of the North American diet for over 2000 years. Archaeological work has placed the origins of maize in the Midwest Native American diet at c. 900 CE; this timeline is based on the identification of maize kernels and cobs. Since humans began domesticating maize nearly 10,000 years ago, they have invented many ways to cook and process the plant. One of the many ways including a process called nixtamalization, which consists of soaking and boiling maize in a solution to enhance its nutritional value producing foods such as tortillas and hominy. To find evidence of this process, we apply the findings from archaeologists Johnson and Marston (2020) who conducted experimental analysis of nixtamalized maize to our analysis. The objective of this research project is to analyze ceramic samples from the pre-colonial Illinois site of East St Louis (ESTL) to identify the first direct evidence of nixtamalization in the Midwest region. The ceramics were washed...

Artistic Identity in a Material World: Qualities of Kashan Ceramics in 12th Century Iran

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Kashan, Iran’s long-lasting legacy as a major hub of artistic innovation and influence in the Middle East began around the early 12th century. Kashani ceramicists are credited with perfecting the practice of glazed fritware, with unrivaled production at an industrial scale as well as artistic paramount of the medium. UCSB’s AD&A Museum collection contains several Kashani ceramic vessels, allowing us to bear witness to one of the most historically rich regions in the world through the lens of the artisans. However, the vessels in the museum’s collection have very little provenance or research attached to them. The goals of this research are to first build a foundation of knowledge surrounding the creation of this type of vessel, then identify key aspects of the Kashani ceramic pitcher through close visual analysis that link it to other ceramic vessels of the time. In doing so, this allows us to contemplate the significance of these vessels and their influence on other Middle...

Effects of Chronic Sleep Deprivation on Medical Residents’ Patient Outcomes: a Systematic Review

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A systematic literature review was conducted to examine existing studies pertaining to the impacts of chronic sleep deprivation on the quality of patient care delivered by medical residents. Several keyword searches were conducted using Google Scholar, evaluating the first 20 of each search based on established inclusion and exclusion criteria. Analysis of the 7 relevant studies revealed that those utilizing direct clinical evaluations provided the most extensive data. Findings suggested that chronic sleep deprivation impacted the quality of surgical and nonsurgical patient care differently. While impacts on surgical care were largely inconclusive, chronic sleep deprivation appeared to show a negative correlation with the quality of nonsurgical care. These results indicate the need for institutional regulations regarding medical resident working conditions to mitigate performance related effects of chronic sleep deprivation. With residents serving a critical role in the foundations...

WHO or WHY: The Roles of Ally Race and Perceived Motivations in the Target Disadvantaged Group's Personal Outcomes

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Past research has demonstrated that the target disadvantaged group’s perception of allyship behaviors differed by ally race (i.e. advantaged vs. disadvantaged group) and perceived allyship motivations (i.e. sincere vs. ulterior). One possible reason behind this different perception was the differentiation of suspicion level toward allies. Consequently, this can lead to different perceivers’ personal outcomes, such as self-esteem and collective action intention. However, past studies often failed to incorporate these variables into a single framework and establish causal relationships between them. Therefore, the current study aims to manipulate ally races and perceived allyship motivations and directly compare their consequential impacts on the target disadvantaged group. In a two-part survey, Black participants first rated their suspicion level toward White (i.e. advantaged group) and Latino people (i.e. disadvantaged group) in general. Two weeks later, the follow-up survey was...

Recentering the Narrative: Political Communication, Indian Women, and Hindu Nationalism

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, India has seen a great shift in its political landscape. Under his rule, the BJP has quickly transformed into a dominant electoral force, drawing on support for the Prime Minister and promoting certain conservative values that echo Hindu Nationalist ideals. To observe and analyze how Modi’s rise to power has impacted other elements of the Indian government and its political communication, this paper analyzes primary sources that specifically relate to women in India. By analyzing differences in annual reports from the National Commission for Women before and after the rise of the current Prime Minister, legal provisions passed after his ascension to power, and other forms of online communication from the Prime Minister to the public, it is evident that the Prime Minister has been able to utilize these avenues of political communication to reconstruct conceptions of progress with his own image and the central government.