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Augmented Digital Fotonovela (SMAART App) to Mitigate Health Consequences Among Adolescents Resulting from Social Media Addiction
Get PDFAdolescent social media (SM) usage has surged over the past decade, outpacing that of adults and exacerbating digital polarization. Due to ongoing neural development, adolescents are particularly susceptible to social media addiction (SMA) - a phenomenon that has intensified post-COVID-19 with increased digital engagement. On average, adolescents spend 8.5 hours daily on SM platforms, exposing them to heightened risks of cyberbullying, sexting, body shaming, and academic disengagement. The dopamine-driven reward mechanisms inherent in social media reinforce compulsive use, contributing to severe mental health consequences, including anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation. Despite its growing prevalence, SMA remains an underrecognized behavioral disorder due to the absence of standardized diagnostic criteria, making assessment and intervention challenging. The lack of regulatory frameworks further exacerbates the issue, leaving adolescents vulnerable to excessive and harmful SM exposure. Given the rapid increase in adolescent SM engagement and its detrimental effects, there is an urgent need for systematic research and evidence-based intervention strategies to mitigate its impact. Addressing this issue is critical to safeguarding adolescent mental health and well-being in the digital age.This dissertation addresses the growing issue of Social Media Addiction (SMA) among adolescents, emphasizing its mental health consequences and proposing a novel intervention strategy. Using the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, this study developed and evaluated SMAART, an augmented fotonovela mobile application designed to raise awareness and promote behavioral change in adolescents aged 13–19 years. A foundational component of this research involved constructing a taxonomy of SMA, derived through a systematic literature review (SLR). This taxonomy identified key enablers, manifestations, and health consequences of SMA, which guided the design, implementation, and evaluation of the SMAART app. The app integrates behavioral design principles and augmented reality (AR) to enhance engagement and educational outcomes. Experimental results demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in awareness regarding body image distortion, body shaming, and catfishing among adolescents using the SMAART app compared to a control group receiving email-based interventions. Statistical analyses, including paired t-tests, confirmed the app’s efficacy in increasing knowledge and awareness
Evaluating Methods Used to Quantify Racial Segregation
Get PDFRacial segregation has long been a problem in communities across the United States. One approach to help understand such an important issue is to attempt to describe it quantitatively. Many metrics have been developed, all with various strengths and weaknesses, but none fully capture the nuances of this complicated issue. This work provides an overview of four of the mathematical approaches that have been developed to study segregation, explains how they function using small examples, and compares and contrasts their effectiveness in various situations. We then focus on segregation in Los Angeles (LA) County, including a detailed exploration of the most recent score proposed by authors Sousa and Nicosia, which conducts a random walk and outputs the number of steps it takes to reach all racial classes in the system. While we find there is a difference between the average step lengths of LA County vs. an unbiased null model, attempts to standardize outputs erases crucial data and compressing this issue into one score is not representative of its complexity. This suggests that future exploration should attempt to study segregation more comprehensively, rather than distilling an incredibly complicated and important issue into a single statistic. More work is needed to quantitatively represent the complexities of racial segregation in an effective matter
From Shudu [Sudoku 數獨] to Dushu [Learning of Mathematics 讀數]?
Get PDFThe puzzle game Sudoku has been popular for over two decades, and even at one time became a craze for the public. This paper will briefly describe what the game is, a little bit of its history, and how to play it, but will leave the details to the many published books about the game. Some interesting and difficult mathematical problems relevant to the game will be highlighted, again leaving the detailed discussion to specific books published on this issue. The main point the paper tries to focus on is a discussion on the cognitive and the psychological aspects of the game and what lessons it offers to the teaching and learning of mathematics
Book Review: Zero\u27s Whisper by Tom Petsinis
Get PDFTom Petsinis is an internationally acclaimed Australian novelist, playwright, and poet. He also holds a Ph.D. degree in mathematics and works as a mathematical adviser at Deakin University, Melbourne. Zero’s Whisper, Petsinis’ tenth poetry collection, offers a rich blend of the literary and the mathematical. The collection, comprising of over one hundred fourteen-line poems, is divided into nine sections, each of which considers a different aspect of a world steeped in mathematics and poetry. This review aims to provide a taste of the poetry and the themes included in the book. To discover all its hidden delights, one needs to read the book from cover to cover, perhaps more than once
Euclidean Vision (a poem)
Get PDFEuclidean Vision is a short poem that evaluates geometry from a humanistic perspective, focusing partly on its pleasures. Geometry gives us the pleasing assurance of certainty. It does this through the radical abstraction of space and form, which makes possible a completeness of mathematical vision based on axioms. It\u27s this purity that guarantees a knowledge that can go on forever. In the end, the poem points to the wonderful freedom that geometry and other mathematical disciplines give us in the midst of difficult and confusing lives. In its beauty and universality, geometry stands as an eternal aspect of the human project. Because we can see that mathematics transcends history and cultures, we may feel inspired to work together to protect the viability of our shared world
Sweden and Denmark’s Approach to Public Housing for Refugees in Response to the 2015 European Refugee Crisis
Get PDFHousing is a critical aspect of social policy for refugees, as it serves as the foundation for their integration into a new society. While recognized as important, providing housing for refugees can be quite challenging for countries. This was particularly apparent during the 2015 European migrant crisis, when more than a million refugees, mainly from Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan, flooded into Europe. Recipient countries did and continue to adopt varying policies when it comes to providing housing for refugees. This paper analyzes Denmark and Sweden’s response to the migration crisis and shows that the two countries had starkly different approaches, with Sweden adopting more generous policies. This policy divergence is particularly interesting, as both countries are characterized as social democratic regimes—regimes that prioritize active state involvement and universalism. The paper investigates this policy divergence, walking through a range of potential explanations: institutions, interest groups, framing, descriptive representation, and culture. It ultimately concludes that while these factors all contribute to the observed policy divergence, none of them could be seen as the core reason as to why the countries differ in their refugee housing policy. Therefore, deciphering the divergence requires an analysis of historical precedents regarding refugee integration established within each country prior to the 2015 migration crisis
Antifeminism, American Nationalism & the Potentially Oriental Other: Origins of the Conservative College Newspaper The Claremont Independent
Get PDFThis paper examines the origins of the Claremont Independent, the conservative student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges which was founded in 1989. Exploring the relation between antifeminism, nationalism, and orientalism in student-written articles from the first two years of the Independent\u27s existence, this paper provides insight on the nature of American conservative rhetoric
Optimizing and Scaling Up TCFH–NMI Pyrrole Acylation for Organic Syntheses
No full textTraditional ketone synthesis often depends on toxic reagents and hazardous solvents, which limits its scalability and environmental compatibility. The TCFH–NMI method has shown strong potential for amide, ester, and thioester formation, but its use in ketone synthesis has only been recently described, and only on small scales. This thesis addresses that gap by optimizing a scalable synthesis of 2-(monomethyl succinyl)-3,5-dimethylpyrrole using monomethyl succinate and 2,4-dimethylpyrrole as model substrates. Key reaction parameters were systematically refined to improve yield, reproducibility, and sustainability. The final protocol avoids chromatography, operates at room temperature, and consistently delivers high yields. These features position it as a greener, more practical alternative to traditional Friedel–Crafts methods and suitable for submission to Organic Syntheses. The results support broader adoption of the TCFH–NMI method for sustainable ketone synthesis and provide a foundation for adapting the method to other electrophilic substrates relevant to pharmaceutical development
THE CHESAPEAKE PEARL: A Proposal for an Environmental Public Art Installation
Get PDFIn this thesis, I lay the foundation for an environmental art project along Chesapeake Bay. It includes an analysis of relevant literature and case studies, as well as a proposal for the project. The Chesapeake Pearl (working title) would be a 20-foot spherical aquarium that will visually display the water filtration capacity of eastern oysters and native seagrass, aiming to inspire curiosity around these organisms and the greater Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. The project exists at the intersection of environmental art and environmental education and seeks to promote learning and public engagement through visually demonstrating a scientific process, the water filtration capacity of oysters and seagrass, as well as organizing community events around the bay’s waters. The proposal, which includes descriptions of the project and its materials, discussion of possible sites and permitting, and watercolors and other visual representations, serves as an initial exploration around how I could go about moving forward with this project. The thesis ends with a description of how this project could be continued into future, including discussion of the process of producing final designs for the project, prototyping at a smaller scale, and pursuing partners to co-create and steward the piece
