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Creeks in Crisis: How Water Diversion Impacts the Mono Basin
No full textThrough my summer research I explore how the presence of Beartrack Creek on the Burger\u27s Retreat property in the Mono Basin affects butterfly populations, particularly in relation to their behavior and survival. Water diversions by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) have caused Mono Lake’s water levels to drop, disrupting the entire region’s ecosystem. This research aimed to explore how butterflies are influenced by the creek’s proximity, using transect line sampling to record butterfly activity and environmental factors. The study analyzed butterfly presence through binary data and statistical methods to examine potential correlations with the creek. The results are used highlight the importance of water resources in supporting local wildlife, emphasizing the need for continued conservation efforts to preserve the Mono Basin’s biodiversity and vital water systems
From Fields to Fast Foods: Food Culture, Identity, and Health in Puerto Rico under the U.S. Empire
Get PDFOperation Bootstrap, launched in 1947, fundamentally altered Puerto Rico’s economy, just as much as its food culture. Prioritizing manufacturing over agriculture led to the collapse of the island’s farming sector, increasing reliance on food imports and leading to a rise in diet-related diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular issues. This thesis examines the legacies of Operation Bootstrap on Puerto Rico’s food system, health outcomes, and cultural identity by emphasizing the need to value intergenerational knowledge. The oral history research in this study highlights the importance of intergenerational knowledge in reclaiming sustainable agricultural practices and healthy, culturally significant diets. I suggest food sovereignty as a solution to creating a sustainable food system that preserves the Puerto Rican identity. To achieve food sovereignty, social innovation must play a significant role, especially by stressing the importance of a network of collaboration between smaller and larger organizations. By integrating grassroots initiatives with policy reform and intergenerational knowledge, Puerto Rico can build a healthy and resilient food system that promotes sustainability and public health through lifestyle medicine. This research contributes to the broader discourse on food systems transformation in post-industrialized regions
ChatGPT as a Boundary Object Between In-School and Out-Of-School Mathematical Practices: The Case of Numeracy Practices
Get PDFThis article explores the theoretical basis and practical potential of ChatGPT in bridging the gap between school-based and out-of-school mathematical practices. Drawing on Cultural Historical Activity Theory and the concept of boundary objects, we highlight how ChatGPT can serve as a boundary object to connect these two domains. Our analysis of ChatGPT-generated lesson plans designed to align with out-of-school practices reveals that the model had the greatest impact on the social and institutional relations component of the numeracy practices framework [6], while their impact was weakest in the values and beliefs component
From the Symbol of Inanna to Islamic Tessellations: Aesthetics of Constructibility
Get PDFWe introduce a special symbol with a long history dating back to the Sumerian period. This symbol, which was first associated with the goddess Inanna, can be constructed with compass and straightedge, a property defined as constructibility in modern geometry. Nineteenth-century mathematicians proved systematically what types of polygons and polygrams are constructible. This algebraic result shared a striking consistency with the tessellations present in medieval Islamic architecture. The geometric patterns behind the tessellations as well as the symbol of Inanna itself, if properly remodeled, can be adopted as effective tools in the teaching of algebra and Galois theory
Optimizing Decision-Making in a Cerebral Palsy Model Using Reinforcement Learning
Get PDFThis study presents an original interdisciplinary investigation into how reinforcement learning (RL) can model motor and cognitive defects and potentially improve motor and cognitive functions in individuals with cerebral palsy (CP), a non-progressive neurological disorder that impairs movement and adaptability. Integrating computational neuroscience and machine learning, the research applies policy gradient methods and Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) to simulate adaptive learning in agents with and without CP-related constraints.
The central aim is to compare the cumulative rewards of optimal policies, derived from value iteration, and human-like learning policies using the REINFORCE algorithm, both with and without the Bellman baseline. The Bellman baseline serves to reduce gradient variance, simulating efficient cognitive feedback mechanisms. Two probabilistic frameworks are developed: the Innate Policy, representing uniform state knowledge from birth, and the Adaptive Policy, which models real-world learning through stationary state distributions shaped by an agent’s experience.
Simulations across 1,000 randomized environments with 10 states and 11 actions showed that REINFORCE with a Bellman baseline (non-CP model) significantly outperformed its non-baseline counterpart (cpREINFORCE, CP model), with a mean reward difference of 4.13 and a p-value of 1.32 × 10⁻⁴⁹ (p \u3c 0.001). These findings support the hypothesis that baseline-guided reflects the adaptive strategies observed in individuals with CP undergoing effective therapy.
By mathematically modeling motor and cognitive defects, this research provides a novel computational framework to understand and simulate motor and cognitive challenges associated with CP. It advances the intersection of neuroscience and machine learning, with potential applications in clinical treatment design and adaptive rehabilitation strategies targeting neural adaptability
Amazigh Lexical Substrate in Tunisian Derja: an Outcome of Linguistic Contact on YouTube and Facebook
Get PDFDespite the extensive discussion of the structural and lexical impact of Tamazight on North African spoken varieties in Morocco, Algeria, and Libya (Berkai 4-14; Souag 2018, 192-200; Faizi 29-39; Bensoukas and Boudlal 179-21; Zellou 1-13), little is known about the linguistic contact outcome between the Tunisian spoken variety (henceforth, Ettounsi or Tunisian Derja) and Tamazight. In this article, we present and analyze Amazigh linguistic substrate examples in the lexicon of Ettounsi. Contact-induced change (Lafkioui 51-93; Thomason 339-46; Heine and Kuteva, 529-72) and language contact on YouTube (Garley, 77-106), along with the method of computer-mediated discourse (Androutsopoulos, 419-438), offer primary frameworks to examine the types of Amazigh noun interferences in Ettounsi. Drawing on a collection of 98 Tunisian words found on Tunisia Tamazight YouTube channel, also known as Tenast TV, and Amawal Amazigh Amqran, a Facebook page dedicated to discussion of Amazigh etymologies, the study reveals that the most frequent Amazigh etymologies originate from four semantic fields for nouns. These are body parts, animals, kinship, and food. The study further proposes that regional proximity to rural and Amazigh villages, age, and gender of the language users, and semantic tabooness are factors that could account for the Amazigh lexical interference into Ettounsi
Where Purpose Meets Profit: The Impact of Firm Size on the Relationship Between ESG Performance and Corporate Financial Performance on Firms in the Technology Industry
Get PDFThis study evaluates the impact of firm size on the relationship between ESG performance and corporate financial performance of firms within the technology industry. Specifically, this study uses OLS analysis to assess the relationship between ESG, measured using Morningstar Sustainalytics ESG risk scores, and return on assets, using firm market cap as a proxy for firm size. Data was compiled into an original dataset consisting of 254 firms. Results were significant, finding that increasing ESG practices in small and medium firms increases ROA. These findings highlight the economic value of social responsibility efforts in technology firms, particularly in small and medium sized companies. Implications of these results, as well as limitations and future directions are discussed further in this paper
Drowned in Promises: Flooded Histories and the Struggle for Justice in the Pajaro Valley
No full textThis thesis examines the recurring flooding in the Pajaro Valley, California, arguing that these events are not solely natural disasters but the result of decades of governmental inaction and systemic neglect. The research traces the valley\u27s history from pre-colonial Ohlone land management to the present, highlighting how shifting land ownership patterns, exploitative labor practices, and the prioritization of agricultural profits over community well-being have contributed to the region\u27s vulnerability. Analysis of historical records, news archives, and legal documents reveals how the construction and inadequate maintenance of the Pajaro River levee system, coupled with the disruption of natural hydrological processes, have disproportionately impacted the low-income, predominantly Latino community of Pajaro. The thesis culminates in an analysis of the 1995 and 2023 floods, with the ongoing struggle for environmental justice and accountability. Ultimately, the thesis argues that the repeated flooding in the town of Pajaro is a consequence of colonial hydrology, urging a critical re-evaluation of flood management and land-use policies
FROM ARABIZATION TO ANGLICIZATION : UNMASKING LANGUAGE POLICY SHIFTS IN ALGERIA
No full textAlgeria gained its independence from France in 1962, following the brutality of colonial rule and the Algerian War, made all the more so as a result of Algeria’s departmentalization ; unlike other French colonies, Algeria was officially considered a part of mainland France. Post-independence, FLN leadership pursued a monolithic project of national unification through Arabization-at-all-Costs, a state language policy which made Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) the sole official language of government and schools. This policy has since been in place, at the expense of the other languages present in Algerian society – primarily Darija, Tamazigh, and French – until 2022, when Algerian President Tebboune announced an Anglicization policy, making English a primary language of education along with MSA. This paper investigates possible causes for the sudden shift in state language policy, examining this question from nationalist, de-colonial, economic, sociolinguistic, and comparative lenses. This shift belongs to a broader phenomenon of Anglicization among other post-colonial nations. The paper argues English has been embraced in Algeria as a result of its French colonial past and its consequent anti-colonial de-Frenchification. The policy of Anglicization functions as a strategic economic move, intended to open its economy, attract Anglophones business partners, improve employment opportunities, and adopt the new “global lingua franca,” a utilitarian, international language. Finally, the paper asserts English is perceived by Algerians as a politically neutral language, enabling its dissociation from colonialism and the nations’ pan-Arabist rejection of the West
The Potential Role of Periodontal Pathogen, Fusobacterium nucleatum, in the Progression of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
No full textF. nucleatum is an oral commensal bacteria that turns pathogenic in the presence of periodontitis. Current research that has focused on the role that F. nucleatum plays in pancreatic cancer has primarily focused on its effects on immune cells. There is a lack of research on how it contributes to altered genetic expression, especially in patients with pancreatic cancer and periodontitis. My proposal will focus on testing the contribution that F. nucleatum has in the genetic expression of the commonly mutated genes, KRAS, TP53, CDKN2A, and SMAD4, in pancreatic cancer, as well as the activity of the pathways the genes are involved with and the virulence factor, FadA. A qPCR and qRT-PCR will be conducted on pancreatic tissue of patients without periodontitis and without pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), with PDAC only, and with both periodontitis and PDAC. A qRT-PCR and a quantitative Western Blot analysis will be conducted on three similar groups of mice. It is expected that the patient and mice group with greater levels of F. nucleatum, the group with periodontitis and PDAC, will cause greater genetic alterations in KRAS and CDKN2A. The activity of the pathways KRAS and CDKN2A and the virulence factor FadA will also experience greater altered protein expression. The proposal will provide further information on the role that F. nucleatum has in the genetic alterations most commonly found in PDAC. It also provides possible mechanisms that affect tumor progression and what aspect of F. nucleatum can potentially aid in the genetic and pathway changes