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Sustainable Solutions for Managing Overcrowding at Pinecrest Lake
Full text linkThis senior design project presents a comprehensive infrastructure improvement plan for Pinecrest Lake, a popular recreation area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The multidisciplinary approach addresses key issues including parking and traffic flow, public restroom upgrades, water treatment plant analysis, and day-use area enhancements. Special attention is given to long-term sustainability and stakeholder engagement across diverse user groups. Data collection and site analysis were conducted to inform decisions on circulation redesigns, potential tolling, environmental impact mitigation, and improved amenities that reflect both user needs and regulatory compliance.
The project emphasizes future-proofing and resiliency through cost-benefit analyses, scalable design strategies, and phased implementation plans. Proposed alternatives were evaluated based on economic, environmental, ethical, and social criteria. This project aims to provide a blueprint for enhancing user experience at Pinecrest Lake while balancing accessibility, ecological integrity, and long-term operational feasibility
Community-Engaged Research for Environmental Justice
No full textCommunity-engaged research (CER) advances environmental justice by centering the local knowledge and concerns of frontline communities in the research agenda, creating equitable and mutually beneficial relationships between these communities and professional researchers, and co-producing actionable data that can influence policies and practices. This Special Issue welcomed empirical and conceptual articles on environmental justice that employ any CER approach, including participatory action research, community-based participatory research, citizen science and community science, and Indigenous-led and decolonial research. This research involved collaborations with community organizations and advocates by academic and other professional researchers, and/or government agencies. The editors were especially interested in CER that recognizes the intersectional roots of environmental injustices in colonialism, racism, economic exploitation and patriarchy, and that can inform policy and practical responses to urgent issues of environmental justice. For open-access, full-text versions of all articles in the issue, see https://www.mdpi.com/journal/socsci/special_issues/4RMVUHAVCBhttps://scholarcommons.scu.edu/faculty_books/1658/thumbnail.jp
The Changing World of International Telecommunications
Full text linkIn October 1987, over 750 exhibitors displayed the latest in telecommunications technology at the TELECOM 87 Exhibition in Geneva. A year later, also in Geneva, representatives of up to 162 nations will gather at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to complete the World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) on the use of the geostationary satellite orbit (ORB-85) that began in August 1985.
The two events underline the extent to which international telecommunications is at the same time big business (global sales of telecommunications equipment and services were over US$325 billion in 1986) and high politics. It is at events such as these that the struggle for world economic and political power is made visible. The buyers at TELECOM deciding which technologies are suitable to meet their investment plans, and the negotiators at Space WARC deciding how to manage access to the geostationary orbit, represent the key players in the battle to shape the future of international telecommunications.
Who are these key players in international telecommunications? What roles in determining policy are played by governments, by telecommunications authorities, by business users, by the military, and by domestic consumers? Which countries and which social groups are likely to benefit from current trends in telecommunications? Will the needs of the Third World be met? What are the possibilities of building a more equitable international telecommunications system?
This issue of TRENDS highlights the main changes in the world of international telecommunications, reviews some major studies of how policy is made and makes some suggestions for research
Violence in the Media
Full text linkDo film and television portrayals of violence cause aggressive behaviour in children, juvenile delinquency, increased crime? For more than fifty years this has been one of the most heavily studied - and heavily funded! - topics of communication research. In the United States and, to some extent, in Britain, no other question of media content has been such an important political issue. The public debate about media violence has offered to media researchers one of their most important opportunities to be directly involved in media policy discussions.
Yet, the continuing analysis of programme content by communication researchers such as George Gerbner shows that the levels of gratuitous violence in television are as high as ever. There has been no substantial change in the pattern ofTV programming. The media industry in the US cont inues to claim that there is no conclusive evidence of serious social harm. Why, one must ask, is media violence such a central issue in the US, but much less so in France, Latin America or in other parts of the world?
This number of Communication Research Trends summarizes accumulated evidence regarding the effects of media violence and current ideas of why some children and adults are more affected than others. Most important is the view that researchers, reformers and politicians have been asking the wrong questions about media violence and, consequently, have not been able to understand correctly the significance of media violence in our culture or establish a coherent public media policy
Bias in the News
Full text linkOver the past 100 to 150 years, print and now broadcast news have built an image as the vital support of democratic public decision-making. Journalists have presented themselves as the watchdog of government, a Fourth Estate. The ideals of freedom of the press and objectivity of news are revered as sacred institutions.
Current research on newsmaking is questioning profoundly the validity of these claims. Some researchers conclude that the snippets ofinformation in the evening news cover over deeper issues and only create an illusion of being informed. TV news is increasingly designed as entertainment, little different &om the soaps that precede and follow it. The problem, it is argued, is not deliberate intent to mislead, but a subtle, systematic distortion inherent in today\u27s accepted news gathering practices. This issue reviews research on four aspects of the debate: 1) the social origins of newsmaking; 2) distortion in news production; 3) analysis of news content; and 4) how the public uses news information
Bilateral Gait Trainer for Transtibial Amputees
Full text linkLower limb amputation affects over 2.3 million individuals in the U.S., with peripheral vascular disease and diabetes as leading causes. Prosthetic rehabilitation is critical for restoring mobility, yet barriers like therapist shortages, cost, and inconsistent at-home training limit patient outcomes. This thesis presents the design, development, and testing of a bilateral gait training device that addresses these challenges by providing real-time haptic feedback and quantitative gait metrics for at-home rehabilitation. The device integrates force-sensitive resistors embedded in insoles to monitor plantar pressure distribution, haptic actuators (eccentric rotating mass motors) mounted on thigh straps to deliver corrective feedback, and an Arduino-based data logging system to track progress. Initial testing with non-disabled individuals shows an 8% relative improvement in side-to-side weight distribution evenness and confirms the device’s ability to detect changes in the gait due to artificial perturbations
EEG-based Machine Learning Framework For Schizophrenia Diagnosis And Predictive Modeling
No full textSchizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder characterized by hallucinations, delusions, cognitive deficits, and disorganized behavior. Despite its prevalence, diagnosis remains subjective and treatment response is highly individualized. This thesis presents a machine learning (ML) framework leveraging electroencephalography (EEG) data to develop an objective, scalable, and non-invasive diagnostic and predictive tool for schizophrenia. The model utilizes clinical EEG recordings from patients and healthy controls during a social decisionmaking task. A multi-stage preprocessing pipeline—including temporal data augmentation, wavelet-based denoising, and independent component analysis—was applied to enhance signal clarity and structure the data for deep learning. EEG segments were then tokenized and input into a Transformer-based neural network capable of both binary classification (schizophrenia vs. control) and pseudo-severity estimation. Trained using stratified group 5-fold cross-validation and optimized with early stopping, the model achieved an average accuracy of 90%, an AUC of 0.93, and an F1 score of 0.90. Continuous output scores from the model provide a gradient of symptom severity, offering insights into subclinical neural patterns. This dual-output approach enables both diagnostic support and real-time symptom tracking, representing a novel contribution to AI-assisted precision psychiatry. The results demonstrate that EEG-derived neural signatures, like altered gamma oscillations, impaired phase synchrony, and reduced eventrelated potentials, can be effectively leveraged by deep learning models to enhance clinical decision-making. This work establishes a foundation for scalable EEG-based diagnostics and creates the framework for further development of integrated neuroinformatics tools for psychiatric care