shedding, emerging; a rebirth

This thesis is a collection of poems; divided into two parts, the first section intimately explores physicality and essence through graphic writing, inspired by Emerson’s work that is deeply rooted in transcendentalism, idealism, and the divinity of nature. The second part of the collection breathes life into the first through an introspection of naturalistic elements based on linguistic tactility. Inspired by Emily Dickinson, this collection embodies complex celestial imagery to display the abstractness of presence and detachment. Both collections comment on the interconnectedness of human nature in its rawest form and seek to encapsulate a soulful display of the innate relationship between movement and language

Restorative Justice Initiatives in Marin County: Mitigating the Impacts of the School-to-Prison Pipeline on Youth

My senior thesis project delves into Restorative Justice\u27s role in addressing the school-to-prison pipeline in Marin County. Restorative Justice prioritizes repairing the harm caused by crime to individuals, relationships, and communities, advocating for offenders to take responsibility and make amends rather than solely facing punishment (Restorative Justice Exchange, 2022). My capstone aims to pinpoint factors driving student exclusion from schools and subsequent entanglement in the legal system while highlighting how restorative approaches can prevent such outcomes. Additionally, it discusses the benefits of removing police officers from schools and reducing reliance on law enforcement within educational settings. My research will use a community-engaged methodology; I want to listen to and understand the community stakeholder perspectives through interviews and engagement. Their perspectives are crucial because of their direct involvement in the Restorative Justice practices currently happening in Marin County

UNstuck in Six Decades, a lyrical memoir with ArtPoems

How does a kid from the low-income housing projects end up a retired (resigned) Army combat commander? My memoir is presented as decades of my life beginning in December 1960 and into my 6th decade. I am a Daughter (born and living binary), Sister, Granddaughter, Niece, Cousin, Aunt, Wife (traditional), Mother, Partner (non-traditional), Friend, military dove (anomaly), artist, poet, and a perpetual student. Navigating these relationships, identities, and obligations while in a near-constant state of hypervigilance, was both exhausting and exhilarating. In striving to be the best vision of myself, and with a high adventure drive, my life took many turns. Quite often, I found choice overload (a first-world problem) to be more depleting than the actual effort required for accomplishment. I tested many strategies to combat high anxiety, bouts of depression, and psychological exhaustion which were all hard-wired in a torturous childhood. Truly, my Son, my innate resilience, a few life-long mentors, very insightful and trusting Behavioral Health Pharmacist and counselors at the Veterans Health Hospital campus in Sacramento, California, saved me! Until (if) you and I meet in the real, this is me being held — in your hands. You might even recognize yourself in these pages

Effects of Comprehensive Sex Education on Unplanned Pregnancy Rates and STI Occurrences among Chinese American Adolescents

Sexually transmitted diseases/infections (STIs) and unplanned pregnancies is a continuing health concern among adolescents. They are more likely to engage in risky behaviors that increase the likelihood for STIs and unplanned pregnancies which emphasizes the need for comprehensive sex education (CSE). This research proposal strives to determine if CSE is an effective tool in reducing cases of STIs and unplanned pregnancies, specifically in Chinese American adolescents. The literature review identified CSE successfully decreasing STIs and unplanned pregnancies in youths. However, limited research correlates the relationship between CSE and Chinese American adolescents. In addition, few studies take cultural influences into account when analyzing this demograph’s sexual practices and behaviors, thus showing a lack of diversity in sex education. To assess the effectiveness of CSE, a convenience sample of 100 adolescents will participate in completing an initial 20 question survey, followed by an sex education course, and then a post-test of the same 20 question survey. Results should show improvement in test scores after the intervention. Data will be analyzed through p-value to indicate statistical significance. In addition, descriptive statistics such as mean, mode, and median will be utilized to compare pre-intervention and post-intervention test scores. Keywords: comprehensive sex education, STIs, unplanned pregnancies, Chinese American adolescents, Asian American adolescents, sexual behaviors and attitude

Advanced Spatial Analysis of Neural Targets Using Light Sheet Fluorescence Microscopy and Spatial Proteomics

This study focused on developing a set of advanced histological tools to conduct spatial analysis of the central nervous system (CNS), improving upon traditional methods, and addressing their shortcomings. We applied these methods to explore CNS drug biodistribution. With the goal of defining regions of tissue in which the drug is distributed and the specific cell types that uptake it, we employed tissue clearing, immunofluorescent staining of unique cellular population-identifying antigens, and light-sheet fluorescence microscopy (LSFM) techniques to image adult mouse hemispheres in a variety of conditions and compared these techniques to traditional immunofluorescence (IF) on thin tissue sections. In addition, we used high-content spatial proteomics to observe the regional and cellular subtype localization and concentration-dependent changes to a reporter-tagged adeno-associated virus (AAV) following intracerebroventricular (ICV) delivery. Here we have improved upon standard technical counterparts and used advanced histological techniques, 3D clearing combined with LSFM and high-content spatial proteomics, to shed light on regional and cell-specific drug biodistribution within the brain

Evaluation of the Family Therapy Program: In This Together (ITT) for Survivors of Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is the number one violent crime in Marin county. Given this fact, efforts to reduce the number of cases using preventative measures as well as providing support to survivors has been important for the county. Center for Domestic Peace (C4DP) is an organization in Marin county providing a number of different services and programs to help people who are or have experienced domestic violence. In This Together (ITT) is a family therapy program offered through C4DP. The program was specifically developed to help parents and children heal and help their relationships as they navigate through the effect of traumatic experiences from domestic violence that they have faced or witnessed.https://scholar.dominican.edu/global-public-health-student-research-posters/1003/thumbnail.jp

Blinking Icons: Letters to Saint Augustine

Blinking Icons:Letters to Saint Augustine is a hybrid contemporary epistolary historical novel in conversation with Saint Augustine’s Confessions. Sarah Ruden’s translation inspires an exploration of interiority, states of consciousness, memory, voice, and more broadly, the parallel socio-political and spiritual realities of contemporary America and the late Roman Empire. Central to Augustine’s legacy is the Cartesian mind/body split’, explored from the perspective of a contemporary menopausal woman suffering mysterious pain. Alternate fictional narratives of Augustine’s mother and his partner explore universal female experiences of trauma, servitude, ancestral memory, dreams, motherhood, and faith. The climacteric (menopause) is considered in relation to the ravages of climate change. Gender and Intertextuality as theme: the narrator is in dialogue with female philosophers and writers whose work specifically and/or thematically addresses Augustine: Woolf, Mantel, Arendt, Toews, West, and Tokarczuk, among others. In counterpoint, dialogue with male writers, including Borges, Salter, Beckett, Freud, Foucault, Jung, Yeats, and Job, enables confrontation with the anxiety of male influence on female consciousness, thought, and experience. Kairos and Chronos, screwball comedy and tragedy, elective affinities, fate and personal agency, astrology, history of belief and the Soul, Catholicism, electricity, fateful names, wordplay, translation, and language’s ability to inspire, connect, transport, liberate, and divide culture are all at play. In letters to Augustine, the narrator projects on him various roles: lover, confidant, confessor, muse, judge, scapegoat. To paraphrase Foucault, she uses Augustine to think with, in order to untwist the patriarchal legacy of Catholic misogyny from spiritual matters in the Confessions. The narrator\u27s intellectual and spiritual crisis is to identify and reach detente with Saint Augustine’s broad legacy in Western literature, psychoanalytic theory, theology, philosophy, and political thought, in order to liberate her artistic voice and regain agency

The Impact of Mutant Protein Disulfide Isomerase A3 and p21-Positive Cell Clearance on Cognitive Function in Mouse Models

The protein disulfide isomerases (PDIs) are a family of enzymes within the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) that catalyze disulfide bond formation in proteins. This posttranslational modification— a process termed redox protein folding— regulates protein function and structural stability. The genetic loss-of-function mutation c.170G\u3eA in PDIA3 causes a severe intellectual disability (ID) during childhood. To understand how PDIA3 c.170G\u3eA causes this disease, we engineered a knockin mouse model, Pdia3 c.170G\u3eA, using CRISPR/Cas9 technology to model the endogenous disease pathology more accurately. We hypothesized that the ID pathology and behavioral deficits would be present in the Pdia3 c.170G\u3eA knockin mice. In congruence with our hypothesis, assessment of recognition memory, long-term spatial memory, and contextual memory showed a deficit in the Pdia3 c.170G\u3eA heterozygous mice, constituting abnormal behavior reminiscent of the human condition. The spontaneous working memory, exploration/anxiety behavior, general mobility/activity, and weight of these mice, however, were not statistically significantly altered by the mutation. Additionally, we performed proteomics analysis to understand the molecular mechanisms for the impaired learning of the Pdia3 c.170G\u3eA knockin mice. We found pathways enriched to respiratory electron transport, ATP biosynthesis, Alzheimer’s disease, tricarboxylic acid cycle, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s disease. Overall, our results demonstrated we could model aspects of severe ID with the Pdia3 c.170G\u3eA knockin mouse model. Consequently, the first part of this thesis provides foundational research for the analysis of redox protein folding and the result of stunting PDIA3 function, which is a pivotal part of the redox protein folding machinery. Cellular senescence is a post-mitotic state in which cells secrete proinflammatory factors, may lose cell-type-specific functions, and become apoptosis-resistant. Although senescence has useful biological functions in development and cancer immune response, an accumulation of senescent cells is associated with most age-related diseases including dementia. The first stage in cellular senescence is cell-cycle arrest, induced by either the p16/ retinoblastoma (Rb) or the p21/p53 pathway. Although a great deal of research has been done to understand the p16/Rb pathway, much less is known about the p21/p53 pathway. A recently generated p21-clearance mouse model suggests the removal of p21-positive cells is beneficial in bone aging models. However, how removal of p21 cells impacts cognition is unknown. We therefore hypothesize that the chemical induction of cellular senescence in this mouse model will result in cognitive deficits that may subsequently be ameliorated by the removal of p21-positive cells in the brain. In this pilot project, we attempted to induce brain cell senescence in mice using doxorubicin to study its cognitive impacts. We then measured recognition and spatial memory, general mobility and activity, and weights after doxorubicin treatment. We found no statistically significant trends of decline in long-term spatial memory as a result of doxorubicin treatment and no noticeable deficits in recognition memory, weights, or general mobility and activity. This pilot study concludes that doxorubicin does not have a statistically significant impact on cognitive function in this particular mouse system. Since the trend for our study was toward decreased cognitive function in doxorubicin-treated mice, we may need to use a larger number of mice to make a final conclusion

Interracial friendships and symptoms of depression and anxiety among college-age Filipino Americans

Background: There is little research on interracial friendships and Filipino American mental health. A previous study found that Filipino Americans are more likely to be depressed and anxious when having 3 or more non-Filipino close friends, and that friendship discord mediated this relationship. Studies that look at Filipino American mental health have also found that there is a relationship between colonial mentality and depression. In this study, we further examine the relationship between depression and anxiety and interracial friendships. We also examine the relationship between colonial mentality and friendship discord. Methods: This study’s sample is taken in the San Francisco Bay Area and recruited 298 Filipino American participants between the ages of 18-25. Each participant took a survey that asked questions about demographics, health behaviors, depression and anxiety, number of close non-Filipino friends, friendship discord with the non-Filipino close friends, ethnic value, discrimination, and colonial mentality. Results: Those who had more than 3 non-Filipino close friends were not statistically significant (p=0.081) with depression and anxiety. Filipino Americans who had friendship discord, low ethnic value, everyday discrimination, and colonial mentality were more likely to report having symptoms of depression and anxiety. Those who had friendship discord and low ethnic value were more likely to report having colonial mentality. Discussion: Results show that further research must be done to better understand the relationship between Filipino American depression and interracial friendships and friendship discord. This study has shown that colonial mentality affects Filipino American mental health and that implementing decolonization interventions is needed to see improvement in healing the depression and anxiety from colonial mentality

How Financial Status Affects Food Decisions in Households of Marin City

Food insecurity is a multifaceted issue influenced by various factors, including socioeconomic status and access to nutritious foods. Research has shown that low-income households often face challenges in accessing healthy food options due to financial constraints. Cultural and psychological factors also play significant roles in shaping food choices among low-income populations. Additionally, the availability and affordability of healthy foods within local food environments significantly impact dietary behaviors. Economic factors such as income levels and household expenses further compound the challenges of food insecurity. Studies on food spending decisions among low-income demographics revealed that financial constraints often force families to prioritize cheaper, less nutritious food options over healthier alternative.https://scholar.dominican.edu/global-public-health-student-research-posters/1001/thumbnail.jp