Comic Booth

Hello, my name is Payton McDougall. I’m a graphic designer and illustrator working towards my Bachelor’s degree, who just so happens to be a writing hobbyist in my spare time. For my senior project, I combined my love of graphic design and illustration into a comic campaign series using an independent study I’ve been working on since fall of 2024 called “Dreamer’s Paradox”. Since I specialize in using my design abilities for advertising/branding and entertainment, the campaign features a variety of potential deliverables, mock-ups, comic pages, concept pages, and a themed booth for marketing. “Dreamer’s Paradox” is a tie between my roots as a designer and as an obsessed comic book enthusiast. I’ve always loved flipping through pages of whatever visual novels I could get my hands on, not just to evaluate the literal story, but how the pages are organized and stylized to convey emotion and invoke interest. As a result, storytelling has been a key base layer in all my design work. This evolution has helped guide each of my projects into growing from a simple concept to an abundantly layered narrative

Whale-Timed Harmonies: Temporal Coordination in Humpback Duet Calls

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) migrate annually to their feeding grounds in the Gulf of Alaska. Some of them perform bubble-net feeding there, a cooperative foraging strategy requiring precisely coordinated behaviors (Hanser, 2009). A small group of whales work together to form a net of bubbles around their prey, and produce long sequences of loud, low-frequency ‘food’ calls, which likely function to disorient the fish, making for easier prey capture (Sharpe, 1984). We observed that sometimes multiple whales would produce food calls simultaneously, harmonizing their vocalizations over at least part of a call. These ‘duets’ may function to enhance food call effectiveness by amplifying the impact of vocalizations (Selbmann et al., 2023). Simultaneous vocalizations may also help coordinate the group by acting as a ‘go’ signal (Muntz & Patterson, 2004). These hypotheses are not mutually exclusive. We used Audacity sound analysis software to investigate the role of vocal duets by analyzing acoustic recordings of whales performing bubble-net feeding. We classified duets into three types based on timing of duets and the number of calls involved: Group 1 had duets with multiple calls in the beginning or middle, Group 2 had duets with multiple calls at the end, and Group 3 had a duet on the last call only. We tested our hypotheses by comparing the success of food call series from each group with the success of randomly selected ‘control’ series. These were food call series of similar length, recorded on the same day, but without duets. If duets just amplify the effect of food calls, we expected Group 1 to result in successful feeding events more often than other groups. If duets amplify call effectiveness and help coordinate group behavior, we expected Group 2 to result in successful events more often, and if duets just serve as a ‘go’ signal, we expected Group 3 to result in successful events more often

Understanding Physical Therapist Student Defined Success: A Qualitative Study

Purpose: To (1) investigate student defined success in physical therapist education, and (2) generate key themes from the students’ perspective related to success to enhance physical therapist and health professions education. Method: A qualitative study was conducted through a series of focus groups with 13 first-year and 13 second-year Doctor of Physical Therapy students. Study participants were asked open-ended questions regarding student success and the associated contextual factors. An inductive coding method with thematic analysis utilizing Dedoose software identified major themes. Results: The use of focus groups allowed for in-depth participant discussion, with sample excerpts presented. Data analysis yielded five categories or final codes and three major themes: (1) self-management and growth, (2) performance and learning, and (3) balancing commitments. Discussion: Personal attributes proved to be the main area that students relate to success. Students’ definition of success extended beyond the standard academic performance benchmarks, such as exam scores and licensure pass rates. They were eager to discuss other areas of success such as self-care, balancing commitments and their ability to understand and apply important concepts related to decision making and delivery of care for their future patients. These results have implications for enhancing instructors’ understanding of student defined success with the potential opportunity for educational interventions within physical therapist and other health professional education

Single-Cell RNA-seq Transcriptomic Profiling of Immune Cells in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects approximately 1% of the global population, leading to joint inflammation, pain, and progressive disability. In this study, we applied a computational pipeline to analyze a publicly available scRNA-seq dataset of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from RA patients and healthy controls (Binvignat et al., 2024). Our goal was to identify transcriptional signatures associated with disease activity and explore the potential of gene expression features to distinguish between disease states

Understanding Institutional Factors That Hinder Black Students’ Ability to Persist at Community Colleges

Community colleges face a significant challenge with high attrition rates, which disproportionately impact Black students compared to other student groups. Hope Community Colleges reflect this trend, with a notable percentage of students dropping out before achieving their academic goals. The implications of this high dropout rate extend beyond individual students, affecting the local, state, and national economies. Although existing research primarily focuses on students’ personal characteristics that influence their ability to stay in college, there is a noticeable gap in understanding the institutional factors that negatively affect student persistence, particularly for Black students in community colleges. This study sought to address this gap by identifying institutional factors, as perceived by Black students, that contribute to their decision to discontinue their studies before completing their program. The insights gained from this research aimed to equip Hope Colleges with valuable information to recognize and address the institutional barriers influencing students’ decisions to drop out. The significance of this research lies in addressing the alarming rates of student departures, especially among Black students. The primary research questions focus on identifying institutional factors that negatively impact the success of Black students at Hope Colleges, and the support systems that could have helped them persist in their studies. The conceptual framework for this study revolves around three essential elements: (a) transition, (b) engagement, and (c) support services. Situated in Hope Community College District, which encompasses four community colleges in Northern California, this qualitative study employs a general qualitative approach using semistructured interviews to understand the experiences of Black students who dropped out. The goal was to provide a nuanced understanding of the institutional factors influencing their decision to leave before completing their academic programs

Above & Beyond Whales: Are High-Frequency Food Calls Successful?

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in the eastern Pacific migrate annually to their feeding grounds in the Gulf of Alaska. Some engage in a cooperative foraging behavior called bubble-net feeding whereby a small group of whales work together to capture fish. Some group members dive below a school of herring and blow a curtain of bubbles to trap the fish, while other group members produce long sequences of loud, low frequency vocalizations known as ‘food’ calls (Hanser, 2009). Food calls are signals, and therefore shaped by natural selection for effective transmission, and for their effectiveness in altering the receiver’s behavior to the sender’s benefit (Wiley and Richards, 1978). Playback experiments (Sharpe, 2001) have shown that fish respond to food calls by moving closer together and crowding toward the surface, making food capture easier for the whales. Food calls may also be used by the whales to coordinate this group behavior (Hanser, 2009). Humpback whales typically produce food calls at a frequency of about 500 Hertz (Hz) (Cerchio & Dahlheim, 2001). While analyzing recordings of whales performing bubble-net feeding using the software program Audacity, we observed that some food calls were produced between 800 and 1000 Hz (what we’re calling high frequency food calls). While it’s not clear why these high frequency calls were produced, we wanted to know if their use had any effect on the success of the feeding event in which they occurred. Because signals are specific to their function, we expected that series with high frequency food calls would result in fewer successful feeding events compared to traditional 500 Hz food calls. We tested this by comparing the success of high frequency call series with the success of randomly selected traditional call series of the same length

Seasons

This series of wire sculptures represents the four seasons; spring, summer, fall, and winter, through the symbolism of flowers. Each piece reflects the essence of its respective season, allowing the viewer to connect with personal memories and moments associated with nature’s changing rhythms. By using flowers as a medium, I hope to evoke emotions and memories tied to special times in life. Nature has always been a significant source of inspiration in my work. In this project, I focused on flowers as symbols of growth, transformation, and the passage of time. The irregular, organic shapes of the wire sculptures reflect the unpredictable nature of life and the ever changing beauty of the seasons. Though made from wire, the flowers maintain a delicate, fragile quality, much like the moments they represent. Each flower is meant to remind the viewer of moments in their own life. Cherry blossoms symbolizes renewal, sunflower speaks to warmth and vitality, cosmos represents change, and camellia captures stillness and reflection. These wire works are not just representations of nature; they are emotional markers, inviting viewers to reflect on their personal connections to each season. Through this work, I aim to celebrate the beauty of life’s fleeting moments, using flowers to bridge the gap between nature, memory, and emotion. My hope is that these wire sculptures will encourage the viewer to reflect on their own experiences, finding meaning in the flowers that symbolize the seasons of their lives