Horizons, Volume 9

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https://hdl.handle.net/10125/110046

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Front Cover
(2024-12-13)
Table of Contents
(2024-12-13)
How Can Microbial Communities Contribute to Environmental Bioremediation Strategies?
(2024-12-13) Arca, Jennifer
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) increase the risk of harmful health effects to humans, including cancer, reproductive disorders, and birth defects, through contamination and bioaccumulation in the food chain. POPs like dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dioxins were commonly used or unintentionally made as a byproduct of pesticide and herbicide production. Due to their high solubility in lipids and water, these substances pose a greater risk of contaminating the food chain. POPs provide long-term sources of biotoxicity once they poison an ecosystem, causing detrimental effects for decades or even centuries. Addressing the remediation of environments contaminated with POPs is crucial for mitigating the long-term impacts on ecosystems and human well-being. Strategies for bioremediation, especially those involving composting and biostimulation, show promise in addressing the problem of POP contamination. By using microorganisms to convert contaminants into nutrients, organic debris is carefully broken down during the composting process. Boosting microbial activity in contaminated environments, known as biostimulation, on the other hand, seeks to encourage the organic breakdown of contaminants. To remove POPs from contaminated environments, this paper compares the performance and cost-effectiveness of bioremediation techniques, primarily composting and biostimulation. Through evaluation of the performance of these methods, this paper hopes to offer insights into the possible uses of microbial communities. This paper will account for factors such as resources used, time efficiency, and overall degradation of pollutants.
Quantifying Kāneʻohe: Coral Bleaching Conditions through Color Card Analysis
(2024-12-13) Falkenstein, Cali; Glazner, Jessica; Berg, Justin
The Nutrient Addition Experiment underscores the importance of monitoring coral reef health in the face of global climate change, focusing on how nutrient enrichment influences mass coral mortality during thermal stress events. Previous research from Palmyra Atoll demonstrates that nutrient-rich seabird guano contributes to coral resilience to thermal stress. Contrastingly, wastewater effluent, an anthropogenic nutrient source, has been found to be detrimental to coral health and thermal tolerance. This study, utilizing seabird guano and wastewater effluent, aimed to understand the coral color responses, a proxy of symbiont density, of coral fragments to these different nutrient treatments. The study involved collecting 288 Porites compressa (P. compressa) and Montipora capitata (M. capitata) fragments from Kāneʻohe Bay, Oʻahu, and conducting a three-week experiment with stable temperature conditions, randomized tank placements, and consistent nutrient dosing concentrations of 6 𝜇mol/L. Nutrient treatments included seabird guano, wastewater effluent, inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus, and an ambient control. The Hawaiian Ko’a Coral Color Card was used for coral color assessment using photographs analyzed in ImageJ. Results revealed an overall decrease in color values for P. compressa and an increase for M. capitata over the experimental period. Red Green Blue (RGB) values of P. compressa showed an inconsistent trend across treatments, while M. capitata exhibited significant increases, except for effluent-treated corals, which experienced a decline from week 1 to week 2. The study suggests additional coral conservation experiments that explore symbiont diversity, photosynthetic material, and temperature stressors for a comprehensive understanding of coral health in diverse nutrient conditions.
The Effect of Heavy Metal Toxicity on Solanum tuberosum, Cucurbita pepo, Medicago sativa, and Capsicum annuum Plants Inoculated with Mycorrhizae
(2024-12-13) Ochoa-Marquez, Carlos
In this quantitative research the possible relationship between arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM), the symbiotic relationship between plants and specific fungal genera, and heavy metal absorption of four different plant genera was examined. The null hypothesis for this research was that there is no significant difference between the effect AM has on the absorption of heavy metals by four different genera of plants. AM spores were inoculated into four different species of plant: Solanum tuberosum (Fortress Russet Potato), Cucurbita pepo (Zucchini), Medicago sativa (Alfalfa), and Capsicum annuum (Red Bell Pepper). The plants were then exposed to heavy metals (copper and zinc) every other week. After an initial growth period of two weeks the plants were exposed to zinc and copper. Analysis of plant heights and biomass found that plants inoculated with AM had higher survivability rates, had higher heights, and more biomass than plants not inoculated with AM. Plants that did not receive AM but were still exposed to heavy metals had lower survival rates, lower sprouting rates, and overall lower plant heights. After running statistical tests, t-tests, it was determined there were significant differences between plants inoculated with AM and almost all groups compared. These t-tests resulted in p-values that rejected the null hypothesis. This data was also able to support the alternative hypothesis that squash plants would be most positively affected by AM in the presence of heavy metals.
Impacts of Behavioral Preferences in Experimental Auctions
(2024-12-13) Cacho, Binierose
This paper investigates how individual behavioral preferences—cognitive abilities, risk preferences, time preferences, regret, and competitiveness—relate to economic decision-making in experimental auctions and may help explain the adoption of the unusual Honolulu auction. Two auction formats, the traditional Dutch auctions, and the unique Honolulu auction format, are investigated in the laboratory. College students participated as bidders in these experiments and were incentivized with cash as according to experimental economics methodology. We correlate their behavioral preferences with bidder profits in the experimental auctions. Our findings reveal participants with higher cognitive abilities have higher earnings in Dutch auctions but not Honolulu auctions. Nevertheless, participants make more in Honolulu auctions than in Dutch auctions. This suggests individuals may still maximize their payoffs regardless of cognitive skill in Honolulu auctions. Further analysis of post auction feedback reveals an aversion to regret, specifically loser’s regret, may be a behavioral reason for the adoption of the Honolulu format. Additionally, we contribute to existing literature of using validated non-incentivized measurements to elicit behavioral features as compared to traditional incentivized measures in economics.
Addressing Inclusivity in Hawaiʻi’s Art Museums: Accessibility Strategies for Visitors Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision
(2024-12-13) Muñoz, Adriana
In the past few decades, art museums have adopted more policies highlighting diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA). Of the DEIA practices, because of its broad definition and applications, accessibility in a disability context is often reduced to physical access. In addition to complying with the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), some institutions expand this definition by providing an engaging, educational, and satisfactory experience for all visitors. This research project broadly examines accessibility in Hawaiʻi’s leading art museums, the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA), Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture and Design, and the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum (HiSAM), with a focus on their inclusive strategies for visitors who have visual impairments. To assess the accessibility of Honolulu’s art museums, interviews were conducted with museum educators across the country, who were chosen based on their expertise and experience in disability accessibility in art museums. A survey conducted between May and August 2022, examined the three museum’s permanent and temporary exhibitions in terms of exhibition design, programming, and curatorial practices. The assessment revealed that HoMA, Shangri La, and HiSAM adhered to the ADA guidelines, however, their policies and practices were predominantly limited to visual engagement. Thus, recommendations consisted of the addition of supplementary materials, such as alternative forms of labels, an online gallery, and the acquisition of more multisensory works into the collections. It is hoped that the adoption of some of these accessibility strategies will also prompt creative methods of engagement.
The Complexities of Women’s Commercial, Sexual, and Social Empowerment: Seen in the Works of Gertrude Käsebier and Hannah Höch
(2024-12-13) Muñoz, Adriana
In 1839, Louis Daguerre introduced his camera obscura to the public, altering fine art and its discourse. Despite the claims that photography was an art medium for all, women photographers were undervalued and underrepresented, reflecting on their limited agency. Female photographers, Gertrude Käsebier and Hannah Höch surpassed these limitations and became reputable artists within the male-dominated field. Their photography reflects the contemporary social movements of their time and the complexities of gender issues. To better understand these artists, this research paper focuses on Käsebier’s Iron Tail, 1901, Höch’s Fremde Schönheit, 1929, and the social reforms and norms reflected in their work. In the middle to late nineteenth century, the United States developed its national market and created a culture of consumerism where women became significant participants. Concurrently, the Indian reform movement gained popularity among women, as seen in the Women's National Indian Association founded by Mary Bonney in the late 1870s. In 1919, the Weimar Republic of Germany declared gender equality in its new constitution, however, its ideals of the New Women continued to restrict fundamental rights. Additionally, the popularity of ethnographic museums, ethnography is the scientific study of human cultures, continued to rise. By analyzing the photographs through the lens of these cultural phenomena, they reveal a voyeuristic and colonial gaze. It can be suggested that Käsebier and Höch responded to the restrictive patriarchal norms, by seeking agency and empowerment through manipulating and appropriating their subject matter.

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