Focus on: SSU Research
The Fall 2026 semester has begun, and the Sonoma State campus is abuzz with activity. SSU scholars have also been active in the summer months. Following are the works published during the month of August.
Christian, C., Lee, D., Stevens, S. R., Davenport, T. E., Stevens, J., Dowell, T., & Van Ness, M. (2026). Blood Flow to the Head in a Person With Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Experiencing Postexertional Malaise: A Case Report.
Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy Journal, 37(1), 3–8. Purpose: Reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF) may play a role in the pathophysiology of postexertional malaise (PEM) in myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). This case report aimed to determine the feasibility of measuring differences in blood flow to the head occur during PEM induced by 2-day cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET). Methods: One individual with ME and 1 nondisabled individual underwent a 2-day CPET to induce PEM. Blood flow was assessed using a novel in-ear device (Lumia Health), using photoplethysmography to estimate a relative flow index while participants were supine and during a 10-minute standing test before CPET. The person with ME showed a 34% decrease in work at the ventilatory anaerobic threshold (VAT), confirming PEM on day 2. During PEM, flow index decreased by 17% while supine and 23% during orthostasis compared to day 1. The nondisabled individual did not exhibit subjective or objective PEM (1% reduction in work at VAT) and experienced less than a 5% reduction in flow index while supine. Results and Conclusions: Reduced blood flow to the head during PEM may partially explain ME symptomatology. The novel in-ear device shows promise as a diagnostic and biofeedback tool, warranting further research in larger studies.
Feng, X., Lee, K., & Madanoglu, M. (2026). Exploring Pinot Noir consumption among younger Chinese consumers. International Journal of Wine Business Research, 1–27.
The paper aims to explore the drivers of Pinot Noir consumption among younger Chinese wine consumers and to examine how emerging technologies – particularly artificial intelligence (AI)-powered social media, recommendation systems and e-commerce platforms – shape their learning, identity construction and purchasing behavior. Drawing on cultural capital theory and the notion of technological capital, the study explains how digital technologies have reconfigured access to wine knowledge and repositioned Pinot Noir from a niche, high-status wine to an accessible lifestyle product among Chinese Millennials and Generation Z consumers.
Houser, D. S., Incitti, A. J., Williams, C. L., Crocker, D. E., & Sacco, R. E. (2026). Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) Metabolic Rate in Relation to Reduced Energy Acquisition. Integrative and Comparative Biology, 66.
Synopsis Interruptions in foraging behavior, displacement from foraging habitats, and reductions in food abundance or quality are common disruptions to energy acquisition experienced by wild animals that may be caused by naturally occurring phenomena or anthropogenic activity. The impact of reduced energy acquisition to an organism is a function of the duration and magnitude of the energy reduction and the physiological response that mitigates the loss of endogenous nutrient reserves. Although the response to reduced energy acquisition has been studied in many terrestrial mammals, little information exists on the response in cetaceans, such as dolphins, which experience metabolic challenges characteristic of a fully aquatic existence. To assess the response of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) to dietary energy restriction, five adult dolphins (three male/two female) were subjected to 7 days of a normal diet (ND) followed by 7 days of an energy-restricted diet (ERD) containing 25% less energy per day than the ND. The resting metabolic rate (RMR) was determined for each animal on days three, five, and seven of the ND and ERD periods. Blood samples were collected following each RMR measurement and processed for cortisol, free triiodothyronine (fT3), dehydroepiandrosterone, adiponectin, tumor necrosis factor-α, and interleukin-6, as these hormones and cytokines are known to affect RMR, energy substrate selection, and possibly short-term catabolic signaling or metabolic adaptation. The ERD was associated with a lower RMR, which declined by an average of 5.3% from the ND treatment. The ERD was also associated with lower fT3 levels and increased adiponectin levels, and both showed continuing changes as a function of time on the ERD. Bottlenose dolphins show patterns in RMR and levels of fT3 and adiponectin under dietary energy restriction that are similar to patterns observed in terrestrial mammals. These likely help to conserve endogenous energy stores, increase reliance on lipid oxidation, and protect protein stores. The quantitative information from this study should be useful in modeling the impacts to individuals and populations that experience both natural and human-caused reductions in energy acquisition (e.g., disruptions of foraging, reduced prey quality).
Lund, S. P., Joyce, A., & Goman, M. (2026). Last 3000 years of hydroclimate variability in western Mexico. Holocene (Sevenoaks).
Sediment rock-magnetic records from Laguna Minucua, (Oaxaca) Mexico, have been used to develop a detailed proxy environmental record of hydroclimate variability (wet/dry cycles) for the last 3000 years. Rock magnetic intensities (ARM, SIRM, CHI) estimate the clastic flux to Laguna Minucua due to variable rainfall/outwash. The rock magnetic ratio, ARM/CHI, estimates the overall clastic grain size versus time. These rock-magnetic proxies and a revised chronostratigraphy define a detailed multi-decadal/centennial scale of hydrologic cyclicity for the last 3000 years. This pattern is also noted in four other published paleoclimate records from western Mexico. This cyclicity is synchronous (<±25 years) among these five records for the entire time period of overlap. This synchrony suggests that western Mexico from Baja, California to Oaxaca, Mexico, and west of the Sierra Madre Occidental crest define a coherent regional hydroclimate pattern of variability. The multi-decadal/centennial scale cyclicity varies slowly over time from a period of less than 100 years (today) versus 150–200 years 3000 years ago. All of the regional records identify notable long (>20-yr) droughts, several of which have been noted before in other paleoclimate/archeological studies. There is also evidence for a longer alternation in wet/dry conditions, consistent among all our studied records, with four 200–400 years wet intervals, individually preceded by a notable long drought, and followed by increasingly drought conditions for the next several 100 years.
Rabadi-Raol, A. (2026). Intersectional Justice: Rethinking Language and Literacy in Early Childhood Teaching and Teacher Education. In Intersectionality in Multilingual and Language Teacher Education: Directions for Research and Practice, edited by G. Vitanova, H. Kayi-Aydar, J. Maddamsetti, M. Varghese. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp. 13–35.
This book showcases the construct of intersectionality and how it applies to the multiple dimensions of language and multilingual teacher identities. The chapters illustrate how intersectionality affects teachers' potential for agency and their pedagogical practices. By highlighting intersectionality's role in teacher education, the book seeks to understand how all forms of oppressive social practices play out in classrooms and educational contexts, and how an intersectional lens can suggest ways in which to counter these in multilingual classrooms and language teaching.
Ryan, D., Jaurique, A., Smith, H., Burke, S., McDonald, M., & Marsden, A. (2026). Neighborhood-Based Relative Deprivation and Willingness to Protest the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. Social Justice Research.
The 2020 U.S. presidential election presented a unique opportunity to assess U.S. voters’ willingness to engage in election-oriented collective action. Both presidential candidates invoked neighborhood-based comparisons to support their policies, the political parties were polarized, and President Trump, who lost the election, and his supporters, claimed the election results were illegitimate. Before and after the November 2020 election, 293 self-reported Trump voters and 370 self-reported Biden voters completed the same survey. Both before and after the election, resentment and anger about the perceived deprivation of one’s neighborhood predicted election-related collective action among Biden voters. For Trump voters, before the election, anxiety about neighborhood deprivation predicted collective action. However, the perceived legitimacy of the election emerged as a notable predictor of collective action for Trump voters after the election. The results show how neighborhood-based economic comparisons can help make sense of people’s willingness to protest election outcomes when political messages focus on traditional economic narratives but for Trump voters, election illegitimacy narrative may have supplanted local economic concerns after the election.
Yang, H., Ahmadi, Y., Maitlo, H. A., & Kim, K.-H. (2026). Orchestration of dual built-in electric field interfaces in a ternary copper oxide/zinc oxide/titanium dioxide step-scheme heterojunction for photocatalytic hydrogen sulfide degradation. Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, 724(Pt 2), Article 141173.
A central challenge in photocatalytic oxidation of gas-phase hydrogen sulfide (H2S) lies in constructing heterojunctions that synergistically promote charge separation without compromising the redox capability of the constituent semiconductors. This challenge is addressed by developing a ternary copper oxide (CuO)/zinc oxide (ZnO)/titanium dioxide (TiO2) step-scheme heterostructure with a CuO:ZnO:TiO2 molar ratio of 1:1:5, denoted as CZT-115, where precisely engineered interfaces create two distinct internal electric fields between p-type CuO and the two n-type semiconductors (ZnO and TiO2). These dual fields work cooperatively to direct interfacial charge migration, promoting the selective recombination of less energetic carriers while retaining high-energy electrons in CuO and high-energy holes in ZnO/TiO2 at spatially separated sites. Consequently, the photocatalyst achieves complete removal of 10 ppm H2S within 300 s under low-power ultraviolet light-emitting diode irradiation, yielding a clean air delivery rate of 17.6 ± 0.1 L min−1 and an exceptional apparent quantum yield of 0.77 ± 0.01%. The proposed mechanism is substantiated by photoelectrochemical and photoluminescence decay analyses, which confirm prolonged carrier lifetimes and suppressed recombination. In situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, together with electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, verifies the reaction pathway by revealing the oxidation of H2S to surface sulfate and the sustained co-generation of superoxide radicals (•O2−) and hydroxyl radicals (•OH). This work demonstrates that the strategic creation of multiple interfacial fields serves as a decisive design principle for engineering high-performance, multi-component photocatalysts.