Digital Commons Network^™

To Better Engage Students, Instructors Should Create Lab Exercises With Real-World Examples., Autumn Kelsch

Research on Capitol Hill

USU senior Autumn studies biology here in Logan and led and funded this project herself through a student grant. ‘Elementary Microbiology’ is a required course for many medical fields, and traditionally relies on several pre-determined research projects in class. However, educators suggest that students gain more from open-ended projects where the answer is unknown and the students’ findings contribute to our knowledge on the subject. When Autumn was hired as a teaching assistant for this course at USU, she developed and created a project where students look for bacteria in soil samples that may help fight infections. She now hopes …

Understanding The Decline In Successful Cattle Pregnancies, Andre Tu Nguyen

Research on Capitol Hill

USU junior Andre, a local Loganer, studies computer science and biology.He has been working in an animal science lab. Over time, we have seen a decline in successful dairy cattle pregnancies. This is a huge cause for concern for Utah, with milk sales at an estimated value of $405 million in 2020. Andre’s work has been in studying a certain protein in pregnant cattle; now that he has determined there is a decrease in this protein over the course of the pregnancy, he hopes to see whether that might impact its viability. Andre got involved in research in a high …

Survey Of Bird/Window Collisions At Utah State University-Brigham City, Spencer Smith

Research on Capitol Hill

When birds fly at full speed into the highly reflective glass windows of human structures, death is often the outcome. This research investigates the impact of architecture on bird population through a specific case study. Bird/window collisions claim from around 350 million to over 1 billion birds per year (Kahle, Flannery, & Dumbacher, 2016). Studies have shown that window surface area (Borden, Lockhart, Jones, & Lyons, 2011) can increase incidents of bird-window collisions. In 2015, Utah State University –Brigham City campus finished their new Classroom and Student Services building which features large windows and an interior tree that can be …

Transplanting A Bacterial Immune System: Determining The Function Of A Novel Crispr System, Riannon Smith, Melena Garrett

Research on Capitol Hill

CRISPR (Clusters of Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) loci and cas (CRISPR-associated) genes provide adaptive immunity (see panel below) in bacteria and have recently been repurposed for genome editing.

Systems are structurally and functionally diverse.

• 2 classes, 6 types, 33 subtypes
• Very few have been studied experimentally
• None of the Type IV systems have been characterized

Motor Affordance For Grasping A Handrail, D. Mcdannald, M. Mansour, Garrett Rydalch

Research on Capitol Hill

Mere observation of objects around us can potentiate motor action by priming specific areas in the brain. This concept, referred to as the affordance effect, suggests that humans put viewed objects into motor terms automatically. Such automated linking of observations to action offers potential advantages to interact with our environment quickly and efficiently when producing goal-directed movements.

One possible application of this affordance effect includes the rapid balance reactions needed to avoid a fall. In reactive balance control, movements must be extremely fast yet simultaneously appropriate for a given environment (e.g. quickly grasping a nearby handrail to avoid a fall). …

The Effect Of Gender And Socioeconomic Factors On Reporting Of Concussions Among Ncaa Student-Athletes, Joshua Hansen

Research on Capitol Hill

Concussions are traumatic brain injuries that result from “brain shaking” as a result of transmit force to the head. Concussions result in immediate and transient post-traumatic impairment of neural functions which lead to both psychological and physiological symptoms.

As knowledge of the long-term implications of these injuries grows, concussions are becoming an increasing health concern worldwide. One subset, sports-related concussions, are receiving an increasing amount of attention from scientists and health-care practitioners.

More than 3.8 million sport-related concussions occur annually in the United States alone, and some studies suggest that up to 43% of these go unreported and untreated.

How Pesticide Additives Alter Feeding Behavior And Viral Infections In Honey Bees, Matthew Thompson

Research on Capitol Hill

Honey bees are vital to agriculture; the decline of honey bee populations in Utah and worldwide is concerning. Several factors can reduce honey bee health and when they interact can increase in magnitude (Fig. 1). We are investigating the interactions of a pesticide ingredient, organosilicone surfactant (OSS), and viral pathogens.

Goals

• Determine if OSS exposure alters honey bee feeding behavior.
• Determine if OSS synergizes with and increases the negative impact of viruses on honey bees.

Does Requiring Participation In Research Have A Positive Effect On Students’ Perception Of Undergraduate Research?, Mikayla Austin

Research on Capitol Hill

Undergraduate research is not only beneficial to the university and community for all the new ideas it brings to light, but plays an important role in student development.

Studies have shown that students who are involved in research as undergraduates are proficient in:

• Critical thinking
• Communication
• Confidence
• Problem solving

There have been many studies conducted on the best ways to get students involved in research in order to gain these benefits, most of which are based around increasing awareness.

My research is focused on the impact of bringing research into the classroom and requiring students to participate. Will this increase …

An Examination Of The Prevalence Of Intimate Partner Violence Training In U.S. Medical School Curriculum, Tyson Lumbreras

Research on Capitol Hill

• 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men living in the United States experience some form of Intimate Partner Violence or IPV (Black, et al. 2011).
• Although there is some research that examines the role health care professionals play in identifying IPV (Richardson, et al. 2002), there is less research on how effectively they are trained to handle it.
• My research will determine whether medical students are receiving adequate IPV training through comprehensive data on the quality of IPV training across U.S. schools.

Testing Rearing Diets For A New Invasive Insect Pest In Utah, The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug, James Withers, Loren Linford

Research on Capitol Hill

The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB), Halyomorpha halys, is an invasive insect from Asia. It has caused millions of dollars in damage to fruit, vegetable, ornamental, and field crops since its arrival in North America, and can be a severe nuisance pest when it congregates on human structures to overwinter. The BMSB caused $37 million of apple crop damage in the Mid-Atlantic Region in 2007 to 2010. To study the insect, effective rearing methods are needed. Previous research (Funayama 2004 & 2006; Medal et al. 2012) showed that carrot, raw peanut and soybean increased rearing efficiency. Recent lab experience …

Plant Diseases And Pests In Utah Raspberries, Sean Christensen

Research on Capitol Hill

Very little information exists on pathogens and pests that affect Utah raspberry production. In fact a survey of Utah raspberry growers at the 2015 USU Urban and Small Farms conference showed that 72% said the largest problem they had was with diseases and pests, and 71% of those did not know what the diseases actually were.

Several viruses, bacteria, pests, and nutrient deficiencies can have a large influence on raspberry yield. This survey was designed to raise awareness among Utah raspberry growers, help them to better prepare for, and manage these possible disease problems. This will be increasingly more important …

Beyond The Fiber: Novel Spider Silk Coatings And Adhesives, Danielle A. Gaztambide, Breton A. Day

Research on Capitol Hill

Natural spider silks have long been recognized for their combination of incredible strength and elasticity. Spider silk is more elastic than nylon, tougher than Kevlar, and stronger than steel by weight. Due to an inability to farm spiders, much work has been done to produce spider silks in transgenic hosts for large -scale production. Our work was done using recombinant spider silk proteins produced in transgenic goats and the bacteria E. coli.

More recently spider silks have also been recognized for their biocompatibility and lack of immunogenicity. Spider silks' incredible strength and ability to be implanted safely within the body …

Insecticides Are Not Always The Answer For Combatting Pests In Onion Fields, Harlie Hutchinson

Research on Capitol Hill

Onion thrips are the insect vector of a severe virus in onion, Iris yellow spot virus. The thrips and virus are primary threats to the economic stability of onion production worldwide. Overuse of insecticides to suppress onion thrips has resulted in the development of resistance, reduced performance of insecticides, and reduced onion yields.

There is a compelling desire to find alternatives to better manage these pests. In this study, we assessed onion thrips populations on onions with low and high nitrogen rates, and near and far from corn and wheat, two common neighboring crops in the onion farm-scape.