Digital Commons Network^™

Interaction Of The Human Serine Protease Inhibitor Alpha-1-Antitrypsin With Cryptosporidium Parvum, John Russell Forney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The human serine protease inhibitor (serpin) alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT) was studied for potential interaction with components of the protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium parvum. A homogenate prepared from C. parvum oocysts was incubated with purified human AAT, and complexes formed between the serpin and components of the homogenate were detected using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Serpin:parasite infections were effectively blocked by preincubating AAT with a cognate target enzyme, porcine pancreatic elastase, prior to performing the ELISA on the homogenate. Incubation of a mixture of C. parvum oocysts and sporozoites with AAT demonstrated preferential fluorescence labeling of the sporozoite surface membrane by indirect …

Aflatoxin B1 Metabolism In Mammalian Pulmonary Tissue, J. Michael Eichelberger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) is a potent dietary hepatocarcinogen and may be a lung carcinogen when inhaled. To study the relative ability of lung and liver to metabolize AFB₁, a susceptible (Swiss-Webster rat) and resistant species (Syrian golden hamster) were pretreated with inducing agents in order to identify specific AFB₁ metabolizing enzymes in each tissue.

Analysis of AFB₁-exo-epoxide (AFBO) formation, O-dealkynation assays, and protein immunoblots demonstrated that cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A proteins were overexpressed in both the lung and liver of hamsters pretreated with 3-methylchyolanthrene (3-MC). Only CYP1A1 was expressed in the lung …

Price And Trade Relations And Market Integration In Pacific Pork Markets, Jau-Rong Li

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Market integration testing is important to agricultural marketing, industrial organization, international trade, and international model design. With reliable market integration information, decision makers can undertake appropriate actions to maximize profits, welfare, or both. Level I market analysis, which uses price data solely, has proved unreliable especially in the presence of discontinuous or bidirectional trade, or significant or nonstationary transaction costs.

Level II market analysis methods, which incorporate both transactions costs and prices, permit spatial markets to be integrated in some periods and segmented in others, thereby obviating many level I method problems. However, level II methods still fail to distinguish …

Preventive Predation Management: An Evaluation Using Winter Aerial Coyote Hunting In Utah And Idaho, Kimberly Kessler Wagner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

To evaluate preventive aerial coyote hunting as a depredation management technique, I compared sheep losses to coyote (Canis latrans) predation and the hours of corrective predation management required on summer grazing areas with and without hunting the prior winter from helicopters. Correlations were used to test for relationships between the extent, intensity, and timing of aerial hunting and lamb losses to coyote predation. Data on the age, sex, and reproductive status of coyotes killed using aerial hunting on coyote populations.

Winter aerial hunting reduced confirmed and estimated lamb losses to coyote predation and the hours of effort required …

Empirical Investigation Of Efficacy In Home-Based Mental Health Care, Ann L. Athorp

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The current study consisted of two experiments to examine the impact of home-based therapy on mental illness in multiproblem families. Review of the literature focused on the interplay between poverty and mental illness in defining multiproblem families and the utilization of home-based therapy with this population and others.

Experiment 1 focused on delineating the type and severity of psychological distress in families characterized as multiproblem. Subjects were 58 participants in the Community-Family Partnership, a Comprehensive Child Development Program located at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. In this sample, serious psychological distress was evident with depression in both women and …

Predictors Of Employment For Women In A Life Transition, Kathryn Higley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research explored the association between positive employment outcome (getting a job above poverty wage) and several intake variables for women in transition. The variables (self-esteem, anxiety and/or depression, pretreatment change, family functioning, community/social support, and counseling and assertiveness classes) were identified from the literature for their probable association with positive employment outcome. The intervention of taking an assertiveness class was statistically associated with positive employment outcome. The other variables appear to be linked to positive employment outcome in the direction hypothesized, although none of them reached statistical significance.

The demographic variables of family size and employment status at intake …

Language, Play, And Toy Sharing In Infancy, Lisa A. Newland

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Toy sharing between 97 infants and their mothers was used to measure shared reference, mother and infant attention-directing strategies, and maternal and infant responsiveness. The association of toy sharing with early language and symbolic play was assessed. Infants were videotaped in a 10-minute free-play session at 11 months. Videotapes were coded for frequency of toy exchanges and level of infant symbolic play. Language was assessed at both 11 and 14 months. Maternal responsiveness to infant-initiated toy exchanges was positively related to symbolic play at 11 months. Maternal responsiveness was also related to Productive, Receptive, and Total Language scores at 14 …

An Implementation Study Of Nonsecure Residential Juvenile Sex Offender Programs In Utah, Katrina Holgate Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An inventory, the Juvenile Sex Offender Program Provider Implementation Tool (JSSOPIT), was constructed from guidelines stipulated by the Network on Juveniles Offending Sexually (NOJOS), Medicaid, and the Utah Department of Human Services. Seven nonsecure residential programs for juvenile sex offenders in Utah were evaluated with the JSSOPPIT for implementation in six areas: (a) target population, (b) intake criteria and procedures, (c) treatment constellation, (d) supervision, (e) aftercare, and (f) staff qualifications and training. Favorable implementation was found in several areas, including an appropriate risk level in the target population; youths' understanding of treatment goals, treatment regimen, and physical environment; and …

The Relationship Between Weather And Children's Behavior: A Study Of Teacher Perceptions, Carrie Dabb

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The weather is an ever present and uncontrollable element in our lives. Only a handful of studies has addressed the relationship between weather and the behavior of children, although anecdotal and intuitive evidence of this relationship abounds. The purpose of this study was to observe the behavior of groups of elementary school-aged children in their classroom ecology during different phases of the weather cycle as observed by their teachers, observe any behavioral differences between girls and boys, and observe if any weather -related differences exist between the behavior of younger and older children. A model of the direct and indirect …

Demographic Influences On Attitudes Toward Adolescent Sexuality In A Rural Wyoming County, Michael J. Dalton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A countywide survey in Uinta County, Wyoming, was conducted from December 1992 through March 1993. A stratified random sampling method was used in which 647 surveys were distributed with an overall response rate of 59.5%. This study employed analysis of variance (ANOVA) to address four research questions contending that the independent variables o f education, socioeconomic status, employment, and family stat us would differentially account for variation in the dependent variables, which were responses to survey items indicating the "appropriate age" to teach children about human reproduction, consequences of sexual activity, birth control methods, HIV/AIDS prevention, and sexually transmitted diseases. …

The Global Assessment Of Relationship Functioning As A Global Assessment Of Individual, Couple, And Family Functioning, Ben Lowell Ashcraft

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Relationship issues underlie most problems that people bring to therapy. Global relationship assessment has great potential in helping therapists account systemically for global issues in individual, couple, and family functioning . The purpose of this thesis was to assess the concurrent validity of the Global Assessment of Relationship Functioning (GARF) with standardized self-report measures on individual, couple, and family levels of relationship functioning and to assess the GARF's discriminant validity in distinguishing between clinical and nonclinical groups. It was hypothesized that GARF scores would correlate with scores obtained on the self~ report assessments and that a statistically significant difference would …

Maternal Beliefs And Management Strategies Of Peer Interactions As Correlates Of Social Competence In Korean Children, Sunhee Ahn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the links between the family and peer systems by examining whether mothers' beliefs about social skills and management practices of peer interactions were related to their children's social relations with peers. The sample was comprised of 185 mothers of preschool children, ranging in age from 44 to 81 months, who resided in Seoul, Korea. Children of the participating mothers were enrolled in center-based preschool programs. Mothers were asked to complete the Maternal Beliefs Scale, the Mothers' Management Strategies Scale, and demographic measures. Using the Child Behavior Scale, teachers rated the social competence of each child whose mother …

Attachment, Identity Development, And Sexual Behavior Among College Students, Diana D. Coyl

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The prevalence of nonmarital sexual behavior among adolescents continues to rise, as does the number of sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, and unwanted pregnancies. College-age adolescents appear to be even more susceptible to these problems. Sound theoretical knowledge would seem useful in designing more effective prevention programs. The purpose of this study was to identity theoretical factors that contribute to or decrease such behaviors.

Two hundred fifty-two single college students completed measures designed to examine relations among identity development, attachment patterns, gender, and sexual behavior in older adolescents. Attachment and identity measures were used to explore variations in sexual behavior relating …

Mean Length Of Utterance In Relation To Gender And Preschool Activity Area, Angela Sisson Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Factors influencing language development and use are many. Teacher influences such as teacher:child ratio and teaching experience can affect the types of language children produce. Classroom influences including activities, size of the room, and length of the day also play a role in the development of language. All of these areas need to be considered in order to provide the best possible language environment for the preschool child.

In this study, the researchers examined the mean length of utterance (MLU) values of preschool children while participating at three areas in a preschool classroom: art, dramatic play, and snack. Gender differences …

The Role Of Cold Acclimatization On The Biogeography Of The Mountain Chickadee (Parus Gambeli) And The Juniper Titmouse (Parus Ridgwayi), Sheldon J. Cooper

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Biogeographic patterns of animals are shaped by biotic interactions, such as competition, and by abiotic factors, such as climate. Mountain Chickadees (Parus gambeli) and Juniper Titmice (Parus ridgway) are permanent residents of regions of western North America and are ecologically similar, but have different northern range limits. l measured several physiological variables, including basal metabolic rate (BMR), peak metabolic rate (PMR = maximal thermogenic capacity), metabolic response to varying environmental temperature (MRT), evaporative water loss (EWL), and daily energy expenditure (DEE) for summer-and winter-acclimatized Mountain Chickadees and Juniper Titmice to determine if seasonal and interspecific variation in cold tolerance and …

Use Of A Self-Administered Food Frequency Questionnaire In A Population 65 Years And Older, Karri Lynn Hoyt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Little is known of the elderly's ability to use a food frequency questionnaire to describe their dietary intake. This study examines the elderly's ability to reliably describe their diets and how age, education, cognitive status, and gender may affect their ability to complete and return a food frequency questionnaire. The reproducibility of the questionnaire was tested by a repeated administration among 85 participants 65 years of age and older from the Preston, Idaho, area. Correlation coefficients between nutrient scores from the first and second administration ranged from 0.48-0.79 (total population), 0.44-0.88 (males), and 0.39-0.86 (females). Median values for the correlation …

Relationship Between Taste And Smell Sensitivity To Preference Of A Milk-Based Beverage: Young Versus Elderly Adults, Sally Donahoo Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

With aging, there is a putative loss of taste and smell that may lead to decreased food enjoyment. We determined the relationships among age, detection, and recognition thresholds for taste and smell, and preference for flavored milk.

Ninety young (20-40 years) and 90 elderly (over 64 years) subjects evaluated chocolate mint-, lemon-, or strawberry-flavored milk. Detection and recognition thresholds were determined for sucrose and for the assigned flavor in milk systems. Sucrose was dissolved in milk, and flavors were dispersed in milk with flavor identification. Preference was determined using a 9-point hedonic scale to evaluate all combinations of five sucrose …

Parenting Styles And Family Communication As Correlates Of Juvenile Delinquency, Montone White

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The goal of this study was to examine parenting styles and family communication as correlates of juvenile delinquency. A review of the literature was completed in the areas of parenting styles, family communication, and juvenile delinquency. The literature that was reviewed for this study was examined mainly from juvenile perceptions. This study was approached from a general systems theory perspective.

A sample of juveniles (N = 78) from Weber County, Utah, involved in the juvenile justice system completed a survey assessing their perception of parenting styles and family communication. The survey was a 25-item questionnaire measuring kindness, unkindness, communication, …

Relative Absorption Of Iron And Magnesium From Sulfate Salts, Amino Acid Chelates Complexed And/Or Mixed With Vegetables, And Taste-Free Supplements, Jennifer A. Bowden

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Common methods for determining mineral absorption by the body are invasive and frequently utilize radioisotopes. In experiment one. rats were given a dose of radiolabeled ferrous sulfate. Relative absorption was estimated by changes in serum iron and by appearance of the radiotracer in the serum. There were no differences in relative absorption determined by the methods, although the low overall absorptions by the iron-replete rats may have decreased the sensitivity.

In experiments two and three. iron and magnesium supplements were given orally to 12 women age 19-25. Each subject received iron and magnesium supplements once each week for 5 weeks. …

An Investigation Of Social Skills And Antisocial Behaviors Of At-Risk Youth: Construct Validation Of The Home And Community Social Behavior Scales, Paul Caldarella

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The major purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the construct validity of a new parent rating scale, the Home and Community Social Behavior Scales (HCSBS), that was used to measure the social skills and antisocial behaviors of at-risk youth in Northern Utah. The results indicate that the HCSBS possesses strong internal consistency with high alphas. Convergent validity with both teacher ratings and student self-ratings of social competence and antisocial behavior appeared slight. Discriminant validity was indicated by the near zero correlations between the HCSBS and the KTEA. The instrument appeared able to detect group differences as indicated by the …

Factor Structure Of The Anorexia Bulimia Inventory, Anne C. Dobmeyer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Anorexia Bulimia Inventory, a recently developed self-report questionnaire for the assessment of eating disorders, addresses two major limitations found in existing self-report eating disorder inventories. First, it comprehensively assesses the diagnostic symptoms of both bulimia and anorexia nervosa; and second, it assesses the frequently cooccurring problem areas (e.g., depression, anergia) that may be targeted in treatment planning for eating disorders. Although initial research on the psychometrics of the instrument appears promising, no research has yet investigated its factor structure. Therefore, the goal of the present study was to investigate the factor structure of the Anorexia Bulimia Inventory.

Principal axis …

An Investigation Of The Parenting Stress Index In The Context Of Generalizability Theory, Jim D. Sharpnack

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This present study examined the application of generalizability theory (GT) to the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) long and short forms for families having children with disabilities. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the dependability of parenting stress data scores gathered from families having children with disabilities. The data for the present study came from an extant data set collected by the Early Intervention Research Institute (EIRI; Contract #800-85-0173) at Utah State University. The EIRI studies represented attempts to assess the benefits and cost of conducting early intervention programs. The EIRI data were recoded at the item level for …

Parental Compliance Of Psychological Recommendations Following An Outpatient Child Assessment, Shannon J. Pratt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There is a dearth of studies investigating methods by which parental compliance may be enhanced. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the relative efficacy of four conditions--high information, prompting, incentive, and comparison control--in increasing parental compliance. The self-help recommendation was to obtain a book or video from a local library. Parents were from a small, rural, northern Utah community; their children were diagnosed with externalizing behavior problems. Chi-square analyses were utilized to assess statistically significant differences, and effect sizes were computed to assess magnitude of association. The incentive intervention influenced parental compliance to a greater degree than …

An Examination Of Cognitive And Behavioral Characteristics Of Kainaiwa Children Diagnosed With Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Deborah Faith Pace

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study examined the scores of 450 Kainaiwa children from Kindergarten to grade 3 on social, behavioral, cognitive and cultural measures. The subjects consisted of children in three different classification groups: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Special Education, and Regular Education. The purpose of the study was to examine group membership to determine whether or not children who were diagnosed as FAS presented unique intellectual, behavioral, social and cultural characteristics from those of their regular and special education peers.

These results support the conclusion of previous research that FAS children differ significantly from their special and regular education peers. No …

An Investigation Of The Psychometric Properties And Factor Structure Of The Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms Rating Scale For Children And Adolescents, Melissa Lea Holland

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most frequent problems for which children are referred to mental health clinics in the United States, affecting approximately 3-5% of the childhood population. Although adequate assessment and identification of this disorder is imperative, most of the currently existing rating scales available to assess for ADHD in the childhood population are inadequate. The present research study involved the investigation of the factor structure and psychometric properties of a new behavior rating scale, the ADHD Symptoms Rating Scale (ADHD-SRS), developed for the assessment of ADHD in the school-age (K-12) population.

The participants in this …

Differences In Creative Thinking Between American And Japanese College Students In Education, Noriko Saeki

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fifty-one American and 54 Japanese college students in education were tested to investigate whether there were any cross-cultural differences in creative thinking. No gender differences were found in both cultures, but the American college students had higher scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) figural test than the Japanese college students. The difference was statistically significant and the effect size was large. Very low correlations were found between the TTCT and the American 111 College Testing (ACT) for the American college students and between the TTCT and the Center Test for the Japanese college students.

The Relationship Between Guilt- And Shame-Proneness And Rorschach Indices Of Psychological Functioning, Julie Bingham Shiffler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the degrees of proneness to the self-conscious emotions of nonruminative guilt, ruminative guilt, and shame and several indices of psychological functioning, including depression, narcissism, anger, dysphoric affect, cooperation, need for affection, and self-inspection, in a college population. Gender differences were also examined.

A measure of psychological functioning (the Rorschach) and a measure of guilt- and shame-proneness (the Test of Self-Conscious Affect--Modified) were administered to 91 college students (43 males and 48 females). Females reported higher levels of all three self-conscious emotions. The only gender difference found among the psychological …

Bark Beetle Activity In Douglas-Fir, Pseudotsuga Menziesii Var. Glauca Mirb. (Franco), Following The 1994 Beaver Mountain Fire, Catherine A. Cunningham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The 1994 Beaver Mountain fire ignited the canopies of subalpine fir, Abies lasiocarpa, and spread ground fire into adjacent Douglas-fir forests, Pseudotsuga menziesii var. glauca. Despite shorter flight seasons due to lower annual temperatures and persistent snow, the Douglas-fir bark beetle, Dendroctonus pseudotsugae Hopkins, attacked a range of moderately fire-injured host conifers. Logistic regression models illustrated that in 1995 associated bark beetles selected large diameter Douglas-fir with 60-80% bole char, 60-80% crown volume scorch, and 50-70% probability of mortality due to fire. In 1996 beetle preference shifted to smaller diameter trees with lighter fire injury. Tree size was …

An Investigation Of Criterion-Related Validity And Clinical Sensitivity Of The Internalizing Symptoms Scale For Children, Lisa Ann Mcclun

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The need for a self-report instrument that assesses internalizing problems in children ages 8 through 12 is evidenced in the lack of such an instrument, and in the prevalence of internalizing problems in children. A new self-report instrument, the Internalizing Symptoms Scale for Children (ISSC), has been proposed and developed to fit this need. The present study evaluated the criterion-related validity, clinical cutoff points, and discriminating power of the ISSC. Two groups of child subjects, clinic-referred and general-school-population, were recruited and administered the ISSC, and a parent of each subject completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Each case within the …

A Study Of The Interactions Between Milk Proteins And Soy Proteins, Venkatachalam Narayanaswamy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research investigates the protein interactions that occur when soy protein is added to milk and subjected to renneting or heating. Milk was fortified with 20% soy protein and enzymic coagulation studied at 35°C at various pH's and CaCl₂ levels. The first part deals with the interaction between milk and soy proteins during rennet-induced milk coagulation. The first goal was to determine how soy proteins affected milk coagulation. The effects of native versus heat-denatured soy proteins on rennet coagulation time and curd firmness were compared. lmmunogold labeling along with transmission electron microscopy was used to identify and localfze soy …