Digital Commons Network^™

Oxidative Damage Caused By Iron Loading Into Ferritin, Talina Christensen Watts

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Ferritin is the iron storage protein found in humans, animals, plants, fungi and bacteria. We are interested in how iron is loaded and stored in mammalian ferritin. Ferrous iron must be oxidized to ferric iron in order to be stored in ferritin. It is generally believed that ferritin does the loading itself, dependant upon a "ferroxidase activity." Oxidation of iron can result in the production of the hydroxyl radical which can cause oxidative damage to surrounding proteins and other biomolecules. An indicator of oxidative damage to proteins is the formation of carbonyl groups. Using only the H subunit of human …

Emerging Physiological Significance Of R-Type Calcium Currents, Paul Jensen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

R-type channels are voltage dependent calcium channel subtypes. To date, the only variant of the R-type calcium channel that has been isolated and cloned is the Ca_v2.3 variant, encoded by the gene Cchral (Yamazaki et al., 1998). The channel was named "R-type" because it was initially characterized by its resistance to nifedipine (a blocker of L-type calcium channels), Ω-conotoxin GVIA (an N-type calcium channel blocker) and Ω -Aga IVA (a blocker of P/Q-type calcium channels) (Hille 2001). The Ca_v2.3 calcium channel is selectively inhibited by the peptide SNX-482, which was isolated from venom of the African …

Corporate Positions And Punishment For Corporate Accounting Fraud, Stephanie Curtis

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The accounting industry has changed in many ways during the last few years. These changes have come at many different levels and have had different effects on those in the accounting industry and those without. The biggest change has been the litigation and government involvement in the industry. Changes have been made because of the fraud committed by those in the accounting industry. This has led to the government making laws to restrict those in the industry, making fraud harder to commit. The laws that the government has made have made it very expensive and hard for those in the …

Government Food Assistance Programs: A Nutritional Perspective, Marlee Harris

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Food security remains a problem in the United States. Historically, the government began to distribute excess agricultural goods to those in nutritional need. Efforts to provide food to people in need continue today through the Food Stamp Program (FSP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Nutrition status of participants in these programs demonstrates the nutritional effectiveness of these programs. These programs provide needed benefits and are making positive changes in food security, but improvements can be made to fully improve the nutrition status of these low-income participants. Nutrition professionals can be key in improving …

Phonemic Awareness In Children's Books, Natalie Sara Thompson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

When children scribble on a paper or a draw a picture to write a story, they are in the early stages of emergent literacy. Emergent literacy is a process which children become aware of written language. Before children write their name, they are learning about print, its meaning, and the relationship it has to language. Along their path towards reading and writing, children then begin to understand another important process, phonemic awareness. My senior thesis is based on the concept of phonemic awareness.

Jamie Hyatt Memorials, Jamie Lea Hyatt

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

In the words of Carlo Scarpa, "remembering is like constructing and then traveling again through a space" (Scarpa 2000). It is my desire to illustrate the importance of using a collective memory and emotion when designing a space. To demonstrate my findings I will relate the importance of memory and emotion, as tools designers can use in conveying meaning through design, with four different memorial spaces. These memorials include the Vietnam Memorial in Washington D.C.; the Meditation Space in Paris, France; the Oklahoma City Memorial in Oklahoma City; and the East Side Gallery in Berlin, Germany. It is my hope …

Electroporation Of Pediococcus Pentosaceus And The Curing Rate Of Plasmids, Heidi E. Shields

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Genetic engineering is a relatively new process and is a major focus of research in various fields, such as medicine, plant genetics, and food science. The potential applications of genetic engineering include designer drug production, mass protein production, and enhanced food processing. Finding an appropriate host organism to be used in genetic engineering is an important preliminary step. Pediococcus pentosaceus has been suggested as a bacterial species with such potential. Since plasmids are often the vector of choice in genetic recombination, this research tests the ability of P. pentosaceus to take up and incorporate plasmids into its genome. Two plasmids …

Finding Flow In Photography, Cynthia Olsen Mcconkie

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The associations I bring to an image are unique to me and my life experiences. I did not fully appreciate this until, as a photographer, I began to produce a body of work about activities that provide a refuge for me from the challenges of everyday life. I am an avid runner. For me running is a spiritual experience that renews my spirits and gives me hope. I took photos of the physical act of running and I was very disappointed with the results. The images failed to capture or recreate the sensations that I experienced while running. They elicited …

Genres, Media, And Usability In The Evaluation Of Writing Quality In Digital Environments, Lisa Ferrara

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Society for Technical Communication (STC) has recognized that there may be a problem with depending too much on usability studies for identifying some weaknesses in digital media. In their effort to find a substitute, they have funded more than $250,000 in research in the past two years.

Task Scheduling And Simulation, Martin Lee Mayne

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Scheduling is a problem that is not only common computer science, but which also comes up in a variety of real world situations. Whether multi-threading computer processes, scheduling airport traffic, optimizing assembly line production and manufacturing, or ensuring that enough employees are on the floor at a given time, scheduling is important for increasing efficiency, reducing costs, optimizing production, and meeting deadlines. Scheduling has been used throughout history and has increased in efficacy through the years. Modem computerized scheduling techniques are typically much better than human calculations and often produce surprising insights and results which would have been otherwise passed …

Maximum Repetition Rates In Children At-Risk For Dyslexia, Amy L. Baxter

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

My senior thesis has focused on current research exploring precursor communication skills being conducted by Dr. Ben Massen at the Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen in the Netherlands. To that end, I worked in an acoustics lab analyzing Maximum Repetition Rates (MRR), also known as diadochokinetic rates, DDKs, in young children's speech development. This four year funded research project began in 2004.

In this paper I will provide an overview of the underlying theoretical considerations guiding the study and then describe my particular contribution to the effort, completed during Fall semester 2005 while I was a foreign exchange student.

The Determinants Of The Distribution Of Mortality In Mountain States Counties, Anne Israelsen Whyte

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

There has been significant concern about economic equity, expressed in legislation at federal, state, and local levels affecting income distribution and access to public services. Such a large interest in equity must also extend, then, to the ultimate inequality: distribution of life spans. The purpose of this paper is to determine the significant factors that affect the distribution of mortality by county in the Mountain States. Mortality distribution is the span of differences of age at death. This is an interesting topic because mortality affects everyone. Hence, individuals who care about living longer would be interested in knowing the factors …

Nutritional Perspective Of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Jessianna Rose

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic, incurable, autoimmune disease that affects as many as two million persons in the United States. Current nutritional guidelines are very basic and revolve around specifics of the treatment of symptoms as seen with drug-nutrient interactions. Although current opinion does not directly see the onset of this disease linked to dietary factors, recent research may indicate that there is a link to a possible deficiency of pantothenic acid. This is not a widely accepted theory, but has some very unique observations which shed a new and interesting light on possible interventions through nutrition.

The National School Lunch Program, Elizabeth Strasser

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The National School Lunch (NSLP) Program is a federally assisted meal program that began in 1946 and is designed to provide nutritionally balanced lunches to children. The program started slowly in 1853, in a few school districts around the United States. The efforts spread throughout different cities, and organizations were set in place to serve meals to children in schools under the supervision of the school boards.

The American Dietetic Association believes that all children and adolescents should have access to food and nutrition programs that ensure adequate food supply that promotes optimal physical. and social growth and development.

School …

Therapy Gardens Healing Environments For Children, Suzanne L. Kohlmeyer

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Valley Mental Health is located in Salt Lake City, UT and is a metropolitan Community Mental Health Center serving Salt Lake, Summit, and Tooele counties. They serve about 6,000 children with mental health problems per year, most of whom are at or below poverty level. Ann Foster the Director of the Children's Services at Valley Mental Health, approached the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning at Utah State University for the aid in developing an inner courtyard into a therapeutic garden for their Children's Outpatient Clinic. The inner courtyard would be available to children who are receiving therapy at …

Wellsville City Trails Master Plan, Lindy Bankhead

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Wellsville City is a small, rural community seeking to provide a high quality of life for its citizens. A valuable amenity to accomplish this goal is a trail system, as part of a regional greenway network. Greenways are interconnected linkages between community hubs or open spaces, destinations, parks, neighborhoods and public lands. Trails are a part of greenways, allowing recreational access through the corridors connecting these community hubs. The citizens of Wellsville desire the benefits that are provided by a trails or greenway system.

This document is the Wellsville City Trails Master Plan. Its purpose is to provide information on …

Prevalence Of Type 2 Diabetes In Youth And Adolescents, Julie Patterson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Until recently, Type 2 diabetes was typically regarded as a disease of the middle-aged and elderly. While it is still true that this age group maintains a higher risk than younger adults, evidence is accumulating that onset in those of a much younger age. Children and adolescents are now part of this epidemic. This new phenomenon brings a serious new aspect to the global diabetes epidemic and heralds an emerging public health problem of major proportions. Prevention and treatment in these youth cannot be taken lightly. Prevention can be maintained through implementing exercise and balanced nutrition. It is essential to …

A Historic Look At The Civilian Conservation Corps And Their Construction Of The Guinavah Amphitheater, Michael Jones

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The purpose of this project is to document the historical record and current condition of the Guinavah Amphitheater in Logan Canyon, Cache County, Utah. The information collected will be helpful in ongoing efforts by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to stabilize and preserve an excellent example of Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) era construction on the Wasatch Cache National Forest. It is also hoped that the assembled research will contribute to the listing of this site with the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS), housed at the Library of Congress.

Research into the historic background of the Guinavah Amphitheater began with a …

Regulation Of Cardiac Fibroblast Metalloprotease Secretion, Glen De Guzman

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) are proteolytic enzymes secreted by cardiac fibroblasts. Altered expression of MMPs plays an important role in congestive heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases^1,2. Emerging evidence has led us to consider the role of phosphatidylinositol 4-kinase (PtdIns 4-kinase) in regulating MMP secretion in cardiac fibroblast cells^3-7. PtdIns 4-kinase is a lipid kinase involved in various cellular processes including protein secretion. This project was designed to test the hypothesis that PtdIns 4-kinase controls MMP secretion. Techniques such as cardiac cell culture, transfection, and in-gel zymography were used for this experiment. Results demonstrated that PtdIns 4-kinase …

Master Trails System For Leeds, Utah, Bart Benjamin Wolthuis

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Many distinctively unique small towns in Southern Utah are facing the challenge of rapid growth rates and dealing with the difficulties an increasing population brings. The Town of Leeds, with its exceptional history and picturesque landscape, is no exception. As land development increases, the town of Leeds and the surrounding area is faced with significant change.

The Fellowship Of The (Devil) Ring: Ethnographic Translation In The 2002 聯經 Edition Of Tolkien's The Fellowship Of The Ring, Matthew G. Wright

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

A recent book written by Tom Standage pays homage to six drinks that helped shape the history of the world. Following his discussion of the first five drinks (beer, wine, spirits, coffee and tea), Standage concludes with what he calls, the drink of the twentieth century. "Coca-Cola encapsulates what happened in the 20th century: the rise of consumer capitalism and the emergence of America as a superpower. It's globalization in a bottle," Standage said in an interview with National Geographic News (Handwerk). Today Coca-cola is everywhere from Cuba to the Czech Republic (Standage even claims the drink is in more …

Modulation Of Fast And Slow Inactivation In Two Cardiac Nav Channel Isoforms By Sdz 211-939, Tyce Jeffrey Kearl

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Here we report a hitherto unknown effect of a synthetic inactivation inhibitor on inactivation in cardiac sodium channels (Na_v1.5) from two different species: human and bovine. SDZ 211-93 9 stabilized the slow inactivated-state in both channels as seen by an increased steady-state probability of slow inactivation. SDZ also destabilized the fast-inactivated state and increased the amplitude of persistent currents. SDZ modulated conductance parameters, open-state fast inactivation time constants, and activation kinetics of hNa_v1.5, but not bNa_v1.5. These findings will aid future studies designed to elucidate the binding site and molecular mechanisms of inactivation inhibitors …

Art Landforms A Study Of How Designers Are Using The Landscape, Rachelle Jones

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

By examining the past and present forms of landscape designs, this report will establish a basis to understand one of the core elements of the Landscape Architecture profession. Using the land as a medium for expressing ones art and passions has been used for centuries. Fletcher Steele, Robert Smithson, Alan Sonfist, and George Hargreaves are all designers which have used land as a vital part for the creation of their designs and/or environmental art pieces. They all, in their own way, have been instrumental in how contemporary designers use and understanding of the land has changed and evolved over time. …

Innovation & Inspiration Tunnel, Bridget Noel Bybee

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

I intend to create one large scale permanent work for Utah State University as fulfillment for the senior thesis of my Honors degree. The site that has been approved for this project is the tunnel under HWY 89 connecting the student B parking lot to the eastern most end of campus where the art and engineering departments are located. This high traffic area is ugly, uninviting, and currently in need of repair. The site is perfect in its nature as a tunnel that leads towards the new School of the Arts and, thus it is an exquisite site for a …

Contemporary Landscape Architecture Designing With The Fine Arts, Matthew Kerby Durkovich

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

lt is the year 2006. We live in a time where advances in technology and processes surround us at every tum of our lives, and in almost every profession that exists. The medical world, for example, now benefits from such advanced practices that could have only been imagined a half century ago. The computer industry has grasped only a fraction of what is possible in this day and age, and yet their products still seem so futuristic that we wonder what will come the next day. The automotive industry, construction trade, science fields, and many other disciplines are experiencing breakthroughs …

Menander's Samia: A New Translation, Seth A. Jeppesen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

It is a commonplace thing nowadays for people to get home from work or school and settle down in front of the television to watch their favorite sitcom. There are numerous ones to choose from, but most of them involve a family or tightly knit group of friends who wander their way through seemingly everyday situations, dealing with them humorously, but in the same way you might expect someone you know to deal with them. We watch these shows, laugh at them, think about them, and sometimes even incorporate phrases and lines we hear from them into our everyday speech …

Nutrition In Traumatic Brain Injuries, Jaylene Dalley

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Nutrition intervention and support is a critical part of caring for traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. TBI patients have high energy and protein needs, as well as increased needs for some vitamins and minerals. There are a number of ways to assess energy and protein needs for TBI patients including indirect calorimetry, the Harrris-Benedict Equations and the Glasgow Coma Scale Equation. Most TBI patients are either non-responsive (comatose) or develop some form of dysphagia and, therefore, are unable to consume adequate amounts of nutrition via the oral route. Nutrition support through enteral or parenteral routes may improve the medical outcome …

Case Study Of Phonological Awareness And Narrative Intervention, Elizabeth Ann Degraffenried

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

My Senior Thesis was a year long case study. I provided Phonological Awareness Training and Narrative Intervention to a seven year old girl, S.C., diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy of a nondenerative type. S.C. has sever speech and physical impairments secondary to the Muscular Dystrophy. She also has visual perceptual deficits secondary to Duanes Syndrome (a disorder of visual convergence). Because of her disabilities, S.C. is unable to use speech or sign language as her primary means of communication and an Augmentative and Alternative communication device is required for communication purposes. S.C. currently uses a Dyna Vox 4000 to communicate. This …

Dietary Supplement Use Among The Elderly, Diana Kristine Keith

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Introduction: According to NHANES data from 1999-2000, 52% of US adults reported talcing a dietary supplement in the last month. Even greater use of dietary supplements is observed among older individuals. Dietary supplements contain a wide range of ingredients from vitamin and minerals (VM) to botanicals, herbs, amino acids, and other ingredients sometimes referred to as non-vitamin and minerals (NVM).

Methods: Data on VM and NVM supplement use was collected in a prospective study of elderly people living in Cache Valley, Utah. The reported supplements were researched to obtain ingredient information and then categorized into groups representing the types of …

Refeeding Practices Of Malnourished Children, Marcianne Wittwer

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Over 200 million children in developing countries under the age of five are malnourished. Malnutrition contributes to more than half of the nearly 12 million under-five deaths in developing countries each year. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines malnutrition as "the cellular imbalance between the supply of nutrients and energy and the body's demand for them to ensure growth, maintenance, and specific functions." Because of the high demand for energy and essential nutrients, infants and children are at a particular risk for under-nutrition. Malnutrition is a condition that needs to be taken seriously and with proper treatment can save the …