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Damsel In Distress Or Princess In Power? Traditional Masculinity And Femininity In Young Adult Novelizations Of Cinderella And The Effects On Agency, Rylee Carling Dec 2020

Damsel In Distress Or Princess In Power? Traditional Masculinity And Femininity In Young Adult Novelizations Of Cinderella And The Effects On Agency, Rylee Carling

Theses and Dissertations

Retellings of classic fairy tales have become increasingly popular in the past decade, but little research has been done on the novelizations written for a young adult (YA) audience. Critical multicultural analysis determining the effect of race, gender, disability, and more has been completed for both original fairy tale retellings and fairy tale retellings for children, but scholars have neglected popular YA novelizations. This study aims to determine how traditional masculinity and femininity affect agency in both male and female characters in YA novelizations of Cinderella. To examine the role of traditional masculinity and femininity in young adult novelizations of …


Methods For Generative Adversarial Output Enhancement, Michael B. Brodie Dec 2020

Methods For Generative Adversarial Output Enhancement, Michael B. Brodie

Theses and Dissertations

Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) learn to synthesize novel samples for a given data distribution. While GANs can train on diverse data of various modalities, the most successful use cases to date apply GANs to computer vision tasks. Despite significant advances in training algorithms and network architectures, GANs still struggle to consistently generate high-quality outputs after training. We present a series of papers that improve GAN output inference qualitatively and quantitatively. The first chapter, Alpha Model Domination, addresses a related subfield of Multiple Choice Learning, which -- like GANs -- aims to generate diverse sets of outputs. The next chapter, CoachGAN, …


Domestic Vs. Foreign Immersion Experiences: Listening Comprehension Of Multiple Dialects In Spanish, Nathan Thomas Adams Dec 2020

Domestic Vs. Foreign Immersion Experiences: Listening Comprehension Of Multiple Dialects In Spanish, Nathan Thomas Adams

Theses and Dissertations

Study abroad has been shown to improve students' linguistic and cultural competence, but students who gain their fluency abroad may struggle to adapt to the plethora of regional dialects they encounter in their studies and interactions after they've returned from their study abroad. The researchers of this study posited that learning Spanish in a domestic immersion context may improve a student's flexibility or tolerance for dialectal variation in regard to listening comprehension. Using a detailed survey and multi-dialectal listening assessment, the researchers examined the degree to which Spanish language learners, in this case 183 missionaries, were exposed to a variety …


Teaching Second-Grade Students To Write Expository Text, Angenette Cox Imbler Dec 2020

Teaching Second-Grade Students To Write Expository Text, Angenette Cox Imbler

Theses and Dissertations

Writing is necessary to participate in public discourse. Much of today's communication is based on information, yet many students do not adequately learn how to write expository text. Learning to write is difficult, but expository text can be especially difficult as it requires knowledge of both a subject and special text structures. The purpose of this study was to give teachers a research-proven method for teaching students to write expository text and to give more information on how to evaluate students' writing. In this quasi-experimental quantitative research design, the expository writing of students before and after receiving a new science …


Novel Αvβ6 Inhibitor Reduces Fibrotic Progression In Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Murine Model, Rebecca C. Viazzo Winegar Dec 2020

Novel Αvβ6 Inhibitor Reduces Fibrotic Progression In Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Murine Model, Rebecca C. Viazzo Winegar

Theses and Dissertations

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is one of the most aggressive and severe interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) for which there is no cure. IPF is characterized by an excessive accumulation of fibroblasts which secrete an abundance of extracellular proteins such as collagen. These processes lead to repetitive tissue scarring and fibrosis in the lung parenchyma. As a result, lungs become rigid limiting oxygen intake and gas exchange. Once diagnosed, IPF is fatal within 2-3 years. There is no known cause or proven treatment that significantly improves outcomes. Although the cause is unknown, the current model of IPF suggests that an overactive …


Galectin-1 Improves Sarcolemma Repair And Decreases The Inflammatory Response In Lgmd2b Models, Matthew F. Rathgeber Dec 2020

Galectin-1 Improves Sarcolemma Repair And Decreases The Inflammatory Response In Lgmd2b Models, Matthew F. Rathgeber

Theses and Dissertations

Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B (LGMD2B) is caused by mutations in the dysferlin gene, resulting in non-functional dysferlin, a key protein found in muscle membrane. Treatment options available for patients are chiefly palliative in nature and focus on maintaining ambulation. Our hypothesis is that galectin-1 (Gal-1), a soluble carbohydrate binding protein, increases membrane repair capacity, myogenic potential, M2 macrophage polarization and decreases NF-κB inflammation in dysferlin-deficient models. To test this hypothesis, we used recombinant human galectin-1 (rHsGal-1) to treat dysferlin-deficient models. We show that rHsGal-1 treatments of 48 h-72 h promotes myogenic maturation as indicated through improvements in size, myotube …


Eigenvalues Of Differential Operators And Nontrivial Zeros Of L-Functions, Dongsheng Wu Dec 2020

Eigenvalues Of Differential Operators And Nontrivial Zeros Of L-Functions, Dongsheng Wu

Theses and Dissertations

The Hilbert-P\'olya conjecture asserts that the non-trivial zeros of the Riemann zeta function $\zeta(s)$ correspond (in a certain canonical way) to the eigenvalues of some positive operator. R. Meyer constructed a differential operator $D_-$ acting on a function space $\H$ and showed that the eigenvalues of the adjoint of $D_-$ are exactly the nontrivial zeros of $\zeta(s)$ with multiplicity correspondence. We follow Meyer's construction with a slight modification. Specifically, we define two function spaces $\H_\cap$ and $\H_-$ on $(0,\infty)$ and characterize them via the Mellin transform. This allows us to show that $Z\H_\cap\subseteq\H_-$ where $Zf(x)=\sum_{n=1}^\infty f(nx)$. Also, the differential operator …


Factor Structure Of The Jordan Performance Appraisal System: A Multilevel Multigroup Study Using Categorical And Count Data, Holly Lee Allen Dec 2020

Factor Structure Of The Jordan Performance Appraisal System: A Multilevel Multigroup Study Using Categorical And Count Data, Holly Lee Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Development of the Jordan Performance Appraisal System (JPAS) was completed in 1996. This study examined the factor structure of the classroom observation instrument used in the JPAS. Using observed classroom instructional quality ratings of 1220 elementary teachers of Grades 1-6 in the Jordan School District, this study estimated the factor structure of the data and the rater effect on relevant structural parameters. This study also tested for measurement invariance at the within and between levels across teachers of two grade-level groups (a) lower grades: Grades 1-3 and (b) upper grades: Grades 4-6. Factor structure was estimated using complex exploratory factor …


Evaluating Model Fit For Longitudinal Measurement Invariance With Ordered Categorical Indicators, Jonathan Caleb Clark Dec 2020

Evaluating Model Fit For Longitudinal Measurement Invariance With Ordered Categorical Indicators, Jonathan Caleb Clark

Theses and Dissertations

Current recommended cutoffs for determining measurement invariance have typically derived from simulation studies that have focused on multigroup confirmatory factor analysis, often using continuous data. These cutoffs may be inappropriate for ordered categorical data in a longitudinal setting. This study conducts two Monte Carlo studies that evaluate the performance of four popular model fit indices used to determine measurement invariance. The comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) were all found to be inconsistent across various simulation conditions as well as invariance tests, and thus were not recommended for use in longitudinal …


Metalearning By Exploiting Granular Machine Learning Pipeline Metadata, Brandon J. Schoenfeld Dec 2020

Metalearning By Exploiting Granular Machine Learning Pipeline Metadata, Brandon J. Schoenfeld

Theses and Dissertations

Automatic machine learning (AutoML) systems have been shown to perform better when they use metamodels trained offline. Existing offline metalearning approaches treat ML models as black boxes. However, modern ML models often compose multiple ML algorithms into ML pipelines. We expand previous metalearning work on estimating the performance and ranking of ML models by exploiting the metadata about which ML algorithms are used in a given pipeline. We propose a dynamically assembled neural network with the potential to model arbitrary DAG structures. We compare our proposed metamodel against reasonable baselines that exploit varying amounts of pipeline metadata, including metamodels used …


Defining And Measuring Learner-Content Interaction In Digitally Augmented Learning Experiences, Sandra Thatcher Powell Dec 2020

Defining And Measuring Learner-Content Interaction In Digitally Augmented Learning Experiences, Sandra Thatcher Powell

Theses and Dissertations

Using content analysis, researchers reviewed literature to identify the meanings attached to and methods used for measuring learner-content interaction in digitally augmented learning experience. Digitally augmented learning experiences are defined in this dissertation as situations where a learner interacts with content delivered using a computer. Examples include online learning using a desktop, laptop, or mobile device, classroom use of a device to interact with content such as a digital textbook, computer simulation, augmented or virtual reality, smart watch or phone, or other similar educational activities. These activities can be delivered directly from a digital device, over a wireless connection, or …


Effects Of Conformal Cooling Channels On Additively Manufactured Injection Molding Tooling, Tyler Blaine Whatcott Dec 2020

Effects Of Conformal Cooling Channels On Additively Manufactured Injection Molding Tooling, Tyler Blaine Whatcott

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the cycle-averaged mold temperature of additively manufactured injection molding tooling and how it is affected by conformal cooling channels. This was done by producing a benchmark mold out of Digital ABS produced by Stratasys, an acrylic based photopolymer, which was then used to produce injection molded parts until tool failure. Another, more cost-effective material, High Temp Resin produced by Formlabs, another acrylic based photopolymer, was also tested but yielded very little success. Then the mold design was altered by adding conformal cooling channels and again tested by producing injection molded parts while tracking the mold temperature. …


Varying The Aspect Ratio Of Toroidal Ion Traps: Implications For Design, Performance, And Miniaturization, Praneeth Madushan Hettikankanange Dec 2020

Varying The Aspect Ratio Of Toroidal Ion Traps: Implications For Design, Performance, And Miniaturization, Praneeth Madushan Hettikankanange

Theses and Dissertations

A large aspect ratio leads to higher ion capacity in miniaturized ion trap mass spectrometers. The aspect ratio (AR) of an ion trap represents the ratio between an extended trapping dimension and the characteristic trapping dimension. In contrast to linear and rectilinear traps, changing the AR of a toroidal ion trap (TorIT) results in changes to the degree of curvature and shape of the trapping potential, and hence, on performance as a mass analyzer. SIMION simulations show that higher-order terms in the trapping potential vary strongly for small and moderate AR values (below ~10), with the effects asymptotically flattening for …


Building A Predictive Model For Stratigraphic Transitions And Lateral Facies Changes In The Cretaceous Almond Formation, Wyoming, Joseph E. Phillips Dec 2020

Building A Predictive Model For Stratigraphic Transitions And Lateral Facies Changes In The Cretaceous Almond Formation, Wyoming, Joseph E. Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

The Cretaceous Almond Formation, located in the Greater Green River Basin, records deposition of coastal plain fluvial sandstones and shallow marginal-marine sandstones in a net-transgressive sequence along the western margin of the Cretaceous Interior Seaway (CIS) from the late Campanian to early Maastrichtian. The Almond Formation is an important hydrocarbon reservoir, with development mainly along the Wamsutter Arch and the northeast margins of the Washakie Basin. Previous studies have primarily focused on outcrops along the eastern flank of the Rock Springs Uplift and subsurface data targeting the Wamsutter Arch. Further development of the Almond petroleum system requires extending our understanding …


Ranking Aspect-Based Features In Restaurant Reviews, Jacob Ling Hang Chan Dec 2020

Ranking Aspect-Based Features In Restaurant Reviews, Jacob Ling Hang Chan

Theses and Dissertations

Consumers continuously review products and services on the internet. Others have frequently relied on those reviews in making purchasing decisions. Review texts are usually free-form and associated with a star rating on a 5-point scale. The majority of restaurants receive a 3.5 or 4 star rating on average, so a standalone star rating does not provide adequate information for readers to make a decision. Many researchers have approached the problem with sentiment analysis to classify a sentence or a text as expressing a positive or a negative review. Sentiment analysis, even at the fine-grained level, can only provide classification of …


Segment And Intersection Crash Analysis Methodologies For Utah Highways, Camille Cherie Lunt Dec 2020

Segment And Intersection Crash Analysis Methodologies For Utah Highways, Camille Cherie Lunt

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on the Crash Analysis Methodology for Segments (CAMS) which provides a way for engineers at the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) to prioritize safety improvements on state-owned roadways. Unlike the Utah crash analysis methodologies that come before it, the CAMS focuses exclusively on segment-related crashes. The benefits of such an analysis can be found in identifying locations that have safety concerns unbiased from intersections and their related crashes. The CAMS uses UDOT data to create a spreadsheet of roadway segments and their associated crashes. Each segment is homogeneous with respect to five variables: Annual Average Daily Traffic …


Climate Change, Increased Wildfire Frequency, And Rodent-Exclusion Create Opportunities For Exotic Grass Invasion And Alter The Timing And Availability Of Soil Water, Joshua Clark Gilman Dec 2020

Climate Change, Increased Wildfire Frequency, And Rodent-Exclusion Create Opportunities For Exotic Grass Invasion And Alter The Timing And Availability Of Soil Water, Joshua Clark Gilman

Theses and Dissertations

In deserts, global environmental changes, plant community structure, and soil water availability form a complex relationship characterized by direct and indirect relationships and feedbacks. Plant community structure is affected by the establishment and spread of invasive grasses, which form a positive feedback with wildfire. Plant community structure is also controlled by top-down trophic interactions by small-mammals and climate change, which alters the timing and amount of soil water. In deserts, soil water availability mediates the effects of global environmental changes and trophic interactions on plant community structure because it is the limiting resource for plant growth. In order to predict …


"Life Will Be A Brief, Hollow Walk": The Future Of Humanity Through Maternal Eyes In Tracy K. Smith's Life On Mars, Mallory Lynn Bingham Dec 2020

"Life Will Be A Brief, Hollow Walk": The Future Of Humanity Through Maternal Eyes In Tracy K. Smith's Life On Mars, Mallory Lynn Bingham

Theses and Dissertations

Tracy K. Smith's Pulitzer Prize winning collection of poetry, Life on Mars, has been celebrated and analyzed as an elegy to Smith's father by many reviewers and scholars. And while this reading is valid and has been openly endorsed by Smith herself, our understanding of this collection and Smith's father is incomplete without Smith's treatment of motherhood and religion, two previously unexplored fields in relation to Life on Mars that complete our picture of Smith's father. Smith uses her own new role as a mother and her religious questions about the afterlife and her father's fate to address her father's …


The Impact Of Experiential Virtual Dinosaur Excavation Assignments On Exam Preparation And Performance Inâ An Introductory, University-Level Geology Course, Nicole Elizabeth Ortiz Dec 2020

The Impact Of Experiential Virtual Dinosaur Excavation Assignments On Exam Preparation And Performance Inâ An Introductory, University-Level Geology Course, Nicole Elizabeth Ortiz

Theses and Dissertations

Advocates assert that experiential/applicational learning facilitates deep understanding but there is a dearth of empirical research testing the effectiveness of experiential learning in university geology courses. Domack (1999) and Moecher (2004) document applicational assignments within geology courses. These evaluations, however, are based solely on instructor opinion and informal student comments. To evaluate the effectiveness of experiential assignments this study utilizes empirical data from control and test groups in each of two semesters of Geology 100, a general education course on dinosaurs. Control groups completed traditional research papers which were replaced by experiential assignments in the test groups. The first semester …


Lateral Resistance Of 24-Inch Statically Loaded And 12.75-Inch Cyclically Loaded Pipe Piles Near A 20-Ft Mechanically Stabilized Earth (Mse) Wall, Addison Joseph Wilson Dec 2020

Lateral Resistance Of 24-Inch Statically Loaded And 12.75-Inch Cyclically Loaded Pipe Piles Near A 20-Ft Mechanically Stabilized Earth (Mse) Wall, Addison Joseph Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Installing load bearing piles within the reinforcement zone of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls is common practice in the construction industry. Bridge abutments are often constructed in this manner to adapt to increasing right-of-way constraints, and must be capable of supporting horizontal loads imposed by, traffic, earthquakes, and thermal expansion and contraction. Previous researchers have concluded that lateral pile resistance is reduced when pile are placed next to MSE walls but no design codes have been established to address this issue. Full –scale testing of statically applied lateral loads to four 24”x0.5” pipe piles, and cyclically applied lateral load …


A Lake Divided: Regional Shifts In Trophic Niche Structure Of Lake Powell Fishes Corresponding To The Invasion Of Quagga Mussels, Nathan Richard St Andre Dec 2020

A Lake Divided: Regional Shifts In Trophic Niche Structure Of Lake Powell Fishes Corresponding To The Invasion Of Quagga Mussels, Nathan Richard St Andre

Theses and Dissertations

Introduced species can become invasive and cause catastrophic alterations to the system they invade. Both zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga mussels (Dreissena bugensis) have caused significant ecosystem alterations wherever they have invaded. These Dreissena species have caused changes in water quality and biodiversity and have disrupted energy pathways which can have cascading effects on other trophic levels. Recently quagga mussels invaded Lake Powell, a reservoir located in the southwestern USA, creating the possibility of a trophic cascade that could alter energy flow in the reservoir and change the trophic niche structure of the fishes in the lake. However, due …


Trace: A Differentiable Approach To Line-Level Stroke Recovery For Offline Handwritten Text, Taylor Neil Archibald Dec 2020

Trace: A Differentiable Approach To Line-Level Stroke Recovery For Offline Handwritten Text, Taylor Neil Archibald

Theses and Dissertations

Stroke order and velocity are helpful features in the fields of signature verification, handwriting recognition, and handwriting synthesis. Recovering these features from offline handwritten text is a challenging and well-studied problem. We propose a new model called TRACE (Trajectory Recovery by an Adaptively-trained Convolutional Encoder). TRACE is a differentiable approach using a convolutional recurrent neural network (CRNN) to infer temporal stroke information from long lines of offline handwritten text with many characters. TRACE is perhaps the first system to be trained end-to-end on entire lines of text of arbitrary width and does not require the use of dynamic exemplars. Moreover, …


Identifying, Increasing Awareness, And Supporting Military-Connected Adolescents In Public Schools, Amanda Bushman Dec 2020

Identifying, Increasing Awareness, And Supporting Military-Connected Adolescents In Public Schools, Amanda Bushman

Theses and Dissertations

Of the nearly 1,000,000 children of active duty members of the military, around 80% attend civilian schools not affiliated with the Department of Defense Education Activity ([DoDEA] DoDEA, 2018; Department of Defense [DoD], 2018). This creates a need for schools to be aware of the challenges that military-connected (MC) students face and understand how best to support them. Recent research indicates that the prevalence of mental health problems in MC youth populations has been rising since the war on terrorism began (De Pedro et al., 2011). MC youth experience an array of internalizing and externalizing problems, including stress disorders (Gorman …


The Layered Frames Of Performed Tabletop: Actual-Play Podcasts And The Laminations Of Media, Brendan Decicio Dec 2020

The Layered Frames Of Performed Tabletop: Actual-Play Podcasts And The Laminations Of Media, Brendan Decicio

Theses and Dissertations

Despite their sudden growth in popularity, the role-playing actual-play podcasts have either been ignored or grouped with the genre of audio drama in prior scholarly works. Examination using frame analysis shows, however, that these podcasts are distinct in their engagement of the audience on multiple, simultaneous levels; levels which correspond with well-known media genres such as Documentary, Fiction, and Game Play. Each frame has its own layer of identities, conduct, and avenue for appealing to audiences just as these genres have their own distinct appeals. Through the combinations of these frames, familiar tropes and techniques such as Short-Form Improv and …


The Integration Of Iterative Convergent Photogrammetric Models And Uav View And Path Planning Algorithms Into The Aerial Inspection Practices In Areas With Aerial Hazards, Michael James Freeman Dec 2020

The Integration Of Iterative Convergent Photogrammetric Models And Uav View And Path Planning Algorithms Into The Aerial Inspection Practices In Areas With Aerial Hazards, Michael James Freeman

Theses and Dissertations

Small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAV) can produce valuable data for inspections, topography, mapping, and 3D modeling of structures. Used by multiple industries, sUAV can help inspect and study geographic and structural sites. Typically, the sUAV and camera specifications require optimal conditions with known geography and fly pre-determined flight paths. However, if the environment changes, new undetectable aerial hazards may intersect new flight paths. This makes it difficult to construct autonomous flight path missions that are safe in post-hazard areas where the flight paths are based on previously built models or previously known terrain details. The goal of this research is …


Improving Rangeland Seedling Recruitment Using Fungicide Seed Coatings And Golden Eagle Reproductive Success In Relation To Explosive Military Tests And Trainings, Benjamin William Hoose Nov 2020

Improving Rangeland Seedling Recruitment Using Fungicide Seed Coatings And Golden Eagle Reproductive Success In Relation To Explosive Military Tests And Trainings, Benjamin William Hoose

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the first chapter of this thesis was to determine whether fungicide seed coatings constitute an effective strategy for increasing seedling recruitment in restoration scenarios in the Intermountain West. We tested a mixture of four fungicides that address potential fungal pathogens to bluebunch wheatgrass, a dominant bunchgrass that is commonly used in restoration. Across two sites and three years, we found that the fungicide seed coating increased emergence in five of the six sites and years, with an average increase of 59.1% over the control. There was a strong interaction (P < 0.001) between the effects of fungicide treatment, the year and the site on emergence. This interaction was likely related to the effects of the hydrothermal microsite environment on disease severity. Further research is necessary to fully understand the conditions under which fungicide seed coatings are most likely to be effective. The objectives the second chapter of this thesis were to 1) estimate the effects of golden eagle nest proximity to explosive disturbances on reproductive success given other relevant habitat variables (e.g. indices of topography and vegetation), and 2) determine the relative importance of nest proximity to explosive disturbances as a predictor of golden eagle reproductive success compared to other relevant habitat variables. Reproductive success data were collected from nesting territories within and surrounding land controlled and managed by the US Department of Defense. We fit the reproductive survey data using generalized linear mixed-effects models comprised of unique, hypothesis-based sets of habitat variables. We compared the models using AICc-based model selection processes. Given the best approximating model, we found no evidence that the likelihood of reproductive success was affected by nest proximity to explosive disturbances (P = 0.460). We further found nest proximity to explosive disturbances consistently ranked in the bottom 50% of relative variable importance. These results may indicate golden eagle tolerance or habituation to explosive military tests and trainings. Although the two chapters of this thesis are disjointed, they are loosely unified by the ecological importance of disturbance, invasive species, and restoration within the Great Basin ecoregion.


Soil Water Dynamics Within Variable Rate Irrigation Zones Of Winter Wheat, Elisa Anne Woolley Nov 2020

Soil Water Dynamics Within Variable Rate Irrigation Zones Of Winter Wheat, Elisa Anne Woolley

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics of soil water and crop water stress within a field is critical for effective Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) management. Proper VRI can result in improved protection of the crop from early onset of crop water stress while minimizing runoff and drainage losses. The objectives of this study are (1) to examine zone delineation for informing irrigation recommendations from volumetric water content (VWC) and field capacity (FC) to grow similar or greater wheat yields with less water, (2) evaluate the ability to model soil and crop water dynamics within a season and within a field …


Lithofacies, Sequence Stratigraphy, And Sedimentology Of Desert Creek Platform, Slope, And Basin Carbonates, Southern Margin Of The Aneth Complex, Middle Pennsylvanian, Paradox Basin, Utah, Christopher M. Perfili Nov 2020

Lithofacies, Sequence Stratigraphy, And Sedimentology Of Desert Creek Platform, Slope, And Basin Carbonates, Southern Margin Of The Aneth Complex, Middle Pennsylvanian, Paradox Basin, Utah, Christopher M. Perfili

Theses and Dissertations

The Aneth Field in the Paradox Basin (SE Utah) has produced nearly 500 MMbbls of oil from phylloid-algal and oolitic carbonate reservoirs of the lower and upper Desert Creek (Paradox Formation, Middle Pennsylvanian) sequences, respectively. The oil resides in a 150 to 200 foot-thick isolated carbonate platform located in a distal ramp setting on the southwest margin of the Paradox Basin. The horseshoe-shaped platform is roughly 12 miles in diameter with an aerial extent of approximately 144 square miles. Evaluation of the platform-to-basin transition on the leeward (southern) margin of the Aneth Platform, the focus of this study, was made …


Metabolomics Of Acid Whey Derived From Greek Yogurt, Muriel Mercedes Allen Nov 2020

Metabolomics Of Acid Whey Derived From Greek Yogurt, Muriel Mercedes Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Acid whey, a byproduct of Greek yogurt production, has little commercial value due to its low protein content and is also environmentally harmful when disposed of as waste. However, as a product of microbial fermentation, acid whey could be a rich source of beneficial metabolites associated with fermented foods. This study increases understanding of acid whey composition by providing a complete metabolomic profile of acid whey. Commercial and lab-made Greek yogurts, prepared with three different bacterial culture combinations, were evaluated. Samples of unfermented yogurt mix and cultured whey from each batch were analyzed. Ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry metabolomics were …


Photoacoustic Co2 Detection In Biomass Cookstove Applications, Jacob Matthew Thomas Nov 2020

Photoacoustic Co2 Detection In Biomass Cookstove Applications, Jacob Matthew Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Billions of people use biomass burning cookstoves in their homes and suffer serious health repercussions. Additionally, global warming is exacerbated by cookstove emissions containing greenhouse gases and particulate matter. Improved cookstoves (ICSs) mitigate the problem, but accurate and affordable emission gas measurements, particularly of Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Carbon Monoxide (CO), are required in order to confidently declare ICSs cleaner burning than traditional cookstoves. The aim of this research is to assess the suitability of photoacoustic (PA) CO2 detection technology for cookstove emissions monitoring. The designs of several longitudinally resonant, photoacoustic, LED, CO2 sensors of varying levels of functionality are …