Digital Commons Network^™

Optimized Simulation Of Granular Materials, Seth R. Holladay

Theses and Dissertations

Visual effects for film and animation often require simulated granular materials, such as sand, wheat, or dirt, to meet a director's needs. Simulating granular materials can be time consuming, in both computation and labor, as these particulate materials have complex behavior and an enormous amount of small-scale detail. Furthermore, a single cubic meter of granular material, where each grain is a cubic millimeter, would contain a billion granules, and simulating all such interacting granules would take an impractical amount of time for productions. This calls for a simplified model for granular materials that retains high surface detail and granular behavior …

"Sealing Their Two Fates With A Fracture": Ted Hughes's "Pyramus And Thisbe" As An Emblem Of The Paradox Of Translation, Carolyn Carter

Theses and Dissertations

This work explores how the 20th century English poet Ted Hughes translates one episode from Ovid's Metamorphoses (the "Pyramus and Thisbe" myth included in Hughes's Tales from Ovid) to make it an emblem for his notions about translation. In translating "Pyramus and Thisbe," Hughes removed many of the formal Ovidian elements and amplified the themes of violence and mingling latent in the myth. In doing so, he highlights the concept that communication sometimes necessitates breaking, symbolized primarily by the chink in the wall through which Pyramus and Thisbe whisper to one another. This metaphor for translation corroborates Hughes's discursive …

Nest-Area Fidelity Of Greater Sage-Grouse In Strawberry Valley, Utah, Riley D. Peck, Rick J. Baxter, Randy T. Larsen, Jerran T. Flinders

Western North American Naturalist

Nest-area fidelity is common among many birds including those in the orders Anseriformes, Ciconiiformes, and Procellariiformes. Successful nesting attempts are often associated with a higher probability that nesting adults will return in a consecutive year. Conversely, unsuccessful birds are often less likely to show fidelity in subsequent years. Despite substantial natural history information from across the range of Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), the prevalence of sage-grouse nest-area fidelity remains unclear. Our objectives were to (1) determine if individual female sage-grouse showed fidelity to nesting areas in subsequent years, (2) test whether successful females were more likely to demonstrate …

Site-Occupancy Monitoring Of An Ecosystem Indicator: Linking Characteristics Of Riparian Vegetation To Beaver Occurrence, Stewart W. Breck, Michael I. Goldstein, Sanjay Pyare

Western North American Naturalist

Establishing sampling frameworks to monitor the occurrence of ecological indicators, and to identify the covariates that influence occurrence, are high priority needs for natural-resource restoration and management efforts. We utilized occupancy modeling to identify patterns of beaver occurrence and factors influencing these patterns (i.e., type and amount of vegetation cover) in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River ecosystem. We used rafts and kayaks to access a stratified random sample of sites (i.e., 100 m long sections of river bank) and used repeated sampling procedures to sample for beaver sign (i.e., lodges, cuttings, tracks, and beaver observed). We quantified the …

Homing Behavior And Survival Of Pygmy Rabbits After Experimental Translocation, Timothy J. Lawes, Robert G. Anthony, W. Douglas Robinson, James T. Forbes, Glenn A. Lorton

Western North American Naturalist

Habitat fragmentation is hypothesized to influence movements of animals between isolated habitat fragments and to affect survival of animals moving between fragments. Translocation experiments can provide quantitative information on movements and survival. We assessed potential barriers to dispersal and survival of pygmy rabbits (Brachylagus idahoensis), a species of conservation concern that is hypothesized to be sensitive, after translocation, to fragmentation of its sagebrush habitats. We measured homing tendency and estimated survival of pygmy rabbits after short-distance (1–2 km) experimental translocations at sites in southeastern Oregon. We captured, radio-tagged, and translocated 59 pygmy rabbits across 3 landscape categories of …

Associations Of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages With Environmental Variables In The Upper Clear Creek Watershed, California, Larry R. Brown, Jason T. May, Marissa Wulff

Western North American Naturalist

Benthic macroinvertebrates are integral components of stream ecosystems and are often used to assess the ecological integrity of streams. We sampled streams in the upper Clear Creek drainage in the Klamath–Siskiyou Ecoregion of northwestern California in fall 2004 (17 sites) and 2005 (original 17 plus 4 new sites) with the objectives of documenting the benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages supported by the streams in the area, determining how those assemblages respond to environmental variables, assessing the biological condition of the streams using a benthic index of biotic integrity (IBI), and understanding the assemblages in the context of biodiversity of the ecoregion. We …

Ringtail (Bassariscus Astutus) Ecology And Behavior In Central New Mexico, Usa, Robert L. Harrison

Western North American Naturalist

I studied the ecology and behavior of ringtails (Bassariscus astutus) in juniper (Juniperus monosperma) woodland on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico. Average home-range sizes of ringtails (males 462 ha, females 94 ha, 95% fixed kernel) were among the largest reported to date. Females moved least in summer and most in autumn, but males showed no seasonal trend in movements. The average stay in a single den was 1.3 days. I found no effect of the closeness of approach of the den observer on the distance moved between successive dens. Ringtails used a …

Jeffrey Pine Seed Dispersal In The Sierra San Pedro Mártir, Baja California, Mexico, Stephen B. Vander Wall, Mark S. Enders, Sarah Barga, Christopher Moore, Amy Seaman, Ramón Perea

Western North American Naturalist

The Sierra San Pedro Mártir (SSPM) in northern Baja California, Mexico, is a remote mountain at the southern edge of the California Floristic Province, a vegetation type that includes the Sierra Nevada of California and western Nevada. Unlike most forests in the southwestern United States, the forests of the SSPM have never been logged and have experienced only light grazing in recent years, and wildfires have not been suppressed until recent decades. The SSPM represents one of the best examples of an intact presettlement forest in the California Floristic Province. We investigated the mode of seed dispersal of Jeffrey pine …

Current Status Of The Plains Pocket Mouse (Perognathus Flavescens) In Eastern Nebraska, Keith Geluso, Greg D. Wright

Western North American Naturalist

Distribution of the plains pocket mouse (Perognathus flavescens) overlaps tallgrass prairies in northeastern parts of the species’ range in the central United States. Distribution and abundance of the plains pocket mouse appears negatively impacted by agricultural practices during the last century due to the scarcity of records throughout the region. In eastern Nebraska, few plains pocket mice have been captured and no published account exists in recent decades. We investigated the current status of P. f. perniger, the eastern subspecies in Nebraska, because of a paucity of information regarding this subspecies’ natural history and suspected extirpation from the …

Diet And Ectoparasites Of The Southern Short-Tailed Shrew (Blarina Carolinensis) In Louisiana, Terry L. Sylvester, Justin D. Hoffman, Eddie K. Lyons

Western North American Naturalist

Diet items and ectoparasites were identified from 15 southern short-tailed shrews (Blarina carolinensis) captured during a one-year study (December 2009–November 2010). Twenty different diet items were found in 13 southern short-tailed shrews. Collectively, insects made up the bulk of these shrews’ diet (92%), with Diptera and Hymenoptera being most prevalent. Plant material and arachnids occurred 46% of the time. Six of the diet items identified are new reports for the southern short-tailed shrew. Nine ectoparasite species were collected from 11 of the southern short-tailed shrews, comprising 8 species of mites and one species of tick. Orycteroxenus soricisand …

The Significance Of Sex-Linked Chromosomal Inversions In The Speciation Process Of The Simulium Arcticum Complex Of Black Flies (Diptera: Simuliidae), Gerald F. Shields

Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist

This study summarizes cytogenetic variation, particularly sex-linked chromosomal inversions which define taxa of the Simulium arcticum complex (Diptera: Simuliidae) in western Montana and portions of northern Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Variation in polytene chromosomes was determined for nearly 15,000 larvae from 234 collections taken from 58 freshwater sites. The previously described siblings, S. apricarium, S. arcticum sensu stricto, S. brevicercum, and S. saxosum, were most numerous, while all cytotypes, with the exception of IIL-19, were found in low frequency. Additionaly, 6 new cytotypes in low frequency are described. Evidence suggests that the Y chromosome carries the testis-determining gene, and in …

Leaving The Alps For The Plains: A Brief Narrative Of A Swiss Family's Migration To Texas, Barbara Ozun

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Cows, cheese, Swiss Army knives, mountains, and beautiful lakes are what people think of when they think Switzerland. Others talk about the military and the fact that every man is allowed-not encouraged-to own a gun and regularly shoot it at targets ... Still others marvel that a country so small could function so well with four official languages. Currently, cocktail party talk seems to center around the prescience of Switzerland's decision not to be part of the Eurozane-that is, if the person I am talking with can distinguish .Switzerland from Sweden! I am often asked about Switzerland and how my …

Film Review: The 2012 Tim Bevan Production Of Leo Tolstoi's Anna Karenina, Dwight Page

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Director Joe Wright's 2012 film of Leo Tolstoi 's Anna Karenina represents the eighth major cinematographic production of this beloved classic. Previous versions of the famous story include the 1935 film starring Greta Garbo and Frederic March; the 1948 film starring Vivian Leigh and Ralph Richardson; the 1985 televised American film starring Jacqueline Bisset and Christopher Reeves; the 1997 film, the first American version to be filmed on location in Russia starring Sophie Marceau and Sean Bean; and finally three Russian versions made in 1953, 1967 and 1974.

Bats Of The Wildcat Hills And Surrounding Areas In Western Nebraska, Keith Geluso, Jeffrey J. Huebschman, Kenneth N. Geluso

Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist

During the last few decades, detailed studies of bats have been conducted in many parts of Nebraska, but comprehensive surveys were lacking in the Wildcat Hills and other western regions of the state. The Wildcat Hills represent a unique and isolated area of rugged buttes, ridges, and canyons dominated by ponderosa pine forests (Pinus ponderosa) in central parts of Nebraska’s panhandle. This area also contains landscapes with some of the highest wind speeds in the state, making it conducive for future wind-energy development. To better understand the natural history of bats and to promote conservation efforts in the …

Animating Non-Rigid Bodies Using Motion Capture, Jie Long

Theses and Dissertations

Simulating the motion of a non-rigid body under external forces is a difficult problem because of the complexity and flexibility of the non-rigid geometry and its associated dynamics. Physically based animation of objects moving in the wind is computationally expensive, so simulation-based approaches oversimplify the model by ignoring important effects, such as tree's sheltering. Motion capture records actual responses of a non-rigid body to external forces and helps solve these problems. Mainly focusing on natural trees and ropes as instances of non-rigid bodies, we present a new approach to building motion for objects in wind using incomplete motion capture data …

Joseph Smith, The Times And Seasons, And Central American Ruins, Matthew Roper, Paul J. Fields, Atul Nepal

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

During the time the Latter-day Saints lived in Nauvoo, John Stephens and Frederick Catherwood published Incidents of Travel in Central America, an illustrated report of the first discovery of ancient ruins in Central America by explorers. These discoveries caused great excitement among the Saints, and subsequently five editorials appeared in the Times and Seasons commenting on what these meant for the church. Although the author of the editorials was not indicated, historians have wondered if Joseph Smith penned them since he was the newspaper’s editor at the time. We examined the historical evidence surrounding the editorials and conducted a detailed …

Awe Volume 1 (2013), Awe Editors

AWE (A Woman’s Experience)

No abstract provided.

Baptized In Acid Or Breathed With Life? An Exploration Of Psychology's Bridging Capacity, Michael J. Richardson

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Three influences are described as contributing to a changing understanding of “secular” that ultimately excluded a consideration of theistic considerations: First, the separation of religious and scientific domains following Cartesian dualism opened the door for the popularization of a naturalistic science with a central characteristic of being independent of theistic considerations. Dualism eventually emphasized a distinction between subjective and objective experiences, rather than a distinction between spiritual and material realities—allowing the possibility of a purely naturalistic dualism. Second, naturalistic science made inroads back into traditionally religious questions involving the “objective” realm, particularly through the work of Charles Darwin. Third, drawing …

To: Tavita “David” Tausilinu’U Hannemann, Max E. Stanton

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

Regarding: Max Stanton’s Experience at the Polynesian Cultural Center, 1964-1965

Altered and revised August 26, 2013 for presentation via Skype from my home in Portland, Oregon (where I was recovering from a recently a severely broken left ankle I had received on August 2, 20123, just five weeks before in Vancouver Island, in Canada.) This was my verbal presentation for the Mormon Pacific Historical Society –at the “Little Theatre” at BYU-Hawaii for the Joseph Napela Centre for Pacific Studies Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration of the Polynesian Cultural Center, September 7, 2013. I wish to extend my sincerest thanks to Drs. Riley …

Pcc Night Show Update, Craig Ferre

Mormon Pacific Historical Society

In 1940 the original chapel in Laie, then 75 years old was being readied for a much need repainting. At the time it was common to remove old paint with a blow torch. This proved fatal to the old wooding structure as it subsequently burnt to the ground. I can imagine that the poor saint whose blow torch ignited the blaze felt terrible, and that he and the other workers were inconsolable with their loss. They could never have envisioned that this tragic act would give rise to one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions, and blessing beyond measure …

Teaching Witchcraft In The Digital Age: Adventures In An Online Village, Jennifer Mcnabb

Quidditas

Perhaps nothing is more valued in the modern classroom than student engagement. Pedagogical strategies and exercises for encouraging active learning are both wide-ranging and plentiful. Among the most popular at present is Barnard College’s Reacting to the Past (RTTP) role-playing games: “Reacting to the Past (RTTP) consists of elaborate games, set in the past, in which students are assigned roles informed by classic texts in the history of ideas. Class sessions are run entirely by students; instructors advise and guide students and grade their oral and written work. It seeks to draw students into the past, promote engagement with big …

Mohave Desert—An Overview And Byu's Lytle Preserve, Stanley L. Welsh, Larry St. Clair

Books by Faculty of the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Mohahve or Mohave (Mojave) gets its Explorer and its Name (sort of?)

The Frémont Odyssey through the Mohahve

What of the Crossing of the Mohahve?

References

BYU's Lytle Preserve

Acknowledgments

The Spectacles, The Stone, The Hat, And The Book: A Twenty-First Century Believer’S View Of The Book Of Mormon Translation, Roger Nicholson

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

This essay seeks to examine the Book of Mormon translation method from the perspective of a regular, nonscholarly, believing member in the twenty-first century, by taking into account both what is learned in Church and what can be learned from historical records that are now easily available. What do we know? What should we know? How can a believing Latter-day Saint reconcile apparently conflicting accounts of the translation process? An examination of the historical sources is used to provide us with a fuller and more complete understanding of the complexity that exists in the early events of the Restoration. These …

Adam Miller’S New Hermeneutic?, Robert E. Smith

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Whatever else spirit may be, we experience spirit as an interpenetrating weave of thoughts, ideas, judgments, feelings, passions, desires, and aversions. Though rooted in the body, this weave of spirit involves a dimension of looped awareness and reflexivity that is finer and harder to discern than those that belong to the body itself. (p. 42)

Nephite Insights Into Israelite Worship Practices Before The Babylonian Captivity, A. Keith Thompson

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

General historical consensus holds that synagogues originated before the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70, and therefore probably originated during the Babylonian captivity. The suggestion in Philo and Josephus that synagogues may have originated during the exodus was discredited by some historians in the 17th century, yet the Book of Mormon speaks of synagogues, sanctuaries, and places of worship in a manner which suggests that Lehi and his party brought some form of synagogal worship with them when they left Jerusalem around 600 BC. This essay revisits the most up to date scholarship regarding the origin of the …

“In The Mount Of The Lord It Shall Be Seen” And “Provided”: Theophany And Sacrifice As The Etiological Foundation Of The Temple In Israelite And Latter-Day Saint Tradition, Matthew L. Bowen

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

For ancient Israelites, the temple was a place where sacrifice and theophany (i.e., seeing God or other heavenly beings) converged. The account of Abraham’s “arrested” sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22) and the account of the arrested slaughter of Jerusalem following David’s unauthorized census of Israel (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21) served as etiological narratives— explanations of “cause” or “origin”—for the location of the Jerusalem temple and its sacrifices. Wordplay on the verb rāʾâ (to “see”) in these narratives creates an etiological link between the place-names “Jehovah-jireh,” “Moriah” and the threshing floor of Araunah/Ornan, pointing to the future location of …

Written To The Lamanites: Understanding The Book Of Mormon Through Native Culture And Religion, Gary P. Gillum

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Latter-day Saints have always been encouraged to seek the truth wherever it can be found. With the Book of Mormon being written especially to the Lamanites, we can assume that the more we know about Lamanite and Native American culture, the more we can understand, appreciate and gain insights as we read that inspired scripture. In this article the writer has compared examples from Native American culture and history to what we read in the Book of Mormon and experience as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Most importantly, as we read through the eyes of …

Full Issue

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Misunderstanding Mormonism In The Mormonizing Of America, Craig L. Foster

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The Mormonizing of America by Stephen Mansfield has been touted as a solid, impartial look at Mormon history and doctrine. Unfortunately, on closer examination, the book is seriously lacking both in substance and impartiality. This article discusses the book’s numerous problems.

“Endless Forms Most Beautiful”: The Uses And Abuses Of Evolutionary Biology In Six Works, Gregory L. Smith

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The position of the Church on the origin of man was published by the First Presidency in 1909 and stated again by a different First Presidency in 1925: