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Fine-Scale Habitat Use Of Reintroduced Black-Footed Ferrets On Prairie Dog Colonies In New Mexico, Jennifer G. Chipault, Dean E. Biggins, James K. Detling, Dustin H. Long, Robin M. Reich Aug 2012

Fine-Scale Habitat Use Of Reintroduced Black-Footed Ferrets On Prairie Dog Colonies In New Mexico, Jennifer G. Chipault, Dean E. Biggins, James K. Detling, Dustin H. Long, Robin M. Reich

Western North American Naturalist

Black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) are among the most endangered animals in North America. Reintroductions of captive-born ferrets onto prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) colonies are crucial to the conservation of the species. In September 2007, captive-born ferrets were released on a black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) colony at the Vermejo Park Ranch, New Mexico. Ferret kits experimentally released in areas of comparatively low and high prairie dog burrow densities were located via spotlight surveys. Some maturing ferret kits were subsequently translocated to areas of low and high burrow densities on nearby prairie dog colonies. For 2 …


Challenges To Black-Footed Ferret Recovery: Protecting Prairie Dogs, Brian Miller, Richard P. Reading Aug 2012

Challenges To Black-Footed Ferret Recovery: Protecting Prairie Dogs, Brian Miller, Richard P. Reading

Western North American Naturalist

The black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes) recovery program is an example of single-species management to preserve flora and fauna. We argue that conservationists must move beyond that approach for success. In 1988, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a down-listing goal of 1500 adult black-footed ferrets in 10 wild populations by 2010. The recovery program has only reached 23% of that goal. The overriding reason is the lack of regulatory mechanisms for poisoning and shooting prairie dogs (Cynomys spp.) and our inability to control occurrence of plague (Yersinia pestis) in prairie dogs. We propose that …


Breeding System And Interaccessional Hybridization Of Purshia Tridentata Plants Grown In A Common Garden, Rosemary L. Pendleton, E. Durant Mcarthur, Stewart C. Sanderson Aug 2012

Breeding System And Interaccessional Hybridization Of Purshia Tridentata Plants Grown In A Common Garden, Rosemary L. Pendleton, E. Durant Mcarthur, Stewart C. Sanderson

Western North American Naturalist

Purshia spp. (Rosaceae) comprise a widespread western North American species complex that is important as landscape dominants, wildlife habitat, browse for wild and domestic ungulates, and seed reserves for small mammals. This study examined aspects of the phenology, compatibility, pollination biology, and progeny fruit characteristics of multiple accessions of bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), as well as a putative hybrid between bitterbrush and Purshia stansburiana. Except for open- and wind-pollination treatments, mass pollination was accomplished at anthesis within white paper sacks, which were used to isolate treatment branches. Bitterbrush appears to be largely self-incompatible and requires some agent, either wind …


Notes On The Distribution Of Bailey's Eastern Woodrat (Neotoma Floridana Baileyi) In Nebraska, Zebadiah R. Graham, Keith Geluso, Russell A. Benedict Aug 2012

Notes On The Distribution Of Bailey's Eastern Woodrat (Neotoma Floridana Baileyi) In Nebraska, Zebadiah R. Graham, Keith Geluso, Russell A. Benedict

Western North American Naturalist

The eastern woodrat (Neotoma floridana) occurs in eastern and central parts of the United States, with 3 subspecies inhabiting Nebraska. Herein, we report on distributional records of N. f. baileyi—an isolated, disjunct subspecies in north-central Nebraska. We searched for diagnostic sign of woodrats in 4 counties in Nebraska and 1 county in South Dakota. We obtained distributional records for N. f. baileyi east, west, and north of known distribution limits in Nebraska, but none in South Dakota. Most distributional records represent range extensions because of lack of prior mammalian surveys in those areas. Observations of woodrats in …


Black-Footed Ferret Home Ranges In Conata Basin, South Dakota, Travis M. Livieri, Eric M. Anderson Aug 2012

Black-Footed Ferret Home Ranges In Conata Basin, South Dakota, Travis M. Livieri, Eric M. Anderson

Western North American Naturalist

We estimated annual home ranges and core areas of black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes) in Conata Basin, South Dakota, by collecting 834 locations of 28 ferrets (20 females, 8 males) through spotlighting from October 1997 to September 2000. Area-per-observation curves showed that a minimum of 23 locations were needed to estimate fixed-kernel home-range size. Mean 95% and 50% fixed-kernel annual home-range sizes of females (95%: 64.7 ha, SE = 11.6; 50%: 12.7 ha, SE = 3.0) were significantly smaller and less variable than those of males (95%: 131.8 ha, SE = 40.3; 50%: 35.6 ha, SE = 16.5). Minimum …


Observation Of Dystocia In Wild Elk, Chad P. Lehman, Lowell E. Schmitz, Mark A. Rumble, Jackie J. Kragel, Joshua J. Millspaugh Aug 2012

Observation Of Dystocia In Wild Elk, Chad P. Lehman, Lowell E. Schmitz, Mark A. Rumble, Jackie J. Kragel, Joshua J. Millspaugh

Western North American Naturalist

On the basis of reports in the literature, incidence of dystocia in wild elk (Cervus elaphus) across the west is rare. In 2011, one of 34 (3%) pregnant cow elk in our study experienced dystocia during birth. Our visual observations indicated that it took approximately 4 days for a radio-collared cow elk to succumb to dystocia in our study. Little is known about dystocia in wild elk populations, and our observation provides some insight about fetal malpresentations.


Con base en los reportes en la literatura, en el occidente no es muy frecuente la incidencia de distocia en el …


Teacher Definitions Of Integration In Primary Grades, Jeanne Sperry Prestwich Aug 2012

Teacher Definitions Of Integration In Primary Grades, Jeanne Sperry Prestwich

Theses and Dissertations

One obstacle that challenges the implementation of effective curriculum integration practices is the confusion caused by the existence of numerous definitions of this construct in the literature. This concern is further compounded by the potential disconnect between the varied definitions proposed by scholars and classroom teachers' acceptance and use of curriculum integration. The purpose of this study was to analyze K-3 grade teachers' self-reported definitions of curriculum integration. Teachers responded to an Internet survey in which they provided their personal definition of curriculum integration, described integrated teaching examples from their own classroom, and rated six teaching scenarios for quality of …


Transgene Delivery Via Microelectromechanical Systems, Aubrey Marie Mueller Wilson Aug 2012

Transgene Delivery Via Microelectromechanical Systems, Aubrey Marie Mueller Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The invention of pronuclear microinjection initiated the field of transgenic research. Over 30 years later microinjection remains the most straight-forward and most commonly used transgene delivery option. In this work we address the current progress of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) used as transgenic delivery mechanisms. The nanoinjector is a specially designed MEMS device which uses electrostatic charge to manipulate transgene molecules. The process of nanoinjection was designed as an alternative to microinjection which causes less damage to developing embryos, improves embryo survival, birth rates, and overall efficiency of injections. In vivo testing of nanoinjection demonstrates it is both safe and effective. …


Design And Testing Of A Biological Microelectromechanical System For The Injection Of Thousands Of Cells Simultaneously, Gregory Herlin Teichert Jul 2012

Design And Testing Of A Biological Microelectromechanical System For The Injection Of Thousands Of Cells Simultaneously, Gregory Herlin Teichert

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to inject DNA and other foreign particles into cells, both germ cells (e.g. to produce transgenic animals) and somatic cells (e.g. for gene therapy), is a powerful tool in genetic research. Nanoinjection is a method of DNA delivery that combines mechanical and electrical methods. It has proven to have higher cell viability than traditional microinjection, resulting in higher integration per injected embryo. The nanoinjection process can be performed on thousands of cells simultaneously using an array of microneedles that is inserted into a monolayer of cells. This thesis describes the needle array design requirements and the fabrication process …


A Longitudinal Study Of The Effect Of At Birth Adoptions On Anxiety, Stress Hormones And Adolescent Alcohol Intake: A Nonhuman Primate Model, Whitney Faith Maxwell Jul 2012

A Longitudinal Study Of The Effect Of At Birth Adoptions On Anxiety, Stress Hormones And Adolescent Alcohol Intake: A Nonhuman Primate Model, Whitney Faith Maxwell

Theses and Dissertations

Adopted individuals have an increased risk for a variety of psychopathological disorders. Studies of the effects adoption in humans are difficult to perform because of the difficulty separating genetic risk and treatment effects. This is a developmental study investigating the effects of at birth adoption using a nonhuman primate model. Three experimental paradigms were used to assess maternal treatment, stress-related behavior, and physiology late in infancy and again later in life. Rhesus monkeys were reared for their first six months of life by either their biological mother or an unrelated, lactating adult female. Adoptions occurred immediately following birth. At six …


Data Consistency And Conflict Avoidance In A Multi-User Cax Environment, Robert Aaron Moncur Jul 2012

Data Consistency And Conflict Avoidance In A Multi-User Cax Environment, Robert Aaron Moncur

Theses and Dissertations

This research presents a new method to preserve data consistency in a multi-user CAx environment. The new method includes three types of constraints which work by constraining and controlling both features and users across an entire multi-user CAx platform. The first type of constraint includes locking or reserving features to enable only one user at a time to edit a given feature. The second type of constraint, collaborative feature constraints, allows flexible constraining of each individual feature in a model, and the data that defines it. The third type of constraint, collaborative user constraints, allows the constraining of user permissions …


Student Autonomy: A Case Study Of Intrinsic Motivation In The Art Classroom, Downi Griner Jul 2012

Student Autonomy: A Case Study Of Intrinsic Motivation In The Art Classroom, Downi Griner

Theses and Dissertations

How might a curriculum based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) influence student motivation and art making in a 9th grade art classroom? The researcher devised a negotiated curriculum called The Master Artist Program based on the SDT theory of intrinsic motivation. The implementation of this curriculum was designed to explore the question of how a curriculum based on SDT theory would influence student motivation and art making in a 9th grade art classroom. This curriculum was implemented in a ninth grade art class on an optional basis for the course of nine weeks. The results of data analysis, illustrated by relevant …


A Qualitative Analysis Of High School Students' Experiences In The Latinos In Action Program, Johann Paul Simonds Jul 2012

A Qualitative Analysis Of High School Students' Experiences In The Latinos In Action Program, Johann Paul Simonds

Theses and Dissertations

This research was a qualitative program evaluation of students' perceptions of Latinos in Action (LIA), a peer-mentoring program that seeks to improve high school Latino graduation rates and college admittance. The study was conducted with college students who participated in the program in high school. LIA graduates were interviewed to determine what major factors influenced and supported them in their academic decisions. Additional data included an interview with the program director, results from the High School Survey of Student Engagement (HSSSE), and a video of one of the interviewees. The researcher explored students' experiences in the LIA program with the …


Outcomes Of A Social Communication Intervention On The Use Of Emotion Words, Amy Tucker Cornett Jul 2012

Outcomes Of A Social Communication Intervention On The Use Of Emotion Words, Amy Tucker Cornett

Theses and Dissertations

Children with language impairment (LI) have often been identified as having social communication breakdowns. A number of these problems are likely the result of deficits in emotional competence. This thesis examines a social communication intervention designed to target the emotional competence of children with LI. Three elementary school-aged children with LI were recruited to receive twenty, 20-minute intervention sessions over the course of four months. Each intervention session involved a combination of activities targeting emotion recognition and emotion inferencing using story retell, story exploration, story enactment, perspectives charts, journal entries, emotion labeling, and personalization. These activities revolved around Mercer Mayer's …


Effect Of Serum Vitamin D Levels On Cardiovascular Mortality And Cardiovascular Disease Risk, Aaron S. Bennion, Karlen E. Luthy, Donna S. Freeborn, Renea L. Beckstrand Jul 2012

Effect Of Serum Vitamin D Levels On Cardiovascular Mortality And Cardiovascular Disease Risk, Aaron S. Bennion, Karlen E. Luthy, Donna S. Freeborn, Renea L. Beckstrand

Student Works

Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent across all geographic areas, age groups, and seasons and is increasing in incidence. Vitamin D receptors have been found to be present in almost every body cell and tissue. Clinical research has alluded to a preventive effect of vitamin D supplementation on cardiovascular disorders such as myocardial infarction, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Furthermore, a low serum vitamin D level has been associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. This paper examines the association between serum vitamin D levels and cardiovascular disease mortality and risk.


A Content Analysis Of Family Structure In Newbery Medal And Honor Books, 1930 -- 2010, Shannon Marie Despain Jul 2012

A Content Analysis Of Family Structure In Newbery Medal And Honor Books, 1930 -- 2010, Shannon Marie Despain

Theses and Dissertations

Newbery books are a reliable representation of quality children's literature. They have not previously been formally evaluated by the family structures represented in the books. This content analysis considered 87 contemporary realistic fiction Newbery winner and Honor books since the 1930s that portray families in English-speaking, western settings. The family structures portrayed in these books were compared with the family structure categories of the decade in which each book is set. Percentage comparisons revealed that the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s do not represent the actual family structures of their time period. After the Age of New Realism began in the …


Effect Of A Humanoid Robot During Therapy On Responding To Joint Attention With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Katherine Lowe Jul 2012

Effect Of A Humanoid Robot During Therapy On Responding To Joint Attention With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Katherine Lowe

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the use of a humanoid robot to engage two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on responding language behaviors including language, affect, imitation, and eye contact. The robot was integrated into each child's regular intervention in low-doses (10 min of a 50 min session). The goal was to increase responding language behaviors in the children with their conversational partners. The two children participated in pre and post assessment sessions as well as 16 intervention sessions. The data from these sessions were coded into two main categories including how the children interacted (Initiating Engagement, Responding to …


Aha'aina, Tali Alisa Hafoka Jul 2012

Aha'aina, Tali Alisa Hafoka

Theses and Dissertations

In a Polynesian feast, food is a metaphor for the essence of Polynesian culture—giving without self regard. As Polynesian culture evolves, its aesthetic standard must necessarily change. Two seemingly conflicting essentials are necessary here for the survival of culture—the evolution of the cultural aesthetic, and the constancy of the culture's essence. One might consider as a metaphor the evolution of a tree through the seasons—though the foliage blooms, changes colors, dies and grows brittle, falls and regenerates, etc., the roots remain constant—ever nourishing the tree and ever supporting it and holding it up. As with the tree, the essence of …


The Relationship Between Select Demographic Characteristics And Body Mass Index Among Native Hawaiian And Other Pacific Islander Caregiving Adults, Katrina Duncan Jul 2012

The Relationship Between Select Demographic Characteristics And Body Mass Index Among Native Hawaiian And Other Pacific Islander Caregiving Adults, Katrina Duncan

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs) have the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity in the world. This study identified the proportion of our NHOPI sample in each body mass index (BMI) category and explored relationships between demographic characteristics and BMI. Design: This descriptive correlational study included 364 NHOPI caregiver adults in Utah (n=155) and Hawaii (n=209). We gathered demographic information with a questionnaire. Height and weight were measured for BMI calculations. Results: According to the CDC's BMI categories, 84.3% of our sample was overweight (BMI=25.0-29.9) or obese (BMI ≥30). Participants in Utah had significantly higher BMIs than …


Culvert Roughness Elements For Native Utah Fish Passage: Phase Ii, Suzanne Kim Monk Jul 2012

Culvert Roughness Elements For Native Utah Fish Passage: Phase Ii, Suzanne Kim Monk

Theses and Dissertations

Native fishes have become an increasingly important concern when designing fish passable culverts. Many operational culverts constrict waterways which increase velocities and prevent upstream passage of small fish species. The current method to ensure fish passage is to match the average cross sectional velocity to the sustained swim speed of the fish. This study investigates the passage rates of leatherside chub (Lepidomeda aliciae) and speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus) at three sites (an arch culvert with substrate bottom, box culvert with bare bottom, and a stream section with no culvert) located on Salina Creek near Salina, UT. It was found that …


Textbook Bling: An Evaluation Of Textbook Quality And Usability In Open Educational Resources Versus Traditionally Published Textbooks, Jennifer Lynn Price Jul 2012

Textbook Bling: An Evaluation Of Textbook Quality And Usability In Open Educational Resources Versus Traditionally Published Textbooks, Jennifer Lynn Price

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods study evaluated quality, usage, and perceptions of open educational resources compared to traditionally published textbooks. Because textbooks and other related materials make up a significant portion of educational costs, open educational resources have been explored for potential cost savings at all levels of education. These resources use public domain or open-licensed materials as the content component of free eTextbooks or low-cost printed textbooks. This evaluation explores how teachers and students use textbook resources both in and out of the classroom and the degree to which the content and design of open textbooks compares in quality and value to …


Parowan Fremont Faunal Exploitation: Resource Depression Or Feasting?, Sara E. Stauffer Jul 2012

Parowan Fremont Faunal Exploitation: Resource Depression Or Feasting?, Sara E. Stauffer

Theses and Dissertations

The faunal remains of large game such as mule deer, pronghorn, and mountain sheep are abundant at Fremont sites, as are jackrabbits and cottontails. The proportions of these species in Fremont faunal assemblages fluctuate through time. Explanations for these variations range from resource depression to communal activities. This thesis provides the results of the faunal analysis from three previously unreported sites. Paragonah (42IN43), Summit (42IN40), and Parowan (42IN100) are large Fremont sites in the Parowan Valley located 20 miles north of Cedar City in Utah. The purpose of this thesis is to determine if the variations in the faunal assemblage …


Where There Is Design, Elizabeth A. Crowe Jul 2012

Where There Is Design, Elizabeth A. Crowe

Theses and Dissertations

Giving up a certain amount of control can be healthy, productive, and natural. Nature has an important part to play in our lives, and nature is random even as it obeys natural laws. In the same way, creating ceramic objects requires obedience to the laws of nature even as it benefits from freedom from control. Creation requires a certain amount of letting go of control, allowing nature to take its course, and recognizing when good things happen. I have learned that my most successful pieces emerge when I combine conscious control with serendipity. The work in this show reflects that …


Plant Establishment And Soil Microenvironments In Utah Juniper Masticated Woodlands, Kert R. Young Jul 2012

Plant Establishment And Soil Microenvironments In Utah Juniper Masticated Woodlands, Kert R. Young

Theses and Dissertations

Juniper (Juniperus spp.) encroachment into sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and bunchgrass communities has reduced understory plant cover and allowed juniper trees to dominate millions of hectares of semiarid rangelands. Trees are mechanically masticated or shredded to decrease wildfire potential and increase desirable understory plant cover. When trees are masticated after a major increase in tree population density and associated decrease in perennial understory cover, there is a risk that invasive annual grasses will dominate because they are highly responsive to the increased resource availability that commonly follows removal of the main resource user. To determine if tree mastication increases …


Communication Patterns Among Members Of Engineering Global Virtual Teams, Holt Zaugg Jul 2012

Communication Patterns Among Members Of Engineering Global Virtual Teams, Holt Zaugg

Theses and Dissertations

Global virtual (GV) teams provide an opportunity for engineering students to participate in meaningful, cross-cultural learning projects without additional costs of time and money associated with study abroad programs. However, students must learn how to communicate effectively with international team members. Instruction to help students learn which virtual communication technologies to use and how to use them is needed. Training must include cross-cultural training that facilitates team communications and interactions with people from different cultural backgrounds. This study focused on how 10 specialized lessons, Principles of Global Virtual Teams (PGVT), facilitated the communications and interactions of students participating on GV …


Malingering Detection Measure Utility And Concordance In A University Accommodation-Seeking Student Population, Nichole M. Loser Jul 2012

Malingering Detection Measure Utility And Concordance In A University Accommodation-Seeking Student Population, Nichole M. Loser

Theses and Dissertations

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, universities and colleges are required to provide accommodative services for students with disabilities. Many studies have examined the role of malingering mental health symptoms in order to obtain psychotropic medications, but very little research has been done on the role of accommodations as secondary gain in students who may malinger learning disabilities. This study sought to examine both the usefulness of implementing specific malingering detection measures in psychological evaluations with university students and the agreement of those measures within the population. Archival data was gathered from a university accommodation clinic that provided free …


Healing The Cartesian Split: Understanding And Renewing Pathos In Academic Writing, Travis Washburn Jul 2012

Healing The Cartesian Split: Understanding And Renewing Pathos In Academic Writing, Travis Washburn

Theses and Dissertations

There have always been rogues who dared to go against the traditional "intellectual" writing style of science and academia, a style that seems bent on transcending the "merely personal." Those who take this risk are embracing the rhetorical tradition of pathos, one that goes as far back as Aristotle. Current academic trends support a genre devoid of pathos and lacking true ethos—a deviation from classic rhetoric, and one that supports the Cartesian split of mind-body dualism. Neurological studies done by Antonio Damasio and others suggest that a holistic view is a more accurate picture of how a human soul functions. …


Assessing The Vulnerability Of Human And Biological Communities To Changing Ecosystem Services Using A Gis-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Support Tool, Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, William B. Labiosa Jul 2012

Assessing The Vulnerability Of Human And Biological Communities To Changing Ecosystem Services Using A Gis-Based Multi-Criteria Decision Support Tool, Miguel L. Villarreal, Laura M. Norman, William B. Labiosa

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

In this paper we describe an application of a GIS-based multi-criteria decision support web tool that models and evaluates relative changes in ecosystem services to policy and land management decisions. The Santa Cruz Watershed Ecosystem Portfolio (SCWEPM) was designed to provide credible forecasts of responses to ecosystem drivers and stressors and to illustrate the role of land use decisions on spatial and temporal distributions of ecosystem services within a binational (U.S. and Mexico) watershed. We present two SCWEPM sub-models that when analyzed together address bidirectional relationships between social and ecological vulnerability and ecosystem services. The first model employs the Modified …


Dm2: A Software Tool For Dredged Material Characterization And Management, Alla Khosrovyan, Araceli Rodríguez-Romero, T. Angel Delvalls, Inmaculada Riba Jul 2012

Dm2: A Software Tool For Dredged Material Characterization And Management, Alla Khosrovyan, Araceli Rodríguez-Romero, T. Angel Delvalls, Inmaculada Riba

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

A new software tool - Decision Making on Dredged Material (DM2) - for dredged material quality assessment and management is developed. Based on Spanish recommendations for dredged material management of 2008, it analyzes different lines of evidence of sediment contamination by metals and organic micro-pollutants. Particularly, chemical load in sediments is compared to the admissible concentration limits of these contaminants as adopted in Spain; sediment toxicity is estimated based on the responses of organisms to contaminant exposure. Integrated assessment of the sediment quality is done by assigning categories from A to C depending on the severity of contamination. The same …


Geovisual Analytics Of Satellite Image Time Series, Raul Zurita-Milla, Connie Blok, Vasilios Retsios Jul 2012

Geovisual Analytics Of Satellite Image Time Series, Raul Zurita-Milla, Connie Blok, Vasilios Retsios

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Satellite image time series provide valuable information on the Earth’sdynamics at a variety of spatio-temporal scales. Progress on information andcommunication technologies has greatly improved the access to such time series.For instance, the GEONETCast system freely distributes near real time rawsatellite images and higher level products to end-users all over the word. Thisexplains the ubiquitous use of satellite image time series in a wide range ofenvironmental applications. However, geospatial software and, in particular,geographical information systems (GIS), generally lack robust functionality tovisualize and to analyze large time series of data. This paper presents ongoingwork to enhance an open source GIS software package, …