Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Role Of Salt-Tolerant Halomonas Inoculant In Altering Plant Gene Expression To Improve Salt Tolerance In Alfalfa., Ashley Kay Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Soil salinity is an increasing problem facing agriculture in many parts of the world. Climate change and irrigation practices have led to decreased yields of large areas of farmland due to increased salt levels in the soil. Irrigation introduces salts to the soil that with time accumulate and threaten crop yield. In arid climates like Utah, the practice of irrigation is especially threatening to salt-sensitive crops including alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Plants that have tolerance to salt are needed to feed livestock and the world's population. One approach to address this problem is to introduce genes encoding salt tolerance into the …

Grief In Children With Disabilities And How It Is Portrayed In Children's Picture Books, Erjola Gjini

Theses and Dissertations

Even though today's children's literature provides a wide range of topics, including books on death and grief, and much has been done to represent children with disabilities accurately and positively, there is still room for improvement. This descriptive study sought to understand how individuals with disabilities were represented in 177 grief-themed children's books from 1965-2023. From the results, only seven books included representations of individuals with disabilities. Additionally, the literary devices such as euphemisms or metaphors utilized in the books to describe how death was represented may inadvertently perpetuate inaccessibility to resources about grief (Berns, 2004). Thus, when choosing books …

The -Go Morpheme And Reference Tracking In Jicarilla Apache, Lee Shanideen Ferrin

Theses and Dissertations

Jicarilla Apache is a Southern Athabaskan language with a complex verbal structure, including a prefix template with positions for more than ten affixes. Little has been done to document or describe the language grammatically or typologically, but one of the morphemes that has been described in the literature is the suffix -go. The morpheme can be found in elicited speech as well as in narrations. This morpheme is one of the few verbal affixes that can appear after the verb stem and plays a role in many subordinate clause constructions. It has been described as a temporal marker, a feature …

Using De Novo Transcriptomes To Decipher The Relationships In Cutthroat Trout Subspecies (Oncorhynchus Clarkii), Andrea Leena Kokkonen

Theses and Dissertations

Cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) is a salmonid native to Western North America. For almost 200 years, the taxonomy of these species has fluctuated as ichthyologists and fisheries managers alike have tried to understand the diversity seen within these fishes. In the 1950s, Robert Behnke reexamined the cutthroat trout and identified 14 subspecies based on morphological observations, Pleistocene events, and modern geographic ranges. These designations were instrumental in preserving the remaining diversity of cutthroat trout. Over time, molecular techniques (i.e. karyotypes, allozymes, and mtDNA) have largely replicated Behnke's phylogenies. However, these studies have revealed that some of these relationships are consistently …

An Assessment Of Cattle Traffic On, And Seed Dispersion Patterns Of, Sclerocactus Wrightiae, David D. Lariviere

Theses and Dissertations

Cattle grazing has been a historic use of rangelands in Utah since Pioneer settlement in the mid 1800's. Wright fishhook cactus is a small globose cactus endemic to an area of 280,000 ha in south-central Utah and was listed as endangered in October of 1979, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). By 2010, concerns were expressed that soil compaction in proximity to the cactus posed a threat to this species, though there was no empirical data to support such concern. In order to assess the impact of cattle traffic on Wright fishhook cactus, we used an imprint device …

The Dialectic Of Human Liberty In Thomas Carlyle's Past And Present And J.S. Mill's On Liberty, Kyle Belanger

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis explores the divergent arguments that Thomas Carlyle and J.S. Mill make on the subject of liberty in their most influential works, Past and Present (1843) and On Liberty (1859), respectively. Whereas Carlyle presents a corporate vision of liberty, deriving from the visionary capabilities of heroic leaders, Mill defines liberty as fundamentally rooted in individual rights and, in the third chapter of his long essay, directly critiques Carlyle in a section of On Liberty, with striking evidence that Mill responds to rhetoric found in Past and Present. Understanding their theoretical divergences provides a new vantage point with which to …

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

New Volume Explores King Benjamin's Speech

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

A long-awaited, 679-page volume on King Benjamin's speech has just come off the press-one of four books that FARMS is pleased to have published independently in 1998 (see the articles above and on page 4). Edited by John, W. Welch and Stephen D. Ricks, King Benjamin's Speech: "That Ye May Learn Wisdom" is the culmination of many years' research on numerous aspects of this profound address.

Images Of Ancient America Connects Mesoamerican Peoples And Lands To The Book Of Mormon

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Images of Ancient America: Visualizing Book of Mormon Life, by John L. Sorenson, richly portrays the daily lives of the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica and their likely connections to the record known as the Book of Mormon. This fullcolor, large-format volume, the newest release from FARMS, contains careful research and over five hundred high-quality illustrations and photographs that shape vague ghosts from the past into fleshand- blood people.

Reproductive Ecology And Bee Associates Of Packard’S Milkvetch (Astragalus Packardiae), A Rare Plant Endemic To Southwestern Idaho, Justin R. Fulkerson, C. Lynn Kinter

Western North American Naturalist

Conservation of rare plants is dependent on identifying mechanisms that limit their population or persistence. Successful pollination of flowers is one life history trait that is often limiting in plants occurring in fragmented landscapes. We studied pollinator associates and seed production in Astragalus packardiae (= A. cusickii var. packardiae, Packard’s milkvetch), a narrow endemic that is imperiled as a result of nonnative annual grasses, increased wildfire, recreational off-highway vehicle use, and livestock use. We used pollinator exclusion bags to examine the breeding system of Packard’s milkvetch. We collected and videotaped floral visitors to determine the makeup of the associates …

Insects Are Attracted To White Wind Turbine Bases: Evidence From Turbine Mimics, Madison S. Crawford, Delina E. Dority, Michael E. Dillon, Lusha M. Tronstad

Western North American Naturalist

Wind power is one of the fastest growing forms of renewable energy, but the interactions between wind turbines and insects are largely unknown beyond the observation that the accumulation of dead insects on turbine blades drastically reduces the power produced. Insects may be attracted to wind energy facilities because of topography, the heat that turbines produce, the lighting, or the visual cue of the turbine itself. Turbines can present a striking visual contrast relative to the surrounding landscape, particularly when they are painted bright white and reflect ultraviolet wavelengths. To test the hypothesis that wind turbine color attracts insects, we …

The Astronomy Animated Gif Lab, Darin Ragozzine

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

Astrophysics, Education

The Applicability Of Lessons From American Society For The European Union: Tolerance, Demographic Change, And Social Structure, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

While Americans have long tended to see our society and civilization as exceptional, in fact the civilization is primarily based on European precedent. We see ourselves, in the words of one of our most significant poets, Emma Lazarus, as the new colossus, “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp cries she... I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” We claim to be an exception; that means that we are unique, different, what many, alluding to the New Testament as viewed by the Pilgrim founding fathers, have called “a shining city upon a hill.”2 And as “a beacon of hope.”

The Economic Regions Of Chinese Civilization: A Gis-Based Analysis Of Grain Markets In China, 1736-1842, Karl Ryavec, Mark Henderson, Rocco Bowman

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

The Possibility Of A Global Civilization, Robert Elliott Allinson

Comparative Civilizations Review

This article inquires into the question of what is civilization. It considers that a sine qua non of a civilization is a non-violent culture. It investigates the concept of violence and extends the concept to cover examples of citizens who live in conditions of poverty, ill health, lack of food, lack of education, lack of adequate housing, and inadequate living conditions. The argument in the article is that a civilization that allows such conditions to exist perpetrates violence upon its citizens and therefore does not deserve the appellation, ‘civilization.’ Those citizens who do not protest against such violence are not …

Monitoring Wise Civilization By Creating An Index, Andrew Targowski

Comparative Civilizations Review

The Wise Civilization Index will assess how wise we are in developing and living in a sustainable civilization.

Recently, people have started to worry about the state of the climate. This has been reflected in the finding that the climate temperature should be kept to a growth of below two degrees Celsius by 2100 to save our species from a slow death (The Paris Agreement of 2015). After all, raising the human body temperature by two degrees threatens illness and even death by four degrees. The same (relatively) can be done with Earth. However, apart from the climate, the problem …

The Mything Link: Why Sacred Storytelling Is A Key Human Survival Strategy, Ken Baskin

Comparative Civilizations Review

For several decades, societies across the globe have faced a real existential threat with challenges such as global warming. Yet no one in the elite has been able to do anything to improve conditions. We seem to be trapped in the kind of situation that Einstein described when he discussed problems that can’t be solved with the logic that created them.

Western Pearlshell (Margaritifera Falcata) Extirpation In The Smith River, Montana, With A Possible Link To Warming Water Temperatures, David M. Stagliano

Western North American Naturalist

Western pearlshell (Margaritifera falcata) populations are in decline across the species’ range in western North America. In 2008, Montana categorized the western pearlshell as an imperiled species of concern (S2) based on reduced detections at historically occupied sites and few viable populations. Between 2004 and 2014, we surveyed 24 Smith River reaches (61 total sites in the watershed) for the presence of western pearlshell populations. Despite historical and anecdotal descriptions of abundant western pearlshell in the Smith River, intensive structured surveys between 2004 and 2007 documented only 4 sections with low-density, nonviable western pearlshell populations (<10 individuals, large size classes [average total length = 70 mm], with no signs of recruitment). In 2014, we revisited these occupied sites to repeat surveys (expending significantly more search time) and observed no live individuals. This was surprising given that, although those populations would certainly die out without recruitment, older individuals can oftentimes persist for decades. Therefore, we consider the western pearlshell mussel extirpated from the Smith River watershed. We reviewed long-term USGS gage discharge and temperature data near the western pearlshell populations to evaluate the potential causal factors for, and timing of, the extirpation. From 3 July to 3 August 2007, water temperatures were at or above the thermal stress levels of the western pearlshell (>25 °C, …

Playing To Play: A Critical Analysis Of Masaaki Yuasa's Ping Pong: The Animation., W. Ranse Gale

Theses and Dissertations

Masaaki Yuasa's 2014 series Ping Pong: The Animation approaches the ideas of play, competition, and victory in unique ways, especially when compared to other series in the sports anime genre. Through the protagonist Smile, Yuasa encourages viewers to engage with play in a childlike, empathetic and naïve way, as opposed to focusing on victory. By analyzing the series using De Koven's ways to approach play, scholars and fans can better understand the variety of ways in which the characters approach play, and how each of them eventually learns to play well. Analyzing this series through the perspective of metamodernism as …

Empowering The Heroes Of Tomorrow: A Literary Analysis Of Portrayals Of Protagonists' Agency In Award-Winning Fantasy Novels And Its Educational Implications, Kelly Dickson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Given the need for upper elementary students to develop a sense of their own agency, this research explored depictions of the agentic behavior of protagonists within the five most recent Newbery-awarded texts from the fantasy genre. Included is a reflexive thematic analysis of the agentic behavior of protagonists in the texts, an exploration of ways the constructed themes of agency may positively impact young readers’ agentic development, and potential implications for educators. The thematic analysis describes different types of agentic behavior in which the protagonists engage and how transacting with these textual examples can help students develop their own senses …

Are Shrubs A Necessary Component Of The Habitat For Ammospermophilus Nelsoni In The San Joaquin Desert?, David J. Germano, Larry R. Saslaw

Western North American Naturalist

The San Joaquin antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni; SJAS) is a state-listed Threatened species in California that evolved in the shrublands of the San Joaquin Desert. Due to livestock overgrazing and fires, much of the desert has lost its shrub cover, which would be a conservation concern if shrubs are a necessary component of the habitat for squirrels. We established two 64-trap plots on the Lokern area of Kern County, California: one covered by saltbush scrub (Atriplex spp.) and another nearby without shrubs. We trapped quarterly starting in January 2019 and ending in November 2021 (12 trap sessions). …

Mexican Gartersnakes (Thamnophis Eques) Along The Gila River In Southwestern New Mexico, Keith Geluso

Western North American Naturalist

The Mexican gartersnake (Thamnophis eques) is a federally threatened species in the United States, with only a few isolated populations remaining in Arizona and New Mexico. For some populations, only limited knowledge exists regarding their status and natural history; thus, all observations are noteworthy. Along the Gila River in New Mexico, for example, only 2 observations of this species have been published, one in 1883 and one in 1973. Herein, I report on 6 additional observations of Mexican gartersnakes from along the Gila River in southwestern New Mexico. Five individuals were documented in riparian habitats close to or …

Puma (Puma Concolor) Sex Influences Diet In Southwest New Mexico, Kelly M.T. Bernard, Travis W. Perry, Nokubonga Mgqatsa

Western North American Naturalist

Puma (Puma concolor) is a wide-ranging, large felid species, and site-specific research on its diet is important for local management. Like the diets of other large felids, puma diets may differ between sex due to size dimorphism and between seasons due to changes in prey vulnerability and availability. We investigated the influence of sex and season on puma diet in southwest New Mexico in terms of prey species and size categories. Pumas (10 males, 6 females) were tracked with GPS collars for an average of one year per individual between February 2008 and July 2020. Puma location was …

The Effects Of Pain Levels On Static And Dynamic Postural Control And Visual Reliance In Chronic Ankle Instability Individuals, Minsub Oh

Theses and Dissertations

Context: Chronic ankle instability (CAI) individuals experience residual symptoms including pain, swelling, ankle instability, etc. A small majority of CAI individuals report ankle pain during daily or physical activity. Despite the known negative effects of chronic pain on neuromuscular control, there is a paucity of research exploring the specific impact of chronic pain mechanisms on altered neuromuscular control in CAI individuals. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of pain levels on static and dynamic postural control and visual reliance in CAI individuals. Methods: A total of 60 participants were recruited, consisting of 20 CAI individuals …

Impact Of Mental Wellness Courses On Student Mental Health, Joshua W. Pinson

Theses and Dissertations

A large portion of college students have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder and that number is climbing. Most of these students are not receiving treatment, and university counseling centers are unable to meet the increasing demands. The purpose of this study is to fill gaps in this literature by doing an early analysis of a larger, multi-year quasi-experimental study to assess the impact of college mental wellness courses on self-health measures and mental health resource utilization rates. The validated instruments used for evaluating self-health measures and mental health resource utilization were the Physical Activity Vital Sign (PAVS) Counseling …

Remembering Martyrdom: Delacroix's Massacre Of Chios As A Site Of Collective Memory, Colette Burton

Theses and Dissertations

The Massacre of Chios (1824) by Eugéne Delacroix illustrates the titular genocide from the Greek War of Independence. This genocide was a veritable razing of the entire island by Ottoman Turks in 1822. Today, a replica of Delacroix's painting resides on the island inside the entrance of the Chios Byzantine Museum, located in a converted mosque built on the ruins of a Christian church. This site is a case for the existence of non-Western temporalities, including liturgical and Aegean temporalities, as they pertain to the commemoration of the massacre through interaction with the replica. These temporalities are not causal or …

The Effects Of Ketones On Brain Metabolism And Cognition, Erin Reiko Saito

Theses and Dissertations

The brain is one of the most energetically demanding organs within the human body and is cognitively susceptible to energetic deficits such that the rise in obesity, insulin resistance, and Alzheimer’s disease in recent decades pose a substantial threat to cognitive longevity. The therapeutic efficacy of ketones are well-established in epilepsy and are currently being applied to other disease states. Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by impairments in brain glucose uptake and metabolism in regions relevant to learning, memory, and cognition that progress with the disease. While brain glucose uptake is impaired, ketone uptake is unaltered, potentially enabling ketones to fuel …

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Creation Stories From Popolvuh, Allen J. Christenson

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The following extracts are from Allen J. Christenson's free translation of the creation accounts found in the Popol Vuh. According to Christenson, this religious book of the K'iche'-Maya was completed in the mid-16th century, yet it contains "ancient theological concepts current among the people of Mesoamerica at a time contemporaneous with Book of Mormon history." Readers interested in the following accounts may wish to consult Christenson's complete translation of the Popol Vuh (see article on page 1) because of the helpful glosses that are not reproduced here.

New Translation Of Popol Vuh Available

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Popol Vuh: The Mythic Sections--Tales of First Beginnings from the Ancient K'iche'-Maya, translated and edited by Allen J. Christenson, is the second book in FARMS's Ancient Texts and Mormon Studies series. Inaugurating the series was James E. Faulconer's Romans 1: Notes and Reflections. Works in this series include the text in its original language, a readable English translation, and commentary on the text especially by LDS scholars.