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Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

The Popol Vuh And Mormon Studies, Allen J. Christenson

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

Over the years, the Popol Vuh has received considerable attention among LDS scholars as the best source of authentic ancient American history and religion outside the Book of Mormon. The new translation of the Popul Vuh,1 complete with extensive introduction and the original Maya text in parallel columns, invites further comparison between this Mesoamerican source and LDS scriptures.

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Inverted Quotations In The Book Of Mormon, David Bokovoy

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

When the Book of Mormon appeared in 1830, the Western world had only a limited knowledge of the impressive literary and editorial techniques utilized by ancient Semitic authors. Even today, many students of the Bible remain unaware of exciting discoveries by Israeli scholars whose work has appeared only in Hebrew.

Returning Home: The Thesis Of A Master, Yang Thai Vang

Theses and Dissertations

Over centuries, Hmong people have moved from mountain to mountain, home to home, country to country, crossing rivers and valleys in search of an escape from oppression. The Txiv Xaiv (Plig) ritual and chant has survived serial exodus and diaspora that Hmong people have experienced. This ritual encodes Hmong historical and cosmological understandings as an oral text, passed down from master to student, and performed at funerals to apply that understanding in the management of souls--ultimately to send them home. The Txiv Xaiv (Plig) serves as a glue, connecting the past generations to the generation of today and the generations …

First Documentation Of Ergasilus Centrarchidarum On Smallmouth Bass In Idaho, Danielle Perkins, John W. Heckel Iv, Brett High, Eric J. Billman

Western North American Naturalist

Ergasilus centrarchidarum is a parasitic copepod that infects the gills of fishes in the family Centrarchi­dae. This parasite has been introduced in many regions of North America through introduction of infected Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieu); however, effects of E. centrarchidarum on its hosts have been poorly studied. Ergasilus centrarchidarum was first discovered infecting Smallmouth Bass in Ririe Reservoir in 2020, although timing of introduction remains uncertain. Our objective was to determine prevalence and intensity of infection of E. centrarchidarum on Smallmouth Bass in Ririe Reservoir. We used angling to collect Smallmouth Bass in the upstream portion of Ririe …

Citizen Science In Action: An Updated Distribution For Lampropeltis Pyromelana, Dallin B. Kohler, Bryan T. Hamilton, Drew E. Dittmer, Alison S. Whiting

Western North American Naturalist

The Arizona mountain kingsnake, Lampropeltis pyromelana, is a species of tricolor kingsnake distributed in disjunct patches of montane habitat in the western United States. Historical range maps were based on a small number of specimens, and the growing body of locality data on this secretive species has enabled a significant update to its known distribution. Multiple sources of citizen science data were used to supplement traditional data sources to more accurately delineate the range of this understudied species. We used citizen science data, primarily from iNaturalist and state-initiated surveys in Nevada and Utah, to show that the contemporary distribution …

Green Lighting The Altruistic Influencer, Savanna Rebecca Bagley

Theses and Dissertations

This paper comprehensively examines a new type of social media influencer characterized by altruistic tendencies. Utilizing the popular YouTube channel Vlogbrothers as the case study text for a constant comparative analysis, this research explores how the strategies altruistic influencers use to mobilize their community for good, the characteristics of the altruistic influencers, and how altruistic influencers create community. Through an in-depth analysis of 30 Vlogbrothers videos, the themes of education, community, and shared humanity emerged. Education, shared values, and calls to action are discussed as essential for mobilizing communities in charitable endeavors. Authenticity, quality, accessibility, and solutions-focused action were found …

First Shasta Ground Sloth (Nothrotheriops; Xenarthra) From The Eastern Great Basin, Nevada, Jim I. Mead, Sandra L. Swift, H. Gregory Mcdonald, Steven D. Emslie

Western North American Naturalist

We present the first record of the Shasta ground sloth (Nothrotheriops shastensis) for the eastern Great Basin. The single right upper second molariform was recovered from the back dirt pile of archaeological test pits excavated during the 1960s and 1970s in Smith Creek Cave, northern Snake Range, White Pine County, Nevada. The precise age of the specimen is indeterminate, although all sediment layers in the area produced radiocarbon dates older than 11,000 cal BP; thus, the specimen is considered of the Rancholabrean Land Mammal Age. All previous accounts of this sloth in the Great Basin are from its …

Plains To Peaks: An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Colorado Butterfly Communities And Altitude, Anna O. James, Kathryn Hokamp, Chris García-Hellmuth, Richard P. Reading

Western North American Naturalist

We compared butterfly communities of the Plains, Foothills, and Montane Zones of the Colorado Front Range and examined 3 groups of butterflies—blues (Polyommatinae species), fritillaries (Speyeria and Boloria spp.), and painted ladies (species Vanessa cardui)—for altitude shifts between 2014 and 2020. We conducted these analyses using data collected by volunteer butterfly monitors from the Colorado Butterfly Monitoring Network, a group organized and run by Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster, Colorado. Monitors walked designated routes and counted all butterflies they saw, identifying each to the lowest possible taxonomic group they could. We sorted routes into the 3 altitude zones, organized …

Ecology And Retribution: Blake, Tokarczuk, And Animal Rights, Kristina Isaak Powell

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk's 2008 novel, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead, engages with William Blake's life and his writings on animal welfare and speaks to current conversations about multispecies justice in the environmental humanities. It argues, first, that in recognizing how this novel's protagonist, Janina, selectively reads Blake to rationalize retributive justice, readers should resist a tendency to mistake this character for Tokarczuk's ideal advocate for environmental ethics. Secondly, it asserts that legal scholars' division between retributive and restorative justice offers valuable framework for approaching both this novel and ongoing debates about …

Group Therapy For Externalizing Behavior Problems In Youth: A Meta-Analysis, Rachel Anne Arnold

Theses and Dissertations

Externalizing behavior problems are a common concern among youth and can be associated with significant problems. As such, the need for effective treatment is evident. While research on psychosocial interventions has been promising, the specific efficacy of youth group therapy has not been assessed in a meta-analysis. Objectives: to assess group therapy's efficacy for youth with behavioral issues and whether treatment effects are moderated by study, patient, leader, or group characteristics. Method: major databases were used to identify and screen potential articles based on inclusion criteria. Included studied were analyzed in a random effects meta-analysis, and potential moderators were assessed. …

Investigating The Use Of Translational Methods To Characterize Therapeutic Interventions In Models Of Pulmonary Disease, Ashley Rae Chang

Theses and Dissertations

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is an interstitial lung disease with no known cause or cure. IPF has an incidence of 75/1,000,000 of the population, predominately in men over the age of 60. This relatively rare disease develops in a chronic and progressive way, ultimately leading to death within two to five years of diagnosis. Our use of translatable methodologies in the bleomycin mouse model of IPF led to the novel identification of the similarities between the average percent loss of lung function in previous human clinical trials to that of our mouse model data. There is no treatment for IPF …

Soft Contact Lens Tear Film Proteomics For Clinical Diagnostic Biomarker Discovery, Robert Kimball Roden

Theses and Dissertations

Human tear film is an accessible biospecimen rich with useful biological information. As tear protein biomarkers for both ocular and systemic diseases have been identified in tears, efforts are being made to create point-of-care tests useful for clinical diagnoses. However, there are significant obstacles to tear diagnostics, including inadequate sampling methods and biomarkers with insufficient sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, tear film diagnostics are particularly challenging for dry eye disease (DED) patients, where low tear volume makes sampling more difficult and the multifactorial nature of DED makes identifying the exact pathological subtype very complex. As soft contact lenses (SCLs) are designed …

The Performative History Of Tomboys In Anglophone Literature Prior To Little Women, Kimber Palmer

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the expansive history of literary tomboys in the century preceding Louisa May Alcott's Little Women (1868). Applying concepts from gender performativity theory, it explores earlier and previously overlooked portrayals of tomboys (or, alternatively, "hoydens" or "romps"), especially in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's A Trip to Scarborough (1777), Isaac Bickerstaffe's The Romp; A Comic Opera in Two Acts (1786), Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (1817), and E.D.E.N. Southworth's The Hidden Hand (1859). Because the tomboy phenomenon emphasizes that gender roles must be learned and can be resisted, tomboy characters are …

Conspecific Tolerance In A Solitary Small Carnivore, The Pacific Marten, Matthew S. Delheimer, Marie E. Martin, Katie M. Moriarty

Western North American Naturalist

Holarctic martens (genus Martes) are small carnivores that are considered functionally solitary, with both resource scarcity and martens’ inability to store energetic reserves posited as precluding social behavior. Interactions between martens are expected to be largely agonistic with the exception of mating and rearing of kits by adult females. Nonetheless, we documented multiple instances of conspecific tolerance by Pacific martens (M. caurina) during long-term monitoring of radio-marked animals in 2 study populations. Observations from radio-tracking and remotely triggered cam­era trap photographs suggested that pairs of martens traveled, foraged, and rested together. Presumed marten associations occurred both inter- …

Nest Success By A Female Black-Chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus Alexandri) With Male-Like Plumage, Cooper M. Farr, John Middleton

Western North American Naturalist

Female-limited polymorphism, a phenomenon in which female animals can exhibit male-like coloration, is known to occur in approximately 25% of hummingbird species, but it has not previously been recognized in Black-chinned Hummingbirds (Archilochus alexandri). Between May and July 2021, we documented a Black-chinned Humming­bird with male plumage features that built a nest, incubated eggs, and successfully fledged 2 chicks in Salt Lake City, Utah. The bird’s gorget feathers, including the chin and upper throat, were predominantly dark with a small number of white feathers interspersed. Because the bird participated in nest building, presumed egg production, and incubation—behaviors not …

Vitamin D3 As An Adjuvant To Produce Localized Immunity, Kaitlyn Vance, Dr. Eric Wilson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The aim of our research was to help elucidate the degree of specificity employed by antibody secreting cells (lymphocytes) through a study of the role of CCR10 in the differential homing of these cells to mucosal issues. We used vitamin D3, known to upregulate expression of CCR10 on activated lymphocytes, as an adjuvant in our vaccines and tracked cell homing to mucosal tissues that express the CCR10 ligand CCL28 by detecting antigen specific antibody accumulation. Since mucosal tissues are ideal locations for vaccinations, the long-term aim was to develop a method for targeting antigen specific lymphocytes, and thus robust immune …

But What If It Was A Cartoon? Animated Instructional Videos For The California Debt And Investment Advisory Commission, Faith Jennings

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

A case study of designing an animated instructional video on municipal finance for elected officials in California.

Determining The Role Of Kaposi’S Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Lana Protein In The Development Of Persistent Infection, Jamie Gardiner, Dr. Brad Berges

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Kaposi’s Sarcoma-associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) is a human cancer virus that causes Kaposis’ sarcoma, the most common cancer found in AIDS patients. Our lab is working to develop humanized mice as a novel animal model to study KSHV infection and related diseases, since there has previously been no animal model established. The purpose of my project was to determine the role of the viral protein LANA (latencyassociated nuclear antigen) in establishing a latent KSHV infection in humanized mice. My project included two major aims:

Use Of Highway Infrastructure By Bats: A Literature Review And Survey Of The Trans-Pecos Region Of Texas, Holly G. Wilson, Stirling J. Robertson, Richard D. Stevens

Western North American Naturalist

Bats are important components of nature and provide both monetary and nonmonetary benefits to mankind. While anthropogenic effects on wildlife and their habitats are typically viewed as negative, highway infrastructure might benefit numerous species of plants and animals, bats in particular. Cracks, crevices, and grooves within structures provide places for bats to roost. Here we review the literature on this topic as well as describe results of our own survey of bridges and culverts in the Trans-Pecos of Texas. We surveyed 204 bridges and 768 culverts between 2018 and 2019. We observed 7 species of bats using bridges or culverts …

Fundamentals Of International Religious Freedom: An Open Access Asynchronous Online Course Design, Johanna Chan

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) associated with the J. Reuben Clark Law School, has presented religious freedom training around the world to government officials, non-governmental organization (NGO) leaders, scholars, and others. The purpose of this project was to redesign their original training presentations into an openly accessible asynchronous online course. The content for this online course has previously been used in live instruction (in the form of brief lesson plans and PowerPoints), including a presentation of six two-hour sessions to 100 Guatemalan human rights officials. Live training on religious freedom was previously completed in China, Myanmar, …

The Pioneering Efforts Of Ellen Larsen: The First Female Sports Information Director At Brigham Young University, Kiana Schlenker

Theses and Dissertations

Title IX began the change of integrating women's sports into universities, but it was up to each university's athletic administration, external media sources, and public relations practitioners to determine how female athletes and sports were supported and publicized. In 1976, Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah hired Ellen Larsen as its first female sports information director responsible for women's sports. Through her 19 years as a sports information director at BYU, Larsen was an advocate for her athletes and helped pave the way for future female athletic administration roles. While there is plenty of literature on male sports information directors, …

Less Friction, More Business—Graphite Connect Onboarding, David Storey

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

Graphite recently experienced four times the growth in a single quarter as the company has experienced in an entire year. Future growth projections are even higher, and the need for more rapid and effective onboarding is abundantly clear—our growth will outpace our ability to train and hire new employees and therefore slow down business.

This project provided new employees with an onboarding program consisting of eight learning modules.

Interpreting Communally: How Service Learning Impacts Interpreting Proficiency, Breanna Michele Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Experiential learning programs, such as service learning, help students in Spanish medical interpreting classes to increase their interpreting proficiency, which includes their cultural understanding, linguistic performance, and professionalization (Rudvin & Tomassini, 2011). Currently, the Spanish Medical Interpretation class at Brigham Young University uses a community service-learning project in which students volunteer six hours of their time interpreting within the community. While largely beneficial, not all community partners offer the same learning opportunities. Some include training and shadowing programs, while others do not. This thesis seeks to determine the impact that shadowing opportunities and community partnerships have on interpreting proficiency and …

The Effects And Reversibility Of Combination Inhaled Corticosteroids On Phonation Threshold Pressure (Ptp) And Phonation Threshold Flow (Ptf) In Ex Vivo Rabbit Larynges, Melanie Elizabeth Blauer

Theses and Dissertations

Although combination inhaled corticosteroids (ICs) are known to cause voice disorders in otherwise vocally healthy individuals, it is unknown whether those adverse effects can be reversed by the cessation of treatment. Quantitative aerodynamic measures such as phonation threshold pressure (PTP) and phonation threshold flow (PTF) can be used to identify the development of, and recovery from, vocal pathologies. We examined the effects and reversibility of ICs on laryngeal aerodynamics. This study was a mid-project investigation as part of a larger ongoing project. The 18 larynges were from rabbits that received ICs, a control condition, or no treatment. Experimental group rabbits …

Exploring Posttraumatic Growth In Aphasia: A Qualitative Investigation, Camille Williams

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored posttraumatic growth (PTG) in people with aphasia and is the qualitative arm of a larger mixed-methods study. After an initial experimental session, 23 people with aphasia (PWA; 12 females and 11 males) completed a 60-minute semi-structured interview during which participants expanded on previously-given questionnaire responses and then answered five additional open-ended questions about communication in their daily life. Interviews were transcribed orthographically and coded using reflexive codebook analysis. A stakeholder with aphasia was consulted to gain insight from an insider's perspective about whether codes and themes captured the experiences of aphasia. Reflexive codebook analysis revealed two themes. …

The Reversibility Of Effects Of Combination Inhaled Corticosteroids On Sustained Phonation Pressure And Flow In Ex Vivo Rabbit Larynges, Elisabeth Barlow

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the reversibility of the adverse effects of combination inhaled corticosteroids (ICs) on vocal fold health as part of a five-year study. This pilot study tested the hypothesis that the adverse effects of ICs may be induced and then reversed, using a benchtop model and rabbit larynges measuring sustained subglottic pressure and airflow. Eighteen rabbits were assigned randomly to 5 subgroups, including baseline, induction experimental, induction control, reversibility experimental, and reversibility control. Baseline rabbits did not receive any treatment. Both experimental groups, induction and reversibility, were administered Advair until visual-perceptual ratings were noted. …

Leasing Setup Preview, Amy Rogers

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

This article summarizes my IP&T design project.

The Enduring Influence Of Emerson's Ideas On American Management Literature From The Lens Of Dale Carnegie’S How To Win Friends And Influence People, Taylor M. Dalton

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis considers how the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson may be seen as an important precursor to Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. Through a side-by-side analysis of four key topics—creativity, intention, action, and the idea of a non-hierarchal society—it becomes clear that the independent and creative mindset envisioned by Emerson in essays like “Self-Reliance” and “The American Scholar” finds a full and practical expression in the pages of Carnegie’s famous book. A close reading of these texts will reveal how Carnegie’s application of the philosophical ideas put forth by Emerson served as the foundation …