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Theory And Tools: The Future Of Technology-Based Learning (Slides), Andrew S. Gibbons Iii

Faculty Publications

We are entering a narrow passage that will see great instability in learning technology, instruction, and distance education. My purpose is to talk about two changes that I believe will redirect the entire future of technology-based education.

Theory And Tools: The Future Of Technology-Based Learning (Script), Andrew S. Gibbons Iii

Faculty Publications

We are entering a narrow passage that will see great instability in learning technology, instruction, and distance education. My purpose is to talk about two changes that I believe will redirect the entire future of technology-based education.

Developing Microfluidic Devices For Biomolecule Analysis, Jacob Brent Nielsen

Theses and Dissertations

Microfluidics can take laboratory processes and miniaturize them, which led to the term lab-on-a-chip. Microfluidic devices are fabricated with a variety of materials and methods, each offering distinct advantages for bioanalysis. This dissertation describes two methods to create these devices, with the use of four different materials to achieve different assay needs. In the first application in this dissertation, hot-embossed cyclic olefin copolymer was used to create microdevices to electrophoretically separate seven preterm birth biomarkers. One biomarker, thrombin-antithrombin III, cannot be purchased commercially so I developed methods for its assembly in the lab. Dot blots and mass spectrometry were used …

Developing Genotypic And Phenotypic Systems For Early Analysis Of Drug-Resistant Bacteria, Yesman Akuoko

Theses and Dissertations

Antimicrobial resistance in bacteria is a global health challenge with a projected fallout of 10 million deaths annually and cumulative costs of over 1 trillion dollars by 2050. The currently available tools exploited in the detection of bacteria or their DNA can be expensive, time inefficient, or lack multiplex capabilities among others. The research work highlighted in this dissertation advances techniques employed in the phenotypic or genotypic detection of bacteria and their DNA. In this dissertation, I present polymethyl methacrylate-pressure sensitive adhesive microfluidic platforms developed using a time-efficient, inexpensive fabrication technique. Microfluidic devices were then equipped with functionalized monoliths and …

Understanding The Ahupua'a: Using Remote Sensing To Measure Upland Erosion And Evaluate Coral Reef Structure, Logan Kalaiwaipono Ellis

Theses and Dissertations

Under ever intensifying pressures from land use, climate change, and erosion, tropical islands are among the most vulnerable systems in the world. Terrestrial systems are weakened by intensifying land use patterns, the weakening of which is highlighted when high intensity rainfall events erode sediment and leads to sediment deposition on the marine system. The deposition of sediment on the marine system is a major stressor that can lead to weakened coral reefs and a decrease in marine resources commonly gathered for food. These interactions have led to the emergence of biocultural resource management strategies, one of which is the ahupua'a …

Synthesis And Anticancer Evaluation Of Novel Pyrazolo[1,5-A]Pyrimidines: Discovery Of A Novel Lead Compound With Selective Activities Against Vps34 And Jak1-Jh2 Pseudokinase, Reuben Dass

Theses and Dissertations

A library of 25 novel 3,6-disubstituted and 3-substituted pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines were synthesized using a microwave chemical reactor in 3 steps with a total reaction time of 1 hour. The products were obtained in good to excellent yields (20-93%, ave. = 62%). The synthesis began with the reaction of aryl acetonitriles with dimethylformamide-dimethylacetal (120C, 20 min), followed by treatment of the resulting 2-arylacrylonitrile with H2NNH2 • HBr (120C, 20 min). The intermediate 4-arylpyrazol-5-amine obtained was finally reacted with either 2-aryl-substituted malondialdehydes or 1,1,3,3-tetramethoxypropane (120C, 20 min) to give the final products. The products were either collected directly on a Buchner funnel or …

Synthesis And Applications Of Α,Β-Dehydroamino Acid-Containing Peptides, Diego A. Moya

Theses and Dissertations

Yaku’amide A (YA) is a linear anticancer peptide that is rich in bulky dehydroamino acids (ΔAAs) and β-hydroxyamino acids (β-OHAAs). In our recent total synthesis of YA, we featured a one-pot anti dehydration–azide reduction–O→N acyl transfer process for the stereospecific construction of Z- and E- ∆Ile residues. Despite previous total syntheses and our efforts, the synthesis of YA remains lengthy. Via computational studies, we identified two analogue peptides that closely resemble the conformation of YA. The use of simpler and symmetrical bulky ΔAAs such as dehydrovaline (ΔVal) and dehydroethylnorvaline (ΔEnv) as surrogates of ∆Ile, along with azlactone chemistry for their …

Synthesis Of Yaku’Amide A Analogues And Impact Of Dehydroamino Acids On The Structure And Stability Of Incipient 310 Helical Peptides, Daniel Joaquin

Theses and Dissertations

The first project in this dissertation describes the total synthesis of yaku’amide A analogues. Natural product yaku’amide A possesses potent anticancer activity and exhibits a novel mode of action. However, due to its complex asymmetrical isoleucine dehydroamino acids, the synthesis of this polypeptide poses a unique challenge. Despite the efficient synthesis developed in our lab, the total synthesis of this natural product remains lengthy. In order to simplify the overall synthesis, symmetrical dehydroamino acids were incorporated to replace the dehydroisoleucine residues yielding two analogues of yaku’amide A that closely resembles the conformation of the natural product. Biological testing of the …

Microwave-Promoted Iminyl Radical Fragmentations And The Total Synthesis Of Yaku'amide A And Its Simplified Analogues, Concordia Lo

Theses and Dissertations

The first project in this dissertation describes the use of microwave-promoted iminyl radical fragmentations to form functionalized nitriles. Nitrogen-centered radical chemistry is a useful tool to construct valuable C-N bonds commonly found in pharmaceuticals and biologically active molecules. Classically, these reactions require the use of toxic initiators and propagators. Iminyl radical chemistry has been gaining momentum as a means of avoiding these harsh conditions. This project utilizes the fragmentation of cyclic iminyl radicals via irradiation of O-phenyl oxime ethers to produce a synthetically useful nitrile tethered to an alkyl radical in the absence of metal catalysts and redox chemistry. The …

Nearshore Species Biodiversity Of A Marine Protected Area Off Santa Catalina Island, California, Audrey Looby, David W. Ginsburg

Western North American Naturalist

Santa Catalina Island, located ~35 km off the Southern California coast, is home to the Blue Cavern Onshore State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA). Although the conservation area is recognized as both an area of special biological significance and a marine life refuge, species richness of the nearshore taxa from this location is not known. In this study, we provide a comprehensive inventory of the intertidal and subtidal marine macroalgae, plants, invertebrates, and fishes documented from 5 different reef sites inside Blue Cavern Onshore SMCA. Species richness data were compiled using scuba-based visual surveys conducted in the field, references from the …

Application And Evaluation Of Full-Field Surrogate Models In Engineering Design Space Exploration, Christopher Murray Thelin

Theses and Dissertations

When designing an engineering part, better decisions are made by exploring the entire space of design variations. This design space exploration (DSE) may be accomplished manually or via optimization. In engineering, evaluating a design during DSE often consists of running expensive simulations, such as finite element analysis (FEA) in order to understand the structural response to design changes. The computational cost of these simulations can make thorough DSE infeasible, and only a relatively small subset of the designs are explored. Surrogate models have been used to make cheap predictions of certain simulation results. Commonly, these models only predict single values …

Toxoplasma Gondii Seropositivity And Substance Use In Us Adults, Bruce L. Brown, Andrew N. Berrett, Shawn D. Gale, Lance D. Erickson, Evan L. Thacker, Dawson W. Hedges

Faculty Publications

The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii (Nicolle et Manceaux, 1908) infects humans resulting in acute toxoplasmosis, an infection that in immunocompetent people is typically mild but results in persistent latent toxoplasmosis. In that T. gondii appears to affect dopamine synthesis and because addicting drugs affect midbrain dopamine transmission, latent toxoplasmosis could influence substance use. Using both the third and continuous National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we used logistic regression to test for associations between T. gondii seropositivity and subject self-report of having ever used tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine. …

Measuring The Interaction And Cooperativity Between Ionic, Aromatic, And Nonpolar Amino Acids In Protein Structure, Mason Scott Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Protein folding studies have provided important insights about the key role of non-covalent interactions in protein structure and conformational stability. Some of these interactions include salt bridges, cation-π, and anion-Ï€ interactions. Understanding these interactions is crucial to developing methods for predicting protein secondary, tertiary, quaternary structure from primary sequence and understanding protein-protein interactions and protein-ligand interactions. Several studies have described how the interaction between two amino acid side chains have a substantial effect on protein structure and conformational stability. This is under the assumption that the interaction between the two amino acids is independent of surrounding interactions. We are interested …

The Diversity Found Among Carbapenem-Resistant Bacteria, Galen Edward Card

Theses and Dissertations

This work will look at two factors that add to the diversity of carbapenem resistant bacteria. First, it focuses on the diversity of carbapenemase resistance plasmids. 446 plasmids were characterized by size, gene content and replicon groups. We identified that on average, over 30% of the encoded proteins on each plasmid have an unknown function. Plasmid sizes ranged from 1.6kb to 500kb, with an average of around 100kb and median of 80kb. Additionally, six replicon groups account for 80% of all the carbapenemase resistance plasmids. We also highlight the lack of data available for carbapenemase carrying plasmids from bacterial genera …

Aberrant Plant Diversity In The Purgatory Watershed Of Southeastern Colorado And Northeastern New Mexico, Joseph A. Kleinkopf, Dina A. Clark, Erin A. Tripp

Western North American Naturalist

Despite a dearth of biological study in the area, the Purgatory Watershed concentrated in southeastern Colorado and northeastern New Mexico is home to a number of unique land formations and endemic organisms. At onetime nonarable land where Dust Bowl storms of the 1930s originated, the Purgatory Watershed is presently home to the Comanche National Grasslands, the Picketwire Canyonlands, and the expansive Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site. The Purgatory Watershed is composed of deep canyons, eroded mesas, and extensive intact shortgrass plains, and is located at a crossroads of the biodiversity of the Southern Rocky Mountains, Great Plains, and Chihuahuan Desert. Here …

Conspecific Pollen On Insects Visiting Female Flowers On The Oak Parasite Phoradendron Coryae (Viscaceae), William Wiesenborn

Western North American Naturalist

Phoradendron coryae (Viscaceae) is a dioecious, parasitic plant on oak trees and shrubs in Quercus (Fagaceae), and it occurs from Arizona to Texas and into northern Mexico. The species produces minute spherical flowers during summer. Dioecious flowering requires pollinating insects to carry pollen from male to female plants. I investigated the pollination of P. coryae parasitizing Quercus turbinella shrubs at 3 sites at different elevations in the Cerbat Mountains of northwestern Arizona during August–September 2015. I examined pollen from male flowers, aspirated insects landing on female flowers, and counted conspecific pollen grains carried by insects. The tricolpate pollen of P. …

Plasmid Dna Bind And Elute Chromatography Using Borosilicate Filters And Filter Holders, Stacey D. Floyd, Camille S. Baird, Jordan Finnell, Tsz Ming Tsang, Robert C. Davis, Kenneth A. Christensen

Student Works

This research has been completed to determine whether plasmid DNA will bind to a simple borosilicate filter in a reusable filter holder, and whether it can be released in a controlled procedure after a wash has been done to eliminate impurities.

The motivation for this is to help small research groups, both in educational settings as well as in other small research settings be able to study isolated DNA without much of the expense generally associated with purification kits and to remove the limitations on trial numbers imposed by the expense of each individual isolation kit.

Medical research, forensics, and …

Integrative Analyses Reveal Signaling Pathways Underlying Familial Breast Cancer Susceptibility, Stephen R. Piccolo, Laura M. Hoffman, Thomas Conner, Gajendra Shrestha, Adam L. Cohen, Jeffrey R. Marks, Leigh A. Neumayer, Cori A. Agarwal, Mary C. Beckerle, Irene L. Andrulis, Avrum E. Spira, Philip J. Moos, Saundra S. Buys, William Evan Johnson, Andrea H. Bild

Faculty Publications

The signaling events that drive familial breast cancer (FBC) risk remain poorly understood. While the majority of genomic studies have focused on genetic risk variants, known risk variants account for at most 30% of FBC cases. Considering that multiple genes may influence FBC risk, we hypothesized that a pathway‐based strategy examining different data types from multiple tissues could elucidate the biological basis for FBC. In this study, we performed integrated analyses of gene expression and exome‐sequencing data from peripheral blood mononuclear cells and showed that cell adhesion pathways are significantly and consistently dysregulated in women who develop FBC. The dysregulation …

Mentoring Undergraduates Via Organic Synthesis, Steven L. Castle

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This report summarizes the results that were generated under the auspices of the mentoring environment in my laboratory from January 2013 to the present. A total of eight undergraduates participated in the mentoring environment during this period.

Mentoring Undergraduates Via Organic Synthesis, Steven L. Castle

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This report summarizes the results of the mentoring environment in my laboratory that were generated from January 2012 to present. During this period, a total of seven undergraduates performed research in my laboratory. Their names and accomplishments are listed below.

The Brain’S Response To Physical Activity Studied With Fmri, Ren Weidman, Dr. Travis Oliphant

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In recent years the fields of medicine and physiological research have made many advancements as a result of application of technology. One example of this is the device known as the Magnetic Resonance Imaging machine (MRI). MRI machines use innovative methods based on principles of physics and electronics to effectively attain a cross-sectional view of the human body. The MRI machine emits an electromagnetic field in the presence of a static field to manipulate the nuclear spin of hydrogen atoms in the body. The received signal can then be interpreted and reconstructed to plot a picture of the section examined. …

Lake Powell 1971–1983, Stanley L. Welsh

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

Abstract

This work catalogs the author’s experiences collecting plants and surveying the area around Lake Powell as part of a long-term environmental study of the Navajo-Kaiparowits region, which was approved through BYU and funded by a consortium of power companies. Data collected included plant and animal inventories, population demographics of small mammals, and weather. The account details several incidents of the type bound to occur in field research and mentions by name many students involved in the project. Numerous photographs are included. Seventeen new plant species are listed, which were named from specimens acquired in the area. The appendix lists …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Novel Amino-Retinoid A4-Spermine, Jeffrey Swallow, Dr. Heidi Vollmer-Snarr

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of vision loss in developed countries. The accumulation of lipofuscin in the eye causes death of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) leading to blindness (1,2). The lipofuscin chemical A2E has been shown to have cytotoxic effect in RPE, yet much of lipofuscin has remained uncharacterized (3). We have shown that other compounds exist in lipofuscin through preliminary mass spectroscopy (MS) and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) data collected from lipofuscin samples. Our lab is working to first characterize these lipofuscin compounds and then we will also study their oxidative products in order …

Studies Toward The Synthesis Of Lyconadin A And Cranomycin, Brad M. Loertscher

Theses and Dissertations

Lyconadin A is a pentacyclic Lycopodium alkaloid isolated from the club moss Lycopodium companatum with anticancer activity. Our approach sought to incorporate a 7-exo–6-exo acyl radical cyclization cascade to access the bicyclo[5.4.0]undecane framework of lyconadin A. Our studies created methodology for the synthesis of 5-alkyl and 3,5-dialkyl-6-carbomethoxy-2-pyridones and sterically demanding epoxide substrates. These epoxide substrates underwent an unanticipated Payne rearrangement.Cranomycin is a potent antibiotic with antiprotozoal activity. Structurally it is a cyclopentane ring system with substitution at each carbon in the ring. Another interesting structural aspect is the existence of three contiguous quaternary stereocenters including two tertiary alcohols and a …

Cytokine Signaling In The Microenvironment May Aid In Tumor Development And Progression, Dr. Kim O'Neill

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Studies have indicated that in breast tumors a high number of tumor associated macrophages (TAM’s) is indicative of a poor prognosis. TAM’s in the breast tumor microenvironment generally have a compromised immune response and focus their energy toward tissue repair which leads to angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis. These macrophages have been termed M2 macrophages. Conversely, studies also indicate that in the microenvironment of some colon cancers, M1 phenotypic macrophages are present and that a high number of TAM’s is associated with a good prognosis.

Immobilized Viologen Polymer For Use In Direct Carbohydrate Fuel Cells, Yining Pan

Theses and Dissertations

Glucose and other carbohydrates are some of the most abundant renewable energy sources in the world. The oxidation of carbohydrates in a fuel cell allows their chemical energy to be converted directly into electrical energy. Viologen has been indentified and shows promising ability as an electron-transfer catalyst or mediator for carbohydrate oxidation in an alkaline carbohydrate fuel cell. Building on the previous results, the objective of this work was to develop an immobilization chemistry of viologen onto an electrode and to investigate the catalytic activity for carbohydrate oxidation in direct carbohydrate fuel cells.The immobilization was achieved by electropolymerizing a novel …

Evaluating The Performance Of Computational Approaches For Identifying Critical Sites In Protein-Coding Dna Sequences, Matthew Lewis Bendall

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to link a particular phenotype to its causative genotype is one of the most challenging objectives for biological research. Although the genetic code provides an explicit formula for determining the sequence of amino acid phenotypes produced by a given nucleotide sequence, identifying specific residues that are functionally important remains problematic. Many computational approaches have been developed that use patterns observed in DNA sequences to identify these critical sites. However, very few research studies have used empirical data to test whether these approaches are truly able to identify sites of interest.In most empirical studies, the actual protein function and …

Developing Methods To Assess The Potential Effects Of Global Climate Change On Deer Creek Reservoir Using Water Quality Modeling, Reed Earl Chilton

Theses and Dissertations

To evaluate the potential impacts of future climate change on a temperate reservoir, I used a calibrated water quality and hydrodynamic model validated using three years of data (2007-2009) from Deer Creek Reservoir (Utah). I evaluated the changes due to altered air temperatures, inflow rates, and nutrient loads that might occur under Global Climate Change (GCC). I developed methods to study GCC on reservoirs. I produced Average Water Temperature Plots, Stratification Plots, and Total Concentration Plots. Average Water Temperature Plots show the sensitivity of the water temperature to various parameters. Stratification Plots quantify stratification length and strength as well as …

Modeling And Testing Of Dna Motion For Nanoinjection, Regis Agenor David

Theses and Dissertations

A new technique, called nanoinjection, is being developed to insert foreign DNA into a living cell. Such DNA transfection is commonly used to create transgenic organisms vital to the study of genetics, immunology, and many other biological sciences. In nanoinjection, DNA, which has a net negative charge, is electrically attracted to a micromachined lance. The lance then pierces the cell membranes, and the voltage on the lance is reversed, repelling the DNA into the cell. It is shown that DNA motion is strongly correlated to ion transport through a process called electrophoresis. Gel electrophoresis is used to move DNA using …

Gene Network Inference And Expression Prediction Using Recurrent Neural Networks And Evolutionary Algorithms, Heather Y. Chan

Theses and Dissertations

We demonstrate the success of recurrent neural networks in gene network inference and expression prediction using a hybrid of particle swarm optimization and differential evolution to overcome the classic obstacle of local minima in training recurrent neural networks. We also provide an improved validation framework for the evaluation of genetic network modeling systems that will result in better generalization and long-term prediction capability. Success in the modeling of gene regulation and prediction of gene expression will lead to more rapid discovery and development of therapeutic medicine, earlier diagnosis and treatment of adverse conditions, and vast advancements in life science research.