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Lectures Highlight Connections Between Scrolls And Mormonism Aug 2023

Lectures Highlight Connections Between Scrolls And Mormonism

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

Selections from the March conference entitled "LDS Perspectives on the Dead Sea Scrolls" are now available for purchase on video and audiotape. The presentations teach about the ancient scrolls and how they contribute to LDS understanding of gospel teachings, the Bible, and other aspects of biblical life.


Interference Between Speaking And Computer Tasks In Younger And Older Adults, Paige Elise Asay Aug 2023

Interference Between Speaking And Computer Tasks In Younger And Older Adults, Paige Elise Asay

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of computer tasks on speech acoustic measures and the effects of speaking on computer task performance in 30 younger and 30 older adults. Participants completed a speech only task, two computer tasks, and simultaneous speaking and computer tasks. Stimulus sentences included the four corner vowels and two diphthongs embedded between voiceless consonants. Acoustic measures of speech included diphthong transition extent and rate as well as vowel space area (VSA) and vowel articulation index (VAI). A text formatting task included two levels of difficulty. A data entry task included sorting items from a shopping list into …


Taxonomic Revision And Phylogenetic Analysis Of The Philadelphicus Group In The Genus Proctacanthus (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae), And Key To All Proctacanthus North Of Mexico, Teagan Marie Mulford Aug 2023

Taxonomic Revision And Phylogenetic Analysis Of The Philadelphicus Group In The Genus Proctacanthus (Insecta: Diptera: Asilidae), And Key To All Proctacanthus North Of Mexico, Teagan Marie Mulford

Theses and Dissertations

Proctacanthus (Macquart 1838), an elegant genus of robber flies within the Asilidae family, plays a significant ecological and economic role. However, the lack of a comprehensive taxonomic treatment hinders their identification and thus their use in evolutionary and behavioral research. This study focuses on the taxonomic revision of the Proctacanthus, identifying the features used in recognizing the philadelphicus Species Group and the rufiventris Species Group. By providing systematic and biological data, describing new species, and offering a key for identification, this research contributes to understanding the ecological significance and geographic distribution and history of Proctacanthus. This work will enhance future …


Separation Of Perrhenate And Perfluoroalkyl Substances By Ion Chromatography With Customized Stationary Phases, Wai Ning Chan Aug 2023

Separation Of Perrhenate And Perfluoroalkyl Substances By Ion Chromatography With Customized Stationary Phases, Wai Ning Chan

Theses and Dissertations

Ion exchange chromatography (IC) is an analytical technique used to separate charged molecules including ions, proteins, small nucleotides, and amino acids. It can function in anion or cation mode. In this dissertation, anion exchange chromatography was used, and column materials were made in our lab with resorcinarene-based compounds called cavitands. Cavitands create cavities to bind to molecules because of their three-dimensional structure. Two new gradient IC methods were established to identify and quantify perrhenate and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by customized resorcinarene-based column, zinc cyclen resoecinarene (ZCR) and arginine methyl ester (RUE) columns. The ZCR column accomplished outstanding separation of perrhenate …


The Role Of Cytosolic Chaperonin Cct And Its Co-Chaperone Phlp1 In Folding And Assembly Of Signaling Complexes, Yujin Kwon Aug 2023

The Role Of Cytosolic Chaperonin Cct And Its Co-Chaperone Phlp1 In Folding And Assembly Of Signaling Complexes, Yujin Kwon

Theses and Dissertations

CCT, a large (1 MDa) protein-folding machine, is a eukaryotic group II chaperonin that is essential for folding many cellular proteins and is the most complex of all chaperonins with two rings each composed of eight paralogous subunits. CCT captures proteins in its folding chamber to assist the folding of its substrates. CCT utilizes ATP hydrolysis to open and close its chamber and fold its substrates. CCT has been shown to be important in the folding of proteins with - propeller domains which consist of seven WD40 repeat sequences that fold into -sheets that form the blades of a propeller-like …


Evaluating And Advancing Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures: Statistical And Machine Learning Approaches, Bangyu Wang Aug 2023

Evaluating And Advancing Automated Traffic Signal Performance Measures: Statistical And Machine Learning Approaches, Bangyu Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Automated traffic signal performance measures (ATSPM) are increasingly used to collect and evaluate traffic data from signalized intersections. ATSPM provide invaluable insights into both current and historical traffic signal performance. With their adoption by over 39 state and local transportation agencies, ATSPM play a crucial role in traffic operation and maintenance. ATSPM are continually evolving, introducing new performance measures and applications tailored to the needs of various transportation agencies. However, despite their potential, several challenges require attention and resolution. The first challenge involves the underutilization of ATSPM data due to its massive volume, which can overwhelm traditional identification and prioritization …


The Influence Of Political Media On Large Language Models: Impacts On Information Synthesis, Reasoning, And Demographic Representation, Alexander Glenn Shaw Aug 2023

The Influence Of Political Media On Large Language Models: Impacts On Information Synthesis, Reasoning, And Demographic Representation, Alexander Glenn Shaw

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates the impact of finetuning the LLaMA 33B language model on partisan news datasets, revealing negligible changes and underscoring the enduring influence of pretraining datasets on model opinions. Training nine models across nine distinct news datasets spanning three topics and two ideologies, the study found consistent demographic representation, predominantly favoring liberal, college-educated, high-income, and non-religious demographics. Interestingly, a depolarizing effect emerged from partisan news finetuning, suggesting that intense exposure to topic-specific information might lead to depolarization, irrespective of ideological alignment. Despite the exposure to contrasting viewpoints, LLaMA 33B maintained its common sense reasoning ability, showing minimal variance on …


Full Issue Aug 2023

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.


Lectures Examine Abinadi Aug 2023

Lectures Examine Abinadi

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

In a new video discussion on the ancient prophet Abinadi, Todd Parker, associate professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU, presents an informal discussion on the trial of Abinadi before wicked King Noah's court of priests. Parker's wide-ranging and eclectic presentation summarizes information on Abinadi's trial for blasphemy and false prophecy, the courageous way he delivered God's message of repentance to the wicked Nephite priests, and the masterful way he taught the priests the correct interpretation of the law of Moses. The law of Moses prescribes daily activities from which the people learn principles; the law of Christ teaches correct principles …


Assistance For Farms-Sponsored Research Aug 2023

Assistance For Farms-Sponsored Research

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

We often receive questions from Insights readers about one aspect or another of the research that FARMS sponsors. We plan to address some of these questions, and the larger concepts that lie behind them, periodically in this column on "FARMS research notes." In this issue we consider some financial aspects of research support. In future issues we will address such topics as what counts as evidence, how to (and not to) draw conclusions from evidence, what is the nature of "peer review," and what is the purpose and meaning of scholarly "weasel words." We invite your comments and suggestions.


Hundreds Attend Farms Symposia Aug 2023

Hundreds Attend Farms Symposia

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

On March 23, some 700-800 people from Utah and other parts of the country turned out to hear presentations about the ancient scrolls and how they contribute to LDS understanding of gospel teachings, the Bible, and other aspects of biblical life. The symposium was sponsored by BYU Religious Education and FARMS.


Full Issue Aug 2023

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.


Authorship Essays Reprinted Aug 2023

Authorship Essays Reprinted

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

Since 1830, millions of people have read the Book of Mormon and have been convinced that Joseph Smith's account of its origins is correct-that it is an ancient document given to him for a season by a divine messenger to translate by the gift and power of God. Critics, however, have argued that the book must be a fraud.


Annual Symposium Will Be Repeated In Oakland Aug 2023

Annual Symposium Will Be Repeated In Oakland

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

"Benjamin's Speech: The Ninth Annual FARMS Symposium on the Book of Mormon" will be repeated in Oakland, California, on 20 April 1996, a week after its original presentation in Provo. Sponsored by the Saratoga Stake, this version of the symposium will feature most of the same lectures as the original (see details on page 1), most of them live and some on videotape.


Broadcast Schedules Set Aug 2023

Broadcast Schedules Set

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

Please note the following broadcasts of FARMS presentations.


1995 Farms Updates Reprinted Aug 2023

1995 Farms Updates Reprinted

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

Learn about ancient scapegoat rituals on the Day of Atonement; legends of South American Indians originating from the house of Israel; linguistic findings that link Old and New World languages; precedents for Benjamin's speech from atop a tower; a comparison between King Benjamin's tower and Old Testament pillars; and how revelation comes through the Urim and Thummim. It's all in the six FARMS Updates published in Insights in 1995. The collection gathers summaries of the latest Book of Mormon research together for quick reference. It is a great way to introduce your friends to FARMS and to recent developments in …


Byu Symposium Focuses On Historicity And Scriptures Aug 2023

Byu Symposium Focuses On Historicity And Scriptures

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

On February 23 and 24, the BYU Religious Studies Center sponsored a "Symposium on Historicity and the Latter-day Saint Scriptures." Critics raise questions regularly about whether the scriptures are actually historical documents or are instead either frauds or some form of faith-promoting fiction. This symposium, organized by Paul Y. Hoskisson, associate professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU, brought together a dozen LDS scholars to discuss the nature of the evidence that supports the historicity of the scriptures.


Expert On Egyptian Culture And Religion Speaks At Byu Aug 2023

Expert On Egyptian Culture And Religion Speaks At Byu

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

Professor Antonio Loprieno lectured on "Mystery and Initiation in Ancient Egypt" at BYU on 8 February 1996. Loprieno, professor of Egyptology and chair of the department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles, discussed ancient Egyptian initiation rites described in religious writings such as the Pyramid Texts, the Coffin Texts, the Book of the Dead, and a group of texts designated as Netherworld Books. His lectures captured the interest of many BYU faculty members and more than 200 students and other members of the community.


The Connection Between Linguistic Insecurity And Cultural Identity In Spanish Heritage Language Learners, Sara Nicole Gardner Aug 2023

The Connection Between Linguistic Insecurity And Cultural Identity In Spanish Heritage Language Learners, Sara Nicole Gardner

Theses and Dissertations

The United States is a host to several ethnicities that bring both their own languages and their own culture to an already large mixing pot. The children of the immigrants who grow up learning both English and their families' heritage language are called heritage language learners (HLLs). The first objective of the study was to find out whether foreign language anxiety had a relationship with reading and writing in Spanish for HLLs in high school. The second was to ascertain whether perception of ethnic identity also had a relationship with reading and writing in Spanish for heritage language learners in …


Spatiotemporal Variation Of Alfalfa Leaf Area Index And Crop Water Productivity In An Irrigated Alfalfa Field, Keegan Dillon Hammond Aug 2023

Spatiotemporal Variation Of Alfalfa Leaf Area Index And Crop Water Productivity In An Irrigated Alfalfa Field, Keegan Dillon Hammond

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the world, there continues to be increasing demand for freshwater resources. With urban expansion, increased demand from a growing population, drought, and climate change, growers must produce more crops using less water. One approach to water conservation is with a variable rate irrigation (VRI) system. VRI technology allows growers to irrigate crops according to site-specific within-field variation instead of a uniform rate across the field. This thesis addresses aspects of within-field variation of irrigated alfalfa as it relates to the potential for VRI. Chapter 1 examines measurement of within-field variation of leaf area index (LAI) to inform variable-rate irrigation …


Investigating How And Why Students Pay Attention And Engage In A High School German Level One Class, Lindsey Marie Nielson Aug 2023

Investigating How And Why Students Pay Attention And Engage In A High School German Level One Class, Lindsey Marie Nielson

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigates how and why students pay attention and engage in a German Level One class in a public high school in Utah. Data were collected from surveys, classroom observations, video/audio recordings, and interviews. Findings indicate that three major factors influenced student engagement during this study-type of motivation (extrinsic or intrinsic), type of learning activity (individual, partner, or class), and the mode of activity (technology, paper, or speaking). Additional findings offer support for the idea that metacognition may enhance language learning.


Improved Endmember Mixing Analysis (Emma): Application To A Nested Catchment, Provo River, Northern Utah, Alyssa Nicole Thompson Aug 2023

Improved Endmember Mixing Analysis (Emma): Application To A Nested Catchment, Provo River, Northern Utah, Alyssa Nicole Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

An endmember mixing analysis (EMMA) is a hydrograph separation technique used to identify and quantify stream source contributions, but the error within the results of the analysis itself can be difficult to quantify. Employing EMMA to accurately quantify these contributions is particularly important for critical watersheds that supply water to large populations, such as montane watersheds. We applied EMMA to the Provo River, a nested catchment with three monitoring locations in northern Utah, to understand the limitations and potential improvements that could be made to EMMA. Four main endmembers (quartzite groundwater, soil water, snow and carbonate groundwater) were identified for …


Enhancing Local Hydrological Services With The Geoglows Ecmwf Global Hydrologic Model, Jorge Luis Sanchez Lozano Aug 2023

Enhancing Local Hydrological Services With The Geoglows Ecmwf Global Hydrologic Model, Jorge Luis Sanchez Lozano

Theses and Dissertations

Global hydrological models can fill crucial gaps for providing essential information on water resources management, flood and drought forecasting, and assessing the impacts of climate change. However, these models face several challenges that must be addressed to ensure their applicability at local scales. These challenges include effectively managing Big Data, proper communication, adoption, and achieving accuracy in their results. Achieving accuracy in global hydrological models is critical for acceptance in decision-making, but poses the most significant challenge due to the extensive amount of observed data required and the complexity of obtaining and preparing such data for model evaluation. In this …


Real-Time Spatial Interference Removal And Maximum Ratio Combining In Communication Systems, Adam Gary Whipple Aug 2023

Real-Time Spatial Interference Removal And Maximum Ratio Combining In Communication Systems, Adam Gary Whipple

Theses and Dissertations

Radio frequency interference (RFI) is undesired and commonplace. Using a subspace projection method to spatially remove the interference from a phased array system gives results of a 30 dB interference null rejection (INR). Unmanned systems have been developed to observe underwater activity and communicate their observations to passing aircraft. These systems are currently limited by their use of a single transmitter. The uplink can be improved by using a dual-antenna beam steering approach to maximize the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) the aircraft receives. This approach demonstrates an increase in SNR of 3 dB when compared to a single transmitter.


Numerical Evaluation Of Forces Affecting Particle Motion In Time-Invariant Pressurized Jet Flow, Donald E. Peterson Aug 2023

Numerical Evaluation Of Forces Affecting Particle Motion In Time-Invariant Pressurized Jet Flow, Donald E. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

This work evaluates the relative significance of forces determining the motion of a pulverized coal particle under conditions representative of a pressurized oxy-coal combustor. The gravity force and surface forces of drag, fluid stress, added mass, and Basset history are discussed and appropriate forms of these force equations are chosen, with a consideration of spherical and non-spherical drag and the Basset history kernel. Studies from the literature that emphasize specific forces are used to validate the implementation of the force equations and correlations. Modeling is based on time-averaged, one-dimensional motion of a single non-reacting particle along the centerline of a …


The Unique Professional Journey Of Female High School Principals In Utah, Deon G. Leavy Aug 2023

The Unique Professional Journey Of Female High School Principals In Utah, Deon G. Leavy

Theses and Dissertations

Women in the United States are underrepresented in high school principalships. A review of literature identified specific barriers that have historically contributed to this disparity including role congruity, normative male dominance, and gender bias against women. Furthermore, the high school principalship has been defined over time from a male perspective assumed to be the universal reality leaving the unique career experiences of female high school principals glossed over and often misunderstood. Similar barriers most likely have also contributed to the underrepresentation of female high school principals in Utah, yet intentional studies analyzing their unique career journeys have not been completed. …


A Polarizable Molecular Dynamics Potential For Molten Salt Property Prediction, Jared Thurgood Aug 2023

A Polarizable Molecular Dynamics Potential For Molten Salt Property Prediction, Jared Thurgood

Theses and Dissertations

The present study attempts to find an alternate computational tool to model the complex physical interactions within the molten salt FLiNaK in a way that is both efficient and accurate. Additionally, this study seeks to describe the effects of several different types of impurities on the FLiNaK salt system. This study selects two different polarizable force fields, the AMOEBA polarizable approach and the polarizable ion model, to determine the density and the structure of the impure FLiNaK salt mixtures at typical operating temperatures in molten salt reactors (between 500-900 °C). This study conducts ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations and …


Semantically Structured Creative Computer Systems & Automated Evaluation Of Creative Artifacts, Brad Spendlove Aug 2023

Semantically Structured Creative Computer Systems & Automated Evaluation Of Creative Artifacts, Brad Spendlove

Theses and Dissertations

Computational creativity seeks, in part, to develop autonomous agents that exhibit creativity. Language is an ideal creative domain for studying computer agents due to its rich interconnectedness and immense space of possible combinations. This dissertation explores the design, testing, and theory of creative computer systems that write microfiction and play the board game Codenames. The designs of these systems are all similarly based on building up creative artifacts from the underlying structure of the relationships between words. A critical component of the creative process is the ability to evaluate the quality of creative output. Human and automated assessment of our …


Geochemistry Of Zircon And Apatite In Rhyolites From The Central Snake River Plain: Genetic Implications, Chesley Philip Gale Aug 2023

Geochemistry Of Zircon And Apatite In Rhyolites From The Central Snake River Plain: Genetic Implications, Chesley Philip Gale

Theses and Dissertations

Whole-rock and mineral compositions of three eruptive deposits from the Twin Falls caldera, associated with the Yellowstone hotspot, provide a window into melt generation and evolution for hot, dry, A-type rhyolites. Three rhyolitic units were sampled via the Kimberly drill-core as a part of project HOTSPOT, a study focused on mantle plume and continental lithosphere interaction. Previous work has been done to collect high resolution U-Pb zircon ages, and Hf- and O-isotopic compositions. This study examined the geochemistry of apatite and zircon along with host rock compositions in the context of this previous work. The Kimberly core sampled the Shoshone …


Open Liver Open Lung: Elaborate Expressions In White Hmong, Luke Walker Packer Aug 2023

Open Liver Open Lung: Elaborate Expressions In White Hmong, Luke Walker Packer

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a description of four-word elaborate expressions in White Hmong, a Hmong-Mienh language spoken in the northern mountains of Southeast Asia. The goal of this work is to describe the behavior, characteristics, and functions of the expressions using data from the White Hmong-English Dictionary (Heimbach 1980). A native speaker helped find 318 examples of elaborate expressions in the dictionary. Elaborate expressions have previously been described as "a balanced group of four words in which the first and third element, and the second and fourth element, are either identical to each other or share a common meaning and often …