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Copus Profiles Paper Data, Jamie Jensen, Rebecca L. Sansom, Jennifer B. Nielson, Richard E. West, Geoffrey Wright, Bryn St. Clair

ScholarsArchive Data

COPUS profile data, interview transcripts

Hierarchical, Porous Hydrogels Demonstrating Structurally Dependent Mechanical Properties, Elisabeth Lloyd, Rami Alhasan, Sujata Dhakal, Svetlana Morozova, Douglas R. Tree, Robert Hickey

Faculty Publications

While hierarchical ordering is a distinctive feature of natural tissues and is directly responsible for their diverse and unique properties, research efforts to synthesize biomaterials have primarily focused on using molecular-based approaches without considering multiscale structure. Here, we report a bottom-up self-assembly process to produce highly porous hydrogels that resemble natural tissues both structurally and mechanically. Randomly oriented, physically crosslinked nanostructured micelles form the walls of aligned, polymer-rich pore walls that surround water-rich cavities. Extremely soft elastic modulus (<  1 kPa), highly stretchability (greater than 12-times), strain-hardening, and completely reversible deformation result from the hierarchical structure. Independent control of nano and macroscales is realized through the combination of polymer macromolecular parameters and processing conditions, directly impacting the resulting phase behavior. Here, we demonstrate precise control of the material structure and structure orientation over many orders of magnitude (e.g., nm – µm), and reveal how the multiscale structure directly impacts mechanical properties.

Morphogenetic Engineering Of Synthetic Protocell Systems, Qinyu Zhu

Theses and Dissertations

Observing and studying how life forms behave, i.e., their movement, adaptability, and so on, have enabled human beings to develop new technologies or optimize existing ones. One of the more noticeable phenomena in Nature is morphogenesis. Morphogenetic processes exist in different stages of biological development, from cellular division to tissue and organ formation. It is easy to observe shape development during mophogenesis due to emerging imaging techniques. However, it is hard to understand this process due to its complex organization, and the morphogenetic responses can be induced by a variety of chemicals or mechanical stresses and are subject to the …

Selection-Based Convolution For Irregular Images And Graph Data, David Marvin Hart

Theses and Dissertations

The field of Computer Vision continues to be revolutionized by advances in Convolutional Neural Networks. These networks are well suited for the regular grid structure of image data. However, there are many irregular image types that do not fit within such a framework, such as multi-view images, spherical images, superpixel representations, and texture maps for 3D meshes. These kinds of representations usually have specially designed networks that only operate and train on that unique form of data, thus requiring large datasets for each data domain. This dissertation aims to bridge the gap between standard convolutional networks and specialized ones. It …

Methods For Designing Compact And Deployable Origami-Inspired Flat-Foldable Spacecraft Antennas And Other Systems, Collin Ryan Ynchausti

Theses and Dissertations

There are times when it is desirable for devices to be stowed compactly, ``transported'' to the location of their desired use, and then deployed to another stable shape or configuration to perform their designed function. Origami-based mechanisms are beneficial in these cases due to their compact, folded nature and large deployments. Unlike traditional mechanical design, compliant mechanism and origami-based design approaches inherently have coupled characteristics, creating complex design problems. The research presented here discusses metrics, methods, and designs to aid in the design of origami-adapted and compliant mechanisms, focusing on the design case of deployable space systems. First, the hexagonal …

Design And Performance Of A Laboratory Scale Pressurized Oxy-Coal Reactor, Scott Gardner, Cody Carpenter, Jacob Tuia, Aaron Skousen, Dustin Badger, Sandra Thomas, Bradley R. Adams, Dale R. Tree, Andrew R. Fry

Faculty Publications

A pressurized oxy-coal (POC) reactor has been designed, built and tested to investigate key technologies related to oxy-coal combustion including a dry coal feed system, an oxy-coal burner, and a slagging ash management system. The coal feed system utilized a fluidized bed to convey pulverized coal with CO2 from a coal bed into the reactor. The reactor has diagnostic capabilities including optical access, embedded thermocouples, fuel and gas flow rates, exhaust gas analysis (CO2, CO, NO, O2) and heat flux. At 13.6 atm and a firing rate of 89 kWth a mean feed rate of 12.5 kg/h was …

Investigating Speech Perception In Children With Speech Delay, Dyslexia, And Speech Delay And Dyslexia, Lauren Marie Spencer

Theses and Dissertations

Perceptual deficits related to phonology in children with speech delay (SD) and children with dyslexia have been identified in separate lines of research. However, there has only been a small number of studies that have investigated the perceptual deficits of children with SD and/or dyslexia in the same study to better understand the overlap of their speech perception abilities. Children with SD have previously shown deficits perceiving speech stimuli that is acoustically sparse, particularly when stimuli contain speech sounds they do not produce correctly. Yet in contrast to children with dyslexia, children with SD are better able to recover linguistic …

Making Space Behind The Veil: Black Agency Within A Predominantly White Religion, Michael Wood, Grace Ann Soelberg, Jacob Rugh

Faculty Publications

The work of W.E.B. Du Bois highlights the significance of Christian religion in Black American life. According to Du Bois, the Black Church serves as a site of self-formation and affirmation, and the White Church as a source of racist beliefs and justifications for inequality. In this paper, we expand Du Bois’ inquiry about the influence of religion with a study of Black Americans who belong to a predominantly White religion. For those whose religious experience is almost wholly within the “white world,” what role does religion play in their lives? We analyze a set of 52 public accounts by …

Algorithmic Fidelity And The Use Of Large Language Models In Social Science Research, Christopher Michael Rytting

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we argue that large language models (LLMs) exhibit a considerable amount of \textit{algorithmic fidelity}, a property where they have modeled ideas, behaviors, and attitudes of the population who generated their training data. This has important implications for social science, as this fidelity theoretically allows for the use of LLMs as effective proxies for human beings in experiments and research. We demonstrate this empirically in various social science domains (political partisanship, demographic surveying, voting behavior, hot-button policy issues, news media, populism, congressional summaries), in various applications (replicating social science survey findings, assisting in coding of text datasets, inferring …

Unlocking The Mysteries Of Serials, Nicole Lewis, Sharolyn Swenson

Faculty Publications

Serials cataloging can be confusing with its unique properties. This session will discuss some of the challenges involved in cataloging serials including choosing a title, what to do if you do not have the first issue or an early issue of the serial, determining the dates of serials, frequency changes and cataloging serials in languages that are unfamiliar to the cataloger.

Leveraging The Power Of Wikipedia And Wikidata For Your Library, Nicole Lewis, Rachel Helps

Faculty Publications

Wikipedia is one of the most popular sources of information on the internet. As information professionals, we can change information on Wikipedia to be more accurate and complete. By using Wikidata, librarians can affect information searches at a deep, machine-readable level. This session will discuss some ways that librarians can increase the accessibility of the media and information in their libraries and bring their hidden collections to light.

Creating A More Efficient Etd Workflow, Nicole Lewis, Ellen Amatangelo

Faculty Publications

In 2019, the BYU Library began working with the Graduate Studies Department to develop a new workflow for processing incoming theses and dissertations. This presentation will examine our course of action for creating a more efficient process from student submission to institutional repository upload to cataloging. This was accomplished through open discourse in collaborative meetings and flexibility from IT teams. A comparison of the old and new workflows will be examined, along with how decisions were made along the way.

Dead Men Tell No Tales: How The British Empire Destroyed Pirates With Monstrous Legal Rhetoric, Ashley L. Nef

Theses and Dissertations

The state often enacts violence against marginalized groups by rendering them monstrous. The early eighteenth century saw early and stellar instances of this phenomenon in the way the British Empire pursued and executed pirates. These "golden age" pirates represented an extraordinary cross-section of marginalization politically, economically, socially, and otherwise, all of which threatened the political and social mores of Imperial Britain. In order to implement a policy and practice of pirate annihilation, British authorities constructed pirates as monstrous by racializing, dehumanizing, and emphasizing the supernatural quality of pirates. This study analyzes three eighteenth-century piracy trial transcripts--those of William Kidd, Stede …

"What Would It Mean For Us To Seem 'Good' To Each Other?": Contemporary Black Women+ On Fat Phobia And Misogynoir, Devon Ariel Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

White supremacy's impact on Black bodies is well-known. Starting with the enslavement of millions of Africans and their descendants, to Reconstruction, Jim Crow laws, the race-based War on Drugs, mass incarceration, police murders--and now, through fat phobia. Fat phobia--the hatred of and discrimination against fatness--is problematic for all bodies because it limits basic opportunities and privileges. However, it becomes particularly dangerous at the intersection of structural racism and misogyny. Francis Beale argues that as both Black people and women+, Black women+ carry a "double strike" against them; consequently, they experience both racism and misogyny, termed "misogynoir" by Moya Bailey. Language …

Coaching Elementary Teachers In Literacy: Does Feedback Type Matter To Low And High Implementers?, Elizabeth Cutrer, Erica Ellsworth Miller, Erjola Gjini, Melia Fonoimoana Garrett

Faculty Publications

For literacy coaches and teachers, feedback is an integral component of effective coaching. Yet, little is understood

about the interaction between feedback and high/low implementing teachers within coaching sessions. This multiple

case study explored the types of feedback literacy coaches provided both high and low implementing teachers over a

two-year period. In the first year, the literacy coaches provided at least twice as much instructional feedback as

emotional feedback to low-implementing teachers. Those teachers not only received more feedback in general, but the

feedback they received was primarily what they needed to do to improve. In contrast, during the same …

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 …

The Facilitative Role Of Workplace Anxiety In Increasing Motivation And Preparation Fueled By Self-Regulation, James Hayes

Student Works

As anxiety in the workplace continues to affect a substantial percentage of employees, an understanding of the facilitative aspects of anxiety may become increasingly relevant (American Psychological Association, 2009, as cited in Cheng & McCarthy, 2018). Anxiety in the workplace is generally disadvantageous, but significant evidence supports the idea that anxiety may benefit employees in various ways (Chandra et al., 2020). Notably, anxious feelings may spark increased motivation within employees, unlocking a greater focus on future goals (Spielberger, 1985, as cited in Cheng & McCarthy, 2018). In pursuit of these goals, anxious employees may find a greater capacity for self-regulation, …

Thermal Atomization Of Impinging Drops On Superheated Superhydrophobic Surfaces, Eric Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Drop impact on a surface has an effect on nearly every industry and this impact may have adverse effects if not controlled. Superhydrophobic (SH) surfaces have been created with the extreme ability to repel water. These surfaces exist in nature but may also be fabricated using modern techniques. This thesis explores heat transfer from these SH surfaces to drops impacting them. This thesis is devoted to increasing the breadth of knowledge of thermal atomization during drop impingement on superheated SH surfaces. When a water drop impinges vertically on a horizontal superheated surface, intense atomization can occur. The atomization is caused …

Protections And Liabilities: Parental Attributes Of Lynch Victims, Peter Shumway Polhill

Theses and Dissertations

Minimal research has focused on how lynching was not purely an individual-level event but, at times, was a family-level process. Prior research has focused on the economic forces, social factors, and individual level attributes that changed the probability of being lynched. Research studying these topics has identified that marginalization, status, distinctiveness, and the racial threat hypothesis contribute to lynching. However, this research has not studied child victims and how parental level attributes may intersect differently with these theoretical perspectives. Using machine-learning tools, I created census linked data which identifies the families of child lynch victims and other non-victim families in …

Suicide Among Adolescents In South Korea, Alyssa Kang

Ballard Brief

Suicide is a prevalent issue that widely affects all demographics in South Korea. Among adolescents, it is the leading cause of mortality with an average rate of 7 deaths per 100,000 people. Some of the most significant factors that influence the risk of suicidal ideation and attempts are cultural stigma and academic stress. Other factors, such as bullying and family structure, also increase the likelihood of suicide. There are also specific characteristics which predict suicide, including internet addiction, socioeconomic status, and substance abuse. Adolescent suicide attempts in Korea also increase the individual's risk for future attempts. Additionally, completed suicides can …

Pornography Use Among Young Adults In The United States, Samantha Smith, Jamie Lesueur

Ballard Brief

Pornography exists in many forms across the internet including pictures, videos, audio, written materials, video games, and social media posts. A majority of the US population has intentionally viewed pornography before, with an even larger majority of US young adults viewing pornography regularly. Despite the widespread use of and support for pornography, viewing sexually explicit media can have many negative consequences. For example, pornography use has been shown to correlate with decreased sex-life satisfaction, lack of positive self-image, and increased chances of divorce. Research also shows that both pornography viewers and pornography actors are likely to experience emotional health consequences. …

The Underreporting And Dismissal Of Sexual Assault Cases Against Women In The United States, Jacey Passmore

Ballard Brief

Sexual assault is a highly prevalent yet rarely addressed issue within the United States. It is considered the most underreported and dismissed crime. There are a plethora of variables contributing to the underreporting and dismissal of sexual assault cases. The most prevalent factor appears to be the various understandings of sexual assault. The United States has no standard definition of rape or consent due to rape myths, victim blaming, disproportionately high perceptions of baseless allegations, and high-profile cases that are unrepresentative of the more common details of sexual assault. Other major contributing factors include knowing the perpetrator, victims’ pre-existing and …

Physiognomy And Emotional Abuse In Elizabeth Gaskell's "The Grey Woman", Natalie Ann Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Perrault's Bluebeard tale is a story of domestic abuse: Bluebeard tries to control his wife's movements by prohibiting her from entering a specific room in their chateau and attempts to kill his wife as punishment when she ultimately disobeys him. Bluebeard's violence towards his wife clearly marks him as an abuser. There have been countless other versions of the Bluebeard tale including Elizabeth Gaskell's short story "The Grey Woman." Unlike other versions of the tale that emphasize Bluebeard's physically abusive behavior, Gaskell's version focuses on a more subtle form of abuse: emotional abuse. Emotional abuse has remained an obscure topic …

Caveat Emptor: Scan Quality Of Elsevier’S Digital Backfile Pdf Collection, Gregory M. Nelson, Paul Kj Robbins, Dennis L. Eggett

Faculty Publications

Scans of journal articles originally published in print, otherwise known as digital journal backfiles, benefit library patrons by providing near instantaneous access to important older information and full-text searchability. Digital backfiles can serve as a reliable surrogate for their corresponding print journals which could be removed from the library, freeing up space for other patron services. Both benefits are realized when the scanned articles are of sufficient clarity to replace the print versions. Several studies have analyzed small and subject-narrow sections of Elsevier’s digital backfile. This article contains a scan-quality analysis from 1578 journals that contain nearly four million articles …

Assessing The Role Of Hybridization In The Evolution Of Two Common Lineages Of Lichen-Forming Fungi, Rachel Keuler

Theses and Dissertations

Once thought to be an evolutionary dead-end, hybridization is now being detected in genomes across kingdoms, perhaps even playing an integral role in evolution. In chapter 1, I investigated the potential influences of hybridization on the evolution of a group of vagrant, asexual species in the Rhizoplaca melanophthalma species group. I sequenced the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of 55 specimens and found well-supported nuclear phylogenies of both datasets. There were, however, multiple instances of discordance between the mitochondrial and nuclear trees, which can be caused by hybridization. PhyloNet and ABBA-BABA also detected widespread hybridization among this group. In chapter 2, …

"Very Beautiful And Very American": A Multicultural Analysis Of Florence B. Price's Quintet In A Minor For Piano And Strings, Taryn Jane Carvajal Harding

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the Quintet in A Minor for Piano and Strings by Florence B. Price (1887-1953). One of Price's latest compositions (with final revisions dated January 21, 1952), the Quintet is a masterful example of what is possible when using a multicultural lens to approach the making of American music. This paper exposes the insufficiency of examining (and assessing) multicultural composers and their works only with traditional Western European analytical views, when an expanded approach is needed to explain many of the non-European musical influences and phenomena. While more complex and challenging, this expanded analytical approach sheds added light …

Popr: Probabilistic Offline Policy Ranking With Expert Data, Trevor F. Schwantes

Theses and Dissertations

While existing off-policy evaluation (OPE) methods typically estimate the value of a policy, in real-world applications, OPE is often used to compare and rank policies before deploying them in the real world. This is also known as the offline policy ranking problem. While one can rank the policies based on point estimates from OPE, it is beneficial to estimate the full distribution of outcomes for policy ranking and selection. This paper introduces Probabilistic Offline Policy Ranking that works with expert trajectories. It introduces rigorous statistical inference capabilities to offline evaluation, which facilitates probabilistic comparisons of candidate policies before they are …

Trauma Team Communication During Trauma Resuscitation: A Literature Review, Paula Barney

Student Works

Trauma teams nationwide are tasked with stabilizing and treating severely injured patients. Their work is unpredictable and must be carried out quickly to improve patient outcomes. Effective team communication is imperative. Team members communicating to form shared understanding of patient status and care goals supports high-level team function. Clear communication is essential. Team members should use closed-loop communication when appropriate, use brief and direct statements, and limit noise in trauma rooms. Team leaders support trauma team performance by providing updates on patient status and plans of care and fostering a culture of collaboration between team leaders and team members. Team …

Superabsorbent Polymer Use In Rangeland Restoration, Shannon V. Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Soil moisture deficits often hinder rangeland revegetation efforts. Due to sheer numbers and germination timing, invasive annual species can easily outcompete those of desired seeded species for resources, including water. One way to increase seedling establishment may be to increase the amount of water available to seeded species. Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) can absorb and release hundreds of times their weight in water and slowly release it. Concentrated SAP bands at or near seedling rooting depth may act as a soil water reservoir for germinating seedlings and increase rangeland seedling establishment. The objective of these studies was to evaluate the effect …

A Longitudinal Look: How Sleep Impacts Suicidal Thoughts And Behaviors In Autism And Social Anxiety, Lindsay Jacalyn Regehr

Theses and Dissertations

Crucial research about suicidal thoughts and behaviors is often done in a cross-sectional manner that only considers limited risk factors. This research is limited in scope and rarely produces meaningful results to inform treatment. This study uses a longitudinal design to follow 93 participants over approximately 6 months. Participants are individuals with autism and social anxiety who were part of high-risk groups for suicidality, sleep problems, and social isolation. Participants recorded their sleep patterns and suicidal thoughts daily via the phone app MetricWire and continuously wore a GENEActiv actigraphy device to tract their objective sleep patterns. The Columbia Suicide Severity …