Digital Commons Network^™

Sleep, Stress, And Sweat: Implications For Client Physiology Prior To Couple Therapy, Christina Michelle Rosa

Theses and Dissertations

Physiological state greatly influences one’s ability to emotionally regulate and connect to a partner in couple therapy. As individuals encounter real or perceived threats in relationships, they are likely to experience sympathetic nervous system (SNS) responses of fight, flight, or freeze, thereby inhibiting the ability to connect with a partner or therapist made possible by the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). This study, guided by the Polyvagal theory, examines the influence of client sleep, daily stress, and exercise on physiological baseline prior to a couple therapy session. Participants included 23 married couples who attended couple therapy at the Brigham Young University …

Role Of Transient Receptor Potential Channels In Epithelial Morphogenesis In Chick Embryo, Trinity Q. Waddell

Theses and Dissertations

Transient Receptor Potential channels (TRP) are a superfamily of cationic specific ionchannels that are regulated by various stimuli such as temperature, pH, mechanical stress, ligandsand ion concentration. The role of TRP channels in disease states such as autosomal dominantpolycystic kidney disease, cancer metastasis, and developmental defects lend credence to thebelief that they play an important part in epithelial morphogenesis events. The development ofsomites, neural tube closure and migration of neural crest cells to form things such as the faceand heart is a good developmental model for the aforementioned cellular processes. We haveshown that TRP channels can be found in the …

Social Withdrawal And Indices Of Adjustment And Maladjustment In Adolescence: Does Parent Warmth And Extraversion Matter?, Mallory Abigail Millett

Theses and Dissertations

Social withdrawal is often associated with a number of indices of adjustment and maladjustment, but little research exists that attempts to uncover potential protective factors. This study longitudinally examined the moderating role of parent extraversion and parent warmth on the association between two types of social withdrawal (shyness and unsociability) and later indices of adjustment and maladjustment. Participants were 463 families from the flourishing families project. Results showed no longitudinal associations between social withdrawal and later indices of adjustment or maladjustment. However, when parent extraversion was added as a moderator, shyness was positively associated with prosocial behavior for those with …

Sri Lankan Widows' Mental Health: Does Type Of Spousal Loss Matter?, Katrina Nicole Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined mental health outcomes for widowed Tamil women in Sri Lanka to identify any associations between type of spousal loss and several outcomes, including internalized stigma as a result of widowhood, anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and posttraumatic stress symptoms. A sample of 381 Tamil female widows living in Eastern Sri Lanka were surveyed in 2016 to understand their experiences in a post-disaster and post-war context. Type of spousal loss was separated into seven categories: war-related death, death as a result of tsunami, illness-related deaths, accidental death, suicide, disappearance, and other. Path analysis was used to assess whether type …

Psychotherapy Presenting Concerns And Utilization Trends Among Latino-American And International Latino Students In A University Counseling Center, Jessica Ann Kirchhoefer

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines current trends of university counseling center utilization among Latino students at a large, private, western university. We examined counseling center data for Latino (n=1,231) and European American (EA) (n=18,125) students who presented for counseling services from 1996-2013. Latino students were divided into three subgroups, U.S. born Latino students (USB), international Latino students (IB), and Latino students who were born internationally but who are now U.S. citizens (IBUS). These three subgroups were compared with the EA student group on multiple variables; therapy utilization, length of treatment, Outcome Questionnaire (OQ) score at intake, OQ change, therapy usage by gender, …

Sequential Survival Analysis With Deep Learning, Seth William Glazier

Theses and Dissertations

Survival Analysis is the collection of statistical techniques used to model the time of occurrence, i.e. survival time, of an event of interest such as death, marriage, the lifespan of a consumer product or the onset of a disease. Traditional survival analysis methods rely on assumptions that make it difficult, if not impossible to learn complex non-linear relationships between the covariates and survival time that is inherent in many real world applications. We first demonstrate that a recurrent neural network (RNN) is better suited to model problems with non-linear dependencies in synthetic time-dependent and non-time-dependent experiments.

Media And Parents: Socializing Factors Of Relational Aggression, Kjersti Maye Summers

Theses and Dissertations

Exposure to relational aggression in various contexts has been found to predict relationally aggressive behavior in adolescents. Past research has examined socializing factors of relational aggression separately. The current study expounds upon this research by looking at three important contexts for socialization of relational aggression during adolescence together: media relational aggression, parental psychological control, and couple relational aggression. Specifically, this study looked at how these different socializing factors combine to predict relational aggression. Participants consisted of 423 adolescents and their parents. A person-centered approach was used to determine different profiles. Latent profile analysis found three profiles, including "average" (78%), "high …

Design And Synthesis Of Tlr2 And Tlr6 Heterodimer Ligands, A Triply Functionalized Α-Galcer Derivative For Identifying Proteins Involved In Glycolipid Trafficking, And The Disaccharide Of Staphylococcus Aureus Cp8 Towards A Self-Adjuvanting Vaccine, Sara Mayeth Mata

Theses and Dissertations

Toll like receptors (TLRs) are found on B cells, macrophages, monocytes, and dendritic cells, and these cells belong to the innate immune system that recognizes antigens and induces multiple cell responses through the release of cytokines. TLR1, TLR2 and TLR6 function as heterodimers, either as TLR1/TLR2 or TLR2/TLR6 to recognize lipopeptides. TLR1/2 dimer activation releases inflammatory cytokines, while TLR2/TLR6 dimer activation releases immunomodulatory cytokines. Based on the size of the binding pocket between TLR2 and TLR6, it was hypothesized that lipopeptides, such as FSL1, could be simplified while keeping overall activity. FSL1 is a lipopeptide first isolated from Mycoplasma salivarum …

Isolation, Characterization, And Genomic Comparison Of Bacteriophages Of Enterobacteriales Order, Ruchira Sharma

Theses and Dissertations

According to CDC, every year at least 2 million people are affected and 23,000 dies as a result of antibiotic resistance in U.S. It is considered one of the biggest threats to global health. More and more bacterial infections are becoming harder to treat. One such infection is fire blight, one of the most destructive disease of apple and pear trees. It is caused by bacteria Erwinia amylovora and its outbreaks have been known to destroy entire orchards in a single season. The conventional method of treatments includes use of antibiotics like streptomycin and oxytetracycline but the incidences like presence …

Coding Rupture Indicators In Couple Therapy (Crict): An Observational Coding Scheme, Annalisa Ward Carr

Theses and Dissertations

The therapeutic alliance, a construct representing agreement and collaboration on therapy goals, therapy tasks, and the emotional bond between client(s) and therapist, is a robust predictor of therapy outcomes in individual, couple, and family therapy. One way to track the therapeutic alliance is through ruptures and repairs. Ruptures are breaks, tensions, or tears in the therapeutic alliance. Ruptures and repairs influence the therapeutic alliance and consequently therapeutic outcomes. Currently, there is a lack of research addressing ruptures and repairs in couple therapy. The first step in researching alliance ruptures is to have a reliable way to assess alliance ruptures. This …

Can You Hear The Music?, Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

My beloved brothers and sisters, my dear friends, Sister Uchtdorf and I are so grateful to be with you today. We bring you the love and greetings of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. You young people are the strength and future of the Church of Jesus Christ all around the earth. You are the Latter-day Saints who will be a blessing to the world. We love and admire you!

Full Issue

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

Voice From The Dust, Darren Parry

BYU Studies

Darren Parry is the chairman of the Northwest Band Tribal Council of the Shoshone Nation. On November 8, 2018, at Brigham Young University, he presented this talk for the Charles Redd Center for Western Studies.

He is working to create the Boa Ogoi [Big River] Cultural Interpretive Center, an educational center that will share the story of the Bear River Massacre. On January 29, 1863, the U.S. Army attacked the Shoshone encamped at the Bear River, near present-day Preston, Idaho, and slaughtered 250 to 500 Shoshone people, including women and children. Public reports of this massacre were officially given by …

She Will Find What Is Lost: Brian Kershisnik’S Artistic Response To The Problem Of Human Suffering, Cris Baird

BYU Studies

In March 2014, my wife, Janae, and I purchased Brian Kershisnik’s masterpiece She Will Find What Is Lost and immediately loaned it to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for display in the Church’s Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.1 In this essay, I tell the story of how we came to own the painting, what it means to us, and why I believe the painting has a spiritually important and universally applicable message.

The Effects Of Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams In Two Middle School Art Classrooms, Kimberly Davis Monson

Theses and Dissertations

Classroom management is a common challenge in middle schools. Class-wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a multi-tiered intervention designed to decrease problem behaviors at the classroom level (Wills et al., 2010). It is comprised of evidence-based practices such as teaching classroom expectations, increasing teacher praise, and using positive reinforcement in an interdependent group contingency. CW-FIT has shown promise in a variety of school settings, but it has not been tested in middle school art classrooms. This was initial investigation examining the effects of CW-FIT using a single-subject ABAB design in two middle school art classrooms. Results indicated that class on-task …

The Association Of Spirituality And Well-Being In South African And Ugandan Samples, Alicia Jane Doman

Theses and Dissertations

Literature has shown a correlation between spirituality and well-being, but this has not been thoroughly studied outside North America, with very few studies conducted in Africa. This study compared data from two sub-Saharan African nations, Uganda and South Africa, that differ markedly in terms of multiple factors that affect well-being, such as mortality rates and access to healthcare, as well as educational and personal growth opportunities. Survey data were collected using the measures of The Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale and Ryff's Personal Well-Being Scale. There were four racial groups represented in the data: Black South Africans, Coloureds, White South …

Snfing Glucose To Pass Mitochondrial Dysfunction: The Role Of Two Sensory Protein Kinases In Metabolic Diseases, Kai Li Ong

Theses and Dissertations

Mitochondria is no longer viewed as merely a powerhouse of the cell. It is now apparentthat mitochondria play a central role in signaling, maintaining cellular homeostasis and cell fate.Mitochondrial dysfunction has been linked to many human diseases caused by cellular metabolicderegulation, such as obesity, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, cardiovascular disease andcancer. Eukaryotic organisms have evolved an efficient way in sensing, communicating andresponding to cellular stress and regulating mitochondrial activity correspondingly through acomplex network of intercommunicating protein kinases and their downstream effectors. Thisdissertation focuses on the interplay of two of the master metabolic regulators in the cell: AMPKand PASK, and characterization of …

Understanding The Processes And Outcomes Of The Lds Addiction Recovery Program's Pornography Addiction Support Groups, Adam Michael Scalese

Theses and Dissertations

This study qualitatively investigated the processes and outcomes associated with the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ (LDS) Addiction Recovery Program (ARP), with a specific focus on their Pornography Addiction Support Group (PASG) meetings. Researchers interviewed 24 (21 males, 3 females) individuals with varying experiences in PASG meetings. Their interview content was broken down into themes. Primary findings suggest that PASG participants experience a significant amount of shame due to their pornography use behaviors. Member-to-member sharing in meetings facilitates self-compassion and lessens shame. Participants reported strong spiritual process in PASG meetings and some spiritual outcomes. Attendance in PASG …

Bottom-Up Controls (Micronutrients And N And P Species) Better Predict Cyanobacterial Abundances In Harmful Algal Blooms Than Top-Down Controls (Grazers), Scott Andrew Collins

Theses and Dissertations

The initiation, bloom, and bust of harmful Cyanobacteria and algae blooms (HAB) in lakes are controlled by top-down and bottom-up ecological controls. Excess phosphorous and nitrogen inputs from anthropogenic sources are primary to blame, but eukaryotic grazers may also promote or curb Cyanobacteria dominance. We tracked shifts in bacterial composition, lake chemistry, and eukaryotic grazing community weekly or bi-weekly through spring and summer and modeled the causes of specific Cyanobacterial species blooms and busts across three lakes in Utah, USA, with differing lake trophic states. Regardless of trophic status, all three lakes experienced blooms of varying composition and duration. Aphanizomenon …

Europe's (Lack Of) Welfare Chauvinism: Evidence From Surveys And Spending, Ethan Davis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Immigration’s effect on European welfare states is complicated. On one hand, increased immigration might undermine social solidarity and impose greater fiscal burdens on redistribution, reducing support for welfare spending. On the other, natives could respond to greater globalization with economic anxiety, increasing support for redistribution in order to mitigate risk. Welfare chauvinism predicts a mixed effect—increased spending for programs that middle-class natives use and reduced spending for programs that benefit immigrants disproportionately. I test this theory by analyzing (1) European attitudes towards immigration and welfare spending and (2) actual spending on these programs, particularly social housing. Additionally, I present a …

Terrestrial Mollusks Of Great Basin National Park, The Snake Range, Nevada, Usa, Mark A. Ports

Western North American Naturalist

In this paper I report on the poorly known terrestrial mollusk fauna of Great Basin National Park (Snake Range) of the central Great Basin, USA. Mollusk species and numbers were recorded according to habitat affinities defined by a combination of rock type, geomorphology, plant communities, and water sources. A total of 6892 individuals representing 18 species of land snails and 1 species of slug were identified from 50 stations within GBNP during the period of spring 2014 through summer 2016. Mollusks were surveyed by 186 soil/litter samples and 1755 min of hand searching. Twelve habitat types included 2 xeric limestone/dolomite …

A Nonhuman Primate Model Of Anxiety-Induced Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism, J. Dee Higley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

This is the final report for the MEG Grant titled: A nonhuman primate model of anxiety-induced alcohol abuse and alcoholism. The formal phase of the project ran from June 1 through August 23, 2016, with the students learning how to safely work with their research subjects, joining a research team, and collecting their data. Following the formal phase, the students returned to BYU where they used the data they and the other students collected to write scientific manuscripts and posters to present their data. Eight students took part: Elizabeth Wood, Alexander Baxter, Natalie Lange, Travis Norseth, Esther Page, Spencer …

Rage And Sage: Therapeutic Modalities For Copd, Paul Reynolds

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Funding available through this MEG award has provided an opportunity for me to meet many academic objectives I’ve determined to be important at BYU. We have been successful in conducting pilot studies that reveal possible roles for SAGEs in ameliorating mechanisms of lung inflammation induced by and cigarette smoke (CS). Despite improvement in personal air quality during the past few decades, the rationale for studying mechanisms leading to adverse health effects remains important. This MEG award specifically provided opportunities for students to conduct meaningful research that led to the observation that alveolar epithelial cells and bronchiolar epithelial cells experience elevated …

Unseen, But In Plain Sight: Identifying Developmental Patterns Of Females With Symptoms Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rebecca Lundwall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met I will document the academic objectives met in terms of posters, presentations and papers.

Empathy For Provider And Patient, Virginia Jefferies, Jane Lassetter Phd, Rn

Student Works

Nurse Practitioners (NPs) increasingly feel pressure to diagnose and treat patients in shorter timeframes. Simultaneously patients’ satisfaction with care impacts reimbursement from Medicare and Medicaid. Improving empathetic skills can encourage patients to openly communicate leading to more accurate and timely diagnosis and treatment, which improve patient outcomes and satisfaction. Empathetic providers find work more satisfying and experience less depression and increased quality of life. This article presents the benefits of empathy to patients and NPs and offers guidance for incorporating empathy into practice. By implementing the behaviors discussed herein, NPs can develop practical skills that benefit both patient and provider.

The Predictive Validity Of A Kindergarten Dynamic Assessment Of Language, Veronica White, Douglas Petersen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Kindergarten students are often administered screening instruments designed to identify weaknesses in emergent literacy skills. Unfortunately, these screeners, which only measure what a student currently knows, cannot validly differentiate between students who have low scores because of limited exposure, language/dialectal differences, or a disability. A more valid approach to identifying kindergarten students for future reading difficulty is needed. Dynamic assessment is emerging as a valid alternative to traditional screening measures. The language subtest of the PEARL (Petersen & Spencer, 2016) uses a dynamic assessment approach where students are administered a pretest (a story retell), participate in language instruction on story …

A Blueprint Or Change: How Punk Music In Belfast Affects Activism Today, Hannah Williams, Jacob Hickman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Though art can be found in all walks of life, it lends itself particularly well to the expression of political frustration. During the deeply rooted religious conflict between Catholic and Protestant communities in Northern Ireland, commonly referred to as the Troubles, many artists and musicians used their creativity to speak out against the violence of the conflict. Born into a society of religious division and hatred, youths of the 1970s and 1980s often turned to the local punk music movement in order to bridge and speak out against the religious divide. Many believe this was critical to eventual peace in …

A Regional Party In Yorkshire?: The Proof Is In The Pudding, Elizabeth Whatcott, Dr. Joel Selway

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Within the United Kingdom, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have all gained regional assemblies which manage local affairs including health care, economic growth, education, and other services. However, the Parliament in Westminster has devolved few responsibilities to local authorities in England. Under the Blair premiership, the government began a process of referendums that would introduce regional assemblies into the Northern regions, but after the North East referendum rejected the proposal in 2004, the devolution process sputtered to a halt. However, regionalism may be gaining new life in England. The Yorkshire Party, a regionalist party that explicitly seeks a regional assembly …

Do Support Groups For Medical Patients Reduce Risk For Mortality? A Meta-Analytic Review, Connor Workman, Dakota Jake, Daniel Rallison, Timothy Smith, Phd, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Phd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Recent scientific findings show that loneliness is found among the highest predictors of mortality. This information could prove to be a major influence on future interventions for medical patients. However, the literature is inconclusive on how best to implement these findings in the real world. Given that research is limited, a meta-analysis of all appropriate scientific articles was performed to find how social support affected mortality in a medical setting.

Role Of Electrical Synapses In Dopamine Transmission In The Brain, Josh Nelson, Seth Stapley, Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Drug addiction has long been a major detriment to society. Its pervasive effects can tear apart the lives of addicted individuals. Many of these individuals go without seeking professional help. In 2015, 22.7 million Americans (8.6 percent) needed treatment for a problem related to drugs or alcohol, but only about 2.5 million people (0.9 percent) received treatment at a specialty facility. This may be due to inadequate treatment methods and therapies in use by professionals. The goal of this project is to better understand the mechanism of dopamine (DA) transmission in the brain in order to develop more effective treatment …