Digital Commons Network^™

Acoustothermal Transfection For Cell Therapy, Xiufang Liu, Ning Rong, Zhenhua Tian, Joseph Rich, Lili Niu, Pengqi Li, Laixin Huang, Yandai Dong, Wei Zhou, Pengfei Zhang, Yizhao Chen, Congzhi Wang, Long Meng, Tony Jun Huang, Hairong Zheng

Faculty Publications

Transfected stem cells and T cells are promising in personalized cell therapy and immunotherapy against various diseases. However, existing transfection techniques face a fundamental trade-off between transfection efficiency and cell viability; achieving both simultaneously remains a substantial challenge. This study presents an acoustothermal transfection method that leverages acoustic and thermal effects on cells to enhance the permeability of both the cell membrane and nuclear envelope to achieve safe, efficient, and high-throughput transfection of primary T cells and stem cells. With this method, two types of plasmids were simultaneously delivered into the nuclei of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with efficiencies of …

Efficacy Of An Online Mindfulness Training To Improve Well-Being In K-12 Teachers: A Randomized Waitlist Controlled Trial, Katelyn Naomi Jackman

Theses and Dissertations

Concerns about the mental health and well-being of K-12 schoolteachers have never been more urgent, with stress levels, burnout, and rates of attrition reaching historically high levels. Mindfulness-based interventions may be a professional development option for teachers to better meet the demands of their career with skills such as mental flexibility, emotion regulation, resilience, empathy, compassion, and interpersonal skills. This study examines the efficacy of the Mindfulness for Humans (MfH) course, an online, self-directed mindfulness curriculum that is grounded in evidence-based practices, is easily accessible and scalable, relatively brief, and requires little or no work on the part of the …

Trauma-Informed Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction To Increase Family Quality Of Life For Mothers Of Children With Autism: A Pilot Study, Carol May Vaughn

Theses and Dissertations

Mothers of children with autism have a higher rate of stress than mothers of neurotypical children and mothers of children with other disabilities. This impacts their family quality of life. This study aimed to show that by teaching mothers trauma-informed mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques they were able to switch their perspectives and feel that they had increased the relationships with their child with autism and increased the rating they give their family quality of life. The participants were recruited using word of mouth and through distribution of posters to autism communities following approval of the experiment through the institutional review …

Distinguishing Between Symptom Presence And Severity Using A Two-Part Sequential Model, Luiza Ferreira Pradera

Theses and Dissertations

Most symptom measures either implicitly or explicitly distinguish between symptom presence and symptom severity. For example, item 2 on the PHQ-9, a commonly used measure of depressive symptoms, asks respondents to rate how much they have been 'feeling down, depressed, or hopeless.' The response options are 0 (Not at all), 1 (Several Days), 2 (More than half the days), and 3 (Nearly every day). Answering 0 indicates that the symptom is not present, and any response greater than 0 suggests the symptom is present. Higher values indicate higher severity of the symptom. Although the response options distinguish between symptom presence …

Quality Of Life Outcomes Among Female Student-Athletes: Exploring The Role Of Coach-Athlete Relationships, Ashley Renee Kernan

Theses and Dissertations

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) first integrated into collegiate athletics in 1906 with the goal to govern burgeoning sports activities. More than 1,098 colleges and universities participate in the NCAA and have sports teams on their campuses. Although NCAA athletics has gained popularity through the years, much of the research and education has focused on men's sports in the NCAA, thus ignoring the sharp increase of women participating in NCAA. This increase came after Title IX was implemented and now almost half of student-athletes in Division I sports are female. While some conducted research includes female student-athletes in the …

"Hey, Guys": How Youtubers Attempt To Fix Their Mistakes With Apologies And Transparasocial Relationships, Callie Day Tenney

Theses and Dissertations

YouTube apology videos from social media influencers offer a compelling perspective on personal accountability, the intricate bond between creators and viewers, and a way to take a closer look into them. This study employs the situational crisis communication theory and expands upon the trans-parasocial relationship model to elucidate how YouTubers leverage these theoretical frameworks in their apology videos. Through a qualitative thematic analysis of 30 videos spanning the last eight years on YouTube, this research seeks to identify common apology strategies, linguistic patterns, nonverbal cues, and technical aspects to uncover recurring themes and consistencies. The analysis found strong themes of …

La Unión Hace La Fuerza: The Power Of Parental Involvement In The Emotional Well-Being Of Hispanic/Latinx Youth, Ana Mccarl

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

The present study seeks to answer how parental involvement impacts the emotional health of Hispanic/Latinx youth, a population known for disproportionately experiencing high rates of mental health disorders in the US.

Data were taken from 373 parent-child dyads from every state in Mexico, and a linear regression model was run to assess if parental involvement predicts emotional well-being while controlling for age, marital status, education, and gender.

The results showed that parental involvement predicted child emotional well-being, with each unit increase in parental involvement representing a 7.98 increase in child emotional well-being.

Given the prevalence of negative mental health outcomes …

Behind Bars, Beyond Means: Why Incarceration Is The Ultimate Form Of Poverty In The U.S., Samuel Bohn, Ella Paligo, Benjamin White

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

This Fulton Mentored Student Research Conference poster examines the relationship between incarceration and poverty in the United States, where currently over 2 million individuals are imprisoned, constituting 20% of the global prison population. Comprehensive analysis reveals that incarceration exacerbates poverty in the United States through the stigmatization of ex-felons and intergenerational poverty— both perpetuated by systemic exclusions. Drawing on Christian and Islamic principles, this poster highlights the universal call for justice and compassion for these marginalized individuals. The proposed reforms emphasize investment in rehabilitation programs, sentencing reform, and addressing structural inequities. Ultimately, by integrating research-based policies and collectively advocating for …

Increasing Safety In Electric Scooter Users, Hyrum Prestwich, Blaine Winters, Daphne Thomas, Sheri Tesseyman, Michael Robinson

Student Works

Background: Electric scooters (e-scooters) have become a common form of transportation for many people in recent years. As e-scooter use has increased, so have injuries associated with accidents. Safety measures must be implemented and shared with communities to increase safe behavior and prevent injuries. This project aimed to increase safe e-scooter behaviors among Brigham Young University (BYU) students. Methods: We created a brief safety video focusing on behaviors associated with e-scooter injury prevention. A convenience sample of BYU students participated in the online survey and safety video. A pre-and post-survey was used to assess demographics, previous e-scooter use, intention …

Multiscale Characterization Of Dislocation Development During Cyclic Bending Under Tension In Commercially Pure Titanium, Nathan R. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Continuous bending under tension (CBT) has been shown to increase room temperature elongation-to-failure (ETF) in various sheet metals past that of simple tension (ST). In commercially pure titanium (CP-Ti) Grade 4, up to 3x extended elongation over ST has been achieved. A greater understanding of deformation mechanisms in CBT would allow for its elongation-enhancing effects to be more fully exploited in HCP and other metals, creating potential for new forming strategies. While most of the extended ETF has been attributed to delayed localization via incremental deformation inherent to the CBT process, together with compressive stabilization and relaxation of mechanical strain …

The National Basketball Association Communications Strategy For The 2019-20 Season Restart, Trevor Dale Jones

Theses and Dissertations

This paper analyzes the NBA's communications efforts from June 4 to July 30, 2020 as it prepared for an unprecedented season restart in the early days of a global pandemic. While scholars have examined the media's framing of the NBA in this period, there is a gap in the literature when looking at the official NBA communications strategy of the organization itself. As the first study to use risk communication theory in a sports scenario while also employing corporate social advocacy as the second theoretical basis of analysis, this qualitative study is a thematic and textual analysis of 14 NBA …

Validating Boyness: How Art Education Allows Male Adolescent Students A Space For Authenticity, Vulnerability, Empathy, And Connection, Stephanie Behlke-Mcfarland

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines societal norms and unwritten rules for boys as they mature. It is hypothesized that most boys deal with emotional suppression or dissociation in varying degrees of severity due to traumas during their developmental years. This dissociation creates an inability to express their own emotions adequately and therefore affects their ability to empathize with others. A lack of vulnerability may also be a common challenge among boys society still considers vulnerability weakness. This pattern continues into adulthood and is then perpetuated through posterity and future generations. This thesis explores through a qualitative case study how using art integration …

Application Of High-Deflection Strain Gauges To Characterize Spinal-Motion Phenotypes Among Patients With Clbp, Spencer Alan Baker

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a nonspecific and persistent ailment that entails many physiological, psychological, social, and economic consequences for individuals and societies. Although there is a plethora of treatments available to treat CLBP, each treatment has varying efficacy for different patients, and it is currently unknown how to best link patients to their ideal treatment. However, it is known that biopsychosocial influences associated with CLBP affect the way that we move. It has been hypothesized that identifying phenotypes of spinal motion could facilitate an objective and repeatable method of determining the optimal treatment for each patient. The objective …

Time-Dependent Strain-Resistance Relationships In Silicone Nanocomposite Sensors, Alex Mikal Wonnacott

Theses and Dissertations

Flexible high-deflection strain gauges have been demonstrated as cost-effective and accessible sensors for capturing human biomechanical deformations. However, the interpretation of these sensors is notably more complex compared to conventional strain gauges, partially owing to the viscoelastic nature of the strain gauges. On top of the non-linear viscoelastic behavior, dynamic resistance response is even more difficult to capture due to spikes in resistance during strain changes. This research examines the relationships between stress, strain, and resistance in nanocomposite sensors during dynamic strain situations. Under the assumption that both macroscopic stress and resistance are governed by microscopic stress concentrations at the …

High Data Rate Signal Processing Architectures And Compilation Strategies For Scalable, Multi-Gigabit Digital Systems, Daniel Alexander Nybo

Theses and Dissertations

In this study we present a high-performance computing architecture and hardware acceleration strategy for a heterogeneous multi-gigabit computing system. The system architecture integrates a BeeGFS distributed file system, capable of achieving 80 Gbps of sustained write throughput across five nodes, essential for managing the high data volumes generated by a 25 high performance computer (HPC) compute cluster. To ensure operational efficiency and scalability, the tasks performed on the Linux compute cluster consisting of 30 nodes are automated using Ansible, facilitating seamless deployment, management, and updates. We present compilation strategies for a hardware accelerated Polyphase Filter Bank (PFB) channelization routine optimized …

Comics About Organs: Social Support And Graphic Medicine In The Awkward Yeti, Jacob Gibb

Theses and Dissertations

Comic strips have always been a medium for more than humor. Many comic strips published on social media sites address mental health issues. Despite their popularity, the field of graphic medicine, which examines the intersection of health care and comics, has seen little to no examination of how these comics function on social media. Utilizing the popular comic The Awkward Yeti, this research examines how the rhetorical devices of comics make them an ideal medium for communicating about mental health issues and providing social support to social media users. This study conducts a content analysis of 15 Instagram posts from …

Overnight Shifts And Poverty: A Look At How Money Affects Sleep, Jared Scott

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Overnight shift work has been clearly linked to overall poorer sleep. Additionally, socio-economic status (SES) is a strong predictor of many health outcomes, including sleep health. This study looks at the intersection of shift work and SES as they relate to sleep health.

Data on 9,210 workers aged 18 years and older were acquired from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. These workers self-identified their typical shift as overnight, evening, daytime, or rotating. Data on poverty income ratios (PIR) was also collected and was used to generate SES groups of poverty (PIR ≤ 1), below median (PIR ≥ 1 …

Cmv And Brain Volume, Scott Maclean, Ashley Catchpole, Ethan Coulter, Elijah Davis, Bethany Richmond, Thomas Farrer, Dawson Hedges, Shawn Gale, Lance Erickson

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

In a sample of UK adults aged 40-69, we conducted multivariable regression analysis on the relationship between cytomegalovirus (CMV) and brain volume accounting for several health covariates. Although no main effects emerged, we found that socioeconomic status moderated the relationship, such that in low socioeconomic groups, CMV predicted lower thalamic and hippocampal volumes.

Quantifying And Characterizing The Behavior Of Dissolved And Suspended Icp-Oes Detectible Elements In Utah Lake, Rachel Ann Valek

Theses and Dissertations

For Utah Lake in Utah, USA, we analyzed a uniquely comprehensive and longitudinal water quality dataset that extended over two summer sampling seasons. We measured 61 parameters using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), YSI ProDSS water sondes, and laboratory procedures to quantify and characterize dissolved and suspended behavior of trace elements in Utah Lake. We analyzed the data using principal component analysis (PCA) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) to understand the lake geochemistry and inform Utah Lake management decisions regarding nutrients and algal blooms. We found that 1) sediments rich in phosphorus (P) act as a source for bioavailable …

Psychotherapy Client Termination Patterns And Outcomes: A Large Follow-Up Study, Including Zero-, One-, And Two-Session Cases, Adam Victor Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

Empirical research examining psychotherapy clients' post treatment outcomes for all case lengths and their reasons for discontinuing treatment is limited in the literature, particularly for shorter case lengths. Research indicates that clients with zero-, one-, and two-session case lengths are the most common in psychotherapy (Howard et al., 1986; Nielsen et al., 2016; Phillips, 1985; Phillips 1987); and yet, little is known about these clients. The purpose of this study is to better understand these termination patterns and outcomes for the most common case lengths. Outcomes were measured with the Outcome Questionnaire-45 total score (OQ-45; Lambert et al., 2004). Client …

Standardizing The Volunteer Experience: Mtc Interpretation Volunteer Onboarding Course, Parker Whitelock

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

This project report outlines the development and implementation of an onboarding course for volunteer interpreters at the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC). Aimed at standardizing the introductory experience, the course covers areas such as MTC campus navigation, interpretation equipment use, and volunteer policies, alongside instilling a spiritual foundation for the volunteers' service. The course was designed to accommodate a diverse range of volunteers, emphasizing clear, accessible instructions and practical application through self-paced modules on the Canvas platform. Feedback from initial implementation indicates high relevance, clarity, and satisfaction among volunteers, with suggestions for further enhancement. This endeavor not only enhances operational …

Time Spent Jogging/Running And Biological Aging In 4,458 U.S. Adults: An Nhanes Investigation, Christina Michelle Blackmon

Theses and Dissertations

Telomere length is a good index of cellular aging. Longer telomeres are predictive of longer life, and healthy lifestyles are associated with longer telomeres. This study explored the relationship between time spent jogging or running each week and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in 4,458 randomly selected U.S. adults. The association was studied using data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and a cross-sectional design. Total weekly jog/run time was calculated from survey responses. From the minute totals, three categories were formed: <10 minutes/week, 10-74 minutes/week, and ≥75 minutes/week. Adults in the third category met the U.S. guidelines. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Partial correlation was used to adjust for differences in potential mediating factors, including demographic and lifestyle/medical factors. In the total sample, after adjusting for all the potential covariates, mean LTL significantly differed across the 3 jog/run categories (F=4.1, P=0.0272). Specifically, adults who met the guidelines via jogging and/or running had significantly longer telomeres than adults who performed no jogging/running. Adults in the middle category did not differ from the other two categories. A minimum of 75 minutes of jogging/running weekly is predictive of longer telomeres when compared to adults who do not jog or run regularly.

Thriving As Educators: A Study On Cultivating Joy And Longevity In Teaching, Stephanie Anne Wilkinson Witt

Theses and Dissertations

This instrumental case study explored the phenomenon of long-term teachers of a school district in the Western United States who continue to enjoy teaching. They were asked about their well-being at work, using the elements of the PERMA theory of well-being--positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishments--and how those impacted their enjoyment and their choice to continue teaching. The case consisted of seven teachers who each had at least 10 years of experience teaching. Each participant was interviewed about what they do to enjoy and continue teaching. Through analysis, clear strategies and actionable steps that teachers can take to continue …

Can A Congregation Make A Difference? The Relationship Between Social Support And Latter-Day Saint Lgbtq+ Adolescent Well-Being, Aubrey Bardsley

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the relationship between social support at church and the well-being of adolescents who currently or previously belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, formally known as Mormon), differentiating between LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ adolescents. Past studies show that social support is negatively related to suicidality for adolescents. However, open questions remain about if this relationship is similar for LDS adolescents who identify as LGBTQ+ compared to those who do not. To test this question, I used data from the Family Foundations of Youth Development, a project that randomly sampled adolescents from Utah, Arizona, and …

Error Processing In Adolescents With A Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (Mtbi): A Longitudinal Study, Tanner J. Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

Error processing, a neural process critical to adaptive learning during adolescence, may be disrupted by mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of adults following mTBI indicate a variable impact of mTBI on neural correlates of error processing, including the error related negativity (ERN) and post error positivity (Pe) components of the scalp-recorded event-related potential (ERP). Existing studies of mTBI in adolescents indicate significantly decreased ERN amplitudes and nonsignificant differences in Pe amplitude between mTBI and control groups. However, no longitudinal studies of adolescents with mTBI are available to date despite the importance of these processes. We …

Deliberate Practice In The Skill Of Evaluating Automatic Thoughts: A Multiple Case Study, Hanni Rizk

Theses and Dissertations

Deliberate Practice is an emerging technique for competency-based education within psychotherapy training. In this multiple-case study, deliberate practice is evaluated for training the cognitive-behavioral therapeutic skill of evaluating automatic thoughts, also known as Socratic questioning. Students in a Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program responded to an actress in a simulated automatic negative thought therapy scenario before and after participating in a deliberate practice workshop. The workshop consisted of an overview of Socratic questioning, roleplay, expert feedback, and behavioral rehearsal. Scenario roleplays before and after the workshop presented situations related to client "lovability" and "competence" providing an opportunity for the participants to …

Investigating Which Muscles Are Most Responsible For Tremor Through Both Experimental Data And Simulation, Daniel Benjamin Free

Theses and Dissertations

Tremor affects millions of people and many patients desire alternative treatment options to medication or neural surgery. Peripheral suppression techniques are gaining greater use, but are currently applied in a trial-and-error method. To optimize these techniques, the muscles most responsible for an individual patient's tremor need to be identified. In this dissertation, I explored two parallel paths that both could aid in identifying muscles responsible for tremor. The first method utilizies measured data and a technique (coherence) that quantifies the frequency dependent correlation between two signals. Using coherence to identify muscles contributing to tremor requires at least two parts: an …

Full Issue

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

No abstract provided.

Birthing Contention: Conflict Between Black And White Health Officials In Southern Midwife Training In The Mid-Twentieth Century, Ruth Hyde Truman

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

"You can go right now and start talking to somebody about my age and Iil older and quite a bit older. They'll say, 'I was delivered by a granny midwife.' A black woman, a granny midwife." These words, spoken by Onnie Lee Logan in her book, Motherwit: An Alabama Midwife's Story, illustrate the important role that black women played in childbirth in the South in the mid-twentieth century. In the South, hospitals were located far from rural communities, and women were much more likely to give birth in their own homes and enlist the aid of a black midwife than …

Losing "The Jewels In Her Crown": Latter-Day Saint Women And Pregnancy Loss In The Nineteenth Century, Karen Mackay Moss

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

In her journal entry for the morning of May 27, 1849, Zina D. H. Young recounted her morning's work in assisting Margaret Alley, a fellow wife of Brigham Young, during a sickness which had begun over a week earlier after Margaret had "over done" herself. Young wrote that while she stayed home from church meetings that day, Margaret "was relieved of a two month sickness-perfect form occasioned by a hurt." Margaret Alley had experienced a miscarriage. Taking to her journal again that evening, Young stated that her day had been quite busy, full of "little events" including Margaret's "misfortune," a …