Digital Commons Network^™

“Women Thus Educated”: Transnational Influences On Women’S Arguments For Female Education In Seventeenth-Century England, Miranda Jessop

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis explores the intellectual history of proto-feminist thought in early modern England and seeks to better understand the transnational elements of and influences on proto-feminist theorists’ arguments in favor of women’s education in the late seventeenth century. A close reading of Bathsua Makin and Anna Maria Van Schurman’s essays in relation to one another, and within their social and historical context, reveals the importance of ideas of religion and social order, especially class, in understanding and justifying women’s education. The metaphysical foundation of Makin’s arguments in favor of women’s education is that the true nature of women, including their …

Gamma-Ray Burst Afterglow Dynamics In Inhomogeneous Interstellar Media, Jacob Fields

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are the most luminous electromagnetic phenomena in the universe, but much remains unknown about them. Many models invoked to explain their highly variable light curves are based on complicated dynamics and interactions involving the GRB progenitor but assume simple circumstellar environments. Many long GRBs, however, show late time optical and x-ray flares that may be an indication of a much richer environment. Relativistic hydrodynamics simulations are used to study a family of initial data with a relativistic blast wave encountering a dense circumstellar shell of matter, similar to what an aging star expelling the outer layers of …

Learning Outlines And Teacher Training: A Difference-In-Differences Evaluation Of Pratham Government Partnerships In India, Victoria Beecroft

Undergraduate Honors Theses

India is working to improve learning in primary schools. In this paper, I evaluate the impact of partnerships between Pratham, an education-centered NGO, and Indian government schools. Using a difference-in-differences design to examine the impact of the partnership in Uttar Pradesh, I find a positive short-run effect (a 7% increase in test scores) using state-wide ASER data, and I find inconclusive effects using data restricted to government schools. Considering channels through which the partnerships may impact student learning, I conclude that the program shows potential to have positive, longer-term effects.

A Brief Overview Of Burst Suppression: Causes And Effects On Mortality In Critical Illness, Jake Hogan, Haoqi Sun, Hassan Aboul Nour, Stephen Piccolo, Jacob Crandall, Steven Peck, M Brandon Westover

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the effects of brain inactivation (burst suppression) on mortality in mechanically ventilated ICU patients. Past research has associated burst suppression with increased mortality. However, the effects of burst suppression on ICU patients while taking into account the relative contributions of propofol (a sedative), and critical illness to mortality, and whether preventing burst suppression might reduce mortality, has not yet been quantified. This thesis explores this relationship, and the effect of critical illness and propofol infusion on burst suppression to understand what drives burst suppression.

To measure the relationship between burst suppression, critical illness, propofol infusion, and mortality, …

The Light Of Descartes In Rembrandts's Mature Self-Portraits, Melanie Kathleen Allred

Theses and Dissertations

Rembrandt's use of light in his self-portraits has received an abundance of scholarly attention throughout the centuries--and for good reason. His light delights the eye and captivates the mind with its textural quality and dramatic presence. At a time of scientific inquiry and religious reformation that was reshaping the way individuals understood themselves and their relationship to God, Rembrandt's light may carry more intellectual significance than has previously been thought. Looking at Rembrandt's oeuvre of self-portraits chronologically, it is apparent that something happened in his life or in his understanding that caused him to change how he used light. A …

An Actuarial Approach To Personal Injury Protection Severity, Jason Colgrove

Student Works

Insurance companies examine the risk of financial losses for their policyholders as a way to accurately price insurance policies. Within the automobile insurance sector, the frequency of crashes and the associated liabilities started to increase in late 2013 when it had been on the decline for close to a decade. The purpose of this research focuses on the possible correlated variables that could lead to a better understanding of this change.

To embark on this task, we teamed up with the Society of Actuaries, Casualty Actuarial Society, and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association to obtain data regarding frequency, severity, …

An Analysis Of Opiate Prescription For Chronic Degenerative Disease And Other Pain Syndromes, Catherine Sawyer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Utilizing the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) database, this thesis explores patterns of opiate prescribing during time period from 1993 to 2016, which includes the time period when the opiate crisis was recognized in the United States and efforts begun to combat it. We analyze these patterns particularly as they relate to patients who were prescribed opiates and who were simultaneously suffering from various chronic conditions, and interactions between prescription of opiates and diagnosis of chronic conditions. We examine which demographic groups were most likely to receive opiates, and considered opiate prescription trends among patients with any pain diagnosis …

Using Logical Specifications For Multi-Objective Reinforcement Learning, Kolby Nottingham

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the multi-objective reinforcement learning (MORL) paradigm, the relative importance of environment objectives is often unknown prior to training, so agents must learn to specialize their behavior to optimize different combinations of environment objectives that are specified post-training. These are typically linear combinations, so the agent is effectively parameterized by a weight vector that describes how to balance competing environment objectives. However, we show that behaviors can be successfully specified and learned by much more expressive non-linear logical specifications. We test our agent in several environments with various objectives and show that it can generalize to many never-before-seen specifications.

Orientable Single-Distance Codes For Absolute Incremental Encoders, Kristian Brian Sims

Theses and Dissertations

Digital encoders are electro-mechanical sensors that measure linear or angular position using special binary patterns. The properties of these patterns influence the traits of the resulting encoders, such as their maximum speed, resolution, tolerance to error, or cost to manufacture. We describe a novel set of patterns that can be used in encoders that are simple and compact, but require some initial movement to register their position. Previous designs for such encoders, called absolute incremental encoders, tend to incorporate separate patterns for the functions of tracking incremental movement and determining the absolute position. The encoders in this work, however, use …

Landscape Of The Data Industry, Porter Bagley

Marriott Student Review

No abstract provided.

Measuring Success Right And What That Means, Nathan Lake

Marriott Student Review

No abstract provided.

Editors Letter, Marianna Richardson

Marriott Student Review

No abstract provided.

Full Issue: Unscripted (Volume 3, Issue 3), Marianna Richardson

Marriott Student Review

No abstract provided.

Machine Learning For Effective Parkinson's Disease Diagnosis, Brennon Brimhall

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Parkinson’s Disease is a degenerative neurological condition that affects approximately 10 million people globally. Because there is currently no cure, there is a strong motivation for research into improved and automated diagnostic procedures. Using Random Forests, a computer can effectively learn to diagnose Parkinson’s disease in a patient with high accuracy (94%), precision (95%), and recall (91%) across the data of over 2800 patients. Using similar techniques, I further determine that the most predictive medical tests relate to tremors observed in patients.

How Can Students Use Art To Learn Problem Solving?, Fei-Ya Su

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores how art instruction can be used to help students engage with important problems that matter to them and thereby adding personal value within a holistic education experience. Through a two-week-long curriculum composed of eight two-hour classes, the researcher deeply examined the journeys of growth that three students underwent as they were exposed to new art-making techniques and ideas, with an emphasis on the meaning behind individual art creation. The researcher found that all three students showed growth that extended beyond art-making itself to help them develop as independent problem solvers. As an action research study, this study …

Congruences For Coefficients Of Modular Functions In Levels 3, 5, And 7 With Poles At 0, Ryan Austin Keck

Theses and Dissertations

We give congruences modulo powers of p in {3, 5, 7} for the Fourier coefficients of certain modular functions in level p with poles only at 0, answering a question posed by Andersen and Jenkins and continuing work done by the Jenkins, the author, and Moss. The congruences involve a modulus that depends on the base p expansion of the modular form's order of vanishing at infinity.

The Iscsc Celebrates The 130th Birth Anniversary Of Pitirim A. Sorokin, The Founding President, With A Contemporary View Of His Legacy, Andrew S. Targowski

Comparative Civilizations Review

This study analyzes the legacy of Pitirim Sorokin, founding President of the ISCSC, in terms of his methodology, the scope of his works, and his acceptance by his American peers. He was perceived as a prophet rather than a scientist. Furthermore, he was a hidden anti-Leninist who lived through and was obsessed with crises, and, being spiritually cultivated, he perceived altruism, the Absolute, God, love, duty, sacrifice, grace, and justice as the only solutions that can reconstruct and save humanity. His theory of social and cultural dynamics is like Marx’s socioeconomics; however, it was reconfigured to sound different, since he …

Señor Jim Crow Still Roosts In Cuba: A Comparative Analysis Of Race And Resistance In The United States And Cuba, Leah P. Hollis

Comparative Civilizations Review

After touring Havana, Cuba, with a group of African American Scholars in the fall of 2019, I am inspired to identify the subtle and explicit racist experiences that we endured. A common message from those in the tourism industry is that Cubans love African Americans. This message was constant, yet it rang like a gong in our ears because the message did not match the treatment we received. In truth, this love was not for the African aspect of our identities but for the financial prosperity in the American part of our identities. The Cuban tour guide constantly announced the …

Analysis Of Identification Method For Bacterial Species And Antibiotic Resistance Genes Using Optical Data From Dna Oligomers, Ryan L. Wood, Tanner Jensen, Cindi Wadsworth, Mark Clement, Prashant Nagpal, William G. Pitt

Faculty Publications

Bacterial antibiotic resistance is becoming a significant health threat, and rapid identification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is essential to save lives and reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance. This paper analyzes the ability of machine learning algorithms (MLAs) to process data from a novel spectroscopic diagnostic device to identify antibiotic-resistant genes and bacterial species by comparison to available bacterial DNA sequences. Simulation results show that the algorithms attain from 92% accuracy (for genes) up to 99% accuracy (for species). This novel approach identifies genes and species by optically reading the percentage of A, C, G, T bases in 1000s of short …

Analysis Of Identification Method For Bacterial Species And Antibiotic Resistance Genes Using Optical Data From Dna Oligomers, Ryan L. Wood, Tanner Jensen, Cindi Wadsworth, Mark Clement, Prashant Nagpal, William G. Pitt

Faculty Publications

Bacterial antibiotic resistance is becoming a significant health threat, and rapid identification of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is essential to save lives and reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance. This paper analyzes the ability of machine learning algorithms (MLAs) to process data from a novel spectroscopic diagnostic device to identify antibiotic-resistant genes and bacterial species by comparison to available bacterial DNA sequences. Simulation results show that the algorithms attain from 92% accuracy (for genes) up to 99% accuracy (for species). This novel approach identifies genes and species by optically reading the percentage of A, C, G, T bases in 1000s of short …

Habitat-Dependent Search Behavior In The Colorado Checkered Whiptail (Aspidoscelis Neotesselata), Kaera Utsumi, Carina Kusaka, Rachael Pedersen, Catherine Staley, Lisa Dunlap, Sophia Gilbert Smith, Maria A. Eifler, Douglas A. Eifler

Western North American Naturalist

We compared the movement patterns of foraging Colorado Checkered Whiptails (Aspidoscelis neotesselata) in 2 different habitat types: shrub-grassland and pinyon pine–juniper woodland. We characterized movement by (1) segmenting movement paths into step lengths and turn angles and (2) determining first-passage times (FPTs). Lizards differed in their pattern of movement in the 2 habitats. FPTs were shorter in the pinyon pine–juniper woodland habitat and were positively correlated with ground cover. Lizards also moved more frequently, had longer step lengths, and traveled greater total distances in the pinyon pine–juniper woodland. There were no habitat differences in turn angles, net displacement, …

Error-State Estimation And Control For A Multirotor Uav Landing On A Moving Vehicle, Michael David Farrell

Theses and Dissertations

Though multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become widely used during the past decade, challenges in autonomy have prevented their widespread use when moving vehicles act as their base stations. Emerging use cases, including maritime surveillance, package delivery and convoy support, require UAVs to autonomously operate in this scenario. This thesis presents improved solutions to both the state estimation and control problems that must be solved to enable robust, autonomous landing of multirotor UAVs onto moving vehicles.Current state-of-the-art UAV landing systems depend on the detection of visual fiducial markers placed on the landing target vehicle. However, in challenging conditions, such …

Interview With Clinton Crockett Peters, Tyler Parsons, Candice Boren

Inscape

Inscape: In one of your essays, you talk about your time in Europe and how you tended to make detailed plans earlier in your life. I know the essay genre doesn’t really go with plans necessarily. So how did you balance that: your need to make plans with writing in a genre that avoids making specific plans?

Cube, Gate, And Measuring Tools: A Biblical Pattern, Matthew B. Brown

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

This article explores the biblical pattern that relates the templerelated symbols of the cube, the gate, and measuring tools. The tools of architecture and measurement were associated with the kingship motifs of creation and conquering chaos, and on the day when a person was initiated as a king in ancient Israel, all of these concepts were applied to him.

How Mindsets Shape Response And Learning Transfer: A Case Of Two Graduate Writers, Roger Lee Powell, Dana Lynn Driscoll

Journal of Response to Writing

This article expands composition research on response by examining how Dweck’s theory of mindsets impacts graduate writers’ ability to process critical and praise-oriented teacher response, apply critical and praise-oriented teacher response in revision, and ultimately, develop as learners and transfer knowledge from these experiences. We conducted this examination through in-depth case studies of two writers over a six-year period that spanned undergraduate and graduate education. The case studies included interviews, teacher response, and writing to develop thick descriptions of graduate writers’ experiences. We demonstrate how students’ mindsets intersect with processing and applying both critical and praise-oriented response throughout their academic …

Chiastic Structuring Of Large Texts: Second Nephi As A Case Study1, Noel B. Reynolds

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

In this important paper, Noel Reynolds extends his 1980 argument for the chiastic structure of 1 Nephi to demonstrate that 2 Nephi can be seen as a matching structure with a similar nature. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that chiasmus is not a phenomenon that confines itself to the details of words and phrases at the level of scriptural verses but can extend to much larger units of meaning, allowing the rhetorical beauty and emphasis of their overall messages to shine more brilliantly when they are considered as purposefully crafted wholes.

Temporal Mercies And Eternal Being: Using The Science Of Time To Understand God’S Nature And Our Own, Jared R. Stenson

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

How does God relate to time? How do we? Modern science and revelation offer distinctive and fascinating perspectives to these questions. Specifically, the physical mechanisms underlying time have doctrinal parallels, they appear to be operative at the Fall, and they correlate with several phenomena that make God’s mercy possible.

Full Issue

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Breaking The Cycle: Using Reflective Activities To Transform Teacher Response, Anthony Edgington

Journal of Response to Writing

This article explores the problems associated with a pedagogy of severity, which influences how teachers read and respond to student papers, and suggests that reflection, especially reflection-in-action, can be useful to writing instructors as they respond to their students’ texts. Reflection-in-action, or the reflection that occurs while one is still in the process of completing a task, offers teachers and students the opportunity to reflect on the value of written comments while still possessing the chance to create effective and informative student texts and teacher comments. After exploring how reflection can benefit response, experiences with two reflective activities are given …