Digital Commons Network^™

On The Relationship Of Diabetes And Sleep Apnea: Evolution And Epigenetics, Nancy Wilson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis gives an overview of the relationship between diabetes, sleep apnea, obesity, and heart disease. It then addresses evidence that the traditional understanding of this relationship is incomplete or misleading. In the process, there is a brief discussion of the evolutionary rationale for the development and retention of sleep apnea in light of blood sugar dysregulation, as an adaptive mechanism in response to environmental stressors, followed by a brief overview of the general concepts of epigenetics. Finally, this paper presents the results of a literature search on the epigenetic marks and changes in gene expression found in sleep apnea …

Impacts Of Manipulating Photoperiod On Circadian Rhythms Of Agave Photosynthesis, Robert Hadfield

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Agave uses photoperiod, among other environmental conditions, to time its circadian rhythm of photosynthesis. Two species of Agave (A. americana and A. murpheyi) were tested under two extreme photoperiod conditions (constant light and constant dark) against a normal photoperiod control (12 hours light, 12 hours dark) to identify the impact of abnormal photoperiod on circadian rhythms of Agave photosynthesis. Under constant light conditions, normal oscillations in CO2 gas exchange became unpredictable in duration and amplitude in both species and became very infrequent in A. murpheyi. Under constant dark conditions, net CO2 uptake stabilized at a negative value and oscillations ceased …

Responding To Parents' Questions Regarding Polysorbate 80, Aluminum, And Thimerosal In Vaccines, Elli Hugh, Beth Luthy

Student Works

Vaccines save millions of lives worldwide every year. Nevertheless, misinformation regarding vaccine ingredients circulates on various media platforms and may negatively influence parental decisions regarding childhood vaccinations. Three vaccine ingredients commonly associated with parental vaccine concerns include polysorbate 80, aluminum, and thimerosal. Common misconceptions about polysorbate 80 and neurological sequela exist within the vaccine hesitant community. Additionally, aluminum has been incorrectly connected to chronic disease in children. Though proven that thimerosal does not cause autism, vaccine critics have now inaccurately reformed the argument claiming that it is the combination of thimerosal and aluminum that causes autism. The purpose of this …

Facing Fears When Fearing Faces: Binocular Rivalry Perceptual Alternation And Approach-Avoidance In College-Aged Women With Autistic Traits And A History Of Adverse Experiences, Sarah Kamhout

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Women with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASCs) may be more likely to experience symptoms of trauma exposure due to greater likelihood of facing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). In order to gain a better understanding of the neural mechanisms involved with ASC and PTSD in women who experience difficulty with social interactions, I examined the ability of two vision tasks-- Binocular Rivalry Perceptual Alternation (BR) and Visual Approach/Avoidance by the Self Task (VAAST)-- to predict symptoms of both conditions as well as differentiate between them. I also examined differences in response to neutral or emotional (angry or fearful) faces under both paradigms. …

Fathers As Stay-At-Home Dads: Fathers' And Mothers' Perspectives On Children's School Experiences, Taylor Hubbert Michelsen

Theses and Dissertations

As traditional family roles change and circumstances at home become increasingly varied in contemporary society, the experiences of children also undergo change. For instance, when fathers take on primary caregiving responsibilities, those differing circumstances also impact their children. Therefore, it is important for researchers to study how changing parental roles affect children in the home. Through the use of qualitative research design, this research focuses on how the experiences of children within the home may be impacted when fathers are the primary caregiver. Although previous research has examined several aspects of family dynamics with so-called stay-at-home fathers, research has not …

The Beneficial Effects Of The Gut-Derived Metabolite Trimethylamine N-Oxide On Functional Β-Cell Mass, Emily Suzanne Krueger

Theses and Dissertations

Elevated serum levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) were first associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) 10 years ago. Research has since defined that serum TMAO accumulation is controlled by the diet-microbiome-liver-kidney axis. Choline related nutrients are consumed in excess during over-nutrition from a Western diet. The resultant elevated serum TMAO is investigated across various chronic metabolic diseases and many tissue types. While TMAO is most clearly linked to CVD mechanisms in vascular tissue, its molecular effects on metabolic tissues are unclear. Here we report the current standing of TMAO research in metabolic disease context across relevant metabolic tissues …

Designing Cell-Free Protein Synthesis Systems For Improved Biocatalysis And On-Demand, Cost-Effective Biosensors, Mehran Soltani Najafabadi

Theses and Dissertations

The open nature of Cell-Free Protein Synthesis (CFPS) systems has enabled flexible design, easy manipulation, and novel applications of protein engineering in therapeutic production, biocatalysis, and biosensors. This dissertation reports on three advances in the application of CFPS systems for 1) improving biocatalysis performance in industrial applications by site-specific covalent enzyme immobilization, 2) expressing and optimizing a difficult to express a mammalian protein in bacterial-based CFPS systems and its application for cost-effective, on-demand biosensors compatible with human body fluids, and 3) streamlining the procedure of an E. coli extract with built-in compatibility with human body fluid biosensors. Site-specific covalent immobilization …

Decision Based Learning Course Design & Implementation For Introductory Statistics, Austin Heath

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Researchers in multiple industries (biomedicine, engineering, etc.) cite the selection of an appropriate statistical test as a common problem. Experts draw on a framework of conceptual and procedural knowledge to navigate when to use statistical methods. Students also struggle determining the correct statistical method to use for a given research question. This is because they lack the opportunity to practice recognizing a host of features in each research question that provide clues for experts as to which method is most appropriate. “Decision Based Learning” (DBL) is a teaching method designed to help teachers and students address this struggle. In this …

Immunoaffinity Monoliths For Multiplexed Extraction Of Preterm Birth Biomarkers From Human Blood Serum In 3d Printed Microfluidic Devices, Haifa Mohammad Almughamsi

Theses and Dissertations

Preterm birth (PTB) results in over 15 million early births annually and is the leading cause of neonatal deaths. There are no clinical methods currently available to evaluate risk of PTB at early stages in pregnancy; thus, a rapid diagnostic to analyze PTB risk would be beneficial. Microfluidic immunoaffinity extraction is a promising platform for preparing complex samples, such as maternal serum with PTB risk biomarkers. 3D printed microfluidic devices have advantages over conventional microfluidic systems including simple fabrication and potential for iterative optimization to improve designs. In this work, I developed immunoaffinity monoliths in 3D printed microfluidic devices modified …

Secularism: A Measure Of Explicit Agreement With Assumptions Of Secularism (Meaas), Conner Douglas Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Values are inherent within cultures, relationships, and many other systems, however, little study has been done on the extent to which individuals may explicitly agree with the metaphysical assumptions that much of psychological science relies upon. Psychological science, which uses scientific methodology, is a trusted source of knowledge for many students. Scientific methodology is conceptually linked to assumptions of naturalism, which makes claims about the truth of reality. These naturalistic assumptions pertain to ideas of disenchantment, which describe the world as free from any transcendent quality. These same ideas have become popular among people of the Western world and are …

Understanding Public K-12 Building Principals' Perspectives On The Greatest Successes And Challenges In American Education, Buck Ekstrom

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study was conducted in a suburban intermountain school district. The research purpose was to (a) solicit narratives from principals about the greatest successes and challenges in American education; (b) conduct deep insightful analysis to find emerging themes from the interviews with principals; and (c) to provide important information for policy and law makers. The findings focused on data collected from interviews asking 25 principals to share perspectives and examples from their work in schools and education in general. The principals were asked about educational successes. Those cited regularly highlighted positive cultures, doing tremendous work with minimal funding, and …

Peculiar Students Of A Peculiar Institution: A Historical Analysis Of Racial Minority Students And Race Relations At Brigham Young University As Presented In The Banyan From 1911-1985, Grace Ann Soelberg

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the yearbook for Brigham Young University which ran from 1911-1985. It analyzes the ways in which white students not only asserted and defended their whiteness, but how they superimposed narratives and identities upon other groups. Black students were largely ignored and their inclusion depended upon the schools need to defend itself against accusations of racism and for white students to remain in racial innocence. White students also exhibited various anti-Black behaviors in an attempt to distance themselves from blackness to attain whiteness. Native American students were homogenized and forced to fit into the white students and administrations …

Warning! Explicit Material: The Effects Of Adolescent Pornography Use On Risky Sexual Behavior Over Time, Emily Jensen-Schvaneveldt

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the longitudinal effects of adolescent pornography trajectories on risky sexual behavior, as well as predictors of pornography trajectories. Data was taken from Waves V-X of the Flourishing Families Project, which included a sample of 463 families. A zero-inflated Poisson growth mixture model was run to determine class participation and growth trajectories. Findings revealed that gender and religiosity significantly predicted class participation, and class participation significantly predicted risky sexual behavior. While this study did have limitations, this study adds to the previous literature by examining adolescent pornography trajectories over an extended period of time.

Disability In Lee Han's Social Integration Films, Dasom Han

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis examines four films by Lee Han—Wandeugi (2011), Thread of Lies (2013), A Melody to Remember (2016) and Innocent Witness (2019)—that highlight disability problems in contemporary South Korea. While exposing the prejudice against and misunderstanding of people with disabilities embedded in society, these motion pictures promote social integration through development of trusted relationships and effective communication within familial structures. The representations of disability indicate that the cinematic images of exclusion can reinforce disabled characters' marginalized identity and promote inclusive efforts among the viewer at the same time. Through textual, cultural, theoretical analysis, it is argued that the films progressively …

Novel Prey And Foraging Behavior Of The California Whiptail (Aspidoscelis Tigris Munda) Along Two Intermittent Streams, Robert A. Leidy, Garrett A. Leidy, Kate I. Goldmann

Western North American Naturalist

During the spring of 2006, we observed predation by California whiptail (Aspidoscelis tigris munda) on the endemic coastal roach (Hesperoleucus venustus) from an isolated pool along an intermittent reach of Coyote Creek, Santa Clara County, California, USA. Our observation is the first published record, to the best of our knowledge, of a whiptail in the genus Aspidoscelis in the southwestern United States preying upon fish. We also report on subsequent observations during 2014, 2015, and 2020 of California whiptail foraging along isolated, intermittent stream pools within this watershed.


Durante la primavera del 2006, observamos depredación por …

Synthesis And Biological Evaluation Of Pyrazolo[1,5-A]Pyrimidines And (4-Hydroxy-6-Trifluoromethylpyrimidin-2-Yl) Guanidines, Justin Dave Singleton

Theses and Dissertations

A microwave reactor was used to synthesize a series of novel 3,6-disubstituted or 3-substituted pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines in a total of 1 hour reaction time over 3 steps. The products were obtained in good to excellent yields (34-92%, ave = 52%) using a straightforward synthesis starting with the reaction of dimethylformamide-dimethylacetal with commercially available aryl acetonitriles (120C, 20 min). This was followed by treatment with H2NNH2 • HBr (120C, 20 min), and then reacted with either 1,1,3,3-tetramethoxypropane or a 2-aryl-substituted malondialdehydes (120C, 20 min). The resulting product was either collected on a sintered glass funnel or purified via column chromatography. The compounds …

Uncertainty Quantification, Douglas Cook

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

What are the limitations of scientific models? Uncertainty quantification, Sensitivity analyses, Theory-based and statistical modeling, Systems thinking, systems analysis

Facile Atomic-Level Structure Determination Of Proteins, James Moody

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

Protein structure and function, Protein crystallization methods, Enzymology, Enzyme engineering

Using X-Ray Vision To Understand How Things Break: Lensless X-Ray Imaging Of Materials In Extreme Conditions, Richard Sandberg

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

Microscopy, nanotechnology, optics, inverse problems, applied math, materials science, computer science, data science, x-ray imaging and diffraction

Bacterial High Throughput Platform For Drug Discover, Dario Mizrachi

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

Synthetic biology, Tight Junctions, Membrane proteins

Multi-Material Additive Manufacturing (3d Printing), Jason Weaver

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

Multi-material Additive Manufacturing, Hybrid Manufacturing, Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM), 3D printing applications

Executive Functioning, Caregiver Monitoring, And Medication Adherence Over Time In Adolescents With Chronic Kidney Disease, Cyd K. Eaton, Kara Mcrae Duraccio, Michelle N. Eakin, Tammy M. Brady, Cozumel S. Pruette, Thomas Eckmann, Susan R. Mendley, Shamir Tuchman, Barbara A. Fivush, Kristen A. Riekert

Faculty Publications

Objective: To evaluate associations between executive functioning and caregiver adherence monitoring with objective antihypertensive medication adherence over 24 months in adolescents with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: Adolescents (N = 97, 11–20 years old) with CKD taking antihypertensive medication and their caregivers were recruited from three pediatric nephrology clinics. At baseline, adolescents and caregivers reported on adolescents’ executive functioning and caregivers reported on their adherence monitoring. Antihypertensive medication adherence was objectively assessed via electronic monitoring at baseline and every 6 months after for 24 months. Associations between executive functioning, caregiver monitoring, and longitudinal adherence were evaluated with linear mixed models. …

3d Printing For Lab-On-A-Chip, Gregory P. Nordin

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

3D printed microfluidics, biological and chemical sensors, nanophotonics and integrated optics, micro- and nanofabrication, MEMS, and microfluidics

Understanding Host-Pathogen Interactions, Brett E. Pickett

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

Gene Expression, Signaling Pathway Analysis, RNA-Sequencing, Drug Repurposing, Infectious Diseases, Diagnostics, Cancer, Comparative Genomics, Machine Learning

Dual-Axis Acousto-Optic/Electro-Optic Deflectors In Lithium Niobate For Full-Parallax Holographic Video Displays, Mitchell Robert Adams

Theses and Dissertations

A major limitation of acousto-optic (AO) leaky-mode modulator based holographic displays is their inability to present full-parallax. We propose that full-parallax capabilities can be bestowed on these displays by integrating an electro-optic (EO) phased array into the architecture. We validated this concept by rendering computational models and by fabricating and testing a basic two-axis AO/EO deflector prototype in lithium niobate. This was, to our knowledge, the first instantiation of an integrated, hybrid AO/EO deflector. The prototype had a 6° deflection range along the AO-axis, and a 3° deflection range along the EO-axis. A series of models provide us with a …

Physical Health As A Predictor Of Change In Self-Reported Presenting Problems In Couple Therapy, As Mediated By Emotional Regulation, Janette J. Driscoll

Theses and Dissertations

Recent literature in couple therapy has demonstrated the effects of physical health on some common presenting problems; however, few studies have considered progress as a construct on its own, irrespective of client-identified presenting problem. The current study used an Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediated Model to determine the connection between each partner's physical health and their own and their partner's self-reported progress in couple therapy, mediated by each partner's emotional regulation. Physical health was measured every four sessions using the Health-Related Quality of Life scale, and progress was measured by the Presenting Problem Progress Questionnaire given each time a couple attended therapy. …

Cytotypes Of The Simulium Arcticum Species Complex In The American Pacific Northwest, Gerald F. Shields

Western North American Naturalist

The larval polytene chromosomes of 17 of the 22 known cytotypes of the Simulium arcticum Malloch complex were analyzed and compared at 59 collection sites in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Cytotypes range from those that were broadly distributed, such as IIL-9, which was found at 25 different sites, to those that were found at only one or two sites, such as IIL-73 74. Cytotypes are “clustered” in a geographic sense, suggesting that once a new cytotype is described, if it is found again, it will be found nearby. The cytotype S. arcticum IIL-9 was found at 11 …

Fire And Rodent Consumer Effects On Plant Community Assembly And Invasion In North American Deserts, Rebekah L. Stanton

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the differential effects of fires and rodent communities on native and invasive desert plant communities. Chapter one examines the impacts of fire and repeat fires on fuel loads in two different Utah desert sites, one in the cool Great Basin Desert and one in the hyper-arid Mojave Desert, over the course of four years. We found that both desert sites responded with varying intensities to a single burn, but the effects of a reburn were not as pronounced. We also found that our Great Basin Desert site had a stronger response to fire than our Mojave Desert …

Pre-Columbian Cultivation Of Agave Species Through Rock Mulching: Potential For Modern Applications, Hector Genaro Ortiz Cano

Theses and Dissertations

As global temperatures rise, cultivation of C3 and C4 crops in arid and semi-arid regions will face major challenges in producing biomass for billions of people. Conventional agricultural techniques that require copious irrigation will need to be complemented with dryland-farming techniques and drought-tolerant crops, such as those from the Agave genus, which use CAM photosynthesis. In the past and present, humans from arid and semi-arid regions of America have maintained a symbiotic relationship using and cultivating Agave (Agavoideae, Asparagaceae). In pre-Columbian times, Native Americans from arid regions relied on Agave cultivation as a subsistence crop to produce food, medicine, and …

"It's Like Being Pulled In Two Directions": Experiences Of Transgender Latter-Day Saints, Morgan Monet

Theses and Dissertations

This study qualitatively examined the experiences of transgender individuals who also identify as active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (N=10). Researchers took an interpretive phenomenological approach to elicit factors which allow trans Mormon folks to hold their apparently conflicting religious and gender identities simultaneously (and the consequences of doing so). Overall, we aimed to answer the broad question, “what is it like to be transgender and Mormon?” Following a process of semi-structured interviews, transcription, and coding, the broad categories which seemed to connect many elements of the trans/Mormon experience were 1) a sense of being …