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The Associations Of Extraversion And Heart Rate Variability, Rachel Marie Channell May 2021

The Associations Of Extraversion And Heart Rate Variability, Rachel Marie Channell

Theses and Dissertations

Heart rate variability as a measure of cardiovascular health and autonomic activity correlates with psychological resiliency but is not consistently related to trait extraversion, a strong predictor of emotional well-being. This study intends to clarify research findings about trait extraversion and heart rate variability by identifying the context and nature of the relationship between extraversion and physiological responses. As a secondary analysis of data from a study comparing biofeedback and compassionate breathing, extraversion scores were compared with heart rate variability data at three different points including prior to a stressor, during exposure to a stressor, and recovery to a stressor …


The Effect Of Depression, Anxiety, And Stress On Heart Rate Variability During Self-Critical And Self-Compassionate Exercises, Derek C. Bartlett May 2021

The Effect Of Depression, Anxiety, And Stress On Heart Rate Variability During Self-Critical And Self-Compassionate Exercises, Derek C. Bartlett

Theses and Dissertations

The cognitions of individuals who experience symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress have been well documented, but their physiological reactions have not. The present study examines the physiological reactions of individuals with elevated levels of depression, anxiety, and stress during a self-critical and self-compassionate writing exercise to see if there is a difference in comparison to healthy participants. This study is a secondary analysis of data that was collected from a randomized controlled trial where participants followed a protocol. This protocol consisted of a 5-minute baseline, a 10-minute breathing exercise or nature video, 5-minutes of a self-critical writing exercise, 5-minutes …


Very Young Child Survivors Of Parent Suicide: Perspectives On Children's Literature For Bibliotherapy, Cortland L. Watson May 2021

Very Young Child Survivors Of Parent Suicide: Perspectives On Children's Literature For Bibliotherapy, Cortland L. Watson

Theses and Dissertations

The death of a parent by suicide is especially traumatic. Researchers estimate the number of children in the United States annually who experience their parent's suicide ranges from 7,000 to 30,000. These child survivors experience more complicated grief as compared to children bereaved by a parent's non-suicidal death. In particular, very young children have difficulty understanding that their parent completed suicide. Across time they struggle with confusion and intense emotions associated with their parent's suicide. Due to the stigma associated with suicide, feelings of guilt, and intense grief, surviving family members avoid talking about the suicide. Young children are often …


Brand Activism And Gender: Nike As A Case Study, Kirsten Rasmussen May 2021

Brand Activism And Gender: Nike As A Case Study, Kirsten Rasmussen

Theses and Dissertations

Nike is a prominent company that engages in brand activism, a marketing approach wherein they brand themselves as socially progressive by adopting public stances on controversial social issues. Because Nike resides at the intersection of media and sports, both of which are institutions that gender plays an important role in, an exploration of how Nike constructs gender in its commercials may illuminate the authenticity of its brand activism and progressive politics. Through a content analysis of 131 commercials released by Nike in the past decade, I explore whether their reputation as a socially progressive company extends to genuinely diverse and …


Effects Of Elk And Bison Herbivory On Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Linda C. Zeigenfuss, Kathryn A. Schoenecker May 2021

Effects Of Elk And Bison Herbivory On Narrowleaf Cottonwood, Linda C. Zeigenfuss, Kathryn A. Schoenecker

Western North American Naturalist

Ungulate browsing influences the structure and composition of woody plant communities, including species composition and biomass production as well as age distribution, recruitment, and mortality. We evaluated effects of elk and bison herbivory on narrowleaf cottonwood (Populus angustifolia) communities in a semiarid ecosystem in southern Colorado. Cottonwoods in this ecosystem have been aged at ≥300 years old and are among the oldest cottonwood trees in North America. We compared browsing intensity and structural and productivity responses of cottonwood to ungulate herbivory. We compared responses in sites with elk and bison, sites with elk but no bison, and sites …


End Matter, Vol. 81 No.1 May 2021

End Matter, Vol. 81 No.1

Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.


Front Matter, Vol. 81 No. 1 May 2021

Front Matter, Vol. 81 No. 1

Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.


Cognitive Empathy And Longitudinal Changes In Temporo-Parietal Junction Thickness In Schizophrenia, Derin J. Cobia, Tatiana Karpouzian-Rogers, Julie Petersen, Lei Wang, Vijay A. Mittal, John G. Csernansky, Matthew J. Smith May 2021

Cognitive Empathy And Longitudinal Changes In Temporo-Parietal Junction Thickness In Schizophrenia, Derin J. Cobia, Tatiana Karpouzian-Rogers, Julie Petersen, Lei Wang, Vijay A. Mittal, John G. Csernansky, Matthew J. Smith

Faculty Publications

Objective: Deficits in cognitive empathy are well-documented in individuals with schizophrenia and are related to reduced community functioning. The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is closely linked to cognitive empathy. We compared the relationship between baseline cognitive empathy and changes in TPJ thickness over 24 months between individuals with schizophrenia and healthy controls. Methods: Individuals with schizophrenia (n = 29) and healthy controls (n = 26) completed a cognitive empathy task and underwent structural neuroimaging at baseline and approximately 24 months later. Symmetrized percent change scores were calculated for right and left TPJ, as well as whole-brain volume, and compared between groups. …


Seasonal Activity And Diets Of Bats At Uranium Mines And Adjacent Areas Near The Grand Canyon, Ernest W. Valdez, Mollie K. Hanttula, Jo Ellen Hinck May 2021

Seasonal Activity And Diets Of Bats At Uranium Mines And Adjacent Areas Near The Grand Canyon, Ernest W. Valdez, Mollie K. Hanttula, Jo Ellen Hinck

Western North American Naturalist

Little information exists on the habitat use and feeding ecology of insectivorous bats in arid ecosystems, especially at and near uranium mines in northern Arizona, within the Grand Canyon watershed. In 2015–2016, we conducted mist-netting, nightly acoustic monitoring (>1 year), and diet analyses of bats, as well as insect sampling, at 2 uranium mines (Pinenut and Arizona 1) with water containment ponds. Because of physical barriers and limited general access to areas within the mine yard, mist-netting was limited to outside of the perimeter fence and away from the containment ponds. Mist-netting also occurred at 2 nearby sites that …


Low Immunization Rates In The United States, Asia Haslam, Harper Forsgren May 2021

Low Immunization Rates In The United States, Asia Haslam, Harper Forsgren

Ballard Brief

Vaccination hesitancy has been a concern for some time in the United States, but it is an issue that has become increasingly prevalent in the past 20 years. This hesitancy and mistrust of vaccinations has translated into lowered immunization rates for children and adults. The reduction in vaccination rates is driven mainly by concerns over safety, perpetuation of misinformation about vaccinations, and the increased polarization of immunizations in the United States. Low vaccination rates can cause serious consequences including re-emergence of dangerous diseases, economic consequences for communities. and furthered perpetuation of political divides. The US government and many public health …


Maternal Mortality Among Black Women In The United States, Joli Hunt May 2021

Maternal Mortality Among Black Women In The United States, Joli Hunt

Ballard Brief

The chance of a Black woman dying in the US due to complications relating to pregnancy or childbirth is 2 to 3 times more than a White woman in the US-a disparity large enough to cause the national maternal mortality rate to increase at a steady rate. Challenges influencing this problem include implicit racial bias within the healthcare system that causes negligence, a lack of standardized healthcare to provide quality care in all parts of the US, and the stress caused by systemic racism and its effect on Black female bodies. Maternal death has detrimental effects on Black families and …


Roboethics In Covid-19: A Case Study In Dentistry, Wendy C. Birmingham, Yaser Maddahi, Maryam Kalvandi, Sofya Langman, Nicole Capicotto, Kourosh Zareinia May 2021

Roboethics In Covid-19: A Case Study In Dentistry, Wendy C. Birmingham, Yaser Maddahi, Maryam Kalvandi, Sofya Langman, Nicole Capicotto, Kourosh Zareinia

Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused dramatic effects on the healthcare system, businesses, and education. In many countries, businesses were shut down, universities and schools had to cancel in-person classes, and many workers had to work remotely and socially distance in order to prevent the spread of the virus. These measures opened the door for technologies such as robotics and artificial intelligence to play an important role in minimizing the negative effects of such closures. There have been many efforts in the design and development of robotic systems for applications such as disinfection and eldercare. Healthcare education has seen a lot …


A Longtime Member Recalls The Roots Of Her Fascination With Jussi, Vicki Wallshein, Dan Shea Apr 2021

A Longtime Member Recalls The Roots Of Her Fascination With Jussi, Vicki Wallshein, Dan Shea

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

The Directors of our Jussi Björling Society-USA had their annual meeting in Washington DC last November, and the delightful Vicki Wallshein attended several sessions with her mother, Dixie. One of the main social events was Sunday brunch at the DC Army and Navy Club, hosted by Carol Pozefsky, where we had good opportunities to swap notes with others about how Jussi Björling had entered our lives! Vicki had this especially charming story:


Cold Tolerance Of Mountain Stoneflies (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) From The High Rocky Mountains, Scott Hotaling, Alisha A. Shah, Michael E. Dillon, J. Joseph Giersch, Lusha M. Tronstad, Debra S. Finn, H. Arthur Woods, Joanna L. Kelley Apr 2021

Cold Tolerance Of Mountain Stoneflies (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) From The High Rocky Mountains, Scott Hotaling, Alisha A. Shah, Michael E. Dillon, J. Joseph Giersch, Lusha M. Tronstad, Debra S. Finn, H. Arthur Woods, Joanna L. Kelley

Western North American Naturalist

How aquatic insects cope with cold temperatures is poorly understood. This is particularly true for high-elevation species, which often experience a seasonal risk of freezing. In the Rocky Mountains, nemourid stoneflies (Plecoptera: Nemouridae) are a major component of mountain stream biodiversity and are typically found in streams fed by glaciers and snowfields, which are rapidly receding due to climate change. Predicting the effects of climate change on mountain stoneflies is difficult because their thermal physiology is largely unknown. We investigated cold tolerance of several alpine stoneflies (Lednia tumana, Lednia tetonica, and Zapada spp.) from the Rocky Mountains, …


A Nonhuman Primate Model Of The Out Of Africa Theory Utilizing Chinese- And Indian-Derived Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta), Jacob N. Hunter Apr 2021

A Nonhuman Primate Model Of The Out Of Africa Theory Utilizing Chinese- And Indian-Derived Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta), Jacob N. Hunter

Theses and Dissertations

Evidence suggests that certain genotypic variants associated with novelty-seeking and aggressiveness, such as the 7-repeat dopamine D4 receptor variant (DRD4-7R), short (s) allele of the serotonin transporter (5-HTT), and the low-activity variant of the MAOa promoter (MAOa-L), are more prevalent in human groups that radiated out of Africa than human groups that remained in Africa. Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), like humans, are a widespread species of primates that needed to adapt to different regional environments with one group, Indian-derived rhesus macaques, largely occupying predictable and resource-rich environments, while the other group, the Chinese-derived rhesus macaques, has come to occupy less …


A Review Of Home Range Sizes Of Four Raptor Species Of Regional Conservation Concern, Megan Kocina, Kevin Aagaard Apr 2021

A Review Of Home Range Sizes Of Four Raptor Species Of Regional Conservation Concern, Megan Kocina, Kevin Aagaard

Western North American Naturalist

Knowledge of the home range size (HRS) of species is critical for their effective management and conservation. We systematically searched the open literature for information on HRS for Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Prairie Falcon (Falco mexicanus), and Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis). We found 24 articles with HRS estimates and accompanying methodology and demographic information on sampled individuals. Most studies focused on Bald Eagles, followed by Golden Eagles, Prairie Falcons, and Ferruginous Hawks. HRS estimates for the Golden Eagle were the largest and had the greatest associated variance (m …


Pushing The Limits Of Sars-Cov-2 Survival: How Sars-Cov-2 Responds To Quaternary Ammonium Compounds And Wastewater, Benjamin Hawthorne Ogilvie Apr 2021

Pushing The Limits Of Sars-Cov-2 Survival: How Sars-Cov-2 Responds To Quaternary Ammonium Compounds And Wastewater, Benjamin Hawthorne Ogilvie

Theses and Dissertations

SARS-CoV-2 is the virus responsible for the current global pandemic, COVID-19. Because this virus is novel, little is known about its sensitivity to disinfection. In this study, we performed suspension tests against SARS-CoV-2 using three commercially available quaternary ammonium compound (Quat) disinfectants and one laboratory-made 0.2% benzalkonium chloride solution. Three of the four formulations completely inactivated the virus within 15 seconds of contact, even in the presence of a soil load or when diluted in hard water. We conclude that Quats rapidly inactivate SARS-CoV-2, making them potentially useful for controlling SARS-CoV-2 spread in hospitals and the community. In addition to …


Crashcourse Literature: Public Humanities By Reception, Emma Luthi Price Apr 2021

Crashcourse Literature: Public Humanities By Reception, Emma Luthi Price

Theses and Dissertations

CrashCourse Literature and other educational YouTube videos are essential mechanisms for connecting students and the general public to the humanities. Public humanities projects are in an intellectual tug-of-war between what academia and the diverse developing public want them to be, but that contention can and should be mediated using new media tools like CrashCourse Literature. CrashCourse Literature's emphasis on bringing the reader to the text and the text to the reader, echoes the goals of reception theory. Reception theory focuses on finding meaning in a literary text using the reader's horizon of expectations more than an a traditional, essentialist, "original' …


Evolution And Selection: From Suppression Of Metabolic Deficiencies To Bacteriophage Host Range And Resistance, Daniel Kurt Arens Apr 2021

Evolution And Selection: From Suppression Of Metabolic Deficiencies To Bacteriophage Host Range And Resistance, Daniel Kurt Arens

Theses and Dissertations

The evolution and adaptation of microorganisms is so rapid it can be seen in the time frame of days. The root cause for their evolution comes from selective environmental pressures that see organisms with beneficial mutations survive otherwise deadly encounters or outperform members of its population who fail to adapt. This does not always result in strict improvement of the individual as in the case of antibiotic resistant bacteria who often display fitness tradeoffs to avoid death (see Reviews [1-3]). For example, when an ampicillin resistance gene (ampC) containing plasmid that is occasionally found in the wild was transformed into …


The Whole Is Greater Than Its Parts: Ensembling Improves Protein Contact Prediction, Wendy M. Billings, Connor J. Morris, Dennis Della Corte Apr 2021

The Whole Is Greater Than Its Parts: Ensembling Improves Protein Contact Prediction, Wendy M. Billings, Connor J. Morris, Dennis Della Corte

Faculty Publications

The prediction of amino acid contacts from protein sequence is an important problem, as protein contacts are a vital step towards the prediction of folded protein structures. We propose that a powerful concept from deep learning, called ensembling, can increase the accuracy of protein contact predictions by combining the outputs of different neural network models. We show that ensembling the predictions made by different groups at the recent Critical Assessment of Protein Structure Prediction (CASP13) outperforms all individual groups. Further, we show that contacts derived from the distance predictions of three additional deep neural networks—AlphaFold, trRosetta, and ProSPr—can be substantially …


The Slow Violence Of Eco-Apocalypse In The Poetry Of José Emilio Pacheco, Niels H. Christensen Apr 2021

The Slow Violence Of Eco-Apocalypse In The Poetry Of José Emilio Pacheco, Niels H. Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

Over the course of his fifty-year career, Mexican writer José Emilio Pacheco has almost habitually written poetry about environmental themes especially those related to pollution, extraction, deforestation, and other related themes of destruction. Simultaneously, his work has engaged with questions of temporality, namely the passing of time and the inherent violence of such questions. In this essay, I examine a selection of Pacheco's poetry from the 1970s to the early 2000s, demonstrating Pacheco's marrying of the two concepts: environmental degradation and time. This marriage results in a provocative synthesis of eco-apocalypse, a phenomenon that details a paradoxical end that never …


The Effects Of Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback On The Accuracy And Complexity Of Writing Produced By L2 Graduate Students, Lisa Rohm Apr 2021

The Effects Of Dynamic Written Corrective Feedback On The Accuracy And Complexity Of Writing Produced By L2 Graduate Students, Lisa Rohm

Theses and Dissertations

What started as a discussion of the efficacy of explicit grammar instruction has over time led to a debate about the need for and effectiveness of written corrective feedback (WCF) within the field of English language teaching (ELT). Dynamic written corrective feedback (DWCF) is a relatively new strategy developed by Dr. Norman Evans to provide WCF to English as a second language (ESL) students through systematic, coded feedback. While previous studies on DWCF have looked at its effects among other groups, few studies have examined DWCF in the context of ESL students studying at the graduate level. This study analyzes …


Early Rearing Conditions Affect Monoamine Metabolite Levels During Baseline And Periods Of Social Separation Stress: A Non-Human Primate Model (Macaca Mulatta), Elizabeth K. Wood, Natalia Gabrielle, Jacob Hunter, Andrea N. Skowbo, Melanie L. Schwandt, Stephen G. Lindell, Christina S. Barr, Stephen J. Suomi, James Dee Higley Apr 2021

Early Rearing Conditions Affect Monoamine Metabolite Levels During Baseline And Periods Of Social Separation Stress: A Non-Human Primate Model (Macaca Mulatta), Elizabeth K. Wood, Natalia Gabrielle, Jacob Hunter, Andrea N. Skowbo, Melanie L. Schwandt, Stephen G. Lindell, Christina S. Barr, Stephen J. Suomi, James Dee Higley

Faculty Publications

A variety of studies show that parental absence early in life leads to deleterious effects on the developing CNS. This is thought to be largely because evolutionary-dependent stimuli are necessary for the appropriate postnatal development of the young brain, an effect sometimes termed the “experience-expectant brain,” with parents providing the necessary input for normative synaptic connections to develop and appropriate neuronal survival to occur. Principal among CNS systems affected by parental input are the monoamine systems. In the present study, N = 434 rhesus monkeys (233 males, 201 females) were reared in one of two conditions: as mother-reared controls (MR; …


The Mechanism Of Ptov1 Regulation By 14-3-3, Huwei1 And Sgk2, Pramoda Sahan Kumari Aththota Gamage Apr 2021

The Mechanism Of Ptov1 Regulation By 14-3-3, Huwei1 And Sgk2, Pramoda Sahan Kumari Aththota Gamage

Theses and Dissertations

Prostate tumor overexpressed 1 (PTOV1) is highly expressed in several forms of cancer. High expression of PTOV1 is associated with tumor aggressiveness in several tumor types, including ovarian and breast cancer. Currently, PTOV1 is known to act both as a translational and transcriptional regulator aiding in the expression of prosurvival genes. Although PTOV1 is known to pass in and out of the nucleus in a cell cycle-dependent manner, the regulation of PTOV1 activity is not well understood and here we identify 14-3-3 as a PTOV1 interactor and show that high levels of 14-3-3 expression, like PTOV1, correlate with prostate cancer …


Quantifying Speech Pause Durations In Speakers With Nonfluent And Fluent Aphasia, Brooke K. Thomas Apr 2021

Quantifying Speech Pause Durations In Speakers With Nonfluent And Fluent Aphasia, Brooke K. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates pause duration between and within utterances in the speech of 20 people with different degrees and types of aphasia: 15 with fluent aphasia and five with nonfluent aphasia. It also examines within utterance pause durations as a function of utterance position. Using aphasia speech samples collected in a previous study by Harmon (2018), Praat acoustic analysis software was used to segment words and periods of pause and measure pause duration within and between utterances. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including pause duration mean, standard deviations, and interquartile range. Speech pauses were also categorized by the …


Going For Gold: Point Of Care Bio-Diagnostics And Gold Nanoparticles Treating Disease, Trevor M. Godfrey Apr 2021

Going For Gold: Point Of Care Bio-Diagnostics And Gold Nanoparticles Treating Disease, Trevor M. Godfrey

Theses and Dissertations

Correct diagnosis of disease is essential in the effort to save and improve lives. Point of care (POC) diagnostics are in-vitro tests that assist in patient diagnosis and can be used at the location of patient care. POC diagnostics are easy to use and provide near-instant readouts allowing medical providers and patients to make rapid decisions about treatment. Increased access to POC testing is especially beneficial to low-income and low resource areas that cannot afford expensive lab testing. The World Health Organization (WHO) has outlined at least 113 diseases for which POC diagnostics are needed. Because of this, developing effective, …


A Psychometric Analysis Of The Precalculus Concept Assessment, Brian Lindley Jones Apr 2021

A Psychometric Analysis Of The Precalculus Concept Assessment, Brian Lindley Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Precalculus Concept Assessment (PCA), a 25-item multiple-choice instrument designed to assess student reasoning abilities and understanding of foundational calculus concepts (Carlson et al., 2010). When this study was conducted, the extant research on the PCA and the PCA Taxonomy lacked in-depth investigations of the instruments' psychometric properties. Most notably was the lack of studies into the validity of the internal structure of PCA response data implied by the PCA Taxonomy. This study specifically investigated the psychometric properties of the three reasoning constructs found in the PCA taxonomy, …


Test-Enhanced Learning In Post-Secondary Biology Courses: The Effect Of Cues And Incentives On High-Level Learning, Bryn Ellen St. Clair Apr 2021

Test-Enhanced Learning In Post-Secondary Biology Courses: The Effect Of Cues And Incentives On High-Level Learning, Bryn Ellen St. Clair

Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive scientists and psychology researchers have given growing attention to evidence of the testing effect, that is, the improvement of students' recall through memory-retrieval practice in the form of quizzes and exams. While laboratory experiments consistently show dramatic positive effects on learning through the testing effect, discipline-specific education researchers have sought to generalize these findings in real, instead of simulated classrooms. The objective of this dissertation was threefold: (1) To survey the current literature on the testing-effect as it applies to learning biology at the post-secondary level. In this review, I consider how further research on the testing effect may …


Addressing Abuse In Drug Cases: Violence As A Mitigating Factor In Safety Valve Sentencing, Samantha Louise Burton Apr 2021

Addressing Abuse In Drug Cases: Violence As A Mitigating Factor In Safety Valve Sentencing, Samantha Louise Burton

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Our current criminal justice system does not adequately consider the effects of abuse on drug crime offenders during the process of determining their sentences. Despite the fact that abuse has very real scientifically corroborated effects on a defendant’s culpability, judges sometimes misinterpret how abuse suffered by (predominantly female) defendants affects their participation in a drug crime. Furthermore, the safety valve—a provision that allows downward departure on a sentence for low-level nonviolent drug offenders who meet certain conditions—does not account for abuse at all. This paper proposes adding a qualification to the safety valve that prompts judges to consult with mental …


Using Geospatial Tools To Assess Changes To Marine Ecosystems In Small Island Developing States Following Hurricane Disturbances: A Case Study Of Dominica After Hurricane Maria, Ryan J. Shields Apr 2021

Using Geospatial Tools To Assess Changes To Marine Ecosystems In Small Island Developing States Following Hurricane Disturbances: A Case Study Of Dominica After Hurricane Maria, Ryan J. Shields

Theses and Dissertations

Seagrass meadows, like coral reefs, are in decline globally but are often neglected in marine policy and conservation despite their equally critical ecosystem services. Both habitats can be heavily impacted by wave surges, rainfall-induced earth movement and flooding, changes to water temperature, salinity, and acidity, and increased levels of turbidity—all occurring at increased rates due to a changing global climate. We demonstrate that multispectral satellite imagery, geospatial tools, and classification techniques can be used to inform management by identifying and quantifying changes in seagrass distribution and the presence of sediment-related threats. Results from Dominica indicate near-shore seagrass habitat area increased …