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Comment By Michael Andregg, Michael Andregg

Comparative Civilizations Review

We have already determined that global civilization is experiencing a flurry of interrelated crises that challenge many things we hold dear, in extremis, human survival.

Was The Earth Formed From The Debris Of Other Planets, Trent Stephens

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

In the past, some members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have believed that the earth was made from pieces of other worlds and that the fossil record can be dismissed because those fossils came from worlds that were broken up and reworked into our earth. I understand that sometimes this concept has been taught even in seminary, institute, and Sunday School classrooms. Because I have heard these ideas espoused, even recently, and because I have spent much of my career studying and teaching biology and the fossil record, I decided to initiate a search to discover …

Pestilence And Other Calamities In Civilizational Theory: Sorokin, Mcneill, Diamond, And Beyond, Vlad Alalykin-Izvekov

Comparative Civilizations Review

This paper analyses the phenomenon of pestilence through paradigmatic and methodological lenses of several outstanding social scholars, including Pitirim A. Sorokin, William H. McNeill, and Jared M. Diamond. All three thinkers have advanced original, fundamental, and revolutionary paradigms regarding the profound role which infectious diseases played, are playing, and will continue to play in world history and culture. The phenomenon of pestilence is studied in the context of other major calamities. The relevant historic, as well as contemporary macro-level and long-term sociocultural research, is reviewed. The author advances a number of original concepts, as well as makes relevant projections into …

Population Genetics Of The Wyoming Endemic Phlox Pungens Dorn (Polemoniaceae), Katherine Waselkov, Mercedes Santiago, Bonnie Heidel, Mark H. Mayfield, Carolyn J. Ferguson

Western North American Naturalist

Phlox pungens is a rare taxon restricted to cold deserts in the Wyoming Basins Ecoregion of west-central Wyoming, with occurrences in both the Wind River Basin (from which it was originally described) and the Green River Basin (populations that have been characterized as a different “morph”). The population genetics of P. pungens was investigated using microsatellite markers developed for the genus. Four microsatellite loci were genotyped from a total of 200 individuals of P. pungens from 10 sites. Ploidy levels were also assessed using flow cytometry. Most sampled populations of P. pungens were tetraploid, but 2 populations in the Green …

Complex Assessment Of Relationship Quality Within Dyads, Wendy C. Birmingham, Maija Reblin, Allison A. Vaughn, Timothy W. Smith, Bert N. Uchino, Chandler M. Spahr

Faculty Publications

Higher quality relationships have been linked to improved outcomes; however, the measurement of relationship quality often ignores its complexity and the possibility of co-occurring positivity and negativity across different contexts. The goal of this study is to test the added benefit of including multiple dimensions, contexts, and perspectives of relationship quality from both individuals in predicting marital functioning. The Social Relationships Index assessed positive and negative dimensions of relationship quality under neutral, positive, and support-seeking contexts for 183 heterosexual married couples. Models showed that the inclusion of multiple dimensions of relationship quality across all three contexts improved prediction of marital …

Masculinized Second-To-Fourth Digit Ratio (2d:4d Ratio) Is Associated With Lower Cortisol Response In Infant Female Rhesus Monkeys (Macaca Mulatta), Elizabeth K. Wood, Parker Jarman, Elysha Cash, Alexander Baxter, John P. Capitanio, James Dee Higley

Faculty Publications

The second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D:4D ratio) is considered a postnatal proxy measure for the degree of prenatal androgen exposure (PAE), which is the primary factor responsible for masculinizing the brain of a developing fetus. Some studies suggest that the organizational effects of PAE may extend to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to stress. This study investigates the relationship between 2D:4D ratio and HPA axis functioning using a rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) model. Subjects were N = 268 (180 females, 88 males) rhesus monkey infants (3–4 months of age). Plasma cortisol concentrations were assayed from two blood samples obtained …

Relentless Predation On Gunnison’S Prairie Dogs (Cynomys Gunnisoni) By A Single American Badger (Taxidea Taxus), Samantha M. Kagel, Rachel S. Ziejka, Lauren M. L. Averilla, Brittany A. Minnig, John L. Hoogland

Western North American Naturalist

Predation affects the demography and population dynamics of prey species. Because predators commonly stalk prey from concealed routes, attack quickly, and frequently avoid areas with human observers, documenting predation under natural conditions is often difficult. An adult female American badger (Taxidea taxus) with offspring moved into a colony of Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni) living under natural conditions at Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico, United States, and provided an excellent opportunity to record predations over a period of 33 consecutive days in June–July 2018. Badgers are commonly nocturnal, but the badger at our study …

Notes On The Distribution And The Lekking And Nesting Behaviors Of The Mexican Hermit (Phaethornis Mexicanus Griseoventer) In West-Central Mexico, Mónica Rivas, Jeshael Medina, Ana Luisa Santiago-Pérez, Sarahy Contreras-Martinez, Verónica Carolina Rosas-Espinoza

Western North American Naturalist

The Mexican Hermit (Phaethornis mexicanus) is endemic to west-central Mexico, with 2 recognized subspecies, P. mexicanus mexicanus and P. mexicanus griseoventer. This hummingbird forms leks, where males are territory holders and females visit them to choose a mate. Only the female provides parental care to the progeny. We observed P. mexicanus griseoventer leks over different breeding seasons at 3 sites in the understory of tropical dry forest and subtropical moist lowland forests. The displays of males consisted of monosyllabic calls from perched individuals and, when a female appeared nearby, slow-speed tail movements and hover flying in front …

Responding To Questions Of Parents With Vaccine Concerns, Chalea Rowberry

Student Works

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Even with the benefits of vaccinations, some parents refuse vaccinations due to influence from vaccine opponents. The purpose of this article is to identify common vaccine concerns on public forums and address these concerns with scientific evidence, thereby offering PNPs information on how to respond.

Method: Six electronic databases were searched to identify articles examining concerns of parents regarding vaccines and provide evidence-based responses to each concern.

Results: Some parents are concerned that healthcare providers are not obtaining written informed consent prior to vaccinating their child(ren). Another common concern is that pharmaceutical companies are solely motivated by financial …

The Age And Vertebrate Paleontology Of Labor-Of-Love Cave, White Pine County, Nevada, Steven D. Emslie, Jim I. Mead

Western North American Naturalist

We report the first radiocarbon ages on vertebrate fossils from Labor-of-Love Cave, White Pine County, Nevada, based on purified collagen in teeth and bone, as well as a description of the cave’s vertebrate paleontology. This cave was discovered in 1982 with the recovery of an associated partial skeleton of the extinct giant short-faced bear (Arctodus simus). Subsequent excavations in 1985 recovered additional fossil material of birds and mammals from stream deposits in the cave. These fossils, along with fossils collected from the surface during surveys in 2018, are reported here. Radiocarbon ages indicate that most fossil material was …

Predictors Of Paternal Postpartum Depression: A Meta-Analysis, Zachary Joseph Blackhurst

Theses and Dissertations

While major depression is a well-defined mental health condition, it's presentation can be vastly different across individuals and groups, and many factors impact one's vulnerability. A critical period of vulnerability to depression is the postpartum period. Despite the frequent assumption that postpartum conditions solely affect women, prevalence estimates of paternal postpartum depression (PPPD) are comparable with those of women. Similar to mothers, men experience significant biological and psychosocial changes following the birth of a child that contribute to the onset of postpartum depression. A growing body of research has identified many potential variables related to PPPD, yet there is no …

Dynamics Of Interal Phosporus Cycling In A Highly Eutrophic, Shallow, Fresh Water Lake In Utah Lake State Park, Utah, Usa, Sheena Marie Smithson

Theses and Dissertations

Eutrophication is an increasing global concern as human effluent saturates lakes with an over abundance of nutrients. Phosphorus, generally being the limiting nutrient, is often the most impactful, allowing cyanobacteria populations to grow out of control leading to harmful blooms that can produce cyanotoxins, anoxic lake conditions, and mass fish kills. Utah Lake, a shallow highly eutrophic fresh water lake located in central Utah Valley, has experienced these harmful algal blooms for the last several years. The internal phosphorus cycle is a significant driver in Utah Lake's eutrophication, as the sediments act as both a sink and a source for …

Characterization And Optimization Of An Image Charge Detector For The Measurement Of Martian Dust, Jace Rozsa

Theses and Dissertations

Image charge detector (ICD) technology has existed for decades. However, not until recently has an ICD been proposed for use in space exploration, specifically for studying the characteristics of the dust on Mars. Characterizing the dust on Mars is crucial for designing equipment to aid manned missions. It also improves our understanding of Mars' climate and weather systems. An ICD utilizing printed circuit board (PCB) electrodes, coupled with a custom differential amplifier, is best suited for this type of measurement because of its light weight, simplicity, and noise performance. The noise floor of our particular amplifier is measured to be …

Survivors Of Human Trafficking: A Review Of Current Mental Health Practices And Recommendations For Improvement, Caleb Andreason

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Human trafficking is a global issue that is increasing in prevalence. For survivors and those exploited by human trafficking, the psychological, developmental, and physical health consequences of human trafficking are complex and often debilitating. Unfortunately, there continues to be a lack of attention regarding these issues in the professional psychology literature. A qualitative study was conducted that included nine semi-structured interviews of professionals working with survivors of human trafficking. The data were analyzed and themes were derived using content analysis. The results showed the need for long-term comprehensive care, but many principles found in the research literature have not yet …

Journey Into The Self: Essays On Biculturalism, Heidi Moe Graviet

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines what it means to exist as a bicultural being and how one approaches creating and negotiating a multicultural identity in terms of names, war, religion, belonging, and loss. In Narrow Road to the Interior, Matsuo Bashō embarks upon a journey of transcendence and self-discovery into the interior regions of Japan. In doing so, he establishes a Japanese writing tradition that centers around introspective journey-taking and writing oneself into truth and being. This thesis examines, participates in, and expands upon this writing tradition as it follows one Japanese American woman’s attempts to selfhood. Ultimately, it proposes the idea …

Synthesis Of Bacterial Surface Glycans For Conjugate Vaccines, Teron D. Haynie

Theses and Dissertations

Bacteria are coated with repeating units of oligosaccharides that exhibit remarkable diversity. Often, glycan units of three or even two sugars are sufficient to identify a species of bacteria. Such specificity makes bacterial surface glycans attractive vaccine targets. However, efforts to create effective vaccines against carbohydrates have been hampered by poor vaccine design as well as the human immune tendency to respond to glycan antigens with non-specific, T-cell independent mechanisms. As a result, carbohydrate vaccines have historically produced only adequate memory responses in healthy individuals and poor responses in the elderly or immunocompromised. To circumvent these issues, a novel conjugate …

Exploring Korean Hand Therapy In Treating Plantar Fasciitis: A Pilot Study, Alice A-Hui Osborn Fetzer

Theses and Dissertations

PF is one of the most common foot and ankle problems. People with PF experience mild to severe pain that interferes moderately with activities of daily living (ADL). Due to chronic pain that interferes with ADL, people with PF often use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications and/or acetaminophen. These medications alleviate pain but cannot eliminate it. Additionally, with chronic use, these medications can cause well-known adverse side effects. The purposes of this study were to investigate the effect of Korean Hand Therapy (KHT) in (1) treating the pain experienced in patients with plantar fasciitis (PF), (2) evaluating its impact on functionality, and …

Dairy Milk And Plant-Based Alternative Beverage Purchasing Factors: Consumer Insights, Jeffrey Alan Rime

Theses and Dissertations

From 2000 to 2019, total volume of fluid milk consumption in the USA has steadily fallen. Many factors have played a role in this trend, including competition with plant-based alternative beverages (PBABs). Comparably, sales of PBABs such as almond “milk” have increased over the same duration. Consumer research has identified key beverage characteristics as purchase drivers for both beverage types. This study sought to evaluate the relative importance of these characteristics, investigate the effect of label statements on ratings of their acceptability, and analyze the settings in which and occasions during which consumption of dairy milk and PBABs occurs. This …

Building An Ins-1 Cdna Library For A Genome-Wide Crispr-Cas9 Screen, Idongesit Ekpo

Undergraduate Honors Theses

By the year 2040, an estimated 642 million people are expected to have diabetes globally. Diabetes results from an elevation of metabolic stressors, such as glucotoxicity, lipotoxicity, oxidative stress and apoptosis. In type 2 diabetes, these stressful conditions contribute to the malfunction and loss of functional insulin-producing β-cells. Current treatment methods for diabetes include insulin therapy, islet transplant and anti-diabetes medication. These treatments are not curative and ignore other factors that contribute to the pathogenesis of diabetes beyond insulin resistance and islet β-cell failure. Previous research on β-cells has focused on ways to replace functional β-cell mass, trigger β-cell proliferation, …

From Mercy Seat To Judgment Seat: A Source-Critical Examination Of Priestly Adjudication In The Pentateuch, Tyler Harris

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis analyzes evidentiary passages in the Pentateuch through a source-critical lens to better understand the varied adjudicative ideologies they reflect and the role of priests in them. By selecting important pericopes for this analysis through keywords and narrative details, and then by categorizing them according to the pentateuchal source attributions as represented by Richard Elliott Friedman in his The Bible with Sources Revealed, I use a given source’s data to sketch the judicial outlook of said source, including if and to what degree priests operated as judges. Through such a method, this thesis concludes that the Yahwist and …

Governing Dynamics Of Divalent Copper Binding By Influenza A Matrix Protein 2 His37 Imidazole, Kelly Lewis Mcguire

Theses and Dissertations

Influenza A is involved in hundreds of thousands of deaths globally every year resulting from viral infection-related complications. Previous efforts to subdue the virus by preventing proper function of wild-type (WT) neuraminidase (N), and M2 proteins using oseltamivir and amantadine (AMT) or rimantadine (RMT), respectively, exhibited success initially. Over time, these drugs began exhibiting mixed success as the virus developed drug resistance. M2 is a proton channel responsible for the acidification of the viral interior which facilitates release of the viral RNA into the host. M2 has a His37-tetrad that is the selective filter for protons. This protein has been …

Breaking The Organic Mold: Introducing Copper Into The Influenza A Arena With Neutral And Divalent Complexes, Jonathan D. Lynch

Theses and Dissertations

Influenza A (IVA) continues to pose a growing global threat even as current medications are becoming less effective. One of the main avenues of research into new anti-IVA drugs is its homotetrameric Matrix 2 proton channel (M2A), without which the virus would be unable to release its viral RNA into the host cell. The drug amantadine used to bind and block M2A until near-ubiquitous resistance formed as an M2A-S31N mutation, starting around 1995 and proceeding to 2005 when amantadine was disallowed for use as an anti-IVA drug. The standard organic structure currently being used for M2A inhibitor research comprises an …

Does Immigration Help To Explain Child Stress?, Elizabeth Marie Koch Sigler

Theses and Dissertations

The impacts of childhood stressors are harmful to the emotional and physical well-being of children of all ages. Past research has suggested that children experience increased stress due to change. One subgroup of the United States population that experiences change, is immigrants. Research provides empirical evidence of adolescent immigrant stress but has failed to examine stress experienced by immigrant children at a young age. The present study investigates how immigration status and child immigration generation might impact child stress at a young age using OLS regression. I predict that immigrant children will experience more stress than non-immigrant children and that …

Valproic Acid Leads To An Increase In Ros Generation By Inhibiting The Deacetylation Of Mitochondrial Sod, Stephen Marc Lucas

Theses and Dissertations

Valproic Acid Promotes Acetylation of Superoxide Dismutase-2 During Neurogenesis. Valproic acid (VPA) is a known developmental toxicant associated with a high prevalence of neural tube defects (NTD). The mechanism of VPA-induced NTD is unclear, but oxidative stress may be implicated. To understand how embryotoxic oxidative stress may occur, we measured superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity following VPA treatment in the embryonic pluripotent P19 mouse carcinoma cell line. In undifferentiated P19 cultures treated with VPA (5 mM), dichlorofluorescein fluorescence increased 15% compared to untreated controls over 20 min, indicating a modest, yet statistically significant increase in ROS generation. Undifferentiated P19 cells were …

A Content Analysis Of Sexuality-Related Scholarship For Sexual Minorities, Chelise Fox

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual minority individuals face disparities of treatment from clinical and medical health professionals. In particular, there is a dearth of research and training surrounding human sexuality topics for sexual minorities. Research on sexual minority groups in this area can contribute to reducing treatment disparities. Consequently, the proposed study is a content analysis of social science literature in order to gauge trends in the amount of research focused on the intersection of sexual minorities and sex research. Articles from a database search of relevant keywords were coded for several variables, including overall level of focus on sexual minorities and on human …

Discovery Of A Novel Regulatory Mechanism Of Tnk1 By 14-3-3 And Its Ubiquitin Association Domain Provides A Potential Therapeutic Targeting Opportunity In Cancer, Tsz Yin Chan

Theses and Dissertations

While a relatively limited number of known oncogenes underlie a large percentage of cancers, a variety of new genes have emerged as low-frequency cancer drivers. Each of these new oncogenes represents a frontier for targeted therapy. However, the discovery of low-frequency targetable oncogenic drivers is challenging. This study focuses on the poorly understood Tyrosine kinase non-receptor-1 (TNK1), which has been reported to have both oncogenic and tumor suppressive functions. TNK1 has been identified to promote cancer cells survival and promote chemoresistance in multiple independent studies. On the other hand, whole-body constitutive deletion of TNK1 in mice caused an increase in …

Understanding Relapse In Self-Perceived Problematic Pornography Users, Erin L. Rackham

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored reasons for relapse among a sample of 938 self-identified problematic pornography users. A combination of numeric content analysis and qualitative coding of responses to an open-ended question about pornography relapse revealed six main categories of reasons for relapse. The mental, emotional, and relational categories were then analyzed in detail, and this analysis revealed significant overlap of responses from the emotional and relational categories. Hence, a new category of relational-emotional reasons for relapse was created and analyzed. The findings from this study highlight the complex interactions of different types of factors driving relapse in self-perceived problematic pornography users …

Photographic Confirmation Of Crested Guan (Penelope Purpurascens) From A Relict Maple Forest In Western Mexico, Alejandro Pérez-Arteaga, S. Alejandra Mora-Sánchez, Sylvia S. Zalapa, Sergio Guerrero-Vázquez

Western North American Naturalist

The Crested Guan (Penelope purpurascens) is globally decreasing and endangered in Mexico. Here we report new records (8 adults and 2 juveniles) from a protected relict maple forest (critically endangered Acer binzayedii) in Parque Estatal Bosque de Arce (PEBA), Talpa de Allende, Jalisco, Mexico. Our results confirm the continuous presence of the Crested Guan over the last 2 years and the existence of reproductive activity in the study area. Our results also highlight the relevance of the species in this fragile, imperiled habitat.


La pava cojolita (Penelope purpurascens) se encuentra en declive a nivel global …

Analyzing Metacommunity Models With Statistical Variance Partitioning: A Review And Meta-Analysis, Kevin Vieira Lamb

Theses and Dissertations

The relative importance of deterministic processes versus chance is one of the most important questions in science. We analyze the success of variance partitioning methods used to explain variation in β-diversity and partition it into environmental, spatial, and spatially structured environmental components. We test the hypotheses that 1) the number of environmental descriptors in a study would be positively correlated with the percentage of β-diversity explained by the environment, and that the environment would explain more variation in β-diversity than spatial or shared factors in VP analyses, 2) increasing the complexity of environmental descriptors would help account for more of …

Alzheimer's Disease And Immune Cell Dysfunction, David Hansen

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

No abstract provided.