Digital Commons Network^™

Planar Linear Ion Traps With Microscale Radii For Portable Mass Spectrometry, Trevor Keith Decker

Theses and Dissertations

Radio frequency (RF) ion traps based on the quadrupole device developed by Paul and Steinwedel utilize a dynamic electric field to spatially confine the trajectory of charged particles and may be employed as mass spectrometers by selectively ejecting trapped molecules based on the mass to charge ratio. Because of the inherent sensitivity and specificity of this process, ion trap mass spectrometers have become a popular scientific instrument. In the past two decades there has been a push to develop portable ion trap mass spectrometers for in situ mass analysis by geometrically scaling traps to smaller sizes. This decreases the power …

Effects Of Exercise On Clinical Couple Interactions, Samantha Karma-Jean Simpson

Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown that exercise has the potential to improve couple relationships. This study contributes to current literature by examining the associations between exercise, its duration, and its intensity and daily clinical couple interactions. Participants were 22 married couples in a treatment-as-usual setting who completed daily diaries about daily behaviors and marital interactions. Multilevel models were run, and results showed that wives who exercised were more likely to report a negative interaction with their husband that day. When wives exercised longer, both they and their husbands were more likely to report positive interactions that day. Interestingly, if husbands exercised longer …

Cultural Connections In The Classroom And Pacific Islander Students<'> Value Of Reading, Lyndsai K. Sylva

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on how cultural connections in classroom influences students value of learning, specifically, their value of reading. Several researchers and theorists have emphasized the importance of balancing cognitive and conative aspects of childrens reading development. However, what is lacking in these studies is a focus on Pacific Islander (PI) children. The purpose of this study was to examine value of reading for diverse students who may be struggling in classrooms designed for White, middle-class students. Findings provide educators and those working with diverse students a chance to consider how connecting cultural backgrounds for all students can help in …

Swat Online: Development Of A Web-Based Decision Support System For The Soil And Water Assessment Tool, Spencer Dean Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

As satellite and climate modelling technology continues to improve and as climatological disasters and issues continue to impact the global community, climate data will increase in size and relevance. With this new influx of information, it is becoming more and more important for scientists to simply and concisely communicate their findings to both decision makers in governments and disaster preparedness organizations and also to the general public. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a powerful modelling tool that allows scientists to simulate essentially all of the physical processes involved in the water cycle. The data that SWAT produces …

Islas De Las Californias, Colaboración Botánica: Islands Of The Californias Botanical Collaborative, William Hoyer, John Knapp, Denise Knapp, David Mazurkiewicz, Ken Owen, Luciana Luna-Mendoza, Kathryn Mceachern

Western North American Naturalist

After nearly 2 centuries of being negatively impacted, primarily by introduced mainland vertebrates, the unique flora and vegetation of the Islands of the Californias archipelago have been severely degraded. The botanical conservation challenges that lie ahead include the near extinction or extirpation of rare, endemic, and even common plant taxa; invasion of nonnative plants; near loss of unique island vegetation communities; and the degradation of a host of sites. These challenges are too large for any one entity to remedy alone. Many of the botanical resources impacted are found on multiple islands and cross political boundaries. The Islands of the …

Dealing With Depression In Marriage, Jaelynn R. Jenkins, Alan Springer, Stephen F. Duncan

Forever Families

With an estimated 17 million Americans suffering from a depressive illness13, it is safe to say that mental illness is one of the most painful and persistent trials that a family will face8. The American Medical Association considers it the most incapacitating of chronic conditions in relation to social functioning12. More than one in ten people will suffer a serious depression at some point in their life; however nearly two-thirds do not get the help they need9, 13.

Making The Case For Marriage, Jennifer Crockett, Marissa Beebe, Stephen F. Duncan

Forever Families

In a recent report from the National Marriage Project, scholars David Popenoe and Barbara Dafoe Whitehead wrote, "Marriage is a fundamental social institution. It is central to the nurture and raising of children. It is the ‘social glue’ that reliably attaches fathers to children. It contributes to the physical, emotional and economic health of men, women and children, and thus to the nation as a whole. It is also one of the most highly prized of all human relationships and a central life goal of most Americans."

Increasing Intimacy In Marriage, Derek Willis Hagey, Amber L. Brewer, Rachel V. Jamieson, Robert F. Stahmann, Stephen F. Duncan

Forever Families

Intimacy is the closeness of your relationship with your spouse -- emotionally, spiritually, intellectually, sexually, and in many other ways. Intimacy is not an end goal but rather a journey that lasts throughout your marriage. Marriage and family researchers Schaefer and Olson4 describe attaining intimacy as "a process that occurs over time and is never completed or fully accomplished" (p. 50). As you both grow and develop, each of you changes. If you neglect intimacy in your marriage, you will grow apart. The time to work on intimacy is now.

Helpful Resources For Pornography Addictions And Other Problematic Sexual Behaviors, Jill Christine Manning

Forever Families

This workbook is acompanion to In the Shadows of the Net: Breaking Free of Compulsive Online Sexual Behavior (2001). The book is well-laid out and has a professional tone throughout. The approach is holistic in that it takes into consideration one's stage of change, level of self-awareness, relapse prevention, triggers, psychological defenses, relationship patterns and lifestyle factors. The workbook also goes into quite a bit of detail as to why sexual behavior online is problematic.

Full Journal 13_2, Intuition Journal

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

No abstract provided.

Exploring Agentic Treatments For Anxiety And Depression, Tyler H. White

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Agency and mental illness are hypothesized to be related. Agency may contribute to mental illness (specifically, anxiety and depression) by impacting the amount of choices in one’s life (LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011; Schwartz, 2004). Effective treatment for the mentally ill targets causes of mental disorders, so if agency is related to mental illnesses, then it logically should be incorporated in treatment. Agentic treatment, which consists of any form of treatment that explicitly acknowledges the importance and the reality of agency, has been shown to be effective (Myers, 2016; Patterson et al., 2016; Slife, 2004). Effective agentic treatment includes autonomy groups …

Treating Comorbid Ptsd And Bpd: A Dialectical Approach, Meredith Pescatello

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

According to the Biosocial Developmental Model for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), individuals with a biological vulnerability (i.e., heightened emotional sensitivity and impulsive tendencies), plus an invalidating environment may develop BPD (Crowell, Beauchaine, & Linehan, 2009). Individuals with BPD are especially difficult to treat, because of their “extreme emotional, behavioral, and cognitive dysregulation” (Crowell, Beauchaine, & Linehan, 2009). Though challenging to treat, BPD can be successfully treated using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) (Linehan, 1993; Linehan 2015). Similarly, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is complex and often burnout inducing to treat, because of the intensity of the emotional content related to traumatic events …

Healthy Habits To Reduce Sleep Deprivation In College Students, Jenna L. Bair

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Abstract

Sleep can affect many regular functions in the body. Consequently, the physiological and psychological effects of sleep deprivation have many ramifications, including long-term health issues, depression, and eating disorders (Alhola & Polo-Kantola, 2007; Beiter et al., 2015; Jarcho, Slavich, Tylova-Stein, Wolkowitz, & Burke, 2013; Ozsoy, Besirli, Unal, Abdulrezzak, & Orhan, 2015). Despite the importance of sleep for regulative processes, studies indicate that the general population does not receive adequate sleep quality or length (Watson et al., 2017). College students represent a large demographic and often do not obtain enough sleep (Gaultney, 2010). Thus, it is proposed that collegiate institutions …

Dream Interpretation: The Next Frontier Of Psychoanalysis, Samuel Skidmore

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

An examination of the history of dream interpretation reveals its significant role within psychotherapy, drawing upon religious texts, ancient philosophers, and modern uses. Many prominent psychologists such as Freud and Jung contributed to our knowledge of dreams and how they can be interpreted. The problems clinicians face today is that most methods for analyzing dreams are scattered and contrary. Several specific theories, from Freudian theory to the Hill Cognitive-Experiential Model of dream interpretation, are discussed and analyzed. Research has slowed on this topic due to methodological problems and diverse interpretations of dream content. Subsequently, the potential benefits of using dream …

Adoption: Building A Solid Foundation, Tanya Bailey, Stephen F. Duncan

Forever Families

Adoption touches most of our lives in some way. If you are not directly involved with adoption, most likely you know a neighbor, friend, or family member who is.

Recognizing And Dealing With Childhood Depression, Amy Soto, Jared Warren, Stephen F. Duncan

Forever Families

It is normal for children to experience moments of sadness and discouragement. However, sometimes children will experience prolonged feelings of sadness, anxiety, and hopelessness which may interrupt normal interest in ordinary, everyday activities such as going to school, playing, sleeping, and eating. Research shows that about 5% of children and 10% to 20% of adolescents experience significant depression.15

Long-Term Impacts Of Exotic Grazer Removal On Native Shrub Recovery, Santa Cruz Island, California, Stephanie G. Yelenik

Western North American Naturalist

A combination of overgrazing and exotic species introduction has led to the degradation of habitats worldwide. It is often unclear whether removal of exotic ungulates will lead to the natural reestablishment of native plant communities without further management inputs. I describe here my return to sites on Santa Cruz Island, California, 12 years after initial sampling in order to gain a long-term view on native shrub reestablishment into exotic grasslands after exotic grazer removal. Santa Cruz Island was grazed by feral sheep and cattle for over a century; these exotic grazers were removed in the late 1980s and feral pigs …

End Matter, Vol. 78 No. 3

Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Vol. 78 No. 3

Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Reduced Defenses And Increased Herbivore Preference Of Island Chaparral Shrubs Compared To Mainland Relatives, Ryan A. Salladay, Aaron R. Ramirez

Western North American Naturalist

The absence of herbivores from certain environments may select for plants that are less defended and more palatable compared to plants in similar environments that are exposed to herbivory. This potential loss of defenses becomes especially important when exotic herbivores are introduced to islands that historically lack such organisms, potentially resulting in negative effects on native island ecosystems. To test the hypothesis that island plants have reduced defensive traits, we measured structural defenses and palatability of 10 taxonomic pairs from contrasting island and mainland environments. Our study compares plants from Santa Catalina Island, California—which has a long history without large …

Informing Our Successors: What Botanical Information For Santa Cruz Island Will Researchers And Conservation Managers In The Century Ahead Need The Most?, John M. Randall, Kathryn Mceachern, John Knapp, Paula Power, Steve Junak, Kristina Gill, Denise Knapp, Matt Guilliams

Western North American Naturalist

Climate changes are predicted to drive changes in plant species composition and vegetation cover around the world. Preserved specimens and other botanical information that we gather today—a period future practitioners may look back on as an early stage of modern anthropogenic climate change—will be of value to conservation managers and conservation biologists in the decades and centuries ahead. Here, we present suggestions for the systematic collection, long-term curation (in museums, herbaria, and other research institutions), and maintenance of plant specimens, along with associated data and analyses on the plants and vegetation present today and in the past. The primary aim …

Glaze Exploration Via Nostalgic Locations, Robert A. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

In my art practice, collecting materials from personally significant locations has become a way to subtly reconnect people with places, nature, natural materials and processes. I produce well-made objects, with the end goal of allowing the viewer to feel and interact with traditional forms of beauty through craft, which is increasingly rare in our mechanized world. Raw materials are a direct link to nature and earth, a link which people in general can benefit from in essential ways. The processes of collecting and using naturally occurring materials to form links between objects and places resembles human relationships, and the connections …

Cross-Lingual Diphthong Perception: A Simultaneous Eeg/Fmri Investigation, David Olonzo Sorensen

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research indicates that humans develop a phonological library in infancy. As humans grow into adulthood, their phonological library becomes well established. Upon encountering phonemes from a new language, humans process these phonemes by comparison to their native phonological library. Event-related potentials (ERP), specifically the mismatch negativity, have been shown to indicate that this process of comparing non-native phonemes to our native phonological library is not improved through learning the new language as an adult. An alternative explanation may be that there is an underlying change in the neural generators as the non-native phonemes are learned, but that this change …

Repair And Adaptation Of Aged Skeletal Muscle To Nonpathological Muscle Damage: The Influence Of Macrophage Polarization, Jacob R. Sorensen

Theses and Dissertations

The age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and function is accompanied by a decline in regenerative capacity. The processes that facilitate healthy muscle repair are complex, involving several phases of degradation and rebuilding of muscle tissue and the surrounding microenvironment. Specifically, myogenic progenitor cells known as satellite cells are the most influential in repairing damaged muscle tissue. Following injury, satellite cells become activated and migrate, proliferate and fuse with mature skeletal muscle fibers to restore homeostasis to the tissue. However, satellite cells do not act in isolation, a robust inflammatory response is necessary to facilitate successful and rapid healing. Macrophages …

3d Printing For Microfluidics, Hua Gong

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on developing 3D printing as a fabrication method for microfluidic devices. Specifically, I concentrate on the 3D printing approach known as Digital Light Processing stereolithography (DLP-SLA) in which serially projected images are used to sequentially photopolymerize layers to build a microfluidic device. The motivation for this work is to explore a much faster alternative to cleanroom-based microfabrication that additionally offers the opportunity to densely integrate microfluidic elements in compact 3D layouts for dramatic device volume reduction. In the course of my research, an optical approach was used to guide custom resin formulation to help create the interconnected …

An Artful Habitat:Creating An Environment For Divergent Expression, Marilyn Edna Bambrough

Theses and Dissertations

Over the last century, teaching techniques and philosophies have changed extensively in the art classroom. Teaching methods have spanned a range that stretches from highly rigid, to self-expressive, more learner centered approaches. In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest and research regarding the role of creativity in visual art education. This research project focused on the qualities of effective art instruction using elements from a number of historical ideologies, with the intent to study creative development in students. The research used a case-study methodology informed by a reflective, action research methodology. Research was used to determine effective …

Analyzing Codon Usage And Coding Sequence Length Biases Across The Tree Of Life, Justin B. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Although codon usage bias has been shown to persist through non-random mutations and selection, many avenues of research into the applications of codon usage bias have remained unexplored. In this dissertation, we present several new applications of codon usage bias and their practical uses in a phylogenetic construct. We first review the literature and provide background into other software applications of codon usage bias in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, we show that in tetrapods, codon aversion in orthologs is phylogenetically conserved. We further this analysis in Chapter 3 by exploring codon use and aversion across the Tree of Life, …

Oprm1 Genotype Interacts With Serotonin System Dysfunction To Predict Alcohol-Heightened Aggression In Primates, Carlos A. Driscoll, Stephen G. Lindell, Melanie L. Schwandt, Stephen J. Suomi, J. Dee Higley, Markus Heilig, Christina S. Barr

Faculty Publications

Although the notion that alcohol promotes violence is widespread, not all individuals are aggressive while intoxicated. Genetic variation could be a contributing factor to individual differences in alcohol-heightened aggression. The present study examines the effects of OPRM1C77G genotype on responses to threat in rhesus macaques under normal conditions and following alcohol administration. Prior studies have shown that a low CSF level of 5-HIAA is a trait marker for individuals prone to escalated aggression. We wanted to examine whether the predictive value for this marker on aggression was moderated by OPRM1 genotype. Animals were administered alcohol (BAC 100-200 mg%), were provoked …

California Island Rediscovery: Building An Archive To Improve Conservation Today And Equip The Historical Ecologist Of Tomorrow, Scott A. Morrison, T. Scott Sillett, W. Chris Funk, Cameron K. Ghalambor, Torben C. Rick

Western North American Naturalist

An understanding of how past conditions have shaped present-day ecological patterns and trends is critical to science-based conservation management. Unfortunately, the records, specimens, and objects historical ecologists need to help generate that understanding are often lacking. And because of a general underinvestment by society in systematic collection and museum curation, future historical ecologists may be similarly limited in their ability to investigate conditions regarding our present day. Given the importance of historical data and materials in contemporary conservation decision-making, we suggest it is incumbent upon resource managers and scientists to ask whether additional research efforts are needed to document past …

An Investigation Of Engineering Design Cognition And Achievement In Primary School, Greg J. Strimel, Scott R. Bartholomew, Eunhye Kim, Liwei Zhang

Faculty Publications

This study examined the design cognition and achievement results of both kindergarten and fourth grade students engaged in engineering design-based instructional activities. Relationships between design cognition and student grade level, as well as quality of student work, were investigated. 30 concurrent think-aloud protocols were collected from individual primary students as they worked in groups to design and make a solution to a design task. The concurrent think-aloud protocols were examined and coded to determine the duration of time the participants devoted to a pre-established set of mental processes for technological problem solving. Significant differences between kindergarten and fourth grade participants …