Digital Commons Network^™

Developing An Empirical Model For Evaluating Nutrient Removal Effectiveness At Wastewater Treatment Facilities, Brock Hodgson, Sybil Sharvelle

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Many states are considering or have recently adopted nutrient regulations requiring wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) to improve existing treatment operations. Therefore, it is important for WWTF to be able to identify and evaluate factors that limit the effectiveness of nutrient removal efficiency. This is traditionally done using complex biological and chemical models of WWTF operations and requires a significant amount of data input, modeling experience, and time.

The purpose of this research is to provide a more effective way of evaluating factors that limit nutrient removal effectiveness. To accomplish this, an empirical model was developed to generalize the nutrient removal …

Models And Modeling In The Environmental Sciences: Between Epistemology And Practice, Carlo Gualtieri, Dragutin T. Mihailović Prof., Darko Kapor Prof., Siniša Crvenković Prof., Ilija Arsenić Dr.

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Designing the models and their use in computer simulation in the environmental sciences inherently involves many epistemological questions. Although practical considerations often overruled the problems of epistemology sometimes it is necessary to make basic epistemological choices, especially in modeling. In sciences and accordingly in environmental ones for many reasons modelers ignore non-linearity of phenomena and processes. If we decide to linearize “the object of modeling” then we use linear equations where the variables and their derivatives must always appear as a simple first power. The theory for solving linear equations is rather well developed one because linear equations are simple …

Hybrid Service Simulation Model For Circular Economy Implementation, Edna Guevara-Rivera, Roberto Osorno-Hinojosa, Victor Hugo Zaldívar-Carrillo

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Circular economy (CE) aims to redefine products and services to design waste out by using renewable energy sources. In Europe and the United States, many industries have implemented circular economy in one or more of its product cycles. However, in the literature, there are no reported cases from Mexico. In this article, we review service-dominant (S-D) logic and ecosystem services (ES) to define the value cocreation between the elements in a CE cycle. On the other hand, we propose to model each one of those elements, their interactions and behaviors using Agent-based Modelling (ABM) and System Dynamics (SD) aiming at …

Unified Plant Growth Model (Upgm). 1. Background, Objectives, And Vision, Gregory S. Mcmaster, Debora A. Edmunds, Roger D. Marquez, Fred A. Fox, Larry E. Wagner, John Tatarko, Nathan Lighthart, Holm Kipka, Robert H. Erskine, Timothy R. Green, James C. Ascough Ii

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Since the development of the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model in 1988, the EPIC-based plant growth code has been incorporated and modified into many agro-ecosystem models. The goals of the Unified Plant Growth Model (UPGM) project are: 1) integrating into one platform the enhancements from the multiple EPIC-based plant growth models, 2) further enhance the integrated UPGM model, and 3) develop a component that can be more easily linked into other agroecosystem models such as the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) and Agricultural Ecosystem Services Model (AgES). This talk discusses Objectives 1 and 2; Objective 3 is covered in …

Water Quality Trading: A Framework For Incorporating Modeling Uncertainties Into Quantification Of Trading Ratios, Ali Tasdighi Dr., Marzieh Motallebi, Mazdak Arabi, Daren Harmel, Daniel Line

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

Quantifying the water quality benefits of conservation practices (BMPs) is prone to different types of uncertainties, a big portion of which stem from application of models. These uncertainties result in biased decisions when developing water quality trading programs. While trading ratios are currently applied mainly to account for the natural variability of nonpoint sources, they are rather applied as random safety factors without considering estimates of modeling uncertainties. A Bayesian total uncertainty analysis framework is presented to assess the model estimates of the effectiveness of BMPs in reducing nonpoint source pollution. The framework entails a two-stage procedure. First, various sources …

An Application Software Analytics Toolkit For Facilitating The Understanding, Componentization, And Refactoring Of Large-Scale Scientific Models, Dali Wang, Fengguang Song, Weijian Zheng,

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The complexity of large scientific models developed for certain machine architectures and application requirements has become a real barrier that impedes continuous software development. In this study, we use experience from several practices, including open-source software engineering, software dependency understanding, compiler technologies, analytical performance modeling, micro-benchmarks, and functional unit testing, to design software toolkits to enhance software productivity and performance. Our software tools collect the information on scientific codes and extract the common features of these codes. In this paper, we focus on the front-end of our system (Software X-ray Scanner): a metric information collection system for better understanding of …

Unified Plant Growth Model (Upgm). 2. Component Development And Integration With Agroecosystem Models, Fred A. Fox, Roger D. Marquez, Larry E. Wagner, Gregory S. Mcmaster, Debora A. Edmunds, John Tatarko

International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software

The goals of the Unified Plant Growth Model (UPGM) project are: 1) integrating into one platform the enhancements from the multiple EPIC-based plant growth models, 2) further enhance the integrated UPGM model, and 3) develop a component that can be more easily linked into other agroecosystem models such as the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) and Agricultural Ecosystem Services Model (AgES). Objectives 1 and 2 are presented in part one, and this talk discusses the development of a prototype for Objective 3.

The overall design of the integrated UPGM component is presented, focusing on the need to adequately represent the …

Elucidating The Role Of The Transcriptional Co-Activator Camta1 In Cardiac Development, Nate Batey, Zach Frederich, Morgan Fronk, Nate Jenkins, Jonathon Hill

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is the most common type of birth defect in the United States, causing more first-year infant deaths than any other birth defect (1). While the causes of CHD are varied, genetic defects are known to play a significant role. Identifying and studying genes involved in embryonic heart development can enhance understanding of the genetic factors in CHDs. The camta1 gene is a promising candidate due to its transient expression in heart morphogenesis and its relationship to camta2 , the only other member of its family in vertebrates and a known player in adult heart failure (2,3).

The Things They Carried: An Analysis Of Loyalty And Its Disintegration In The Combat Zone, Emily Ensign

BYU English Symposium

In Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, a unique brotherhood develops among the soldiers. The responsibilities and terrors faced in the war bring the men together in a binding pact of loyalty. By joining the battalion, an individual enlists as part of the “membership in the family, the blood fraternity.” This comradery runs deep enough that the soldiers feel as though they are true “brothers” (185). When the soldiers leave the boonies and their familial pact and “become a civilian,” they experience a “new sense of separation” from their brothers that equates to feelings of betrayal (185, 184). The …

Evolutionary Relationships In Anax Dragonflies, Rebecca Clement, Dr. Seth Bybee

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Anax dragonflies are found worldwide, with many species migrating across continents. One species of Anax, A. junius, makes annual migrations travelling thousands of miles each fall from Canada to Mexico (May 2013). Researchers from all over the world use Anax to learn about vision, insect musculature and insect migration. For example, A. junius is a favorite of many research projects in North America (Bybee et al. 2012), while A. imperator is often used by European collaborators (Sharkey et al. 2015), and A. parthenope by Asian collaborators (Futahashi et al. 2015). However, despite widespread interest in Anax, relationships among species remain …

Dysregulation Of Tenascin C And Hyaluronic Acid In Aged Skeletal Muscle, Alex Holland, Alan Parcel

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Satellite cells are the progenitor stem cells of skeletal muscle (SM) that reside between the sarcolemma and basal lamina. This space is referred to as the satellite cell niche. Following injury, quiescent satellite cells are activated, proliferate then migrate and fuse to the injured region of muscle to support regeneration (3). Satellite cells in muscle tissue from older subjects migrate at less than half the speed of those in young tissue (2). This may contribute to the diminished regenerative response observed in older subjects. Tenascin C (TNC) has been identified as a de-adhesion protein that is upregulated in the satellite …

Identifying Novel Regulators Of Cellular Respiration, Sam Nicholes, Julianne Grose

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The impetus behind my project was to contribute in a small but meaningful way to the growing body of research for cures and treatments for cancer. Cancer is fundamentally unwanted cell growth and proliferation. Metabolic processes that take place on the cellular level are the key to finding solutions to the many worldwide problems of cancer. My project looked at some of these metabolic processes in order to help identify the control mechanisms that cause these processes to function normally or to behave aberrantly. The goal was to identify a cellular pathway that could be used as a potential target …

“Seeing” Beyond The Knees: Inflammation In The Eye As A Result Of Mechanical Stress, Michael Goodman, David Kooyman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A correlation between Osteoarthritis (OA), affecting over 27 million people in the US [1], and metabolic syndrome (MS), affecting over 340 million people worldwide [2], becomes strikingly important as the search for an effective treatment for OA continues. Increasing evidence has shown that OA is linked to systemic inflammation and MS. With MS comes other substantial comorbidities, including diabetic retinopathy (DR). Ocular inflammation promoted through mechanically induced OA would provide evidence that mechanical stress can be a factor leading to systemic inflammation. Such results would have profound impacts upon the way we view OA as a metabolic disorder, leading to …

Predicting Bacteriophage Gene Function Through Secondary Structure Blast, Corinne Sexton, Perry Ridge

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically target bacteria. With antibiotic resistance on the rise, some researchers are looking to bacteriophages as a viable treatment alternative. Phage therapy would be effective for a host of reasons, some of which are because phages are 1) highly specific to their host bacteria, 2) very effective in lysing bacteria targets, 3) non toxic to humans, and 4) easy to manufacture and cost effective. (Oliveira 2015) Additionally, bacteriophages could be used effectively to treat bacterial infections in plants and animals of agricultural importance.

Loss Of The Giant Salmonfly Pteronarcys Californica And Changes In Stonefly Diversity In The Provo River, Utah (Plecoptera), Jackson Birrell, C. Riley Nelson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Plecoptera (stoneflies) are important insects in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. They cover a wide array of functional feeding groups and provide various ecosystem services (1). Stoneflies are sensitive to reductions in water quality, allowing managers to use their presence or absence to denote if a watershed is healthy or impaired. They are therefore known as bioindicators of stream health (2). Plecoptera are also appreciated by fly fisherman throughout the world. Despite their ecological, conservational and cultural importance, stoneflies are in decline. Their sensitivity to anthropogenic disturbances including pollution, river damming, urbanization and climate change make them particularly vulnerable and have lead …

Provo River Restoration: Success Or Failure?, Jared Meek, C Riley Nelson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Provo River in central Utah flows from its headwaters in the Uinta Mountains, down the heavily agricultural Heber Valley, through the urban center of Provo and Orem, and out into Utah Lake. Beginning in the 1950s, the Provo River underwent significant alterations as part of a large-scale water reclamation project throughout central Utah1, including the channelization and straightening of its middle section. In addition to these alterations, the river had two dams constructed along its course: the Deer Creek Dam (1941) and the Jordanelle Dam (1993). To remedy the ecological impairment that these manipulations caused, the Utah Reclamation Mitigation …

Phylogeny Of Hetaerina (Odonata: Calopterygidae), Samantha Smith, Seth Bybee

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Damselflies (Zygpotera) exhibit diverse mating behaviors, with the family Calopterygidae known for its pigmented wings and territorial behavior (Cordoba-Aguilar, Cordero-Rivera 2005). The genus Hetaerina, or rubyspot damselflies, has been used in numerous studies due to mating behaviors, morphology and a high density along certain streams (Anderson 2010, 2011; Contreras-Garduno 2006; Cordoba-Aguilar 2009; Grether 1996, 1997; Raihani 2008; Regions 2011). Despite use in studies, relationships between species of Hetaerina remain unclear. Over the past ten years, the taxonomy of Hetaerina and their sister genus Mnesarete has been in flux with species being transferred between the two genera and into Ormenophlebia and …

Rage Functions During Secondhand Smoke-Induced Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, Brent Kimber, Dr. Paul Reynolds

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD) is a common respiratory disease among pre-term infants or newborns exposed to harmful toxins during pregnancy or at birth. This leads to several respiratory diseases later in life such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) or asthma. However, research on the effects of cigarette smoke in utero has many gaps. This project focuses on developing a transgenic mouse model that mimics the pulmonary morphologies and characteristics of BPD. This model will then be used for further research and potentially discover new therapeutic methods for BPD. The transgenic mouse was established using a modified genetic scheme whereby the …

Borrelia Burgdorferi Invasion Of B Lymphocytes, Jacob Bailey, Richard Robinson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The goal of this project was to determine if Borrelia Burgdorferi’s linear plasmid 36 is required for intracellular localization in B lymphocytes. A more complete understanding of the intracellular localization of B. burgdorferi may provide the means to effective Lyme treatment. It has been proposed that intracellular localization of Lyme spirochetes may be, at least in part, responsible for Post Treatment Lyme Disease. As the spirochetes are safe within human cells, Borrelia are able to evade host immune system responses and be protected from antibiotic treatment. A more complete understanding of the intracellular localization of B. burgdorferi may provide the …

Bioactivity Of Secondary Metabolites Of The Alaskan Fungus, Phellinus Igniarius, Johnathon Kreider, Brad Geary

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Drug testing is one of the most important activities of the Life Sciences. As biotechnological resources like genetically modified mice or artificial skin become more commonplace and accessible to drug researchers, testing has become more efficient. One of the reoccurring problems, though, is that for new drugs to be tested they must first be found. Research has shown that plants and fungi are the best places to look: over 70 percent of drugs that have been introduced in the last quarter century have been derived from natural resources (Newman& Cragg 2012). Notable examples such as Taxol from the Yew tree, …

Incorporating Ground Juniper Wood Into Sagebrush Seed Agglomerates As A Fungicide Alternative, Benjamin Hoose, Matthew Madsen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Sagebrush seed agglomerates (referred to as ‘agglomerates’ in the remainder of the report) are small balls of seed, clay, and compost that allow us to treat sagebrush seeds with germination enhancers. The goal of my project was to determine whether we could use the antimicrobial properties of juniper wood to reduce fungal attack of sagebrush seed by replacing the compost component of agglomerates with ground juniper. We met our goal, and determined that juniper wood does not act as an effective fungal deterrent. However, we did successfully incorporate juniper into agglomerates, which added consistency and repeatability to the agglomerate recipe …

Biochemical Characterization Of The Oat Cslf6 Mixed-Linkage Glucan Synthase, Alexander E. Chu, Eric N. Jellen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The central dogma of molecular biology teaches that the information of life is stored in DNA, a linear chain of nucleotide molecules. The information in DNA nucleotides is then transcribed into RNA, which encodes the amino acids needed to make proteins. These chemically active proteins are responsible for nearly all the processes of life in the cell. Thus, a single gene, consisting of relatively inert DNA, can give rise to a protein with a highly specialized function, and the collection of genes contained in a genome can give rise to the diversity of biomolecular function needed to sustain a living …

Preserving Oral History: Utah Nippo’S Influence On Second Generation Japanese Americans, Akiko Chau, Joel Campbell

Journal of Undergraduate Research

A Japanese newspaper called Utah Nippo which headquartered in Salt Lake City became an integral part of the establishment of Japanese American community in Utah in the 20th century. Founded in 1914, Utah Nippo was one of the four newspapers in the U.S. that were allowed to continue its publications throughout World War II years under strict surveillance. During the wartime, Issei, the first generation Japanese Americans, was informed of the war progress and news from the relocation camps through the paper. Utah Nippo also announced local activities and happenings important for Nisei, the second generation Japanese Americans, which continued …

Agency In Action: Exploring User Responses And Rhetorical Choices In Interactive Data Displays, Jacob D. Rawlins, Gregory D. Wilson, Kate Crane

Faculty Publications

n 2014, Rawlins and Wilson proposed a typology of agential interactions between users and designers of interactive data displays. This article tests that typology by studying 20 users working with three different types of interactive data displays and answering questions, which were coded by verb and actor and analyzed for themes. The authors show that rhetorical agency is marked by thoughts, actions, and language. Affordances by the designer open a shared rhetorical space where user and designer are coparticipants. As interactivity increases, participants see themselves as rhetorical agents in a community of rhetorical agents rather than as conduits of information.

Synthesis Of Candidate Natural Killer T Cell Ligands, Teron Haynie, Shenglou Deng, Paul B. Savage

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Natural Killer T (NKT) cells are a subset of T cells that express an invariant T cell receptor (TCR) that recognizes lipid antigens in context of the CD1d molecule. CD1d presents both exogenous and endogenous glycolipids on the surface of antigen presenting cells (APCs). Multiple exogenous lipids capable of NKT cell stimulation have been characterized, but confirmed endogenous ligands are relatively few in number. Recently, a-galactosylceramides were shown to be endogenous NKT cell ligands. We have observed that a-galactosylceramides cyclize in acidic conditions. Since the biosynthetic pathway of lipid presentation via CD1d likely passes through the acidic lysosome, we propose …

Aligning Open Science Textbooks To The Next Generation Science Standards, Spencer B. Perry

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

Open educational resources and open textbooks are popular in schools primarily because of their low cost. However, open textbooks may or may not be aligned to the appropriate learning standards. This project develops an alignment evaluation tool and evaluates an open science textbook to determine if it is in alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). It was found that a textbook may not reasonably be expected to achieve all elements of the NGSS but that the open textbook achieved most of the NGSS elements that could be achieved. Challenges encountered during the alignment process are discussed.

The Effects Of Metacognitive Listening Strategy Instruction On Esl Learners' Listening Motivation, Corbin Kalanikiakahi Rivera

Theses and Dissertations

Prior studies looking at the effects of listening strategy instruction on motivation have shown there to be a positive correlation between the two. However, the participants of these studies all shared a first language (L1) and were not enrolled in an intensive English program (IEP). This study aims to investigate the correlation between listening strategy instruction and listening motivation in an IEP classroom for students from different L1s. Listening motivation was recorded utilizing the English Listening Comprehension Motivation Scale (ELCMS) and strategy use was tracked with the Metacognitive Awareness Listening Questionnaire (MALQ). Pre- and post-test scores of 56 participants (control …

Biomarker Analysis And Clinical Relevance Of Thymidine Kinase 1 In Solid And Hematological Malignancies, Evita Giraldez Weagel

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the global effort to discover and improve ways to detect, treat, and monitor cancer, it still remains the second leading cause of death in the United States and poses a major health and economic burden worldwide. While traditional treatments like surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy have been successful and have decreased cancer mortality, cancer incidence in all sites continues to rise. Consequently, there is an immediate need to find new therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. In recent years, and with the continuing push towards personalized medicine, cancer biomarkers have become crucial to detect, treat, and monitor …

Effects Of Larynx Preservation Method On Phonation Threshold Pressure In An Excised Porcine Benchtop Model, Chelsea Savannah Pipkin Litster

Theses and Dissertations

Several studies involving excised animal larynges have been performed to simulate the structural and physiological properties of the human larynx. The most common way to preserve the laryngeal tissue being studied is by immersing it in a 0.9% isotonic saline solution and then flash freezing it. Isotonic saline is used empirically to replenish the potential ion loss that occurs postmortem. Each larynx is flash frozen so it can be used at a more convenient time while still maintaining the integrity of the tissue. However, the preservation methods found in previous studies tend to vary and no consensus had been reached …

Lunchtime Experiences And Students' Sense Of Belonging In Middle School, Anna Elisabeth Hinton

Theses and Dissertations

We know that it is important that students feel a sense of belonging in school, but additional research is needed to better understand the influences on belonging, especially for junior high and middle school students. Junior high lunchtime is an ideal space to study as a potential influence on belonging because it is a central part of the secondary school experience and it is a social space for students. The purpose of this study is to connect lunchtime experiences to school belonging by showing that how students experience lunchtime and how this affects their overall sense of belonging in school.Descriptive …