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Application Of High-Deflection Strain Gauges To Characterize Spinal-Motion Phenotypes Among Patients With Clbp, Spencer Alan Baker

Theses and Dissertations

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a nonspecific and persistent ailment that entails many physiological, psychological, social, and economic consequences for individuals and societies. Although there is a plethora of treatments available to treat CLBP, each treatment has varying efficacy for different patients, and it is currently unknown how to best link patients to their ideal treatment. However, it is known that biopsychosocial influences associated with CLBP affect the way that we move. It has been hypothesized that identifying phenotypes of spinal motion could facilitate an objective and repeatable method of determining the optimal treatment for each patient. The objective …

Quantifying And Characterizing The Behavior Of Dissolved And Suspended Icp-Oes Detectible Elements In Utah Lake, Rachel Ann Valek

Theses and Dissertations

For Utah Lake in Utah, USA, we analyzed a uniquely comprehensive and longitudinal water quality dataset that extended over two summer sampling seasons. We measured 61 parameters using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES), YSI ProDSS water sondes, and laboratory procedures to quantify and characterize dissolved and suspended behavior of trace elements in Utah Lake. We analyzed the data using principal component analysis (PCA) and multidimensional scaling (MDS) to understand the lake geochemistry and inform Utah Lake management decisions regarding nutrients and algal blooms. We found that 1) sediments rich in phosphorus (P) act as a source for bioavailable …

Time Spent Jogging/Running And Biological Aging In 4,458 U.S. Adults: An Nhanes Investigation, Christina Michelle Blackmon

Theses and Dissertations

Telomere length is a good index of cellular aging. Longer telomeres are predictive of longer life, and healthy lifestyles are associated with longer telomeres. This study explored the relationship between time spent jogging or running each week and leukocyte telomere length (LTL) in 4,458 randomly selected U.S. adults. The association was studied using data collected by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), and a cross-sectional design. Total weekly jog/run time was calculated from survey responses. From the minute totals, three categories were formed: <10 minutes/week, 10-74 minutes/week, and ≥75 minutes/week. Adults in the third category met the U.S. guidelines. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. Partial correlation was used to adjust for differences in potential mediating factors, including demographic and lifestyle/medical factors. In the total sample, after adjusting for all the potential covariates, mean LTL significantly differed across the 3 jog/run categories (F=4.1, P=0.0272). Specifically, adults who met the guidelines via jogging and/or running had significantly longer telomeres than adults who performed no jogging/running. Adults in the middle category did not differ from the other two categories. A minimum of 75 minutes of jogging/running weekly is predictive of longer telomeres when compared to adults who do not jog or run regularly.

Can A Congregation Make A Difference? The Relationship Between Social Support And Latter-Day Saint Lgbtq+ Adolescent Well-Being, Aubrey Bardsley

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the relationship between social support at church and the well-being of adolescents who currently or previously belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS, formally known as Mormon), differentiating between LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ adolescents. Past studies show that social support is negatively related to suicidality for adolescents. However, open questions remain about if this relationship is similar for LDS adolescents who identify as LGBTQ+ compared to those who do not. To test this question, I used data from the Family Foundations of Youth Development, a project that randomly sampled adolescents from Utah, Arizona, and …

Investigating Which Muscles Are Most Responsible For Tremor Through Both Experimental Data And Simulation, Daniel Benjamin Free

Theses and Dissertations

Tremor affects millions of people and many patients desire alternative treatment options to medication or neural surgery. Peripheral suppression techniques are gaining greater use, but are currently applied in a trial-and-error method. To optimize these techniques, the muscles most responsible for an individual patient's tremor need to be identified. In this dissertation, I explored two parallel paths that both could aid in identifying muscles responsible for tremor. The first method utilizies measured data and a technique (coherence) that quantifies the frequency dependent correlation between two signals. Using coherence to identify muscles contributing to tremor requires at least two parts: an …

The Wolfenden Report: The Key To The English Gay Rights Movement, Ryan Hollister

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

The history of homosexuality in Great Britain is long and complicated, extending all the way back to the Roman conquest. Romans had a tradition of homosexuality, but when Rome fell, churches became the authority on homosexuality, leading to numerous movements to fight against it. King Henry the 8th of England outlawed buggery, a term for anal intercourse, in 1533, and there are suspicions chat King James had homosexual relationships, but the scope of English history cannot be fully summarized in a paper of this length. Instead, this paper will focus on the British decriminalization of homosexual practices in the 1950s …

Project-Based Learning: An Online Support Product For Scaffolding The Professional Development In China, Yenny Mo

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

This project was a collaboration between Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah, U.S.A., and Beijing Normal University (BNU) in Beijing, China. It aimed to enhance the effectiveness of the existing professional development (PD) program at BNU by developing an online support product. The PD program focuses on developing project-based learning (PjBL) cases and its implementation in a classroom.

This online support product that scaffolds the PD program using Articulate Storyline 360. Through a strategic integration of the ADDIE and RP models, I have created a tool that facilitates faster comprehension of PjBL concepts, enables effective design of driving questions, …

Applying Mathematical Modeling To The Study Of Family Systems, Dahlia Maxwell

Theses and Dissertations

Mathematical modeling provides a powerful framework for insight into current scientific theories as well as hypothesis generation for further research. Despite its undeniable potential to enrich scientific advancement, the application of mathematical modeling remains conspicuously scarce in the field of family science. The complexity inherent in family dynamics, coupled with the intricate interplay of emotions in the individual, underscores the necessity of a robust analytical approach. Addressing this critical gap in the literature, this thesis introduces a sophisticated mathematical model of family dynamics integrating essential elements from family systems theory, emotion dynamics, and appraisal theory. The model is implemented as …

Advancing Single-Cell Proteomics Through Innovations In Liquid Chromatography And Mass Spectrometry, Kei Grant Isaac Webber

Theses and Dissertations

Traditional proteomics studies can measure many protein biomarkers simultaneously from a single patient-derived sample, promising the possibility of syndromic diagnoses of multiple diseases sharing common symptoms. However, precious cellular-level information is lost in conventional bulk-scale studies that measure tissues comprising many types of cells. As single cells are the building blocks of organisms and are easier to biopsy than traditional bulk samples, performing proteomics on a single-cell level would benefit clinicians and patients. Single-cell proteomics, combined with mass spectrometry imaging, can be used to analyze cells in their microenvironment, preserving spatial information. We have previously used laser-capture microdissection to isolate …

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Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

No abstract provided.

Safeguarding Wetlands Post-Sackett V. Epa: Protecting Indigenous Territories And Environmental Health, Anna J. Mahler, Emily Richardson

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

The Clean Water Act (CWA) has been a tool for federally recognized tribes to protect the waters within their borders and sacred lands that exist outside the borders of the tribe. Sackett v. EPA limited the scope of the CWA to cover only wetlands that have a continuous surface connection. This restricts the ability of Tribes to protect important waters. The Sackett decision decreases the nation’s ability to protect the chemical, physical, and biological aspects of the waters. This paper explores past legislative remedies and proposes federal wetland protection.

Prison Labor: The Ethical And Economic Implications Of Rethinking The Thirteenth Amendment And Fair Labor Standards Act, Peter Holland

Brigham Young University Prelaw Review

Prisoners have historically been paid extremely low wages, if any, for the jobs they perform while incarcerated. The Thirteenth Amendment, which made slavery illegal except as a punishment for crime, has often been used to validate this practice. This paper will argue that denying prisoners minimum wage is a misapplication of both the Thirteenth Amendment and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Additionally, the paper claims that paying prisoners minimum wage would have many positive economic consequences.

Encapsulation And Release Of Calcein From Herceptin-Conjugated Eliposomes, Mah Noor Zafar, William G. Pitt, Ghaleb A. Husseini

Faculty Publications

Achieving an optimal therapeutic level is crucial in effectively eradicating cancer cells during treatment. However, conventional chemotherapy-associated systemic administration of anticancer agents leads to many side effects. To achieve the desired control over the target site, active targeting of HER2-positive breast cancer cells can be achieved by conjugating liposomal vesicles with Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor 2 (HER2) and inducing release of the encapsulated drug using ultrasound. To further enhance the delivery efficiency, nanoemulsion droplets exhibiting responsiveness to low-frequency ultrasound are encapsulated within these lipid vesicles. In this study, we prepared four different liposomal formulations, namely pegylated liposomes …

Immortality Through Obliteration: Buddhist Influences On Juche Thought, Christian Curriden

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

North Korean Juche philosophy has come to be considered a quasi-state religion. Since its inception in the mid-192os as a slogan encouraging selfsufficiency and anti-Japanese struggle, it has undergone a series of changes. First, the focus of animosity changed from the Japanese to the Americans during the Korean War. During the 1960s, it morphed into a more comprehensive nationalist ideology emphasizing political independence, economic autarky, and military self-defense. With the addition of the "political-social body" concept in 1986, it evolved yet again into a quasi-religious metaphysical worldview, asserting that the leader, party, and people were all organs of an immortal …

The Smallpox Revolution, Sierra Marchand

The Thetean: A Student Journal for Scholarly Historical Writing

Samllpx was one of the most feared diseases in colonial North America during the eighteenth century. This fear was caused by "the suddenness and unpredictability of its attack, the grotesque torture of its victims, the brutality of its lethal or disfiguring outcome, and the terror that it inspired, which [made] Smallpox unique among human diseases." People who contracted the disease had a thirty to fifty percent chance of survival, and if they survived the painful illness, many victims lost their eyelashes, had permanent facial scaring and pitting, or even sometimes went blind. This made smallpox survivors the subjects of social …

The Implementation Of A Mass Casualty Simulation For Utah County Search And Rescue, Nathan Smart, Scott Summers, Craig Nuttall, Janelle Macintosh

Student Works

Background: Utah County’s population growth has precipitated a surge in search and rescue (SAR) missions, including mass casualty incidents (MCIs) in remote wilderness areas. Recognizing the critical need for enhanced preparedness in MCI response, Utah County SAR sought assistance to expand the training of their medical team in MCI. This project was initiated with the primary objective of augmenting the knowledge and readiness of Utah County SAR volunteers for managing MCIs in wilderness settings.

Methods: A one-day, on-site MCI simulation event designed by the project team was held at Rock Canyon, Provo, UT, on June 24, 2023. Focused …

Drug Modification Of Synaptic Plasticity At The Inhibitory Synapses Involving Gaba Neurons In The Ventral Tegmental Area, Jie Wu

Theses and Dissertations

The neurobiological underpinnings of substance use disorders (SUDs) involve complex alterations in synaptic plasticity within the mesolimbic dopamine system, particularly within the ventral tegmental area (VTA). While dopamine neurons in the VTA are extensively studied in addiction research, less attention has been given to the plasticity exhibited by VTA GABAergic neurons, despite their established regulatory role in modulating dopamine cell activity. Building upon the ground-breaking work of Bocklisch et al. (2013), we investigated the plasticity at the GABAergic to VTA GABA neuron (VTA GABA-to-GABA) synapse utilizing whole-cell electrophysiology in GAD67 GFP knock-in mice. Our findings revealed an exceptionally rare duo-plasticity …

Two Sides Of The Same Coin Or Two Different Coins? The Differential Predictors Of Casual And Committed Sex, Carson R. Dover

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to analyze potential predictors of accumulating casual vs. committed sexual partners in emerging adulthood. Using a large, national sample of emerging adults in the United States, I examined how alcohol use and attachment orientation differentially predicted accumulating casual and committed sexual partners. I found that higher anxious attachment positively predicted the number of committed sexual partners, while higher avoidant attachment negatively predicted the number of casual sexual partners. I also found that alcohol use positively predicted both the number of casual and committed sexual partners emerging adults accumulated. Further, I tested the strength of …

The Impact Of Online Orientation Activities In A Blended New-Student Orientation Modality On Social Connectedness, Pamela Potoma Smalley

Theses and Dissertations

Transitioning from high school to college has been a challenge for most students. The inability to make successful transitions has affected students' ability to integrate and graduate from college. Higher educational institutions look to programs such as new-student orientations to support students as they learn to navigate their new academic (and for many, new living) environments. The COVID-19 pandemic changed how new-student orientation worked as all traditional institutions switched completely to online orientation activities from completely in-person activities. As institutions emerged from the aftermath of the pandemic, they implemented blended new-student orientation modalities consisting of both online and in-person activities. …

Prosodic Speech Rate, Utterance Duration, Interruption Rate, And Turn-Taking Latency In Autistic And Neurotypical Adults, Grace Madeline Bell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the following prosodic elements: speech rate, turn-taking latency, number of interruptions, and utterance duration across two groups' neurotypical and autistic young adults. Furthermore, the end goal of this study is to help provide a baseline and clinical application of prosodic differences between autistic and neurotypical adults. Speech samples were collected from 11 neurotypical and 11 autistic young adults from the ages of 18-26. Speech samples were recorded responses from a 10-minute interview between two research assistants and the autistic or neurotypical individual. Using Praat software, speech samples were analyzed and used to …

Determining The Role Of Noncoding Insertion And Deletion Mutations In Lung Cancer, Zachary Everton, Matthew H. Bailey

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Background

● Cancer is a disease in which cells grow and divide at an uncontrolled rate and cause damage to surrounding tissue and is caused by mutations in the cells’ DNA.

● Though some cancer-causing mutations are inherited from parents, most cancer-causing mutations emerge over the course of a person’s life and are localized to the tumor. These localized mutations are also known as somatic mutations.

● The human genome is over 6.27 billion base pairs long and cannot be read from end to end; instead it is read in small pieces that are aligned to best-matching sequences in the …

Cell Death, Inflammation, And Extracellular Vpr In The R77q Mutation Of Vpr In Hiv-1, Amanda Carlson, Brad K. Berges, J. Brandon Lopez

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

One potential target for therapeutic treatment of HIV-1 is Viral Protein R (Vpr), an accessory protein encoded by the HIV-1 genome. Vpr plays an important role in pathogenesis and replication for HIV and is involved in transcription, the pre-integration complex, cell cycle arrest, and cell death via apoptosis. Mutations in this protein dramatically impact the rate of AIDS progression compared to the wild type (WT) version of Vpr. The Vpr polymorphism R77Q is associated with the Long Term Non Progressor (LTNP) phenotype. Regular AIDS onset is 5-7 years for WT virus and 10 or more years for R77Q. These differences …

The Effect Of Epicatechin And Its Microbial Metabolites On Differing Pathways Of Beta-Cell Death In Type I And Type Ii Diabetes, Aubree Bench, Jeffery S. Tessem

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

The pathogenesis of type 1 (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with progressive beta-cell death and loss of insulin secretion, making functional betacell mass preservation a priority in the treatment of diabetes. T1D beta-cell death is primarily mediated by autoimmune exposure of beta-cells to proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1b, TNFa, and IFNg (1, 2). Beta-cell loss in T2D, however, is characterized by damage caused by a destructive metabolic state of persistent hyperglycemia and elevated free fatty acid (FFA) levels (2, 3). Our lab has shown that the monomeric flavonoid epicatechin and its metabolites hippuric acid, homovanillic acid, and …

Understanding The Impact Of Post-Translational Modifications On Nucleosome Positioning, Bronwyn Kennington-Nitz, Steven Johnson, Sophie Lo, Michael Mann, David Bates

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

The placement of histones along DNA is known to be a significant factor in determining gene expression in eukaryotic cells, with post-translational modifications (or PTMs) helping modulate gene expression by acting as an intermediate to other factors. Using the Lys>Gln and Acetyl-Lys mutations of H3, our working hypothesis is that acetylation will decrease the overall strength of positioning, and that mutations will have an identical or nearly identical effect on nucleosome positioning.

Understanding Refractory Status Epilepticus With Novel Hd-Mea Technology, Isaac Stubbs, Ryley Parrish, Melissa Blotter, Max Holmes, Skyler Russell

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

3rd Place Oral Presentation

Status Epilepticus (SE) is a severe medical condition marked by continuous seizures lasting over 5 minutes. When SE becomes resistant to anticonvulsant drugs, the condition is known as Refractory Status Epilepticus (RSE), which lacks effective treatments and has a mortality rate of 38%. RSE lacks effective treatments partially due to our limited understanding of the mechanisms that lead to patient antiepileptic drug resistance.

Solving The Hiv Enigma: Investigating Mutant Long-Term Non-Progressor Vpr Strands, Megan Knight, Bradford Berges

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Different variants of HIV:

➢ Rapid Progressor: aggressive symptoms, quick progression into AIDs

➢ Wild-Type: regular symptoms, regular progression into AIDs

➢ Long-Term Non-Progressor: little-

Jaspine B And The Sea Sponge That Fights Cancer, Jack Davis, Jared Barrott, Adriene Pavek, Farjana Afrin, Sameena Mateen, Brendon Meldrum, Rocio Rojas, Pamela Diaz, Megan Condie, Ali Aghazadeh-Habashi, Srinath Pashikanti

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

Jaspine B is a natural marine product, derived from the sea sponge, Jaspis, found in some tropical climates. Jaspine B has been shown to be an effective treatment in some cancers with an upregulation of sphingomyelin synthase. This research aimed to understand the effects of Jaspine B on synovial sarcoma, and investigate its potential to be used as targeted treatment in other cancers that have an upregulation of sphingomyelin synthase

Ivermectin Activates Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons To Enhance Dopamine Release, Tyler Love, Jordan Yorgason, Hillary Wadsworth, Alicia Warnecke, Joshua Barlow, Emma Steimle, Joakim Ronström, Pacen Williams, Christopher Galbraith, Jared Baldridge, Michael Jakowec, Daryl Davies

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

• The substantia nigra compacta releases dopamine into the dorsal striatum, a brain region associated with movement and motivation

• Cholinergic interneurons in the dorsal striatum can directly cause dopamine release

• IVM is a known positive allosteric modulator of P2X4 receptors as well as nicotinic

• acetylcholine receptors

• Ivermectin is known to affect many dopamine linked behaviors, but no studies have been conducted to determine if Ivermectin is able to modulate dopamine release

Is Edna Concentration In Staphylococcus Aureus Biofilm Affected By Nanotube Coating?, Brooklyn Z. Jones, Bradford K. Berges, Lucy C. Bowden

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

1st Place Oral Presentation

• ~30% of artificial joint failure is caused by infection1

• 80-100% of patients who receive external fixator pins will experience an infection2

• Most of these infections are caused by Staphylococcus aureus

• S. aureus forms biofilms (surface-associated collections of bacteria) that are extremely difficult to treat

• eDNA provides structure and protection to the biofilm

Fish Tattoos: The Evolutionary Cost Of Black Spot Disease, Eric J. Morris, Jerry B. Johnson

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2024

QUESTION

Does Black Spot Disease increase the fitness of male fishes?

HYPOTHESIS

We hypothesize that Black Spot Disease will increase the fitness of male fishes. We predict that female fishes will exhibit an association preference for infected males over healthy males when given the choice between the two. This observed preference would suggest that BSD is advantageous for male fishes