Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Brigham Young University

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 751 - 780 of 10983

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Dynamic Segmental Kinematics Of The Lumbar Spine During Diagnostic Movements, Paul Mcmullin Dec 2023

Dynamic Segmental Kinematics Of The Lumbar Spine During Diagnostic Movements, Paul Mcmullin

Theses and Dissertations

While lumbar kinematics can be measured in vivo, most measurements are invasive (such as percutaneous bone pins), provide high doses of radiation (such as biplane fluoroscopy), or are taken with the patient in a static position (such as MRIs). Recent work suggests that lumbar kinematics can be determined by dynamic measurements of epidermal strain in the lower back. This work aims to develop and examine a method of examining lumbar kinematics via optoelectronic motion capture utilizing skin-mounted markers in the lumbar region. Two studies were performed. One study examined lumbar epidermal strain in 28 asymptomatic subjects during diagnostic movements, while …

Go to article

Full Issue Dec 2023

Full Issue

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Parallelism In The Book Of Mormon Dec 2023

Parallelism In The Book Of Mormon

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Parallelism is a fundamental feature of biblical Hebrew composition, appearing In many different varieties and contexts. Don Parry has recently completed an Impressive research effort, identifying and classifying many poetic parallel passages in the Book of Mormon.

Go to article

Spotlight On Janet Twigg Dec 2023

Spotlight On Janet Twigg

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

The Foundation Is pleased to recognize our devoted employees and volunteers. At this time, congratulations are in order for our office manager, Janet Twigg.

Go to article

1988 Contributions Now Payable Dec 2023

1988 Contributions Now Payable

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

In 1988, as in the past, all who donate $10.00 or more ($5.00 for low-income families and students) will receive the Foundation's quarterly newsletter Insights. If you want to keep your name on the mailing list, now is a good time to make your tax-deductible contribution. To indicate your renewal, complete the attached order form and send it with your contribution to the F.A.R.M.S. office.

Go to article

Hebrew And Uto-Aztecan Languages Compared Dec 2023

Hebrew And Uto-Aztecan Languages Compared

Insights: The Newsletter of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship

Three years ago Brian Stubbs, then a doctoral candidate In linguistics at the University of Utah, received a grant from F.A.R.M.S. to find out if elements of Hebrew could be detected among native tongues of the Uto-Aztecan family of western North America. He has now prepared a technical report summarizing his extensive research.

Go to article

Leucine Lock: An Amplified Rapid Antigen Detection System, Matthew David Goff Dec 2023

Leucine Lock: An Amplified Rapid Antigen Detection System, Matthew David Goff

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19, influenza, and blood analytes currently have many drawbacks. They vary greatly in accuracy, are expensive to manufacture, and can be insufficiently sensitive to small antigen loads. Leucine lock is designed to rectify these issues that exist in current rapid diagnostics by creating a rapid antigen test with minimal background activity, tunable sensitivity, and low manufacturing cost. Leucine lock consists of a novel leucine zipper containing an intramolecular hairpin, an ScFv antigen binding domain, and a fluorophore reporter in a FRET combination. By altering the number of hydrophobic and electrostatic mismatches in the intramolecular hairpin, as …

Go to article

Drop Retention And Departure In Shear Flow On Structured Superhydrophobic Surfaces, Blake Morgan Lyons Dec 2023

Drop Retention And Departure In Shear Flow On Structured Superhydrophobic Surfaces, Blake Morgan Lyons

Theses and Dissertations

Water is often found adhering to surfaces in droplet form. Droplets can develop as a result of precipitation, condensation, or chemical reactions. Drops are retained or held on a surface due to a retention force exerted on the drop by the surface. This retention force is a function of the surface tension of the liquid, drop geometry, and the contact angle between the drop and the surface. When external or body forces exceed this retention force the drop begins to move. This thesis seeks to understand and quantify the forces present at the point of droplet departure once it begins …

Go to article

The Effect Of Percussive Massage On The Maintenance Of Skeletal Muscle Health During Limb Unloading, Mohadeseh Ahmadi Dec 2023

The Effect Of Percussive Massage On The Maintenance Of Skeletal Muscle Health During Limb Unloading, Mohadeseh Ahmadi

Theses and Dissertations

A period of skeletal muscle disuse leads to muscle mass and strength loss and compromised metabolic health. Several studies suggest that passive mechanical stimulation may protect against the detrimental effects of disuse in skeletal muscle. This study assessed the effect of the twice-daily application of percussive massage in mitigating the adverse effects of muscle disuse during ten days of leg unloading. Seventeen participants (7 women and 10 men; 18-35 yrs.) were randomly assigned to either control or massage groups, both undergoing leg unloading. The data revealed that both groups similarly experienced significant reductions in muscle strength (-14%±5.9; p<.0001), quadriceps volume (-4.2%±2.8; p<.0001), myofiber cross-sectional area (-8.2%±1.8; p<.0001), and maximal mitochondrial respiration (-20%±9.1; p<.0001). Fatty acid-supported respiration decreased in the control group (-30.4±18.5%; p= 0.0008) and remained unchanged in the massage group. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) flux normalized to oxygen consumption exhibited a significant interaction between group and time, particularly in the absence of ADP, where H2O2 flux increased only in the control group (control: 29.9±26.5%, massage: -13±22.6%; p=0.01). There was no change in the H2O2 flux after the addition of ADP. In conclusion, ten days of limb unloading resulted in diminished muscle size, strength, and mitochondrial respiration. Percussive massage was insufficient to prevent the loss of muscle mass, force production, or carbohydrate-supported respiration. However, it exhibited potential protective effects against the decline in mitochondrial fatty acid-supported respiration.

Go to article

Genomic And Proteomic Analysis Of Five Vi01-Like Phages Reveals Wide Host Range And Multiple Tail Spike Proteins, Evan Harris Dec 2023

Genomic And Proteomic Analysis Of Five Vi01-Like Phages Reveals Wide Host Range And Multiple Tail Spike Proteins, Evan Harris

Theses and Dissertations

The number of illnesses attributable to antibiotic resistant bacterial infections are on the rise. According to the CDC, by 2050, complications due to antibiotic resistant infections are set to become the most prevalent cause of death worldwide, overtaking both cancer and heart disease in number. We are required to look for supplements to aid antibiotics in the fight against bacteria because it's becoming increasingly clear that antibiotics alone will fail in the face of multidrug-resistant strains. Bacteriophages are natural killers of bacteria and can thus be weaponized to treat multidrug-resistant infections. When a phage is discovered, our databases need to …

Go to article

Characterizing Stress Granule Regulation By Pas Kinase, Ataxin-2 And Ptc6 And Investigating The Lifespan Of Covid-19 Virus On Currency, Colleen R. Newey Dec 2023

Characterizing Stress Granule Regulation By Pas Kinase, Ataxin-2 And Ptc6 And Investigating The Lifespan Of Covid-19 Virus On Currency, Colleen R. Newey

Theses and Dissertations

The protein Ataxin-2 is a known positive regulator of stress granules in humans, mice and yeast (known as yeast PBP1). Due to the role that stress granules play in diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and cancer, this thesis investigates the role of Ataxin-2 and its protein binding partners in stress granule development and its effects on various metabolic phenotypes of the cell. PAS kinase is a sensory protein kinase, conserved from yeast to man, which regulates respiration and lipid biosynthesis. Our lab discovered that PAS kinase phosphorylates and activates Ataxin-2 in yeast, and that PAS kinase overexpression enhances localization …

Go to article

Soil Health In American Sports Fields, Miria C. Barnes Dec 2023

Soil Health In American Sports Fields, Miria C. Barnes

Theses and Dissertations

Healthy soils are essential for sustaining the world's ecosystems and maintaining human lifestyles. The adoption of biological, chemical, and physical analyses to assess soil health is a relatively new concept with a paucity of scientific work assessing how these metrics are affected by field management in urban systems Soil samples (n = 110) were collected from a diverse range of sports fields and, for comparative purposes, golf courses, farm fields, non-sport urban, undisturbed forest, and non-vegetated sandy soils. The samples were then analyzed using biological, chemical, and physical metrics to determine if there were significant differences between sport/golf venues and …

Go to article

Interfacial Properties Of Hybrid Lipid-Polymer Bilayers: Applications In Drug Delivery And Biosensors, Keith L. Willes Dec 2023

Interfacial Properties Of Hybrid Lipid-Polymer Bilayers: Applications In Drug Delivery And Biosensors, Keith L. Willes

Theses and Dissertations

Amphiphilic block copolymers are unique macro-molecules capable of self-assembling into bilayers analogous to naturally occurring lipid membranes. When combined with lipids, these copolymers form hybrid membranes with unique and sometimes unpredictable properties, including increased chemical and mechanical stability. These synthetically enhanced biological structures represent a versatile platform suitable for a wide range of applications, from advanced biosensing devices to drug delivery systems. The realization of these advancements necessitates a deep understanding of material properties, including the ability to predict and control interfacial behaviors. It has been shown that in the case of pure lipid membranes, interfacial behaviors are dominated by …

Go to article

Twitch Chat Advertising: How Live Chat Valence Affects Consumer Advertising Perceptions, Austin W. Camper Dec 2023

Twitch Chat Advertising: How Live Chat Valence Affects Consumer Advertising Perceptions, Austin W. Camper

Theses and Dissertations

The streaming platform Twitch.tv, is a popular video streaming website where users can watch, communicate, and chat with streamers and other viewers live. Twitch and other live streaming websites typically offer viewers a chat window where the viewer can chat (in real-time) with the streamer and other viewers who are currently watching the stream. Research in live streaming platforms like Twitch and the effects of their various features are novel. The purpose of this study is to analyze how the sentiment of a live chat (positive or negative) and the stated or not stated disclosure of an advertisement posted in …

Go to article

Advancements In Levitated Optomechanics: Exploring Plasmon-Enhanced Light-Matter Interactions In Optical Trapping, Siavash Mirzaei Ghormish Dec 2023

Advancements In Levitated Optomechanics: Exploring Plasmon-Enhanced Light-Matter Interactions In Optical Trapping, Siavash Mirzaei Ghormish

Theses and Dissertations

Optical trapping of metallic nanoparticles investigates phenomena at the interface of plasmonics and optical micromanipulation. This thesis combines ideas from the optical properties of metals, originating in solid-state physics, with the force mechanisms resulting from optical trapping. I explore the influence of enhanced light-matter interaction due to the plasmon resonances of gold particles on their trapping properties. I present theories for trapping mechanisms of gold metallic particles and then verify these theories through experiments. Optical trapping of metallic nanoparticles is considered challenging, especially in air, as they are highly absorbing and reflecting at optical wavelengths. Yet the optical levitation of …

Go to article

Women And Gender In Mountaineering And Climbing, Natalie Gunn Dec 2023

Women And Gender In Mountaineering And Climbing, Natalie Gunn

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines how gender and ideas about gender affected early female mountaineers and rock climbers. The study focuses on female dress standards in the Victorian era, the relative equity of accomplishment between male and female mountaineers and climbers, the portrayal of female climbers in the media, and the misrepresentation of female motivations for climbing. By analyzing primary sources from female climbers and mountaineers, this paper uncovers how women challenged traditional gender roles and navigated the complexities of the male-dominated climbing community.

Go to article

An Inexpensive, 3d Printable, Arduino And Bluray-Based, Confocal Laser And Fluorescent Scanning Thermal Microscope, Justin Loose Dec 2023

An Inexpensive, 3d Printable, Arduino And Bluray-Based, Confocal Laser And Fluorescent Scanning Thermal Microscope, Justin Loose

Theses and Dissertations

The Fluorescence Scanning Thermal Microscope (FSTM v3.0), was designed to create an inexpensive, and easily manufactured, device for measuring the diffusivity of samples with microscopic locational precision. This was accomplished by using a Blu-ray device known as a PHR-803T, referred to in this work as a PHR. The optics in the PHR are nearly identical in function to conventional devices used in thermoreflectance microscopy, making the PHR extremely useful to integrate into the FSTM design. The focus of this thesis is the application of the FSTM as a confocal microscope using 3D printed components and various low-cost devices to operate …

Go to article

Using Quantitative And Kinetic Proteomics To Explore Proteostasis, Nathan Raul Zuniga Pina Dec 2023

Using Quantitative And Kinetic Proteomics To Explore Proteostasis, Nathan Raul Zuniga Pina

Theses and Dissertations

Every cell consists of carefully orchestrated biomolecules such as lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins. To maintain internal stability (homeostasis), cells maintain the right amount of these molecules at the right time and at the right place. This process is especially true for proteins since they are the foundation functional units within the cell. Proteins form structures and perform chemistry that bestows cells overarching functional roles. Cells maintain protein homeostasis (proteostasis) by modulating synthesis, folding, and degradation processes (turnover) to maintain the abundance levels for all proteins. This is the foundational kinetic model of proteostasis that is covered in this work, and …

Go to article

Coarsening Dynamics Of Ternary Polymer Solutions With Mobility And Viscosity Contrasts, Jan Ulric Garcia, Douglas R. Tree, Alyssa Bagoyo, Tatsuhiro Iwama, Kris T. Delaney, Glenn H. Fredrickson Dec 2023

Coarsening Dynamics Of Ternary Polymer Solutions With Mobility And Viscosity Contrasts, Jan Ulric Garcia, Douglas R. Tree, Alyssa Bagoyo, Tatsuhiro Iwama, Kris T. Delaney, Glenn H. Fredrickson

Faculty Publications

Using phase-field simulations, we investigate the bulk coarsening dynamics of ternary polymer solutions undergoing a glass transition for two models of phase separation: diffusion only and with hydrodynamics. The glass transition is incorporated in both models by imposing mobility and viscosity contrasts between the polymer-rich and polymer-poor phases of the evolving microstructure. For microstructures composed of polymer-poor clusters in a polymer-rich matrix, the mobility and viscosity contrasts significantly hinder coarsening, effectively leading to structural arrest. For microstructures composed of polymer-rich clusters in a polymer-poor matrix, the mobility and viscosity contrasts do not impede domain growth; rather, they change the transient …

Go to article

Novel Fire And Herbivory Regime Impacts On Forest Regeneration And Plant Community Assembly, Devri A. Tanner Dec 2023

Novel Fire And Herbivory Regime Impacts On Forest Regeneration And Plant Community Assembly, Devri A. Tanner

Theses and Dissertations

Human activities are increasing the occurrence of megafires that have the potential to alter the ecology of forest ecosystems. The objective of this study was to understand the impact of a 610 km2 megafire on patterns of forest regeneration and herbivory of three forest types (aspen/fir, oak/maple, and pinyon/juniper) within the burn scar. Sapling density, meristem removal, and height were measured across a transect network spanning the area of the burn scar over three years from 2019-2021. The network consisted of 17 burned/unburned transect pairs in adjacent burned/unburned forest stands (6 aspen/fir, 5 oak/maple, and 6 pinyon/juniper). Species that regenerated …

Go to article

Tidygeo Preparing Analysis-Ready Datasets From Gene Expression Omnibus, Avery Mecham, Ashlie Stephenson, Badi I. Quinteros, Grace S. Brown, Stephen R. Piccolo Dec 2023

Tidygeo Preparing Analysis-Ready Datasets From Gene Expression Omnibus, Avery Mecham, Ashlie Stephenson, Badi I. Quinteros, Grace S. Brown, Stephen R. Piccolo

Faculty Publications

TidyGEO is a Web-based tool for downloading, tidying, and reformatting data series from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). As a freely accessible repository with data from over 6 million biological samples across more than 4000 organisms, GEO provides diverse opportunities for secondary research. Although scientists may find assay data relevant to a given research question, most analyses require sample-level annotations. In GEO, such annotations are stored alongside assay data in delimited, text-based files. However, the structure and semantics of the annotations vary widely from one series to another, and many annotations are not useful for analysis purposes. Thus, every GEO series …

Go to article

Video Games For The Win: Examining The Net Positive Impact On Emotional, Cognitive, And Social Aspects Of Mental Health In Today’S Youth, James Sanford Nov 2023

Video Games For The Win: Examining The Net Positive Impact On Emotional, Cognitive, And Social Aspects Of Mental Health In Today’S Youth, James Sanford

Student Works

Video games are becoming an integral part of society, as more than 90% of adolescents play them often, and the industry is growing in revenue every year (Granic et al., 2014). However, many mainstream media outlets portray video games as detrimental to mental health and damaging to cognitive abilities, with initial research into video games initially corroborating such claims and finding correlations to violent behavior (Ferguson, 2020). These early research methods could have been more robust; moreover, focusing on only the negative aspects of gaming research significantly reduced their ability to properly understand gaming’s full impact. Video games typically encourage …

Go to article

Rage In Chronic Pulmonary Inflammation And Obstetric Complications, Katrina Lynn Curtis Nov 2023

Rage In Chronic Pulmonary Inflammation And Obstetric Complications, Katrina Lynn Curtis

Theses and Dissertations

The receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) is a transmembrane cell surface protein of the immunoglobulin superfamily that acts as part of both the innate and adaptive immune system. RAGE is highly expressed in lung tissue and is therefore of interest in the pulmonary immune response. Specifically, RAGE mediates several cell-signaling responses such as inflammation and apoptosis. This work sought to elucidate the role of RAGE in the setting of chronic pulmonary irritation such as that found in long-term exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS). This irritation has several shared characteristics with lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) …

Go to article

Prosodic Pitch And Intensity In Autistic Individuals, Cassidy Gooch Nov 2023

Prosodic Pitch And Intensity In Autistic Individuals, Cassidy Gooch

Theses and Dissertations

This study is an examination of how prosodic pitch and intensity compare in autistic individuals and neurotypical individuals. Ten-minute recordings of casual conversation were taken and analyzed. Participants included 11 autistic individuals and 11 neurotypical individuals with six males and five females in each group. The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd Edition (ADOS-2; Lord et al., 2012) prosody rating scale was used to collect a perceptual evaluation of each participan's prosody, and Praat acoustic analysis software was used to collect measures of pitch and intensity over the 10-minute period to investigate how speech characteristics change with conversation partner familiarity. Results …

Go to article

Stability, Longevity, And Regulatory Bionetworks, Christian N. K. Anderson Nov 2023

Stability, Longevity, And Regulatory Bionetworks, Christian N. K. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Genome-wide studies of diseases and chronic conditions frequently fail to uncover marked or consistent differences in RNA or protein concentrations. However, the developing field of kinetic proteomics has made promising discoveries in differences in the turnover rate of these same proteins, even when concentrations were not necessarily different. The situation can theoretically be modeled mathematically using bifurcation equations, but uncovering the proper form of these is difficult. To this end, we developed TWIG, a method for characterizing bifurcations that leverages information geometry to identify drivers of complex systems. Using this, we characterized the bifurcation and stability properties of all 132 …

Go to article

Mechanisms, Evolution, And Rapid Diagnosis Of Carbapenem Resistance, Taalin Shale Hoj Nov 2023

Mechanisms, Evolution, And Rapid Diagnosis Of Carbapenem Resistance, Taalin Shale Hoj

Theses and Dissertations

An estimated 70% of bacterial infections in the United States are resistant to first-line antibiotics. Of these, among the most difficult to treat are highly resistant to carbapenems, an antibiotic class used as a last resort. Septicemia, particularly when caused by a carbapenem-resistant organism, is among the most challenging clinical scenarios to treat, with an overall mortality rate of carbapenem-resistant septicemias 63.8%. Encouragingly, if effective antimicrobial treatment begins within 1-3 hours of septic shock onset, patient survival rates are around 80%. The first section of this work describes a real-time PCR-based assay that when coupled with existing bacteria-blood separation technology, …

Go to article

Elucidating The Architecture Of The Tclijn Complex That Converts Cysteine To Thiazoles In The Biosynthesis Of Micrococcin, Diana G. Calvopina Chavez Nov 2023

Elucidating The Architecture Of The Tclijn Complex That Converts Cysteine To Thiazoles In The Biosynthesis Of Micrococcin, Diana G. Calvopina Chavez

Theses and Dissertations

Thiopeptides are a family of antimicrobial peptides that are characterized for having sulfur-containing heterocycles, and for being highly post-translationally modified. Numerous thiopeptides have been identified; almost all of which inhibit protein synthesis in gram-positive bacteria. These intrinsic antimicrobial properties make thiopeptides promising candidates for the development of new antibiotics. The antimicrobial peptide micrococcin is a thiopeptide that is synthesized by the ribosome and undergoes several post-translational modifications (PTMs). Micrococcin is formed from a precursor peptide, TclE. TclE comprises an N-terminal leader (35-AA) that is crucial for recognition of the PTM machinery, alongside a C-terminal core sequence (14-AA) that undergoes multiple …

Go to article

Dyadic Coping In The Transition To Parenthood, Sierra Gray Nov 2023

Dyadic Coping In The Transition To Parenthood, Sierra Gray

Family Perspectives

The Transition to Parenthood (TTP) is a common transition point for couples that is often associated with declines in relationship satisfaction. There are many changes that take place during this transition that can lead to a variety of stresses such as psychological distress, sexual distress, as well as increases in conflict. Parents likely experience these stressors together, and therefore should implement dyadic coping processes. With partner support and responsiveness, parents can counter damaging psychological outcomes. As partners incorporate empathy and communicate effectively throughout the TTP, they can prevent and improve sexual outcomes. Since partner conflict is very common during this …

Go to article

Manipulating And Assaying Chromatin Architecture Around Enhancer Elements In Vivo, John Lawrence Carter Nov 2023

Manipulating And Assaying Chromatin Architecture Around Enhancer Elements In Vivo, John Lawrence Carter

Theses and Dissertations

There are about 20,000 genes in the human genome. The lowly nematode worm, C. elegans, has about the same number of genes. How could two organisms that are so different arise from a similar number of genes? The answer is epigenetics, or the factors that help control when and where genes are expressed. There are many layers that comprise the epigenetic control of genes. One of which is the structure or architecture of chromatin. Chromatin is a complex of DNA and proteins. Histone proteins with DNA wrapped around them form the fundamental component of chromatin, the nucleosome. Chromatin exists in …

Go to article

Monitoring Brain Region-Specific Control Of Protein Turnover And Concentration Using Proteomics, Rebecca Suzanne Burlett Nov 2023

Monitoring Brain Region-Specific Control Of Protein Turnover And Concentration Using Proteomics, Rebecca Suzanne Burlett

Theses and Dissertations

Regulation of metabolism is vital to health and lies at the core of many different diseases. The breakdown of metabolisms' regulation within the brain can lead to neurological disease like Alzheimer's Disease (AD). AD is known to affect brain regions responsible for memory and memory processing like the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. The regulation of these regions' protein quality, synthesis, and degradation deviate from 'normal' or 'healthy' levels when AD is happening. It is known there is a breakdown of regulation in those regions; however, little is known about the specifics of regulation in healthy brains regions or how it …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last