Digital Commons Network^™

Deep Transfer Learning For Approximate Model Predictive Control, Samuel Arce Munoz, Junho Park, Cristina M. Stewart, Adam M. Martin, John Hedengren

Faculty Publications

Transfer learning is a machine learning technique that takes a pre-trained model that has already been trained on a related task, and adapts it for use on a new, related task. This is particularly useful in the context of model predictive control (MPC), where deep transfer learning is used to improve the training of the MPC by leveraging the knowledge gained from related controllers. One way in which transfer learning is applied in the context of MPC is by using a pre-trained deep learning model of the MPC, and then fine-tuning the controller training for a new process automation task. …

Engineering At-Home Dilution And Filtration Methods To Enable Paper-Based Colorimetric Biosensing In Human Blood With Cell-Free Protein Synthesis, Tyler J. Free, Ryan W. Tucker, Katelyn M. Simonson, Sydney A. Smith, Caleb M. Lindgren, William G. Pitt, Bradley C. Bundy

Faculty Publications

Diagnostic blood tests can guide the administration of healthcare to save and improve lives. Most clinical biosensing blood tests require a trained technician and specialized equipment to process samples and interpret results, which greatly limits test accessibility. Colorimetric paper-based diagnostics have an equipment-free readout, but raw blood obscures a colorimetric response which has motivated diverse efforts to develop blood sample processing techniques. This work uses inexpensive readily-available materials to engineer user-friendly dilution and filtration methods for blood sample collection and processing to enable a proof-of-concept colorimetric biosensor that is responsive to glutamine in 50 µL blood drop samples in less …

Gamelan Gong Directivity Dataset, Samuel D. Bellows, Dallin T. Harwood, Kent L. Gee, Micah R. Shepherd

Directivity

No abstract provided.

Student Self-Diagnostics: Engaging Students As Co-Respondents To Their Own Writing, Robert M. Rowan

Journal of Response to Writing

Student self-analysis and reflective work can be useful components of the writing classroom. This article examines a student self-diagnostic tool, developed by the author, which can elicit closer attention paid to the student’s own writing, analysis, and research processes and to other desirable outcomes the teacher’s learning plan may be pursuing. This tool, the Genre Understanding Sheet or GUS, has been successfully deployed in a variety of writing courses such as introductory composition, business and professional writing, and technical communication. The article examines the GUS and its development and rationale, reviews the underlying science and theory-work which inform its design, …

“We Don’T Know, So We Might As Well”: A Flimsy Philosophy For Same-Sex Sealings, Matthew Watkins

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Nate Oman claims to demonstrate a theological path that allows for same-sex sealings within existing Latter-day Saint doctrine. In fact, he claims that such an adjustment would be not only compatible with most Church doctrine but more scripturally sound than current teachings and policies regarding same-sex relationships. However, he falls short of his declared objective. His essay sets up an exaggerated pattern of dramatic theological overhauls in Latter-day Saint theology, downplays existing revelation on the subject of sealings and exaltation, and proposes a new theology to justify his policy conclusions. In the end, his essay completely ignores the root cause …

Pixelated Prophets: A History And Analysis Of Book-Of-Mormon-Themed Video Games, Geoffrey M. Draper

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Video games represent an innovative medium for entertainment and artistic expression with potential for fostering deeper engagement with religious texts such as the Book of Mormon. Over the past three decades, developers have produced dozens of video games based on the Book of Mormon. This paper provides a comprehensive history of these video games. We examine how these games use different genres, styles, and levels of scriptural fidelity to creative immersive and interactive experiences based on ancient stories and teachings. We also discuss the challenges and opportunities for developing and distributing Book-of-Mormon–themed video games in a competitive and changing market …

Unavailable Genetic Evidence, Multiple Simultaneous Promised Lands, And Lamanites By Location? Possible Ramifications Of The Book Of Mormon Limited Geography Theory, Brian C. Hales

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

This paper is composed of three parts connected consecutively because their conclusions build upon each other. The first part investigates the transportation methods used in the Book of Mormon, concluding that horse and river travel contributed little and that foot travel dominated all journeying. The second part uses that conclusion to estimate the overall dimensions of the Promised Land by examining Alma the Elder’s journey from Nephi to Zarahemla. This exercise reaffirms the 200-by-500-mile size promoted by John L. Sorenson decades ago. The third part looks at four ramifications of this 100,000 square-mile Promised Land footprint when stamped upon a …

A Long And Winding Road, Allen Wyatt

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Publishing an article in Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Faith and Scholarship involves a process of which many people are not aware. I’m sure it is obvious to all that articles don’t just spring from the mind of an author and onto the printed page. In this essay I draw back the curtain just a bit to give readers a glimpse and, hopefully, an understanding of the process.

Withstanding Satan’S Siege Through Christ’S Iron Rod: The Vision Of The Tree Of Life In Context Of Ancient Siege Warfare, Jared Marcum

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Nothing was more terrifying in the ancient world than a siege. Besiegers disregarded normal conventions of war and either utterly slaughtered or enslaved a city’s residents. Nephi used siege warfare imagery — including fire arrows, blinding, and being led away into captivity — to teach his brothers the importance of holding fast to Christ’s iron rod (see 1 Nephi 15:24). By analyzing this scripture and the vision of the Tree of Life in context of ancient siege warfare, we learn how Satan besieges God’s people, cuts off their access to the Tree of Life, draws them away through scorn, blinds …

Full Issue

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Learner Engagement With Written Corrective Feedback: The Case Of Automated Writing Evaluation, Hooman Saeli, Payam Rahmati, Svetlana Koltovskaia

Journal of Response to Writing

The study explored six ESL university students’ behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement with e-rater feedback on local issues and examined any changes in students’ engagement over two weeks. We explored behavioral engagement through the analysis of screencasts of students’ e-rater usage and writing assignments. We measured cognitive and affective engagement by analyzing students’ comments during the think-aloud protocol and reflection surveys. The findings indicated that the students had varying levels of engagement with the feedback. Behaviorally, all students used a range of revision operations to address errors based on the provided feedback. Cognitively, some students were more engaged than others. …

Journal Of Response To Writing 9(2)

Journal of Response to Writing

No abstract provided.

Temples Of The Imagination, Jeffrey Thayne, Nathan Richardson

Interpreter Foundation Books

To the left, you see a temple that resembles those built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. However, this temple is not one that has ever been built by the Church—it is an imaginary temple. But what is so interesting about that? We can all close our eyes and imagine in our mind’s eye temples that do not currently exist. Talented artists could then put that to canvas and create a depiction. What is special is that this image

Teacher Collaboration And Elementary Arts Integration: Policy And Possibility, Tara L. Carpenter, Mark A. Graham, Corinna Peterken, Mikaela Cannon, Anna Harris

Faculty Publications

Arts education can be an important part of the elementary child’s experience. However, keeping the arts in schools is often a challenge because of funding concerns and competing academic priorities. An important strategy in arts education advocacy and policy is arts integration. Arts integration creates a rationale for the arts based on the enhancement of the educational experience for all students and the potential to engage underserved or less engaged students with academic disciplines through the arts. This article examines teacher experiences within a statewide program that funds arts specialists in elementary schools with the requirement that they integrate the …

Full Issue

Inscape

No abstract provided.

Toward A Greater Appreciation Of The Word Adieu In Jacob 7:27, Godfrey J. Ellis

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

The phrase “Brethren, adieu” (Jacob 7:27) has been criticized over the years as an obvious anachronism in the Book of Mormon. That criticism holds no validity whatsoever, as others have pointed out, since many English words have French origins. It’s worth considering, though, a deeper meaning of the word. In French, it carries a nuance of finality — that the separation will last until a reunion following death (à Dieu, or until God). This deeper meaning of adieu appears to have been known by Shakespeare and frontier Americans although the second meaning is not generally recognized by English speakers today. …

“The Gospel Of Intelligence And Culture”: Literature And Literary Instruction In The Twentieth-Century Mia Curriculum, Michael Austin, Rachel Meibos Helps

BYU Studies

In his journal for April 29, 1888, Bishop Orson F. Whitney recorded a curious meeting that he had with an Apostle. “Had a long conversation in the morning with Apostle Moses Thatcher,” wrote Whitney. “He gave me a blessing and set me apart to deliver a lecture on Sunday, June 3rd next, at the Mutual Improvement Conference in the Tabernacle. My subject is Home Literature. I consented to deliver it, though very busy and overworked, at the request of the Authorities.” This remarkable assignment— he was called and set apart to give a speech in the way men at the …

Documents, 1 January–15 May 1844: Vol. 14 Of The Documents Series Of The Joseph Smith Papers, Richard E. Bennett

BYU Studies

Having grown up on a diet of Joseph Fielding Smith’s Essentials in Church History, B. H. Roberts’s Comprehensive History of the Church, and the six-volume History of the Church, which for me and so many others was once the gold standard for the study of Church history, I am convinced that the Joseph Smith Papers are a shaft of incredible new light, a welcomed revelation of sorts, a coming-out party to document Joseph Smith’s life and ministry.

A Coupled Source Panel, Actuator Line, And Viscous Vortex Particle Method In An O(N) Scheme, Ryan Anderson, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

Wake interactions play a significant role in aerodynamics. However, common modeling approaches are either expensive or lack fidelity, making them unreliable or difficult to use in the design process. The vortex particle method can capture the relevant physics effectively, but imposing boundary conditions with solid surfaces in a computationally efficient way is challenging. We explore two possible methods of imposing solid surface boundary conditions of vortex particle simulations. The first, a novel variation on a pure particle approach, is easy to implement but is moderately expensive, and suffers from some numerical instability. The second, source panels accelerated with a fast …

The Pure Language Project, Dan Belnap, Michael Mackay

Faculty Publications

In the summer of 1835, Joseph Smith and his associates purchased four mummies and some papyri scrolls from Michael Chandler.1 That summer Joseph would participate in a project that would produce a fascinating set of texts, referred to today as the Egyptian Language Documents (ELD), used and compiled mostly in Kirtland, but also consulted and expanded in Nauvoo.2 These documents, which include three incomplete variants of what was called an “alphabet” as well as an incomplete “grammar,” integrated a series of characters with explanations.

Moving Beyond The Historicity Question, Or A Manifesto For Future Book Of Mormon Research, Newell D. Wright

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Book of Mormon Studies: An Introduction and Guide by four Brigham Young University religion professors reviews the field of Book of Mormon studies from the late nineteenth century to the current day. After the historical review of the field, the authors lay out a research agenda for the twenty-first century that, by and large, moves on from the Book of Mormon historicity question that so engaged twentieth-century scholars. T his review examines the authors’ claims and demonstrates that the scope of the book is not as broad as it could or should be. Absent perspectives, blind spots, incomplete twenty-first–century research …

Full Issue

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Winter 2023 Editor’S Note, Mikayla Johnson

Inscape

Dear Readers,

It took many sailors to man a pirate ship.

In the Golden Age of Pirates (approximately 1650–1726 AD), a pirate crew consisted principally of a captain, his first mate, and a quartermaster. The captain was the director of all affairs, his first mate the second in command. The quartermaster worked as liaison between captain and crew, enforcing discipline for those who broke the code, and, when necessary, officiating mutinous votes against the captain.

Building An Innovative “Latter-Day Saints Without Borders” Organization, Warner Woodworth

BYU Studies

This article is a reflection and a call to action for many readers who may share a concern about how to reduce human suffering and empower the poor around the world. It is an attempt to describe stories of Latter-day Saints who became social entrepreneurs by laboring to practice our religion—that is, people willing to help the poor, feed the hungry, serve the homeless, and bless the sick everywhere. Attending sacrament meetings on Sundays, accepting a Church calling, doing weekly temple service, being a neighborhood ministering brother or sister, holding daily prayer and scripture reading—all are well and good. Yet …

Hope On The Hill, Miranda H. Lotz

BYU Studies

My children were grassy and wet that early fall day as they rolled down the hill over and over again. They giggled and slid down the muddy slope. This was not quite the experience I hoped to give when I dragged them from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., up to rural New York, but they seemed more pleased with this outcome than any other. Rain drizzled, and trees hung on to their green in a last attempt at modesty before their gorgeous reds and oranges were revealed.

Older Adults With Sensory Impairment Living In Long-Term Care: Implications For Nursing Practice, Marinn E. Smith

Student Works

Purpose: This paper is to synthesizes evidence from a literature review and information from experts in sensory impairment. Evidence-based recommendations were compiled to improve nursing care of older adults in long-term care settings who are living with sensory impairments.

Background: The terms “vision Impairment” (VI) and “hearing loss” (HL) describe difficulty in accomplishing activities of daily living (ADL’S), instrumental activities of daily living (IADL’s) or other functions because of the inability to see or hear well. VI and HL are highly prevalent among older adults and are increasing as the population ages. 25% of adults age 80 and older experience …

Barriers And Enablers To K-12 Blended Teaching, Courtney N. Hanny, Karen T. Arnesen, Qi Guo, Jordan Hansen, Charles R. Graham

Faculty Publications

The attributes of post-pandemic blended teaching (BT) will more closely resemble pre-Coronavirus conditions than the outbreak’s emergency remote teaching. Thus, barriers and enablers for teachers transitioning to BT after emergency remote teaching will be similar to those of early BT adopters. K-12 research has identified external and internal barriers and enablers to technology integration but has largely overlooked those of BT. This study involved analyzing 62 interviews of K-12 blended teachers to discover factors that enabled BT, stood as barriers to initial and continued blending efforts, and helped teachers overcome barriers. Teacher-perceived barriers included, among others, costs perceived as outweighing …

Current Issues Faced By Controllers, Anthony C. Bucaro, T. Jeffrey Wilks, Christopher Yust

Faculty Publications

We conduct a series of semi-structured interviews with controllers and chief accounting officers from large public and private companies—over half are Fortune 500—to identify the current issues faced by the controllership function. We map these issues into the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA®) Management Accounting Competencies and highlight recent research that addresses these issues and where there are gaps. Our findings suggest three IMA competencies that weigh heavily on controllers’ minds: (1) collaboration, teamwork, and relationship management; (2) information systems and technology; and (3) talent management. Finally, we describe how the insights from controllers suggest important improvements to accounting curriculum …

Sparsity For Gradient-Based Optimization Of Wind Farm Layouts, Benjamin T. Varela, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

Optimizing wind farm layouts is an important step in designing an efficient wind farm. Optimizing wind farm layouts is also a difficult task due to computation times increasing with the number of turbines present in the farm. The most computationally expensive part of gradient- based optimization is calculating the gradient. In order to reduce the expense of gradient calculation, we performed a study on the use of sparsity in wind farm layout optimization. This paper presents the findings of the sparsity study and provides a method to use sparsity in wind farm layout optimization. We tested this sparsity method by …

Low-Fidelity Design Optimization And Parameter Sensitivity Analysis Of Tilt-Rotor Evtol Electric Propulsion Systems, Tyler Critchfield, Andrew Ning

Faculty Publications

Urban air mobility requires a multidisciplinary approach to tackle the important chal- lenges facing the design of these aircraft. This work uses low-to-mid fidelity tools to model rotor aerodynamics, blade structures, vehicle aerodynamics, and electric propulsion for a tilt-rotor electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. We use gradient-based design optimization and extensive parameter sensitivity analysis to explore the design space and complex tradeoffs of tilt-rotor distributed electric propulsion systems.