Digital Commons Network^™

Deeptype: A Deep Neural Network Approach To Keyboard-Free Typing, Joshua V. Broekhuijsen

Theses and Dissertations

Textual data entry is an increasingly-important part of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), but there is room for improvement in this domain. First, the keyboard -- a foundational text-entry device -- presents ergonomic challenges in terms of comfort and accuracy for even well-trained typists. Second, touch-screen smartphones -- some of the most ubiquitous mobile devices -- lack the physical space required to implement a full-size physical keyboard, and settle for a reduced input that can be slow and inaccurate. This thesis proposes and examines "DeepType" to begin addressing both of these problems in the form of a fully-virtual keyboard, realized through a …

Sperm Dna Damage Shown To Correlate With Dna Alterations, Hailey E. Johnson, Chad Pollard, Timothy Jenkins

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2023

DNA methylation is a biological process where methyl groups are added to the DNA molecule, changing the physical structure

Sperm DNA methylation has shown to predict pregnancy outcomes for those with infertility

DNA damage can happen through single and double stranded breaks. The Comet and TUNEL assay are two different and common ways to quantify levels of sperm DNA damage.

It is suggested DNA damage might relate with global DNA methylation patterns in sperm genome, however regional differences have been overlooked.

We wanted to assess the relationship between sperm DNA damage and regional DNA methylation, and compare the outcomes of …

County-Level Social Determinants Of Health And Covid-19 Health Outcomes, Bret R. Lyman

Theses and Dissertations

Social determinants of health are associated with a variety of negative health outcomes, including COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. However, most research evaluating this relationship have been case studies, retrospective cohort studies, and case series studies and/or have used use analytic techniques, such as linear regression, that can struggle to adequately model the social determinants' complex nature. This study used United States county-level social determinants of health data and March 2020-December 2020 COVID-19 morbidity and mortality data. Structural equation modeling was used to develop a latent measurement model for the social determinants of health. Substantial cross-loadings among the social determinants of …

Find Gene Expression Data Quickly, Grace Salmons, Aaron Joyce Fabelico, James Wengler, Stephen R. Piccolo

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2023

Public repositories are:

• vital for validating studies

• incredible for addressing novel hypothesis.

However, it can be difficult to find data related to discrete topics due to:

• large quantity of data

• heterogeneity in how researchers describe their data and study designs.

Manual annotation of data cannot keep pace with the rapid pace of science. We turned to Natural Language Processing (NLP) for a solution!

Introduction To Chigen-Iku (Universal Performance Improvement Method), Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Spiritual Proficiency

This brief article introduces a universal performance improvement method called Chigen-iku, which has been developed carefully and extensively over more than 25 years through more than 100 individual and group projects based on the principles that were selected through my doctorial study in the field of Instructional Psychology and Technology.

Introduction To A Universal Performance Improvement Method (Chigen-Iku), Yoshihiko Ariizumi

Learning, Teaching, & Researching Optimization

This brief article introduces a universal performance improvement method called Chigen-iku, which has been developed carefully and extensively over more than 25 years through more than 100 individual and group projects based on the principles that were selected through my doctorial study in the field of Instructional Psychology and Technology.

Team Moms And Tiger Moms: Formal Sports Participation And Closeness To Mothers: Supplementary Materials, Tom R. Leppard, Mikaela J. Dufur

Faculty Publications

Recent research highlights that relationships with parents are among those strengthened when youth play sports. This recent work, however, largely focuses on fathers, arguing that because of the persistent emphasis on masculinity in sporting spaces, youth sports might be especially effective at facilitating stronger relationships between fathers and children. This chapter asks how the mother-child dyad is influenced by youth formal participation in sports during their adolescence, including whether these patters differ for daughters and sons. The intense time investments the entire family unit incurs to support youth sport participation might be borne primarily by mothers; this in turn might …

Developing Methods For Measuring In Vivo Lipid Metabolism, Russell L. Denton

Theses and Dissertations

Lipid metabolism is critically important to the normal function of individual cells and for signaling between tissues of the human body. There is a great need to quantify changes in lipid metabolism because of its implications in both normal healthy conditions and during disease development. In our first study, we developed a liquid chromatography mass spectrometry based workflow to assess in vivo metabolism of murine brain lipids. This involved sample preparation, data acquisition, and analysis software development and improvements. Regarding sample preparation, we maintained the mice at 5% body water for the duration of the experiment. As mouse metabolism proceeds, …

Turbulent Mixing Simulation Using The Hierarchical Parcel-Swapping (Hips) Model, Tommy Starick, Masoomeh Behrang, David O. Lignell, Heiko Schmidt, Alan R. Kerstein

Faculty Publications

Turbulent mixing is an omnipresent phenomenon that permanently affects our everyday life. Mixing processes also
plays an important role in many industrial applications. The full resolution of all relevant flow scales often poses a major challenge to the numerical simulation and requires a modeling of the small-scale effects. In transported Probability Density Function (PDF) methods, the simplified modeling of the molecular mixing is a known weak point. At this place, the Hierarchical Parcel-Swapping (HiPS) model developed by A.R. Kerstein [J. Stat. Phys. 153, 142-161 (2013)] represents a computationally efficient and novel turbulent mixing model. HiPS simulates the effects of turbulence …

Characterization Of Telsam Chaperone Linker To Improve Crystallization Resolution And Structural Elucidation Of The Hydrogenase Maturase Complex, Parag Laljibhai Gajjar

Theses and Dissertations

TELSAM crystallization can be a revolutionary tool for the facile crystallization of proteins. TELSAM can increase the rate of crystallization and form crystals at low protein concentrations without direct contact between TELSAM polymers and, in some cases, with very minimal crystal contacts overall. To further understand and characterize TELSAM crystallization, we sought to understand the requirements for the composition of the linker confirmation between TELSAM and the fused target protein. We evaluated four linkers, AlaAla, AlaVal, ThrVal, and ThrThr, between 1TEL and the human CMG2 vWa domain. We compared the number of successful crystallization conditions, the number of crystals, the …

Changes In The Mechanical Performance Of An Ortho-Planar Spring After Aging Tests, Lucas F. L. Santos, Larry L. Howell, Jose J. R. D’Almeida

Faculty Publications

This paper analyzed an ortho-planar spring (OPS) compliant mechanism and evaluated its mechanical performance after hygrothermal and ultraviolet radiation aging tests. The aging analysis performed here addresses the performance of compliant mechanisms after aging processes which can help inform the design of future compliant mechanisms. ASTM D638 tensile test type I samples were also submitted to aging to serve as a comparison for OPS samples. The samples were submitted to three different kinds of aging conditions, namely water immersion, oil immersion, and ultraviolet radiation. In conclusion, tensile samples showed significant statistical changes in Young's modulus and elongation at break, whereas …

Development Of The Tlvmie Force Field And A Standardized Methodology For Improved Pure-Component And Mixture Liquid Viscosity Predictions, Daniel J. Carlson

Theses and Dissertations

Existing viscosity prediction methods and relevant literature are reviewed. An exhaustive review of group contribution, corresponding states, and interpolative prediction methods finds that even the best of these models produces large prediction errors and often require significant experimental data. Molecular dynamics simulation techniques for viscosity prediction are evaluated and compared to one another to determine the best choice for this work. A thorough investigation finds that Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics (EMD) simulations are the best option for reproducible and reliable liquid viscosity predictions. The many tuning parameters available in molecular dynamics simulations are investigated for their effects on prediction uncertainty and …

Effect Of Carpobrotus Edulis Invasion History On Plant Communities, Claire Savage, Kelly Savage, Kane R. Keller

Western North American Naturalist

Invasive species can cause drastic changes to plant communities. In many cases, removal of invasive species fails to reverse these changes, perhaps due to side effects of removal strategies, changes that co-occurred with invasion, or legacy effects. Carpobrotus edulis is a notorious invasive species in Mediterranean-type climates around the world that alters plant communities and may generate legacy effects. We investigate the impact of C. edulis invasion, removal, and potential legacy effects on coastal plant communities. We assessed community composition, species richness, diversity, and native and exotic species cover at 5 sites differing in C. edulis invasion and removal history. …

Developing Improved Water Catchment Systems To Benefit Rangeland Restoration, Ethan Ostraff, Kevin Steele, Ezekiel Jensesn, Matthew Madsen

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2023

1st place open house

Restoring damaged and disturbed lands can be difficult and expensive with increasing drought and changing climatic conditions. Wicking boxes or other irrigation forms can improve restoration efforts' success. These technologies provide a consistent water supply, which often enhances seedling growth and survival in dry conditions. However, current water catchment technologies are limited and often difficult to use. Factors such as production costs, size, and labor needed to install these devices typically make current water catchment technologies inefficient for large-scale use.

Faith For Rights Online Conversion, Hillari Bollard

Instructional Psychology and Technology Graduate Student Projects

The purpose of the Faith for Rights Toolkit Conversion project is to convert an existing learning framework, the Faith for Rights Toolkit (FFRT) into an online learning resource useable by interfaith actors and human rights activists of varying educational and cultural contexts, thus enabling them to advocate for and teach about human rights in their respective communities. This project was sponsored by the BYU J. Reuben Clark Law School under the direction of Professor David H. Moore, Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religious Studies (ICLRS). The project was completed in conjunction with the human rights law …

Hard To Be Won: A Theatrical Interpretation Of Elizabeth Keckly’S “Behind The Scenes, Or Thirty Years A Slave And Four Years In The White House”, Selah Degering

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Hard to Be Won is a musical adaptation of a memoir by Elizabeth Keckly, a black woman of considerable success who earned the confidence of Abraham Lincoln and his wife, Mary, in war-torn 1860s America. My adaptation of this story showcases a new perspective: that of Elizabeth herself. Despite her memoir narrating these events in her own voice, Elizabeth as an individual has been largely ignored or misrepresented in modern, idealistic, and racially ignorant retellings and criticism. Elizabeth as a token black person in the narrative of the Lincoln household cannot stand as representation of this woman’s legacy when she …

Why & What Attorneys Should Know About Community Resources Available To Survivors Of Domestic Violence, Kristen Clarke Kellems, Kristen Clarke Kellems

Faculty Publications

This CLE program explains why attorneys representing survivors of domestic violence should understand and use community resources as part of effective legal advocacy. Leaving an abusive relationship can create immediate risks involving safety, housing, finances, transportation, childcare, and emotional health. These barriers can affect a survivor’s stability, decision-making, and ability to participate effectively in a legal case. Drawing on survivor and volunteer-attorney perspectives, the presenters show how appropriate referrals can strengthen both client outcomes and legal representation while keeping attorneys within their professional role.

The program surveys Utah resources available through 211, the Department of Workforce Services, domestic violence shelters, …

Accessible Methods, Novel Arrangement: Developing Self-Centering Composite Structural Frame Systems For Highly Resilient Buildings, Emma Rae Kratz-Bailey

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The benefits of self-centering systems for increasing building resilience are well documented and widely known. These systems are added to buildings to bring them back to “plumb,” or upright, position in the event of an extreme event. Benefits of their use are thus most notably that self-centering systems cut down on the repair, downtime, and/or demolition costs incurred after a structure encounters an extreme event. However, they are sometimes not used due to higher up-front costs incurred by the use of unconventional materials, methods, and construction details. This study developed a self- centering frame system that builds on established methods …

Membrane-Enhanced Lamina Emergent Torsional Joints For Surrogate Folds, Guimin Chen, Spencer P. Magleby, Larry L. Howell

Faculty Publications

Lamina emergent compliant mechanisms (including origami-adapted compliant mechanisms) are me- chanical devices that can be fabricated from a planar material (a lamina) and have motion that emerges out of the fabrication plane. Lamina emergent compliant mechanisms often exhibit undesirable para- sitic motions due to the planar fabrication constraint. This work introduces a type of lamina emergent torsion (LET) joint that reduces parasitic motions of lamina emergent mechanisms (LEMs), and presents equations for modeling parasitic motion of LET joints. The membrane joint also makes possible one-way joints that can ensure origami-based mechanisms emerge from their flat state (a change point) into …

Analysis Of Electromyographic Effects Of Peripheral Sensory Stimulation On Essential Tremor In Tremor Suppression Study, Christian Jakob Metzner

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Electrical stimulation of peripheral muscles below motor neuron threshold (sensory stimulation) has shown potential as an effective, low-cost, and minimally invasive treatment for Essential Tremor (ET), one of the most common movement disorders. Past studies have shown that asynchronous sensory stimulation of antagonist muscles out of phase with tremor can suppress ET. Synchronous sensory stimulation, which stimulates antagonists simultaneously and is easier to implement, has yielded mixed results. To optimize available therapies and to understand tremor suppression mechanisms better, I investigated the effects of synchronous sensory stimulation with different stimulation frequencies on electromyographic tremor-band power and frequency in ET patients, …

Symmetric Equations For Evaluating Maximum Torsion Stress Of Rectangular Beams In Compliant Mechanisms, Guimin Chen, Larry L. Howell

Faculty Publications

There are several design equations available for calculating the torsional compliance and the maximum torsion stress of a rectangular cross-section beam, but most depend on the relative magnitude of the two dimensions of the cross-section (i.e.,the thickness and the width). After reviewing the available equations, two thickness-to-width ratio independent equations that are symmetric with respect to the two dimensions are obtained for evaluating the maximum torsion stress

of rectangular cross-section beams. Based on the resulting equations, outside lamina emergent torsional joints are analyzed and some useful design insights are obtained. These equations, together with the previous work on symmetric equations …

Territorial Intrusion By Resident Male Wilson's Warblers: Breeding Stages Of The Intruders And Distances They Travel, William M. Gilbert

Western North American Naturalist

It now is generally recognized that genetic monogamy is the exception in birds, and that extrapair paternity in territorial species requires that one or the other sex involved in such an extrapair mating travel off its own territory to obtain an extrapair copulation. However, which sex or sexes travel off their home territories, the distances they might travel to obtain extrapair copulations, and the breeding stages during which they might make such off-territory forays are poorly understood for most species. I explored these issues in Wilson’s Warblers (Cardellina pusilla) in central, inner-coastal California. Male Wilson’s Warblers frequently intruded …

Full Issue

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

No abstract provided.

Bookstores Participating In The Farms Member Discount Program

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

No abstract provided.

Farms Order Form

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

No abstract provided.

Hiding The Secret Plans, John A. Tvedtnes

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

The Second Conference of Abbot Serenus 21, written about A.D. 426 by the Christian scholar John Cassian, sheds light on statements made in the Book of Mormon and the Book of Moses about Cain, who slew his brother Abel.

Scholars Speak At Fair Conference

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

Scholars from BYU spoke at the recent FAIR (Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research) LDS Apologetics Conference held in August at Utah Valley State College, in Orem, Utah. FAIR, which is not affiliated with BYU or the Institute, is an organization dedicated to defending LDS beliefs and practices with sound scholarship. The theme of the conference was "Turning Stumbling Blocks to Stepping Stones: Responding to Challenging Issues in Mormonism."

First Volumes In New Meti Series Published

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

The Institute's Middle Eastern Texts Initiative has published the first two volumes in its Graeco-Arabic Sciences and Philosophy series: Moses Maimonides' On Asthma and Averroes' Middle Commentary on Aristotle's De anima.

Active Control Of Equilibrium, Near-Equilibrium, And Far-From-Equilibrium Colloidal Systems, Mark N. Mcdonald, Qinyu Zhu, Walter F. Paxton, Cameron K. Peterson, Douglas R. Tree

Faculty Publications

The development of top-down active control over bottom-up colloidal assembly processes has the potential to produce materials, surfaces, and objects with applications in a wide range of fields spanning from computing to materials science to biomedical engineering. In this review, we summarize recent progress in the field using a taxonomy based on how active control is used to guide assembly. We find there are three distinct scenarios: (1) navigating kinetic pathways to reach a desirable equilibrium state, (2) the creation of a desirable metastable, kinetically trapped, or kinetically arrested state, and (3) the creation of a desirable far-from-equilibrium state through …

A Memory Of Jussi Björling, George Shelby Weaver

Journal of the Jussi Björling Societies of the USA & UK

After hearing Jussi Björling on 78- rpm and microgroove discs during my early years, I longed to hear him in person. The only opportunity came on April 2, 1959, in a recital at Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that blessed my twentytwo- year-old ears and psyche. From the tenth row it was obvious that his voice soared through the entire auditorium with ease. Its brilliance was immediately captivating, the inimitable shimmer sustained from softest pianissimo to trumpeted fortissimo. It surpassed, of course, his excellently recorded RCA Victor “New Orthophonic” self.