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An Overview Of The International Beaver Ecology And Management Workshop, Jimmy D. Taylor Ii, David L. Bergman, Dale L. Nolte

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

On 9-12 October 2007, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services (WS) hosted the International Beaver Ecology and Management Workshop in Chandler, Arizona. The workshop was jointly sponsored by the Multi-City Sub-Regional Operations Group (SROG), Tres Rios Ecosystem Restoration and Flood Control Project and WS. The SROG management is comprised of representatives from the cities of Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale, Scottsdale, and Tempe. The workshop emphasized the management of beaver, their ecology, the part they play as a keystone species, and the issues they cause as an invasive species outside of the United States. The …

The Nighthawk Review, 2009, Usu Eastern English Department

Nighthawk Review

An annual publication featuring student work from Utah State University Eastern Campus.

Utah State University Commencement, 2009 – Main Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

121st Annual Commencement of Utah State University

Grounding To Place And Past: Motherhood In The Novels Of Native American Writers Louise Erdrich And Linda Hogan, Elise Doney

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The interconnectedness in both form and content ofNative American literature originates from the complex relationship between cultural and personal identity as inextricably intertwined with spiritual and natural realms. In Louise Erdrich's Tracks and Linda Hogan's Solar Storms and Power motherhoodliesatthecenter ofthisinterconnectedweb ofrelationships among identity, community, tradition, and landscape. Each novel centers on a protagonist who is, in some form, distanced from her primary mother/daughter relationship, consequently literally and figuratively displaced. The disrupted maternal relationship results in the child's displacement, functioning as a metaphor for the community's severance from tradition and the land. However, surrogate mother/daughter relationships develop in each novel …

Narrative Language Intervention For English Language Learners, Tanja Ayn Jensen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

A preliminary study was designed to determine whether ELL children responded favorably to a revised version ofthe narrative intervention procedure previously utilized with children with language impairment. This study employed a pre-test, post-test design with 11 ELL children ranging in age from 8;8 (years;months) to 9;2 (years;months) who were at-risk for language and learning problems.

Children were administered the recalling sentences subtest ofthe Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-4 in English and Spanish, Frog Stories requiring them to tell a story that paralleled to a wordless picture book about the adventures 'of a frog in English, and the Test ofNarrative Language …

Land In Fairyland: Edmund Spenser And Emerging Perceptions Of Ecology And Gender In The Faerie Queen, Megan Angela Sieverts

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen is an eloquent text brimming with images of nature, flowers, and gardening. Nature is not simply what is in the outdoors of the text or a passive backdrop for action to upstage; she is a character who has an active role in influencing the plot and characters of the story. Plants come alive through Spenser in many ways as he makes the natural world of his text into an enchanted fairyland. The imagery of nature is not only personified, but also actually personifies characters. Flowers found in The Faerie Queen are both plants and actual …

Maternal Dietary Patterns And Risk Of Isolated Cleft Birth Defects In Utah - A Case-Control Study, Tara Finnerty

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Inadequate maternal nutrition during pregnancy has been suggested as a risk factor for oral cleft birth defects including the major groupings of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P), and cleft palate alone (CP). Few studies have analyzed overall dietary patterns in relation to development of oral clefts. The purpose of this study is to examine the statistical associations between maternal dietary pattern scores and risk of oral clefts in Utah.

Data collected from the Utah Oral Cleft Study was used as a starting point. New variables were formed to define maternal dietary patterns using the SPSS statistical analysis …

Childrens' Responses To Storybook Reading, Gentri Seawright

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This research began with the question, “How do children respond and connect to literature? The purpose of the research was to collect data about how children make connections to literature through text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections. Three picture books were selected, and using an intact, 1st grade classroom over a period of three days, the teacher read the children the three different stories. The children were asked to listen to the stories and then respond to them. During the class discussion, field notes were taken to record childrens’ responses to different questions. Data were collected in the form of written …

Zamyatin's We: Persuading The Individual To Sacrifice Self, Jeffrey Steven Carr

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The artistic aspects of the novel are excellent. Zamyatin has attained full maturity here—so much the worse, for all this has gone into the service of a malicious cause.

Effects Of Direct And Indirect Predator Cues On Heteromyid Seed Selection And Seed Fate, Kelly J. Sivy

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Many factors affect foraging behavior of rodents, including predation risk, which is thought to influence seed selection and seed handling by desert rodents in patchy environments. Understanding forces that drive seed selection and seed fate can aid understanding of rodents' impacts on vegetation structure and dynamics. In a feeding arena study, we tested how indirect and direct predation cues influence seed selection and handling behaviors (e.g., scatterhoarding and larderhoarding) of two heteromyid rodents, Dipodomys ordii (Ord's kangaroo rat) and Perognathus parvus (Great Basin pocket mouse), foraging on three seed species. The indirect cue was shrub cover: one half of the …

Seed Banks Of Sagebrush Communities Seeded With Crested Wheatgrass, Kevin L. Gunnell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Crested wheatgrass (Agropyron cristatum [L.] Gaertn.) is one of the most commonly seeded exotic species in the western United States. Although many degraded Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis) plant communities have been seeded with crested wheatgrass during rehabilitation efforts, seed banks of these communities have not been characterized. I sought to characterize and explain the variation among 33 seeded communities in the northeastern Great Basin. Hierarchical clustering and principal components analysis identified four possible seed bank categories in these communities. Seed bank categories varied from high to low crested wheatgrass dominance. The crested wheatgrass-dominated category …

Feasibility Analysis Of Seed Production For Use In Re-Seeding Land Burned In Wildfires In The Great Basin Region Of The United States, Benjamin Jay Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Native and introduced grass and shrub species are grown for seed production in the Great Basin region of the United States. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the profitability and risk associated with the production of five different species of grasses and shrubs which are used in rehabilitation following wildfires. Enterprise budgets are constructed for both the establishment and production years. Returns above operating costs are compared to other crops produced in the same region. Production and market risks are discussed. Returns and risks are evaluated using an expected value model which compares risk and return between species, …

Consumer-Driven Nutrient Recycling In Arctic Alaskan Lakes: Controls, Importance For Primary Productivity, And Influence On Nutirient Limitation, Cody R. Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In lakes, fish and zooplankton can be both sources and sinks of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) through the consumption of organic N and P, and subsequent excretion of bioavailable inorganic forms. These source/sink dynamics, known as consumer-driven nutrient recycling (CNR), may, in turn, control the availability of potentially limiting nutrients for algal primary production. In this dissertation I investigate the importance and controls of CNR as a source of inorganic N and P for primary production (Chapter 2). I then examine zooplankton CNR as a mechanism for increasing nutrient mean resident time (MRT) in the mixed layer of lakes …

The Regulation Of Epithelial Sodium Channels In Mammalian Taste Receptor Cells, Arian F. Baquero Gonzalez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nutrient recognition is one of the main physiological roles of the gustatory system. In mammals, it is well established that the taste of sodium salts is primarily mediated by sodium influx through the epithelial sodium channel. The epithelial sodium channel is a sodium-specific ion channel that is expressed across a wide range of transporting epithelia such as colon, kidney, and taste. In addition to its role as a salt taste receptor, sodium influx through the epithelial sodium channel is important systemically for maintaining sodium balance and blood pressure. Following our earlier work on the endocrine regulation of salt taste at …

Patterns Of Learning Object Reuse In The Connexions Repository, S. M. Duncan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Since the term learning object was first published, there has been either an explicit or implicit expectation of reuse. There has also been a lot of speculation about why learning objects are, or are not, reused. This study quantitatively examined the actual amount and type of learning object use, to include reuse, modification, and translation, within a single open educational resource repository–Connexions. The results indicate that about a quarter of used objects are subsequently reused, modified, or translated. While these results are repository specific, they represent an important first step in providing an empirical evaluation of the frequency and some …

Joseph Smith And The Bible: "Extending The Text And Filling The Silences", Sylvan Eugene Needham Iii

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the first chapter, the underlying argument of the thesis indicates that Smith was very familiar with the Bible. His written work that reflects the scriptural nature of the Bible and is today canonized by Mormons is argued that it "extends the Bible's text and fills [many of] its [doctrinal] silences." A complete reading of this thesis could make some readers think that the doctrine of a plurality of Gods is integral to the sense of the Bible and a novel explanation for the existence of the universe.

The second chapter indicates that many have grappled with the summary doctrine …

Targeting Fat-Sensitive Pathways In Enteroendocrine Cells Using Nanoparticle-Mediated Drug Delivery, Bhavik P. Shah

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The current epidemic of obesity has been linked to an increase in fat intake associated with the Western diet. Nutrient-induced stimulation of enteroendocrine cells in the small intestine leads to the release of hormones that contribute to satiety and the control of food intake. In particular, ingested fat, specifically in the form of free fatty acids, is potent activator of enteroendocrine cells in the proximal small intestine. However, the underlying signaling cascade that free fatty acids initiate in these enteroendocrine cells, which leads to secretion of satiety hormones, is not known. In general, my research is focused on identifying nutrient-responsive …

The Relationship Between Education About Dress Practices And Change In Perception Of Self-Concept Related To Dress, Jennifer L. Nielson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The influence of an individual's dress practices on his/her sense of self has been studied for many years. Courses such as the Dress and Humanity course at Utah State University have been developed to educate students on the impact of dress on society. In this study, students in the Dress and Humanity course were given a pre-course and post-course survey to determine if self-perceptions related to dress practices underwent a change over the duration of the semester. Significant differences were found in the categories of body image, evaluating self-esteem, and communication of self to others. A relationship was found between …

Comparison Of Data Collection And Methods For The Approximation Of Streambed Thermal Properties, Jonathan D. Bingham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

When approximating heat transfer through a streambed, an understanding of the thermal properties of the sediments is essential (e.g., thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and density). Even though considerable research has been completed in this field, little has been done to establish appropriate standard data collection approaches or to compare modeling methods for approximating these properties. Three mixture models were selected for comparison against each other and against a bed conduction model (SEDMOD). Typical data collection approaches were implemented for use in the mixture models while numerous data collection approaches were employed for use within SEDMOD. Sediment samples were taken …

Inducing A Normal Phenotype In Breast Epithelial Cells Using A Three-Dimensional Basement Membrane Extract Culture System: A Study On The Reversion Of Cancer, Ross H. Booth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Experimentally, traditional developmental models and transgenic animals consistently underscore the importance of studying cell behavior in the correct tissue context. However, live animal experimentation is inherently complex, and systematic assessment of the effects of individual variables, such as cell shape and matrix compliance on cell behavior, is extremely difficult at best. Two-dimensional monolayer culture of key individual cell types has provided abundant, fundamental information on cell response, but cannot be used to show the normal phenotype of breast epithelial cells. Furthermore, their results often fail to translate into in vivo and clinical studies. It has been previously established that normal …

The Use Of Reverse Genetics To Clone And Rescue Infectious, Recombinant Human Parainfluenza Type 3 Viruses, Jason Peter Roth

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Reverse genetics is a discipline that involves the use of genetic manipulation and modification to study an organism's altered phenotype. In this study, infectious recombinant viruses were rescued from altered cDNA clones encoding the antigenome of human parainfluenza virus type 3 and the resulting phenotypes were examined. In one clone, the gene for the enhanced green fluorescent protein was inserted into the virus antigenome to be expressed during viral replication, resulting in infected cells emitting green fluorescence. Viral titers, mRNA replication, and genomic replication for the virus expressing the enhanced green fluorescent protein were reduced when compared to the human …

Biological And Economic Effects Of Grazing Spring-Calving Cow-Calf Pairs On Improved Irrigated Pastures Using Creep Supplementation, Adam F. Summers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent trends to develop farmland into improved irrigated pastures raise questions regarding the profitability of creep supplementing terminal-sired calves on these production systems. This study was initiated to answer these questions. Two previously established adjacent sprinkler-irrigated plots were separated into 2 paddocks. One plot (3.4 ha) consisted of a monoculture of Seine tall fescue while the other plot (3.9 ha) consisted of a mixture of Seine tall fescue, AC Grazeland Alfalfa, and Norcen birdsfoot trefoil. The mixture of the second plot consisted of 50% tall fescue, 37.5% alfalfa, and 12.5% birdsfoot trefoil. Plots were designated as monoculture no-creep supplement (MONOC) …

Application Of Electrified Fladry To Decrease Risk Of Livestock Depredation By Wolves (Canis Lupus), Nathan J. Lance

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wolf (Canis lupus) predation on livestock can cause economic and emotional hardships for livestock producers, complicating the balance of wolf conservation with other human interests. New management tools that decrease risk of predation may offer additional flexibility or efficiency for both livestock producers and management agencies. I examined 1) the efficacy of electrified fladry compared to fladry at protecting a food source from wolves in captivity, 2) the efficacy of electrified fladry for reducing wolf use of pastures and preventing depredations, and 3) the applicability of electrified-fladry. In captivity I tested the reaction from 15 groups (46 wolves) …

Evaluation Of Macroinvertebrates As A Food Resource In The Assessment Of Lotic Salmonid Habitat, Nicholas P. Weber

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Criteria used to characterize lotic salmonid habitat are often based on observed correlations between physical habitat characteristics and salmonid abundances. A focus on physical habitat features ignores other habitat components, such as an adequate supply of food that set the physiological limitations on salmonid growth and survival. This study outlines the development of a habitat assessment approach that focuses on how invertebrate food availability interacts with stream temperatures to determine salmonid growth potentials. Abundances of benthic and drifting invertebrate communities, stream temperatures, and juvenile steelhead trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss gairdneri) summer growth rates and abundances were measured within 10 …

Production Performance And Profiles Of Milk Fatty Acids Of Lactating Dairy Cows Fed Whole Safflower Seed Containing High Fat And Low Fiber, Christopher M. Dschaak

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Oil seeds are natural sources of fat and protein in diets for lactating cows, and are usually fed whole or crushed. A recently released variety of safflower seed, 'Nutrasaff,' contains high fat (47% crude fat) and low fiber (26% NDF), and has a potential to be effectively used as a fat supplement for lactating dairy cows. Therefore, a lactating dairy cow trial was conducted to assess production performance of dairy cows when fed graded levels of whole Nutrasaff safflower seed (NSS), to determine the optimum level of NSS supplementation in the diet and to identify its impact on milk fat …

Anti-Semitic Folklore Motif Index, Sita Bell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Anti-Semitism, or Jew hatred, much of which is expressed and communicated through folklore, has a long history and continues unabated today. Incendiary opinions, deadly misconceptions, and insidious accusations have plagued Jews throughout history. Anti-Semitic expressions and incidents are scattered throughout countless texts, but no single comprehensive reference work that compiles all forms of anti-Semitic folklore motifs exists. This thesis attempts to fill that gap by supplying an index of anti-Semitic motifs.

To establish a baseline of already catalogued anti-Semitic motifs, all six volumes of Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folklore-Literature: A Classification of Narrative Elements in Folktales, Ballads, Myths, Fables, Mediaeval …

Surgical Sterilization Of Coyotes To Reduce Predation On Pronghorn Fawns, Renee Seidler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Coyote (Canis latrans) predation accounts for the majority of neonatal pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) mortality in many areas and may influence local population declines. Current techniques used to manage coyote predation on wildlife species generally focus on lethal control methods. However, these methods may be controversial to the general public. Coyote sterilization is an alternative predation control method which is more acceptable to the public and has been shown to be effective in reducing sheep predation. We hypothesized that surgical sterilization of coyotes may increase pronghorn fawn survival; in the same way it reduces coyote predation on …

River Network Structure: A Template For Understanding Predator-Prey Dynamics And Potential Anthropogenic Impacts, Catherine L. Hein

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A landscape perspective is critically important for understanding community structure, particularly in systems dominated by migratory fauna. I aimed to understand how the structure of riverscapes in Puerto Rico mediates potential anthropogenic impacts, predator-prey interactions, and the migratory behavior of a diadromous species. I surveyed fishes and shrimps at sites throughout two watersheds, designed transplant experiments that investigated the role of natural barriers on predator-prey interactions, and developed models of shrimp migration specific to a particular river network. I did not detect an effect of anthropogenic changes to the landscape on fish and shrimp species distributions in two watersheds that …

Terrestrial Small Mammals From The Gamba Complex In Gabon: Distribution Patterns And Landscape Influences, Carrie J. O'Brien

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The small mammal communities of central Africa are not well understood, and the southwestern section of Gabon has not been previously surveyed except for some recent work in Monts Doudou. At five sites within the Gamba Complex we set out to 1) document the species of terrestrial rodents (Muridae) and shrews (Soricidae) weighing less than 100 g, 2) compare the community composition between inland and coastal sites, and 3) evaluate our sampling protocols. Using a combination of pitfall lines, Sherman live traps, and snap traps we captured 721 individuals of 12 rodent and 10 shrew species in 15,792 trap-nights. The …

From Cultural Traditions To National Trends: The Transition Of Domestic Mormon Architecture In Cache Valley, Utah, 1860--1915, Jami J. Van Huss

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As any architectural historian would argue, historic buildings are the most accessible, yet illusive documents of their founding culture, and as the relevant historiography argues, the early Mormon pioneer built environment in Utah is no exception. In fact, many Mormon architectural historians posit that due to the exclusivity and unusual circumstances of many Mormon settlements, their original structures have an exceptional ability to comment on the culture that erected them. The first permanent settlement in Cache Valley, Wellsville, provides a particularly lucrative opportunity to discover a great deal about the founding pioneers who established it due to the city's time …