Digital Commons Network^™

Feature Selection In Multivariate Time Series Data For Enhanced Solar Flare Classification, Yagnashree Velanki

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Solar flares are powerful eruptions of energy from the Sun that can cause disruptions to technology here on Earth, like communication systems, GPS, and power grids. To help manage these risks, it’s important to accurately identify and classify these solar flares before they cause problems. In our research, we focused on improving how we classify solar flares by looking at large sets of complex data collected over time. We used several techniques to find the most important factors that help us tell different types of solar flares apart. Each method has its strengths, so instead of relying on just one, …

Understanding And Influencing Public Concerns About Prescribed Fire Use In Utah, Brooke Richards

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Prescribed fire is beneficial for improving forest health and reducing wildfire risk, which is especially important for residents who live near forested areas. To expand the use of prescribed fire, Utah land managers must first ensure there is public support. Therefore, better understanding public concerns and what shapes their beliefs about prescribed fire can help managers improve outreach and education methods. Through interviews with south-central Utah land managers, private landowners, and Health departments employees, a focus group discussion with Park City natural resource managers, and observation of Summit County public commentary, two outreach messages were suggested to address the five …

Are Universities Adequately Preparing Undergraduate Students For Careers As Professional Wildlife Biologists?, Trevon D. Strange

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The demands for diversely skilled wildlife biologists and scientific researchers in the wildlife profession are projected to increase. Increasing urbanization has affected wildlife management, and the recruitment of future wildlife professionals. Thus, state and federal supervisors in agencies that hire wildlife professionals are concerned that recent graduates of university wildlife programs lack the necessary skill-sets to address these complex contemporary wildlife management issues. My research sought to identify where the educational performance gaps may exist between university wildlife programs, wildlife agencies, and student expectations. To conduct my research, I evaluated undergraduate wildlife curricula offered by 42 accredited universities listed on …

Adolescent Mental Health And Social Media: The Roles Of Psychosocial Development And Online Interaction, Mark L. Ferguson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Social media has become an integral part of adolescent life, and its effects on adolescents’ mental health has been studied for over twenty years. However, the research approaches used to discover connections between adolescent social media use and their mental health have been diverse, and findings have varied over time. This study sought to explore the potential relationships between adolescent social media use and mental health by including several different variables that aren’t typically accounted for in the same study, such as attachment to parents and peers, internal psychological development, emotional intensity towards social media use, and how adolescents feel …

Mathematical And Statistical Methods To Harness Limited Data In Models For Ecological Space Use Under Global Change, Sarah C. Bogen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The dynamics of how plants and animals use space in their habitats has important implications for the fields of ecology and conservation. However, understanding and responding to these spatial and temporal dynamics is often limited by data availability, financial resources and biases. As average global temperatures increase, suitable habitats shift poleward and require local populations to move with suitable habitat, adapt to the changing environment, or risk extinction. Capacity to persist without movement may be estimated by considering changes to a combination of habitat characteristics. Capacity to track suitable habitat may be modeled through synthesizing information on species demographic mechanisms …

The Utah Statesman, November 25, 2024, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Establishing A Baseline To Assess Impact Of Restoration Actions Reconnecting Bear Lake Tributaries To Increase Resilience And Abundance Of Native Fishes, Timothy E. Walsworth, Tyler Coleman, James Derito, Phaedra Budy

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

Stream fragmentation due to the construction of dams, diversions, and road crossing culverts have limited the ability of native migratory fishes to access the distinct habitats required to complete their life history, contributing to widespread declines in abundance and distribution. The Bear Lake Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus virginalis spp., recently reclassified from O. clarkii), represent a unique adfluvial life history variant, living in the lake and migrating up tributary streams to spawn. However, development of water resources and construction of roads in the valley surrounding Bear Lake reduced their ability to access their historic spawning grounds, leading to …

Practitioners' Needs For Addressing The Challenges Of Sea-Level Rise—A Qualitative Assessment, D. Hirschfeld, K. M. Archie, E. Mateo, J. C. Arnott, J. A. Vano

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Faculty Publications

Practitioners at the local and regional scale are under increased pressure to reduce risks to people and property posed by the threats of sea‐level rise (SLR) and associated impacts. To achieve this, a dialog between practitioners and scientists is imperative. Current research documents impacts of SLR, evaluates local SLR adaptation activities, identifies barriers to action, and works to assess local adaptive capacity. Despite this work, there has been little qualitative assessment of practitioners' needs when it comes to translating SLR science into local changes. To fill this gap, we used a combination of semi‐structured interviews and surveys. The interviews revealed …

Academic Standards Subcommittee Minutes November 21, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• COMMITTEE BUSINESS
• Follow-up Topic
• ACTION ITEMS
• New Topic
• ACTION ITEMS

Understanding The Teen Brain And Building Strong Relationships: A Foundation For Supporting Healthy Decisions, Josie Hatch, Ashley Yaugher, Christina Pay, Cris Meier

All Current Publications

This fact sheet overviews the importance of strong caregiver relationships with youth to support healthy decision-making.

Revisiting Charles Perrault’S Iconic “Bluebeard” Serial Killer In Modern French Variants, Christa Catherine Jones

World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications

“Bluebeard” (ATU 321: Maiden-Killer), a fairy tale about a wealthy noble man and serial killer, is the most gruesome of Charles Perrault’s fairy tales. Bluebeard epitomizes evil and horror. In Perrault’s tale, Bluebeard’s evilness is linked to patriarchy and power, as symbolized by the villain’s iconic blue beard. Historically linked to Henry VIII (1491–1547), King of England, Bluebeard has also been associated with Breton commander Gilles de Rais who was hanged for sorcery and satanic abuse. This article examines how contemporary francophone “Bluebeard” variants refashion and redefine evil and whether they contain any new morals linked to evilness. Do …

Quasi-Static Indentation Characteristics Of Foam-Filled Sandwich Composite Structures With Additively Manufactured Cfrp And Gfrp Corrugated Cores, S.Z.H. Shah, Juhyeong Lee, Khurram Altaf, M. Mohammad, M.Z. Hussain, R.S. Choudhry

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the quasi-static indentation performance of polyurethane (PU) foam-filled carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) and glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) corrugated sandwich composite structures (SCSs) under different indenter tip geometries (conical, trapezoidal, hemispherical, pyramidal, and cylindrical shapes). The SCSs were produced using hybrid manufacturing methods: (1) the facesheets were fabricated using the vacuum-assisted resin infusion (VARI) process, (2) the CFRP and GFRP corrugated cores were additively manufactured using the fused filament fabrication (FFF) process, and (3) the self-expanding PU foam-filled the open spaces in the core. The results elucidated that the indenter tip geometry and core …

The Utah Statesman, November 18, 2024, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Hacker, Their Actions, And Fear Appeal: A First Look Through The Lens Of Children, Rizu Paudel, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

With the increasing use of computers and smartphones by children, their online safety has become a major concern due to the lack of security awareness. Prior studies pointed to children's poor password habit and vague perceptions on the significance of passwords. While users must be sufficiently motivated to perform a target behavior, a little study to date, focused on understanding how we can encourage children towards strong password creation. As we begin to address this gap, we examined children's perceptions of adversary's actions that instill fear in the context of password compromise. Our semi-structured interviews with 20 children (aged between …

Faculty Evaluation Committee Minutes November 12, 2024, Utah State University

Faculty Evaluation Committee

• Agenda
• Attendees
• Minutes
• Action Items
• Next Meeting

The Utah Statesman, November 11, 2024, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Importance Of Monitoring Beef Cattle Body Condition, David Secrist

All Current Publications

A body condition scoring system commonly used in the U.S. is an objective effort to quantify a cow’s body condition with ratings from 1 (severely emaciated and weak) to 9 (excessively obese), resulting in a body condition score (BCS). Optimal BCS in commercial cow/calf operation is from 5 to 7, depending on the production stage, feed resources, and the animal’s age. Reproductive efficiency is critical to operational success and is closely tied to BCS. This fact sheet discusses why BCS is important and how to apply BCS to a herd effectively.

Passing Ashley’S Law – Protecting Persons With Disabilities From Violent Crimes, Paula Vigil, Jeff Spears

Transforming Communities

This commentary is the personal story of Paula Vigil and common macro practice strategies implemented to pass Ashley’s Law. Ashley was the daughter of Paula and suffered from Rett Syndrome. Rett syndrome is a rare genetic neurological disorder that leads to severe impairments, affecting nearly every aspect of life. Rett particularly affects speech, purposeful hand use, and coordination, leaving individuals understanding more than they can communicate. In 2021, Ashley was raped by her mother’s boyfriend and passed away in the Spring of 2024 due to the trauma and complications of Rett Syndrome. The boyfriend received a sentence of 13 years …

Relationships Matter: Unpacking Personal And Professional Grief In Archival Labor, Caroline Kinsley, Molly Stothert-Maurer

Journal of Western Archives

Archival donations are often triggered by critical transitions in donors' lives, like the end of a career, the selling of a family home, or the death of a loved one. Because donors approach archives during these transitions, archivists often find themselves in the middle of emotionally charged relationships with donors working through feelings of grief and loss. However, archivists are often unprepared and untrained for this emotionally demanding labor. A literature review reveals that while this is a common experience among archivists, there is very little guidance on how to approach this aspect of donor relations. Other fields that provide …

Leveraging The Power Of Storytelling To Encourage And Empower Children Towards Strong Passwords, Rizu Paudel, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

With the increasing use of computer and smartphones by children, their online safety has been of major concern due to their limited security knowledge and skills. User authentication is pivotal for their security protection, where a body of work focused on children’s password practices. The insights from these studies highlight children’s lack of awareness and skills in creating a strong password. However, there is a dearth in existing literature to understand the scopes of designs for encouraging and empowering children towards strong passwords. As we begin to address this gap, we leveraged the power of storytelling to foster user attachment, …

Education Policy Committee Agenda November 07, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes
• Subcommittee Reports
• Other Business
• Adjourn

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda November 7, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes
• Program Proposals
• Semester Course Approval Reviews
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 3:30pm

The Utah Statesman, November 4, 2024, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Imitasd: Imitation Assessment Model For Children With Autism Based On Human Pose Estimation, Hany Said, Khaled Mahar, Shaymaa E. Sorour, Ahmed Elsheshai, Ramy Shaaban, Mohamed Hesham, Mustafa Khadr, Youssef A. Mehanna, Ammar Basha, Fahima A. Maghraby

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Autism is a challenging brain disorder affecting children at global and national scales. Applied behavior analysis is commonly conducted as an efficient medical therapy for children. This paper focused on one paradigm of applied behavior analysis, imitation, where children mimic certain lessons to enhance children’s social behavior and play skills. This paper introduces IMITASD, a practical monitoring assessment model designed to evaluate autistic children’s behaviors efficiently. The proposed model provides an efficient solution for clinics and homes equipped with mid-specification computers attached to webcams. IMITASD automates the scoring of autistic children’s videos while they imitate a series of lessons. The …

Educational Policies Committee Agenda November 7, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes - October 3, 2024
• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Program Proposals
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 4:00 pm

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda November 7, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes - October 3, 2024
• Program Proposals
• Semester Course Approval Reviews: https://usu.curriculog.com/
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 3:00 pm

General Education Subcommittee Agenda November 7, 2024, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Call to Order
• Approval of Minutes - September 5, 2024
• Course Approvals/Removals/Syllabi Approvals
• New Business
• Additional Items
• Adjourn: 9:30 am

Development And Testing Of A Fast-Acting, 8-Bit, Digital Throttle For Hybrid Rocket Motors, Stephen A. Whitmore

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

The potential for throttle control of hybrid rocket systems has long been known as a potential advantage for a variety of applications. Because only a single flow path is controlled, theoretically, hybrids should be significantly easier to throttle than bipropellant systems. Unfortunately, the slow response times and nonlinearity of traditional position-control valves have limited practical applications of hybrid throttling. This paper presents an alternative throttling system where the oxidizer flow path is broken into multiple streams, with each flow path controlled by a solenoid-operated on/off valve. The parallel paths allow significantly faster and more precise control than can be achieved …

The Utah Statesman, October 28, 2024, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Designing A Human-Centred Learning Analytics Dashboard In-Use, Riordan Alfredo, Vanessa Echeverria, Linxuan Zhao, Luettamae Lawrence, Jie Xiang Fan, Lixiang Yan, Xinyu Li, Zachari Swiecki, Dragan Gašević, Roberto Martinez-Maldonado

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Despite growing interest in applying human-centred design methods to create learning analytics (LA) systems, most efforts have concentrated on initial design phases, with limited exploration of how LA tools and practices can coevolve during the actual learning and teaching activities. This paper examines how a human-centred LA dashboard can be further refined and adapted by teachers while actively using it in a real-world scenario (i.e., design-in-use), beyond its intended design (i.e., design-for-use). We use instrumental genesis as a theoretical lens to analyze the temporary and permanent instrumentalization of design features and individual and collective instrumentation of the LA …