Digital Commons Network^™

Protein Time Machine: Creating An Ancestral Voltage Gated Sodium Channel Of Thamnophis Sirtalis, Jennie Cordingley, Nicole Cook, Kaleb Hamann, Shauntel Johnson

Student Research Symposium

A central goal of evolutionary genetics is to understand how contingency and constraint shape evolutionary trajectories of protein evolution. There is considerable evidence that the fitness consequences of mutations are dependent on the genetic background in which they occur. This context dependence means that understanding the effects of putatively adaptive mutations as well as the evolutionary history of novel protein function can be difficult. An ideal approach might be a “protein time machine” in which mutations of interest are inserted into ancient ancestral gene sequences and their effects quantified. When multiple mutations are thought to be important, the order of …

Detecting Accurate Emotions In Faces, Marisa Davis, Emma Greenwood

Student Research Symposium

Anger race bias is the tendency to misidentify expressions of emotion, specifically anger, in Black or racially ambiguous faces (Hutchings & Haddock, 2008). Hutchings & Haddock (2008) found that Black faces are more likely to be perceived as angry by people high in implicit bias. Since January 1st, 2015, 119 unarmed Black males have been shot and killed by police (Washington Post, 2020). When police officers perceive a threat, they are more likely to shoot, and mistaking expressions such as fear for anger causes the perception of increased threat that can lead to inaccurate responses such as excessive force (Correll …

Name-Matching Techniques For Disambiguating Interaction Data, Adam Weaver

Student Research Symposium

Fuzzy name matching methods are helpful because names are often misspelled, sound similar, or reside in similar circumstances. A fuzzy name matching process assigns two names a similarity score between 0 and 1 using name-matching techniques (with 1 meaning identical and 0 meaning entirely unique). Fuzzy name matching is used for optimizing customer databases, creating more accurate medical records, or in Social Network Analysis (SNA). To observe the links between students’ social practices and academic performance, our research group is performing a large-scale (1000+ student) SNA through open-response name-generator surveys. Accordingly, the survey responses contain ambiguous names—many of which are …

A Study On The Impact Of Diet On Unified Fire Authority Firefighter Performance, Marin Easton

Student Research Symposium

Objective: This project aimed to examine the impact of nutrition knowledge, dietary intake, and physical activity on firefighters’ performance on their routine physical assessment (RPA) Methodology: Members of the Unified Fire Authority were invited via email to participate in this cross-sectional study. Participants (N=92) completed a 40-question survey that assessed specialized diet adherence, dietary intake, nutrition knowledge (using questions from the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire; 1 point for each correct answer [26 points possible]), regular physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), and perceived physical performance on their RPA. Based on their responses, participants were categorized into one of two groups: …

40-Years Of Lake Urmia Restoration Research: Synthesis And Next Steps, Marsoud Parsinejad, David E. Rosenberg, Yusuf Alizade Govarchin Ghale, Bahram Khazaei, Sarah Null, Omid Raja, Ammar Safaie, Somayeh Sima, Armin Sorooshian, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Lake Urmia, Iran Collaborations

Public concern over environmental issues such as ecosystem degradation is high. However, restoring coupled human-natural systems requires integration across many science, technology, engineering, management, and governance topics that are presently fragmented. Here, we synthesized 544 peer-reviewed articles published through September 2020 on the desiccation and nascent recovery of Lake Urmia in northwest Iran. We answered nine questions of scientific and popular interest about causes, impacts, stabilization, recovery, and next steps. We find: (1) Expansion of irrigated agriculture, dam construction, and mismanagement impacted the lake more than temperature increases and precipitation decreases. (2) Aerosols from Lake Urmia's exposed lakebed are negatively …

Measuring The Intensity Of Mymotivators™ / Whole Brain® Communication In Print Advertising, Tanner Schulz

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Advertising’s purpose is to create a state of mind conducive to purchase (Colley, 1961).

This study seeks to identify, measure, and understand the intrinsic motivators communicated within print advertisements and quantify their intensities. The theory is that ads with more intense motivator content - distributed somewhat evenly across all four quadrants of the Whole Brain ® Model - will be more effective in influencing that state of mind.

This research is the first step in identifying, quantifying, and visualizing motivators communicated within print advertisements. The study analyzed 15 print ads found in contemporary magazines.

The framework for this work is …

Rethinking Behavior - Spring 2022, Midwest Symposium For Leadership In Behavior Disorders

ReThinking Behavior Magazine

A magazine for professionals serving children and youth with behavioral needs.

Spring 2022, Volume 5, Issue 3

Billbugs In Turfgrass (Sphenophorus Spp.), Desiree Wickwar, Ricardo Ramirez

All Current Publications

Billbugs are weevils, a type of beetle, in the genus Sphenophorus. At least 10 billbug species are known pests of turfgrass and can be found in both warm and cool season turfgrasses throughout the United States. Though billbug adults do feed on the leaves of turfgrasses, it is the larvae that cause visible damage. Larvae feed within the stems and on roots of grasses, leading to the development of yellow or brown patches, with the potential to escalate into large patches of dead turfgrass. Billbug management in turfgrass presents a number of unique challenges, but early monitoring and informed integration …

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, April 7, 2022, Utah State University - Continuing Education

Educational Policies Committee

Agenda

1. Approval of 3 March 2022 Minutes.
2. Subcommittee Reports

   a. Curriculum Subcommittee(Matthew Sanders) Course Approvals – 0

   b. Academic Standards Subcommittee (Renee Galliher) Minutes – No March meeting….nothing to report.

   c. General Education Subcommittee (Lee Rickords) Minutes – March 15, 2022

3. Other Business Continued EPC membership.

Program Proposals

• Request from the Department of Plants, Soils and Climate in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences to offer a new specialization (Bioinform
• Request from the Department of Theatre Arts in the Caine College of the Arts to change the name of the Theatre Arts Theatre Education Certification Option BFA to …

Emulating Succession Of Boreal Mixedwood Forests In Alberta Using Understory Protection Harvesting, Ivan Bjelnanovic, Philip G. Comeau, Sharon Meredith, Brian Roth

Aspen Bibliography

Understory protection harvesting is a form of partial cutting that can be used in aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.)-dominated stands that have understories of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss). This practice involves removing 75% to 85% of the merchantable aspen while minimizing damage to the advance spruce regeneration, in addition to leaving 15% to 25% of the aspen standing to reduce potential windthrow of the spruce understory. In this paper, we summarize results from 18 stands measured 10 to 12 years after understory protection harvest. Diameter growth of spruce increased during the first five years after harvest while …

Aging-Associated Changes In Motor Function Are Ovarian Somatic Tissue-Dependent, But Berm Cell And Estradiol Independent In Post-Reproductive Female Mice Exposed To Young Ovarian Tissue, Tracy L. Habermehl, Kaden B. Underwood, Kevin D. Welch, Steven P. Gawrys, Kate C. Parkinson, Augusto Schneider, Michal M. Masternak, Jeffrey Mason

Center for Integrated Biosystems Publications

A critical mediator of evolution is natural selection, which operates by the divergent reproductive success of individuals and results in conformity of an organism with its environment. Reproductive function has evolved to support germline transmission. In mammalian ovaries, this requires healthy, active gonad function, and follicle development. However, healthy follicles do not contribute to germline transmission in a dead animal. Therefore, support of the health and survival of the organism, in addition to fertility, must be considered as an integral part of reproductive function. Reproductive and chronological aging both impose a burden on health and increase disease rates. Tremors are …

Curriculum Subcommittee Agenda, April 7, 2022, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

1. Approval of 3 March 2022 Minutes
2. Program Proposals
3. Semester Course Approval Reviews https://usu.curriculog.com/
4. Other Business New Curriculum Subcommittee Chair appointment. Acceptance of membership for 2022-2023 academic year.

Program Proposals

• Request from the Department of Plants, Soils and Climate in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences to offer a new specialization (Bioinformatics and Computational Biology) to the MS and PhD degrees of Plant Science.
• Request from the Department of Theatre Arts in the Caine College of the Arts to change the name of the Theatre Arts Theatre Education Certification Option BFA to Theatre Arts Education BFA.
• Request from the Department …

The “How” Of Exposures: Examining The Relationship Between Exposure Parameters And Outcomes In Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Clarissa W. Ong, Julie M. Peterson, Carina L. Terry, Jennifer Krafft, Jennifer L. Barney, Jonathan S. Abramowitz, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) is the most empirically supported treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, details on how to effectively conduct ERP are lacking. The current study aimed to identify exposure parameters associated with better subsequent outcomes in ERP for OCD. We analyzed data from 271 therapy sessions across 46 participants in a randomized controlled trial comparing traditional ERP and ERP conducted from an acceptance and commitment therapy framework (ACT + ERP). Multilevel model results indicated that experiential delivery of acceptance/tolerance practice was associated with higher exposure homework adherence, lower psychological inflexibility, and less OCD symptom severity (except contamination) …

Nitrogen Increases Early-Stage And Slows Late-Stage Decomposition Across Diverse Grasslands, Allison L. Gill, Peter B. Adler, Elizabeth T. Borer, Christopher R. Buyarski, Elsa E. Cleland, Carla M. D'Antonio, Kendi F. Davies, Daniel S. Gruner, W. Stanley Harpole, Kirsten S. Hofmockel, Andrew S. Macdougall, Rebecca L. Mcculley, Brett A. Melbourne, Joslin L. Moore, John W. Morgan, Anita C. Risch, Martin Schütz, Eric W. Seabloom, Justin P. Wright, Louie H. Yang, Sarah E. Hobbie

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

1. To evaluate how increased anthropogenic nutrient inputs alter carbon cycling in grasslands, we conducted a litter decomposition study across 20 temperate grasslands on three continents within the Nutrient Network, a globally distributed nutrient enrichment experiment
2. We determined the effects of addition of experimental nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium plus micronutrient (K_μ) on decomposition of a common tree leaf litter in a long-term study (maximum of 7 years; exact deployment period varied across sites). The use of higher order decomposition models allowed us to distinguish between the effects of nutrients on early- versus late-stage decomposition.
3. Across continents, the …

Air Pollutant Emissions From Natural Gas-Fueled Pumpjack Engines In The Uinta Basin, Seth Lyman

Browse all Datasets

We measured a comprehensive suite of pollutants emitted from 58 natural gas-fueled pumpjack engines in Utah’s Uinta Basin between January and May 2021, with repeat measurements of five engines in January 2022. We documented the emissions composition of several makes and models of commonly used engines, including Ajax E42, E565, DP60, and DP80 engines; Arrow L795, C101, and C106 engines; and GM Vortec.

Climate Effects On Black Spruce And Trembling Aspen Productivity In Natural Origin Mixed Stands, Mahadev Sharma

Aspen Bibliography

Forest managers need site productivity estimates for tree species growing in mixed stands. Models developed in the past are generally for pure stands and don’t factor in the effects of climate change on site productivity. Therefore, site index (SI) models were developed for black spruce (Picea mariana Mill. B.S.P.) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) trees grown in natural origin mixed stands. For this, 186 trees (93 black spruce and trembling aspen each) were sampled from 31 even-aged natural mixed stands (sites) (3 trees/species/site) across Ontario, Canada. Stand height growth models were developed by incorporating climate variables during …

Facilitation Differentially Affects Competitive Responses Of Aspen And Subalpine Fir Through Stages Of Stand Development, Rebecca Lee Molinari, Matthew F. Bekker, Benjamin D. St. Clair, Jason Bartholomew, R. Justin Derose, Stanley G. Kitchen, Samuel B. St. Clair

Aspen Bibliography

Spatial interactions between trees influence forest community succession. The objective of this study was to investigate how shifts in forest composition and proximity between tree species affect stand development over time in mixed forest systems. At six locations across the Fishlake National Forest, Utah, USA, in stands where facilitation has been documented previously, tree-ring samples were collected from aspen and subalpine fir trees. Basal area increment was calculated to characterize the effects of the proximity of overstory trees on multidecadal growth responses of aspen and subalpine fir in aspen-dominant and mixed aspen–conifer stands. Subalpine fir seedlings were established next to …

Educational Policies Committee Minutes, March 3, 2022, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of 3 February 2022 Minutes
• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee (Matthew Sanders)
• Academic Standards Subcommittee (Renee Galliher)
• General Education Subcommittee (Lee Records)
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 3:28 pm

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes March 3, 2022, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of 3 February 2022 Minutes
• Program Proposals
• Semester Course Approval Reviews
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 2:49 pm

Curriculum Subcommittee Meeting Agenda, March 3, 2022, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Agenda

• Approval of 3 February 2022 Minutes
  
• Program Proposals
• Semester Course Approval Reviews https://usu.curriculog.com/
• College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences AVTE = 27
• Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services COMD = 11 ELED = 1 HDFS = 1 KHS = 1 ITLS = 12 SPED = 2 TEAL = 1
• College of Humanities and Social Sciences SOCA = 1 IELI = 2
• S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources WILD = 2
• Other Business

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, March 3, 2022, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Agenda

• Approval of 3 February 2022 Minutes.
  
• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee (Matthew Sanders) Course Approvals – 61
• Academic Standards Subcommittee (Renee Galliher) Minutes – No meeting
• General Education Subcommittee (Lee Rickords) Minutes – January 18, 2022 and February 15, 2022
• Other Business
• Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning CIP Code Change

Event-Related Correlates Of Evolving Trust Evaluations, Ariel W. Snowden, Allison S. Hancock, Catalin V. Buhusi, Christopher M. Warren

Psychology Student Research

Accurate decisions about whether to trust someone are critical for adaptive social behavior. Previous research into trustworthiness decisions about face stimuli have focused on individuals. Here, decisions about groups of people are made cumulatively on the basis of sequences of faces. Participants chose to either increase or withdraw an initial investment in mock companies based on how trustworthy the company representatives (face stimuli) appeared. Companies were formed using participant trust ratings from the previous week, to create strong trustworthy, weak trustworthy, weak untrustworthy, and strong untrustworthy companies. Participants made faster, more accurate decisions for companies carrying stronger evidence (e.g., faces …

Sexist Comments & Responses: Stereotypes, Robbyn T. Scribner, April Townsend, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Although sexist comments and remarks are prevalent and normalized in everyday conversation, public discourse, and virtually every other social setting throughout the world, researchers at the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) wanted to understand how women experience sexist comments in Utah. This is the fourth of five briefs presenting the results of an extensive study designed to collect and analyze both the wide variety of sexist comments Utah women experienced and the responses women made (or wish they had made) to such comments. The goal of this series is to educate both men and women on the many forms …

Uranium Isotopic Composition And Constraints On The Provenance Of The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau's Surface Dust, Xiaoyu Jiao, Zhiwen Dong, Eric J. R. Parteli, Janice Brahney, Ting Wei, Marcelli Augusto, Junsheng Nie, Jiawen Ren, Xiang Qin

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

The production and emission of aeolian dust can provide key information on the contemporary and historical links between geological evolution and climate. Here we use ²³⁴U/²³⁸U isotope ratios and the uranium (U) comminution age method on samples collected from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (TP) surface dust and glacier snowpack/cryoconites to determine the erosion and potential transport provenance of the dust, regardless of petrological origin. The spatial variation of the (²³⁴U/²³⁸U) isotope ratios of TP dust showed relatively high values in the Songpan-Ganzi-Hoh Xil, Himalayan and the Kunlun-Qaidam-Qilian terranes, while showing relatively low (²³⁴U/ …

Faculty Senate Agenda, February 28, 2022, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

Agenda

• Call to Order- Boyd Edwards
• Approval of Minutes – January 31, 2022
• University Business- Noelle Cockett, President | Frank Galey, Provost
• Information
• Educational Policies Committee – February 3, 2022- Paul Barr
• USU Internal Audit Services- Jodi Bailey
• Reports
• Parking and Transportation Committee Annual Report- Tracy Hulse
• Sustainability Council Annual Report- Alexi Lamm
• Old Business
• Faculty Code 402 Track Changes | Final Version (second reading)- Scott Hunsaker
• New Business
• Faculty Code 401 Track Changes | Final Version (first reading)- Scott Hunsaker
• Faculty Senate President Elect Process and Nominee Submissions- Boyd Edwards

A Practical Model Of Student Engagement While Programming, John M. Edwards, Kaden Hart, Christopher M. Warren

Computer Science Faculty and Staff Publications

We consider the question of how to predict whether a student is on or off task while working on a computer programming assignment using elapsed time since the last keystroke as the single independent variable. In this paper we report results of an empirical study in which we intermittently prompted CS1 students working on a programming assignment to self-report whether they were engaged in the assignment at that moment. Our regression model derived from the results of the study shows power-law decay in the engagement rate of students with increasing time of keyboard inactivity ranging from a nearly 80% engagement …

The Utah Statesman, February 21, 2022, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Usambara Knowledge Project: Place As Archive In A Tanzanian Mountain Range, Chris A. Conte

History Faculty Publications

The essay chronicles the early phases of a digital history project on landscape change in the mountains of eastern Tanzania. In collecting sources for a land and culture narrative, the project aims ultimately to create an archive that is locally produced in Tanzania and maintained by Utah State University Library's Special Collections and Archives division. The project draws on more than thirty early twentieth-century landscape photographs from the Usambara Mountains in northeastern Tanzania by Walther Dobbertin, a professional photographer living in German East Africa. In the fall of 2015, team members scouted the sites for repeat photographs. The following summer, …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, February 14, 2022, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

Agenda

• Call to Order- Boyd Edwards
• Approval of Minutes – January 18, 2022
• University Business- Noelle Cockett, President | Frank Galey, Provost
• Information
• Education Policies Committee – February 3, 2022- Paul Barr
• USU Internal Audit Services- Jodi Bailey
• Micromobility Policy- Dwight Davis
• Reports
• Parking and Transportation Committee Annual Report- Tracy Hulse
• Sustainability Council Annual Report- Alexi Lamm
• Old Business
• Faculty Code 402 Track Changes | Final Version (second reading)- Scott Hunsaker
• New Business
• Faculty Code 401 Track Changes | Final Version (first reading)- Scott Hunsaker
• Faculty Senate President Elect Process and Nominee Submissions- Boyd Edwards

The Utah Statesman, February 7, 2022, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.