Digital Commons Network^™

Picturebooks And Critical Inquiry: Tools To (Re)Imagine A More Inclusive World, Amanda Deliman

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Literature can be used to create communities of conscience around topics of social justice, hope, and activism. Furthermore, when the lens of critical literacy is applied to interactive discussions about books, the messages shared in the texts are not neutral and can be viewed from multiple viewpoints, thereby providing rich openings for readers to think more critically about the world. This qualitative case study investigates how second graders discuss a variety of social issue topics using diverse children's picturebooks. International children's literature can initiate important conversations to help break down perpetuating cycles of social inequality, restore hope, and bring kindness …

Book Review: The Wildlife Techniques Manual, Eighth Edition, Justin Small

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Wildlife researchers and managers are consistently tackling ecological and conservation issues that are increasing in complexity and scope. Wildlife issues often span beyond singular research frameworks and management jurisdictions, preventing modern wildlife conservation from operating in mutually exclusive arenas (i.e., research or management). As a wildlife researcher whose research is conducted on both public and private rangelands, and across multiple stakeholder groups, techniques to answer difficult questions and offer time-sensitive solutions must pull from both research and management arenas. Historically, book or journal resources that wildlife professionals could readily access for necessary scientific guidance were contained in many documents, making …

Utility Of Visual Counts For Determining Efficacy Of Management Tools For California Ground Squirrels, Roger A. Baldwin, Theresa A. Becchetti, Niamh Quinn, Ryan Meinerz

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Visual counts are frequently used to assess efficacy of management tools for ground squirrels (Marmotini), but the effectiveness of this approach has not been assessed for many ground squirrel species including California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus spp.). As such, we used visual counts of California ground squirrels to determine the efficacy of diphacinone-treated oat groat applications in rangelands in central California, USA, and compared those results to efficacy values derived from the use of radio-collared ground squirrels in the same plots. We also used location data of radio-collared ground squirrels to explore the size of buffer zone needed around census …

Characteristics Of Non-Fatal Attacks By Black Bears: Conterminous United States, 2000–2017, Janel M. Scharhag, Cady Sartini, Shawn M. Crimmins, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Jeffrey B. Stetz

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Attacks on humans by bears (Ursus spp.) have increased in recent decades, as both human and bear populations have increased. To help mitigate the risk of future attacks, it is important to understand the circumstances in past attacks. Information and analyses exist regarding fatal attacks by both American black bears (Ursus americanus) and brown bears (U. arctos) as well as non-fatal attacks by brown bears. No similarly thorough analyses on non-fatal attacks by black bears are available. Our study addressed this information gap by analyzing all (n = 210) agency-confirmed, non-fatal attacks by black …

Specificity Of Nifen And Vnfen For The Assembly Of Nitrogenase Active Site Cofactors In Azotobacter Vinelandii, Ana Pérez-González, Emilio Jimenez-Vicente, Jakob Gies-Elterlein, Alvaro Salinero-Lanzarote, Zhi-Yong Yang, Oliver Einsle, Lance C. Seefeldt, Dennis R. Dean

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The nitrogen-fixing microbe Azotobacter vinelandii has the ability to produce three genetically distinct, but mechanistically similar, components that catalyze nitrogen fixation. For two of these components, the Mo-dependent and V-dependent components, their corresponding metal-containing active site cofactors, designated FeMo-cofactor and FeV-cofactor, respectively, are preformed on separate molecular scaffolds designated NifEN and VnfEN, respectively. From prior studies, and the present work, it is now established that neither of these scaffolds can replace the other with respect to their in vivo cofactor assembly functions. Namely, a strain inactivated for NifEN cannot produce active Mo-dependent nitrogenase nor can a strain inactivated for VnfEN …

Irrigation System Maintenance, Candace Schaible, Kelly Kopp, Jennie Hoover

All Current Publications

Irrigation system maintenance is necessary to ensure the most efficient use of the water that is being applied. Efficient irrigation is important because over two-thirds of the total water used in the average Utah home is applied to the landscape. With the natural drought cycles that occur in Utah and the growing population, efficient water use is critical. These maintenance recommendations will help you evaluate your irrigation system before using it each spring and also throughout the growing season.

Features Of Direct Instruction: Content Analysis, Timothy A. Slocum, Kristen R. Rolf

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

The goal of Direct Instruction (DI) is to teach content as effectively and efficiently as possible. To do this, instructional designers must identify generative relations or strategies that allow the learner to respond correctly to untaught situations. The purpose of content analysis is to identify generative relations in the domain to be taught and arrange the content in such a way that it supports maximally generative instruction. This article explains the role of content analysis in developing DI programs and provides examples and nonexamples of content analysis in five content domains: spelling, basic arithmetic facts, earth science, basic language, and …

An Open Source Cyberinfrastructure For Collecting, Processing, Storing And Accessing High Temporal Resolution Residential Water Use Data, Camilo J. Bastidas Pacheco, Joseph C. Brewer, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, Juan Caraballo

Publications

Collecting and managing high temporal resolution residential water use data is challenging due to cost and technical requirements associated with the volume and velocity of data collected. We developed an open-source, modular, generalized architecture called Cyberinfrastructure for Intelligent Water Supply (CIWS) to automate the process from data collection to analysis and presentation of high temporal residential water use data. A prototype implementation was built using existing open-source technologies, including smart meters, databases, and services. Two case studies were selected to test functionalities of CIWS, including push and pull data models within single family and multi-unit residential contexts, respectively. CIWS was …

The Practical And The Aspirational: Managing The Student Employee Experience In Library Publishing Efforts, Rebecca Nelson, Becky L. Thoms

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

Student employees are a critical component in the workforce of academic libraries. While more established library services have the benefit of attracting student employees specifically interested in their work, scholarly communication programs, and library publishing efforts in particular, have more difficulty describing and garnering interest in their work. This article describes the journey of the Digital Initiatives Unit at Utah State University Libraries as we navigated the particular trials that come with library publishing—specifically delving into the work of our institutional repository (IR) and the role of student employees in those efforts. The labor of our program is variable and …

Temporal Trends And Drivers Of Mountain Lion Depredation In California, Usa, Justin A. Dellinger, Daniel K. Macon, Jaime L. Rudd, Deana L. Clifford, Steven G. Torres

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Increasing human populations and expanding development across the globe necessitate continual progress in understanding and mitigating human–wildlife conflict. California, USA has the largest human population and at least half of the state is suitable mountain lion (Puma concolor) habitat. The juxtaposition of high human abundance within and adjacent to mountain lion habitat make California relevant for understanding human–large carnivore conflict. We compiled 7,719 confirmed incidents of mountain lions depredating domestic animals over a 48-year period (1972–2019) to examine temporal trends in mountain lion depredations as well as factors influencing annual depredation rates at the county level. Linear regressions …

Features Of Direct Instruction: Interactive Lessons, Kristen R. Rolf, Timothy A. Slocum

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

Direct Instruction (DI) teaches challenging academic content to a range of diverse learners. In order to do so, DI includes a complex system for organizing and directing teacher–student interactions to maximize learning. This system includes: instructional formats that specify the interactions between teacher and student, flexible skills-based groupings, active student responding, responsive interactions between students and teachers, ongoing data-based decision making, and mastery teaching. In this article, we describe each of these main features of the system, define their functions, reveal how they are interwoven throughout all DI lessons, and provide specific examples of their application during instruction. Our goal …

Professional Education To Reduce Provider Stigma Toward Harm Reduction And Pharmacotherapy, Sandra H. Sulzer, Suzanne Prevedel, Tyson Barrett, Maren Wright Voss, Cassandra Manning, Erin Fanning Madden

Extension Research

Aims: A novel professional training was developed to reduce stigma toward harm reduction and pharmacotherapy for substance use disorders.

Methods: The training was delivered over three sessions to n = 147 health professionals in Utah between 2019 and 2020, including n = 40 substance use disorder treatment professionals. Pre and post-training survey measures provided evaluation information on knowledge, attitudes, and planned action regarding harm reduction and pharmacotherapy. Items were grouped into a stigma score, and multilevel modeling, regression analyses, and McNemar tests were used to quantify changes in overall stigma toward harm reduction interventions both before and after the training. …

Experimental And Numerical Analysis Of The Hydraulic Jump Stilling Basin And The Downstream Scour Depth, L. J. Miranda, R. Sánchez

International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures

This paper presents a study of a tridimensional low-head hydraulic jump stilling basin by using both physical and numerical models. Laboratory tests up to 15 hours in duration were carried out in a 1.9 m wide and 14 m long flume. Four gates produced a jet with a submerged hydraulic jump in a positive-step stilling basin, after which scour developed in a nearly uniform sand bed. Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter, piezometers and image processing were used to collect the hydrodynamic data, and Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations developed in OpenFOAM were tested for validation purposes. Then, the study focused on (1) the …

Particle Image Velocimetry (Piv) Investigation Of Local Scour Around Emergent And Submerged Circular Cylinders, P. Williams, R. Balachandar, V. Roussinova, R. Barron

International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures

Analysis of the velocity field surrounding a circular cylinder under equilibrium of local scour has been restricted due to practical limitations of commonly used measurement techniques. This investigation summarizes select cases in the literature which have attempted to circumvent such limitations and presents flow field measurements using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). Scour tests were conducted in a horizontal flume fitted with a sediment recess containing erodible bed material. Tests were conducted with both emergent and submerged circular cylinders for a period of 24 hours, after which equilibrium was achieved and planar PIV measurements were obtained in the streamwise-vertical symmetry plane. …

A Critical Analysis Of Jet-Induced Scour Formulas, J. Di Nardi, M. Palermo, S. Pagliara

International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures

Many studies investigate erosive processes occurring in non-cohesive granular materials downstream of grade-control structures, dam spillways, headcuts, and other hydraulic structures. Because of the complexity of the scour mechanism, the analysis of the scour phenomenon caused by plunging jets is generally conducted by using physical models and particularly for specific structure geometries. In this regard, many researchers proposed empirical approaches to estimate the main scour lengths, but their contributions are limited to tested conditions and cannot be generalized. This lack of generality has been (partially) overcome by other, more recent, approaches, that are either semitheoretical or fully theoretical. Previous works …

Cfd Simulation Of Supercritical Flow In Narrow Channels Including Sediment Bypass Tunnels, Subhojit Kadia, Elena Pummer, Nils RüTher

International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures

Secondary currents, turbulence characteristics and bed shear stress distribution are the crucial parameters for specifying sediment transport. Hence, to understand the sediment transport in sediment bypass tunnels (SBTs), we performed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of supercritical flow in a narrow straight channel. The results of the steady state simulation (Froude number ≈ 1.8) were compared with experimental results. The commonly used two-equations linear eddy-viscosity models are limited to isotropic turbulence closure and hence could not replicate the desired secondary currents. Therefore, the LRR Reynolds Stress Model was used, and predicted the flow features and the secondary currents (three kinds …

Development Of A 1 Kw Gravitational Water Vortex Hydropower Plant Prototype, A. Sapkota, A. Gautam, A. B. Timilsina, S. Dhakal, S. R. Shakya, T. R. Bajracharya

International Junior Researcher and Engineer Workshop on Hydraulic Structures

A pilot testing of a Gravitational Water Vortex Hydropower Plant (GWVHP) has been done to evaluate the applicability in a real-world scenario and validate the results from the lab-scale model. A scaled-up model of a capacity of 1 kW was constructed for the evaluation purpose. The test provided data in good agreement with a lab-scale model and a proper visualization to install Gravitational Water Vortex in real-world scenarios. The project lasted for nearly four months and thus provided important information on the problems that might arise in scaling up the lab model to a micro-hydro system. The pilot testing shows …

Association And Agreement Between Reactive Strength Index And Reactive Strength Index-Modified Scores, Talin Louder, Brennan J. Thompson, Eadric Bressel

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

Since the reactive strength index (RSI) and reactive strength index-modified (RSI-mod) share similar nomenclature, they are commonly referred as interchangeable measures of agility in the sports research literature. The RSI and RSI-mod are most commonly derived from the performance of depth jumping (DJ) and countermovement jumping (CMJ), respectively. Given that DJ and CMJ are plyometric movements that differ materially from biomechanical and neuromotor perspectives, it is likely that the RSI and RSI-mod measure distinct aspects of neuromuscular function. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the association and agreement between RSI and RSI-mod scores. A mixed-sex sample of NCAA …

How To Shred Gnar(Ly) Problems: Tools, Techniques & Resources To Help Address Epic Housing Challenges, Elizabeth Sodja

All Current Publications

The purpose of this document is to summarize key takeaways and resources from our 6-part webinar series about housing affordability and short-term rental challenges facing Gateway and Natural Amenity Region (GNAR) communities in the west.

Sheep Models Of F508del And G542x Cystic Fibrosis Mutations Show Cellular Responses To Human Therapeutics, Iuri Viótti Périssé, Zhiqiang Fan, Arnaud J. Van Wettere, Ying Liu, Shih-Hsing Leir, Jacob Keim, Misha Regouski, Michael D. Wilson, Kelly M. Cholewa, Sara N. Mansback, Thomas J. Kelly, Zhongde Wang, Ann Harris, Kenneth L. White, Irina A. Polejaeva

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Student Research

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. The F508del and G542X are the most common mutations found in US patients, accounting for 86.4% and 4.6% of all mutations, respectively. The F508del causes deletion of the phenylalanine residue at position 508 and is associated with impaired CFTR protein folding. The G542X is a nonsense mutation that introduces a stop codon into the mRNA, thus preventing normal CFTR protein synthesis. Here, we describe the generation of CFTRF^{508del/F508del} and CFTR^G542X/G542X lambs using CRISPR/Cas9 and …

Tree Establishment On Post-Mining Waste Soils: Species, Density, And Mixture Effects, Degi Harja Asmara, Suzanne Allaire, Meine Van Noordwijk, Damase P. Khasa

Aspen Bibliography

Tree establishment to restore degraded boreal post-mining lands is challenged by low soil productivity, a harsh microclimate, and potentially high contaminant levels. The use of mixed vegetation can facilitate the microclimate but increase competition for soil resources. A statistical accounting of plant–plant interactions and adaptation to multispecies conditions is hard to achieve in field experiments; trials under controlled conditions can distinguish effects of planting density and species interactions in the early stages of plant establishment. A greenhouse trial was established in containers (“mesocosms”) with waste rock or fine tailings from gold mines. Pregerminated (1-week-old) seedlings (Alnus viridis subsp. crispa …

An Open Web-Based Module Developed To Advance Data-Driven Hydrologic Process Learning, Belize A. Lane, Irene Garousi-Nejad, Melissa A. Gallagher, David G. Tarboton, Emad Habib

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The era of ‘big data’ promises to provide new hydrologic insights, and open web-based platforms are being developed and adopted by the hydrologic science community to harness these datasets and data services. This shift accompanies advances in hydrology education and the growth of web-based hydrology learning modules, but their capacity to utilize emerging open platforms and data services to enhance student learning through data-driven activities remains largely untapped. Given that generic equations may not easily translate into local or regional solutions, teaching students to explore how well models or equations work in particular settings or to answer specific problems using …

Data From: Chemical Bonding Analysis Of Excited States Using The Adaptive Natural Density Partitioning Method, Alexander I. Boldyrev, Nikolay Tkachenko

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A novel approach to chemical bond analysis for excited states has been developed. Using an extended adaptive natural density partitioning method (AdNDP) as implemented in AdNDP 2.0 code, we obtained chemically intuitive bonding patterns for the excited states of H2O, B5+, and C2H4+ molecules. The deformation pathway in the excited states could be easily predicted based on the analysis of the chemical bond pattern. We expect that this new method of chemical bonding analysis would be very helpful for photochemistry, photoelectron spectroscopy, electron spectroscopy and other chemical applications that involved excited states.

Identification And Management Of Scotch Thistle (Onopordum Acanthium L.) In Pastures, Rangelands, And Non-Crop Settings, Cody Zesiger, Jacob Hadfield, Kalen Taylor, Corey Ransom

All Current Publications

Scotch thistle (Onopordum acanthium) is an invasive species native to Eurasia. It was likely introduced into North America during the late 19th century (Young & Evans, 1969). Due to the plant’s size and prickles, a stand can damage pasture productivity, ruin campsites, or make trails nearly impassable. The thistle also outcompetes desirable plants and greatly reduces forage use by large animals. Since not all thistles are related or alike, it is essential to correctly identify Scotch thistle before making management decisions. This fact sheet provides information about identification, lifecycle and distribution, and management.

Data From: Novel Strongly Correlated Europium Superhydrides, Alexander I. Boldyrev, Nikolay Tkachenko

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We conducted a joint experimental–theoretical investigation of the high-pressure chemistry of europium polyhydrides at pressures of 86–130 GPa. We discovered several novel magnetic Eu superhydrides stabilized by anharmonic effects: cubic EuH9, hexagonal EuH9, and an unexpected cubic (Pm3n) clathrate phase, Eu8H46. Monte Carlo simulations indicate that cubic EuH9 has antiferromagnetic ordering with TN of up to 24 K, whereas hexagonal EuH9 and Pm3n-Eu8H46 possess ferromagnetic ordering with TC = 137 and 336 K, respectively. The electron–phonon interaction is weak in all studied europium hydrides, and their magnetic ordering excludes s-wave superconductivity, except, perhaps, for distorted pseudohexagonal EuH9. The equations of …

Data From: Spherical Aromaticity Of All-Metal [Bi@In8bi12]3−/5− Clusters, Alexander I. Boldyrev, Nikolay Tkachenko

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The chemical bonding of Zintl clusters is still an evolving and hot topic in modern chemistry. In this paper we synthesized a novel [K([2.2.2]crypt)]4[In8Bi13] complex in a condensed phase. The quantum chemical calculations and X-ray data revealed that the compound consists of the 1:1 mixture of [Bi@In8Bi12]3− and [Bi@In8Bi12]5− clusters. To the date, those clusters are the largest binary clusters composed of In and Bi elements. Herein, we introduce a spherical aromatic description of chemical bonding for such clusters. We show through AdNDP, ELF, and induced magnetic field and quantitative NICS analyzes that both clusters are spherically aromatic which explains …

Spatial And Temporal Variation Of Epigaeic Beetle Assemblages (Coleoptera, Carabidae, Staphylinidae) In Aspen-Dominated Mixedwood Forests Across North-Central Alberta, H. E. James Hammond, Sergio García-Tejero, Greg R. Pohl, David W. Langor, John R. Spence

Aspen Bibliography

Epigaeic beetle assemblages were surveyed using continuous pitfall trapping during the summers of 1992 and 1993 in six widely geographically distributed locations in Alberta’s aspen-mixedwood forests prior to initial forest harvest. Species composition and turnover (β-diversity) were evaluated on several spatial scales ranging from Natural Regions (distance between samples 120–420 km) to pitfall traps (40–60 m). A total of 19,885 ground beetles (Carabidae) representing 40 species and 12,669 rove beetles (non-Aleocharinae Staphylinidae) representing 78 species was collected. Beetle catch, species richness, and diversity differed significantly among the six locations, as did the identity of dominant species. Beetle species composition differed …

Dataset For: Multiple Local Σ-Aromaticity Of Nonagermanide Clusters, Alexander I. Boldyrev, Nikolay Tkachenko

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Nonagermanide clusters are widely used in inorganic synthesis and are actively studied by experimentalists and theoreticians. However, chemical bonding of such versatile species is still not completely understood. In our work we deciphered a bonding pattern for various experimentally obtained nonagermanide species. We localized the electron density via the AdNDP algorithm for the model structures ([Ge9]4−, [Ge9{P(NH2)2}3]−, Cu[Ge9{P(NH2)2}3] and Cu(NHC)[Ge9{P(NH2)2}3]) and obtained a simple and chemically intuitive bonding pattern which can explain the variety of active sites and the existence of both D3h and C4v geometries for such clusters. Moreover, the [Ge9]4− core is found to be a unique example …

Data From: Dibridged, Monobridged, Vinylidene-Like, And Linear Structures For The Alkaline Earth Dihydrides Be2h2, Mg2h2, Ca2h2, Sr2h2, And Ba2h2. Proposals For Observations, Alexander I. Boldyrev, Nikolay Tkachenko

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This research reports a search for peculiar monobridged structures of the E2H2 molecules (E = Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba). For Be2H2 and Mg2H2, the monobridged geometry is not an equilibrium but rather a transition state between the vinylidene-like structure and the global minimum HE–EH linear geometry. However, for Ca2H2, Sr2H2, and Ba2H2, this situation changes significantly; the linear structure is no longer the global minimum but lies higher in energy than two other equilibria, the dibridged and monobridged structures. The planar dibridged structures of both Sr2H2 and Ba2H2 should be observable via IR spectroscopy. Although the remarkable monobridged structures …

Data For: Record Low Ionization Potentials Of Alkali Metal Complexes With Crown Ethers And Cryptands, Alexander I. Boldyrev, Nikolay Tkachenko

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Electronic properties of series of alkali metals complexes with crown ethers and cryptands were studied via DFT hybrid functionals. For [M([2.2.2]crypt)] (M=Li, Na, K) extremely low (1.70–1.52 eV) adiabatic ionization potentials were found. Such low values of ionization energies are significantly lower than those of alkali metal atoms. Thus, the investigated complexes can be defined as superalkalis. As a result, our investigation opens up new directions in the designing of chemical species with record low ionization potentials and extends the explanation of the ability of the cryptates and alkali crown ether complexes to stabilize multiple charged Zintl ions.