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Guide To Stakeholder Groups For Great Basin Sagebrush Steppe Restoration, Scott Hoffmann, Mark W. Brunson, Summer Olsen

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

As efforts are made to restore the health and functioning of sagebrush ecosystems within the Great Basin, various stakeholder interest groups have the potential to offer partnerships as well as adversarial involvement with land managers tasked with restoration. Given that greater than 60% of the Great Basin is publicly owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management and other federal agencies, it is critical for those working in restoration to understand the views held by key stakeholder groups that may enhance or impair such efforts (Brunson and Peterson 2007). Gaining knowledge about and familiarity with those interest groups active …

Parenting Practices And Child Mental Health Among Spanish Speaking Latino Families: Examining The Role Of Parental Cultural Values, Melissa Renee Donovick

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to evaluate observed parenting practices among first-generation Spanish-speaking Latinos living in Utah. Participants included 50 families with a child between the ages of 4 and 9. Parents and their child engaged in a behavioral observational task that was coded for parenting dimensions and styles to determine if they predict child outcomes among Latino families. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist to assess for behavioral problems. Observations were coded using the Parenting Scale, developed specifically for this study. In general, parents received high ratings on warmth and demandingness, and lower ratings on autonomy granting. Parenting …

An Exploration Of Formal Methods And Tools Applied To A Small Satellite Software System, Russell J. Grover

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Formal system modeling has been a topic of interest in the research community for many years. Modeling a system helps engineers understand it better and enables them to check different aspects of it to ensure that there is no undesired or unexpected behavior and that it does what it was designed to do. This thesis takes two existing tools that were created to aid in the designing of spacecraft systems and creates a layer to connect them together and allow them to be used jointly. The first tool is a library of formal descriptions used to specify spacecraft behavior in …

Examination Of The Relationship Between Perfectionism And Religiosity As Mediated By Psychological Inflexibility, Jesse M. Crosby

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The relationship between perfectionism and religiosity is clarified when the adaptive and maladaptive dimensions of both constructs are compared. Literature in both areas implicates the idea of a rigid and inflexible personality style as a possible mediator in the relationship. This investigation examined the relationship of perfectionism and religiosity, using adaptive and maladaptive dimensions, as mediated by psychological inflexibility.

Measures of perfectionism, religiosity, and psychological inflexibility were given to 376 undergraduate college students in an anonymous online survey. Adaptive perfectionism was found to be significantly correlated with adaptive religiosity. Maladaptive perfectionism was found to be significantly correlated with maladaptive religiosity. …

Planting Landscape Trees, Michael R. Kuhns, Margaret Shao

All Current Publications

Trees and shrubs are valuable additions to most property, providing beauty, wind protection, shade, wildlife habitat, visual screening, and other benefi ts. Unfortunately, many landscape trees are not properly planted or cared-for.

Carboxylases Involved In Microbial Acetone And Acetophenone Metabolism, Ameya Mashruwala

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

A number of bacteria are capable of growth with acetone and acetophenone as their sole sources of carbon and/or energy. The pathways and enzymes involved in the transformation of these molecules into useable carbon and energy are unique. Among these are two novel enzymes, acetone carboxylase and acetophenone carboxylase, which represent a fundamentally novel classes of carboxylases.

The initial step in acetone metabolism, in X. autotrophicus st Py2, R. capsulatus st B10 and R. rhodochrous, is the thermodynamically unfavorable reaction to yield acetoacetate. This step is catalyzed by the enzyme acetone carboxylase and is coupled with the unprecedented, concomitant hydrolysis …

The Relationship Between Premarital Advice, Expectations And Marital Satisfaction, Cicile M. Rios

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine the significance between advice, marital expectations, and marital satisfaction. This study also explored the sources couples use to gather information, or rather where they receive premarital advice, and if it was helpful. Included in this study were husbands (n = 56) and wives (n = 56) who had been married less than one year, to classify them as newlyweds. The relationship between sources of information and expectations was found to be highly significant for variables related to family of origin. It was also found that a high percentage of couples …

Design And Scale-Up Of Production Scale Stirred Tank Fermentors, Ryan Z. Davis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the bio/pharmaceutical industry, fermentation is extremely important in pharmaceutical development, and in microbial research. However, new fermentor designs are needed to improve production and reduce costs of complex systems such as cultivation of mammalian cells and genetically engineered micro-organisms. Traditionally, stirred tank design is driven by the oxygen transfer capability needed to achieve cell growth. However, design methodologies available for stirred tank fermentors are insufficient and many times contain errors. The aim of this research is to improve the design of production scale stirred tank fermentors through the development of dimensionless correlations and by providing information on aspects of …

Keeping Wetlands Wet: The Human Hydrology Of Wetlands In The Bear River Basin, Rebekah Downard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research seeks to understand how wetlands maintain a water supply in the Bear River Basin, where water is generally scarce. Research was conducted through semi-structured interviews with wetland and water experts in the basin and archival research of historical documents and water rights.

The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service manages three refuges on the Bear River, and has obtained water rights portfolios for each. Holding water rights does not ensure that there will be water available for refuge wetlands. Instead, position in relation to other powerful water users is the most important factor in determining the security of …

Effects Of Corn Silage Hybrids And Dietary Nonforage Fiber Sources On Productive Performance In Early Lactating Dairy Cows Fed High Forage Diets, Michael Shane Holt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of corn silage hybrids and nonforage fiber sources (NFFS) in high forage diets formulated with high dietary proportion of alfalfa hay (AH) and corn silage (CS) on ruminal fermentation and productive performance by early lactating dairy cows. Eight multiparous Holstein cows (4 ruminally fistulated) averaging 36 ± 6.2 d in milk were used in a duplicated 4 × 4 Latin square design experiment with a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Cows were fed 1 of 4 dietary treatments during each of the four 21-d periods. Treatments were: 1) conventional corn …

Distributed Renewable Energy Generation And Landscape Architecture: A Critical Review, Osmer Devon Beck

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Governments and utility organizations around the world have mandated and provided incentives for new distributed renewable energy generation (DREG) capacity, and market projections indicate strong growth in distributed renewable energy generation installations in the coming years. New distributed renewable energy generation utilities, by definition, will be primarily located in built environments near consumers; these utilities are often planned and designed by landscape architects, yet no evidence-based, distributed renewable energy generation research is explicitly done by landscape architects or recognizes the role landscape architects play in planning and designing these spaces. The research and analysis provided by this study indicates that …

Critique Of A Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Method Applied To Residential Open Space, Sarah Rigard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

To this date, little research has been done evaluating the quality of wildlife habitat provided by open space in residential areas. Quality wildlife habitat for the purposes of this study is defined as those areas which contain the physical and biological characteristics necessary to support native wildlife species of the region. This thesis critiqued a wildlife habitat assessment method used in a nationwide study of residential open space for the purpose of better understanding the research conducted by the study and to inform similar, future habitat evaluations of landscapes altered by human activity to accommodate residential land use. The methodology …

A Comparative Study To Identify Factors Affecting Adoption Of Soil And Water Conservation Practices Among Smallhold Farmers In The Njoro River Watershed Of Kenya, Steven P. Huckett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Natural resource conservation is important for human well-being, especially in fragile environments of developing countries. This study occurred in 2006 among 6,500 smallhold farmers residing along a 25-km segment of a heavily utilized river. Research objectives were to determine use and adoption constraints for 14 soil and water conservation practices (SWCPs). Farms were reportedly contributing to a decline in river water quality via soil erosion. Recent occupation of the upper watershed by immigrants magnified concerns that resource degradation could escalate. A multi-method approach incorporating quantitative surveys, qualitative interviews, and participant observation was used to interpret constraining factors within the biophysical …

Targeting Fatty Acid-Activated Pathways In The Somatosensory System, Tian Yu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Given the dramatic rise in obesity and the diseases linked with it, it is becoming increasingly important to understand the mechanisms that underlie the body's ability to recognize fat. The chemoreception of dietary fat in the oral cavity has largely been attributed to activation of the somatosensory system that relays the textural properties of fat. However, the ability of fatty acids, which are believed to represent the proximate stimulus for fat taste, to activate trigeminal ganglionic neurons has remained unexplored. In general, my research has provided the first evidence of fatty acids activating the somatosensory system by increasing the intracellular …

Nga Whaiora Tikanga Roanga: Māori Views Of Health In Utah, Sydney H. Davies

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study looked at the health beliefs of Māori who live in Utah, U.S. and examined what ways those beliefs have evolved from traditional Māori health beliefs. It also looked at the conditions and indicators of those conditions that maintain those health beliefs. A New Zealand study found that Māori older than age 45 years were more likely to have traditional health beliefs, whereas Māori younger than age 45 were more likely to have western-based health beliefs. Using grounded theory, the narratives—from two groups, younger or older than 45 years, where each group was composed of eight randomly selected participants—were …

Library Synthesis Of Anticancer And Antibacterial Agents Via Azide Chemistry, Jianjun Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Various anticancer and antibacterial agents have been synthesized via azide chemistry by taking advantage of carbohydrate. Starting from the synthesis of 14 glycosyl azides, a library of carbohydrate-oxazolidinone conjugates and a library of carbohydrate-cyclopamine conjugates with biological interests were synthesized based on a highly efficient "click reaction" assisted by sonication. Some of the conjugates have improved solubility and enhanced anticancer activity.

A library of neomycin B derivatives with various modifications at the 5" position has been synthesized. Two leads exhibit prominent activity against both methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Antibacterial activities were measured when combined with other …

The Utah Pilot Bridge, Live Load And Dynamic Testing, Modeling And Monitoring For The Long-Term Bridge Performance Program, Steven M. Petroff

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As part of the Federal Highway Administration's Long-Term Bridge Performance Program, Live Load and Dynamic tests were conducted. A long-term monitoring plan was developed and presented for the Utah Pilot Bridge based on Live Load and Dynamic tests. As one of seven pilot bridges, the Utah Pilot Bridge is one of the first bridges used to initiate the LTBP Program. A formal permit approval process, with the Utah Department of Transportation, was followed to gain permission to conduct the tests and install long-term instrumentation. Analysis provided good results for each test completed, with a summary of test results presented. A …

Perilous Pilgrimage: A Lady’S Flight Into The Rocky Mountain Wilderness, Jane Koerner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

“Perilous Pilgrimage: A Lady’s Flight into the Rocky Mountain Wilderness” is comprised of four thematically linked essays set in the Colorado Rockies. In these essays I probe my fascination with masculinity at an early age, the impact of my rape at age twenty-two, the dependency and resentment that undermined my marriage after the rape, and my quest after my divorce fifteen years later to define myself on my own terms. The link joining these strands is the tension between my drive for independence and my disassociation from my mind and body as a result of the rape.

“Perilous Pilgrimage” revisits …

Funding Sustainable And Humanitarian Architectural Projects, Joslyn R. Olsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this project is to identify sources of funding for sustainable building projects and create a catalog of the findings. This study targeted the nonprofit, humanitarian, and private organization sectors with the goal to encourage subsequent projects that may positively impact the quality of life for people in need.

It has been predicted that in the next 25 years 75% of America's built environment will be either new or renovated. The downside is that new buildings cause substantial ecological damage due to the extraction of materials and account for as much as 40% of all greenhouse gases. As …

Resident Attitudes Toward Community Development Alternatives, Chih-Yao Chang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utilizing survey data collected in four communities in the State of Utah, this study examined the extent to which rural resident perceptions and attitudes toward local community circumstances influence their own expectations and attitudes subjectively toward future community development alternatives. Understanding perceptions of community and community development, as well as the patterns of localized community development, is crucial and needs to consider residents' opinions and attitudes toward unique rural economic, environmental, and social conditions in order to help preserve the unique characteristics of the way of life while continuing economic improvement and social betterment in rural areas.

Three conceptual frameworks …

The Ability Of The Coping Competence Questionnaire To Predict Resilience Against Learned Helplessness Among Undergraduate College Students: An Experimental Study, Cindy L. Ollis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Coping Competence Questionnaire (CCQ), based on the reformulated learned helplessness theory, was designed to assess a general stress resistance versus a propensity towards learned helplessness with a brief, 12-item self-report questionnaire. In this study the CCQ was administered to 247 undergraduate students, who were then paired, in groups of around 24 at a time, and then randomly assigned to either success or failure conditions on the computer game TetraVex. Mood was pretested using the Profile of Mood States (POMS) depression subscale; the experimental condition, success or failure at TetraVex was conducted; then outcome measures including 20 five letter anagrams …

Depression Detection In Hospitalized Cardiac Patients, Martine S. Geddes

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Depression has been shown to increase an individual's risk for heart disease. Despite this finding, physicians are not identifying depression in their hospitalized cardiac patients. This study looked at hospitalized cardiac patients and determined whether their physicians were identifying depression in those that scored ≥ 5 on the PHQ-9 depression inventory. Methods included assessing patient depression during their stay at an intensive care unit using the PHQ-9. Those patients scoring ≥ 5 were determined as depressed. Chart audits were performed after the patient discharged from the hospital to discover whether physicians were identifying these patients as depressed. The results showed …

Transesterification And Recovery Of Intracellular Lipids Using A Single Step Reactive Extraction, Daniel R. Nelson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A single-step, extractive reaction for extraction of lipids such as biodiesel components, omega-3 fatty acids, or other triglycerides from microbial cells was examined. Conventional methods for lipid extraction use toxic solvents, and require multiple steps and long processing times. When the goal is to produce fatty acid methyl esters or FAMEs, the extracted lipids are subjected to a separate transesterification reaction with simple alcohols in the presence of an acid or base catalyst. A simplified, single-step reactive extraction method can be applied that combines the sequential extraction followed by transesterification using acidified alcohols - a process known as in situ …

A Singular-Value-Based Semi-Fragile Watermarking Scheme For Image Content Authentication With Tampering Localization, Xing Xin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis presents a novel singular-value-based semi-fragile watermarking scheme for image content authentication with tampering localization. The proposed scheme first generates a secured watermark bit sequence by performing a logical "xor" operation on a content-based watermark and content-independent watermark, wherein the content-based watermark is generated by a singular-value-based watermark bit sequence that represents intrinsic algebraic image properties, and the content-independent watermark is generated by a private-key-based random watermark bit sequence. It next embeds the secure watermark in the approximation subband of each non-overlapping 4×4 block using the adaptive quantization method to generate the watermarked image. The image content authentication process …

The Effects Of Spruce Beetle (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) On Fuels And Fire In Intermountain Spruce-Fir Forests, Carl Arik Jorgensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In spruce-fir forests, there are many biotic and abiotic disturbances that can alter stand structure and composition. Many of these disturbances can produce high percentages of tree mortality at different scales. Spruce beetle has been considered a devastating disturbance agent, capable of creating high levels of mortality that will alter fuel complexes that may affect fire behavior. For comparison, stand data were gathered in endemic (near Loa and Moab, UT), epidemic (near Loa and Fairview, UT), and post-epidemic (near Salina and Loa, UT) condition classes of spruce beetle activity. Generally, fine fuels were higher during the epidemic and returned to …

A Comparative Analysis Between A Preacher's Practice And Homiletic Theory, Curtis Castillow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This qualitative research compared the practice of an expert preacher to core concepts in homiletic theory (the art and craft of preaching), searching for discrepancies between what theory suggested and what the preacher practiced. It also sought to validate that the preacher practiced what homiletic theorists prescribed and to inform homiletic theory by describing strategies he employed unlike those espoused in homiletic theory.

To discover whether the participant's practice was congruent with theory, I first identified seminal theories. They were classified into the following modified version of Broadus's categories of ideal preaching: (a) content, (b) arrangement, (c) introduction,transition, and conclusion, …

The Effects Of Aquatic Exercise On Physiological And Biomechanical Responses, Matthew M. Denning

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Due to recent advances in aquatic research, technology, and facilities, many modes of aquatic therapy now exist. These aquatic modes assist individuals (e.g., osteoarthritis patients) in the performance of activities that may be too difficult to complete on land. However, the biomechanical requirements of each aquatic therapy mode may elicit different physiological and functional responses. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to: (a) provide a review of the physiological and biomechanical differences between aquatic and land based exercises, and (b) examine the acute effects of underwater and land treadmill exercise on oxygen consumption (VO₂), rating of perceived …

Generation And Analysis Of Verbal Route Directions For Blind Navigation, John Nicholson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

According to the National Federation of the Blind, there are an estimated 10 million people in the United States who are visually impaired. Of these, 1.3 million are legally blind. Many people with extreme vision loss receive orientation and mobility training in order to help them learn skills that allow them to travel and navigate multiple types of indoor and outdoor environments. Even with this training, a fundamental problem these people face is learning new routes, especially in environments with which they are not familiar. Although the research community has developed a number of localization and navigation aids that are …

Optimal Sensing And Actuation Policies For Networked Mobile Agents In A Class Of Cyber-Physical Systems, Christophe Tricaud

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The main purpose of this dissertation is to define and solve problems on optimal sensing and actuating policies in Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs). Cyber-physical system is a term that was introduced recently to define the increasing complexity of the interactions between computational hardwares and their physical environments. The problem of designing the "cyber'' part may not be trivial but can be solved from scratch. However, the "physical'' part, usually a natural physical process, is inherently given and has to be identified in order to propose an appropriate "cyber'' part to be adopted. Therefore, one of the first steps in designing a …

Latinos In The Credit Economy, Lisa M. Ralph

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Access to consumer credit as a means of building wealth is one of the least examined forms of social inequality. The recent economic crisis in the United States has brought attention to the significance of consumer credit in our nation's economy; however, less understood are the specific obstacles and barriers that prevent low-income individuals from reaching the "American Dream." In an exploratory manner, this study compared credit access, credit literacy, and credit experience of low-income Latinos and non-Latinos to understand how credit might translate into asset-building and home ownership for Latinos, particular for those in new immigrant destinations where access …