Digital Commons Network^™

Investigations Into Earthworm Control On Airports, T. Seamans, G. Bernhardt, D. Steyer

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Earthworms, though generally considered beneficial for soil conditioning, can become a hazard at airports. When found in large numbers on runways or taxiways after heavy rainfall, they create slippery conditions for aircraft rolling over them. Additionally, earthworms attract birds, especially gulls, thereby increasing the risk of bird strikes to aircraft that are landing or taking off. For example, during a 35-minute period on 3 September 2004 at Calgary International Airport (YYC), a B737 of Westjet and an A319 of Air Canada aborted takeoffs after multiple strikes with gulls attracted to the runways to feed on earthworms. The B737 had strikes …

Removal Of Feral Cat Colonies From John F. Kennedy International Airport: Operational, Biological And Social Challenges, J. Waddell, L. Francoeur, L. Humberg

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Feral cats (Felis catus) have been present at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) for approximately five years. Feral cats pose several zoonotic health risks, impact native wildlife, and interfere with airport operations. At the request of airport staff, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services conducted a cat-trapping effort between November 2007 and December 2008. Cats were live-trapped and surrendered to local animal control services where they were vaccinated, micro-chipped, and offered up for adoption. Due to the history of the colony, local cat advocacy groups expressed discontent with the removal efforts. …

Emerging Challenges In Wildlife Management, Michael R. Conover

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

Several challenges confronting wildlife agencies today will become even more important in the future. These challenges include: reducing threats to human safety, preventing the spread of zoonotic diseases, increasing wildlife populations in suboptimal habitats, managing problems caused by overabundant native species and exotic species, and helping to sustain human food supplies by alleviating wildlife damage to agricultural production. Challenges such as these provide an opportunity for wildlife management to increase its importance in the future, especially for biologists and scientists within the field of wildlife damage management. We have the opportunity to enhance the value of the wildlife resource for …

Is America Ready For A Humane Feral Pig Toxicant?, Steven Lapidge, Jason Wishart, Michelle Smith, Linton Staples

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

In 2005 the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre undertook an extensive literature review in an attempt to discover possible pharmacological weaknesses of pigs that could be inherently targeted with specific chemicals. For a chemical to have utility it ideally had to be: safe for human operators, highly toxic to pigs, bait deliverable, target specific, humane, residue-less, reversible, inexpensive, already registered for other purposes, patentable, acceptable to trading partners, and have a well documented toxicological profile. Numerous weaknesses and associated candidate chemicals were discovered, but only one, sodium nitrite, proved appropriate in gavage and bait delivery proof-of-concept pen trials. This paper …

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 Perfect Term, Center For Persons With Disabilities

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

Commencement Programs

121st Annual Commencement of Utah State University

Reinterpreting The Comedy Of Errors: Exploring "Madness" And The Need To Belong, William K. Smith

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Since The Comedy of Errors' rescue from the literary bargain bin where it was tossed by nineteenth and early twentieth-century critics, many modern scholars have provided insightful cultural, linguistic, and theatrical commentaries on a play that is clearly more complex than it first seems. One area these recent discussions frequently address is the play's portrayal of madness in early modern society. However, what many of these discussions fail to remember is that ultimately Errors is a comedy "performed for the Delight of the Beholders" and that no one in the play is actually mad. Therefore, this essay argues that The …

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 …

Stress Levels And Sources Of Occupational Stress Among Psi Ch Faculty Advisors, Tristan Q. Nelson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Psi Chi faculty advisors are the guiding force behind each functioning chapter nationwide. Unfortunately faculty members broadly are experiencing ever increasing levels of occupational stress due to teaching, research, and advising responsibilities (Tytherleigh, Webb, Cooper, & Ricketts, 2005). This stress often results in decreased productivity and an increase in absenteeism and disability (Pelletier & Lutz, 1988). As the Psi Chi mission statement is "to continue to encourage, stimulate, and maintain excellence in scholarship of the individual members" (Psi Chi, 2002), it is important that faculty advisors be active, involved, and healthy. The current study sought to assess general stress levels …

Implementing Research Through A Holistic Design Process, Megan Pearce

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Most interior design students come from a creative background, with limited experience in writing and research. When faced with a challenge in the design process, valuable resources are not utilized. Students do not think to access them. This mind-set carries over as professionals. The research exists, but a lack ofunderstanding prevents designers from using it. Designers must learn to use hard sources and develop their own research to legitimize the profession.

In the design profession, benefits ofresearch are especially seen when using a holistic design process. As integrated approach, the holistic design process involves all parties related to a project. …

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 …

Blonde? Pretty? Give Birth To The Fuhrer!: An Analysis Of National Socialist Propaganda 1930-1939, Shelley Anne Johnson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Third Reich is one of the most notorious government regimes the world has ever encountered and created problems that humanity had never anticipated in the modern world. Yet many aspects of the government policy before WWII are left unexplored, including the role of women in the Nazi take-over of Germany. Why were women important? What role did they play in the National Socialist policy and German life? In fact women were one of the most important intended audiences of Hitler’s plans. It was women that would give him the vote into the government of the Weimar Republic, support his …

“Our Sweat, Our Struggle, Our Success”: The Women Of The Comamnuvi Cooperative, Tabitha Lazenby

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

On October 30, 1998 Hurricane Mitch swept across the shores of Nicaragua leaving countless Nicaraguans homeless, hungry, and unemployed. 14,000 of these refugees were relocated to a municipality in Cuidad Sandino called Nueva Vida (New Lift). In the year 2000 a small group of women began working with Jubilee House Community's Center for Development in Central America project and Maggie's Organics to initiate the industrial sewing project of the Cooperativa Maquiladora Mujeres de Nueva Vida Internacional (Comamnuvz). The project started with 50 women and men, but due to harsh economic conditions and the necessity for workers to find paying jobs, …

Hydrologic Information Systems: Advancing Cyberinfrastructure For Environmental Observatories, Jeffery S. Horsburgh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recently, community initiatives have emerged for the establishment of large-scale environmental observatories. Cyberinfrastructure is the backbone upon which these observatories will be built, and scientists' ability to access and use the data collected within observatories to address research questions will depend on the successful implementation of cyberinfrastructure. The research described in this dissertation advances the cyberinfrastructure available for supporting environmental observatories. This has been accomplished through both development of new cyberinfrastructure components as well as through the demonstration and application of existing tools, with a specific focus on point observations data. The cyberinfrastructure that was developed and deployed to support …

Effect Of Surface Stability On Core Muscle Activity During Dynamic Resistance Exercises, Brennan J. Thompson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to compare core muscle activity during resistance exercises performed on stable ground versus an unstable surface and to examine whether lifting at different relative intensities affects core muscle activity levels. Twelve trained men performed four different movements including the deadlift, back squat, military press, and curl. Surface electromyography (EMG) was utilized to assess the activity of the rectus abdominis, external oblique, transversus abdominis, and erector spinae muscles. Participants performed each movement under three separate conditions including standing on stable ground with 50% of their one repetition maximum (1-RM), standing on a BOSU balance trainer …

The Interpersonal Lives Of Young Adult Women: A Study Of Passionate Friendship, Jenna Ann Glover

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was designed to further understand passionate friendships in a sample of heterosexual and lesbian, bisexual, and questioning (LBQ) women. Previous research has established that LBQ women engage in same-sex passionate friendships (unusually intense friendships that are similar to romantic relationships but devoid of sexual intimacy), but no systematic classification system has been established to identify these relationships in a general sample of women. A new quantitative measure, the Passionate Friendship Survey, was developed to measure passionate friendship experiences in women across adolescence and young adulthood. Qualitative interviews were also conducted to understand the subjective experience of passionate friendships …

Use Of Brief Experimental Assessment For Selecting Interventions To Increase Positive Social Interaction, Michelle S. Cox

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Different reasons for social withdrawal include a performance deficit, a social skill deficit, lack of peer support, and avoidance of anxiety or aversive interactions. Each of these reasons for social withdrawal may require a different intervention. This study investigated the utility of brief experimental analysis for identifying the most functional intervention to increase positive peer interactions for three socially withdrawn students. Using a multiple baseline and multi-element single subject design, three treatments were administered to compare differences in peer interactions during recess. Interventions were contingent reward, a social skills training with peer mediation, and a brief cognitive-behavioral strategy. Although students …

Watershed-Scale Analysis Of Riparian Buffer Function, Molly Van Appledorn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The ability of riparian buffers to filter undesirable nutrients from upland sources has long been recognized as an important ecosystem service for maintaining or improving water quality, and as a result, many land management strategies have been built around the preservation or restoration of buffer zones. Newly derived flow-path metrics have shown great promise as a way to assess riparian buffer function at the watershed scale but a thorough investigation of metric performance was necessary. The goals of this study were to: 1) test the independence of flow-path metrics from traditional metrics using a spatially extensive, independent sample of watersheds, …

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 …

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 …

Social Cognitive Predictors Of College Students' Fruit And Vegetable Intake, Denice C. Ahlstrom

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examined the social cognitive theory factors of home availability of fruits and vegetables, nutrition knowledge, food preparation ability, and cooking self-efficacy and the demographic factors of race/ethnicity, age, gender, marital status, living situation, and meal plan participation in relation to college students' fruit and vegetable consumption. The study sample was comprised of students attending on-campus classes at Utah State University during spring semester of 2009. Data were collected via traditional pencil-and-paper surveys distributed during classes with students in varying stages of their college education and from different fields of study. In total, 207 surveys were used for the …

Feasibility Of Implementing Technology-Assisted Intervention For The Treatment Of Mental Health-Related Problems In Rural Communities, C. Scott Roper

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent years advances in technology have begun to permeate the everyday lives of citizens in the United States. Technology has affected the way people send and receive information, communication, and entertainment. The world is more connected today than at any other time in history. However, despite this connectivity, there are still rural populations in the United States that remain underserved and disconnected in many areas, including mental health services. This study seeks to understand the feasibility of serving the mental health needs of rural residents through a method of delivery called technology-assisted intervention (TAI). This study polled referral sources, …

Perceived Effectiveness Of Booster Sessions Following A Stepfamily Education Course, John Mitchell Vaterlaus

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The study's purpose was to determine if participants reported that booster sessions following a stepfamily education course were effective. Agencies in northern Utah that provide services to low-income (including minorities) families were used to recruit a sample of 487 males and 560 females. Participants were required to be in a relationship that formed a remarriage or to have children from a previous relationship, forming a stepfamily. Booster sessions were educational meetings that occurred four to six weeks after the completion of the stepfamily education course. Intervention theory states that as protective factors are implemented through prevention education they lessen the …

The Effects Of A Four Week Single-Leg Balance Training Program On Balance Error Scoring System Scores Of The Trained And Untrained Leg, Roger J. Davies

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a 4-week single-leg stance balance training program on balance error scoring system scores of the trained and untrained leg and to determine any differences between genders for balance performance and cross education. Participants (N = 35) between the ages of 18 - 31 from Utah State University were tested three times over a 4-week period and those in the training group trained for a total of 22 minutes over that same time. Results showed balance improved for the trained leg and the untrained leg as well (p = …

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 …

Determining The Knowledge And Attitudes Of 18- To 26-Year-Old Women Regarding Cervical Cancer, Human Papillomavirus, And The Human Papillomavirus Vaccine, Ashlee Cooper Holguin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study applied the constructs of the health belief model (HBM) to assess women's knowledge and attitudes (i.e., perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits and perceived barriers) regarding cervical cancer, HPV, and the HPV vaccine and determine whether they predict women's intentions to receive the HPV vaccine. Women aged 18 to 26 years were surveyed from a convenience sample, and were primarily well-educated White women. Using Polytomous Universal Model (PLUM) ordinal regression, it was determined that the constructs of this model could not predict women's intentions of receiving the HPV vaccine.

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 …

Maladaptive Schemas As A Predictor Of Residential Treatment Outcomes In Females With Eating Disorders, Jodi Leigh Cullum

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study aimed to examine the relationship between maladaptive schemas and treatment outcomes of adolescent and adult women with an eating disorder receiving residential treatment. Existing data were obtained from 67 females aged 11 to 47 years (m =18.61) that had entered residential treatment for anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), or eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) at a Western United States residential eating disorder treatment facility. Pre- and posttreatment data were collected by the personnel at the facility on eating disorder symptomatology, mood, and core beliefs. Three hypotheses were tested: (a) that maladaptive schemas would be …

Latinos' Collectivism And Self-Disclosure In Intercultural And Intracultural Friendships And Acquaintanceships, Audrey Liz Schwartz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Self-disclosure is the process of sharing personal information with others and varies according to relationship intimacy, cultural norms, and personal values. Collectivism, defined as the tendency to define oneself in terms of social/cultural roles, may impact self-disclosure in intercultural relationships. The present study investigated whether Latinos/as reliably self-disclose more in intracultural versus intercultural friendships and acquaintanceships. An additional question was whether cultural variables such as collectivism, ethnic identity, and acculturation are related to self-disclosure differences. Data were collected via an online survey from internationally born Latinos and Latino Americans. Results of linear mixed effects model testing revealed that relationship type …