Digital Commons Network^™

What Beaver County Leaders And Residents Can Do To Strengthen The Impact Of Girls And Women In Their Area, Deborah Lin, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

This idea sheet is based on a 2024 gathering of 22 leaders and residents in Beaver County. Girls and women face challenges unique to the area in which they live, and the goal of this gathering was to identify those barriers and determine strategies and initiatives that local leaders and residents can implement to address them. This document includes recommendations in the following areas: home and family, education, government and community engagement, health and wellbeing, and culture.

Trace Element Contamination In Urban Soils: Testing And Management, Melissa Chilinski, Melanie Stock, Paul R. Grossl, Eli Oliver

All Current Publications

Trace elements, often referred to as heavy metals, naturally occur in the soil at low levels. Certain land use histories can elevate the concentrations of trace elements to levels that present health risks. Understanding which elements and soil test values may impact human or crop health is an important aspect of gardening and micro-farming, particularly in urban environments that are at increased risk of soil contamination. This fact sheet provides instructions on interpreting soil test results for trace elements through the Total Element Composition EPA 3050B Soil Test (#S19) at Utah State University Analytical Laboratory.

An Overview Of Research On Acceptance And Commitment Therapy, Michael E. Levin, Jennifer Krafft, Michael P. Twohig

Psychology Faculty Publications

This review summarized recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses on randomized controlled trials evaluating ACT. Although the strength of evidence varies, overall there is plausible evidence for the efficacy of ACT for a wide range of areas including depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, psychosis, substance use disorders, chronic pain, coping with chronic health conditions, obesity, stigma, and stress and burnout. ACT is also efficacious when delivered in digital self-help formats. Emerging evidence indicates the potential efficacy of ACT for children and adolescents and when applied across diverse populations. Reviews of mediation research indicate ACT works through increasing psychological flexibility.

Early Marriage Of Girls In The Context Of The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Literature Review, Shah Md Atiqul Haq, Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed, Shamim Al Aziz Lalin, Arnika Tabassum Arno, Khandaker Jafor Ahmed

Sociology and Anthropology Student Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching consequences worldwide and has also led to significant changes in people's lifestyles, resulting in an increase in social problems, such as early marriages for girls in different contexts. This study aimed to examine the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and early marriage among girls. Our analysis of 36 studies published between 2020 and 2023 shows that the pandemic has accelerated the number of early marriages for girls in several ways. In many countries, early marriages often result from social disintegration, loss of social support, inability to pay for basic needs, prolonged school closures, economic …

Te Kupenga – Reflecting On The Purposeful Collection, Interpretation, And Stor(Y)Ing Of Māori Women’S Knowledges., Deborah M. Heke

Journal of Indigenous Research

This paper provides a reflection on the methodology – Te Kupenga – after being presented at a number of international Indigenous conferences. It will explore the use of this intersecting methodology as a philosophical and practical approach to gathering, interpreting, and stor(y)ing mātauranga wahine (Māori women’s knowledges). The initial research project utilized this methodology and associated methods to come to understand the ways of being of physically active wāhine Māori and connect them to atua wāhine (feminine deities). The metaphor of the kupenga derives from both the structure and use of an open weave net, often used for fishing or …

Classification Of Major Solar Flares From Extremely Imbalanced Multivariate Time Series Data Using Minimally Random Convolutional Kernel Transform, Kartik Saini, Khaznah Alshammari, Shah Muhammad Hamdi, Soukaina Filali Boubrahimi

Computer Science Faculty and Staff Publications

Solar flares are characterized by sudden bursts of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun’s surface, and are caused by the changes in magnetic field states in active solar regions. Earth and its surrounding space environment can suffer from various negative impacts caused by solar flares, ranging from electronic communication disruption to radiation exposure-based health risks to astronauts. In this paper, we address the solar flare prediction problem from magnetic field parameter-based multivariate time series (MVTS) data using multiple state-of-the-art machine learning classifiers that include MINImally RandOm Convolutional KErnel Transform (MiniRocket), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Canonical Interval Forest (CIF), Multiple Representations Sequence …

Hearing Loss And Cognitive Decline In The Aging Population: Emerging Perspectives In Audiology, Naveen K. Nagaraj

Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education Faculty Publications

In this perspective article, the author explores the connections between hearing loss, central auditory processing, and cognitive decline, offering insights into the complex dynamics at play. Drawing upon a range of studies, the relationship between age-related central auditory processing disorders and Alzheimer’s disease is discussed, with the aim of enhancing our understanding of these interconnected conditions. Highlighting the evolving significance of audiologists in the dual management of cognitive health and hearing impairments, the author focuses on their role in identifying early signs of cognitive impairment and evaluates various cognitive screening tools used in this context. The discussion extends to adaptations …

A New Generation Of Collecting Priorities: Case Studies From The Northwest, Jodi Allison-Bunnell, Linda Long, Trevor J. Bond, Chloe Nielsen, Amy Valentine

Journal of Western Archives

The last twenty-five years have brought lively, important, and difficult discussions around heritage collections. We are called to broaden our collecting activities to be more inclusive of (among many things) all races, classes, and experiences. We have begun to move away from the troubled legacy of taking collections away from creators and toward empowering those same creators to steward their heritage. We confront a vast universe of current holdings and possible collections and have few models for assessing the opportunities. We also operate with some firm limitations on our budgets, personnel, and space that we have outdistanced with our collecting. …

Seven Top Opportunities For Utah Girls And Women, April Townsend, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Although national and statewide studies continue to show that women and girls in Utah are not thriving in critical areas, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) also wanted to explore what Utahns believe are opportunities for females in the state. With Utah continuing to have high levels of domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, and gender-based discrimination¹ and ranking as the worst state for women’s equality with low levels of women’s leadership representation in nearly all domains, Utahns need reminders that there are opportunities available. Even though we do know that the needle has moved slightly in …

Full-Body Stretches, Gabriela Murza

All Current Publications

This one-page guide provides stretching ideas for the whole body. A QR code is also included to access a video that you can follow as you move through the different stretching activities.

Using An Interrupted Case Study To Engage Undergraduates’ Critical Thinking Style And Enhance Content Knowledge, Kelsey Hall, Katherine Starzec

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

The interrupted case study is a structured way to engage students in active learning. Interruptions, or pauses for reflection and discussion scheduled within the case-study presentation, provide students with a chance to collaborate and engage in critical thinking. Critical thinking style, which is a measure of how one tends to think critically, provides insight into how one tackles problem solving. This article describes a pilot project that combined critical-thinking style and an interrupted case study, delivered over a two-class-period time frame, to four college courses. The project’s goals were to assess …

The Role Of Literature In Science: How The Science Of Teaching Reading Has Changed Children’S Literature In Preservice Teacher Coursework, Emily Holtz, Stephanie Moody

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

The Science of Teaching Reading (STR) has received increasing attention as states continue to pass educational policy initiatives grounded in STR research. One major change resulting from STR policies is the heavy focus on the systematic instruction of phonics. Texas in particular has seen sweeping changes to their preservice teacher (PST) certification requirements, resulting in teacher education programs (TEPs) having to adjust their literacy preparation coursework in response to these changes. This shift leaves questions surrounding the potential displacement of other literacy practices in TEPs, such as the use of children’s …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 8, Issue 1, Spring 2024

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2024 issue (Volume 8, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The Spring 2024 issue presents research and commentary on trends and best practices in higher education, with a focus on public policy implications for literacy instruction, adjusting instructional programs to Generation Z learning preferences in English courses, and increasing students' critical thinking and self-reported ability through an interrupted case study approach.

What Salt Lake County Leaders And Residents Can Do To Strengthen The Impact Of Girls And Women In Their Area, Deborah Lin, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

This idea sheet is based on a 2024 gathering of 65 leaders in Salt Lake County. Girls and women face challenges unique to the area in which they live, and the goal of this gathering was to identify those barriers and determine strategies and initiatives that local leaders and residents can implement to address them. This document includes recommendations in the following areas: education, home and family, health and wellbeing, government and community engagement, business and economics, and culture.

Temporal And Spatial Influences On Fawn Summer Survival In Pronghorn Populations: Management Implications From Noninvasive Monitoring, Cole A. Bleke, Eric M. Gese, Juan J. Villalba, Shane B. Roberts, Susannah S. French

Wildland Resources Student Research

Monitoring vital rates allows managers to estimate trends in growth rates of ungulate populations. However, connecting the influence of nutrition on ungulate demography is challenging. Noninvasive sampling offers a low-cost, low-effort alternative for measuring nutritional indices, allowing for an increased understanding of the mechanistic relationships between environmental factors, nutrition, and specific population vital rates. We examined the temporal influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) fawn recruitment. We collected fresh fecal samples from adult female pronghorn in five subpopulations spanning three sampling periods associated with critical maternal life-history stages (late gestation, early lactation, breeding season) …

Resurgence Of Destructive Behavior Following Decreases In Alternative Reinforcement: A Prospective Analysis, Brian D. Greer, Timothy A. Shahan, Casey Irwin Helvey, Wayne W. Fisher, Daniel R. Mitteer, Ashley M. Fuhrman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Basic and retrospective translational research has shown that the magnitude of resurgence is determined by the size of the decrease in alternative reinforcement, with larger decreases producing more resurgence. However, this finding has not been evaluated prospectively with a clinical population. In Experiment 1, five participants experienced a fixed progression of reinforcement schedule-thinning steps during treatment of their destructive behavior. Resurgence occurred infrequently across steps and participants, and when resurgence did occur, its clinical meaningfulness was often minimal. In Experiment 2, five new participants experienced these same schedule-thinning steps but in a counterbalanced order. Resurgence occurred most often and was …

Iaa-Producing Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria From Ceanothus Velutinus Enhance Cutting Propagation Efficiency And Arabidopsis Biomass, Jyothsna Ganesh, Katherine Hewitt, Ananta Raj Devkota, Ty Wilson, Amita Kaundal

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Climate-induced drought impacts plant growth and development. Recurring droughts increase the demand for water for food production and landscaping. Native plants in the Intermountain West region of the US are of keen interest in low water use landscaping as they are acclimatized to dry and cold environments. These native plants do very well at their native locations but are difficult to propagate in landscape. One of the possible reasons is the lack of associated microbiome in the landscaping. Microbiome in the soil contributes to soil health and impacts plant growth and development. Here, we used the bulk soil from the …

"It's Like Educating Us Older People...": Unveiling Needs And Expectations Regarding Educational Features Within Parental Control Tools, Prakriti Dumaru, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Faculty and Staff Publications

As children are getting access to devices at an increasingly younger age, parents need to grapple with new ways to protect them from online risks. This indicates the need for support from parental control tools to enhance their self-efficacy, which we refer to as educational features. This is little addressed in the existing literature on parental mediation. As we begin to address this gap, we created a low-fidelity prototype with designs of Google's existing parental control as our baseline design. We used the baseline design in semi-structured interviews with 12 parents whose children (aged below 14) are active Internet users, …

A First Look Into Targeted Clickbait And Its Countermeasures: The Power Of Storytelling, Ankit Shrestha, Audrey Flood, Saniat Sohrawardi, Matthew Wright, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Student Research

Clickbait headlines work through superlatives and intensifiers, creating information gaps to increase the relevance of their associated links that direct users to time-wasting and sometimes even malicious websites. This approach can be amplified using targeted clickbait that takes publicly available information from social media to align clickbait to users’ preferences and beliefs. In this work, we first conducted preliminary studies to understand the influence of targeted clickbait on users’ clicking behavior. Based on our findings, we involved 24 users in the participatory design of story-based warnings against targeted clickbait. Our analysis of user-created warnings led to four design variations, which …

"I Feel Like He's Looking In The Computer World To Be Social, But I Can't Trust His Judgement": Reimagining Parental Control For Children With Asd, Prakriti Dumaru, Bryson D. Hackler, Audrey Flood, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen

Computer Science Faculty and Staff Publications

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often seek comfort from devices (e.g., smartphones) to deal with social overstimulation. However, such reliance exposes them to inappropriate digital content and increases susceptibility to mimicry and social vulnerability. Thus, parents having children with ASD encounter unique challenges in regulating their device usage, which are little addressed in the existing literature on parental mediation. As we begin to address this gap, we designed low-fidelity prototypes centered around open communication and self-regulation, which we refined based on the feedback from six ASD experts in two focus groups. We evaluated updated designs (presented in the form …

Neurocognitive Functioning In Adults With Trichotillomania: Predictors Of Treatment Response And Symptom Severity In A Randomized Control Trial, Kathryn E. Barber, Douglas W. Woods, Thilo Deckersbach, Christopher C. Bauer, Scott N. Compton, Michael P. Twohig, Emily J. Ricketts, Jordan Robinson, Stephen M. Saunders, Martin E. Franklin

Psychology Faculty Publications

Trichotillomania (TTM) is associated with impairments in response inhibition and cognitive flexibility, but it is unclear how such impairments relate to treatment outcome. The present study examined pre-treatment response inhibition and cognitive flexibility as predictors of treatment outcome, change in these domains from pre- to post-treatment, and associations with TTM severity. Participants were drawn from a randomized controlled trial comparing acceptance-enhanced behavior therapy (AEBT) to psychoeducation and supportive therapy (PST) for TTM. Adults completed assessments at pre-treatment (n=88) and following 12 weeks of treatment (n=68). Response inhibition and cognitive flexibility were assessed using the Stop Signal …

Causal Inference In Ethnographic Research: Refining Explanations With Abductive Logic, Strength Of Evidence Assessments, And Graphical Models, Jeffrey G. Snodgrass, H. J. François Dengah Ii, Seth I. Sagstetter, Katya Xinyi Zhao

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

In their classic accounts, anthropological ethnographers developed causal arguments for how specific sociocultural structures and processes shaped human thought, behavior, and experience in particular settings. Despite this history, many contemporary ethnographers avoid establishing in their work direct causal relationships between key variables in the way that, for example, quantitative research relying on experimental or longitudinal data might. As a result, ethnographers in anthropology and other fields have not advanced understandings of how to derive causal explanations from their data, which contrasts with a vibrant “causal revolution” unfolding in the broader social and behavioral sciences. Given this gap in understanding, we …

Eleven Major Challenges Utah Women Face, April Townsend, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

National and statewide studies continue to show that women and girls in Utah are not thriving in critical areas. Year after year, Utah continues to have high levels of domestic violence, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, and gender-based discrimination.¹ Utah also is ranked as the worst state for women’s equality and has low levels of women’s leadership representation in nearly all domains, including politics and business. Although the needle has moved slightly in a few areas, the current trajectory will require three to four more decades to make notable progress. With this in mind, the Utah Women & Leadership …

Modeling The Effects Of Retinal Thinning And Oxidative Stress During Space Travel, Dillon Weatherston, Dylan Nelson, Justin Jones, Elizabeth Vargis

Utah Space Grant Consortium

Spaceflight causes both physical and chemical changes within the subretinal tissue, particularly the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and Bruch’s membrane. Changes such as layer thinning and increases in oxidative stress are both implicated in vision loss caused by spaceflight. While these changes can lead to cell death, the mechanistic impact that these changes have on retinal function are unknown. To isolate the physical alterations to the subretinal tissue caused by space travel, we utilized a tunable in vitro model of Bruch’s membrane and primary porcine RPE cells. Initial results showed that while thinner models can be constructed, they are difficult …

Expedited Cellular Uptake Of Hydrophobic Antioxidants For Oxidative Stress Mitigation Via F127 Micelle Encapsulation, Kyle Jackson, Kade Robison, David Britt, Yu Huang

Utah Space Grant Consortium

Various hydrophobic antioxidants remain unexplored for the treatment of space radiation and oxidative stress due to their inability to enter the cell without a drug delivery vehicle. Here, we explore the Pluronic F127 drug delivery vehicle, known as a micelle, and examine cellular responses following antioxidant delivery and oxidative stress mitigation. We also investigate methods for producing antioxidant-loaded micelles and their potential suitability for astronauts, including the best ways they might be administered during space flight missions. This research paves the way for new antioxidants to be used to protect astronauts from diseases caused by space conditions such as radiation …

Earth Observation Satellite Data Reveals Correlations Between Temperature, Turbidity, And Chlorophyll-A In Utah Lake, Kaylee B. Tanner

Utah Space Grant Consortium

No abstract provided.

Target Position And Velocity Estimation Using Doppler Information From Wifi Signals, James Hyland, Todd K. Moon

Utah Space Grant Consortium

RF signals reflected off of a moving target experience a Doppler shift determined by the speed of the target. This can be used for target tracking, which could be useful in a variety of settings, such as using a communication signal to track a satellite, or to determine the location of a person within the space station. Although these reflections are weak compared to the signal seen from a direct path, the Doppler components can still be extracted. By processing Doppler signals from multiple receivers, the position and velocity of a target moving in the vicinity of the system can …

The Role Of Monitoring The Partial Pressure Of Oxygen In Urine For Early Detection Of Acute Kidney Injury, Lars Lofgren, Kai Kück, Natalie Silverton

Utah Space Grant Consortium

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is defined as an abrupt decrease in renal function due to structural injury. AKI has a large effect on critical care patients due to a relatively high occurrence and association with poor outcomes. Currently, the diagnostic tools that we have, serum creatinine and urine output, are delayed indicators of the presence of injury and simply capture the drop in renal function. However, there is evidence that renal hypoxia plays a role in the development of most forms of AKI. Furthermore, there is a correlation between the partial pressure of oxygen in urine (PuO₂) and …

Assessing The Effects Of Cold Storage Regimes Of North American Bombus Gynes, Thuy Tien T. Lindsay, Marcia M. Hagen, Joyce N. Knoblett, Joseph P. Rinehart, Karen M. Kapheim, James P. Strange

Biology Faculty Publications

Bumble bees are the primary commercial pollinators for greenhouse-grown crops and managing them requires insight into the Bombus life cycle. However, some aspects of the life cycle are not fully understood. Once mated, adult Bombus gynes can be stored for a short term at a constant low temperature (CLT). However, survival rates for some species are low during CLT, particularly when storage periods exceed a month. To address this, we tested the hypothesis that Bombus gynes stored in a fluctuating thermal regime (FTR) have increased survival compared to gynes stored in CLT. Specifically, the FTR had a baseline temperature of …

Quantifying Time Spent Outdoors: A Versatile Method Using Any Type Of Global Positioning System (Gps) And Accelerometer Devices, Wei Liu, Timothy Chambers, Kimberly A. Clevenger, Karin A. Pfeiffer, Zachary Rzotkiewicz, Hyunseo Park, Amber L. Pearson

Kinesiology and Health Science Faculty Publications

Spending time outdoors is associated with increased time spent in physical activity, lower chronic disease risk, and wellbeing. Many studies rely on self-reported measures, which are prone to recall bias. Other methods rely on features and functions only available in some GPS devices. Thus, a reliable and versatile method to objectively quantify time spent outdoors is needed. This study sought to develop a versatile method to classify indoor and outdoor (I/O) GPS data that can be widely applied using most types of GPS and accelerometer devices. To develop and test the method, five university students wore an accelerometer (ActiGraph wGT3X-BT) …