Digital Commons Network^™

Tannin-Containing Legumes And Forage Diversity Influence Foraging Behavior, Diet Digestibility, And Nitrogen Excretion By Lambs, Sebastian Lagrange, Juan J. Villalba

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Diverse combinations of forages with different nutrient profiles and plant secondary compounds may improve intake and nutrient utilization by ruminants. We tested the influence of diverse dietary combinations of tannin- (sainfoin-Onobrichis viciifolia; birdsfoot trefoil-Lotus corniculatus) and non-tannin- (alfalfa-Medicago sativa L.) containing legumes on intake and diet digestibility in lambs. Freshly cut birdsfoot trefoil, alfalfa, and sainfoin were offered in ad libitum amounts to 42 lambs in individual pens assigned to 7 treatments (6 animals/treatment): 1) single forage species (sainfoin [SF], birdsfoot trefoil [BFT], and alfalfa [ALF]), 2) all possible …

Organic Wheat Prices And Premium Uncertainty: Can Cross Hedging And Forecasting Play A Role?, Tatiana Drugova, Veronica F. Pozo, Kynda R. Curtis, T. Randall Fortenbery

Applied Economics Faculty Publications

We compare the volatility of organic wheat prices to that of conventional wheat prices using historical measures. To reduce uncertainty, we examine the possibility of cross hedging using conventional wheat futures and the ability of futures to forecast the organic premium. Results provide evidence that conventional futures can be used to cross hedge organic wheat price risk, but results depend on the method used to impute the missing values. We also find a long-run equilibrium relationship between organic wheat prices and conventional wheat futures prices. Finally, futures prices contain some information useful in predicting organic prices in the short run.

Pleasantview Hills Aspen Stand Diversity Project: Environmental Assessment, Pocatello Field Office

Aspen Bibliography

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Pocatello Field Office (PFO) has prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to analyze the environmental impacts of implementing treatments on aspen stands in the Pleasantview Hills area. This EA discloses the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects that would result from implementation of this proposal as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. This EA will determine whether to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) based on environmental impact context and intensity, thereby informing agency decision making. Guidance for EA organization is determined by …

Comparison Of Skin Biomechanics And Skin Color In Puerto Rican And Non-Puerto Rican Women, Yadira Regueira, Jamison D. Fargo, Deborah Tiller, Kathleen Brown, Carla Clements, Barbara Beacham, Emily Brignone, Marilyn S. Sommers

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: Skin biomechanics are physical properties that protect the body from injury. Little is known about differences in skin biomechanics in racial/ethnic groups and the role of skin color in these differences. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between skin biomechanics (viscoelasticity, hydration) and skin color, when controlling for demographic and health-related variables in a sample of Puerto Rican and non-Puerto Rican women.

Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of data from 545 women in a longitudinal, observational study of skin injury in Puerto Rico and the United States. Data included measures of skin viscoelasticity, skin …

What Is Financial Health?, Amanda H. Christensen

All Current Publications

This fact sheet defines financial health and provides tools to help make your money work or you.

Demographic Assessment Of The Triploid Parthenogenetic Lizard Aspidoscelis Neotesselatus At The Northern Edge Of Its Range, Lise M. Aubry, Douglas Eifler, Kaera Utsumi, Susannah S. French

Biology Faculty Publications

Aspidoscelis neotesselatus (Colorado Checkered Whiptail) is a hybrid-derived triploid parthenogenetic lizard with a natural range overlapping with six counties in southeastern Colorado, USA. It has also become established by anthropogenic causation in Grant County, Washington State, approximately 1,600 km northwest of its range in Colorado. Large parts of its natural range are within military reservations. Reduced genetic variation in all-female species makes them especially susceptible to environmental disturbances, such as military activities. At Fort Carson (FC), we estimated an abundance index via a catch-per-unit estimator, weekly survival using Cormack-Jolly-Seber models, and body condition and clutch size as indicators of population …

Controls And Adaptive Management Of Nitrification In Agricultural Soils, Jeanette M. Norton, Yang Ouyang

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Agriculture is responsible for over half of the input of reactive nitrogen (N) to terrestrial systems; however improving N availability remains the primary management technique to increase crop yields in most regions. In the majority of agricultural soils, ammonium is rapidly converted to nitrate by nitrification, which increases the mobility of N through the soil matrix, strongly influencing N retention in the system. Decreasing nitrification through management is desirable to decrease N losses and increase N fertilizer use efficiency. We review the controlling factors on the rate and extent of nitrification in agricultural soils from temperate regions including substrate supply, …

Why Weightlifters Grunt: A Classroom Exercise That Introduces Students To Evolution, H. Charles Romesburg

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

A classroom exercise is described in which college students take part in creating and supporting an evolutionary hypothesis that explains effort grunting. The exercise holds their interest throughout and readies them to understand hypotheses of animal and plant evolution. It informs them about the dependence of cultural evolution upon biological evolution, and it connects widely to curricula.

Three Utah Projects Receive Ioti Funding To Improve Disability Training, Jolynne Lyon

Blog Posts

Blog post is about IOTI funding.

On-The-Road Testing Of The Effects Of Driver’S Experience, Gender, Speed, And Road Grade On Car Emissions, Abdelhaleem I. Khader, Randy S. Martin

Publications

On-road vehicles have become a dominant source of air pollution and energy consumption in many parts of the world. As a result, estimating the amount of pollution from these vehicles and analyzing the factors affecting their emission is necessary to understand and manage ambient air quality. Traditionally, automobile emissions have been measured with dynamometer tests using representative driving cycles. A review of the related literature shows that there is a lack of real life, on-the-road testing of automobile emissions. Moreover, a few previous studies have directly discussed the impact of driver variability on emissions from the vehicles. This research analyzes …

The Utah Statesman, August 27, 2019, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Extracellular Vesicles At The Fetal-Maternal Interface In Cattle, Heloisa M. Rutigliano

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Work Experiences Of Rural Social Workers In The United States, Jayme E. Walters, Aubrey E. Jones, Aaron R. Brown

Sociology, Social Work and Anthropology Faculty Publications

Rural social workers face unique challenges and opportunities as they seek to address the needs of rural Americans. Using social media, rural social workers in the U.S. were recruited to describe their characteristics and explore factors related to their job satisfaction, burnout, and organizational commitment. Analyses included univariate descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and multiple regression. The sample (N = 192) represented 146 counties in 36 states. Participants tended to be White, female, MSW-degreed direct-service providers. Participants were moderately satisfied with their organizational environments and workloads. Age, being Black, and working in settings other than child welfare were most strongly related …

Home Range And Habitat Use Of West Virginia Canis Latrans (Coyote), Lauren L. Mastro, Dana J. Morin, Eric M. Gese

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Canis latrans (Coyote) has undergone a range expansion in the United States over the last century. As a highly opportunistic species, its home range and habitat use changes with ecological context. Coyotes were first reported in West Virginia in 1950 but were not commonly observed until the 1990s, and there is scant information on Coyotes in the region. We used telemetry data from 8 radiocollared Coyotes in West Virginia to estimate home-range size and third-order habitat selection. Home-range areas (95% utilization distributions; UDs) varied from 5.22 to 27.79 km² (mean = 12.48 ± 2.61 km²), with highly …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, August 26, 2019, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Welcome 2019-2020 Faculty Senators
• College Level Faculty Forums
• Human Resource Policy Changes
• Empowering Teaching Excellence
• 403.3.1 – Standards of Conduct – Faculty Responsibilities to Student
• 403.3.2 – Standards of Conduct – Professional Obligations
• 405.8.2 – Faculty with Tenure below Rank of Professor
• 405.11.4 – External Peer Reviews
• 405.12.2 – Post-Tenure Review of Tenured Faculty
• 407.1.1 – Non-punitive Measures
• 407.8.5(3) – Temporary Suspension with Full Pay Pending Final Disposition
• 407.11.2(2) – Notification of Faculty Member
• 407.11.3 – Protection of Complainant and Others

Spectroscopic Description Of The E1 State Of Mo Nitrogenase Based On Mo And Fe X‑Ray Absorption And MöSsbauer Studies, Casey Van Stappen, Roman Davydov, Zhi-Yong Yang, Ruixi Fan, Yisong Guo, Eckhard Bill, Lance C. Seefeldt, Brian M. Hoffman, Serena Debeer

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Mo nitrogenase (N2ase) utilizes a two-component protein system, the catalytic MoFe and its electron-transfer partner FeP, to reduce atmospheric dinitrogen (N₂) to ammonia (NH₃). The FeMo cofactor contained in the MoFe protein serves as the catalytic center for this reaction and has long inspired model chemistry oriented toward activating N₂. This field of chemistry has relied heavily on the detailed characterization of how Mo N2ase accomplishes this feat. Understanding the reaction mechanism of Mo N2ase itself has presented one of the most challenging problems in bioinorganic chemistry because of the ephemeral nature of its …

What’S In A Name? The Morality In “Meat”, Rachel Robinson-Greene

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

In 2018, Missouri banned the use of the word “meat” to describe products that are “not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry.” As punishment, “Violators are subject to up to one year in prison and a fine of as much as $1,000.” The law was written in response to the rise in popularity of realistic meat substitutes such as Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat and to the emerging technology of cell cultured meats. Similar laws followed in states such as Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

Integration Of Science, Technology, Engineering, And Math Into A Food And Nutrition Curriculum In Utah, Cathy A. Merrill, Becki G. Lawver

Applied Sciences, Technology and Education Faculty Publications

In 2014, Family and Consumer Sciences teachers in Utah revised the Food and Nutrition Sciences curriculum to strengthen Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)‐related content. This study is a needs assessment of the state implementation of the STEM‐enhanced curriculum in 2015–2016. A Borich needs assessment model was used to analyze mean weighted discrepancy scores between teacher‐perceived levels of importance and teacher‐perceived competence for each objective in the new curriculum. The results showed that although teachers felt moderately competent to teach the new curriculum, the highest ranked need for professional development was in Standard 1: Kitchen Safety Procedures and Sanitation. Professional …

Linking Cellular Activity To Brain Tumors | College Of Engineering, Utah State University

College of Engineering News

A team of researchers at Utah State University is tackling one of the newest questions in cancer research: Is cellular blebbing associated with the development of tumors?

Sudden Aspen Decline: A Review Of Pattern And Process In A Changing Climate, Jack A. Singer, Rob Turnbull, Mark Foster, Charles Bettigole, Brent R. Frey, Michelle C. Downey, Kristofer R. Covey, Mark S. Ashton

Aspen Bibliography

The American quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) and its close relative, the Eurasian quaking aspen (Populus tremula L.), cover a realm that is perhaps the most expansive of all tree species in the world. In North America, sudden aspen decline (SAD) is a growing concern that marks the rapid decline of quaking aspen trees leading to mortality at the stand and landscape scale. Research suggests that drought and water stress are the primary causes of SAD. Predisposing factors (age, structure, and landscape position), as well as associated stressors (i.e., pests and pathogens), have been linked to mortality in affected stands. …

Spacecube V3.0 Nasa Next-Generation High-Performance Processor For Science Applications, Alessandro Geist, Cody Brewer, Milton Davis, Nicholas Franconi, Sabrena Heyward, Travis Wise, Gary Crum, David Petrick, Robin Ripley, Christopher Wilson, Thomas Flatley

Small Satellite Conference

Electronics for space systems must address several considerable challenges including achieving operational resiliency within the hazardous space environment and also meeting application performance needs while simultaneously managing size, weight, and power requirements. To drive the future revolution in space processing, onboard systems need to be more flexible, affordable, and robust. In order to provide a robust solution to a variety of missions and instruments, the Science Data Processing Branch at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)has pioneered a hybrid-processing approach that combines radiation-hardened and commercial components while emphasizing a novel architecture harmonizing the best capabilities of CPUs, DSPs, and FPGAs. …

Remove Debris Mission: In-Orbit Operations, Guglielmo S. Aglietti, Ben Taylor, Simon Fellowes, S. Ainley, D. Tye, C. Cox, A. Zarkesh, A. Mafficini, N. Vinkoff, K. Bashford, Thierry Salmon, Ingo Retat, Christopher Burgess, Alexander Hall, Thomas Chabot, K. Kanani, Aurelien Pisseloup, Cesar Bernal, Francois Chaumette, Alexandre Pollini, W. H. Steyn

Small Satellite Conference

The RemoveDebris mission has been the first Active Debris Removal (ADR) mission to give in orbit demonstrations of cost effective technologies that can be used to observe, capture and dispose of space debris.

The craft was launched to the ISS on the 2nd of April 2018, on board a Dragon capsule. From here the satellite was deployed via the NanoRacks Kaber system into an orbit at 405km altitude and has performed key technology demonstrations including the use of a net, a harpoon, vision-based navigation (VBN) and a dragsail in a realistic space operational environment.

Two CubeSats have been released by …

Seeker 1.0: Prototype Robotic Free Flying Inspector Mission Overview, Brian Banker, Scott Askew

Small Satellite Conference

Seeker 1.0 is a prototype free flying robot that will one day be capable of inspecting human-rated spacecraft. Building off previous free flyer experience, this technology will eventually improve safety of human spacecraft by offering a variety of inspection capabilities for both routine and emergency scenarios providing increased capability and safety over current inspection methods. Seeker 1.0 is capable of 6 degree of freedom flight via a cold gas propulsion system and can operate up to 1 hour via a semi-autonomous guidance, navigation, and control system. The prototype spacecraft is capable of capturing still images at a variety of resolutions …

Development Of A Microsat For On-Orbit Satellite Surgery, Ted Nye, Andrew Schurr, Mark Milam

Small Satellite Conference

Advanced technology is emerging that can now provide rudimentary on-orbit spacecraft fabrication, assembly, and repair. New research was started in 2013 to develop a CubeSat-sized spacecraft capable of performing telerobotic surgery on an existing asset. The surgical functions involved freeing a snagged appendage, cutting and splicing into a wire harness, cleaning a surface, repairing thermal insulation, and cutting/welding structure via laser technology. Through testbed demonstrations at Northrop, technology was developed for a number of these critical mission needs. These involved development of a miniature 6 DOF propulsion system, creating monitoring sensing methods that work under various lighting conditions over a …

Behind The Us's Largest Rideshare Launch: Spaceflight's Sso-A, Jeffrey Roberts, Adam Hadaller

Small Satellite Conference

Spaceflight’s record-setting SSO-A mission successfully launched 64 customer spacecraft into orbit onboard a Falcon 9 launch vehicle on 3 December 2018. SSO-A is a unique mission because it was a dedicated rideshare mission without a primary spacecraft. All 64 cubesats and microsats shared a ride together to orbit. The diverse number of organizations represented on this mission were all at different levels of maturity for their spacecraft, and this resulted in numerous mission design revisions to SSO-A as the customer manifest changed significantly over the course of the mission. Spaceflight created a flexible hardware architecture, analytical tools to rapidly update …

Modularized Air-Launch With Virgin Orbit's Launcherone System: Responsive Smallsat Constellation Construction Measured In Hours, Not Months, John Fuller, Veronica Foreman, Sirisha Bandla, Monica Jan, Wade Mcelroy, Mandy Vaughn

Small Satellite Conference

As small satellites and the constellations they comprise have become increasingly prevalent, there has been greater interest in the value added by agile and responsive launch systems. Responsiveness, defined here as the ability of a launch vehicle to react quickly and positively to changing payload, customer, or situational constraints, is a capability that has largely been enabled by the rise of the smallsat launch industry and introduces a new set of considerations for smallsat mission stakeholders. This work examines the relative advantage of an air-launched small satellite launch vehicle network for rapid deployment of small satellite constellations, using Virgin Orbit’s …

Turning Off The Lights: Automating Skysat Mission Operations, Sean Henely, Bethany Baldwin-Pulcini, Kyle Smith

Small Satellite Conference

A common goal for satellite operations is to achieve a level of automation that minimizes human interaction, especially as constellation sizes increase. Planet’s SkySat fleet is a constellation of high resolution Earth imaging smallsats that has grown from three to fifteen satellites in three years. This rapid expansion, along with Planet’s goal of improving operational reliability, has necessitated automating operations to reduce manual effort to maintain the health and safety fleet. To address the growing amount of work required for anomaly triage, systems were created for automated anomaly response. These systems have removed the need to actively monitor satellite health …

The Mobile Cubesat Command And Control (Mc3) Ground Station Network: An Overview And Look Ahead, Giovanni Minelli, Lara Magallanes, Noah Weitz, David Rigmaiden, James Horning, James Newman, Maj Mark Scott, Sean Brady, Chiffon Watkins, Jacob Christensen, Chad Buttars, Ryan Beus, Riley Oakden

Small Satellite Conference

The Mobile CubeSat Command and Control (MC3) ground station network is a Department of Defense (DoD)-led effort to build common-use infrastructure supporting communications and mission operations of small satellites for a wide range of US government organizations, contractors, universities, and foreign partners. The network consists of low-cost ground station terminals fielded at participating institutions, providing operators bent-pipe access to their satellites from any location with an internet connection. MC3 currently consists of eight active stations, and three international collaborators. One of the most important aspects of the ground station network has been the diverse community of small satellite users that …

Balancing Capability And Cost On The Stpsat-5 Microsat Mission, Clifford Graham, Mark Barrera, Pat Remias, John Eterno, Linda Ettling

Small Satellite Conference

STPSat-5 is a small technology demonstration satellite developed for the DoD Space Test Program, recently launched in December 2018. The STPSat-5 space vehicle is hosting five separate space experiments in Low Earth Orbit on a single Microsatellite platform. This paper discusses the development and operation of the STPSat-5 mission with an emphasis on methods used to achieve high capability with low-cost solutions. The application of CubeSat-class hardware in a Microsatellite-class space vehicle is reviewed. Attention is given to approaches for establishing flight readiness for commercial hardware. In addition, this paper covers lessons learned in adapting heritage flight software for operation …

A Rolling Perspective: Trust Issues, Jennifer Holland

Blog Posts

The blog post is about a perspective on trust issues.