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The Reflection Of Light From Periodic Conducting Interfaces, Christian Lange

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

It is known that carbon-nanotube (CNT) forests, nanopillar arrays, and other high aspect-ratio conducting and semi-conducting nanostructures can have extremely low reflectance in a wide range of wavelengths, and that reflectance begins to rise at long wavelengths. The mechanism for this behavior is poorly understood. It has been shown that the reflectance of CNT forest varies with the morphology of the forest, which indicates that the interface of such a material may play a primary role in its reflectance and absorptance.

Simulations of the reflection of light from arrays of conducting nanorods using commercial finite-difference-time-domain software predict a similar increase …

Environmental Racism In A Growing City: Investigating Demographic Shifts In Salt Lake City's Polluted Neighborhoods, Emma Nathel Jones

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Studies investigating the spatial distribution of environmental hazards have repeatedly demonstrated the existence of environmental racism -- the disproportionate impact of environmental hazards on communities of color. We aim to contribute to research on environmental racism by asking how relationships between race and hazard exposure change over time. Our study area, Salt Lake City (SLC), UT, USA is one of the largest cities in the intermountain west and is expected to see continued population growth. SLC was 99% white from 1860-1950. 2019 census estimates indicate that SLC is becoming more racially diverse with 35.6% of the population identifying as racial …

Self-Regulated Learning In A Pandemic: Implementing The See Framework In An Online Teaching Environment, Haley Hand

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a cyclical process that motivates students and facilitates achievement in a variety of domains (Wang, 2013). It entails several processes, such as planning, setting goals, using learning strategies, self-monitoring, reflecting, and holding adaptive motivational beliefs. Moreover, SRL can be developed through interventions and classroom practices. However, there is a shortage of trained interventionists. Teachers can also use a variety of classroom practices to develop students’ SRL skills. A framework of practices, known as the Settings, Events, and Exchanges (SEE) framework, was developed to organize these classroom practices for teachers (Callan et al., 2020).

The practices in …

Optimal Control Of Algae Biofilm Growth In Wastewater Treatment Using Computational Mathematical Models, Gerald Benjamin Jones

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Microalgal biofilms are comprised of a syntrophic consortium of microalgae and other microorganisms embedded within an extracellular matrix. Despite significant processes in the application of microalgal biofilms in wastewater treatment, mechanistic understanding and optimization of microalgal biomass yield and productivity under environmental constraints is still lacking. This paper identifies theoretical insights on this challenging biological problem by leveraging novel mathematical and computational tools. In particular, through a computational mathematical model to advance the understanding of microalgal biofilm growth kinetics under environmental constraints through a systematic parameter study. Moreover, design of algae biofilm reactors for optimal biomass yield and productivity in …

Fundamental Aspects Of Black Holes, Jacob Fisher Ciafre

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

The literature study here seeks to present the foundations of black hole physics in General Relativity. The report includes a discussion of the Kerr black hole metric, black hole entropy, particle creation, the laws of black hole mechanics, and a bilinear mass formula for the Kerr-Newman black hole solution.

A Review Of Harmful Algal Bloom Prediction Models For Lakes And Reservoirs, Jade Snyder Echard

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

Anthropogenic activity has led to eutrophication in water bodies across the world. This eutrophication promotes blooms, cyanobacteria being among the most notorious bloom organisms. Cyanobacterial blooms (more commonly referred to as harmful algal blooms (HABs)) can devastate an ecosystem. Cyanobacteria are resilient microorganisms that have adapted to survive under a variety of conditions, often outcompeting other phytoplankton. Some species of cyanobacteria produce toxins that ward off predators. These toxins can negatively affect the health of the aquatic life, but also can impact animals and humans that drink or come in contact with these noxious waters. Although cyanotoxin’s effects on humans …

An In-Depth Look At Learning Computer Language Syntax In A High-Repetition Practice Environment, Stephanie Gonzales

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Students in an introductory computer science course generally have difficulty producing code that follows the arrangement rules known as syntax. Phanon was created to help students practice writing correct code that follows the rules of syntax. Previous research suggests this tool has helped students improve their exam scores and strengthen effectiveness in the course. A study was conducted to observe students while they complete the syntax exercises to find meaningful patterns in the steps the students take to complete an exercise.

Evidence to support high intrinsic load was found throughout the study, which is a measure of difficulty learning a …

Data-Driven Recommendation Of Academic Options Based On Personality Traits, Aashish Ghimire

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The choice of academic major and, subsequently, an academic institution has a massive effect on a person’s career. It not only determines their career path but their earning potential, professional happiness, etc. [1] About 40% of people who are admitted to a college do not graduate within six years. Yet, very limited resources are available for students to help make those decisions, and each guidance counselor is responsible for roughly 400 to 900 students across the United States. A tool to help these decisions would benefit students, parents, and guidance counselors.

Various research studies have shown that personality traits affect …

Deep Learning And Optimization In Visual Target Tracking, Mohammadreza Javanmardi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Visual tracking is the process of estimating states of a moving object in a dynamic frame sequence. It has been considered as one of the most paramount and challenging topics in computer vision. Although numerous tracking methods have been introduced, developing a robust algorithm that can handle different challenges still remains unsolved. In this dissertation, we introduce four different trackers and evaluate their performance in terms of tracking accuracy on challenging frame sequences. Each of these trackers aims to address the drawbacks of their peers. The first developed method is called a structured multi-task multi-view tracking (SMTMVT) method, which exploits …

Sonic Boom Loudness Reduction Through Localized Supersonic Aircraft Equivalent-Area Changes, Troy A. Abraham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The NASA University Leadership Initiative (ULI) titled “Adaptive Aerostructures for Revolutionary Civil Supersonic Transportation” looks to study the feasibility of distributed structural adaptivity on a supersonic aircraft for maintaining acceptable en-route sonic boom loudness during overland flight. The ULI includes a team of industry and university partners that are working together to develop and implement the systems necessary to accomplish this goal.

The Utah State University Aerolab is a member of this ULI team and has been tasked with developing and using low-fidelity supersonic aerodynamic and sonic boom predictions tools to rapidly study the effects of localized geometry changes on …

Mechanisms Of Overyielding And Coexistence In Diverse Tallgrass Prairie Communities, Leslie E. Forero

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Plants compete for the same basic nutrient and water resources. According to the competitive exclusion principle, when a substantial overlap in resource pools exists, the best competitor for resources should drive all other species to extinction. The ability for plants to coexist in violation of the competitive exclusion principle is the “biodiversity paradox”. Coexistence is actually beneficial for plants: as species diversity increases, you typically see increases in plant biomass production (known as the biodiversity-productivity relationship). The mechanisms behind coexistence and the biodiversity-productivity relationship remain an ecological mystery. One hypothesis is that plants obtain water and nutrients from different places …

The Effect Of High Elevation Weather Stations On The Usda's Pasture, Rangeland, And Forage Insurance Program, Wyatt Matthew Feuz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper examines the effect of high elevation weather stations on the rainfall index used by the Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage insurance program. Weather station data for the state of Utah is used to identify high elevation weather stations and their location. Utilizing the corresponding rainfall index data, the effect of the high elevation weather stations is determined. This paper finds when high elevation weather stations begin reporting there is a jump up of 19.01–27.88 percentage points on average in the rainfall index for the corresponding grid locations. This indicates the rainfall index may not accurately represent actual precipitation amounts …

Preschool Children's Development In Number, Geometry, And Executive Function: A Cross-Lagged Examination, Brionne G. Neilson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Children develop rapidly during early childhood, and this includes their mathematics and executive function (EF) skills. Past research has focused on connections between early mathematics and EF, but more work was needed to fully understand these relations. In particular, past studies have generally used numeracy-based measures to assess early mathematics, although professional guidelines indicate a more comprehensive construct that includes geometry. The research herein addresses some of the gaps of previous work as it examines unique connections between early number, geometry, and EF. One hundred eighteen preschool children from urban and rural communities, being an average age of 53 months …

Sensitivity And Estimation Of Aerodynamic, Propulsion, And Inertial Parameters For Rudderless Aircraft Using Simulation, Jaden W. Thurgood

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A technique known as system identification is often used in aircraft design and testing to understand and validate the mathematical parameters that describe the aircrafts stability and handling characteristics. System identification can be thought of as the inverse of simulation. In the world of system identification, we have a physical system that we seek to understand in more detail by monitoring the system with an array of sensors. In short, we conduct tests of an aircraft while recording the inputs and response outputs. Then we take the input and output data and run it through an algorithm that seeks to …

Achieving Hate Speech Detection In A Low Resource Setting, Peiyu Li

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Online social networks provide people with convenient platforms to communicate and share life moments. However, because of the anonymous property of these social media platforms, the cases of online hate speeches are increasing. Hate speech is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation”. Online hate speech has caused serious negative effects to legitimate users, including mental or emotional stress, reputational damage, and fear for one’s safety. To protect legitimate online users, automatically hate speech detection techniques are …

Studies Of Classical Analysis After Whittaker And Watson, Ting-Yao Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The goal of this thesis is to solve problems from the first four chapters of the book, titled A Course of Modern Analysis: An Introduction to the General Theory of Infinite Processes and of Analytic Functions with an Account of the Principal Transcendental Functions by E.T. Whittaker and G.N. Watson. The titles of the first four chapters are “Complex Numbers,” “The Theory of Convergence,” “Continuous Functions and Uniform Convergence,” and “The Theory of Riemann Integration,” respectively. This book is a classic mathematical analysis textbook that contains some challenging end-of-chapter exercises and some details within each chapter are often left to …

Application Of Flow And Ion Data To Estimate Ungaged Inflows And Losses In Urban And Agricultural Sub-Reaches Of The Logan River Observatory, Hyrum Tennant

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Streams in urban and agricultural environments are often heavily diverted for irrigation and drinking water purposes. These streams can receive inflow from unmeasured sources including stormwater returns, groundwater drains, and irrigation runoff that will help sustain flow during dry periods. Due to an inability to identify the source of most of these inflows or directly measure their volumes, there is a clear need for identification and quantification methods. Streamflow data from the Logan River Observatory illustrates the importance of unidentified inflows in sections influenced by large diversions. To understand the role of unidentified inflows and possible outflows in this portion …

Application Of Computational Fluid Dynamics To Determine Gas Expansion Factors Of Differential Pressure Flow Meters, Patrick L. Campana

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to investigate if computer simulations could be used to accurately predict gas expansion in differential pressure flow meters. Differential pressure flow meters are used to measure the flow rate of pressurized liquids and gases through pipes. Computer simulations of liquid and gas flows were conducted for three distinct differential pressure flow meter geometries: Classical Venturis, Stand Concentric orifice plates, and wedge meters.

Gas flows were modeled as dry air using the assumption of a perfect gas. Expansion effects were modeled using the ideal gas law. Computer simulations of Classical Venturi and Standard Concentric orifice …

The Biggest Snowball Fight In Earth History: Stratigraphy, Facies Analysis, And Geochronology Of The Pocatello Formation, Matthew W. Ellison

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Snowball Earth Hypothesis details a time in Earth’s history (the Cryogenian period) where the entire planet was encapsulated by kilometer thick ice sheets for two, multi-million-year glaciations. The first, known as the Sturtian, lasted from 717 – 660 million years ago while the second, known as the Marinoan, lasted form approximately 650 – 635 million years ago. Snowball Earth was caused by a few processes that sort of built upon each other: Rodinia began splitting apart ~740 million years ago which allowed for increased rates of silicate weathering. High rates of silicate weathering resulted in CO₂ drawdown which …

Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of River Incision And Terrace Deposition In Response To Climate And Tectonics In Southern Taiwan, Dominique M. Shore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Geologists often look at the Earth’s surface to understand the underlying processes that cause mountain formation. As tectonic forces drive uplift of Earth’s surface, processes of erosion transport sediment to lower elevations. Climate can play a large role in landscape formation as well as increased precipitation, accelerating rates of erosion. Rivers leave markers of landscape evolution through terrace landforms, former river floodplains that are left behind when rivers incise into a valley. To better understand landscape response to uplift, this research investigated the initial linkages between uplift, hillslope erosion (mass wasting) and river incision. At some point, it is thought …

Socioscientific Issues In School-Based Agricultural Education: Describing And Exploring Factors Of Integration, Michelle S. Burrows

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Socioscientific issues (SSI) are complex issues which are scientific in nature and have societal impacts. Many SSI have connections to agriculture and as such should be included in agricultural education curriculum. A clear understanding of what school-based agricultural education (SBAE) teachers know about SSI is needed. The purpose of this research was to explore the knowledge and integration of SSI among SBAE teachers by describing and explaining the factors that influence integration. This quantitative survey research was guided by the SSI-based instruction framework and the three-component model of agricultural education. The population for this study was all SBAE teachers in …

Retail Trading And Stock Volatility: The Case Of Robinhood, Cooper Jones

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

We examine the relation between Robinhood usership and stock market volatility. We show that daily fluctuations in Robinhood usership, which is used to proxy retail trading, significantly influence various measures of volatility. These results might suggest that Robinhood users contribute to noise trading as they are generally individuals trading on name recognition, media coverage, popularity, and familiarity of products, rather than on fundamental values. In our empirical approach, we find that the percentage increase in Robinhood usership Granger causes increases in daily stock volatility.

Developing Advanced Electrodes And Electrolytes For Energy Storage Beyond Li Ion Batteries, Kevin V. Nielson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Electric vehicles, smart phones, and portable computers are all powered by lithium-ion batteries. This is because Li-ion batteries can store more energy in less space than other battery technologies. Also, they are rechargeable and last for a long time. The most recent 2019 Nobel prize in chemistry was awarded to John Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino “for the development of lithium-ion batteries”. Through their work, they have made possible cars that do not burn fossil fuels and phones that are wireless and portable. Not only can Li-ion power your phone, it is an incredibly efficient way to store …

Renewable Energy Conversion: Organic Redox Flow Batteries And Electrocatalytic Carbon Dioxide Reduction, Camden R. Debruler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Steadily increasing global energy demands have pushed the industry to investigate renewable energy sources like solar and wind to help alleviate the strain on fossil fuel based non-renewable energy sources while also reducing carbon emissions. However, the energy producing power of these renewable technologies is limited by factors such as weather and the day-night cycle. Additional energy storage technologies are needed which are capable of storing excess energy during periods of high productivity, and delivering it when production rates fluctuate.

Batteries represent one possible energy storage device to meet this need. Specifically, redox flow batteries (RFBs) offer advantages in terms …

Power Of Near-Peers: Conceptualizing And Testing A Near-Peer Mentoring Model In Raising Youths' Self-Efficacy In Computer Programming, Chongning Sun

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Self-efficacy is seen as a barrier for youth, females in particular, to enter computer science (CS). In this study, I presented a near-peer mentoring model that focused on changing the mentee’s self-efficacy in CS. The present study had three objectives: (a) to design a near-peer mentoring model (i.e., a conceptual model) around the sources of information that influence self-efficacy, (b) to develop a mentor training model based on the conceptual model, and (c) to test the effectiveness of the training model in increasing mentees’ self-efficacy in the context of a summer App programming camp. The present study adopted a mixed-methods …

Development Of A Variable Extensometer Method For Measuring Ductility Scaling Parameters, Adam J. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Ductility is the measure of how much a material can stretch before separation. It is usually measured in percent elongation, which is the amount a material stretches divided by its original length before stretching. This is an important property to understand for both the design for performance and safety. A material’s ductility can be influenced by several factors including heat treatment, machining, temperature, and radiation dose. Materials used in nuclear energy facilities are often exposed to all these factors, and it is important to be able to understand ductility at each possible combination.

Ductility is usually characterized through tension tests …

Raw Depth Image Enhancement Using A Neural Network, Xuan Xie

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The term image is often used to denote a data format that records information about a scene’s color. This dissertation object focuses on a similar format for recording distance information about a scene, “depth images”. Depth images have been used extensively in consumer-level applications, such as Apple’s Face ID, based on depth images for face recognition.

However, depth images suffer from low precision and high errors, and some post-processing techniques need to be utilized to improve their quality. Deep learning, or neural networks, are frameworks that use a series of hierarchically arranged nonlinear networks to process input data. Although each …

Regionalized Models With Spatially Continuous Predictions At The Borders, Jadon S. Wagstaff

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Creating maps of continuous variables involves estimating values between measurement locations scattered throughout a geographic region. These maps often leverage observed similarities between geographically close measurements, but may also make predictions using other geographic information such as elevation. The relationship between the available geographic information and the variable of interest can vary with location, especially when mapping large areas like a continent. A simple way to account for the changing relationship is to divide the space into different sub-regions and model the relationship at each region. The naive implementation of this approach has the side effect of making sudden changes …

Remote Ocean Forcing On Interannual-To-Decadal Climate Variability Through Inter-Basin Interactions, Zachary F. Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation explores the connection between ocean basins through the atmosphere by employing observational data analyses and a climate modeling approach. Sea surface temperature changes in the tropical Pacific, known as the El Niño Southern Oscillation, can influence worldwide weather and sea surface temperatures in other ocean basins. For instance, tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures can impact the Atlantic and Indian Oceans through airflow changes along the equator. However, Atlantic and Indian Ocean sea surface temperature changes can also influence the tropical Pacific through similar processes. Therefore, it is challenging to identify the mechanisms of these remote connections between ocean …

Taphonomy Of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) Morrison Formation Apatosaurus Sp. Vertebrae Found Associated With Teeth From Allosaurus Sp. And Ceratosaurus Sp., And Body Size Extrapolation From The Associated Theropod Teeth., Greg C. Agyan

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

An Apatosaurus sp. locality from Dinosaur National Monument designated DNM-15 was excavated in 1985, and associated with two Allosaurus teeth and one Ceratosaurus tooth that were near one of the caudal vertebrae. The Ceratosaurus tooth was buried between an overlying rib and that same caudal vertebra. The caudal vertebrae of the DNM-15 Apatosaurus were intact and articulated, but the anterior skeleton was mostly absent, with a row of articulated sacral vertebrae in close association with a femur. Two other Allosaurus teeth were reported near the preserved ilium of the Apatosaurus, but they could not be located in the collections. …