Digital Commons Network^™

What We Stand To Gain: Librarians Leading Collaborative Assignment Design, Kacy Lundstrom, Rachel Wishkoski, Erin Davis

Library Faculty & Staff Presentations

One of many shifting areas for academic librarians is their role in the design of research assignments. While many librarians possess both expertise and the desire to engage in assignment design, doing so in practice requires deep collaboration and careful role negotiation with discipline faculty. Faculty, who themselves have varied degrees of formal pedagogical training, may not recognize librarians as teachers with this instructional design expertise. Finding the “collaboration sweet spot” can be difficult to achieve in spite of best intentions (Junisabai, Lowe, & Tagge, 2016). However, librarian participation in creating authentic, scaffolded research opportunities is crucial if we are …

Usu Opens State-Of-The-Art Idea Factory For Aggie Engineers | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The College of Engineering at Utah State University is debuting its brand new Idea Factory, a state-of-the-art design and fabrication facility on the Logan campus.

The Utah Statesman, September 19, 2017, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Feasibility Analysis Of Electric Roadways, Regan Zane

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, September 18, 2017, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• EPC Annual Report
• Honors Program Report
• Parking Committee Annual Report
• Libraries Advisory Council Annual Report
  
  
  

Collaborative Research: Synergistic Merging Of Traditional Aeronomy With Targeted High-Frequency (Hf) Heating Diagnostics, Herbert C. Carlson

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Agenda, September 11, 2017, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Research & Graduate Studies
• Graduate School Feedback

Promoting Intercultural Competence In Diverse U.S. Classrooms Through Ethnographic Interviews, Ekaterina Arshavskaya

Languages, Philosophy, and Communication Studies Faculty Publications

To meet the demands of contemporary society, students needs to develop the ability to interact effectively with people from different cultures. To advance this goal, a project involving ethnographic interviews was introduced to an intercultural communication course. Participating students' attitudes toward other cultures were measured on a Likert scale at the beginning and end of the project. The findings show that through the interviews, the students developed greater awareness of their own cultures and of themselves within their culture and deepened their knowledge of other cultures. Yet, the majority of the students did not show greater interest in learning a …

Be Capstone Design Students Sample Scofield Reservoir: Harmful Algal Blooms | Sustainable Waste-To-Bioproducts Engineering Center, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Identifying, harvesting, and treating harmful algae blooms (HABs) is the ultimate goal of the BE Capstone Design team for 2017.

Interest Exceeds Understanding In Public Support Of Bee Conservation, Joseph S. Wilson, Matthew L. Forister, Olivia Messinger Carril

Biology Faculty Publications

Recent analyses suggesting that certain populations of bees may be declining have led to a variety of conservation efforts, many of which rely on public support and participation. However, little is known about the public's knowledge of bee diversity. We carried out a survey to measure public understanding of bee diversity and found that although 99% of respondents believed that bees are critical or important, only 14% were able to guess within 1000 the actual number of bee species in the US. Furthermore, when reviewing a selection of photographs depicting various insects, many respondents were unable to discern bees from …

The Back Page: Management Or Emotions - What Do The People Think?, Terry A. Messmer

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Over the last several months, I have participated on a national steering committee that organized and conducted the National Wild Horse and Burro (WHB) Summit. The Summit was held in Salt Lake City, Utah, August 22–24, 2017. My role was to put together a program that reviewed the role of science in WHB policies and management. The program was designed to inform and educate an audience that expressed an interest in WHB management and a concern that status quo management wasn’t working. Attendees represented a wide and diverse audience of >100 groups, organizations, and agencies, including representatives of horse advocacy …

Ususub Qualifies At 2017 International Robosub Competition | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Engineering students from the Utah State University RoboSub team competed last month in San Diego at Robonation's annual International RoboSub Competition and made it through the qualifying rounds.

Increased Hippocampal Probdnf Contributes To Memory Impairments In Aged Mice, Mona Buhusi, Chris Etheredge, Ann-Charlotte Granholm, Catalin V. Buhusi

Psychology Faculty Publications

Memory decline during aging or accompanying neurodegenerative diseases, represents a major health problem. Neurotrophins have long been considered relevant to the mechanisms of aging-associated cognitive decline and neurodegeneration. Mature Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) and its precursor (proBDNF) can both be secreted in response to neuronal activity and exert opposing effects on neuronal physiology and plasticity. In this study, biochemical analyses revealed that increased levels of proBDNF are present in the aged mouse hippocampus relative to young and that the level of hippocampal proBDNF inversely correlates with the ability to perform in a spatial memory task, the water radial arm maze …

Biological Engineering Undergrad Wins International Video Contest | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Utah State University undergraduate student Nathan Guymon won a second-place award in an international video contest aimed at educating the public about solid waste.

The Utah Statesman, August 29, 2017, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Many-Particle Systems, 11, David Peak

Many Particles

Quantum information

In Mn10 we discussed the rudiments of “classical computation.” Classical, conventional computation involves combinations of transistors that convert low- and high-voltage inputs into different low- and high-voltage outputs. These voltages are interpreted as the binary digits 0 and 1, i.e., as bits. How bits are changed into other bits leads to such things as text preparation and storage, numerical calculations and symbolic manipulations, image and sound generation, game playing, intercontinental communication—in short, the modern world of information.

Initiating Cultural Shifts In Perceptions Of Cataloging Units Through Interaction Assessment, Andrea Payant, Becky Skeen, Liz Woolcott

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

Points of contact formulate the culture of any organization and shape the perceptions of decision makers and colleagues alike. This research project investigated the interactions between Cataloging and Metadata Services staff and other library employees by analyzing interactions. This article summarizes the results of data gathered from interaction assessments and compares them with surveys about the current perceptions of the cataloging unit at the Utah State University Libraries. It discusses the ways these results have influenced existing unit workflows to enhance awareness of cataloging and metadata contributions to the library and posits possible ways to continue such initiatives moving forward.

Discovery Canada Films At Water Lab | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Production crews for Discovery Canada were at the Utah Water Research Lab on Wednesday producing an upcoming TV special about the Oroville Dam spillway model.

Removing Radiation-Induced Spikes From Fourier Transform Data, Mark Esplin, Ben Esplin, Deron Scott

The Characterization and Radiometric Calibration for Remote Sensing Annual Meeting (CALCON)

A common problem with space-based sensors is sharp spikes in the signal caused by ionizing radiation striking the detectors or analog signal chain. To minimize the spectral corruption caused by these spikes, a new spike correction method has been developed for the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) spacecraft. CrIS is an infrared, Fourier transform spectrometer used to make weather and climate observations. Radiation-induced spikes are a particularly serious problem for Fourier transform spectrometers since a single spike in the interferogram will cause corruption throughout the entire length of the spectrum. For CrIS, a spike …

Uv Screening In Native And Non-Native Plant Species In The Tropical Alpine: Implications For Climate Change-Driven Migration Of Species To Higher Elevations, Paul W. Barnes, Ronald J. Ryel, Stephan D. Flint

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Ongoing changes in Earth’s climate are shifting the elevation ranges of many plant species with non-native species often experiencing greater expansion into higher elevations than native species. These climate change-induced shifts in distributions inevitably expose plants to novel biotic and abiotic environments, including altered solar ultraviolet (UV)-B (280–315 nm) radiation regimes. Do the greater migration potentials of non-native species into higher elevations imply that they have more effective UV-protective mechanisms than native species? In this study, we surveyed leaf epidermal UV-A transmittance (TUVA) in a diversity of plant species representing different growth forms to test whether native and non-native species …

A Smoother Ride Over Troubled Waters | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Boating through choppy waters can be an exciting but physically exhausting experience.

Universal Surface Engineering Of Transition Metals For Superior Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution In Neutral Water, Bo You, Xuan Liu, Guoxiang Hu, Sheraz Gul, Junko Yano, De-En Jiang, Yujie Sun

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

The development of low-cost hybrid water splitting-biosynthetic systems that mimic natural photosynthesis to achieve solar-to-chemical conversion is of great promise for future energy demands, but often limited by the kinetically sluggish hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on the surface of nonprecious transition metal catalysts in neutral media. It is thus highly desirable to rationally tailor the reaction interface to boost the neutral HER catalytic kinetics. Herein, we report a general surface nitrogen modification of diverse transition metals (e.g. iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, and nickel-cobalt alloy), accomplished by a facile low-temperature ammonium carbonate treatment, for significantly improved hydrogen generation from neutral water. …

Space Webs As Infrastructure For Crawling Sensors On Low Gravity Bodies, Juliana Cherston, Joseph A. Paradiso

Small Satellite Conference

This paper presents a mission concept in which a rope or a net is used to grapple onto a low-gravity body of interest. The net doubles as infrastructure for a network of tiny crawlers that move across the net’s surface primarily for applications in in-situ distributed sensing. As an initial application area, we consider deploying a network of distributed spectrometers across the surface of an asteroid for high spatial resolution material characterization. We present a first prototype for a rope crawling mechanism as well as a study of a new-to-market chip-sized spectroscope as a candidate sensing payload for the crawlers. …

The Streego Multispectral Payload For Earth Observation On Small Satellites, Massimiliano Rossi, Giovanni Bianucci, Ruben Mazzoleni, Sebastiano Spinelli, Marco Terraneo, Fabio Zocchi

Small Satellite Conference

No abstract provided.

Swbec Research And Development Ventures Receives Media Coverage In "Utah Business Magazine" | Sustainable Waste-To-Bioproducts Engineering Center, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

The article highlights the research and development regarding treatment of fracking wastewater that the Sustainable Waste to Bioproducts Engineering Center at USU has spearheaded and continues to develop.

The Gender Wage Gap In Utah, Susan R. Madsen, Janika Dillon, Robbyn T. Scribner

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

In 2016, American women earned approximately 20% less than men. This gap has narrowed substantially since 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was passed and women earned 41% less than men; yet a gap persists, and a half century later women are still paid less than men in almost every occupation. In Utah, a woman earns approximately 71 cents per dollar that a man earns (though reports vary, several recent national studies show a gap between 70–71 cents), and according to the American Association for University Women, we have the nation’s fourth-largest gender wage gap for year-round full-time workers. With …

Pea System Modeling And Signal Processing For Measurement Of Volume Charge Distributions In Thin Dielectric Films, Lee H. Pearson, Jr Dennison, Erick W. Griffiths, Anthony C. Pearson

Journal Articles

This paper discusses our effort to develop advanced pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) measurement system capabilities that incorporate (1) improved signal processing tools for increased signal/noise ratios; and (2) integrated PEA modeling tools. In addition, we emphasize state-of-the-art system electronic components, integrated environmental controls, and sensor improvements required to achieve high spatial resolution while maintaining reasonable temporal resolution for both ambient and in vacuo measurements of thin dielectrics charged using electron beam injection, which is most applicable for spacecraft charging tests. PEA measurement systems provide an important tool to investigate the spatial extent and dynamic evolution of embedded charge distributions in thin …

Implementing Inexpensive Alternatives To The West’S Largest New Water Project, Utah Rivers Council

All In-stream Flows Material

In 2006, the Utah Rivers Council published our first paper on Bear River Development after completing a comprehensive analysis about the many inexpensive options to provide water for the future of the Wasatch Front. This 2^nd edition summarizes new research conducted by Utah Rivers Council staff, colleagues and that of other agencies, which demonstrates that Bear River Development is completely unnecessary for Utah’s future water needs. Although this is good news to Utah taxpayers, it is bad news for the many special interests that seek to profit from billions of dollars in spending for Bear River Water Development and …

General Catalog 2017-2018, Utah State University

University Catalogs

This catalog contains information on the Academic Departments and Programs as well as Course Descriptions for the above school year at Utah State University. To avoid large file downloads, the Academic Departments and Programs information is located in this file. The Course Description information is located in the secondary file.

Tremblings, August 2017, Western Aspen Alliance

Tremblings

Uphill Battle to Restore Aspen in the Sierra

John-Pascal Berrill

Being a forest owner and manager, I’m interested in topics important to local forest managers: uneven-aged management and restoration. Maybe I just want the complete opposite of the plantation forestry back home in New Zealand. Moving to California satisfied that, with complex disturbance, social, and policy issues surrounding natural resource management of mixed stands. And with tree species that sucker and sprout – a challenge!