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Livestock As Seed Disseminators For Reseeding Degraded Rangelands: The Role Of Dung In Gap Formation And Plant Establishment, Brian S. Auman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Livestock (cattle and sheep) were examined as seed disseminators for reseeding degraded Intermountain rangelands. "Hycrest" crested wheatgrass [Agropyron desertorum (Fisch. ex Link) Schult. X A. cristatum (L.) Gaert.] seed was fed to yearling Holstein steers and Suffolk ewes. Dung was collected from each animal type and deposited on plots of high and low densities of an annual [cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.)] and perennial [squirreltail (Sitanion hystrix Nutt.)] grass species. The experiment evaluated the ability of the dung to suppress the resident vegetation, and the recruitment and establishment of Hycrest seedlings emerging from the dung.

Sheep dung had …

Growth Responses Of Great Basin Plant Species To Variation In Nitrogen Availability, Carol J. Bilbrough

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For this dissertation, I examined the ability of field-grown plants to capture N presented in enriched patches or in whole-plant pulses. I assessed root proliferation in N-enriched patches when Agropyron desertorum plants had been previously fertilized or shaded. All plants responded with increased root growth rates in N-enriched patches. However, root proliferation by shaded plants was 50% less than unshaded plants. Unexpectedly, plants with higher N status had greater root growth rates in enriched patches than plants that had not received N supplement. I concluded that plants already under competitive pressure above ground for light and below ground for nutrients …

2nd Biennial Ultra-High Temperature (Uht) Symposium, Various Authors

Other Documents

No abstract provided.

1996 Annual Report, Various Authors

Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Mobility Barriers And The Socially Differentiated Effects Of Food Marketing Liberalization In Madagascar, Christopher B. Barrett

Economic Research Institute Study Papers

Decontrol of commercial food marketing channels was widely expected to induce massive trader entry and engender more competitive, efficient markets in Africa. Despite strong empirical evidence of trader entry, enterprise expansion is proving difficult and many market observers and participants claim market power continues, ifperhaps exercised now by private traders instead of public enterprises. This paper uses the industrial organization concept of mobility barriers to confront this puzzle of substantial market entry that might not enliven market competition. Primary data from a survey of food marketing intermediaries in Madagascar reveal distinct groups within rural food marketing channels, separated by identifiable …

Expanding Farmers' Markets In Utah, Deevon Bailey, Yasmin Adam

Economic Research Institute Study Papers

No abstract provided.

Report On Southeast Asia Trip By Bailey And Fawson For The International Agribusiness Internship Center, Deevon Bailey, Christopher Fawson

Economic Research Institute Study Papers

This paper reports the results of activities in Southeast Asia aimed at recruiting agribusinesses and universities to participate in developing internships through the International Agribusiness Internship Center at Utah State University. Several agribusiness firms expressed a willingness to participate in the program. Additional arrangements with universities in Southeast Asia are being negotiated to facilitate student exchanges and supervision for internships.

How Long Until Crisis In African Wildlife Integrated Conservation And Development Projects (Icdps)? Simulation Results From The Serengeti Ecosystem, Christopher B. Barrett, Peter Arcese

Economic Research Institute Study Papers

This paper develops a model coupling species population dynamics with endogenous human consumption and poaching behavior in an environment of imperfect labor and product markets and static agricultural production technology subject to environmental shocks. Using the case of the Serengeti, we then simulate how integrated conservation and development projects (lCDPs) might effectively serve as a delaying tactic against biodiversity loss until a more durable solution can be found to the challenge of wildlife conservation lin the midst of endemic rural poverty.

1995 Annual Report, Various Authors

Annual Reports

No abstract provided.

Biofilm Mediated Calculus Formation In The Urinary Tract, Robert J. C. Mclean, David J. Stickler, J. Curtis Nickel

Cells and Materials

Mineralization and subsequent calculus formation is a common complication of biofilm infections. In the urinary tract, these infected calculi often arise from infections by urease-producing bacteria. Ammonia, liberated by bacterial urease activity, increases urine pH, resulting in the precipitation of Ca and Mg as carbonateapatite {Ca₁₀(PO₄,CO₃)₆(OH,CO₃)₂} and struvite (NH₄MgP0₄·6H₂O). These minerals become entrapped in the organic matrix which surrounds the infecting organisms and ultimately grow into mature calculi. When the causative organisms grow on urinary catheters and stents, the resulting mineralization can …

A Composite Biomaterial: Poly 2 (Hydropoxyethyl) Methacrylate / Alkaline Phosphatase Initiates Mineralization In Vitro, R. Filmon, D. Chappard, J. P. Monthéard, M. F. Baslé

Cells and Materials

Bone substitutes are nowadays largely used in orthopedic surgery but they lack osteoinductive properties. Poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (pHEMA) has numerous biomedical applications. Alkaline phosphatase (AlkP), an ectoenzyme elaborated by osteoblasts, initiates bone mineralization by hydrolyzing organic phosphates before calcium-phosphorus deposition. We have immobilized AlkP in pHEMA in a copolymerization technic. Histochemical study revealed that AlkP has retained its biological activity . Image analysis of sections using a tessellation method showed a lognormal distribution of the area of tessels around AlkP particles thus confirming an homogeneous distribution of the enzyme in the polymer. Pellets of pHEMA and pHEMA + AlkP were …

The Dynamic Effects Of U.S. Food Aid On Recipient Country Agriculture, Christopher B. Barrett, Sandeep Mohapatra, Donald L. Snyder

Economic Research Institute Study Papers

Although food aid may have important medium- to long-tenn effects, there is a glaring absence of empirical research on food aid dynamics. This paper applies structural vector autoregression and dynamic structural equations modeling methods to a panel of production, trade, and food aid data from eighteen countries over the period 1961-95. We find evidence of a J-curve effect of food aid on recipient country commercial food imports, but only modest effects on food production. The implication is that food aid primarily serves donor goals of export market development.

Immiserized Growth In Liberalized Agriculture, Christopher B. Barrett

Economic Research Institute Study Papers

This paper offers a simple model and corroborating empirical evidence that reconcile rivalrous claims about liberalization's impact on low-impact agrarian economies; growth and smallholder welfare reduction can go hand in hand. The model developed here reverses the causality o fBhagwati's well-known immiserizing growth model. Price shocks cause welfare effects that, in tum, drive output response, rather than output shocks, causing price shocks and then welfare effects, as in the trade theoretic original. Immiserized growth seems a plausible explanation for some important causes-e.g., the Malagasy case considered here-in which liberalization appears to have engendered both real agricultural growth and heightened food …

Final Report To The Department Of Energy For Water Use, Productivity And Interactions Among Desert Plants, James R. Ehleringer

Elusive Documents

No abstract provided.

Pluralism, Science, Ethics, And The Intersecting Spheres Of Social Concerns And Environmentalism, Christopher B. Barrett, Raymond E. Grizzle

Economic Research Institute Study Papers

This paper builds on alternative perspectives offered by the environmental and sustainability traditions to advance a holistic yet practical conceptual model that explicitly integrates social and environmental concerns. Ours is a pluralistic approach founded on synthesis. Employing the economic concept of path dependence, we emphasize that there exist multiple paths society can follow in environmental ethics and policy, but that onc e one has been chosen, implicitly or explicitly, there may be little opportunity to reverse such choices. Hence, the importance of process to the pursuit of social and environmental objectives.

An Analysis Of Iodine Deficiency Disorder And Eradication Strategies In The High Atlas Mountains Of Morocco, Elizabeth Anne Oldham, Christopher B. Barrett, Sabah Benjelloun, Brahim Ahanou

Economic Research Institute Study Papers

The population of the Ounein Valley in the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco is at high risk of iodine deficiency. We investigated local children's iodine deficiency and goiterpattems as well as food consumption habits through a household survey. Median urinary iodine content and goiter analysis both reflect moderate iodine deficiency. Total fish consumption has a statistically significant, positive effect on urinary iodine content. Fish consumption, like that of salt, is closely related to market access. Respondents are uniformly unaware of the dietary etiology of goiter. An effective strategy to reduce the high incidence of iodine deficiency disorder among children in …

Utah Science Vol. 57 No. 3 & 4, Fall/Winter 1996

Utah Science

2 STUDY EXAMINES LINKS BETWEEN NUTRITIONAL FACTORS AND CLEFT BIRTH DEFECTS

4 USU TO CONDUCT MAJOR STUDY ON HIP FRACTURES

7 DEVICE AIDS PRECISION IRRIGATION.

8 UTAH AGRICULTURE GAINS FROM SUSTAINABLE "SYMPHONY"

12 THAT'S FISH? BALONEY.

14 USU INVENTION COUPLES BEEF'S QUALITY WITH CONVENIENCE

17 FIRST BIOENGINEERED VIRUSRESISTANT BACTERIA AID MOZZARELLA PRODUCTION

Effects Of Daphnia Availability On Growth And Food Consumption Of Rainbow Trout In Two Utah Reservoirs, R. Tabor, Chris Luecke, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

We monitored the diet and growth of stocked rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss in two Utah reservoirs during 1986 and 1989–1990. For the first month after stocking, juvenile rainbow trout in both reservoirs fed extensively on large Daphnia spp. In East Canyon Reservoir where Daphnia were abundant, this pattern continued throughout the summer, fall, and winter. Growth of rainbow trout in East Canyon Reservoir was generally good throughout 1989–1990. In Causey Reservoir, where Daphnia were less abundant and smaller, rainbow trout fed progressively less on smaller Daphnia throughout the summer, fall, and winter, while other prey items (snails, aquatic insects, and …

Employers And Job Development: The Business Perspective, Michael J. Millington, K. K. Asner, D. C. Linkowski, J. Der-Stepanian

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Fate Of Biological Control Introductions: Monitoring An Australian Fungal Pathogen Of Grasshoppers In North America, Michael J. Bidochka, Scott R. A. Walsh, Mark E. Ramos, Raymond J. St. Leger, Julie Cl Silver, Donald W. Roberts

Biology Faculty Publications

In North America there are two generally recognized pathotypes (pathotypes 1 and 2) of the fungus Entomophaga grylli which show host-preferential infection of grasshopper subfamilies. Pathotype 3, discovered in Austra- lia,hasabroadergrasshopperhostrangeandwasconsidered to be a good biocontrol agent. Between 1989 and 1991 patho- type3wasintroducedattwofieldsitesinNorthDakota.Since resting spores are morphologically indistinguishable among pathotypes, we used pathotype-specific DNA probes to con- firm pathotype identification in E. grylli-infected grasshop- pers collected at the release sites in 1992, 1993, and 1994. In 1992, up to 23% of E. grylli-infected grasshoppers of the subfamilies Melanoplinae, Oedipodinae, and Gomphocerinae were infected by pathotype 3,with no infections >1 km …

Healthy Eating During Pregnancy, Heidi Leblanc

All Current Publications

It is very important that you eat as healthily as you can while you are pregnant. Babies need nutrients from the food you eat to help them grow. You don’t have to eat twice as much while you are pregnant, just twice as wisely.

Insights, Fall, 1995, Utah State University

Discovery Magazine

Bi-annual alumni newsletter for the College of Science of Utah State University in Logan.

In Vivo Metal Substitutions In Metal Sequestering Subcellular Compartments: X-Ray Mapping In Cryosections, A. J. Morgan, C. Winters, A. Yarwood, N. Wilkinson

Scanning Microscopy

Qualitative digital X-ray mapping techniques were employed to determine the distributions of essential and non-essential elements in three invertebrate "models": (1) Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu, Fe in thin cryosections of the hepatopancreas of the terrestrial isopod, Oniscus asellus; (2) Pb, Zn, Cd, Ca in thin cryosections of the chloragogenous tissue of the earthworm, Lumbricus rubellus; and (3) As in air-dried smears and thin cryosections of chloragogen in L. rubellus. Four general conclusions were drawn from the results of these studies: (a) non-essential elements can accumulate, distribute and be compartmentalized because they, or the organo-complexes that they form, …

Zinc Deficiency Produces Time-Related Ultrastructural Changes In Rat Cheek Epithelium, Shahid H. Ashrafi, Nasser A. H. Said-Al-Naief

Scanning Microscopy

The subject of this study was whether the ultrastructural changes in cheek epithelium of zinc-deficient rats are time related. Weanling male Sprague Dawley rats were fed a zinc-deficient diet containing 0.4 ppm zinc (ZD) ad libitum and controls were pair-fed zinc adequate diet containing 40 ppm zinc. After 9, 18, and 27 days of zinc deficiency, specimens from cheek epithelium of both groups were processed for transmission electron microscopy. Partial conversion of the orthokeratinized cheek epithelium to parakeratinized was seen as early 9 days. An electron-lucent band surrounding the nucleus was observed in ZD cells. Mitochondria, tonofilaments, keratohyalin granules and …

Alterations In Intestinal Transport Of Oxalate In Disease States, Marguerite Hatch, Robert W. Freel

Scanning Microscopy

Normally, absorption of oxalate from dietary sources can occur in all segments of the intestinal tract. However, alterations in both the magnitude and direction of oxalate fluxes across the intestine can occur in disease states. In enteric hyperoxaluria, enhanced absorption of oxalate by the large intestine is caused by increased permeability of a shunt conductance induced by malabsorbed bile salts and fatty acids. In this condition, the contribution of a paracellular passive flux of oxalate moving along its electrochemical gradient will predominate when intraluminal concentrations of free oxalate are high. In contrast, in chronic renal failure, secretion of oxalate can …

Rodent Damage Control In No-Till Corn And Soybean Production, Ron Hines

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

In recent years the primary cause of reduced plant stands in no-till crops planted into heavy residue has been small eared rodents called voles (Microtus spp.). Past research has indicated that severe stand reductions (80 to 100 percent) can occur if vole populations in the field exceed 75 per hectare (30 per acre) at planting time. This vole population should be considered intense. If field scouting about 30 days prior to planting reveals at least 12 active vole colonies per hectare (five per acre) an intense population can develop, and damage control measures should be planned. Of all …

Assessment Of Gnawing Behavior Of Three Rodent Species On Automatic Speed Control Mechanism Diaphragms From Gm Automobiles, Glenn R. Dudderar, Ren-Rong Hou, Scott R. Winterstein

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

General Motors and the A C. Rochester Company, a subsidiary of General Motors (GM), has found that the rubber diaphragms on automatic speed control mechanisms (servos) were gnawed by unknown rodents. House mice (Mus musculus), Peromyscus spp., and eastern chipmunks (Tamias striatus) were used to test gnawing behavior on 4 kinds of diaphragms. Diaphragms with or without a rodent proof cure formula, which are used by GM, did not influence the gnawing of all test rodent species. Diaphragms with a lubricant (Paricin) were more attractive to gnawing by house mice than diaphragms without a lubricant. …

A Strategy For Integrating Principles And Concepts Of Wildlife Damage Control Into The School Curriculum, Thomas A. Eddy

Wildlife Damage Management Conference

This paper reports an approach to educating today's youth concerning the importance of regulating numbers of wildlife species that threaten property, products and health. The emphases are on preparing teachers to integrate principles and concepts into the existing curricular materials, justifying control measures with ecological understandings and economic information and dealing effectively with sensitive animal rights issues. Opportunities for integration of specific wildlife damage control topics are suggested for lessons in the life sciences, social sciences, health, language arts and mathematics. Examples of conflict between groups of different opinions about the seriousness of a pest's activities or appropriateness of control …

Dietary Oxalate And Its Intestinal Absorption, Ross P. Holmes, Harold O. Goodman, Dean G. Assimos

Scanning Microscopy

Dietary oxalate is currently believed to make only a minor contribution (< 20%) to urinary oxalate excretion. A recent prospective study of stone disease suggested that dietary oxalate may be a significant risk factor. This observation led us to re-evaluate the contribution of dietary oxalate to urinary oxalate excretion. Previous studies have been hampered by inaccurate food composition tables for oxalate and inadequate methods for studying intestinal oxalate absorption. This evidence as well as factors that modify oxalate absorption are reviewed. New approaches to measure food oxalate and intestinal oxalate absorption have been examined. Capillary electrophoresis appears to be well suited for the analysis of the oxalate content of food. Two individuals consumed an oxalate-free formula diet for 7 days. This diet decreased urinary oxalate excretion by an average of 67% (18.6 mg per 24 hours) compared to oxalate excretion on self-selected diets. The absence of detectable oxalate in feces by day 6 of the diet suggested that the intestinal absorption was minimal. However, an effect of the formula diet on endogenous oxalate synthesis cannot be excluded. Restoring oxalate to the formula diet increased urinary oxalate excretion and illustrates that this experimental protocol may be well-suited for studying oxalate absorption and factors that modify it. Our results suggest that the intestinal absorption of dietary oxalate makes a substantial contribution to urinary oxalate excretion and that this absorption can be modified by decreasing oxalate intake or increasing the intakes of calcium, magnesium, and fiber.

Microvascular Corrosion Casting In The Study Of Tumor Vascularity: A Review, M. A. Konerding, A. J. Miodonski, A. Lametschwandtner

Scanning Microscopy

Tumor blood flow is dependent on the structure and three-dimensional (3-D) architecture of the vascular network. The latter can be best studied by scanning electron microscopy of microvascular corrosion casts. However, literature reviews show that nearly all studies using this technique render comparisons of different tumors more difficult since they are mainly based on descriptive terms that might lead to misunderstandings. Qualitative comparisons of 13 experimental and 3 human primary tumors of different origin show a high degree of similarity in the vasculature. Quantitative analysis of these casts reveals similar ranges of parameters such as diameters, intervascular and interbranching distances. …