Digital Commons Network^™

Characterization And Immobilization Of Thermophilic Lipases For The Interesterification Of Soybean Oil, Teif A. Najm

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Lipases are currently used in food technology for the modification of fats and oils. Lipase can synthesize, hydrolyze, and rearrange fatty acids, thus, resulting in their extensive use in industrial applications. The thermal stability of lipase is an essential characteristic for this application. Thermophilic bacteria are an important source for producing thermostable lipases because of their tolerance to high heat. Lipolytic enzymes can be purified using several purification methods, but these purification processes are often expensive and complex. Results from this study showed that lipases can be extract from thermophilic bacteria (Geobacillius stearothermophilus (GS) and Anoxybacillus flavithermus (AF)). Molecular …

Alienation, Modernization, And Animal Welfare: Human-Animal Relationships At The Farm, State, And Country Levels, Michael D. Briscoe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Our relationships with animals are important for us as humans, for the environment, and for the animals themselves. In this dissertation I look at the relationships between humans and animals at three scales: farm, U.S. state, and country. Specifically, I address how factors like economic growth, technological innovation, and globalization affect human relationships with animals. Understanding how these factors influence human-animal relationships is important for improving these relationships and deciding which directions will most contribute to sustainable outcomes. I address the social factors that influence human-animal relationships in three studies.

In the first study I surveyed and interviewed dairy farmers …

Nitrogen Fertilizer Showed Little Effect On First- And Second-Year Corn Yield And Quality Following Alfalfa, Bailey Brent Shaffer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Silage corn (Zea mays L.) following alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a common crop rotation in Utah and southern Idaho. This is done, in part, to take advantage of residual nitrogen (N) fixed by bacteria that work in symbiosis with the roots of alfalfa. After alfalfa is terminated, much of the N that was fixed by the plant is released into the soil and becomes available for use by the rotational crop. This reduces the amount of N fertilizer that growers need to apply. The Utah Fertilizer Guide currently recommends an N credit to a rotational crop following …

Don't Get Me Started About The Water: Foodways And Power In Juvenal's Satire V, Alex Reese

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Don’t Get Me Started About the Water analyzes the food in the dinner of Juvenal’s fifth satire from the perspective of Roman foodways in the first and second centuries. This analysis provides a surprising conclusion: although the guest and host are served dishes differing vastly in quality, neither man gets a nutritious meal. This follows with arguments elsewhere in the Satires, namely that Rome itself kills its occupants and the best course of action is to abandon the city for the countryside.

Effect Of High-Intensity Ultrasound On Bubble Dynamics, Oxidation, And Crystallization Behavior Of Fats, Juhee Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) provide desired texture, stability, and extended shelf life in food products. These types of lipids have been commonly used in food industry. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to remove generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status of PHOs in 2015 due to the association between PHOs and coronary heart disease (CHD), type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases. Hence, it is necessary to find alternative new healthy lipids or novel processing conditions that can be used to replace the functionality of PHO. Among the processing methods to be used in alternative PHOs fats, high-intensity …

Utilization Of Protective Cultures To Reduce Late Gas Formation By Paucilactobacillus Wasatchensis, Ireland R. Green

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Cheesemaking is a process susceptible to defects caused by microbes not purposefully added by the manufacturer. While these bacteria are not a health concern, they can cause problems such as producing carbon dioxide inside the cheese. This can cause slits and cracks in cheese making cheese unsuitable for slicing. One such bacteria identified by cheese researchers at Utah State University and Weber State University is Paucilactobacillus wasatchensis. When present in cheese, it can cause gas formation by using galactose to supply its energy. In doing so, it takes this six-carbon sugar and converts it into a five-carbon sugar and …

Comparison Of Microbial Diversity Of Fifteen Aged Cheddar Cheeses From Different Regions Using Next Generation Sequencing, Sophie L. Overbeck

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This project was funded by BUILD Dairy to test the efficacy of using next generation sequencing to study Cheddar cheese microbiomes. The 15 different cheese samples used in this study were purchased in the retail market from various manufacturers and different origins of manufacture. Sequencing was done by the Center for Integrated Biosystems at Utah State University using Illumina MiSeq.

The aim of this project is to provide further understanding of how using next generation sequencing can benefit the study of bacterial communities and their influence during the aging process of Cheddar cheese and the possibility of identifying defect causing …

Why Is Safe Food Handling Important? [English/Arabic], Celina Wille

All Current Publications

This handout, available here in both English and Arabic, provides information to prevent illness through safe food handling practices.

Why Is Safe Food Handling Important? [English/Somali], Celina Wille

All Current Publications

This handout, available here in both English and Somali, provides information to prevent illness through safe food handling practices.

Why Is Safe Food Handling Important? [English/Karen], Celina Wille

All Current Publications

This handout, available here in both English and Karen, provides information to prevent illness through safe food handling practices.

Why Is Safe Food Handling Important? [English/Spanish], Celina Wille

All Current Publications

This handout, available here in both English and Spanish, provides information to prevent illness through safe food handling practices.

Why Is Safe Food Handling Important? [English/Tigrinya], Celina Wille

All Current Publications

This handout, available here in both English and Tigrinya, provides information to prevent illness through safe food handling practices.

A Look Into User Privacy And Third-Party Applications In Facebook, Sovantharith Seng, Mahdi Nasrullah Al-Ameen, Matthew Wright

Computer Science Faculty and Staff Publications

Purpose

A huge amount of personal and sensitive data are shared on Facebook, which makes it a prime target for attackers. Adversaries can exploit third-party applications connected to a user’s Facebook profiles (i.e. Facebook apps) to gain access to this personal information. Users’ lack of knowledge and the varying privacy policies of these apps make them further vulnerable to information leakage. However, little has been done to identify mismatches between users’ perceptions and the privacy policies of Facebook apps. This paper aims to address this challenge in the work.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted a lab study with 31 participants, where …

Intensive Hunting Pressure Changes Local Distribution Of Wild Boar, Jakub Drimaj, Jiří Kamler, Radim Plhal, Přemysl Janata, Zdeněk Adamec, Miloslav Homolka

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) is now an important species of wild ungulates in Central Europe. Next to conflicts of wild boar with agriculture, the main threat of wild boar presence lies in the expansion of African swine fever across Europe. The regulation of the wild boar population is complicated by the high reproduction rate and intelligent behavior of the species, which limits hunting effectiveness. We analyzed the spatial behavior of wild boar in an environment with a lack of natural food resources. The study area consisted of a forest complex (1,283 ha) with 2 areas. In the “risk” …

Reduced Fecundity In Free-Ranging Norway Rats After Baiting With A Liquid Fertility Control Bait, Gary W. Witmer, Stefanie Raymond-Whish

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) cause extensive crop loss, infrastructure damage, and are vectors for zoonotic diseases. Due to reduced efficacy, environmental and animal welfare concerns related to traditional pest management tools, such as rodenticides, it is imperative to find new methods for controlling commensal rodents. Fertility control is emerging as a safe, humane, and effective method of long-term population management. Vinylcyclohexene diepoxide (VCD) and triptolide are 2 compounds that are known to target and inhibit ovarian function. Furthermore, triptolide debilitates spermatogenesis and sperm motility. We prepared liquid bait containing no active ingredients (control) or containing VCD (0.098%) and …

Book Review: The Wildlife Techniques Manual, Eighth Edition, Justin Small

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Wildlife researchers and managers are consistently tackling ecological and conservation issues that are increasing in complexity and scope. Wildlife issues often span beyond singular research frameworks and management jurisdictions, preventing modern wildlife conservation from operating in mutually exclusive arenas (i.e., research or management). As a wildlife researcher whose research is conducted on both public and private rangelands, and across multiple stakeholder groups, techniques to answer difficult questions and offer time-sensitive solutions must pull from both research and management arenas. Historically, book or journal resources that wildlife professionals could readily access for necessary scientific guidance were contained in many documents, making …

Evaluation Of Damage To Forest Tree Plantations By Wild Boar In The Czech Republic, Vlastimil Skoták, Jakub Drimaj, Jiří Kamler

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Wild boar (Sus scrofa) populations in Central Europe have been growing long-term, and damages to crops and forests where boars damage freshly planted tree seedlings are growing too. In addition to having a significant economic impact, these damages worsen the prospect of successful restoration of bare land. This study presents an analysis of damage to tree seedling plantations caused by wild boar in the Czech Republic. We used data from an extensive questionnaire survey among forest owners, our own survey of the extent of damage in model areas, and experiments in locations with a large boar population. Damage …

Characteristics Of Non-Fatal Attacks By Black Bears: Conterminous United States, 2000–2017, Janel M. Scharhag, Cady Sartini, Shawn M. Crimmins, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Jeffrey B. Stetz

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Attacks on humans by bears (Ursus spp.) have increased in recent decades, as both human and bear populations have increased. To help mitigate the risk of future attacks, it is important to understand the circumstances in past attacks. Information and analyses exist regarding fatal attacks by both American black bears (Ursus americanus) and brown bears (U. arctos) as well as non-fatal attacks by brown bears. No similarly thorough analyses on non-fatal attacks by black bears are available. Our study addressed this information gap by analyzing all (n = 210) agency-confirmed, non-fatal attacks by black …

Coarse Woody Debris Decomposition Assessment Tool: Model Validation And Application, Zhaohua Dai, Carl C. Trettin, Andrew J. Burton, Martin F. Jurgensen, Deborah S. Page-Dumroese, Brian T. Forschler, Jonathan S. Schilling, Daniel L. Lindner

Aspen Bibliography

Coarse woody debris (CWD) is a significant component of the forest biomass pool; hence a model is warranted to predict CWD decomposition and its role in forest carbon (C) and nutrient cycling under varying management and climatic conditions. A process-based model, CWDDAT (Coarse Woody Debris Decomposition Assessment Tool) was calibrated and validated using data from the FACE (Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) Wood Decomposition Experiment utilizing pine (Pinus taeda), aspen (Populous tremuloides) and birch (Betula papyrifera) on nine Experimental Forests (EF) covering a range of climate, hydrology, and soil conditions across the continental USA. …

Bakery Organic Wheat Flour Quality And Quantity Requirements, Tatiana Drugova, Kynda R. Curtis

All Current Publications

This fact sheet summarizes the findings of a survey conducted with bakery owners and managers to assess their organic wheat flour quality and sourcing needs. We examine the importance of various quality measures in bakery decisions to purchase organic flour and baker perceptions of organic and conventional flour quality. We also discuss the hurdles and issues that bakeries face when purchasing organic flour and what prevents them from using organic flour if not currently doing so. Given the significant contribution of the Intermountain West’s production to domestic organic wheat supply, growers and millers must understand the needs of organic wheat …

Pregnancy And Substance Use, Elise Withers, Krista Thompson, Emily Hamilton, Maren Wright Voss

All Current Publications

The use of alcohol and other harmful substances, such as cocaine, opioids, and marijuana during pregnancy has increased over the last decades (Sebastiani et al., 2018). Using these substances can be very harmful to the unborn baby and mother (Viteri et al., 2015). This fact sheet covers (1) the consequences of substance use and (2) the current recommendations for substance use during pregnancy.

Fruits, Frugivores, And The Evolution Of Phytochemical Diversity, Susan R. Whitehead, Gerald F. Schneider, Ray Dybzinski, Annika S. Nelson, Mariana Gelambi, Elsa Jos, Noelle G. Beckman

Biology Faculty Publications

Plants produce an enormous diversity of secondary metabolites, but the evolutionary mechanisms that maintain this diversity are still unclear. The interaction diversity hypothesis suggests that complex chemical phenotypes are maintained because different metabolites benefit plants in different pairwise interactions with a diversity of other organisms. In this synthesis, we extend the interaction diversity hypothesis to consider that fruits, as potential hotspots of interactions with both antagonists and mutualists, are likely important incubators of phytochemical diversity. We provide a case study focused on the Neotropical shrub Piper reticulatum that demonstrates: 1) secondary metabolites in fruits have complex and cascading effects for …

Farmers Feeding Utah: Increasing Healthy Food Access And Supporting Local Agriculture, Heidi Leblanc, Casey Coombs

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

The need for food assistance increased by 300% among Utah families as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Farmers and ranchers were also adversely impacted by market losses and processing shortages. In response, Farmers Feeding Utah was developed to facilitate access to fresh agricultural produce for families in need.

Exercise And Chronic Pain, Maren Wright Voss, Mateja R. Savoie-Roskos, Casey Coombs, Gabriela Murza, Cindy Nelson, Elise Withers

All Current Publications

Chronic pain is perhaps the most pervasive medical issue in the United States. The long-term impacts of chronic pain often cause individuals to reduce or eliminate physical activity. Chronic pain can impact physical, mental, and emotional well-being, which can limit daily activity and quality of life. The purpose of this fact sheet is to address the common barriers to being physically active with chronic pain and provide suggestions for safe ways to be physically active even when chronic pain is present.

Community Supported Agriculture: Accepting Snap Payments, Kelsey Hall, Roslynn Mccann

All Current Publications

Participating in a community supported agriculture (CSA) share is one way for individuals with low income to use their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in buying local, seasonal fruits and vegetables. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS) authorizes businesses to accept SNAP benefits, including direct marketing farmers and nonprofit food buying cooperatives operating a CSA. SNAP is the largest federal nutrition assistance program, formerly known as food stamps. Eligible individuals and families use an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card, similar to a debit card, to purchase eligible food at SNAP authorized vendors. In Utah, …

Effects Of Feeding A Novel Alfalfa Leaf Pellet Product (Proleaf Max) And Alfalfa Stems (Profiber Plus) On Performance In The Feedlot And Carcass Quality Of Beef Steers, Laura A. Motsinger, Allen Young, Ryan Feuz, Ryan Larsen, Tevan J. Brady, Reganne K. Briggs, Brett R. Bowman, Chris Pratt, Kara J. Thornton

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Student Research

Alfalfa is often included in the diets of beef animals; however, the nutrient content of alfalfa is variable depending on the region in which it is grown, climate, soil, and many other factors. The leaf portion of alfalfa has a less variable nutrient composition than the stem portion of the plant. The variability that is present in the alfalfa plant can make the development of total mixed rations of consistent nutrient content difficult. As such, the purpose of this study was to determine how the inclusion of fractionated alfalfa leaves and alfalfa stems impacts performance and carcass quality of finishing …

Maples In The Landscape, Sheriden M. Hansen, Jaydee Gunnell, Andra Emmertson

All Current Publications

Maple trees (Acer sp.) are a common fixture and beautiful addition to Utah landscapes. There are over one hundred species, each with numerous cultivars (cultivated varieties) that are native to both North America and much of Northern Europe. Trees vary in size and shape, from small, almost prostrate forms like certain Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) and shrubby bigtooth maples (Acer grandidentatum) to large and stately shade trees like the Norway maple (Acer platanoides). Tree shape can vary greatly, ranging from upright, columnar, rounded, pyramidal to spreading. Because trees come in a range …

Designing An Optimal Lighting Fixture For Extraterrestrial Crop Growth: Integrating Efficacy And Photobiology, Paul Kusuma

Utah Space Grant Consortium

Extraterrestrial crop growth will require the development of technologies that provide photons to drive photosynthesis. Light-emitting diode (LED) technology is the likely technology of choice due to 1) its inherent flexibility, and 2) its high efficiency. Here we describe two important considerations for the optimization of this system: photon efficacy (μmol of photons produced per joule of input electrical energy) and spectral effects on plant growth and development. With these two considerations, we suggest the design of an LED fixture for extraterrestrial crop growth that contains a 5:10:55:30 ratio of blue, green, red, and far-red photons (respectively). This would be …

Utah State University Commencement, 2021 – College Of Agriculture And Applied Sciences Convocation, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2021 Convocation for the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences of Utah State University.

Tremblings, May 2021, Western Aspen Alliance

Tremblings

District-wide Aspen Habitat Restoration

Don DeLong

Ashley Egan

A habitat restoration project on the Greys River District is intended to tackle a host of wildlife issues, and our highest priority will be restoring a more natural balance of succession stages in aspen, big sagebrush, and mountain shrubland communities. Particular to aspen, the 2009 Greys River District Aspen Assessment doubled the known acreage of aspen and it identified 84% of the aspen acreage on the district as being overtopped by conifers by moderately-high to very-high degrees. Aspen stands in advanced stages of succession are given the highest priority for treatment. The …