Digital Commons Network^™

Interpretable And Robust Deep Anomaly Detection, He Cheng

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Anomaly detection is crucial in fields like cybersecurity, healthcare, and finance, as it helps identify unusual or potentially harmful events in data. With the rise of deep learning, advanced models have been developed for anomaly detection, but they often operate as "black boxes" that lack transparency and can be susceptible to malicious attacks. My research addresses these issues by creating methods that make deep learning-based anomaly detection more understandable and by investigating how such models can be compromised by backdoor attacks.

To improve transparency, I propose three methods that explain how these models detect anomalies. The first method, called Anomalous …

Is That Controversial Or Is It Just Me?, Joseph D. Cochran

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The purposes of this study were to explore the decision-making process behind delineating issues as controversial or not, identify the risks considered by administrators when faced with potentially controversial issues, and provide recommendations for educators to consider in their own deliberations. I interviewed seven charter school principals and used thematic analysis to explore the influence of contained risk-taking on administrator decision-making concerning controversial issues. The findings of this study suggest that administrators generally consider the same risks their teacher counterparts do but often prioritize larger-scale solutions that ensure equity for the entire school. The products of this process emphasize a …

Engineered Microalgae Cultivations Systems: Conversion Of Wastewater Nutrients Into Biofuels And Bioplastics, Jacob Watkins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Dissolved Nitrogen and Phosphorus in wastewater can contribute to harmful algae blooms if released into the environment. One technology that can be used to recover dissolved nutrients from wastewater is the Rotating Algae Biofilm Reactor (RABR), which supports microalgae growth in an easily-harvested biofilm and produces nitrogenand phosphorus-rich biomass that can be used to produce slow-release fertilizers, biofuels, and compostable bioplastics. This thesis (1) examines the effects of several environmental factors on the biomass production rate and nutrient removal efficiency of RABRs treating municipal wastewater, (2) quantifies the composition and biofuel yields of microalgae biomass cultivated using a RABR at …

Analysis Of An Outdoor Pilot-Scale Rotating Algae Biofilm Reactor For Power Optimization, Ash-Enhanced Productivity, And Nutrient Uptake, Peter F. Jeppesen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Outdoor testing of a rotating algae biofilm reactor (RABR) was performed to see how well it could remove nutrients from water and produce algae. By adjusting the operation settings, we found the lowest power needed to remove nitrogen and phosphorus. The lowest power values needed were 1.36 kWh per kilogram of nitrogen and 20.1 kWh per kilogram of phosphorus. The algae production rate reached a maximum of 7.09 grams per square meter per day. Detailed analysis showed that the reactor worked like a continuous flow system, and the performance was influenced by factors including light and temperature. The results also …

Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences And Non-Live Births, Mudasir Mustafa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Around 62 percent of adults in the United States have endured at least one type of Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), and 25 percent of women reported experiencing three or more ACEs in their lifetime. This study explored whether maternal exposure to ACEs was associated with pregnancy loss or abortion, utilizing the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (known as Add Health) to explore this association. I found that cumulative ACEs, assessed through either the conventional ACE scale (reflecting 10 types of ACEs) or the extended ACE scale (reflecting 14 types of ACEs), are associated with a higher likelihood …

Quantifying The Impact Of Rain-On-Snow Induced Flooding In The Western United States, Emma M. Watts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Serious flooding can happen when rain falls on snow, which we call a rain-on-snow (ROS) event. Increasing our understanding of the behavior of floods resulting from ROS events can help us design better systems to manage flood water and prevent it from causing damage. This thesis explores how ROS events affect streamflow in the Western United States by examining the weather conditions that precede a streamflow surge. We classify stream surges as ROS or non-ROS induced based on these weather conditions, which helps us separate floods caused by ROS events from those caused by other factors. By comparing these different …

Moose Movement In An Urbanizing Landscape, Lucian R. Mcdonald

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Humans disturb the environment in specific places and at specific times. As wildlife learn to navigate these disturbances, they react as they would to the risk of predation. Wildlife biologists can identify where and when these disturbances will lead wildlife to congregate by comparing geospatial data, such as metrics that represent vegetation, topography, or other environmental conditions, to known locations of the animal(s) in question. In Chapter I, I discuss the impact of human disturbances, like urbanization and roads, on wildlife behavior. In Chapter II, I compare the risk of moose-vehicle collisions (MVCs) to moose selection of urbanized landscapes to …

Channel Dynamics In Response To Compounding Hydrogeomorphic Disturbances In A Steep Burned Watershed, Paxton Ridgway

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Wildfires significantly increase sediment input to rivers through various pathways, including post-fire debris flows. Understanding how mountain rivers respond to these sediment inputs is crucial for predicting and managing downstream impacts on infrastructure, water security, and aquatic habitats. While the causes and characteristics of post-fire debris flows have been extensively studied, the morphological changes in downstream fluvial channels remain poorly understood. This study uses scripted spatial analysis toolsets, high-resolution pre- and post-fire DEMs, repeat cross-sectional surveys, time-lapse footage, and pebble counts to document channel responses to sediment supply in a burned steep mountain stream in the upper Colorado River Basin, …

Detecting Community-Level Ethnic Variation Through Classic Vernal Style Rock Art, Victoria Ramirez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The Uinta Basin in Northeastern Utah was where farming first took hold in the far north of western North America. This shift from hunting to farming saw the rise of many farming communities among the Fremont people. These communities left behind stunning rock art known as the Classic Vernal style. Recent studies suggest that these communities were made up of two different groups who came from the Four-Corners area around AD 300, bringing farming with them. This idea means that different cultural groups may have created the Classic Vernal style rock art in the Uinta Basin. By looking closely at …

From Pasture To Plate: Striking An Omega Balance Between Grass-Fed And Grain-Fed Beef Ribeyes - Fatty Acid Composition, Minerals, Soil, And Forage Analysis, Travis Earl Statham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Most beef cattle in the US are feedlot-finished where intensive feeding of grains is used to increase weight and yield; however, a minority are raised in grass-fed operations that use exclusive pasture, rangeland, and hay for feeding, possibly leading to benefits for the land, soil, ecosystems, forages, and the meat itself. These operations use a variety of methods, and the goal of this was to recognize differences in the soil and forage metrics to help understand the resulting meat fatty acid composition and mineral content. We collected these samples from 78 sets of farmers while testing 25 sets of grain-fed …

Genomic Selection For Dwarf Bunt Resistance In Winter Wheat, William Krause

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Dwarf bunt (DB), caused by the pathogen Tilletia controversa J.G. Kühn [as 'contraversa'], is a fungal disease that poses yield and grain quality risks to winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) production in the Intermountain West and abroad. The infection replaces the grain with a collection of spores that are spread by wind during the following harvest. In addition to wheat, DB also infects other cereal grains and wild grasses. Genomic selection (GS) is a plant breeding method that can determine percent infection of related varieties by using phenotypic data and genetic data within a prediction model. A panel …

Feature Selection In Multivariate Time Series Data For Enhanced Solar Flare Classification, Yagnashree Velanki

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Solar flares are powerful eruptions of energy from the Sun that can cause disruptions to technology here on Earth, like communication systems, GPS, and power grids. To help manage these risks, it’s important to accurately identify and classify these solar flares before they cause problems. In our research, we focused on improving how we classify solar flares by looking at large sets of complex data collected over time. We used several techniques to find the most important factors that help us tell different types of solar flares apart. Each method has its strengths, so instead of relying on just one, …

A Relaxable Vortex Wake Model For Modern Supersonic Panel Methods, Joshua J. Hurwitz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This thesis presents an improved vortex wake model for unstructured, supersonic panel methods. Panel methods are numerical methods that utilize inviscid flow assumptions and other simplifications to allow efficient computation of pressure distributions, velocity fields, and aerodynamic forces. They are commonly used for preliminary design, automatic design codes, and automatic optimization routines. Most existing supersonic panel methods do not include automatic wake generation and relaxation. This prevents the accurate analysis of many geometries, including those with conventional horizontal stabilizers or canards. This thesis first outlines the derivation of a relaxable generalized supersonic vortex filament equation. Next, it explores other necessary …

Insights From Diverse Environments: Investigating The Fate And Transport Of Semivolatile Organic Contaminants In Alpine, Arctic, And Arid Regions, Jeffrey Perala-Dewey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This dissertation investigates the fate and transport of pollutants through four field-based studies in a diverse array of environments. These pollutants travel through the atmosphere and end up in places far from their original sources. In this work I explore how chemical properties of the pollutants and the environmental processes that are present change the way the pollutants travel through the environment. In the first study, pollutants from car engines were quantified in the vegetation along transects in three alpine valleys. Using these measurements, I investigated how the chemical properties of the pollutants impacted their interplay with wind systems in …

Multidecadal Data Demonstrate The Role Of Climate And Natural History Traits In Shaping Butterfly Phenology, Gbolahan Anthony Reis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Climate change is transforming the natural world, altering the timing of key events in the lives of plants and animals, such as when flowers bloom or when butterflies take flight. These timing changes, known as phenology shifts, can disrupt ecosystems and species interactions, creating ripple effects through food webs and biodiversity. While scientists have studied these shifts for decades, much of the focus has been on simple metrics, like the first or last day a butterfly is seen flying each year. However, these measures do not tell the whole story of how climate change is impacting the entire flight season …

The Temperature Trend In The Upper Mesosphere Between ∼84 Km And 98 Km Based On Diurnal Cycle Observations By A Na Lidar At Middle Latitudes Between 2002 And 2017, Melania Carolina Pena

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Carbon dioxide is one of the main greenhouse gasses that contributes to maintaining Earth’s warm global temperature in its atmosphere. Recent studies have indicated that this cooling trend has been determined to vary between less than 1 K/decade or 2 K/decade. However, these results have been determined using data that have been obtained using nighttime lidar observations and potentially do not give the complete picture on how the cooling trend is behaving. The main goal of this research is to understand the behavior of the linear temperature trend between the daytime and nighttime profiles using a 16-year dataset (2002-2017), when …

A Review Of Research On Acceptance And Commitment Therapy For Anxiety And Obsessive Compulsive And Related Disorders, Michael P. Twohig, Leila K. Capel, Michael E. Levin

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper reviews acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) for anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), trichotillomania, excoriation disorder, hoarding, and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). Measurement of psychological inflexibility and its relationship to pathology is reviewed. Outcome work in all disorders listed is reviewed with results supporting ACT for anxiety disorders, OCD, and trichotillomania, but there is limited evidence for excoriation disorder, hoarding, and BDD. Future research should focus on processes of change in addition to outcomes.

The Effect Of Indaziflam On Seed Production In Perennial Cool-Season Grasses, Benson F. Israelsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Annual invasive grass weeds are a major problem in grass seed production as they contaminate seed lots and decrease the quality. Few effective herbicides are available to control invasive grass weeds in seed production systems. Indaziflam is a pre-emergence herbicide capable of providing annual weed control for 3-5 years after application. Indaziflam is not labeled for use in seed production as little is known of the effect it will have. The purpose of this study was to measure total seed yield, seed germination, seed mass, and seedling vigor when applying 0, 40, 77, and 93 g ai ha^-1 of …

Westward Words: An Exploration Of Western Beats And Their Legacy, Brenna Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

This thesis examines the art, poetry, and experiences of western Beats or Beatniks. Also known as the Beat Generation, this literary movement is traditionally associated with East Coast writers. However, a prominent Beat culture was also present on the West Coast throughout the 1950s and 1970s. The thesis explores how the West influenced the literature and art produced by Beats during this time.

Exploring Resilience: Insights From The Western U.S. Drink Tourism Industry During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Camillo Salvi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

COVID-19 harmed the resilience of the United States tourism industry, undermining its economic stability. Specifically, the drink tourism sector was negatively affected by the pandemic due to its heavy reliance on consumer demand. Enhancing the ability to withstand, recover, and adapt to changing conditions is fundamental to promoting financial development and economic growth. This study aims to explore the determinants of resilience within this industry, focusing on wineries, breweries, and distilleries in the western United States during 2020 and 2021. Through a survey-based analysis, we identified what factors impacted their resilience and how these influenced the drink tourism domain, thereby …

Understanding And Influencing Public Concerns About Prescribed Fire Use In Utah, Brooke Richards

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Prescribed fire is beneficial for improving forest health and reducing wildfire risk, which is especially important for residents who live near forested areas. To expand the use of prescribed fire, Utah land managers must first ensure there is public support. Therefore, better understanding public concerns and what shapes their beliefs about prescribed fire can help managers improve outreach and education methods. Through interviews with south-central Utah land managers, private landowners, and Health departments employees, a focus group discussion with Park City natural resource managers, and observation of Summit County public commentary, two outreach messages were suggested to address the five …

Responses Of Medical Cannabis To Daily Light Integrals Higher Than Summer Sunlight: Yield, Morphology, And Quality, James D. Nielson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Cannabis sativa L. is a crop with growing medical and commercial significance. However, cannabis is not as well studied or understood as many of the most common crops. A novel area of research surrounds how much light the plant can tolerate or use to keep increasing flower yield. In agriculture, light intensity is often measured by how many light particles interact with a given area in a second, referred to as photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD). For example, at Utah State University in Logan, Utah, during the peak of summer, the sun's light intensity can reach about 2000 μmol·m^{-2 …}

Using Luminescence Dating To Investigate Geomorphic And Archaeologic Features At The Wiggins Fork Bison Jump Complex, Northwestern Wyoming, Emma T. Krolczyk

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The Wiggins Fork Bison Jump Complex, located in northwestern Wyoming, is comprised of thousands of human-placed rock piles, known as cairns, that were placed within lines to form an extensive network of drivelines and funnels leading to cliffs or steep slopes. These archaeological features were used by Native Americans as a bison hunting method, where the animals were driven off cliffs for harvest. This research uses luminescence dating, which determines when sediment was last exposed to sunlight, to date the timing of driveline construction and the deposition ages of the underlying river deposits.

Research focused on Jump #4, which had …

Examining Support By Residents For Community Scale Wildfire Mitigation Strategies In The Wasatch Front, Conner R. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Current development trends along the Wasatch Front are causing a greater threat of wildfires to the Utahns who reside there. Research indicates that although studies meant to examine wildfire mitigation strategy preferences do exist, their findings are not applicable to the Wasatch Front. This thesis addresses the lack of applicable data and the resultant lack of understanding of the Wasatch Front residents' preferences. In my project specifically, I will be looking at what wildfire mitigation strategies, at the community scale, residents of the Wasatch Front prefer. Additionally, I will be comparing the preferences of residents living in areas with above …

Instrument Development For Determining High School Students’ Epistemological And Ontological Beliefs Regarding Photography, Earl Stanford Maeser Jr.

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Research in educational psychology has shown that students' beliefs about knowledge—known as personal epistemology—significantly impact their academic success. However, accurately measuring these beliefs has proven to be challenging due to the lack of reliable and valid tools. This study addresses this gap by developing and testing two tools aimed at assessing high school students' beliefs about knowledge and reality in the context of photography: the Photographic Knowledge Questionnaire (PKQ) and the Photographic Reality Questionnaire (PRQ).

Photography, with its strong ties to reality and representation, provides a unique way to explore personal beliefs about the nature of reality and how knowledge …

Reducing The Cost Of Implementing The F.I.T. Game Healthy Eating Program In Diverse Schools While Observing Effects On Food Waste, Robert Gifford

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

It is well known that children do not eat enough fruits and vegetables. The FIT Game Healthy Eating Program is an interactive, story-board type narrative that has increased fruit and vegetable consumption in elementary school children. While The FIT Game intervention has shown progress in the past, the schools studied had minimal diversity and the intervention was time intensive and costly.

This research utilized The FIT Game intervention in four Salt Lake City area, Title 1, schools with a large amount of student diversity. The first portion of research was conducted in two phases. The first phase compared an intervention …

Interpreting Neural Networks For Particle Tracing In Fluid Simulation Ensembles: An Interactive Visualization Framework, Maanav Choubey

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Understanding the internal mechanisms of neural networks, particularly Multi-Layer Perceptrons (MLP), is essential for their effective application in a variety of scientific domains. In particular, in the scientific visualization domain their adoption has recently shown to be a promising tool to predict particle trajectories in fluid dynamics simulation and aid the interactive visualization of flows. This research addresses the critical challenge of interpretability of such models.

While interpretability has been extensively explored in fields like computer vision and natural language processing, its application to time series data, particularly for particle tracing (or prediction of trajectories), has not garnered sufficient attention. …

Finite-Time Control Strategies For Rendezvous And Proximity Operations, John Tamotsu Akagi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

One common metric to use when designing a controller is the time that the system will take to reach the desired state. Unfortunately, many approaches to developing controllers only guarantee that the system will approach, but not exactly reach, the desired state. This can become a limitation in time-sensitive situations where rapid and complete convergence is necessary. One group of control methods, known as finite-time control, does guarantee both faster convergence and that the desired state will be reached, but often fails to define exactly what time that will occur, how much control will be used to get there, and …

Dual Mechanisms Of Salinity Tolerance In Wheat Germplasm Lines W4909 And W4910, Richard R.-C. Wang, Steven S. Xu, Thomas A. Monaco, Matthew D. Robbins

Forage and Range Research Laboratory Publications

Soil salinity adversely affects plant growth and development, reducing the yield of most crops, including wheat. The highly salt-tolerant wheat germplasm lines W4909 and W4910 were derived from a cross between two moderately salt-tolerant lines, the Chinese Spring (CS)/Thinopyrum junceum disomic addition line AJDAj5 (AJ) and the Ph-inhibitor line (Ph-I) derived from CS/Aegilops speltoides. Molecular markers for gene introgressions in W4909 and W4910 were not reported. Four sequence-tagged site (STS) molecular markers of Ph-I were developed and tested in the above-mentioned lines and the F₂ progenies of the two crosses, Anza (AZ) x 4740 (sib of …

The Utah Statesman, November 25, 2024, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.