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What Are The Long-Term Affects Of Spaceflight On Human Muscle Tissue? | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Sept. 28, 2015 - Biological engineering doctoral candidate Charles Harding wants to know how long-term spaceflight can affect human muscle tissue. It’s an increasingly important topic as scientists and engineers move closer to manned space flights to Mars.

Metabolism, Gas Exchange, And Carbon Spiraling In Rivers, Robert O. Hall Jr, Jennifer L. Tank, Michelle A. Baker, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall, Erin R. Hotchkiss

Biology Faculty Publications

Ecosystem metabolism, that is, gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (ER), controls organic carbon (OC) cycling in stream and river networks and is expected to vary predictably with network position. However, estimates of metabolism in small streams outnumber those from rivers such that there are limited empirical data comparing metabolism across a range of stream and river sizes. We measured metabolism in 14 rivers (discharge range 14–84 m3 s−1) in the Western and Midwestern United States (US). We estimated GPP, ER, and gas exchange rates using a Lagrangian, 2-station oxygen model solved in a Bayesian framework. GPP ranged from …

Modifying The Adm1 Model To Predict The Operation Of An Anaerobic Digester Co-Digesting Municipal Sludge With Bakery Waste, Morris E. Demitry, Jianming Zhong, Conly Hansen, Michael Mcfarland

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Anaerobic Digestion Model Number1 (ADM1) was modified in order to predict accurately the impact of co-digesting bakery waste (BW) with municipal sludge (MS). BW is an industrial waste (300,000 gallons per day in USA) that contains a high concentration of organic matter (carbohydrates, low lipids and non-detected proteins). BW is an easily biodegradable substrate for creating a favorable microorganism growth environment, which enhances the biogas production needed for wastewater facilities. The modified ADM1 successfully predicted changes in pH, volatile fatty acids (VFA), propionic acid and methane gas production. The ADM1 outputs were compared to experimental batch reactor results of actual …

Narrating Jane: Telling The Story Of An Early African American Mormon Woman, Quincy D. Newell

Arrington Annual Lecture

Jane Elizabeth Manning James was among the early African American converts to Mormonism. After joining the church in the early 1840s, James remained a faithful member until her death in Salt Lake City in 1908. Although she was well-known among church members during her lifetime, James was largely forgotten after her death. However, beginning in about 2000, there was a significant up-tick in non-academic LDS discourse about James. Dr. Newell will analyze this recent talk about Jane, showing that she has become a way for Latter-day Saints to talk about both gender and race in ways that create a usable …

The Utah Statesman, September 24, 2015, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Tragedy Triumph Transformation, Fry Street Quartet, Robert Waters, Rebecca Mcfaul, Brad Ottesen, Anne Francis Bayless

All Music Department Programs

A premiere of the Crossroads Project: Emergence.

Growing Algae In Produced Water | College Of Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

LOGAN, Utah, Sept. 15, 2015 – The wastewater evaporation ponds that support the oil and natural gas extraction industries in the Uintah Basin may soon help spur the development of alternative bio-based fuels.

Uintah Basin’S Wastewater Evaporation Ponds Could Yield Bioenergy | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

LOGAN, Utah, Sept. 15, 2015 – The wastewater evaporation ponds that support the oil and natural gas extraction industries in the Uintah Basin may soon help spur the development of alternative bio-based fuels.

Translational Training For Tomorrow’S Environmental Scientists, Mark W. Brunson, Michelle A. Baker

Biology Faculty Publications

Environmental science exists to seek solutions to problems related to human-nature interactions. Unfortunately, in many cases, environmental research findings are not effectively used because scientists are not able to convey their knowledge effectively to policy makers and the public, and/or because the questions they address are not directly linked to the answers stakeholders need. To address this issue, Schlesinger (2010) called for development of a “translational ecology” that would be understandable and usable by decision-makers, interest groups, and citizens. A barrier to usable science is that researchers are not usually trained to be translational. We convened a multi-disciplinary group of …

General Education Subcommittee Agenda, September 15, 2015, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Business

• Introductions
• Connections Update
• Gen Ed Course Enrollments
• Educated Persons’ Conference
• Curriculog Updates

B.E. Club Lab Tour | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Happy September 14th, 2015 (Monday) everyone! A reminder that tomorrow, September 15th, we are doing a lab tour of Dr. Miller’s lab. You can meet us at either the lab (SER 117) or in the ENGR building’s atrium 10 to 15 minutes before 5 pm so we can walk over as a group. The lab tour should last about 20 minutes, give or take. If you have not paid the membership fee ($5) and would still like to, we will be able sign you up either before or after the lab tour. Hope to see you there!

The Utah Statesman, September 9, 2015, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Utah Statesman, September 3, 2015, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Educational Policies Committee Minutes, September 3, 2015, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Course Approvals
• Program Proposals
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, September 3, 2015, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Introduction of Committee Members

Charge and Responsibilities of Committee

Approval of 2 April 2015 Minutes

Semester Course Approval Reviews

Program Proposals

• Creating an Associate of Science Degree Program in Agricultural Science
• Discontinuing the Food Technology Management Emphasis
• Discontinuing the Early Childhood Development Associate of Arts Degree at USU Eastern
• Offering a Minor in Behavioral Health

Other

• Utilizing Curriculog and Box

Educational Policies Committee Agenda, September 3, 2015, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Subcommittee Reports
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• Course Approvals
• Program Proposals
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee

Opening Social | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Welcome back AGGIES! Here is to hoping your first week has been going well.

Bear Lake Limnology & Nutrient Limnology, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Unusual Behavior In Parental Care By A House Wren (Troglodytes Aedon): Post Fledging Use Of An Old Nest During Cold Nights, Micah N. Scholer

Articles

I report on the unusual behavior of an adult House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) leading recently fledged young back to the nest for two consecutive nights. The ambient temperature reached below 0°C during both nights. Despite disadvantages associated with remaining in the nest, this observation suggests that adult birds may assess trade-offs between perceived risks versus the benefits of engaging in other activities, in this case roosting communally for thermoregulation.

Burrowing Owls, Pulex Irritans And Plague, James R. Belthoff, Scott A. Bernhardt, Christopher Ball, Michael Gregg, David H. Johnson, Rachel Ketterling, Emily Price, Juliette K. Tinker

Biology Faculty Publications

Western burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) are small, ground-dwelling owls ofwestern North America that frequent prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) towns and other grasslands.As they rely on rodent prey and occupy burrows once or concurrently inhabited by fossorialmammals, the owls often harbor fleas. We examined the potential role of fleas found onburrowing owls in plague dynamics by evaluating prevalence of Yersinia pestis in fleas and inowl blood. During 2012-2013 fleas and blood were collected from burrowing owls in portionsof five states with endemic plague: Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and South Dakota.Fleas were enumerated, taxonomically identified, pooled by nest and assayed for …

Environmental Water Rights Transfers: A Review Of State Laws, Leon F. Szeptycki, Julia Forgie, Elizabeth Hook, Kori Lorick, Philip Womble

All In-stream Flows Material

This report was prepared in cooperation with, and was funded by, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), with the goal of providing an assessment of the legal regimes for reviewing and approving environmental water transfers in twelve western states. The ability to transfer, change, or dedicate an existing water right under the prior appropriation system to instream uses is a relatively new legal tool. Legislatures in western states first passed statutes authorizing and governing these transfers in the late 1980s. As part of its overall western water program, NFWF engaged with Water in the West to assess the scope, …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, August 31, 2015, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• FSEC Role in Faculty Communication
• Overview of Faculty Senate Webpage
• Graduate Council and Research Council Report
• Code Change Deferred 407.6.4(1) Reasons for Non-renewal
• Code Change 406 Dealing with urgent financial issues
• Brown Bag Lunches with the President?
• Proposal to change code to include state to federal collaborators 401.4.2.4
• Potential Issues for Faculty Senate Action

The Utah Statesman, August 31, 2015, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan

An Exploration Into Fern Genome Space, Paul G. Wolf, Emily B. Sessa, D. Blaine Marchant, Fay-Wei Li, Carl J. Rothfels, Erin M. Sigel, Mathew A. Gitzendanner, Clayton J. Visger, Jo Ann Banks, Douglas E. Soltis, Pamela S. Soltis, Kathleen M. Pryer, Joshua P. Der

Biology Faculty Publications

Ferns are one of the few remaining major clades of land plants for which a complete genome sequence is lacking. Knowledge of genome space in ferns will enable broad-­‐scale comparative analyses of land plant genes and genomes, provide insights into genome evolution across green plants, and shed light on genetic and genomic features that characterize ferns, such as their high chromosome numbers and large genome sizes. As part of an initial exploration into fern genome space, we used a whole genome shotgun sequencing approach to obtain low-­‐density coverage (~0.4X to 2X) for six fern species from the Polypodiales (Ceratopteris, Pteridium, …

Dissection Of The Factors Affecting Formation Of A Ch∙∙∙O H-Bond. A Case Study, Steve Scheiner

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Quantum calculations are used to examine how various constituent components of a large molecule contribute to the formation of an internal CH∙∙∙O H-bond. Such a bond is present in the interaction between two amide units, connected together by a series of functional groups. Each group is removed one at a time, so as to monitor the effect of each upon the H-bond, and thereby learn the bare essentials that are necessary for its formation, as well as how its presence affects the overall molecular structure. Also studied is the perturbation caused by change in the length of the aliphatic chain …

A Structurally Based Analytic Model Of Growth And Biomass Dynamics In Single Species Stands Of Conifers, Robin J. Tausch

Articles

A theoretically based analytic model of plant growth in single species conifer communities based on the species fully occupying a site and fully using the site resources is introduced. Model derivations result in a single equation simultaneously describes changes over both, different site conditions (or resources available), and over time for each variable for each species. Leaf area or biomass, or a related plant community measurement, such as site class, can be used as an indicator of available site resources. Relationships over time (years) are determined by the interaction between a stable foliage biomass in balance with site resources, and …

General Education Subcommittee Minutes, August 18, 2015, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Course/Designation Removals

Business

• Water Cluster
• Connections Update
• What is an Educated Person?

Biological Engineering Faculty Awarded For Cutting-Edge Eye Health Research | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

8/18/2015 - More than six million Americans are affected by age-related macular degeneration and other retinal diseases, and despite the prevalence of these disorders, few methods of prevention and treatment exist today.

Be Sweep Awards At 2015 Ibe Conference | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

LOGAN, Utah – March 10, 2015 – Students from Utah State University’s Biological Engineering department brought home three of eight awards at the Institute of Biological Engineering Annual Conference in St. Louis, Mo, March 5-7. There were a total of about 60 posters, with 37 in the graduate student division and 23 in the undergraduate student division.

Dr. Britt - Wins 2015 Robins Award For Teaching | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Dr. David Britt won the Robins Award for Teacher of the year. If you are unaware the Robins award is the most prestigious award at USU. In our department Dr. Tim Taylor is the only other person to have one.