Digital Commons Network^™

A Structurally-Tunable 3-Hydroxyflavone Motif For Visible Light-Induced Carbon Monoxide-Releasing Molecules (Corms), Stacey N. Anderson, Jason M. Richards, Hector J. Esquer, Abby D. Benninghoff, Atta M. Arif, Lisa M. Berreau

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Molecules that can be used to deliver a controlled amount of carbon monoxide (CO) have the potential to facilitate investigations into the roles of this gaseous molecule in biology and advance therapeutic treatments. This has led to the development of light-induced CO-releasing molecules (photoCORMs). A goal in this field of research is the development of molecules that exhibit a combination of controlled CO release, favorable biological properties (e.g., low toxicity and trackability in cells), and structural tunability to affect CO release. Herein, we report a new biologically-inspired organic photoCORM motif that exhibits several features that are desirable in a next-generation …

The Role Of Element Type And Crossed Relation In Restructuring Difficulty, Zhonglu Zhang, Ke Yang, Christopher M. Warren, Guang Zhao, Peng Li, Yi Lei, Hong Li

Psychology Faculty Publications

Chunk decomposition is an aspect of problem solving that involves decomposing a pattern into its component parts in order to regroup them into a new pattern. Previous work suggests that the primary source of difficulty in chunk decomposition is whether a problem’s solution requires removing a part that is a meaningful perceptual pattern (termed a chunk) or not (a non-chunk). However, the role of spatial overlap (crossed relation or not) has been ignored in this line of research. Here, we dissociated the role of element type and crossed relation in chunk decomposition problems by employing a Chinese character transformation task. …

Beneficial Effects Of Temperate Forage Legumes That Contain Condensed Tannins, Jennifer W. Macadam, Juan J. Villalba

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The two temperate forage legumes containing condensed tannins (CT) that promote ruminant production are birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.; BFT) and sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia Scop.; SF). Both are well-adapted to the cool-temperate climate and alkaline soils of the Mountain West USA. Condensed tannins comprise a diverse family of bioactive chemicals with multiple beneficial functions for ruminants, including suppression of internal parasites and enteric methane. Birdsfoot trefoil contains 10 to 40 g·CT·kg−1 dry matter (DM), while SF contains 30 to 80 g·CT·kg−1 DM. Our studies have focused on these two plant species and have demonstrated consistently elevated rates of gain for …

The Utah Statesman, July, 2015, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Food Security, Depression And Quality Of Life In Northern Plains Indians, Jacqueline S. Gray, Kevin Gonzaga, James G. Penland, Henry C. Lukaski, Patty Stensland

Journal of Indigenous Research

Major health disparities, high levels of poverty and food insecurity exist in many Native American and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) communities. Relatively little research has been done on these issues and possible relationships between them. A research program was designed with the objective of exploring the relationships between these various issues, if any existed, in one sub-group of AI/AN. In the study, the incidence of food insecurity was determined in a convenience sample of Northern Plains Indians (NPI) and correlated with measures of physical and mental health, body composition, quality of life, cultural identification and dietary intakes. Participants were 458 adult …

An Indigenous Epistemological Approach To Promote Health Through Effective Knowledge Translation, Selvi Roy, Barbara Campbell

Journal of Indigenous Research

Through indigenous epistemologies a holistic health framework is promoted and indigenous concepts like two-eyed seeing offer critical decolonizing conduits for knowledge translation and enhanced health outcomes. Yet, in health care settings dominance of scientific research-based evidence downplays tacit knowledge. For enhanced health outcomes in indigenous community settings, effective knowledge translation is essential through synthesis of research-based explicit knowledge and tacit know-how adapted to local needs. This paper discusses essential characteristics of effective knowledge translation practices, and presents two examples of best practices of knowledge translation in indigenous contexts.

Structural And Functional Connectivity As A Driver Of Hillslope Erosion Following Disturbance, Christopher Jason Williams, Frederick B. Pierson, Peter R. Robichaud, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Jan Boll, Eva K. Strand

Articles

Hydrologic response to rainfall on fragmented or burnt hillslopes is strongly influenced by the ensuing connectivity of runoff and erosion processes. Yet cross-scale process connectivity is seldom evaluated in field studies owing to scale limitations in experimental design. This study quantified surface susceptibility and hydrologic response across point to hillslope scales at two degraded unburnt and burnt woodland sites using rainfall simulation and hydrologic modelling. High runoff (31–47 mm) and erosion (154–1893 g m^–2) measured at the patch scale (13 m²) were associated with accumulation of fine-scale (0.5-m²) splash-sheet runoff and sediment and concentrated …

Utah State Magazine, Summer 2015, Utah State University

Utah State Magazine

The quarterly magazine for friends and alumni of Utah State University.

Interdisciplinary Modeling For Water-Related Issues Graduate Course, Laurel Saito, Alexander Fernald, Timothy Link

All ECSTATIC Materials

The science and management of aquatic ecosystems is inherently interdisciplinary, with issues associated with hydrology, atmospheric science, water quality, geochemistry, sociology, economics, environmental science, and ecology. Addressing water resources issues in any one discipline invariably involves effects that concern other disciplines, and attempts to address one issue often have consequences that exacerbate existing issues or concerns, or create new ones (Jørgensen et al. 1992; Lackey et al. 1975; Straskraba 1994) due to the strongly interactive nature of key processes (Christensen et al. 1996). Thus, research and management of aquatic ecosystems must be interdisciplinary to be most effective, but such truly …

Rooted In Hell: Predicting Invasion Rates Of Phragmites Australis, Rachel Nydegger, Jacob P. Duncan, James A. Powell

Browse All Undergraduate research

Across the estuaries of the east coast and wetlands of the Great Lakes, the invasive grass Phragmites australis outcompetes other vegetation and destroys local ecosystems. Because its roots are tolerant to salinity that other plants find hellish, Phragmites invasions begin with vegetative spread of genetic clones in brackish marshlands. This plant can grow over three meters tall at densities of 50 stems/m2, provides poor wildlife habitat, and is very difficult to eradicate.

A discrete life stage model on a yearly time step captures seed survivorship in a seed bank, sexual and asexual recruitment into a juvenile age class, and differential …

Nutrient Addition Effects On Tropical Dry Forests: A Mini-Review From Microbial To Ecosystem Scales., J S. Powers, K K. Becklund, M G. Gei, S B. Iyengar, R Meyer, C S. O'Connell, E M. Schilling, C M. Smith, Bonnie G. Waring, L K. Werden

Biology Faculty Publications

Humans have more than doubled inputs of reactive nitrogen globally and greatly accelerated the biogeochemical cycles of phosphorus and metals. However, the impacts of increased element mobility on tropical ecosystems remain poorly quantified, particularly for the vast tropical dry forest biome. Tropical dry forests are characterized by marked seasonality, relatively little precipitation, and high heterogeneity in plant functional diversity and soil chemistry. For these reasons, increased nutrient deposition may affect tropical dry forests differently than wet tropical or temperate forests. Here, we review studies that investigated how nutrient availability affects ecosystem and community processes from the microsite to ecosystem scales …

The Myb36 Transcription Factor Orchestrates Casparian Strip Formation, Takehiro Kamiya, Monica Borghi, Peng Wang, John M. C. Danku, Lothar Kalmbach, Prashant S. Hosmani, Sadaf Naseer, Toru Fujiwara, Niko Geldner, David E. Salt

Biology Faculty Publications

The endodermis in roots acts as a selectivity filter for nutrient and water transport essential for growth and development. This selectivity is enabled by the formation of lignin-based Casparian strips. Casparian strip formation is initiated by the localization of the Casparian strip domain proteins (CASPs) in the plasma membrane, at the site where the Casparian strip will form. Localized CASPs recruit Peroxidase 64 (PER64), a Respiratory Burst Oxidase Homolog F, and Enhanced Suberin 1 (ESB1), a dirigent-like protein, to assemble the lignin polymerization machinery. However, the factors that control both expression of the genes encoding this biosynthetic machinery and its …

The Utah Statesman, June, 2015, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Varying Role Of Water Column Nutrient Removal Along River Continua In Contrasting Landscapes, Alexander J. Reisinger, Jennifer L. Tank, Emma J. Rosi-Marshall, Robert O. Hall Jr, Michelle A. Baker

Biology Faculty Publications

Nutrient transformation processes such as assimilation, dissimilatory transformation, and sorption to sediments are prevalent in benthic zones of headwater streams, but may also occur in the water column. The river continuum concept (RCC) predicts that water column processes become increasingly important with increasing stream size. We predicted that water column nutrient uptake increases with stream size, mirroring carbon/energy dynamics predicted by the RCC. We measured water column uptake of ammonium ( NH+4NH4+ ), nitrate ( NO−3NO3− ), and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in 1st through 5th order stream and river reaches (discharge: 50–68,000 L s−1) in three watersheds ranging from …

Wolf Diet In An Agricultural Landscape Of North-Eastern Turkey, Claudia Capitani, Mark William Chynoweth, Josip Kusak, Emrah Çoban, Çağan H. Şekercioğlu

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

In this study, we investigated wolf feeding ecology in Kars province, north-eastern Turkey, by analysing 72 scat samples collected in spring 2013. Ongoing camera trap surveys suggest that large wild ungulates are exceptionally rare in the region. On the contrary, livestock is abundant. Accordingly, scats analysis revealed that livestock constituted most of the biomass intake for wolves, although small mammals were the most frequent prey items. Wild ungulates were occasional prey, and although wolves make use of the main village garbage dump as a food source, garbage remains were scarce in scat samples. Wolf dependence on anthropogenic resources, primarily livestock, …

General Catalog 2014-2015 (Summer, Fall 2015), 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.

Infant Eye Disease Research At Usu Gets Funding From Knights Templar | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

6/1/2015 - TJ Robertson, right, Grand Commander, Grand Commandery, Knights Templar of Utah, presents Dr. Elizabeth Vargis with eye health research funding alongside College of Engineering Dean Christine Hailey and Robert Bennett, left, Deputy Grand Commander, Knights Templar of Utah.

Synergistic Effects Of Fire And Elephants On Arboreal Animals In An African Savanna, Robert M. Pringle, Duncan M. Kimuyu, Ryan L. Sensenig, Todd M. Palmer, Corinna Riginos, Kari E. Veblen, Truman P. Young

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

1. Disturbance is a crucial determinant of animal abundance, distribution and community structure in many ecosystems, but the ways in which multiple disturbance types interact remain poorly understood. The effects of multiple-disturbance interactions can be additive, subadditive or super-additive (synergistic). Synergistic effects in particular can accelerate ecological change; thus, characterizing such synergies, the conditions under which they arise, and how long they persist has been identified as a major goal of ecology.
2. We factorially manipulated two principal sources of disturbance in African savannas, fire and elephants, and measured their independent and interactive effects on the numerically dominant vertebrate (the arboreal gekkonid …

The Role Of Fire In Aspen Ecology And Restoration, Douglas J. Shinneman, Kevin D. Krasnow, Susan K. Mcilroy

Aspen Bibliography

Quaking aspen is generally considered to be a fire-adapted species because it regenerates prolifically after fire, and it can be replaced by more shade-tolerant tree species in the absence of fire. As early-successional aspen stands transition to greater conifer-dominance, they become increasingly fire prone, until fire returns, and aspen again temporarily dominate. While this disturbance-succession cycle is critical to the persistence of aspen on many landscapes, some aspen stands persist on the landscape without fire. The complex role of fire is an important consideration for developing conservation and restoration strategies intended to sustain aspen.

Common Crane Fly In Turf, Ricardo Ramirez, Kelly Kopp

All Current Publications

Crane flies belong to one of the most specious families of flies. The adult flies, also known as “mosquito hawks”, are not giant mosquitoes and do not bite, and though the name suggests it, they do not feed on mosquitoes. In general, the larvae are associated with aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats. The majority of crane flies are not pests.

Zebra Chip Disease Of Potato, Claudie Nischwitz, Shawn Olsen, Ron Patterson

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes Zebra Chip disease of potatoes, including symptoms, disease cycle, and how to manage it.

Candidatus Liberibacter Of Pepper, Claudia Nischwitz

All Current Publications

This fact sheet describes Candidatus Liberibacter which infects pepper plants.

Utah State Signs 2-Year Research Deal With Korean Bio Medical Institute | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

May 20, 2015 – It was a meeting of East and West on Wednesday morning at the Innovation Campus where a new deal was signed by USU researchers that could help bring fresh answers in the fight against cancer, diabetes and other diseases.

Cindy Hanson, Phd Student Received An Education Scholarship From Spie | Biological Engineering | Biological Engineering, Usu College Of Engineering

College of Engineering News

Cindy Hanson PhD Student has been awarded an SPIE Optics and Photonics Education Scholarship

BELLINGHAM, Washington, USA – 15 May 2015 – Cindy Hanson has been awarded a 2015 Optics and Photonics Education Scholarship by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics for her potential contributions to the field of optics, photonics or related field.

Exploration Of Life In Halite, Somi Yoo, Edgar Chavez, Bonnie Baxter

Utah Space Grant Consortium

Biological material surviving in modern halite may point to potential life in salt deposits on Mars. This project attempts to find an efficient method extracting cells and DNA from modern halite crystals to gain more insight into efficient method of extracting DNA from ancient salt, considering potential Mars Rover techniques. Microorganisms were cultivated from Great Salt Lake halite and identified by 16S rRNA gene comparisons. We will present data on the diversity of archaea isolated by this method. We made attempts at isolating DNA with various combinations of centrifugation columns and filters to extract and clean any DNA that may …

Rational Engineering Of Protein Stability For Potential Application As Detectors In Nasa Space Missions, Kristen Wilding, Bradley C. Bundy

Utah Space Grant Consortium

No abstract provided.

Ultrasonic Power Transfer For Biological Implants, David B. Christensen, Shad Roundy

Utah Space Grant Consortium

No abstract provided.

Materials And Microfabrication Processes For Arrow-Based Optofluidic Biosensors, Thomas Wall, Joshua Parks, Holger Schmidt, Aaron R. Hawkins

Utah Space Grant Consortium

This paper outlines the microfabrication processes and materials used to make an optofluidic lab-on-a-chip biosensor that detects individual biological particles. The biosensor uses a hollow-core ARROW waveguide with a low refractive index liquid core and is fabricated on a silicon wafer using a combination of PECVD deposition, RIE etching, and standard photolithographic processes. As a sensing example, detection of fluorescence signals emitted by labeled oligonucleotides inside the liquid core was used to illustrate the chip’s potential to identify protein-coding regions of the Zaire Ebola virus genome.

The Floral Hosts And Distribution Of A Supposed Creosote Bush Specialist, Colletes Stehpeni Timberlake (Hymenoptera: Colletidae), Rebekah Andrus Nelson, Terry Griswold

An

Colletes stehpani Timberlake is thought to be a narrow oligolege of creosote bush, Larrea tridentata (DC.) Coville (Zygophyllaceae) with limited distribution in the Sonoran desert of the Western United States. Based on appraisal of a museum specimens and fieldsurveys from 1999 to 2001 on 21 sand dunes, we foundd C. stephani to be a much more widely distributed psammophile of theSonoran, Mojave, and Great Basin Deserts that utilizes two unrelated plant pollen scources,Larrea Cav. and Psorothamnus Rydb. (Fabaceae). The geologic history of the region suggests a potential host shift from the more ancient occupant, Psorothamnus, to the Neogene colonizer, Larrea.

Variation In Trembling Aspen And White Spruce Wood Quality Grown In Mixed And Single Species Stands In The Boreal Mixedwood Forest, Francis De Araujo, James F. Hart, Shawn D. Mansfield

Aspen Bibliography

The Canadian boreal forest is largely represented by mixed wood forests of white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss) and trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx). In this study, a total of 300 trees originating from three sites composed of trembling aspen and white spruce with varying compositions were investigated for wood quality traits: one site was composed mainly of aspen, one mainly of spruce and a third was a mixed site. Four wood quality traits were examined: wood density, microfibril angle (MFA), fibre characteristics, and cell wall chemistry. Social classes were also determined for each site in an attempt …