Digital Commons Network^™

Stakeholder Contemporary Knowledge Needs Regarding The Potential Effects Of Tall Structures On Sage-Grouse, Terry A. Messmer, Robert Hasenyager, James Burruss, Sherry Liguori

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 required all state and federal agencies to grant utilities access permits to promote reliable, renewable energy production and transmission. Contemporary transmission relies largely on above-ground electric transmission structures and lines. The construction, operation, and maintenance of tall structures, such as power lines, communication towers, wind turbines, and other installations and their associated activities in sage-grouse (Centrocercus spp.) habitats were identified as a conservation threat by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in its decision to designate greater sage-grouse (C. urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) as a candidate species for protection under the Endangered …

Factors Influencing Survival And Productivity Of Pronghorn In A Semiarid Grass-Woodland In East-Central New Mexico, Louis C. Bender, Jon C. Boren, Heather Halbritter, Shad Cox

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Pronghorns (Antilocapra americana) are an important source of revenue and recreation for property managers throughout New Mexico, but have been declining in number. We documented body condition, survival, production of fawns, and trends in population size of pronghorns on the Corona Range and Livestock Research Center (CRLRC), a working research ranch and wildlife enterprise located in east-central New Mexico, from 2006 through 2011. Accrual of all indices of condition and size of both adult female and adult male pronghorns was positively associated with precipitation during June to July, August to September, and annually. Annual survival rates of females …

Livestock Predation By Common Leopard In Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary, India: Human-Wildlife Conflicts And Conservation Issues, Chandra Prakash Kala, Kishor Kumar Kothari

Human–Wildlife Interactions

We investigate livestock predation by the common leopard (Panthera pardus) and emerging conflicts between this species, local people, and wildlife authorities at the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary in the Himalayan region of India. We scrutinized secondary data that were collected by wildlife authorities; we also conducted informal interviews of villagers living within sanctuary, and wildlife staff to understand various human–leopard conflicts. Leopard density was approximately 0.33/km2 in the sanctuary. Leopards killed 1,763 domestic animals, about 90% of which were cattle, during a 14-year period. Within the sanctuary, leopards killed 1 person and injured 9 others. This high depredation rate …

Vitals Rates And Seasonal Movements Of Two Isolated Greater Sage-Grouse Populations In Utah's West Desert, Jason D. Robinson, Terry A. Messmer

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Declines in greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) populations in Utah over the last century parallel range-wide trends. However, little is known about the ecology of sage-grouse populations that inhabit Utah’s naturally fragmented habitats. Utah’s West Desert sage-grouse populations occupy sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats that are geographically separated by the Great Salt Lake, and largely confined to the Sheeprock and Deep Creek watersheds. From 2005 to 2006, we monitored sage-grouse that were radio-collared in each watershed to determine the factors affecting the vital rates in these isolated populations. Livestock grazing by domestic cattle was the dominate land use, …

Rational Reprogramming Of Fungal Polyketide First Ring Cyclization, Yuquan Xu, Tong Zhou, Zhengfu Zhou, Shiyou Su, Sue A. Roberts, William R. Montfort, Jia Zeng, Ming Chen, Wei Zhang, Min Lin, Jixun Zhan, Istvan Molnar

Biological Engineering Faculty Publications

Resorcylic acid lactones (RAL) and dihydroxyphenylacetic acid lactones (DAL) represent important pharmacophores with heat shock response and immune system modulatory activities. The biosynthesis of these fungal polyketides involves a pair of collaborating iterative polyketide synthases (iPKSs): a highly reducing iPKS (hrPKS) whose product is further elaborated by a nonreducing iPKS (nrPKS) to yield a 1,3-benzenediol moiety bridged by a macrolactone. Biosynthesis of unreduced polyketides requires the sequestration and programmed cyclization of highly reactive poly-β-ketoacyl intermediates to channel these uncommitted, pluripotent substrates towards defined subsets of the polyketide structural space. Catalyzed by product template (PT) domains of the fungal nrPKSs and …

How Species Richness And Total Abundance Constrain The Distribution Of Abundance, Kenneth J. Locey, Ethan P. White

Biology Faculty Publications

The species abundance distribution (SAD) is one of the most intensively studied distributions in ecology and its hollow-curve shape is one of ecology’s most general patterns. We examine the SAD in the context of all possible forms having the same richness (S) and total abundance (N), i.e. the feasible set. We find that feasible sets are dominated by similarly-shaped hollow-curves, most of which are highly correlated with empirical SADs (most R2 values > 75%), revealing a strong influence of N and S on the form of the SAD and an a priori explanation for the ubiquitous hollow-curve. Empirical SADs are often …

Life History, C. W. Fox, Frank J. Messina

Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Uintah Basin Revisited - 2012-2013 Bioregional Planning Studio Project, Richard E. Toth, Matthew Coombs, C Michael Gottfredson, Tyler Allen

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Since the Uintah Basin Research Conference in 2007, residents of the area have witnessed a consistent level of land-use development throughout the region. Portions of that growth and development have precipitated the need to develop a landscape-level plan in order to maintain the context of their region and community identity in the coming years. The purpose of this study is to research and develop a process that identifies current and future land-use issues throughout the Uintah Basin. The identification of these issues by various stakeholders will help to provide a framework for future policy decisions.

Physiological Level Production Of Antigen-Specific Human Immunoglobulin In Cloned Transchromosomic Cattle, A. Sano, H. Matsushita, H. Wu, J. Jiao, P. Kasinathan, E. J. Sullivan, Z. Wang, Y. Kuroiwa

Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Science Faculty Publications

Therapeutic human polyclonal antibodies (hpAbs) derived from pooled plasma from human donors are Food and Drug Administration approved biologics used in the treatment of a variety of human diseases. Powered by the natural diversity of immune response, hpAbs are effective in treating diseases caused by complex or quickly-evolving antigens such as viruses. We previously showed that transchromosomic (Tc) cattle carrying a human artificial chromosome (HAC) comprising the entire unrearranged human immunoglobulin heavy-chain (hIGH) and kappa-chain (hIGK) germline loci (named as κHAC) are capable of producing functional hpAbs when both of the bovine immunoglobulin mu heavy-chains, bIGHM and bIGHML1, are homozygously …

Design And Optimization Of A Thermal Capacitor, Karen Nielson, Jordan Tracy Cox

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Team Hot Stuff designed a thermal capacitor for Senior Design I at Utah State University. This thermal capacitor is intended for use in the food service industry as a low-cost alternative to chafers. Chafers are platters which use oil burners to keep food warm. The client for this thermal capacitor is Thermal Management Technologies (TMT), a company specializing in thermal science solutions whose mission is “to provide simple, practical thermal science solutions to a wide range of platforms including: Industry, Defense, and Space”¹. The founder and president of TMT, Dr. J. Clair Batty, serves as a mentor for …

A Guide To Food Storage For Emergencies, Brian Nummer, Carolyn Washburn, Teresa Hunsaker, Amanda Christensen, Jana Darrington, Melanie Jewkes, Brandon Jahner, Kristen Thackeray, Subash Shrestha, William Baird, Clint Allred, Tricia Hokanson, Jacquelyn Roberts

All Current Publications

Disaster has many faces: earthquake, fire, hurricane, tornado, severe thunderstorm, winter storm, financial uncertainty, and more. Disasters can disrupt the normal services we come to expect and sometimes take for granted. Examples are electricity, food, and water. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, advocates disaster preparedness. They advise people to be informed, make a plan, and prepare an emergency kit. A major part of that emergency kit is food and water for you and your family. But, what types of food should you store? How much food should you store? How will you cook it?  Does it need to be …

Gardening For Native Bees In Utah And Beyond, James H. Cane, Linda Kervin

All Current Publications

Utah is home to more than 20 percent of the 4,000+ named species of wild bees that are native to North America. Except for bumblebees and some sweat bees, our native bees are solitary, not social, many with just one annual generation that coincides with bloom by their favorite floral hosts. In contrast, the familiar honeybee is highly social, has perennial colonies, and was brought to North America by settlers from Europe.

Spiders, Ryan S. Davis, Ricardo A. Ramirez

All Current Publications

Spiders are arachnids, a group that includes other 8-legged arthropods like ticks, mites, sun spiders, scorpions, and harvestmen (daddy longlegs). There are approximately 621 species of spiders known to occur in Utah (Allred and Kaston, 1983). Spiders are beneficial predators and the majority of them are harmless to humans.

Home Range And Movements Of Greater Sage-Grouse In Its Southern-Most Distribution, S. Frey

All Current Publications

In Utah Greater sage-grouse (sage-grouse) habitat has been reduced to 50% of what is considered historical availability, due to habitat degradation and loss. We conducted a small study to determine the home range size, space use, and movement patterns of the southern-most sage-grouse population to facilitate future management actions to benefit sage-grouse.

Population Dynamics And Movements Of Translocated And Resident Greater Sage-Grouse On Anthro Mountain, Utah, Terry Messmer

All Current Publications

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations have declined range-wide. Species translocations have been identified as a conservation strategy to augment declining populations in restored habitats.

The Effect Of Temperature On Seed Quality And Quantity In Crosses Between European (Populus Tremula) And Hybrid Aspens (P. Tremula X P. Tremuloides), L. Koviuranta, T. Latva-Karjanmaa, P. Pulkkinen

Aspen Bibliography

Hybrid aspen (Populus tremula L. Populus tremuloides Michx.) plantations are expanding in Fennoscandia and the Baltic countries; however, the possible effects of plantations on the native European aspen (P. tremula) and the level of gene flow between European and hybrid aspen have not been investigated. We studied seed quantity and quality in intraspecific and interspecific crosses of the European and hybrid aspens over a two year period. In order to study whether elevated temperatures due to climate change would benefit the species differently, we performed the crosses in different temperatures. In both years, interspecific crosses produced more seeds with higher …

Identifying Significant Changes In Serials With Title Changes In The Recognition Of New Works, Mavis B. Molto

Library Faculty & Staff Publications

The purpose of the study was to develop a means for identifying significant subject and function changes in serials with title changes and then to recommend ways to recognize new serial works in cataloging. A sample of serials with title changes was used to classify the underlying subject and function changes found into thirty-five subcategories, which were then each assigned a level (high, medium, or low) according to the evidence provided for a new work. The FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records) concept of a work and other FRBR guidelines were used in assigning the levels. It was determined that …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, December 10, 2012, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Council on Teacher Education Report
• Scholarship Advisory Board Report
• EPC Items
• Short Discussion and Prioritization of Faculty Forum Issues
• PRPC Code Changes 402.12 (second reading)
• PRPC 405.8.2 dealing 2/ombudsperson
• PRPC 407 Medical Incapacity

The Utah Statesman, December 6, 2012, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

The Utah Statesman, December 4, 2012, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Sagestep News, Winter 2012, No. 17, Sagestep

Newsletters

Seasonal newsletter of SageSTEP.

Creating Tomorrow, Fall 2012, College Of Engineering

College of Engineering Magazines

Annual magazine for the College of Engineering at Utah State University.

Marginalia No. 32, Merrill-Cazier Library

Marginalia

The Transformation of the Printed Page ... Richard W. Clement, Dean of Libraries

USU in Space Exhibition ... Text: Patrick Williams

The Human Library: Don't Judge a Book by its Cover ...Anne Hedrich, Reference

Special Collections: New Acquisitions by Friends ... Brad Cole, Special Collections

Welcome! New Merrill-Cazier Librarians: Becky Thoms and Katie Wesolek

Jack London Exhibition ... Clint Pumphrey, Special Collections

Library Faculty and Staff: Presentations and Publications

Wind Uprising: Merrill-Cazier Library Friends Fall Lecture: Edwin Stafford and Cathy Hartman.

Effects Of Slash Pile Burning After Restoring Conifer- Encroached Aspen, Christa M. Dagley, John-Pascal Berrill, Stephanie Coppeto, Kyle Jacobson

Aspen Bibliography

Removal of conifers encroaching aspen stands has been advocated and is being practiced in the Lake Tahoe Basin (EIP Project #10080: Aspen Community Restoration Projects). In remote and roadless areas, thinning of conifers is generating large volumes of wood and pile burning is currently being implemented to handle this biomass on site. However, the effects of pile burning on aspen are unknown, and there is an urgent need for guidelines to support design of thinning treatment prescriptions; specifically burn pile size and safe distances from live aspen trees of any size to prevent injury.

Biodiesel Production From Mixed Culture Algae Via A Wet Lipid Extraction Procedure, Ashik Sathish

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Development of renewable sources of energy has received significant interest due to the rising costs of energy and the environmental impact of using fossil fuels. Biodiesel production from renewable sources of oil has shown promise of helping to replace or reduce dependence on petroleum based diesel thereby reducing demand for crude oil. Microalgae have been considered as a strong candidate for the production of large quantities of renewable oil for biodiesel production.

Microalgae are single cell photosynthetic organisms that posses the capability to produce renewable oil at rates much faster than land based plants and crops. In addition, microalgae can …

Ammonia Measurements And Emissions From A California Dairy Using Point And Remote Sensors, Kori D. Moore, E. Young, C. Gurell, Michael D. Wojcik, Randy S. Martin, G. E. Bingham, R. L. Pfeiffer, J. H. Prueger, J. L. Hatfield

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Ammonia (NH3) is an important trace gas species in the atmosphere that can have negative impacts on human, animal, and ecosystem health. Agriculture has been identified as the largest source of NH3, specifically livestock operations. NH3 emissions from a commercial dairy in California were investigated during June 2008. Cattle were held in open-lot pens, except for young calves in hutches with shelters. Solid manure was stored in the open-lot pens. Liquid manure from feed lanes was passed through a solids settling basin and stored in a holding pond. Passive sensors and open-path Fourier transform infrared spectrometers (OP-FTIR) were deployed around …

Impact Of Sampling Frequency On Annual Load Estimation Of Total Phosphorus And Total Suspended Solids, Amber Spackman Jones, Jeffery S. Horsburgh, David King Stevens, Nancy O. Mesner, Ronald J. Ryel

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The determination of sediment and nutrient loads is typically based on the collection and analysis of grab samples. The frequency and regularity of traditional sampling may not provide representation of constituent loading, particularly in systems with flashy hydrology. At two sites in the Little Bear River, Utah, continuous, high-frequency turbidity was used with surrogate relationships to generate estimates of total phosphorus and total suspended solids concentrations, which were paired with discharge to estimate annual loads. The high frequency records were randomly subsampled to represent hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly sampling frequencies and to examine the effects of timing, and resulting …

Effect Of Silicon On Plant Growth And Drought Stress Tolerance, Kaerlek W. Janislampi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Silicone is a silicon-containing synthetic polymer. Silicon is a metalloid chemical element. Silicon is not considered an essential nutrient for plants, but it is typically abundant in soils and can be taken up in large amounts by plant roots. Silicon is known to have beneficial effects when added to the soil in which rice and several other plants are cultivated. These beneficial effects include disease and insect resistance, plant structural fortification, and regulation of the uptake of other plant nutrients. Silicic acid is the form of silicon in soils that is available to plants. In this study, the effect of …

A Multifunctional Solar Panel Antenna For Cube Satellites, Olutosin C. Fawole

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This work presented the design of a single antenna structure that can perform the functions of about four antennas. The antenna is to be applied on a new kind of very tiny satellites. These satellites are called CubeSats. In contrast to an ordinary antenna that works at a single frequency band, the antenna designed will be able to work at about three different usable frequencies. In addition, it will be possible to make the waves emitted by the antenna to have multiple senses of rotation or no rotation at all. The multiple functional capability of the antenna will lead to …

Teaching Accessibility And Design-For-All In The Information And Communication Technology Curriculum: Three Case Studies Of Universities In The United States, England, And Austria, Paul Ryan Bohman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Digital technologies allow people with disabilities to participate independently in society in ways they never could before. The full realization of these new opportunities remains elusive, though, because working professionals in the information and communication technology (ICT) field rarely receive adequate training in how to make digital ICT accessible to people with disabilities. Adding accessibility to the university ICT curriculum can help create a critical mass of ICT professionals with accessibility awareness and expertise to finally realize the full accessibility potential of digital technologies. This dissertation provides a rich informational context from which ICT curriculum leaders can decide how to …