Digital Commons Network^™

Watershed Detectives, Usu Extension

All Current Publications

A watershed is an area of land from which all the water drains to the same location, such as a stream, pond, lake, river, wetland or estuary. A watershed can be quite large, such as the Colorado River drainage basin, or very small, such as a small horse pasture that drains to a farm pond.

General Concepts Of Biological Control, Diane G. Alston

All Current Publications

“Balance of Nature.” Virtually all pest populations are affected by natural enemies to some extent. In many cases, natural enemies are the primary regulating force of the pest populations. Natural controls include effects of natural enemies (predators, parasites, pathogens), other biotic (living) factors such as food availability and competition, and abiotic (non-living) factors such as weather and soil

Important Components Of A Successful Pest Management Program, Diane G. Alston

All Current Publications

Before deciding to take any pest control action, be sure you have correctly identified the pest (insect, mite, disease, weed, vertebrate, etc.). Proper pest identification is essential for determining if control is necessary and for selection of the best suited control options.

Microgravity Testing Of Phase Change References On The International Space Station, T. Shane Topham, Gail E. Bingham, Dean Lanier, Bryce Smith, Dalon Work

Space Dynamics Laboratory Publications

Orbital sensors that will monitor global climate change during the next decade are exacting low drift rates from their onboard thermometry, which is unattainable currently without some means of on-orbit recalibration. Phase change materials (PCM) such as those that make up the ITS-90 are seen as the most reliable references on the ground and good candidates for orbital recalibration references. The University of Wisconsin and Space Dynamics Laboratory have both been developing miniaturized phase change references capable of deployment on an orbital blackbody for more than six years. A critical question remains to be answered to determine their potential utility …

Radishes, Brianne Sherwood

USU Student Organic Farm Newsletter

Radishes are often a vegetable that are disregarded as a garnish or something you simply throw on salads, but they have a lot more in them then people typically think. I'll admit, I was one of those people that thought of radishes as quite boring, but the more and more I researched them and experimented, the more I realized that there are so many delicious things you can do with them. For instance, COOKING them- an idea I have previously been against(you aren't supposed to cook radishes, right?) but now love. Look in the "Conquering the Bounty" box for several …

Linking Rates Of Diffusion And Consumption In Relationto Resources, Tal Avgar, Daniel Kuefler, John M. Fryxell

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The functional response is a fundamental model of the relationship between consumer intake rate and resource abundance. The random walk is a fundamental model of animal movement and is well approximated by simple diffusion. Both models are central to our understanding of numerous ecological processes but are rarely linked in ecological theory. To derive a synthetic model, we draw on the common logical premise underlying these models and show how the diffusion and consumption rates of consumers depend on elementary attributes of naturally occurring consumer-resource interactions: the abundance, spatial aggregation, and traveling speed of resources as well as consumer handling …

Bovine Viral Diarrhea Beef-Herd Risk Assessment, Kerry A. Rood, C Kim Chapman

All Current Publications

This publication gives insite into understanding where the greatest risk to a herd is, relative to the introduction of bovine viral diarrhea (BVD).

Estimated Instability Of Internal Waves Due To Time-Dependent Shear, Leonardo Latorre, Julie Vanderhoff

Utah Space Grant Consortium

The ocean and atmosphere are characterized mainly by stable stratification which sustains propagation of particular ocurrances called internal gravity waves. These internal waves are generated as long as a perturbation to the stratification occurs at a frequency lower than the buoyancy (natural) frequency of the medium. These waves, once generated, propagate with wavelengths which can vary from a few meters to hundreds of meters in the vertical and thousands of meters in the horizontal. These waves propagate through the ocean and atmosphere interacting with other flow phenomena and eventually overturn and break, dissipating their energy. This energy dissipation affects circulation, …

Planar Electrode Quadrupole Ion Traps, Brett Hansen, Hannah Quist, Aaron Hawkins, Daniel Austin

Utah Space Grant Consortium

We present a linear type ion trap consisting of metal lines that are lithographically patterned onto two ceramic substrates. Trapping fields are realized by applying specific voltage potentials to each line. This arrangement allows miniaturization approaches that are immune to surface roughness issues and increased complexities of precision machining of electrode surfaces. We also present how these traps allow a thorough study of higher order multipoles and their effect on mass analyzer performance.

Design Of A Flapping Wing Mechanism For Force Analysis And Optimization, Ryan B. George, Scott L. Thomson

Utah Space Grant Consortium

The design of a robotic flapping wing mechanism is discussed. The design allows for dynamic adjustment of flapping trajectory in fluid with three rotational degrees of freedom, while keeping all motors and encoders out of the fluid (i.e., water or oil) to protect critical equipment from potential failure and increase reliability. Mechanism control is discussed. Preliminary optimization using a Box-Behnkin design approach is used and shows successful parameter optimization. Mechanism limitations are addressed.

The Cpd Celebrates Graduation 2011, Center For Persons With Disabilities

Blog Posts

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Large-Scale Removal Of Coyotes On Pronghorn And Mule Deer Productivity And Abundance, Dylan E. Brown, Michael R. Conover

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

We tested the hypothesis that predation by coyotes (Canis latrans) impacts pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) populations. We did so by examining the effects of coyote removal on pronghorn and mule deer populations within 12 large areas (>10,500 km2) located in Wyoming and Utah during 2007 and 2008. Pronghorn productivity (fawn to adult female ratio) and abundance were positively correlated with the number of coyotes removed and removal effort (hours spent hunting coyotes from aircraft) although the correlation between pronghorn productivity and removal effort was not statistically significant (P = 0.08). Mule deer productivity and abundance …

Propagating Bigtooth Maple, Melody R. Richards, Larry Rupp

CWEL Extension Fact Sheets

Native plants are playing an increasing role in sustainable landscapes that use fewer resources such as water and fertilizer. Unfortunately, many native plants are not available in the nursery trade, or if they are available they may only be found as seedling plants grown for the reclamation industry. Such plants are high quality and have a valuable role in the reclamation of disturbed sites such as fire-damaged areas. But, these plants by design are genetically diverse and have not been selected for typical horticultural traits such as flowering or fall color. In addition, plants produced for reclamation are usually not …

Huntsman Alumni Magazine, Spring 2011, Usu Jon M. Huntsman School Of Business

Huntsman Business Magazine

Alumni magazine for the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University.

Sagestep News, Spring 2011, No. 15, Sagestep

Newsletters

Seasonal newsletter of SageSTEP.

Utah State University Commencement, 2011 – Main Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

124^th Annual Commencement of Utah State University.

Tremblings, May 2011, Western Aspen Alliance

Tremblings

Landscape genetic studies raise new questions about old paradigms

Karen E. Mock

James N. Long

Conventional wisdom on the management of aspen is based on a long history of solid research and a wealth of practical experience. However, recent discoveries using molecular tools are changing our understanding of aspen regeneration ecology in ways that could change management practices. Our traditional view of aspen dynamics is that aspen forests consist of small numbers of large clones, that reproduction from seed is negligible, and has been so since perhaps the Pleistocene, and that aspen is best regenerated by coppicing. According to this …

Effect Of Aquatic And Body Weight Supported Treadmill Exercise On Physiological And Kinematic Measures, Jessica Ensign Wing

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effects of underwater treadmill (UTM), body weight supported (BWS), and land treadmill (LTM) exercise on oxygen consumption (VO₂), ratings of perceived exertion (RPE), and two-dimensional kinematics of the lower extremities during. Seventeen healthy and physically active male participants between the ages of 21 and 40 years performed an exercise bout for each mode of exercise. Each exercise bout lasted 7 min, consisting of 5 min of walking and 2 min of running and using the same self-selected treadmill walking and running speeds throughout all three conditions. The VO …

Ecology And Conservation Of Cougars In The Eastern Great Basin: Effects Of Urbanization, Habitat Fragmentation, And Exploitation, David C. Stoner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research was designed to investigate cougar response to urbanization, habitat fragmentation, and exploitation from behavioral, demographic, and landscape perspectives. The source-sink model has been proposed as an alternative framework for the management of exploited cougar populations. I addressed the basic question of whether cougars conform behaviorally to the predictions of the source-sink model, and consequently, the applied question of whether the model could be used for the conservation of this species. To achieve this I evaluated three scale-specific questions using radio-telemetry and hunter-harvest data collected from 1996-2010. At the subpopulation scale, I tested the hypothesis that cougars are wildland …

Effect Of Heavy Metals Found In Flue Gas On Growth And Lipid Accumulation For Green Algae Scenedesmus Obliquus, Reece Butler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In recent years there has been a growing interest within the United States to replace fossil fuels with biofuels for environmental and national security reasons. Algal feedstocks have the potential of producing significantly higher yields of oil for biofuels than any other source. It is well known that high concentrations of CO₂ can increase algal yields. Flue gas from coal fire power plants is an obvious source of CO₂. The flue gas, however, will contain other chemicals besides CO₂ that may not be beneficial to the algae. The research objectives for this study were to determine …

Graph Kernels And Applications In Bioinformatics, Marco Alvarez Vega

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nowadays, machine learning techniques are widely used for extracting knowledge from data in a large number of bioinformatics problems. It turns out that in many of such problems, data observations can be naturally represented by discrete structures such as graphs, networks, trees, or sequences. For example, a protein can be seen as a cloud of interconnected atoms lying on a 3-dimensional space. The focus of this dissertation is on the development and application of machine learning techniques to bioinformatics problems wherein the data can be represented by graphs. In particular, we focus our attention on proteins, which are essential elements …

Evaluating Fertilizer Rate, Crop Rotation And Trap Crops For Effects On Onion Growth And Yield, Soil Health, Thrips Densities And Iris Yellow Spot Virus Incidence, Kristine R. Buckland

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Onion production in the United States is seriously affected by the tospovirus Iris Yellow Spot (IYSV), whose symptoms include lenticular-shaped lesions that reduce photosynthesis and bulb yield. Thrips tabacai Lindeman, onion thrips (OT), is the only known vector of the disease and a primary arthropod pest of onion. Frequent insecticide applications, increasing resistance in OT populations to insecticides, high nitrogen (N) fertilization rates and loss of yield to disease and insect pressure threaten sustainable onion production. The objectives of this study were to identify crop management strategies to enhance onion productivity while suppressing OT and IYSV. Three fertilizer rates and …

What Classroom Observations Reveal About Primary Grade Reading Comprehension Instruction Within High Poverty Schools Participating In The Federal Reading First Initiative, Rebecca S. Donaldson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Reading comprehension is one of the most critical academic skills to be acquired in school; therefore, the comprehension instruction provided by teachers is of utmost importance. This study examined 3 years of classroom observation data to describe the comprehension instruction provided by kindergarten through third-grade teachers who were participating in the federal Reading First reading reform initiative within 22 high-poverty Title I schools located in rural, suburban, and urban school districts in one western state. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods design was used to analyze data collected during 325 three-hour observations of classroom literacy instruction to identify both the quantity and …

Algal Biofilm Production And Harvesting System For Wastewater Treatment With Biofuels By-Products, Logan Christenson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Excess nitrogen and phosphorus in discharged wastewaters can lead to downstream eutrophication, ecosystem damage, and impaired water quality that may affect human health. Chemical-based and physical-based technologies are available to remove these nutrients; however, they often consume significant amounts of energy and chemicals, greatly increasing treatment costs. Algae are capable of removing these pollutants through biomass assimilation, and if harvested, can be utilized as a feedstock for biomethane or biodiesel production. Currently, difficulties in harvesting, concentrating, and dewatering algae have limited the development of an economically feasible treatment and production process. When algae are grown as surface-attached biofilms, the biomass …

Sexual And Religious Identity Development Among Adolescent And Emerging Adult Sexual Minorities, Angie L. Dahl

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As the majority of Americans identify with a religious affiliation, the religious context is an important backdrop upon which identity development occurs. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, and allied (LGBTQA) youths, the process of development may be complicated in a religious context due to denominational positions on same-sex sexuality. While recent researchers highlighted the importance of contextual influences on LGBTQA developmental processes, few studies have examined LGBTQA sexual and religious identity development. The goal of the current study was to gain a better understanding and appreciation of LGBTQA adolescent and young adult experiences of religious and sexual identity …

Ligand And Metal Effects On The Co-Release Reactivity Of Metal Acireductone And Flavonolate Complexes, Katarzyna Grubel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The research reported herein involves synthetic metal complexes of relevance to dioxygenase enzymes (Ni(II)-containing acireductone dioxygenase (Ni(II)-ARD) and quercentinase (2,4-flavonol dioxygenase) that promote oxidative carbon-carbon bond cleavage and CO release. The experiments focus on the elucidation of structure-reactivity relationships and evaluation of the conditions under which CO is generated.

It had been proposed that hydrogen bond donors in the secondary environment of the active site metal center in Ni(II)-ARD influence the coordination of the acireductone substrate on the nickel center. To evaluate this proposal, we investigated the Ni(II) coordination chemistry of an acireductone-type enolate anion using a supporting chelate ligand …

Process-Based Management Of Downy Brome In Salt Desert Shrublands: Assessing Pre- And Post- Rehabilitation Soil And Vegetation Attributes, Merilynn Carol Hirsch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As an ecosystem driver, downy brome (Bromus tectorum L.) presents obstacles to land rehabilitation efforts, including restoring desirable species cover. Because damaged ecosystems may have crossed both abiotic and biotic thresholds, ecologically-based control strategies may assist with altering successional trajectories and restoring desirable plant species. My thesis research had three objectives: 1) assess soil and vegetation relationships in degraded salt desert ecosystems prior to implementing downy brome control treatments, 2) determine the effects of control treatments on soil properties and resident plant species, and 3) evaluate the relative importance of shrubland soil type, herbicide type, and herbicide rate on seedling …

Causes, Extent, And Consequences Of Lead-Pellet Ingestion By Chukars (Alectoris Chukar) In Western Utah: Examining Habitat, Search Images, And Toxicology, R. Justin Bingham

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Lead ingestion adversely affects humans and over 130 species of wildlife. Wild chukars (Alectoris chukar) are documented to ingest lead, but the causes and consequences of this ingestion are poorly understood. The objectives of this research were to 1) examine the influence of habitat use, the hunting season, and seasonal climate on the extent and severity of lead ingestion by chukars in western Utah, 2) assess the effects of habitat use, feeding behaviors, and lead density on the causes of lead-pellet ingestion in captive and wild chukars, and 3) investigate the consequences of lead-pellet ingestion in captive chukars as a …

Evaluating Reliability And Validity Evidence For Merrill's 2007 5 Star Instrument, Max Hale Cropper

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Merrill’s 2007 5 Star instrument, hereafter called the M-5 Star, is based on Merrill’s well recognized First Principles of Instruction. However, the instrument has not been tested for reliability and validity. In a pilot study, Cropper’s version of his instrument (C-5 Star) showed some reliability and validity evidence, but the M-5 Star needed similar evidence. To address this gap in the literature, the purpose of this study is to assess the reliability and validity evidence for M-5 Star. Raters were drawn from a graduate course in online course evaluation and asked to rate a sample (N = 6) of …

Factors Affecting Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus Urophasianus) Survival And Movement In South-Central Utah, Danny Caudill

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Greater sage-grouse are the largest North American grouse species and are dependent on sagebrush for survival. Sage-grouse populations have declined throughout the west. Habitat fragmentation and degradation are likely the main causes of declining populations, and concern has lead to the petitioning for the sage-grouse to be listed under the Endangered Species Act. Survival of adult and juvenile sage-grouse is thought to be limiting population growth. However, survival of juvenile sage-grouse is poorly understood. I aimed to improve the knowledge gap regarding juvenile sage-grouse survival. With improved knowledge of juvenile survival, management actions can be employed to benefit sage-grouse populations. …