Digital Commons Network^™

Robust Plant Segmentation Of Color Images Based On Image Contrast Optimization, Yuzhen Lu, Sierra N. Young, Haifeng Wang, Nuwan Wijewardane

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Plant segmentation is a crucial task in computer vision applications for identification/classification and quantification of plant phenotypic features. Robust segmentation of plants is challenged by a variety of factors such as unstructured background, variable illumination, biological variations, and weak plant-background contrast. Existing color indices that are empirically developed in specific applications may not adapt robustly to varying imaging conditions. This study proposes a new method for robust, automatic segmentation of plants from background in color (red-green-blue, RGB) images. This method consists of unconstrained optimization of a linear combination of RGB component images to enhance the contrast between plant and background …

Threats To Internal Validity In Multiple-Baseline Design Variations, Timothy A. Slocum, Sarah E. Pinkelman, P. Raymond Joslyn, Beverly Nichols

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

Multiple baseline designs—both concurrent and nonconcurrent—are the predominant experimental design in modern applied behavior analytic research and are increasingly employed in other disciplines. In the past, there was significant controversy regarding the relative vigor of concurrent and nonconcurrent multiple baseline designs. The consensus in recent textbooks and methodological papers is that nonconcurrent designs are less rigorous than concurrent designs because of their presumed limited ability to address the threat of coincidental events (i.e., history). This skepticism of nonconcurrent designs stems from an emphasis on the importance of across-tier comparisons and relatively low importance placed on replicated within-tier comparisons for addressing …

Faculty Senate Agenda, January 31, 2022, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

Agenda

• Call to Order - Boyd Edwards
• University Business - Frank Galey, Provost
• Information Education
• Policies Committee – December 2, 2021 - Paul Barr
• General Education Subcommittee
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• Curriculum Subcommittee
• IChange Aspire Efforts - Claudia Radel
• Reports
• Council on Teacher Education Annual Report | One Pager - Kimberly Lott
• Scholarship Advisory Board Annual Report - Craig Whyte

Two-Sided Platform Pricing And Competition Under Realistic Pricing Structure, Tongyao Jiang, Jie Chen, Zhixuan Xiang

Economics and Finance Student Research

This paper is motivated by the prevailing pricing structure and competition in Chinese food-delivery market. Currently, two oligarchs in China’s food-delivery market are Meituan-Dianping Takeout and ELEME Takeout, which accounting for more than 95% of the market share. Both of these platforms charge a percentage commission based on per-transaction price and involve per-agent fee. So far, few research has been found to make analysis under such realistic pricing structure, and we help to fill this gap by developing a model for platform competition based on the model developed by Armstrong. The results we get under the realistic pricing structure and …

Community Based Engineering Design Challenges For Adolescent English Learners, Amy Wilson-Lopez

Funded Research Records

No abstract provided.

The Utah Statesman, January 17, 2022, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Spatial Personalities: A Meta-Analysis Of Consistent Individual Differences In Spatial Behavior, Erica F. Stuber, Ben S. Carlson, Brett R. Jesmer

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Individual variation in behavior, particularly consistent among-individual differences (i.e., personality), has important ecological and evolutionary implications for population and community dynamics, trait divergence, and patterns of speciation. Nevertheless, individual variation in spatial behaviors, such as home range behavior, movement characteristics, or habitat use has yet to be incorporated into the concepts or methodologies of ecology and evolutionary biology. To evaluate evidence for the existence of consistent among-individual differences in spatial behavior – which we refer to as “spatial personality” – we performed a meta-analysis of 200 repeatability estimates of home range size, movement metrics, and habitat use. We found that …

Academic Standards Subcommittee Minutes, January 13, 2022, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• New Business
• Comprehensive review of the Excused Absences policy (Fran Hopkin)
• Motion to approve the proposed wording to the Educational Policies Committee made by Dan Coster. Seconded by Sterling Bone. The vote was unanimous for all present.

Academic Standards Subcommittee Agenda, January 13, 2022, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

Agenda

• New Business
• Comprehensive review of the Excused Absences policy (Fran Hopkin)

Identifying Conifer Tree Vs. Deciduous Shrub And Tree Regeneration Trajectories In A Space-For-Time Boreal Peatland Fire Chronosequence Using Multispectral Lidar, Humaira Enayetullah, Laura Chasmer, Christopher Hopkinson, Dan Thompson, Danielle Cobbaert

Aspen Bibliography

Wildland fires and anthropogenic disturbances can cause changes in vegetation species composition and structure in boreal peatlands. These could potentially alter regeneration trajectories following severe fire or through cumulative impacts of climate-mediated drying, fire, and/or anthropogenic disturbance. We used lidar-derived point cloud metrics, and site-specific locational attributes to assess trajectories of post-disturbance vegetation regeneration in boreal peatlands south of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada using a space-for-time-chronosequence. The objectives were to (a) develop methods to identify conifer trees vs. deciduous shrubs and trees using multi-spectral lidar data, (b) quantify the proportional coverage of shrubs and trees to determine environmental conditions driving …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, January 18, 2022, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Call to Order- Body Edwards Approval of Minutes – December 13, 2021
• University Business- Noelle Cockett, President | Frank Galey, Provost
• Information
• Education Policies Committee – January 6, 2022 Paul Barr
• Spring 2022 Training Opportunities for Faculty Tanisha Barker
• Reports
• Reports Office of Research Annual Report Lisa Berreau
• School of Graduate Studies Annual Report Richard Cutler
• Old Business
• New Business
• Code 401 Track Changes | Clean 1st Reading Scott Hunsaker

Faculty Senate Agenda, January 10, 2022, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Approval of Minutes – November 29, 2021
• University Business
• Education Policies Committee
• Change Aspire Efforts
• Council on Teacher Education Annual Report
• Scholarship Advisory Board Annual Report
• Old Business
• New Business

History 3250 Reader: Renaissance Europe, 1300-1500, Robert J. Mueller

Course Materials

No abstract provided.

History 4251 Reader: The Tudors: 1485-1603, Robert J. Mueller

Course Materials

No abstract provided.

Lecturas Contra Un Mundo Corrupto: La Buena Lectura (1879-1882), Andrea Castro

Decimonónica

En el poema “La estrella y la tempestad,” firmado por C. y V, acudimos a un diálogo entre una niña y su madre en un paisaje que—si bien invita a una lectura alegórica—la madre y la niña experimentan en sus cuerpos.¹ La tempestad despierta en ellas sentimientos de confusión, miedo, misterio y estremecimiento. Así, la fuerza de la naturaleza evoca el sentimiento de lo sublime, sentimiento que hacia el final del poema será contenido por el espacio de la casa, construido a través de ruidos y sentimientos familiares.²

Recomposing Memory’S Fragments: The Sacred Precinct In Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer’S Historia De Los Templos De España (1857) And Cartas Desde Mi Celda (1864), Azariah Alfante

Decimonónica

Inscribed on a section of bare wall in the renowned thirteenth-century Monasterio de Piedra of Zaragoza are the words: “Templo destruido y sus imágenes mutiladas durante el tiempo que medió entre la revolución de 1835 y el año 1840, en que pasó a propiedad privada.” The text’s emotionally charged language refers to the mid-century disentailment laws under Juan Álvarez Mendizábal. Its phrases “templo destruido” and “imágenes mutiladas” depict the monastery’s confiscation as a tortuous experience before it passed into private ownership, thus testifying to the monastery’s resultant damage and loss of its historical community and identity. Similarly, other old church …

The “Polémica De La Lengua” Of 1842: A “Liberal” Philology?, Pablo Martínez Gramuglia

Decimonónica

In April of 1842, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento was a relatively well-known journalist who had arrived in Santiago de Chile less than two years before, by the end of 1840; he wrote for different periodicals, but his most frequent participation was in El Mercurio. Published in Valparaíso, this was the only permanent daily newspaper in Chile, which granted a wide readership that gradually started to notice him, up to the point that he would become its first stable writer and the editor-in-chief (Martínez Gramuglia et al. 266-70). Even though he did not sign most of his contributions, by 1842 El …

A New Non-Inheriting Homogeneous Solution Of The Einstein-Maxwell Equations With Cosmological Term, Ian M. Anderson, Charles G. Torre

Publications

We find a new homogeneous solution to the Einstein-Maxwell equations with a cos- mological term. The spacetime manifold is R × S3. The spacetime metric admits a simply transitive isometry group G = R × SU(2) and is Petrov type I. The spacetime is geodesically complete and globally hyperbolic. The electromagnetic field is non- null and non-inheriting: it is only invariant with respect to the SU(2) subgroup and is time-dependent in a stationary reference frame.

Holiday Lights Create Light Pollution And Become Ecological Trap For Eastern Fox Squirrels: Case Study On A University Campus, Scott E. Henke, David B. Wester, Cord B. Eversole

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Ecological light pollution is now recognized as a significant source of ecosystem alteration. We documented that holiday lights are a seasonal source of light pollution that constitute an ecological trap for eastern fox squirrels (Sciurus niger). Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) wildlife students surveyed a 2-km walking transect 5 times per month each month for the relative abundance and diel behavior of eastern fox squirrels and feral cats (Felis catus) on the TAMUK campus during 2018–2019. Eastern fox squirrels exhibited diurnal behaviors throughout the year but extended their foraging behavior nearly 4 hours after sunset with the …

Human–Carnivore Conflicts In A Recently Established Pakistani National Park, Rukhsana Khatoon, Maqsood Anwar, Charles H. Nilon, Matthew E. Gompper

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Human–carnivore conflicts (HCCs) are increasing globally. These conflicts may encompass competition for food resources, crop and livestock depredations, and attacks on humans. Concerns over conflicts may result in retaliatory killings of carnivores and negative views of wildlife or landscape conservation. Yet, despite the economic and conservation implications of HCCs, data regarding the magnitude and severity of the conflicts may be lacking because many incidents are unreported. To better inform this issue, we compared HCC data for 2016 to 2018 obtained from official records of the Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department for a newly established national park in the Punjab Region …

Cultivation Of Industrial Hemp On And Near Airports: Implications For Wildlife Use And Risk To Aviation Safety, Bradley F. Blackwell, Page E. Klug, Lee A. Humberg, Zachary T. Brym, Bryan M. Kluever, Jennifer M. Edwards

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Land-use planning on and near airports should consider possible revenue from land covers, associated maintenance costs, and potential for land covers to attract vertebrate species recognized as hazardous to aviation safety. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has expressed interest in recent attention given to industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.; hemp) as a revenue-producing land cover that might be cultivated on or near airports. Our purpose was to better understand the potential production value of hemp as well as its possible role in affecting aviation safety if cultivated on or near airports. Our objectives were to: (1) review the literature …

Texas Hunters’ Perceptions Regarding The Acceptability Of Toxicants To Control Wild Pig Populations, Keith M. Carlisle, Sophie Mckee, Hailey E. Ellis, Lauren M. Jaebker, John M. Tomeček, Alan D. Bright, Rachael L. Connally, Maureen G. Frank, Stephanie A. Shwiff

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are an invasive species in the United States. They damage agriculture, degrade water quality and ecological communities, and host a number of viruses, parasites, and bacteria transmissible to humans and animals. In states such as Texas, USA, where wild pigs cause extensive damage to agriculture and property, officials have considered allowing for the use of toxicants to control wild pig populations. To provide decision-makers with information regarding stakeholders’ perceptions of the use of toxicants to control wild pigs, we surveyed Texas hunters in 2019 to assess the level of acceptance of a hypothetical wild …

Mitigating Bighorn Sheep–Vehicle Collisions And Habitat Fragmentation With Overpasses And Adaptive Mitigation, Jeffrey W. Gagnon, Chad D. Loberger, Kari S. Ogren, Scott C. Sprague, Susan R. Boe, Raymond E. Schweinsburg

Human–Wildlife Interactions

As transportation infrastructure expands to accommodate increasing human population growth, wildlife–vehicle conflicts (WVCs) are a growing concern for motorist safety and wildlife populations. In the case of large ungulates, minimal information exists on successful mitigation of WVCs involving bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) and habitat fragmentation. Too address this void, we evaluated the effectiveness of 3 new wildlife overpasses, 3 culverts, 2 bridges, and ungulate exclusionary fencing as potential desert bighorn sheep (O. c. nelsoni; sheep) crossing opportunities along US Highway 93 in Arizona, USA. We evaluated sheep movements using global positioning system (GPS) radio-transmitter collars and …

Without Change There Can Be No Progress: Implications For Human–Wildlife Interactions, Terry A. Messmer

Human–Wildlife Interactions

This is the letter from the editor-in-chief of Volume 16, Issue 1.

A Student’S Access To Practice-Linked Resources In An Elementary Unplugged-To-Plugged Computer Science Unit, Umar Shehzad, Jody Clarke-Midura, Victor R. Lee, Mimi Recker

Publications

This paper presents a case study of a student’s participation in an expansively-framed unplugged computer science (CS) instructional unit that leverages activities and materials not typically associated with CS: playing an “unplugged” tabletop board game and designing a paper prototype of a new game level. We use the practice-linked identity framework as a lens to characterize resources available in our instructional design and how they afforded or hindered the student’s participation across the instructional activities. Our findings highlight the importance of relational resources in influencing participation, both positively and negatively, and provide implications for the design of future CS learning …

Rethinking Behavior - Winter 2022, Midwest Symposium For Leadership In Behavior Disorders

ReThinking Behavior Magazine

A magazine for professionals serving children and youth with behavioral needs.

Winter 2022, Volume 5, Issue 2

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Agenda, December 13, 2021, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Approval of Minutes – November 15, 2021
• University Business
• Education Policies Committee
• Change Aspire Efforts
• Council on Teacher Education Annual Report | One Pager
• Scholarship Advisory Board Annual Report

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes, December 13, 2021, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

No abstract provided.

Curriculum Complexity And Graduation Rates At Utah State University, Hayden Hoopes

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This study utilizes a curricular analytics framework developed by Heileman et al. (2018) to examine the relationship between curriculum complexity and graduation rates in academic programs at Utah State University. The goal in quantifying the complexity of curricula is to determine whether or not prerequisite courses and other factors of curricula structure impacts graduation from the university. To accomplish this goal, curriculum complexity spreadsheets were developed for 96 degree programs at the university, which facilitated the assignment of curriculum complexity scores to the 6,337 students who qualified for the quasi-experimental study. Logistic regression was then applied to the resulting data …

Examining General Education Teacher Perceptions Of Individualized Education Program Accommodations, Riley Johnson

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

This study examines general education teacher perceptions of IEP accommodations and their suggestions for relevant training to support diverse learner needs. Accommodations have been defined as adaptations or changes to educational environments and practices designed to help students overcome challenges presented by their disabilities. An electronic survey was sent to general education teachers across the four high schools in Cache County School District. The survey included a variety of questions regarding teachers’ perceptions of accommodations and their involvement in the IEP process. The results showed a variety of explanations and expand the knowledge base of various perceptions of this important …