Digital Commons Network^™

Aerodynamic Implications Of A Bio‐Inspired Rotating Empennage Design For Control Of A Fighter Aircraft, Christian R. Bolander

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation presents an analysis of the aerodynamics for an aircraft using a novel, bio-inspired control system. The control system is a rotating tail, that is inspired by the way in which birds use their tail to control their flight. An aerodynamic model for a baseline aircraft and a bio-inspired variant are created by referencing well-known relationships for the aerodynamics of flight, which are then used to analyze the available flight envelope at which each aircraft can reach two different equilibrium states. An analysis of the total aerodynamic control authority of each aircraft is also included along with a preliminary …

Physical Model Of Rainwater Along Roadway Filter Strip, Ryan C. Eberhard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to investigate infiltration rates of rainwater into a roadside filter strip. The findings of this study were intended to be used by the Utah Department of Transportation in their design of stormwater retention. A testing apparatus was designed and constructed to simulate rainfall and infiltration on an inclined slope during the 80^th percentile 24-hour rainstorm event in Utah. The model was used to test six different surface soil configurations at three slope inclinations. Each test was subjected to a simulated storm event of ½ inch of rain over a 2-hour period. The variation …

Teachers’ Learning Of Fraction Division With Area Models, Michael Leitch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Research shows that fractions concepts play an essential role in the learning of later mathematics. However, fractions are notoriously difficult to learn and difficult to teach. Division with fractions is a frequent subject in mathematics education research because division is the most conceptually difficult of the four basic arithmetic operations and rational numbers are the most conceptually difficult numbers in K-12 mathematics curricula.

In the U.S., teachers are generally proficient with mathematical procedures, but often have difficulty explaining the concepts underlying the procedures. Research indicates a positive association between student learning and teachers’ depth of conceptual understanding of mathematics. Thus, …

From Mountain Streams To Urban Rivers: An Assessment Of Microplastic Sources And Characteristics, Macy Gustavus

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Plastic products are produced and discarded at an alarming rate. Bottles, bags, toys, and clothing break down into tiny plastic pieces called microplastics, ranging in size from an eraser on the top of a pencil to smaller in size than a red blood cell. Microplastics are becoming so common in the environment that they travel in the atmosphere, rivers, and ocean currents in ways that are similar to other types of Earth Systems Cycles (i.e., the water cycle). In this study, we explored microplastic sources and sinks in a freshwater river system and how seasonal changes in discharge affect how …

Locating Low Head Dams Using A Deep Learning Model In Arcgis Pro With Aerial Imagery, Caitlin R. Arnold

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Low Head Dams are man-made structures that span the width of a river and allow water to flow over them. Although these structures vary in age and original purpose, some pose a life-threatening danger when recreationalists are entrapped in the reverse current at the toe. Despite these dangerous structures causing many drowning deaths in the USA each year, most low head dams do not have safety regulations and remain unknown to those charged with dam and public safety. Thus, to improve public safety at these structures, the first step is to fully inventory low head dams, so that subsequent efforts …

Evaluating Quaking Aspen's Influence On Fire Behavior, Kristin A. Nesbit

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In western North America, quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) forests have long been described as low flammability, “fireproof” forest types that are less likely to burn or burn less intensely than coniferous forests. While this assumption has been based on limited scientific research and is largely anecdotal, there is growing interest in the western U.S. to promote aspen near human developments to reduce fire risk. I investigated the available evidence for aspen forests reducing fire occurrence, behavior, and severity, and assessed possible factors that affect flammability in aspen forests to better understand when and where aspen burn, and when …

Board Certified Behavior Analysts In Public Schools: Challenges And Opportunities, Danielle Lyons

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) can play an important role in schools. The purpose of this study was to survey BCBAs who self-identify as working in public schools in effort to learn more about their experiences working in this setting. This paper is meant to spark further discussion and research on how BCBAs can be more effective in schools through training and supervision, collaborating with school administrators on systems-level concerns, resolving ethical concerns, and clarifying roles and responsibilities in public schools.

Probabilistic Verification For Modular Network-On-Chip Systems, Jonah W. Boe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Modeling physical systems with formal analysis tools can help in the design of more fault-proof systems, by helping to determine if unpredictable or unwanted behavior may occur. Probabilistic verification further advances such processes, by providing quantitative information about the system. More complex systems can especially benefit from formal modeling and verification, as testing the physical system in every possible condition manually, can be extremely complex, and often impossible.

There is a growing interest in the application of Network-on-Chip (NoC) systems. NoCs can help simplify communication between the subsystems of many technologies, including the ever more complex multicore processors being produced. …

A Fine-Scale Understanding Of Sagebrush Islands To Improve Restoration Outcomes In The Intermountain West, Sofia Koutzoukis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the Intermountain West, rapid expansion of non-native grasses, primarily cheatgrass, has created a repeating cycle where cheatgrass easily ignites and after a fire, more cheatgrass establishes in the burned area, leading to more fire, and more cheatgrass. The primary method to prevent further fires is to plant grass and shrub seeds after a fire because they can deter cheatgrass from establishing and reduce the chance of fire. However, this approach does not always work. There is a need and interest in alternative ways to establish native grasses and forbs.

Sagebrush, the dominant shrub of lower-elevation regions of the Intermountain …

Dynamic Inductive Power Transfer Systems With Reflexive Tuning Networks Designed By Machine Learning, Shuntaro Inoue

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation proposes a new way to make dynamic wireless charging systems more affordable. Instead of using one inverter for each transmitter coil, as is typically done, the proposed system uses a single inverter that is connected to multiple transmitter coils. This approach is made possible by reflexive tuning, which allows for high currents to be achieved only on the transmitter coil in use. The system was tested with a 50kW prototype, designed using a combination of neural networks and genetic algorithms. The prototype was tested on both automated rail and vehicle systems. The measured dc-dc efficiency with single and …

A Questionnaire Survey Of Student Engagement Among First-Generation College Students In Engineering, Abigail Lehto

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

First-generation college (FGC) students are defined as students whose parents do not have a bachelor's or graduate degree. FGC students tend to face more overall challenges in the college environment than their continuing-generation counterparts. Often, FGC students have lower grade-point-averages (GPAs) and are less likely to graduate than their peers. In majors like engineering, the struggles that first-generation college students face can be further magnified. This quantitative study examines the activities FGC students in engineering engage in based on the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). Questions from the NSSE cover different educational activities and are categorized into ten educational …

A Classification Of Tensors In Ecsk Theory, Joshua James Leiter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

You might have heard of Einstein’s theory of General relativity (GR): it is the one where mass and energy curve the fabric of spacetime to create gravity. This is the major theory which allows communication through satellites and our GPS to work too! Wormholes have interested me, but there are some issues about forming them in GR. Interestingly enough, elementary particles are also characterized by their spin in the standard model. However, intrinsic spin is nowhere geometrically coupled to the geometry of spacetime in Einstein’s theory. Later, Élie Cartan, Dennis Sciama, and Tom Kibble all flushed out adding different aspects …

Who Is Accessing Ipse Programs? Examining The Demographics Of Students Enrolled In Inclusive Post-Secondary Education, Madison Heider

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This initial survey study was designed to examine the demographics of students attending inclusive post-secondary (IPSE) programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). IPSE programs are designed to deliver a similar, if not identical, collegiate experience to students with IDD as their peers without disabilities. Previous research has investigated IPSE programs and their impact, but there is limited information regarding student makeup. The researchers looked to identify the diversity of students beyond their disability categories; research questions surrounded student diversity, barriers to accessing IPSE programs, and what, if anything, programs do to increase diversity within their programs. The …

Status And Enhancement Of Trissolcus Japonicus (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) For Biological Control Of Halyomorpha Halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) In Northern Utah, Kate V. Richardson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The invasive brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is a major insect pest that invades human structures causing nuisance issues and attacks numerous fruit and vegetable crops in Northern America. As this pest threatens $23 billion worth of specialty and agricultural crops in the U.S. and is difficult to manage due to insecticide resistance, control practices such as the use of biological control through egg parasitoid wasps are critical. In its native range of Asia, BMSB populations are controlled primarily by members of the Trissolcus genus such as the samurai wasp, but U.S. native wasps have demonstrated low success of BMSB …

Algorithms For Unit-Disk Graphs And Related Problems, Yiming Zhao

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this dissertation, we study algorithms for several problems on unit-disk graphs and related problems. The unit-disk graph can be viewed as an intersection graph of a set of congruent disks. Unit-disk graphs have been extensively studied due to many of their applications, e.g., modeling the topology of wireless sensor networks. Lots of problems on unit-disk graphs have been considered in the literature, such as shortest paths, clique, independent set, distance oracle, diameter, etc. Specifically, we study the following problems in this dissertation: L₁ shortest paths in unit-disk graphs, reverse shortest paths in unit-disk graphs, minimum bottleneck moving spanning …

Viability And Performance Of Rf Source Localization Using Autocorrelation-Based Fingerprinting, Joseph L. Ipson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Finding the source location of a radio-frequency (RF) transmission is a useful capability for many civilian, industrial, and military applications. This problem is particularly challenging when done “Blind,” or when the transmitter was not designed with finding its location in mind, and relatively little information is available about the signal before-hand. Typical methods for this operation utilize the time, phase, power, and frequency viewable from received signals. These features are all less predictable in indoor and urban environments, where signals undergo transformation from multiple interactions with the environment. These interactions imprint structure onto the received signal which is dependent on …

Deep Learning With Attention Mechanisms In Breast Ultrasound Image Segmentation And Classification, Meng Xu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Breast cancer is a great threat to women’s health. Breast ultrasound (BUS) imaging is commonly used in the early detection of breast cancer as a portable, valuable, and widely available diagnosis tool. Automated BUS image analysis can assist radiologists in making accurate and fast decisions. Generally, automated BUS image analysis includes BUS image segmentation and classification. BUS image segmentation automatically extracts tumor regions from a BUS image. BUS image classification automatically classifies breast tumors into benign or malignant categories. Multi-task learning accomplishes segmentation and classification simultaneously, which makes it more appealing and practical than an either individual task. Deep neural …

Coding Bootcamps - Perceptions And Outcomes, Logan L. Hendricks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis is focused on gathering, aggregating and analysing data related to software development coding bootcamps. It comprises of three major research initiatives: A coding bootcamp outcomes meta-analysis, a study on perspectives regarding white-label coding bootcamps, and the data analysis of a survey gathering long-term outcomes of coding bootcamp and certificate program graduates.

The first study aggregates graduate outcome data from the three main organizations that review coding bootcamp outcomes: CourseReport.com, SwitchUp.com and the Council on Integrity in Results Reporting (CIRR). The purpose of this meta-review is to establish a baseline dataset which is immediately utilized in my further research. …

Communication‐Less Synchronous Rectification For In Motion Wireless Charging, Joshua B. Larsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis puts forward a control scheme to allow for synchronous rectification for dynamic wireless power transfer. The automotive industry is transitioning away from internal combustion engines (ICEs) and towards electric vehicles (EVs). This transition is spurred by the environmental and economic benefits EVs offer over ICEs. However, further improvements can still be made to how electric vehicles operate. One of these improvements is the technology of in motion wireless charging or dynamic wireless power transfer. In motion wireless charging offers the ability to remove existing range anxiety concerns for EVs. It also offers the potential for a reduction in …

Consequences Of Host Life Cycles For Symbiont Genome Evolution, Ashley Elizabeth Dederich

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Aphids are small insects that feed exclusively on plant sap, a notoriously low source of nutrients due to the high sugar content and low amino acid content. To make up for these deficiencies in nutrition, aphids harbor Buchnera aphidicola, a bacterial endosymbiont that resides in a specialized organ called the bacteriome. B. aphidicola provides essential amino acids and vitamins for the aphid in exchange for a safe place to live. Over the course of the symbiosis (established 160 million years ago), B. aphidicola has lost much of its genome, including essential genes for cell envelope synthesis, DNA replication and …

Social Factors Driving Grouping Dynamics In Bighorn Sheep Ewe, Toni Proescholdt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Understanding and predicting movement is critical for conservation planning and disease risk mitigation, and important environmental drivers of animal movement have received extensive attention in the ecological literature. Social factors surrounding group fission and fusion events also directly affect movement. However, these events are infrequently measured in the wild and rarely linked to underlying mechanisms such as relatedness, agreement in reproductive status, or shared life stage. While some social factors cannot be directly observed in the field, individual animals congregating in groups and moving about a landscape can. In animal societies, groups may merge together in a fusion event, and …

Desert Body, Lauren Mckinnon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis is a collection of poems examining certain paradoxes of my body. As a survivor of sexual violence, my body relives trauma which makes it feel uninhabitable. I compare my experiences with the Southern Utah desert. The physical beauty, destruction and inhabitability of the desert teaches me to accept my body as both beautiful and full of grief. The poems move chronologically through my life, beginning with an abusive relationship at the age of sixteen, a move to Moab at nineteen, and becoming a mother at twenty-five. Ultimately, with the desert as my guide, I learn to accept my …

The Sexual Objectification Experiences Of Non-Binary People, Lee R. Pradell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Transgender people are a historically marginalized and disenfranchised group, leading to discriminatory interpersonal treatment such as sexual objectification experiences (SOEs), a type of objectification. Women look at themselves the way men look at them, reducing themselves to objects for someone else’s viewing. This flattening of oneself to value your bodily presentation over functioning increases dissociative states and promotes disordered eating behaviors. Non-binary people experience additive stressors within objectification experiences as people with less social power than cisgender women. This thesis is composed of three separate studies aimed at understanding the SOEs of non-binary people.

The first of three studies recruited …

Top Mat Reinforcement Alternatives For Concrete Pavement Slabs With Embedded Inductive Power Transfer Systems, Thaddeus J. Hansen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are continually becoming a larger portion of the vehicular fleet on a national and global level. Despite their growth in popularity, several challenges still exist that hinder the practicality and general public’s acceptance of EVs. The limited travel range of EVs, lack of consistent charging stations, and required time to charge EVs are at the forefront of these challenges. The use of Inductive Power Transfer Systems (IPTS) may be part of the solution to the afore mentioned issues.

IPTS embedded in concrete pavement panels allow EVs to charge their batteries while in motion. In order to justify …

High Efficiency Angles-Only Space-Based Approaches For Geosynchronous Orbit Catalog Maintenance With Sparse Information, Louis M. Tonc

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The thesis of this dissertation proposes a novel filter algorithm to improve tracking and catalog maintenance of uncooperative satellites and other Resident Space Objects (RSOs) in Geosynchronous Equatorial Orbit (GEO). Tracking can be supported by space-based tracking from observer satellites (OBSs). Practical limitations can lead to long time gaps between measurement updates when tracking RSOs from an OBS, which may induce a loss of fidelity or divergence of the estimation algorithm. The Extended Kalman filter (EKF) is commonly used for tracking RSOs but it diverges as a consequence of nonlinearity in the dynamics and nonlinearity in the optical measurements from …

Adversarial Swarming: A Groundwork For Multi-Drone Independent Interception Exercises Through Ma-Poca In Unity, Johnathan D. Kunz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As drones become more popular and easier to use, air spaces are becoming more congested. Airports, hospitals, and similar structures require controlled, safe airspaces and drones are increasingly a threat. Locally controlled airspace requires efficient removal of airborne threats to continue sensitive operations. Many methods have been investigated for removing drones from contested airspace. Generally these methods involve ground-based signal disruption, physical contact, or drone interception of a single intruder. In this work we present a drone interception model with a low-cost, low-capability group of short-range drones intercepting an incoming drone.

Teachers' Conceptions And Enactment Of Disciplinary Literacy In Elementary Science Instruction: A Comparative Case Study, Melissa P. Mendenhall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This case study explores elementary teachers’ conceptions and enactment of disciplinary literacy in elementary science instruction and the interaction between the two. Specifically, the purpose of this research was to describe how four fifth-grade teachers view literacy appropriate to science. Participants for this research were invited to participate by responding to an online survey and were selected based on criteria. Data sources include interviews, teacher artifacts, and observation. Qualitative data were coded, the codes compared to ideas in the field (overall themes), and global themes were generated as sense making tools to describe trends found in each case, case comparisons, …

Investigating The Effect Of Greediness On The Coordinate Exchange Algorithm For Generating Optimal Experimental Designs, William Thomas Gullion

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Design of Experiments (DoE) is the field of statistics concerned with helping researchers maximize the amount of information they gain from their experiments. Recently, researchers have been turning to optimal experimental designs instead of classical/catalog experimental designs. One of the most popular algorithms used today to generate optimal designs is the Coordinate Exchange (CEXCH) Algorithm. CEXCH is known to be a greedy algorithm, which means it tends to favor immediate, locally best designs instead of globally optimal designs. Previous research demonstrated that this tradeoff was efficacious in that it reduced the cost of a single run of CEXCH and allowed …

Recreational Fishing Participation In Utah: Comparing Active And Non-Active Angler Constraint Perceptions With The Use Of License Purchase Data, Will Rempel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As a leisure activity, recreational fishing provides numerous social, physical, and psychological benefits to its participants. It can also provide socioeconomic opportunities to specific communities, and as an outdoor activity can create support for natural fisheries resources and public lands. License and equipment taxes are also important funding mechanisms for state wildlife managers. Though fishing participation as a percentage of the population has overall decreased in the last century, there is a recent increase in fishing participation. However, participation dynamics result in a shifting cycle of entries, departures, and re-entries to the sport. In an effort to maintain participation and …

Generative Neural Network Approach To Designing And Optimizing Dynamic Inductive Power Transfer Systems, Andrew Pond Curtis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Electric vehicles (EVs) offer many improvements over traditional combustion engines including increasing efficiency, while decreasing cost of operation and emissions. There is a need for the development of cheap and efficient charging systems for the future success of EVs. Most EVs currently utilize static plug-in charging systems. An alternative charging method of significant interest is dynamic inductive power transfer systems (DIPT). These systems utilize two coils, one placed in the vehicle and one in the roadway to wirelessly charge the vehicle as it passes over. This method removes the current limitations on EVs where they must stop and statically charge …