Digital Commons Network^™

The Accuracy Of Swords In The Works Of William Shakespeare, Scott Swain

Student Research Symposium

The literary works of William Shakespeare span a long range of both time and space. Along this same range of time and space, there was a sizeable variety of swords. Shakespeare mentions swords in just about every single one of his plays. This project sought to answer the question: did Shakespeare name and use swords accurately in his works? By collecting vocabulary directly from his plays, examining the knowledge of swords in Early Modern England via primary sources, researching the proper swords for each time and place, the research finds that Shakespeare did have an understanding that sword usage varied …

Trauma-Informed Design, Annie Canfield

Student Research Symposium

Cache Refugee and Immigrant Connection is a non-profit organization in Cache valley that serves refugees and immigrants from over 36 countries. The mission of CRIC is to, “promote integration, economic self-sufficiency, and positive connections among refugees, immigrants, and the wider community through two-way education, improved access to existing services, and development of new services.” To help them best serve their clients, this project is an exploration of how the 6 PRINCIPLES OF TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE can reach beyond human communication into the physical built environment.

Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability Study, Conner Deppe

Student Research Symposium

The reliability of electric vehicle chargers is critical for the widespread adoption of EVs. To consumers, an indication of charging reliability is the unscheduled downtime of EV charging equipment. Unscheduled downtime brings the need for online EV health monitoring and remaining useful lifetime estimation technology. Though there are many different topologies and configurations for EV chargers, the core processing components remain the same. These components, known as silicon carbide MOSFETs, are important devices that provide better efficiency and power density than their silicon counterparts. In recent years, it is found that device on-resistance is a common indicator used in health …

Introduction To Ensemble Watershed Segmentation, Scout Jarman

Student Research Symposium

Compared to color images, hyperspectral images are high dimensional, containing hundreds of channels of information. To distill this information, and capture spatial information, image segmentation is used to group similar pixels together. A popular image segmentation algorithm is the marker-based Watershed Transform. One difficulty with this algorithm is choosing the markers, or locations, that seed the algorithm. There are various approaches for automatic marker placement depending on the application, with little consensus on the most general method for hyperspectral images. We propose using an ensemble of random segmentations. Specifically, we investigate a simple, unbiased random marker placement strategy to generate …

Catchment Protections Enhance River Resilience To Water Quality Perturbations, Allyson Marrs

Student Research Symposium

Around 40% of rivers in the United States have been increasing in salinity in recent decades. This salinization is caused by natural and anthropogenic processes, such as applying salts to roads for deicing purposes. Rapid increases in salinity in freshwater streams can have negative impacts on drinking water, infrastructure, and biodiversity. However, catchment protections may offer resilience to water quality degradation. Using a weighted regression on time, discharge, and season, we analyzed long-term trends in specific conductance in the Yellowstone River at Corwin Springs. The majority of the Yellowstone River upstream of this site lies on federally protected lands with …

Elementary Education In Ethiopia, Sarah Wiscomb

Student Research Symposium

In developing and developed countries alike, children do not have access to basic education because of inequalities that originate in sex, health and cultural identity (ethnic origin, language, religion). These children find themselves on the margins of the education system and do not benefit from learning that is vital to their intellectual and social development. Factors linked to poverty such as unemployment, illness and the illiteracy of parents, multiply the risk of non-schooling and the drop-out rate of a child by 2. Undeniably, many children from disadvantaged backgrounds are forced to abandon their education due to health problems related to …

Molecular Dynamics Simulations Of Liquid Crystal Elastomers, Nanang Mahardika

Student Research Symposium

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Liquid Crystal Elastomers

The Body Is Only A Vessel, Victoria Johnson

Student Research Symposium

The body is only a vessel treats funeral homes less as venues for the exhibition of embalmed bodies and more like vessels constructed to fulfill whatever needs of those left behind, documenting how funeral practices aren’t so much a dance with death but a shuffle around it. By exploring the mundanity of death and the implied tension between the present life and the afterlife, the project visualizes quiet emblems of loss through texture, light, and space. Doors and windows serve as allegories to “the other side,” as impressions of light and shadow demonstrate the delicate balance between life and death. …

Metasurfaces For Holography, Scott Howell

Student Research Symposium

Using light to store information on photographic plates and metasurfaces that can then be extracted using using the same light source.

Villanueva Community Garden Center: Green Building Design For Low-Income Communities, Landry Cazier

Student Research Symposium

Located in Villanueva, New Mexico, this LEED-certified community garden center is designed to be a place for the community to flourish. Designed to aid the community’s low-income and harsh environment, this garden center provides a place for residents to garden. Constructed from rammed earth, this structure implements a sustainable design that is both good for the environment and its surrounding economy.

Is The Pen Mightier Than The Computer? An Analysis Of Digital Natives’ Preference For Writing Tools, Dylan Ash, Landon Corbett, Jane Harvey, Clarissa Lloyd, Ellie Miller, Lauren Myers, Hannah Potter, William Spence, Mason Bodell, Avery Truman, Anna Tuite, Isabelle Vasquez, Nevaeh Villastrigo

Student Research Symposium

Students in Honors 1320, History of Writing, investigated traditional, college-aged students and their preferred writing implements. Digital Natives--people born after 1980 who grew up with technology--are assumed to prefer digital writing implements such as computers, tablets, and Smartphones. Do they really tend to use digital implements, or do they use analog instruments such as pens and pencils? To find out, the researchers designed a Qualtrics survey to ask students about their use of digital and analog writing tools. A second data source were essays on the topic 'My Favorite Writing Implement,' which were analyzed on a spreadsheet, counting each instance …

The Kp-Index And Behavior Of Quiet Periods, Collette Walbeck

Student Research Symposium

The Kp-index quantifies the electromagnetic effects in the Earth’s atmosphere and is used in a variety of scientific fields. Higher Kp values tend to be the focus in these fields as they relate to high solar activity and geomagnetic storms. This study aimed to examine the significance, if any, of lower Kp indices. A simple data analysis was performed on continuous sequences of low Kp values, deemed Quiet Periods. Both the daily average of the values and the full set of Kp data were used. A decaying exponential relationship was discovered between the length of these periods and their frequencies …

Parkinson's Accessible Home, Bailey Wilde

Student Research Symposium

I chose this research topic because I have watched my uncle and his family change every aspect of their lives due to the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Over the past 10 years, his health has progressively gotten worse and his living conditions are in no shape to adapt with him and his family's needs. He is in need of a home where he can age in place.

How Interior Design Promotes Productivity In The Workplace, Emily Caine

Student Research Symposium

This office space was designed with productivity and mental and physical wellness in mind. Many people overlook the way their workplace environment affects them, however, it can contribute heavily to their productivity and well-being. Well-designed and productive office spaces pay attention to: ergonomics, acoustics, flexibility, breakout space, technology, adequate storage, color theory, climate and airflow, nature, and natural light. The layout of this office design focuses heavily on the employee experience. “87% of workers would like their employer to offer healthier workspace benefits”. Intentional interior design will change the way you feel in a space. The traditional office space with …

Proper Acoustics Create Better Learning Environments In The Classroom, Brian Harris

Student Research Symposium

The acoustics of a classroom can greatly help or hinder the learning process for many students. Studies have found that speech intelligibility can be affected by poor acoustics and this can lower the student’s comprehension scores. When correct acoustic tools are implemented, student success can be augmented.

Retirement Community Living Center, Abbigail Epperson

Student Research Symposium

When researching the best way to design for a retirement community living center (RCLC) there were a couple specifics I wanted to focus on. The first being color, specifically how color can help direct people around a specific spaces (wayfinding). The RCLC is a large building, getting lost can easily happen for seniors. The second is how lighting and color of light can effect the health and safety of the seniors living in the RCLC.

What Is Love For A Black Hole?, Luis Fernando Temoche

Student Research Symposium

One of the many aspects we can characterize for black holes is their behavior under perturbations, like waves for example. This presentation will focus on the study of this dynamics through the obtention of the so-called Love Numbers for Black Holes. Those parameters used to determine the tidal response to perturbations, are known in the literature for vanishing in the case of 4-dimensional solutions. By analyzing different of black holes in 5 dimensions, we attempt to determine if that condition is extrapolable to higher dimensional cases.

Re-Imagining Labor And Delivery Facilities In Hospitals, Kenley Roberts

Student Research Symposium

This labor and delivery hospital wing has been redesigned with the woman’s needs in mind. Modern mothers want more natural birth experiences. There is many popular fads going around where women are having at home and underwater births. This is unsafe especially if complications arise and cannot get to the hospital fast enough. These re-imagined labor and delivery rooms create a safe environment that feels less like a sterile hospital and more like a home. These hospital rooms provide better comfort for the mother when laboring and delivering as well as the family.

Does Diet Effect The Brain?, Janna Hart

Student Research Symposium

Short-chain fatty acids are biomolecules produced from bacterial fermentation of dietary fiber in the gut. Short-chain fatty acids are used in the gut to supply energy and reduce inflammation but are also believed to have effects on the brain. While we do not know how short-chain fatty acids affect the brain and behavior, recent research has led to the idea of using dietary changes as a treatment for mental health disorders. In my research, we aimed to visualize where short-chain fatty acids act in the brain with a particular focus on neural immune cells called microglia and the neurons that …

Fast Computation Of Friction Stir Welding Process With Model Order Reduction And Machine Learning, Joshua Kay

Student Research Symposium

Joining aluminum alloys and other metal workpieces is a typical manufacturing process, which can be accomplished by various welding techniques. Friction stir welding (FSW), a relatively new technology patented in 1991, has many advantages over conventional welding processes. For the FSW process, it is desirable to determine an optimal set of parameters to avoid product defects in the joints. Modeling and simulating the FSW process is computationally expensive which creates a bottleneck in searching for optimal operating parameters. Reduced order modeling techniques will be used to significantly reduce computation time for FSW models while maintaining accuracy. In addition, machine learning …

Faculty Senate Executive Committee Minutes, March 20, 2023, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

• Call to Order - John Ferguson
• University Business - Noelle Cockett, President | Larry Smith, Provost
• Faculty Senate Presidency Business - John Ferguson | Maureen Hearns | Boyd Edwards
• Information
• Reports
• Old Business
• New Business
• Adjourn: 4:33 pm

Connecting Beliefs, Mindsets, Anxiety, And Self-Efficacy In Computer Science Learning: An Instrument For Capturing Secondary School Students’ Self-Beliefs, Luis Morales-Navarro, Michael T. Giang, Deborah A. Fields, Yasmin B. Kafai

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Background and Context

Few instruments exist to measure students’ CS engagement and learning especially in areas where coding happens with creative, project-based learning and in regard to students’ self-beliefs about computing.

Objective

We introduce the CS Interests and Beliefs Inventory (CSIBI), an instrument designed for novice secondary students to learn by designing projects (particularly with physical computing).. The inventory contains subscales on beliefs on problem solving competency, fascination in design, value of CS, creative expression, and beliefs about context-specific CS abilities alongside programming mindsets and outcomes. We explain the creation of the instrument and attend to the role of mindsets …

Níksókowaawák As Axiom: The Indispensability Of Comprehensive Relational Animacy In Blackfoot Ways Of Knowing, Being, And Doing, Sandra Bartlett Atwood, Ninna Piiksii (Chief Bird) Mike Bruised Head, Mark W. Brunson, Aahsaopi (State Of Being) Laverne First Rider, Tim Frandy, James Maffie, Aakaomo'tsstaki (Many Victories) Michelle Provost, Miiniipokaa (Berry Child) Peter Weasel Moccasin, Itsiipootsikimskai

Environment and Society Student Research

This paper outlines a proposal, based on Blackfoot worldview, for a collective method to stand alongside Western qualitative and quantitative methods and highlights the value of collective methods in collaborative social-ecological research. Neither qualitative nor quantitative methods are adequate to disclose a world where all things are alive, where “objects” are subjects—agentive beings in their own right. Most Indigenous cultures understand and experience the world as a network of living beings, a collective, with whom they are interrelated/connected and therefore, any efforts to collaborate with Indigenous peoples must acknowledge comprehensive relational animacy. Applying coproduction principles in concert with Blackfoot ways …

The Salinity Of The Great Salt Lake And Its Deep Brine Layer, Madeline F. Merck, David G. Tarboton

Publications

The Great Salt Lake is a highly saline terminal lake with considerable fluctuations in water surface elevation and salinity. The lake is divided into two arms by a railroad causeway. River inflows enter the larger south arm, while the north arm only receives minimal surface runoff. Evaporation from both arms and limited exchange of water and salt through causeway openings result in complex water and salinity processes in the lake. The north arm is typically homogeneous and close to saturation. The south arm is typically stratified with periodic occurrences of a deep brine layer. This paper analyzes the lake’s long-term …

Curriculum Subcommittee Minutes, April 6, 2023, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes – March 2, 2023
• Program Proposals
• Semester Course Approval Reviews
• College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences
• Caine College of the Arts
• Jon M. Huntsman School of Business
• Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
• College of Engineering
• College of Humanities and Social Sciences
• S.J. & Jessie E. Quinney College of Natural Resources
• College of Science
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 2:30 pm

The Utah Statesman, April 10, 2023, Utah State University

The Utah Statesman

Weekly student newspaper of Utah State University in Logan.

Genetic Markers And Tree Properties Predicting Wood Biorefining Potential In Aspen (Populus Tremula) Bioenergy Feedstock, Sacha Escamez, Kathryn M. Robinson, Mikko Luomaranta, Madhavi Latha Gandla, Niklas Mähler, Zakiya Yassin, Thomas Grahn, Gerhard Scheepers, Lars-Göran Stener, Stefan Jansson, Leif J. Jönsson, Nathaniel R. Street, Hannele Tuominen

Aspen Bibliography

Background Wood represents the majority of the biomass on land and constitutes a renewable source of biofuels and other bioproducts. However, wood is recalcitrant to bioconversion, raising a need for feedstock improvement in production of, for instance, biofuels. We investigated the properties of wood that affect bioconversion, as well as the underlying genetics, to help identify superior tree feedstocks for biorefining.

Results We recorded 65 wood-related and growth traits in a population of 113 natural aspen genotypes from Sweden (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gtht76hrd). These traits included three growth and field performance traits, 20 traits for wood chemical composition, 17 traits for wood anatomy …

Student Behavior Ratings And Response To Tier 1 Reading Intervention: Which Students Do Not Benefit?, Wilhelmina Van Dijk, Christopher Schatschneider, Stephanie Al Otaiba, Sara A. Hart

Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Faculty Publications

Core reading instruction and interventions have differential effects based on student characteristics such as cognitive ability and pre-intervention skill level. Evidence for differential effect based on affective characteristics is scant and ambiguous; however, students with problem behavior are more often non-responsive to core reading instruction and intensive reading interventions. In this study, we estimated the range of students' behavior ratings in which a core reading instruction intervention was effective using a data set including 3,024 students in K-3. Data came from seven independent studies evaluating the individualized Student Instruction (ISI) Tier 1 reading intervention and were pooled using integrative data …

Physiological And Canopy Temperature Responses To Drought Of Four Penstemon Species, Ji-Jhong Chen, Youping Sun, Kelly Kopp, Lorence R. Oki, Scott B. Jones, Lawrence Hipps

Plants, Soils, and Climate Faculty Publications

Available water for urban landscape irrigation is likely to become more limited because of inadequate precipitation and the ever-increasing water demand of a growing population. Recent droughts in the western United States have also increased the demand for low-water-use landscapes in urban areas. Penstemon species (beardtongues) are ornamental perennials commonly grown in low-water-use landscapes, but their drought tolerance has not been widely investigated. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of water availability on the morphology, physiology, and canopy temperature of Penstemon barbatus (Cav.) Roth ‘Novapenblu’ (Rock Candy Blue^® penstemon), P. digitalis Nutt. ex Sims ‘TNPENDB’ …

Educational Policies Committee Minutes, April 6, 2023, Utah State University

Educational Policies Committee

• Approval of Minutes – March 2, 2023
• Subcommittee Reports, Curriculum Subcommittee
• Academic Standards Subcommittee
• General Education Subcommittee
• Other Business
• Adjourn: 3:13 pm