Digital Commons Network^™

Investigating The Effects Of Radiation And Microgravity On Human Brain Organoids, Bailey Mcfarland, Chen Cheng, Yu Huang

Utah Space Grant Consortium

The brain is arguably the most important and complex component of any crewed mission. New technological developments must be made to gauge the damage of space to the brain, especially in complex and long-term missions. While it is understood that microgravity and radiation cause changes in the brain of astronauts, the nature and effects of these changes are largely unknown. To aid in elucidating these effects, we conducted experiments using a rotary cell culture system (RCCS) and are working actively with NASA to implement a chronic low-dose gamma radiation system. Initial trends in the effects of microgravity on brain organoids …

Ultra-Low Power Adcs For Space Sensors And Instruments, Shea Smith, Wood Chiang

Utah Space Grant Consortium

A 28nm 0.1V 10-bit 20kS/s time domain ADC with 225Hz bandwidth is proposed. This design opens the doors to both low supply and low power space sensors and instruments. Due to the stringent voltage supply, unique challenges arise that are met with innovation in the sample switch and the quantizer design. These components of the ADC architecture are aggressively optimized to perform successfully at a 0.1V supply with a sample rate suitable for most sensor applications.

Heat Management For Electromagnetic 3d Printing, Brian Elder, Yong Lin Kong

Utah Space Grant Consortium

The integration of nanomaterials with additive manufacturing, a.k.a. 3D printing, can enable the creation of complex architecture with tunable functional properties.^[1] As discussed in our review paper,^[1] particles can be patterned or assembled with a broad range of forces during the printing process to impart specific functionalities in an otherwise passive structure. For example, a magnetic field can be leveraged to program the local magnetic remanence of a printed ferromagnetic composite. Magnetic programming can enable the fabrication of biocompatible materials with high energy density, which have promising applications in magnetically actuated biomedical robots. For example, a wireless ingestible …

Antenna Designs For Cubesat-Borne, Continuous-Waveform Radar, Logan E. Voigt, Reyhan Baktur

Utah Space Grant Consortium

CubeSat-borne radar has many potential applications in space exploration including tracking, imaging, and weather prediction. A continuous-waveform radar has advantages of compact size and low power consumption, making it suitable to implement on small platforms such as CubeSats. This paper demonstrates an isolation technique that overcomes the self-interference between the transmit and receive antennas inherent to continuous-waveform radar. The presented approach combines opposite circularly polarized antennas on two deployed solar panels to minimize the self-interference. The prototype antennas are tested on a 6U CubeSat frame and the results show more than 40 dB isolation, satisfying the power budget requirements.

Globally-Attractive Logarithmic Geometric Control Of A Quadrotor For Aggressive Trajectory Tracking, Jacob C. Johnson, Randal W. Beard

Utah Space Grant Consortium

We present a new quadrotor geometric control scheme that is capable of tracking highly aggressive trajectories. Our geometric controller uses the logarithmic map of SO(3) to express rotational error in the Lie algebra, and we show that it is globally attractive without requiring a complicated hybrid switching scheme. We show the performance of our controller against highly aggressive trajectories in simulation experiments. Additionally, we present an adaptation of this controller that allows us to interface effectively with the angular rate controllers on an onboard flight control unit and show the ability of this adapted control scheme to track aggressive trajectories …

Large Earthquakes' Effect On The Ionosphere, Aaron Houston

Physics Capstone Projects

The ionosphere is a part of the Earth’s atmosphere that stretches from 80 – 600 kilometers. Gases in this area are ionized which creates a range of free electrons that make up the plasma of the ionosphere. A group of these electrons is known as Total Electron Content (TEC), which is responsible for signal delays between satellites in orbit and their GPS receivers on the surface. Using this delay, the TEC in a specific region can be calculated. This helps in GPS error analysis. During the earthquake in Japan on March 11, 2011, there was allegedly a noticeable jump in …

Improving The Efficiency Of The Preconditioning Of Iterative Solutions To The Kinetic Equation, D. Caleb Price

Physics Capstone Projects

To achieve the reality of fusion, a greater understanding of plasma is required. The kinetic equation can be evolved simultaneously alongside the fluid equations to solve for kinetic closures. NIMROD performs this with numerical solvers where the General Minimum Residual (GMRES) solver becomes more efficient with a preconditioning matrix as input. Using a GPU-enabled library, the efficiency of GPU offloading to the preconditioning step was tested. A significant decrease in the factoring time of preconditioning matrix was observed. This suggests that the allocation of GPUs is worth investigating for NIMROD’s own benefit, but also anyone seeking to improve the efficiency …

Indexer++: Workload-Aware Online Index Tuning With Transformers And Reinforcement Learning, Vishal Sharma, Curtis Dyreson

Computer Science Student Research

With the increasing workload complexity in modern databases, the manual process of index selection is a challenging task. There is a growing need for a database with an ability to learn and adapt to evolving workloads. This paper proposes Indexer++, an autonomous, workload-aware, online index tuner. Unlike existing approaches, Indexer++ imposes low overhead on the DBMS, is responsive to changes in query workloads and swiftly selects indexes. Our approach uses a combination of text analytic techniques and reinforcement learning. Indexer++ consist of two phases: Phase (i) learns workload trends using a novel trend detection technique based on a pre-trained …

The Potential Of Semi-Structured Citizen Science Data As A Supplement For Conservation Decision-Making: Validating The Performance Of Ebird Against Targeted Avian Monitoring Efforts, Erica F. Stuber, Orin J. Robinson, Emily R. Bjerre, Mark C. Otto, Brian A. Millsap, Guthrie S. Zimmerman, Michael G. Brasher, Kevin M. Ringelman, Auriel M. V. Fournier, Aaron Yetter, Jennifer E. Isola, Viviana Ruiz-Gutierrez

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Methods are being developed to capitalize on citizen science data for research and monitoring, but these data are rarely used within established decision-making frameworks of wildlife agencies. Citizen science data are often collected at higher resolution and extent than targeted monitoring programs, and may provide complementary information. Here, we demonstrate that carefully filtered semi-structured citizen science observations, when paired with targeted survey data, can produce ecological predictions at higher resolution and extent than targeted surveys alone, and both datasets can represent complementary aspects of species' ecology. We present case studies demonstrating how citizen science data can enhance or supplement decision-making …

Student Attitudes Toward Research In An Undergraduate Social Science Research Methods Course, Rachel Wishkoski, Diana J. Meter, Sarah Tulane, Michael Q. King, Kevin Butler, Laura A. Woodland

Human Development and Family Studies Faculty Publications

This study used a mixed-methods longitudinal design to investigate change in students’ understanding, attitudes, anxiety, perceptions of relevance, and disinterest in a required social science undergraduate research methods course across a semester. Participants were 78 undergraduates (94% women, 6% men; 92% white non-Hispanic/Latinx, M age = 25.62, SD = 7.17) at a university in the United States. Results suggest that participant attitudes toward and perceptions of research methods shifted over the course of the semester. Overall, anxiety decreased, while positive attitudes increased. However, initial perceptions and changes in perceptions varied among the three course sections. Over time, students largely recognized …

Utah State University Commencement, 2022 - Main Campus, Utah State University

Commencement Programs

2022 Commencement Ceremony for the Main Campus of Utah State University.

Making The Old New: The Recontextualization And Traditionalization Of Tree Spirits In Video Games, Alexandria Ziegler

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

Folklorists study the active rituals between humans and deities, as well as the inactive participation between them in narrative. However, they do not study the active participation that comes in the form of video games between them, though with shifts in society, this new way of engaging through digital forms is widespread and accessible. In my research, I studied Russian and Japanese tree spirits in a variety of video games to understand this new form of engagement with ancient deities. These video games are Okami, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Black Book, and The Witcher 3: The …

Religious Sexual Minorities, Belongingness, And Suicide Risk: Does It Matter Where Belongingness Comes From?, Samuel J. Skidmore, G. Tyler Lefevor, Rachel M. Golightly, Eric R. Larsen

Psychology Faculty Publications

Sexual minorities (SMs) experience a unique set of stressors as a result of their minority status that can lead to adverse mental health outcomes, including increased suicidal ideation (SI). A sense of belongingness—particularly in sexual minority communities—has been shown to buffer these outcomes. It is less clear, however, how belongingness in communities that hold heteronormative values may relate to SI. The present study fills this gap through an analysis of data from 602 SM members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (CJCLDS; “Mormon” church). We examine how minority stressors and religiousness are related to SI for SMs …

Quagga Mussel And Zebra Mussel, Ann Mull, Lori R. Spears

All Current Publications

Quagga mussel and zebra mussel can cause significant ecological, economical, and recreational impacts. This fact sheet describes these two-sided mollusks and reviews impacts, monitoring, and management of these invasive species.

The Status Of Utah Asian Women, Jessica C. Hill, Marin Christensen, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

Last year, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute released a landmark databook on race, ethnicity, and sex. In that report they noted that Utah is becoming increasingly diverse, and this has brought wide disparities between most minority groups and the White population in terms of education, housing, and health outcomes.¹ Although the Institute presented critical data to start the conversation more broadly, the Utah Women & Leadership Project (UWLP) wanted to expand and deepen this discussion by focusing a series of research snapshots on Utah women of color. As the UWLP focuses on strengthening the impact of all Utah …

What Uintah Basin Leaders And Residents Can Do To Strengthen The Impact Of Girls And Women In Their Area, Angie Kleven, Susan R. Madsen

Marketing and Strategy Faculty Publications

This idea sheet is based on a 2022 gathering of 30 leaders in the Uintah Basin. Girls and women face challenges unique to the area in which they live, and the goal of this gathering was to identify those barriers and determine strategies and initiatives that local leaders and residents can implement to address them. This document includes recommendations in the following areas: education and sports, health and wellbeing, home and family, business and economics, culture and religion, and community engagement.

Seasonal Variations In Global Ionospheric Total Electron Content, Jason Knudsen

Physics Capstone Projects

As the Sun ionizes atoms and molecules in the Earth’s ionosphere, the region of atmosphere above approximately 100 km in altitude, the created ionization in this region affects many of the systems that we rely on in daily life. This includes cellular service, GPS navigation, weather forecasting, and credit card data. A good measure for the level of ionization in the ionosphere is total electron content (TEC), which is the number of electrons in a square column above a given geographic location. The TEC over a geographic location influences the propagation of radio waves that traverse that section of the …

Faculty Senate Minutes, May 2, 2022, Utah State University

Faculty Senate & Faculty Senate Executive Committee

Agenda

Call to Order - Boyd Edwards

Announcement of Faculty Senate President-Elect - Boyd Edwards

Concluding Remarks, Passing of the Gavel - Boyd Edwards

College Caucus to Elect FSEC Members

Utah Farmers Market Snap Toolkit, Regan Emmons, Bridget Stuchly, Gina Cornia

All Current Publications

Utah State University Extension provides research-based programs and resources with the goal of improving the lives of individuals, families and communities throughout Utah. USU Extension manages Create Better Health, Utah’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Education Program (known as SNAP-Ed), and provides nutrition education and obesity prevention services to SNAP recipients and other eligible low-income individuals. Create Better Health (SNAP-Ed) offers a variety of classes to expand participants’ knowledge of nutrition, budgeting, cooking, food safety, and physical activity. This toolkit outlines how farmers markets can implement a SNAP program and help combat food insecurity in their communities.

Utah Farmers Market Network: Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Community Of Practice, Jaclyn Pace, Regan Emmons, Kelsey Hall, Celina Wille, Lacee Jimenez, Carrie Durward, Roslynn Mccann

All Current Publications

The Utah Farmers Market Network convened a virtual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Community of Practice (CoP) to explore how markets could be more welcoming and inclusive to historically excluded populations. Between May and November of 2021, members of seven Utah farmers markets convened at least twice monthly to explore basic DEI concepts and create personalized DEI strategic plans for their markets. This document reviews impacts on participants and the personal, market, community, and organizational goals created.

The End Of The Known World, Madeline Thomas

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

This thesis forms the foundation for a poetry chapbook infused with Norse mythology and pain. It builds itself on two distinct strands. In the first, I reclaim the story of Hel, goddess of death, and attempt to humanize a figure historically branded as monstrous. Her life forms a narrative line through the collection that attempts to capture the whimsy and horror in myth. Intertwined with the goddess are poems centered around a contemporary speaker who suffers from chronic migraine, an autoimmune disease, unexplained tachycardia, and OCD. The poems in this personal strand vary heavily in both form and content but …

Characteristics Of Mesospheric Temperature And Gravity Waves Over Chile In 2020-2021, Damien M. Devitt, Kenneth Zia

Physics Capstone Projects

Gravity waves (GWs) are often confused with gravitational waves in the fabric of space time. However, there is a clear distinction between them. Gravity wave is a term used by the atmospheric research field to describe perturbations in the atmosphere. Gravity pulls the perturbations down and causes oscillations, these present in the form of waves. The best visualization is to think of ripples on a pond, as the ripple reaches its peak gravity pulls the ripple down and creates an oscillating effect.

Tremblings, May 2022, Western Aspen Alliance

Tremblings

Wolf-elk-aspen interactions: Trophic cascade or trickle?

Elaine Brice

Dan MacNulty

As one of the world’s first National Parks, Yellowstone is renowned for a dynamic landscape that is home to many charismatic species. As one of the few deciduous trees in the Park, aspen is a valuable member of the ecosystem. A century of decline is mostly attributed to elk herbivory of aspen recruitment, while climatic factors are often regarded as unimportant.

Oystershell Scale: An Invasive Threat To Aspen Conservation, Amanda M. Grady, Connor D. Crouch, Nicholas P. Wilhelmi, Richard W. Hofstetter, Kristen M. Waring

Aspen Bibliography

Aspen decline is an acute and chronic problem in Arizona, where high levels of overstory mortality and a lack of recruitment continue to be observed. Oystershell scale (Lepidosaphes ulmi; OSS), an invasive sapsucking insect, has recently become widespread in native aspen stands in the southwestern U.S., further contributing to aspen mortality. Damage is severe in lower elevation stands and within ungulate exclosures created to conserve aspen. Young recruiting aspen that are rare on the landscape incur high levels of OSS-caused mortality when infested (Fig. 1). OSS has only recently become a pest of concern in the Southwest and …

Oaths And Evasion: Variable Honesty In Tax Evasion Games, Logan Krebs

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

Previous research has indicated that an ex-ante pledge of honesty reduces the likelihood that participants will lie during a lab experiment. We show that a bandwagon effect, occurring when participants know that others are acting dishonestly, can erode the positive effects of honesty oaths. Taxpayers do not make their reporting decisions in a vacuum. They have access to information concerning how others in the community are behaving and develop perceptions around this information. We add these realistic features to a tax evasion game involving an ex-ante honesty oath. Results indicate that social context can reduce the positive effects of honesty …

Evaluating Short Term Effects Of Opportunity Zone Designation, Sarah M. Bennett

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

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 included a substantial economic development effort known as Opportunity Zones. These Zones cover 12% of the census tracts in the United States and are estimated to cost $1.6 billion in lost capital gains tax revenue. Our paper seeks to find whether this program has had an impact four years after going into effect, using an econometric analysis on changes in housing prices.

Minority Stress: A Model For Understanding Sexual Minority Adolescents’ Mental Health, Sean N. Weeks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Taken together, the three papers included in this dissertation offer an investigation of sexual minority adolescents’ stress as a predictor of adverse mental health outcomes (Paper 1), as being influenced by school and home climates (Paper 2), and as a measurable model for stress across levels (Paper 3). Results from this series of studies generally support theory and findings from other studies in that minority stress was found to be a meaningful predictor of mental health in sexual minority youth and that school and home climates were found to be important for understanding sexual minority youth wellbeing. However, the current …

Kids And Campaigning: The Impact Of Child Care As An Approved Campaign Expense On Women's Legislative Candidacy, Matilyn Kay Mortensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While women’s candidacy continues to reach record numbers in the United States, women remain grossly underrepresented as candidates and elected officials at all levels of government. Many people and groups are focused on increasing women’s political involvement and often these efforts focus on empowering individual women to become candidates. However, when women do run for office, there are many systemic challenges they face, such as the fact that whether or not women work professionally or for compensation, they perform more unpaid care work than their men counterparts.

In the past few years, multiple states across the nation have begun allowing …

Understanding The Needs Of Residents In Sevier County To Plan Impactful Programs, Kari Ure, Lendel K. Narine, Mckay Erickson

Outcomes and Impact Quarterly

USU Extension provides evidence-based community education in response to community needs. A needs assessment was conducted in Sevier County UT in 2021 to determine critical needs of residents. The results of the assessment will guide Extension programming in Sevier County.

Visions Of Science: An Art Historical Exploration Of Medieval Scientific Manuscripts, Olivia Brock

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The late 16th century saw a new movement in the world of science to push scientific ideas and practice out of academia and into the hands of the layman. No longer were scholars the sole proprietors of science –everyday laborers, craftsman, and artists now had practical scientific principles at their fingertips that they could incorporate into their professions. This new spread of science was facilitated in several ways, including the publication of books incorporating detailed, explanatory images, new utilitarian instruments, and public lectures. Though science was disseminated through a variety of means, I have been particularly interested in the ways …