Digital Commons Network^™

A Study Of Leadership Behaviors In Esports Contexts, Joseph C. Tucker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Soft skills, leadership in particular, are highly sought-after traits for businesses when searching for new employees. Using games as a tool to teach soft skills is fairly well documented. One way that games can do this is by creating a space where learners can practice these skills. Esports in particular seem to be an already existing space where modern, dynamic types of leadership are already practiced. In order to determine if this was indeed the case, I interviewed people who were involved in different levels of esports about the ways they behaved while playing esports. I found that in order …

Using Experiments, 3d Scanning, And Computational Fluid Dynamics To Analyze Variance In Minor Loss Coefficients, Adam B. Pack

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As water moves through pipes, it loses energy. The energy losses are due to friction and the minor losses associated with various pipe fittings, which change the direction of flow. Pipe bends, or elbows, are a common pipe fitting and a significant source of energy loss in piping systems. This research was performed to better understand the variability of energy loss due to different pipe elbow designs and to investigate methods to replicate these losses using numerical simulations.

Eight pipe elbows, all 3-inch, 90-degree, schedule 40 PVC elbows that vary by radius of curvature and/or end connection type, were tested …

Factors Affecting United States Geological Survey Irrigation Freshwater Withdrawal Estimates In Utah, J. Levi Manley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utah is, on average, one of the driest states in the United States, second only to Nevada, and drier conditions are projected. Irrigation is the largest water user in the state, representing about 80% of the total freshwater withdrawn each year. Withdrawals are obtained from sources like reservoirs or streams, or underground water from wells and springs, and supplied for use. The United States Geological Survey, a reputable federal science agency, has provided irrigation freshwater withdrawal estimates every five years since 1950. Understanding what factors affect irrigation withdrawals can better inform water resource planning to reduce withdrawals and conserve surface …

Belief, Unbelief, And Rebelief In Santa Claus: A Theory Of Cyclical Belief Or A Belief Cycle An Introduction, Steven G. Merrell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Every single person, no matter who they are; what they look or sound like; where they are or come from in space and time; their sex, gender, and/or orientation; their age or maturity; their culture; and/or their background, has one or multiple belief(s) and/or belief system(s) of some kind. Such belief may be temporary, transient, fleeting, or long lasting. It/they may be superficial or deeply rooted. It/they may be (considered) or seem rational or irrational. It/they may be encouraged or discouraged, romanticized or pathologized. It/they may be conscious, subconscious, or unconscious; or, such belief(s) may exist somewhere in between. It/they …

Standardization Of A Protocol To Propagate Gateway Vectors, Kayla Suisse

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Cloning is an important technique in functional genomics, particularly genetics and molecular biology. Cloned genes can be used to facilitate protein expression; this is an essential step in understanding gene function. In traditional cloning, the gene of interest is amplified and tagged with a restriction enzyme sequence and ligated to the digested open vector. However, the GATEWAY™ Cloning Technology provides a speedy and more efficient route to insert the gene of interest in the desired vector, known as Destination vectors or Expression vectors, using site-specific recombination sites and recombinase enzymes.¹ Once DNA segments from the gene of interest are …

Small Spacecraft Thermal Control Louvers, James Anthony Mullen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Small satellites missions are becoming increasingly complex and are requiring more power. These demands lead to temperature fluctuations on the satellite due to spacecraft layout, sunlight and shadow in orbit, and high-powered instrumentation. Products which provide necessary thermal stability for components on the satellite are desirable to small satellite manufacturers.

In September of 2015, Dr. Allison Evans of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center filed a patent for an innovative louver system configured for small satellite applications. The design was sized for satellites with a 1U form factor and utilized bimetallic springs to lift the louver flaps. The design was …

Regression Tree Predictive Filter, Jarren Worthen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Many algorithms have been developed to predict future samples of a signal. These algorithms, such as the recursive least squares predictive filter, rely on the assumption that the system generating the signal can be modeled as a linear system of equations. These systems perform poorly when used to predict signals generated by non-linear systems. To predict a non-linear signal, non-linear methods must be used. Regression trees are a simple form of machine learning that is non-linear in nature and can predict output based on a set of given input. The goal of this capstone project was to develop an algorithm …

Detecting Accurate Emotions In Faces, Emma Greenwood

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Anger race bias is the tendency to misidentify expressions of emotion, specifically anger, in Black or racially ambiguous faces that are fearful or neutral (Hutchings & Haddock, 2008). Anger is often associated with aggression (Murphy et al., 2005). Therefore, the inaccurate perception of anger and threat may lead to an inappropriate response and could increase the likelihood that a police officer will shoot at a suspect (Correll et al., 2007). From 2015 to 2020, police officers shot and killed over 100 unarmed Black males (Washington Post, 2020). This study examined if anger race bias could be reduced through emotion identification …

Bridging The Divide Between Upper And Lower Classmen: Resources For Mentors And Freshmen In The Choral Education Program, Tanner Hancock Pruett

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The recent decline in student retention in the choral education program at Utah State University should be cause for concern. Students who are excited and passionate about choir are leaving choral education and/or dropping out of college entirely. However, research into college retention rates and the experiences of choral education students at USU has helped explain this decline in student retention.

My review of research about college retention rates indicates that some of the biggest reasons that students drop out of college are academic difficulty, interpersonal difficulties, and mental health. It also indicates students with a strong sense of support …

Language Revitalization: Strategies To Reverse Language Shift, Jessica Jamiel Martin

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Language shift, the process by which a language loses speakers until it becomes extinct, is occurring in speech communities all over the world. This process is influenced by internal and external political, social, and economic factors unique to each community. As its causes and effects are not uniform, a universal model for reversing language shift does not exist. However, several broad principles can be applied across multiple contexts and situations for successful language revitalization. It is essential for the speech community to be the primary decision maker in any program. A thorough assessment of the community’s current status, challenges, and …

Estimating Cattle Density Using Wildlife Cameras, Emily Bonebrake

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Quantifying the abundance and distribution of animal populations is critical for effective wildlife research and management. Due to their cost-effectiveness, wildlife cameras have become an increasingly popular tool for estimating population densities. Previously, this technique relied on ‘capture-recapture’ models that utilized re-sightings of individually marked animals, but in recent years methods have been developed to estimate the population densities of unmarked animals. One such method is the random encounter and staying time (REST) technique, which does this by assuming that the cumulative time animals stay within the view of the camera scales linearly with the number of individuals. This allows …

Anticipatory Intelligence Resilience Modeling Evaluation Of Aspire Research Center, Madeleine Alder

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The analysis of threats and vulnerabilities in a system is essential in developing resilience strategies to strengthen the system’s ability to adapt and succeed. This report delivers a threat analysis of ASPIRE, a research organization centered on engineering solutions for promoting electric vehicle (EV) adoption. ASPIRE, which is an international network of university research partners and comprised primarily of engineering teams, is focused on developing technology that can be used by industry or governmental partners. The threat of low public buy-in for ASPIRE technology is one of the most significant concerns facing the system. Low adoption rates or public resistance …

A Study On The Impact Of Diet On Unified Fire Authority Firefighter Performance, Marin Easton

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Objective: This project aimed to examine the impact of nutrition knowledge, dietary intake, and physical activity on firefighters’ performance on their routine physical assessment (RPA).

Methodology: Members of the Unified Fire Authority, the largest fire agency in Utah with more than 400 sworn firefighters serving 15 communities representing 440,000 residents, were invited via email to participate in this cross-sectional study. Participants (N=92) completed a 40- question survey that assessed specialized diet adherence, dietary intake, nutrition knowledge (using questions from the General Nutrition Knowledge Questionnaire;1 point for each correct answer [26 points possible]), regular physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire), and …

A Sentiment And Content Analysis Of Facebook Posts Regarding Wild Horse Management, Libbie G. Anderson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to better understand public sentiment and current conversations on Facebook regarding wild horse management practices, including adoption, roundups, and contraception, in the timeframe between the June 2021 BLM Wild Horse Advisory Board meeting and January 31, 2022. Social media monitoring and quantitative content analysis were used to examine the Facebook posts of four organizations communicating about the wild horse controversy. The research questions guiding this study included: (1) How many total mentions of “fertility control,” “contraception,” “roundup,” “gather,” “adoption,” and “management” as they pertained to wild horses occurred across Facebook from June 1, 2021 …

Antimicrobial Assay Of Sagebrush Roots, Lauren Rachel (Moody) Mcfadden

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Plants produce secondary metabolites for various functions, one of which is antibacterial activities. Sagebrush has historically been used by Native Americans for different medicinal purposes, suggesting that it may have secondary metabolites that would have medicinal values, including antimicrobial activities, and can be a natural source for antibiotics. This study aims to carry out the antimicrobial activity of Sagebrush root extract against a handful of bacteria. We tested the antimicrobial activity of root extract of Sagebrush against six bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, E. coli DHSα (Lab cloning strain), Agrobacterium tumefaciens GV3101 (Lab cloning strain), Pseudomonas …

Evolution Of Floral Microbes And The Resulting Effects On Pollinator Preference, Hailey Hatch

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Floral microbes are an overlooked aspect of the extended floral phenotype. Through altering floral nectar chemistry, they can mediate interactions between flowers, pollinators, and other floral microbes, with significant implications for plant and pollinator health. Interactions between floral microbes and pollinators are critically important to understand, as pollinators provide important ecosystem services in both natural and agriculture systems. Here, I explored how floral nectar traits affected both evolution and competition within the floral yeast Metschnikowia reukaufii, the floral bacterium Bacillus subtilis, and other microbes isolated from Brassica rapa nectar, an important plant model system and oilseed crop. To …

Ng-Torque/Tension Testing Of Bolts With Epoxy Primer, Gabrielle Van Brunt

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This capstone project is in conjunction with Northrop Grumman (NG). The goal of the project is for NG to apply an epoxy in the future to aerospace structures that they produce. This epoxy is meant to prevent corrosion of threaded joints in the structures. Although NG has the epoxy and has no issues procuring it, NG does not know the properties of the epoxy; it cannot be used until the epoxy’s nut factor is experimentally determined. The epoxy nut factor will be used for design and drawing purposes on various projects. To determine the nut factor, the Aggiepoxy team created …

A Music Composition Through The Use Of Animal Sounds, Andy Nguy

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The knowledge on animals has been studied over many years by researching and understanding animal behavior and creativity with music. Bioacoustics shows a great deal when it comes to collecting sounds through many principles for sound data collection. With saved recording of animals, music, speeches, and so much more, it has impacted the way music is created through technology. Music production has been advancing in many creative ways. The foundation of sound manipulation is musique concrète. The project uses these concepts of audio recording and digital sounds to produce a composition that includes animal sounds.

Utah Tick Surveillance An Animated Public Service Announcement, Keith Wilson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

As the United States’ population grows, we develop more land into housing and recreate farther into wilderness areas, consequentially encountering ticks with increasing frequency. As the climate continues to change, tick population distributions are also changing, influencing our population’s exposure to tick-borne diseases. Lyme disease, a tick-borne disease named after Lyme, Connecticut, is one of the fastest growing emerging diseases in North America, and the most prevalent vector-borne infection in the United States. There are two species of tick in North America, Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus, known to be carriers of the causative agent of Lyme disease, a …

Margin Of Error, Aubrey Felty

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

According to Utah State University’s Office of Analysis, Assessment, and Accreditation during the Fall semester of 2020, about 18% of students enrolled were students of color. About 2.5% of students enrolled identified as two or more races. Margin of Error is a docudrama that elevates the voices of multiracial college students and promotes a better understanding of multiracial individuals. The project involves actor portrayals of interviews with multiracial college students who discuss navigating their multiple racial identities at often predominantly white universities. It also features reactions and commentary on the students’ experiences from faculty and students at Utah State University. …

A=A: A Change In Social Movement Engagement And Leadership Should Equal A Change In Civic Education, Tess Tureson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

It seems as if almost everything in our world has changed with the introduction of the internet, personal computers, iPhones, and social media. We write emails instead of letters. We listen to podcasts and read articles online instead of buying a newspaper. Presidents communicate with the world on Twitter. The way we engage with politics has entirely changed. Yet, we are still going about civic education in schools the same way, teaching students to give speeches in city council meetings, write letters to their representative, and find current events from traditional news sources. This study offers new statistical evidence that …

The Effects Of Strength And Conditioning Training On The Health Of College Students, Brynli Bleak

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Does participation in Strength and Conditioning (S&C) classes have a positive effect on the physical, emotional, mental, and social health of college students? This study was designed to measure and explore different markers of physical, mental, emotional, and social health from participants in Strength and Conditioning classes. Class participants were asked to complete a survey to self report the effects of the training on various aspects of their life. Data were analyzed and compared to national averages for college students, and correlation tests were conducted to identify relationships in the reported effects. The study found that no significant correlations existed …

Effect Of Basal Diet And Black Raspberry Supplementation On Gene Biomarkers Of "Leaky Gut" In A Mouse Model Of Colitis-Associated Colorectal Cancer, Eliza Catherine Stewart

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Colorectal cancer is currently the second leading cause of cancer death in the world. The risk of developing colorectal cancer increases significantly in individuals who suffer from colitis, which is inflammation of the colon lining, seen in Irritable Bowel Disease. The term “leaky gut” is often used to describe increased intestinal permeability and is closely related to colitis. Leaky gut is associated with dysbiosis of the gut microbiota, which can occur through diet. This dysbiosis leads to prolonged inflammation and affects genes that encode for proteins involved in the tight junctions between cells. Compromised intestinal integrity allows for translocation of …

The Evolution And Unraveling Of The American Eugenics Movement, Anneka Walton

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

While the evolution of American eugenics surrounding the time of Nazi Germany has been well-documented, the periods before the explosion of American eugenics and the result of the movement in the wake of the Holocaust are not so well known. Many historically-based works have described the path and growth of eugenics from the time the term was coined to the public acknowledgement of World War II and the point where Americans ended eugenic euthanasia and slowed eugenic sterilizations. There are also many works within the realm of disability history that document these events from the more common social viewpoint. This …

Artifiact, Max Saunders

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

The main purpose of this body of work is to explore gestural mark making and wood kiln effects on functional and sculptural vessels. A limited number of forms, including teapots, cups and large sculptural vessels were made to explore different types of mark making and the different effects that can be achieved in the wood kiln. The end goal was a body of work that can be explored on many levels, from using the pots as functional vessels to exploring the larger work as dynamic gestural sculptures.

Defending Difference: Translingualism In The Composition Classroom, R. Elle Smith

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

Translingualism includes 1. appreciating how people use language differences to produce meaning, 2. recognizing that all language is fluid, and 3. helping students and teachers question standard language ideology. Translingual pedagogy should be process-oriented rather than product-focused. Instead of focusing on the writing product matching or not matching the standard, translingual pedagogy should focus on questioning standard language ideology and being more flexible in our language beliefs. Additionally, most scholarship surrounding translingualism has focused on the multilingual community. This thesis expands on the scholarship by asking how translingual pedagogy must shift in a primarily white monolingual classroom. Also included is …

Analyzing Suicidal Text Using Natural Language Processing, Cassandra Barton

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

Using Natural Language Processing (NLP), we are able to analyze text from suicidal individuals. This can be done using a variety of methods. I analyzed a dataset of a girl named Victoria that died by suicide. I used a machine learning method to train a different dataset and tested it on her diary entries to classify her text into two categories: suicidal vs non-suicidal. I used topic modeling to find out unique topics in each subset. I also found a pattern in her diary entries. NLP allows us to help individuals that are suicidal and their family members and close …

The Tinker Bell Jar, Kayla Berryman

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

This poetry thesis is a collection of poems thematically linked together. Each poem revolves around characters from fairy tales and children’s books who are stuck in situations with abusive or harmful family members and crave an escape. In Part One of this collection, the poems take place in what readers might identify as the real world. In Part One, the poems have elements of fairy tales in them, and the speaker, or narrator of the poems, uses fairy tales to understand and relate the relationship between her parents and brother in a way that she can understand. The speaker of …

Comparative Effects Of Eccentric Overload Training On Muscle Function Measures When Combined With Aquatic Plyometric Training, Cassidy Weeks

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

Although there is a growing body of knowledge on eccentric resistance training and aquatic plyometric training on muscle function measures alone, no research to date has investigated the effects of a mixed training model. Aquatic plyometrics and overload eccentric training are two different training models which could work synergistically because the shortcomings of one model are the virtues of the other (i.e., plyometrics are not as effective at producing large muscle size and strength gains and eccentric-only training largely lacks the functional SSC component). The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the effects of a combined eccentric …

Pragmatics In Game Activities, Humor, And Technology In Second Language Learning, Zachary Brandon Brown

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

This portfolio compiles work the author explored and developed during the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University (USU). It encompasses a range of experiences from teaching abroad and at USU, insights from the observation of other classrooms, and reflections from studies in the MSLT program.

Three distinct sections comprise the portfolio: teaching perspectives, research perspectives, and an annotated bibliography. The teaching perspectives detail beliefs regarding games, computer technology, humor, and pragmatics and how they influence second language learning based on the author’s personal experiences. The research perspectives and annotated bibliography elaborate further on those topics …