Digital Commons Network^™

In Vitro Simulation Of Microgravity Induced Muscle Loss Successfully Increases Expression Of Key In Vivo Atrophy Markers, Charles P. Harding

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Muscle loss from lack of activity is a serious issue for immobilized patients on Earth and in human spaceflight, where the low gravity environment prevents normal muscle activity. Simulating muscle loss in cultured cells is an important step in understanding how this condition occurs. This work evaluates different means of simulating muscle loss and selects the one that most closely mimics the cellular responses seen in animals and humans.

To simulate the microgravity environment of spaceflight, mouse skeletal muscle cells were grown in a rotary cell culture system (RCCS). Growing the cells within a natural gelled substrate was compared against …

Landscape Of Stress: Does Drought Prevail Over Anthropogenic Activity In Influencing Cortisol Levels And Fitness In The Pacific Fisher?, Jennifer R. Kordosky

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are a species of concern in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone released to mobilize energy in response to stress and has been used as an indication of an individual’s physiological response to its environment. By collecting samples of fisher hair and measuring an individual’s cortisol, we examined the physiological stress response of the animals to human disturbances (housing density, road density, habitat type, and silvicultural treatements) and drought (tree mortality) in their home ranges. Using AICc model selection, we found that levels of tree mortality within a fisher’s home …

The Spatial Ecology Of Predator-Prey Interactions: A Case Study Of Yellowstone Elk, Wolves, And Cougars, Michel T. Kohl

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The loss of large apex predators, and their subsequent reintroduction, has been identified as a substantial driver on the structure and function of ecological communities through behavioral mediated trophic cascades (BMTCs). The reintroduction of wolves (Canis lupus) to Yellowstone National Park (YNP) has served as foundational case study of BMTCs. In our system, it has been suggested that wolves have established a ‘landscape of fear’ in which the primary prey, elk (Cervus elaphus), now avoid risky places, which ultimately led to the recovery of the vegetation community. Although this case is frequently cited as a well-understood …

Effect Of Physical Stimuli On Angiogenic Factor Expression In Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells, Farhad Farjood

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of blindness in adults. Abnormal growth of blood vessels in the eye during the course of AMD causes damage to the retina, resulting in irreversible blindness. The goal of this research was to determine whether physical pressure on retinal cells can contribute to the increased blood vessel formation. To replicate the tears in the cell layers, a micropatterning method was used as a means of detaching cells from each other. Two new devices were also developed to mimic slow and fast increases in mechanical pressure on cell layers of the eye. After …

Optimal Foraging And Population Dynamics: An Archaeological Investigation At The Birch Creek Rockshelters, Idaho, Samuel H. M. Yeates

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis aims to integrate the study of population change with the expectations of foraging models, and to test whether expectations resulting from integrating these two bodies of theory have greater predictive power than foraging models alone. To compare these models, I monitored prey age, butchery practice, and prey desirability in five prehistoric occupations of the Birch Creek rockshelters of Idaho. I modeled hunting pressure with a human population density estimate based on radiocarbon dates from Idaho archaeological sites, and modeled prey abundance with a model of historic effective moisture. Both models predicted younger prey, lower average prey desirability, and …

The Impact Of Wood Biochar On The Plant Uptake Of Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products From Reclaimed Wastewater, Jeffrey Flashinski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Reclaimed water (treated water discharged from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs)) is increasingly used in drier regions for irrigation purposes. This effectively increases the water supply and reduces the amount of WWTP discharge into surface waters but it creates the potential for contaminants in the reclaimed water, such as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), to accumulate in exposed crops. The US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) considers PPCPs contaminants of emerging concern due to their near universal presence in the environment and their potential for endocrine disruption. Biochar is gaining attention as a soil amendment and could potentially be used …

Evaluating Michigan's Food, Agriculture, And Resources In Motion (Farm) Science Lab As A Modality For Agricultural Literacy, Amelia J. Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Michigan’s Food, Agriculture, and Resources in Motion (FARM) Science Lab is a 40-foot mobile classroom outfitted with 10 learning stations including scientific equipment and iPads. This quasi-experimental study analyzed preexisting data provided by Michigan Agriculture in the Classroom to evaluate the effectiveness of the FARM Science Lab mobile classroom as a method of teaching agriculture-themed, standards-based lessons to third- through fifth-grade students in order to increase their understanding of agriculture. From January through June 2018, more than 1,258 students participated in these lessons and completed the pretest and posttest and 72 teachers completed the post survey. Research questions not only …

An Examination Of Seasonal Shifts In Climate And Visitation, And Perspectives On Seasonal Shifts And Climate Adaptation Strategies In Tourism And Recreation Businesses For Moab, Utah, Elizabeth Cook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The city of Moab, an outdoor recreation hub in eastern Utah, has been encountering both shifts in the seasonality of visitation, and increases in tourist visitation, even with summer temperatures above the normal high. Tourism research describing the effects of climate change on the outdoor recreation industry has focused on winter, snow-dependent activities, while studies in Moab city have focused on the economic value of outdoor recreational activities. Few studies have described the relationship between seasonal tourism and climate change for arid desert locations. The purpose of this study is to describe how the tourism and recreation industry in Moab, …

Fire - Herbivory Interactions In An East African Savanna: Effects On Acacia Drepanolobium Trees, Eric M. Lamalfa

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Globally, changes in plant community structure have occurred in ecosystems where humans have altered natural disturbance regimes. Many plants have adaptive life histories and morphological traits that have coevolved with fire and herbivory, which allows them to thrive despite repeated tissue losses. Therefore, altering the type, frequency, or severity of disturbance affects individual plant growth and competition among species. When these changes benefit or disadvantage different plant functional groups (i.e., grasses, shrubs, trees) it alters ecosystem structure and function. Understanding and predicting these vegetation changes, is critical for conservation and management of biodiversity, wildlife habitat, livestock forage, and water.

Savannas …

The Organic Wheat Market: Three Essays On Pricing, Consumer Segments, And The Importance Of Labels, Tatiana Drugova

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation aims to address issues related to supply and demand of organic wheat either as a commodity or contained in the final consumer products. Objectives for the first essay are to evaluate organic wheat price and premium risk, how it affects the profitability of organic wheat production, and examine whether hedging and forecasting can be used to manage the organic wheat price risk. A side objective is to apply and evaluate several data imputation methods to recover missing organic wheat price observations. Objectives for the second essay are to identify “very likely,” “likely,” and “unlikely” consumers of organic wheat …

Visible Light-Triggered Carbon Monoxide-Releasing Molecules, Marina Popova

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Carbon monoxide (CO) is now well established as one of the signaling molecules in higher organisms, including humans. Due to its physiological roles, CO is now accepted as a potential therapeutic agent. The use of CO gas has been studied in multiple clinical trials. Vasodilation, anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-proliferative and cytoprotective effects are just a few of the pharmacological actions attributed to CO gas in various models of diseases. Use of inhaled CO gas as a therapeutic has many limitations which necessitate the development of a new approach for CO delivery. In order to handle CO safely, compounds that release CO …

Untangling The Economic And Social Impediments To Producer Adoption Of Organic Wheat, Donya L. Ralph-Quarnstrom

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consumer demand for organic products has shown double-digit growth in recent years encouraging the development of a wider range of goods (Greene, 2017). Americans with an annual household income under $30,000 actively purchase organic foods at nearly the same rate as households with over $75,000 in annual incomes, 42% versus 49% (Greene et al., 2017). Previous research observed the adoption of organic farming practices on a combination of different grains, fruits and vegetables, meat, and dairy products from across the globe. However, this is the first study to examine the adoption of organic wheat in the Western U.S. By addressing …

Development Of Mouse Models For Respiratory And Neurological Disease Caused By Enterovirus D68 And Evaluation Of Antiviral Therapies, Brett L. Hurst

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) is a virus that normally causes disease in children. While this virus typically causes a respiratory infection, in 2014, a large outbreak of the virus was associated with patients that had paralysis of the arms or legs. Even though the virus was discovered in 1962, little was known about the life cycle of the virus or its ability to cause disease. An animal model of disease was needed to understand how the virus causes disease and to develop antiviral compounds to target the virus life cycle.

We adapted the virus by serial-passage in lung tissues from mice …

The Total Western Diet And Vancomycin Treatment Increase Inflammation-Mediated Colorectal Cancer, Niklas David Joakim Aardema

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Prior work by our research group showed that the total Western diet (TWD), a rodent diet which models the typical American diet, promoted the development of colon tumors when fed to mice. Other researchers previously showed that vancomycin, an antibiotic that changes the gut microbiome composition, causes differential changes in the severity of colon inflammation and CRC. Our goal was to determine the combined effects of feeding the TWD and vancomycin treatment on colitis and CRC, and if these factors interact. We hypothesized that vancomycin treatment would mitigate colitis and CRC in mice fed the TWD. To this end, mice …

Ruminal Protection And Intestinal Availability Of Rumen-Protected Methionine And Lysine In Lactating Dairy Cows, Sara Menchu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rumen protected Methionine (MET) and Lysine (LYS) are critical for milk protein synthesis in dairy cows. N-acetyl-L-methionine (NALM) is a MET derivative that consists of L-Met protected with an acetyl group that is attached to the α-amino group.N-acetyl-L-lysine (NALL) is a LYS derivative that is similarly protected. The objectives of these studies were to quantify the gastrointestinal availability of NALM and NALL. Three experiments were run as 3 × 3 Latin square using 3 second lactation Holstein cows that have been fitted with cannulas in the rumen and duodenum. The cows …

Evaluation Of Casein Hydrolysate As An Alternative Dry-Off Treatment And Milk Quality Management Tool In Dairy Cows, Justine Elena Britten

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mastitis, an infection of the mammary gland, is the most common and expensive animal health problem for the dairy industry and affects every dairy farm to some degree. This disease complex is painful for dairy cows, increases the on-farm use of antibiotics, presents a threat to milk quality and is a waste of time, money and milk production. Each year, the dairy industry loses as much as a billion dollars to mastitis.

Many cows will experience mastitis at least once during a lactation cycle and some animals will develop recurring mastitis episodes in a single mammary quarter. These mastitic quarters …

Evaluating The Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Human Services To Treat Performance Problems Of Adults With Intellectual Disabilities, Brian H. Hess

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Unemployment is a problem for individuals with disabilities. Supported employment provides occupational supports for individuals with disabilities to get a job and keep that job once hired. The Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Human Services (PDC-HS) is used to address performance problems with employees in human services settings. This study evaluated using the PDC-HS with three adults with intellectual disabilities working in supported employment at a library cleaning shelves. The results of the PDC-HS identified insufficient training and prompting as barriers. The matched intervention package was effective in increasing performance of the shelf-cleaning task for all participants. Participant responses to a social validity …

Monitoring Desert Ungulates Via Fecal Dna-Based Capture Recapture, Stephen S. Pfeiler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Estimates of population abundance and survival are critical for effective wildlife management. Obtaining estimates of these kind using traditional wildlife monitoring techniques (i.e. ground and aerial surveys) has proven to be difficult, especially for species that are wide ranging and exist in small, patchily distributed populations.

My objective was to implement fecal DNA-based capture-recapture surveys to estimate abundance and survival of two different ungulate populations that inhabit the deserts of southeastern California. I also compared fecal DNA-based capture-recapture techniques to traditional methods by evaluating the costs and precision associated with both methods. Using artificial water sources as focal sampling sites, …

Effects Of Mid-Gestation Nutrient Restriction On Carcass Measurements And Meat Quality Of Resultant Offspring, Shelby M. Quarnberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The goal of this study was to investigate feedlot performance and meat quality of calves born to cows that underwent a nutrient restriction during the second trimester of gestation which may be occurring in the Intermountain West. Thirty-four angus influenced calves from the same sire were used for this study. The calves were born from cows that were separated into either a maintenance group, and kept on an irrigated pasture, or a restricted group, that was placed on an unirrigated pasture and allowed to lose one body condition score during the second trimester of pregnancy. This study begins with the …

Co-Digestion Of Cattle Manure And Cheese Whey For Biogas Production And Characterization Of Biomass Effluent, Dillon Fallon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Western Dairy Center at Utah State University had recognized through traiing of cheesemaking that a challenge that can exist for farmstead and artisan cheese manufacturing operations is disposal or utilization of the whey that is produced when milk is converted into cheese. Land application of whey is limited and can cause odor problems which would be detrimental to a cheesemaking operation located at the rual-urban interface.

The project provided information in support of a research grant from the Western Sustainable Agribulture Research and Education program that was investigating economics and feasiblity of using anaerobic digestion for treatment of whey …

Evaluation Of Antioxidant Properties Of Native Utah Berries And Their Potential For Use In Meats, Xiaoxi Wang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In industry, antioxidants are added to prevent changes that affect quality due to oxidation, such as the development of off flavors, unacceptable odors and discoloration. New resources that are familiar to consumers and may work as antioxidants should be studied.

The changes in antioxidant activity were determined for four freeze-dried native wild berry powder species in Utah, including skunkbush (Rhus trilobata), chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), river hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii) and silver buffaloberry (Shepherdia argentea), during cold storage (-20 °C) for 6 months. The total antioxidant activity was stable in most of the berry …

The Nesting Ecology Of Woodpeckers In The Eastern Cascades And Their Interactions With Nest Competitors And Predators, Samuel D. Cowell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Woodpeckers create nesting cavities for other birds and animals in forests. This creates dynamic interactions between both woodpeckers and these other animals. Using video cameras, we documented direct behavioral interactions between nesting woodpeckers and other animals in the Eastern Washington Cascades during the 2015 and 2016 breeding seasons. Additionally, we offered 937 students in a General Biology laboratory course to participate in this original research opportunity and described and the impact the experience had on the participants as well as the researchers.

In 2015, Western Blubebirds took over two active Black-backed Woodpecker nests by physically attacking the woodpeckers. In 2016, …

Interactions Between Fire Severity And Forest Biota In The Central Sierra Nevada: Formation And Impact Of Small-Scale Fire Refugia And The Effect Of Fire On Forest Structure Predictive Of Fisher (Pekania Pennanti) Den Habitat, Erika M. Blomdahl

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fire is a natural and essential component of forests in western North America. Fire maintains biodiversity through the creation of different habitat types, and regular fire rotations reduce the accumulation of woody fuels and thick understory plant densities that give rise to catastrophic fire. The practice of fire exclusion has altered western forests and increased the risk of widespread change under rising temperatures projected for the 21^st century. To manage for the reintroduction of fire it is critical that we understand the interactions between fire and forest biota in recently fire-suppressed forests.

In Chapter 2, I studied the formation …

A Needs Assessment Of Arizona Agricultural Education Equine Science Curriculum, Emily Tobler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Like any other agricultural industry, many different career paths in the equine field are becoming more technologically advanced. To adapt to technological progress, current standards need to be integrated into school-based agricultural education courses to properly train and teach students about current industry standards. In addition to equine science curriculum development, emphasis must also be focused on providing assistance to secondary-school-based agriculture teachers so they can effectively teach industry-based equine science objectives in their programs.

The equine curriculum objectives were measured in terms of perceived importance by equine professionals and post-secondary equine educators as well as Arizona school-based agriculture teachers. …

Non-Contact Evaluation Methods For Infrastructure Condition Assessment, Sattar Dorafshan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The United States infrastructure, e.g. roads and bridges, are in a critical condition. Inspection, monitoring, and maintenance of these infrastructure in the traditional manner can be expensive, dangerous, time-consuming, and tied to human judgment (the inspector). Non-contact methods can help overcoming these challenges. In this dissertation two aspects of non-contact methods are explored: inspections using unmanned aerial systems (UASs), and conditions assessment using image processing and machine learning techniques. This presents a set of investigations to determine a guideline for remote autonomous bridge inspections.

Resource Competition Among The Uinta Basin Fremont, Elizabeth A. Hora-Cook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Archaeologists describe the Uinta Fremont (A.D. 0 – 1300) as a mixed foraging-farming society that underwent a dramatic social change from A.D. 700 – 1000. Researchers observe through different architectural styles and subsistence activity a change from large, aggregated settlements to more dispersed and defensively oriented villages and hamlets. The Ideal Free Distribution (IFD) model provides an explanatory framework through which to interpret these changes. IFD predicts the order in which people or animals will occupy habitats based on a habitat’s relative suitability and suggests hypothetical behaviors that people or animals might engage in to improve or maintain the relative …

Interactions Between Biochar And Compost In Organic Winter Wheat Production And Soil Quality Under Dryland Conditions, Phearen Kit Miller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Organic wheat grown under dryland conditions encounters challenges such as limited nutrients and water. Maintaining organic wheat production requires solutions to these problems in order to retain economic sustainability for the farmers.

Research on biochar and compost have been conducted globally. Despite well known benefits of compost on soil and crop production, few organic farmers apply compost to their fields. Research on biochar is still new. Biochar is charcoal created from pyrolyzing agricultural material under conditions of low oxygen and high heat. Many studies claim that biochar is a valuable soil amendment for improving organic production and reducing environmental pollution …

An Evaluation Of Bull Trout Movement Dynamics In The Walla Walla River, Courtney Newlon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Bull trout are a fish species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Historically, they ranged from Northern California at the southernmost extent, into Canada at the northern most extent, and east into Nevada and Montana. Bull trout are highly migratory and require large, unfragmented habitats to persist and are thus highly susceptible to human induced land-use practices. The goal of my thesis was to obtain a better understanding of bull trout movement patterns in the Walla Walla River, Washington using complimentary techniques; Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) technology and otolith microchemistry. PIT tags can be injected into a fish …

Insomnia And Use Of Sleep Medications In Predicting Risk Of Alzheimer's Disease In The Cache County Study, Elizabeth Kathleen Vernon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Over 71 million Americans will be over the age of 65 by the year 2030. With this rise in adults aged 65 years and older also comes an exponential rise in the estimated number of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD); this number is expected to exceed 24 million Americans by the year 2040. The number one risk factor for AD is older age; this factor is also associated with an increased risk in developing a sleep disturbance. Sleep disturbances have been associated with an increased risk of cancer, heart disease, and decline in overall health. Recent research has examined the …

Justice And The River: Community Connections To An Impaired Urban River In Salt Lake City, Taya L. Carothers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Local communities have the right to participate in decision-making about environmental resources near where they live. Local governments have tried to gather feedback from communities to help improve the decisions they make, but have not always done a good job getting feedback from minority or urban communities. This dissertation provides one step toward obtaining this kind of public input in a majority minority community surrounding the Jordan River in Salt Lake City. Children and adults participated in this research. I present findings from two surveys, from work with children, and from adult interviews to understand how this community relates to …