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Exploring Trends In Middle School Students' Computational Thinking In The Online Scratch Community: A Pilot Study, Kevin N. Lawanto

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

We live in a century in which technology has become part of our lives, and it is crucial that we become active creators and not merely passive users of technology. One characteristic that might distinguish someone who uses the ideas of others from one who innovates his own ideas is the ability to computer program. Computer programming is more than just learning how to code; it also exposes students to computational thinking (CT), which involves problem-solving using computer science (CS) concepts, such as decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithm design.

The rationale for introducing computing in K-12 in order to …

Crystallization Behavior Of Waxes, Sarbojeet Jana

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Partially hydrogenated oil (PHO) has no longer GRAS status. However, PHO is one of the important ingredients in bakery and confectionary industry and therefore the food industry is seeking for an alternative fat to replace PHO. Waxes have shown promise to fulfill that demand because of its easy availability and cheap in price. Waxes with high melting points (> 40 °C) help in the crystallization process when mixed with low melting point oils. A crystalline network is formed in this wax/oil crystallization process where liquid oil is entrapped in wax crystal network. A new material is formed which is neither …

Hybridization, Population Genetic Structure And Gene Expression In The Genus Boechera, Martin Peter Schilling

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

When we look at life on earth, we can see a lot of different life forms, but we still do not fully understand how these different life forms came to be and at which points in time these life forms began to be different enough from each other so we could call them by different names, or species. Some groups of species on earth, especially plants, seem to reproduce with each other, even though they are already very different from each other so that we call them different species. This process is called hybridization, and it can stir up the …

An Economic Analysis Of Factors Affecting Pre-Weaned Dairy Calf Growth And Profit Optimization In Dairy Calf Operations, Vincent T. Hess

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was an extension of a study submitted in April 2014 by Sheldon D. Holt entitled “Ambient Temperature, Calf Intakes, and Weight Gains on Preweaned Dairy Calves”.

A major component in a profitable dairy operation is the raising of female calves as replacement heifers; but since no direct income is generated by calf raising alone, it is often overlooked as a potential profit area on a dairy farm. Calf management practices that ultimately impact milk productivity and reproductive performance during a heifer’s lifetime begin at birth. This study examines the effect of calf starter intake on calf growth, measuring …

Effect Of Chronic Administration Of Oxytocin On Corpus Luteum Function In Cycling Mares, Katherine Clissold Parkinson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Undesirable and variable behavior in mares related to the reproductive cycle is a common issue reported in the equine industry, especially for female horses in a performance setting. These behaviors can interfere with and decrease, overall performance. The objective of this study was to determine if administration of 60 units of the hormone oxytocin once daily for 29 days, regardless of when treatment was initiated during the estrous cycle, would induce prolonged corpus luteum function in cycling mares. Mares were randomly assigned to two groups: 1) saline-treated control (n=7) and 2) oxytocin-treated (n=9). Control mares received 3 cc saline and …

Effects Of Carboxymethyl-Lysine In Heat Processed Foods On The Plasma Metabolome In Mice, Zhou Fang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Carboxymethyl-lysine (CML), an advanced glycation end product (AGEs), is formed during the cooking process and may induce toxic effects on human health. The effect of dietary CML on the plasma metabolite profile was investigated. Mice were fed with one of five different diets: AIN93 diet (negative control), a 45% kcal from fat Diet Induced Obesity diet (DIO; positive control); CML0, TWD (Total Western Diet) with low CML; CML1, TWD with medium CML, and CML2, TWD with high CML for 8 weeks, and the plasma metabolome was determined by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). In addition quantitative analysis of plasma glucose level …

Effects Of Feeding High-Moisture Corn Grain With Slow-Release Urea In Dairy Diets On Lactational Performance, Energy And Nitrogen Utilization, And Ruminal Fermentation Profiles By Lactating Cows, Braden M. Tye

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this experiment was to determine if nutrient utilization and energy partitioning by lactating dairy cows would differ in response to dietary corn grain (CG) types [steam-flaked corn (SFC) vs. high-moisture corn (HMC)] and to test if the types of CG would interact with slow-release urea (SRU) on lactational performance and energy utilization. Eight multiparous Holstein cows (32 ± 8.2 days-in-milk) were used in a duplicated 4 × 4 Latin square with one square consisting of ruminally cannulated cows. A 2 × 2 factorial arrangement was used to test 4 dietary treatments: SFC without SRU, SFC with SRU, …

A Spatiotemporal Mountain Pine Beetle Outbreak Model Predicting Severity, Cycle Period, And Invasion Speed, Jacob P. Duncan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The mountain pine beetle (MPB, Dendroctonus ponderosae), a tree-killing bark beetle, has historically been part of the normal disturbance regime in lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) forests. In recent years, warm winters and summers have allowed MPB populations to achieve synchronous emergence and successful attacks, resulting in widespread population outbreaks and resultant tree mortality across western North America. We develop an age-structured forest demographic model that incorporates temperature-dependent MPB infestations: the Susceptible-Infested-Juvenile (SIJ) model. Stability of equilibria is analyzed as a function of population growth rates, and indicates the existence of periodic outbreaks that intensify as growth rates …

Spatial Ecology And Captive Behavior Of Rehabilitated Black Bears In Utah, Patrick J. Myers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Animal movements and space use are fundamental components of life and play integral roles in organismal fitness, population dynamics, and the ecology and evolution of species. The heterogeneous distribution of resources and the movement required to access them, results in ecology being a fundamentally spatial concept. Thus, elucidating animal-habitat relationships is a central focus of wildlife ecology and conservation. I utilized GPS technology, resource selection functions, and generalized linear mixed models, to investigate the immediate post-release movements, denning chronology, release-site fidelity, and season-delineated movements, home ranges, and resource use for six, orphaned and rehabilitated black bears (Ursus americanus). …

Impact Of Heavy Metal Contamination From Coal Flue Gas On Microalgae Biofuel And Biogas Production Through Multiple Conversion Pathways, Derek E. Hess

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Microalgae has a great potential to help alleviate the world's current dependence on fossil fuels. Microalgae is a single celled organism that produces lipids as a food storage device much like humans and animals store fat. These lipids are a kind of oil that when harvested can be utilized as biofuel.

As the technology surrounding using microalgae as a source of biofuel has advanced key bottlenecks in the eventual large-scale production of microalgae based biofuel have been discovered. One of these bottlenecks is the need to cheaply supply carbon for microalgae growth. One idea that has emerged as a plausible …

Biodiversity, Community Dynamics, And Novel Foraging Behaviors Of A Rich Native Bee Fauna Across Habitats At Pinnacles National Park, California, Joan M. Meiners

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Global concern about honeybee declines has spurred feverish research about the status and protection of this single species, yet our understanding of the ecology and issues impacting thousands of species of native bees lags behind. Pinnacles National Park, America's newest, near Salinas, California, is currently the most densely biodiverse area for native bees known on the planet. Recent work by researchers at Utah State University and the USDA-ARS has documented 479 species of native bees in only 42 square miles of this park. During two years of field studies and 308 collector days, we assembled data on 52,853 bee specimens …

Anthropogenic And Natural Stressors And Their Effect On Immunity, Reproduction, And The Stress Response, Lorin A. Neuman-Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Animals must be able to cope with many natural and human-made stressors in order to successfully survive and reproduce. These stressors can come in many forms and are increasing as human activities become more and more prevalent across the globe. In order to cope with these stressors, organisms must allocate limited energy away from processes such as reproduction to mount a stress response. This stress response involves the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and results in a cascade of hormones and down-stream effects, such as changes in reproduction and immune function. In order to understand how reptiles and amphibians cope …

The Impact Of The Updated National School Lunch Program Meal Standards On Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Among Elementary School Students In Cache County Utah, Jillian C. Fox

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Due to the short time the updated National School Lunch Program standards have been in place since fall of 2012, few research studies have explored what effect these new standards have had on fruit and vegetable (F/V) consumption, particularly among elementary school students. Because the new standards require schools to offer students more F/V than before, researchers are interested to know if F/V consumption has indeed increased.

The participants in the study were enrolled in a program to motivate students to eat more F/V – the Food Dudes program. The results of the data analysis found that most students, regardless …

Virulence Evolution Of Fungal Pathogens In Social And Solitary Bees With An Emphasis On Multiple Infections, Ellen G. Klinger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The health of pollinators, especially bees, is of the utmost importance to success of many agricultural ecosystems. Microorganisms can cause diseases in bees; such microbes are pathogenic. The ability of a pathogen to cause harm to its host (such as a bee) is termed its virulence. Studying the evolution of different levels of virulence can lead researchers to a better understanding of pathogens, and potentially predict how much harm a pathogen can cause in the future. We studied the evolution of virulence levels for a fungal disease of bees. This group of fungi is composed of 28 species, and some …

Characterization And Performance Of Algal Biofilms For Wastewater Treatment And Industrial Applications, Maureen Kesaano

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was carried out on algal biofilms grown using rotating algal biofilm reactors (RABRs) with the aim of: i) characterizing their growth in terms of photosynthetic activity and morphology ii) evaluating their performance as a wastewater treatment option and a feedstock for biofuels production, and iii) examining the algal-bacteria interactions.

A review of algal biofilm technologies currently employed in wastewater treatment processes was made to compare nutrient removal efficiencies, factors that influenced algal biofilm growth, and the different bioproducts generated from algal biomass. Consequently, research efforts were directed towards addressing pertinent issues identified in literature in order to optimize …

The Effects Of Interactive Computer Simulation And Animation On Student Learning Of Rigid Body Dynamics: A Mixed Method Study, Oai Ha

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Engineering Dynamics (ED) courses are known as challenging and demanding for undergraduate students majored in many engineering fields, such as mechanical and aerospace engineering and civil and environmental engineering. The course is built upon the foundation and framework of mathematics and physics and requires students to have strong abstract thinking and reasoning skills. Rigid body dynamics (RBD), the second part of ED, investigates kinematics and kinetics of rigid bodies and is considered as a difficult subject by many undergraduate students because the course requires them to visualize abstract objects in motions. Although there have been many studies reporting the uses …

Western Duck Sickness: Avian Botulism And Conservation In The Bear River Marsh, 1910-1933, Andrew J. Simek

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This thesis investigates how the Bear River marsh’s protection became a national interest and a cause for conservation in the Progressive Era. The thesis documents how the marsh declined because of irrigation development culminating with an outbreak of avian botulism in 1910, and traces the long process to protect the marshland. The research focused on examining local water development patterns of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ornithological research in the 1910s, and the national sportsmen’s conservation movement of the 1920s. Upon examination of these events, it becomes clear that a coalition of ornithologists, sportsmen, and policy makers worked together …

Late Taino Occupation Of Jamaica: A Zooarchaeological Analysis Of Faunal Materials From The Bluefields Bay Site, Diana M. Azevedo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

My thesis seeks to answer the broad questions: can early foragers alter marine resources in island settings and can archaeological data provide insights into these changes. These questions highlight two important issues. The first issue reflects the common belief that small-scale societies did not affect their environments. The second issue centers on growing concern over the collapse of fisheries across the globe.

To answer these questions, I use fish bones recovered from an archaeological site located in Belmont, Jamaica near the Bluefields Bay marine sanctuary. The Bluefields Bay site dates to the late Taíno occupation of Jamaica. The name Taíno …

The Colorado Plateau As A Virtual Laboratory For Mobile Games For Geoscience Education And Relations Between Rock Strength And River Metrics, Natalie Bursztyn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation encompasses two studies: one developing virtual field trips for mobile devices for an innovative approach to lower-division geoscience education, and the other examining the role of rock strength in river erosion and landscape evolution.

The education study involves the development of three virtual field trip modules (Geologic Time, Geologic Structures, and Hydrologic Processes, all free on iTunes and Google Play) that lead students down a virtual Colorado River through Grand Canyon by physically moving around their campus quad, football field or other location, using their GPS-equipped smart phone or tablet. As students reach each location in the scaled …

Religious Outsiders And The Catholic Critique Of Protestantism In America, Bradley Kime

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, numerous new religious and irreligious groups arose throughout the United States. These groups were often radical in their assertions of religious authority, their interpretations of scripture, their predictions about Christ’s second coming, their practice of supernatural gifts, their rejection of traditional Christian doctrines, or their rejection of Christianity altogether. American Catholics watched and commented as these groups multiplied and gained momentum. Catholics believed that the growth of radical religious and irreligious groups was the fault of mainstream Protestantism. Over the centuries, Catholics had argued that the Pope’s authority was necessary to provide spiritual …

Ecology, Behavior And Taxonomy Of Anurans From Brazil's Atlantic Forest, Rodrigio Barbosa Ferreira

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Anura is a diverse group with more than 7382 species described, which represents 88% of the species belonging to the Class Amphibia. Anurans are among the first organisms to be affected by environmental stressors, so when they show decline in the wild, it is a warning to other species, including humans. It is alarming that one-third of the world’s anurans are facing extinction. Following the same trend, a substantive portion of the 988 recognized species of the Atlantic Forest have suffered population declines and local extinctions, attributed primarily to habitat changes.

Despite the unique life history characteristics that make amphibians …

Examining The Association Between Children's Fruit And Vegetable Intake At And Away From School, Velarie Yaa Ankrah Ansu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Several school-based interventions aimed at increasing fruit and vegetables (FV) intake among children have demonstrated success in short-term interventions. The Fit Game is a school-based intervention aimed at encouraging children to consume increasing amounts of FV during a game, which is a narrative. Just as children are being encouraged to eat FV at school, so is it equally important for them to eat FV at home. Parents strongly influence the amount of FV children consume at home. The aim of this thesis is to examine associations between factors that influence consumption of fruits and vegetables at and away from school …

Participant Perceptions Of Range Rider Programs Used To Mitigate Wolf-Livestock Conflicts In The Western United States, Molly Parks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Range Rider Programs (RRPs) are one example of a proactive non-lethal tool that has been implemented in western United States to mitigate gray wolf (Canis lupus) and livestock conflicts. Because RRPs are an emerging non-lethal tool that little is known about, I selected a qualitative research approach to examine participant perceptions to further contemporary understanding of how these efforts are implemented and potential benefits. I surveyed 51 participants from 17 Range Rider Programs (RRPs) in Montana, Washington, and Oregon to determine participant perceptions regarding effectiveness of RRPs as a non-lethal approach to mitigate wolf-conflicts.

I developed a RRPs typology based …

Relative Toxicity Of Select Dehydropyrrolizidine Alkaloids And Evaluation Of A Heterozygous P53 Knockout Mouse Model For Dehydropyrrolizidine Alkaloid Induced Carcinogenesis, Ammon W. Brown

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids (DHPAs) are toxins produced by approximately 3% of the world’s flowering plants that can be present naturally or as contaminants in animal feed and the human food supply. Many of these compounds have been determined to cause cancer in animals and probably also cause cancer in humans. Due to the difficulty in obtaining sufficient amounts of pure DHPAs most toxicity research has been done via injection of a small amount into the abdomen of a rodent, although natural exposure is exclusively oral. For the same reason, cancer research is limited to a handful of the hundreds of known …

Beef Average Daily Gain And Enteric Methane Emissions On Birdsfoot Trefoil, Cicer Milkvetch And Meadow Brome Pastures, Lance R. Pitcher

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Conventional production of meat products from ruminant animals in the United States requires inputs including the cultivation and nitrogen fertilization of annual grains such as corn and barley, and transportation of cattle and grain to feedlots. Consumers have concerns about the impact of feedlot conditions on animal health, and about the implications of pharmaceutical inputs such as growth hormones and antibiotics on the environment and human health. These concerns have led to a growing interest in pasture-finished meat production by consumers. Such smaller-scale livestock production systems can be healthier and lower-stress for animals, are integrated into local food systems and …

Economic Assessment Of Organic, Eco-Friendly, And Conventional Peach Production Methods In Northern Utah, Trevor D. Knudsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Fruit producers in Northern Utah face several challenges to their production, urbanization, decreased availability of agricultural land, and competition from domestic producers and imports. As consumers are willing to pay premiums for foods differentiated by production method, such as eco-friendly and organic, conversion to these methods may increase the profitability of fruit growing operations.

This study found that consumers in Northern Utah are willing to pay a premium for peaches grown using organic and eco-friendly production practices over conventionally grown peaches. The study also found that of the three methods of peach production examined (conventional, eco-friendly, and organic), organic had …

Fascism And Culture In Sicily: The Centennial Of Vincenzo Bellini's Death, Olga A. Casaretti

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Benito Mussolini constantly portrayed his regime as a protector of nationalism and the ultimate promoter in the re-discovery of Italian culture. The 1930s represent the highest involvement of the regime in cultural activities. Such events had the specific propagandistic goal of ingraining the idea of fascism as a solution to poverty and cultural disunity between north and south. An ongoing theme of propaganda was connecting fascism’s mission to the glory of the Italian past and of its most illustrious protagonists. The Duce and his followers built the idea of a new political establishment that legitimized its rule through a reassertion …

Microfabrication Of Bio-Analytical Devices: Microelectrode Array And Traveling-Wave Electrophoresis, Neil Draper

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The need for potable water is increasing with the ever-increasing world population. Further development of fast, portable, and cost effective analytical tools is necessary in order to create diagnostic techniques capable of supporting the water needs of the world’s population. Within the last decade microfluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) technologies have increased the portability and speed of detection for aqueous samples. Photolithography techniques serve as a cost effective fabrication tool to create LOC electrodes on the micron scale.

An in-depth look at the fabrication process is undertaken in this paper in order to further the development of micro-scale detection techniques. An …

The Fate Of Pharmaceuticals And Personal Care Products In Conventional And Engineered On-Site Wastewater Drain Fields, James Beardall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utah State University Division of Environmental Engineering student, under the direction of Ms. Judith L. Sims, has investigated the fate of six pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in conventional and engineered on-site wastewater drain fields. The presence of PPCPs in the environment, especially in aquatic environments, has raised awareness to the effects of PPCPs on aquatic life and the fate of these PPCPs, and has caused regulators to become more involved in setting requirements for the removal of PPCPs from wastewater.

This research investigated the fate of caffeine, acetaminophen, carbamazepine, sulfamethoxazole, progesterone, and fluoxetine in laboratory scaled columns that …

Effects Of Beef Finishing Diets And Muscle Type On Meat Quality, Fatty Acids And Volatile Compounds, Arkopriya Chail

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consumer evaluation, proximate data, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), fatty acid (FA) composition and volatile compounds were analyzed from the ribeye steaks (LT) finished on conventional feedlot (FL) and forages, including a perennial legume, birdsfoot trefoil (BFT; Lotus corniculatus), and a grass, meadow brome (Bromus riparius Rehmann, Grass). Representative retail forage (USDA Certified Organic Grass-fed, COGF) and conventional beef (USDA Top Choice, TC) were investigated (n = 6) for LT. Additionally, the effects of diet on round (GM) and chuck (TB) muscles FL, BFT and Grass were explored. Forage-finished beef was less liked in most of the affected …