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Neurotrophic Factor Genetics Of Cognitive Progression And Neuropsychiatric Symptom Presentation In Alzheimer's Disease And Related Disorders, Joshua Matthew Matyi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Cache County Study on Memory in Aging (CCSMA) and subsequent Dementia Progression Study (DPS) were two research studies that took place in Cache County, Utah. These studies followed 5092 participants aged 65 or older for approximately 12 years and looked at risk and protective factors for dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. One of the factors investigated was genes that are known to influence brain health, such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein found in the brain that helps with the survival of brain cells.

BDNF genes have been shown to be associated with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia (ADRD) …

Blessed Are The Poor (In Spirit): Wealth And Poverty In The Writings Of The Greek Christian Fathers Of The Second Century, Jacob D. Hayden

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper examines how Greek Christian authors engaged with the topics of poverty and wealth during the second and third centuries CE - a period of major transition for the Christian Church. Beginning with the latest documents in the Greek New Testament (c. 90 - 120), this study traces these themes through the works of the Apostolic Fathers, including Clement of Rome (c. 35 - 99), Ignatius of Antioch (c. 34 - 108), and Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69 - 155). It then addresses to the apologetic authors Justin Martyr (c. 100 - 165) and Irenaeus (c. 130 - 202). …

An Empirical And Theoretical Investigation Of Random Reinforced Forests And Shallow Convolutional Neural Networks, Nikhil Ganta

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

For many years, the global population of honey bees has been decreasing due to inconclusive reasons resulting in the syndrome Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). This syndrome has been plaguing bees and affecting commercial agriculture pollination since 1998. Many researchers have suggested that pesticides, in-hive chemicals, pathogens, etc., might be the causes of CCD. Researchers also believe that any changes in a beehive can disturb the bees, which may negatively affect their health. Honey bees are the most vital among all the animal pollinators contributing to approximately 30% of the world’s commercial pollination services. As they are of keystone importance to …

Essays On The Economics Of Regional Development And Public Policy, Wai Yan Siu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

My dissertation integrating theory and practice into fostering sustainable, ecofriendly, and equitable public policy that promote the well-being of generations to come. My main research questions are: how can we transform the complex socioeconomic systems to build future resilience? In the first chapter, I identify and quantify the effect of the presence of tight oil and gas extraction on the agricultural productivity. This study informs evidence-based policymaking on pressing environmental issues. In the next chapter, I studied the effectiveness of existing policy of urban growth control from an evolutionary landscape and found that the decades-old regulation does not fulfill its …

Characterization And Immobilization Of Thermophilic Lipases For The Interesterification Of Soybean Oil, Teif A. Najm

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Lipases are currently used in food technology for the modification of fats and oils. Lipase can synthesize, hydrolyze, and rearrange fatty acids, thus, resulting in their extensive use in industrial applications. The thermal stability of lipase is an essential characteristic for this application. Thermophilic bacteria are an important source for producing thermostable lipases because of their tolerance to high heat. Lipolytic enzymes can be purified using several purification methods, but these purification processes are often expensive and complex. Results from this study showed that lipases can be extract from thermophilic bacteria (Geobacillius stearothermophilus (GS) and Anoxybacillus flavithermus (AF)). Molecular …

Alienation, Modernization, And Animal Welfare: Human-Animal Relationships At The Farm, State, And Country Levels, Michael D. Briscoe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Our relationships with animals are important for us as humans, for the environment, and for the animals themselves. In this dissertation I look at the relationships between humans and animals at three scales: farm, U.S. state, and country. Specifically, I address how factors like economic growth, technological innovation, and globalization affect human relationships with animals. Understanding how these factors influence human-animal relationships is important for improving these relationships and deciding which directions will most contribute to sustainable outcomes. I address the social factors that influence human-animal relationships in three studies.

In the first study I surveyed and interviewed dairy farmers …

Assessing The Contribution Of Different Causes Of Death To Life Expectancy Disparities In The United States, Max Tyler Roberts

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Life expectancy is not the same for all people in the United States. While some enjoy life expectancies of more than 80 years, others are at risk of dying much sooner. The following studies investigate how different causes of death such as homicide, diabetes, heart disease, and drug poisoning contribute across the life span to: 1) life expectancy gaps across different sex, racial, ethnic, and education groups, and 2) life expectancy change over time for different sex, racial, ethnic, and education groups. Each study focuses on a different area of the U.S., with Chapter 2 focusing on the national-level, Chapter …

Geologic Characterization Of The Nonconformity Interface Using Outcrop And Drillcore Analogs: Implications For Injection-Induced Seismicity, Kayla Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Starting around 2009, a greater number of earthquakes than anticipated have occurred in the midcontinent region of the United States. These earthquakes have been linked to increased rates and volumes of wastewater injection at several km’s depth into the Earth’s crust near a contact between crystalline metamorphic or igneous rock and overlying sedimentary rock, known as a nonconformity. While much is known about why these new earthquakes occur, comparatively little is known about the physical and chemical rock properties because the nonconformity contact is primarily buried under km’s of sedimentary rock in the midcontinent region. These rock properties are important …

Deaths Of Despair In The United States, Amin Etemadifar

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Life expectancy is one of the most important indicators of public health and is an indication of overall health status in a population. Thanks to public health and medical advancements over recent decades, the life expectancy of all nations has significantly increased, and that is more true for developed nations like the United States. However, the most recent data shows the longevity of Americans has become stagnant since 2010. So the first question that comes to mind is why that is happening, and the main goal of this dissertation is to answer that question.

In order to address that question, …

Testing An Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Website For Hoarding: A Randomized Waitlist-Controlled Trial, Jennifer Krafft

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Hoarding disorder is relatively common and seriously affects those who experience it. However, it is difficult to access hoarding treatment, due to barriers such as availability and stigma. Moreover, only one treatment is well-established for hoarding (CBT), and it does not directly address important processes such as mindfulness and acceptance. Therefore, in order to make treatment more useful and easy to access, this study tested a self-help program that focused on teaching mindfulness and acceptance as related to hoarding. The self-help program was compared to a waitlist condition; participants were randomly assigned to use the website or wait 12 weeks. …

Attitude And Reflection Parameter Estimation Of Resident Space Objects Using Ground-Based Photometry, Arun J. Bernard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

There are currently thousands of objects orbiting Earth, and this number is only going to increase. Larger number of satellites will require that operators have a greater knowledge of the state their assets. Electro-optical telescopes are currently being used to observe and track many of these objects. When using these telescopes to take images of satellites, they often appear as dots in the image. Depending on the surface properties of the satellite, and its orientation at a given time, the dots in the image can appear brighter or dimmer. Photometry measurements are a quantification of how bright the object appears. …

International Threats And United States Congressional Behavior From 1981 – 2013, Elizabeth Randall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This paper explores the relationship between a foreign threat and the behavior of members of Congress. Understanding how members of Congress respond to potentially threatening international situations can provide important insight into foreign policy and future responses to new threats. I use information about how legislators vote, their ideology and party, and the topic of legislation to measure how liberal or conservative members of Congress are on foreign policy legislation. This allows me to analyze both how members of Congress behave inside their parties and how they interact with the other party, or in other words, intraparty cohesion and interparty …

Extended Maternal And Paternal Hereditary Risk For Alzheimer’S Disease Examined By Sex In A Sample Of Community Dwelling Older Adults In Cache County, Utah, Elizabeth K. Vernon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

More than 6 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and this number is expected to rise and surpass 12.7million individuals by the year 2050. Currently there is no cure for the disease and prior research has focused on prevention by identifying risk factors. Known risk factors associated with AD include older age, female sex, genetics, family history of AD, genotype of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, and vascular risk factors (e.g., cholesterol, hypertension) and conditions or events (e.g., CHF, stroke). The effects of many of the above risk factors have differed in men and women, but few studies …

Nitrogen Fertilizer Showed Little Effect On First- And Second-Year Corn Yield And Quality Following Alfalfa, Bailey Brent Shaffer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Silage corn (Zea mays L.) following alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is a common crop rotation in Utah and southern Idaho. This is done, in part, to take advantage of residual nitrogen (N) fixed by bacteria that work in symbiosis with the roots of alfalfa. After alfalfa is terminated, much of the N that was fixed by the plant is released into the soil and becomes available for use by the rotational crop. This reduces the amount of N fertilizer that growers need to apply. The Utah Fertilizer Guide currently recommends an N credit to a rotational crop following …

Plug-And-Play Sql, Shubham Swami

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

We present an efficient model to retrieve data from a database by implementing plug-and-play queries using the query guards. The model is efficient in the sense that it saves time when writing a query and promotes query portability and reuse. A plug-and-play query is a freestanding query that can couple to any data socket and self determine whether it can be evaluated reliably on the data. We use hierarchies to improve SQL querying in a way that eliminates the need to write a view to construct virtual tables or a set of tables to run a query. The hierarchy is …

Determination Of The Structure, Function, And Mechanism Of Type Iv Crispr-Cas Prokaryotic Defense Systems, Hannah Nicole Taylor

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Bacteria are under constant threat of invasion by bacteriophage (viruses which infect bacteria). To prevent bacteriophage from entering and overtaking the bacteria, bacteria utilize defense systems to identify and destroy foreign elements. One method of defense is called CRISPR-Cas (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats – CRISPR-Associated). Many different bacteria and most archaea use CRISPR-Cas systems. There are many diverse types of CRISPR-Cas systems, each of which provides defense in a slightly different way. One such CRISPR-Cas type is called type IV. The type IV CRISPR-Cas system is poorly understood and there are very few studies published on type IV …

Safety In Numbers: Models Of Pedestrian And Bicycle Crash Frequency And Severity At Signalized Intersections In Utah Using Innovative Measure Of Exposure, Ahadul Islam

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent trends indicate a dramatic increase in both the number and share of pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and fatalities nationally and in many states. This study aimed at understanding (geometric, traffic, operational, and other) factors associated with pedestrian and bicycle safety and also to assist in the prioritization and selection of countermeasures to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety at signalized intersections. Several negative binomial models were estimated to investigate factors affecting pedestrian and bicycle crash frequency. The models suggested several characteristics of the road network, land use, built environment, and neighborhood sociodemographics were significantly associated with more (or fewer) pedestrian …

Telling Her People's Story: Mae Timbimboo Parry, Matriarch Of The Northwestern Band Of The Shoshone Nation, 1919-2007, Dean Mcguire

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mae Timbimboo Parry played a significant role in changing the public’s narrative about the Bear River Massacre and shaping the current knowledge about Northwestern Shoshone history. According to Mae Parry, Northwestern Shoshones were not desperate victims of violence but rather Native Americans who adapted from a great tragedy and survived on their own terms. This thesis explores the meaning of her work for Northwestern Shoshones today.

Development Of An Anisotropic Thermal Stress Model For A Low-Erosion Hybrid Rocket Nozzle System, Judson C. Stephens

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Hybrid rockets are rockets which employ a solid fuel grain with a liquid oxidizer. Hybrids have many promising potential applications, however they also have a few drawbacks. Of interest to this research is the increased rate of nozzle erosion inherent to hybrid rockets. In order to address this issue, a low-erosion nozzle is proposed and evaluated.

Don't Get Me Started About The Water: Foodways And Power In Juvenal's Satire V, Alex Reese

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Don’t Get Me Started About the Water analyzes the food in the dinner of Juvenal’s fifth satire from the perspective of Roman foodways in the first and second centuries. This analysis provides a surprising conclusion: although the guest and host are served dishes differing vastly in quality, neither man gets a nutritious meal. This follows with arguments elsewhere in the Satires, namely that Rome itself kills its occupants and the best course of action is to abandon the city for the countryside.

Metaxmorph: Hierarchical Transformation Of Data With Metadata, Shubham Airan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research is about transforming data. Data comes in different shapes; it can be structured as a graph, a tree, a collection of tables, or some other shape. In this thesis, we focus on data structured as a tree, which is known as hierarchical data. The same data could be structured in many different tree shapes. Previously it was shown how to transform data from one tree shape, one hierarchy to another without losing any information. But sometimes the pieces of the hierarchy are annotated or associated with metadata, that is, with data about the data itself. The metadata can …

Risk Factors For Early And Late Onset Depression And Subsequent Risk For Alzheimer's Disease And Related Dementias In An Older Adult Population, Jordan Kugler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Cache County Study on Memory in Aging (CCSMA) was a research study that followed 5092 participants aged 65 or older over the course of 12 years, examining risk and protective factors for dementia. One of these factors was depression history, which has evidence for a connection with dementia, such that those with a history of depression are more likely to develop dementia later in life. However, the existing literature has yet to examine sex differences, genetic and psychosocial factors that contribute to earlier or later onset of depression and how these factors in turn might later increase risk for …

A Program Evaluation Of Competency Training Within A College Student Health Center, Kala E. Randazzo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Integrated primary care (IPC) is a method for providing medical and psychotherapy services within a single primary care setting. Doctoral psychology students pursuing a career in psychotherapy may receive training in IPC as doctoral students. However, the field of IPC has a limited understanding of the current quality of IPC training for doctoral psychology students. The current study utilized professional competency guidelines for practicing psychology in IPC settings to evaluate doctoral training provided at the Utah State University Student Health Center. Doctoral psychology training at the Student Health Center was evaluated for how well it provides training in IPC competencies …

An Analysis Of Electromagnetic Flowmeters: A Numerical Study, Kade J. Beck

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As water scarcity increases, improved water management through better water measurement is of critical global significance. Today, the most common way to measure water in drinking water and wastewater systems is to use an electromagnetic (magnetic) flowmeter. A magnetic flowmeter has many components, and their accuracy can be compromised if not installed or calibrated correctly. The purpose of the present study was threefold. Each of the three components has been named to help the reader understand the context of the study without getting lost in the details.

The Idealist. Using mathematical programs, the spacing of two types of magnetic flowmeter …

Effect Of High-Intensity Ultrasound On Bubble Dynamics, Oxidation, And Crystallization Behavior Of Fats, Juhee Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) provide desired texture, stability, and extended shelf life in food products. These types of lipids have been commonly used in food industry. However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decided to remove generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status of PHOs in 2015 due to the association between PHOs and coronary heart disease (CHD), type 2 diabetes and other metabolic diseases. Hence, it is necessary to find alternative new healthy lipids or novel processing conditions that can be used to replace the functionality of PHO. Among the processing methods to be used in alternative PHOs fats, high-intensity …

The Effect Of A Narrative Intervention On The Production Of Complex Utterances By Children At-Risk For Language Disorders, Rebekah Wada

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The ability to produce complex sentences with a variety of complex clauses is essential for children’s academic success in topics such as science and language arts. Previous research suggests that improving children’s ability to create narratives (stories) results in increased use of sentences with multiple clauses. This study examined the effect of the Supporting Knowledge in Language and Literacy (SKILL) narrative intervention on participant’s use of complex sentences. Participants were 120 monolingual English speakers between the ages of 8;0 and 10;11 who participated in a larger randomized control trial. Participants were randomly assigned to the treatment group or the control …

Evaluation Of Bioretention Performance In Northern Utah As A Function Of Media, Vegetation, And Loading, Trixie Rife

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Pollutants found in stormwater runoff are a growing environmental concern. The EPA has identified bioretention (BR) systems as a best management practice for the control of pollutants in stormwater runoff. BR systems reduce pollutant loads discharged to surface water bodies and to lower pollutant concentrations of water infiltrating into underlying groundwater. However, knowledge of the performance of BR systems in semi-arid Western climates is lacking. This study was conducted at three field sites in Northern Utah to evaluate the effectiveness of various natural and engineered media and various plant species on pollutant removal subjected to a range of pollutant loadings …

Utilization Of Protective Cultures To Reduce Late Gas Formation By Paucilactobacillus Wasatchensis, Ireland R. Green

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Cheesemaking is a process susceptible to defects caused by microbes not purposefully added by the manufacturer. While these bacteria are not a health concern, they can cause problems such as producing carbon dioxide inside the cheese. This can cause slits and cracks in cheese making cheese unsuitable for slicing. One such bacteria identified by cheese researchers at Utah State University and Weber State University is Paucilactobacillus wasatchensis. When present in cheese, it can cause gas formation by using galactose to supply its energy. In doing so, it takes this six-carbon sugar and converts it into a five-carbon sugar and …

Measuring, Mapping, And Managing Outdoor Recreation On Public Lands In Utah With Social Media Data, Hongchao Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Social media platforms allow people to post photos, text, and video clips that include embedded information about the geographic location, time, and date that of the posts. Recently, researchers have utilized these data to study outdoor recreation management. In particular, geotagged social media posts can be used to understand outdoor recreation behavior and visitation patterns on public lands. Consequently, it can be used to inform the decisions of agencies and organizations that manage recreational uses of public land. I conducted three studies to explore the ways social media information can help provide recreation managers with a better understanding of visitor …

The Influence Of Culture On Behavior-Based Tasks Of Impulsivity, Byron H. Garcia

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Background: Among Latinx youth residing in the United States (U.S), the adoption of U.S cultural behaviors, values, and identity has been proposed to increase risk for negative outcomes, such as substance use. Research also suggests that the maintenance of Latinx cultural behaviors, values, and identity may be protective. Although there is an established link between impulsivity and substance use outcomes, very little research has sought to explore factors that influence impulsivity among Latinx groups. Furthermore, behavioral tasks have made substantial contributions as measures of impulsivity, yet few studies have examined cultural identity domains in relation to these behavioral tasks.

Objective: …