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Mechanisms Of Vegetation-Induced Channel Narrowing On An Unregulated Canyon-Bound River, Rebecca Blanche Manners

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The accurate prediction of river channel width remains a fundamental area of investigation in the field of geomorphology. River managers and scientists are interested in understanding how a channel will respond to environmental perturbations such as altered runoff patterns from climate change, a new dam, or a pulse of sediment from a landslide. Increasingly, studies that focus on this question acknowledge the importance of accounting for the vegetation that lines the river banks. For this dissertation, I strove to identify some of the primary ways by which vegetation affects channel width.

At a fundamental level, vegetation influences the size of …

Characteristics Of 4-H Participants And Their Psychosocial Development, Lauralee Lyons

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Volunteerism is an important component in the 4-H program. It was initially used as a method to help agents reach the many youth interested in participating in 4-H. Community service has since become a required component for every club project. Research shows that volunteering can impact youth in many different ways. Other research shows that 4-H youth are more likely to contribute or do some type of community service.

The present study uses the Modified Extended Version of the Object Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOMEIS), the Cognitive Autonomy and Self-Evaluation (CASE) inventory, and an instrument specifically designed to study …

Climate Change And Plant Demography In The Sagebrush Steppe, Aldo Compagnoni

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

We used demographic methods to address one of the main challenges facing ecological science: forecasting the effect of climate change on plant communities. Ecological forecasts will be crucial to inform long-term planning in wildland management and demographic methods are ideal to quantify changes in plant abundance. We carried out our research in the sagebrush steppe, one of the most extensive plant ecosystems of Western North America. Our research intended to inform ecological forecasts on an exotic invader, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum). Moreover, we investigated the general question asking: to what degree competition among plants influences the outcome of ecological …

Common Raven Density And Greater Sage-Grouse Nesting Success In Southern Wyoming: Potential Conservation And Management Implications, Jonathan B. Dinkins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Declines in the distribution and abundance of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter "sage-grouse") in western North America over the past century have been severe. The goal of my research was to increase the understanding of factors influencing where sage-grouse hens placed their nests, how common ravens (Corvus corax: hereafter "raven") impacted sage-grouse nest success, and whether high raptor densities negatively impacted hen survival of sage-grouse. I compared raven and raptor densities at sage-grouse nest and brood locations to available habitat. I also assessed how sage-grouse positioned their nests and broods relative to proximity to man-made structures, …

Utilizing Remote Sensing And Geospatial Techniques To Determine Detection Probabilities Of Large Mammals, Patricia A. Terletzky-Gese

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Whether a species is rare and requires protection or is overabundant and needs control, an accurate estimate of population size is essential for the development of conservation plans and management goals. Wildlife science has traditionally relied on human observers in airplanes, helicopter, or ground vehicles to count the number of individuals seen during wildlife surveys. However, these traditional surveys of wildlife require significant resources, are difficult to conduct quickly and safely over remote and/or extensive locations, are disruptive to the studied species, and are prone to significant error due to unobserved or missed animals and multiple counts of single animals. …

Fatty Acid Induced Insulin Resistance In The Brain, Hyoung Il Oh

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The prevalence of obesity is rapidly increasing; it is now one of the most serious public health problems worldwide. Obesity is thought to reflect the interaction between genetics and modern life style. In particular, high fat diets (HFD) are considered as a major contributing factor to the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes as well as other metabolic disorders such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease and some types of cancer. Recently, it has been suggested that insulin actions in the brain are important in the regulation of energy homeostasis and peripheral metabolism.

With the support of USTAR (The Utah …

Statistical Algorithms For Optimal Experimental Design With Correlated Observations, Chang Li

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The first part of my dissertation demonstrates that a modified simulated annealing algorithm can successfully determine highly efficient D-optimal designs for second order polynomial regression for a variety of correlated error structures.

In the second part, I solved weak universal optimal block designs for the nearest neighbor correlation structure and multiple block sizes, for the hub correlation structure with any block size, and for circulant correlation with odd block size.

In the third part, we propose an improved Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm with time varying parameters. Then combining the theorem of decision making and PSO, we innovated nested PSO …

Life Change Narratives: When The Road Diverges, Bernadene J. Ryan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Transformation events can be a change in a person's work, a change in philosophy, a sudden insight, or a break in a relationship. According to David Hufford and Marilyn Motz, narrating these experiences are ways in which people perform, construct, and communicate belief systems. The narrators within the context of this thesis experience their transformation through a career transformation. The narrators rediscover their initial passion and transform that desire into actions that results in a shift of career. Sometimes seen as inexplicable, nevertheless the narrators provide analysis and reflection on the influences that led to their change. Some of the …

Evaluating Integrated Weed Management: Russian Knapweed Control With Goat Grazing And Aminopyralid, Clarke G. Alder

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Invasion of natural communities by introduced plants is considered one of the biggest threats to biodiversity. Weeds in rangelands cause an estimated loss of $2 billion per year in the United States. These costs include losses in forage quality and yield, grazing interference, animal poisoning, lowering land values, depleting soil water and resources available to native plants, increasing costs of managing livestock, and impacts on wildlife habitat and forage. Integrated weed management (IWM) is a way for land managers such as farmers, ranchers, and government agencies to control invasive weeds. IWM uses several different control methods working in conjunction to …

Bioactivities Of Milk Polar Lipids In Influencing Intestinal Barrier Integrity, Systemic Inflammation, And Lipid Metabolism, Albert Lihong Zhou

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of lactation is for nutrient provision and also importantly for protection from various environmental stressors. Milk polar lipids reduce cholesterol, protect against bacterial infection, reduce inflammation and help maintain gut integrity. Dynamic interactions within dietary fat, lipid metabolism, gut permeability and inflammatory cytokines remain unclear in the context of obesity and systemic inflammation. A rat model and three mouse models were developed to test the hypotheses that dietary milk polar lipids may affect lipid metabolism and intestinal integrity and may protect against systemic inflammation in the context of stressful diet, systemic inflammation, and obesity.

The milk polar lipids …

Forest Recovery, Nutrient Cycling And Carbon Sequestration In A Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest, Patrick T. Moore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Our forests provide us with a variety of services from clean water, forest products and wildlife habitat to the lesser known functions of nutrient cycling and carbon
sequestration. This research helps to demonstrate the extent of some of these services in a heavily disturbed southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest within Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the most heavily visited National Park in the United States. Following a catastrophic infestation of the non-native balsam wooly adelgid, the future of this forest was unknown, causing some to speculate about the future of this sensitive forest type. Though predictions about this forest’s future varied …

Comparison Of Topographic Surveying Techniques In Streams, Sara G. Bangen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Fish and Wildlife Program (FWP) mitigates impacts, including mortality, from hydroelectric dams in the Columbia River Basin for ESA-listed salmon and steelhead populations and other species of special concern. Given the extensive economic resources invested in mitigation and the incredible diversity of in-stream habitat across the Columbia River basin, questions have arisen about which sampling strategies are most tractable across the entire Columbia River Watershed, but also produce datasets that allow researchers to answer meaningful questions about salmonid populations and trends in habitat. In response to these issues, the NOAA Integrated Status and Effectiveness Monitoring …

A Multi-Scale Investigation Of Factors Limiting Bull Trout Viability, Tracy Bowerman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent declines in many species of aquatic organisms have raised concerns about loss of biodiversity in river systems and the need to protect populations in peril. To conserve endangered species, scientists need to know information about the habitats organisms use throughout their life cycle and how environmental stressors cause populations to grow or decline. The goal of this research was to improve our understanding of the life-cycle requirements for bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus), a threatened freshwater fish species. I assessed environmental factors that affect bull trout egg incubation success and quantified juvenile bull trout movement patterns and survival …

Increased Production And Extraction Efficiency Of Triacylglycerides From Microorganisms And An Enhanced Understanding Of The Pathways Involved In The Production Of Triacylglycerides And Fatty Alcohols, Robert M. Willis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The continued increase in the demand for fossil fuels combined with their ever dwindling supply has prompted the search for a suitable alternative fuel. The research contained within this dissertation seeks to increase the lipid (fat) content of cellular feedstocks, improve extraction efficiencies of lipids, and to understand the pathways involved in the production of fatty alcohols and triacylglycerides, compounds commonly used in many industrial processes, from microbial feedstocks. This work has been done in an attempt to increase the overall economic viability of microbial biofuels production.

The production of biofuels from microalgae used as a feedstock allows for the …

Study Of Genes Relating To Degradation Of Aromatic Compounds And Carbon Metabolism In Mycobacterium Sp. Strain Kms, Chun Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are produced from incomplete combustion of organic materials by human or natural activities. These polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are classified as pollutants because of their toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic characteristics. Mycobacterium sp. strain KMS, isolated from a contaminated soil, grows on the model polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, pyrene, with its degradation to water and carbon dioxide. This study locates genes on the chromosome and plasmids of isolate KMS relating to pyrene degradation, elucidates the influence of other carbon sources available in the habitats of isolate KMS on degradation of pyrene, and deduces possible metabolic pathways used by isolate …

Race And Ethnic Differences In Parent Time Spent On Children's Education, Zurishaddai A. Garcia

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Academic success including high school completion is greatly important for today’s youth. Greater opportunities, such as college and work acceptance, are available to youth who graduate high school. For this reason, the differences that exist in high school completion rate across race and ethnicity as a nation are a major concern.

Research shows an association between parents being involved in their children’s education and students’ improved academic achievement. Parents can play a role in their children’s education and setting aside time to do so is a good place to start.

The present study used the American Time Use Survey to …

Effects Of Non-Surface-Disturbing Restoration Treatments On Native Grass Revegetation And Soil Seed Bank Composition In Cheatgrass-Invaded Sagebrush-Steppe Ecosystems, Alexandra D. Reinwald

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The sagebrush-steppe communities of the Great Basin have been dramatically transformed by the invasion of the non-native annual grass cheatgrass. In many areas of the Great Basin, this invasion has resulted in the loss of native plant species and ultimately the conversion to cheatgrass-dominated communities. As healthy sagebrush communities provide multiple ecosystem services such as diverse wildlife habitat, forage for cattle grazing, and water filtration, restoration of these communities is a high priority to landowners and land management agencies. Established perennial grasses can successfully compete with non-native annual grasses and increase the resistance of plant communities to invasion by non-native …

Cougar Predation Behavior In North-Central Utah, Dustin L. Mitchell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Today’s ability to apply global positioning systems (GPS) collars to wild animals and track their movements, without inadvertently disrupting their daily routine, is a major benefit to wildlife research. Cougars are carnivorous predators that have been identified as being one of several possible causes for recent mule deer population declines throughout the Western United States. Past cougar predation studies have relied on snow tracking, radio-collar tracking, and modeling techniques to estimate cougar prey use and predation rates. These methods rely heavily on weather conditions, logistical availabilities, and broad assumptions, which have led to a wide range of predation rate estimates. …

Applications Of Bayesian Statistics In Fluvial Bed Load Transport, Mark L. Schmelter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The science of fluvial sediment transport studies the processes involved in the movement of river sediments. It is commonly understood that when rivers flood they have a great capacity to move sand, gravel, and even larger cobbles and boulders. This process is not only limited to the big floods that usually attract so much attention, but also the more common river flows play a very important role in forming a river. As engineers and scientists, we like to be able to develop equations and relationships that describe some natural phenomenon—in this case, fluvial sediment transport. While we are able to …

Emotional Intelligence In Medical Laboratory Science, Travis Miles Price

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Medical laboratory scientists (MLSs) are responsible for performing highly complex biochemical analyses on samples collected from patients in hospitals and clinics. The performance of these tests often involves little patient exposure on the part of the MLS and as a result some have wondered about the role soft skills, like communication, conflict resolution and empathy, play in medical laboratory science. The aim of this study was to explore the importance that medical laboratory administrators place on these types of skills, collectively referred to as emotional intelligence (EI), as well as to assess how satisfied they were with the demonstration of …

Regulation And Expression Of Nanog, Oct4, And Sox2 In The Bovine Blastocyst Following Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer, Justin Scott Hall

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Animal, Dairy, and Veterinary Sciences Department (ADVS) and the Center for Integrated Biosystems (CIB) at Utah State University are studying various molecular mechanisms involved in the animal cloning process. This study involves the extensive network of people, facilities, equipment, and funding already associated with the CIB and ADVS joint project.

Cloning involves many molecular challenges that for the most part have become roadblocks for the normal development of the fetus. The mechanisms necessary to transform an adult cell into a competent stem cell that can then transform and develop into a healthy organism are poorly understood. Some of these …

Analysis Of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Panels For Bovine Dna Identification, Kimberly A. Blanchard

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have great power in resolving questions of unknown parentage on ranches or dairies where errors could have been made in pedigree record keeping or when such records were simply not kept. Currently a panel of 88 SNPs based on a panel originally created by USDA-MARC is commercially available from the company Fluidigm^®. Our objective was to determine whether or not the number of SNPs could be reduced to form a smaller, more cost-efficient parentage-testing panel. A smaller panel would be beneficial to farmers and researchers alike in the reduction of time spent running and …

Modeling Usa Stream Temperatures For Stream Biodiversity And Climate Change Assessments, Ryan A. Hill

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Stream temperature in one of the most biologically important aspects of water quality, but we lack temperature information for the vast majority of streams within the USA. Stream temperature can be influenced by several types of landscape and waterway alteration including upstream urbanization, agriculture, and reservoir releases. Stream temperatures are also expected to be affected by climate change over the next
century. We need to know how stream temperatures vary naturally, how they are influenced by human activity, and how they will respond to climate changes to effectively manage stream ecosystems. I used data from several thousand streams within the …

Attentional Factors In Temporal Distortion: The Effects Of Food Availability On Responses Within The Interval Bisection Task, Robert N. Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Time estimation is a process that underlies many complex behaviors. Accurately timed performance depends upon some biological mechanism, which may be revealed by experimental methods. There have been several proposals on the subject of the function of the timing mechanism, some of which have revealed contradictory findings regarding the effect of distraction on timing. Whereas some studies have revealed underestimation (reports of time moving more slowly than it actually is) of the target interval following distracter presentation, others have revealed generalized disruption (no meaningful evidence of timing). The purpose of the present study was to determine whether food presentation for …

Evaluating Eriogonum Corymbosum Tolerance To Frequent Irrigation And Evaluating Its Significant Morphological Variations For Potential Cultivars, Graham C. Hunter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Eriogonum corymbosum (Lacy Buckwheat) is an attractive subshrub species native to low rainfall areas of the Colorado Plateau and suitable for low water landscapes in the Intermountain West (IMW). Low water use landscapes can contribute to water conservation in arid climates; developing a palette of plants that are both attractive and drought tolerant can promote the acceptance of low water use landscapes as an alternative to the traditional bluegrass landscapes of the IMW. In 2007 a strip plot design containing four repetitions with four randomly assigned plants each of Eriogonum corymbosum, Eriogonum thompsoniae, and the control species Cornus …

Development Of The Multiple Use Plug Hybrid For Nanosats (Muphyn) Miniature Thruster, Shannon Dean Eilers

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Multiple Use Plug Hybrid for Nanosats (MUPHyN) prototype thruster incorporates solutions to several major challenges that have traditionally limited the deployment of chemical propulsion systems on small spacecraft. The MUPHyN thruster offers several features that are uniquely suited for small satellite applications. These features include 1) a non-explosive ignition system, 2) non-mechanical thrust vectoring using secondary fluid injection on an aerospike nozzle cooled with the oxidizer flow, 3) a non-toxic, chemically-stable combination of liquid and inert solid propellants, 4) a compact form factor enabled by the direct digital manufacture of the inert solid fuel grain. Hybrid rocket motors provide …

Clonal Diversity Of Quaking Aspen (Populus Tremuloides): How Multiple Clones May Add To Theresilience And Persistence Of This Forest Type, Richard Scott Gardner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Aspen forests and woodlands are widespread across the western United States and are a primary component of many ecosystems in the west. Aspen is a clonal species, with reproduction occurring both by root sprouting (suckering) and seeding. Traditionally, western aspen forests were thought to consist almost entirely of large clones established several thousands of years ago, with seeding events being rare and ecologically negligible. Although clones in the western US can grow to be many acres, recent studies have demonstrated a far greater proportion of small clones than had been previously thought to exist. In this study I wanted to …

Predictors Of Father-Child And Mother-Child Attachment In Two-Parent Families, Jared P. Benware

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Jared Benware, M.S. and Gretchen Gimpel Peacock, Ph.D. at Utah State University examined parent-child attachment in two-parent families. Specifically, the relationship between mother-child and father-child attachment, the relationship between a child's temperament and parent-child attachment, and the relationship between the attachment and the amounts of time a parent spends away from his or her child. The researchers solicited parents as participants to complete questionnaires that measure parent-child attachment and the temperament of their child. This study focused especially on providing more information on the connection between father-child attachment and mother-child attachment rather than focusing only on mothers as the primary …

Enhanced Structural Support Of Metal Sites As Nodes In Metal-Organic Frameworks Compared To Metal Complexes, Sanjit Das

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Crystalline porous materials have gained long-standing interest for their application in gas storage, separation and catalysis. These materials have been useful for domestic, scientific and industrial purposes for many decades. Zeolites are a well known example of such materials.

Metal-organic frameworks are a new class of crystalline porous materials. They have many advantages over the more widely known zeolites. Though metal-organic frameworks are relatively new, their basic structure, known as the secondary building unit, very closely resembles the structure of metal complexes. Such metal complexes have been characterized in chemistry for more than a century.

Chemical catalysis is a process …

An Evaluation Of Current Stormwater Best Management Practice Relationships Between Design And Efficiency: A Series Of Local And National Case Studies, Amanda Ann Goodwin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water quality continues to be threatened by human development activities such as stormwater runoff from urbanization. This study addresses the question of how stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) system design choices affect pollutant removal efficiency, through the examination of 12 case study sites (across five states) that use three common BMP system design types (detention, retention, and wetland channel). Water quality information was obtained from the International Stormwater Database and site composite grab samples. Development conditions were inventoried by orthophotos and assessed using Geographic Information System (GIS) and AutoCAD data.

This study relates Total Suspended Solid (TSS) load removal efficiency …