Digital Commons Network^™

Breast Ultrasound Image Segmentation Based On Uncertainty Reduction And Context Information, Kuan Huang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Breast cancer frequently occurs in women over the world. It was one of the most serious diseases and the second common cancer among women in 2019. The survival rate of stages 0 and 1 of breast cancer is closed to 100%. It is urgent to develop an approach that can detect breast cancer in the early stages. Breast ultrasound (BUS) imaging is low-cost, portable, and effective; therefore, it becomes the most crucial approach for breast cancer diagnosis. However, BUS images are of poor quality, low contrast, and uncertain. The computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system is developed for breast cancer to prevent …

Accessing Healthcare In The Intermountain West During The Age Of Precarious Labor, Jordan Hammon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research aims to improve our understanding about the association between precarious employment and healthcare access. Using the framework of neoliberalism and the history of welfare reform in the United States, this thesis investigates the relationship between precarious labor and two outcomes associated with health insurance access, namely Medicaid utilization, and being uninsured. I also examine one potential consequence of Medicaid utilization and lack of insurance, having a usual place of health care in the context of the Intermountain West region of the United States.

Using new survey data and quantitative methodologies, this research shows how economic changes, particularly related …

Relationship Pacing In Adolescents Before And After A Relationship Education Course: Considering The Influence Of Demographics, Relationship History And Well-Being, Sarah Hodgskiss

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Adolescence is a time when many individuals begin to participate in dating. Adolescent romantic relationships can have benefits for youth but can also be harmful if they do not have the information and skills needed to form and maintain healthy relationships. This study analyzed survey data from a youth relationship education program entitled the Premarital and Interpersonal Choices and Knowledge (PICK) program from a group of 14,468 adolescents. This study examined how different demographics were associated with decision making in relationships, referred to as relationship pacing in this study, before participating in the course. Demographic factors that were included were …

The Rhetoric Of The Double-Voiced: Strategic Ambiguity In The Silent Protest Parade, Shelby R. Crow

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Examinations of historical social movements offer great insight into contemporary social justice activism. In this thesis, I analyzed the Silent Protest Parade of 1917. The Silent Protest Parade consisted of approximately 10,000 African American men, women, and children who marched in complete silence to illuminate racial violence and the lynchings of African Americans. I argued that through the concept of strategic ambiguity, protesters were able to communicate between African American and powerful White audiences, many of whom held racist beliefs and attitudes.

Understanding Teacher Sense-Making Discourse During Collaborative Professional Development Of An Expansively-Framed Computer Science Curriculum, Courtney Stephens

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Elementary school teachers are being increasingly asked to teach computer science—something that most teacher certification programs do not prepare them for. In an attempt to study how elementary teachers learn to teach computer science, I analyzed the ways that teachers behaved during a professional development accompanying the implementation of a fifth-grade computer science curriculum. My findings suggest that teachers benefit from professional development that encourages collaboration and active participation in teachers through discussion and modeling. Furthermore, my findings suggest that teachers benefit from using curriculum that deliberately connects new concepts to content that they are already familiar and comfortable with—a …

Methods Development, Design Analysis, And Testing Of Novel Centrifugal Devices For Mammalian Cell Culture Harvest, W. Aaron Dryden

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Thermo Fisher Scientific is developing a centrifugal device to be used in the biopharmaceutical industry. The novel technology was used to remove cells from cell cultures, which produce drugs and medical treatments. The harvest process of removing cells is the first step towards product purification and is an important unit operation for ensuring high product yield. Since the device is a novel technology, methods to test and evaluate the performance of the centrifuge needed to be developed.

Successful testing methods were developed in this work and were implemented on over 30 different centrifuge designs. Amongst these many designs, different operating …

Constraining Deformation Mechanisms Of Fault Damage Zones: A Case Study Of The Shallow San Andreas Fault At Elizabeth Lake, Southern California., Caroline Studnicky

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Earthquakes nucleate at depth and rupture along the fault plane up to the Earth’s surface releasing seismic energy as the fault propagates. This energy creates the shaking we feel on the surface. Some faults do not rupture and create shaking but deform slowly and smoothly accommodating fault slip over extended time periods. This process is referred to as aseismic slip or creep. Whether a fault ruptures or creeps depends on the properties of the rocks through which the fault plane extends. In order to model seismic hazards correctly, we need to characterize the composition, deformation structures, and alteration materials of …

When Healthy Turns Harmful: Increasing Understanding Of Potential Risk Factors And Approaches To Decreasing Orthorexic Behaviors, Elizabeth King

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Orthorexia Nervosa (ON) is a relatively new term used to describe individuals who place an excessive value on consuming a “pure” or healthful diet, so much so that their psychological, and potentially physical, health is negatively affected. ON is driven by a focus of consuming high-quality foods rather than limiting the quantity of food. This has sometimes been referred to as “clean eating”, or only consuming “clean” foods. A commonality between ON and other eating disorders (EDs) is that the behaviors are rooted in restriction, where an individual with ON would focus on restricting specific foods, or even entire food …

Examining The Use Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Undergraduate Mathematics Learning Modules With Students Of Color, Thomas A. Mgonja

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In mathematics, Students of Color have persistently performed lower than their White counterparts, thus creating a need to explore instructional methods that could reduce performance disparities. This study investigated culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) to understand how it might support students’ mathematics learning in undergraduate mathematics learning modules. The overarching research question focused on how CRP in undergraduate mathematics Learning Modules supported students’ mathematics learning. There were also two main questions that focused on participants’ evaluations of the CRP modules and how those evaluations were reported based on subgroups (Students of Color and White). The researcher employed a sequential explanatory mixed-methods …

Generation Of Sheep Models Of Cystic Fibrosis By Gene Editing And Cloning, Iuri Viótti Périssé

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that affects over 80,000 people worldwide and is caused by mutations that disrupt the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene. This gene encodes a channel protein that regulates ion transport in cells. The most common mutation in the human CFTR gene is F508del, which is characterized by the deletion of a phenylalanine amino acid in the CFTR protein. The second most common mutation is G542X, a protein synthesis “stop” mutation that prevents the production of the CFTR channel protein. An impediment that prevents the further understanding CF is the limited …

Understanding Community Resilience Resources And Experiences Of Inequity Within The Lgbtq+ Community: Implications For Identity And Mental Health Disparities, Joshua G. Parmenter

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Being a part of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer plus (LGBTQ+) community has been linked with positive well-being. Research has established that the LGBTQ+ community has community-level resources (e.g., connection, belonging, shared hardships) that sexual and gender diverse people can utilize to cope in the face of discrimination (i.e., community resilience). However, due to various forms of discrimination and oppression, those with marginalized identities within the LGBTQ+ community (i.e., LGBTQ+ people of color, plurisexual, gender diverse) may not have equal access to LGBTQ+ community resilience resources.

This dissertation is composed of three separate studies aimed at understanding sexual …

Susceptibility Of High-Elevation Forests To Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus Ponderosae Hopkins) Under Climate Change, David N. Soderberg

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Across western North America, pine forests are important for timber, wildlife habitat, and at high elevations are important for water retention and yield from rain and snowmelt. The mountain pine beetle (MPB) is one of the most significant disturbance agents shaping pine forests, and like all insects, temperature is a major driver of its population success and the dynamics of the landscapes that they inhabit. Changing temperature regimes can therefore directly influence MPB population persistence at a particular location, in addition to potential shifts in the range boundaries that they inhabit. MPB is currently expanding its range northward in British …

Surrogate Optimization Model For An Integrated Regenerative Methanol Transcritical Cycle, Yili Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In order to reduce the cost ($) per megawatts hour (MWh) of electrical energy generated by a nuclear power cycle with a novel small modular reactor (SMR), a new SMR-based nuclear power cycle with Methanol as working fluid was designed. It was built virtually with the Python & Coolprop software based on all components’ physical properties, and it is therefore called the physics-based model. The physics-based model would require seven user-defined values as input for the seven free design parameters, respectively. The physics-based model outcomes include LCOE (the cost per megawatts hour of electrical energy generated by the …

Synergistic Effect Of High Intensity Ultrasound, Antimicrobial Compounds, And Uv-A Light On Microbial Quality Of Dairy Products, Bryce Rodney Hales

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Food spoilage and contamination remains a common problem within the food industry. Furthermore, the continued change of consumer demand and perspective on food quality and products has led the food industry and researchers to find new methods of food preservation. Many of these new methods hope to use non-thermal processes since thermal processes tend to decrease the overall quality of the final product. Some new non-thermal methods that have been looked at are the use of high intensity ultrasound (HIU), ultraviolet light, and the use of natural antimicrobials. In this study, UHT milk inoculated with either E. coli K12 or …

The Moderating Effect Of Intraoffice Group Dynamics On The Ambulation Of Sms-Prompted Utah Tech Professionals, David Collins Moore

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research examined the extent to which group membership affects the impact of text message activity prompts on daily step count. Two 17-member convenience samples were recruited from various software companies in Utah. The participants in the cohesive group unit sample worked in close proximity to one another in a single office, while the lone participants were recruited from and worked in separate offices. Participants’ daily step count baselines were established during the initial 2 weeks of the experiment, after which they were sent text message activity prompts twice per workweek day for the remaining 4 weeks. Step count data …

Season Advancement Of Cool Season Cut Flower Crops Snapdragon And Peony, Maegen A. Lewis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Demand and production of specialty cut flowers is growing across the U.S., but research is lacking in the U.S. Intermountain West, where the semi-arid and high elevation climate offers unique challenges for growers. The goal of this study was to evaluate the stem quality, harvest timing, and yield of snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus) ‘Chantilly’, ‘Potomac’, and ‘Rocket’ and peony (Paeonia lactiflora) ‘Coral Charm’ as cool-season cut flower crops under high tunnel and field production in North Logan, Utah. Snapdragons were transplanted at three-week intervals beginning in early-February in high tunnels and ending in late-May in the field. …

Climate-Driven Impacts Of Warming And Grazing On Sub-Arctic Coastal Wetlands In Alaska, Ryan T. Choi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Climate change is rapidly warming the Arctic, especially at lower latitudes. Warmer temperatures and earlier springs are altering the timing of plants and animals, especially for long-distance migratory herbivores. Changes in the timing of both plants and herbivores have the potential to impact plant productivity and nutrient cycling, while also altering plant community diversity and composition.

In chapter 2, I conducted a field experiment to investigate how earlier growing seasons and differences in arrival times of migratory geese influence physical traits of sedge forage species. I found that both an earlier growing season and late grazing by geese had similar …

Dietary Shifts Related To Water Availability And The Demographic Response To Changing Prey Abundance Of Carnivores In The West Desert, Utah, Ashley E. Hodge

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The decrease in number and range of North American large carnivores, has often all owed smaller carnivores ( < 15 kg) to fill the role of the top predator. This has favored some carnivores such as coyotes (Canis latrans), who have expanded their distribution. Other small carnivores such as kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis) have experienced a range shrinkage and their population status throughout the United States is a concern. Historically, western U.S. natural resource management agencies installed artificial water sources to assist desert wildlife, but some researchers believe the access to water allowed more coyotes to live in Utah’s West Desert. In the late-1980s, research proposed that without free drinking water, coyotes would have to triple …

Venturi Meter Performance When Installed On The Branch Of A Tee Junction With Converging Run Flow, E. Elliot Naulu

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Venturi flow meters are often installed downstream of disturbances such as a tee junction, valve, or elbow. In such a case, a laboratory calibration may be needed to measure the Venturi meter’s performance under said limitations so that accurate metering is achieved. However, in some cases, laboratory calibration may not be possible.The purpose of this research was to investigate Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) ability to simulate a Venturi meter installed on the branch of a tee junction with converging run flow.

This study used CFD to compare against laboratory results to illustrate CFD’s capability as a calibration method. The results …

When The Desert Meets The Classroom: A Mixed Methods Study On Experiential Learning And Andragogy For Design-Situated Curricula, Julie K. Lamarra

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study’s significance examined how outdoor experience in place can influence students’ designs in the context of outdoor recreation. Historically, experiential education and outdoor education have been used widely across curricula but are not so commonly accepted in design education except in the form of internships. This study sought to examine how being in the place that activity occurs and learning about the cultural aspects of place, activity, and community impacted students’ designs.

This study looked at how existing theories such as Landscapes of Practice and the development of boundaries, knowledge, and identity are formed within communities of practice and …

Fitting Cell-Based Biomechanical Models From Spatiotemporal Data: A Gradient Descent Approach, Namita Raghuvanshi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Biological systems that contain multiple living cells exhibit complex self-organization during development of an embryo as individual cells coordinate their behaviors to form intricate patterns. Understanding the mechanisms that underlie this emergent behavior is within reach because of advances in cell imaging that can now track hundreds of cells’ states and positions in real time. However, computational methods are needed that can fit physical scientific models to these observations in space and time. This work introduces a new method to solve this problem that applies automatic differentiation and gradient descent, techniques that underlie deep-learning advances. The method fits a biomechanical …

Intraday Stock Trading Using Reinforcement Learning: An Investigation Of Visual Representations Of Price, Kanak Tenguria

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In this study, we are developing a reinforcement learning-based strategy for the intraday trading of stocks. This study’s primary goals include developing an environment that can be used as a simulator for the day trading stock market and, train an agent to trade in this environment by performing actions and finding the optimal policy to maximize its reward.

This study also focuses on experimentation with different state representations to understand how data representation affects the learning system. We have experimented with three different state representations. All the representations focus on presenting the intraday stock data as images. We have chosen …

Investigating The Habits Of Mind Of Practicing Engineers, Theresa K. Green

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

One goal of undergraduate engineering education is to prepare students with the knowledge, skills, and decision-making strategies that are necessary for success in engineering practice. One proposed method to teach students these skills is to incorporate habits of mind into K-12 and undergraduate curricula. Habits of mind are the intelligent, social behaviors that engineers should aspire to have when solving problems, engaging with others, and dealing with uncertainty. Previous literature has suggested that incorporating ideas about habits of mind in educational curricula can teach students the disciplinary skills, technical knowledge, and social values that would help prepare them to enter …

Cultural Memory And Media: Spanish Republicans And The Spanish Civil War, Stuart Cameron

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This project examines the interplay between memory, history, and politics relating to Spanish Republican memories of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the following authoritarian dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975). In my analysis of this relationship, I focus on the years around the passage of the Law of Historical Memory in 2007; I explore how Spaniards used several forms of media, namely books, graphic narratives, and interviews, to relay their messages regarding the recovery, preservation, and passage of the memories of the defeated Republicans. The authors in each medium, despite telling different stories, both real and fictional, portrayed the act …

Community And Cultural Reentry: Exploring Reverse Culture Shock Among Returning Missionaries Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, Sydney Pond

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Considerable research asserts that individuals who have immersive experiences in foreign cultures may experience mental and emotional challenges upon returning home, a phenomenon known as reverse culture shock. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints annually sends tens of thousands of proselytizing missionaries to various locations around the globe, and the nature of their missionary service places them at risk of experiencing problems during reentry. Despite this risk, reverse culture shock among returning Latter-day Saint missionaries remains relatively unexplored. The aim of this study was to examine how former Latter-day Saint missionaries made sense of their experiences returning to …

The Effects Of An Active Learning Intervention On Increasing Parental Efficacy Regarding Sexual Communication With Toddlers And Young Children, Melissa M. Ferguson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the United States, it is estimated that 1 in 5 children will experience sexual abuse before the age of 18. To reduce child sexual abuse more effectively and to increase positive sex attitudes and behaviors, a change is needed in how individuals and society view and discuss sexual health and sex education. Parents are in a powerful and readily available role to teach sexual topics in a positive way, but many are lacking sexual knowledge and confidence in their ability to address sexual topics with their children. This study looked at how personal and contextual factors relate to confidence …

Computational Techniques For Elucidating Plant-Pathogen Interactions: A Case Study On Citrus-Hlb Interactome, Cristian D. Loaiza

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Citrus fruit industry in the United States has been affected during the last two decades because of the outbreak of the citrus greening disease, also known as Huanglongbing (HLB). Many people and organizations are working in therapeutics to help mitigate the impact of this disease, unfortunately there is not a cure yet. There are many mechanisms that needs to be understood about this disease, especially at the molecular level. Not only HLB, but many other infectious diseases are controlled by the interaction of proteins from the host (Citrus in this case) and from the pathogen that causes the disease. …

Local And Systemic Effects Of Flavonoid Intake With Submaximal Cycling Exercise: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Stephanie Kung

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Moderate to high intensity endurance exercise is a known cause of exercise-induced gastrointestinal syndrome, a condition often associated with intestinal complaints such as discomfort, cramps, and diarrhea. Oftentimes, elevated intestinal inflammation and permeability (a “leaky gut”) are also observed. Previous research has shown that flavonoids, natural compounds found in many fruits and vegetables, may mitigate these exercise-induced effects. In particular, certain cocoa powders contain high levels of flavonoids, and chocolate milk is a good source of protein and sugars for sustaining intense activity. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a dairy pre-workout beverage, with …

Multi-Proxy Approach To Robustly Capture Earthquake Temperature Rise At The Punchbowl Fault, California, Emma M. Armstrong

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Earthquakes produce heat along a fault surface from friction created as two blocks of rock move past each other. The amount of heat generated depends on a variety of factors, including rock type, stresses, and thickness of the fault zone. Identifying evidence for and quantifying this earthquake (coseismic) temperature rise are essential for identifying past earthquakes in the rock record. Indirect methods, such as textures and geochemical signatures that change with temperature, can serve as paleothermometers. Here we compare two paleothermometers, biomarkers and thermochronometry, from two transects across the Punchbowl fault (PF), California. The PF is an ancient fault strand …

Control Of Series Connected Battery Powered Modules, Joshua K. Wooten

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Batteries are a very common type of power source used for all sorts of applications. However, these batteries do not last forever. The purpose of this thesis is to explain and implement a strategy which allows batteries to have a second life; to be able to be re-charged and re-used for another set period of time once they no longer meet a system’s requirements. The preferable way to do this is to make each cell have the same state of charge (SOC) which will lead to a longer lasting battery pack. These batteries will be hooked up to a battery …