Digital Commons Network^™

Methods In Modeling Wildlife Disease From Model Selection To Parameterization With Multi-Scale Data, Ian Mcgahan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The effects of emerging wildlife diseases are global and profound, resulting in loss of human life, economic and agricultural impacts, declines in wildlife populations, and ecological disturbance. The spread of wildlife diseases can be viewed as the result of two simultaneous processes: spatial spread of wildlife populations and disease spread through a population. For many diseases these processes happen at different timescales, which is reflected in available data. These data come in two flavors: high-frequency, high-resolution telemetry data (e.g. GPS collar) and low-frequency, low-resolution presence-absence disease data. The multi-scale nature of these data makes analysis of such systems challenging. Mathematical …

Transient Thermal Modeling Of Bioprocessing Equipment, Cody M. Cummings

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Bioprocessing is leveraging cells to produce high value, lifesaving products. Precise environmental control is needed to maintain integrity of the bioprocessing production process. Temperature control requires both appropriate equipment choice and correct control parameter selection. To aid in the equipment selection process, enable better understanding of equipment capacity, and enable optimization of control parameters, a transient thermal model of both heat transfer characteristics and control systems was created in silico.

Try The Wine: Food As An Expression Of Cultural Identity In Roman Britain, Molly Reininger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Research surrounding cultural identity and food customs throughout history are published often, but any research that attempts to combine the two are often based in more recent history. Few combinations of the two are available, and fewer explore the implications within ancient colonization and expansion.

The research for this thesis was conducted with three viewpoints in mind: the colonization of Britannia from Romans within the new colony, the colonization from the native Briton's perspective, and the Roman citizens within Britannia at the end of Rome's military involvement with the colony. This method was chosen because in the early years of …

Automating And Analyzing Whole-Farm Carbon Models, Aditi Maheshwari

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The goal of this research is to learn about whole farm carbon models. A whole farm carbon model estimates the emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHGs) based on information for a farm. We analyzed two models, HOLOS whole-farm and COMET-Farm, by running the models on random inputs and building classifiers from the runs. HOLOS estimates GHG emissions for a particular year based on crop and animal agriculture input, while COMET-farm adds past and future farm management practices. Users of the models must manually enter farm data through a graphical user interface (GUI), which is a good method for a single farm, …

Harmful Algal Blooms: Dominance In Lakes And Risk For Cyanotoxin Exposure In Food Crops, Austin D. Bartos

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Climate change and human activities are promoting the dominance of a photosynthetic family of aquatic bacteria, cyanobacteria. Blooms of cyanobacteria are not only a visual nuisance but can produce a variety of cyanotoxins than can harm the liver, skin, and nervous system of animals and humans. We analyzed lakes in the contiguous United States and found that between 2007 and 2012, the number of lakes that produced measurable quantities of cyanotoxins increased from 33% to 45%. Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution were the main drivers of cyanobacteria blooms and toxin production between these years. Many of these lakes and reservoirs are …

Teaching Appropriate Feedback Reception Skills Using Computer-Based Training, Seth G. Walker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Feedback is a commonly used intervention to address performance issues in a number of settings. Most research on feedback has focused on manipulating parameters surrounding the delivery of feedback. However, the interaction between those delivering the feedback and a feedback recipient may also influence the impact of performance feedback. The current study investigated the efficacy of training individuals to receive feedback in an appropriate manner using a computer-based training format. Following computer-based training, participants exhibited increases in accuracy of appropriate feedback behaviors when compared to baseline. Participants also demonstrated slight increases in performance on primary job tasks. This study extends …

Rome, Robes, And Rivers: Land, Water, And Power In The Aniene Valley, Jonah R. Bibo

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rome, Robes, and Rivers is a multi-century environmental history that shows how different occupants in the Italian Aniene river valley help power through the exploitation and control of its land and water resources. It ranges from the classical to late medieval eras, focusing on the Roman empire alongside later Benedictine monastic societies, who each used different tactics to maintain control over the land. Roman aqueducts brought water to the city, while Benedictine monks taxed peasant laborers to maintain control of the land. Each occupant shaped the land their own needs and left their mark on the landscape in ways that …

A Stratospheric Approach To Diagnose The North American Winter Dipole, Henrik Panosyan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It has been well established in the literature that the stratosphere is dynamically coupled with the troposphere during boreal winter. The North American Winter Dipole is comprised of an upper-tropospheric contrast between a ridge over western North America, and a trough over eastern North America. The variance of this circulation regime has increased in recent years, with its amplified states being associated with extremes ranging from drought and floods, to extreme cold air outbreaks. This study explores the stratospheric link to this extreme weather regime, in the hopes of ultimately improving the predictability of this regime on intraseasonal-to-seasonal timescales. We …

Supporting Adolescent Mental Health Within School Culture And Curricula: Inviting Adolescents To Utah's Mental Health Conversation, Diana West

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Utah is facing a mental health crisis. Between 2011 and 2017, teen suicides nearly tripled in Utah and had become the leading cause of death for children ages 10-17. Educators and policymakers are scrambling to provide students with mental health supports in schools, but an incomplete understanding of the challenges that students face can make it difficult to meet their needs. Each year state agencies ratchet up awareness, funding, and the determination to support mental health initiatives, but each year adolescent mental health in Utah becomes more precarious. The purpose of this study is to change the conversation by inviting …

Universal Localizations Of Certain Noncommutative Rings, Tyler B. Bowles

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A common theme throughout algebra is the extension of arithmetic systems to ones over which new equations can be solved. For instance, someone who knows only positive numbers might think that there is no solution to x + 3 = 0, yet later learns x = -3 to be a feasible solution. Likewise, when faced with the equation 2x = 3, someone familiar only with integers may declare that there is no solution, but may later learn that x = 3/2 is a reasonable answer. Many eventually learn that the extension of real numbers to complex numbers unlocks solutions …

Development And Identification Of Metrics To Predict The Impact Of Dimension Reduction Techniques On Classical Machine Learning Algorithms For Still Highway Images, Wasim Akram Khan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

We are witnessing an influx of data - images, texts, video, etc. Their high dimensionality and large volume make it challenging to apply machine learning to obtain actionable insight. This thesis explores several aspects pertaining to dimensional reduction: dimension reduction methods, metrics to measure distortion, image preprocessing, etc. Faster training and inference time on reduced data and smaller models which can be deployed on commodity hardware are a critical advantage of dimension reduction. For this study, classical machine learning methods were explored owing to their solid mathematical foundation and interpretability.

The dataset used is a time series of images from …

Geomorphic History Of The Grand Staircase Region Of The Colorado Plateau: Understanding Arroyo Cut-Fill Dynamics, Erosion Rates, And Wildfire, Kerry E. Riley

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Most streams in the southwestern United States do not flow all year, and given their delicate balance of sediment and water flow, they are sensitive to climate change. At the turn of the 20th century, many streams in the Southwest rapidly incised into their floodplains, forming arroyos with a channel entrenched into near-vertical channel banks mostly composed of sand and mud. This dissertation investigates past changes in watersheds draining the Grand Staircase region in southern Utah with the goal of understanding how changes in climate and sediment influence these types of streams. Results show sediment supply is highly variable across …

Design Of A Sweeping Impedance Probe For The Sport Mission, Caleb W. Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In our modern world satellite systems are an evermore common part of day to day life. Reliable communication from the ground to these satellites is becoming more and more necessary. Plasma scintillations in the ionosphere can make these communications difficult or even impossible. By gaining a better understanding of these scintillations, times of bad satellite connection can be predicted in the same way terrestrial weather gets predicted and reported today. The objective of the SPORT mission is to gain a better understanding of these plasma scintillations. In order to measure plasma density, and gain a better understanding of plasma scintillations, …

Extending Ethos In Digital Rhetorics, Andrew J. Hillen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation researched the concept of ethos, or appeal to authority or trust, on the social media platform, Twitter. Looking at collections of tweets, I found that the characteristics of the Twitter platform, as well as the general qualities of writing online, pushed users to use short cuts to trust, such as focusing in on specific buzz words, or through referencing well known organizations and individuals. Users also used internet culture as its own source of authority. They demonstrated that they were up to date on the latest trends and memes, and so were trustworthy accounts to follow. Users appealed …

Connections Between Hydrothermal System Geochemistry And Microbiology: Traversing Tectonic Boundaries In The South-Central Peruvian Andes, Heather Upin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Geochemistry and microbiology are inherently tied in the natural world. The study of geomicrobiology has historically taken place in extreme systems, like hot springs of Yellowstone National Park and deep-sea hydrothermal vents, because the organisms that exist there have deep lineages on the tree of life and provide insight into early life on Earth. These microbes use chemical energy from nutrients available in their environment rather than relying on photosynthesis, energy obtained from the sun, to support their metabolism. The goal of this study is to improve our understanding of geological controls (for example the tectonic setting) on hot spring …

Study Of Levee Underseepage Through Abandoned Channels And Point Bars On Curved Levee Sections Using The Response Surface-Monte Carlo Method, Tomsen Reed

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The current procedures for calculated the probability of failure of levees (earthen structures designed to prevent flooding of important locations) all have their own unique limitations. Some methods are very simplistic, and either ignore or do not allow for inclusion of complex geometries. Other methods allow for complex geometry, but do not lend themselves to large quantities of analysis because of the amount of time it takes to create or modify a model. For these reasons, previous research performed by Lourdes Polanco and Dr. John Rice developed the preliminary stages of a new method called the Response Surface-Monte Carlo method. …

Machine Learning Enhanced Free-Space And Underwater Oam Optical Communications, Patrick L. Neary

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Communications, bandwidth, security, and hardware simplicity are principles of interest to society at large. Recent advances in optics and in understanding properties of light, such as orbital angular momentum (OAM), have provided new potential mediums for communication.

Machine learning has wound its way into a broad range of fascinating areas. An emerging field of research is the use of a unique property of lasers called orbital angular momentum (OAM). With the proper hardware, a laser can go from a Gaussian shaped distribution to a doughnut shaped pattern, where the radius can be changed. Multiple OAM patterns, or modes, can be …

Social Justice Mathematical Modeling For Teacher Preparation, Patrick L. Seegmiller

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Today's math teachers face significant social and political challenges for which they receive little preparation. Mathematics content courses can potentially provide additional preparation in this regard by providing future teachers with experiences to mathematically explore social justice issues. This provides them with opportunities to increase their awareness and sensitivity to social justice issues, develop greater empathy for their future students, and serve as examples for high quality instruction that they can emulate in their future careers. This dissertation recounts the development and revision of three social justice mathematical modeling projects, and shares evidence from student work samples of the ways …

Kudos And K.O.M.'S: The Effect Of Strava Use On Evaluations Of Social And Managerial Conditions, Perceptions Of Ecological Impacts, And Mountain Bike Spatial Behavior, Noah E. Creany

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Smartphone based self-tracking fitness applications (apps) like Strava are increasingly becoming a part of recreation experiences in parks and protected areas (PPAs). Recreation research has employed smartphone GPS tracking (SGT) and volunteered geographic information (VGI) to study visitor behavior in PPAs, but little is understood about how smartphones or fitness apps affect visitor perceptions and behavior during their experience.

The first chapter of this thesis is a literature review of recreation survey and behavior research, social-psychology and technology use theory, gamification, and mountain bike social science and recreation-ecology research. The second chapter is formatted for submission to the Journal of …

Improving Aquatic Habitat Representation In Utah Using Large Spatial Scale Environmental Datasets, Gregory C. Goodrum

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Rivers provide habitat for aquatic species, but widespread human water development degrades aquatic habitat, fragments stream networks, and threatens native fish populations. Habitat suitability models are commonly used to identify current instream habitat conditions, but are often species-specific, data-intensive, and rarely suitable to the large spatial scales required in conservation and water resources management. Thus, there is need to develop and validate habitat suitability models that provide ecologically-meaningful estimations of aquatic habitat, but are simple enough to apply at large geographic areas and flexible to incorporate different species. I tested the accuracy of 15 habitat suitability models estimating Bonneville Cutthroat …

Cultural Ecosystem Services Of Agroecosystems Along The Wasatch Front, Utah, Tiffany K. Woods

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Agroecosystems, including peri-urban systems, are important providers of a range of services. However, management of these systems has generally been based on the market value of crops, neglecting to capture the broader public goods that ecosystem services provide to stakeholders. While the ecosystem service framework (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment [MEA], 2005) has been adopted to measure the market and non-market values associated with these services, knowledge gaps persist, particularly with respect to the quantification and valuation of cultural ecosystem services (CES). In this paper, the determination of CES values assigned to agroecosystems by residents of two communities along the Wasatch Front, …

Greening-Induced Runoff Loss In The Western United States, Xueyan Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study assessed how vegetation will influence long-term runoff trends across the western United States (western US) in the future. I used a land surface model with improved dynamic vegetation root processes to better quantify regional runoff trends across five regions (Upper and Lower Colorado, Great Basin, Pacific Northwest, and California). The model was driven by statistically downscaled and bias-corrected outputs from three global climate models under the Representative Concentration Pathway 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios. Vegetation greening dominated significant transpiration increases that contributed most to increasing evapotranspiration across the western US, especially during spring and summer. Consistent with these trends, …

Evaluation Of Best Practices For Urban Water Conservation And Water-Smart Growth Implementation In Utah, J. Ivy Harvey Thomson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Policies and programs have been utilized throughout the United States (U.S.) to reduce water use as a strategy to ensure sufficient water supplies for future demand. As governmental leaders and policy makers face increasing freshwater scarcity and supply unpredictability, along with rising costs and decreased federal funding, Best Practices (BPs) in water conservation are increasingly important to facilitate decision-making in choosing which strategies to employ. This project uses policy analysis to review and summarize various BPs, referencing both academic and professional literature. National fixture efficiency standards enacted in 1992 are credited as among the leading factors reducing indoor water use …

Load Forecasting Analysis Using Contextual Data And Integration With Microgrids Used For Off Grid Ev Charging Stations, Ashit Neema

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Electricity is an essential component of the smooth working of every sector. If a successful prediction of how much electricity will be required for say the next 24 hours or 48 hours can be made, it will not only help in efficiently planning the activities and operations but also help in minimizing the cost incurred. In this thesis the same is being attempted, first, a model is created that can predict the energy consumption of households using various tools available. To achieve this, historical data of the past 5 years that has been recorded in London has been used. Secondly, …

Massive Graviton Spectra In Supergravity, Kevin Dimmitt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Development of a unified theory of physics would pave the way for new research and technology development for many years to come. Unfortunately, the two best current theories explaining nature, the Standard Model of particle physics and general relativity, do not seem to be compatible, requiring the development of more complicated models which contains both of these at their respective limits. Supergravities are one set of theories which may, at least in part, provide hints as to how it may be possible to unify physics into a single model.

This research project follows from a line of investigation which the …

Semisimple Subalgebras Of Semisimple Lie Algebras, Mychelle Parker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Let g be a Lie algebra. The subalgebra classification problem is to create a list of all subalgebras of g up to equivalence. The purpose of this thesis is to provide a software toolkit within the Differential Geometry package of Maple for classifying subalgebras of In particular the thesis will focus on classifying those subalgebras which are isomorphic to the Lie algebra sl(2) and those subalgebras of which have a basis aligned with the root space decomposition (regular subalgebras).

Biological Sex As A Moderator Of The Association Of Military Sexual Trauma And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Total And Symptom Cluster Severity, Hallie S. Tannahill

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a multifaceted disorder comprised of distinct symptom clusters and is commonly diagnosed in military service members/veterans (SM/Vs), particularly in those with history of military sexual trauma (MST). Evidence and theory suggest that females and males may have different traumatic responses following MST, though research investigating this association has limitations, such as modeling the sexes separately or not covarying for MST severity. The current study examined the moderating role of sex on the association of MST severity and PTSD total and symptom cluster severity. Participants were 1,161 SM/Vs (female: n = 782, 67.36%) who completed online …

Using Imagery To Improve Program Quality In Computer Programming, Joseph S. Ditton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A common practice in sports is to review film footage of a game. This is done in the hope that individuals on the team or the a team as a whole might learning something about technique, form, process, or strategy that they either did well on or need to improve on. We believe that the benefits of doing this could extend to computer science, and more specifically, the process of writing a computer program. This has never been done in the past, as such this research is exploratory in nature. A new tool called Phanon can record someone writing a …

Micro-Biosensor Devices For Biochemical Analysis Applications, Han Zhang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A biosensor is an analytical device integrating a biological element and a physicochemical transducer that convert a biological response into a measurable signal. The advantages of biosensors include low cost, small size, quick, sensitivity and selectivity greater than the conventional instruments. Biosensors have a wide range of applications ranging from clinical diagnostics through to environmental monitoring, agriculture industry, et al.

The different types of biosensors are classified based on the sensor device as well as the biological material. Biosensors can be broadly classified into (piezoelectric, etc.), electrochemical biosensors (potentiometric, amperometric, etc.), and optical types of biosensors (fiber optics, etc.).

Here, …

Parenting Styles And Child Outcomes In Puerto Rican Families: A Comparison Of Individual And Dyadic Coding, Jeisianne Rosario Colón

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Parenting styles are comprised from three dimensions: warmth, autonomy granting, and demandingness. These dimensions combined form four parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful. Forty-nine Puerto Rican families with children 6-11 years participated. Families engaged in several tasks that were coded using the Parenting Style Observation Rating Scale and child outcomes were measured using the Child Behavior Checklist. Overall, parents received high ratings in warmth, autonomy granting, and supportive demandingness, and low scores in nonsupportive demandingness. There were some differences between parents, with mothers exhibiting higher levels of warmth with girls than boys, and higher levels of autonomy granting and …