Digital Commons Network^™

Politicized Climate Change Communication: An Integrative Complexity Analysis, Meredith A. Repke

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The vast majority of scientists agree that anthropogenic activities have caused the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere to rise at an unprecedented rate, and that the consequences of such a rise may very well be extreme. Despite these warnings, the American people do not possess, on average, the same level of concern towards climate change as scientists. The polarization of media in recent decades, the prevalence of selective exposure, and the general position on climate change of the two major political parties have led to liberals and conservatives consuming different information relevant to climate science. While evidence exists …

Validity Of Landmark Selection Given Different 3d Scan Processing Parameters: Landmark Location On 3d Models Of Yacchi Crania, Mary-Margaret Murphy

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This project tests the validity of the use of models generated with 3-D technology for the purposes of advancing craniometric methods in anthropology. The literature describing this technology as it is being incorporated and applied is focused on the classification of crania within population structure and evolutionary development. 3-D modeling methods create data that are static over time - as long as the collection and processing has a statistically insignificant impact on deviation from the original "true" sample.

This thesis is interested in the questions of data collection given variations between processing and metadata of 3-D models and uses data …

Satellite Microwave Measurement Of Land Surface Phenology: Clarifying Vegetation Phenology Response To Climatic Drivers And Extreme Events, Matthew Oushana Jones

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The seasonality of terrestrial vegetation controls feedbacks to the climate system including land-atmosphere water, energy and carbon (CO2) exchanges with cascading effects on regional-to-global weather and circulation patterns. Proper characterization of vegetation phenology is necessary to understand and quantify changes in the earthÆs ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles and is a key component in tracking ecological species response to climate change. The response of both functional and structural vegetation phenology to climatic drivers on a global scale is still poorly understood however, which has hindered the development of robust vegetation phenology models. In this dissertation I use satellite microwave vegetation optical …

Dna Methylation In Humans And Dogs: Evaluating The Impact Of Nutritional And Particulate Exposures, Luke Benjamin Montrose

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Asthma is among the most common chronic diseases in children, among the leading causes of hospitalization for children, and one of the leading causes of school absenteeism. Discovery of preventable factors and the underlying mechanisms that exacerbate asthma among prevalent cases is important for mitigating the health burden of this childhood disease. Environmental factors such as exposure to particulate matter (PM) or nutritional deficiencies can lead to poor respiratory health among susceptible children. Recent animal studies suggest that PM exposures and dietary nutrients may influence asthma pathways through epigenetic mechanisms. Epigenetic modifications are heritable changes that can regulate gene activity …

Insight Dialogue: Investigation Of A Relational Meditation Practice, Zed David Kramer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Contemporary psychology has shown a strong and growing interest in Buddhist psychological (BP) theory and practice, which has informed numerous clinical interventions, influenced psychotherapeutic approach, and increasingly been the subject of empirical investigation (Goyal et al., 2014, Keng, Smoski, & Robins, 2011, Neff & Germer, 2012). This widespread adoption and adaptation of BP concepts, including mindfulness, self-compassion, and compassion, has primarily focused on the development of individual skills and internal change. However, despite the critical role relationship plays in human development, in the experience of distress, and in healing, the development of these skills and qualities in an explicitly relational …

Bamboo Harvesting For Household Income Generation In The Ethiopian Highlands: Current Conditions And Management Challenges, Bridget L. Tinsley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Bamboo is a renewable resource that has been advocated as a means to alleviate poverty and foster rural development throughout the world. Ethiopia holds 67% of continental Africa’s bamboo coverage and is gaining interest by international markets. Despite great speculation about Ethiopia’s bamboo market potential, foundational information regarding household utilization and income reliance is lacking. To understand how bamboo contributes to rural Ethiopian households, a quantitative household assessment was undertaken in this study. A questionnaire census collected data from 371 households. A quantitative assessment of household incomes and assets evaluated what factors influence bamboo harvesting.

The contribution of bamboo to …

A Case Study Tested Framework For Multivariate Analyses Of Microbiomes: Software For Microbial Community Comparisons, Eric M. Spaulding

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The study of microbiomes is important because our understanding of microbial communities is providing insight into human health and many other areas of interest. Researchers often use genomic data to study microbial organisms, demonstrating differences from one organism to the next. Metagenomic data is utilized to study communities of microbial organisms. The research described herein involved the development of a collection of computational methods.

This suite of computational methods and tools (written in the R and Perl languages) has become a framework used for metagenomic data analysis and result visualization. Multivariate analyses such as Linear Discriminate Analysis (LDA) are used …

Remaking Nature In Montana: Topophilic Considerations Of Wolves And Wolf Trapping, Andrew Myers

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In 2011, after nearly forty years of federal protection, the gray wolf was removed from the Endangered Species List in Montana and its management entrusted to the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. The implementation of public trapping seasons in 2012 as a method to control wolf populations has further inflamed an already embroiled debate. The purpose of this research was to investigate how the presence of wolves and wolf trapping impacts human attachments to landscapes of “nature” in Montana by focusing on the following questions: What are the public’s social constructions of wolves? What are the public’s social constructions of …

The Effect Of Differing Volumes Of Ice Slurry Ingestion During Exercise In The Heat, Kyle R. Cochrane

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Use Of Airborne Digital Imagery To Examine Floodplain Complexity At Varying Discharges, Katelyn P. Driscoll

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Floodplains are composed of aquatic and terrestrial habitats that are frequently reshaped by hydrologic processes operating at various spatial and temporal scales. I hypothesized that floodplain habitat complexity is maximized at intermediate discharges because small changes in flow result in substantial aquatic habitat changes and extreme discharges are associated with a decreased habitat heterogeneity. Between April and September 2014, I collected ultra-high resolution digital multispectral imagery of the Clark Fork River, Montana taken on 6 dates between early spring and fall. Following image mosaicking into a single image, unsupervised classification of the spectral reflectance was used to identify and quantify …

“I Need A Hand-Up, Not A Hand-Out:” Spoiled Identities And Identity Maintenance Among Single Mothers Experiencing Homelessness, Laura Obernesser

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research project explores the processes of impression management and identity maintenance through participant observation, informal interviews, and existing documents for an organization that provides services to mothers who are homeless in the Rocky Mountain West. The observations take place in a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for women in the community and region at three different locations. This project focuses on the complex ways in which mothers who experience severe poverty manage and negotiate their identities when confronted with the often unattainable and contradictory expectations of the cultural ideal of motherhood. These women engage in identity maintenance and emotion …

Ecological Status Of Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs On Boulder, Colorado Open Space And Mountain Parks Land: An Analysis Of Select Indicators, Rachel A. Caldwell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) are ecosystem regulators, significantly influencing the surrounding ecosystem. On Boulder County, Colorado Open Space and Mountain Parks land, and throughout their range, prairie dogs affect a number of ecological functions including plant dynamics and associated animals. The ability of prairie dogs to promote the wellbeing of associated plant and animal species depends on the condition of prairie dog populations. One way to evaluate the current condition of prairie dogs and predict their future impact on the ecosystem is to evaluate the status of prairie dogs in relation to specific indicators. I address the …

Forest Fire Risk Assessment Using Point Process Modeling & Monte Carlo Fire Simulation: A Case Study In Gyeongju, South Korea, Hyeyoung Woo

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Forest fire risk assessment becomes critical for developing forest and fire management strategies in Korea since the magnitude of damage from fires significantly increased over the past decades. Fire behavior probability is one of the major components in quantifying fire risk, and is often presented as burn probability. Burn probability estimation requires a proper estimation of fire occurrence probability because fire spread is largely influenced by ignition locations in addition to other environmental factors, such as weather, topography, and land covers.

The objective of this study is to assess forest fire risk over a large forested landscape in and around …

Behavioral Effects Of Fluoxetine On Aggression And Associative Learning In Betta Splendens, Benjamin Eisenreich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While the link between serotonin and the behaviors of aggression and learning has been elucidated, few studies have examined the impact serotonin has on learning for aggressive rewards. In particular, the SSRI fluoxetine has been demonstrated to reduce aggression as well the acquisition of instrumental responding for rewards indicating that this drugs behavioral effect may be related to motivational processes important for learning. To examine the relationship between fluoxetine and motivational process important for learning, two experiments were conducted using Betta splendens, a species well known for their robust aggressive response and drive to engage in aggressive behaviors, to examine …

Capturing The Benefits Of Restoration: Local Business Utilization And Opportunities For Growth In Northwestern Montana, Chelsea P. Mciver

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Restoration and maintenance of forests and watersheds is increasingly a focus of management on public lands and, in addition to traditional forest management activities, has the potential to contribute to the economic vitality of local, forest-dependent communities. However, research has shown that the extent to which local communities benefit from restoration and management activities is highly variable. This study seeks to understand whether local communities in northwestern Montana are capturing the benefits of these activities on public lands by analyzing federal contracting trends. Specifically, this study 1) characterizes the value and type of federal contracts along with the spatial distribution …

Alternative Protein Conformations: Yeast Iso-1-Cytochrome C And Heme Crevice Dynamics, Levi James Mcclelland

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The field of protein biochemistry has been dominated by the dogma that a protein sequence yields a 3-dimensional structure important for a singular function. More modern insights are beginning to demonstrate that proteins are not static structures. Rather, proteins undergo numerous conformational fluctuations yielding an ensemble of conformational populations. Conformational change can result in changed or altered protein function. Small or large energetic barriers existing between conformers regulate the ease with which a protein can sample alternative conformations. In the dissertation work presented here, alternative conformations of yeast iso-1-cytochrome c are investigated with particular emphasis on heme crevice loop dynamics. …

Chromosomal Rearrangements Directly Cause Underdominant F1 Pollen Sterility In Mimulus Lewisii-M. Cardinalis Hybrids, Angela M. Stathos

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Chromosomal rearrangements can contribute to the evolution of postzygotic reproductive isolation directly, by disrupting meiosis in F₁ hybrids, or indirectly, by suppressing recombination among genic incompatibilities. Because direct effects of rearrangements on fertility imply fitness costs during their spread, understanding the mechanism of F₁ hybrid sterility is integral to reconstructing the role(s) of rearrangements in speciation. In hybrids between monkeyflowers Mimulus cardinalis and M. lewisii, rearrangements contain all quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for both premating barriers and pollen sterility, suggesting that they may have facilitated speciation in this model system. I used artificial chromosome doubling and …

Facies, Architecture, And Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Devonian-Mississippian Sappington Formation, Bridger Range, Montana, Anna S. Phelps

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Late Devonian-Early Mississippian Sappington Formation in Montana is a marine unit comprised of lower and upper organic-rich shale members and a middle calcareous siltstone member. The Sappington Formation was deposited during a period of complex paleogeography in Montana, characterized by deposition in sub-basins and onlap onto structural highs, and eustatically- and tectonically-driven transgressive-regressive cycles. Detailed outcrop analysis was conducted on the Sappington Formation across the Bridger Range in southwestern Montana to better understand the Sappington Formation depositional system and changing regional paleogeography. The Sappington Formation is further interpreted in a stratigraphic architectural framework to improve the ability to predict …

Sediment Routing Through Channel Confluences: Particle Tracing In A Gravel-Bed River Headwaters, Kurt Imhoff

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sediment routing in gravel-bed rivers refers to the intermittent transport and storage of bedload particles, where short-duration steps are separated by periods of inactivity. Channel morphology governs sediment routing, but morphologic effects on routing in headwater systems are not well understood compared to lowland systems. RFID tracers are a valuable tool that can be employed to characterize routing processes in headwater channels through individual particle tracking. I present research on coarse sediment transport and dispersion through confluences using sediment tracers in the East Fork Bitterroot River basin, MT. I investigate the following questions: (1) How do sediment routing patterns through …

A Gis Assessment Of Ecoregion Representation In Chile's Existing And Proposed Integrated Network Of Protected Areas, Jessica Schutz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Chile's state designated protected areas are reported to show representation bias and to be unable to meet conservation goals. Private protected areas are considered an important tool to resolve these issues, which has led to support for increasing the role of private protected areas in Chile and creating an integrated public-private protected area network. But the validity of the capacity of private protected areas to fix Chile's state protected area network bias, and the advantage of creating an integrated protected area network, have not been assessed. This study uses the most recent data on Chile's state, private, and international protected …

Taphonomy Of The Chengjiang Biota: Using A Combination Of Sedimentology, Geochemistry And Experimental Taphonomy To Determine Preservation, Lindsay Ann Mackenzie

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Chengjiang Biota, found in the Early Cambrian Maotianshan Shale (Yunnan, China), represents the Cambrian ôexplosion of life,ö providing a snapshot of the early evolution and development of complex life. This snapshot is possible because high fidelity processes transfer information from living organisms to preserved fossils. Taphonomy is everything that occurred during this information transfer from death to fossilization and discovery, including chemical and/or sedimentological processes. The Chengjiang fossilsÆ biology is well documented and taphonomical processes have been proposed. Tests of these models are limited because the depositional environment remains poorly understood. To fill this gap and better constrain the …

It Looks Something Like This, Courtney M. Bird

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

The Biogeochemistry Of Elemental Sulfur Contaminated Soils: Insights Into Effective Remediation, Michael Ryan Mctee

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Soil contamination that results from elemental sulfur (S⁰) deposition is a new occurrence. Elemental sulfur is stockpiled as a byproduct from the oil and gas industry and is deposited by biodegradable trap and skeet targets at shooting ranges. Chemolithotrophs and mixotrophs can oxidize S⁰ to H₂SO₄. Consequently, in areas where excess S⁰ is deposited or stockpiled, soils can acidify to pH values observed with acid mine drainage.

I studied S⁰ contamination at a former sporting clay range. For seven years, the range used biodegradable trap and skeet targets that contained S …

A Public Revolt Against Spitting: Education And Politics In The Progressive Era, Patrick J. O'Connor

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

The Tower Of Hanoi In Dynamic Creative Problem Solving, Lia Harrington

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Creativity and emotions are well-studied constructs, and there is much work on their interrelations. However the empirical application of dynamical systems analysis to them is still relatively rare. For these reasons, a study was conducted on the dynamics and interrelationships of creativity, emotion, and psychopathology using state space grids (SSG) in 33 young adult participants assessed for autism spectrum and negative schizotypy traits, using a computerized Tower of Hanoi (ToH) creative problem-solving task. An overview of the dual importance of convergent and divergent thinking styles to creativity is provided as a context for the experiment. The hypothesis that participants with …

Diabesties: How Diabetic Support On Campus Can Alleviate Diabetic Burnout, Kassandra E. Martin

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this study is to determine what types of supportive communication Type One diabetic students need when entering college to decrease diabetic related distress. A training program for students living with Type One Diabetes was created on the barriers they face to effective disease management on campus. This training plan was developed using Beebe, Mottet, and Roach’s (2013) Needs-Centered Training Model. The main issue that appeared from the Needs Assessment was that students are feeling high distress when it comes to keeping with a strict medical regimen. What they expressed interest in was a need for information from …

Economic And Policy Factors Driving The Adoption Of Institutional Woody Biomass Heating Systems In The United States, Jesse D. Young

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

New biomass combustion technologies and adequate biomass supplies have empowered the United States (U.S.) to look beyond satisfying heating needs with traditional fossil-based fuels, but biomass heating is often overlooked by many commercial and institutional entities. This study uses county level Zero Inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) cross sectional regression analyses to identify economic factors that are favorable to the adoption of decentralized woody biomass heating systems by institutions in the U.S. In addition, biomass policy efficacy with respect to decentralized biomass heating systems is analyzed and regression results are used to develop an expansion map that highlights counties in the …

"Horses And Oil In His Blood": Mythopoetics And Western Petromelancholia In Alexandra Fuller's The Legend Of Colton H. Bryant, Lindsay Stephens

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Alexandra Fuller’s book The Legend of Colton H. Bryant, often read as merely a sad biography of a young man who meets his demise in the Wyoming energy patch, performs urgent cultural work. Fuller captures Wyoming’s shift from conventional (Easy Oil) extraction to the extreme (Tough Oil) extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, at the dawn of the twenty-first century. This shift to Tough Oil involves far more than engineering concerns, as Stephanie LeMenager points out in her cultural critique Living Oil. LeMenager terms our national failure to acknowledge the crises that accompany Tough Oil practices …

Coenzyme Q10, Sean M. Blumhardt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Blumhardt, Sean, M.A., May 2015, Exercise Science

Coenzyme Q10

Committee Chair: Dr. Steven Gaskill

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a strong antioxidant and a key component of energy production in the electron transport chain. CoQ10 levels decrease with both age and cardiac disease in plasma and myocardium. After plasma CoQ10 concentrations decrease, dietary changes are generally unable to reestablish normal levels. CoQ10 supplementation is an inexpensive and safe therapy is able to reduce or prevent damage to cell membranes and vasculature by buffering reactive oxidative species. CoQ10 supplementation can decrease blood pressure in hypertensive patients as well as increase cardiac function …

Assessing Changes In Avian Communities, Jessie D. Golding

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Grazing is a potentially powerful tool to address wildlife declines associated with land use conversion in the western United States. Grazing systems can be manipulated to achieve desired vegetation outcomes, preserve native habitat and economically benefit multiple stakeholders. As a result, systems designed to benefit native ecosystems are being widely implemented. However, the benefits of these grazing systems on many wildlife communities remain relatively unexplored. Songbirds provide an ideal study system to test these benefits because they continue to use native habitat that is currently grazed. Given limited time and resources, conservation practitioners often monitor a single focal species or …