Digital Commons Network^™

Nanocarbon/Elastomer Composites : Characterization And Applications In Photo-Mechanical Actuation., Robert James Loomis 1978-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Materials that change shape or dimensions in response to external stimuli are widely used in actuation devices. While plenty of systems respond to heat, light, electricity, and magnetism, there is an emerging class of light-driven actuators based on carbon nanostructure/elastomer composites. The addition of nanomaterials to elastomeric polymers results not only in significant material property improvements such as mechanical strength, but also assists in creating entirely new composite functionalities as with photo-mechanical actuation. Efficient photon absorption by nanocarbons and subsequent energy transduction to the polymeric chains can be used to controllably produce significant amounts of pre-strain dependent motion. Photo-mechanical actuation …

Modified Half-Edge Data Structure And Its Applications To 3d Mesh Generation For Complex Tube Networks., Richard Paris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In computer graphics 3D mesh generation is an important topic, it is required for a vast number of applications. While there are currently solutions available for the generation of meshes, there is not one that suits our application well that is written in C#, for this reason a C# implementation of the half-edge data structure as well as a C# implementation of the mesh generation algorithms is needed. This document will discuss in detail the method by which the algorithms are implemented, the improvements that are made on the half-edge data structure, and the new features that have been added …

Sex Differences In Violent School Victimization : Using Self-Control To Understand Variation In Victimization., Anthony Smith 1989-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Violent victimization of students within the school environment has become a major issue to our school systems, administrators, teachers, and students. Despite this high rate of violent victimization, little is known about the individual predictors and whether they operate similarly for males and females. The present study utilizes an 8th grade student sample to determine the predictive ability of self-control, deviant peer associations, age, sex, and race on violent school victimization. In addition, each of these items will have their predictive ability tested on males and females separately to examine whether the items are equally effective across biological sex. Findings …

The Nashville John School : Risk Deterrence And The Reintegrative Shaming Approach., Robin Malony Valenzuela

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary anti-prostitution campaigns focus on curtailing “the demand” by punishing sexual service consumers. One component of this approach is a diversion program, or “john school,” offered to those who are caught buying prostitution. This ethnography focuses upon the Nashville John School (NJS), which consists of informational presentations that educate johns about the risks associated with prostitution. By employing a restorative justice approach, the NJS exemplifies elements of John Braithwaite’s “reintegrative shaming” theory (1989), which seeks to hold offenders accountable for their wrongdoing while avoiding stigmatization. This ethnographic study utilizes participant observation in the NJS, as well as individual interviews with …

Larval Performance And Kill Rate Of Convergent Ladybird Beetles, Hippodamia Convergens, On Black Bean Aphids, Aphis Fabae, And Pea Aphids, Acyrthosiphon Pisum, Travis M. Hinkelman, Brigitte Tenhumberg

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Generalist predator guilds play a prominent role in structuring insect communities and can contribute to limiting population sizes of insect pest species. A consequence of dietary breadth, particularly in predatory insects, is the inclusion of low-quality, or even toxic, prey items in the predator’s diet. Consumption of low-quality prey items reduces growth, development, and survival of predator larvae, thereby reducing the population sizes of generalist predators. The objective of this paper was to examine the effect of a suspected low-quality aphid species, Aphis fabae (Scopoli) (Hemiptera: Aphididae), on the larval performance of an abundant North American predator, Hippodamia convergens (Guérin-Méneville) …

Gardner-Webb, The Magazine 2013, Spring (Volume 48 No. 1), Noel T. Manning Ii

Gardner-Webb, The Magazine

Gardner-Webb, The Magazine, previously titled The Webb Magazine, focuses on alumni news and campus events from Gardner-Webb College; now Gardner-Webb University. This issue includes an article about the progress Gardner-Webb made with their Higher Ground Campaign as well as several articles detailing honors and achievements within athletic programs. There are also numerous articles highlighting various noteworthy career paths of alumni and past faculty members including Neal Alexander and Sharon Decker being named to serve in North Carolina cabinet posts.

Force Sensing Glove For Quantification Of Joint Torques During Stretching After Spinal Cord Injury In The Rat Model., Erik Seibt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An increasing amount of healthcare resources is used for the treatment and prevention of contractures in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI), with stretch and passive movements remaining the most prominent intervention methods. The results of both clinical trials and animal studies in recent years have shown traditional stretch therapies to be ineffective at preventing contracture and joint immobility, and have encouraged further emphasis on evidence-based practices. However, these studies only analyzed one aspect of stretching, dosage, and failed to look at the characteristic of joint torque. Recent clinical trials have unearthed the fact that the joint torque application of …

Relationship Between Occupational Complexity And Dementia Risk In Late-Life: A Population Study, Daylee Rose Greene

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

According to cognitive reserve theory, challenging and/or stimulating cognitive activities can build a theoretical reserve, which may lead to a delay in the clinical expression of dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease. These cognitively stimulating activities are thought to build cognitive strategies and neural pathways that are more efficient, enabling the individual to live symptom-free for a longer period of time. One mechanism through which cognitive reserve can be built is by participating in an occupation high in cognitive complexity. When individuals hold an occupation that is high in complexity, they may build their cognitive reserve in such a manner as to …

Understanding Successful Japanese Language Programs: Utah Case Study, Timothy G. Stout

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent world events have caused Americans to reassess national political, economic, and educational priorities, resulting in a shift towards Asia. The schools in response have begun to introduce less commonly taught languages, such as Japanese and Chinese. Many Utah public schools have tried to implement less commonly taught language programs. Some have succeeded, and other others have not. The purpose of this study was to understand how and why some schools were able to successfully integrate less commonly taught language programs, and why others were not.

The results of this study suggest that the factors relating to students’ interests and …

Factors Affecting The Oxidative Stability Of Foods-Interesterified Soybean Oil With High Intensity Ultrasound Treatment And Trona Mineral In Packaged Fresh Meats, Jiwon Lee

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Oxidation leads to rancid flavors or odors in oils and meat and causes discoloration in muscle foods. There is a great concern about economic loss when oxidation is not effectively controlled. Novel processing and storage methods such as ultrasound, interesterification, or gas emitter sachet in meat packaging have been studied to provide desirable quality properties of oils and meat products. However, there are not enough studies to explain their effect on oxidative stability. Better understanding of new techniques is required to manage the oxidative stability and even other quality properties.

High intensity ultrasound is an effective method to improve physical …

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 …

Analysis And Design Of A Thermal Capacitor For Use In The Food Industry, Karen Nielson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Team Hot Stuff is working with Thermal Management Technologies (TMT) of Logan, UT to explore the concept of a thermal capacitor serving platter. With the funding from TMT, Hot Stuff will design, build, and test a prototype serving platter. This report is written by Hot Stuff for MAE 4800, Capstone Design I; it covers the design and analysis of a serving platter.

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 …

Correcting Errors Due To Species Correlations In The Marginal Probability Density Evolution Algorithm, Abiezer Tejeda

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Synthetic biology is an emerging field that integrates and applies engineering design methods to biological systems. Its aim is to make biology an “engineerable” science. Over the years, biologists and engineers alike have abstracted biological systems into functional models that behave similarly to electric circuits, thus the creation of the subfield of genetic circuits. Mathematical models have been devised to simulate the behavior of genetic circuits in silico. Most models can be classified into deterministic and stochastic models. The work in this dissertation is for stochastic models.

Although ordinary differential equation (ODE) models are generally amenable to simulate genetic …

Roads And The Reproductive Ecology Of Hesperidanthus Suffrutescens, An Endangered Shrub, Matthew B. Lewis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

We studied the pollination ecology of the endangered Utah desert shrub, shrubby reed-mustard (Hesperidanthus suffrutescens). We also studied the impacts that dust from unpaved roads has on successful reproduction. In addition, we looked at the relationship between the total number of plants, the spacing of plants, and reproduction. We found that shrubby reed-mustard requires pollinators for successful pollination. Pollinators include many small native bees from the genera Andrena, Dialictus, and Halictus. Additionally, we found that reproduction of shrubby reed-mustard is limited, possibly due to scarcity of these bees. We found that dust from the road …

Nutritional And Economic Analysis Of Small-Scale Agriculture In Imbabura, Ecuador, Jake Erickson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Intervention projects in the developing world normally aim to satisfy either the nutritional needs of a group, or advancing the economic stability, but not both. One of the many issues that may arise by narrowly focusing and creating an aid program is that although a group may be fed, they are not equipped to mitigate risks that will arise after project completion and thus continue or revert back to a malnourished state. A bridge is required to join the economic and nutritional programs to create aid interventions that are sustainable past the point of donor separation.

This paper proposes the …

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 …

Resilience And Resistance In Academically Successful Latino/A Students, Dennis Heaton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The objective of this case study was to examine and explain the success of a group of Latino/a students whose educational success substantially exceeds the success of their peers. Ten middle school students, their parents, and selected school personnel who worked with them were interviewed. The student participants were purposefully selected based on their grades, attendance, and test scores. The adult participants were selected based on their relationship to the student participants.

The student participants were interviewed twice and the adult participants were interviewed once, using a semi-structured format designed to allow the interviewees to go beyond the interviewer’s initial …

Reproductive Biology And Impacts Of Energy Development On Physaria Congesta And Physaria Obcordata (Brassicaceae), Two Rare And Threatened Plants In The Piceance Basin, Colorado, Sarah Lynn Clark

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Oil and gas development has increased profoundly over the last 20 years in the United States. A large underground deposit of natural gas has been found in the Piceance Basin, which is located in the northwestern part of the state of Colorado. This deposit occurs in an area inhabited by two rare mustard species commonly named the Dudley Bluffs bladderpod and the Dudley Bluffs twinpod. These two plant species are also listed as threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Concerns about gas development effects on these rare plants have motivated research that quantifies these potential impacts. Through funding …

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 …

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 …

Evolutionary Optimization Algorithms For Nonlinear Systems, Ashish Raj

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the real world, we encounter a number of problems which require iterative methods rather than heuristic approaches to solve them. Not every problem can be solved with a definitive method. Optimization algorithms come to the aid of such instances. These algorithms carry out multiple iterations or generations to try to achieve the lowest value of a cost function. The demand for fast and robust stochastic algorithms to cater to the optimization needs is very high. The faster the convergence to a low value of the cost function, the better the algorithm is. This is attained in greedy criterion approaches, …

Evaluation Of The Tgf-Ss Inhibitor Repsox On The Expression Of Pluripotency Pathways In Murine And Bovine Cells, Davin M. Larsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Embryonic stem cells are cells which are isolated from early stage embryos and have the theoretical ability to become any adult cell type in the body. In the past few years much research has focused on the use of embryonic stem cells for clinical applications in the treatment of degenerative diseases. Consequently they are a promising tool in the treatment of diseases such as Diabetes and Parkinson’s disease, and could potentially be used in the repair of permanently damaged tissue. However, since these cells are isolated from early stage embryos their successful isolation often results in the destruction of the …

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 …

Characterization And Potential Utility Of Porcine Trophoblast-Derived Stem-Like Cells, Edison A. Suasnavas

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In mammalian pregnancy, the placenta is a very important organ which helps to establish a healthy pregnancy. Its functions could be described in four points: 1) It allows the fetus to receive gases and nutrients from the mother in a safe way; 2) it lets the fetus get rid of waste through the mother's kidneys; 3) it releases essential pregnancy-related hormones and growth factors that let the uterus hold the fetus; 4) it secretes immune response regulators to give the fetus immune protection against the mother. Abnormalities in the placenta can be the cause of death to the fetus. Mammalian …

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 …

Nutrient Contribution Of The Shallow Unconfined Aquifer To Pineview Reservoir, Thomas Nyanda Reuben

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Pineview Reservoir, near Utah’s populous Wasatch Front, could play an important role in modulating water supply as water demands and water uses change in response to increasing population densities. The reservoir’s water quality may decline if nitrogen and phosphorus additions to the reservoir are not controlled. Most of the water flowing into the reservoir in summer and fall is contributed by the shallow ground water. The quantity and quality of the shallow ground water to Pineview Reservoir were studied from February 2010 through November 2011. The objectives were to: 1) increase understanding of nitrogen and phosphorus transport from ground water …

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. …

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 …

Catalytic Decomposition Of Nitrous Oxide Monopropellant For Hybrid Motor Ignition, Matthew D. Wilson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nitrous oxide (N₂O), a commonly-used industrial gas, is also often used as a rocket motor oxidizer. It has been used in both hybrid rocket motors (using a solid fuel and a liquid oxidizer) and liquid rocket engines (using liquid fuel and oxidizer).

As a liquid form, nitrous oxide is highly stable, but in vapor form it can be decomposed, releasing large amounts of heat as it dissociates into nitrogen and oxygen. This project investigates using the energy from decomposing nitrous oxide to ignite a hybrid or liquid rocket. Such a system would be practical in rocket …