Digital Commons Network^™

Peculiar Students Of A Peculiar Institution: A Historical Analysis Of Racial Minority Students And Race Relations At Brigham Young University As Presented In The Banyan From 1911-1985, Grace Ann Soelberg

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines the yearbook for Brigham Young University which ran from 1911-1985. It analyzes the ways in which white students not only asserted and defended their whiteness, but how they superimposed narratives and identities upon other groups. Black students were largely ignored and their inclusion depended upon the schools need to defend itself against accusations of racism and for white students to remain in racial innocence. White students also exhibited various anti-Black behaviors in an attempt to distance themselves from blackness to attain whiteness. Native American students were homogenized and forced to fit into the white students and administrations …

A Noncoding Rna Modulator Potentiates Phenylalanine Metabolism In Mice, Yajuan Li, Zhi Tan, Yaohua Zhang, Zhao Zhang, Qingsong Hu, Ke Liang, Yao Jun, Youqiong Ye, Yi-Chuan Li, Chunlai Li, Lan Liao, Jianming Xu, Zhen Xing, Yinghong Pan, Sujash S Chatterjee, Tina K Nguyen, Heidi Hsiao, Sergey D Egranov, Nagireddy Putluri, Cristian Coarfa, David H Hawke, Preethi H Gunaratne, Kuang-Lei Tsai, Leng Han, Mien-Chie Hung, George A Calin, Fares Namour, Jean-Louis Guéant, Ania C Muntau, Nenad Blau, V Reid Sutton, Manuel Schiff, François Feillet, Shuxing Zhang, Chunru Lin, Liuqing Yang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

The functional role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in inherited metabolic disorders, including phenylketonuria (PKU), is unknown. We demonstrated that the mouse lncRNA Pair and human HULC associate with phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH). Pair-knockout mice exhibited excessive blood phenylalanine, musty odor, hypopigmentation, growth retardation, and progressive neurological symptoms including seizures, which faithfully models human PKU. HULC depletion led to reduced PAH enzymatic activities in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-differentiated hepatocytes. Mechanistically, HULC modulated the enzymatic activities of PAH by facilitating PAH-substrate and PAH-cofactor interactions. To develop a therapeutic strategy for restoring liver lncRNAs, we designed GalNAc-tagged lncRNA mimics that …

The Effects Of Developmental Chlorpyrifos Exposure On The Proteome Of The Adolescent Rat Hippocampus, Aubrey Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

Chlorpyrifos is a widely used organophosphate insecticide, functioning through the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. Recent studies report negative long-lasting biochemical and behavioral effects at levels without acetylcholinesterase inhibition. Our lab studies have identified the endocannabinoid system as a target for OP low-dose neurotoxicity. This thesis identifies the proteins and their associated neurotransmitter systems in the hippocampus that have been affected by low dose developmental exposure to the OP insecticide CPF. Male rat pups were treated from postnatal day 10 (PND) - PND16 with either corn oil (vehicle), 0.75 mg/kg of CPF, or 0.02 mg/kg of PF-04457845, a specific fatty acid amide …

Puma And The Innate Immune Response During Pneumococcal Infection In The Lung, Daniel Edward Kennedy Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Background: The p53-up-regulated modulator of apoptosis (PUMA) protein is a pro-apoptotic, BH3-only member of the BCL2 family of effector proteins responsible for promoting organized cell death. PUMA is required for resolution of pneumococcal pneumonia in mice, as mice deficient of PUMA exhibit greater numbers of S. pneumoniae CFU within tissues and higher mortality rates than observed in Puma+/+ mice. Methods: Puma+/+ and Puma-/- mice were intranasally challenged with TIGR4 pneumococcus and sacrificed 24 h post-infection. Differences in cytokine levels from blood and whole lung tissue were detected by MILLIPLEX MAP Mouse Cytokine/Chemokine Magnetic Bead Panel. Lung transcriptomes from Puma+/+ and …

Weedy Rice (Oryza Sativa Ssp.): An Untapped Genetic Resource For Abiotic Stress Tolerant Traits For Rice Improvement, Shandrea D. Stallworth

Theses and Dissertations

Rice (Oryza sativa) is the staple food for more than 3.5 billion people worldwide. As the population continues to grow, rice yield will need to increase by 1% every year for the next 30 years to keep up with the growth. In the US, Arkansas accounts for more than 50% of rice production. Over the last 68 years, rice production has continued to grow in Mississippi, placing it in fourth place after Arkansas, Louisiana, and California. Due to increasing rice acreage, regionally and worldwide, the need to develop abiotic stress-tolerant rice has increased. Unfortunately, current rice breeding programs lack genetic …

Impact Of Cover Crop Monocultures And Mixtures On Organic Carbon Contents Of Soil Aggregates, Daphne Topps, Imam Ul Khabir, Hagir Abdelmagid, Todd Jackson, Javed Iqbal, Boakai K. Robertson, Zahida Hassan Pervaiz, Muhammad Saleem

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Cover crops are considered an integral component of agroecosystems because of their positive impacts on biotic and abiotic indicators of soil health. At present, we know little about the impact of cover crop types and diversity on the organic carbon (OC) contents of different soil aggregate-size classes. In this study, we investigated the effect of cover plant diversity on OC contents of different soil aggregates, such as macro- (<2000–500 µm), meso- (<500–250 µm), and micro-aggregates (<250 µm). Our experiment included a total of 12 experimental treatments in triplicate; six different monoculture treatments such as chickling vetch (Vicia villosa), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), field peas (Pisum sativum), oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus), and mighty mustard (Brassica juncea), and their three- and six-species mixture treatments, including one unplanted control treatment. We performed this experiment usingdeep pots that contained soil collected from a corn-soybean rotation field. At vegetative maturity of cover plants (about 70 days), we took soil samples, and the soil aggregate-size classes were separated by the dry sieving. We hypothesized that cover crop type and diversity will improve OC contents of different soil aggregate-size classes. We found that cover plant species richness weakly positively increased OC contents of soil macro-aggregates (p = 0.056), whereas other aggregate-size classes did not respond to cover crop diversity gradient. Similarly, the OC contents of macroaggregates varied significantly (p = 0.013) under cover crop treatments, though neither monoculture nor mixture treatments showed significantly higher OC contents than the control treatment in this short-term experiment. Interestingly, the inclusion of hairy vetch and oilseed radish increased and decreased the OC contents of macro- and micro-aggregates, respectively. Moreover, we found a positive correlation between shoot biomass and OC contents of macroaggregates. Overall, our results suggest that species-rich rather than -poor communities may improve OC contents of soil macroaggregates, which constitute a major portion of soil systems, and are also considered as important indicators of soil functions.

Neutrosophic Statistical Analysis Of Arthrofibrosis Of The Knee Rehabilitation, Sara Guerrón Enríquez, Zuly Ribel Nazate Chugá, Ruth Isabel Tavera, María Clemencia Villareal Gel, Darvin Manuel Ramírez Guerra

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

This research aims at deepening the validation of knee arthrofibrosis rehabilitation techniques. It begins with a bibliographic review and an initial diagnosis that justifies the need to investigate these issues, and aspects that give consistency to them. We designed both a pre-test and a post-test, where the patient is physically examined, as well as a questionnaire is applied about the degree of pain or degree of independence. In the study we proposed to the patients to answer questions about the pain degree in form of intervals rather than single values, this allows us to assess most accurately what patients feel, …

Model For The Diagnosis Of Autism Based On Neutrosophic Cognitive Maps, Lester Noel Reyes Salgado, Miguel Eduardo Ramos Argilagos, Alberto Sánchez Garrido, Alex Ramón Valencia Herrera, Salah Hasan Saleh Al-Subhi

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

Autism spectrum disorders are diverse conditions characterized by some degree of difficulty in social interaction and communication, atypical patterns of activity and behavior, and unusual reactions to sensations. ASDs do not have a single known cause, scientists do not know the exact causes of their development, and it is believed that they are associated with a combination of several factors. The present study was carried out with 42 cases diagnosed with any of the subclasses of autism established by the DSM-V and included patients between 18 months and four years old, from 4 provinces of Ecuador, to determine the main …

Management Of Indeterminacy In The Analysis Of Knowledge About Reproductive Tract Infections In Women, Julio Morillo Cano, Melba Esperanza Narváez Montenegro, Adisnay Rodríguez Placencia, Olger Efraín Velastegui Naranjo

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

The research aims to assess the level of knowledge about reproductive tract infections among women to apply statistical analysis of the probability of indeterminacy. The main methods and techniques used were: theoretical, analytical-synthetic, and inductive-deductive, while within the empirical are the survey, measurement, and statistical-mathematical. The sample was calculated using neutrosophic statistics and python interval arithmetic library. The results achieved are evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively, where the validity of the same was demonstrated since there was a level of significance equal to or less than p 0.05.

Neutrosophic Sets And Systems, {Special Issue: Impact Of Neutrosophic Scientific Publication In Latin American Context}, Vol. 44, 2021, Florentin Smarandache, Mohamed Abdel-Basset, Maikel Leyva Vazquez, Said Broumi

Neutrosophic Sets and Systems

No abstract provided.

Considering The Wide World Of Wild Pig Management, John M. Tomeček

Human–Wildlife Interactions

This is the letter from John M. Tomeček, associate editor for the special issue on wild pigs in Human–Wildlife Interactions.

Household Perceptions And Patterns Of Crop Loss By Wild Pigs In North India, Bivash Pandav, Lakshminarayanan Natarajan, Ankit Kumar, Ajay A. Desai, Banteibor Lyngkhoi

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Loss to cultivated crops by wild pigs (Sus scrofa) is widespread and can jeopardize low-income farmers. In India, although there is lot of political interest in the problem, efforts to understand the patterns, correlates, and underlying reasons for wild pig conflict continue to be minimal. We quantified loss of wheat (Triticum aestivum) to wild pigs and assessed the spatial patterns of damage in a forest settlement of Van Gujjar (Haridwar, India), which is a dairy-based pastoralist community. We chose a 4-km² cultivated area comprising 400 farmlands (each measuring 0.8 ha and belonging to a family) and …

Interactions Between Humans, Crocodiles, And Hippos At Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe, Ivan Marowa, Joshua Matanzima, Tamuka Nhiwatiwa

Human–Wildlife Interactions

Human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs) are on the increase due to shrinking space that results in increased competition for land, water, and other natural resources between humans and wildlife. Investigating the occurrence of HWCs is important in that the results can be used to formulate better management policies and strategies. In this paper, we describe the nature of HWCs emerging between humans and the Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) and between humans and the African hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius; hippo) on Lake Kariba, Zimbabwe. Lake Kariba is the second largest manmade lake by volume in the world. Conflicts involving humans …

Warning! Explicit Material: The Effects Of Adolescent Pornography Use On Risky Sexual Behavior Over Time, Emily Jensen-Schvaneveldt

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the longitudinal effects of adolescent pornography trajectories on risky sexual behavior, as well as predictors of pornography trajectories. Data was taken from Waves V-X of the Flourishing Families Project, which included a sample of 463 families. A zero-inflated Poisson growth mixture model was run to determine class participation and growth trajectories. Findings revealed that gender and religiosity significantly predicted class participation, and class participation significantly predicted risky sexual behavior. While this study did have limitations, this study adds to the previous literature by examining adolescent pornography trajectories over an extended period of time.

Temperatures Influence Susceptibility To Insecticides In Aedes Aegypti And Aedes Albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) Mosquitoes, Wendy S. Salinas, Teresa Patricia Feria-Arroyo, Christopher Vitek

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) are vectors for several arboviruses, including dengue, Zika virus and chikungunya virus. The primary method of controlling these diseases is controlling the vector population, often with insecticides. Insecticide resistance may impact the success of these efforts. We tested the effect of variable temperature exposures on susceptibility to insecticides by exposing adult A. aegypti and A. albopictus to different temperatures and tested their susceptibility to insecticides. We hypothesized that adults maintained at high temperatures would show increased susceptibility to insecticides relative to lower temperatures. Colony mosquitoes were hatched, reared to adulthood and then maintained …

Toward Rationality In Oil And Gas Leasing: Building The Toolkit For Programmatic Reforms, Rachel Rothschild, Max Sarinsky

Other Publications

For decades, the federal government has inadequately considered the environmental harms of oil and gas extraction in its management of public lands and waters. As a result, fossil-fuel developers have been handed vast swaths of land at bargain prices, causing dangerous levels of greenhouse gas pollution that exacerbates climate change while depriving the public of more beneficial uses of the land.

That is all likely to change soon. A week into his term, President Biden called for a comprehensive review of the oil and gas program.1 That review is now underway and is likely to result in substantial programmatic reforms …

Rephine.R: A Pipeline For Correcting Gene Calls And Clusters To Improve Phage Pangenomes And Phylogenies, Jason W. Shapiro, Catherine Putonti

Biology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Background. A pangenome is the collection of all genes found in a set of related genomes. For microbes, these genomes are often different strains of the same species, and the pangenome offers a means to compare gene content variation with differences in phenotypes, ecology, and phylogenetic relatedness. Though most frequently applied to bacteria, there is growing interest in adapting pangenome analysis to bacteriophages. However, working with phage genomes presents new challenges. First, most phage families are under-sampled, and homologous genes in related viruses can be difficult to identify. Second, homing endonucleases and intron-like sequences may be present, resulting in fragmented …

Identifying The Molecular Pathways That Drive Retinal Degeneration In The Childhood Neurodegenerative Disease: Mucolipidosis Type Iv, Michael Pamonag

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Humans, like many other vertebrates, possess five Aristotelian senses (vision, olfaction, hearing, taste, and touch) which we use to experience and navigate our environment. Our visual system is the only source of light detection and light signaling in our bodies. This makes our visual system essential for detecting movement, distance, time of day, and seasonal changes in the length of days within our environment. The visual systems of most animals are designed to capture photons of visible light and convert that energy into a neurological signal (visual signal) to be transmitted to brain regions responsible for visual perception1 . This …

Is Immediate Flexibility Present In A Vocal Mimic, The Gray Catbird (Dumetella Carolinensis), Across An Urban Gradient?, Shannon K. Eppert

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Increasing urbanization has increased anthropogenic noise levels near developed areas. Urban noise is high amplitude and low-frequency, and these frequencies can overlap with the signals animals use to communicate, including bird songs. Many urban birds sing higher minimum frequencies in urban areas, which avoids some masking by noise, but the mechanism behind this difference is not well understood. Immediate flexibility is the ability to alter song in real-time in the presence of sudden noise, allowing for avoidance of masking and better signal transmission. I investigated if male catbirds increased signal transmission in the presence of anthropogenic versus high-frequency noise playback …

Evaluating The Influence Of Ecosystem Characteristics And Species Traits On Exotic Species Distributions, Adrián Lázaro-Lobo

Theses and Dissertations

Natural dispersal mechanisms and biogeographical barriers have shaped species' native distributional ranges over millions of years. However, over the last few centuries, humans have dispersed species beyond their natural ranges. Those species that undergo explosive population growth and rapid expansion in the introduced region are considered as invasive because they have the potential to cause negative effects on desirable species and/or ecosystem services. In chapter II, I identified what ecosystem characteristics are more closely associated with successful establishment of exotic and native species, to have a better idea of where to concentrate our efforts and resources to prevent invasion events …

The Nose Glows: Investigating Amphibian Neuroendocrine Pathways With Quantum Dots, Allison Rebecca Julien

Theses and Dissertations

Today, amphibian extinction rates are rising at an alarming rate. Captive assurance colonies have become a hedge against extinction, and often must employ assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in species that do not readily breed in captivity. One technique that can be utilized in assisted breeding is hormone therapy, which involves the treatment of individuals with exogenous reproductive hormones. The primary delivery method used in most breeding programs is intraperitoneal injection, but many institutions either lack the training necessary to conduct this invasive procedure, or require veterinary staff to perform them, thus delaying breeding events. Therefore, there is interest in alternate …

Determining The Optimal Dile:Dlys Ratio For Ross 708 X Ross Yp Male Broilers Throughout Multiple Grow Out Phases (Starter, Grower, And Finisher), Andrew Taylor Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Within commercial broiler production, feed and feed manufacturing costs account for 60 to 70% of production costs. Of these feed costs specifically, ingredients that supply energy and protein represent the highest expenditure, verifying the importance of knowing the nutrient requirements of current broiler strains to ensure accurate least-cost formulation. To reduce these production costs and optimize performance, primary breeder companies and nutritionists continuously strive to improve nutrient utilization of commercial broiler strains. As a result of this, a great magnitude of work is conducted to determine the nutrient requirements for broilers, especially amino acids. Therefore, the overall objective of this …

Modeling Recombination Rate As A Quantitative Trait Reveals New Insight Into Selection In Humans, Austin L. Drury

Theses and Dissertations

Meiotic recombination is both a fundamental biological process required for proper chromosomal segregation during meiosis and a fundamental genomic parameter that shapes major features of the genomic landscape. While there is strong evidence of fitness costs of low rates of recombination, the possible fitness costs of high rates of recombination are less defined. To determine whether a single lower fitness bound can explain the variation in recombination rate observed in human populations, we simulated the evolution of recombination rate as a quantitative trait using empirically-derived parameters. For our fitness function, we implemented a hyperbolic tangent curve with flexible parameters to …

Effects Of The In Ovo Injection And Dietary Supplementation Of L-Ascorbic Acid On The Performance, Tissue L-Ascorbic Acid Concentrations, Inflammatory Response, And Trachea Histomorphology Of Ross 708 Broilers Raised Under Normal And Elevated Atmospheric Ammonia Levels, Ayoub Mousstaaid

Theses and Dissertations

Effects of various levels of L-ascorbic acid (L-AA) (12 and 25 mg) in ovo injected at 17 and 18 days of incubation, on embryonic and posthatch physiological variables in Ross 708 broilers were investigated. There were no significant treatment effects on the hatchability or serum concentrations of L-AA in the broilers. Eye L-AA concentrations were higher, and plasma nitric oxide levels were lower in male chicks treated in ovo with 12 mg of L-AA. While exposed to elevated atmospheric NH3 levels, the in ovo injection of 12 mg of L-AA increased the body weight gain and decreased the feed conversion …

Effects Of Year-Round Supplemental Feeding Of White-Tailed Deer On Plant Community Dynamics, Beau Navarre

Theses and Dissertations

Supplemental feeding is commonly practiced to enhance available nutrition for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). The effects of supplemental feeding on the surrounding vegetative community may be related to herbivory, trampling, and seed dispersal. I evaluated how these potential mechanisms affect vegetative communities using a matched-pair design (fed and ecologically equivalent unfed sites) during 2018-2020. In a short-term manipulative portion of the study, I sampled the vegetation prior to feeding and during two years of feeding. In a long-term retrospective study, I sampled feeders established 5-7 years previously. Feeders increased daily detection rate of deer and seed dispersing non-target wildlife, percentage …

Effects Of Acute, Chronic, And Cyclical Hypoxia On The Physiology And Transcriptome Of Channel Catfish (Ictalurus Punctatus), Brian Ott

Theses and Dissertations

Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) are raised for aquaculture in ponds characterized by dramatic swings in dissolved oxygen concentration. If morning dissolved oxygen concentration falls below approximately 3.0 mg/L catfish consume less feed, leading to a reduction in growth and production. Although the effects of low oxygen on channel catfish appetite have been described, the underlying mechanisms responsible for those effects are unknown. Increased production of the neuropeptides corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and urotensin I (UI) are implicated in other fishes as neuropeptides that reduce appetite once an environmental stressor is detected. This project characterizes the hematological responses and transcriptional response of …

Evaluation Of Decay Effect On Tension Perpendicular To Grain Properties Of Wood, Brianna Abigail Duquette

Theses and Dissertations

The study of mechanical properties of perpendicular to the grain research is important regarding connections within mass paneling and other wood connections. Research on wood properties perpendicular to grain and the effect of decay on this direction is needed. Brown-rot fungi are a major contributor in having to replace or repair wooden members; therefore, the objectives of this study were to study the effect brown-rot decay has on the mechanical properties of perpendicular to the grain over different periods of exposure; and to evaluate the efficacy of various methods on assessing decay on wood. The methods evaluated in this study …

Oak Regeneration: Impacts Of Prescribed Fire And Invasive Species, Caleb Desmond Goldsmith

Theses and Dissertations

Across the central and eastern United States, upland oaks are experiencing regeneration complications. This thesis comprises two studies evaluating challenges in regenerating upland oaks. One study evaluates upland Quercus spp., Carya spp., and Acer rubrum L. response to prescribed fire and impacts on seedling growth and mortality. This study found prescribed fire promoted oak growth when canopy cover was < 77%. Oaks displayed lower percent mortality and higher resprout capacity after fire compared to red maple. The second study investigates impacts of Microstegium vimineum presence on Quercus alba L., Liriodendron tulipifera L., and Acer rubrum L. seedlings under different light and moisture environments. Microstegium vimineum presence decreased growth of both sweetgum and red maple; white oak was less impacted, likely because of its conservative growth strategy and high-water use efficiency. Oaks’ conservative growth strategy may offer more resiliency compared to its competitors in response to prescribed fire and Microstegium vimineum.

Regeneration Potential And Habitat Suitability Modeling Of Three Imperiled Southeastern U.S. Woody Plants, Clayton Warren Hale

Theses and Dissertations

Presented within this thesis are three studies on three rare and imperiled Southeastern woody plant species: mountain stewartia (Stewartia ovata), Atlantic white-cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), and Miller's witch-alder (Fothergilla milleri). This work contributes to the ecological understanding of these three species allowing for better-informed conservation decision-making. Machine learning habitat suitability models are presented for mountain stewartia and Miller's witch-alder. These models can direct limited conservation dollars and manpower towards areas of the highest habitat suitability. This work also utilizes field-based data to assess the habitat needs, species associations, and regeneration potential of both Atlantic white-cedar and Miller's witch-alder. Understanding the habitat …

Commercial Douglas Fir Biochar Based Multifunctional Exotic Adsorbents For Water Remediation, Chanaka Navarathna

Theses and Dissertations

Providing safe drinking water and wastewater remediation are constant worldwide challenges. Adsorption is an attractive alternative to conventional techniques such as coagulation, precipitation (chemically or electrochemically), hybrid membranes, and ion-exchange for the purification of water. Biochar-based composite sorbents are increasingly popular because a range of surface chemical and physical treatments can impart performance and environmental benefits to the material. This is ideal for rural areas where more costly conventional methods may not be readily available or affordable. This dissertation focused on three different projects involving high surface area (~700 m2/g) Douglas fir biochar based multifunctional engineered adsorbents. Chapter II focuses …