Digital Commons Network^™

Asynchronous Intervention For Students With Disabilities On Career Awareness, Erica Rood

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Historically, students with disabilities have fewer opportunities to prepare for post-high school life, and this is especially true when it comes to getting a job. This is also true for those students with complex support needs (i.e., autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, other health impairment). One way to help individuals with disabilities have greater success after high school is to teach them about different careers.

This study was for high school students with disabilities who have complex support needs. It focused on helping them learn about different careers through online modules. The study looked at whether this type of learning …

Pavlovian Conditioning And Self-Control: From Laboratory To Classroom Application, Saba Mahmoudi

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Impulsive choice, the preference for a smaller-sooner reward (SSR) over a larger-later reward (LLR), is associated with various challenging behaviors (e.g., gambling and substance-used disorders). Many interventions can reduce impulsive choice but those that produce long-lasting effects typically require long training durations or are difficult to implement in applied settings. This dissertation evaluated a novel Pavlovian training approach designed to promote self-control. In Experiment 1, procedures from Mahmoudi and Madden (2024) were replicated in the laboratory with the addition of a truly random control group. The study also assessed whether presenting the conditioned stimulus (CS) before a choice would increase …

Integrating Space Use And Demography To Support Management Of An Endangered Alpine Ungulate, Danielle J. Berger

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The places animals choose to live affect the food they find, the dangers they face, and the weather conditions they experience. These experiences influence whether individual animals survive and reproduce, which in turn affects the size and health of animal populations. Although scientists have long believed that animal movements play an important role in population trends, there has been limited real-world evidence showing this connection. Advances in GPS tracking technology now allow researchers to follow animals over long periods and better understand how movement influences survival. Using 20 years of GPS tracking data from the endangered Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep …

Understanding The Impact Of Environmental Change On Shorebird Abundance And Distribution Across The Intermountain West Over The Past 30 Years, Sharon Montecino

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Shorebirds have declined worldwide over the past century, mainly due to wetland loss and degradation. Wetlands are sites that are temporarily or permanently flooded and provide critical habitat for shorebirds, especially in arid and semi-arid regions such as the Intermountain West. However, climate change and human water use threaten these wetlands, and how these threats may affect shorebirds in this region remains poorly understood. In the early 1990s, shorebird counts at over 160 wetlands across the Intermountain West provided a broad assessment of shorebird populations in the region. These counts remained the only large-scale surveys until 2022, when the Intermountain …

An Examination Of Lifetime Traumatic Brain Injury And Anti-Inflammatory Medication Use In The Risk For Alzheimer's Disease, Mikaela A. Drewel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia in individuals aged 65 years and older. There are a number of lifestyle and genetic factors that affect one’s risk for AD including traumatic brain injury (TBI), and genes such as those for Apolipoprotein E (APOE) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This study examined sex differences in how TBI history influences risk for AD, exploring genetic variants suspected to play a role in TBI recovery. Additionally, in following an inflammatory mechanism in TBI, the study also determined if nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use reduced subsequent risk for AD. The study analyzed …

Incorporation Of Dairy Ingredients Into Chocolate And Caramel: Impact On Product Quality, Shelf Life, And Consumer Acceptance, Taelie Kennedy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Incorporating next-generation milk powders like milk protein isolate (MPI) and milk protein concentrate (MPC) into confections can increase protein content. Milk permeate powders (MPP) are byproducts of the production of high-protein dairy ingredients (MPC and MPI). Typically considered waste streams, growing awareness of sustainability has increased interest in the use of MPP in food. There is minimal research on the use of these ingredients in confections. 

This study evaluated the effects of incorporating milk protein powders and MPP into chocolate and the effects of replacing granulated sugar with MPP in caramel on product quality and consumer acceptance. 

Chocolate batches were …

The Effects Of Psychological Stress On Gut Health In Mice Fed Either A Healthy Diet Or The Total Western Diet, David Keenan Thomas Prescott

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The Total Western Diet (TWD), a rodent diet designed to model the typical American dietary pattern, has been shown to worsen inflammation and colitis severity in mice. Psychological stress has also been associated with increased intestinal inflammation, barrier dysfunction, and alterations to the gut microbiome. The goal of this study was to determine whether combining the TWD with psychological stress would further worsen colitis severity and alter the gut microbiome. To investigate this, mice were fed either a healthy control diet or the TWD and exposed to psychological stress using a social disruption stress model. Colitis was induced using established …

Impact Of Chronic Stress And Nutrition On Functional Connectivity And Neural Networks In Young Kichwa Children From The Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest, Matthew L. Cook

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Early childhood is a critical period for brain development. Positive and negative experiences during this time can have lasting effects on learning, health, and well-being. However, most research on children’s brain development has been conducted in wealthy, industrialized nations, leaving important gaps in our understanding of how children develop in other cultural and environmental contexts.

This study examined brain development in Indigenous Kichwa children living in two rural communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest. The goal was to better understand how chronic stress and nutrition may influence a child’s developing brain during early childhood. Children participated in noninvasive brain assessments …

Investigating Recruitment Bottlenecks Of Juvenile Native Fish In The Colorado River Basin, Utah, Anna R. Amidon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

The first year of life is a vulnerable period for most fish species. Whether young fish survive this early stage determines how many individuals eventually survive and grow into reproductive adults, a process called recruitment. In desert rivers like the Colorado River Basin, native fish evolved alongside extreme natural conditions but now face additional pressure from drought and water storage infrastructure, which alter the shoreline habitats on which young fish depend. Long-lived, migratory native species with complex life cycles are especially vulnerable. We used four decades of monitoring data from the Upper Colorado River Basin to evaluate whether young-of-year (YOY, …

Developing A New Uas Method For Estimating Heat Exposure On Western Us Trails, Jared Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Heat exposure and the risks to human health that stem from it have been studied extensively in the context of urban and occupational settings. Less studied however, is the effect of heat exposure in a recreational setting such as on hiking trails. What makes this fact more surprising is that recreation, especially in the Western US, is extremely popular, with national parks such as Zion and Arches bringing in hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. With millions of recreationists exposed to the hazard of heat every year, it is critical that recreationists are made aware of the dangers they …

Investigation Of Yy Production Methods For Invasive Channel Catfish Ictalurus Punctatus Population Management, Andrew M. Wisniewski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Aquatic invasive species are one of the leading causes of native fish declines in the Southwestern United States. Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus were introduced into the Colorado River Basin, including the San Juan River, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah for fishery enhancement during the 20th century. This introduction has contributed to the decline of native species and despite intensive mechanical removal efforts, the Channel Catfish population has persisted in the San Juan River. The Trojan Sex Chromosome approach is a promising eradication strategy that proposes the production and release of Trojan sex chromosome carriers (YY) to skew a targeted population’s …

The Role Of Individual Specialization In Migration Phenology And How Restored Habits Are Used By Native And Nonnative Fishes, Austin Garner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Native fish species around the world have declined due to habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, and the spread of non-native species. Because these problems often happen at the same time and interact, recovery efforts can stall unless they address all of the factors limiting a species' comeback. The June sucker (Chasmistes liorus), native only to Utah Lake, UT, has declined for many of these reasons, though its recovery effort has made significant progress due in large part to a successful hatchery program. Yet, the recovery efforts have not yet been able to establish a self-sustaining population in Utah Lake, …

The Influence Of Habitat And Individual Specialization On Mountain Lion (Puma Concolor) Hunting Strategy In A Multi-Prey System, Hannah B. Klugman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

There is a growing recognition that animal species considered generalists (having a broad and varied diet), are actually specialists, a collection of individuals with different preferences and strategies known as specializations. The diet of a specialist depends on the variety and quantity of available food options, and their own ability to take what they need. Mountain lions (Puma concolor) are known for their ability and tendency to hunt large prey, such as elk (Cervus canadensis) and mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), but despite the fact they overlap with other potential large prey, like feral horses …

A Social-Ecological Systems Approach To Integrating Outdoor Recreation And Black Bear Management: A Michigan Case Study, Megan Dorothy Stone

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Outdoor recreation sits at the intersection of social and ecological systems, representing one of the primary ways in which humans directly interact with their natural environment. As a result, outdoor recreation management must balance providing high-quality outdoor recreation opportunities while simultaneously protecting natural resources in protected areas. Balancing these concurrent management goals has become more challenging in recent years as participation in outdoor recreation increases. This can lead to numerous negative impacts on the environment, such as wildlife disturbance. In this study, I explore the challenges and opportunities for collaboration between managers of outdoor recreation and black bears in the …

Formulation And Analysis Of Physiochemical And Sensory Properties Of Ready-To-Mix Whey Protein Phospholipid Concentrate Beverage, Chris Jaquin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Whey protein phospholipid concentrate (WPPC) is commonly recovered as a coproduct in filtration process whose aim is to obtain whey protein isolate (WPI) from whey protein concentrate (WPC). Whey protein phospholipid concentrate is high in milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), which has been shown in rodent and human studies to have a variety of physiological benefits, including an increase in exercise capacity. Whey protein phospholipid concentrate is currently considered as an underused dairy coproduct, with most of it either being disposed of or used as animal feed. This research consisted of incorporating WPPC in a protein shake–like beverage at a …

A Data-Driven Nutrient Density Scoring Framework For Beef Using Principal Component Analysis, Teja Vuppala

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Beef is one of the most nutrient-rich foods in the human diet, providing high-quality protein, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, B vitamins, and a wide range of other compounds important to health. However, current nutrition scoring systems used on food labels were designed to compare different foods to one another — for example, beef versus broccoli — and do not work well for judging the nutritional quality of different beef samples relative to each other. A grass-fed steak and a conventionally-finished steak can carry nearly identical Nutrition Facts panels while differing substantially in their content of omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins, and …

Microbes In Pollination Systems: Effects On Pollinator Health, Floral Traits, Nectar Robbing, And Plant Fitness, Valerie Nicole Martin

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Flowers produce nectar to attract pollinators, but nectar is also a habitat for yeasts and bacteria that arrive via pollinators, robbers, and other visitors. These microbes consume nectar sugars and release byproducts that change the smell and taste of nectar. Whether these changes affect how pollinators find and choose flowers, and whether they ultimately affect how many seeds a plant produces, is not well understood. In this dissertation, I studied how a common nectar yeast and a plant-associated bacterium affect the scent of wildflowers, the behavior of bumble bees and hummingbirds, and plant reproduction in montane meadows in central Colorado. …

Behavioral And Landscape Factors Affecting The Effectiveness Of Egg-Bait Management For Common Ravens In The Great Basin, Usa, Sierra L. Pederson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Fall 2023 to Present

Common Ravens have become increasingly common across the Great Basin of the western USA, largely because human activities, such as roads, agriculture, livestock operations, and human-made structures, provide them with abundant food, water, and nesting sites. As raven numbers have grown, so has their impact on vulnerable species like the greater sage-grouse. Like many other ground-nesting species, greater sage-grouse eggs and chicks are especially susceptible to predation. To help reduce raven numbers in sensitive areas, wildlife managers often place hard-boiled chicken eggs treated with a toxin (DRC-1339) on the landscape, expecting that ravens will die after eating these eggs and …

Hippo Signaling Regulates Cuticle Pigmentation And Dopamine Metabolism In Drosophila, Shelley B Gibson, Samantha L Deal, Ye-Jin Park, Bo Sun, Yanyan Qi, Jung-Wan Mok, Hyung-Lok Chung, Hongjie Li, Shinya Yamamoto

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Pigmentation plays multiple important roles in development, physiology and evolution. Melanization of the insect cuticle requires dopamine as a precursor of melanin and involves key enzymes in dopamine biosynthesis including Tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and Dopa decarboxylase (Ddc). Some studies have hinted that disruption of the evolutionarily conserved Hippo signaling pathway, which has been primarily studied in the context of tissue growth, may lead to changes in cuticle pigmentation in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. However, to our knowledge, there have not been any systematic investigations into their potential mechanistic links. In this study, we identified that all genes that comprise …

Seizure Susceptibility And Morphological Analysis Of A Missense Mutation In Hcfc1a Protein, Jose Manuel Fabela

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Missense mutations in the HCFC1 gene cause methymalonic acidemia with homocystinuria cblX type (MIM#309541). cblX is an X-linked disorder that is associated with multiple phenotypes such as metabolic defects, failure to thrive, intractable epilepsy, facial dysmorphia, movement disorders, and intellectual disability. The mechanisms underlying these phenotypes are not completely understood. Here we used a zebrafish germline mutant allele (hcfc1aco64/co64) to study seizure susceptibility and adult brain structural malformations. Previous studies have established neural progenitor cell defects and hypoactive mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) in this allele. Given the known role of mTOR in seizure phenotypes, we hypothesized that missense mutation …

A Hybrid Vsm-Des Approach For Bottleneck Identification And Reduction In A Continous One-Piece Flow Assembly System, Ana Sofia Rey Nevarez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Identifying bottlenecks in a production line is rarely as easy as pointing to the slowest station and assuming that's where the problem is. The real question is which stations moves the system when you change them. Lean manufacturing has been one of the initiatives that major companies in the U.S. have been trying to adopt to remain competitive. This thesis aims to understand the results of applying a combination of a Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) with a Value Stream Mapping (VSM), to find the bottleneck of a continuous one-piece flow assembly line of a tier-1 power management manufacturer from the El …

Behavioral And Dietary Associations Of Vitamin D Deficiency Among Landscaping Workers: An Analytical Cross-Sectional Study In El Paso, Texas., Cristela Anahi Avila

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: Vitamin D deficiency is a persistent public health concern, even among outdoor workers who receive substantial sunlight exposure. Landscaping workers may still be at risk because sun-protective clothing, early work hours, behavioral practices, and low dietary intake can reduce effective vitamin D synthesis. Purpose: This pilot study examined dietary vitamin D intake, sun exposure behaviors, and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D status among male landscaping workers in El Paso, Texas, to identify behavioral and nutritional factors associated with deficiency. Methods: Twenty participants completed a culturally adapted food frequency questionnaire and behavioral assessment and underwent capillary point-of-care testing for serum 25(OH)D. Descriptive …

An Analysis Of Mating Strategies In Rotifers Inhabiting Temporary Habitats, Ariel Bollinger

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Reproduction is critical for organisms inhabiting ephemeral aquatic habitats where desiccation risk favors rapid and successful mating. Monogonont rotifers rely on sexual reproduction to produce diapausing eggs that withstand harsh conditions. I investigated how mating behaviors vary among populations of five rotifer species based on the hydroperiod of their habitat: Epiphanes brachionus and E. chihuahuaensis were sampled from habitats with short (SH) and long (LH) hydroperiods; Euchlanis dilatata was collected from a short (SH) and a permanent habitat; and Plationus patulus and Sinantherina socialis were collected from a long (LH) and a permanent (Perm) habitat. I hypothesized that SH populations …

Dragon Heart, Elizabeth Brown

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A young adult fantasy novel centered around dragons and dragon hunters that takes place in a fantasy version of our modern world. The novel follows three narrators on different sides of the conflict as they navigate a world full of prejudice and war.

Charting The Martian Future: Long-Term Space Policy Planning Of Nasa’S Human Spaceflight Program, 1957-1988, Angel J. Peralta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From the late 1950s to the early 1990s, NASA’s human spaceflight programs repeatedly encountered political and bureaucratic pressures that prioritized short-term interests over long-term planning. These constraints shaped the development of the Apollo, Space Shuttle, Space Station, and other human spaceflight programs, limiting NASA’s ability to pursue a sustained strategic vision. This thesis traces the evolution of long-term human spaceflight policy through documents and memos produced by advisory committees, research councils, and key individuals during this period. Despite shifting administrations and their respective politics, these sources reveal a consistent goal of human spaceflight ultimately leading beyond Earth to the Moon …

Effects Of Concurrent Neuropathologies With Alzheimer Disease Neuropathologic Change On Cognitive Decline: Minimal Impact Of Vascular Brain Injury Compared With Other Combinations, Sarah M Yasuda, Charles Mock, Kathryn Gauthreaux, Kwun C G Chan, C Dirk Keene, Jessica E Culhane, Yen-Chi Chen, Walter Kukull

2020-Current year OA Pubs

We examined cognitive changes associated with several neuropathologic entities, alone and in combination. We studied 808 participants from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center to assess associations between neuropathologic diagnoses (from autopsy) and neuropsychologic test scores (trajectories over time for 5 domains: overall cognition, episodic memory, attention, language, executive function). Neuropathologies included: Alzheimer disease neuropathologic change (ADNC), Lewy body disease (LBD), vascular brain injury (VBI), and limbic-predominant age-related TDP43 encephalopathy neuropathologic change (LATE-NC). Using linear mixed-effects models, we examined trajectories of cognitive decline for ADNC alone compared to ADNC plus LBD, VBI, or LATE-NC. We also examined differences between observed trajectories …

Quantitative Imaging Of Pyruvate Metabolism In A Patient With Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer, James A Bankson, Joshua S Niedzielski, Collin J Harlan, Yunyun Chen, Christopher M Walker, Philip L Lorenzi, Lin Tan, Vikas Kundra, Matthew E Merritt, Mukundan Ragavan, Dawid Schellingerhout, Renjie He, Yao Ding, Sahana Datar, Qing Wang, Christine B Peterson, Clifton D Fuller, Vlad C Sandulache, Stephen Y Lai

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging using hyperpolarized (HP) [1-13C]-pyruvate enables assessment of pyruvate metabolism in vivo and offers new insight into metabolic changes in response to cancer therapy. Widely used semi-quantitative metrics of pyruvate metabolism can be affected by physiological factors that are extrinsic to intracellular metabolism. A validated pharmacokinetic (PK) model for analysis of intracellular pyruvate metabolism is needed to enhance the accuracy of quantitative metrics and clinical translation of metabolic MRI using HP pyruvate.

Methods: A PK model with two physical compartments and two chemical pools was developed to analyze the conversion of labeled pyruvate into lactate in vitro. …

Harnessing Airborne And Spaceborne Lidar For Large-Area Assessment Of Canopy Structural Complexity, Tahrir Ibraq Siddiqui

Theses

Forests play a vital role in global carbon cycling, biodiversity conservation, and the provision of ecosystem services. Accurate quantification of forest carbon sequestration rates – or forest production – therefore is essential for understanding ecosystem dynamics and informing sustainable forest management practices. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems, as an active remote sensing modality, have emerged as a powerful tool for capturing detailed structural information of forests. Studies employing terrestrial LiDAR demonstrated that canopy structural complexity (CSC) metrics are strongly correlated with forest production at stand to landscape scales. While terrestrial LiDAR systems provide highly detailed maps of internal canopy …

From Algorithm To Alarm: A Narrative Review On Insulin Delivery Innovation, Noor Ul Asaleem, Faraz Arshad, Maria Qadri, Muhammad Saqlain Mushtaq, Mishaim Khan, Pakeeza Shakoor, Tirath Patel, Anaya Noor, Nikhilesh Anand

School of Medicine Publications

Background and objective: The global rise in the incidence of diabetes mellitus necessitates innovative management strategies to mitigate the severity of the disease. The mainstay of diabetes treatment is still insulin therapy, although there are drawbacks, such as the need to maintain ideal glycemic control while lowering the risk of hypoglycemia and user fatigue. The development, clinical usefulness, and constraints of insulin delivery systems are examined in this narrative review, with particular attention to sensor-augmented and closed-loop technologies.

Methods: A thorough electronic database search was conducted to obtain pertinent data on major insulin delivery devices, including sensor-augmented and closed-loop systems. …

Indications, Techniques, And Safety Of Cryotherapy And Cryobiopsy Via Flexible Bronchoscopy In Pediatric Patients, Alex J Katz, Haley Haskett, Kubra M Bozkanat, Aoife Corcoran, Lauren M C Grant, Antoinette Wannes Daou, Sin Tran, Esra Caylan, Alfin Vicencio, Dan T Benscoter, Cherie A Torres-Silva, Sara M Zak, Gregory Burg, Lisa R Young, Pelton Phinizy, Shailendra Das, Richard Paul Boesch, Erik B Hysinger, Joseph Piccione

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Rationale: Cryotherapy and its diagnostic analogue, cryobiopsy, are emerging techniques via bronchoscopy with a wide range of clinical applications. While the use of cryotherapy and cryobiopsy has been established in adult pulmonary medicine, pediatric data describing the indications, procedural specifics, outcomes, and complications are limited.

Objective: To describe the indications, procedural specifics, outcomes, and complications of cryotherapy and cryobiopsy use in pediatric bronchoscopy.

Methods: A multicenter retrospective observational study was conducted at 5 pediatric hospitals in the United States. Patients aged 0 to 21 years who underwent cryotherapy or cryobiopsy via bronchoscopy between January 2017 and January 2025 were included. …