Digital Commons Network^™

What Conservation Sounds Like: Systematic Approach, Phaedra Roby, Parker Ferguson, Jared L. Talley

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

This research explores soundscapes – the composition of biotic and abiotic sound elements in a region – and their relationships with pets and wildlife. The study aims to address the question, “How do domestic pets impact wildlife through changing local soundscapes?”. Soundscapes play a critical role in wildlife behavior and hold cultural and emotional significance for humans through the formation of memories and values. Extant literature shows that pets affect wildlife, so understanding anthropogenic noise is crucial for guiding conservation efforts. A systematic review was conducted using combinations of the three search terms “domestic pets”, “soundscapes” and “wildlife”. Notably, searches …

Urban Sprawl In The American West: A History And Analysis Of Socioeconomic And Environmental Impacts, Shelby Rodriguez

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

The term “urban sprawl” is used to describe the spread of urban development and growth on land on the outskirts of cities. Urban sprawl is typically defined by its low-density, single-use zoning. While it is a common tactic to accommodate rising population growth and housing needs, it has been criticized for its negative long-term effects on natural habitats as well as human communities and cities. In terms of social problems, sprawl decreases opportunities for members of a community to interact, leading to feelings of isolation and decreased civic engagement. As for environmental problems, sprawl causes habitat fragmentation and air and …

Assessing The Prevalence Of Long-Covid Among Idahoans: Insights From 2022 Brfss Data, Hailey Mock, Tori Moxley, Cayenne Denny, Jessica Buster

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Long-COVID is classified as a chronic condition lasting at least 3 months and occurring after SARS-CoV-2 infection (CDC, 2024b). Long-COVID can have a range of persisting symptoms, with these symptoms not being linked to another disease (CDC, 2024b; Huerne et al., 2023). In 2021 Long-COVID was classified as a disability, emphasizing Long-COVID as a significant public health issue (CDC, 2024b; Huerne et al., 2023).

Idaho Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Data from 2022 was analyzed using prevalence data from the state of Idaho. Datawrapper, R and Google Sheets were used to investigate relationships between demographic groups and Long-COVID.

Our …

Joint Stiffness In Acl-R And Oa On Normal And Uneven Surfaces, Isabel Burhart, Nic Hunt, Tyler Brown

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Individuals with knee musculoskeletal injury and disease may stiffen their lower limb, particularly the knee, to safely traverse a challenging uneven surface. This study quantified leg, torsional knee and ankle joint stiffness for individuals with knee injury (ACL-R) and disease (knee OA) during an overground walk task over a normal flat and an uneven surface. Leg, knee, and ankle stiffness were submitted to an RM ANOVA to test the main effect and interaction between cohort (ACL-R, knee OA and healthy controls) and surface (normal or uneven). Surprisingly, surface but not cohort impacted knee (p = 0.011) and ankle (p = …

Rooted Resilience: Global Gardens And Sustainable Agriculture, Alice Mwamba, Maci Mattravers, Lisa Meierotto, Kelly Hopping, Rebecca Som Castellano

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

While small-scale agriculture can provide diverse benefits, producers are often disadvantaged in these agrifood systems. Climate change, globalization, and other forces exacerbate local challenges. Here, we discuss preliminary findings of an ongoing project focused on challenges to sustainable agriculture facing farmers from refugee backgrounds in Boise, Idaho. Using an interdisciplinary, mixed methods approach, we aim to illuminate sources of vulnerability and adaptive capacity for farmers producing food for markets and home consumption. We co-developed this research with multiple community partners, who are helping us connect with and support a historically excluded group, while fostering pathways for knowledge co-production and action.

The Effects Of Exogenous Factors On Quarterback Performance In The Nfl, Brian M. Thibodeaux

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Quarterbacks in the National Football League (NFL) are arguably the most important position players on their team, as they handle the football on most offensive plays. A common theme in labor economics is to examine the effects exogenous factors have on worker performance. Since production is a function of labor and capital, and since labor is integral for economic growth, the effects of exogenous factors on human performance should be taken into consideration. I propose to examine the effects of extreme temperatures (≥ 90˚ F; ≤ 32˚ F) and wind speed on quarterback performance (as measured by their passer rating) …

How Green Are We? Socioeconomic Drivers Of Sustainable Spending, Malia Wilson

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Sustainable fashion has gained traction as society has become more aware about environmental and ethical concerns in the apparel industry. My personal interest in sustainable clothing behaviors was sparked after reading The Year of Less by Cait Flanders. Her memoir details the impacts of consumer habits on personal well-being and the environment while taking readers through her one year spent buying absolutely nothing deemed unnecessary. This book made me question the motivations behind clothing purchases and the factors influencing sustainable fashion choices. One of the biggest concerns in the fashion industry is its significant impact which accounts for 10% of …

Stakeholders' Perceptions Of Idaho's Mental Health And Substance Abuse Delivery System For Children And Adolescents: Implications For Improvement, Joselyne Navarrete

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Over the past 20 years, Idaho has consistently ranked at or near the bottom of 50 states for youth mental health, ranking last in 2022 (BCIF, 2024). Recent research on Idaho Youths Mental Health has suggested there are several unmet needs and gaps in the delivery of mental health and substance abuse services across the state. The proposed research is intended to assess key stakeholders’ perspectives on the current state of youth mental health resources in Idaho. This research aims to engage the communities of young adults, parents, and educators across Idaho to identify the greatest barriers to care and …

Weighted Sample Elimination: Subsampling Point Clouds Using Poisson Disk Sampling, Ted Moore

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

This research focuses on developing efficient algorithms for subsampling point clouds using Poisson disk sampling techniques. Point clouds are unorganized sets of points in 2D or 3D space that represent surfaces of objects, scenes, or areas. These point clouds can consist of hundreds of thousands to millions of points, so reducing their size can make numerically analyzing their properties much more efficient. This reduction, called subsampling, aims to create a smaller set of points that preserves the essential features of the original cloud. An ideal subsampling method would maximize the minimum distance between points, achieving what is known as the …

Beyond The Minimum: How Long Do Idaho Prisoners Serve Beyond Their Determinate Sentences?, Mason Scott

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Under the Idaho Unified Sentencing Act, individuals sentenced to prison receive both a broad indeterminate sentence and a minimum determinate sentence, which they must serve before becoming eligible for parole. This unique sentencing structure raises an important question: How long are individuals in Idaho’s prisons actually staying past their determinate sentence? Despite its significance, this question remains largely unanswered due to limited research, restricted public access to sentencing data, and the complexity of criminal justice legislation, which makes it difficult for the general public to understand. Parole boards ultimately have the discretion to release individuals after their mandatory sentence based …

Parental Influence On Children's Motivation In Sport: Exploring Perceptions And Their Impact On Motivational Climate, Shaley Vieg, Laura Petranek, Eric M. Martin

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Parents play one of the most important roles in a child’s participation in sport. Parental involvement in their child’s sport participation can be perceived as motivating or as overwhelming. The main focus of this study is to examine how parental support, encouragement, and pressure can affect a child’s sport experience. Additionally, we will examine how children’s perceptions of their parent’s behavior shape the children’s own goals in sports. Research suggests that mothers typically show more praise and provide a more nurturing environment to their children while fathers create more pressure and take part in more directive behaviors toward their child …

Pigmentation Effects Of Apoe4 Fragmentation In Transgenic Zebrafish, Yekaterina Ilyuchenko-Hodges, Emily Egan, Troy T. Rohn

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disorder, and the most common cause of dementia. In addition to advancing age, there are known genetic risk factors associated with AD. Of the genetic risk factors identified, the 34 kDa protein apolipoprotein (Apo) E4 is significant, as ApoE4 carriers account for 65-80% of all AD cases. Recent data from the Rohn lab suggests that a 151 amino-terminal fragment of ApoE4 (nApoE4_1-151) can traffic to the nucleus, leading to toxicity and expression of inflammatory genes. We developed a stable zebrafish line through Tol2 transgenesis by creating …

Parental Perceptions On The Importance Of Children's Education: A Comparative Study Between The Us And Taiwan, Elisa Yadira Gonzalez Pinon, Iryna Babik

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

The present study evaluated how cultural backgrounds influence parents' perceptions of education, and how these perceptions vary across individualistic and collectivistic cultures. Interviews with US parents (n=30) and Taiwanese parents (n=32) examined parents’ perceptions on the importance of education for children’s future and the critical factors for children’s academic success. Qualitative analysis identified the prevalent patterns in the two cultures. Findings showed that across the two samples, education was highly valued for its holistic role in shaping character, life skills, and personal growth, such as responsibility and curiosity, rather than merely for career readiness. US parents, …

The College Fed Challenge, Dea Jazvin, Molly Sleeman, Devon Casper, Brady Packer, Ashton Taylor

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

The College FED Challenge is a yearly competition for undergraduate students hosted by the Federal Reserve. A team from each participating university analyzes any economic or financial factors from within the United States that they deem relevant in order to create a monetary policy recommendation. The Boise State University team is in the process of analyzing current economic conditions, collecting data from the Federal Reserve, and researching the intricacies of the relationships between each of the different financial and macroeconomic components involved. Our poster plans to showcase the progress we have made so far, examples of the tools and approaches …

Zoo Boise Skull Identification: Building Bridges - Connecting Scientific Analysis To Public Education Through Mammalian Skulls, Morgan Best, Amy Broderius, Jensen Gunnell, Karli Turner, Maddie Austin, Karlie Cameron, Skyler Vargas, Amy Ulappa, Austin Reich

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

Animal skulls tell us a lot about an animal’s lifestyle and are commonly used for educational displays to inspire public interest. In mammals, features such as teeth, jaws, and cranial morphology provide markers for feeding habits and ecological roles. In this project, mammalogy students partnered with Boise Zoo to identify unknown skulls using dichotomous keys to research unique skull features and functions. The goal of skull identification is to inform and educate the Zoo Boise visitors on the traits found in particular skulls and how researchers can make deductions about the animal’s lifestyle. The product of this work will follow …

Thematic Similarities In The Narratives Of Survivors Of Medical Trauma: Implications For Policy And Practice, Naya Liberty

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

In the past few decades, medical trauma has been identified as a relatively common experience among individuals who receive medical intervention. Medical trauma occurs when an individual experiences post-traumatic stress symptoms in response to a distressing medical situation involving one’s own health and interactions with the healthcare system. Several researchers have examined specific surgeries and conditions that commonly cause medical trauma, such as open heart surgery, life-altering diagnoses (e.g., cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis), and some birthing experiences. However, to date, few researchers have focused on thematic similarities across the narratives of individuals who have experienced medical trauma. The scarcity of …

Western Water Inefficiency: How Prior Appropriation Laws Increase Water Consumption, Alex Price

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

As climate change intensifies, water conservation and efficiency become increasingly important. The US employs two sets of water management laws: prior appropriation and riparian. This project examines the efficacy of prior appropriation laws in allocating water usage in the predominantly arid American West. Identifying excessive water use as a negative externality, this project seeks to measure the effect of rigid prior appropriation laws on water use per capita. This project quantifies the negative externality of excess water consumption from prior appropriation laws, measured as differences in water use per capita. The analysis utilizes a panel of county-level water data from …

Modernizing Legacy Scientific Code: A Fortran-To-Python Translation Of Exafs Self-Absorption Correction Algorithms, Levi Recla

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

This research focuses on translating a critical scientific code from Fortran to Python to improve accessibility, maintainability, and future development in Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) data analysis. The original code performs self-absorption correction as part of the Real Space X-ray Absorption Package (RSXAP), a suite of tools known for its rigorous treatment of Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) and XANES data. The legacy code, written in a mix of Fortran 77 and Fortran 90, posed challenges for integration with modern data science tools and workflows. A complete manual translation was undertaken, with careful validation to ensure the …

Factors Predicting Justice-Involvement For Adolescent Girls And Young Women, Jade L. Hooker, Tedd Mcdonald

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

A literature review was conducted to investigate the factors that predict justice involvement in adolescent girls and young women. The archival research involved a thorough review of relevant articles in the APA PsycInfo and APA PsycArticles databases using search terms such as “incarcerated females and trauma”, “incarcerated females and substance use”, and “attachment theory and incarcerated females.” The findings revealed three substantial and recurring themes regarding the trajectory of females’ movement toward incarceration: trauma, substance use, and dysregulated attachments. Justice-system-involved girls and young women, compared to peers without such involvement, were found to have higher rates of physical, emotional, and …

Impact Of Adhd Symptoms On Social Rejection, Sharon Yaniv-Lurya, Jennifer Weaver

2025 Undergraduate Research Showcase

There is increasing evidence that children diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) face social difficulties, peer rejection, and experience victimization across all ages. However, to my knowledge, there is no long-term, large study that focuses on the correlation between ADHD and social rejection. In this study, I explored whether ADHD symptoms in elementary school predicted social rejection in middle and high school among typically developing youth. NICHD is a longitudinal study of early child care and youth development from infancy to age 15. A total of 1,364 children and families across 10 United States locations participated in the study. The …

Examining Multiple Layers Of Course Materials Cost: Experiences Of Private College Students, Virginia Clinton-Lisell, Lindsey Gwozdz

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Faculty Publications

Students in private, nonprofit (independent) higher education institutions, particularly those who are economically disadvantaged, often struggle with the costs of course materials like textbooks. However, much less is known about these students and how to assist them with these cost barriers compared to their peers at public institutions. It is also not well known how students perceive institutional course marking in which filters are available to identify courses based on the cost of their materials during registration. To address this lack of knowledge, students at four independent, private colleges (N = 316) were surveyed about their experiences with the cost …

Ten Ways Unh Is Helping Communities Be Environmentally Friendly, Robbin Ray

Media Relations

No abstract provided.

Special Joint Meeting Of The Finance Committee & Audit Subcommittee Meeting - Open Session Book 04/15/2025, Uc Law Sf

2025 Board of Directors Agenda and Materials

No abstract provided.

Special Joint Meeting Of The Finance Committee & Audit Subcommittee Meeting - Notice And Agenda 04/15/2025, Uc Law Sf

2025 Board of Directors Agenda and Materials

No abstract provided.

No Need To Restrain, Grab A Mitt And Refrain!!, Jessica Schmidt, Jennifer Rice, Katharine Koch, Sue Cross

2025 Henry Ford Jackson Hospital Research Symposium

Background: Restraint use is closely monitored through National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI) metrics, system, and hospital-based committees. Currently, the acuity-adaptable intensive care units (ICU) at Henry Ford Jackson Hospital (HFJH) underperform the NDNQI mean use of restraints compared to similar units. At HFJH, the most ordered restraint is a non-violent, soft, bilateral wrist restraint on intensive care units for mechanically ventilated patients. Physical restraints in the ICU are ultimately used to minimize potentially harmful consequences of patients interfering with medical therapies. The ICU Liberation initiative, created by the Society of Critical Care Medicine, is shown to decrease restraint …

Decoding High Mme Opioid Usage: A Root Cause Analysis Of Hfjh Outlier Status Within The System, Emily Todaro, Reyam Katchi

2025 Henry Ford Jackson Hospital Research Symposium

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to define the root cause of high morphine milligram equivalents usage, defined as morphine milligram equivalents (MME) greater than 50 milligrams, within Henry Ford Jackson Hospital (HFJH) compared to other hospitals within the Henry Ford Health System. By conducting this analysis, the study aims to uncover factors contributing to the elevated opioid prescribing rates at HFJH and to explore strategies to optimize prescribing practices, thereby improving patient safety and reducing the risk of opioid misuse. Methods: The inclusion criteria for this study require participants to be 18 years or older admitted to HFJH …

Virtual Registered Nurse: Journey To Improved Outcomes And Increased Patient Satisfaction, Katharine Koch, Brooke Blair, Jennifer Rice, Sue Cross

2025 Henry Ford Jackson Hospital Research Symposium

Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project was to improve patient outcomes and increase Background: Many hospitals are being tasked with becoming creative with staffing as the national nursing shortage continues to increase. One creative way many hospitals have combat staffing concerns is with the implementation of a vRN (Hughes et al., 2021). The main goal of the vRN is to decrease workload of the nurses caring directly for the patient at the bedside through visual monitoring, chart reviews, or assistance with specific tasks (Lisk et al., 2020). Methods: The unit leadership team held meetings with staff to identify …

Gustavo Diaz V. Fca Us Llc

2025 Decisions

USDC for the District of Delaware

John Delach V. Lindy Paving Inc

2025 Decisions

USDC for the Western District of Pennsylvania

Warriors And Guardians: Police Recruit Role Orientation And Heterogeneity, Robert Boxerman

Dissertations

American police have experienced an expansion of duties over the last century, and their function has become increasingly diverse. As a result, researchers have developed role orientation typologies to understand how officers view themselves, their attitudes toward their work, and their responsibilities. One such typology is the warrior/guardian framework, where warrior-oriented officers see themselves as crime-fighting soldiers in conflict with criminals, while guardian-oriented officers view themselves as protectors of the community and providers of broader public services. Despite its popularity, there is limited empirical evidence supporting this framework. Further, little research examines how police recruits differentially view their role as …