Digital Commons Network^™

Design And Analysis Of Efficient Freight Transportation Networks In A Collaborative Logistics Environment, Vishal Badyal

All Dissertations

The increase in total freight volumes, reducing volume per freight unit, and delivery deadlines have increased the burden on freight transportation systems of today. With the evolution of freight demand trends, there also needs to be an evolution in the freight distribution processes. Today's freight transportation processes have a lot of inefficiencies that could be streamlined, thus preventing concerns like increased operational costs, road congestion, and environmental degradation. Collaborative logistics is one of the approaches where supply chain partners collaborate horizontally or/and vertically to create a centralized network that is more efficient and serves towards a common goal or objective. …

Essays On Nonparametric Benchmarking Of Energy Firms And Natural Gas Market Integration, Matthew Cronin

All Dissertations

My dissertation focuses on issues related to the technical efficiency of energy firms as well as the integration of U.S. natural gas markets during the era of shale gas expansion of the early 2000s. In the first chapter, I use nonparametric methods to estimate changes in efficiency and productivity of natural gas pipelines in the U.S. during the period of shale gas expansion during 2007--2018. This period, known as the Shale Revolution, saw an increase in shale gas production from less that 5 billion cubic feet per day (BCF/d) in 2007 to over 60 BCF/d in 2018. This increase in …

Evaluation Of Kappa Opioid Receptor Specific Compounds And Their Effect On Ptsd-Like Behavioral Activity, Daniel Murnock

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex and multifaceted neurological disorder that is characterized by intrusive thoughts, avoidance behaviors, alterations in cognition and mood, and alterations in arousal and reactivity. Current studies utilize stress paradigms to mimic behavioral symptoms and neurobiological changes associated with PTSD. The project aims to instead utilize the kappa opioid system and three distinct Kappa Opioid Receptorspecific compounds (Salvinorin A, U50,488, and nor-BNI) to induce these changes. Pharmacokinetic analysis of Salvinorin A and U50,488 revealed a time of peak plasma concentration (Tmax) of 0.25 hours in both groups. 3-Chamber Social Novelty testing revealed a significant …

Suppression Of Microrna 124–3p And Microrna 340–5p Ameliorates Retinoic Acid-Induced Cleft Palate In Mice, Hiroki Yoshioka, Akiko Suzuki, Chihiro Iwaya, Junichi Iwata

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The etiology of cleft lip with or without cleft palate (CL/P), a common congenital birth defect, is complex, with genetic and epigenetic, as well as environmental, contributing factors. Recent studies suggest that fetal development is affected by maternal conditions through microRNAs (miRNAs), a group of short noncoding RNAs. Here, we show that miR-129-5p and miR-340-5p suppress cell proliferation in both primary mouse embryonic palatal mesenchymal cells and O9-1 cells, a neural crest cell line, through the regulation of Sox5 and Trp53 by miR-129-5p, and the regulation of Chd7, Fign and Tgfbr1 by miR-340-5p. Notably, miR-340-5p, but not miR-129-5p, was upregulated …

Does Proactivity Drive Use? Understanding Growth In Chat Reference Services, David A. Hurley, Adrienne Warner

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Libraries that implement trigger-initiated proactive chat reference services see substantial increases in the number and complexity of reference transactions. However, it is not clear if this growth is a result of something inherent to proactivity, or other factors such as increased awareness of the service. To investigate this, we compare usage during periods with and without proactivity in databases in which our chat reference service is established. Steep and immediate increases when proactivity is enabled and sharp declines when it is disabled suggests that proactivity itself is driving the changes. We recommend human computer interaction (HCI) and user experience (UX) …

Innovadores Guaymíes: Un Estudio De Caso De Emprendedores En Una Sociedad De Menor Complejidad Socioeconómica., Milton R.A. Machuca-Gálvez Phd, Mlis, John R. Bort Phd

University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Traducción al castellano de la disertación doctoral Guaymí Innovators: A Case Study of Entrepreneurs in a Small Scale Society de John R. Bort, presentada al Departamento de Antropología y la Escuela de Postgrado de la Universidad de Oregón, junio de 1976. Traducción de Milton Machuca-Gálvez, PhD, MLIS.

Se enfoca en el cambio socioeconómico en los indígenas guaymí del occidente de Panamá. Principalmente en cómo los guaymíes reaccionan a las cambiantes circunstancias económicas de su entorno. La mayor parte de los datos utilizados se obtuvieron mediante observación participante junto con materiales del censo que sirvieron para complementar el trabajo de campo. …

Automated Quality Control For In-Situ Water Temperature Sensors, Leah S. Richardson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The identification of data not representative of the target subject for outdoor (in-situ) environmental sensors (bad data) is a topic that has been explored in the past. Many tools (such as data filters and computer models) have succeeded in providing an end user with properly identified incorrect data over 95% of the time. However, with the continuous increase in the use of automated data collection, a simple indication of the bad data may no longer provide the end user with enough information to reduce the amount of time that must be spent for manual quality control. The purpose of this …

Investigating Tourists' Decision Making And Intentions For Outdoor Recreation Participation During Early Covid-19, Prasanna Humagain

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation aims at discerning tourists’ behaviors and decision making processes for outdoor recreation participation, during the early COVID-19 pandemic. An outdoor recreation trip is defined in this study as “a journey involving at least one overnight stay away from home, and where the purpose is to engage in recreational activities in an outdoor or natural environment.” This dissertation first explores the factors that inhibit tourists’ desires for participating in outdoor recreation trips, the strategies they apply to avoid COVID-19 transmission, and the motivational factors that induce their desires for outdoor recreation participation in the COVID-19 context. The impact of …

The Effects Of Seed Mix Composition, Sowing Density, And Seedling Survival On Plant Community Reassembly In Great Salt Lake Wetlands, Rae Robinson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Wetlands are known for their valuable benefits (e.g., providing habitat, improving water quality, lessening the negative impacts of drought and flooding). Invasive wetland plant species are species that cause harm to ecosystems, the economy, or human health, and replace native wetland plant communities. The revegetation of native plants may be one way to improve wetlands that have been impacted by invasive species. In Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA) wetlands, the invasive, non-native grass Phragmites australis (common reed) reduces the quality and quantity of habitat for both wildlife and humans (e.g., birdwatchers, waterfowl hunters). Even when P. australisis greatly reduced, native …

Identifying Optimal Stocking Strategies To Support Recovery Of An Endemic Lake Sucker, Dale R. Fonken

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Endemic fishes in the intermountain west experienced significant population declines in the 20th century due to a variety of disturbances, including habitat fragmentation, water development, and the introduction of non-native, predatory fish species. The combination of habitat degradation with increased predation risk can severely limit natural recruitment for native fish species, and in response, fisheries managers have employed a variety of recovery strategies to prevent extinction. Among the most prominent strategies is artificial propagation and subsequent release of individuals into the natural environment (i.e., stocking). Artificial propagation is an expensive endeavor, and when not coupled with a research component, can …

An Electroencephalographic Analysis Of Strategy Usage During Social Dilemmas, Nick Wan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The neuroscience of strategy usage during social dilemmas is said to require Theory of Mind (ToM). The process of ToM takes into consideration the actions of another person, so implications with strategies like tit-for-tat (TFT) or win-stay-lose-switch (WSLS) are logical. However, using either TFT or WSLS does not require ToM since these strategies are based on the previous opponent choice. Thus using a quantifiable strategy like TFT or WSLS during a social dilemma game may not necessarily incur activation of ToM. To investigate whether this is possible, 31 participants participated in the Prisoner’s Dilemma while being recorded via electroencephalography (EEG). …

Network-Wide Pedestrian And Bicycle Crash Analysis With Statistical And Machine Learning Models In Utah, Md Rafiur Rahman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent trends in crashes indicate a dramatic increase in both the number and share of pedestrian and bicyclist injuries and fatalities nationally and in many states. Crash frequency modeling was undertaken to identify crash prone characteristics of segments and non-signalized intersections and explore possible non-linear associations of explanatory variables with crashes. Crowdsourced “Strava” app data was used for bicycle volume, and pedestrian counts estimated from nearby signalized intersections were used as pedestrian volume. Multiple negative binomial models investigated crashes at different spatial scales to account for different levels of data availability and completeness. The models showed high traffic volume, steeper …

Global Change Effects On Carbon Cycling In Terrestrial Ecosystems, Guopeng Liang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Since terrestrial ecosystems store approximately 3 times more carbon (C) than the atmosphere, they have a significant effect on the atmospheric CO₂ concentration. Although many studies have been conducted to determine global change effects on C cycling in terrestrial ecosystems, the underlying mechanisms remain uncertain. To address this knowledge gap, I utilized meta-analysis, laboratory experiments, and soil microbial community analysis.

In chapter 2, I conducted a meta-analysis to examine whether effects of long-term N addition on plant productivity can shift over time. I found that 44% of studies showed a marked trend (increase or decrease) in the strength of …

Applications Of Affinity Spaces In English Language Instruction: Writing And Peer Review Of Fanfiction Based On Video Games In An Academic English As A Second Language Writing Course, Marta Halaczkiewicz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This classroom-based research study explored applications of informal online spaces in formal language instruction. Using sociocultural theory as a lens, the present study examined how using creative writing genres and online feedback practices, may assist with alleviating the three pedagogical issues of academic writing instruction: rigidity of academic topics and forms, superficiality of in-class feedback process, and slow language development. Students in an intermediate English language course wrote weekly fiction inspired by their favorite video games. They also engaged in a scaffolded feedback process facilitated in an online space. At the end of the semester, they wrote a reflection on …

An Exploration Of Parent Management Training Programs And Their Cultural Relevance, Maria De La Caridad Alvarez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Behavioral parent training is a research-supported treatment for improving child behavior and increasing parenting skills. Despite many programs sharing a theoretical foundation and common elements, there is great variety in terms of treatment targets, populations served, treatment length, delivery setting, and expected outcomes. The purpose of this research was to first systematically organize and categorize relevant program information for the most frequently referenced Parent Management Training (PMT) programs. To this end, 19 programs were identified for review. We summarized each program and their available research evidence which ranged from 1 to 72 studies. The findings from this first project informed …

The Impact Of Covid-19 And Telehealth Services On Attrition Rates In Psychotherapy, Rylan B. Hellstern

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Clinicians in psychotherapy are constantly looking at their outcomes in order to identify and remove barriers that may inhibit effective treatment. Defined generally as the ending of a treatment prior to proper optimal benefit, attrition has been found to both hinder treatment efficacy and cost-effectiveness in therapy. While most attrition literature focuses on the contributing factors to such premature termination, little to no research is available that discusses potential resources for attrition rates. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the use of telehealth services which may serve as a resource to combat attrition. The current study aims to identify how …

History Strikes Back! The Portrayal Of Greek And Roman History In Hollywood Films And How It Furthers The Discussion Of History, Ethan P. Frost

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In an article published in 2009, Robert Rosenstone expressed disappointment in two films he played a role in developing the Reds (1981) and the The Good Fight (1984). He expressed regret the films did not reach his expectations as a historian. As a result, he wondered whether there was a point in historians being involved in the making of historical films.

This thesis focused on six historical films set in ancient Greece and Rome. The six films are Alexander the Great (1956), The 300 Spartans (1962), and 300 (2006) for Greek history; and The Last Days of Pompeii (1935), The …

A Multi-Scalar Socio-Policy Analysis Of Resource Reallocation And Water Security In Twenty-First Century Utah, Usa, Clint P. Carney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

As drought and a warming climate continue to impact the western United States, balancing the water needs of cities, agriculture, and natural systems is becoming increasingly more complex. One approach commonly promoted to address water supply issues is the transfer of water between users via markets. However, markets for water face multiple obstacles that can often be costly for participants due to constraints inherent in western U.S. water law. Coinciding with issues of cost, water markets must overcome disinterest among water rights holders in releasing their water rights for uses even if temporarily. Moreover, water transfers bring to light the …

Role Of Mitochondria In Postmortem Proteolysis And Meat Tenderness, David Son Dang

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Among all eating quality characteristics in beef, tenderness is regarded as one of the most important traits. Previous research indicates that consumers are willing to pay a premium for beef guaranteed to be tender. Yet, tenderness is difficult to control and predict as it is influenced by a multitude of factors. Among these factors, meat aging has been shown to be a strong determinant of tenderness. Meat aging describes a process in which muscle tissue is broken down by other proteins within the muscle, resulting in a more tender product after cooking. Two well-recognized proteins that participate in the breakdown …

'I Try To Take The Whole Family Thing Out Of The Picture': How Professionals Navigate Motherhood Bias At Work, Rachael Gulbrandsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research aims to improve our understanding of professional mothers and the strategies they develop to navigate bias and sustain their careers. Previous research has shown that women with children face a motherhood bias that results in negative career outcomes such as reduced wages, fewer high-quality assignments, and decreased chances for promotion and leadership opportunities. This research investigates how professional mothers respond to that bias by analyzing interviews with forty-seven women in the field of law about their professional experiences: their experiences before and after having children; the challenges they face navigating their careers and families; and the strategies they’ve …

Shallow Composition And Structure Of The San Gabriel Fault, California In Drill Core And Geophysical Logs: Implications For Fault Slip And Energetics, Kaitlyn A. Crouch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Earthquakes are the sudden and intensive release of energy due to slip along faults. This energy may be felt on the Earth’s surface and may cause displacement of the Earth’s crust (seismic slip). As an earthquake ruptures, rocks in and around the fault are damaged and altered. When a fault displaces without earthquakes, it is referred to as aseismic creep. Faults may experience both seismic slip and aseismic creep throughout their cycles. In order to better model earthquake hazards and understand the cause of seismic slip versus aseismic creep in the shallow crust, we need to characterize the properties of …

Opportunities For Optimal Apple Production Management In Arid Conditions, Sam Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Apple trees are susceptible to biotic and abiotic stresses in the Intermountain West. The arid climate along with non-ideal soils make apple production challenging. Also, as high-quality agricultural land is developed, crop production gets pushed to land that often is saline. Apple trees grow poorly in saline soils. If apples are going to be grown in Utah, rootstocks must be identified that will tolerate saline soils. The USDA rootstock breeding program produced some rootstocks that may show salt tolerance. This project assessed the salt tolerance of these apple rootstocks in the greenhouse and in the field. Test rootstocks were compared …

Designing And Decoding Chemical Bonds: A Computational Pipeline Backed Up By Magnetic Criteria And Experiment, Nikita Fedik

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

You may find plenty of definitions of chemistry but all of them, explicitly or not, are centered around chemical bonds. When we say “chemical properties”, “reactivity”, “stability”, “structure” etc., we have in mind chemical bonds and their reorganization which almost completely defines the behavior of the matter. Why some materials are ultrahard and can cut through steel while others are so soft that you can form them with your bare hands? You probably have already guessed that it occurs because their chemical bonding is very different. Although the elemental composition could be the same! In this Dissertation, we report results …

Measuring Changes In Motivation In Response To An Online Repeated Reading Intervention With Self-Monitoring, David N. Longhurst

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Reading is a complex cognitive process that is integral to learning, achievement, and future life outcomes. Students with reading disabilities struggle to obtain information and develop specific interests. Unfortunately, many students in the United States do not meet expected reading benchmarks. Also due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has presented multiple challenges for student academic reading growth. Motivation beliefs, such as self-efficacy, interest, and goal-directed behavior, play an important role in students’ education and development. This study examined whether motivational constructs change throughout the course of an online repeated reading intervention with self-monitoring. Five elementary students were selected …

Let Us Live To Make Men Free: Locke And Aquinas On Toleration And Natural Law, Micah Safsten

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Tolerance is a difficult and controversial concept in political rhetoric. For many, tolerance requires the acceptance of what one believes is evil. Still, most of us feel as though we must accept the differences of others on some level. This thesis is an attempt to better understand tolerance. To do so, it uses the concept of natural law, or the idea that all law should justified through one, universal theory of good. This would seem contradictory, as natural law supposes that a single vision of the good life exists for all. Yet the natural law theory of one legal theorist, …

Techno-Economic Feasibility Analysis Of A Fully Mobile Radiation Oncology System Using Monte Carlo Simulation, Alex T. Price, Casey I. Canfield, Geoffrey D. Hugo, James A. Kavanaugh, Lauren E. Henke, Eric Laugeman, Pamela Samson, Clair Reynolds-Kueny, Elizabeth A. Cudney

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

PURPOSEDisparities in radiation oncology (RO) can be attributed to geographic location, socioeconomic status, race, sex, and other societal factors. One potential solution is to implement a fully mobile (FM) RO system to bring radiotherapy to rural areas and reduce barriers to access. We use Monte Carlo simulation to quantify techno-economic feasibility with uncertainty, using two rural Missouri scenarios.METHODSRecently, a semimobile RO system has been developed by building an o-ring linear accelerator (linac) into a mobile coach that is used for temporary care, months at a time. Transitioning to a more FM-RO system, which changes location within a given day, presents …

A New Rock Hardness Classification System Based On Portable Dynamic Testing, Sasan Ghorbani, Seyed Hadi Hoseinie, Ebrahim Ghasemi, Taghi Sherizadeh, Christina Wanhainen

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Hardness is one of the critical physical characteristics of minerals and rocks, which indicates the resistance of the rock to penetration, scratch, or permanent deformation. As a basic concept, rock hardness has a significant role in rock mechanics and geological engineering and is an appropriate diagnostic tool for the classification of minerals and rocks. The main purpose of this study is to guide rock engineers to measure the rock hardness faster, easier, and more accurately using Leeb's dynamic hardness test. Accordingly, this paper presents a new rock hardness classification system based on the Leeb dynamic and portable hardness testing method. …

Preparation Of Concrete Specimen For Internal Sulfate Attack Analysis Using Electron Backscatter Diffraction, R. Sharon Uwanyuze, Lucas Enright, Jiyao Zhang, Stefan Schafföner

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Concrete cores were obtained from houses in eastern Connecticut, USA, that had varying degrees of crumbling foundations and wall cracking. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was used simultaneously with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy to investigate the degradation of these samples. This combination allowed the precise correlation of elemental composition with mineral crystallography phase mapping. EBSD examination showed the presence of pyrrhotite, pyrite, and marcasite phases in some of the samples, whereas internal sulfate attack (ISA) is triggered by the release of sulfates through the oxidation of such iron sulfides. Secondary expansion products from ISA are associated with foundation cracking, wall bulging, …

Study Of Gas Holdup Distribution In Cylindrical Split Airlift Reactor By Using Gamma-Ray Densitometry (Grd), Abbas J. Sultan, Laith S. Sabri, Hasan Shakir Majdi, Shadha K. Jebur, Muthanna H. Al-Dahhan

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The local gas holdup details and behaviors in the cylindrical split airlift column by using an unconventional gamma-ray densitometry (GRD) measurement in non-invasive manner technique was investigated for the first time in this work for such kind of airlift column. With different gas velocities, 1, 2, and 3 cm/s, at three various axial planes (different levels) in z = 3, 60, and 110 cm were studied for local distribution in radial gas holdup profiles. The distribution in gas–liquid phases (air-water system) in the entire split reactor column, in the rising and descending sides, including their behavior in the upper and …

Process Evaluation And Kinetic Analysis Of 3d-Printed Monoliths Comprised Of Cao And Cr/H-Zsm-5 In Combined Co2 Capture-C2h6 Oxidative Dehydrogenation To C2h4, Khaled Baamran, Shane Lawson, Ali A. Rownaghi, Fateme Rezaei

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In this study, dual-function materials (DFMs) comprised of CaO and Cr/H-ZSM-5 were formulated in 3D-printed monolithic structures and investigated in a combined process for capture and utilization of CO₂ in oxidative dehydrogenation of C₂H₆ to C₂H₄ (CO₂-ODHE). Various formulation strategies were employed to fabricate these DFM structures. Two bed designs were considered: i) a layered-bed in which adsorbent (CaO) and catalyst were printed separately and stacked on top of each other, and ii) a single-layer bed where the adsorbent-catalyst materials were 3D-printed into a singular monolith and loaded into the bed …