Digital Commons Network^™

Roadway-Embedded Transmitters And Multi-Pad Receivers For High Power Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer, Benny J. Varghese

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Electric vehicles (EVs) offer considerable economic and environmental benefits to society. Despite the decreasing vehicle costs and increasing range of newer EVs, the problem of range anxiety still exists. Range anxiety, at its core, is an issue of charging speeds rather than a concern about the driving range. Dynamic wireless charging of EVs is seen as a potential solution to this issue of range anxiety. Further, wireless charging technology also helps the push towards level 5 autonomy and opens new opportunities for how an EV can be utilized.

Dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) systems typically require a high initial investment …

Injection Of Iodoacetic Acid Into Pre-Rigor Bovine Muscle Simulates Dark Cutting Conditions, Jared Forrest Buhler

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Following the harvest of an animal, muscle will continue to produce energy in an attempt to stay alive, primarily through the pathway of glycolysis. This occurs in the form of anaerobic (oxygen-free) metabolism of glucose and glycogen, which causes the meat to acidify. This acidification process is important for proper meat quality development and when insufficient glycolysis occurs it can cause a meat defect known as dark cutting. This defect causes the color of the muscle to become very dark, increases the water-holding capacity of the meat, and causes it to feel firm and dry on the surface because the …

High-Magnification Digital Image Correlation Techniques For Aged Nuclear Fuel Cladding Testing, Robert Scott Hansen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Nuclear fuel cladding in light water reactors, often made of zirconium alloys, is naturally made more brittle by exposure to the water coolant during normal reactor operation. However, this embrittlement by zirconium hydrides changes the mechanical behavior of the cladding material, affecting how it will deform and what may cause it to fail. Because the cladding already has different properties in different material directions, mechanical testing also needs to be direction specific. In addition, to understand the effects that these microscale hydride features have, measurements of deforming cladding need to be at a microscale. This dissertation describes several high-magnification innovations …

Balance Control And Exercise-Based Interventions In Older Adults, Youngwook Kim

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Loss of balance and consequential falling, caused by natural degenerations in the sensory and motor systems with aging, are critical issues that require constant research exploration to ultimately improve the quality of life in older populations. Balance can be simply classified into static and dynamic balance, and the latter is more associated with common causes of falling in older adults. There are numerous ways to improve dynamic balance, and exercise training has been considered the most beneficial intervention for that purpose. Specifically, aquatic exercises have been suggested as a promising modality because several properties of water, including buoyance and hydrostatic …

Ammonia Emission Assessment From Gasoline And Diesel Engines Under Utah Specific Conditions, Motasem Suleiman Abualqumboz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study aims to quantify ammonia (NH₃) emission rates from the on-road gasoline and diesel motor vehicles fleet of the Wasatch Front, Utah. For this purpose, a portable Pollution Emissions Monitoring System (PEMS) was used to estimate NH₃ emission rates from a representative fleet of 53 in-use light-duty (LD) gasoline and diesel vehicles over a total of 166 on-road Real Driving Emissions (RDE) tests. The post-catalyst concentrations of NH₃ precursors, nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and carbon monoxide (CO) were also measured. The outcomes of this study showed that a motor vehicle in the Wasatch Front …

Candidate Ideology And Small Donor Contributions, Ryan Kobe

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While individual citizens are the biggest source of campaign fundraising in Senate and House elections, previous research has focused on individuals donating over the reporting limit of $200. The Federal Elections Committee now makes available data on individuals who donate less than $200, and as these donors take on a bigger role in congressional fundraising, a new analysis of donor motivations is needed. This thesis investigates if and how candidate ideology is related to amount contributed. Specifically, I ask whether the dollar amount of contributions changes depending on how conservative or liberal a candidate is. These results have important implications …

Development And Validation Of A Basic Ground Skills Assessment For Equine-Assisted Services, Sarah J. Andersen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The equine-assisted services program at Utah State University produced and validated an assessment process used to test equines for suitability for equine-assisted services. Equine-assisted services incorporate the interaction of humans who face mental, physical, emotional, and/or social challenges and equines for therapeutic purposes. Recreational, physical, mental, social, and/or emotional goals are met through various equine-assisted services such as therapies, equine-assisted learning, and horsemanship.

Due to the potential for human injury while interacting with equines, it is important to ensure equines are assessed for safe behavior prior to participation in equine-assisted services. This is why our group developed and tested the …

Active Transportation Routes Using Canal Corridors: Decision Tools In Creating Successful Canal Trail Projects, Matthew Scott Crump

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The state of Utah has many canal corridors that offer potential opportunities for establishing public trails.In the past, concerns such as public safety and canal companies’ abilities to perform maintenance have inhibited the construction of canal trails. Recently, local governments and canal companies have worked to overcome these challenges which has led to the establishment of some canal trails. The purpose of this study is to provide valuable insights and tools that can be used in developing future canal trails. In order to accomplish this, the study documents various case studies of completed canal trail projects, interviews stakeholders for future …

The Internal Charge Evolution Of Multilayered Materials Undergoing Mono-Energetic Electron Bombardment, Gregory Wilson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The charging of multilayer materials as related to the charging of spacecraft is one of the primary concerns related to activities in the space environment. To understand how multilayer materials undergoing electron bombardment charge, an in-depth study of energy-dependent material properties must be undertaken. These properties include the electron penetration depth, secondary electron emission, charge transport and electrostatic discharge. By using energy dependent models of these properties, along with the geometry of the system, multilayer models can be developed to predict the time evolution of the internal charge distribution. Using these models, the net surface potential and the measurement of …

Enzymatic Synthesis Of Maltodextrin Fatty Acid Esters And Their Emulsion Stabilizing And Microbial Inhibitory Properties, Namhyeon Park

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Food additives have been one of the traditional methods for preserving foods and are still in everyday use for multiple reasons. As the market size of processed foods grows, the use of food additives is increasing. Simultaneously, consumers try to avoid specific food additives or demand less processed foods because of several potential health concerns, suggesting the need for safe food additives.

In this environment, one group of food additives consisting of carbohydrates and fatty acids have received attention because of its nontoxicity and biodegradability with diverse functions. Notably, carbohydrate fatty acid compounds made of sucrose have been approved and …

A Comparison Of The Ecology Of Resident And Translocated Beavers Used For Passive Restoration In Degraded Desert Rivers, Emma Doden

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Ecosystem engineers are species that create, destroy, modify, or maintain habitat. As ecosystem engineers, beavers have the potential to assist in stream restoration. Translocation is the capture and relocation of an animal to another area. Translocation of nuisance beavers has become a popular method to reduce human-wildlife conflict and restore waterways. However, few projects monitor beavers after release and compare behavior to naturally occurring resident beavers. Translocations to desert rivers are also rare. We captured, tagged, and monitored 47 beavers which we translocated to desert river restoration sites on the Price and San Rafael Rivers, Utah, USA. We compared translocated …

Classical Venturi Meter Performance Downstream Of The Through Leg Of A Tee Junction, Matthew P. Day

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this research was to analyze the accuracy of a Classical Venturi meter installed downstream of the through leg of a tee junction. A flowmeter that functions inaccurately due to improper installation may cause revenue loss for any company or organization involved in extraction, transportation, production, or purchasing of fluid resources and products. This research used physical data coupled with data produced by numerical models to determine how to correct the Classical Venturi meter’s inaccuracies created by this particular installation.

Results show the capability of measuring the flow rate accurately was greatly affected when most of the flow …

Does Fashion Sustainability Instruction Influence Student Intention To Make Sustainable Apparel Choices?, Amber Swasey Williams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examined the effects that sustainable fashion education had on college students’ attitudes, subjective norms, knowledge, and intention to make sustainable apparel choices. In addition, relationships were analyzed and interpreted between intention and attitudes, subjective norms, and knowledge. The need for this research stems from changes in the fashion industry that required the adoption of new business models. The circular economy model embraces a culture that makes, consumes, enriches, or returns the product to supply chains. For the circular model to be successful, all stakeholders must understand the role one plays in creating a sustainable industry. The consumer is …

The Effect Of Bit Depth On High Temperature Digital Image Correlation Measurements, Steven Robert Jarrett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Digital Image Correlation (DIC) is a camera-based method of measuring mechanical displacement and strain which is commonly used in high-temperature experiments due to its ability to take contactless measurements. High-temperature DIC is challenging due to light emitted from the sample which can saturate the camera sensor. Blue-DIC and UV-DIC have been developed to minimize this effect, but the maximum sample temperature range of DIC remains a function of the camera and camera settings. Bit depth, also referred to as color depth or number of bits, is an important camera setting which affects the dynamic range of an image, but which …

Educational Barriers Childhood Cancer Patients And Survivors Experience: Cancer Care Team Perspectives, Karely Mann

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

After a child is diagnosed with cancer their life changes dramatically, including their school attendance and education goals. This study was done to find out common schooling and education problems young cancer patients and survivors face and how cancer care team members try to help.

This study focused on the point of view of the cancer care team members. Cancer care team members include nurses, social workers, oncologists, and many other professionals. All cancer care team members who participated in the study took a survey and many of them also agreed to participate in a short interview.

We found that …

Peer-To-Peer Feedback: An Instructional Strategy In Teacher Evaluation, Brady L. Ridge

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Over the last several decades there have been federal movements in education which place more accountability on schools and consequently their principals. Principals have many responsibilities which vary from administrative duties to improving teaching in their schools. As a result, principals are often asked to do more than they believe they have time to accomplish. Peer-to-peer feedback is a practice that principals can use to help evaluate, and more importantly, help teachers improve their teachers' teaching. This multi-case or multi-school qualitative study researched the practice of peer-to-peer feedback at two elementary schools. The purpose was to understand how peer-to-peer feedback …

The Experience Of Becoming A Teacher Leader, Cory G. Smith

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Teacher leadership has become an increasingly important aspect of school reform and evaluation. Teacher leadership is often viewed as teachers leading either through formal positions or influencing others informally. There is a lot of research describing the benefits of teacher leadership, but there is little that describes the process of a teacher leader and the effects this experience has on the teacher leaders themselves. This study examines the experience of becoming a teacher leader as viewed through interviews with 11 junior high school teachers from a single school district.

The findings of this study suggest the importance of initial events, …

Wear Behaviors Of Process Cheese With Varying Formulations And The Development Of Predictive Models On Shreddability, Jason Young

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Process Cheese is manufactured by grinding, mixing, and heating with agitation one or more of the same varieties of natural cheese with an emulsifying agent to create a cheese with desirable properties. After process cheese is made, it is often sliced or shredded. Some of its properties affect how well it can be sliced or shredded and can lead to loss of material due to cheese sticking to equipment or being too crumbly. The loss of material, called wear behavior can incur significant losses to cheese manufacturing operations. The purpose of this study was to produce process cheese formulations with …

Determinants Of The Student Loan Decision And Financial Well-Being: The Role Of Financial Education, Financial Literacy, And Student Loan Characteristics, Emily Shaffer Hales

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The student loan crisis has been an important area of personal, political, and research discussion. Many individuals must make the decision to attend college with the help of student loans and millions are currently in repayment on their student loan. However, it can be difficult to understand what factors may play a role the decision to take out a student loan and how managing one’s student loan could affect their personal financial well-being. Thus, this study examined factors that could be related to how an individual may decide to take out a student loan, such as if they participated in …

Examining Segregation Between Chinese And Euroamerican Residences Using Suitability Modeling Within The Built Environment At Terrace, Utah: A Case Study, Kelly N. Jimenez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Suitability modeling is a useful approach for exploring human interactions with their environments. Within a geographic information system (GIS) environment, locations are weighted relative to each other, resulting in a landscape hierarchy that displays regions from least to most suitable. Suitability modeling is used in various disciplines, from urban planning to natural resources, but a gap exists in research concerning social human behavior. This method can especially contribute to the investigation of social inequality at archaeological sites by considering multiple attributes within a site. In this thesis, I use method to determine social inequality between cultural groups at the historic …

Bioabsorbable Metal Zinc Differentially Affects Mitochondria In Vascular Endothelial And Smooth Muscle Cells, Olivia R. M. Bagshaw, Fereshteh Moradi, Christopher S. Moffatt, Hillary A. Hettwer, Ping Liang, Jeremy Goldman, Jaroslaw Drelich, Jeffrey A. Stuart

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Zinc is an essential trace element having various structural, catalytic and regulatory interactions with an estimated 3000 proteins. Zinc has drawn recent attention for its use, both as pure metal and alloyed, in arterial stents due to its biodegradability, biocompatibility, and low corrosion rates. Previous studies have demonstrated that zinc metal implants prevent the development of neointimal hyperplasia, which is a common cause of restenosis following coronary intervention. This suppression appears to be smooth muscle cell-specific, as reendothelization of the neointima is not inhibited. To better understand the basis of zinc's differential effects on rat aortic smooth muscle (RASMC) versus …

Wailing For My Cultura: Disenfranchised Grief Among Mexican Americans Navigating A Bicultural Identity, Sandra Ramirez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

There is a gap in grief research in the field of Communication that is related to the Mexican American experience. Mexican Americans navigating two often opposing cultures may experience additional complications as they attempt to maneuver the differences in grief rituals that align with either American or Mexican customs. This may result in the bereaved experiencing disenfranchised grief. This study aims to examine the significance of Mexican American bicultural grief rituals as a third option to determine how that relates to disenfranchised grief.

The first part of this study is a textual analysis of media coverage of Mexican American grief …

A New Algorithm For Robust Affine-Invariant Clustering, Andrews Tawiah Anum

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Cluster analysis is an unsupervised machine learning technique commonly employed to partition a dataset into distinct categories referred to as clusters. The k-means algorithm is a prominent distance-based clustering method. Despite its overwhelming popularity, the algorithm is not invariant under non-singular linear transformations and is not robust, i.e., can be unduly influenced by outliers. To address these deficiencies, we propose an alternative clustering procedure based on minimizing a “trimmed” variant of the negative log-likelihood function. We develop a “concentration step”, vaguely reminiscent of the classical Lloyd’s algorithm, that can iteratively reduce the objective function. Multiple real and synthetic datasets are …

Racial Diversity Of Texas School Teachers, Julie Ann Olguin-Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing gap between the racial demographics of public-school teachers and their students. Teachers with demographic backgrounds similar to a school’s student population are often successful, particularly in Title 1 schools with high proportions of minority students; however, teacher turnover is high. The students in Texas public schools are a growing minority-majority population. Changes in the student body racial composition and other school-related variables could influence teacher workforce demographics. The focus of discussion of this quantitative research study is to determine the factors that predict the racial diversity of teachers in Texas high schools. The research questions addressed …

Natural Regeneration Dynamics And Survival Influenced By Abiotic And Biotic Factors In A Bottomland Hardwood Forest, Lydia J. Voth Rurup

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Riparian ecosystems are vital to the landscape, providing critical services including water filtration and purification, flood and erosion control, carbon sequestration, biodiversity support, and aesthetic value. Bottomland hardwood forests, however, are threatened by invasive species, land loss/conversion, inconsistent or absence of harvesting disturbances, and altered hydrological patterns, leading to reduced success of desired, native species. This research assessed regeneration dynamics and one-year survival in a seasonally-flooded bottomland hardwood forest at Boggy Slough Conservation Area in East Texas to identify abiotic and biotic factors important for successful establishment of native regeneration. Areas sampled included two that were previously treated with herbicide …

Effects Of Varying Warmup Stimuli On Running Economy, Connor Bigenho

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of two potentiating warm-up stimuli (weighted-vest strides and plyometrics) on running economy (RE) over short (5-10 minutes) and longer durations (30+ minutes) of exercise in trained distance runners. Methods: Five recreationally trained male runners were recruited to participate in this study. Each trial consisted of a 10-min self-paced warm-up on the treadmill followed by baseline RE test and baseline leg-stiffness. This was immediately followed by one of two intervention warmup protocols. The protocols consisted of either a series of plyometric movements, 6 x 10-sec strides with a …

A Practical Extension To The Ab/Ba Design, My T.A Nguyen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, we take a close look at a general extension to the traditional AB/BA
crossover design that is commonly used in clinical trials to determine the effectiveness
of new candidate drugs. While the traditional crossover design requires each patient
in the study to be measured on both treatment A and treatment B, we consider the
possibility of additional measurements being available on each patient. This produces
designs such as the AABB/BBAA design which has been used in previous studies.
A general test statistic will be derived to test for treatment effects as well as its
corresponding power function …

Assessing Freezing Effect On Kiwifruit Cultivars And Mapping Suitable Areas For Growing The Crop In Eastern Texas, Lais De Oliveira Machado

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Kiwifruit is a perennial vine originating from China where it has been grown for centuries. In the United States, green kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa) is primarily produced commercially in California. They are fuzzy, green fleshed and well known in the marketplace. Kiwifruit plants require low to moderate soil pH, adequate winter chilling and adequate precipitation to guarantee plant development and good fructification. Actinidia chinesis or golden kiwifruit are smooth skinned, feature golden flesh and are a more recent introduction into the global market. Kiwifruit crops have attributes that favor production in east Texas, including low pest problems, current long …

Ledgers Of The W.T. Carter And Brother Lumber Company: An Archival Processing Project, Christopher Cameron Cotton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The W.T. Carter and Brother Lumber Company began in 1898 and operated until 1968 when it was sold to the U.S. Plywood Corporation. The Polk County, Texas company harvested longleaf pine during a crucial period of development for the Texas economy. The lumber industry was the state’s first large scale commercial enterprise not dependent on farming and provided a model for future extractive industries in the state. The W.T. Carter and Brother Lumber Company town of Camden, Texas exemplifies rural implementations of the company town system in the Texas lumber industry. This public history thesis provides a brief history of …

Metaphors Of International Law, Harlan G. Cohen

Scholarly Works

This chapter explores international law in search of its hidden and not-so-hidden metaphors. In so doing, it discovers a world inhabited by states, where rules are mined or picked when ripe, where trade keeps boats forever afloat on rising tides. But is also unveils a world in which voices are silenced, inequality is ignored, and hands are washed of responsibility.

International law is built on metaphors. Metaphors provide a language to describe and convey the law’s operation, help international lawyers identify legal subjects and categorize situations in doctrinal categories, and provide normative justifications for the law. Exploring their operation at …