Life Sciences Commons^™

Evaluating Quaking Aspen's Influence On Fire Behavior, Kristin A. Nesbit

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In western North America, quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) forests have long been described as low flammability, “fireproof” forest types that are less likely to burn or burn less intensely than coniferous forests. While this assumption has been based on limited scientific research and is largely anecdotal, there is growing interest in the western U.S. to promote aspen near human developments to reduce fire risk. I investigated the available evidence for aspen forests reducing fire occurrence, behavior, and severity, and assessed possible factors that affect flammability in aspen forests to better understand when and where aspen burn, and when …

Social Factors Driving Grouping Dynamics In Bighorn Sheep Ewe, Toni Proescholdt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Understanding and predicting movement is critical for conservation planning and disease risk mitigation, and important environmental drivers of animal movement have received extensive attention in the ecological literature. Social factors surrounding group fission and fusion events also directly affect movement. However, these events are infrequently measured in the wild and rarely linked to underlying mechanisms such as relatedness, agreement in reproductive status, or shared life stage. While some social factors cannot be directly observed in the field, individual animals congregating in groups and moving about a landscape can. In animal societies, groups may merge together in a fusion event, and …

Status And Enhancement Of Trissolcus Japonicus (Ashmead) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae) For Biological Control Of Halyomorpha Halys (Stål) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) In Northern Utah, Kate V. Richardson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The invasive brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is a major insect pest that invades human structures causing nuisance issues and attacks numerous fruit and vegetable crops in Northern America. As this pest threatens $23 billion worth of specialty and agricultural crops in the U.S. and is difficult to manage due to insecticide resistance, control practices such as the use of biological control through egg parasitoid wasps are critical. In its native range of Asia, BMSB populations are controlled primarily by members of the Trissolcus genus such as the samurai wasp, but U.S. native wasps have demonstrated low success of BMSB …

A Fine-Scale Understanding Of Sagebrush Islands To Improve Restoration Outcomes In The Intermountain West, Sofia Koutzoukis

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In the Intermountain West, rapid expansion of non-native grasses, primarily cheatgrass, has created a repeating cycle where cheatgrass easily ignites and after a fire, more cheatgrass establishes in the burned area, leading to more fire, and more cheatgrass. The primary method to prevent further fires is to plant grass and shrub seeds after a fire because they can deter cheatgrass from establishing and reduce the chance of fire. However, this approach does not always work. There is a need and interest in alternative ways to establish native grasses and forbs.

Sagebrush, the dominant shrub of lower-elevation regions of the Intermountain …

Use Of Protective Lactic Acid Bacteria Adjunct Cultures To Decrease The Incidence Of Gas Defects In Cheddar Cheese, Rhees T. Crompton

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Gas production in cheese making is becoming increasingly prevalent in the dairy industry. This gas is produced by microbes that are naturally found in the cheese, and when they metabolize sugar or other sources of energy, they can produce gas. This gas causes slits and cracks in the cheese, which causes the cheese to be worth less and causes issues during slicing and shredding. There are many microbes that cause unwanted gas in cheese, this research focuses on four know gas producers and five other protective microbes that use the same energy sources or have the ability to inhibit the …

Using Genome Analysis Methods To Screen Lactococcus Starter Cultures For Bitter‐Related Genes And Establish A Differentiation Method Using Qpcr For Lactococcus Lactis And Lactococcus Cremoris Species In Cheddar Cheese, Brantzen R. Wood

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Consumers of Cheddar cheese expect consistent flavor and texture in the cheese they eat. Cheese flavor and texture is highly influenced by the bacteria cheese makers add during cheese production. These bacteria are generally responsible for the flavors and textures consumers associate with Cheddar cheese and are referred to as starters.

Sometimes during cheese manufacture off-flavors and textures can arise that make the cheese unappealing to eat. One such flavor that is off putting is bitterness. The bitter taste in cheese arises while the cheese is aging and is largely due to the same flavor producing starters added to the …

Consequences Of Host Life Cycles For Symbiont Genome Evolution, Ashley Elizabeth Dederich

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Aphids are small insects that feed exclusively on plant sap, a notoriously low source of nutrients due to the high sugar content and low amino acid content. To make up for these deficiencies in nutrition, aphids harbor Buchnera aphidicola, a bacterial endosymbiont that resides in a specialized organ called the bacteriome. B. aphidicola provides essential amino acids and vitamins for the aphid in exchange for a safe place to live. Over the course of the symbiosis (established 160 million years ago), B. aphidicola has lost much of its genome, including essential genes for cell envelope synthesis, DNA replication and …

Assessing Stream Ecosystem Structure And Function In An Urban Canal And Logan River In Logan, Utah, Ellie Smith-Eskridge

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Humans have constructed canals to support agriculture, to mitigate flooding, and to discharge stormwater, especially in the Intermountain West. These canals are common in Cache Valley, where they receive flows from the Logan River during summer months. However, the ecological structure (e.g., water quality, freshwater invertebrates) and function (e.g., leaf decomposition) of these canals remains largely unknown. Studying ecosystem structure and function of these urban waterways is important because it can inform us of the health of these waterways.

My research had three objectives. First, I compared water chemistry, invertebrate assemblages, and leaf decomposition in an urban canal and the …

An Evaluation Of U.S. Horseback Riding Instruction Certifications: Availability, Acquisition, Barriers, And Industry Need, Makenna L. Osborne

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this mixed-methods study is to analyze the U.S. equine industry’s availability of riding instruction certification options, describe the relationship between professional certification and the self-efficacy of horseback riding instructors in the U.S., and explore the expectations that consumers have of instructors and instructor selection criteria. Two surveys were developed and sent out to instructors and consumers aligned with the research objectives designed to collect information on instructors’ self- perception of self-efficacy after certifying their perceived barriers to receiving certification, and consumers’ selection criteria for instructors. The average certified instructor was extremely satisfied with their decision to pursue …

Establishment Of A Transgenic Human Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-2 Hamster Infection Model For The Evaluation Of Therapeutics Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2, Scott A. Gibson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The virus SARS-CoV-2 emerged in late 2019 and has gone on to spread throughout the global population. The virus is still the cause of a healthcare crisis two years after being identified. Viral infection in humans leads to the development of the disease COVID-19. A complex disease that can result in a wide variety of outcomes for infected individuals. In the majority of individuals, COVID-19 will manifest as either an asymptomatic disease state or a mild to moderate disease state that is resolved in approximately one week. In some infected patients COVID-19 will manifest with the rapid onset of severe …

Fractally Sampling Diversity-Environment Relationships To Understand Plant Assemblage Health Across Spatial Scales, Elizabeth G. Simpson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Humans influence the health of ecosystems and rely on healthy ecosystems to support their livelihoods and well-being. By looking at how the parts of ecosystems interact we can understand and improve ecosystem health. Ecosystem interactions change across spatial scales or different size patches of area. For example, individual organisms interact with each other at small spatial scales, while at large spatial scales, communities of organisms interact with weather conditions. However, many research studies do not look at how ecosystem interactions change across spatial scales. To address this gap in ecological research, I use a fractal sampling design which samples at …

The Barriers To Movement: The Effects Of Anthropogenic Linear Features On The Space-Use Behaviors Of Mule Deer And Pronghorn In Utah, Ronan B. Hart

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Human development of structures like roads, fences, and other linear features can make it difficult for animals to move around their environment, affecting their ability to find food and avoid danger. Animal movement and the way they use space comes about from their responses to their surroundings and their choices to balance risk and reward. Because of this, we can understand how roads and fences affect wildlife by studying the way they move around their habitats. In this thesis, I focused on two large herbivores, mule deer and pronghorn, and studied how they use the space within Utah, United States …

Thermal Tolerance, Physiology, And Microhabitat Use Of Eleutherodactylus Coqui Across An Elevational Gradient In Hawai‘I, Jack Marchetti

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The coqui frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) is an invasive species in Hawai‘i, and has spread across much of the island. While elevational temperature differences are thought to restrict the coqui’s spread, it is unclear if they have resulted in changes to the coqui’s physiology and microhabitat use as it has expanded into higher elevations.

We first sought to determine if the coqui’s substrate use and baseline physiology differs between elevations. We found that frogs at high elevation were found closer to the forest floor and used different substrates than frogs from low and mid-elevations. This change in microhabitat use …

We Travel Together: Examining The Drivers And Functions Of Animal Movement In Biotic Seed Dispersal, Binod Borah

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Plants and frugivorous animals exist in mutually beneficial relations, as these animals feed on fruits, ingest the seeds, and carry them away from the parent trees. Such dispersion of seeds over space helps them colonize new habitats, escape high mortality rates near their parent trees, and avoid competition with conspecifics. Therefore, seed dispersing animal movement can be critical for the persistence of plant populations. Yet what drives such seed disperser movement is often less understood and how it affects seed dispersal is little explored. In my dissertation, I investigate multiple drivers of seed disperser movement, link movement to potential seed …

The Effects Of Recent Climate Change On Spring Phenology, With A Special Focus On Patterns Of Bee Foraging, Michael Stemkovski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The date on which plants flower and on which bees begin to pollinate varies year-to-year depending on differences in weather. This seasonal timing is known as phenology, and it is already clear that climate change has pushed the spring phenology of many species earlier by increasing temperatures. This is particularly clear in flowering plants, but studying how and why the phenology of pollinators is shifting is more difficult. Most flowering plants rely on pollinators such as bees for their reproduction, and most bees rely on flowers for their sustenance, so bee and flower phenology has to overlap for the crucial …

Habitat Selection By Desert Carnivores: How Water, Intraguild Predation, And Prey Impact Animal Space Use, Nadine A. Pershyn

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Across North America large carnivores have lost nearly half of their historic range, creating openings for smaller (< 15 kg) carnivores to take over their ecological roles. Coyotes (Canis latrans) have seen a significant range expansion, including into arid deserts. It was believed that the addition of artificial water sources by humans allowed coyotes to expand into desert ecosystems where they were previously unable to survive. The kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) is a small, desert-adapted carnivore with declining populations that faces threats from coyotes of intraguild predation. This is when carnivores compete over the same prey, and the larger carnivore (intraguild predator) kills the smaller carnivore (intraguild …

Student Perceptions Of Male And Female Instructors In A Post-Secondary Welding Course, S. Kjersti R. Decker

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Agricultural mechanics and welding have traditionally been perceived to be careers reserved for males, yet more females have entered professions using welding such as agricultural education. This research was developed because of the lack of gender research in welding. The purpose of this study was to examine students’ perceptions of learning from a male instructor versus a female instructor in a post-secondary welding course. We examined associations and differences between students’ preference of a male and a female welding instructor as well as individual self-efficacy and perceptions towards using welding technology. The population for this study was undergraduate students and …

Regeneration Of Quaking Aspen And Understory Vegetation Change After Fire Risk Reduction Treatment, Allison M. Trudgeon

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) is a keystone species that, when coexisting with conifers (i.e., seral aspen), often undergoes stand-replacing disturbances to sustain long term vigor. Historically, mixed-to-high severity fire reduced fuels and regenerated aspen, but such disturbances have become less common in recent decades. This has often led to high fuel loading, and many seral aspen stands are at now risk of an unpredictable, high-severity fire, posing a threat to development in the wildland-urban-interface. The lack of a commercial market for aspen, and the risk of conducting prescribed fire, means there are few alternate management options. This has …

Evaluating Methods For Pathogen Spillover Detection And Forecasting In Desert Bighorn Sheep (Ovis Canadensis Nelsoni), Grete E. Wilson-Henjum

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Managers mitigate the effects of disease on wildlife populations by detecting outbreaks and predicting disease transmission. Bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) populations face threat from the introduced pathogen Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae (M. ovipneumoniae). In the eastern Mojave Desert, managers detect pathogen outbreaks in desert bighorn (O. c. nelsoni) through aerial population surveys, which produce irregular and coarse population information. Furthermore, managers model the risk of M. ovipneumoniae transmission amongst desert bighorn populations, however these models assume that desert bighorn space use is unchanging across years. Here, I evaluate methods used by managers to detect disease outbreaks …

Fish Community Impacts And Conservation Implications Of A Novel Barrier On The San Juan River, Utah, Zachary T. Ahrens

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Stream fragmentation and non-native species introductions are among a suite of anthropogenic disturbances shaping the structure and function of freshwater ecosystems. The impacts of such alterations contribute to the global decline of stream fish biodiversity and may be synergistic in their effects. For example, the Colorado River basin’s unique native fish assemblage is imperiled not only by numerous dams and diversions, but also by threats of predation and competition for limited resources from non-native fish species. On the San Juan River, Utah, a recently formed fish barrier prevents upstream movement of native and non-native fish. The goal of this project …

Evapotranspiration And Energy Balance Of Irrigated Urban Turfgrass, Matthew D. Miksch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Water usage for irrigation is a big consumer of water resources in urban areas in Utah and other parts of the Intermountain Region of the Western United States. As populations continue to increase in these states, it is important to understand how much water is being used by urban landscapes in order to plan and manage future water resources. Evapotranspiration (ET), or the amount of water leaving a surface over a certain timeframe due to both transpiration from plants and evaporation from the soil, is a key variable in understanding how much water urban landscapes are really using to grow …

Practical Improvements For Pivot And Surface Irrigation, Jonathan A. Holt

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Irrigation is critical to meeting global food and fiber demands. Optimizing agricultural irrigation may help sustain production levels, while reducing its demand for water. This research evaluated precision sprinklers and drip irrigation for pivots, five pivot track mitigation tools, three scientific irrigation scheduling (SIS) methods, sensors for surface irrigation cutoff, and automating surface systems to implement surge irrigation. With pivots and surface irrigation being the most common methods for irrigation in the West, small improvements from these tools could result in significant water savings.

Low energy precision application (LEPA) sprinklers and mobile drip irrigation (MDI) were tested on two pivots. …

The Kynurenine Pathway In Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, And Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Cerebrospinal Fluid Studies, Mehmet Enes Inam, Brisa S Fernandes, Estela Salagre, Iria Grande, Eduard Vieta, João Quevedo, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: The kynurenine pathway has been attracting attention as a relevant pathway in schizophrenia (SZ), bipolar disorder (BD), and major depressive disorder (MDD). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the kynurenine pathway metabolites from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples in SZ, BD, and MDD.

METHODS: PubMed and Scopus databases were systematically searched to identify peer-reviewed case-control studies until April 2022 that assessed kynurenine metabolites, namely, tryptophan (TRP), kynurenine (KYN), kynurenic acid (KA), quinolinic acid (QA), and 3- hydroxykynurenine (3-HK) in SZ, BD, or MDD subjects compared with healthy controls (HC). The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses …

An Exploratory Simulation Study And Prediction Model On Human Brain Behavior And Activity Using An Integration Of Deep Neural Network And Biosensor Rabi Antenna, Nhat Truong Pham, Montree Bunruangses, Phichai Youplao, Anita Garhwal, Kanad Ray, Arup Roy, Sarawoot Boonkirdram, Preecha Yupapin, Muhammad Arif Jalil, Jalil Ali, Shamim Kaiser, Mufti Mahmud, Saurav Mallik, Zhongming Zhao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The plasmonic antenna probe is constructed using a silver rod embedded in a modified Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) ad-drop filter. Rabi antennas are formed when space-time control reaches two levels of system oscillation and can be used as human brain sensor probes. Photonic neural networks are designed using brain-Rabi antenna communication, and transmissions are connected via neurons. Communication signals are carried by electron spin (up and down) and adjustable Rabi frequency. Hidden variables and deep brain signals can be obtained by external detection. A Rabi antenna has been developed by simulation using computer simulation technology (CST) software. Additionally, a communication device …

Inferring Evolutionary Trajectories From Cross-Sectional Transcriptomic Data To Mirror Lung Adenocarcinoma Progression, Kexin Huang, Yun Zhang, Haoran Gong, Zhengzheng Qiao, Tiangang Wang, Weiling Zhao, Liyu Huang, Xiaobo Zhou

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a deadly tumor with dynamic evolutionary process. Although much endeavors have been made in identifying the temporal patterns of cancer progression, it remains challenging to infer and interpret the molecular alterations associated with cancer development and progression. To this end, we developed a computational approach to infer the progression trajectory based on cross-sectional transcriptomic data. Analysis of the LUAD data using our approach revealed a linear trajectory with three different branches for malignant progression, and the results showed consistency in three independent cohorts. We used the progression model to elucidate the potential molecular events in LUAD …

Structural Basis Of The Alkaline Ph-Dependent Activation Of Insulin Receptor-Related Receptor, Liwei Wang, Catherine Hall, Jie Li, Eunhee Choi, Xiao-Chen Bai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

The insulin receptor (IR) family is a subfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases that controls metabolic homeostasis and cell growth. Distinct from IR and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor, whose activation requires ligand binding, insulin receptor-related receptor (IRR)-the third member of the IR family-is activated by alkaline pH. However, the molecular mechanism underlying alkaline pH-induced IRR activation remains unclear. Here, we present cryo-EM structures of human IRR in both neutral pH inactive and alkaline pH active states. Combined with mutagenesis and cellular assays, we show that, upon pH increase, electrostatic repulsion of the pH-sensitive motifs of IRR disrupts its autoinhibited state …

Soluble Epoxide Hydrolase Inhibition: A Novel Therapeutic Strategy For Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease., Jeffrey Warner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a common chronic liver disease and healthcare burden, and a spectrum of pathologies ranging from steatosis to steatohepatitis, fibrosis, and alcohol-associated hepatitis (AH). Despite its prevalence, there are limited effective therapeutic options for the treatment of ALD/AH. Previous evidence suggested that inhibition of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), a lipid metabolism enzyme which degrades beneficial metabolites of dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids, may be a beneficial strategy. The central hypothesis of the current dissertation is that sEH inhibition will ameliorate alcohol-associated liver injury and inflammation in mouse models of ALD. Methods To determine the efficacy of …

Family Caregiver Reports Of Their Own And Patient Symptoms In Cancer Home Hospice Approaching End-Of-Life, Maija Reblin, Eli Iacob, Djin L Tay, Hui Li, Megan C Thomas Hebdon, Anna Beck, Gary Donaldson, Kristin G Cloyes, Lee Ellington

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Context: Family caregivers assume the primary responsibility of assessing and managing hospice cancer patient symptoms while simultaneously managing their own wellbeing and symptoms. Objectives: Describe caregivers' assessment of hospice cancer patient and their own symptoms during the last 60 days of patient life, and assess the relationship between patient and caregiver symptoms over time.

Methods: Caregiver symptom report of self and cancer home hospice patient symptom data were collected via telephone in the final 60 days of patient life. Descriptive data on symptom severity and prevalence were summarized. Exploratory Factor Analysis was used to group individual symptoms. …

Clustering And Analysis Of G Quadruplex Sequences., Aryan Neupane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

G quadruplex structures are secondary structures located throughout the genome of various organisms with involvement in regulatory functions in different transcription, translation, genome stability, epigenetic regulation as well as cell division. Even with the diverse acknowledgement of G4 structure in vivo, there are no current search tools for G quadruplexes based on already identified G quadruplexes and identified families across different genomes based on sequence diversity. Construction of families of G4 sequences and identifying their polymorphisms within disease and disorders will lead to a better understanding of their functional roles and will further research into the biophysical modeling of interactions …

Transmission And The Evolution Of Diseases Caused By Chlamydia Trachomatis, Sars-Cov-2, And Plasmodium Species., Nathan Steffens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Principles of natural selection have proven valuable for explaining why pathogens cause the diseases that they do. In theory, the evolved level of host exploitation should reflect how dependent a pathogen is on host health for transmission. This dependency is shaped by transmission mode and transmission opportunity, which should therefore be predictors of disease manifestations. In this dissertation, I apply these principles to investigations of depression in Chlamydia trachomatis and virulence of SARS-COV-2 and Plasmodium species. This dissertation has five chapters. In chapter I, I describe the theoretical foundation of my dissertation research. I also briefly introduce each study system. …