University of Idaho Library Digital Initiatives
Not a member yet
54971 research outputs found
Sort by
Temperature Effects on Early Life Stages of the North American Burbot: Implications for Restoring the Lower Kootenai River Population
No full textAn imperiled population of endemic North American Burbot (Lota lota maculosa) inhabiting the lower Kootenai River in a transboundary region of Idaho and British Columbia struggles with recruitment failures linked to incompatibility between early life history patterns and upstream hydropower operations at Libby Dam in Montana. The loss of both river ice in winter and a flood pulse in spring has led to an unnatural post-dam thermal regime in spawning and early rearing habitats of Burbot. A series of laboratory experiments and river temperature modeling efforts were carried out to determine if simulated changes to the river thermal regime impact spawning, embryo development, and larval rearing. Contemporary warming in the post-dam regime between December−January does not appear to preclude functional gametogenesis, as river-adapted hatchery fish spawned viable gametes in February. However, elevated water temperatures of 4°C and 6°C shorten the spawning period to potentially coincide with suboptimal conditions for normal embryo development. Cold incubation temperatures are crucial during early embryogenesis, but the post-dam regime is often >3°C—and can be as warm as 5°C—which causes severe deformity and mortality of embryos. Later stages of embryonic development show reasonable tolerance to gradual warming and moderate thermal flux common in late winter and early spring. Larvae were observed inflating their swim bladders, foraging on rotifers, and exhibiting high survival through a critical period in waters doctoral, Ph.D., Natural Resources -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2021-0
The Effect of Anaerobic Mass Fraction on Enhanced Biological Phosphorous Removal Process Health and Performance
No full textEnhanced Biological Phosphorous Removal (EBPR) is a complex process with many different configurations, operational strategies, and difficulties. The advantages and disadvantages between two different operational schemes were tested and compared under variable anaerobic mass fraction to understand several of the factors which contribute to EBPR process success. This research identifies key metrics which can be used to diagnose process health such as anaerobic ORP, phosphorous release, Polyhydroxy alkenoate (PHA) production, and PHA in the Return Activated Sludge (RAS).masters, M.S., Civil Engineering -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2021-0
Sunk Cost Effects of Time and Effort: Enjoyment of Effort as a Moderator
No full textSunk cost errors occur when a decision maker allows a previous investment of time, effort or money to impact a current decision. The findings in regard to sunk cost of money have been fairly robust, as decision makers often allow past monetary investments to impact decisions about future investments (Arkes & Blumer, 1985; Roth, Robbert, & Straus, 2015). However, the literature regarding sunk costs involving an investment of time or effort has been mixed. It appears that time and effort are not tracked in the same way as money, and that mental accounting may not be the main mechanism behind sunk cost effects for investments of time or effort. Instead, it appears that sunk costs of time or effort may create decision making errors through an effort justification mechanism (Cunha & Caldieraro, 2009, 2010). This current study examined whether enjoyment of effort would have an effect on this effort justification mechanism. Effort that is enjoyable may not need to be justified in the same way as unenjoyable effort. We utilized an online reading task to manipulate enjoyment and sunk cost to determine if participants would stay with their initial choice or switch. No significant differences were found for sunk cost or for enjoyment of the task. These results suggest that enjoyment of effort may not affect effort justification, but more work is needed to fully understand if and when sunk costs occur for time and effort.masters, M.S., Psychology -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2021-0
Hatching and Development of the Cereal Cyst Nematode, Heterodera avenae
No full textThe cereal cyst nematode, Heterodera avenae Woll is an important nematode on wheat in Idaho and causes significant losses in production in infested fields. Hatching behavior is a key factor in the infection process of H. avenae and is primarily driven by temperature. Cold soil temperature is required to break dormancy and induce hatching. Hatching of H. avenae second stage juveniles (J2) was induced by extended periods of low soil temperatures. Both dormant eggs and encysted eggs were induced to hatch after exposure to 4℃. Hatched (J2) and developed white females from dormant eggs increased at 4℃ with increasing storing periods from two to eight weeks. No hatching of J2 and development of white females occurred when dormant encysted eggs were stored at 20℃ for any storing periods. The recorded hatching percentages of J2 of H. avenae were low and did not exceed 11%. The developed white females were found on the wheat roots 9 weeks after emergence of seedlings. Inducing hatching of dormant eggs and encysted eggs of H. avenae by low temperature exposure provides an alternative source of inoculum to naturally infested soil.masters, M.S., Plant, Soil and Entomological Sciences -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2021-0
It’s About Time: A Sociolegal Approach to Intergenerational Climate Justice in the United States, with Developments in Environmental Justice Scholarship, Climate Change Litigation, and Climate Adaptation Law
No full textThis interdisciplinary dissertation engages in sociolegal studies to analyze the ethical and legal obligations of the United States federal government with respect to its honoring of intergenerational climate justice. With that, this dissertation accomplishes three broad objectives. First, it engages in sociological theory to extend environmental justice scholarship by framing rising and future generations as a voiceless and oppressed faction of society and placing them within the long environmental justice history in the United States. Next, it integrates this unique perspective and ethical recognition with legal analysis, by examining some of the most prominent legal efforts striving to compel the federal government to mitigate the impending and disproportionate impacts of climate change. The combined sociolegal studies make clear that the intent, purpose, and function of the tripartite federal government system—and the social institution of law as a whole—work in tandem to prevent intergenerational climate injustices from occurring by ensuring the protection of the interests of rising and future generations from the exploitative actions of the federal government of this present generation. Last, this dissertation uses resilience thinking to synthesize the findings from the sociolegal studies and to advance practical solutions for the development of climate adaptation law in the United States.doctoral, Ph.D., Water Resources -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2021-1
Combining Fitness and Physical Therapy as a Treatments for Post-partum Pelvic Floor Dysfunction - Urinary Incontinence – a Case Study
No full textThe purpose of this study was twofold; 1) to investigate if the Pure Barre workout program would more efficiently improve SUI symptoms combined with physical therapy treatment. 2) To examine if the Pure Barre workout had any effect on self-efficacy of women diagnosed with SUI. It was hypothesized that including Pure Barre in physical therapy treatment will have an acute effect on recovery scores and self-efficacy in patients with SUI compared to patients only seeking physical therapy treatment. The study was a case study comparison between two participants. Self-efficacy was tracked throughout the duration and was reported upon joining the study, at week 4, and at week 8. Progress notes reported by the physical therapist were also reported every two months. Both participants had been patients for roughly two months prior to joining. Two progress notes were reported for each participant. The final progress note was reported following an 8-week Pure Barre intervention. Data from both participants showed a potential benefit of adding in the Pure Barre workout both on self-efficacy and on progress note data. The findings of this study prompt the need for an additional follow up study to include a bigger sample sized and a control and intervention group to further investigate the effects of the Pure Barre workout on self-efficacy and the efficiency of physical therapy.masters, M.S., Movement & Leisure Sciences -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2021-0
Detection of Atmospheric Gravity Waves Through High-Altitude Ballooning
No full textAtmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) are transverse waves that propagate in all directions throughout the atmosphere. They arise from a multitude of sources such as: orography, fronts, and convection. AGWs are excellent transporters of energy and momentum, which influence atmospheric turbulence, temperature, and chemistry. Wave transport and the successive deposition of energy is an important component in atmospheric dynamics as they have a large impact on the spatial and temporal characteristics of the middle and upper atmosphere. As a result, they play a great role in daily weather and long-term climate fluctuations. However, the horizontal resolutions of global climate models lack the ability to resolve the scales of the important part of AGWs, and because of this, their contributions to global climate simulations are missed. Thus, their parameterization and quantification are essential for improving weather forecast models. This thesis focuses on the detection of AGWs through high-altitude ballooning. In December 2020, radiosondes were sent as payloads through the lower and upper atmosphere, up to about 30 km, collecting sounding profiles in South America, before, during and after a total solar eclipse. Half of the radiosondes were launched from Tolten, while the other half were launched from Villarrica, providing an opportunity to detect AGWs around the Andes mountains and during the total solar eclipse. Each radiosonde was launched an hour apart over 48 consecutive hours. Through the collection of wind and temperature profiles, and using Euler’s equations of motion, a wavelet-based method was used to decompose vertical profiles of horizontal wind into gravity wave packets. To parameterize the waves, intrinsic frequency, and horizontal and vertical propagation directions were determined using Stokes parameters. The detected AGWs were characterized into three main categories: AGWs caused by significant wind shears, mountain waves, and solar-eclipse induced waves. These results provide parameters for multiple sources of AGWs that can be useful for climate change mitigation strategies through improved climate models, which contribute to the quality of life for millions.masters, M.S., Chemical and Materials Science Engineering -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2021-0
Advancing Sheep Genomics Research Through Population Genetics, Genome Assembly, and the Functional Annotation of Gene Regulatory Elements
No full textSheep are a globally important species raised for meat, milk, and fiber. Research in livestock genomics, including sheep, is important to increasing disease resilience and production of animal products while decreasing environmental impact of raising animals. Sheep have adapted to many different environments across the world, which has led to specialized traits including heat tolerance, disease resilience, and increased growth and meat quality. The first study presented in this dissertation found that sheep selected to fit production systems across the world are genetically different, despite originating from similar breed lineages. This can lead to further characterization of biological traits unique to populations of animals within a species. The assembly of high-quality reference genomes also leads to a better understanding of genetic diversity and identification of genetic variation. This includes mitochondrial genomes, which have historically contributed to phylogenetic studies in mammalian species. The assembly of the mitochondrial genome of the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep and the entire genome of the Rambouillet sheep presented in this dissertation contribute valuable reference resources to the scientific community. Further studies using these assemblies will aid in better defining and understanding the relationships between wild and domestic sheep, as well as genetic variation and locations of genes and regulatory elements in domestic sheep. The functional annotation of the sheep genome presented in the last two chapters of this dissertation defines the locations of transcriptional regulatory elements across the genome from a large collection of tissues. Histone modification, open chromatin, and DNA methylation are all classified as transcriptional regulatory elements and were defined in these studies. These regulatory elements were annotated on the Rambouillet reference genome to provide further resources to the community to investigate the mechanisms of gene regulation in relation to traits important to the sheep industry. Overall, this research will advance sheep research and production of economically important sheep products including meat, milk, and wool across the world.doctoral, Ph.D., Animal and Veterinary Science -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2021-1