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Flexibility as a Determinant of Rollerskiing Economy in Cross-Country Skiers: Author: Camenisch, Karin; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Health and Human Development; Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the correlational relationship between selected measures of flexibility and roller-ski economy (E). Twelve male competitive cross-country skiers (Mean±SD: 21±3 yrs, 183.2±6.5 cm, 76.7±6.8 kg and 60.4±3.4 ml/kg/min VO₂max) completed a VO₂max test on a motorized treadmill to volitional exhaustion utilizing the Australian XC Ski-Striding protocol. Heart rate (HR) and oxygen consumption (VO₂) were recorded with a metabolic cart using standard indirect calorimetry p...; Download File | View full details

Efficient Finite Element Modeling Across Optical Length Scales: Author: Harwood, Jason Alan; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Mechanical Engineering; Abstract: Optical engineers frequently rely on finite element analysis (FEA) to predict the thermal and mechanical performance of an optic before it is produced. These analyses are usually performed by modeling a simplified version of the real structure to obtain the global deformations of the surface of the mirror. This method eliminates the ability to represent localized deformations and strain gradients, resulting from thermal and mechanical loading, which may exceed the mechanical limit of the materials or material interfaces in coated mirrors causing delamination or cracking. The goal of this study...; Download File | View full details

Restoring Aspen Riparian Stands with Beaver on the Northern Yellowstone Winter Range: Author: McColley, Samuel David; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Animal and Range Sciences; Abstract: Aspen (Populus tremuloides) on the Gardiner Ranger District, Gallatin National Forest, have declined over the last half-century. In an attempt to reverse this trend, beaver (Castor canadensis) were reintroduced in Eagle Creek in 1991. Beaver promote aspen suckering through their dam and lodge building activities. In 2005, I assessed the long-term effects of beaver on aspen stands and the associated riparian area in the Eagle Creek Drainage. Aerial photographs taken in 1990 and 2005 were used to compare changes in riparian area vegetation where beaver were reintroduced. Aspen canopy cover decre...; Download File | View full details

Bird response to landscape pattern and disturbance across productivity gradients in forests on the Pacific Northwest: Author: McWethy, David Burch; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Abstract: Managing forest lands for biodiversity is a common goal in the public and private forests of the Pacific Northwest and is typically achieved through harvests that result in an array of vegetation structural conditions that provide suitable habitat for a number of species. The assumption is made that the causative factors of biodiversity do not vary geographically and that silviculture, as a management tool, can be applied similarly across different biophysical locales. The primary aim of this research is to better understand how species respond to both local and landscape-scale forest structur...; Download File | View full details

Relationships Among Geochemical Processes and Microbial Community Structure in a Unique High-Arsenic, Sulfidic Geothermal Spring in Yellowstone National Park: Author: Taylor Jr., William; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Land Rehabilitation; Abstract: The metabolisms of chemotrophic microorganisms are linked with the geochemical transformation of redox-active chemical species and mineral precipitation-dissolution reactions in geothermal environments. The objectives of the current work were to correlate the spatial distribution of microbial populations with changes in aqueous geochemistry and mineralogy in a unique Yellowstone National Park (YNP) geothermal spring, and to cultivate thermophilic microorganisms with phylogenetic and metabolic relevance to spring conditions. The geothermal spring (hereafter referenced as Joseph's Coat Spring -J...; Download File | View full details

Reliably Measuring Habitual Free-Living Physical Activity with the Actical® Activity Monitor: Author: Webster, Michael Dean; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Health and Human Development; Abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare reliability measures between a hip- and wrist-worn Actical® accelerometer. A group of 40 (25 female, 15 male) Montana State University employees wore both monitors for 14 consecutive days. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were determined for three variables for each monitor wearing location for bouts of one, three, five, eight and ten consecutive minutes over the entire monitoring period and for each single day of monitoring. The three dependent variables were the raw activity count values (CNTMV, counts/day) at or above specified mo...; Download File | View full details

Influence of Reach and Watershed Characteristics on Fish Distributions in Small Streams of Eastern Montana.: Author: Wuellner, Melissa Renee; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Fish and Wildlife Management; Abstract: The prairie biome is arguably the most endangered ecoregion in North America, and the chance of extinction for many fishes is greater than in other ecoregions. Fisheries scientists and managers must understand the ecology of fishes at multiple spatial scales for effective conservation. Statistical models designed to explain distributions of fishes using environmental characteristics measured at multiple scales have provided this critical information. The objectives of this study were to: i) identify the reach- (i.e., physicochemical and biotic) and watershed-scale characteristics that affect t...; Download File | View full details

Family Coping and Adaptation among Grandparents Rearing Grandchildren: Author: Porterfield, Fonda K; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Health and Human Development; Abstract: Over the past decade, grandparent caregiving, in which grandparents take on the sole custody of their grandchildren without a parent present, has been one of the fastest growing family forms in the U.S. Most studies on grandparent caregiver functioning have focused on the challenges and deficits of grandfamilies. Little research has been conducted on the adaptive processes of grandparent caregivers and the coping mechanisms they employ to deal with parenting the second time around. The current study was based on qualitative data generated from 26 in-depth, face-to-face interviews with grandpar...; Download File | View full details

Microbial Diversity and Zinc Toxicity to Pseudomonas sp. from Coeur d' Alene River Sediment: Author: Barua, Sutapa; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Chemical Engineering; Abstract: Coeur d'Alene River (CDAR) in northern Idaho is one of the metal contaminated rivers in US. The sediments of the river are enriched with As, Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn which are toxic metals to humans and animals. It is hypothesized that microorganisms living in this river sediment can remove the metals and thus detoxify their environment. The objective of this work is to investigate the microbial communities existing in CDAR sediment using 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing and 16S rRNA gene microarray (PhyloChip) analysis. According to our phylogenetic analysis, the CDAR clones fell into 13 di...; Download File | View full details

Analysis of the Expression and Function of Chicken Protocadherin 1 in Neural Crest Migration and Peripheral Nervous System Formation: Author: Bononi, Judy; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Neuroscience; Abstract: The necessary steps of development from a single cell to a multi-celled functional organism are complex. Many molecules have been identified and their roles characterized in this process. One interesting population of cells includes the highly migratory neural crest cells (NCCs) unique to the vertebrate embryo and existing transiently during early embryonic development. The NCCs migrate along specific pathways at specific timepoints, stop at target locations, differentiate and give rise to a variety of cell types and tissues. Trunk NCCs must choose between two different migratory pathways: the...; Download File | View full details

Biology of Acid-Sulfate-Chloride Springs in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, United States of America: Author: Boyd, Eric Stephen; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Microbiology; Abstract: This dissertation investigated the role of biology in several biogeochemical cycles in acid sulfate chloride (ASC) geothermal springs in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Elemental sulfur (S°) is associated with many geothermal springs, yet little is known about the organisms involved in its cycling. The aqueous and solid phase geochemistry near the source of Dragon Spring, an ASC spring in the Norris Geyser Basin (NGB) of YNP, was used to guide the enrichment and isolation of two novel S°-reducing Crenarchaeota affiliated with the order Desulfurococcales. Both isolates ar...; Download File | View full details

The Topology of Magnetic Reconnection in Solar Flares: Author: Des Jardins, Angela Colman; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Physics; Abstract: In order to better understand the location and evolution of magnetic reconnection, which is thought to be the energy release mechanism in solar flares, I combine the analysis of hard X-ray (HXR) sources observed by RHESSI with a three-dimensional, quantitative magnetic charge topology (MCT) model. I first examine the evolution of reconnection by analyzing the relationship between observed HXR footpoint motions and a topological feature called spine lines. With a high degree of confidence, I find that the HXR footpoints sources moved along the spine lines. The standard two dimensional flare mod...; Download File | View full details

Solving Sudoku Puzzles with the Cougaar Agent Architecture: Author: Emery, Michael Ray; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Computer Science; Abstract: The Cougaar distributed agent architecture, originally a DARPA-funded research project, provides a platform for developing distributed agent systems. Testing its ability to solve complex problems using a large number of agents in an interesting topic of research. In this thesis, the Cougaar distributed agent architecture is studied from the standpoint of Sudoku. Through analysis and experimentation, insight is gained into both the properties and weaknesses of Cougaar. Cougaar's performance when solving Sudoku puzzles is then compared with other Sudoku solving techniques. The Cougaar agent app...; Download File | View full details

An Autonomic Software Architecture for Distributed Applications: Author: Fuad, Mohammad Muztaba; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Computer Science; Abstract: Autonomic computing is a grand challenge in computing that aims to produce software that has the properties of self-configuration, self-healing, self-optimization and self-protection. Adding such autonomic properties into existing applications is immensely useful for redeploying them in an environment other than they were developed for. Such transformed applications can be redeployed in different dynamic environments without the user making changes to the application. However, creating such autonomic software entities is a significant challenge not only because of the amount of code transforma...; Download File | View full details

Campsite Impacts and the Limits of Acceptable Change Planning Progress: A Case Study of the Jedediah Smith Wilderness: Author: Grossenburg, Chad G.; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Earth Sciences; Abstract: The Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) planning process is a means by which planners attempt to preserve naturalness while facilitating public use in federally designated wilderness areas. The biophysical condition of campsites is often used as one indicator of naturalness in LAC plans. Despite the emergence of scientific methods to monitor campsites, campsite standards often neglect to reflect the findings of this science. The LAC process was used in Wyoming's Jedediah Smith Wilderness, which is situated east of fast growing Teton County, Idaho and west of popular Grand Teton National Park. T...; Download File | View full details

Pathogen Transport and Capture in a Porous Media Biofilm Reactor: Author: Grabinski, Kevin John; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Environmental Engineering; Abstract: Drinking water distribution systems pose the potential to transport biological and chemical contaminants to the consumers' tap that can be responsible for widespread waterborne disease outbreaks (WBDO). A need exists to improve the ability to monitor contaminants that can attach to the distribution system's interior surfaces and to obtain samples for diagnosing both the cause of a WBDO and the extent of contamination within the system. In this study, a porous media reactor colonized with a mixed-species drinking water biofilm was used to study the capture of Salmonella typhimurium as a model...; Download File | View full details

Weed Seedbank Dynamics and Composition of Northern Great Plains Cropping Sytems: Author: Harbuck, Kristin Suzanne Bates; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Land Resources and Environmental Sciences; Abstract: With a growing concern about sustainability of agricultural production systems, interest in integrated weed management systems has increased. Increasing the understanding of weed seedbank dynamics will improve efficiency of management. The objectives of this study were to 1) quantify weed seedbank dynamics in response to seed density and burial depth, 2) determine weed seedbank decay at varying seed densities and burial depths, 3) quantify weed seed predation in wheat and tilled fallow fields, and 4) characterize and compare weed seedbanks in organic and conventional no-tillage production fiel...; Download File | View full details

The Use of Computer Algebra Systems in a Procedural Algebra Course to Facilitate a Framework for Procedural Understanding: Author: Harper, Jonathan Lee; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Mathematics; Abstract: This dissertation study evaluated the implementation and effectiveness of an introductory algebra curriculum designed around a Framework for Procedural Understanding. A Computer Algebra System (CAS) was used as a tool to focus lessons on the Framework and help students gain a deeper, well-connected understanding of algebraic procedures. This research was conducted in response to the prevalence of remedial mathematics and addresses the need for students in remedial mathematics to have a successful learning experience. The curriculum was implemented in the Spring 2007 semester at a western land-...; Download File | View full details

Beyond Words: The Use of the Non-Verbal Genre in Natural History Filmmaking: Author: Haywood, Keene McDonald; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Natural history filmmaking has a history that begins with the advent of cinematography as a form of artistic and documentary expression. Natural history filmmaking has increasingly used techniques of fiction, drama and anthropomorphizing to represent the natural world in storytelling. This paper will examine the use of the nonverbal form of filmmaking as an alternative style that can be used to effectively document natural history using a more lyrical, poetic and often more thoughtful style. This work examines previous works in the non-verbal genre and discusses how this style compares with hi...; Download File | View full details

Seeking Sustainability for Organic Cropping Systems in the Northern Great Plains: Legume Green Manure Management Strategies: Author: Izard, Erica Jean; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Land Resources and Environmental Sciences; Abstract: Soil fertility in organic cropping systems of the northern Great Plains (NGP) is most often achieved through inclusion of leguminous green manures. The objectives in this study were to evaluate the efficacy of pea as green manure; and more specifically, measure the effects of pea green manure type, termination timing and method for soil water use and soil N contribution. A study consisting of winter pea, spring pea, mustard, buckwheat and fallow was conducted at Big Sandy Montana. In Bozeman, MT, termination methods of winter and spring pea were compared. Green manures were terminated at one o...; Download File | View full details

Perspective in Wildlife Films: Author: Kasic, Kathryn Elizabeth; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Discussions of perspective rarely occur in analyses of wildlife films perhaps because of the near neglect of the genre itself as well as the fact that most analysis focuses on content, rather than structure and style. Perspective has long been a part of narrative film criticism, however, and it is essential to a complete examination of a film genre. I define perspective here as the cognitive view of the mind that commands the subject. In documentary and wildlife films, credibility is vital and the film's perspective or point of view establishes this through the use of the camera apparatus and ...; Download File | View full details

A Quantitative Description at Multiple Scales of Observation of Accumulation and Displacement Patterns in Single and Dual-Species Biofilms: Author: Klayman, Benjamin Joseph; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Engineering; Abstract: This research represents a novel approach for describing biofilm accumulation at multiple scales of observation in both single and dual-species biofilms. Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and Escherichia coli O157:H7 were grown as single and dual-species biofilms in 1 mm glass capillary flow cells and monitored over time using confocal microscopy. Colonization and biofilm development patterns were associated with the fluid flow regime as evaluated using the finite volume analysis program CFX (ANSYS Europe, Ltd). The shear stress was shown to vary along the surface from a minimum near the edges to a ...; Download File | View full details

Application of the Van Der Pauw Structure as a Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor - A Numerical Study: Author: Law, Jesse Townsend; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Mechanical Engineering; Abstract: This research characterizes a piezoresistive sensor under variations of both size and orientation with respect to the silicon crystal lattice for its application to MEMS pressure sensing. The sensor to be studied is a four-terminal piezoresistive sensor commonly referred to as a van der Pauw (VDP) structure. It is observed that the sensitivity of the VDP sensor is over three times higher than the conventional filament type Wheatstone bridge resistor. With MEMS devices being used in applications which continually necessitate smaller size, characterizing the effect of size and orientation of a V...; Download File | View full details

Neuromuscular Performance and the Menstrual Cycle: Author: Lemke, Shayna Marie; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: Health and Human Development; Abstract: Women athletes are more likely to tear their anterior cruciate ligament than their male counterparts. The female athlete has a complex system of steroid hormones that are continually changing. These sex hormones that fluctuate throughout each month may influence knee injuries, specifically the anterior cruciate ligament. The increased incidence in women is thought to be multifactorial, a combination of structural, anatomical, or biomechanical factors. The NCAA has reported that 75 percent of anterior cruciate ligament injuries are non-contact in competitive jumping or pivoting sports. In this ...; Download File | View full details

The Theory and Practice of Nature: Reinventing Nature through the Literature of Jim Harrison: Author: Lewis IV, James Fielding; Date: 2007-08-15; Program: English; Abstract: The term, "nature," has been and continues to be utilized widely throughout Western culture to great effect in shaping our understanding of ourselves as "human beings," what we conceive of as our "environment," and our existence. This thesis aims to explore traditionally and alternatively-based popular understandings and conceptions of "nature," their origins, and their consequences, along with the making of an alternative conception of nature through a reinvention of the term by means of the literary arts. In the course of this study, the work of severa...; Download File | View full details

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