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A combined confocal imaging and raman spectroscopy microscope for in vivo skin cancer diagnosis: Author: Arrasmith, Christopher Lyman; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Confocal microscopy has provided a useful tool for imaging biopsied tissue samples. The cross sectioning ability inherent in confocal microscopes provides a method for viewing of cellular structure at different layers of a histology sample, allowing for optical cross sectioning and viewing structures below the surface of the sample. As a cancer diagnosis technique, confocal microscopy has been shown to provide valuable information showing differences in cell morphology of malignant and benign regions. Raman spectroscopy has also been shown to be a useful tool for cancer diagnosis in skin tissu...; Download File | View full details

The geometry, genisis and stratigraphic framework of the Colgate Sandstone Member of the Fox Hills Formation, Northeastern Montana: Author: Behringer, Daniel Nelson; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Earth Sciences; Abstract: The Upper Cretaceous Colgate Sandstone Member of the Fox Hills Formation near the Fort Peck Reservoir, eastern Montana is of particular scientific interest. These rocks record the last major regression of the Western Cretaceous Seaway. The detailed interpretation of these stratigraphic units yields greater insight into the causes and dynamics of this important geologic event. The purposes of this research were to: (1) map the extent of the Colgate Sandstone Member in the study area, (2) describe and interpret the facies comprising the Colgate Sandstone Member, (3) determine the facies architec...; Download File | View full details

Habitat comparisons of historically stable and less stable bighorn sheep populations: Author: Beyer, Ashley Chantel; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Animal and Range Sciences; Abstract: Limited research has examined how habitat differences between stable and less stable bighorn populations may influence their success. Understanding these habitat differences may help explain how habitat contributes to bighorn sheep population stability. The objective of the study was to identify potential limiting habitat factors for the Tendoy Mountains bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) population in western Montana. Habitat variables that were evaluated are unlikely to be influenced by fine-scale weather or disturbance patterns. Land cover, slope, aspect, elevation, landscape ruggedness, solar...; Download File | View full details

Predicting feeding site selection of mule deer on foothill and mountain rangelands: Author: Bilbao, Joshua Vicente; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Animal and Range Sciences; Abstract: Determining areas on the landscape selected by mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) for foraging and the characteristics of selected feeding sites is a crucial step in managing mule deer and its habitat. Mule deer populations in much of western North America have been declining since the early 1990's, making management of mule deer increasingly difficult. Limited research has examined the characteristics of mule deer habitat that influence feeding site selection in foothill and mountain rangeland habitats during the winter and spring. The purpose of the study was to develop and validate models tha...; Download File | View full details

The use of In(OTf)3 as a Lewis Acid in carbohydrate chemistry, and exploration in silicon tethered reactions: Author: Bizier, Nicholas Paul; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Chemistry; Abstract: The feasibility of using Indium (III) triflate as a Lewis Acid for a number of different carbohydrate reactions was explored. First, the use of In(OTf)3 as a catalyst in the acylation of a number of carbohydrates was explored. The utility and compatibility of the In(OTf)3 reaction conditions with a number of protecting groups on the sugars were examined by 1H NMR analysis. In the second part of the carbohydrate methodology, the feasibility of using In(OTf)3 to promote glycosylation reactions using a number of glycosyl donors was evaluated. These studies were conducted using 1H NMR, 13CNMR, and...; Download File | View full details

Paleoecology and taphonomy of the Willow Tank Formation (Albian), Southern Nevada: Author: Bonde, Joshua William; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Earth Sciences; Abstract: This study documents fossil remains from the Willow Tank Formation and places those remains into a taphonomic and sedimentological context in order to determine the paleoecology of southern Nevada during the Early Cretaceous (Albian). Recovered taxa include Lepisosteidae, Ceratodus, Holostean A, Naomichelys, Baenidae, c.f. Adocus, possible Trionychidae, Crocodyliformes, Thyreophora, Iguanodontia, Titanosauriformes, Tyrannosauroidea, Dromaeosauridae, indet. Theropoda, and two fern morphotypes. Sedimentology of the fossiliferous unit of the Willow Tank Formation suggests these taxa were deposite...; Download File | View full details

Learning from the landfill: Author: Kitchens, Jonathan Ashley; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Architecture; Abstract: We are a culture of material consumption. We have created a cycle of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal that perpetuates our consumptive behavior. Our culture, way of life and economy is also hinged upon this process. We have created and enacted myths that provide reasoning, support and even a need for the continuation of this lifestyle. The byproduct, as well as the foundation for this culture, is the landfill. This thesis will explore the space created by the centralized concentration of garbage and the associated myths. This thesis will also show the necessity f...; Download File | View full details

Finding new representations in science and natural history film through a deconstruction of televised weather forcasting: Author: Brown, Parker Brandt; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Broadcast television networks limit their representation of the weather by embedding weather forecasting with ideologies of science, capitalism, and patriarchy, thereby creating a dispassionate monolithic regime as the totalizing representation of weather in popular media. This is not to say that TV weather forecasting is not useful, but that it is a narrowly focused scientific representation of nature, and as such denies experiences of the weather beyond utilitarian prediction. Non-fiction film employs a set of representational tools that, when applied to the weather, can deconstruct the main...; Download File | View full details

Ecology of lacustrine-adfluvial bull trout populations in an interconnected system of natural lakes: Author: Meeuwig, Michael Hendrik; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Biological Sciences; Abstract: Loss of connectivity among populations and interactions with nonnative species can negatively influence abundance of bull trout Salvelinus confluentus. Connectivity among bull trout populations and trophic relationships among native and nonnative fishes in Glacier National Park (GNP), Montana, were examined. Competition between juvenile (< or equal to 80 mm) bull trout and lake trout S. namaycush for cover habitat was examined in a laboratory environment. Connectivity among bull trout populations was inferred from genetic data. Barriers (i.e., waterfalls > or equal to 1.8 m) reduced gene...; Download File | View full details

Religion and public order in the 1790's: Author: Callaway, Patrick Michael; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: History; Abstract: The connection between the founders and relationship between church and state has become increasingly important in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Entire books are regularly published on the private religious thoughts and practices of many of the founding fathers; often times these works exist in order to support a closer relationship between Christian practice and piety and the government. Just as often, published works also draw on the ideas of the same founders in order to support a more concrete separation between religious thought and practice and governance. These &quo...; Download File | View full details

Protein-Protein interactions involved in the biogenesis of eukaryotic small ribosomal subunits: Author: Castle, Cathy Lynn; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Microbiology; Abstract: Ribosome biogenesis is a complicated process involving numerous proteins and modification factors. The process has been well-documented in prokaryotic cells where it is much less complex than the process involved in eukaryotic cells. In eukaryotes, much of what is known about ribosome biogenesis has been learned from studies in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Far less has been learned about higher eukaryotes such as humans. However, among organisms in all three domains of life, ribosome structure and function is well conserved. The biogenesis of ribosomal subunits is dynamic, complicated, ...; Download File | View full details

Novice teachers' perspectives on principal mentoring in a K-8 rural school setting: Author: DeBruycker, Kimberly Michele; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Education; Abstract: Teacher turnover is a common theme in the literature for schools in our nation. Several rural Montana districts have a difficult time recruiting and retaining teachers. Many statistical studies indicate teachers move to other professions after teaching between three and five years. What remained unheard in Montana were the voices of the teachers who might stay in education if support and encouragement were made available directly from the principal or in a minority of cases, if the support available from the principal could be improved. Principals working with novice teachers in rural K-8 scho...; Download File | View full details

Aspen response to prescribed fire in Southwest Montana: Author: Durham, Daniel Avery; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Animal and Range Sciences; Abstract: A collaborative effort by the BLM, MAES and MFWP, the Whitetail Watershed Restoration Project used prescribed fire in 2005 and 2006 to address aspen decline, conifer encroachment and altered hydrologic function in a forested watershed within Jefferson County, MT. As part of this effort quaking aspen response to fire was evaluated in two sub-drainages of the Whitetail Basin three years after treatment. Unburned stands were first surveyed to determine whether regeneration was occurring and to measure the distribution of aspen stems by size class. This information was then compared to stem respon...; Download File | View full details

Behavioral, ecological, and fitness consequences of hybridization between native westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewis) and nonnative rainbow trout (O. mykiss): Author: Muhlfeld, Clint Cain; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Fish and Wildlife Biology; Abstract: Anthropogenic hybridization is one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. Hybridization and introgression may lead to a loss of locally adapted gene complexes and ecological adaptations in native populations, yet these potential consequences have not been fully evaluated in nature. I investigated factors influencing the spread of hybridization between native westslope cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii lewisi) and nonnative rainbow trout (O. mykiss) in the upper Flathead River system, Montana (USA) and British Columbia (Canada). The fundamental questions of my dissertation were: wh...; Download File | View full details

Now and all are important: a post-structural critique of humanism, Aldo Leopold's The Land Ethic and Disney/Pixar's Wall-E: Author: Dye, Charles Eugene; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: Feelings of hopelessness and meaninglessness have become hallmarks of American society. As a filmmaker and film educator it is clear I share a responsibility to address these defining issues. Using some of the ideas of Zygmunt Bauman, Jacques Derrida, Neil Evernden, Claude Levi-Strauss, Bill Nichols, Nell Noddings, José Ortega y Gasset, Edward Said, and Erwin Straus, I observe this problem to be a result of dispassionate humanism -a machineworld story considered appropriate in the current social construction. From this critical perspective, I then analyze Aldo Leopold's "The La...; Download File | View full details

A History of Sand Coulee, Montana 1880-1900: Author: Erickson, George Irvin; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: History; Abstract: Sand Coulee is now a bedroom community for Great Falls, laying twelve miles east and south of the larger city. Both town and city had their start at almost exactly the same time during the early 1880s. Sand Coulee was well known throughout the territory because of the tremendous coal field that J. J. Hill exploited to fuel his Great Northern Railway that connected the Twin Cities of Minnesota with the Pacific Northwest. The biggest repository of Sand Coulee history is a small history written by Ruby Giannini titled "A History of Sand Coulee" and a book titled "The Gulch Area His...; Download File | View full details

Factors influencing the leadership life skills of Montana 4-H youth: Author: Flynn, Allison Maurine; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Agricultural Education; Abstract: Since its inception, the 4-H program has been through many transitions, and has been constantly challenged to show its benefits to youth. Additionally, funding from 4-H came from multiple supporters resulting in the need for 4-H to show reasons for support. The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of Montana 4-H youth related to their leadership life skills and to determine the significant factors that influenced the development of those life skills. The population consisted of 2008 Montana 4-H Congress participants and 2007-2008 Montana 4-H Ambassadors. The survey instrument co...; Download File | View full details

Water vapor profiling using a compact widely tunable diode laser differential absorption lidar (DIAL): Author: Nehrir, Amin Reza; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Electrical Engineering; Abstract: Atmospheric water vapor is an important driver of cloud formation, precipitation, and cloud microphysical structure. Changes in the cloud microphysical structure due to the interaction of aerosols and water vapor can produce more reflective clouds, resulting in more incoming solar radiation being reflected back into space, leading to an overall negative radiative forcing. Water vapor also plays an important role in the atmospheric feedback process that acts to amplify the positive radiative forcing resulting from increasing levels of atmospheric CO2. In the troposphere, where the water vapor g...; Download File | View full details

Riparian vegetation and forest structure of two unregulated tributaries, compared to the regulated Snake River, Grand Teton NP, WY: Author: Foy, Elizabeth Christina; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Biological Sciences; Abstract: The dynamic nature of rivers shapes riparian plant communities, and changes to the flow regime can have profound effects on these diverse ecosystems. To examine how riparian plant communities of the dam-regulated Snake River in Grand Teton National Park, WY respond to hydro-geomorphological factors, I studied the vegetation of two unregulated tributaries, Pacific Creek and Buffalo Fork, in relation to the main river. I considered three perspectives in this analysis. In chapter 2, I examined hydro-geomorphological processes shaping riparian vegetation in naturally flowing systems, by evaluating...; Download File | View full details

Spectacular Nature: applying the 'cinema of attactions' to the natural history film genre: Author: Freeberg, Andrew Harding; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Science and Natural History Filmmaking; Abstract: The natural history film genre has long been reliant on the commoditizing of nature's beauty as visual spectacle. Associating Tom Gunning's "cinema of attractions" to the nature film genre therefore is an appropriate way to dissect the techniques that maintain its popularity. After understanding the basic rhetorical traditions that nature films employ, it is revealed how the same outdated and over-idealized portrayals of nature continue to be recycled as new technology in methods of production and exhibition continually reinvent the nature film experience....; Download File | View full details

Forest disturbance history in the Sawtooth Mountains of Central Idaho and the Beaverhead Range of Western Montana: Author: Gage, Joshua Albert; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Earth Sciences; Abstract: Studies of disturbance history are important because they provide a framework for understanding the ecological response to past, present, and future climate change, and this information is useful for paleoecological researchers and land-use managers. Fire and insect outbreaks are common occurrences in western forests, and three studies were undertaken to increase our knowledge of their history in the northern Rocky Mountains. In the first study, sediment cores were sampled from 21 lakes located in forests experiencing mountain pine beetle infestation in the Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho. Cores wer...; Download File | View full details

DNA binding proteins of archaeal viruses: Author: Geary, Joella Suzanne; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Microbiology; Abstract: Archaea are single-celled organisms comprising the third domain of life. The Achaeal species Sulfolobus are infected by the Fuselloviridae virus family: SSV1, SSV2, SSV-RH, and SSV-K. The genomes of these viruses have been annotated and contain putative DNA-binding proteins. The purpose of this work is to identify DNA sequences bound by the SSV1 putative DNA-binding protein C43. C43 protein was cloned, expressed, purified, and assayed at various temperatures for interaction with three SSV1 DNA sequences. C43 binds the T5-promoter, T6-promoter, and C43-promoter sequentially and consistently. Ad...; Download File | View full details

The morphology of space: a wind technology center for Montana: Author: Ostlind, Jacob Kenneth; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Architecture; Abstract: There is often a logical relationship between what something does and how it is shaped. In biology this is known as morphology-the study of structure or form. The morphology of an organism is a product of environmental conditions and its interaction with that environment. The morphology of space, then, is the study of the relationship between the measurable forces acting on a space and its shape. It is an exploration of the poetic and pragmatic link between environment and design-a search for how a building can be cast by its shadow. The research, observations and images contained in these pag...; Download File | View full details

Vascular shutdown as an effect of using photodynamic therpay to treat cancer: Author: Pascucci, Elizabeth Mary; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Microbiology; Abstract: Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a treatment that uses the combination of a photosensitizing drug and light to selectively kill cancer cells. PDT has many potential advantages such as minimal side effects, excellent cosmetic results, and no cellular resistance burdening traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation. Currently used in the clinic, a limitation is depth of light penetration; therefore, PDT can only be used to treat superficial disease. Our novel PDT agent utilizes two-photon laser technology, which increases the depth of light penetration, greatly increasing the p...; Download File | View full details

Winter cereals as a pasture-hay system in Montana: Author: Hafla, Aimee Nicole; Date: 2008-12-15; Program: Animal and Range Sciences; Abstract: In 2006 - 2008 'Willow Creek' winter wheat and 'Trical 102' triticale were evaluated for biomass production and forage quality under grazing and hay systems in Montana. Forage cultivars of winter wheat and triticale were subjected to a single grazing event at three growth stages (vegetative, boot, or heading) in the late spring. Subsequent regrowth from each grazing event was harvested as hay. Growth of winter cereals was modeled with environmental conditions. Both cultivars reached 100% headed between accumulated growing degree day (base 5 C°) 1090 and 1245 (between July 7 and ...; Download File | View full details

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