Publications by Colleges and Departments (MSU - Bozeman)
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Item From Surviving to Thriving: A Trauma-Informed Yoga Intervention for Adolescents and Educators in Rural Montana(MDPI AG, 2024-12) Davis, Lauren; Scott, Brandon G.; Linse, Greta M.; Buchanan, Rebecca(1) Background: Due to the mental health crisis that has spiraled since the onset of COVID-19, particularly among the nation’s youth, the purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of a novel, school-based mental health intervention for high school students (ages 15–17 years). This project’s main aim was to determine which intervention modality was more effective with students across two school districts with varying degrees of rurality (in-person delivery vs. remote delivery). A secondary aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a remotely delivered, concurrent intervention for educators across both school districts. This study took place in rural southwestern Montana. (2) Methods: Utilizing a 6-week, trauma-informed yoga intervention, comparisons of mental and physical health outcomes were performed using cohort data drawn from participants’ physiological data and validated mental health survey measures. (3) Results: While physiological results were mixed across experimental groups, mental health outcomes were overwhelmingly positive for all groups. Additionally, educators reported improvements in career satisfaction and burnout levels. (4) Conclusions: Findings indicate a great deal of promise with this intervention in improving mental health outcomes for both students and educators. Moreover, a face-to-face intervention for students showed dramatic improvement in physiological stress indicators.Item Determinants of crop diversification and its impact on farmers' income: A case study in Rangpur District, Bangladesh(Wiley, 2024-09) Islam, Md Sayemul; Jahan, Hasneen; Ema, Nishat Sultana; Ahmed, Md RubelBackground. In the face of rising global food demand, climate change, and economic uncertainties, crop diversification has emerged as a crucial tool for achieving both economic and environmental sustainability. In Bangladesh, where the economy heavily relies on agriculture, crop diversification can play a vital role in enhancing farmers' livelihoods and domestic food production. Results. This study focuses on Rangpur district, an agricultural hub in Bangladesh, analyzing data from 122 farmers to assess the status, determinants, and effects of crop diversification. The Simpson Diversification Index (SDI) analysis revealed that 29% and 68% of the farmers exhibit very high and high degrees of crop diversification, respectively. The Tobit model identified significant drivers of crop diversification, including education, household size, farming experience, non-farm income, mobile phone information access, experience with climatic shocks, and land type. Additionally, the Log-Linear model indicated that each unit increase in the SDI score corresponds to a 2.41% increase in farmers' income. Conclusion. The study demonstrates that crop diversification is a key strategy for enhancing economic sustainability and increasing income among farmers in Bangladesh. By improving both economic outcomes and resilience, crop diversification supports sustainable agricultural practices in the region.Item Of teachers and centaurs: Exploring the interactions and intra-actions of educators on AI education platforms(Informa UK Limited, 2024-12) Fassbender, William J.Recent advancements in generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) were accompanied by both hype and fear regarding the ways in which such technologies of automation would replace human labor in various fields, including education. Rather than focusing on the replacement of humans in teaching, this piece uses new materialist thought [Barad, Karen. 2007. Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.] to consider how a new subjectivity, the centaur, might offer a different orientation toward GenAI technologies as tools that possess potentiality for new becomings in teaching. This theoretical piece looks at three AI education (AIED) platforms as a means of diagnosing how current models of AI tools attempt to design for teacher-centaurs by ushering in a more productive teacher workforce. The article also offers an alternative perspective of what might be considered centaur teaching practices, entangling humans and AI in ways that imagine how human-technical relations might be otherwise.Item Investigating the benefits of viewing nature for components of working memory capacity(Elsevier BV, 2024-09) Charbonneau, Brooke Z.; Watson, Jason M.; Hutchison, Keith A.Prior work regarding nature's benefits to different working memory capacity processes is mixed within the existing literature. These mixed results may be due to an emphasis on tasks rather than focusing on construct validity and the underlying mental processes they are intended to measure. When considering underlying process, all might be sensitive to the benefits of nature or perhaps only specific processes of working memory capacity will receive these benefits. Attention Restoration Theory (Kaplan, 1995) would specifically predict that attentional control is the most likely process to benefit from interacting with nature. To address this possibility, three studies investigated whether working memory capacity and its component processes of attentional control, primary memory, and secondary memory benefit from viewing nature images. Montana State University students completed two tasks with a nature or urban image viewed before a block of trials that measured either working memory capacity (Experiment 1), attentional control (Experiment 2), or primary/secondary memory (Experiment 3). Results revealed higher performance after viewing nature images compared to urban images for attentional control but not for working memory capacity or either of its underlying memory components. These results are discussed with respect to the importance of current psychometric standards of measuring behavior when investigating the potential influence of nature on cognition.Item Assessing the use of native rhizobia to improve nitrogen fixation under abiotic stress(Wiley, 2024-09) Loya, Jesus; Subramanian, Sen; Kalil, Audrey; Keene, Clair; Sanyal, Debankur; Eberly, Jed; Graham, ChristopherBiological nitrogen fixation by rhizobia bacteria plays a pivotal role in sustainable agriculture by converting atmospheric nitrogen into a form that plants can assimilate, thereby reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers. This process can be dramatically reduced by various abiotic stressors. Native rhizobia strains, which are naturally occurring, may be better adapted to the local soil and climatic conditions, making them more resilient to stress factors such as drought, salinity, temperature extremes, and pH variations compared to commercial strains that may have been developed in and for different environments. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of native rhizobia species with a commercial inoculant and uninoculated controls in maintaining nitrogen fixation under induced stress by delayed planting in field peas over two growing seasons (2021 and 2022) in central South Dakota. Our findings indicate that native rhizobia, while not outperforming the commercial inoculant, demonstrated competitive nitrogen fixation capacities. Overall, total nitrogen fixation was not statistically different between a commercial inoculant and native rhizobia formulations. Planting date emerged as a significant factor influencing nitrogen fixation, with later planting substantially reducing overall effectiveness. These results highlight the potential of native rhizobia as an alternative to commercial inoculants and underscore the need for increased screening throughput and improved methods to assess rhizobia efficacy and nodule competition in field settings.Item Changes in African lion demography and population growth with increased protection in a large, prey-depleted ecosystem(Wiley, 2024-12) Creel, Scott; Becker, Matthew S.; Goodheart, Ben; Kusler, Anna; Banda, Kachama; Vinks, Milan; Sun, Catherine; Dart, Chase; Matsushima, Stephi; Kabwe, Ruth; Donald, Will; Zyambo, Luka; Indala, Peter; Kaluka, Adrian; Chifunte, Clive; Reid, CraigLarge carnivores such as the lion are declining across Africa, in part because their large herbivore prey is declining. There is consensus that increased protection from prey depletion will be necessary to reverse the decline of lion populations, but few studies have tested whether increased protection is sufficient to reverse the decline, particularly in the large, open ecosystems where most lions remain. Here, we used an integrated population model to test whether lion demography and population dynamics were measurably improved by increased protection. We used data from monitoring of 358 individuals from 2013 to 2021 in the Greater Kafue Ecosystem, where prior research showed that lions were strongly limited by prey depletion, but protection increased in several well-defined areas beginning in 2018. In some other areas, protection decreased. In areas with high protection, lion fecundity was 29% higher, and mean annual apparent survival (φ) was 8.3% higher (with a minimum difference of 6.0% for prime-aged adult females and a maximum difference of 11.9% for sub-adult males). These demographic benefits combined to produce likely population growth in areas with high protection (φ= 1.085, 90% CI = 0.97, 1.21), despite likely population decline in areas with low protection (φ = 0.970, 90% CI = 0.88, 1.07). For the ecosystem as a whole, population size remained relatively constant at a moderate density of 3.74 (±0.49 SD) to 4.13 (±0.52 SD) lions/100 km2. With the growth observed in areas with high protection, the expected doubling time was 10 years. Despite this, recovery at the scale of the entire ecosystem is likely to be slow without increased protection; the current growth rate would require 50 years to double. Our results demonstrate that increased protection is likely to improve the reproduction and population growth rate of lions at a large scale within an unfenced ecosystem that has been greatly affected by poaching.Item Inferred attractiveness gravity-based models for estimating realized access at rural hospitals(Informa UK Limited, 2024-09) Harris, Sean; McGarvey, Ronald G.; Thorsen, Andreas; Thorsen, MaggieOperating obstetric units in rural America is financially challenging in part due to low birth volume. Birth volume at a hospital decreases when birthers bypass it to go to a farther hospital. Beyond financial considerations, it is important from a healthcare equity perspective for hospitals to know whether certain subgroups of birthers avoid utilizing the hospital’s services. This can better inform resource allocation decisions targeting those subgroups. In this paper, we use a nonlinear programming optimization model, inferred attractiveness gravity-based model (GBM), to estimate realized access to obstetric care at hospitals in Montana. We compare three variations of GBM and benchmark our results to a regression-based conditional logit model. Results indicate that hospital attractiveness varies across the level of obstetric care provided and depends on the subgroup of birthers considered. While all GBMs produced smaller errors for hospitals with higher birth volumes, our novel variant was more accurate for low-volume hospitals. Bootstrapping analyses and resolving the models for population subgroups indicated large variations in hospital attractiveness. Research findings contribute to new knowledge about equity in access to obstetric care, the importance of considering population heterogeneity in GBMs, and the benefit of using hospital demand-based thresholds for GBMs in rural settings.Item Response of indicator species to changes in food web and ocean dynamics of the Ross Sea, Antarctica(Cambridge University Press, 2024-09) Ainley, David G.; Morandini, Virginia; Salas, Leo; Rottella, Jay; Barton, Kerry; Lyver, Phil O'B.; Goetz, Kimberly T.; Larue, Michelle; Foster-Dyer, Rose; Parkinson, Claire L.; Arrigo, Kevin R.; Van Dijken, Gert; Beltran, Roxanne S.; Kim, Stacy; Brooks, Cassandra; Kooyman, Gerald; Ponganis, Paul J.; Shanhun, Fiona; Anderson, Dean P.Most of the Ross Sea has been designated a marine protected area (MPA), proposed ‘to protect ecosystem structure and function’. To assess effectiveness, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) selected Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae) and emperor (Aptenodytes forsteri) penguins, Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) and Antarctic toothfish (Dissostichus mawsoni) as ecosystem change ‘indicator species’. Stable for decades, penguin and seal populations increased during 1998–2018 to surpass historical levels, indicating that change in ecosystem structure and function is underway. We review historical impacts to population trends, decadal datasets of ocean climate and fishing pressure on toothfish. Statistical modelling for Adélie penguins and Weddell seals indicates that variability in climate factors and cumulative extraction of adult toothfish may explain these trends. These mesopredators, and adult toothfish, all prey heavily on Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum). Toothfish removal may be altering intraguild predation dynamics, leading to competitive release of silverfish and contributing to penguin and seal population changes. Despite decades of ocean/weather change, increases in indicator species numbers around Ross Island only began once the toothfish fishery commenced. The rational-use, ecosystem-based viewpoint promoted by CCAMLR regarding toothfish management needs re-evaluation, including in the context of the Ross Sea Region MPA.Item Effect of surface roughness on the microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of copper 101(Frontiers Media SA, 2024-12) Archarjee, Amit; Keskin, Yagmur; Peyton, Brent M.; Fields, Matthew W.; Amendola, RobertaThe effect of varying surface roughness on microbiologically influenced corrosion by a model sulfate reducing bacterium Oleidesulfovibrio alaskensis G20 culture on copper 101 coupons was investigated using microscopic, spectroscopic and surface characterization techniques. After 7-day of anoxic exposure abundant biodeposits consisting of sessile cells and copper sulfide minerals were found and pitting attack was observed upon their removal. Results showed that the distribution and thickness of the biodeposits as well as the pitting severity were affected by the varying surface roughness. A direct relationship between surface roughness and microbial activity was not observed. However, a statistically significant reduction in the corrosion rate was recorded when the surface roughness was decreased from ∼2.71 μm to ∼0.006 μm.Item Generalized measures of population synchrony(Elsevier BV, 2024-12) Motta, Francis C.; McGoff, Kevin; Cummins, Breschine; Haase, Steven B.Synchronized behavior among individuals, broadly defined, is a ubiquitous feature of populations. Understanding mechanisms of (de)synchronization demands meaningful, interpretable, computable quantifications of synchrony, relevant to measurements that can be made of complex, dynamic populations. Despite the importance to analyzing and modeling populations, existing notions of synchrony often lack rigorous definitions, may be specialized to a particular experimental system and/or measurement, or may have undesirable properties that limit their utility. Here we introduce a notion of synchrony for populations of individuals occupying a compact metric space that depends on the Fréchet variance of the distribution of individuals across the space. We establish several fundamental and desirable mathematical properties of our proposed measure of synchrony, including continuity and invariance to metric scaling. We establish a general approximation result that controls the disparity between synchrony in the true space and the synchrony observed through a discretization of state space, as may occur when observable states are limited by measurement constraints. We develop efficient algorithms to compute synchrony for distributions in a variety of state spaces, including all finite state spaces and empirical distributions on the circle, and provide accessible implementations in an open-source Python module. To demonstrate the usefulness of the synchrony measure in biological applications, we investigate several biologically relevant models of mechanisms that can alter the dynamics of population synchrony over time, and reanalyze published experimental and model data concerning the dynamics of the intraerythrocytic developmental cycles of Plasmodium parasites. We anticipate that the rigorous definition of population synchrony and the mathematical and biological results presented here will be broadly useful in analyzing and modeling populations in a variety of contexts.