DIY Makers' Day

Inspire users to actively engage with reducing, reusing, and recycling by hosting a DIY Makers’ Day. Chapter describes how to create this hands-on event that is jam-packed with DIY projects featuring creative reuse and sustainable ingredients. Participants leave with goodies they’ve made and recipes and instructions so they can continue creating at home. This is a great event for showcasing your library’s and community’s green resources

See How Our Garden Grows: Cultivating Community through a Fruit and Veggie Exchange

Celebrate local food, community, and thebounty of harvest as library folks gather toshare fruits, vegetables, seeds, preserves, gardening and food publications, and their own knowledge. Promote sustainability and nurture a robust community by bringing coworkers together to share produce from their own gardens

It Takes a Village Sustainability Starter

We all believe in sustainability and work to be green as individuals, but there’s power insharing our knowledge and values and working together. Grow your sustainability efforts beyond single events by creating an advisory, education, and outreach group

The Synthesis, Characterization, and Cell Seeding of a Collagen/Hydroxyapatite Porous Scaffold for Treatment of Osseous Defects

The need for finding a bone graft substitute stems from the fact that approximately 200,000 bone grafting procedures are performed annually in the U.S. alone. Although biological grafting options (i.e. autografts & allografts) exist, they do suffer from inherent problems. These include limited resources, costly processing, and potential for pathogen transfer. Thus, investigators have sought synthetic alternatives. The objective of this research was to utilize hydroxyapatite (HA) and collagen, both analogues to the major constituents of bone, to fabricate an optimal synthetic osteoconductive/osteoinductive bone scaffold. Current attempts by other investigators to combine the two materials have been met with some difficulties, resulting in free or loosely bound particulate HA within the collagen matrix. This may ultimately result in a foreign body response to the disseminated crystals. Yet, this study revealed that through manipulation of the collagen\u27s collodial chemistry, it could be made into a more effective carrier medium for particulate HA. It was found that treating the collagen with either IOOmM NaOH or hydrochloric acid followed by titration with 1 N NaOH to a basic pH ( approximately 11 . 8) would yield an adhesive, paste-like matrix capable of incorporating the HA, following lyophilization of the matrix. Composites made under acidic, neutral, and conditions correlating to pH values below 11 .8 were found to possess free HA particulates and loose, friable collagen fibers. The composites were also frozen at two different temperatures to study their effects on microporosity formation. Porosity is an essential characteristic given that it serves as 111 pathways by which vasculature is established, cellular elements may infiltrate; and by which nutrients are supplied to the graft. It was found that porosity of the composite could be controlled by regulating the ice crystal formation prior to lyophilization of the material. Micron size pores were achieved by freezing the composite to -l 5°C and controlling the amount of particulate HA added to the system. TGF-β 1 was also studied for its efficacy in serving as an osteoinductive catalyst with the collagen/HA composite. It was chosen due to its ability to modulate the growth and differentiation of osteoblast precursor cells. Utilizing 1125 as a tracer, release kinetics of the adsorbed polypeptide from the composite were evaluated. Elution was rapid, with approximately 56 ± 3.5% of the theoretical load release following 24 hours incubation. Improved methods by which to prolong the release of the growth factor may be needed in order to provide for optimal inductive properties. Last, the cytocompatibility of the composite was evaluated. Primary cultures of adult, rabbit and fetal bovine osteoblasts were seeded into two formulations of the collagen/HA composite. Following three days of culture, an acid-to-base titrated composite formulation grafted with fetal bovine cells was the only combination which exhibited the presence of adherent cells. The lack of fetal cells upon a base-only treated collagen/HA composite was speculated to be a result of modifications to the collagen due to processing. Seeding technique and cell donor age were also suggested as possible reasons for the absence of cells utilizing adult rabbit cells on either composite formulation. Together, the findings suggest that the composite could serve as a suitable, porous bone scaffold. Due to its compressive strength values, it would best be reserved for non-load-bearing applications, such as an osseous filler material used, for example, in IV conjunction with plated fractures. Improved TGF-β1 incorporation, in-depth in vitro studies, as well as an in vivo model will need to be assessed to determine the true effectiveness of the composite to replace existing biological sources

Monitering and Addressing Light Pollution at Utah State University

Many outdoor light fixtures illuminate in all directions, meaning that a large portion of light is emitted upwards. This excess light - light pollution - represents wasted energy and money, decreases public safety, is a health hazard for humans as well as wildlife, and inhibits the view of the night sky. In order to quantify the anthropogenic contribution of local light pollution, I studied detection methods at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory though a summer REU in 2013. Upon my return to USU, I monitored the night sky brightness from September 2013 to April 2015 at Utah State University. Due to its popularity in citizen science, I used a Sky Quality Meter and a Pocket Lux Meter. Seasonal variations were found in Logan, Utah, due to presence of snow. Through this research, I was also able to obtain a Blue Goes Green grant to replace several outdoor fixtures with night-sky friendly alternatives

Differential Impact of Racial Microaggressions on Asian Americans: Relationship to Perpetrator and Power Status

The unremitting image of Asian Americans as being "Model Minority" has created a veil that conceals their incessant struggles with discrimination, prejudice and microaggressions on individual, institutional and cultural levels. Previous studies have highlighted the personal and collective struggles of this group and emphasized the harmful consequences to physical, emotional and mental well-being of Asian Americans. The current study explored potential factors that may influence the impact of experiencing racial microaggressions for Asian Americans. More specifically, a 2 x 2 between-subjects factorial design was utilized to examine whether level of familiarity and role of power in the target's relationship with the perpetrator differentially impacts the experience of a racial microaggression. A vignette illustrated a microaggressive encounter with a perpetrator who differed on these conditions with a sample of 263 Asian Americans. The findings indicate support for the damaging psychological consequences of receiving racial microaggressions with participants reporting significantly negative experience when the perpetrator was someone familiar in a position of authority. The results of the present study contribute to the literature on racial microaggressions by providing support for the injurious impact it has for Asian Americans and continues to challenge the model minority myth that persists to silence their voices and invalidate their racial reality

Help Me, Help You: Eighth Circuit Diminishes Notice Requirement for Employees Seeking an ADA Accommodation

This Note argues that the Eighth Circuit’s holding creates uncertainty for both employers and employees. When deciding whether an employer has failed to engage in the interactive process, the Eighth Circuit should look to whether the employee clearly requested a need for an accommodation, rather than examining the totality of knowledge the employer had on hand. Requiring employees to clearly request an accommodation puts employers on notice and thus helps employers better help employees with disabilities. Part II of this Note provides the facts and holding of Kowitz. Part III examines the legal background surrounding Kowitz. Part IV reviews the instant decision of the court. Part V explains why employees should be required to clearly request a desire for an accommodation, as well as provides guidance for employers mov-ing forward. Part VI concludes this Note

Multi-scale Optics for Enhanced Light Collection from a Point Source

High efficiency collection of photons emitted by a point source over a wide field-of-view (FoV) is crucial for many applications. Multi-scale optics over improved light collection by utilizing small optical components placed close to the optical source, while maintaining a wide FoV provided by conventional imaging optics. In this work, we demonstrate collection efficiency of 26% of photons emitted by a point-like source using a micromirror fabricated in silicon with no significant decrease in collection efficiency over a 10 mm object space.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure