The Creation of Personal Happiness

Happiness is something human beings strive to acquire but how to obtain this elusive feeling remains a longstanding and intriguing inquiry. One reason for this is that there is no one specific definition of happiness and no standard measurement for it. This project focuses on defining what is believed to affect happiness from an individual’s personal perspective and aims to shed light on the current research and understanding of how to define happiness and what common variables lead to happiness. To this aim, a structured literature review was conducted which led to the development of a mixed methods survey designed for a sample population of college students. This project presents an extensive literature review, the developed survey, and discusses the disruptive impact of the pandemic on the study. Suggestions for future research will be provided

Opioid Misuse Among Students Pursuing Higher Education

Background: Despite national attention on opioid abuse, little is known about opioid misuse (OM; defined as heroin use or non-medical use of opioid prescription drugs) among students pursuing higher education in the United States. A better understanding of student OM is necessary to inform a public health process to develop campus-specific prevention strategies and interventions. This dissertation examined three main questions: 1) what individual, social and institutional characteristics are associated with OM, 2) Is OM elevated among student service members/veterans, and 3) whether OM is associated with comorbidities including mental and physical diagnoses, sleep, and suicidality, as well as whether the effect of OM on suicidality is mediated by its effects on sleep quality? Methods: Data were from full-time students (N = 91,322) enrolled at 103 institutions that participated in the spring 2015 American College Health Association–National College Health Assessment survey. Multilevel modeling and binary logistic regression were used to examine associations between individual, social, and school-level predictors and OM. Results: The prevalence of opioid misuse was 7% (N = 6,376). OM was associated with several individual, social and institutional characteristics, such as being an undergraduate versus graduate student (OR = 1.26, 95% CI = [1.179, 1.348]). Analyses showed that being a student service member/veteran (SSM/V) who had served in hazardous duty increased the odds of OM by roughly 31% (OR = 1.309, 95% CI = 1.113, 1.539). Likewise, students who reported misusing opioids were twice as likely to report having suicidal ideation or a past suicide attempt (OR = 2.317, 95% CI = [2.193, 2.448]), and a number of other health outcomes, such as chronic illness, anxiety, and depression. Mediation analyses in MPlus showed that sleeping difficulties partially mediated the relationship between OM and suicidality. Conclusion: OM has devastating economic, social and medical consequences for individuals and communities. Significant associations between individual characteristics, comorbid conditions, and social environmental structures and OM among students in higher education highlight the need to illuminate other risk and protective factors as well as to identify effective clinical and environmental interventions to reduce harm and save lives on campus

Puncturevine (Tribulus terrestris) Identification and Management for Gardens, Lawn, and Pasture

This fact sheet describes puncturevine, a prostrate-growing annual plant that is particularly undesirable because it produces a spiny fruit that can injure animals and flatten tires. It can also be toxic to livestock and is difficult to control due to continual germination throughout the summer

Market Hog Nutrition - Quick Tips

This is a quick tip fact sheet for market hog nutrition

Market Goat Nutrition - Quick Tips

This fact sheet offers quick tips for goat nutrition

Market Lamb Nutrition - Quick Tips

This fact sheet offers quick tips for market lamb nutrition

Market Steer Nutrition - Quick Tips

This fact sheet offers quick tips for market steer nutrition

Size and Scope of Morgan County Agriculture 2019

This fact sheet describes the size and scope of agriculture in Morgan County, including growing season, crop production, livestock production, farm income, and age of operator

Size and Scope of Weber County Agriculture 2019

Weber County is located in the northern part of the state and borders the Great Salt Lake. The growing season averages over 4 months, and this guide provides locations of the first and last freeze and the annual precipitation. The majority of the land is privately owned. This fact sheet explores the size and scope of agriculture in Weber County in 2019

Agricultural Irrigated Land and Irrigation Water Use in Utah

Utah is considered the second driest state in the United States. As a result, much of the agriculture and horticulture in Utah depends upon irrigation. Irrigation is an important feature of agriculture in Utah. The distribution of irrigated and water use varies across the state, based on water availability, topography, and soils. In recent years, sprinkler irrigation has overtaken surface methods as the dominant irrigation method, based on irrigated area, in Utah. About 75% to 80% of water withdrawals in Utah are for irrigation, with about 68% of that water being consumptive use. Alfalfa, other hay crops, and pasture are grown on about 80% of irrigated agricultural lands in Utah