Digital Commons Network^™

Integrated Management Strategies For Phytophthora Sojae Combining Host Resistance And Seed Treatments, A. E. Dorrance, A. E. Robertson, S. Cianzo, L. J. Giesler, C. R. Grau, M. A. Draper, A. U. Tenuta, T. R. Anderson

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Phytophthora sojae has re-emerged as a serious soybean pathogen in the past decade. This may be due in part to changes in resistance levels in current cultivars, adoption of P. sojae populations to deployed Rps genes, and highly favorable environments in the past decade. This multilocation study evaluated the effect of seed treatments on the incidence and severity of Phytophthora root and stem rot on soybeans with different combinations of Rps genes and levels of partial resistance. The efficacy of the seed treatments was highly variable across locations. Seed treatments (metalaxyl and mefenoxam) provided protection and increased yields across cultivars …

Five Stylish Recent Books

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As New Year’s is often a time of glitz and glamour (and last-minute holiday giving), we thought we would feature a few books that often include text with smart things to say, but would also be worth getting just for the pictures.

1. Lynn Pan’s Shanghai Style: Art and Design Between the Wars

An examination of the polyglot artistic influences in early twentieth century Shanghai, by one of the city’s acute observers.

2. Claire Roberts and Geremie R. Barme eds.,The Great Wall of China

This book features essays by many scholars about the varied history and uses of the Great …

Taiwan Top Five, Paul Katz

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As we prepare to ring out 2008, here are a few thoughts about some of the leading stories that have shaped Taiwan during the past year:

1. Back and Blue: Ma Ying-jeou sweeps into office as Taiwan’s new president, winning a convincing majority of the popular vote based on a platform promising a more stable relationship with China, economic prosperity, and clean government. Cross-Straits tensions have declined markedly, while the opening of direct links should bring great benefits to the citizens of both China and Taiwan. At the same time, however, the economy remains in the doldrums (see #2) …

Rock Is Not Revolution, Part Ii, Chris Heselton

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

One of the early rock musicians to make the jump to mainstream and become a household name was Xu Wei. His popularity is probably due to a style that some have called Chinese country or folk rock. This style does not have the explosive rage of heavy metal that many in the popular audience find hard to accept. Instead, he Xu Wei style is a more calm and relaxing melodic rock. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Xu Wei’s music is how similar it is to many of the romantic and nostalgic lyrical themes of pop music. Hometown (故乡, 2000), …

Zeng Jingyan Accepts Hu Jia’S Sakharov Prize

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

In late October, the European Parliament announced that it would award this year’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Hu Jia, an activist for HIV/AIDS and the environment currently imprisoned in Beijing. Hu and his wife, Zeng Jingyan, have been adept at using new media to share their message of human rights activism with an international audience, making Hu Jia better known outside China than inside it.

The award ceremony was held December 17. China has continued to protest the award.

Zeng Jingyan, who remains under surveillance at the couple’s apartment, accepted the award via video, subsequently posted on …

Philosophical Tours Of China, From Dewey To Derrida, Jeff Wasserstrom

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Peter Zarrow’s piece last month on Bertrand Russell’s writing on and travels to China may have gotten some of our readers curious about the other two members of the triumverate of famous philosophers mentioned in the introduction to that post: the Indian poet and thinker Rabindranath Tagore and the American pragmatist and educational theorist John Dewey. What each of these two men thought about and did while in China could be well worth a posting. And perhaps in 2009 the blog will run such pieces, as it would be a very appropriate year to do so, at least in Dewey’s …

Rock Is Not Revolution, Chris Heselton

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Rock is revolution! Rock is rebellion! Rock is democracy! Well, at least Axl Rose seems to think so with his new album Chinese Democracy. A rock legend singing to democracy in China seems almost poetically fitting. When people tend to think of China and rock music, it almost always comes back to democracy, more specifically, the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Rock was the theme genre of the liberal, underground democratic movement. Ever since Cui Jian (崔健) played “I Have Nothing” (一无所有)—sometimes translated as “Nothing to My Name”—at the protest, rock music has been associated with democracy in China, and …

Photosynthetic Response Of Soybean To Twospotted Spider Mite (Acari: Tetranychydae) Injury, Adeney De Freitas Bueno, Regiane Cristina Oliveira De Freitas Bueno, Paul David Nabity, Leon George Higley, Odair Aparecido Fernandes

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The twospotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae Koch is a common pest on soybean plants. To clarify plantarthropod interaction on mite-soybean system, leaf fluorescence, photosynthetic responses to variable carbon dioxide levels, and chlorophyll content were evaluated. Significant photosynthetic rate reduction was observed due to stomatal limitation. Stomatal closure was the major plant physiological response. As a consequence, there was reduction in photosynthetic rates. Surprisingly, plants did not show chlorophyll content reduction associated with photosynthetic impairment. No differences in fluorescence data indicate that T. urticae injury did not impair the function of light harvesting and photoelectron transport. These results showed that T. …

Unl Ag Economist: Farmers Need To Plan Well For 2009, Doug Jose, Dan Moser

Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources: News Releases

Good planning is always key to success for agricultural producers -- but perhaps never more so than in today's economy, said a University of Nebraska-Lincoln agricultural economist.

"Planning what to grow in 2009 has many complications this year," said Doug Jose, UNL farm management specialist. "Among the possible unknowns at the farm level are market prices for commodities, the cost and availability of inputs and the cost and availability of operating credit.

"I say 'possible' because through contractual arrangements and forward pricing decisions, farmers already may have locked in many of these prices for the next production cycle," he added. …

More Last Minute Gifts: Books From China Beat Contributors

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Many of our regular contributors have recent books out on China as well. We highly recommend the following as gifts for those many China non-experts in your life.

1. Factory Girls, Leslie T. Chang

For: The Worldly Progressive

Chang’s book, published this year to positive reviews (including this one at the New York Times by Howard French, where Factory Girlswas also recently named one of the Times‘ 100 notable books for 2008), follows the lives of young factory workers in Dongguang. Read an excerpt, published earlier at China Beat, here.

2. Socialism is Great!, Lijia Zhang

For: The Memoir Maven …

Divine Justice, Paul Katz

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

As China ascends to its place as a leading nation on the world stage, questions have arisen concerning the role of its legal system. As Joseph Kahn noted in a feature article entitled Deep Flaws, and Little Justice, in China’s Court System, “Justice in China is swift but not sure.” Many protests in China today center on the issue of justice, with one blogger responding to the January 2008 fatal beating by parapolice officials of a man trying to videotape a protest by lamenting “Where is justice? Where is the law? Aren’t there any rules in China?”

My newest book, …

New National Extension Site Has Information On Dealing With Economic Crisis, Elbert Dickey, Dan Moser

Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources: News Releases

Lincoln, Ne & the nation's land-grant universities, including the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, have gathered myriad resources on-line to help Americans deal with the financial crisis.

The site is available through eXtension.org, via a link at www.extension.unl.edu (http://www.extension.unl.edu/).

Elbert Dickey, dean and director of UNL Extension, said the site is an excellent example of what eXtension does best.

"UNL Extension and our counterparts across the country created eXtension for just this purpose to get the 'best of the best' research-based, unbiased information from all over the U.S. into the hands of Americans who need it," Dickey said. "All Americans are struggling …

Last Minute Gifts: China Books

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

So you’ve put off holiday shopping until now. If you’d like to share your love of China this year, here are a few recommendations for old classics and more recent releases for the recipients on your list. All these books are widely available and relatively affordable.

1. Fortress Besieged, by Qian Zhongshu

For: The Literature Lover

We’ve written about this 1947 novel at China Beat before. It is a classic of Chinese literature, but not particularly well known in the West, making it the perfect gift for a well-read friend or relative.

2. The Question of Hu, Jonathan Spence

For: …

Search For The Standard Model Higgs Boson In The Missing Energy And Acoplanar B-Jet Topology At √S = 1.96 Tev, V. M. Abazov, Kenneth A. Bloom, Gregory R. Snow, D0 Collaboration

Kenneth Bloom Publications

We report a search for the standard model Higgs boson in the missing energy and acoplanar b-jet topology, using an integrated luminosity of 0.93 fb^-1 recorded by the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron pp Collider. The analysis includes signal contributions from pp → ZH → ννbb, as well as from WH production in which the charged lepton from the W boson decay is undetected. Neural networks are used to separate signal from background. In the absence of a signal, we set limits on σ (pp → VH) x B(H → bb) at the 95% …

Reducing The Public Health Impact Of Bovine Tuberculosis By Controlling Disease Transmission Between Cattle And White-Tailed Deer In Northwestern Minnesota, Barbara Knust

Michigan Bovine Tuberculosis Bibliography and Database

Bovine tuberculosis, caused by infection with Mycobacterium bovis, is a re-emerging zoonotic disease. It has staged a comeback by establishing infections in wildlife and cattle, creating the potential for human disease in locations where it was thought to be under control. In northwestern Minnesota, infected cattle and white-tailed deer were first discovered in 2005. A major bovine tuberculosis eradication campaign is underway in the state, with multiple efforts employed to control M. bovis infection in both cattle and deer populations. In order to effectively eradicate bovine tuberculosis in Minnesota, there is a need for better understanding of the factors …

Globalization And National Information Policy In Nigeria, Augonus Nnamdi Uhegbu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The paper focuses on the need for a national information policy in Nigeria in the face of globalization. The paper is not anti-globalization, but believes that although globalization facilitates global access to information and its generating media, it also has the potential of exposing Nigerians to obscene information materials, and of dumping unwholesome, improperly packaged and substandard information resources in the country. The conceptual explanation of both globalization and information policy is discussed. Also discussed is Nigeria 's contemporary information environment, which this paper sees as highly risky, volatile and uncoordinated. The paper argues that with national information policy, globalization …

Library Visits And Consultation: A Case Study Of Universities In Northwestern India, Chetan Sharma

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Libraries have always been houses of knowledge for their organizations, and they play an important role in research and scholarship. The present study evaluates the use of university libraries of Northwestern India by teachers and research scholars and assesses their satisfaction.

The Changing Role Of Researchers In Nigeria : The Internet As An Alternative Future To Modernity, Manir Abdullahi Kamba

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Researchers in Nigeria have traditionally depended on conventional libraries, and information centers, where they can physically access their needed information. Their main source of information has been traditional sources such as books, journals, and newspapers. The Internet has simplified the research process. The paper further examines how the Internet has become a tool for academic research, and also a publisher that Nigerian academics and researchers should maximally use. The paper focuses on the role played by the Internet in academic research and highlights opportunities and challenges it presents. It explores the status of Internet connectivity in Nigeria and examines the …

The University Library, Information Provision, And Use By Policymakers In Olabisi Onabanjo University (Oou), Nigeria, Abiodun O. Odunewu

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Availability and timely access to information is indispensable in policy formulation and implementation. It is often believed that a library is as good as its patronage. This study is an attempt to relate the level of patronage of Olabisi Onabanjo University Library by its policymakers to its information delivery capability. A questionnaire was used to gather data, with 102 copies administered at the senate level and 18 copies administered at the Governing Council level. A total of 89 copies were returned, representing an 80 percent response rate. The study reveals inadequate patronage of the library by policymakers. The study concludes …

Information Needs And Information-Seeking Behavior Of Arts And Humanities Teachers: A Survey Of The University Of The Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan, Muhammad Tahir, Khalid Mahmood, Farzana Shafique

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study explores the information needs and information-seeking behavior of humanities faculty members of the University of the Punjab, Lahore . It investigates the methods and sources used to acquire information, the importance of various information resources for their teaching and research activities, their preferred formats, the purpose of their information-seeking and problems faced. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to get a response from the targeted population which consisted of 90 teaching and research staff of humanities departments. The response rate was 69 percent. The study reveals that most of the humanities faculty members rely heavily upon books and experts …

Overlap In Web Search Results: A Study Of Five Search Engines, Rafiq Ahmad Rather, Fayaz Ahmad Lone, Gulam Jeelani Shah

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper presents the results of an empirical investigation that measured the degree of overlap between the results retrieved through Google, Altavista, Hotbot, Scirus, and Bioweb using twenty queries in biotechnology. Among the selected search engines, Hotbot had the most overlap (followed by Google) with other search engines except Bioweb. Compound and complex queries produced more overlap than simple queries.

Chinese In Laos, Caroline Finlay

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Chimes jingle on gold-painted stupas and teenagers strum guitars to the beat of passing tuk-tuks in Luang Prabang, Laos’ UNESCO World Heritage sight nestled on the Mekong. Sadly, a more obtrusive rhythm has hit the scene: the squawk of walkie-talkie phones. Like a large percentage of Lao’s motorbikes, clothes and electronics, the walkie-talkie phones are a Chinese import, strapped to the belts of the increasingly numerous Chinese tourists visiting Luang Prabang, famous for its now fragile serenity.

China has begun to re-establish ties with sparsely populated Laos, which has historically aligned with Indochina War ally Vietnam. The Chinese have made …

Selectivity In Imaging The First Emperor, K. E. Brashier

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

The story of Qin may vaunt grandiose armies and new empires that encompass all under heaven, but it also extends to more humble images:

Li Si, [the chief minister of Qin], was a man of Shangcai in Chu. In his youth, when he was a minor clerk in the province, he noticed rats eating filth in the latrines of the clerks’ hostel; and if they approached a man or dog, they were generally scared of them. But when Si entered a granary, he observed that the rats in the granary were eating the stored-up grain, living underneath the main chamber …

Planning Your Business In The Volatile Economy Of 2009, Doug Jose

Cornhusker Economics

Planning what to grow in 2009 has many complications this year. Among the possible unknowns at the farm level are market prices for commodities, the cost and availability of inputs and the cost and availability of operating credit. I say “possible” because through contractual arrangements and forward pricing decisions you may already have locked in many of these prices for the next production cycle. Then there are a number of general economic situations which will impact agriculture. The financial recovery both here and worldwide is critical. Agriculture needs improvement in our general economy and improved consumer confidence in order to …

A Modeling And Spatio-Temporal Analysis Framework For Monitoring Environmental Change Using Npp As An Ecosystem Indicator, Robert Crabtree, Christopher Potter, Randall Mullen, Jennifer Sheldon, Shengli Huang, Joshua Harmsen, Ann Rodman, Cathie Jean

United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Publications

We present and describe a modeling and analysis framework for monitoring protected area (PA) ecosystems with net primary productivity (NPP) as an indicator of health. It brings together satellite data, an ecosystem simulation model (NASA–CASA), spatial linear models with autoregression, and a GIS to provide practitioners a low-cost, accessible ecosystem monitoring and analysis system (EMAS) at landscape resolutions. The EMAS is evaluated and assessed with an application example in Yellowstone National Park aimed at identifying the causes and consequences of drought. Utilizing five predictor covariates (solar radiation, burn severity, soil productivity, temperature, and precipitation), spatio-temporal analysis revealed how landscape controls …

Assessment Of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Food Intakes And Their Association With Socioeconomic Status And Acculturation In Midwestern Latinas, Karina R. Lora

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of a culturally appropriate food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to measure total omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid, ALA, EPA and DHA intakes of Midwestern Latinas. In addition, the study examined the association of age, socioeconomic status (SES) and acculturation with intake of n-3 fatty acids. The n-3 FFQ was developed from preliminary interviews, analyzed for content validity and pilot tested. The final instrument containing 209 items (15 culturally-specific dishes) was tested with 162 first-generation Latinas. One-on-one interviews in Spanish were conducted to validate the FFQ. In addition, women provided sociodemographic …

China Celebrates Human Rights, Jeremy Paltiel

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

Today, December 12, 2008 Xinhua reports that China’s President and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Hu Jintao sent a letter to a symposium held by the China Association for the Study of Human Rights to commemorate International Human Rights Day, the 60th Anniversary of the passage by the UN General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In his letter, Hu avers that since the founding of New China in 1949 China has made steady progress in the protection of human rights according to China’s “national situation” culminating in the solemn enshrinement of the principle …

Minority Degree College Libraries In Andhra Pradesh: A Study With Special Reference To Naac Standards, Syamalamba Rani

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study reviews the development of college education and library management at Degree Colleges of the minority-communities in India and Andhra Pradesh. A survey included physical conditions, administrative procedures, human resources management and workforce availability, the quality and variety of services offered, verified whether NAAC library standards are being followed, and studied the extent of computer use or phases of computerization; availability of systems, and type of software being used.

Reclaiming Old Shanghai?

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

A few weeks ago, it was reported that horseracing had returned to China for the first time since 1949. Though this time, the horses are running in Wuhan, horseracing in China was for a long time almost synonymous with Shanghai. In case that history is new to you, here are a few places to go for more on Shanghai’s racing history:

1. When news came earlier this year that the government might allow horseracing in Wuhan (and that spectators would be allowed to participate in a “lottery”—gambling remains illegal), Far Eastern Economic Review posted a short excerptfrom a 1983 book …

The Tiffanian Land-Mammal Age (Middle And Late Paleocene) In The Northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, Ross Secord

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

The Tiffanian North American land-mammal age is an informal biochronologic unit that spans 4.5 myr of the middle and late Paleocene. It is preceded and succeeded by the Torrejonian and Clarkforkian land-mammal ages, respectively. The Tiffanian was initially based on a small collection of mammals from southern Colorado, but faunas of Tiffanian age are now known throughout the Rocky Mountain region. The richest and most complete sequence of middle and late Tiffanian faunas known occurs in the northern Bighorn Basin. These faunas are the primary basis for regional Tiffanian biochronology. The Bighorn Basin sequence is also important because it preserves …