Life Sciences Commons^™

Visualization And Analysis Of Sensory Data, Luke Neumann, Sung Yeon Choi, Brian Olsen, Sungahn Ko, David Ebert Dr.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Recently, California has suffered a severe drought, making water a scarce resource to its population. Many viticulturists are based in this area who rely on heavy irrigation to produce a better grape and a better wine. Not just in California, but throughout the nation, irrigation must be applied intelligently for efficient use of water and funding. By taking measurements of physical characteristics of a vineyard over time, one may be able to visualize trends in the data which lend itself to describing preferred growing methods. Wireless sensors can be used to take measurements including moisture, temperature, sunlight, and more. Sensors …

Evaluation Of Two Non-Destructive Methods For Estimating Biomass In A Prairie, Arnoldas Pivorius, Laura Ploughe, Jeff Dukes

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

The estimation of above ground biomass is important in managing natural resources, like assessing habitat conditions. Direct, destructive measurements by clipping, drying, and weighing plant matter is time consuming and labor intensive. It is of interest to develop non-invasive methods to complement or replace direct vegetation harvest. Two non-invasive methods were evaluated, light penetration and visual obstruction, in the Purdue Wildlife Area prairie. Light penetration in the grassland plots were measured using a Decagon light stick (LP-80), 5 cm from the ground and above the plants. Estimation of visual obstruction was done using a Robel pole, which focuses on the …

Visualization Of The Growth And Production Of Grapes Through Analysis Of Sensory Data, Sung Yeon Choi, Luke Neumann, Brian Olsen, Sungahn Ko, David Ebert Ph.D

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Grapes used in the wine industry have been one of the highest value crops in the United States. However, with unpredictable weather changes and recent drought in the Western United States, vineyard owners and grape growers have faced difficulties on producing good quality grapes suited for wine making. Therefore, a technology that would keep record of environmental data and incorporate the data to support agricultural decisions will help the growers to produce quality grapes even in extreme conditions. As such, this research focuses on developing an interactive system that uses sensory data and visual analytics to facilitate vineyard management and …

Detecting Genomic Regions Responsible For Resistance In Arabidopsis, Valeria Cancino, Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi, Rucha Karve

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Ralstonia solanacearum is a soil-borne plant root colonizing pathogen and the casual agent of bacterial wilt (BW) disease. BW leads to severe yield loss in a wide variety of agricultural commodity crops, such as tomato, banana, and pepper. In this study, we look at the plant-pathogen interaction between Ralstonia solanacearum and various ecotypes of Arabidopsis thaliana with the goal of finding resistant ecotypes. To identify resistant ecotypes, seeds are first sterilized and left to soak in the dark. Then the seeds are plated on agar media, transferred to a growth chamber, and allowed to grow for 5 days. On day …

A Novel Synthetic Yeast For Enzymatic Biodigester Pretreatment, Tianyu Tan, Mark S. Aronson, Arren Liu, Jill H. Osterhus, Melissa Robins, Suraj Mohan, Erich Leazer, Bowman Clark, Alexa Petrucciani, Katherine Lowery, James Welch, Casey Martin, Helena Lysandrou, Michael E. Scharf, Jenna Rickus

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Lignin, a complex organic polymer, is a major roadblock to the efficiency of biofuel conversion as it both physically blocks carbohydrate substrates and poisons biomass degrading enzymes, even if broken down to monomer units. A pretreatment process is often applied to separate the lignin from biomass prior to biofuel conversion. However, contemporary methods of pretreatment require large amounts of energy, which may be economically uncompelling or unfeasible. Taking inspiration from several genes that have been isolated from termites and fungi which translate to enzymes that degrade lignin, we want to establish a novel “enzymatic pretreatment” system where microbes secrete these …

Agricultural Soil Profile Temperature In A Hot And Arid Ecosystem: Can It Be A Useful Indicator Of Environmental Change?, Abdirashid Elmi

21st International Conference on Environmental Indicators (ICEI 2015)

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of Workers Exposure To Ammonia In Animal Facilities At Walter C. Todd Agricultural Research Center, Nacogdoches, Texas, Ahmad F. Nasser, Sheryll B. Jerez

Bright Ideas Conference

Poultry, swine, and equine animal facilities are all considered as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). All these CAFOs are emission sources of gases and other pollutants which have negative impacts on the environment, human health, and animal health as well. One of those gases is Ammonia (NH3), which is a colorless, highly irritating gas with a pungent, suffocating odor, and if inhaled in high concentrations, it may cause harm to the human body and the function of lungs. Personal exposure to ammonia was assessed for six workers in the three animal facilities: poultry, swine, and equine. Two workers from each …

Relationship Between Temperament And Performance Traits In Yearling Cattle, Courtney R. Branton, C. J. Koffskey, E. O. Warden, E. G. Brown

Bright Ideas Conference

To examine relationships between exit velocity (EV, objective measure of temperament) and performance traits, calves were weighed 14 days prior to weaning, at weaning, 128 days post weaning, and at time of carcass measurements. Exit velocity obtained on day -14 and carcass ultrasound measurements (n = 6) obtained on day 208 and carcass harvest measurements (n = 12) obtained on day 349 were used to determine correlations between EV, performance and carcass measurements. Exit velocity showed a tendency to be negatively correlated (P < 0.15) with weaning weight (r = -0.40), but not correlated (P > 0.05) with average daily gain post 128 days. Exit velocity was not correlated (P > 0.05) with carcass …

The Agriculture Mechanics Laboratory – Safety And Capacities, Erika Hedegaard-Schou, Ryan Powell, Dale Perritt

Bright Ideas Conference

The agricultural mechanics laboratory, that is a part of the agricultural science and technology instructional program in Texas public schools, has over the years become a key component of the instructional program. Four classes, as outlined in the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) that focus on mechanical skills and include: Principles of Agricultural, Food, and Natural Resources, Agricultural Mechanics and Metal Technologies, Agricultural Facilities Design and Fabrication and Agricultural Power Systems.

Most agricultural mechanics laboratories are used 4 to 5 class periods per day sometimes with more than one class at a time meeting in the facility,. The questions …

Hickory Creek Orchard Feasibility Study, Brad Henley

Undergraduate Research Conference

Does land in East Texas host desirable soil types for developing large acreage into nut-bearing orchards?

Agricultural Assessment: Pecan Orchard Feasibility Study, Brad Henley

Undergraduate Research Conference

East Texas has predominantly been categorized historically as a forestry and timber management region. The nearest region to expectedly encounter viewing a large number of properties containing the growth of nut-bearing tree plantations, better known as orchards, is the Hill Country or South Texas Regions. During 2012, I witnessed a rural real estate transaction between an East Texas timber landowner and successful almond orchard farmer. The almond farmer had no previous experience with the practice and management of Texas loblolly pine plantations; however, he had interest in diversifying his real estate investment portfolio to include a pine plantation offering a …

Using A Generalized Linear Mixed Model Framework To Account For Spatial Variability In A Comparison Of Orchard Sprayer Efficacy, William J. Price, Bahman Shafii, Don Morishita

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Uniform application of pesticides in vineyard and orchard systems can be difficult to achieve due to variability in the density and structure of the crop canopy. Depending on the equipment used and environmental conditions, applications can result in poor spray coverage, spray drift, and wasted spray which, in turn, are manifested as a combination of poor pesticide efficacy, economic losses and potential environmental problems for the grower. A study was therefore designed and carried out to test new sprayer equipment aimed at addressing these issues. Statistically, the study presented a unique replicated three dimensional spatial design which captured response variability …

Flip The Prison: Using A Holistic, Interdisciplinary Approach To Transform Closed Prisons And Adjudicated Youth, Debby Hanmer, Noran Sanford, Jason Hutchens, Michael Menefee

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Flip the Prison: Is a collective Impact Model for transforming closed prisons into farms and educational centers utilizing mental health therapy, youth focused, sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship and service learning to stabilize adjudicated youth in the community. Of interest to educators, mental health clinicians, veterans, community leaders, clergy and entrepreneurs.

Statistical Methods In Topological Data Analysis For Complex, High-Dimensional Data, Patrick S. Medina, R W. Doerge

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

The utilization of statistical methods an their applications within the new field of study known as Topological Data Analysis has has tremendous potential for broadening our exploration and understanding of complex, high-dimensional data spaces. This paper provides an introductory overview of the mathematical underpinnings of Topological Data Analysis, the workflow to convert samples of data to topological summary statistics, and some of the statistical methods developed for performing inference on these topological summary statistics. The intention of this non-technical overview is to motivate statisticians who are interested in learning more about the subject.

Best Linear Unbiased Prediction: An Illustration Based On, But Not Limited To, Shelf Life Estimation, Maryna Ptukhina, Walter Stroup

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Shelf life estimation procedures, following ICH guidelines, use multiple batch regression with fixed batch effects. This guidance specifically mandates estimates based on at least 3 batches. Technically, the fixed-batch model limits inference to the batches actually observed, whereas ICH requires resulting estimates to apply to all future batches stored under similar conditions. This creates a conflict between the model used and the inference space the model is intended to address. Quinlan, et al. (2013) and Schwenke (2010) studied the small sample behavior of this procedure. Both studies revealed large sampling variation associated with the ICH procedure, producing a substantial proportion …

Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia Coli In Meat: A Preliminary Simulation Study On Detection Capabilities For Three Sampling Methods, Julie Couton, David Marx, John Luchaansky, Randall Phebus, Anna Porto-Fett, Nicholas Sevart, Manpreet Singh, Harshavardhan Thippareddi

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Contamination by Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) is a continuing concern for meat production facility management throughout the United States. Several methods have been used to detect STEC during meat processing, however the excessive experimental cost of determining the optimal method is rarely feasible. The objective of this preliminary simulation study is to determine which sampling method (Cozzini core sampler, core drill shaving, and N-60 surface excision) will better detect STEC at varying levels of contamination present in the meat. 1000 simulated experiments were studied using a binary model for rare occurrences to find the optimal method. We found that …

Differential Methylation Methods In Multi-Context Organisms, Douglas Baumann, Yuqing Su, Iranga Mendis, Gayla R. Olbricht

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

DNA methylation is an epigenetic modification that has the ability to alter gene expression without any change in the DNA sequence. DNA methylation occurs when a methyl chemical group attaches to cytosine bases on the DNA sequence. In mammals, DNA methylation primarily occurs at CG sites, when a cytosine is followed by a guanine in the DNA sequence. In plants, DNA methylation can also occur in other cytosine sequences, such as when a cytosine is not followed directly by a guanine. Many of the statistical methods that have been developed to estimate methylation levels and test differential methylation in whole-genome …

On Fixed Effects Estimation In Spline-Based Semiparametric Regression For Spatial Data, Guilherme Ludwig, Jun Zhu, Chun-Shu Chen

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Spline surfaces are often used to capture spatial variability sources in linear mixed-effects models, without imposing a parametric covariance structure on the random effects. However, including a spline component in a semiparametric model may change the estimated regression coefficients, a problem analogous to spatial confounding in spatially correlated random effects. Our research aims to investigate such effects in spline-based semiparametric regression for spatial data. We discuss estimators' behavior under the traditional spatial linear regression, how the estimates change in spatial confounding-like situations, and how selecting a proper tuning parameter for the spline can help reduce bias.

Small Sample Properties Of The Two Independent Sample Test For Means From Beta Distributions, Edward E. Gbur, Kevin Thompson

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Researchers often collect proportion data that cannot be interpreted as arising from a set of Bernoulli trials. Analyses based on the beta distribution may be appropriate for such data. The SAS® GLIMMIX procedure provides a tool for these analyses using a likelihood based approach within the larger context of generalized linear mixed models (GLMM). The small sample behavior of likelihood based tests to compare the means from two independently sampled beta distributions were studied via simulation when the null hypothesis of equal means holds. Two simulation scenarios were defined by equal and unequal sample sizes and equal scale parameters. A …

Modeling The Occurrence Of Four Cereal Crop Aphid Species In Idaho, John W. Merickel, Bahman Shafii, Sanford D. Eigenbrode, Christopher J. Williams, William J. Price

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Idaho is ranked 5^th in the United States in overall wheat production and makes over $500 million in profit annually from wheat. Many pests have detrimental effects on wheat; some of the most predominant ones are aphids. Four species of aphids having economic effects on wheat crops in Idaho are: Diuraphis noxia, Metopolophium dirhodum, Rhopalosiphum padi, Sitobion avenae. Predictive regression models could be useful for better understanding of the occurrence of these aphid species. Count data for the four species were collected over 17 years via suction traps at 12 locations in wheat fields throughout …

Editor's Preface And Table Of Contents, Perla E. Reyes

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

These proceedings contain papers presented at the twenty-seventh annual Kansas State University Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture, held in Manhattan, Kansas, April 26 - April 28, 2015