Life Sciences Commons^™

Synergistic Communities For Biochar, Albert Bates, Jonathan Bates, Peter Hirst

USBI Biochar Conferences

Biochar & Permaculture: Albert Bates

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afaKoWXsRiU

Biochar & Aquaponics: Jonathan Bates

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c21drA2KS4

Jonathan will present his experience using biochar as a powerful growing medium in aquaponic systems. Aquaponics being the culturing of fish and plants together ecologically in closed systems (the merging of aquaculture and hydroponics). Biochar grow media benefits aquaponic systems in multiple ways, including its light weight, local sourcing, bio-chemical qualities, ecological nature, and affordable price. Through pictures and discussion he will show how his experiment has faired, and offer ideas for economic opportunities of aquaponic biochar in the Northeast.

Biochar & the Klamath Hydro Settlement: Peter Hirst …

Why Is Charcoal So Effective For Plant Growth?, Makoto Ogawa

USBI Biochar Conferences

No abstract provided.

Using Functional Data Analysis To Evaluate Effect Of Shade On Body Temperature Of Feedlot Heifers During Environmental Heat Stress, F. Yang, A. M. Parkhurst, C. N. Lee, T. M. Brown-Brandl, P. E. Hillman

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Heat stress can be a serious problem for cattle. Body temperature (Tb) is a good measure of an animal’s thermo-regulatory response to an environmental thermal challenge. Previous studies found that Tb increases in response to increasing ambient temperature in a controlled chamber. However, when animals are in an uncontrolled environment, Tb is subject to many uncontrolled environmental factors, such as sunshade, wind, and humidity, that increase variation in the data. Hence, functional data analysis (FDA) was applied to analyze the data with uncontrolled environmental factors as curves in the whole series of days in this study. Breed (Angus, MARCIII, MARC-I, …

Detecting Factors Associated With Springwheat Yield Stability In South Dakota Environments, Jixiang Wu, Karl Glover, William Berzonsky

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Conventional yield stability analyses are focused on yield stability itself by using single linear regression method and/or additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis. It is likely that yield stability for a genotype is associated with many factors such as fertilizer level, soil types, weather conditions, and/or yield components. Detection of factors highly associated with yield stability, therefore, will help breeders develop cultivars adapted to diverse environments or to specific environments. In this study, we conducted correlation analysis based on both environments and genotypes for a data set with 22 spring wheat genotypes, which were evaluated in 18 environments …

Estimation Of Dose Requirements For Extreme Levels Of Efficacy, Mark West, Guy Hallman

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

The objective of this paper is to explore the extent of how dose-response models may be used to estimate extreme levels of efficacy for controlling insect pests and possibly other uses. Probit-9 mortality (99.9968% mortality) is a standard for treatment effectiveness in tephritid fruit fly research, and has been adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture for fruit flies and other pests. Data taken from the phytosanitary treatment (PT) literature are analyzed. These data are used to fit dose-response models with logit, probit and complimentary log-log links. The effectiveness of these models for predicting extreme levels of efficacy is …

A Simulation Study Of The Small Sample Properties Of Likelihood Based Inference For The Beta Distribution, Kevin Thompson, Edward Gbur

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 in the context of generalized linear mixed models. Since the t and F-distribution based inference employed in this approach relies on asymptotic properties, it is important to understand the sample sizes required to obtain reasonable approximate answers to inference questions. In addition, the complexity of the likelihood functions can lead to numerical issues for optimization algorithms …

Non-Normal Data In Agricultural Experiments, W. W. Stroup

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Advances in computers and modeling over the past couple of decades have greatly expanded options for analyzing non-normal data. Prior to the 1990’s, options were largely limited to analysis of variance (ANOVA), either on untransformed data or after applying a variance stabilizing transformation. With or without transformations, this approach depends heavily on the Central Limit Theorem and ANOVA’s robustness. The availability of software such as R’s lme4 package and SAS® PROC GLIMMIX changed the conversation with regard to non-normal data. With expanded options come dilemmas. We have software choices – R and SAS among many others. Models have conditional and …

Multivariate Statistical Analysis Of Terrestrial Invertebrate Index Of Biotic Integrity, Bahman Shafii, William J. Price, Norm Merz, Timothy D. Hatten

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

The Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) is designed to measure the changes in ecological and environmental conditions as affected by human disturbances. In practice, the IBI is used in various ecological applications to detect divergence in biological integrity attributable to human actions. Last year during this conference, methodologies for developing an Avian Index of Biotic Integrity (A-IBI) were presented and discussed. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the construction and statistical evaluation of a multi-metric terrestrial Invertebrate Index of Biotic Integrity (I-IBI) using the same multivariate statistical techniques. Canonical correlation analyses were utilized to select pertinent invertebrate metrics …

Characterizing Benthic Macroinvertebrate Community Responses To Nutrient Addition Using Nmds And Baci Analyses, Bahman Shafii, William J. Price, G. Wayne Minshall, Charlie Holderman, Paul J. Anders, Gary Lester, Pat Barrett

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) is an ordination technique which is often used for information visualization and exploring similarities or dissimilarities in ecological data. In principle, NMDS maximizes rank-order correlation between distance measures and distance in the ordination space. Ordination points are adjusted in a manner that minimizes stress, where stress is defined as a measure of the discordance between the two kinds of distances. Before and After Control Impact (BACI) is a classical analysis of variance method for measuring the potential influence of an environmental disturbance. Such effects can be assessed by comparing conditions before and after a planned activity. …

Thou Shall Not Brush Your Teeth While Eating Breakfast: A 7- Step Program For Researchers Previously Hurt In Data Analysis, Edzard Van Santen

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

After years of providing statistical advice to fellow faculty members and graduate students, I have come to realize that it is not necessarily the big issues, but lack of knowledge of basic data analysis principles that get my clients into trouble. My claim is that if researchers and students internalized two basic definitions they would not have any problems analyzing most of their experiments. The definitions of Experimental Unit (EU) as the smallest physical unit to which a treatment may be applied and Experimental Error (Exp. Err.) as the variation among EUs treated alike are the basis for successful data …

Comparing Functional Data Analysis And Hysteresis Loops When Testing Treatments For Reducing Heat Stress In Dairy Cows, S. Maynes, A. M. Parkhurst, J. B. Gaughan, T. L. Mader

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Various techniques are commonly used to reduce heat stress, including sprayers and misters, shading, and changes in feed. Oftentimes studies are performed where researchers do not control the times when animals use shading or other means available to reduce heat stress, making it hard to test differences between treatments. Two methods are used on data from a study where Holstein cows were given free access to weight activated “cow showers.” Functional data analysis can be used to model body temperature as a function of time and environmental variables such as the Heat Load Index. Differences between treatment groups can be …

Five Things I Wish My Mother Had Told Me, About Statistics That Is, Philip M. Dixon

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

I present five short stories, each describing something I wish I had known and appreciated earlier in my statistical life. The five are Simpson's paradox is everywhere, numerical optimization algorithms can be deceived, you can't always trust the Satterthwaite approximation, BLUP's are wonderful things, and It's good to know Reverend Bayes.

On The Small Sample Behavior Of Generalized Linear Mixed Models With Complex Experiments, Julie Couton, Walt Stroup

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs), regardless of the software used to implement them (R, SAS, etc.), can be formulated as conditional or marginal models and can be computed using pseudo-likelihood, penalized quasi-likelihood, or integral approximation methods. While information exists about the small sample behavior of GLMMs for some cases- notably RCBDs with Binomial or count data- little is known about GLMMs for continuous proportions (e.g. Beta) or time-to-event (e.g. Gamma) data or for more complex designs such as the split-plot. In this presentation we review the major model formulation and estimation options and compare their small sample performance for cases …

Editor's Preface And Table Of Contents, Weixing Song

Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture

These proceedings contain papers presented in the twenty-fifth annual Kansas State University Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture, held in Manhattan, Kansas, April 28 - April 30, 2013.

Natural Dog Training Provides New Ways To Understand And Manage Stresses Of Canine Assistance Work, Jean Marie Thompson, Kevin Behan

International Veterinary Social Work Summit

Limiting dis-stress experienced by assisted therapy, crisis response, and combat comfort dogs is a concern of handlers, organizations, and researchers. Dogs communicate feelings via body language especially muzzle expressions and physical behaviors that people and other animals recognize. Projection of dis-stress by dogs negatively impacts therapeutic interactions, distracting and detracting from beneficial flow of feelings. Dog welfare is risked. Behan's Natural Dog Training ("NDT") presents an alternative paradigm for understanding dog dis-stress. NDT is an energy flow model that is different from but compatible with positive reinforcement techniques and attuned to Adrian Bejan's constructal law of nature, a physics principle. …

The Link, One Health, And Social Capital: A New Strategy For Empathy Education And Social Work, Phil Arkow

International Veterinary Social Work Summit

For 150 years, animal welfare and veterinary advocates have promoted a doctrine that animal welfare will be enhanced by teaching children kindness to animals and responsible animal husbandry practices. However, these efforts have been stymied by societal and professional perceptions that “animal” causes are less worthy than “human” services. Ten significant challenges have made it difficult, if not impossible, to gain access to educators’ curricula and social work training. In a society that continues to place humans’ interests above animals’, it is time to try a new approach that focuses on the human benefits of animal welfare. In particular, a …

Cruelty Intervention Advocacy, A New Approach To Animal Hoarding Interventions, Allison Cardona

International Veterinary Social Work Summit

Animal hoarding affects thousands of animals and people across the United States. Conservative estimates place the number of new cases at two to three thousand per year, though no centralized database exists, so the full scope of the problem is unknown. Unlike intentional, single acts of cruelty, animal hoarding impacts a large number of animals over a prolonged period of time. Any type of animal can be hoarded, though the majority of hoarding situations involve cats and dogs, with numbers ranging from a few dozen to several hundred and even thousands of animals living in a single location. Accumulation of …

Canines And Childhood Cancer: The Effects Of Animal-Assisted Therapy For Patients, Families And Therapy Dogs, Molly Jenkins Msw, Amy Mccullough Ma, Ashleigh Ruehrdanz Ba, Kevin Morris Ph.D.

International Veterinary Social Work Summit

PLEASE USE THE PDF (available from the "download" link) TO FOLLOW ALONG WITH THE VIDEO

For many people, animals take center stage in their daily lives, offering companionship, comfort, joy and for some, even kinship. Increasingly, greater attention has been given to the roles that animals can play in supporting the health and emotional well-being of people in need, specifically through the use of animal-assisted therapy (AAT). However, while the field of human-animal interaction (HAI) research has expanded enormously in recent years, it is still unclear whether the incorporation of animals into clinical settings is effective from a scientific standpoint. …