Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Identifying Public Perceptions Towards Precision Dairy Technology Use, Brad Kelly

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

To remain sustainable, the dairy industry must demonstrate commitment to addressing concerns from the public, such as sustainability and animal welfare. Precision dairy technologies (PDT) are a potential solution to ameliorate this issue, but public perceptions towards PDT are currently underinvestigated. This thesis aims to describe public perceptions towards PDT. Specifically, the objectives are to 1) describe baseline perceptions of the U.S. public towards PDT, 2) determine the effects of framing information about human-animal bond, data transparency, and animal welfare on PDT perceptions, and 3) evaluate how demographic characteristics mediate these perceptions. An online survey was used to measure baseline …

The Effects Of Extended Fructose Access On Relative Value And Demand For Fructose, Saccharin, And Ventral Tegmental Stimulation, Megan Halloran

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Globally, food addiction (FA) is a growing area of research and is largely attributed to the availability of foods that are both energy dense and high in fats and sugars. Further, it has been suggested, that sugar and fat, when consumed frequently, have properties similar to drugs of abuse. While the validity of FA is questioned, researchers have drawn parallels between substance use disorder (SUD) and FA. For example, sugar binge models emphasize craving, withdrawal and binging as primary components of FA, which are also hallmarks of SUD. Additionally, both natural rewards, like sugars, and drug rewards act on the …

Relations, Ethics, And Storytelling: On Ecology Without Culture, Christine Marran, Lee Mandelo, Abby Rudolph

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

Animals: The Ultimate Radical, Doug Slaymaker, Tony Stallins, Aylin Castro, Jed Debruin, Kelly Ferguson, Jacob Saindon

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

Translating Across Difference: Affect, Animal Studies, And Anthropology, Radhika Govindrajan, Qingfei Zhang, Morgan Keith Stewart

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

Studying Other Species: Understanding The Webs Of Living, Kathryn Gillespie, Aylin Castro, Jed Debruin, Kelly Ferguson

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

Whose Ethics?: Thinking Multispecies Relationships Through The Pandemic Classroom, Dierdra Reber, Erin Koch, Aylin Castro, Jed Debruin, Kelly Ferguson, Jacob Saindon

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

The Pet’S ‘Perfect Bowl’: Environmental And Welfare Discourse In Alternative Pet Food Movements, Carly Baker

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

Marketing ‘sustainable and humane’ super-premium dog kibble has emerged alongside alternative food movements (AFM). Unfortunately, super-premium pet-food comprised of ‘high-quality’ protein is at odds with sustainability and affect for particular animals. This study analyzed social and geographical (mis)representations of nonhumans in the pet-food commodity chain by tracing how knowledge and value is produced, and mapping the geography of Open Farm dog food. I assess these geographies and discourses and I identify the following: (1) sustainability claims focus on transportation and packaging, ignoring the significant environmental and social impacts of animal agriculture. (2) Images of farmed animals on packaging often do …

Career Development And Employability Skill Integration Within The Equine Science And Management Undergraduate Program At The University Of Kentucky, Savannah Faye Robin

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Leadership Studies

College graduates need to be equipped with career and employability skills that are necessary to be meaningfully and gainfully employed in their future. These skills consist of self-management, career-management, essential-employability, and discipline-specific skills. More responsibility is being placed on college and university academic programs to ensure that students are graduating with these skills when they enter the workforce. However, students are growing less likely to participate in out of course career development activities and resources. Integrating these skills into program curriculum can be an effective way to ensure that all students have the ability to develop these necessary skills.

While …

The Effects Of Form Of Selenium On The Bovine Corpus Luteum, Uterine Endometrium, And Development Of The Conceptus, Benjamin Ryne Crites

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Widespread regions of the southeast United States have soils deficient in selenium (Se), necessitating Se supplementation to cattle grazing in these areas. Adequate dietary Se is required for optimal immune function, growth, and fertility. In forages, Se is predominantly found in the organic form (OSe), which is known to increase bioavailability. However, the inorganic form (ISe) is typically found in commercial mineral mixes. We previously reported that supplementation with an isomolar 1:1 mix (MIX) of ISe (sodium selenite, Prince Se Concentrate; Prince Agri Products, Inc., Quincy, IL) and OSe (SEL-PLEX, Alltech Inc., Nicholasville, KY) increases early luteal phase concentrations of …

Diet Of A Recently Reintroduced River Otter (Lontra Canadensis) Population In Taos County, New Mexico, Gabriela Alexandra Wolf-Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

North American river otters (Lontra canadensis), native to every U.S. state and Canada, experienced extensive population decreases and range reduction until the mid-20th century as a result of overexploitation and habitat loss during European colonization. The last known river otter in New Mexico was killed on the Gila River in 1953, although unverified reports continued thru 2008. After a nearly 60-year absence from New Mexico, 33 adult river otters were reintroduced to the Rio Pueblo de Taos in the northern part of the state between 2008-2010; however, they were not subsequently monitored or studied. I characterized diet of …

Safety Concepts For Every Ride: A Statistical Ensemble Simulation To Mitigate Rotational Falls In Eventing Cross Country, Shannon Wood

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical Engineering

Rotational falls are the leading cause of death and serious injury in the equestrian sport of eventing. Previous studies to develop safety devices used physical models representing one or at most several physical situations leading to different designs and no common understanding. In this thesis, a statistical ensemble model is developed and applied to generate and evaluate 10,000 different situations that might potentially lead to rotational falls. For accurate statistical representation of the horse and rider inertia distributions, measurements of over 400 training or competing horses and riders were recorded and incorporated. Video was recorded of 218 total competitors approaching …

The Midsession Reversal Task With Pigeons: Effects Of A Brief Delay Between Choice And Reinforcement, Megan Ashley Halloran

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

During a midsession reversal task, the session begins with a simple simultaneous discrimination in which one stimulus (S1) is correct and the alternate stimulus (S2) is incorrect (S1+/S2-). At the halfway point, the discrimination reverses and S2 becomes the correct choice (S2+/S1-). When choosing optimally, a pigeon should choose S1 until the first trial in which it is not reinforced and then shift to S2 (win-stay/lose-shift). With this task pigeons have been shown to respond suboptimally by anticipating the reversal (anticipatory errors) and continuing to choose S1 after the reversal (perseverative errors). This suboptimal behavior may result from a pigeon’s …

Measuring Glutamate And Oxygen In Brain Reward Circuits In Animal Models Of Cocaine Abuse And Decision-Making, Seth Richard Batten

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Drug-specific reward and associated effects on neural signaling are often studied between subjects, where one group self-administers drug and a separate group self-administers a natural reinforcer. However, exposure to drugs of abuse can cause long-term neural adaptations that can affect how an organism responds to drug reward, natural reward, and their reward-associated stimuli. Thus, to isolate drug-specific effects it is important to use models that expose the same organism to all of the aforementioned. Multiple schedules provide a means of dissociating the rewarding effects of a drug from the rewarding effects of food within a single animal. Further, drug users …

Integrating Multiple Genetic Detection Methods To Estimate Population Density Of Social And Territorial Carnivores, Sean M. Murphy, Ben C. Augustine, Jennifer R. Adams, Lisette P. Waits, John J. Cox

Forestry and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Spatial capture–recapture models can produce unbiased estimates of population density, but sparse detection data often plague studies of social and territorial carnivores. Integrating multiple types of detection data can improve estimation of the spatial scale parameter (σ), activity center locations, and density. Noninvasive genetic sampling is effective for detecting carnivores, but social structure and territoriality could cause differential detectability among population cohorts for different detection methods. Using three observation models, we evaluated the integration of genetic detection data from noninvasive hair and scat sampling of the social and territorial coyote (Canis latrans). Although precision of estimated density was …

Is Pecking Aversive To A Pigeon Or Is It Only The Delay To Reinforcement?, Danielle M. Andrews

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The principle of least effort suggests that animals should minimize effort to reinforcement. Thus, not pecking should be preferred over pecking. However, pigeons often peck when it is allowed but not required (e.g., fixed time schedules) but pecking may be adventitiously reinforced. In the present experiment, to better compare a schedule of reinforcement that requires pecking with one that requires the absence of pecking, we compared a fixed-interval (FI) schedule in which reinforcement follows the first peck after the interval has elapsed and a differential-reinforcement-of-other behavior (DRO) schedule which requires pigeons abstain from pecking for a similar interval. The delay …

An Investigation Into Specific Seminal Plasma Proteins And Their Effect On The Innate Immune Response To Breeding In The Mare, Carleigh Elizabeth Fedorka

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

The mare experiences a transient innate immune response to breeding, the resolution of which is crucial for optimal fertility. The majority of mares are able to modulate this inflammation in a timely fashion, but a subpopulation exists which fail to do so and are considered susceptible to persistent breeding-induced endometritis (PBIE). Seminal plasma has been shown to modulate aspects of this inflammation. Recently, two seminal plasma proteins have garnered interest for their immune modulating properties: cysteine-rich secretory protein-3 (CRISP-3) and lactoferrin. These proteins have been found to alter the binding between sperm and neutrophils based on sperm viability in vitro …

The Balloon Analogue Risk Task And Behavioral Correlates In Pigeons, Aaron P. Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Individuals experience risk ubiquitously, but measuring risk taking is difficult. The balloon analogue risk task (BART) was developed in order to assess risk taking through having subjects press a key that accrues reward but also risk losing all reward with each press. In humans, greater responding in this task is associated with other maladaptive risk taking behaviors. The present research modeled this relationship in pigeons due to their previously shown propensity towards risk taking behavior. Experiment 1 used an unsignaled balloon task in which losing could only occur after 5 pecks. Results showed below optimal performance with greater pecks associated …

Compost Bedded Pack Barns For Dairy Cattle: Bedding Performance And Mastitis As Compared To Sand Freestalls, Elizabeth A. Eckelkamp

Theses and Dissertations--Animal and Food Sciences

Lameness and mastitis are the two most costly diseases in the dairy industry. Reduction of these diseases through housing and management is beneficial. Compost bedded pack (CBP) and sand freestall barns were compared in a long-term, on-farm study to assess the effect of housing on each disease. Another research objective was to evaluate the effects of ambient weather conditions on moisture and 20 cm internal temperature of CBP. Compost bedded pack moisture, C:N ratio, and internal temperature effects on cleanliness, mastitis, and bedding bacterial counts were also considered. The last research objective was to evaluate the economics of bedding material …