Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons^™

Classification Of Tactile And Motor Velocity-Evoked Hemodynamic Response In Primary Somatosensory And Motor Cortices As Measured By Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, Mohsen Hozan, Jacob Greenwood, Michaela Sullivan, Steven M. Barlow

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an emerging technique in studying cerebral hemodynamics; however, consensus on the analysis methods and the clinical applications has yet to be established. In this study, we demonstrate the results of a pilot fNIRS study of cerebral hemodynamic response (HR) evoked by pneumotactile and sensorimotor stimuli on the dominant hand. Our goal is to find the optimal stimulus parameters to maximally evoke HR in the primary somatosensory and motor cortices. We use a pulsatile pneumatic array of 14 tactile cells that were attached to the glabrous surface of the dominant hand, with a patterned stimulus that …

Glucocorticoid Priming Of Nonviral Gene Delivery To Hmscs Increases Transfection By Reducing Induced Stresses, Andrew Hamann, Tyler Kozisek, Kelly Broad, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are under study for cell and gene therapeutics because of their immunomodulatory and regenerative properties. Safe and efficient gene delivery could increase hMSC clinical potential by enabling expression of transgenes for control over factor production, behavior, and differentiation. Viral delivery is efficient but suffers from safety issues, while nonviral methods are safe but highly inefficient, especially in hMSCs. We previously demonstrated that priming cells with glucocorticoids (Gcs) before delivery of DNA complexes significantly increases hMSC transfection, which correlates with a rescue of transfection-induced metabolic and protein synthesis decline, and apoptosis. In this work, we show …

Robotic Detection And Grasp Of Maize And Sorghum: Stem Measurement With Contact, Abbas Atefi, Yufeng Ge, James C. Schnable

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Frequent measurements of the plant phenotypes make it possible to monitor plant status during the growing season. Stem diameter is an important proxy for overall plant biomass and health. However, the manual measurement of stem diameter in plants is time consuming, error prone, and laborious. The use of agricultural robots to automatically collect plant phenotypic data for trait measurements can overcome many of the drawbacks of manual phenotyping. The objective of this research was to develop a robotic system that can automatically detect and grasp the stem, and measure its diameter of maize and sorghum plants. The robotic system comprises …

Rapeseed Stand Count Estimation At Leaf Development Stages With Uav Imagery And Convolutional Neural Networks, Biquan Zhao, Chenghai Yang, Yeyin Shi, Qingxi Liao, Guangsheng Zhou, Chufeng Wang, Tianjin Xie, Zhao Jiang, Dongyan Zhang, Wanneng Yang, Chenglong Huang, Jing Xie, Jian Zhang

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Rapeseed is an important oil crop in China. Timely estimation of rapeseed stand count at early growth stages provides useful information for precision fertilization, irrigation, and yield prediction. Based on the nature of rapeseed, the number of tillering leaves is strongly related to its growth stages. However, no field study has been reported on estimating rapeseed stand count by the number of leaves recognized with convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery. The objectives of this study were to provide a case for rapeseed stand counting with reference to the existing knowledge of the number of leaves …

Temporal Trend Analysis Of Meteorological Variables And Reference Evapotranspiration In The Inter-Mountain Region Ofwyoming, Vivek Sharma, Christopher Nicholson, Antony Bergantino, Suat Irmak, Dannele Peck

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Long-term trends in reference evapotranspiration (ETref) and its controlling factors are critical pieces of information in understanding how agricultural water requirements and water resources respond to a variable and changing climate. In this study, ETref, along with climate variables that directly and indirectly impact it, such as air temperature (T), incoming solar radiation (Rs), wind speed (u), relative humidity (RH), and precipitation (P), are discussed. All variables are analyzed for four weather stations located in irrigated agricultural regions of inter-mountain Wyoming: Pinedale, Torrington, Powell, andWorland. Non-parametric Mann􀀀Kendall (MK) trend test and Theil–Sen’s slope estimator were used to determine the statistical …

Classification Of Tactile And Motor Velocity-Evoked Hemodynamic Response In Primary Somatosensory And Motor Cortices As Measured By Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an emerging technique in studying cerebral hemodynamics; however, consensus on the analysis methods and the clinical applications has yet to be established. In this study, we demonstrate the results of a pilot fNIRS study of cerebral hemodynamic response (HR) evoked by pneumotactile and sensorimotor stimuli on the dominant hand. Our goal is to find the optimal stimulus parameters to maximally evoke HR in the primary somatosensory and motor cortices. We use a pulsatile pneumatic array of 14 tactile cells that were attached to the glabrous surface of the dominant hand, with a patterned stimulus that …

Review—Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes As Optical Sensors For Biological Applications, Eric M. Hofferber, Joseph A. Stapleton, Nicole M. Iverson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Since the discovery of the band gap fluorescence from single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) many advancements have been made towards the use of these unique fluorophores as optical biosensors in vitro, ex vivo in vivo. Attention has been given to these pure carbon structures due to their photostability, tunable properties, and bright near infrared emission that falls in the tissue transparency window. This review highlights some of the major advancements in the field of SWNT biosensors over the last two decades with a focus given to recent advances in biological applications.

Predicting Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons In Field Soils With Vis–Nir Models Developed On Laboratory-Constructed Samples, Nuwan Wijewardane, Post Doc Research Associate, Yufeng Ge, Natasha Sihota, Thomas Hoelen, Toni Miao, David C. Weindorf

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Accurate quantification of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) is required for opti- mizing remedial efforts at oil spill sites. While evaluating total petroleum hydro- carbons (TPH) in soils is often conducted using costly and time-consuming lab- oratory methods, visible and near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (Vis–NIR) has been proven to be a rapid and cost-effective field-based method for soil TPH quantification. This study investigated whether Vis–NIR models calibrated from laboratory-constructed PHC soil samples could be used to accurately estimate TPH concentration of field samples. To evaluate this, a laboratory sample set was constructed by mixing crude oil with uncontaminated soil samples, and two field …

Within-Field Variability In Granular Matrix Sensor Data And Its Implications For Irrigation Scheduling, T. Lo, H.C. Pringle Iii, Daran Rudnick, Geng Bai, L. Jason Krutz, D.M. Gholson, Xin Qiao

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Even when located within the same field, multiple units of the same soil moisture sensor rarely report identical values. Such within-field variability in soil moisture sensor data is caused by natural and manmade spatial heterogeneity and by inconsistencies in sensor construction and installation. To better describe this variability, daily soil water tension values from 14-23 sets of granular matrix sensors during the middle part of four soybean site-years in the Mississippi Delta were analyzed. The soil water tension data were found to follow approximately normal distributions, to exhibit moderately high temporal rank stability, and to show strong positive correlation between …

Teacher Level Factors And Student Achievement In A Cyber-Enabled Engineering Education Professional Development Program, Wei Zakharov, Johannes Strobel, Heidi A. Diefes-Dux

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

This study investigates the impact of an elementary engineering education teacher professional development program on student learning. The results show a significant increase in students’ knowledge in science from pre- to post-test as well as in engineering design from grade two to grade four. Further, the study uses multilevel modeling to quantitatively analyze the impact of differences among teachers on the engineering design achievement of their students. Different predictive relationships between demographic and social capital factors at the teacher level and student achievement are identified and implications for educational policymaking and practices are discussed.

The Fluxnet2015 Dataset And The Oneflux Processing Pipeline For Eddy Covariance Data, Gilberto Pastorello, Timothy Arkebauer, Dave P. Billesbach, Anatoly Gitelson, Adam Liska, Andrew Suyker, Elizabeth Walter-Shea, More Than 200 Other

Adam Liska Papers

The FLUXNET2015 dataset provides ecosystem-scale data on CO2, water, and energy exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and other meteorological and biological measurements, from 212 sites around the globe (over 1500 site-years, up to and including year 2014). These sites, independently managed and operated, voluntarily contributed their data to create global datasets. Data were quality controlled and processed using uniform methods, to improve consistency and intercomparability across sites. The dataset is already being used in a number of applications, including ecophysiology studies, remote sensing studies, and development of ecosystem and Earth system models. FLUXNET2015 includes derived-data products, such as …

Volumetric Flow Measurement For Irrigation District Turnouts, Charles M. Burt, Daniel J. Howes, Stuart Styles

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Technical assistance related to irrigation district turnout flow/volumetric measurement is provided by ITRC on behalf of California Dept. of Water Resources, USBR, and BIA irrigation projects. Throughout that work, it was apparent there was a need to organize well-established information as well as to provide new insights into irrigation flow measurement. The target audiences are irrigation districts and others who want to improve measurement accuracy for irrigation flow rates and volumetric deliveries to meet regulations, improve the efficiency of ditchriders (system operators), and provide equity and transparency to farmers and managers. The focus of this publication is on turnouts (deliveries) …

The Temporal And Spatial Dynamics Of Fluvial Carbon Cycling In Irish Blanket Peatland Pools And Soils, Mariya Radomski

Doctoral

Blanket peatlands in Ireland are reservoirs of organic matter and have effects on carbon dioxide (CO2) flux regulation. Data on dissolved CO2 in Ireland is limited. In blanket peatlands, the drainage systems are well connected with pools, hummocks and lawns and this connectivity leads to significant variations in outflows of carbon. The excess carbon dioxide in blanket peatlands could originate from soil organic matter decomposition. Dissolved CO2 could be transported into pools via surface run-off and lateral throughflow. Peatland pools are typically supersaturated in CO2. As part of a project described in this thesis, the role of spatial and seasonal …

Integrated Techno-Economic And Life Cycle Analyses Of Biomass Utilization For Value-Added Bioproducts In The Northeastern United States, Yuxi Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A multi-stage spatial analysis was first conducted to select locations for lignocellulosic biomass-based bioproduct facility, using Geographical Information System (GIS) spatial analysis, multi-criteria analysis ranking algorithm, and social-economic assessment. A case study was developed to determine locations for lignocellulosic biorefineries using feedstocks including forest residue biomass and three energy crops for 13 states in the northeastern United States. In the entire study area, 11.1% of the counties are high-suitable, 48.8% are medium-suitable for biorefinery siting locations. A non-parametric analysis of cross-group surveys showed that preferences on biorefinery siting are homogeneous for experts in academia and industry groups, but people in …

Drivers Of On-Farm Performance Of Irrigation Water Management Practices: Empirical Evidence From Eastern Arkansas, Jacob Askey

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Unsustainable agricultural practices are putting a strain on freshwater supplies in many parts of the world. More efficient irrigation techniques are going to be critical to feed a growing population. Data from the 2016 Arkansas Irrigation Survey was used to assess the adoption of three Irrigation Water Management (IWM) practices: multiple inlet rice irrigation, tailwater recovery, and storage reservoirs. Results indicate that these practices do not always lead to reported pumping time reductions, a proxy for water use savings. Large variations in pumping time reduction are observed across producers for all three practices. A Tobit model was used to examine …

Persistence And Mitigation Of Antibiotic Resistance In Manure And Manure-Amended Soils, Mara J. Zelt

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The emergence of antibiotic resistance (AR) is a growing global threat to human and animal health. The work described here asses the AR mitigation potential of management strategies at critical control points in livestock production, and agricultural land management as well as the effectiveness of a communication strategy to convey research-based information to empower behavioral change that could mitigate AR.

The first study evaluates the impact of beef cattle diet management strategies on AMR prevalence in manure. Two treatments – forage concentration and essential oils – in cattle diets were evaluated for their impact on AMR bacteria in feedlot manure. …

Flex-Ro: A Robotic High Throughput Field Phenotyping System, Joshua N. Murman

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Research in agriculture is critical to developing techniques to meet the world’s demand for food, fuel, fiber, and feed. Optimization of crop production per unit of land requires scientists across disciplines to collaborate and investigate new areas of science and tools for data collection. The use of robotics has been adopted in several industries to supplement labor, and accurately perform repetitious tasks. However, the use of autonomous robots in commercial agricultural production is still limited. The Flex-Ro (Flexible structured Robotic platform) was developed for use in large area fields as a multipurpose tool to perform monotonous agricultural tasks.

This work …

Nematode Populations As Affected By Residue And Water Management In A Long-Term Wheat-Soybean Double Crop In Eastern Arkansas, Lucia Emperatriz Escalante Ortiz

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soybeans (Glycine max) are one of the major row crops in the United States, particularly in Arkansas. Soybean cyst nematode (SCN, Heterodera glycines) and southern root-knot nematode (RKN, Meloidogyne incognita) are two of the most damaging pests that cause major economic losses in soybeans. Little is known concerning the effects of common and alternative agronomic practices on nematodes in fields with nematode population densities below threshold levels. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of the combination of tillage (conventional tillage and no-tillage), irrigation (irrigated and non-irrigated), wheat (Triticum aestivum) residue burning (burned and no burned), …

Predicting Agricultural Implement Hydraulic Power Demand Using Synchronized Controller Area Network And Ancillary Sensor Data, Gabriel P. Stoll

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As agricultural implement designs have progressed in recent years, there has been an increase in hydraulic power demand from the tractor. Current power estimation standards do not accurately estimate hydraulic power demand for implements designed with higher hydraulic power requirements. Several stakeholders, including agricultural producers, tractor and implement manufacturers, and government agencies would benefit from accurate published data on these power requirements.

While an increasing amount of operational data available on the Controller Area Network (CAN) of tractors has assisted researchers in more easily obtaining machinery performance data, hydraulic control valve flow rate and pressure measurements are not currently publically …

Adding Value To Lignocellulosic Biorefinery: Efficient Process Development Of Lignocellulosic Biomass Conversion Into Polyhydroxybutyrate, Mengxing Li

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) is bacteria synthesized polymer that has comparable mechanical properties as petroleum-based plastics and high biocompatibility. Current commercial PHB production process is not cost effective. Raw materials make up about 50% of the production cost. Lignocellulosic biomass are cheap, abundant feedstocks that can be converted into PHB to add profit and sustainability to lignocellulosic biorefinery. Lignocellulosic biorefinery upstream process produces polymeric sugar rich stream and lignin-enriched stream. Polymeric sugars are then hydrolyzed into a sugar stream with glucose, xyloseand arabinose mainly present. To the best of the author’s knowledge, limited studies have been done on sugar mixture conversion into …