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Performance Of Rotational Grazing Of Urochloa Hybrid Cv. Cayman In The Caribbean Region Of Costa Rica, M. Hernández-Chaves, R. Van Der Hoek, S. Abarca-Monge, R. Soto-Blanco, J. Arango

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In Costa Rica pasture-based grass is the basis for both dairy and beef production. The Caribbean region with a rainfall exceeding 3000 mm has four seasons: dry (Feb-May), rainy (May-Aug), less rainy (Sep-Oct) and intermediate (Oct-Feb). Many pastures are dominated by Ischaemum ciliare (“Retana”), of poor nutritional quality and permanently grazed with low stocking rates (one animal per ha). To assess the potential of combining improved grasses with rotational grazing, a trial with Urochloa hybrid cv. Cayman was implemented at the INTA research station in Guápiles, Limón province, during four years (2014 to 2018). An intensive pasture management system based …

Making The Case For Rangelands To Become The Poster Child Of The Sdgs: How Rangelands Provide Fertile Ground For An Interconnected Approach To The Three Pillars Of Sustainable Development, B. Jones

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a collection of 17 ambitious goals set by global leaders to transform the world by 2030 and create a sustainable future for all. They are founded on the three pillars of sustainable development – environmental, economic and social sustainability, or as they are more colloquially known, “people, planet and profit”. Creating a better world requires an integrated approach that simultaneously improves livelihoods and reduces inequalities whilst dramatically reducing environmental damage.

This paper argues that rangelands are an ideal arena for showcasing the SDGs because they are, by their very nature, interconnected landscapes in which …

Intellectual Property Protection – Stimulating Or Constraining Innovation And Technology Transfer?, John R. Caradus, C. A. Tumilson, J. Y. Lin

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grassland farming is becoming more technically advanced leading to improvements in productivity, environmental outcomes and animal welfare. As a result, farmers have an increasing range of new innovations being made available to them. The question examined here is whether widespread uptake of new innovations by farmers is more effective when driven by marketing through dedicated paths to market where the intellectual property (IP) is controlled or through multiple paths to market where there is no IP control?

The role of IP in stimulating the development, manufacture and sale of new technologies is hotly debated. For plant breeders and patent owners, …

High Altitude Rangelands And Pastoralism In Bhutan: Using Sustainable Development Goals To Address Land Degradation And Poverty, J. E. Millar, K. Tenzing

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Semi-nomadic pastoralists in Bhutan live in high altitude rangelands where they seasonally migrate with yak and cattle herds from 3,000m to 5,000m. Population increase, overgrazing and climate change in eastern Bhutan have led to severe land degradation, winter fodder shortage and reduced milk production per head for herding families. This paper describes how Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were used to design a rangeland rehabilitation and livelihoods improvement program with herders in Merak district from 2016 to 2019. The aim was to restore degraded rangelands, improve pastures, develop savings schemes, resolve conflicts and increase conservation knowledge. The approach involved gender sensitive …

Conversion Of Forest To Agro-Silvo-Pastoral System – Montado – In Mediterranean Environments, J. Potes, F. Jorge, T. Montes, D. Palha

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Mediterranean environment regions are characterized by climate and soil specificities that justify low productive capacity for primary production when compared to other environments on earth. The Mediterranean forests are essentially formed by trees and shrubs. The shrubs are the perfect fuel to feed the forest fires that occur in a natural and cyclical manner in these environmental conditions. Therefore, the Mediterranean Systems of Agriculture have evolved to control the shrubs and the extensification of the systems because of low productivity. Sustainability is achieved by increase of productivity through improvement of the soil and irrigation. The application of these principles …

Long-Term Sustainability Implications Of Diverse Commercial Pollinator Mixtures For The Conservation Reserve Program, Amanda J. Ashworth, Taylor Adams, Alayna Jacobs

Plant and Soil Sciences Graduate Research

The persistence of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) seed mixtures following planting is crucial for the long-term support of pollinator habitat; however, the role of disturbance regimes and their interactions in supporting this ecosystem service are largely unknown. This study set out to evaluate how ecological disturbances (prescribed burn, light disking, or fallow control) and commercially available diverse species mixtures (‘Hamilton’, ‘Bamert’, and ‘Holland’) affect pollinator habitat and the flowering period of commonly used CRP species mixtures. Specifically, three pollinator species mixtures were assessed for plant stand dynamics (plant density, yield, and dual-use pollinator-lignocellulosic feedstock potential); the resulting soil properties; and …

Evaluating Split Timing Fertilizer Applications For Improving Bread Baking Quality Of Soft Red Winter Wheat In Kentucky, Ammar Al Zubade, Krista Jacobsen, Tim Phillips, Mark Williams, David Van Sanford

Plant and Soil Sciences Graduate Research

There is growing interest among farmers to locally produce high protein and strong gluten wheat that is suitable for bread making and meet the demand of local artisanal bakers in Kentucky. The warm and humid weather in southeast region is ideal for soft red winter wheat (SRW) production which characterized by low protein content. The technique of splitting nitrogen (N) fertilization according to the growth stages has been suggested to improve protein content and its composition. This study evaluated the effect of split N application on yield and baking quality traits of two SRW wheat cultivars grown in the eastern …

Sunburns And Sun Protection Behaviors Among Male Hispanic Outdoor Day Laborers, Zhaomeng Niu, Mary Riley, Jerod L. Stapleton, Michele Ochsner, Germania Hernandez, Daniel P. Giovenco, Shawna V. Hudson, Denalee O’Malley, Carolina Lozada, Marién Casillas Pabellón, Carolyn J. Heckman, Elliot J. Coups, Louis Kimmel

Health, Behavior & Society Faculty Publications

Individuals who work outside are at increased risk for skin cancer due to excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Little is known about UV exposures and sun safety practices of outdoor day laborers, who are disproportionately Hispanic. This study identified the correlates of sunburn and sun protection behaviors in a sample of male, Hispanic day laborers (n = 175). More than half of the participants (54.9%) experienced one or more sunburns when working during the past summer, and 62.9% reported having one or more symptoms of heat illness. The frequency of engaging in sun protection behaviors was suboptimal, including …

Livestock Farmers And Researchers Perceptions About Ecosystem Services Provided By Rio De La Plata Grasslands, Daniela Schossler, Carlos Nabinger, Pablo Boggiano, Diana L. Restrepo-Osorio, Claudio Ribeiro

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The perception and valuation that livestock farmers have about ecosystem services provided by natural pastures is of fundamental importance to their management decisions and the conservation of this resource. This work aims to reveal results of a project carried out in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay using the TESSA (Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment) methodology to compare the perceptions of different ecosystem services among livestock farmers and researchers. The methodology was participatory workshops, two by country, one with livestock farmers participating in the Grassland Alliance (at least 50% of natural grassland in the livestock production system) and another with …

Factors Influencing Adoption Of Rangeland Rehabilitation Technologies By Agro-Pastoralists In The Arabian Peninsula: Evidence From Analysis In Saudi Arabia And Qatar, Boubaker Dhehibi, Arash Nejatian, Abdul Aziz Niane, Azaiez Ouled Belgacem

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rangelands are the main land use in the Arabian Peninsula and cover about 50% of total area. They are under continuous heavy grazing pressure due to underlying social and economic causes as well as institutional effects. ICARDA in collaboration with the National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) has developed and introduced different rehabilitation techniques including resting, planting native range species and water harvesting in different countries of the AP such as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Yemen. However, the adoption of these techniques by end users was not evaluated. In this context, a research has been conducted in Saudi Arabia …

Effectively Reaching The Equine Community In Kentucky, S. L. Musen, Krista L. Lea, S. Ray Smith, R. J. Coleman

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Since 2009, Extension Specialists and County Extension Agents from the University of Kentucky in the Southeast United States have conducted an annual educational event; the Kentucky Equine Farm and Facilities Expo field-day. These annual field-days have provided practical, hands-on demonstrations and seminars for 135-250 members of the equine community per event. Participants have been a mix of horse owners in relation to farm size, number of horses and business vs. recreation. Many participants have not been previous consumers of Extension educational programming. One of the major draws of the Farm and Facility Expo field days has been the host sites, …

Application Of The Tessa Methodology In A Pilot Protocol For Participatory Evaluation Of Ecosystem Services And Agents Of Change In The Pampa Grasslands. Method Description And Lessons Learned, Daniela Schossler, Carlos Nabinger, Pablo Boggiano, Diana L. Restrepo-Osorio, Claudio Ribeiro

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The Toolkit for Site-Based Assessment (Landscape) of Ecosystem Services (TESSA) is intended to be an accessible guide for low-cost methods to assess the benefits that people receive from nature at particular sites in order to generate information that can be used to influence decision-making (Pehl et al 2015). However, TESSA does not have defined protocols for grasslands ecosystems. This article focuses on the description and discussion of the lessons learned in the participatory workshops that include engaging with policy and decision-making actors. The work consisted of identifying 1) the area occupied by each coverage or use, 2) the threats and …

Analysis Of The Attitude Of Farmers Towards Innovations In The Management Of Grasslands In Poland, P. Goliński, A. Van Den Pol-Van Dasselaar, A. Paszkowski, B. Golińska

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Innovations in the management of grasslands in Poland are important to preserve them as a source of different ecosystem services. In the farmers point of view the most promising is forage production for herbivores, particularly dairy cows. Individual farmers have different opinions about innovations. To stimulate innovations in grassland-based farming systems in Poland, it is important to determine the drivers for their promotion and to define the barriers to overcome problems by their implementation. Analysis of the attitude of Polish farmers towards innovations on grasslands were conducted within the H2020 Inno4Grass project. The majority of respondents were young and had …

Adaptive Rotational Grazing And The Story Of The Regrazed Grass Plant, L. M. Porensky, H. Wilmer, D. J. Augustine, J. D. Derner, M. Fernández-Giménez, David D. Briske, Carm Stakeholder Group

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Livestock stocking rates and decisions about how to move animals in time and space impact plant responses to livestock grazing. We report on a ranch-scale collaborative experiment comparing adaptive rotational grazing management to season-long continuous grazing during a 4.5-month grazing period during the growing season. As part of this project, stakeholders and scientists worked together to articulate their hypotheses about the mechanisms linking rotational grazing with expected vegetation outcomes. Several stakeholders expected rotational grazing to enhance the production and diversity of grazing-sensitive perennial grass species. The main hypothesized mechanism underlying this expectation was that rotation grazing should reduce regrazing of …

What Have We Learnt From Quantitative Case Reports Of Acute Lateral Ankle Sprains Injuries And Episodes Of 'Giving-Way' Of The Ankle Joint, And What Shall We Further Investigate?, Filip Gertz Lysdal, Yuehang Wang, Eamonn Delahunt, Dominic Gehring, Kyle B. Kosik, Tron Krosshaug, Yumeng Li, Kam-Ming Mok, Kati Pasanen, Alexandria Remus, Masafumi Terada, Daniel T. P. Fong

Athletic Training and Clinical Nutrition Faculty Publications

Lateral ankle sprains are a commonly incurred injury in sports. They have a high recurrence rate and can lead to the development of persistent injury associated symptoms. We performed a quantitative synthesis of published case reports documenting the kinematics of acute lateral ankle sprains and episodes of ‘giving-way’ of the ankle joint to provide a comprehensive description of the mechanisms. A systematic literature search was conducted to screen records within MEDLINE® and EMBASE®. Additional strategies included manual search of specific journals, as well as contacting researchers in relevant communities to retrieve unpublished data. Twenty-four cases were included in the quantitative …

Recent Advances In Probiotic Application In Animal Health And Nutrition: A Review, Sarayu Bhogoju, Samuel Nahashon

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Biotechnological advances in animal health and nutrition continue to play a significant role in the improvement of animal health, growth, and production performance. These biotechnological advancements, especially the use of direct-fed microbials, also termed probiotics, those genetically modified and otherwise, have minimized many challenges facing livestock production around the world. Such advancements result in healthy animals and animal products, such as meat, for a growing population worldwide. Increasing demand for productivity, healthy animals, and consumer food safety concerns, especially those emanating from excessive use of antibiotics or growth promoters, are a driving force for investing in safer alternatives, such as …

Emerging Evidence And Treatment Perspectives From Randomized Clinical Trials In Systemic Sclerosis: Focus On Interstitial Lung Disease, Caterina Oriana Aragona, Antonio Giovanni Versace, Carmelo Ioppolo, Daniela La Rosa, Rita Lauro, Maria Concetta Tringali, Simona Tomeo, Guido Ferlazzo, William Neal Roberts, Alessandra Bitto, Natasha Irrera, Gianluca Bagnato

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a complex rare autoimmune disease with heterogeneous clinical manifestations. Currently, interstitial lung disease (ILD) and cardiac involvement (including pulmonary arterial hypertension) are recognized as the leading causes of SSc-associated mortality. New molecular targets have been discovered and phase II and phase III clinical trials published in the last 5 years on SSc-ILD will be discussed in this review. Details on the study design; the drug tested and its dose; the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the study; the concomitant immunosuppression; the outcomes and the duration of the study were reviewed. The two most common drugs used …

Imaging Techniques For Aortic Aneurysms And Dissections In Mice: Comparisons Of Ex Vivo, In Situ, And Ultrasound Approaches, Sohei Ito, Hong S. Lu, Alan Daugherty, Hisashi Sawada

Saha Cardiovascular Research Center Faculty Publications

Aortic aneurysms and dissections are life-threatening conditions that have a high risk for lethal bleeding and organ malperfusion. Many studies have investigated the molecular basis of these diseases using mouse models. In mice, ex vivo, in situ, and ultrasound imaging are major approaches to evaluate aortic diameters, a common parameter to determine the severity of aortic aneurysms. However, accurate evaluations of aortic dimensions by these imaging approaches could be challenging due to pathological features of aortic aneurysms. Currently, there is no standardized mode to assess aortic dissections in mice. It is important to understand the characteristics of each approach for …

Associations Between Potential Inflammatory Properties Of The Diet And Frequency, Duration, And Severity Of Migraine Headaches: A Cross-Sectional Study, Seyed Mojtaba Ghoreishy, Gholamreza Askari, Hamed Mohammadi, Marilyn S. Campbell, Fariborz Khorvash, Arman Arab

Kinesiology and Health Promotion Faculty Publications

Despite a large body of literature on the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII) and various chronic diseases, limited knowledge is available regarding the association between DII and migraine. Therefore, we assessed the relationship between the DII and migraine characteristics, including duration, frequency, and severity of migraine headaches, Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6), and serum levels of nitric oxide (NO). This population-based cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2019 to June 2020 among 262 patients (38 men and 224 women; 20-50 years). A 168-item semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was gathered to evaluate dietary intake, and subsequently, an energy-adjusted DII …

A Scalable And Participatory Sustainable Rangeland Management Toolkit With A Holistic And Multidisciplinary Approach To Rehabilitate Degraded Rangelands, Mounir Louhaichi, Mouldi Gamoun, Sawsan Hassan

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rangelands contribute significantly toward improving livelihoods, offering food security, trade and tourism for pastoral communities. Numerous challenges include poor government policies, loss of indigenous knowledge and top-down approaches toward sustainable rangeland rehabilitation that often fail to consider local development adoption and sustainability. In such situations, effective management is needed for sustainable rangeland ecosystem goods and services in a context characterized by rainfall unreliability, poor soil nutrient status and high uncontrolled grazing. This paper presents a new comprehensive toolkit for identifying and combining suitable and site-specific interventions aimed at reversing the trend of degraded arid rangelands. This toolbox is founded on …

Pastoralist Use Of Reseeded Fields For Additional Resilience To Climate Variability Through Alternate Livelihood Activities, D. W. Githu, J. S. Fehmi, M. Mcclaran, M. Elizabeth, A. Josephson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Land degradation, climate variability, socio-economic changes and population increase are some of the factors that shrink grazing lands making forage availability less predictable and affecting the resilience of pastoralists communities. Reseeding as an intervention can rehabilitate degraded lands for profitable use through offering pastoralists alternative sources of livelihood and encourage livelihood diversification. This study evaluated two pastoral communities, the Tugen and the Njemps from Baringo County, Kenya, who have owned, managed and used reseeded fields to study the dynamics of reseeding land. A total of 193 pastoralist households were interviewed. These two pastoral communities used their fields for: dry season …

Utilizing Perennial Grass Species’ Population Patterns To Detect Looming Desertification Tipping Points In Semi-Arid Regions, F. Munyebvu-Chambara, W. C. Nesongano, M. C. Bilton, A. Linstädter

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Namibia is one of the global dryland regions facing desertification threats due to overgrazing and recurrent drought. This has disastrous effects on forage provision and consequently on local livelihoods. Unfortunately, the mechanisms underlying sudden shifts of rangeland ecosystems towards a desertified state are still poorly understood. The ability to predict desertification tipping points with the aid of suitable ecological indicators is critical to ensure sustainable management of rangeland resources, which are a backbone of rural livelihood in drylands worldwide. Accordingly, we aimed to identify key perennial grass species that can be used as early-warning indicators for desertification tipping points; and …

How Much Margin Is Left For Degrading Agricultural Soils? The Coming Soil Crises, Maheteme Gebremedhin, Mark S. Coyne, Karamat R. Sistani

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Agricultural soils are in peril. Multiple lines of observational and empirical evidence suggest that we are losing the world’s fertile soils at an alarming rate, worsening the on-going global food crisis. It is increasingly clear that the risk of soil crises driven by erratic precipitation, warming air, and farming mismanagement is coming sooner rather than later. At this critical time, society cannot avoid looking for ways to curb soil crises. We argue that now is the right time for science-based mitigation strategies and new insights to protect soils. We offer four research priority areas that society needs to address. Arresting …

Rare Coding Variants In Rcn3 Are Associated With Blood Pressure, Karen Y. He, Tanika N. Kelly, Heming Wang, Jingjing Liang, Luke Zhu, Brian E. Cade, Themistocles L. Assimes, Lewis C. Becker, Amber L. Beitelshees, Lawrence F. Bielak, Adam P. Bress, Jennifer A. Brody, Yen-Pei Christy Chang, Yi-Cheng Chang, Paul S. De Vries, Ravindranath Duggirala, Ervin R. Fox, Nora Franceschini, Anna L. Furniss, Yan Gao, Donna K. Arnett

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: While large genome-wide association studies have identified nearly one thousand loci associated with variation in blood pressure, rare variant identification is still a challenge. In family-based cohorts, genome-wide linkage scans have been successful in identifying rare genetic variants for blood pressure. This study aims to identify low frequency and rare genetic variants within previously reported linkage regions on chromosomes 1 and 19 in African American families from the Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program. Genetic association analyses weighted by linkage evidence were completed with whole genome sequencing data within and across TOPMed ancestral groups consisting of 60,388 individuals of …

[Black] Teachers Resisting Damaged-Centered Research: Community Listening Exchanges As A Reciprocal Research Tool In A Gentrifying City, Thais Council, Shaeroya Earls, Shakale George, Rebecca Graham

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications

Gentrification impacts many cities across the nation. Affordable housing task forces and legislation meant to address housing inequities are becoming more common, yet the authentic experiences of those affected are often unacknowledged. Absent from the discussion of gentrification are the voices of those deeply impacted, some who are at the center of the work to maintain communities: Black teachers, Black students, and Black families. In many school districts, teachers do not have the opportunity to address the systemic issues that impact their students and communities. Still, it is impossible to ignore the ways societal injustice seeps into the classroom. This …

The Role Of Improved Forages In Solving The Water Scarcity Issue Of 4 Billion People, S. Douxchamps, A. Notenbaert, J. A. Cardoso, M. Romero, M. Peters

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Global animal production requires about 2422 Gm³ of water per year. Most of this volume is used by cattle, with 30% used in the beef sector and another 19% in the dairy sector. At the same time, four billion people suffer from severe water scarcity, raising the flag on diverting an important part of the water globally to livestock production. Livestock-water interactions have therefore gained a prominent profile and fuelled discussions on the water footprint of livestock. A series of studies on the most important components of the livestock water footprint have shown that globally more than 90% of …

Spring Forage Stash Module To Prevent Forage Crisis On Uruguayan Livestock Systems: An Evaluation Based On Model Simulations, M. Pereira Machín, F. Dieguez Cameroni

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

In Uruguay, rangeland cattle production systems support national economy by beef exportation chain and economic inputs to the country. Soil hydric stress episodes results to forage crisis on grassland-based production systems, having high impact on its trajectory and leaving sequels at several farm levels mainly on rearing cattle systems in drought sensitive regions of the country. In that context, the proposal is to create a spring forage stash module, with a simple management rules as a mechanism to build stability to farms and to buffering drought impact. The concept is to differ spring forage (season with low variation coefficient on …

Species Richness Increased Yield Stability In Intensively Managed Grasslands Subjected To Experimental Drought, J. A. Finn, M. Suter, E. Haughey, D. Hofer, A. Lüscher

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Climate change is expected to cause an increase in the frequency and intensity of drought events. Over two years we investigated the effects of experimentally imposed drought on intensively managed grassland communities (5 m x 6 m plots) of varying richness (1, 2 and 4 species), and comprising four species (Lolium perenne L., Cichorium intybus L., Trifolium repens L., Trifolium pratense L.). In each year a summer drought period of nine weeks with complete exclusion of precipitation was simulated, inducing severe drought stress at Reckenholz (Zürich, Switzerland), and extreme drought stress at Wexford (Ireland). Mean yield and plot-to-plot variance …

Soil Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emission From Integrated Soil Fertility Management In Maize (Zea Mays L.) Cropping Systems, R. Rogito, N. Karanja, L. Merbold, M. Necpalova, J. Six

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) has been recommended to address challenges of low soil fertility by incorporating locally available organic resources (ORs) together with inorganic nitrogen (N) fertilizers. Despite ISFM success in field trials, there is limited information on ORs contribution to atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations through N₂O emission. A short-term field study was conducted at two sites with different soil types; silt loam (Aludeka) and silty-clay soil (Sidada) to assess the influence of selected ORs on soil N₂O emissions. The ORs treatments included; Calliandra carothyrsus (CL), farmyard manure (FYM) and maize stover (MS) with (+N) …

Response Of Soil Respiration To Precipitation Variation In Alfalfa Grassland On The Western Loess Plateau: Hysteresis And Diel Q10, H. K. Chu, H. Ni, J. Y. Ma, Yuying Shen

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Soil respiration (Rs) plays an important role in the terrestrial carbon cycle, but how precipitation variation affects Rs in alfalfa grassland is poorly understood. To explore the effects of precipitation variation on Rs, this experiment was conducted by using rainfall shelters to simulate 30% precipitation reduction (P-30), normal precipitation (CK) and 30% precipitation increase (P+30) for an alfalfa (Medicago sativa) grassland in the Qingyang city, Gansu province, China. Rs was measured continuously using an automated soil respiration system (model LI-8100A with an LI-8150 multiplexer, LI-COR, Nebraska, USA) during the overwintering preparation period of alfalfa. The results showed that …