Digital Commons Network^™

Wastewater Treatment Fatty Acids For Biodiesel Production, Zachary Christman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Wastewater scum is the thick oily substance that floats on top of the primary and secondary tanks within a wastewater treatment plant. Scum has a 30% to 60% lipid content making it an excellent resource for the biodiesel industry. Also the use of scum would reduce the cost of current management practices such as landfill disposal or incineration. In this article there is an overview of lipid byproducts currently being produced at wastewater treatment plants today. This is followed by a presentation showing a full length process for turning wastewater scum into biodiesel raw material.

Navigating Multiple Worlds Of Ghanaian-Born Immigrant Adolescent Girls In Us Urban Schools, Lydiah Kananu Kiramba, Adaurennaya C. Onyewuenyi, Alex Kumi-Yeboah, Anthony Mawuli Sallar

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

African immigrant populations are among the fastest growing immigrant populations in the United States, yet they are understudied and are invisible immigrant group in the educational literature, particularly, in the context of educational discourses in the United States urban schools. Drawing on Phelan et al.’s multiple worlds model, we analyzed individual and focus group interviews of forty students, thirty-six parents, and twelve teachers from two schools. Findings showed that Ghanaian-born immigrant students undergo several complex transitional paradigms combining two worlds (school and home) of Ghanaian culture, past educational experiences, family values, and adapting to new school environments to achieve success …

Impact Of Mobile Technology‐Based Physics Curriculum On Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Technology Self‐Efficacy, Deepika Menon, Meera Chandrasekhar, Dorina Kosztin, Douglas Steinhoff

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

The growing popularity of mobile technologies in educational settings, from grade schools through college, has prompted science educators to prepare preservice teachers to successfully integrate technology into science teaching. This mixed‐methods study explores the effectiveness of a mobile technology‐based physics curriculum, Exploring Physics, on preservice elementary teachers’ technology self‐efficacy. Participants included 67 preservice elementary teachers enrolled in a specialized physics content course at a large public university in the United States. The experimental group (N = 34) used the Exploring Physics curriculum on iPads, and the comparison group (N = 33) used a hardcopy version of a similar …

Influence Of The Sources Of Science Teaching Self-Efficacy In Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Identity Development, Deepika Menon

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this mixed-methods research was to investigate changes in preservice elementary teachers’ science teacher identities and self-efficacy beliefs as they participate in a field-based science methods course. A total of 121 preservice teachers participated, four of which were purposefully selected who held varied initial levels of science content preparedness and confidence to teach. Data sources included pre- and post-course administrations of the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument-B, an open-ended questionnaire, two semi-structured interviews with selected participants, written teaching reflections, classroom observations, and artifacts. Data analyses included a pre-post repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) design, and the case …

Curriculum For Hippotherapy For Children With Autism, Brenna Schulte, Kristy Weissling

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Innovative effective forms of allied health therapies across disciplines including occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech therapy are being continuously researched and implemented for people with a variety of disabilities. One form of therapy increasing in popularity is Hippotherapy (HPOT). There is a variety of terms related to hippotherapy. More broadly, Equine Assisted Therapy (EAT) is the use of horses to promote physical and mental health and can be utilized for a wide variety of disabilities, such as ADHD and Autism, as well as physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy. HPOT occurs when OT, PT, and ST professionals utilizes horse …

Public Health Entomology Certificate Preparation Course For Esa, Sylvia Kenmuir

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

My Master’s Project was to develop a preparation course for the Entomological Society of America (ESA) Public Health Entomology (PHE) Certificate. This is a new program for ESA. Unlike the Board Certified Entomologist (BCE) or Associate Certified Entomologist (ACE) programs which are certifications, the PHE is a standalone certificate in the area of public health. This certificate seeks to identify people who want to further demonstrate public health as an area of expertise. This course will be available to any qualified and approved person seeking to offer preparation course to assist people in preparing for the exam. Currently there is …

The Effect Of Wildlife Wellbeing On Environmental Concern, Laura Casne

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Environmental campaigns have used animal imagery to push their initiatives for years, shocking viewers with images of human caused damage to change environmental behavior. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), a nonprofit located in Britain released a statement that they responded to 5000 calls annually regarding litter and that the main victims were wildlife species (Litter and Animals | Rubbish and Animals - RSPCA, 2017). A previous study done by Schultz (2000) showed animals in different conditions (animals in nature and animals harmed in nature), with results indicated that those who viewed an image of …

Ecological Perspectives Of The Eastern Saline Wetlands Differ Between Visitors And Non-Visitors, Peter Janda

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

The Eastern Saline Wetlands of Nebraska can be found in both Lancaster and Saunders counties in Eastern Nebraska. Due to the wetlands’ important services in the areas of recreation, wildlife habitat, and flood control, it is necessary to know the extent to which these services are valued and used by residents of Lincoln . Past research completed in 2015 by the Lower Platte South NRD observed public opinions toward wetland restoration and preservation, finding that 46% of the public strongly support it, 35% mildly support it and 16% do not support it (Saline Wetlands Conservation Partnership, 2006). This past study …

The Changing Habitat And Decline Of Ring-Necked Pheasant Populations In Otoe County, Nebraska, Jacob T. Herman

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Since the early 20th century, wildlife conservation in Untied States has walked a fine line of growth and decline. The implementation of the Ring-Necked Pheasant in Nebraska has brought a wealth of tradition and revenue to the state across multiple generations. This thesis analyzes how habitat changes in Otoe County, Nebraska have affected the Ring-Necked Pheasant population, and what programs are in place to counteract the issue. To answer this question, the study compared five different aerial photos taken from Google Earth Pro and the county archives located in Hardin Hall at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln. The results of …

Incorporating Tallgrass Prairie Into Urban Environments, Daniel Hauschild

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

As an agricultural state with a population poised to shift to primarily urban based, Nebraska is in the unique position of being able to decide how people live in modern cities. While the benefits of including green spaces in urban areas are well documented, evidence also suggests that increased biodiversity in these areas compounds those benefits. As such, incorporating elements of functioning natural ecosystems within urban areas can potentially create pockets of sustainable landscapes. Nebraska’s two largest population centers are located on land that was historically tallgrass prairie, an iconic landscape in American history and now almost entirely absent from …

Growth And Feeding Response In Python Regius In Ambient Temperature Vs. Hot-Spot, Mckenzie Martinez

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Python regius, also known as the ball python or the royal python, is one of the most popular reptiles in the pet trade and has been heavily imported, kept, and bred in captivity since 1976 (Toudonou 1). This species has adapted to life in captivity extremely well making it one of the most popular reptiles in the reptile trade. It is one of the first reptiles many reptile enthusiasts own. It is a frequently used species for educating the public in zoos and other facilities. Some of the main reasons that Python regius has maintained its popularity in the reptile …

Planning Urban Forests In A Changing Climate, Ethan Dudden

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

As the effects of negative effects of climate change are realized, urban forests a means to reduce the potential damage and adverse conditions in urban areas (Wolf, et al., 2020) (Livesley, McPherson, & Calfapietra, 2016) (Xiao & McPherson, 2002). Preserving these resources is becoming more difficult however, as the trees that make up urban landscapes become less adapted to current conditions with every passing year (Aitken, Yeaman, Holliday, Wang, & Sierra, 2008). Changes in climate and world systems also point to invasive pests becoming greater threats to urban forest resources with time (Tubby & Webber, 2010) (Amberger et al., 2017). …

To What Extent Has The Relationship Between Humans And Red Foxes (Vulpes Vulpes) Evolved Throughout History?, Abigail Misfeldt

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Red foxes are one of the few creatures able to adapt to living alongside humans as we have evolved. All humans and wildlife have some id of relationship, be it a friendly one or one of mutual hatred, or simply a neutral one. Through a systematic research review of legends, books, and journal articles, I mapped how humans and foxes have evolved together. First, the relationship between humans and foxes in a geographical manner by starting in Asia, moving to Australia and Tasmania, then Europe, Africa, finishing with North and South America. I will be analyzing all the information through …

Corporate Purpose In A Populist Era, Stephen M. Bainbridge

Nebraska Law Review

In the wake of the 2016 U.S. presidential election and similar developments in parts of Europe, commentators widely acknowledged the rise of populist movements on both the right and left of the political spectrum that were deeply suspicious of big business. This development potentially has important implications for the law and practice of corporate purpose.

Left-of-center corporate social responsibility campaigners have long advocated the use of “boycotts, shareholder activism, negative publicity, and so on” to pressure corporate managers to act in ways those campaigners deem socially responsible. Right-of-center populists could use the same tactics to induce corporate directors to make …

Masthead & Table Of Contents, Vol. 98, No. 3

Nebraska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Masthead & Table Of Contents, Vol. 98, No. 4

Nebraska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Duress And Undue Influence In Contract Law As Cognitive Trespass, Jeffrey L. Harrison

Nebraska Law Review

I. Introduction

II. Pure and Active Advantage-Taking

III. Are There Justifications for the Permissive Approach? … A. The Economics ... 1. Efficiency and Investment in Advantage-Taking Strategies ... i. A Paretian Standard ... ii. Kaldor-Hicks and Selling Your Will ... iii. Advantage-Taking as Theft ... iv. The Opportunistic Avoidance Issue ... B. Philosophical Questions

IV. Information, Offers, and Threats

V. The Science

VI. Survey of the Literature

VII. The State of the Law ... A. Duress ... B. Undue Influence

VIII. Concluding Comments and Problem Areas

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (Nasis) 2020 Winter Methodology Report, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

No abstract provided.

Crime In Televised Presidential Campaign Ads: The Making Of Visual Metaphor, Lisa A. Kort-Butler

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

In televised campaign advertisements, political rhetoric potently combines with visual metaphors. Drawing on a digital library of presidential campaign ads from 1952 to 2016, the qualitative media analysis scrutinized how crime rhetoric became visual metaphor. Crime images were positioned and manipulated alongside other content to craft a story about crime and the candidates. Across all ads, two tactics emerged: depicting crime as a problem akin to other social ills – a dark stain; and posing crime as the sinister side to an otherwise vibrant society – a lurking shadow. Candidates were branded as janitors and sheriffs who could rally against …

Winter Use Of A Rock Crevice By Northern Long-Eared Myotis (Myotis Septentrionalis) In Nebraska, Jeremy A. White, Patricia Freeman, Hans W. Otto, Cliff Lemen

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

We used a combination of acoustic detectors, thermal imaging cameras, and mist netting to confirm the use of a rock crevice by northern long-eared myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) in winter in northeastern Nebraska. Bats roosted in a large crevice in a rock face along the Missouri River, and 5 individuals were captured emerging from the opening of the crevice in March 2017. Our study is the first to confirm the use of a rock-crevice hibernaculum by M. septentrionalis and adds to the growing literature on the winter use of rock crevices by hibernating bats in North America. As white-nose …

R-Α-Lipoic Acid And 4-Phenylbutyric Acid Have Distinct Hypolipidemic Mechanisms In Hepatic Cells, Bo He, Régis Moreau

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

The constitutive activation of the mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) leads to the overproduction of apoB-containing triacylglycerol-rich lipoproteins in HepG2 cells. R-α-lipoic acid (LA) and 4-phenylbutyric acid (PBA) have hypolipidemic function but their mechanisms of action are not well understood. Here, we reported that LA and PBA regulate hepatocellular lipid metabolism via distinct mechanisms. The use of SQ22536, an inhibitor of adenylyl cyclase, revealed cAMP’s involvement in the upregulation of CPT1A expression by LA but not by PBA. LA decreased the secretion of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) in the culture media of hepatic cells and increased …

Single-Arm, Non-Randomized, Time Series, Single-Subject Study Of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation In Multiple Sclerosis, Phillip A. Engen, Antonia Zaferiou, Heather Rasmussen, Ankur Ankub, Stefan J. Green, Louis F. Fogg, Christopher B. Forsyth, Shohreh Raeisi, Bruce Hamaker, Ali Keshavarzian

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Emerging evidence suggests intestinal microbiota as a central contributing factor to the pathogenesis of Relapsing-Remitting-Multiple-Sclerosis (RRMS). This novel RRMS study evaluated the impact of fecal-microbiota-transplantation (FMT) on a broad array of physiological/clinical outcomes using deep metagenome sequencing of fecal microbiome. FMT interventions were associated with increased abundances of putative beneficial stool bacteria and short-chain-fatty-acid metabolites, which were associated with increased/improved serum brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor levels and gait/walking metrics. This proof-of-concept single-subject longitudinal study provides evidence of potential importance of intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis of MS, and scientific rationale to help design future randomized controlled trials assessing FMT in RRMS patients.

Establishment Of Wildflower Islands To Enhance Roadside Health And Aesthetics, Walter Schacht, Judy Wu-Smart

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Wildflowers are crucial in the ecological function of the low-input roadside plant communities in terms of water andnutrient cycling, nutrient inputs such as nitrogen, total plant canopy cover, stand longevity, and provision of habitat for numerous small animals. Further, wildflowers provide critical foraging and nesting resources for birds, insects, and other wildlife. Unfortunately, habitat loss from agricultural and urban development has led to rapid population declines in wild bees and other pollinators across the US, thereby jeopardizing not only food production but also the sustainability of our natural landscapes (Kearns & Inouye, 1997). One way to mitigate wild bee decline …

Association Of Serum Γ-Tocopherol Levels With Mortality: The Multiethnic Cohort Study, Weiwen Chai, Gertraud Maskarinec, Adrian A. Franke, Kristine R. Monroeuniversity Of Southern California, Song-Yi Park, Laurence N. Kolonel, Lynne R. Wilkens, Loïc Le Marchand, Robert V. Cooney

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Background/Objectives—γ-Tocopherol has unique properties that protect against nitrogen oxide-mediated cellular damage. To elucidate the potential role of γ-tocopherol in the aging process, we examined the associations of serum γ-tocopherol levels with all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

Subjects/Methods—Among participants in the biorepository subcohort of the Multiethnic Cohort Study, pre-cancer diagnostic serum γ-tocopherol levels were measured in a subset of 3904 men and 4461 women. Of these, 22.7% of men and 13.5% of women died during a mean follow- up time of 9.6±2.6 years. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs) for mortality associated with γ-tocopherol were estimated by Cox proportional hazards …

Antimicrobial Peptide Identification Using Multi-Scale Convolutional Network, Xin Su, Jing Xu, Yanbin Yin, Xiongwen Quan, Han Zhang

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background: Antibiotic resistance has become an increasingly serious problem in the past decades. As an alternative choice, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have attracted lots of attention. To identify new AMPs, machine learning methods have been commonly used. More recently, some deep learning methods have also been applied to this problem.

Results: In this paper, we designed a deep learning model to identify AMP sequences. We employed the embedding layer and the multi-scale convolutional network in our model. The multi-scale convolutional network, which contains multiple convolutional layers of varying filter lengths, could utilize all latent features captured by the multiple convolutional layers. …

Court Review: The Journal Of The American Judges Association Vol. 55, No. 4

Court Review: Journal of the American Judges Association

Court Review, the quarterly journal of the American Judges Association, invites the submission of unsolicited, original articles, essays, and book reviews. Court Review seeks to provide practical, useful information to the working judges of the United States and Canada. In each issue, we hope to provide information that will be of use to judges in their everyday work, whether in highlighting new procedures or methods of trial, court, or case management, providing substantive information regarding an area of law likely to be encountered by many judges, or by providing background information (such as psychology or other social science research) …

Direct And Indirect Effects Of Temperature And Prey Abundance On Bald Eagle Reproductive Dynamics, Joshua H. Schmidt, Judy Putera, Tammy L. Wilson

United States National Park Service: Publications

Understanding the mechanisms by which populations are regulated is critical for predicting the effects of large-scale perturbations. While discrete mortality events provide clear evidence of direct impacts, indirect pathways are more difficult to assess but may play important roles in population and ecosystem dynamics. Here, we use multi-state occupancy models to analyze a long-term dataset on nesting bald eagles in south-central Alaska with the goal of identifying both direct and indirect mechanisms influencing reproductive output in this apex predator. We found that the probabilities of both nest occupancy and success were higher in the portion of the study area where …

Diary Of A Service Dog (Dropout), Kristen An Horton, Heidi Anne Horton Pittman

Zea E-Books Collection

My name is Granger. I am a Labrador Retriever. I want to be a service dog. It is not always easy. This is my story. (Human's note: The most important take away is that the public, children and adults, need to learn how to not interact with service dogs. As Granger says, “I’m cute. I’m working. Please ignore me.”)

Divergent Phenotypic Response Of Rice Accessions To Transient Heat Stress During Early Seed Development, Puneet Paul, Balpreet K. Dhatt, Jaspreet Sandhu, Waseem Hussain, Larissa Irvin, Gota Morota, Paul E. Staswick, Harkamal Walia

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Increasing global surface temperatures is posing a major food security challenge. Part of the solution to address this problem is to improve crop heat resilience, especially during grain development, along with agronomic decisions such as shift in planting time and increasing crop diversification. Rice is a major food crop consumed by more than 3 billion people. For rice, thermal sensitivity of reproductive development and grain filling is well-documented, while knowledge concerning the impact of heat stress (HS) on early seed development is limited. Here, we aim to study the phenotypic variation in a set of diverse rice accessions for elucidating …

A Model For The Prediction Of Antimicrobial Resistance In Escherichia Coli Based On A Comparative Evaluation Of Fatty Acid Profiles, Randal S. Stahl, Bledar Bisha, Sebabrata Mahapatra, Jeffrey C. Chandler

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Antimicrobial resistance is a threat to agricultural production and public health. In this proof-of-concept study, we investigated predicting antimicrobial sensitive/resistant (S/R) phenotypes and host sources of Escherichia coli (n = 128) based on differential fatty acid abundance. Myristic (14:0), pentadecanoic acid (15:0), palmitic (16:0), elaidic (18:19) and steric acid (18:0) were significantly different (α = 0.05) using a two-way ANOVA for predicting nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, aztreonam, cefatoxime, and ceftazidime S/R phenotypes. Additionally, analyses of palmitoleic (16:1), palmitic acid (16:0), methyl palmitate (i-17:0), and cis-9,10-methyleneoctadecanoic acid (19:0Δ) showed these markers were significantly different (α = 0.05) between isolates obtained from cattle …