Digital Commons Network^™

We're Swarming Again! Swarming, Collectivity, And Trope: The Case Of Extinction Rebellion, Tyler J. Behymer

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis explores the rhetoric of the eco-movement Extinction Rebellion, focusing on the use of swarming and nature tropes to mobilize collective action and revivify contemporary notions of collectivity. Drawing on rhetoric of social movement scholarship, cultural studies, and psychoanalysis, this essay theorizes swarming as a tropological economy that expands the conditions of propriety in the context of collectivity. Through an analysis of Extinction Rebellion’s discourse, this study demonstrates how the naturalization of swarming tropes works in various ways to rewild conventional political discourse, galvanize disruptive collective assembly, and challenge green neoliberalism.

Advisor: Casey Ryan Kelly

Integration Of Matlab And Machine Learning To Accelerate Evaluation Of Biological Activity In Agricultural Soils And Promote Soil Health Improvement Goals, Andrew Stiven Ortiz Balsero

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

Traditionally, assessments of soil biological activity have been confined to laboratory settings, creating a disconnect with practical in-field methods. To bridge this gap, cotton fabric degradation has been used to illustrate soil microbial activity under different management practices. While effective, these demonstrations are subjective and labor-intensive.

Researchers have explored using image processing software like ImageJ and Adobe Photoshop to streamline this process. Although these tools accurately quantified fabric degradation under varying soil conditions, the methods remained labor-intensive and complex. Consequently, these methods were still not ideal for on-farm use by agricultural practitioners.

To further address labor and complexity limitations, the …

The Use Of Fourier-Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy With An Infrared Biotyper To Establish Classifiers For Major Serogroups Of Moraxella Bovis Based On Spectral Profiles, Jordyn Bailey Schommer

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

A classifier tool was created to identify major serogroups of Moraxella bovis based on spectral profiles collected from bacterial cells through the use of Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. M. bovis strains were selected from a group of previously sequenced and genotyped isolates, which provided the pilin sequence type for each isolate. The obtained spectroscopic profiles were analyzed through artificial neural networks to create a classifier tool that could identify the PilA type for unknown strains. Once a sufficient spectral library was obtained, the isolates were split into a training and a validation group, each containing spectra from isolates of five …

Linking Risk Preference, Women’S Empowerment, Farm Investment And Household Well-Being, Samuel Olusesi Olumide

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A nuanced understanding of intra-household dynamics can inform the design of more effective empowerment and agricultural investment policies. By integrating household risk preferences and empowerment dynamics, this work offers valuable insights into the complex mechanisms driving household welfare and provides a framework for future interventions to promote gender equality and economic development in rural settings. This thesis addresses three core hypotheses: first, that the spouses of risk-seeking male heads are more likely to be disempowered compared to those of risk-averse male heads; second, that households with risk-seeking male heads and disempowered spouses are likely to invest more in farming activities; …

Preschool Executive Control And Adolescent Dietary Outcomes: Highlighting The Role Of Context, Marla Lopez

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Research has identified executive control (EC) as an important predictor of dietary outcomes among youth. Executive control in preschool age has been shown to predict important outcomes across development for youth, indicating that good, foundational EC abilities are associated with successful development in later life. Dietary outcomes across adolescence, an important transitional period for establishing healthy eating behaviors, are understudied. Therefore, the current study sought to link two critical developmental periods, examining how preschool EC is associated with dietary trajectories across adolescence. Further, the study aimed to identify how contextual factors, specifically indices of socio-economic status and the home and …

Investigating Associations Between Activity And Performance Traits Across Three Breeds Of Swine Using NuTrack, Dalton R. Obermier

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Feed costs are the largest contributor towards the variable costs of pork production. To decrease feed cost while not sacrificing output requires an improvement in feed efficiency (FE). A potential approach to expand available phenotypes associated with FE is with activity tracking, yet the relationship between activity and performance is not well defined in swine. Therefore, the objective of this study was to quantify associations between activity and feed intake traits. Average daily feed intake (ADFI) was collected on 1,766 purebred boars of three genetic lines (Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshire) using FIRE (Osborne Industries, Inc., Osborne, Kansas) at a testing …

Candida Albicans Farnesol Synthesis And Secretion, Daniel J. Gutzmann

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Candida albicans is a polymorphic fungus and opportunistic commensal found primarily in the gastrointestinal and skin of healthy individuals. Several barriers prevent C. albicans from causing disease including a healthy immune system and microbiome. When these barriers become comprised, C. albicans can transition to a pathogen and disseminate through the intestinal mucosa leading to life-threatening bloodstream and invasive infections with mortality rates of up to 64%. Morphogenic plasticity is key to this transition and impacts virulence, adaptation to different host environments, and evasion of host immune responses. One regulator of morphogenesis is farnesol. Farnesol is a secondary metabolite of …

Praying To Tiktok, Seeking The Self: How Rhetoric Reveals And Conceals The World’S Most Powerful Guru Of The Postindustrial Age, Samantha L. Gillespie-Hoffman

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Imagine a world where the most powerful leader is a wellness guru that runs an elaborate church with millions of followers. The guru is so powerful that everyone believes they can read minds and make ordinary people rich and famous. The guru controls forms of communication, media channels, consumer tastes, and what people eat, drink, say, and even think. What if this guru was not human but actually an algorithm? Does this sound like the plot of a science fiction novel? I argue that this scenario is closer to reality than most will admit. In this project, readers encounter a …

Understanding The Role Of The Microbiome In Infectious Disease, Developing Surveillance Tools, And Engineering Direct Fed Microbials To Improve Animal Health, Alison Clare (Bartenslager) Neujahr

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

With the ever-increasing demand for animal protein and the continual need for the assurance of proper animal welfare, investigations of preventative strategies for diseases is greatly needed. Specifically in the cattle industry, infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis (IBK), commonly known as pinkeye, causes a large economic loss to the producer. However, effective mitigation strategies are lacking. Partly, this is due to the lack of studies investigating the ocular microbiome. Therefore, studies investigating the bovine ocular microbiome are greatly needed to better understand IBK disease etiology. To this end, we investigated the changes in the ocular microbiome in animals before, during and after …

Candida Albicans Farnesol Synthesis And Secretion, Daniel John Gutzmann

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Candida albicans is a polymorphic fungus and opportunistic commensal found primarily in the gastrointestinal and skin of healthy individuals. Several barriers prevent C. albicans from causing disease including a healthy immune system and microbiome. When these barriers become comprised, C. albicans can transition to a pathogen and disseminate through the intestinal mucosa leading to life-threatening bloodstream and invasive infections with mortality rates of up to 64%. Morphogenic plasticity is key to this transition and impacts virulence, adaptation to different host environments, and evasion of host immune responses. One regulator of morphogenesis is farnesol. Farnesol is a secondary metabolite …

Phylogenetic And Biogeographic Patterns Of Devonian Proetid Trilobites, Katherine Jane Jordan

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Ecological disruption events such as mass extinctions can result in the permanent alteration in clades and ecosystems. A pivotal time of change during the history of life on Earth can be seen in the Devonian Period. During this time, major transitions in marine and terrestrial system resulted in a different world at the end of the period in comparison to the beginning. One such group most heavily impacted were trilobites. Trilobites were reduced to one order by the end of the Devonian: Proetida. My dissertation focuses on phylogenetic, biogeographic, and paleocommunity patterns of this group, known as the last of …

Nanoparticle-Based Approaches To Brain Injury And Studies For Improved Detectability Toward Better Delivery Characterization, Hunter A. Miller

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

The clinical translation of nanoparticle (NP) therapeutics for brain injury has been slow despite preclinical promise. The causes of disconnect between preclinical and clinical outcomes is multifactorial, but insufficient delivery is noteworthy. Preclinical delivery characterization often lacks, obscuring mechanisms of failure, slowing development. Multimodal imaging is a promising strategy to improve delivery characterization, combining the strengths of various modalities. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and luminescence imaging are a suitable combination for multimodal imaging, expanding the spatial and temporal resolution of either alone, but further material development is needed to enhance detectability. One problem is the interference of cellular autofluorescence in …

Information About Honey Fraud: Implications Of Information Choice For Consumer Behavior, Christopher R. Gustafson

Cornhusker Economics

The study highlights that standard research practice—exposing participants to information—may not capture what will happen outside of the lab when people have a choice about what to read, view, or do with their time. While we found that having participants read about honey fraud significantly shifted their willingness to pay for local and domestic versus imported honey, we did not find those changes when people were able to select a text to read.

The implications of these findings extend beyond the issue of honey fraud to broader contexts of food safety, nutrition, and production techniques. While people have preferences for …

Integrated Multi-Omics Analysis Of Cerebrospinal Fluid In Postoperative Delirium, Bridget A. Tripp, Simon T. Dillon, Min Yuan, John M. Asara, Sarinnapha M. Vasunilashorn, Tamara G. Fong, Sharon K. Inouye, Long H. Ngo, Edward R. Marcantonio, Zhongcong Xie, Towia A. Libermann, Hasan H. Otu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Preoperative risk biomarkers for delirium may aid in identifying high-risk patients and developing intervention therapies, which would minimize the health and economic burden of postoperative delirium. Previous studies have typically used single omics approaches to identify such biomarkers. Preoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the Healthier Postoperative Recovery study of adults ≥ 63 years old undergoing elective major orthopedic surgery was used in a matched pair delirium case–no delirium control design. We performed metabolomics and lipidomics, which were combined with our previously reported proteomics results on the same samples. Differential expression, clustering, classification, and systems biology analyses were applied to individual …

Revision Of Trachyderines Related To Sphaenothecus From North America With Description Of Three New Genera, And New Species Of Lophalia Casey, 1912, Mannophorus Leconte, 1854, And Ischnocnemis Thomson, 1864 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Trachyderini), Bryan K. Eya

Insecta Mundi

The genera Lophalia Casey, 1912, Mannophorus LeConte, 1854 and Ischnocnemis Thomas, 1864 (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae: Cerambycinae: Trachyderini) are recharacterized by providing additional morphological features to enhance the delineation of these genera. Two species, Lophalia cribricollis Bates, 1892 and Ischnocnemis luteicollis (Bates, 1885), are transferred to a new genus Lophaliamorpha Eya with Lophaliamorpha luteicollis (Bates) new combination as the type species. Ischnocnemis skillmani Chemsak and Hovore, 2010 is transferred to a new genus Paramannophorus Eya with Paramannophorus skillmani (Chemsak and Hovore) new combination as the type species. A new genus Microteroschema is created to accommodate two additional species from Mexico: Microteroschema parvum …

Effect Of Beef Heifer Development Systems Utilizing Corn Residue And Late Summer Planted Cover Crops On Growth, Reproductive Performance, And Economics, Hannah F. Speer, Robert A. Cushman, Harvey Freetly, Jay Parsons, Jessica Windh, M. E. Drewnoski

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to evaluate growth and reproductive performance of heifers developed using 3 different winter systems in the midwestern U.S. Spring-born heifers (n = 1,156; 214 d of age; SD ± 17 d) were used in a 3-yr study to evaluate performance in winter development systems, which utilized cover crop (CC) and corn residue grazing. Heifers were assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: grazing corn residue with 0.77 kg/d dried distillers grains (CD) or 1.69 kg/d wheat midds (CW) supplementation followed by a grower ration in the drylot, or grazing late summer planted oat-brassica CC followed …

Annual Forage Insurance Program Performance, Jay Parsons

Cornhusker Economics

In 2014, the Annual Forage Insurance Program (AFIP) was offered for the first time by the USDA – Risk Management Agency (RMA) as a pilot program for the states of Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. It was expanded to include Colorado in 2016 and New Mexico in 2017. This year marks the 10-year anniversary of the program, and the goal of this article is to provide a summary of where the program is and how it is being used. We will focus specific attention on Nebraska but also provide an overview of the national picture.

The …

Records Of The Red-Bellied Snake (Storeria Occipitomaculata) In Central And Northeastern Nebraska, Taylor Lowe, Sarah M. Bailey, Dan D. Fogell, Keith Geluso

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

Red-bellied Snakes (Storeria occipitomaculata) are a distinctive, small species that live in moist woodlands throughout much of eastern North America. In the Great Plains, isolated populations exist in South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nebraska. In Nebraska, the only known extant population occurs in wooded riparian habitats along the Big Bend Reach of the Platte River in southcentral parts of the state. Herein, we report on new county records of Red-bellied Snakes in Nebraska, with two observations from Merrick County along the Platte River adjacent to known populations and two observations of a new population in the extreme northeastern part …

Development And Evaluation Of An Expedited System For Creation Of Single Walled Carbon Nanotube Platforms, Ivon Acosta Ramirez, Omer Sadak, Wali Sohail, Xi Huang, Yongfeng Lu, Nicole M. Iverson

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT) have a strong and stable near-infrared (nIR) fluorescence that can be used to selectively detect target analytes, even at the single molecule level, through changes in either their fluorescence intensity or emission peak wavelength. SWNTs have been employed as NIR optical sensors for detecting a variety of analytes. However, high costs, long fabrication times, and poor distributions limit the current methods for immobilizing SWNT sensors on solid substrates. Recently, our group reported a protocol for SWNT immobilization with high fluorescence yield, longevity, fluorescence distribution, and sensor response, unfortunately this process takes 5 days to complete. Herein …

Assessment Of Genetic Diversity And Population Structure Of U.S. Polypay Sheep From Breed Origins To Future Genomic Selection, Carrie S. Wilson, Jessica Lynn Petersen, Luiz F. Brito, Brad A. Freking, Sara M. Nilson, J. Bret Taylor, Thomas W. Murphy, Ronald M. Lewis

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Knowledge of past and present genetic diversity within a breed is critical for the design and optimization of breeding programs as well as the development of strategies for the conservation of genetic resources. The Polypay sheep breed was developed at the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station (USSES) in 1968 with the goal of improving productivity in Western U.S. range flocks. It has since flourished in the more intensively managed production systems throughout the U.S. The genetic diversity of the breed has yet to be documented. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the genetic …

Segundo Congreso Internacional De Iconografía Precolombina, 2023. Actas, Victòria Solanilla Demestre

Zea E-Books Collection

El objetivo de este II Congreso fue, como en el anterior, abrir un espacio de reflexión propositiva y multidisciplinaria para que, a partir de análisis de objetos plásticos u otras manifestaciones concretas, así como de documentos escritos, se pudiera replantear la importancia de la imagen y de la interpretación iconográfica como fuente de conocimiento de las culturas precolombinas. Es el momento de seguir aceptando nuevos enfoques pluridisciplinares o si se quiere más “humanísticos” que nos den una visión lo más completa posible, a través de la iconografía, del pasado precolombino tan rico en imágenes y símbolos.

Contribuciones de Luz Adriana …

Optimized Gadolinium-Do3a Loading In Raftpolymerized Copolymers For Superior Mr Imaging Of Aging Blood–Brain Barrier, Hunter A. Miller, Aaron Priester, Evan T. Curtis, Krista Hilmas, Ashleigh Abbott, Forrest Kievit, Anthony J. Covertine

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The development of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) has been pivotal in advancing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), offering enhanced soft tissue contrast without ionizing radiation exposure. Despite their widespread clinical use, the need for improved GBCAs has led to innovations in ligand chemistry and polymer science. We report a novel approach using methacrylate-functionalized DO3A ligands to synthesize a series of copolymers through direct reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization. This technique enables precise control over the gadolinium content within the polymers, circumventing the need for subsequent conjugation and purification steps, and facilitates the addition of other components such as targeting ligands. …

Lymphoid Tissues Contribute To Plasma Viral Clonotypes Early After Antiretroviral Therapy Interruption In Siv-Infected Rhesus Macaques, Antonio Solis-Leal, Nongthombam Boby, Suvadip Mallick, Yilun Cheng, Fei Wu, Grey De La Torre, Jason Dufour, Xavier Alvarez, Vinay Shivanna, Yaozhong Liu, Christine M. Fennessey, Jeffrey D. Lifson, Qingsheng Li, Brandon F. Keele, Binhua Ling

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The rebound-competent viral reservoir, composed of a virus that is able to persist during antiretroviral therapy (ART) and mediate reactivation of systemic viral replication and rebound viremia after ART interruption (ATI), remains the biggest obstacle to treating HIV infection. A better understanding of the cellular and tissue origins and the dynamics of viral populations that initiate rebound upon ATI could help develop therapeutic strategies for reducing the rebound-competent viral reservoir. In this study, barcoded simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), SIVmac239M, was used to infect rhesus macaques to enable monitoring of viral barcode clonotypes contributing to virus detectable in plasma after ATI. …

Evaluation Of The Capacity And Effective Angle Of Thalamic Damage For 2 Commercially Available Captive Bolt Tool Types On Cadaver Heads From Sows >200 Kg Body Weight, Karly N. Anderson, Ruth Woiwode, Ashlynn A. Kirk, Jennifer Berger, Arquimides A. Reyes, Perle E. Zhitnitskiy, Kurt D. Vogel

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

This study evaluated the ability of 2 penetrating captive bolt (PCB) types (PISTOL, INLINE) to reach and disrupt the thalamus when applied in 2 placements (FRONTAL, BEHIND EAR) to chilled cadaver heads (N = 60) from sows >200 kg. Heads were randomly distributed across 6 treatments (n = 10): FRONTAL-INLINE, FRONTAL-PISTOL, FRONTAL-NO SHOT, BEHIND EAR-INLINE, BEHIND EAR-PISTOL, and BEHIND EAR-NO SHOT. The FRONTAL shot was placed 3.5 cm superior to the optic orbits at the midline; the BEHIND EAR shot was placed directly caudal to the pinna of the ear on the same plane as the eyes and targeting the …

Female Foragers Sometimes Hunt, Yet Gendered Divisions Of Labor Are Real: A Comment On Anderson Et Al. (2023), The Myth Of Man The Hunter, Vivek V. Venkataraman, Jordie Hoffman, Kyle Farquharson, Helen Elizabeth Davis, Edward H. Hagen, Raymond B. Hames, Barry S. Hewlett, Luke Glowacki, Haneul Jang, Robert Kelly, Karen Kramer, Sheina Lew-Levy, Katie Starkweather, Kristen Syme, Duncan N. E. Stibbard-Hawkes

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

Gendered divisions of labor are a feature of every known contemporary hunter-gatherer (forager) society. While gender roles are certainly flexible, and prominent and well-studied cases of female hunting do exist, it is more often men who hunt. A new study (Anderson et al., 2023) surveyed ethnographically known foragers and found that women hunt in 79% of foraging societies, with big-game hunting occurring in 33%. Based on this single type of labor, which is one among dozens performed in foraging societies, the authors question the existence of gendered division of labor altogether. As a diverse group of hunter-gatherer experts, we find …

Water Current, Volume 56, No. 2, Summer 2024

Water Current Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Biostratigraphic Revision Of Esthonyx (Tillidontia, Mammalia) In The Contect Of Climate Change In The Lower Eocene Of The Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, John Colter Johnson

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Esthonyx is an early Eocene tillodont found in North America, Europe, and India. The genus was named by Edward Drinker (E. D.) Cope in 1874 based on specimens from the San Jose Formation in New Mexico. Since then, several species of Esthonyx have been described from North America alone. The best record of Esthonyx comes from the central Bighorn Basin (BHB) in Wyoming, where it appears in 220 localities in a 640 m-thick stratigraphic succession. Since the last summary of Esthonyx in the BHB, several hundred new specimens have been collected and curated at the Denver Museum of Nature and …

Development Of A Rule-Based Monitoring System For Autonomous Heavy Equipment Safety, Amirpooya Shirazi

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Roadway construction work zones are constantly exposed to interactions among construction equipment, workers, and vehicles. Furthermore, ensuring safety in these areas is considered a challenging task due to the complexity of the environment. As shown in the rising trend of fatal accidents in roadway work zones, current OSHA regulations in construction safety are insufficient in effectively detecting unsafe situations and mitigating the risks. Furthermore, best practices, such as internal traffic control planning (ITCP), exhibit critical limitations requiring continuous monitoring of active work zones as well as adjustments to the site coordination plans due to the dynamic nature of work zone …

Utilization Of Probiotics To Compete With Clostridioides Difficile For Nutrient-Niches In A Variety Of In Vitro Contexts, April Elizabeth Johnson

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Clostridium difficile is a major threat to public health and primarily affects at risk groups such as elderly, immunocompromised individuals, and individuals on antibiotics. Many decades of research have been conducted to figure out ways to exclude or reduce C. difficile colonization and toxin production. Two major proposed mechanisms for colonization resistance are production of secondary bile salts and competition for nutrients.

In Chapter 2, we found that antibiotic treatment disrupted bile salt metabolism increasing the levels of the primary bile salt cholate and decreasing the levels of deoxycholate, a secondary bile salt. However, bile salts were not required …

Identifying The Relative Abundance Of Cell-Cell Signaling Peptides During Mammalian Hibernation And Anesthetic Administration By Label-Free Peptidomics Analysis, Somayeh Mousavi

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Cell-cell signaling molecules known as neuropeptide and peptide hormones, distributed in both the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), regulate a variety of physiological processes including body temperature, feeding, circadian rhythm, reproduction, energy homeostasis, and more. While a number of active neuropeptides structures with physiological functions have been discovered, advances in peptidomic mass spectrometry are enabling researchers to uncover novel, previously unknown, active neuropeptide structures with potential for bioactivities. Using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), it is possible to identify a wide range of neuropeptides in single experiments without preselecting specific peptides. Mass …