Digital Commons Network^™

International Women Graduate Students: Transition To Public Research Universities In The Midwest, Tran Thanh Truc Nguyen

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This phenomenological qualitative study explored the experiences of international women graduate students (IWGSs) in transitioning to public research universities in the Midwest. The study utilized Schlossberg’s transition theory (Anderson et al., 2012) to gain insights into the perceptions of six participants during their college transition process. Based on the analysis of data collected through in-depth phenomenological interviews with each participant, three themes emerged that described the challenges faced by the participants during their transition. These themes were: solitary voyage, a dilemma of self-reliance and reliance, and a vicious cycle of limited time and financial constraints. Through the three themes, the …

Adding Parasite Resistance To A Hair Sheep Breeding Objective, Robert M. Forbes

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The United States Hair Sheep Index was designed to increase total weight of lamb weaned per ewe lambing (TW) using estimated breeding values (EBV) for direct (DWWT) and maternal (MWWT) weaning weight, and number of lambs born (NLB) and weaned (NLW), as selection criteria. Producers are interested in adding post-weaning fecal egg count EBV (PFEC), an indicator of parasite resistance, to the index to achieve genetic change in both TW and PFEC.

First, the effects of adding PFEC alongside TW to the breeding objective of indexes that used either phenotypes or EBV as selection criteria were studied. Since MWWT …

The Future Of The Organization Of The Petroleum Exporting Countries, Mikayla Gross

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a multinational and intergovernmental organization that dictates the petroleum exportation policies of 13 countries: Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, the Republic of the Congo, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela (About Us, 2023). The mission of OPEC is to ensure a stable supply of petroleum through its shared policies for its Member Countries and consumers (Our Mission, 2023). Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela founded OPEC in 1960 under the foundations and principles that dictated the international world order. Those foundations and principles …

Lululemon Strategic Audit, Tessa Mozingo, Olivia Eno, Molly Mitchell, Connor Morrissey, James Eshleman

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This case study focuses on lululemon, a prominent athleisure apparel company. Our team conducted an audit of the company revolving around strategic business management principles. Our research used publicly available information that included the company’s website, SEC filings, news articles, lululemon’s annual reports, financial statements, IBIS industry reports, and online sources. The goal of this strategic audit is to develop an understanding of lululemon’s business activities and strategies, collect and analyze both internal and external data, and evaluate lululemon based on strategic management concepts.

In this strategic audit, we conduct internal, external, performance, and competitive analyses and an examination of …

Implementation And Effectiveness Of Stress Management Strategies Among Stem Students At The University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Dylan Hiser

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

High-stakes exams often induce significant stress among STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) students, impacting their academic performance and overall well-being. As the opportunity for careers in STEM grows rapidly, understanding the stressors that students face remains critical in mitigating the effects of this stress and ensuring the success of these students. The objective of this study is to determine how well STEM students respond to recommended interventions that mitigate exam stress and to identify trends in these students’ exam scores. To accomplish this, a set of surveys was sent to undergraduate STEM students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The …

A Strategic Audit Of Instacart, Taylor Durbin

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Instacart is an online grocery delivery and pick-up service that allows users to order groceries and other household items from local and large stores and retailers through its website or mobile app. Apoorva Mehta founded Instacart in 2012 with the intent to help people conveniently access the food they enjoy, and the service now reaches over 14,000 cities across the United States and Canada. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the company as its rise to becoming a prominent player in the online grocery delivery industry has skyrocketed demand for the service and presented numerous operational challenges for the …

Final Design Of Legion Hall Revitalization In Potter, Nebraska, Madison Brennfoerder

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This project was conducted to renovate and revitalize the Legion Hall community center in the Village of Potter located in western Nebraska north of the Interstate. The work completed for this project can be separated into five disciplines: Hydrologic & Hydraulic Design, Geotechnical Analysis, Structural Analysis, Environmental Analysis, and Transportation Design. Legion Hall is a historical building within The Village of Potter which was built in 1917. The Village of Potter has recently acquired the rights to the hall and is seeking to revitalize the historical community center to increase tourism in the village.

Target Strategic Audit, Ashley Mcrae

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Target is a prominent American retail chain known for its wide array of affordable yet stylish products. The company has built a strong reputation over several decades for its commitment to offering exclusive brands and unique shopping experiences to its diverse customer base. This strategic audit specifically focuses on the dynamic mass-market retail industry and analyzes Target’s ability to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage in an evolving industry. This report will specifically focus on an overview of the company and its operations, analysis of the competitive advantage Target possesses, and an examination of the strategy Target utilizes. Tools, like Porter’s …

The Stigma Of Deaf: Managing A Stigmatized Identity And Well-Being, Renca Dunn

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

The Deaf identity encompasses cultural, linguistic, and social dimensions that significantly influence the lives of Deaf individuals. The World Health Organization predicts that by 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people worldwide will be living with some degree of hearing loss (2021). While there may be a growing number of people who have some type of hearing loss, there is a distinct group who identify their hearing loss as part of a culture and community. The Deaf community has a rich history, culture, language, and linguistic heritage. The development of the Deaf identity is influenced by factors such as family, education, and …

Detection Of Deficiencies And Data Analysis Of Bridge Members With Deep Convolutional Neural Networks, Bennett Jackson

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Concrete cracks and structural steel corrosion are two of the most common defects in bridges. Quantifying and classifying these defects provide bridge inspectors and engineers with valuable data for assessing deterioration levels. However, the bridge inspection process is typically a subjective, time intensive, and tedious task, as defects can be overlooked or in locations not easily accessible. Previous studies have investigated deep learning-based inspection methods, implementing popular models such as Mask R-CNN and U-Net. The architectures of these models offer certain advantages depending on the required task. This thesis aims to evaluate and compare Mask R-CNN and U-Net regarding their …

Breakaway Luminaire Pole Research, Jacob Conway

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This document reports the efforts conducted to determine critical parameters and configurations for Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware 2016 (MASH) Test Level 3 (TL-3) compliant breakaway luminaire poles supported by slip bases, including identifying pole configurations with the potential to meet MASH TL-3 as well as recommending critical configurations for full-scale crash testing. A thorough literature review was conducted which included survey results collected from Midwest Pooled Fund state departments of transportation (DOTs), standard plans from state DOT’s, and past luminaire pole testing.

Numerical LS-DYNA models were developed for luminaire poles with 4-bolt slip base utilized by the Utah Department …

The Effects Of Partisanship On Legislative Support For Environmental Policies In The United States, Rachel Summers

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This study investigates the relationship between political partisanship and support for environmental policies at the state level in the United States from the years 2017-2022. To do this, the study focused on two policy areas, water and land, for the average proposed, enacted, and failed bills for all 50 states in the timeframe, with the states categorized as Democratic, swing, or Republican based on the 2016 and 2020 elections. While the study did find that Democratic states were more likely to introduce environmental bills than Republican states, the study also found that there was no statistical difference in the enactment …

Grading Climate Action Plans In The Midwest, Megan Baker

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

As agreed upon by international climate scientists, decarbonization in the American Midwest is critical to keeping the planet below the 1.5C increase in global temperature from pre-industrial levels. However, most previous research that evaluates climate action plans (CAPs) to find their weaknesses and provide policy recommendations neglects this crucial region of the United States. To fill this gap, this paper replicates Deetjen et al.’s (2018) review of CAPs in 29 US cities by applying their CAP rubric to 11 Midwestern cities. The results of both quantitative analysis were used to analyze the differences in plans in the Midwest versus the …

The Kruger Collection Reimagined: A Case Study In 3d Scanning And Interactive Exhibit Design, Annissa Davis

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

This thesis examines the use of 3D modeling in museum exhibition to create exploratory exhibits that facilitate unique relationships between the visitors and the collection beyond what is provided by the collection’s in person counterparts. Typical use of 3D modeling in museums is currently often representative rather than exploratory. By employing a Digital Humanities lens to approach the development of a digital exhibition utilizing 3D technology and interactive elements created in a video game engine (Unity), this thesis project evaluates these potential new relationships. Using the Eloise Kruger Collection of Miniatures as a case study, the following text details the …

A Manual On The Planning And Integration Of Archaeological Methods In To Outdoor Forensic Search Investigations, Jonathan Robert Garcia

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

As archaeology and its applications into forensic contexts develop into the growing discipline of forensic archaeology, an increasing amount of literature has resulted stemming from research on the integration of common archaeological methods. However, much of this literature is intended for professional archaeologists or forensic anthropologists who are well experienced in their respective disciplines. Emerging literature generally does not consider those who leads efforts at forensic scenes in the outdoors such as law enforcement officers who often lack a background in archaeology or forensic anthropology. This thesis seeks to resolve this dilemma by creating a new and accessible manual. The …

Improving Visual Inspection Skills In Special Education Teachers, George G. Toman

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

The Conservative Dual Criteria (CDC) method is known to improve decision-making accuracy in users when interpreting graphed data. The effectiveness of this method with in-service special education teachers, however, has not been investigated. The present study examined the effects of a virtual training package designed to improve the data-based decision-making skills of in-service special education teachers. Specifically, the virtual training consisted of a training video on the CDC method, access to a decision-making guide, and a brief training assessment. Five in-service special education teachers received training in the CDC method via the online learning management system, Canvas. A multiple baseline …

Talking About Writing: Scenes Of Writing Workshops In History And Practice, Erika Luckert

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

This dissertation envisions the writing workshop as a space where we do essential political and social work—where we can reimagine writing, and the teaching of writing, in more interdependent and inclusive ways. This research responds to the work of BIPOC writers and scholars who have urged those of us in Writing Studies to address the homogeneity of the workshop’s history, and to revise its exclusionary logics. Drawing on interviews and observations of teachers in undergraduate creative writing and composition classrooms across the United States, the author examines what actually happens when students talk together about their in-progress writing. This dissertation …

Cultivating Academic Achievement: An Updated Social Psychological Explanation, Maika Malualelagi Tuala

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

This study looks at how income differences affect children's social psychological development, which in turn shapes their academic achievement. Building on theories of social class, cultural capital, and self-concept formation, this dissertation offers a new social psychological model that connects parental SES, concerted cultivation, children's academic mindset and achievement. This new concept called “academic mindset” includes several key social-psychological factors that influence academic performance namely- self-esteem, locus of control, math and reading self-concepts, and educational expectations and values. The study uses data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-1998 Kindergarten cohort and tests the model using multivariate regression analyses. Findings show …

Sun, Thunder, Daugava: Accessible Choral Music From The Latvian Choral Tradition, Paul M. Von Kampen

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

I have been fortunate enough to visit Latvia twice, once in 2009 and again in 2023. With connections made through the global outreach arm of the Lutheran Church Missouri–Synod, I was able to incorporate myself into Latvian culture in ways that may not have been possible had I been a standard tourist. I am grateful to have been invited into the homes of Latvian friends, to have studied in the Jāzeps Vītols Music Academy Library, and to have celebrated both the Jāņi midsummer festival in the Latvian countryside and my twenty-second birthday on the shores of the mighty Daugava River. …

Preparing The Next Generation Of Music Teachers: Illuminating Motivations Of Nebraska Preservice Teacher Mentors, Emily Marie Chapman

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

This mixed methods study examined factors influencing practicing educators' decisions to mentor preservice teachers in Nebraska. Guided by Expectancy-Value-Cost Theory, the study utilized a sequential explanatory design, integrating a quantitative survey design and qualitative phenomenological interview. Findings indicated that educators' belief in their mentoring ability or Expectancy-Ability Belief (EAB) significantly predicted their willingness to mentor, with PK-12 music educators exhibiting higher EAB scores than elementary or high school music educators. Qualitative insights highlighted reciprocal benefits of mentoring, such as skill development and professional growth. The impact of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency on mentoring experiences varied among participants. Recommendations included …

Are Researchers Citing Their Data? A Case Study From The U.S. Geological Survey, Grace C. Donovan, Madison L. Langseth

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Data citation promotes accessibility and discoverability of data through measures carried out by researchers, publishers, repositories, and the scientific community. This paper examines how a data citation workflow has been implemented by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) by evaluating publication and data linkages. Two different methods were used to identify data citations: examining publication structural metadata and examining the full text of the publication. A growing number of USGS researchers are complying with publisher data sharing policies aimed to capture data citation information in a standardized way within associated publications. However, inconsistencies in how data citation information is documented …

An Examination Of The Eastern Nebraska And Western Iowa Flash Flood Event Of 6-7 August 1999, Catherine M. Zapotocny

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration: Technical Reports and Related Materials

Flash flooding occurs each summer in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. While 10-inch rains are extraordinary, it is not uncommon to have at least one excessive rain event during the annual convective season. A significant flash flood occurred in east central Nebraska and western Iowa the night of August 6, 1999 into the morning of August 7, 1999. Antecedent hydrologic conditions limited the loss of life, however considerable property damage resulted as the heavy rain fell over the urbanized areas in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

Several flash flood ingredients came together over the area. These meteorological factors are typical …

An Autosomal Recessive Variant In Pygm Causes Myophosphorylase Deficiency In Red Angus Composite Cattle, Mackenzie Batt, Leila G. Venzor, Keri Gardner, Rachel R. Reith, Kelsey A. Roberts, Nicolas J. Herrera, Anna M. Fuller, Gary Sullivan, J. Travis Mulliniks, Matthew L. Spangler, Stephanie J. Valberg, David J. Steffen, Jessica Lynn Petersen

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Background Between 2020 and 2022, eight calves in a Nebraska herd (composite Simmental, Red Angus, Gelbvieh) displayed exercise intolerance during forced activity. In some cases, the calves collapsed and did not recover. Available sire pedigrees contained a paternal ancestor within 2–4 generations in all affected calves. Pedigrees of the calves’ dams were unavailable, however, the cows were ranch-raised and retained from prior breeding seasons, where bulls used for breeding occasionally had a common ancestor. Therefore, it was hypothesized that a de novo autosomal recessive variant was causative of exercise intolerance in these calves.

Results A genome-wide association analysis utilizing SNP …

Linking Reactive Nitrogen Species Within The Vadose Zone With Surface Irrigation, Kaitlyn Richards

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This study investigated the relationship between irrigation methods and the mobilization of nitrogen in the vadose zone, focusing on soil properties, water dynamics, and nitrogen species distribution. Data collected from dryland and pivot-irrigated soil cores reveal distinct patterns in water content, bulk density, soil texture, pH, conductivity, and nitrogen concentrations. Results indicated that water content has a major influence in nitrogen availability and microbial activity. Nitrate-N and ammonium-N concentrations varied between dryland and pivot soils, with notable disparities observed. In dryland soils, nitrate-N concentrations varied widely across depth intervals, with notable accumulation in deeper layers, while ammonium-N concentrations exhibited a …

Invent2prevent (I2p) Program Evaluation: Process & Preliminary Outcomes Evaluation Report, Denise Bulling, Stacey Hoffman, Kurt T. Mantonya, Aiden Quinn

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The “Invent2Prevent” (I2P) program is a student led competition to design, implement, and test innovative peer-to-peer initiatives focused on prevention of terrorism, targeted violence or hate. The collegiate competition was the focus of a program evaluation funded by the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate and carried out by the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center, an affiliate of the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE), a US Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence housed at the University of Nebraska Omaha. This report provides results of the first phase of the evaluation, documenting preliminary student …

Road To A Chemistry-Specific Data Management Plan, Daniela Adele Hausen, Ann-Christin Andres, Jochen Ortmeyer, Sonja Herres-Pawlis

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

In order to develop a discipline-specific data management plan (DMP) template, it is important to obtain information from researchers. For a chemistry-specific template, NFDI4Chem conducted a series of interviews with 27 participants and used data from the RDA WG Discipline-specific Guidance for DMP online survey.

The interviews showed that the implementation of research data management in everyday work is a big challenge. Key findings from the interview series highlight challenges in implementing FAIR principles, with a focus on “Findability” and “Reusability.” The importance of linking physical samples and data in chemistry is emphasised, with discussions on storage, archiving, and the …

Injectable And Rapidly Expandable Thrombin-Decorated Cryogels Achieve Rapid Hemostasis And High Survival Rates In A Swine Model Of Lethal Junctional Hemorrhage, Syed Muntazir Andrabi, S.M. Shatil Shahriar, Al-Murtadha Al-Gahmi, Benjamin L. Wilczewski, Mark A. Carlson, Jingwei Xie

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Effective therapies are urgently needed to stabilize patients with marginally compressible junctional hemorrhage long enough to get them to the hospital alive. Herein, we report injectable and rapidly expandable cryogels consisting of polyacrylamide and thrombin (AT cryogels) created by cryo-polymerization for the efficient management of lethal junctional hemorrhage in swine. The produced cryogels have small pore sizes and highly interconnected porous architecture with robust mechanical strength. The cryogels exhibit rapid shape memory properties and prove to be resilient against fatigue. These cryogels also show high water/blood absorption capacity, fast blood clotting effect, and enhanced adhesion of red blood cells and …

Data-Driven Evidence-Based Syntactic Sugar Design, David Obrien, Robert Dyer, Tien N. Nguyen, Hridesh Rajan

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Programming languages are essential tools for developers, and their evolution plays a crucial role in supporting the activities of developers. One instance of programming language evolution is the introduction of syntactic sugars, which are additional syntax elements that provide alternative, more readable code constructs. However, the process of designing and evolving a programming language has traditionally been guided by anecdotal experiences and intuition. Recent advances in tools and methodologies for mining open-source repositories have enabled developers to make datadriven software engineering decisions. In light of this, this paper proposes an approach for motivating data-driven programming evolution by applying frequent subgraph …

Accurate Measurement Of Field Size Is Essential For Analysis Of Smallholder Survey Data, Rica Joy Flor, Shen Yuan, Gonzalo Rizzo, Fahmuddin Agus, Anny Ruth P. Pame, Akhara Ouk, Rathmuny Then, Sokheng Keo, Virender Kumar, Particio Grassini

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Context: Agronomic surveys play a vital role in identifying on-farm yield constraints and opportunities to increase productivity, input-use efficiency, and farmer profit. These surveys typically rely on farmer-reported data, where crop yield and applied inputs per hectare are estimated based on farmer-reported total harvested output and applied inputs per field and associated field size. At question is how accurate field size is, which is vital in the case of smallholders as small inaccuracies can lead to large biases in estimated yield and inputs.

Objectives: The goals of this study are to assess current approaches to determine field size …

Phenotypic Diversity For Morpho-Agronomic Traits In The Us Proso Millet (Panicum Miliaceum L.) Core Collection, Santosh G. Rajput, Rituraj Khound, Dipak K. Santra

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is a short-season annual crop known for high water-use efficiency and drought tolerance. The low water requirement makes this ancient grain an excellent rotational crop for the winter wheat-based dryland cropping system in theHigh Plains of theUnited States. The genetic base of the commonly grown US cultivars is very narrow. Assessment of proso millet germplasm for agronomic traits is essential for its efficient utilization in the genetic improvement of this crop. The objectives of this study were to (1) characterize the US proso millet germplasm based on nine important morpho-agronomic traits and (2) classify …