Digital Commons Network^™

Putrescine Detected In Strains Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Javier Seravalli, Frank Portugal

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Most forms of life, including the archaea, bacteria, and eukaryotes synthesize the polyamine putrescine. Although putrescine is widely distributed, several Gram-positive bacteria, including Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), appear to be the exceptions. We report here that strains of S. aureus can produce the polyamine putrescine, as well as the derivative N-acetyl-putrescine. Three strains of S. aureus from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), one strain listed in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) database, whose genomic sequence is well defined, and well as eight strains from S. aureus-induced brain abscesses of individual patients from multiple …

Wildlife Ecological Risk Assessment In The 21st Century: Promising Technologies To Assess Toxicological Effects, Barnett A. Rattner, Thomas G. Bean, Val R. Beasley, Philippe Berny, Karen M. Eisenreich, John E. Elliott, Margaret L. Eng, Phyllis C. Fuchsman, Mason D. King, Rafael Mateo, Carolyn B. Meyer, Jason M. O'Brien, Christopher J. Salice

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Despite advances in toxicity testing and the development of new approach methodologies (NAMs) for hazard assessment, the ecological risk assessment (ERA) framework for terrestrial wildlife (i.e., air‐breathing amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) has remained unchanged for decades. While survival, growth, and reproductive endpoints derived from whole-animal toxicity tests are central to hazard assessment, nonstandard measures of biological effects at multiple levels of biological organization (e.g., molecular, cellular, tissue, organ, organism, population, community, ecosystem) have the potential to enhance the relevance of prospective and retrospective wildlife ERAs. Other factors (e.g., indirect effects of contaminants on food supplies and infectious disease processes) …

Biological Case Against Downlisting The Whooping Crane And For Improving Implementation Under The Endangered Species Act, Andrew J. Caven, Hillary L. Thompson, David M. Baasch, Barry K. Hartup, Amanda M. Hegg, Stephanie M. Schmidt, Irvin Louque, Craig R. Allen, Carter G. Crouch, Craig A. Davis, Joel G. Jorgensen, Jane E. Austin, Bethany L. Ostrom, Richard D. Beilfuss, George W. Archibald, Anne E. Lacy

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The Whooping Crane (Grus americana; WHCR) is a large, long-lived bird endemic to North America. The remnant population migrates between Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, USA, and Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada (AWBP), and has recovered from a nadir of 15-16 birds in 1941 to ~540 birds in 2022. Two ongoing reintroduction efforts in Louisiana and the Eastern Flyway together total ~150 birds. Evidence indicates the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) is strongly considering downlisting the species from an endangered to a threatened status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). We examined the current status of the WHCR through the …

Westward Expansion Of The Evening Bat (Nycticeius Humeralis) Into Dawson And Lincoln Counties Of Central Nebraska, Jamila Bajelan, Keith Geluso

Transactions of the Nebraska Academy of Sciences and Affiliated Societies

The Evening Bat (Nycticeius humeralis) is a small, migratory species of temperate woodlands in the eastern United States. Along its western distributional edge in the Great Plains, this species resides in wooded riverine corridors. In recent decades, the distribution of Evening Bats has expanded westward throughout the Great Plains. Herein, we report on two county records that further document the distributional expansion of Evening Bats into central Nebraska. In 2019 and 2022, Evening Bats were collected in Lincoln and Dawson counties, respectively, in woodlands adjacent to the Platte River. Increases in wooded habitats along prairie waterways likely has …

Students’ Knowledge Of And Attitudes Toward Dairy Production: A Survey Methodology Report, Heather Akin, Babatope Akinyemi, Julia Mcquillan, Tami Brown-Brandl

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

This report presents findings from a pilot survey conducted among undergraduate and graduate students (N = 410) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln about students’ perspectives on technology usage, consumption, and sustainability in dairy production systems. An interdisciplinary research team developed the survey instrument and report. The main purpose of this pilot study was to create and administer survey items to support further research on experiential education and outreach opportunities related to robotics in small-scale dairy production and rural economic development. Descriptive findings indicated that most students had some familiarity with dairy production and the nutritional aspects of dairy products …

Type Iv Pilus-Mediated Inhibition Of Acinetobacter Baumannii Biofilm Formation By Phenothiazine Compounds, Nam Vo, Benjamin S. Sidner, Yafan Yu, Kurt H. Piepenbrink

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Infections by pathogenic Acinetobacter species represent a significant burden on the health care system, despite their relative rarity, due to the difficulty of treating infections through oral antibiotics. Multidrug resistance is commonly observed in clinical Acinetobacter infections and multiple molecular mechanisms have been identified for this resistance, including multidrug efflux pumps, carbapenemase enzymes, and the formation of bacterial biofilm in persistent infections. Phenothiazine compounds have been identified as a potential inhibitor of type IV pilus production in multiple Gram-negative bacterial species. Here, we report the ability of two phenothiazines to inhibit type IV pilus-dependent surface (twitching) motility and biofilm formation …

A Flexible Ot Testbed For Evaluating On-Device Implementations Of Iec-61850 Goose, Matthew Boeding, Michael Hempel, Hamid Sharif, Juan Lopez Jr., Kalyan Perumalla

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

The growing convergence of Information Technology and Operational Technology has enhanced communication and visibility across power grids. This, coupled with the growing use of Distributed Energy Resources in power grids, has enhanced the grid capabilities while also creating a larger attack surface for malicious actors. A common protocol vulnerable to these attacks is the IEC-61850 GOOSE protocol due to its low-latency requirements, multicast packet delivery method, and lack of encryption. In this paper, we evaluate the security implications of different hardware implementations of this protocol by contrasting device response and recovery of two commercial off-the-shelf Intelligent Electronic Devices from separate …

Defining Open Scholarly Infrastructure: A Review Of Relevant Literature, Saman Goudarzi, Richard Dunks

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

This report outlines IOI’s initial attempt towards a framework for understanding open infrastructure for research and scholarship. For this report, we examined a body of literature that includes works across the fields of anthropology, scholarly communications, international development studies, science and technology studies, and infrastructure studies. ....

This review also makes clear that the distinguishing feature between open infrastructure and its commercially-run and -operated counterparts is the fact that its value lies not just in its ability to support productive functions but how it fosters positive and desirable social practices and values. It is insufficient to simply assert certain values …

Agris: Wind-Adaptive Wideband Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces For Resilient Wireless Agricultural Networks At Millimeter-Wave Spectrum, Shuai Nie, M. C. Vuran

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Wireless networks in agricultural environments are unique in many ways. Recent measurements reveal that the dynamics of crop growth impact wireless propagation channels with a long-term seasonal pattern. Additionally, short-term environmental factors, such as strong wind, result in variations in channel statistics. Next-generation agricultural fields, populated by autonomous tractors, drones, and high-throughput sensing systems, require high-throughput connectivity infrastructure, resulting in the future deployment of high-frequency networks, where they have not been deployed before. More specifically, when millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication systems, a viable candidate for 5G and 6G high-throughput solutions, are deployed for higher throughput, these issues become more prominent due …

Restoration Of Normal Blood Flow In Atherosclerotic Arteries Promotes Plaque Stabilization, Morgan A. Schake, Ian Mccue, Evan T. Curtis, Thomas J. Ripperda Jr., Samuel Harvey, Bryan T. Hackfort, Anna Fitzwater, Yiannis S. Chatzizisis, Forrest Kievit, Ryan M. Pedrigi

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Blood flow is a key regulator of atherosclerosis. Disturbed blood flow promotes atherosclerotic plaque development, whereas normal blood flow protects against plaque development. We hypothesized that normal blood flow is also therapeutic, if it were able to be restored within atherosclerotic arteries. Apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE^-/-) mice were initially instrumented with a blood flow-modifying cuff to induce plaque development and then five weeks later the cuffwas removed to allowrestoration of normal blood flow. Plaques in decuffed mice exhibited compositional changes that indicated increased stability compared to plaques in mice with the cuff maintained. The therapeutic benefit of decuffingwas comparable …

Mental Health Applications As A Resource For Reducing Access Disparities? A Case Example From A Disaster Mental Health App, Laura Perez-Villagomez

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Past research indicates Latinx individuals underutilize mental health services when it comes to addressing their mental health concerns, but often fail to mention the barriers to underutilization. Systemic barriers to seeking care largely fall under two larger umbrellas: cost and availability. A focus on whether disparities observed in traditional mental health services persisted for a trauma-focused app that recruited participants from the 2017 Hurricane outbreak provides us a unique outlook on a comparative analysis of utilization and engagement between the applications, Bounce Back Now (BBN) and Enhanced Usual Care. BBN is made up of four major components including tracking, …

Toward Low Carbon Footprint And Lightweight Masonry Alkali-Activated Material, Zina Ebrahim, Mohammad Mastali, Marc Maguire

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

The portland cement concrete industry and the masonry industry are undergoing changes in response to skilled labor shortages and concerns over climate and pollution. There may be interest from parts of the industry in lower carbon footprint and lightweight masonry products. Toward this aim, the use of hemp shiv--the woody core of the hemp plant--in alkali-activated concrete was investigated herein and shown to have a wide range of impacts on the hardened state characteristics of a material suitable for structural concrete masonry units (CMUs) in accordance with ASTM C90 requirements. Hemp shiv is well known for its use in hempcrete, …

Cometrics: A New Software Tool For Behavior‑Analytic Clinicians And Machine Learning Researchers, Walker S. Arce, Seth G. Walker, Morgan L. Hurtz

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Cometrics is a Microsoft Windows compatible clinical tool for the collection and recording of frequency- and duration-based target behaviors, physiological signals, and video data. This software package is designed to record in-vivo observational and physiological data. In addition, we have included features that allow observers to capture video from real-time camera feeds and import saved video for retroactive data collection. By using Microsoft Excel-based spreadsheets, also called keystroke files, assessment and treatment sessions are exported into a single document using the click of a button. Integrated interobserver agreement metrics allow comparisons across primary and reliability observers, with the output exported …

Thyroid Sat510 I-131 Therapy With Dosimetry For Advanced Thyroid Carcinoma: Recombinant Tsh Vs Thyroid Hormone Withdrawal, Dana Awad, Jarod Hamsa, Abbey Fingeret, Craig M. Johnson, Frank Rutar, Carrie Carso, Anupam Kotwal, Anery Patel, Angela Thornburg, Whitney Sears Goldner

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Background: Dosimetry can be used to calculate an optimal and safe dose of Iodine-131 (I-131) for treatment of advanced differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Thyroid hormone withdrawal (THW) is the preferred method of TSH elevation for I-131 therapy with dosimetry. At our institution, Recombinant TSH (RhTSH) is used in patients in whom prolonged hypothyroidism is deemed clinically unsafe or cannot tolerate THW. We aim to evaluate if RhTSH and THW are equivalent methods of preparation for I-131 therapy using dosimetry (I-131D).

Hematopoietic Stem Cells And Betaherpesvirus Latency, Lindsey B. Crawford

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

The human betaherpesviruses including human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), human herpesvirus (HHV)-6a and HHV-6b, and HHV-7 infect and establish latency in CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HPCs). The diverse repertoire of HPCs in humans and the complex interactions between these viruses and host HPCs regulate the viral lifecycle, including latency. Precise manipulation of host and viral factors contribute to preferential maintenance of the viral genome, increased host cell survival, and specific manipulation of the cellular environment including suppression of neighboring cells and immune control. The dynamic control of these processes by the virus regulate inter- and intra-host signals critical to the …

Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor Induces Proliferation And Collagen Production By Fibroblasts Derived From The Bovine Corpus Luteum, Corrine F. Monaco, Michele R. Plewes, Emilia Przygrodzka, Jitu W. George, Fang Qiu, Peng Xiao, Jennifer R. Wood, Andrea S. Cupp, John S. Davis

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Cyclic regression of the ovarian corpus luteum, the endocrine gland responsible for progesterone production, involves rapid matrix remodeling. Despite fibroblasts in other systems being known for producing and maintaining extracellular matrix, little is known about fibroblasts in the functional or regressing corpus luteum. Vast transcriptomic changes occur in the regressing corpus luteum, among which are reduced levels of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) and increased expression of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) after 4 and 12 h of induced regression, when progesterone is declining and the microvasculature is destabilizing. We hypothesized that FGF2 activates luteal …

Portfolio For Soci 346: Environmental Sociology, Gwendwr Meredith

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Environmental sociology, SOCI 346, is the study of how social systems interact with ecosystems. As such, it is a very broad course that is tasked with understanding complex and often controversial questions about the social causes, consequences, and responses to environmental disruption. In this teaching portfolio, I enumerate how I use a backward design for crafting assessments that cater to my specific teaching goals and learning objectives for the course. In the first stage of this process, I reflected on what learning outcomes I wished to achieve and determined that structuring the course in modules aligned with the learning objectives …

The Impact Of Leadership Turnover On Child Welfare Workforce Initiatives, Courtney Harrison, Megan Paul

QIC-Takes

Turnover among public child welfare leaders is prevalent. Across the eight QIC-WD intervention sites, leadership turnover was one of the most common implementation challenges observed by the QIC-WD team. Leadership changes can disrupt the implementation of a workforce initiative by shifting agency-level priorities, the organizational climate, or key staff.

Child welfare leaders may be appointed or hired in many different ways in different jurisdictions. In some states, the Governor appoints a cabinet-level child welfare director who oversees a stand-alone agency. This means that child welfare leadership changes follow the political election cycle with new governors appointing new agency leaders every …

Family Strengths Among Native American Families And Families Living In Poverty: Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences, Natira Mullet, Emily A. Waterman, Katie Edwards, Briana Simon, Skyler Hopfauf, Ramona Herrington

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand how youth, caregivers, and community professionals perceive family strengths and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in their community. Specifically, this study was focused on the protective role of caregivers and families, positive youth development, and how Native American families and families living in poverty support adolescents’ social–emotional development and help them thrive in the face of adversity.

Background: Research documents the concerning rates and negative outcomes of ACEs. However, very little research has examined the views of families and professionals on how to prevent ACES among these populations.

Method: Participants were youth …

Realizing Molecular Machine Learning Through Communications For Biological Ai: Future Directions And Challenges, Sasitharan Balasubramaniam, Samitha Somathilaka, Sehee Sun, Adrian Ratwatte, Massimiliano Pierobon

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are weaving their way into the fabric of society, where they are playing a crucial role in numerous facets of our lives. As we witness the increased deployment of AI and ML in various types of devices, we benefit from their use into energy-efficient algorithms for low powered devices. In this paper, we investigate a scale and medium that is far smaller than conventional devices as we move towards molecular systems that can be utilized to perform machine learning functions, i.e., Molecular Machine Learning (MML). Fundamental to the operation of MML is the …

Guest Editorial: Special Issue On Green Iot For Future Space–Air–Ground–Ocean-Integrated Networks And Applications, Bo Rong, Mohamed Cheriet, Jon Montalban, Lei Shu, Yi Qian

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

The Internet of Things (IoT) plays a critical role in enabling the seamless integration of disparate devices. Future IoT will rapidly expand its coverage to offer future worldwide omnipresent applications and services by merging communications in diverse spatial domains to build the space–air–ground–ocean-integrated network (SAGOI-Net). SAGOI-Net will include a significant number of battery-powered network nodes, such as satellites, unmanned vehicles, and underwater devices, due to the extremely vast geographic reach and dynamics in free space. Given the battery limitations, high-energy-efficiency communications and networking will be critical to the future system. Green SAGOI-Net seeks to not only bring ubiquitous connectivity to …

Rethinking The Status And Temporal Occurrence Of The American Woodcock In Nebraska Because Of Its Unusual Life History, Joel G. Jorgensen, Stephen J. Brenner

Nebraska Bird Review

Historical distribution and range expansion -- We reviewed existing information to evaluate conclusions by previous authors (e.g., Sharpe et al. 2001, Silcock and Jorgensen 2023) that woodcock have expanded their range west since settlement of Nebraska by Euro-Americans. We also provide additional context about the species’ distribution over time using regional resources.

Temporal occurrence and abundance -- We used data from woodcock outfitted with satellite transmitters 2021-2022 and compared it with occurrence data from two sources, eBird (eBird.org 2023) from all years through 2022 and the SFRs in the Nebraska Bird Review 1994–2019. We chose not to use SFR data …

A Sky Full Of Stars: Should Viasat, Inc. V. Fcc Change The Agency’S Treatment Of Satellites As A Categorical Exclusion Under The National Environmental Policy Act?, Morgan Armstrong

Nebraska Law Review

Viasat, a Starlink competitor and multibillion-dollar provider of satellite services to rural areas, attempted to challenge this influx of Starlink satellites by demanding stricter environmental oversight through the FCC’s licensing process.8 Specifically, Viasat argued these satellite systems pose environmental harm to the orbital environment that, in turn, will directly harm Viasat’s operations. Viasat has challenged multiple orders granted by the FCC that allowed Starlink satellites to operate.9 Viasat brought suit asking for an injunction and, subsequently, an appeal when the injunction was denied on the most recent FCC order allowing Starlink to decrease the orbit for a subset of the …

Nebline, June/July 2023

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Introducing Nit Kits: Extension's New Program on Head Lice in Early Childhood Settings by Kait Chapman

Curiosity as a Tool for Health Access by Emily Gratopp

Recipe of the Month: Refreshing Watermelon Salad by Emily Gratopp

Nebraska Celebrates Wildflower Week, June 5–11 by Sarah Browning

Graden Guide: Things to Do This Month

Fescue Toxicosis by Connor Biehler

Graywater Use in Nebraska by Becky Schuerman

Aphids, Scales and Spider Mites, Oh My! by Kait Chapman

Challenging Behaviors: Using Positive Language by Hayley Jackson

Extension News: New 4-H Assistant

4-H’ers Qualify for State Presentations Contest

4-H Clubs Helped at Kiwanis Karnival

Nebraska …

Matters Of Argument: Materiality, Listening, And Practices Of Openness In First-Year Writing Classes, Mark Andrew Houston

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation argues for the value of increased focus on practices of listening in rhetorical education, especially in first-year writing courses. Building on research in listening rhetorics, new materialism, and contemplative pedagogy, the author presents a pedagogical and rhetorical vision for more open argument. Open arguments function with open-heartedness, an open-ethos, openness to listening to Others and the material world, openness to a multiplicity of viewpoints, open-endedness, and openness to productive conflict. The author argues that students can learn to write these more open arguments through a combination of listening to the material world around them, listening to their …

Evaluating Assessment Score Validity And Characterizing Undergraduate Biology Exam Content, Crystal Uminski

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

The landscape of undergraduate biology education has been shaped by decades of reform efforts calling for instruction to integrate core concepts and scientific skills as a means of helping students become proficient in the discipline. Assessments can be used to make inferences about how these reform efforts have translated into changes in department curriculum and course practices. Such changes can be measured using student scores on researcher-developed programmatic and concept assessments. Scores on these assessments are often assumed to be accurate representations of student biology content knowledge, but my work indicates that the validity of these interpretations may be threatened …

United States Department Of Energy Response To The Office Of Science And Technology Policy Memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (June 2023)

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

DOE response to OSTP memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (June 2023)

United States Department Of Energy Public Access Plan, United States Department Of Energy

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

This document, the public access plan (the Plan) for the Department of Energy (DOE or Department), including the National Nuclear Security Administration, presents the Department of Energy’s plan for increasing access to the results of the research and development (R&D) it supports in response to the August 25, 2022, Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Memorandum, “Ensuring Free, Immediate, and Equitable Access to Federally Funded Research”1 and to the previous February 22, 2013, OSTP Memorandum, “Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research.”2 This Plan, which supplants the Department’s July 2014 Public Access Plan, was developed by …

The Open Access Journals Toolkit, Alex Mendonça, Andrea Chiarelli, Andy Byers, Andy Nobes, Chris Hartgerink, Clarissa França Dias Carneiro, Elle Malcolmson, Ivonne Lijano, Katie Foxall, Lucia Loffreda, Rebecca Wojturska, Solange Santos, Susan Murray, Tom Olijhoek, Wendy Patterson

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Contents: Getting Started 5 • Scope, aims and focus 5 • Choosing a title for your journal 6 • Types of content accepted 7 • Kick-off and ongoing funding 11 • Disciplinary considerations 16 • Journal setup checklist and timeline 18 • Running a journal 20 • Article selection criteria 20 • Publication frequency and journal issues 23 • Attracting authors 25 • Peer review and quality assurance 27 • The costs of running an online open access journal 31 • Running a journal in a local or regional language 34 • Flipping a journal to open access 36 • …

Developing Human Potential: A Personal Approach To Leadership, Gina S. Matkin, Jason Headrick, Hannah Sunderman

Zea E-Books Collection

This Online Educational Resource textbook is intended to provide an overview and introduction of leadership through the lens of how students can develop and maximize their own interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills are crucial to navigating the professional world and can help us to better understand ourselves. This textbook approaches interpersonal skills from a personal level and allows the reader to immerse themselves into activities and scholarship across topical areas. Through the text, learners can create their own Personal Leadership Philosophy and expand this into a Civic Leadership Philosophy to help them understand the impact leaders can have on their communities …