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Course Portfolio For Cive 361 – Highway Engineering, Libby Jones

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

CIVE 361-Highway Engineering is a required course for all civil engineering majors at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course is an introduction to transportation engineering covering vehicle and driver characteristics, geometric design, traffic operations, and transportation planning. The contents of this published course portfolio are for the Spring 2022 semester offering of CIVE 361. This course is used for formative assessment of ABET student outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 7. The alignment of the assessments used in the course and the ABET SOs were examined. Open educational resources (OERs) have been developed for this course. Data collected in 2020 was …

Course Development: Advanced Audio Content Creation, Kaci Ritcher

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The goal of this portfolio is to develop BRDC 391 Special Topics: Advanced Audio Content Creation into a permanent course that serves as an extension of BRDC 227 and supports advanced learning in audio production. The College of Journalism and Mass Communications has expressed a need for an advanced audio offering as interest in audio production has surged with the popularity of podcasting and audiobook production. The course centers around concept creation, hardware and software use, writing, vocal performance, and editing to create professional-level audio productions. This portfolio documents the development of Advanced Audio Content Creation and the student learning …

Fdst 132- Practical Applications In Food Science — A Peer Review Of Teaching Project: Benchmark Portfolio, Rossana Villa-Rojas

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The aim of this course portfolio was to assess improvement of students’ literature research skills and scientific writing after embedding communication lectures, activities and assignments in FDST 132 Practical Applications in Food Science. This is a terminal laboratory course for first year Food Science majors with basic science knowledge. The goal of the course is to allow students to put in practice some basic food science principles and work with their cohort. This portfolio outlines the changes made to this course, the rationale for embedding lectures and assessments in scientific communication. The specific skills and topics I aimed to teach …

Biomechanical Analysis Of Athletes Sprinting With Varying Degrees Of Resistance, Michaela Ott

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Utilizing resistance methods for sprinters is a common approach to their training. In this study, six athletes from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Women’s Track and Field Team ran a series of sprints using a resistance machine to collect data regarding the change in power output, stride length, level of trunk tilt with respect to the ground, and acceleration throughout a distance of ten meters when different amounts of resistant forces were applied to the athlete. It was hypothesized that as resistance increased, power output would increase, stride length would decrease, the runners would become more horizontal resulting in a larger …

Effects Of Socioeconomic Status On Consumer Behavior And Attitudes Towards A Brand’S Image, Abbey Haymond

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This research seeks to understand more about the effects of socioeconomic background on consumer behavior and its impact on the perception of brand images. Data from people of different SES were compared to understand how they view advertisements intended for different audiences and their corresponding effects. It was conducted by sending out a confidential, voluntary survey to a convenience sample targeting 100 consumers. Consumers were asked to rate statements, on a scale of one to five, for each of the research questions to assess specific aspects of their consumer attitudes and behaviors. The high SES group has a higher average …

Reimagine Descriptive Workflows: A Community-Informed Agenda For Reparative And Inclusive Descriptive Practice, Rachel L. Frick, Merrilee Proffitt

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Executive Summary

The Reimagine Descriptive Workflows project convened a group of experts, practitioners, and community members to determine ways of improving descriptive practices, tools, infrastructure, and workflows in libraries and archives. The result, this community agenda, is offered to the broad library and archives community of practice. The agenda draws together insights from the convening, related research, and operational work that is ongoing in the field. All institutions hold power to make meaningful changes in this space, and all share collective responsibility.

The agenda is not a “how-to guide,” but it is constructed to instruct and chart a path toward …

“Any Lady Can Now Learn To Cut Perfect Fitting Dresses”: The Role Of Pattern Drafting Systems In The Production Of Women’S Dress, 1880–1900, Alyssa Smith

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This research conveys findings from my MA thesis research focused on pattern drafting systems for women’s garments developed between 1880 and 1900. The study builds on the seminal work of Claudia Kidwell, who divided these systems into three categories: proportional, hybrid, and direct measure. To date, the study of this textile technology and how it positioned women and sewing in both domestic and professional spheres has received little scholarly attention, but pattern drafting technology transformed the possibilities for pattern creation and proportionate measurements, especially for home sewers. It also aided in the paper pattern and ready-made clothing industries. This research, …

The Making Of Everyday Hollywood: 1930s Film Influence On Everyday Women’S Fashion In Nebraska, Anna Naomi Kuhlman

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This research examines the influence of film fashions on middle-class, Nebraskan women’s dress during the Great Depression (1932-1940). The Great Depression challenged the middle class: while standards of living remained high, the economic means to achieve those standards diminished. Despite the crisis, women strove to keep up with current fashion trends. While previous literature has examined how Hollywood directly affected trends and styles of the 1930s in major American metropolitan contexts, the manifestation of trends in the dress of middle to lower socio-economic classes in Middle America remains under-examined. Against the backdrop of Depression-era hardships specific to Nebraska’s agricultural economy, …

I Want To Go Home, Amber Boris

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

The significance of a home lies within the memories of the space. I Want to Go Home is a body of work that explores this idea through a collection of sculptures and drawings depicting my childhood home. This house holds meaning to me not only because it is where I grew up, but because it was also my mother’s childhood home. Six generations of our family have passed through the house, creating a long history of associated stories, memories, and emotions.

I have constructed scaled down sculptures of rooms for these memories to live in. The spaces are left empty, …

Global Community Guidelines For Documenting, Sharing, And Reusing Quality Information Of Individual Digital Datasets, Ge Peng, Carlo Lacagnina, Robert R. Downs, Anette Ganske, Hampapuram K. Ramapriyan, Ivana Ivánová, Lesley Wyborn, Dave Jones, Lucy Bastin, Chung-Lin Shie, David F. Moroni

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Open-source science builds on open and free resources that include data, metadata, software, and workflows. Informed decisions on whether and how to (re)use digital datasets are dependent on an understanding about the quality of the underpinning data and relevant information. However, quality information, being difficult to curate and often context specific, is currently not readily available for sharing within and across disciplines. To help address this challenge and promote the creation and (re) use of freely and openly shared information about the quality of individual datasets, members of several groups around the world have undertaken an effort to develop international …

Ultra-Broadband And Polarization-Insensitive Metasurface Absorber With Behavior Prediction Using Machine Learning, Shobhit K. Patel, Juveriya Parmar, Vijay Katkar, Fahad Ahmed Al-Zahrani, Kawsar Ahmed

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The solar spectrum energy absorption is very important for designing any solar absorber. The need for absorbing visible, infrared, and ultraviolet regions is increasing as most of the absorbers absorb visible regions. We propose a metasurface solar absorber based on Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ (GST) substrate which increases the absorption in visible, infrared and ultraviolet regions. GST is a phase-changing material having two different phases amorphous (aGST) and crystalline (cGST). The absorber is also analyzed using machine learning algorithm to predict the absorption values for different wavelengths. The solar absorber is showing an ultra-broadband response covering a 0.2–1.5 …

Political Skill, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is political skill?

Political skill refers to “the ability to effectively understand others at work, and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one’s personal and/or organizational objectives” (Ahearn et al., 2004, p. 311). Unlike organizational politics, which involve selfserving and detrimental behavior, political skill involves positive, sincere, and effective influence (Ferris et al., 2005). The primary measure of political skill is the 18-item Political Skill Inventory, which assesses political skill through four factors: social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability, and apparent sincerity. Example items from each factor, respectively, include “I always seem …

Recommendations For Discipline-Specific Fairness Evaluation Derived From Applying An Ensemble Of Evaluation Tools, Karsten Peters-Von Gehlen, Heinke Höck, Andrej Fast, Daniel Heydebreck, Andrea Lammert, Hannes Thiemann

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

From a research data repositories’ perspective, offering research data management services in line with the FAIR principles is becoming increasingly important. However, there exists no globally established and trusted approach to evaluate FAIRness to date. Here, we apply five different available FAIRness evaluation approaches to selected data archived in the World Data Center for Climate (WDCC). Two approaches are purely automatic, two approaches are purely manual and one approach applies a hybrid method (manual and automatic combined).

The results of our evaluation show an overall mean FAIR score of WDCC-archived (meta) data of 0.67 of 1, with a range of …

Stepping-Stones And Mediators Of Pandemic Expansion: A Context For Humans As Ecological Super-Spreaders, Eric P. Hoberg, Walter A. Boeger, Daniel R. Brooks, Valeria Trivellone, Salvatore J. Agosta

MANTER: Journal of Parasite Biodiversity

Humans represent ecological super-spreaders in the dissemination and introduction of pathogens. These processes, consistent with the dynamics of the Stockholm paradigm, are exemplified in the origin and globalized distributions of SARS-CoV-2 since initial recognition in central Asia during 2019 and 2020. SARS-like viruses are not widespread in mammals but appear widespread in chiropterans. Bats are isolated ecologically from most other assemblages of mammals in terrestrial systems. Humans may be the stepping-stone hosts for broad global dissemination and wider infection (given the opportunity) among diverse assemblages of mammals in which host and viral capacity are compatible. Human globalization mediated insertion in …

Using Intergenerational Photovoice To Understand Family Strengths Among Native American Children And Their Caregivers, Katie M. Edwards, Ramona Herrington, Marcey Edwards, Victoria Banyard, Natira Mullet, Skyler Hopfauf, Briana Simon, Emily A. Waterman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of the current study was to examine Native American children and caregivers' perspectives of family and cultural strengths using photovoice and to identify lessons learned from the first‐ever implementation of intergenerational photovoice with Native Americans. Participants were Native American, low‐income caregivers (n = 6) and their children (n = 12) between the ages of 10 and 15 who participated in six photovoice sessions. The themes that emerged from photos and group discussion included myriad challenges faced by Native American families including exposure to community violence, substance abuse, and criminal offending and incarceration. Themes also emerged that highlighted …

Spatiotemporal Variability In Swedish Lake Ecosystems, Tarsha Eason, Ahjond Garmestani, David G. Angeler

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Studying ecosystem dynamics is critical to monitoring and managing linked systems of humans and nature. Due to the growth of tools and techniques for collecting data, information on the condition of these systems is more widely available. While there are a variety of approaches for mining and assessing data, there is a need for methods to detect latent characteristics in ecosystems linked to temporal and spatial patterns of change. Resiliencebased approaches have been effective at not only identifying environmental change but also providing warning in advance of critical transitions in social-ecological systems (SES). In this study, we examine the usefulness …

Ecological And Social Strategies For Managing Fisheries Using The Resist-Accept- Direct (Rad) Framework, Abigail J. Lynch, Frank J. Rahel, Doug Limpinsel, Suresh A. Sethi, Augustin C. Engman, David J. Lawrence, Katherine E. Mills, Wendy Morrison, Jay Jay Peterson, Mark T. Porath

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Fisheries management is a complex task made even more challenging by rapid and unprecedented socioecological transformations associated with climate change. The Resist-Accept- Direct (RAD) framework can be a useful tool to support fisheries management in facing the high uncertainty and variability associated with aquatic ecosystem transformations. Here, RAD strategies are presented to address ecological goals for aquatic ecosystems and social goals for fisheries. These strategies are mapped on a controllability matrix which explores the ability to guide a system's behaviour towards a desired state based on ecological responsiveness and societal receptivity to change. Understanding and improving the controllability of aquatic …

Protocol To Engineer Nanofilms Embedded Lipid Nanoparticles For Controlled And Targeted Drug Delivery (Nectar), Rashi Porwal, Stephen L. Hayward, Srivatsan Kidambi

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

We present a protocol to engineer a substrate-mediated delivery platform comprising hyaluronic acid-coated lipid nanoparticles (HALNPs) embedded into polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) films. This platform allows controlled spatiotemporal release of lipid nanoparticles (LNP) by embedding them within the polyelectrolyte multilayer films matrix. HALNP conjugate with antibodies also adds the ability for targeted delivery. The use of LNP enables this platform to encapsulate both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs. This platform can easily be reproduced and utilized for various biomedical drug delivery applications. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Hayward et al. (2015, 2016a, 2016b), …

The Broadband Mapping Challenge: An Overview Of Rural Broadband Status And Policy Solutions For Nebraska, Payton Flower

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Broadband, the availability of high-speed internet service for the transmission of electronic data, it is a critical component in the daily life of Americans. However, there is significant disparity in the United States between urban and rural areas in regard to broadband availability and adoption. This issue has created what is known as the “digital divide”, a situation in which lower income, rural residents, and those living on tribal lands are most severely impacted by limited broadband services. “Broadband Mapping” refers to a data collection process that is primarily overseen by the Federal Communications Commission. Unfortunately, a variety of flaws …

American Foreign Direct Investment In Morocco: How Can We Help?, Dylan Patrick

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

As the flurry of modern-day threats begins to take their toll on the world, it has never been more crucial to examine interstate relationships. In this pursuit, this paper investigates contemporary American foreign direct investment efforts in Morocco by asking the following questions: (1) what areas of the Moroccan economy are in the most trouble; (2) how has the presence of American foreign direct investment impacted Morocco; and (3) how can these American-led efforts be improved? By answering these questions using case studies, this paper provides policy recommendations that can begin to alleviate some of the problems facing the Northwest …

A Documentation Of A Year As An Artistic Director For Unl, Philip Crawford

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The goal of this project was to document a year of being an Artistic Director for UNL’s student run theatre company Theatrix. Through this documentation, I will be able to reflect upon and learn from my experiences as a leader, director, and theatre maker.

This thesis will be broken up into eight different parts to outline the eight different stages I experienced as Artistic Director this year: season selection, the 24-hour Play Festival, The Revolutionists, The Thanksgiving Play, Clown Bar, season changes, Based on a Totally True Story, and Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons. Through these eight stages, I will …

Split Classification Model For Complex Clustered Data, Katherine Gerot

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Classification in high-dimensional data has generated tremendous interest in a multitude of fields. Data in higher dimensions often tend to reside in non-Euclidean metric space. This prevents Euclidean-based classification methodologies, such as regression, from reliably modeling the data. Many proposed models rely on computationally-complex embedding to convert the data to a more usable format. Others, namely the Support Vector Machine, rely on kernel manipulation to implicitly describe the "feature space" to arrive at a non-linear decision boundary. The proposed methodology in this paper seeks to classify complex data in a relatively computationally-simple and explainable manner.

A Qualitative Analysis Of How Individuals Utilized The Twitter Hashtags #Notokay And #Metoo To Comment On The Perpetration Of Interpersonal Violence, Katherine W. Bogen, Prachi H. Bhuptani, Michelle Haikalis, Lindsay M. Orchowski

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study examined how individuals describe the nature of interpersonal violence perpetrated against them using the Twitter hashtags #NotOkay and #MeToo. Iterative qualitative coding of 437 tweets resulted in four major themes (i.e., the nature of violence and tactics utilized, the identity of the perpetrator, the location of the assault, and whether the perpetrator was held accountable). Subthemes nested beneath perpetrator identity included whether the perpetrator was known, as well as perpetrator gender identity. Subthemes nested beneath perpetrator tactic included the presence of multiple perpetrators, whether the assault was a crime of opportunity, engagement in physical aggression, utilization of …

The Design Of An Agricultural Youth-Centered Rural Development Program In Rwanda, Laetitia Igiraneza Sinyigenga

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Rwanda is primarily a rural, young, and agriculture-based country. The referred variables- agriculture, rural population, and youth- can be creatively merged to engage and empower youth for rural development. This paper indicates the utilization of cross-disciplinary knowledge to design an agricultural youth-centered rural development program in Rwanda. The program uses the interdependence of economic sectors (agriculture and education) with resources (environmental & natural resources and human resources) to boost rural community development. The program’s main activities- mentorship, agribusiness training, tutoring, exposure visits, and community work- highly reflect the requirement for advancing the selected main economic sectors and resources. There is …

Greater Numbers Of Antral Follicles In The Ovary Are Associated With Increased Concentrations Of Glucose In Uterine Luminal Fluid Of Beef Heifers, Alexandria P. Snider, Matthew S. Crouse, Shelby L. Rosasco, Kaitlin M. Epperson, Emmalee J. Northrop-Albrecht, Jerica J.J. Rich, Chadwick C. Chase Jr., Jeremy R. Miles, George A. Perry, Adam F. Summers, Robert A. Cushman

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

Increased antral follicles are associated with greater fertility and a uterine environment that is more supportive of early embryonic development in beef heifers. Glucose is a primary energy source for embryos, and glucose concentrations are elevated in uterine luminal fluid (ULF) of pregnant heifers. We hypothesized that ULF glucose concentrations and endometrial transcript abundance for glucose transporters on d16 after insemination would be greater in heifers with increased numbers of antral follicles. Heifers classified with either increased or diminished antral follicle counts were artificially inseminated following the CO-Synch protocol (d0). On d16 after insemination, reproductive tracts of heifers were collected …

Climate Change Adaptation, Migration, And Promising Developments For Pacific Island States, Ashley Jonas

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

The people of the Pacific Islands face an existential crisis due to climate change, despite the fact that they are the least responsible for contributing to carbon emissions. The effects of climate change, namely sea-level rise, pose a verified threat to low-lying islands, infiltrating water supplies, crops, and infrastructure. As a result, there is a need for improved solutions for adapting to the impacts of climate change and for easier access to legal migration pathways when the consequences are insurmountable. Through comparative discourse analysis of scholarly sources, intergovernmental policies, and non-governmental organizations, the thesis finds that Small Island Developing States …

Climate Change Adaptation, Migration, And Promising Developments For Pacific Island States, Ashley Jonas

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The people of the Pacific Islands face an existential crisis due to climate change, despite the fact that they are the least responsible for contributing to carbon emissions. The effects of climate change, namely sea-level rise, pose a verified threat to low-lying islands, infiltrating water supplies, crops, and infrastructure. As a result, there is a need for improved solutions for adapting to the impacts of climate change and for easier access to legal migration pathways when the consequences are insurmountable. Through comparative discourse analysis of scholarly sources, intergovernmental policies, and non-governmental organizations, the thesis finds that Small Island Developing States …

A Guide To Common Nutrition, Troy Scheer

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The purpose of this project was to use the knowledge I have gained through my undergraduate courses and apply it in a format that would be beneficial for the average consumer. This project was researched, written, and designed to be accessible by someone without a background in science or nutrition with the goal of educating the reader of some basic nutrition principles. With this knowledge, it is my hope that the reader will be able to make better nutritional choices and liver a longer and healthier lifestyle by first learning how to choose the right foods. While putting this project …

Γλύκοπικρος & Bittersweet: An Autoethnographic Approach To Studying Abroad In Greece, Margaret Rieckman

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The purpose of this study is to answer the question: How can reflection via an autoethnographic approach promote sought-after outcomes of a semester studying abroad? Through an anthropological lens, I completed field work, kept field notes, and wrote a reflexive blog to navigate the social processes of learning to belong in another place within the context of a multicultural environment of study abroad program with Erasmus students. Through autoethnography as a methodology and a text, I utilized linguistic analysis to identify key themes that represent my transformative experience. The personal, emotional, and intellectual growth I experienced was made transformative by …

Predicting Autism From Infant Characteristics: A Systematic Review, Alysha Y. Henrichs, Cynthia Cress Ph.D.

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

A literature review was conducted of 73 articles to explore 12-month-old characteristics in infants that predicted later diagnosis with autism (ASD). Articles were reviewed if they discussed ASD, infants with siblings diagnosed with autism (high-risk) and/or infants later diagnosed with autism without known family history of ASD (low risk). Articles were not reviewed if the participants were 36 months or older at the start of the study. More factors were identified that discriminate characteristics associated with later ASD diagnosis in infants between 12-24 months compared to characteristics of infants below 12 months. Characteristics of infants under 12 months that were …