Digital Commons Network^™

Estimating School-Level Achievement In Belize, Betty Jean Usher-Tate

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation consists of five chapters: introduction, literature review, methodology, results, and discussion with final thoughts. The research design of this dissertation study attended to structures, cultures, and characteristics associated with, and specific to, the Belize education system. The processes for data collection and types of analyses were appropriate, yielded meaningful results, and served as a segue for national application. The Belize Educator Survey was developed to capture the educators’ voices and illuminate their relationship to educational achievement in Belize. The Belize Educator Survey was piloted and revised with direct input from educators and experts who work in the Belize …

Emergent And Early Literacy Opportunities For Children With Visual Impairment With/Without An Additional Disability, Susan Pope

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Introduction: This study examined implications of literacy instruction for children with visual impairment (VI) with/without an additional disability at a specialized preschool in a large Midwestern city. Methods: Teachers participated in interviews and revealed their perspectives for providing literacy instruction, and students were video recorded participating in literacy activities. Literacy opportunities were coded for themes. Results: Six themes of literacy opportunities emerged from this study (i.e., literacy opportunities, accessibility, frequency, assessment, settings, and cues for understanding). Results provide evidence of instructional strategies, challenges and strengths described by teachers, types of activities used to promote literacy and the frequency and accessibility …

Open Is Not Forever: A Study Of Vanished Open Access Journals, Mikael Laakso, Lisa Matthias, Najko Jahn

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

The preservation of the scholarly record has been a point of concern since the beginning of knowledge production. With print publications, the responsibility rested primarily with librarians, but the shift towards digital publishing and, in particular, the introduction of open access (OA) have caused ambiguity and complexity. Consequently, the long-term accessibility of journals is not always guaranteed, and they can even disappear from the web completely. The purpose of this exploratory study is to systematically study the phenomenon of vanished journals, something that has not been done before. For the analysis, we consulted several major bibliographic indexes, such as Scopus, …

Development Of A Minority Stress Preventive Intervention For Sexual And Gender Minority Youth And Young Adults, Natalie Holt

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mental health disparities amongst sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals are spurred by exposure to minority stressors and sustained by mediators of problems with emotion regulation, social support, and cognitive processes. Emerging clinical research suggests empirically supported behavioral health treatments can be culturally adapted to address these mental health disparities, however less work has focused on the prevention of symptoms. The present study developed a brief preventive intervention targeting mediators of the minority stress model for SGM youth and young adults aged 17 to 26. Focus groups with 8 SGM participants informed development to ensure the content and delivery of …

Research 4.0: Research In The Age Of Automation, Rob Procter, Ben Glover, Elliot Jones

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Executive Summary

There is a growing consensus that we are at the start of a fourth industrial revolution, driven by developments in Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, robotics, the Internet of Things, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, 5G, new forms of energy storage and quantum computing. This wave of technical innovations is already having a significant impact on how research is conducted, with dramatic change across research methods in recent years within some disciplines, as this project’s interim report set out.

Whilst there are a wide range of technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution, this report primarily seeks to understand what …

Estimating Economic Minimums Of Mowing, Fertilizing, And Irrigating Turfgrass, Douglas J. Soldat, James T. Brosnan, Ambika Chandra, Roch E. Gaussoin, Alec Kowalewski, Bernd Leinauer, Frank S. Rossi, John C. Stier, J Bryan Unruh

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The public health crisis and economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have forced turfgrass industry professionals to re-evaluate standard practices. Minimum costs required to fertilize, irrigate, and mow turfgrasses can be roughly estimated using climate data, turfgrass physiology information, and resource costs. Although the actual minimum costs vary situationally and regionally, mowing golf putting greens optimally requires about US$34 per acre per month, whereas other turfgrass areas cost less than US$11 per acre per growing month. Fertilizer applications to turfgrass cost US$22 or less per acre per growing month. Irrigation costs (water and electricity for pumping) vary widely, with …

Resilience Characteristics Of The Urban Agriculture System In Lansing, Michigan: Importance Of Support Actors In Local Food Systems, Caitlin K. Kirby, Lissy Goralnik, Jennifer Hodbod, Zach Piso, Julie C. Libarkin

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Urban agriculture is a growing movement in cities across the United States, including the post-industrial Midwest. Maintaining a resilient local food system is a challenge given the environmental, resource, and institutional barriers facing urban farmers. In this descriptive correlational study, we take an in-depth look at the demographics, farm characteristics, motivations, barriers, and resilience indicators of individuals in the urban agriculture system in Lansing, Michigan, a city of the US Midwest with a growing urban agriculture system. Survey responses (n = 92) revealed that support actors, community gardeners, and farmers have descriptive differences in their motivations, with support actors (e.g. …

Vampire Bats: Preparing For Range Expansion Into The U.S., Michael J. Bodenchuk, David L. Bergman

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The common vampire bat apparently is expanding its range northwards in Mexico and seems poised to enter the southern United States. Climate models predict suitable habitat in the U.S. in south Texas and parts of southern Arizona. While vampire bats’ northward range expansion is not unexpected, the fact that this species brings a strain of rabies that impacts livestock and people warrants a strategic response. Annual economic damages from bats are estimated between $7M and $9M, largely associated with deaths of livestock from rabies. To prepare for the emerging rabies issue, USDA Wildlife Services programs in Texas and Arizona have …

Assessing The Effects Of Extended Practice On Letter Naming Fluency, Samantha Page Cooper

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this dissertation study was to assess the additive effect (beyond mastery instruction) of extended practice. A multiple baseline design across child participants was used to assess the effects of extended practice of letter names on the rate of correctly identified letter names per minute specific to three Blocks of letters. The study involved three pre-kindergarten children enrolled in preschool located in a medium sized suburban city in Nebraska. Within the study, each child was exposed to three experimental conditions: (A) Baseline, (B) Extended Practice and (C) Outcome Assessment. The (A) Baseline condition covered one, two or three …

Progress In Activities Of Wds-China Data Centers, Juanle Wang, Kun Bu, Yanjie Wang, Yating Shao

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The World Data System (WDS) plays an important role in promoting global scientific data management, exchange, and sharing. There are 8 WDS data centers in mainland China including study areas of astronomy, space science, global change, renewable resources and environmental, cold and dry regions, microbiology, geophysics, and the ocean. This paper summarizes the current status of the WDS China data centers, along with their major progress in recent years. This progress includes a clearinghouse for metadata exchange, research data archival, historical data saving, international data exchange, data publishing models, CoreTrustSeal certification, open repositories for the scientific community, science popularization services, …

A List Of Zea Books, Published By University Of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Zea Books

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94 published titles (2005-2020), plus 1 forthcoming this fall.

Zea Books are produced by the Office of Scholarly Communications, and published by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries.

With links to online pdf editions and Lulu.com print-on-demand online storefront.

Zea Books are online at https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/zeabook/

Print-on-demand editions are available @ http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/unllib

University Of Nebraska Five-Year Strategy, Revised August 12, 2020, Ted Carter, Trev Alberts, Bob Bartee, Anne Bowen, Andrew Burival, Lori Byrne, Brenda Eschenbrenner, Doug Ewald, John Falconer, Laura Grams, Kevin Hanrahan, Ken Hansen, Abi Javier, Stancia Jenkins, Emily Johnson, Chris Kabourek, Mary Lagrange, Peter Longo, Martha Mamo, Richard Moberly, Ashley Mueller, Keith Ozanne, Lance Perez, Juliann Sebastian, Susan Sheridan, Will Thomas, Barb Weitz, Bob Wilhelm

University of Nebraska Board of Regents: Policies, Acts, and Other Materials

The University of Nebraska Five-Year Strategy: Trust, Predictability, and Positive Outcomes for Nebraskans

In February 2020, the newly named president of the University of Nebraska system, Ted Carter, gathered a diverse 28-member team of students, faculty, staff, and administrators to help chart the path forward for Nebraska’s public university. The team’s goal: At a time of great change in higher education, lay out a vision for what the future should look like for the University of Nebraska.

Broad themes quickly emerged, including student access and success, excellence in teaching and research, diversity and inclusion, partnerships, and fiscal effectiveness. Then COVID-19 …

Language And Identity: Multilingual Immigrant Learners In South Africa, Saloshna Vandeyar, Theresa Catalano

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

Increased multilingualism and mobility have witnessed an increased focus on multilingual immigrant learners. This study aims to help educators understand experiences of immigrant students in South Africa that relate to language and identity by comparing such experiences across three different school settings: an urban school with a high (Black) immigrant and indigenous population, a former Indian school, and a former White school. Drawing on semi-structured interviews from a larger case study, this study makes visible the immigrant learner experience in multilingual settings in which xenophobic conditions arise. The findings reveal similarities as well as differences in individual identity construction and …

Nebline, August 2020

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Be an Active Family with Outdoor Activities

EXTENSION OFFICE OPEN

Recipes of the month

What You Need to Know About Having a Well Drilled

Almost Time for Fall Lawn Seeding

Chiggers: Itching in all the Wrong Places

Collect – Share – Practice: Family Emergency Communication Plans

August Blooming Perennial Flowers

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

Creating Reading Routines During the Summer Months

HEART OF 4-H

4-H Youth and Volunteers Sew 1,789 Hats and Masks for Bryan Health

4-H’ers Problem Solve Real-Life Situations at County Life Challenge

Virtual State Public Speaking Contest Results

State Fair to Focus on Showcasing …

The Batiandi Family: 八天地, Jane Li

Zea E-Books Collection

故事梗概

小说讲述了李氏家族一支的六代人近一个半世纪的经历 传奇。 书中的各个历史阶段的李氏家族主人公们在人生的道路 上寻找着自我和家族的位置。有时他们为了家族的利益和荣 耀，抓住机遇，创造了一时的辉煌；有时他们听天由命，顺 应历史大潮，甘于普通人的生活。

作者：熙福

The novel tells the story of six generations of the Li family for nearly a century and a half. The protagonists of the Li family at various historical stages in the book are looking for themselves and their family's position on the road of life. Sometimes they seize opportunities and create temporary brilliance for the benefit and glory of their family; sometimes they resign themselves to fate, follow the tide of history, and be content with the lives of ordinary people.

Detection Of Food Proteins In Human Serum Using Mass Spectrometry Methods, Abigail S. Burrows

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

Allergenic peanut proteins are highly resistant to digestion and are detectable by immunoassays after gastrointestinal digestion. The application of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) methods for in vivo detection of peptides originating from allergenic food proteins has not been thoroughly studied. The aim of this work was to develop an in vivo detection method for peanut proteins in serum using LC-MS/MS. The method(s) were validated by analyzing subject serum collected after peanut consumption.

Three de-complexation strategies were evaluated including (1) MS acquisition settings (i.e. inclusion, exclusion lists), (2) commercial depletion kits, and (3) organic solvent fractionation by discovery LC-MS/MS. Overall, …

Effects Of The "Write Sounds" Program On Handwriting And Phonics Skills, Pam Bazis

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Reading and writing rely on related foundational literacy skills (e.g., phonological processing, phonological memory, phonemic awareness; Brooks et al., 2011; Graham & Hebert, 2010, 2011; Sanders et al., 2018). Therefore, students struggling with reading often have writing problems, including handwriting (Kandel et al., 2017; Sanders, Berninger, & Abbott, 2018). It is often difficult to determine the source of writing difficulties as they could come from uncertainty in how to form the graphemes, poor spelling skills, or organizational deficits (Berninger et al., 2008). This study aimed to determine the usability, feasibility, and promise of an integrated handwriting intervention on 33 students …

Effects Of Informational Text Instruction For Students With Or At-Risk For Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis, Mackenzie Burk

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to investigate the impact of informational writing interventions on informational text writing outcomes for 4^th to 12^th graders with or at-risk for disabilities. Informational text writing is heavily used in daily lives and not enough attention is brought to how the informational text writing is taught. A total of nine studies with 39 effects sizes were included. The studies included were coded by the first author and a graduate research assistant for specific design features (e.g., age, interventionist, dosage, teacher effects). The results indicated that informational writing instruction had positive impacts on …

Antiracism Toolkit For Allies

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

While a growing awareness of racial disparities has resulted in a groundswell of support for inclusivity in scholarly publishing, we believe that the resulting initiatives would be more effective if our professional associations were able to provide training materials to help transform our workplaces and organizational cultures. As evidence of the interest and need, the project leaders of this guide have been contacted by individuals across scholarly publishing asking for resources about how to replicate workplace equity groups, what to do in cases of discrimination or microaggressions, and how to begin conversations about race. In support of necessary change, the …

The Synthesis Of Jazz And Chinese Folk Songs As A Model For Jazz Pedagogy In China, Runkun Li

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

This document presents a method of jazz instruction that synthesizes elements of the jazz language with traditional Chinese folk songs. This research first analyzes the characteristics of Chinese folk songs, such as the melodies, rhythms, and pentatonic features. An overview of Chinese jazz history indicates that the lack of resources, educational opportunities, and differences in cultural music performance practice contribute to the stunted growth of jazz education in China. Since Chinese folk songs are pervasive in Chinese culture, they offer an appropriate source on which to apply idiomatic jazz elements, such as swing feel, chromaticism, enclosures, blue notes, syncopations, anticipations, …

Rugby League As A Televised Product In The United States Of America, Mike Morris

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Professional Projects

Rugby league is a form of rugby that is more similar to American football than its more globally popular cousin rugby union. This similarity to the United States of America’s most popular sport, that country’s appetite for sport, and its previous acceptance of foreign sports products makes rugby league an attractive product for American media outlets to present and promote.

Rugby league’s history as a working-class sport in England and Australia will appeal to American consumers hungry for grit and authenticity from their favorite athletes and teams. Established coverage of English soccer has paved the way for rugby league media …

From Erotic Conquest To The Ravishing Other: Imperial Intercourse In Shakespeare's Drama And Anglo-Spanish Rivalry, Eder Jaramillo

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation examines how shifts in Anglo-Spanish relations from attraction to fear fashioned early modern cross-cultural encounters in imperialist terms. In discussion with recent inter-imperial studies of Mediterranean rivalries, I argue that as Anglo-Spanish relations engaged in what I refer to as imperial intercourse, one country’s expansionist ambitions become a double-edged sword, namely as said country is subsequently haunted by the threat of invasion from other rivals. This dissertation focuses on dramatic and colonialist texts representing the threat of invasion in the trope of the ravishing Other—a term with a play on words that illustrates the shift in …

His And Hers: Gender-Specific Design In Mid-Twentieth Century North America Through Film And Television, Morgan O'Shaughnessy

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

The built environment exists as a variety of ‘spaces’ which are constructed by, and for, the people who occupy them. What is the relationship between social constructs of gender and our built environment in the 20^th century? How does film and television representing the mid-20^th century exemplify this relationship? The overall theme of this topic will include a positive relationship between social gender constructs and our built environment. Through the exploration of select film and television, this study attempts to answer the question of how gender-focused design reinforces traditional gender roles in North American society in mid-20^{th …}

Estimating Age From 2d And 3d Imaging Of Skeletal Remains: An Assessment Of Reliability Using The Medial Clavicle, Sarah Ghannam

Department of Anthropology: Theses and Student Research

Research into the utility of digital imagery in conducting remote forensic analyses, or analyses of remains occurring outside of the laboratory, is necessary for the progression of forensic anthropology as new technologies arise. This research assesses the utility of 2D photographs and 3D scans in the assessment of the stage of fusion of the medial clavicular epiphysis. In this study, six participants analyzed 44 physical clavicles, photographs, and 3D scans to determine if stage of fusion can be reliably assessed using digital imagery. The participants either had extensive anthropological experience or no experience, which allows for assessment regarding how experience …

Labour Of Love: An Open Access Manifesto For Freedom, Integrity, And Creativity In The Humanities And Interpretive Social Sciences, Andrea E. Pia, Simon Batterbury, Agnieszka Joniak-Lüthi, Marcel Laflamme, Gerda Wielander, Filippo M. Zerilli, Melissa Nolas, Jon Schubert, Nicholas Loubere, Ivan Franceschini, Casey Walsh, Agathe Mora, Christos Varvantakis

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

Over the next decade, Open Access (OA) is likely to become the default in scholarly publishing. Yet, as commercial publishers develop new models for capturing revenue (and as policy initiatives like Plan S remain reluctant to challenge their centrality), researchers, librarians, and other concerned observers are beginning to articulate a set of values that critically engages the industry-driven project of broadening access to specialist scholarship. While alternative genealogies exist, conversations about OA in the Global North have largely been concerned with the model of the STEM disciplines, lately shifting to focus on the development of infrastructural fixes that transcend traditional …

An Applied Ecology Of Fear Framework: Linking Theory To Conservation Practice, Kaitlyn M. Gaynor, Michael J. Cherry, Sophie L. Gilbert, Michael T. Kohl, Courtney L. Larson, Thomas M. Newsome, Laura R. Prugh, Justin P. Suraci, Julie K. Young, Justine A. Smith

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Research on the ecology of fear has highlighted the importance of perceived risk from predators and humans in shaping animal behavior and physiology, with potential demographic and ecosystem-wide consequences. Despite recent conceptual advances and potential management implications of the ecology of fear, theory and conservation practices have rarely been linked. Many challenges in animal conservation may be alleviated by actively harnessing or compensating for risk perception and risk avoidance behavior in wild animal populations. Integration of the ecology of fear into conservation and management practice can contribute to the recovery of threatened populations, human–wildlife conflict mitigation, invasive species management, maintenance …

Open Access Uptake By Universities Worldwide, Nicolas Robinson-Garcia, Rodrigo Costas, Thed N. Van Leeuwen

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

The implementation of policies promoting the adoption of an open science (OS) culture must be accompanied by indicators that allow monitoring the uptake of such policies and their potential effects on research publishing and sharing practices. This study presents indicators of open access (OA) at the institutional level for universities worldwide. By combining data from Web of Science, Unpaywall and the Leiden Ranking disambiguation of institutions, we track OA coverage of universities' output for 963 institutions. This paper presents the methodological challenges, conceptual discrepancies and limitations and discusses further steps needed to move forward the discussion on fostering OA and …

Perioperative And Oncological Outcomes Following Minimally Invasive Versus Open Pancreaticoduodenectomy For Pancreatic Duct Adenocarcinoma, Rui Sun, Jiawen Yu, Yifan Zhang

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background The outcomes of minimally invasive pancreaticoduodenectomy have not been adequately compared with those of open pancreaticoduodenectomy in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. We performed a meta‐analysis to compare the perioperative and oncological outcomes of these two pancreaticoduodenectomy procedures specifically in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Methods Before this study was initiated, a specific protocol was designed and has been registered in PROSEPRO (ID: CRD42020149438). Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were systematically searched for studies published between January 1994 and October 2019. …

“Why Can’T This Work Here?”: Social Innovation And Collective Impact In A Micropolitan Community, Sarah J. Zuckerman

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Cross-sector partnerships, and collective impact, in particular, have gained increased attention as community-level strategies for tackling wicked, complex, social challenges such as child maltreatment. To date, there has been limited independent research on collective impact, especially in non-metropolitan areas with limited capacity. This case study examines the conditions that supported the development of a collective impact effort in a non-metropolitan community to address child wellbeing. It finds that small communities offer strengths that support collective impact as a social innovation as well as challenges that create vulnerabilities to outside influence that may stymie the development of locally developed social innovations.

Wpa News 112 (2020), World Pheasant Association

Galliformes Specialist Group and Affiliated Societies: Newsletters

WPA News (Summer 2020), number 112

Published by the World Pheasant Association