Digital Commons Network^™

Nebraska Politics And The Environment: Framing Political Communication In The State Of Nebraska In Comparison To National Level Discourse, Samuel Taylor

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Environmental public policy has seen little change on the national level in recent decades due to Congressional gridlock. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have entrenched their opposing viewpoints, and their communication on the topic utilizes issue frames to help sway the public to see their side. On the Republican side, these issue frames take the form of the “scientific uncertainty” and “economic consequences” frames. This study, based on issue framing, surveys the communication of Nebraska’s Republican State Senators to determine if they utilize the same issue frames or if they diverge from their national counterparts. By analyzing recent …

High-Risk Sexual Behavior In Nebraska Adolescents; History, Risk Factors, And Mediation, Kiya Hudson

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

High-risk sexual behavior is a public health crisis that impacts adolescents at staggering rates. In Nebraska, rates of sexually transmitted infection (STI) and sexually transmitted disease (STD) cases have been on the rise over the last four years. The problem this paper addresses is the need to fill in the gaps in knowledge surrounding high-risk sexual behavior in Nebraska adolescents. It is important to address these gaps in knowledge because currently, we are failing our adolescents when it comes to providing them with all of the necessary skills, information, and tools to lead a healthy life. When we know how …

What Would You Be Feeling? An Exploration Into The Relationship Between Emotions And Bystander Intervention To Reduce Sexual Assault, Alec Miller

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Bystander intervention is thought to be an important strategy to reduce sexual assault toward women, and identifying predictors of bystander intervention may be key to developing effective protocols to increase bystander intervention in sexual risk situations. The dominant theoretical models of bystander intervention in the field primarily focus on cognitive decision-making while there has been less focus on emotional reactions as predictors of bystander intervention. Yet emotions, especially negative emotions, can motivate behavior that may relieve the negative emotions that were provoked by witnessing sexual assault. Thus, the purpose of this study was to fill these critical gaps in the …

Male Hormonal Contraceptives: Associations Between Students’ Perception Of And Trust In Usage And Endorsement Of Gender Norms, Zoe Keese

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

As clinical trials continue to test the safety and efficacy of new male contraceptive options, evaluating attitudes towards them is critical in expanding access to reproductive healthcare. The present study sought to investigate the relationship of endorsement of traditional masculine and feminine gender norms with attitudes towards male hormonal contraceptive pills. Using a Qualtrics survey, 45 participants rated their attitudes towards different measures, including attitude towards the male contraceptive pill, willingness to use male hormonal contraception, and endorsement of traditional masculine and feminine gender norms. The results of the survey indicated that there was a significant positive correlation between endorsing …

Syndemics And Social Factors: Infectious Disease Patterns Within The Population Of People Experiencing Homelessness In The United States, Kathleen Berzonsky

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Individuals experiencing homelessness are at increased risk of suffering from infectious diseases. This is due to a number of social factors and healthcare disparities, as well as the idea of syndemics, by which diseases cluster together to worsen disease burden. Current intervention strategies approach treatment from a post-infection perspective, but reducing transmission rates of infectious diseases within the population of people experiencing homelessness will require a shift in the healthcare framework. The issue of people experiencing homelessness must be viewed through a biosocial lens, focusing on preventative care and treatment. I provide an overview of the social factors governing infectious …

Association Of Excessive Precipitation And Agricultural Land Use With Honey Bee Colony Performance, Gabriela M. Quinlan, Rufus Isaacs, Clint R. V. Otto, Autumn H. Smart, Meghan O. Milbrath

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Context From landscape variables to weather, multiple environmental factors affect honey bees and other pollinators. Detailed honey bee colony assessments in a variety of landscape and weather conditions offer the opportunity to develop a mechanistic understanding of how landscape composition, configuration, and weather are associated with colony nutrition, demography, and productivity.

Objectives Our objective was to test if weather and landscape characteristics (e.g., agricultural versus forested land use) are associated with different honey bee colony outcomes (foraged nectar mass, foraged pollen mass, pupal population size, and adult population size change).

Methods We collected detailed colony measurements on over 450 honey …

Disturbances In Primary Visual Processing As A Function Of Healthy Aging, Seth D. Springer, Tara D. Erker, Mikki Schantell, Hallie J. Johnson, Madelyn P. Willett, Hannah J. Okelberry, Maggie P. Rempe, Anthony Wilson

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

For decades, visual entrainment paradigms have been widely used to investigate basic visual processing in healthy individuals and those with neurological disorders. While healthy aging is known to be associated with alterations in visual processing, whether this extends to visual entrainment responses and the precise cortical regions involved is not fully understood. Such knowledge is imperative given the recent surge in interest surrounding the use of flicker stimulation and entrainment in the context of identifying and treating Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In the current study, we examined visual entrainment in eighty healthy aging adults using magnetoencephalography (MEG) and a 15 Hz …

Spectral Features Of Non-Nutritive Suck Dynamics In Extremely Preterm Infants, Steven M. Barlow, Chunxiao Liao, Jaehoon Lee, Seungman Kim, Jill L. Maron, Dongli Song, Priya Jegatheesan, Balaji Govindaswami, Bernard J. Wilson, Kushal Bhakta, John P. Cleary

United States Public Health Resources

Background: Non-nutritive suck (NNS) is used to promote ororhythmic patterning and assess oral feeding readiness in preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). While time domain measures of NNS are available in real time at cribside, our understanding of suck pattern generation in the frequency domain is limited. The aim of this study is to model the development of NNS in the frequency domain using Fourier and machine learning (ML) techniques in extremely preterm infants (EPIs).

Methods: A total of 117 EPIs were randomized to a pulsed or sham orocutaneous intervention during tube feedings 3 times/day …

An Evidence-Based Design, Translation, And Implementation Of A Hypertension Health Education Pamphlet, Katie Patton

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Health equity is the opportunity for all to attain their highest level of health. This includes creating understandable educational resources that aid in reducing risk and controlling symptoms of disease. A singular piece of written education material will not be effective among all in a broad population due to the many different backgrounds in which people originate. While this may seem obvious, there is a wide gap between knowledge and action. This gap leads to health disparities, or differences in health status between people that are related to social or demographic factors such as race, gender, income, or geographic region …

With Liberty And Justice For The Wealthy: The Criminalization Of The American Poor, Ashlyn Dickmeyer

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The last phrase of the Pledge of Allegiance states “with liberty and justice for all”. However, not everyone has access to this liberty and justice. Liberty and justice can be bought in this country for a price, and those who can’t afford to pay it are often left in the hands of those who can. One of the most prominent ways to see this is by analyzing the criminal justice system. Despite clauses in the Fourteenth Amendment and court cases like Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) establishing and upholding that the poor are entitled to equal treatment within the criminal justice …

Evidence For A Causal Role For Escherichia Coli Strains Identified As Adherent-Invasive (Aiec) In Intestinal Inflammation, Hatem Kittana, Joao Carlos Gomes-Neto, Kari Heck, Anthony Juritsch, Jason Sughroue, Yibo Xian, Sara Mantz, Rafael R. Segura Muñoz, Liz Cody, Robert J. Schmaltz, Christopher L. Anderson, Rodney A. Moxley, Jesse M. Hostetter, Samodha C. Fernando, Jennifer Clarke, Stephen D. Kachman, Clayton E. Cressler, Andrew K. Benson, Jens Walter

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Enrichment of adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) has been consistently detected in subsets of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. Although some AIEC strains cause colitis in animal models, these studies did not systematically compare AIEC with non-AIEC strains, and causal links between AIEC and disease are still disputed. Specifically, it remains unclear whether AIEC shows enhanced pathogenicity compared to that of commensal E. coli found in the same ecological microhabitat and if the in vitro phenotypes used to classify strains as AIEC are pathologically relevant. Here, we utilized in vitro phenotyping and a murine model of intestinal inflammation to systematically compare …

Emotionally Concussed: The Impact Of Pre-Existing Anxiety On Concussion Recovery, Grace Szucs

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Recent advances in concussion research have shed light on numerous mental and physiological factors that may complicate concussion recovery. Systematic reviews of the existing literature have found that premorbid mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety may be a predictor of complicated concussion recovery, but studies have not had an appropriate design to isolate anxiety or depression as a predictor of lengthened recovery. This study investigated if athletes with a history of premorbid anxiety and/or depression would have a longer time of recovery than athletes without this history. Male and female athletes from a Division-1 athletic department treated for …

Public Distrust, Political Participation, And The Role Of Student Government, Christine Trinh

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The turn of the 21st century presented a government led by public distrust. More and more people are growing skeptical of the government due to its previous actions, as well as overall longstanding disdain and misinformation, passed on through generations. Like many other fields, political participation is expected to be heavily influenced by rising public distrust in the government. However, there is hope in mitigating public distrust to increase political participation. Previous studies have proven civic engagement, specifically in student government at the collegiate level, leads to creating higher public trust and a wealth of political understanding and knowledge. We …

Systematic Review Of Reflection Spectroscopy-Based Skin Carotenoid Assessment In Children, Saima Hasnin, Dipti Dev, Taren Swindle, Susan B. Sisson, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Tirna Purkait, Shari C. Clifton, Jocelyn Dixon, Virginia C. Stage

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Assessing children’s skin carotenoid score (SCS) using reflection spectroscopy (RS) is a non-invasive, widely used method to approximate fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC). The aims for the current review were to (1) identify distributions of SCS across demographic groups, (2) identify potential non-dietary correlates for RS-based SCS, (3) summarize the validity and reliability of RSbased SCS assessment, and (4) conduct meta-analyses of studies examining the correlation between RS-based SCS with FVC. A literature search in eight databases in June 2021 resulted in 4880 citations and peer-reviewed publications written in English that investigated children’s (2–10 years old) SCS using RS. We …

Social Science Researchers' Perceptions Of Inclusive Research Practices For Transgender And Gender Diverse Communities, Christen Seyl

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Social sciences research has historically excluded or marginalized of transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people. Although TGD affirming research materials can help improve relationships with TGD communities, these sorts of materials are not standard practice. The present study aimed to determine what factors influence social science researchers’ (SSR) willingness to incorporate affirming practices into their research. We hypothesized that more culturally competent SSR will view TGD affirming research materials as more affirming and be more willing to use similar materials in their work. In this study, SSR (n = 32) viewed and rated affirmation and willingness to use five affirming …

Advertising Sports Nutrition Practices To Adolescent Athletes: A Poster Series, Emma Hansen

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Sports nutrition is an important aspect of an athlete’s training and improvement, yet it is often overlooked when it comes to younger competitors. Four posters were created with the intent of providing adolescent athletes, their parents, and their coaches with information about important topics in sports nutrition including a general overview of nutrition goals, hydration strategies, recovery nutrition, and nutritional considerations for vegetarian and vegan youth athletes. The posters were designed to appeal to adolescents from the ages of 13 to 18, and each poster covers its designated topic in detail appropriate for middle and high school-aged athletes. The accompanying …

Proximate Composition, Retained Water, And Bacterial Load For Two Sizes Of Hybrid Catfish (Ictalurus Furcatus × Ictalurus Punctatus) Fillets At Different Process Steps, Manirul Haque, Juan L. Silva

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

The catfish processors in the US are required to state the maximum percentage of retained water content (RWC) on the product label. The objectives of our study were to quantify the RWC of processed hybrid catfish fillets from proximate composition and the bacterial load at different processing points. Water content was determined using oven-dry (AOAC950.46,1990) and Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Protein and fat content were determined by NIR spectrometer. Psychrotrophic (PPC) and Total Coliform (TCC) counts were enumerated using 3MPetrifilmTM. The fillets’ overall baseline water, protein, and fat content were 77.8, 16.7 and 5.7%, respectively. The RWC of final fresh and …

Blind Luck: A Narrative Exploration Of French Sayings And Superstitions, Isabella North

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The goal of this Honors Thesis was to explore French superstitions and idioms through a fictional story. To facilitate the inclusion of a range of sayings and superstitious beliefs, the short story “Jamais Deux Sans Trois” is a borderline paranormal piece of fiction which is meant to call into question how the reader interprets the world. The story, written in French, revolves around a pair of best friends and their experiences with a series of events which may or may not be explained through the lens of superstitions, depending on which character is asked at which point in the story. …

The Center For Agricultural Profitability Contributes To Collaborative Adaptive Management Project At The Barta Brothers Ranch, Jay Parsons, Mitchell B. Stephenson, Kyle Martens

Cornhusker Economics

In 2020, the University of Nebraska's Barta Brothers Ranch (BBR) launched a collaborative adaptive management (CAM) project to address risks and uncertainties related to grassland management in the Sandhills. The project brings together UNL faculty engaged in research, extension and teaching across multiple disciples, departments and geographic locations. All three Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources (IANR) District Research, Extension, and Education Centers are involved the project (Eastern Nebraska, Panhandle, and West Central) along with three East Campus based centers: the Center for Grassland Studies, the Center for Resilience in Agricultural Working Landscapes, and the Center for Agricultural Profitability housed …

Functional Annotation Of The Animal Genomes: An Integrated Annotation Resource For The Horse, Sichong Peng, Anna R. Dahlgren, Callum G. Donnelly, Erin N. Hales, Jessica Lynn Petersen, Rebecca R. Bellone, Ted Kalbfleisch, Carrie J. Finno

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The genomic sequence of the horse has been available since 2009, providing critical resources for discovering important genomic variants regarding both animal health and population structures. However, to fully understand the functional implications of these variants, detailed annotation of the horse genome is required. Due to the limited availability of functional data for the equine genome, as well as the technical limitations of short-read RNAseq, existing annotation of the equine genome contains limited information about important aspects of gene regulation, such as alternate isoforms and regulatory elements, which are either not transcribed or transcribed at a very low level. To …

Pan-Arctic Soil Moisture Control On Tundra Carbon Sequestration And Plant Productivity, Donatella Zona, Peter M. Lafleur, Koen Hufkens, Beniamino Gioli, Barbara Bailey, George Burba, Eugénie S. Euskirchen, Jennifer D. Watts, Kyle A. Arndt, Mary Farina, John S. Kimball, Martin Heimann, Mathias Göckede, Martijn Pallandt, Torben R. Christensen, Mikhail Mastepanov, Efrén López-Blanco, Albertus J. Dolman, Roisin Commane, Charles E. Miller, Josh Hashemi, Lars Kutzbach, David Holl, Julia Boike, Christian Wille, Torsten Sachs, Aram Kalhori, Elyn R. Humphreys, Oliver Sonnentag, Gesa Meyer, Gabriel H. Gosselin, Philip Marsh, Walter C. Oechel

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

Long-term atmospheric CO₂ concentration records have suggested a reduction in the positive effect of warming on high-latitude carbon uptake since the 1990s. A variety of mechanisms have been proposed to explain the reduced net carbon sink of northern ecosystems with increased air temperature, including water stress on vegetation and increased respiration over recent decades. However, the lack of consistent long-term carbon flux and in situ soil moisture data has severely limited our ability to identify the mechanisms responsible for the recent reduced carbon sink strength. In this study, we used a record of nearly 100 site-years of eddy covariance …

Center For Grassland Studies, March 2023

Center for Grassland Studies: Newsletters

Contents

New Assistant Director for The Center for Grassland Studies, David Wedin

Center for Grassland Studies Policy Advisory Committee

Director's Column by Jerry Volesky (Interim Director)

Congratulations December 2022 Graduates

New Grazing Lands Ecologist for Grassland Studies, Nic McMillan

New Administrative Associate for Grassland Studies, Ashley Branting

Apply Now for CGS Scholarships and Assistantship, https://grassland.unl.edu/grassland-systems/grazing-livestock-scholarships

New Guidelines for Reducing Eastern Redcedar in Grasslands by Dillon Fogarty

Year One Barta Brothers Ranch Collaborative Adaptive Management Update by Craig Allen

Nebraska Grazing Conference, August 8-9, 2023 by Daren Redfearn

Forty Years Reflection on Grassland Fire Weather by David Wedin

Nebraska Youth Range …

Predicting Mobility Using Limited Data During Early Stages Of A Pandemic, Michael T. Lash, S. Sajeesh, Özgür M. Araz

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed consumer behavior substantially. In this study, we explore the drivers of consumer mobility in several metropolitan areas in the United States under the perceived risks of COVID-19. We capture multiple dimensions of perceived risk using local and national cases and death counts of COVID-19, along with real-time Google Trends data for personal protective equipment (PPE). While Google Trends data are popular inputs in many studies, the risk of multicollinearity escalates with the addition of more relevant terms. Therefore, multicollinearity-alleviating methods are needed to appropriately leverage information provided by Google Trends data. We develop and utilize …

Virtual Training In Child Welfare, Penny Putnam Collins

QIC-Takes

Child welfare offices and training centers had to transition their classroom instructor-led training to virtual platforms when the pandemic hit. Some training systems were already using virtual platforms or asynchronous learning tools to deliver training content, but no agency was 100% virtual pre-pandemic. The transition was sudden and there was a steep learning curve for some trainers. Changes made when the pandemic hit may now be the new normal. This QICTake highlights what our QIC-WD sites and team members experienced as child welfare agencies shifted to, and are now embracing, virtual training. What We’re Seeing Finding the Right Tools for …

Socioeconomic Factors In The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Malignant Melanoma In Hispanic Vs. Non-Hispanic Patients: A National Cancer Database (Ncdb) Study, Julia Griffin, Sarah J. Aurit, Timothy Malouff, Peter Silberstein

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Background: The incidence of melanoma is rapidly increasing in the United States. There is a paucity of research of how melanoma affects the Hispanic population, the quickest growing population.

Objective: To identify and understand how socioeconomic factors affect a Hispanic patients health outcome and treatment of malignant melanoma with comparisons to white, non-Hispanic (WNH) patients.

Methods: A retrospective study utilizing the National Cancer Database (NCDB) was completed investigating Hispanic patients (n=2282) and WNH patients (n=190,469) with Stage I-IV malignant melanoma. Outcome and socioeconomic variables were identified and compared across groups. Data was analyzed with SPSS and SAS …

Estimating The Prevalence Of Two Or More Diseases Using Outcomes From Multiplex Group Testing, Md S. Warasi, Joshua M. Tebbs, Christopher S. Mcmahan, Christopher R. Bilder

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

When screening a population for infectious diseases, pooling individual specimens (e.g., blood, swabs, urine, etc.) can provide enormous cost savings when compared to testing specimens individually. In the biostatistics literature, testing pools of specimens is commonly known as group testing or pooled testing. Although estimating a population-level prevalence with group testing data has received a large amount of attention, most of this work has focused on applications involving a single disease, such as human immunodeficiency virus. Modern methods of screening now involve testing pools and individuals for multiple diseases simultaneously through the use of multiplex assays. Hou et al. (2017, …

Penguins Go Parallel: A Grammar Of Graphics Framework For Generalized Parallel Coordinate Plots, Susan Vanderplas, Yawei Ge, Antony Unwin, Heike Hofmann

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Parallel Coordinate Plots (PCP) are a valuable tool for exploratory data analysis of high-dimensional numerical data. The use of PCPs is limited when working with categorical variables or a mix of categorical and continuous variables. In this article, we propose Generalized Parallel Coordinate Plots (GPCP) to extend the ability of PCPs from just numeric variables to dealing seamlessly with a mix of categorical and numeric variables in a single plot. In this process we find that existing solutions for categorical values only, such as hammock plots or parsets become edge cases in the new framework. By focusing on individual observations …

Nebline, March/April 2023

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Youth-Led Photovoice Project Gives Refugees Opportunity to Explore Mental Health by Emily Gratopp

Upcoming Photovoice Exhibits

Recipe of the Month: Baharat (Middle East Spice Blend) by Emily Gratopp

Early Season Disease Control in the Home Orchard by Sarah Browning

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

2023 Chemigation Training

Farm Estate Planning Workshop, March 7

2023 Lincoln Early Childhood Conference, Saturday, March 25

Two Lancaster 4-H’ers Participated in National 4-H Congress

4-H Horse Judging Team at Nationals

Teen Council 4-H’ers Team Up to Lead Lock-In

Heart of 4-H Volunteer Award: Trevor Kauer and Bethany Bettenhausen

4-H Club Gives Youth With …

The Casnr L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter: Learning Innovation Network For K-12 Schools, Volume 2, Edition 3, March 2023, Bailey Feit, Tammy Mittelstet

CASNR L.I.N.K.S. Newsletter

The purpose of this L.I.N.K.S. newsletter is to provide a monthly update of opportunities and resources for K-12 schools to connect with the University of Nebraska's CASNR Food, Energy, Water, and Societal Systems (FEWS²) programs and partners.

Included in this edition:

K-12 curriculum and resources

Elementary school resources

Middle school resources

High school resources

STEM educational trailers

Career exploration: Pathways for students who like animals and insects

Teacher and student opportunities

Registration open now for Cultivando Caminos

CASNR six interest areas: Analytic investigators, health system innovators, food system futurists, environmental stewards, entrepreneurial designers, community leaders

Environmental careers spotlight: Wildlife careers, …

Proceedings Of The 50th Annual Meeting, Southern Soybean Disease Workers (March 1-2, 2023, Pensacola Beach, Florida), Kiersten A. Wise, Ian Small, Tessie Wilkerson, Danise Beadle, Trey Price, Tom W. Allen

Southern Soybean Disease Workers: Conference Proceedings

Southern United States Soybean Disease Loss Estimates for 2022. TW Allen, K Bissonnette, CA, Bradley, TR Faske, Z Grabau, T Isakeit, RC Kemerait, A Koehler, D Langston, J Lofton, JD Mueller, GB Padgett, PP Price, EJ Sikora, IM Small, R Vann, and H Young

Reflecting and Looking Forward: Perspectives from “Legends” and “Fresh Faces” of the SSDW (Moderators: Kiersten Wise and Ian Small)

The Implementation of a National Response to a New Soybean Pathogen, Phakopsora pachyrhizi, in North America. J Marois

Fungicide Resistance in Cercospora sojina: How Did We Get Here and What’s Next? CA Bradley

Exploring Mechanisms …