Digital Commons Network^™

Humor, Megan Paul

Umbrella Summaries

What is humor?

There are numerous definitions of humor in the research literature, with significant variety among them. A relatively simple definition of humor is something that is said or done to elicit levity or laughter (Dubinsky, Yammarino, & Jolson, 1995). Examples of the more complex aspects of other definitions of humor include expression, recognition, or appreciation of it; the purpose, nature, or target of it; and attitudes toward it. One way of summarizing some of the different perspectives is to define humor as being either (a) positive or negative and (b) directed inward or outward (Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray, …

Investigation Of Rapid Diagnostic Tests For Characterization Of Mycobacterium Avium Complex (Mac) From Various Isolates And Identification Of Virulence Factors Of Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus (Prrsv) In Vitro, Claudia Antonika

UCARE: Research Products

Chapter 1

Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) has become one of the major problems in public health and livestock. Members of MAC, such as M. avium subsp paratuberculosis (MAP) and M. avium subsp hominissuis (MAH), are responsible for many opportunistic infections and the loss of livestock. MAP is economically significant to the beef and dairy industries because it is the etiologic agent of Johnes’s disease, a chronic and fatal enteritis in ruminants. Tracing the infection sources of MAC could be difficult since it infects many types of hosts in the natural environment. Furthermore, there is less information known about MAP pathogenicity …

[Ne]W Arch Hall | Building Inclusion & Equity Into Architecture Education, Jati Zunaibi

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

The purpose of this thesis book is not to play into the historically white-male-centric hierarchical system that the collegiate institution has established for architecture. The objective of this text is to provide a critical reflection of our academies through the lens of a minority emerging architect (raised by two former practicing architects that transitioned into academia, spent eight years in school with countless leadership experiences, and nationally recognized as a scholar). Most of the white text contents herein are appropriate for scholastic study, but, I would encourage readers to follow along with the grey and bracketed text as well. Although …

User: Drone, Abigail L. Nelson

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Though industrial technology furthered the possibilities of architecture and, in the the case of the automobile, redefined architectural principles and promenade, it also influenced a consumerist-driven, technology-obsessed society. Cedric Price and Reynor Banham saw great promise in the implementation of technology within architecture; what they overlooked, though, was the tangible exhaust it brought: electronic waste (e-waste). The current e-waste situation in the New Territories of Hong Kong poses a case study which allows technology, specifically that of drones, to interact with architecture.

For this thesis, drones, in reaction to the e-waste case study, operate an e-waste handling facility alongside humans. …

Small Mode Volume Plasmonic Film-Coupled Nanostar Resonators, Negar Charchi, Ying Li, Margaret Huber, Elyahb Allie Kwizera, Xiaohua Huang, Christos Argyropoulos, Thang Hoang

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Confining and controlling light in extreme subwavelength scales are tantalizing tasks. In this work, we report a study of individual plasmonic film-coupled nanostar resonators where polarized plasmonic optical modes are trapped in ultrasmall volumes. Individual gold nanostars, separated from a flat gold film by a thin dielectric spacer layer, exhibit a strong light confinement between the sub-10 nm volume of the nanostar's tips and the film. Through dark field scattering measurements of many individual nanostars, a statistical observation of the scattered spectra is obtained and compared with extensive simulation data to reveal the origins of the resonant peaks. We observe …

Fire Monitoring Handbook

United States National Park Service: Publications

Fire is a powerful and enduring force that has had, and will continue to have, a profound influence on National Park Service (NPS) lands. Fire management decisions within the National Park Service require information on fire behavior and on the effects of fire on park resources. With good reason, the public is holding park management increasingly accountable, especially in the area of fire management. Federal and state agencies are instituting progressively more stringent guidelines for burning, monitoring, and evaluation. The impetus behind these guidelines and the purpose of this handbook are to ensure that management objectives are being met, to …

Language, Motor, And Cognitive Outcomes Of Toddlers Who Were Born Preterm, Diane Frome Loeb, Caitlin M. Imgrund, Jaehoon Lee, Steven Barlow

Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior: Faculty Publications

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the language, motor, and cognitive abilities of children born preterm in four categories: (a) healthy preterm infants, (b) infants of diabetic mothers, (c) infants with respiratory distress syndrome, and (d) infants with chronic lung disease when the children were 30 months, uncorrected age. Comorbidity of language, motor, and cognitive skills was examined, along with predictor variables.

Method: A total of 148 children who were born preterm participated and were assessed using bivariate tests and logistic regression on standardized assessment scores.

Results: Controlling for the children’s gestational age (GA), overall language ability …

Building Adaptive Capacity In Tribal Communities Of The Missouri River Basin To Manage Drought And Climate Extremes: A Case Study From The Wind River Indian Reservation, Crystal J. Stiles, Natalie Umphlett, Mitch Cottenoir

High Plains Regional Climate Center: Staff Publications

Native American peoples of the Northern and Central Plains have long endured harsh climate conditions, such as floods and droughts, and they possess valuable traditional knowledges that have enhanced their resilience to these extreme events. However, in recent times, limited capacity to adapt to a rapidly changing climate combined with a lack of resources have increased tribes’ vulnerability to climate extremes and their associated impacts. In response, a number of projects have been developed to assist tribes with their self-identified climate- and drought-related needs, particularly in the context of on-reservation decision-making. In this case study, we present an engagement strategy …

Growth: Expanding The Nature Of Cities, Collin R. Meusch

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

This thesis aims to define and explore why it is absolutely necessary for cities to accommodate higher densities of people and incorporate the natural environment within the built environment. As urban populations continue to grow at rapid rates, the threat of losing our ties to the natural environment looms on the horizon, but presents architects with an opportunity to help combat this problem. This thesis aims to critically examine strategies for rethinking the architecture of cities, strategies that include both accommodating higher numbers of people and presenting people with the opportunity for frequent exposure to nature within the context of …

The Nebraska Economy Responds To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Eric Thompson

Business in Nebraska

The Nebraska economy will contract in 2020 but the rate of decline will not be as rapid as nationwide. The economic structure of Nebraska is more focused on production and transportation than the national economy and less focused on hard-hit industries such as hospitality, entertainment, automobile parts and assembly, and oil production. Nebraska also may benefit from a higher quality workforce, which is better able to adapt to changing economic conditions.

Employment will drop by 2.4% in Nebraska in 2020, much less than the national rate of decline. Employment will rebound by 2.0% in 2021 and 1.4% in 2022. With …

A Social–Ecological Odyssey In Fisheries And Wildlife Management, Andrew K. Carlson, William W. Taylor, Melissa R. Cronin, Mitchell J. Eaton, Mark A. Kaemingk, Andrea J. Reid, Ashley Trudeau

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aldo Leopold, famous ecologist and “father” of North American wildlife management, once said, “These are two things that interest me: the relation of people to each other, and the relation of people to land” (Leopold 1947). Ever prescient, Leopold recognized that natural resource management is fundamentally about humans and their relationship with nature well before conservation became an established way of thinking, much less the bedrock of entire professions. Similarly, amid the Green Revolution to increase agricultural production, in part, through widespread use of pesticides, renowned environmentalist and journalist Rachel Carson noted that we are all “a part of nature, …

Critical Edition And Interpretative Analysis Of Música Para Orquesta De Vientos Y Percusión Op. 152 By Blas Emilio Atehortúa, Rubén Darío Gómez

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

This document presents a critical edition of the band piece called Música para Orquesta de Vientos y Percusión Op. 152 by Colombian composer Blas Emilio Atehortúa, as well as an interpretative analysis of it. Until today, the only original written material of the piece is a set of instrumental parts in manuscript form. The full score and any form of a reduced or condensed score are missing. Throughout the process of making the present critical edition, the author clarified and reconciled the original manuscript parts, create a complete full score, and produced an engraved set (parts and score).

This document …

Ten Questions Concerning Well-Being In The Built Environment, Sergio Altomonte, Joseph Allen, Philomena M. Bluyssen, Gail Brager, Lisa Heschong, Angela Loder, Stefano Schiavon, Jennifer A. Veitch, Lily M. Wang, Pawel Wargocki

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Well-being in the built environment is a topic that features frequently in building standards and certification schemes, in scholarly articles and in the general press. However, despite this surge in attention, there are still many questions on how to effectively design, measure, and nurture well-being in the built environment. Bringing together experts from academia and the building industry, this paper aims to demonstrate that the promotion of well-being requires a departure from conventional agendas. The ten questions and answers have been arranged to offer a range of perspectives on the principles and strategies that can better sustain the consideration of …

Using Bioinformatics Tools To Evaluate Potential Risks Of Food Allergy And To Predict Microbiome Functionality, Mohamed Abdelmoteleb

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

Novel foods and Genetically Engineered (GE) organisms are being developed for nutritional, industrial, and environmental applications. Dietary interventions have been used recently to mitigate methane emissions in ruminants. In this project, bioinformatics tools have been used to answer two main questions. The first question is the potential allergy risks for consumption of novel foods and GE organisms. The second question is the effects of dietary interventions on microbiome functionality related to methane production in ruminants.

To answer the first question, regulatory authorities in the United States and Europe now expect an evaluation of new proteins in novel foods or genetically …

Impact Of Cow Size And Validation Of An Electronic Feeder To Optimize Resources In Beef Production Systems, Robert L. Ziegler

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

Optimizing beef production systems is critical in the longevity of an enterprise. In a time of rapid change and innovation, there are increasingly more opportunities to improve efficiency of livestock production by taking advantage of new technologies. Furthermore, production environments vary drastically in all segments of the beef industry, which influence feed resource availability. Therefore, it is critical to realize the cow type that excels in a given production environment according to management objectives. To gain a better understanding of the optimal cow type in the Nebraska Sandhills, a retrospective analysis was conducted to evaluate increasing cow body weight (BW) …

Energy And Amino Acid Metabolism In Lactating Jersey Cows Consuming Feed Byproducts, Kyle Alvin Mclain

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

Animal protein byproducts are high bypass proteins commonly used in the dairy industry. These bypass proteins can escape the rumen to supply additional amino acids needed to support milk and protein yield. Two of the more popular animal protein byproducts used in the dairy industry are blood meal and hydrolyzed feather meal. In the first experiment, two flow meters were compared using headbox-style calorimeters. The objectives of the first study were to test mass flow meter (MFM) and volumetric flow meter (VFM) by measuring O₂ consumption and CO₂ production and to illustrate the effects of incomplete gas recovery …

Impact Of Diet And Quality Grade On Meat Quality Characteristics And Their Relationship To Oxidative Stress, Nicolas A. Bland

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

Marbling and tenderness in meat are some of the most impactful factors for the consumer eating experience. The cause of the relationship between marbling and tenderness is still unresolved. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding different types of processed corn, with or without distiller grains on oxidative stress, and how that relates to tenderness and shelf life of beef steaks of differing quality grades. Steers (n = 240) were finished on dry rolled corn (DRC), DRC + 30% dried distillers grains (DDGS), steam flaked corn (SFC), or SFC + 30% DDGS. Cattle were fed 10 …

Smrt Sequencing Of Paramecium Bursaria Chlorella Virus-1 Reveals Diverse Methylation Stability In Adenines Targeted By Restriction Modification Systems, Samantha R. Coy, Eric R. Gann, Spiridon E. Papoulis, Michael E. Holder, Nadim J. Ajami, Joseph F. Petrosino, Erik R. Zinser, James L. Van Etten, Steven W. Wilhelm

James Van Etten Publications

Chloroviruses (family Phycodnaviridae) infect eukaryotic, freshwater, unicellular green algae. A unique feature of these viruses is an abundance of DNA methyltransferases, with isolates dedicating up to 4.5% of their protein coding potential to these genes. This diversity highlights just one of the long-standing values of the chlorovirus model system; where group-wide epigenomic characterization might begin to elucidate the function(s) of DNA methylation in large dsDNA viruses. We characterized DNA modifications in the prototype chlorovirus, PBCV-1, using single-molecule real time (SMRT) sequencing (aka PacBio). Results were compared to total available sites predicted in silico based on DNA sequence alone. SMRT-software detected …

Nebline, May 2020

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Vegetable Gardening for Beginners

"Sewing for Hospitals" Community Service Project

Extension Postponements, Cancellations & Changes

Making a Meal With What's on Hand

Recipe of the Month

2020 Cash Rent Survey

Pesticide Applicators: Deferment of License Recertification

When Thunder Roars or Lightening Flashes, Go Indoors!

Sleep Impacts Mental and Physical Health

2020 Perennial Plant of the Year

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

Composting How-To Videos

Spending Time in Nature is Beneficial to Children and Adults

4-H Announcements for enrolled 4-H'ers or 4-H volunteers

Heart of 4-H Volunteer Award: Mary Burroughs

Clover College Workshop Descriptions

Extension Calendar

Support Local 4-H …

Protein Availability And Consumption, And Stunting Rates, For Primary School Children In The Southern Regions Of Ethiopia And Zambia, Megan Wackel

NUTR/GLST 498b: Global Research Experiences in Nutrition and Health

•Stunting is common in Sub-Sahara Africa, with millions of children who are short in stature also experiencing poor overall health and development, as well as poor school performance (Semba 2016; Semba, et al., 2016). •As many as 39% of children under 5 years of age in Ethiopia’s Sidama Region (formerly SNNPR) can be classified as stunted (CSA & ICF 2016). By comparison, 29% of under 5’s in Zambia’s Southern Province have short height for age (CSA, MOH, & ICF 2018). •Low protein and essential amino acid intake, among populations of 116 countries, has been suggested as the primary cause of …

Demolition In Rural Nebraska: Revitalizing Fairbury’S Vacant Sites, Mohammad S. Qutbaldeen

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Small communities are the most affected by the population decline. This decline results in an increase in the number of abandoned buildings. Those buildings, if left uncared for, will disintegrate and pose an environmental threat to the communities that they are in. In rural areas, demolition without repurposing or redevelopment plans is the dominant solution for unoccupied buildings. Data from the U.S. Census and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality shows that the rural town in Nebraska with the highest rate of vacant sites in a rural town has occurred in Fairbury. Vacant sites are an inevitable result of a …

Applying Agriculture Curriculum As A Vehicle For Science Learning, Nicole Sorensen

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

Agricultural educators in Nebraska are confronting increasing need to integrate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education into agricultural curriculum. Though there are more than 80 agricultural education programs in Nebraska, the state does not provide many state-based curricula options within agricultural education pathways. The purpose of this exploratory survey research is to learn about the viability of an integrated, agriculture and science-based curriculum that is publicly available to agricultural education instructors. The study posed the questions: (1) What is the feasibility of a publicly available, science-integrated agriculture curriculum within Nebraska agricultural education programs? and (2) What are the benefits …

Understanding Hope In Elementary Students, Amber O'Shea

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

As educators, it is in our best interest to care for the whole child, including social and emotional needs, in order to promote student success. One elementary school in the Midwest has identified increasing hope as a school improvement goal in belief that this will in-turn increase student well-being. With the interest of increasing hope, we must first garner an understanding of our specific population of students so we can create a hope intervention suitable for their needs.

The purpose of this dissertation study was to closely examine four first grade students in order to better understand how they cognize …

Nitrate And Herbicides Removal From Groundwater Using Immobilized Algae, Sara Mollamohammada

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

To improve crop yield and control broadleaf weeds, many farmers apply nitrate-based fertilizers and chemical herbicides to their fields. Excessive use of these chemicals can cause contamination in waterbodies and impact on the public health. The physical and chemical methods have been suggested to remove these herbicides are usually costly. In this study, the capability of immobilized algal beads in removing nitrate and several herbicides of environmental concern from synthetic and actual groundwater and surface water was evaluated.

The experiments were performed in batch, sequencing batch and continuous flow modes and the effect of different operational conditions (light intensity, cultivation …

Representational Forms: Storytelling Of Climate Change, Hayden Cudaback

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Climate change is recognized as one of the biggest threats to our natural world and its biodiversity, as well as to global security, human health and well-being. We are already witnessing the early effects of climate change, with more frequent, extreme weather events and changing seasonal patterns being seen around the world.

Climate change is a complex object that you can’t physically connect with. Its effects can be felt, but climate change itself is an entity that people can’t understand the depth and magnitude. This characteristic of climate change makes any depiction related to its effects static and two dimensional. …

Migratory Patterns And How They Affect The Relocation Of The Age Cohort 20 To 40 Into Nonmetropolitan Communities Of Nebraska, Mariah Tobin

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Nebraska’s nonmetropolitan communities have been rapidly declining in population. However, recent research has shown an uncharacteristic increase in the population of those age 20 to 40. The survival of nonmetropolitan communities is crucial to the societal ecosystem of America. The people moving into these nonmetropolitan areas believe in rural; they are “Rural by Choice”.

If Nebraska is to keep this way of life alive and thriving, small towns must re-evaluate their communities and strive to meet the demands of today’s globally connected world and the expectations of these younger generations. People are moving into nonmetropolitan areas in search of communities …

Defying The Odds, Stories Of Success: A Case Study Of Foster Care Alumni In The Community College Environment, Julia Philyaw

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

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the lived experiences of foster care alumni and how these experiences influenced the individual’s decision to enroll in a community college, persist, and complete a degree. The dissertation drew from two conceptual frameworks, Bandwidth (Verschelden, 2017) and Capitals – cultural, social, and academic (Bourdieu, 1986; St. John, Hu, & Fisher, 2010). Foster care alumni were selected as the population due to their underrepresentation in college enrollment and poor completion rates. Moving beyond a deficit model that focuses on identifying obstacles, this dissertation focused on success stories of the foster care alumni in …

What Influences Itinerant Teacher Job Satisfaction And Intent To Stay?, Laura Barrett

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

Schools across the country are facing a shortage of qualified teachers. When they post jobs, certified applicants may be rare. The problem of teacher shortage is multifaceted, but is generally focused in two areas: recruitment and retention of teachers. Attrition is the highest among new teachers, those who have been in the profession for less than five years. By focusing on retention of teachers, schools will need to spend less time on recruiting and can devote that time to deep implementation of high-quality education.

While there have been multiple studies looking at retention of staff, there have been few studies …

5-Ht2a Receptors Modulate Dopamine D2-Mediated Maternal Effects, Jun Gao

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Serotonin 5-HT2A receptors are expressed throughout the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine pathways, and manipulation of this receptor system has a profound impact on dopamine functions and dopamine-mediated behaviors. It is highly likely that 5-HT2A receptors may also modulate the D2-mediated maternal effects. The present study investigated this issue and also explored the possible behavioral mechanisms. We tested the effects of two D2 drugs (an agonist quinpirole: 0.5, 1.0 mg/kg, and a potent D2 antagonist haloperidol: 0.05, 0.10 mg/kg, sc) and their combinations with two 5-HT2A drugs (a selective 5-HT2A agonist TCB-2: 2.5 mg/kg, and 5-HT2A antagonist MDL100907, 1.0 mg/kg, sc) …

Testing Traditional Machismo And The Gender Role Strain Theory With Mexican Migrant Farmworkers, Laura M. Acosta, Arthur R. Andrews Iii, M. Natalia Acosta Canchila, Athena K. Ramos

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The current study examines the moderating role of traditional machismo on mental health outcomes. We hypothesized that machismo would enhance the effects of stressors that are incongruent with traditional machismo beliefs (discrimination, adverse childhood experiences [ACEs], and fear of deportation) on depression and anxiety outcomes but would not enhance stressors that are congruent (harsh working conditions and poverty) on depression and anxiety. Participants were 190 male Mexican migrant farmworkers. As hypothesized, endorsing high traditional machismo was associated with stronger effects of fear of deportation and discrimination on depression outcomes compared with low traditional machismo. The interaction of machismo and …