Digital Commons Network^™

A Standard Protocol To Report Discrete Stage-Structured Demographic Information, Samuel J. L. Gascoigne, Simon Rolph, Daisy Sankey, Nagalakshmi Nidadavolu, Adrian S. Stell Pičman, Christina M. Hernández, Matthew E. R. Philpott, Aiyla Salam, Connor Bernard, Erola Fenollosa, Young Jun Lee, Jessica Mclean, Shathuki Hetti Achchige Perera, Oliver G. Spacey, Maja Kajin, Anna C. Vinton, C. Ruth Archer, Jean H. Burns, Danielle L. Buss, Hal Caswell, Judy P. Che-Castaldo, Dylan Z. Childs, Pol Capdevila, Aldo Compagnoni, Elizabeth Crone, Thomas H. G. Ezard, Dave Hodgson, Tiffany M. Knight, Owen R. Jones, Eelke Jongejans, Jenni Mcdonald, Brigitte Tenhumberg, Chelsea C. Thomas, Andrew J. Tyre, Satu Ramula, Iain Stott, Raymond L. Tremblay, Phil Wilson, James James Vaupel, Roberto Salguero-Gómez

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

1. Stage-based demographic methods, such as matrix population models (MPMs), are powerful tools used to address a broad range of fundamental questions in ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation science. Accordingly, MPMs now exist for over 3000 species worldwide. These data are being digitised as an ongoing process and periodically released into two large open-access online repositories: the COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database and the COMADRE Animal Matrix Database. During the last decade, data archiving and curation of COMPADRE and COMADRE, and subsequent comparative research, have revealed pronounced variation in how MPMs are parameterized and reported.

2. Here, we summarise current issues related to …

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Nature Nurturers Sustainability And Journalism Club, Bruce Baker, Shelby Rickert

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

Afterschool club that teaches basic sustainability and journalism knowledge to kids in a fun, hands-on, and engaging way. Kids will learn over the course of several weeks and then make posters about their environmental interests.

Interfacial And Surface Magnetism In Epitaxial Nico2O4(001)/Mgal2O4 Films, Corbyn Mellinger, Xiao Wang, Arjun Subedi, Andy T. Clark, Takashi Komesu, Richard Rosenberg, Peter A. Dowben, Xuemei Cheng, Xiaoshan S. Xu

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

NiCo₂O₄ (NCO) films grown on MgAl₂O₄ (001) substrates have been studied using magnetometry and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism based on x-ray absorption spectroscopy and spin-polarized inverse photoemission spectroscopy with various thicknesses down to 1.6 nm. The magnetic behavior can be understood in terms of a layer of optimal NCO and an interfacial layer (1.2 ± 0.1 nm), with a small canting of magnetization at the surface. The thickness dependence of the optimal layer can be described by the finite-scaling theory with a critical exponent consistent with the high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. The interfacial layer …

Revisiting The Definition Of Field Capacity As A Functional Parameter In A Layered Agronomic Soil Profile Beneath Irrigated Maize, Paolo Nasta, Trenton E. Franz, Justin P. Gibson, Nunzio Romano

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The soil water content at the condition of field capacity (θ_FC) is a key parameter in irrigation scheduling and has been suggested to be determined by running a synthetic drainage experiment until the flux rate (q) at the bottom of the soil profile achieves a predefined negligible value (q_FC). We question the impact of q_FC on the assessment of field capacity. Moreover, calculating θ_FC as the integral mean of the water content profile when q is equal to q_FC is strictly valid only for uniform soil profiles. By contrast, …

Cms Pythia 8 Colour Reconnection Tunes Based On Underlying-Event Data, A. Tumasyan

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

New sets of parameter tunes for two of the colour reconnection models, quantum chromodynamics-inspired and gluon-move, implemented in the pythia 8 event generator, are obtained based on the default CMS pythia 8 underlying-event tune, CP5. Measurements sensitive to the underlying event performed by the CMS experiment at centre-of-mass energies √ s = 7 and 13 TeV, and by the CDF experiment at 1.96 TeV are used to constrain the parameters of colour reconnection models and multiple-parton interactions simultaneously. The new colour reconnection tunes are compared with various measurements at 1.96, 7, 8, and 13 TeV including measurements of the underlying-event, …

Modern Practices For Responsive Web Design And Web Accessibility, Keyaun Washington

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Responsive web design and web accessibility play crucial roles in ensuring an optimal user experience on the web. By designing websites with responsiveness and accessibility in mind, more opportunities are opened up for a wider audience to access and interact with our content. Through modern practices, responsive web design allows websites to reach several different devices ranging from compact smartwatches to expansive television screens. Designing for accessibility provides accommodations for individuals with impairments while also providing benefits for individuals without impairments. However, designing for responsiveness and accessibility can present challenges; a poor attempt at providing accessibility features can worsen a …

Disrupting Routine: The Expansion Of Precedent, Olena Yarmolyuk, Olena Yarmolyuk

Masters in Architecture Program: Theses

Iconic architecture has presented a preferential nature to the establishment of architectural work. Academically, only the architectural a-side is presented to students. It is used as a means to develop, measure, and identify good work. Meanwhile, the architectural B-side is deliberately hidden away and censored by the profession. It exploits the perverse - displaying all of architecture’s failures, glitches, and anomalies.1 However, the notion of the a and b sides also presents problematic consequences. Prescribing architecture as either a or b side is problematic - it creates a divide between iconic architecture and all the other works deemed ‘insignificant’. Even …

Columbus, Nebraska: Southern Housing Development Design Proposal, Ryan Weyers, Caiden Dynek, Alex Papa, Brexton Robertson, Kaden Perala

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The following paper proposes the design and creation of a new housing development in the city of Columbus, Nebraska in a lot to the south of the city and directly north of the Columbus wastewater treatment plant. The goal of this proposal is to provide readers with confidence that our company is the most qualified to complete the project and will create the safest, most comfortable, most efficient, and most cost-effective final design. This proposal seeks to offer a solution to the lack of affordable housing for the growing workforce in Columbus. In order to arrive at this solution, each …

Meta-Analysis Of Driving Behavior Studies And Assessment Of Factors Using Structural Equation Modeling, Duong Ngoc Hai, Chu Cong Minh, Nathan Huynh

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

The aim of this paper is to understand the factors that influence unsafe driving practices by examining published studies that utilized the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to predict driving behavior. To this end, it reviews 42 studies published up to the end of 2021 to evaluate the predictive utility of TPB by employing a meta-analysis and structural equation model. The results indicate that these studies sought to predict 20 distinct driving behaviors (e.g., drink-driving, use of cellphone while driving, aggressive driving) using the original TPB constructs and 43 additional variables. The TPB model with the three original constructs is …

Dynamic Resource Optimization For Energy-Efficient 6g-Iot Ecosystems, James Adu Ansere, Mohsin Kamal, Izaz Ahmad Khan, Muhammad Naveed Aman

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

The problem of energy optimization for Internet of Things (IoT) devices is crucial for two reasons. Firstly, IoT devices powered by renewable energy sources have limited energy resources. Secondly, the aggregate energy requirement for these small and low-powered devices is translated into significant energy consumption. Existing works show that a significant portion of an IoT device’s energy is consumed by the radio sub-system. With the emerging sixth generation (6G), energy efficiency is a major design criterion for significantly increasing the IoT network’s performance. To solve this issue, this paper focuses on maximizing the energy efficiency of the radio sub-system. In …

Trade-Offs Between Temperature And Fitness In Euschistus Heros (Fabricius) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae): Implications For Mass Rearing And Field Management, Ana Paula Frugeri Barrufaldi, Rafael Hayashida, William Wyatt Hoback, Leon G. Higley, Jose Romario De Carvalho, Regiane Cristina De Oliveira

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The brown stink bug, Euschistus heros (Fabricius, 1798) (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is one of the most abundant soybean stink bug pests in Brazil. Temperature is a key factor that affects its development and reproduction, and fluctuating temperatures may impact the development and reproduction of E. heros differently from those under constant temperatures. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of constant and fluctuating temperature on the biological characteristics of E. heros in three successive generations. Treatments consisted of six constant temperatures (19^oC, 22^oC, 25^oC, 28^oC, 31^oC and 34 …

Increasing Racial Diversity In The North American Plant Phenotyping Network Through Conference Participation Support, David Lebauer, Alexander Bucksch, Jennifer Clarke, Jesse Potts, Sonali Roy

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

A key goal of the North American Plant Phenotyping Network (NAPPN) annual conference is to cultivate a new generation of scientists from diverse backgrounds. As part of their effort to diversify the plant phenomics research community, NAPPN acquired funding to cover all attendance costs for participants from historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) for the 2022 annual meeting. Seven award recipients represented the first attendees from HBCUs in the conference’s 6-year history. In this commentary, we report on the impact of the conference awards, including lessons learned, and the future of the award.

Halide Exchange And Transport In Halide Perovskite Lattices, Temban Acha Billy

Department of Chemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In recent years, metal-halide perovskites (MHPs) have risen quickly to prominence as promising materials across a variety of fields, from photovoltaics to optoelectronics in general. We show here a facile solution growth for creating a variety of mixed halide MAPbBr_3-xI_x crystals, which we will use to study halide exchange and transport in halide perovskites. We generated a calibration curve between the optical response and chemical composition in mixed Br/I MHPs at room temperature. All mixed Br/I MHP crystals were subjected to measurements of photoluminescence (PL) and Raman spectroscopy. A subset of mixed-halide MHP crystals exhibited multiple emission …

A Generalization Of The Chomsky-Halle Phonetic Representation Using Real Numbers For Robust Speech Recognition In Noisy Environments, Peter Z. Revesz

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Speech recognition is difficult when the speech signal is weak or occurs in a noisy environment. This paper presents an efficient and robust method that can reconstruct the standard pronunciation of English phonemes and words given a weak or noisy signal. The reconstruction is based on a novel representation of the reconstruction task as a problem of data retrieval from a database in two different cases: (1) when the phonemes are represented in the database as binary tuples and the input is also a binary tuple from which deletion errors occur, and (2) when the phonemes are represented in the …

Near-Term Effects Of Perennial Grasses On Soil Carbon And Nitrogen In Eastern Nebraska, Salvador Ramirez Ii, Marty R. Schmer, Virginia L. Jin, Robert B. Mitchell, Kent M. Eskridge

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Incorporating native perennial grasses adjacent to annual row crop systems managed on marginal lands can increase system resiliency by diversifying food and energy production. This study evaluated (1) soil organic C (SOC) and total N stocks (TN) under warm-season grass (WSG) monocultures and a low diversity mixture compared to an adjacent no-till continuous-corn system, and (2) WSG total above-ground biomass (AGB) in response to two levels of N fertilization from 2012 to 2017 in eastern Nebraska, USA. The WSG treatments consisted of (1) switchgrass (SWG), (2) big bluestem (BGB), and (3) low-diversity grass mixture (LDM; big bluestem, Indiangrass, and sideoat …

Improving The Cotton Simulation Model, Gossym, For Soil, Photosynthesis, And Transpiration Processes, Sahila Beegum, Dennis Timlin, Kambham Raja Reddy, Vangimalla Reddy, Wenguang Sun, Zhuangji Wang, David Fleisher, Chittaranjan Ray

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

GOSSYM, a mechanistic, process-level cotton crop simulation model, has a two-dimensional (2D) gridded soil model called Rhizos that simulates the below-ground processes daily. Water movement is based on gradients of water content and not hydraulic heads. In GOSSYM, photosynthesis is calculated using a daily empirical light response function that requires calibration for response to elevated carbon dioxide ( CO₂). This report discusses improvements made to the GOSSYM model for soil, photosynthesis, and transpiration processes. GOSSYM’s predictions of below-ground processes using Rhizos are improved by replacing it with 2DSOIL, a mechanistic 2D finite element soil process model. The photosynthesis …

On The Superabundance Of Singular Varieties In Positive Characteristic, Jake Kettinger

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The geproci property is a recent development in the world of geometry. We call a set of points Z\subseq\P_k^3 an (a,b)-geproci set (for GEneral PROjection is a Complete Intersection) if its projection from a general point P to a plane is a complete intersection of curves of degrees a and b. Examples known as grids have been known since 2011. Previously, the study of the geproci property has taken place within the characteristic 0 setting; prior to the work in this thesis, a procedure has been known for creating an (a,b)-geproci half-grid for 4\leq a\leq b, but it was not …

Partitions Of R^N With Maximal Seclusion And Their Applications To Reproducible Computation, Jason Vander Woude

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

We introduce and investigate a natural problem regarding unit cube tilings/partitions of Euclidean space and also consider broad generalizations of this problem. The problem fits well within a historical context of similar problems and also has applications to the study of reproducibility in randomized computation.

Given $k\in\mathbb{N}$ and $\epsilon\in(0,\infty)$, we define a $(k,\epsilon)$-secluded unit cube partition of $\mathbb{R}^{d}$ to be a unit cube partition of $\mathbb{R}^{d}$ such that for every point $\vec{p}\in\R^d$, the closed $\ell_{\infty}$ $\epsilon$-ball around $\vec{p}$ intersects at most $k$ cubes. The problem is to construct such partitions for each dimension $d$ with the primary goal of minimizing …

Unobtrusive Data Collection In Clinical Settings For Advanced Patient Monitoring And Machine Learning, Walker Arce

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

When applying machine learning to clinical practice, a major hurdle that will be encountered is the lack of available data. While the data collected in clinical therapies is suitable for the types of analysis that are needed to measure and track clinical outcomes, it may not be suitable for other types of analysis. For instance, video data may have poor alignment with behavioral data, making it impossible to extract the videos frames that directly correlate with the observed behavior. Alternatively, clinicians may be exploring new data modalities, such as physiological signal collection, to research methods of improving clinical outcomes that …

Downstream Hydrochemistry And Irrigation Water Quality Of The Syr Darya, Aral Sea Basin, South Kazakhstan, Bagdat Satybaldiyev, Baimurat Ismailov, Nurbek Nurpeisov, Kairat Kenges, Daniel D. Snow, Arindam Malakar, Omirzhan Taukebayev, Bolat Uralbekov

Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute: Faculty Publications

New hydrochemical measurements from the Syr Darya provide insights into factors affecting the composition and quality of a major freshwater source replenishing the Aral Sea. This river is heavily used for power and irrigation and crosses territories of four Central Asia republics. It is intensely managed, draining several major tributaries, many reservoirs, and numerous irrigation distribution systems and canals. Analysis of seasonal changes in dissolved ion concentrations using geochemical diagrams, elemental ratios, statistical correlation, and equilibrium modeling allowed the characterization of mineral formation processes that control the dissolved chemical composition. Measured water hydrochemistry and composition type differs substantially from previous …

Learning To Teach Prospective Elementary Teachers: A Narrative Inquiry Of A Newer Mathematics Content Instructor, Kelsey Quaisley

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

Learning to teach mathematics content courses designed for prospective elementary teachers (PTs) is challenging. Mathematics content instructors must be prepared to not only teach mathematics content, but engage PTs in understanding children’s mathematical thinking strategies, learning trajectories, and misconceptions (Carpenter et al., 1996; Carpenter & Moser, 1982; I et al., 2020). When considering how instructors might best be prepared and supported, however, one must recognize that there is significant variation in the backgrounds and expertise of mathematics content instructors (Masingila et al., 2012; Yow et al., 2016) and little is known about the preparation, knowledge, and experiences of mathematics content …

Gordian Distance And Complete Alexander Neighbors, Ana Wright

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

We call a knot K a complete Alexander neighbor if every possible Alexander polynomial is realized by a knot one crossing change away from K. It is unknown whether there exists a complete Alexander neighbor with nontrivial Alexander polynomial. We eliminate infinite families of knots with nontrivial Alexander polynomial from having this property and discuss possible strategies for unresolved cases.

Additionally, we use a condition on determinants of knots one crossing change away from unknotting number one knots to improve KnotInfo’s unknotting number data on 11 and 12 crossing knots. Lickorish introduced an obstruction to unknotting number one, which proves …

Occurrence Of Radionuclides And Hazardous Elements In The Transboundary River Basin Kyrgyzstan–Kazakhstan, Mariya A. Severinenko, Vladimir P. Solodukhin, Bekmamat M. Djenbaev, The National Academy Of Science Of The Kyrgyz Republic G. Lennik, Baktiyar T. Zholboldiev, Daniel D. Snow

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Important for irrigation, the transboundary river basin between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan is vulnerable to geochemical and anthropogenic sources of pollution. The use of water use indices, together with measurements of the elemental and radionuclide composition of the water and bottom sediments, provides a means for evaluating the continued use of the water from this region. Recent monitoring shows the highest concentrations of hazardous contaminants include lead and thorium contained in the bottom and banks of the Kichi-Kemin River. These contaminants are likely remnants of an accidental spill at the Aktyuz tailing dump in 1964. The specific activity of the Th-232 …

Application Of Screening In Rangeland Monitoring: Quantifying Early-Warning Signals Of State Transitions In Nebraska, Daniel S. Bauloye

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Woody encroachment, desertification, and exotic annual grass invasion are regime shifts (i.e., state-transitions) with detrimental effects on ecosystem health and services in grasslands of the North American Great Plains. Traditional approaches to rangeland monitoring are capable of detecting regime shifts after they have already occurred (i.e., diagnosing them); however, proactive management requires earlier warning. Regime shift screening is a new approach to rangeland monitoring capable of providing earlier warning of regime shifts. Regime shift screening proposes assessing the presence, persistence, and non-stationarity of regime shift signals; however, no studies have systematically evaluated these characteristics in real-world landscapes. In this thesis, …

Producer Long-Term Marketing Opportunities With Ethanol Plants, Austin Harthoorn, Logan Lloyd, Cory Walters, Kate Brooks

Cornhusker Economics

Commodity marketing operates in a complex decision environment with constant information flow, which can conceal long-run financially profitable marketing opportunities for producers. In the corn marketing space, the competitive role of ethanol plants throughout the state may provide producers with long-run financial gains by strategically approaching marketing decisions. In this article, we characterize whether producers can gain financially from strategically marketing corn to ethanol plants. For example, do ethanol plants provide a better long-run return from pre-harvest hedging, spring sale, or harvest sale?

We investigate three important contracting times--forward contract for harvest delivery (called pre-harvest hereafter), harvest delivery, and spring …

Designing Programming Languages For Writing Maintainable Software, Aaron Friesen

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Maintainability is crucial to the long-term success of software projects. Among other factors, it is affected by the programming language in which the software is written. Programming language designers should be conscious of how their design decisions can influence software maintainability. Non-functional properties of a language can affect the readability of source code in ways beyond the control of programmers. Language features can cause or prevent certain classes of bugs, and runtime issues especially can require significant maintenance effort. Tools external to the language, especially those developed and distributed by language implementers, can aid in the creation of maintainable software. …

Impact Of Lithological Variation And Topology On The Connectivity And Intensity Of Fracture Networks In Carbonates, Fahad Qassim

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Assessing fracture network connectivity in reservoirs remains a challenging task because of the complex nature of fracture networks at various length scales, which significantly impacts fluid flow behavior. Outcrop studies are essential for understanding subsurface fracture networks because intersecting fracture sheets' length, orientation, height distribution, and, therefore, network connectivity and intensity are difficult to measure from wellbores and are typically below seismic resolution. Nevertheless, fracture network connectivity is a crucial parameter and a critical factor in understanding, evaluating, and predicting fluid flow behavior in hydrocarbon reservoirs, aquifers, hazardous waste and CO₂ storage systems, and geothermal energy exploitation. Moreover, fracture …

Radar Signatures In Tropical Cyclone Tornadic And Nontornadic Supercells, Michaela Wood

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Tropical cyclones (TCs) contain highly-sheared environments that are conducive for supercell thunderstorms. These TC supercells sometimes produce tornadoes, often with little warning. Given the often-close proximity of tornadic and nontornadic TC supercells, environments may not be well-distinguished, pointing to the potential value of radar observations. In this study, dual-polarimetric radar signatures of a sample of TC supercells are examined in the context of known supercell structure and microphysics. Tornadic and nontornadic TC supercells are compared with their midlatitude counterparts, and the environments and characteristic structure of these storms are shown to be notably different. An attempt is made to distinguish …

Domain Wall Saddle Point Morphology In Ferroelectric Triglycine Sulfate, C. J. Mccluskey, A. Kumar, Alexei Gruverman, I. Luk’Yanchuk, J. M. Gregg

Alexei Gruverman Publications

Ferroelectric domain walls, across which there is a divergence in polarization, usually have enhanced electrical conductivity relative to bulk. However, in lead germanate, head-to-head and tail-to-tail walls are electrically insulating. Recent studies have shown that this is because, when oppositely oriented domains meet, polar divergence is obviated by a combination of domain bifurcation and suspected local dipolar rotation. To explore the uniqueness, or otherwise, of this microstructure, we have used tomographic piezoresponse force microscopy to map three-dimensional domain morphologies in another uniaxial ferroelectric system: triglycine sulfate. This mapping reveals an abundance of domain wall saddle points, which are characteristic of …

Improper Ferroelectricity In Ultrathin Hexagonal Ferrites Films, Xin Li, Yu Yun, X. S. Xu

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

Suppression of ferroelectricity in ultrathin films of improper ferroelectric hexagonal ferrites or manganites has been attributed to the effect of interfacial clamping; however, the quantitative understanding and related phenomenological model are still lacking. In this work, we report on the paraelectric-to-ferroelectric phase transition of epitaxial h-ScFeO₃ films with different thicknesses through in situ reflection highenergy electron diffraction. Based on the interfacial clamping model and the Landau theory, we show that the thickness-dependence of the ferroelectric Curie temperature can be understood in terms of the characteristic length of an interfacial clamping layer and the bulk Curie temperature. Furthermore, we found …