Digital Commons Network^™

The Unintended Consequences Of China’S One-Child Policy, E. Wesley F. Peterson

Cornhusker Economics

In 1968, Paul Ehrlich published a book entitled The Population Bomb in which he argued that rapid population growth would overwhelm the world’s capacity to feed, house, and otherwise care for the coming millions of people. At that time, the world population was about 3.5 billion growing at an average annual rate of 2.06 percent (World Bank 2023). At that rate of growth, the world’s population would have been expected to double to 7.0 billion by 2001. In fact, population growth rates fell after the 1960s and world population reached only 6.2 billion in that year. Fears of a population …

Curated And Harmonized Gut Microbiome 16s Rrna Amplicon Data From Dietary Fiber Intervention Studies In Humans, Cynthia I. Rodriguez, Ali Keshavarzian, Bruce R. Hamaker, Feitong Liu, Genelle R. Lunken, Heather Rasmussen, Hongwei Zhou, Julien Tap, Kelly S. Swanson, Maria Ukhanova, Marion Leclerc, Martin Gotteland, Paola Navarrete, Petia Kovatcheva-Datchary, Wendy J. Dahl, Jennifer B. H. Martiny

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Next generation amplicon sequencing has created a plethora of data from human microbiomes. The accessibility to this scientific data and its corresponding metadata is important for its reuse, to allow for new discoveries, verification of published results, and serving as path for reproducibility. Dietary fiber consumption has been associated with a variety of health benefits that are thought to be mediated by gut microbiota. To enable direct comparisons of the response of the gut microbiome to fiber, we obtained 16S rRNA sequencing data and its corresponding metadata from 11 fiber intervention studies for a total of 2,368 samples. We provide …

Pre-Sleep Feeding, Sleep Quality, And Markers Of Recovery In Division I Ncaa Female Soccer Players, Casey E. Greenwalt, Elisa Angeles, Matthew D. Vukovich, Abbie E. Smith-Ryan, Chris W. Bach, Stacy T. Sims, Tucker Zeleny, Kristen E. Holmes, David M. Presby, Katie J. Schiltz, Marine Dupuit, Liliana I. Renteria, Michael J. Ormsbee

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Pre-sleep nutrition habits in elite female athletes have yet to be evaluated. A retrospective analysis was performed with 14 NCAA Division I female soccer players who wore a WHOOP, Inc. band – a wearable device that quantifies recovery by measuring sleep, activity, and heart rate metrics through actigraphy and photoplethysmography, respectively – 24 h a day for an entire competitive season to measure sleep and recovery. Pre-sleep food consumption data were collected via surveys every 3 days. Average pre-sleep nutritional intake (mean ± sd: kcals 330 ± 284; cho 46.2 ± 40.5 g; pro 7.6 ± 7.3 g; fat 12 …

Physician Aid In Dying: Physician-Assisted Suicide As A Constitutionally Protected Liberty Interest Under The Nebraska Constitution, Emily Newcomb

Nebraska Law Review

“Every life is different from any that has gone before it, and so is every death.”1 Although advancements in technology and healthcare have saved and prolonged countless lives, there is one part of humanity that can never be fully cured: death. Death is not what it used to be—it is no longer normally a common, family communal, or even religious event.2 Modern dying takes place in a hospital while attached to machines that attempt to prolong life but seem to simultaneously take patients further and further away from dying with dignity. As these technologies that prolong life evolve, so do …

Nebline, June/July 2023

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Introducing Nit Kits: Extension's New Program on Head Lice in Early Childhood Settings by Kait Chapman

Curiosity as a Tool for Health Access by Emily Gratopp

Recipe of the Month: Refreshing Watermelon Salad by Emily Gratopp

Nebraska Celebrates Wildflower Week, June 5–11 by Sarah Browning

Graden Guide: Things to Do This Month

Fescue Toxicosis by Connor Biehler

Graywater Use in Nebraska by Becky Schuerman

Aphids, Scales and Spider Mites, Oh My! by Kait Chapman

Challenging Behaviors: Using Positive Language by Hayley Jackson

Extension News: New 4-H Assistant

4-H’ers Qualify for State Presentations Contest

4-H Clubs Helped at Kiwanis Karnival

Nebraska …

Intensification Differentially Affects The Delivery Of Multiple Ecosystem Services In Subtropical And Temperate Grasslands, Shishir Paudel, Nuria Gomez-Casanovas, Elizabeth H. Boughton, Samuel D. Chamberlain, Pradeep Wagle, Brekke L. Peterson, Rajen Bajgain, Patrick J. Starks, Jefferey Basara, Carl J. Bernacchi, Evan H. Delucia, Laura E. Goodman, Prasanna H. Gowda, Ryan Reuter, Jed P. Sparks, Hilary M. Swain, Xiangming Xiao, Jean L. Steiner

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Intensification, the process of intensifying land management to enhance agricultural goods, results in “intensive” pastures that are planted with productive grasses and fertilized. These intensive pastures provide essential ecosystem services, including forage production for livestock. Understanding the synergies and tradeoffs of pasture intensification on the delivery of services across climatic regions is crucial to shape policies and incentives for better management of natural resources. Here, we investigated how grassland intensification affects key components of provisioning (forage productivity and quality), supporting (plant diversity) and regulating services (CO2 and CH4 fluxes) by comparing these services between intensive versus extensive pastures in subtropical …

United States Department Of Agriculture Response To The Office Of Science And Technology Policy Memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (June 2023)

Copyright, Fair Use, Scholarly Communication, etc.

USDA response to OSTP memo, 2022: Public Access Plan (June 2023)

Integration Of Environmental Sustainability And Decision Making: Case Studies Of Civil Infrastructure, Sussan Moussavi

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

Sustainable development is important in the planning and design of critical civil infrastructure systems. However, decision making related to these systems currently lacks meaningful sustainability considerations. To fill this gap, this research explores the life cycle impacts of wastewater and energy infrastructure using case studies, life cycle assessment methodologies, and stakeholder discussions. Environmental and economic impacts, which are more commonly quantified, as well as more difficult to quantify societal factors, are explored. The goal of this research is to help inform decision making and facilitate the consideration of the three pillars of sustainability (e.g., economic, environmental, and social) during the …

Hrtm 483 Hospitality Finance A Peer Review Of Teaching And Learning Benchmark Portfolio, Vernetta Kosalka

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The objective of this peer review course portfolio is to provide a comprehensive overview of the course, HRTM 483, Hospitality Finance Management (HFM), including the current scope of the course regarding curriculum and to purposefully explain and assess the undertakings that are intended to enhance student learning and performance. The first objective was to explain hospitality managerial accounting concepts to students and how they apply to specific operations with the hospitality industry. The second objective was to assist students with being able to synthesize the material, solve problems, and think effectively as a hospitality professional. The third objective was to …

Exploring The Potential Of Heterosis To Improve Nitrogen Use Efficiency In Popcorn Plants, Talles De Oliveira Santos, Antônio Teixeira Do Amaral Junior, Rosimeire Barboza Bispo, Wallace De Paula Bernado, Bruna Rohem Simão, Valter Jário De Lima, Marta Simone Mendonça Freitas, Freddy Mora-Poblete, Roberto Dos Santos Trindade, Samuel Henrique Kamphorst, Weverton Pereira Rodrigues, Eliemar Campostrini, Flávia Nicácio Viana, Cosme Damião Cruz

Center for Plant Science Innovation: Faculty Publications

Nitrogen is crucial for plant growth and development, and improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) is a viable strategy for reducing dependence on nitrogen inputs and promoting sustainability. While the benefits of heterosis in corn are well known, the physiological mechanisms underlying this phenomenon in popcorn are less understood. We aimed to investigate the effects of heterosis on growth and physiological traits in four popcorn lines and their hybrids under two contrasting nitrogen conditions. We evaluated morpho-agronomic and physiological traits such as leaf pigments, the maximum photochemical efficiency of PSII, and leaf gas exchange. Components associated with NUE were also evaluated. …

Impact Of Cattle Grazing Corn Residue In Spring On Soil And Subsequent Soybean Yield, Morgan T. Grabau, J. C. Macdonald, Zach E. Carlson, M. E. Drewnoski

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The effects of spring corn (Zea mays) residue grazing and stocking density on soil physical properties and subsequent soybean (Glycine max) yield were evaluated in an experiment with three treatments: no grazing (NG), normal stocking density (NSD), and high stocking density (HSD). The study was conducted over 2 years with four replicates per treatment each year. Steers (277 ± 4.4 kg) were stocked at 7.5 steers/ha for NSD with a target grazing of 45 days starting in mid- February, and 22.5 steers/ha for HSD with a target grazing of 15 days in mid-March, such that the …

Emotional Responses To Covid-19 Stressors Increase Information Avoidance About An Important Unrelated Health Threat, Christopher Gustafson, Kate Brooks, Syed Imran Ali Meerza, Amalia Yiannaka

Department of Agricultural Economics: Faculty Publications

The COVID-19 pandemic, like other crises, has had direct and indirect impacts on individuals, many of which have been negative. While a large body of research has examined the impacts of COVID-19 on people’s lives, there is little evidence about how COVID-19 affects decision-making broadly. Emotional responses to COVID-19-related stressors, such as illness and income loss, provide a pathway for these stressors to affect decision-making. In this study, we examine linkages between exposure to COVID-19-related stressors—focusing on temporally specific local case counts and loss of income due to the pandemic—and decisions to access information about antimicrobial resistance (AMR), another critically …

Creeper Legume, In Conjunction With Biochar, Is A Potential Tool To Minimize Soil Erosion, Sujani De Silva, Priyantha Indralal Yapa, Kushani Mahatantila, Saurav Das, Bijesh Maharjan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Accelerated soil erosion and landslides are destructive consequences of road development and intensive agriculture in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. Properly designed vegetation covers can play a vital role in erosion control. Identifying a plant that can adapt to eroded land with a low-nutrient supply is critical for natural erosion management. A perennial creeper legume, Vigna marina, adaptable for marginal lands and used to control soil erosion in Australia, was introduced to Sri Lanka via the 2004 tsunami. The objective of this study was to assess V. marina under five different soil substrates, including a reference treatment (RT) …

Assessing The Release Of Microplastics And Nanoplastics From Plastic Containers And Reusable Food Pouches: Implications For Human Health, Kazi Albab Hussain, Svetlana Romanova, Ilhami Okur, Dong Zhang, Jesse Kuebler, Xi Huang, Bing Wang, Lucia Fernandez-Ballester, Yongfeng Lu, Mathias Schubert, Yusong Li

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

This study investigated the release of microplastics and nanoplastics from plastic containers and reusable food pouches under different usage scenarios, using DI water and 3% acetic acid as food simulants for aqueous foods and acidic foods. The results indicated that microwave heating caused the highest release of microplastics and nanoplastics into food compared to other usage scenarios, such as refrigeration or room-temperature storage. It was found that some containers could release as many as 4.22 million microplastic and 2.11 billion nanoplastic particles from only one square centimeter of plastic area within 3 min of microwave heating. Refrigeration and room-temperature storage …

Board Game Club, Emma Georgia, Katelyn Stewart

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

No abstract provided.

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.

High-Throughput Phenotyping Of Plant Leaf Morphological, Physiological, And Biochemical Traits On Multiple Scales Using Optical Sensing, Huichun Zhang, Lu Wang, Xiuliang Jin, Liming Bian, Yufeng Ge

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Acquisition of plant phenotypic information facilitates plant breeding, sheds light on gene action, and can be applied to optimize the quality of agricultural and forestry products. Because leaves often show the fastest responses to external environmental stimuli, leaf phenotypic traits are indicators of plant growth, health, and stress levels. Combination of new imaging sensors, image processing, and data analytics permits measurement over the full life span of plants at high temporal resolution and at several organizational levels from organs to individual plants to field populations of plants. We review the optical sensors and associated data analytics used for measuring morphological, …

Effectiveness Of Tadreb-B1 And 1-Feh W3 Kasp Markers In Spring And Winter Wheat Populations For Marker-Assisted Selection To Improve Drought Tolerance, Shamseldeen Eltaher, Mostafa Hashem, Asmaa A. M. Ahmed, P. Stephen Baenziger, Andreas Börner, Ahmed Sallam

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Due to the advances in DNA markers, kompetitive allele-specific PCR (KASP) markers could accelerate breeding programs and genetically improve drought tolerance. Two previously reported KASP markers, TaDreb-B1 and 1-FEH w3, were investigated in this study for the markerassisted selection (MAS) of drought tolerance. Two highly diverse spring and winter wheat populations were genotyped using these two KASP markers. The same populations were evaluated for drought tolerance at seedling (drought stress) and reproductive (normal and drought stress) growth stages. The single-marker analysis revealed a high significant association between the target allele of 1-FEH w3 and drought susceptibility in the spring …

Design Of University Small-Scale Dairy Processing Facility, Philip J. Hildebrand, Joshua Arejola, Alicia Andersen, Terry Howell Jr, Tami M. Brown-Brandl

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

This project was assigned to research the feasibility and value of implementing a dairy processing facility on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The facility would process milk produced from cows under the same roof and will serve as an educational experience for Nebraska dairy farmers, UNL students, and K-12 students in the Lincoln-Lancaster County area. If the project is successful and replicated across the state, this facility could have a significant impact on the reduction of milk transportation costs in the Nebraska dairy industry.

The project began with researching milk processing methods and steps from production to consumption. …

Home-Site Advantage For Host Species–Specific Gut Microbiota, Daniel D. Sprockett, Jeff Price, Anthony Juritsch, Robert J. Schmaltz, Madalena V. F. Real, Samantha L. Goldman, Michael Sheehan, Amanda E. Ramer-Tait, Andrew H. Moeller

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Mammalian species harbor compositionally distinct gut microbial communities, but the mechanisms that maintain specificity of symbionts to host species remain unclear. Here, we show that natural selection within house mice (Mus musculus domesticus) drives deterministic assembly of the house-mouse gut microbiota from mixtures of native and non-native microbiotas. Competing microbiotas from wild-derived lines of house mice and other mouse species (Mus and Peromyscus spp.) within germ-free wild-type (WT) and Rag1-knockout (Rag1^−/−) house mice revealed widespread fitness advantages for native gut bacteria. Native bacterial lineages significantly outcompeted non-native lineages in both WT and Rag1 …

Genome Mining For Anti-Crispr Operons Using Machine Learning, Bowen Yang, Minal Khatri, Jinfang Zheng, Jitender S. Deogun, Yanbin Yin

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Motivation: Encoded by (pro-)viruses, anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins inhibit the CRISPR-Cas immune system of their prokaryotic hosts. As a result, Acr proteins can be employed to develop more controllable CRISPR-Cas genome editing tools. Recent studies revealed that known acr genes often coexist with other acr genes and with phage structural genes within the same operon. For example, we found that 47 of 98 known acr genes (or their homologs) co-exist in the same operons. None of the current Acr prediction tools have considered this important genomic context feature. We have developed a new software tool AOminer to facilitate the improved …

Utilizing NuTrack To Access The Activity Levels In Pigs With Varying Degrees Of Genetic Potential For Growth And Feed Intake, Dalton Obermier, Melanie Trenahile-Grannemann, Ty B. Schmidt, Tom Rathje, Benny Mote

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Feed cost accounts for over two-thirds of the variable cost of production. In order to reduce feed costs without sacrificing production numbers, feed efficiency must be improved. Calorie expenditure has been difficult to quantify in the past but is understood to impact residual feed intake (RFI) greatly. The objective of this work was to utilize an advanced computer vision system to evaluate activity levels across sex and sire groups with different expected breeding value combinations for growth and feed intake. A total of 199 pigs from four different sire groups (DNA Genetics Line 600) High Feed Intake/High Growth (HIHG), Low …

Spontaneous Allelic Variant In Deafness–Blindness Gene Ush1g Resulting In An Expanded Phenotype, Vladimir Vartanian, Jocelyn F. Krey, Paroma Chatterjee, Allison Curtis, Makayla Six, Sean P. M. Rice, Sherri M. Jones, Harini Sampath, Charles N. Allen, Renee C. Ryals, R. Stephen Lloyd, Peter G. Barr-Gillespie

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Relationships between novel phenotypic behaviors and specific genetic alterations are often discovered using target-specific, directed mutagenesis or phenotypic selection following chemical mutagenesis. An alternative approach is to exploit deficiencies in DNA repair pathways that maintain genetic integrity in response to spontaneously induced damage. Mice deficient in the DNA glycosylase NEIL1 show elevated spontaneous mutations, which arise from translesion DNA synthesis past oxidatively induced base damage. Several litters of Neil1 knockout mice included animals that were distinguished by their backwards-walking behavior in open-field environments, while maintaining frantic forward movements in their home cage environment. Other phenotypic manifestations included swim test failures, …

Lessons From Chloroviruses: The Complex And Diverse Roles Of Viruses In Food Webs, John Delong, James L. Van Etten, David Dunigan

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Viruses can have large effects on the ecological communities in which they occur. Much of this impact comes from the mortality of host cells, which simultaneously alters microbial community composition and causes the release of matter that can be used by other organisms. However, recent studies indicate that viruses may be even more deeply integrated into the functioning of ecological communities than their effect on nutrient cycling suggests. In particular, chloroviruses, which infect chlorella-like green algae that typically occur as endosymbionts, participate in three types of interactions with other species. Chlororviruses (i) can lure ciliates from a distance, using them …

Macro And Micro-Nutrient Accumulation And Partitioning In Soybean Affected By Water And Nitrogen Supply, Ingrid Silva Setubal, Aderson Soares De Andrade Júnior, Silvestre Paulino Da Silva, Artenisa Cerqueira Rodrigues, Aurenívia Bonifácio, Evandro Henrique Figueiredo Moura Da Silva, Paulo Fernando De Melo Jorge Vieira, Rafael De Souza Miranda, Nicolas Cafaro La Menza, Henrique Antunes De Souza

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte

This study aimed to investigate the influence of water availability and nitrogen fertilization on plant growth, nutrient dynamics, and variables related to soybean crop yield. Trials were performed in Teresina, Piauí, Brazil, using randomized blocks in a split-split plot arrangement. The plots corresponded to water regimes (full and deficient), the split plots to N fertilization (0 and 1000 kg ha^-1 N-urea), and the split-split plots to harvest times of soybean plants (16, 23, 30, 37, 44, 58, 65, 79 and 86 days after emergence), with three replicates. In general, the accumulation and partitioning of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium …

Appearance Of Choline Metabolites In Plasma And Milk When Choline Is Infused Into The Abomasum With Or Without Methionine, C. J.R. Jenkins, Paul J. Kononoff

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Four lactating, ruminally cannulated Jersey cows, (mean ± standard deviation) 264 ± 54.2 d in milk and 484 ± 24.1 kg of body weight, were arranged in a 4 × 4 Latin square design to measure the effects of abomasal infusion of choline chloride with or without dl-Met on milk and plasma choline metabolites and plasma AA in cows fed a Met-deficient diet. Cows were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 experimental treatments: (1) control; no supplemental Met or choline (CON), (2) 13 g/d of choline ion delivered via abomasal infusion (CHO), (3) 13 g/d of Met delivered via abomasal …

Self‑Objectification During The Perinatal Period: The Role Of Body Surveillance In Maternal And Infant Wellbeing, Lauren M. Laifer, Olivia R. Maras, Gemma Sáez, Sarah Gervais, Rebecca L. Brock

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Pregnancy represents a unique time during which women’s bodies undergo significant physical changes (e.g., expanding belly, larger breasts, weight gain) that can elicit increased objectification. Experiences of objectification set the stage for women to view themselves as sexual objects (i.e., self-objectification) and are associated with adverse mental health outcomes. Although women may experience heightened self-objectification and behavioral consequences (such as body surveillance) due to the objectification of pregnant bodies in Western cultures, there are remarkably few studies examining objectification theory among women during the perinatal period. The present study investigated the impact of body surveillance, a consequence of self-objectification, on …

Evaluating Ecosystem Health Of The Salt Creek Basin Through Two-Eyed Seeing, Shelby Serritella

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Few instances of prior research into socio-ecological health have brought together both Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Western science, especially in Nebraska. This study attempts to fill this gap in Lancaster County, Nebraska by using “Two-Eyed Seeing”. This equitably combines both Indigenous Knowledge Systems (qualitative data), obtained through oral interviews with Indigenous community members, and Western science (quantitative data), obtained through USGS, UNL, and U.S. Drought Monitor databases, to assess ecosystem health. Changes to the Salt Creek Basin were collected and analyzed through this Two-Eyed Seeing framework. Results found that there are high levels of consensus between both knowledge systems regarding …

Identifying A Consumer–Producer Agricultural Knowledge Gap, Aspen Rittgarn

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

The purpose of this paper and online survey was to see if an agricultural knowledge gap between consumers and producers be found. Low agricultural literacy rates can lead to misconceptions of the agriculture industry, unhealthy food choices, environmentally unfriendly product choices, food waste, etc. The hypothesis for this thesis is that those born in the mid1960s to early 1980s (Generation X) will be the start of an increased knowledge gap. The survey was compiled of both qualitative and quantitative questions and questions were inspired by American Farm Bureau’s AITC Benchmarks. Responses were analyzed and the results revealed that my participants …

Program And Proceedings: Nebraska Academy Of Sciences 1880–2023, 143rd Anniversary Year, One Hundred-Thirty-Third Annual Meeting, April 21, 2023

Nebraska Academy of Sciences: Programs and Proceedings

Program

Aeronautics and Space Science

Humans Past and Present

Applied Science and Technology Section

Biology

Biomedical Sciences

Chemistry

Earth Sciences

Environmental Science

Physics

Science Education

2023 Maiben Lecture: Jason Bartz

2023 Friend of Science Award: Ray Ward and Jim Lewis