Digital Commons Network^™

Bridging The Gap Between Research And Smallholder Farmers Through Community-Based Development Organizations, Nathan D. Fortner

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Food demand is expected to increase 30% to 62% by 2050 according to recent estimates. Yet, annual increases in agricultural productivity have slowed and plateaued since the green revolution increases of the 1960’s. Two strategies to help address future food demand are reducing post-harvest loss and consumer waste, and closing the yield gap between potential and farmer realized yields. Some of the largest yield gaps are those of smallholder farmers. While solutions may exist to close these gaps, delivering and integrating solutions into smallholder production systems is a complex process involving research, extension, cultural factors, government policy, NGOs, private industry, …

Inflammatory Diseases And Resections Of The Digestive Tract Influence The Risk Of Circulating Food-Specific-Igg, Jacques Izard, Walker Carson, Joseph Baumert, Jennifer Clarke

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Individuals affected with inflammatory diseases of the digestive tract or have had surgical removal of sections of the digestive tract are often in need to adjust their diet. The symptomatology associated with food intake issues is often informally reported as food sensitivity. We investigated the circulating food-specific-IgG among ten conditions.

Conclusion: The risk of the having circulating food-specific IgG differed widely among the conditions investigated. The maintenance of a colonic environment might influence the risk of food sensitivity in ostomates.

Toxicological Responses To Sublethal Anticoagulant Rodenticide Exposure In Free‑Flying Hawks, Nimish B. Vyas, Barnett A. Rattner, J. Michael Lockhart, Craig S. Hulse, Clifford P. Rice, Frank Kuncir, Kevin Kritz

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

An important component of assessing the hazards of anticoagulant rodenticides to non-target wildlife is observations in exposed free-ranging individuals. The objective of this study was to determine whether environmentally realistic, sublethal first-generation anticoagulant rodenticide (FGAR) exposures via prey can result in direct or indirect adverse effects to free-flying raptors. We offered black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) that had fed on Rozol® Prairie Dog Bait (Rozol, 0.005% active ingredient chlorophacinone, CPN) to six wild-caught red-tailed hawks (RTHA, Buteo jamaicensis), and also offered black-tailed prairie dogs that were not exposed to Rozol to another two wild-caught RTHAs for 7 …

Climate Resilient Potato Systems For The 21st Century And Beyond, Brett A. Lynn

Doctor of Plant Health Program: Dissertations and Student Research

Climate change’s effects will dramatically reshape food systems and food security in the twenty-first century and beyond. Given potato’s susceptibility to heat and drought, climate change is poised to disproportionately affect potato production. Globally, potato is the fourth most important crop and yields a higher caloric density than any other commercial crop. Thus, disruptions to potato production bear serious implications for global food security.

In the United States, considerable potato production occurs in the arid West, which already faces water scarcity. This scarcity is anticipated to increase in many areas due to climate change. In addition to scarcity, growers will …

Music Basics, Rachael Huxley, Laurel Carder

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

For students to learn elements of music and how to apply them in their everyday lives.

Active Club, Tenley J. Katt, Sophia L. Schell

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

No abstract provided.

Stem Exploration Club, Erin Case, Caitlyn Scott

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

No abstract provided.

Osborne Healthy Living Club, Margaret Osborne

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Administration Of A Growth Promoting Implant During The Suckling Phase Or At Weaning On Growth, Reproduction, And Ovarian Development In Replacement Heifers Grazing Native Range, Shelby L. Rosasco, Emily A. Melchior-Tiffany, Cierrah J. Kassetas, Shad H. Cox, Richard L. Dunlap, Jennifer A. Hernandez Gifford, Eric J. Scholljegerdes, Robert A. Cushman, Adam F. Summers

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

Management strategies utilized during pre-breeding development of replacement heifers can impact fertility and the ovarian reserve. Angus- Hereford crossbred heifers (n = 233) were utilized over a 3-yr period to determine the effects of administration of a growth promoting implant at either branding or weaning on growth, reproduction, and ovarian development. Heifer calves were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: 1) nonimplanted controls (CON; n = 79), 2) implanted at approximately 2 mo of age (average calf age = 58 d) with Synovex-C (BIMP, n = 82), or 3) implanted at approximately 7 mo of age (average calf …

A Classification System For Defining And Estimating Dietary Intake Of Live Microbes In Us Adults And Children, Maria L. Marco, Robert Hutkins, Colin Hill, Victor L. Fulgoni Iii, Christopher J. Cifelli, Jaime Gahche, Joanne L. Slavin, Daniel Merenstein, Daniel J. Tancredi, Mary E. Sanders

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background:

Consuming livemicrobes in foods may benefit human health. Live microbe estimates have not previously been associated with individual foods in dietary databases.

Objectives:

We aimed to estimate intake of live microbes in US children (aged 2–18 y) and adults (≥19 y) (n = 74,466; 51.2% female).

Methods:

Using cross-sectional data from the NHANES (2001–2018), experts assigned foods an estimated level of live microbes per gram [low (Lo), <10⁴ CFU/g; medium (Med), 10⁴–10⁷ CFU/g; or high (Hi), >10⁷ CFU/g]. Probiotic dietary supplements were also assessed. The mean intake of each live microbe …

Interaction Of Replacing Corn Silage With Soyhulls As A Roughage Source With Or Without 3% Added Wheat Straw In The Diet: Impacts On Intake, Digestibility, And Ruminal Fermentation In Steers Fed High-Concentrate Diets, Bryan W. Neville, Wayde J. Pickinpaugh, Lea J. Mittleider, Rebecca L. Moore, Kendall C. Swanson, Joel S. Caton

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

Six ruminally cannulated steers [475.0 ± 49.6 kg initial body weight (BW)] were used in a 6 × 3 incomplete Latin square design (six treatments and three periods), to evaluate the impacts replacing of corn silage with pelleted soyhulls as roughage in high-concentrate finishing diets containing 30% modified distillers grains with solubles. Treatments were based on increasing dietary inclusion of soyhulls and consisted of: (1) Control (0), roughage supplied by dietary inclusion of 20% corn silage [dry matter (DM) basis]; (2) 50% replacement of corn silage with soyhulls (50); (3) 100% replacement of corn silage with soyhulls (100), and the …

Physics And Music Club, Lars Pedersen, Rohan Tatineni

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

The Physics and Music Club provides elementary students with a basic knowledge of music, instruments, the scientific method, and the physics of waves. Activities reinforce their learning, including an experiment of their choosing. These lesson plans detail the club's week-by-week composition.

Sprouting Systems, Abaigeal Aydt, Cassidy Smith

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

After taking a class at UNL about environmental awareness, two honors students paired up to start a hydroponics club at a local Lincoln school. In reaching out to the LPS director of sustainability, they were paired up with Prescott Elementary School. Over the course of a semester, they developed a club that got a hydroponic grow tower functioning for the school and taught students about nutrition and sustainability. This club is only in its beginning stages, but the impacts that it is making around the school can already be seen.

Training Packages For The Use Of Child Development Tools In Low/Middle-Income Countries: A Review, Maria Neocleous, Katelyn Hepworth, Vanessa Cavallera, Melissa Gladstone

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

Background We are now moving beyond the focus of ’child survival’ to an era which promotes children thriving and developing rather than simply ’surviving’. In doing so, we are becoming more aware of the large variation of child development screening tools available globally, but in particular, those in low/middle-income countries (LMICs).

Methods This narrative review identifies 24 child development tools used in LMICs. We aimed to identify information on training accessibility and training design, assessment methods and cost of training. For those tools with no training information identified or for any tools identified as providing online training, the tool author …

Development And Validation Of High-Resolution Melting Assays For The Detection Of Potentially Virulent Strains Of Escherichia Coli O103 And O121, Frank J. Velez, Joseph M. Bosilevac, Sabine Delannoy, Patrick Fach, Ravinder Nagpal, Prashant Singh

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

Virulent strains of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) serogroups O103 and O121 are considered adulterants in beef. Two high-resolution melting (HRM) real-time PCR assays were standardized for the specific detection and discrimination of potentially virulent and avirulent strains of E. coli O103 and O121. The O103 HRM assay offered the possibility to distinguish clearly STEC O103:H2 from STEC O103:H25. The two standardized assays were extensively validated using 215 pure culture strains, laboratory inoculated food samples, and naturally contaminated beef (n = 84) and pork (n = 84) enrichments collected from the red meat surveillance program. Both HRM assays showed 100% …

Spanish Culture Club, Emily Taylor

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

No abstract provided.

A Strategic Audit Of Seaworld, Thomas Wolfe

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

A strategic audit of SeaWorld

A Strategic Audit Of Seaworld, Jaden Capaldi, Rachel Jendro, Jacob Mir, Sophie Newman, Tommy Wolfe

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

No abstract provided.

Time Course Of Changes In Torque And Neuromuscular Parameters During A Sustained Isometric Forearm Flexion Task To Fatigue Anchored To A Constant Rating Of Perceived Exertion, Robert W. Smith, Terry J. Housh, John Paul V. Anders, Tyler J. Neltner, Jocelyn E. Arnett, Richard Schmidt, Glen O. Johnson

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Objective: This study examined the time course of changes in torque and electromyographic (EMG) and mechanomyographic (MMG) responses during a sustained isometric task anchored to a constant perception of exertion (RPE). Methods: Twelve college-aged men performed an isometric forearm flexion task to failure anchored to RPE=7 (OMNI-RES scale). The amplitude (AMP) and frequency (MPF) of the EMG and MMG signals from the biceps brachii were recorded. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to examine differences for the normalized (%MVIC) torque and neuromuscular parameters. Results: The time to task failure (TTF) was 678.0±468.1s. Torque decreased significantly (p<0.001, η_p ²=0.774) …

Resource Amount And Discontinuity Influence Flight And Reproduction In Hippodamia Convergens (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae), Hannah E. Stowe, J. P. Michaud, Tania N. Kim

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Industrial-scale agriculture creates a mosaic of large monocultures in the landscape, where seasonal cropping cycles generate discontinuous resource availability for insect predators both spatially and temporally. In this environment, selection will favor predator movement and reproductive behaviors that optimize the location and effective utilization of resource (prey) pulses that are both patchy and ephemeral in nature. Using a model system to study predator movement and reproduction, we tested how discontinuous periods of food resource access that mimic fluctuating resource populations (aphids) would influence flight behavior and reproduction of a highly mobile predator, Hippodamia convergens (convergent lady beetle), and possibly modify …

Individual Beef Cattle Identification Using Muzzle Images And Deep Learning Techniques, Guoming Li, Galen E. Erickson, Yijie Xiong

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

The ability to identify individual animals has gained great interest in beef feedlots to allow for animal tracking and all applications for precision management of individuals. This study assessed the feasibility and performance of a total of 59 deep learning models in identifying individual cattle with muzzle images. The best identification accuracy was 98.7%, and the fastest processing speed was 28.3 ms/image. A dataset containing 268 US feedlot cattle and 4923 muzzle images was published along with this article. This study demonstrates the great potential of using deep learning techniques to identify individual cattle using muzzle images and to support …

Great Northern Beans (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) Lower Cholesterol In Hamsters Fed A High-Saturated-Fat Diet, An T. Nguyen, Sami A. Althwab, Haowen Qiu, Richard Zbasnik, Carlos A. Urrea, Timothy P. Carr, Vicki Schlegel

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

Background: Dietary interventions for high cholesterol, a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease, are generally considered before prescribing drugs.

Objective: This study investigated the effects of whole Great Northern beans (wGNBs) and their hull (hGNB) incorporated into a high-saturated-fat (HSF) diet on cholesterol markers and hepatic/small intestinal genes involved in cholesterol regulation.

Methods: Each of the 4 groups of 11 male golden Syrian hamsters at 9 wk old were fed a normal-fat [NF; 5% (wt:wt) of soybean oil], HSF [5% (wt:wt) of soybean oil + 10% (wt:wt) of coconut oil], HSF+5% (wt:wt) wGNB, or HSF+0.5% (wt:wt) hGNB diet for 4 …

Impacts Of Added Roughage On Growth Performance, Digestibility, Ruminal Fermentation, And Ruminal Ph Of Feedlot Steers Fed Wheat-Based Feedlot Diets Containing 30% Modified Distillers Grains With Solubles, Wayde J. Pickinpaugh, Bryan W. Neville, Rebecca L. Moore, Joel S. Caton

Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center: Reports

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the inclusion rate roughage in wheat-based diets containing modified distillers grains with solubles (MDGS) on feedlot performance (Feedlot Experiment), as well as digestibility, ruminal pH, and ruminal fermentation characteristics (Digestibility Experiment). The feedlot experiment utilized 72 Angus steers (392 ± 46.3 kg initial body weight) which were randomly assigned to 1 of 12 pens, 3 pens per treatment, to evaluate feedlot performance and carcass characteristics. Dietary treatments were 1) control; 10% roughage, 2) 12% roughage, 3) 14% roughage, and 4) 16% roughage. The digestibility experiment used four ruminally and duodenally cannulated steers (393 ± …

A Comprehensive Bison Management And Research Plan For The Crane Trust, Joshua D. Wiese

Other Publications in Wildlife Management

The Great Plains were once a vast grassland ecosystem, but, due to agricultural and human development, are one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America. What remains is generally fragmented, threatened by invasive species, and lacks the natural ecosystem processes that shaped these grasslands such as periodic wildfire and bison grazing. Since 1978, the Platte River Whooping Crane Maintenance Trust, Inc. (dba “Crane Trust”) has worked to maintain the function of grassland and riparian habitats to benefit endangered Whooping Cranes, Sandhill Cranes, and other migratory bird species. They protect ~8,100 acres, including the largest contiguous portion of lowland tallgrass …

Nebline, May 2022

NEBLINE Newsletter Archive from Nebraska Extension in Lancaster County

Insect and Disease Control for Organic Vegetable Gardeners by Sarah Browning

Garden Guide: Things to Do This Month

An Egg-cellent Choice!

Recipe of the Month: Sweet Potatoes and Black Bean Hash by Alyssa Havlovic

It’s Time for Private Well Maintenance by Becky Scheurman

Cash Rent Survey

Composting Demonstrations

Monarchs, Migration & Milkweed by Kait Chapman

Getting Outside to Play by Hayley Jackson

4th Graders Learn About “Farm to Fork” at Ag Festival

4-H Clubs Helped at Kiwanis Karnival

Support Local 4-H Youth During “Give to Lincoln Day”

4-H Achievement Celebration

Heart of 4-H Volunteer Award: Rick Waldron

3 Lancaster County …

Stem Club, Camden Jones, Erica Gesner, Amber Gadeken

Honors Program: Expanded Learning Clubs

The goal of this club is to introduce various topics stemming from different fields in science. We hope to excite the students about science and show them how important it is to their everyday lives. This club also aims to provide free education to underserved communities.

Reexamining The Desert: A Study Of Place-Based Food Insecurity, Morgan Ryan

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Food deserts are areas where individuals lack access to healthy and affordable food. Since 1995, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been one of the leading organizations studying the phenomenon of food deserts. However, issues relating to the scale of their analysis limit their ability to gain a nuanced understanding of food insecurity. In the past decade, an increased emphasis has been placed on the importance of local factors that contribute to food insecurity and complicate the large-scale study of the phenomenon. This research explores the various place-based factors shaping food insecurity in Lincoln, Nebraska, by readapting Penchansky …

Rheological Behavior Of Dspc-, Dbpc-, And Dppc-Oxygen Microbubbles And Their Effectiveness In Improving Survival In A Rat Model Of Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Riaz Ur Rehman Mohammed

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) causes 75,000 deaths in the U.S., annually. It is characterized by hypoxemia and damage to the lung alveoli. ARDS Management strategies involve extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and mechanical ventilation, but none of these methods improve the mortality rates. Oxygen microbubbles (OMBs) consist of a lipid shell with an oxygen core and have potential to augment oxygenation to manage ARDS. Previous studies demonstrated significant improvements in systemic oxygenation and mortality upon administering OMBs.

We replicated an ARDS rat model by intratracheal administration of lipopolysaccharide at a 24 mg/kg dose. After inducing the disease in rats, the …

How Can Stakeholders In Food Sovereignty Achieve More Political Power?, Micah Dierks

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Food sovereignty (FSv) is a peasant-driven, transnational movement that emerged in response to land-grabbing and the consolidation of power in food production. It advocates for the rights of people to define their own food practices and systems. To provide targeted feedback for movement reflexivity, 21 ecological conflicts referencing food sovereignty were sampled from the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (the EJAtlas). Involved groups of actors and their forms of mobilization were correlated with interpretations of success from the EJAtlas. I recommend that stakeholders in food sovereignty pursue the acquisition of greater political power through improving messaging, leveraging or disrupting existing …

The Accessibility And Sustainability Of Local Foods: A Snapshot From The Food Hubs Of Lincoln, Nebraska, Tess Foxall

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

The current state of agriculture in the United States utilizes industrial practices that pose a myriad of risks to both human and environmental health. By focusing on smaller farms and local food systems that utilize more sustainable agriculture practices, communities can benefit in terms of economic, environmental, and social health. Food hubs can play a key role in local food systems to connect local producers with consumers and increase access to local food. The goal of the research was to analyze the accessibility and sustainability of local food from food hubs in Lincoln, Nebraska to find the key barriers to …