Digital Commons Network^™

Conserving Urban Insects: A Toolkit For Landscape Professionals In The Intermountain West, Sierra Laverty

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

Purpose of this Toolkit This toolkit is a resource for landscapers, landscape archi tect s and designers, urban foresters, growers. staff in public gardens, parks, nurseries and other ornamentaL horticulture professionals. It is intended for those interested in conserving non pest insects in urban and suburban environments.

Why urban and suburban areas? Insects are critical not only to natural and agricultural ecosystems. but also to urban ecosystems. Urban environments are characterized by a patchwork of habitat "islands" including home gardens, university campuses, urban parks and farms, vacant lots, cemeteries, arboreta, and botanicaL gardens [1). These habitat islands are the focus …

A Survey Of Insects Collected From Wild Flowering Plants At One Site In Michigan, Bryan W. Shields

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

The goal of this project was to document the wild flowering plants and the insect diversity present during a one season survey of an unmanaged habitat. Adult insects were collected from June to September 2020. A total of 58 families from 9 orders (Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Mantodea, Neuroptera, Odonata, Orthoptera) of insects were collected or observed. The insects collected were from multiple functional groups including: fungivores, herbivores, nectarivores, pollinavores, and predators. The type and number of insect orders as well as the number of functional groups suggests that insect diversity was attained at the time of this survey. …

Insects Of Decay: An Illustrative Series In Forensic Entomology, Britaney Hight

Department of Entomology: Distance Master of Science Projects

This is an illustrative series of selected insects involved with forensic entomology. All illustrations are original hand-drawn works, completed with colored pencils, pen and ink where needed, and colored pencil paper. Each illustration is paired with a summary that includes basic biology and ecology, and their importance to the field of forensic entomology. Preferred collection and preservation methods were also included with each summary. This project can be used in outreach and teaching applications.

Coleoptera 6 Creophilus maxillosus - Hairy Rove Beetle 7 Dermestes maculatus - Hide Beetle 9 Euspilotus spp - Hister Beetle 11 Necrobia rufipes - Red-legged Ham …

Arginine Catabolism And Polyamine Biosynthesis Pathway Disparities Within Francisella Tularensis Subpopulations, Yinshi Yue, Bhanwar Lal Puniya, Tomáš Helikar, Benjamin Girardo, Steven H. Hinrichs, Marilyn A. Larson

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Francisella tularensis is a highly infectious zoonotic pathogen with as few as 10 organisms causing tularemia, a disease that is fatal if untreated. Although F. tularensis subspecies tularensis (type A) and subspecies holarctica (type B) share over 99.5% average nucleotide identity, notable differences exist in genomic organization and pathogenicity. The type A clade has been further divided into subtypes A.I and A.II, with A.I strains being recognized as some of the most virulent bacterial pathogens known. In this study, we report on major disparities that exist between the F. tularensis subpopulations in arginine catabolism and subsequent polyamine biosynthesis. The genes …

Species-Specific Responses To Landscape Features Shaped Genomic Structure Within Alaska Galliformes, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Robert E. Wilson, Sandra L. Talbot

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Aim: Connectivity is vital to the resiliency of populations to environmental change and stochastic events, especially for cold-adapted species as Arctic and alpine tundra habitats retract as the climate warms. We examined the influence of past and current landscapes on genomic connectivity in cold-adapted galliformes as a critical first step to assess the vulnerability of Alaska ptarmigan and grouse to environmental change. We hypothesize that the mosaic of physical features and habitat within Alaska promoted the formation of genetic structure across species.

Location: Alaska, United States of America.

Taxa: Ptarmigan and Grouse (Galliformes: Tetraoninae).

Methods: We collected double digest restriction-site- …

Advancing Heart, Lung, Blood, And Sleep Research (January 2022)

United States Natonal Institutes of Health: Materials

Advancing Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Research is a brochure that highlights major NHLBI programs, partnership activities, as well as recent advances in science.

A Meta-Analysis Examining Technology-Assisted L2 Vocabulary Learning, Aiqing Yu, Guy Trainin

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

This meta-analysis examines the effectiveness of technology-assisted second language (L2) vocabulary learning as well as identifies factors that may play a role in their effectiveness. We found 34 studies with 2,511 participants yielding 49 separate effect sizes. Following the procedure developed by Hunter and Schmidt (2004), we corrected for sample size bias and measurement error. The overall effect size for using technology to learn L2 vocabulary was d = 0.64, which is a moderate effect size. The Q statistic indicated a significant variability in effect size, so we followed up with a theory-driven moderator analysis. The results of the moderator …

Developing Intercultural Competence In Multilingual Science Classrooms: A Narrative Study, Uma Ganesan, Amanda Morales

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Increased globalization of the world economy, growth in human migration, and rapid developments in science and technology have required people to develop intercultural communication skills. Teachers play a crucial role in developing intercultural competence among students in our globalized, multilingual classrooms. The need for fostering discourse and building intercultural competence among students is a common blind spot in teacher praxis. This can inhibit efforts to cultivate safe and supportive learning environments for all students and can ultimately threaten multilingual student success. As part of a larger study, this narrative inquiry explores the phenomenon of intercultural competence development through the lived …

2022 Nebraska Beef Cattle Report

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

The purpose of beef cattle and beef product research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is to provide reference information that represents the various populations (cows, calves, heifers, feeders, carcasses, retail products, etc.) of beef production.

Dedicated in memory of Dr. Terry Klopfenstein (March 10, 1939-April 30, 2021), Professor Emeritus, Animal Science Department, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Cow-Calf Nutrition and Management

Impact of Cow Size on Economic Profitability in the Cow-Calf and Feedlot Production Systems

Comparison of Partially Confined and Traditional Cow-Calf Systems

Concepts in Stress Physiology

Inflammatory Modulators Improve Daily Gain of Heat-Stressed Wethers

Zilpaterol Supplementation Improved Indicators of Well-Being, but …

Effects Of Lime Amendment On Antibiotic Resistance In Beef Cattle Manure Of Open Feedlots, Noelle A. Mware, Galen E. Erickson, Amy Schmidt, Shannon L. Bartelt-Hunt, Xu Li

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of lime amendment on the reduction of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and antimicrobial resistance genes in beef cattle manure in open feedlots. Hydrated lime was uniformly applied to the surface of feedlot pen floor 1 day prior to cattle harvest at a rate of 0.36 lb/ft² and samples were collected over time. Collected samples were analyzed for change in pH and levels of antimicrobial resistant bacteria and antimicrobial resistance genes. Lime amendment elevated the pH of pen floor surface materials to pH > 12 for 4 hours and then pH > 11 …

Impact Of Spring Corn Residue Grazing On Soil Physical Properties And Crop Yield, Morgan T. Grabau, J. C. Macdonald, Zachary E. Carlson, M. E. Drewnoski

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

The effects of stocking density for spring corn residue grazing on soil physical properties and soybean yield were evaluated in an experiment with three treatments: no grazing, normal density, and high density. Normal density was stocked at 3 calves/acre and grazed 45 days starting in mid-February. High-density was stocked at 9 calves/acre and grazed 15 days starting in mid-March. Increased stocking density decreased residue cover and increased surface roughness. Bulk density and penetration resistance were increased for normal density compared to no graze, with no difference between grazed treatments, illustrating that grazing may cause minor compaction, regardless of stocking density. …

Evaluation Of Methane And Co2 Production In Growing And Finishing Cattle Raised In Conventional Or Partial Confinement-Based Herds, L. J. Mcphillips, Z. E. Carlson, Rick R. Stowell, J. C. Macdonald, Andrew E. Suyker, Galen E. Erickson

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

Methane emissions from growing and finishing calves compared either a spring calving, conventional cow system or a summer calving, partially-confined cow system. Calves weaned from the confinement-based production system were smaller at weaning and compensated with greater gain during the growing phase. More days on feed in the finishing phase were needed for the calves from the confinement system to reach same backfat thickness. Over the entire growing and finishing phases, calves from the confinement-based system produced more total CH₄ and CH₄ per lb. HCW. Production of methane and CO₂ per lb. of gain was lower in …

Inflammatory Modulators Improve Daily Gain Of Heat-Stressed Wethers, Micah S. Most, Pablo C. Grijalva, Dustin T. Yates

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

Inflammation during heat stress may mediate poor growth in livestock. The effects of anti-imflammatory treatments on muscle growth during chronic heat stress were evaluated by using meat lambs as a smaller cheaper model for feedlot steers. Wethers were maintained in normal (75^oF) or heat stress (105^oF for 12 hours/day, 85^oF for 12 hours/day) environments for 30 days and received dexamethasone injections every 3 days, oral fish oil supplementation twice daily, or no intervention. Growth was tracked and muscles were weighed when harvested afterward. Dexamethasone and fish oil both increased average daily gain over the …

Statistics Used In The Nebraska Beef Cattle Report And Teir Purpose, University Of Nebraska-Lincoln

Nebraska Beef Cattle Reports

Te purpose of beef cattle and beef product research at UNL is to provide reference information that represents the various populations (cows, calves, heifers, feeders, carcasses, retail products, etc) of beef production. Obviously, the researcher cannot apply treatments to every member of a population; therefore he/she must sample the population. Te use of statistics allows the researcher and readers of the Nebraska Beef Cattle Report the opportunity to evaluate separation of random (chance) occurrences and real biological effects of a treatment. Following is a brief description of the major statistics used in the beef report. For a more detailed description …

Foot Injuries In Michigan, Usa, Gray Wolves (Canis Lupus), 1992–2014, Daniel J. O'Brien, Dean E. Beyer Jr., Erin Largent, Julie R. Melotti, Caitlin N. Ott-Conn, Donald H. Lonsway, Thomas M. Cooley, Robert Atkinson, Michelle Clayson, Kelly A. Straka

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The range of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in the contiguous US is expanding. Research and monitoring to support population recovery and management often involves capture via foothold traps. A population-level epidemiologic assessment of the effect of trap injuries on wolf survival remains needed to inform management. We describe the baseline rate, type, and severity of foot injuries of wolves born 1992–2013 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, evaluate the reliability of field-scoring trap-related injuries, and the effect of injuries on wolf survival. We assessed foot injuries by physical and radiographic exam at postmortem and/or time of capture for 351 wolves using the …

Olfactory Lures In Predator Control Do Not Increase Predation Risk To Birds In Areas Of Conservation Concern, Page Klug, Amy A. Yackel Adams, Robert N. Reed

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Context. Lethal control of predators is often undertaken to protect species of conservation concern. Traps are frequently baited to increase capture efficacy, but baited traps can potentially increase predation risk by attracting predators to protected areas. This is especially important if targeted predators can escape capture due to low trap success. Snake traps using live mouse lures may be beneficial if traps effectively remove snakes in the presence of birds and do not attract additional snakes to the area.

Aims. The present study evaluated whether mouse-lure traps in areas occupied by birds (simulated by deploying birdlure traps) could influence predation …

Wild Pig Removal Reduces Pathogenic Bacteria In Low-Order Streams, Sara A. Bolds, B. Graeme Lockaby, Latif Kalin, Stephen S. Ditchkoff, Mark D. Smith, Kurt Vercauteren

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive wild pig populations have undergone enormous increases in the United States and particularly across the southern U.S. in recent years. High fecundity rates and abilities to adapt quickly to varied habitats have enabled pig populations to become entrenched and difficult to eliminate. The pigs cause many negative impacts on ecosystems including degradation of water quality through infusion of fecal contamination and other non-point source pollutants. Our goal was to determine the effects of pig removal on water quality in streams that were known to be significantly polluted by pig activity Bolds (J Environ Qual 50: 441–453, 2021). We compared …

Using Algorithmic Imaginaries And Uncanny Pedagogy To Facilitate Interdisciplinary Research And Digital Scholarship, Philip L. Frana

Honors in Practice Online Archive

An interdisciplinary honors course titled “Minds, Machines, and Meaning” incorporates the notion of the algorithmic imaginary, which explains how people make use of algorithms to create new information infrastructures and communities and how these algorithms shape us in turn. Describing a culminating writing assignment in speculative research, the author explains how this course facilitates interdisciplinary research while fostering student and faculty growth, and he reflects on the possibility of its future variation, the uncanny valley of algorithmic anti-humanism.

Embracing New Opportunities In And Beyond First-Year Honors Composition, Teagan Decker, Scott Hicks

Honors in Practice Online Archive

Authors describe course-embedded research experiences at a diverse, rural, regional university. Emphasizing the capacity for conventional teaching and learning in first-year honors composition, these experiences provide relationshiprich education through faculty and peer mentorships. Positing that first-year honors composition is undervalued as a means for establishing programmatic foundations that resonate with students throughout their honors experience, the authors reinforce its importance as a place for disciplinary research and thus for opportunities in mentoring. By addressing an urgent need for mentoring underrepresented students, the authors consider how a research-based first-year honors composition course might help such students make meaningful disciplinary connections. A …

Effect Of Health Aid On Life Expectancy In Sub-Saharan Africa, Sakiru Oladele Akinbode Dr., Isiaq O. Oseni

Journal for the Advancement of Developing Economies

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Taxonomic Report Of The International Lepidoptera Survey, October 1, 1998–December 20, 2022, International Lepidoptera Survey

The Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey

Table of contents for all issues of the Taxonomic Report of the International Lepidoptera Survey from October 1, 1998 (volume 1, issue 1) through December 20, 2022 (volume 10, issue 10).

“Best Of Both Worlds”: Alumni Perspectives On Honors And The Liberal Arts, Angela King Taylor, Kelsey Daniels, Molly Knowlton

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

This study explores the extent to which skills acquired through liberal arts curricula facilitate immediate post-graduate employment of honors college alumni. Using qualitative methods and semi-structured interviews (n = 16), authors examine the honors college experience and the attainment of skills through the lens of graduates (2017–2020) at a large research institution. Results indicate that while honors alumni identify certain skills that helped them realize initial employment, they were often unable to translate and apply these skills in professional workplaces, particularly nonacademic ones. Data further suggest that liberal arts skills (communication, research competence, critical reasoning, intercultural competence, interdisciplinary inquiry, disciplinary …

Disordered Eating, Perfectionism, Stress, And Satisfaction In Honors: A Research Collaborative Investigating A Community Concern, Jeffrey E. Hecker, Jainie Giguere, Ethan Lowell, Mimi Killinger, Bailey Lewis, Ailin Liebler-Bendix

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Moved by the lived experience of an honors student, authors describe a three-year Honors and Eating Concerns Research Collaborative (2019–2022), which examines the relationship between perfectionism and eating concerns among honors students. Under faculty advisement, first- and second-year honors psychology majors (n = 5) participated in the collective, carrying out three empirical studies (producing two honors theses) and gathering data from 413 high-achieving students across the curriculum (54 identifying as honors). In survey research, the instruments used were questionnaires and interviews; measures involved four scales—Almost Perfect Scale-Revised (APSR), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ), and Eating Disorder Examination …

Honors Is Pedagogy, John Zubizarreta

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

In response to the issue of why and how the humanities—and more broadly the liberal arts and sciences—have historically dominated honors education and disregarded preprofessional fields, the author finds that the crux of the problem is not the nature or worth of the disciplines involved or why this or that subject area is de facto included or excluded from honors. Instead, the author argues that honors is not about privileging specific content in any academic domain but about the approaches to teaching and learning that distinguish the honors enterprise. Grounded in creative, participatory, experiential strategies of what we know as …

The Lexicon Of Honors Education, Laura Barrett

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

As part of the National Collegiate Honors Council’s (2022) collection of essays about the value of honors to its graduates (1967–2019), the author reflects on the personal and professional impacts of the honors experience.

The word of the year, as my LIU Brooklyn Honors Program peers and I would identify it in 1979, was “juxtaposition,” not a word I was very familiar with before entering college but one that was tossed about with abandon by professors in my first-year seminars (including Bernice Braid, director and co-founder of the LIU Brooklyn Honors Program) and that would become a close friend by …

A Bridge To Belonging, Angeline Best

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

As part of the National Collegiate Honors Council’s (2022) collection of essays about the value of honors to its graduates (1967–2019), the author reflects on the personal and professional impacts of the honors experience.

Growing up as a child of immigrants in a predominantly white community, I felt the tension of an identity crisis early on. I remember being the only Vietnamese person in my class and having to explain why my mom packed me rice for lunch instead of sandwiches. I remember not being able to make friends easily at school, instead seeking out other Vietnamese children down the …

Citadels Of Interdisciplinarity, Colin Christensen

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

As part of the National Collegiate Honors Council’s (2022) collection of essays about the value of honors to its graduates (1967–2019), the author reflects on the personal and professional impacts of the honors experience.

As the demands of academic research galvanize disciplinary silos and market forces pressure students into increasingly specialized courses of study, honors education stands as one of the few remaining citadels of interdisciplinarity on America’s college campuses. My experience as an undergraduate honors student was characterized by a community of deep intellectual richness committed to student-driven, collaborative, integrative and critical inquiry. Honors constellates diversity in tradition and …

There And Back Again, Jennifer N. Dulin

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

As part of the National Collegiate Honors Council’s (2022) collection of essays about the value of honors to its graduates (1967–2019), the author reflects on the personal and professional impacts of the honors experience.

I am fortunate to have experienced the Texas A&M University Honors Program in two unique capacities: first as an undergraduate (2001–2005) and now as a faculty member (2017–present). Both experiences have been tremendously enriching in different ways. As an undergraduate, my experience in the Texas A&M Honors Programs nurtured my growth as a scholar, encouraged independent thought, and allowed me to gain experience in scientific research, …

Non Magis Sed Melior, “Not More, But Better”, Teri Grieb

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

As part of the National Collegiate Honors Council’s (2022) collection of essays about the value of honors to its graduates (1967–2019), the author reflects on the personal and professional impacts of the honors experience.

The year was 1989. I had moved from a rural community in Michigan to South Carolina to attend Columbia College, a private, liberal-arts women’s college. The culture shock and adjustment were equal parts exhilarating and unnerving. I was welcomed by the warm, Southern charm of campus and was nurtured, personally and academically, by the close-knit community of the honors program. I had a rich college experience …

Honorary Family, Joshua Mulanax, Brandi Mulanax

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

As part of the National Collegiate Honors Council’s (2022) collection of essays about the value of honors to its graduates (1967–2019), the authors reflect on the personal and professional impacts of the honors experience.

It’s a crisp, cool morning as the campus begins to show signs of life. Above the tittering birds and soft breeze, laughter can be heard echoing across the grounds. The sounds are coming from the self-proclaimed “nerd herd,” an eclectic group of honors students shuffling along the sidewalk to their morning classes. The conversation ranges from serious discussions regarding an upcoming biology test to light teasing …