Digital Commons Network^™

What Is The Winter Limiting Nutrient In Urban Reservoirs? A Case Study, Precious Nyabami

UCARE: Research Products

The importance of reservoirs is widely acknowledged by urban populations, yet little is understood scientifically about their ability to process nutrients deposited into them in winter. For example, when agricultural runoff is deposited in lakes in winter or any other season, eutrophication might arise in the spring. With increased eutrophication, several ecosystem services are lost and this leads to what several researchers call “the urban syndrome”. Some studies have been done on the winter limnology of lakes, yet little is understood about the above in reservoirs. The sustainability of urban reservoirs relies on understanding how the phytoplankton in urban reservoirs …

Post‐Dispersal Factors Influence Recruitment Patterns But Do Not Override The Importance Of Seed Limitation In Populations Of A Native Thistle, Tatyana A. Rand, Natalie M. West, F. Leland Russell, Svata M. Louda

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Whether plant populations are limited by seed or microsite availability is a long-standing debate. However, since both can be important, increasing emphasis is placed on disentangling their relative importance and how they vary through space and time. Although uncommon, seed addition studies that include multiple levels of seed augmentation, and follow plants through to the adult stage, are critical to achieving this goal. Such data are also vital to understanding when biotic pressures, such as herbivory, influence plant abundance. In this study, we experimentally added seeds of a native thistle, Cirsium canescens, at four augmentation densities to plots at two …

Diverse Aging And Health Inequality By Race And Ethnicity, Kenneth F. Ferraro, Blakelee R. Kemp, Monica M. Williams

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Although gerontologists have long embraced the concept of heterogeneity in theories and models of aging, recent research reveals the importance of racial and ethnic diversity on life course processes leading to health inequality. This article examines research on health inequality by race and ethnicity and identifies theoretical and methodological innovations that are transforming the study of health disparities. Drawing from cumulative inequality theory, we propose greater use of life course analysis, more attention to variability within racial and ethnic groups, and better integration of environmental context into the study of accumulation processes leading to health disparities.

Smokers’ Reports On Receiving A Doctor’S Advice To Quit Smoking; Receiving The Advice Is More Prevalent Among Smokers With Crohn’S Disease Relative To Smokers With Ulcerative Colitis, Julia N. Soulakova, Le-Chu Su, Lisa J. Crockett

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Receiving a doctor’s advice to quit smoking is an important predictor for improving smokers’ intentions to quit smoking and successful smoking cessation. We examined reports of smokers with Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC) regarding receiving a doctor’s advice to quit smoking in the past 12 months, and eval-uated the differences in the rates of receiving the advice between the CD and UC patients. The data were retrospectively reported by CD and UC patients (n = 453) who self-identified as current smokers in online assessments conducted by IBD Partners in the period from 2011 to 2014 in the USA. …

No Association Between An Oxytocin Receptor Genetic Variant And Depressive Symptoms, Rachel Sisley, Grace Sullivan, Scott Stoltenberg

UCARE: Research Products

• Depression has the greatest impact on daily functioning capability of all diseases and adversely effects individuals globally (Flint & Kendler, 2014). • Human capital value of these losses has been about $40 billion dollars annually (Kessler, 2012). • Analysis of the genetic and biological systems associated with depressive symptoms, such as the oxytocin system, could lead to identifying risk variants and possible treatment development. • Genetic Variation in OXTR is associated with a variation in depressive symptoms including low selfesteem, pessimism, and low self-efficacy, etc. (Conner et al., 2018). • The A allele of the SNP rs53576 is considered …

"You Have Witchcraft In Your Lips": Sensory Witchcraft In Shakespeare's Antony And Cleopatra And Macbeth, Hannah Kanninen

Department of English: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Scholarship on witches and witchcraft within Shakespeare’s plays has been a popular subject for many scholars. But one of Shakespeare’s most famous characters has not yet been integrated into this scholarship: Cleopatra from Antony and Cleopatra. Although scholars have often noted her “witchiness,” none have argued for an interpretation of Cleopatra as a witch. This is because traditional definitions of witchcraft have not been able to include Cleopatra. In comparison, Lady Macbeth from Macbeth has often been cited as the fourth witch in the play. But this interpretation relies upon examining Lady Macbeth’s perceived masculinity, which subsequently also makes her …

A Deeper Meaning For Shallow-Level Phylogenomic Studies: Nested Anchored Hybrid Enrichment Offers Great Promise For Resolving The Tiger Moth Tree Of Life (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae), Nicolas J. Dowdy, Shannon Keating, Alan R. Lemmon, Emily M. Lemmon, William E. Conner, Clare H. Scott Chialvo, Susan Weller, Rebecca B. Simmons, Melissa S. Sisson, Jennifer M. Zaspel

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Anchored hybrid enrichment (AHE) has emerged as a powerful tool for uncovering the evolutionary relationships within many taxonomic groups. AHE probe sets have been developed for a variety of insect groups, though none have yet been shown to be capable of simultaneously resolving deep and very shallow (e.g., intraspecific) divergences. In this study, we present NOC1, a new AHE probe set (730 loci) for Lepidoptera specialized for tiger moths and assess its ability to deliver phylogenetic utility at all taxonomic levels. We test the NOC1 probe set with 142 individuals from 116 species sampled from all the major lineages of …

Reaction Of Tepary Beans To Eight Virulent Races Of The Rust Pathogen That Overcomes All Known Common Bean Rust Resistance Genes, Santos Barrera Lemus, Prabin Tamang, Carlos A. Urrea, Marcial A. Pastor-Corrales

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Bean rust, caused by Uromyces appendiculatus, is a major disease of common and snap bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) worldwide (Stavely, 1984). Although host resistance is an important component of rust management (Mmbaga et al., 1996), populations of the rust pathogen comprise an extensive and shifting virulence diversity that could render susceptible all known rust resistance genes in common bean. Conversely, it has been suggested that certain tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius) accessions are broadly resistant to bean rust (Miklas & Stavely, 1998). The objectives of this study were to verify if tepary beans are resistant to …

Sensitivity Analysis Of Data-Driven Groundwater Forecasts To Hydroclimatic Controls In Irrigated Croplands, Alessandro Amaranto, Francesca Pianosi, Dimitri Solomatine, Gerald Corzo-Perez, Francisco Munoz-Arriola

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

In the last decades, advancements in computational science have greatly expanded the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) in hydrogeology, including applications on groundwater forecast, variable selection, extended lead-times, and regime-specific analysis. However, ANN-model performance often omits the sensitivity to ob- servational uncertainties in hydroclimate forcings. The goal of this paper is to implement a data-driven modeling framework for assessing the sensitivity of ANN-based groundwater forecasts to the uncertainties in observational inputs across space, time, and hydrological regimes. The objectives are two-folded. The first objective is to couple an ANN model with the PAWN sensitivity analysis (SA). The second objective …

Biological Systems Engineering, Asmaa Abdella, Fernando Segato, Mark R. Wilkins

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The present work studied the optimization of aeration rate, agitation rate and oxygen transfer and the use of various batch fermentation strategies for xylanase production from a recombinant Aspergillus nidulans strain in a 3 L stirred tank reactor. Maximum xylanase production of 1250 U/mL with productivity of 313 U/mL/day was obtained under an aeration rate of 2 vvm and an agitation rate of 400 rpm using batch fermentation. The optimum volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (kLa) for efficient xylanase production was found to be 38.6 h1. Fed batch mode and repeated batch fermentation was also performed with kLa was 38.6 h1. …

Long-Term Rotation Diversity And Nitrogen Effects On Soil Organic Carbon And Nitrogen Stocks, Marty R. Schmer, Virginia L. Jin, Brian J. Wienhold, Sophia M. Becker, Gary E. Varvel

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

Understanding the impacts of long-term fertilizer management and rotation diversity on soil C and N is needed under a changing climate. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of N fertilizer level and crop rotation diversity on soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil N stocks from a 34-yr study located in eastern Nebraska. Seven crop rotations (three continuous cropping systems; two 2-yr crop rotations; and two 4-yr crop rotations) and three N levels were compared. Soil samples were taken to a depth of 150 cm. Differences in SOC stocks were largely confined to the 0- to 7.5-cm …

The Role Of Conformational Dynamics In Isocyanide Hydratase Catalysis, Medhanjali Dasgupta

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Post-translational modification of cysteine residues can regulate protein function and is essential for catalysis by cysteine-dependent enzymes. Covalent modifications neutralize charge on the reactive cysteine thiolate anion and thus alter the active site electrostatic environment. Although a vast number of enzymes rely on cysteine modification for function, precisely how altered structural and electrostatic states of cysteine affect protein dynamics, which in turn, affects catalysis, remains poorly understood.

Here we use X-ray crystallography, computer simulations, site directed mutagenesis and enzyme kinetics to characterize how covalent modification of the active site cysteine residue in the enzyme, isocyanide hydratase (ICH), affects the protein …

Quantifying Wicking In Functionlized Surfaces, Maureen Winter, Ryan Regan, Alfred Tsubaki, Craig Zuhlke, Dennis Alexander, George Gogos

UCARE: Research Products

Wicking remains the enigmatic key factor in many research areas. From boiling in power plants, to anti-icing on plane wings, to medical instruments, to heat pipes, efficiency and safety depend on how quickly a surface becomes wet. Yet wicking remains difficult to quantify and define as a property of the surface. This experiment strives to measure the wicking property by examining the rate that a liquid can be pulled out of a container. A superhydrophilic surface is placed in contact with the liquid at the bottom of a tube so that the volume flow rate across the surface can be …

Inducing Increased Bioplastic Production In R. Palustris Cga009, Cameron Gilley, Dylan Hoppner, Brandi J. Brown

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

PHA’s (polyhydroxyalkanoates) are important bio polymers in different industries such as petroleum, medicine, and nano technology. In the microorganisms in which they are produced, they serve as an energy storage material by storing both carbon and usable electrons. This is useful in environments where the organisms are nutrient starved. PHA’s have a practical use especially in the medical field as bio-plastics because they are biodegradable and bio-compatible. Rhodopseudomonas. palustris, a common soil bacterium, is notable for its uncommon metabolic flexibility. Its diverse metabolism means that it can fix CO 2 and grow on many lignin based monomers in both aerobic …

Quantification Of Phenotypic Change Resulting In Sensitization Of Primary Sensory Neurons Due To Oxidative Stress, Adan Redwine, Sarah M. Romereim, Rebecca A. Wachs

UCARE: Research Products

84% of the population will suffer from low back pain at some point in their lives, and 39% of the cases may be related to pain originating from the intervertebral disc (IVD) also known as discogenic pain. Age or injury can cause progressive degeneration of the IVD, and this can allow innervation by nociceptive (pain-sensing) neurons from the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) into the inner IVD.⁶ Long-term exposure to pain-inducing stimuli can cause nociceptor sensitization, manifested as increased pain sensation in response to non-painful or painful stimuli.⁷ Sensitization results in the nociceptors responding more strongly to a stimulus, …

Edible Films Made Of Corn Zein Protein And Cellulose Derivatives, Gloria Dukuzeyesu, Changmou Xu, Zhang Yue

UCARE: Research Products

A composite edible film made of corn zein protein (Z) and cellulose derivatives (C) was successfully fabricated. Edible films are coatings used to wrap food products to protect them against microbial deterioration, loss of moisture, and to extend the shelf life of the product. These edible films are consumed together with the product . The mechanical properties, water vapor permeability, application on fruits, and shelf life of the composite film were studied. Zein demonstrated excellent packing characteristics; due to its high no polar contents and hydrophobic nature, zein film served as a moisture barrier. Hydroproxy methylcellulose (HPM) is tasteless, odorless …

Evaluating Larval Movement And Infestation Of Soybean Gall Midge, Genereuse Turabawe, Débora Goulart Montezano, Anthony J. Mcmechan

UCARE: Research Products

Soybean gall midge (SGM) Resseliellamaxima Gagnéis a newly identified insect pest of soybean (Gagnéet al 2019). As of August, 2019 a total of 92 counties across five midwestern states (Fig. 1) documented as infested. Heavily injured soybean fields show visible signs of dead or dying plants (Fig. 2a), causing significant economic losses for farmers.

Heavily injured soybean plants often die prematurely with several different larval stages (Fig. 2b) still feeding within the plant. Significant concern have been raised about the role of these larvae in infesting adjacent healthy plants.

To better understand the behavior and potential for larval infestation a …

Phosphorus Nmr And Its Application To Metabolomics, Paula Evans, Fatema Bhinderwala, Robert Powers, Martha Morton, Thomas Smith

UCARE: Research Products

Stable isotopes are routinely employed by NMR metabolomics to highlight specific metabolic processes and to monitor pathway flux. 13C-carbon and 15N-nitrogen labeled nutrients are convenient sources of isotope tracers and are commonly added as supplements to a variety of biological systems ranging from cell cultures to animal models. Unlike 13C and 15N, 31P-phosphourous is a naturally abundant and NMR active isotope that doesn’t require an external supplemental source. To date, 31P NMR has seen limited usage in metabolomics because of a lack of reference spectra, difficulties in sample preparation, and an absence of two-dimensional (2D) NMR experiments. But, 31P NMR …

Clostridium Perfringens Adhesion Through Type Iv Pili, Alexander Meyer, Josephine Liess, Kurt Piepenbrink

UCARE: Research Products

Bacteria infect host cells through several mechanisms, one of which is a surface protein called a type IV pilus. Type IV pili are thin, hair-like protein fibers on the bacterial surface capable of being extended and retracted from a bacterial cell; they are used for functions including motility, biofilm formation, and adherence to host cells. Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive bacterium best known as a food pathogen that is believed to use type IV pili for host cell adherence. These pili are poorly characterized and understanding how C. perfringens uses type IV pili will provide a model for how these …

Management Effects On Soil Quality Of The Geary Soil Series In Thayer County, Nebraska, Aime Nishimwe

UCARE: Research Products

The CGIAR reports that around 40% of global crop yield variability is explained by climate. While global food consumption is expected to soar in 2050, the impact of climate change accounts for approximately 5% decrease in crop productivity. FAO estimates a 60% increase in global food demand by 2050, with global population reaching 9.8 billions. Sustainable soil management was also noted to boost agricultural food production by 58%. The evaluation of the impact of different management practices on dynamic soil properties was conducted on Geary silty clay loam, 3 to 7 %, eroded soils, which are mainly used for crop …

Mechanisms Of Silencing Suppression By A Polerovirus P0 Protein, Natalie Holste, Hernan Garcia-Ruiz

School of Biological Sciences: Presentations

Maize lethal necrosis is an intense viral disease spreading across sub-Saharan Africa. Maize is the staple crop grown in sub-Saharan Africa, but most crops infected with maize lethal necrosis will not survive to harvest. This causes immense economic hardship and starvation within the population. Maize lethal necrosis consists of a combination of two viruses, Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) and a virus from the genus potyvirus. In a recent study, a Maize yellow dwarf virus-RMV (MYDV-RMV)-like polerovirus, was repeatedly detected in plants with maize lethal necrosis. Poleroviruses have a silencing suppressor, P0 protein, and the mechanism of suppression is poorly …

Extreme Fire As A Management Tool To Combat Regime Shifts In The Range Of The Endangered American Burying Beetle, Alison K. Ludwig, Daniel R. Uden, Dirac Twidwell

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study is focused on the population of federally-endangered American burying beetles in south-central Nebraska. It is focused on changes in land cover over time and at several levels of spatial scale, and how management efforts are impacting both the beetle and a changing landscape. Our findings are applicable to a large portion of the Great Plains, which is undergoing the same shift from grassland to woodland, and to areas where the beetle is still found.

Engagement And Computational Thinking Through Creative Coding, Dana Hoppe

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Rising enrollments in Computer Science pose an opportunity to engage students from diverse backgrounds and interests; and a challenge to deliver on positive learning outcomes. While student engagement is the driving factor for increased learning performance and retention, it has been declining to new lows for Computer Science students in recent years. In order to further explore the potential of contextualized computing as a tool for increasing engagement in computing and developing Computational Thinking aptitude in students, we have developed an introductory computing course contextualized with Art and Design with modules centered around guiding pedagogical principles and aimed at middle …

Characterization Of A Split-Nluc Assay For Monitoring Changes In Alpha-Synuclein Solubility In Living Cells, Baolong Truong

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

Alpha-synuclein is the primary constituent of Lewy Bodies, protein aggregates associated with Parkinson’s Disease, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, and Multiple Systems Dystrophy. Given the terminal nature of these synucleinopathies, the need for an assay that can report on alpha-synuclein aggregation levels in living systems is critical. Western blotting represents one potential approach to this problem; however, this technique can often be limited by selectivity of available antibodies and experimental reproducibility. Herein, we describe a novel luminescence-based assay capable of detecting alpha-synuclein solubility in bacterial cells. This platform can report on the influence of disease-relevant mutations and small molecules. Antibodies are …

Variance Heterogeneity Genome-Wide Mapping For Cadmium In Bread Wheat Reveals Novel Genomic Loci And Epistatic Interactions, Waseem Hussain, Malachy T. Campbell, Diego Jarquin, Harkamal Walia, Gota Morota

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Genome-wide association mapping identifies quantitative trait loci (QTL) that influence the mean differences between the marker genotypes for a given trait. While most loci influence the mean value of a trait, certain loci, known as variance heterogeneity QTL (vQTL) determine the variability of the trait instead of the mean trait value (mQTL). In the present study, we performed a variance heterogeneity genome-wide association study (vGWAS) for grain cadmium (Cd) concentration in bread wheat. We used double generalized linear model and hierarchical generalized linear model to identify vQTL associated with grain Cd. We identified novel vQTL regions on chromosomes 2A and …

Structure, Function And Metabolism Of Hepatic And Adipose Tissue Lipid Droplets: Implications In Alcoholic Liver Disease, Sathish Kumar Natarajan, Karuna Rasineni, Murali Ganesan, Dan Feng, Benita L. Mcvicker, Mark A. Mcniven, Natalia A. Osna, Justin L. Mott, Carol A. Casey, Kusum K. Kharbanda

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

For more than 30 years, lipid droplets (LDs) were considered as an inert bag of lipid for storage of energy-rich fat molecules. Following a paradigm shift almost a decade ago, LDs are presently considered an active subcellular organelle especially designed for assembling, storing and subsequently supplying lipids for generating energy and membrane synthesis (and in the case of hepatocytes for VLDL secretion). LDs also play a central role in many other cellular functions such as viral assembly and protein degradation. Here, we have explored the structural and functional changes that occur in hepatic and adipose tissue LDs following chronic ethanol …

Effects Of A Vitamin And Mineral Bolus On Beef Heifer Feedlot Performance, Feeding Behavior, Carcass Characteristics, And Liver Mineral Concentrations, Kacie L. Mccarthy, Sarah R. Underdahl, Carl R. Dahlen

Department of Animal Science: Faculty Publications

Crossbred beef heifers (n = 23; initial body weight [BW] = 370 ± 12 kg) housed at the North Dakota State University Beef Cattle Research Complex in Fargo, North Dakota, were used to evaluate the effects of a 250-d slow-release vitamin and mineral bolus on feedlot performance, feeding behavior, carcass characteristics, and liver mineral concentrations. Heifers were assigned to one of two treatments: 1) received no supplemental mineral or vitamin (CON, n = 12 or 2) received two boluses on day 0 (minimum of 3,740 mg Ca, 16,456 mg Mg, 112 mg Na, 11,220 mg Cu, 2,995 mg I, …

Fathers’ Perceived Co-Parenting And Children’S Academic Readiness Among Chinese Preschoolers: Longitudinal Pathways Through Parenting And Behavioral Regulation, Lixin Ren, Rebecca Y.M. Cheung, Courtney Boise, Xuan Li, Jieqiong Fan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Co-parenting quality has frequently been linked to young children’s social–emotional functioning, but limited research has focused on the relationship between co-parenting and children’s early academic skills, or the underlying mechanisms through which co-parenting influences children’s development. Using data collected from urban China, the present study examined how fathers’ perceptions of co-parenting quality was related to their preschool-aged children’s academic readiness (i.e., receptive vocabulary, reading, early math; N = 336), and whether father’s parenting practices and children’s behavioral regulation mediated the link between co-parenting quality and child outcomes. Findings suggested that the relation between co-parenting quality and children’s academic readiness was …

Fungicide Sensitivity Of Sclerotinia Sclerotiorum Isolates Selected From Five Different States That Use Different Fungicide Treatments, Cristian Wulkop Gil

UCARE: Research Products

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a plant pathogenic fungus that causes a disease called white mold that can infect more than 450 plant species including soybeans, dry beans, green beans, canola, and sunflower. This pathogen is capable of up to $252M in losses every year (U.S. Canola Association, 2014). Fungicides are widely used in developed agricultural systems to control disease. However, resistance to the most effective fungicides has emerged and spread in pathogen populations and there have been multiple reports of S. sclerotiorum isolates becoming resistant to certain fungicides. Since different fields in different states use different fungicide treatments on plants and …

Honeybee Microbiome Is Stabilized In The Presence Of Propolis, Perot Saelao, Renata S. Borba, Vincent Ricigliano, Marla Spivak, Michael Simone-Finstrom

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

Honeybees have developed many unique mechanisms to help ensure the proper maintenance of homeostasis within the hive. One method includes the collection of chemically complex plant resins combined with wax to form propolis, which is deposited throughout the hive. Propolis is believed to play a significant role in reducing disease load in the colony due to its antimicrobial and antiseptic properties. However, little is known about how propolis may interact with bee-associated microbial symbionts, and if propolis alters microbial community structure. In this study, we found that propolis appears to maintain a stable microbial community composition and reduce the overall …