Digital Commons Network^™

Supplementation Of Sulfide Or Acetate And 2-Mercaptoethane Sulfonate Restores Growth Of The Methanosarcina Acetivorans Δhdrabc Deletion Mutant During Methylotrophic Methanogenesis, Alicia M. Salvi, Niaz Bahar Chowdhury, Rajib Saha, Nicole R. Buan

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Methanogenic archaea are important organisms in the global carbon cycle that grow by producing methane gas. Methanosarcina acetivorans is a methanogenic archaeum that can grow using methylated compounds, carbon monoxide, or acetate and produces renewable methane as a byproduct. However, there is limited knowledge of how combinations of substrates may affect metabolic fluxes in methanogens. Previous studies have shown that heterodisulfide reductase, the terminal oxidase in the electron transport system, is an essential enzyme in all methanogens. Deletion of genes encoding the nonessential methylotrophic heterodisulfide reductase enzyme (HdrABC) results in slower growth rate but increased metabolic efficiency. We hypothesized that …

A Framework To Predict Variability Characteristics In Building Load Profiles, Sam Moayedi, Andrew Parker, Kevin James, Xiaoyue Cheng, Michael Hempel, Hamid Sharif, Mahmoud A. Alahmad

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

The expansion of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) has provided building operators and researchers detailed information on building energy consumption. The majority of AMI systems, however, record data at relatively low resolutions of 15, 30, or 60 minutes, due to cost, storage and bandwidth limitations. Emerging applications in power flow analysis, Quasi-Static Time-Series Simulation (QSTS), smart grid integration and load matching, however, require data at higher resolutions. Short-term energy demand can deviate significantly from long-term averages, with an unknown magnitude and frequency when only low-resolution load profile data is available. This paper presents a novel data-driven approach to predict characteristics of …

Diversity, Distribution, And Methodological Considerations Of Haemosporidian Infections Among Galliformes In Alaska, Faith De Amaral, Robert E. Wilson, Sarah A. Sonsthagen, Ravinder Sehgal

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Using samples spanning 10-degrees of latitude in Alaska, we provide the first comparative assessment of avian haemosporidia distribution of Arctic Alaska with subarctic host populations for four species of grouse and three species of ptarmigan (Galliformes). We found a high overall prevalence for at least one haemospordian genus (88%; N = 351/400), with spruce grouse (Canachites canadensis) showing the highest prevalence (100%; N = 54/ 54). Haemoproteus and Plasmodium lineages were only observed within grouse, while Leucocytozoon species were found within both grouse and ptarmigan. Further, different Leucocytozoon lineages were obtained from blood and tissue samples from the …

Time Domain Reflectometry Waveform Interpretation With Convolutional Neural Networks, Zhuangji Wang, Shan Hua, Dennis Timlin, Yuki Kojima, Songtao Lu, Wenguang Sun, David Fleisher, Robert Horton, Vangimalla R. Reddy, Katherine Tully

Nebraska Water Center: Faculty Publications

Interpreting time domain reflectometry (TDR) waveforms obtained in soils with non-uniform water content is an open question. We design a new TDR waveform interpretation model based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) that can reveal the spatial variations of soil relative permittivity and water content along a TDR sensor. The proposed model, namely TDR-CNN, is constructed with three modules. First, the geometrical features of the TDR waveforms are extracted with a simplified version of VGG16 network. Second, the reflection positions in a TDR waveform are traced using a 1D version of the region proposal network. Finally, the soil relative permittivity values …

Depletion Of Hiv Reservoir By Activation Of Isr Signaling In Resting Cd4+T Cells, Dajiang Li, Lilly M. Wong, Yuyang Tang, Brigitte Allard, Katherine S. James, George R. Thompson, Satya Dandekar, Edward P. Browne, Qingsheng Li, Jeremy M. Simon, Nancie M. Archin, David M. Margolis, Guochun Jiang

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

HIV reservoirs are extremely stable and pose a tremendous challenge to clear HIV infection. Here, we demonstrate that activation of ISR/ATF4 signaling reverses HIV latency, which also selectively eliminates HIV+ cells in primary CD4⁺T cell model of latency without effect on HIV-negative CD⁴⁺T cells. The reduction of HIV+ cells is associated with apoptosis enhancement, but surprisingly is largely seen in HIV-infected cells in which gag-pol RNA transcripts are detected in HIV RNA-induced ATF4/IFIT signaling. In resting CD4⁺ (rCD4⁺) T cells isolated from people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy, induction of ISR/ATF4 signaling …

The Federalists Of The Internet? What Online Platforms Can Learn From Reddit’S Decentralized Content Moderation Scheme, Vincent Marrazzo

Nebraska Law Bulletin (Selected Issues)

As online platforms become the primary carriers of news and information in society, their content moderation policies will have increasing power over users’ daily lives. Centralized moderation is inappropriate and inefficient because it forces all online communities to adhere to the same (and often arbitrary) standards. Decentralized moderation, however, allows most moderation decisions to be made by users who are intimately aware of the contours of individual online communities. Such decisions are less likely to restrict content that is not violative of an online communities’ standards.

This concept of subsidiarity mirrors the arguments made in favor of federalism in which …

Interfaces In Dynamic Brittle Fracture Of Pmma: A Peridynamic Analysis, Longzhen Wang, Javad Mehrmashhadi, Florin Bobaru

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Recent experiments in bonded PMMA layers have shown dramatic changes in dynamic crack growth characteristics depending on the interface location and toughness. In this paper we present a peridynamic (PD) analysis of this phenomenon and determine three elements that are essential in a model reproducing the observed fracture behavior: (1) softening near the crack tip to account for changes in PMMA due to heat-generation induced by the high strain rates reached around the crack tip in dynamic fracture; (2) independent extension (mode I) and shear (mode II) modes of fracture; (3) a two-parameter fracture model, which matches both strength and …

Genome‑Wide Investigation Of Snrk2 Gene Family In Two Jute Species: Corchorus Olitorius And Corchorus Capsularis, Borhan Ahmed, Fakhrul Hasan, Anika Tabassum, Rasel Ahmed, Rajnee Hassan, Ruhul Amin, Mobashwer Alam

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Background Sucrose non-fermenting-1 (SNF1)-related protein kinase 2 (SnRK2), a plant-specific serine/threonine kinase family, is associated with metabolic responses, including abscisic acid signaling under biotic and abiotic stresses. So far, no information on a genome-wide investigation and stress-mediated expression profiling of jute SnRK2 is available. Recent whole-genome sequencing of two Corchorus species prompted to identify and characterize this SnRK2 gene family.

Result We identified seven SnRK2 genes of each of Corchorus olitorius (Co) and C. capsularis (Cc) genomes, with similar physico-molecular properties and sub-group patterns of other models and related crops. In both species, the SnRK2 …

A Draft Diabrotica Virgifera Virgifera Genome: Insights Into Control And Host Plant Adaption By A Major Maize Pest Insect, Brad S. Coates, Kimberly K. O. Walden, Dimpal Lata, Neetha Nanoth Vellichirammal, Robert F. Mitchell, Martin N. Andersson, Rachel Mckay, Marcé D. Lorenzen, Nathaniel Grubbs, Yu‑Hui Wang, Jinlong Han, Jing Li Xuan, Peter Willadsen, Huichun Wang, B. Wade French, Raman Bansal, Sammy Sedky, Dariane Souza, Dakota Bunn, Lance J. Meinke, Nicholas J. Miller, Blair D. Siegfried11,, Thomas W. Sappington, Hugh M. Robertson

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Background Adaptations by arthropod pests to host plant defenses of crops determine their impacts on agricultural production. The larval host range of western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), is restricted to maize and a few grasses. Resistance of D. v. virgifera to crop rotation practices and multiple insecticides contributes to its status as the most damaging pest of cultivated maize in North America and Europe. The extent to which adaptations by this pest contributes to host plant specialization remains unknown.

Results A 2.42 Gb draft D. v. virgifera genome, Dvir_v2.0, was assembled from short shotgun reads and scaffolded …

Extending The Breadth Of Saliva Metabolome Fngerprinting By Smart Template Strategies And Efective Pattern Realignment On Comprehensive Two‑Dimensional Gas Chromatographic Data, Simone Squara, Friederike Manig, Thomas Henle, Michael Hellwig, Andrea Caratti, Carlo Bicchi, Stephen E. Reichenbach, Qingping Tao, Massimo Collino, Chiara Cordero

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with time-of-fight mass spectrometry (GC×GC-TOFMS) is one the most powerful analytical platforms for chemical investigations of complex biological samples. It produces large datasets that are rich in information, but highly complex, and its consistency may be affected by random systemic fluctuations and/ or changes in the experimental parameters. This study details the optimization of a data processing strategy that compensates for severe 2D pattern misalignments and detector response fluctuations for saliva samples analyzed across 2 years. The strategy was trained on two batches: one with samples from healthy subjects who had undergone dietary intervention with high/low-Maillard …

“The Drug Sellerswere Better Organized Than The Government”: A Qualitative Study Of Participants’ Views Of Drug Markets During Covid-19 And Other Big Events, Roberto Abadie

School of Global Integrative Studies: Faculty Publications

“Big events”, such as wars, economic crises, pandemics, or natural disasters, affect the risk environment in which people use drugs. While the impact of big events on injection risk behaviors and access to drug-treatment services is well documented, less is known about the effects of big events on drug markets. Based on self-reporting data on drug availability among people who use drugs (PWUD) in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and during the COVID- 19 lockdown in a Midwestern US state, this study aims to document the effects of big events on drug markets. Qualitative data on the …

Evolution And Molecular Basis Of A Novel Allosteric Property Of Crocodilian Hemoglobin, Chandrasekhar Natarajan, Anthony V. Signore, Naim M. Bautista, Federico G. Hoffmann, Jeremy R.H. Tame, Angela Fago, Jay F. Storz

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

The extraordinary breath-hold diving capacity of crocodilians has been ascribed to a unique mode of allosterically regulating hemoglobin (Hb)-oxygenation in circulating red blood cells. We investigated the origin and mechanistic basis of this novel biochemical phenomenon by performing directed mutagenesis experiments on resurrected ancestral Hbs. Comparisons of Hb function between the common ancestor of archosaurs (the group that includes crocodilians and birds) and the last common ancestor of modern crocodilians revealed that regulation of Hb-O₂ affinity via allosteric binding of bicarbonate ions represents a croc-specific innovation that evolved in combination with the loss of allosteric regulation by ATP binding. …

Changes Of Air Pollutants In Urban Cities During The Covid-19 Lockdown-Sri Lanka, Buddhi Pushpawela, Sherly Shelton, Gayathri Liyanage, Sanduni Jayasekara, Dimuthu Rajapaksha, Akila Jayasundara, Lesty Das Jayasuriya

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Faculty Publications

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Sri Lanka underwent a nationwide lockdown that limited motor vehicle movement, industrial operations, and human activities. This study analyzes the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O₃), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and particulate matter (PM₁₀, PM_2.5) concentrations in two urban cities (Colombo and Kandy) in Sri Lanka, by comparison of data from the lockdown period (March to May 2020) with its analogous period of 2019 and 2021. The results showed that the percentage change of daytime …

Evaluation Of Artificial Intelligence Algorithms With Sensor Data Assimilation In Estimating Crop Evapotranspiration And Crop Water Stress Index For Irrigation Water Management, Abia Katimbo, Daran Rudnick, Jingwen Zhang, Yufeng Ge, Kendall C. Dejonge, Trenton E. Franz, Yeyin Shi, Wei‑Zhen Liang, Xin Qiao, Derek M. Heeren, Isa Kabenge, Hope Njuki Nakabuye, Jiaming Duan

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Irrigation water management using automated irrigation decision support system (IDSS) as a smart irrigation scheduling tool can improve water use efficiency and crop production, especially under circumstances of limited water supply. The current study evaluated the performance of different artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms and their ensembles in forecasting Crop Evapotranspiration (ET_c) and Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) against calculated single crop coefficient FAO56 ET_c and Jackson’s theoretical CWSI, respectively. Soil moisture, canopy temperatures (T_c) and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) were all measured from irrigated and non-irrigated maize plots in West Central Nebraska during 2020 …

Survival Rates Of Band‐Tailed Pigeons Estimated Using Passive Integrated Transponder Tags, Daniel P. Collins, Guthrie S. Zimmerman, Scott A. Carleton, William L. Kendall, Christopher L. Coxen

United States Fish and Wildlife Service: Publications

Obtaining survival estimates on the Interior population of band-tailed pigeons (Patagioenas fasciata) is challenging because they are trap shy, but the joint use of passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and bands is a potential solution. We investigated the use of PIT tags to passively recapture band‐tailed pigeon at 3 locations in New Mexico, USA, to estimate survival. From 2013–2015, we captured, banded, and marked >600 individual band‐tailed pigeons with PIT tags. To estimate annual survival rates, we used a Barker multi‐state joint live and dead encounters and resighting model. Survival models excluding transience had survival estimates across site, …

Boundary Spanning In The Context Of Stakeholder Engagement In Collaborative Water Management, Mark E. Burbach, Weston M. Eaton, Jodi L. Delozier

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Boundary spanners are individuals able to reach across organizational borders to build relationships and interconnections to help better manage complex problems. What is not clear, however, are the skills that allow boundary spanners to cross diverse scales, sectors, and organizations. To address this gap, we use a qualitative case study approach to examine evidence for how boundary spanning skills are implemented in the context of stakeholder engagement for addressing water challenges in agricultural settings. We employ a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic analysis approach to examine interview data collected with 25 stakeholder participants as well as direct observation of engagement behavior. Interview …

Role Of Social Network On Technology Adoption: Application To Nebraska Producers In The Face Of Undesirable Vegetation Transitions, Sabrina Gulab, Holly K. Nesbitt, Simanti Banerjee, Theresa Floyd, Karina A. Schoengold

Cornhusker Economics

Conclusion

Producers need to have access to information regarding new conservation practices and technologies to ensure land management in the face of ecological threats in general and vegetation transitions (VTs) in the context of our study. This study investigates the role of an individual producer's social network on the willingness to seek information about technologies and management practices and the likelihood of new technology adoption with special attention to risk attitudes and producer spillover effects. Our results provide evidence that network composition and information obtained through a producer's social network don't influence an individual's willingness to seek information about new …

The Intertwining Of Zn-Finger Motifs And Abiotic Stress Tolerance In Plants: Current Status And Future Prospects, Debojyoti Moulick, Karma Landup Bhutia, Sukamal Sarkar, Anirban Roy, Udit Nandan Mishra, Biswajit Pramanick, Sagar Maitra, Tanmoy Shankar, Swati Hazra, Milan Skalicky, Marian Brestic, Viliam Barek, Akbar Hossain

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Environmental stresses such as drought, high salinity, and low temperature can adversely modulate the field crop’s ability by altering the morphological, physiological, and biochemical processes of the plants. It is estimated that about 50% + of the productivity of several crops is limited due to various types of abiotic stresses either presence alone or in combination (s). However, there are two ways plants can survive against these abiotic stresses; a) through management practices and b) through adaptive mechanisms to tolerate plants. These adaptive mechanisms of tolerant plants are mostly linked to their signalling transduction pathway, triggering the action of plant …

Connecting Distinct Realms Along Multiple Dimensions: A Meta-Ecosystem Resilience Perspective, David G. Angeler, Jani Heino, Juan Rubio-Ríos, J. Jesús Casas

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Resilience research is central to confront the sustainability challenges to ecosystems and human societies in a rapidly changing world. Given that social-ecological problems span the entire Earth system, there is a critical need for resilience models that account for the connectivity across intricately linked ecosystems (i.e., freshwater, marine, terrestrial, atmosphere). We present a resilience perspective of meta-ecosystems that are connected through the flow of biota, matter and energy within and across aquatic and terrestrial realms, and the atmosphere. We demonstrate ecological resilience sensu Holling using aquatic-terrestrial linkages and riparian ecosystems more generally. A discussion of applications in riparian ecology and …

The Often‑Circuitous Path To Affirming Mental Health Care For Transgender And Gender‑Diverse Adults, Natalie Holt, Debra Hope, Richard Mocarski, Nathan Woodruff

Trans Collaborations Academic Papers

Purpose of Review We describe recent research regarding access to affirming mental health services for transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) adults and explore new resources available for therapists to inform evidence-based practice with TGD clients.

Recent Findings Barriers and facilitators at all socioecological levels impact TGD adults’ mental health help-seeking. TGD adults often interface with mental health providers while accessing gender-affirming medical care, though new standards of care are likely to alter this typically common path to mental health services. Efforts to improve therapist education, such as therapy manuals, are increasingly available and a necessary step to increase the number of …

“Popping It” As Family In Mosquitoes & Me: Affective Accumulation And Anzaldúan Aesthetic Consciousness In Ciencia Zurda, Katherine R. Bruna, Jennifer Farley, Lyric Bartholomay

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

This article uses key concepts of Anzaldúan philosophy to describe the Mosquitoes & Me summer camp as ciencia zurda or left-handed science. It details a day-in-the-life portrait of Elena, a first-generation Latina middle schooler, as she experiences the opportunities that Mosquitoes & Me provided for self-other bridge crossing and radically relational, Nepantlan potential. Our discussion of Elena’s experiences in terms of Nepantlan principles of diversity, Affect, and spirit, as well as Affective accumulation and aesthetic consciousness, infuse an emotional and spiritual dimension to inquiry science- and responsive sciencecomplementarity and revisit a call for soul-centered, socially-transformative science.

Este artículo utiliza conceptos …

Lineage Diversity In A Widely Distributed New World Passerine Bird, The House Wren, J. Klicka, K. Epperly, B. T. Smith, G. M. Spellman, J. A. Chaves, P. Escalante, C. C. Witt, R. Canales-Del-Castillo, R. M. Zink

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Why School Choice Is Necessary For Religious Liberty And Freedom Of Belief, Richard F. Duncan

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

The government school monopoly for funding K–12 education creates a coercive system that commandeers a captive audience of impressionable children for inculcation in secular ideas, beliefs, and values concerning matters of truth, moral character, culture, and the good life. The brutal bargain imposed on parents by this monopoly requires them to choose between the single largest benefit most families receive from state and local governments and educating their children in a curriculum that is consistent with the preferred educative speech of the parents. To choose the latter is to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax-funded support for K–12 …

Decline Is Not Inevitable: Changes In Science Identity During The Progression Through A U.S. Middle School Among Boys And Girls, Julia Mcquillan, Patricia Wonch Hill, Joseph C. Jochman, Grace Kelly

Worlds of Connections Resources

In the United States, science capital is important for navigating many aspects of life. Yet during middle school, science interest declines more for girls than boys. It is unclear, however, whether science identity also declines during the middle school years and if there are differences by gender. The authors advance prior research by modeling changes in science identity and associations with changes in identity-relevant characteristics using growth curve analyses on four waves of data from 760 middle school youth. For girls and boys, science identity changes over time; about 40 percent of the variance is within-person change, with the remainder …

Contrasting Photoprotective Responses Of Forest Trees Revealed Using Pri Light Responses Sampled With Airborne Imaging Spectrometry, J. A. Gamon, R. Wang, Sabrina E. Russo

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence & Creativity: A Manifesto For Collaboration, Florent Vinchon, Todd Lubart, Sabrina Bartolotta, Valentin Gironnay, Marion Botella, Samira Bourgeois-Bougrine, Jean-Marie Burkhardt, Nathalie Bonnardel, Giovanni Emanuele Corazza, Vlad Glăveanu, Michael Hanchett Hanson, Zorana Ivcevic, Maciej Karwowski, James C. Kaufman, Takeshi Okada, Roni Reiter-Palmon, Andrea Gaggioli

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), the field of creativity faces new opportunities and challenges. This manifesto explores several scenarios of human–machine collaboration on creative tasks and proposes “fundamental laws of generative AI” to reinforce the responsible and ethical use of AI in the creativity field. Four scenarios are proposed and discussed: “Co-Cre-AI-tion,” “Organic,” “Plagiarism 3.0,” and “Shut down,” each illustrating different possible futures based on the collaboration between humans and machines. In addition, we have incorporated an AI-generated manifesto that also highlights important themes, ranging from accessibility and ethics to cultural sensitivity. The fundamental laws proposed aim to …

National Space Law, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

This chapter addresses national space law. While often slightly different terms such as national space legislation or national space regulation are used, the term national space law initially should be interpreted in the broadest possible sense. National law would thus refer to the totality of all relevant legal documents at the national level, whether entitled law, statute, act, decree, directive, or regulation, plus customary law, implementation by way of government authorization and jurisprudence, as relevant further explained through the writings of recognized experts.

Then, as space law encompasses “every legal or regulatory regime having …

Spatiotemporal Analysis Of Extreme Precipitation In The Southern Great Plains Hydroclimate Region, P. Flanagan, R. Mahmood

School of Natural Resources: Documents and Reviews

No abstract provided.

Proton Reconstruction With The Cms-Totem Precision Proton Spectrometer, A. Tumasyan

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

The Precision Proton Spectrometer (PPS) of the CMS and TOTEM experiments collected 107.7 fb⁻¹ in proton-proton (pp) collisions at the LHC at 13 TeV (Run 2). This paper describes the key features of the PPS alignment and optics calibrations, the proton reconstruction procedure, as well as the detector efficiency and the performance of the PPS simulation. The reconstruction and simulation are validated using a sample of (semi)exclusive dilepton events. The performance of PPS has proven the feasibility of continuously operating a near-beam proton spectrometer at a high luminosity hadron collider.

Face Coverings Differentially Alter Valence Judgments Of Emotional Expressions, Nicholas R. Harp, Andrew T. Langbehn, Jeff T. Larsen, Paula M. Niedenthal, Maital Neta

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Face masks that prevent disease transmission obscure facial expressions, impairing nonverbal communication. We assessed the impact of lower (masks) and upper (sunglasses) face coverings on emotional valence judgments of clearly valenced (fearful, happy) and ambiguously valenced (surprised) expressions, the latter of which have both positive and negative meanings. Masks, but not sunglasses, impaired judgments of clearly valenced expressions compared to faces without coverings. Drift diffusion models revealed that lower, but not upper, face coverings slowed evidence accumulation and affected differences in non-judgment processes (i.e., stimulus encoding, response execution time) for all expressions. Our results confirm mask-interference effects in nonverbal communication. …