Digital Commons Network^™

Discovery Of A Novel Invasive Rodent Species On Wake Atoll With A Desert Southwest Usa Origin, Antoinette J. Piaggio, Eric Lanners, Daniel R. Taylor, Aaron B. Shiels, Marjorie Matocq, John Eisemann

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Invasive species, particularly omnivorous rodents, have damaged island ecosystems around the world. The unique flora and fauna of island systems have typically not evolved with omnivorous rodents and are heavily impacted by their introduction. Wake Atoll of the southern Pacific Ocean is a 707-hectare coral island complex of three islands managed by the United States Department of Defense (DoD). DoD restricts civilian access to the atoll but aircraft and seacraft regularly visit the island to transport military equipment and to sustain the year-round military and contractor personnel stationed on the atoll. Wake Atoll had been invaded by Rattus rattus complex …

Relative Comparison Of Modern Computing To Computer Technology Of Ages, Iwasan D. Kejawa Dr., Hailly Rubio Ms.

School of Computing: Faculty Publications

Abstract

Abstract

Are there differences and similarities between the computer technology of today and yesterdays. Research had shown that there had been tremendous improvements from the computers of ages (traditional Computers) as we enter the 21st century. Both the physicality and the functionalities of computers have changed but some remain the same. The memory capacity and functions have changed, but all are still based on the old concepts of yesteryears.

Red Cabbage Juice-Mediated Gut Microbiota Modulation Improves Intestinal Epithelial Homeostasis And Ameliorates Colitis, Emily Jean Wilson, Nagabhishek Sirpu Natesh, Parsa Ghadermazi, Ramesh Pothuraju, Dipakkumar R. Prajapati, Sanjit Pandey, Jussuf T. Kaifi, John R. Dodam, Jeffrey Bryan, Christian L. Lorson, Aude A. Watrelot, Jason M. Foster, Thomas J. Mansell, Siu Hung Joshua Chan, Surinder K. Batra, Jeyamkondan Subbiah, Satyanarayana Rachagani

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Gut microbiota plays a crucial role in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and can potentially prevent IBD through microbial-derived metabolites, making it a promising therapeutic avenue. Recent evidence suggests that despite an unclear underlying mechanism, red cabbage juice (RCJ) alleviates Dextran Sodium Sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis in mice. Thus, the study aims to unravel the molecular mechanism by which RCJ modulates the gut microbiota to alleviate DSS-induced colitis in mice. Using C57BL/6J mice, we evaluated RCJ’s protective role in DSS-induced colitis through two cycles of 3% DSS. Mice were daily gavaged with PBS or RCJ until the endpoint, and gut microbiota composition …

Determining The Presence And Size Of Shoulder Lesions In Sows Using Computer Vision, Shubham Bery, Tami M. Brown-Bandl, Bradley T. Jones, Gary A. Rohrer, Sudhendu Raj Sharma

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Shoulder sores predominantly arise in breeding sows and often result in untimely culling. Reported prevalence rates vary significantly, spanning between 5% and 50% depending upon the type of crate flooring inside a farm, the animal’s body condition, or an existing injury that causes lameness. These lesions represent not only a welfare concern but also have an economic impact due to the labor needed for treatment and medication. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of computer vision techniques in detecting and determining the size of shoulder lesions. A Microsoft Kinect V2 camera captured the top-down depth and …

Collaborating To Conduct A Child Welfare Workforce Needs Assessment And Select An Intervention, Quality Improvement Center For Workforce Development (Qic-Wd)

Other QIC-WD Products

OVERVIEW OF EXPLORATION PHASE

The QIC-WD Continuous Workforce Development Process includes four major phases: Exploration, Installation, Initial Implementation, and Full Implementation . The goal of the Exploration phase is to identify and plan for implementation of a workforce strategy to find and/or keep good employees. This document provides supplemental guidance to the materials available through the Permanency Innovations Initiative, with adaptations for workforce applications. Steps 1–6 below are covered here.

Steps of Exploration Phase

1. Identify the problem we want to solve and what outcome(s) we want to target
2. Identify the population we intend to target
3. Identify potential causes of workforce …

Deep Learning Models To Predict Finishing Pig Weight Using Point Clouds, Shiva Paudel, Rafael Vieira De Sousa, Sudhendu Raj Sharma, Tami M. Brown-Bandl

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The selection of animals to be marketed is largely completed by their visual assessment, solely relying on the skill level of the animal caretaker. Real-time monitoring of the weight of farm animals would provide important information for not only marketing, but also for the assessment of health and well-being issues. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a method based on 3D Convolutional Neural Network to predict weight from point clouds. Intel Real Sense D435 stereo depth camera placed at 2.7 m height was used to capture the 3D videos of a single finishing pig freely walking …

Importance Of Sanitation For Stored-Product Pest Management, Georgina Bingham, David W. Hagstrum

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Sanitation is essential for the cost-effective pest management of stored-product insects. The Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 led to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tightening regulatory standards, and many local surveys, courses and conferences were organized to prepare the industry for these new regulations. Sanitation removes insects and residual food, which may also provide shelter for insects, with heat treatments and insecticide applications. The number of insects removed by cleaning may be reduced as the number of available hiding places increases. Decreased sanitation negatively affects the efficacy of most other pest management practices, with means of 1.3- …

Deep Learning Models To Predict Finishing Pig Weight Using Point Clouds, Shiva Paudel, Rafael Vieira De Sousa, Sudhendu Raj Sharma, Tami M. Brown-Bandl

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The selection of animals to be marketed is largely completed by their visual assessment, solely relying on the skill level of the animal caretaker. Real-time monitoring of the weight of farm animals would provide important information for not only marketing, but also for the assessment of health and well-being issues. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a method based on 3D Convolutional Neural Network to predict weight from point clouds. Intel Real Sense D435 stereo depth camera placed at 2.7 m height was used to capture the 3D videos of a single finishing pig freely walking …

Crop Dna Extraction With Lab-Made Magnetic Nanoparticles, Haichuan Wang, Xueqi Zhao, Li Tan, Junwei Zhu, David Hyten

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Molecular breeding methods, such as marker-assisted selection and genomic selection, require high-throughput and cost-effective methods for isolating genomic DNA from plants, specifically from crop tissue or seed with high polysaccharides, lipids, and proteins. A quick and inexpensive high-throughput method for isolating genomic DNA from seed and leaf tissue from multiple crops was tested with a DNA isolation method that combines CTAB extraction buffer and lab-made SA-coated magnetic nanoparticles. This method is capable of isolating quality genomic DNA from leaf tissue and seeds in less than 2 hours with fewer steps than a standard CTAB extraction method. The yield of the …

Study On The Combined Effect Of Municipal Solid Waste Incineration Bottom Ash Andwaste Shingle In Hot Mix Asphalt, Kyungwon Park, Behnam Golestani, Boo Hyun Nam, Juan Hou, Jongwan Eun

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

This study investigated the positive effect of the combined use of recycled asphalt shingles (RASs) and municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) bottom ash (B.A.) in asphalt concrete, which contributes to enhanced sustainability in pavement engineering. In addition, unlike traditional approaches that employ individual recycling material in hot mix asphalt (HMA), the combined use of the two waste materials maximizes the mechanical performance of the asphalt mixture. The addition of RAS (with 30–40% aged binder) as an additive generally enhances the strength/stiffness of the asphalt mixture. The high porosity/absorption of MSWI BA results in an additional amount of liquid asphalt binder …

Machine Learning And Metabolic Model Guided Crispri Reveals A Central Role For Phosphoglycerate Mutase In Chlamydia Trachomatis Persistence, Niaz Bahar Chowdhury, Nick Pokorzynski, Elizabeth A. Rucks, Scot P. Ouellette, Rey A. Carabeo, Rajib Saha

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Upon nutrient starvation, Chlamydia trachomatis serovar L2 (CTL) shifts from its normal growth to a non-replicating form, termed persistence. It is unclear if persistence is an adaptive response or lack of it. To understand that transcriptomics data were collected for nutrientsufficient and nutrient-starved CTL. Applying machine learning approaches on transcriptomics data revealed a global transcriptomic rewiring of CTL under stress conditions without having any global stress regulator. This indicated that CTL’s stress response is due to lack of an adaptive response mechanism. To investigate the impact of this on CTL metabolism, we reconstructed a genome-scale metabolic model of CTL (iCTL278) …

Terahertz Permittivity Parameters Of Monoclinic Single Crystal Lutetium Oxyorthosilicate, Sean Knight, Steffen Richter, Alexis Papamichail, Megan Stokey, Rafał Korlacki, Vallery Stanishev, Philipp Kühne, Mathias Schubert, Vanya Darakchieva

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

The anisotropic permittivity parameters of monoclinic single crystal lutetium oxyorthosilicate, Lu₂SiO₅ (LSO), have been determined in the terahertz spectral range. Using terahertz generalized spectroscopic ellipsometry (THz-GSE), we obtained the THz permittivities along the a, b, and c^⋆ crystal directions, which correspond to the ε_a; ε_b, and ε_c? on-diagonal tensor elements. The associated off diagonal tensor element ε_ac? was also determined experimentally, which is required to describe LSO’s optical response in the monoclinic a–c crystallographic plane. From the four tensor elements obtained in the model fit, we calculate the …

Vapor-Phase Synthesis Of Electrocatalytic Covalent Organic Frameworks, Syed Ibrahim Gnani Peer Mohamed, Shahriar Namvar, Tan Zhang, Hessam Shahbazi, Zhen Jiang, Andrew M. Rappe, Amin Salehi-Khojin, Siamak Nejati

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

The inability to process many covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as thin films plagues their widespread utilization. Herein, a vapor-phase pathway for the bottom-up synthesis of a class of porphyrin-based COFs is presented. This approach allows integrating electrocatalysts made of metal-ion-containing COFs into the electrodes’ architectures in a single-step synthesis and deposition. By precisely controlling the metal sites at the atomic level, remarkable electrocatalytic performance is achieved, resulting in unprecedentedly high mass activity values. How the choice of metal atoms, i.e., cobalt and copper, can determine the catalytic activities of POR-COFs is demonstrated. The theoretical data proves that the Cu site …

Impact Of Irrigation On Vulnerability Of Winter Wheat Under Extreme Climate Change Scenario: A Case Study Of North China Plain, Yulian Gao, Lin Wang, Yaojie Yue

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

An inadequate understanding of the impacts of adaptation countermeasures tends to exaggerate the adverse e􀀀ects of climate change on agricultural systems. Motivated by proposing reasonable climate change adaptation countermeasures, the present study applied the EPIC model to quantify the impacts of climate change and irrigation changes with future socioeconomic development on agricultural production. Winter wheat yield losses using dynamic irrigation parameters in the North China Plain (NCP) from 2010 to 2099 under a scenario coupling climate change and future socioeconomic development (RCP8.5-SSP3), and those under an extreme climate change scenario (RCP8.5), were simulated. Results show that EPIC model demonstrates superior …

A Mathematical Model For Frogeye Leaf Spot Epidemics In Soybean, Chayu Yang, Jin Wang

Department of Mathematics: Faculty Publications

We propose a new mathematical model based on differential equations to investigate the transmission and spread of frogeye leaf spot, a major soybean disease caused by the fungus Cercospora sojina. The model incorporates the primary and secondary transmission routes of the disease as well as the intrinsic dynamics of the pathogen in the contaminated soil. We conduct detailed equilibrium and stability analyses for this model using theories of dynamical systems. We additionally conduct numerical simulations to verify the analytical predictions and to implement the model for a practical application.

Inverted Pendulum With Swing-Up And Center-Stabilization System Design, Caleb Osmond

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

The inverted pendulum is a classic problem for testing control techniques. This paper details the implementation of multiple PID control schemes and the overall design of an inverted pendulum capable of swing-up and center stabilization.

Production Of Cast-In-Place Uhpc For Bridge Applications, Jiong Hu, George Morcous, Akbota Aitbayeva

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

This project presents a comprehensive overview of the essential aspects associated with the cast-in-place application of UHPC, including formwork requirements, surface preparation, mixing procedures, placing methods, curing techniques, grinding specifications, and mockup construction. Each section provides in-depth insights into specific guidelines and practices outlined by various regulatory bodies. The research team has developed training materials designed for a full-day workshop tailored to benefit both contractors and NDOT engineers. This workshop comprises key topics such as proportioning, batching, testing, and the placement of both non-proprietary and proprietary UHPC mixes, as well as hands-on experience in batching, testing, and placing UHPC. The …

Low-Cement Concrete Mixture For Bridge Decks And Rails, Soumitra Das, George Morcous Ph.D., Jiong Hu

Nebraska Department of Transportation: Research Reports

Right after construction, drying shrinkage of restrained concrete bridge decks and rails causes early-age cracking, insertion of water and chemicals, and corrosion of reinforcing steel that eventually leads to delamination and spalling of concrete. The main objective of this research is to control early-age shrinkage cracking by reducing cementitious material content in bridge deck and rail concrete mixtures. Several reduced cementitious materials concrete (RCMC) mixtures were developed by optimizing aggregate particle packing and conducting overall performance evaluation. This evaluation was carried out in three phases. The first phase investigated the feasibility of new RCMC mixtures by testing workability, compressive strength, …

Stress-Related Biosocial Mechanisms Of Discrimination And African American Health Inequities, Bridget J. Goosby, Jacob E. Cheadle, Colter Mitchell

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This review describes stress-related biological mechanisms linking interpersonal racism to life course health trajectories among African Americans. Interpersonal racism, a form of social exclusion enacted via discrimination, remains a salient issue in the lives of African Americans, and it triggers a cascade of biological processes originating as perceived social exclusion and registering as social pain. Exposure to discrimination increases sympathetic nervous system activation and upregulates the HPA axis, increasing physiological wear and tear and elevating the risks of cardiometabolic conditions. Consequently, discrimination is associated with morbidities including low birth weight, hypertension, abdominal obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Biological measures can provide …

Systematic Comparison Of Nonviral Gene Delivery Strategies For Efficient Co-Expression Of Two Transgenes In Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Tyler Kozisek, Luke Samuelson, Andrew Hamann, Angela K. Pannier

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Background Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) are being researched for cell-based therapies due to a host of unique properties, however, genetic modification of hMSCs, accomplished through nonviral gene delivery, could greatly advance their therapeutic potential. Furthermore, expression of multiple transgenes in hMSCs could greatly advance their clinical significance for treatment of multifaceted diseases, as individual transgenes could be expressed that target separate pathogenic drivers of complex diseases. Expressing multiple transgenes can be accomplished by delivering multiple DNA vectors encoding for each transgene, or by delivering a single poly-cistronic vector that encodes for each transgene and accomplishes expression through either use …

Exploring Regular And Turbulent Flow States In Active Nematic Channel Flow Via Exact Coherent Structures And Their Invariant Manifolds, Caleb G. Wagner, Rumayel H. Pallock, Jae Sung Park, Michael M. Norton, Piyush Grover

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

This work is a unified study of stable and unstable steady states of 2D active nematic channel flow using the framework of Exact Coherent Structures (ECSs). ECSs are stationary, periodic, quasiperiodic, or traveling wave solutions of the governing equations that, together with their invariant manifolds, organize the dynamics of nonlinear continuum systems. We extend our earlier work on ECSs in the preturbulent regime by performing a comprehensive study of stable and unstable ECSs for a wide range of activity values spanning the preturbulent and turbulent regimes. In the weakly turbulent regime, we compute more than 200 unstable ECSs that coexist …

Formation Of Hollow Solid Lipid Microparticles From Natural Waxes Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide, Purlen Sezer Okur, Deniz Ciftci, Ozan Ciftci

Department of Food Science and Technology: Faculty Publications

In this study, the potential of natural waxes, namely, candelilla wax (CLW) and carnauba wax (CW), was explored to form extra-hard shell hollow solid lipid particles using a particle formation process based on supercritical fluid technology. Melting behavior and volumetric expansion of CLW and CW in pressurized CO₂ were investigated as a function of pressure. The melting point of waxes decreased linearly with increasing pressures up to a certain level; then stayed constant regardless of further elevated pressures. The highest melting point depressions of 13.0% and 8.3% were observed for CLW and CW at 140 and 130 bar CO …

Relativistic Ultrafast Electron Diffraction At High Repetition Rates, K. M. Siddiqui, D. B. Durham, F. Cropp, F. Ji, S. Paiagua, C. Ophus, N. C. Andresen, L. Jin, J. Wu, S. Wang, X. Zhang, W. You, M. Murnane, Martin Centurion, X. Wang, D. S. Slaughter, R. A. Kaindl, P. Musumeci, A. M. Minor, D. Filippetto

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

The ability to resolve the dynamics of matter on its native temporal and spatial scales constitutes a key challenge and convergent theme across chemistry, biology, and materials science. The last couple of decades have witnessed ultrafast electron diffraction (UED) emerge as one of the forefront techniques with the sensitivity to resolve atomic motions. Increasingly sophisticated UED instruments are being developed that are aimed at increasing the beam brightness in order to observe structural signatures, but so far they have been limited to low average current beams. Here, we present the technical design and capabilities of the HiRES (High Repetition-rate Electron …

Good Practices And Common Pitfalls In Climate Time Series Changepoint Techniques: A Review, Robert B. Lund, Claudie Beaulieu, Rebecca Killick, Qiqi Lu, Xueheng Shi

Department of Statistics: Faculty Publications

Climate changepoint (homogenization) methods abound today, with a myriad of techniques existing in both the climate and statistics literature. Unfortunately, the appropriate changepoint technique to use remains unclear to many. Further complicating issues, changepoint conclusions are not robust to perturbations in assumptions; for example, allowing for a trend or correlation in the series can drastically change changepoint conclusions. This paper is a review of the topic, with an emphasis on illuminating the models and techniques that allow the scientist to make reliable conclusions. Pitfalls to avoid are demonstrated via actual applications. The discourse begins by narrating the salient statistical features …

Reimagining Large River Management Using The Resist–Accept–Direct (Rad) Framework In The Upper Mississippi River, Nicole K. Ward, Abigail J. Lynch, Erik A. Beever, Joshua Booker, Kristen L. Bouska, Holly Embke, Jeffrey N. Houser, John F. Kocik, Joshua Kocik, David J. Lawrence, Mary Grace Lemon, Doug Limpinsel, Madeline R. Magee, Bryan M. Maitland, Owen Mckenna, Andrew Meier, John M. Morton, Jeffrey D. Muehlbauer, Robert Newman, Devon C. Oliver, Heidi M. Rantala, Greg G. Sass, Aaron Shultz, Laura M. Thompson, Jennifer L. Wilkening

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Background: Large-river decision-makers are charged with maintaining diverse ecosystem services through unprecedented social-ecological transformations as climate change and other global stressors intensify. The interconnected, dendritic habitats of rivers, which often demarcate jurisdictional boundaries, generate complex management challenges. Here, we explore how the Resist–Accept–Direct (RAD) framework may enhance large-river management by promoting coordinated and deliberate responses to social-ecological trajectories of change. The RAD framework identifies the full decision space of potential management approaches, wherein managers may resist change to maintain historical conditions, accept change toward different conditions, or direct change to a specified future with novel conditions. In the Upper Mississippi …

Wonderstone And Its Connection To Liesegang, Microbes, And Beyond, Haden S. Mandery

Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In the western and southwestern United States, the term wonderstone is used to describe volcanic, volcaniclastic, and sedimentary rocks with variegated banding produced by iron oxide mineralization or staining. This iron oxide mineralization is typically described as Liesegang banding. In this paper I will (1) test if the banding in wonderstone follows the spacing and width laws characteristic of Liesegang, (2) identify the source of iron that ultimately precipitated in the bands, and (3) examine the role that microbes played in the formation of the mineralization in these rocks. I conclude that the iron oxide mineralization is not Liesegang banding. …

The Perception Of Natural Resource Management In Nebraska: Efforts For Cross-Boundary Collaborative Management, Daniel Morales

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Nebraska’s agricultural landscapes are rapidly changing, affecting natural resources and their successful management. I utilized two surveys and scenario planning (Chapters 1: statewide survey, 2: local survey, and 3: scenario-planning workshop) to investigate attitudes and perceptions of natural resource management and cross-boundary collaboration. My first objective focused on determining what prevents Nebraskans from addressing natural resources challenges, considering demographics amongst generations and the type of areas they live in (rural versus urban). The second objective focused on whether landowners engaged with their community in managing natural resources. The third objective was to develop alternative future scenarios for the Denton Hills …

The Essential Role Of Fossil Fuels In Combating Climate Change, Ivye Meyer

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

The Essential Role of Fossil Fuels in Combating Climate Change

Navigating The Green Skies: Why Saf Is The Wrong Path To Take, Cameron Cannon

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

With its promise of a significant decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable aviation fuels, or SAFs, have been hailed as an environmentally friendly substitute for conventional aviation fuels. SAFs are made from sustainable resources such as plant biomass, waste oils, or agricultural wastes and are intended to mitigate environmental issues. On closer examination, though, this solution's intricacy becomes clear. Grab your mental compass and journey with me as we discover why SAFs would lead us the wrong way.

Providing Optimal Resident Sleep Hygiene In Assisted Living Communities; Opportunities For Design And Operation Teams To Collaborate And Share Their Unique Knowledge, Beverly B. J. Miller

Architecture Masters of Science Program: Theses

Research is emerging relating sleep hygiene to disease pathogenesis including Parkinson's, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and increased cardiovascular risk. The application of circadian science as it relates to human wellness has intensified as a result. The quality of sleep significantly impacts the wellness of residents living in long term care, however sleep hygiene research is lacking in assisted living (AL) communities.

The thesis question inquires; How can operation and design teams collaborate to optimize sleep health for residents in assisted living communities? The research methodology utilized a two-phase process. Phase I identified three AL communities as test sites, providing case studies …