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Introduction: The Virtues And Vices Of Skeptical Environmentalism, Jonathan H. Adler, Andrew P. Morriss

Faculty Scholarship

Introduction Extract:

The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World by Bjorn Lomborg' is the most talked about environmental book in recent memory. Lomborg's central thesis is relatively straightforward: "Our doomsday conceptions of the environment are not correct." To the contrary, in recent decades humanity's lot has "improved in terms of practically every measurable indicator." Lomborg is not the first author to make this argument,4 but his book is the first to spark such a maelstrom of public attention. Its publication ignited controversy and debate on both sides of the Atlantic. Lomborg himself, an associate professor of statistics …

A New Flavor-Coated Sachet Bait For Delivering Oral Rabies Vaccine To Raccoons And Coyotes, Samuel B. Linhart, John C. Wlodkowski, Darrell M. Kavanaugh, Laurie Motes-Kreimeyer, Andrew J. Montoney, Richard B. Chipman, Dennis Slate, Laura L. Bigler, Malcomb G. Fearneyhough

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Research was conducted during 1996–2000 to develop baits for delivering an oral rabies vaccine to raccoons (Procyon lotor) and coyotes (Canis latrans). A bait was sought that: (1) was attractive to the target species, (2) could be distributed by aircraft, (3) was as effective (or more so) than the currently used fish meal polymer bait, and (4) could be produced in large numbers by automated procedures and could be purchased by user groups at substantially lower cost.

Ten field trials were conducted to document raccoons’ bait flavor preferences, evaluate a new vaccine sachet bait coated with …

An Evaluation Of Sampling Techniques And Life History Information On Biguead Carp In The Missouri River, Below Gavlns Point Dam, South Dakota And Nebraska

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

Bighead carp Hypopthmichtys nobilis were introduced into the United States from south and central China (Robins et al. 1991) in 1972 (Henderson 1979).  It is an efficient planktivore (Henderson 1978) that was imported into Arkansas by an aquaculturist to improve water quality in catfish ponds (Henderson 1976).  In 1974, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission began looking at potential impacts of bighead and other Asian carp as well as their beneficial effects on the environment.  Regulations were also imposed to prevent these fish from entering public waters from private sources (Henderson 1975).  In 1981, nevertheless, the first bighead carp was …

Diet Of Shovelnose Sturgeon Downstream From Gavins Point Dam: Final Report, Charles R. Berry Jr.

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

The diet of shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorhynchus) in the Missouri River downstream from Gavins Point Dam was characterized in 1993 (N=100 fish) and 1994 (N=103 fish) for comparison with similar data collected in 1971-72 (N=130 fish) by Modde and Schmulbach (1977, hereafter Modde). The primary difference among years in the South Dakota studies was river discharge, which was low in 1993 (9-22 kcfs; kcfs=thousand cubic feet per second), moderate in 1994 (18-31 kcfs), and high in 1971-72 (26-49 kcfs). We compared sturgeon diet weight and the weight of benthic and drifting invertebrates among years, among monthly discharges in …

Shape-Based Change Detection And Information Mining In Remote Sensing, Jiang Li, Ram M. Narayanan

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Change detection is an important application of remote sensing. This paper presents our approach to retrieve and represent interesting shapes in the remotely sensed imagery using supervised classification, edge detection, and polygonal approximation techniques, and to compare the shape similarity by a computationally efficient metric. The experiments were conducted on a time series of calibrated and registered Landsat MSS images, covering the scene of the lakes at the western Nebraska. The results show the effectiveness of the shape-based change detection approach, which is potentially useful for specific applications such as the study of the lake change response to short or …

A Multiwavelength Airborne Polarimetric Lidar For Vegetation Remote Sensing: Instrumentation And Preliminary Test Results, Songxin Ran, Ram M. Narayanan

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Several spaceborne and airborne lidar systems have been launched for vegetation canopy studies. Previous research has shown that lidars are useful tools for remote sensing of vegetation architecture. To support its Airborne Remote Sensing Program, the University of Nebraska has developed a multiwavelength airborne polarimetric lidar system. This system employs a Nd:YAG laser which emits radiation at two wavelengths: the fundamental at 1064 nm and the frequency-doubled at 532 nm. Both laser beams are highly linearly polarized (100: 1 extinction ratio) and have a beam divergence angle of ~4 mrad. The receiver consists of four channels, which enable dual-wavelength and …

An Airborne Low-Cost Sar For Remote Sensing: Hardware Design And Development, Ram Narayanan, Paul C. Cantu, Xiaojian Xu

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

An airborne low-cost synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is under development at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The SAR system is an X-band, stepped-chirp frequency modulation (SCFM) radar system. One of its unique features is that the waveform generation consists of a timing-controlled D/A converter and VCO arrangement to synthesize the SCFM signal, whereby allowing for less design complexity and a much lower overall system cost. In this paper, we present a brief description of the system and some computer simulation results.

A Brief History Of Educational Development: Implications For Teachers And Developers, Richard G. Tiberius

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

An historical review of the practice of educational development identified four belief systems about teaching and learning that shape the practice. Each system is characterized by an assumption about the teacher’s role: content expert; performer, who makes learning happen; facilitator, who encourages learning through interaction; and helper, whose relationship with learners is a vehicle for learning. The good news is that even teachers who are limited to only one of these belief systems can be successful. On the other hand, developers must have an appreciation for more than one belief system if they are to be successful at helping teachers.

Research On Faculty As Teaching Mentors: Lessons Learned From A Study Of Participants In Uc Berkeley's Seminar For Faculty Who Teach With Graduate Student Instructors, Linda Von Hoene, Jacqueline Mintz

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This chapter describes the results of a research study of University of California, Berkeley’s annual seminar for faculty teaching with Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs). It demonstrates that such a faculty development activity can have a significant impact not only on faculty mentoring of GSIs but also on faculty teaching, attitudes, and behaviors vis-à-vis teaching and learning in higher education. The chapter presents an overview of the seminar, a description of the format and methodology of the research project, and qualitative and quantitative outcomes.

Femtosecond Laser Utilization Methods And Apparatus And Method For Producing Nanoparticles, Dennis R. Alexander

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

The present invention teaches various femtosecond machining and drilling apparatus and processes for fabricating tools and the like from both traditional and non-traditional materials. Also described are novel tools such as scalpels, and nozzles fabricated from the apparatus and processes of the present invention. Likewise, the present invention may be utilized in both a novel propulsion system and the production of materials formed from nanometer sized particles and the like.

Immobilization Of Pseudomonas Cepacia Lipase By Sol-Gel Entrapment And Its Application In The Hydrolysis Of Soybean Oil, Hossein Noureddini, X Gao, S Joshi, P R. Wagner

Papers in Biomaterials

The immobilization of Lipase PS from Pseudomonas cepacia by entrapment within a chemically inert hydrophobic sol-gel support was studied. The gel-entrapped lipase was prepared by the hydrolysis of tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) with methyltrimeth-oxysilane (MTMS), isobutyltrimethoxysilane (iso-BTMS), and n-butyltrimethoxysilane. The immobilized lipase was subsequently used in the hydrolysis of soybean oil to determine its activity, recyclability, and thermostability. The biocatalyst so prepared was equal to or better than the free enzyme in its hydrolytic activity. The catalytic activity of the entrapped lipase strongly depended on the type of precursor that was used in its preparation. The lipase entrapped within TMOS/iso-BTMS showed the …

An Xps Study Of The Thermal Degradation Of Polystyrene-Clay Nanocomposites, Jianqi Wang, Jianxin Du, Jin Zhu, Charles A. Wilkie

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, XPS, has been used to examine several polystyrene-clay nanocomposites. The accumulation of oxygen, from the almuniosilicate, on the surface of the polymer was observed, along with the loss of carbon. This confirms that the barrier properties of the clay provide a mechanism by which nanocomposite formation can enhance the fire retardancy of the polymers. No difference is detected depending upon the extent of exfoliation or intercalation of the nanocomposite. #2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Comparison Of Various Methods For The Preparation Of Polystyrene And Poly(Methyl Methacrylate) Nanocomposites, Dongyan Wang, Jin Zhu, Qiang Yao, Charles A. Wilkie

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Polymer−clay nanocomposites of styrene and methyl methacrylate have been prepared by bulk, solution, suspension, and emulsion polymerization as well as by melt blending. Two different organic modifications of montmorillonite have been used:  one contains a styryl monomer on the ammonium ion while the other has no double bond. The organic modification as well as the mode of preparation determines if the material will be exfoliated or intercalated. Exfoliation is more likely to occur if the ammonium ion contains a double bond which can participate in the polymerization reaction, but the mere presence of this double bond is not sufficient to …

Inventions, Industry Standards, And Intellectual Property, Mark R. Patterson

Faculty Scholarship

When an industry standard incorporates a patented invention, the demand for products that comply with the standard has two components. Some of the demand may be for the inherent technical advantages of the invention; the patentee is generally entitled to revenues attributable to this demand. But some of the demand is for the benefits of standardization, such as interoperability, and the patentee is not entitled to revenues attributable to this demand. From this point, the article draws two conclusions. First, the amounts to which a patentee is entitled, either in litigation or in licensing negotiations, should be calculated by determining …

Determination Of Melanterite-Rozenite And Chalcanthite-Bonattite Equilibria By Humidity Measurements At 0.1 Mpa, I-Ming Chou, R.R. Seal Ii, B.S. Hemingway

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Melanterite (FeSO₄•7H₂O)-rozenite (FeSO₄•4H₂O) and chalcanthite (CuSO₄•5H₂O)-bonattite (CuSO₄•3H₂O) equilibria were determined by humidity measurements at 0.1 MPa. Two methods were used; one is the gas-flow-cell method (between 21 and 98 °C), and the other is the humidity buffer method (between 21 and 70 °C). The first method has a larger temperature uncertainty even though it is more efficient. With the aid of humidity buffers, which correspond to a series of saturated binary salt solutions, the second method yields reliable results as demonstrated by very tight …

Preterminal Host Dendritic Cells In Irradiated Mice Prime Cd8+ T Cell–Mediated Acute Graft-Versus-Host Disease, Yi Zhang, Jean-Pierre Louboutin, Jiang Zhu, Stephen G. Emerson

Biology Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Methods And Compositions For Protection Against Bovine Viral Diseases, Subramaniam Srikumaran

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The present invention relates to methods and compositions for eliciting an immune response against bovine viral epitopes. The methods comprise combining at least one heat shock protein with at least one bovine viral epitope to form a purified epitope/heat shock protein complex and administration of an immune system stimulating amount of the purified epitope/heat shock protein complex. The compositions comprise, a purified epitope/heat shock protein complex comprising at least one bovine viral epitope complexed with at least one heat shock protein, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent or excipient.

Technology, Libraries And The Internet: A Comparison Of The Impact Of The Printing Press And World Wide Web, Gentry Lankewicz Holbert

E-JASL: Electronic Journal of Academic and Special Librarianship (1999-2009, Volumes 1-10)

In thinking about technology and libraries, what struck me most is that we are living and experiencing a great turning point in history. "May you live in interesting times" is an ancient Chinese curse. Interesting times indeed, with all their glory, advantages, and pitfalls. We are still in the process of discovering what to do with new technology in the dissemination of information.

With the dawn of the Internet, computer automation, and intricate databases, I feel that, as a librarian, I am at the helm of the true information age. And how interesting to be here at the Vernadsky Library, …

A Scoping Study Of Water Quality Conditions In The Missouri National Recreational River Reach From Near Gavins Point Dam To Ponca State Park, Nebraska

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

The unchannelized reach of the Missouri River below Gavins Point Dam has several ongoing water resource management issues that involve and affect the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). Water quality management considerations are of particular importance to three issues: 1) management of a portion of the reach as a recreational river under the Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, 2) the reach is included in an action area identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) under the Federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) for three species (pallid sturgeon, least tern, and piping plover) identified as being in jeopardy, …

A Procedural Evaluation Of An Analytic-Deliberative Process: The Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment, Aimee Guglielmo Kinney, Thomas M. Leschine

United States Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District

The U.S. Department of Energy's Columbia River Comprehensive Impact Assessment (CRCIA) was an ambitious attempt to direct its cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation toward the most significant risks to the Columbia River resulting from past plutonium production. DOE's approach was uncommonly open, including tribal, regulatory agency, and other Hanford interest group representatives on the board that was to develop the assessment approach. The CRCIA process had attributes of the ``analytic-deliberative'' process for risk assessment recommended by the National Research Council. Nevertheless, differences between the DOE and other participants over what was meant by the term ``comprehensive'' in the group's …

Sources Of Terrestrially-Derived Organic Carbon In Lower Mississippi River And Louisiana Shelf Sediments: Implications For Differential Sedimentation And Transport At The Coastal Margin, Thomas S. Bianchi, Siddhartha Mitra, Brent A. Mckee

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

In this study, we examined the temporal and spatial variability of terrestrial organic carbon sources in lower Mississippi River and Louisiana shelf sediments (during 11 cruises over a 22-month period) to further understand the sorting dynamics and selective transport of vascular plant materials within the primary dispersal system of the river. Bulk δ¹³C values in lower river sediments ranged from −21.90%o −24.64%o (mean = −23.2 ± 1.09%_o), these values were generally more depleted than those found in shelf sediments (−22.5%o to −21.2%o). The Λ₈ (Λ₈ = sum of vanillyl, syringyl and cinnamyl phenols produced …

Radiocarbon Dating, Chronologic Framework, And Changes In Accumulation Rates Of Holocene Estuarine Sediments From Chesapeake Bay, Steven M. Colman, Pattie C. Baucom, John F. Bratton, Thomas M. Cronin, John P. Mcgeehin, Debra Willard, Andrew R. Zimmerman, Peter R. Vogt

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Rapidly accumulating Holocene sediments in estuaries commonly are difficult to sample and date. In Chesapeake Bay, we obtained sediment cores as much as 20min length and used numerous radiocarbon ages measured by accelerator mass spectrometry methods to provide the first detailed chronologies of Holocene sediment accumulation in the bay. Carbon in these sediments is a complex mixture of materials from a variety of sources. Analyses of different components of the sediments show that total organic carbon ages are largely unreliable, because much of the carbon (including coal) has been transported to the bay from upstream sources and is older than …

Journal Of Actuarial Practice, Volume 10, 2002, Colin Ramsay , Editor

Journal of Actuarial Practice (1993–2006)

ARTICLES

Communicating Effectively with Words, Numbers, and Pictures: Drawing on Experience • Karolina Duklan and Michael A. Martin

Unearned Premiums and Deferred Policy Acquisition Expenses in Automobile Extended Warranty Insurance • Joseph Cheng

Can Utility Maximization Models Assist With Retirement Planning? • Zaki Khorasanee

Dynamic Funding and Investment Strategy for Defined Benefit Pension Schemes: A Model Incorporating Asset-Liability Matching Criteria • Shih-Chieh Chang, Cheng-Hsien Tsai, Chia-Jung Tien, and Chang- Ye Tu

Model Risk and Surplus Management Under a Stochastic Interest Rate Process •Jennifer L. Wang and Rachel J. Huang

Some Comments on the Pricing of an Exotic Excess of …

Chicano Educational Leaders: Some Reflections On The Southwest, Henry T. Trueba

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Probability Of Nitrate Contamination Of Recently Recharged Groundwaters In The Conterminous United States, Bernard Nolan, Kerie Hitt, Barbara Ruddy

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

A new logistic regression (LR) model was used to predict the probability of nitrate contamination exceeding 4 mg/L in predominantly shallow, recently recharged groundwaters of the United States. The new model contains variables representing (1) N fertilizer loading (p < 0.001), (2) percent cropland-pasture (p < 0.001), (3) natural log of human population density (p < 0.001), (4) percent well-drained soils (p < 0.001), (5) depth to the seasonally high water table (p < 0.001), and (6) presence or absence of unconsolidated sand and gravel aquifers (p =0.002). Observed and average predicted probabilities associated with deciles of risk are well correlated (r² = 0.875), indicating that the LR model fits the data well. The likelihood of nitrate contamination is greater in areas with high N loading and well-drained surficial soils over unconsolidated sand and gravels. The LR model correctly predicted the status of nitrate contamination in 75% of wells in a validation data set. Considering all wells used in both calibration and …

Holographic Recording Of Fast Events On A Ccd Camera, Zhiwen Liu, Martin Centurion, George Panotopoulos, John Hong, Demetri Psaltis

Martin Centurion Publications

We report on holographic recording of nanosecond events on a conventional CCD camera. Three frames of an air-discharge event, with resolution of 5.9 ns and frame interval of 12 ns, are recorded in a single CCD frame. Each individual frame is reconstructed by digital filtering of the CCD frame, since successively recorded holograms are centered at different carrier frequencies in the spatial frequency domain.

Unifying Lectures, Recitations & Laboratories As A Part Of The Humanized Physics Project, Vicki L. Plano Clark, Robert G. Fuller

Robert G. Fuller Publications

As a part of our work in the Humanized Physics Project, we have made the content of the physics laboratories the keystone of our physics content coverage. After having selected an appropriate human application of physics for the laboratory each week, we have shaped the lecture, recitation and homework assignments to support the laboratory. Our poster will provide examples from both semesters of our general physics course.

Law As A Reflection Of Her/His-Story: Current Institutional Perceptions Of, And Possibilities For, Protecting Transsexuals' Interests In Legal Determinations Of Sex, Jody L. Madeira

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

What A Mess! Participation As A Simple Managerial Rule To “Complexify” Organizations, Donde Ashmos Plowman, Dennis Duchon, Reuben R. Mcdaniel Jr., John W. Huonker

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

This paper adopts a view of organizations as complex adaptive systems and makes a case for making organizations more complex internally through the use of a fairly simple managerial rule—using participative decision making. Participation in decision making enhances connectivity in organizations, which in turn, gives the organization the opportunity to self-organize and co-evolve in more effective ways than when there is minimal connectivity (i.e., autocracy). The paper uses a specific body of research to support the arguments about why participation can benefit the practice of management in modern organizations.

Introduction To Written Symposium On Public Health And International Law, David P. Fidler

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.