Digital Commons Network^™

Biology And Biological Control Of Exotic True Thistles, Rachel Winston, Rich Hansen, Mark Schwarzlander, Eric Coombs, Carol Bell Randall, Rodney Lym

United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

“Thistle” is an old English name for a large variety of weedy, prickly plants that grow throughout the world. The most notable characteristics of thistles are the prickly stems and leaves and the bracts around the flower head. While many different plants have “thistle” in their common name, only certain plant species fit the taxonomic requirements of being considered “true thistles.” True thistle species fall within the family Asteraceae, the tribe Cardueae, and the subtribe Carduinae. Examples of plants that are not true thistles include yellow starthistle (subtribe Centaureinae), sow thistle (subtribe Sonchinae), and Russian thistle (family Chenopodiaceae). Only true …

Modified Kigali Combined Staging Predicts Risk Of Mortality In Hiv-Infected Adults In Lusaka, Zambia, Philip J. Peters, Isaac Zulu, Nzali G. Kancheya, Shabir Lakhi, Elwyn Chomba, Cheswa Vwalika, Dhong-Jin Kim, Ilene Brill, Jareen Meinzen-Derr, Amanda Tichacek, Susan A. Allen

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

We assessed the utility of the modified Kigali combined (MKC) staging system for predicting survival in HIV-infected Zambian adults in a prospective, longitudinal, open cohort. From 1995 to 2004, HIV-discordant couples (one HIV-infected partner and one HIV-negative partner) were recruited from couples’ voluntary counseling and testing centers in Lusaka, Zambia and followed at 3-month intervals. MKC stage, which incorporates clinical stage with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), hematocrit, and body mass index (BMI), was determined at enrollment. Kaplan–Meier survival and Cox proportional hazard methods were used to calculate median survival and relative hazards. We enrolled 1479 HIV-discordant couples with a combined …

Preparation And Opportunity, Marilyn Grady

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Following is the text of the speech I delivered as the recipient of the 2008 Living Legends Award at the annual meeting of the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration in San Diego. The truth is, I've acquired a certain taste for anonymity when I speak to groups. Unfortunately, in this room this evening, I may not have that luxury. I expect I will not be able to embellish as many details tonight. I get to talk this evening because I have stood in the same spot long enough to have observed a few aspects of being a professor …

Viewing Rural Female Superintendents Through An Efficacy Lens, Jean M. Haar, John Palladino, Marilyn Grady, Kaye Lynn Peery

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Rural education is an important part of the American educational system. As noted in the Rural Trust report, Why Rural Matters 2003: The Continuing Need for Every State to Take Action on Rural Education: "Forty~three percent of the nation's public schools are in rural communities or small towns of fewer than 25,000 people, and 31 percent of the nation's children attend these schools". Rural schools are facing a number of challenges. Common concerns among rural schools are poverty, changing demographics, and declining numbers. They are also faced with the issues of accountability and mandates from No Child Left Behind. The …

Field Slope Effects On Uniformity Of Corn Seed Spacing For Three Precision Planter Metering Systems, Corey L. Searle, Michael F. Kocher, John A. Smith, Erin E. Blankenship

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

The effects of field slope on planter seed spacing uniformity were evaluated for three different seed metering units (cell plate, finger pick‐up, and flat plate) operating with medium round corn seed in a laboratory using the University of Nebraska planter test stand with an opto‐electronic seed spacing sensor system. The metering units included a John Deere MaxEmerge™ Plus VacuMeter row unit with the standard cell corn plate, a John Deere MaxEmerge™ Plus VacuMeter row unit with the flat plate, and a John Deere MaxEmerge™ Plus row unit with the finger pick‐up metering system. Planter seed spacing uniformity was measured using …

Pea Aphid, Jennifer A. Brisson, Gregory K. Davis

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Aphids have long been of interest because of their complex life cycles, environmentally induced morphologies, and importance to agriculture. However, only recently has the resulting wealth of ecological and population genetic data begun to be supplemented by genomic and genetic mapping approaches. In 2004, the International Aphid Genomics Consortium, a collaboration of aphid researchers, chose to establish the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, as the aphid of choice for the development of genomic resources. Here we introduce the pea aphid and discuss a number of biological questions for which the species is well suited. We then review previous mapping and quantitative …

Muscleworms, Parelaphostrongylus Andersoni (Nematoda: Protostrongylidae), Discovered In Columbia White-Tailed Deer From Oregon And Washington: Implications For Biogeography And Host Associations, Ingrid M. Asmundsson, Jack A. Mortenson, Eric P. Hoberg

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Parelaphostrongylus andersoni is considered a characteristic nematode infecting white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Host and geographic distribution for this parasite, however, remain poorly defined in the region of western North America. Fecal samples collected from Columbia white-tailed deer (O. v. leucurus) in a restricted range endemic to Oregon and Washington, USA, were examined for dorsal-spined larvae characteristic of many protostrongylid nematodes. Multilocus DNA sequence data (internal transcribed spacer 2 and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) established the identity and a new record for P. andersoni in a subspecies of white-tailed deer previously unrecognized as hosts. Populations of …

Wind Through The Buffalo Grass: A Lakota Story Cycle, Paul A. Johnsgard

Paul Johnsgard Collection

Wind Through the Buffalo Grass: A Lakota Story Cycle is a narrative history of the Pine Ridge Lakota tribe of South Dakota, following its history from 1850 to the present day through actual historical events and through the stories of four fictional Lakota children, each related by descent and separated from one another by two generations.

The ecology of the Pine Ridge region, especially its mammalian and avian wildlife, is woven into the stories of the children. Illustrated by the author, the book includes drawings of Pine Ridge wildlife, regional maps, and Native American pictorial art. Appendices include a listing …

Corporate Social Responsibility For Solving The Housing Problem For The Poor In South Africa, Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman, Basheera Mia

Architectural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Expanding Group Support System Capabilities From The Knowledge Management Perspective, Shin-Yuan Hung, King-Zoo Tang, Tsan-Chuan Shu

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

A group support system (GSS) is a computer-based system that enables people in different places to discuss and make decisions on connected computers. Expanding GSS capabilities from the knowledge management perspective is believed to significantly improve the performance and satisfaction of group meetings. This study develops the organizational knowledge management process, proposed by Alavi and Leidner (2001), to expand the capabilities of a GSS. Additionally, a prototype system has been implemented. Finally, an experiment is conducted to evaluate the system and demonstrate its applicability and usability. Experimental results indicate that users perceive a web-based GSS with knowledge management capabilities to …

Validating An End-User Computing Satisfaction Instrument: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis Approach Using International Data, Kee-Sook Lim, Jeen-Su Lim, John H. Heinrichs

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

This study evaluates the construct validity of an end-user computing satisfaction scale in the context of the Korean culture. The structure and dimensionality, reliability and validity of an end-user computing satisfaction (EUCS) instrument were cross-validated using data obtained from 108 managers of Korean firms in the context of the end-user satisfaction with their office information system. The results of this study are generally consistent with previous findings regarding the measurement property of this instrument. However, Korean data also supports the five correlated first-order factors model. Managerial and research implications of the identified results are discussed.

Identifying Opportunities In Multilingual Business Environments Using Environmental Scanning And Text Mining Techniques, Jody Strong, Kaushik Ghosh, Sumali Conlon

Journal of International Technology and Information Management

The identification of opportunities for growth can be made easier if comprehensive information relevant to the business environment is available to managers. Such recognition of business opportunities can also help sustain competitive advantage. Information relevant to business environment is usually written and posted in many languages and can be accessed from many sources. The collection of this information is time consuming and labor intensive and techniques such as environmental scanning that are proposed in previous research can facilitate this information search. In this study, we propose a technique to automatically perform tasks using text mining tools that search, translate, and …

Poor Teenagers’ Religion, Philip Schwadel

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Empirical research has ignored the effects of poverty on adolescent religion even though children are far more likely than adults to live in poverty in the United States. The current research demonstrates considerable differences in the religious activities and religious viewpoints of poor and non-poor American teenagers. Analysis of National Study of Youth and Religion survey data shows that while poor teenagers are especially likely to pray, read religious scriptures, and report high levels of personal faith, they are unlikely to regularly participate in organized religious activities. Other findings include poor teenagers’ emphasis on role reversal in the afterlife, their …

Preface [To Identification Keys To Strongylid Nematode Parasites Of Equids], J. Ralph Lichtenfels

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Preface to a special issue of Veterinary Parasitology (v. 156, nos. 1-2, 2008), titled Identification Keys to Strongylid Nematode Parasites of Equids.

Illustrated Identification Keys To Strongylid Parasites Strongyllidae Nematoda Of Horses Zebras And Asses Equidae, J. Ralph Lichtenfels, Vitaliy A. Kharchenko, Grigory M. Dvojnos

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The Equidae (the horse, Equus caballus, the ass, Equus asinus, zebras and their hybrids) are hosts to a great variety of nematode parasites, some of which can cause significant morbidity or mortality if individual hosts are untreated. Worldwide the nematode parasites of horses belong to 7 suborders, 12 families, 29 genera and 83 species. The great majority (19 of 29 genera and 64 of 83 species) are members of the family Strongylidae, which includes the most common and pathogenic nematode parasites of horses. Only the Strongylidae are included in this treatise.

The Strongylidae (common name strongylids) of horses …

A Case Of Moral Heroism: Sympathy, Personal Identification, And Mortality In Rwanda, Ari Kohen

Department of Political Science: Faculty Publications

What sort of person chooses to remain in a place like Rwanda when an easy exit is offered, when leaving seems the only safe or sane option, and when one is not directly connected to the would-be victims? And how does this person come to develop a circle of care that is expansive enough to include those who are radically Other? In what follows, I consider these questions through a detailed examination of the recent example of Paul Rusesabagina, the Hutu hotel manager in Kigali, Rwanda, who sheltered more than a thousand Tutsi and moderate Hutu refugees during the hundred-day …

As Space Law Comes To Nebraska, Space Comes Down To Earth, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

It is a great honor and an equally great pleasure for me to stand here today and address you by way of an inaugural lecture, embedded in this conference on formalism and informalism in space law that we are currently hosting at the University of Nebraska College of Law.

An inaugural lecture then is perceived essentially as a public lecture where a newly-appointed professor sets out, for everyone to hear, his or her general ideas on, and programmatic approach to, the field that he or she is going to tackle in teaching and research-in my case, all in the context …

Metals Fate And Transport Modelling In Streams And Watersheds: State Of The Science And Usepa Workshop Review, B. S. Caruso, T. J. Cox, R. L. Runkel, M. L. Velleux, K. E. Bencala, D. K. Nordstrom, P. Y. Julien, B. A. Butler, Charles N. Alpers, A. Marion, K. S. Smith

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Metals pollution in surface waters from point and non-point sources (NPS) is a widespread problem in the United States and worldwide (Lofts et al., 2007; USEPA, 2007). In the western United States, metals associated with acid mine drainage (AMD) from hardrock mines in mountainous areas impact aquatic ecosystems and human health (USEPA, 1997a; Caruso and Ward, 1998; Church et al., 2007). Metals fate and transport modelling in streams and watersheds is sometimes needed for assessment and restoration of surface waters, including mining-impacted streams (Runkel and Kimball, 2002; Caruso, 2003; Velleux et al., 2006). The Water Quality Analysis …

Birth Spacing Effect On Children's Attainments: Indentification Using Instrument Variables, Jing Xie

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In this study, I address the relationship between an often overlooked dimension of family structure--the spacing between children's births--and the degree of children's attainments such as Mathematics, Reading Cognition and Reading Comprehension. Comparing to the results of OLS estimation, 2SLS Estimation using Twin and Catholic as Instrument Variables shows less significant effects on children's attainments. Hausman Test shows that OLS estimators are not consistent with 2SLS estimators, which means there is endogenous problem in OLS estimation. As the result in 2SLS shows the different spacing effects in different spacing groups, it is possible to use nonlinear estimation (quadratic form of …

Test For Infinite Variance In Stock Returns, Xian Ning Yan

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The existence of second order moment or the finite variance is a commonly used assumption in financial time series analysis. We examine the validation of this condition for main stock index return series by applying the extreme value theory. We compare the performances of the adaptive Hill's estimator and the Smith's estimator for the tail index using Monte Carlo simulations for both i.i.d data and dependent data. The simulation results show that the Hill's estimator with adaptive data-based truncation number performs better in both cases. It has not only smaller bias but also smaller MSE when the true tail index …

The Cross-Section Of Stock Return And Volatility, Hongchao Han

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

There has been increasing research on the cross-sectional relation between stock return and volatility. Conclusions are, however, mixed, partially because volatility or variance is modeled or parameterized in various ways. This paper, by using the Jiang and Tian (2005)'s model-free method, estimates daily option implied volatility for all US individual stocks from 1996:01 to 2006:04, and then employs this information to extract monthly volatilities and their idiosyncratic parts for cross-sectional regression analyses. We follow the Fama and French (1992) cross-sectional regression procedure and show that each of the 4 monthly measures of change of total volatility, total volatility, expected idiosyncratic …

The Impact Of Credit Watch And Bond Rating Changes On Abnormal Stock Returns For Non-Usa Domiciled Corporations, Benjamin Boon Ching Ee

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In this paper, we investigate whether credit watches and bond rating changes issued by Moodys' and S&P Credit Rating Agencies provide significant new information to investors for Non-USA domiciled corporations. We also examine whether the stock related cumulative abnormal return (CAR) differs according to the classification of the country of domicile (emerging or developed) of the corporation, and varies by state of the local stock market during the time of the rating event.
We find that on average, negative credit watches as well as long term rating downgrades result in significant stock related CAR for Non-USA domiciled 4 corporations. However, …

Evaluating The Usability And Security Of A Video Captcha, Kurt Alfred Kluever

Theses

A CAPTCHA is a variation of the Turing test, in which a challenge is used to distinguish humans from computers (`bots') on the internet. They are commonly used to prevent the abuse of online services. CAPTCHAs discriminate using hard articial intelligence problems: the most common type requires a user to transcribe distorted characters displayed within a noisy image. Unfortunately, many users and them frustrating and break rates as high as 60% have been reported (for Microsoft's Hotmail). We present a new CAPTCHA in which users provide three words (`tags') that describe a video. A challenge is passed if a user's …

Readiness For Hospital Discharge - Parents Of Hospitalized Children - Pediatric Patient Short Form - English, Marianne E. Weiss

RHDS

The Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale, Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale, and Post-Discharge Coping Difficulty Scale were developed by Dr. Marianne Weiss to measure nurse-sensitive discharge care processes and patient outcomes. Three versions of the scales were developed concurrently for different patient populations – Adult medical-surgical patients, Parents of hospitalized children, and Postpartum Patient mothers (see Weiss & Piacentine, 2006, Weiss et al., 2007, and Bobay et al., 2018 for description of the development and initial testing). Additional scales and information about translation rights are located at Marquette Nursing.

PERMISSION TO USE

The Readiness for Discharge Scale, Quality of Discharge …

Readiness For Hospital Discharge - Parents Of Hospitalized Child Form - English, Marianne E. Weiss

RHDS

The Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale, Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale, and Post-Discharge Coping Difficulty Scale were developed by Dr. Marianne Weiss to measure nurse-sensitive discharge care processes and patient outcomes. Three versions of the scales were developed concurrently for different patient populations – Adult medical-surgical patients, Parents of hospitalized children, and Postpartum Patient mothers (see Weiss & Piacentine, 2006, Weiss et al., 2007, and Bobay et al., 2018 for description of the development and initial testing). Additional scales and information about translation rights are located at Marquette Nursing.

PERMISSION TO USE

The Readiness for Discharge Scale, Quality of Discharge …

Readiness For Hospital Discharge - Pediatric Patient Short Form - English, Marianne E. Weiss

RHDS

The Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale, Quality of Discharge Teaching Scale, and Post-Discharge Coping Difficulty Scale were developed by Dr. Marianne Weiss to measure nurse-sensitive discharge care processes and patient outcomes. Three versions of the scales were developed concurrently for different patient populations – Adult medical-surgical patients, Parents of hospitalized children, and Postpartum Patient mothers (see Weiss & Piacentine, 2006, Weiss et al., 2007, and Bobay et al., 2018 for description of the development and initial testing). Additional scales and information about translation rights are located at Marquette Nursing.

PERMISSION TO USE

The Readiness for Discharge Scale, Quality of Discharge …

Establishing Relations Between Law And Other Forms Of Thought And Language, James Boyd White

Articles

The law does not, and could not, exist in an intellectual or linguistic vacuum. No one believes that the law is or should be impervious to other languages, other bodies of knowledge. In this sense the argument about the 'autonomy' of law is an empty one: law cannot be, should not be, perfectly autonomous, unconnected with any other system of thought and expression; yet it plainly has it own identity as a discourse, it own intellectual and linguistic habits, which it is our task as lawyers to understand and develop. It follows that an essential topic of legal thought is …

Personalized Web Content With Fuzzy System, Bassam Almogahed

Master's Projects

In this paper, we will develop a new computational intelligence methodology to automatically analyze and summarize web content during a user surfing sessions. The output of this process is meaningful keywords or phrases which will be used to bring the user other contents such as images that closely relate to the web pages that he or she is currently surfing.

Intelligent Query For Real Estate Search, Mandeep Jandir

Master's Projects

The purpose of this project is to improve search query accuracy in a real estate website by developing an intelligent query system which provides the best matching result for standard search criteria. This intelligent query website utilizes fuzzy logic and partial membership to filter query results based on user input data. Fuzzy logic helps obtain results that are otherwise not attainable from a non-fuzzy search. A non-fuzzy search entails search results that match exactly with the given criteria. This project also allows a user to do a free keyword search. This type of search uses synonyms of the keywords to …

Semantic Categorization Of Online Video, Supraja Swarna

Master's Projects

As internet users are increasing day by day, the users of video-sharing site are also increasing. Video-sharing is becoming more and more popular in e-learing, but the current famous websites like youtube are not structured when it come to serving the purpose of providing educational videos for preschool and high school students. There is a need to fill building more educationally focused video site, where the content is more structured, easy to use, support both direct search and browsing, and follow a particular curriculum for preschool and high school students. This report discuss the issues like categorization and search interface …