Digital Commons Network^™

Predictions And Retrodictions Of The Hierarchical Representation Of Habitat In Heterogeneous Environments, Jurek Kolasa, Craig R. Allen, Jan Sendzimir, Craig A. Stow

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Interaction between habitat and species is central in ecology. Habitat structure may be conceived as being hierarchical, where larger, more diverse, portions or categories contain smaller, more homogeneous portions. When this conceptualization is combined with the observation that species have different abilities to relate to portions of the habitat that differ in their characteristics, a number of known patterns can be derived and new patterns hypothesized. We propose a quantitative form of this habitat–species relationship by considering species abundance to be a function of habitat specialization, habitat fragmentation, amount of habitat, and adult body mass. The model reproduces and explains …

Latitudinal Influence On Age Estimates Derived From Scales And Otoliths For Bluegills, Lucas K. Kowalewski, Alexis P. Maple, Mark A. Pegg, Kevin L. Pope

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Scales are perceived to give reliable estimates of age of fish in northern latitudes and unreliable estimates of age in southern latitudes, whereas otoliths are perceived to give reliable estimates of age regardless of latitude. The objective of our study was to assess the influence of latitude on the estimates of ages derived from scales and otoliths for bluegill Lepomis macrochirus. Our hypothesis was that a south-to-north gradient exists for precision between scales and otoliths with partial agreement between age estimates derived from scales and otoliths for fish in southern latitudes and nearly complete agreement between age estimates derived …

Land Use, Landscapes, And Biological Invasions, Karie L. Decker, Craig R. Allen, Leonardo Acosta, Michelle L. Hellman, Christopher F. Jorgensen, Ryan Stutzman, Kody M. Unstad, Amy R. Williams, Matthew W. Yans

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

The negative effect of invasive species on native species, communities, and ecosystems is widely recognized, and the economic effects in the United States are estimated to be billions of dollars annually. Studies often examine traits of nonnative species or examine what makes a particular habitat invasible. To better understand the factors governing invasions, we used the flora of Nebraska to characterize and compare native and nonnative plant occurrences throughout the state. In addition, we assessed four critical landscape predictors of nonnative plant richness: human population size and three land cover attributes that included percentage of grassland, percentage of agriculture, and …

The Feasibility Of Switchgrass For Biofuel Production, Rob Mitchell, Kenneth P. Vogel, Daniel R. Uden

Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit: Staff Publications

Switchgrass research has been conducted cooperatively by the US Department of Agriculture and the University of Nebraska since the mid-1930s, with a primary focus on bioenergy since 1990 at several institutions. Progress has been made in switchgrass breeding and genetics, molecular genetics, establishment, fertility management, production economics, production energetics, harvest and storage management, ecosystem services and ethanol yield. A complete field-validated biomass production system has been developed for the Midwest and Central Plains. Even with favorable economic and sustainability results from field trials, switchgrass for bioenergy has not been adopted on a large scale. Lack of adoption is likely due …

Fire Ecology Monitoring Protocol For The Heartland Inventory And Monitoring Network, Sherry A. Leis, Lloyd W. Morrison, Jennifer L. Haack, Maria S. Gaetani

United States National Park Service: Publications

Fire has played an important role in shaping the plant and animal communities of the Central Great Plains region. Lightning fires as well as those of anthropogenic origin were frequent during the period of historical interest for most parks. An era of fire suppression has led to changes in natural communities, however. Current prescribed fire programs in the region aim to restore or maintain ecosystems and reduce fuel loads in hopes of preventing catastrophic wildfire.

The fire ecology program for the Central Great Plains region, embedded within the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network (HTLN), is multifaceted. It serves as an …

Research Achievements And Adoption Of No-Till, Dryland Cropping In The Semi-Arid U.S. Great Plains, Neil Hansen, Brett Allen, R. Louis Baumhardt, Drew J. Lyon

Panhandle Research and Extension Center

The Great Plains region of the United States is an area of widespread dryland crop production, with wheat being the dominant crop. Precipitation in the region ranges from 300 to 500 mm annually, with the majority of precipitation falling during hot summer months. The prevailing cropping system is a two-year rotation of wheat and summer fallow. The adoption of no-till practices has resulted in greater precipitation storage and use efficiency, which has led to greater cropping intensity, higher productivity, more diverse crop rotations, and improvements in soil properties. In Colorado, for example, a no-till rotation of winter wheat–maize–fallow increased total …

A Transformational Bond, Nettie L. Rogers

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

I create two- and three-dimensional narrative works that are inspired by memories, objects and animals that have a significant impact on my life. The work draws from a darkness that at times surrounded my childhood. Through drawing and sculpture I create an invented world that allows me to reflect, resolve and cope with real world events and memories. The main character in my work is the horse, an archetype that became my guide. He came to me when I was ten years old, my starting point of memory. My father wanted me to smile again so he found a place …

The Cultural Context Of Nephite Apostasy, Mark Alan Wright, Brant A. Gardner

Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship

Nephite apostates turned away from true worship in consistent and predictable ways throughout the Book of Mormon. T heir beliefs and practices may have been the result of influence from the larger socioreligious context in which the Nephites lived. A Mesoamerican setting provides a plausible cultural background that explains why Nephite apostasy took the par ticular form it did and may help us gain a deeper understanding of some specific references that Nephite prophets used when com bating that apostasy. We propose that apostate Nephite religion resulted from the syncretization of certain beliefs and practices from normative Nephite religion with …

The Stromata Vol. 53, No. 1, Calvin Theological Seminary

Stromata (1956-2020)

Inside This Issue

5- Here I Am by Scott De Young

7- A Brief Breviary of Sin by Dylan O’Brien Pahman

15- The Prohibition of Sorcery in Ancient Near Eastern and Biblical Law by Daniel J. Vos

43- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in a ‘Sea of Gospels’: An Apologetic for the Four Canonical Gospels by Mark VanderWerf

57- John Calvin and the Authority of the Fathers: An Interaction with A. N. S. Lane’s Ancillary View by Joshua C. Smith

77- The Hardening of the Heart in the Conquest Narrative: Reconsidering the Identity of הצרעה in Joshua 24:12 by Samyung …

Disillusionment And The Hardening Of The Sacred Heart, Steven B. Bennett

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Contemporary experience has been radically altered by the technological and commercial influences that dominate our daily lives. Technology speeds up and broadens our access to vast amounts of facts and information. However, this modern landscape of information, facts and entertainment has slowly eroded the narrative fabric of our culture that helps us identify and differentiate the qualities and meaning of ourselves as unique individuals. Disillusionment arises as we witness the impersonal developments of science, technology and commercialism that expand far beyond our capacity to understand and value their utility. More and more, we find ourselves following their lead and defaulting …

2012-2013 Operating Budget, Morehead State University. Budget & Financial Planning Office.

Morehead State University Operating Budgets Archive

2012-2013 Operating Budget of Morehead State University.

Front Matter: The State Of The Region: Hampton Roads 2012, Regional Studies Institute, Old Dominion University

State of the Region Reports: Hampton Roads

Cover, front matter, table of contents, and other materials for the 2012 The State of the Region report authored by the Regional Studies Institute at Old Dominion University

Influence Of The Neotyphodium--Tall Fescue Symbiosis On Belowground Processes, D. H. Mcnear Jr., Rebecca L. Mcculley

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Much of the work to date on the relationships between cool season grasses and Neotyphodium fungal endophytes has focused on the physiological, biochemical, and genetic ramifications of the host-fungus relationship and the subsequent influence these effects have on ruminant nutrition, plant adaptation to environmental stresses, and aboveground ecological processes. Relatively little attention has been paid to effects on belowground parameters. In this paper, we review the research evaluating the impact of one endophyte-grass association, the Neotyphodium – tall fescue symbiosis, on underground ecological and biogeochemical processes. We also present some preliminary data showing that the quantity and nature of tall …

The Economic Impact Of The New Insensitive Sorghum Cultivars In The Dairy Market Of Nicaragua, Gabriel Garcia Gomez

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

This thesis estimates the benefits and returns to consumers, processors, producers and society of the new insensitive sorghum cultivars used for the dairy production in Nicaraguan. Many dairy producers also sell their grain so sorghum production is a multi-product activity.

The breeding project of INTA developed cultivars for simultaneous use in dairy and grain production. Its first release was Pinolero-1 developed during the Nicaraguan civil war. This cultivar was rapidly adopted by farmers after the end of the war in 1990. Subsequently, five more new cultivars have been released. We consider their combined effects.

Through field surveys, we calculated the …

Dimerization And Heme Binding Are Conserved In Amphibian And Starfish Homologues Of The Microrna Processing Protein Dgcr8., Rachel Senturia, Arthur Laganowsky, Ian Barr, Brooke D. Scheidemantle, Feng Guo

Natural Sciences and Mathematics | Faculty Scholarship

Human DiGeorge Critical Region 8 (DGCR8) is an essential microRNA (miRNA) processing factor that is activated via direct interaction with Fe(III) heme. In order for DGCR8 to bind heme, it must dimerize using a dimerization domain embedded within its heme-binding domain (HBD). We previously reported a crystal structure of the dimerization domain from human DGCR8, which demonstrated how dimerization results in the formation of a surface important for association with heme. Here, in an attempt to crystallize the HBD, we search for DGCR8 homologues and show that DGCR8 from Patiria miniata (bat star) also binds heme. The extinction coefficients (ε) …

Past Sense History In The Realm Of The Senses, Andrew Hess

Theses & ETDs

This thesis assesses a growing trend in the writing of history, which attends to the various roles and conceptions of the senses throughout history. Proceeding from a discussion of the sometimes unique and sometimes standard methodologies of the habit of "sensory history," the various implications and problems of such an approach are suggested and explored using a once widely accepted historical framework known as the "great divide." Imbuing this once black and white binary with the lost textures and experiences of sensory detail and evidence, a similar treatment of the life and work of social theorist Karl Marx is attempted. …

The Positive Value Of Death A Reevaluation Of Suicide And Self-Sacrifice, Erin Dyles

Theses & ETDs

There are two general ways of looking at death which correspond to our contradictory attitudes of fear and attraction to it: as the opposite of existence, and as a natural thread in our existence and a portal to the afterlife. Our historico-cultural views of the soul allow us to view death in this latter, more positive way, and reevaluate our treatment of certain death related issues. More specifically, a more positive view of death allows for more effective treatment of suicide patients, rather than dismissing them as irrational or psychotic, and devalues the impact of self-sacrifice, therefore, discouraging unnecessary cases. …

Curiosity May Not Have Killed The Cat After All The Potential Relationship Between Self-Esteem, Self-Compassion, And Curiosity, Elizabeth Brewer

Theses & ETDs

This thesis attempts to demonstrate that an increase in state self-esteem or state self-compassion will result in an increase in state curiosity. Forty-nine participants were split into three groups, one in which only self-esteem was raised, one in which only self-compassion was raised, and a control group. After the manipulations, all participants completed the State-Trait Personality Inventory, the Heatherton & Polivy State Self-esteem Scale, the Self-compassion Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale. After this, participants were presented with an optional reading task that functioned as a measure of behavioral curiosity. The mean scores for self-esteem, self-compassion, and curiosity …

Using Oligonucleotide Probes For In Situ Hybridization In Developing Cml322 Maize Endosperm, Alyssa Sonchaiwanich

Theses & ETDs

This thesis research was a part of a larger research effort funded by the National Science Foundation to study the regulation of early endosperm development in Zea mays L. As part of the larger study, a group of inbred lines generated around the world are being studied to look for variations in development as compared to the standard reference line, B73. A second major goal of the grant is to identify key regulator genes and their patterns of localization. Preliminary visualization of sections of the line CML322 seemed to indicate precocious kernel (including of the endosperm) development. Digital imaging and …

A Blaze In The Northern Sky - A Symbolic Analysis Of Ethnicity In The Early Norwegian Black Metal Scene 1986-1997, Eric Van De Castle

Theses & ETDs

This thesis investigates the complex social phenomenon of ethnicity manifesting in the artwork of Norwegian black metal albums. Black metal is a genre of heavy metal that developed during the 1980's. After 1990, the development of black metal began to make great strides in Norway, birthing the genre of "Norwegian black metal" and its resultant scene. This small scene quickly became infamous for the violent acts, including arson and murder, that were carried out by some of its members. To analyze this phenomenon, I identified symbols using the album artwork, which generated six major themes (and one miscellaneous theme) that …

May All Its Days Be Circus Days An Enthnographic Exploration Of Circus In Sarasota, Fl, Chrystal E.I. Kersey

Theses & ETDs

Circus has had an enormous economic and cultural influence on Sarasota since the Ringling Brothers and Barnum&Bailey Circus winter quarters were established in Sarasota in 1927. This thesis attempts to elucidate how the role of circus has changed in the community from 1927 to April 2012 within the framework of Sarasota heritage. I also tried to address the prospects for the continuation of the area's circus legacy by briefly examining the state of the circus industry in and out of Sarasota. My insights are derived from interviews with people involved in the Sarasota circus community, ethnographic notes and historical readings.

Recognition In Relational Autonomy, Rachel Tohn

Theses & ETDs

In this thesis, I develop an understanding of relational autonomy that explores in some detail the ways in which recognition of an individual by others can affect that individual's autonomous agency. In addition to the necessary internal capacities for autonomy developed by relational autonomy's predecessors, and the necessary external conditions that relational autonomy puts forth, I argue that the inner mental states and attitudes of the people involved in any given situation play an equally important role in determining an individual's autonomy. In presenting this perspective, I offer a new way to look at autonomy � not as a strictly …

Creating An Interactive Past Digital Technologies For Public Representation Of Archaeological Sites And Artifacts, Alexis Santos

Theses & ETDs

Archaeological sites are met with a wide array of constraints ranging from limiting budgets to a lack of standing structures that pose unique challenges when creating representations of the sites and artifacts for the public. This thesis notes that archaeologists have not widely embraced digital technologies for the representation of archaeological sites and artifacts, posits that digital technologies enable archaeologists to excel within financial and material constraints, and argues for an expanded use of digital technologies in archaeological representations. Specifically, this thesis focuses on how three digital technologies � augmented reality, video mapping and online repositories � can enable the …

Terror Management And Humor Can Viewing A Cartoon About Death Reduce Death Concerns?, Alisabeth Ayars

Theses & ETDs

Death themed humor is a curious phenomenon because it makes light of an anxiety-inducing subject. What motivates the production and enjoyment of death themed humor? This thesis investigated the possibility that death humor can reduce concerns about death. I hypothesized that viewing a death-related cartoon would reduce death thought accessibility (DTA) after a mortality salience (MS) prompt. Forty participants, recruited from a small liberal arts college, participated in the study. Participants were reminded of their own mortality, and then exposed to one of four images. The images were a death-related cartoon, a non-death-related cartoon, a drawing of the grim reaper, …

American Hybridity In The Music Of George Gershwin, Brendan Rivers

Theses & ETDs

The goal of this document is to provide a useful analysis of the hybridity in George Gershwin's music, and by doing so show that the composer deliberately and consciously applied this hybridity in an attempt to assert his own assimilationist attitudes, as well as to portray what he believed to be the multicultural potential of the United States. In addition to the analyses provided in the document, many examples of contemporaneous and modern responses to Gershwin's music are presented. These examples all respond to hybrid elements in Gershwin's music in various ways. Many of these responses are quite critical of …

Another Way' An Ethnographic Portrait Of Community Dynamics, Sustainability, And Percieved Quality Of Life At Inanitah And Earthaven Ecovillage, Jeanne La Roche

Theses & ETDs

Economic concepts, such as standard of living and the capacity to consume have often been used as a basis for measuring quality of life or human well-being. This thesis examines how standard of living, quality of life, and sustainability intersect through the exploration of "ecovillages." As sustainability-oriented intentional communities, ecovillages attempt to reduce their consumption and cultivate alternative value-systems and lifestyles to enhance their quality of life and ameliorate their ecological footprints. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted at two ecovillages: InanItah, located on Isla Ometepe, Nicaragua, and Earthaven Ecovillage located in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Through participant-observation and informal interviews, I …

Constantly Varied/Highly Functional An Exploration Of Ethnographic Filmmaking In The Digital Age, Nicholas Manting Brewer

Theses & ETDs

Digital video has the potential to democratize the field of visual anthropology. The digital medium allows filmmakers to create and transmit their work at an substantial rate. I explore and defend visual anthropology as a subfield, looking to previous literature to examine some concerns that have plagued the field. I reflect on fieldwork at CrossFit Sarasota, a local gym in Sarasota, FL, between September and December 2011 that resulted in my short ethnographic film, Constantly Varied/Functional. I separate my method into the three sections of video production: pre-production, production and postproduction. In addition, I describe details that my film was …

Embodied Gesture, Luce Irigaray And Woman's Political Imaginary In Digital Music Production Seven Compositions And Feminist Inquiry, Joohyun Kim

Theses & ETDs

In this creative project, I produced seven sonic compositions interpreting and strategizing my work with some key aspects of Luce Irigaray's political thought on Woman. Irigaray's thought on Woman has a strong political and ethical prerogative which is important for a provisionally embodied search for a women's place in politics and language. I rematerialized Irigaray's thought on speaking (as) Woman, mimicry, and disjunctive becoming, as a way of thinking about performing, listening to, and creating music. Irigaray notes that speaking (as) woman is "to loose the signifier from the signified, to escape the fixity of representation by an ever-changing signification." …

Existence And Resistance A Heideggerian Reading Of Foucault's "Ethical Turn", Bill Yanelli

Theses & ETDs

Discussing Michel Foucault's research of the history of ethical systems, this thesis argues for the viability of a properly Foucauldian political ethics�one informed by, but distinct from, the historical examples he studied. Such an ethics would stand in opposition to what Foucault called "domination" (not to be confused with "power"). Domination is an emergent structure of human relations that fortifies itself against any significant change, by: a) inducing participants in the structure to experience it as immutable (what Foucault called "subjectivation"); and b) creating spectacles that direct participants' conduct (what Foucault called "veridiction"). But to formulate an ethical procedure that …

Field Trips And Informal Education An Analysis Of Hands-On Science Curriculum, Christine Mccormick

Theses & ETDs

Students attending public schools in the United States have consistently declined on national and international achievement tests over the past decade (Honda, 2010) . Only by understanding the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, and looking at the shortcomings of science education in the state of Florida, can improvements be made in the future. After reviewing the concept of informal education and how it compares to formal education in terms of concept, content, and effectiveness, a number of Field Trip Units appropriate for students in Kindergarten through eighth grade are presented. These trips address the concerns for …