Digital Commons Network^™

From Field To Atlas: Upscaling Of Location-Specific Yield Gap Estimates, Lenny G.J. Van Bussel, Patricio Grassini, Justin Van Wart, Joost Wolf, Lieven Claessens, Haishun Yang, Hendrik Boogaard, Hugo De Groot, Kazuki Saito, Kenneth Cassman, Martin K. Van Ittersum

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Accurate estimation of yield gaps is only possible for locations where high quality local data are available,which are, however, lacking in many regions of the world. The challenge is how yield gap estimates based on location-specific input data can be used to obtain yield gap estimates for larger spatial areas. Hence,insight about the minimum number of locations required to achieve robust estimates of yield gaps at larger spatial scales is essential because data collection at a large number of locations is expensive and time consuming. In this paper we describe an approach that consists of a climate zonation scheme supplemented …

Assessment Of Rice Self-Sufficiency In 2025 In Eight African Countries, P. A.J. Van Oort, K. Saito, E. Amovin-Assagba, Lenny G.J. Van Bussel, Justin Van Wart, Hugo De Groot, Martin K. Van Ittersum, Kenneth Cassman, M. C.S. Wopereis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Most African countries are far from self-sufficient in meeting their rice consumption; in eight countries the production: consumption ratio, ranged from 0.16 to 1.18 in 2012. We show that for the year 2025, with population growth, diet change and yield increase on existing land (intensification), countries cannot become fully self-sufficient in rice. This implies that for the future, a mixture of area expansion and imports will be needed on top of yield gap closure. Further research is needed for identification of most suitable new land for rice area expansion and areas that should be protected.

Fall Seed Guide 2015, Teshome Regassa, P. Stephen Baenziger, Stephen N. Wegulo, Greg Kruger, Dipak K. Santra

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Crops included in this guide are winter wheat, winter barley, and triticale. You may receive this guide in the mail or through the University of Nebraska Extension network. The data and other information this guide is can be found at our web site: http://cropwatch.unl.edu/varietytest/ and http://www.unl.edu/ncia. Additional information is available at the wheat variety virtual tour web site http://cropwatch.unl.edu/wheat/virtual or the winter wheat variety selection tool page http:// citnews.unl.edu/winter_wheat_tool/index.shtml. The last season was hard on Nebraska winter wheat. Emergence was poor in the west due to dry conditions. On the other hand, some plots in the east had to be …

Sparse Coding Based Dense Feature Representation Model For Hyperspectral Image Classification, Ender Oguslu, Guoqing Zhou, Zezhong Zheng, Khan Iftekharuddin, Jiang Li

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

We present a sparse coding based dense feature representation model (a preliminary version of the paper was presented at the SPIE Remote Sensing Conference, Dresden, Germany, 2013) for hyperspectral image (HSI) classification. The proposed method learns a new representation for each pixel in HSI through the following four steps: sub-band construction, dictionary learning, encoding, and feature selection. The new representation usually has a very high dimensionality requiring a large amount of computational resources. We applied the l₁/l_q regularized multiclass logistic regression technique to reduce the size of the new representation. We integrated the method with a linear …

A Comparative Study Of Two Prediction Models For Brain Tumor Progression, Deqi Zhou, Loc Tran, Jihong Wang, Jiang Li, Karen O. Egiazarian (Ed.), Sos S. Agaian (Ed.), Atanas P. Gotchev (Ed.)

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) technique together with traditional T1 or T2 weighted MRI scans supplies rich information sources for brain cancer diagnoses. These images form large-scale, high-dimensional data sets. Due to the fact that significant correlations exist among these images, we assume low-dimensional geometry data structures (manifolds) are embedded in the high-dimensional space. Those manifolds might be hidden from radiologists because it is challenging for human experts to interpret high-dimensional data. Identification of the manifold is a critical step for successfully analyzing multimodal MR images.

We have developed various manifold learning algorithms (Tran et al. 2011; Tran et al. …

Application And Histology-Driven Refinement Of Active Contour Models To Functional Region And Nerve Delineation: Towards A Digital Brainstem Atlas, Nimal Patel, Sharmin Sultana, Tanweer Rashid, Dean Krusienski, Michel A. Audette

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents a methodology for the digital formatting of a printed atlas of the brainstem and the delineation of cranial nerves from this digital atlas. It also describes on-going work on the 3D resampling and refinement of the 2D functional regions and nerve contours. In MRI-based anatomical modeling for neurosurgery planning and simulation, the complexity of the functional anatomy entails a digital atlas approach, rather than less descriptive voxel or surface-based approaches. However, there is an insufficiency of descriptive digital atlases, in particular of the brainstem. Our approach proceeds from a series of numbered, contour-based sketches coinciding with slices …

Spark Discharge Coupled Laser Multicharged Ion Source, Md. Haider A. Shaim, Hani E. Elsayed-Ali

Electrical & Computer Engineering Faculty Publications

A spark discharge is coupled to a laser multicharged ion source to enhance ion generation. The laser plasma triggers a spark discharge with electrodes located in front of the ablated target. For an aluminum target, the spark discharge results in significant enhancement in the generation of multicharged ions along with higher charge states than observed with the laser source alone. When a Nd:YAG laser pulse (wavelength 1064 nm, pulse width 7.4 ns, pulse energy 72 mJ, laser spot area on target 0.0024 cm²) is used, the total multicharged ions detected by a Faraday cup is 1.0 nC with …

A Quantitative Inquiry Into First Generation Students’ Readiness For Distance Education, Sherita Jo Love

Theses and Dissertations

First Generation Students (FGS) enrollment in post-secondary universities and colleges has increased. Many of the First Generation Students also enroll in distance education courses because of the flexibility and conveniences distance education courses provide. But are FGS ready to take distance education courses? Do FGS have the same level of non-cognitive skills and attributes as their Non-First Generation Student counterparts? This quantitative study sought to examine FGS student readiness for distance learning courses. Based on the results, recommendations for Administrators, Faculty and instructional designers were provided.

Missionary Education And The Problem Of Language: The International Missionary Council In Colonial Senegal, 1917-1935, Deborah Leah Lowder

Theses and Dissertations

Between the World Wars, as France refined its colonial structure and control over

Senegal, allowing international missionary networks to develop their own concepts of the

mission civilisatrice. Utilizing the concepts of tutelage and moral education, missionaries

in the International Missionary Council (IMC) defined their role in the French empire as

imperative to the development of African peoples. As self-proclaimed thwarters of the

degradation of the French secular state in Senegal, the IMC used concepts of tutelage and

moral education within the debates surrounding education defined the place of

missionaries within French colonialism in interwar Senegal. Through letters,

publications, and negotiations …

Examining Alcohol Expectancy Differences Between Native American And Caucasian College Students, Elizabeth Luger

Theses and Dissertations

Native American (NA) alcohol use is problematic and concerning. Many of the factors related to general alcohol use are already understood. However, the majority of this research has been conducted using samples primarily consisting of Caucasian (CA) subjects. One factor that is significantly related to and predicts alcohol use among CAs is alcohol expectancy effects, which are beliefs one holds about the expected consequences, positive or negative, of using alcohol. Whether or not these findings are applicable toward understanding alcohol use in NA populations is questionable. Data were collected from 51 NA and 51 CA college students on alcohol use, …

An Improved Method For Estimating Aerosol Optical Thickness From Artificial Light Sources Observed By The Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day/Night Band, Theodore Mitchell Mchardy

Theses and Dissertations

Using Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) data, a method, dubbed the “variance method”, is developed for retrieving nighttime aerosol optical thickness (AOT) values based on the dispersion of radiance values above an artificial light source. An improvement of a previous algorithm, this updated method derives a semi-quantitative indicator of nighttime AOT using artificial light sources. Nighttime AOT retrievals from the newly developed method are inter-compared with an interpolated value from late afternoon and early morning ground observations from four AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) sites as well as column-integrated  from one High Spectral Resolution LiDAR (HSRL) site …

Clustering And Control Of Streaming Synchrophasor Datasets, Anupam Mukherjee

Theses and Dissertations

With the large scale deployment of phasor measurement units (PMU) in the United States, a resonating topic has been the question of how to extract useful “information” or “knowledge” from voluminous data generated by supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), PMUs and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI).

With a sampling rate of 30 to as high as 120 samples per second, the PMU provide a fine-grained monitoring of the power grid with time synchronized measurements of voltage, current, frequency and phase angle. Running the sensors continuously can produce nearly 2,592,000 samples of data every day. This large data need to be …

Survey Of Southern Amazonian Bird Helminths, Kaylyn Patitucci

Theses and Dissertations

Very little is known about the diversity, distribution, and host associations of avian helminths in southern Amazonia. The majority of avian species, families and even orders in the region have not been examined for parasitic worms so far. At the same time, the expected helminth diversity is high, given that Amazonian birds are extremely diverse and their fauna is characterized by a high level of endemism. In this work, we studied helminth fauna of birds from the westernmost region of endemism, Inambari and from the easternmost region, Belém. Two hundred and thirty-four birds belonging to 9 orders were examined for …

Community College Part-Time Faculty's Perceptions During Their Role Transition From Expert Clinician To Clinical Instructor, Rhoda A. Owens

Theses and Dissertations

Community college part-time nursing faculty enter academia as expert clinicians, but most have little or no training in the pedagogy of effective student learning. The purpose of this study was to use qualitative phenomenological methods to explore community college part-time nursing faculty’s perceptions of their experiences during their role transition from nurses in clinical practice to part-time clinical instructors in academia. In addition, this study explored if and how community college part-time nursing faculty developed a professional identity as clinical instructors through their experiences. The research questions were: 1. Through their experiences, how do community college part-time nursing faculty describe …

Syntheses And Characterization Of Bis(Amino)Cyclodiphosphazane Complexes Of Group 4- And -15 Elements, Mathew Etang Otang

Theses and Dissertations

In the first part of this work, the interaction of sodium tert-butoxide and sulfur with Group 4 metal bis(tert-butylamido)cyclodiphosph(III)azanes dichlorides, {[tBuNP)2tBuN)2]MCl2}, where M is Zr or Hf, is reported. The reaction of two equivalents of NaOtBu with {[tBuNP)2tBuN)2]MCl2}, M = Zr, Hf, resulted in the isolation of the first metal alkoxide complexes {[tBuNP)2tBuN)2]M(OtBu)2}, 35 (M =Zr) and 36 (M = Hf) of cyclodiphosphazanes. The oxidation of compounds 35 and 36 with elemental sulfur yielded {[tBuNP=S)2tBuN)2]M(OtBu)2}, 37 (M = Zr) and 38 (M = Hf), respectively. Similarly, the oxidation of {[tBuNP)2tBuN)2]MCl2}, M = Zr, Hf, with elemental sulfur led to the …

Electromagnetic Band Gap Structure Integrated Wearable Monopole Antenna For Spacesuit, Tahmid Rashid

Theses and Dissertations

Research and development of body-worn communication systems and electronics have become very prominent in recent years. Some applications include intelligent garments

equipped with wireless communication devices for sports, astronauts’ spacesuits [1], and fire fighters’ uniforms [2]. These systems are unthinkable without different kinds of body worn textile or flexible antennas. In this thesis, we will discuss the design and fabrication of a compact wearable textile antenna within the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM)

band operating frequency, proposed for incorporation into a flight jacket of the astronaut inside the habitat. The antenna is integrated with artificial material known as Electromagnetic Band …

Characterization Of Dopamine Transporter Palmitoylation, Danielle Elizabeth Rastedt

Theses and Dissertations

The dopamine transporter (DAT) is an integral membrane protein that mediates the reuptake of synaptic dopamine and thus regulates the spatio-temporal dynamics of dopaminergic neurotransmission. DAT is also the target of powerful addictive psychostimulants, including cocaine and methamphetamine that resulted in dysregulation of dopaminergic signaling. Complex control of DAT is exerted by various regulatory processes, including posttranslational modifications. We previously found that DAT is palmitoylated via the addition of a 16-carbon palmitic acid moiety to Cys 580. Pharmacological and mutagenic studies determined that depalmitoylation conditions led to reductions in Vmax and transporter levels, suggesting palmitoylation controls one or more functions …

Testing The Effect Of Microagressions, Cultural Identity, And Gender On Learning For Northern Plains American Indian College Students, Wanmdiwi Jessi Rose

Theses and Dissertations

Historically the absence of American Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) students in large scale data sets has made it extremely difficult to adequately describe the growing educational crisis facing AI/AN students (Faircloth, Tippeconnic, John W., I.,II, & University of California, Los Angeles, Civil Rights Project/Proyecto,Derechos Civiles, 2010). The purpose of this study was to address the effect microaggressions, cultural identity, and gender has on learning in a sample of Northern Plains AI college students. AI students attending a predominantly white postsecondary institution were randomly assigned to one of two experimental groups (EMVV, EMSS) or one of two control groups (CVS, …

Dopamine Transporter Phosphorylation, Palmitoylation And Membrane Localization And Mobility In Health And Disease, Madhur Shetty

Theses and Dissertations

The dopaminergic system is a regulatory system of the brain controlling various motor, cognitive and behavioral activities. Neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) plays an important role in modulating brain circuits controlling functions of this system with dopamine transporter (DAT) maintaining its homeostasis. Abnormalities in this homeostasis and/or nucleotide polymorphisms in the DAT structure leads to its association with a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) being one of them.

Disrupting the normal function of DAT, many psychostimulants such as amphetamine (AMPH) upon being transported via DAT into the pre-synaptic neuron alters DAT properties triggering N-terminal DAT …

3-D Geocellular Model Of The Duperow Formation In Southwestern North Dakota, Kyle D. Shurtliff

Theses and Dissertations

The Duperow Formation of southwestern North Dakota is Devonian in age, and forms the lower part of the Jefferson Group within the Kaskaskia Sequence. This shallow marine shelf deposit is a cyclical carbonate evaporite, and is comprised of dolomitic mudstones, gypsum, multiple bioclastic wackestones/packstones, stromatoporoid boundstone and anhydrite.

There is a long history of oil production in this formation dating back to the 1950’s in North Dakota. By 1989, the Duperow Formation was the second most prolific hydrocarbon producer on the Billings Anticline in North Dakota, and therefore was studied extensively. Environmental factors during deposition as well as diagenetic processes …

Investigating Flipped Learning: Post-Secondary Student Self-Regulated Learning, Perceptions, And Achievement, Sarah Rae Sletten

Theses and Dissertations

The flipped classroom is a current educational model that is gaining popularity at the post-secondary level. In a flipped classroom, content (i.e., lectures), which is normally delivered in-class, is assigned as homework in the form of video lectures, and assignments that were traditionally assigned as homework, are done as learning activities in class. It was hypothesized that the effectiveness of the flipped model hinges on a student’s desire and ability to adopt a self-directed learning style. The purpose of this study was two-fold; it aimed examining the relationship between two variables—students’ perceptions of the flipped model and their SRL behaviors—and …

Critical Evaluations Of Modis And Misr Satellite Aerosol Products For Aerosol Modeling Applications, Yingxi Shi

Theses and Dissertations

The study of uncertainties in satellite aerosol products is essential to aerosol

data assimilation and modeling efforts. In this study, with the assistance of ground- based observations, uncertainties in Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) collection 5 Deep Blue (DB), Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) version 22 aerosol products, and the newly released collection 6 Dark Target over-ocean and DB products were evaluated. For each product, systematic biases were analyzed against observing conditions. Empirical correction procedures and data filtering steps were generated to develop noise and bias reduced DA-quality aerosol products for modeling related applications.

Special attention was also directed at the …

Role Of Lectins Receptors In Development Of Sepsis During Pulmonary Bacterial Infection, Anthony Lee Steichen

Theses and Dissertations

A major focus of my work has been to understand the mechanism/s of sepsis development during respiratory bacterial infections with the goal of identifying novel alarmins/alarmin receptors. Specifically, I have analyzed the role of C-type lectins as novel alarmin/alarmin receptors likely involved in the development of sepsis resulting from acute pulmonary infection with Gram negative bacteria Francisella novicida and Klebsiella pneumonia (Kpn). In that regard, the first project was built upon a previous observation, made by Dr. Sharma, that two soluble lectins galectin-3 and -9 were upregulated and released in extracellular milieu in lungs of mice upon pulmonary infection with …

A Real Time Radio Spectrum Scanning Technique Based On The Bayesian Model And Its Comparison With The Frequentist Technique, Sriram Subramaniam

Theses and Dissertations

The proliferation of mobile devices led to an exponential demand for wireless radio spectrum resources. The current fixed spectrum assignment has caused some portions of the radio spectrum to be heavily used whereas others to be scarcely used. This has resulted in underutilization of spectrum resources, and, hence has demanded the need for solutions to address the spectrum scarcity problem. Cognitive radio was proposed as one of the solutions. One of the techniques involved in cognitive radio is the dynamic spectrum access technique. This technique requires the identification of free channels in order to allow secondary users to exploit the …

The Unique N- And C-Terminal Domains Of Metallothionein-3 Influence The Growth And Differentiation Of Breast Cancer Cells, Brent Jeffrey Voels

Theses and Dissertations

Toxic insult from the heavy metal cadmium is known to induce the expression of metallothioneins (MT) which are cysteine-rich heavy metal binding proteins six to seven kilodaltons in size. Previous research demonstrates that over-expression of MT-3 occurs in the majority of breast cancers and is associated with poor patient outcome. Furthermore, MT-3 has been shown to inhibit the growth of breast cancer and prostate cancer cell lines. Studies have shown that the MT-3 protein contains 7 additional amino acids that are not present in any other member of the MT gene family, a 6 amino acid C-terminal sequence and a …

Characterization Of Kraft Alkali Lignin And Products Of Its Thermal Degradation By Fractional Pyrolysis Methods, Keith Michael Voeller

Theses and Dissertations

At present, methods addressing the characterization of lignin and its decomposition products are limited. Typical approaches reported various spectroscopic, chromatographic and thermal methods. None of the methods is ideal for different reasons. In this study, a novel thermal carbon analysis (TCA) was developed providing essential mass balance data complementary to liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) prior to separation and identification by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as well as thermal desorption-pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-Py-GC-MS) to fully characterize lignin and its degradation products from hydrothermal treatment in subcritical water conditions.

The TCA method enabled a quantitative thermal evolution profile through TD and …

Examining Openness To Pedagogical Change Among Secondary Mathematics Teachers: Developing And Testing A Structural Model, Cathy J. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Widespread adoption of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (NGA & CCSSO, 2010) and other career and college readiness standards have prompted changes in the pedagogical practices of secondary mathematics teachers in the United States. The purpose of this study was to examine factors contributing to a math teacher’s willingness to alter pedagogical approaches. Key to the research was development of an instrument for measuring openness to change. The survey tool was created based on constructs drawn from the literature and was emailed to secondary mathematics teachers in the United States

(N = 571). The instrument consisted of 65 …

Stem Education For Girls Of Color, Kam Hung Yee

Theses and Dissertations

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields struggle to increase recruitment and retention of girls of color. The dominant framework in STEM education is the pipeline which assumes girls in general lack motivation and interest to persist in STEM fields. Recent public discourse shifts to address institutionalized discrimination and systemic barriers in STEM culture that filter out underrepresented populations.

Informal education or complementary learning STEM programs offer alternative opportunities for students to explore outside of rigid school academic and social systems. Few articles look specifically at STEM complementary learning programs, and even fewer focus on the effects on girls of …

Real Time Mission Planning, Emad William Saad, Stefan Richard Bieniawski, Riley Pigg, Paul Edward, John Lyle Vian, Paul Michael Robinette, Donald C. Wunsch

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The different advantageous embodiments provide a system comprising a number of computers, a graphical user interface, first program code stored on the computer, and second program code stored on the computer. The graphical user interface is executed by a computer in the number of computers. The computer is configured to run the first program code to define a mission using a number of mission elements. The computer is configured to run the second program code to generate instructions for a number of assets to execute the mission and monitor the number of assets during execution of the mission.

On Bargaining For Development, Timothy M. Mulvaney

Faculty Scholarship

In his recent article, Bargaining for Development Post-Koontz, Professor Sean Nolon concludes that the Supreme Court’s recent ill-defined expansion of the circumstances in which land use permit conditions might give rise to takings liability in Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Management District will chill the state’s willingness to communicate with permit applicants about mitigation measures. He sets out five courses that government entities might take in this confusing and chilling post-Koontz world, each of which leaves something to be desired from the perspective of both developers and the public more generally.

This responsive essay proceeds in two parts. First, …