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Taphonomic Bias Of Selective Silicification Revealed By Paired Petrographic And Insoluble Residue Analysis, Sara B. Pruss, Jonathan L. Payne, Sophie Westacott

Geosciences: Faculty Publications

Silicification is an important mode of fossil preservation but the extent to which silicified material represents an unbiased sampling of the total fossil assemblage within a given rock sample remains poorly quantified. Here, we use paired analyses of thin sections and acid-extracted silicified specimens from the same samples to examine the biases introduced during silicification of Lower Triassic Virgin Limestone carbonates preserved in the Muddy Mountains of southern Nevada. Bivalves dominate most thin sections in the point count data, but rarely silicify completely enough to be recognized in residue. Echinoderms and gastropods are less abundant in thin section but dominate …

For Your Viewing (Dis)Pleasure: Investigating Power, Bodies, And Objectification Through Performance-Based Video Art, Alice E. Johnson

Honors Program Theses

Using my relationship with my own body as a queer, gender non-conforming woman as a lens, the work discussed in this thesis investigates the role of objectification in the sociopolitical and cultural structures that forcibly position womenʼs bodies as sites of control under “white supremacist, capitalist [hetero]patriarchy.” Central to my work are the concepts of the male gaze, the sexual objectification of women, agency, and the pleasure of looking as discussed in feminist film theorist Laura Mulveyʼs classic essay, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” By discussing my process of thinking/making—a circular process in which thinking generates making which generates thinking, …

The Role Of Light In Mnium Cuspidatum Hypersensitive Response Defense Mechanisms To Pythium Irrequlare Pathogen Infection, William Andrew Weldon

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Moss, and all plants in general, are constantly defending themselves against pathogenic infections from viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Defense mechanisms require energy from compounds such as ATP and thus, are driven in part by photosynthesis. However, mosses typically grow in low light areas. Therefore, I investigated the extent of light dependency of the HR defense mechanisms of Mnium cuspidatum in response to infection by the pathogen Pythium irregulare. First, I conducted a field study on the Butler University campus in order to identify the typical light environment for growth of.M. cuspidatum '[vPl]interms of both photometric and infrared/far-infrared light readings. After …

Let's Talk About Sex: Sexual Health And Communication In Romantic Partners Based On Attachment Style, Elizabeth Grace Davis

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Though research has explored the domain of attachment style in regards to romantic relationships and sexual behavior, little has been done to connect the two areas of study. Studies indicate that an individual's attachment style can influence their level of sexual intimacy (Hazan & Shaver, 1987; Feeney & Noller, 1990; Bogaert & Sadava, 2002; Gentzler & Kerns, 2004; Birnbaum et aI., 2006) as well as their sexual health behaviors (Gentzler & Kerns, 2004; Davis et aI., 2006; Butzer & Campbell, 2008). However, the current literature has not examined these findings in light of other variables that influence sexual satisfaction, sexual …

Following The Script: Narratives Of Suspicion In "Terry" Stops In Street Policing, Jeffrey Fagan, Amanda Geller

University of Chicago Law Review

No abstract provided.

Restating Environmental Law, Tracy Hester, Robert V. Percival, Irma S. Russell, Victor Byers Flatt, Joel A. Mintz

Faculty Works

The American Law Institute's work on Restatements is a monumental legal achievement and has helped bring clarity, consistency and guidance to many fields of U.S. law. ALI has not, however, ever undertaken a major project or Restatement on U.S. environmental or natural resource law. This article describes why U.S. environmental law provides a rich area for ALI to tackle, and it answers preliminary objections that ALI is not well suited for this particular challenge or that U.S. environmental law is a poor candidate for a Restatement or a Statement of Principles.

We also describe an informal effort underway by a …

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Competency Iii - Models Of Addiction, Uaa Center For Behavioral Health Research & Servcies

The Arctic FASD Regional Training Center

This PowerPoint was created by the University of Alaska Anchorage Center for Behavioral Health Research & Services’ CDC-funded Arctic FASD Regional Training Center in 2010 and revised in 2013. The content is based primarily on materials and resources available in CDC’s Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Competency-Based Curriculum Development Guide for Medical and Allied Health Education and Practice (2009). This guide was revised in 2015 and is available from www.frfasd.org/Comp_Guide.html. If you are using elements of this PowerPoint in another presentation, please credit the Arctic FASD Regional Training Center and the 2009 Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Competency-Based Curriculum Development Guide for …

Stored Grain Pack Factors For Wheat: Comparison Of Three Methods To Field Measurements, Josephine M. Boac, Rumela Bhadra, Mark E. Casada, Sidney A. Thompson, Aaron P. Turner, Michael D. Montross, Samuel G. Mcneill, Ronaldo G. Maghirang

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Storing grain in bulk storage units results in grain packing from overbearing pressure, which increases grain bulk density and storage unit capacity. This study compared pack factors of hard red winter (HRW) wheat in vertical storage bins using different methods: the existing packing model (WPACKING), the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) method, and the USDA Farm Service Agency Warehouse Licensing and Examination Division (FSA-W) method. Grain bins containing HRW wheat were measured in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Packing was measured in corrugated steel bins and reinforced concrete bins with diameters ranging from 4.6 to 31.9 m (15.0 to 104.6 ft) …

Control System Development And Response Analysis Of An Electronically Actuated Variable-Orifice Nozzle For Agricultural Pesticide Applications, Joe D. Luck, Scott A. Shearer, Michael P. Sama, Santosh K. Pitla

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

The goal of this research project was to further the development of an electromechanically controlled variable-orifice nozzle by creating an electronic control system and then evaluating that system based on step and ramp inputs. The control system was developed in a programming environment that combined an electronic data acquisition system and actuator with pressure and flow sensors. A proportional, variable-gain (based on system pressure) control system was developed to adjust nozzle flow rates to meet target application rates. The constraints were to achieve settling time of less than 1.0 s, overshoot of less than 10% of maximum flow (or minimum …

An Optical Sprayer Nozzle Flow Rate Sensor, Joseph S. Dvorak, Luke E. Bryant

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Ensuring proper flow rates from each nozzle on an agricultural sprayer has become even more important as advances continue to be made in precision application technology. In this article, we describe the structure and testing of a sensor technology based on optical cross-correlation to determine the flow rate of individual sprayer nozzles. An advantage of this technology is that it does not require that impellers or other components be placed in the flow, which could cause plugging. The only moving part in the entire system is a solenoid used to inject a tracer dye. The objective of this study was …

Wavelet Estimators In Nonparametric Regression Model And Simulation Study, Yunzhu He

Dissertations

Nonparametric regression is a fundamental tool in data analysis. Wavelet analysis has been proved to be a powerful statistical technique in the nonparametric regression. Wavelet’s appealing advantages make this approach very popular in a wide range of practical applications in many fields. In this dissertation, we consider the nonparametric regression model with correlated noise by using wavelet methods. One of the main purposes of this dissertation is to perform an extensive simulation study to some wavelet methods for the univariate nonparametric regression model with long- range and short-range dependent noise and to make comparisons to performance of the wavelet approaches. …

Trust In Science And Scientists And The Acceptance Of Evolution, Louis S. Nadelson

Teacher Education and Leadership Faculty Publications

Background: Accepting the concept of evolution is important for the advancement of biological science and has many implications for daily life. However, a large portion of the general public does not currently accept biological evolution. Therefore, it is important to understand what factors are associated with a decline in the acceptance of evolution. Of particular interest for us is the relationship of individuals’ sense of trust in science in relationship to evolution acceptance.

Methods: Using the Trust in Science and Scientists and Inventory of Student Evolution Acceptance we surveyed 159 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Additionally, we …

Productivity And Biological Nitrogen Fixation Of Different Species Of Vetches (Vicia Spp.) Under The Rainfed Conditions Of West Asia, Ali Abd El Moneim, Mohan C. Saxena

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The low rainfall areas of West Asia are characterized by pastoral production system primarily based on small ruminants (sheep and goats). Rangelands serve as the main source of feed. With increasing population, the demand for livestock products has increased. As a consequence, the stocking rates have soared, increasing the pressure on rangelands. Rangeland degradation has therefore been increasing threatening the sustainability of livestock production system and the livelihood of the people dependent on it. Production of additional feed is essential to reduce the pressure on rangelands. Vetches (Vicia spp.) are endemic in the area and can be potential source …

Livestock Production From Grasslands With Improved Management Compared To Traditional Management, Florian Leiber

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The value of traditional versus improved management systems for grassland is discussed. The set target is the persistence of the ecological, economic and social multifunctionality of grasslands and the increase of food output from these areas without increasing parallel requirements for arable crop or energy inputs. Based on the fact that historically traditional systems were stable and sustainable in many cases, while severe damage is faced nowadays, it is argued that lot of improvement should be based on the acknowledgment of successful traditional practises. The challenge might rather be to define improvement as a contemporary development of traditional techniques. The …

Potential Of Forages In Crop Diversification And Crop Rotation, Martin H. Entz, Joanne Thiessen Martens

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Redesign of agricultural systems according to ecological principles has been proposed for the development of sustainable systems. We review a wide variety of ecologically-based crop production practices that focus on forage crops in farming systems and discuss their potential role in enhancing the profitability, environmental sustainability and resilience. Crop-livestock systems that most closely mimic natural systems through appropriate integration of diverse components appear to offer the greatest potential benefits. These systems are more energy efficient and combine high productivity with low ecological footprint. Greater understanding of ecological relationships within crop-livestock systems are required to purposefully and proactively redesign agricultural systems …

Forage Seed Quality: Dormancy, Standards And Quarantine, John G. Hampton

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

There are many dimensions to the concept of seed quality. Viable seed which will not germinate when provided with all the requirements for germination is dormant. Forage grasses mostly exhibit non-deep physiological dormancy (PD), while physical dormancy (PY) is common in forage legumes where imbibition is prevented by the seed coat’s impermeability to water (hard seed). Methods for breaking PD and PY to allow germination testing and/or crop establishment are discussed.

In the seed industry seed quality standards are an important feature of quality assurance and may apply for seed production contracts, seed certification, seed sale and seed importing. Standards …

Quality Seed Production And Effective Marketing Systems For Development Of Grasslands, M. Philip Rolston

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Seed quality is defined as (i) maintaining genetic purity using seed certification principles (generation system; isolation; previous cropping history); (ii) achieving high levels of physical purity (especially low weed seed levels) by in field weed control and seed cleaning; (iii) achieving high levels of seed germination at harvest and maintaining germination through the seed supply chain. Seed production systems must not only produce high quality seed but also achieve economic seed yields. Seed crops have to be profitable (by being high yielding) to justify the investment of time and input costs to achieve quality. This in turn requires supporting research …

Scouting Benefits And Developing Innovations In Temperate Grassland To Sustainable Agriculture Production, Walter Ayala, Ethel Barrios, Ignacio Macedo, Jorge Sawchik, José A. Terra

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Agricultural intensification raises concern about land use and future effects to natural resources. The world demand for grain, meat and forest products is increasing constantly. Changes are occurring at large scale, being a compromise for policy makers to contribute to identify opportunities to readdress the productive scenario. There is available technology to reduce impacts, without restricting necessarily productivity. Grasslands provide a large series of economical and ecological benefits to the agricultural systems, being the literature exhaustive in examples. Ley-farming and cover crops technologies are good examples of environmentally sound soil management practices. The society is also worried about an improper …

Evergraze: A Partnership Between Researchers, Farmers And Advisors To Deliver Effective Grassland Management, Warwick B. Badgery, Kate Sargeant, Michael A. Friend, Scott Glyde, Paul Sanford, Ralph Behrendt, Meredith L. Mitchell, Sean Murphy, Angela Avery

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The profitable and sustainable management of livestock production from grassland systems is challenging and it can be difficult to develop a research structure that addresses farmer’s needs and has acceptable rigour and on-ground impact. This paper describes the attributes of research, development and extension (RD&E) programs that are required for a successful partnership between researchers, farmers and advisors. Insights are provided from the EverGraze program that designed, tested and implemented farming systems based on perennial pastures across southern Australia. With this project farmers and advisors were involved in setting research direction, designing experiments, providing strategic guidance over the management of …

Ecologically And Socially Sustainable Livestock Development In Marginal Areas, Ilse Köhler-Rollefson

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

“Marginal areas” are perceived as difficult and unproductive landscapes, always under the threat of drought, desertification and poverty. Yet, both dryland and high altitude marginal areas have an extraordinary output of livestock products; in the efficiency of producing human-edible protein they far surpass more fertile areas. This productivity under adverse climatic conditions rests on sophisticated strategies and social institutions developed by pastoral communities to deal with variability in the availability of resources. It depends on the use of animal genetic resources that are adapted to make best use of local vegetation and can cope with seasonal variations in availability. Livestock …

Valuing Variability--New Perspectives On Climate Resilient Dryland Development, Saverio Kratli

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Valuing Variability is a challenge to the view of the drylands as naturally vulnerable to food insecurity and poverty. It argues that improving agricultural productivity in dryland environments is possible by working with climatic uncertainty rather than seeking to control it – a view that runs contrary to decades of development practice in arid and semi-arid lands.

Participatory And Holistic Approaches With Grassland Farmers And Development Of Policies, Alain Peeters

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The world is changing rapidly. Grassland farmers and ruminant livestock breeders will have to adapt to these changing environmental, social and economic conditions. Research can help them at the condition that linear ‘top-down’ technology transfer methods are abandoned for the benefit of participatory and holistic approaches. These approaches classified in the generic term of ‘Farming System Research’ consider farmers as real research partners, and they merge farmer’s and scientist’s ideas with those of other stakeholder types. They combine scientist’s and farmer’s knowledge for creating fast innovations, easily adopted by farmers since farmers themselves contribute to their design and their development. …

Sustainable Grasslands: Resolving Management Options For Livelihood And Environmental Benefits, David R. Kemp, Warwick B. Badgery, David L. Michalk

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

To help solve the major issues of improving livelihoods and environmental services, grassland research needs to be evaluated within the context of relevant farm systems. Treatments need to show that they not only have significant effects but that they have effects that are meaningful in the context of the relevant farm system. Research often defines an optimum criterion for management that is a single point, but that is difficult to achieve in practice, especially when there are several components in a grassland system that need to be optimised. It is argued that an appropriate criterion for optimising management is a …

Climate Change Impact And Adaptation In Temperate Grassland And Livestock Industries, Afshin Ghahramani, Andrew D. Moore

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Climate is projected to have negative impact on temperate grassland and livestock productions across the globe. Moderately elevated atmospheric CO₂ in the near future is expected to increase plant photosynthetic rates but this is likely to be limited by soil nitrogen deficits. However, in Australia at least it is unlikely that positive effect of elevated CO₂ on plant production be able to offset the negative impacts of climate change. Currently there is a considerable gap between actual and achievable production and profit in Australian grazing systems and many management and genetic improvements for climate adaptation would operate by …

Climate-Smart Brachiaria For Improving Livestock Production In East Africa: Emerging Opportunities, Sita R. Ghimire, Donald M. G. Njarui, Mupenzi Mutimura, Juan A. Cardoso, Linda Johnson, Elias M. Gichangi, Suliana Teasdale, Kennedy Odokonyero, John Caradus, Idupulapati M. Rao, Appolinaire Djikeng

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Brachiaria grass is an important tropical forage of African origin with desirable attributes of agricultural and environmental significance. Brachiaria has been extensively cultivated as a pasture across the tropics except in its endemic provenance of Africa. In 2013, a collaborative research program was initiated in Kenya and Rwanda with the aim of improving the availability of quality livestock feeds adapted to drought and low fertility soils using Brachiaria. The outcomes sought were increased livestock productivity leading to improved farmer income and the development of seed production opportunities. The program has identified five preferred cultivars, and four of them are currently …

Tropical Grassland Ecosystems And Climate Change, C. R. Babu, Vivek Kr. Choudhary, Vijay Kumar

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasses are unique group of flowering plants that form the foundation for the trophic structure in terrestrial communities. The grasses are found in every conceivable habitat where plants can thrive – from sea to deserts and from wetlands to peaks of highest mountains. The grasses form a distinct biome – a major ecological formation in the global classification of vegetation.

Recent Trends In Breeding Of Tropical Grass And Forage Species, J. S. Sandhu, Dinesh Kumar, Vijay Kumar Yadav, Tejveer Singh, R. P. Sah, Auji Radhakrishna

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Germplasm enrichment in major tropical grasses and their characterization for emerging environmental challenges have been major focussed area in the recent past. Breeding efforts in tropical grasses are still limited to few selected species viz. Panicum spp, Cenchrus spp, Pennisetum spp and Bracharia spp and all other grasses use of land races for varietal development through selection have been major source of improvement. The pace of breeding efforts in the tropical grasses have been slowed because of many inherent characteristics viz. apomixis, poor seed set, high photo and thermo sensitivity often creating problem in designing and implementing an effective breeding …

Sustainability, Biodiversity And Environmental Issues: A Global Perspective For Livestock Production, David L. Michalk

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

To meet world food demand through the 21st century, agricultural production needs to increase, but this needs to be done sustainably through increasing efficiency, optimising sufficiency and achieving consistency, such that resource use is optimised, waste reduced and environmental benefits gained. These strategies need to be developed against changing food patterns, especially a decline in per capita consumption of cereals and an increase in meat consumption as household incomes increase. Grasslands are collectively the larger group of land-based ecosystems on the planet. Their values are not always recognised, often being seen as ‘reserves’ for exploitation for urban expansion, …

Wastelands Of The Mind: The Identity Crisis Of India’S Savanna Grasslands, Abi Tamim Vanak

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The idea that wastelands are unproductive continues to be pervasive and is used by various agencies to gain control over marginal landscapes and remake them for productive purposes with dire results.

Grassland And Livestock Production: The East African Case, David Miano Mwangi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Grasslands cover over 26% of the world land mass and about 80% of the agricultural area. They are the source of a livelihood for about 1 million people in the developing countries. Livestock contributes 40% of the global value of agricultural outputs. Approximately 60% of rural households keep livestock. In East Africa there are a number of grasslands. The most extensive of these are the Acacia based Savanna grasslands. Others include the sudd flooded grasslands of South Sudan and the Miobo woodlands of Tanzania. More than 60% of the livestock and wildlife in this region are found on these grasslands. …