Digital Commons Network^™

Code Girl, Amanda Holl

Computer Science and Engineering Master's Theses

Despite the growing importance of technology and computing, fewer than one percent of women in college today choose to major in computer science. Educational programs and games created to interest girls in computing, such as Girls Who Code and Made With Code, have been successful in engaging girls with interactive and creative learning environments, but they are too advanced for young girls to benefit from. To address the lack of educational, computer science games designed specifically for young girls, we developed a web-based application called Code Girl for girls age five to eight to customize their own avatars using Blockly, …

Nebraska Libraries - Volume 4, Number 3 (August 2016)

Nebraska Libraries

Editor's letter -- Willa Bitney-Garay

Student spotlights -- Rachel Kenny, Dana Still, and Kristine Woods

La Vista Public Library & Sarpy Center: Serving students and the community -- Rose Barcal

Arbor Day 2016 — Morton-James on Main: Transforming Nebraska City's library for a day -- Tom Boeche and Denise Davis

Technical Services Round Table: Technical services competencies and library science education -- Emily Dust Nimsakont

The Knee Bone's connected to the ...: Educational games from the National Library of Medicine -- Christian Minter

The Lagging State Of Renewable Energy In Kentucky, John Evans

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

It is evident that Kentucky's energy landscape is characterized primarily by coal and, to a lesser degree, natural gas and oil. It seems there's almost no room for renewable energy sources in Kentucky’s energy sector despite plentiful evidence of global climate change caused largely by carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels. Other states are paving the way in the renewable energy industry by investing in solar, wind and geothermal energy among other forms while Kentucky continues to sit back seemingly content with utilizing energy practices that are several decades old. In this project, I will be addressing reasons for the …

Maternal Sleep Loss During Fetal Development Alters Offspring Endocrine Responses To Stress Throughout Life, Audrey Brown

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis releases glucocorticoids, including corticosterone (CORT), in response to stress. CORT then negatively feeds back to inhibit its own production by binding to glucocorticoid receptors (GRs) in the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. The HPA axis is subject to “programming” by abnormal stimuli during early development, which may permanently alter how the HPA axis responds to stress. These altered responses have been linked to an increased risk for human psychiatric and metabolic disorders in later life, but the mechanism by which this happens is not fully understood. This study tests the hypothesis that changes to GR expression patterns …

Case Study On The Galapagos Islands: Balance For Biodiversity & Migration, Cesar E. Neira

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

In this comment, the author will examine the Special Organic Law of the Galapagos. To better understand the impacts of the law, the comment will examine some of the more notable provisions of the 1998 version, and a few of the amended changes in 2015. Throughout this comment, themes such as migration and preserving biodiversity will be discussed. As we will see, this notion of balancing human needs and ecosystem in the islands is not always straight-forward.

Trouble In Paradise: Maintaining The Eu Ideal For Environmental Policy In Eestern Europe, Amanda L. Harb

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

Ten Central and Eastern European nations have joined the EU in the last decade. The conditions for joining the EU are scrupulous and expansive, covering everything from: election rules, food product labels, and battery disposal. CEE states who are newly inducted into the EU are currently striving to successfully implement the complete extent of collected EU law. Eastern Europe has long lagged behind the west in environmental policy. Extreme industrialization and widespread deregulation over the last century produced many areas with environmental degradation. The idea is that by adopting European environmental policy, Eastern European states can cash in on European …

Too Many Humans, Dwindling Resources, And Not Enough Space, Jorge T. Martinez

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This paper will address the often-overlooked subject of human overpopulation and examine the role it plays in the environmental health of our planet. Part I will define overpopulation and how it is determined, as well as briefly examine animal overpopulations and their effects on the environment. Part II will turn to human population trends, the carrying capacity of humans on earth, and the environmental consequences of human overpopulation. The environmental issues currently faced in China, India, Africa, and other densely populated areas will be explored. Part III will analyze some of the legal solutions that have been implemented to curb …

Equal Protection For Animals, Pat Andriola

Environmental and Earth Law Journal (EELJ)

This paper presents a simple argument: through a Dworkinian moral reading of the Constitution, nonhuman animals fall under the Supreme Court’s equal protection doctrinal framework for suspect classification. Therefore, nonhuman animals are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment. The moral principle underlying equal protection is the ensuring of government’s empathetic and equitable treatment toward not just subgroups of humans (which have been judicially delineated by social constructs of race, gender, sexuality, and other defining characteristics), but toward all sentient beings who may become victim to the “tyranny of the majority.

Natural Establishment Of Earthworms On Reclaimed Lignite Mine Soils, Lacey Russell, Kenneth Farrish, Jerry Leon Young, George Damoff, Brian Oswald

Student Publications

This two-year field study surveyed earthworm community characteristics on a chronosequence under afforested pine and hardwood lignite mine soils at the Beckville and Oak Hill lignite coal mines in east Texas. The following were used as indicators of earthworm community characteristics: reclamation type, forest cover type, age since reclamation and physical and chemical soil properties. The Beckville mine was sampled from February 2012 through March 2013; the Oak Hill mine was sampled from April 2013 through March 2014. The study was a 2x2x3 factorial design with reclamation type (mixed overburden vs. haul back), cover-type ((pine plantation (pp) and mixed pine …

Human Computer Interaction And Data Visualization, Olivia Hsieh

Pop Culture Intersections

In 2013, SINTEF cited that 90% of the world’s data had been created over the past two years.1 With the onset of Big Data, the ability to analyze data at a rate directly proportional to its collection becomes quite near impossible, albeit nonetheless important. In “Play With Data – An Exploration of Play Analytics and Its Effect on Player Experiences,” Ben Medler explains its pertinence: “Data can be given a different context through relating it to other data. A relation informs someone of how data can be correlated or combined with other data.”

Investment Appraisal Of Automatic Milking And Conventional Milking Technologies In A Pasture-Based Dairy System, John Shortall, Laurence Shalloo, Cathriona Foley, Roy D. Sleator, Bernadette O'Brien

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The successful integration of automatic milking (AM) systems and grazing has resulted in AM becoming a feasible alternative to conventional milking (CM) in pasture-based systems. The objective of this study was to identify the profitability of AM in a pasture-based system, relative to CM herringbone parlors with 2 different levels of automation, across 2 farm sizes, over a 10-yr period following initial investment. The scenarios which were evaluated were (1) a medium farm milking 70 cows twice daily, with 1 AM unit, a 12-unit CM medium-specification (MS) parlor and a 12-unit CM high-specification (HS) parlor, and (2) a large farm …

Claims, Evidence And Reasoning: A Framework For Evidence-Based Writing On The Subject Of Evolution, Tami Lynn Limberg

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this qualitative research was to explore how students presented reasoned arguments supported by evidence and reasoning after receiving constructivist-based instruction. The author documents the details of the results and uses related research literature to construct meaning and validate constructivist pedagogy and the evidencebased writing instruction. The progress of twenty students’ ability to write a claim, give specific evidence and reasoning was followed throughout the investigation. Three themes emerged from this investigation: students showed a steady trend of intellectual growth over time, students benefitted when they constructed their own learning, and students struggled with written reasoning and connecting …

Industrial Ecology Analysis Of The Potential For An Eastern Nebraska Industrial Symbiosis Network (Enisn): A Comparative Study, Bradley A. Behne

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The area of Eastern Nebraska north of Omaha, including the municipality of Blair is host to a collection of unique companies and industries. These industries, driven by the agricultural and urban economy of the area, as well as the geographic proximity to each other, make it an advantageous area to study the potential for a network where individual entities utilize the concept of industrial symbiosis. This potential network is referred to as the Eastern Nebraska Industrial Symbiosis Network (ENISN). Industrial symbiosis, a sub-set of industrial ecology, engages separate industries in a collaborative and collective approach, concerning itself with the flow …

Physical Separation From The Mate Diminishes Male’S Attentiveness Towards Other Females: A Study In Monogamous Prairie Voles Microtus Ochrogaster, Christine J. Delevan, Natalia A. Rodriguez, Karine M. Legzim, Fayeza Aliou, Jamie T. Parker, Maryam Bashad

Publications and Research

We tested whether continuous cohabitation in monogamous voles affects the mated male’s attentiveness to his breeding partner versus another female. Each male was housed in a 3-chamber apparatus with a Focal female (FF) and a Control female (CF) for 13 days then placed in a T-maze to assess his attentiveness to and memory of those females. The Distal male remained physically separated from both females, but received their distal cues. The Separate male cohabited with the FF for 3 days then remained physically separated from both females. The Disrupt male’s continuous cohabitation with the FF was disrupted by having him …

Full Issue, Children's Book Review

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Cat Dreams, Laurien Clay

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Life In A Coral Reef, Meriam Bates

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Children's Book Review

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Creature Abc, Megan Harris

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

A Wild Father's Day, Meriam Bates

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Development Of An Alpaca Disc Culture System For The Study Of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration (Idd), Loyd Christensen, Laura C. Bridgewater, Dean K. Stolworthy, R. Amy Fullwood, Jacob G. Holland, Todd F. Robinson, Anton E. Bowden

Biomedical Engineering Western Regional Conference

No abstract provided.

Alpaca Cervical Spine Anatomy, Shape, Size, Af/Np-Ratio, Rebecca A. Fullwood

Biomedical Engineering Western Regional Conference

No abstract provided.

Three-Dimensional Rapid Prototyping Of Vascular Substitutes For Medical Applications, Brent Young

Biomedical Engineering Western Regional Conference

No abstract provided.

Imaging The Inferior Surface Of Synthetic And Excised Vibrating Vocal Folds, Kimberly A. Stevens

Biomedical Engineering Western Regional Conference

No abstract provided.

Animal Model Of Intervertebral Disc Regeneration: Camelids, Dean K. Stolworthy, Tyler M. Merrell, Tyler J. Bleazzard, Anton E. Bowden

Biomedical Engineering Western Regional Conference

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Children's Book Review

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Down, Down, Down: A Journey To The Bottom Of The Sea, Ruth-Anne Brown

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Arctic Foxes, Meriam Bates

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Babe, The Sheep-Pig, Rebeca Wallin

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Children's Book Review

Children's Book and Media Review

No abstract provided.