Digital Commons Network^™

Living Heritage, Resilience And Ethically Informed Infrastructures In Malawi, Martha B. Lerski, Frank Puluputu Mwale

Publications and Research

Rooted in a rural community’s needs, this paper explores how historically, and ethically informed infrastructures can support community engagement towards identification, documentation, and dissemination of local, traditional, and indigenous knowledge relating to climate change. The paper examines climate adaptation and sustainability issues through the lenses of community organizing and Library & Information Science best practices. It draws on a growing body of literature identifying a role for expanded epistemological and subject discipline perspectives. While the impacts of climate on material culture are increasingly recognized, intangible, and biocultural heritage have not received as much attention. Living heritage traditions and knowledge systems …

Political Agroecology In Syracuse: Local Understandings, Possibilities, And Barriers To Food System Transformation, Cooper Olds

Theses - ALL

In recent years, agroecology has begun to receive increasing attention from international institutions such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO). For some, this is seen as a valuable case of up-scaling agroecology which will lead to greater institutional support for the framework. However, critical agroecologists have raised concerns that such institutional adoption is rather a form of co-optation where the social and political elements of agroecology are omitted to facilitate the integration of the framework into a wider program of food system reform. As a result, there is ongoing contestation over the framework between these co-opted …

Chemical And Physical Characterization Of Verbenaceae Essential Oils Using Modern Analytical Methods And Chemometrics, Aleksandra N. Hilliard

Master's Theses

Essential oils have been used for generations to treat various health issues, including mitigating insomnia, reducing stress, inflammation, and preserving foods, to mention a few. Essential oils have complex chemistry, which defines the essence of the host plant. Recently, increased commercial uses of essential oils have prompted attention at the governmental level to monitor the chemical, physical, or biological activity of essential oils. This study is an attempt to add new information for consumers to the understanding of the composition of essential oils.

Modern analytical techniques including FTIR-ATR, GC-MS, LC-MS-MS, multivariate analysis statistics, and physio-chemical techniques (electrochemistry, DPPH, TRC, and …

Consumers' Choice Models For Food And Beverage Businesses, Haoran Yu

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation comprises two essays to investigate how consumers make purchase choices under product quality variation and macroeconomic volatility. The analysis employs both analytical modeling and empirical methods to help businesses and policymakers in their efforts to foster sustainable and resilient agriculture and food supply chains. In this first essay, we focus on food retailers who have to deal with imperfect produce. We define imperfect produce as produce with cosmetic imperfections but perfect nutritious quality. We develop consumer choice models and consider three common retailing strategies to manage imperfect produce: Discarding, bunching with perfect produce, and differentiating imperfect produce from …

The Accessibility Of Traditional Medicinal Food By Thais In Syracuse, New York, Siwapon Chotikasatein

Theses - ALL

Access to traditional medicinal food can be a challenge for immigrants and refugee populations. This study looks at how and where Thai immigrants and refugees in Syracuse, New York access Thai medicinal food and the challenges if any, that they have when attempting to access Thai medicinal food. Although the definition of traditional medicinal food is not strongly established, in this study I proposed that traditional medicinal food refers to food shaped by the sum total of knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and experiences indigenous to different cultures, can relieve hunger once consumed and, at the …

Preliminary Assessment Of Hematopoietic Cell Kinase Gene Expression In Wistar Rats Fed Sampea-11 And Sampea 20t Diets, Stephen Dio Titus, Salisu Muhammed, Priscila Benjamin, Achilus Francis, Samuel Gadzama Ishaya, Christian Nelson, Kennedy Banja Samuel, Shuaibu M. Bala

Polytechnic Journal

Dietary factors play a crucial role in modulating immune responses, including inflammatory processes. This study investigates the expression of the hematopoietic cell kinase (HCK) gene in Wistar rats fed exclusively with two novel cowpea cultivars, SAMPEA-11 and SAMPEA 20T, to evaluate their potential immunomodulatory effects. The experiment employed a randomized controlled design with six Wistar rats divided into three groups: SAMPEA-11, SAMPEA 20T, and a control group fed a standard diet. Gene expression analysis was performed using real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR), with GAPDH serving as the reference gene for normalization. The results demonstrated significant upregulation of HCK gene expression in …

Cultivating Post-Soviet Gardens: Seed Saving And The Household Plot In Rural Tajikistan, Katherine Macdonald

Dissertations - ALL

Over the last five years, local NGOs across Tajikistan have established community-based seed banks to support households cultivating agrobiodiverse kitchen gardens. While social movements to preserve local crop varieties are well-documented in other rural contexts, they are new to Central Asia and had gone without study. This dissertation brings together insights from political ecology, feminist political economy, and critical agrarian studies to explore how and why this effort emerged and what rural women’s participation in it signals about life-making in Tajikistan’s post-Soviet countryside. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork and document analysis, I argue that community-based seed banks are a response to …

Impact Of Oceanographic Gradients And Marine Heatwaves On The Picophytoplankton Community In The Northern California Current System, Kristin E. Forgrave, Carey P. Sweeney, Melissa Steinman, Anvita U. Kerkar, Timothy M. Pettit, Anne W. Thompson

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Northern California Current (NCC) system is a productive coastal ecosystem with a mosaic of temporal and spatial features. The phytoplankton community plays a crucial role in supporting the rich ecosystem and economically important fisheries of the NCC. Our study integrates data across two years (2022-2023) and multiple transects to investigate the community composition of two major phytoplankton groups in the NCC: picocyanobacteria and photosynthetic picoeukaryotes (PPE). The abundances and cell sizes of the phytoplankton were measured using flow cytometry. We found PPE present at similar concentrations in both summer and winter, while picocyanobacteria were much more abundant in the …

First Opinion: A River Of Dust: The Life-Giving Link Between North Africa And The Amazon, Kennedy Morrison, Tatum Ward

First Opinions, Second Reactions

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Breakfast On A Resistance Training Session And Response In Female Collegiate Athletes, Haley Roberts, Yvette Figueroa, Jennifer Bunn, Patrick Davis

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 18(6): 591-609, 2025. Breakfast consumption has been shown to be an essential component to a healthy lifestyle in various populations, yet research in this area is limited among female athletes. This study aimed to examine the effect of breakfast consumption on collegiate female athletes during a resistance training session and their nutritional habits throughout the remainder of the day. Twenty-three female collegiate Division I athletes (basketball, volleyball, bowling, and soccer) during the offseason participated in this cross-over study. The study included three visits: baseline measures for heart rate (HR), blood glucose (BG), salivary cortisol (SC), …

Empowering Local Communities For Global Impact: Bridging Leadership And Action For Food Systems Transformation, Jeremiah Rogito

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

Empowering local communities is essential for transforming food systems. This approach focuses on strengthening leadership, promoting sustainable agricultural practices, and creating solutions that address both local and global challenges. By facilitating collaboration and innovation, local action can contribute to global food security, climate adaptation, and sustainable development goals.

Vicarious Traumatization – The Potential Achille’S Heel Of Critical Incident Stress Management Responders: The Importance Of Spiritual Well-Being, Resilience, And Basic Psychological Needs, Harvey O. Burnett Jr

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

This study examined the importance of spiritual well-being, hope, Psychological Body Armor TM (PBA), and basic psychological needs in predicting low vicarious traumatization among trained Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) responders. Results showed that spiritual well-being, PBA, and autonomy were significant predictors of lower vicarious trauma.

Enhancing Social Sustainability In Parcel Hubs Using Discrete Event Simulation And Multi-Objective Optimization, Harald Steinkellner, Domenik Kaever, Christoph Rockenschaub

International Material Handling Research Colloquium

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Faith-Based Health Interventions In Managing Mental Health Among Seventh-Day Adventist Youth, Oloo Stephen Nyanjwa Jr

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

Participants reported moderate levels of anxiety, depression, and stress, with excessive worry and difficulty concentrating being prominent. Faith-based practices were frequently used and viewed as effective for mental well-being. While comfort in seeking church-based support was moderate, professional help-seeking was low. Most participants were recent members, reflecting shifting church demographics.

Impact Of Climate Change On Students: A Case Study, Florence Zimunya, Constance Chifamba, Elisha Chembwa

Adventist Human-Subject Researchers Association

Climate change poses fundamental threats to humans, especially students. The researchers carried out a descriptive Qualitative case study with 34 participants. Findings indicate that climate change has a host of negative impacts on students. The study recommends adequate disaster preparedness in schools and communities to ensure they develop coping strategies.

The Growth Of White Clover (Trifolium Repens L.) In Field Swards In Wales. A Review., D Wilman

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The purpose of the paper is to review some studies of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) growth in field swards in Wales, which were supervised by the author in the period 1976-88. White clover is a valuable species, from the point of view of both nitrogen fixation and animal nutrition, but it is used successfully on only a small proportion of farms in the United Kingdom. Studies such as those reviewed should contribute to greater success in white clover use.

Evaluation Of Mixed Pastures Including Trifolium Pratense Under Grazing, L A. Romero

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The feeding system for milk and beef production in the Cen­tral Region of Santa Fe province (Argentine) is based on semi­permanent and seasonal pastures along with conserved forage. Generally, legumes and grasses mixtures are used, the more usual species being lucerne (Medicago sativa), red clover (Tri­folium pratense), prairie grass (Bromus catharticus), and also chicory (Cichorium intibus). These mixtures produce high amount of dry matter (DM) with a high nutritive value and an useful life span of three to five years. The objective of this research was to evaluate three mixed pastures with red clover …

Regrowth Of The Components Of Two Legume/Grass Associations Following Grazing On Acid Soils Of The Eastern Plains Of Colombia, J Fischer, D Thomas

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The low nutritive status of the neotropical savannas may be improved by using a forage legume, either to supplement the savanna, or as a component of a grass-legume pasture to replace it. The two stoloniferous legumes Arachis pintoi and Desmodium ovalifolium form promising associations with various species of Brachiaria (Grof, 1985; Thomas and Grof, 1986), but there are very few data on their reaction to grazing. The relation between growth rate and the amount of leaf material is central to understanding how systems of grazing management influence plant relations. Because the palatability of the two legumes above differ, under contrasting …

Effect Of Regrowth Interval Upon Canopy Structure And Utilization Of Aeschynomene-Limpograss Pastures, J E. Moore, L E. Sollenberger, K A. Albrecht, P T. Beede, W F. Brown

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

During mid-summer through early autumn, limpograss ( Hemarthria altissima) herbage may have crude protein con­centration below 7 %, and performance of growing cattle on limpograss pasture is often low (Sollenberger et al., 1988). Overseeding with Aeschynomene americana may improve for­ age intake and nutritive value. Deferred grazing of an aeschynomene-limpograss association has potential to provide high-quality forage into mid-autumn. Because grass and legume do not have similar growth rates, changes in canopy structure may occur during late season which influence forage utilization by grazing cattle. The objective was to compare plant canopy characteristics to diet composition and ingestive behavior of …

Effects Of Variation In Seasonal Grazing Pressure And Mechanisms Of Adaptation To Grazing In Lotononis Bainesii, H Fujita, L R. Humphreys

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Lotononis bainesii is valued for its ready acceptance by stock, high nutritive value and cold tolerance, but its utility has been limited by the inexplicably high year to year variation in its contribution to the farm feed supply. Pott et al. (1983) showed that lotononis is short-lived; the persistence of yield depends more upon seedling regeneration than upon vegetative replace­ment through nodal rooting. No continuous fixed stocking regime from 7 to 28 sheep ha-1 favoured lotononis (Poot and Humphreys, 1983), and this paper discusses the effects of vari­ations in seasonal stocking rate and of factors influencing the development of a …

Dynamics Of A Tropical Grass-Legume Sward In The Subtropics And Its Effect On Animal Performance, M J. Williams, A C. Hammond, W T. Butts, W E. Kunkle

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Rhizoma perennial peanut ( Arachis glabrata Benth.) is a for­age legume species adapted to the well-drained soils of subtropical United States (Prine et al., 1981). Management studies with perennial peanut have concentrated on hay pro­duction and animal performance based on pure stands (Prine, 1981 ; Sollenberger et al., 1987). Mixtures of perennial peanuts and various tropical grasses have performed well in small plot studies, but the interrelationship of grass and perennial peanuts under grazing and the consequence this relationship has on stand productivity and animal performance has not been investigated. The summer grazing phase of a backgrounding systems trial, which …

Hay Quality And Marketing Improved With Wyoming Hay Evaluation And Listing Service, A M. Gray

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Hay production in the United States of America (US) is about 140 million metric tons/year. In 1987 most US hay producers had fewer marketing opportunities because of surplus production and lower demand due to a continuing national decline in livestock numbers. In Wyoming, marketing hay on the basis of forage quality is becoming critical for the economic survival of many hay­growers, particularly in years of low demand for hay. Demand for high quality hay by specialty markets (dairy and horse hay) is greater than supply throughout the US. However, buyers for such markets insist that quality hay is difficult to …

Effects Of Ammoniation Of Rice Straw On Its Feeding Value For Lambs, J Q. Ferreira, R Garcia

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Great quantities of crop residues are produced in Brazil at harvest time. The production of rice straw reachs approxi­mately ten million of tons each year and very small quantity is used for animal feeding. The interest on utilization of rice straw increased in the last years mainly due to possibility of ammonia use for improvement of nutritive value of crop residues (Sund­stol el al., 1978 ; Saenger el al., 1983 ; Herrera-Saldana el al., 1982; Streeter and Horn, 1984; Grotheer el al., 1986; Horton and Steacy, 1979). The objective of this study was to measure the effect to ammoniation on …

Effect Of Ammonia Level, Time Of Exposure To Ammonia And Period Of Storage On Chemical Composition And Digestibility Of Two Tropical Grasses Hay, R A. Reis, R Garcia

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The production of good quality hay in Central Brazil has been limited by the nature of cultivated species and constant presence of rainfalls. However, at the end of summer and part of fall seasons the environmental conditions are adequate for hay making but the forages show lower nutritive value. An alternative to improve the quality of tropical grasses hay would be the use of ammonia. Several studies (Buettner et al., 1982; Grotheer et al., 1986; Brown et al., 1987; Moore and Lechtenberg, 1987), showed decreases in NDF and hemicellulose on forages treated with ammonia. The influence of levels of ammonia …

Haymaking From Tropical Grasses, J L. Costa, J A. Gomide

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Haymaking from pasture growth surplus is an alternative way to provide winter feeding to cattle. Some interest has recently been developed toward making hay from tropical grasses in their vegetative stage. The main hazard with this approach being the occurence of likely rains during field dry­ing. This can be helped by shortening drying time through the use of appropriate harvester (Savoie et al., 1982) as well as selection fo species with higher drying rate (Morris, 1972; Per­son and Sorenson, 1970).

Hayval : A Microcomputer Program For Evlauting The Winter Feeding Needs Of Beef, Sheep, And Horses, D B. Hannaway, S A. Dahl, P J. Ballerstedt, P E. Shuler, W Rogers, F Shafabakhsh, J Smith, M Lawyer

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

HA YV AL is a microcomputer programm which was developed to teach concepts of hay quality and animal nutrition. HA YV AL answers the question, 'Will the hay I have available meet the nutritional needs of the animals I am feed­ing ?'. It does so by using an interactive teaching technique ; asking questions about the animals and the hay being fed.

Increasing The Contribution Of Grass Silage For Milk Production, C Thomas, A Reeve

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The conservation of grass as silage rather than hay has become increasingly popular in Northern Europe. The increase in silage making has been associated with the increased intensi­fication of animal production and improvements in our knowl­edge of the fermentation process. Despite the ability to produce grass silages with consistently high metabolisable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) contents it has been calculated that on UK dairy farms silage barely meets the maintenance require­ment of the cow (Phipps, 1986). The objective of the work reported here is to devise methods to increase the contribution of silage in the diet of the …

Chemical And Nutritive Values Of Three Ensiled Residues (Broad Beans, Peas And Soybean) In Comparison With Yellow Lupin Silage, J Efe Serrano

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

The agro-industrial residues of legumes in Portugal has increased recently in animal feeding, but with little information about the nutritive values of these diets. The few values from literature (Economides and Had­jidemetriou, 1974; Boza and Guerreiro, 1981 ; Escandon et al., 1983) or in Tables of Food Composition are quite different. In south of Portugal, the yellow lupin is an expanding forage used in sheep diets as hay or silage. The purpose of this work, and others in progress, was to compare the feeding value of silages made from three important residues with the yellow lupin silage.

Effects Of Wilting And Formic Acid On The Chemical Composition And Nutritive Value Of Elephant Grass Silage Pennisetum Purpureum Schum) Purple Cultivar, W Lavezzo, Otavia E.N.M Lavezzo, C Rossi, I A. Bonassi

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

At the beginning of the growth the Elephant grass had a good dry matter production and a good nutritive value and due to this it is often used for ensilage in Brazil. However, when best suited age for ensilage (50-60 days), its water content is high making normally difficult to get suitable silages. Although reasonable silages of Elephant grass have been obtained with no additives (Tosi et al., 1983), the wilting and formic acid utili­zation during the ensilage have resulted in good quality silages (Silveira et al., 1979) with good nutritive value (Lavezzo et al., 1984). The purpose of this …

Corn Crop Grown With And Without Tropical Legumes For Silage Making, J A. Obeid, M E. Cruz

IGC Proceedings (1977-2023)

Under Brasilian conditions the beef and milk production rely almost exclusively upon the use of natural or cultivated pastures. However, due to the characteristics of the climate with a warm and rainy season and a cool and dry season, the forage growth rate and animal production presents both high and low peaks, resulting in slaughtering age of 4-5 years and a low average milk production (Pedreira, 1973). Improvement of forage production has been one approach for increasing animal production. However, the above measure brings a higher attention to the feeding of the animals in the dry season. Most often, use …