Life Sciences Commons^™

Clutch Analysis And Design For The Wildcat Pulling Team Quarter Scale Tractor Drivetrain, Lauren Doyle

Lewis Honors College Thesis Collection

The University of Kentucky (UK) Wildcat Pulling Team competes in the annual ASABE International Quarter Scale Tractor Student Design Competition. In 2022 the team placed 3rd overall in the competition, missing 1st place by 23 points. The loss in points was due to the clutch subassembly having issues related to maneuverability, manufacturability, and serviceability. The goal of this project was to redesign the 2022 tractor’s drivetrain for the new 2023 competition tractor. Background research was conducted on three types of clutches: manual, electric, and centrifugal. The electric clutch and centrifugal clutch with manual override were tested to determine their viability …

Data For "Linking Previous Experiences To Behavior And Health In The Honey Bee (Apis Mellifera)"", Rebecca R. Westwick, Clare C. Rittschof, Gavin P. Brackett, Cameron E. Brown, Bethany J. Ison, Zainulabbeudin Syed, Anna M. Foose

Entomology Research Data

An organism’s ability to respond to changing conditions can be vital to its success. Indeed, plasticity is a common feature of living organisms. Much of the research in this area, though, has focused on effects caused by environmental conditions. What has received relatively less attention is how social experiences and broader features of an organism’s social environment can lead to long-lasting changes in health and behavior. This knowledge gap exists despite the well-documented existence of health and behavioral effects after social interactions in certain taxa such as humans.

Social insects such as honey bees provide an excellent opportunity to better …

A Hedonic Analysis Of Factors Impacting The Value Of Planters On The Used Machinery Market, John Allison Jr., Tyler B. Mark, Kenneth H. Burdine, Jordan M. Shockley

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

A hedonic model was employed to examine factors that influence the resale price of row crop planters on the used machinery market. Planter sale data from 2016 to 2018 were utilized to conduct the analysis. Results suggested that the primary factors impacting planter resale prices were make, age, condition, planter configuration, row number, and row spacing. As a function of age (depreciation), planter values were generally determined to decrease at a decreasing rate. Finally, it was determined that there was a significant interaction between the variables make and age, suggesting that different planter makes depreciate differently.

Functional Antagonism Of Wri1 And Tcp20 Modulates Gh3.3 Expression To Maintain Auxin Homeostasis In Roots, Que Kong, Pui Man Low, Audrey R. Q. Lim, Yuzhou Yang, Ling Yuan, Wei Ma

Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center Faculty Publications

Auxin is a well-studied phytohormone, vital for diverse plant developmental processes. The GH3 genes are one of the major auxin responsive genes, whose expression changes lead to modulation of plant development and auxin homeostasis. However, the transcriptional regulation of these GH3 genes remains largely unknown. WRI1 is an essential transcriptional regulator governing plant fatty acid biosynthesis. Recently, we identified that the expression of GH3.3 is increased in the roots of wri1-1 mutant. Nevertheless, in this study we found that AtWRI1 did not activate or repress the promoter of GH3.3 (proGH3.3) despite of its binding to proGH3.3. Cross-family …

Incentivizing Wellness Through Community Supported Agriculture: Reflections On Shareholder Impacts Of An Employer-Based Csa Voucher Program, Jairus J. Rossi, Timothy A. Woods

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Community supported agriculture (CSA) programs are emerging as popular consumer options for pro­duce acquisition. While many researchers have dis­cussed the impacts of CSA on economies, commu­nities, and the environment, others are interested in documenting how produce-based CSA shapes health. In this paper, we evaluate whether and to what extent CSA incentive programs, funded by diverse employer groups in central Kentucky 2015–2018, impact shareholder wellness. To evaluate impact, we use two distinct types of data: we com­pare shareholders’ perceived frequency of food lifestyle behaviors from pre- and post-season sur­veys, and we examine anonymized medical claims from a subset of these participants …

Legacy Effects Of Intercropping And Nitrogen Fertilization On Soil N Cycling, Nitrous Oxide Emissions, And The Soil Microbial Community In Tropical Maize Production, Lucas P. Canisares, Hanna J. Poffenbarger, Eoin L. Brodie, Patrick O. Sorensen, Ulas Karaoz, Daniel M. Villegas, Jacobo Arango, Letusa Momesso, Carlos Alexandre Costa Crusciol, Heitor Cantarella

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Maize-forage grasses intercropping systems have been increasingly adopted by farmers because of their capacity to recycle nutrients, provide mulch, and add C to soil. However, grasses have been shown to increase nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions. Some tropical grasses cause biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) which could mitigate N₂O emissions in the maize cycle but the reactions of the N cycle and the microbial changes that explain the N₂O emissions are little known in such intercropping systems. With this in mind, we explored intercropping of forage grasses (Brachiaria brizantha and Brachiaria humidicola) with distinct …

Cross-Sectional Association Of Toxoplasma Gondii Exposure With Bmi And Diet In Us Adults, Joel Cuffey, Christopher A. Lepczyk, Shuoli Zhao, Nicholas M. Fountain-Jones

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Toxoplasmosis gondii exposure has been linked to increased impulsivity and risky behaviors, which has implications for eating behavior. Impulsivity and risk tolerance is known to be related with worse diets and a higher chance of obesity. There is little known, however, about the independent link between Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) exposure and diet-related outcomes. Using linear and quantile regression, we estimated the relationship between T. gondii exposure and BMI, total energy intake (kcal), and diet quality as measured by the Health Eating Index-2015 (HEI) among 9,853 adults from the 2009–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. …

Lessons To Be Learned In Adoption Of Autonomous Equipment For Field Crops, James Lowenberg-Deboer, Karl Behrendt, Melf-Hinrich Ehlers, Carl R. Dillon, Andreas Gabriel, Iona Yuelu Huang, Ian Kumwenda, Tyler Mark, Andreas Meyer-Aurich, Gabor Milics, Kehinde Oluseyi Olagunju, Søren Marcus Pedersen, Jordan M. Shockley, David Rose

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Autonomous equipment for crop production is on the verge of technical and economic feasibility, but government regulation may slow its adoption. Key regulatory issues include requirements for on-site human supervision, liability for autonomous machine error, and intellectual property in robotic learning. As an example of the impact of regulation on the economic benefits of autonomous crop equipment, analysis from the United Kingdom suggests that requiring 100% on-site human supervision almost wipes out the economic benefits of autonomous crop equipment for small and medium farms and increases the economies-of-scale advantage of larger farms.

Sources Of Variation In Bourbon Whiskey Barrels: A Review, Jarrad Gollihue, Victoria G. Pook, Seth Debolt

Horticulture Faculty Publications

Oak barrels serve two purposes in the production of distilled spirits: storage containers and reaction vessels. It is the latter function which bestows barrel aged spirits with their unique and highly sought after flavour profiles. However, achieving consistent flavour profiles between barrels is notoriously difficult as no two barrels are comprised of the same source of oak. Source variation is due to a range of factors, beginning with the genetic and topographical background of the oak tree from which the barrel staves originate, the spatial region of the tree from which the stave was taken and continuing through each step …

Grocery Food Taxes And U.S. County Obesity And Diabetes Rates, Lingxiao Wang, Yuqing Zheng, Steven Buck, Diansheng Dong, Harry M. Kaiser

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Grocery food taxes represent a stable tax revenue stream for state and municipal government during times of adverse economic shocks such as that observed under the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Previous research, however, suggests a possible mechanism through which grocery taxes may adversely affect health. Our objectives are to document the spatial and temporal variation in grocery taxes and to empirically examine the statistical relationship between county-level grocery taxes and obesity and diabetes.

METHODS: We collect and assemble a novel national dataset of annual county and state-level grocery taxes from 2009 through 2016. We link this data to …

Bhlh Iridoid Synthesis 3 Is A Member Of A Bhlh Gene Cluster Regulating Terpenoid Indole Alkaloid Biosynthesis In Catharanthus Roseus, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Barunava Patra, Priyanka Paul, Yongliang Liu, Sitakanta Pattanaik, Ling Yuan

Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center Faculty Publications

Basic helix‐loop‐helix (bHLH) transcription factors (TFs) are key regulators of plant specialized metabolites, including terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) in Catharanthus roseus. Two previously characterized subgroup‐IVa bHLH TFs, BIS1 (bHLH Iridoid Synthesis 1) and BIS2 regulate iridoid biosynthesis in the TIA pathway. We reanalyzed the recently updated C. roseus genome sequence and discovered that BIS1 and BIS2 are clustered on the same genomic scaffold with a previously uncharacterized bHLH gene, designated as BIS3. Only a few bHLH gene clusters have been studied to date. Comparative analysis of 49 genome sequences from different plant lineages revealed the presence of analogous …

Nss, The Silencing Suppressor Of Tomato Spotted Wilt Orthotospovirus, Interferes With Ja-Regulated Host Terpenoids Expression To Attract Frankliniella Occidentalis, Jiao Du, Xiaoyu Song, Xiaobin Shi, Xin Tang, Jianbin Chen, Zhanhong Zhang, Gong Chen, Zhuo Zhang, Xuguo Zhou, Yong Liu, Deyong Zhang

Entomology Faculty Publications

Tomato spotted wilt orthotospovirus (TSWV) causes serious crop losses worldwide and is transmitted by Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). NSs protein is the silencing suppressor of TSWV and plays an important role in virus infection, cycling, and transmission process. In this research, we investigated the influences of NSs protein on the interaction of TSWV, plants, and F. occidentalis with the transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana. Compared with the wild-type Col-0 plant, F. occidentalis showed an increased number and induced feeding behavior on transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana expressing exogenous NSs. Further analysis showed that NSs reduced the expression of terpenoids synthesis-related genes and …

Comparing Water Use Forecasting Model Selection Criteria: The Case Of Commercial, Institutional, And Industrial Sector In Southern California, Dilek Uz, Steven Buck

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

The United States is one of the largest per capita water withdrawers in the world, and certain parts of it, especially the western region, have long experienced water scarcity. Historically, the U.S. relied on large water infrastructure investments and planning to solve its water scarcity problems. These large-scale investments as well as water planning activities rely on water forecast studies conducted by water managing agencies. These forecasts, while key to the sustainable management of water, are usually done using historical growth extrapolation, conventional econometric approaches, or legacy software packages and often do not utilize methods common in the field of …

Behavioral Weather Insurance: Applying Cumulative Prospect Theory To Agricultural Insurance Design Under Narrow Framing, Tobias Dalhaus, Barry J. Barnett, Robert Finger

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

Experience across many countries shows that, without large premium subsidies, crop insurance uptake rates are generally low. In this article, we propose to use the cumulative prospect theory to design weather insurance products for situations in which farmers frame insurance narrowly as a stand-alone investment. To this end, we introduce what we call "behavioral weather insurance" whereby insurance contract parameters are adjusted to correspond more closely with farmers' preferences. Depending on farmers' preferences, we find that a stochastic multiyear premium increases the prospect value of weather insurance, while a zero deductible design does not. We suggest that insurance contracts should …

Impacts Of 1.5 °C And 2 °C Global Warming On Net Primary Productivity And Carbon Balance In China’S Terrestrial Ecosystems, Li Yu, Fengxue Gu, Mei Huang, Bo Tao, Man Hao, Zhaosheng Wang

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Assessing potential impacts of 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming and identifying the risks of further 0.5 °C warming are crucial for climate adaptation and disaster risk management. Four earth system models in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) and a process-based ecosystem model are used in this study to assess the impacts and potential risks of the two warming targets on the carbon cycle of China’s terrestrial ecosystems. Results show that warming generally stimulates the increase of net primary productivity (NPP) and net ecosystem productivity (NEP) under both representative concentration pathway (RCP) 4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. …

Resistance And The Black Freedom Movement: Reflections On White’S Freedom Farmers, Garrett Graddy-Lovelace, Priscilla Mccutcheon, Ashanté Reese, Angela Babb, Jonathan C. Hall, Eric Sarmiento, Bradley Wilson

Geography Faculty Publications

First paragraphs:

Landmark: 1. An object or feature of a landscape . . . that is easily seen and recognized from a distance, especially one that enables someone to establish their location. Synonyms: mark, indicator, guiding light, signal, beacon, lodestar. 2. An event or discovery marking an important stage or turning point in something. Synonyms: milestone, watershed . . . major achievement. (“Landmark,” n.d., para. 1 & 4)

Dr. Monica White’s Freedom Farmers: Agricultural Resistance and the Black Freedom Movement stands literally as a landmark, ushering in a new era of community-based scholarship with and for agrarian justice. From here …

Thoroughbred Racehorse Welfare Through The Lens Of ‘Social License To Operate—With An Emphasis On A U.S. Perspective, Camie Heleski, C. Jill Stowe, Julie Fiedler, Michael L. Peterson, Colleen Brady, Carissa Wickens, James N. Macleod

Agricultural Economics Faculty Publications

This review addresses the question of whether Thoroughbred horse racing is sustainable in the context of current social values. A recently acknowledged framework, known as ‘Social License to Operate’ (SLO), provides us with a lens through which to view and assess racehorse welfare. In multiple surveys of the general public, the horse owning public, and university students, the primary topics of concern regarding Thoroughbred racing show considerable concordance: concern about catastrophic injuries—particularly as related to track surfaces, concern over the racing of two-year-olds, whip use by jockeys, drug/medication policies, and aftercare opportunities for retired Thoroughbred racehorses. Legitimacy of an industry, …

2019-2020 Kentucky Agricultural Economic Situation And Outlook, Kenneth H. Burdine, Todd D. Davis, Jerry Pierce, William M. Snell, Timothy A. Woods, Jeffrey W. Stringer, Bobby Ammerman

Agricultural Situation and Outlook

No abstract provided.

Forage News [2019-11], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Climate Change: Are Livestock a Problem
• Kentucky Alfalfa Conference
• Get the Most from Grazing Cornstalks
• The More You Know, the Smarter You Grow
• Wendell Berry Center hosts First Grazing School
• USDA Hay Markets - October 22, 2019
• Publication of the Month: Using Dry Lots to Conserve Pastures
• Kids these Days...

Forage News [2019-10], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Register now for the Heart of America Grazing Conference
• Western KY Grazing Conference
• Pasture Walk with Jim Gerrish
• Harvest Drought Stressed Soybeans for Hay

Forage News [2019-09], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Heart of America Grazing Conference
• Register now for Fall Grazing School, Sept. 10-11 in Versailles, KY
• Blue-green Algae: Dangerous to Pets and Livestock
• 12 Habits of Highly Successful Forage Producers
• Cover Crops Following Corn Silage
• Current USDA Hay Market Prices
• Alfalfa Checkoff Funds Two University of Kentucky Projects
• Watch for Fall Army Work in Pastures

Forage News [2019-08], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Reclaiming Rundown Farms - Western KY Summer Forage Tour
• Oats for Fall Pasture or Hay
• KFGC Central KY Field Day
• The Birth of a Rotational Grazing System
• Caldwell County Horse Farm to Host Field Day

Forage News [2019-07], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Register for Heart of America and Western Kentucky Grazing Conferences today!
• The Clover Dilemma
• Improve Summer Pastures with Crabgrass
• Fall Grazing School Registration Now Open
• Clip Pastures to Reduce the Risk of Ergot

Meta-Analysis Of Yield Response Of Foliar Fungicide-Treated Hybrid Corn In The United States And Ontario, Canada, Kiersten A. Wise, Damon Smith, Anna Freije, Daren S. Mueller, Yuba Kandel, Tom Allen, Carl A. Bradley, Emmanuel Byamukama, Martin Chilvers, Travis Faske, Andrew Friskop, Clayton Hollier, Tamra A. Jackson-Ziems, Heather Kelly, Bob Kemerait, Paul Price Iii, Alison Robertson, Albert Tenuta

Plant Pathology Faculty Publications

Background

Foliar fungicide applications to corn (Zea mays L.) occur at one or more application timings ranging from early vegetative growth stages to mid-reproductive stages. Previous studies indicated that fungicide applications are profitable under high disease pressure when applied during the tasseling to silking growth stages. Few comprehensive studies in corn have examined the impact of fungicide applications at an early vegetative growth stage (V6) compared to late application timings (VT) for yield response and return on fungicide investment (ROI) across multiple locations.

Objective

Compare yield response of fungicide application timing across multiple fungicide classes and calculate the probability …

Forage News [2019-06], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Managing Pastures this Summer
• 2019 Western Kentucky Summer Forage Tour: Resuscitating a Rundown Farm
• The Wonder Grass: The Story of Tall Fescue in the United States now available
• UK Weed Sceicne to Host a Pair of Field Days at UKREC in Princeton
• Grass Decline? Check Your Cutting Height
• We're Producing and Feeding Less Hay

Forage News [2019-05], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Register for 2019 Kentucky Fencing School in Russellville on May 30th
• Things in the Hay Production Book We Missed
• Insure High Quality Forage: Make Baleage
• Optimizing Production from Perennial Cool-Season Hayfields
• UK Equine Farm and Facilities Expo - May 30
• Purdue Extension Hosts Educational Events This Summer - June 21 and 22
• Tariffs, Water Reshuffled the Hay Export Deck

Determination Of Tobacco Alkaloid Enantiomers Using Reversed Phase Uplc/Ms/Ms, Huihua Ji, Ying Wu, Franklin Fannin, Lowell P. Bush

Kentucky Tobacco Research and Development Center Faculty Publications

Nʹ-Nitrosonornicotine (NNN), a carcinogenic tobacco-specific Nʹ-nitrosamine (TSNA), is on the FDA list of harmful and potentially harmful constituents (HPHCs). Nornicotine, a product of the demethylation of nicotine, is the immediate alkaloid precursor for NNN formation. Nicotine, nornicotine and NNN are optically active. The accumulation of the isomers of nicotine, nornicotine, and NNN impacts their biological activity. In this paper, we report the determination of tobacco alkaloid enantiomers (including nicotine, nornicotine, anabasine, and anatabine) in samples of different tobacco lines using a reversed phase ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometer (UPLC/MS/MS) method. Current method demonstates excellent detection capability for all alkaloid enantiomers, …

Forage News [2019-04], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Register today for the Kentucky Grazing School
• Fencing School spaces still open in Burkesville and Russellville
• More Stuff Not in the Book
• Simplifying Grain Drill Calibration
• New Mandatory Paraquat Training Requirements for Applicators
• Grass-Fed and -Finished Beef Production & Marketing: an OAK Field Day - May 2, 2019

Nitrogen Fertilizer Suppresses Mineralization Of Soil Organic Matter In Maize Agroecosystems, Navreet K. Mahal, William R. Osterholz, Fernando E. Miguez, Hanna J. Poffenbarger, John E. Sawyer, Daniel C. Olk, Sotirios V. Archontoulis, Michael J. Castellano

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

The possibility that N fertilizer increases soil organic matter (SOM) mineralization and, as a result, reduces SOM stocks has led to a great debate about the long-term sustainability of maize-based agroecosystems as well as the best method to estimate fertilizer N use efficiency (FNUE). Much of this debate is because synthetic N fertilizer can positively or negatively affect SOM mineralization via several direct and indirect pathways. Here, we test a series of hypotheses to determine the direction, magnitude, and mechanism of N fertilizer effect on SOM mineralization and discuss the implications for methods to estimate FNUE. We measured the effect …

Forage News [2019-03], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

• Novel Tall Fecue Workshop - March 20
• Round Bale Binding Materials Evaluated
• Impact of Tedding on Alfalfa Silage
• Spring Grazing School April 23-24
• Spring Fencing School: 3 Dates, 3 Locations