Life Sciences Commons^™

Free-Living Allen’S Hummingbirds (Selasphorus Sasin) Rarely Use Torpor While Nesting, Erich R. Eberts, Glenn J. Tattersall, Peter J. Auger, Maria Curley, Melissa I. Morado, Eric G. Strauss, Don Powers, Noemi C. Soveral, Bret W. Tobalske, Anusha Shankar

Faculty Publications - Department of Biological & Molecular Science

For reproducing animals, maintaining energy balance despite thermoregulatory challenges is important for surviving and successfully raising offspring. This is especially apparent in small endotherms that exhibit high mass-specific metabolic rates and live in unpredictable environments. Many of these animals use torpor, substantially reducing their metabolic rate and often body temperature to cope with high energetic demands during non-foraging periods. In birds, when the incubating parent uses torpor, the lowered temperatures that thermally sensitive offspring experience could delay development or increase mortality risk. We used thermal imaging to noninvasively explore how nesting female hummingbirds sustain their own energy balance while effectively …

Leaf, Plant, To Canopy: A Mechanistic Study On Aboveground Plasticity And Plant Density Within A Maize–Soybean Intercrop System For The Midwest, Usa, Elena A. Pelech, Jochem B. Evers, Taylor L. Pederson, David W. Drag, Peng Fu, Carl J. Bernacchi

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Plants have evolved to adapt to their neighbours through plastic trait responses. In intercrop systems, plant growth occurs at different spatial and temporal dimensions, creating a competitive light environment where aboveground plasticity may support complementarity in light-use efficiency, realizing yield gains per unit area compared with monoculture systems. Physiological and architectural plasticity including the consequences for light-use efficiency and yield in a maize-soybean solar corridor intercrop system was compared, empirically, with the standard monoculture systems of the Midwest, USA. The impact of reducing maize plant density on yield was investigated in the following year. Intercropped maize favoured physiological plasticity over …

Forage News [2023-02], Department Of Plant And Soil Sciences, University Of Kentucky

Forage News

No abstract provided.

Anaerobic Digestion Reduces Seed Germination And Viability Of Six Plant Species From The Upper Nile Valley, Egypt, Ahmed M. Abbas, Mohamed Abdelazeem, Stephen J. Novak

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Anaerobic digestion (AD) involves the breakdown of a substrate by mixed microbial communities in the absence of free oxygen. This process has many benefits leading to the production of bioenergy (biogas) and fertilizers (bio-fertilizers). Unfortunately, the bio-fertilizer made using AD may be contaminated with weed seeds and may have the potential of infesting the fields to which it is applied. Thus, the goal of this study is to determine the effects of AD on seed germination and viability of two undesirable crop plants (Triticum aestivum and Sorghum bicolor) and four weed species of reclaimed agricultural land near Qena, …

Effect Of Core Shape And Its Side Slopes On Seepage Quantity Of Zoned Earth Dam, Arkan H. Ibrahim, Yaseen W. Aziz, Khalil K. Hamadamin

Polytechnic Journal

Seepage is the main problem of earth dams; most failures are occurred due to excessive amount of seepage. In zoned earth dams clay core is provided to minimize seepage quantity and its dimensions and shape has great influence on seepage quantity. In this study seepage through earth dam with vertical and slanting core case were analyzed for different side slopes and top width. For vertical core cases different side slopes ranges from 0H:1V to 2H:1V and different top width from (3-10) m were analyzed. Due to lower permeability coefficient of core material seepage discharge reduced as side slopes and top …

See Transform Technique For Solving System Of Linear Volterra Integro-Differential Equations Of The Second Kind, Zainab R. Rustam, Nejmaddin A. Sulaiman

Polytechnic Journal

There are many integral transforms that are widely used to solve numerous real-life, science, and engineering problems. In this article, we present SEE transform for determining the solution of the system of linear Volterra integro-differential equations of the second kind. Some applications have been given and solved by using the SEE transform for illustrating the applicability of the SEE transform. Results of the applications assert that the SEE transform is very effective for obtaining the exact solutionof this equation.

Gender-Based Differences Of Inflammatory, Coagulation, And Cardiac Markers In Covid-19 Patients In Erbil City, Zhikal Omar Khudhur, Sonia Elia Ishaq, Rebaz Hamza Salih, Karzan Abdullah, Dahat Hawezy, Karwan Yasin Mohammed, Goran Qadir Othman, Shukur Wasman Smail

Polytechnic Journal

In December 2019, a new coronavirus disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) appeared in Wuhan city and quickly became a global health issue. COVID-19 causes various symptoms ranging from no symptoms to potentially deadly pneumonia. The study aimed to understand the effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on immune response and the differences in inflammatory, coagulation, and cardiac biomarkers between male and female patients. Between June 1st and November 1st, 2020, 95 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals were studied at Zanko Hospital. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed using the real-time RT-PCR technique. All cases were analyzed for clinical, epidemiological, …

Performance Of The Gomaspan Dam's Stepped Spillway Against Cavitation Using Cfdcity, Abdulla A. Abo

Polytechnic Journal

This study aims to determine how well the stepped spillway at Gomaspan dam performs in terms of cavity index. For this purpose, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code called FLUENT is used. To begin, the code was validated by applying it to the experiments work of (Li et al.2021), and the findings demonstrate great agreement between CFD and the aforementioned experimental data. Second, the algorithm is applied to the designed stepped spillway of the Gomaspan dam, and the cavity index is obtained at eachstep. The results show that the design is unsatisfactory, and the steps are particularly vulnerable to cavitation …

The Impact Of Dapagliflozin On Aldosterone Hormone In Rats With Heart Failure, Skala Mamand Jawhar, Zana Ahmed Mustafa

Polytechnic Journal

Background: The latest anti-diabetic medication sodium-glucose co-transporter inhibitor along with the lowering of blood glucose has a cardioprotective and reno-protective effect, it has the ability to reduce the development of heart failure and decrease hospitalization in heart failure subjects with and without diabetes. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of sodium-glucose co-transporter inhibitor dapagliflozin alone and in combination with eplerenone on the aldosterone hormone in the treatment of rats with experimentally induced heart failure. Method: Thirty Wister rats were randomly divided into five groups each of six rats, the first group served as a control group. The heart …

Y-Chromosomal Short Tandem Repeat Variation In Kurd, Assyrian, And Armenian Populations In Iraq Kurdistan, Sabriya K. Khalid, Yousif M. Fattah

Polytechnic Journal

Background and objectives: North central Middle Eastern countries Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria all have persistent Kurdish regions. Over thousands of years, several ethnicities have immigrated, settled, or resided in the region, including Turks, Persians, Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Chechens, and Azeris. The aim of the present study is to use a set of Y-STR to characterize the genetic structure of the Kurd, Assyrian, and Armenian population and build a phylogenetic tree among them. Methods: Eleven Y-chromosome STRs were evaluated in a total of 90 unrelated males from the Kurds, Armenians, and Assyrians populations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq …

Screening For Antibacterial Activity In Selected Medicinal Plant Extracts Against Xanthomonas Euvesicatoria, Medya Ahmad Salih, Tavga Sulaiman Rashid

Polytechnic Journal

Background and objectives: The environment and human health have fared badly from the use of synthetic pesticides as a form of pest control. Plants are considered as an alternate pesticide for pest control without sacrificing the environment and their potency on pests. Methods: Aqueous extracts of (Lavender flower, olive leaves, thuja leaves and fruit, fig milk, clove flower buds, Arabic gum, Borage, Tarragon, Cress seed and Carob tree) were tested against newly isolated Xanthomonas euvesicatoria (Acc.No. OP115671) from symptomatic tomato plants. Results: The in vitro results showed that clove extract is highly effective in inhibiting bacterium growth followed by borage, …

Cover Crop Planting Practices Determine Their Performance In The U.S. Corn Belt, Katja Koehler-Cole, Roger W. Elmore, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Charles A. Francis, Charles A. Shapiro, Christopher A. Proctor, Sabrina J. Ruis, Suat Irmak, Derek M. Heeren

Nebraska Cooperative Extension: Faculty and Staff Publications

Cover crop growing periods in the western United States Corn Belt could be extended by planting earlier. We evaluated both pre-harvest broadcast interseeding and post-harvest drilling of the following cover crops: (a) cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) [RYE]; (b) a mix of rye + legumes + brassicas [MIX1], (c) a mix of rye + oat [Avena sativa L.] + legumes + brassicas (MIX2), (d) legumes [LEGU]) and (e) a no cover crop control. These were tested in continuous corn (Zea mays L.) [corn–corn] and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.]–corn systems [soybean–corn] at three sites in Nebraska …

Sustainable And Organic Beekeeping In Chester County, John Pisciotta

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

Professor John Pisciotta, Biology - Sustainable and Organic Beekeeping in Chester County

Propagation Of Bananas, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Horticulture factsheets

Tissue culture is the best method for propagating bananas. It ensures they are true to type and free from pests and diseases.

Check with Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development quarantine officer before bringing tissue culture material into Western Australia.

However, planting with bits is cheap and guarantees that new diseases are not introduced.

Physical Activity And Exercise For Hot Flashes: Trigger Or Treatment?, Sarah Witkowski, Rose Evard, Jacquelyn J. Rickson, Quinn White, Lynnette Leidy Sievert

Exercise and Sport Studies: Faculty Publications

Importance and Objective: Hot flashes (HFs) are a prevalent feature of menopause. Hot flashes can be bothersome and affect quality of life. However, HFs have also been associated with the risk for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, providing current evidence on the effect of therapies to reduce HFs can help patients and providers with decision making. This review provides details on the scientific evidence to date related to the effect of physical activity (PA) and exercise to alter the HF experience in women

Methods: The PubMed database was searched between June 2020 and June 2022 for currently available evidence regarding the relation …

Development And Testing Of An Iot Spectroscopic Nutrient Monitoring System For Use In Micro Indoor Smart Hydroponics, Joseph D. Stevens, David Murray, Dean A. Diepeveen, Danny Toohey

Horticulture Research Articles

Nutrient monitoring in Micro Indoor Smart Hydroponics (MISH) relies on measuring electrical conductivity or total dissolved solids to determine the amount of nutrients in a hydroponic solution. Neither method can distinguish concentrations of individual nutrients. This study presents the development and testing of a novel spectroscopic sensor system to monitor nitrogen changes in nutrient solutions for MISH systems. The design phase determined that using an inexpensive AS7265x Internet of Thing (IoT) sensor in a transflective spectroscopic application could effectively detect small fluctuations in nitrogen concentraation. Next, a novel transflective sensor apparatus was designed and constructed for use in a MISH …

Cascading Effects Of Cover Crops On The Subsequent Cash Crop Defense Against The Polyphagous Herbivore Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera Frugiperda), Adegboyega Fajemisin, Alexis Racelis, Rupesh Kariyat

Entomology and Plant Pathology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Recent studies have started to show that the benefits of cover crops can cascade to the cash crop growing seasons. However, the impact of cover crops on the subsequent cash crop defense against herbivores is not well understood. To test this, we conducted a field and laboratory study to assess the possible cascading effects of cover crops such as Vigna unguiculata, Sorghum drummondii, Raphanus sativus, and Crotalaria juncea on the subsequent cash crop (Sorghum bicolor) defense against the notorious polyphagous herbivore fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) across three farms in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Our field …

The Known And Unknowns Of Aphid Biotypes, And Their Role In Mediating Host Plant Defenses, Neetu Khanal, Christopher Vitek, Rupesh Kariyat

Entomology and Plant Pathology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Insect species are subjected to disparate selection pressure due to various biotic and abiotic stresses. Management practices including the heavy use of chemical insecticides and introduction of insect-resistant plant cultivars have been found to accelerate these processes. Clearly, natural selection coupled with human intervention have led to insect adaptations that alter phenotypes and genetic structure over time, producing distinct individuals with specialized traits, within the populations, commonly defined as biotypes. Biotypes are commonly found to have better fitness in the new environment and, in the case of aphids, the most commonly studied system for biotypes, have the ability to successfully …

Genomic Underpinnings Of Population Persistence In Isle Royale Moose, Christopher C. Kyriazis, Annabel C. Beichman, Kristin Brzeski, Sarah Hoy, Rolf O. Peterson, John A. Vucetich, Leah Vucetich, Kirk E. Lohmueller, Robert K. Wayne

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Island ecosystems provide natural laboratories to assess the impacts of isolation on population persistence. However, most studies of persistence have focused on a single species, without comparisons to other organisms they interact with in the ecosystem. The case study of moose and gray wolves on Isle Royale allows for a direct contrast of genetic variation in isolated populations that have experienced dramatically differing population trajectories over the past decade. Whereas the Isle Royale wolf population recently declined nearly to extinction due to severe inbreeding depression, the moose population has thrived and continues to persist, despite having low genetic diversity and …

Tree Stem Volume Estimation From Terrestrial Lidar Point Cloud By Unwrapping, Zhongming An, Robert E. Froese

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Estimating the volume of standing trees is a fundamental concern in forestry and is typically accomplished using one or more measurements of stem diameter along with formulae that assume geometric primitives. In contrast, technologies such as terrestrial Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) can record very detailed spatial information on the actual surface of an object, such as a tree bole.We present a method using LiDAR that provides accurate volume estimates of tree stems, as well as 2D rasters that display details of stem surfaces, which we call the “unwrapping method.” This method combines the concepts of cylinder fitting, voxelization, and …

Comparison Of High-Resolution Naip And Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (Uav) Imagery For Natural Vegetation Communities Classification Using Machine Learning Approaches, Parth Bhatt, Ann Maclean

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

To map and manage forest vegetation including wetland communities, remote sensing technology has been shown to be a valid and widely employed technology. In this paper, two ecologically different study areas were evaluated using free and widely available high-resolution multispectral National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) and ultra-high-resolution multispectral unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery located in the Upper Great Lakes Laurentian Mixed Forest. Three different machine learning algorithms, random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), and averaged neural network (avNNet), were evaluated to classify complex natural habitat communities as defined by the Michigan Natural Features Inventory. Accurate training sets were developed …

Long-Term Exposure To An Invasive Fungal Pathogen Decreases Eptesicus Fuscus Body Mass With Increasing Latitude, Molly C. Simonis, Lynn K. Hartzler, Gregory G. Turner, Michael R. Scafini, Joseph S. Johnson, Megan A. Rúa

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Abstract Invasive pathogens threaten wildlife health and biodiversity. Physiological responses of species highly susceptible to pathogen infections following invasion are well described. However, the responses of less susceptible species (relative to highly susceptible species) are not well known. Latitudinal gradients, which can influence body condition via Bergmann's rule and/or reflect the time it takes for an introduced pathogen to spread geographically, add an additional layer for how mammalian species respond to pathogen exposure. Our goal was to understand how hosts less susceptible to pathogen infections respond to long‐term pathogen exposure across a broad latitudinal gradient. We examined changes in body …

Potential Repercussions Of Offshore Wind Energy Development In The Northeast United States For The Atlantic Surfclam Survey And Population Assessment, Sarah Borsetti, Daphne M. Munroe, Andrew M. Scheld, Eric N. Powell, John M. Klinck, Eileen E. Hofmann

Faculty Publications

The Atlantic surfclam Spisula solidissima fishery, which spans the U.S. Northeast continental shelf, is among the most exposed to offshore wind energy development impacts because of the overlap of fishing grounds with wind energy lease areas, the hydraulic dredges used by the fishing vessels, and the location of vessel home ports relative to the fishing grounds. The Atlantic surfclam federal assessment survey is conducted using a commercial fishing vessel in locations that overlap with the offshore wind energy development. Once wind energy turbines, cables, and scour protection are installed, survey operations within wind energy lease areas may be curtailed or …

Optimal Stomatal Theory Predicts Co2 Responses Of Stomatal Conductance In Both Gymnosperm And Angiosperm Trees, Anna Gardner, Mingkai Jiang, David S. Ellsworth, A. Robert Mackenzie, Jeremy Pritchard, Martin Karl Friedrich Bader, Craig V.M. Barton, Carl Bernacchi, Carlo Calfapietra, Kristine Y. Crous, Mirindi Eric Dusenge, Teresa E. Gimeno, Marianne Hall, Shubhangi Lamba, Sebastian Leuzinger, Johan Uddling, Jeffrey Warren, Göran Wallin, Belinda E. Medlyn

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Optimal stomatal theory predicts that stomata operate to maximise photosynthesis (Anet) and minimise transpirational water loss to achieve optimal intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE). We tested whether this theory can predict stomatal responses to elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2), and whether it can capture differences in responsiveness among woody plant functional types (PFTs). We conducted a meta-analysis of tree studies of the effect of eCO2 on iWUE and its components Anet and stomatal conductance (gs). We compared three PFTs, using the unified stomatal optimisation (USO) model to account for confounding effects of leaf–air vapour pressure difference (D). We expected smaller gs, but …

Invasive Annual Grasses—Reenvisioning Approaches In A Changing Climate, David Archer, David Toledo, Dana M. Blumenthal, Justin Derner, Usda Ars Burns, Oregon, Kirk Davies, Erik Hamerlynck, Roger Sheley, Pat Clark, Fred Pierson, Charlie Clements, Beth Newingham, Brian Rector, John Gaskin, Carissa L. Wonkka, Kevin Jensen, Tom Monaco, Lance T. Vermeire, Stephen L. Young

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

For nearly a century, invasive annual grasses have increasingly impacted terrestrial ecosystems across the western United States. Weather variability associated with climate change and increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) are making even more difficult the challenges of managing invasive annual grasses. As part of a special issue on climate change impacts on soil and water conservation, the topic of invasive annual grasses is being addressed by scientists at the USDA Agricultural Research Service to emphasize the need for additional research and future studies that build on current knowledge and account for (extreme) changes in abiotic and biotic conditions. Much research …

Banana Management In The Ord River Irrigation Area (Oria), Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Horticulture factsheets

The Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA) is suitable for growing bananas. However, due to the local climate, management is slightly different to other Western Australian growing regions such as Carnarvon.

There are many considerations when planning to establish a banana plantation. A summary of these practices is given below. For more specific information on each practice see the other documents in this series.

2023 Nebraska Crop Production Budgets Higher Costs And Risks, Glennis Mcmclure

Cornhusker Economics

The Nebraska crop budgets are available for the 2023 production season. The 84 budgets indicate cost of production increases. Estimated average economic or total costs per bushel for 2023 corn production are expected to be at least 23% to 25% greater than last year. Soybeans are estimated to be 13% to 19% more in economic costs per bushel, with wheat production costs having jumped over 20% compared to last year and running as high as 63% higher over the last two years combined. Cost scenarios for individual producers can vary based on their timing of input purchases and price variabilities.

Lake Salinization Drives Consistent Losses Of Zooplankton Abundance And Diversity Across Coordinated Mesocosm Experiments, Matthew Schuler

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Human-induced salinization increasingly threatens inland waters; yet we know little about the multifaceted response of lake communities to salt contamination. By conducting a coordinated mesocosm experiment of lake salinization across 16 sites in North America and Europe, we quantified the response of zooplankton abundance and (taxonomic and functional) community structure to a broad gradient of environmentally relevant chloride concentrations, ranging from 4 to ca. 1400 mg Cl⁻ L⁻¹. We found that crustaceans were distinctly more sensitive to elevated chloride than rotifers; yet, rotifers did not show compensatory abundance increases in response to crustacean declines. For crustaceans, our …

Forest Ecosystem Properties Emerge From Interactions Of Structure And Disturbance, J. Christina Mitchell, Daniel M. Kashian, Xiongwen Chen, Stella Cousins, David J. Flaspohler, Daniel S. Gruner, Jeremy S. Johnson, Thilina D. Surasinghe, Jenny Zambrano, Brian Buma

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Forest structural diversity and its spatiotemporal variability are constrained by environmental and biological factors, including species pools, climate, land-use history, and legacies of disturbance regimes. These factors influence forest responses to disturbances and their interactions with structural diversity, potentially creating structurally mediated emergent properties at local to continental spatial scales and over evolutionary time. Here, we present a conceptual framework for exploring the emergent properties that arise from interactions between forest structural diversity and disturbances. We synthesize and present definitions for key terms, including emergent property, disturbance, and resilience, and highlight various types and examples of emergent properties, such as …

Properties And Emissions Of Three-Layer Particleboards Manufactured With Mixtures Of Wood Chips And Partially Liquefied Bark, Wen Jiang, Stergios Adamopoulos, Reza Hosseinpourpia, Thomas Walther, Sergej Medved

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Partial liquefaction of residual biomass shows good potential for developing new materials suitable for making bio-based composites. Three-layer particleboards were produced by replacing virgin wood particles with partially liquefied bark (PLB) in the core or surface layers. PLB was prepared by the acid-catalyzed liquefaction of industrial bark residues in polyhydric alcohol. The chemical and microscopic structure of bark and residues after liquefaction were evaluated by means of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), while the particleboards were tested for their mechanical and water-related properties, as well as their emission profiles. Through a partial liquefaction process, some …