Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Nitrate Contamination And Nitrogen Isotope Compositions In The Bazile Groundwater Management Area - A Water Quality Study. Creighton, Ne, Sydney Corcoran

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Surface water nitrogen contamination is a pervasive issue in Nebraska, and agricultural practices are the main source of nitrogen input to streams (Spalding and Exner, 1993). Nitrate can come from inorganic fertilizers such as anhydrous ammonia, or animal waste. Studies have been conducted on nitrates dating back to 1947 (Addleman, 1985). The Bazile Groundwater Management Area (BGMA) located in northeast Nebraska has historically had high nitrate contamination. This qualitative study assesses the seasonal sources of nitrogen to stream water. It is predicted that the source of input is from commercial synthetic fertilizers. By using nitrogen- oxygen isotope methods, the source …

Review Of Birds Of Prey Of The West: A Field Guide, By Brian K. Wheeler, Daniel Casey

The Prairie Naturalist

Birds of prey epitomize much of what attracts us to birding. Many are large and easy to observe, particularly in open landscapes. Their predatory nature and behavior give them an added aura of wildness; their migrations can be spectacular. And even veteran birders should enjoy the challenge of identifying the myriad of plumage variations shown by different ages, sexes, subspecies, and color morphs. With his newest effort, Birds of Prey of the West, Brian Wheeler has compiled a comprehensive and enhanced field guide with illustrations that stunningly capture that variation, combined with enough additional context to make it a valuable …

Stream Channel Monitoring In Northern Great Plains Network, Data Quality Standards, Darren J. Thornbrugh

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The purpose of this report is to document the standards used by the Northern Great Plain Network (NGPN) for activities related to the collection, processing, storage, analysis, and publication of monitoring data as described in the Protocol implementation plan for stream channel monitoring in the Northern Great Plains Network: narrative version 1.0 (Thornbrugh et al. 2019). The plan also serves as a guide for all NGPN personnel who are involved in protocol/program activities and as a resource for identifying memoranda, publications, and other literature that describe associated techniques and requirements in more detail.

Implementing The North American Bat Monitoring Program In Nebraska: An Assessment Of Nebraska Bats With An Emphasis On Citizen Science, Baxter Seguin

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

Over the past decade bat species in North America have been under immense stress due to anthropogenic activities throughout the continent along with severe declines from foreign invaders. Though many specific anthropogenic related activities such as deforestation, land-use alteration, and hibernacula disturbance/modification were the primary culprits of negative impacts on bat species in the past, they pale in comparison to the threats bats face today. White nose syndrome a disease caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans and wind energy development have caused declines and disruptions to the bat populations of North America at an unprecedented rate.

Due to the significant …

How Are University's Handling Dining Hall Food Waste-Unl Study, Macrae Zappala

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

One of the biggest challenges with the American food system is that 30-40% of our food is wasted every year (EPA, 2018). There are many reasons why food is being wasted around Universities campuses, and there are many ways to divert that wasted material from the landfill. In 2016, a zero-food waste event was held in Harper dining hall, and they found around 70 pounds a night just from a dinner rush. The main objective is aimed to find out how the University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL) handles their dining hall food waste. This study will look at what Big …

Barriers Influencing The Success Of Green Teams, Jessica Van Buskirk

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This paper summarizes the barriers Green Teams in a variety of settings may face. A survey was sent to members of a Green Team project at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) to obtain information on barriers faced in order to compare these barriers to other organizations and businesses barriers. This comparison was done by conducting a thematic analysis, which grouped barriers into themes. The themes were compiled and recommendations on how to overcome those barriers were made. Green Teams have many benefits including waste reduction, increased employee satisfaction, and saving the planet from further damage. This study tries to maximize …

Nitrate Accumulation In The Vadose Zone Of Waverly's Wellhead Protection Area, Cleome Mullison

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Agriculturally intensive areas such as Nebraska are faced with a growing threat: groundwater nitrate pollution caused by years of applying nitrogen based fertilizer. Nitrate pollution can be attributed to several factors such as manure from cattle ranching and wastewater plants, but Nebraska’s main threat is derived from years of leached nitrogen fertilizer. When nitrogen fertilizer is applied it has one of several fates: plant uptake, volatilization, leaching or run-off. When nitrates leach beyond the plant root system, they are unable to be absorbed by the plant and ultimately move slowly towards the regional ground water table. While nitrate accumulation in …

Examining The Effects Of Uv On Latex And Nitrile Glove Degradation, Dana Christine Handke

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Medical gloves, both nitrile and latex, are used as a protective barrier to limit the spread of disease. Gloves are a single use product and their demand is set to increase by 9 to10 percent each year. In 2008, it was estimated that 100 billion gloves were used globally each year (Scott, 2008). This study is exploratory in nature, to determine if Ultra Violet light (UV) exposure can cause an acceleration in the breakdown of latex and nitrile gloves. It was hypothesized that the tensile strength and length to breakage for both glove types, latex and nitrile, would decrease after …

What Are The Prospects For -Omics- Based Molecular Technologies In Cancer Diagnostics And Treatment, Katya Eriksen

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death in the United States, following the heart disease. New technologies are needed to fight and eventually to eradicate cancer. Omic technologies is a new emerging field of cancer research that may offer cancer patients long awaited opportunities to get faster, more precise personalized medical care, while letting doctors do their job more effectively. The rapid development of omic technologies and large datasets promise a new type of health care system when the patients can be treated according to their own individualized molecular characteristics.

Student Perception Of Industrial Agriculture: Effects On Migrant Workers And The Environment, Brigitta Bogue, Emma Sorensen

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Companies such as Tyson Foods and Costco are creating problems through their use of industrial farming practices in Nebraska, such as concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and monocropping, to generate profit at the cost of humans and the environment. Those most affected are migrant farmworkers from Mexico. The environment is threatened because CAFOs generate greenhouse gases, and pollute nearby waterways with nitrogen. This paper addresses the following research questions: Are students’ perceptions of industrial agricultural companies, such as Costco and Tyson, positive or negative? Are students aware of these issues? How do these perceptions affect issues of sustainability and environmental …

How Do Non-Formal Environmental Education Experiences Shape Pro-Environmental Behavior, Megan Petsch

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This paper attempts to define what behaviors are, what motivates behavior, and how environmental education programs can shape pro-environmental behavior using three factors: social interaction, program structure, and various teaching methods. Data was gathered using a systematic literature review that looked at the purpose and objectives of the paper, methods used for collecting data such as demographics (age, race, gender, location, etc.), the papers focused areas of research, and results. A thematic analysis was also used to code collected data into the themes. The themes that emerged while analyzing the data include social interactions, program structure, and teaching methods. Results …

Consumer Response To Sustainable Practices Within The Fashion Industry, Gage Mruz

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This study was conducted online through an environmental company called Greenstain, a registered LLC who provides environmentally sustainable solutions and plants a tree for every item they sell. The purpose of the study is to analyze consumer response to the eco-friendly apparel and other sustainable solutions offered by Greenstain after educating consumers on the extent to which the fashion industry is impacting the natural environment and the practices they can utilize to reduce these negative impacts. The sample size included any person with access to Google, Facebook, and Instagram. Scientists in the world have reached an overwhelming consensus that climate …

A Comparison Of Modern Power: Environmental Impacts, Seth Adams

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

There are many aspects of environmental influences that must be considered when evaluating power production methods. Over the course of a six-month literature review this study covered the environmental impact and sustainability of four different power production methods: coal, solar, wind, and nuclear. This study then used the information gathered to create a set of criteria by which each would be evaluated. The goal of this study was to determine the power production method that would deliver the most energy with the least amount of environmental impact. Further, the scope of this study is limited to the midwestern states of …

Activity Patterns Of Nebraskan Wildlife On A Prairie Landscape, Dillon Hanson

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Avoiding a particular species temporally can be an effective way to live amongst predator and competing species when spatial avoidance is not available. If a predator and prey species overlap temporally there is potential for high predation of the prey species by the predator, while if two predators overlap temporally there is high potential for competition and a loss of opportunities and resources for each species. I assessed if native mammalian species on a natural prairie landscape showed signs of avoidance through their activity patterns. I used photographic sampling to quantify the temporal activity patterns of species at Spring Creek …

Review Of Carnivores Of The World, Second Edition, By Luke Hunter, Shannon M. Barber-Meyer

The Prairie Naturalist

Cracking open this fully revised field guide invites a new appreciation for the diversity of carnivores (members of the order Carnivora) in the world. Dig a little deeper and you’ll uncover just how little we know about so many of them. This second edition of the Carnivores of the World features 250 mammalian species—from a species so tiny it can squeeze through a wedding ring to one weighing thousands of times more, the polar bear (Ursus maritimus). Each detailed species account includes an illustration of the species (and sometimes varying forms or subspecies), information on morphological and identifying features, distribution …

Free Electron Sources And Diffraction In Time, Eric R. Jones

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The quantum revolution of the last century advanced synergistically with technology, for example, with control of the temporal and spatial coherence, and the polarization state of light. Indeed, experimental confirmation of the quirks of quantum theory, as originally highlighted by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen, through Bohm, and then Bell, have been performed with photons, i.e., electromagnetic wave packets prepared in the same quantum states. Experimental tests of quantum mechanics with matter wave packets have been limited due to challenges in preparing all of the packets with similar quantum states. While great strides have been made for trapped atoms and Bose-Einstein …

Image Processing Algorithms For Elastin Lamellae Inside Cardiovascular Arteries, Mahmoud Habibnezhad

Department of Computer Science and Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Automated image processing methods are greatly needed to replace the tedious, manual histology analysis still performed by many physicians. This thesis focuses on pathological studies that express the essential role of elastin lamella in the resilience and elastic properties of the arterial blood vessels. Due to the stochastic nature of the shape and distribution of the elastin layers, their morphological features appear as the best candidates to develop a mathematical formulation for the resistance behavior of elastic tissues. However, even for trained physicians and their assistants, the current measurement procedures are highly error-prone and prolonged. This thesis successfully integrates such …

Admissibility Of C*-Covers And Crossed Products Of Operator Algebras, Mitchell A. Hamidi

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In 2015, E. Katsoulis and C. Ramsey introduced the construction of a non-self-adjoint crossed product that encodes the action of a group of automorphisms on an operator algebra. They did so by realizing a non-self-adjoint crossed product as the subalgebra of a C*-crossed product when dynamics of a group acting on an operator algebra by completely isometric automorphisms can be extended to self-adjoint dynamics of the group acting on a C*-algebra by ∗-automorphisms. We show that this extension of dynamics is highly dependent on the representation of the given algebra and we define a lattice structure for an operator algebra's …

A Data-Driven Approach For Detecting Stress In Plants Using Hyperspectral Imagery, Suraj Gampa

Department of Computer Science and Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A phenotype is an observable characteristic of an individual and is a function of its genotype and its growth environment. Individuals with different genotypes are impacted differently by exposure to the same environment. Therefore, phenotypes are often used to understand morphological and physiological changes in plants as a function of genotype and biotic and abiotic stress conditions. Phenotypes that measure the level of stress can help mitigate the adverse impacts on the growth cycle of the plant. Image-based plant phenotyping has the potential for early stress detection by means of computing responsive phenotypes in a non-intrusive manner. A large number …

Unbounded Derivations Of C*-Algebras And The Heisenberg Commutation Relation, Lara M. Ismert

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation investigates the properties of unbounded derivations on C*-algebras, namely the density of their analytic vectors and a property we refer to as "kernel stabilization." We focus on a weakly-defined derivation δ_D which formalizes commutators involving unbounded self-adjoint operators on a Hilbert space. These commutators naturally arise in quantum mechanics, as we briefly describe in the introduction.

A first application of kernel stabilization for δ_D shows that a large class of abstract derivations on unbounded C*-algebras, defined by O. Bratteli and D. Robinson, also have kernel stabilization. A second application of kernel stabilization provides a sufficient condition …

Anomalous Hall Conductivity Of Noncollinear Magnetic Antiperovskites, Gautam Gurung, Ding-Fu Shao, Tula R. Paudel, Evgeny Y. Tsymbal

Evgeny Tsymbal Publications

The anomalous Hall effect (AHE) is a well-known fundamental property of ferromagnetic metals, commonly associated with the presence of a net magnetization. Recently, an AHE has been discovered in noncollinear antiferromagnetic (AFM) metals. Driven by nonvanishing Berry curvature of AFM materials with certain magnetic space-group symmetry, anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) is very sensitive to the specific type of magnetic ordering. Here, we investigate the appearance of AHC in antiperovskite materials family ANMn₃ (A = Ga, Sn, Ni), where different types of noncollinear magnetic ordering can emerge. Using symmetry analyses and first-principles density-functional theory calculations, we show that with almost …

Resistivity Arrays As An Early Warning System For Monitoring Runoff Holding Ponds, Bryan L. Woodbury, Roger A. Eigenberg, Trenton E. Franz

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Monitoring wells are installed to intercept contaminants inadvertently discharged from inground structures designed to retain salt-affected wastewaters; however, several difficulties with collection and data interpretation limit their effectiveness. Therefore, improved monitoring methods are needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of resistivity array technology as an early warning system to monitor for unintended basin discharge. Subsurface resistivity arrays were installed at two Nebraska sites: a beef cattle feedyard located at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center, Clay Center, Nebraska (FyA) and a commercial cattle feeding operation (FyB). Monitoring well data did not identify any unintended discharge …

Factors Influencing Ranchers’ Intentions To Manage For Vegetation Heterogeneity And Promote Cross-Boundary Management In The Northern Great Plains, Maggi S. Sliwinski, Mark E. Burbach, Larkin A. Powell, Walter H. Schacht

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Most private grasslands in the Great Plains are managed with the goal to optimize beef production, which tends to homogenize rangeland habitats. The subsequent loss of vegetation heterogeneity on private lands is detrimental to ecosystem function. However, conservation planners should understand the factors that lead to variation in management of rangelands. We used a mail survey targeted to ranchers in counties with intact rangeland in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska in 2016 to examine factors predicted to be related to attitudes about strategies leading to heterogeneity such as innovativeness and low risk aversion, and intended behaviors associated with creation …

Origin Of Enhanced Anisotropy In Fept-C Granular Films Revealed By Xmcd, Robert Streubel, Alpha T. N'Diaye, Kumar Srinivasan, Antony Ajan, Peter Fischer

Robert Streubel Papers

We study the effect of carbon segregants on the spin and orbital moments of L10 FePt granular media using x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectroscopy and report an effective decoupling of the structural film properties from the magnetic parameters of the grains. The carbon concentration reduces the grain size from (200 ± 160) nm2 down to (50 ± 20) nm2 for 40 mol. %C and improves sphericity and the order of grains, while preserving the crystalline order, spin and orbital moments, and perpendicular magnetocrystalline anisotropy. We identify the primary cause of enhanced saturation and coercive fields as the reduced demagnetization …

Fun In A Kansas Salt Mine, Robert F. Diffendal Jr.

Robert F. Diffendal, Jr., Publications

Most people probably do not know that salt deposits hundreds of feet thick lie buried beneath large parts of western Kansas, western Oklahoma and a small part of the northeastern Texas Panhandle. Native Americans and early European explorers found that where the salt deposits came near the land surface (for, example north of Hutchinson, Kansas) salt is dissolved by ground water and increases the salinity of rivers, streams, springs and ponds. This salty water was used as a salt source by these peoples. The Hutchinson Salt, a 275 million-year-old Middle Permian deposit, was discovered in an exploratory drill hole in …

Spatial And Temporal Distribution Of The Forensically Significant Blow Flies Of Los Angeles County, California, United States (Diptera: Calliphoridae), Royce T. Cumming

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

Forensic entomology although not a commonly used discipline in the forensic sciences, does have its niche and when used by investigators is respected in crinimolegal investigations (Greenberg and Kunich, 2005). With many species of forensically significant insects being regionally specific, it is often difficult for forensic entomologists to as confidently translate regionally specific studies across drastically differing geographic regions (Brundage, et al., 2011).

The purpose of this study is to help create a better temporal and geographic distributional understanding of the blow fly species present in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Twenty-five locations from four ecoregions (coastal mountains, urban, …

Search For W Boson Decays To Three Charged Pions, A. M. Sirunyan

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

For the first time, a search for the rare decay of the W boson to three charged pions has been performed. Proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 77.3 fb⁻¹, have been analyzed. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation. An upper limit of 1.01 × 10⁻⁶ is set at 95% confidence level on the branching fraction of the W boson to three charged pions. This provides a strong motivation for theoretical calculations of this branching fraction.

Jet Shapes Of Isolated Photon-Tagged Jets In Pb-Pb And Pp Collisions At √SNn=5.02 Tev, A. M. Sirunyan

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

The modification of jet shapes in Pb-Pb collisions, relative to those in pp collisions, is studied for jets associated with an isolated photon. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the LHC at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 5.02 TeV. Jet shapes are constructed from charged particles with track transverse momenta (p_T ) above 1 GeV/c in annuli around the axes of jets with p^jet_T > 30 GeV/c associated with an isolated photon with p^γ_T > 60 GeV/c. The jet shape distributions are consistent between peripheral Pb-Pb and pp collisions, …

Growth, Condition, And Trophic Relations Of Stocked Trout In Southern Appalachian Mountain Streams, Jesse R. Fischer, Thomas J. Kwak, H. Jared Flowers, W. Gregory Cope, Jacob M. Rash, Douglas A. Besler

United States Geological Survey: Staff Publications

Stream trout fisheries are among the most popular and valuable in the United States, but many are dependent on hatcheries to sustain fishing and harvest. Thus, understanding the ecology of hatchery‐reared trout stocked in natural environments is fundamental to management. We evaluated the growth, condition, and trophic relations of Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis, Brown Trout Salmo trutta, and Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss that were stocked in southern Appalachian Mountain streams in western North Carolina. Stocked and wild (naturalized) trout were sampled over time (monthly; September 2012–June 2013) to compare condition and diet composition and to evaluate temporal dynamics of trophic …

Cyanotech: A Strategic Audit, Trent Hoppe

Honors Theses

Microalgae is a fascinating group of organisms that possess a diverse array of interesting traits and benefits relevant to food, medicine, and biofuel. Extensive research behind the viability of microalgae to disrupt the market has sparked an emergent microalgae industry. Founded in 1983, one of the top microalgae companies in the world today is Cyanotech. With a 90-acre algae farm in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii and two flagship microalgae products that are world leaders in their categories, Cyanotech is well- positioned be setting the course for the industry and revolutionizing the use microalgae commercially. Despite these favorable attributes, Cyanotech has been trapped …