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IMPACTS OF INTENSIFYING A CORN-SOYBEAN ROTATION WITH WINTER WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM) ON NUTRIENT LEACHING, PLANT AVAILABLE NUTRIENTS, CROP YIELDS, AND NITROGEN DYNAMICS IN SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
Get PDFThe Midwestern United States is a nationally and globally important producer of agricultural products and uses intensive practices to achieve high grain yields. However, intensive agriculture is a major contributor of nitrogen and phosphorus export to the Mississippi River and the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Cover cropping is a recommended conservation practice for providing soil cover throughout the winter and taking up nutrients that may otherwise be lost in bare fallow systems, but the associated costs limit widespread adoption of this practice. Double cropping, which involves growing two crops in one year, is functionally similar to cover cropping and can be harvested for an additional income, but the water quality impacts of applying fertilizer to maximize yields and the systemic impacts of intensification with another crop on corn-soybean rotations are not well understood. This two-year, plot scale study in Carbondale, Illinois was designed to assess nutrient leaching, referring to nitrate-N, ammonium-N, and dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP), nutrient availability, and crop yields when using bare fallow, cereal rye (Secale cereale) cover crops, or winter wheat (Triticum aestivum) double crops with varying nitrogen fertilizer rates and timings in the winter seasons of corn-soybean rotations. Four blocks with randomly assigned treatments comprised of two treatment factors were used. These treatment factors included rotations with either bare fallow or cover crops in alternate winters and winter wheat fertilizer management intensity with a high fertilizer treatment level, grower recommended rates applied at planting, tillering, and jointing, a medium fertilizer treatment level, grower recommended rates applied at tillering and jointing, a low fertilizer treatment level, with reduced nitrogen rates applied at tillering and jointing, and a no fertilizer treatment level, which was used as either corn-soybean or corn-cover crop-soybean-cover crop control. Additional nutrient inputs from fertilizers in the winter wheat seasons did not significantly increase nitrate-N, ammonium-N, or DRP leaching in the 2021-2022 winter wheat sampling season and nitrate-N and ammonium-N leaching was significantly less in some or all the winter wheat plots compared to the control plots. Winter wheat yields and nitrogen uptake in 2022 were significantly greater in medium fertilizer plots while yield-based nitrogen leaching and partial nitrogen balances were significantly greater in high fertilizer treatments, indicating that delayed fertilization in winter wheat can improve nitrogen use efficiency and yields. Soybean yields were significantly greater in plots without winter wheat due to a longer growing season, but plant available ammonium-N concentrations, which were greater in winter wheat plots, also had a significant negative relationship with soybean yields, indicating that this may have impeded biological nitrogen fixation. Using cover crops in alternate winters reduced nitrate-N leaching by 106% and plant available nitrate-N concentrations by 107% in the season as well as the subsequent corn season by 66% and 90%, respectively, compared to the bare fallow plots, and the decreased plant available nitrate-N concentrations in cover crop plots caused a 6% yield penalty in the corn harvest. Despite yield penalties to cash crops from winter crops, the use of double crops was the only factor that significantly impacted total crop yields. The use of cover crops in alternate winters was the most significant factor in nutrient leaching, demonstrating that these practices can be used to increase total crop yields without contributing significantly to nutrient export. For farmers concerned with the costs of cover cropping, double cropping is a practice that can provide some of the same ecosystem services while also providing an additional financial incentive
Individual Differences In Perceptions Of Organizational Career Culture: A Fit Theory Perspective
Get PDFAttracting and retaining talent has been one of the most critical elements for business success. As organizations have different cultures within themselves, the organizational career culture communicates the organizational beliefs and practices valued for career success through organizational signals about career priorities. Using a scenario-based study, we explore individual preferences regarding four career cultures built on two dimensions of career signals: assimilation versus differentiation and intrinsic versus extrinsic rewards. We choose group beliefs, desirability of control, competitiveness, and protean career orientation as important traits because they clearly relate to the career signals and fit nicely in the organization’s career cultures. We found that individuals with high group beliefs perceived significantly higher person-organization fit and attraction, and marginally significantly higher career culture fit in cultures with high assimilation and intrinsic rewards. Individuals high in the desirability of control perceived higher career culture fit in Prestige career cultures (high in both assimilation and extrinsic rewards). High competitive individuals perceived higher career culture fit in cultures high in extrinsic rewards. Lastly, individuals high in protean career orientation had no perceived preferences regarding the two dimensions. The findings are important for both companies and individuals. Companies can create a unique culture that communicates the critical organizational processes and strategic outcomes to gain a competitive advantage while improving the general organizational culture with motivated employees with a favorable view of the organization. The present research provides an essential foundation for the future, offering critical insights and motivating future investigations to enrich the literature on organizational career culture and personality research
The Effects of Pre-K on Emergent Literacy Skills in Rural Diverse Kindergarten Students
Get PDFAN ABSTRACT OF THE CAPSTONE REPORT OF
Kari Kilquist, for the Doctor of Education degree in Educational Administration, presented on March 5, 2024, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Title: The Effects of Pre-Kindergarten on Emergent Literacy Skills on Rural Diverse Kindergarten Students
Major Professor: Dr. Saran Donahoo
This study aims to investigate the influence of diverse public and private Pre-K programs on the development of emergent literacy skills in kindergarten students. Recognizing the pivotal role of early childhood experiences in shaping lifelong outcomes, the research attempts to discover the efficacy of current pre-kindergarten programs in promoting early literacy competencies for kindergarten readiness. This study explores the impact of various pre-kindergarten settings with approaches to literacy instruction. Through data analysis, the research seeks to identify programs that prepare students for kindergarten while also investigating the correlation between the duration of pre-kindergarten programs and emergent literacy scores upon entry into kindergarten. The findings of this study aim to contribute valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and stakeholders involved in early childhood education, ultimately informing the enhancement of pre-kindergarten programs to better support children\u27s emergent literacy development
Data Set for Using an Internal Body Residue Approach to Assess Acute Pesticide Toxicity in Juvenile Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
No full textThis spreadsheet is a compilation of the data sets corresponding to the following manuscript: Using an internal body residue approach to assess acute pesticide toxicity in juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), Kara E. Huff Hartz, Katie J. Knaub, Md. Habibullah-Al-Mamun, Richard E. Connon, Greg W. Whitledge, Amélie Segarra, Michael J. Lydy published in Environmental Pollution, 2024, 1 April 2024,12336
Code/Result Files for Mexican Gyrinicola Description
Get PDFThe data set contains code/results files in a .pdf format for a paper describing a Gyrinicola from Mexico for future publication
THE EFFECT OF ALTITUDE ON DECOMPOSITION: TOWARD AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE POSTMORTEM INTERVAL IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION OF COLORADO.
Get PDFThe estimation of postmortem interval (PMI) is a critical component of medicolegal death investigation. An accurate PMI estimate has the potential to influence the allocation of investigative resources, establish the probative value of associated biological and material evidence, shape the analytical framework applied to skeletal analysis, and inform cause and manner of death. Forensic anthropologists are often tasked with PMI estimation throughout all stages of decomposition and typically rely on categorical phases of soft tissue and skeletal change purported to correspond to broad estimates of elapsed time. In an attempt to improve precision, Megyesi et al. (2005) developed the Total Body Score model (TBS). This quantitative method relies on qualitative assessment of value-assigned categories of tissue change within three anatomical regions to estimate accumulated degree days (ADD), and subsequently, PMI. However, the TBS model has failed to prove reliable in a diversity of region-specific validation studies, emphasizing the need for environment-specific research in taphonomy study. Toward that end, the rate, pattern, and trajectory of decomposition was assessed among a cohort of 12 human donors in the high-altitude Rocky Mountain region of Colorado. This research was performed at Colorado Mesa University’s Forensic Investigation Research Station high-altitude satellite facility, FIRS-TB40. The site lies at an elevation of 3000 meters/9840 feet above mean sea level (AMSL), in the Dfc (snow, fully humid, cool summer) climate region. With both significantly higher elevation and an unrepresented climate classification, FIRS-TB40 introduces a novel environment for the controlled study of human decomposition. This quadripartite study sought to (1) test the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the TBS model in a high-altitude environment to assess suitability of application in the estimation of local PMI; (2) test seven atmospheric variables to assess the utility of integrating atmospheric data beyond ADD into PMI estimation; (3) establish the rate and pattern of human decomposition, isolate and describe phasic patterns of soft tissue change throughout the trajectory of decomposition, and (4) develop a region specific bioecological profile with an emphasis on the integration of human behavior.Results: (1) Neither the qualitative or quantitative aspects of the TBS model tested well at high-altitude and are therefore not recommended for application within the study environment. The qualitative changes presented in the TBS model were not observed among the high-altitude cohort. While Megyesi et al. report that time and temperature - as measured by ADD - accounts for 84% of the variance observed throughout decomposition, ADD accounted for only 42% of the variance observed in decomposition within the high-altitude cohort. (2) Seven atmospheric variables were assessed using locally estimated scatterplot smoothing (LOESS) and multivariate regression. Two of these variables - accumulated solar radiation days (r2 = 0.67) and accumulated windspeed days (r2 = 0.65) – explained more variance in decomposition than ADD (r2 = 64). (3) Five categories of phasic, macroscopic soft tissue change, the suite of which is inferred unique to high-altitude, were identified. These include adipocere formation, trajectory of soft tissue color change, fluid bloat, tissue island formation, and skin sloughing. Patterns of slope roll and slope wash were also described to inform the local taphonomic profile. (4) A forensic bioecological profile was developed using empirically derived patterns of scavenger behavior, census and land use data, extant ethnographic data, and forensic case study. Analysis demonstrated that the data sources were cyclically informative and sufficient to develop an early phase foundational model that will benefit from future interdisciplinary research.Summarily, the high-altitude region of Colorado is culturally and environmentally distinct. The observed disparity in rate and pattern of human decomposition between the high-altitude cohort and the TBS model, and the inadequacy of ADD alone to predict PMI are demonstrative of the need for environment-specific model building in human taphonomy research
Smoke and Mirrors: Exploring Stigma in the Cannabis Industry
No full textThis dissertation explores cannabis industry workers’ experiences of stigmatization. I conducted 23 interviews over a period of seven months with people who had been or were currently employed in the state-legal cannabis industry. I thematically analyzed and organized participant responses around significant moments of concept formation and understanding about cannabis. Participants shared first-time stories which served as initial encounters with either cannabis itself or the stigmatizing attitudes that sometimes surrounded it. There were discussions of how friends, family, and adults in general talked about cannabis and the impact that talk had on participants’ own attitudes toward cannabis. Perhaps most importantly, participants shared and described strategies for managing cannabis industry stigma. The interviews are presented within the context of an account of the contemporary social environment surrounding cannabis. The result of a long and political history rife with larger-than-life real world and fictional characters alike, much of our understanding of cannabis is influenced by the way it has been treated over the past century. As our collective discussion about the legitimacy of drug prohibition gains momentum, there is a growing need to consider the unintended social and material consequences that may beset those who would consider deriving their livelihood from these developing industries. Industry regulators, state representatives, company owners, and the industry as a whole must make efforts to support the needs of the growing workforce and reduce barriers to entry
IDENTITY MANIFESTATIONS IN FIRST-YEAR COMPOSITION: A CONTENT ANALYSIS STUDY
No full textThis dissertation examines the integral role of identity in first-year composition, a crucial site of writing instruction predominantly taught by contingent, often inexperienced faculty. It explores how identity is manifested in composition textbooks, which are pivotal in transmitting knowledge about writing and pedagogy across various programs nationwide. Utilizing established identity theory, this project aims to establish a baseline for future research in identity and writing development. Chapter 2 lays the theoretical groundwork, drawing on the works of Gee, Ivanič, Matsuda, and Hyland to offer a comprehensive understanding of identity in writing. It explores generalized definitions of identity, delving deeper into its nuanced role in first-year writing classrooms. The chapter justifies the focus on identity due to its significant influence on the writing process and composition. The literature review in Chapter 2 synthesizes prominent theories, including Gee\u27s Identity as Discourse and Community, Matsuda\u27s Identity as Voice, Ivanič\u27s perspective on Identity and Writing, and Hyland\u27s concept of Academic Disciplinary Identity. This review also establishes key terminology such as discourse, voice, literacy, ideology, and identity, crucial for the study\u27s context. Chapter 3 details the methodology, introducing the Textbook Identity Analysis. This case study, using corpus linguistics software, analyzes key terms within the Norton Field Guide to Writing 4e with Readings. Drawing on Gee\u27s How to do Discourse Analysis, the method provides a baseline framework focusing on identity. Chapter 4 is divided into two sections for systematic data presentation and analysis. Chapter 4a focuses on the relationship between identity and literacy in the Norton Field Guide, examining their intersection and impact on first-year composition students. Chapter 4b shifts to analyzing discourse, ideology, and voice within the same textbook, exploring their implications on student writing experiences. Finally, Chapter 5 evaluates the findings, assessing the effectiveness on how identity manifests in the Norton Field Guide, and how the study could be applied to other texts, groups of texts, and fields of scholarship. It synthesizes the key insights, overarching themes, and implications of the study. This chapter provides practical insights for instructors and outlines future research, emphasizing a shift toward identity in future first-year composition texts
ENHANCING DELIVERY LOGISTICS USING BLOCKCHAIN AND MACHINE LEARNING / SMART DELIVERY QUEST
No full textIn the rapidly evolving landscape of delivery logistics, the integration of cutting-edge technologies such as Blockchain, Machine Learning (ML), and Swarm Robotics stands at the forefront of innovation, promising to revolutionize the way businesses manage and execute deliveries. This thesis explores the synergistic potential of these technologies to optimize delivery logistics, ensuring efficiency, security, and reliability in the supply chain. At the heart of our investigation is Machine Learning, which facilitates advanced demand forecasting and dynamic route optimization. Through the analysis of vast datasets encompassing sales, weather, and traffic conditions, ML algorithms predict delivery demands with unprecedented accuracy, enabling logistics companies to allocate resources effectively and navigate complex urban environments optimally. Blockchain technology introduces a layer of transparency and security, particularly in transaction management and data integrity. By leveraging smart contracts, the delivery process is automated, from payment processing to real-time delivery confirmations, fostering trust among all stakeholders and significantly reducing the potential for disputes and fraud. Swarm Robotics, inspired by the collective behavior of natural systems, offers a scalable and flexible solution for the physical execution of deliveries. Through decentralized control and simple local rules, a fleet of autonomous drones or robots collaborates to perform delivery tasks efficiently, adapting to dynamic environmental conditions without central oversight. The combination of these technologies heralds a new era in delivery logistics, where Machine Learning\u27s predictive power, Blockchain\u27s security, and Swarm Robotics\u27 operational efficiency converge to create a robust, adaptable, and future-proof delivery ecosystem. Through theoretical exploration, system design, and empirical analysis, this thesis proposes a comprehensive framework that not only addresses current logistical challenges but also anticipates future developments in the field. This research contributes to the academic and practical understanding of how Blockchain, Machine Learning, and Swarm Robotics can collectively enhance delivery logistics. It offers valuable insights for logistics companies seeking to innovate their operations, policymakers aiming to regulate emerging technologies, and researchers exploring the intersection of technology and supply chain management. Ultimately, this thesis lays the groundwork for a smarter, more connected, and efficient delivery system, paving the way for the seamless integration of technology into the fabric of global commerce