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Liver abscesses in feedlot cattle: further delineation of etiology and pathogenesis, and evaluations of potential antimicrobial alternatives for prevention
No full textDoctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Clinical SciencesRaghavendra G. AmachawadiLiver abscesses are a significant economic concern in feedlot cattle fed high-grain, low-roughage diets, with an estimated annual loss of over $60 million in the beef industry due to reduced feed efficiency, lower carcass value, and increased management costs. The primary causative agents of liver abscesses include Fusobacterium necrophorum subspecies (necrophorum and funduliforme), Trueperella pyogenes, and Salmonella enterica serotype Lubbock. These bacteria translocate from the rumen and hindgut to the liver via the portal vein, where they establish infections under anaerobic conditions. Although tylosin, a macrolide antibiotic, is commonly used in feed to reduce liver abscess prevalence, growing concerns over the emergence of antimicrobial resistance highlight the urgent need for alternative control strategies. This study aimed to investigate liver abscess pathogenesis and evaluate the antimicrobial potential of sorghum phenolics, other phytophenols, and probiotics as natural alternatives to antibiotics in feedlot cattle. To enhance understanding of liver abscess pathogenesis, the prevalence and tissue distribution of key pathogens were assessed. Results revealed that F. necrophorum subsp. necrophorum exhibited a high prevalence in liver abscesses (86.4%) compared to ruminal (6.25%) and colonic tissues (19.79%), whereas subsp. funduliforme was more prevalent in ruminal (41.66%) and colonic tissues (33.3%) than in liver abscesses (21.8%). T. pyogenes was predominantly isolated from liver abscesses (35.4%) and ruminal tissues (11.4%) but was absent in colonic tissues. Enrichment methods significantly improved the detection of these bacterial species. Probiotic culture supernatants, particularly from Lactobacillus helveticus, demonstrated strong antimicrobial activity, inhibiting the growth of F. necrophorum, T. pyogenes, and S. enterica. Similarly, phenolic extracts from grape seed, green tea, and rosemary exhibited dose-dependent inhibitory effects on these pathogens, with green tea phenolics showing the highest antimicrobial activity. Notably, green tea achieved minimum inhibitory concentrations of 6.25–12.5 µg/ml for T. pyogenes and demonstrated robust inhibition of both Fusobacterium subspecies and S. enterica. In addition, phenolic extracts from black and brown sumac sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) showed promising inhibitory effects on F. necrophorum and T. pyogenes, though they were less effective against S. enterica. These findings underscore the potential of probiotics such as L. helveticus and plant-derived phenolic compounds, particularly green tea and sorghum, as natural feed supplements for controlling liver abscesses in cattle. Future research should investigate the mechanisms of bacterial translocation from the rumen and hindgut to the liver, explore metagenomic approaches to elucidate the role of minor pathogens, and conduct in vivo studies to validate the efficacy of these alternatives. Such efforts will contribute to improving cattle health and mitigating economic losses in the beef production system
RPT118_2025_01
No full textK-State Research and Extension's program report for 2023-2024. This report to a variety of stakeholders illustrates the statewide extension work for the programming year
RPT116_2025_01
No full textThis informal report to the Kansas Legislature summarizes the wide-ranging impact of K-State Research and Extension in 2025, highlighting initiatives in agriculture, environmental stewardship, public health, and community development across Kansas
Investigating Darting Responses During Active Avoidance Learning in Rats
No full textMaria M. DiehlPrevious research has shown that anxiety-related disorders, like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), social anxiety, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), affect women more than men. Excessive fear and avoidance are common symptoms of these disorders, and studying these behaviors in rodents helps us gain a better understanding of these maladaptive behaviors. In rodent studies, fear responses are typically measured with “freezing,” depicted by no movement except for breathing. However, recent research has identified another fear-related behavior called “darting”, which is characterized by a rapid movement across the chamber reaching a velocity of greater than 23.5 cm/s and lasting a maximum of 1 second. Studies have reported that female rats exhibit four times more darting than male rats during fear conditioning, but this behavior has not yet been studied in the context of active avoidance tasks. In our lab, we use the platform-mediated active avoidance task (PMA) in which a rat learns to avoid a tone-signaled footshock by stepping onto a safe platform while also forgoing access to a food reward across 10 days of training. Most prior studies have used the PMA task when the animal learns alone. Our lab has recently modified this task to include a social condition where rats can learn the task together in a chamber divided by a transparent barrier, which is called social partner PMA. Each rat has access to their own platform, lever, and food dish. The main goal of my project was to determine whether darting is a common response under social vs. solitary PMA conditions and if females also exhibit darting more than males during PMA. Additionally, I assessed whether darting was correlated with other behaviors during PMA, such as freezing, time on the platform during the tone, and lever-pressing during the ITI
A Carpentries Collaboration: Teaching Foundational Coding and Data Science Skills to Researchers
No full textMany researchers, particularly graduate students, lack the skills needed to do computational, data-intensive research. These skills are often not included as a part of basic research training in many disciplines. Carpentries workshops can help fill this need by teaching foundational coding and data science skills to researchers, employing openly available lessons and ‘code with me’ pedagogy. This session will present a case study in how, with the support of the Great Plains Network’s Carpentries Instructors Mentoring, Kansas State University has established a cross-disciplinary community of interest to offer Carpentries Workshops to researchers on campus and with USDA partners
Design of ultra-narrowband Q-enhanced LNAs
No full textMaster of ScienceDepartment of Electrical and Computer EngineeringDon M. GruenbacherModern-day radio receivers operate in environments that are becoming increasingly dense with RF signals. As the density of the radio spectrum increases, receivers must be able to maintain successful operation despite these potential interfering signals. Two issues facing modern-day radio receivers are signal blocking issues, and the generation of intermodulation products in the LNA. These issues stem from entire bands reaching the LNA, as the power level of the signals within the service band may differ widely. This can cause the LNA to compress before a desired low-power signal receives the full gain of the LNA or allow two moderate-power signals to mix and generate an intermodulation product that is located at the same frequency of a desired low-power signal.
This thesis focuses on the design, simulation, and testing of a new radio receiver architecture, using an ultra-narrowband Q-enhanced LNA, which aims to address these issues. The design is based on the fundamentals of regenerative receivers, using controlled positive feedback for control of the gain and bandwidth of the filter response. Furthermore, gain, bandwidth, and filter center frequency can be automatically tuned with the addition of an auto-tuning algorithm running on a microcontroller.
Two different designs were realized, one at the board level for FM radio, the other at the chip-level for use with 802.11ax, known as Wi-Fi 6, at 2.4 GHz. This thesis details the design of the core building blocks used in an ultra-narrowband Q-enhanced LNA, including the core amplifiers, buffers, matching networks, feedback networks, and auto-tuning algorithm. The results of both physical testing and simulation are also presented, and are used to verify that the design addresses both signal blocking and intermodulation product issues
Branching Out Of Grief: Ada Limón Navigating Grief Through The Use Of Trees
No full textKirmser Undergraduate Research Award - Individual Freshman category, grand prizeWendy MatlockIn her poetry collection, Bright Dead Things, Ada Limón features tragic memories and feelings from her childhood and adulthood. Most scholars have further delved into Limón's connection with her emotions and nature in her entire collection of poetry. Some scholars think that Limón connects her works through the use of nature being affected by human emotions while others believe Limón uses the environment around herself to work through her grief and find joy. I expect to find a connection between these two arguments to provide a clearer interpretation of how Limón uses strong emotions such as grief and joy to better understand the overlooked details of the trees she encounters and works through periods of adversity in her life
Linking Diversity–Productivity Conditions of Farming Systems with the Well-Being of Agricultural Communities
No full textAgricultural diversity, productivity, and human well-being have been popular topics in recent decades, partly fueled by our quest for sustainability. However, the exact nature of the interconnections among these global priorities remains an area yet to be fully understood and explored. We contribute to this literature by examining how community well-being interacts with distinct levels of diversity and productivity in cropping systems across multiple U.S. communities. Using data at the county-level from 2010 to 2019, we first analyze how well-being varies across communities that differ in their levels of crop diversity and productivity. Then, we investigate how well-being varies across both diversity–productivity characteristics and farming intensity levels. We employ mapping techniques in conjunction with descriptive statistics to uncover and visualize patterns in well-being across contexts. Study findings show a consistent pattern of high levels of well-being across most diversity–productivity categories, with the notable exception of areas that are both highly diverse and highly productive. In addition, places with substantial commercial operations, and where agriculture contributes greatly to overall GDP and employment generally appears to have higher well-being scores compared to other places. Our analysis also reveals that there is more variability in the index of community well-being within each group than across groups of counties. Overall, the results suggest that the differences in community well-being are not solely determined by agricultural indicators, such as diversity–productivity characteristics and farming intensity levels, but also depend on contextual factors, such as social infrastructure, non-agricultural job opportunities, or local economic diversification
The Implications of Setting in Zadie Smith's Wife of Willesden
No full textKirmser Undergraduate Research Award - Continued Research category, honorable mentionWendy MatlockAfter the borough of Brent won London Borough of Culture in 2020, celebrated contemporary English author, Zadie Smith, was selected to commemorate Brent through a work of literature. She chose to adapt a 14th century poem, The Wife of Bath, by the “Father of English Literature,” Geoffery Chaucer, into a play, The Wife of Willesden. Smith's masterful subversion of setting in her play reflects the current multiculturalism of Brent through an adaptation of the centuries old text. Placing The Wife of Willesden in pre-abolition Jamaica transforms the narrative, themes and subtext of Chaucer’s original. Through an exploration of Jamaican folklore and major historical events, such as the Windrush scandal, the adaptation proves to be a story created to celebrate and understand contemporary concepts of cultural identity, intersectionality, and immigration all through Smith’s masterful subversion of setting
“Am I one of them ones”: autoethnographic reflections of an African American administrator on educational reform in predominantly White communities
No full textDoctor of EducationDepartment of Educational LeadershipSean 'Alex' A. Red CornHere I offer a critical autoethnography as an African American Male who has engaged in various forms of educational reform in predominantly White communities. My personal stories will take you on a journey of my life and career in education as a teacher and leader through counter-storytelling with a focus on my experiences in administrative positions. Using critical race theory, along with diversity and reform frameworks found in the Kansas State Department of Education to guide my self-analysis, I offer stories which highlight my unique perspectives as a leader. While this story began with a specific focus on educational reform in Kansas, it ultimately evolved into a more personal story of growth and self-awareness which culminates with my reaction to a question posed by Gloria Ladson-Billings (2023) during a Keynote address: “Are you one of them ones?