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Analysis of SDI Strategies, Water Use, Water Productivity, Corn Yield, and Soil Water Model
Get PDFDeclining groundwater in the Central Great Plains is pressing producers to look for more efficient irrigation methods than the traditional center‐pivot sprinkler and linear systems. Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) can be a viable alternative when water is limited, or irrigation capacity is insufficient in conventional methods. However, the irrigation system does not guarantee all the potential benefits; adequate design and management are also required. The research was conducted at Kansas State University Northwest Research and Extension Center in Colby, KS, during the 2023 growing season to evaluate irrigation strategies, water use, water productivity, and corn yield as well as to simulate and calibrate the soil water redistribution model. Irrigation strategies were combinations of irrigation frequency/timing (weekly or bi-weekly) applied pre- and post-silking. Irrigation levels were 100%, 85%, 75%, and 65% of calculated well-watered ET minus rain. Average irrigation amounts ranged from 6.9 to 11.2 inches. Hybrid maturity was 112 days, planted at 28,000 seeds/a. Corn yields were slightly affected by irrigation strategies, ranging from 195.8 to 202.3 bu/a
Reframing and Advancing Academic Mentorship to Support New and Early Career Faculty Members
Get PDFMentorship is critical to fostering professional growth and career development in academia. However, academic mentorship is often an informal activity that is overlooked and under researched. There is much ambiguity and uncertainty surrounding mentorship roles and strategies in academia. This paper provides recommendations and strategies to reframe and advance academic mentorship to support new and early career faculty
Relationship Between Grocery Shopping and Meal Preparation Self-Efficacy and Household Food Insecurity Among Food Pantry Clients
Get PDFPrior research has focused on various social determinants of health as risk factors to food insecurity. Less work has focused on modifiable behaviors. This study examined the relationship between grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy and food insecurity among food pantry clients. Surveys were used to collect the data from 10 food pantries in Atlanta, Georgia and 10 food pantries in Houston, Texas in 2022. Food insecurity status was ascertained by 3 affirmative responses on the 18-item USDA Food Security Scale Module. A total score of affirmative responses to 6-items each on a 1= not all confident to 4 = very confident scale was used to measure grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy. Covariate-adjusted logistic regression models were conducted to examine the relationship between grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy and food insecurity among the full sample. Standard errors in all regression models were corrected to account for multiple observations within a pantry. On average, participants (N=1,219) were 56 years old and had a grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy total score of 20.73 (SD=3.35) out of 24.00. Over half of the sample experienced food insecurity (57%). For each unit increase in grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy, food pantry clients experienced 7% lower odds of experiencing food insecurity (95% CI: 0.89-0.97). The findings hold when the models were stratified by sex. The results suggest interventions to improve grocery shopping and meal preparation self-efficacy may help reduce food insecurity
The Role of Teacher Education in Improving Digital Literacy: A Pre-Service Teacher Case Study
Get PDFTechnology is crucial for teaching and learning in the 21st century. However, many pre-service teachers (PSTs) feel unprepared to utilize digital literacy (DL) in their future classes. This study explored PST’s perceptions of their DL knowledge and the perceived impact of their teacher education programs through a qualitative bounded case study method. Participants for this study were three PSTs engaged in a technology integration course at a land grant university in the northwestern US. Participants engaged in recorded one-on-one semi-structured interviews to learn about their perceptions and readiness for DL. The findings indicate that while PSTs were aware of DL, they lacked confidence in their ability to teach it. The study identified four critical themes related to the PSTs\u27 perspectives on DL: concerns, challenges, advantages, and future decisions. The prioritization of DL training in teacher education programs and the reconsideration of engaging technology-related courses by universities and policymakers are recommended
Designing in Circles, Conversing in Triangles, Dressing in Squares: Evolving the Academic Dress of the University of Sussex, 1958–1963
No full textThe University of Sussex was the first of seven Plateglass Universities created in England during a major expansion of higher education following the Second World War. Paradoxically, the determined modernist outlook of the foundation led to a reimagining of some of the oldest elements of academic costume. With this unorthodoxy came startling departures from the parameters then obtaining, notably an unmistakable bachelors’ hood with a lining of grey fur squares, the allocation of a pileus for officials and holders of higher doctorates, and the discarding of scarlet or claret robes in favour of innovative designs in vivid shades of yellow. This eccentricity attracted opprobrium, speculation, bewilderment, and several urban myths, although its indebtedness to older models was frequently asserted. Influences on Hargreaves-Mawdsley’s original scheme are here posited and discussed for the first time, especially his unique reinterpretation of heraldic furs, and the iconographic medieval glass in the Chapel of Merton College, Oxford.
This complex gestation and development is explored through unpublished material held at the extensive archives of The Keep, Brighton, including many rare examples of animated correspondence in the notoriously challenging handwriting of Charles Franklyn. These have been deciphered as far as possible, and the majority presented in full
Erratum: Information and Communication Technology Use Capacity Within Extension Networks: Development and Preliminary Validation of an Empirical Scale
Get PDFCorrection: The DOI of the article Lamm, K. W., Davis, K., Sanders, C. E., & Powell, A. (2021). Information and Communication Technology Use Capacity Within Extension Networks: Development and Preliminary Validation of an Empirical Scale. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 28(4)” was incorrect as published. The correct DOI is: 10.5191/jiaee.2021.2840
Erratum: Model of Success: Extension Services Helping Ugandan Youth Find A Career in Agriculture
Get PDFCorrection: The DOI of the article Lamm, K. W., Mulvaney, C., Lamm, A. J., Davis, K., Masambuka-Kanchewa, F., & Nahdy, S. (2021). Model of Success: Extension Services Helping Ugandan Youth Find A Career in Agriculture. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 28(3), 7-13” was incorrect as published. The correct DOI is: 10.5191/jiaee.2021.2830
Characterization of Disabilities Among Young Farmers in Uganda
Get PDFIt is essential for Agricultural and Extension Educators to understand the challenges facing all the individuals they serve; therefore, this study examined the characteristics of young farmers with disabilities in Northern and Eastern Uganda. The objectives were to determine disability demographics and the relationship between major causes of disability by type and age. The study used a comparative- cross-sectional research design involving 388 young farmers with disabilities in Uganda. The sample selection strategies involved the use of a stratified, random and criterion purposive sampling techniques. Descriptive statistics and chi square tests were used in analysing data. The findings indicated many young farmers with disabilities are male, 20 to 29 years old, married, and attained a primary school education. Most households had at least one person with a disability. Many young farmers have an innate disability and experience moderate to severe limitations in daily life activities. Most disabilities were linked with loss of limbs among those aged 20 to 29 years. However, there were statistically significant associations between the types of disabilities among young farmers across the various age categories. Disability statistics could guide interventions for minimizing disability rates and provisions for assistive devices for individuals with disabilities
Effects of Butyrate-Based Feed Additives on Nursery Pig Performance, Fecal Consistency, Blood Criteria, and Short Chain Fatty Acid Production
Get PDFA total of 300 pigs (241 × 600, DNA, initially 12.2 lb) were used to evaluate the effects of butyrate-based feed additives on nursery pig performance, fecal consistency, blood criteria, and short chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration in the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and cecum. At weaning, pigs were allotted to one of six dietary treatments based on initial body weight. There were five pigs per pen and 10 replications per treatment. Dietary treatments were arranged in a one-way treatment structure consisting of a negative control, a positive control, and four additional diets containing various butyrate- based feed additives. The negative control was a standard corn-soybean meal-based diet with no antibiotics or pharmacological levels of Zn or Cu. The positive control contained 3,000 and 2,000 ppm of Zn from ZnO in phase 1 and 2 respectively, and 250 ppm of Cu from CuSO4 in phase 3. The positive control also contained 55 ppm of carbadox (Mecadox; Phibro Animal Health Corp., Teaneck, NJ) across all three phases. The four butyrate-based feed additives were added at 0.1% to the negative control diet and consisted of encapsulated butyrate, monobutyrin, mono + tributyrin, and tributyrin (Eastman Chemical, Kingsport, TN). The mono + tributyrin additive contained 71.5% monobutyrin and 28.5% tributyrin. Pigs were fed phase 1 diets for 10 d (d 0 to 10), phase 2 diets for 14 days (d 10 to 24), and phase 3 diets for 14 d (d 24 to 38). Overall (d 0 to 38), pigs fed the positive control had increased (P \u3c 0.05) ADG and ADFI compared to the other treatments. In addition, pigs fed mono + tributyrin had improved (P \u3c 0.05) F/G compared to pigs fed monobutyrin with other treatments intermediate. There was a treatment × day interaction (P = 0.042) for fecal DM where on d 5, there were no differences in fecal DM between treatments (P \u3e 0.10); however, on d 10, pigs fed the positive control had increased (P \u3c 0.05) fecal DM compared to all other treatments. On d 38, pigs fed encapsulated butyrate had increased (P \u3c 0.05) haptoglobin concentration compared to pigs fed the positive control with the other treatments intermediate. There was a treatment × day interaction observed (P \u3c 0.001) for vitamin E where pigs fed tributyrin had higher (P \u3c 0.05) vitamin E concentration on d 10 compared to pigs fed the negative control, the positive control, and monobutyrin with the other treatments intermediate, and no differences observed on d 38. Pigs fed mono + tributyrin had higher (P \u3c 0.05) butyrate concentrations in the cecum compared to pigs fed the negative control with all other treatments intermediate. In summary, nursery pigs fed pharmacological levels of Zn and Cu along with carbadox improved growth performance as expected. Various butyrate-based feed additives had similar effects on nursery pig performance and SCFA in the small intestine. However, mono + tributyrin was associated with higher butyrate levels in cecum, potentially benefiting the epithelial cells
Effects of Standardized Ileal Digestible Threonine to Lysine Ratio on Finishing Pig Growth Performance
Get PDFThe objective of these experiments was to evaluate the effect of varying SID Thr:Lys ratios on growth performance of growing and finishing pigs. In each experiment, pens of pigs were blocked by BW and barn, and randomly assigned to one of six dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with nine or 10 pigs per pen and 11 or 12 replications per treatment. A similar number of barrows and gilts were placed in each pen. In exp. 1, 684 pigs (DNA 600 × 241: initially 82.5 ± 2.99 lb) were used in two separate studies, lasting 35 and 28 d, respectively. In exp. 2, 662 pigs (600 × 241, DNA; initially 212.1 ± 2.29 lb) were used in two separate 28-d studies. Dietary treatments were corn-soybean meal-based and formulated with increasing SID Thr:Lys ratios of 53, 58, 63, 68, 73, and 78%. Diets with the lowest and highest Thr:Lys ratios were blended to achieve the target SID Thr:Lys treatments. The same set of pigs was used for the early and late trials and between experiments, all pens of pigs were fed a common diet for 28 d. In exp. 1, ADG and final BW increased (quadratic, P ≤ 0.025) with increasing SID Thr:Lys ratio with little improvement beyond the 63% SID Thr:Lys. Increasing Thr:Lys ratio improved (quadratic, P = 0.041) F/G ratio, appearing to have little improvement beyond 58% SID Thr:Lys. The quadratic polynomial (QP) model suggested that ADG was maximized at 69.0% SID Thr:Lys, while a similar fitting broken-line linear (BLL) model predicted no further improvement beyond 60.9%. For F/G, the QP model suggested minimum F/G was achieved at 74.3% SID Thr:Lys, while similar fitting BLL and BLQ models predicted no further improvement to F/G beyond 55.3 and 63.9%, respectively. In exp. 2, final BW tended to increase (quadratic, P = 0.061) with increasing SID Thr:Lys ratio and ADG increased (linear, P = 0.035; quadratic, P = 0.063), with the greatest numeric response between 63 and 68% SID Thr:Lys. Increasing SID Thr:Lys ratio improved (quadratic, P = 0.048) F/G up to 58 to 68% SID Thr:Lys ratio. Additionally, serum urea N decreased (linear, P = 0.016) with increasing SID Thr:Lys ratio. The QP model suggested that ADG was maximized at 70.3% SID Thr:Lys, while a similar fitting BLL model predicted no further improvement to ADG beyond 61.2%. For F/G, the QP model suggested minimum F/G was achieved at 68.7% SID Thr:Lys, while a similar fitting BLL model predicted no further improvement to F/G beyond 57%, respectively. In conclusion, the statistical models predict a wide range of SID Thr:Lys ratios to establish a requirement estimate for the different response criteria. However, for 82 to 154 lb pigs, there was little improvement in growth performance beyond a Thr:Lys ratio of 63%. For 212 to 265 lb pigs, the requirement estimate appeared to be between 63 and 68% Thr:Lys ratio. These results would suggest a similar requirement compared to our previous work in a commercial setting, based on SID Thr intake/d and SID Thr intake/kg of gain (Royall et al., 2023)