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Title: Integrated pest management strategies for control of potato early die in Michigan potato systems
Creator: Cole, Emilie
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Root lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus penetrans) in conjunction with the fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae create the disease complex, potato early die, which can drastically reduce potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) yields. In Michigan, this disease complex is often managed using broad-spectrum soil fumigants such as methyl bromide, metam sodium and 1,3- dichloropropene, which can be harmful to applicators as well as soil and environmental health. Since the phase-out of methyl bromide in 2005,...
Show moreRoot lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus penetrans) in conjunction with the fungal pathogen Verticillium dahliae create the disease complex, potato early die, which can drastically reduce potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) yields. In Michigan, this disease complex is often managed using broad-spectrum soil fumigants such as methyl bromide, metam sodium and 1,3- dichloropropene, which can be harmful to applicators as well as soil and environmental health. Since the phase-out of methyl bromide in 2005, alternative control tactics to soil fumigants have become increasingly important to potato growers. In this thesis I investigated the use of (1) manures and manure-based composts and (2) non-fumigant nematicides and fungal-based biocontrols and their efficacy in reducing potato early die incidence. In laboratory trials, poultry manure and a blend of poultry and dairy manure compost (Layer Ash Blend) provided significant control of root lesion nematodes with 0% survivorship at rates of 5% (vol/vol) or higher. In field trials, I did not observe significant (P < 0.05) reductions in nematode populations regardless of treatment but did see a reduction in germinating V. dahliae microsclerotia in plots treated with poultry manure. Of the nematicides tested, Salibro treatments significantly reduced root lesion nematode and V. dahliae populations. From this research, it is clear that non-fumigant alternatives are possible for Michigan potato growers.
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Title: Affective aesthetics and the social politics of Neoliberalism in New Extremism cinema
Creator: Clark, Cameron
Date: 2017
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This thesis investigates the aesthetics of transgression in New Extremism cinema for the ways in which they inform, and are mutually informed by, neoliberal affect and social politics. Although negative affect and spectatorial embodiment are often central to critical discourse on New Extremism, this thesis instead attends to the interlocking aesthetic, narrative, and spatio-temporal expressions of affect as they correlate with neoliberal politics of respectability and reproduction. By...
Show moreThis thesis investigates the aesthetics of transgression in New Extremism cinema for the ways in which they inform, and are mutually informed by, neoliberal affect and social politics. Although negative affect and spectatorial embodiment are often central to critical discourse on New Extremism, this thesis instead attends to the interlocking aesthetic, narrative, and spatio-temporal expressions of affect as they correlate with neoliberal politics of respectability and reproduction. By deploying feminism and queer theory, this thesis locates positive, productive potentials within formal expressions of negative affect that mobilize a political critique of the violences within each film. In so doing, the selected film examples--Fabrice Du Welz's Calvaire (2004), Marina de Van's Dans ma peu (2002), Olivier Assayas's Demonlover (2002), Bruno Dumont's Twentynine Palms (2004), François Ozon's Criminal Lovers (2001), Alain Guiraudie's Stranger by the Lake (2014), to name a few--portray the shifting relations between politics, gender, and sexuality in the neoliberal present and offer critical alternatives for how such developments have impacted and impeded sociality.
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Title: Addressing the news media image in an age of skepticism
Creator: Shin, Soo Young
Date: 2018
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: As the public’s skepticism toward news media has been growing, we need to better understand how the public perceives news media organizations. This study employed a useful conceptual lens from the marketing literature, image, to build a new conceptual framework within journalism, news media image to in aid in this understanding. Using focus group interviewing methods, the perceptions of 44 participants (across nine sessions) living in the Midwest in the U.S. were investigated to reveal the...
Show moreAs the public’s skepticism toward news media has been growing, we need to better understand how the public perceives news media organizations. This study employed a useful conceptual lens from the marketing literature, image, to build a new conceptual framework within journalism, news media image to in aid in this understanding. Using focus group interviewing methods, the perceptions of 44 participants (across nine sessions) living in the Midwest in the U.S. were investigated to reveal the news media image constructs perceived by the public. Through multidisciplinary literature review and group discussions, eight dimensions emerged: news quality, news usefulness, socially responsible, personality, usability, transparent, perspective-taking, and news selection bias. Results showed that participants believed that news media organizations are mostly unreliable and biased in selecting news worthy stories as the news organizations are under the pressure of making profit or political interests. However, the information provided by news organizations was regarded as being useful in getting relevant information to the participants’ lives and news organizations’ potential role of protecting democracy were valued by participants. Exploring how these dimensions represent people's image of the news media provides insight into the current American’s perceptions and biases toward the news media organizations.
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Title: Expanding the survivor support net : a qualitative evaluation of a flexible funding program for intimate partner violence survivors
Creator: Bomsta, Heather
Date: 2017
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects nearly one in four US women in their lifetime. IPV survivors need access to material and community resources - whether they are leaving their abusers or choosing to stay in the relationship. Previous research has found that women who have experienced IPV are four times as likely to experience housing instability. The current IPV system focuses mainly on providing shelter, support groups, counseling, and legal advocacy, but has fewer financial resources...
Show more"Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects nearly one in four US women in their lifetime. IPV survivors need access to material and community resources - whether they are leaving their abusers or choosing to stay in the relationship. Previous research has found that women who have experienced IPV are four times as likely to experience housing instability. The current IPV system focuses mainly on providing shelter, support groups, counseling, and legal advocacy, but has fewer financial resources. This qualitative study focused on a pilot program in Washington D.C. that offered select survivors financial grants to address whatever the survivor defined as threatening their housing stability. Survivors were interviewed 30-days post-grant to assess their housing status and explore other grant impacts. All survivors in the sample were still housed 30- days post-grant. Survivors described the impact of the grants as extending beyond financial issues, resulting in stress relief, improved parenting, increased ability to focus on work and family and improvements in physical and mental health. The financial aspect of the grant was important, but the role of advocacy also appears crucial to these survivors."--Page ii.
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Title: Water content effect on nutrient removal in stormwater bioretention systems
Creator: Bender, Rebecca Marian
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "Bioretention cells and constructed wetlands are both established best management practices (BMPs) for stormwater quality improvement. These systems vary in terms of hydraulic loading where processes such as retention, sedimentation, absorption, infiltration, filtration, phytoremediation, nitrification and denitrification remove waterborne pollutants. However, the boundary between bioretention and wetlands can be blurred when it comes to design and operational parameters, and it is therefore...
Show more"Bioretention cells and constructed wetlands are both established best management practices (BMPs) for stormwater quality improvement. These systems vary in terms of hydraulic loading where processes such as retention, sedimentation, absorption, infiltration, filtration, phytoremediation, nitrification and denitrification remove waterborne pollutants. However, the boundary between bioretention and wetlands can be blurred when it comes to design and operational parameters, and it is therefore important to explore the causes and consequences of performance variability in these systems. In an experiment to observe optimum water content for treatment pathways for ecological pollutants, five bioretention bays (2-22% water content) and fifteen bioretention columns (7-47% water content, as much as complete pore space saturation) were used to run parallel tests. Pollutant concentrations were reduced in field bays for COD, TN, and total solids (TS), although there was no difference between treatment groups in terms of any pollutant concentrations. Asclepias incarnata, Carex vulpinoidea, Scirpus validus, and Juncus effusus grew slightly taller in wetter bays, although survival of Sagittaria latifolia was uniformly poor in all treatment groups. No net pollutant removal occurred in columns, although effluent concentrations and mass export were significantly lower for near-saturation treatment groups for chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrate, and total nitrogen (TN). There was no soil moisture level in which COD, nitrate, TN, phosphate, and TS were simultaneously improved."--Page ii.
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Title: A climatology of persistent high relative humidity for the lower peninsula of Michigan : implications for health and agriculture
Creator: Komoto, Kara
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: High values of relative humidity have implications for many processes including human health, animal health and production, and crop disease. Despite its importance, little research has been completed about the persistence of high relative humidity. The goals of this study were to 1) create a baseline climatology of the persistence of high relative humidity (HRH), defined as ≥ 60%, and extremely high relative humidity (EHRH), defined as ≥ 85%, for the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and 2)...
Show moreHigh values of relative humidity have implications for many processes including human health, animal health and production, and crop disease. Despite its importance, little research has been completed about the persistence of high relative humidity. The goals of this study were to 1) create a baseline climatology of the persistence of high relative humidity (HRH), defined as ≥ 60%, and extremely high relative humidity (EHRH), defined as ≥ 85%, for the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and 2) examine, using persistent EHRH events as a surrogate for leaf wetness duration, the frequency of favorable environmental conditions for apple scab and cherry leaf spot, major crop diseases in the state. Results demonstrate that although overall persistent relative humidity events often occur throughout the state, their frequency appears to be decreasing with time. Temporal trends in the frequency of favorable environmental conditions for apple scab and cherry leaf spot vary by location and disease, but there is a general trend toward fewer occurrence of favorable environmental conditions. The climatological analyses provide Michigan stakeholders with essential information for long-term planning and management to mitigate and/or adapt to persistent high relative humidity and to assess future changes in persistent high relative humidity as expected with climate change.
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Title: A practical approach for ultra high performance concrete construction
Creator: Chen, Yang (Graduate of Michigan State University in civil engineering)
Date: 2017
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) with compressive strengths in excess of 150 MPa promise to enhance the structural efficiency and durability of concrete-based infrastructure systems. In order to transition UHPC materials into mainstream construction practices, there are needs to develop refined mix design procedures that enable production of UHPC using primarily locally available materials, resolves the problems with production of homogeneous UHPC mixtures using commonly available...
Show more"Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) with compressive strengths in excess of 150 MPa promise to enhance the structural efficiency and durability of concrete-based infrastructure systems. In order to transition UHPC materials into mainstream construction practices, there are needs to develop refined mix design procedures that enable production of UHPC using primarily locally available materials, resolves the problems with production of homogeneous UHPC mixtures using commonly available concrete mixers, develop convenient fresh mix workability test methods that consider the peculiar rheology of fresh UHPC mixtures, and quantify some aspects of the UHPC material properties that have not been fully characterized. The UHPC materials were tested for fresh mix flow and hardened concrete compressive strength. The trends in the effects of packing density, water film thickness and excess paste film thickness on compressive strength and fresh mix flow were investigated. The results were used to identify viable ranges of these defining characteristics of UHPC mixtures. Response surface analysis of the fresh mix flow and the hardened concrete compressive strength test results led to identification of the optimum values of mix design parameters. The optimum mix was prepared, and was found to produce a highly desired balance of fresh mix flow and hardened concrete compressive strength, which occurred within the ranges predicted by response surface analysis of experimental results."--Page ii.
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Title: Managing carrot foliar diseases in commercial production fields in Michigan
Creator: Donne, Irene Mariel
Date: 2017
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "Fungal foliar diseases caused by Alternaria dauci and Cercospora carotae occur annually on carrots. Our goal was to update the disease management tactics by: 1) Testing OMRI-approved and conventional fungicides and 2) Evaluating TOM-CAST. Trials were conducted in 2015 and 2016. Disease severity was visually assessed weekly using the Horsfall-Barratt scale and a petiole health scale; the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) was calculated for these parameters. Root yield was...
Show more"Fungal foliar diseases caused by Alternaria dauci and Cercospora carotae occur annually on carrots. Our goal was to update the disease management tactics by: 1) Testing OMRI-approved and conventional fungicides and 2) Evaluating TOM-CAST. Trials were conducted in 2015 and 2016. Disease severity was visually assessed weekly using the Horsfall-Barratt scale and a petiole health scale; the area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) was calculated for these parameters. Root yield was determined at harvest. Based on AUDPC results obtained in 2015 and 2016, the copperbased fungicides (copper hydroxide and copper hydroxide + copper oxychloride) were the only OMRI-approved products that significantly and consistently limited foliar blight. On the final assessment dates in both years, all conventional fungicides limited foliar and petiole blighting compared to the control with one exception; the propiconazole treatment in 2016 was similar to the control for petiole health. Yields differed significantly among the conventional treatments in 2016 but not in 2015. All treatments yielded significantly higher than the control except for iprodione. Treatments of pyraclostrobin + boscalid, fluxapyroxad + pyraclostrobin, and boscalid had statistically higher yields than penthiopyrad, iprodione, and propiconazole. TOM-CAST 15 and 25 DSV fungicide application schedules effectively reduced foliar blighting in 2015 under relatively light disease pressure. However, the TOM-CAST 25 DSV schedule did not adequately limit disease in 2016 when disease pressure was increased. Recently registered fungicides such as penthiopyrad and fluxapyroxad + pyraclostrobin and using TOM-CAST at the more conservative spray threshold of 15 DSV can help growers limit fungal foliar blight in years with higher disease pressure."--Page ii.
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Title: Freshwater resources : an evaluation of Michigan residents' perception of wetland ecosystem services
Creator: Walkowiak, Toni Anne
Date: 2017
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "Thus, this research serves two purposes: (1), to gather information about Michigan residents' overall knowledge of wetlands ecosystems; (2), to establish whether residents can accurately distinguish between wetland functions and values. Two activities: semi-structured focus group interviews and online digital card sorts were conducted within Chippewa, Huron, and Macomb Counties of Michigan, to evaluate individuals' environmental perceptions of wetland ecosystems." -- Abstract.

Title: Analyzing and reducing energy consumption on the Michigan State University campus
Creator: Renny, Alexander
Date: 2017
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The reliance on fossil fuels to generate most of the world's energy has led to a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions and the associated negative effects on the climate. The application of energy reducing retrofits allows for significant reductions in total energy use, providing the opportunity to achieve cost savings as well as emissions reductions. Students Planning Advanced Retrofit Technology Applications (SPARTA) was founded to pursue implementation of these retrofits at...
Show moreThe reliance on fossil fuels to generate most of the world's energy has led to a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions and the associated negative effects on the climate. The application of energy reducing retrofits allows for significant reductions in total energy use, providing the opportunity to achieve cost savings as well as emissions reductions. Students Planning Advanced Retrofit Technology Applications (SPARTA) was founded to pursue implementation of these retrofits at Michigan State University (MSU). Under this framework, lighting, device, and HVAC retrofits are examined. In commercial spaces, lighting comprises 170303% of total electricity used. The economic viability of retrofitting LEDs in place of fluorescent ceiling fixtures as well as various control methods are determined. The energy use intensity of the average office space on the MSU campus is also analyzed and equipment changes are recommended to decrease the total energy footprint. Conversion from electricity driven cooling to steam driven cooling is evaluated as a method for increasing efficiency of the co-generation power plant and decreasing total fuel consumption. Finally, activities aimed at engaging the public on renewable energy generation are described, which are based on the development of paintable luminescent solar concentrators that combine art and energy. A number of techniques for reducing energy use on the MSU campus have been analyzed which can be applied across a broad spectrum of spaces. Continuing to aggressively pursue the implementation of this framework as well as tracking key economic indicators outlined will ultimately make MSU cleaner and more sustainable. -- Abstract.
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Title: Prairie hay : its composition and food properties
Creator: De Barr, Edwin
Date: 1893
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Title: Relationships between academic network and student engagement for construction education
Creator: Chen, Zhiting
Date: 2020
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Student engagement is a significant predictor of student's academic performance that has shown essential benefits for collaborative learning in higher education. Activities of social networking are common practices for college students to pursue a higher academic achievement by taking advantages on collaborative learning. Nevertheless, there is a gap in understanding the relationship between student engagement and academic networking patterns. By involving Social Network Analysis (SNA) based...
Show moreStudent engagement is a significant predictor of student's academic performance that has shown essential benefits for collaborative learning in higher education. Activities of social networking are common practices for college students to pursue a higher academic achievement by taking advantages on collaborative learning. Nevertheless, there is a gap in understanding the relationship between student engagement and academic networking patterns. By involving Social Network Analysis (SNA) based research methods, this quantitative study explored the relationships between these two antecedents of academic performance at the individual level as well as the subgroup level in the construction domain. The self-reported interaction and engagement data used in regression analysis was collected from two construction-related undergraduate classes in the United States. The analysis results revealed positive relationship between student engagement and individual direct social connections with classmates. The subgroup-level correlations indicate that a small-sized low eccentricity network with efficient information exchanges is preferred by students to highly engaged in collaborative learning. These prominent findings suggest student leadership as a core motivator to facilitate all favorable engagement predictors uncovered in this study. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted to validate the student engagement framework. The author discussed implications for construction educators to focus on network-based interventions to advance understandings of student's needs and recommended effective instructional strategies for construction educators regarding student leadership development to optimize the outcomes of advanced course designs.
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Title: Curriculum and career development events : preparation strategies for knowledge and skill transfer in the Michigan environmental skills CDE
Creator: Pauley, Catlin M.
Date: 2019
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: School-based agricultural education (SBAE) offers copious opportunities through the classroom and career development events (CDEs), among other contexts, to prepare students with knowledge and skills related to agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR) careers and life. However, lack of empirical data evaluating student outcomes associated with varied curriculum and CDE connections forces AFNR educators to make preparation decisions without knowledge of the potential impact on student...
Show moreSchool-based agricultural education (SBAE) offers copious opportunities through the classroom and career development events (CDEs), among other contexts, to prepare students with knowledge and skills related to agriculture, food, and natural resources (AFNR) careers and life. However, lack of empirical data evaluating student outcomes associated with varied curriculum and CDE connections forces AFNR educators to make preparation decisions without knowledge of the potential impact on student learning and performance. The current study sought to address the identified problem in a specific Michigan SBAE context by determining the relationship between Michigan AFNR educators' environment and natural resources curriculum and the Michigan FFA Environmental Skills CDE and associated student outcomes. Quantitative survey methodology was utilized to collect and analyze data from the target population, all Michigan AFNR educators during the 2017-2018 school year. Findings identify a small, positive correlation between the Environmental Skills CDE and curriculum spectrum (CDECS) alignment and student outcomes of rank in the CDE and performance on high-order educational objective components. Additionally, AFNR educator characteristics which influence the Environmental Skills CDECS alignment were identified. Findings support Bronfenbrenner's (1979b; 2005) ecological systems theory, the framework for the current study. Recommendations are provided for Michigan AFNR educators, teacher educators, CDE coordinators, and researchers to improve student learning through CDE and curriculum connections.
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Title: The role of viral load in the progression of HIV diagnosis to development of AIDS in Michigan patients population
Creator: Channavong, Souliya
Date: 2018
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: "Objective: The primary objective is to emphasize the prognostic value of viral load in the progression of HIV infection diagnosis to development of AIDS in the state of Michigan." -- Abstract.

Title: AN EVOLUTIONARY MULTI-OBJECTIVE APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL WATER AND NUTRIENT OPTIMIZATION
Creator: Kropp, Ian Meyer
Date: 2018
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: One of the main problems that society is facing in the 21st century is that agricultural production must keep pace with a rapidly increasing global population in an environmentally sustainable manner. One of the solutions to this global problem is a system approach through the application of optimization techniques to manage farm operations. However, unlike existing agricultural optimization research, this work seeks to optimize multiple agricultural objectives at once via multi-objective...
Show moreOne of the main problems that society is facing in the 21st century is that agricultural production must keep pace with a rapidly increasing global population in an environmentally sustainable manner. One of the solutions to this global problem is a system approach through the application of optimization techniques to manage farm operations. However, unlike existing agricultural optimization research, this work seeks to optimize multiple agricultural objectives at once via multi-objective optimization techniques. Specifically, the algorithm Unified Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-III (U-NSGA-III) searched for irrigation and nutrient management practices that minimized combinations of environmental objectives (e.g., total irrigation applied, total nitrogen leached) while maximizing crop yield for maize. During optimization, the crop model named the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) calculated the yield and nitrogen leaching for each given management practices. This study also developed a novel bi-level optimization framework to improve the performance of the optimization algorithm, employing U-NSGA-III on the upper level and Monte Carlo optimization on the lower level. The multi-objective optimization framework resulted in groups of equally optimal solutions that each offered a unique trade-off among the objectives. As a result, producers can choose the one that best addresses their needs among these groups of solutions, known as Pareto fronts. In addition, the bi-level optimization framework further improved the number, performance, and diversity of solutions within the Pareto fronts.
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Title: Surface energy characterization and competitive surface equilibria using contact angle
Creator: Stubbs, Barrack Perez
Date: 2017
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Surface energy measurements are usually difficult to assess when not considering a solid-air or liquid-air interface. Contact angles was used as a method of obtaining the interfacial energy of a silanol-water surface using carbon tetrachloride as a probing liquid. The theory for this work operated under the assumption that the pKa of a silanol surface could be measured by obtaining a titration like curve as a function of pH. A decrease in contact angle of about 7° was observed at a pH (pKa)...
Show moreSurface energy measurements are usually difficult to assess when not considering a solid-air or liquid-air interface. Contact angles was used as a method of obtaining the interfacial energy of a silanol-water surface using carbon tetrachloride as a probing liquid. The theory for this work operated under the assumption that the pKa of a silanol surface could be measured by obtaining a titration like curve as a function of pH. A decrease in contact angle of about 7° was observed at a pH (pKa) of 3.5. This corresponds to an energy difference of 2 mN/m. -- Abstract.
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