Kansas State University Research Articles

Small intestinal adenomatous polyps resulting in chronic obstruction in a 3‐year‐old Quarter Horse gelding

SummaryA 3‐year‐old, Quarter Horse gelding was admitted to Kansas State University Veterinary Health Center with a primary complaint of colic. The horse had a 3‐month history of recurrent colic and progressive weight loss. On physical examination, the horse was quiet, alert and responsive. The horse's mucous membranes were pink and capillary refill time was 2 s. His rectal temperature was 37.6°C (99.6°F), heart rate was 56 beats/min and respiration rate was 16 breaths/min. Rectal palpation revealed an approximately 5 cm dilated, firm, tubular, mass traversing from left caudal abdomen to mid abdomen. Nasogastric intubation obtained 6 L net reflux. A 5 cm diameter small intestinal intraluminal mass was detected by abdominal ultrasound. Complete blood count, serum chemistry and peritoneal fluid analysis were performed and all results were unremarkable. The horse was humanely euthanised due to pain and financial constraints. Post‐mortem examination and histopathology revealed a 15 × 5 × 5 cm polyp with multiple smaller satellite polyps that obstructed the distal duodenum. Colic was considered secondary to small intestinal obstruction and luminal distension caused by the adenomatous polyps. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report to include ultrasound images of a small intestine adenomatous polyp that caused small intestinal obstruction and colic in a 3‐year‐old horse.

Taking the wheel of your future

This presentation is an outline of how I got to where I am with a few pointers I have learned and help me every day. I grew up on a small farm in south-central Kansas. I knew 1 wanted to work in a feedyard, but wasn’t exactly sure in what capacity. I attended Kansas State University upon high school graduation, and pursued a degree in animal science, again, no idea what I was going to do. I was lucky enough with my grades that I was afforded the opportunity to join the Honors program and conduct a research trial on cattle. It was extra work, but I quickly learned that I like research and answering production-related questions.

Sugarcane Aphid in Sorghum

Natural Sciences EducationVolume 47, Issue 1 180102 p. 1-2 Student Manuscript Sugarcane Aphid in Sorghum Logan Evers, Corresponding Author Logan Evers kimk@ksu.edu c/o Kim Kerschen, 1022 Throckmorton PSC, Kansas State University, 1712 Claflin Road, Manhattan, KS, 66506Corresponding author (logan21@ksu.edu, kimk@ksu.edu).Search for more papers by this author Logan Evers, Corresponding Author Logan Evers kimk@ksu.edu c/o Kim Kerschen, 1022 Throckmorton PSC, Kansas State University, 1712 Claflin Road, Manhattan, KS, 66506Corresponding author (logan21@ksu.edu, kimk@ksu.edu).Search for more papers by this author First published: 01 February 2018 https://doi.org/10.4195/nse2018.01.0102Citations: 1 This article is intended for readers in the production agriculture industry who deal with grain sorghum throughout the growing season. This publication will discuss the impacts of the sugarcane aphid in various crops and the ways to manage and identify them as they continue to advance north. All rights reserved Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume47, Issue1December 2018Pages 1-2 RelatedInformation

Fabrication and Testing of a Modular Micro-Pocket Fission Detector Instrumentation System for Test Nuclear Reactors

Advancements in nuclear reactor core modeling and computational capability have encouraged further development of in-core neutron sensors. Measurement of the neutron-flux distribution within the reactor core provides a more complete understanding of the operating conditions in the reactor than typical ex-core sensors. Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors have been developed and tested previously but have been limited to single-node operation and have utilized highly specialized designs. The development of a widely deployable, multi-node Micro-Pocket Fission Detector assembly will enhance nuclear research capabilities. A modular, four-node Micro-Pocket Fission Detector array was designed, fabricated, and tested at Kansas State University. The array was constructed from materials that do not significantly perturb the neutron flux in the reactor core. All four sensor nodes were equally spaced axially in the array to span the fuel-region of the reactor core. The array was filled with neon gas, serving as an ionization medium in the small cavities of the Micro-Pocket Fission Detectors. The modular design of the instrument facilitates the testing and deployment of numerous sensor arrays. The unified design drastically improved device ruggedness and simplified construction from previous designs. Five 8-mm penetrations in the upper grid plate of the Kansas State University TRIGA Mk. II research nuclear reactor were utilized to deploy the array between fuel elements in the core. The Micro-Pocket Fission Detector array was coupled to an electronic support system which has been specially developed to support pulse-mode operation. The Micro-Pocket Fission Detector array composed of four sensors was used to monitor local neutron flux at a constant reactor power of 100 kWth at different axial locations simultaneously. The array was positioned at five different radial locations within the core to emulate the deployment of multiple arrays and develop a 2-dimensional measurement of neutron flux in the reactor core.

On Use of Multi-Chambered Fission Detectors for In-Core, Neutron Spectroscopy

Presented is a short, computational study on the potential use of multichambered fission detectors for in-core, neutron spectroscopy. Motivated by the development of very small fission chambers at CEA in France and at Kansas State University in the U.S., it was assumed in this preliminary analysis that devices can be made small enough to avoid flux perturbations and that uncertainties related to measurements can be ignored. It was hypothesized that a sufficient number of chambers with unique reactants can act as a real-time, foilactivation experiment. An unfolding scheme based on maximizing (Shannon) entropy was used to produce a flux spectrum from detector signals that requires no prior information. To test the method, integral, detector responses were generated for singleisotope detectors of various Th, U, Np, Pu, Am, and Cs isotopes using a simplified, pressurized-water reactor spectrum and fluxweighted, microscopic, fission cross sections, in the WIMS-69 multigroup format. An unfolded spectrum was found from subsets of these responses that had a maximum entropy while reproducing the responses considered and summing to one (that is, they were normalized). Several nuclide subsets were studied, and, as expected, the results indicate inclusion of more nuclides leads to better spectra but with diminishing improvements, with the best-case spectrum having an average, relative, group-wise error of approximately 51%. Furthermore, spectra found from minimum-norm and Tihkonov-regularization inversion were of lower quality than the maximum entropy solutions. Finally, the addition of thermal-neutron filters (here, Cd and Gd) provided substantial improvement over unshielded responses alone. The results, as a whole, suggest that in-core, neutron spectroscopy is at least marginally feasible.

Postprandial Metabolic Responses Differ by Age Group and Physical Activity Level.

To compare the postprandial metabolic responses to a high-fat meal in healthy adults who differ by age and physical activity level. Cross-sectional, quasi-experimental design. Physical Activity and Nutrition Clinical Research Consortium (PAN-CRC) at Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS, USA). Twenty-two healthy adults: 8 younger active (YA) adults (4M/4W; 25 ± 5 yr), 8 older active (OA) adults (4M/4W; 67 ± 5 yr), and 6 older inactive (OI) adults (3M/3W; 68 ± 7 yr). Following an overnight (10-hour) fast and having abstained from exercise for 2 days, participants consumed a high-fat meal (63% fat, 34% CHO; 12 kcal/kg body mass; 927 ± 154 kcal). To assess the metabolic response, blood draws were performed at baseline and each hour following the meal for 6 hours. Fasting and postprandial triglycerides (TG), glucose, Total-C, and HDL-C were measured. Metabolic load index (MLI) and LDL-C were calculated. There were significant group x time interactions for TG (p < 0.0001) and MLI (p = 0.004). The TG total area-under-the-curve (tAUC) response was significantly lower in YA (407.9 ± 115.1 mg/dL 6 hr) compared to OA (625.6 ± 169.0 mg/dL 6 hr; p = 0.02) and OI (961.2 ± 363.6 mg/dL 6 hr; p = 0.0002), while the OA group TG tAUC was lower than the OI group (p = 0.02). The TG peak was significantly lower in YA (90.5 ± 27.0 mg/dL) than OA (144.0 ± 42.2 mg/dL; p = 0.03) and OI (228.2 ± 96.1 mg/dL; p = 0.0003), and was lower in the OA group compared to the OI group (p = 0.03). Glucose was significantly lower 1 hour after the meal in YA (89.4 ± 10.1 mg/dL; p = 0.01) and OA (87.3 ± 22.3 mg/dL; p = 0.005) versus OI (110.7 ± 26.9 mg/dL). MLI tAUC was significantly lower in YA (936.8 ± 137.7 mg/dL 6 hr; p = 0.0007) and OA (1133.0 ± 207.4 mg/dL; p = 0.01) versus OI (1553.8 ± 394.3 mg/dL), with no difference (p = 0.14) between YA and OA groups. Total-C and LDL-C were generally lower in younger compared to older participants at baseline and throughout the postprandial period, while no group or time effects were evident in HDL-C. Both physical activity status and aging appear to affect the postprandial metabolic, namely TG, response to a high-fat meal. These findings point to an inherently diminished metabolic capacity with aging, but suggest that physical activity may help minimize this decrement.

Evaluating Teff Grass as a Summer Forage

National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) program and Kansas State University’s Department of Agronomy.

Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West by Sara Dant

Reviewed by: Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West by Sara Dant James E. Sherow Sara Dant, Losing Eden: An Environmental History of the American West. Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons, 2016. 221 pp. Paper, $29.95. Sara Dant has produced a work well overdue for all students of the American West. There hasn't been a survey of the American West written in several years. For over twenty years, my students have read Richard White's It's Your Misfortune (1991). I hoped that at some point an enterprising scholar would write a more compact, updated thematic treatment of the West. Dant has provided just what the doctor ordered. And more than its value for classroom use, Dant's work is also fit for a general readership. With laser-like focus, Dant hones in on three major themes. First is the tension between capitalistic exploitation of natural resources and the drive toward ecological sustainability. Second, she employs Garrett Hardin's "tragedy of the commons" to explain where and when people have overexploited the West's natural resources [End Page 255] and how public land policies in the West often acted as a brake on resource overuse in a land of limited resources. Her third theme is how people have attempted to create a sustainable, livable environment in the West. Dant's work is not some polemic predicting gloom and doom for the West's inhabitants. She makes it clear that as humans, "we care about what we know" (5). In ten succinct chapters she gives an overview of this region from the last ice age to the present. Her West begins west of the one hundredth meridian, and, as John Wesley Powell, Walter Prescott Webb, and Donald Worster before her, she recognizes this region as distinct in its aridity. Within this realm, she traces the rise and fall of cultures that overextended themselves as they confronted the limitations imposed by aridity. Whether the Chacoans prior to the arrival of Europeans, the overhunting of bison by both Indians and European Americans, massive deforestation, the collapse of open range cattle grazing, or overfishing salmon in the Columbian River, the evidence of overexploitation of natural resources is indisputable. Dant also covers both the conservation and preservation movements. There is the expected treatment of Gifford Pinchot's utilitarian policies and John Muir's work to preserve wild spaces. Yet she also details how these movements could intertwine, especially in Senator Frank Church's decades of work to pass environmental legislation. She is also not afraid to address the backlash against environmental legislation of the 1960s and 1970s by highlighting the "wise use movement" and its various manifestations, beginning in the Reagan era and continuing into the present with the exploits of the Bundy family. Dant offers a thought-provoking, well-written work. My American West students thoroughly enjoyed reading Dant as they engaged the issues she raised. Moreover, they began reflecting on their own roles in shaping this place called the West. Now knowing more about the West, they started thinking about what they should do. In this, Dant fully achieved her aim. [End Page 256] James E. Sherow Kansas State University Copyright © 2018 Western Literature Association

Ogallala Aquifer Program: A Catalyst for Research and Education to Sustain the Ogallala Aquifer on the Southern High Plains (2003–2017)

AbstractThe Ogallala Aquifer Program (OAP) was created in 2003 with support from Congressmen from Kansas and Texas. The OAP is a research‐education consortium seeking solutions from problems arising from declining water availability from the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas and the Texas High Plains. The consortium is led by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) laboratories in Bushland and Lubbock, TX, and the university partners are Kansas State University, Texas A&amp;M AgriLife Research and Extension Service, Texas Tech University, and West Texas A&amp;M University. The OAP has provided over $40 million to support research and education activities. About half of these funds were used to support permanent ARS scientists and ARS hired post‐docs. The other half were used by university scientists to supplement on‐going projects by providing support for supplies, sample analyses, temporary employees, etc. Initially, OAP activities were focused on seven priorities. In 2013, four objectives replaced the original seven priorities. A fifth priority was added in 2017. The current objectives are: 1) Develop and evaluate water management strategies and technologies that could reduce water withdrawals for irrigation by 20% in 2020 compared to 2012; 2) Develop and evaluate management strategies and technologies that would increase the productivity and profitability of dryland cropping systems; 3) Improve the understanding of hydrological and climatic factors that affect water use and agricultural profitability; 4) Determine the impacts of alternative water withdrawal/use policies on the economic viability of the agriculture industry of the Southern Ogallala Aquifer Region; and 5) Develop best management practices for production of high value and alternative crops for both dryland and irrigated systems. The objectives of the program and distribution of resources are decided by an executive committee with a member from each of the four universities, two from ARS, one from Bushland, and the other from Lubbock. Proposed projects that utilize resources from more than one participating institution, leverage existing resources, and address the stated objectives are more likely to be provided support. The impact of the OAP on research directed at agriculture on the High Plains has been recognized by three prestigious awards.

Assessing Irrigation Aquifer Depletion: Introduction

Assessing Irrigation Aquifer Depletion: Introduction

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

Discrimination and assessment of black walnut (Juglans nigra L.) cultivars using phenology and microsatellite markers (SSRs)

Black walnut (Juglans nigra L.), a large tree native throughout the eastern United States, produces a high-quality edible nut. Our goal was to maintain the integrity of black walnut breeding programs by verifying the identity of accessions. We sampled 285 ramets of 78 cultivars from the black walnut nut breeding orchards and clonal repositories at the University of Missouri and Kansas State University. We employed both phenotypic and genotypic methods to identify and differentiate cultivars. Phenotypes were evaluated using seven phenological traits. Cultivars varied for all traits among each of the 4 yr, but the best morphological characteristics for evaluating cultivar identity were bud break date and date of first pistillate bloom. Samples (n = 285) were genotyped using 10 polymorphic microsatellite loci. The simple sequence repeats produced a total of 174 alleles and 17.2 alleles per locus. We detected 47 unique genotypes represented by more than one sample, including 128 instances of identical genotypes with different names (synonyms) and 106 instances of different genotypes with a shared name (homonyms). Our results indicated that multiple errors were committed during the propagation of these important cultivars. It may be difficult to determine which genotype is original to a cultivar name in the absence of a foundation plant materials collection or vouchered specimens. These results will assist black walnut breeders and producers by improving the integrity of breeding collections and by identifying the best phenological traits for rapid assessment of trueness to type.

Enhancing GTAs’ Teaching Effectiveness through a Professional Development Program: A case study of GTAs at Kansas State University

An unfortunate assumption within higher education is that anyone with an advanced degree can also be an effective teacher. Indeed, a teacher’s degree level has tended to be the most widely studied metric of his/her educational attributes. However, research has demonstrated that a teacher’s degree level has little to do with his/her students’ educational performance (e.g., Goldhaber, 2002). Aside from possessing an advanced degree, there also appears to be an implicit assumption that someone with an advanced degree most likely has teaching experience by means of a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) position, thus further qualifying him/her to teach at the collegiate level. Although having a GTA position may offer beneficial teaching experience, this cannot be considered a formal training program. Related to this point, Savage and Sharpe (1998) argue that there are relatively few sources of formal GTA training with higher education and equate the first year of teaching for many GTAs as a “survival stage” (p. 130), referring to the tendency for new GTAs to be “thrown-in” to the classroom and expected to teach well.

Kansas State University's Collaborative Approach to Research through Global Food Systems

Kansas State University's Collaborative Approach to Research through Global Food Systems

Synchrotron Radiation‐Based Methods for Environmental Biogeochemistry

Synchrotron Radiation‐Based Methods for Environmental Biogeochemistry

Challenges of the Electronic Resources Life Cycle and Practical Ways to Overcome Them

This paper will discuss challenges throughout the electronic resources life cycle and practical work arounds of tools many academic libraries have on hand already. Those tools include: a discovery layer, electronic resource management system (ERM), link resolver, COUNTER and SUSHI standards, ticketing systems, and spreadsheets. The workflow was previously described by Oliver Pesch’s work (2008) on electronic resources life cycles. Themes of this discussion of the experience at Kansas State University Libraries will include documentation of efficiencies, transparency of workflow activity across library departments, and the movement to take action in user communities and vendor support.

Evaluation of Spring and Fall Fungicide Applications for Large Patch Management in Zoysiagrass

The efficacy of spring and fall applications of azoxystrobin, flutolanil, and triticonazole for the control of large patch disease of zoysiagrass (Zoysia spp.) caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn AG 2‐2 LP were evaluated under field conditions. The study was conducted on fairway stands of ‘Meyer’ zoysiagrass from 2008 to 2010 at the Rocky Ford Turfgrass Research Center, Kansas State University. Experimental plots were inoculated prior to the start of the studies. All fungicide applications were made with a CO2–powered boom sprayer with XR Tee Jet 8003VS nozzles at 206.8 kPa in water equivalent to 816 L ha−1. Disease assessment was performed by measurement of patch diameters, visual assessment, and by analysis of digital images of affected plot areas. In general, two fall applications of fungicide did not reduce disease compared with one fall application. Fall applications made when thatch temperatures ranged from 17.8 to 23.2°C reduced disease relative to untreated controls. Similarly, two spring applications of fungicide, beginning at an early curative timing, did not reduce disease compared with one spring application.

A Conversation with Emery Neal Castle

This article presents the transcript of an interview with the eminent economist, Emery Neal Castle. Emery discusses his youth in rural Kansas and how it shaped him and his career. After several years in the US Army Air Force during World War II, Emery returned to Kansas State University for his undergraduate studies and then completed his PhD at Iowa State University. He eventually landed at Oregon State University (OSU) in the mid-1950s, where he taught farm management and developed early courses in water resource economics. Emery and colleagues nurtured what became a world-renowned resource economics program at OSU. Emery also spent a decade running the nonprofit public policy research organization Resources for the Future in Washington, DC. Throughout his long career, Emery made significant contributions to three subfields of applied economics: farm management, resource economics, and rural studies. Emery has received numerous awards for his impact on the profession and the agricultural economy.

Registration of ‘Tatanka’ Hard Red Winter Wheat

‘Tatanka’ (Reg. No. CV‐1133, PI 681595) hard red winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was developed at the Agricultural Research Center‐Hays, Kansas State University, and released by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station in 2016. Tatanka was selected from a single cross of KS07HW81/‘T151’ made in 2006 at Hays, KS. The objective of this cross was to develop a hard red or hard white winter wheat cultivar with adaptation to dryland production in western Kansas. Tatanka was developed using a modified bulk breeding method. Tatanka is an F7–derived line with experimental number KS12H56‐6‐4 and was tested in yield trials across Kansas. Tatanka has medium maturity, medium height, above average grain volume weight, and below average protein concentration. In general, it has good milling and baking quality. Tatanka was released because of its high grain yield potential in western Kansas and its resistance to stripe rust and Soil‐borne wheat mosaic virus.

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards

News, Programs, Publications, and Awards