Container Vegetable Gardening

If well-managed, vegetables grown in containers can provide high-quality produce in a small space. Container vegetable gardening is a wonderful option for people who have limited space, impaired physical mobility, or conditions that interfere with in-ground gardening, such as poor garden soil. It also can help avoid problems with soilborne diseases and nematode pests that can exist in the soil in traditional, in-ground gardens. People who do not have access to a garden space, or simply do not want to grow a full-scale garden, may choose container vegetable gardening to provide them with enjoyment and produce. Containers are available in many different long-lasting and lightweight materials. Windowsills, patios, balconies, and doorsteps can provide adequate space for container vegetable gardens. Management of vegetables planted in containers can be simpler than in-ground gardening. Pests and diseases can also be monitored and cared for with relative ease. Container vegetable gardening is a great way to introduce children to gardening by letting them grow and manage just a few plants in a single season. Success in growing, managing, and enjoying the produce from these containers can help start a lifelong interest in gardening and raising produce at home

The Biggest Grower - A youth gardening competition for growing specialty crops and urban farmers

Youth today have tendencies for unhealthy lifestyles, being sedentary, consuming high fat diets low in fruits and vegetables, all contributing to child obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and precedence for life-long health concerns. School lunch programs provide opportunity for youth to consume balanced diets but does not make a significant change in lifestyle. Research has identified that youth participating in gardening at home were positively impacted with making lasting healthy choices by improved knowledge and garden connection. For rural and economically disadvantaged urban households, poor diet is directly attributed to the inaccessibility of fresh produce, affordability and understanding of preparation of various specialty crops. Through a grant from the NE Specialty Crop Block Funding Program, The Biggest Grower Competition (BGC) was developed as a summer extension education program for youth in 8th through 12th grade. Project goals included; provide educational materials on gardening, benefits of consuming fresh edibles, and entrepreneurship opportunities; to have participants grow their own crops, collect productivity data, record method of distribution; and, measure behavioral changes in consumption of specialty crops for individual and family. Programs were completed at participants individually during the period of June 1 – August 12 in each of 2020 and 2021. Each developed their own 8 m2 garden (or container collection) and participated in 10 weekly asynchronous virtual educational modules (1 hour per week) and routine synchronous virtual meetings with their Garden Mentor. Participants were invited to come to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus (2021) on week 4 for a one-day, no cost program with engagement activities, garden tours, exploration of agriculture technology, and to network with agriculture specialists. Incentives for participation included receiving a multi-action gardening tool, educational book, assorted seeds, colorful logo stickers, and an official contestant t-shirt. Records were maintained of harvest poundage and distribution method. The top eight producers received gift cards in varying amounts as an incentive for ongoing participation and complete submission of data. In 2020, there were 44 participants in which 57% were new to gardening and, for 2021, 17 participants in which 25% were new gardeners. Yearly individual garden production averages were 21.55 kg and 23.13 kg respectively with a total of 1,118.56 kg of fresh produce grown. Through a post-experience survey, daily produce consumption rate increased from 12.5% to 36.4%, 72% of the participants tried a new vegetable/fruit recipe, 91% indicated produce grown was consumed by family, and 18% was donated to food banks

Planting the Landscape

A landscape is an investment of time and money that can be a beautiful, functional, and satisfying living space. Gardeners and landscape managers implementing integrated pest management strategies through good judgment in plant selection, site preparation, and planting practices will reduce insect, disease, and wildlife damage and will help ensure the growth and longevity of the investment. Proper plant selection, site preparation, and planting practices are aspectsof integrated pest management. Continued integration of correct cultural practices is important through proper mulching, watering, fertilizing, and other management practices to reducepests

Polyamides for treating human papilloma virus

The present invention relates to polyamide compositions and therapies for treating cells infected with human papilloma virus (HPV). For the most up-to-date information about these patents, including the availability of Certificates of Correction, be sure to check the United States Patent and Trademark Office\u27s free, publicly accessible database: Patent Public Search https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/static/pages/landing.htmlhttps://irl.umsl.edu/patents/1031/thumbnail.jp

Compounds for treating papilloma virus infection

The present invention relates to polyamide compositions and therapies for treating cells and subjects infected with papilloma virus. For the most up-to-date information about these patents, including the availability of Certificates of Correction, be sure to check the United States Patent and Trademark Office\u27s free, publicly accessible database: Patent Public Search https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/static/pages/landing.htmlhttps://irl.umsl.edu/patents/1009/thumbnail.jp

Methods for treating papilloma virus infection

For the most up-to-date information about these patents, including the availability of Certificates of Correction, be sure to check the United States Patent and Trademark Office\u27s free, publicly accessible database: Patent Public Search https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/static/pages/landing.htmlhttps://irl.umsl.edu/patents/1024/thumbnail.jp

Polyamides containing amino butyric acid-based building blocks

The present invention relates to polyamide compositions and therapies for treating cells infected with papilloma virus. For the most up-to-date information about these patents, including the availability of Certificates of Correction, be sure to check the United States Patent and Trademark Office\u27s free, publicly accessible database: Patent Public Search https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/static/pages/landing.htmlhttps://irl.umsl.edu/patents/1030/thumbnail.jp

Workplace Spirituality: A Study of Human Resource Practices Promoting Employee Engagement

Workplace spirituality is a growing phenomenon, yet a research problem exists because many organizational leaders do not fully understand how workplace spirituality can be used to improve employee engagement, and no clear workplace guidelines exist for U.S. human resource (HR) professionals to follow. The study’s purpose was to examine how HR practices can support workplace spirituality and improve employee engagement. The research question focused on how HR professionals practice servant leadership to support employees’ internal and external workplace spirituality needs and promote employee engagement. A snowball sampling approach was used to select participants who are HR professionals with 5 years of work experience. A qualitative multiple case study design and inductive analysis methods generated a holistic view of HR professionals’ workplace spirituality experiences. The data analysis process used semistructured interviews, field notes, organizational documents, and social media posts. The results indicated that workplace spirituality supports employees’ internal and external spiritual needs and promotes employee engagement. When organizations care about employees’ spiritual well-being, employees become more committed and productive. Participants indicated that workplace spirituality benefits all stakeholders, including entry-level employees, senior management, stockholders, and community members. The study contributed to positive social change by highlighting the link between workplace spirituality and employee engagement and illustrating how HR professionals can use workplace spirituality to benefit organizations and employees, especially in times of crisis or change

Landscape and Garden Plants Sample Submission to the Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic

Diagnoses are made easier and turnaround time is improved when the quality of plant samples is maintained. This NebGuide discusses the proper guidelines for submitting landscape and garden plants, turf, and tree samples to UNL’s Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic. There are several important things to consider when collecting, packaging, and sending plant or insect samples for diagnosis in a plant diagnostic laboratory. Collect an adequate amount of plant material. When feasible, the sample should include the entire plant — roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits. Whole plants are needed to properly evaluate the sample. If the whole plant is not available, photos of the symptomatic plants can improve accuracy of diagnosis

Multiple imputation methods for longitudinal blood pressure measurements from the Framingham Heart Study

Missing data are a great concern in longitudinal studies, because few subjects will have complete data and missingness could be an indicator of an adverse outcome. Analyses that exclude potentially informative observations due to missing data can be inefficient or biased. To assess the extent of these problems in the context of genetic analyses, we compared case-wise deletion to two multiple imputation methods available in the popular SAS package, the propensity score and regression methods. For both the real and simulated data sets, the propensity score and regression methods produced results similar to case-wise deletion. However, for the simulated data, the estimates of heritability for case-wise deletion and the two multiple imputation methods were much lower than for the complete data. This suggests that if missingness patterns are correlated within families, then imputation methods that do not allow this correlation can yield biased results